THE BLUE SPIRIT

CHAPTER 007 – THE CALL

A small group consisting of one human and three pokemon appeared right in front of Pallet Town's entrance from Route 1. At the sight of his hometown, the young man had a large smile appear on his face. "Ah, it's great to be home again," remarked Ash while spreading out his arms. Breathing in the air before letting it out, he then turned to his starter. "Right, Pikachu?"

"Chaaa!" answered Pikachu happily, mimicking his friend's movements.

Riolu and Mewtwo looked at the settlement ahead of them. It wasn't a large town, but it was a peaceful little community that gave a homey air to it with its modest houses and well groomed landscape. They walked down the path in front of them, passing the professor's lab on the right shortly after and several other houses as they continued on down the path.

"Master…"

"What's up Riolu?" asked Ash as he stopped to look at his newest pokemon since he had stopped walking, making Mewtwo stop as well. "And are you gonna keep calling me that?"

"Yes." Ash let out a sigh at that, which Riolu ignored. "And does your mother know about your ability to use Aura?" asked the aura canine. He had been thinking about that for a while and wanted to know the answer to it.

Ash glanced at Mewtwo who showed some interest in his answer before looking at Riolu again. "Yeah, she does. Doesn't know about the aura training I did at the Kingdom of Rota though," he said, and seeing the expression on Riolu's face, he explained further. "I didn't get a chance to tell her, and I'm not sure if I should. I don't want her to worry too much. If she knew even ten percent of the stuff I've done in my life, she'd never let me leave the house," he said with a small chuckle.

"Pika pika," agreed Pikachu as he crossed his arms and nodded.

"I see," replied Riolu, glancing at Mewtwo who didn't say anything about it. "Very well. Let's carry on Master."

They walked on, traveling some distance as they passed other houses and small businesses along the path with nobody around to see them surprisingly. Before long, they found themselves in front of Ash's home. The house they stopped in front of was a simple two story white house, but Ash loved everything about it. He walked up the front porch steps of the house with Riolu and Mewtwo right behind him and rang the door bell.

The door opened almost immediately and Ash was quickly pulled inside and crushed in a hug given by his loving mother, Delia Ketchum. "Oh, my baby is back home! Oh, how I missed you my little baby!" cried Delia, while smothering her son in her hug, preventing him from breathing properly. Pikachu had jumped down onto the ground at the last second to escape the crushing hug that took place and sniggered at his friend's predicament. Riolu and Mewtwo both sported stunned expressions on their faces, not expecting that or how quickly the woman moved.

"Mom…can't….breathe…Pikachu...tell…pokémon…love…them…" Ash said with great difficulty in between gasping for air. When he was finally, although reluctantly, let go the raven haired trainer took heaving breaths, trying to get air back into his lungs.

His mom giggled while waving away his outrageous behavior. "Oh stop acting like a drama queen! Oh, and who are your friends?" inquired Delia as she spotted two bipedal pokemon looking at her with curious looks while behind her son.

"This is Riolu," said Ash after catching his breath again, pointing to the aura pokémon. "And this is Mewtwo," he added, moving his hand to point at the legendary pokemon. "They're my new friends. We dropped by to visit before we head out again."

"Oh, you're gonna leave again so soon?" asked Delia with sadness coating her words.

Ash let a small smile form on his face. "Yeah, we can't stay long. Sorry Mom but there's some things I need to take care of," he said. Right when he finished speaking, his stomach made one of his infamous growls, which made the group stare at him. Ash sweat dropped over their stares while chuckling weakly and rubbing the back of his head.

Delia smiled a little. "Well, at least you haven't changed much. Stay for some food and then you can go. Can't let you leave on an empty stomach, now can I?" she asked rhetorically and her son smiled. "Come on, and you two as well. Any friend or pokémon of Ash's is welcome here anytime. Give me a few minutes and Mimey and I will have breakfast ready." She moved inside and the rest followed, saying hello to the Mr. Mime who lived with Ash's mom, taking care of most of the chores around the house and almost always would prevent others from doing them.

Once breakfast was made, everyone gathered around the dining table and ate the delicious food consisting of scrambled eggs, crisp bacon and fluffy pancakes that Delia cooked, commenting on how great it tasted. She was a little shocked to hear Riolu and Mewtwo speak, even if it was with telepathy, but quickly got over it. It wasn't the first time she was around such pokemon and probably wouldn't be the last. "So, what have you been up to these past couple of months? I thought you would've stayed home for a bit. Especially after that party with everyone here," asked Delia after they spoke about a few other things.

"That party was fun and it was good seeing everyone again," commented Ash with a large smile, thinking of his friends and how they all came to visit him and hang out together. His mind started drifting towards other things that he was thinking about recently before forcing himself to not do so and answered his mother's questions. "Well, you know me. Always looking towards my next great adventure!" he said with a chuckle and she chuckled too with Riolu and Pikachu smiling while Mewtwo remained stoic. "Anyway, I went to visit the Kingdom of Rota again," started Ash while helping himself to another piece of toast. "Got to learn some cool stuff for a couple weeks there. Then I went to train at Mount Silver where I ran into Mewtwo and Riolu and we decided to travel together."

