Hello guys, I want to give a big thank you to FicPrince & Guadalupe . junior . 18 for reviewing chapter 1.

Followers of the original story will notice that not much has changed in this chapter, don't worry the future will hold quite a few surprises.

In conversations unless otherwise stated this is how you can tell what kind of speech is being used.

'- Poké Speech

"- Human speech

"- Aura/Telepathy

Without further ado let the chapter begin!

As Charizard flew across the ocean separating Kanto and The Orange Archipelago a slightly worrying thought came to Paige, she shuffled slightly in Ash's grip so she could look at him and gain his attention. The movement had the desired effect and Ash turned his gaze to his sister, he saw the worried look on Paige's face and was immediately concerned about her.

"What's up Paige?"

"Ash you know that once we get to the tournament you're going to see them at some point. I just want to make sure that you're going to be okay."

Ash smiled at his sisters thoughtfulness and placed a kiss on her forehead as he hugged her.

"Thank you for your concern Paige, I'll admit that it will be hard controlling my anger when I see them but as long as you're by my side I'll be fine."

"I'll always be here you Ash."

"And I'll always be here for you."

Paige smiled and wrapped her arms around Ash who tightened his hold on her. Paige smiled again, relishing the safety and comfort his embrace gave her. A sudden rumble from Charizard made both the siblings turn their attention back to where they were going and saw one of the impressive stadiums where the tournament was going to be held.

"Hey look it's the Indigo Plateau. Charizard land in the forest to the south of the Plateau, we don't want to draw any attention to us. I'd rather go through this tournament almost unnoticed."

Charizard nodded and slowly started to descend as he searched for a suitable place to land, a few minutes later he finally landed in the forest and crouched down allowing Ash and Paige to jump off his back. Ash thanked Charizard for his help and stroked the dragons head, he then quickly recalled the dragon and placed his Pokéball in his backpack with the others. After making sure that his Pokéballs were safe he turned to look at his sister and saw that Paige was holding the Pokéball containing her first very Pokemon.

"Hey, you can let Riolu out if you want, I know he hates staying in his Pokéball."

"Thank you, Riolu come on out."

Paige threw the Pokeball in the air dramatically watching as Riolu burst out of the Pokéball and immediately climbed onto Paige's shoulder, he nuzzled her cheek expressing both his gratitude for being let out of that cramped device and showing his care for her.

"Hello Mistress. Thank you for letting me out of the Pokéball."

"Riolu please stop calling me Mistress, I'm your friend."

"I know that Mistress but out of respect you shall always be my Mistress just as Ash will always be Lucario's Master."

Ash and Paige sighed as they realised they weren't going to get Riolu and Lucario to stop addressing them like that but that didn't mean they weren't going to keep trying. The pair shrugged their shoulders and then started walking northwards towards the Pokémon Centre so Ash could sign up for the tournament. Ash suddenly stopped prompting Paige to do the same.

"What's wrong?" Paige asked.

"I just wanted to make sure that you remember that now we're at the Indigo Plateau I'm Thanatos."

"Yeah I know Thanatos and you remember I'm Nemesis." Paige replied.

Ash smiled and nodded at his sister and then started walking again with Paige alongside him. While they walked through the forests and fields they looked around trying to see if there was a good area they could train in but they found nothing that would be suitable. It wasn't a disaster since they could go back to their island but Ash would have preferred somewhere a bit closer to the Indigo Plateau so they wouldn't have to worry about travelling back and forth.

When they got to the edge of the forest before the Pokemon Centre the siblings shared a look and then made sure their hoods were shrouding their faces, they gave each other a quick nod and walked up to the Pokémon Centre. The sliding doors opened and they walked inside making everyone turn their attention to them, the presence of the pair made everyone shudder as they felt the room get a whole lot colder. They looked at the duo who had just arrived wondering who they were and why their presence had such an effect on them.

Ash, Paige and their Pokemon ignored the trainers who hadn't stopped staring at them and approached the desk where Nurse Joy was frantically tapping away on her keyboard. Unlike the trainers Nurse Joy hadn't noticed the pair until they were a meter or so away from her desk. She looked up from her computer and looked the two people walking towards her, she noticed something seemed a different since they had arrived but shrugged off the feeling and smiled at them.

