A/N: Hey guys, I'm back with an experimental fic. It's based on the Tiger and The Dragon by Dragonwolf511. The story was good, but it left me hanging, yearning for more. Unfortunately, he's been MIA from the site for a little over a year. I changed a few details from the original telling, so ti wouldn't look like a enlarged carbon copy of the original story. If you want to find this story and Dragonwolf's story, it'll be under the Kung Fu Panda/Pokemon Crossover section. Anyway, rambling over, onto the story.

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own the Pokemon franchise. I also do not own the Kung Fu Panda rights. Those belong to Game Freak and Dreamworks Pictures, respectively.

Chapter 1

The Dragon's Return (Part 1)

Pallet Town has always been a quiet town, even with the great Professor Oak living there. The rolling fields to the east held a vast amount of Pokémon found near the area, including Ratatta, Nidoran, both male and female and the occasional Eevee. Pallet Town is also home of a Pokémon trainer that thousands have come to know and love: Ash Ketchum. But what was it that everyone liked about him? His skills as a trainer? Sure his strategies were a bit off the wall (in some cases, literally), but his skill in Pokémon training were just slightly above average. True, he has competed in five Pokémon League tournaments, but has come up short in all five, the closest to a win being the Lilly of the Valley conference in Sinnoh. However, his losses never kept him down for very long, as his determination to become a Pokémon Master and the support of his friends kept him marching forward. Until that day, that is.

It had been a beautiful day in Pallet, even the Pidgey were singing. This raised Ash's good mood even more than it had been. Three days ago, he had turned seventeen, meaning he was allowed to obtain a Class seven Trainer's License. What this meant was that he could have up to ten Pokémon in his roster and have any Pokémon he captures while in possession of a class seven license, transferred to a location other than his Pokémon Professor's lab, if he so choose. He spent the next day dealing with the paperwork to register for said license. The next day, he brought the paperwork over to Prof. Oak, as any paper work submitted to the professor was guaranteed near immediate registration. Afterwards, he spent time with his Pokémon, but there was something off. They seemed distant, avoiding him whenever he tried to look at him. Ash shrugged it off, and played with the Pokémon that ran up to him. The next day, he got the shock of his life.

His day started off as usual: his indestructible alarm clock sounded at 07:30, Ash threw it against the wall and then Pikachu shocked him with a Thundershock. After waking up, he ran down to find his mom already making a nice breakfast.

"Morning Mom!" Ash exclaimed. Delia turned around to see Ash still mildly singed from his living alarm clock.

"Morning dear," She replied. Ash grabbed a glass from the cabinet and a pitcher of orange juice from the fridge. "So, have you thought about where you're gonna head to next?" Ash poured his juice into the glass and sat down at the table, shrugging.

"Not really," he replied. He took a small sip of his juice and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl at the center of the table. "I'd like to try for the Kalos Region Pokémon League, but there's a part of me that needs to wind down for a while. Maybe travel without entering a league." Delia came to the table with two plates, each holding a short stack of pancakes, two over easy eggs and three strips of bacon. She set one plate in front of her son, who grabbed the warm syrup and butter for his pancakes.

"Y'know, you said the same thing about Unova, but still ended up registering for the league." Delia replied with a smirk. Ash put on a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his head.

"I know, I know," he said. "But I'm serious this time. My Pokémon deserve a break. They've worked hard these past six years." Delia smiled at her son. She had seen her son grow up from the impatient child he was, into a mature young adult he was today. And though it made her sad to see her child go on each adventure, she was proud of him, his attitude and determination to his dream.

"Well, in that case, how about another vacation?" she asked. Ash quickly smiled and nodded.

"That sounds like fun, mom," he said. Pikachu nodded in agreement, clutching to the apple that Ash had grabbed. "Do you have any suggestions on where to go?" Delia thought about it for a moment, before a light bulb lit up in her mind.

"We could always go to the Altos Region again," she replied. This got Ash's attention faster than a Rapidash at the race track. He was about to same something, but a knock on the door interrupted his train of thought.

"I got it," Ash said. He got up from his seat and ran towards the door. As soon as he opened the door, a smile crept up on his face. Standing in the door was all his friends, and behind them was Prof. Oak. "Hey guys." The others greeted him as he invited them inside. Delia, who was in the kitchen heard everyone rolling into the house.

