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

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

Well it looks like we have a winner for who will be paired with Richie, after 38 votes one lucky lady ended up in the lead although it was very close. I won't reveal who won though, you'll just have to wait and see.

Anyway, without further ado here's chapter 12, 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.

Eventually the laughing in the Pokémon Centre died down and they were all now waiting anxious to hear about Pidgeot's condition. Ash suddenly jumped up from his seat when he saw Nurse Joy walking out one of the recovery rooms. He approached her praying that Pidgeot would be alright but had this nagging doubt at the back of his mind telling him that something was wrong.

"So how is she? Is she going to be okay?" Ash asked frantically.

"Well she will need some surgery around the area the collar was, there is some severe damage to her neck muscles due to it being worn for so many years. However, she should be fine, I couldn't find any life threatening injuries and once she heals from her surgery there should be no permanent damage. If you come back for her in a few days' time she'll be ready to leave."

Ash let out a massive sigh of relief, he had been preparing himself for the worst so he was over the moon to hear that the damage was minimal. He'd seen those collars cause a lot of damage and was worried that Pidgeot could have suffered some neurological damage. Ash thanked Nurse Joy repeatedly and then began walking back to the other's.

"Wait I forgot to mention that all the competitors have a week off." Nurse Joy said.

"Why?" Ash asked.

He couldn't think of a valid reason to take a break when they aren't even half way through the tournament yet.

"Because of the special event being held to promote Co-ordinating. You see over the past few years coordinating has become less popular and there are not a lot of new faces are appearing. So the six best coordinators in the world are having a tag team match to hopefully inspire younger trainers to become coordinators."

"So who are the top six coordinators and who have they been partnered with?" Richie asked.

"The teams are May, Drew and Harley against Ursula, Zoey and Nando."

"That's odd I expected Solidad to be one of the top six." Ash replied.

"Solidad was but she retired a couple of years ago which could be an explanation for the sudden lack of new coordinators. She was an inspiration to so many people but after she won all four Grand Festivals she decided to step aside to allow others to shine." Ariana stated.

"Well if Solidad's won all of them I guess her retiring makes sense. It's a shame they couldn't coax her out of retirement for one more match though." Ash said.

Suddenly the doors to the Pokémon centre opened, Ash turned to look who it was when a small blue Pokémon slammed into him. Ash looked down at the Pokémon in his arms and smiled at the little blue Pokémon. Manaphy looked back with her dark blue eyes and a smile on her face. Anabel and Dawn then walked through the door and smiled at the scene.

"Papa." Manaphy said lovingly.

"Hi Manaphy." Ash said as he gave Manaphy a hug.

"Love you papa."

"Love you too Manaphy."

Ash placed Manaphy in one arm and wrapped his other around Anabel who returned the embrace making sure not to crush Manaphy between them. They eventually broke apart much to Manaphy's displeasure as she liked being held by her mama and papa. Ash then led Anabel to his mother.

"Anabel there's a couple of people I want you to meet. Anabel, this my mother Delia Ketchum. Mum this is Anabel she's my girlfriend."

"Hello it's nice to finally meet you Mrs Ketchum." Anabel said politely

"Please call me Delia and it's nice to meet you too."

Ash then looked at Ariana who was hiding behind his mother's legs which didn't surprise him, she was a little skittish so it was understandable.

"This is my little sister Ariana; she's a bit shy so don't be offended if she shies away from you at first."

Anabel walked over to the young girl and knelt down allowing Ariana to make the next move. She knew that initiating anything could frighten Ash's sister and she didn't want to scare her so she would take things at Ariana's pace.

Ariana stood still for a moment before studying the woman in front of her, after a few moments she walked out from behind Delia and then went to Anabel with a smile on her face and hugged her. Although she usually was shy with people she figured that if Ash was in love with Anabel then there is nothing to be afraid of.

Ash was happy to see Ariana not being shy around Anabel, she usually was with other's when she first met them. He remembered her hiding behind him the first time she met Richie and he was sure that she was probably still terrified of Paul.

"I didn't think you had a sister Ash." Anabel said.

"Well Ariana isn't a sister by blood. Um it's kind of hard to explain without telling you the full story."

"Okay so how did you two meet?" Anabel asked.