"Hello sir, what can I help you with today?" Nurse Joy said cheerily.

"Good afternoon Nurse Joy, my name is Thanatos. I was invited by Scott to participate in the upcoming tournament as his wildcard entry and I was told that you would sign me up immediately." Ash replied.

The silence that had descended upon the Pokémon Centre was suddenly lifted as everyone inside started gossiping about the two of them, wondering who they were and what some unknown had done to warrant a the wildcard entry from a man as prestigious as Scott. Ash and Paige were annoyed by the noise everyone was making so they sent glares at everyone in the building which immediately made the loud gossiping turn in quiet whispers between the small groups of trainers.

Seeing that their work was done the siblings then turned their attention back to Nurse Joy who was frowning at the behaviour of the two people. She was starting to worry about what these people were capable of but she instantly put a smile back on her face when she saw that they were focusing on her again and took the entry card from Thanatos proving that he was indeed Scott's choice.

"Yes of course Thanatos, it's nice to finally meet Scott's wildcard choice as he was being very secretive about it. Now I'll get you registered immediately as long as you wait in Pokemon Centre."

"Why exactly do I need to wait? You have the proof of my invitation, I was told that that was all that you would need from me."

"Well as a wildcard your sponsor needs to see you to confirm that you are who he chose, you all we know you stole the entry from the actually wildcard so Scott will have to come and identify you. He will also need to discuss a few details of the tournament with you as well."

"That's ridiculous, I am no thief now I suggest you take the proof of my invitation and allow me to leave as I have no interest in chatting with Scott about this tournament. I am here to compete and win."

"Yeah we only came here so that Thanatos could sign up for the tournament. So, we're leaving right now." Paige added.

Ash and Paige turned away from Nurse Joy and started walking towards the front of the Pokémon Centre. Nurse Joy sighed in annoyance, Scott had told her that Thanatos would be difficult but she didn't think he would make things this hard. She started to wonder why Scott had wasted his wildcard slot on this man when there were so many talented young trainers who would jump at the opportunity to converse with Scott.

"I apologise Thanatos but if you do not agree to meet with Scott I shall be forced to decline your entry to the tournament."

This made Ash and Paige stop on the spot, they turned slightly so they could see Nurse Joy and glared at her, they had not come all this way to be messed around with by one of the Nurse Joy clones.

"You can't do that." Ash growled.

"Thanatos is right you can't do that; Scott gave him the invite to enter this tournament."

To Ash and Paige's surprise Nurse Joy had the gall to smirk at them, they let out a low growl as they felt the smugness radiating from her. Nurse Joy watched the pairs stances as they shifted towards a more irritated posture which from what she'd seen so far wasn't that surprising. She did wonder what might have happened though if she had told them that Scott just wanted to meet with him as soon as he arrived and that with the invitation there was no way they could refuse his entry.

"I can and I will, as I said before your sponsor need to identify you and even if that wasn't the case I was given authority by Scott to do this if you refused to meet with him. So, unless you wait here as I said and wait for Scott I will refuse to allow you to enter."

Ash and Paige threw a final glare at Nurse Joy before they both sighed in resignation, they knew that they couldn't win this battle if Ash wanted to participate in the tournament. The pair threw one last glare at the Nurse Joy and the Ash led Paige to the table in the corner so they were as far away from anyone is physically possible. They sat down and with a quick look at everyone they made sure that the other people knew to stay away from them.

"He better be here soon." Ash said.

"Yeah we don't like to be kept waiting." Paige added.

Nurse Joy finally let herself relax and she let out a sigh of relief, she was glad that she had convinced Thanatos to stay without something bad happening. Once she was sure the pair weren't going to leave she picked up the phone and dialled Scott's number. The owner of the Battle Frontier appeared on the screen and smiled at Nurse Joy.

"Hello Nurse Joy."

"Hello Scott, I wanted to inform you that he's here."

"Really?! Thanatos is really there?!" Scott asked in shock.

