A/N: Wow I really am inconsistent. Sorry everyone lol. Anyways, it's been a while, and I thought I would finally rewrite Rebirth. To make for a more consistent story, in this timeline Team Flare never existed, and Alain was never a part of it. Also, this is right after Kalos, because FUCK the Sun & Moon anime. Hope you enjoy!

Ba bump. Ba bump. Ba bump.

The scene lays suspended in time; the biggest colosseum in the region, packed to the maximum with a crown screaming in the background. In the middle are two trainers elevated on platforms, one with a red cap on his head and his arm outstretched to the sky, the other with a thick mane of blue around his neck and a clasp around his wrist. They shout towards two creatures towards the middle of the stage, a mountainous terrain with boulder protruding out. On one side stands a dragon, with wings as black as night and flames licking at its mouth, with horns protruding out of its shoulders, claws sharp enough to rip someone in half as easily as one might tear a leaf, and a dark collar with a glimmering stone nestled in the center. It lays, pensile in the air, with the eyes of a hunter aiming for his prey. Blasts of fire are coming from his mouth, aimed towards a dashing figure cloaked in water. The humanoid frog within holds a huge orange shuriken, aiming towards its rival ahead. The red cross and black frills coming out of its head gives it a ferocious and peculiar appearance-almost like it's sporting a cap. As the scene starts to move, the frog throws the shuriken towards the dragon, and the dragon releases the columns of flames in response.

Ba bump ba bump ba bump ba bump ba bump.

The two projectiles meet in the middle of the stage. They struggle for a moment, almost like two live creatures fighting desperately to survive. Then, an explosion is heard, and the colosseum is covered with dust. Then the dust clears.

Ba-bump-ba-bump-ba-bump-ba-bump.

The two creatures are still standing. They seem to stand for an eternity.

The final battle of wills.

Nobody moves. Nobody speaks. The silence is so thick you can almost taste it.

BA-BUMP.

Then the frog falls to the ground, causing a small puff of dust to rise. When it clears, it shows a different frog, no longer sporting the red cross and black frills it so clearly had earlier. And it its eyes, normally so filled with the excitement and rigor of battle, lay swirls. Proof of its defeat.

The crowd is still. Then one person starts clapping. Then two. Four. Eight. Soon, the entire stadium is chanting, shouting, screaming for their victor. The man in black. The conqueror of their hearts.

And on the other side, the red capped trainer is running towards the frog. He kneels by the Greninja, brings out its pokeball, touches it to the blue skin, and says "return." A flash of light and the pokemon is nowhere to be seen.

The stadium is in a frenzy. People are crying, laughing, moved by the battle they were able to witness. And through it all, a booming voice could be heard.

"ASH-GRENINJA HAS BEEN DEFEATED! THE WINNER OF THE 86TH KALOS LEAGUE IS…POKEMON TRAINER ALAIN!

Ash wasn't happy.

After the final match of the Kalos League, he had walked home from the stadium slouchiing, his hat covering his face, walking the shadows, desperate not to be seen or recognized as the person who had gotten 2nd place. Already he was seeing Alain everywhere.

"Mr. Alain! How does it feel to be able to walk up the steps and be able to challenge the Elite Four?"

"It feels amazing! I'm so grateful towards- "

Ugh. He walked past the TV, missing the rest of the interview.

He sat on a bench for what must have been an hour. He was mentally and physically drained from the past few days. "Damnit," he thought. "Damnit, damnit, damnit."

He couldn't understand. He had been training for so long, built up so many bonds, and fought so many people, so why?

Why did he keep losing in each league championship?

It was a question that tore into him. Why? He always put in more work than anyone around him, always training to points where any normal person would have dropped dead, caring for his pokemon and making sure they grew up in a loving environment, and travelling around every damn region he went to to gain experience. So why? Was it that his opponents were simply just innately talented? Was it that he wasn't training hard enough? Was he just unlucky?

Or was it just that he wasn't a good pokemon trainer.

The last one scared him. Being a pokemon master had been his dream ever since he was a boy. If he really was just a bad pokemon trainer, that would be the end. His entire life would have meant nothing.

"Damnit."

This was probably one of the worst nights of his life. He really believed he could do it this time. He had put all his faith into Greninja, and it had fainted at the final moment. He knew that if it had held on a bit longer, then Charizard would have fallen instead, and he would have won the Kalos league.

His teeth gritted. If only Greninja hadn't failed me…

That lone thought was what shocked him out of his stupor.

"What the hell am I thinking?"

Yes, Greninja had run out of HP. But if it wasn't strong enough to beat Alain, then he only had himself to blame. Greninja was trained by him, and if he had trained a bit harder, then it would have triumphed in that crucial moment. But he hadn't, and as a result, it lost. If anything, he had failed Greninja.

He laid back on the bench, wishing he had some water to splash on his face. Even if he would come back next time, nobody was happy that Ash lost. Even Pikachu, who had always remained cheerful and energetic every time they had lost previously, had gone into its pokeball and refused to come out.

He sighed. No use thinking about that now. The only thing he could do is move forward.

