Here is the first chapter I hope you enjoy.

If any of the readers of the original version of this story have questions about future events please PM them to me. If you leave them in reviews, you could spoil the story for new readers.

In conversations:

'- Translation of Poké Speech – No human unless otherwise stated can understand it. Ash can understand it due to his Aura.

"- Human speech

"- Telepathy/Aura

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, if I did then Ash would have won a league by now.

A man is standing at the peak of Mount Quena gazing off into the distance. A Meowth was sitting on his shoulder sat and a Lucario stood to his right. The man is about twenty one years old, stood a little over six foot and had a lean build. His main features were his messy raven black hair and his chocolate brown eyes, which seemed to have a hint of blue.

Behind him, a group Pokémon were battling each other. The Pokémon were a Blastoise, a Feraligatr a Charizard, an Infernape, a Meganium, a Donphan, a Heliolisk, a Primeape, a Butterfree, an Aurorus, a Luxray, an Absol, a Glaceon, a Gardevoir, a Milotic, a Flygon, a Tyranitar, a Scizor, Porygon Z, a Sceptile and a Rotom.

The sounds of their attacks clashing echoed through the mountains and the man could feel the very ground shaking as the destructive attacks created massive shockwaves through the mountains. Most people would be worried by this however the man knew that his Pokémon had excellent control of their attacks so there was no chance of them causing any damage to the surrounding area.

As the man stared off into the distance the Meowth perched on his shoulder noticed the faraway look in his friend's eyes and was worried about the man. He had gone through a lot during his life and Meowth knew that his friend tended to dwell on one particular day that had happen just over seven years ago.

"Hey boss are ya thinking about dat day again?" Meowth asked in concern.

The man looked at the cat with a blank expression on his face; he nodded sadly and then turned his gaze back to the beautiful view in front of him.

"Yes unfortunately. I remember it as if it was yesterday." he said in an emotionless voice

Flashback (7 years ago)

Ash was walking home alone after his defeat to Tobias in the Sinnoh league. Although he was disappointed to lose again he took pride in the fact that not only had he taken down two legendary Pokémon which was something that nobody else had done, he had also gotten further than ever before by getting to the semi-finals and finishing fourth. Ash was a little disappointed that he had been placed fourth since he was sure that had he gone against either of the other semi-finalists he would have won his semi-final match and finished up second rather than fourth.

Pallet Town finally came into view and Ash couldn't stop a massive grin plastering itself in his face. As much as he loved travelling and meeting new Pokémon, he always missed home. He started to pick up the pace as he headed towards home until he broke into a run, he dodged passed the inhabitants of Pallet Town yelling out apologies to anyone he accidentally collided with. By the time he got to his house he was out of breath, he took a few moments to regain his breath and he knocked on the door. The door opened moments later revealing his mother who had a huge smile on her face.

"Hi mum it's great to see you." Ash said happily.

His mother lunged forward and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug, Ash returned the hug but he could feel the air being gradually squeezed out of his lungs.

"Mum I can't breathe." Ash croaked.

Delia reluctantly released her hold on Ash, which allowed the young trainer to breathe again. She turned her attention to Pikachu and scratched behind the mouse's ears.

"Sorry Ash I'm just so happy to see you back home again."

"I'm happy to be back. How about I tell you everything that has happened over the past year."

"I would love to hear what has happened. But Professor Oak wants to see you at his lab."

"Why?" Ash asked in confusion.

"Sorry honey but I don't know, Professor Oak just told me that it was important."

"Ok I'll be back as soon as I am done at the lab."

Ash shot out of the door with Pikachu barely keeping a grasp on the young trainers shoulder and he ran straight to Professor Oak's lab. He walked through the open door and looked in the main room. In the room sat almost all of his past travelling companions as well as Professor Oak. Ash looked at the serious looks on his friend's faces and wondered what was wrong.

"Hey guys what's up?" He asked as he sat in one of the vacant seats.

"Ash we need to talk to you about something very important. So be quiet and listen." Brock replied in a cold tone

Ash looked at Brock in complete and utter shock; he had never heard Brock use such a harsh and cold tone.

"Okay Brock. So what do you wanna talk about?"

Everyone looked at each other unsure how to say what they were thinking. As time passed and the silence continued Ash was starting to get increasingly worried about what was going on. He was about to ask again when Misty suddenly stood up and stormed over to him.

"M-Misty what's wrong?" Ash asked nervously.

"Ash you suck at training Pokémon. We have been talking about this for a while now and we all think you should give up your stupid dream because it is never going to happen! You're a complete failure and I feel embarrassed to even know you." Misty snarled.

"She's right it's embarrassing to even be associated with you." Tracey added.

"Yeah Ashy-boy you are worthless. We don't want anything to do with a loser like you." Gary proclaimed

Ash was in shock as he was bombarded by insults from his friends, he was sure that this was just some kind of joke. The people he had grown to love would never say things like that, would they?

"Y-y-you're joking right?"

"No Ash we are not, we all agreed on this, we think you're a weak and pathetic excuse of a trainer." Max then spoke up.

Ash looked around at the faces of his so-called friends and saw them all nod their heads in agreement. At that moment, his heart felt like it had been smashed into a million pieces, he grasped the fabric of his shirt as he felt the pain of betrayal stab at his shattered heart. The feeling only got worse when Pikachu jumped off his shoulder, sat next to Max and then glared at him.