"Yes, Thanatos is here with what I assume to be his younger sister although right now I cannot confirm that. He didn't want to talk to you but I managed to get him to stay. Now please Scott get here soon, the two of them are scaring some of the other trainers here and their Pikachu, Froslass and Riolu aren't helping."

"Okay I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Thank you Scott."

Nurse Joy smiled gratefully at Scott knowing that the pair would be gone soon and then hung up the phone, she cast a glance at the duo and saw that they had both been facing her way presumeably overhearing her conversation with Scott. She was briefly worried that they would figure out that she had lied to them and would leave but it seemed as though they weren't going anywhere. Nurse Joy once again sighed in relief and just hoped that Scott would be here soon.

Back in Scott's office the large man was wasting no time and after cancelling some meetings he immediately left his office in the Indigo Plateau and headed straight to the Pokémon Centre. He honestly hadn't expected Ash to accept his invitation to the tournament considering the young man had been residing on that island for the past year without leaving for more than a few days.

This left him a bit unprepared for Ash, he had been thinking of telling him at least a little about what had happened over the past five years but he wasn't sure how much he should tell Ash considering he had no idea how much different this Ash would be to the one he knew five years ago. He decided that he'd wait and see what Ash was like before choosing what to tell him

Meanwhile in the Pokémon Centre Ash and Paige were starting to lose their patience, they had been sat in the Pokémon Centre for well over half an hour with literally nothing to do except sit there and wait, for the entire time the trainers had been staring at them while whispering. Despite this Ash and Paige had ignored the stares and whispers instead focussing on one another and their Pokémon, the sound of the sliding doors opening made them look to the entrance hoping to see Scott but they only saw another group of trainers that walked in and stared at the pair. This was the last straw for Ash who slammed his fist down on table angrily which made everyone look away fearfully which improved Ash and Paige's mood slightly but they were still getting irritated at waiting for Scott.

"This is getting really annoyed, at this rate I'll break this table in two." Ash grumbled.

"I know what you mean, we didn't come here to sit around and wait for Scott to waddle his fat ass here." Paige murmured.

Paige's comment made Froslass, Pikachu and Riolu snicker, they tried to suppress their laughter but were unable and burst out laughing. Ash and Paige grinned at one another and they joined in with their Pokémon, the shift in behaviour gained the attention of some of the trainers however they looked away quickly once the siblings glared at them. The doors to the Pokémon Centre opened and a large man wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses walked inside, Paige was the first one to spot Scott and nudged Ash to get his attention.

"Hey Thanatos, Scott's here."

"I was wondering what was making the ground shake."

Paige, Pikachu, Froslass and Riolu all let out a small chuckle which this time they managed to suppress. They watched as Scott walked up to the main desk immediately gaining Nurse Joy's attention. Nurse Joy quickly moved her gaze from Scott to the corner of the room, Scott followed her line of sight and saw two cloaked figures with a Pikachu, Froslass and Riolu sitting at a table. He noticed that both the people seemed to be watching him intently although with so much of their faces shrouded by their hoods it was hard to tell.

"Hello Nurse Joy, thank you so much you did an excellent job in keeping him here."

"No need to thank me Scott, just be careful they seem dangerous to me."

Scott could see why Nurse Joy would say that due to the harsh glares the five of them had started to throw at anyone who went remotely near them. It was obvious that they didn't want to be disturbed but the trainers here didn't seem to understand that. Regardless of the way the pair were behaving Scott knew that unless you meant harm they weren't going to hurt anyone.

"I appreciate your concern Nurse Joy but trust me I'll be fine don't worry."

"Okay Scott, well I just hope that all the effort you're putting into this man is worth it."

"Trust me it will be, farewell."

Nurse Joy gave Scott a small smile and then the larger man walked over to the corner the two cloaked figures were sitting in. He heard many of the people in the Pokémon Centre gasp in shock as they watched Scott walked towards the terrifying pair. They couldn't believe that the man would walk over to them so confidently. Scott came to a stop at the table and smiled at the two of them not surprised that neither of them replied with a smile of their own.

