Author's Note:

Here it is, Charizard meets an old face. This is the last chapter before the League starts next chapter. This is also the closest I will get to a Charizard focused chapter. Sorry that this chapter and last one was a little on the shorter side, the league chapters should make up for that, speaking of they start next chapter. I can remember being asked what the title Amid Newborn is about, and I said it was a puzzle. The type of puzzle is an anagram of Damien Brown. I know it should be spelt Damian but I changed it so it would work with the anagram. Remember to vote in the Poll, it changes when the next chapter gets posted. With that, let's begin...


Chapter 53: Amid Newborn

"Man Brock, this is great." Ash exclaimed as he took another big bite from his breakfast Brock cooked. It is a sort of Breakfast stew with: Hash Brown; scrambled egg; bacon; sausage; waffles; milk and a few secret ingredients. "Thanks for cooking.".

"Hehehe, no problem Ash." Brock replied sheepishly. Even though everyone who tries his cooking praises it, even Blue and Professor Oak when Red invited them over for tea and he wanted to show his thanks to Ash's parents for allowing him to say, he still isn't used to the attention but it is nice to hear. "I've been wanting to try this out for a while.".

"Well its great Brock." Misty praised also taking another bite. Unlike the raven-haired boy, she is eating with some manors.

"Could you give the recipe please?" Serena asked. Ever since Celadon, she has been sort of Brock student, learning how to cook. Of course, she wanted to learn before her journey started but her mother teased her saying it was only because she wanted to impress Ash, and she couldn't handle her teasing.

"Of course, Serena." Brock smiled, he truly is happy with how things turned out with Serena. When she first asked him to teach her too cook, he wasn't too sure but it turned out very well for both of them. Watching her learn and improve was very nice to see, and she even had some ideas to add to some of his current recipes which just made them better. Having a student truly has been a great experience for the Pokemon breeder, bringing a new light to the pass time.

"Hey Charizard, what's the matter?" Ash asked. Catching his breath after almost chocking on his breakfast, he looked at his team of: Pikachu, Ivysaur, Charizard; Wartortle; Primeape and Tauros. While most of them were enjoying some of Brock's homemade Pokemon food suited to the Pokemon's type, but the fire flying type was staring off into the distance. Just like last night, with an expression somewhere between sadness and anger.

"Toge Toge?" Togepi asked. He was sat on the table with a bowl of mashed up banana and bottle of formula milk, Brock suggested Ash should start to try and whine Togepi on to solid food but Togepi has found it more fun to cover himself in the mashed fruit. Although he stopped playing with his food when Ash spoke to the orange guy.

"Huh." Charizard replied, tearing his eyes from that direction. "Nothing Ash... Really.".

"Togepi, you crying?" Pikachu asked, looking at the baby fairy type. He was surprised to see the egg Pokemon laughing his head out waving his stubby arms around fling mashed banana around.

"Why did you think Togepi was crying, Pikachu?" Ash asked, looking at his starter Pokemon.

"I can hear someone crying..." Pikachu replied. "My first thought was Togepi.".

"Oh, my Arceus." Serena gasped, drawing her boyfriend's attention. To his surprise, he saw her run to a girl who was sobbing while walking out of the nearby forest area, not watching where she was going, the girl fell over.

The girl has medium length turquoise spiky hair. Wearing a short sleeve red coat with a white under shirt; dark blue jeans and black shoes. Serena lead the girl to a seat, taking the one next to her, and sat for about ten minutes just comforting her. Eventually she calmed down enough to talk.

"Thank you." Were the first words to leave her fragile mouth, in little more than whisper.

"It's okay." Serena replied with a small smile. "I'm Serena, by the way. That's Ash, that's Misty and that's Brock.". Serena pointed her travelling companions out to this new girl.

"I'm Melissa." The girl replied, weakly. "Melissa Yoshiki.".

"Well Melissa." Serena replied, cheerfully in an attempt to cheer the sad girl up. "Could you tell us why you're so sad?".

"Well... My Golem left me." Melissa replied, on the verge of tears again.

"Your Golem left you!?" Ash exclaimed out of shock. "Why would it do that?".

"I've had Golem since he was a little Geodude, my parent are breeders and gave me his egg to look after." Melissa explained. "He left because I lost.".

