Authors Notes: Another long delay. My Apologies, folks, this one proved troublesome. Upcoming chapters are better planned, so they should be faster to write and upload.

"Should", I need to emphasize that word.

Speaking of chapters: Finally my chapters have titles! Not amazing ones but they do the job. Titles may change in future if I come up with better ones, so don't be surprised if you notice a chapter name suddenly change.

By the way: I've added a little subsection to the top Author's notes of the first chapter, explaining the meaning of changes in the text of the book (what represents thought, what represents translated Pokéspeak, and so on). Most likely it's obvious by now, but if you have any confusions just head to chapter one and take a look see. I don't think my way of differentiating thought/speech for example is typical (in fact I'm pretty sure it's not), so if you want the basic guide to understand the crap I write, it's there.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The remnants of morning passed into afternoon, and now the sun sat high in the sky, casting its light down on the countless people below. The buzz of the conference was still in full swing, and trainers from all over the world found themselves the interest of the locals, all eager to catch closer gazes of Pokémon from regions far beyond Kanto.

It would be over a week before things finally returned to normal.

Alone, Ash walked through the streets passing by many a people and place, drawing no attention to himself (well, as little as a cloaked guy with a Pikachu on his shoulder could manage). His thoughts were ill-refined, wandering further than Ash himself at this point. His thoughts were shattered by Pikachu taking notice of something. He stopped, and in the window he was now next two a few televisions were all showing the same thing. Ash turned, taking a look at the battle showing on every screen in the window. He almost smiled, he recalled this battle fondly.

His final battle, and the final round at the Championship.

He against Cynthia. Pikachu against Garchomp. The final round was about to begin. In fact, it already had, but both sides stood silent, waiting, daring, silently urging the other. Urging the other to make the first move. Though no move had been commanded, the battle was in full swing. Will was the weapon now. Ash's burning eyes stared down Cynthias' currently frozen ones. Only their eyes spoke of anything, as their faces were void of anything that could be called an expression.

Ash suddenly smiled.

Entire minutes passed by, the heavy silence spreading over even the crowds. A breeze passed through, waving their hair slightly in its wake but neither did a thing for a moment.

Ash's smile grew just slightly. That was all he did, he didn't move, or speak, or do anything else.

...

Cynthia's hand twitched. "Draco Meteor!"

Ash chuckled. He'd won that round.

Garchomp briefly glowed orange, before the light condensed in her chest as she opened her jaw, releasing a single, gigantic orb of energy right up into the sky, high into the clouds themselves. Ash looked up, Pikachu with him, waiting for-

The sky was alight with a thousand spheres of light, orbs of burning rain. The burning rain came down. The arena was dyed in an orange hue as the fire came down, aiming at Pikachu, and everywhere else he could go.

"Flash Step!"

Pikachu vanished in a brief flash of yellow in the instant before a fireball landed where he'd occupied. He appeared elsewhere, only to vanish again when another fireball closed in on his position. Another appearance. Another disappearance. So on and so on Pikachu appeared and disappeared, the smoke of each impact making it even harder for the little mouse to be tracked. Garchomp and Cynthias' eyes darted everywhere, but finding Pikachu now was like finding a needle in a haystack, a stack that was currently smoking, and a needle that could move itself at will. Eventually the inferno rain came to a halt, and the arena was covered in a layer of smoke.

Pikachu was somewhere. Where exactly, only he knew. Only he needed to know. Ash on the other hand only needed to know Pikachu could hear him.

"Slam her down with Iron Tail!"

He reappeared, in a flash just above Garchomp's face before -WHAM!- the Iron Tail found its mark, and both Pikachu and Garchomp slammed into the ground, the latter held down by the metal tail of the former. Ash turned his attention to Cynthia."You can do better than that! Don't underestimate me, Cynthia!"

"I haven't! Garchomp, throw him off!"

Garhomp growled, and with great force leapt to her feet, Pikachu flipping off the dragon before putting distance between himself and her. Ash raised an eyebrow, Garchomp had been slammed in the face by an Iron Tail and scarcely fazed by it. He grinned. "This is gonna be a long round." He grinned. "Let's go, Pikachu! Let's show them who's the strongest!"

In the live world, Ash turned away, and continued walking. His thoughts finally found focus in reflection.

For as long as he could remember, all he'd really had a passion for was Pokémon. It'd been his dream at least since he was capable of memory. His dreams had started small; Trainer, then came "great Trainer", then Gym Leader. Then he heard of the title "Pokémon Master" and the idea stuck. One day it evolved to "the greatest Pokémon Master".

So much time had passed since then.

"So now what?" He couldn't improve on the dream. He hadn't missed anything outlined in his goal, and nothing better was about to pop out and entice him. He had nothing else to reach for. He'd given it thought on his way home, but never would he have expected the feeling to be this...heavy. There was no one else left, no one to fight. Nothing left to do. No way forward or up. He'd reached the highest point. He stood alone at the peak of a trainer's existence, like a man atop a lonely mountain. Separate, isolated, waiting for someone to strong enough to come before him, so that then they might finally fight, but how long would that be? Months? Years? Decades even? How long before someone strong enough came to challenge him? To push him to his absolute limit? Ash was only going to get stronger. It wasn't an option, it was in his blood, his very essence. It was just who he was. He couldn't not make himself and team stronger, faster, better. He was only to make the peak he stood upon higher, harsher and harder to reach. As the days went by he was going to be separated from the rest of the world by a distance that would grow further and further still.