Delia was surprised over what she heard. "Kingdom of Rota and then Mount Silver? You've been busy…wait, is that why you went to visit Professor Oak about? To get permission to go to the mountain?" she asked and he nodded since his mouth was full of food and couldn't talk. "Well, I'm surprised you came back so early. I would've thought you'd stay there for a long time. And wasn't it too dangerous there? Wasn't it too cold?" questioned Delia, worry evident on her face.

Swallowing his food, Ash spoke after. "It wasn't too bad Mom. The league had a cabin there that I used for my training. It did get cold but we were able to get used to it a bit. And I would've honestly if it wasn't for Mewtwo and Riolu," he said absentmindedly.

"What do you mean?" asked Delia, looking at the two who shared a quick glance with one another and Ash realized he let something slip.

Before Ash could say something, Riolu spoke up. "It's because when we met, we told him of another training area that he might like and it's not as harsh as Mount Silver but still has its benefits."

"Oh, is that so? So where is this special training place?" she asked, intrigued that something had caught her son's attention so much that he would leave Mount Silver after finally being able to go there.

Ash looked nervous while Riolu thought how best to answer that and wondered if they should be saying anything of the sort. But before either of them could say anything more, Mewtwo decided to cut in. "It's a secret area that only those with a special invitation can go and train at," answered the psychic feline.

"Secret area? Special invitation?" repeated Delia slowly while alternating her gaze at each of them there. "Okay, Ash, what's going on?" she asked her son, sensing something that was off.

Ash looked at Mewtwo, Riolu and Pikachu before letting out a sigh and shifted his gaze to Delia. "Mom, I really can't say much since it's supposed to be a secret area," he started, going with what the legendary was saying. "But I can say is that it really is one of the best training spots for a trainer and I have to go. And, I'm gonna be gone for a long time," he told her with a serious gaze.

Delia looked into her son's eyes and could tell that he was telling the truth. Even though she had a feeling that he wasn't saying everything. After a few more seconds, she let out a sigh. "Alright Ash, I believe you. I just hope you know what you're doing. How long are you going away for?" she asked him.

He looked at his companions for a quick moment before facing her again. "It's…gonna be a while Mom."

"How long?" repeated Delia with a tone of worry.

Ash let out a sigh. "At least three years."

Silence filled the small dining area in the Ketchum residence as Delia took in those words and it lasted for a good while with everyone thinking a million things. Until she broke the silence with a barely controlled tone of voice. "Well, it might be longer than usual but I'm sure you'll be alright and I'll be hearing from you regularly. But if anything…"

"No Mom," interrupted Ash, making her go silent. "I won't be able to call you once I get to the training spot."

"What?! WHY NOT?!" she yelled out, unable to control herself anymore.

"It's…it's because…" Ash didn't know what to say and couldn't continue.

"It's because the training spot doesn't allow it," said Riolu, making everyone look at the canine pokemon. "No one knows about it except for a select few Lady Delia, and whoever is invited, whether they go or not, are not allowed to mention it to anyone. But we're telling you so you'll know but you have to keep it quiet as well. Once they go there, they're cut off from everyone for a long time."

"Why would a training spot for trainers not allow trainers to talk about it?! It sounds fishy to me! I don't care if it's so special, because if that's how things are, then you can't go!" snapped Delia, standing up from her chair and giving her son and his newest companions an expression mixed with anger and sadness. "It's bad enough that you always leave so soon after coming back but now you can't even call me or contact me?! No, I won't allow it! Why would you even want to go to this kind of place that won't let you call their family or friends, huh?! Huh?! I don't like it and you won't go! I don't care if I have to tie you to this house, you're not gonna go no matter…"

"It's to train his Aura," interrupted Mewtwo all of a sudden. His words made Delia go silent at once, her eyes widening and her heart beating quickly. Seeing her quiet for the moment, and ignoring the looks on the other's faces, the psychic feline stood up himself and explained further. "This secret area is only for those who are recognized to be able to use Aura, and is where they go to train their abilities. Your son shows much potential for it and he is old enough to go now. We, Riolu and I, were requested to retrieve him by the masters of that island so he can come to study and train his Aura. It would also be a great place to train his pokemon as well so we came here to get all of his pokemon. The secretiveness of all of this as well as the strict no contact rule is so others won't be able to locate the secret area and so he won't have any distractions as the training will be difficult. But with it, he can learn how to use it and become stronger, along with his pokemon. And also so no one can find the island and try to force the secrets of Aura out of it. Even if they couldn't use it, people don't always listen now do they?" explained Mewtwo. He went quiet and waited for Delia to say something. Ash, Riolu and Pikachu were astounded over him saying all that and stared at the legendary as they slowly understood what he was trying to do.

