Serena found herself lost for words as she stared at Ash and then back at Felix. A tense silence lingered between them, and neither she, Pikachu, nor Sylveon quite knew what to make of the situation.
"Ash." Felix motioned towards him, but he jerked away.
"No! Get away from me!!!"
"Ash-" Serena started.
"Pika."
"Ash, I just want to talk." Felix pleaded while trying to approach him again, only for Ash to violently smack his hand away.
"Just want to talk!? Is that all you can really say!!? I haven't seen or even heard from you since I was a boy!"
"Ash, I made a mistake-"
"A mistake!? A pretty big mistake and one that's lasted almost two decades!!!" Ash shook with a mixture of raw fury and emotion in a way Serena never imagined Ash was capable of. Even his bad loss to Wulfric seemed like nothing to what she saw now.
It only now struck her that Serena had never actually asked Ash about his father. Both had only ever discussed their mothers. Serena assumed Ash's father had merely passed away, but she understood his reaction after hearing Felix's story.
"Son, please."
"Grouuu!!!" Felix's Lucario similarly pleaded to Pikachu, hoping that he'd do something, but Pikachu remained silent.
Ash smacked Felix's hand away once again, tears filling his eyes.
"Don't call me that!? You didn't want to be my dad for years. You don't get to just come back now and claim to be!!!" Ash grabbed Pikachu and almost shoved him onto his shoulder.
"Ash!" Felix and Serena shouted.
"Stay away from me!!!" Ash roared at Felix before he leaped off the rooftop. Serena and Felix both sprinted over alongside Lucario and Sylveon, each looking over the railing with Ash nowhere in sight.
"Ash." They muttered as several raindrops hit their exposed skin.
(XXXX-soundtrack: Halo ODST Asphalt and Asphalt and Ablution (Piano+Rain))
A downpour now covered New Viridian City, and Ash walked through the deserted streets, so numb to the world around him that he didn't even notice this or his soaked clothes.
"Pika." Pikachu tried to nudge his head against Ash's face, but he didn't react. Instead, the trainer kept his head towards the ground and wandered aimlessly with seemingly nowhere to go.
"Pika!! Pikachu!!!!" Pikachu jumped in front of Ash and tried to block him, but he merely reached down and put the electric mouse back on his shoulder without a word.
"Pika! Pika chu!!!!!!" Pikachu got so desperate that he shocked Ash with electricity, hoping beyond hope it would snap him out of his trance. Yet to Pikachu's horror, Ash looked as if nothing had happened and merely continued walking.
"Pika." Pikachu teared up.
Elsewhere, Lucario similarly tried to get Felix up. Both rode on top of a moving train with Felix curled up and staring out into the distance.
"Grouu!!!" Lucario pleaded, frantically attempting to press his consciousness into Felix's via their aura bond, but Felix had cut himself off.
Ash arrived at the base of his apartment building with Pikachu still crying.
"Ash." Pikachu wiped away a few of his tears with hope when he finally saw Ash's expression change upon hearing this voice.
Both looked up at Serena, who stood between them and the apartment entrance, soaked just like Ash and Pikachu.
"Serena, I don't want to talk about Felix."
"I know." She came forward and tenderly took him by the hands.
"Ash, what Felix did to you was wrong. He should've been there for you as a father all these years."
"He should have, but he wasn't. He abandoned my mother. He abandoned me."
Serena nodded but moved her right hand against his cheek to wipe away the tears.
"He did, but I saw genuine remorse in him when I met him in Sinnoh. Ash, I know how much this must hurt you, but I truly believe he wants to make amends. That he wants to be here for you now."
Ash clenched his eyes shut and nearly jerked away, but Serena wouldn't let go.
"I don't need him!!! I've done fine without him all these years!"
"Have you!?" Serena shouted, sounding angry. Ash and Pikachu looked back at her, but Serena looked sad instead of angry.
"You have a chance to be with your father! Do you know what I'd give for that!?" Serena choked on her tears.
"Serena?"
The Kalos Queen reached into her bag and very carefully took out a picture. Ash and Pikachu looked closer and recognized Serena's mother but standing beside her was a man they'd never seen before.
