Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the related places or characters. No profit is being made from this story.

It was a calm summer's night like so many others in the sleepy coastal town of Pallet. The sky was clear and the stars were twinkling up above, while the sea that was just visible from the rooftop of our young heroes house was so still it was hard to tell were the earth ended and the heavens began. Perched on the roof of a small house on the edge of Pallet town, a spot his sometimes smothering mother was none to happy that he frequented, was a young man of 16 years of age, with long unruly ebony hair and distinctive lightning bolt birth marks under his hazel eyes.

He could remember many nights like this both from his youth and on visits home between his never-ending journeys, were he had come to this same spot, whether to contemplate his dreams or just to get away from it all for a little while. He had seen many incredible things and experienced wonders that few could ever hope to see, yet this remained his favourite spot of all. If you just leaned forward a bit so that you couldn't see the roof beneath you, then it was so easy to imagine yourself soaring out towards that magical place just between the sky and sea called the horizon were anything was possible and dreams always come true.

The reason why this young man named Ash Ketchum chose to visit this spot tonight was to think over his recent loss in the Lily of the Valley conference to Tobias. The loss itself was weighing heavily on his mind, but that in of itself was something that he had learnt to deal with over the years as he had matured. What really was affecting him was the second Pokemon that Tobias had used against him, Latios, and the memories that it brought to mind. He had been able to control the onslaught of memories and emotions up till that point, but in the quiet of the night, in that place were his mind could wander, he thought back to the last time he had met a Latios. It is true that Ash Ketchum, Pokemon Master in the making as he is so fond of informing others, has had many great and wonderful adventures, but what doesn't occur to many when hearing these grand tales is what was lost in their making. Sure, they'll be sad when he tells them about the death of one of the fabled guardians of Altomare, and maybe even remember it as a reminder that not even Pokemon, with all the power they possess are invincible or immortal. But they will never truly understand the pain of looking into Latios' eyes as he flies off with his sister, knowing what he must give for both his city and his sister to survive, nor the agony of the cries of Latias when she realises her brother is gone for good.

And these memories bring on a deluge of others. The sorrow of seeing a tormented soul like Mewtwo force others to battle their fellows due to his own mistreatment and search for a purpose, an event that didn't remain as forgotten as would be wanted due to a trick of ancestry. Or the revulsion at the greed of one man who would endanger the whole world just to complete his 'collection'. The sheer disregard for life of people trying to flood the land filled with people and Pokemon or destroy the oceans which breath life into our planet. All these and so many more things flash through our heroes mind as he thinks over his short life thus far. And it is his reaction to these events that are a key factor in his being chosen yet again to play the hero in another epic struggle, as he has been chosen countless times before. And that is that he still keeps on hoping for a better world, keeps on believing the best of the world, and when it doesn't deliver, keeps striving to make it a better place, regardless of the cost to himself and his own flaws, of which he readily admits.

It is this, and many more things that our hero has been gifted with, that keep thrusting him back to the forefront of these historic as this young man was about to delve further into his memories he was interrupted by the arrival of one of his very best memories.

"Ash" called his mother Delia, as she crawled up on the roof beside him "what have I told you about how I feel when you go crawling up on the roof like this" she said with a slight glare that she was entirely to kind hearted to pull of properly.

"Sorry mom, I just needed a little fresh air to think, and I can always get away from distractions when I'm here."

Delia looked at him with sympathy, thinking that he must still be upset over his most recent loss. "I know it's tough to lose honey, but you just need to remember that you can only really fail when you don't even try. Anything else is just a lesson to be learnt on the road to success."

He smiled hearing his mom say this. It was advice like this that had always encouraged him to keep on reaching for his dreams, despite whatever others would say or do. "Thanks mom, but that's not the reason I needed to think, or at least not the whole reason."

