My Microsoft word mysteriously deleted a scene I wrote for the chapter before last so I'm adding it in this as a flashback. Apologies.

Chapter 25

July 21st

"Shit" Ash said when he saw his dad pass out and quickly rushed over to help him.

"Red!" Delia said heaving herself out of her chair "explain young man!"

Releasing Machamp Ash asked him for help "Can you help me bring him onto the couch pal."

Once he was lay on the couch Ash looked at his mum sheepishly "Sorry. I didn't know it would do that but it was easier than try to get dad to touch the ball. You saw how he reacted to it the few times it's been out in his presence and the chances of him listening to me were nil."

"What is it doing?" she asked with gritted teeth as she sat on the chair and looked at her husband who had started to glow red, green and silver with tiny flecks of the same colours sparking of him.

"It's restoring his aura" Ash said proudly.

"You idiot!" Delia said angrily "did you ever think that your father wouldn't want his aura back?"

"Why wouldn't he?" Ash asked confused at the thought of not having aura "it's part of who he is."

"It's part of who he was" Delia corrected "we've had many conversations about this. He was fine with never having it again given the benefits didn't outweigh the negatives."

"What do you mean?" Ash asked confused.

"Ash, not everyone can utilise Aura like you" Delia said patiently "for literally every other aura user the most they can do is basic aura spheres and augment their muscles in training. Since you released your book no one has been actually able to communicate fully with their Pokémon, they have a better understanding and feeling at what their Pokémon are saying but they're just like every other aura user. I think you forget the hassle Reds aura has brought him over the years."

"Ilene wouldn't dare try anything again" Ash said frowning at what his mum told him.

"Ash, I cannot tell you how happy we were as a couple that our daughter will grow up without aura." Delia said "she will be able to choose her own life in a way that Red and yourself couldn't. But should we decide to have another child after this the chance is very high they'll inherit his aura now that he has it back. You are an idiot sometimes Ash, you just got through telling us that Towas family should have the freedom to make their own choices and then in the next few minutes took away your dad's choice in gaining his aura back."

"I didn't think…" Ash began.

"No" Delia said interrupting him "you didn't. And now we all have to live with the choice you made for us."

Sighing Ash stood up and left through the back door leaving his mum to look at her husband who was still sparking on the couch. Honestly sometimes she wanted to throttle that boy.

Standing up she walked over to the bay door which was cracked open and heard Ash in conversation with Pikachu

"…don't think mum actually understands what happens to an aura user Pi when their aura is trapped. It's like permanent pins and needles across your body that never ends. It's with you from birth so to suddenly have it cut off from you hurts so much that aura users end up killing themselves to save them from the agony."

"How do you know his?" she heard Pikachu ask.

"It's in the books dad stole from Rota" Ash said "it was used as punishment for those that committed treason or those suffering from aural backlash. There's a room hidden deep within the bowels of Cameron Palace that was created centuries ago by the then ruler of Rota that was designed to prevent aura usage. It was thought that if someone lost their aura then the gods deemed them unworthy of being a guardian and they were executed, OR in the case of aural backlash a place to put them out of their misery.

Honestly, I can get mums point of view as aura has caused her nothing but trouble. From Ilene, to dad, to me. I can see why she wouldn't want Florence to inherit it given what she's had to put up with over the years but she's blinded by that. Dad was suffering, I could feel it, but he was too worried to tell mum, likely because he's been apart from her for over ten years and doesn't want to upset her."

"You did take the decision away from them though" Pikachu said.

"There wasn't a decision to be made Pi" Ash said wryly "over the past year dads limited amount of aura was diminishing. I didn't tell mum this, but I've been placing my aura into little things that dad handles to supplement it, such as that bouncy ball he throws when he's thinking. I don't think dad realises either what I've been doing but he had less than a year left before he became a vegetable Pi. I couldn't let dad die like that, but I also couldn't let mum go through that again. Losing dad the first time very nearly killed her and for her to lose him again not even eighteen months after getting him back? No that would kill her."

Delia was about to walk out and ask Ash what he meant when a strong grip pulled her into their chest. She immediately felt the familiar aura wrap around her in a cocoon and she moaned softly at the feelings of love and protection and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Turning around she looked up into the deep brown eyes of her husband with lust in her eyes.

"Later" Red said kissing her forehead eliciting another moan which made Red chuckle "right now I have a son to punch and thank."

"How much of that did you hear?" Delia said turning round to face Ash who was still sat with Pikachu only this time in silence.

"Only the last part, from him supplementing my aura" Red said pulling her back into his arms and staring out at his son.

"Was you suffering?" she asked quietly.

"Yes" he said simply "and you know why I didn't tell you Dee." Moving his hands down so they covered her pregnant belly he continued "you need as little stress as possible. I remember very well how traumatic having Ash was for you and I didn't want to add to that. Come on, we have a son to talk to."

"Hey dad" Ash said as he felt his father's presence. Turning in his seat he took his father in and smiled. He could see already a huge difference in his father's bearing and he could readily believe the force that was Red Ketchum. His aura was still swirling slightly but Ash put that down to it still settling inside his system again.

