Gold(POV)
     Today's the Day... April 8th, the beginning of PokeWar Z... I looked around the room and Ash was nowhere to be seen! I panicked as I called Professor Sycamore to the room. We searched the entire Lab, but he was gone! It was currently 9:00 A.M, three more hours until it began. I wondered where Ash went. I looked at the streets to see people slowly walk to the battlefield. They had their Pokémon Partners next to them who were looking so sad and depressed. Some people were elders walking with there Pokémon as Nidokings watched them and pushed them along. The Pokémon were too weak to attack and all they wanted was peace. I headed to the Living Room to see the TV on. It showed how massive the Old Battlefield was. It has walls, and deep tunnels made to survive attacks. It was also surrounded by trees. There was already people standing there with their Pokémon. The people who wanted to truly fight for their side were in the front while the innocent people stayed in the back. People in the front had many advanced Pokémon trainer stuff while the Pokémon in the back were more peaceful and innocent, but they were forced to come and watch this. Red and Delia were nowhere to be seen. Neither were any Champions there. They must come right before the war that way people don't riot. I also didn't see any of my friends anywhere. Now I wonder where they are. Professor said that we should head out at 11:30 so that way we don't get too crowded since every person on the planet is on one spot. However, some people had medical reasons why they couldn't come, so they had them be cheerleaders instead, which is what the innocent people should be, but they aren't. I got Explotaro ready, and I only let him out so that none of my other Pokémon have to suffer. Plus, Explotaro is willing to stay by my side at all costs. Professor Sycamore was going to bring Garchomp, and he was going to help the innocent people at all cost. As for me, I will follow whatever side Ash will be on. I have a job and I will obey his every command.
"Gold! Before War begins, let's eat!" Professor Sycamore yelled for me. I went to the dinning room to find bowls of ramen soup🍜. "Before we go, let's pray to Arceus, Gold." Professor Sycamore said, and I agreed to this. "Oh Lord Arceus, I hope you aren't offended by this upcoming war, and I pray that you protect the innocent lives of the people and Pokémon who are no part in this. Instead, please let this end peacefully with no family suffering from a lost. This war may be negative, but there can still be a positive outcome. I pray that you will not lose faith in Humans and Pokémon. Some of us have an unbreakable bond that can never shatter no matter what happens. Some of us are in pain already, please mend their pain and give hope."Professor Sycamore said as we all bowed our heads. Everything he said was true. I hope nobody has to suffer a lost all because of an argument. If Ash were here, I'm sure he would give up his life for others to be happy. After we prayed, we had one last feast before the War began. The noodles were warm and went down my throat like silk. It was a great meal along with some of Professor Sycamore's Homemade Tea. The time was now 10:20.
      We had a hour to go. So, I went up to my room and prepared some war supplies. We'd stay on the battlefield for 36 hours before we could leave to other places around the world. Which, by the way was being prepared for any sudden attacks that could happen. At this point, the world was at an end. Everyone was so scared, and nobody knew how this would end. So, I grabbed many potions and revives. I also grabbed an old tent my Mom and I used to use to go camping. I left valuable stuff like my original hat that I wore as a kid in the room. There were rules to the battlefield that will be established at 11:45 today. One of them was that you are not allowed to attack any of the Professor's Lab or Else you will be eliminated along with anybody you know. So, they were safe here. I kept my photo of my entire friends and family with me as a reminder of why I am fighting. I left my ticket to anywhere in a secret place in the wall. Lastly, I grabbed a bunch of first aid for me so if I get injured somebody could go into my bag and heal me to an extent. I finished packing at 11:00. I had an extra thirty minutes, so I took time to take care of Explotaro. I fed him food that Professor Sycamore said would make him stronger. Then, I cleaned some dirt off of him, and I implanted a little chip that allows me to find him on my Pokegear. I even gave him a sitrus berry to let him heal himself. Professor Sycamore gave his Garchomp a MegaStone that allowed him to Mega Evolve him. I'm glad that he was on the same page as me, I did not want to fight that dragon type that had an extra Evolution.
Finally, it was 11:30... It was time to head out.
As soon as we opened the door, people looked at us. Professor Sycamore flew on top of Garchomp, and I ran underneath with Explotaro. People moved out of our way knowing that the Professor had been honored to be a referee, and that I was with him. The people stared at us, but the Nidokings kept pushing them along...
         We arrived at 11:40, and there were way more people than there were on TV. There was a line that separated the two teams. Many of them had flying type Pokémon that soared high in the sky watching from above. There was a section where the Professors could stand alongside Officer Jenny's. The Professors were only here to help the people, however they had to support their region only. A variety of Pokémon were here, some I've never even seen before. However, in the background, you could see the Ultimate Weapon. It looked broken, it looked as if it saw another War was starting.
