I am back with a new chapter! So I made some minor changes in the previous chapter here. Anyways let's get started.

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Chapter 3

The downfall

Ash walked out of the gigantic stadium with Pikachu hanging on his shoulder, a smile plastered on his face and chest puffed high, feeling achieved worth something after beating Cynthia. He spotted a row of fans and reporters who were waiting for his return and cheered upon spotting him.

Ash grinned and waved at them causing them to cheer louder while squinting his eyes shut as he was temporarily blinded by the flash of lights from cameras that hit his face.

The reporters soon huddled him up, rounding him into a corner and bombarded questions upon questions while the fans nearly jumped on him, asking for selfies, tips, and some even for dates. Ash politely declined them, making sure to avoid any questions as he brushed past through them to refrain from consuming any more time. He was really hungry and want to meet up with his friends who agreed to meet up at the Pokemon center after his match.

He kept walking for a few more minutes until eventually reaching his destination, catching the sight of his friends who were waiting outside for his return.

"Hey guys," Ash yelled waving his hands walking towards them.

The group immediately jerked their heads towards him upon hearing him call them out and grinned while his rivals just smirked.

"Ash!" Serena squealed excitedly, being the first one to run up to him and enveloped him in what seems like the biggest hug humanity ever witnessed, causing Ash's cheeks to taint a slight tinge of pink upon their close proximity.

"You were awesome! Congratulations!" she said excitedly, practically jumping in his arms. Ash chuckled and hugged her back. She has grown so much, considerably taller now standing at 5'4 and has grown out her hair once again which reached towards her mid-back, now tied in a ponytail. She looks as beautiful as ever. Ash sniffed lightly taking in her fragrance.

"Thank you so much, Serena, that means a lot!" He replied still hugging the girl.

"Anytime Ash!" She grinned with that huge adorable blush still on her face.

They stayed there for a few more moments until they heard someone fake out a cough successfully gaining their attention and breaking them out of their bubble.

Looking just ahead he saw the culprit, the owner of the voice was standing there with a smug look on his face. His friends were too standing there with smirks, some were trying to hold back their giggles while Misty just cringed.

"Serena, please do us a favor and molest Ashy boy sometime else," Gary teased, a shit-eating smirk plastered on his face. "We are waiting in the line to congratulate him too!" He finished crossing his arms. His smirk still not leaving.

Serena and Ash both blushed furiously at the remark and instantly let go, leaving them both red-faced and a stammering mess causing the group to burst into laughter.

Misty glared daggers at Gary, her eyes narrowing dangerously as an evil glint lit up in her eyes, he felt the heat and shuddered, quickly looking away and suddenly seeming very interested in the tree at a nearby distance. "Oops," he muttered. He is going to get a lot of shit for this.

Brock was the next to walk up to Ash, lunged forward, and took him in a hug "Nicely done back there. I am proud of you" He said smiling, taking Ash in a brotherly hug, Ash hugged back, those few words meant a lot to him.

The rest of his friends soon huddled up around him, formed a circle, and began congratulating him. Ash soaked all the praise and thanked them back.

"You were so cool," Max beamed with stars in his eyes.

"Like totally," May said enthusiastically.

"Thank you guys," Ash said grinning like a mad man.

"You are finally growing up, congrats kid," Iris smirked crossing her arms.

Goh threw an arm around Ash's shoulder and grinned looking at him, "You will have to help me train now."

"Hey, I was first in the line. Ash will help me train first!" Dawn said bursting into the conversation, mock glaring at Goh who glared back causing Ash to sweatdrop.

"I will help train both of you!" Ash said getting in between.

"For the last time, thank you! Now let's get my Pokemons healed and go straight to eat something" Ash exclaimed out loud causing May to cheer along. The others sweatdropped at their never-ending hunger, they both can probably tank up a whole week's food and still live to eat another day.

The group began to disperse and began walking towards the Pokemon center. Ash followed after them but was stopped when he heard Paul call him out. He turned back and saw Ritchie, Paul, and Trip standing there looking at him.

"What's it, guys?" Ash asked approaching them.

"I am sorry, but I can't join you," Paul said lightly, "I have to leave now."