"Pikachu please don't tell me that you agree with them."

'I fully agree with them. You keep screwing up, in Johto you somehow managed to make Charizard lose against a Blaziken. In Hoenn you refused to use your more experienced and instead used only your Hoenn Pokémon and me, we could have won that damn tournament if you used your older Pokémon! Finally we have the battle with Tobias, you chose to bring Torkoal and Gible ahead of Charizard and Snorlax when you knew that we would be up against legendary Pokémon I mean what the hell were you thinking? Oh that's right you weren't just like you never do.' Pikachu yelled.

Ash wasn't very sure what Pikachu was saying but he could understand enough of his friend speech and body language to know that he was angry over their performances in tournaments. Tears began to form in Ash's eyes as he comprehended the reality of the situation, the friends he'd made during his travels thought he was an embarrassment and that he should give up on his dream, his best friend had given up on him and he clearly didn't want to be his Pokémon anymore. It was all too much for Ash and after taking one more glance at his former friends whose glares had intensified, he stormed out the door, heading towards the corral with tears now trickling down his cheeks. He knew that his Pokémon would stand by him even if his so-called friends wouldn't.

When he entered the corral, Ash immediately came face to face with his Pokémon who were all stood in front of him. Most of them were glaring angrily at him; the only exceptions were Charizard, Bayleaf, Infernape, Sceptile, Totodile and Donphan. Ash could tell what was going on and felt what little remained of his heart be ground into dust, even his Pokémon had turned on him.

A sob escaped Ash and he fell to his knees however, Charizard quickly picked him up and held his broken trainer close to him. Ash looked gratefully at the dragon and the other five Pokémon who had decided to stand by his side. All six Pokémon handed their Pokéballs to Ash who placed them on his belt.

"Thank you guys." Ash whispered.

Ash's former friends then walked outside with incredibly smug looks on their faces while the rest of Ash's Pokémon now either maintained their glares or began growling.

"See Ashy-boy even the majority of your Pokémon think you're pathetic." mocked Gary

Ash ignored him and returned Bayleaf, Infernape, Totodile, Sceptile and Donphan. He then jumped onto Charizard's and pulled Pikachu's Pokéball off his belt, he threw the Pokéball on the ground with all of his strength, which made the capture device shatter into a thousand pieces.

"Charizard take me to Vermillion City please."

Charizard roared and shot a Flamethrower into the air, which caused all of the people and Pokémon to back away in fear. Just as Charizard took off Ash took one last look at those who had betrayed him and glared at them.

"One day I'll be back and when that day comes you will be sorry for what you've done" and then Ash was gone.

End Flashback

"I was a fool." Ash said.

"You know dat's not true boss."

"Yes it is I let my emotions control me that day and I foolishly believed that their reasons for doing that was because they thought I was a crap trainer. I should have known that there was a much more significant reason for their betrayal."

"There was no way you could have known dat Giovanni would go to such extreme measures to try to break you and remove you as a threat. You know what dey all got from him in return for doing dat. I just can't believe dat dey would turn on you for such shallow things."

"This world is a dark, dark place Meowth. We both know that now after everything we've been through."

"Yeah. It's just a shame dat we had no proof to show the cops how involved they were in Team Rockets operations."

"One day they will get their comeuppance Meowth."

Suddenly a piercing screech rang out throughout the mountains. Ash, Meowth and Lucario all looked in the direction it came from and saw a Pidgeot flying towards them with a determined look in its eyes. Lucario instantly formed an Aura Sphere in his palm just in case the Pidgeot proved to be a threat to his master even though he knew his master was more than capable of defending himself. The Flying type was unfazed by the Lucario who had started to growl aggressively and landed in front of the Ash. It ignored Lucario and used its wing to point at the scrap of paper attached to its leg. Ash took the piece of paper and began reading it in his head. The Pidgeot then took off, as its job was complete, Lucario watched the flying type until it disappeared from view and then he dissolved the Aura Sphere. His gaze turned to his master who appeared to be in deep thought.

'Master what does the letter say?'

"Lucario how many times have I told you not to call me Master?"

'Over nine thousand.'

Ash chuckled at Lucario's reference; he then cleared his throat and began reading the message.

Dear Takeo Hayashi,

There is a tournament coming up that we hold every ten years called the Championship of Legends. This tournament is held to decide the best trainer in the world and will be acknowledged as such until the next tournament comes. I know of you exploits over the past few years and I believe you are more than capable of winning this tournament. I have attached your invitation to this letter, if you want to join the tournament hand the invitation to the Nurse Joy at the Indigo Plateau Pokémon centre. You have one week to decide whether you will show your power off to the world.

Scott.

P.S. I am glad you are still alive Ash. I am sure that you know this but you were incredibly hard to track down. I hope to see you in the near future.

'So Master are you doing to attend this tournament?' Lucario asked.

Ash placed the letter in his pocket and looked at Lucario with a determined glint in his eyes; the jackal saw a glint in his master's eye and knew that he was finally ready to display his power to the world. Ash heard his Pokémon approaching him; he looked at them with a genuine smile on his face and saw that they were doing the same. Meowth and Lucario joined the rest of the Pokémon and watched Ash waiting for his answer.