"I believe you owe us both an explanation." Red said commandingly holding a seat out for Delia before sitting down himself and looking at Ash expectantly.

Bringing out the GS Ball he placed it on the table and observed his dads reaction. Red surprisingly picked it up and enlarged it before shrinking it again and putting it back on the table.

"What do you know of that?" Ash asked gaining shakes of the head from them both "A little back story then. It was created nearly eight hundred years ago by the King of Pokélantis as a tool in which to capture a Legendary Pokémon's aura. If you controlled their aura, you control them, and he wanted to use this on Lugia, Celebi and Ho-oH who had got tired of his people worshipping them and not him. It was one of three that was thankfully destroyed by Ho-oH herself. It was created by using the very gifts that Lugia, Ho-oH and Celebi gave the people of Pokéantis back when Kanto and Joho were one piece of land. It was thought destroyed until a few decades ago when it was unearthed in a burial chamber off to the side of where the King was buried and then…nothing. For a decade it disappeared until one day it landed on the shores of Valencia Island and was picked up by Philena Ivy.

It was during my foray with Celebi in restoring the timeline that I found it hidden in a drawer on New Island and moved it so Vincent could acquire it briefly before he lost it to the sea around Cinnabar. I don't think Celebi meant to show me it's history but when I picked it up I got flashes of the others who had handled this over the years and bits of their memories. It was taken from Pokélantis by Vincent himself and given to Fuji on the orders of their boss Silver. It was then used as a go-between to siphon the aura from Mew to place into Mewtwo during his creation before it then disappeared during the Cinnabar Incident. From what I was shown Fuji nicked it, wanting to experiment further on it to try and find out what went wrong with creating a new body for his dead daughter. He knew it could contain aura, given what he experimented with and only he and Blaine knew the process of using the ball. Not even Silver knows though he's tried to replicate them into what Vincent used to capture Celebi. They're imitations, powerful ones but imitations none-the-less. For a few years he read up on aura and what its limits were and once he thought he had some ideas he started plucking people off the street and using the ball on them in his lab only they never worked because of the limited aura in the average person. It was then he remembered that he had the perfect person to use the GS Ball on."

Delia clutched Reds hands when she came to the same conclusion.

"Yes" Ash said nodding grimly as he recalled seeing his dads frozen body on New Island "I have no idea how many times dads aura was stolen and then replaced over the six years Fuji experimented on him but suffice it to say Dad could feel an echo of the pain anytime the GS Ball went near him. That alone tells you it wasn't just a handful of times. Weirdly the best thing that happened to dad during that time was Silver ordering Mewtwo to move you without Fuji knowing. He was livid when he found out that he no longer had a test subject. You were moved again not even a few days after Mewtwo relocated you so even he didn't know how to get you back. So, the experiments stopped, however Mewtwo moved you before Fuji could put your aura back into you. It was still in the ball. That's why for the year I had it I could feel something familiar but never could pinpoint it. How could I, I wasn't even 1 years old when dad disappeared but my own aura recognised his, it just didn't know what it was recognising.

The rest is fairly simple really. I gained possession of it via Philena Ivy, Sam already knew I once had it due to him handling it in the present he was brought to and he knew from the feather he had in his possession that Celebi was involved. Sam has a lot of memories currently unravelling and reforming that he needs to process as the past he knew has changed, but he never forgot certain things. He knew the ball was important for nearly fifty years, he just didn't fully know why."

"Tell me everything you know about Celebi and why someone would want her so badly to destroy her shine." Ash said staring at them expectantly.

"I don't know" Sammie said bringing out the blackened feather which started to glow. The green underneath was trying to purge the darkness only anytime a new section was cleared it was quickly consumed by the darkness that spread.

Ash brought out the GS Ball and moved it nearer to Sam. Strangely the feather glowed brighter purging the darkness completely.

"What the hell?" Ash said as he moved it away from the feather and the darkness appeared again and started to spread. Doing it again they watched as the darkness literally dripped off the feather onto the floor where it disappeared.

"Well, it's clear the ball has something to do with Celebi" Sam said, "what though I don't know."

"It's a relic" Ash said putting it away, Sammie doing the same with the feather which had started to turn black again. "it was created by a King who wanted the Johto Legendaries powers for himself only in her rage at his temerity Ho-oH levelled his Kingdom with him buried underneath it. Ho-oH thought she'd destroyed the creations, evidently not though."

"How do you know this?" Towa asked doubtfully.

"I am their Champion" Ash said showing Towa the tattoo that was embedded into his skin "not only that but I have a feather gifted from them to me to prove it. In my timeline I also hold the Pokéball for Lugia. I do not intend on keeping her but capturing her was the only way to free her from the control of an evil organisation that believes Pokémon are here to serve humans. I was actually on my way to check on her recovery to release her when Celebi kidnapped me."

"You lead a very strange but exciting life Ash" Sam said, "are you sure you can't tell me how you know me?"

