Ash managed to dodge the reporters that congregated in front of his locker room. He knew that they would be there after his crushing victory against Iris. He planned ahead and hid all of his stuff in a supply closet that was on the opposite side of the corridor, which housed his locker room. He chuckled as he heard the pounding on the door. He imagined all the work and energy the reporters were putting in, just for the attention of an empty room.

"That was a nice trick, Ashy-boy."

Ash felt chills go up against his spine. No! There was no freaking way he figured it out!

Ash didn't turn to the owner of the voice, but instead, attempted to make his way to the stairs with Pikachu and Lucario in tow. He was about at the stairs; when suddenly, he felt a hand grabbing his shoulder.

"Listen, we need to talk, Ash." Ash turned as he saw Gary standing behind him, with his hand still on Ash's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, you must have mistaken me for someone else. I'm Aaron Tajiri," he stated as he was hoping Gary would believe his lie, but even himself didn't believe it.

Gary responded, "You can't-fool me, Ash. I know it's you. I have been waiting five years for this conversation and I'm not going to let you walk out of this arena without answers!"

Ash could see the determination in Gary's eyes. He wasn't getting out of this one.

"There's nothing to say," Ash said slowly, lowering his head to look at the ground. "The friend, you knew, died five years ago, and he isn't coming back."

"Lies!" Gary shouted. "I saw the look in your eyes when you fought Iris. I saw the way you looked at Serena back on the battlefield. You may have become a better trainer and strategist, but you're still Ash Ketchum."

"Gary, look at me. Tell me if you see the same old Ash." Ash stated as he took off his mask and the hood.

Gary gasped, as he examines the weary and tired look on his friend's face. The look in Ash's eyes didn't radiate the same joy he had remembered. He saw turmoil, not peace, anxiety, not passion.

"What happened to you?" were all the words that Gary could mutter.

"Five years happened to me, Gary!" Ash spat back coldly.

Gary suddenly remembered why he had come down in the first place.

He questioned Ash, "Where have you been? Why didn't you come back to Pallet Town, to your mom, to your friends, to me after that incident? Why are you now just showing up?" Gary's voice started to change its tone to anger. "Now, after five years of damage caused by your death! Five years of the blame because we saw one of our best friends die! You owe me an explanation! You owe everyone, whoever cared about you, an explanation!"

"I owe you nothing!" Ash shouted rebelliously.

Gary looked at Ash. He chose his words very carefully, this time. "Do you know why I'm the only down here? Why I'm the only one that has put two and two together?"

"No, enlighten me," Ash responded sarcastically.

"I'm the only one who has seen the videotape," Gary stated as Ash is puzzled by his words.

"What tape?" he asked wanting to know what Gary meant.

"A month after you died, there was a break-in at Grandpa's laboratory. The only thing that was taken was your Pokéball," Ash froze; he knew where Gary was going with this. "The only thing that remained on the shelf, where your Pokémon used to sit, was a spray-painted, R, in bright red. The incident nearly destroyed my Grandfather. Everyone thought it was the last stab at you, for taking down Team Rocket. We believed that it was done by a group of grunts that had somehow avoided capture. What the intruder didn't know was that we set up cameras in the lab and surrounding areas, after Team Rocket tried to kidnap my Grandpa and his Pokémon years earlier," Gary glanced up to see Ash staring off into the distance. "I was the first one there that day. It was my turn to let the Pokémon out of their Pokéball. When I saw what happened, I rushed to the video screen, to see the tape. That's when I saw you sneak in and stealing back your own Pokémon. Pikachu was right at your side. I didn't know what to do, who to tell, or how to react. So I did some editing and made it look like the robbers tampered with the security footage. I knew there was a reason you didn't come back. I wanted to protect my friend from whatever he was hiding from, but now, now I want some answers, Ash!"

There was silence among them, for a while, as Ash was processing what he had just heard. He turned to his two Pokémon, who looked at him, gave a smile, and nod.

He turned to Gary. "Thank you, for doing that, Gary. But I can't tell you everything, not yet anyway. However, I can tell you that I have been away, for training, so that I can finally finish what I started five years ago."

"Ash, haven't you heard? What you did, what you started was the end of Team Rocket. All the files you stole led to arrests upon arrests of thousands of people, within the organization. Bank accounts have been sealed, all the top agents have been put away, and most of all, Giovanni is dead. You can come back, Ash. You can come back to your family and friends." Gary said all of this, with a smile on his face.

He expected to see the same smile from his childhood friend. Instead, his smile turned to a frown as he saw Ash turn his eyes away from him.

"What's wrong?" Gary asked with a worried look in his eyes.

"Giovanni isn't dead," Ash responded.