Would anyone ever reach him?

"Maybe I should have just gone into hiding or something..." He shifted the hood of his cloak. "What would be the difference, really? And that way I'd have kept my crap to myself."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Delia sat alone in a coffee shop, the sunlight from the outside world shining down on her through the window she sat next to. Currently her attention was captured by large television indented into the wall, along with the attention of almost everyone else.

Both Pikachu and Garchomp suddenly stepped back, a lashing wind from a previous clash proving to be something they did not seek to approach. It quickly subsided, leaving the battle to continue.

Cynthia was first to give another command. "Brick Break! Aim it at the ground!" The fin of Garchomps' right wing glowed white. She struck the ground before her. The fin snaked right across and into the ground, launching many large chunks of it at Pikachu and the area around him.

Ash could have ordered Pikachu to evade, but he had a 'better' (opinions differed) idea. "Charge Beam!" Pikachu opened his mouth, forming a crackling ball of electricity just in front of his mouth before a stream of light burst forth from it. The beam obliterated everything it touched, the force knocking nearby shards off their trajectory and away from and path that lead to Pikachu. The beam had only one target in mind, and it was moving too fast to avoid.

"Block it!" Garchomp crossed her wings like a shield, and she was knocked off her feet as the beam exploded against her wings, slamming into the ground. She quickly forced herself back to her feet. Cynthia wasted no time before. "Sandstorm!" Garchomp spread her wings, and her entire body suddenly started to emit a distinct visible vapour, one that suddenly exploded in mass when her wings suddenly beat.

Both Ash and Pikachu were briefly frozen by the sight before them, a huge wave of sand was set to cover everything in its path, and the wave was about to envelop Pikachu.

He vanished, leaving it to crash harmlessly into the ground. Appearing closer to Ash, but the storm was still advancing, dyeing the arena a beach-like sandy brown. Ash's eyes tried to find Garchomp, but she proved harder to find in this storm of sand. "Dig!" Garchomp dived into the ground with little more effort than diving into water. In seconds she was gone. Lost underground as the storm continued.

Ash and Pikachu's eyes darted across the storm as best they could. Despite their efforts, they could find not a trace, or hint of Garchomp's location. Ash's feet swept across the ground, and Pikachu did the same. This was their doomed effort to feel for vibrations, none, and any second Garchomp would probably rise for an attack, if the storm didn't suffocate Pikachu first..."Pikachu, to the sky!" Pikachu briefly vanished, appearing very high above both the arena and the sandstorm. "Charge Veil!"

Pikachu's cheeks glowed, and then his body as his power flared. In a second his entire body could no longer be seen through the sheer amount of power. "CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The burst of electricity eventually slowed, letting Pikachu be seen once more, and when it finally ceased the effects remained, Pikachu was now covered in a yellow aura-like veil.

He started falling.

"Slam your tail into the ground and use Discharge! Aim everywhere!" Pikachu arced his body so his head was aiming at the ground, and he sailed down quickly. Before he hit the ground he flipped so his tail was aiming right for the ground.

Pikachu landed on his tail, indenting it into the ground. Like a shockwave the burst of electricity spread out, scarcely impeded by the storm, which could only be slowed before the might of the wave. The shockwave moved quickly, reaching across the huge arena, the electricity beneath the surface slicing upwards from the underground like the ground was little more than a leaf before the thousands of blades of electricity that cut through it.

It wasn't quick enough. "Garchomp, emerge!" The Dragon burst from the ground, rising far beyond the scope of the discharge, which now was everywhere Garchomp could have landed. Only Ash and Cynthia had any ground to stand safely upon. "Giga Impact!"

Garchomp growled, and almost instantly formed the barrier of orange and purple energy which was its trademark and most powerful physical move.

Ash grinned. "Volt Tackle!" Pikachu ripped himself from the ground, taking to all fours and suddenly charging forward. "Pika, pika, pika, pikAAAAAAAA!" He was shrouded in power, the veil he was already wrapped in glowing stronger and stronger with every step. Garchomp glided across the ground, both looked eye-to-eye.

Even if they order was given, they would not stop.

"GARRRRRRRR!"

"KAAAAAAAAA!"

The two superpowers collided, head-to-head, with enough force to shatter the ground under them, and they did. The ground completely gave way, and several feet of already-cracked ground below them was now nothing more than a dent in the battleground. Both remained in mid-air, neither backing down. From the colliding energies a wind blew, and the weakened sandstorm was quickly nullified. Countless particles of sand scattered over the arena, most of it being blown to the edges of the battlefield. There was a sudden spike in the force of the wind. The forces created a blinding light, which only grew brighter and bright before-

It exploded. Both Pikachu and Garchomp were forcibly thrown away from the center of the blast.

Garchomp slammed the fins of her wings into the ground, two clouds of dust bursting upwards as she still skidded across the ground, but even with that effort still found herself very close to her mistress when she finally came to a halt. She did not yet extract her wings from the ground.