"You already know the answer to that" Ash said shaking his head "I've already changed a bit by just being here around you. However little we interact it still changes your views on things, Time-Travel always does. Anyway, Sneasel has stopped about a hundred feet in front of us. Keep behind cover, I'm trained to sort issues like this out."

"That's why Sam sent me to collect the ball personally and made sure I kept it on me at all times despite knowing which date I met him as a child. He wanted to make sure I didn't lose it and so change the timeline. How long did you know his wife was an Aura Guardian?"

"From the moment I met her" Red said "you know we can feel another aura user Ash, she wasn't extraordinarily powerful by any means, in fact she was better using her aura for her work than being a guardian but she made the best of it and was extraordinary in that field. To this day there's not been anyone in the botanical field that is in her league. She is greatly missed."

"Why did she give it up?" Ash asked, "I've never known anyone do that."

"She didn't" Delia said "she hid it though because of Sam. She knew Sam was the one the first time they met as she was older than him by a few months, but she remembered Sam talking about a guardian angel that saved his life. It was a recurring dream of his, but she never had a face so it is probably the biggest shock he heard during your story. To hear his wife was his guardian angel all this time..."

"Maybe keep an eye on him over the next few weeks" Ash said concerned.

An hour later Ash made his way home trying to excise the last words he heard as the door closed behind him of "get those clothes off Delia, now."

As he was sitting having lunch Zoe walked in surprised to see him with Ava. "Look at how big she's getting" he said nodding to her "she'll soon be going to big school.

"Yeah, about that, I need your help." Zoe said grimacing as she watched her daughter rush upstairs to play with her Pikachu.

"Oh?" he asked looking up from his dinner "what's up?"

"Well as you know she's just turned seven and she's started to take notice of Pokémon a lot more" Zoe said, "working here hasn't helped in that regard as this place is a haven for them."

"So, what's your issue?" Ash wondered.

"I'm not sure how I feel about her being a trainer, going out there on her own" Zoe said "It's not an easy profession and I'm scared her expectations will likely never be met."

"Zoe, she's seven" Ash said "I'm sure next week her mind will change again. I'll be honest, I'm not sure I'm the right person to talk to here as I have never wanted to be anything but a Pokémon trainer since I was six, but I also had an extra incentive. I was told by the very Pokémon that created the Pokémon World that I would be special if I wanted to. That kind of thing sits with you. Ava isn't thick by any means, and she now has the opportunity to do whatever she wanted, something you didn't due to your circumstances, but you are a fantastic mother. Never forget that."

"Ash, I'm worried that she'll make the same mistakes I made" Zoe said "I know I've never told you what happened but suffice to say I made a poor decision and was burned. I love my daughter, but it wasn't the life I would have chosen. To have a child at thirteen is no sort of life and I don't want that for her."

"Zoe, she's not you" Ash said as the real reason came out "please don't place your insecurities onto her. You need to trust that if she decided to be a Pokémon trainer then she'll listen to the advice of everyone around her. I can promise you that I will always be in her life for advice, and I will never try and disillusion her of the realities of being a trainer. But not everyone who starts being one stays as one, look at Sam, he was a Champion and decided to give that up to be the best professor the world has seen. I don't see how her being a trainer though indicates she'll do what you did and have a child at a young age."

"It's the chance it might happen" Zoe said "she'll be out there unsupervised Ash where goodness knows what could happen to her. I don't want my baby girl doing what I did. It runs in the family Ash, my mother was fifteen when she fell pregnant with me, her mum was the same age too. I don't want that for her."

"This really isn't a conversation you should be having with me" Ash said sitting back "you should be talking to my mum or Laura about this. I'm not having children if Nia doesn't want them, so my thoughts are very different from yours. I mean what do you want me to say to her when the time comes? 'Your mum doesn't want you being a trainer because she thinks you'll take advantage of having no supervision and will get pregnant as soon as you can' Zoe these are your conversations to have with her over the next few years, her being a trainer will not change the fact she's growing up and will want to go and do her own thing. At some point you need to let go Zoe; she's still going to be your baby girl no matter how old she gets." Standing up Ash washed his bowl, dried it and put it away. Noticing Zoe was still sitting there in contemplation he sighed and walked behind her and hugged her from behind and she leaned into him "I'm sorry Zoe, but this is something that you're going to have to sort out. I won't be the one to kill my favourite girls dream because her mum is afraid of what might happen. You just have to trust that she'll listen to your advice and come to you when the time is right for her, hopefully twenty years from now."

Laughing Zoe wiped away tears and nodded "thank you Ash, for everything."

"I don't regret helping you two out. I certainly don't regret giving her the Pikachu, which she has taken great care of over nearly the last two years" Ash said kissing her temple "You're a fantastic mother Zoe, and she's a credit to you."

Leaving her he whistled and Pikachu leaped off the couch in the living room and onto his shoulder as he left the house. When did he become peoples agony aunt? Walking down to his lake he whistled again and he felt various auras coming towards him from all sides. Sitting down on his bench he watched as Gyarados broke the water followed by Kabutops, off to the side Venusaur and Ivysaur came lumbering out the foliage with Bayleef cautiously following. 'Huh' Ash thought, 'she must have evolved'.

