Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

This story starts in the episode, Gotta Catch Ya Later, where Ash is chasing after Gary. This story will divert from what Gary tells Ash and it will have a major impact on Ash. This is what I think the Hoenn saga could've been like if Ash aged, and matured.

Introduction – Chapter 1 – Divergence

"Hey Gary! Gary! Wait up!" Ash shouted impatiently as the young trainer from Pallet Town ran up a steep hill to where his rival – former – rival, he should say, waited for him. His most loyal companion, Pikachu, trailed not too far behind him.

"What's up, Ash?" Gary Oak, former Pokémon Trainer and now aspiring Pokémon Researcher, asked him curiously.

A few seconds later Ash stopped in front of him before bent over and rested his hands on his knees. The young trainer sucked in the air; he had run quite a far way from Professor Oak's lab to reach here.

"Have you come to say goodbye, Ash?" Gary asked him.

"Yeah." Ash panted.

"Thanks Ash." Gary said gratefully.

Ash straightened his back and he looked Gary in the eyes after getting his breath back, "Why are you leaving so soon?"

"I don't know. It's just like I need to keep on moving." Gary informed him, "I want to keep travelling and learning more about Pokémon. So Ash, what is your plan of attack going to be?"

"I'm not sure yet." Ash replied.

Gary frowned for a moment. For most of his life he hadn't rated Ash as someone that could become a good Pokémon Trainer but throughout his journey in Johto, that opinion began to change. Ash could come up with some amazing strategies on a fly and he had some powerful Pokémon, like his Charizard. However there were still issues that Ash had that would prevent him from winning a league and then taking on the Elite Four to become a Pokémon Champion. He wondered for a moment if he should tell his friend this and he decided that, while his words might seem harsh, he hoped that it would have a positive effect on Ash in the long run.

"I need to tell you something, Ash." Gary told him seriously.

"What is it?" Ash asked him with a confused face.

"You need to grow up if you want to be good enough to win a league." Gary said bluntly.

"What?! I beat you, didn't I?!" Ash said angrily.

"Pika!" the electric mouse also piped up with an angry expression on his face.

Gary's calm demeanour didn't change and he explained, "Yes, you did beat me Ash. However that isn't the same as winning a league. For most of my journey, I was distracted by my interest in learning about Pokémon and their evolutions and I didn't spend as much time training them as I should have."

"I still don't understand how this is related to me." A puzzled Ash told him.

"Do you remember our battle Ash? Your Charizard defeated three of my Pokémon. The problem that you have is that you rely on your Charizard or Pikachu to pull off big wins." Gary explained to his friend, "Those two are your strongest Pokémon and there is a fair gap between them and the rest of your Pokémon. Do you remember that time back when we were at my grandpa's lab and he checked our Pokédex?"

Ash nodded, "Yeah, I remember that he said I had seen a lot of Pokémon but I had only caught a small amount."

"And he said that I had seen less but caught a lot more." Gary reminded him, "And do you remember the argument that we had afterwards?"

Ash could recall that argument clearly. Ash didn't think that it was a good strategy because you couldn't befriend such a large amount of Pokémon but Gary believed that he needed a good large variety of Pokémon.

"We were both wrong, Ash." Gary shocked Ash with his comment. Ash never thought that the day would come that Gary Oak admit that he was wrong. "You have too little Pokémon, Ash and I have far too many. You need to find the right balance and you need to stop catching the same kinds of Pokémon."

"What do you mean?" Ash questioned him, "I have plenty of different kinds of Pokémon."

"You have a decent mix of different types of Pokémon but the way that they battle is very similar." Gary told him sharply, "Most of your Pokémon are quick and hard hitters Ash. That is the way that you like to battle. You use a fast but powerful offensive strategy. Apart from Snorlax, you don't have any Pokémon that can slow the tempo and grind a long and hard win. You need to learn when it is good to use your natural battle style and the times when to change it up. That is the reason why you lost to Harrison. The both of you had a similar battling style and in the end it came down to your strongest Pokémon."