Pikachu was sent sailing through the air, rolling in the air relatively slowly. His face flashed with pain, yellow streaks of electricity briefly coursing over his body before it faded, along with his veil. His eyes flashed open. He touched a front paw to the ground 'above' him, before his body flipped, a leg doing as the paw just did, and then a paw, then a leg. Piakchu flipped across the arena before kicking the ground one last time, landing and sliding across the arena floor, stopping right before his best friend. Pikachu took a few deep, rapid breaths before his breathing calmed. He grinned.

There was only silence, the crowd too stunned to even cheer at that point. All were too amazed by what they had just seen.

In the present-day world however...

"Having Pikachu meet her Garchomp's Giga Impact head-on like that, is he insane?"

Ash picked that precise moment to break into laughter. "You're pretty strong! But I've come too far to lose now, Cynthia!" His hand reached up to clutch his heart. "I'm going to be Grandmaster and you're not stopping me, you're not stopping us!" He released it. "Pikachu! She's weakened for now! Attack with Thunderpunch!"

"KA!"

He vanished, and in the next instant a still Garchomp had a small, glowing fist slammed into her face, knocking her right to the ground before, "Again!" A second strike made Garchomp scream in pain. "Hit until she hits back!" A rapidly flurry of vicious punches continued to knock Garchomp's face from side to side.

Delia turned away, she'd seen enough of that. In all truth, this was one of the matches she didn't like being reminded of. Ash would go on to order Pikachu to deliver strike after strike, all of them fast, hard and painful. The battle was not even half way through at this point, and the worst was yet to come. This match would go down in history as one of the most intense clashes ever recorded in a Pokémon battle. Some would even refuse to call it a battle. Such people called it a war, and the condition the battlefield was left in after the match was over gave them solid grounds to call it so.

Delia hated how much Ash actually enjoyed it. Ash had always enjoyed a good battle, but such battles she didn't understand how anyone could enjoy. It was almost never the case that Pokémon strove to outright kill each other in a match, but in battles of such intensity telling the difference was right next to impossible. There were close to a dozen times that Delia was terrified that Pikachu might actually die, but at the end of it he'd just walked away. She'd never been a Pokémon trainer, never would she be, so she could never even begin to understand. She could never understand how her son and Pikachu could put themselves through that, and love every second of it.

She honestly couldn't say if she would even want to know. A lot of things had changed in her son over time, not all of them good. She found herself wondering, wondering something she'd never had before, even throughout all the years, even in the silence, this thought had never taken form in her mind.

"Should I have stopped him?"

If she had kept him home, forbade him from leaving on that day, all those years ago, he'd be free from this. He wouldn't have to walk the streets in secret. He wouldn't be just an ideal to people now. Maybe, he could go actually make genuine friends, because finding such people now would be a trying task, more than Ash had the will to attempt right now. Maybe he wouldn't have changed so much.

Maybe, if she had stopped him, he'd be happy now. All she would have to had done was lock him in on that day...

"But what kind of mother would that have made me?"

She sighed. A well meaning one, but ultimately in her view, a bad one. Ash had wanted to leave, and had she kept him from doing so she could only imagine what his reaction might have been, and no predicted outcome was pleasant. Ash could never have lived the life of a normal child, it just wasn't in him. The only thing she had truly been scared of was the fact he'd be travelling alone, and all the dangers that could bring, but that worry had been quickly addressed, before his first day had even ended, actually. Then a short time later he'd added the final piece to his group of travellers. The years passed, but she never had to worry for very long about Ash being alone, he'd always find someone new to tag along with his adventures.

Until Unova, and everything those two years had brought...

She could have stopped him then too. Yet, as it was before, he'd wanted to go. She'd taken a gambit every time he'd wandered off, Unova was just the one she'd lost.

The one they'd both lost. They, and others.

Now he couldn't live the live of a normal teenager, or adult in the years to come either. She knew he was different from most children long before he walked out that door. She wasn't sure what would be the outcome once he left that day, but this outcome was never what she expected or wanted. She'd wanted Ash to go out and do well, but not for the sake of having done so. He could have been the least talented trainer in history (and in his very earliest days, she later learned, he was a contender for that title), as long as he was happy. For the most part, his journey had turned out well, he'd been happy.

It was only in the final stretch...

The fact was inescapable. He'd accomplished his dream, even if the results were not as he had imagined. As much as it pained them both, every action had consequences. Now Ash was meeting his, and his actions had heavy reactions to meet them. Maybe, it was all inevitable. Her son was just destined for greatness, but its costs...this can't, this just can't have been destined. Even for all of Ash's faults, and mistakes, this was just not fair.

Delia put her nearly finished cup on the table before her, the contents waving for a brief moment as the daylight dance upon them. She turned to the window, looking out towards the sky.

"Where did it all go wrong?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash sighed.

"Did I miss something?"

He was the Grandmaster, there wasn't any more to it than that, but still he could not shrug off a sense of wrongness to it all. "I'm Grandmaster. I'm the best." Nope, didn't help. Something was wrong about it, with it. Something within the fact of that statement was almost like poison. He'd never given a great deal of thought to what life would be like after becoming the best, but he was certain of one thing.

This wasn't it.

So why wasn't this, it?