"Hey guys" he said standing up and walking over to Princess who rumbled when he started to stroke her chin "I hope you're resting Princess." after a minute of this he looked around and smiled at the rest of them. "I've come to keep you up to date on what's happened in the last few days." sitting back down he continued "it all started when I left the Whirl Islands...". a few hours later he finished talking and looked around "so dad has his aura back and I'm heading to Saffron in a few minutes to continue on with our journey. I'm sorry Princess but I don't think I'll be able to use you in the next gym battle, but you'll definitely be available for the last one."

She nodded at his promise as she knew she'd soon be back on his team but she did need to heal up. "so, that's where we're up to guys. How are we all doing?"

The next hour was spent catching up with what was going on around his home.

"I warned Kabutops to not try and create an army" Ash said after Venusaur told him he had to put a stop to them trying to attack the researchers, again. "She did say that she wanted a mate though so maybe I should ring Brock and see what he can do. Maybe that will shift her focus and she'll leave everyone alone. Right then, that's all I needed to tell you all. Is that everything?" Venusaur and Ivysaur as one turned to Bayleef who had stayed as far back as he could but close enough to hear Ash. "Oh?"

"I'm sorry" she said quietly before Ivysaur slapped her flank with a vine. "I'm sorry" she said louder, "I'm sorry for my actions. Please don't abandon me."

"I was very angry at what you did" Ash said "you almost cost me my licence with your actions. It took me having a conversation with Nia a few days later for me to calm down. She is my future whether anyone else likes it or not and I will not jeopardise that. However, Pikachu reminded me of what I promised you when we first met. I promised you shelter and safety once I'd trained you to take care of yourself. I'm going to let you stay, I'm not going to ask from you anything more than I do any other Pokémon that lives here but you can live here as long as you want to. I won't have you on my team though."

Nodding sadly she turned around and walked back to the forest. Ash sighed as soon as she walked out of earshot "I hate doing that. I need to get going guys, I'll see you all quite soon I think as I only have two more badges left to get before we come back here for a few weeks rest. Its nearly the end of July which means I have three weeks to get the last two badges as I want to spend at least a month in Mt Silver. The tournament starts in October guys, it's not long off now."

An hour later he was winging his way to Saffron City to get the train. It was early evening when he landed and decided to just get the train rather than stay in the centre overnight. The last train to Goldenrod City was just before midnight and he found himself struggling to stay awake. The injuries he sustained during the battle with Vincent were still playing up slightly, his muscles had been overworked twice in the space of a week, firstly with Lugia and then with Celebi. Being shaken awake by the attendant shocked him, he didn't realise he was that tired but as he climbed into bed half an hour later, he didn't even know someone had observed him entering the Pokémon Centre.

The next day he awoke and groaned when he realised it was already past noon. Getting up he slowly dressed and left the centre before turning left on the high street and headed towards a huge building at the very end of the street. It was Goldenrod Pokémon hospital. Walking in he nodded at the trainers who were sat with their Pokémon in the waiting area, ignoring the awestruck looks he received from many of them and walked to the counter,

"Hello, my name is Ash Ketchum, I'm here to see my Lugia." He said trying to sound nonchalant.

"Oh, hello Mr Ketchum" the receptionist said typing in his name on the database "yes, she's in the water bay. Follow the blue signs down the corridor, go down the lift to the bottom floor and it should take you straight there."

"Thank you" he said nodding and walking off. A few minutes later he exited the lift and walked down the corridor and stopped in wonder when he reached the end. The entire thing was open plan, using Goldenrod Bay as its holding area. Several sections had been created by using rocks to create some sense of privacy but from where he was standing, he could see everyone that was milling around and every Pokémon that was there to be healed.

An attendant came and took his name and directed him around the huge, curved tunnel that was covered with glass informing him as they walked of her condition.

"We had to place Lugia in the furthest bay away from the entrance as when it became known she had been sent here we had so many people trying to get a look that the healers couldn't even get to her. She was in a very critical condition as you know, but we managed to keep her sedated long enough for her to be plied with full restores and every other remedy we could get. It was only a few days ago that we felt she was able to be taken off the sedation and she immediately started to use her own abilities to recover. Strangely though she doesn't seem to want to leave from the bay."

"She can't" Ash said surprising her "there's rules Pokémon have to follow when they're captured. The main one being obeying their trainer. Now there's things they can do to make life difficult but essentially, they are now classed as 'owned'. With that comes responsibilities from the trainer such as providing food, healthy living, protection etc but overall it's heavily skewed in the trainers direction as we can literally order them to do whatever we want them to, hence why they listen to idiots like those in Team Rocket. Legendaries however have the ability to rebel whenever they want to, they're sought after for their power and as such must be treated with the proper respect as the trainer must show them they're worthy of having them. A Legendary that listens to a trainer is a very temporary thing and unless they feel they owe the trainer it won't be long until they go back to their duties. I've made it perfectly clear to everyone that owning one will bring my wrath down on them, they have responsibilities in this world that go beyond what we can do and should be free. I caught Lugia as a last resort, she would have died from her injuries if she hadn't been sent here so I suspect she's waiting for me to show up before deciding to leave."

