I want to thank everyone who took the time to leave a review; I really appreciate your comments and feedback.

Ok I need to clarify something here – Ash's Totodile which is now a Feraligatr never betrayed Ash, I made a mistake when editing the original version where he did.

Last time I said this chapter would be new content however I decided to improve the first half of the original chapter (Freedom) and use that as a chapter instead just to set up the next event. For readers of the original version the second half of that chapter will not be used as there is a major change next chapter which will be completely new. For that reason, it may take a bit longer.

If you read the original version of this story and have any questions, please PM them to me so we don't spoil anything for new readers.

I was wondering if you guys could do me a favour and suggest some pairing options for Richie – everyone else is accounted for except him. When I get 4 or 5 options I'll put them in a poll so you can decide who he's paired with.

Anyway, without further ado here's chapter 9, I hope you enjoy it.

In conversations:

'- Translation of Poké Speech – No human unless otherwise stated can understand it. Ash can understand it due to his Aura.

"- Human speech

"- Telepathy/Aura

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, if I did then Ash would have won a league by now.

Ash got to the locker room Dawn was in and was glad to find that she had locked the door like he'd said rather than leave. He gently knocked on the door so he wouldn't frighten her.

"W-who is it?" Dawn asked shakily.

Ash once again felt sorry for Dawn as he heard the fear in her voice, it broke his heart knowing that she had been suffering for seven years.

"Dawn it's okay, it's just me Takeo." Ash replied softly.

The door was quickly unlocked and opened allowing Ash to enter the room. He walked inside and Dawn immediately lunged at him and wrapped her arms around him. Ash returned the embrace and felt Dawn shaking in his arms as well as her tears dampening his shirt. After a couple of minutes her shaking stopped and she was now only whimpering, Ash pulled back a bit so he could look into Dawn's eyes which were bloodshot and as Ash thought now turning black.

"Dawn can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah."

"Were you telling the truth earlier when you were talking about Ash Ketchum?"

"Yes." Dawn dropped her gaze to the ground.

Ash lifted her chin up and saw the guilt and regret in her eyes, it was obvious that she was indeed telling the truth. Ash smiled and lowered his hood making Dawn's eyes widen and she let out a gasp.

"Ash." She said in disbelief.

He gave her a small nod in return, Dawn replied by wrapping her arms around Ash again and a fresh batch of tears now broke out. As she cried Ash kept a tight hold on her and he channelled some Aura into his hand. He placed his hand on the back of Dawn's head and the Aura transferred to her which quickly healed her injuries.

"Ash I-I'm s-so sorry." She whimpered not noticing what Ash had done.

"It's okay Dawn. I understand that you had no choice."

She looked up at Ash with tears in her eyes but she had a smile on her face, she never thought she'd see Ash again. It then that she realised her injuries were no longer hurting, she put a hand to her lip and found that it wasn't split now. She then touched the area around her eyes and found that they weren't sore or swollen now. She looked at Ash in shock as she knew that he must have done something.

"Ash what did you do?" She asked.

"I just healed your injuries with my Aura, unfortunately my Aura can't fix your hair." Ash said.

Dawn looked in a mirror on the wall and almost screamed when she saw the state her hair was in. She quickly rummaged through her bag and pulled out a hairbrush. Ash chuckled as he watched Dawn desperately try to fix her hair, it was nice to see that some things never changed.

"Come on Dawn your hair looks fine." Ash said.

"Fine's not good enough."

Ash shook his head as he remembered how long Dawn could take.

"Okay I have to get Lapras checked by Nurse Joy for any injuries. So meet me at the Pokémon Centre."

Ash opened the door and was about to leave when he felt Dawn grab on to his arm, he looked back at her and saw the fear in her eyes.

"Wait Ash please just give me one more minute. Tracey, Brock and Gary came to watch this match and I'm scared at what will happen if they find me. So please don't leave me." Dawn pleaded.

"Okay Dawn, you have one minute then we're leaving."

Dawn nodded and after her minute was up she followed Ash out of the locker room, they left the stadium and began walking to the Pokémon centre. Ash kept glancing at Dawn who was smiling at him brightly, he had missed Dawn since the betrayal and was glad to have been able to reconnect with her.

