Flashback 5 years ago
"What's taking her so long?" wondered a fifteen year old raven haired boy, as he was sitting beside a fountain. A small, yellow creature could be seen sitting on his lap.
Ash and Pikachu were currently in the Johto region on a small vacation right after Ash's victory against Leon a few weeks ago. They were sitting outside a shopping mall, waiting for Ash's mother who was still shopping inside.
"Pika chuuu," the rodent whinned on his lap as the boy's stomach growled a little.
"I know buddy, I am hungry too," said Ash with a sigh.
Boom
A loud explosion was heard immediately catching the duo's attention.
"What was that?" yelled Ash as he went alert along with Pikachu who was sensing danger.
Lots of smoke were conjuring near the mall entrance, making its way inside.
"Oh no, mom!" Ash exclaimed in worry.
"Let's go Pikachu," he said to his partner.
The electric type nodded as both of them stormed inside the shopping center.
People were screaming and running around in fear and confusion. Ash noticed as lots of uniform wearing people made their way inside as they started releasing their pokemon. He stopped near the escalator and clearly saw the letter 'R' printed on each of their chest.
"Tch, Team Rocket. It had to be them," muttered Ash angrily under his breath, as Pikachu sparked its cheeks.
"Toxicroak, use Sludge Bomb," one of the grunts commanded as the Toxic Mouth pokemon shot the move towards a group of people who were trying to escape.
"Deflect it back with Iron Tail."
A yellow mouse jumped right at the scene. Its tail glowed white as it gathered metallic energy. The mouse did a flip and sent back the poison type move with perfect accuracy.
"Not today," said Ash as he stood before the grunts confidently.
"Is that Ash Ketchum?"
"Wow, it's really him."
The people around started murmuring with surprise and excitement.
"Tch, what are you doing here?" asked the grunt, annoyingly.
"This kid is the Ash Ketchum?" asked one of the grunts, incredulously.
Apparently, his name has spread around quickly after his milestone achievement against the former undefeated Champion.
Ash had a rough time dealing with this newly found popularity, but he was managing well enough.
"Rhydon, Body Slam," one of them commanded as the Drill Pokemon approached Pikachu at high speed.
"Jump above it and use Electroweb."
Before Rhydon could crash above it, the rodent skillfully jumped and summoned a web of electricity with its tail, before trapping the ground type in a spot.
"Iron Tail."
Using the gravity as an advantage, Pikachu slammed the metallic tail on the pokemon resulting in a huge explosion. It fainted right after. The people around them cheered for Ash.
"Sir, we have captured some pokemon from the people here. Should we abort?" asked a grunt to the senior who was in charge.
"Don't give me orders! Not till I have defeated him," he scolded and pointed towards Ash. "Everyone, Attack now!!"
"Onix, Hyper Beam."
"Sneasel, Icy Wind."
"Crobat, Supersonic."
"Marowak, Mud-Slap."
All the attacks headed towards Ash and Pikachu. But they would need more than to take this duo down.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt."
"Pikaaa chuuuuuu," the mouse cried as its signature attack cancelled out the upcoming attacks with an explosion.
Ash heard a scream as he turned to that direction. He saw a grunt snatching an Eevee from a little girl, forcefully. The trainer started to go and help her, only to be interrupted by the other grunts.
"Your battle's here kid. Use Hyper Beam," the chief commanded as the powerful normal type move shot towards Ash. The raven haired trainer did a flip dodged it by an inch as the ground exploded behind him.
"PIKA PI!"
"I am alright buddy," he quickly reassured his partner.
"Fucking dammit, its just a Pikachu!" the chief cussed and scolded his comrades for being so feeble.
'Just a Pikachu you say,' thought Ash with a smirk.
"Use Quick Attack and hit every single one of them," he commanded.
Pikachu's body glowed in a white outline as it disappeared from its spot with a blur.
Before anyone could anticipate, the electric mouse started to hit all the mons with a fast pace. They couldn't defend themselves due to the inability of seeing the yellow creature. After a few seconds of rampage, Pikachu returned to its previous position, leaving an army of injured pokemon behind it.