"Yes my friends we will join this tournament and we will win. Everyone we have trained long and hard over the past seven years. This tournament is the perfect opportunity for us to prove ourselves to the world and humiliate those traitors. We will leave immediately and we will crush all who stand in our way."

They all roared in approval and some of them fired attacks into the air. Ash then rummaged through his backpack pulling out his Pokéballs and returned everyone except Charizard and Meowth. He let Meowth climb back on to his shoulder and he then jumped onto Charizard's back.

"Ok Charizard head straight to the Indigo Plateau."

Charizard roared so loudly that it echoed through the mountain, he then fired a Flamethrower into the air and with one powerful beat of his wings he shot into the air. After doing a quick lap around Mt Quena, he flew into the distance at an insane speed.

A couple of hours later the Indigo Plateau came into sight, while they flew over the forests surrounding the Indigo Plateau Ash started to look around for an area for them to camp in during the tournament. Ash spotted a suitable clearing after a few minutes; it was slightly south of the Pokémon Centre and was deep in the woods so he shouldn't have to worry about being disturbed, it also appeared to have a lake, which would be great for resting after training.

"Alright Charizard land in that clearing."

The dragon nodded and landed in the middle of the clearing, Ash got off Charizard and looked around the clearing. He was surprised to see that it wasn't actually a lake as he had first thought; it was actually a natural spring, which was even better than he had hoped. After another quick look around the surrounding area he was satisfied that this would be an excellent training and resting area for his team between matches. He considered sending everyone out to hold down the fort while he registered for the tournament but he wanted to make sure that everyone was fully fit and ready for the tournament. He was certain that they were perfectly healthy due to the incredible healing power of the lake in Mt Quena but Ash wanted to be on the safe side.

Ash thanked Charizard and then returned the dragon; he placed Charizard's Pokéball in his bag with all the others and began walking towards the Pokémon centre. He quickly raised his hood and made sure that it was completely shrouding his face only because he really didn't feel like revealing that he was back yet. He wanted to stay under the radar for as long as possible.

As buildings came into sight, Ash looked to Meowth who was sitting on his shoulder admiring the scenery.

"Meowth remember you can't talk in public. It could make people suspicious of us especially if the traitors hear you."

"Don't worry boss I know. Besides we can talk through Aura if we need to."

Ash nodded and the duo continued on to the Pokémon centre. They came to the building a few minutes later; Ash walked inside and immediately scanned the room looking for anyone he knew. The first person he spotted was one of the only people in the world who apparently knew the real identity of Takeo Hayashi. He was a rather large man he had met several years ago when he challenged the Battle Frontier. Ash wasn't surprised to see that he was still wearing his customary sunglasses and Hawaiian shirt.

Scott turned around when he heard the doors open and was pleased to see a man who wore a hooded cloak and carried a Meowth on his shoulder. He knew that he must be the man that many people have spent several years looking for. Scott quickly excused himself from the conversation he was having with Brandon and walked up to Ash.

"Hello Takeo. It has been far too long. I am glad you decided to compete in the tournament. I was worried that you might reject my invitation."

"Well I couldn't turn down an opportunity on this grand occasion to prove how powerful I've become. Anyway I'd better go sign up for the tournament."

Scott placed a hand on Ash's spare shoulder stopping the cloaked trainer, Ash looked at Scott with a bemused expression.

"Okay Takeo but I'd better come with you if you wanna keep you identity secret."

Ash nodded and walked with Scott to the main desk. Before Nurse Joy could speak, Scott cut her off.

"Hello Nurse Joy this man would like to register for the tournament. You won't need to see his Pokédex details. His name is Takeo Hayashi."

Ash breathed a sigh of relief, he hadn't known that he would have to hand in his Pokédex to register for the tournament he just thought that the invitation would be enough. While Scott spoke with Nurse Joy Ash looked around the room and saw that several people in the Pokémon centre wore stunned expressions while staring at him. They were amazed that Scott would do this for someone that nobody had heard of.

Ash turned his gaze away from the stunned crowd, which meant that he didn't see that the Frontier Brains were wearing similar expressions. They were all wondering just who this guy is and how Scott knew him. Determined to find out they walked towards the mysterious man and Scott who were watching Nurse Joy entering his details into a registration form. Nurse Joy tapped a few more keys on her keyboard and looked at Ash.

"Okay Mr Hayashi you are now registered. Here is your schedule for the first round."

"Thanks Nurse Joy." Ash said as he took the schedule from Nurse Joy.

"It's my pleasure. Is there anything else that I can do for you?" Nurse Joy replied.

"Actually could you take a quick look at my Pokémon and make sure they are healthy."

"Of course."

Ash placed his schedule in his pocket and opened his bag; he took all of the Pokéballs out and handed them to Nurse Joy who placed them on a tray. Ash looked at Meowth to see if the cat wanted to be examined as well, Meowth saw the look and replied by shaking his head. Nurse Joy saw the action and understood that Meowth didn't want to be checked so she walked through the door to the healing rooms. Ash then looked at Scott gratefully.

"Thank you for doing that Scott. The last thing I wanted was for my identity to be revealed right now." Ash murmured to Scott.

"Don't worry about it. After everything you've done for the world and everything you've been through I think you're owed the odd favour."

This earned a short chuckle from Ash.

"So Scott, aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?" Greta said.