Ash frowned and he had a thoughtful look on his face as he thought about what Gary was telling him.

"You should also start going out on your own." Gary informed him, "You did a smart thing by travelling with your friends Misty and Brock, especially Brock. However you're at the point where you have to stop relying on them and start taking care of yourself. It is the only way you can grow up and mature."

"I don't know. I don't think that I can travel on my own, well not alone; I have Pikachu with me, of course. However I think it would be pretty boring without any more people around." Ash glanced at his little companion.

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed happily.

Gary shrugged, "It's just a suggestion, Ashy-boy. It's up to you if you want to take my advice or not. Before I leave I just want to you to ponder one final question. How does travelling with you, help your friend Brock achieve his dream?"

Ash couldn't find an answer to respond and Gary farewell-ed his friend but not before Ash gave him back half the Poké Ball that they had broke before they had begun their journeys. The grandson of Professor Oak soon headed off into the forest eager to start his own journey to become a Pokémon Researcher.

Fifteen minutes after Gary had departed, Ash and Pikachu both sat on a branch in a high tree and they could easily see the whole town of Pallet from their position.

"Do you think Gary is right, Pikachu?" Ash asked his most trusted companion. "Most of my Pokémon do seem to be quick and strong, don't they?"

"Pika." The electric mouse nodded in agreement.

"What about Brock?" Ash asked the electric Pokémon, "How is he going to achieve his dream travelling with us?"

"Chu..." Pikachu said sadly. He didn't know either.

"I suppose he can see a lot of different Pokémon but that's about it." Ash said, "He was always more preoccupied with cooking us meals, taking care of his Pokémon and doing general chores around the camp... Gary is right! We do rely on him a lot, don't we?"

Pikachu nodded.

"I'll give him a call when I get back home. It would be best to get his opinion on this." Ash decided, "Everything is changing Pikachu, I don't think I like it."

"Pikapi!" Pikachu shouted and he pointed high into the sky. Ash looked up into the sky and out of a large cloud; he was astonished to see Ho-oh flying serenely through the air. Its beauty was so majestic and Ash couldn't take his eyes off it. The only Pokémon that he had ever seen that had the same awe inspiring beauty and gracefulness was the Lugia he had become friends with back in the Orange Islands.

"It's Ho-oh!"

The two of them watched it fly off in the direction that Ash knew the Hoenn region was located in.

"I know where it is headed. It's going to the Hoenn region. That's where all the Pokémon that I haven't seen before are and all of the battles that I am destined to fight in. Are you ready, Pikachu?!" Ash said in excitement.

"Pikachu!" the electric mouse equalled his trainer's excitement.

They both eagerly jumped off the branched and they landed easily on the soft terrain.

"I hate to do this to mum, but we can be just like Gary and start a whole new journey too!"

"Pika!"

Just as they began to run home, they didn't far because they ran over a concealed hole and they fell harshly in.

"I wasn't prepared for that," Ash muttered painfully, "and to be frank, I'm getting really irritated falling into holes."

Ash and Pikachu immediately knew who had dug this hole and the trio of laughs above them just confirmed it.

"Prepare for trouble,
and Make it double!
To protect the world from devastation,
to unite all people within our nation,
to denounce the evil of truth and love,
to extend our reach to the stars of above,
Jessie!
James!
Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!
Surrender now or prepare to fight!
Meowth, that's Right!"

"Team Rocket..." Ash said unsurprised.

The Team Rocket trio that consisted of Jessie, James and Meowth grinned down at them smugly.

"We're making a new start too and that is by going back to our reliable pit fall." Jessie informed them.

"This time however we dug it just a little bit deeper, that's the new part." James told them.

"And now you're in a whole lot of trouble." Meowth said smugly.

It had been a long day for Ash Ketchum after everything that Gary had told him and he wasn't in the mood for all of this. He quickly picked up Pikachu and he threw the electric mouse up into the air much to Team Rocket's shock. For a moment they thought that he was finally giving Pikachu up but unfortunately for them, that wasn't the case.

