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

Glad to see that the changes have gone down well with readers of the original.

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!

Moments after Teleporting away from the road Ash and Paige appeared in the training field of Scott's private home, Ash quickly dragged Paige back as he could sense two charged attacks headed their way. He moved quick enough that they narrowly avoiding a Flamethrower from Charizard clashing with Sceptile's Solarbeam. When both Pokémon saw Ash and Paige inches away from where there attacks had clashed they immediately walked over to them with apologetic looks on their faces. Paige hugged both pokemon while Ash patted them on the shoulder while smiling at them.

"It's fine you two, you have no way of knowing that we'd suddenly Teleport here."

Charizard and Sceptile grinned at Ash and Paige, relieved that they had been forgiven and went back to their battle. Ash watched the pair and was impressed as he watched them battle, he knew his pokemon were strong but those two seemed to be taking it up a notch for the tournament. Froslass and Pikachu then got off Ash's shoulder, the former levitated over to Gengar and started battling her fellow ghost type. The latter on the other hand sat on the grass and watched everyone training with a saddened expression, his gaze falling on Sceptile and Charizard. Ash had seen the look several times before but the mouse had always adamantly denied it whenever he brought it up. Ash crouched down and placed his hand comfortingly on Pikachu's back, the expression on Pikachu face quickly changed and he smiled at his best friend. Ash wasn't buying it though, he knew something was wrong with his best friend but he just didn't know how to get the mouse to tell him.

"Hey, we're going to go inside and get lunch ready, you want to come with us?"

'No thanks, I think I'll stay out here for a bit longer.'

"Okay buddy."

Ash and Paige went inside reluctantly leaving Pikachu on his own, the mouse went back to watching everyone training and felt a strong surge of disappointment, not in those training but in himself. Despite how hard he trained now he just couldn't get any stronger, he had always known that the day would come that his body would reach its full potential but he hadn't expected to be so disappointed in what its full potential was.

It had become clear to him that he was without a shadow of a doubt the weakest Pokémon at Ash's disposal which saddened the mouse especially when he was certain that Ash would use him late on in the tournament despite knowing that he had stronger Pokémon and he could be possibly be the reason for their defeat.

Pikachu turned his gaze to Ivysaur who like him had chosen not to evolve and had also reached his full potential, the reason for him not evolving however was different. Ivysaur didn't want to evolve because as a Venusaur he would lose his speed which had always been a major part of his battle style, Pikachu on the other hand was mainly holding himself back because of his pride.

Since the loss to Lt Surge and Raichu he had been determined to prove that you didn't need to evolve to be strong and he had proven it several times however now that he had hit his peak he was now starting to question that belief. What made him question his decision even more was that he'd heard that Ivysaur was considering evolve to get gain the significant power boost he would get.

'Maybe it's time I put aside my pride and finally evolve.' Pikachu thought.

Meanwhile back at the battlefield where Ash had crushed Agatha, everyone was still in shock at how easily Thanatos had dealt with the former Elite 4 member. Lance was the first to get over his shock and anger started to take its place. He couldn't believe someone would be so disrespectful Agatha and was now regretting putting so much effort into finding Thanatos.

"Okay Scott what the hell is that guys' problem?! We ask simple questions and the two of them explode and then have the audacity to disrespect Agatha." Lance queried.

Scott sighed sadly as he continued to stare at the path the siblings had walked down, he had always known that Ash would be a changed man after what happened but this was not what he had been expecting. He turned his gaze to Lance with a saddened expression on his face which surprised the Dragon Tamer.

"The two of them have been through some traumatic events and because of that they have suffered tremendously. I Knew Thanatos and it's no surprise that he is not the person I once knew. Although had I known just how much he had changed I would have waited a while before bringing him to meet you all."

"What happened to the pair of them and why were they so hostile?"

