Chapter – 2

*The next week, Viridian Court*

The big door opened as Ash was shoved into the courtroom. Ash looked around to see the people that had gathered at the court. Sitting in the front he saw Professor Oak along with his still smirking grandson Gary. Behind them sat Misty along with a stone faced Brock. Next to them was May and her brother Max. Behind them in another row sat. Others were mostly people who Ash didn't recognise. What amazed him most was that Dawn was nowhere to be found. What he didn't know was that Dawn was facing her own problems somewhere else. Then as the judge took his place, the trial began.

Firstly, the persecutor stood up and started speaking. "Your honour, we are here today because we have an animal in our midst. The accused Ash Ketchum brutally killed his own mother and then set fire to the house".

"I did not", shouted Ash, which was immediately answered by the judges "Order order" as he glared at Ash. He then looked up at the persecutor and said "please continue".

The persecutor who looked a little irritated at being interrupted continued, "Your honour, without taking much of the courts time, I would like to call my first witness, Ms. Misty Williams". Ash felt a ray of hope as he believed Misty would surely help him.

As she went to stand in the witness box, the persecutor asked the first question. "Ms. Williams, is it correct that you were Ash's first companion when Mr. Ketchum first set out on his journey". "Yes, that is correct" Misty answered. "Then it would be say that you have known Ash for a long time". When Misty gave a nod, he continued, "So Ms. Williams, perhaps you would like to tell the court what kind of a person is Mr. Ketchum". Misty then cleared her throat and started speaking. What she said made Ash do a double take.

"I started journeying with Ash when I was 12 and have travelled through Kanto, Johto and the Orange Islands with him. In all the time I have known him, I have seen that he is highly cruel, both towards Pokémon and humans. Many starting trainers he met, he beat ruthlessly. His Pokémon have become just the same because of the harsh treatment he inflicts on them"

"Thank you Ms. Williams" the persecutor continued with a faint smirk. "So, your honour, you have just heard the words of someone who has remained in close contact with Mr Ketchum for years". Back at his table, Ash was wide eyed. This wasn't what he had expected. He hoped the others wouldn't betray him but seeing most of them smirking and Brock's almost stoic expression, he changed his mind. The worst was yet to come.

"Now I call someone who has been with Ash through nearly all of his journeys. I'd like to call Mr Brock Harrison to the witness box" the persecutor said as Brock walked up to the place where Misty had stood some time ago.

"Mr. Harrison perhaps you would like to enlighten us with your views of Mr Ketchum". Brock looked up at Ash, as if asking for forgiveness, then began speaking. "Yes I have travelled with Ash through many regions and as such I know a lot about him. He does not care for whether or not his Pokémon can fight or not, as such he has many times injured them critically. Also, whenever we travelled he never cared to feed his Pokémon, leaving all those tasks to me. I can almost certainly say that if I wasn't there he'd have most likely starved many of his Pokémon to death".

"Thank you Brock, you may go back". He paused as Brock made his way back. Ash leaned to the side and whispered in his appointed defence attorney's ear. "Aren't you going to say anything?" he whispered. The man looked at Ash in scorn and said, quite audibly. "I have no need to defend someone I believe is guilty. You would be better off trying to confess your crimes". Before ash could say anything further, the persecutor began.

"I now would like to call my third and final witness. Someone who has spent his entire childhood with Mr. Ash. I would like to call Mr. Gary Oak into the witness box. Gary stood up and smirked, and then went to the witness box to take his position. "Mr Gary, please share with us Ash's relationship with his mother"

"Ash has never cared for his mother. Trying to stay most of the time away from her. When he did return, he never stayed for long and had frequent disagreements with his mother. At home, he spent most of his time trying to determine where to head off next" Gary said and went back. After this, the persecutor sat back.

The judge turned his gaze to Ash and spoke. "Will the accused say anything in his defence?" "Yes", said Ash. He then went to the witness box, held up his head showing red eyes, and uttered one solitary word. "Why?" he said facing all of the people whom he once considered friends. He then went back to his seat and sat with his head bowed. Then the judge declared his verdict.

