"Pallet Town is known as the place where the former champion of Alola and the winner of the World Coronation Tournament currently resides." A reporter could be seen walking towards the small town alongside a cameraman. "He still lives with his mother, however, that is all because he does not need to settle down as he is always traveling."

"The former champion, Ash Ketchum is said to come at any moment now! After he completely swept through the newly opened Pokemon Contest in Galar, the public has been theorizing on what he would be doing next!"

"Would he do a rerun of a past region's league or would he continue with his winning streak in the Pokemon Contests?" The reporter said as she noticed that an iconic figure with his iconic yet changing hat, however, a distinctive figure was missing on his shoulder.

And yet the reporter didn't think much about it, after all, it wasn't the first time nor will it be the last time his Pikachu wasn't by his side. "There he is! As the first reporters to come we can get a live interview with the boy who is on a journey to become a Pokemon Master!"

They caught up to him as she put the microphone in front of him to then ask. "Mr. Ketchum! We would like to know where your next adventure would be!"

Before Ash could respond to it, many more reporters alongside a helicopter and a few Pokemon flying rushed towards his direction as they wanted him to answer their questions.

"Sir! Tell us, what do you think about the new Pokemon Contest in Galar?! How was it?!"

"Mr. Ketchum we would like to know if the rumors about you taking in a newbie trainer as yo-?!"

"Are you in any relationship?!"

"Do you have a statement about the Kalos Showcase inci-"

"What is your current relationship wi-"

"Sir! Have you ever thought of quitting?!"

That last question affected Ash a bit as he could feel himself recoil at the question, but he smiled gently. "To tell you honestly, the new region that opened its borders, Paldea was it? Is very interesting."

"And no, I am currently single, nor am I thinking of quitting!" He responded. He knew that he was lying with the last question, but it didn't matter, the media would just eat up whatever he said.

"Please another question! We would like t-"

"Over here! We want to know what happened betwe-"

"What about your actions having consequences on th-"

He sighed as he let out one of his pokemon. "Hatterene, please get me out of here." His Pokemon proceeded to use Psychic as it made every single reporter stop in their tracks. Ash and Hatterene made their way through the hoard of reporters.

He got to his mom's house as he knocked.

There was no response.

He took out a spare key he had as he made his way into the house. Once he got inside all he said was. "I'm home."

Still no response.

He sighed, as he didn't expect anyone to respond, he wasn't truly alone in his house, he didn't know why he even attempted to say anything, he didn't want to see her right now, or anytime soon.

He then took out the Ribbon Cup as he put it on a shelf, where many more cups of leagues and grand festivals could be seen piling up, alongside them were various diplomas.

Even as he looked at the amount of achievements he obtained, he didn't feel anything, to him, it was as if the same day had gone by.

He sighed as he sat on the couch.

He was tired, he no longer got the thrill when he went into a new adventure, as much as he wanted to quit he was stubborn enough to continue on, yet this time it felt like there was no way for him to go into another adventure, he had gone to many new regions and had done so much there.

From battling evil organizations, to participating in leagues, contests, meeting legendaries again, to even dying. It became boring to him, he felt like he had done everything in his life.

Hell, Team Rocket even stopped going after him, they ended up settling down as they had made enough money from Jessie's contest participations and when they as food stands during the leagues.

It was still weird for him to go up against Jessie from time to time in Contests, but it usually ended with them talking about how life was going.

His friends however have yet to move on with their dreams, they either accomplished them or are still pursuing them.

Some were... strained relationships, while others became healthy rivalries, May, Dawn and Iris were easily the best rivals he has had ever since he decided to try going for a rerun on the regions, be it as a trainer or as a coordinator.

Paul had decided to take on Double Battles since it was more to his taste. To this day their battle in the finals of a tournament in Kalos was dubbed "The Jewel in the Crown".

For the past few years he would always go solo, he had survival skills now, it came from experience after all. He learned how to cook after almost burning down his house.

Truthfully, he did miss going in a group with either people he knew or people he became acquaintanced with.

Not just that, when was the last time he truly had a genuine conversation in his travels?

All he met were his fans, and usually the trainers around him, just would be too scared to challenge him. Some tournaments would end up with him winning without even battling or performing.

Unlike the other champions, people dreaded going up against him, and that made him not like battling anymore, as each time he ended up battling it ended with him winning by default or a complete sweep.

This affected his relationship with some of his pokemon, most liked to battle, and he would just try to find a way to make them have even the slightest action, yet it was impossible. Pikachu hadn't gone up against an opponent for the whole journey through Galar, after which they ended up having a rough argument which ended with indifference between them.

At that point it pained him to do this, but ever since what happened he went traveling without his former best friend.

Still, that didn't mean they hated each other, he knew that if they ever got on the same page in battling they would be back as if nothing happened, it would be like old times.

But that hope turned into dust once he realized that the problem wasn't them, but that there was no one able to give them both a challenge.