"Oh wow" she said as they stopped outside Lugia's bay "that explains a lot. So, do you think she's here because you've not told her she can leave?"

"No" Ash said "I think she's here because she wants to be. I think she's here to get answers as to why the incident happened as she was being controlled when she attacked and likely has no idea how she came to be owned. I'm the only one that can provide those answers. So don't be surprised if in the next few days she's not here anymore, chances are she's left to go continue her tasks."

Heading through the automatic doors Ash shook his head at how ridiculous his life was as lay upside down in the water, floating was his Lugia. Clearing his throat, she looked up and then casually turned around facing him and swam towards him. he walked through the automatic doors and stopped on the edge of what looked like a pool side but was in fact the very wall that made up Goldenrod Bay.

"You look much better than the last time I saw you" Ash commented taking off his shoes and socks and sitting down, dangling his legs in the sea. "I'm glad."

"Well given that the last time I saw you, you almost killed me I'd say any recovery is an improvement." Lugia said in a high voice as she observed him.

"I'm not going to apologise" Ash said shrugging his shoulders "it was either you or me and at the time I had no idea you were being controlled. Whether that would have changed my actions though, I have no idea, but I did what needed to be done to protect the people of Red Rock Island."

"Hmm" she said looking up at the blue sky, "people used to revere us, I miss those days."

"I am not those people" Ash said smiling at her "I have had enough dealings with Legendaries for any awe to have long since disappeared. If it helps, I dislike you all in equal measure."

Chuckling she nodded "it does in a way. What becomes of me now?"

"You're here to heal" Ash said, "I think you only have a few days left before you're cleared to leave."

"And then?" she asked staring at him.

"And then I will release you" Ash said looking confused as if he would do anything but.

"Just like that?" she asked, "you would willingly give up a Pokémon of my power just like that."

"I see you've not talked to your mate in a while" Ash said wryly "let me explain who I am. I am Ash Ketchum, Son of Delia and Red Ketchum, Chosen One and liberator of Legendary Pokémon. When you next get the chance speak to your mate and Lady Ho-oH about me, they'll give you a better idea about who I am as a person because at the moment none of you remember why I was created. It's kind of hard to get the point across when you can't remember your own creator due to Celebi and Lord Dialga pissing about with time."

"What has my little sister been doing this time?" she asked exasperated.

Over the next half an hour Ash told her about what happened after the Whirl Cup and what led him to being sat here. "So, she's not best pleased with me at the minute but I couldn't care less."

"Yes" Lugia said "she always did think highly of herself given what role she holds. Ho-oH and my mate have often had to have words with her, but she never listens. Hopefully now she's been humbled she'll think twice but I have doubts."

After a few moments silence she remembered something Ash had mentioned "So, my son went walkabout after being told specifically not to? Even after I was captured because he went walkabout in the first place?"

"So it would seem" Ash said "Lugia was very angry and made it seem he'd leave Silvers punishment up to you. He was very nearly captured because of your son, your son was captured until I had to step in and rescue him. The world was very nearly without any Lugia free to do their jobs."

"It's a shame you no longer hold his Pokéball" she said to his shock "if my mate trusts you with his granddaughter then that's a good enough endorsement for myself. Of course, as my Champion it may end up coming to that for a time."

"Yeah, about that" Ash said taking Sir Aarons glove off and looking at the imprint on his hand that was glowing softly "is there any way of getting rid of this thing?"

"Yes" she said making him look up in hope "disappoint us, disgust us, do something that is so insidious that we have no choice but to end your life. Other than that, I have no idea."

"Shit" Ash said pulling the glove back over his hand and standing up "I've told the staff here that you can leave whenever you want to, don't feel like you have to stay. The man who captured you and Silver is dead, their base destroyed."

"Oh good" she said looking up at the blue sky "I was getting rather bored here, and the proximity of being around so many people has me on edge."

"Understandable" Ash said as he pulled a ball of his belt and pointed it at Lugia. A few seconds later, after a brief blue glow the ball cracked open and swung loosely.

"You're a strange human Chosen One but you have my thanks." Lugia said looking up again and flaring her wings before settling back down. "I think I'll give my egg a few more days to think on what he did. Should you ever need assistance Chosen One, focus your aura into my symbol and I it is in my power I will be there."

Nodding Ash stood up and put his shoes on and walked away, informing the staff at her decision before leaving the hospital proper. Heading into the city he wondered what to do for the next few hours when he decided to head back towards the train station. As he arrived there he crossed the street and looked into the windows of the refurbished restaurant that had an open date of next week. There still seemed like a lot to do he thought as he saw the inside looked pretty sparse. The opening date confused him too as he could have sworn that James told him it would be open in September.

"What do you think Pi?" Ash asked looking around him, noticing him getting a few wary looks "apart from the obvious three people watching our every move."

"I don't think they could be more obvious if they wore sunglasses and had newspapers in front of them" Pikachu said earning a chuckle from Ash.