"After carefully examining all the evidence and arguments presented, the court deems Ash guilty of murder, damage to property, and Pokémon abuse, since he is not yet of legal age, Mr Ketchum will spend his time in a Child Rehabilitation Center, and will spend the rest of his life in jail since when he turns 18. All of his Pokémon will be confiscated and sent to better trainers. He himself is forbidden from even touching a Pokémon for the remainder of his life". He then looked up at all the people present and announced "Court is adjourned".

*Same afternoon, Viridian Police Station*

Ash was lying in his temporary cell, waiting to be sent to the rehabilitation center. Then, suddenly he heard a mental voice "Ash are you alright?" said someone, sounding a lot like Brock. But how could that be possible? "Ash can you hear me?" the voice said again. Finally, Ash decided to answer. "Who are you?" he questioned. The voice paused for a moment, then answered, "It's me, Brock".

Ash felt both relieved and angry at the same time. "What the hell was that in court, Brock?" Ash shouted, not caring when the guard swept a lazy eye over him. "Ash I'll explain later, right now just know that I was forced, and trust me. We're breaking you out. Now we can make the guards fall asleep for a few minutes. We need you to come out of your cell – the locks will be open – get your pokeballs and come out. Do you understand?"

Ash spoke after a pause "Ok I guess but who's we?" "I'll tell you later. Right now get ready" the voice said. Then the eyes of every single guard in the police station got blank, and they all slumped on the floor seemingly asleep. After that, the lock of his cell flew open and his gate went open.

"How is that possible? Doesn't matter now, I need to leave" said Ash, more to himself than anyone else. He then freed Pikachu who was more than delighted to meet him, and caressed his face with licks. "Yes Pikachu, I missed you too, but now we need to leave" said Ash, grabbing the pokeballs he had with him when they captured him, which consisted of his sinnoh team. He then made his way to the outside of the Police Station and started running. He had barely taken a few steps when he vanished.

*Same time, Oak Pokémon Reserve*

Brock was taken aback as Ash suddenly materialised in the clearing and fell to the ground. Ash looked up from where he had landed mere seconds ago. The first person he saw was Brock looking apologetically at him. Next to him, stood Mewtwo in all his might with a serene looking Scott. What surprised him most was that instead of the usual happy go lucky guy Scott was, right now he had a dead serious expression.

"You better start speaking quick Brock. Why did you betray me at the trial? I wasn't expecting this from you. And what about Misty or May or Max? No one said anything! And where is Dawn, I didn't see her at the trial?" Ash said in a single breath, as Mewtwo looked at him amused.

"Well" Brock said with downcast eyes, then continued. "These people, the ones who framed you, kidnapped my brother Forrest and said they were going to kill him if I didn't speak against you in the trial. I heard just after the trial that Forrest had been left at their doorstep, bruised but not harmed much. His recent memories seem to have been removed by a psychic type though"

"Oh I'm sorry Brock. I knew you couldn't betray me. But what about the others." Ash said as he patted Pikachu's head and got a "chaa" in return. "Well, Misty said she had been offered a place in the Kanto elite four if she spoke against you. Gary, I think got official recognition as a Pokémon Professor like his grandpa, and he also convinced Professor Oak. May from what she said, got a huge amount of money, just to keep her mouth shut".

"Oh" Ash said as tears came into his eyes "But what about Dawn" he asked. Brock looked down once again. "She was supposed to meet me few days ago. But she never showed up. Mrs. Berlitz said she had left already. Now I'm worried because if those people were willing to kidnap my brother just so I would speak against you in court, what would they have done to Dawn"?

Ash's gaze fell immediately. Brock had suffered because of him, and from what he knew, Dawn was suffering too. He looked up a little while later, eyes glowing a fierce shade of blue. "I promise all of them will pay one day. Everyone who hurt you, everyone who betrayed me, they all will". He then looked up at Mewtwo, his eyes returning to a normal colour, and spoke up. "What about you? Why are you here?"

