Friendship and Loyalty about to face the Ultimate Test

Ash and Pikachu returned from the Aloha Region hoping to have some chill out time before his next journey. Ash gets a big surprise finding his friends there with a surprise party to welcome him home.

But as our hero thinks life's about to get better, Ash learns the hard way that things aren't always what they seem. As he and Pikachu discovered that Serena had actually been working for an all new Criminal Organisation called Team Flare Reborn.

Now Ash and Pikachu are hoping they can make it to tell the rest of his friends about this before Serena convinces them to betray him.

Ash and Pikachu race through the forest back to Professor Oak's Ranch where they see that Serena's already there with what looked like Mallow, Lana, Sophocles, Kiawe, Barry, Kenny, Brock, Misty, Iris and Cilan in her group talking to the rest of Ash's Pokemon outside.

"Oh no!" Ash gasped, as he and Pikachu hid in the forest. "We're too late."

"Pika."

"I guess everyone I care about is going to betray me, even my Pokemon." Ash cried, as he shedded a single tear.

But what Ash heard was something that had him completely speechless.

"How can you still support that loser?" Serena yelled at Ash's Pokemon.

"Huh?" Ash gasped.

"Pika?"

"Ash has made many bad choices!" Serena tried to tell the Pokemon untruthful things about Ash. "Infernape, he allowed you to rampage when you couldn't control Blaze properly! Sceptile he deliberately allowed you to be heartbroken after you evolved! And Snivy, Totodile and Gible he forced all of you not to evolve to your final stages! How the holy shit can you be so blinded by your pride in him?!"

"Because they know that those things aren't true!" A voice shouted.

Serena turned and saw Clement, Bonnie, May, Max, Dawn, Delia, Professor Oak, Richie, Tracey, Gary, surprisingly Paul, Trip, Alain, Sawyer, Lillie and Gladion standing in front of Ash's Pokemon.

"Wait, do they still-" Ash wondered.

"Pikachu?"

"Ash has proven himself to be a hero of all the Regions!" Gary shouted. "His Pokemon are loyal to him because they know that Ash's better than the crap you're saying about him!"

"But he's weak and pathetic!" Serena called back. "Paul! You know he's weak and you know he's pathetic! You called him that yourself!"

"Shut the crap up!" Paul shouted, making Ash shocked. "It's true that I called him pathetic a bunch of times! But he's a far better trainer than I ever was! After our final battle in the Sinnoh League he helped me finally see the error of my training style and how I treated my Pokemon! Need I remind you that Ash was the only trainer in the whole Sinnoh League who was able to defeat two of Tobias' Pokemon?"

"Paul's right!" Dawn shouted. "That proves that Ash raises his Pokemon with trust and love! Ash was the only one to defeat Tobias' undefeated Darkrai and even Pikachu managed to tie with Tobias' Latios!"

"If anyone's really pathetic it's really you Serena!" Bonnie cried, with tears in her eyes. "Was everything you said to us a lie? How could you do this to us? I thought you were our friend! Ash thought you were his friend!"

"I did what I had to do to fulfil my one and only dream!" Serena shouted. "To make Ash mine and mine alone! No one will stop me from getting in my way! And that includes you Bonnie! Now say you'll all betray Ash and you'll all survive!"

"I think I'd rather die right here and now then betray the only person who has a special place in my heart!" May shouted and even spat at Serena.

"That can and will be arranged." Serena said. "But you'll all die knowing that being around that loser Ash will lead to your failures!"

"Or it might allow them to succeed in achieving their dreams!" Ash said finally coming out of the forest with Pikachu on his shoulder.

"ASH!" Everyone gasped.

"Ash, I can explain everything!" Serena said hesitantly.

"Cut the act Serena." Ash said coldly. "I know that you're really part of Team Flare Reborn!"

"PIKACHU!"

"WHAT?!" Serena gasped. "But how did you-"

"Doesn't matter!" Ash shouted. "You lied to us! You lied to your Pokemon! You lied to me! I thought you were a far better trainer than this! But I guess I was wrong." Then he turned around. "I'm never giving up on my dream of becoming a Pokemon Master Serena. Because that's not the type of person I am!"