"You lost?" Brock questioned. "Lost a battle?".

"Yes... but that isn't the full reason." Melissa explained. "We've lost battles before, like in the Cerulean Gym. But we trained together and went back. Eventually we won all eight gym badges in Kanto.".

"So, your competing in the Indigo League?" Misty questioned.

"... Not anymore." Melissa sighed. "I lost my badges, that is why Golem left.".

"Don't worry, we can help you find them." Ash offered with a friendly smile. "I'm competing in the league too, so I know how much each badge means.".

"I don't mean lost like that, I know where they are." Melissa informed. "I lost a battle to this boy, then he told me that it was a one on one and I needed to give him my badges as a reward. I didn't want to but my case fell out of my pocket and he snatched it before I could get it.".

"That's horrible." Serena gasped as Melissa started crying again so she went back to comforting her.

"Who would do such a thing?" Misty asked angrily.

"He said his name was Amid." Melissa replied, attempting to steam her tears. "Amid Newborn. He has blue hair and a weird accent.".

Charizard growled threateningly when he heard that, he may not know an Amid Newborn but he knows a blue haired, weird accent man and this is just the type of think that son of a Nidoqueen would do.

"Charizard?" Ash questioned. "What's gotten into you.".

"Think about it Ash, blue haired with a weird accent." Misty pointed out. "Who does that remind you of?".

"Damien." Ash growled as realisation hit him. "But he should've been caught by now. Officer Jenny has been searching for over a year.".

"What if he hasn't been caught." Brock spoke up. "He wouldn't be able to challenge the gyms, with his arrest warrant out. So, he would need to get his badges somehow. Even needing a fake identity to enter the league under.".

"And Amid Newborn isn't even that smart of an alias." Misty continued. "It's just an anagram of Damien Brown.".

"Maybe that's why Charizard has been distracted lately." Ash muttered as he looked at the fire flying type.

"What is that, Ash?" Serena asked.

"I noticed last night Charizard was looking down the path, and his expression... It was somewhere between depression and rage." Ash explained. "I put it to the back of my mind and went to bed, but this morning he was doing the same thing.".

"Pokemon are known to have high leveller of senses compared to humans." Brock explained. "Maybe he could sense Damien nearby.".

"Who is this Damien?" Melissa asked. Before answering, Ash looked towards his Charizard silently asking if he could tell her the story. To answer the unasked question, Charizard nodded, so Ash turned back to the turquoise haired girl.

"Damien is my Charizard's original trainer." Ash started. "We first met Charizard when he was on a rock in the middle of a path. Damien told him to stay there and said he was coming back. We ran into Damien at the next Pokemon centre, where he was bragging about abandoning Charmander. A storm started whilst we were there and we ran to try and save him. Running Charmander to the Pokemon centre, he spent the night in the emergency room... And at one point his tail flame went out.".

"Oh my..." Melissa gasped.

"We don't know how but he was revitalised and he ended up joining my team." Ash continued. "We started training with his accuracy and soon he was on point. Damien saw this and tried to take Charmander back. Lucky Nurse Joy called Officer Jenny and she came to arrest him. Unfortunately, he escaped before she could arrest him.".

"Toge Toge." Togepi muttered sadly. He may not fully understand what was just said, but the fairy type knows it wasn't a happy story and feels sad for the orange guy.

"Melissa, I promise you we will get your badges back." Ash promised with determination. "While I can be sure until we see him, I am almost positive it is Damien who took your badges. And he can't be allowed out on the streets let alone compete in the league.".

"Really?" Melissa asked hopeful.

"Yeah..." Ash replied quietly. Turning to his group of Pokemon he pulled out four Pokeballs. "Tauros, Primeape, Ivysaur and Wartortle. Returned.". He recalled the four Pokemon, Ash walked over to Togepi while Pikachu jumped on Ash's shoulder.

"Toge?" Togepi asked with curiosity, tilting his head to the side. Ash picked his baby Pokemon up and walked up to his girlfriend.

"Serena, can you take care of Togepi for me?" Ash asked as he held the fairy type out. Serena nodded and carefully took Togepi off his hand. Ash turned around and walked over to his Charizard who was staring at him expectantly. "You ready, buddy?".

Charizard roared in agreement. Ash climbed onto Charizard's back.