Delia couldn't believe what she heard from the purple feline. Her heart was beating like mad and her mind was racing with a million different thoughts. She knew he could use it. But she didn't think that he would want to become better at it. Her son, being trained in the ways of Aura? She shook her head after a moment. "How…did they find out he can use Aura?" she asked Mewtwo in barely a whisper.

Instead of him answering, Ash spoke up, deciding to follow along with what Mewtwo was doing. "Remember when I first visited the Kingdom of Rota a few years ago? Well…" Ash quickly explained the tournament he was in and how when he held the old guardian's staff, it revealed how he could use aura and how luckily it was kept secret with only the Queen, her closest advisor and his friends knowing about it. He didn't mention other things since it wasn't needed and didn't want her to become even more sacred than she was now. "And, I was practicing my aura at Mount Silver after learning a bit from Master Riley. That's how they found me," revealed Ash, mixing in some truth behind his explanation. I'm sorry Mom, but please believe us!

Delia didn't move or say anything for a while until she just sat back down and let out a long sigh. "Ash…my little boy actually using aura…I just…wow…" She shook her head a bit, clearing her mind and looked at her son. Locking eyes with him, she spoke. "You might be seventeen years old now…a young adult…but you'll always be my child. I want you to be happy and strong. But I don't know. Is this…is this what you want?" she asked him.

Not moving his eyes off of her, Ash nodded as a small smile spread on his face. "Yeah Mom, it is. This is important. I need to train and become stronger." For all of our sakes…

Delia didn't say anything else for a bit as she thought about what she was just told. Standing up again, she looked at Riolu, at Mewtwo, at Pikachu and then finally at her son. "Ash, I understand. I don't like it, but I understand it and I respect your wish. Just promise me that you'll be alright and that you'll take care of yourself. And there's no way to keep in contact? Just to let me know that you're alright? Just a quick update?" she asked, almost pleading like.

Ash glanced at Mewtwo who shook his head. "Unfortunately we cannot. It is for his safety, the training spot's safety and your own as well. And you can't tell anyone either about it. We only told you as you are his mother, but you can't say a word to anyone no matter what because it will cause problems for everyone involved. If anyone asks about his whereabouts, just tell them he went into heavy training with his pokemon. Nothing regarding his aura training," informed the psychic.

Delia's lips quivered. "Three years…no contact with my baby for three years. And I can't say anything to anyone…" She controlled her tone of voice so she wouldn't sound too depressed. A short while passed in silence that seemed to last forever until Delia took in a long breath and slowly exhaled it out. "Fine. I understand. BUT, if anything bad happens to Ash, anything at all, you will let me know. That is not up for debate," she told him with conviction. Silence for a moment until both Riolu and Mewtwo gave a curt nod in agreement. Delia locked her gaze with her son next. "Same goes for you and promise me that you'll take care of yourself. Got it?"

Ash stood up and hugged her. "I promise Mom."

Delia hugged him back tightly, her eyes watering but kept from crying. "Good." When they separated, she looked at Riolu and Mewtwo. "And you'll watch over my son, right?"

"You don't need to worry about that Lady Delia. I will protect him with my life as we train. I give you my word as an aura user myself," promised Riolu as he stood up and bowed.

Mewtwo nodded before replying back. "I give you my word as the most powerful legendary psychic in the world."

Ash was surprised to hear that from him and Delia let out a shocked gasp as she heard that. She knew that this purple feline was powerful, sensing it somehow. But she didn't know he was a legendary for Mew's sake! Keeping herself composed, she replied back. "T-Thank you…Riolu and Mewtwo. I appreciate it."

"Mom," started Ash, making Delia look at him. "We need to go to Professor Oak's so I can get my pokemon before heading out again. But we also need to get some supplies. Do you think you can help us out with that?"

"Of course sweetie. By the time you come back from the Professor's, I'll have everything ready for you."

"Cool, thanks Mom. C'mon guys, let's go." The four of them left the house and headed towards their destination, the laboratory of the world famous Professor Oak.

Watching her son leave, Delia didn't move at first. She was stuck thinking about everything she just learned and she just couldn't believe it. My son…a true aura user? Like…him? She let out another sigh, one of many she's being doing just today. Please Mew, watch over my Ash… Letting out a sigh, she moved to get some supplies ready for her son with a few tears flowing down her cheeks.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash, Pikachu, Riolu and Mewtwo headed out towards Professor Oak's laboratory. As soon as they got some distance from his house, Ash turned to the psychic feline. "You sure that was alright to say to her?" he asked with worry.

Mewtwo raised an eyebrow over that. "Would you rather I erased her mind or put her under some psychic trance?" he asked with a serious tone.

"No, no, of course not!" shot down Ash quickly, waving his hands in denial in front of him.

"Then, what's the problem?"