"Oh, hello everyone," Delia said. "Can I get y'all anything?" The group declined respectfully and went to find seats in the living room. Ash, who was happy to see his friends, noticed an envelope in Prof. Oak's hand.

"Hey, Professor," Ash started. "What's that you've got there?" Oak just smiled and handed it to him.

"It's for you, Ash." He said. A grin crept onto his face, as he ripped open the envelope and was met with a new Pokedex. Compared to the previous ones Ash had received, this one was very minimalistic, but compact. The basic design was similar to smart phones that people had. "That, lad is the Pokedex 3000. It's the first off the production line and it acts as your class seven license." Ash, being the humble man he was now, nodded his head at the professor.

"Thank you professor," Ash started. "Aside from Pikachu, this is probably the best thing I've gotten from y-"Ash was interrupted by Max.

"What a load of shit!" he exclaimed. "He doesn't deserve a 3000." Ash glared at Max.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ash asked. Gary was the one to speak up this time.

"Exactly as he said it, Ashy boy," Gary started. "You don't deserve to have a Pokedex 3000. You don't deserve to have a class seven license, hell, you don't even deserve to be a Pokémon Trainer." Gary's words shocked the adults in the room, but none more so than Ash, who was shocked to the core.

"Gary, why would you say that?" Oak asked. Misty stood up, as if to defend his argument.

"Because it's true," She said. "Ash is a lousy trainer. He's never won a league challenge, and in every region, he faces off against a rival that he ends up losing to 99% of the time." This time Dawn spoke up.

"The facts are there," Dawn said. "Ash's training is sub-par, he treats his Pokémon like children and is as dense as a steel door. Hell, we only hung out with him, in the hopes of being famous for being friends with a Pokémon Champion. But now, we don't want to be seen with him. In fact, we as a group had decided to give you an ultimatum." May stood up ready to speak, but her stance wavered, as if she was doing this against her will.

"Leave Pallet Town," May declared. "Leave and never return." It was all she said. Everyone looked at Ash, who was vibrating with anger. Ash had felt anger before, but this… this was betrayal in the lowest sense of the word. The friends that he had loved with all his heart just turned his back on him, as if the past seven years didn't matter. He said nothing as he went upstairs. There was a deafening silence among the group, only being broken by Ash slamming his door shut. Delia was the first to recover from what happened, and her eyes glared daggers at the children.

"How could you be so petty?!" She yelled. This made the group cower, as they all had seen the wrath of Delia Ketchum. "My son has saved all of your lives on more than one occasion and you repay him by kicking him out of his home?"

"This isn't my home," Everyone looked at the top of the stairs and saw Ash holding two items and his backpack slung over his shoulder. "Mom, is the garbage disposal working?" Delia nodded. He quickly descended the stairs and ran to the kitchen. The next sound shocked everyone. The disposal came on, and the sound of metal clashing on metal filled everyone's ears. The sound made May tear up. The next sound was of fiberglass being shattered, until finally, the garbage disposal stopped running. Ash returned to the living room, and met the glares of everyone who was against him. He said nothing to them and left the house, with Pikachu following behind him.

Ash ran towards Prof. Oak's ranch to retrieve his Pokémon, but when he got there, his Pokémon showed their true colors. They felt the same way his friends did, and growled at him when they saw him. Their action finally broke his emotional dam and he fell to his knees and just cried. He felt a cold nose touch is cheek and turned to see his buizel trying to comfort him.

"You gonna leave me too?" Ash asked. Buizel shot a water gun at him, which shocked Ash and Pikachu. When Buizel finished the attack, he jumped at Ash and licked his cheek. Ash had gotten his answer.

"You okay, Ash?" Ash turned around and saw Tracy standing behind him.

"You here to tell me off too?" Ash asked. Tracy was puzzled about his question.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Ash then proceeded to explain what happened at his house and what just happened in in the corral. To say that Tracy was shocked was an understatement. He could have been told that Gary had driven off a cliff and he wouldn't have been phased. "Are you serious?" he asked. Ash merely nodded.

"I treated them like family," Ash started. Next to him, Pikachu's ears drooped. "And they repay me by kicking me out of Pallet Town." A few stray tears fell from his eyes. Both Pikachu and Buizel comforted him by licking said tears up. Tracy looked at Ash with sadness in his eyes.

