Note: This will be in TV format. Also, Gen 6 Spoilers!

Note 2: People have been asking how they got from Pewter City to Cerulean City, and I only have this to say: Anime Physics. :P

Note 3: Brock as a doctor graduate will be able to communicate with Pokemon. This isn't real canon, just headcanon.

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~ - This is my line break, BTW

(Theme)

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

The words "Going Back To Basics!" appeared on a title card, which Ash read.

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

A boy of about fifteen years old was in his room with his starter Pokemon, Pikachu. He hadn't been out for days. Ever since he lost the Unova League to Virgil, he had been really depressed. How could he have lost? In every league, he had some so close, but someone took victory from his grasp. In Kanto, it was Richie (he could have won it all, if only Charizard didn't fall asleep!). In Johto, it was Harrison (at least it wasn't Gary, the jerk he was back then!), in Hoenn, it was Tyson (he hated Meowth even more now!), in Sinnoh, Tobias (the cheater! Why was he allowed to have legendaries?), and now in Unova, the region he just came from, it was Virgil, a huge fan of Eevee and its evolutions. He didn't understand how he went from taking on two legendaries to losing to a team of Eevee evolutions.

One thing was certain: He and Pikachu had grown to really hate the Eevee line, even moreso than Meowth back when Tyson beat him. It was bad enough when Gary's Eevee beat him, but this was terrible.

He replayed the events of his league matches in his mind, but he just didn't see what he could have done better.

"Ash, are you still moping?" a voice called out. That could only be his mom. His thoughts were proven true when she opened the door, though she wasn't alone. Next to her were Tracey and Professor Oak.

"Tracey! Professor Oak! Mom!" he said, forcing a smile.

"Ash, you have to go out now," said Professor Oak sternly. "There's no use dwelling on the past."

"The Indigo League is reopening soon. Why don't you sign up?" Tracey asked.

Ash perked up for a moment. This was his chance to redeem himself. He thought of entering, but then memories of the final battle with Virgil came to him. Should he reenter? What would happen? Would he even make it past Top 16? His loss kept flashing through his mind. With a combo of Toxic and Thunder Wave from Jolteon, as well as Mean Look, Sand Attack, Swagger and Curse from Umbreon, a mysterious Pokemon (that was presumably another Eeveelution) had beaten his weakened, confused, poisoned and paralyzed Pikachu so badly (he didn't even think it was possible for a Pokemon to have so many status conditions!). He didn't even know what type the mystery Pokemon was. In fact, he couldn't even scan it on his Pokedex. Maybe he just needed to train harder, or he could accept that he wouldn't be a Pokemon Master. "I-I might sit this one out."

"Ash, this is not like you!" his mom scolded. "You did a great job! Why not reapply? You might even win next time!"

With no comeback, Ash forced himself to leave the house with Pikachu. He trudged from Pallet Town all the way to Pewter City, not really paying attention to any of the wild Pokemon. He went to the Pokemon Center to sign up for the tournament, and as he went out, he was surprised to see a familiar black-haired man: It was Brock!

"Hey, Brock!" he shouted, his depression leaving him for a while.

Brock turned around to see him. "Ash! You're here!" They both high-fived.

"I thought you were a doctor," Ash said, still surprised.

"I graduated." the black man replied.

"Already?!" Ash asked, astonished. Brock nodded and showed off his diploma. "In only a year? Awesome!" Ash then muttered, "At least someone reached the top..."

Brock heard him and said, "You tried your best, we're all still proud of ya, win or lose. Now follow me."

10 minutes later

They had arrived at Cerulean City, and headed to the gym. Misty's Staryu had just taken down her opponent's Leafeon with a Rapid Spin attack.

"YES!" cheered Ash. Brock looked at him oddly. The guy who had just got defeated by Misty recalled his Leafeon and left the gym. Misty saw her friends, and they all broke into a hug. They then talked a bit about Ash's Unova journey, and what the other two did while he was at Unova.