Suddenly, the main person who would be keeping track of the entire war had arrived. He was given the honor from all the Champions according to the News. It was N. He was given the main role of keeping track of all the rules and keeping track of main events. He may have been from Unnova, but people knew he was special and was elected.
        "People of the World! I Welcome you to the Old Battlefield, a place full of pain and history." N announced with pure pain in his voice. You could tell he didn't like the idea of war, it must've killed him.
"Today, you will be expected to fight with your best efforts for your team. You will be forced to stay on the Old Battlefield for 36 Hours! There are rules to this however.
#1: You will fight in this War until your leader admits defeat and allows the other person to do whatever they want. So, ether Red or Delia will admit defeat, nobody else can. They also must sign a treaty to confirm this.
#2: You are not allowed to Destroy any major landmarks like the Lumiose Tower unless you want to get eliminated. Any minor buildings destroyed can be allowed, but please keep that to a minimal. Also, no attacking any labs or energy plants. Not to mention transportation.
#3: Do not attack any Officer Jenny's or Nurse Joys as they are in the neural zone and will not attack back unless provoked.
#4: Try your absolute best not to kill or injure anybody. I know that this is war, but we all have families and we don't want people to suffer..." N announced as everybody took that in.
"Now! Let us meet our leaders and generals. You may travels yourselves now. Also! No attacking! Until the hyper beams fire in the air, no attacks are allowed unless you want to get eliminated.!"
"On Team Delia! We have Bonnie, Max, Clemont,Mallow, Lillie,and Dawn as Major Soldiers/Protectors. For Team Delia's Champions, she had Cynthia and Moon. Lastly, her two Generals are Blue and Serena!"N announced as they walked up to the front lines. Serena, Blue and Delia were holding a Green Flag that had a picture of a Xerneas. Clearly showing that she cared about lives and nature.
"Now for Delia's Opponent! TEAM RED!! On Team Red, we have May, Cilan, Sophocles, Kiawe, Lana as the Front Soilders. The champions are Steven and Iris. As for the Generals, we have three of them being Misty, Brock, and Champion Lance!!" Announced N as he looked at Cilan and Iris with a sad expression. Everyone walked in with no sign of Red anywhere. They weren't even holding a Flag. Then, from the sky he flew. He flew in riding his Charizard holding his own flag. He even had his Pikachu on his shoulder, and wearing his Traditional Outfit. There he was, my old friend was there. His Flag was a Mega Charizard X that flew with a Pikachu on his back.
It was now 11:55 P.M, there was five minutes. N looked around looking for somebody, he asked a question that I had completely forgotten about, "Has ANYBODY seen Ash Ketchum!" Both Leaders shook there heads. "I haven't seen my son in forever, and he hasn't checked-in on me." Delia said while tearing up a bit. "Hmph! My son isn't even my son anymore if he doesn't join my side! I expect him to have a brain for once in a while!" Red said while everyone of his high nobles agreed with him. I began to worry about where Ash was. He hasn't arrived yet and he said he would. Then, both sides started to argue with each other and people began to scream and yell. N couldn't even calm them down, heck even the Officer Jenny's couldn't stop them. However, something appeared in the sky as it roared over the entire Battlefield. Then, you could hear sounds of a lot of Pokémon coming. That's when an army of Pokémon arrived at the battlefield. They were owned, and they look powerful for unevolved Pokémon. The arguing stopped as the man of the war appeared jumping from Charizard. Ash Ketchum Arrived.