"So where are you gonna go now?" he asked. Ash looked up at him.

"I'm going home." Ash said. Tracy looked at him in shock.

"You can't be serious!" Tracy said. "They just kicked you out of here, and you're gonna go back?" Ash stood up at this and set a hand on Tracy's shoulder.

"This isn't my home," Ash started. "It never was." Tracy raised an eyebrow at him.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Ash chuckled at his question.

"Ever heard of the Altos Region?" Ash asked him. Tracy nodded his head.

"According to Prof. Oak, it's one of the few regions that doesn't have a league operation," Tracy explained. "Why do you ask?" Ash smiled.

"Cause that's where I'm from." He said. Tracy nodded in understanding.

"But if you're from the Altos Region, why does your license say 'Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town'?" Tracy asked.

"There are some things you just can't know yet," Ash said. "What you can know is that I have a particular set of skills… skills that make me a nightmare for certain people."

"Like your 'friends'?" Tracy asked. Ash nodded.

"If they so wish it," he said. "Can you do me a favor?" Tracy nodded.

"I'll help anyway I can." Tracy said.

"Grab Pikachu's and Buizel's Poke-balls from storage," Ash said. "If they want me gone, they'll get their wish." Tracy ran into the lab. As soon as he was in the building, he was face to face with Ash's former friends. Behind them was Prof. Oak and Delia Ketchum.

"Where is he?" Misty asked. Tracy, remembering what Ash had told him just glared at her.

"Who?" Tracy asked, knowing very well who they were looking for.

"We're looking for Ash," Gary said. "We've decided that he's not worthy of living here in Pallet, so we're sending him packing." Tracy feigned shock when he heard this.

"I've been out in the corral all morning, so I haven't seen him," He then turned to Prof. Oak. "Professor, there are a few Pokémon who are being a bit ornery. Would you mind helping me pull their Poke-balls?"

Outside

Ash was still out in the corral, finally over his sadness, and now the only emotions he felt at the moment were anger, hatred and betrayal. Out of nowhere, a loud screech and a bellowing roar broke through the sound barrier. Ash looked around, trying to find the source. He then looked up and saw two things he hadn't seen in years. In the sky, flying side by side were two Pokémon. The first one was a massive brown and cream colored bird, with a gold and red plumage waving behind it. The second was a dragon-like Pokémon, with orange scales, blue wings and a flame-tipped tail. Ash kept is face indifferent, in case they were to leave him as well. The two Pokémon tucked their wings in and began to nose-dive, as if racing to the ground. The two glanced at each other, trying to figure out who was going to break first. The first to slow their descent was Pidgeot, who was roughly 300 ft from the ground. If Ash had been in the air, he would have seen Charizards' trademark smirk, as he kept diving. At about 125 ft, he spread his wings and glided towards the ground. The two Pokémon landed at the same time, only to start squabbling. Ash, being curious as to what they were arguing about, activated a trait that is seen only once in a generation: the Dragon's Senses. What this did was allow a person endowed with this trait to have an almost unreal sense of their environment. Of these senses, was the ability to understand Poke-speech, or the universal language of Pokémon.

"You're full of Tauros-crap, you know that!?" Pidgeot shouted. Being female, her voice was usually a soft alto, rather than the screechy soprano Ash heard. Charizard snorted at Pidgeot's rhetorical question.

"Says the woman who chickened out at 300 ft," Charizard replied. His voice was a low bass, fitting for a once arrogant dragon look-a-like. Pidgeot was visibly insulted by Charizard's comment, including the chicken part.

"Excuse me?!" Pidgeot exclaimed. "Not even a Dragonite would be ballsy enough to pull a stunt like that. You only did it, because you have some sort of psychotic death wish" Ash just stood there, trying to get their attention. But they were so enthralled with their argument, not even Pikachu's thunder bolt could phase them.

"Um, guys?" Ash said. Pikachu was on the ground, shaking his head.

"Leave 'em be, Ash," Pikachu started. "Those guys are so involved in their rivalry, they wouldn't notice Arceus charging up his Judgment attack. Speaking of which, when does Pidgeot for rivalries?" Ash just shrugged.

"I wouldn't know, Pikachu," Ash said. "I guess after training the pidgey and pidgeotto flocks, it's refreshing to find someone of equal or greater power. And you're probably right about them not noticing Arceus's Judgment." Pikachu nodded as if saying 'you know it', only to double take on what Ash had said.