"We will see you guys later." Ash told his travelling companions. With a kick on Charizard's side, the fire flying type shot up into the sky. They were on a mission and are going to stop Damien Brown.

High in the sky, Ash, Pikachu and Charizard were looking across the sky to try and see the boy who used to trainer Charizard back before evolution. After about ten minutes of searching, Pikachu saw what looked like a Golem on the floor with a Poliwrath standing over it and a blue haired boy behind the water fighting type.

"Guys, I think I've found them." Pikachu informed Ash and Charizard. The two looked at the electric type who pointed down to the scene below.

"Good job Pikachu." Ash praised his starter. "Okay Charizard, get us down there.".

Charizard nodded and shot straight down. Ash had to wrap his hands around the flame Pokemon's neck while Pikachu placed himself between Ash and Charizard to prevent flying off. Opening his wings barely above the ground Charizard came to a stop, landing with a powerful roar.

Ash jumped of Charizard's back. During the time training, he has spent a lot of time flying with: Pidgeot; Charizard and Aerodactyl, as a way to bond with his flying types, same how he went swimming with Wartortle and Gyarados, so he is used to these types of landings as both Charizard and Aerodactyl use this style.

"Damien." Ash spat coldly as he saw the blue haired boy, walking to his Charizard's side. He can see a Golem knocked out and it didn't take a genius to work out this is Melissa's partner. "So, he didn't leave her, he went to get their badges back.".

"You're that brat." Damien accused. "The one who stole my Charmander, probably that useless thing next to you, and got me in trouble with the Police.".

"You got yourself in trouble, Damien." Ash replied. "By breaking the law, and you will be punished for what you've done.".

"No brat. Because of you my own mother has disowned me. If the squirt wasn't so pathetic then I wouldn't have needed to leave it." Damien replied, as Charizard growled in a threating tone. "But now that your here, I can beat both of you and show what happens when you mess with the best.".

"You don't know what you're dealing with." Ash replied as a hint of blue aura entered his pupils. Charizard roared when he saw that, he wants to beat Damien, not use Ash's aura. This is his fight. Hearing Charizard's plea, was enough to make Ash deactivate his aura. He would work with Charizard and beat Damien.


Ash VS Damien:

"Wing Attack!" Ash shouted.

Like a bullet, Charizard shot forward and slammed his wing into the water fighting type. Poliwrath went flying behind Damien and only stopped when he slammed into a tree. Damien growled at the early disadvantage.

"Bulk up into Ice Punch!" Damien spat.

Poliwrath picked himself up and seemed to pump up his chest as lights appeared showing both his physical attack and physical defence was risen. Clenching his fist, it was surrounded by Ice as it charged at Charizard.

"Into the air Charizard." Ash instructed. "And use Solar Beam.".

Charizard roared in agreement and shot into the air, easily avoiding the Ice Punch attack. While circling around in the air, Charizard started taking in sunlight. Since it was still early morning it would take a bit of time to fully absorb enough sunlight.

"Mind Reader and Hydro Pump." Damien smirked.

Closing his eyes, Poliwrath seemed to hone in on the fire flying type. Taking in a deep breath, a giant jet of water shot out of the Tadpole's Pokemon's centre. Even though Charizard was in the air, the Hydro Pump seemed to redirect and hit Charizard in the chest, causing him to crash into the ground.

"Charizard!" Ash shouted in a panicked.

"Just as worthless as always." Damien gloated in a triumphant tone. "Now finish that thing off with Focus Punch.".

Poliwrath clenched his fist as he stared at the downed fire flying type. Unlike last time, where ice formed around the fist, this time it simply glew white. Running at Charizard, Ash was looking for a way to escape with he noticed Charizard had finished taking in sunlight, as he pushed himself up.

"FIRE!" Ash shouted.

Knowing what Ash was on about, Charizard opened his mouth and unleashed a massive white beam as Poliwrath jumped to attack. The Solar Beam struck the water fighting type mid-air sending it flying into the air and cancelling the fighting type move.

"Now finish it with Seismic Toss!" Ash shouted as he saw victory in his grasp.

Charizard shot off to the falling tadpole Pokemon and grabbed it mid-air. Flying higher into the air he started circling around an invisible planet, picking more and more momentum. Ash knows Charizard likes to use this as his finishing move.

