Hey Guys and thanks for waiting! Here's Chapter 4. It will deal with Ash's emotions after the Betrayal a bit and as the title suggests, focuses on Part 1 of Ash reuniting with old friends and making new ones. So the next few chapter will be focusing on said journeys so Alola won't be coming just yet. And as for those asking for Galar, well we gotta complete Galar first but there will be some Galar references here and there. Without further ado, let's go!
The next morning, Ash and Serena both woke up from a good night's sleep though Ash's thoughts were bittersweet at the moment since he was relieving the betrayal again. He couldn't believe that his own friends would do that to him and everyone else all because he couldn't win the first 5 leagues of his career. Serena noticed this and asked, "Ash what's wrong?"
"Serena do you think I'm a failure?" he asked with solemn eyes.
"Ash why would you think such a thing?" she said with tears in her eyes.
Ash then told her the story of how he failed to win the first 5 leagues of his career as a trainer and his doubts especially when it came to training his Pokemon. As Serena listened patiently, she realized just how much pain and heartbreak her boyfriend had inside and now was letting it all out. When he finished, she responded by giving him a tight hug.
"Ash I don't care if you lost 5 leagues or acted like an idiot in your earlier days. To me you're Ash Ketchum, Kalos Champion and my loving boyfriend." she said as she soon placed her lips on his.
"Serena, thank you..." he said as he now felt a lot better letting out all of his doubts with a few tears of his own coming down. A few minutes later, the couple got dressed and headed down to the kitchen. There they saw Pikachu nibbling on some Pokemon food and Delia cooking some breakfast.
"Good morning honey. How are you feeling?" she asked in motherly fashion.
"I'm fine mom. I just had to get a few things out of my head. Serena was able to help me out with it." said Ash.
Delia sent Serena a thankful look and then said, "I'm glad to hear that. Never think of yourself as a failure Ash, you and Gary are considered the Prides of Pallet for a reason. Besides based on what you told me none of those traitors achieved their dreams so if they're calling you a failure, they're pretty much calling themselves worse than failures." she finished with a smirk.
Hearing those words of encouragement brightened Ash up and soon he was gobbling up food like there was no tomorrow. Delia sighed, "Like father, like son. When it comes to food, there is no limit." which made Serena chuckle and Ash look up.
"What can I say Mom? I just like good food!" Ash said with his mouthful.
"Ash Ketchum! You will not talk with food in your mouth." Delia warned.
Ash nodded and gulped it all down in one go causing the two females to think, "How does he swallow all of that without a heart attack?"
Ash then got his bag and placing it on his back said, "Well mom, me and Serena are going to be headed to the lab. We were planning to meet Brock there after all."
Delia nodded and soon Ash and Serena headed out the door and to the lab. Once they arrived, they saw Gary feeding some of the Pokemon in the fields. They waved to him which he responded by doing the same. As the couple entered, they saw Brock in the lobby on the couch drinking a glass of what looked to be tea. He then noticed the two and smiled.
"Ash glad you could make it. You two should take a seat." Brock said and the two obliged.
"So last night you told me you were planning to make a trip to the Alola Region?" Brock started.
"Yep. But I also plan to make some big changes before I start there." Ash said.
"What sort of changes are we talking here?" Brock asked.
"Well for starters, I'm not going to bring just Pikachu with me this time." Ash stated.
This shocked Brock a bit as he was used to Ash starting a new region with only his faithful starter.
"And may I ask what brought this on?" Brock continued.
"One word, Brock. Unova..." Ash said head down.
Brock winced. He was well aware of Ash's struggles in Unova and knew that the memory from 2 years ago was a sore spot for his younger brother in all but blood.
"I've realized that I also neglected training everyone else. I mean I know they love being on the Ranch but look at Ambipom. Because she tagged along with me from Hoenn to Sinnoh, she was able to achieve so much more even after she got traded to Dawn. I can't leave everyone behind anymore Brock. I have to fulfill my promise of making them all the best of the best." Ash stated.
"Then look at all the other Pokemon I could have raised if I put more effort into them. Muk, Totodile and the biggest of them all, Gible. I should have brought Gible especially with me to Unova so that he could gain more experience because I'm not gonna lie, his victories in the Lily of the Valley were a bit more on the luck side. So I'm going to bring 5 of the gang with me and rotate them so that I can equally balance their training regimes." finished Ash.