Mewtwo answered with a grim voice, or more like sent his voice directly to their heads via telepathy. "I saw you on the news and came as soon as I could. I know you would never do such a thing. I wanted to directly teleport you here, but the police had many powerful psychic types of their own. The most I could do was broadcast Brock to your head without them noticing, and teleport you when you were out of their range"

"I thank you Mewtwo. But do any of you have any idea who were those people who framed me" Ash asked, his brow twisting. "That's why I'm here" said Scott, speaking for the first time in the conversation. "But I think it will be better if we got your friend back first. I'm worried that these people might try to harm her". "Yes, but how?" Ash had been thinking the same thing but hadn't been able to come up with an idea.

"Well I might be able to help you with that" said Mewtwo, "Brock told me you had quite a strong bond with Dawn. Maybe we could amplify that bond and use your memories of her to locate her. It's a long shot, but well, what is the harm in trying"?

"Yes, let's give it a shot" Ash said as he closed his eyes and concentrated on his memories of Dawn, at the same time, subconsciously allowing Mewtwo access to his mind. "I see her, she seems to be held up somewhere near the Indigo Plateau, I can teleport her here. Give me a moment". Mewtwo said, raising his hand as they glowed with a purple light. Then Dawn appeared out of nowhere and fell, just as Pikachu jumped clear, on top of Ash!

"What? Where am I? Brock, how did I get here? What about Ash?" she immediately said and paused as she heard a grunt from below her. "I think she had been kept in an unconscious state by a psychic Pokémon for the past few days. I can see traces of it in her memory." Mewtwo said as Dawn looked at him.

"Dawn, what is the last thing you remember"? Brock asked. Dawn thought a little then replied well I remember talking to you and then heading out of Twinleaf town the same day. And then waking up right now" Dawn said and heard a muffled voice. "Dawn, mind getting off me. I'm having trouble breathing" Ash said from underneath her.

"Oh sorry Ash. Wait, ASH!" she shouted and hugged him. Pikachu sniggered at the side-lines until a brown and yellow blur burst out of her pokeball and tackled him. Buneary then proceeded to clean Pikachu from top to bottom as Dawn continued. "Ash, last I saw you, you were in custody. What happened, I know you could never do such a thing" she paused as Ash finally calmed her down.

Ash and Brock then proceeded to give her the short version of what had happened till now – from the trial to the rescue. Dawn then said after a pause, "Those brats, I'm going to kill them if I see them".

"You can wait till I'm done with them. If there is some part of them that is left" Ash said with steely determination in his eyes. "For now, Scott you were going to tell us something about who these people were". "Yes" Scott replied and cleared his throat, then began.

"You see, I was wondering why you were able to win the battle frontier when even many of the league champions couldn't. And I found out why. I looked at many of your final league battles, especially the Hoenn and Sinnoh leagues. I saw that many of your Pokémon looked as if they were under the effect of some drug. After looking at the symptoms, I found it was the same drug that many gym leaders used to keep their teams on the same level so that a beginner does not have to face a high level Pokémon."

Ash looked at Brock who nodded, then asked Scott. "You mean they purposefully made my Pokémon weaker in the league final matches. But why? Why me?" Scott looked down, then continued.

"You know that before the Pokémon league came into being, the Aura Guardians were the keepers of peace. However, they were replaced and eventually most died. Or I should say killed by the league". All of their eyes widened at this as Scott continued. "The Pokémon League is afraid that if an Aura guardian gets a position of power in the league, the Aura Guardians would resurface and replace the league".

"But then there's the question of why specifically you. Well as you know your father Red Ketchum was the Kanto Champion". Ash nodded as Brock and dawn looked at him wide eyed and Scott continued. "Your father like yourself, was a powerful Aura Guardian. When the League came to know this, they killed your father and made it seem like an accident".

"They knew that like your father, you too will have extraordinary power and will walk in your father's footsteps. You too shall one day become a Champion. But they didn't want this so they had to interfere. They even had to send the League owned Legendaries to beat you in sinnoh. Yes, the Darkrai and Latios you faced in Sinnoh belongs to the Pokémon league, along with some other Legendaries".

