Author's Note: Hey I'm back with a new story. I apologise to those of you following me for my hiatus, real life got in the way. I decided to delete my old stories because I felt they just weren't up to standard but I'm back with a new one. This will be the only chapter for a while, in a way it's just a teaser. This will be finished though I promise you I'm making good progress with it. That's enough of me talking hope you enjoy, please review so I can know how to get better and sorry again. Enjoy!

What Makes a Hero?

Chapter 1

A teenage boy casually strolled down the path leading to Pallet Town. He had his trusty Pikachu on his shoulder as he walked. He wore a blue zipped hoodie, navy jeans, red trainers and a red hat with a white half pokéball on it.

His name was Ash Ketchum and at this moment in time, he was on top of the world. Six months ago, Ash won the Kalos League finally achieving a tremendous step forward towards his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master. After his victory, he jumped at the chance to take the Elite 4 challenge. He had to choose one each from different regions, and after defeating Agatha of Kanto and Drake of Hoenn, he decided to go and visit his hometown of Pallet.

The next battle he was scheduled to have would be against Lucian of Sinnoh. He chose to come back to Pallet Town for a few reasons. He wanted to train with all his Pokémon at Professor Oak's lab and, of course, he wanted to visit his mother and Professor Oak and Tracey too.

Although Ash loved traveling, it was always good to take the odd break. He was looking forward to a nice, quiet, peaceful rest in the town he grew up in.

As Ash turned the corner and Pallet Town came into view, he turned to his long-time traveling companion.

"You excited to see everyone, buddy?" He asked.

"Pi Pikachu." The Electric-Mouse Pokémon replied, making a peace sign with its paw.

Ash, unable to wait any longer, sprinted as fast as he could towards the small settlement with Pikachu desperately clinging on to Ash's shoulder.

When Ash finally reached his house, he pulled up and took several deep breaths. When he caught his breath, he saw an irritated Pikachu not very happy with him.

"Sorry about that buddy." Ash said sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head.

Pikachu only sighed at his trainer's antics. The two walked through the front gate and saw a familiar Pokémon.

"Mr. Mime, great to see you again." Ash said to the Pokémon currently sweeping the front yard.

"Mime, Mr. Mime." He replied with a happy wave.

"Is my mom inside?" Ash asked.

"Mime." The Pokémon added while nodding.

"Great, thanks." Ash said as he ran past his mother's Pokémon, who resumed sweeping.

Ash opened the front door excitedly and made his way inside.

"Hey Mom, I'm h-" The rest of his sentence was cut off, along with his oxygen intake, as his mother pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.

"Oh Ash, I'm so happy you're home." Delia Ketchum squealed as she refused to let her boy go.

"Uh...Mom...can't...breath." Ash managed to get out and his mother finally released him.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She laughed. "It's just that I haven't seen you since the Kalos League awards ceremony. Why don't you go into the living room Ash? There's a few people waiting in there to see you."

"Um okay." Ash said, he was curious as to who was here to see him.

When he crossed the threshold, he was taken aback at the number of people there and all of them happily cheered his name when he arrived.

As he looked around, he saw Brock, Misty, May, Max, Dawn, Cilan, Iris, Clemont, Bonnie and Serena.

After exchanging hugs with the girls and handshakes with the males, Ash was still dumbfounded.

"What...why are you all here?" Ash stuttered. Pikachu had jumped off his shoulder during the human reunion and was now happily reuniting with Piplup, Glaceon, Axew and Dedenne.

"Aww, are you not happy to see us, Ash?" Dawn asked faking crying.

"No. It's just-" Ash was trying to explain but couldn't get the words out.

"Come on guys, let's give him a break." May spoke up while placing a hand on his shoulder.

Ash felt warm inside at the touch, confusing him a little.

"Thanks May." He smiled at her.

"No problem." She replied, trying to hide the slight tint of crimson that crossed her face.

"Okay kids," Delia spoke up. "It's getting a little crowded in here so why don't we all go over to Professor Oaks?"

Everyone voiced their agreement and soon they were on the short trek to the Lab. Ash found himself walking beside May and decided this was a good time to catch up.

"Hey May," He started. "I don't think I got a chance to say this earlier but congratulations on becoming Top Co-Ordinator in Sinnoh. I know how hard the contests in that region are through traveling with Dawn."

"Thanks Ash." She replied cheerfully with a wide smile. "It took a lot of work, but when I beat Drew in the final it was all worth it."