"Misty, can you travel with us?" Brock asked, and Misty told him that she could take a break, since her sisters were perfectly capable of running the gym themselves now. The three of them left and saw a limousine pull over. It looked familiar, but they ignored it at first, until a familiar spiky-haired brunette boy rolled down the window. Ash was confused. Didn't he get rid of it ages ago, or whatever happened? Why were there cheerleaders around him? And what was with that smirk on his face? Brock and Misty seemed pretty confused, too.

"Hey, Ashy-boy!" he snickered. "So ya lost the Unova League, huh?"

Instead of getting sad, like Gary probably expected of him, Ash got angry. His former rival (probably non-formal rival in a few minutes) was a douche again.

"Like you would have done any better!" Ash retorted angrily. "You're a researcher!"

"Yeah, but I decided to take a break for a while! When you're done moping around, I'm gonna cream you in the league, and that goes for anyone else who stands in my way!" Gary said snottily. "When you make a fresh start and get over yourself, I'll be waiting!"

"GARY, GARY, HE'S THE BEST, IF HE CAN'T DO IT, NOBODY CAN!" his cheerleaders shouted. Ash was about to retort back, when-

"Smell ya later, loser!" Gary shouted, breaking his train of thought and driving away slowly. It seemed almost deliberate. Ash merely stared at the back of the vehicle, and he noticed the tag on the back said a familiar phrase...

Gary was here. Ash is a loser!

"NOT AGAIN!" fumed Ash. Gary always knew what got to him. "THAT GARY! I'LL SHOW HIM!" He shouted, storming off. His words kept ringing into his mind, along with that phrase that should have died years ago.

"Hey, Ashy-boy!"

"So ya lost the Unova League, huh?"

"Not anymore, I decided to start fresh - start fresh - start fresh..."

All of a sudden, it hit him. He now realized why he always lost in every league after Johto: He was starting fresh! That meant his older Pokemon got rusty, and got little training. Professor Oak trained them, sure, but he wasn't their trainer. Who knew how rusty they were now...especially Muk and Kingler. Sure, he beat the Battle Frontier, but that wasn't an official league, and he hadn't made a fresh start anyway. Charizard, Sceptile, and a few others were lucky to be constantly training, but the same couldn't be said for the others. That's when he realized that he wouldn't have made it nearly as far as he did without the help of all his Pokemon (and his friends as well).

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

Now in the Pokemon Center, Ash was contacting Professor Oak. Brock was busy with Forrest on another videophone, so he didn't flirt with Nurse Joy. Ash had him call over Kingler, Muk, Bayleef, Unfezant, and Glalie.

"This is a surprise! I knew Gary could get you to call over some of your old friends! They all missed you!" Professor Oak said.

"I missed them too - wait, YOU KNEW ABOUT THIS?!" Ash demanded.

"Guess he overdid it a little, huh?" Professor Oak chuckled and disconnected. At the same time, Brock was finished, so the three met up again.

"Gary sure has his weird methods of helping, huh?" Misty commented.

"Why didn't Gary just TELL me?" Ash wondered.

"If I can guess, it's because just confronting you about it would cause tension, and you two would be arguing about different training styles." Brock answered. "So he did it the only way he could: by riling you up and kicking you out of your depression." Just as Brock finished the sentence, they all exited the Pokemon Center.

"And from the looks of things, it worked, too." he concluded.

Ash said, "Yup, and he's gonna regret it, too, after I cream him!" He looked even more confident than ever before. "Next stop: Pallet Town!"

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

(PokeRap with Kanto-Unova Pokemon)

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

~~~POKEMON!~~~

CREDITS

Pokemon: Back to Basics

Creator: marioluigifan05

Theme Song: Jason Paige

4Kids Entertainment

Voices

Ash, Delia: Veronica Taylor

Brock: Eric Stuart

Professor Oak: Stan Hart

Tracey: Ted Lewis

Misty: Rachael Lillis

Pikachu: Ikue Otani