"It's really not my place to tell you what they have experienced, what happened to them is personal which is not something that I have the right to disclose and I based on today's events I suggest you avoid asking them about what has happened to them. Now I bid you farewell, I shall inform you all of any future meetings I have planned."

Scott then walked away before any more questions could be thrown at him about the siblings, everyone watched him and were still trying to process what had happened as well as wonder about what had happened to the siblings to make them behave this way.

"Well a traumatic event would explain a lot about their behaviour." Lance finally announced.

While everyone discussed the potential things that could have happened to the Thanatos and Nemesis, Sabrina stayed silent and kept her sight set firmly on where the siblings had walked. The pair intrigued her, she wasn't sure what but there was something about them that peaked her curiosity.

"I think that Thanatos knows a lot more about Ash than he's letting on. It will be impossible to read his mind but I could use the girl… no, no that's not who I am anymore. I will not manipulate others, that would spit on the memory of Ash and everything he did to save me from myself. I'll just have to bide my time." Sabrina thought.

The gym leaders and Elite 4 members gradually left, some intent on finding out more about Thanatos while others were content to avoid the cloaked man at any cost. Eventually Scott was left alone still watching the road Ash and Paige had walked down wondering what he could do to bring back the Ash people knew and loved. He was brought out of his thoughts by his Pokénav ringing, he quickly pulled it out and accepted the call. He was slightly worried to see Ash appear on the screen as he had not had the chance to plan when he should risk bringing Ash to another meeting.

"Hi Thanatos."

"Hello Scott."

"So, I guess you want to know when the next meeting will be."

"Yes, we do, so when is the next giant waste of time?" Paige asked.

"Of course, you put it on speaker phone." Scott muttered with a sigh.

"Well I thought that my sister deserved to give her input, her opinion is very important to me."

"Okay, it'll be next week; tensions are running high after your stunt today and it's safe to say that a few people would be angry to see you. So, I've decided that it would be best if you missed the next few meetings. Just please, I beg of you don't cause any more trouble."

"Okay Scott, I won't actively look to start any fights. I will retaliate though if someone starts something."

"Yeah we won't just sit there and take it."

Their responses didn't reassure Scott as he wasn't quite sure what constituted 'starting something' with Ash and Paige was. Sadly, Scott knew that if he wanted Ash to come to meeting he had no choice but to accept Ash's terms.

"Okay I assure you that nobody will start a fight with you. I will see you both next week."

Scott immediately hung up and began planning when the best time to bring Ash to another gathering. It was obvious that a Sinnoh meeting would be a bad idea due to the presence of Cynthia and there was no way he was exposing Anabel to this darker version of the man she had come to love. It left him with three options and he knew that he would have to pick carefully if he wanted to avoid a fight. Scott rubbed his forehead as a headache plagued him and decided to leave the rest of the planning for later.

Back at the private home Scott had given Ash and Paige the siblings were pleased that they had gotten what they wanted. The outcome had surprised Paige though especially because of how quickly Scott capitulated to their demands. She had expected Scott to have argued more and tried to guilt trip Ash again like he had in his office but he had just capitulated.

"He agreed to your terms pretty easily, why would he do that?"

"It's because he knows he has no choice but to agree because if he doesn't then I refuse to go and whatever plan he's brewing will be ruined."

"Well he can plan all he likes it's not going to change your mind… right?"

Ash turned his gaze to Paige and could see the worry in her eyes, he knew she wanted nothing to change which was a relief for him as he wanted the exact same thing. He quickly scooped her up and twirled her around earning a giggle from her. He then pulled her close to him and hugged her tightly, the embrace quickly being reciprocated by Paige. He rested his forehead against her and smiled as he looked into her eyes.

"There is no way Scott will change my mind Paige, what we said to Scott when we first arrived is the truth and nothing will change that. We're just going to stay here for the tournament and then we're going back home."

"Good I just don't want things to change."

"Me neither, now let's get something to eat I'm starving."