"Every spy movie" Ash said nodding and agreeing "what I meant though was that Jessie and James told us it would be open in September but this says 1st August. Inside doesn't even look half done either."

"Could be that they want to be established before using it as a base for Rocket" Pikachu said making Ash pause at the thought "as for the other bit you saw how quickly your home came together when you had the right people working on it, this still has over a week."

"I think you're right on both accounts" Ash said nodding and leaving, heading towards the park. Sitting down they were enjoying an ice cream when Ash felt one of the people from before taking a seat a bench down. Wondering what was going on he was even further surprised when someone took a seat at the side of him making him tense up in anger. The man's Pokémon stretched out at his side in a big yawn before curling up on the grass.

"What brings you to my city Ketchum?" Silver said looking supremely unconcerned.

"I had to make a detour home from the Whirl Cup" Ash said irritated that Silver had managed to get the drop on him. It was one of the downsides of using aura so much, every now and then he had to limit its usage, especially in congested areas as it gave him a headache, so he had tuned it down while going through the park. "Why are you so casually sitting next to me?"

"Well, you're not about to attack me are you, especially not in public like this" Silver replied taking a bite of his own ice cream "it's been a long time since I was able to just sit and watch the sheep go by. Look at them, they don't even know they're born Ash. Cattle, that's all they are, content to live day by day for pennies, never realising that they're worthless. They're wasting their lives, and they are not even bothered about it."

"I think we both have very different ideas about what living a worthless life is" Ash replied taking a good look at the man. If he was objective about him in any way, he'd say he was very handsome, very suave, impeccably dressed and exuded a calmness you could only get from being assured in yourself. All Ash saw though was the man that caused his mum so much pain. "Clearly we'll never agree as long as you believe people and Pokémon are here to serve you."

"And why not Ash?" Silver asked looking at him smiling "being born who and what I am has made me one of the most powerful people on the planet. With a click of my fingers, I could get anything I want, if I wanted I could end your life without you even knowing it."

"Yet you are so deficient where it matters the most" Ash said interrupting him and raising an eyebrow at him "and if you're on about the two in the trees, the one on the bench and the three scattered next to the pond then they're welcome to try. Or maybe you're on about the person who is running the ice cream stand? Either way they can try, and they will die."

"Very impressive" Silver said smirking "however that's not why I am here. I'm here for two reasons. To thank you in person for saving my Son and sticking to the bargain but also to give you a warning."

"Go on" Ash said finishing off his ice cream and taking a few cherries out of his bag and handing them to Pikachu who sat munching them also unconcerned.

"One of my operatives went rogue a few years ago" Silver said looking out across the park "and a few months ago he stole some prototype Pokéballs from a secure vault in my research lab. You briefly met his son who also works for me in the underwater lab."

"What does this have to do with me?" Ash asked confused as he remembered the person dressed in all black that teleported Silver away.

"I sent Vincent on a mission; one I have not heard from him for in those few months" Silver said taking a breath "the mission was to capture Celebi. I fear that he may misuse the poor thing. I need you to stop him. I'd advise you start the hunt in Mt Mortar where his base is."

"Let's get one thing straight" Ash said turning to face him "I don't work for you. I never will either so I'm not going to spend my valuable time doing your job for you."

"I thought you were a Champion for Legendaries?" Silver asked smirking "The Chosen One, I believe Lugia called you in Ecruteak City."

"I was the Chosen One" Ash said shaking his head "but only when it comes to the Shamouti prophecy. Given I sorted that out eighteen months ago I am no longer bound to them. I simply detest Legendaries being used for people's own gain."

"And yet you're quite willing to let someone capture and use Celebi for their own ends?" Silver asked arching his eyebrow "we're quite full of contradictions today, aren't we?"

"Not really" Ash said "I just see no point in chasing down someone who may or may not be after one. If I did that, I'd spend my whole life chasing rumours and shadows."

"This is no rumour" Silver said scowling "the man needs to be stopped before he gets his hands on it."

"Why?" Ash asked looking at him "isn't that what you said you asked him to do?"

"It was" Silver conceded "that was before he went rogue."

"Well, you better get cracking then, hadn't you?" Ash asked smiling at him "after all, who knows what this Vincent will do. You never know, you may end up working for him and we can't have that, can we?"

"I'm offering you information Ketchum" Silver said angrily "and you're being blatantly disrespectful in return."

"No" Ash said reaching into his bag and palming an object before hutching his bag onto his shoulder "I'm just not going to waste my time chasing shadows, not when you're having so much fun doing the same. Come on Pi." Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder, and they walked away leaving the fuming man stewing at the disrespect. He watched Ash hand something to the Ice Cream vendor who looked over at Silver in shock before he walked away. Curious Silver threw his wrapper in the bin and walked over too.

"What did he say to you?" he asked the trembling man.