"It's just…well, after what Arceus said…I thought we couldn't say anything to anyone. And well, I thought you…well…you know, after what we've been through, I just…"

Mewtwo knew where he was going with this and decided to cut him off. "I know what you're trying to say Ash. I told you this before, I do respect you. The only human I respect. And so, I extended that same respect to your mother. She has done me no wrong and as your mother, I know even without reading her mind that she would've been worried sick at not knowing. This way, she knows why you're leaving for so long, she understands and hopefully it won't cause any more problems for us or her. Also, Arceus said not to mention anything related to the darkness. He didn't say anything about not revealing that we will be training and he did imply that we can use that as an excuse to your family and friends, remember? And your mother already knew that you can use Aura, so why not use that as the excuse?" explained Mewtwo.

Ash couldn't argue with the purple feline since he made some very valid points. "I see. Sorry, I kind of forgot about that. Thank you Mewtwo for thinking about me and my mom. I appreciate it."

The legendary said nothing for a moment until he replied back with two simple words. "You're welcome." No more was said as they continued towards the professor's laboratory.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was another busy day inside the laboratory of the world famous Professor Oak. Several aides of the professor were busy researching different things and a couple were handling the lunch times for the pokemon they held for a few trainers that Professor Oak sponsored.

One particular aide was busy organizing the books inside the library when the doorbell was rung. "Wonder who's that?" thought the aide out loud as he made his way towards the door. He opened the door while speaking. "Hello, and welcome to Professor Oak's lab. How can I…oh, hey Ash, hey Pikachu. Good to see you again!"

"Pi pikachu!" greeted the yellow mouse while waving his small paws.

Grinned at his old friend, Ash assumed he was already working since he was dressed in his lab coat. "Hey Tracy. Long time. How've you been?" replied Ash.

"Good, thanks. Learned a lot and still so much more to learn. So what brings you here?" he asked.

"Cool. I'm here to see Professor Oak and to pick up my pokémon."

"Okay sure, I'll go get him. And who are they?" he asked, moving his gaze to the two other pokemon behind him he just noticed at that moment. For a pokémon watcher and Oak's assistant, he should've noticed them before, but sometimes it seems he was just out of it. "Wait, is that a Riolu? And…"

"Yes and I'll explain to you and the professor at the same time. Sorry but I'm in a bit of a hurry."

"Oh ok, I gotcha. Wait for us in his office."

"Thanks Tracy."

The group stepped inside and walked down the hall with Ash leading the way while Tracey when to get the professor. When they found the professor's main office, they looked around the room as they waited for two to return. It was pretty organized except for some papers spread out on the desk in front of them.

Must have been researching something or analyzing another professor's work, thought Ash as he glanced at some of them and caught some words on it. He wasn't surprised since Professor Oak was one of the most respected and famous pokémon researchers in the whole world and as a result, was always busy.

They heard the door open behind them and turned to see the professor and Tracy step into the room. "Ah, it's good to see you Ash. How've you been my boy?" asked Professor Oak as he greeted Ash with a hug. He treated and cared for him as his own flesh and blood.

"I've been great Professor. I see you're busy as always," commented Ash after they separated, gesturing to the papers on the desk and Oak chuckled. "I have a couple friends to introduce to you. This is Riolu and this is Mewtwo," said Ash.

Oak nodded at Riolu as Ash spoke and when he turned to face Mewtwo, he at first couldn't speak. "Did you say…Mewtwo?" whispered Oak as he stared in wonder at the purple feline.

"Yeah, I did. I should've mentioned that Mewtwo is Mew's brother. He is the only one of his kind and also a powerful psychic type legendary pokémon." Ash didn't mention the cloning part as he felt it wasn't necessary. Mewtwo caught this and appreciated it internally.

"How did you capture him?" asked Tracy, also in awe.

Ash burst out laughing, causing Oak and Tracy to snap their heads to face him. "I didn't capture him. I don't think anyone can capture him. I met up with Mewtwo a while ago and we decided to travel together for a little while." As the two glanced at Mewtwo, the feline nodded.

"Well, I must say, you always seem to run into legendaries and grand adventures. Just please be careful okay?" sighed Oak at last.

"Will do Professor Oak."

"Alright then. So, what brings you back home? I take it you already visited your mother?"

"Yeah, I did. I saw Mom already and wanted to see you for a couple things."

"I see. Well ask away and let's see what I can do for you."

"Thanks. Well, I wanted to pick up my pokémon and to make a group call using your phone since it can do that, if that's okay with you?"

"Is that all?" chuckled Oak. "Okay, let us take care of the first thing. Which pokémon did you want?"

"All of them."

Oak and Tracy stared for a moment and the younger of the two spoke up. "All of them? You know that you can't use all of them in official battles right?"

"Yeah, I know. I just want to take them all with me as I'm going to go into some heavy training and I don't want to constantly transfer them out."

"I see. Well, this is something we can do. Tracy, would you please go get all of his pokémon into their poke balls and bring them here?"

"No problem Professor," replied Tracy and he left the room.

