Ash was quite pleased with himself right now, he did enter the Kalos League to win it but coming in second place suited him just fine.
He was more proud of his Pokémon, Pikachu was just as strong as a Raichu even though he did not want to evolve and his Greninja was one of his strongest, having the ability to mega evolve without the use of the stones to do so.
Ash was travelling with new friends their names are Serena, Clemont and Bonnie. Ash knew that Serena had a bit crush on him, but he was not interested in her, deep down Ash knew that he was in love with someone else he met a long time ago. Clemont was the only other male in their group, he was the geeky one of them, he was always inventing though they did usually blew up in their faces, he had made something's that helped them against Team Rocket. Bonnie was Clemont's younger sister and was the youngest member of the group, she loved looking after all kinds of Pokémon, including the one that she discovered herself who she named Squishy although it was part of a legendary Pokémon.
Ash had a lot of travelling companions and he knew that he was good friends with all of them, but he did feel more comfortable with the people that he was travelling with now.
Well done Ash, that was some amazing battling out there!" Bonnie yelled at him as he came back to where their group was sitting.
Yeah and Greninja looked great, too bad Alain was just that little bit more trained." Clemont said, however, he did not sound as enthusiastic as his sister was.
"I'm so proud of you Ash, I think that was your best battle yet." Serena told him, although she too sounded a lot less happy then Bonnie had."
So what is next for us?" Clemont asked. To Ash the way he had said that made him think that Clemont knew what he was going to say, which confused him.
"Well, I'm going back to Pallet Town for a bit, you know to see mom and my other friends. What about you lot?" Ash asked. Clemont and Serena shared a look that Ash and Bonnie both noticed but did not know what it meant.
"Oh, just things." They both said at the same time, earning looks of confusion from both Ash and Bonnie, who did not know what was going on.
"Okay, well I'm going to go pack. My boat leaves in an hour and I want to be there early so there is no chance I can miss it." Ash said, he then rushed off to pack the things he bought while in the region and the badges that he had won as well.
Half an hour later he was ready to leave. Clemont, Bonnie and Serena were not going to be walking him to the docks so he bid them goodbye at the hotel they were staying at. He hugged Bonnie and kissed her on the cheek, he manly hugged Clemont and shook his hand and gave Serena a quick hug. He then took off at a run towards the docks where people were boarding the boats.
He showed the person at the plank the ticket that he had bought and then made his way to the deck of the ship, looking for the last time at the Kalos Region.
Ash did not see the 3 figures also getting onto the same boat.
A few hours later Ash could see the docks of his home town, and when the ship docked he ran of the ship and took a deep smell of the air around him, he was glad to be home.
"Smell that buddy, it's home," Ash said to his starter Pokémon. Pikachu was a small, yellow mouse Pokémon, it never went into the Pokeball it stayed on Ash's shoulder preferring to be out of the confined space. Pikachu was the Pokémon he began with, the very first Pokémon that he got, and the small mouse had been with him ever since.
Ash remembered the road home from the docks like the back of his hand, he came home after every tournament he participated in so he had walked the path many times. He got home half an hour later to his mom cooking food and her Pokémon helping her.
"Hey, mom!" Ash yelled out, this causing his mother to drop what she was stirring onto the floor, and her to place her hand over her heart.
"Ashy, you're home!" His mother yelled. His mother's name was Delia, he did resemble her in the eyes but the rest was his father, who his mother had never told him anything about.
"Yeah I came second/runner up in the Kalos League, and I wanted to come for a little while before I headed out again," Ash explained. Delia looked put out about something, the smile that she wore on her face did not reach her eyes, and that was something that worried Ash."
You know you can always come here Ash, and well done on getting that far ahead." She said. She then looked thoughtful and turned to fully look at Ash. "Why don't you head outside, there is a surprise out there for you." She said, once again the smile not reaching her eyes. Ash did not know what was going on with everyone.
"Okay thanks, mom," Ash said, Pikachu hopped back on his shoulder and they headed outside, where Ash got the surprise of his life.
There in front of him were all of the friends he had travelled with and most of the friends he made while on his travels. Brock, Misty, Gary, May, Max, Dawn, Kenny, Drew, Iris, Cilan, and the biggest shock Serena, Clemont and Bonnie as well.
"What are you all doing here?" Ash asked, Pikachu showing his agreement from his partner's shoulder. He was happy to see all of them again but confused as to why they were here in the first place.
"Oh, we thought we could all come and see you, get to know each other as well. Why, is that not okay?" Brock said he had always been the lead speaker.
"No it's fine, I'm just shocked that you are all here, don't get me wrong it is great to see all of you again," Ash said.
"Well Ash why don't you go and unpack, this lot can help me set up for dinner." His mother, Delia said.
"Okay, mom," Ash said as he ran out of the room and up to his own room. He finished packing quickly and headed downstairs, he heard his mother and friends talking so he was quiet, he wanted to sneak upon them.