Ash and Dawn walked inside the Pokémon Centre and noticed the that the T.V was on. They looked at the screen and weren't surprised to see that Ash's battle with Misty and Rudy was the big news. They were showing several moments from the battle all of which showed Ash's Pokémon dominating the battle. They listened to the reporter and kept watching the screen as Misty smashed Lapras' Pokéball.

"Moments after the battle ended Ms Waterflower was arrested by Lance and the G-Men however they have refused to release any more information but we will keep you up to date. In other news, moment's ago Paul Shinji and Max Maple advanced to the next round. Although from what early reports have told us Mr Shinji did the majority of the damage. In fact, we have a clip from the battle." The reporter said as the screen cut to the match.

"Gallade is unable to battle. Max choose your last Pokémon" The referee said.

Ash was sure he could hear Paul growl in annoyance, the Sinnoh native had a short temper at the best of times so combining him with the presence of one of them would only intensify his rage. They watched as Paul glared at Max who was ignoring Paul and grinning at Pikachu.

"Go on Pikachu let's win this." Max said enthusiastically.

"Wonderful you're putting all your faith in a weak little rat." Paul's words were dripping with sarcasm.

Ash chuckled at Paul words wishing that he could have been there to experience that moment first hand.

"Shut up Paul. We'll show you who's weak. Pikachu Volt Tackle."

"Emboar Flare Blitz." Their opponent said in a bored tone.

Pikachu was surrounded with electricity and Emboar became engulfed in flames. They charged full speed at each other and when the attacks collided Pikachu was easily overpowered and crashed down next to Max.

"You are so damn useless. I'd be better off fighting on my own." Paul yelled at Max.

"I'm sick of you and your weak rat. Torterra Earthquake."

"No you can't, you'll hurt Pikachu." Max said desperately.

Paul smirked at Max making the young trainer recoil.

"That's my intention hopefully it will get your useless rat out of the way."

Ash watched as Torterra raised its front legs and slammed them down on to the battlefield. The power of the attack appeared to shake the very stadium and it created several large cracks in the battlefield. To Ash's delight Pikachu fell down one of the cracks and was now holding on to a rock that was jutting out. Everyone in the stadium watched on shocked at what Paul had done to his own team mate. They were so stunned at his actions that they hadn't noticed that both of their opponents Pokémon had been knocked out by the attack.

"Torterra let's help Pikachu out of that hole. Leaf Storm."

The leaves on the tree on Torterra's back glowed green. A cyclone of leaves was then fired from the tree which was aimed at Pikachu. The mouse had no way to get out of the way so was trapped in the vortex. The cyclone then shot Pikachu high into the sky and then died down. Pikachu then plummeted to the ground and smashed down next to Max. Ash smirked as he saw Max with tears in his eyes pick up Pikachu who was unconscious and had several cuts on his body from the leaves.

After that the news cut away and they started talking about the other matches that had ended. Ash and Dawn stopped watching the T.V and Ash walked over to Nurse Joy.

"Hey can you take a look at Lapras for me. She has been abused by Ms Waterflower over the past six years and I want to make sure she's okay."

"Okay I'll take a look at her. Although it may take a while to do all of the necessary test."

"That's fine Nurse Joy, all that matters to me is that she's okay. Do you mind if I leave her here with you while I go see if I can find a friend of mine?" Ash asked

"Sure that's no problem at all."

Ash sent Nurse Joy an appreciative look and turned around to leave. Dawn started walking alongside him but just as Ash was about to go outside he called out to Nurse Joy

"By the way please don't tell anyone's Lapras is here. If you do tell someone it could put her in danger."

Nurse Joy gave Ash a nod in response and she took Lapras to one of the recovery rooms as Ash and Dawn left the Pokémon Centre.

"Hey Takeo where are we going?" Dawn asked

"To meet up with Anabel, her match will probably be finished soon."

"Um Takeo whose Anabel?"

Ash then remembered that he hadn't talked about Anabel during his Sinnoh journey, it had hurt to even think about her.

"Sorry I forgot that you never met her and I never told you about her. She is a member of the Battle Frontier and more importantly she is my girlfriend." Ash said while smiling

Dawn's eyes widened again, she knew that a lot could change in seven years but the last time she had seen Ash he was oblivious to love. Ash chuckled at the shocked look on Dawn's face, he wasn't surprised by it as he had always put on the whole oblivious thing.

