Hi, Fan Fiction Members! This is HollowKU posting the second chapter of this fic! I have noticed that no one has review the story yet. Oh well, but that's ok. That won't stop me from continuing posting the next chapters of the fic. You're all invited to continue reading and reviewing as much as you want. Well, without any more distractions, let's head to the fic!

Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger

Chapter 2: Worlds Collide

Ash Ketchum has just arrived to Pallet Town, his hometown, after a long journey at the Unova region. He returned very excited, since he finally managed to beat the Pokémon League of Unova. After a long battle with his rival, Trip, he defeated him using Pikachu in a final clash with Trip's starter, Serperior. After he won the league he received the Unova League Trophy, and the Champion of the Unova Region, Alder, congratulated him for his victory.

Also, by defeating the League, he gained the privilege to challenge the Elite Four of Unova and Alder himself, and it would be show on television all over the world. However, the challenge started in three months, so Ash decided to take a break and return to his hometown to relax. Iris and Cilan remained in Unova, since Iris wanted to visit her town as well, and Cilan needed to return to assists his brothers at Striaton City.

Finally, Ash arrived to his home, where the happy Mr. Mime received him while cleaning the outsides of the Ketchum house.

"Hey, Mr. Mime! Good to see you again!" Ash said.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu also greeted the Pokémon.

"Mime!" Mr. Mime said with a big smile.

"Well, time to enter home." Ash opened the door, only to see his mother, Delia, who was smiling and with tears in her eyes.

"Oh, Ash! My little baby!" Delia hugged her son like there was no tomorrow.

"Hi...mom! It's...good to see...you too." Ash said slowly, trying to get some air due to his mother's powerful embrace.

"You finally did it! You won the Pokémon League!" His mother said, with tears of joy in her eyes.

"I know! I feel like I can defeat anyone that wants to fight with me!" Ash said. "Well, I should better be going. I need to visit Prof. Oa-ahhhh!" He couldn't finish his sentence because his mother pulled him from his ear.

"Wait a minute, young man!" His mother said annoyed at her son's statement. "You have been here from less than a minute, and you want to leave already?"

"Uhhh...sorry mom...hehe!" Ash gulped as he apologized. He knew he shouldn't bother his mother.

"That's better, since I already cooked for you!" Delia said as she guided Ash to the kitchen.

"Wow!" Ash started drooling due to the view of the delicious food his mother made just for him. "You did your best making this, thanks mom!"

"Ok, just wait a minute so we can-" It was too late. Ash was already eating all the food like he didn't eat in days. "...eat together. Oh well, I should have known. After all, he's my son." She giggled as she approached the table.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu said to attract the attention of his master's mother. It looked a little bothered.

"Don't worry, I didn't forget about you, Pikachu!" Delia smiled as she pulled out a bottle of ketchup from the larder.

"PIKA!" Pikachu cried in happiness as it received the bottle of ketchup and reacted as the same way as his trainer.

"Well, for some reason you're partners." Delia said as she watched her son and his Pikachu eating desperately.

After a while, both Ash and Pikachu finished their "meals" and relaxed some minutes before they puked all of the stuff they ate. Suddenly, the phone started ringing.

"Mom, please...answer the phone." Ash said.

"Ok, ok, just stay where you are." Delia replied to his son as she answered the phone.

"Yes? What is it?...Oh, that's great! I'll tell him...Thanks Professor!" Delia hung and went to see Ash with a big smile on her face. "Hey Ash, guess what? It seems that all your friends came to visit you to congratulate you for your victory at the Unova League!"

"Really? Where are they?" Ash asked.

"Well, Prof. Oak told me that they are at the lab. They are checking on your Pokémon while visiting the professor." Delia said. "I think they would also want to see the team that made you win the league, don't they?"

"That's right mom! Well, we should get going! I already feel rested!" Ash said while getting up. "What about you buddy?"

"Pika!" Pikachu nodded while getting up as well and climbed to the trainer's shoulder.

"Alright! Let's go!" Ash said. "Mom, are you coming?"

"Sorry, but I need first to clean all the mess you did on the table." Delia said as she pointed out the "massacre" Ash did. "I'll be there right after that."

