Hey guys this is the start of the rewrite of this story. To start with this won't be massively different to the original but in time it will be, this chapter is about 1500 words longer thought.

A new poll is up on my profile so please check it out and vote on it.

Here's the first chapter I hope you enjoy.

In conversations:

'- Translation of Poké Speech – No human unless otherwise stated can understand it.

"- Human speech

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

As Ash walked back to Pallet Town after his tearful parting with Brock and Misty, he wasn't really focused on where he was going his focus was entirely on the gifts Misty and Brock had given him a few hours ago. As he walked along holding the items Ash was remembering all the memories he had shared with Misty and Brock, both the good and bad ones. A smile formed on his face as he remembered fighting alongside his friends, training against them and all the advice they gave him during some of his toughest battles. Ash suddenly came to a stop as a thought came to mind and it made him realise something that would change him as a trainer.

Pikachu looked at his friend wondering why they had stopped all of a sudden. The look on Ash's face had him worried, he knew that parting from Misty and Brock would affect Ash but he didn't think he would take it this hard. He rubbed his cheek against Ash's which shifted the young trainers attention from the items he'd been given to Pikachu.

"Hey buddy what's up?"

'Ash you're worrying me.'

Ash looked to the concerned mouse on his shoulder and smiled knowing that the mouse was just worried about him. He rubbed Pikachus head earning a content sigh from the mouse.

"Don't worry about me Pikachu I'm fine. I've just been doing some thinking and when we get back to Pallet I need to talk to you and the other's about something very important, okay?"

Pikachu reluctantly nodded in response, Ash's response had done nothing to lessen his worry for his trainer but he let him be for now as it seemed he was going to find out what was on his best friend's mind when they got home. Ash started to walk along the path again and started looking in all directions trying to spot an old friend he hadn't seen for over a year.

"Right now where is the flock." Ash mumbled.

'Flock, what flock?' Pikachu asked feeling completely confused.

"Oh sorry buddy, I'm looking for the flock we left Pidgeot with. I made a promise to her to come get her after the Orange Archipelago and I didn't. Well now I'm gonna fix that."

Pikachu couldn't believe he had so easily forgotten about the incredibly loyal Pidgeot who had been such a valued member of their family. Pikachu had to admit that he was excited to see her again after all this time. As they walked to the area Ash was sure that he had left Pidgeot both he and Pikachu were on guard with the latter having a Thunderbolt prepared in case the Fearow that hates Ash was in the area and decided to attack them.

Suddenly Pikachu caught sight of something out the corner of his eye, he leapt off of Ash's shoulder and fired the bolt of electricity he had charged but was stunned to see it had been easily batted away. As Pikachu prepared another attack the figure came out with its wing still metallic and stood in front of Ash and Pikachu prompting the mouse to stop preparing the attack as they now knew who it was. With a smile on his dace Ash walked forward and threw his arms around his loyal Pidgeot who wrapped her wings around Ash in return overjoyed to see that her old friend had finally returned.

"Pidgeot it's great to see you."

'You too Ash.'

Pikachu jumped back on to Ash's shoulder and gave Pidgeot a thumbs up.

'Hey Pidgeot, long time no see.'

'Hello Pikachu, I have to say that that was the best Thunderbolt I've seen for a long time.'

'I doubt that I mean you batted it aside like it was nothing.'

'That's more down to me learning a technique to defend myself from electric types.'

Ash watched the interaction between them and smiled as it was like they had never been apart, as he watched the pair he then remembered why he was here.

"Hey Pidgeot I came to see if you wanted to come and travel with me again."

The flying type turned her gaze to Ash happily nodded, she then looked over to where the flock was nesting knowing that she had to return and tell them of her decision to leave. Ash turned to look in the same direction Pidgeot was looking and saw some Pidgey, Pidgeotto and even a few Pidgeot. Upon seeing the flying types gathered there Ash was sure he understood what Pidgeot was implying.

"You need to tell the other's before you leave right?"

Pidgeot nodded and flew off leaving Ash and Pikachu to watch as she went back to tell the flock that she intended to leave.

"It's great that Pidgeot wants to travel with us again isn't it Pikachu."