"Bubble Beam!" Damien shouted in anger.

Whilst unable to escape Charizard's grip, Poliwrath heard what his trainer said and unleashed a closed ranged Bubble Beam attack, shooting it straight out of his centre, and thanks to the close proximity, it was a critical hit. Charizard had Seismic toss cancelled and crashed while Poliwrath landed on his feet in front of Charizard.

"Come on Charizard, I know you can do it!" Ash shouted.

"Hydro Pump." Damien ordered with a dark undertone, he plans on teaching this over grown lizard for leaving him.

Poliwrath took a deep breath as Charizard tried to push himself up. Firing the powerful jet of water toward Charizard, Ash had to think of some way out. The water type attack struck Charizard and blew him into a rock with a hard thud.

"Block with Dragon Claw and get into the air." Ash instructed.

Despite taking massive damage from the combination of super effective attacks, pure determine entered his eyes. Using his claws which were covered in dragon type energy, he was able to protect his body from the water type attack. Like a bullet he shot into the air. Ash noticed as the Hydro Pump Poliwrath was having to catch his breath.

"Smoke Screen!" Ash shouted.

Charizard looked down and unleashed a cloud of black smoke out of his mouth. He doesn't know what Ash is planning but he trusts him, it is because of Ash that he is alive today, and he is as strong as he currently is. Now he will show Damien just how strong they truly are... Together. The black smoke covered Poliwrath who started coughing, and Ash saw his chance.

"Now finish it with Seismic Toss!" Ash shouted.

Charizard dived into the cloud smoke and grabbed a hold of Poliwrath. Red's Charizard has been giving both Ash's and Drake's Charizard different pointers for battle and one of those is seeing through their own Smoke Screen. Like a rocket, the two Pokemon shot out of the cloud and Charizard started circling around building up momentum but this time, Poliwrath was facing away so he couldn't launch a counter attack like last time.

During the battle, Melissa's Golem came too and moved behind Ash seeing as he was in the current battle against the boy who stole his and his trainer's badges.

Grabbing the water fighting types hand, Charizard launched Poliwrath over his shoulder and sent the tadpole Pokemon crashing into the earth. Letting out a massive victory roar, Charizard landed beside Ash, while Damien growled and silently returned his water fighting type.

"That runt may have gotten lucky, brat." Damien spat as he swapped his Pokeballs around. "Now I'll cut that thing down to size with Scyther.". Throwing his Pokeball, the bug flying type appeared and glared at Charizard with a menacing smirk.

"You..." Charizard's eyes widened with slight worry entering his voice.

"What's going on Charizard?" Ash asked Charizard.

"Didn't that thing tell you?" Damien asked rhetorically with an evil smirk. "Scyther is his old training partner. Who better then to teach it a lesson on loyalty?".

"Charizard... Do you want to keep battling?" Ash asked, learning that this is the Pokemon who caused most of his old scares. "I'm sure Pikachu or Wartortle could take it on.".

"Yeah coward. Run away like the runt you are." Damien mocked.

"Don't listen to him, Charizard." Ash told his fire flying type. "You've proven who's stronger by beating Poliwrath, let your friends help you.".

"Like beating a runt means anything. You could say Poliwrath was your replacement." Damien gloated. "So, run away like the coward you are, now that I think about it, you two suit each other. The runt and the brat.".

Charizard narrowed his eyes, it was one thing to call him a runt but Ash is not a brat. He is a nice kind person, it is because of Ash that he became strong, it is because of Ash that he has friends and moved on from the nightmare that is Damien, it is because of Ash that he is alive...

Charging forward, Charizard began striking Scyther with slash attacks. The bug type instinctively put his scythes up in an X shape to block the onslaught of attacks. Damien smirked, did he hit a nerve?

"Into the air and use Agility." Damien ordered.

Scyther shot into the air, avoiding Charizard's Slash attacks. A light blue light appeared around the mantis Pokemon who sped up as a result. Charizard snarled at his old trainer, now who's the coward running away.

"After it, Charizard!" Ash shouted.

With a mighty roar, Charizard shot off into the sky. Normally he would've tried to fly after the bug but Scyther is clearly faster thanks to his agility and Red's Charizard gave him some pointers on handling faster opponents. Charizard was just still in the air watching the mantis fly around.