"No way," the grunts said in disbelief.
"Grrrr.... Rhyperior, use Rock Wrecker with full power," the chief commanded. The Drill Pokemon roared and summoned a huge boulder before throwing it towards a panting Pikachu.
"Pikachu, Dodge it," Ash commanded, but the poor mouse was already tired from its previous stunt.
"Mimey, use Psychic."
Suddenly, the boulder stopped in mid-air covered by a blue outlined. It changed its direction and hurled towards Rhyperior instead.
"What the- Rhyperior, use Hammer Arm," the chief commanded in panic as the pokemon broke its own rock. Ash was confused, until he turned around to see a brown haired woman standing behind him with a Mr.Mime beside her. She made eye contact and gave Ash a sweet smile.
"Thought you could use some help," said Delia Ketchum, smiling.
"Thanks a bunch mom," said Ash with a goofy grin.
"No problem. C'mon everyone, over here," she said and started to led some of the people outside the mall.
"Hey! Stop her," someone yelled.
"Your fight is here scumbag. Use Thunderbolt," Ash commanded with a smirk as the electric type move collided with one of the grunt's pokemon, pushing it back.
Ash frowned slightly.
'If I just had some of my other pokemon with me,' he thought and glanced at Pikachu. The mouse glanced back at its trainer and gave a confident nod.
Ash smiled.
"That's right buddy," he agreed and looked back to the battle.
"We are not giving up till its over."
"Pika Chu."
"You are not alone," an adult man said as he appeared beside him.
"We will help you out Champ," another guy his same age, said and stood by his other.
The people who were trainers among the crowd, now stood alongside Ash in this fight.
"Thanks everyone," the raven haired trainer said, smiling with relief.
"Aw, don't mention it," a girl said, winking at him, but it just bounced off Ash's then dense shell.
"Imbeciles," the chief muttered angrily.
"Don't just stand there, ATTACK."
The mall became a short warzone as the trainers fought against the Team Rocket goons. They started to overpower them gradually.
"Boss, we need to go. Lance and his G-men are almost here," one of them said as the chief grunted angrily.
"Dammit," he cursed. "Alright, everyone retreat," he commanded as the grunts quickly returned their pokemon.
"Hey kid, WATCH OUT!" a voice screamed. It was too late until Ash realized the warning was meant for him. He looked at his right to see a grunt holding a gun in his hand, aiming it right towards him. He froze in his place, unable to react at that moment. Just as he was about to shoot, he dropped the gun from his hand. Everyone saw as an older, brunette woman hit the guy in his groin as he fell to the floor, clutching his abdomen and groaning painfully. She put a hand on her hip and glared at him.
"How dare you try to hurt my son," Delia scolded as she gave another kick to his leg.
"Mom, you are the best," Ash called back to her with a wide smile.
Delia looked at her son and smiled, closing her eyes.
"Of course sweety. No pr- AAAAAA!!!" the woman suddenly screamed as she clutched the back of her head, after an obnoxious sound of a loud thud. She collasped to her knees and slumped to the floor. A grunt was revealed to be standing behind her, holding a long and thick iron bar in his hand. He dropped it and picked up his teammate and started to retreat.
"MOM!!!"
"PIKA!!!"
Ash and Pikachu rushed to her at full speed. He dropped to the floor and picked up his mother, whose eyes were barely open.
"Mom, hey? Please say something," he cried out and supported her head on his lap. He felt something wet in his hand. He looked down and saw there was blood all over his hand and it was covering the spot around them. It was coming out from the woman's injured head.
He quickly took off the jacket and tried to stop the bleeding. Mr. Mime was trying to use its psychic powers, but was losing concentration because of anxiety and panic.
"Pika... pika," the mouse said as he softly shook Delia with his paws.
"A-Ash....I..."
"Please M-Mom, keep your eyes open... We will get you help," the poor trainer tried to say calmly, but his voice broke from seeing his beloved mother like this. Everything was fuzzy to him. His brain cells were blocked as he just prayed to Arceus to keep his mother safe.
