Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ash arrived in Alola. 

In another timeline, he may have arrived for a short vacation with his mother, but this time, he was on a indefinite vacation. Away from many of his so-called friends, away from his mother’s grief over him, away from Kalos and all the bad memories it brought, away from the league, away from Team Rocket, just... 

… Away from everything. That’s all he asked. 

He was going to stay with Professor Kukui, who was the regional professor. He never really met the man in person, but Professor Oak trusted him. Bless the old man’s heart, he was probably still one of the few that genuinely cared for him. He wouldn’t trust Ash’s well-being to just anybody. There was his cousin, Principal Samson Oak, but the professor decided it was best for him to go to Kukui’s. As far as he knew, Kukui lived on the beach area, which was quiet and spacious, perfect for all his pokemon to wander about. 

Why were all his pokemon going with him to Alola? Well, simple, Ash wasn’t planning on coming back to Kanto any time soon and Professor Oak knew that Kukui wanted to research foreign pokemon from other regions, but the man had other duties in the region that didn’t allow him. The man had decided to contact Kukui and propose the idea that in exchange for studying the pokemon, he had to also provide shelter for their trainer as well as gaining a new research assistant. Plus, there was the Pokemon School on the island that Kukui taught at and the Alolan professor suggested it could be a good change of scenery for Ash. Oak then proposed the idea to Ash, to which he only agreed because Pikachu saw through Oak’s plan and agreed to it. 

Pikachu suspected that Oak simply wanted to send Ash to a quiet region, away from all the trauma he had endured the past few years. All things considered, Ash was still hesitant to go, but decided on trusting Oak and Pikachu. 

He was tired of his mother pretending that everything was alright. He loved her dearly, she was his mother, and he knew that in her youth she had gone through her own experiences that made her as scared as she is nowadays. Sometimes he suspected a big contributor to that fear was his unnamed father. He never understood why she was so afraid, what she was afraid of, but he never asked, and she never offered an explanation. He understood some things were better left unsaid, but he was tired of her pretending everything was alright; what he needed in those moments was his mother, but she had been too afraid to face reality. That’s why he also needed time away from her as much as it hurt. A part of him knew that Professor Oak would get her to see reason. He always did have a knack for convincing his mother. 

However, he guessed that any mother watching her child almost die and sometimes die time and time again could do that to a person. Be afraid. He didn't blame her. 

He had grown tired of receiving all those calls and texts after the Kalos Crisis, when he was in such a vulnerable state, demanding explanations he couldn’t give and answering questions he couldn’t deal with... demanding why he lost the League when he was so close. Losing the League didn't matter after everything that happened to him. What that monster did to him and Greninja. A simple “how are you?” was more than enough for him. He only got a few of those from Brock and Misty, his brother and sister in anything but blood. All other friends remained radio silent, except Clemont, Bonnie and Serena who reached out regularly. 

Sometimes he wondered if most of his friends were radio silent because they were too scared of getting involved in any crisis he was involved in.  

Maybe they feared for their lives. Maybe they were just scared of him. Maybe they didn't want to stick around when he got involved in the worst situations one way or another.

Nice going, Ash. 

After Kalos, instead of going to his mother’s house, he went straight to Professor Oak’s farm. He had already spoken to his mother on the phone when he was in one of those rare states of panic... she was silent. He was panicking. Ash couldn’t take it. When the kind professor opened his door, Ash was staring down at the floor with vacant eyes and Pikachu on his shoulder trying to comfort him. 

“Can I... Can I stay here, professor?” 

The professor said nothing else, other than to embrace him in a tight hug and let him inside. That night, Ash got sick with a high fever and the professor had no doubt had to do with whatever horrible thing happened in Kalos. Traumatic events could have serious physical effects on the body. He had seen the news, he had a general idea of what happened, but he could only imagine what it was like for Ash. Once he was better, Ash had grown quiet, with an aged look in his eyes that no thirteen-year-old should have. His gaze was downward and vacant, Samuel noticed. His pokemon had surely noticed too. Gary noticed when he visited and attempted to cheer him up with a battle. That didn't work. The professor attempted to coax him into talking to him, but he only got bits and pieces. Ash only mentioned Greninja and how much he missed her since she had to stay behind. He mentioned the Bond Phenomenon once, but the professor was smart enough not to ask about it. He mentioned Lysandre once and it sent him into a panic episode. Samuel held Ash until he was a mess of hiccups and tears.

Bulbasaur had taken to walking closer to Ash to keep an eye on him and Bayleef had stopped tackling him for the time being; she was afraid that her trainer’s state could worsen with sudden, even if friendly, attacks. Charizard, never being the soft type, wasn’t trying to walk on eggshells around his trainer, but he still cared. After all, this was the trainer that saved him from what surely would be a terrible fate as a Charmander. He took to the skies and acted as a lookout for any unwanted company or ill-intended creeps. Oshawott attempted to cheer him up in the dumbest ways posible. Getting bit by Gible, creating theater worthy dramas to act out, bothering him about a certain Serena, but none of those distractions worked. Pikachu never left Ash's side.

Ash still trained his pokemon, he wasn’t losing his touch, but after a month and a half of living with the professor and a mother that kept sending delicious meals but no offers to talk, one thing was clear among the residents of the farm: The light that once shined so bright inside him had dimmed. 

His eyes did show a bit of positive emotion occasionally, when his phone rang and the caller ID said either Brock, Misty, Clemont and Bonnie or Serena. 

All those events led Ash to Alola International Airport. 

He looked around for Professor Kukui. Luckily, he had met the man through video calls to recognize him in his shorts, cap and lab coat. The professor waved at him next to his jeep. Ash sighed and Pikachu poked him on the cheek to get his attention. Pikachu pointed at his own smile. The young teen imitated his buddy. Hey, if he was going to start a new life, might as well do it with a smile. 

The ride to Kukui's house was silent. Mostly on Ash's part as he took in the views of the island he was to call home for the foreseeable future. Kukui made a turn on a curve and the house was within view. “I must ask. Professor Oak had mentioned you had a whole Taurus herd?” The young professor tried to make some lighthearted conversation. 

Ash blushed. “Oh yeah, it’s a long story. I told the professor to hold up on those until I got here. They’re a bit rowdy and I'm not sure about the space.” 

"Don't worry about the space, kiddo. I'll explain later.” Kukui chuckled. “I’m just surprised a kid your age has so many Taurus.” 

“It’s a long story. But I’m pretty sure they rigged the Safari Zone so they could be caught.” 

“You have to tell me about it one of these days. Sounds like a fun story.” 

“I will.” Ash chuckled a bit. “I never had the heart to trade any of them. Not until I find someone who would take all of them or none. They’re a whole family.” 

“Understandable. I wouldn’t want to separate a family either.” 

Kukui parked the car right in front of the house where as soon as Ash got out of the car, Bayleef was suddenly tackling him.  

“Bayleef! Bay Bay!” The excited pokemon tackled the boy. 

"Pika!” Pikachu exclaimed in surprise. 

"Bayleef!? What are you doing here?” Ash questioned as the pokemon hugged him tightly. Not that he wasn't happy to see her, just a bit confused. 

Kukui chuckled nervously. “I forgot to mention, Professor Oak sent Bayleef ahead of time because she was trashing his lab in anticipation. I guess she couldn't wait any longer.” 

Ash laughed and he gently pushed Bayleef back. "That sounds like you.” 

“Well, it’s been quite a day. Let’s get inside. I’ll order some food.”  

After showing Ash his room, Kukui ordered two pizzas and went to explain some rules to his new guests. After taking a quick shower and putting on some comfortable pajamas, Ash sat on the couch with a with his pokemon eating their poke-chow and Ash ate pizza as soon as it arrived. 

“Ok, so I have some rules.” Kukui said. “Mostly for everyone’s safety. First, absolutely no battles inside the house. I don’t want to burn down the place. Second, I only ask that you pick after yourself, Ash.” 

“That will be no problem, professor.” Ash nodded. Despite popular opinion among his acquittances, he was organized. Spending so much time on the road makes a trainer develop those skills. 

“And third,” Kukui smiled. “Just have fun in Alola, Ash.” 

Ash smiled. “I will, Professor.” 

“Oh please, Kukui is just fine.” Kukui insisted, though he had a suspicion the boy would still call him by title. 

They were interrupted by a loud bark. Kukui smiled towards its direction. “I guess someone wants to meet you!” 

Just then, a small puppy appeared, sniffing the air for the unfamiliar scents. His eyes landed on Ash and with a happy bark and a happy tail, he ran towards the new guest and jumped on his lap.  

“Oh, hi!” Ash greeted as he patted the little dog. The puppy started licking him. 

“This is Rockruff. He’s one of the Alolan pokemon you’ll meet around. I guess he just wanted to give you a warm welcome!” 

Ash smiled. “Nice to meet you, Rockruff.” 

“Ruff, ruff!” Rockruff then threw himself at Pikachu, giving him the same welcome. 

“Pika! Pikapi!” Pikachu exclaimed happily. 

While Rockruff greeted Pikachu, Kukui turned to Ash. “Since there will be more pokemon around when the professor sends yours over, I went ahead and ordered the installation of a barn next to the house. About time I did, anyways.” 

“Really?” 

“Yep! Since your stay is indefinite, I went ahead with it. Besides, it’s something I’ve been putting off for some time and your pokemon need somewhere to stay. It’s almost done and as soon as it is, your pokemon can come.” 

"Whoa, thanks professor.” 

"Don't mention it.” Kukui glanced at the clock. “It's getting a bit late, and you must be tired. Let's call it a night and we can go over the details tomorrow before school.” 

“Oh, right! School.” Ash looked down at his last bit of pizza. 

“Ash? If you're not ready for Pokemon School, it's alright. You can take a few more days to settle in.” 

“No, no! It's not that! It's just...” He stroked Bayleef's head. “I've travelled to almost every region and participated in many contests... Am I even fit to go to Pokemon School?” 

Kukui inspected him for a moment before smiling softly. “You're worried you might be overqualified, aren't you?” 

Ash swallowed the last of his pizza. “More like I'm worried that they'll think I'm stupid for needing to go...” He mumbled. 

Kukui had a sneaking suspicion that Ash didn't just mean the students he'll meet tomorrow, there was a lot of baggage in that statement alone that he didn't know what to do with it. ‘ All in its time, Kukui. He'll open-up eventually... ’ Kukui thought, remembering that Ash had gone through some heavy events in the past three years. 

“There's always something new to learn about Pokemon every day. Even Pokemon Professors need to do continuing education to keep their licenses. In Pokemon School we teach all sorts of things, and the best part is that you can also share what you have learned in your travels too. My students are excited to meet you.” 

“Really?” 

Kukui nodded. “In Alola, we don't really have the tradition of going off on a journey at ten years old. Some do it, I know I did, but most decide to stay in Alola and do what we call island challenges instead.” He noticed the spark of interest in Ash's eyes when he mentioned the challenges. “More on that later. They were excited to get to know you. These kids haven't been outside of Alola before except maybe one of them. You can teach them about the regional pokemon you've encountered and in turn, they can teach you about Alola and the pokemon here. That's what Pokemon School is all about.” 

Ash shrugged as he hugged Pikachu. “I guess that's fair.” 

"What I mean to say is that anybody who thinks that Pokemon School is for dummies then they are fools." 

That seemed to get a chuckle out of the young trainer. Kukui smiled. “It's getting late. Let's call it a day. Tomorrow promises to be eventful and in a good way!” 

Ash smiled. “Alright! Good night, professor!”  

“Goodnight, Ash.” He watched as the boy went to his new room with his Pikachu and Bayleef tagging along. 

"Ruff!” 

Kukui looked down at Rockruff, who whimpered as he pointed at Ash's direction. Kukui smiled. “Hey, if you want to go with Ash, go ahead!” 

Rockruff wagged his tail and ran off. Kukui smiled and headed down to his lab. He had to work on the finishing touches on the Rotom Dex for Ash. 

Chapter Text

Since the Pokemon School was only a fifteen-minute walk, Kukui ditched his car and took the walk. He always enjoyed the peacefulness of the Alola sunrise. However, that wasn't the case this morning. Since he was a professor, he had to go in early and prepare the material for today's class. He would have left Ash at home and let him arrive at the same time as the rest of the students, but then he remembered that the Kantonian trainer barely knew the place. He decided to take him with him early and show him the way, if not to have some peace of mind that Ash would get lost.  

He shook himself out of that thought. Ash would most likely find the school anyways. If not with Rotom Dex's assistance, then by pure instinct. He keeps forgetting the boy had travelled entire regions in three years and his inner compass was probably as sharp as a needle. Speaking of which, the tech pokemon was currently talking Ash's ear off. At first the boy was shocked to see a Pokedex that could talk back but was quickly excited at the prospect of it and they were having a full back-to-back conversation on the way to school.   

“-- so Alolan Raichus are an electric and psychic type because of that.” Stated Rotom Dex.  

“That's amazing!” Ash exclaimed.  

“Pika!”  

Kukui smiled to himself. There was a huge difference between the shy boy from last night and the boy he was currently looking at. Once Rotom Dex had started talking about pokemon in Alola, the boy did a full one eighty and excitedly asked tons of questions. It was clear that he loved pokemon.  

“If your Pikachu evolves here in Alola, there's a probability of eighty-two-point three percent of evolving into an Alolan Raichu!”  

“Oh, Pikachu doesn't want evolve.” Ash calmly stated.  

Kukui arched an eyebrow. “He doesn't?”  

"WWWHHHHHHAAAATTTT!?” Rotom Dex questioned. “But reaching the final stage of evolution is every pokemon's goal!”  

Ash laughed and calmly shook his head. “Not every pokemon's. They do have their own individual goals and dreams and Pikachu here wants to get stronger as a pikachu. Luckily for him, becoming a Raichu is optional, not a must.”  

“Yes, but – but--!” Rotom Dex struggled to comprehend. “But why!?”  

Ash shrugged. “Pikachu likes to work hard for what he wants.”  

“I must update my data on pokemon psychology!” Rotom Dex exclaimed.   

Kukui smiled. This kid knew his stuff and understood the needs and wants of pokemon. He mentioned that he wanted to become a Pokemon Master. However, Kukui thought, he would be an amazing Pokemon Professor if he were to ever change his mind. He had worked with almost every regional professor in the regions he'd gone so far, so the potential was there for sure.  

“Pokemon psychology is a field?” Ash asked curiously.

Rotom Dex waved its hands in a motion of excitement. “It is! Though, it's quite understudied, if you ask me. There is not much material on the subject other than the basics of trainer and pokemon relationships and how species and types behave in nature and among humans."

"Like... a psychologist... but for Pokemon?"

"More or less. If my data is correct, there is no current head researcher in the field. Hey! You could be the person to lead that field!”  

Kukui grinned. It was as if Rotom Dex had read his mind. Not only that, but the look of genuine interest written all over Ash's face was worth it.   

Ash was shocked. “Oh no. I never did well with regular school subjects. I could never become a professor and psychology sounds really hard!”  

Kukui frowned. “Hey, just because you didn't do well in school doesn't mean you won't do well in a field that heavily involves understanding pokemon. And you got that part out of the way already.”  

Pikachu tapped Ash's cheek as a comforting gesture. “Pika, pika pi. Chu, Pikapi pika!”  

“Pikachu, just because I wrote a couple of papers for Professor Oak doesn't mean I could be a professor myself.” Ash scratched the back of his head. “I'm not dumb, but I'm definitely not THAT smart either.”  

“Pika!” Pikachu zapped him.  

“What was that for!?” Ash angrily questioned.  

“You wrote papers for Professor Oak?” Kukui asked. Professor Oak was THE Pokémon Professor as he was famously known for. The top of the field. The crème de la crème. Reasearch royalty. Writing papers for the professor was something that a few selected at the top of their respective fields ever got to do, as the theories they presented were quickly shut down with simple facts by the famous professor. They never bothered to continue to the next step, which was writing the papers themselves. Why write it if you were already corrected? Basically, they were a bit scared of him. Yet, this thirteen-year-old boy just casually mentioned several papers he wrote to him. Kukui was impressed with the boy before, but now he was simply amazed.  

Rotom Dex screamed on a high pitch. "What is your pen name!? Are they published!? I'm writing an email to Professor Oak requesting a copy of those as we speak! I'll CC Professor Kukui so he can read them!”  

“Wait, no--!”  

“-- And sent! We just have to wait for the response. Oh, I'm so excited to read them!”  

Ash groaned. “They were just silly essays the professor asked me to write. It's not that big of a deal.”  

“THE Pokemon Professor asked you to write them for him!?” Rotom Dex yelled.  

Ash rolled his eyes. “Don't say I didn't warn you, Rotom. You'll be really disappointed.”  

Kukui took a good look at this kid. Pikachu met his eyes and gave him a defeated look and lowered his ears. So, he wasn't the only one that could see the huge potential, his pokemon knew it too.  

Soon enough, they were standing in front of the school. Ash looked amazed at the building, but a bit of hesitation was written on his face.  

“Come along, let me give you a private tour before the students come in.” Kukui said as he walked forward.   

He started with the cafeteria, even if it was small, it made delicious lunches. Which seemed to throw Pikachu and Ash into a food daydream. Then he showed him the pokemon playground, much to Pikachu's delight. Then the battle arena, the small lake, and finally the classroom.  

Ash arched an eyebrow. “I thought there were more students.” He said as he stared at the six chairs in the middle of the classroom, where the students were to be seated. “Shouldn't classrooms be around thirty or so students?”  

“Thirty?” Kukui laughed. “That's regular school. The Pokemon School is a specialized school. Not everybody wants to study here so the class size is much, much smaller.”  

Somehow, that seemed to bring a sense of relief to Ash.  

"You can leave your backpack on that desk. That one is yours.” Kukui pointed. “We're meeting Principal Oak.”  

“Principal Oak? You mean Professor Oak's cousin?”  

“Yep. He's a character alright. He loves teaching children. He's been expecting you, so come on!”  

It was a short walk from the classroom to Principal Oak's office. The man was almost a copy of Professor Oak besides the darkened skin, longer hair and the sense of style. While Professor Oak favored long-sleeved button up shirts and trousers, Principal Oak preferred shorts, sandals and Hawaiian shirts.  

The man in question looked up from some school reports when he saw his guests come in. “Alola! You must be Ash!”  

"Yep, that's me. Hello.” He waved.  

“Pika!"  

"Well Heracross to you too!”  

Ash and Pikachu gave him a weird look. Kukui laughed. “The principal here loves to do Pokémon puns.”  

Principal Oak laughed hysterically at his own joke. Ash simply stared.   

...Were they sure this was the professor's cousin?  

OOO  

Kiawe walked alongside his schoolmates in front of the school gate as he listened to them theorize about the new student.   

“Professor Kukui said he's from the Kanto Region. Kanto is the leading region in Pokémon research thanks to Professor Oak!” Sophocles exclaimed.  

“But he didn't say much from the new student.” Lillie mumbled.   

“He's probably part of a secret evil organization.” Lana joked.  

Mallow glared. “Lana... we talked about this. That thought process can damage someone else's reputation in the wrong ears.”  

“Sorry.”  

“What do you think, Kiawe?” Lillie asked.  

Kiawe hummed in thought. “I wouldn't mind a battle rival. I would like to properly fight someone around our age.”  

“Kiawe, you're always thinking of a battle.” Sophocles complained.   

Kiawe rolled his eyes. “Hey, it's not my fault Alola doesn't have a Pokemon League. Besides, what's wrong with wanting to be a stronger battler?”  

"Nothing at all!” Someone behind them said.  

The group gasped and turned. Three members of Team Skull stood there. Kiawe groaned. These guys didn't know when to quit. “Give us your pokemon!”  

Lana and Mallow, being inexperienced fighters, hugged their respective pokemon while Lillie hung back in fear and Sophocles hid Togedemaru behind his back.  

“See why I want to be a stronger fighter, Sophocles?” Kiawe snapped as he took out a pokeball.  

Sophocles laughed nervously and instantly hid behind Kiawe before the battle started.  

OOO  

Ash walked along side Professor Kukui back to the classroom.  

“He's... well...” Ash couldn't find the words to describe Principal Oak.  

Kukui smiled. “Not what you expected?”  

“Well, yeah! I mean, I sort of expected him to be like the professor, being his cousin and all. I guess I was wrong to assume.”  

“Threw you off?”  

“That too. But he's nice. I like him.”  

Suddenly they heard an explosion and smoke could be seen at the gates of the school. Kukui, Ash and Pikachu wasted no time in getting there. When they arrived, Kukui frowned.   

“Ugh! It's those kids again!”  

“Who are they?”  

“They are part of a group called Team Skull. They mostly do ill pranks and petty crime around Alola, but lately they want to harass students and try to take their Pokémon.”  

Ash frowned. He saw a dark-skinned boy; he looked a bit older than the group. He was battling with a Pokémon he had never seen before. He assumed it was a region-specific Pokémon. He saw from the corner of his eye that the professor was pulling out a pokeball before he decided to run towards the battle himself.  

“Ash! Wait!” The professor called.  

Ash stood next to the student that fought against Team Skull members, with Pikachu in front of him. The students gasped when he saw him.   

“Hey, you need to leave. These guys are dangerous!”  

‘ So am I... ’ Ash thought, but simply looked at the student. “I'm just going to help.”  

“I can do it myself. Stay back where it’s safe.”  

Ash saw how confident he seemed and how in control of the situation he was. The student started to do a series a series of movements that his Pokémon copied in complete synchronization as he yelled a command.  

“The zenith of my mind, body, and spirit of the great island of Akala! Become a raging fire and burn! Inferno Overdrive! ”  

The Pokémon, Turtonator, unleashed a move so powerful that it knocked Team Skull’s Pokémon out of the battle in one hit. Ash was impressed. He’d never seen this move before. Briefly, Ash thought of asking if he was a professional trainer. He hoped he could battle him in the future. However, a trainer's biggest mistake is assuming a battle is over before turning your back. Out of the corner of his eye, one of the members of the team pulled out a huge Raticate and commanded it to use a powerful bite on the weakened Turtonator. The Pokémon was battle ready, but he needed much more training due to his disadvantage in speed and movement.   

The Raticate bit Turtonator on the neck in an unfair engagement. Though it didn't seem like it was super effective, it was obvious that it hurt a lot.  

“No! Turtonator!” The student yelled.  

Ash frowned. "Pikachu! Use Iron Tail!”  

Pikachu ran at full speed and hit the Raticate with his tail. The Pokémon let go of Turtonator's neck and landed on his back, but it quickly stood up, ready to fight.  

The students and professor gasped in shock. “That pikachu knows a steel type move!” The girl with blue hair exclaimed.  

“Turtonator!” The student at his side yelled. “Are you well enough to fight!?”  

Turtonator whined and shook his head, clearly in pain from the bite.  

“Tell Turtonator to stand back or he'll get hurt even further!” Ash exclaimed.  

The student was shocked but nodded and told his Pokémon to stand back. Ash turned his attention back to the Raticate who was already charging towards Pikachu.   

“Pikachu! Let's finish this! Use Thunderbolt!”  

Pikachu ran and jumped into the air, unleashing a Thunderbolt so powerful that it shocked Team Skull and the reminder of their Pokémon. Terrified by the newcomer and his pikachu, Team Skull recalled their Pokémon.  

“This isn't over yet!”  

“If you're going to use a move like that, you have to tell us before!”  

“No fair!”  

Finally, they were out of sight. Ash grinned at Pikachu and high fived him. “No sweat, like always. Right, buddy?”  

“Pika!”  

Professor Kukui stepped forward. “Thank you, Ash. That attack from that Raticate could've been much worse.”  

“It's nothing.”  

"He's right.” Said the student with the Turtonator. He had a bottle of healing potion that he had just sprayed on the pokemon's wound before giving it back to the green-haired girl. Turtonator looked much better already. “Turtonator and I can battle, but it's obvious we need more experience.”  

“Don't sell yourself short. You have battle prowess and skill. You just need to practice with stronger opponents. Not those guys.” Ash gave him a thumbs up. “I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and this is my partner, Pikachu.”  

“Pika, Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed while climbing Ash's shoulder.   

Kukui smiled. “Kids, Ash will be joining our class from now on.”  

“Wait, this is your class?” Ash asked, a bit shocked and suddenly feeling a little insecure.  

The rest of the students stood there with wide eyes and hanging mouths.  

OOO  

As the humans talked among each other, the Pokémon were making their own little introductions. Pikachu stepped down from Ash's shoulder onto the floor and met the others.  

“Hi! I'm Popplio!” Popplio exclaimed. She sounded young. “Those moves were amazing, Mr. Pikachu!” She exclaimed with literal stars in her eyes.  

Pikachu blushed at the praise. “It's nothing, really. I'm Pikachu! Just Pikachu, no need for mister.” Pikachu sounded like an adult Pokémon.  

“I'm Bounsweet! Nice to meet you!” Bounsweet greeted.  

“Turtonator.” Turtonator introduced himself properly. He had a much deeper voice than Pikachu and possibly around his age. “Thank you again for having my back.”  

“Not a problem, Turtonator.”  

“I'm Togedemaru.” Said the little mouse Pokémon with a small blush on her face, she seemed much closer to his age, even if she was small.  

Pikachu already had a hunch of where this was going but elected to ignore it. He just hoped she wasn’t one of the crazy ones. “Nice to meet you too!” He was reminded a bit of Buneary, but pushed that thought away.   

“You're from Kanto, right? How is it like there?” Bounsweet suddenly interrupted as if she had felt his discomfort.   

“Oh, well, Kanto is great! Though, it is a little dangerous if you manage to get yourself in trouble on the road. The wild there is not so friendly.”  

“Have you been to a lot of adventures? What about sea adventures!?” Popplio asked with excitement shining on her face.   

Pikachu chuckled. Yep, this was a young Pokémon and probably had never been outside of Alola before. “Oh yes, I've been to plenty of adventures in the sea.”  

“Lana and I will one day travel the oceans and meet Kyorge!”  

Pikachu chuckled. He remembered meeting the legendary, but he wasn't going to tell her that just yet. “That's some adventure. Travelling across the seas can be quite fun. You find all sorts of unexpected things.”  

“You've travelled the seas!?”  

“On a Lapras.”  

“On a Lapras!?”  

Pikachu sweat dropped. “Yes, but personally I'll stick to land.”  

Popplio gasped, asking to hear more. Pikachu laughed internally. Lately, he’s been attracting the younger Pokémon as they looked up to him due to his heroics, his strength or his experience. Also, he was good with kids.  

...Or maybe he was at an age where he wanted his own little ones.  

Despite Charizard taunting him and calling him a girl-magnet , he’d rather pick the kids than a lovesick female any day. Somehow, they were easier to get along with. Besides, he liked teaching them and taking them under the proverbial wing.  

He glanced at Ash, who was standing before the class next to Professor Kukui and was sweating raindrops. “Oh, sorry guys, but I have to get to Ash. He's a little nervous.” Said Pikachu as he ran and climbed Ash's shoulder. The boy had an instant sense of relief.  

Kukui smiled at the Pokémon's gesture. “Class, I'd like to officially introduce Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town in the Kanto Region. He'll be our new classmate from now on. Ash has vast knowledge about Pokémon and has travelled to different regions. He's come to Alola to learn all about our regional Pokémon and maybe, we can learn something from him too.” He finished with a smile. “Now, I want you all to introduce yourselves and your Pokémon.”  

The green haired girl stood up. “Hi! I'm Mallow! And this is Bounsweet. We hope you have a wonderful time with us.”  

The Blue haired girl smiled. “I'm Lana and this is Popplio! We're interested to hear anything about water types.” Popplio nodded at Lana's introduction.   

Then the girl dressed in white clothes and blonde hair waved. “I'm Lillie. Nice to meet you.” She had no Pokémon to introduce, Ash noticed.  

“Pika Pikachu!” Pikachu decided to greet her, waving his little paw at her.  

“AHHH!” Lillie yelled and froze in place with eyes wide as plates.  

Mallow gently shook her shoulder. “Um... Lillie?”  

“A.. AH...” She was still frozen in place. Ash had a sneaking suspicion of what was going on.  

“Hi! I'm Sophocles!” The boy with blonde hair intervened, likely to divert attention from Lillie. “And this is Togedemaru. And I think your Pikachu is awesome!” The little Pokémon bathed her tiny eyelashes at Pikachu. He gulped and smiled nervously.  

Finally, the student with the Turtonator smiled. He seemed the most collected out of all. “And I'm Kiawe. You already met Turtonator.” He pointed at Ash. “And I hope we can have a proper battle soon.”  

Sophocles groaned. “Kiawe, couldn't you have waited a bit to challenge him?”  

Ash grinned. “It's alright. I'd love to have a battle later.” He gasped. “Wait, I forgot!” He took out a pokeball and threw it. “Bayleef! Come on out!”  

Suddenly Bayleef was standing next to Ash. “Bayleef!” She tackled him and hugged him.   

Ash laughed. “This is Bayleef. She loves to hug people and she's super friendly.”  

“Bay! Bay!” Bayleef's eyes landed on Mallow. “Bay?”  

Green hair. Grass type pokemon by her side. A flower on her head. Kind smile. Smelled like delicious cooking spices.  

Grass type Pokémon trainer. Bayleef was in love already.  

“Bayleef! Bayleef!” She got off from Ash and ran towards Mallow.  

“Bayleef wait!” Ash exclaimed.   

“BOUNSWEET!”  

“AHH!!!” Mallow yelled when Bayleef threw herself at her and started to nuzzle her head against Mallow's. The students and professor gasped.  

Ash was instantly panicking. His mind was instantly flooded with anxious thoughts. He was sure that they hated him now and he was going to be kicked out of school on his first day. “I'm sorry! She doesn't do that to people other than me and people she really likes and---”  

“SHE'S SO CUTE!!!!” Mallow exclaimed and hugged the Pokémon back, to the Pokémon's delight. She had literal hearts in her eyes. “Ash, where did you find this cutie!? She's adorable!”  

Ash sighed in relief and scratched the ack of his head with an awkward smile.   

Maybe this wasn't so bad.  

Chapter Text

Tapu Koko sensed the arrival of an unfamiliar, yet strong source of power.  

As Guardian of Melemele Island, it was his job to investigate. To his surprise, the source of power came from a young trainer and his pikachu. He trailed them from the airport to Professor Kukui's house where he finally got a good look at the young trainer.  

At first glance, he didn't look like much.  

He was on the short side for his age, maybe had yet to reach a growth spurt. Just a typical human child for his age. However, he carried himself like a veteran, a battler that had seen way too many wars. His aura reached subconsciously to any and every living being around him. Even pulled at Tapu Koko's himself.  

It was a strange feeling...  

… no, it couldn't be... could it?   

This child couldn't be Arceus's Chosen One, could it? Tapu Koko knew it well within his core that this was the fabled Chosen One. Here, on his island. Yet, he couldn't help but wonder... What was he doing in Alola?  

He stuck around to investigate. He and his siblings, the Tapus, weren't that high up in the Legendary Hierarchy, merely called legendaries but in the lower ranks. But from what they heard when they met up with the higher legendaries was that the Chosen One was often not what either of them expected to be. And this... was NOT what he expected. Then there was the matter of the Pokémon on the boy's shoulder. As an electric and fairy type himself, he could often detect surges of electrical power around him and that pikachu had the power to go against the gods themselves. No other ordinary trainer would have such Pokémon bestowed upon him. This had to be the Chosen One. But why? Why now?  