"I can see that you're surprised, well to be completely honest I kind of faked the whole oblivious thing. I just didn't want the hassle of telling girls I didn't feel the same way."

Dawn stayed silent after this and just followed Ash as he was walked to stadium three. When they got there Ash told Dawn to wait outside so he could explain the situation to Anabel. She reluctantly agreed once they found a hidden area she could hide while she waited. Ash entered the stadium and saw Anabel and Sabrina headed his way, he walked up to the pair and hugged Anabel.

"Hi Anabel, Sabrina."

"Hi Takeo." Anabel said as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Hello Ash." Sabrina said.

"Wait how did you know that Takeo is Ash?" Anabel asked.

"Well after the incident seven years ago I knew that I had to learn to control my Aura powers if I was going to go after Team Rocket. The problem was I had no idea where to find an Aura user outside of going to Rota but that would have drawn too much attention to me. So I went to Sabrina hoping she could help me understand my powers a bit and she gave me the ability to control small amounts of my Aura."

"I could have unlocked more but I had no idea how to teach him how to use Aura powers so I gave him enough so he could start learning without accidentally causing mass destruction."

"Of course I learned how to properly use my powers after a lot of intense training. In fact, my powers now exceed Sabrina's." Ash said with a smirk.

"You should watch your mouth boy before I show you how superior psychic powers are." Sabrina replied with a similar smirk.

The smirks on the pairs faces were quickly replaced by soft smiles and Ash hugged Sabrina, Anabel was worried for a second as she knew that the psychic wasn't exactly a touchy feely kind of person so she was surprised to see Sabrina returned the hug. The pair broke the hug and chuckled at Anabel's shocked expression.

"Well I will leave the two of you to enjoy yourselves and Ash you're always welcome in Saffron, you too Anabel."

"Thanks Sabrina." They both replied.

Once Sabrina was gone Ash briefly brushed his lips against Anabel's.

"Congratulations on winning Anabel. I'm sorry I didn't get to see your match but it's been a bit of a crazy hour."

"Ok what has happened?"

Ash proceeded to tell Anabel everything that had happened, he could see she felt exactly the same way as he had done when he found out.

"Poor Dawn and Lapras, they've both been through so much. So where is Dawn?"

"She's waiting outside. Do you want to meet her now?"

Anabel nodded and they walked out of the stadium, Anabel quickly looked around but she couldn't see anyone.

"Dawn you can come out now." Ash called out.

Dawn nervously came out from hiding and walked to Ash and Anabel. Dawn wasn't really sure how Anabel would react to seeing her, the last time they met she had been horrible to her so she was prepared to be slapped and yelled at. Anabel took a step towards Dawn who shut her eyes expecting to feel a familiar stinging in her cheek, but to her surprise she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. Dawn's eyes shot open and she saw that Anabel was actually hugging her.

"How? How can you both forgive me so easily?" Dawn asked as tears formed in her eyes.

She felt Ash place a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him.

"Because in your place we both would have done the exact same thing." Ash said.

After Dawn calmed down the trio headed back towards the Pokémon Centre, Ash was leading the way as Dawn and Anabel chatted behind him. He had to admit he was relieved to see that Anabel and Dawn were getting along so well. He had been worried that after what had happened Anabel would be reluctant to be around Dawn but they were talking like they'd been friends for years.

They arrived at the Pokémon Centre a few minutes later and walked inside. They went up to Nurse Joy and Anabel handed her Pokéballs to her Pokémon could get healed. Ash asked if he could take Lapras and was told that she only needed to do a couple more tests just to make sure that she healthy. The trio went and sat at a table to wait for Anabel's Pokémon to be healed and for Lapras to have her last few tests.

Ash and Anabel talked about their battles while they waited for the Pokémon to be healed. Ash was really impressed with some of the strategies Anabel and Sabrina had come up with to defeat Erika and Jasmine.

After spending a long time talking they finally heard Nurse Joy call out their names, they all got up and went to Nurse Joy who handed Anabel's Pokéballs and Lapras' Pokéball back to them.

"So how is Lapras?" Ash asked.

"Well it seems that there is no permanent damage to Lapras but be careful with her." Nurse said.

