May stood in the bathroom, slowly applying makeup in the mirror. She was dressed in a black dress that stopped just below her knees, a small black handbag was sitting next to her feet. She looked at herself in the mirror, nodded and left. She walked into the living room, finding only Pikachu there. Sitting next to the yellow pokemon on the sofa, where he jumped on to Mays lap. She smiled at Pikachu, and began to slowly stroke him, causing him to coo quitely.
"Are you ready for today?" Asked May. Pikachu turned his head to look at her, May looking into his big black eyes, filled with sadness.
"Pika, pikachu." He said, while shaking his head.
"Me either, I can't believe it's been two weeks since A..." she paused, unable to say his name "since he died." She said, tears in her eyes. Pikachu looked back at the ground. She wiped her tears away. "We need to be strong today, Pikachu, for Delia especially." She said, seeing Pikachu slowly nodding.
"Pika." The pokemon said. May looked up from Pikachu, her eyes wondering around the room. It had been quiet in the house for the last week as everyone had left to be with their families, while May stayed in Pallet Town to look after Delia, thinking it was the least she could do for Ash. It had also fallen to her to tell Dawn and Max. She remembered how Dawn had sobbed over the phone as she told her, unable to accept that her mentor and friend was gone. Max had been worst, May could see in his eyes how this had ripped him up inside, his hero killed.
May moved Pikachu and stood up, wanting to distract herself from the memories of the past few weeks. She left the room and went into the garden, Pikachu following her outside. She looked at the tree to the right of her, seeing wild Pidgy on the branches.
"Ash use to love watching that tree, seeing all the pokemon come and go." A voice said behind May. She turned around to see an older woman standing in front of her, wearing a black dress that went down to her short, black heels. May could see bags under Delia's eyes, looking like she had not slept properly in weeks.
"That doesn't surprise me." May said. They both turned to look at the tree, May imagining a small child with raven black hair sitting under the tree, playing with the wild pokemon. "Everyone will be here soon, we should head inside."
An hour later, and the house was full. All of Ash's previous traveling companions had arrived, all of them sitting in the living room, yet no one spoke. They all stared down at floor, before Dawn tilted her head towards May.
"I wanted to ask, May, is it true that you and Ash were a couple?" Dawn asked. May looked at her, before nodding. "How did that happen?" The room turned to May, as she began to tell them.
Ash and May ran through the temple, following a blue pokemon that swam ahead of them, leading them towards the sea crown. They arrived at treasure room, looking down to see water already filling up the room. Manaphy jumped into the water, with May and Ash diving in after it. They swam towards the centre of the room, climbing onto the walkway and making their way up towards the sea crown, seeing that most of the crystals had been removed from the seacrown. They replaced the crystals, only to find one was missing. May could feel her shoes getting wet and looked down to see that the water had reached the platform.
"We've got to go May, we need to find a way out!" Ash exclaimed as he grabbed May's hand and started to run out of the treasure room. As the fled the floor, they climbed up the temple, trying to stay above the water.
"Pikachu, pikapi." Said Pikachu, pointing at something in a fountain. Ash stopped to see a blue crystal sitting in the fountain.
"How did that get here?" Asked May as Ash grabbed the crystal.
"I have no idea." Replied Ash as they began to run up the stairs again. They reach the outside of the temple, seeing that the whole temple was sinking, with no Lizabeth or Jackie to help save them. Ash saw an air capsule nearly submerged. "It must be phantoms." He said as he pulled it out of the water and opened it. "Come on May! You've got to get in" Ash exclaimed, grabbing her hand, and pulling her into the capsule, putting Manaphy in and lastly Pikachu in as well. "Look after them for me buddy." He said as closed the capsule.
May looked through the small window at Ash in shock, pushing against the door, hoping to stop Ash from leaving them, but it would not budge.
"Ash!" She yelled. Ash smiled at her, his usual normal carefree smile that said everything will be fine.
"Before I go, I wanted to ask you on a date after I get this all sorted out." He said. Before May could reply, the capsule began to shake. May saw Ash look up, quickly grab the crystal, and take one final look at May then run off. The Capsule then was swallowed up by the water. May could only look through the window, thinking about what Ash had just said before he ran off.