'Yep, I hadn't realised how much we'd missed her.'

A few minutes later Pidgeot returned and landed in front of the pair. Ash could see by the look in her eyes that it had been an emotional parting much like his with Brock and Misty which wasn't surprising considering how long she had lived with the flock. Ash took a spare poke ball he had in his pocket and captured Pidgeot once more, once the catch was confirmed he quickly sent her back out.

"Hey Pidgeot do you think you could give us a ride to Pallet Town?"

'Sure Ash.'

She lowered her body so Ash could get on but as he was about to get on Pidgeot they heard some far too familiar voices for their liking.

"Prepare for trouble."

"And make it double."

"Oh for the love of Arceus." Ash groaned

The motto that had driven Ash crazy for the last four years of his life stopped and Jesse, James and Meowth appeared before them. What surprised Ash was that they had lost the Team Rocket garb and were just wearing normal everyday clothes. Despite this he, Pikachu and Pidgeot were all ready to battle the trio as Pikachu's cheeks started to crackle showing that he was ready to Thunderbolt them.

"I'm really not in the mood to deal with you guys right now I have far more important things to do, Pikachu Thunderbolt."

The trio had a look of fear on their face as they saw Pikachu start to generate a little more power.

"Wait we're not here to steal your Pokémon, please just give us a chance to explain." James nigh on begged.

Ash was dubious as he had been fooled by the trio in the past on many occasions but after taking a quick look around it was obvious that they had no contraption to try to capture his Pokémon with and they hadn't sent out any of their Pokémon so as of right now they were no real threat.

"Okay, Pikachu let's give them a chance to explain themselves. Keep that Thunderbolt ready just in case though."

Pikachu nodded and stopped charging the attack but made sure it was ready to fire if needed. Ash was about to ask them what they want but then he spotted something on Jessie's hand and on closer inspection he saw it was a ring.

"So you two finally got together, took you long enough."

Jesse, James and Meowth were all wide eyedat Ash's statement. They were all wondering how someone who has been oblivious to anything not related to Pokémon over the past four years had grasped this so quickly. They looked at Ash who was smirking and Jesse realised something that everyone seemed to have missed before now.

"It appears you are more intelligent than you let on."

Ash kept on smirking and simply nodded in response.

"Yes well we quit Team Rocket so me and Jesse are going to settle down."

"Where are you going then?"

"Unova, my parents owned a villa out in Undella Town."

Ash remembered that he had gone on vacation to Undella Town when he was younger and from what he could remember it was a popular place by the ocean. He had to admit he was happy for them for a couple of reasons, the first being that they'd finally got together and the second being the fact that now they'd finally leave him alone to travel without worrying about someone trying to steal any of his Pokemon. Ash then thought about what James had said and noticed that he'd said me and Jessie but hadn't mentioned Meowth. He looked at Meowth wondering what his plan was and was surprised to see the usually composed cat looked nervous.

"So Meowth what are gonna do now?"

"Well I was kinda hoping dat you'd train me."

That was the last thing Ash had been expecting to hear and it left him momentarily stunned, it seemed almost implausible that Meowth wanted to train with him instead of taking an easy life with Jessie and James. Despite what had happened in the past Ash was more than happy to have Meowth come with him as he could see in his eyes that there was a desire to be strong. Also Meowth could easily translate anything a Pokemon says which would allow Ash to know what Pokémon were saying.

"Okay Meowth you can come with us, but you realise the training will be tough. I am planning on intensifying my training for the next region I travel to "

"I was expecting to hear that, I'm ready to train hard and get stronger."

"Well you that I have to capture you but don't worry I'll let you straight back out."

Meowth nodded and Ash presented a poke ball giving the cat one more chance to back out however Meowth wasted no time and touched poke ball allowing himself to be captured. Ash quickly let the cat out of the poke ball and Meowth climbed up Ash's arm and stood on his free shoulder once again surprising the young trainer. Ash stroked the cats head and then turned back to Jessie and James shaking his forces nemesis' hands.

"Goodbye you two, this may sound strange but I'm going to miss you. Despite everything we went through there were times that you were there for me when I needed help and I won't forget that."