"Who wants to tell him then?" His mother asked. Ash was confused, ask who what?
"I think Brock should do it, he has known Ash longer and he is a lead speaker," Misty said, the others in the room nodding.
"Guys, don't you think his mother should do it, she has known him longer than all of us," Brock said, they were talking about him when he was not even in the room. Ash had the feeling this was going to end badly.
"I think you both should. I mean someone has to." Clemont said. Bonnie and Max looked very confused standing in one corner of the room, while everyone else had the same expression on their face, one that Ash was not able to identify.
"What are you all talking about?" Bonnie and Max asked together, they had no idea what was going on and the more they listened the more they were not liking it.
"Oh, sorry kids. We are talking about Ash, he is very weak and we think he should give up the Pokémon Master thing." Delia said, with a straight face.
"You want to what now?!" The two youngest ones yelled.
Ash was shocked at what he had heard from his own mother. Did they think to be weak? They wanted him to give up his dreams?
"You heard her. Ash has been doing this a long time and he has not won a single league, he is weak and because of that all of those Pokémon are weak as well, that is why he is not winning anything." Brock explained.
"So we think it best for him to stop going for this Pokémon Master and settle for doing something else. Serena kissed him when they last met so they will get together soon, she wants him doing something decent when that happens." May said, she had once had a crush on Ash but that went away when she saw how weak he was, Serena had a strong will for wanting to be with Ash.
"You cannot make him give up his dream!" Max yelled at them.
"He's right, Ash has dreamt about this since he was young you have no right to take that away from him!" Bonnie yelled. Ash was happy, at least those two still believed in him.
"He isn't any good if he keeps going those Pokémon are going to become even weaker, they need to be with strong trainers. Once he sees sense we are taking all of those Pokémon and training them ourselves, they will become strong once more." Serena said, she wanted Ash but she knew he was too weak right now.
Ash was shocked at what he was hearing. There were meant to be his friends, his mother, and they were betraying him and hurting him more so than Team Rocket ever did.
Ash couldn't listen to anymore, he ran out of the door and to the lab, where he kept all of his Pokémon. They didn't want to be around him then fine he would leave, but he wanted to take the Pokémon who believed in him with him as well.
Bonnie and Max must have had the same idea because they turned up at the lab not long after he did."
Ash, you heard all of that didn't you?" Bonnie said gently, seeing the tear tracks she knew this to be true. "Yes, and thank you guys for sticking with me," Ash said through his tears, both of them coming to hug him.
"Ash, what is wrong?" Two voices said from the door they were standing in front of. Ash turned and was greeted by the ageing face of Professor Oak and the red hair of Gary Oak.
"Can we get inside first?" He stuttered out. Gary jumped into action, helping Bonnie and Max get Ash into the lab, it had begun raining so Ash, Bonnie and Max were soaked.
Once they have dried Gary and the Professor asked what was wrong.
"They betrayed me." Is all Ash said?
"Who did Ash? Who did this to you?" Gary asked, they may have been rivals for many years but they had grown close when their league was done, Gary did not like seeing his friend like this at all.
"His mother and his other friends did," Bonnie said when she saw was not going to.
"What do you mean by that?" The Professor was hoping he was not hearing what he thought he was hearing.
"She means that he overheard those lots say he was weak for not winning any leagues and that he should give up his dream to become a Pokémon Master." Max said, he was seething and it could be heard in his voice.
"They did what!?" The Professor and Gary shouted at the same time.
Bonnie and Max nodded. "They even said they were going to take Ash's Pokémon when he saw sense so that they could become strong again," Bonnie said, this made the Professor and Gary mad.
"But Ash has some of the most powerful Pokémon there is, why would they think they are weak?" Gary asked.
"I don't know, but I do know is that it is time for Ash to leave," Max said.
"Yes, and I will be coming with you. Ash is my best friend, I will not have people bad-mouthing him because they are jealous of him." Gary said, running to his room and packing some things that he would need.
"Come on Ash lets go get your Pokémon and get on the road," Gary said.
"Before you leave I want you to have the GS Ball Ash, I still have no way of finding anything out about it but hopefully you will have better luck, and also these," Samuel said, handing them what looked to be a wristwatch.
"What is it?" Gary asked, even he had not seen these before.
"These are called Nanodex's, they are an upgrade to the Pokedex, but they are not out to the public yet. They allow you to track others who are wearing them, they allow you video and normal call others, allows you to navigate, has information on every Pokémon in every region and most importantly is able to store an unlimited number of Pokémon." Samuel explained.
When they had finished going through everything they headed to the back where Ash called his Pokémon. He told them all what happened and asked who would be with him, and they all did.
They all got into their Pokeballs' and were scooped up into the Nanodex where they were stored. Ash, Bonnie, Max, Gary and all had one, they were now coded into their DNA so no one else would be able to use them.
They set off to get as far away from the traitors as possible.