And so, the same ended up happening with a few other of his pokemon, he'd still visit and treat them well, but they wouldn't really talk much.

And right now, he was planning to go to Paldea.

But it wouldn't be for anything related to tournaments or contests if they even had that, he would go there...

To get a normal job.

Paldea had recently opened its borders to the rest of the world, and various trainers went there to try their luck, not realizing that there was no tournament, but instead, anyone with enough skill could become a champion.

To them, being a champion wasn't everything, instead, they wished for people to find their own treasure by discovering themselves and the region.

Uva and Naranja Academy were the schools that planned how to, they planned for their students to discover what their treasure was through a Treasure Hunt.

Most trainers would end up enrolling into these two academies to become part of the Treasure Hunt, it didn't matter the age nor place of origin, after all, this was more of a university than an actual school.

And by going to Paldea, he wouldn't enroll there, but rather find his own treasure independently by himself.

It was a chance for him to feel what it was to be seen as a normal person again, he now knew why Aria would disguise herself so many times when in public, and it should have been obvious, yet when he met the champions they didn't disguise themselves.

He would go to Paldea without any of his Pokemon, so that he couldn't be linked to being a trainer, he'd find a normal job and live a normal life, that way he could just take a break from all the burnout.

And then, he hoped to be back to normal and continue with his journey to becoming a Pokemon Master.

He sighed as he marched towards the door again, he decided to go to Oak's lab first to talk to him and leave his pokemon there.

Various sounds could be heard from upstairs as a figure walked down the stairs.

He saw his mother standing there, not saying a word.

He gripped the handle of the door tightly as he gritted his teeth.

He didn't say a word as he left the place.

He knocked at the door to Professor Oak's Lab. Waiting for a bit he was met with Mr. Mime at the door as he opened it. "Hey there Mimey, is Professor Oak in there?" Asked Ash, he was met with content as Mimey then signaled for him to come in.

Ash made his way into the lab as he saw Oak and Tracey talk as they were sitting on a table with documents on it.

The sounds of Mimey and Ash walking made them both look at the pair as Oak then stood up from his sit to go towards our protagonist. "Ash! It is good to see you again, tell me are you here to leave your pokemon?" Asked the old man.

In response Ash nodded as he laid all six of his pokeballs, Oak frowned as he realized what he was doing. "Ash, are you truly thinking about going to Paldea without pokemon?"

Tracey and Mimey looked worried as they saw both of them looking very seriously at one another. "I am going to go to Paldea with no pokemon, as I wish to not get into anything related to pokemon." Responded Ash.

Oak sighed as he then turned to Tracey. "Tracey, could you bring the six of the pokeballs to where Ash's other ones are? I would like to talk for a minute with Ash." Requested Oak as Tracey then went to do what Professor Oak asked him to do.

The professor looked back at Ash, this time with a worried look. "Ash, just know that you can ask me to transfer any of the pokemon you want whenever you call, but know that there are a few rules as to which pokemon you can bring to Paldea." He explained.

"You won't have to worry much, I already know about it." Ash said as he waved. Oak then asked another question. "Will you be going to say goodbye to your pokemon?"

Silence reigned as Ash remained silent. He then said, "No, not this time, the plane to Paldea is going to go in a few hours and I want to get there as soon as possible." He then went towards the door to leave.

But before he could leave, Oak asked one last thing. "Then... can you atleast brin-" He was cut short as Ash bluntly responded. "Why should I? I already said that I had no thoughts about bringing any pokemon with me."

Oak sighed again. "Ash, this isn't about that, I know that you could have gone to the past, you could have gone on a trip to go for Celebi or even Dialga, just so that you could go back in time, and yet you didn't."

Ash tried to refute as he then replied. "But that is because I don't want them to meddle with my problems, I don't want them to worry or do something that they don't want to, time is a very delicate thing, and I am scared of what could happen if I were to go back."

The professor looked at him for a bit, just to say. "Then you should take her with you, I think this is the best time to finally accept the events that happened, you can't avoid it, and I can tell that you're finally moving on."

Ash clenched his fists, but he sighed reluctantly. "Fine, I'll bring her with me, I'll go back to mom's house, I promise I will." He said as he finally left.

Oak could not but look at the door with sadness.

He saw himself in front of the door yet again, this time he took a deep breath as he took out the key again to go inside the house one more time.

When he did finally open the door he simply looked around to see if she was anywhere, as he took a step into the house he made his way into the living room.

He saw his mother sitting on a table in the living room, as he made himself present his mother looked at him without saying a word.

A short moment without any words being exchanged ensued.

Ash then took a chair as he then sat on it, Delia looked at him without saying anything. Ash looked at her, he closed his eyes and said...

"Zoroark, you can stop with the illusion."

it took a second, but as the now revealed pokemon finally turned back to its real form. The Illusion Fox looked saddened at her trainer.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm not mad at you." Reassured the boy. He looked down as he tried to find his words.