"In will Nurse Joy, thank you for checking her."

Nurse Joy simply smiled at Ash, Anabel and Dawn who left the Pokémon centre. Ash and Anabel decided to take Dawn with them to the clearing so that she and Lapras could meet everyone. When they got to the clearing Ash and Anabel let out all of their Pokémon who immediately glared at Dawn who hid behind Ash.

"What da hell is the Sinnoh twerpette doing here?" Meowth asked.

Ash told everyone what had happened to her and they felt sorry for her, many of them had suffered at some point and could relate to the young girl's plight. The majority of the Pokémon forgave Dawn for what she had done as they knew she had no choice. The only exceptions were Charizard, Feraligatr, Sceptile, Meowth, Chu, Meganium, Infernape and Donphan who needed a little time before they would forgive her. Those that were there could still vividly remember what happened and Meowth and Chu were just wary of her after the betrayal.

"Oh and I have an old friend to introduce to you guys." Ash said

Ash let Lapras out of her Pokéball which got a happy cheer from Charizard and Blastoise who immediately came over and introduced her to everyone of Anabel's and Ash's Pokémon. The ice type froze Meowth with an Ice Beam when she heard him talk which caused everyone to laugh at the cat. Ash got Charizard to melt the ice and he told Lapras about Team Rocket, once she heard the story she looked down guiltily and apologised to Meowth repeatedly.

"Forget it. Let's just call dat payback for everything I did to you guys in da Orange Islands."

Lapras perked up again, happy that the issue had been resolved so peacefully. Ash watched Lapras interact with all the Pokémon and was happy to see that she was getting along with the other's really well. It wasn't really surprising as she had always been a kind hearted and gentle Pokémon who could get along with almost anyone. He noticed that she appeared to really bonding with Milotic possibly due to them both suffering abuse in the past. Ash walked over to Lapras and gently stroked her neck which made her sigh happily and nuzzle him.

"Hey are you okay? Nurse Joy said you were fine but I wanted to ask you." Ash asked still concerned about her condition.

'I am now thanks to you.' Lapras replied.

"I know this might be hard for you to talk about but how did you end up with Misty? Last time I saw you was when you went back to your family."

'Well it started out as a normal day and then everything changed...'

Flashback (Approximately six and a half years ago)

Lapras is happily swimming with the rest of her family. She had been very happy being back with her family although in recent weeks she had started to really miss her old trainer but she would never say that out loud through fear of upsetting her family. She kept wondering where he was and how he was doing.

Suddenly she heard several of her family giving warning cries. She looked in the direction her family were glaring and saw a boat is speeding towards the them. She along with several of the other Lapras went in front of the rest of the family to protect them just in case the people coming were threats. As the boat got closer Ice Beam's and Hydro Pumps were now being charged and they were waiting for her word. She took another look at the boat which was now slowing down and she recognised the two humans. Lapras told the rest of them to stand down as they were no threat.

Lapras swam forward to the boat to see them. As she got closer she noticed that Ash wasn't there making her wonder why Ash was not with them. Lapras stopped next to the boat and Tracey and Misty rubbed her head. She looked at them and saw they were both wearing worried expressions.

"Lapras we need your help Ash is in trouble. I'm going to need to put you in a Pokéball to bring you." Misty said frantically.

Lapras was shocked that her former trainer was in danger. She was more than prepared to go with them so she could do everything she could to help him. Lapras said her goodbyes to her family and approached Misty tapping her head on the poke ball she had in her hand. As soon as Lapras was captured a sinister smirk appeared on Misty's face.

"Let's go Tracey, we got what we came for." She said as the boat headed back to Trovita Island

Flashback over

'Not long after I was sent out in Misty's gym and she started laughing evilly as I looked around the room hoping to see you. She mocked me for believing her and proceeded to tell me what they did to you. She tried to make me fight for her but every time I refused then she'd get her Lanturn to shock me.'

Ash was shocked at how cruel Misty had become, he knew that she was a nasty person but he never thought she go this far. Then again he never expected to see her beating Dawn like that so really nothing should surprise him about Misty anymore. Ash felt miserable and guilty that another person he cared about had been hurt.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that Lapras. I should have known they'd go after you once I left." Ash said miserably.

'It's not your fault Ash, I don't blame you.' Lapras said while nuzzling him.