“Are you alright?” Professor Kukui, as he unloaded the boy's bags from the car, asked.   

“Ugh? Oh, I'm ok. Just thinking.”  

Tapu Koko didn't miss the way the pikachu gently rubbed his cheek against the boy's face in a comforting way. It made him wonder if something happened to him.  

“Come on, Ash. Welcome home. Mi casa es su casa , and all of that.” Kukui chuckled.   

Ash .  

Tapu Koko would have to keep a close eye on that boy.  

OOO  

Ash had to say he enjoyed his first day of school.  

Pokémon School was nothing like Ash had envisioned. Everybody was so kind and friendly and even the subjects were something he could understand. It was ALL about Pokémon. He felt so strangely at peace with the normality of it all, with the routine. Wake up, have breakfast and feed Pikachu and Bayleef; Rockruff as well. Get dressed in that comfortable blue and white striped T-shirt and knee shorts and run off. Go to school. Playing with Pokémon, learning more things about them. Professor Kukui was very knowledgeable and had a lot of patience when it came to questions, to which he gladly answered.  

The first day was all about getting used to the climate, schedule, and the unfamiliar terms in Alolan. That was until the bell rang. He was on his way down the stairs without anything else planned other than to go back to Kukui's home.  

“Ash, wait!”  

Ash turned his head back and saw the rest of the class waving and coming closer. Mallow smiled. “My family has a restaurant here in Alola and my father wanted to cook us something especial today! Do you want to come with us?”  

“Pika Pika!” Pikachu was already agreeing to it before Ash could.   

“I suppose we wouldn't mind. Pikachu's stomach certainly doesn't.”  

Pikachu blushed a bit. "Pikapi...”  

"Bay, Bay!” Bayleef ran to Mallow and tackled her yet again.  

“Bayleef...” Ash groaned.   

“It's alright! She's so cute!” Mallow exclaimed.  

Kiawe smiled. “Bayleef sure likes Mallow.”  

“Do you by any chance prefer grass types?” Ash asked Mallow.  

“Oh yes! I love them!” Mallow exclaimed as she finally managed to gently push Bayleef away.  

“That explains why she likes you so much.”  

As they walked down the road, they spoke, and Ash got to know his new classmates little by little. It seemed like it was all going great...  

… until the feathered menace showed up.  

The strange Pokémon came out of nowhere and floated right in front of him. Like one minute the road was clear and the next, Boom! There it was. Ash briefly wondered if he should consider looking up cardiologists in Alola. The rest of the class gasped.  

Sophocles pointed towards the Pokémon, trembling. “It's Tapu Koko!”  

“Tapu what now?” Ash asked.  

Lillie gulped. “He's the Guardian of Melemele Island. There's one for each of the four islands. Tapu Koko is as playful as he is dangerous. He can be gentle with those he helps as he can be merciless to those that anger him. It's rare to see the guardians interact with people other than the island kahunas, but he's standing right in front of us!”  

Pikachu rolled his eyes. Great, another legendary. Just another Tuesday.   

“Koko!” The Pokémon exclaimed and extended his arm towards him.  

“Ugh?” Ash found himself accepting whatever the Pokémon was offering. It was some sort of silver bracelet, cold to the touch, attached to some sort of yellow stone.  

“It's a Z-Ring!” Lana exclaimed.  

“A what?” Ash was really confused. “Is this used to do those Z-Moves Professor Kukui spoke about? Like you did, Kiawe?”  

“Yes, but you have to win them through the Grand Trials and the Island Challenges.” The teen was eyeing the Tapu suspiciously. “How did he even get a Z-Ring?”  

Ash stared at the Z-Ring. Usually, legendaries wanted to beat him up upon meeting him, not give him gifts and steal his hat.  

Wait --  

He felt a cold breeze where his hat was supposed to be.  

“COME BACK HERE, YOU OVERGROWN ROTISSERIE CHICKEN! HOW DARE YOU STEAL MY HAT!?” Ash yelled as he ran off after the supposed legendary Pokémon with his hat. Nobody touched his hat except Pikachu. He didn’t come all the way to Alola just so a supposed legendary could steal his hat, which was a new one for the record and rather insulting.  

“Pika Pika!” Pikachu agreed with Ash as they both ran after the Pokémon.  

“Koko! Ko-ko!” The Pokémon seemed like it was mocking the boy.  

“Ash, wait!” Kiawe ran after him, along with the rest. “The Tapus are really unpredictable!”  

“So am I!” Ash yelled back.  

The group followed Tapu Koko deep into the jungle until they arrived at a clearing. Then, Tapu Koko threw Ash's hat back to him and took the position to battle.  

Lana gasped. “I think he wants to battle you!”  

Kiawe, as calm and collected as he usually was, was starting to feel a sense of unease. “Ash, maybe we should head back. Doing regular battles is one thing, but battling a legendary is on a whole other level of crazy!”  

Ash sighed. He keeps forgetting that very few people have ever seen legendaries, let alone battle them. “This isn’t my first time, Kiawe.”  

He had his back to the others, so he was sure they were looking at him crazy.  

“If it’s a battle he wants, then it's a battle he will get! Right, buddy?”  

Pikachu looked up. “Pika-chu!”  

So they battled.  

Tapu Koko attacked, and Pikachu dodged. Ash growled. He hadn't arrived in Alola so a legendary could battle him. That never ended well. However, he didn't feel any malicious intent from the Pokémon, nor did he feel like the Tapu wanted to put him down for no good reason. For a deity known for conflict and chaos, it was odd.  

“Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!” He directed.   

Pikachu unleashed a powerful Thunderbolt that put thunderstorms to shame. But Tapu Koko suffered no damage. Ash gasped.  

“Tapu Koko is an electric and fairy type, Ash! Be careful!” Lillie yelled.   

Ash focused on the battle. Electric type moves weren't of much use, so he had to try and stick with other moves to do some damage. “Pikachu, use Iron Tail!”  

"Pika!” Pikachu jumped into the air and hit Tapu Koko with Iron Tail. The legendary blocked it with his shield like arms. He punched Pikachu and the little mouse was sent flying back.  

“Pikapi!” Pikachu yelled as he landed in front of Ash.  

“Pikachu! Are you alright!?”  

Pikachu shook his little body and nodded.  

Bayleef was cheering them on with two pompons made from leaves and grass as she jumped on her hind legs. “Bay-leef! Bay-leef! Bay-leef!” Her excitement was contagious and soon the others were cheering Ash and Pikachu as well.  

Tapu Koko seemed amused by the display of support. He suddenly activated Electric Terrain. Ash gasped. With Electric Terrain, Pikachu's moves would be twice as powerful, but so were Tapu Koko's. Ash shouted directions at Pikachu to which Tapu Koko countered with some of his own moves. Pikachu did land a few hits, but it was clear the legendary was stronger.  

Almost at the speed of sound, Tapu Koko was suddenly standing in front Ash again. The teen wondered if he should really look into cardiologists in Alola. The Tapu gently tapped on the Z-Ring and Z-Crystal.  

“You want me to use this?”  

Tapu Koko stepped back and nodded. He started doing some positions that only further confused Ash.  

“He's teaching you how to use the Z-Ring! He's telling you the positions to use for the Electrium-Z!” Kiawe provided.  

Ash looked down at the glowing Z-Ring and smirked at Pikachu. “Alright!”  

Tapu Koko waited.  

" GIGAVOLT HAVOC!!! ”  

OOO  

Kukui waited.  

And waited.  

... where was that kid?  

He knew he had gone with Mallow and the rest to the restaurant, which he was more than happy to allow. He was given a mission by Professor Oak, to help this kid. He wasn’t going to be disappointed. Maybe they got caught up talking and socializing.   

However, he was growing worried. It was already sunset, and Ash had not yet to be home. He worried he might have gotten lost, but he called the kid to his phone several times and there was no answer. Then he started to assume the worst.  

A Pokémon ate him.  

Kukui facepalmed. No, that was stupid. Why would a Pokémon eat Ash? Was he already so attached to the boy he was becoming a helicopter guardian?  

Rockruff whined, then barked to get the professor’s attention. Kukui turned to him and smiled. “Don’t worry, Rockruff. I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”  

Rockruff gave him a side look.  

“Oh, don’t look at me like that. I’m not that worried. He’s not even my kid.”  

Rockruff gave him a deadpanned look.  

Kukui sighed. “Look, it’s hard not to get attached to him, I’ll admit that. But I’m sure he’s on his way without any troubles or surprises.” He resumed drinking his lemon tea.  

Having said that, Ash busted through the door, along with Pikachu, Bayleef and the rest of his students.  

“ASH BATTLED TAPU KOKO AND IT WAS BADASS!” Sophocles yelled.  

Kukui spit his tea and accidentally showered Rockruff with it. The little puppy ran around trying to dry himself. He rubbed himself against the carpet, trying to get the tea off.  

“Sorry, Rockruff.” Kukui apologized. Rockruff barked at him angrily, then bit his leg as payback. This caused Kukui to yell, suddenly standing up and dropping his mug. Which spilled the scalding hot tea all over the carpet and over Rockruff.  

“AAAAHHHOOOOOO!!!” Rockruff howled and barked angrily at Kukui.  

“It was an accident! I’m sorry!”  

“RUFF! RUFF RURURUFFF! RUFF! ARRRGGGG!” The puppy growled.  

“I get it, I’ll give you a bath! Geez!” Then he turned to the students. "Nice prank, guys.” He laughed.  

But the students looked at each other with worry; Ash looked like he was done with this. Kukui slowly stopped laughing when he caught Pikachu giving him a deadpanned look and pointed at Ash's wrist. A perfectly good Z-Ring was wrapped around Ash's wrist. Kukui could only stare.  

"...What happened?” He was a little weary at the answer he would receive but intrigued at the same time.  

The students didn't answer right away, instead opted to look at each other, hoping one of them would step forward. Ash spoke.  

"Well...”  

Kiawe sniffed as tears ran down his cheeks. “It was the most beautiful battle I've ever witnessed so far...” He said in a high-pitched voice.  

Ash scratched the back of his head. “Umm... Tapu Koko challenged me to a battle and gave me this Z-Ring with an Electrium-Z that disappeared after I used it.”   

Clearly, he was trying to say as little as possible, Kukui noted.  

“Then we went to Mallow's restaurant and the food was delicious!” Ash gave a thumbs up. Kukui figured the kid would deflect.  

“Ash, Tapu Koko was testing you. He clearly likes you.” Lana mentioned. “And you've been here for only a day.”  

“You must be really especial if a legendary took an interest on you so quickly!” Sophocles exclaimed with stars in his eyes.  

Ash started sweating. "Y-yeah! I guess!”  

“The deity of conflict and chaos gifted you a Z-Ring!” Rotom Dex exclaimed. “One could make many assumptions of your status as a trainer!” Rotom Dex gasped. “What kind of Poke-Dex am I!? I haven't even checked your trainer record!”  

Ash eyes widened. Kukui noticed how nervous Ash seemed. A trainer's record showed achievements, contests, Pokémon registered under the trainer, your trainer level... or if you were a person of interest to the government. Kukui figured, while the kids were good and kindhearted and wouldn’t care for that sort of thing, Ash just met them. Trainer records weren't something totally private, more like some sort of resume, but just giving that information to new people without asking wasn't right.  

“You can do it later, Rotom Dex.”  

“But--”  

“Later.”  

Ash's nervousness seemed to put Pikachu on edge and Bayleef starting to look around, as if looking for threats. He sighed. “Alright, everyone. It's been a long day, and you all have class tomorrow.”  

“Aaawww...” The students complained a bit, but they didn't miss the sudden change in the atmosphere. It was obvious they had way too many questions that Ash had probably been deflecting for a few hours. But they were obedient to their teacher and bid their goodbyes.  

Once they were out, Ash exhaled. “Thanks, professor.”  

"Don't mention it, kiddo. However, I do have some questions myself.”  

For a moment, Ash seemed to panic before Kukui held his hands up.   

“Relax. I know you don't like people prying on your business, but the Tapus aren't known for showing their favor to a human that often. More likely than not, someone will get thrown into the river. By Tapu Koko himself.” Kukui picked the abandoned mug from the floor. “And you're in my care, Ash. If a legendary suddenly decided to challenge you, I need to know. I don't want to call your mother and the professor and tell them that the local deity decided to throw hands with you... and then dunked you in a river.”  

Ash looked down. “I don't know what the Tapu wanted. I guess he wanted to test me like Lana said.”  

Kukui took a good look at the kid. Legendaries don't show that kind of favor to humans and in the few cases that they do, they must be someone truly especial.   

...And that information alone made Kukui fear for Ash's safety. Not from the legendaries themselves, but from humans. He winced internally. Humans could become much more dangerous and cruel monsters than Pokémon with the right motivations. Team Flare, Team Galactic, even Team Rocket were examples of this, even if the latter had fallen into low times. And if Ash was... IF he was what he was starting to suspect...  

“And he left the Z-Ring with you?”  

"Yes.”  

"Then he likes you.” Kukui concluded and felt a sense of relief. “And it will probably not be the last time he challenges you.” He decided to change the subject. “Say, why don't you take a shower and I'll make some popcorn. We can watch a movie or something.”  

Ash shook his head. “No thanks. I think I'll just head to bed after a shower.”  

“I understand.” Kukui nodded. Ash walked past him to head upstairs. “Oh, and Ash? If you ever need to talk to somebody, I'm all ears, you know.”  

Ash didn't look back. He simply nodded. "Thanks… You... you can check my record if you want. I mean, I am living with you now and we'll be doing research together, so might as well. Goodnight, Professor Kukui.”  

"...Goodnight, Ash.”  

Ash climbed the stairs, followed by Bayleef. Pikachu stayed back for a few seconds and simply looked at him. Kukui felt a bit confused by the Pokémon's stare. How could such a cute and cuddly Pokémon have such an intimidating gaze, Kukui couldn't explain. There was a warning in that stare, as well as a threat. A clear one: you hurt him, I’ll hurt you. It showed a glimpse of exactly how protective Pikachu was of Ash. And how dangerous he could be.   

Pikachu simply nodded at him, a sign of approval, and followed Ash.  

The professor let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. “I felt judged.” Kukui said to no one in particular.  

“Me too. Now I feel bad.” Rotom Dex groaned. “I really need to update my social cues data.”  

Rockruff barked and Kukui looked down. The little puppy whined.  

“I would give you a bath, but Ash is using the shower. You'll have to wait. Sorry, buddy.”  

Rockruff turned his head away from the professor. Clearly still mad about the tea. Kukui sighed. “Look, I'll pat you down with a damp cloth and tomorrow I'll give you a bath first thing in the morning. Sound good? I'll even use the lavender shampoo you like so much!”  

Rockruff gave him a side-eyed look.  

Kukui groaned. “And I'll use the blow-dryer too.” The only reason he had a blow-dryer in the house was because Rockruff liked to have his fluffy tail professionally... fluffed . Kukui wasn't good with beauty salon lingo.   

Rockruff made a show of thinking about it until finally giving him a satisfied nod. Kukui did as promised and patted down the puppy with a damp towel, removing most of the tea. After that, he went downstairs to his lab and turned on the computer.  

“Rotom.” He called. The tech Pokémon had followed him. “Pull up Ash's trainer record and pass it to my computer.”  

Without saying anything, Rotom Dex did as told. Kukui felt he was intruding on the boy's privacy, but he was given permission and Pikachu seemed to approve.  

He first saw Ash's picture. He looked different. Serious, collected.  

Image Last Updated: Kalos Region  

Kukui clicked on the Achievements section first. Another section, then another. An email came from Professor Oak with Ash's essays attached. He also read those. He read about the recorded encounters with legendaries as well as dangerous people such as Team Rocket, poachers and hunters. He read about his heroics across the regions and the dangerous stunts he had pulled. Drowning, throwing himself off a building in Kalos, kidnapped, so on and so forth.  

There were news reports attached to certain sections or mentions of them. More recently, the Kalos Crisis.  

Kukui remembered watching the news in the classroom along with his students that day. It was a scary sight. The death toll was in the hundreds. There were police reports from Officer Jenny as well that mentioned Ash several times along with Pikachu and a Greninja, but failed to give more information. Somehow, Ash had gotten involved with one of the most dangerous men in the world at the time even though no one noticed who Lysandre was until it was too late. Kukui was too worried to find out.  

It was like reading a dystopian novel to a certain degree.  

"Rotom?”  

“Yes, Professor?”  

Kukui gave the screen a serious look. “What we've just learned cannot leave this room. You can't tell anyone about this.”  

Rotom was uncharacteristically quiet. “Sir... is Ash the...?”  

Kukui closed his eyes. “This is delicate, Rotom. If Ash is not telling, no one else needs to know. Got it?”  

“Yes, professor.”  

Kukui fully turned his body towards Rotom. “From now on, you’ll tell me if Ash needs help, if he meets Tapu Koko again, anything out of the ordinary. Just... Rotom, that boy is alone. He needs to know someone has his back.”  

“I won’t disappoint you, professor.”  

Kukui sighed. Ash was the Chosen One. Yet, Professor Oak sent him to live in a region Ash had never been to, without anyone he knew, completely alone save for Pikachu and the Pokémon that were being sent over soon. He didn’t get it. Ash had Professor Oak back home, his mother, friends and acquaintances. He understood the reasoning behind Ash needing to be away from everything. But with the new information he had at hand, Kukui was now starting to suspect that wasn’t entirely the case. Did something happen? Now that he thought about it, Ash had never once mentioned his mother and the professor and didn’t even call home to tell them he had arrived at Alola.  

He was starting to suspect there was a family matter involved that he had no business poking his nose into.  

He turned off the computer. “It’s getting late. Rotom, go recharge. We have a busy day tomorrow.”  

“Sir? It’s three in the morning. You only have exactly three hours before your alarm goes off.”  

Kukui groaned. “Might as well give Rockruff his bath... Then get some sleep while I can...”  

Chapter Text

Ash was up with the sun.  

Usually, Pikachu would have to zap him so he would wake up. However, Pikachu was still asleep on the other side of the couch. Quietly, he slipped away and walked towards the window. He quietly unlocked it and opened it, letting the fresh ocean breeze inside. He took a deep breath. Exhaled.  

He looked towards the horizon as the sun started to rise above the line that divided the ocean and the sky. The Alolan sunrise was a beautiful sight to behold. He had a few short minutes to himself. Just him and the ocean breeze and the sunrise. He wouldn't mind waking up early every other day or so just to see this.  

It was peaceful.  

His gaze caught sight of the barn being constructed at the side of the house. It was almost finished and soon his Pokémon will be able to join him in Alola, quite possibly within a week or two. Then, he will begin a job as a researcher with Professor Kukui. He had helped other Pokémon professors before with their investigations, but it was never something regular. He was used to being on the road, not in a single place.  

Somehow, that was scary.  

“...Pika?”  

Ash looked down at Pikachu standing by his side, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes.  

“Good morning, Pikachu.”  

Pikachu gave him a questioning look as if asking why he was up so early. “Pikapi?”  

“Yeah, it's weird I'm up so early. But look.” He pointed at the sunrise. “Isn't it pretty?”  

Pikachu smiled. “Pika...” He seemed to agree.  

Bayleef was waking up and yawning. She looked at Ash with a sleepy gaze. "Bay...”  

Ash chuckled. "Let's get some breakfast before everybody else wakes up.”  

They quietly went downstairs to the kitchen. After getting the coffee started, Ash took out three bowls and poured poke-chow into them. He placed them on the floor so Pikachu and Bayleef could start eating. The third bowl was for Rockruff, who quickly made himself known.  

“Ruff! Ruff!”  

Ash smiled at the puppy. “Hey, Rockruff!”  

The puppy threw himself into Ash's arms and licked his face. "Hey! That tickles!” The strong scent of lavender hit his nostrils. “That smells so good! Did you get a bath?”  

"Ruff!”  

"Morning...”  

“Morning, professor.” Ash greeted but took a second look at Kukui. The man looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep last night and lazily threw on his lab coat and hat. “Umm... Are you alright?”  

“Ugh?” Kukui was quite possible falling asleep standing up. “Y-yeah. Just did some reading last night... And gave Rockruff a bath this morning.”  

Ash nodded. He had almost forgotten he gave permission to the professor to read his trainer profile. He was aware it was a bit... extensive.  

“So... was your reading... interesting?” He tested the waters. Usually, when people read his profile, they were quick to shoot question after question that made it almost impossible to answer them all... or wanting to answer them. However, Kukui's reaction was different.  

“Ash... I feel like I just read a book trilogy in one night filled with things I have a hard time grasping. I was amazed with you but now, I'm more worried about you... and you probably need therapy. Lots of it.” Kukui yawned. “...Is that coffee?” The professor made his way to the coffee machine to grab a cup.  

No questions, then. Ash felt a bit relieved he wasn't bombarded with them so early. “Umm... I don't think it's a good idea. No one would believe me.” He grabbed a bowl and filled it with cereal and milk.  

He wasn't sure how much Kukui figured out, but the man wasn't stupid by any means. If he read his whole profile and pieced together the ginormous puzzle that he was, plus his battle with Tapu Koko yesterday, Ash wouldn't be surprised if Kukui figured out the more mythical part of him, or at the very least, suspected. The part that so very few ever pieced together; he could count the people that knew it with less than ten fingers. And if he did figure it out, Kukui was keeping his mouth shut about it, for which Ash was grateful. It was a refreshing change of pace. He probably didn't know all of it, but enough to just know .  

He took another look at the man's-tired face. Ash winced. He knew it was probably a lot to take in. “So... Do you...”  

Kukui held up a hand to make him pause midsentence as he gulped down at least half of his cup of coffee. He sighed. “I won't say anything, Ash. Not if you don't want me to.”  

Ash nodded. Pikachu silently watched them both.  

“However,” Kukui yawned again. “You have to answer me a question.”  

"What is it?”  

Kukui looked at him dead in the eye. “...What haven't you done?”  

"Win a championship, apparently.”  

Silence.  

Then laughter.  

Kukui went in to serve himself another cup of coffee. “Professor Oak sent in your essays last night.” Kukui gave him a smile. “Kid, you have talent!”  

“Pika!” Pikachu agreed while still munching on his food.   

Ash blushed at the praise. “Oh, you read those?”  

"Yeah. All thirty-two of them.”  

Ash winced. No wonder he hadn't slept. “What about Rotom? Didn't he want to read them?”  

“Oh, we both pulled the all-nighter. He's still charging up.” Kukui smiled. “I suggest you prepare for all the academic questions he's going to shoot at you.”  

Ash groaned. “I guess...”  

“You know... that paper on trainer and Pokémon relations gave me an idea for a future class I want to try.”  

OOO  

Ash felt surprisingly light and at peace for the first time in a while.  

The walk to school was quiet with Pikachu on his shoulder and Bayleef inside her pokeball, still a bit sleepy. The professor had opted to arrive a little later, as he needed to shower and have a proper breakfast, so Ash went ahead. He arrived at the empty classroom and sat down at his desk.  

"Buddy, is there something you want to do before class starts?” He asked Pikachu.  

Pikachu yawned and curled himself on top of the desk, opting for a small nap. Ash chuckled. “Alright, no problem.”  

He took out a brown leatherbound notebook, a late birthday gift from Misty, and started scribbling down random notes. He has been using it to write down random thoughts, ideas or as he slowly realized, short drafts for essays to Professor Oak. Ash had been doing it without realizing. He's been thinking a lot lately about Kukui's suggestion on becoming a Pokémon Professor. Did he really have what it took to be one? Kukui wasn't the first person to suggest it, even Pikachu seemed to agree. Professor Oak had mentioned it a couple of times before, even Gary tried to give him a push.  

“ You aren't as dumb as you think you are, Ashy-Boy. ” He usually said.  

He looked down at his notes. He was writing down his career options.   Ash was at a loss. He was interested in all of them and the more he thought about it, the more it intrigued him. However, he didn't want to abandon his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master. He wanted to be the very best out there--  

--He slammed his notebook shut, disturbing Pikachu from his nap. “PIKA!”  

"Who am I kidding? I'm not even close to becoming a Pokémon Master!” He exclaimed in frustration to no one in particular.  

"Pika?”  

Ash sighed. “I'm sorry, buddy. I guess I... I don't know what I want anymore. I'm so confused.” Pikachu stepped closer to his trainer. “I've won smaller competitions; I could've been a Frontier Brain if I had decided to accept the offer. I've travelled so much, I won second place in the Kalos League, I almost had it and--” He stopped and looked down. “Pikachu, we've been travelling the regions for three years and I'm not even close to what I've always dreamed of.”  

Pikachu lowered his ears as he listened.  

“...Everybody I know is already fulfilling their dreams. Serena is travelling and winning performances in first place, Dawn is rising to be a top coordinator, Brock is training to be a Pokémon doctor, Misty is now a Gym Leader and a Master Water Type trainer, Clemont was already a Gym Leader when I met him and is working on new technology... Everybody is doing their thing and I'm... I'm...” He looked down. “...I'm stuck in Pokémon School. I don't want to say it's bad, it's just...” The rest went unsaid but going to Pokémon School after going through so much felt like a downgrade.  

“Chu...” Pikachu gaze fell on the notebook, deep in thought. There was no doubt that with so many distractions like legendaries, bad organizations, evil people, hunters, poachers, world-ending events, and as such, his trainer lost sight of what he wanted. There were so many things Pikachu wanted to say but couldn't. Sometimes, he wished he could learn telepathy. He wanted to say that it was alright, everybody had their own pace. He wanted to tell Ash he was amazing, extraordinary and every Pokémon's dream trainer.   

Ash's hands trembled. “And with every single region, something bad always happens! And I...” He sniffed. “I swear, it's like Arceus hates me or something.”  

The little partner knew that Ash's status as ‘Chosen One’ was problematic and brought his trainer a lot of stress. And trauma. Lots of it. Sometimes, he wondered if that was what was stopping Ash. Pikachu rubbed his head against Ash's cheek. He couldn't speak, but he could offer some comfort. Ash sniffed and hugged him. “Thanks, buddy.”  

"Pika-chu.”  

They stayed like that for a few seconds before someone spoke.  

“...You know, it's alright if you don't know what you're looking for.” Said a soft, gentle voice.  

“Ugh!?” Ash and Pikachu turned their heads towards the classroom door.  

Lillie stood there, trembling a bit. “I'm sorry for listening in!” She bowed rapidly. “I'm usually the first one here and I was walking in when I heard you and I couldn't help myself! I'm sorry!”  

“Pika!” Pikachu happily waved at her.   

“AAHHH!” Lillie stood frozen; eyes wide as plates.   

Pikachu was yet again confused by her behavior and Ash stared at her with worry. “Um... Lillie?”  

The blonde seemed to snap out of it. “Again, I'm sorry!”  

Ash gave her a smile. “It's ok. Just... don't tell anyone?”  

Lillie shook her head, determined. “I won't! I promise!” She sat down at her desk. “But you know, it's alright to know that you don't know which path to choose.”  

Ash turned his head towards her, listening.   

"It sounds to me like you're burned-out."

"Burned-out?" He wasn't burned-out. He glanced at Pikachu, who gave him a knowing look. Was he?

"I don't know you that well, but it takes very little time to notice. You're tired."

Ash did feel tired most days, even when he wasn't doing anything. He was tired of thinking, basically.

Lillie continued. “Sometimes it's alright to sit back and analyze your life. It's normal to be disappointed if something doesn't work out the way you wanted it to.” She looked down. “There's nothing wrong if your interests change. Sometimes, to see a clear path, we need to start from zero. You know, take a deep breath and stay still for a moment. You might be surprised to find you like doing something you never thought of doing!” She looked up with a kind smile. “And sometimes, we may not like where we are right now or we think we shouldn't be here, but we are right where we are supposed to be!”  

Ash stared. “Lillie...”  

“I know, it sounds very cheesy.” She blushed.  

It wasn't. It was exactly what he probably needed to hear. He was so used to being pulled in all directions, tired but never standing still. It was a bit shocking to hear that he had the option to simply... be . It amazed him. Maybe... he just needed to slow down a bit, maybe he'll find his answer when he wasn't looking.  

Ash shook his head. “I think... I think I needed to hear that.” He looked down at Pikachu, who seemed very pleased with Lillie. “Thanks...”  

There was a pleasant silence between them, before Lillie spoke again.  

“... I'm afraid of Pokémon.” She confessed. “I don't remember why I was suddenly so scared of them. That's why I freeze when Pikachu waves at me! He's so cute and I want to wave back too but I can't.”  

Pikachu lowered his ears. "Pika...” He mumbled sadly.  

“But I love Pokémon so much!” Lillie suddenly seemed determined. “Which is why I go to Pokémon School! I know that if I face my fear, I'll be able to touch a Pokémon again!”  

“Pika!” Pikachu exclaimed.  

“AHH!” Lillie froze again.  

Ash gave her an apologetic smile. “In that case, Lillie, I'll help you out.”  

“Really!?”  

"You know, you gave me some advice that no one has ever given me before.” Ash smiled. “And I think I'll try it. But I also want to help you.” Ash nodded. “You see, the rest of my Pokémon will arrive in Alola when the barn at Professor Kukui's house is done. I know there might be one of them that can help.” He smiled. “Maybe you need a Pokémon with a gentler personality to ease you into touching one.”   

Lillie stared. “You know, that could work!”  

“Pika!”  

Lillie froze. Ash smiled nervously. "I think we should work first on how to greet Pokemon..."

Lillie sweated a bit. "Right..." She chuckled nervously.

"Relax, Lillie. It's a simple greeting from afar." Ash reassured.

Lillie nodded. She seemed to steel her nerves. "A-Alola, P-Pikachu!" She carefully waved.

Pikachu waved back. "Pika-chu!"

Lillie seemed to almost freeze for a moment before biting her lip and steeled her nerves. "I can do this... It's just a cute and cuddly and adorable friendly pikachu... He won't harm me..." She mumbled to herself. "Alola, Pikachu!" She waved again with much more confidence.

"Pika! Pika!" Pikachu waved both arms, excited at the progress.

Lillie flinched a bit, but didn't freeze this time. She cracked a wide smile. "I... I greeted a Pokemon! I said Alola to a Pokemon!" It was such a simple, everyday thing and Lillie couldn't do it, yet this small feat brought her overflowing joy.

Ash smiled. Maybe he did find a new friend after all.

Chapter Text

Professor Oak tried to be the most supporting person he could be.  

When his son, Blue Oak, and his wife died caught in a poacher attack close to the Unova Region, it left a huge hole in his heart and two children to take care of. Daisy and Gary, his beloved grandchildren. He tried his damned best as he juggled raising children again and his career as a professor while he mourned. A combination of stress and family genetics fast-tracked his graying hair and at fifty-six he barely had any hair left untouched, giving him an older appearance. He was in his sixties now. Despite this, he tried his best and he was proud to say he had succeeded. Daisy left to go get a proper education in one of the best universities in the world and Gary simultaneously studied online and was making a name for himself as a researcher with plans on getting a title later, despite his young age.  

Samuel always tried to be the most supporting person he could be.  

