A/N: This story is a product of two lemons found in my "Alphabet Challenge," but you really don't have to read them first. In this story, each journey Ash took spanned a year, so he is 19. Also, I am writing this prior to the Kalos League airing on TV, so I made up his finishing place. I also made up a new region. This story was recommended by AshleyH30, and I liked it too, so shout out to him. Enough chat though; let's get this started!

It's amazing how quickly everything can go downhill. One moment everything is going fine, and almost before you even realize it is there, you are stumbling down a seemingly endless slope. You grasp out for tree limbs, hoping they will save you, and on a rare occasion, they can, but more often than not, you are left in a free fall with your arms flailing.

Ash thought of this picture as he lay on his bed sheets, tormented by the thoughts in his head. He ran his hands through his hair, thinking of the mistakes he made, and if there was a way to fix it. He'd hurt the most important person in his life, and she had hurt him too. His mind flashed back once more to recall where he had screwed up at.

3 months before

By the time had could speak in complete sentences Ash had always known that he was going to spend his life as a Pokémon trainer. After eagerly waiting for his tenth birthday, he started his adventure at the first opportunity. His first year had humbled him slightly, but also given him confidence at the same time. He hadn't won like he expected to, but he still performed well for a rookie.

Winning the Orange League gave him another shot of confidence. He stepped foot in the Johto region next, but it did not go quite as well. Still, he had done fairly well, and he had enjoyed the journey thoroughly. Misty left his life at this point, returning to the gym. He "replaced" her with May and Max, a pair of siblings from New Bark Town.

He made it to the quarterfinals, which was the same finish he had accomplished in his previous league, but he did manage to conquer the Battle Frontier just one year later. Dawn became his traveling partner with Brock in the Sinnoh region, and he managed to reach the semi-finals that go-around. He was defeated heavily by Tobias, a man with a line-up of legendary Pokémon.

Despite being defeated fairly easily, Ash was encouraged by his highest finish yet. He took a step back in the Vertress Conference of Unova, traveling with new friends Iris and Cilan this time, being taken out in the quarterfinals once more. He ventured onto the Kalos region next, tearing through the gym battles to earn his spot in the league finals. He had a great feeling that this was going to be his breakthrough, but he was far off.

He was knocked out in the round of 16, defeated by a trainer seven years younger than himself. Clemont and Bonnie returned back to the gym that Clemont ran, but Serena wanted to stick around with Ash. At this point, even Ash could tell Serena had a crush, no, more than a crush on him. Not that he was opposed to going out with her, he just needed to travel alone, so he turned her away.

He attempted explaining to her that he needed to travel on his own for once, but she was still visibly heartbroken. The whole incident made Ash feel guilty, but he had to make the decision for his career. He had never traveled on his own for any extended amount of time, and he thought doing so might help him perform better.

Just as he had planned, he had more training time, and less distractions on the road. He missed the company of human beings, but he enjoyed the company of his Pokémon. He won all of his gym battles, not requiring a single rematch or "you deserve it anyway" badge that he had received in past regions. He called in his best Pokémon from Professor Oak before the tournament began.

He used Pikachu, Charizard, Sceptile, Staraptor, Infernape, Krokodile, Samurott, and Garchomp in his rotation, only being allowed to use six in one battle, of course. He felt that if he wanted to advance further that he needed to use his strongest partners from all different regions, so he did just so.

All his training, preparation, and hard work amounted to next to nothing though. He was embarrassed in the quarterfinals, failing to knock out more than one of his opponent's six Pokémon. Contrary to his character, Ash gave up towards the end of the battle. He could tell he was outmatched after the opening minutes.

He flew out of the Shinto region that very night, wanting to return home. His stare was blank for a few days; it was obvious that a depression had fallen over the young man. His mother, Delia, chose not to interfere. As much as she wanted to, she knew that Ash had to deal with this problem himself. He had come to that point in life where his dream appeared impossible to achieve, and life lost its lust.

Now he was 19, and for the first time, the future was hazy. He felt that he had to give up on his dream of being a Pokémon Master, but he did not know what else he could do. He did not have a formal education past fifth grade, when he dropped out of school to go on his journey. Picking up a job would be next to impossible without so much as a high school diploma.