"No way. That is impossible we saw the explo-"

"Yeah, the same explosion that should have killed me!" Gary saw something he rarely saw in Ash: anger. "I should be dead, but I'm not. For whatever reason, for whatever god there might be, I am alive," Ash breathing began to intensify. "I know that he's still alive! I know because deep down in my gut, there's a feeling that hasn't given me peace in years. I have spent sleepless nights wishing that I could have my life back. I have stayed in the shadows, as I have watched my friends live their lives to the fullest as if nothing happened!" His anger began to turn to sadness. "I can't go back, not until I know that Giovanni will never again put the people that I loved, in danger. He did that five years ago, Gary. I will never let that happen again."

A light bulb went off in Gary's head. "You think he's here, don't you?"

Ash nodded. "The prize money isn't much, but it is enough to get Team Rocket started up again."

"Then, you have to win, Ash." Gary looked at his friend with a smile on his face. Reaching out and placing a hand on Ash's shoulder, he continued. "And you can bet that I will be there with you until the end!"

He finally got what he wanted. Ash smiled as he turned his head back to Gary. "Thank you, Gary."

"If there is anything that I can do for you, Ash-"

"There is. Make sure everyone is safe. Keep your eyes open, attentive, and be on your guard. I don't know what to expect from Giovanni, so please, be careful."

"Sure, Ash. Anything for you," and with that, Gary saw Ash put his mask back on and his hood up so that only his auburn eyes showed. "And Ash, take care of yourself. I want a battle, after all of this, is over."

Gary could tell that beneath the mask, Ash was smiling. His old friend turned to him and nodded before turning back and heading up the stairs as Lucario and Pikachu followed.

---

Those eyes, the way he looked at me, the way he relaxed. Serena began to blush, as she thought more about Aaron from the first match they had seen that night. She sat there playing with her food at the dinner table, while her mind was wandering to Aaron. He talked so softly, yet with power. He battled so fiercely, yet treated Iris and her Pokémon with so much respect. Just like Ash would have done."Her blush deepened as she shook her head. No. No way! I can't think of those things! Ash is still out there somewhere, at least I hope.

"Hey Serena, aren't you hungry?" Clemont asked.

Serena shot out of her thoughts and looked up to see her friends staring at her. They were already finished with their food, but she had barely touched hers.

"Uh-yeah, no. I'm not really hungry, tonight," she said looking back down at her food awkwardly.

May started to notice her blush and the sight of her, earlier that day, came back to her. She smiled as she posed a question to the performer. "You don't have a crush on Aaron, do you?" there was a teasing sound in her voice.

"Wh-what?!" asked Serena. She could feel her cheeks turning red as she looked up to see May and Dawn, giving her big goofy smiles, from across the table. "No! Not at all! He isn't my type." she denied.

"Yeah, that's true," Dawn responded. "You usually go for the stubborn and dense ones. Not to mention the reckless ones."

"Hey now, Aaron did seem a little reckless out there and he did give Serena a look before the match began," May said jokingly as she and Dawn began to giggle.

This made Serena turn even redder. She looked around her, trying to find an excuse to leave, before noticing the clock. It reads 11:21. She sighed in relief.

"It's getting late guys and I got up early this morning," Serena said before standing up. "I think I am going to call it a night."

The rest of the group said good night and she turned to leave. The group was quiet, for a bit, after Serena had left the room. It was a while before someone spoke up.

"Really, you two? Really?" said Trevor as he looked at May and Dawn with an annoyed expression on his face. "You just had to tease about her possibly having a crush on Aaron. Seriously, why do you two have to get involved with our friend's personal life?"

May and Dawn looked at each other, and then, back at Trevor.

"Well, Serena should really move on with her life and find another man at some point." May and Dawn said.

Trevor sighed. "What if she doesn't want to find another man? When you have feelings towards someone, you tend to never let go of those feelings, even after death."

"How would you know? You never fell in love with a girl before!" May and Dawn stated as they know Trevor isn't someone that falls in love with a girl easily, unlike Brock. "You know, if you ever needed help with your love life, let us help you out."

Trevor got up and told them, "I don't need you two to get involved in my personal life. Now then, I think I'll be heading back to my room, now. Good night, everyone."

The group said goodnight and he left the dining hall.

After Trevor left, a worried-looking Max spoke up, "So who do you think these two wildcard trainers really are?"

"I don't know," replied Brock. "But whoever they are, they're really strong, that's for sure. For Aaron, to dispatch Iris so easily, without even losing a Pokémon, is scary to think about. Then, there is that Sakaki character. I haven't seen Tyson shaken up during a battle, like that, in a long time. For him, to only knock out one of Sakaki's Pokémon, then seeing his Meowth, arguably his most powerful Pokémon, get crushed so easily. You have to wonder where those two came from."