"Um, Ash," Pikachu started.

"Yeah?" Ash asked.

"Why is it you can fully understand what I said?" Pikachu asked. Ash took a step back, just in case Pikachu decided to add a few extra volts to his system.

"It's an ability that I've had for a long time," Ash said. "I just didn't use it during my journey because it wouldn't have been fair."

"Oh," Pikachu said. "You could have at least told me." Ash nodded and stepped up to the two fully evolved Pokémon.

"Guys, stop fighting!" Ash yelled. The two Pokémon didn't hear him over their squabbling. Ash's patience had increased over the years, but right now, it was starting to get thin. Swifter than anyone had seen him move, Ash was standing next to Charizard. Surprising the flame Pokémon, Ash grabbed a hold of his wing and pulled him to the ground, shocking both Charizard, Pidgeot and any Pokémon who was looking in their general direction. It shocked none more so than Charizard, who was still on the ground, the wind knocked out of him.

"What the hell was that?!" Charizard asked. Ash just smirked at him. "Who are you and what have you done with my dense, and slightly idiotic trainer?" Ash reached a hand out to the flying lizard. Charizard accepted his trainer's hand and pulled himself up to his feet.

"I'll ignore that jab about me being dense and idiotic, if you can fill me in on your arrival." Ash said. He then inspected the two arriving Pokémon, noticing subtle changes in both of them. Charizard had grown since the last time Ash had seen him. He still towered over Ash, even with him standing at 5'11". Pidgeot had also grown, but she also gained some battle scars, most likely from feuding with the flock of Spearow and their Fearow leader. All in all, they looked stronger and they emanated power. Ash was snapped out of his inspection by Charizard growling at him.

"Read the note," Charizard said. He pointed at his neck, which had a leather collar with the Pokémon's Poke-ball clipped to it and a piece of paper tucked on the inside. Ash reached up to the collar and undid it. As the collar loosened, Ash caught the note as it started to fall. He unfolded the note and its contents made him smile.

Ash,

Your Charizard has done amazingly here at Charific Valley. He had trained up to the status of Alpha Male, but I could see in his eyes that he yearned to grow stronger. It didn't take much to train him, but I've done all I can. To satisfy his hunger for power, I've decided to return him to you. You are a great trainer and I believe that you can release Charizard's full potential.

Liza

Ash shifted his gaze from the note, to Charizard. For the first time in a long time, Ash saw him smile at him.

"Do you agree with what Liza said in the note?" Ash asked. Charizard snorted.

"If anyone disagrees, I'll turn them into char-broiled steaks," Charizard said. "Back then, you may have been green, but don't ever let anyone tell you different." Ash was in awe at what Charizard had said. He never knew that the flame Pokémon could be poetic. Ash then turned to Pidgeot, the Pokémon that he released to lead and protect a flock of Pidgeys and Pidgeottos from Fearow's flock. At the moment, she was preening her feathers.

"What about you Pidgeot?" Ash asked. She stopped her preening and looked at him with determined eyes.

"During my time away, I fell in love," She started. "His name is Aero. He's a shiny Pidgeot, one of the most graceful Pokémon I've ever seen." Ash nodded, deep down understanding what it was like to be in love.

"I could tell you stories about someone I truly love, but continue," Ash said. Pidgeot nodded.

"After admiring him from a distance for so long, I came to find out that he had feelings for me," She continued. "After the courting and mating, we bore an egg. It hatched into our baby boy, Ventus. The little Pidgey inherited both mine and his father's physical traits, but mentally took after me." Ash was getting a bad feeling from this story.

"What happened to them?" Ash asked. Pidgeot shook her head.

"Nothing happened to them," She said. "The point is, I grew restless staying with the flock. The Fearow's flock didn't dare attack. Not after last year's battle. Our tactics beat out their head-on attack again for the umpteenth time. In my mind, I knew that the flock didn't need me to protect them, but I stayed for Aero and Ven. Aero saw my restlessness and he felt the same way I did about the flock. One night, after putting Ven to sleep, Aero asked me why I was restless. I told him my view on the flock and he agreed with me. At the time, he knew about my time with you, and suggest I seek you out and ask to join you again." Ash was surprised at her mate's suggestion, but was ecstatic she chose to find him. Ash pulled out a Poke-ball. Pidgeot's eyes widened at the sight of this one. It was her Poke-ball. Ash had kept it all those years, as a memento of his time with the bird.

