Okay everyone this is my first Pokémon fiction, it is Pokéshipping but that isn't the focus point of the story.

Ash during his Elite Four challenge was wrongly accused of Match Fixing and due to this ended up losing his ability to enter Pokémon League championships, thus seemingly ending his dream of becoming a Pokémon master.

Four years down the line, a massive event is about to occur where all the world's strongest trainers will participate for the title of Pokémon Master, however Ash cannot participate, or so he thinks, however after a call from the mysterious Paul, his dream may come to reality.

Chapter one: Returning from Shattered Dreams

(Four Years Ago)

"And Challenger Ash Ketchum's Buizel falls to a powerful Power Gem attack by Aaron's Vespiquen and with that the Challenger loses a close match to his first opponent in his elite four challenge. Tough luck for the challenger, but wait- what's this?" an overly enthusiastic commentator shouted into his microphone. "The referee hasn't lifted his flag. The match will continue. Surely Buizel is out of this one, he wasn't even moving!"

Ash stood on his side of the field in bewilderment. He was about to lose the first match. He thought he had, but the referee deemed the match okay to continue, so quickly he cried "Buizel use Aqua Jet!" But once again it wasn't meant to be as his Pokémon was obviously tired. But Ash didn't want his dream to end so he recklessly led Buizel into another Power Gem attack. Once again Buizel fell to the ground unmoving. This time he didn't stand back up and the referee still didn't raise the flag.

"Referee what are you doing? Get that poor Pokémon out of there!" Aaron shouted to the match official, but the man shook his head in defiance.

"I'm under orders to not let the challenger lose this match," the man replied loudly, enough for the commentator to hear.

"What is this folks? Apparently something or should I say someone is preventing the official from ending the match!" The commentator's tone was a mixture of disgust and anger, which wasn't missed by anyone, from the thousands in the stadium to the millions watching at home, all saw one of the oddest sights in league history.

Ash stood wide-eyed in his spot, seemingly surprised by the turn of events. Buizel still wasn't moving and the referee just stood with a smirk on his face. Ash in response lifted his pokéball and returned his seriously injured friend but the referee wasn't having any of it.

"Challenger what are you doing? The match isn't over," the man declared, but Ash just shook his head.

"This match is over," Ash replied and started to walk away, aiming for the tunnel leading off the main battlefield. He wasn't surprised to hear the angry boo-ing from the spectators, but he certainly was by their accusing words, such as cheater and match fixer. But Ash kept his angry tears back until he managed to escape from sight.

When Ash reached his dressing room he was encountered by his friends Brock and Dawn who appeared sympathetic, yet confused as to what happened out there. Before they got to talk Ash raised his hand over his face and shouted, "LEAVE!" at them, but they wouldn't. Brock placed his hand on Ash's shoulder trying to comfort him whilst asking him what happened whilst Dawn sat herself down on one of the bench's with a thinking pose, trying to figure it out herself.

"I lost my first match, ignored my Pokémon's pain and now people believe I bribed the referee. This is it for me, they'll probably take my Pokémon license and even if they don't, they'll ban me from all competitions. Don't you understand Brock? I don't even deserve to be a trainer anymore!" Ash cried out in a mixture of sobs and screams.

"I'm sure Buizel will be okay and maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe the league will inquire into this and find the real culprit," Brock told the boy optimistically, but all he got in reply was a tug that pulled away Brock's arm from Ash's shoulder.

"Ash! You may be upset but that's no reason to take this out on Brock. He hasn't done anything wrong!" Dawn scolded but Ash paid no attention to the young girls' outburst.

"No, Dawn its okay, don't worry about me," Brock said, in hopes of stopping Dawn's outburst but she wasn't going to have any of it.

"No just because he is upset doesn't mean he can treat you like that!" Dawn said in Brock's defence, but it was obvious, Brock's mind was made up.

"Just imagine if you believed you're lifelong dream could no longer be achieved Dawn. I'm sure you'd act the same way," Brock told her, seemingly silencing the blue haired girl.

"Sorry," was all Dawn had to say. Her gaze softened and she once again stared sympathetically at the upset young man.

During the short exchange between his two travelling companions Ash stood and slumped against a locker with his face in his hands. He knew everything was over for him, but seeing his friends fight over him was a sight he didn't enjoy much. So he bravely put on a smile and thanked them both for their support.

"No problem Ash!" both of them replied in sync, with equally wide smiles on their faces. However they didn't know how dead Ash felt inside from this.

The next day was disastrous. As expected Ash was banned from all league competitions, but much to his surprise his license wasn't taken away despite his obvious mistreatment of his Buizel during the match. Because of this his dreams were shattered and he became known worldwide as the man who cheated his way to an elite four challenge, despite it not being true.