"Thanks Lapras."

Ash hugged his friend glad to have her back, he then thought of something that troubled him.

"Oh Arceus if they went after you that means they could have gone for Pidgeot too. Do you know if any other Pokémon with them were being treated as you were?" Ash asked worried for Pidgeot.

'I'm sorry Ash but I don't know. I was never out long enough to talk to the other's.' Lapras said sadly.

"That's okay Lapras. There's no need to apologise "

Ash suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned around and saw Dawn with a look of sympathy and sadness.

"Dawn what's wrong?" Ash asked.

"Ash I'm so sorry but Professor Oak has Pidgeot. After you left he went to Pidgeot and convinced her that you were in trouble and you needed help so she came along without any resistance."

Ash was silent until what Dawn said sunk in.

"Fuck!" he yelled.

He fell to his knees seconds later and started punching the ground.

"Those fuckers got her too. Damn it I failed another person I care about."

First Anabel, then Lapras and now Pidgeot, how many more would suffer because of him? He felt Anabel wrap her arms around him and although her presence was calming for him it did nothing to quell the intense pain and sense of guilt he felt. Everyone looked at Ash and were saddened that he blamed himself for this. What was worse was that they knew that he would keep doing so even if Pidgeot herself said it wasn't his fault.

Ash felt rage building in him, they wouldn't get away with abducting and abusing his family. He fought with all his might to contain his anger so he wouldn't upset Anabel and then opened a mental link with Mewtwo.

"Mewtwo prepare the island. That old bastard will pay for whatever he has done to Pidgeot."

"Of course Ash, everything will be ready by morning."

"Good, thank you my friend."

Ash felt Mewtwo's presence leave the Pokéball he resided in, Ash then got back up and looked around at everyone's worried faces. He quickly forced a smile on his face to hopefully cease their worrying which seemed to have the desired effect. He looked at Dawn remembering that since she had come here with the traitors it was more than likely that she was staying in the same hotel which based on what happened earlier could be trouble for her.

"Hey Dawn are you staying in the same hotel that they are in?"

"Yes I am. I can't go back there." she said in a fear filled voice.

Ash picked up his bag and looked through it eventually finding the key to his room in the Elenion. He handed the key to Dawn who looked at the key bemused.

"Dawn this is the room key to the hotel I was staying in. The hotel is called the Elenion and don't worry we'll walk you to the hotel."

Dawn looked relieved at Ash's words, she had been terrified of walking back alone and getting jumped by one of them.

Darkness was now falling so Ash and Anabel escorted Dawn to the Elenion and then went back to their hotel. Anabel quickly fell to sleep in Ash's arms however Ash couldn't join her in slumber, his thoughts were constantly on Pidgeot so he carefully got out of bed so he wouldn't wake Anabel and went to Scott's room. He knew it was late and that he shouldn't wake Scott up but he needed to get his plan executed as soon as possible. He knocked on the door until it finally opened revealing a barely awake Scott.

"Ash? Do you have any idea what time it is?" Scott asked tiredly.

"Yes, sorry for disturbing you but I need a favour."

"I'll be happy to help you, what do you need?"

"All I need you to do is give this note to Professor Oak."

Scott looked down at the note and was confused to that it just had some coordinates and a message telling him to bring his strongest team. he didn't know why but the contents of the note worried Scott, he turned his gaze back to Ash and wondered what the young man was planning.

"Ash what's going on?"

"That is none of your concern Scott, all you need to know is that I have business to settle with the old man."

Scott was dubious about this, this sounded like a bad idea but Ash had brought life back into Anabel, he had made her happy and he felt like he owed Ash for that.

"Alright Ash, this is clearly something you have to do so I will pass this message along."

"Thank you Scott."

Scott merely nodded in response and went back into his room, Ash then went back to Anabel's room. It took a couple of hours before tiredness took over and he fell to sleep, but even in sleep he couldn't escape from his thoughts on Pidgeot and Ash was haunted with nightmares of Pidgeot being tortured by Professor Oak and the other's.

Notes

Next chapter Ash and Professor Oak will meet at the island; it should hopefully be quite an interesting chapter.

Please give a review telling me what you liked/didn't like.

If you have any questions PM them to me. I am more than happy to answer them.