"Okay, you'll be able to take them with you, but you won't be able to enter any official battles or tournaments with them all and it'll be difficult to enter any tournaments with so many with you," explained Oak and Ash nodded. He knew that's how it was going to be. Well, that's how it was going to be if he didn't have his own special island and aura crystal which will allow him to completely bypass those limitations. "Good. Now, did you want to make that group call? You can take care of that while Tracy gets your pokémon ready."

Ash glanced at Riolu and Mewtwo, then faced Oak once more and nodded. The professor set up the phone for a group call for Ash who thanked the professor and asked if he could have some privacy. Getting the hint, Oak nodded and left without a word. Riolu and Mewtwo leaned against the book shelves on opposite sides of the room with their arms crossed. Pikachu was still on Ash's shoulder, but now had excitement building in him. He missed their friends and wanted to see them.

Ash input several phone numbers into the system and was about to hit the dial button when he hesitated. He didn't want to do this but he had no other choice. Gathering his resolve, he pushed the connect button. The system sent out calls to all the dialed numbers. After some moments, several boxes appeared on the screen, each one showing a different person, yet every single one of them had a look of surprise on their face as soon as they noticed who called them.

"Ash!" Several of them called out his name together, causing the raven haired trainer to blush slightly.

"Pikachu!" greeted the electric mouse to the people on the screen, waving frantically and smiling at them. Most of them laughed a little at the pokémon's actions.

"Hey guys! It's been a long time. All good with each of you?" The people he was talking to were his closest friends and he would do anything for them. Of course he would help others whenever he could or whoever he came across who needed help. But for his close friends, he would gladly go to the ends of the world for any one of them. The group of friends he called were Misty, Brock, May, Max, Dawn, Iris, Cilan, Gary, Richie, Serena, Clement and Bonnie.

"We've been good. We've kept in touch with each other," said Brock.

"Yea, unlike some trainer who barely visits anymore," added Misty with some annoyance in her voice that made Ash roll his eyes at her comment, earning some chuckles.

"Yeah, May and I are shopping together right now. You should come with us!" suggested Dawn cheerily.

"You only want me to come with you two so I can hold your bags!" shot Ash, seeing through her attempt to be sneaky.

They all laughed at that before the brunette from Hoenn replied back. "Well yea, but we'd still love to have you with us again!"

Ash smiled at that. "Maybe next time I'll join you two." May and Dawn smiled brightly at that but a few others had their smiles lessen somewhat but no one noticed.

"You should come see my new invention Ash!" spoke up Clement excitedly.

"It's not going to blow up in my face is it?" asked Ash, making Bonnie and Serena laugh out loud while the others shook their heads and chuckled.

"Of course not! What kind of inventor do you take me for?" replied Clemont with an angry look but it was soon wiped from his face when one of his inventions spontaneously exploded behind him.

"Still haven't learned, have you brother?" asked Bonnie as she giggled and several others laughed and some of them commented on that as well.

After a while, Gary thought it was time to move things along and wanted to know something in particular. "So how did training at Mount Silver go Ashy-boy?" asked Gary with a smirk.

Ash had a stunned expression on his face. He hadn't told anyone about his training on Mount Silver. Only Professor Oak knew and he made him promise not to tell anyone. Looks like Gary made him break that promise.

"What?!" yelped Misty, May, Dawn and Serena together at once as their eyes grew wide in shock as they each thought the same thing. Ash trained at Mount Silver?!

"Mount Silver?! It's too cold! How can a kid like you expect to survive training there by yourself?!" asked a bewildered Iris, shivering in her spot as if she could feel the blistering cold herself all of a sudden.

"Now Iris, you know that if the Pokémon League officials didn't believe he could handle it, then they wouldn't allow him," answered Cilan and Brock nodded in agreement as he knew the rules as well. He had a slight suspicion that a certain professor may have vouched for his best friend.

Ash let out a sigh. "Looks like the cat's out of the bag, huh Pikachu?"

"Pika…"

"Well, don't keep us in suspense Ash!" said Richie suddenly.

"Yea, tell us!" agreed Max.

"Tell us before I use one of my brother's inventions on you!" threatened Bonnie as Clemont face palmed.

"They're not meant to be used as weapons Bonnie!" yelled Clemont.

"Alright, alright, just keep his inventions away from me." Ash quickly explained he's been training at Mount Silver, looking for ways to become stronger, while also leaving out certain details. Riolu and Mewtwo would glance towards Ash once in a while, usually because of something the teenager said. They both were relaxing in their positions still, as they figured the talk would probably take some time.

"So that's what you've been up to Ash. We haven't heard from you for a while. We were beginning to think something happened to you," said Serena with a worried tone. Most of the others nodded in agreement.

Rubbing the back of his head nervously, Ash felt guilty for that. "Yea…I'm really sorry about that. So what have you guys been up to? Anything new?" asked the raven haired trainer.