"So, Drew followed you to Sinnoh huh?" Ash asked casually, trying to keep his true feelings of dislike towards the boy hidden.

"Ugh, I know." May answered. The way she said it made Ash think that she wasn't too fond of him either. "Halfway through Johto I realised what kind of person he really was. Then, when I went to Sinnoh and was competing for my 3rd ribbon, I faced off against him. He beat me then, but I left as soon as possible. I didn't want to speak to him at all.

Ash was curious as to where May's disdain for Drew originated from, but he didn't want to pry.

"Anyway Ash." She continued. "Enough about me, congratulations for winning the Kalos League. Not to mention the Elite 4 wins you've had so far. You're so close to your dream now."

"Thank you." Ash replied genuinely. "It was a lot of hard work against a lot of talented trainers, but it was all finally worth it in the end.

Ash reflected fondly on his route through to the Kalos League final. His journey to the championship match was far from an easy one. In the very first match he had to face off against Tierno. It was a tough battle due to Tierno's unique dance battle style but eventually, Pikachu was able to defeat his Blastoise.

After a couple more rounds, Ash matched up against Sawyer and his Mega Sceptile in the quarter-finals.

After they each lost 5, Ash and his Charizard managed to overcome the powerful pair.

Ash got a massive shock in the semi-final. It turned out his opponent would be Cameron. The trainer who defeated Ash in the Unova League while only using 5 Pokémon. This time, in a full 6-on-6, Ash managed to beat him after his Synchro Greninja managed to defeat Cameron's Mega Lucario.

The final though, was a whole different level of intensity.

"Ash come on, hurry it up." Dawn called back to him. Due to his reflection, he fell quite a bit behind.

Soon, the group finally arrived at Professor Oak's Lab. Delia rang the doorbell and soon Tracey opened the door to meet them.

"Hey gang, we were expecting you." He told them with a wide smile. He led them all to the back of the lab where they exited to the outside. Set up out there was a row of four tables to seat everyone there.

When Ash walked outside, he was immediately swarmed by all his Pokémon. Even though he trained with all of them during the Kalos League and the Elite 4 challenge, they still missed him when he went away, no matter how short a time he was gone.

"Okay guys, settle down." Ash laughed. Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder to join the group of his familiar friends.

"Hey no fair." Bonnie cried. "I want to be hugged by all the Pokémon too."

Hearing this, Ash nodded at one of his Pokémon who understood the message.

Totodile ran over to Bonnie and started to dance excitedly around Bonnie. Bonnie laughed happily and joined Totodile in dancing along with Dedenne.

"You know Ash, Totodile would be great in performances." Serena commented, staring at the dancing Pokémon.

"Tierno would love him as well." Clemont laughed.

"Ever since Ash caught that Totodile it loved to dance." Misty piped up. "It even does a little jig every time it gets out of his pokéball."

"Well, well. Look who came home." Came a mocking voice.

Ash turned and saw his first rival Gary Oak standing beside his grandfather, Professor Samuel Oak.

"It's been a long time Ashy-Boy." Gary said, extending his hand.

"Too long." Ash laughed as the two Pallet natives shook hands.

"Ash, wonderful to see you again." Professor Oak greeted.

"You too, Professor."

"Hey Ash," Gary started. "There's someone else who really wanted to see you."

Ash looked behind Gary and saw a girl with brown hair and blue eyes. She wore a white hat with a red half pokéball on it. She also had a white sleeveless blouse and a red skirt. She was looking at Ash with a big smile.

"Leaf?" He asked.

He quickly went over to the girl and the two exchanged a hug.

May looked on with a frown. She then turned to Brock.

"Hey, Brock." She said. "Who's that?"

"That's Leaf," He answered. "She left on her Pokémon journey the same day as Ash and Gary. She battled me once before for a Gym Badge. She managed to win using her Bulbasaur."

"Is she from Pallet Town too?" Max asked, also curious about the girl.

"Yep. She, Ash and Gary all grew up within a space of a couple of miles." Professor Oak pitched in.

"It's been way too long Ash." Leaf said to her childhood friend. "We haven't talked since we left Pallet when we were 10."

"I know, I'm sorry." Ash said sheepishly. "Sometimes it's hard to keep in touch while traveling."

"I understand." Leaf told him. "It looks like you made quite a few friends on your travels.

"I sure did, let me introduce you." Leaf exchanged pleasantries with everyone for the next few minutes.

