15 year old Ash Ketchum was preparing for his journey to Unova. His mom gave him a new outfit, Pikachu was coming with him, and he was full of energy. He had finally made it past the quarterfinals, and only lost to a trainer with (at least) 2 legendary pokemon, who eventually became the winner. And now he was going all the way!

He stepped outside, drew in the fresh air. The morning sun was still rising. In true Ash Ketchum style, he had woken up at 7:00 am in the morning (the one day he doesn't oversleep are the days he starts a new journey). Still, he had resolved to take things a little more slowly. In the hoenn and sinnoh leagues, he had lost in the competition because he was too reckless and liked a head on collision.

His pokemon always have heart, but even they sometimes do not come out on top. A powerful pokemon, Pikachu had nevertheless failed to match meowth when both hit each other with iron tails, and Ash had multiple times unsuccessfully clashed head on with Latios, failing miserably each time. This time, he would think things out more. Part of becoming a pokemon master is learning to adapt, and he had to learn how to right differently.

He took a moment to survey the morning sky. The sun was starting to bring some warmth in this cold March morning. The sun rose, bringing the first few glimmers of its usual strength but wasn't quite enough to dispel the cold. Ash continued to watch in awe until a strange noise interrupted him. He and Pikachu laughed, embarrassed, as both their stomachs grumbled at the same time. Some things never change.

He thought the day through: He would visit Professor Oak and his pokemon one last time, of course have breakfastsay good bye to his mom, and then leave for the Unova region. He couldn't wait! There were so many new pokemon waiting for him! He realized that he had moved to the lake beside Professor Oak's ranch, letting the breeze billow his shirt and blowing pikachu's ears back.

He smiled, a little sad, though. This would be the last time he would see his pokemon for about a year. He had grown happy spending more time with them, something having originated from his mom having begged him to stay for at least two weeks, since that was the time it took until his fifteenth birthday came around. He hadn't argued, knowing that his mom wanted him to be home for a while longer than normal, and it would also benefit his pokemon. He had really had fun with them, playing with them, learning Gible's favorite hobby was biting one of the Tauros in the head and riding around on it and how Bulbasaur clearly showed it was fed up with Heracross' antics and would actually consider evolving to make stun spore come out its' previously closed bulb.

Yes, it really seemed to him that he could better understand his pokemon and actually felt he knew what they were saying. How Bulbasaur's right leg twitched when it was nervous, when Bayleef looks a certain way into the distance when it was pondering something, the tone of Noctowl's hoots indicating different emotions and ideas. They all seemed to convey messages to Ash he could better understand now that he sat down with them more and didn't focus on training them.

He realized he was closer than ever before with his pokemon, and reflected on his delight that, despite not bringing any pokemon other than Pikachu along with him to his journies, he still had such incredible bonds with him. He turned around and walked towards Professor oak's front door. It was time to go again, as his birthday had passed yesterday. He strode along, remorseful but with purpose, sure of his decision. He dismissed the small twinge in his stomach as being hungry. Nothing more. Nothing else.

"Hello, Professor Oak!" Ash yelled, knocking on the door. The famous professor opened the door, wincing slightly from Ash's yelling. "No need to yell, Ash! I'm right here. I was about to feed the pokemon." "Sorry, Professor Oak!" Ash laughed, amused by the professor's antics. The elderly man was well known even outside of Pallet Town and far into other regions, and even used to be a legendary champion until the professor's strongest pokemon, his Dragonite, nicknamed Rampage, met it's match in Lance's Dragonite and Lance was victorious. Still, he could be kind of silly sometimes, especially when Muk was trying to be a little too affectionate and Professor Oak was trying to talk him out of it. "Muk! Don't do it! I'll give you extra poke food… wah!"

But still, the Professor was still Ash's role model- aside Lance, of course- and although meeting Professor Oak wasn't as awe-inspiring to him as others outside of Pallet Town, he always felt warm when he was around the professor. "So, Ash, are you going to stand around all day or do you want to tell me what you want?" "I want to see my pokemon again," The teen replied. "Oho!" Professor Oak exclaimed. "You are finally setting off on your journey to Unova?!" Ash sweat dropped. He was in full uniform, Pikachu was on his shoulder, cheeks sparking in excitement, and his mom had paraded the fact that he was going today around for a while, because she was, and I quote, 'so proud to have such an adventurous and talented son who can bring down a Darkrai and Latios and more importantly even remembers to change his underwear'! And Professor oak hadn't realized.