"Hello Thanatos, it's been a while. Who's this with you?"

"It has been a long time indeed and if you must know this is my sister Nemesis. Now I'd rather continue this conversation in private rather than in the middle of the Pokémon Centre."

"I agree Thanatos, follow me we can have our discussion in my office."

Ash and Paige nodded and followed Scott out of the Pokémon Centre, all the trainers inside the Pokémon Centre letting out a sigh of relief that the two terrifying strangers had left.

A few minutes later Scott, Ash and Paige entered the main HQ in the Indigo Plateau, as they walked through the halls Ash and Paige heard people whispering to each other about the two cloaked figures following Scott. They decided to tune the people out and just focussed on following Scott to his office, finally Scott came to a stop at a door, he pulled out his keys and opened the door. Ash and Paige walked into the room and Scott quickly locked the door behind them. The three of them then took a seat at Scott's desk, Ash and Paige quickly glanced around the room and then stared at Scott.

"You've got a pretty fancy office Scott, now I don't have time for any chit chat so you better explain how you knew that Thanatos is the name I've been going by and how you found me."

"Well to be honest finding you was down to sheer dumb luck, hell at first I didn't even know it was you since everyone thought you were dead. By the way how did you manage to fake your death so convincingly?"

"Answer my questions first and then maybe I'll answer yours."

"Very well, I'd been hearing over the past few years about a man named Thanatos working with the Pokémon Rangers and being responsible for the destruction of Team Rocket and Team Galactic. I was interested to learn more the guy doing so much good for the world, you know me I like finding a good challenge for the Battle Frontier and thought I'd found my guy. So, I went about learning more about Thanatos and as I got more and more information about everything you had done I started to get suspicious and when I found out that you always carried a Pikachu on your shoulder well that was all the proof I needed."

"That doesn't explain how you found us, that island is secluded in the heart of The Orange Archipelago and no one has been near that island in the year we've been there so how did you know I lived there?"

"Well do you remember four months ago when those poachers went after that family of Lapras?"

Ash and Paige gave a nod as they did indeed remember that day vividly, both had been disgusted with the vile humans who had captured those poor innocent Lapras. When they arrived on the scene they had been greeted by the horrifying sight of all those Lapras cruelly trapped in an incredibly small cage. The Lapras had been quickly freed and then Ash had turned his attention to the poachers who were punished for their actions, once Ash was through with them the poachers were dragged to prison where they would be staying for a long time. Paige could still see the look of relief on Ash's face when he found his old Lapras safe and sound.

"Yeah, we remember that horrible event, why do you ask?" Paige replied.

"Well I'd been tracking those poachers for a couple of months, when we found that they had stopped on the island near the Lapras I sent my men to capture the despicable poachers. It only took my men a couple of hours to get to the island but by the time my men finally got there the poachers had already been dealt with. I guessed that considering how quickly the situation had been handled that it must have been you and that you must live nearby so I sent dozens of flying Pokémon out to every island on in the area and after four months of searching I finally found you."

Ash internally cursed himself for being so careless and allowing himself to be found so easily but he had been so sure that no one would be able to track him down especially considering he was officially dead. He knew that he'd have to be more cautious in the future, he couldn't afford to be so sloppy again for Paige's sake. He started to wonder if he could use a certain Legendary to help shroud the island from the world.

"I can do that Ash." a feminine voice replied.

"Thank you, my friend."

Ash and Paige looked at Scott waiting for him to give some kind of explanation for why he had been so desperate to talk to Ash but he appeared to be deep in thought. The prolonged silence was annoying Paige and Ash who really didn't want to be in this room any longer than necessary. Finally, it got too much for Paige and she decided to ask the question that she and Ash wanted the answer to.

"So, Scott why were you so desperate to talk to my brother? You basically forced us to come here so it must be important."

"Well there's a meeting tomorrow with the Champion, Elite 4 and Gym Leaders of Kanto and I want your brother to accompany me so I can introduce him to them. Many of them have heard of Thanatos and want to meet him."

"Not interested, Paige and I have far more important things to do." Ash said dismissively.

