A/N:

Well, I'm rewriting chapters to see if it will help with my writers block. So far nothing accomplished except a changed first and second chapter. Well read if you're new, reread if you aren't. You can tell me what you think, especially if you're annoyed with the new chapters

Winds swiftly blew the clouds across the night sky. The fleeting masses of vapor an uncharacteristic orange, starkly contrasting the inky black heavens. Stars attempt to shine through the misty atmosphere, but few succeed, adding an eerie backdrop to the night. The scene was dark, depressing… beautiful. And one man refused to let this dark beauty be ignored. The one man, who knew pain like no other, knew betrayal better than Caesar. His name lost amongst the harsh reality of the modern world.

But that was not on his mind now, it hardly ever was. His thoughts were focused on the scenery displayed before him. At this moment it seemed like nothing would ruin the serenity and bliss felt by the man. Until fire pierced the horizon, distorting the nighttime art.

The man growled at the interruption, glaring menacingly at the rising star. As if trying to intimidate it back to the far side of the planet. However, the light climbed higher, blissfully ignorant of the man's death glare. With a sigh of disappointment the man turned around and made his way briskly away from his viewpoint, located on a cliff overlooking a massive valley, with his cloak billowing out behind him.

As the valley faded into memory a cave next to a peaceful stream became the man's new interest. His brisk pace eased as he came to a halt just outside the cave entrance, allowing him to watch the stream trickle quietly down the mountain. The man quickly became mesmerized by the stream's constant flow, lost in memory, until a yellow mouse broke him out of his thoughts

'Hey, Ash! What are you doing up this early?'

The man eyed the yellow mouse, which now occupied his shoulder, with indifference. He didn't answer the question, instead opting to gaze up at the royal blue sky.

The mouse nodded solemnly in understanding. Following certain events in his life Ash seemed to become lost in the strangest things. The mouse didn't know what went through the man's head, but he assumed it was thoughts about his shadowy past.

Ash broke the mutual silence with a simple question

"Think it's time to wake the others?"

The mouse nodded, hopping off the man's shoulder, and padding inside the cave. Ash sighed and regarded the sky with one last mournful glance before he followed the mouse into the cave. When he came towards the rear of the cave he noticed that most of his Pokémon were already awake, stretching their muscles, trying to loosen the stiffness of slumber. Ash grabbed the remaining red and white orbs and released their contents with a flick of his wrist.

The first orb opened, revealing one of the acclaimed Hoenn starters. With a reptilian appearance and leaves that sprouted from his wrists he was identified as Sceptile. Upon being released he followed the other Pokémon, stretching his muscles, then walking outside.

The next orb opened, and in a flash of light a creature that resembled a shark in many ways, but differed by having legs and arms. Most of his body was navy blue, but his underside was red and tan. The pseudo legendary glanced wearily around before relaxing, then following Sceptile outside.

An all black Absol materialized from the third and final pokeball. With piercing red irises and a black sickle growth on the side of his head the Pokémon shoved fear into the heart of anyone unfortunate to cross his path. Foregoing the stretching the shiny Pokémon glared at his surroundings, then he stalked outside.

With all of his Pokémon now outside and fully awake, Ash saw fit to commence the day's training.

Scene change

Pikachu weaved his way through seemingly endless roots and trees. He knew running was a cowardly tactic, but even so, if it saved him from burns and bald spots it was fine by him. He stopped and perked his pointed ears, listening for anything that could give his opponent away. He heard the faint flapping of wings and then a sound that became increasingly louder as it rushed through the undergrowth. Realizing quickly what the noise was, Pikachu pushed against the Earth, propelling him skyward just as a flamethrower scorched the ground beneath him. The yellow mouse turned and sent a thunderbolt into the direction of the offending fire attack. A grunt of pain confirmed a hit and Pikachu turned tail and continued to run. From behind him a massive shape appeared, blocking what little sun shown through the thick forest canopy. Its mostly blue body silhouetted against the background.

The sound of wings flapping increased as Pikachu's enemy approached. Pikachu abruptly stopped his fleeing as he saw no ground in front of him, just a sheer cliff that was a one-way ticket out of Mount Silver. He knew that he had to face his opponent now, or... well that was it. He had no other option. The mouse Pokémon knew he had no chance against the behemoth in a battle of strength, but just like his trainer he could think outside the box. He quickly ran up one of the nearby trees, aided by his quick attack. This action propelled him skyward.

It was then that he got a good view of his opponent, Salamence, but that also meant a clear shot for both Pokémon. Salamence was searching the ground, and Pikachu noted that it didn't seem to know where he had 'disappeared' to. The electric mouse used this to his advantage. As he began falling he angled his body so he would shoot straight at the pseudo legendary. As he fell he then became engulfed in the yellow aura that acted as a catalyst for his most powerful attack. The Volt Tackle slammed into the unsuspecting Pokémon, and sent it reeling into the ground.

Salamence wasn't out though, and he almost instantly got his act back together. Once he did he immediately fired a kanji shaped fire attack that charged forward with a destructive vengeance. Pikachu found the high-speed attack difficult to dodge, but dodge he did, and when he landed it was in a burnt and barren crater. Salamence was loosing her temper; though she had great aim this terrain gave Pikachu the advantage, and consequently, her the disadvantage.

Salamence charged in with Dragon rush, she expected Pikachu to dodge and had a plan formulated to counter, but to her surprise the mouse charged toward her assault with another Volt Tackle. Salamence knew she far outmatched Pikachu in brute force, so she saw no drawback in continuing on her collision course with the mouse Pokémon. The dragon soon became enveloped in the blue swirling energy that signified Dragon Rush. The two met in the middle, both fighting for dominance. But before any species could gain dominance both energies destabilized, causing a massive blast. The resulting explosion tore apart the undergrowth and uprooted trees. A resulting thick cloud consisting of smoke and dust shrouded both combatants from view. Both Pokémon held their ground, not willing to give their opponent the satisfaction of seeing the other give way.