He shook his head. That's right. Even if he didn't win this time, he would train harder and come back to win next time.

He had stopped by the pokemon center to deposit all his pokemon, careful to hide his trainer identity from anyone behind him. As soon as he got to the hotel, he fled to his room, only narrowly missing a boy and dropping his cap in the process. The boy's eyes widened, but before he could say a word Ash had already disappeared. He had gone straight up to his room, changed and showered. After he came out, Pikachu still hadn't come out of his pokeball.

Strange.

Eh. It's not like he was complaining. Ash wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone right now.

Still, he felt he had to say something to the yellow mouse. Maybe that he was sorry to have lost another league, or to thank it for staying by him all this time. But when he opened his mouth, all that came out was "Good night, pikachu."

No response.

Dejected, Ash got into his bed, covered himself with the sheets, and felt the welcome relief of sleep wash over him.

"Mr. Ketchum-"

Hmmm? Had somebody called his name?

"Mr. Ketchum?"

Eh, it probably wasn't anything. Ash closed his eyes-

"Mr. Ketchum!"

Ash's eyes flew open again. Irritated, he got out of bed and started changing. Who was calling him at this time of the day, for Arceus' sake? And from outside of the hotel too, by the sound of it? It sounded like more people were joining in as well. Great.

Still fairly groggy, he looked out of the window. What he saw instantly woke him up.

Outside of the hotel he was staying in was a swarm of reporters, all laying in wait for him to come out of the hotel. "Mr. Ketchum, we know you're there!" "Come out here, you murderer!"

What?

Ash didn't know. That night, when he had stewed in darkness and regret, Alain had been found dead on his bathroom floor, with electric scorch marks all over his body.

In a panic, he rushed to back up all his stuff. "Shit. Shit. We need to go. Come on, Pikachu. Pikachu!"

Pikachu still hasn't come out from his ball.

Frustrated, Ash clicked on the ball to open it. "Now is NOT the time to be-"

He stopped.

Pikachu wasn't in his ball. In fact, Pikachu was nowhere to be found.

Ba-bump.

Ash was scared.

He had managed to slip out of the reporter's grasps, but after that all he remembered were TV's blaring the news "86TH KALOS LEAGUE WINNER FOUND DEAD ON FLOOR" and images of him showcased with the words "prime suspect." He was desperate and confused. How did Alain die? Why was he the one being blamed for it? And most importantly, where was Pikachu?

The last question was what was destroying him inside. He had had to flee the region as fast as he could, smuggling himself onto a ship and mooching off the rations he found in the storage room, but in doing so he had left his beloved partner pokemon. And the news hadn't just stayed in Kalos. By the time he reached Kanto, a week after he left, everyone knew the terrible news: Ash Ketchum had killed the victor of the pokemon league. He was a wanted man now, a criminal, and nobody would dare offer to help him.

He was alone.

After weeks of walking through forests, scavenging whatever food he could find, and being tormented by fear, Ash had changed. His cheeks were indented, and his eyes were sunken in and held no signs of life. His clothes were torn, revealing his sallow skin and the many small cuts across his body. His back ached because of constantly lying in trees waiting for sleep that would never come. He had lost a good amount of weight and looked like a skeleton with flesh. He had lost his signature red cap, and the hair he had on his head was overgrown and greasy from never being washed. The only time any sign of humanity would show is when he heard a footstep. Then, the previously dead eyes would light up like an alarm, and he would start sprinting away as fast as he could, moving with a speed and stride that was inhumane. After the perceived danger went away, he stopped, and then fell on the forest floor, unable to move from the fatigue. He would stay that way for hours, at the mercy of whatever nature threw at him, until he got up again and continued home. While on the ship, he had grabbed a map of Kanto from the storage room, and that was his lone guide.

The only thing that kept him going was the thought of his pokemon and his family. He knew that if he could just make it to Pallet Town, he would be safe. He didn't just know it, he felt it, deep down in his bones, that everything would be alright.

So he continued pushing forth. Every step forcing himself to press forward, every moment feeling like an eternity, every minute another fight for life, his old determination and stamina refusing to let him give up.

Then, two months after he had lost the pokemon league, Ash Ketchum finally reached the opening hill and fence that signaled the entrance to Pallet Town.

Ba-Bump.

I'm here, he thought.

The mental anguish had been unbearable. But seeing that familiar steel gate with the words "WELCOME TO PALLET TOWN" written on the arch above it made everything seem worth it.

But something seemed wrong. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but a chill ran down his spine when he looked at the gate. It looked…neglected. The grass around the fence was overgrown. The flowers that dotted the entrance were wilted, signs that they hadn't been watered in some time. A single ivy vine was starting to drip down the top of the gate.

No, he thought. Something is very wrong.

Now that he looked at it, the scene was becoming more and more scary. The gate lock had been broken, the hatch hidden in the grass. Dots of rust could be seen on the bars. There were several missing boards that the fence had once carried.

But the thing that was most unnerving was the silence.

