The sounds of laughter and fun rang throughout the entire village as the party was in full swing. The entire village had turned out to celebrate the dawn of a new era, as it was announced that day that the princess Serena would be taking husband and the two would then be named king and queen of Kalos. Everyone was laughing or dancing or just having a good time. Well almost everyone, one boy, who hadn't been invited to the celebration, sat alone in a barn simply listening to the others having fun. He sighed sadly wishing he had been allowed to go to. He turned his head from the window to look at the pokemon in the barn. At times her regarded them as his only friends, well aside from the small portion of the villagers that were actually willing to accept him. He yawned loudly and wandered over to the pile of hay he'd come to use as a bed. He was just about to collapse and drift away into a beautiful dream, when he noticed the hay was already occupied by a sleepy Pikachu. His partner no less. The boy sighed and then hitched himself up the ladder to the beam he sometimes sat on when he felt like being alone. There was a large circular window just opposite that provided a perfect view of the kingdom. He could see the villagers dancing happily, laughing like they hadn't a care in the world. Then right behind them was the castle. Home to the soon to married princess. The boy had never seen the princess and nor did wish to. He was certain she would be cruel to him just like everyone else in this stupid kingdom. Why? That was the question he always had on his mind. Everyday of his miserable life he would always wonder why? Why had this happened? Why did everyone hate him? Why did this happen to him?

The kid in question is Ash Ketchum the village's biggest loser. Yeah that pretty much sums him up to be honest. He has barely any friends, most of who he can only see on special occasions. Both his parents are dead and he is forced to work for hours in a pitiful job in exchange for food and shelter. He was miserable, all the people in the village treated him like a freak and took great pleasure in making him suffer through the means of pain and/or humiliation. In the past this sort of treatment would have made him mad, but as time went by whatever pride or self confidence he had once held onto had been worn down into nothing. Now he merely accepted the rotten treatment he was given, occasionally sitting on his special beam to cry when things got really bad.

You wouldn't believe it but his life hadn't always been this way, oh no. When he was born he had two loving parents who owned the farm just outside the village. As Ash grew up he had a pretty good life playing with the other kids and pokemon in the village or the forest. He would help out on the farm all the time and his parents were so praising of their sons selfless nature. They always said he would have nothing to worry about and that when he was older the farm would be his and they were sure he would take great care of it. But it was not to be...

For on Ash's sixth birthday his parents threw him a party in the forest with the whole village and all their pokemon. Even some wild pokemon showed up to join in the fun, everything was going great. The young Ash loved his gift especially a little yellow mouse named Pikachu. But while he was chasing his new friend out into the forest, the two suddenly found they were lost. They ran around in a panic and tried desperately to find their friends again. But to no avail. After calling out for what seemed like the thousandth time Ash finally gave in and broke down crying. Pikachu tried his best to comfort him. Ash was glad of his company, but he longed for the company of his parents now. He thought about them; it made him cry harder but he was also able to remember a time when this happened before. He'd been so scared so his father had told to 'never give until the end'. It was that very saying that inspired Ash to keep looking until he found his way back. And he did, after about an hour he came running into the clearing where the party was being held. Only to find it totally destroyed! The decorations were burnt and the food was all over the floor. Ash asked a sobbing woman next to him what had happened. And in-between sobs she managed to explain that a wild pokemon had attacked them and killed his mother and father as well as several others. Ash couldn't believe what he was hearing, he started punching a nearby tree crying and screaming that it wasn't true. But the sadness is that it was, and from that day on Ash's life would never be the same...

A week later his uncle moved into the farm as he was Ash's legal guardian. He was also large, gruff and downright horrible. He hated children and his brother so naturally he couldn't stand Ash and took great pleasure in making his life a living hell. Instead of trying to comfort, the now grief stricken, Child. He forced him to work on the farm for countless hours a day and never go into the forest or village unless he was running errands. He took away all of Ash's pokemon except Pikachu, who managed to hide in the barn. The barn that would now be Ash's sleeping accommodation as he was no longer allowed in the house. The poor 6 year old didn't understand why his uncle hated him, sometimes he would ask. His uncle was utterly sickened by the innocent look on his face when he did. As a result he would punish Ash every time he dared question him.

