Hello guys, thank you for all the support thus far. I hope you'll continue to enjoy this story.

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!

A few minutes after leaving the Indigo League, Scott slammed on the brakes hard, his car coming to a screeching stop outside of the secluded home he was offering to Ash and Paige. He looked back at his passengers and saw that Paige and Riolu were gripping on to Ash with looks of pure terror on their face, the sight made him burst out laughing which snapped Paige out of it. She released her bone breaking hold on Ash and glared at Scott who was finding this way too funny in her opinion.

"Holy shit I thought Ash was kidding about how bad your driving was but he was right you can't drive for shit. How the hell did he pass his damn driving test?"

"Honestly Paige I have no idea and I think he's actually gotten worse since I was last in a car with him."

"You two just don't know how to have fun." Scott stated cheerfully.

Ash shook his head and got out of the car, thankful to feel the ground beneath him. Paige was feeling a bit more dramatic and after getting out of the car she threw herself to the ground.

"Land! Solid land!

Ash chuckled at Paige's movie reference, he turned his attention to Scott who was watching the pair looked totally confused. A sigh of both relief and disappointment escaped Ash as he realised that the reference had flown straight over Scott's head.

"That is the last time I'm getting into car that you're driving again Scott."

"Same goes for me." Paige quickly added.

Scott shrugged his shoulders and tossed a set of keys to Ash.

"It's your loss, well I'll be here tomorrow at ten in the morning to pick you up for the meeting so make sure you're ready to leave."

"Fine." The siblings replied.

Scott gave the siblings a wave and then his tyres screeched as his rocketed down the road leaving Ash and Paige wondering how he had not killed himself by now. They looked at one another and then at the house Scott had allowed them to use, it looked small but the inside didn't really matter since they spent very little time indoors anyway. As long as the training areas were as good as Scott had said that's all that mattered. They walked up to the front door and Ash put the key in the lock, with a quick turn the door was unlocked and the sibling walked inside. Ash placed his backpack on the nearest table and took out all the Pokéballs containing his family, he then walked out the backdoor into the huge training area.

"Alright everyone come on out."

The Pokémon all appeared in the room and looked around the building they were in wondering why they were here, they'd expected to be either be back home or in the middle of a forest.

"Hello everyone, Scott has given us this house to use for the duration of the tournament. It has great training facilities and it is really isolated so we won't be disturbed by anyone. Now starting tomorrow we're going to train harder than ever, we have a tournament to prepare for!"

Everyone let out an excited cheer which brought a smile to Ash and Paige's faces, it had been a long time since they'd heard the Pokémon cheered so passionately. Ash knew they had missed battling and if he was being honest with himself he had done as well so this tournament had come along at a perfect time.

Ash looked at all his Pokémon and was grateful to have so many loyal Pokémon. In front of him were those who had believed him when no else did: Charizard, Ivysaur, Meganium, Feraligatr, Donphan, Snorlax, Sceptile, Infernape, Scrafty and Swellow. To the left were the ones he had known but released or left in training that had come and found him: Gengar, Blastoise, Gliscor, Tyranitar and Pidgeot. Finally, he looked to the right where the Pokémon he had met since the betrayal five years ago were stood: Hydreigon, Gardevoir, Lucario, Ampharos, Sylveon, Vaporeon, Hitmontop, Reuniclus and Cinccino.

Suddenly Ash sensed both legendary Pokémon who had decided to stay with him return from their visits to their family and friends, in the blink of an eye the pair had teleported amongst the rest of the family. They levitated over to Ash and floated in front of him. He smiled warmly at the two, glad to see them again and hugged them making both legendries sigh in content, the two of them returned the hug and then went to Paige and embraced her.

"So, did you two have fun?" Ash asked.

"I certainly did, it was nice to see the Pokémon living in the forest again, it's so peaceful there ever since the… incident with me eight years ago the forest has in general been left alone."

"What happened back then wasn't your fault."

"I know; I still feel guilty about though. Enough about me, how was your trip." She asked the other Pokémon.

