#i also have an au where ash does decide to take his champion status seriously and settle down in alola

[cosmicheartz]

I’ve seen a few posts abt deconstructing the ash betrayal trope and after reading an ash betrayal fic I’ve decided to toss my hat into ring and make my own au

So basically it takes place directly after the end of the sumo anime where Ash goes home to Pallettown and his mom and p much all his past companions throw a party and congratulate them.

Then either Delia or Oak at like “ now that you’ve won a league you can finally settle down and focus on becoming a researcher or some other career “ Ash is like “ what? No I’m still gonna become a Pokémon master and get stronger “ to which ( probably ) Misty replies with explaining Ash’s Pokémon master goal is really vague and childish which ends up sparking an argument between Ash and most of his companions.

Some harsh words are said on both ends and Ash is like “ fuck it I’m going back to Alola bc at least people appreciate me there “ and just leaves.

He pretty much cuts off almost all contact with his previous traveling companions outside of like Clemont, Bonnie, ( sorta ) Brock, Cilan, Tracey and probably Dawn too ( although idk ) . He keeps in contact with Prof Oak only out of necessity bc he needs to be able to get his previous Pokémon to work on training them ( he does realize he’s of been unintentionally neglecting training his previous Pokémon and decides to fix that ). He also decides to take his status as Alola Champion seriously and start to put together an elite 4 and all that jazz.

Kukui is semi aware of what happened but doesn’t know how to bring it up to Ash bc he doesn’t want to make him even more upset since he’s already going through a lot

His Alolan friends are mostly unaware on what’s going on outside of like Lana and maybe Kiawe ( Lana bc she’s still friends with Misty which she keeps a secret from Ash ( likewise with Misty bc she doesn’t tell her she’s still friends with Ash ) bc she doesn’t want to have to end up picking between the two and is basically that friend who’s trying to stay neutral between a fallout between two friends ) but do notice Ash has changed ( ie more serious and kinda can come off as snappy and rude )

The “ traitor “ Companions all have like different reactions and are coping with the ordeal in different ways

- Misty ends up regretting the shit she said and is desperately trying to reconcile with Ash to no avail.

- May and Max go on with their own lives but feel bad but don’t know what to do about it so they kinda just distract themselves from it

- If Dawn is a “ traitor “ she feels pretty bad and tries to make an effort to reconcile but after no progress on it she just accepts she and Ash aren’t friends and goes abt with her life but secretly hopes one day they’ll reconcile

- Iris claims she’s over it and doesn’t care abt Ash but she’s not and her being a Champion too isn’t any better bc that means she and Ash would have to like coexist together in the same room for like meetings and parties and w/e

- Serena basically goes through a huge arc of self discovery. She does desperately want to make amends but is kinda nervous to attempt reaching out

- Delia is just a fucking wreck. Dealing with a huge case of empty nest syndrome and honestly just wants her son back.

There’s also a bit of infighting bc the “ non traitors “ feel like the “ traitors “ are just using them so they can get info on Ash ( it’s more prevalent with Clemont and Serena )

Also Ash is just now processing all the traumatic events he went through in his journey so that’s just the icing on the cake here