A/n: Hello everyone! Welcome to the 5th chapter of The Master's Return. I'm extremely sorry I didn't update in so long. It's been like five months since I last updated, but please understand, my studies are a lot more important to me. In fact I have an exam tomorrow and here I am updating a new chapter to my story. I hope you can forgive me for the delay. Enjoy the chapter!
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Ash has now reached the Viridian city with Pikachu sitting on his shoulders as usual and Luka walking besides him. He made his way to the Pokémon Centre.

On reaching the Pokécenter, he saw Nurse Joy sitting behind the counter with the usual smile on her face.

"Hey Joy," he waved as he approached her.

"Oh hello, long time no see Ash," Nurse Joy smiled.

"It sure has been, " he smiled back.

"So are you here for today's conference?" She asked.

"Indeed I am Joy," he replied.

After conversing with Nurse Joy for sometime, he went to his room in the PokéCentre and had a quick shower and a change of clothes.

He was now wearing a black tee with a metallic gray jacket, a pair of dark blue denim jeans and brown knee length boots.

"Alright, I'm all done here. Let's get going," He said.

"Pika!" agreed the yellow mouse with Luka nodding her head beside him.

With this they made their way out of the Pokémon Centre and to the Viridian Conference hall.

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At the Conference Hall...

We all now find ourselves inside a big hall which was filled with the people who were to attend the meeting.

The walls of the hall were painted in a whitish yellow colour (or you can say off white colour) and on the walls were many frames which contained the images of the various champions and Elite Four from the olden days till date.

We now move towards the people, some of them who were patiently waiting for our hero and some of them who were, well really impatient.

"Come on now, just where is Ash?! It's almost noon and he isn't here yet!" said Flint, the fire type Elite of Sinnoh.

"Now now Flint, it's 11:57 right now. Don't tell me you forgot how punctual Ash is. He will be here right on time," came the calm and patient words of Agatha, the ghost type elite of Kanto.

"Just what Agatha said my dear. Don't be so impatient. I know he'll be here just as the clock strikes 12," said Bertha, the ground type Elite of Sinnoh.

"Alright I'll mark your words." saying this he sat down again and mumbled incoherent sentences to himself.

The others heard this and quietly laughed to themselves.

Everyone was engaged in some sort of conversation while waiting for our hero to come.

Just as Bertha said, Ash was there as soon as the clock struck 12 with Pikachu perched on his shoulder and Luka by his side.

He went around and greeted everyone before standing beside Mr. Goodshow. He clapped his hands twice to gain everyone's attention and started speaking,

"Greetings everyone. As you know we're here to discuss a really important matter which is in our hands right now," he addressed.

At this everyone nodded their heads to indicate that they knew what the situation was.

"From all that we could say, they could be planning something really big and dangerous. And what I personally think is that they're going to take action during the upcoming tournament," he said seriously.

"I agree with you on this Ash. They must be planning something big so that they could create havoc during the tournament. I suggest we should take action and terminate them as soon as we get their location," suggested Lance.

"No Lance. We can't rush into things like that. I say we let them plan out whatever they want for now," Ash responded coolly.

A chorus of 'What!' was heard all across the hall.

"What are you saying Ash?! We can't let them do this!" said Steven.

"Calm down everyone. Let him finish what he has to say. Continue my boy," said Mr. Goodshow.

"Thanks Mr. Goodshow," he said and then proceeded to tell everyone of his plans.

"I agree with Ash on this one. This seems like a good one to me," said Lance.

One by one everyone gave there agreements to his idea except Cynthia.

"What do you say Cynthia?" asked Lucian.

"Huh? Yeah sure," she said uncertainly.

"Is something wrong Cynthia?" asked Ash.

"No its nothing. I was just wondering if anyone else was going to attend," she wondered.

"I don't thin-" he was interrupted by the door being slammed open.

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Both of our mystery figures have arrived to the Viridian conference hall where the conference has already begun. The man goes inside first and opens the door surprising everyone with his entry.

He then pulls down his hood causing gasps to be heard. Lance, recognizing the man, immediately jumps out of his chair and punches him across the face before enveloping him in a tight hug. The man smirks as they broke the hug.

"Sup," he said and no sooner did the words left his mouth he was tackled to the floor by none other than Cynthia.

"Where have you been?!" she exclaimed and started to cry tears of joy. He chuckled and hugged the Sinnoh champion back.

"I have been training in secret for the past years," he said. Lance noticed the lady standing nearby, who smiled when he approached her.

"It's been a while Han, hasn't it?" he asked, embracing her in a warm hug.

"It sure has Lan," she smiled and hugged back.

"Well, well. What do we have here? The former world champion, 'Lucas Knight' has graced us with his mighty presence," said Malva.