It was because of asking questions that Ash was not allowed to attend the party tonight. It wasn't fair he'd been working hard all week and his uncle was really thinking of letting he go until this afternoon. Ash had been told to clean up after the animals today. This was his least favourite job, in fact he hated it. Which was probably why he was forced to do it so often. He was in the process of scraping muck out of his wheelbarrow when he heard a shout.

"Hey muck boy, practicing your moves for tonight." Said the leader of the group a mean kid called Trip. The other two were Paul and Damien. These three bullies had a reputation in the village for causing trouble and making Ash suffer was one of their favourite pass times. Ash just ignored them and went on with his work. This didn't sit well with them, so they hopped over the fence and ran over to him. Paul grabbed Ash by the collar and forced him to look at them.

"How dare you ignore Trip. I ought to teach you a lesson in manners. But a muck boy like you can't be expected to understand high class things like that." He spat. The others just smirked as Paul dropped Ash and he tried to get back to his work. He was determined to get this done so he would be allowed to go to the party tonight, it would be the first time in 13 years (incase no one's figured it out this started when Ash was 6 and he's now 19) that Ash would be able to do something besides work.

"Can't I just do my work in peace today?" He asked quietly. He would never openly admit it but he was actually scared of Trip and his gang. He didn't have to tell them anyway, it was obvious by the way he acted around them. Thats what made it so much fun.

"Very well." Said Trip and he started walking away, leaving the other three very confused. It wasn't long till Paul and Damien ran to catch him up. Ash looked on in disbelief, perhaps they were in a good mood because of the festival. He decided to let it be and went back to his work. Trip looked back over his shoulder to check Ash wasn't looking, then ran up behind and gave him a shove.

"Ahh!" Ash cried in surprise, then "splat!" he went face first into the muck pile. Trip, Paul and Damien laughed so hard there were tears in their eyes. Ash pushed himself up and turned around only to be punched in the face by Paul. He and Damien started giving Ash the usual beating. Ash wasn't really up for it today and had no choice but to give in and beg them to stop.

"No please I'll do anything!" He cried.

"You swear?" Trip asked.

"Yes." He winced as Damien gave him another kick.

"Good." Said Trip with an evil smile. He raised his hand and the two immediately stopped their attacks. Ash fell to the floor finally able to catch his breath. He wondered why they'd stopped, then he realised what he'd said in his desperation. He stood up to face Trip, the fear evident on his face.

"Well." Said Trip still smiling, "I'll need time to think about an appropriate task for you. So I'll see you here same time tomorrow." He said. The others gave muffled laughs thinking of ways they could make Ash suffer.

"Come on Trip can't you just leave me alone?" Ash begged desperately. But to no avail. They gave one last laugh, shoved him in the pit again and ran off. Ash pushed himself up, he was now bruised and completely covered in pokemon poo. And as if things weren't bad enough for him his uncle came out to check on him and was far from pleased.

"What on earth do you think your doing boy! I won't tolerate slacking off." He yelled, the redness visible in his large bull dog shaped face.

"But I wasn't slacking, you see..." He tried to explain but his uncle wasn't hearing it.

"Enough! I don't want your excuses, any more of this and you won't be going to the celebration tonight." He said.

"No! Come on I've been working as hard as possible all week, please you've gotta let me go?" He pleaded with his uncle, but it just made him madder.

"You should be working as hard as possible all the time! Just think of how disappointed your parents would be if they could see this, they'd punish you for being so rude. But I will punish you for asking to go to the party, you know full well I won't tolerate questions. Instead of going to the festival you will stay in the barn tonight and stack the hay." He said, he stormed back to the house before Ash could say anymore. And well thats pretty much how he ended up here on the beam in the barn looking out at the hoards of people having fun. He sighed sadly and leaned back knowing it would be a long night.

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