"Nothing Sir" he replied, "he just said 'give this to your boss' before walking away." Opening his hand Silver reeled in shock as on the mans palm lay two broken halves of a Shadow Ball. Looking up in alarm he tried to spot Ketchum, but he was nowhere to be seen. Growling he put the two pieces in his pocket and walked away, angry that his plan had been thwarted before it had even been able to be put into place. Walking into his building he ignored everyone who greeted him and silently boarded his private elevator. Stalking out he ordered his receptionist "get me Jessie and James, I want them in my office in ten minutes" before he marched past, slamming the door as he did so. Sitting down he scowled and brought out the ruined Pokéball and sat staring at it. Turning around in his chair he watched the skyline in silence. Hearing a knock on his door he was brought out of his reverie, and he turned back around.

"Enter" he said still irritated.

"You asked to see us?" Jessie asked standing at the line before his desk, James doing the same.

"Yes" he said placing the ball on his desk "I want you to find the remains of the Masked Marauder. I want to know what he was doing when he died, and I want to know why. Start in Azalea town with a man named Kurt. He's an expert on Ilex Forest, the place I believe Vincent is. Find out what you know and report back to me immediately. Dismissed."

The duo nodded and began to leave "Oh, and find out how Ketchum came to be in possession of this" he said throwing the ball at James who caught it and looked at it, recognising it.

"Ash had this?" he asked shocked "how?"

"I'm pretty certain that's exactly what I've just asked you, isn't it?" Silver asked growling "Now, go."

A Quick Attack was still slower than the speed they left. Silver turned back around to the city view and scowled as he saw a huge blue dragon take flight across the way. He would get answers.

Ash walked away wondering if it was right for him to give Silver the ball back or let him spend resources trying to find Vincent and Celebi. It was done now anyway, Ash thought as he walked back to the Pokémon Centre and informed Nurse Joy he no longer held the Pokéball for Lugia. Letting out Queenie he informed her that they would stop overnight in Ecruteak before flying to Mahogany in the morning. A few hours later he touched down and spent the evening typing up a report to Sam. He hoped the man was ok, the last few days had been very tough for him.

July 23rd

The next day he wandered down to the centre and stopped short when he three very familiar men were standing at the counter chatting away.

"Hello gentlemen" Ash said surprising them.

"Ash" Morty said shaking his hand "you know Elder Li but do you know Richard?"

"I certainly do" Ash said nodding to the Karate Master of Saffron City "one could say he's in the position he is in because of my help. How are you doing Richard?"

"I'm good Ash" the huge man said as he took Ash's offered hand.

"Why are you here?" Ash asked, "it's a long way from Saffron City."

"I head rumours of a rare fighting type that had taken shelter in Mt Mortar" Richard said, "my son is unavailable to help so I've been charged by the league to help out."

"Ah" Ash said distastefully when he remembered who his son was.

"Now, now" Richard said smirking "he's not all bad. But believe me his mother was livid when she found out what he did."

"As she should be" Ash said shaking his head "do you have any idea what Pokémon it is in the mountain?"

"No" Richard said "it could be a false lead, but Bruno is busy with his new child and Riley is busy doing his bit for Rota while Ilene looks after hers. Poor thing is going through a rough time at the minute, what with her husband taking off like that."

"Couldn't happen to a more wonderful woman." Ash said deadpanned. "anyway, it was nice to see you all. I need to get to Mahogany Town to get my gym badge."

"You could help Richard" Li said earning a glare from Ash.

"Look, it's nothing personal" Ash said, "but for the last week I've been kidnapped by Legendaries, been involved in a plot concerning time travel and nearly wiped from existence, so I would quite like to be able to do my own thing before I'm drawn into yet another bloody issue."

Richard laughed uproariously at Ash's terminology and clapped him on the back. "Go on" he said his eyes full of glee "off with yourself. I'll see you at the league Ash."

"Why?" Ash asked confused.

"Oh, I never miss a tournament" Richard said, "haven't for ten years."

"Makes sense" Ash replied as he nodded to everyone and left. Walking out of the doors though he stopped dead as standing in front of him were seven women dressed in kimonos "Oh what now?" feeling the three men come behind him he moved out of the way as Morty and Li greeted them.

"Sakura" Morty said bowing to the lady in a purple kimono who bowed back to him before shuffling forwards ignoring Li and Morty.

"Former Chosen One" she said snidely before bowing to him "we need your help."

"One day" Ash said irritated and looking up at the sky "I want just one day where I'm not involved in someone else's mess."

"What mess?" Sakura asked confused.

"What do you need Miss?" Ash asked.

"We understand you have our lady trapped in a Pokéball?" Sakura said sharply, "may we see her?"

"No" Ash said trying not to feel insulted "for one she wasn't trapped; she was kept alive by me catching her. And secondly, I released her yesterday, so she is likely on her way back to the Whirl Islands today."

"Oh" Sakura said frowning "we had hoped to be able to speak to her. We would like to know who her new chosen one is."

"Don't you guys speak to her all the time?" Morty asked looking confused "I could have sworn you have your own way of communicating with her."

"Only when she is free to speak" Sakura said giving Ash a look "at the moment her roost is unavailable to us."

"Why?" Morty asked.