"Well then whats bothering you Ashy, you know you can talk to me about anything. It's not girl troubles is it? Because you know if any girl ever hurts my little Ashy, you just tell me and I'll sort them out." she said while clenching her fist and getting a scary gleam in her eyes that only protective parents can quite manage.

This, of course, made Ash blush a deep crimson and moan "Moooooooomm"

Delia could only giggle at his reaction, knowing her son was no where near as dense in matters of the heart as most believed him to be, just very shy about how he showed it to the point of acting dense to hide his embarrassment.

Secretly, he wished it was something as ordinary as girl problems, the sort of things normal 16 year old guys worry about all the time. But although he loved his mother dearly and hated keeping anything from her, he knew he couldn't explain exactly what was bothering him. If his mother knew even half of the situations he found himself in she would chain him to his room and guard the house with a shotgun in case anyone tried to hurt her 'Ashy' again or in case he got any more crazy ideas about doing something like standing in front of a flock of rabid Spearows or throwing himself in-between rampaging legends, something he realised to his chagrin he had made a bit of a habit of.

The only reason he had managed to talk Professor Oak into not telling her of his adventures was the threat that he knew before Ash even started his journey that he would have to face off against a huge Celebi created plant monster all while fighting a wanted criminal and he didn't do anything to stop it. That alone was enough to stop him in his tracks, because although his mother was the sweetest women he had ever met, he pitied anyone who threatened her 'baby'.

"Nothing like that" he eventually said after getting his blush under control. "I was just thinking of all that I've done on my journey's. Looking back, I don't think I was really ready for most of what's happened, but I've always gotten through it somehow. I've been thinking about this for a while and I just wish there was something more I could do to try and prepare myself." He hoped that his mother didn't try and find out more about specifically what he wanted to be prepared for. He doubted she wold be thrilled with the answer 'Saving the world AGAIN'!

Delia sat there for while thinking over what her son had said. He was voicing some of the worries she herself had always had about his safety on his journey, as she was sure every parent worried about their child. Those worries were greatly reduced due to the fact Pokemon, wild or not, had zero tolerance for any 'inappropriate' behaviour towards children or even adults and if someone wanted proof of how lethal Pokemon attacks could be when they wanted you just had to look for someone who had done that sort of thing and actually made it to a court room alive after they were done with them.

She then thought of something she had recently heard Professor Oak talking about in passing. It was a rare occurrence, but apparently every so often a Champion, one of the elite four of a region or even a powerful gym leader would take on an apprentice that they thought was worthy to be taught everything they knew, and this included self defence and how to survive and look after yourself. Just thinking about it, that's how Wallace, the Hoenn Champion, learned a lot of his skills, by being the apprentice to the Water Master gym leader Juan. Prof. Oak was always strangely close lipped about her son's adventures when she asked, but what she had learnt was that Ash had met and befriended almost every regional Champion, including some former Champions, elite four and most of the gym leaders he had ever faced. Heck, he had been offered a position as a frontier brain in the Kanto battle frontier by it's creator Scott. If he put word out that he wanted to be apprenticed, she was sure he could find someone to take him on.

"Ash" she tentatively began. "I understand why you might be worried, and remember that I will always believe in you, but I've had some of those same worries. You were so young when you started your journey and you have no idea how many nights I sat up worrying about how you where and whether you were changing your 'you-know-whats' every day." At this Ash groaned and turned bright red again. "And then there was the fact that you had to keep up with all your classes while you were away. I know they wouldn't have let you keep on journeying if you didn't get at least 75% every year, and I'm so very proud of you for doing that and handling a Pokemon journey all at the same time, but it's a lot to handle for a young boy, and I want you to be able to enjoy your childhood while you have it."