"Thunderbolt, Pikachu!" Ash ordered.

Pikachu smirked widely when he landed back on the ground just in front of Team Rocket and he unleashed a large burst of electricity at the trio. Team Rocket screamed in pain and when Pikachu finally let up on the attack, they fell to the ground.

Back in the hole, Ash pulled out the knife and fork that Brock had given him for his lunch and he used them to climb out of the hole.

"Nice work, Pikachu." Ash praised him when he was out of the hole.

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed appreciatively.

"Why haven't we blasted off?" James wondered painfully.

"Because we need to talk!" Ash scowled at them.

"We have no interest in talking to you, twerp." Jessie growled but she couldn't get back up yet. She could still feel some shocks going through her body.

"Too bad because I'm telling you all once and for all to leave us alone!" Ash snapped at them.

"Not until we capture Pikachu." Meowth groaned.

"You do know that you have been trying that for almost 3 years right?" Ash asked them dully, "This whole time you could have simply captured a wild Pikachu and then trained it instead of being beaten every time like a pack of losers."

"How dare you address us that way, twerp!" Jessie snarled at him.

"I'm just speaking the truth," Ash shrugged, "besides does your boss even know your names?"

The trio looked startled at the question and they weren't able to come up with a decent answer because they truly didn't know if the boss knew who they were. As for Meowth, the boss didn't exactly hesitate to replace him with a Pokémon that he despised more than anything, a Persian.

"Do you really think that your boss is going to praise you by bringing Pikachu in after years of failed attempts to capture him?" Ash inquired, "I mean really think about it. Considering how big the Team Rocket organisation is, will you boss be impressed with you bringing in a Pikachu that he could easily catch in the wild?"

"You know, the twerp has a point." James admitted.

"I know! I am as shocked as you are!" Meowth exclaimed.

"Don't listen to him!" Jessie snapped at them, "Don't forget how powerful his Pikachu is!"

"Pikachu's strength comes from training and the bond between us." Ash told her, "Even if by some terrible miracle that you were able to take Pikachu, he would never fight for you and so you wouldn't be able to unleash his full power. Besides a leader of an evil organisation such as Team Rocket would only be interested in rare and legendary type Pokémon and Pikachu doesn't fall into any of those categories."

Jessie couldn't come up with a retort to that.

"Hopefully that sinks in. Now you can all go off and try to capture rare and legendary Pokémon or you can quit Team Rocket." Ash told them.

"You're joking!" Jessie spat furiously, "Why would we leave Team Rocket?"

"If you want to keep on being failures than stay with Team Rocket, but I saw the good inside of you the day that you help me save the world back at Shamouti Island. You all do some much better if you embraced that goodness inside of you. Meowth... do you realise that you can talk?"

"Of course I can talk, you idiot!" Meowth shouted annoyed.

"Don't you understand how rare that is for a Pokémon to talk in the common tongue?" Ash pointed out, "You could become a Pokémon translator. Do you know how many people would love to find out what their Pokémon thought about them?"

"You're right!" Meowth gasped.

"Why haven't we thought of this before?!" James said in astonishment.

"Think of all the money we could rake in!" Jessie exclaimed.

"Even more astonishing... is that it would be perfectly legal!" Meowth realised, "We would actually not have to worry about getting busted!"

Ash grinned at them before he turned away, "Goodbye Jessie, James and Meowth. The five of us has been through a lot, and you have angered me a lot over the years, but I wish you luck on all of your future endeavours."

Pikachu saluted them before he jumped onto Ash's shoulder and Ash walked away from them.

"He's just walking away..." James muttered in disbelief.

"And we are just letting him..." Jessie realised.

"He has just given us a great idea... I think we can let him keep his Pikachu." Meowth decided.

"You're right, Meowth. It would be rude of us to steal his Pikachu after he had just given us such a great idea." James agreed with his furry friend.