"Razor Wind." Damien spat.

Scyther turned on his side as he was flying circles around the flame Pokemon. Beating his wings even faster, slashes through the air started went towards Charizard, and since he was circling around Charizard soon he was taking the attacks from all angles.

"Spin and use Flamethrower!" Ash shouted.

He knows Charizard can't match Scyther's speed after that agility so they shouldn't even try, it would only tire Charizard out. Charizard ignored the onslaught of attacks and started spinning letting out a massive flamethrower. The ring of fire which surrounded Charizard was enough to cancel out the Razor Wind.

"Night Slash!" Damien shouted, angry about Charizard's counter.

With his scythe glowing black with a purple out line. Scyther made a b-line and struck Charizard in the back, cancelling the Flamethrower ring. The blow was powerful and made Charizard lose a bit of attitude. Scyther smirked like his trainer and went back in for another blow.

"Grab it!" Ash shouted.

Scyther maybe faster but Charizard is stronger. As Scyther went in for another blow Charizard braced himself. Watching the Mantis Pokemon very carefully, he moved his arms to grab Scyther's, cancelling the attack and stopping Scyther from escaping.

"Looks like Scyther is stuck." Ash observed with a smirk.

"So is the runt." Damien spat. "Neither can attack with their arms. And the lizard it to close to use Flamethrower.".

"True..." Ash agreed. "Fire Fang!".

Charizard roared as his fangs were covered in fire. Biting down hard on Scyther's shoulder, the bug flying type cried out in pain. After about ten seconds, Charizard let go of Scyther who took some massive damage to one of his wings and fell to the floor, bursting into flames. Scyther was burnt. Charizard let out a victory cry.

"I wouldn't celebrate just yet." Damien growled, clenching his teeth. "Vacuum Wave.".

Struggling to his feet, Scyther started spinning on the spot. A powerful wind picked up around him. Slashing his scythe in the air, it went straight towards Charizard with incredible speed, with the built-up vacuum following it. The attack struck Charizard and the vacuum dragged him back down to the ground.

"Fury Cutter." Damien shouted with some type of glee.

Scyther shot forward to the grounded Charizard and started ruthlessly slashing Charizard with his scythes. Despite the burn lowing his attack power, each hit was more powerful than the last. Damien laughed as he watched the fully evolved fire type try to hide with tears in his eyes.

Charizard whimpered out in pain, while the bug type attacks weren't doing much it is more so the flash back to when he was Damien's Pokemon. Scyther would continually attack the small fire type to the point of him collapsing. Even then he could still feel each individual strike. All the while he the only sound he could hear are those of Damien's psychotic laughter, like he is getting some sort of sick thrill from his suffering. He wouldn't be taken to Nurse Joy or any form of proper treatment, it could take days if not full weeks for him to come around sometimes, and he would only be given enough food and water to barely live on before the next training session.

"Hold on Charizard!" Ash shouted.

Looking for some sort of way out of this he frantically looked around. Lucky his prayers seemed to be answered when he saw the flame on Charizard's tail grew in size, his Blaze was activating.

"Give your new move a try, Charizard." Ash encouraged. "Heat Wave!".

Charizard narrowed his eyes as Scyther continued his barrage of Fury Cutters. Things have changed, he is no-longer the same small Charmander who couldn't stand up for himself and was Damien's punching bag. He is a fully evolved Charizard and thanks to Ash he is stronger.

A small flame appeared in Charizard's eye as his body started glowing red whilst the temperature increased. Waves of heat radiated of Charizard and struck Scyther. The bug flying type tried to fly away but couldn't. He landed on his knees panting heavily as Charizard let out a massive victory cry.

Scyther burst into flames as he took more burn damage, falling on his stomach with swirls in his eye. Damien growled as he re called the fallen Mantis Pokemon. Looks like Damien is bad to all his Pokemon and not just the new ones.

"Your luck has run out, brat." Damien spat as he swapped Scyther's Pokeball with a safari ball. "Rhydon, destroy that runt!". The ground rock type appeared out of its Pokeball and let out a massive battle cry, Ash noticed Charizard tense up.

"What's up Charizard?" Ash asked, concern evident in his voice.

"Rhydon... He was always Damien's favourite and strongest." Charizard explained as he stared Rhydon down who entered a battle stance. "Scyther may have been the one to cause most of my damage but...".