"Great work, you did fantastic under real world scenarios." Ash complimented once the obscuring cloud had moved on.

The large Pokémon glared at the mouse before the malicious glint in her eyes disappeared, and she turned to the man. Both Pokémon looked to see said man resting calmly in the shade of a large tree. His red lenses mirrored their movements, and the eyes behind calculated them. The Pokémon took this as his way of telling them to come over to him. The pair walked over to him and sat down near him, waiting for their trainer to make a move.

The Pallet native reached out and scratched Pikachu behind the ears, earning him a soft coo of happiness. Then he turned to the dragon, rubbing his chin and receiving a growl of pleasure for his effort.

"That's enough for now, take a break, we start special training in 1 hour." He said

Salamence grunted affirmatively and walked away, but Pikachu stayed.

"I thought so, you aren't tired." Ash said, beginning to walk.

'Well, Pokémon do tend to take after their trainers.' Pikachu recited, hopping onto his trainer's right shoulder

Ash sighed as he took in the peaceful scenery that surrounded the pair, "Well, another day in paradise, right buddy."

'You bet.' The electric type nodded with a smile.

Soon the trees around them began to thin and they came upon the same spot that Ash stood in earlier. Although this time it was not the sky that was watched, it was his Pokémon. All were at the top of their species, but Ash still pushed them harder, knowing they could do better. Eventually, the Pokémon had been trained to the pinnacle of their physical evolutions; their bodies could literally not handle more power. But Ash had created moves of his own, forcing them to train beyond the physical limit.

Ash sighed yet again as he watched the valley below. He eyed the small lake below the cliff with envy, the sun was already beating down steadily on them and it was only around noon. He was in fact, about to go for a swim when something hit him. He turned around to see a long pink tail floating.

Ash chuckled and gently grasped the tail, "Don't you think it's a little early for this?" Ash said as he held the now upside down Mew closer to his face.

Mew gave a cute smile before turning so she was the correct way up.

"Mew." The pink feline turned so she was upside down again and looked into Ash's eyes. She then flew around a bush and formed a pink bubble, before beginning to bounce on it.

Ash couldn't help but smile at the Legendary's playful nature. Mew bounced about for a bit, then the origin Pokémon stopped and observed the surroundings, eyes scanning the tree line. Ash knew what she was looking for.

"Even after all these years, you are always near her." Ash turned to see the genetic Pokémon Mewtwo floating before him,

"Someone has to keep an eye on her."

Ash smiled and then sat down, back against a tree. Mewtwo followed and rested up against a different tree, "You know why I have come Ash."

"I have told you before, I have no intention of going back."

The psychic type shook his head, "If you could see what I have seen then you would understand. Your friends are sick without you. You shouldn't cut yourself away from them just on the words of their foolish parents."

Ash sighed before looking at Mewtwo with an indifferent glance, "Why do you care anyway? If I remember correctly I am the only human that you trust, let alone contact on a regular basis."

"You have worked long and hard Ash; you deserve another chance. They had no right to do what they did, but it made you stronger. Now prove to them that they were wrong." Mewtwo said with a wistful look in his eyes. Then, he disappeared.

Ash stared at the spot where the genetic Pokémon once resided. He had made an oath to himself that he didn't need the world, that he didn't need friends. But after an event about a year ago he realized his resolve was weakening. His will to keep his self enforced promise breaking.

Knowing this was not a decision he could make on his own he turned with a questioning gaze to his little yellow starter. Silently asking him what he should do.

Pikachu shrugged his tiny shoulders, 'Not my call, but I think it serve you well to take Mewtwo's advice.'

Ash nodded, accepting to, at the very least, look over what Mewtwo had compiled. Even without an explanation Ash somehow knew what Mewtwo had in store for him. The legendary psychic wanted him to take part in a tournament held at the Indigo Plateau. The competition would be to see who would gain the honor of competing in the master's league, and word on the street was that Cynthia nor Steven have competed in the league. The competition would be rock solid, but he had trained long and hard and was ready to test his strength against the five regions once again. Of course, Ash couldn't enter under his real name. Ash Ketchum is technically legally deceased.

"I wonder what my new name is going to be?" Ash asked to no one in particular.

'Let's find out' Pikachu said, also interested.

Ash obliged and opened the red Pokedex, "I am registered to Pokémon trainer Red Satoshi," the mechanical voice droned, then it rattled off a whole fake background about Red Satoshi, who was from Johto and received his starter, a Cyndaquil, from Professor Elm.

"Mewtwo really outdid himself. I owe him a favor." Ash chuckled as he admired his profile.

A moment of silence followed, broken by Ash, "Ready Pi?"

'You bet, ready to decimate the 'Prodigies' of Pokémon?' Asked Pikachu excitedly.

"I've been ready for 4 years, Pi. Red is going to kick some five region ass" He reached into his pack, and pulled out a pair of black sunglasses, with red-mirrored lenses. He took one last look at the icy peaks he had called home for years, "You know Pi, I'm really not gonna miss that place."

'You said it, let's go to Orre next, the deserts there are really warm.' the yellow rodent replied giddily, probably imagining getting a sunburn.

"Sure buddy, now lets go to Kanto." the Pokémon nodded, and they walked of into the distance, disappearing from view.

A/N:

I changed Ash's whole attitude. I decided it would be better if he was cold in the beginning. Before I rewrote the chapter I realized that it was, for the most part, terribly written. And second I wrote his character a little moody. He acted according to Canon in the beginning, then acted like I planned for him to midway through the story. Either way, this is how he's staying. Tell me what you thought, all review types are welcome.