"Ok! Well, I'm leaving!" Ash said as he ran to the door.

"Hi! It's someone in he-ahhh!" Someone opened the door without knowing Ash was running to it, so they hit each other and fell to the floor.

"Ughh..." Ash touched his head. That was one rough hit, he thought. "Are you ok, Pikachu?"

"Pika..." Pikachu nodded.

"So you are not asking me how am I? How rude of you." The person said, still in the floor with arms crossed.

"Oh, sorry! Are you o- Whoa!" Ash jumped of surprise. "MAY? What are you doing here?"

"So I can't visit a friend to congratulate him for his victory?" May asked, still pissed off.

"No, no! It's just that...I didn't expect that you would come here, to my house." Ash said, while helping her to get up. "Prof. Oak told me that you were with the others at the lab."

"Yeah. I arrived with Max a while ago, and we were seeing your Pokémon at the lab, but I got bored and decided to visit you instead of waiting for you to appear." May said.

"Hehe! Sorry, my mom cooked me a fest and I couldn't refuse!" Ash said.

"Typical Ash, always thinking in food." May giggled a little.

"Hey! I also think in other things too!"

"Pokémon battles don't count." May said with a grin.

"Why not?" May laughed at his reply. "Well, we need to get going! Come on May!" He said as he grabbed May's hand and started running.

"Ahhh! What are you doing?" May asked while blushing.

"What? If I hold you while running, we'll get to the lab faster." Ash replied, obviously not getting what May really meant with the question.

"Ohhh...ok, you're right." May replied a little disappointed. "But I don't mind walking! Besides, we could talk about how we've been during our journeys, besides you winning the Unova League."

"Ohhh ok." Ash replied, while seeing May's face a little saddened. "Are you ok?

"Oh? It's nothing. Don't worry about it." May replied with a fake smile, which Ash believed to be a true one.

They started walking to Prof. Oak's lab, talking about the adventures they had in their respective journeys...

"So May, how was your journey at the Johto region?" Ash asked.

"It was nice. After the Wallace Cup I returned to Johto and managed to get the other ribbons I needed to participate at the Grand Festival. I managed to get through the competition easily, I even defeated Drew at the semi-finals, but at the final I lost to Solidad. I was pretty upset after that event, since I was alone at the time, and I didn't have anyone to cheer me up." May said and started to get depressed.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you, May." Ash said while putting his hand on May's shoulder.

"Don't worry, I got over it already, but thanks for your concern. It's nice to have someone to be there for you." May said while smiling at Ash. "However, the worse thing happened after the Grand Festival."

"What happened?"

"Well I was feeling down after my loss so after the ceremony Drew approached to me. At first I thought he was going to rub the loss in my face, but he actually wanted to ask me out!" May said.

"Ask you...out?" Ash asked confused and started to get a strange feeling in his stomach, like there was something bothering him. "You mean... like when Brock stalks every Nurse Joy he meets?"

"Something like that, but without all that creepy stuff."

"So...what did you say to him?" Ash asked, with that weird feeling still bothering him.

"Of course I said NO! He's an idiot! He always bothers me and thinks he's the best coordinator. I think he just used that moment of weakness of mine to his advantage, hoping I would accept him." May replied, feeling proud of what she just said.

"Oh well, that's a relief..." Ash said

"Did you say something?" May asked.

"N-no, it's n-nothing!" Ash replied. "Why did I say that?" he thought.

"Ok. Oh, by the way, I actually never congratulate you for winning the Unova League!" May said as she hugged Ash. "Congratulations!"

"T-thanks May..." He said as the weird feeling he had changed from bad to kind of good. "What's going on? Why am I feeling so weird? Maybe I'm getting sick." He thought. May then released Ash.

"So, how was it? I mean, I know that you managed to beat the Unova League with only the Pokémon you captured there!" May said, as she noticed a little Pokémon crossing its little arms. "And of course with your help, Pikachu!" She said as she smiled.

"Well, while I was at Unova, I met a boy named Trip that became my rival after he defeated me in our first battle. He always bothered me that he was a best Pokémon Trainer than me, just like you and Drew. So in order to prove him wrong, I made a bet with him that I could defeat him using Pikachu and the Pokémon I caught in Unova, instead of also using the Pokémon from my other journeys like I usually do. In the end I managed to defeat him at the finals and won the league!" Ash said while raising a fist.