May couldn't help but smile at the memory.
"We both forgot about what he said, got swept up in stopping Phantom and Manaphy leaving. We didn't talk about what he said until a few days afterwards. I spoke to him in private about it and we went on a date."
"I can't believe that. I always thought he was too dense to notice girls." Said Dawn, a small grin on her face. "I guess he never took notice as he was already in a relationship."
The conversion was interrupted by a knocking. Delia got up and walked out of the room to answer the front door. May watched as Delia left the room before turning back to Dawn.
"Come on, we should help Delia. This will be hard on her." She said, as she got up and left the room. Dawn quickly followed May, catching her in the hallway and pulling her into the bathroom.
"What are you doing?" May asked as Dawn pulled her in.
"I'm here for you May. I know today will be tough on you too, so if you need anything, come to me." Dawn said, looking into May's eyes.
"Thanks Dawn, that means a lot." May said, hugging Dawn. "Come on, we should go help" She said as they separated. They left the bathroom and headed to the front door, seeing that her family had arrived. Her mother and father were talking to Delia as Max walked down the hallway towards them. He hugged May when they reached each other.
"I can't believe he's really gone." Sobbed Max. He looked up at May, tears rolling down his face as they split.
"Me either, Max, me either." May replied. "Go into the living room, everyone else is there. I'll go talk to Mum and Dad." Max nodded at her and walked past her, as May and Dawn walked towards the front door. Norman and Caroline Maple were speaking to Delia, who was holding a bunch of Lilies. They turned to look at the approaching girls, with Caroline pulling May into a hug.
"How are you?" Caroline asked, worry laced in her voice.
"I'm… I'm okay." May said sorrowfully. Caroline looked down at her daughter. May met her gaze, staring into her mother's eye's. Caroline give a small sad smile, before the let go of each other. "We should go join Max and everyone." May said as they all made their way down the hallway.
Later that day, May sat in the front row at Professor Oaks Ranch. A small stage had been setup in front of her with a screen and a podium. Professor Oak made his way up onto the stage, and behind the podium where he faced the crowd.
"Thank you all for coming to Ash's memorial service. It would mean so much to Ash to see so many faces here." He said, before he looked down at the podium. "I first met Ash as a small boy, I watched him grow up. He would always come to the ranch to see the pokemon. I gave him his first pokemon and watched as he went through Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh, always improving himself and his friends and I can say without a doubt, he was one of the if not the best trainer that ever started his journey at my ranch, and it is with great sadness that I'll never see how his journey should of ended." He said as tears rolled down his face. He moved off the stage and sat down next to May
Gary made his way up the stage next.
"Ash and I grew up together, forever rivals. We fought over everything. Ash pushed me harder than everyone else, it's because of him that I made it so far in the leagues I competed in. I never got to tell him that, and that I'm sorry for how I treated him when I was younger. I… I…" Gary broke down, crying. Professor Oak getting up to help walk Gary away from the podium. Gary sat down and tried to get his emotions under control.
Misty then stood up and gave a short speech, followed by Brock and then Dawn. May watched as more faces appeared behind the podium, and photos appearing on the screen of Ash. Eventually, May was behind the podium, everyone's eyes on her.
"I met Ash at the very beginning of my pokemon journey. He taught me everything I know about pokemon. He supported me in every decision, and he changed my life because of that. For those that don't know, Ash and I had been dating for over a year. I loved him more than anything, and I will be forever grateful for everything he did for me." She said, looking with blurry vision at Delia who was also crying. She then pressed a button on the podium, showing a photo behind her. It was of her and Ash walking together, staring into each other's eyes. She turned to look at it and quietly whispered to herself "I love you Ash. Thank you for everything."
She turned to the stairs and made her way back to her seat. Delia then got up and walked on the stage.
"Ash was my son. He has made me the proudest mother I could ever be, not only through his achievements through pokemon battles but also in his inability to walk away from someone who needs help. To see so many people here is a true testament to that, and to know that my son touched so many lives will always be a source of happiness to me."She said, as she then left the stage and left, making her way out into the middle of the ranch. Everyone slowly followed her, with Professor Oak and May at the lead. May stood next to Delia while Professor Oak made his way in front of everyone. All of Ash's pokemon followed the Professor.