"It went well, the people and Pokémon are thriving thanks to you. I also made them a couple of diamonds just to make sure they never have to worry about money."

"I'm glad that you both enjoyed yourselves. You should take a look around this place, we're going to be staying for a long time."

Both Pokémon nodded and then flew back over to the rest of Ash's Pokémon, they had enjoyed seeing their old family and friends but they knew that their true home was here. Ash and Paige saw the Pokémon enjoying themselves and decided to head inside while the legendries got reacquainted with the other Pokémon. An hour or so later the legendries came inside and then settled down on an empty chair. Ash and Paige watched as the two quickly fell to sleep, the reunion with the family had clearly wiped them out.

"They're so cute." Paige whispered.

"They are. Come on it's been a long day let's get some rest."

"You're right Ash, goodnight."

"Goodnight Paige."

The siblings went into their rooms and got changed, they got into their beds and both started trying to sleep. Ash struggled to fall to sleep due to his excitement for the upcoming tournament, it was a feeling he hadn't felt since the Unova League and if he was being completely honest it was a feeling he'd missed. He looked down at Froslass and Pikachu who had chosen to sleep in his bed with him and smiled at them. He laid his head and closed his eyes hoping that he'd get to sleep quickly so he'd be rested for tomorrow.

Paige unlike Ash was successful in quickly getting to sleep however she was quickly plagued by nightmares something she'd suffered since her parents had been killed. A horrifying image of Ash being killed like her parents made her wake up with tears streaming down her face. She needed to see Ash now, she knew he was fine since in her eyes there was nothing that could stop Ash but she needed to see him. Paige practically leapt out of bed and ran out of her room, she got to Ash's room and knocked lightly on the door hoping he was awake.

Just as Ash was starting to doze off he heard a few gentle knocks on his door, he knew that the only who would knock on his door so quietly at this time of night was Paige so he gently got out of bed to he didn't wake Froslass and Pikachu. He walked over to the door and opened it seeing Paige stood there trembling while tears were trickling from her eyes. He knew that she must have had another nightmare so he immediately crouched down and pulled Paige into a tight hug. She instantly clutched on to Ash just to make sure that he was indeed here with her and sobbed into his shirt.

"Shh, shh, it's okay, it's okay, I'm here." Ash murmured.

While he held his sister, Ash was worried for Paige; he hadn't seen her be so upset about a nightmare for a long time so it must have been an awful one. When they had first met, this had been a daily occurrence but as time had gone on her nightmares had become less frequent and by now she was only having one every few weeks.

It still broke Ash's heart every time he saw the terrified look she'd have on her face after one of her nightmare. It really made him wonder what her nightmare was tonight, the only time she'd looked remotely like this was when she had had nightmares shortly after he'd rescued her. The nightmares had been the same every time, visions of her parents dying and of her being tortured by Team Galactic. He continued to hold her until her sobs gradually died down, she eventually pulled back slightly so she could look at him.

"Ash can I… can I sleep in your bed with you tonight?" she asked timidly.

"Of course, you can Paige. You never need to ask."

Paige smiled brightly at Ash and hugged him tightly, Ash responded by picking her up quickly and spinning her around which made her giggle. Ash smiled as he heard her laugh, he hated seeing her so upset and he wished he could stop her nightmares but sadly despite all the powers he had at his disposable he couldn't help her. All he could do was comfort her when she was upset and do his best to cheer her up.

He put her back on the floor and walked over to the bed, he got under the covers and was almost instantly joined by Paige who snuggled up to him. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest, she smiled as she felt Ash return her embrace and like always she felt safe.

"Thank you, Ash. I love you." Paige whispered.

"I love you too."

Paige closed her eyes with a smile on her face and quickly fell to sleep, Ash remained awake for a while watching her peaceful face just in case the nightmare came back. After half an hour of sitting in silence it seemed like the nightmare wasn't going to return so he tightened his hold on Paige and joined her in slumber.

The next morning Ash woke up early as usual, he heard a soft snoring next to him and looked down at the peaceful sleeping face of his sister. He was relieved that she had managed to sleep calmly which after the bad nightmare she'd had last night surprised him. He smiled as he felt her snuggle closer to him and he tightened his hold on her.