"Secure the area. Make sure everyone's safe," the Johto Champion said strictly as he entered the mall with some of his G-men and a medical squad.
"Champion Lance, there is an emergency over there," a guy called out to him and pointed towards the spot where Ash was.
Lance looked at the direction and was shocked.
'Is that...Ash?" he thought and then saw another person on his lap who was severely bleeding.
"Medical attention. NOW!" Lance yelled loudly, which he normally doesn't do. The team of medics, seeing the emergency hurried to the spot.
"The help's here Champ," the trainer who battled with Ash before informed him. Ash didn't seem to hear him properly. His body was shaking furiously from the trauma as Delia's blood kept overflowing his hands.
"Coming through," the medic team came and quickly hospitalized her. The rest of the G-men started to escort the remaining people out of here after checking for any critical condition. Ash was still sitting there motionlessly, eyes void, as he still couldn't process what just happened.
"C'mon kid. She'll be al'right. Ya need to be strong," the adult man from before reassured him as he helped stand on his feet.
"Mom," the boy whispered under his breath sadly. Pikachu and Mr. Mime worriedly looked at him.
"Ash."
A gentle voice said as the trainer looked up to see a familiar face. He recognised him immediately.
"L-Lance?"
The dragon master nodded slightly.
"I will take full of responsibility of your mother's treatment Ash. She's in good hands," he said in a reassuring tone, which is very rare for someone always serious like him.
"W-where is she?" Ash asked.
"Johto Central Hospital. I will take you there. Let's go," he replied.
Timeskip
Ash was sitting outside in the waiting room. Pikachu was sitting on the seat beside him and Mr. Mime was standing by them. Delia was currently getting treated in the Operation Room.
"What are the reports on Team Rocket?" asked Lance, who was talking on his phone a bit away from them. Hearing the name of the criminal organisation, Ash's ears perked up.
"Hm, I see. Are you sure all of them were able to escape?" asked Lance.
Ash clenched his fist in anger until the point it turned white. His situation was worse enough due to his mom's injury and now, hearing the scumbags were even able to escape after that boiled his blood.
Unnoticeably, his aura started to flare up as his eyes glowed faint blue. Pikachu was feeling the same emotion and rage like its trainer.
"Alright. Inform me if you find out anything else," Lance said and cut the call. He returned back to Ash. Noticing how the boy was acting right then lead him to the assumption that he might've overheard his phone call.
The door to the operation room opened as a person wearing white apron came out.
Seeing him, Ash immediately got up and ran to him, followed behind by Lance. He grabbed the doctor by his forearms.
"H-how is she?" he asked in a low voice, full of anxiety. The doctor however, didn't respond as he stared back at the trainer. Ash got a bit irritated as he started shaking him roughly.
"Are you deaf? I asked, HOW IS MY MOTHER?" he yelled exasperatedly as Lance pulled him back and tried to calm him down. The physician pulled down his mask.
"Doctor Richard, what is the condition?" asked Lance in a calm voice.
The said doctor took a deep breath before replying.
"Mrs. Ketchum has lost a lot of blood due to the injury. The bar was hit right at the tip of her spine which connects to her brain," he started to explain slowly as they listened intently.
"The blow did more injury than it should have-"
"How. Is. She?" asked Ash in a cold, dark tone that made both the person jump from his voice. Despite the situation, even Pikachu was shocked to hear its trainer talking in a a tone like that for the first time in his life, which radiated sheer coldness instead of warmth and comfort. Richard composed himself as he took mental and physical preparations before giving the tragic news.
"I am afraid she is in a coma right now."
Present time
"So...yeah... that's what happened," concluded Ash as he turned to face the others.