Ash looked at Ariana and saw that the memories of that day were now on her mind, he hated seeing her reliving the events of that day so he passed Manaphy to Anabel and took Sceptile's Pokéball off his belt.

"Sceptile come on out."

The gecko Pokémon appeared and was instantly hugged by Ariana, Sceptile quickly hugged the young girl and then lifted her onto his shoulders which drew a giggle from her.

"Hey Sceptile can you take mum and Ariana to the clearing?"

'Of course Ash.' Sceptile replied.

"Thanks." Ash said.

Sceptile kept Ariana on his shoulders as he left the Pokémon Centre with Delia by his side. Anabel watched the trio until they faded from view and looked at Ash who had a disheartened look on his face.

"Ash why did you make your mother and Ariana leave?" Anabel queried.

"The thing is it is a very sad story. It was a very traumatic day for Ariana which always take her to a very dark place when she's reminded of it so that's why I wanted them to leave. Anyway this is what happened..."

Flashback (5 years ago)

Ash had just started gathering information on Team Rocket so that he could take them down. He was currently in Sinnoh searching around the Mt Coronet area. So far he had discovered a small outpost so it seemed logical to him that a base must be somewhere in the area. After about an hour of searching Ash found what appeared to be the entrance to a facility. Ash still found it amazing how much influence Team Rocket had in Sinnoh. He had always assumed that they had only operated in Kanto and Johto but his travels had proven that they were a far greater threat than anyone thought.

He stood watching the guards patrol route for half an hour and spotted an obvious gap where he could sneak through. As he was about to execute the plan he heard screams coming from the east. He couldn't ignore the terror filled screams and ran towards the source. He stopped in a clearing where he saw a young girl who could be no more than six running from a couple of Team Rocket grunts. The girl suddenly stumbled and fell to the floor. She tried to crawl away but one of the grunts grabbed her and picked her up.

"Sorry kid it's nothing personal but we can't have you telling someone about what happened."

The grunt pulled out a knife and was about to stab the young girl until an Aura Sphere slammed into his gut sending him crashing back into a tree. The other grunt looked to where the attack had come from and spotted Ash. The grunt ignored the girl and now aimed a gun at Ash who shot forward and hit the grunt with an Aura infused punch that sent him crashing into his buddy knocking both of them out. Ash ran over to the girl who was now in the fetal position and sobbing uncontrollably. He knelt down next to the girl and pulled her into a hug.

"Hey calm down. I've dealt with the bad men. They won't hurt you now."

The girl sobbed into his shirt but after a few minutes her sobs lessened.

"Why were those men chasing you." Ash asked gently

"T-they k-k-killed my m-mummy and d-daddy. I saw them h-hurting Pokémon so I-I ran home to tell my parents. The b-bad men followed me and broke our door down. My daddy told to run so I did." the girl said between sobs.

"What's your name?" He asked

"M-my n-n-name is Ariana."

"Do you have any family or friends I can take you to?"

She just shook her head and started sobbing into his shirt again. Ash sighed sadly as he had no idea what to do with the girl now, if she was right and had no other family he really had nowhere to take her. His only hope was to check out her house and hope that he could find something. Ash took Charizard, Flygon, Gardevoir, Luxray and Absol's Pokéballs out and sent them out. The Pokémon looked sadly at the sobbing girl wondering what happened.

"Can you guys protect this girl while I'm gone. I'll explain the situation later."

The Pokémon nodded more than willing to protect and comfort the girl, Ash was relieved to have the help of his Pokémon and knelt down next to Ariana again.

"Stay here with my Pokémon I'll go check out your house and see if I can find anything. Which way is your house?"

She pointed to the east not trusting her voice.

"Ok I'll be back soon."

It only took a couple of minutes to find the house which was actually a small farm. Ash walked in through the now destroyed door and looked around. He saw the bodies of what he assumed were Ariana's parents on the floor with multiple stab wounds in them. Ash walked over to them and found that the father was still alive. Ash knelt down next to the man.

"Are you Ariana's father?"

"Y-yes. How is Ari-Ariana?" the man asked as he coughed up some blood.

Ash knew the man was dying and it was obvious by the look in the mans' eyes that he knew it too, so Ash didn't waste time telling him to save his strength.

"She's safe. I dealt with the Team Rocket grunts who were chasing her."