He had known the Ketchums for years. He had given their only son his starter Pokémon, a little Charmander. Red Ketchum was an amazing young man, completing the version of the PokeDex available at the time. Even becoming Kanto Champion! He was friends with his son Blue and with a bright young lady named Leaf. The three were inseparable when young. Samuel remembered them fondly before the memories of the troublemaking trio shattered.  

The poacher attack that took his son’s life and his wife’s, also took Red’s. Leaf was never found but was assumed dead as well. The Pokémon weren’t found either and the ones that were found... they were killed in the attack. The police couldn’t catch the poachers. Samuel always suspected those three had gotten into more trouble than they could manage and paid the price. He always suspected that it wasn’t a ‘poacher attack’, but no other evidence was found against it. To Samuel, it was like losing two more children.  

Delia had grown up with them, though she was never adventurous enough to go on a Pokémon journey with them. She and Red eventually got married as expected since they were always dancing around each other.  

Delia was once his assistant when she studied to become a Pokémon Professor back in the day... before she found out Ash was on the way. She had decided to become a stay-at-home mother, not that she minded. She always wanted a family and Red was excited to become a father himself. The plan was that after their baby was old enough to go to school, she would return to her studies. When Red died, Delia couldn’t take it. Red had gone with Blue, his wife and Leaf to Unova to ‘check something’ they said. ‘We’ll be back soon’, they said.  

They never came back. Blue and his wife returned to Kanto for burial, but Red... He had a will and it stated that he wanted to be cremated. He was never one to believe in getting buried and never seeing the light of day again. True to his bad sense of humor, he had stated that he wanted his ashes to be scattered in Blue’s coffee, but that was written before both of them perished. Delia obviously did not listen and kept his ashes at home, promising herself that one day, she would scatter his ashes in a place that felt like he would want to rest.  

Then, after the initial shock passed, Delia suddenly found herself a young widow with a baby on the way and Samuel tried to be the most supportive friend he could be to her. He let her inside his house, offered some tea, a hug and a listening ear while he juggled a newborn Gary. But Delia had refused to talk in front of the children, opting instead to help Daisy paint some pretty flowers in a coloring book. The children were recently orphaned. Only when they were put to sleep did Delia finally crumble.  

Like many single mothers, Delia set aside her dreams to care for and provide for her child. She reopened her family's old restaurant, The Pallet House. She received the town’s support in the form of baby clothes, formula, toys, homemade food, a crib, anything she could ask for. Delia helped him with Daisy and Gary and in turn, Samuel helped her with the nursery, painting the baby's room and doing repairs around her family's old home so she and her baby could be comfortable.  

Then, Satoshi Ketchum was born.  

He was younger than Gary by a few months and would go to school together when they were old enough.  

Samuel found himself becoming the sole male influence in Satoshi's life since Delia never remarried. Not by lack of suitors, but even in death, she was loyal to her husband. Later, as the boy grew up, he went by Ash since it was easier to pronounce for most children and the nickname stuck.  

He'd come to care for Ash as if he were another grandson.  

That was the story, and it was not so different from many others. Widowed young mother with a child but overcame her obstacles like a champ.  

However, she was bound to make some mistakes along the road.  

Like never telling Ash about his father.  

Samuel knew that it was unfair, not only to Ash but to Red’s memory. However, Samuel never intervened in his personal matters. He always thought that maybe not telling Ash about Red was her way of avoiding old wounds and a past she’d rather leave behind. When little Satoshi did ask eventually why he didn’t have a father, Delia panicked and told him he had gone on a Pokémon journey and wouldn’t be back for a very long time.  

“You have to tell him eventually, Delia.” He told her one day.  

“I know, I just... I’m not ready...”  

He left it at that.  

Which was why Samuel needed to talk to Delia about her crumbling relationship with her son. The decline started when Ash had his first legendary encounter with Ho-Oh at the beginning of journey. Samuel was the first to know about it when the boy called him, retelling the exciting story. It was exciting indeed; most people would never meet a legendary Pokémon in their lifetime. Samuel thought that would be the last thing he would hear of any legendary encounters and instead would hear about Gym battles and competitions.  

He should've known better. Especially if the first legendary Ash ever encountered was Ho-Oh, who was said to promise eternal happiness, though also said to be a sign of warning of a significant fate to whoever sees it. This applied to Pokémon as well and Pikachu saw it too. Whatever was in store, their destinies were tied together.  

Then Ash died. He died. Caught in the middle of a fight between the legendary Mew and the mysterious Mewtwo. He died . And then came back to life. But he was DEAD. Turned to stone...  

Then he subsequentially heard about more and more encounters.   

He started having some fantastic suspicions about what was going on. No one in known history had encountered so many legendaries like Ash did. At least, no one that lived to tell the tale. But one encounter cemented his suspicions about the young trainer.  

Lugia, the Guardian of the Seas.  

He almost had a cardiac arrest when Ash encountered the legendary Lugia and the prophecy that quite literary had-his-bloody-name-on-it .    

...thus the earth shall turn to ash .  

... Ash .  

It couldn't be a coincidence.   

Then Samuel knew that Ash wasn't ordinary. And while the prophecy was strangely specific to the situation Ash was in at the time, Samuel knew that it pointed towards something greater. Another well-known prophecy with greater ramifications.   

Ash was soul touched; a human blessed by the heavens, foretold to help bring balance to the world. A prophecy that not many believed in, despite living in a world filled with the extraordinary and the magical. There were theories that it might refer to various humans across different periods in time. Born in an era where they were needed the most, so the prophecy was bound to repeat itself time and time again when it needed to be. How often this happened, if true, Samuel wasn't sure. But he was certain of one thing: Ash was one of those soul touched humans.   

The Chosen One.  

… a fact that terrified Delia and for good reason.  

As Ash's adventures become more and more dangerous, Delia grew much more terrified for his safety. Samuel attempted to talk her through it, but she insisted that it was fine. Nothing bad was going on, nothing too serious. Ash was just on his Pokémon journey; dangerous things were bound to happen. Denying what was truly happening and proceeding to never speak of certain events again, even when her son started showing signs of distress and clearly needed someone to talk to; unconsciously denying him that simple request. An angrier side of Samuel wanted to tell her to suck it up because her son was right there, he needed her. Yet, he knew he was to blame as well for not acting sooner.  

With time, as Ash encountered many more legendaries, got involved with the wrong people, stopped world ending events, he slowly stopped relying on his mother. And him by extension. Samuel couldn't count the times he saw the boy reaching out to Delia, only to pull back and change the subject. Ignoring his own pain for his mother's sake. He spent less time in Pallet Town.  

Then the Tree of Life happened in the Kingdom of Rota, a mysterious Lucario and Mew again and Ash could suddenly use Aura. That moment confirmed to Samuel that this was greater than themselves. Something big was coming and Ash was right in the middle of it all. He only saw the boy use Aura once and never again. Not after Delia's terrified expression upon seeing the blue orb in her son's hands.  

It was also around that time that Ash became more and more reserved with the details of his adventures. Samuel begged him to talk to him, but he only got scraps. Bits and pieces that Samuel was forced to put together in a notebook he kept well-guarded to understand what was going on and keep track of the boy. Names, places, people of interest, all of it.  

He managed to talk about small things though. He loved to talk about his Pokémon.   

Then, one by one, most of the friends he'd made over the three years he'd been travelling, fell out of contact with Ash. That destroyed the boy.  

“Ash, it's alright.” Samuel assured the boy through one of their videocalls. “It's normal for that to happen. Everybody has their own path to walk on and sometimes that takes us away from people.”  

Ash shook his head. He was currently in the Unova Region, preparing to return to Pallet Town after his journey there. He was crying. “They are running away from ME, professor! Everywhere I go, the people that follow me, they get into trouble they can't handle! They get scared and they just leave! And it's fine, they can leave; I won't stop them! I'm a walking hazard! I'm surprised my Pokémon haven't left me too!”  

Samuel felt his heart shatter. “Ash...”  

“Mom would leave me if she could too.” He was sobbing.  

“Don't say those things, young man. You know that's not true.” Samuel stated with a warning tone.   

“Then why won't she listen to me!? She's never there when I really need her! She pretends no shit ever happens to me!” Ash glared. “All she does is focus on the nicer parts of my journey! And she’s a liar too! Well, guess what? Weird shit does happen to me and then she's suddenly a coward!”  

“Why are you saying that!?” Samuel exclaimed.  

“Well, she lied about my father!” He laughed, but there was no happiness. “What idiot believes for most of his life that his father is on a journey? Me! I’m that idiot! She lied! He’s not on a journey!”  

Samuel felt cold for a moment. He had forgotten that Ash was in Unova. It was in Unova where his father died. Had he...?  

“He obviously fucking left us!” Ash said instead, with a vocabulary he probably picked up on his journey.  

Red leaving Delia and Ash? No... Oh, no... That assumption was way worse than Ash finding out the truth by himself. “Satoshi Ketchum, enough with that language! I will not stand for you to insult your mother like that or your father!”  

“Why do you care?” Ash glared. “All you do is stand by the sidelines and gather data!”  

“Satoshi! Enough!”  

“You're not my grandfather, professor!”  

Samuel tried hard not to show on his face how much that hurt but failed. Ash seemed shocked at himself and lowered his head in shame.  

“I'm sorry, professor... I...” His voice cracked.  

Samuel sighed. “No, I’m sorry. Just... Be careful on your way home, Ash.”  

Ash nodded and without a second word, he ended the call. Samuel threw himself back on his chair and massaged his forehead. He sighed.   

“Ashy-boy grew a pair, didn't he?”  

Samuel turned around and saw Gary standing by the entrance to his office in his pajamas. “Sorry I overheard all that but it's the middle of the night and I was coming here to make you go to bed at a reasonable hour but...” Gary pointed at the dark computer screen. “That happened. Ouch. Your ego must be hurt.”  

Samuel rolled his eyes. “Gary, please. Now it's not the time.”  

“Why defend his deadbeat father?”  

Samuel stared at Gary. Gary knew the story of his parents’ demise, but he didn’t know that Red was involved as well. “That’s none of your business, Gary.”  

A part of Samuel fought against him telling him that it was totally his business since Red was Gary’s godfather, but the boy didn’t know that. Maybe he was as guilty as Delia.  

Gary rolled his eyes and continued. “He's right on a couple of things, though. Never thought I’d say that.” Samuel gave Gary a look. Gary rolled his eyes. “It's Delia, grandpa.”  

“What about her--”  

“-- She needs to stop .” Gary ignored his grandfather as he adopted a rare, mature stance on his argument. “I'm sure she has her reasons, maybe she just doesn't want to lose Ash and thinks that ignoring the problem will solve it. Delia needs to sit down and talk to her son.”  

Samuel sighed. “It's not that simple, Gary.”  

“The solution is simple.” Gary stated. “What led to that problem, not so much.”  

“What are you talking about?”  

“She needs to understand that there are powers at play that go beyond her control. Anyone's control.” Gary gave him a knowing look. “The sooner she accepts that, the better. After all, isn't Ashy-boy destined to save us all?”  

Samuel stared at Gary with wide eyes. “Gary, how did you...?”  

“...figured that Ashy-boy is the Chosen One?” The thirteen-year-old scoffed. “As soon as I heard Ash encountered Ho-Oh, then Mew, then Lugia... I knew something wasn't right. Something was not normal.” Gary gave him a sad smile. “What? You think you're the only one that constantly calls Ash? You know, he needs someone in his corner that isn’t making things unnecessarily complicated for him like the two of you. I know you call him, so do I, believe it or not. First, I want to smack his ugly head... then battle him... then give him a hug if the first two don't work out. If neither of those work, I try to give him a pep talk... which is challenging him to another battle. Sue me.” Gary rested his shoulder on the doorway and crossed his arms. “Anyone with ears and some brain power can figure it all out.”  

Samuel seemed to dwell on his grandson's words. “Have you told anyone?”  

“I'm not dumb, gramps. I'm not a snitch either. Telling the wrong people will only get Ash into more trouble.” Gary sighed. “I don't think any of you adults realize it, but this whole Chosen One thing is going to end us all as a family if you don't do something about it.” Gary looked down. “You can't risk that. You need to talk to Delia before the two of you lose your chance. Eventually, Ash will stop turning to you both because he won’t have the support he needs.”   

“I listen to him, Gary. But you already saw how that turned out!” Samuel pointed at the black computer screen. “What would you have me do?”  

Gary glared at his grandfather. “Really? You’re asking me that. Daisy is right. For all your brains, you really can be stupid sometimes.”  

“Hey! I’ve only been trying to help him!”  

Gary put down his foot. “Use that big brain of yours if you even have one and figure it out! It’s that simple! He gave you the answer right there!” With that said, he left Samuel all alone in his lab, slamming the door behind him.  

For the majority of Ash’s journey through Kalos, the boy barely called anymore. He made a few calls to him and Delia, but mostly, the upgrades he got were from Gary. Ever since he and Ash developed a healthier rivalry and friendship, they talked often. He also got upgrades through Ash’s essays. Samuel had him write essays for him when Professor Sycamore contacted him and told him about the Bond Phenomenon. He had Ash’s essays published to the League for proper credit and revenue if any when he started to notice how immaculate Ash’s papers were. There was talent there for research.  

He still didn’t call him directly. Only a few times. One to introduce the mysterious Greninja, the Pokémon that shared the Bond with the young trainer. It was an interesting Pokémon, and he was almost tempted to ask Ash to send her over for further research when Ash corrected him and told him that Greninja was a girl while looking a bit offended about it, so did the Pokémon. Samuel assumed it had something to do with that mysterious connection.   

Another time was to introduce his new friends with whom he seemed... happier. Clemont was a brilliant young man, his younger sister Bonnie had a lot of promise as a future trainer and Serena was a lovely young lady. Ash seemed more at peace with himself. They stopped the conversation after that. Ash only asked how his mother was doing and that was it.   

Then the Kalos Crisis happened.  

It was by far the worst scenario Ash had been in. It was horrifying and this time, there was a death toll in the hundreds. Both people and Pokémon died .  

Samuel needed to know everything. He called his many colleagues in Kalos to send him all the information they could. He didn't know what led to this, Ash hadn't told him anything and he had yet to call. Delia was worried beyond compare; he could tell.  

There was a man called Lysandre. He seemed the perfect example of what a kind and ethical researcher should be. Samuel knew about him, his investigations on Mega Evolution were exceptional, though not comparable with Professor Sycamore's. A brilliant man, eager to always help young trainers on their journey.  

...turns out he was a monster.  

He wanted to reshape the world to his own taste, his vision as he called it. He wanted to play God and decide who should live and who should die. And somehow, he needed Ash and Greninja to do that.   

One of Samuel's colleagues sent him a video, taken from one of the surveillance cameras placed around Lumiose City. It was Ash on top of a building, chained down by metallic orbs on his hands and feet, along with his Pokémon Kalos team. Something was happening, a large torrent of water surrounding Ash and Greninja. There was a conversation, but the video couldn't record it. Lysandre was laughing... until he wasn't. The restraints were broken, and Ash and the Pokémon were free. How? Samuel didn't know. But he didn't miss the hint of a blue flash in Ash's eyes. Samuel knew enough to know that it was Aura, not Bond Phenomenon. Or both? He couldn't be sure.  

Samuel wasn't given the chance to even wonder what legendary Ash met this time. It became painfully obvious it was Zygarde. Zygarde was a legendary Pokémon known for only appearing in its complete true form when the fate of the world was at stake. If he hadn't appeared before now... then it spoke levels of how dire the situation was.  

It took days. DAYS. It took days for Ash to even contact them. He said he was returning soon. Didn't bother to give any other explanation. When he did return, he didn't go to his house, he went straight Samuel's. Samuel thought that maybe Ash trusted him enough to tell him what happened, but sadly, he was mistaken. The night Ash arrived he developed a fever high enough to be concerned. As he was unconscious, Delia came by to help take care of him. However, Pikachu stayed on guard, watching their every move. Watching them . Samuel didn't know if it was because of them or because the little mouse was still settling after Kalos. Hawlucha, Noivern and Talonflame, the only Kalos Pokémon that didn't stay behind, were weary and they didn't know them. Delia left early in the morning before Ash woke up.  

When he was well, he was quiet. Samuel didn't dare to push for any explanations and Ash didn't give him any. It was obvious he wasn't going to. He spent most of his time with his Pokémon. Catching up with them, feeding them, training them, playing with them. The times he wasn't, he was on the phone with either Misty, Brook, Clemont and Bonnie or Serena. And the times he wasn't doing any of those things, he was sitting outside petting his Pokémon. Samuel didn't want to bother him. It was in those times he noticed the little details. How much taller he had gotten, about five inches taller. How his gaze seemed cold and vacant. How quick he was quick to anger. How quiet he had become.  

It was almost impossible to reach him.   

He finally talked to Delia. He'd admit, he probably took way too long to do so. After three weeks of Ash living with Oak, Delia finally came by in person with one of Ash's favorite dishes. She saw him sitting outside, his back towards her. Samuel gave her a thumbs-up and opened the backdoor of the lab for her.  

“Hi, sweetie.” She called.   

Ash turned his head, his eyes widened in surprise. “Mom...”  

“It's a beautiful day, isn't it?”  

“Um... yeah?” He was quiet. For a moment, he seemed like he wanted to say something else.  

“I brought in one of your favorites! Why don't we sit down and talk about your journey?”  

The question was innocent enough. But it wasn't what Ash wanted to hear, apparently. He lowered his gaze, a look of resignation on his face.   

“No, thanks... I... I need to tend to my Pokémon.” He stood up, Pikachu following close behind.  

Delia held her hands and gave Ash a concerned look. “Satoshi...”  

Ash stopped in his tracks. His hand formed a tight fist before letting go. “I'm fine, mom...” His trembling voice betrayed his statement. “I mean... Everything is fine. It's always fine. Nothing bad ever happens, right? I'll just forget about it and go on on my next journey, right? Then comeback home with only fun stories to tell.” Samuel could see the sun shining through the tears running down Ash's cheeks from where he was standing. “Because as long as you hear the good parts, the bad don't matter, right?”  

“Ash...” Delia sobbed.   

“It's alright. I get it. I'll tell you about the good parts later.” He kept walking.  

Delia stood there, with wide teary eyes. A hand extended forward to reach her son, but her feet wouldn't move. When Ash fully left their line of sight, Delia crumbled to her knees. Samuel was quick to kneel by her side and hugged her.  

Samuel wondered if they were too late. Ash had built walls around his heart and only a select few had the key and the right to it. Misty, Brock, Clemont, Bonnie, Serena, Gary and all his Pokémon seemed to have a key, and whoever else might have one. Samuel grew tense. Maybe... they didn't have a key to his heart anymore.  

The next day, he decided to try something else. “Gary, has Ash told you anything? About what happened?” He asked his grandson.  

Gary looked up from his bag. He was getting ready to leave for a research trip all the way in Hoenn. Gary gave him a small glare. “Why don't you ask him? He's right outside.”  

“He won't tell me anything.”  

Gary rolled his eyes. “I wonder why.”  

Samuel swore his grandson was out to get him sometimes. “Gary--”  

Gary shoved his bag onto his bed and turned to look at him. “Really, gramps? You haven't figured it out yet? I thought you were smart.”  

Samuel was tired of trying to figure out whatever Gary meant. He sighed. “Just tell me. You don't seem to have a problem with shoving the truth down my throat. Tell me what I did wrong.”  

Gary gave him a look. “I was hoping you would figure it out by yourself...” He mumbled. “Alright, I will. I'll start by saying that Delia is a lost case, if yesterday was any indication. Ash already gave up on her.” Gary crossed his arms, deep in thought. He sighed and looked at Samuel. “Gramps, the problem he has with you is not that you don't call him or check on him. The problem is that you ask the wrong questions.”  

“What do you mean by that?”  

Gary gave him a sad look. “Gramps, you carry around a notebook with annotations and newspaper clippings about Ash like one of your research projects. Don't give me that look. Yes, I go through your stuff, and I have no shame whatsoever. I've seen it. Still haven't figured it out?”  

“I'm trying to keep track of his whereabouts--”  

“You're treating Ash like another interesting research topic. THAT'S the problem.”  

Silence.  

“What... I... I don't...”  

“I can't believe I'M the one making sense here. You call him, but the first thing you ask about is his Pokémon, what professors he's met, who he's working with, what did he learned lately, what he's doing. You ask him to share data, write essays, and demand to know everything about the legendaries he's met and the amount of danger they possess. You don't ask him about his friends, what fun things he's done, if he's met a girl and won't die alone and single. He willingly used to tell you those things because he wanted to share them, not because you asked. In any case, you've been doing what Delia has been doing, just in a different way.”  

He put a few shirts inside his bag. “Gramps. Ash has died multiple times. He's seen things no other human should see and you can only ask about the legendaries. And Delia prefers to ignore that fact.”  

“But we care about him!” Samuel exclaimed a bit desperately.   

“Even adults don't communicate and make mistakes, gramps. Then someone else is harmed.” Gary sighed, defeated. “I'm not telling you anything Ash has told me in confidence. Like I said before. He needs someone in his corner. And he and I didn't have a good rivalry growing up, I'll admit I'm a bit of an ass. But I'll be damned if I break what little trust he managed to put in me. If you want to know something from now on, you must earn his trust and ask him directly.” He zipped his bag. He heard his bedroom door creak. When he turned around, Samuel was gone.  

Two days later, Samuel watched as Ash and Gary shared a hug before Gary left for his research trip. Gary mumbled something to Ash, to which he nodded at. Then he left and Ash went back to his little routine of taking care of his Pokémon and no further plans on what to do next.  

Samuel sighed. He messed up. He messed up big time and he didn't know how to fix it. He stayed up all night trying to come up with a solution, but he couldn't find one. Not one that would work with him, and Delia involved. Ash needed to heal and could only achieve that with people that were willing to truly listen, like Gary did. Samuel knew that he and Delia had lost their chance to help him. And if they wanted his forgiveness, they had to work hard for it. But they couldn't be the ones to help him.  

He told Delia what he was thinking, about his plan. She agreed with a heavy heart.  

He contacted Professor Kukui, everything was set. He only needed to tell Ash.  

They sat down at the dining table as Samuel explained to Ash why he wanted to send him to Alola. He explained that Professor Kukui wanted to study Pokémon outside of Alola and needed help. He suggested Ash go with all his Pokémon to Alola. He would be staying with the professor there. He told him about Pokémon School, where Professor Kukui taught at. He also explained there was much more.   

“Alola is quiet, peaceful. No major legendaries to worry about, crime rate is extremely low and there was many regional Pokémon you might befriend, like the Alolan Raichu.” He hoped mentioned the Alolan form would spark Ash's interest.  

Ash simply nodded. “Alright, I guess I'll go.”  

Samuel looked at him sadly. “I want you to heal, my boy.”  

Ash finally looked up, probably baffled at the professor's statement. “Professor?”  

“Your mother and I haven't been kind to you. Not when you needed us the most.” He wanted to grab Ash's hands and hold them tight, but he fought against the urge. He knew the boy would flinch away. “I already spoke with your mother, and she agrees with me. Being here with us isn't doing you any good and I don't want you to fall into a deeper hole that you won't be able to get out of.” He was tired. “Alola will be good for you. I know it.”  

“How long?”  

“As long as you need to. If you don't like it, you can always come back.” Samuel had the suspicion that that either way, Ash wouldn't want to come back.  

Ash didn’t say anything else. Samuel sighed internally. Gary was right. He had to earn his trust again.   

Then the day arrived when Delia and Samuel left Ash at the airport with his only two bags and his beloved Pikachu. He hesitantly hugged them both with a quiet goodbye and walked to the gate for departure. Delia sobbed and Samuel hugged her tightly.   

“I lost my little boy, professor.” She sobbed. “It's all my fault...”  

“You didn't lose him, Delia. He just...” He fought his own tears. “He just needs to find his way, that's all.” He pulled away. “And if it's your fault then I'm to blame as well.”  

“Samuel...”  

He sighed. “Let's get parental counseling. I can't keep asking him the wrong questions and you can't keep pretending everything is alright.”  

Delia looked down. “I thought... I once thought that I would lose him like I lost his father but then... turns out he was the Cho--…" She looked away. “I thought I would lose him for good but... I'm the one that's been pushing him away!”  

"Delia, we need counseling. Not just for our sake, but for Ash's.”  

Delia sniffed and nodded. “Alright. I'll do it.”  

When they returned home, Samuel went straight to his lab and grabbed ahold of the journal he had been keeping on Ash. He went outside to a sandy area of the farm. Out of his pocket, he grabbed a scratched up pokeball that had seen better days. He threw the ball into the air and a massive Charizard, bigger than Ash's came into view. Its skin was saggy in some places and what were once bright orange scales were starting to dim a bit with age, but nevertheless, a dragon still in its prime compared with how long they could live.   

“Cherry?” Usually, he didn't speak his Charizard's name aloud. She had been his starter Pokémon and at the time, it was the best name he could come up with. It stuck.  

Cherry opened her eyes as Samuel patted his nose. “I’m sorry to disturb your sleep, my girl. But I need your help with something.” He held up the journal. “I need you to burn this. I have to erase its existence.”  

Cherry blinked. Her large eyelashes fluttered away any remaining sleep. She looked into Samuel's eyes, confused at the request.  

“I made a mistake. A big one. And to make it right, I need to get rid of this.”  

Cherry looked at the journal, then at him and nodded. Samuel threw the journal on the sand and Cherry was quick to shot a flamethrower at it. The heat was so intense that Samuel shielded his eyes for a moment. When Cherry was done, she nuzzled at him to let him know that he could look. The journal was nothing more than a pile of ash and burned paper.  

“Thank you, Cherry.”  

Professor Oak tried to be the most supporting person he could be...  

...tried.  

Chapter Text

A week passed since his arrival and Ash was settling into a comfortable routine. School was going well, and his classmates were extremely nice. Though he was friendly by nature, he still wasn't trying to really be friends with them at first, maybe except Lillie. Through his aura senses, as much as he hated and elected to ignore them, he could feel they were genuinely good and kind people. But he didn't trust as easily as he once did before. Too many people he thought were good had betrayed him in the past. Yet, this was different. It felt like he was back with Clemont, Bonnie and Serena. Like with Brock and Misty. He tried to wrestle against his conflicting feelings, but his aura senses won over his head and suddenly, he was going to places with them. They had fun and they were interesting people.   

Lana loved the sea and spent most of her free time in the water. Lillie loved to study and knew so much about Pokémon, though she didn't have one of her own. Kiawe was an exceptional battler, and his family owned a farm on Akala Island. He was invited to go taste the cheese, milk and ice cream. Sophocles knew a lot about electric types and Rotom got along with him well. And Mallow was kind and fuzzed over them, asking if they ate, if they took their vitamins or if they got enough sunshine today.  

Kukui was an amazing professor and though Ash already knew a lot of the things he taught in class, he was happily surprised to find that he was learning something new every day. He may be thirteen, but he did enjoy arts and crafts on Friday, which was apparently their downtime in class once a week.  

He was starting to like it here.  

The barn next to Kukui's house was almost completed and soon, his Pokémon will be joining him. He couldn't wait to have them all with him. He realized that this would be the first time he would spend so much time together with all his Pokémon in one place. Ash grew even more excited. Today was a good day. He hadn't had one of those in some time. He looked back at the sleeping Rowlet inside his backpack, his newest addition to the team. He smiled.  

He was invited by Mallow to try a new fruit dish and Pikachu gave his approval before letting Ash answer. The others were a little busy in the afternoon, so it was only him and Pikachu. They talked for a while as Mallow explained that the dishes were meant to be appetizers. Suddenly, an owl-like bird flew down from the sky attempting to snatch Bounsweet, which effortlessly canceled his attack with a slap to the face. Mallow explained that a lot of birds did that because they were attracted to Bounsweet's smell and thought she was some tasty fruit to eat. Ash nodded and suggested he was probably hungry.  

“Here you go, buddy. Eat up all you want.” Ash placed a bowl of fresh fruit on the porch for which the bird Pokémon devoured.  

“Rowlet, the owl Pokémon!” Rotom informed.  

Ash smiled. “Rowlet, huh? You must be really hungry.”  

Rowlet stole a whole watermelon and flew away. He and Mallow had followed the Rowlet into the forest where they saw him carrying the watermelon into a nest filled with little pickipecks, a trumpbeak and a toucanon. All of them in the same line of evolution, obviously a family that merely included a rowlet by chance.  

“I guess he was just getting food for his family.” Ash grinned.  

“Aww...” Mallow cooed. “I'll make sure to leave some fruit outside from now on so he can bring home!”  

Suddenly, Team Rocket appeared and trapped the birds in a net because... of course they would follow him to Alola.  

“Team Rocket!” He called. “What are you doing here!?”  

The trio of criminals gasped. “It's the twerp!” Jessie pointed.  

“What is he doing in Alola!?” James asked. “Is that a new twerpette?” He pointed at Mallow.  

“Who cares!? He'll try and stop us, let's go!”  

The interaction was quick, and it went as usual. Rowlet helped defeat Team Rocket while Pikachu blasted them off again. However, a Bewear appeared out of nowhere seemingly and grabbed the trio, running off with them into the depts of the forest.  

“We're off with a new blast!” They exclaimed from afar until they disappeared.  

Ash stared in their direction. “That's... I'm not even going to question it.”  

“You know them, Ash?” Mallow asked.  

“Yeah. They keep appearing in every region I go to. They always try to steal Pikachu.”  

After the birds were freed, Rowlet decided to tag along with Ash as his family supported him. That's how Ash found himself on the way back home with a sleeping Rowlet inside his backpack. His first Alolan Pokémon.  

“That Rowlet sure sleeps a lot.” Rotom commented.  

“Looks like it. He's the Sleeping Champion!” Ash joked.  

“Pika pika!” Pikachu jumped on Ash's shoulder and poked Rowlet. The little owl stirred in his sleep but didn't wake up. Pikachu attempted not to laugh.  

“Pikachu, let him sleep.” Ash said though he was trying not to laugh either.  

They arrived at Kukui's house. Ash stopped for a moment to stare at the barn next to the house. It was big, made of high-quality wood and it had two floors with various open windows, perfect for all flying types. He opened the huge double wooden doors and stared in awe. It was bigger on the inside. There were perches for the birds, high ceilings with a wooden staircase that led to the second floor. The second floor was mostly just half of the barn with a small balcony looking down to the first floor. Ash imagined the smaller Pokémon would enjoy it up there along with the birds. There was a wall with wooden boxes stacked on top of each other and little corral stairs leading to each box with cozy blankets and hay inside. There were also bigger stable-like spaces, perfect for the bigger Pokémon like Charizard or Torterra to have their own space without accidentally crushing anyone. Finally, lots of open space for everybody to run around.  

“Pikachu, this place is amazing!”  

“Pika-chu!”  

“My data indicates that the amount of Pokémon coming here will only occupy twenty-one percent of the barn's space!”  

“Whoa! That's great! They can have lots of space!”  

Suddenly, he felt his backpack wiggle and out came Rowlet. He flew next to Ash as he shook away the remains of sleep. The little owl looked around.  

“Rooowww!!!” Rowlet exclaimed as he happily flew around the barn.  