He joked: "What made it so obvious? The outfit or my mom?" "The fact that you're up so early," Professor Oak countered. Ash scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. The wily old man had him there. "Well, yeah, and I do want to say goodbye to them all before I leave." "Have you ever considered bringing them along with you again?" Professor Oak asked him. Ash sighed. Professor Oak asked him that before every single journey. "Yes, I have, but I was really disappointed with my start in the Indigo League and I want to prove that I'm strong without over leveled pokemon. When I started Johto, Charizard wrecked every single team, and during the Battle Frontier, Sceptile just was too good. I want to prove that I'm not just my strong pokemon, but also a strong trainer with new pokemon." "But you took down 2 legendary pokemon in the sinnoh league!" Ash considered that, before replying: Yes, but I only used Gible and Pikachu from my orginal Sinnoh team, and Pikachu and Sceptile, two of my strongest pokemon, were the ones who defeated the legendary pokemon!" Professor Oak sighed and looked away, giving up. He understood that Gary hadn't used many variations of his incredible amount of pokemon, as his grandson was usually a little stuck up and wasn't always as friendly as Ash. Still, Ash was a kind, compassionate trainer and Professor Oak could hardly believe he was leaving so many of his close friends behind. "All right then, come through," the professor relented. Ash squeezed through the frame of the door. That subject was still a little raw for them both, leaving them both a little upset, but the professor kept trying. He knew it would be good for Ash and his pokemon if they would interact more during his travels as well.

Pikachu bounded off Ash's shoulder, crying out happily and rushing forward to meet totodile, who happily jumped around it, then Bayleef, who he had now resolved his differences with and gave a high five from tail to leaf, then gave Donphan a little shock, which didn't hurt at all, their normal greeting. Then Bayleef saw Ash, and together with Bulbasaur, Noctowl and Crophish bundled right into him. The rest of his pokemon joined, and Ash and Pikachu spent a full hour playing with the whole bunch. In the end, though, Professor Oak told him that his mom was looking for him and that he would have to go. He got up, dusting himself off and looked into all his pokemon's sad eyes.

"Guys," he began and then chuckled a little when Bayleef snorted, offended. "I'm leaving today." The group began to bay mournfully, all knowing what that meant, all of them tugging at Ash's shirt and pant legs, hoping to stop him from going and stay with them. Ash began to say something, then choked, and continued, slightly strained but with a clear voice: "Everybody, I need to go." While the pokemon wanted him to stay, they were also loyal to him and always listened to what he said, and so obeyed him. Bayleef, though, didn't seem to care, snuggling against Ash, crying and not holding back. "Bayleef…" Ash said, his voice breaking. He looked up, surveying the pokemon he was leaving behind. "Sceptile, Swellow, Infernape, Torterra, everybody…" He let out a small sob. "I'm sorry." And with that, he gently pried Bayleef off him and headed towards the gate. These goodbyes usually weren't this emotional. Sure, everyone would always be sad, but now it was even worse than usual. Ash's cap created a shadow that hid his face, and Pikachu looked back. Ash reached the gate, opened it, went through, and slammed it shut. It closed with a resounding, and final, bang. And with that, the gate on Ash bringing his pokemon with him was closed. But the twinge in his stomach reappeared. "I haven't had breakfast, I haven't had breakfast," the teen repeated to himself. "That's the only reason." If only it were so.

The attention of every pokemon had been drawn to Ash leaving and how every one of Ash's pokemon was extremely sad. That's why no one saw that, from the bushes in Professor Oak's backyard, eyes peeked out. "The brat boy and his Pikachu are gone," a male voice whispered. "The pokemon are distracted," A female voice chimed in. "Then we move," a slightly different voice said. Meowth stepped forward. "Now." He smiled ominously. "The old man has powerful pokemon, but we've got our own ace in the hole." In Team Rocket's bag, on James' back, a black stone lay. And for a second, it glimmered. Something sparked to life. And then that, glimmer was gone.