Ash took a moment to sit on a bench, looking out in front of him. The area before him was void of buildings and constructs, apparently left that way just for Pokémon battles, because before him that's what it was being used for. Dozens of battles were taking place in front of his eyes, and Pokémon from every region he'd walked through were before him. He saw a Machamp fighting against a Lucario, a Noctowl against Solrock, and a two-on-battle between a Beedrill and a Swampert against a Ramparados and a Galvantula. Many more battles lined the area before him, but as dust raised from closer battles the more distant ones became harder to see.

So many, so far away...

It was then he wondered, out loud. "Pikachu. Do you think we may have, I don't know...done all this too fast?"

"Pii?" Hmm?

"I mean, look at us. We're still so young, and we're...done. Here we are, best in the world. I mean, how long did it take Cynthia and Alder just to become Champions? And now I've gone past them..."

"Ka pi chu chuka pi?" What are you getting at?

It was nearly a minute before he answered. "I don't know. It just feels like...well it doesn't feel right. I'm thinking...maybe it all happened too quickly, that's all. Like maybe it was all meant to go on, we were meant to go on longer. I, we were meant to see more, do more, and well..." He shrugged."Here we are." He turned to look at his friend, smiling slightly. "Probably worrying over nothing, ain't I?"

Pikachu blinked. "Maybe, maybe not." That was a serious thought. It was different for Pikachu. Before Professor Oak had given him to Ash, all Pikachu really knew was that lab, and before that the forests of Pallet, until Professor Oak came to capture him, the man had seemed oddly determined to catch him over the other Pikachu that were around, and he used to wonder why that was. Most of Pikachu's life had been wandering, he'd never really got the concept of home until he was with Ash, and as long as he was with him that was home enough for Pikachu. Still, being in one place for what may well be forever was very strange. Not a good or bad strange, just strange. Maybe Ash was just too used to being on the road. "Pika ka pi pikachu chupi." We could go travelling again.

Ash vehemently shook his head. "I couldn't do that to Mom. Even with, well, all the crap I've brought back with me she wouldn't want me to go. I couldn't leave now, not for a long, long while. If I ever do."

He leaned back, gazing at the sky as his mind wandered to something else, another matter. There was something else, about yesterday that was bothering him, not as much as...other things, but it was something that now, sitting here, hidden from the world he couldn't help but think about.

When he'd walked out into the stadium to battle, he'd knew cheers would sound out for him. He'd gotten used to it at the Grandmaster Championship as the rounds went on. With every victory the crowds cheered louder and louder, until they were nearly deafening at the final match, and even stronger when he'd actually won. With all these people cheering for him now, it felt like should be...doing something. He'd seen it growing up, and even in more recent encounters with famous trainers (the regional champions in particular). They interacted with people, offered words, encouraged the children, and more.

"Am I supposed to?"

Ash didn't know what he was supposed to do, if he was supposed to do anything, but it felt like he had to. So what was it? He'd only talked to one fan, but only because that boy reminded him of another, a boy who was more sure of himself then, then Ash himself was now. "Would I have known what to do back then?"

With an oddly happy smirk, he knew that not even that Ash would have. Oh he'd put on a show, suck up the attention like a sponge (and then do something very, very stupid most likely), but beyond that he'd have had no idea what to do.

What were you supposed to do when you reached the top?

He sighed. Were there only someone he could ask about this. Someone he could get answers from. Who in this world could he possibly go to? Who could understand what it was like? He wondered if either Cynthia or Alder might be of some help, but both of them were rarely easy to find, so that was out. He still doubted they could have helped, even if he knew where to find them. They were regional champions, they were not the world champion, the Grandmaster, like him. His position was so much bigger, his weight so much heavier than their own. He looked out into the distance, far beyond the battles in front of him. In the distance the shape of large hills were carved against the sky, partly disguising that which lay beyond, the world that lay beyond. The world was a big place, and if he ever left to wander it again he could see many things, meet many people, and he'd helped many people out there in his time...

"If only someone out there could help me." He rose from the bench, picked another direction and got right back to walking.

Not for the first time that day, Pikachu had been paying attention, he'd found himself wondering something Ash had already, that Delia had too.

As others had, and would. They'd all wonder at one point or another, about what the Ash they once knew had become.

"When did all this start, Ash?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Misty had come across something interesting. Before her a small crowd was forming around another battle. (A crowd smaller than the battle she'd witnessed only hours ago). She only chose to watch because of who was battling. The trainer she didn't know. The Gym Leader on the other hand...

Forrest smiled. "Alright, it'll be a one-on-one battle." He reached for his waist, picking the only Pokéball he had on his person. "Ready when you are."

Gym leaders being challenged in the streets was sadly not that uncommon an occurrence. When Gym Leaders are at a regional conference, it was never the case that at least one Gym Leader wasn't challenged. Lt. Surge had mentioned in passing that he'd been challenged three times the previous day. His Raichu made short work of its opponents. Misty found it a little strange that it was the most intimidating Gym Leaders that were being challenged most, rather than the weaker looking ones.

Clearly someone decided to try and be smart, going for the 'newest' Gym Leader. This wasn't going to end well. Forrest's opponent was only a child, less than ten most likely (or just really short. If the former than he technically wasn't a trainer.), and Misty (as well as Forrest) suspected the Nirdoino besides him was likely a pet before he'd evolved.

As previously stated; this would not end well.

"Go, Rhyperior!"