“You like it, Rowlet?”   

“Rooo Roooo!” Rowlet perched himself on Ash's shoulder  

“Awesome!”  

“Ash! What do you think of the barn?”  

Ash turned around and smiled. “Professor Kukui! This is awesome!”  

Kukui smiled at Ash's excitement. “The contractor came by early to finish off the final details. All it needs is a couple of Pokémon to make themselves at home! Ugh?” Kukui looked at the Pokémon perched on the boy's shoulder. “Well, who's this?” He grinned.  

Ash smiled. “This is Rowlet. I caught him in the forest.”  

“Roooo!”  

“Nice to meet you too, Rowlet. I'm Professor Kukui.” Kukui patted the owl on the head. Rowlet instantly melted at the gesture.  

“Well, I already made some dinner. Let's grab a bite and give Professor Oak a call to send your Pokémon here.”  

At the mention of Professor Oak, Ash's smile disappeared. “Oh, right.”  

Kukui caught on. “Ash, do you want me to call him? I don't mind.”  

"No, no, I – I can do it!”  

Kukui scratched his chin and sighed. “Ash, please don't take this the wrong way but... did something happen?”  

Ash looked down.  

“I know you haven't called your mother or the professor since you arrived. I know it's not my business, but your behavior... it's a bit worrisome.” Kukui shook his head. “Forget I ask, I'm sorry for poking my nose into your business.”  

Ash took a good look at Kukui. His aura senses unconsciously reached to Kukui's, as much as Ash tried to keep down his unwanted powers. The professor was sincere with his worry. He genuinely cared for his wellbeing.  

“It's alright, professor. I appreciate how much you care...” Ash patted Pikachu, as he usually did to try keep a sense of calmness. “Truth is... I'm a little angry and upset at them.” It was the first time he admitted that aloud.  

“Ash, did they do something?”  

Ash sighed. “Well, you already figured out the Chosen One thing about me, right?”  

Rowlet did a double take, any remaining sleep instantly faded away. “RROOWWW?” ‘ HE'S THE WHAT!? ’  

Pikachu gave him an apologizing grin. “...Pikapika Pikachu.” ‘... I'll explain later .’  

Rowlet looked at Pikachu with wide eyes, speechless.  

Kukui nodded. Ash continued explain. “Well, my mom is scared she'll lose me, and she started to pretend that all the bad things that happened in my travels didn't happen. Then, I slowly stopped relying on her.” He hugged his arms. “And the professor is kind and all, but most of the questions he asked... he just wanted to gather data.” He turned away. “I don't think they realized it until lately. At least, not until Gary spoke with the professor and knocked some sense into him. He's the professor's grandson.” He sighed. “I love them both, I really do. But... they weren't there for me when I really needed them. And... I guess I'm just upset with them.”  

Kukui suspected that was just a sweet version of the story, and a short one too, but he was glad the boy was opening to him.  

Rowlet sniffed and whined. “Rooo Rooowww...” He hugged Ash's face and rubbed his cheek on his forehead. "Rrrrroooo...” He was sad about the story.  

Ash smiled. “Oh, Rowlet... It's ok.”  

Rowlet patted his head with a wing to comfort him. Ash patted him on the head. “Thanks, Rowlet.” He looked up at the professor. “Mom texted me something about getting parental counseling, but I left it at that.”  

“I see...” Kukui mumbled. “Is that why you have trouble to speak about your problems aloud because of that?”  

“Well, to people mostly.” Said Ash. Pikachu licked his cheek. Ash chuckled. “I don't have a problem with Pokémon. They really get what you're trying to say.”   

Kukui understood him a bit more. It wasn't that he didn't have good parental figures. He was sure they tried their hardest, but like any parent, they made a few mistakes. And in Ash's special case...   

“Ash, I'm sorry you had to go through that.”  

“It's alright, professor.”  

“It's not. It's really not.”  

Ash looked up with wide eyes.  

“Ash, I know I'm not Professor Oak or your mother and you just met me recently but if you ever need to talk to someone, come to me. I won't judge.”  

Ash stared for a moment before smiling. “Thanks, professor. I really appreciate it.”   

Dinner time was quiet. Any conversation that was made was about how Ash caught Rowlet. The little owl tasted pokechow for the first time and fell in love with it. Then Rowlet met Bayleef and Rockruff and instantly became friends.   

Before Ash knew it, he was sitting right in front of the computer monitor, one click away from calling Professor Oak. Kukui gave him a thumbs up. He was going to be right by his side, though off screen. Ash nodded and clicked on the call button.  

After a few rings, Professor Oak appeared on screen. “Ash! I've been expecting your call! How's Alola!?” Oak seemed happy to see him.  

Ash smiled. “It's going great, professor.”  

“And how are you adjusting to Pokémon School? My cousin hasn't given you any problems, right?”  

“School is great! And your cousin is fun, he's just... um...”  

“Weird?” Oak offered.  

“A little.” Ash shrugged. “Professor, I'd like to have my Pokémon transferred over. Except for the Taurus!” He quickly added. “I don't think we can handle them right now.”  

Oak smiled and nodded. “Alright, I'll do that now.” He got up from his desk. “Tracey! Tracey! Where are you!? We're transferring Ash's Pokémon and I need assistance!” He walked off screen. “Tracey!” He called again.  

“Coming, professor!” A voice answered from afar. “Is Ash on video-call?”  

Heavy footsteps sounded closer until a teenager stumbled over the professor's chair and fell to the floor. He quickly got up and smiled at the camera. “Ash!”  

“Tracey!” Ash smiled excitedly. “You're back from your internship already?”  

Tracey blushed and scratched the back of his head. He was at an internship before Ash arrived from Kalos and hadn't been back since. “More like I got kicked out early. There was an incident at Professor Rowan's lab, and I had to go back early. See?” He held up his left arm in a cast.  

“Whoa, you broke your arm? What happened?”  

“...A piplup attacked me.” Tracey mumbled, embarrassed.   

Ash and Pikachu attempted not to laugh. “A piplup attacked you? A cute little penguin broke your arm?”  

“To be honest, I had it coming. And no, it wasn't the piplup that broke my arm. I wanted to make a sketch of it, but you know how hotheaded piplups can be; it didn't want a sketch. It hated my other drawings too. I insisted a bit too much and got attacked with a peck move. I fell backwards on a bookshelf and the bookshelf fell on my arm. That's how I broke it.” Tracey smiled nervously. “Piplup did apologize though. But it was mostly my fault.”  

“Tracey!” Professor Oak called from afar a bit more desperately. “Help me with these Pokémon, they'll run me over!”  

“Coming!” Tracey yelled back. “Be right back.” Tracey stood up and ran towards the professor.  

As they waited, Ash turned to Kukui. “That was Tracey. He accompanied me on a journey before becoming Professor Oak's assistant. He's a good artist.”  

Kukui grinned. “I see. Though, I don't think he'll try drawing a Piplup next time.”  

Suddenly, the transferring machine started beeping and first appeared a pokeball. Ash grinned. Professor Oak briefly appeared on screen.   

“Sorry for the wait.” Oak was sporting a small bruise on his cheek, a muddied lab coat, scorch marks and messed up hair. “I had to get them inside their pokeballs and they got a bit too excited when I told them I was sending them to you.”  

“Sorry about that.” Ash apologizes.   

“Nonsense. They're just happy to see you.” Oak smiled. “Give me a couple of minutes to send them over.” He walked off screen.  

Kukui had already grabbed a basket and started to put in all the pokeballs inside as they kept arriving. Ash had a wide grin on his face as he grabbed one of the first pokeballs. “Professor Kukui, my Pokémon can be a bit rowdy, so we'll need some assistance.” He threw the pokeball in the air. “Come on out!”  

In a flash, Bulbasaur stood in the middle of the lab. He looked a bit confused for a moment before spotting Ash.  

“Bulbasaur!” Ash exclaimed.   

Bulbasaur's eyes shined upon seeing his trainer. “Bulbasaur!” He threw himself on Ash’s awaiting arms.  

“Pika Pika!” Pikachu threw himself into the hug as well, greeting his old friend.  

“Bulba!” Bulbasaur greeted back. Bayleef ran over from the other room and threw herself into the hug for good measure. “BAY BAY!”  

“It's so good to see you! How did the others behave without me?”  

Bulbasaur shook his head. “Bulba, bub saur.” He facepalmed.  

Ash chuckled. “I see. Well, good job on trying to keep them on track. But I need your help now as well.” Ash pointed. “This is Professor Kukui! We'll be staying with him.”  

Kukui smiled. “Alola, Bulbasaur! Nice to meet you!”  

Bulbasaur smiled. “Bulba!” Bulbasaur immediately started helping the professor, collecting the absurd amount of pokeballs and placing them inside the basket with his vines. Kukui didn't seem that surprised with the amount of pokeballs.  

Rotom, who had been carefully watching, gasped. “Amazing! Bulbasaur seems to be the one that keeps the others in control, right?”  

“Yeah, well, he tries. But succeeds most of the time!” Ash exclaimed.   

When the last ball was placed inside the basket, Professor Oak finally appeared on screen along with Tracey. “Well, that's the last of them.”  

“Thanks, professor.”  

Professor Oak looked like he wanted to say something else but held his tongue. He simply smiled. “Let me know if you need anything else, alright?”  

“Mmmhhh.” Ash's went downward. He nodded but said nothing else.  

Oak sighed. “I'll let your mother know you're doing fine. She's been asking about you.”  

“Oh. Well, I'm doing alright.”  

Tracey looked between the screen and Professor Oak, clearly confused at this unusual interaction. “Did something happen? UFF--”  

Professor Oak was quick to place a hand over Tracey's mouth and silenced him before he said anything else. “Just give your mother a call soon, my boy. She's just worried.”  

Ash seemed to be fighting the urge to roll his eyes, Kukui nodded. “I'll call her later.” He said a bit more forcefully.  

Kukui took note on not even asking Ash to call his mother. ' Let him do it on his own time... ’ He thought.   

Professor Oak seemed to take the hint and nodded. “Alright. I'll leave you to it. I'm sure you're excited to greet your Pokémon!” He smiled. “Talk to you later, Ash.”  

"Goodbye, professor.” The call ended. Ash seemed lost in thought for a moment before turning to Bulbasaur to give him another hug.   

Kukui had been able to get a glimpse of what was going on and the situation did not paint well. Not horrible, just not that good. He could see the lack of trust Ash had, despite holding the professor in high regard, not to mention his reaction by simply mentioning his mother. But he could also see that Professor Oak clearly looked remorseful; he had probably wanted to apologize but decided it was not the best time. Looking back at the kid smiling at Bulbasaur, he could why now it was not the time.  

He held up the basket. “Say, Ash. Why don't you introduce me to your Pokémon?”  

That seemed to lift the boy's spirits. “Yeah! Let's go!” He grabbed the basket with both hands and ran off.  

“Pika!” Pikachu ran after him, along with Bulbasaur, Bayleef and Rotom.  

“Wait for me! I need new Pokémon data!” The tech Pokémon yelled.  

Kukui ran off behind them. Ash was already opening the front door, passing by a sleeping Rowlet and a confused Rockruff. The boy ran outside, a few good yards away from the house. Probably for safety reasons, Kukui assumed. The professor calmly walked towards him and stayed a few feet away. Rockruff and Rowlet sat next to him, watching in anticipation.  

“Professor, I'd like you to meet my Pokémon!” Ash three pokeballs into the air. “Come on out!”  

The first to come out were Buizel, Snivy and Pignite. They excitedly grabbed ahold of Ash's legs, seeking his love.  

“Hey, guys!”  

“Buizel!” “Snivy!” “Pignite!” The Pokémon said in unison, greeting their trainer.  

Ash laughed. “Guys, I need to let the others out too, then we can group hug, alright?” He said as he grabbed four more Pokéballs.  

They nodded and let go. Next to come out were Totodile, Infernape, Noctowl and Hawlucha.  

One by one, Pokémon started to appear. Kukui stared with wide eyes at the creatures before him. There were smaller ones that were usually found with more inexperienced trainers, but the professor didn’t doubt that these guys could pack a punch. There were the obvious powerhouses of the group like Charizard, Snorlax, Sceptile and Heracross. However, Kukui wouldn’t put it past them that some of the younger and the smaller ones were the hidden aces. There was a Noivern in the group that while it looked strong and powerful, behaved like a child hiding behind the Hawlucha and the Talonflame.  

Ash caught his gaze and smiled as he released the last of his Pokémon. “Noivern is still technically a little kid. He forced himself to evolve to save Hawlucha from a fall against a Zapdos.” He leaned closer. “He’s just shy. I had him since he was an egg and hatched into a little Noibat.”  

Kukui nodded. For a moment he was worried, as young Pokémon that evolved because of human interference before they were ready to usually suffer consequences, such as hindered abilities or develop disabilities. But if the Pokémon did the evolution by themselves, then it was normal, it meant that it was ready despite their age. It was how many survived in the wild. They could still evolve while still being a baby and stay a baby, only their bodies changed as their minds matured at a normal rate. It was complicated. The same could be said about Pokémon that stayed in their first stage of evolution despite already being adults and ready to evolve. He could give a class on it later now that he thought about it. Another look at Noivern told him that this was a really big baby. He made a mental note to himself to get age-appropriate Pokémon toys; he wasn’t sure if Noivern was the only young one of the group.  

Suddenly, as if the Pokémon had been expecting for the last of them to be released, they tackled Ash in a group hug. There was lots of chatter, distinct voices and sounds brought some chaos to his otherwise quiet property. He smiled at the genuine love they showed for their trainer. The kid must have done something right in their lives.  

“Alright, everyone! Please!” Ash laughed. “You've got to give me some space!”  

The Pokémon let go of their trainer, but still wagged their tails, smiled and stared with love in their eyes.  

“Guys, this is where we’ll be staying from now on! Welcome to the Alola Region!”  

The Pokémon cheered.  

“And this is Rowlet! Our new teammate!” Ash held the little owl above his head.  

“Roooooww!!!” Rowlet cheered. The others were quick to greet him.  

“And this is Rockruff!”  

“Ruff Ruff!” Rockruff wagged his tail as he got the same warm greeting from the others.  

“And this is Professor Kukui! We’ll be staying with him from now on.”  

“Alola!” Kukui waved.  

Silence and a few suspicious glares.  

Kukui slowly pulled down his hand. He felt judged by all the stares he was receiving. Unsure, cold, calculating, indifferent looks. He glanced at Pikachu, who was looking at him smugly. Ash was simply confused.  

Suddenly, Charizard came up to him. The beast towered over him. He was bigger than most Charizard he’d ever seen. A charizard’s size was usually a sign of its strength. Charizard seemed to be probably the same age as Pikachu, a young adult.  

Kukui stayed silent as he stared back at the dragon with a calm demeanor. Charizards valued fearlessness and strength primarily, which was why they were so popular with trainers since they always wanted to get stronger. This dragon was seizing him up. He'd understand another Pokémon, but a human? Unless...  

… oh .  

That made sense.  

It wasn’t because Charizard was looking for a fight to be the strongest, he was checking to see if he was a threat.  

To Ash.  

“Relax.” He whispered so only the dragon could hear him. “I just want to help him.”   

Charizard gave him a glare and looked at him from head to toe and back. He growled. Smoke came from his nostrils. In a second, he was scorched by his flamethrower.  

“Charizard! Cut it out!” Ash reprimanded.  

Kukui was left a mess of soot and ashes. He coughed a bit. “Well, that was…”   

“It means he likes you, Professor.” Ash glared at the dragon. “You should really find a better way to tell people you like them.”  

Charizard gave a low chuckle. Ash sighed, knowing that Charizard wasn't going to change his ways. The rest of the Pokémon seemed to lower their guard and approached Kukui to greet him as the professor shook off the rest of the soot from his lab coat.  

“Sorry about that, professor.”  

Kukui smiled. “It's alright, Ash. I had worse.”   

Ash seemed relieved about it.  

“Say, why don't you show your Pokémon where they'll be staying?”  

“Alright! Come on, guys!” Ash ran off to the barn with the Pokémon stampeding behind him, including Rowlet and Rockruff, leaving a cloud of dust behind them.   

Kukui grinned and ran after them. He arrived just in time to see the Pokémon's reaction and it was priceless. The Pokémon were already making themselves at home. The smaller ones were already claiming the small boxes as their own little nests as the larger ones did the same. The flying types flew around the barn, inspecting their new home while others still hung around Ash, giving him hugs and licks. Bayleef tackled a bunch of different Pokémon and showed her affection. Rowlet seemed to get acquainted with the birds while Rockruff attempted to play with Oshawott, who was far more interested in getting Snivy's love and affection. Snorlax had made himself comfortable in one of the larger stable-like spaces and instantly fell asleep. Kukui smiled to himself. Ash seemed happy in this chaotic and playful environment.  

Ash laughed with his Pokémon as they showered him with love. They seemed to like this place and they seemed to like Professor Kukui too! Well, after passing Charizard's judgement, of course. Pikachu looked at him with a warm smile that Ash reciprocated.  

Maybe they could call this place home. Eventually, anyways.  

Chapter Text

During the night, as Ash slept, Pikachu quietly made his way inside the barn, where he was greeted by some Pokémon that were still awake.   

“Hey, guys.” He spoke.  

“Hey.” Some replied in hushed tones, aware the others were asleep.  

Pikachu climbed on top of a wooden box to be more on their level. Charizard, Bulbasaur, Pignite, Infernape and Totodile were standing around Charizard's new stable-like area.   

“How are you guys holding up?” Pikachu quietly asked.  

Pignite shrugged. “It's fine, I guess. We're mostly just trying to adjust to the change of schedule.”  

“Still with the Kanto one.” Totodile replied.  

Bulbasaur spoke. “How's Ash doing in Alola, Pikachu?”  

Pikachu sighed. “Well, I think he's doing fine. We're not complaining about the professor. He's a good guy and he just wants to help. I guess he has so much experience with kids he just knows what to do and what to say.”  

Charizard scoffed. “I'm still keeping my eye on him.” His voice was deeper than the rest, but it came with being big. He was also a young adult like most of Ash's Pokémon.   

Bulbasaur rolled his eyes. “You don't need to be like that, Charizard. I'm sure we'll see a threat from a mile away. Don't try to scare the good people away.”  

“It's a warning.”  

“He's just overprotective.” Infernape chuckled.  

“What about friends?” Totodile asked Pikachu.  

“Well...” Pikachu thought. “There are his classmates. They're nice people, but Ash is holding back on becoming friends with them. There's Lillie. She's a bit afraid of Pokémon, but she gave Ash some good advice the other day.”  

Charizard grinned. “A human afraid of Pokémon?”  

“Don't you think about it, Charizard. The poor girl is terrified!” Pikachu exclaimed and gave the dragon the stink eye. “She reminds me of Ash in a way...”  

"So... possible girlfriend?” Infernape laughed.   

“SSShhhh! Infernape!” Bulbasaur motioned for him to lower his voice.  

“Sorry.”  

Pikachu shook his head. “Nope, I don't think so. Ash is still trying to figure out his feelings for Serena.”  

“The pretty girl from Kalos?” Totodile asked.  

Suddenly, a new member joined their group. “Did I hear Kalos?”  

“Hawlucha? What are you doing awake?” Bulbasaur asked.   

Hawlucha yawned. “Infernape was too loud.”  

Infernape looked bashful. “Sorry.”  

“It's fine. At least you didn't wake up Noivern.” Hawlucha pointed behind him at the young Pokémon hanging upside down, sleeping. “It would be a headache to get him back to sleep.”  

“You do a really good job with him.” Bulbasaur commented. “He's a sweet kid.”  

"Thanks.” Hawlucha turned to Pikachu. “About Ash's girlfriend...”  

“Serena is not Ash's girlfriend.”  

“But she kissed him.”  

The others chuckled. When Hawlucha told the story to the others when they first met, none of them could fathom a girl bold enough to kiss the densest boy on earth and yet Ash was dense enough not to ask her out right there.  

Pikachu sighed. “Just because she kissed him doesn't mean they're a couple, Hawlucha.”  

“Ah... alright.” Hawlucha nodded. “What about your girlfriend?”  

Pikachu groaned. “Greninja is not my girlfriend.”  

“I didn't say a name.” Hawlucha grinned.  

“Uhhhh...” The others teased.  

Charizard grinned evilly. “Is this the supposed powerful Pokémon from Kalos?”  

Hawlucha nodded. “Yes, she’s probably the most powerful out of all of us.”  

Charizard scoffed. “Not me. I bet I can take her down in a fight.”  

“She’ll pummel you and serve you your tail in a silver platter.” Pikachu commented with no hesitation.  

“In a power scale...” Hawlucha ignored him. “First it’s Pikachu, then Greninja... then you.” He pointed at Charizard.  

Charizard growled, feeling offended. “Number three!? Behind a mouse and a frog!?”  

“She did almost win a Pokémon League.”  

“I can win a League!” Charizard exclaimed.  

Hawlucha gave him a knowing look. “...Have you even reached top ten?”  

Charizard made an attempt to grab the bird by the throat, but Infernape pushed him back. “Charizard, please. It’s too late for this. And keep it down!”  

Hawlucha shrugged. “Anyways, I always said Pikachu should have asked her out or something.” He turned to the blushing mouse. “It was love at first sight.”  

“No, it wasn’t.” Pikachu groaned.  

“Yes, it was.”  

“You read way too many novels, Hawlucha.”  

Hawlucha shrugged. “What can I say? I like good love stories. And besides, if you didn’t feel something, you wouldn’t have said her name right away.”  

Pikachu turned red in the face. “You're always teasing me about her! Of course, I was going to assume you meant her!” He exclaimed in a whisper, careful not to wake the others.  

“What if I meant someone else?”  

“Like who?” Pikachu rolled his eyes.  

 “I'll come up with an answer soon.” Hawlucha gave it a good thought. “Yep. My answer is still Greninja.”  

Pikachu groaned. Charizard gave a deep chuckle. “Well, there's Glaceon and Buneary...” He counted with his claws. “And probably a couple more I haven’t meet.”  

“You're not helping, Charizard.” Pikachu glared.   

“I don't intend to.” Charizard grinned evilly. “Seriously, you attract females like no one's business.”  

“Yeah... the crazy ones!” Totodile giggled.  

Pikachu glared at the pair as they laughed at him. Bulbasaur rolled his eyes. “Come on, guys. Cut it out. You'll wake someone up! Stop talking about Pikachu's love life!”  

Charizard and Totodile looked at Bulbasaur for a moment before the entire group minus the electric rodent exploded in loud laughter. Several groans echoed across the barn. Pikachu facepalmed, knowing the fight was about to ensue.  

“Shut up! Shut up!” Torterra yelled from his stable. “We're trying to sleep! Not everybody is nocturnal like you!"  

“Go back to sleep! We're tired!” Snivy exclaimed from her tiny bed next to the other smaller Pokémon box beds on the wall.  

Talonflame, ever the elegant bird, perched herself on the balcony. “Boys, please. The younger ones need their sleep, and you just woke Noivern up.” She pointed at the large young bat rubbing the sleep away from his eyes.  

“What's going on?” he asked, still hanging upside down. Since he was so young, he still had a little child's voice.  

Talonflame smiled at Noivern. “The adults were just being inconsiderate. Please go back to sleep, my darling.”  

Sceptile stretched his arms from two stables down. “Would you mind?” he asked, rather annoyed.  

Oshawott glared at them tiredly. “What were you laughing about anyways?”  

The group tried to contain their laughter, but Charizard couldn't hold himself any longer. “PIKACHU'S LOVE LIFE!”  

There was silence for a moment. Suddenly, every single Pokémon in the barn laughed like there was no tomorrow, all at Pikachu's expense with Torkoal being the only one crying from laughter. He was a sentimental turtle.  

Pikachu took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves but his friends were making it very difficult not to. Especially with Oshawott's favorite subject: love. He could almost feel his left eye twitch.  

“Do you need tips on how to win a lady over? I can help you with that!” Oshawott poked him.   

Pikachu scoffed. “Oh please, the only thing you've attracted is a slap to the face and a kick between the legs.”  

Oshawott scoffed. “Watch and learn.” He cleared his throat. “Oh, my darling Snivy--” He received a leaf to the face.  

Snivy glared. “Ew. No.”  

Pignite laughed at Oshawott. “Oh man! That was rich!”  

Oshawott glared at his friend. “Oh please. You all keep talking about Pikachu, but I never see him try! At least I work hard!”  

“It's because he doesn't have to! You'll never reach Pikachu's level of attractiveness!” Pignite wiped away a few tears from laughing too much.  

Pikachu wanted to hide in a hole in the ground and stay there. Oshawott glared at the fire type. “What's that supposed to mean!?”  

“I mean, Pikachu is a strong and attractive Pokémon and could get any girl he wants. He's just unlucky that his major love interests so far were crazy obsessed. That's not his fault.”  

Pikachu stared at Pignite with a confused look. “Thanks, but--”  

“He doesn't even need to try.” Infernape shrugged.   

“At least Pikachu has rizz.” Pignite stated as a matter of fact. A few Pokémon nodded their heads in agreement.  

“Can we stop talking about my love life? Don't you have anything better to do?” Pikachu glared.  

Hawlucha nodded. “He's right. We shouldn't talk about such personal matters.”  

“Thank you, Hawlu--”  

“We should talk how to get him together with Greninja.” Hawlucha said instead, serious about the matter. “I was thinking setting up a date on the beach. We are in the perfect setting.”  

“Why didn’t you use that rizz to get Greninja’s affections?” Krookodile asked from afar. “She would have swooned over you!”  

“I think it was the other way!” Heracross yelled from somewhere in the barn.  

Everybody laughed and before Charizard could open his mouth to say something he would probably regret later, Pikachu's cheeks sparked with electricity.  

“ PPPPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!! ” He exclaimed.  

“ AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!! ” Was the collective yell that came from the barn.  

Back inside the house, Ash lazily opened his eyes and looked around. “What's that noise?”  

Pikachu made his way inside towards the couch Ash was sleeping on. “Pikapi...” He yawned.  

“Oh hey, Pikachu. You wanted to say hi to the others?” Ash yawned.  

Pikachu nodded. Ash smiled. “Good. Go back to sleep. We can catch up with everyone tomorrow.” He turned around and instantly fell asleep.  

Pikachu sighed and made himself comfortable beside his trainer, until he heard someone else.  

“Rrrooo...?”  

Pikachu looked down at Ash's backpack where Rowlet had taken to sleep. “Rowlet?”  

“I don't mean to be nosy, but I have a good sense of hearing.” Rowlet whispered. “Who's Greninja?”  

Pikachu wanted to be pissed at Rowlet for even asking, he had endured enough teasing for one night. But the question was so innocent that he couldn't fault him for it. He was just young and curious. “She is a friend of mine.”  

Rowlet turned his head to the side as all owls do. “Do you like Ms. Greninja?” It was like he was asking him what the meaning of life was.  

Pikachu stared. “I... um... I don't know. Well...” He closed his eyes. “Maybe I find she's pretty.”  

“You should tell her. You don't lose anything with that.”  

Pikachu chuckled slightly. Bless that young owl's innocent little heart. “It's not that simple, Rowlet. She's all the way back in Kalos.”  

“Why?”  

“She had to stay and help Zygarde with something in the environment. It's a little complicated to explain.”  

“Oh...” Rowlet looked down, a bit disappointed. “Would she come back?”  

Pikachu lowered his ears. Would she? “I don't know that either...”  

Rowlet gave him a reassuring smile. “Don't worry, I'm sure she will.”  

“How are you so sure?” He asked, a bit amused at Rowlet's positivity.  

“If it's meant to be, it will happen.” Rowlet said.  

Pikachu smiled. “Those are wise words for a teenager.”  

“Toucanon always says that.”  

Pikachu nodded. “It's late, Rowlet. We should go back to--” He suddenly heard a slight snore coming from the backback. Rowlet was fast asleep. Pikachu shook his head. “--sleep.”  

Pikachu curled up against Ash. For a moment, he thought that Rotom would start asking questions, but he was in his charging station and Rockruff was sound asleep on a pillow on the floor. He found himself alone with his thoughts. He did miss Greninja a whole lot. She would have been cool and collected in the middle of the situation he was just in. Or she would have put a stop to it at the very beginning with one of her water shuriken. Possibly pummeling Charizard to the ground with no sweat. Either option was fine.   

He just didn't want to mess it all up and Hawlucha had become insufferable with his horrible matchmaking skills. Ever since the bird told the rest of the Pokémon about Greninja and how lovely Pikachu and her would be as lovers, the others wouldn't shut up about it. Maybe they were just excited that their leader, who was voted for unanimously against Charizard, would finally get a partner of his own. Maybe even a mate. Either way, he hoped the zapping he gave them taught them a lesson. Matters of the heart weren’t their business to begin with.  

He just hated that Hawlucha was right about everything.  

Chapter Text

When Ash arrived in Alola, Professor Oak had given him an egg to give to Principal Oak. He had sort of forgotten about that little detail when he first arrived, but sometime during his third day, he delivered it. Principal Oak didn't seem to mind. He didn't know what the egg was, but he was surprised to see it again next week.   

Ash has taken to waking up early since Saturday, despite his desire to sleep in, to feed and care for his Pokémon in the barn. On Monday, he had followed a little Litten that stole a big chuck of his sandwich into an abandoned house, where he was feeding an elderly Stoutland who in turn taught Litten how to be stronger. There was a mean Alolan Persian that had a thing against the Litten, but the little cat managed to scare the Persian off. When Ash came back to the house on Tuesday to ask Litten and Stoutland if they wanted to stay at the barn instead of an abandoned place, they were gone. Ash was a little heartbroken at that, but figured that if he found them again, he would offer them a place to stay for as long as they liked. He asked the professor first, who agreed to the idea.  

Now on Wednesday, he felt like he wanted to crash on the couch and never get up. He hated waking up early and it had been some busy last days. But one look at the happy faces of his Pokémon having their breakfast was well worth it. He went back inside the house to make himself some breakfast before Rotom made himself known.  

“Ash! Class starts in ten minutes!” Rotom exclaimed.  

Ash gasped. “Oh no!” He grabbed his backpack with the owl still inside. “Oh, how are we going to get to school on time!?”  

"Pika Pika!” Pikachu pointed at the pile of pokeballs inside the basket.  

Ash gasped. “Of course!” He grabbed a pokeball and ran off. “Watch the house, Rockruff!  

“Ruff Ruff!”  

Ash ran back into the barn and looked for Charizard. “Charizard! I need you to take me to school!”  

The large dragon nodded and let the boy hop on his back. They didn't have much experience flying together, but Charizard had come a long way from being the disobedient and rude Pokémon he once was. Well, he was still rude, but not as much. Pikachu and Rotom barely hopped on Ash's awaiting arms before the large dragon took flight. Ash waved goodbye to the rest of his Pokémon, who waved back.  

Ash almost lost balance riding the dragon while Charizard struggled a bit, but regained his posture as he flew.  

Charizard looked at Ash, asking for directions. Ash pointed at a building not too far. “Over there! Hurry!”  

Meanwhile, Professor Kukui's class made their way through the school's courtyard to get to their classroom. Sophocles looked around. “Has anyone seen Ash? He's usually here at this hour.”  