How long had it been since he finally talked to his Zoroark?

He left her at his house after he had captured her in a rerun of the Unova league, and then took her with him when he went to try as a Coordinator in the region after they had created a circuit for Pokemon Contests.

After that he let her into his house, and that's where he had left her for the following years.

Of course, he always made sure that she had enough food and had stuff she needed while he was gone, he even asked Oak to check her whenever he made a call for him.

Yet he never tried to directly talk to the Zoroark.

He sighed, he was truly a terrible trainer.

"I want you to come with me to Paldea." Where the words that came out of his mouth. The Zoroark continued to stay silent as she listened to her trainer closely. "I've... realized that the way I have been treating you hasn't been the way an actual trainer should be treating their pokemon, and I want to correct that." He admitted.

"So, I want to say sorry for leaving you at my house and not even talking to you every time I visited." He finished while looking down in shame.

He expected to see the pokemon simply nod but with a bit of animosity or simply ignore him, but instead he was met with a hug from the Zoroark.

The soft fur it had wrapped around Ash's neck as he hugged the pokemon back.

It was warm.

Warm as the hugs his mother used to give him.

He could feel a few tears escape as they slid down his face. It felt good to finally truly connect with a pokemon once again.

He was glad to have her by his side, even after he had ignored her for so many years.

Once he finally recovered he let go of the hug, he saw that his pokemon was smiling, which prompted him to smile back.

"I think I am ready to go to that place." He said.

The grassy field that Ash and his Zoroark were walking on was near Pallet Town, but not far enough to really delve into the routes or forests.

They stopped on their tracks as they finally got to their destination, a lonely grave could be found as Ash then sat down on the ground.

It took a moment until he finally decided to talk. "Hello... mom... it has been a while hasn't it?"

"..."

"I'm sorry it took me this long to finally visit you..."

"..."

"I know you'd understand that I couldn't come because... I knew you wouldn't want me to quit my dream..."

"..."

"Hey..."

"..."

"I want to say that... I miss you mom..."

"..."

"I miss when I would always come home just to get hugged by you..."

"..."

"I miss when you'd always wake me early whenever I didn't wake up..."

"..."

"I truly miss you mom, I love you so much..."

"..."

"I don't know what you'd think of your son in this state, or what I've done after you've died..."

"..."

"I know you wouldn't want me to feel guilt... but how couldn't I? It was because of me that you had to die."

"..."

"I'm heading to Paldea, I just want to tell you that... your son loves you, and that he truly misses you..."

"..."

Ash remained in that place for a few minutes, the only sound that could be heard was the gust of wind that continued to blow. He didn't cry, he wouldn't cry more than he already did when he found out his mom had died.

He knew that his mother would want him to still pursue his dreams, and he had to make her proud.

He finally stood up, with a hand on the brim of his hat, to then put it on the tombstone, his black hair swayed as the winds continued to blow.

On that day, his past self also died, and right now, all that was left was Ash Ketchum, the "Retired Champion".

Gone was his former self as a Trainer, as a Coordinator, as a Champion, as anything that was related to his past careers.

He finally left the place as his Zoroark followed him.

He made his way to the airport, ready to finally go to Paldea. He had luggage with him, two small cases. On his belt was a single pokeball. He currently wore clothing that he had never worn before, just so that no one could recognize him.

He had long gray pants alongside a gray jacket. He also had a black coat with the inside being of the color red. He got a few looks from people passing by, unsure if they recognized him, or if his clothing choice was odd.

Hoping that this was enough, he entered the plane as he had bought an economy seat. Once he sat down he looked through the window, awaiting to finally leave.

Then he started to think.

Wasn't he forgetting something?

Well, if he had forgotten it, then it must have meant that it wasn't important...

...

Fuck

He forgot to remove the Psychic on the reporters

...

Oh who cares, that's Kanto's problem now.

(A/N)

And that is the first chapter of this new fic I finally published.

Before anything, I will say, no I have no plans on doing any ships.

So to anyone who has read my other story related to DxD, no I am not putting it on hiatus, I wrote this as a way to take a small break from writing an almost 15k chapter for that fic.

And unlike that fic, the chapters for this one are going to be around 2k to 5k. This is more of a side project that I will update from time to time.

As for what aspect of the MC I removed/amplified, that would be Ash's battle spirit.

For those who don't know, I have ideas for various fics with the main gimmick being the characters in a situation where I remove or amplify one trait of theirs.

And for the next chapter I will be talking about scrapped content for the previous chapter.

I'll be honest if anything you can think that Ash currently has Wriothesley's outfit from Genshin Impact, or at least something similar, it def does not fit him at all, hence why I chose it.

The cover that I used is from Mr. Villain's Day Off, a really funny Slice of Life manga that I recommend. I'll be using a few of the chapters from there as a base for a few of mine, though I will try to give it my own spin.

And I think that is all, I'll see y'all next update.