"Oh yeah? Well, let's see you try weakling!" Serena shouted, getting out her Pokeballs that had the Team Flare Symbol on it and sending out new Pokemon on her team. "Golem use Hyper Beam! Crobat Air Cutter! Malamar Psycho Cut! Tyranitar Rock Blast! Metagross Flash Cannon! And Houndoom Dark Pulse!"

Golem, Crobat, Malamar, Tyranitar, Metagross and Houndoom came out of their Pokeballs and fired Hyper Beam, Air Cutter, Psycho Cut, Rock Blast, Flash Cannon and Dark Pulse at Ash.

"ASH LOOKOUT!" Everyone cried

"WOBBUFFET! MIRROR COAT NOW!"

Suddenly a Wobbuffet jumped out of nowhere in front of Ash and used Mirror Coat to send the fired attacks right back at the attacking Pokemon with double the power.

"WHAT?!" Serena cried. "Who did that?! I demand to know now!"

Suddenly Serena got her answer when two people showed up with a Meowth that Ash and everyone knew all too well.

"Prepare for trouble! Cause it's you know who!"

"And make it double! Team Flare Reborn shall boo!"

"A trio as old as the galaxy!"

"Sent here to fulfil our destiny!"

"Meowth that's me!"

"To protect Ash Ketchum from devastation!"

"To unite his friends from every region!"

"On the wind!"

"Past the stars!"

"In your ear!"

"Bringing peace at a breakneck pace!"

"Dashing all fear and putting hope in its place!"

"To defend the beauty of truth and love!"

"To extend his dream to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Meowth's the name!"

"Team Righteous! Blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare for an all out fight!"

"Meowth! That's right!"

"Wobbuffet!"

"Chimecho!"

"Mime, Mime, Mime!"

"TEAM ROCKET?!" Everyone cried in shock.

"Actually we're Team Righteous now." Jessie said. "We've come to stop the undercover agent of Team Flare Reborn!"

"She has stolen several top secret files containing the records of Legendary Pokemon!" James said. "She must be stopped!"

"And we're the ones that's gonna make that happen!" Meowth said.

"You fools can't beat me!" Serena shouted. "Serena to headquarters! Send it down!"

Suddenly a bright light appeared in the sky and down came more Pokemon including a Drapion, a Weavile, a Liepard, a Druddagen, a Pyroar and a Shiny Gyarados.

"I shall defeat you pests and then crush Ash!" Serena declared.

"We know you are but what are you?" Jessie and James mocked, while sticking out their tongues.

"Arbok, Poison Sting! Lickytung use Tackle! Seviper Poison Tail! Dustox Psybeam! Yanmega Steel Wing! Woobat Air Slash now! Frillish Bubble Beam go! And Gourgeist use Seed Bomb!" Jessie cried, and threw her Pokeballs.

"Weezing Slug Bomb! Victreebel Razor Leaf now! Cacnea use Pin Missile! Carnivine Bullet Seed now! Yamask Shadow Ball! Amoonguss Body Slam! And Inkay use Psybeam!" James cried, and threw his Pokeballs.

Then all their Pokemon appeared out of their Pokeballs and fired their attacks at their opponents.

"Drapion! Sludge Bomb! Weavile! Ice Beam! Liepard use Shadow Claw! Druddagen use Dragon Claw! Pyroar use Incinerate! And Gyarados use Stone Edge!" Serena called.

But all of Jessie and James' Pokemon's attacks fired so fast that Drapion, Weavile, Liepard, Druddagen, Pyroar and Shiny Gyarados didn't get a chance to use their moves.

"Now's our chance!" Trip called. "Let's make a break for it!"

"You won't get away!" Serena yelled.

"Weezing! Smokescreen now!" James shouted.

"Seviper! Haze, let's go!" Jessie shouted.

"Weezing!"

"Seviper!"