"I wouldn't have to worry about rotating Ash." a voice stated as Ash turned around and saw Professor Oak coming down the stairs.
"What do you mean Professor?" Ash asked.
"Ash my boy, because of your many accomplishments, even if you didn't win a league, the Pokemon Association took note and officially gave you the right to carry all of your Pokemon with you." Oak stated with pride.
Ash couldn't believe what he was hearing. He could actually bring every single one of Pokemon with him and not have to rotate them?
"However in battles, you will be regulated to still 6. But when you're training or just relaxing, you're allowed to be with all of them." Oak finished.
Ash then hugged the Professor.
"Thank you Professor. This means so much for me."
The elderly professor looked at the young man who was a surrogate grandson to him. He's done so much for the world and always acts as the most humblest person in the world.
Ash then headed to the Ranch and then saw Bulbasaur eating an apple.
"Hey Bulbasaur! I'm gonna need you to call everyone!"
"Bulba!" confirmed Bulbasaur as he launched a special Solarbeam in the air. Soon all of Ash's Pokemon were surrounding him. All of them were still concerned especially since the traitors themselves actually tried to convince them to join them. But they were 100% loyal to the man who gave them a home and risked his life for them.
"Alright guys, so if you all haven't heard. I'm going to be going to the Alola Region in a few months and because of that, I realized I made one crucial mistake and that was I neglected you guys." started Ash.
All of the gang were shocked. They then started roaring out cries as if to say Ash never neglected them. The fact that he came back for them and showed them love was all they needed and wanted.
Ash couldn't understand what they were saying but he could still tell they would always be there for him. Tears started coming down his cheeks as he said two word, "Thank you." and with that everyone gathered around and hugged him. Soon Serena, Brock and Professor Oak came outside and saw the scene and couldn't help but smile. There were no Pokemon more loyal than Ash's own. Soon Ash wiped away his tears and said, "Alright guys, so you all know that I made some new friends along the way and it's about time I finally introduced you to them." With those words the Pokemon cried out always happy to meet friends of their trainer.
"I'm sure many of you remember Brock but those of you from Unova and Kalos don't so I'll start. Guys, this is Brock. He's been a companion of mine for the first 4 years of my journey from Kanto all the way to Sinnoh. He was the cook and doctor of the team and worked hard during the time I was with you guys."
Ash then turned to Brock. "I guess introductions are in order then. Brock these are my Unova and Kalos Teams. From Unova, there's Unfezant, Oshawott, Pignite, Snivy, Scraggy, Palpitoad, Leavanny, Boldore and Krookodile. And from Kalos, you've already saw Greninja in action but there's Talonflame, Hawlucha, Goodra, and Noivern."
Brock went up to the two groups and said, "It's a pleasure to meet all of you and I hope to support all of you in Alola." which was returned with cries from said teams.
Ash then called over his Unova team and went up the other 4 teams. "Alright the rest of you, this is Serena. She traveled with me throughout Kalos. I'm pretty sure you are all aware but she's also my girlfriend. And finally, meet the new members of the family from Kalos." as he finished, the Pokemon were more than willing to accept Serena though Bayleef took some time for obvious reasons. When it came to mingling with Kalos, Greninja easily found himself in a group that included Sceptile, Infernape and Krookodile. There was also Charizard but he would be arriving a bit later. Talonflame immediately struck up friendships with its fellow flying types and soon they were racing away in the air. Hawlucha was able to quickly become a father figure to young Scraggy much like how he was to Noivern. Speaking of Noivern, he formed a brotherly bond with Donphan since they found out they had a lot in common both starting as babies hatched by Ash. As Ash looked fondly, he soon saw a shade overhead and smiled, there was only one Pokemon who had that Shape. Once it touched down, it was none other than one of Ash's original powerhouses, Charizard. The Fire Lizard roared in passion and soon Ash rushed up to hug him something the Flame Pokemon returned.
"Charizard, I'm so glad to see you again. I'm pretty sure you heard the news from Liza." said Ash.
Charizard nodded and growled menacingly. He was well aware of how his trainer was betrayed and planned to roast those traitors alive if they every dare to cross paths again.
"Me too buddy, I feel the same way." Ash said. As soon as he finished, he heard a police siren and saw it was none other than Officer Jenny arriving on her motorbike and on her sidecard was a very familiar face.
"Squirtle Squirt!" cried none other than Squirtle as he leapt out of the car and reunited with his trainer.