The Champion of Kanto was now at the Headquarters of Kanto Defence Association or in short, KDA. He arrived here last night after getting the news, as quick as possible. Professor Oak heard about it as well as he immediately took the initiative of the departure, and also the one who suggested Ash to bring some of his close people along with them. He also told Ash that they deserved to know something like this and reason why he cut himself from the outside world in the first place. Ash understood what his father-like figure meant. He had to face lots of question and interruptions from his friends, I mean why wouldn't they when one of your friends wants to take you to Kanto out of nowhere and wouldn't even give a proper explanation on what or why? Yep, that's pretty sus.
The Elite room of the HQ was fuller than usual. Lance was sitting in his desk wearing a frown, as he observed the people around. Ash was leaning against the very same table. Professor Oak, Gary, Brock, Serena, Anabel, May and Dawn were people that could come at that moment. They were occupying the couches in the middle of the room. Elite Four Sabrina was sitting near the coffee counter and listening to their conversation, which until now was only Ash's backstory he had just finished telling.
To say they were shocked would be an understatement. Their friend was hiding a secret like this the whole time, for three damn years. The girls were silent after that. They looked like they were trying to hold back some tears. Gary was looking between his childhood friend and his grandfather back and forth, not believing it was true. But a confirmed nod from Professor Oak shut him down completely.
As for Brock, he abruptly stood up from the couch and started to walk towards the door.
"Brock, listen-" called Ash.
His best friend turnd around roughly. His always calm face was now fuming with anger.
"Listen? What LISTEN Ash?!" he almost yelled at him as everyone went silent.
"You always considered us as your friends, right?" he asked.
Ash nodded.
"Then what happened to that damn friendship of ours? You never even bothered to tell us something like THAT?" he scolded as Ash turned his gaze away.
"Gramps, you knew about this too, didn't you?" asked Gary, narrowing his eyes. "All those times I asked you about Ash and Mrs. Ketchum, you always averted me," he said.
Professor Oak sighed. "Apparently, I did Gary," he confessed as Gary looked mad.
"Then why didn't -?"
"I told him not to tell anyone Gary," interrupted Ash as the young professor shot him a look.
Lance intentionally coughed a bit loudly as everyone looked at him.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I suggest you listen to his full story," he said, closing his eyes.
Brock reluctantly came back, but didn't sit. He crossed his arms and stared at Ash, waiting for an explanation.
"W-what happened next?" asked May warily.
Ash sighed and continued.
"It was a month after that...
Flashback
"Sir," a G-men member said as Lance looked up at him. The Johto Champion and Kanto Elite Four member was doing some important paperworks.
"Yes?"
"There is a visitor outside wanting to talk to you," the officer as Lance looked a bit irritated.
"As you can see I am quite busy right now," he said, motioning at his table. "Tell them to come back later."
"But Sir its-"
"Go," Lance said a bit strictly. The officer nodded with a gulp and started walking away.
"Who is it anyway?" Lance asked as he was about to leave the room.
"Ash Ketchum, Sir," he replied calmly.
"Ash Ketc- ASH KETCHUM?!!" Lance yelled and shot up straight from his table as th officer looked surprised.
"What are you standing here for? Go and bring him here, right now!" he ordered. The officer nodded quickly and literally ran to the gate. Lance hastily shoved away his paperworks and waited patiently for the young Champion to come.
After a few seconds, the door slowly opened as a boy with a Pikachu on his shoulder entered.
"Ash, please come in," greeted Lance politely.
The trainer simply nodded and walked to his desk. He took a seat opposite from him and silently sat down. He slowly raised his head.
Lance was shocked to see his condition. He wasn't wearing his signature hat anymore. His messy hair was coming down his face. Red, blood veins could be seen from the side of his dead auburn pupils, indicating his lack of sleep. The always happy, cute, partner pokemon of the trainer wasn't doing so well either.
"I...hope I am not interrupting," Ash spoke in a barely audible tone, which was once full of energy is now nothing, but void.
"What happened to you? Are you alright?" Lance asked him instead in warily tone.
Ash just chuckled weakly.