"But since you beat both of them, they were worried and decided to end you before you became too much of a risk. That is why they sent someone to break you. The Pokémon league is a very corrupt organisation. They are the reason you never won a league. They are the reason your mother is dead." Scott finished as a silence spread over the area. A single tear fell from Ash's eyes and then he looked up. Whoever saw his face got a single thought in his mind. Someone was going to die. Gone was the calm and friendly smile. What lay there was rage. Pure rage. Then a large shadow passed overhead and a big brown blur tackled Ash to the ground.

Ash lay beneath some large kind of bird and it was nuzzling him. As he looked up, he saw one of his first and most loyal Pokémon. Pidgeot was back. After some time in which Ash had calmed Pidgeot and apologised for not coming to get her. The group silently thought about what they should do next. After a while, Scott spoke up.

"Well the only one who has enough power to change most of the Leagues working would be the Pokémon Master himself. But you cannot go collecting badges and fighting in leagues. So I have an idea. You see every ten years there is a sort of wildcard tournament – The Champions' League - where the most powerful trainers including champions, the Elite four of various regions, Frontier Brains and powerful Pokémon trainers compete to get a direct battle with the Pokémon Master. The winner of that is the new Pokémon master. The last one was held six years ago. Almost when you started your journey".

"Most of the time, it is one of the champions winning this tournament but nothing is set in stone. I can nominate two people for the tournament. If you want I can get you in but you will have to win it on your own accord. You think you are up for it?"

Ash thought about it for a while, then replied "Yes, if this is the only way. I will win this and become the Pokémon master. I will prove my innocence no matter how long it takes". His eyes narrowed as he spoke the last words. "And I will take my revenge and punish them for harming my friends".

Dawn placed a hand on his shoulder and said. "And I will too enter it. Scott you WILL nominate me too. And I will become a lot stronger for it". Ash looked for a moment in her eyes, then nodded. Then he looked at Brock and spoke up. "Brock do you know what happened to my Pokémon?"

Brock looked down and said. "Most of them had already been relocated till the time I reached professor Oak's Lab. I got all those I could but I'm afraid it's not a lot" He the silently went to his bag and brought out a belt with six Pokémon in it. Ash took it and released all the Pokémon. He then released the ones he had with him as Pikachu started to talk to all of them at once.

There was his most loyal Pikachu, next to him stood Pidgeot talking to Swellow and Staraptor. Then there was his Infernape who stood with Sceptile and Buizel at the corner of the group. Torterra stood along with Donphan, and Snorlax who was still half lying down. Heracross was sitting with Bulbasaur while Gible was running around.

He coughed slightly and got all their attention and spoke. "Ok guys, so here's the thing. You know how you all have tried real hard but never won a league. Well, now we know why. The Pokémon League, they have been drugging you. But not anymore. We will find a way to beat the league. Most of my friends have betrayed me. Except you, all my other Pokémon have been taken. But not everything is lost. We still have one last chance. We are going to train real hard. Are you all ready for some real hard training?"

All of his Pokémon shouted their respective cries in affirmation. He then thanked them all and returned all except Pikachu, who took his usual place on Ash's shoulder. With two belts dangling criss-cross on his waist and twelve pokeballs lined on his belt, Ash felt confident. He could do this. Suddenly sirens wailed all around them and it seemed the whole forest had come alive and one of the officer Jenny's spoke on a megaphone "Ash Ketchum, you have been surrounded. There is no use running. Give yourself up. There is no need to fight".

Ash felt a surge of hatred as he heard those words. Even Brock controlled his urge to go and ask her on a date. Ash then looked at Mewtwo and spoke "Take Scott back to the Battle Frontier. Then teleport us to Alto mare. It is currently the safest place for us". Mewtwo nodded but then Dawn spoke up "Wait if I have been missing for many days, my mother would be worried. I have to go say farewell to her before I leave".

