14-year-old Ash Ketchum inhaled the fresh Kanto breeze. He had just finished his journey through Kalos and was on his way to his mother's house with the best friends he could ask for, Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, and of course perched on his shoulder is his partner in crime, Pikachu.

He couldn't wait to get home as apparently his mother had called his friends in from all their respective regions to join him in celebrating placing in the Kalos league. Oak also called him up congratulating him and expressing his interest in studying Greninja, with Ash's permission of course to which Ash happily agreed. Even though seeing old friends is great and all Ash especially couldn't wait for the chance to go back to the lab and see the pokemon who shaped him into the man he is today.

"Come on guys my house is just down this stretch!" Ash yelled sprinting ahead with Bonnie following closely behind.

"Ash! Hold on!" Serena yelled as she stared to run after him while holding her hat to her head so it didn't blow away in the breeze.

"Ash! You know I hate running!" An already exhausted Clemont yelled from behind trying and failing to keep up with the other three.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash came to a stop in front of a petit two story white house mostly surrounded by a white picket fence.

"Ah home sweet home!" Ash said as he just stood there for second.

"Pika!" Pikachu chirped from Ash's shoulder.

"I know buddy, I can't wait to see everyone too." Ash said happily as he thought of all his journey's through Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Kanto (again), Sinnoh and Unova.

"Serena, Bonnie, Clemont..." Ash started but was a little startled to only see two girls in front of him. "Where's Clemont?" Ash asked.

No answer just a silent and slightly disappointed looking Bonnie pointing out toward the road they came from. In the distance, you could just make out a Luxray carrying a single body on its back whom Ash presumed to be the inventor.

"You two can go inside if you want I'll stay here and wait for the poor thing." Bonnie said waving her hand at Ash and Serena.

Serena raised an eyebrow "I don't think I've ever heard you call your brother 'poor thing' before Bonnie."

Bonnie shot her a look "I was talking about Luxray." She deadpanned.

"Oh." was all Serena could manage at that comment.

"Come on Serena, I can't wait for you to meet Brock and Misty and Cilan…" Ash would've gone on but Serena just knocked on the door herself insisting on actually meeting them instead of talking about meeting them although she was feeling more and more threatened the more Ash spoke of all of his previous girl companions. Especially with how high he holds them at heart.

'Does he hold me at the same level as he does with the others' she thought to herself before shaking the thought out of her mind as she was about to meet those whom she'd heard so much of.

She and Ash entered the house leaving a very impatient Bonnie tapping her foot waiting for Her brother and Luxray to catch up to them wondering how he could have fallen so far behind

"This is bad even for him." Bonnie said as she stood there thinking she was going to be waiting a while.

Suddenly a streak of black shot out of the grass and skid across the ground stopping right in front of the young girl. She just stared as there in front of her was a pokemon she'd never seen before. It had white fur spreading across his torso and a beautiful mane stretching down to his forelimbs. It had a very sharp blue tail and attached to its head was a Blade like appendage. The mysterious pokemon just stood there scanning the area for a moment before hearing faint traces of Ash's voice coming from inside the house.

'Damn it! I didn't get here in time. Arceus is going to kill me for this one. You'd think after all the times I've had to warn this kid about something I'd be an expert at keeping up with him by now' The stray pokemon thought to himself

Bonnie slowly approached the pokemon "What pokemon are you?"

The pokemon jerked its head up, knocking itself out of thought before dashing off 'Unfortunately it's past the point where I'm able to help. He's on his own now.'

Bonnie stood star struck about what had just happened "I wonder what that pokemon wanted."

Finally, Luxray caught up to Bonnie with a half passed out Clemont on its back.

"You know Brother maybe we should ask Korrina for some skating lessons so you can keep up with the rest of the world." Bonnie joked looking at her exhausted brother

"Shut…up…Bonnie." He said between breaths

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash had spent the last few minutes introducing Serena to his mother who didn't seem to be too interested in his new friend which raised a few flags in his mind but he decided to push it to the back of his mind since he didn't feel like starting something the second he got home. With her were all of his old traveling companions minus Brock. Paul and Anabel were there too.

Suddenly Bonnie and Clemont walked into the house "Hey Ash there was a weird pokemon outside the house."

"It's okay Bonnie," he started "it was probably picking berries out of our garden in the back. Happens all the time. Anyway, now that you two are here, Introductions!" He finished cheerily

"Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, I want you to meet Misty." He said pointing to the redhead who seemed to be fixed on Serena for some reason "She was the first person to ever travel with me." Suddenly Ash felt immense pain as he could feel electricity coursing through his body before finally letting up and leaving Ash soot cover and unable to move his hands.