"Same here, I gotta go back. I will join sometime later." Trip said looking straight in his eyes, soon followed by Ritchie who proposed to leave as well.

"Come on guys, it won't take too long," Ash tried to argue

"I am sorry but I really can't. I have some other plans." Ritchie argued back

Ash gave up trying and sighed in defeat. "Fine," he heaved.

The others smiled at his understanding of nature. The boys soon said their goodbyes and left their own ways leaving Ash alone who then went back to the Pokemon center.

Time skip - 30 minutes later

The group was seated inside a local restaurant, divided into small groups and sitting on different tables, chatting with each other, and waiting for their orders to arrive.

Serena, Goh, Brock, Gary, and Misty were sitting together with Ash on the same table. The restaurant was average, not at all fancy, and quite affordable to have a meal at. It was adorned by small bright-colored lamps, some chandeliers hanging here and there on the ceiling, posh grey marble tiles which seem to reflect everything, a large counter, and finally the waiters taking and serving the orders. The wooden tables were big, long, and wide enough to accommodate 6 people at once.

"So, Ash, when is your next battle scheduled?" Clemont asked from the other side, eyeing him carefully.

Ash tilted his head towards him, "I have no idea," he said shrinking back into his chair.

"What Pokemons will you be using?" Gary asked curiously, narrowing his eyes.

"I don't know I will think about that later," Ash said simply, shrugging his shoulders.

Gary's gaze dropped, not at all satisfied by the answer but he knows he will find out later. They continued talking about anything that crossed their minds, cracked jokes, and threw taunts at each other until the waiter arrived with their orders.

The meal was served and everyone watched in amazement and disgust as Ash and May dig down on their food like pigs. Gulping down plate after plate-like there is no tomorrow.

"He probably eats as twice as a Snorlax," Brock thought as he watched Ash, "sure brings back memories."

"Seriously Ash! That's the 4th time in a row. You will get a bad stomach!" Misty exclaimed in disbelief as she watched Ash down another bowl of ramen.

Ash mumbled something with his food still inside his mouth causing Misty, Gary, and Goh to wince and recoil in disgust and Serena to giggle.

The group finished their meal, took the desserts, and paid for the food. Contented with what they just had, they walked out of the restaurant and left for the Pokemon center. They didn't keep track of the time, did they?

The sky has darkened, chasing away the light of the day and enveloping the world around them in a loop of temporary darkness followed by a soothing sweet breeze that served as a reminder for the upcoming winter.

The night has fallen and yet they could still witness the beautiful art of remnants of bright orange and red rays of the setting sun now nestled in the distant horizon.

The group doesn't know to walk in silence, they were all talking and laughing along the way to the Pokemon center.

"Good night guys," Ash said as he stood there by himself with Pikachu perched on his shoulder. He received their responses as they all entered their respective rooms. The time quickly passed by and it was already 10:13 pm.

Brock frowned in a confused manner, "Are you not going to sleep?"

"I am not sleepy yet, I will come when I feel like it. I am going for a late-night walk. Goodnight Brock," Ash said as he started walking away.

Brock nodded he nodded, "Fine but don't go too far," he said entering the room and practically jumped on his bed.

Ash and Pikachu silently walked side by side coming to the outskirts of the city which is usually not crowded, neither of them sharing any words but just enjoying each other's company. Ash's mind wandered off to his old self - it felt like just yesterday that he started his journey. Woke up late and then received a stubborn Pikachu as his starter who just wouldn't listen to him, then to his first catch Caterpie who later evolved into Metapod and then further into Butterfree and then his tearful departure to go and live with his mate, he always wondered what his Butterfree and his mate might be doing.

His thoughts slowly drifted to his other catches. He thought about all the Pokemons he released, the ones he gave away to train, and then promised to come back to. They have come a long way, from a noob who sent out his Metapod against another Metapod without any positive outcome of the battle to now beating Cynthia.

Ash laughed to himself at the memory, he was really such a noob back then, it's all thanks to his Pokemon's dedication that he is what he is today. Pikachu looked confused at his friend's sudden outburst.

"It's nothing buddy, just relishing the old memories," Ash said with a wide smile.