The stomachs of both siblings then growled confirming Ash's statement, both Ash and Paige laughed and made their way to the kitchen. They quickly whipped up a meal between them and sat down to eat. As they devoured their food they both just hoped that they would get a few days' peace before Scott bothered them again.

The next morning Ash was awoken by someone knocking on the door, he emitted an irritated growl as he knew that it must be Scott. He reluctantly got up making sure not to wake Paige and quickly got washed and dressed. The sound of Scott knocking was grating Ash's nerves and by the time he opened the door he was thoroughly pissed off. His mood got worse when he saw the happy look on Scott's face.

"Good morning Thanatos."

"What are you doing here Scott?"

"Straight to the point I see, okay well I'm here to tell you that we've informed all of the invited trainers that they must participate in a practice match in the stadium today."

"Fine, I'll get Paige, Pikachu and Froslass and then I'll crush whoever I have to face."

"Actually, you don't have a match."

"Why not?"

"Well there are forty-three invited trainers so there are twenty-one pairs and one person left over. There was a random draw to see who wouldn't have a match and your name was drawn."

"So, what you mean is that you rigged that draw so I'd sit in the V.I.P box."

Scott stared at Ash, shocked that he had guessed what he had done so quickly. The Ash he knew would never have thought of that but then this wasn't the Ash he once knew. Ash saw the shocked look on Scott's face and insulted that the large man thought he was as gullible as he was five years ago.

"I'm not that clueless boy you once knew Scott, he died five years ago."

"Are you going to go?"

"Yes, I promised I'd attend meetings and sit in the V.I.P box and I keep my promises."

"Okay thank you, the matches begin in about an hour so I'll see you at the main stadium."

Ash shut the door without responding to Scott and started breakfast hoping that the smell of bacon would lure Paige out of bed. His idea was successful and a few minutes later he was greeted by a half-asleep Paige who was rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She slowly made her way to the table and sat down, a plate being placed in front of her quickly woke her up and she salivated at the bacon and eggs in front of her.

Breakfast didn't last long as both sibling demolished the food, Ash quickly explained the situation to Paige and after she got ready they headed towards the main stadium. After a gentle stroll, they arrived at the stadium with a few minutes to spare. They entered the stadium and were escorted to the V.I.P box by several security personnel.

When they got to the V.I.P box they found that almost everyone was present, the only ones missing were the Sinnoh representatives. Ash quickly spotted a couple of seats that were empty with only Sabrina nearby which was the best chance they had to be away from most of the people here. However, after his last encounter with Sabrina he was slightly dubious about sitting near her but decided that it would be relatively safe since she probably wouldn't try anything here.

A small smirk appeared on Sabrina's face as she watched her plan work out just as she had expected, she had deliberately chosen to sit here as based on his actions the other day Thanatos was bound to do his best avoid most of the others. Rather than converse out loud she decided to open a mind link with Thanatos hoping the Aura wielder would respond and be more willing to have a private conversation.

"Probing my mind for information is a very dangerous thing to do Thanatos." Sabrina said.

"I did not probe your mind for any information you may or may not have. I did it to make sure you knew not to try anything with those powers of yours. You were once a very dangerous woman Sabrina and I had to make sure my sister would be safe."

"Trust me I mean you and your sister no harm."

"I don't trust people, the only beings you can rely on are your family and your Pokémon. Trusting people makes it easier for them to stab you in the back."

Sabrina's line of thought was brought to a grinding halt by Thanatos' words, it was obvious that he had gone through a traumatic event like Scott had said. It was the only explanation for how he behaved so aggressively towards anyone other than his sister. Sabrina was about to query Thanatos on anything he knew about Ash when Cynthia suddenly sat in the seat between her and Thanatos, which broke her concentration and severed the link with Thanatos making her glare at the Sinnoh Champion for interuptting her.