"Ash!" Many of them screamed

"First human to travel with me." He corrected himself. "Better Pikachu?"

"Pika Pika" Pikachu agreed.

"Next is Tracey," Ash stated, "Tracey works here as Professor Oak's assistant here in Pallet and…" Ash was going to go into more detail but Tracey stopped him

"Ex-assistant." Tracey remarked

"What? You were fired?" Ash asked confused.

"No," Tracey said irritated "I became a full-time researcher! You'd know that if you kept in touch."

Ash sweatdropped and chuckled nervously. He decided to move on because he didn't want any bad blood between him and Tracey.

"Anyway, here we have May and her brother Max. May is…"

"The Queen of Hoenn." Serena finished for him. She then looked to see a stunned Ash "Sorry Ash, I didn't mean to cut you off but I've seen her on TV before and when you said her name it finally clicked. I've seen her perform. She's really good."

May smirked "Thank you Serena. Good to know my reputation precedes me."

"And what about me?" Max questioned excitedly

"Sorry never heard of you. No one's ever said anything about a brother." Serena said in a very soft tone trying not to offend him. Max drooped back down in sadness

"Then there's Brock." He began to look around but didn't see him. "Hey, where's Brock? We can't celebrate without him."

Delia stepped forward "Brock's going to be a little late because he had a family matter to attend to but He'll be here shortly. But Ash there's something we need to-"

"Oh. Well Brock amazing.'' Ash said turning back to his Kalosian Friends "Closest thing I have to a brother. He shooting to be a pokemon breeder and has spent the most time traveling with me out of anyone. You'll see he's the best but he does proclaim love to every pretty girl he sees so... yeah just be careful around him for the first time Serena."

Serena couldn't believe her ears. Ash Just indirectly called her pretty. She was exploding with happiness inside to the point where she didn't even care what was going on her for the next few minutes while he introduced Iris and Cilan.

He walked towards Anabel who was sitting in a chair waiting for her introduction. "Anabel," he said as he went to hug her "I definitely didn't think I'd see you here." He finished pulling away from the hug which shocked many people because they never thought they'd see Ash interact with a girl in that way.

"What are you doing here?" I thought you weren't supposed to leave "Guys it's my pleasure to introduce the Frontier Brain herself Anabel the Salon Maiden."

Anabel started to chuckle "That may have been a little over the top Ash." She said Jokingly. "It's nice to meet the three of you and any friend of Ash's is a friend mine."

He then noticed a certain Bluenette had been hanging back in a corner of the room holding a Piplup in her arms.

"Hey Dawn!" Ash said walking towards her with an outstretched hand expecting their trademarked High Five however he was treated with just silence from both Dawn and Piplup, bith refusing to meet his gaze.

Ash began to pick up on something at that moment "Alright something's up with you guys. The only slightly nice response I got from any of you was from Anabel. My own mother couldn't be interested or bothered enough to say Hi to my new friends." He said gesturing to the Kalos gang. So, what happened? Did I forget one of your birthdays or something?"

"Among other things." Cilan muttered

Ash rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry. I've just been so busy traveling, I guess I forgot. Livin' on the road isn't easy."

Delia stepped forward "Ash how many leagues have you been to?" She asked

"Why does that matter?" He asked, very confused at this point.

"Just answer honey." She replied smiling at him.

He knew something was up now. The wasn't his mother's usual smile. He couldn't say how but it was different than the smile he'd come to know and love. "Six" he answered

May spoke up "And out six how many have you won?" She said in a very careful tone. It was like she was afraid of upsetting him or something.

"None." Ash answered still trying to grasp what was going on.

Cilan walked towards him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't you think that could be a sign for something. Maybe you don't have the palate you thought you did."

Ash was still lost but got some horrid feelings just from the undertones of their voices. However, Clemont and Anabel had already pieced it together. The condescending tones, thee fakeness in their expressions, and now bringing up his dream, it pointed to one thing.

Clemont spoke up as he had enough of this "If you've got something to say to Ash you might as well say it right away instead of dragging out the conversation." He said in a very irate tone.

Ash looked at the inventor. He had never heard Clemont speak in this tone before. Not even to those stupid Flare grunts.

Anabel was on the same level of anger as Clemont but was happy to see Clemont wasn't happy about what was happening either. "If you don't get to the point soon Clemont and I can just take Ash to see his pokemon who I guarantee will have better attitudes that the lot of you." She said crossing her arms.

Serena stepped forward "I agree. There are better things for Ash to do then dwell on his past losses. He should be preparing for the next league so that when he enters he's sure to win." Serena may not have known exactly what was going on but she definitely didn't like the tone some of these 'friends' of Ash's had.