He had no education, no job, no ambition, and quite frankly, nothing positive to keep him going through this rough patch. He had yet to talk to anyone about his issues, not even Pikachu, so his endless thoughts swirled in his head without an escape route. Ash felt helpless; he had no one and nowhere to turn to.

One long week after returning home, Ash received a video call from his old friend Brock. After exchanging brief pleasantries, Brock got to the reason for his call. He was hoping to meet up with him and Misty while the three of them were all in the same region. He named a restaurant, and asked Ash to meet them there for lunch the next day.

"You busy tomorrow?" He asked.

"Yeah, I have plans." Ash lied.

It technically wasn't a complete lie. He was planning to do the same thing the next day that he had been for the previous week; mope. He still had not left the house since coming back. He hadn't felt like seeing or interacting with anyone just yet. However, he noticed just how long that he had been shutting himself in his room after he rejected Brock's offer, and he realized that he really did need to get out.

"But I can cancel them," He finished with a small smile.

Brock returned his smile, setting an exact time to meet, and hanging up the phone. Ash felt he had made the right choice. It was about time that he left his house and got back to real life. It was not likely that it could completely break the depression that he had, but it could maybe provide a break from it.

He headed back up to his room with something to look forward to for the first time since he departed Shinto.

XXX

Ash's eyes slowly opened up the next morning. The beeping of the alarm clock sounded on as Ash groaned from his awakening. As much as he wanted to stay in his bed longer, he had to make the obnoxious device shut up, so he threw the sheets off and got up. He lumbered over a couple steps to the dresser that his alarm clock rested on, and smacked at it repeatedly, eventually hitting the right button.

For the umpteenth time just that very week, Ash regretted not having his alarm clock within reach from the bed. He could hear his bed calling for him to crawl back in, but he remembered that he had plans at noon, and if he wanted to make them, he really needed to get moving. He trekked downstairs to the kitchen out of habit, but strangely enough, he did not find himself hungry.

He looked around for his mother, but she did not appear to be in the house, so he went ahead and got in the shower. The steaming hot water felt so good on his body that he stayed in there for about half an hour. By the time that he exited the shower and got dressed, his body was finally awake. Saying that he was full of energy would be a lie, but he did feel more upbeat than he had in days past.

The time was creeping up on 11 o'clock, which was when he was hoping to leave. He had to search through his room for a few minutes in hopes of finding his driver's license. He did not have a car, nor did he spend much time at home, so he did not keep it near him at all times like most young adults would.

He found his license in the back of a drawer on his dresser, and placing it his pants pocket, he scurried down the stairs. He picked up his jacket off the coat rack by the door, threw it on, and stepped outside. Despite spending the majority of his life outside, Ash was overcome by the beauty of the outdoors as he stepped onto the porch.

He hadn't been outside in an unusually long period of time for him, and he had almost forgotten what it was like. The sun was shining, yet it was not too hot. There were a handful of clouds in the sky, but there was no threat of rain. A small breeze hit Ash within seconds of standing in the outdoors, creating almost perfect weather.

All five of his senses were pleasantly affected when he entered the environment he was used to. It was enough for him to briefly forget about the troubles on his mind. He allowed himself to daydream, something he had not been able to do lately, until the sound of his mother's voice snapped him back into reality.

"Where are you going, honey?" She asked him from the front garden, seeing the car keys gripped in his hand.

"I'm meeting Brock and Misty," He said as he started moving to the car once more.

"When will you be back?" She asked.

"Don't know!" He hollered with his back to her.

Delia shook her head at her son, though it was probably the response she was expecting from him. She watched as he backed the black Ford Fusion out of the long driveway, and raced down the road at what appeared to be an over the limit speed. She was a little bit irked at his antics, but she was beyond happy to see Ash finally getting back into the real world.

Meanwhile, Ash noticed right off that he had not grabbed a GPS before he left. He had no idea how the roads were laid out, even in a city lacking many roads. He would have to rely on reading the street signs, which is a much more difficult task than it might sound to one who had never done so. A little bit of luck might have been required as well.