"To end the memorial service, we now release Ash's pokemon back into the wild. This will be your chance to say goodbye." The pokemon looked around, searching for the people they know, wanting to say a last goodbye.
Sceptile and Corphish made their way to May. She hugged each of them and said a final goodbye. Other pokemon came to say goodbye and finally, the crowd watched as the pokemon either slowly started to leave the ranch or head into the laboratory to get teleported to their home region. The crowd then also started to disperse, with everyone coming to say one last goodbye to Delia and wish her their best.
"Pikachu." Said Pikachu. The noise startled May as she looked down to see a yellow pokemon next to her.
"Pikachu? Why are you here? Didn't you want to leave with the other pokemon?" Asked May, as she bent down to speak with the pokemon.
"Pikapi pika pikachu pika." Replied the pokemon, while pointing at May.
"Do you want to stay with me?"
"Piai pika." Pikachu then jumped onto May's shoulder, causing her to smile as she slowly left the ranch, catching up her friends as they slowly made their way back to Delia's house.
"I'll help you Arceus." Said Ash, standing in front of the God pokemon.
"Thank you, Ash." Replied Arceus, moving towards the trainer. "Frist, we need to get you some new clothes." He said as he raised his head and his eyes glowed white for a second. Next to Ash appeared a pile of clothes.
"How did you get these?" Asked Ash, as he went through the pile. He saw a black hoodie, with red strips down the arms, a black t-shirt, a pair of dark blue trousers and a pair of trainers.
"I teleported them in from various shops from around the world. Nobody will notice them missing."
Ash changed into his new clothes, looking down his at new outfit.
"I like it, but no hat, I can't remember the last time I didn't have a hat." Said Ash, feeling the top of his head.
"Now," said Arceus, ignoring Ash's comment "you will need your pokemon back, I cannot just teleport them back, it will be too suspicious if all your pokemon suddenly disappear." Ash nodded to that. "Instead, we shall wait until after your funeral when your pokemon are released back into the wild, where I can influence them to meet you somewhere private. After you collect all your pokemon, you'll need to train both them and yourself to peak fitness if you hope to stop Team Rocket."
"Sounds like a plan. My funeral won't be for a couple of weeks, what should I do till then?"
"You shall rest for until you get your pokemon, your body is still repairing. After you have got your pokemon, you will need to learn about aura. You will need to capture a Lucario soon as well to help you unlock your true potential."
"Not to moan, but where can I rest here, the floor doesn't look that comfy to sleep on." Ash said as he looked around the whiteness. He looked back at Arceus, to see his head raised and his eyes beginning to glow. Ash was then enveloped by a faint blue light before his body felt weightlessness.
Ash's vision then changed from Arceus to a long tunnel, a light shining behind him. Ash turned to see the exit to a cave in front of him, sunlight beaming in. He left the cave, looking around. He found himself in a forest at the base of a mountain. Wild pokemon stopped to look at him. Ash smiled to himself as he wondered where he was.
Ash re-entered the cave, looking around for somewhere to lay down, exhaustion slowly gripping him. He found in the cave a black backpack, filled with supplies. Attached to the backpack was a sleeping bag and a tent. Next to the backpack was a pokeball belt, Ash smiled as he put it on.
Ash slowly unpacked, finding food, cooking materials, and other supplies. Ash was surprised to find some many pokeballs at the the bottom of the bag. It took up the bottom half of his bag, all of them empty. Ash then packed back up, leaving out some food for him. He sat at the edge of the cave, watching the pokemon in the forest. A sad smile on his face as his thoughts turned to May. 'I hope she is okay' He thought. His mind was slowly filled with sadness to think what everyone was going through right now.
"I'm sorry May, I hope you would understand if you knew why I can't come back." He said to the forest. He could see that the sun was slowly starting to set, he walked into the cave and set up his sleeping bag. As he lied down, sleep eluded him. He stared at the top of the cave, unable to sleep, his mind filled with regret again. Ash couldn't get May out of his head, how upset she must be right now. 'I couldn't imagine losing May.' He thought as tried to sleep. Eventually, sleep came to him.