"It's okay Charizard, you've already handled Poliwrath and Scyther. Let one of the others handle Rhydon." Ash told his fire type.

Charizard thought it over and Ash is right, he is part of a team now. With Damien it was everyone for themselves but he has proven himself against his old abuser and should let the others have a go.

"Yeah coward, run away." Damien taunted. "Are you gonna abandond the brat like you did me. And to think I wasted my time with you.".

"Don't listen to him Charizard." Ash told his fire type. "You've already proven your strength, let your friends handle Rhydon. That's what friends do.".

"In other words, he knows you can't handle Rhydon. Runt." Damien taunted.

Charizard narrowed his eyes. He knows that Ash believes he can beat Rhydon, he just doesn't want him to get too hurt, his blaze ability has already been activated after all but that doesn't mean Damien's words don't hurt. He has to show his old trainer his truth strength, the strength Ash has brought out in him. Charizard stepped forward and entered a battle stance.

"Rock Blast." Damien smirked, he taunted the runt into a third battle and he will make it regret betraying him

Rhydon tensed up and formed a rock between his hands. He fired it towards Charizard at a fast right, and formed another rock before firing that one as well and repeating the process. Ash knew Charizard couldn't take to many more hits, especially when he has a four times weakness.

"Into the air, Charizard!" Ash shouted.

Charizard quickly took off into the air with a massive battle cry, dodging the incoming Rock Blast. Due to the positions of the rocks, Ash had to dodge out of the way before the rock type attack struck himself.

"Thunderbolt!" Damien shouted.

The horn on Rhydon's head started spinning as a yellow outline appeared. A giant bolt of lightning shot off into the air towards Charizard who was soaring around in a circle, like a predator circling his prey.

"Counter with Flamethrower." Ash instructed.

Charizard opened his mouth and unleashed the biggest Flamethrower yet, looks like his Blaze ability is still activated. The two attacks collided and caused a mid-air explosion. Ash clenched his fist as it shows that they are evenly matched but because of his previous battles, Charizard is at the disadvantage, never mind the typing.

"Air Slash Charizard, and dive in for a Seismic Toss!" Ash shouted.

Charizard started spinning as he dived towards Rhydon. Several Air Slashes were fired and hit Rhydon, unfortunately they didn't seem to have the flinch effect Ash was counting on.

"Hammer Arm!" Damien shouted.

Ash Charizard closed in, Rhydon's arm glew white. When he was close enough, Rhydon slammed his arm into Charizard's back as he grabbed Rhydon and attempted to take off. The previous battles were clearly showing as Charizard slumped down take serious damage despite being a fighting type move.

"Take Down!" Damien shouted with glee in his voice.

As Charizard struggled to stand up, Rhydon ruby tackled the flying fire type. Charging towards a big rock, Rhydon slammed the flame Pokemon into the rock causing some major damage. Ash frowned even more when he discovered Rhydon had the Rock Head ability.

"Now to show him some real pain." Damien laughed. "Horn Drill.".

Rhydon grabbed Charizard by the neck to stop him from flying away. With a smirk on his face, Rhydon's horn started to spin at a fatally fast pace. Slowly Rhydon moved his horn towards Charizard's stomach. He isn't going slow because of any damage but because he wants to save every agonising second, he is torturing the runt...


"GGGRRRRAAAAWWWW!" A Pokemon roared from above. Following this a giant Dragonite landed, and its mere stance just oozed powered. Looking at it both Ash and Damien realised that it is clearly the strongest Pokemon in the area.

"Amid!" A voice shouted as two figures climbed off the Dragonite's back.

The voice came from a short man in shorts and a stripped t-shirt with a big white beard and a backwards red cap on. The second figure Ash recognised immoderately. It was Lance, Kanto's elite four member who specialise in Pokemon with dragon characteristics.

"Ash?" Lance questioned.

"You should be at the exit of Victory Road by now. The touch run needs to begin soon." The bearded man continued.

"Um, excuse me... But his name isn't Amid." Ash pointed out.

"Shut it, Ketchum." Damien threatened.

"And who are you?" The shorter man asked, with genuine curiosity.

"I'm Ash." Ash replied. "And his name isn't Amid. It's Damien Brown.".

"What is the meaning of this?" The man asked.