Scott was now the one getting annoyed by how Ash was acting, he hadn't expected Ash to make things so difficult for him. After a few moments thought an idea popped into his head, he knew what he was about to do was low but he was willing to do whatever it took to get Ash to meet these people and hopefully try and bring back the Ash he used to know.

"Ash you have to realise that I am breaking a lot of rules by allowing you to participate in this tournament with a false identity. All I ask in payment is that you attend some meetings and sit in the V.I.P box during the first couple of rounds."

While Ash remained calm at Scott's blatant use of blackmail Paige growled in annoyance that this man would stoop so low. Her opinion of Scott was dropping rapidly as he knew exactly how to get her brother to agree to this and she didn't like seeing someone manipulate him. She was about to get up and yell at the large man but was stopped by Ash gently holding her arm.

"It's okay." Ash murmured.

"Alright Ash but if he pulls this kind of crap again he's not getting away with it. I don't like seeing people treat you like this." Paige whispered back.

"I know and I promise if he tries this again you can rip him a new one."

Paige grinned at Ash, ever since they'd met he had always looked out for her and she just wanted to have a chance to look out for him so she was happy that he'd let her stand up for him.

"Alright Scott, I guess I owe you for allowing me to participate as Thanatos and I don't like being in someone's debt so I'll attend your meetings and sit the V.I.P box. I don't know why you want me there so badly though."

"That's for me to know." Scott replied with a smirk on his face.

"Now wait just a second, Ash doesn't go anywhere without us." Paige declared

Riolu, Pikachu and Froslass all nodded in agreement with Paige's statement, they were family and they stuck together no matter what.

"I-I don't know if I can arrange that. Some of the meeting spots don't allow children and almost all of them refuse to let Pokémon inside."

"Well then I guess that I'm not going to your damn meetings, you want one of us you have to take all of us." Ash replied.

The siblings were satisfied to see that they had cleared caught Scott off guard, they watched as Scott appeared to be deep in thought obviously thinking over what they'd said. They knew that they were making things difficult for Scott but what they said was true they stuck together no matter what. After a few minutes of internal debate Scott let out a frustrated sigh and reluctantly nodded, he wasn't sure how he was going to pull it off but if it got Ash to come meet the others he'd do it.

"Fine, fine I'll pull some strings and arrange it so that Paige, Pikachu, Riolu and Froslass can come in with us, but no one else can come with you."

Ash and Paige gave each other a small victorious grin; they weren't sure why Scott was so desperate for Ash to go to these meetings but they didn't really care. They're here for one reason and that is to win this tournament. After that they'd go home and only spend time with those important to them.

"Good, now that that is settled, if you'll excuse us we have to head back home." Ash said.

Scott watched as Ash and Paige got up to leave, he quickly reached out and grabbed Ash's arm making him turn around and send a glare at Scott that sent a shiver down the man's spine. He never thought the Ash he knew could have such a terrifying look on his face but then this isn't the Ash he knew. He quickly withdrew his hold on Ash not wanting to anger the man any more

"Wait Ash, there's no need for you to go back to your island home. I have a secluded home that you can stay in, it's a couple of miles away from here and has a large field, some indoor training facilities as well as a large pool that you can use to prepare for the tournament."

"Okay Scott what's the catch? You must want something in exchange."

"I want to know what really happened five years ago."

"You know what happened, the news gave everyone a very clear message of what happened." Ash growled.

"I don't want to hear what the news said I want to know what really happened."

"Fine, I'll tell you but you will not interrupt me at any point. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I do."

"Alright."

Ash let out a shaky breath, it was still hard for him to think about the day that his life fell apart let alone talk about it. He suddenly felt Paige wrap her arms around him while Froslass and Pikachu nuzzled his face. Ash smiled softly as he felt his family comfort him, he gave them all a quick hug before turning his attention back to Scott.

"It all began after I came back Unova…"

Notes

Thank you all for reading this chapter, please leave a review below telling me what you liked and what I could improve on. I'm also willing to use any ideas you may have.

Like Chapter 1 this is mostly unchanged, mainly a few sentences have been rewritten and some small parts added.