"We'll miss you too kid and we're sorry for all thr trouble we caused you over the years." Jessie replied.

"If you ever find yourselves in Unova come to Undella Town, they'll always be room for you there with us." James added.

"Thanks."

Jessie and James then hugged Meowth knowing that it would probably be a long time until they see him again. The trio reluctantly broke the hug and after an emotional goodbye the couple started walking north leaving Ash, Meowth, Pikachu and Pidgeot on the path. Ash got on to Pidgeot and looked to the Pokémon on his shoulders making sure they had a tight grip. Seeing that both were ready to go Ash gave Pidgeot a nod and she shot off like a jet straight to Pallet Town.

Pidgeot landed on the outskirts of Pallet a few minutes later. Ash thanked Pidgeot for the ride and returned her promising to let her back out soon. He started walking down the path and after a little internal debate he headed straight towards Professor Oak's Lab. While Ash did miss his mother and wanted so see her again he wanted to talk to his Pokémon first about his plans for the future. When Ash got to the lab he knocked on the door which quickly opened revealing his travelling companion from the Orange Archipelago.

"Hey Tracey, how are you?"

"Fine thanks Ash. I'm guessing that you're here to see your Pokémon."

"Yeah I have something important to talk to them about."

Tracey then spotted Meowth on Ash's shoulder which he thought nothing of until he realised that he was standing up on two legs rather than on all four like a Meowth usually would.

"Wait is that Team Rocket's Meowth?"

"Don't worry I quit Team Rocket and now I'm on your side."

Tracey raised an eyebrow at Meowth not at all convinced by someone who had spent four harassing Ash and trying to steal his Pokemon. Ash saw the look and pulled Meowth's poke ball off his belt and returned him. Tracey eyes were now the size of dinner plates, he couldn't believe that Meowth had allowed himself to be captured. Ash let Meowth back out and the cat took his place on Ash's shoulder.

"I can't believe he let you capture him, so I guess he really is on our side now."

"Yep he's telling the truth, so can I see my Pokémon now?"

Tracey nodded still shocked at the situation and stepped aside letting Ash into the lab. Ash walked through the lab and went out the back door to the pasture, the minute he walked outside the ground shook as a group of Pokémon were now stampeding towards him. In mere seconds he was surrounded by all the Pokémon he'd captured and to his surprise Charizard was here and not at Charific Valley. After the excitement of seeing Ash again died down the Pokémon realised that the Meowth that had been trying to steal them for years was stood on Ash's shoulder. Almost on instinct several of them started to charge an attack to be rid of the cat however a quick explanation from Pikachu calmed them down.

"Guys I've got an old friend to introduce to you and there is something important I need to tell you."

Ash threw the poke ball containing Pidgeot who was revealed to the group, the ones who recognised her quickly stepped forward and they began talking and introducing her to the others. Once everyone was acquainted the Pokémon quickly turned their attention back to Ash curious what was so important.

"Okay everyone as you all know I've been a trainer for a little over four years now and after some thinking on my journey so far I have realised that I haven't been a particularly good trainer."

Ash was cut off before he could continue by the protests of his Pokémon all denying his claim. He raised a hand and they gradually quietened down.

"Wait let me finish, I know I have treated you well since we met but as a trainer I have failed you. During our travels I have very rarely given you any proper training unless it's been absolutely vital, sure I had the odd mock battle with Brock and Misty from time to time but that's just not good enough. Also most of the moves you have all learned were in battle, there are not many of your moves that I can take credit for even helping you with. On the way home I realised that I relied too much on Brock and Misty and many times I let you all down."

His Pokémon looked away in silence, they wouldn't admit it but they knew that what he said was true to some degree.

"But I promise you all that that changes now. I am going to have a word with my mother to see if she can teach me things like cooking and other travelling essentials and I'll ask Professor Oak if he can help me improve my knowledge of Pokémon so I can be a better trainer. I intend to travel to our next region without any companions, it'll just be us and I want yo win the next League. To do that we will have to train and what I will say is that our training regime will be incredibly tough so prepare yourselves"

The Pokémon all cried out enthusiastically and Ash smiled at their response, he had wondered whether they would be okay with his declaration so was relieved to see that they were. He turned around and went back inside to find Professor Oak and quickly found him talking with Tracey about something on the monitor they were looking at, it appeared to be a fossil but it looked nothing like the Helix or Dome fossils he knew.