"President." Lance spoke up. "I would hear Ash out, he was one of the group who helped me form the Squirtle Squad. And I think his father would convince you if he was here.".

"His father?" The man questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"His last name is Ketchum..." Lance informed. "And he shares Red's gift.".

"You know my dad?" Ash asked.

"So, you are Red's boy." The president replied. "Good to meet ya, boy. I'm Charles. Charles Goodshow.".

"Charles Goodshow!" Ash exclaimed. "President of the P.L.A, it is such an honour to meet you, Mr. President.".

"Please, call me Charles. I'm just an avid Pokemon lover like you too." Charles replied.

"Damien isn't a Pokemon lover." Ash informed, gravely.

"Shut up." Damien threatened, clenching his fist and grinding his teeth.

"Damien Brown is wanted by Officer Jenny from route 24." Ash informed.

"What charges?" Lance asked, as a Pokemon G-Men he has access to all wanted fugitives at the tip of his fingers so he can easily determine who is telling the truth.

"For attempted Pokemon murder." Ash informed. "It was his Charmander who was abandoned on a rock during a thunderstorm. Although he's evolved since then and has evolved into my Charizard here.".

Straight away Lance pulled out some sort of hand hold device and started clicking away before putting it up to his ear and turning his back on the group. Charles looked Ash straight in the eye.

"This is a very serious accusation." Charles explained.

"I know it is, but it is the truth." Ash replied. "Charizard wouldn't be here now if me and my friends didn't save him from the storm Damien left him in. He also stole a girl's badges presumably because he couldn't enter a gym without the Police being informed.". Lance returned with a serious expression on his face.

"So, Lance, what's the truth?" Charles asked.

"What Ash said is true, Damien Brown has been on the run for months for attempted Pokemon murder of his former Charmander. And witnesses have Ash Ketchum as one of those present." Lance informed. He held the device out with a picture of Damien on screen. "Judge for yourself, this is what he looks like.".

Charles frowned when he found out he had been fooled by someone who would try to kill a Pokemon. He had given this boy the honour of running the flame down to the Indigo Plateau and this is what he is truly like. Looking at Damien, they noticed that he was trying to sneak away, with his Rhydon returned. Dragonite blocked the path stopping his escape.

"Well Lance, I trust you can handle him." Charles addressed his Elite four member.

"Of course, Charles." Lance replied.

Walking over to his signature dragon and Damien. Lance straight up took the six active Pokeballs off Damien's belt and placed them in a special container which stopped them from being activated. He took Damien's bag off his back and handed it too Dragonite before searching Damien and finding a badges case with the eight badges from Kanto inside, and Melissa Yoshiki written on the top.

"I'll take them, Lance." Charles replied, taking the badge case. "Ash told me these belong to Golem's trainer. I'm sure he wouldn't mind taking me to her so I can return both the badges and Golem to her.".

"Of course not." Lance replied. "But don't you need to find someone to replace him as the torch runner.".

"I'm sure I'll find someone, Lance." Charles replied with a knowing smirk. Lance nodded in response and then turned to walk away with Dragonite by his side holding Damien close to stop him from escape. Charles turned to Ash. "Tell me Ash, which other Pokemon do you have with you?".

"Oh, I've got some great Pokemon." Ash replied excited grabbing three Pokeballs and a Safari Ball. "Ivysaur, Wartortle, Primeape and Tauros. Come out and say hi.". The four Pokemon appeared and looked at Ash expectantly. Pikachu and Charizard joined the others.

"These are quite a fine line up of Pokemon, Ash. I assume Wartortle is the Squirtle you helped Lance handle way back." Charles examined the six Pokemon.

"He sure is." Ash replied, giving his team a thumbs up. Wartortle smirked at the attention.

"Very good, you seem to be quite the trainer Ash. Just like your father." Charles replied.

"Um, thank you." Ash blushed from the praise.

"No need to be embarrassed my boy." Charles laughed hitting Ash hard on the back. "Now why don't you show me where this Golem's trainer is. I'm sure she would like her badges back.".

"Right." Ash replied. "She is just down here.". Ash started walking with Charles Goodshow by his side, and his Pokemon following them, with Ash talking about his journey so far.