"I think....you know..... what happened," he said as Lance sulked down. The news of his mother going to a comatose state was shocking for Ash would be a huge understatement. The poor boy barely had spoken a word after that. He has been staying day and night at the hospital, by the bed where his mother was laying. Nurse Joy took really pity on him. She was always forcing him and his pokemon to eat their food at a regular basis, otherwise they would get sick. Ash has only permitted them to contact Professor Oak about it, which they agreed too. The Kanto Professor rushed to the Johto Region after the tragic news. He was nearly devastated as well, but stayed strong and tried to comfort Ash instead.
They are both staying in the Pokemon Center for the time being.
All those days that had past, Ash was just thinking of one thing.
If only he was more careful. If only he was more stronger, this could've never happened in the first place. His most closest and dearest person in this world was hurt in front of him and all he could do was just....stand there? And the people who did this to her was still out there. Maybe doing the same thing to some other person, who knows?
Just the thought of it increased Ash's rage and boiled his blood in pure hatred.
Hate
Something he never felt before in his life. In his childhood, his mom always taught him to love everyone, people and pokemon both. It had a great influence on his life as he met so many wonderful people and pokemon likewise. He was even able to call a truce with some of his enemies/rivals. He always believed that people can change positively. He had seen it before too.
But what is the point of that learning when the person who taught you that is most likely taken away from you?
"You run a group of skilled and powerful trainers called G-men, right?" asked Ash. Lance was a bit surprised from the abrupt question, but he answered anyway.
"Yes."
"And you guys also engage in taking down criminals as well, correct?" Ash asked further.
"Hm," Lance nodded. Something about Ash's tone was bothering him.
'This is the only way I will have my redemption. The only way I can avenge for what they did to mom,' thought Ash as he looked at the Johto Champion with a serious expression.
1
"I want to join the G-men."
Present time
"And that's how I am here," said Ash.
"Wow and I suppose Lance accepted a talented trainer like you right away, right?" asked Gary with an expectant tone.
Ash and Lance nervously exchanged a glance.
"Actually, no I didn't," said Lance simply as everyone looked a bit surprised.
Flashback
Ash and Lance walked through a corridor in silence. After a while, they reached a double edged door. Lance opened it and motioned Ash to follow him. The boy nodded and did so. He looked around a large indoor, training facility area. He assumed it was for the training of the G-men members.
"Working under my G-men is a very responsible job and we do not take it lightly," said Lance strictly as he turned to Ash.
2
"Whether it is anyone, we must need to test their skills and capabilities both as a trainer and a person," he said and walked to the stands which was encased in a glass. Ash could see some people sitting behind the stands with a couple of computers in front.
"First, you and one of your pokemon will work together and pass the obstacle course," the voice of Lance boomed through a microphone.
Ash just silently listened to the instructions as he processed everything.
"Let's get this done with," the raven haired trainer muttered to Pikachu who nodded and stood next him.
An hour later
Ash had successfully passed all sorts of difficult tests and courses that were given to him. In his years as a pokemon trainer, he has done all sorts of unique training with his pokemon. His body had became quite strong and resistant to pain by many folds. For a normal person, this will be very tough, but for him it was just another day at training.
"I must congratulate you to have come this far," said Lance via microphone. "But your real test starts now."
As soon as he said that, a door opened through which, lot of people wearing uniforms came from it and stood before Ash. Each had a pokeball in their hand.
"You are allowed to use only one pokemon in this fight," said Lance. "It doesn't matter if you win or lose, this is a test to see your potential as a trainer and how well you can bond with your pokemon."
The trainers released their pokemon at the same time and took stance for battle.
'Doesn't matter he say?' Ash thought as he took out a pokeball which he brought here along with Pikachu.
'From this point on...' he thought and enlarged it.
"I WON'T LOSE," he yelled and threw the pokeball high towards the ceiling.
1
An orange draconic pokemon materialised from the blue light of the device. Its fiery eyes glared at its opponents as Charizard let loose a deafening roar. The shockwave vibrated against the walls causing a big tremor. Everyone in that room could feel the absolute sheer power the pokemon was generating.
"That's one powerful Charizard, right Sir?" an officer asked who was working with the analysis.
Lance just nodded and closely looked at the battle with new found curiosity.