New Story! Woot!

Let's see how you guys like this one that's been twirling around in my head for a while.

In this story, Ash is betrayed by his friends and Pokemon after Indigo, due to Charizard's performance. Only Pikachu is on his side and.. well.. let's not spoil it, just read.

Just something to hold you off while waiting on my first story's sequel.

If you like it, i'll continue it.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POKEMON

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Kanto is typically a very nice place. A beautiful region with a good balance of large cities, small towns, and vast forests. it is famous for being the birthplace of many great trainers, including the Legendary Champion Red.

However, one young soul didn't see any of that as he walked along a lonely dirt road.

The boy was young, around ten or eleven, just old enough to be a pokemon trainer. He wore a tattered blue and white jacket over a black shirt with fresh holes in it, ripped blue jeans, fingerless gloves, and a worn out looking League Expo hat. At the moment, said hat was tipped to hide the young boy's eyes from the world.

In his arms was a smallish, wrapped up bundle, which the boy clung onto like life itself depended upon it. Around his waist was a black belt that had been modified to hold six pokeballs. However, at the moment, the belt was empty...

The boy's name was Ash Ketchum, and in the bundle he carried was the last precious possession he had left in his life, and even then, it would soon be away from him...

As the boy passed through Saffron, he ignored the many stared he had attracted due to his appearance. Instead, his mind was focused on what had happened a little over a week ago...

/-/-/-/Flashback, 1 week, 2 days ago\-\-\-\

Ash and Pikachu were sitting by a lake just outside of the Indigo Plateau. It was a beautiful night, and the moon's reflection seemed to smile as Trainer and pokemon looked over the vast body of water.

Still, Ash's mind was on his loss, and the events of that day. Team Rocket's interference, The League's lack of sympathy, Charizard's rebellious streak.. it was like he had been set up to lose.

With a heavy sigh, Ash turned his attention towards his partner. Pikachu turned his attention towards his friend and trainer and smiled. He then hopped onto the boy's shoulder and rub his red cheek against Ash's cold one, "Pik kapi, Pikachu!" the little mouse said in an encouraging manner, making the boy smile.

"Thanks, Pikachu, I needed that." He said as he put a smile on his face.

"Ash" A familiar female voice called to him from behind.

When the young trainer turned around, he was slightly surprised to see Misty, Brock, his mom, and Professor Oak there, along with all of his other pokemon, including Charizard. This caused Ash to tilt his head in confusion. Where they there to encourage him? Congratulate him? Not likely since Charizard was with them.. not unless they bribed him.

"Ashton.. we need to talk," his mother said with a frown on her face.

Okay, now he knew it was serious. She almost never called him by his full name. Ash hastily stood up with Pikachu still on his shoulder and asked, "is something wrong?"

They all nodded, and his mother continued, "Ash.. we've all been talking about your performance in the last match.."

"I know.." Ash said solemnly, "not exactly my best moment...especially since Team Rocket tired my team out.." he then did his best to perk himself up, "but don't worry, I'll get better and-"

"I'm afraid not.." He was interrupted by the Professor, "While you did do better than most trainers do in their first year, your performance was absolutely abysmal," he said with a scowl, "never have I witnessed a trainer lose because they had no control over a pokemon. Usually because their smart enough not to such a pokemon!"

"Bu-But.." Ash said as he backed up from the harshness of Professor Oak's words, "I- I had no choice! Pidgeotto was too tired and-"

"Gio! Pidgeotto!" the bird in question squawked angrily. It was then that he noticed that all of his pokemon except for pikachu was glaring at him.

"Pidgeotto's right!" Brock said as he stepped forward, "You shouldn't blame her for your loss"

"Squirtle Squirt!"

"Bulba!"

"I'm not!" the young trainer protested, "I didn't have time to switch out my teams-"

"Because you were late!" his mother shouted, "just like you were late to get your starter, you were late to one of the most important matched of your life!"

"Because Team Rocket almost captured me and-"

"And WHAT!" Misty yelled, "we beat those morons on a daily basis no problem! Are you saying that you were too weak to beat them on your own?!" she yelled, while everyone else nodded in agreement.

By this point Ash was in tears, and Pikachu was sparking in anger, "You..you guys don't understand what happened. It was.."