Ash and his friends then discussed what they've been up to; May and Dawn were both on a shopping break from preparing for an upcoming contest that they had entered into with a few other friends, Brock was finishing up some advanced classes to becoming a licensed pokémon doctor, Gary was working on his pokémon researcher's license, Misty had just gone over new plans with her sisters in upgrading their gym, Max was journeying on his own adventure and had captured the Ralts he had befriended years ago, Iris had gone back to visit her hometown and was also researching some dragon pokemon she was thinking about adding into her team, Cilan was at a connoisseur convention, Richie was busy challenging gyms trying to get badges to enter that year's pokémon league competition, Clemont had reprogrammed his Clembot and now it was a butler for him and his sister Bonnie, Bonnie was getting ready to get her first pokémon and trainer's license since she just turned ten years old a couple weeks ago and Serena had just finished competing and winning in a Pokemon Showcase so she was taking a break while back at home.

After finally catching up with everyone, Ash decided it was time to tell them what he called them for. "Guys, I have something else to tell you, something important."

"What is it?" asked Misty, a hint of worry in her voice. She had a feeling that she wasn't going to like what was coming.

May, Dawn and Serena had concerned expressions appear on their faces. Though Iris was worried as well, she along with most of the guys kept their expressions stoic. Brock however, narrowed his already squinty eyes further. He knew Ash was going to say something that he didn't really want to. He knew his best friend well, as they were very close and viewed each other as brothers instead of just friends.

Mewtwo and Riolu glanced at each other. They could sense Ash tensing up and becoming anxious. They nodded over an unspoken agreement; they would help him through if he needed it.

Ash took a deep breath. Well, here goes. "I didn't call just to see how all of you are doing, even though I really enjoyed hearing what you guys have been up to. There's something important that you should know. But first, I know I've been gone for a while and haven't kept in touch these past couple months, for making you guys worry and for that I apologize. And it looks like I'm gonna owe you guys another apology later on…"

"What do you mean by that? What's going on Ash?" asked Brock for everyone, since they were all anxious and worried at what he was hearing.

Ash didn't want to lie but he knew he couldn't tell them the whole truth and so told them what he, Mewtwo and Riolu decided together. "I'm going away for a while," he said bluntly.

"What?!" yelped all the girls together.

"Why are you leaving? Do you need help?" asked Brock while the rest of the guys merely stayed quiet with shocked expressions on their faces.

"It's not for forever and no, I'll be fine. There are some things that I found out about and I need to go figure out some stuff and to take care of some things. I would have asked each of you if you wanted to come join me but I need to do this on my own and I couldn't ask you guys to leave everything for so long anyways."

"What do you mean by 'for so long'?" questioned Richie.

"How long are you going away for?" asked Cilan for everyone since they all wanted clarification.

Ash sighed. He couldn't answer that. Not without letting some things out that he was supposed to keep secret. His mom was told part of it but he couldn't say anything to them. He hated it but knew it was the right course of action. "Let's just say, I won't be competing in tournaments for a while."

If his friends were shocked before, it was nothing compared to how surprised they were now. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. Their friend really was leaving for a long time.

"What?!" yelped Dawn.

"No, you can't leave!" remarked Misty.

"At least don't go alone!" added Serena.

"Yeah, I can be there tomorrow morning!" stated May.

"I'll come too!" said Misty, Dawn and Serena together right after the brunette said that.

"If you give me some time, I can get there in a few days," said Max, doing his best to keep it together over what he just heard from his friend and idol and how he could be gone for a long time.

"You really think you can be on your own for so long? You're still just a kid and you need someone to watch over you! If you really have to go, then I'll come as well so you don't get in over your head!" shot Iris, both angry and sad over what she heard.

"I can be there in two days. Just wait alright?" requested Richie.

Cilan, Brock, Clemont and Gary didn't say anything for they knew that when their friend made up his mind in something, it was almost impossible to change it. They were upset to hear that he would be gone for a long time but also understood him. They didn't like it though and asked if something was up since they wanted to know the reasons behind this sudden announcement. They also wanted to know if there was anything they could help with.

Ash filled up with emotion over what they said and he couldn't help but feel a little happy over how much they cared about him. Even so, he still had to do what he had to do. "Thanks everyone. What you're saying means a lot to me. It really does. But I'm sorry, you can't come with me. The place I'm going, it's not for you guys. It's not for any of you." Some of his friends scowled at the comment, which told Ash that he wasn't explaining things well and hurried to fix it. "I didn't mean it that way. It's just something that is about me, and nobody can help me with it. I need to do this on my own."

The eldest and most mature about these kinds of things, Brock and Cilan understood what he was trying to say and they didn't have anything to comment back about it. Though the two were unhappy about it, they still nodded in agreement. Everyone else was still a little annoyed over what was happening and some where muttering under their breath.

Ash spoke again and they went silent to hear what he was saying. "Look, I know you guys don't like what I'm saying, but this has to be done. I have to do this. I wanted to see and talk to you guys at least one more time before heading out. Also, I'm sorry for not keeping in touch as much as I should have."