Ash and Scott turned around and saw six Frontier Brains staring at the two of them with a 'you will tell us what we want to know or else' look on their faces.

"Of course, everyone this is Takeo Hayashi. He is very good friend of mine who's been travelling around all the regions for the last few years helping the Pokémon Rangers."

Their eyes widened and their jaws dropped once hearing this, they all knew that the Rangers were a very well respected organisation responsible for protecting Pokémon from poachers, cruel trainers or even other Pokémon. Scott ignored the stunned looks on his Brains faces and carried on with the introductions.

"And Takeo these are my Frontier Brains. We have Factory Head Noland, Arena Tycoon Greta, Dome Ace Tucker, Pike Queen Lucy, Palace Maven Spenser and Pyramid King Brandon."

Ash looked at the people he had fought so hard to defeat so many years ago; he was surprised to see that they hadn't really changed over the past few years. He suddenly realised that Anabel was missing. The thought of Anabel brought back memories of the time they had spent together after he had defeated Brandon. He had spent a couple of months with her before leaving for Sinnoh. The last time they had spoken had been just before he got on the boat to Sinnoh. He remembered that day vividly, he had almost confessed that he had fallen for her but his fear of rejection had stopped him. He snapped out of his reverie and looked at Scott.

"Wait a minute Scott I thought there were seven Frontier Brains. Where is Anabel the Salon Maiden?"

At the mention of her name, all of the Frontier Brains and Scott's shoulders slumped and their eyes were filled with sorrow. The change in attitude worried Ash, they had been so upbeat a moment ago and just the mention of Anabel's name had made them act as if someone had died.

"Hey did I say something wrong?"

Everyone looked at each other wondering what to say to this trainer, after a few moments of silence Brandon cleared his throat and looked straight into Ash's eyes.

"She's in her hotel room; she wanted to be alone today."

This confused Ash; Anabel had always been a very active person who had loved spending time with others.

"Is that her normal behaviour?" Ash asked.

"It never used to be however since Ash Ketchum's disappearance seven years ago she fell into a deep depression and no one has been able to pull her out of it."

Ash felt a wave of guilt wash over him, the thought of him being the cause of her pain saddened him.

"I don't suppose you've seen him have you Takeo?" Greta asked hopefully.

Ash looked at Scott feeling incredibly torn; he wasn't sure what to say. On the one hand, he didn't want to reveal his identity but on the other hand, he didn't want to lie to them. Ash gathered his thoughts and came up with an answer; he looked at Greta and felt guilty as he saw the hope in her eyes.

"Y-yes, I met him a couple of years ago while I was training on Mount Coronet. We had an incredibly good battle that I only just managed to win. I'm sorry but I haven't heard from him since that day. I wish that I could give you something more useful."

Ash immediately averted his gaze as he saw the downtrodden look on Greta's face. He hated lying to people especially to those he had a great deal of respect for but he had to, at least for now.

"That's okay Takeo at least we know that someone has seen him alive. Well I guess we should get back to our hotel rooms now, it's getting late." Brandon said, the other Brains agreed and some yawned to prove his point.

"You guys go ahead; Takeo needs to wait for his Pokémon to be checked and I've got to show Takeo to his hotel."

"Okay Scott see you later." Brandon replied.

Ash and Scott watched the Brains leave the Pokémon Centre; Nurse Joy then appeared and placed the tray of Pokéballs in front of Ash who quickly opened his bag and carefully placed the Pokéballs back in his bag.

"They were all in perfect condition Mr Hayashi. I wish more trainers would take such excellent care of their Pokémon."

"Thank you Nurse Joy."

Nurse Joy smiled at Ash who returned the look and then he turned his attention to Scott. Ash was about to ask Scott about Anabel but was cut off by the large man.

"Come on we can talk on the way to your hotel."

Ash nodded and followed Scott out of the Pokémon Centre, Scott then started to lead Ash in the opposite direction to Brandon and the others.

"Scott, can you please tell me everything that's happened with Anabel since I left. I really am worried about her."

"Okay Takeo, but you have to tell me everything that happened four years ago with Team Rocket first. Because I know you had something to do with it and I certainly don't believe the bullshit the media came out with."

"Deal."

Flashback (4 years ago)

After spending over a year, scouring all six of the major regions for any Intel, he could find on Team Rocket's hideout and the leader Giovanni Ash finally compiled enough Intel to mount an attack on Team Rocket and eliminate the criminal organisation. Ash stood outside the headquarters watching the grunts patrolling the building, after witnessing the guards doing a few rounds of the perimeter he noticed that one of the guards would be out of sight when he got to an alcove in the building. Ash quietly moved into position and waited for the grunt to get close, when he was at the alcove Ash stepped out and knocked out the grunt. He took the uniform off the man and put it on, he then loosely tied a rope around Meowth arms behind his back and tightly held on to the rope.

"Now Meowth do you remember the plan?" Ash whispered.

"Yeah boss. You say dat you captured me and want to take me to Giovanni so he can punish me for turning against him. "

"Ok let's do this."

Ash walked up to the main gate with Meowth trailing behind.

"Halt! Who are you and what is your business?" the guard said in what he hoped was an intimidating voice.

"I have captured that treacherous Meowth who tried to betray Team Rocket. I wish to take him to Giovanni so he can dispose of him."