He was tall and broad-shouldered, with Serena's blue eyes and honey-blonde hair done up in a military buzzcut to match his army uniform. Ash's eyes widened slightly when he saw Serena, perhaps a year younger than when he first met her, held in the man's arms.
"This was my papa, Alexandre."
"He was a soldier?" Serena slowly nodded.
"He was a Major in the Kalos Army. But mama says I was his world, that he'd sometimes get into trouble because he'd come home early to see me."
Ash almost hesitated to ask but somehow found the strength.
"What happened?"
Serena's hands trembled as she stared back at the photo.
"All I remember was soldiers coming to our house and mama crying. There was an accident at the base, and his building caught on fire. Papa wouldn't leave until he got all his men out."
Ash didn't speak. Instead, he merely wrapped his arms tightly around Serena, holding her while Pikachu nudged his head against her.
"Your father was a brave man." Serena nodded and put the picture away. After a long breath, she similarly placed both hands on Ash's face and stared deeply into his eyes.
"Ash, if you don't do this, you'll regret it for the rest of your life." Ash didn't immediately respond, but Serena could see she'd made an impact.
Elsewhere, Felix rested atop a building, not having spoken since Ash ran from him.
"Grouuu!!!" Lucario pleaded again, but to the same result.
"It's been a long time, sensei." Felix didn't move at first but soon lowered his head even further. Lucario, however, looked up at a colossal Charizard who now loomed over them alongside Daniel Rian.
"Grouu."
"Grauuu." Charizard bowed his head respectfully to his old teachers while Daniel approached Felix.
"I had a feeling you might show up here eventually, sensei. Took you long enough." Daniel spoke in a rather stern tone toward his old mentor, who continued to cry.
"Ash rejected me. He doesn't want me in his life."
"Are you really that surprised?"
Felix looked up at Daniel, who crossed his arms while staring down at him.
"Felix, you turned Charizard and I's lives around. It's because of you we've become everything we are. For that, I'll always be grateful, but even so, you chose me over your own son. You could've helped me and raised Ash, and now that I'm a father, I can't condone what you did."
Felix clenched his eyes shut and looked down again.
"You're right. I wasn't there for him when he needed me. These last five years you were."
Daniel finally smiled and nodded.
"He was a good student, probably better than I was. His ability to form aura bonds with Pokemon is beyond anything I've ever seen. Far stronger than either of us."
"Grauu!" Charizard nodded while thinking back fondly to the last few years of training with Ash and his Pokemon.
"Such passion, determination, dedication."
Hearing this made Felix feel even worse, and he almost collapsed.
"Ash was right. I don't deserve to call myself his father. He's gotten where he is because of himself and you."
Daniel took a deep breath with Charizard.
"There's just one thing I can't figure out. Ash is afraid to face me. He'll deny it, but it's true. It's not fear of defeat. He's past that."
"No, it's fear of victory." Felix muttered.
"Ahhh, yes, it all makes sense now. He's afraid that should he win and supplant me, he'll have no more goals to strive towards. That he'll be lost and without passion." Daniel sighed but nodded.
"I understand and sympathize. It's one of the reasons I trained him, to have someone I felt could truly challenge me."
"Please, talk to him, Daniel. He'll listen to you." Daniel turned back to Felix with Charizard and gave him another stern look.
"I could, and it would probably work. But I'm not the right person to do that."
"Grouuu!" Lucario pleaded with Felix to get up, yet he refused.
"Ash won't even look at me. What makes you think he'll listen to me?"
"Felix, do you remember what you said on the day we met? When I was distraught about having failed to win a single battle after almost a year of starting my journey?"
Felix slowly nodded.
"How can you act like this then? Tell me, what exactly did you think was going to happen when you met up with Ash? That he'd rush into your arms and cry out for his papa after you abandoned him all these years? Of course he was going to react the way he did!"
Felix nearly lowered his head again, but Daniel knelt down and grabbed him by the shoulders.
"So why don't you follow your own words."
"Grouuu!!!!"
xxx end music
The following morning, Ash sat on his apartment's rooftop and stared out at the rising sun with only Pikachu beside him. Charizard and most of Ash's other Pokemon remained just beyond the doorway, anxious about approaching after what Pikachu told them happened the previous night.