"That's great! It seems that your dream will finally become true!" May said.

"That's right! Now I only need to participate at the Elite Four challenge and defeat them and the Unova Champion so I can be one step closer to be the Pokémon Master!" Ash said truly excited that he was close to his dream.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu said as he made a V with its little hands in sign of confidence.

"Wow, take it easy! Remember you have to train a lot if you want to defeat the Elite Four AND the Champion."

"Don't worry about it, May. I'm sure I'll defeat them." Ash replied.

"Ok then. Oh look! There's Prof. Oak's lab!" May pointed the lab of the famous researcher.

After they arrived, they entered and saw that everyone was waiting for them, with a giant "CONGRATULATIONS!" panel located on the top of the lab. As Ash looked amazed, he noticed all of his friends that came to visit him: the first were Brock, then Misty, Gary, Tracy, Max, Dawn and Prof. Oak.

"Oh, you guys! Thank you!" Ash said as he approached them.

"You did it Ash!" Misty said, as she jumped of joy.

"I'm very proud of you, buddy." Brock said as he approached Ash, putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks Brock!" Ash replied.

"I'm pretty impressed, Ash. You weren't so bad." Ash's first rival, Gary said.

"I guess I'll take that as a compliment." Ash said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Good work, Ash. As expected of the one who won the Orange Islands League!" Tracy said.

"Nice moves out there, Ash! I can't wait to battle you someday!" May's little brother Max said.

"Hehe! Same here, Max!" Ash replied to the kid.

"You were amazing, Ash! I wish I was there with you at that precise moment you won!" Dawn said.

"But you had to return to Hoenn for the Grand Festival! After all, you just went to Unova for the Junior Cup, right?"

"And to see the famous model Mr. Elesa herself, remember?"

"Hehe, I didn't really pay attention when you said that." Ash felt the glare of Dawn, and scared a bit.

"I cannot express how much I'm happy for you, Ash." Prof. Oak said very happy. "I still remember when you started your journey. You had the courage to take Pikachu, a Pokémon that even I wasn't able to control at the time. But you eventually gained its trust and respect, and followed your way to become a Pokémon Master. I can only say this: Congratulations, son!"

"Thanks, professor! Thanks everyone!"

Then they started to talk while enjoying the event they prepared for that special occasion. People were talking in many corners of the lab: Misty was talking to Tracy and Brock. Gary stayed with Prof. Oak, talking maybe of some Pokémon research. Dawn showed some of her performances to Ash's Pokémon, and Ash, May and Max were talking near the food...

"Ash, didn't you just eat?" May asked. Ash stopped eating like an animal to answer.

"Yeah. So what's your point?"

"You're going to get sick! Stop eating!"

"But the food's delicious!"

"Well, he has a point there..." Max said, while eating a sandwich. "By the way May, why were you with Ash when he came in?"

"Y-you know... I was bored waiting for him, so I decided to go meet him by myself!" May replied, trying to hide her blush.

"Are you sure it was because of that? Or maybe because you like-bubghghb!" Max was suddenly interrupted by May's hand which covered his "big" mouth.

"Shut up, Max!" May yelled at his brother. "Sorry about that, Ash. He sometimes says things that don't make any sense, hehehe..." May laughed nervously. Ash suspected they were keeping something from him, but he just ignored it.

Suddenly, Pikachu started acting strange, pulling Ash from his jacket and pointing outside, like if it was feeling something weird.

"What's the matter, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu said pointing to the door

"What? Outside?" Ash asked his Pokémon.

"What happened, Ash?" May asked as the others approached to see the situation.

"It seems that Pikachu wants to go outside, but it seems not for playing. He seems pretty nervous." Ash replied.

"You're right! Piplup's also asking me to go outside!" Dawn said.

"Ash, look at your Pokémon!" Gary said to the trainer.

They noticed that Ash's Pokémon were desperately trying to get outside the lab. They eventually managed to get out. Pikachu jumped from Ash's shoulder and followed them. The group eventually got outside and saw that the Pokémon where looking to a kind of hole in the sky.

"What is that?" Max asked.