The grunt seemed unconvinced so Ash leaned close to the grunt and glared at him.

"I think Giovanni would be displeased if you refused to allow me entrance and nobody wants to make Giovanni angry do they?"

The guard nodded and then heard something through his earpiece.

"Yeah, yeah you're right. Just go down the main corridor and take the elevator to the top floor."

Ash nodded and walked inside dragging Meowth with him. The gate closed behind them and the duo were left on their own in the strangely quiet base.

"Man these guys are stupid, I can't believe they just let us through." Ash said.

"You have no idea how dumb some of these guys are. Giovanni doesn't really care about how intelligent they are, in fact, he prefers dumber ones since they are easier to manipulate. Smarter people have a much greater chance of questioning his orders after all.

Ash nodded and removed the binds on Meowth's arms; they both spotted a camera turning their way and quickly moved into the shadows. The duo then started quietly make their way through the base, making sure to stay out of every camera's line of sight. While they moved between rooms, Ash began placing several explosives at structural weak points of the building. Ash placed the last explosive he had on the support beam of the building and then looked at Meowth.

"Hopefully this should be more than enough to take this building down. Now let's go take down Giovanni and remove the threat of Team Rocket."

Meowth nodded and the followed Ash down the main corridor towards the elevator, they walked into the elevator and then pressed the button that would take them all the way to the top. When the doors opened, a huge room that only had a desk with a computer on it was revealed to Ash and Meowth. The chair behind the desk suddenly swivelled around revealing a man sitting while he stroked the Persian that was sat by his side.

"Hello Ketchum, I've been expecting you for about an hour now. That is after all when I allowed you to waltz into this building with the treacherous cat. I hope you both know that you only got into this building because I wanted to crush you myself." Giovanni then began cackling.

"Giovanni! I will defeat you this day and Team Rocket will disband. I swear that you will never harm another innocent again."

"Nice speech boy, now let's finish this."

Giovanni threw five Pokéballs into the air, revealing a Rhyperior, Magnezone, Nidoking, Arcanine and a Machamp, his Persian then jumped down beside them and prepared for battle. Ash took a glance over Giovanni's Pokémon and was disappointed to see that the only who had been properly trained was his Persian.

"It's over for you Giovanni, your Pokémon stand no chance against mine. Come out my friends, may the Aura be with you."

Ash like Giovanni threw five Pokéballs into the air releasing Charizard, Lucario, Absol, Blastoise and Gardevoir, Meowth then stood in front of Persian ready to prove who the better cat was.

"Rhyperior use Rock Wrecker on that overgrown lizard. Magnezone use Zap Cannon on Gardevoir. Nidoking use Mega Punch on Blastoise. Arcanine use Flamethrower on Absol. Machamp use Close Combat on Lucario and Persian you deal with the traitor."

"Charizard intercept Rhyperior with Flare Blitz then hit it with a Blast Burn. Gardevoir use Psychic to send the Zap Cannon back and then charge two Focus Blasts to obliterate that Magnezone. Blastoise use Iron Defence then use Ice Aqua Jet. Absol charge through the flames and keep using Night Slash until it is down. Lucario use Elemental Combat to counter Machamp and Meowth you've got Persian."

Charizard surrounded himself in intense blue flames and charged towards the rampaging Rhyperior. When they clashed the dragon was gradually pushing Rhyperior back, Charizard then smirked and opened his mouth shooting a full power Blast Burn point blank at the rock Pokémon. Rhyperior was engulfed in intense flames and he collapsed on the spot with his body covered in burns.

A golden orb that had sparks of electricity shooting off it formed in front of Magnezone and it shot the orb at Gardevoir who watched the ball of electricity hurtling towards her and just raised her arm stopping the ball inches in front of her. The orb was surrounded by a blue glow and then Gardevoir fired it back at Magnezone, the increased speed gained by Gardevoir's psychic abilities gave Magnezone no time to the dodge the orb and it slammed into Magnezone. The steel type let out a robotic cry and it crashed to the ground, the paralysis making it unable to move. Gardevoir formed two blue orbs in her hands and then lobbed them at the defenceless Pokémon. The orbs collided with Magnezone, which took it out of the fight.

Nidoking's fist glowed white and he let out a battle cry as he charged towards Blastoise. The water type responded by standing still as his shell took a metallic sheen which hardened his shell considerably. When he was within arm's reach of Blastoise Nidoking threw his fist forward and it collided with the tortoise's shell, moments later Nidoking staggered away from Blastoise and roared in pain, which he clutched on to his hand, which felt as if it had been broken by Blastoise's shell. A veil of water then surrounded Blastoise, which was immediately frozen by his ice-encased fists. Blastoise then shot into the air and slammed into Nidoking, which propelled the ground type across the room, and he slammed into the wall, slumping to the ground unconscious.

Arcanine summoned all of the firepower he could muster and shot a Flamethrower at Absol who just ran straight through it seemingly unhindered. Arcanine was stunned as he watched the dark type easily cut through his attack, as Absol got closer Arcanine stopped firing his attack as he realised that he was wasting energy. Moments later Absol appeared in front of him and could he do nothing as he was bombarded with slashes, he tried raising his paws in defence but the attacks were too quick and too powerful for him to block so he was very quickly knocked out with several gashes littering his body.