"Hey Professor."

"Ah hello Ash, Tracey told me you'd arrived. You just missed Gary I'm afraid."

"Where's he gone?"

"He's gone to the Hoenn region and only taken his Blastoise with him, he intends to go around the region and catch a new team."

Ash couldn't see the logic in his rival's decision there, surely taking his older Pokémon to help train his newer ones would have made more sense. After a moments thought Ash shrugged it off since he had more important things to do than question his rivals motives.

"Are you intending to do the same Ash?"

"No, although I would like to travel to Hoenn in the future right now I have something important to ask you?"

"Sure Ash go ahead."

"I was wondering if you would teach me more about Pokémon, like their habitats, diets, moves and abilities."

"Sure Ash, but you do realise it won't be easy. There is a lot to learn and you will have to learn it quickly"

"Yes Professor I know and I'm ready to learn everything you can teach me. I do have one request thought, can you teach in the mornings so I can train with my Pokemon in the afternoon?"

"Okay Ash that sounds fine to me, just get here for 7am tomorrow and we'll begin."

Both Tracey and Professor Oak were expecting to get quite a reaction from Ash at the thought of getting up that early. But they were stunned when he happily replied with a simple ok. Both of their jaws dropped at Ash agreeing to such an early start and happily at that. Ash looked at them and was bemused at what had caused their strange behaviour, he shrugged and then walked to the door.

"Okay I'll see you both tomorrow."

They nodded in response and watched him leave, both still in shock that Ash was happy to get up that early. Ash exited the lab with Pikachu and Meowth chuckling at the look on their faces which made Ash do the same, he walked toward his home happy that he would get to see his mother again after so long. He stared to run as he was too excited to get home. A few minutes later he was stood outside his house and he knocked on the door. A few seconds later it flew open and before Ash had time to even say hello he was pulled into a bone crushing hug.

"Mum can't breathe." he croaked out.

Delia reluctantly released her hold on him and led him to the kitchen where she had prepared a massive meal for him. His mouth watered and he near enough pounced on the food and started demolishing it, at the same time Pikachu was guzzling a giant bottle of ketchup. Meowth on the other hand was actually taking time to enjoy the food as he had never had a meal as incredible as the one he was eating right now. Delia chuckled at her son's behaviour but vowed to teach him proper manners. Once the food had vanished and the table was cleared Ash began telling her about his travels in Johto, she listened intently and scolded him a couple of times for his more dangerous adventures. When he was finished talking Ash looked at his mother, she saw the look and knew he had something to ask.

"Ash what's wrong?" She asked in a concerned tone.

"Nothing mum there is just something I need to ask you though."

Delia sat and waited for Ash to continue, she wondered what could be so important to make Ash act so serious and yet nervous at the same time.

"Would you mind teaching me how to cook and do other skills I'll need when I go travelling again?"

Delia was stunned at Ash's request, she had always thought that she would have to force her son to learn these things but here he was asking her politely. Ash sighed and looked at Pikachu kind of annoyed that people kept giving him the same stunned look. Then again it made sense as he'd not been as mature as he could have been since the start of his journey.

"Not mum too."

Meowth and Pikachu started laughing however the latter quickly stopped and wrapped his around his stomach, he groaned and then bolted off towards the bathroom. Ash was now the one laughing along with Meowth as they could hear Pikachu in the bathroom vomiting, Ash just hoped he'd gotten to the toilet in time otherwise he'd be cleaning after Pikachu again.

"I told you that you shouldn't have so much ketchup."

'Shut up.' Pikachu groaned in response.

This snapped Delia out of her shocked state and she looked at Ash with pride, she didn't realise how much he had matured since he'd started his Pokemon journey.

"Okay Ash I'll teach you all the skills you'll need to travel alone."

"Thanks mum, do you think we can do this when I get home as in the morning Professor Oak is teaching me more about the finer details of Pokémon and I'm training in the afternoon."