Ash watched a relieved smile form on the mans' face and then saw the man trying to reach out to his wife but she was just too far away. Ash got up and gently picked up the mans' wife and placed her down next to him. The man grabbed her hand with his and held it as tight as he could.

"P-please take c-care of Ari. W-we were the only f-family she had."

"I promise I'll watch over her."

"T-thank you." the man took his last breath and death finally took him.

Ash closed the man and his wife's eyes.

"Rest in peace and may your Aura lead you to a better place." he murmured.

Ash started searching for anything Ariana might want to take with her. He was stood in Ariana's room and spotted a photo of her and her parents smiling. He took the photo as she would want something to remember them by. He also spotted a Riolu doll on her bed and decided to take that too just in case she wanted it. Ash managed to find out Ariana's parents' names as he searched for anything. When he was done searching he went out back and found a shovel so that he could at least give Ariana's parents a proper burial.

Ash piled the last bit of earth on to the grave he had dug. He had chosen to bury them together as Mark had taken his last breath with Catherine's hand in his. Ash put the tombstone he had made out of a boulder in front of the grave. Ash looked at the tombstone he had made and knew that it wasn't perfect but it was the best he could do. Maybe one day Ariana could come and choose something more fitting for her parents.

Here lies Mark and Catherine Williams.

Mother and father of Ariana.

They were loving parents who were taken before their time.

"I promise I'll make sure your daughter is kept safe." Ash murmured.

Ash picked up the items he had taken from the house and walked back to where he had left Ariana and his Pokémon He walked into the clearing and saw Gardevoir cuddling the now sleeping Ariana. Ash returned all of his Pokémon except Gardevoir and took Ariana from her.

"Gardevoir Teleport us to my mother's house please."

She nodded and placed her hand on Ash's shoulder then in a flash of light the trio then appeared in front of his mother's house.

"Thank you Gardevoir." Ash said as he returned her.

Ash knocked on the door hoping his mother was home, if she wasn't he'd have to take her somewhere else and he really had nowhere else that was safe to take her. Thankfully the door opened and Ash was relieved to see that it was his mum.

"Hello Ash who's this?" Delia whispered.

"It's a long story. Can we put her to bed first and then I'll explain everything?"

Delia nodded and walked upstairs towards the spare room, she opened the door to the spare room and Ash placed Ariana on the bed, pulling the covers over her. The mother and son then went downstairs to let Ariana get some peaceful sleep. They sat on the sofa and Ash told the whole story of what had happened to his mum who was shocked at what she had heard.

"So mum can she stay here?"

"Of course she can. I'll do the best I can to raise her when you're not here."

"Thank you."

Ariana then walked into the living room holding her Riolu doll and froze when she saw Ash sitting on the sofa, realisation then kicked in and fell to her knees as tears started trickling down her cheeks. Ash immediately got up and pulled the young girl into a hug.

"I-I thought it was just a n-nightmare." she whimpered.

"I'm so sorry Ariana but it wasn't a nightmare. When I went to your house I promised your father that I would take care of you and I will. This is my mum and she will be here for you too."

Ash let go of Ariana and watched as his mother wasted no time in bringing Ariana into a tight hug, Ariana clung on to Delia and cried herself to sleep.

Flashback end

"I stayed for about a week after that so she could get used to me and mum, but then I had to go and continue my quest to destroy Team Rocket. I returned home a couple of months later when I had finished searching Sinnoh and mum told me that Ariana had only just stopped having nightmares."

Richie and Sparky had heard the story before but it still made them just as mad as it did the first time, both had their fists clenched and wished that they had gotten to help defeat Team Rocket. Anabel and Dawn on the other hand were on the verge of tears feeling incredibly sorry for Ariana.

"When she was eight she started calling us mum and brother. She said it was because we had been her family since she started living with us so it felt right for her to call us mum and brother."

Everyone was silent as they thought of what had happened to Ariana. As they stood in silence Ash looked at Bulbasaur's Pokéball and decided he'd better go tell the other's about what had happened. He just hoped Charizard wouldn't kill him although he was almost certain that the dragon would do something.

"Guys I'm going to go take Bulbasaur to see the other's." Ash announced.

"When did you get Bulbasaur back? And why would you take him back?" Richie asked in confusion.