He is so close to achieving his dreams and he is not going to look back. Everything is going smoothly like how he always wanted and yet... he can't help but get a really bad gut feeling. His stomach churned uneasily something is feeling so wrong. He could already imagine the demonic flashes stealthily lurking in the darkness waiting to pounce on him. Like an impending tragedy awaiting to haunt him forever, a whole mountain of eternal sufferings.

He was right.

And... it happened.

"HELP!" a feminine scream rang out in the air carrying a sense of helplessness and desperation.

Ash and Pikachu both immediately tensed up. Ash gave Pikachu a "you heard that too?" expression to which Pikachu nodded. They listened intently and held their ears waiting for it to come again.

"Somebody please help me!" It came again, only this time it was much louder.

That does it! Ash and Pikachu burst into sprints and began to search around for the source of the sound, they ran for quite a while across until they reached to a still under construction 6 story residential building. It was obviously still unfinished and in its early stages of the construction, the equipment and stacks of cement were all scattered on the ground. Neglect and overlooking in its maintenance were clearly visible which spoke of the lack of professionalism in their work.

"HELP!" the scream rang out much louder this time and it was definitely coming from this building!

That's it they are going there to fetch that person and drag her to safety! Ash approached the building with great caution, his posture hung low to make sure to barge in as stealthily as possible until he abruptly stopped, realizing that he left all his Pokemons at the center and cursed his luck. He was now torn between whether to enter the building or not without proper safety. He doesn't want to get into any trouble. He has always been a trouble magnet even he thinks so! He has this rare ability to attract troubles without even trying. Pikachu upon witnessing the obvious feud inside his trainer's mind decided to interfere. Ash felt a tug on his pants and saw Pikachu looking at him determinedly.

Ash was still unsure but nodded anyways though slightly nervous himself and took a step on the pavement and then another one and continued this pace until they reached the entrance. It was obviously dark, devoid of any light, and the fact that it was night wasn't helping either.

"Hello, are you there?" Ash called out loud waiting for a response, his voice bounced off the walls.

No response. Still eerily quiet and very unnerving. Ash gulped at the silence hoping whoever it is that called them is alright.

"Don't worry we're here to help you!" he called out once again.

"Pika pika," Pikachu accompanied along.

Still no response. Ash was growing nervous, his mind running wild with all the negative ideas.

Until it came again...

"H-hel -" he heard a scream now muffled by something covering its mouth and a slight scuffle of struggle accompanied by some grunts and profanities.

Ash and Pikachu dashed to where the sound was coming from, had Pikachu use the iron tail on the door, and then burst right through its frame and found nothing? Ash frowned trying to make out eh silhouettes in the dark only to realize it was the ruined and abandoned furniture. Their eyes searched the room before sighing in defeat.

"Buddy you go on the uppers floor while I will search the ground, first and second floors," He suggested, Pikachu nodded and dashed off climbing up the stairs.

They spent the next 10 minutes searching and found nothing, they were about to leave and inform the authorities until they heard the sound of sirens of the police cars, which were continually buzzing in the background and was only getting louder with each passing moment, the screeches of the tires of cars could be heard caused by the sudden disruption in their momentum upon pressing the brakes and then parked themselves at a nearby adequate place. Pikachu's ears perked up, he looked and saw that Ash who had somewhat of a relieved expression.

"Thank god," he said gratefully as they both approached the entrance and opened the door bringing a hand to his face eyes as he was once again temporarily blinded by the light from the cars. He heard their chitter-chatter as the loud siren continue to buzz. They soon dispersed and assigned to their positions.

"About time," Ash said uneasily, trying to ease the level of tension in the atmosphere.

He opened his mouth once again to say something once again but quickly shut up when he saw the police officers point their guns at him making him frown.

"Wait! Why are you pointing guns at me?" Ash asked out loud in disbelief, not liking where this is going.

He watched as a cop stepped outside of his car, brought a microphone to his mouth, and yelled a warning he never wished to hear.

"Ash Ketchum, surrender right now and raise your hands! You are taken under custody for interrogation!"

Ash and Pikachu's eyes widen in horror.


I know this chapter is really rushed and I apologize for that. I promise to post a quality chapter next time. Do stick around. :-)

Goodbye. See ya all later