Mallow looked at Sophocles. “He's probably in the classroom right now.”  

"Hey!” Somone yelled at them.  

The group turned around and Team Skull stood right at the gates of the school with evil grins on their faces. Kiawe groaned. “Not these guys again!”  

“We asked nicely before!” The leader said. “Now give us your Pokémon!”  

Kiawe took out a pokeball and let out his own charizard. The dragon growled at them.  

“Guys, we're getting that charizard for sure this time!” The girl with pink hair said as she and the other let out their own Pokémon.  

However, before the battle started, a mighty roar echoed in the sky. Suddenly, a massive charizard landed between the two groups with Ash riding on its back. The charizard roared loudly.  

Ash stepped off the dragon's back. He groaned. “Not you guys again.”  

Team Skull took a moment to get over their shock before grinning. The leader chuckled. “Change of plans, guys. We want THAT charizard. Not Kiawe's old weak one.”  

Kiawe's Charizard looked slightly offended. Ash glared at them. “Really? You want this Charizard?”  

The leader grinned. “Yeah!”  

Ash looked at them for a moment and decided he was not in the mood for this. “Charizard?”  

The dragon looked at Ash, waiting for instructions.  

“Get them.”  

The dragon grinned and gave a mighty roar. He used flamethrower on the Pokémon that went to attack him. They instantly fell onto the ground defeated. Team Skull gasped and returned their Pokémon. They let out over ten ratattas to attack the dragon, hoping to overwhelm him instead. Charizard rolled his eyes and simply kicked the ratattas away. The kick was enough for them to faint. Finally, they recalled the ratattas and let out two large zubats and the raticate that had bitten Tortunator when Ash first arrived at school.  

“Charizard, use Dragon Claw and finish this!” Ash instructed.   

Charizard used Dragon Claw on the three Pokémon. They instantly fainted. Team Skull recalled their last Pokémon as they visibly trembled.  

“N-no fair!”  

“The thing is a beast!”  

Ash arched an eyebrow. “Leave before Charizard decides to use his real strength on you!” He warned.  

“Real strength!?”  

“You mean it was just playing around!?”  

Charizard chuckled and grinned at the team. Smoke started to come out of his nostrils.  

“AAAAHHHHHH!!!” They ran off without saying much, truly terrified of the Pokémon that defeated them.   

Charizard gave a satisfied nod at their direction. Ash petted his neck. “Good job, Charizard.”  

“Ggrrrr...”  

Ash turned to the students. “Is this going to be a weekly thing?”  

No one answered right away as they were too busy staring in awe at the massive Charizard in front of them.   

Charizard decided to flame them.  

“CHARIZARD! NO!” Ash pulled at his hair.  

After being covered in soot and ashes, the students cheered. “He's awesome!”  

Ash groaned and Charizard nodded, taking in the praise with a smug smile. Pikachu rolled his eyes.   

Kiawe smiled. “How did your Charizard get so strong!?”  

Ash smiled. “Well, it's a long story.”  

“Kids!” Professor Kukui called as he ran towards them. “What happened? I was expecting you in the classroom ten minutes ago!”  

“It was Team Skull. Again.” Lana said.  

Kukui sighed. “Those kids...” He mumbled. He glanced at Charizard. “Oh, Charizard!”  

“There more important question is...” Sophocles stated. “YOU HAD A CHARIZARD THIS WHOLE TIME!?”  

Ash grinned. “Well, he wasn't with me when I arrived. I had the rest of my Pokémon sent over on saturday.”  

"WHAT!?”  

It took a while to calm everyone down and invite them to meet his Pokémon before Professor Kukui kindly asked them to head to the classroom. That's when Ash saw the egg again with Principal Oak. It was meant to go to one of the students and it was decided that Lillie should take care of it. Ash saw this as the perfect opportunity to start helping Lillie get over her fear of Pokémon.  

He was surprised when Lillie invited him and Pikachu to her home. Even more so when they were picked up by a driver in a fancy car. Then, he couldn't get over the shock of how huge her home was. Yet, she lived there alone. He opted to keep Charizard in his pokeball for this since he didn't miss the fact that Lillie looked absolutely terrified by the dragon's presence. Even though Pikachu didn't help much by getting way too excited to get pat on the head and Rowlet having some sort of nightmare, at the end, Lillie managed to touch the Pokémon egg without its incubator when another Pokémon got in to try and eat it. Though it was a terrible circumstance, she touched it to protect it. Ash called that progress.  

He brought his classmates to Professor Kukui's house the next day after class to meet his Pokémon. It resulted in various reactions. While most of his classmates were excited to meet Pokémon they've never seen before, Lillie attempted to stay in a corner. However, she attracted most of the attention because of the egg she was holding. The females wanted to coo at the egg while others were simply drawn to Lillie's timid yet caring personality. Lana was quick to make friends with the water types, especially Totodile. Sophocles was a bit disappointed to find there were no other electric types other than Pikachu, but settled by interacting with Kiawe and the fire types that were drawn to him. Mallow immediately bonded with Torterra and Bayleef tackled her upon seeing her.  

The routine continued well into a few weeks, with his classmates coming to Kukui's house to play with the Pokémon and help feed them and clean their barn. Mallow would often bake tasty treats for them. It was a nice routine that Ash felt comfortable with and so did his Pokémon. Another surprise for the young trainer was Charizard's new routine. The dragon would wait for him in front of the house every morning to fly him to school. Whether it was to make his life easy or to be battle ready, Ash suspected it was both.   

He had been encountering Team Rocket more often, though not surprising to Ash. If it was them at the Pokémon Pancake Race, he wasn't too sure at first, but the Bewear that hung around them gave it away.  

Professor Kukui became a big help to Ash with his patience and his caring nature. He made sure to spend time with Ash and never asked intruding questions, instead letting Ash come to him when he was ready.   

Before he knew it, he had already spent a month in Alola even though it felt he had been living there his whole life. Maybe Professor Oak was right, maybe Alola was good for him.  

OOO  

Professor Sycamore was still doing damage control to this day.  

Even months after the Kalos Crisis, as the press had named it, he was still dealing with the aftermath. He would spend long hours and sleepless nights in his lab working with the government authorities doing various things like explaining Lysandre's research to them in a language they could understand. Idiots. All of them.   

Sycamore suspected they were simply trying to keep an eye on him due to the nature of his research and making him cooperate on their investigations was their way of doing so. Also, because Alain was his assistant. The young man had worked with Lysandre and though unaware of his true intentions, Alain still helped him. Being the new Kalos Champion allowed him a certain benefit of the doubt and the Pokémon League wasn't willing to paint one of their champions as a traitor and criminal and hand him over to the government. They would have to dispose of Alain's title and pass it to the runner up: Ash Ketchum.  

That wasn't going to happen anything soon, though. Alain was able to prove his innocence and could keep his title, but the government was still watching him and by consequence, watching Sycamore as well.  

Sycamore truly believed in second chances and if Alain having a second chance meant that he was to put himself in the government's radar, then so be it. At least Officer Jenny was able to put off most of the pressure the government officials put on him. But the pressure of the Pokémon League? Not so much since she had little jurisdiction there other than keeping Pokémon and trainers safe. The League was starting to implement new safety protocols regarding Mega Evolution and some restrictions. Its research was now controlled by a certain group of researchers and professors for the time being, him among them and leading it as he always did. Sycamore could understand their newfound weariness of Mega Evolution since Lysandre gave it a bad name. Though, there was one thing that bothered him about it.  

Bond Phenomenon was banned from the Kalos League.  

It infuriated Sycamore when he was informed by the board of directors of the Kalos League.   

“The decision is simply temporary, professor, we must also think about our trainers and their Pokémon.” The director continued. “Bond Phenomenon is an exceptional ability, incredible and marvelous! But as Lysandre has proven, there are people out there who are willing to destroy anything in their path to get their hands on it, if it’s really the key yo unlocking the secrets of Mega Evolution as he claimed. We can't allow ourselves to become a magnet for another ill-meaning person to attack our trainers.”  

Sycamore glared. “You mean to tell me that you're basically banning Ash Ketchum from entering the Kalos League again?”  

“No.” The director was quick to clarify. “We're banning the use of the ability, not the trainer. Ash Ketchum is more than welcome to participate again in our League, as long as he doesn't use the ability or his elusive Greninja.”  

“You're banning his Pokémon too!?” Rare were the times that Professor Sycamore raised his voice to someone. “You understand that Ash and Greninja can battle without the Bond Phenomenon, right?”  

“We do.” The director confirmed. “However, this is only to make sure the ability is not used. Mr. Ketchum is a renowned hero, and we are aware of his extraordinary deeds in other regions and grateful for all he has done. We're deeply sorry for this, but it's the only choice we have for now.”  

“What about the other Leagues?”  

“He's free to do as such, but in the Kalos League? He's not allowed for the time being.”  

“You're punishing him for something he can't control. It's not fair to him.” Sycamore stated as he stood and left without another word.  

He had to pass that information to Ash, something he dreaded doing. He knew he was going to break the poor boy's heart. He attempted to call him, but the phone number was disconnected. He decided to call Clemont.  

“Clemont! How are you!?”  

“Hey, professor. I'm doing well. Is there something you need?”  

Sycamore sighed. “I need to get in contact with Ash. Did he change his phone number?”  

Clemont hummed. “Well, yes. He didn't give you the new number?”  

“I don't think so.”  

Now it was Clemont's turn to sigh. “Ash is not doing well, professor. He's in a bad place right now.”  

The statement didn't surprise him as much as it should have. “I imagine it has something to do with the Kalos Crisis?”  

“Yeah... Well, that and other things.” He heard the shuffling of papers in the background. “He cut off contact with a lot of people. To be honest, many didn't call him to begin with but... well... he's not doing good.”  

“Can I assume you're in contact with him?”  

“Yes, but I'm not sure if I should give you his new phone number.”  

“It's alright, I understand.”  

Clemont stayed silent for a few moments before speaking. “...Is it really important?”  

“Yes, but it's not good news.” Sycamore sighed. “I'll see if I can send him a letter instead. I just want to reach him before the Kalos League does. I'd rather he'd hear it from me than from those idiots. Or maybe could ypu pass the message for me?”  

Clemont hummed. “Give me a few minutes, professor. I'll call you back.” He hung up.  

Sycamore was left waiting for over half an hour before an unknown number called him. He answered. “Professor Sycamore speaking.”  

“Professor? It's Ash.”  

Sycamore never felt so happy to hear a trainer on the phone. “Ash! How are you doing?”  

“... I'm good, I guess.” He sounded tired, defeated.  

Sycamore felt his heart break a little. “Clemont spoke to you, didn't he?”  

"Yeah. He said you had something to tell me.”  

Sycamore sighed. “I'm afraid it's not good news, they're not bad just... not good either. But I'd rather you hear it from me first.”  

“What it is?”  

“The Kalos League is putting a leash on Mega Evolution as a consequence of the crisis and will be monitoring its use.” He thought well what he was going to say and if Ash wasn't doing so well, he'd rather avoid reminding the boy of something as traumatic as Lysandre. He had to be careful with his wording.   

“But I don't have Mega Evolution, none of my Pokémon do it.” He sounded confused.  

“I know, kiddo. But the League decided to keep every trainer and Pokémon safe, in their words, by also banning Bond Phenomenon.”  

Silence.  

“I know you didn't do anything, and I tried, please believe me that I tried, to reason with them but I cannot go over their authority in the matter. The decision is only temporary. Their reasoning was because it’s so rare, they don't want to attract the wrong type of attention on their trainers. Again.”  

“Like Lysandre.” Ash stated.  

Sycamore was surprised to hear Ash speak his name. Perhaps he was faring better than he expected... or he was simply so defeated and tired that he just didn't care anymore.   

“Yes, unfortunately.” Sycamore answered. “You can still participate in the Kalos League but cannot use Bond Phenomenon and Greninja isn't allowed to participate.”  

“But she didn't do anything!” Ash exclaimed. “She's a hero and she stayed behind to help Zygarde protect them !”  

“The Kalos League simply wants to make sure you don't use the ability. Trust me, I yelled at the board for it.”  

Ash groaned. “It's fine...” His tone changed back to sad and defeated. “I wasn't planning on participating again. Or ever going back to Kalos.”  

“...It's not your fault, before you even think that.” Sycamore assured.  

Ash didn't answer.  

“Ash, I know I can be a handful sometimes, but... if you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to call me.” Sycamore offered. “And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for everything. You didn't deserve that.”  

“You didn't do anything, professor. I... really appreciate that you were always helping me and the guys.” Ash said, referring to Clemont, Bonnie and Serena. “I'm sorry I didn't give you my new contact info. You can keep my new number, just...”  

“I won't give it to anyone you don't want to. Don't worry, I promise.” That also meant not giving it to Alain, even if the young man asked about Ash constantly.  

“... Thanks, professor. I'm... still deciding who to trust and who isn't running away from me.”  

Sycamore had long since figured out Ash's status as the Chosen One. At first, he had known Ash was soul touched, but being the Chosen One? That fact he never could imagine. It wasn't after he knew more about Ash that he understood. He also understood his road wasn't an easy one to travel. He never told a single soul about his discovery. Not that he was planning to, anyways. He just wished things were a bit different for Ash. “Are you back home? Do you have someone with you to help?”  

“I'm at Professor Oak's... and... I just have Gary here and my Pokémon. All my friends are scattered, but they call me often. At least, those that aren’t running away from me.”  

Sycamore sighed. “Anything you need, Ash. I mean it.”  

“Thanks, professor.”  

The was the last time he spoke with Ash, a little over three months ago. Ash did send him a text that he had moved to the Alola Region, possibly permanently. It came as a surprise to Sycamore. The Alola Region was so far away, and he could understand a journey, but moving permanently? It didn't sound like Ash. He was always on the move, always looking for the next adventure. Then again, it was probably for the best.  

He sat at his desk as he stared at the paperwork in front of him. He'd rather go to sleep, but he knew that if he kept putting it off, he would never get anything done. Alain had managed to do a great amount of work during the day, but Sycamore dismissed him for the night. Though, instead of working, he had grown occupied with his thoughts on recent events.  

Suddenly, he heard a window slide open and Sycamore was quick to grab a baseball bat he kept under his desk for emergencies. After Lysandre and Team Flare, he was not above breaking some skulls. “Who goes there!?” He turned on the rest of the lab's lights and suddenly, he was hit in the face with a pokeball.  

“Ooff! Ouch!” He rubbed his nose and looked down. The pokeball rolled at his feet. He grabbed it and inspected it. “What the...” He looked up.  

Greninja stood a few feet away from him with her arms crossed over her chest.  

“Ninja ja.” She greeted the awestruck professor.  

"Greninja?"

"Ninja." She nodded.

"I thought you were helping Zygarde.” He voiced aloud. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, just, I thought you would be gone for a long time. So did everyone else.”  

Greninja shook her head as a small green bug-like creature crawled up a table.  

“Nonsense, Professor Sycamore.”  

“Squishy? I mean—Zygarde!?”  

Squishy chuckled. “Squishy is fine, it is the name my good friend Bonnie gave me in this form.” Squishy looked at Greninja. “Greninja has helped me a great deal on keeping Kalos safe from the infestation. Now that it is under control, I can take care of the rest. And thought I appreciate Greninja’s efforts greatly, it would be selfish of me to keep her away from her trainer and friends any longer.”  

Squishy looked around. “Has Ash gone back home?”  

“Yes, but he’s not in Kanto anymore.” Answered Sycamore as he put the baseball bat down. “He left Kanto almost a month and a half ago. From what I know, he’s not coming back.”  

Greninja looked worried for a second. Squishy looked surprised. “How come?”  

Sycamore sighed. “I guess the whole situation here in Kalos was enough to break his spirits. You... you do know about the whole...” He made a circular motion with his hand, trying to come up with the right words.”  

“Ash’s status as the Chosen One?” Squishy asked. “Yes, I am aware. Any Legendary he comes in contact with knows right away.”  

Sycamore sighed. “Well, I guess he had enough of the whole Chosen One thing. He is human after all. We are not as durable as Pokémon. We are bound to break eventually.”  

Greninja moaned sadly.  

“Please, my friend.” Squishy said. “Do not feel like this is your fault. If anything, we legendaries might owe him an apology. I know for a fact we’ve put him under a lot of pressure.” The legendary turned to the professor. “Is there any way we can reach him?”  

Sycamore hummed. “We could transfer Greninja’s pokeball to Ash’s current location in the Alola Region, but I don’t know the regional professor that well--”  

Squishy jumped up and down with joy. “The Alola Region! Such a beautiful place! It will do him so much good!”  

“Everybody keeps saying that. How come?”  

“The Alola Region is a special place. Among all the regions of the world, Alola has this special positive aura in the air that projects balance and peace. It’s hard to explain. It’s one of those things in life that you must experience yourself.”  

Sycamore and Greninja listened with interest.  

“And among all the legendaries with a place in the Hall of Origins, the Tapus are very strict and care for the safety and wellbeing of the inhabitants of each of the islands they guard. I do count that you’ll keep all that information to yourself, right professor?”  

“Of course! My lips are sealed.”  

“Do you happen to know in what island is Ash residing?”  

“Hhmm... Last time we spoke, he mentioned the Alola Region and that he was going to live on Melemele Island. Other than that, he didn’t mention anything else, and we haven’t talked since then.”  

“Wonderful!” Squishy exclaimed. “Tapu Koko will surely take notice of Ash’s stay on his island. I’m sure he’ll look out for him.” The legendary gave Greninja a sly look. “Tapu Koko is an electric type, I’m sure Greninja would get along with him just fine.”  

Greninja gave Squishy a dirty look complimented with a heavy blush. “Ninja...” She growled.  

“What?” Squishy asked innocently.  

“Ninja! Gre-ja!” She put her webbed foot down.  

“I’m just stating facts.” Squishy said it as a matter of fact as it looked the other way nostalgically.  

Sycamore was intrigued by this interaction, but figured it was simply some banter between them, and shrugged it off. They had spent months together travelling across Kalos, it was right to assume they had become close friends, enough to banter in such ways.  

“I have an idea, let’s surprise Ash!” He turned to Greninja. “We can travel to the Alola Region to drop you off and I can check on him as well!”  

“Ninja!” Greninja nodded in agreement.  

Sycamore clapped his hands together. “Then it’s settled. We’re going to the Alola Region!”  

Squishy nodded. “I hope you find him in good health and at peace with himself. I must stay and take care of Kalos. But please, do send him my regards.” Squishy side glanced at the frog Pokémon. “And my regards to Pikachu as well.”  

Greninja side glared at Squishy.  

Sycamore smiled as if he was sent a blessing in disguise. “I will, don’t worry. I’ll check now for any available flights as soon as possible!” He said as he ran off back to his office.  

As soon as the professor left, Greninja turned to glare fully at the tiny piece of Zygarde next to her. “What are you doing?” She half whispered. Her voice was soft as always, yet, angry.  

“I’m not doing anything, my friend.”  

Greninja groaned. “Please, stop it with the Pikachu thing.”  

Squishy seemed to think. “The thing about he’s-just-a-friend?”  

“Yes, that! He’s just a friend!”  

“But he’s a very cute friend.”  

“Squishy!”  

“He’s reeeaaalllly strong too.” Squishy laughed at the blush the frog sported on her face.  

“Stop it!”  

Squishy hummed. “I don’t know, Greninja. You can’t lie to me, I’ve travelled with you guys for a while, and I’ve lived long enough to see when two Pokémon like each other.”  

Greninja rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Well, you need to get your eyes checked. Maybe you can ask the professor to help you with that. Besides, Pikachu is tiny next to me. How would that work?”  

“It means he’s huggable!”  

“We’re not even in the same egg-group! Care to explain how that would work?”  

“Well, when mama Pokémon and papa Pokémon love each other very much--”  

“You know exactly what I mean!” Greninja shushed him with a heavy blush. “I know Pikachu loves children, he’s good with them! I couldn’t possibly give him babies because we are not in the same egg group! I wouldn’t make a good mate!”  

“Well, I didn’t know you were thinking so far ahead. I thought it was partners first, then mates, but alright.” Squishy seemed a bit surprised, but not taken aback by her reasoning. “Still, I don’t think he’d mind much.”  

“What would Ash think!?”  

“I don’t think he would mind. Besides, he’s the densest boy in the world and Serena is a testament to that.”  

“Well, he should mind!” Greninja exclaimed. “Pikachu is better off finding someone else!”  

“...Don’t you think you should also worry about your own happiness instead of what others might think? I mean, at the end, it will be Pikachu’s choice if he accepts your affections or not. And I’m sure he will.”  

Greninja dropped her shoulders but said nothing.  

“Now you have a chance to tell him you know.”  

Greninja sighed, defeated. She knew she couldn’t lie to the legendary. “... Is it that obvious?”  

“Only to those that know where to look.”  

“...But... What would Ash think? What would his other Pokémon think? I’ve never met them, but...”  

“Well, I can’t speak for the rest of them, but I can speak for Ash. If he’s your biggest worry, I know he won’t mind.”  

Greninja sighed.  

“And adoption is an option. Just saying.”  

Greninja looked down, lost in her own thoughts. “And... what if Pikachu doesn’t accept my affections?”  

“He’ll miss out, then.” Squishy affirmed. “But I know he will.”  

Greninja chuckled softly. “You’re a good friend, Squishy.”  

“Thank you. Now, I’m obviously invited to the wedding, right?”  

“Pokémon don’t do weddings. That’s a human custom.”  

“Right, but I can dream. Can I attend Ash and Serena’s wedding then?”  

“Uff... I’ll see what I can do.” Greninja shook her head, thinking about Ash’s oblivious behavior.  

Professor Sycamore poked his head through the doorframe. “Plane tickets and hotel secured for next week! We’re going to Alola!”

Chapter Text

Ash was doing his Island Challenge today.  

He had to admit he felt a little excited at the thought, only to realize he hadn't felt like that in months. His Pokémon got a brief explanation on what the Island Challenge was, what were Z-Rings and Z-Crystals, what were Grand Trials and who were the Guardians of Alola, specifically Tapu Koko. Ash sort of expected them to fight over who got to do the challenges with him, but to his surprise, they voted for Rowlet to do so. Pikachu was the obvious first choice and Rowlet would be battling alongside him. Rowlet seemed surprised and a little nervous, but he was quickly reassured by the other birds and flying types of the bunch. Ash was proud of them. They had their time and were willing to give the chance to prove themselves to their newest member of the family. Charizard did seem a little upset that he wasn't going, but that was to be expected and seemed to reluctantly agree with Rowlet being the best choice.  

Professor Kukui then brought him to meet Kahuna Hala of Melemele Island. He was a large man and quite strong for his age. He irradiated an aura of authority yet grandfatherly, strict yet kind. Ash had been trying to tune out his aura senses ever since he arrived to Alola, but there was something about the region that just didn't allow for it. It forced him to let the aura wash over him and as a result, he was starting to tune in to other people's auras. It was a little scary since he got overwhelmed a lot. Maybe that was why he usually found himself with people whose auras were calmer and kinder, they didn't overwhelm him as much, like his classmates and Professor Kukui. But with Kahuna Hala it was different. It was a strong aura that Ash was sure he'd overwhelm himself with, but he did not. He found comfort in it and felt safe. Perhaps, that was why he was the kahuna.   

“Kahuna Hala, I'd like to introduce you to Ash. He's my newest student.” Professor Kukui introduced him.  

“It's a pleasure, sir.” Ash nodded.  

Hala smiled at him. “The pleasure is all mine, young man.”  

“I'd like to formerly ask for an Island Challenge.”  

Hala hummed. “Tell you what, solve this problem for me first and then we'll talk about the Island Challenge.” He pointed towards a truck that had spilled tree trunks and the crops were bitten and eaten. “We have a bit of a rattata problem with these crops. My question for you today is, how can we solve this problem?”  

They helped with the clean up as Ash thought about the question.   

“Pikapi?”  

“Maybe we can scare them away.” He suggested. Rotom was quick to tell him that Gumshoos were the rattatas natural predators.  

Ash smiled. “Maybe we can ask the gumshoos if they would help us scare of the ratattas!”  

Hala smiled and nodded. “Then we'll do the Island Challenge.”  

Ash was surprised to find that his Island Challenge was to fight the Totem Pokémon, which was a huge Gumshoos. His Pokémon excelled in this challenge. With Pikachu, he wasn’t surprised. The little rodent had taken down legendaries before and very few times woke up during the mornings and chose violence, but he was as skilled as ever. He was proud of Rowlet. This was his first ever official battle, and he nailed it. Had a bit of a rocky start, but otherwise he made Ash proud.   

The Gumshoos accepted its defeat and gifted Ash a Grassium-Z crystal that he could use with Rowlet. The little owl was beyond excited and puffed his chest a little bit. His first battle and he had already won Ash a z-crystal. Pikachu patted him on the head, telling him he did a great job. Ash asked for the Gumshoos help to drive away the rattatas, to which the Pokémon nodded, no questions asked.  

It was an eventful day. The rattatas were successfully driven away, Officer Jenny was going to give him a certificate and Kukui patted him on the back, stating how proud he was of his deeds as the officers and the crowd dispersed. Ash couldn’t begin to describe how much that simple gesture and those words meant to him.  

Hala came up to him and gave him another pat on the back. But this was one was strong, he stumbled a little, but there was no malice behind it. Just a large man with lots of strength and a grandfatherly disposition.   

“I have to say, you impressed me today young man!” Hala exclaimed. “I’ll grant you the Gran Trial within a week!”  

“Awesome!” Ash jumped. Pikachu and Rowlet jumped in excitement.  

Hala smiled. “I don’t think I have seen anyone so excited for a Gran Trial in a while. It’s contagious!”  

Kukui chuckled. “That's Ash Ketchum to you.”  

“Ketchum, heh? That last name is familiar...” Hala hummed.  

Ash arched an eyebrow. “Have you ever been to Kanto, sir?”  

“When I was a young man, yes. But I first heard that last name here in Alola.” Hala seemed deep in thought. “Years ago, there was this young man. He came from Kanto! Pallet Town to be precise.”  

Ash glanced at Pikachu with wide eyes. “That’s where I’m from. Are you sure?”  

“Yes, I'm sure. He wouldn't stop talking about his powerful Charizard.” Hala chuckled. “Or his girlfriend, for that matter. He was here on vacation, even challenged me to a battle but never did the Island Challenges or the Grand Trial. I never saw him again in person, but he wrote to me occasionally. He even got married from what he wrote in those letters and even held the title of Kanto Champion for a year! But...” Hala adopted a solemn look. “Years ago, the letters stopped. It wasn't long before I saw him on the news. Him and some friends were investigating some strange attacks on Pokémon in Unova and... they were caught in the crossfire of a poacher attack. All of them were killed along with their Pokémon.”  

Ash felt his world spinning. No, no, no, it couldn't be. That couldn't be his—it wasn't possible! Too much of a coincidence! He didn't even know his name; it couldn't be his—  

“...What was his name?”  

“His name was Red Ketchum.” Hala chuckled, as he remembered fondly. “You wouldn't happen to be related to him, are you?” He noticed Ash had gone pale. “...Ash?”  

Kukui looked between them worriedly. “Ash? Are you feeling alright?”  

“Pikapi!?”  

Ash felt like the world was playing a sick joke on him. “Do you happen to know his wife's name?”  

Hala looked at Kukui with a worried look and then nodded at Ash. “It was Delia, I believe.”  

Ash couldn't run fast enough. He took out Charizard's pokeball. The dragon was getting battle ready but got confused when the boy hopped on his back. “Kukui's house! Quickly!”  

“Ash! Wait!” Kukui called to him as the dragon took to the skies at full speed.  

Kukui panted and Hala ran towards him. “Kukui, what is going on!?”  

Kukui gave him a worried look. “Hala... His mother's name is Delia. And I think... Red Ketchum might be his father.”  

Hala gasped softly. “I just unveiled something he didn't know, didn't I?” He asked guiltily.   

“Hala, you didn't do anything wrong. There was no way you would’ve have known neither did I. But we gotta hurry.” Kukui took out his keys. “I have to go.”  

Charizard flew as fast as he could to Kukui's house and Ash panted and cried on his back. He roared at Pikachu. “Rodent! What is going on!? Who do I have to simmer!?”  

Pikachu lowered his ears. “Ash found out something that he needs to confirm.”  

“And that is?”  

“His father didn't leave, he was killed.”  

Charizard stayed silent at the revelation. “He's calling his mother, isn't he?”  

“Likely.”  

“This is going to be ugly... isn’t it?” Rowlet commented.   

As soon as Charizard stepped down, Ash got off and ran inside the house with Pikachu behind him. His Pokémon heard the commotion and stepped outside the barn to see what was going on. Charizard shook his head at them with a serious and rare look on his face. They waited outside in silence.  

Ash ran downstairs and turned on the computer as he angrily wiped away his tears.  

Rotom shook a little. “Ash, what are you doing?"  

“I'm calling my mother.” He angrily stated. “She needs to answer a couple of questions.”  

Pikachu quietly motioned Rotom to stand back. Rockruff came downstairs with his tail between his legs. “Pikachu?” He asked in a young voice. “What's going on? What's wrong with Ash?”  

Pikachu gently patted his head. “He found out something very bad. It's about to get a little ugly. Are you sure you want to stay?”  

Rockruff nodded. “I'm supporting Ash.”  

Ash stared at the screen as finally, Professor Oak answered.  

“Hello, Ash--”  

“Where's my mom?”  

Professor Oak shook his head from Ash's venomous tone. “She's right here.” He motioned Delia to come to the computer.   

The woman took a seat next to the professor. Oak stood up. “It's best if I leave--”  

“You're staying, professor.” Ash glared.  

Professor Oak stared in shock and slowly sat back down.  

“Ash, dear--” Delia started.  

Ash was done playing games. “Who's Red Ketchum?”  

Samuel and Delia stared at the young trainer in shock. When he didn't receive an answer, he glared.  

“Who's. Red. Ketchum.”  

Delia visibly trembled. “Ash, where--”  

“Answer me, mom.” Ash said as calm as he could be. “Who is Red Ketchum? Who was he?”  

Delia's eyes watered. “He...”  

Ash glared. “Go on.”  

Delia sniffed. “How did you find out?”  

“I asked you first.”  

Delia took a deep breath and exhaled. “...Red was your father.” She confirmed.  

Ash simply glared at her as she continued. “He was a Pokémon trainer and a very talented one. We got married young, but we've known each other for years before that. One day, when I was pregnant with you, he left with Blue, his wife and Leaf to Unova to investigate something.”  

“Blue was Gary's father.” Ash glared at the professor. “Which means you've also known about this.”  

Oak looked down. “I was trying to respect your mother's decision to tell you in due time.”  

Delia held up a hand to stop him as she continued. “Blue and Red were killed in a poacher's attack and Leaf was never found. Red was also Gary's godfather; the same way Blue was going to be your godfather and Leaf was both you and Gary's godmother.” She grew quiet. “I wanted to tell you, but I --”  

“You were what? Scared?” Ash glared. “I could've handled the truth, you know!”  

“I--”  

“You lied to me!”  

“Ash, wait--”  

Ash sniffed. “I found out because apparently this man I've always hated took a vacation in Alola years ago and stayed in contact with the local Kahuna. He recognized my last name and asked me if I was related and told me Red's wife's name was Delia! You!” He punched the desk. “You told me he had gone on a Pokémon journey when I was five!”  