"It seems she has chosen a Champion at long last and as such no longer needs us to maintain her place of rest" Sakura said closing her eyes as two of her sisters burst out crying "forgive them, they hoped they would be her champion. Given the Kanto Champion caught her we thought it might be him but evidently and thankfully, not. Goodbye."

Nodding she gave Ash one last look of disgust before sweeping her sisters off and into a Japanese style building.

"What did you do to offend them so much?" Richard asked Ash in surprise.

"Evidently stop Lugia from destroying the Whirl Islands" Ash said shaking his head at the odd interaction.

"Yeah, they really don't like you do they?" Morty asked in amusement.

"Well, they're really going to hate me when they find out Lugias mate also chose me as her champion" Ash said chuckling and taking off his glove, showing them the imprint "that's both Lugia who now rely on me."

"Oh dear" Elder Li said chuckling as he shuffled off shaking his head. "What a palaver."

"Only you Ash" Morty said heading back inside laughing leaving Ash with Richard.

"I heard from my best friend that you helped him out recently. Thank you for that." Richard said as Ash reached for Queenies Pokéball.

"Who was that?" Ash asked confused. Over the last few weeks, the people he had helped must be in the hundreds at least.

"Chuck" Richard said getting a nod of recognition from Ash "he told me he gave you the badge without a battle, but it was justified?"

"I think so, I would have preferred a battle but given what I did I felt worthy of taking the badge without one" Ash said "I helped him with a diet for his Machoke. You know about the Machop line and their issues, right?"

"With their metabolism?" Richard asked "yes, I do. I have a few apprentices with Machop and Machoke that have an issue but sadly I've not yet come up with a solution to aid them."

"Oh" Ash said reaching into his bag and pulling out a pad and pen and beginning to write down a recipe "now, fresh berries work best, always make sure their weight is correct before giving them this too. If you need help sourcing the berries I grow them at home myself and will happily supply them to your gym for nothing."

"That won't be necessary" Chuck said waving it away "we can pay."

"No, you won't" Ash said looking at him sternly gaining a shocked look "you're my gym leader and I won't have any of my gym leaders' apprentices fall short of your expectations if I can help. So, I'll send an email to Zoe, my aid and she'll put in a monthly standing order for you. I'll even speak to Silph too to supply your cook with the berry machines, at my expense. Chuck was a different case as he's under Lance's jurisdiction, you're under mine."

"Well, thank you lad" Richard said appraisingly "I'll make sure this isn't abused."

"Not a problem" Ash said releasing Queenie and sitting on her back "I hope you find your Pokémon. Oh, and be careful in Mt Mortar, I was reliably informed this morning that a lunatic belonging to Team Rocket who went rogue set up a base inside Mt Mortar, who knows what he left behind. Queenie, East to Mahogany Town please."

In one strong wingbeat Salamence took off and headed towards Mahogany flying over rivers that had fishermen along the bank. An hour later he saw that he was getting closer when the scenery started to change from autumn to winter as bits of snow littered the tree tops and in the distance he saw a mountain loom up.

"Are we going into that?" Pikachu asked as they all sat down along the banking of a big stretch of water.

"The mountain?" Ash asked "No, that's Ice Path. We decided a while ago that we wouldn't bother as every icy cave looks the same."

"I believe Lapras and I successfully countered that argument" Sneasel said sharing a Pokeblock with Shuckle who Ash had retrieved that morning.

"No, you didn't" Queenie said as she tore into a Spearow she just caught much to the displeasure of the group. Ash was just thankful that the group had become so desensitised to her eating habits and that it was a Spearow. After what happened to him and Pikachu the week he left Pallet Town they could all get fucked as far as he was concerned. There was a reason he didn't allow any on his land.

"Queenie is right" Pikachu piped up "I'm pretty sure we came up with a deal didn't we that we would let you explore another Cave in Hoenn."

"Must have slipped my mind" Sneasel said to laughter "she's doing well, I have doubts she'll grow much bigger you know."

"I know" Ash said looking over to where Sneasel was looking and seeing Lapras splashing around with her 'child' who was spraying water into the air. "I don't think I'll be comfortable ever using her in battle, the scope for serious injury is just too great for her. A Hyper Beam or a move of that strength would outright kill her."

"I didn't want to say" Sneasel said nodding "but you're right. I would kill her with a Scratch never mind a Blizzard. It's a shame as she would be useful as a counter to water types."

"I'm not too fussed" Ash said smiling at their interaction "I'd be a pretty shit trainer if I forced her to fight when she can't. I think we'll train her to defend herself and leave it at that."

"Probably a good call" Machamp intoned "Lapras will be pleased."

"Anyway, no we won't be going into that mountain" Ash said, "there's nothing in there that interests me, I have no intention of freezing my balls off and I want to get the badges before anything else gets in the bloody way."

A few hours later he landed in Mahogany and shivered when he walked into the Pokémon Centre at the difference in temperature "Ooh that's nice" he said rubbing his hands together to get them warmer. "Hi Miss Joy" Ash said nodding to her and asking for the key. Walking upstairs he stopped as the door to the professor's room was ajar. Cautiously he opened it and stopped dead.

"Ash, just the man I was looking for"