Forrest's first Pokémon appeared with a roar of the first syllable of its name, its immense physique making the area allocated for the battle seem a lot smaller.

The trainer actually backed away, along with Nidorino. A smart person would consider backing out now.

Most children were not smart.

"Horn attack!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash detected it before he'd even seen it. The air was alive with the thrill of another battle. His thoughts briefly turned to that kid he'd beat down a few hours ago "Maybe now the little punk will actually have a little humility." He wondered for a second if perhaps the kid was already battling, but when he caught a view of the battlefield he was given a surprising answer.

For a brief instant, he wondered if he was seeing Brock, but once he actually looked he learned he was mistaken. He needed a moment to recall his name-"Forrest." Then he remembered, Brock had left him in charge of the gym.

Ash was honestly curious to see how he'd battle.

"Horn attack!"

Nidirno charged, aiming his horn right for his enemy.

Ash shook his head. Foolish, really. Attacking head-on like that. Ash couldn't help but smile, though. He could recall himself doing something a lot like that, against another member of Forrest's family...he sighed. There went his good mood, well, his 'not bad' mood anyway.

Pikachu's eyes were not on the battle, he could tell from a glance who was to be the victor. No, his eyes were somewhere else. Misty's eyes were on the battle, so she hadn't noticed Ash. It was almost funny, in a way, Ash and Misty found themselves in the same place twice in a day, but never close enough to take notice of the other. "Is somebody messing with them or this just coincidence?" Pikachu turned an eye to the battle, couldn't hurt to watch.

Couldn't hurt him anyway. Like Ash's had been all those years ago, the trainer's foolishness was about to be punished. Nidorino jumped, planning to hit Rhyperior right in the face.

Forrest wouldn't give him the chance. "Megahorn!"

Rhyperior's lower horn suddenly glowed, and taking careful aim, he thrust it towards his foe. The attacking Nidorino was bashed away by the glowing horn, and fell on his side on the ground, defeated.

Ash smiled, just like his brother, Forrest knew how to end a battle quickly. Brock had picked a great successor. Something suddenly hit Ash. He couldn't recall the exact details right now, but wasn't Flint left in charge of the gym when Brock had first left? So why wasn't he running it anymor-

A hand suddenly clasped on his shoulder. "Hello, Ash." Speak of the devil.

Ash turned to see Flint had been the one to grab his shoulder. "How did you-?" He just blinked, too shocked to finish his question.

"It was Pikachu who gave it away. The cloak just makes sense. Hiding from the public I take it?" Ash nodded. Flint turned to look at Forrest., who was quite preoccupied. "Come with me, Ash."

Ash chose not to refuse.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Forrest returned his Rhyperior to his Pokéball, after thanking it for a good job. He turned his attention to his opponent. "Nice try, but you can't expect to win every match just by attacking head-on, you need to use strategy."

The trainer examined his Nidorino, finding him in no danger he nodded, turning to face Forrrest. "I'll beat you one day."

Forrest smiled. "You know where to find me."

The trainer nodded, smile as he withdrew his Nidorino and walked away, the nearest Pokémon Center his intended destination.

Misty smiled. Forrest was definitely a worthy successor to Brock as Gym leader. More so than his parents had been, his mother in particular (Misty didn't take too kindly to the story of Lola running the gym. She was the Water-type Gym Leader of Kanto!). She couldn't help feel a bit of pride. Most people underestimated 'younger' Gym Leaders. It brought her great pleasure to see that thought disproved.

Her smile was accompanied by a slight eye twitch as Forrest found himself surrounded by a crowd. It was a shame he also took on Brock's interest in the ladies, that particular characteristic wasn't one of Brocks' better traits. Though, Forrest seemed at least able to somewhat control himself...

Well, he wasn't proclaiming his love to girls left, right and center, that was an improvement. She wondered if Brock's Croagunk ever took the liberty of controlling Forrest too. She shrugged, maybe she'd ask sometime. She looked down at the bundle in her arms. "Wanna get some food, baby?"

A cheerful bouncing was her answer.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Flint, Pikachu and Ash walked through the streets, drawing almost no attention (to Ash's joy) as they simply wandered through the buzz of the streets.

Pikachu's cheeks were sparking very slightly. There were very few occasions Pikachu was actually really frustrated with Ash. Such occasions were very rare, and far between.

Such an occasion was on this day.

He could Volt Tackle Ash now, he really could. He really, really didn't understand humans sometimes (and he'd spent six years travelling with them). Both Ash and Misty were making this (in his view) needlessly painful. As far as he saw it this was simple, they missed one another, so why the hell weren't they speaking? Okay, he got that the situation wasn't exactly ideal, but something had to be done, and since neither were going to do it unless something changed, he'd take a shot. He jumped down from Ash's shoulder silently, his cheeks glowing yellow.

He vanished.

Flint had been watching. "Where's Pikachu going?"

"Probably gone to pee or something."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

It took him less than two minutes. Once he'd caught her scent he'd followed. It turned out she was only a couple blocks away. He found Misty and Azuril in a park, both helping themselves to burgers and fries (not an ideal diet for a 'baby', but Pokémon rarely cared about such things). He was downhearted to notice there were no packets of Ketchup lying around.

Ketchup was Ketchup, he wasn't too picky about what happened to contain it.