Ash(POV)
I woke up at 7:00 A.M and immediately grabbed everything I needed super quietly with Greninja. I grabbed a ton of food and health care items. I left everything important in a secret room that Professor Sycamore probably doesn't know about since it literally was blocked off by the wall. Then, I put on my Kalos outfit and left the Lab. Nobody was outside yet, so me and Greninja moved swiftly. We went into a forest near the Old Battlefield and I released all of my Pokémon out of their Pokeballs. "Alright Guys, today is PokeWar Z. I'm gonna need your help with everything moving here on out! The war starts at 12:00, and we are going to arrive at 11:55 so nobody knows what side we are on until the War just about begins. Your Goal is to Protect the Innocent People and Innocent Pokémon who are getting attacked by bullies. You are all pretty strong and can handle yourself. Now, I'll keep six Pokémon on my belt at all times. Obviously, Pikachu is staying with me, but so is Greninja for also obvious reasons. Charizard is coming with me for transportation and pure strength, and Sceptile so I can deal with Flying types. Krockodile is coming to deal with ground type Pokémon that could deal damage. Lastly, Infernape for anything else basically. However, I will swap out Pokémon from time to time, so this isn't permanent. For now however, I want you all to relax since things are gonna get ugly. Greninja and I will finish up anything we didn't finish yesterday. Also! Don't let anybody see you!" They all obeyed and played quietly as me and Greninja sorted things out. We had to make sure that everything went to plan and that we didn't goof anything up. "Ok, so your gonna appear here while I'll jump down from this height" Evenually, it was 11:30, and that's when we started to move out. I returned all of my Pokémon execept Charizard and Greninja. We flew quickly past the Old Battlefield and towards the Ultimate Weapon. We flew down to where we weren't supposed to last. The thing really was huge, and it was full of moss. To think it took the lives of so many. Now, I already know we weren't allowed to fire the thing, but if we had to, what would the results be this time. How many lives would be taken this time? I looked at a specific mark that said, 'AZ'. Underneath where it says AZ there was a flower. I took a picture using my Rotomphone, and then I heard him begin to speak. N was chosen by all the champions knowing that he would actually be a threat in this war. He could easily dominate one side, so they had to make him the Judge of it all.
At this time, I told my Pokémon to go to the other side of the forest as fast as possible. The side we were on had all the officials and I needed empty space on the other side. "When you hear a roar from Charizard, come out as loud as possible and catch everybody's attention!" Then, they all left. I only had Charizard, Pikachu and Greninja left with me. I knew my Aces would destroy anybody who intervened. I waited till 11:55, and that's when I heard my name get called by N.I got on to Charizard with Pikachu on my Shoulder and Greninja holding something important, and we took off. We soared in the air as all flying type Pokémon had landed since they began to argue. " Charizard, Give the. The Signal!" I directed as Charizard made the loudest roar you will ever hear. Everyone at the battlefield looked up towards me. I told Greninja to stay here until I commanded him to come down. I jumped off of Charizard with Pikachu to be caught by Infernape at the bottom. Like I planned, all of my Pokémon were behind me. Oshawott, Staraptor, Even my 30 Tauros which were eying both sides. Everyone was in silence waiting for me to speak. Charizard's Wings were flapping loudly as if threatening the people not to attack or else. I saw both of my Parents waiting to know what side I would choose, all of my friends shocked at how many Pokémon I have, and Gold who was next to Professor Sycamore. My regional aces surrounded me as I began to hold my right hand into the air. The MegaZ-Ring shinned from a little bit of sun that was getting blocked by the clouds. I had gotten the people attention, and I began to start speaking to the whole world,
"People of The World, You know me as Ash Ketchum! However, you may know me in many different ways. As a Hero who saved the Earth Multiple times, or as a guy who wants to be a Pokémon Master. A very experienced trainer, or a friend that you travelled with and learned from. However, recently I've been known as the Guy who started this war! I understand why. I never wanted for so many innocent people to come out of their way to fight for something that means very little to them.
For that, I am very sorry, and I hope you don't have to suffer because of this."I said while catching my breath. The entire crowd was still silent, a few people were crying like my mother. My Father looked so angry, he just wanted to know what side I would join. So, I began to speak again, "One of the Biggest questions of this War has been what side I would choose. Well I am here to confirm that! After thinking about it over and over again, I have come up with my answer together with my Ace Pokémon. If it weren't for them, the decision I've made would have changed my fate for all I know." I said while signaling for Greninja to come down.
"The Path I have chosen will have shocked most of you, but to me this makes the most sense,

"I Choose...! To join Team Ash!" I said while Greninja let the Flag begin to wave. It had a Shuriken  in the middle of the Flag while a thunderbolt went through it. It had flames at the bottom of the flag with leaves and rocks surrounding it. Everyone gasped and the Leaders all Looked Shocked. Even Officer Jenny's, Nurse Joys, heck Gold was shocked.
"I could never choose between my mother and father, so I will fight to bring both sides down and end this war as peacefully as possible." I said while my father began to laugh. "Your No Son of Mine! So you will be the first one to get eliminated by My Team!" My Father yelled as everyone on his team began to cheer. Gold ran towards me crossing the middle of the Line. "Ash, I will join your side! You are the one that seems the most likely to succeed and plus your my friend, and I owe you a lot of things." Gold said while Explotaro helped hold up the Flag. "Gold, Thank you! In fact! You Can be my General!" I said while giving him a little gold badge that me and Greninja made before hand since we both knew he would join us no matter what. My Mother seemed to be sad that I wouldn't  join her side ether, but she didn't seem to mind. All she wanted was to attack Red for threatening her. I checked the time, it was 11:59! I had just taken a 6-Minute Speech! How could it only be 11:59? That's when I looked up and saw Dialga! It seems to had slowed time down so I could finish my speech. I realized that must've been at least somewhat a blessing from Arceus. We all looked in the direction of the Ultimate Weapon.
