Chapter 1: Returning to Society

Note: I do not own Pokémon. Pokémon is owned by Nintendo and I in no way shape or form, claim in any way that I own Pokémon with this story. This story is purely made up for entertainment purposes.

Okay first things first, I'm making this fanfiction mainly because I have been a big fan of Rayshipping stories because I like Cynthia and I like the whole concept of Ash being betrayed by close friends which motivates him to become the very best. Just so everyone knows, the beginning part of the story on how Ash is betrayed was NOT MY IDEA. I have borrowed the idea of Ash getting betrayed by his friends right before he was going to challenge Cynthia from the story 'Lost Friendships' written by darkness65. I give him full credit for that part of my story which takes place during the flash back. However, that will most likely be the only part I will be taking from his incomplete fanfic. The rest of the story I am going to write will be my work only.

A lone man stood on the peak of Mt. Silver. The most dangerous and treacherous mountain in all of the Pokémon world housing the most fearsome and powerful Pokémon.

This lone man was looking out into the horizon lost in thought seemingly admiring the beauty of the mountain as it was covered in snow which was sparkling while bathing in the sunlight. He was undisturbed from the height at which he stood as if he looked down then you could see a few clouds and the seemingly endless drop to the earth's crust.

There was a cave a few metres behind the man where a creature stood hiding from sight. It then appeared right behind the man with amazing speed and raised it's arm to deliver a punch to him at the back. This creature had a canine like face with tear-drop shaped ears, one spike coming out of his two paws and his chest which was covered in a white coloured fur, while standing on it's two legs. This was the Pokémon Lucario, however it was a different colour as this Lucario was pure white from head to two except for its black-coloured eyes.

Lucario then launched it's arm full force towards the back of the person, however, his arm was met with a blue coloured shield which completely absorbed the attack and didn't harm or even budge the man at all.

Lucario then took a step back and asked the man "How long have you known I was here master?"

The man turned around and replied with "The entire time Lucario. You have to work on concealing your aura to make it difficult for me to detect you. If you had, you might have succeeded in landing your punch."

"Yes master."

"Lucario, how many times have I told you not to call me master."

"171 times master."

The man sweat-dropped "That was a rhetorical question Lucario. And I'm not your master, I'm your friend, partner, and family and we are both equals, just call me by my name."

"Yes master."

The man rolled his eyes in annoyance as he had been constantly asking Lucario not to call him master for the past few years, yet he never listened to him. The man thought 'It must be in their genes to call their trainer master.'

A small mouse Pokémon then ran out of the cave and hopped onto the man's shoulders and said "Hey Ash, Lucario. What's up?"

Ash replied with "Nothing Pikachu. We were just training.". He then scratched the small mouse behind his ears which caused Pikachu to let out a "Chaaa" of contentment.

Ash then turned around and faced towards the horizon once again, enjoying the slow sun-set which caused the sky to glow a different shades of orange. He let out a sigh after a few moments and got lost in thought.

Lucario noticed this and asked him "What's wrong master? Is their anything on your mind?"

"Nothing's wrong Lucario. I'm just remembering that day again."

Flashback….

Ash had recently won the Lily of the Valley Island Sinnoh League Conference and was presented with his trophy as well as the opportunity to take the elite four challenge which he had gladly accepted. He had managed to get past the elite four one after the other after the some hard-fought and intense battles.

He was on a battle field near the Pokémon center training for his upcoming battle against Cynthia the Sinnoh region champion and the women he had a crush on. Ash had two weeks to prepare and he spent all that time training day in and day out to get his Pokémon in tip-top shape. With only two days left until his battle, he was excited and pumped more then ever.

While commanding his Pokémon to do some sparring, Ash noticed large amounts of smoke coming from a building near him. He quickly recalled his Pokémon and ran over to the building which only took a few minutes. Ash's eyes widened in horror when he realized that the building that was on fire was the building in which Cynthia and her Pokémon were training in. He quickly took out his Pokémon to try to take out the fire with the use of sand, wind and water which slowly started to douse the flames. Only a minute later while his Pokémon were continuing to douse the fire, fire trucks, paramedics and police car arrived on the scene.