"Enough Ash.." Professor Oak said, cutting him off again, "Your actions tonight not only embarrassed yourself and possibly ruined your reputation, but it may have ruined mine and the rest of Pallet Town's as well.."

The young, distressed boy looked at their angered faces and asked, "what are you saying.."

Misty groaned, "are you really that stupid?"

Then Brock spoke up, "what we're saying is.. we don't think you have what it takes to be a Pokemon trainer!"

At that statement, Ash's eyes went as wide as dinner plates. They... didn't think he could do it? His friends and family didn't believe in him?

The Professor nodded, "which is why, come tomorrow, I will be revoking your license due to incompetency." He pokemon roared together in agreement. In other words, they didn't want him to be their trainer anymore. That realization made the boy sink to his knees in shock.

"See Ash? Even your pokemon agree with us?" Misty said as she continued to glare at the broken boy. Maybe now they could get the message through his thick skull.

Then, Delia spoke up, "And I'm afraid you won't be welcomed in Pallet Town anymore either," she said, "no one is going to want to associate themselves with you after this."

That was the last straw, for Pikachu anyway, "PIKA! PIKA PIKA! KA CHU PI!" the little mouse yelled as its cheeked sparked dangerously. How dare they do this to his trainer, friend, and brother?! The one responsible for saving half their lives, including his.

Everyone's attention turned towards the electric type, "hmm.. it seems as though we have a vote in Ash's favor.." Oak said, "That won't do.."

"poor thing," Delia said, although there was no sympathy in her voice, "it's been blinded by their so-called friendship.."

"I'll take care of it.." Brock said as he stepped forward, "Onix, Geodude, Zubat, come on out!"

In a flash, the three pokemon appeared, snapping Ash out of his reverie as he tried to assess what was going on..

"Good idea!" Misty said as she released her pokemon, "Staryu, Starmie, I choose you!" she yelled, calling out the star-shaped Pokemon.

"Tauros! I choose you" The professor said, calling out one of Ash's Tauros, who stomped angrily, eager for a fight.

"Go Mimey!" Delia said as she called out the one pokemon she had. it also looked ready to fight as it glared at the boy.

Now, even a dense person like Ash could see that the odds were not in his favor. So he did the only thing his mind could tell him to do. He grabbed Pikachu and ran!

"Get him!"

As the young distraught boy ran through the small woodlands that surrounded the Indigo Plateau, he contemplated on what he could do. Right now, at 11-to-1, there was no way he and Pikachu could win this fight. Right now, he just had to get away from them, then maybe he could start over elsewhere and-

"There he is!"

He ducked as a Watergun shot right where his head would've been. He then tumbled as a powerful Flamethrower just missed him. He ducked behind trees and shrubs as he was bombarded by more attacks.

'Keep running.. keep running,' that's all his mind told him to do. Keep running...

And he kept running.. until he met something he didn't want to see..

A wall..

A 60 ft Rock wall.. the natural edge of the Plateau...

As soon as he saw that he couldn't climb it, Ash knew he was screwed.

"Enough of this!" yelled the Professor as he and the others caught up, "Tauros, use take down!"

The raging bull mooed out as it stampeded towards its former trainer, intent on knocking him and the rat out.

"Pika!" Pikachu yelled as it bravely leapt from Ash's hold and Thundershocked the bull, stopping it in its tracks.

"Mimey, use Psychic!" Delia yelled, causing the poor mouse to stop his attack as he cried out in pain. Now Tauros had nothing to stop him as he continued his attack. As it was still in the psychic grip, Pikachu couldn't dodge, and nothing could stop the bull from using the sharp end of its horns to send Pikachu flying.

"PIKA!"

"NO! PIKACHU!"

"Onix! End this now! Iron Tail! FULL POWER!"

"NO!" Ash yelled as he tried to run towards his faithful starter, only to be stopped as a flamethrower, watergun, and razorleaf hit him all at once, sending him crashing to the ground, half-way conscious.

The Last thing he heard was "PIKAPI!" before the Iron tail struck, sending dust and dirt everywhere.

Then, the world went black..

The poor boy had woken up the day after in the Pokemon Center. As soon as he was conscious, he started asking the nurse Joy about Pikachu.