"Mum and Ariana brought him here to me and the short version is he only betrayed me because the traitors threatened to part him from his mate who they said was pregnant but actually wasn't."

"Wow those guys really are scum to lie about something like that. Well I guess I can understand Bulbasaur's reasoning although we both know that Paul probably won't."

"Yeah you're right. I'll see you later Richie."

Ash, Anabel and Dawn then left the Pokémon Centre and headed back towards the clearing with Manaphy sat sleeping in Anabel's arms. On the way Ash fully explained what had happened with Bulbasaur to Anabel who understood just as Ash had why Bulbasaur did what he did. When they reached the clearing Ash saw his mother and Ariana, the former was sat down talking with Meowth and Cinccino and the latter was playing with Meganium, Glaceon and Heliolisk. Ash took Bulbasaur's Pokéball off his belt and was about to send him out when he realised something.

"Hey Dawn you haven't introduced your Pokémon to ours yet." Ash said.

"Well I wasn't sure how all of your Pokémon would react to seeing them." Dawn replied.

"They'll be fine trust me."

Dawn wasn't sure but she trusted Ash so she sent out all of her Pokémon who immediately went over to Infernape as they recognised him. Dawn watched anxiously as Infernape stared at them, she let out a relieved sigh as she saw the fire monkey start introducing her Pokémon to everyone.

"See I told you they'd be fine. Our Pokémon have no ill-feelings towards your Pokémon as they didn't... you know."

Ash always made sure not to say anything about betrayal while Dawn was around as there was always a very guilty look on her face if he did.

"Hey shouldn't you be introducing them to Bulbasaur?" Dawn replied.

Ash could see the deliberate attempt to change the subject and was more than happy to go with it.

"Yeah you're right. Hey everyone can you come here please?"

All of the Pokémon in the clearing got up and crowded around Ash wondering what was so important.

"Listen everyone there is someone you need to see. Now before you do anything just listen to his story, I've forgiven him but I don't expect you too straight away."

Ash threw Bulbasaur's Pokéball revealing the grass type to his family. To say all the Pokémon looked pissed would be an understatement, the angriest by far was Charizard who had his murder face on and it was taking all of his will power to not Blast Burn the traitor in front of him into oblivion. Bulbasaur saw the intense glares being sent at him and knew that he deserved them, part of him wanted to leave but instead he stood his ground in determination. He told everyone the story of what happened that day, they could see by the look in his eyes that everything he was saying was true and that he was ashamed of what he'd done.

Luxray, Absol, Glaceon, Flygon, Espeon, Gengar, Froslass Gallade and Gardevoir immediately got up and stood by him. They all understood the position he'd been put in and knew that he had no choice so they stood between him and the rest of the Pokémon showing that they supported him and would protect him. Charizard growled angrily at those who were siding with Bulbasaur and glared at them all, astonished that they were standing by the traitor.

'How can you all side with that traitor so easily? I've had a mate but I would have never give up what I have with Ash for her no matter what. Well unlike all of you I know where my loyalties lie, Ash may have forgiven the traitor but you can be damn sure I won't be any time soon.'

The other's grumbled agreeing with Charizard and walked away also swearing that they wouldn't forgive Bulbasaur that easily. Ash was saddened to see his Pokémon divided by this but knew that in time this would work out.

"Well that went better than expected. I thought I was going to have to explain to Nurse Joy why I have an incinerated Bulbasaur."

Ash looked to Bulbasaur who he could tell was surprised that anyone had stood by him, he could also see that the grass type was saddened by the words of Charizard. Bulbasaur quickly brushed the comments aside though, he knew he had a lot of work to do if he wanted to regain their respect and hopefully their friendship and moping about what they had said wouldn't help him achieve his goal. Ash knelt down and placed a comforting hand on the grass types' bulb which made Bulbasaur look up at Ash.

"Listen they'll come around eventually, it'll just take a little time. Although I would recommend you stay away from Charizard for the time being."

Bulbasaur nodded, he believed what Ash had said and decided that it would be best for him to get on good terms with those who had supported him. The mated pairs and Flygon escorted Bulbasaur to a safer part of the clearing so they could talk and keep him safe, many of them shooting worried glances in Charizard's direction. Ash watched on just hoping that the others would forgive Bulbasaur as he had done. Although he knew that Meganium, Donphan, Totodile, Sceptile, Infernape, Meowth and especially Charizard would struggle to forgive him.