A few minutes later, the combined efforts of everyone managed to take out all the flames and all the Pokémon that were trapped inside the building came out and seemed virtually unharmed. Ash started to look around for Cynthia but couldn't find her. He thought maybe she was at the Pokémon center so he decided to head over there. The moment he stepped through the glass doors, he was relieved to find Cynthia with Brock, Dawn, May, Max, Misty, officer Jenny and nurse Joy.

Ash walked up to them and quickly said "Cynthia, I'm so glad to see your alright."

However, Ash was just met with glares and after a moment of silence, Cynthia cried out "How could you?! You tried to injure my Pokémon before our battle."

Hearing this stunned Ash and he quickly replied with "What are you talking about, I never tried to injure your Pokémon. I was at the battle field near the Pokémon center training my Pokémon when I saw the fire break out. I quickly ran over and helped in taking out the fire." While Pikachu was nodding and agreeing to his partner's statements.

Officer Jenny then walked up to him and said "Oh really? Well we have eye-witnesses saying that they saw someone in exactly out your get-up who set the building on fire."

Hearing this caused Cynthia to ran out of the Pokémon center in tears which had caused Ash to be heart broken to see her like this. Officer Jenny continued to question Ash on his whereabouts and what he was doing. Eventually Officer Jenny turned to his friends and asked them "Can you guys confirm if Ash was training and he had no reason to do this kind of thing?"

Ash had expected them to defend and support him, but what he heard next shocked him to his very core while rage was built up inside Pikachu he heard what his partner's friends had to say. Brock said "We saw him go towards the battlefield and he said he was going to train but he could have been anywhere at the time. He could have easily gone to where Cynthia was training and set the place on fire."

Dawn added "Yeah Ash would do anything to win. He was always obsessed with becoming a champion and he could go to any length to get what he wants."

Max then said a lie hoping that Jenny would arrest him and they would be in the clear "Me and May even heard him saying that he was going to burn Cynthia's training building down with all her Pokémon when she wasn't in there."

May and Misty then said in unison "Yeah! Arrest him."

Ash was stunned to hear all this coming from his friends. Friends that he had risked his life for. He was on the verge of tears but the sheer anger and feeling of betrayal had overcome him and prevented from displaying his sorrow. Officer Jenny then nodded her head at the group and said "Ash Ketchum, you are now banned from entering any tournaments and your trainer's license is now revoked. I now hereby arrest you on the suspicion of trying to harm Sinnoh champion Cynthia's Pokémon." Just as Officer Jenny was about to handcuff Ash, he ran away and out the door as he didn't want to be arrested for a crime he didn't commit and with his so-called friends betraying him, he doubted he would have been freed. There were so many mixed emotions inside him that he didn't care about the consequences of running away, he just wanted to get away from all this. Officer Jenny quickly yelled "Stop!" and then ran after him.

Brock then said "That pretty much confirms that Ash is guilty. I hope he gets arrested right away." All of Brocks friends nodded, agreeing to his statement.

After, about 20 minutes of running, Ash had made his way deep into a nearby forest and soon called out Charizard who let a loud roar. Thankfully, he had lost the Officer Jenny's and since he was deep into the forest, the loud roar couldn't be heard. Ash then explained the situation to Charizard who had an infuriating look on his face and then he along with Pikachu got on Charizard and signalled him to ride him to Pallet Town. Ash thought in his head 'How could they do this too me? After all I had done for them, why? Mom I need help…'

Around 4 hours later of continuous flying, Charizard descended onto a hill that overlooked Pallet Town and was panting heavily when Ash and Pikachu had gotten off. He then said "Thanks Charizard. Sorry about making you fly here without taking a break." Charizard replied with a small grunt and then nuzzled against Ash's cheek reassuring him that it was no problem before he was engulfed by a red light and started resting inside his poke ball.