"Okay everyone," Cilan called. "The food is ready."

"All right!" Ash and May cheered loudly, getting a few strange looks because of it.

"Such little kids." Iris remarked while shaking her head.

When they all sat down, Ash noticed a seat were vacant.

"Hey, why is there an empty seat?" He wondered aloud.

"Oh, I invited one more person to come. He said he might be late, but we thought we'd set up seats just in case." Serena told him.

"Who?" Ash inquired.

"It's a surprise." Serena answered with a wink.

"Will they have enough food?" May asked.

"Not at the rate you and Ash are going." Misty remarked causing the table to laugh and Ash and May to look sheepish.

Both the humans and Pokémon were thoroughly enjoying the chance to catch up, although Ash and May were doing more eating than talking.

Many people kept glancing back and forth between Ash and his Pokémon.

There was a striking similarity between the way Ash ate and the way his Snorlax did.

"I don't know if Snorlax took his manners from Ash or if it was the other way around." Dawn said, appalled by the sight in front of her.

"Ok, but what's May's excuse then?" Brock pointed out getting a laugh from everyone.

May slightly looked up from her food but decided that the food was more important and went back to devouring it.

Ash heard the doorbell ring.

"I'll get it." Ash informed everyone.

When Ash opened the door, he was surprised to see who was standing in front of him.

It was a boy around his age. He had jet black hair and green eyes. He wore a tight fit sleeveless shirt and black shorts along with blue sneakers. He also wore a shooter sleeve on his right arm.

"Gaz, great to see you man." Ash cheered.

"You too." Gaz stated with a wide smile. "I knew when you beat me in the Kalos League that you could beat the Elite 4."

"I haven't done it yet." Ash said modestly.

"Yet?" Gaz noticed with a smile.

"Let me introduce you to everyone else." Ash said, leading him through Oak's lab.

"Hey guys," Ash called when he reached the garden. "Some of you know him, but for those who don't, this is Gaz."

Serena, Clemont and Bonnie knew him, but no-one else did.

"Wait, are you the guy Ash beat in the League final?" Max asked, finally recognising him.

"Yeah," Gaz answered. "Sorry I'm late but I had to meet up with someone else earlier."

"Well, you're welcome here now." Delia said with a smile.

"Thank you." Gaz replied.

"I remember you now." Dawn piped up. "I saw you compete in the Kalos League. You were really strong."

"Thanks, you're Dawn, right?" Gaz asked. "I saw you in the Performance Contests before. You're really good."

"Oh, thank you." Dawn replied with a small blush on her cheek.

"I have to say Gaz and Ash," Professor Oak started. "You two put on an amazing battle in the finals. The best I've seen in years."

"Your Infernape is really strong Gaz." Max told him. "Its battle with Ash's Infernape was epic."

"Oh, thanks." Gaz said sheepishly.

"Mega Absol vs Ash's Greninja when it changed form was amazing too." Max continued, getting misty eyed.

"Umm... thanks." Gaz was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable at Max's eagerness.

Ash was just laughing at the scene when suddenly he heard a voice in his head.

"I must talk to you." The voice said to him.

"Who is this?" Ash thought, he experienced this before and immediately recognised it Pokémon Telepathy.

"Do you not remember me?" The voice asked. "Perhaps a little reminder. Remember our exploits in Unova involving Genesect?"

Ash suddenly recognised whose voice it was, something that did not go un-noticed by the Pokémon.

"I see you recall the incident now." It said calmly. "May we speak in person now?"

"Sure, where?" Ash thought.

"At the top of that nearby hill, under the cover of the trees." The voice told him.

''I'm on my way" Ash told it.

"Wait! Danger is coming." The voice exclaimed. "Be prepared, there is an ambush coming."

"What? Danger in what way?" Ash asked.

"I must hide for the time being. If they see me, they will attempt to capture me. Once you defeat them, meet me where I told you. Be careful." After that, the voice disappeared, leaving Ash in confusion.

His thoughts were interrupted though when he heard a series of screams. He turned and found himself and all his friends surrounded by dozens of people wearing the familiar attire of Team Rocket.

One person stood out to Ash though. He did not wear the uniform like the rest of his associates. He had purple hair and wore a purple jacket. It was someone far too familiar to Ash. As he walked calmly towards Ash, a rare smirk crossed his face, but his eyes were cold.

"Hello Ash," Paul sneered. "It's been a long time."