"That's the thing! We don't think you should enter another league you stupid kid!" Iris shouted

Ash's face darkened. Here he was with all of whom he thought were his friends. And half were telling him to quit on the dream that for four years brought him so much joy. He then looked back at Serena, Anabel, and Clemont.

'At least there are people I can count on' He noted mentally.

"Just try to hear us out Ash." May tried to reason "There's nothing wrong with changing your career Brock did it and he's the happiest he's ever been!"

"Brock wanted to change his career! He wasn't happy as a gym leader! I'm happiest when I'm with my friends training my Pokemon so not only do I achieve my dream but so they can too!"

"Ash I even found a great site to help you build up a resume to help you get a job towards your new career." Delia said bringing over her laptop.

Ash eyed his mom "So you're really on their side with this, huh Mom? You want me to quit my journeys and stay here instead of pursuing the only drive I've ever had? What do you want me to be a connoisseur like Cilan? Or maybe you want a researcher like Gary. Well I say No. I control my destiny and I choose to be the best. Not just the best, but a trainer like no one ever was. I may have lost the Kalos league but placing second isn't grounds for giving up!" He ranted to them all.

Delia looked at him "Ash please try to understand. You rush into every situation containing an organization like Team Rocket or Team Galactic. Trouble won't find you around every turn if you were to just stay in Pallet Town. And also, I love Pikachu as much as the next girl but after watching you jump off a tower just to save a pokemon I just don't think you're in the right mind to be running around endless regions!"

"Excuse me!?" Ash was thoroughly pissed now. 'She didn't just say that' He was about to go off on her but was stopped by Anabel who put her hand on his shoulder.

Ash turned to face the psychic "Anabel, she more-or-less just said I should have let Pikachu…" He couldn't even finish the sentence. "Let me do this please." He begged

Anabel just smiled and pointed towards his mom. When Ash turned back around he was surprised to see Serena face-to-face with Delia glaring straight into her eyes. Serena then did something He'd never thought he'd see Serena do. Serena smacked Delia across the face. HARD. Hard enough that Delia dropped the laptop on the floor.

"How dare you!" Delia hissed.

"How dare ME? How dare YOU!" She screamed "That is Ash's best friend! Even as a mother watching her son jump off a building, you should have some sense of happiness to have a son who's willing to go that far for someone he cares for. A small part of me wishes he wouldn't act so rash just for the sake of others but that's exactly what I fell in love with him for!" For once in her life Serena was talking about Ash inan affectionate way and wasn't blushing. At the moment, she was too angryto blush.

"I couldn't agree more." Anabel said. "I don't want him to stop until he achieves what he was born for. I love the selflessness that Ash show for everyone. People and pokemon alike."

Clemont walked forward to where Ash and Anabel were standing "I'll always be by his side for all those times he's been by mine!"

Bonnie joined them as well "He's more determined than any of you will ever be."

Then something that Ash never thought would happen occurred. Paul of all people joined his side too! "Well isn't this interesting." He sneered. "You come to make amends and run straight into an intervention gone wrong. You know Ketchum maybe we better just leave. You know I don't like lowering myself to be in the presence of those who don't deserve it." He finished. "I came to see Infernape, not your psycho mother."

"Psycho?!"

Ash ignored her. "How could you guys do this to me? I care so much for you guys. We shared so many memories together!" He saidd. He couldn't tell if he was angry at them or about to go into depression over what was happening.

"Really Ash? Because you seem to replace us with every region you go to. I don't expect the Kalosians to understand because you haven't been to a new region yet but we all see what you're doing." An annoyed Misty said.

"You're wrong Misty," Ash stated shaking his head "There's room in my life for all of you! I'm not replacing you I'm just making more friends."

"Then why do you never contact us?!"

"I don't know! I just always figured we run into each other again eventually, I guess!" Ash said raising his own voice back.

"And that's enough for you?" Cilan asked. "Is that all we are to you? Only good enough to see once every three years! No letters, no cards, no nothing!"

"If none of you can see the value that Ash brings to your lives then I'd say you don't deserve him. He'd give the world for any of you." Serena summarized.

"Not anymore." Ash said gravely with fire in his eyes.

"What?" Anabel asked.

"Honestly, after hearing how much each one of you cares for me. It's obvious who I'd choose." He said with a smile. "I'm going to grab my pokemon from the lab and then I'm leaving. If you two want to come with you can." he said gesturing to Anabel and Paul. "And obviously since you three live there you'll be welcome." He said to the Kalos natives. "And as far as any of you go, I'd better not see you again." He said to the rest of them.

