Pokemon-The Lost Master

Chapter 1

Espeon watching from her own food mewed at her master who looked round at her. Ash watched his Pokémon with a certain degree of satisfaction. Although he hadn't used to be able to cook, he was now more than capable and could cook food that rivaled the best in terms of nutritious value to his Pokémon. Ash knew that the Pokémon with him were all he had; they fought for him, and him alone. He had proved his loyalty to each of them more times than any of them cared to count, and they had responded in kind.

Once they had all finished eating they formed up in front of Ash. As soon as the last one reached him, Ash turned and started running. His Pokémon all kept up with few problems, as he had set off at a relatively slow pace. However, every minute the pace picked up until they were running faster than should have been possible for a human to sustain. After they had covered 20 miles in this fashion, achieving it in an hour, a staggering feat for a normal human but normal for this team, they had returned to the house. The team then headed for an area away from the house which turned out to be a gym. Each went to their allotted place, and began a workout regime.

It took another hour for Ash to leave the weights he was using and turn to his Pokémon. He stated only one word.
"Pairs." Ash then turned away again and went to a spot just outside his house where he began to meditate whilst the Pokémon immediately paired up and began to battle. Every so often he was call to one of his Pokémon, giving them advice on how to improve. Eventually, their training regimen was over, and his Pokémon returned to their areas to rest.

Ash walked into his house and sat on a sofa, but heard padding behind him. Espeon had followed him in, and mewing softly she jumped up next to him, curling up. Relaxed as she looked, her mind was busy, reaching out to her master to talk to him, mewing softly at him when she felt his mind connect.

Espeon didn't think anything along the connection, and at first neither did Ash. Then he allowed his thoughts to flow. Espeon sat there, accepting them, and not commenting. She felt his satisfaction at his achievement but also his regrets. More than anything, they both knew that this day was incomplete without his first Pokémon, his starter.

Pikachus absence weighed on Ash and by extension his team. Even those who had never met the electric mouse had heard about him from those who had, and they all wished he had been there. However, none of them knew the truth about his absence. None except the Sun Pokémon curled up next to Ash. She had been the only one that Ash had confided in, in the aftermath of the event, before Ash began to turn truly cold.

His compassion for his Pokémon never diminished, but towards the rest of the world he became cold. To his friends... They didn't even know he was alive. He hadn't contacted any of them for 7 year; he hadn't wanted to. After his defeat in Sinnoh he had left to train. Alone. As time passed, some of his Pokémon rebelled against his new mentality; they missed their more care-free life, and their care-free master. And whilst he still cared for them, both him and his Pokémon knew that the life he was now leading was not for everybody.

They parted without anger, more the departure of friends. They returned to the wild, although many visited at times. In Ash's view this was the perfect outcome if they didn't want to stay. However, that view changed when Pikachu left.

The Pokémon that wanted to leave had all done it very early in the training when they realized what their life was going to be like. It took 4 months for Pikachu to realize what he wanted, and he came to Ash. The rodent knew that he could be stronger than ever if he trained but he didn't want to watch Ash lose himself.

So he left, and in the aftermath Ash confronted his Pokémon, telling them that this was their last chance to leave if they didn't want to train with him anymore. There was an edge to his voice when speaking, and many of his Pokémon agreed that departure was their best option. Left with a mere 4 Pokémon, Ash spent the years rebuilding his team, and training them.