His old childhood friend didn't like what he just heard and snapped over it. "Okay, that's it! Enough of this bullshit. Something's up Ashy-boy. You're not like this unless something big is involved. What aren't you telling us? Tell us now!" demanded Gary, his temper rising.

"I can't tell you guys. I told you, this is something that needs to be done. Something that I have to do alone. But there is something I want, no need, for you guys to do for me, which will help me. Can you promise me you can do these two things for me?"

"Okay, we promise, but only if you tell us what's going on!" snapped the youngest from the group.

Ash nodded when he heard Bonnie say that they promise, but blocked out the rest. "Okay, thank you. The first thing I want to ask is for all of you to keep up your training and to take care of each other." Ash took a deep breath, trying to stay calm, as his emotions were beginning to go haywire. "The second thing I ask is…is…" He couldn't finish. He looked down at his feet, tears filling up his eyes. He was always an emotional person and his friends knew. But he had to finish. Pikachu patted his head gently, giving him encouragement to continue. Riolu and Mewtwo had glanced at Ash, once things were starting to get hectic with his friends, but now were standing in front of Ash, away from the video camera though, to help if needed. The girls began to tear up at the sight of him being so sad. He wiped his eyes dry with his free hand and looked up. "The second thing that I ask, is please don't forget me!" cried out Ash and all of his friends' jaws dropped over his silly outburst, but quickly recovered themselves to reply back.

"How could we forget you? How could I forget the one who helped me when we were kids?" asked Serena rhetorically, barely holding back her tears.

"How can I forget my mentor? How can I forget you helping me become a great coordinator?" said Dawn with tears flowing down her cheeks.

"We can never forget you Ash," said Misty sadly with her lips quivering, keeping her words short since she couldn't say anymore and trying her hardest to not completely break down.

"They're right Ash. We can never forget you. You helped all of us…you helped me…so much," said May sadly with watery eyes.

Max nodded as he muttered out some words while doing his best to not cry. "They're right Ash. And how can I forget my idol?"

"That's not even something you should even have to worry about Ash. You're more than just a best friend to me. You're my brother," added Brock.

"If it wasn't for you, I would've never learned so much and traveled all over the place. I can never forget that or all that you've done for me," stated Iris with sadness.

"How can I forget my biggest rival? Just because I'm a researcher now, doesn't mean I'll let you get ahead of me, Ashy-boy!" quipped Gary.

"I can never forget you, someone I see as my second brother!" sobbed Bonnie, crying heavily.

"You know we won't forget you Ash," said Clement.

"He's right. Surely you know that we cannot forget someone such as you," remarked Cilan.

"Ash, our friendship and rivalry pushes me further in reaching new heights as a trainer. I can't forget that at all," said Richie.

Stunned over everyone's words, the raven haired trainer filled up with emotion over their kind words to him. "I know guys and thank you. I just have a feeling I'm gonna be gone for a long time but I won't forget any of you! And I'll always remember you guys!" blurted out Ash and he wasn't able to hold it in anymore and broke down.

Telling everyone that he was going to leave and be gone for a long time ended up being much harder to do than he thought and he just let go. He didn't care that he started crying. He didn't care if Riolu and Mewtwo saw or if they made fun of him, but they didn't. He didn't even care if Gary made fun of him for that. But even his old rival knew when to be serious on rare occasions and this was one of those times.

Seeing him crying made all of the girls cry as well, if they weren't already, at seeing Ash so upset. It had finally registered to them that he really was leaving and for a long time. Most of the guys kept stoic faces, except for two of them. Brock had tears form in his eyes, but they didn't fall. Max however was straight up bawling his eyes out.

About a minute passed before Ash put himself back together again, at least until he could say goodbye. "I'm sorry for making you guys sad. Take care. I have to go now." He was barely able to get those words out since he was about to break down again and was about to turn off the video phone.

Before he could, several of the girls spoke up. "Ash…I'll miss…" piped up Misty first with a sullen tone of voice, but couldn't finish.

"Please be careful," requested Serena while letting out tears.

"Don't…forget…" said May quietly with her lips quivering.

"Come back soon," finished Dawn for them all, with her voice cracking.

It was at that moment that Ash noticed something from the four girls that he thought he was imagining before and it made his heart break. Having finally understood something that he was thinking about for so long, he felt a whirlwind of emotions spring up inside and he started shaking in his spot.

He couldn't dwell on it though and forced himself to look at the others. He noticed Iris with a stoic expression on her face but had tears going down her cheeks. When they locked eyes together, she gave him a slight smile and he returned it before looking at the rest. The guys looked sullen but they each nodded at him, who returned a nod of his own to each of them while Brock told him to promise to call him if he needed anything. He looked back at each of the girls for a moment, feeling his heart beating like mad before forcing himself to look at them all. "I'll try. Thank you for everything. I'll miss you all. And I'll do my best to come back soon." Ash had his trademark goofy grin appear on his face as he said those words, causing some of his friends to form slight smiles of their own, even while still crying. His grin shortly faded away before saying his last words to them for a long, long time. "Remember me…" whispered Ash and he immediately disconnected the call after.