Lucario's right fist cracked with electricity and flames engulfed his left fist, he then charged at Machamp who was already running at him and began his relentless assault. This forced Machamp to go on the defence from the start, as he knew that the Lucario had him completely outmatched in both power and skill. Machamp finally tried throwing a punch at the jackals head but he missed as Lucario easily ducked under the attempted punch. Machamp was then hit by an incredible uppercut that launched him into the air; pain rushed through Machamp's head and he hoped that his punishment was over. He knew that he was in for more pain when he saw Lucario leap above him, Machamp grunted in pain as he was sent to the ground by an Aura infused kick. The combination of the uppercut, the kick and slamming into the ground knocked out the fighting type meaning that Persian was the last Pokémon standing for Giovanni.

The five victors and Ash turned their attention to Meowth and Persian who were exchanging attacks; both cats aimed a series of slashes at each other however, they were either blocked or dodged. Persian's tail suddenly turned metallic and he aimed it at Meowth who leapt backward which made Persian's tail slam into the ground and be embedded in the floor. Meowth saw this as his chance and formed an orb of water that crackled with electricity and fired it at Persian. The Thunder Pulse slammed into Persian whose tail was still stuck in the ground but due to his Limber ability he wasn't paralysed by the attack however, he was disoriented by it. Meowth used Persian dazed state to his advantage and created a massive gash down the left side of Persian that caused the larger cat to cry out in agony.

As the battle raged on and Persian was starting to get weaker and weaker. This made Giovanni growl in anger as he watched his strongest Pokémon being beaten by the pathetic traitor. Giovanni glanced at his other Pokémon that had Ketchum's Pokémon beat so easily and felt his rage building, another cry of pain made Giovanni turn his gaze back to Persian who was now struggling to stand and his body was covered in cuts and bruises. He looked at Meowth who didn't appear to be in much better shape as he was staggering around with several cuts littering his body too. This gave Giovanni hope that he could at least finish off Meowth.

"Persian destroy the traitor with Giga Impact!"

"Meowth show him a true Giga Impact."

Both Meowth and Persian were surrounded in an orange aura and then they charged at each other, the cat's collided moments later, which created a huge explosion that temporarily blinded everyone. When everyone's sight returned, they looked at where Meowth and Persian had clashed and saw that Persian was in a heap on the ground while Meowth was staggering in front of him with a massive a grin plastered across his face.

As he looked at his unconscious Pokémon Giovanni was speechless, he hadn't lost a battle since he was a foolish little kid so to be beaten so easily was incomprehensible to him. In a flash Ash appeared in front of the leader of Team Rocket, before Giovanni could do a thing Ash landed a punch to his stomach and an elbow to his neck. Giovanni slumped to the ground due to the blows however to Ash's surprise the leader of Team Rocket started laughing.

"Well done boy you've beaten me but in the end I'm the true winner here."

"What the hell are you talking about? You are going behind bars and in all likelihood; you will never get out of prison. How are you the winner?"

"You're still as much of a fool as you were as a kid aren't you? I can't believe that you're still so clueless."

Ash grabbed Giovanni by his shirt and slammed him against his desk drawing a pained cry from Giovanni.

"Stop beating around the bush and tell me what the fuck you're on about?"

"I bet you still think that your so called friends betrayed you because they thought you were a bad trainer don't you?"

Ash looked at Giovanni with a look half way between anger and confusion. This only made Giovanni laugh even more hysterically.

"The look on your face tells me everything I need to know. The truth is that I approached them after your pathetic loss in the Sinnoh League. I offered them anything they wanted in exchange for telling you that you are a shit trainer and to my shock, they accepted my offer. I knew that their "betrayal" would break you and you would either give up or go into self-imposed exile like you did."

"Why? Why would you do that to me you bastard?!"

"It's simple. You kept getting in my way so I wanted to get rid of you which I managed to do for a long time."

"What did you give them? What was so important that they'd turn on me?"

"Some of them wanted money and some of them got a little helping hand in matches. What surprised me was that they agreed to become members of Team Rocket just to get a bigger share of the wealth."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Just to see the look on your face as you realise how easy it was for a crime boss to not only turn you so called friends on you but also make them members of my organisation."

Ash's Aura flared and his radiating power created shockwaves that made his Pokémon stagger back. Giovanni looked into the eyes of Ash and realised that he may have made a mistake in telling him this. Ash watched as fear filled Giovanni's eyes and then he punched Giovanni in the face as hard as he could, a satisfied feeling rushed through him as he felt Giovanni's nose shatter. The blow knocked the boss of Team Rocket out and Ash dropped him on to the floor like the trash he is. Lucario stepped forward and placed a paw on Ash's shoulder.

'Master are you alright?'

"Yes, yes I am my friend. He just opened some old wounds but don't worry those wounds have already been resealed. Those people have been dead to me for a long time."

Ash placed his hand on Lucario's shoulder and after a few moments Ash released the grip and then went over to Giovanni's computer, he hacked into the files on the computer and downloaded all the data on it. He then returned all of his and Giovanni's Pokémon slung the unconscious Giovanni over his shoulder and then got into the elevator travelling to the bottom floor. He carefully walked out of the building being sure to avoid any grunts and once he was a safe distance away from the building Ash turned around and faced the building. He then pressed the button on the detonator in his hand and he watched as the Team Rocket base collapsed. The noise caused by the explosions was deafening but Ash just stood there unfazed, smirking at his handiwork. He took the unconscious Giovanni to the nearest Police Station and left him and the data he had downloaded slumped in the ground outside. By the time Officer Jenny noticed the unconscious Giovanni outside Ash was miles away.

