AN: Hi everyone, thanks for reading Pyrite, this is just a short disclaimer that I don't own Pokemon. A longer AN is at the end.

As the alarm continued ringing, Ash had realized what had happened. It was the same dream coming to haunt him again.

The weak sunlight from the early hours of the morning seeped into his room, and he saw he was still in his apartment. Nothing had changed.

Wiping off tears he didn't realize he had shed, Ash turned off the alarm. He rose off his bed and saw the sprawling metropolis of Saffron through his window.

Ever since his mother had passed away 2 years ago, he was unable to remain in Pallet Town any longer; every part of it seemed like a cruel reminder of his mother's departure.

Ash had been taking part in a regional tournament in Johto at the time. He had reached the finals and was set to win it, but during the halfway break, an attendant informed him that his mother was discovered dead, as Carbon Monoxide accumulated in her room. When Professor Oak had checked on her house 15 minutes later due to a gas leak in his house, he found the tableau of Mr. Mime attempting to drag her out the house, stopped merely two feet from the door. Both had no pulse and were shortly pronounced dead when the paramedics from Viridian City reached them.

The most crushing part of it was that Ash could have easily prevented it; he could've easily opened the window. Mr. Mime, while intelligent, was merely a pokemon, and had no understanding of what was happening to him or Delia.

After this, he was never quite the same. Every time he entered a pokemon battle, he was overwhelmed by his failure. Eventually, he just stopped battling.

After he showered and got dressed, he realized that there was no food for himself; he had run out of bread, ramen, bacon, and eggs. Actually, he'd been running low for a while, but never bothered replenishing his stock. Opening the lower containers of his fridge, he only found some old vegetables that Brock had got him when he last visited.

Sighing, Ash reached into his coffee beans to prepare a fresh ground. Coffee, being able to stave off his bitter dreams, had become a staple of his "diet," and he was very particular about how it was prepared. Unfortunately, however, he didn't have enough for one brew. Sighing, he reached in his cupboard for some loose tea packets and found three left of the Chamomile tea packet that Serena had gifted him a year ago. He checked the expiry date, and found it only said: "best before one year."

Shrugging, he started the kettle and brewed his tea. He couldn't remember whether this tea was made with milk or not, but seeing that he had a little left, he just dumped it in. His first sip almost made him spit it back out.

"No amount of caffeine's worth that taste," he decided.

But the only response to his remark was silence: his words were absorbed by his studio apartment.

He almost jumped with a curse when he saw his alarm clock: it was 7 am, and he had two unfinished physics problems. Class at the university started at 9 and he lived a few blocks away, but he knew how variable problem-solving could be.

When he started on his first problem, a ringing noise kept repeating. It took a few seconds for Ash to realize someone was calling him. It was Gary. Samuel and Gary Oak took care of Ash's pokemon in exchange for Ash's permission to research them, and they did call three months ago to notify Ash about his Pokemon's general well-being. But Gary never called so early in the morning.

"Hi Gary, how come you're calling so early today?"

As soon as he heard Gary's tone, Ash knew something had gone wrong. "Not very well Ash: Gramps is dead."

"What?"

"They found him poisoned with carbon monoxide on the floor. The windows were open, but the police are putting it down to a failure in his equipment that was emulating a Torkoal's flame generation. The glass was had microfractures we didn't realize and broke apart, exposing him to heat and various gases."

It was clear to Ash, that Gary hadn't fully registered the loss yet, and he should be comforting Gary, but the situation struck him as off.

"I wasn't aware that a Torkoal could generate that much carbon monoxide, they have a really fast respiration rate. Also, why would Oak have been exposed to the carbon monoxide on the floor? It's a fairly light gas, and was probably hot; it should've been rising."

Gary sighed audibly. "I don't know Ash; I've been thinking about that too. It just doesn't make any sense. The pathologist just told me that Gramps was exposed to lots of pressure- presumably knocked out by it- and then to carbon monoxide."