The young boy then ran towards his home hoping to find solace in his mother after his friend's betrayal. Ash eventually made his way to his home and knocked on the front door. After, a few moments, a middle-aged women opened the door and was shocked to find he soon there as she was expecting him to be preparing for this big match coming up soon. Delia soon over came her shock before she gave Ash a bone-crushing hug and said "Ash. It's so great to see you but what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be preparing for your big matching coming soon?"

Ash returned her hug and released all his built up emotions that he had kept bottled up for the past few hours. All he could muster to say was "Mom!"

Delia was rather surprised to see her son crying so much in her arms and out of worry she asked "Ash what's wrong? Why are you crying so much?"

However, Ash didn't respond to her question but rather just kept on crying. After a few minutes of crying in his mother's arms and letting all his emotions flow out of him he managed to look up to her with teary blood-shot eyes and said "Mom…can…we go inside? We…need to talk."

Delia was confused as too what was going on but she gently nodded her head and took her son along with Pikachu who was quietly watching the scene unfold and tears dropping down his eyes as well. Once inside their home, Delia sat Ash and Pikachu down on the sofa in the living room before fetching both of them a glass of water and then sitting beside them to hear what was going on. Once Ash was able to get a grip of himself, he told Delia everything that happened. After, the story was over, Delia was in complete shock of how such close friends can do something like that.

Delia then asked her son "So Ash what do you plan on doing now? If the police are looking for you they will probably come over here."

"Mom I think I'll just disappear. I'm going to go to Professor Oak's lab and see if he can help me."

Although Delia hated to see her son go away from her she knew this was for the best so after giving her son a big hug and a tearful goodbye, Ash went off to the lab.

The young boy along with Pikachu on his shoulders made it to the lab and knocked on the front door a few times and moments later Gary Oak, Ash's childhood rival, opened the door. Needless, to say Gary was shocked to see Ash there as he thought that he would be in Sinnoh training for his big upcoming match against the champion. After, the young researcher got over his shock he asked "Ash, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be training in Sinnoh? And what's with the gloomy face?"

"Gary can I come inside? I need to talk with you and Professor Oak."

Although hesitant at first due to the confusion inside Gary's head, he quickly invited them inside and sat them down on the sofa in the living room and went to fetch Professor Oak. After, a minute or two, Professor Oak came into the living room along with his grandson and they both took their seats on the sofa's before Oak asked "Ash my-boy. What's going on?"

Ash took a moment to look at them and then let out a small sigh before he told them everything that happened in Sinnoh. Gary's face was visibly fuming and he said "Why, those two-timing, backstabbing FUCKING…."

Oak interrupted him and said "Watch your language young man. Anyways, Ash what do you plan on doing now? You can't stay here."

Ash replied with "I think I'm going to go to Mt. Silver and just stay there and train my Pokémon. What I do from there, I'm not sure."

"Are you sure Ashy-boy? You do know Mt. Silver is the highest most dangerous mountain in the entire world that houses the most dangerous and fierce Pokémon from all 6 regions."

Ash calmly replied with "Yeah I know. That's why I want to go there."

Oak took a moment to think before he said "Well, Ash I do know your Pokémon are top-notch and I'm sure you will be able to handle Mt. Silver and all the challenges it has to offer so I think you should go there. However, before you do leave I'm going to give you something. It was originally given to me so it can help with my research but I think you should have it." Professor Oak then got up and left for another room leaving a curious Ash and a surprised Gary.

A few minutes later the Professor came back into the room with what seemed like a slightly larger version of a poke dex. He sat down before he started to explain everything on the poke dex and information on Mt. Silver "So Ash my-boy, this is a Mf-Poke dex (Multi-Functional) and it has many features. This handy little gadget comes with a, Video calling system so you can call from anywhere around the world, a 3D holographic display of any Pokémon you scan along with its information, a 3D holographic map display on any place that's currently known to the world, and it can also transfer Pokémon from where ever you are to me. I already assigned this poke dex to your name but I also enabled you to carry an unlimited number of Pokémon with you at all times as I don't think it would be safe for you to leave your Pokémon here at my ranch for the time being. Furthermore, I didn't officially register your poke dex so in a case its 'off the grid' so in the unlikely case your discovered, no one will be able to track you using this. And since you plan on training at Mt. Silver, it only makes sense that you have your all your Pokémon with you at all times."