Ash cried for a good while after disconnecting. Pikachu was silently crying next to him and patting him softly on his shoulder. Riolu and Mewtwo stood in their stoic positions, allowing him time to let it all out at once. Finally, after a few minutes, Ash slowly began to stop crying and pulled himself back together. He took many deep breaths and finally stood up while wiping his face clean of tears and dried marks. Looking at Riolu and Mewtwo, he did his best to appear calm. "Okay…sorry about that. Let's go."

The raven-haired trainer walked out of the office with Pikachu on his shoulder and Riolu and Mewtwo following behind him. They found Professor Oak and Tracy in front of the main door. Tracy was holding a large bag, which held all of Ash's pokémon. Tracy noticed Ash's eyes were red and puffy and was about to ask what happened when Oak caught his assistant's attention and shook his head slightly. Tracy handed Ash the bag and Oak told him to be careful and to update him when he could. Ash gave a small smile and nodded.

He was about to leave when Oak asked if could see his PokeDex. Ash handed it to him and Oak went into a nearby room. He soon came out with his PokeDex and another item, a Poketch Plus. "Here you go Ash. I've updated your PokeDex with more data on all of the known pokémon in the world. Also, I'd like to give you this, it's the newest Poketch Plus, which can help you contact anyone who has your number or you have theirs. It comes equipped with several applications that can help you and it can also be upgraded with many others."

Ash smiled. "Thanks Professor and thanks Tracy. Take care guys and we'll see ya."

Professor Oak smiled at his pseudo grandson. "Good bye and good luck."

Ash, Pikachu, Riolu and Mewtwo headed back to Ash's house. Oak watched them leave and returned to their studies. Tracy stared after him for a few minutes as they became dots in the distance, thinking about some things before heading back inside the laboratory.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When they arrived back at Ash's house, they found that his mother was waiting for them in front of the house with their supplies in two large duffel bags ready to go. "Hey, thanks Mom."

"No problem sweetie," replied Delia as she hugged her son tightly and he let her this time without complaint. "Be safe and this better be worth it. Train hard and I won't tell anyone anything."

Ash hugged her tighter after those words. "Thanks and I love you Mom. You're the best parent anyone could ever ask for." Delia somehow hugged her son tighter after he said those words. When they finally separated, he smiled at her and she returned it. Grabbing the supplies there, he faced his mom and said his final words to her for a long time. "Bye Mom and take care! See you in three years."

"Bye Ash and please stay safe," said Delia with sadness.

Ash promised her he'll do his best and glanced at Mewtwo, who in turn had his eyes glow blue and the four of them vanished.

They reappeared back on New Island. With their supplies in hand and all of Ash's pokémon from the lab with him, he moved towards his new home for the next few years. "We got most of my pokemon except for the ones I let stay behind. We'll go see if they want to come back and then it's gonna be a long and hard journey. But I'm sure we'll be able to do what needs to be done. We just have to not give up and take things one day at a time," remarked Ash, doing his best to focus on what he needs to do instead of the sad farewells he just went through.

"Pika!" cheered the yellow mouse, pumping his fist, while Riolu and Mewtwo nodded in agreement.

Ash smiled at them. He knew they had a lot of work to do but he wasn't going to let that bother him. He glanced up towards the sky in thought. I have time, good friends with me and a good plan. We can do this. And I will see everyone again…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

His image quickly blacked out on his friends screens. Shortly afterward, the group of friends choked out farewells of their own to the blank screen and disconnected from the call. Each and every one of them was saddened over what just happened. Some cried their eyes out, while others simply kept it in until it caused them to have an emotional outbreak later on that day.

After Ash's tearful farewell, his friends were crestfallen for a long time. Their saddened state left them with no energy to do their day to day tasks for a few days as they realized that their close friend, their best friend, had gone away. They had no idea when he would return and who knew if he would even come back safely or come back at all. This unknown thing caused several of them, especially Misty, May, Dawn and Serena, to stay up late at nights, crying, for the next several weeks.

After some time, each of the girls tried to find the raven haired trainer in the coming months but none of them had much luck. Somehow, he just vanished and nobody had any luck finding any trace of him since nobody heard or seen of him. As a result, they tried to keep themselves busy so they wouldn't think about it. And so, all of Ash's friends decided to train more than usual in the beginning, attempting to keep their promise. But they soon lost heart in it. Instead, the group of friends contacted each other constantly and their bonds grew. Because of that, they were able to bury their sad feelings and thoughts because of focusing on their duties and spending time with each other. Yet each of them, especially the girls, secretly prayed for the raven haired trainer to come back home soon. To come back to them…