Ash didn't know how to respond. He hadn't talked properly with another human for non-academic purposes for… three or four months now. He could feel his grief building up, and Gary attempting to repress his own, but there was not a damn thing he could say.

"Ash… I was going through Gramps' files on his computer to try and see what happened, and I found a letter for you. I already read it, I'm sorry, but I'll be sending it to you now via email. Read it, I think it's important for you."

This was somewhat surprising, Ash knew that Professor Oak wasn't the type to write letters: he would prefer talking to people.

"I just want to tell you Ash- and don't take this personally- but please don't come back to Pallet Town yet. I know you're still suffering over Delia's death, and well… to be honest, having you back here would remind me of the old days. And I don't think either of us can deal with that now."

"Wait, Gary," Ash knew he had isolated himself for years, but his oldest childhood friend was grieving right now. He knew how he felt after his Mom's death; Gary was there for him then, and Ash would have to be there for him now. "It'll be alright, I promise. I'll call Liza to beam Charizard over and I'll be there in an hour. Look you were there for me earlier, and I can't let you take this al -"

"I won't be alone Ash; I have the rest of my family here with me. A lot of others are also going to be dropping in. Ash, read Gramps' letter: there's something else he wanted you to do." Gary's weariness was showing, but Ash couldn't just let it go like this.

"Gary, I can't just not attend his funeral. You know how much he means to me."

Gary sighed, and his voice was devoid of the usual arrogance it possessed. Instead, it seemed to be filled with something reminiscent of Professor Oak.

"You know Ash, Gramps always used to say that funerals were for the living: the dead couldn't care any. Read the letter Ash, there's something he would've wanted you to do far more than just attend his funeral. He treated you like he used to treat me, and he kept telling me how he still had great expectations for you, despite your current strut."

Gary paused, and his next words were raw and heavy.

"If you'll remember, the days leading up to when we got our first pokemon, he kept telling us his dream was to make a complete guide on all Pokemon in the world. Ash, I can study them all… but I can't get the jurisdiction to set up my research in all the different regions. Please Ash, for his dream… become a Pokemon Master."

Ash was temporarily struck into silence.

"Gary, I -"

"Goodbye Ash, call Tracey if you need your Pokemon beamed over."

Ash slowly put the phone down on his table, and then moments later slammed his desk, scattering the already disorganized desk further.

He knew how much guilt Gary would be feeling then: he would be cursing himself for his sleeping habits, not checking over the machines thoroughly enough… and it wouldn't stop. Ash would know; he had- was- living through it.

Ash almost called Gary again, but his request to read Oak's letter stuck in his head. Setting his phone down, Ash booted up his laptop and checked the email from Gary. There was a scanned pdf labeled "For Ash." Opening it revealed a handwritten note far different from the scientific scrawl that Oak used for his lab reports. It resembled the calligraphy that Ash sometimes saw on official league documents.

The letter read.

For Ashton Satoshi Ketchum at Flat 501, Building B, Champion Apartments, Saffron City.

Dear Ash,

If you're reading this, it means that for whatever reason, I am unable to tell you this message in person. I may be simply too cowardly to tell you in person, and I'm sorry about that.

Ash, I understand Delia's death has hit you hard. I remember feeling the same when my mother passed away, suffering through a heart attack in her sleep. Take it from an old man past the prime of his life: time and life pass through without regard for us. Delia's death was a tragedy Ash, but sometimes, we're dealt unlucky hands, and we have to make do with what we've got.

I'm sure you recall that you were in a tournament on that day, and I'm sure you're blaming yourself for not being there. Let me tell you, what Delia told me the night you won the semi-final, the last time she spoke to me.