The next day it was all over the news that the police had led a strike force against the Team Rocket Base capturing their leader, and scattering their forces. Giovanni was found guilty of several crimes to both humans and Pokémon thanks to the downloaded data and he was later imprisoned in a high security jail.

End Flashback

Ash decided to leave out the part about how he found an old friend trapped in what appeared to be a torture chamber or how that friend now resided in one of the Pokéballs that was hanging from the necklace he wore. By the time Ash had finished the story they had reached his hotel.

"Well thanks for telling the truth about that Takeo. But I do have one question how did you knock out his Pokémon so easily?"

"It's simple really. He never trained his Pokémon properly; the only Pokémon he had trained was his beloved Persian. The other five Pokémon were chosen for their powerful and intimidating appearance. Now Scott I trust that you will keep this between us, I don't want this getting out to the media."

"Of course what you've told me will stay between us Takeo."

"Thanks, now I told you about Team Rocket so I want to know about Anabel."

"I think we should talk about Anabel after your match tomorrow. I don't want anything to distract you." Ash nodded then realised what Scott had said.

"What do you mean 'my match tomorrow'?"

"The opening ceremony and the first round of the tournament are tomorrow."

"Wait the letter you sent me said I had a week. I wanted to get some last minutes training done."

"Well I wrote that message a little while ago and I kinda forgot to send it on time. Sorry about that." Scott said while looking quite embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it Scott. I'm just glad I decided to come here straight away."

"So am I. Well I've gotta get to my hotel. I will see you tomorrow; meet me at the Pokémon centre after your match. Then we'll talk okay?"

"Okay Scott see ya."

As soon as Scott was out of earshot, Meowth decided to break the silence

"Ha dat look on his face when he told you that we were fighting tomorrow was priceless."

The pair then burst out laughing at the situation, when they calmed down Ash walked inside the hotel. He went to the desk and got his room key from the receptionist, then he went upstairs and he eventually found his room after what felt like an eternity of searching. He opened the door and marvelled at the huge room he had been given, the first thing he saw was massive bed; he then spotted a TV and a laptop. He dumped his backpack on the floor and then jumped onto the bed with Meowth curled up beside him and fell into a deep sleep.

As Ash slept peacefully, a lilac haired woman was lying down on her bed in a hotel not even a mile away. The woman was sobbing uncontrollably into a pillow with a picture of the person she loves clutched to her chest and an Espeon lying next to her trying to offer some comfort. Between sobs, she managed a single sentence.

"Ash where are you?"

The next day Ash woke up at dawn as usual, he yawned and stretched his limbs out. He then went to his backpack and pulled out the spare set of clothes and the towel he kept in there and went into the bathroom. He came out ten minutes later, fully dressed and ready to go. He walked over to his bed and nudged the sleeping cat eventually waking him up.

"Hey can't a cat get some sleep around here?" Meowth stood up and wiped the sleep from his eyes. "What time is it?"

"It's morning, and the tournament begins today. So we need to tell the other's about the change of plans."

"Ok let's go then." Meowth climbed up Ash's arm and took his usual place on his shoulder.

Ash then noticed a note on the floor, which someone must have placed underneath his door during the night. Ash picked up the note and began reading it.

Dear Takeo,

I thought I should inform you that those from your past are here, several of whom are competing in the tournament. I know that you want to get revenge on them for saying that you were a terrible trainer and I hope that you get the chance to crush them. I thought that you would be interested to know that Max is now using your old Pikachu; I do not know how many of your other old Pokémon are owned by him or the others. If I find out, I will tell you.

Good luck

Scott

"Well it looks like we're gonna get our chance at vengeance. Charizard will be pleased."

Ash dropped the note in the rubbish bin and put on his cloak, he raised the hood of his cloak, which shrouded his face in darkness. He picked up his backpack and exited the hotel without seeing anyone, due to how early it was. He began walking towards the secluded area he had found yesterday and arrived there a few minutes later. Ash opened his bag and grabbed the Pokéballs out of his bag.

"Everyone come on out."

All of his Pokémon burst out of their Pokéballs and appeared in front of him.

"Listen everyone, due to a minor mistake on Scott's part the tournament actually begins today not in a week's time. Also I have been informed that the traitors are here and some of them are competing."

The Pokémon looked at each other with smirks on their faces; they were already looking forward to getting a chance to destroy the scum.

"Master do you know who we are battling today?" Lucario asked.

"Lucario I wish you'd stop calling me master, you know by now that we are family and that makes us equals. And to answer your question no I haven't looked yet."

Ash rummaged around in one of the inside pockets of his cloak and pulled out the crumpled schedule, he straightened it out started to scan over it until he saw the name of his opponent.

"It says we are fighting a guy called Ray Jones. The match starts at 10:30, which will be the first match after the opening ceremony. Well at least that gives us the rest of the day off."

"So boss who ya choosing to use for the first battle?" Meowth asked.

Ash looked around at his Pokémon; it was an incredibly hard decision, as he knew that they were all desperate to battle. After several minutes, Ash finally made his decision.