Ash was shocked at how far the Professor was willing to go for him. He then displayed his gratitude "Thanks a lot Professor. I really appreciate everything you are doing for me."

"Its nothing Ash." replied Professor Oak

Gary then promptly stated "Ash I think we should start gathering up all your Pokémon as I don't think you stay here much longer in case the police decide to show up."

Both Ash and Oak nodded to this before getting up and started to get all of Ash's Pokémon. Gary made calls to all the people Ash had left some of this Pokémon with but made sure to come up with random reason's on why they were needed as he wasn't who to trust at this point. Professor Oak made his way to the Pokémon storage room where many of the pokeballs were kept and gathered all of Ash's. Meanwhile Ash and Pikachu had gathered all of his Pokémon and informed them of the situation to which they responded with roars and growls of anger. Once Ash had gathered all this Pokémon, he told them to wait near the lab so that Oak can recall them before calling out Charizard heading towards the forest near Pallet Town on his back along with Pikachu. Ash managed to find his old friend Pidgeot that he had left there and told him of his current situation while also asking him if he wanted to be apart of his team again. When Pidgeot nodded, Ash quickly recaptured it before heading back to Professor Oak's lab.

He found Professor Oak and Gary standing on the front door steps of the lab with a bag and made his way over to them after dismounting Charizard. Oak handed him the bag and said "Well this is everything you'll n

eed Ash. All your Pokémon are in here along with a few things I packed that will help you on your trip. Since I know you plan on flying to Mt. Silver I recommend you to not fly your way all the top as it will be extremely dangerous for you and Charizard. Instead you should fly to the base of the Mt. Silver and climb your way up as there is a cave that you can enter near the base which can easily lead you to pretty much anywhere in the mountain. Also there is a Pokémon center at the base of the mountain which you'll be able to use to heal your Pokémon and don't worry the Nurse Joy there is a very good friend of mine and you can trust her."

Ash nodded and said "Thanks Professor. For everything you have done for me. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to repay you. Also can you inform my mother of everything and tell her I'll stay in regular contact with her."

Gary huffed and said "No sweat Ash, we'll take care of your mother. You just leave everything to us. Now go and become the most powerful trainer in the world and show everyone why they should never have doubted you."

Ash gave his first smile since he had gone through his ordeal and left on Charizard but rather then head straight for Mt. Silver, he decided to gather all his Pokémon that he had left in the wild before heading towards the treacherous mountain and facing its challenges.

End Flashback….

After a few moments of waiting in silence Lucario said "Don't worry about it master, eventually those memories will fade away and you'll be able to let go of the past."

Ash sighed and replied with "If only it were that easy my friend, if only…"

Pikachu and Lucario's ears perked up while Ash closed his eyes, all three sensing a presence closing in on them. Pikachu then said while pointing downwards off the cliff where a figure could be seen approaching them from the clouds "Look Ash, there is a Pidgeot headed our way but its not the one from our family"

"Yes I see him my friend but I wonder how he is even able to fly up here, more importantly why is he here."

The Pidgeot then landed behind Ash near the front of the cave before greeting itself "Hello, you must be Ash." Ash replied with a small nod "I have come here bearing a message from Scott." The Pidgeot then grabbed a letter that was inside a bag strapped around him and handed it to the young man standing before him.