He approached, unnoticed by Misty, who seemed to be deep in thought about something. It was Azuril who noticed him first, and greeted him with a happy cry.

Misty's head snapped up, and quickly she located the source of her baby's sudden joy. Misty took one look at Pikachu, then her head shot around, looking for Ash. "Pikapi chupi ka pika." Ash isn't with me.

She gave a stiff nod, not being comfortable with the fact she was glad Ash hadn't come, but at the same time confused that was the case. "Did you sneak off?" A nod was her answer. She lightly patted her lap, and Pikachu gladly jumped into it, quickly finding her hands delivering a good petting. "It's good to see you, Pikachu. I was watching you, when you were at the Championship you know, you've really gotten strong."

Pikachu gave a happy "Chaa" under the petting, but was still aware enough to process the fact. "She was keeping track of Ash. That's a good sign."

"Have you been okay, Pikachu?" A nod. "Miss me?" A very enthusiastic nodding.

Misty smiled, well at least Pikachu had missed her enough to come see her. Neither said anything for a moment, Misty just continuing to pet Pikachu (much to his pleasure). Eventually her shoulders betrayed a quiet sigh and she spoke up.

"When did it happen, Pikachu?" She continued to stroke Pikachu's fur, speaking more to herself than to him. "When did I stop being important to him?"

His ears twitched. This wasn't good. He turned up to face her, making her with retreat in the process. "Pika ka pipika pi Pikapi. Pika chu pika chu!" You are important to Ash! He cares about you!

She looked down into Pikachu's eyes, Pikachu was certainly trying to tell her something he thought was important, but she wasn't Ash, she couldn't understand Pika-speak fully (or even especially well). She was confident enough however to attempt at guessing what he was saying. "He won't come to me, Pikachu..." She paused for a moment. "Maybe he just doesn't care as much as I thought."

Her attention was grabbed by Pikachu practically jumping in her lap. "Kachu pika pi! Pika pika chu ka pikachu pi ka! Pikapi pichu chu!" That's not true! He cares about you more than anything! Ash loves you!

She looked at him in slight confusion for a moment before she smiled softly. She picked up Ash's oldest friend and hugged him.

"I miss him too, Pikachu." She smiled. "I've missed you, too."

Pikachu hugged back. His eyes closed. So this is how things had come to be, between Ash and Misty..."I could have done something." He grasped tighter."Pikachu pika, Pikachupi." I'm sorry, Misty.

Misty had to probe her memory for this one, she'd heard those first two words somewhere. What was the context then? It hit her, and she couldn't help but wonder; What did Pikachu have to be sorry for? She couldn't think of a single thing, but if he felt the need to apologize she'd try to make him feel better. "It's okay, Pikachu." She patted his back lightly. "It's okay."

"If only it was..."

Eventually Misty put Pikachu back down, both of them smiling sadly. Pikachu turned to Azurill and gave a small wave, which was met with energetic bouncing. Pikachu jumped off her lap, before he turned back to Misty. "Kachu, Pikachupi." Goodbye, Misty.

"Goodbye, Pikachu."

He was gone in a flash.

Misty frowned. Ash not talking to her, that was bad enough, but now Pikachu was actually having to sneak off to speak with her.

"Ash...why won't you just come face me?" She sighed. "I'm worth that much to you at least, aren't I?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He appeared in a flash. He jumped up, taking his place upon Ash's shoulder. "What kept you?"

"Pika ka chu pi ka chupi pi." Took a while to find some privacy.

Ash didn't inquire any further. Pikachu was still frustrated with him, but if he was going to punish Ash, he'd have to punish himself as well. He decided not to.

What good would it really do?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A while later Ash and Flint found themselves in a bar, sitting at table, each with a drink. Flint, an ale. Ash (and Pikachu) a coke (he was never even touching alcohol again, even when he did become old enough to drink). Ash still kept his hood up, but strangely he didn't draw even the slightest bit of attention. "Shady-dressed characters are a natural fixture in bars," were Flints words on the matter. That'd earned him a glare, which was met with a joking statement "you could lower your hood". Even Ash had enough brains to realize there was no winning that argument.

To deal with fans: Currently, it was 'run like hell'. Drunken fans: Ash didn't feel like coming up with a method today. He would one day encounter the phenomenon known the 'drunken fangirl'. It'd be on the top twenty list of his worst experiences.

The plural of that would be in the top ten.

Everything under "fanboys" would collectively hold a place in the top five.

Now Ash and Flint sat in silence, attempts at small talk had dwindled to little more than wasted efforts. Flint changed tactics, and dived right in.

"You remember once upon a time, I told you of how I left home to pursue my dreams of being a great trainer." Ash nodded, and Flint continued. "Sad to say, my story really is all too common." He sighed, leaning back and looking up. "Men leaving home with delusions of grandeur, only to fail and never return. I'm not sure I understand your story, Ash." Ash's expression changed from awkward to interested. "You came back the single greatest in the world. I'm curious, why aren't you reaching out to your friends?" Ash's expression changed, and Flint answered the silent question. "I overheard part of one of Brock's calls. I figured it out. Now Ash, you're the one that brought all of your friends together, they wouldn't know one another if not for you. So why don't you reach out to them again?"