     Five Hyper Beams were Fired high into the sky...
PokeWar Z had begun... Immediately I got attacked by Team Red as they shot all sorts of moves toward ME! My Regional Aces were too slow to take the attack as they backed up to deal with some officials. Charizard wasn't fast enough to fly down and save me, and Gold was getting attacked in his own rights. I was defenseless! Or so I thought. Greninja quicly planted the flag into the ground and took ALL the attacks for me. There was a big smoke cloud. Again, the Battlefield went quiet. However, I knew that this time, we would have a chance to attack. The Smoke didn't clear, but suddenly a water pillar shot up into the air. He already activated it, and we have barely started the War! "Just because I'm a kid, doesn't mean you should take my team lightly!" I said as a Water Shuriken was fired towards Team Red. It hit a Lurantis that somebody had. Then, Greninja jumped out of the smoke with his Water Shuriken on his back. He had taken zero damage despite having low defenses. He stood next to me, and I figured he would. I literally just got attacked by 50 different moves! Gold looked at me with utter shock in his eyes. He must've thought I would've died. Then, Team Delia started to attack both sides. My side and Red's. Luckily, my Pokémon could handle any trainer that came. That's when the Leaders went to the middle of the field facing each other with their Pokémon at their side. Red had his Pikachu and Charizard by him, while my Mother only had Mr.Mime. I also walked towards them with Pikachu and Greninja at my side. They both stared at me, but I stared back at them. "When I defeat your mother, your joining Me!" My Father said as Charizard growled into the air just as loud as mine. "Who says I'm going to be easy to defeat? I have my own secret weapon that came to me yesterday!" She said as something I'd never expected happened. Xerneas appeared from behind the Battlefield and stayed next to my mother. It looked at Red with anger in its eyes. Red didn't seem threaten by this. "When I win, I will give Order back to the world and get Ash back as my son!"She said as more attacks flew by us. Then, they both looked at me. I gave them this look:

"I will defeat BOTH of you and I will win this War hurting as few of innocent people as possible! Just because you wanted me on your side, doesn't mean you can start a war! I will open your eyes and show you that I too am human! Me and my Pokémon will defeat you! Maybe in another dimension I would've joined one of your sides, but my decision is final! This.Is.My.Destiny!" I yelled at them. Then we headed back to our sides and instructed our armies.
"Gold! There will be a battle of Generals soon. You will be joined by my second general who will arrive shortly. Until then, deal with any threats that want to eliminate me. I trust you buddy!" I told him as some of my Pokémon went by his side. Then, I got attacked by some random trainer who had an Absol, but it wasn't Astrid. "I'm from Team Delia! I will battle you for not choosing her side! You will regret your decision!" The trainer told me as Charizard came down to deal with this Kid. "Absol! Use Dark Pulse on this Charizard!" The kid said as the Absol fires a pretty wicked dark pulse. "Flamethrower!" I told Charizard as he obeyed. It overpowered the Dark Pulse and Destroyed the Absol. The trainer returned his Absol and escaped towards his side. Meanwhile, Greninja was dealing with somebody's Zoroark that was attempting to transform into Greninja. Needless to say that it got One-Shotted by a Cut... I looked at Innocent people fighting other innocent people. I looked at young trainers fighting against others. They had Pokémon at their side, but they didn't want to fight. They ran and hid behind walls.
      This was the Ugly Truth that I never wanted to accept. That maybe people and Pokémon harm each other. That we humans harm Pokémon for entertainment and truly don't care about bonds or friendship. That we use Pokémon for tools. However, to me, I have to remember that this is false. I have bonds with Pokémon that I truly do care about. Like Pikachu or Charizard. Heck, Greninja just puts an end to that theory with his form! However, all I saw was torture. This was only the beginning of PokeWar Z... We still had years to come before this ends... However, with my Pokemon at my side, as long as we had hope, anything could happen!

Gold(POV)
   When Ash Arrived, I saw something else on his Charizard. It was blue, but it also held something in his hands. Then, all of Ash's Pokémon arrived, and boy they all looked powerful despite the size. Ash Looked serious, as if he was not going to take this lightly. Then, after a long silence, he began to speak. "People of The World, You know me as Ash Ketchum! However, you may know me in many different ways. As a Hero who saved the Earth Multiple times, or as a guy who wants to be a Pokémon Master. A very experienced trainer, or a friend that you travelled with and learned from. However, recently I've been known as the Guy who started this war! I understand why. I never wanted for so many innocent people to come out of their way to fight for something that means very little to them.