Everyone sighed at her smug remark and ignored it.

"How are you doing my boy?" asked Mr. Goodshow is he approached him.

"I'm doing very well Charles," he said.

"It's good to see you decided to come back brother," said Ash while he embraced him.

"I had to, for you and mom," he smiled.

"Wait, brother?!" the others asked.

'Lucas' smirked and revealed a Pokedex.

'I am Dexter, a pokedex programmed by Professor Oak for Alexander Ketchum from the town of Pallet. My duty is to provide him with information and advice regarding Pokemon and I also function as a Pokeball transporter. If lost or stolen, I cannot be replaced.'

"So that's your real name," said Alder.

"Our childhood friend, Alex, " smiled Lance.

"Now I get it, why Lance had lots of maps of every region and he kept studying it whenever he got the chance and why he carries the locket around his neck," Bruno said in realization. Lance opened it which revealed a 10 year old Alex and him with Charmander and Dratini. Alex smiled seeing it and revealed a locket similar to his.

"Why did you leave and you better tell us or I swear I am releasing my Gardevoir to immobilize you," Diantha threatened, surprising everybody at her words since the never heard her threaten anyone.

"Yeah Alex, why did you leave? You said you'll tell me when the time's right," added Ash.

Alex sighed. He knew he couldn't hide it from them any longer.

"Alright everyone, settle down. I'll tell you," he said.

Everyone did as they were told and sat down to hear him speak.

"It was a few months after I became the world champion. I got the news that the rate of shadow Pokemon were increasing drastically. Therefore, I decided to go to the Orre region to end Team Cipher once and for all. It was too dangerous for the people all over the world with them on the loose. I had a few of my friends with me, namely, Nick, Sebastian and Nicole. We decided to infiltrate their base together, but there was one thing we never expected. The leaders of the various crime syndicates were all present their. We were trapped, but we didn't want to let go without a fight, so we fought them and in that fight, I lost Nick and Sebastian."

Everyone gasped when they heard this.

"And that's the reason why I left. I felt so weak after that and I wanted to become stronger than anyone else so that I could protect them more efficiently."

"Oh my Arceus... "

That's all what everyone could say.

"I thought I had become the strongest trainer there is but Ash proved me wrong by beating me a battle. And I must say, that was a battle I would never forget," he smiled.

"Neither will I, Alex," replied Ash.

"Okay now that that's out of the way, let's proceed with the conference," said Mr. Goodshow.

"Alright!"

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Meanwhile, at the Ketchum's residence~

It was close to 1:30pm and everyone was sitting at the kitchen table.

"Wonder what's taking Ash so long. He's always back by breakfast and it's lunch time now. Does anyone know anything about this?" Brock asked.

Everyone shook their head indicating they were just as clueless as he was.

"Lunch is ready children," said Delia.

"Thank you Mrs. Ketchum," they said.

"No problem kids," she said and sat down. "What were you all talking about?" she asked.

"Have you seen Ash since the morning?" Serena asked.

"Oh I'm sorry I forgot to tell you kids, but Ash left this morning," she said.

"Huh? He left? But why?" Bonnie asked. The others were confused as well as to why he left without telling them.

"He said he got a call and he was needed urgently. He was saying there was an important meeting or something he had to attend," she said.

"Important meeting and Ash? Can anyone imagine that being true?" asked a dumbfounded Iris.

"I know it's something hard to believe but seven years can change someone pretty much Iris," said Cilan.

"Don't be disheartened kids. He did say he would be waiting for you all at the Pokécenter on the day of the opening ceremony," she said in a reassuring voice.

"Alright, I guess that's acceptable," sighed Misty.

They ate their lunch in silence still thinking about Ash's departure.

Delia, wanting to change the mood, asked them playfully, "Is anyone up for helping me at the garden today?"

Everyone got a horrified expression on their faces, remembering Ash once said that his mom can be a slave driver at times.

They all sweatdropped and started laughing nervously.

"Umm...I got some work to do!!" Everyone said at the same time and ran out of the house to Arceus knows where.

Delia smiled, knowing her plan to lighten them up worked out.

'Now I need to have a few words with that old man,' she thought with a devious smile on her face. 😈

At Oak's Ranch~

Prof. Oak was feeding the pokémon when he felt a sudden chill run down his spine.

'What was that? Guess the temperature suddenly got down. Well anyway... ' he shrugged and went back to feeding the pokémon not knowing what was about to happen in a few moments.

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//The next chapter won't be updated till the end of March. That's when I'll be free of all my exams and I'll have an update schedule planned as well.

I hope you guys liked the chapter. If you did please vote for it and comment what you thought about it. Constructive criticism is always appreciated though flames would be flatly ignored. Now that that's over with...

See you guys soon! //