"I'd be happy to have you… old friend." Ash said. He expanded it and set it to capture. Pidgeot hopped over to Ash and dipped her head to activate the ball, only for Ash to pull it back. "Do you have a true name? One you were born with?" Pidgeot nodded.

"I was given the name Aria," She said. "Because when I hatched, I began singing a song passed down from generation to generation." Ash nodded and smiled and held out her Poke-ball. In a swift motion, she pecked the center button and was sucked into the old ball. As soon as Aria was in, the capture was instantaneous. He minimized the ball and stuck it into a pocket on the shorts he was wearing.

"Ash!" Ash turned around and saw Tracy running towards him with a backpack.

"Tracy, where are the Poke-balls?" He asked. Tracy pointed at the bag.

"They're in here," Tracy said. He then handed Ash the bag. "Your mom packed you a bag. She also told me to give you a message. 'I'll see you at home,'." Ash smiled.

"What do you think you're doing here!?" The two boys turned around to see Gary leading the pack of traitors, a hint of anger in his eyes. "I thought I told you to leave this place." Tracy looked back at Ash, who had a cold look on his face.

"I came to see my friends," Ash said, pointing out to the corral. "But they've turned their backs on me too. Well, except for a few." Gary stepped forward.

"Oh, so you came here to collect them?" He asked. "Even if they didn't turn on you, we would have taken them from you if you tried." He turned his attention to Charizard and Buizel, with an evil smirk on his face. "In fact, you might as well hand Buizel and Charizard over to a real trainer." He started walking towards Ash, with the intent of obtaining said Pokémon by any means necessary. Charizard had smoke spewing from his nostrils, readying a flame attack, only to have him stopped by his trainer.

"I've got this one, buddy." Ash said. Charizard snorted at him.

"You'd better have something more effective than that take down you pulled on me earlier." The flame Pokémon said. Ash just smirked at him and took a step forward.

"You want their Poke-balls, you'll have to make me broken and bloodied," Ash said. Gary smirked at him, only being about three feet away from him, he readied his first blow.

"With pleasure." He said. Gary released his fist, throwing towards Ash's face. Ash did nothing to block it. That's what it looked like to everyone else. In Ash's mind, the Dragon's Senses had heightened his perception, leaving the effect that time had slowed down. Just as Gary's fist was less than an inch from Ash's face, he grabbed Gary's wrist, turned away and pulled over his shoulder, effectively breaking Gary's arm and slamming him to the ground. When he hit the ground, Gary had the wind knocked out of him and was put in a daze. While in his daze, Ash knelt down and faced him.

"Don't fuck with me, Gary," Ash started. "I put up with your bullshit for two years, because I made a vow to never use my skills out of spite or vengeance. And the only reason you're on the ground right now is because I retaliated in self-defense" Ash then got back up to see his friends, both former and current, staring in awe at what just happened.

"You want to try something too?" He then lifted his fist, which started sparking with a fusion of aura and ki. "Then come at me!" The traitors just stood there in fear and awe, but no regret for what they had done. Ash smirked and lowered his hands "I thought so." He then pulled out Buizel's Poke-ball from the bag and returned him to the miniature kennel. He then set the bag down and Pikachu hopped into the main pocketed, which was cushioned by whatever Delia had packed inside. Once Pikachu was settled in, Ash closed it, leaving it slightly unzipped for air. He gently slung the bag over his shoulder and walked towards Charizard. The flame Pokémon lowered himself down, so Ash could mount for flight.

"Ash," Ash turned around and saw his mother at the front of the group, tears in her eyes. "I'll see you at home." A sad smile crept up onto his face.

"I love you Mom," was all Ash sad. He then mounted on Charizard, who immediately took to the sky. "To Vermilion City. We're going home."

A/N: There you have it. The Prologue is split into three parts. I won't post the next two parts until I get my ass in gear on Carry On and Unfinished. I'll try to get them updated soon, but no promises. Oh and the Kung Fu Panda part of the story won't start until part two. Tell me what you think. I do take constructive criticisim, it helps be become a better writer.

Until Next Round,

John Marros