Ash averted his eyes, and he grasped his drink. Pikachu did too, his sad visage similar to Ash's. They each took a gulp before Ash finally answered. "Grandmaster or not, they can do better than trash like me."

"Trash? Ash, why would you call yourself that?"

He gave a bitter, brief laugh. "My Mom, my own Mom is among those I abandoned. Have I made my point?" Ash sighed. "My Mom is the kindest person I know. Maybe too much for her own good. She should have just slammed the door in my face."

Despite the answer he'd received, Flint smiled, his shoulders briefly shaking with a repressed, nostalgic laugh. "I remember thinking just like that."

"Huh?"

"I wondered if Brock would punch me or worse when I came home, but I was worrying over nothing. Now, well now look at things." Flint smiled. "Everything's perfect." He gave Ash the most meaningful look the boy could ever remember seeing on the man's face, and Ash had a sudden guess where Brock's wisdom (and his instincts said, his love of the opposite sex) came from. "Family is a very unique thing, Ash. Your mother is very kind, yes. But you forget, you're her son, you're the most important thing in her life. Don't focus on your guilt. Just be good to her, really good. And make sure you let her know you love her, she deserves it. Do that and everything will be fine, trust me."

Ash looked down, intently, into the contents of his glass. "I brought problems back with me. Right to her..."

Flint's response was instantaneous. "Fix them." Ash's head snapped up, and Flint's tone was without sympathy or cruelty. "If you don't want to burden your mother with your problems, find a way to deal with them. I came back barely knowing how to run a household, and that made being a good father difficult. I learned how, and as I said, everything is just perfect. If you have your own problems, deal with them."

"I'm not sure how..."

He smiled. "You'll find a way. You have a way of making the best out of bad situations." He chuckled to himself. "Anyone who'd set a Pikachu against an Onyx has enough guts to face anything."

Ash's mind briefly flashed back to the night before, facing down that little boy..."I'm not like that kid anymore."

"I doubt that, Ash. You were a good kid, and in my experience good kids rarely stray too far." Flint raised his drink, carefully considering something before took a swig and spoke again. "You know, my son never speaks of the last time you two talked."

Ash's hand twitched against his glass. "That makes two of us."

"Was it really that bad?"

He nodded. "Let's just say Brock will probably punch me in the face if we ever meet again." He took a gulp of his drink. "Well he should." His breath gave a shadow of a brief, bitter laugh. "I would."

Flint smiled. "He wont. He's not exactly happy with you, but this is my son we're talking about. Getting him really angry isn't easy. Like your Mom, he's very forgiving. If your last meeting was that bad, talk to him. And have a good apology ready."

Ash didn't speak for a while, but when Ash's voice was finally heard again, it didn't come from the chair across from Flint.

All eyes turned to the source of Ash's voice.

"Pikachu, Volt Tackle!" Even those who had not been paying much attention to the battle beforehand paid close attention, this final blow was a momentous occasion in history, when a new Grandmaster conquered his final challenger and took the crown. The blow slammed into its target, and it could almost be felt in the real world, a shadow of a wave sweeping across the crowd.

All was silent for a moment, before the announcement was made. Ash had just been declared the victor.

Flint smiled, shaking his head in minor disbelief. "Ash Ketchum, Pokémon Grandmaster. I thought you'd go far, but I didn't see this coming." He turned to Ash, raising his glass. "May your reign be even grander than all of your predecessors."

Ash lightly sipped from his drink, his mind hazily processing something. "My predecessors..."

He started drinking. He suddenly stopped. Something was brewing in his brain. He took another gulp.

Nope, it was gone.

Wait...that word. That word was stirring in his brain. "Predecessors...predecessors...predecessors..."

He raised the glass to his lips again. "Predecess-"

He nearly choked. His entire body suddenly shot up in attention.

Now there was an idea!

There was someone he could go to!

He shot to his feet, and was off so fast you could have sworn he was attempting Extremespeed. Pikachu jumped from the table, quickly catching up and jumped on his shoulder. All Flint heard was Ash's last words as Ash's glass shakily spun on the table.

"Thank youuuu!"

Flint could only blink in confusion. "What for?" Flint finished off his drink, smiling to himself.

His son had sure made some interesting friends in his travels.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

For being so important, the building which housed Charles Goodshow's office was oddly easy to get into, with most of the employees not even giving Ash a second glance as he moved through the halls and floors. The one employee that proved to be a pain was the one who stood between him and Charles, his secretary. A middle-aged woman who clearly didn't have much patience for people who didn't have "official business" (her words) with Charles.

Ash was quickly losing patience. "Will you please just open the door? This is important!"

"And who is important enough to bother Mr. Goodshow at this hour?"

Ash threw off his hood, and was met with a shocked gasp (he hoped this wasn't going to happen every time he revealed his face). "Grandmaster Ash Ketchum!" He slammed both his hands on her desk. "Now open the damn door!"

The secretary's hand slammed on a button under her desk, and the door to Goodshow's office was opened. He moved in quickly, the door shutting him in quickly.

"I hope Mr. Goodshow doesn't fire me..."

Ash took a glancing look around the office, which for a man like Charles Goodshow was oddly...normal. A very large window at the back of the room, closer to the left side, white wallpaper, which was littered with various pictures of Charles with important figures in the Pokémon world. He caught one of himself, just after he became Grandmaster. He, Pikachu and Charles were grinning, all flashing a peace sign at the camera.