“And what was I supposed to tell you at that age!? That your father was murdered!?”  

“You could have told me the truth when I was older! I would have accepted it from you then but now I don't even know what to think! You lied to me! You thought I would be stupid enough to believe all my life my father was on a Pokémon journey!?”  

“No, I was going to tell you but--”  

“But what!?”  

“It hurts, alright!?” Delia cried. “I lost the man I loved before I gave birth to you, and I couldn't handle it!”  

“Fine! I get you were hurt and still are, but don't you think I deserved to know!?” Ash pointed at himself. “I thought he abandoned us! You never spoke about him, and I didn't even know his name until today! And I didn't hear it from you, I heard it from someone I just met! Do you know how fucked up that is!?” He wasn't one to curse like that, but he didn't care at this point. “All this time I thought he was a deadbeat! But he was dead all this time! Where is he even buried anyway!?”  

Delia cried. “He was cremated. I have his ashes at home--”  

“YOU HAD HIS ASHES ALL THIS TIME!?”  

“Satoshi...” Oak started, but calling attention to himself only made it worse.  

“And you knew!” Ash pointed angrily at him. “You knew all this time and didn’t say shit! Did you lie to Gary too!? Does he even know my father was his godfather!? He thought the same way I did!”  

Oak looked down. “He doesn't know.” He confessed.  

“Well, now he does.” A new voice came into the room. Ash stared in shock as Gary entered the lab. He didn't look angry, just sad and disappointed. “Anything else you two would like to say?”  

Delia cried and Oak paled. “Gary--”  

“I don't want your excuses, gramps.”  

Delia turned to the screen. “Ash, I'm so sorry, I didn’t mean for any of this--”  

Ash looked down as his body trembled. “You know what, professor? Accepting your suggestion to go to Alola was the best decision I've ever made.” He glared at the screen. “Because I'm not going back to Pallet Town. Ever.”  

“Ash, wait--!”  

He punched the keyboard and hung up the video call. He crumbled to the ground, his body shaking as he cried. He held his head and pulled at his hair in frustration and cried.  

Pikachu slowly approached him. “Pikapi?”  

Ash grabbed him and hugged him tightly. He didn't say anything, he just cried. Rockruff  and Rowlet slowly approached him. Rowlet hugged him from the side and Rockruff laid his head on his lap, whining as puppies did.  

Kukui arrived at the house. He ran inside and downstairs into the lab and saw Ash being hugged by his Pokémon. He didn't say anything. He simply approached him and kneeled next to him.  

Ash sniffed, not looking up. “Professor?”  

“Yes, Ash?”  

“Can you... can you grieve someone you've never met?”   

Kukui wasn't one to cry often, but the question was enough to break his heart. “Yes, you can.” He could only say. Ash leaned towards him and Kukui didn't hesitate to hug him tightly.   

Rotom watched silently as he did his own internet research and into the international league database.  

Ash sniffed. “I have to apologize to Hala...”  

Kukui pulled away a little. “You had a natural reaction and Hala knows this. You don’t have to.”  

“But I have to, it’s not fair to him.” Ash rubbed his eyes. “I just... I didn’t even know his name and when Hala said it... mom never told me anything about him... And to hear from him from someone I just met...”  

Kukui listened to his mumbles until his body only shook slightly from his cries.  

“I’ve never...” Ash hiccupped. “I’ve never even seen his picture. I don’t even know how he looked like!” He hugged Pikachu tightly. “My mom used to tell me he went off on a Pokémon journey when I was little and even when I was old enough, she still let me believe he was a deadbeat! She knew I thought that, and she didn’t correct me!” He wiped his tears angrily. “I deserved to know... He was her husband, but I was his son too.”  

Kukui felt his heart breaking. He didn’t know what to say or what to do. A situation like this... the only one that ever came close to this was Mallow, but even then, it was drastically different than this. “We adults... we sometimes do things we’re not proud of. Sometimes we even do things we ourselves don’t understand.” He said. “I know your mom made a mistake, but that doesn’t mean she loves you any less. Just... she made the choice to the best of her ability.”  

“I don’t even know if I should trust her anymore, professor!”  

“I’m not saying you have to trust her now. You just received some life-changing news. All I’m saying is that you both need time to heal. Eventually, you can talk it out.”  

Ash shook his head. “I don’t want to talk to her. Not even to Professor Oak!”  

Kukui decided not to push it and opted for letting the boy speak.  

“I wonder how Gary is doing after this...”  

“That’s the professor’s grandson, right?”  

“Yeah... Turns out my father was his godfather, and his father was my godfather, and we had the same godmother. He walked in right when I was fighting my mom and he heard everything. He didn’t know either.”  

Kukui sighed. “You kids had a tough day.”  

Ash scratched Pikachu’s head. “I just really want to sleep it off...”  

Rotom approached them with hesitation. “Do you... do you want to see your dad?”  

Ash stared at Rotom.  

“I mean!” Rotom suddenly exclaimed. “I did some research when you said you’ve never seen him and I just--”  

“Ok.”  

Rotom showed a picture of a young man with short dark brown hair and reddish eyes. He wore a red jacket and matching cap. He had a kind but daring smile. Ash stared with wide, unbelieving eyes.   

“Red Ketchum. Deceased twenty-one years old. Won the Kanto League at eleven years old and holds the record for the youngest ever Kanto Champion. He was only champion for a year, but that’s due to his other duties as field researcher and Pokémon Ranger!”  

Ash simply stared at his father’s picture. It was like staring in a mirror, except for the shorter and lighter hair and older looks. A man he had never seen before felt like a familiar stranger. He wanted to know more about him. He wanted to feel like he knew him. Ash felt like he wanted to reach out to him... but, he was long gone before he was even born.  

“Shut it off, Rotom.” He simply said, looking away.  

Rotom, for once, did not ask questions and simply did as told. Kukui sighed. “I’ll order some food.” He said as he slowly stood up. “Anything you’d like?”  

“I’m not hungry, professor. Thank you.” Ash answered in a timid, far away voice. Just like when he first arrived to Alola, withdrawn and lonely.  

Kukui was not going to allow that. “I’m still ordering you something. I know for a fact you’ll raid the fridge later if you don’t eat something.”  

Ash simply nodded.  

“And hey... It’s all going to work out. You’ll see.”  

Ash sighed. “I hope so.”  

Ash missed Friday’s class. Kukui allowed him to stay at home, knowing that the young trainer wasn’t in any position to even get out of bed.  

Kukui was at a loss.  

Ash had grown quiet, and no amount of cheering could get him out of that state. He tried both Thursday night, all Friday and the majority of Saturday, the Pokémon tried to get him to smile even, but no one could do anything. Not even Pikachu. Kukui didn’t dare to call the other students for help, that would mean he had to tell them what was going on and knowing them, they would try to solve the problem right away. If they could bring back the dead, sure thing. But if they couldn’t do that, the situation stayed in his household and no one else was privy to that.  

“I don’t even know what I’m feeling.” Ash told him on Saturday night. He had put on some Alolan Detective Lacky to try and take the boy’s mind off his problems, but even that didn’t work. “Like... I’m angry at my mom and Professor Oak, but at the same time... I’m not? I really want to be angry at them, but I’m more upset than angry. Maybe if I had noticed sooner something was off...”  

Kukui sighed. “The five stages of grief.”  

“Uh?”  

Kukui held his hand and counted down. “Denial, Anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Not entirely in that order. You already passed anger, that’s why you don’t feel as angry as you were yesterday.”  

Ash sighed. “I did yell at them...”  

“And you already passed denial. I overheard you trying to convince yourself it wasn’t true.” Kukui mentioned. “And now you’re bargaining the what ifs.”  

Ash sighed and resumed watching the show, though with not much interest. Depression hit the boy that night when Kukui woke up to his sniffs and hiccups. Ash was trying to be as quiet as he could, but with Kukui being hyperalert to his well-being, that was almost impossible. He heard quiet ‘pika-pikas’ trying to comfort him for hours until he finally fell asleep. Kukui couldn’t manage to sleep that night.   

Early Sunday morning found Kukui nursing his second cup of coffee as he quietly sat down on the kitchen table. Pikachu quietly climbed down the stairs from the loft and walked up to Kukui. The electric mouse jumped on top of the table and stared at him tiredly.  

“Rough night?”  

“Pika...” Pikachu nodded in agreement.  

Kukui slipped a bowl of poke-chow to him which caught Pikachu’s attention. “Go on, I already got breakfast ready from everyone.” He sipped his coffee. “And I already fed the mad house in the barn.”  

Pikachu chuckled at Kukui’s term referring to the other Pokémon and decided to quietly eat his breakfast. They stayed like that, enjoying each other's silent company. Pikachu kept looking up at the loft, but Ash didn’t seem to be waking up soon.   

“He’s gone through a lot, hasn’t he?”  

Pikachu looked at him. “Pika?”  

“You and Ash, I mean.”  

Pikachu lowered his ears and nodded. “Pika... chu. Pikapi pika Pikachu.”  

“Always together, heh?” Kukui deduced. Pikachu nodded. Kukui smiled softly and said no more.  

Suddenly, Pikachu’s ears rose as he looked up at the loft.  

“He’s awake?”  

Pikachu nodded. The Pokémon jumped on Kukui’s shoulder. “Pikapika.”  

“Alright, let’s check on him.” Kukui climbed up the stairs and took a glance around the area. “Ash?”  

Ash was sitting on the floor next to the couch with his back towards them and his blanket over his head. He looked at something on his phone, with the volume on low. Kukui glanced at Pikachu, who shrugged. Kukui climbed all the way and sat cross legged next to the boy. Ash made no attempt to hide what he was watching. Instead, he raised the volume.  

There was a boy in the video, with short dark brown hair and reddish eyes, sporting a red cap and red jacket. An almost exact copy of Ash.  

“ Red Ketchum, what is it like to be the youngest trainer to ever win the Kanto League at eleven years old? ” a reporter asked as she stuffed a microphone at the boy’s face.  

Red smiled brightly at the reporter as he proudly displayed a shiny gold medal on his neck. “ Well, it’s only the beginning! I still want to travel the regions and meet all sorts of Pokémon! ”   

“ Do you plan on staying Kanto Champion? ”  

“ Well, it was on my to do list .” Red smiled slyly. “ And also, I wanted to show Blue Oak who’s boss. Taking the title from him was icing on the cake. ” He smirked.  

“ You won’t be so lucky next time, Ketchum! ” Someone, Blue Oak, yelled from a distance. “I ’m not a sore loser but there’s no need to rub it in! ”  

Red made a fake sigh. “ I can still hear his voice... ”  

“ Stop telling everyone I’m dead! ” Blue yelled again, sounding a bit closer.  

The reporter sounded a bit concerned. “ Isn’t that a little unprofessional coming from the Kanto Champion? ”  

Red stared at the reporter as if she had grown a second head. “ Lady, I’m eleven years old. You can’t expect me to be professional. ”  

Suddenly, a young girl grabbed Red by the shoulders into a side hug. She had long brown hair with a white hat, baby blue tank top, red skirt and boots. “ Red is the most unprofessional boy you’ll ever meet! ” She smiled.  

Red side glared at her. “ Leaf, please. No one asked you. ”  

Leaf simply pinched his neck, making Red yelp.  

“ What did you say? ”  

Red gasped. “ I meant you are the most important person in the whole region, and nobody can compare to you! ”   

Leaf let go of him, Red gasped. “ That’s right. ”  

“ Uhh... ” The reporter sounded uncomfortable. “ Well, that was an interesting display of your friendship. Is Miss Leaf your girlfriend? ” The reporter asked in a teasing tone.  

“ Ew! ” Leaf flinched away from Red.  

Red simply shook his head. “ Miss, do you want me to get rabies? ” He smirked as he glared at Leaf. “ I’ve seen prettier girls. ”  

“ What!? ” The girl asked.  

“ Blue can have her. ”  

The two were suddenly tackled by a boy with ginger hair and a blue shirt and his name was Blue Oak. Suddenly, the three of them were fighting each other as a Charizard, a Blastoise and a Venusaur attempted to stop the fight between the trainers. The camera zoomed out and the lady reporter was on view. She shook her head at the cameraman. “ Cut it off! ” She whispered.  

Suddenly, a younger Professor Oak walked into the picture. “ What’s going on HEEREEEE--- ” He was suddenly pulled into the fight. He attempted to break free.   

Then a young girl with brown hair in two braids, pink tank top, shorts and a green flannel shirt over her trying to pull him out. “ Professor! ”  

“ Delia, get me out! ” Oak grabbed her awaiting arm as Delia pulled him out of the fight.  

Red suddenly stopped fighting with Leaf and Blue to turn to look at Delia. “ Delia!? ” He smiled at her with a huge blush on his face. Delia waved back at him with a blush of her own. Then Blue tackled him again as everyone started yelling.  

The video ended there.  

Rotom approached the professor. “The video was so unprofessional that it was never aired, but it was kept in archives.”  

Ash put the phone down. “Rotom, found the video attached to his trainer profile on the League’s database.” Ash whispered. The tech Pokémon floated silently near them. “He was really cool... So were Blue and Leaf.”  

Kukui gently pulled him close into a hug.  

Chapter Text

“... I just... I don't know what to do anymore. I – I didn't know who to call.”  

Ash knew he was in a dark place and so he had called one of his oldest, most loyal friends. It just so happened that his other most loyal friend was there as well.  

Misty glared at him through the screen as Brock sighed. “Ash, you know you can always call us if--”  

“I'm going to nuke Professor Oak's lab and then your mother's kitchen.” Misty declared as she stood up.  

Brock effortlessly forced her to sit down again, much to her eternal dismay. “Misty, that will not solve anything. It'll just make it worse.” Brock turned to the screen. “Ash, you know you can count on us for these things.”  

“Yeah, Brock's right. We've been with you since the very start.” Misty adopted a much softer tone. “...Keeping that secret from you was horrible and unfair.”  

Brock sighed. “I know your mom and the professor wouldn't hurt you intentionally. I'm not saying it's not wrong, because it totally was, I'm just saying that you should give it some time.”  

“Brock, stop going around in circles and just say it.” Misty snapped then turned to the video camera. “Satoshi... This was the last straw. You are not doing so well. We're worried about you.”  

Ash looked down. “I know.”  

“You need help.” Misty insisted.  

Ash shook his head. Brock and Misty glanced at each other with worry.  

“I'll be fine.”  

Somehow, Misty and Brock did not believe those words, doubt written on their faces.   

“Didn't you tell me Alola was peaceful? That's good, right?” Misty asked.  

Ash scoffed at that question. “Misty, wherever I go, nothing is ever peaceful for long. Either the apocalypse or my mom keeping secrets will get me. The question is which one wins.”  

Brock and Misty couldn't say much after that, and the conversation ended with assurances and promises of calling more often.  

Ash decided to go to Hala’s after school after clearing his head a bit. Monday had been a little nerve wrecking when he stepped into the classroom that morning, with all his classmates showering him with questions on his wellbeing. He was a little overwhelmed and thankfully, Lillie had been the one to get them to give him some space, despite their good intentions. He had decided to leave Rotom behind, as he didn't want any distractions.

However, on the way to Hala’s home, Ash and Pikachu encountered Team Rocket. Ash rolled his eyes. “Not today, you three.” He groaned, but there was no real anger behind it. He didn’t have the energy.  

James arched an eyebrow. “Well, that’s strange. You would have instructed Pikachu to blast us off into the sky by now.”  

Jessie hummed. “Well, you’re clearly going through something. What’s the matter?”  

“Yeah, we’re not heartless. What’s the matter with ya?” Meowth asked.  

Ash had always known Jessie, James and Meowth weren’t as evil as they promoted themselves to be, maybe not evil at all, just a bit misguided. It was the reason why he put up with them most of the time. And though he knew that they meant well, he couldn’t help but snap at them. “That’s none of your business!” His eyes got a bit teary.  

The trio backed away a bit. “Geez, we’re just being nice!”  

“That only happens once in a blue moon, you know.” James agreed. “Or when the world is ending.”  

They were right, they were just being nice, yet Ash still snapped at them and now he felt terrible. “I’m sorry, I—I--” He sniffed as he looked at his feet.  

“Pika Pika!” Pikachu tapped on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.  

“Twerp...?” Jessie looked a bit taken aback by Ash’s reaction.  

“My... my dad is dead.” He managed to say between sobs. It sounded more like he was admitting something to himself.  

The trio looked at each other with various looks of surprise. “Didn’t know you had one, twerp.” Meowth said. "I thought it was just your mom.”  

“Yeah, I thought he was a deadbeat good for nothing father.” James mentioned.  

Ash sniffed as he rubbed his tears away. “So did I. Turns out he was just a really good guy.” He ran past them. “I have to go!”  

“Twerp, wait--!” Jessie yelled but Ash was gone and out of sight.  

The two humans and the cat Pokémon looked at each other. Meowth shrugged. “... I guess we're not stealing Pikachu today.”  

Ash ran off with Pikachu hot on his pursuit. The trainer stopped in the middle of the dirt trail, when he was sure he wasn’t being followed. Pikachu stopped next to him. “Pika pika?”  

Ash sobbed. “I’m sorry, Pikachu! I don’t know what’s going on with me!” He sniffed. “I just feel sad all the time and it feels like I don’t have control of myself anymore...” He rubbed his eyes.  

Pikachu lowered his ears and jumped on Ash’s shoulder. “Pikapi... pika-chu.”  

“Let’s just go to Hala’s.” He mumbled.  

The rest of the walk was quiet until they reached Hala’s house. Ash slowly walked up the steps towards the front door. Hesitantly, he softly knocked on the front door and waited. Hearing steps coming closer, Ash steeled his nerves as the front door opened.  

Hala stared down at the young trainer. “Ash! How are you doing--”   

Ash bowed immediately. “I wanted to apologize for my behavior last week, Kahuna Hala! It was wrong of me to react that way and I disrespected you!”   

“Young man, stand up. There is no need to bow or apologize, though I appreciate it still.” Hala calmly stated.  

Ash looked up hesitantly but stood up.  

“If anything, I should be the one apologizing to you.”  

“Ugh? But Hala, you didn’t do anything.” Ash stared with a shocked expression.  

“Not intentionally. I may have unlocked some family secrets unknowingly.” Hala stepped aside. "Please, come in. We have lots to talk about.”  

Hala showed Ash and Pikachu to the living room where he had a teapot and cups at the ready. After serving tea, they sat facing each other.  

“I sense you have questions.”  

"Yes, but... most are just angry questions directed at my mom and Professor Oak.” He looked down at his cup of tea.  

Hala hummed. “Anger is dangerous, even when you have every right to be angry.” He took a zip from his tea. Hariyama stood behind him in silent company and Pikachu sat next to Ash sipping his own cup of tea. “I assume you spoke with your mother, then.”  

Ash nodded quietly. "She kept saying that she didn't know how to tell me.”  

Hala took his time to study Ash's body language. The way he gripped his teacup, the way his feet were pressed against each other, how he avoided eye contact. "But that's not what you're angry about, isn't it?”  

Ash shook his head. “All this time, I had assumed my dad was just a deadbeat when he never was! I'm just angry that she let me believe that lie for my whole life and Professor Oak knew about it. They lied to both me and Gary about our parents and I don't know if I should trust them anymore! And she told me she had his ashes this whole time!” He sniffed. “How am I supposed to trust anyone after that!?”  

Hala adopted a sad look. It was heartbreaking to hear such things coming from a young trainer such as Ash. “Grief can make us do inexplicable things many times, even make the wrong decisions that hurt the ones we love.”  

Ash angrily shook his head. “But I'm her son! And I'm Red's son too!” He angrily stared at his tea.  

Hala arched an eyebrow at the hint of blue glow in Ash's eyes. Could it be...?  

“I don't care if she was still hurt, I deserved to know what really happened to him!”   

Suddenly, Ash's hands glowed blue for a second and then found himself holding a shattered teacup with tea spilled all over the floor. The boy instantly looked remorseful and very nervous.  

“Pika!” Pikachu gasped, accidentally dropping his own teacup.

“I- I- I'm sorry, Kahuna Hala! I- I'll clean it up!”  

To Ash's surprise, Hala simply smiled and resumed drinking his tea. “It's quite alright, I have many spare cups. Though, my guests usually break them by dropping them accidentally, not by exploding them with aura.” He calmly stated.  

Ash's hands shook, still dripping with tea and some blood due to a small cut from the broken porcelain. Pikachu adopted aweary stance, ready to fight or ready to flee. "You... saw that?”  

Hala nodded. “It's a little hard to notice, but yes, I saw it.” He finished the rest of his tea and calmly placed his cup on the coffee table. “Kahunas are the Island Guardians representatives for each Tapu.” He started. “Each of us is chosen for the honorable lifetime duty by one of them and they make their choice very clear to Alola. To be a Kahuna, and not many know this, you must be soul touched. The connection to the natural world is essential for this job.”  

Ash gasped. “Soul touched? You mean you're...”  

“Like you? Yes, but not quite. I can connect with the Pokémon and the nature around me to a certain supernatural level, like any other soul touched. Like you do. I am old and, in my lifetime, I've only met a few soul touched. The Kahunas before us, the current Kahunas, a couple of both children and adults, you... and a young man named Red Ketchum.” He reached for a first aid kit he kept hidden underneath the couch and sat next to Ash. “But the only ones I’ve ever met that were chosen by a legendary were Kahunas.” He gave Ash one suspicious look as the boy’s eyes darted across the room. Hala sighed. “But I suspect you were chosen by one as well.”  

Ash silently studied him before looking down. “...How did you know I was soul touched?” Ash asked.  

“Like I said, I'm old. Which means, I'm experienced. And as Kahuna, I was trained to distinguish those that are from those that aren't. Now, give me your hand. Let me see that cut.”  

Ash hesitantly extended his hand towards the older man as his eyes watered a bit. “My father was soul touched?”  

Hala nodded as he started to clean the cut. “I don't think he knew it himself. And if he did, he never showed it in the brief time I met him in person. But my pokecoins are on his own ignorance towards his status.” He started to apply a bit of antibiotic cream. "Besides, he was way too preoccupied trying to catch a Decidueye at the time.”  

“Decidueye?”  

“It's the final evolution of the Rowlet line.” They both glanced down at the sleeping Rowlet inside Ash's backpack.  "Though, I think your friend here is more interested in in sleeping than evolving.” Hala chuckled. He placed a bandaid over the cut. “Done.”  

Ash inspected his hand. “Did he catch the Decidueye?”  

“No.”  

“Ugh?” “Pi?”  

“The Pokémon refused to be caught and so it decided to grab him by the shoulders, flew him up and dunked him into the nearest river. That's how I met your father. A wet, shivering teenager asking the Island Kahuna how to catch a Decidueye. He probably would've if he hadn't caught a cold instead in the middle of his vacation.” He laughed. "From what I know, the Decidueye did apologize, but still refused to be caught."

Hala placed over Ash's in a gentle grandfatherly way. “I understand your pain and you have every right to be angry and upset. However, I do believe your mother didn't mean you any harm intentionally.”  

Ash looked down. “I know, it's just...”  

“It's alright. I believe you need time. So does she.”  

Ash stared at his bandaged hand for a moment. His aura, growing stronger as the weeks went by, reached out to Hala’s. Once again, he felt safe in its proximity like he did when he first met the Kahuna and he welcomed the overwhelming protectiveness for a change. And if being chosen by a legendary for a job was true, then Hala could probably be the only person he knew that he could actually relate to.

“Hala... I can trust you, right? With a secret?”  

Hala grew serious and gave a firm nod. “I won’t reveal anything you say to me.”  

Pikachu raised his ears and glanced between his trainer and the kahuna, instantly knowing what Ash wanted to say. Ash never told anybody who he really was and those that did know it was because they were there to witness it for themselves or had enough brains to put two and two together, like Kukui. If Ash was willing to reveal what he was going to say, then Kahuna Hala could be trusted.  

“...It’s Lugia.”  

Hala stared in shock, eyes wide. “What...?”  

“The legendary that chose me... It’s Lugia.”  

Hala softly gasped. The legends were true then. How could he have been so blind? The signs were right there. A legendary could choose a soul touched for one specific task, like the kahunas’ case. But only one legendary had a prophecy. Only one legendary Pokémon had the right to choose a special someone that will restore balance to the world in its time of need. No one truly knew why it had to be Lugia who got to choose, but the Chosen One would be doing Arceus’ will on this earth.  

‘ ...The world shall turn to Ash. ’ Hala recalled the ancient prophecy.  

Ash was sitting next to him.  

Ash was Lugia’s Chosen One. Ash was the fabled Chosen One.  

Ash ...  

Hala got a good look at Ash.  

... Ash was simply a child .  

A scared, sad child who had accidentally cut himself with a broken teacup. A thirteen-year-old that was suddenly living with Kukui in a seemingly permanent arrangement under mysterious circumstances. A young trainer with too much experience in his calloused hands. A broken, young boy that had seen too much, lived too much, fought too much. Just as old as his grandson, Hau.  

“...Hala?”  

Hala suddenly grabbed him in a tight hug.  

Ash’s eyes widened and looked at the kahuna. “Hala, what--?”  

“I’m sorry, Ash.” Hala pulled away. He gently grabbed the boy by the shoulders. “It’s not just about your mother, isn’t it?”  

Ash’s eyes widened.  

Then Hala understood everything.  

The very same thing that Ash was chosen for was destroying him. Hala remembered every single world-ending event from the last three years or so and concluded that it was all Ash. It was always Ash. And will always be Ash. Always fighting, always running, always making the decisions that could change the course of the world. The sad part was that it was a lonely journey. Not everybody would be willing to put up with it and it surely got too much for many people... and they probably left, leaving him to continue his journey on his own. Then what little he knew about Ash, what struggles he was currently facing, they all made sense.  

“It’s your role in this world and what it entails. You’re angry at the world you were chosen to protect. It’s a rough path you must walk on. And I am terribly sorry that this unfair weight was placed on your young shoulders.”  

The boy’s eyes watered. “I...”  

Hala sighed. “Does anyone else know?”  

Ash nodded, wiping the tears away. “My mom, Professor Oak, Clemont, Bonnie, Serena, Gary, Misty, Brock, Tracey...” He sniffed as he listed names Hala did not know. “Some people that decided to continue their own paths, I think Champion Cynthia probably knows but she never mentioned it, Professor Sycamore knows. Jessie, James and Meowth know...” He gave a watery chuckle at the mention of Team Rocket. “All my Pokémon know. I think... some bad guys knew. But they’re dead.  Kukui put two and two together, so he now knows. And you’re probably the first person I directly tell the truth to.”  

“I’m honored that you have chosen to trust me with this secret.” Hala replied. “And I want you to know that you can count on me for anything you need.”  

“Pika pika.” Pikachu nodded approvingly.  

Ash looked up with a grateful smile. "Thank you, Hala.”  

Hala nodded. “Now, I take it you are not a trained Aura Guardian.”  

Ash gulped. “Uh... no. It's a long story. I didn't want to be one anyways.”  

Hala sighed. “Nevertheless, you have active aura abilities. You need some sort of training.”  

“I got it under control--”  

“You clearly do not.” Hala chuckled as he pointed at the broken cup on the floor. Ash blushed with embarrassment. “I've never met an aura user in my life, and I am not one either, so I am in no right to tell you what to do about it. However, as Kahuna, I can tell you that you will pose a danger to yourself and others without proper training.”  

Ash sighed. “I wouldn't even know where to start. Aura guardians went extinct hundreds of years ago and I don't know of anyone alive who would help me.” He answered with a faraway glance.  

“I see.” Hala stood. “Then you should do your own research instead.”  

Ash stood as well. “I will.” He looked down at the broken cup. “Let me just--”  

“No, no. I'll do it. Nothing I haven't done before. You'd be surprised at how often my guests break my teacups.” He chuckled.   

Ash grabbed his backpack, with Rowlet still sleeping inside. "Thanks for everything, Hala.”  

“Don't mention it.” Hala walked him outside. “And Ash, remember that sometimes we need to hurt so we can heal.”  

“Uhhh...” Ash looked at him, confusion written all over his face.  

“If your shoulder is dislocated, it will hurt. To pop it back in the right place, it's going to hurt also, but you'll feel better.” Hala offered as an example.  

“Oh... I see your point.” Ash bowed. “I better get going, I don't want Professor Kukui to worry. Thank you, Kahuna Hala.”  

Hala made a dismissive hand wave.  “Do not worry. To help the people of this island is one of my duties as Kahuna.”  

“But I'm not even from Alola.”  

“But you're living here, aren't you? As long as you do, you can always count on me. No matter who you are.”  

“Thank you. And thank you for telling me about my father.”  

“My pleasure. And I thank you for trusting me. I expect our Grand Trial this Friday to be fun.”  

“So do I!” Ash exclaimed. That seemed to put him in a better mood.  

Hala watched from the porch as Ash walked down the dirt path with Pikachu on his shoulder. As soon as he was out of sight, Hala looked up and spotted Tapu Koko watching closely from the nearby trees.  

“Ko-ko.” The Tapu approached the Kahuna.   

“I see why you have taken such interest in him. It all makes sense now.”  

Tapu Koko nodded. Hala sighed. “Be honest with me, Tapu Koko. Is Alola in danger? Is that why he's here?”  

“Ta-pu Ko-ko. Ko.”  

“You have your suspicions too, then.” Hala gave the legendary a small glare. “Is this the reason why you stole a Z-Ring from my workshop?”  

Tapu Koko nodded, if not a little bit smug. “Ko-ko!” The Tapu suddenly flew away, leaving the Kahuna to his own devices. Hala sighed and looked up to the skies. There were no sudden changes in the atmosphere or Alola’s harmonious balance. But the presence of the Chosen One made him question the fragility of it all. Not that his presence was a bad thing. Never. It simply meant that something big was coming.  

“Arceus... why have you sent the Chosen One to Alola?”  

He was not expecting an answer, but whatever the reason may be, Hala knew he had to stand tall as Kahuna and be ready for when the time came. And when the time came, he would be ready to help Ash when his path inevitably takes him to dangerous places.  

He just hoped that standing beside him was enough.  

Chapter Text

It was Wednesday and Ash walked to school with a strange feeling. Not bad, just strange. He felt light suddenly, lighter than he'd felt in a long time. His talk with Kahuna Hala on Monday, talking about his father and getting some answers contributed to that feeling. But accidentally showing his aura... it felt good to not scare away someone when his true self showed, he had to admit that. And it was that same ability that he had grown to hate so much that it was growing stronger every day he stayed in Alola.   

He was simply letting it grow. Letting it take its course. Maybe too much, if the exploded teacup showed that. "Pikachu... Do you think I'm repressing myself?”  

“Pika-chu.” Pikachu instantly nodded.  

“Do you think I should probably take Hala's advice?”  

“Pika!”  

“Alright. I guess we'll have to do some research then.” He looked down at his hands.   

Rotom smiled. “Leave all the research to me, Ash! I bet I can find something that can help you!” He offered.  

Ash smiled. “Thanks, Rotom.”  