"It looks like some kind of portal. Maybe it's a rupture between dimensions that opened accidentally." Gary replied, trying to give explanation to the mysterious phenomenon.

"Wait a minute...I've seen that before..." Ash said analyzing the portal. "It just looks like the portal Palkia, Dialga, Giratina and Arceus used to return to their own dimensions!"

"But why here? Why in Pallet Town? It's not like we have some kind of business with those mythical Pokémon, right?" Dawn asked. "Last time we saw those four TOGETHER, they almost killed us!"

"Let's just hope it's nothing dangerous." Brock said.

Suddenly, something came out of the portal, as the portal closed. They didn't notice what was it, since it was too far to see it, but it wasn't the legendary Pokémon they expected. The thing that came out of the portal started to fall faster and faster.

"What is that thing?" May asked.

"I don't know, but it's coming pretty fast." Gary replied.

As the "thing" got closer to hit ground, they noticed that the figure started to get human shape.

"Hey isn't that...?" Max asked.

"A person?!" Misty gasped at this revelation.

"We need to act fast, before he hits the ground and die!" Ash yelled as he looked out for one of his Pokéballs. "Unfezant, I choose-"

"Wait! Look at him!" Brock said, stopping Ash from summoning his Pokémon.

They looked as the mysterious person reacted and pointed to the floor. Suddenly, a Pokémon jumped from his arm, and used the Thunder attack to the ground. The ground broke, making many pieces of rocks float due to the explosion. Then the man reached to land on one of the rocks and started jumping from rock to rock, without difficulties, as his Pokémon did the same thing. They eventually reached the floor, without a hit, like if they were just getting down stairs. The man eventually revealed to be a teen, and the Pokémon was a Pikachu.

Ash and the others were shocked at the moves of the mysterious man. They never saw a person move with that agility and with such accuracy: it looked like he had everything calculated from the start. They were also impressed by the Pokémon's power. A Thunder attack would never destroy the ground so hard without using all of its power, yet they saw that this Pikachu wasn't tired at all. Finally reacting after the event, Ash ran to see the condition of the teen.

"Hey!" Ash yelled as he reached his destination. "Are you ok?"

"..." The teen remained in silence as he started walking away, completely ignoring Ash. He seemed like he was weak due to his walking, but Ash didn't noticed about this.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Ash said as he grabbed the mysterious person from the arm.

"...Ugh!" Suddenly, the mysterious guy collapsed to the floor. He passed out.

"Pika! Pika!" The guy's Pikachu approached its master, rubbing his shoulder trying to wake him up.

"Hey guys! Help me out! This guy just passed out!" Ash yelled as his friends went to assist him.

"What happened?" Gary asked.

"I don't know! I asked to him if he was ok, but he ignored me and tried to walk away. I grabbed him and suddenly he felt unconscious." Ash replied.

"Well, let's take him to the lab. We can't leave him here." Prof. Oak said as he touched the person, only to return his hand in shock. "His body is extremely cold! He must have been in a place with a very low temperature. That would explain why he passed out! The sudden change of temperature could have shocked him. Ok, let's take him before he gets even worse."

"Ok!" Ash said as helped the others to pick him up.

"No way!" May said as the others were picking the mysterious trainer up. "Ash, he looks almost exactly like you!"

"What?!" Ash said as he looked at the guy's face.

May indeed was right. The trainer's face was almost exactly like Ash, except that he didn't have the Z-like marks Ash had on his face. When talking about clothes, he was wearing a red cap with white in front, with a weird symbol on the corner of the white part of the cap. He wore blue jeans with a black T-shirt and a red and white pullover and with white running shoes.

"He's wearing clothes almost identical to mine when I first started my journey!" Ash said shocked.

This was starting to get weird. First, he showed up from a mysterious portal in the sky, managed to get to the floor by its own methods, and finally, he was like other Ash! He even wore similar clothes to him and also had a Pikachu! It was confusing for the trainers, but they all shared one same opinion.

"Who in the world is this guy?!"

So, what do you think? Finally Ash and the others met Red, but they don't even know who they are dealing with XD. If you want to know what's going to happen to Red, stay tuned and wait for the next chapter of Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger. Remember: read and review!