At this point Ash was rather stunned. He knew his mother worried about him but he had never thought that it had affected her so much. On top of that this was the first time he and his mom had sat down and had a proper adult conversation. Shame at causing his mother so much heartache, and happiness at the fact that his mother was treating him like an adult overwhelmed him, so he engulfed his mother in the biggest hug he could.
Delia for just a second didn't know how to react and then returned his hug full force. Ash may have been one of the most caring and considerate boys she knew but he was still a 16 year old boy and that meant he could show a certain awkwardness when showing affection, especially to his mother. She didn't know what precisely she had said that had caused this show of affection but she quietly reminded herself to work it out and do it a lot more often.

"I'm sorry I caused you so much worry mom. I was just so wrapped up in my journey that I never really thought you would be so upset."

This really touched Delia's heart and she was making sure to store this conversation away in her head as one of the best with her son, but she was quick to reassure him. "Oh Ash, it means so much to me that you would say that, but I would never stop your from following your dreams. Your determination and will to keep on going no matter what are part of what makes you who you are and I would never change that. I just want you to know that I love you and no matter how old you get or no matter what you do, you'll always be my baby boy, and it's my right as your mother to fuss a little bit."

Ash couldn't help but chuckle at this and said "I know mom, and I love you too. And I'll at leas TRY and stay out of trouble." For all the good that ever does me, he sardonically thought to himself.

"Now" she continued "before you so rudely interrupted me for that heart warming moment" she said with a mock glare while he chuckled away "I was going to suggest something that might help you with your problem."

At this Ash sat up straighter and listened intently.

"I overheard Prof. Oak talking the other day and he mentioned how sometimes a prominent trainer such as a gym leader or even a Champion will take on an apprentice. I know that you've met a lot of very powerful trainers during your journey and I thought that since you want to be more prepared for any situation, that you might ask one of them to take you on as their apprentice."

Ash couldn't believe this hadn't occurred to him before. He had even met Wallace, a Regional Champion, who had been apprenticed to another trainer and was all the more powerful for it. And his mom was right, thinking back he had made friends with a strangely large amount of powerful trainers over the course of his journey. He could think of quite a few that he would be honoured to be apprenticed to. And he knew that there was so much he could learn both about training and survival that it would take him much longer to learn on his own, if he could learn it at all. At this realisation he jumped up in the air and pumped his fist yelling a triumphant shout for finding a solution to his problem.

Only to give his mother a heart attack because, in his excitement as he was prone to do, he had forgotten something important. And that was that was A- he was on a roof and jumping about isn't very good for your health in that situation and B- it was about 1 in the morning by this point and yelling while you have a neighbour with a small child at this time was also not very good for your health.

His mother promptly grabbed him and forcibly sat him down again while clamping one of her hands over his mouth and giving him her best angry mom glare.

"Sorry about that mom" he said much more quietly while sporting an embarrassed grin. "Sorta got carried away there again. It's just that its a really good idea and I'm excited to get started on my journey towards being a Pokemon master again!" he declared while wearing his trademark smile.

Delia smiled at him, glad that she had managed to cheer him up, and started to get up to head back in again.

"I'm just glad I could help sweety. Now, I think it's time for us both to get in off this roof and get to bed before the neighbours call Officer Jenny on us."

He smiled a yes to her and started following, all the while thinking of this next adventure he was headed on. He was already thinking over who he would ask to take him on as an apprentice. He had met so many amazing people who could teach him so much. But as he got back to his room and climbed into his bed he thought more and more on one person in particular. Someone who would understand his want to use all his Pokemon, not just specialise in one type, someone who had seen him in action and understood part of what he had gone through. A person who inspires him and could teach him so much both academically, as a trainer and how to survive. But most importantly a person who could help him with one of his greatest secrets and fears. He had seen her Lucario, he knew what those baubles in her hair represented and knew with her understanding of history and myths that she could at least point him in the right direction on how to train his biggest secret. If only he could get over his fear of what it would mean to do that.

But, in his mind it was settled. In the morning he would pack his things, collect his Pokemon and hit the road again. He may have been there before but what awaited him there was unlike anything he had ever experienced before.

His last thought before he finally succumbed to sleep was simply "Look out Sinnoh, here I come!"