"Forget the twerp, we have money to make!" Jessie declared.

The trio and Ash wouldn't see each other again for a long time.

Professor Oak's Laboratory

Ash and Pikachu arrived at the professor's lab to tell him about his plans. Hopefully now he would be able to focus on his Pokémon training without having to worry about Team Rocket interfering. Ash found Professor Oak and Tracey in the living room looking over some of the Professor's old sketches and comparing them to some of Tracey's new ones.

"Hello, Ash." The professor greeted Ash when he noticed him enter the room, "What can I do for you today?"

"I'm just here to tell you that I am heading out tomorrow." Ash informed them.

"Already?" Tracey asked surprised, "Where are you going?"

"To the Hoenn region," Ash grinned at him, "there are a lot of Pokémon there that I have never seen before and I want to hurry and experience it all."

"I'm not surprised." The old man chuckled, "I updated your Pokédex back at the Silver Conference so you're up to date there. Which Pokémon will you be taking?"

"Pikachu, of course." Ash grinned.

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted and he puffed out his chest.

"I'll also take... Cyndaquil and Totodile." Ash decided, "Also can I have Pidgeot's old Poké Ball?"

"Why do you need it?" Professor Oak asked him curiously.

"I'm going to go visit her and see if she wants to come back." Ash informed him, "I did promise her after all."

"Alright Ash, I'll get your Pokémon sorted." Professor Oak told him and he left the room to go and retrieve the Poké Ball.

"Make sure you tell your mother that you are leaving, Ash." Tracey reminded him. Ash could be quite forgetful after all, especially when he is excited.

"Yeah!" Ash nodded fiercely. His mother would be so mad if he didn't.

After Professor Oak gave him Pidgeot's old Poké Ball, Ash and Pikachu immediately headed out to the forest where he had released Pidgeot.

Forest

"Pidgeot!" Ash called out as he and Pikachu walked along a thin dirt road surrounded by large trees.

"Chu pika!" Pikachu shouted walking beside Ash.

The two of them had arrived at the forest where Pidgeot was for a few minutes now and still they didn't see any sign of her.

"Do you think that she is still here, Pikachu?" Ash asked his starter worriedly.

Pikachu's ears perked up when he heard the sound of wings beating in the air and he spun around and with extreme excitement, he began pointing to the sky, "Pikachu pi pika!"

Ash spun around and, to his delight, he saw a familiar large bird Pokémon flying eagerly towards him. He heard her chirp happily and she landed gracefully only a few feet from them.

"You're looking stronger than ever, Pidgeot." Ash praised her and he softly petted the side of her neck. For such a tough looking Pokémon, it amazed Ash that her feathers were so soft. Pidgeot responded by biting Ash softly with her beak. Pikachu jumped excitedly onto her back, "Pika pika!"

Pidgeot chirped in reply and Pikachu laughed and not for the first time did Ash wonder what his Pokémon talk about.

A loud amount of chirping suddenly entered Ash's ears and he looked up to see a large flock of Pidgey, Pidgeotto and to Ash surprise, a couple of Pidgeots.

"Do you want to come with me, Pidgeot?" Ash asked her hopefully and he held out her old Poké Ball, "Or do you want to stay with your flock?"

Pidgeot answered by pressing her beak into the button of the Poké Ball, Pikachu quickly had to jump off her and she was sucked into it. The ball wiggled twice before it settled.

"Welcome home, Pidgeot." Ash smiled at the Poké Ball in his hand.

"Pi pika!" Pikachu said happily.

Now Ash realised why the flock of Pidgey, Pidgeotto and Pidgeot were here, to say goodbye to the one that had protected them from the Fearow and Spearow.

"I'll take good care of her." Ash promised them all.

Ash's House

Ash had informed his mother of his plans when he got home and she had been upset that he was leaving so soon, but she was very understanding. She knew that he was too adventurous to stay in the one place and Delia had a secret fear because of his adventurous spirit, he would never settle down. Either way, she still had a long time before she had to worry about that.