"Butterfree you're up first."

Butterfree cheered in jubilation and Ash could him them saying yes and in your face several times. The rest of his Pokémon groaned partially because of Butterfree's gloating but mainly because they all wanted to battle.

"Come on guys you'll all get to battle at some point. Don't worry Charizard I'm saving a certain yellow rat for you." Ash said and he smirked as a sinister grin was now on Charizard's face.

"Anyway guys we've got about three hours till we have to be at the opening ceremony, so just relax and have some fun."

As soon as Ash stopped talking a water gun hit Ash in the face, everyone snickered while Blastoise tried to look innocent, well as innocent as a Blastoise can look. Ash grinned at his Pokémon and removed his cloak so it wouldn't hinder his movements.

"Oh so that's how ya wanna play huh? Well then take this."

Ash quickly former an Aura sphere and launched it at the tortoise who only just managed to dodge it. With a yell of Free-for-all, they all charged in firing attacks at each other.

After about an hour and a half of 'playing' they finally stopped their game, all of them had massive grins on their faces as they always enjoyed their fun little fights. Everyone sat down feeling completely exhausted but they all thought that it had been more than worth it. Ash stood up and went to his bag; he rummaged through it until he finally pulled out the healing poultice he had created with the water from Mt Quena's lake. He gave everyone some medicine and they all got up good as new.

"Ok guys I'm gonna take you to the Pokémon centre. Then we'll wait in the stadium till the opening ceremony begins unless any of you would rather stay here."

Luxray, Milotic, Blastoise, Donphan, Tyranitar, Heliolisk, Primeape, Gardevoir and Absol all chose to stay. Milotic dove into the spring with Blastoise, Luxray and Absol found a shaded area and decided to rest there, Gardevoir appeared to be meditating and the others had all started battling again. Ash put his cloak making sure that the hood was covering all of his face and then he left the clearing and began walking to the Pokémon centre.

When he arrived at the Pokémon Centre Ash entered the building and he saw seven people and a Pokémon that he hated almost as much as he hated Team Rocket. One of them was a redhead who was dragging a man who appeared to have no eyes by his ear while he proclaimed his love to Nurse Joy. There was a pair of Co-Ordinators who were discussing contest moves next to a boy with a despicable yellow rat on his shoulder. While the grandson of Professor Oak was talking with the Pokémon Watcher.

Ash's eyes flickered blue as his anger started rising and his Aura began flaring, he was sorely tempted to make all of them pay for what they had done and an Aura Sphere began to form in his hand but then he heard a baritone voice in his head.

"Calm down Ash. Attacking them will do nothing except blow your cover and potentially get you kicked out of the tournament. The best way to hurt them will be to defeat them in battle and crush their spirits. Maybe then we'll be able to get confessions from them."

"Thank you for that my friend. You are right as usual." Ash said as he calmed down and his eyes returned to their usual brown colour.

Ash walked past the traitors and handed his Pokéballs and Meowth to Nurse Joy.

"Can you take a look at my Pokémon? We did some last minute training and I wanna make sure they are ready for battle."

"Okay please take a seat; this should only take a few minutes."

Nurse Joy walked out the back with his Pokéballs leaving Ash alone with the traitors. Ash went and sat at the table that was furthest away from them, he had no choice but to sit there for what felt like an eternity and all he could do was listen to all the pointless bickering he could hear from the scum. It made him wonder how he ever put up with the idiots in the first place. Thankfully, Nurse Joy walked out with a trolley filled with Pokéballs.

"Mr Maple, Mr Oak, Miss Waterflower, Mr Slate, Miss Maple, Miss Berlitz and Mr Hayashi your Pokémon are now healed."

Ash practically leapt out of his seat and he quickly walked up to the desk and gathered his Pokéballs while Meowth jumped on his shoulder. Once he took the last of his Pokéballs off the tray, he turned around and then barged past the traitors causing Max to hit the floor. Ash stopped as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked at the owner and saw that it was May.

"Hey you jerk you better apologise to my brother." May demanded.

Ash shrugged her hand off his shoulder.

"Make me." Ash replied.

Ash then saw a mallet coming his way out the corner of his eyes so he took a step to the left and watched as Misty fell flat on her face.

"Where does she get that mallet from? Actually forget I asked I really don't think I wanna know." Ash said which caused Meowth to burst out laughing.

"Hey I don't want fighting in my Pokémon centre!" Nurse Joy yelled.

Ash could tell by the tone in Nurse Joy's voice that she was serious.

"I apologise Nurse Joy. I will be leaving now."

Ash bowed respectfully to Nurse Joy, he then walked out of the Pokémon Centre and headed towards the main stadium, leaving seven fuming people in the Pokémon centre.

Notes

So there is the first chapter guys. Not a lot has majorly changed from the original other than the reasons behind the betrayal. Will you find out what each of them got from Giovanni in exchange for betraying Ash? Probably not, I might just leave you all wondering for the entire story.

Please give a review telling me what you liked/didn't like, it really helps me improve.

If you have any questions, I am more than happy to answer them.

Combo Moves

Elemental Combat – Thunder Punch + Fire Punch + Close Combat

Thunder Pulse – Thunderbolt + Water Pulse

Ice Aqua Jet – Ice Punch + Aqua Jet