Ash wasn't sure how long he laid there until he looked at his alarm clock and saw to his surprise that they only had fifteen minutes until Scott was going to be here to take them to the meeting. Ash knew he should really have cared at least a little bit since Scott had put a lot of effort into getting him to come to the meeting but he just couldn't bring himself to care about that. His sister would always take priority over anything else in his life.

"Fuck Scott's meeting if it's so important he can delay it for an hour or so." Ash thought.

Ash suddenly felt Paige stirring as she started to wake up, she shuffled out from under the covers and rubbed her eyes. She looked at her brother and smiled at him, she then wrapped her arms around Ash and felt the same warmth and comfort she always did when he returned her hugs. Ash held Paige tightly and felt relief flood through him, he had been worried that her nightmares had returned during the night but the bright smile on her face meant that they hadn't. Paige eventually broke the hug and her smile grew larger.

"Morning sleepy head. Did you get a good night's sleep?" Ash asked.

"Yes, I did, thanks for letting me stay in here Ash."

"It's no problem Paige, I'm glad that you were able to sleep well. Now you go get changed and I'll go make us some breakfast. Is there anything you want?"

"Pancakes!"

Ash chuckled and playfully ruffled Paige's hair making her giggle, the noise woke Pikachu and Froslass who smiled softly at the scene before them. Ash saw the two of them looking at them and brought them into a hug.

"Morning you two, Paige wants pancakes so if we have the ingredients I'm making pancakes."

"Yay!" Paige yelled.

Paige then threw herself at Ash and wrapped her arms around him, the force of Paige launching herself at Ash knocked them both down on the bed and they both started laughing as they held each other. The sibling eventually calmed down and Ash sat up pulling Paige up with him, he gave her one more hug and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I know you want to stay here all day, trust me I do as well but we have a meeting to go to."

"I know we do." Paige replied with a sigh.

"Alright go and get changed we haven't got long until Scott gets here."

Paige nodded and reluctantly released her grip on Ash, she got up and walked out of Ash's room so they could both get ready for the day.

Ten minutes later Ash entered the kitchen and started rummaging through the cupboards hoping to find what he needed to make pancakes. He didn't have to look through the surprisingly well stocked draws long to find what he need and he quickly started mixing up a batch of pancakes.

By the time, Paige walked into the kitchen there was a mountain of pancakes stacked on the table, her eyes lit up and she sat at the table piling a horde of pancakes on her plate. Pikachu, Froslass and Riolu followed the young girl in and took their places at the table, the former immediately drenching his pancakes in ketchup making everyone else cringe.

"You've got a serious ketchup problem buddy." Ash stated.

Pikachu just ignored Ash and started scarfing down his ketchup covered pancakes, Paige, Froslass and Riolu blocked Pikachu from their view and started scoffing all their pancakes too. Ash suddenly remembered he hadn't asked the two legendries if they wanted any, they usually stuck to the food he made for his Pokémon but when it came to pancakes they never said no.

"Hey Celebi, Diancie do you want some pancakes?"

"Hell yeah!" they both replied.

Both legendary Pokémon flew into the room and took a sat on the table either side of Ash, Pikachu and Froslass rolled their eyes as they watched the two legendary Pokémon cuddling up to Ash. A pair of plates was placed in front of the legendries.

"I hope you enjoy them."

The legendries replied with a simple nodded and then quickly hugged him before they started eating the pancakes, Ash smiled as he watched everyone enjoy the food and tucked into his own. It didn't take long for everyone to finish their breakfast and they sat with satisfied looks on their faces. The sound of a horn blaring grabbed everyone's attention, Ash and Paige sighed as they knew that was Scott.

They finished off their breakfast and placed their plates in the sink, they then walked into the hallway and put their cloaks on. Pikachu and Froslass took their places on Ash's shoulders while Riolu sat on Paige's shoulder, they headed towards the door and stopped just in front of it.