Ash currently found himself sitting at the phone dialling Brock's number.

"Hello, Harrison residence. This is Brock speaking." The familiar face of Brock appeared in the screen of the video phone.

"Hey, Brock... its Ash," Ash greeted him, "how are you doing?"

"Ash!" Brock said with some excitement, "Good to hear from you. Yeah everything's fine over here except for my mother trying to turn the gym into a water type gym."

"Really?" Ash said surprised, "I take it that you stopped it from happening."

"Yeah," Brock grinned at him, "and now my younger brother Forrest wants to be a rock type Pokémon expert and the gym leader of the Pewter gym."

"That's some big goals." Ash whistled impressed, "Considering that he is your younger brother, there is no doubt he will achieve them."

"Thanks Ash." Brock said appreciatively, "So what's happening on your end? Are you heading off to another region?"

Ash nodded, "Yeah, Pikachu and I are heading off to the Hoenn region tomorrow. I'm also taking Cyndaquil, Totodile and Pidgeot with me."

"Pidgeot's back?" Brock replied in surprise.

"Yeah," Ash grinned at him, "The flock is strong enough now that she wasn't needed. I've told Professor Oak just before I got home that whenever I send Pidgeot back here to let her out so she can go back to the forest. Whenever I need her, he will go and get her."

"That's a good idea." Brock approved, "Pidgeot will be able to get in some good training with its flock."

"That's what I thought." Ash told him, "Any chance you want to come with me to Hoenn?"

"I'd love nothing more to go travelling with you again, but right now I still have some responsibilities to take care of. If I can, I'll meet you somewhere in Hoenn." Brock informed him.

"How will you find me?" Ash asked him.

"I'll contact your mother and Professor Oak to let me know where you are." Brock explained, "Also make sure you keep in contact, you hear? If I can't make it, I still want to hear all about your journey."

"No problem." Ash promised him and then, after a moment's hesitation, Ash asked him a question, "Hey Brock, is travelling with me holding you back from your dream?"

"What? Where is this coming from?" Brock asked in puzzlement.

"It's just something that Gary told me." Ash admitted, "I'm just wondering if you're more focused on helping me than achieving your own dreams."

"Don't be ridiculous, Ash." Brock laughed at him, "Granted you could help out more when it comes to cooking and other chores like that, but I would never give up going on adventures with you unless I didn't have a choice. Being a Breeder is something that I can do until I die of old age but exploring the world is something that I won't be able to do much of when I'm older. Plus I get to meet so many different people and Pokémon and I also learn new methods on treating Pokémon. Plus think of all the beautiful women that are just waiting for me to sweep them off their feet!"

Ash nodded in relief and he couldn't hold back the slight chuckle at Brock's final line, "Well if you do manage to come, I promise to do a bit more concerning cooking and the chores."

Brock nodded, "If I make it, I'll start teaching you how to cook, so when the time comes when you're on your own, you will be prepared."

"Thanks Brock." Ash smiled gratefully at him. He truly was fortunate to have such a good friend. Although Ash considered him more than a friend, he was the big brother that he never had.

Despite only being separated for a few days, Ash and Brock talked on the phone for a while before they finally departed.

The young trainer spent most of the night with his mother, Mr. Mime, Professor Oak and Tracey as they threw a quick going away party for Ash. During the night, Ash promised Professor Oak and Tracey that he intended to catch a few more Pokémon than he usually would and also that he planned to catch types that he hadn't caught before. Also his mother revealed that she had created a new set of clothes for him to wear. The young trainer felt guilty for leaving his mother again so soon, and he assured her that next time he came back home he would at least try to stay for a week, minimum.

