𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓛𝓮𝓰𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓪𝓻𝔂 𝓜𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻 : 𝓐𝓼𝓱 𝓚𝓮𝓽𝓬𝓱𝓾𝓶 𝓡𝓮𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓷𝓼

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 1: 𝙱𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝙿𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚃𝚘𝚠𝚗

"My helpful, awesome and highly intelligent research fellows, thank you for all your assistance. Why don't you guys take a break after travelling around so much? You can go home for the weekend. The laboratory will be under renovation anyway. How does that sound, boys?" Professor Cerise asked with a huge grin while putting notes away.

"OH MY! That's amazing! Back to Pallet Town! Delirious with excitement, Pikachu?" Ash gasped dramatically and nudged his fluffy friend, bouncing up and down happily as he did an air-punch.

"Thanks, professor. That's great and all but... my parents are not at home. Again," Goh muttered, sighing as he bit his lip.

"I expected so. Well, Ash's mother informed me that she would welcome you with open arms if you head over to Ash's! Oh, and Ash, she also mentioned that all your friends have a little something to tell you," Professor Cerise suggested.

"All my friends? As in everyone?" Ash's eyes widened as he voiced out his thoughts. The professor nodded and Ash shouted with joy at the top of his voice along with Pikachu, too excited to even stand still.

After bidding Professor Cerise farewell, the two enthusiastic boy raced towards Pallet Town; Goh cradling Sobble and Pikachu dashing alongside Ash.

"Let's GO!"

※※※※※※※

"Mom, I'm home!"

The door creaked open and multiple heads flooded Ash's vision. Within sight were Misty, Brock, May, Max, Dawn, Iris, Cilan, Clement, Bonnie, Serena, Lana, Kiawe, Lillie, Sophocles, Mallow and even Chloe! When did Chloe arrive? Ash wondered as he briefly recalled espying Chloe with Eevee at the laboratory before they left.

Snapping back to reality, Ash couldn't help but notice the tension around everyone. Some had deep frowns on their anxious faces, some were fiddling with their delicate fingers and some were spacing out, but their jaws were clenched. Seeing all that sent ominous shivers down his spine and he gulped nervously.

Professor Cerise suggested that they had 'a little something' to tell me. What happened recently that could possibly be so awful? And why did they all get there just to deliver the information? Was there a hidden meaning behind all that? Ash pondered in his head. All that thinking was giving him a migraine. Goh, unused to the tense atmosphere, leaned against the doorframe awkwardly.

"Pika pika?" Pikachu tilted his head, seemingly confused as well.

A moment of silence passed without a word escaping from anyone's sealed lips.

Misty's loud voice broke the silence. She fidgeted before speaking, "Hehe... You must be puzzled, Ash. You see, we gathered here to have a... discussion."

Brock continued with little hearts in his eyes, "We met all your other traveling companions. You didn't tell me you had such adorable girls and hot chicks accompanying you on your journey! Seeing them just makes my-"

Pulling Brock's ear, Misty slapped a hand over his mouth and cut him off, yelling as though Ash was ten miles away, "WE THINK YOU SHOULD GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAM!"

Upon hearing that the cat was out of the bag, Ash's other friends each heaved a sigh of relief. Ash, on the other hand, was stunned to the core. His jaw dropped as he tried to process what Misty had said.

"Give up? I can't believe you had the audacity to suggest something like that! No way in hell that's happening. Ash's will won't falter till he becomes a Pokémon Master," Goh retorted, shooting Misty a disdainful glare. He wondered if those 'friends' of Ash's truly deserved the title. "Please tell me you don't actually agree with them, Chloe."

"Honestly, I don't know! I mean, they did know Ash longer than we did. Besides, according to his best buddies, he had lost so many leagues! He-"

"Wait, that was what you were talking about?" a younger voice asked. Everyone spun around to see Max with a shocked and distraught look on his face. It was later revealed that Ash's 'friends' had lied to him and Bonnie about it, claiming to be chatting about ice-cream.

"Are you all nuts? Ash should, and would, never give up! He will be the greatest Pokémon Master with Pikachu and Ash-Greninja!" Bonnie exclaimed with a tinge of hurt in her squeaky voice, moving away from Clemont slowly.

Dropping her pretentious look of regret, Misty snorted, "All I see is a loser."

Ash could hardly believe his ears. Were they hypnotized by a Malamar or what? All their epic adventures together... All the times they laughed and sobbed together... All the memories of defeating Team Rocket, causing them to be at their wit's end... They all came flooding back to him. Yet, Misty... Did she have a screw loose? This... is impossible! His close friends... they saw him as a loser?

"Coming to think of it, you really are a pathetic trainer. Worthless. Useless. Boring. Why couldn't I see that before?" Serena criticized harshly.

"Stop this stupid, neverending quest! You're terrible at training Pokémon, so why don't you just go find yourself a girl to kiss and ditch your Pokémon? It'll do you some good, trust me," Brock suggested with a finger on his chin.

"You can't win anything. Your victory in certain minor leagues was achieved through sheer luck. Heh, Loser Ketchum," May snickered, crossing her arms with a devious smirk on her face. The rest simply nodded in agreement. Ash and Goh were already wide-eyed, but Ash broke down after the final blow.

Delia walked in, looked Ash in the eye and proclaimed, "It's good to chase after your dreams, Ash. Reasonable ones, that is. Being a Pokémon Master is far from the realm of possibility. I mean, it's not even a thing! You made that up as a small kid. And it's really embarrassing when you go around telling everyone that it's your greatest dream."

"Think carefully and you will realize that you were never a good trainer. You haven't even caught a Legendary! Sure, they're rare, but even my brother had. Melmetal is a Mythical, and there are god knows how many of them out there!" Lillie pointed out, though at least she wasn't as curt as the others.

"Yeah! Your Pikachu lost to a Snivy! How pathetic! You're, like, the epitome of fatuity!" Iris exclaimed, waving her arms about, causing electricity to spark at Pikachu's cheeks. Pikachu was about to charge at her but Ash held him back. With fury, Pikachu thought back to the time he won a Regice. And that woman had the audacity to call him pathetic!

"Give up now before it's too late! You're a loser and you need to see that! " Dawn shouted above the others, who were all trying to speak as well. It was total chaos, though the meaning in their words were all similar.

"NO! You guys are NOT acting like my friends. I thought you understood me; I thought you supported me, but you don't understand at all! STAY AWAY FROM ME! I... I don't believe in your lies! I can win; I have faith in myself! That's all that matters!" Ash yelled, sniffling. Wiping his tears, he stormed off. Those fools weren't deserving of his tears. They were testing his patience. This time, they had pushed too far. Way too far.

"Ash, wait! I want to join you! Squishy would have wanted me to help you! And I do too!" Bonnie shouted, getting out of her brother's grasp to catch up to Ash.

"So do I! Wait for me!" Max yelled, chasing after Bonnie at the speed of light, "I can't believe May just said that! I swear, I don't agree with her one bit!"

"C'mon, we have to help Ash. I'll catch Mew someday, and he'll definitely become a Pokémon Master! I just know it. Let's go!" Goh exclaimed as the four of them ran out of the traitors' sight.

The traitors sighed. If that was Ash's decision, then they would have no choice but to show Ash the truth. The scary reality he would definitely have to face someday.

By entering the Pokémon World Coronation Series as well and beat Leon before Ash could even get close to his level.