"Okay Ash, that's no problem."

"Thanks mum."

Suddenly both mother and son, they looked at the clock and were shocked at the time as neither of them had realised just how late it had gotten. Ash yawned again and then left the room making sure to pick up bucket to take up with him, he remembered the last time Pikachu had overdone it on the ketchup and had no desire to wake up in a vomit filled bed again.

Ash walked into the bathroom and picked up Pikachu who had unsurprisingly passed out and went to his room to get some sleep for tomorrow when he would truly start on his path to become a Pokémon Master. Meowth followed him but stood in the middle of the room unsure where he would sleep. Ash saw the look on Meowth's face and pulled the cat into the bed with him and Pikachu, the action surprised the cat but he quickly relaxed and fell asleep. Ash smiled at the two Pokémon and then joined them in slumber.

Ash woke up early the next morning, he looked at the time and was relieved to see that his alarm clock had worked for once. He stretched his limbs out and got out of bed to get ready for the day. He raced downstairs and quickly ate his breakfast. He thanked his mum and walked to Professor Oak's Lab finding that he had arrived fifteen minutes early, he knocked on the door and saw Tracey who was again stunned.

"Morning Tracey."

"Hey Ash, you're eager aren't you."

"I am taking this seriously Tracey, I want to learn so I can be a better trainer."

Tracey let Ash in and closed the door, he was amazed at the determination in Ash's voice and the mature look in his eyes. Tracey knew that Ash was going to work as hard as possible and Tracey like the Professor had a lot of faith in Ash. Professor Oak heard the door to his office open and turned around to see Ash and Tracey.

"Hello Ash. You arrived early."

"Yeah well if you don't mind Professor I'd like to get started."

"Okay then Ash I'm more than happy to get started, come with me and we can start your first lesson."

Ash followed the Professor to a room that had a couple of desks in front of a blackboard on the wall. Ash took a seat and noticed that there were a stack of books there all based on Pokemon. He looked up as he saw Professor Oak walk to the blackboard and the lesson began with Ash listening intently. The morning was spent teaching Ash the basics of every known Pokémon, Ash was amazed at how little he had actually known about Pokémon. He had thought himself to be reasonably knowledgeable but was quickly proved wrong and it only made him more determined to learn. They finished the first lesson at lunch, as Ash went to leave he remembered he had a couple of questions for the Professor.

"Thanks again for agreeing to teach me Professor, it's only been one lesson and i already know so much more about Pokemon."

"It's my pleasure Ash, I've been waiting to do this for a while now."

"Really?"

"Of course, Ash I've always known that you had the potential to be a world class pokemon trainer. Everyone in Pallet believes that you have this potential, why else do you think the people of Pallet cheered for you and not Gary?"

"I-I always thought it was because I was the underdog and you always support them."

"No Ash, you were never the underdog in that battle, even when your back was against the wall we knew you would win. You have a talent that I have seen in very few people and if you work hard you can achieve great things alongside your pokemon. The bond you share with your pokemon proves that, you just needed someone to teach you the more indepth parts of pokemon training."

"Wow, th-thank you Professor, I just hope I can do you all proud."

"You will do Ash, now is there anything else you need?"

"Actually there is. I was wondering if youu have any training weights for Pokémon and any I can use to train, I want to grow stronger alongside them."

"Yes I do, I have all you could want prepared. I knew a day would come where you would need this equipment to train your pokemon. If you go down the hall you'll see a door at the end on the left full of training equipment. I recommend you all start on the lightest weights and work your way up."

"Okay thank you again Professor. Could you also do me a favour and see if anyone wants to trade for some of my Tauros? I have far too many and I think that trading them to someone will benefit everyone."

"I'll look into it Ash."

Ash nodded at the Professor and then followed his instructions, he quickly found the room and went inside. Ash looked around the room in awe at the sheer amount of equipment on disply, the Professor wasn't lying when he said the room was filled with training gear. He looked through all of the equipment until he finally came to the basic weights the Professor had told him to use. He selected some for all of his Pokémon and gradually took the gear outside.