Serena's words remained with him, yet Ash wasn't sure if he was ready to forgive Felix. Yet as he remained on the rooftop, Ash thought back to a memory from his childhood.
Child Ash shook and barely kept tears from swelling his eyes when he saw Gary recall a Pidgey while another flew off aimlessly.
"Looks like your Pidgey flew off again, Ash. How many is that, five!?" Gary laughed while catching his Pidgey and taking the frissbe from his beak.
"I'll get it eventually! Just you wait, Gary! One day I'm going to become the greatest Pokemon trainer in the world!!!!" Ash declared.
"Ha! You can't even handle any Pokemon! Not Pidgey, Growlithe, or Poliwags! You'll never be a real trainer!!" Ash couldn't hold back his tears any longer and ran off.
"Ahhh, Ash, I was only kidding. Stop being such a crybaby!!!" Gary shouted, but Ash didn't listen. Eventually, he curled up beneath a tree and sobbed for what felt like an eternity.
"Ash, what's wrong?" A warm voice said.
Ash turned around and saw his father standing over him.
"Papa!!!" Ash sprung up and wrapped his arms around Felix, who quickly began comforting him.
"Ash, it's ok."
"No, it's not! I'm never going to be a real trainer! Pokemon don't even like me!!!!!!"
"Ash!" Felix spoke sternly, but not angrily, and knelt down until he was eye-level with his son.
"Ash, listen to me. Life isn't always going to be easy. You're going to struggle, and you're going to fail at things. But that's alright. It's part of growing stronger."
"But there are so many great trainers out there."
"Do you know what made them great? It wasn't always succeeding. It was getting back up when they fell down and trying again. It was never giving up!"
Felix's eyes met Ash's, and he held him by the shoulders.
"Ash, I want you to promise me something. Promise me you'll never give up, never give up until the end!"
"Ash." Ash opened his eyes but didn't turn around. Pikachu looked at Felix, who now stood behind Ash with Lucario beside him. An uncomfortable silence lingered between them until, finally, Felix forced himself forward and sat beside his son.
Ash didn't look at Felix, but he also didn't pull away, much to his Pokemon and Felix's Lucario's relief.
"Serena told me about the promise you made her."
".....Hai." Ash admitted.
"She's convinced you will keep your word. But how can you do that if you never face Daniel." Felix forced himself to smile, though Ash wasn't amused at his father's manipulative words.
"She's a very passionate and beautiful young woman. I can see why you'd make such a promise to her."
Ash remained silent, despite Pikachu's insistence.
"..........I was there when Daniel beat Leon, the last regional champion he hadn't defeated, and became Pokemon Kaiser. I'll never forget the first thing he said to me after the battle."
Hearing this finally perked Ash's interest, and he turned slightly towards Felix, who smiled tenderly.
"What in the world am I going to do now?" Felix chuckled. Ash and his Pokemon looked thoroughly interested, despite Ash's attempts to hide it.
"To be honest, I wasn't sure what to tell him. He'd made it further than I ever imagined he would, further then I ever could." Felix took a deep breath but didn't stop smiling and stared back out at the rising sun.
"After a few moments, I merely pointed off into the horizon and asked him what was out there. He told me he had no idea. That's when I merely nodded and explained that none of us ever truly know everything the future or this world holds." Ash started to tremble slightly as he took in what his father said.
"The Journey never ends, Ash, even if the road ahead isn't clear. The only way your goals will truly end is if you refuse to move forward at all."
Ash clenched his eyes shut and nearly teared up as his Pokemon embraced him.
"Guys, I'm sorry." He muttered.
"Pika!"
"Ape!"
"Gre."
"Grauu!"
"Tile!"
"Grouu!"
Felix wanted to continue smiling but knew he wasn't quite through the woods yet.
"Daniel was lucky to have you as a teacher." Ash muttered.
"....I merely showed him what he was truly capable of. He's the one who achieved it. Now, he's done the same for you."
Felix lowered his head in humility.