The Smokescreen and Haze attacks made it hard for Serena and the traitors to see as they coughed and sneezed from the smoke. With them distracted Ash, his friends and his Pokemon quickly took leave and retreated into the forest.

Once they reached a clearing that was far away from Professor Oak's Ranch, Ash was able to finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Man that was a close one." Ash sighed. "I can't believe that Serena betrayed me like that."

"Pikachu."

"It's not your fault Ash." Delia comforted her son. "Serena made her own choices, just like you do. And I'm glad you chose to keep chasing your dream."

"We all are." Sawyer said. "Ash, you've been a role model to so many people and Pokemon everywhere."

"You're the bravest person we've ever known." Tracey said. "You've saved the world many times."

"You've made so many friends." Richie added.

"And you've shown all of us how strong you truly are." Paul said. "Don't listen to the crap she says about you. Keep on following your dream no matter what."

"Thanks guys." Ash smiled. "I just wish Brock, Misty, Iris and Cilan would see that."

"Don't be so sure they don't." Gary said, then he pulled out a recorded video and played it on his camera.

"If you're watching this Ash we still believe in you." Brock said on the video. "We could never betray you after everything we've been through."

"But Serena was threatening our families and homes." Misty cried on the video. "She said if we didn't do it, then she was gonna destroy everything we really cared about."

"But we still have faith that you'll become a Pokemon Master." Iris said on the video. "So if you see us again please don't be mad at us and please help us."

"We're all still friends with you Ash." Cilan said on the video. "But we were forced to make a choice. But we're hoping you could help by finding our families and keeping them safe."

"We all still believe in you Ash!" All 4 said together on the video. "Best of luck to you. Goodbye!"

Then the video turned off as it was finished.

"You see now Ash?" Alain asked. "They still have faith in you but they are under peer pressure."

"Misty asked me to play you this as soon as we were out of Team Flare Reborn's range of hearing." Professor Oak said. "So please don't give up on them Ash."

"How could I not?" Ash asked as he stood up. "I should've known that Brock, Misty, Iris and Cilan wouldn't betray me that easily without a reason."

"Pika, Pikachu."

"Oh Ash, one more thing." Professor Oak said. "This is for you." Then the Professor handed Ash an all new Pokedex. One that was bright yellow, had golden stripes, a bright rainbow coloured infinity symbol on it and wasn't like any Pokedex Ash or the others had ever seen before.

"What is it, Professor?" Ash asked.

"This is the latest in Pokedex technology." Professor Oak said. "It's called the Infer Pokedex. It has no carrying limit so now you can carry all your Pokemon with you Ash."

"Speaking of which, we've got all your Pokeballs here too." Lillie said. "So now you can hold all the Pokemon you've caught with you at all times."

"And I've got one for you and the others too Lillie." Professor Oak said, handing everyone their own Infer Pokedex.

A light blue one with lightning bolts for Clement, a yellow one with pink bows for Bonnie, a red one with pink hearts for May, a green one with lighter green spots for Max, a blue one with sapphire diamonds for Dawn, a magenta one with pictures of Mr.Mime for Delia, a yellow one with black stripes for Richie, a black one with white moons for Gary, a purple one with the letter p for Paul, a crimson one with green leaves for Trip, a brown one with journals for Sawyer, a silver one with blue flames for Alain, a turquoise one with Silvally on for Gladion and a white one with snowflakes on for Lillie.

"Thanks so much Professor!" Everyone said.

Ash then returned all his Pokemon to their Pokeballs, and placed them in the bag they were in.

"So where do we go now?" Clement asked. "We need to find a place to hide and lay low for a while."

"If you guys need some help, come with us." A voice said.

"Who's there?" Gladion asked.

"If you're with Team Flare Reborn, be ready for a fight!" Jessie, James and Meowth declared.

"Wobbuffet!"

"Mime, Mime, Mime!"

Ash has now realised that even when things are the worst, real and true friends are always on your side. Whether they're with you or not with you.

But who could have found our heroes in the clearing? Is it friend or is it foe?

Find out as the Journey Continues…