After several trips he called over all of his Pokemon and upon seeing the weights his Pokémon were excited to start training although some seemed a little disappointed that they didn't appear to be that heavy. However as he attached the weights one by one to his Pokémon they realised that looks can be deceiving and they were surprised at how heavy they actually were. Ash told them that when they were stronger they would go up to the next weight level making them wonder how heavy the next set would be.

They all had some weights placed on their arms and legs, the flying types had them placed on their wings to improve speed and dodging and the ones with tails had some placed there to strengthen them for future moves like Iron Tail. After Ash put his own weights on they began running/flying laps for as long as possible which was difficult for all of them and they realised that this training would be even tougher than they expected. All of them had to admit though that they were looking forward to seeing the benefits of this training.

They worked harder than they ever had done before, Ash had pushed them as hard as he dared but he also made sure to push himself just as hard. By the end of their training session his Pokémon had sweat pouring off them and many of them were laid down and breathing heavily from exhaustion. Ash had felt guilty when he saw them that tired however a look in their eyes told him that they had actually enjoyed the tough training. Satisfied with the days' work he left the coral and went to talk to Professor Oak.

"Hey Professor how long do you think it will take to teach me all that you can? The thing is I want to compete in the Hoenn League this year and I don't want to have to rush through the regio."

The Professor rubbed his chin as he considered his answer to Ash's question, usually his training would take at least six months however he could already tell that that wouldn't be the case for Ash.

"Well Ash we both know that you are a lot more intelligent than you let on."

Ash nodded a little bashfully because it was true. Ash had since the start of his journey played dumb, it was a lot easier for him to be dumb and oblivious than intelligent and have to explain to every girl he'd met why he didn't reciprocate their feelings. He was sure one day it would come back to bite him but that wouldn't be for a long time... hopefully. He was drawn out of his thoughts by Professor Oak.

"So I'd say if you work hard it will take three months at the most."

Ash was happy with that, it left him plenty of time to compete in the Hoenn League when the training was done and meant he wouldn't have to rush around trying to get the badges.

"Okay that's great thanks again Professor."

"Don't worry about it Ash."

Ash left the lab and went home feeling completely exhausted after the day of training but he still had more than enough energy to learn the skills his mother was going to teach him. He knew that over time the days would get easier and gradually they did, after just a weeks' training he was more alert and got a lot more accomplished in a day. His mother, Tracey and Professor Oak were impressed with how well he had handled everything. He was a quick learner which made their jobs a heck of a lot easier and all of them were immensely proud of Ash.

After the second week of the training program he'd made for his Pokémon he decided they were ready to start learning the moves he had planned. So they spent a couple of hours warming up and using the weights to train as them had been doing and then the rest of the afternoon was spent learning the new moves. After seeing what Pidgeot had done against Pikachu's Thunderbolt Ash decided that the first thing they should do is learn a steel move like Iron Tail or Steel Wing for anyone who could learn them.

He asked his Pokémon what they thought and after Pikachu and Pidgeot demonstrated what had happened in the forest they all agreed that it was an excellent idea. As they started using the Steel moves he then thought of a variant as there may be times where they wouldn't have time to deflect the attack so he came up with a way to transfer the electricity into the ground. He asked Pidgeot to use Steel Wing but ram the metallic wing into the ground, she did so and when Pikachu hit her with a Thunderbolt the electricity transferred into the ground leaving her unscathed. Ash couldn't stop himself from cheering at seeing his idea work making all of his pokemon laugh.

Once the Steel moves had been mastered the next move they worked on was an evasion move either Double Team or Dig depending on their size. Ash had looked back on previous battles and realised how important dodging was and that his Pokémon would have been much better off dodging instead of taking attacks head on as he had let them do so many times in the past.

After they had perfected the evasion moves the training time was mainly just using heavier weights to increase their strength, speed and stamina or mock battles to test out new moves that he had helped them learn. On thing Ash hadn't expected from the training was for Wartortle to actually create a new technique even if it was by mistake. It had been when the water type had been battling Bayleef to improve his abilities against foes who had the advantage over him. She had used Bullet Seed and he managed to leap over the horde of seeds but had misjudged his jump and he landed on his back.