For that, I am very sorry, and I hope you don't have to suffer because of this." He said while catching his breath. I was so amazed at the Moment as my Childhood hero spoke such inspirational words. However, clearly everybody wanted to know what side Ash would choose. "Gold, will you follow Ash's Path? Or will you stay with me?" Professor Sycamore asked me. "I promised that whatever way Ash goes that I would follow him no matter how reckless it may be." I responded while Explotaro looked at Ash who was beginning to speak again.  "One of the Biggest questions of this War has been what side I would choose. Well I am here to confirm that! After thinking about it over and over again, I have come up with my answer together with my Ace Pokémon. If it weren't for them, the decision I've made would have changed my fate for all I know." Then, the Blue thing that I made out to be his Greninja dropped from Charizard gracefully landing on its two feet.

"I Choose...! To join Team Ash!"Ash said as Greninja revealed the thing he was holding was a Team Ash Flag! My mind officially was blown! Nobody on the battlefield excepted Ash to make up his own team! I thought he would join his Mother! He then explained his reasonings on why he joined, and they were all solid. However, as I expected Red didn't take this well. My old friend just laughed and said Ash wasn't his son anymore. When he said those words, everything I knew about Red snapped. I realized he was no longer the same person I grew up with. No, he's changed. That's when I ran to Ash to join his side.  "Ash, I will join your side! You are the one that seems the most likely to succeed and plus your my friend, and I owe you a lot of things." I said to him while I told Explotaro to help hold up the Flag Greninja was holding. Then, Ash gave me a Gold Badge and said that I had just became his General. In that moment, I felt so much honor to help him out, I began to tear up a bit. Now it was 11:59. The War was about to begin. Then, in the distance Five Hyper Beams went off. PokeWar Z had begun... Immediately people rushed towards us. A Girl and her Xatu were trying to attack our flag, so me and Explotaro had to deal with her. "Xatu, Use Solar Beam on the Flag!" It had already used a sunny day and could instantly fire it. "Explotaro! Quickly use a Flamethrower to stop it from hitting our Flag!" With the help of the Sunny Day, we could easily counter the Solar Beam. It thankfully didn't hit the Flag or Greninja who held it there.
However, something scary happened. Red's Entire Team attacked powerful attacks at Ash! Nobody was fast enough to save him. He surely wouldn't survive that attack! I tried to save him, but I wasn't fast enough in my own rights. Then, Greninja planted the flag into the ground and took all the attacks for Ash! Smoke filled the air, and surely Greninja fainted from all of those attacks. I went us behind Ash until somebody fired a magical leaf towards us. However, a sudden pillar of water appeared from the smoke. That's when I realized that Red made a MAJOR Mistake!  "Just because I'm a kid, doesn't mean you should take my team lightly!" Ash yelled as a Water Shuriken appeared from the smoke and hit somebody's Pokémon. That's when it appeared! Another Pokémon I've always wanted to see with my own eyes. The whole Battlefield went silent and stopped moving. "It's still works... the one and only, Ash-Greninja...!" I whispered to myself as it went by Ash's Side. By the looks of things, it had taken zero damage! Explotaro returned from its mini battle with someone and we both stared at Ash. Then, Mayhem began to take the battlefield again. Team Delia began to attack both sides, but Ash's Pokémon could easily destroy anybody's Pokémon with One Hit! That's when the Leaders of the Teams went to the middle. I had zero clue what they were talking about, but something I saw surprised the whole battlefield once more. Team Delia had an extra surprise for Team Red. From behind the Battlefield came an Xerneas! The Legendary Pokemon of Life! It appeared to belong to Delia! Ash's Mom OWNS A Legendary Pokemon of Kalos! If that's not mind-blowing, then I don't know what is. After they talked about something, Ash came back towards me and told me something. He said there will be a battle of Generals soon, and that I would have to participate with somebody else who Ash has already elected General. That's when some of Ash's Pokémon came by my side. "I can't let my friends or family die. I trust you Gold" Ash said as he began to get attacked by another Trainer. With that knowledge in mind, I made it my duty to make Team Ash the most strongest team in the entire War. I left into the woods behind us and went to set up a camp.

Author's Note: Holy Cow that was a longer chapter than expected! Now, if your sad with the side Ash Choose, don't worry! If this book gets popular enough, I will make alternate timelines of what would happen if Ash Choose something else. Also! Next Chapter Reveals Ash's Second General! So Stay Tuned! Total Word Count:5072 Words.