"Let's get this over with." Ash said.

"Yeah, the quicker this is done, the quicker we can come back here." Paige added.

Paige was about to open the door when she felt Ash gently grab her arm, she looked up his him confusedly and saw a sneaky grin on his face.

"Hey, do you want to have soon fun at Scott's expense." Ash asked.

Paige, Pikachu, Froslass and Riolu all smirked at Ash.

"Do you even need to ask?"

"Alright then, follow my lead."

Ash opened the door and was greeted by the sight of Scott grinning at him, Ash looked around the large man and saw a limousine parked behind him. Ash had to admit he was impressed; Scott was really pulling out all the stops but that just made him all the warier of Scott's motives.

"Good morning Thanatos." Scott said cheerily.

"Hello Scott." Ash and Paige replied.

"So, are you ready to go?"

"Well we've been ready for over an hour but someone was late." Ash replied.

"Yeah what the hell took you so long?" Paige asked.

Scott immediately averted his gaze and the siblings grinned as they watched the large man squirm.

"I was erm, I just... I… I overslept. Sorry I made you wait."

"I guess we can let you off this time but we'd better get moving, due to you being so late we'll need to hurry." Ash replied

"Wait a minute I'm not getting into the limousine if Scott's driving." Paige added.

"Don't worry I'm not, for some reason the company wouldn't let me drive this limousine."

Ash and Paige let out a sigh of relief and got into the limousine, Scott followed them inside and the driver started the engine. The siblings looked around the limousine and saw several buttons and it took all their self-restraint to not push any of them. Paige then spotted a button which would open the roof and couldn't resist the urge to push it, the sun roof opened and she stood up watching the scenery fly by.

Scott watching the young girl and was immediately concerned for Paige's safety, he considered telling the girl to sit down but knew that it would only result in angering Ash as well as the Pokémon sitting on his shoulders. He was thankful when he saw that Ash was gently tugged on Paige's arm to gain her attention.

"Paige please sit down, it's not safe up there." Ash said softy.

"Okay Ash."

Paige quickly sat down next to Ash and cuddled up to him, Ash wrapped an arm around her in response neither of them acknowledging the presence of Scott. The interaction between the two brought a smile to Scott's face, it was clear to him that despite the harsh way they act to others it was obvious that they only acted that way to protect themselves from other people. He cleared his throat to gain the siblings attention, it got the desired effect as both Ash and Paige turned their gaze to him.

"So, I guess I should spend the time we have before we arrive telling you about a few new faces in the Kanto League."

"Don't bother Scott, we may live in seclusion but we keep up with the changes happening in the leagues." Paige said.

"I'm surprised that you're so interested in that."

"We may not care about what happens in the outside world but we do like to know what's going on." Ash replied.

"Well since I don't need to tell you about the new additions to the Kanto League is there anything else you want to ask about?"

"Yeah how long is this meeting going to be?" Ash asked.

"We have much better things to do than sit in a room listening to whatever crap you're going to spew." Paige added.

Scott sighed and put a hand to his head as he felt a headache brewing which considering there was a long meeting soon was not good. A part of him was already warning him that bringing these two to the first meeting was probably a poor decision especially considering who some of the people who would be attending.

"It will be a couple of hours, we need to discuss the initial preparations for the tournament."

"So why the hell do we need to attend?" Paige asked

"Yeah, we have nothing to do with the preparations for the tournament, I'm just a competitor."

"My reasons are none of your concern for now."

"Whatever." Ash and Paige replied.

"Just trust me Ash, I have my reasons."

"I don't trust people; the only ones' I trust are my sister and our Pokémon. It's foolish to trust others Scott, it just makes it easier for them to stick a knife in your back. I learned that five years ago."

Scott had no response for that, he knew that whatever he said would be turned against him in some way so he remained silent hoping that his headache would go away. Ash and Paige were grateful for the silence from Scott, they were both sick and tired of hearing him speak. They just hoped they get there soon so they could get this meeting over with as quickly as possible.

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.

I know there isn't really any changes thus far but the early chapter are fine as they are