It was past midnight when the party ended and Ash lay in his bed with Pikachu sleeping at the top right corner. The young boy couldn't sleep however and he got up carefully, he didn't want to wake Pikachu, and headed over to his desk. He turned on a lamp and pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen. Ash made a list of all the Pokémon that he had;

Pikachu

Bulbasaur

Charizard

Squirtle

Pidgeot

Kingler

Muk

Tauros x30

Snorlax

Heracross

Bayleef

Cyndaquil

Totodile

Noctowl

Phanpy

Primeape

Ash looked over his list of Pokémon critically and he could see that Gary really was right. Most of his Pokémon really were the speedy powerful type and he didn't have much defensive power in his line up. He also remembered what Gary had said about him relying on Pikachu and Charizard too much and he hated to admit it, but he was correct again. Pikachu was his partner and constant companion and so it was natural for him to use him a lot. Also Charizard was one of his fully evolved Pokémon and with his training at the Charicific Valley, he was easily his strongest Pokémon.

That's why he needed to bring Cyndaquil and Totodile. They needed more training in order for them to evolve. Unlike Bulbasaur and Pikachu, the two of them had never expressed disinterest in evolving and so Ash believed that they just needed more training. Ash figured that Squirtle wouldn't evolve since he is the leader of the Squirtle Squad and he assumed that they must have had some pact not to evolve.

Phanpy was one that he intended to train as well. However Ash decided to let him stay at Professor Oak's for a while, he was still just a baby after all. Ash would let him enjoy being young for a while before picking up his training. He noticed that Phanpy was his only ground type Pokémon and he knew that he would have to catch some ground types when he gets to Hoenn.

Ash looked at the x30 next to Tauros and he grimaced. Looking back he had to wonder what he was thinking back at the Pokémon Swap Meet. He had been offered an Onix, Nidoqueen, Rhyhorn, and even Benny's Wobbuffet, which ended up in Jessie's hands, for his Tauros. He could have given them each a Tauros from the herd, they were just as strong as the one that he used, but for some reason he didn't. That would have given him far more variety to use in the Silver Conference.

Glancing at the others, Ash swore to himself that he would rotate his Pokémon more during his journey in Hoenn and give them all valuable experience.

The next morning after a big breakfast from his mother, Ash bade his mother farewell. He wore the new clothing that she had given him. He now wore a hoodie instead of a jacket, black gloves instead of green and new jeans and sneakers. He had a green backpack, with one pocket and a red Poké Ball design on it. He decided to keep his old hat; after all he had sent about a million postcards in order to win it.

Ash and Pikachu jumped onto Pidgeot's back and she eagerly flew them to Vermilion City where they had to take the boat to Littleroot Town in the Hoenn region.

'This time,' Ash promised himself, 'I will win the league... I will conquer Hoenn!'

End of Chapter

Okay this is a new Pokémon story that has been in my head for a while now but I have been putting it off. First of all, this is in no way connected to my other Pokémon story; Rise of a Legend. Secondly, I have not abandoned that story; in fact the next chapter of that one should be posted by the weekend.

When I eventually get up to the Hoenn saga in my Rise of a Legend series, I can promise you all that this will be far different. This story so far is only planned until the end of the Hoenn saga and depending on where I go with it and how well it is responded, I'll consider the Battle Frontier and then Sinnoh.

This will be an Advance Shipping story, but romance won't be a major factor. Also Brock will be travelling with Ash. Two reasons why he will be coming are; he is my favourite character and how the story diverts, I don't see how it affects Brock from coming. However since I am aging up the characters, Ash is 13 in this by the way, that leaves a quandary with Max. I'm aging May to 13 like Ash, but she is three years older than Max, that will make Max 10. That means that Max can become a trainer, so my question is, do you all want Max to be a trainer or should I keep him 7 years old and simply have May being six years older than him than three?

Also I know the moment with Team Rocket was out of character for Ash, but I needed a way for them to not bother with Ash anymore. I really cannot be bothered having them continuously show up and try to steal Pikachu. I hope you like the idea that Ash pointed out concerning Meowth. I mean, they have a talking Pokémon and Meowth is really the only one we have seen. Other from Pokémon using telepathy. So I figured that Team Rocket could use that to their advantage and get rich off it. They will appear again at some point in the story.