It was the most unprofessional picture of any in the room. It was also one of Charles' personal favourites. Currently, Charles was at his desk, glancing up from a small pile of documents in his hands. "Ash! I thought I heard you. What brings you here?"

"You said you owed me a favour. Well I need to call it in now."

Charles blinked in surprise. "Now? Well that's very sudden Ash. It's kinda late-"

"Don't worry. I don't need much. I just need an address."

Now his eyebrow expressed his confusion. "An address? Who on earth could you be wanting to go see?"

Ash took a breath. "Quentin Gelden." Pikachu's ears twitched, but he said nothing.

Whatever name Charles had been expecting, that definitely wasn't it. "Ash, I can't give you that, it's league policy-"

"Please, Mr. Goodshow!" Ash was visibly getting desperate now. "I need that address! He's the only one I can talk to!" He took a breath, and a moment to compose himself. "It's just, all this...it's a lot to adjust to. So I figured he could help me out. I mean, who else better than him?" Charles almost seemed to be considering it. Almost. "Come on, It's me! Who am I gonna tell? And you owe me!"

Charles' hands briefly clasped together as he leaned against them, considering Ash for a moment before, "Alright." Charles removed himself from his chair, walking over to a file cabinet near his desk as Ash watched. He reached in one of the lower draws, pulling it out. Ash couldn't help but notice this draw had very few folders in it, and he managed to catch that the foremost one had his own name upon it. Charles reached for the one behind it, pulling it out and placing it on his desk again. In under a minute Charles had copied some information by hand, folding the piece of paper and handing it to Ash. "Here. The address is a bit out-of-the-way, but you should be fine."

Ash took one look at the address he'd been given, Goodshow wasn't lying about its location, but he'd find it. "Thanks, Mr. Goodshow."

"You're welcome. Now if you don't mind I was about to finish for the day. And do you mind not yelling at my secretary on the way out?"

Ash at least looked somewhat embarrassed. "Sorry." He prepared to turn away. "Call if you need me again. Bye."

"Goodbye, Ash." With that the new Grandmaster made way to the door, opening it to be bombarded with stuttered apologies. Ash silenced them with a lazy raise of his hand ("Don't worry about it"). The door closed moved back into its closed position, leaving the Pokémon League President alone once more.

"I hope he can help you, Ash." Charles was pensive for a moment, before nodding to himself.

He had one last thing to do before his day was done.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash quickly moved through the streets, more eager in his steps than he'd been in a long time. Something had gone right today, very right indeed. It would be hard to knock him out of his good mood-"What the hell?!"

"Mrs. Ketchum! Mrs. Ketchum!"

"What's it like being the mother of the Grandmaster, Mrs. Ketchum?"

"What's the Grandmaster like at home, Mrs. Ketchum?"

He couldn't believe it! Well, he probably could but he was too damn angry. There was his mother, swamped by cameras and reporters at every angle. She was backed up to a wall currently, and she wasn't the kind of person who'd take throw punches to get out of such a predicament. Clearly someone had figured out who she was, and like a swarm the press had swept in. At least half a dozen microphones were aimed at her, and who knows how many cameras were flashing in her direction. She backed up against the wall a little harder, close in composure to a frightened Sentret.

Ash gritted his teeth. Where the hell did these damn leeches come from?! "Should have seen this coming!" He reached up to his shoulder, holding Pikachu in a single hand before pulling his arm back. "Pikachu, get rid of them!" He threw his best friend, and Pikachu sailed into the sky, right above the crowd of people that had cornered his favourite female human in the world (one of, first place was a tie with Misty). All eyes turned up to the shadow that was suddenly cast over them.

"PIKAAAAA-CHUUUUUUU!" Light was the last thing the crowd saw. They were all suddenly silent, and fell to the ground. Pikachu landed, dusting off his paws. Not exactly 'getting rid of them' but hey, they weren't bothering Delia anymore.

Delia blinked in shock, before sighing in relief, thank Arceus that was over. Delia turned to her son, giving him a shaken, but happy smile.

Ash smiled too, but only on the outside. "Now I bring this to her!" He made his way to Delia, Pikachu taking a place on her shoulder for a change (if anyone else showed up he was ready). Ash somehow knew exactly what to say.

"Let's go home."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

End of Chapter

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Author's Notes: HOLY SHIT! A chapter less than ten thousand words! Does this mean I have finally grown tired of droning on and on?

Hell no!

I just ran out of ideas.

This bloated gasbag fully intends to bore as many of you to death as possible while you desperately wade through every needlessly-long paragraph and pointless detail to find anything even resembling a good part.

And for those of you who survive all that; I'm tearing at every heart string I can reach, so prepare yourselves for a tear jerker! (alright, I'm not that good but there will be emotional moments)

Those of you who make it through that: Well, I actually haven't planned for that possibility...

Suppose I should draw up an ending. Now, I'm out of original ideas, so what I can get away with plagiarizing...

Well now begins the part of the book I've been (poorly) building up to. I'd have built up longer, but there's nothing important I can think to do until I just get on with it, and as much as I love going on and on, I need something to go on about.

Now let's see how many of you can guess where this is going.

If it actually takes longer than five seconds for anyone to figure it out I'll eat a coke can.