"I think that would be right. I already said goodbye to my family after I met Scott after the trial and took all of my Pokémon" Brock agreed with her. Thinking a little, Ash spoke up. "Ok, take Scott and when you can, teleport us to Sinnoh, in Twinleaf Town.

Mewtwo nodded and then vanished with Scott just as a dozen officer policemen along with three Officer Jenny burst into the clearing. "Raise your hands and surrender. Fighting would be futile. One of them apparently the leader spoke up. She was promptly knocked over by a water blast from behind her and a Squirtle wearing triangular shades stepped up from the bushes. "Squirt", he shouted again and ran over to Ash as Ash recognised his old team mate. He stood in front of Ash as Pikachu joined him and roared a challenge to the policemen.

His challenge was duly answered as six Growlithe, two Luxray, four Houndoom and three Arcanine materialised. They were about to pounce when the grass and trees around them suddenly caught fire and a loud roar tore through the clearing. Everybody looked skyward as a faraway speck quickly became bigger and bigger. With another roar Charizard announced his presence.

Like a huge mountain he entered and stood in front of Ash. This, however, did not intimidate the canines present and they pounced. And hit air.

*Same time, Berlitz household, sinnoh region*

Johanna Berlitz was sitting in the living room watching TV as the young news anchor was speaking about the escaped convict Ash Ketchum. Suddenly there was a flash and Ash, Dawn and Brock materialised in the room along with Mewtwo and their other Pokémon, making the living room extremely crowded. Ash took the pokeballs from Charizard and Squirtle and returned them after thanking them and getting many licks and nuzzles in return. He then turned to see Dawn getting a crushing hug from her mother and Brock going to the other room to give Johanna and Dawn some personal space. He also followed Brock alongside Mewtwo.

Dawn entered their room after a whole hour looking visibly shaken and holding a pokeball. "So how did it go?" asked Brock seeing her expression. "Well I convinced her to let me leave but only after a long argument. "And who is that" said Ash gesturing to the pokeball in her hand. "Glameow. Mom's Glameow. She entrusted her to me seeing what I'm about to do".

"Well, it seems everything is done. Mewtwo, off we go" Ash said and all of them vanished.

A/N: And here it is. The second chapter to the Return of The Betrayed Champion. It went a longer than expected but I had to get this done. So a lot of information about why the league is after Ash, a trial and breaking out of jail. Also we come to know the Pokémon Ash has. If I missed one of your favourites, be sure to let me know. The real awesomeness starts next chapter as Ash starts training and acquiring new Pokémon. If you want Ash to have some Pokémon leave them in the comments. Now to answer some reviews.

Thor94: Thanks for the review and yes Ash will get a few legendaries but not Giratina. That would be overdoing it a bit. Giratina will be in Tobias' final team and Ash's Pokémon will beat him to a pulp. Also Ash will have a Darkrai. Tobias' one.

Espeon44: I hadn't planned on it but it will make for a good ending. So yes they will at the end.

Stars90: Drapion is a good Pokémon. I haven't really used it much but if more people say, I'll sure add it. Also thanks for the review.

Cutesaralisa: Geez, calm down. Arresting Tobias and Goodshow seems like letting them of easy. Don't worry Ash will have his revenge.*wicked smile*

Guest1:*the one who reviewed in Spanish* thanks for the praise. I had to use Google translate but, well no need to worry. Anyways, thanks.

Guest2: thanks for your suggestions. I can't say about Manaphy or jirachi but rest assured May and Max will get their share. About name change, sorry but you can't expect Ash to roam around with the same name when most of the people in the regions think of him as an animal who killed his mother. But before taking his revenge, they will sure know who it is. As for the consequences of the traitors actions. Well let's say that some will end up in reverse world, others will be affected by a permanent dark void, getting nightmares every night etc etc. I won't ruin all the fun.

KakeruPB: Hope you got your answers in this chapter. They are afraid of him being the son of champion is because they know he will have the same talent like his father. Also they know he is an Aura Guardian because his father was one too.

Pearlshipper4evr, MCRasengan: Thanks!

So that was all. See you guys next chapter. And thanks for the reviews.