She told me she was proud of you. She had already told me about her loneliness, but this was always overshadowed by how radiant she was with you chasing your dreams. See, maybe you'll understand this one day you have children, but as parents are wont to do: your dreams became her dreams. I can tell you, she was probably more nervous than you were during the semi-final, and more excited than you were after you won it. Ash, all of your accomplishments, were her accomplishments, and when she realized how close you were to becoming a Pokemon Champion, all of us in Pallet Town were dancing with joy.

I can't tell you were wrong for leaving the finals, but I can tell you that it's not what Delia would've wanted. She was at her peak when you were at yours Ash, and this current state of yours does her no justice. Tell me, Ash, would she want you to be living like this?

No, she wanted you to be the Pokemon Master. And for that matter, so do I.

You know of my dream- publishing a guide on all existing Pokemon. Recently, however, the regional authorities of Sinnoh, Kalos, Unova and some far-off region called Alola, have refused to grant me the opportunity to expand my research to their regions. A Pokemon Master should be able to overrule them, especially for a cause like this one.

But that isn't the only reason I want you to be the Pokemon Master.

I still remember those days when you and Gary were growing up together. Bickering, playing, competing... I looked at both of you as my grandchildren. You may think that you have no family left, but I promise that when you need us, Gary and I will be there for you. We have no blood relation, but I don't think we need that. Ash, I want you to succeed, because you have are family to me. Your success is also my success, and your dreams are part of mine. Come to Pallet town or start your journey to be a Pokemon Master; I'll be with you every step of the way.

I hope to see you soon, in-person.

Sincerely,

Samuel Oak

Ash didn't attend his class that day. He was just curled on his bed, waiting for the tears to stop. When they did, he started feeling hungry. He started feeling desperation.

Being a Pokemon Master; it wasn't just for himself anymore. No, he was done with just appearing like he wanted to be the very best and accepting everything less every time; he would become the very best. That no one ever was.

And so Ash asked himself, "What am I doing here?"

AN: Hi guys, just before I went a bit into the story, I want to disclose that my first review has been slightly inflammatory. I've decided (at this point in time), however, that I'm not removing the review. I'm not a perfect writer (and probably not even a good writer), so I'd appreciate more constructive reviews. I'd like to reiterate; it's your right to believe that I'm a bad writer (and I probably agree with you), but please list the reasons so that I may improve.

On to the story: I hope that this chapter leads off the cliff I left you guys on yesterday and explains the background a bit more. To be honest, I'm still wondering if the Hurt/Comfort tag should be replaced with Tragedy.

This is, I'm afraid, going to be a dark story, with an Ash and Pokemon world that are different, but also the same in a few ways (hopefully you'll see what I mean later). Furthermore, Pyrite isn't quite an "Ash-gets-betrayed" story (though I do enjoy them quite a bit), but it should have some passing similarities. In this story, Ash's ultimate goal is to become a Pokemon Master, and changing the parts of him that wouldn't fully try for it or weren't suited for it. The story isn't going to be just pokemon battles in the league though; there are some other parts of it that tie into his journey to become the Pokemon Master.

I've got the story partially mapped out, and it looks like (at this point in time) there are going to be around 26 chapters in Pyrite, and a follow up of maybe two or three sequels.

I've also decided that this is going to be a Rayshipping (Ash and Cynthia) story. I was tossing around Dawn and Serena as possible prospects, but I ultimately decided that Cynthia worked better for the plot of this story, and especially in terms of interactions with Ash. I can't quite say I have any experience in writing romance, so I've made the progress of this one slower than some other fanfics on this site.

On another note, I've also been tossing around an idea for another fanfic (a more betrayal-oriented one, that has a Dawn or Serena pairing). Depending on how much I can flesh out, I might be publishing that one too.

As for the update schedule, I'm not too sure about it yet. It takes me a "few" hours to finish a chapter, but the plot outline is saving me some time.

Thanks for reading so far, and for following and favoriting Pyrite or me. I hope that I can hear what you guys think of the story or writing so far!

Have a great day folks, and until next time.