Ash sensed the connection with Sabrina be severed and that his former mentor Cynthia had entered the room and taken a seat next to him. Ash could feel the intense glare that was being directed at him and could sense the anger radiating from Cynthia so he decided to face her and see if they could resolve the problem she clearly had with him. When he looked at Cynthia he was momentarily surprised by just how intense the glare Cynthia was directing at him was. He'd never have thought Cynthia would be capable of such a look but considering what he had said to Brock at the Kanto meeting it shouldn't have come as such a surprise.

"I know what you said at the Kanto meeting about Ash's friends and how we didn't care about him and beleive me right now there's nothing I want more than to have my Garchomp Hyper Beam you to oblivion but first I want to know why you said such a thing."

Ash sighed, he was worried that this would happen after his actions at the Kanto meeting and knew that if he wanted to avoid a fight with Cynthia he would have to pick his words carefully something he hadn't really had to do much during his five years of exile.

"Listen Miss Shirona I don't have any disdain for all those who were friends of Ash Ketchum as I know that some of you never gave up on him. I have disdain for those who turned their backs on him immediately. Only an utter fool would believe he would be guilty of destroying a city and murder. I simply said those things to get a reaction from those who had abandoned him at his darkest hour which is exactly what I got."

Ash watched Cynthia carefully as the anger drained from her face, after all the time he had spent with her he knew that she was not an angry woman. Unless you did something to enrage her which by the look she had been giving him turned her into a force of destruction.

"Well it's a relief to hear that, I had assumed you thought of us all like that and possibly that you believed Ash to be guilty too. It's nice to see that not all people believed the lies the media spread."

A bright smile suddenly appeared on Cynthia's face replacing the enraged look instantly and Ash realised that she must not hear people siding with her on a regular basis on this subject. It was the only explanation for why she had gone from sending him a death glare to a brilliant smile in a matter of seconds. Ash had to admit that seeing his former mentor smile again was a beautiful sight to behold.

"Darkrai use Dark Void, then use Dream Eater."

Before Ash could think about Cynthia anymore he sighed in agitation as he heard a voice he had despised ever since his journey in the Sinnoh region. While he wasn't that surprised that Tobias got an invite it still irritated him that someone who only uses legendary Pokémon has gotten a position in a tournament as prestigious as this.

"Of course, Tobias is here. Can someone please tell me why Tobias got an invite?" Ash asked.

"Well he's won every league he's participated in and the only time he lost a Pokémon was against…" Mr Goodshow trailed off.

"We can't not invite someone with such an impressive history." Lance added.

"It's not impressive at all." Paige said.

Everyone looked at Paige in shock, they couldn't believe that anyone would so casually dismiss a trainer of Tobias' stature. He had won several leagues and only ever struggled in one battle.

"How can you say that when he's been so successful?" Mr Goodshow asked.

Ash growled as he grew more annoyed at the situation, he found it hard to believe that a collection of the greatest trainers in the world could clearly see how overrated a trainer Tobias is.

"I thought you were all smarter than this, if you don't already know it's not worth my time explaining it to you."

Ash was about to get up and go down to the battlefield to settle some unfinished business with Tobias when a hand grabbed his arm. He looked at who it was and saw Cynthia looking him straight in the eye, internally he was telling himself that he should just wrench his arm out of her grasp and leave the room but for some reason he couldn't do it. Meanwhile the entire room was stunned to silence and they watched them waiting to see how Thanatos would react. The only one who hadn't been stunned was Sabrina who was already prepared to unleash her psychic powers if Thanatos reacted violently.

"Please explain." Cynthia murmured breaking the silence.

Ash let out an annoyed sigh, he really wanted to leave and deal with Tobias but decided that for the sake of times he would do as Cynthia asked so he sat back down.

"Fine, it's not impressive because he's only used his Darkrai and occasionally his Latios to win all of his matches. Using Legendary Pokémon takes no skill at all, they are naturally stronger than other Pokémon and have unique abilities that give them an extra advantage. You could give any ten-year-old that Darkrai of his and get the exact same results." Ash answered.