Ash was standing in a room, alone. He slowly observed the room. The walls were entirely grey, featureless, expect for a wooden door opposite Ash. He opened the door, to find himself on a pokemon battlefield, Pikachu was standing in front of him, facing the opposite side of the field. A blurry orange shape appeared on the other side, pulling out a pokeball and throwing it into the battlefield. A shadow appeared on the field. It stood on two feet, with a tail that reached the top of its head.
"Phychic." Said a distorted voice. Pikachu was lifted into the air before being slammed into the floor.
"Pikachu use thunderhock!" Yelled Ash. The yellow pokemon jumped into the arm and his cheeks began to spark, a thunderbolt emitting from Pikachu, aiming straight for the shadow pokemon. It disappeared when the attack hit it.
The orange shadow threw more pokeballs on the pokefield, more shadow pokemon appear on the field before Pikachu.
"Use agility into quick attack, hit all of them." Yelled Ash. Pikachu disappeared in the blink of an eye, and hit all the shadow pokemon, all of them disappearing when hit with an attack. Pikachu then appeared in front of Ash once again after hitting all of the shadows.
"Destroy them!" The orange blur yelled, throwing more pokeballs towards Ash. The shadows then sent an attack, a strange black attack coming out of the shadow pokemon, aimed directly at Ash.
Pikachu dived into the attack, sending him flying towards Ash. Pikachu slammed into Ash, knocking him off his feet. Ash slowly got up with Pikachu in his arms, facing the shadow trainer against him. Ash then heard a flapping sound round him, Charizard slowly landing in front of him.
"Charizard!" yelled Ash, as the orange pokemon landed in front of him. The dragon pokemon roared as it landed. "Use flamethrower!" directed Ash. The dragon opened his mouth, streams of flames flowing out, hitting all the shadow pokemon. They disappeared when the flamed hit the shadows. The orange blur in front of them began to disappear, with Charizard slowly fading with them.
A door appeared on the opposite side of the pokemon battlefield. Pikachu jumped out of Ash's arms and ran up to the door. It opened before the yellow pokemon as he ran through it and closed behind him.
"Pikachu! Wait for me!" Yelled Ash as he ran up to the door and went through it. He found himself in his living room, Pikachu in the centre of the room with all his friends looking at Pikachu before turning to stare at Ash. No-one moved, just staring at Pikachu.
"Guys?" Said Ash. Still no response. "Guys?!" Asked Ash, as he shook Misty, the closest to him. She turned to him, with all of his friends slowly turning to face him as well.
"You left us, Ash." Misty said.
"You hurt all of us." Said Dawn.
"You ripped apart this group." Said Brock, as everyone got up and surrounded Ash, all staring at him.
"You betrayed us." They all said. "You destroyed May and Delia's lifes because of your choice." They then grew around him, staring down at him as they pointed and yelled at him.
Ash bolted up, covered in sweat, his heart was racing. He looked around to find himself in a cave again, no one around him. He took a deep breath before slowly lying back down, staring up at the top of the cave again.
Ash slowly had regained his strength back over the next two weeks and had begun to work on his physical fitness. He left the cave after he had made himself some lunch, hoping to see some wild pokemon to keep his mind busy.
"Pack your belongings Ash, it is time you get your pokemon." Ash heard in his head. Ash looked around, seeing nothing. Nonetheless, he packed up his stuff and waited for Arceus to teleport him. It didn't take long before his body begun to feel weightlessness and then he was surrounded by pure white.
"Hello Ash." Said the God of pokemon. "It is time that you get your pokemon. Are you ready to be teleported?"
"Before you teleport me, can I ask for a favour? Instead of asking Pikachu to join me, can you tell him to stay with May and look after her."
"I can, Ash, although I must say I am surprised that you do not want Pikachu back."
"I would love Pikachu back, but I need my best friend to look after May for me. Can you tell him to take care of May and make sure she is safe."
Arceus looked at Ash before he gave Ash a nod.
"After I get my pokemon, where should I go to train them?"
"I would recommend traveling throughout all four regions, make sure you do not spend too long anywhere to avoid arousing curiosity."
"Makes sense, I guess I'll start in Sinnoh to find a Lucario and then slowly make my way through the other three regions."