Normally, even from the entrance, tons of noises should have been heard. Kids playing in the streets, kicking around a ball or two. Adults, walking around to shop at the mart or rest at the lake. The hum of the pokemon lab, where several projects would be held at the same time. And most importantly, the pokemon. The wild pokemon in the forest. The partners that would walk around with the grown-ups. And the pokemon that were held at the lab. His pokemon.

Run, his gut said. Run as fast as you can. Just get away from here.

But he had to see what had happened to his home.

He slowly approached the gate, and carefully opened it.

Creak.

He walked up to the top of the hill that after the entrance and looked.

What met his eyes was a scene of total destruction.

The town had been burned to the ground. Scorched bodies lay, strewn across the ground, bodies that had been dead for weeks, bodies that had been mutilated, bodies that had been feasted on by the Mandibuzz that always come. There was still one, nibbling on the ear of a corpse that lay ahead. The lab had been incinerated, the pokemon inside it gone. The homes had been ravaged beyond repair.

Horror filled Ash's being. He fell to the ground and threw up what little contents his stomach held.

Why?

He beat the ground with his fists, his earlier fatigue vanishing.

What did I do to deserve this?

He was rolling down the hill now, the hard ground bruising his sides. He rolled to a stop, right next to the corpse of a child. He could smell the burnt flesh. He threw up again.

He had just wanted to visit his town again. He had just wanted to see his pokemon. He just wanted to see mom….

Mom.

Ash got up and began running, adrenaline coursing through his veins. He ran to his home, now a pile f rubble, and began sifting through the debris.

"Mom? Mom!"

Hopelessness overcame him. He started to cry. Tears streamed down his face.

"Mom…"

The dead body of Delia Ketchum lay before him. Oddly, she seemed untouched by the rubble around her. In fact, she seemed perfectly preserved. Until you noticed the hole through her chest.

"Mom…."

He lay there for what could have been minutes, or hours, or days. He was broken, both physically and mentally.

It started to rain.

Pit-pat, pit-pat.

It started as sprinkle. Then, a shower. Soon, it grew into a downpour, drenching Ash. He welcomed the feeling of cold that jarred him from his stupor. He cried again, his tears indistinguishable from the raindrops pounding down on him. He waited. But the storm didn't stop.

He started to move again and noticed something. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something white sticking out of Delia's pocket. He moved to take it, ignoring the spikes of pain coursing through his body.

It was a piece of paper, ink starting to dribble. Ash sheltered it from the storm, crawled into the frame of a burnt house, and started to read.

Dear Ash,

I've been watching all your battles on the TV! I can't believe how strong you've become. I guess the little boy who's always dreamed of being a master has finally achieved his goal!

Things have been just as normal here at home. I baked a cinnamon cream pie today! The taste wasn't amazing, but the kids here enjoyed it nonetheless. Their mothers came to thank me too, and we had a nice chat for the rest of the afternoon.

Speaking of nice chats, a person in a hood today came to ask if you were home today. They seemed to be worried about something. He had a strange voice too, almost like a woman, yet too husky. They had a curl of blond hair sticking out of his hood, too. And his face! Oh, I didn't get to see much of it, but it was the most beautiful face I'd ever seen! If I was 10 years younger, I'd be all over them.

He told me to tell you that no matter what happens, you always have a friend in them. Then he gave me a card with a multicolored X on it. I thought he might be a sponsor, so I looked up to thank them, but they had already left. You might have yourself a fan, Ash!

Things have been lonely without you here. As soon as you win the league, you have to promise to come home immediately! All your pokemon look so gloomy without you here! Remember, no matter what, this is always your home, and I am always your mother.

I love you, Ash!

Lots and lots of love,

Mom.

Mom had always sent him letters, no matter how often he told her about the communicator in the pokemon center. She insisted that it was the proper way to do things, although she never seemed shy about buying the newest edition Vivillon TV whenever it came out.

Rage. A blinding rage overtook him, coloring his eyes with red, until that was all he could see. His body was trembling. What monster would ever kill a woman so kind and sweet as his mother? What kind of person – or people – would ever destroy an entire town, without care for the children and the people that lived there? And why were they targeting him?

Rage was overtaking his consciousness now. A fiery, yet icy anger, one that he had never felt, boiling inside of his veins. His mind went blank. His eyes turned white. A purplish aura enveloped him, engulfing the house he was staying in. At the edge of a charred table, a stuffed teddiursa bear fell off its stand.

And then Ash screamed.

A long, impossibly loud scream, a scream that sent shockwaves rolling through the streets, jostling the corpses and flattening the grass that was left.

Then, an explosion of aura.

The blast could be seen from miles away, the sound even further. It pushed forth with the force of an atom bomb, completely vaporizing Pallet town and anything within a mile's radius of it.

When it was gone, there was an eerie quiet. The rain had been blown away, the land now nothing but brown dirt.

Perhaps if someone has been there at the time, they would have seen a dirty, screaming child, head arched, with wings protruding out of his back, or the pokemon that teleported behind him, with a long purple tail behind it.

A/n: Kinda weird ending, I know, but couldn't really think of anything else to end it with. Anyways, update time is probably gonna be weird, and the story's gonna be pretty dark. Hope you guys enjoyed, and see you next time!