The worst moment of his life had happened when the Nurse looked down sadly and said, "I'm sorry..the damage was too great.."

\-\-\-\-\Present time/-/-/-/-/

Now, Ash walked, seemingly aimlessly, towards what could possibly be his final destination. Lavender Town.

He walked for a week straight with little food, water, or rest, but he didn't care. In his current state of mind, nothing else matter except getting to Lavender Town.

In his arms, bundled up in a sheet, were what remained of his best friend. Not only had Tauros' horns pierced him and done severe internal damage, but Onix's brutal Iron tail had broken several bones, including his neck. The nurse said that much more force than necessary had been used, which led to the injuries.

While an Officer Jenny had taken his statement of what happened, he doubt anything would be done. Brock was a Gym Leader, so he had a lot of pull in the League, and Professor Oak was... well.. that's self explanatory.

His mother.. well.. there was no going back there. She made it perfectly clear that she and the rest of Pallet never wanted to see him again.

He was alone... with nothing to fall back on.. not even a best friend to turn to.. that last thought was the hardest to swallow as he had to force himself to not look under the sheet and keep going. He had one final trip to make. Then everything will be fine...

\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\

Lavender Town hadn't changed at all since his last visit here. Foggy, dreary, cloudy..perfect for his mood.

Same went for the Pokemon Tower. It had the same eerie, forbidden, and depressive feeling to it. None of that deterred the young boy as he stepped inside without even hesitating.

As other visitors and trainers mourned their fallen partners, Ash silently climbed the Tower stairs to a more secluded area.

Eight flights of stairs later, Ash had made it to an area free of trainers. There were few graves stones and plots, but still plenty of room. In the center of the room was some kind of altar, possibly dedicated to the Ghost types that lived in the tower. On that altar was a large grey, pearl-like orb that shined an eerie light. How long had that been there? Oh well..

Without really thinking, Ash stepped in front of the orb and got down on his knees.

Then, for the first time since Indigo, the young trainer partially removed the sheet from Pikachu's face.

His eyes were closed, his body was rigid, his previously bright yellow fur was now pale, dry, and slightly blood-stained. Seeing his friend like that was the last straw. He held his former starter close as he silently and bitterly weeped...

Hearing the boy's sorrow, three familiar faces appeared around him, all wearing an uncharacteristically solemn look. Ghastly, Haunter, and Gengar, the same three ghosts that showed Ash the time of his life for one magical night, silently gathered around him to help console the boy. Ash wasn't even aware of their presence.

"Please.." Ash sobbed out as his tears continued to pour, pulling a knife from his backpack. He stared at it, tempted to cut something vital and end his pain, then dropped it on the ground in front of him, "Please..someone help me.." he said softly, 'I have nowhere to go..I.." he looked up at the orb with shining, saddened eyes, "I don't know what to do.."

He then looked down again, not even noticing that the Orb was beginning to glow. The Ghosts did though as they looked on with wide, fearful eyes.

"I'd give anything to have my best friend back.." he said in voice barely above a whisper.

'really now...' A new voice said, causing Ash to pop his head up with a start.

It was only then that he noticed that the Orb was glowing with a dim, grey light.

Then, as the orb shined brighter, something in front of it started to form. It looked almost like a shiny mirror like surface that spread out to cover a 3 by 3 foot of space.

Within that mirror, a large black face appeared, causing Ash to back up in fright, and the face to chuckle.

'So.. you say you'd give up anything to have your friend back..'

At first, Ash was too stunned to talk. Then after a minute, he slowly nodded his head, "uh..yea..but..who are you?"

The face's red eye flashed before it spoke, ' I am known.. as Giratina.. King of the distortion world, and Lord of all Ghosts and Spirits. What you humans call.. a Legendary.'

The three ghost in the background bowed in respect to their lord. Every ghost Pokemon dreams of meeting the Lord of spirits, and this was their chance.

Ash nodded again as he digested what was said and what was happening. He then looked at Giratina and asked, "and you.. said you could help me?"

'hmm..' it nodded its large head, 'I have seen your heart.. once pure, it is now full of sorrow, betrayal, hatred.. all of these are emotions that harbor in my own heart.'