The rest of the group nodded. "What do you think, Gary?" Misty asked the researcher who was unusually quiet.

"Who knows? They're both really strong and have obviously been training for a while," Gary noted without giving any hint that he knew Aaron was really Ash in disguise.

The group looked on in silence before Dawn spoke up with a worried look on her face. "Guys," she began, "I know that this sort of thing is taboo, but did anyone else notice something strange about Aaron? I mean, the way he carried himself, the way he looked into the stands. Even his strategy, with his Floatzel, do you think. . . . well maybe-"

"Dawn, I know where you're going with this," it was Gary who had decided to speak up, this time. "I had the same thoughts too. I mean, after all, it isn't every day a trainer shows up with enough guts to use that technique. To be honest, I haven't seen it since the last time I saw Ash battle in the Kalos League," he looked out the window as he began to start up again. "We have to move on. It has been five years, we can no longer keep hoping that Ash is going to come back. We all saw that explosion! There's no way anyone could have survived that!"

When he finished speaking, he looks around as he saw his friends looking down at the ground or off into the distance. Misty, May, and Dawn had tears rolling down their cheeks. Brock was shaking his head, while the others look lost in thought. It pains him to see his friends like this, especially when he knew the truth. But Ash asked him to do this for him, and if that meant lying to those he had grown so close to over the past five years, then so be it. His gaze returned to the scenery outside the window.

Please, Ash. Win, so all of this can finally end.

---

Trevor enters his room and feels relieved to get out of that heated conversation with May and Dawn. He knows that they're just teasing Serena; but still, she shouldn't have to keep being reminded of Ash. It's been five years since his death. Serena had suffered so much, both emotionally and mentally, with Ash gone and the media not leaving her alone, back in Kalos.

After entering the room, Trevor took out Gregor's Pokéball and tossed it into the air. When the ball opened, a light flashed. As the light dimmed, a bipedal, humanoid creature with some feline features stood in front of Trevor. The Pokémon is gray with a long, purple tail. On top of its head, are two short, blunt horns, and has purple eyes. A tube extends from the back of its skull to the top of its spine, bypassing its neck. It has a defined chest and shoulders, which resemble a breastplate. The three digits on each hand and foot have spherical tips. Its tail is thick at the base but thins before ending in a small bulb.

Gregor's eyes were closed, but slowly opening them to see his trainer.

"Gregor, your Pokéball was shaking during the battle between Aaron's Lucario and Iris' Dragonite. Were you troubled by something?" asked Trevor who's worried about his powerful ally.

Gregor sighed before communicating with Trevor by using telepathy. "Yes, I was. I was sensing two strange feelings out there during the battle."

"Can you describe them to me?" asked Trevor.

"Yes," said Gregor, before continuing. "The aura from his Lucario is really strong. I haven't felt power like that before in my life. His Lucario may prove to be a worthy opponent."

"So when we face him, we'll have to keep an eye on Lucario," Trevor stated before asking Mewtwo about the other feeling he had. "What about that another feeling?"

Gregor drew a deep breath before answering Trevor's question. He was shaking.

"Pain, suffering, and loss" were all the words that he could say.

"What do you mean, Gregor?" asked Trevor worrying for his Pokémon.

"From Lucario's trainer, Aaron. There was a very disturbing image in his mind that troubled me. From that image, all I felt was anger, pain, and turmoil. It seems he has lost something important to him." Gregor muttered as Trevor is shocked to hear that Aaron has some demons in his past.

"And the image?" asked Trevor while expressing a worried look in his eyes.

"It was of an explosion that occurred five years ago," Gregor said.

Trevor stepped back and his face expressed a horrified look as if he had seen a ghost.

"Gregor, you don't think that Aaron is really..."

"Hold on!" Gregor interrupted as he stares at the left side of the bedroom.

"I'm sensing something. Coming from the other side of that wall." He stated as he points to the wall on the left side. Trevor, confused, walk over to the wall he was pointing to.

"I hear voices from the room right of us. Voices of people who, we all thought, was dead." His voice started to rise. "No! It can't be!" He shouted.

"What is it, Gregor?!" asked a worried Trevor. "Who do the voices belong to?!"

"One of them belongs to an old friend. The other," Gregor was shaking after figuring out the identity of the second voice. "belongs to an old enemy." He muttered.

Wanting to know what the voices were saying, Trevor and Gregor listened to the conversation, in the next room, through telepathy.

---

Author's Note: In case you were wondering, "Gregor" is the nickname I have given to Trevor's Mewtwo. The nickname is a reference to Gregor Johann Mendel, the founder of genetics. This is appropriate due to the fact that Mewtwo is the Genetics Pokemon.