Suddenly another wave was headed his way so he began shooting several Water Gun's to block the seeds which he did but not in the way he imagined. Due to him being on his back firing the Water Gun's had made him start spinning so the Water Gun's ended up creating a vortex which blocked Bayleef's attack. All of his comrades were amazed at what they saw and began trying to do a similar thing which several of them managed to do. Ash after some thoughts decided to call it the Counter Shield technique and knew that it would save his skin someday.

Time seemed to pass by quickly after the first couple of weeks and before he knew it Ash had been home for three months bringing his lessons to an end as he made his final preparations for Hoenn. Ash now knew how to survive on his own thanks to his mother's teachings, she'd taught him everything from cooking to sewing. Also his knowledge of Pokémon had grown considerably thanks to Professor Oak and Tracey and because he had learnt much quicker than they had anticipated they started to go into more detailed studies regarding new discoveries such as Mega Evolution and Pokemon of the Fairy type.

Ash had also become a lot stronger physically thanks to training alongside his Pokémon and like their trainier the Pokémon had grown a lot stronger too thanks to the weight training. Ash had been surprised when Bulbasaur and Squirtle chose to evolve as neither had shown any desire to evolve in the past. This was especially true for Bulbasaur as he had shown such a disdain for evolution, but both Pokémon realised they had reached a wall that they could not break through unless they evolved.

Today was the last day Ash was spending in Pallet before starting his journey in Hoenn and he was fully intent on actually conquering the region. He sat on the field and watched as his Pokémon were now having mock battles for a bit of last minute practice before they left. He saw Pikachu battling Wartortle, the latter had used Ash's idea of using Iron Tail on the ground to negate electric attacks during the entire battle meaning Pikachu's biggest strength had been completely neutralised.

Ash was impressed at how well Pikachu had done against Wartortle without his electric attacks. He had used his superior speed to his advantage but as Pikachu began to tire Wartortle had an easy shot at Pikachu and seeing his opportunity he hit the mouse with a Skull Bash which ended the battle. Pikachu got back to his feet slightly dazed but no worse for ware and both Pokémon shook hands, Wartortle then went over to Ivysaur and started chatting while Pikachu walked to Ash looking depressed.

"Cheer up buddy, I'm proud of you. You were at a serious disadvantage due to you being unable to use electric attacks."

Pikachu looked down still feeling miserable at losing to Wartortle as he knew that a couple of months ago he could have won that battle. Ash looked at his best friend sadly, he really hated seeing Pikachu like this especially since in the last couple of weeks it had been occuring more frequently. His stomach then rumbled and that made him think of a way to cheer his buddy up.

"Hey I'm gonna go get everyone's food. Wait here okay. I'll make sure to put extra ketchup on."

Pikachu still kept his gaze down and nodded in response. Ash sighed at the sight of his dejected best friend and stood up, he walked into the lab and began making lunch completely oblivious to the fact that when he got up something important had fallen out of his pocket. Pikachu had noticed though and had been about to get Ash's attention until he saw that it was the Thunderstone which was now lying there. As he stared at the Thunderstone laid out before him, thoughts were racing through Pikachu's head. Would Ash leave him here now that he wasn't one of the strongest? Would Ash ever battle with him again?

Even though Pikachu knew that these thoughts were irrational and that Ash would never leave him behind he couldn't get the thoughts out of his head. He knew that there was a way he would become stronger and it was sat in front of him. At that moment Pikachu made a decision that he knew could not be undone, he gulped and he reached out to the stone. As he felt the smooth surface against his paw his he glowed white causing everyone to turn and see what was causing the blinding light and they were all shocked to see that the light was coming from Pikachu.

Notes

Yes I know I put Counter Shield in, but it is just too good a technique to not use.

In general it will not follow the anime however some parts will be used.

For those of you who read the original I hope you enjoyed this new version.

I really would appreciate some reviews saying what you liked/didn't like even if you only do it for this chapter.

Ash:

Kanto – Pikachu (Well technically Raichu), Ivysaur, Wartortle, Charizard, Pidgeot, Kingler, Muk, Tauros(x30) & Snorlax

Johto – Totodile, Bayleaf, Cyndaquil, Heracross, Noctowl (Shiny) & Phanpy