The boy looked down. It was true. Sorrow for the loss of his friend, Betrayal for what his former friends did to him, and hatred went right with that. He hated them for taking his best friend away!

'However..' The Legendary continued, 'I also sense promise, strength, and passion. You could go far, if given the chance.'

This caused Ash to smile a bit. At least something believed in him, and it was a Legendary Pokemon no less.

'Now..' Giratina spoke again, 'I will bring you your friend back, as he eagerly awaits to rejoin you on the mortal side. However, he will not be in the form of a Pikachu.'

Ash nodded slowly, "what will he be then?"

The Legend chuckled, 'That is or me to decide..' he said, 'As for what you must do..'

"Anything!" Ash quickly said, "I'll do anything to get Pikachu back, not matter what form he's in!"

His response once again made Giratina chuckle, 'very well..'

Suddenly, Pikachu's body started to levitate off the ground, and was surrounded by a golden orb of light. The orb grew bigger and bigger until it was the size of beach ball. Then the light grew brighter, and brighter. So bright that Ash had to turn away. Then, the light broke into a shower of smaller lights and sparkles, revealing..

"...Rotom?"

Ash stared at the strange looking pokemon in front of him. He had never seen anything like it. It was small, about the size Pikachu was. It had a rounded head with a spike coming out of the top and another smaller ball at the bottom for a body, and two lightning bolt shaped appendages. Its body was a bright orange color, outlined with bright blue energy, and it had two large blue eyes.

The new Pokemon looked at himself, just as perplexed as Ash was. What form was this, what did he look like?

Curious, Ash called out to it, "...Pikachu?"

"Ro?" the little pokemon turned toward the voice, before seeing Ash standing there. Immediately, its mouth spread into a huge smile, "TOM! ROTOM!" It said as it immediately hugged the boy, extending the length of its lightning bolt arms and giving the trainer one hell of a jolt in the process.

Still, Ash didn't care as she eagerly hugged him back, "oh my gosh, I've missed you buddy!" he said as fresh tears came to his eyes.

"Rotom! Rotom!" it shouted, indicating that it felt the same way.

The trio of ghosts looked on happily at the reunion between Pokemon and trainer. It was touching to say the least. No one noticed a cloud of darkness come out of the mirror until it appeared over Ash's head

"Geng!" The ghost type said in alarm.

"Ro?" "Huh?" the partners said in unison before looking up and noticing the huge shadow. That was their only warning before it attached itself to Ash's back.

"Gaaaahhh!" the trainer yelled out in pain as the shadow tried to take over his body. He had no idea what it was trying to do, but he didn't like it, so he fought back. He quickly removed his tattered shirt and jacket in order to try and stop it. His hat fell to the ground in the process.

'Don't fight it!' said the voice of Giratina, 'this is part of our deal. Accept the shadow and all will be explained.'

"A..Accept it?" Ash repeated before taking a deep breath and relaxed. Still the pain was still present as the boy grit his teeth to keep from yelling out. The four ghost pokemon watched in morbid fascination as the shadow was fully absorbed into the trainer's body, before branching out over his back, down his spine, and across his rib cage like a possessive tattoo. Two long, sharp looking black tentacles-like apendages with intricate arcane patterns inside of them formed over his shoulders to point to his chest. Two more spread to the side over his rib cage, and the last twospread to appear over his stomach, with the ends pointing towards his belly button. (AN: like I said, it's a tattoo.. at first glance anyway :D)

As the shadows finally settled, it looked like a giant tattoo of the six appendages Giratina was famous for.

Once the pain had subsided, Ash took a few deep breaths to recover from the experience. When he stood up, he noticed several changes. One, he felt like he had more muscle. Two his vision and hearing was much sharper than before. And three, his teeth felt... sharper..

"Here.." a voice called out, which turned out to be Haunter. When Ash turned towards it, he realized that it was holding a mirror. A normal, smaller, handheld one.

As looked at his own reflection, he almost dropped the hand-mirror. His eyes.. they were.. purple.. and slightly slit, like a cat's eyes. He then noticed that his skin was paler than before, if only slightly.

'This is part of our deal,' Giratina spoke up again, 'I have marked you, and fraction of my power is now inside of you. You are now my familiar.' he explained, 'you must swear your allegiance to me, and only me, and do my bidding when called.' he then chuckled, 'I also want you to show this world the power of the Ghosts.'