"I wish you the best of luck Ash, I shall help you on your journey where I can, but do not expect much. I must remain a myth to the world."
Ash nodded at this, as he thought about what was ahead of him. Fear crept into his mind, what should he do? How long will he be gone from the world? Will May be okay?
"When will you send me to Kanto?" Ash asked, pushing his fear to the back of his mind.
"Now, your pokemon will be released soon so you need to get into position. I shall send you to Route 1 first, there you will meet your pokemon and recapture them. Afterwards, I will send you to Johto, then Hoenn and finally Sinnoh." Arceus said. His eyes began to glow.
Trees surrounded Ash, wild pokemon stared at the human that just appeared before them. Ash looked around, seeing a path through the trees. He walked on to the path, looking down the path. He could see a sign down the path, pointing the way to Pallet Town. Ash made his way to Pallet Town, stopping when he could finally see the town. He left the path and stuck to the forest, making his way around the town towards Professor Oak's Ranch. He could see a crowd in the fields. He had a sad smile as he saw his mother and May in the crowd.
"It's good to see you one last time." Ash said. Slowly, the pokemon began to make their way away from the crowd, heading into either the laboratory or towards Ash. He looked once more at the crowd, seeing a yellow pokemon on top of May. "Thank you." He quietly said as he retreated into the forest to wait for his pokemon.
He found a small clearing and waited. Soon Ash began to hear movement, he looked up to see his pokemon make their way into the clearing. They looked at him, frozen. None of the pokemon moved once they saw Ash.
"Hey guys!" Ash yelled, a huge smile on his face as he saw all his Kanto pokemon in front of him. Charizard was the first to move, roaring then flying into Ash, all the other pokemon following his lead, spriting towards Ash. They bundled on him, all yelling in happiness as they did. Ash laughed as jumped on him.
"I missed you too!" He said. They slowly got off him, and then looked at Ash with confusion, their initial joy of seeing Ash had worn off. "I was saved at the last second by Arceus, where they asked me to stop Team Rocket. I needed to stay "dead" to protect my friends and family." He said, understanding their looks. "To defeat Team Rocket, I need all of your help. Before you answer, understand that we will be away from civilization for a long time. You will be pushed to your limits, and we can't stop until we stop Team Rocket. I don't know how long that will be."
The pokemon stared at Ash, thinking over what he said. Eventually, Bulbasuar took a step forward, looking Ash in the eye. He then walked across the clearing and stood next to Ash, slowly the other pokemon crossed the clearing to join Ash.
"Thank you." He smiled. He then took off his backpack and pulled out his pokeballs. He placed a small pile infront of the pokemon, letting them enter the pokeballs themselves. Once the last pokeball had stopped shaking, Ash picked them up and returned them to his backpack, except for Charizard, who Ash placed on his belt. As he put on his backpack, he felt his body becoming weightless once again.
Ash collected the last of his pokemon, placing Buizel and Staraptor on his belt and the rest in his backpack. He turned towards Twinleaf Town, walking towards it. He entered the town and headed into a shop. He sold the remaining pokeballs he had and began to look around the shop. He grabbed as much food and other supplies that he could afford before heading to the cashier. He left the shop and headed out of town.
He kept walking on Route 201 and didn't stop until he was sure no was following him. He then left the pathway, heading into the forest. Ash found a small river that he set up his camp. After he ate, he stood up, looking towards the sunset, and then walked towards the river. He looked at his reflection, a young boy looking back at him.
"How am I going to do this?" He asked, looking into the river. No reply. He just stared, hoping for something, anything to answer him. "Who knows?" He finally answered his own question. The pokeballs on his belt began to shake before they all opened. Ash turned away from the river to face them.
"Staraptor!"
"Bui bui!"
"Heracross!"
"Speptile!"
Charizard roared with the other pokemon, showing Ash their support in them. Bayleef walked towards Ash, her vinewipes extending towards him.
"Bay bay bayleef." She said as her vinewipes grabbed something hanging off Ash's neck, pulling it over his head and placing it in his hand. Ash looked at it, seeing half a ribbon. A large smile then appeared on his face as he looked back at his pokemon, a sense of confidence rising within him.
"Thanks guys."