Surprisingly enough, 30 minutes later, Ash drove past a sign welcoming him to Cerulean City, where the gang had agreed to meet. Finding the restaurant proved to be the hardest task of all; the little café seemed to hide itself from any potential visitors. After circling through streets in irritation for nearly a quarter of an hour, Ash finally spotted his destination.

By the time he could find a parking spot, and walk inside, it was 11:50. Though he was five minutes late, Ash was pretty proud with himself for getting himself to the right place at nearly the right time. That was about as responsible as he could get. He spotted his friends, who were engaged in conversation, right as he opened up the door.

He stood still inside of the door, gazing at his first traveling companions. Misty, who happened to be the one facing the door, cut off her own sentence when her eyes glanced Ash's way. Her open mouth morphed into a smile at the sight of him. Ash attempted to grin back at her, but it had been so long since he smiled that it his lips sort of forgot how to.

Now that he had been spotted, Ash advanced towards the table and took the available seat. He looked left and right, back and forth, from Brock to Misty, and then from Misty to Brock. He had just seen Brock on the videophone the day before, but other than that, he had not seen either of them in a few years, and they both looked a lot different to him.

Brock still had spiky hair, but it had been cut back. He was the oldest of the group, yet he looked just as young as the other two. Ash could tell that he had been working out; his arms were a fair amount bigger, and his chest stuck out. Ash figured the only possible explanation for his improved physique would be an attempt to be more appealing to the ladies.

Misty still wore her hair in her signature sideways ponytail, and her face looked the same minus the minor changes that come with aging. Ash had always thought she was extremely pale, yet her skin tone was even lighter than he remembered. She was still a skinny girl, but the word scrawny could no longer apply. Her body had filled out, so she did not have a bony look.

"Well, Ash, how have you been?" Misty asked him.

Once the conversation got going, it never died down. Even though they had not been together in years, the group still found it easy to talk with one another. They stayed at the café, just enjoying conversation, for a while after they finished eating. Nobody had been watching the time because nobody had anywhere to be.

Unfortunately, that changed as a cell phone loudly sounded off. Brock snatched his phone from his pocket and answered the call as quickly as possible. Brock was no longer in charge of the Pewter City Gym, but clearly, Forrest, who was in charge, needed his assistance with something. Brock hung up the phone in irritation, stating he had to go.

"It was good seeing you guys; I hope we can get together again!" Brock rushed out the door hardly before Ash or Misty could process that he had to leave.

"I guess we should get going too," Ash stated to Misty unsurely, raising his voice like it was a question.

Misty nodded her head with an amount of reluctance, flashing a small smile in the process.

"Actually," she started, "If you don't have anywhere to be, I could show you around the gym. We made a few renovations."

"Sure!" Caught off guard, Ash hesitated in his answer, but there was no hesitation in his decision-making process.

Misty kindly calculated the 20% tip, knowing Ash would struggle with the math. They left the small, uncrowded restaurant, and drove the short distance to the Cerulean Gym, with Ash following behind Misty, who knew the way there. There was no parking lot at the gym, since all trainers made their journey on foot, but there was plenty of parking space on the side of a nearby street.

The outside of the building looked the same to Ash; a large circular building, with a predominantly yellow paint, though it had stripes of pink. A design of a wave wrapped around the roof of the structure, and a large Dewgong sat on top of that wave. Seeing the building reminded Ash of his very first journey, and nostalgic pains hit him hard.

Why did things have to change?

A/N: I have had less free time than I anticipated, and honestly, when I have had some, I have not been writing. It just hasn't sounded appealing to me, and I know the quality of my products will suffer if I feel forced to write something. I have not even started on the journey story that you all voted on; it might have to be pushed all the way back to next summer unfortunately.

It will likely be weeks, maybe even months until I can get this story updated. My goal is to get it done by the end of the January, but that is a rough estimate, since I have no clue how lengthy this story will turn out.

Please feel free to critique me in the reviews! Writing a chaptered story brings on new challenges, such as where to end a chapter. I'm not too happy with how this one ended. I'm rambling now.

Adios!