The media ripped him to shreds, destroying all his credibility and even started using his image as a way to promote the importance of fair play.

All in all, that day was a day that Ash would never forget.

(In the present)

It had been four long years since Ash had lost all hope. Despite this he never stopped training his Pokémon even though he wasn't considered a trainer anymore. He was always going to be one at heart, and thus still continued his travels, only occasionally returning home to see his mother and his long time friends.

"Ugh," Ash grunted as he woke up in the middle of Viridian Forest. The rays of sunshine broke through the trees and irritated his eyes, causing him to roll over onto his long time partner in hopes of shielding them.

"Pikaa," the yellow mouse growled

"Oh shit!" Ash cried as he was made to taste a thunderbolt, and as he knew, there was absolutely nothing better than a thunderbolt in the morning, not. "Sorry Pal," Ash apologised whilst rubbing the back of his head.

"Pika, Pikaa!" his Pokémon replied in an angry fashion.

Ash without a second thought pulled out a bottle of ketchup and gave it to his Pokémon, who instantly forgot his anger so he could dig into his favourite snack.

"You okay now buddy?" Ash asked. Pikachu just nodded in response and continued to devour his ketchup causing Ash to laugh, which was rare for him since the incident four years ago.

Ash stood up and just looked at the treetops, imagining the sky just behind. "Remember all those years ago, Caterpie then Pidgeotto, then Caterpie evolved, TWICE! Then much later on Pidgeotto became a Pidgeot." Ash then looked at his feet. "Those were fun times, when we were allowed to dream, weren't they?" Ash asked his partner. It was obvious he was still mulling over his shattered life.

"Pika.. chu"

"I know buddy, but who knows, one day, maybe, just maybe, we can dream again. I'd grasp it with everything I have."

"Pika."

"Yeah your right Pikachu, lets head back to Pallet. Who knows, maybe something interesting has happened," Ash spoke in a doubtful tone, but just as he finished his Pokégear began to ring. "What the, I thought there was no reception in this forest," he shouted before answering the call.

A purple haired man was pacing back and forth, staring angrily at the floor trying to think of how he was going to break the news to Ash. Heck he didn't even know if he had the right number but it was worth a shot, so without second thought he took a deep breath and dialled the number.

"Ash!" he shouted in a deep voice through the receiver before Ash even replied. It was obvious that his tone of voice momentarily stunned the former trainer.

"Umm who is this?" Ash replied in an idiotic manner, but at least it proved that it was Ash on the other side of the phone.

A smirk came to the man's face, "Pyramid King."

"Brandon?" Ash shouted in surprise.

"NO!" shouted the man dramatically.

"Ok…. Brandon, it's been a long time."

"I'm not Brandon!" he replied.

"Then who are you and why did you lie about being Pyramid King. Oh and whilst I'm at it, how the hell did you get this number?" Ash shouted back at the man.

"I'm not lying. Seriously Ash you're as stupid, dense, and quite frankly as mentally retarded as you used to be!" shouted the purpled haired man angrily.

"Paul?" Ash asked in a sceptical tone.

"Well done Ash, you finally worked it out," he replied sarcastically "and yes this is Pyramid King Paul speaking and I have a very important issue to discuss with you," he said suddenly with seriousness in his voice.

"An important issue?"

"Yes an important issue and it could help you recover your shattered dreams," Paul said in another serious tone.

"As if you of all people could help me recover something like that," a depressed yet serious voice replied. It was so unlike Ash that Paul was taken back slightly.

"Ash, if you don't believe me, tell me this, who is the only person, besides me to beat the Kanto Battle Frontier?"

"Me, of course."

"Exactly and does your thick skull still remember what they offered as a reward?" Paul said, baiting Ash into saying what he wanted.

"Don't act as if I'm stupid, they offered me a place as a….. oh," he stopped suddenly.

"Exactly Ash. The Pokémon League Committee banned you from League Matches and thus you are unranked as a trainer due to being out of action. However what would happen if you could still battle without needing it to be part of the Pokémon League Tournament?"

"I would be able to continue as a trainer, an official trainer."

"Exactly, and that's why Ash, on behalf of the Kanto Battle Frontier I ask you, would you like to be the eighth frontier brain?"

Will Ash accept Paul's offer? How will the Media react if he does? How does being a brain help him with his goal?

Ok everyone, sorry it is short and the real plot will start soon, I have quite a lot planned, I know/think my grammar is terrible and I have no Pokemon Story Beta so I am pretty much useless, however please don't discriminate. Also I am crap at Pikachu Language, sorry and if I must, I'll research how to use it correctly.

I will go in depth more about what happened over the course of the four years during the story.

I hope that you enjoyed the chapter and thank you for reading.

This chapter was revised and Beta'd 29/06/10.

Please Review

Fate xx