He had decided to take a stroll on the beach early, to try and calm himself before going to school. He tried to create an aura in his hands. However, it did not work. “I don't get it. I exploded Hala's teacup, but I can't make aura on my own.”  

“Pika pika chu chu pi.”  

“Maybe you're right, buddy. I really need practice.”  

“Or maybe it's an emotional blockage.” Rotom suggested.  

“A what?”  

“An emotional blockage. If you have been repressing these abilities since you found out about them, there's a big chance your emotions have a lot to do with the fact that these abilities are getting out of control. Your emotional baggage and trauma might be blocking your ability to control your aura.”  

“That... makes sense.” Ash commented.   

“Alola is proven to have a huge effect on aura waves in living beings, if the Aether Foundation research is to be believed. Maybe the region is starting to strengthen your aura and therefore, your emotional blockage is loosening. And since you never had any proper training, the aura is slipping through the cracks and you're losing control.” Rotom added. “There are many variables to consider plus any data I don't have available.”  

“Oh great. Any ideas on how to fix it?” Ash asked, annoyed at the information.  

“Maybe a therapist?” Rotom suggested.  

“I’d traumatize the therapist.” Ash gave him a deadpanned look.  

“Then I have insufficient data. I will look further into possible alternatives.”  

Ash sighed. Well, at least he had an idea of what the root of the problem was. Then, he noticed a familiar red and black cat running by with some fruit in his mouth.  

“Litten?”  

He saw Litten again. The fire cat had given him a glare before storming off, not giving time for Ash to even think of following him.   

But obviously, he followed the cat.  

“Litten, wait!”  

He had lost sight of the cat as he and Pikachu stepped into town. “Oh, come on, where are you?” Suddenly, he saw everything spinning. “Ohh... I feel super dizzy...”  

Pikachu gasped. “Pika! Pika pika!”  

Ash wasn't entirely sure what Pikachu meant; he was probably concerned for him. Ash was starting to feel a pull inside of him. It was overwhelming suddenly sensing the auras of so many people and Pokémon around him. He felt the pull from all these auras at the same time. His breathing grew heavy, and his eyes blurred.  

"Pikapi...?”  

“Ash? What's the matter?” Rotom asked.  

Pikachu placed a comforting hand on his cheek. Right, focus on Pikachu's aura. Familiar, strong and comforting. Then all the others ceased to pull at him from all directions and only two remained. Ash gasped, holding his head. “Ouch...” The overwhelming sensation finally getting to him.   

“Pikapi?”  

“I'm fine, Pikachu. At least we know Litten's hanging out around this area. We'll get him next time.” He walked forward, still nursing the right side of his head.  

Pikachu gave Ash a look of concern. Like Ash, he wasn't a fan of aura abilities either. However, he recognized the danger they posed to Ash himself if he didn't get a proper grip on it. They were only going to grow and get stronger. And Alola... this place had something about it. Ever since they got here, Ash's aura has been acting up, like the suppression the boy had over it wasn't enough anymore and weird things were happening, like exploding teacups and sensing people's auras.  

“Maybe we should--” Ash stopped in his tracks, turning to look at a particular direction.  

Pikachu almost groaned in frustration. Not directed at Ash, never to his beloved trainer, just directed at the world.  

Ash stared in that direction and simply started walking. Pikachu gave him a confused look. “Pika?”  

Ash kept walking. “I... I don't know. I feel something familiar. Someone...” He made his way through a small crowd of people until he found himself surrounded by them. His senses, not yet trained, could no longer detect where the familiar presence was coming from.  

“Ash!?” Someone called from behind.  

Ash turned around and gasped. "Professor Sycamore!?”  

Professor Sycamore waved back as he jogged towards his direction. He was dressed in his usual attire minus the lab coat. He had a messenger bag that he held tightly to. Ash ran to him without thinking twice and gave him a tight hug.  

“Whoa!” Sycamore stumbled a little but hugged Ash back. “It's so good to see you!”  

“Professor Sycamore! What are you doing here!?” Ash smiled as he pulled away.  

Sycamore smiled. “Well, mostly, I wanted to check on you.”  

“On me?” Ash asked, not truly believing someone would come all this way just to check on him.  

Sycamore smiled. “Yes, you. I don't know any other trainer names Ash, you know.”  

“Ash!” Rotom exclaimed. “Who is this distinguished gentleman? That attire screams tourist with class and taste.”  

Sycamore looked down at his office clothes and blushed. That's when he noticed all the locals around him wore shorts and beach clothes. “That obvious?”  

“Rotom, please. This is Professor Agustine Sycamore--”  

“THE PROFESSOR THAT DISCOVERED MEGA EVOLUTION!?” Rotom exclaimed. His outburst got the attention of a couple of bystanders. “Sorry, big fan!”  

Sycamore chuckled. “It's alright, I'd be more than happy to share information with you, Rotom.” He turned to Ash. "I also wanted to give you something personally. Is there somewhere we can talk?”  

“Is not something bad, right?” Ash asked wearily.  

“Pikapi.” Pikachu nodded in agreement.  

“What? No! Not at all! Why would you--” Sycamore was confident he knew Ash. Knew him well enough to know his ticks and mannerisms when something happened. Rubbing his arm, looking anywhere else but at him, wide eyes. What he hated the most was that the boy's first reaction was to assume something bad happened. "No, Ash. Nothing bad happened. Just good things!”  

“Oh, good." Ash breathed a sigh of relief. “Then let's go!” He grabbed the professor's hand and pulled him away. “You have to see the beach!”  

Sycamore felt a bit shaken by the sudden change of demeanor in Ash. Was he faking being this happy or was he genuinely relieved for something good to happen? Either way, something must have happened, and it wasn't good.  

It didn't take long to arrive at the beach. It was still near the populated area, but it was mostly empty. Still, the area was a sight to behold. “Ash, you're living in paradise!” Sycamore exclaimed.  

“Yeah, I guess I am...” Ash smiled, but it was mostly a smile to himself. “Anyway, professor. How long are you staying?”  

“I was thinking for a week. I just dropped off my luggage back at the hotel. I still have lots of work back in Kalos so unfortunately, I can't stay long.”  

Both Ash and Pikachu eyed him up and down. There was a slight judgement in their eyes. “You're going to need weather appropriate clothes, professor.”  

Sycamore grinned bashfully. “I know, I didn't have time to change.” He pulled at his shirt neck.   

Ash didn't buy it and Pikachu seemed to agree. “You didn't bring any weather appropriate clothes, did you?”  

Sycamore blushed out of embarrassment. “Nope. I forgot. It was a last-minute thing. I'm not used to this heat.” He smiled.   

“I can point you out to the nearest stores with good bargains!” Rotom suggested.  

“Um... maybe later, I'm good for now!” Sycamore kindly declined. “Speaking of which, you've taken some vitamin D. You look tanned. Last time I saw you, you were a little pale.”  

Ash scratched the back of his head. “Yeah. Being out under the Alolan sun does that.”  

"RRoooo?”  

Sycamore's eyes widened. “Did... did your backpack just talked?”  

Ash laughed. “Kind of.” He turned his back around and peaked inside. “This is Rowlet. He likes to sleep in my backpack.”  

The owl Pokémon blinked away the sleep away and stared up at Professor Sycamore. “Roo?”  

“Hello there. I'm Professor Sycamore.” He gave the Pokémon a kind smile.  

Rowlet stared back with wide, stary eyes. “Rrooooo...” He stared in awe. Suddenly, he jumped out of the backpack and nestled himself on Sycamore's perfectly groomed hair.  

“Rowlet!!!” “Pika!!!” Both Ash and Pikachu exclaimed in unison, embarrassed by Rowlet's action.  

The owl Pokémon simply made himself comfortable. Rotom immediately started taking pictures.  

“Amazing! Rowlet never gets out of the backpack to cuddle with someone else other than Ash! Updating data!”  

Sycamore laughed. “Well, at least he's not attacking me.” He carefully grabbed Rowlet while somehow not ruining his hair and nestled him in his arms. The owl looked up at Sycamore's kind smile and gentle eyes.   

“Rrooo...”  

Sycamore handed the Pokémon back to Ash. “I've always thought Rowlets were quite adorable.”  

“Yeah, though this one has some type of chronic sleep disorder or something.” Ash gently put the owl back inside the backpack and placed the bag on the sand.  

Rowlet seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in. “What... wat... Pikachu, what in Arceus name happened to me!? Who's that man!? Did he hypnotize me!?”  

Pikachu grinned as he climbed down Ash’s shoulder and stood next to the bag. “That's Professor Sycamore of the Kalos Region. Don't worry, it's not just you. His good looks have that effect on any Pokémon.”   

Rowlet gave him a look. “I don't know, Pikachu. It felt different... I don't think it was just the good looks. That hair sure is soft, though. Does he condition often?”  

Pikachu arched an eyebrow. “... How different?”  

“You know, I felt something similar when I first met Ash.” The owl seemed lost in thought. “No other human has had that effect on me... Well, Kahuna Hala feels the same.”   

“Rowlet, you’re not making any sense.” Pikachu commented. He was distracted by Ash and Sycamore's conversation. “We’ll talk about this later.” He turned back to Ash and Sycamore.  

“So, on Monday, I had two visitors.” Sycamore opened his messenger bag. “Zygarde and Greninja.”   

“Zygarde and Greninja!?” Ash gasped. “How are they? What's going on? Professor, how is she? How’s Greninja?”  

“Relax, Ash!” Sycamore smiled. “Greninja is just fine. Zygarde released her from her duties in Kalos.” Sycamore gave Ash a pokeball. “I brought her back to you.”  

Ash stared at the pokeball being offered to him. He slowly took the pokeball gently and released the Pokémon inside. In an instant, Greninja appeared next to both humans. She opened her eyes and smiled at Ash.  

“Ninja.”  

Ash smiled. “Greninja!” Ash ran to her and Greninja welcomed him with open arms.  

“Ninja-ja!”  

Ash laughed as he hugged one of his most loyal and closest Pokémon; happy tears fell down his cheeks. Sycamore smiled, stepping aside to let them reunite. Greninja ruffled Ash’s hair, leaving it a mess.  

Ash fixed his cap. “You’re staying for real!?”  

“Ninja!” Greninja nodded.  

“Wait-- YOU’RE the presence I felt so familiar!” Ash laughed at the irony of it all.  

Pikachu stared at Greninja, not believing she was here. He half expected to meet her again in a few years or so, but not so soon. He was even prepared to never see her again. He wasn’t complaining though. Greninja met Pikachu’s eyes. For a moment, Pikachu felt like a fool for not noticing how beautiful her reddish eyes were before.  

“Ninja...”    

Pikachu blushed a bit. “Pika-chu.”  

She suddenly grabbed him and hugged him tightly, as tightly as she hugged Ash. Pikachu’s cheek was pressed against her shoulder. He sighed contently and leaned into the hug, his ears melting at the touch.  

Ash smiled. “They must have really missed each other.” He grinned. “I mean, Greninja is one of Pikachu’s best friends!”   

Sycamore, who had been watching both Pokémon's whole exchange, side-glanced him. He opened his mouth to speak and clear it up, lifting one finger up. They didn’t look like just best friends, he wanted to correct. But one look at Ash’s happy, blissful ignorance shot down his resolve. He sighed and shook his head with a small smile. He’ll figure it out... eventually .  

On the other hand, the scientific side of him found this new development intriguing. Two vastly different types of Pokémon in different egg groups find love in each other. It wasn’t unheard of, but Sycamore had never really witnessed it himself. He briefly wondered if this is what Squishy meant back in Kalos when the legendary was teasing Greninja about electric types. This was probably it.  

Greninja and Pikachu let go of each other as the water type placed the mouse Pokémon back on the sand, despite their reluctance to let go.  

Ash suddenly gasped. “I'M LATE FOR SCHOOL!”  

Sycamore arched an eyebrow. “School? Since when do you go to school? AHHH---” Sycamore was so engrossed in the fact that Ash was attending school that he hadn't noticed he had pulled out a pokeball and released a Charizard. Ash was already mounting the dragon's back when he pulled Sycamore to hop on.  

Charizard growled at Sycamore. Ash glared. “Charizard, please. Not now. He's a friend.”  

Sycamore smiled kindly at Charizard, not once fazed by the dragon's attitude. "I'm Professor Sycamore. Nice to meet you, Charizard.”  

Charizard adopted a flabbergasted look and seemed at a loss on what to do. To fire or not to fire, that was the question. The professor reached and patted him on the nose before the dragon could decide. Charizard glared at him in disbelief. How dare this stranger pat him on the nose and why did he like it?   

Sycamore smiled. “It'll be just a short ride, if you'll allow me.”  

Charizard simply stared. Why was he so polite and why did he like this man? He glared at Pikachu, who simply shrugged.  

“Alright, Rowlet.” Ash checked to see if Rowlet was inside his bag. “Pikachu.” The mouse was already sitting on top of Charizard's head. “Greninja, I have to put you back in the pokeball, alright?”  

“Ninja.” Greninja agreed and was soon back inside the pokeball.  

Charizard gave Pikachu a cheeky grin, to which Pikachu frowned and blushed in embarrassment.  

“Charizard, let's go!” Ash commanded, and the dragon took to the skies.  

OOO  

Kukui looked at his class right outside of school, taking notice of who was present... and who was not. Kiawe, Lana, Lillie, Sophocles and Mallow plus their respective Pokémon were all accounted for. But Ash was nowhere in sight.  

“Has anyone seen Ash?”  

The students shook their heads. Kukui hummed.  

“Maybe he got distracted by something?” Sophocles suggested.  

Kukui counted it as a possibility. The boy had been very absentminded recently and for good reason. “Could be. I'll talk to him later.”  

“We can give him another five minutes...” Lillie quietly suggested as she held onto her Pokémon egg.  

Kiawe sighed. “We can't keep excusing him for being late.” He said, crossing his arms.  

Kukui frowned. As much as he hated to admit it, Kiawe was right. Today's class was about battle tactics, and he was excited for Ash to participate, plus it was his research and he wanted to teach his students all that he could. Not only was the boy talented and the rest of his classmates could learn a thing or two, but he knew this was something that could take Ash's mind off recent events. And he was not there.  

Suddenly, a mighty roar bombed across the skies, causing them all to look up. Charizard was fast approaching with Ash on his back and another person. They landed a couple of feet away with a loud 'thump’ as Ash quickly stepped off Charizard and ran to them.  

“Sorry I'm late!” Ash panted. “I found Litten and followed him and then I met up with the professor and then--”  

“Whoa, whoa, slow down!” Kukui chuckled.  

“Sorry.” Ash apologized. “Were you waiting for me long?” He rubbed the back of his neck.  

Kiawe scoffed. “Only half an hour. No biggie.” He sarcastically replied.  

“It might have been my fault.” A new voice approached them.  

A well-dressed man towards them. “I held him up too long. I didn't even know Ash was attending a Pokémon School.”   

Ash smiled at the class. “Guys, this is Professor Augustine Sycamore from the Kalos Region. He came for a surprise visit.” He grinned.  

Sycamore smiled at the group. “Nice to meet you!”  

“Nice to meet you too!” The class replied.  

“I apologize for holding Ash back for so long. If I had known he was attending a Pokémon School, I would have waited until the afternoon.”  

Kukui smiled. “It's alright. Whenever Ash is late, it's usually because of his misadventures.” He grinned at Ash, who looked away with an embarrassed blush. Kukui shook Sycamore's hand. “I'm Professor Kukui. I teach at the school, and I am the regional professor.”  

“Ah! What a coincidence. I'm the Kalos Regional Professor!” Sycamore smiled.  

Kukui introduced the professor to the rest of the class and their Pokémon as they happily explained what today's class was about. If Kukui noticed that the girls and female Pokémon's eyes were heart-shaped when they looked at Professor Sycamore, he elected to ignore it. He rolled his eyes amusingly. Teenagers , he thought.  

“We would love for you to stay and participate in today's class.” Kukui invited him, much to the girls' excitement.  

“Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude.” Sycamore politely declined.  

“Awwww...” The girls groaned in disappointment. Kiawe and Sophocles gave them a weirded-out look.  

“Come on, professor! It will be fun!” Ash exclaimed. “It's a battle class!”  

Sycamore grinned. “You are forgetting I didn't bring the appropriate clothes for this heat.”  

“You're not even sweaty.” Ash pointed out. “And honestly, it's not that hot today.” He pointed out.  

“Well, that's true.” Sycamore agreed.  

“You're avoiding having a battle with me.” Ash glared.  

“Oh no, not at all!” Sycamore said truthfully. “This is Professor Kukui's class, I’ll just watch.”  

Kukui smiled. “I don't know, we would like to see Kalosian battle tactics.” The students agreed.  

“Pretty please?” Rotom pleaded. “For the data?”  

Sycamore hummed. "Well... alright, I'll do it.” He said as he took off his messenger bag. "Then I challenge Ash Ketchum to a Pokémon battle!”  

Ash grinned. “I accept!”  

“And no holding back, you hear me?” Sycamore winked at him.  

Ash stared. Then grinned. “Alright!”  

Charizard stared at the whole conversation taking place a couple of feet away and looked down at Pikachu. “I felt weird with that guy.”  

Pikachu looked up. “That's funny, Rowlet said the same thing. I mean, Professor Sycamore has always been naturally charismatic. Maybe that's why Pokémon are instantly attracted to him.” Pikachu thought back to his time back in Kalos. “You know, now that I think of it, I did feel the same way when I first met him. And chances are that Noivern, Talonflame and Hawlucha felt the same.”  

Charizard glared back at the professor. Analyzing him. Pikachu scoffed. "What's this? The big brute Charizard is thinking? It can't be!” The electric mouse Pokémon mocked.  

Charizard growled at him. “Knock it off, rat.” He looked back at Sycamore. “It's like I know what it is, but I can't put my finger on it.”  

“You have short fingers, buddy.” Pikachu grinned at his remark.  

Charizard scoffed. “And you're tiny.”  

“Not an insult I haven't heard before.”  

Charizard grinned. “I'm serious. How's that going to work with Greninja?”  

Pikachu's cheeks turned red. “What!?”  

“Oh, you know what I mean, Casanova.”  

“Enough! There's younger Pokémon here!” Pikachu desperately tried to shut the dragon up.  

Charizard scoffed and turned to look back at Ash as he released Greninja from her pokeball, gathering gasps of amazement from the class. “She's pretty and powerful.” Charizard remarked. He looked down at Pikachu. “You make a good choice.”  

"I...”  

“You better tell her soon how you feel. This is your chance.”  

“And since when are you giving me romance advice? I know you'd rather see me suffer and laugh about it.”  

“Since you became the butt of the joke back at the barn.” Charizard answered without a pause. “You are pitiful with these things.”  

“Some friend you are. I hate you.” Pikachu declared.  

“Also, we have a bet going on.”  

Pikachu gave him a side glare. Charizard smirked. “You know those treats Kukui gives us? They're irresistible enough that whoever wins gets the next whole batch.”  

“You're betting on me?”  

“Most of the others decided it would be funny to bet against you since your luck in romance is awful. At least seven of us bet on you. We still need to ask Rockruff and Rotom if they want in.”  

“Let me guess, Hawlucha is one of them.”  

“Was that even a question? All the Kalos team is betting on you. So am I. And so is Bulbasaur, Pignite and Snivy.”  

"And what exactly did you bet on?"

Charizard grinned. "Those that bet on you, we bet on that you'll confess to Greninja. The rest bet on you getting cold feet."

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "With friends like that, who wants enemies?"

With another roll of his eyes, Pikachu looked back at the students who surrounded Greninja in awe. She was indeed something to be in awe of. She stole a glance back at him and smiled. Pikachu felt blood rush back to his face.  

Charizard chuckled. “Oh, I'm winning this bet.”  

“Shut your trap.”  

"Also, I want to fight her."

"Of course you do."

Chapter Text

Soon, both Sycamore and Ash found themselves on opposite sides of the school battle arena. Kukui's class settled on the sidelines, along with a couple of other students from other classes that grew curious at the battle about to take place, even Principal Oak was watching. 

Ash looked at Pikachu. “Pikachu, do you mind if--” 

“Pika pika!” Pikachu quickly nodded at him and then smiled at Greninja, urging her to battle. 

“Ninja.” 

“Awesome!” 

Kukui grinned at his students. “Alright, guys. What we're about to see is two pros battle it out. I want you to pay close attention to their tactics and figure out how you can apply them to your own battle techniques.” 

“Yeah, Professor Sycamore discovered the Mega Evolution. I can only imagine what kind of Pokémon he'll pull out for this battle!” Sophocles commented, if not a bit too excited. The blonde boy was still clinging over Professor Sycamore's brief explanation of what Mega Evolution was. 

Kiawe arched an eyebrow. “I know Ash is good but... Is he THAT good?” 

“Ash is good, but he'll get pummeled to the ground.” Said Lana.  

Mallow looked at the battle arena with a bit more confidence. “Mega Evolution or not, I think we should know by now that Ash can stand his ground in a battle! Have a little faith on him!”  

Kukui fought the urge to brag about Ash. He simply smiled. “Let's just watch the battle and you let me know, alright?” 

Lillie hugged the egg tightly and gave Kukui a knowing look. “You know something we don't, don't you?” 

Kukui simply smiled. “Probably.” He kept forgetting that Alola doesn't have a Pokémon League, therefore, he understood why the children were a little nervous regarding Ash's battle with Professor Sycamore. Other than Z-Moves, they've never seen other types of special move sets or ever seen a battle on the professional level in person. The closest thing to a league in Alola was the Battle Royale, and even then, those battles tended to be... messy. It was pro-wrestling after all.  

They were understandably nervous for Ash. However, they did not know what type of experience he truly had. He was probably one of the most experienced trainers in their region right now. And to be quite honest, Kukui wanted to see with his very eyes what the kid was capable of. 

He would be fine. 

Kukui stepped between both opponents. “I'll be acting as referee. This will be a one-on-one Pokémon battle between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and Professor Sycamore of the Kalos Region.” He presented each opponent. “Special moves are allowed in this match. Last Pokémon standing wins!” 

Ash and Sycamore grinned at each other. 

“Begin!” 

“Greninja! I choose you!” 

Greninja took her place in front of Ash, crossing her arms over her chest. 

Sycamore took out a pokeball and threw it in the air. “Garchomp! Let's go!” 

A massive Garchomp appeared on the opposite side of the battlefield. His massive height and visible strength shocked the students.  

The students gasped in shock and fright. “Professor, what Pokémon is that?” Sophocles pointed with a shaky finger. Lillie probably knew, but she was too frozen in fright to answer. 

“Allow me!” Rotom exclaimed. “Garchomp. The final evolution of Gible. It is said that when one runs at high speed, its wings create blades of wind that can cut nearby trees!” 

Though, for all his intimidating appearance, as soon as Garchomp’s eyes fell on Ash, he dropped that appearance for a much more playful one. 

“Gar! Gar!” Garchomp wagged his tail and ran to Ash. 

“Garchomp! Wait--” Sycamore called, but it was no use. 

“ASH!” The student and Kukui yelled in panic. 

Garchomp ran past Greninja, who was confused at the change of demeanor of her opponent, and tackled Ash. “Gar-chomp! Gar! Gar!” 

Ash laughed. “It's nice to see you too, Garchomp!” 

Garchomp licked Ash's cheek, leaving a trail of drool behind. “Ok, eww...” 

The class gave a collective sigh of relief. Sycamore whistled to get Garchomp's attention. The Pokémon looked back at the professor. 

“I know you're happy to see Ash, but we're in the middle of a battle.” Sycamore explained with a smile. “Please, you can say hello afterwards, alright? Would you do that?” He asked politely.  

Mallow, Lana and Lillie melted at his politeness and charm with a unanimous sigh. Kukui gave them a wide-eyed look, then rolled his eyes with an embarrassed smile. Teenagers , he thought again. 

Garchomp gave Sycamore the puppy eyes while still holding Ash. Sycamore arched an eyebrow. Garchomp looked down, disappointed, but nodded. He let go of Ash, gently patted the boy’s head and ran back to his position on the other side of the battlefield.  

“Sorry, Ash! He's just happy to see you!” Sycamore apologized. 

“I'm happy to see him too!” 

Kukui chuckled. “Alright, let's resume the battle!” 

Ash grinned and adjusted his hat. “Alright! Greninja, use Hydro Pump!” Greninja shot a blast of water at Garchomp. 

“Garchomp, counter that with Slash!” Garchomp swiftly cut through the water blast with precision.  

“Use Water Shuriken!” 

“Dragon Rush, let's go!” 

Garchomp took the water shuriken thrown at him and destroyed it with Dragon Rush, landing a hit on Greninja. Greninja yelped but quickly recovered and swiftly kicked Garchomp right in the jaw. 

From the bushes, Team Rocket watched, hidden behind the shadows and the leaves. James hummed. “Isn't that the Kalos regional professor?” 

"The one we tried to steal Garchomp from? Yeah, I think it's him.” Meowth answered. "What's he doing in Alola?” 

“Wabuffet!” 

“You mean Professor Charming!?” exclaimed Jessie with hearts in her eyes. “Oh, he's even more handsome since my eyes were last graced with his presence!” 

James silently scoffed, a hint of jealousy invading his mind. “Like every single other one of your crushes, Jessie?” 

“Oh, shut up! Can a girl daydream!?” Jessie snapped at him. 

“Ladies, ladies, you're both pretty.” Meowth rolled his eyes. “I see Pikachu isn't fighting.” He grinned as he spotted Pikachu on the sidelines with Charizard and Rowlet. “This is our chance to steal him!” 

“Wabuffet.” Wabuffet shook his head. 

“What do you mean fat chance!? He's right there!” Meowth snapped. Wabuffet simply pointed at the Pokémon that was fighting on Ash's side of the battle. 

Greninja. 

Meowth sighed. “Oh great, the one Pokémon that can do that freaky bond thingy and she's here in Alola. This will make things difficult.” 

“Didn't we try to steal her before?” Jessie mused. “We can try again--” 

Meowth scoffed. “Now THAT'S a fat chance. She's way too fast. Just look at those moves!” Meowth pointed at Greninja currently hitting Garchomp rapidly in the stomach, then swiftly kicked him in the chin, then using Cut. “It's not impossible, but we probably had a better chance when she was just a froakie.” 

“We can try to steal the twerp's Pokémon in the barn.” James suggested. "They're just sitting there for the grabbing. We've spied on them enough times! And I know I'm not blind, but I think I saw them having a dance party when the twerp and the professor were gone.” 

Meowth nodded. “Man, those Pokémon do know how to party.” He agreed. 

Jessie rolled her eyes. “Unlikely. Those Pokémon have beef with us and they're too many of them for us to take on and steal them. I'd rather just risk my neck and to go for the frog instead.” 

Meowth shook his head. “We have a lower chance of catching her than catching Pikachu.” He glanced at Pikachu. “Unless...” He caught sight of Pikachu's dopey-eyed look, flushed cheeks and dumb smile. Meowth looked at the direction he was looking at and saw that his gaze was following Greninja's graceful moves. He looked back at Pikachu, who sighed dreamingly.  

He chuckled evilly. “Oh, Pikachu, you dumb idiot. You just gave me lots of ammunition.” 

“What? What's going on?” James asked. 

“I must ask you, who do you think the boss wants more? Pikachu or Greninja?” Meowth asked the humans. 

Jessie arched a well-defined eyebrow. “Well, Greninja would be a better choice by abilities alone. And the boss has expressed interest in her before.” 

“But she's not as powerful without the twerp around for the Bond Phenomenon to work.” James added. “So, we should still aim for Pikachu, right?” 

“Exactly. Pikachu is still the big fat prize when you think about it.” Meowth nodded. “However, I think I know how to finally steal him for good.” He pointed at Pikachu. “We can use his apparent crush on Greninja against him!” 

“Ugh!?” 

Meowth grinned. “It's genius, I'm telling you!” He explained. “We'll need a much more detailed plan, but we can catch Greninja if we can get her away from the twerp and use the element of surprise. If we catch Greninja, Pikachu will come to her rescue like her prince charming! Then, we can do either of two things. One, ask for an exchange, Pikachu for Greninja. Or two, we lure him into a trap where Greninja is the bait and steal them both for the boss! Either way, it's a win-win for us!” 

James and Jessie grinned evilly. “Meowth, that might be your most devilish plan up to date!” Jessie exclaimed. 

Meowth nodded, proud of himself. “I need to brush up on the details, but I think we can make this work!” 

The team turned their heads back to the battle ground where Garchomp had used Draco Meteor and Greninja dodged the attack with ease. 

“We just need the perfect timing.” James mused. “Greninja will be tricky to catch.” 

“Wabuffet!” The Pokémon agreed. 

Suddenly, a huge Bewear appeared behind them and grabbed them in a tight hug. For once, the team didn't complain. 

“Great, back to base to properly plan!” Meowth exclaimed. "Great timing, Bewear! 

“We're off with a new blast! MUHAHAHAHAHA!” They exclaimed as the Bewear took them away. 

As the battle heated, students cheered louder than ever. Both opponents were tied, and they showed no signs of slowing down, just barely starting. Kiawe was in utter shock at what he was witnessing. In the two months since Ash arrived at Alola, he had battled the shorter teen. He even won some battles with Turtonator. He was feeling confident in his ability to defeat Ash. He finally had a rival on his level of training. Not that there was much to hope for, Alola wasn't known for having battle leagues. The best battlers were either the Kahunas, wrestlers or people that left for other regions to reach their dreams of becoming champions or elite four or whatever other thing brought them fame and glory. So far, he'd never heard from any of them again, but that was not the point. Some of the strongest trainers in the region had never even left home, they just weren't interested in battling, choosing to live the much more peaceful life that Alola offered and rarely engaged in battles. 

There was nothing wrong with that, but Kiawe was always restless and as much as he loved Alola and would die for it, he needed a challenge. That challenge arrived in the form of Ash Ketchum. When he first saw him battle Team Skull with just his Pikachu and mopped the floor with them, Kiawe knew he had found someone that shared his love for battling and possibly a worthy opponent that would agree to battle him. Ash was eager to do so too. Kiawe found himself calling him a friend and he did not trust people so easily.  

He had this impression that they could grow stronger together by challenging each other. He should have known when he was introduced to the rest of Ash's Pokémon. No regular trainer would have that amount of Pokémon to his name, especially powerhouses like Charizard, Sceptile, Noivern or even Greninja herself, and still fight like a newbie. 

Only now he realized that he was never on Ash's level. Couldn't even reach his level. Couldn't even hope to reach that level. He felt a bit angry at Ash. Was he... was he holding back on him? Was he simply humoring him to have a battle? Was he letting him win some of those battles? Was he not worthy enough to fight Ash at his best? 

The loud cheers brought him out of his train of thought. He looked at Ash and his Greninja, so in sync with each other. He and Turtonator had never been that in sync. In fact, he had never seen anyone so synchronized with their Pokémon. They were almost mimicking the same mannerisms! He looked at Professor Sycamore and his Garchomp. The professor battled like a champion worthy of a title he didn't currently own. He was on Ash's level. Kiawe felt a pang of disappointment inside his chest. He could never fight like that. He glanced at Professor Kukui, who didn't seem bothered by any of this. It was like he knew all this time. He felt a bit betrayed.  