"It's great to see you too buddy!" Ash said.
"PikaPika!" chimed in Pikachu.
"Squirtle!" said Squirtle in a menacing tone as he was also aware of the betrayal and was ready to smash the living daylights out of them.
"Great to see you understand the situation, Squirtle." Ash said with a grin.
"So Ash these are some of your Kanto Pokemon?" Serena asked.
"Yep! These guys have been with me thick and thin. But with them back, I've gotta do something." Ash said.
"What's that?" Serena continued.
"Well you see, I've caught other Pokemon that I either left for training or released. But now, I'm planning to go through a sweep of the regions to meet up with them. I made a promise to take them back and now I'm fulfilling it." answered Ash.
"That sounds great, Ash. You better know that I'll be coming with you though." Serena said.
"Of course. I wouldn't ever leave you." Ash said with a smile. He then got his clothes on and told Serena, "Well first we have to head to Route 1." Serena nodded and the couple left the lab and up the road.
As they arrived, Ash then heard cries in the air and looking up, he smiled knowing that cry anywhere. Descending on the couple was a Bird Pokemon with a beautiful plumage.
"Pidgeot!" Ash cried as he ran to his old friend. "It's great to see you again, girl!"
"Pidgeoo!" cried Pidgeot as she shared the same feeling. The Bird Pokemon wrapped its wings around its former trainer and the two embraced. Soon they heard a cry of rage and Ash's eye narrowed. He knew that cry anywhere. Out from another tree came none other than Pidgeot's arch-nemesis Fearow. The Beak Pokemon then saw Ash and soon it saw red as it charged up a Drill Peck and flew at them. Ash and Pidgeot easily got out the way and then Ash said, "Pidgeot, let's teach that Fearow a lesson." Pidgeot nodded and soon an aerial battle commenced. Though Ash never used Pidgeot in a long time, he decided to risk it and call out moves he hoped she was able to use.
"Pidgeot, start off with a Featherdance!" called out Ash.
Pidgeot nodded and she flew above Fearow and around showering illusion-like feathers around Fearow who felt weak as it felt its attack power lowering.
"Now, back out and finish it with Air Slash!" finished Ash.
Pidgeot flew back and started flapping her wings at extremely high speeds creating blades of highly condensed air which struck the Beak Pokemon. It couldn't hold back any longer and soon started falling towards the lake.
Ash's eyes widened at this. He knew that Fearow would drown if it fell in the water and even if Fearow caused him trouble in the past, he couldn't let something like that happen to it so he ran towards Fearow and channeling some aura increased his jumping ability, catching Fearow and landing safely on the other side of the lake.
Everyone was shocked that Ash just risked his life for a Pokemon who did nothing but made his life miserable but no one was more shocked than Fearow himself. He couldn't believe that the person he hated the most just risked his own life to save his own. It was in that moment, that Fearow's grudge against Ash completely faded away and the Beak Pokemon found himself indebted to the raven-haired trainer. As Ash laid him gently on the ground, Fearow then squawked gently.
"Huh, what's up Fearow?" asked Ash.
Fearow then took out one of Ash's empty Pokeballs with his remaining good wing and to everyone's complete surprise, pecked it with its beak allowing himself to be captured without resistance. Ash was stunned. He couldn't believe that Fearow of all Pokemon allowed himself to be captured by him of all people. But then he smiled.
"Welcome to the team Fearow. I hope we can become good friends." Ash thought as he held his new capture.
Ash then turned to Pidgeot. "Pidgeot, the reason I came here was because I wanted to bring you back to the team. And seeing as Fearow shouldn't be a problem no longer, what do you say girl?" Ash asked as he held out Pidgeot's old Pokeball which was still in mint condition. Pidgeot just simply pecked the device like Fearow and soon Ash had two new Pokemon. One old and one new.
So yeah, Charizard and Squirtle are back, Pidgeot is officically back on the team and Ash made a surprising new ally in none other than the same Fearow who annoyed him twice in his journey. I always thought it would be an interesting take to have Ash save Fearow in his usual risking-his-life fashion. I mean he was able to earn other Pokemon's trust whose anger and rage far exceeded Fearow's so whose to say even the Beak Pokemon can forgive our lovable protagonist? Finally, I would also have to say that the next several chapters may focus on Ash reuniting with old friends from all 5 regions. Anyways, thanks for reading the first part of this mini arc and be on the lookout for the next Chapter which will be even more reunions.