"Look, Ash is coming back!" Serena exclaimed. Brock was currently trying to make Togepi laugh but ever since Ash left the little fairy type has been crying his little head off. Just because he lets Serena and Brock hold him doesn't mean he likes being away from his daddy.

When he heard what Serena said, Togepi looked in that direction to see his daddy and his daddies Pokemon walking towards them with a short, bearded man. The baby Pokemon stopped crying and chirped happily running up to him. Ash smiled when he saw the little mon.

"Hey there Togepi, have you been a good boy for everyone?" Ash asked as he picked the fairy type up. Togepi instantly hugged his daddy.

"Toge-Priii!" Togepi chirped happily as Ash returned the hug.

"A Togepi?" Charles questioned. "You two seem to share quite a unique bond.".

"Yeah. I hatched Togepi from an egg." Ash smiled as the embrace ended, although Togepi just jumped up and down while in his daddy's hand. "Professor Oak said that he imprinted on me, and today was kind of the first time he's been apart since I didn't want him to see Damien.".

"Toge Toge." Togepi turned his head in curiosity, so it was a Damien who was to blame for his daddy disappearing. It is him he should've been a pain for, he just missed his daddy.

"Ash..." Serena spoke out of breath. "I don't think it is time for you to leave Togepi all alone... At least until he's older.".

"Yeah, he may be ready to be wined of milk but not off you." Brock added, also out of breath.

"Is that right Togepi?" Ash asked. "Was you a pain for Serena and Brock?".

"Togepi..." Togepi whimpered before hugging Ash again. Despite Ash not being happy to hear Togepi being trouble for his friends, he can't but feel bad for the little fairy type. He is still naive and thinks everyone is good but Ash didn't want the little mon to meet Damien.

"Well Ash, could you point Melissa out to me please?" Charles requested.

"Um, that is me sir." Melissa stepped forward, nervous.

"Sir?" Charles questioned. "Hahahaha, call me Charles. Charles Goodshow. And a believe these belong to you.". Charles stepped aside to reveal Melissa's Golem with her badge case in hand.

"Golem..." Melissa whispered with tears in her eyes. She shot forward and hugged her rock ground type. "I've missed you... And you got our badges back.".

"Actually, young lady, it was Ash who got both of them back." Charles pointed out. "That is why I am requesting he runs the flame for this year's league.".

"What!?" Ash exclaimed along with Serena; Brock and Misty.

"... Thank you, Ash." Melissa whispered, with a slight pink tint entering her cheeks, it was so nice of him to go out of his way and return not only her best friend but to get her badges back. Unfortunately, no-body seemed to notice.

"That's right my boy, you clearly care for all Pokemon. Whether your, someone else's or just wild Pokemon." Charles explained as a black car pulled up. "Not only that, but you helped another trainer retrieve their badges while others might've stopped it to make the competition easier. I couldn't make a better candidate myself.".

"Oh wow. It would be an honour." Ash agreed.

"Very good, Ash." Charles laughed, as the back door of the car was opened. Charles reached in and pulled out the torch. "You should run with all your Pokemon and when you see the crowd, give a wave, its gets them hyped. You need to make your way to the Indigo stadium and four individuals will be stood waiting. Your friends can ride with me and we will see you there.".

"Um, right." Ash replied, taking the torch in hand. He looked at his friends who wished him luck and they climbed into the black car, which drove off. He turned to his Pokemon and saw Pikachu on Tauros' head with Togepi, since Ash can't carry both the fairy type and the torch this seems to be the best solution. "Okay guys, let's get going.". The Pokemon roared in agreement and they started running towards the Plateau.

Ash knew as he took off with his Pokemon by his side, that they were in for one hell of ride at the Indigo League. Of course, it's not just those he has running with him: Pikachu; Ivysaur; Charizard; Wartortle; Primeape; Tauros and Togepi, but also all his Pokemon back at the lab: Pidgeot; Gyarados; Muk; Haunter; Sandslash; Dragonair and Aerodactyl. He also has all his rivals: Drake; Gary; Calem; Ritchie, Melissa and Paul. Plus, he has all his other friends and family: Delia; Red; Leaf; Misty; Brock and even his old friend Butterfree who may not be battling but will be cheering him on from his new life. And last but certainly not least, he has Serena. No matter what happens he knows he can count on all his friends and that this truly will be a great time.


Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time...