Ash was now confused and curious as many thoughts were racing through his mind 'What could Scott want. The only other time he contacted me was when he found out what happened to me and somehow managed to find where I was.' Ash quickly snapped himself out of his thoughts and opened the mail up and found a letter, a form and a booklet inside. The letter said:

Dear Ash,

How have you been on that mountain of yours? I must say you have made quite the name for yourself. Anyways, back to the real reason I'm sending this letter is because I wanted to invite you to a tournament that is going to be held 3 weeks from now. It's called "The Champions Tournament" where every good trainer around the world compete for the title of 'Pokémon Master' including champions and elite four members. It would be an amazing opportunity to show the world how good you are since I have no doubt that you will be able to win this competition and I think its high time you return back to society since you were cleared 3 years ago. This tournament is only held once every decade so I really think you should join and if you do say yes, fill out the form and put it back in the envelope and give it to Pidgeot who will come back to me and give me the form. Any and all information regarding the tournament is in the booklet that I sent with this letter and there should also be a card there which will give you access to the Hotel Room I booked for you on the Island where this is taking place. Well good luck and I hope to see you there.

Sincerely Scott

P.S Make sure to bring some of your legendary Pokémon with you, I really want to see them that's if you want to. Also just a side note, not sure if you care or not but Cynthia has been looking for you for the past 3 years now.

After finishing reading the letter, Ash went deep into thought 'Should I go back? I mean I have been thinking about it for a while now and this would be a great way to show our strength to the world now. Has Cynthia really been looking for me all this time. I wonder how she is doing?'

He quickly snapped out from his thoughts when Lucario asked "Master what's wrong? What did the letter say?"

"Nothing's wrong Lucario. Scott has invited us to the biggest tournament of the decade and the winner will receive the title of 'Pokémon Master'. He also said that Cynthia has been looking for me for the past 3 years now." Replied Ash in a sad tone with also a very small red blush on his cheeks when he thought of Cynthia.

Pikachu then quickly said "But Ash I thought you were already a 'Pokémon Master'?"

This gave the young man a slight chuckle before he said "Well to you guys I am as we are all aware of your strength but this will be just a way to show the whole world now." After he was done talking, Ash gave a small sigh while a faint blush came on his cheeks which didn't go unnoticed by Lucario.

"You're thinking about her again aren't you master?"

"Yes Lucario. I still can't seem to get her out of my mind or heart"

"Well this tournament will be a great way for you to tell her how you feel since all the champions will be participating in this tournament" said Pikachu.

"I doubt the feeling is mutual Pikachu. Especially since last time I was accused of harming her Pokémon. Anyway, by now she probably has moved on and has someone else in her life."

"Well it won't hurt to try will it master? I mean if she has been looking for you for the past 3 years then I'm sure she might have some feelings for you."

"Who knows, buddy, who knows…"

Ash then turned his attention to Pidgeot who was quietly plucking away at his feathers while also secretly listening to the conversation. He then walked up to the bird and said "Pidgeot do you mind if I give you my answer tomorrow? Until then you can stay here with us."

Pidgeot thought for a second before nodding his head and saying out his name. Ash led him inside the cave along with Lucario and Pikachu and made his way through the cave and in a minute or show they were inside an extremely large cavern where he could see all his Pokémon sparring against one another. Although the Pidgeot was intimidated at first with all the Pokémon at first, Ash reassured him and told all his Pokémon to make the Pidgeot feel at home. All his Pokémon roared in approval and went back to training after they had taken the brief moment to pause and listen to what their trainer had to say.

Pikachu and Lucario then started to introduce Pidgeot to some of their friends, however he took a quick liking to the female Pidgeot that belonged to Ash. Ash saw this and smirked before he sat down on a nearby large rock that stood right beside a small pond with a mini waterfall and began to silently contemplate on his decision whether to go back to society or stay in seclusion. He thought to himself 'Hmmm. What should I do…'

Well here is my first Ash betrayal fanfic and I really hope you guys like this prologue. The chapters will be much longer from now on and hopefully I'll write a lot more. I know many people will say that in these types of stories, Ash is usually shown as being too over-powered however I plan on trying to avoid that and make his battles actually difficult when he faces top tier trainers. I would love lots of reviews and feed back on how I may be able to improve this story. I would also appreciate if anyone is willing to be my beta reader then just PM me. One final question I would like to ask you guys is if you guys would want me to include some lemon scenes between Ash and Cynthia in the distant future.

I hope you guys and girls like this story and give me lots of feedback. Thanks and have a nice day.