Risen from Betrayal

Chapter 4 - The Aftermath (Part 1)

Shortly after Ash, Pikachu, Charizard and the rest of his Pokemon stored in his Nanodex (except for Greninja and his Tauros) flew off to Mount Silver, the loyal friends and rivals of Ash headed to their respective homes. Neither did the loyal friends of Ash nor the traitors knew where Ash has headed off to.

With Brock:

While heading back to his Pewter City Gym, the overall incident of Ash's betrayal constantly played in his mind, furious and upset at the traitors, especially Misty since he knew her the most. As he opened the door, his younger brother Forrest, his parents Flint (father) & Lola (mother) and the rest of the siblings  were happy to see him back again, but was worried seeing his expression of anger and sadness.

"Brock, my son. What happened?" asked Flint. 

"Yeah, you seemed really upset and distressed," said Lola. 

"It's Ash," Brock shortly said. 

"What did he do? Did he upset you in some sort of way?" asked Forrest. 

"No, it's not anywhere like that. He was betrayed by many of his former travelling companions and was told to give up on becoming Pokemon Master. However, along with some of his remaining loyal friends, I stood by his side. What upset me the most was that Misty was one of the traitors," Brock replied.

"Misty? Are you serious?" asked Lola, shocked at Brock's answer. "I wish I was kidding mum, but sadly it is true," Brock said sadly. "I hope Ash is alright, wherever he is."

With Max:

"What does May think she's doing, telling Ash to give up on his dream? Just because we encountered many dangers throughout our journey doesn't give her the right to blame it on Ash," Max thought as he returned back to his gym in Petalburg City in Hoenn. May had decided to stay back with the traitors as well as avoiding Max due to his disagreements with her.

"Welcome home Max," Norman (his father) said smiling. "Where's May?" asked Caroline (his mother).

"It's a long story, dad," Max replied, explaining what happened to Ash. 

"How dare she! After that poor boy has always helped her throughout her journey in Hoenn and Kanto. Don't worry Max, we'll punish May by permanently banning her from entering Pokemon Contests," Norman said, furious at what May did.

"I agree darling, Ash deserves better than what happened and better friends like you Max," Caroline said smiling at Max, happy that he stayed by Ash's side.

With Dawn:

"I can't believe that May and Drew would do such a thing to Ash, and yet to think that I used to be friends with them. At least May's younger brother Max was smart enough to know better and stay by Ash's side," Dawn thought to herself.

A few seconds later she started reflecting through her journey with Ash and Brock in Sinnoh, and tears started falling down her face as she thought about Ash and realised that she fell in love with him. "Ash, thank you for endless supporting me throughout our journeys together. Wherever you are, I hope you're okay and I wish to see you again. I love you, Ash," Dawn whispered to herself as tears continued rolling down her face.

Abruptly she stopped crying and soon reached her home in Twinleaf Town, where her mother Johanna was delighted at her return. "Dawn, welcome home," she said. "Hi, mum. It's good to see you again. I have something to tell you," Dawn replied. "What happened honey? Are you okay?" Johanna asked in concern.

"It's Ash. He was betrayed by many of his former friends and rivals, saying that he is not worthy of being a Pokemon trainer and also telling him to give up his dream on becoming Pokemon Master. Along with Brock and Ash's loyal friends, I stood up for him. To make things worse, my childhood friend Kenny was one of the traitors," Dawn said sadly, as she starting crying again.

"Dear, it's okay. I hope Ash is alright, and I suggest you to not interact with Kenny anymore," Johanna said. "Already done mum. The moment Kenny betrayed Ash I instantly ended my friendship with him. And I think that I'm in love with Ash," Dawn replied, slightly blushing at the though of potentially reuniting with Ash again.

"Really? You're in love with Ash? Then I suggest you to go for him. Ash certainly cares for you as a close friend and was always there for you when it came to Pokemon Contests," Johanna said, happy that Dawn found a new love. "Thank you mum. I'm really glad that you approve of Ash. He definitely means a lot to us," Dawn replied smiling.

With Paul:

While returning to Veilstone City in Sinnoh, Paul was deeply concerned for his former rival and friend. As he reached his house, his older brother, Reggie, saw him and noticed Paul's grim expression. "Paul you're back. What's wrong?" he asked. 

"You see, Reggie, Ash was betrayed by many of his other former travelling companions and rivals. He was told to give up on his dream of becoming the Pokemon Master and was suggested that he needs to find another dream. However, Brock, Dawn and several others including myself stood up for Ash and continued supporting his dream," Paul explained.

"Wow... Never did I expect this to happen," said a shocked Reggie. 

"Same here. Pity that I didn't get the chance to tell Ash that I was successful in defeating Brandon during the rematch," Paul said disappointed. 

"Don't worry Paul. We'll see him soon. It's just a matter of time," Reggie said reassuringly. 

"I hope so," Paul replied back.

With Clemont and Bonnie:

As Clemont and Bonnie returned back to the Lumiose City Gym, they were still upset about what happened to Ash, and were particularly furious at Calem for displaying such bad sportsmanship. Both knew that Calem had a crush on Serena while Serena had a crush on Ash and Calem would do anything to get Serena as his girlfriend.

"Bonnie, from now on, we need to keep a careful eye on Calem when he returns to Kalos since we cannot predict what he might do next," Clemont told his younger sister. 

"I agree, Clemont," Bonnie said. "In the mean time, since Ash is still dense as always, I'm gonna help Serena become Ash's girlfriend. Due to Serena kissing Ash when our journey in Kalos ended, she is a step closer to becoming his girlfriend," Bonnie added with an evil smirk forming on her face.

With Serena:

"I can't believe that Calem would do such a thing to Ash. Ash is an amazing trainer and he deserves a lot better than what had happened to him today," Serena thought to herself.

Then, as she began thinking about the time when she first met Ash during Professor Oak's Summercamp in Kanto, tears began to flow down her cheeks as she realized that she was also in love with Ash and never had the proper chance to become his girlfriend due to the betrayal. "Those traitors will pay for what they did to Ash. I'll never give up until the very end," she thought to herself.

As she reached her house in Vaniville Town, her mother, Grace, was reading a newspaper at the dining table and noticed Serena. "Welcome back Serena," Grace said. "How was your visit in Pallet Town?" 

"It was a disaster," Serena said. "When Ash came back to his home in Pallet Town, his former travelling companions and rivals were waiting for him. Many of them had told Ash to give up on his dream of becoming Pokemon Master due to him losing 6 leagues in a row. However, Clemont, Bonnie and a fair amount of Ash's friends and rivals didn't agree with the traitors and stood by Ash's side, encouraging him to continue with his dream. Unfortunately, Calem was one of the traitors. I thought I could have trusted him, but that wasn't the case. And I think that Calem has a crush on me and would do anything to get me to become his girlfriend."

"Calem!?" Grace was enraged that he would do something horrible like this. "Serena, so you still plan to continue to be friends with him after what he did to Ash?" "Not at all, the next time I see him, I'm going to quit my friendship with him. And when I find Ash, I'm going to ask him to be my boyfriend," Serena said with a small tinge of red on her cheeks at the mention of Ash.

"I suspected that you were in love with him Serena, ever since he saved you at Professor Oak's Summercamp in Kanto when you both were little," Grace smirked. 

"But by all means, go ahead. I approve of you and your relationship with Ash when it happens." 

"Thanks mum," Serena said. "I really appreciate your support."