The room went silent as they considered his words which gave Ash the perfect opportunity to leave the room and head down to the battlefield.

"Come on Nemesis, we have business to attend to."

"Hell yeah!"

The siblings left the V.I.P box which was still in silence and walked down the steps to the battlefield, when they got to the wall Ash easily leapt over it and stood on the battlefield. Paige followed soon after and landed safely in Ash's arms. He put her down and they walked towards Tobias who was watching the hooded pair curiously as they stood in the trainer box opposite him.

"Hello Tobias, fancy a battle?"

The question shocked Tobias, he had just annihilated an accomplished trainer and this unknown person had challenged him so casually. This immediately gained his attention and for the first time in years he was interested in battling someone. A smirk appeared on Tobias's face as even though he knew that thanks to Darkrai it wouldn't really be a challenge it would be a pleasure to humiliate this random guy in front of all these people.

"You just watched my Darkrai sweep that guy aside and you want to challenge me? Fair enough, I accept."

"There is one condition though, I want to challenge your non-legendary Pokémon. Anyone can use legendries and win so prove how good you are and use a regular Pokémon."

The smirk on Tobias' face vanished at the prospect of not having access to his strongest Pokémon and he placed Darkrai's Pokéball back in his pocket. He turned his back on the hooded strangers and started walking towards the exit.

"I don't have to prove anything to you."

Tobias smirked and believing he had ended their verbal battle carried on walking away ignoring the booing and jeering by the crowd.

"Hey Tobias! You're either a coward or you have no faith in your non-legendary Pokémon." Paige declared.

A growl was emitted by Tobias as he heard the small one taunting him, his anger only increasing as the crowd started chanting "coward" at him. He decided to once again ignore it though and continued walking towards the tunnel, he had nothing to gain by fighting here.

"Well it seems that the mighty Tobias is running away. Hey Tobias when we meet in the tournament I want to warn you that you're not the only one who has a team of legendary Pokémon. I have six on my side who can't wait to show you how weak you actually are."

Tobias stopped in place, he turned around and he glared at the two hooded figures who were mocking him. He had had enough of their taunts especially as the crowd had sided with them and were mocking him mercilessly. This not only angered him but showed him how fickle fans were as only moments ago, they had been chanting his name.

"I am not weak!" Tobias growled.

"Prove me wrong then, don't use any legendary Pokémon until our fight and I'll say that you aren't weak."

"I already told you I don't have to prove anything to you."

Ash smirked at Tobias, he knew that the coward wouldn't accept his challenge but he had achieved his goals. He had made the gym leaders, Elite 4's and Battle Frontier members see that Tobias isn't as strong as they thought, he had gotten in Tobias' head and turned the crowd against him which judging by the look on Tobias's face was a big deal.

"On the contrary Tobias, you have everything to prove. Farewell."

Ash and Paige turned away and began walking down the tunnel behind them listening as the crowd continued to mock Tobias and some began chanting for the "hooded man". Once they were out of the stadium Ash looked down at Paige and smiled as he saw her looking up at him lovingly. He then saw her eyes light up as she spotted something behind him. Ash turned around and saw the ice cream vendor behind them.

"Come on let's go get some ice cream."

Paige cheered and threw her arms around her brother, Ash was more than happy to return the embrace and hugged Paige tightly.

"I love you Thanatos."

"I love you too Nemesis."

As the pair walked over to the ice cream vendor neither of them noticed a certain blonde haired Champion watching them from a distance. A tear trickled down Cynthia's as she watched the scene before her, the love between the two siblings was clear and it was very touching to see a soft side to Thanatos. As she thought about the way Thanatos treat his sister a warm feeling started to swell inside her, a few moments later her eyes widened as she realised when she had last had a feeling like this. She looked at the siblings again and her heart raced as a blush tinged her cheeks and only one thought ran through her mind.

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.