As the Legendary finished, Ash smiled. He now knew what he had to do. He had a new goal in life. He turned towards Giratina and bowed respectfully, "After all you have done for me, I am more than happy to swear my loyalty and allegiance to you, my lord."

With what appeared to be a smile, the Ghost Legend nodded, 'so be it.' With that, the floating mirror shattered and the light faded, leaving the room in the exact same way it was.

At first, everything was silent. Then it was broken by a higher-pitched, almost cute voice saying, "well that was weird..."

Ash snorted and said, "tell me about it..", before realizing something, "wait a second..Rotom?"

"Hmm?" he said as he looked at Ash, before his eyes went wide, "hey! you can understand me!" Its smile then doubled in size, "this is gonna be so awesome!" he said as he flipped in the air.

Ash couldn't help but chuckle at the little ghost's antics, "so, you really are my pikachu, huh?"

"Yup!" it said, "different body, but same old me!" he said happily, before putting on a mischievous smile, "i'll even prove it! Remember that one time in Celadon, where you had to dress up in drag and-"

"OK OK I Believe you!" Ash said as he cut that memory off quick, making the other ghosts laugh heartily.

The young pre-teen then turned to the mysterious orb in the middle of the room, where Giratina had made its appearance. As he walked closer to it, he asked, "So what is this thing anyway? And how were we able to see Giratina?"

Gengar answered, his voice reflecting his natural pokemon voice, "It's called the Specter's Orb, a gift from lord Giratina himself. Before the ghost lord was sent to the Reverse World, he left one of these Orbs in each of the major regions of the world. Each orb allows his presence to be known, and attracts ghost type pokemon from all around, thus making a viable habitat for them. While the Location of the orbs are unknown to man, they are revered and heavily guarded by the ghost types of the world."

Ash nodded slowly, then stopped short, "wait, if that's true, then why did you let me up here?"

This time, Haunter answered, "because we trust you, and felt your sorrow. We knew you needed help."

"That, and something told us to let you through.." answered Ghastly, "We now know that that something was the lord himself."

Ash smiled and nodded as he checked out his new look. All in all, he liked it. He then turned to his old shirt and jacket on the floor and frowned, 'I need a new look.."

"We can get some clothes for you easily" Gengar said with that ghostly smirk of his

"yes, easy Peezy!" Haunter said with a laugh

The young trainer smirked, "excellent. Thanks guys!"

The Pikachu-turned-Rotom twirled through the air, testing out its new body, "Wheeee! I already like the idea of being a ghost type!" he said as he flew through the air, making the others chuckle.

"You're still going to need training, Rotom. That's the only way you'll really get used to your new body and its properties." Ash said as he watched his friend.

"You'll need training too, Ash" Ghastly said, making the trainer tilt his head, "what do you mean?"

"Lord Giratina gave you a taste of his power, meaning that you also now have some of the properties and powers of a ghost!" the ball-like pokemon said excitedly, "In time, there's no telling what you'll be able to do!"

The more the ghost talked, the more Ash got excited as well. He had the powers of a ghost type? This was so awesome!

He then turned to Rotom as a thought donned on him, "oh yea! we need to scan you. Hold on a sec!" he said as he pulled out his old Pokedex from his neglected backpack and pushed the scan button.

ERROR:

Pokedex deactivated. Ash Ketchum's Trainer's license revoked indefinitely. Please confiscate and return to Professor Samuel Oak immediately!

Hearing this, Ash and the others frowned. Looked like the old man was true to his word. This could be a problem.

"Don't worry Ash," Rotom said, "we'll figure something out.."

The young boy just smiled and nodded. They would figure something out.

"In that case.." Ash said as he threw the Pokedex out the nearest window, "I have some research to do.. but in the mean time.." he looked over the four ghosts in front of him and smirked, "Let's have some fun"

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Was the first part too depressing?

I wanted you to shed some tears, but not cry a river.

Of course I wouldn't kill Pikachu off. He's just.. not a Pikachu. Anyways. Not bad for an opening chapter.

The next one will show how Ash will become a trainer again and what some of his abilities will be.

reviews appreciated. Flames will be drowned in the eternal abyss. I mean it!