Ash got up and ran outside with anger seething from inside him. With Pikachu riding, firmly on his usual shoulder. They were almost at the end of the road that led them to Ash's house when he accidentally ran into someone.

Ash looked to see a slightly taller, tan man of who he was glad to see.

"Brock! Am I glad to see you." He said relieved it was his longtime friend.

"Hey Ash!" Brock said giving the younger trainer a hug "It's been too long. Sorry I'm late had to help my folks with the kids."

"Brock do think I'm weak?" Ash asked. 'I have to know where Brock stands' He thought to himself.

"What? Ash why aren't you at the house with everyone else?" He quizzed not completely understanding.

"Do you think I'm unfit to be a Pokemon Master? Do you think that it's impossible for me to make it?" He pursued.

"Well out of everyone who sets out to be a Pokemon Master only one in a million actually make it…." He trailed off.

A dark look formed on Ash's face 'He's with them. My best friend. My Brother.' a million thoughts were racing through his head.

"But if anyone has what it takes it's definitely the young trainer I've known since he was just starting his journey. Just promise me when you make it, you won't forget about me." Brock said smiling

Ash was happy beyond belief "Thanks Brock."

"Where's all this coming from Ash? This isn't like you, and you still haven't answered my question. Why aren't you at the house? Your mom said I'd find you there."

"She's not my mother." Ash told him coldly. "Anyone who treats me like that isn't my mother."

Brock put a hand on Ash's shoulder. "Ash what's wrong with you today. This isn't the guy I traveled four regions with. Please if somethings wrong I want to help"

"We all want to help you Ash." A voice said from behind them. Ash whipped around to see Serena and Bonnie standing there smiling.

Ash smiled at the sight of his two loyal friends. "Brock this is Serena and Bonnie two friends from Kalos."

"Nice to meet you Bonnie." He said as he shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you-" Bonnie didn't get to finish that sentence because Brock quickly moved on to Serena down on one knee in his usual begging stance.

"Dear, dear, Serena beauty radiates from you like heat from the sun. Allow me one date and I promise I will make all your dreams come- '

"BROCK!" Ash yelled "This really isn't the time for this. I know she's pretty and all, but could you just hold out for a little while please?"

Brock immediately snapped back to reality. "Ahem…" he got up from his position in front of Serena "Sorry about that Ash are you going to tell me what's wrong now?"

"Well It started with Mom not being her usual self and being kind of rude to Serena, Then Iris said They didn't want me to compete in leagues anymore because I keep losing, Misty said that I was replacing my old friends every time I went to a new region and Dawn wouldn't even talk to me or acknowledge my existence. Thankfully Serena, Anabel, Clemont, Bonnie and Paul are still on my side but I just couldn't take it so I ran out of there." He finished.

"I can't believe them it isn't like Misty or Dawn to be so cruel. Especially towards you!" Brock exclaimed hoping with all his heart that this was some kind of sick joke.

"Yeah well-" Ash started but was interrupted when he heard his name being called from the distance

"ASH!" The Kanto native turned once more to see the rest of Anabel and Paul running towards them.

Anabel lunged towards Ash and wrapped him in a hug.

"I'm so sorry about all this Ash. I should have realized it sooner. I'm so, so, so sorry." Anabel said on the verge of tears.

"What are you apologizing for? You stood by me when I needed it most!" Ash said dumbfounded on why his empath friend was sobbing.

"I should have known!" She started. "I sensed something was off with May and Max from when I saw them last. There was something resentful in their aura's."

"It's okay Anabel I don't blame you." He said trying to comfort her "They're just a bunch of assholes. I'll get over them eventually." He assured her

"Pika." Pikachu agreed somberly nodding his little head once.

"Now let's get my pokemon and get out of here.

"You don't understand Ketchum. They got some of your pokemon to turn on you too. And the ones who refused and chose to stand by you, they plan to give to other trainers to keep as their own." Paul said in his usual calm monotoned voice

"What?! We have to stop them! Call out any Flying type pokemon you have!" Ash grabbed to pokeballs from his pockets. "Go Noivern and Talonflame!" He yelled releasing his two Kalos pokemon.

"Go Honchkrow and Gliscor!" Paul called as threw two more pokeballs into the air.

"Go Metagross!" Anabel said as she threw her pokeball as well. "Mega Evolve!" She shouted holding out a pendant from around her neck. "He may not be a flying type but he can carry someone."

"All right," Ash started, "Bonnie and Clemont get on Talonflame. Paul take Honchkrow, and Brock will take Gliscor. Anabel, you go on Metagross and Serena and I will take Noivern. Now let's go save my Pokemon!"