"Ash, your grandfather wanted to be a great Pokemon trainer too. He insisted he'd take the world by storm yet failed spectacularly." Ash crossed his arms and looked away from Felix with a resentful expression.
"So that's why you left to become a Pokemon trainer, to do what he couldn't."
"No. That's not why I left." Felix admitted, earning a slightly confused look from Ash. Lucario sighed and placed his paw on Felix's shoulder as he slowly turned back to Ash.
"I did it for you."
"Me!?" Ash sounded almost offended, but Felix continued.
"I saw the passion you had for Pokémon as a boy, much like my own passion for Lucario. But whenever you watched a battle, there was something in your eyes, your aura. I realized then it was what you were meant to do, who you were meant to be. So, I figured that if I could become a Pokemon Master, I could inspire you to do the same. But just like my father, I couldn't achieve mastery." Felix closed his eyes for a moment, and a few tears came out.
"That's when I met Daniel, and for the first time, I felt like I was a success. I got so caught up in that success that I convinced myself that his successes were mine. By the time I got him on the road to becoming the Kaiser, I had realized that I hadn't gone anywhere with my journey. Years had passed, and you were just about ready to start. I told myself I couldn't come home, not until I became a Pokémon master, not until I could make you proud of me."
Felix broke down and held his face, tears streaming down like a waterfall.
"It's only now, too late, that I understand. You didn't need a Pokemon Master to inspire you. You needed a father to raise you, protect you, guide you. Of this, my failure is greater than my father's." Ash wanted to speak, but no words came out, and their Pokemon watched carefully.
"Ash, what I've done to you is unforgivable. But don't make the same mistake as me." Felix turned to Ash and took him by the shoulder.
"Face Daniel, but no matter what happens, don't assume you need an achievement to be good enough for Serena. She loves you regardless, just like you loved me." Felix let go of Ash and stood up.
"Son, I have no right to call myself your father. If you never want to see me again, I understand." Ash remained silent, even as Pikachu and the others begged him to say something.
Felix wiped away more of his tears but nodded.
"Very well, goodbye, Ash."
"Grou!!!" Felix's Lucario tried to pull him back, but he walked away.
Child Ash stood in front of his house beside his mother while Felix knelt in front of him.
"When are you coming back, papa?"
"It might be a while, Ash, but I promise you, the next time you see me, I'll be a Pokemon master!"
"Really!?" Ash beamed.
"Hai." Felix nodded with a warm smile before Ash hugged him tightly.
"Please hurry, papa!"
Child Ash's excitement faded as he watched his father disappear.
Tears swelled Ash's eyes when he watched Felix slowly walk away.
"Father!!!!" Ash wailed.
Pikachu and the others watched him spring to his feet and race after Felix, who turned just in time to see Ash nearly tackle him to the ground in his embrace.
"Don't leave me again!!!!" Ash sobbed.
"Never." Felix forced out through his own tears.
"Grouu." Felix's Lucario and Ash's Pokemon similarly choked up watching this.
Both merely stood there for several minutes, embracing each other. Their respective Lucario's approached and reached out to the men's aura, realizing now that a part of their trainers' aura returned.
However, after several minutes, Felix heard the door open behind them. At first, he didn't think much of it until he noticed a sinister grin on Ash's face.
"Eh?"
"I forgot to mention, I called mom last night and told her you'd come."
"Felix!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Ash's father went pale and crestfallen, too afraid to turn around, at least until his son forced him to do so. Standing there before them, a fiery veil surrounding her, was none other than Delia, who huffed out fire with each breath.
"Delia-" Felix couldn't even finish before she virtually teleported over and seized him by the collar of his shirt.
"You bastard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You leave Ash and me for almost two decades and decide to just walk back into his life now!!!!!"
"I-"
"Do you have any idea the pain you put us both through!!!! Years of Ash not having a father! Not to mention him never getting to have any siblings!!!!"
Ash chuckled with his Pokemon as they watched Delia tear Felix down while his Lucario sweatdropped.
After a few moments, Ash felt a familiar presence and turned alongside his Pokemon to see Daniel and his Charizard.
Both trainers exchanged fiercely competitive smiles and nodded.
"Give me a few days to let my friends know and fly in."
"Of course."