"Hey Ash I think it's best if we leave them for now. It might give the other's some time to think." Anabel suggested.

"Yeah I think you are right Anabel. The five of us can spend some time together." Ash replied.

They left their Pokémon in the clearing hoping they would calm down and maybe even begin forgiving Bulbasaur. The rest of the day consisted of Ash introducing Dawn to Ariana and the trio basically chatted while Delia and Anabel spent the time getting to know each other. When night came they went to their individual hotel's to rest. Dawn was relieved to find out that Ariana and Delia were staying in the Elenion too so she wasn't alone.

The next day Ash went to the Pokémon centre hoping Nurse Joy would let him see Pidgeot just to see how she was feeling after the surgery. Anabel had come with him and was holding the sleeping Manaphy in her arms. When they entered the Pokémon Centre Ash saw a pair of coordinators who he had gotten very close too shortly after the betrayal.

"Hey Ursula, Zoey." He called out.

They'd met Ash a few months after the betrayal when they were travelling around Sinnoh training together in preparation for future contests. One day Ursula spotted Ash and thought it was odd seeing him on his own so they approached him and they began talking. He told them what had happened and it infuriated them both that they had turned their backs on Ash, Zoey was especially disappointed in Dawn. They spent a few days together and gradually Ash saw the two of them as far better friends than the ones who had betrayed him had ever been. After parting ways', they promised that they would keep in touch with each other regularly which they gladly did and over time they were as close as siblings.

"It's great to see you both. How have you both been?"

"Hi Ash we've both been doing well. I won the Sinnoh Grand Festival a few months back while Ursula won the Hoenn Grand Festival." Zoey replied.

"Yeah we've been great and now we're here to crush that bitch May, her tosser boyfriend Drew and that freak Harley." Ursula added.

"I'd heard that you two were in that match tomorrow. Make sure you pummel them for me."

"Oh believe me I will." Ursula said in a sinister voice.

Zoey's Pokénav then starting ringing, she took it out of her pocket and saw that it was the third member of their team, Nando.

"Hey Nando where are you?" Zoey asked politely.

Silence was the only response they got which was making Ursula angrier by the second, eventually it became too much for her and she took Zoey's Pokénav and glared at the screen.

"You were in this damn tournament and now you've vanished. So where the hell are you?!" Ursula yelled.

"I apologise ladies but I shan't be competing alongside you tomorrow." Nando replied in a very unapologetic tone.

"What the hell are you talking about? This is a crucial contest battle to prove why more people should get into coordinating. So why the hell are you not going to be here for it?" Ursula yelled.

"I am sorry but my Pokémon are far too injured after their last match in the tournament and they need time to rest up. My opponent was not happy with my tactics and went a little overboard."

Ash knew that was a lie, he had seen the battle and Richie had not gone overboard at all. If anything he had been soft on Nando despite his cowardly tactics. Ash was brought back to reality by Ursula yelling again however he noticed that a lot of the fight Ursula had was suddenly gone and the optimistic smile on Zoey's face had faded.

"You're a fucking liar I saw that battle so I know you're talking shit." Ursula replied.

"Now miss Ursula I must disagree with you…" Nando started.

"Piss off you fucking coward."

Ursula hung up the phone before Nando could reply to her. Ash looked sadly at his coordinating friends and watched as Zoey sighed with a look of resignation on her face while Ursula looked furious and slammed her hands on a table.

"Damn it, there is no way we can get someone else out here for tomorrow. Nando has royally fucked us and the world of coordinating over." Ursula growled.

"You can't have handicap matches in coordinating so we'll have to forfeit the match and that'll be the beginning of the end for coordinating." Zoey uttered sadly.

Ash on the other hand was elated by the news, he'd been struggling to come up with a way to get his revenge on May but thanks to Nando he had been gifted an easy way to make May pay for her actions. He did wonder why Nando really didn't want to compete though but that was something to figure out later.

"Hey you two I have an idea, you see I've done a few contests in the past and well since the tournament is postponed I'm free tomorrow."

"I was hoping you would say that." Ursula said.

Notes

Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Here's a clue for the winner of the poll – it's either Zoey or Ursula.

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.