“Enough games, Ash!” Professor Sycamore grinned. He held up his hand. “Garchomp, let's finish this!” He revealed a keystone attached to his watch. “Mega Evolve!” He touched the key stone with his other hand.  

Before their very eyes, Garchomp mega evolved. His appearance looked much more powerful and menacing than before. Garchomp gave a mighty roar. He was bigger and stronger. The students and Kukui watched with various degrees of amazement. Kiawe stared in shock, wondering how Ash was going to defeat a Mega Garchomp. As far as he knew, Ash didn't have a Key Stone.  

Then again... did he really know him?  

Ash grinned. “Alright, Greninja! We'll do this together!” 

“Ninja!” Greninja's eyes glowed red. 

“Stronger!” “Ninja!” They shouted together. 

A torrent of water suddenly surrounded Greninja. The professor and students covered themselves to avoid being splashed further, with only Lana and Popplio embracing the water until they were soaking wet. 

The torrent was absorbed by Greninja's back, turning into a giant water shuriken. Her forehead now had red stripes, her eyes were reddish brown like Ash's and sported spiky black hair on each side of her head. Like Ash. She was an impressive sight to behold, especially with that transformation. 

Sophocles gasped. “Professor, that's not Mega Evolution, isn't it?” 

Kukui simply stared at Ash and Greninja. “No, it's not. It's Bond Phenomenon. The perfect synchronization between Pokémon and trainer. Ash has one of the few recorded cases in history.” 

Kiawe felt cold. This was a beautiful battle to behold and he truly felt lucky to witness it himself. But it just made the facts a lot clearer for him. He would never reach Ash's level. 

“Greninja, use Water Shuriken!” Ash commanded. “Let's finish this!” 

Greninja grabbed the ginormous water shuriken on her back and threw it towards Garchomp. Garchomp grabbed it and threw it to the ground. 

“Use Double Team!” Ash commanded. 

Suddenly, there were dozens of Greninjas in the battle ground, confusing Garchomp. 

“Only one of them is the real one! Use Draco Meteor! Get rid of the copies!” Sycamore shouted. Garchomp used Draco Meteor and directed it at the various copies of Greninja, destroying them. 

Suddenly, there was no Greninja in sight. Garchomp growled, looking for the water type. 

“Look out!” Sycamore pointed at the sky. Greninja had jumped several feet into the air with the water shuriken in hand.  

“Go for it, Greninja!” 

“Garchomp, dodge it!” 

Garchomp had no time to react when he suddenly found himself at the other side of a water shuriken to the face. The force of impact was strong enough to send him to the ground, creating a small crater in the process and sending a bit of debris to their small audience. 

When the dust settled, Garchomp laid on the small crater, the mega evolution gone. He had fainted. 

Kukui raised his arms. “Garchomp is unable to battle! The victory goes to Ash and Greninja!” 

The students applauded and cheered, Kiawe simply applauded. Rowlet, Rotom and Pikachu cheered while Charizard stood there watching with his jaw hanging. Greninja de-transformed, going back to her original form. “Ninja!” She cheered, though looking a bit tired. 

Sycamore recalled Garchomp to his pokeball. He smiled kindly at the pokeball. “You fought well, Garchomp. Thank you.” The pokeball moved a little. “You take a good rest.” He placed the pokeball inside his pocket and walked back to Ash. 

“Great battle, I wouldn't expect anything less from the Kalos League runner-up!” Sycamore nodded. 

The students stopped their cheering and looked at Sycamore and Ash in shock. Sycamore felt a little nervous. “Uhh... did I say something wrong?” 

“No, no...” Ash scratched the back of his head. “I just never told them about the league.” 

Suddenly, he had his classmates cornering him. “Runner-up!?” 

“Kalos League!?” 

“You almost won a league!?” 

“That's amazing!” 

Ash looked away. “It's nothing. It was just a competition--” 

“It's not just nothing! It was the Pokémon League!” Sophocles exclaimed. “How long were you going to hide that from us!?” 

Ash suddenly looked very nervous. “I-- I – well, I--” 

“What else are you hiding?” Lana asked, suspicion written on her face.  

“Well, I- I—um!” 

“Alright, kids. You're asking way too many questions at the same time.” Kukui intervened, much to Ash's relief. 

“Awwww...” They exclaimed in disappointment.  

Ash scratched the back of his head. For a moment, debating on whether he should tell them more about him. But one look at their disappointed faces convinced him. “I- I'll tell you more, but later. Ok?”  

“Alright!” 

Kiawe stayed in the back, staring at Ash. He sighed. He wasn't jealous, he told himself. He just felt played. 

Sycamore, to dissolve some of the tension he felt in the air, spoke up. “Well, I'll be staying here for a few days, and I am a little hungry. Is there any place you can recommend to grab some lunch?” 

Mallow quickly raised her hand. “We can go to my family's restaurant!” 

OOO 

The class had arrived at Mallow's restaurant where they chatted and got to know Professor Sycamore. Kiawe stayed quiet, though, Kukui had noticed his behavior and decided to have a talk with him later. 

The Pokémon did the same, chatted among themselves on the floor, getting to know Greninja, and discussed the battle they had witnessed as they ate the delicious food prepared by Mallow. Garchomp was nursing a small headache but ate the delicious food all the same. 

“That was amazing!” Popplio exclaimed with stars in her eyes, as if just having found the water type Pokémon she could look up to. “Can you teach me how to make that water shuriken!?” 

Greninja chuckled. “It's a species exclusive move. I could try to teach you, but I won't promise you'll learn it. Sorry.” 

“Aww...” 

“I can teach you Hydro Pump, though.” 

“Yay! That way I'll be strong enough to help Lana get a Z-Crystal!” 

“What's that?” 

As Popplio explained what Z-Moves and Z-Crystals were to her new idol, Charizard was busy taunting Pikachu. “I swear, the dopey look on your face was worth millions!” Charizard laughed. “Just wait until I tell the others!” He wheezed.  

Pikachu groaned. “Charizard, not now. Stop.” As much as he wanted the dragon to stop harassing him, he had to admit he was right. He knew he had a dopey, lovesick look on his face during the battle. He must have looked like a fool. Hopefully, no one else noticed. Probably. 

One look at the other Pokémon shot down his hopes as they gave him knowing looks and grins. Bounsweet giggled at his expense as Turtonator and Rowlet tried to hide their grins, while Togedemaru looked a little moody and Garchomp seemed lost to the details, but just happy to be there. Popplio was still invested in explaining to Greninja was Z-Crystals were, but Pikachu was certain she would be laughing too.  

Like the grownup and responsible Pokémon that he was... he decided to run away from his problems and perched himself on Ash's shoulder. He would deal with the teasing later, preferably when Greninja wasn't in the same room. Charizard threw him a look, but thankfully, decided to let it be for now.  

Greninja threw him a curious glance that he elected to ignore and pretended he was as dense as Ash.  

“Professor Sycamore, how long will you be staying again?” Sophocles asked. 

“About a week or so.” Sycamore answered. “I wanted to check on Ash and deliver Greninja back to him.” 

“Why was she back in Kalos if she's your Pokémon?” Sophocles looked at Ash. “I know I wouldn't leave a Pokémon so powerful behind.” 

Ash gulped. “Well--” 

“A friend needed her help with specific research in the Kalos diverse habitats.” Sycamore calmly answered instead as he drank some pineapple juice. 

“Oh, ok!” Sophocles answered, satisfied with his answer, possibly assuming it was another professor. 

Ash sighed in relief. Sycamore gave him a reassuring nod and continued with their conversation.  

Lana smiled. “Popplio seems to really admire Greninja.” She pointed towards the small seal having a vivid conversation with Greninja. 

Professor Kukui smiled. “Well, the younger Pokémon are always drawn to the more experienced ones for guidance. It helps that Greninja is also a water type.” 

“She's a dual water and dark type.” Ash corrected. 

"Right.” Kukui nodded. "That's true.”  

“So cool!” Lana exclaimed. 

“It's in her nature to be precise with her skills.” Sycamore explained. 

“Are all greninjas like that?” Lillie asked. 

“Nope, just her.” Sycamore chuckled. “Before Ash arrived at Lumiose City in Kalos, Greninja was a little Froakie under my care waiting for the right trainer. Froakies are part of the three Kalos starter Pokémon including Fennekin and Chespie.” 

"Don't starter Pokémon go to beginner trainers?” Kiawe finally spoke, there was a hint of disdain in his voice, but only Kukui noticed. Kiawe noticed the suspicious look Kukui was giving him and looked away, embarrassed.  

“They do.” Sycamore confirmed, as if he hadn't noticed the change of tone, even though he did. “But there are exceptions. When Greninja was just a Froakie, she went to many trainers, but she always came back or was returned. Either she couldn't work well with the trainer, or she didn't like them enough. As a Pokémon Professor, I can't push a Pokémon to stay with a trainer if they don't want to. It's unethical.” 

“That's right. Pokémon can choose their trainers as well.” Kukui agreed. 

“She chooses Ash because he was what she was looking for in a trainer. At the end, it was the best decision. Ash knows how to bring out the best in a Pokémon.” 

Ash blushed at the praise. “Thanks.” 

“Ash, who was your starter Pokémon?” Lillie asked as she cuddled the egg in his lap. 

Ash grinned and pointed at Pikachu on his shoulder. “Right here.” 

Lillie laughed. “But Pikachus aren't usually given out as starter Pokémon.” 

“That's a funny story, actually.” Ash blushed when Pikachu glared at him. “Geez, don't look at me like that. You hated me, remember?” 

Pikachu scoffed. “Pika pika.” 

“I woke up late the day I was going to receive my starter Pokémon and start my journey.” Ash explained with an embarrassed look. “I ran to the lab in my pajamas and when I got there, the professor had already given away all the Kanto starters. I almost left without one until he offered me Pikachu. Pikachu despised me. It was hatred at first sight.” He laughed at Pikachu's expense. “And I was a bit of a lousy trainer too at the time, so I don't blame him. Then we were attacked by a flock of spearows and we protected each other from the attacks. After that, we became best friends and we've been inseparable since then.” He omitted to tell exactly what situations made them so inseparable. He was not willing to share that just yet. 

“I've seen these two in action.” Sycamore commented. “There's nothing these two can't achieve together.” 

“Which reminds me,” Mallow started. “Are you using Pikachu or Greninja for your Grand Trial with Kahuna Hala?” 

“Grand Trial?” Sycamore asked.  

“It's a way to get one of those Z-Crystals I told you about. You battle the Kahuna of the island and receive one if you win.” Ash explained. 

“Interesting.” 

Ash turned back to Mallow. “Pikachu, yes. Greninja, no.” 

“UGH!?” They collectively gasped, except Sycamore and Ash's Pokémon. 

“WHY? You could win so easily!” Rotom exclaimed. "Your chances of winning will be forty seven percent less!” 

Pikachu glared at Rotom with a slightly offended look.  

“But you are allowed two Pokémon in that battle.” Lillie commented. 

Ash shook his head with a smile. “Pikachu is my buddy, so he's my go-to Pokémon. Greninja is already as strong as she can be. I like to give all my Pokémon a chance too. How else will they get stronger? And Rowlet worked hard to pass the first trial. He deserves to participate in the Grand Trial too.” 

Rowlet blushed and hid his face behind his wings from the praise. "Rooo...” He was congratulated by the rest of the Pokémon and received an approving nod from Charizard. 

Sycamore looked at his watch. “I should probably go back to the hotel and rest. I know it's only two in the afternoon, but I've been awake for over twenty hours. Travelling and times zones sure are exhausting. Plus, there is the chance I might have to leave earlier than I thought. I still have a lot to do back at the lab.” He turned to Mallow. “Thank you for the wonderful meal, young lady!” 

Mallow blushed. “You're welcome!” 

Kukui stood up. “We should all go back home. It's been a long day, and we still have class tomorrow. Everybody, let's thank Mallow for the meal.” 

“Thank you, Mallow!” They all said in unison. 

The students were quick to help with the dishes and go home. Lillie was picked up by her driver, Lana and Sophocles walked back home and Kiawe took to the skies with his Charizard in a hurry, without saying much of a goodbye. Kukui frowned with worry at his direction, already planning on having a talk with him later. 

With one last goodbye to Mallow, both professors and Ash stepped out of the restaurant with the Pokémon behind them. 

Kukui took out his keys. “We can give you a ride to the hotel, professor.” 

“It's alright. I know the hotel is not that far away and I could really use a walk but thank you for the offer.” Sycamore turned to Ash. “Ash, I had a wonderful time today. One can never be bored with you around.” He grinned. 

Ash laughed. “Well, you know me! And thanks, for bringing Greninja all the way here.” 

“You're very welcome.” Sycamore nodded.  

“Why don't you join us for class tomorrow?” Kukui asked. “I'm sure the students still have lots of questions about Mega Evolution. A seminar of sorts. Interested?” 

“Oh, I'd love to teach them about Mega Evolution.” Sycamore nodded. “I'll be there tomorrow!” 

After saying their goodbyes and parting ways, Ash and Kukui walked back to his car. Ash took out a pokeball and turned to Charizard. "Do you want to go back into your pokeball or do you want to fly back?” 

Charizard spread his wings and lifted off without saying much. Ash shrugged and put away his pokeball. “I guess he needs to spread his wings.” He opened the back of the car and smiled at the Pokémon. “Alright everybody, hop in!” Greninja, Pikachu and Rowlet jumped into the back of the jeep while Rotom took a spot by the cupholder. Ash went around and sat on the passenger's seat. 

Kukui hopped in and shut the door after him. “Alright, let's go home.” He started the car. 

Pikachu made a move to jump and take his regular spot in Ash's lap... but Rowlet beat him to it, promptly falling asleep. 

Ash laughed. “I guess he's exhausted.” He petted the owl. “Pikachu, you won't mind if Rowlet stays with me just this once, right? You can catch up with Greninja!” 

Pikachu looked at Rowlet, asleep on Ash's lap. He sighed. “Pika.” He agreed. 

“Thanks, buddy.” 

Pikachu took one last look at Rowlet. The owl slowly cracked open an eye and smirked at him. Pikachu silently gasped and glared. Rowlet glanced at him, then at Greninja, then back at him. And promptly fell asleep again. 

Pikachu blushed at the wordless message. He gulped and took a seat next to Greninja on the back. Kukui started driving away. Pikachu glanced at Greninja who sat with her webbed hands crossed over her lap.  

“I don't think we had enough time to say hello.” He awkwardly stated. “How are you?” 

Greninja chuckled, a slight blush on his cheeks. “I'm good. You look well.” 

Pikachu blushed. “Uhh... thank you. Um... that was a good battle back at the school.” 

“Thanks.”  

They silently sat by each other, not knowing what else to say. Greninja glanced down at Pikachu, who had grown quiet and uncharacteristically still. “Are you alright?” 

“I'm fine!” He quickly answered. “Totally fine! Just thinking about how to electrocute my next victim .” He emphasized the last words while glaring at Rowlet, who was either ignoring him or had truly fallen asleep. 

Greninja smiled. “There's no need to electrocute him for taking your spot. Besides, you can tell me more about Alola now that I’m staying here with you.” 

Pikachu nodded. “Oh, alright.” 

Suddenly, Greninja moved closer to him, her hip rubbing against Pikachu's side. He gulped as his face turned red. She looked at him, expecting.  

Pikachu smiled awkwardly. "Well... where do I start?” 

Chapter Text

Charizard had flown ahead back to the barn and opened the large front doors, stepping inside. Bulbasaur was quick to notice him. "You're here early. Where's Ash?” 

“The professor is driving back, and Ash went with him. I decided to fly back to tell you guys ahead--” 

“Hold that thought.” Bulbasaur raised a vine, signaling to keep quiet. He turned back to Oshawott. “For the last time, you can't create a boy band with...” He pointed at four other Pokémon. “...these guys. No offense.” He said to Totodile, Scraggy, Torterra, Sceptile and Pignite. 

“None taken.” They answered. 

“We're here against our will, anyways.” Scraggy crossed his arms. 

Totodile gulped. "Just for the record, I'd rather have a solo career.” Still on the young side, but soon to be considered an adult. “He said it could help with getting a producer!” Totodile had discovered a love for singing and dancing as he always had the inclination to dance after a victory in a battle. Turned out he was pretty good. 

Bulbasaur facepalmed. “And you believed him? You believed Oshawott of all Pokémon in this barn?” 

Totodile looked down in defeat. 

“It will be fun!” Oshawott exclaimed. “Besides, we've been practicing.” 

“Show me.” Bulbasaur dared. 

Oshawott glared. “Can't you have a little faith?” 

“ Show. Me. ” Bulbasaur dared again. 

Oshawott groaned. “Fine!” He turned to the group. Charizard had yet to say anything else, finding the whole situation amusingly stupid. “Alright, guys! Hit it!” He pointed at Torterra. “Take it from the top!” 

Torterra sighed. “Really? Ok...” He rolled his eyes. “ You are... my fire... ” He sang off-key. 

“Sceptile, let's go!” Oshawott pointed, pumped up with energy. 

Sceptile glared. “ The one desire... ” Not entirely off-key, but he knew he wasn't getting any awards for his voice. 

“Pignite!” Oshawott called.  

“ Believe when I say... ” Pignite looked around, looking lost. 

“Scraggy! Whoo!” Oshawott pointed. 

“ I want it that way... ” Scraggy glared daggers at Oshawott. 

“ Tell me why! ” Oshawott sang. 

“ Ain't nothing but a heartache. ” They sang together, completely off-key. 

“ TELL ME WHY! ” Oshawott sang louder, not a bad singer, but annoying enough to earn glares from other Pokémon in the barn. Noivern covered his sensitive bat ears and glared at them in annoyance. 

“ Ain't nothing but a mistake. ” The group made a collective eyeroll. 

“ Now To-to-di-le! ” Oshawott sang and pointed at the small blue crocodile. 

“ I never want to hear you say! ” Totodile sang with all his heart, by far the best of them. 

“Whoo!” Oshawott exclaimed.  

“ I want it that way. ” They sang. 

They were booed by a couple of their friends, Charizard simply laughed at them. Bulbasaur groaned in annoyance. “That was awful, and you just took out five years out of my lifespan.” 

Oshawott gave him an annoyed look. “You just can't appreciate art.” 

“I can appreciate art.” Bulbasaur assured. “Just not your art. It sucks.” He turned to the others. “Come on, guys, scatter. You're free from your misery.” 

The group broke off in different directions while complaining of the embarrassment. Bulbasaur glared at Oshawott. “You just want to impress your lady of the week.” 

“I do not!” Oshawott denied, though his eyes darting around looking for an escape told otherwise. 

“Who is it this time?” 

“Her name is Nacho.” 

“What?” 

“Na-cho business!” Oshawott smirked. 

Bulbasaur shot a look at Charizard. “Say... his tail looks a little burnt, don't you think?” 

Charizard grinned and set Oshawott's tail on fire. The little otter screamed in fright as he ran around, looking for the nearest bucket of water. “It is now!” Charizard laughed aloud. 

Oshawott found the bucket and proceeded to sit inside it. He sighed in relief after putting out the fire. 

Bulbasaur shook his head and turned back to Charizard. “What was it that you wanted to tell me?” 

Charizard opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the sound of a car arriving. "Dang it, they're here. I guess you'll have to find out soon.”  

Hawlucha flew down next to them. “Are you done with Oshawott? Noivern is complaining about screeching banshees and annoying soundwaves.” He pointed at Noivern being comforted by Talonflame. He scratched at his sensitive ears. 

“That was awful, momma!” The young Pokémon complained as he scratched his ears.  

Talonflame attempted to calm him down. “Noivern, please, scratching your ears is not going to help you.”  

Hawlucha sighed. “What are we going to do with that otter? He's getting out of control.” 

Bulbasaur sighed. “Oshawott has always been out of control. Honestly, I can’t believe his whole evolution line is about discipline and honor. He’s far from it.” 

Charizard hummed. “I could get a bag... the beach is right there, you know...” He suggested. 

Bulbasaur's eyes widened in horror. “How dare you suggest that!? We might not like him that much, but Ash loves us all! That would break Ash's heart!” 

“I don't hear you telling me I'm wrong.” Charizard scoffed. 

“It's all levels of wrong!” Bulbasaur shouted. “You're suggesting we kil--” 

“He’s a water type, he’s not going to die because we throw him in the ocean! We will just buy ourselves some time before he comes back to doom our lives with his presence!” The dragon argued. 

“I'm right here!” Oshawott angrily yelled from the water bucket. 

Hawlucha glared at him. “We're not talking to you; we're talking about you.” 

“Yeah!” Oshawott glared as he stepped out the bucket, getting a few laughs at his burnt tail. “You're talking about how to get rid of me right in my face!” 

“Does it make a difference?” Hawlucha genuinely asked. 

“Yes, it does!” Oshawott yelled. “If you want to get rid of me, at least spare me my dignity and do it when I can’t hear you!” He scoffed. “Go back to your mate or something.” 

“I don’t have a mate.” Hawlucha stated incredulously.  

“Isn’t Talonflame your mate?” 

Talonflame choked. “No!” Both her and Hawlucha exclaimed with blushes on their faces. 

“Oh. Ok… Could’ve fooled me. You both take care of Noivern and he calls you momma and papa, so I just assumed...”  

“You assumed wrong.” Talonflame glared. 

“Exactly.” Hawlucha agreed. “We are just friends who travelled together and who happen to have a... child together and uh...” His eyes widened. “Talonflame, are we dating!?” 

Talonflame sighed. “Hawlucha, he’s just trying to get to you. Ignore him.” 

Oshawott gave Talonflame a smile. “So... Does this mean you’re available?”  

Talonflame looked at the otter with disgust and turned to look at Hawlucha. “On second thought... Yes, Hawlucha, we're dating.” 

“Uhhh...” Hawlucha stared. “...Sure?” He scratched his head. Noivern gave both birds the happiest look a child could muster. 

Talonflame shot fire at Oshawott. He screamed and ran back to the bucket of water. Hawlucha turned to look at Charizard.  “I was thinking we could throw him in the bag and then throw the bag inside a volcano. I heard there’s one nearby on Akala Island.” 

Bulbasaur looked at him with wide eyes. “Don’t give him any ideas!” 

Charizard shushed the grass type. “Let a brother speak, Bulbasaur.” 

“No one is planning Oshawott’s murder!” Pikachu exclaimed as he entered the barn. He had overheard enough of the conversation. 

“Fine...” Charizard and Hawlucha groaned.  

Oshawott sighed in relief. “The Alpha Pokémon has returned! Thank you for preventing my kidnapping and murder.” 

Pikachu rolled his eyes and ignored him. He turned to Hawlucha. “He did get you a date with Talonflame... unintentionally, but he did.” 

“But I --”  

“Oh, please.” A soft voice belonging to a female spoke behind them. “I thought by now you two were married or something.”  

Hawlucha did a double take at the newcomer. He gasped. “GRENINJA!” He happily exclaimed and gave her a tight hug. 

Greninja laughed. “Alola, Hawlucha.” She hugged him back. 

Talonflame flew towards here. “Greninja, you’re here!” She hugged her friend. “It’s been so long!” 

Greninja hugged both birds. “You guys, I wasn’t going to be gone forever!” 

“AUNTIE GRENINJA!” Noivern exclaimed as he flew at full speed towards the trio. 

“Nonononono Noivern WAIT!” They exclaimed just before the large bat flew right into them and forced them into the ground. 

Noivern hugged them tightly, using his size as an advantage. “Auntie!” He cried happily.  

“Noivern!” Greninja gasped at the tightness of the hug. “You’ve grown so big!” 

More Pokémon started to gather around the newcomer they’ve heard so much about. Noivern took his sweet time to hug his adored auntie before putting her down along with his parents. 

“It’s so good to see you.” She told them affectionately. 

Suddenly, Greninja's eyes widened when she felt something hugging her leg. She looked down to find Oshawott hugging her leg seductively.  

“ Mon amour , you’re Kalosian, right? My eyes have been graced by your presence! Let’s take a walk under the Alolan sun!” He declared with hearts in his eyes as he rubbed his cheek against her leg. “My preferred circumstance would have been Lumiose City known for its romantic sights, but Alola should do!” 

Pikachu glared incredulously at Oshawott, jealously clearly written on his face. A bit of electricity sparked on his cheeks. Greninja panicked at the sudden show of affection from the otter.  

“Ewww!” In a swift and powerful kick, she kicked him with enough strength to send him flying through the ceiling, creating a hole with Oshawott's silhouette.  

“AAAAHHHHHHHHHhhhhh....!!!” He screamed until only echoes could be heard. In the distance, there was a crash and a distant moan of pain. 

Everybody stared in shock at the Oshawott-shaped hole in the ceiling. “Sorry.” Greninja quietly apologized to everyone. “...I panicked.” 

Snivy shook her head, still looking at the hole. “Nothing to worry about. I get you.” 

Bulbasaur nodded, still looking at the ceiling. “Actually, you did us a favor. He was being extra annoying today.” 

Snivy smiled at Greninja. “I’m Snivy, nice to meet you! Anyone that can send Oshawott to meet his maker is a friend of mine!” 

“Um... thanks? I’m Greninja.” 

“Greninja, eh?” Snivy stole a glance at Pikachu who glared back. “We heard a lot about you.” 

“You have?” 

“Oh, yes. Many times. Hawlucha wouldn't keep his mouth shut.” Seh grinned at Pikachu mischievously. “And neither did Pikachu.” 

Pikachu blushed as he glared at her. 

After the introductions were made, Ash finally stepped inside the barn. "Hey, guys! You met Greninja already, haven't you?” He was met by Bayleef tackling him and showering him with her love. He laughed. “Alright, Bayleef! Off you go!” He gently pushed the Pokémon off him. He looked up and did a doubletake. His eyes widened. 

“Um... Why is there an Oshawott-shaped hole in the ceiling?” he carefully asked. 

The Pokémon looked at each other with embarrassed looks. Greninja slowly raised one webbed hand. “Ninja-ja...” She admitted fault. 

Ash sighed. "Right, Greninja is a girl and Oshawott can be a little... Ugh!” He groaned. “Sorry about him.” 

The door to the main entrance opened slightly and in came a beaten Oshawott. Oshawott waddled his way towards Ash. “Osha Oshawott...” He mumbled before falling face first on the floor.  

Ash kneeled next to him. “I told you before to behave around the girls and they’re not that many here.” He reprimanded the otter. “How many kicks and beat downs will it take for you to understand that?” 

Oshawott, still face first on the floor, grumbled. “Osha Osha... wott...” 

“Are you going to behave?” Ash asked him. 

Oshawott nodded. “Osha...” His reply muffled by the ground. 

Ash gently picked him up and put him down on his feet, then patted his head. “One day you're going to get into trouble that I won't be able to get you out of, buddy.” 

Oshawott nodded sadly, ashamed.  

“Also, you were kind of asking for it this time. You only just met Greninja.” 

Oshawott nodded again. “Osha...” 

“I know you want to find love, but harassing the girls won't work. Now apologize.” Ash told him. 

Oshawott dragged his feet towards Greninja. “Osha osha-wott. Osha Oshawott.” 

“Ninja.” Greninja nodded, accepting the apology.  

Ash glared at Oshawott. “To all of them.” 

Oshawott stared at Ash with wide eyes. “Osha--” 

“I said all of them. They’re not that many! You're not getting out of this one, Oshawott.” Ash pointed an accusing finger at the otter. 

Oshawott visibly deflated as the others tried to contain their giggles, and made his way to the nearest female, Snivy. He apologized to her as well. Then Talonflame, Bayleef, Swellow, Unfezant, and Quilava. 

Kukui entered the barn with Rockruff closely following behind. “Hey, I heard a bit of a commotion. Is everything alright?” He looked up. “Why is there an Oshawott-shaped hole in the ceiling?” 

Oshawott fainted. 

OOO 

The next day, Professor Sycamore offered the students at the Pokémon School a seminar on Mega Evolution. The students were eating it up, asking all sorts of questions and the inevitable ‘how can I do one?’.  

Sycamore smiled. “You would need to find a Key Stone and a Mega Stone that are compatible with each other. But above all, compatible with you and your Pokémon.” 

“What happens if they are not compatible?” Lillie asked. 

“Well, nothing. Mostly. Your Pokémon wouldn't be able to Mega Evolve. However, there are dangers to it. If not used correctly or you use the wrong Stone, your Pokémon could get seriously hurt.” 

The class gasped, except for Ash as he knew that information already. 

“But there is the connection between Pokémon and trainer as well to take into consideration. Which is why Mega Evolution still has a lot of ground to cover. I just gave you the basics today.” 

After class, Professor Sycamore walked with Ash to Professor Kukui's house; Ash wanted to introduce him to the rest of his Pokémon. They had gone for some malasadas first, to which Sycamore was delighted to try and Greninja could take in the sights of Alola while familiarizing herself with the route back home. Professor Kukui was waiting for them back home. 

“Professor, I see you still haven't bought weather appropriate clothes.” Rotom pointed out. 

Sycamore blushed with embarrassment. “Um... I forgot again.” 

Ash, Pikachu and Rotom groaned in frustration. 

“H-hey! It's fine, I still need to leave tomorrow morning anyways! I had a call from the lab and to be honest, I don't need the clothes.” He smiled nervously. 

“Did you by any chance forgot your credit card or something?” Ash asked. 

Sycamore sighed. “Yes. I only have cash on me so I'm a little limited on that front.” He scratched the back of his head bashfully. “This trip was a last-minute thing, and I only remembered my credit card when I wanted to buy a sandwich at the airport...” 

Ash, Pikachu, Greninja and Rotom stared at him. “You could've said something...” 

They soon arrived at Kukui's house where the professor waited by the porch with newspaper in hand and Rockruff taking a nap by his side. 

“Professor Kukui!” Ash called. 

Kukui looked up with a smile and waved back. Rockruff yawned, awoken by Ash's arrival. He turned his head to look at Ash's direction. He saw this strange, tall man next to him that sported a kind smile. Rockruff gasped in delight, attracted to the gentle aura around him.  

“Ruff ruff!" Rockruff ran towards the man. 

“Wait, Rockruff!” Kukui called. 

Rockruff got up on his hind legs and gently pushed at the strange man's legs with his paws to get his attention. “Ruff ruff!” 

“Oh, a rockruff! How delightful!” The mean kneeled. “I'm Professor Sycamore, nice to meet you!” Sycamore petted the puppy's head. 

Rockruff wagged his tail desperately and licked the man's face. 

“Alright, calm down!” Sycamore laughed. He turned to Ash. “Are all Pokémon this friendly in Alola?” 

Ash shrugged as he grinned. “Most of them, but I think they just like you a lot.” He pointed at the barn. “Though, now I'm thinking it's probably for the best if introduce them to you in small groups--” 

Ash was not able to finish the sentence because his Gible shot up from the barn doors with a cloud of dust following behind and tackled Professor Sycamore. 

“Ufff!” exclaimed Sycamore as he was pushed onto the sand. 

“Professor Sycamore!” Ash exclaimed, horrified. 

“Pika!” 

"Gible! Gible! Gible!” Gible exclaimed as he hugged the professor with all his might. Then, started to look through his pockets. 

“Gible, stop!” Ash said as he grabbed Gible and pulled him away. Gible attempted to get away, but Ash had a strong grip on him. “Gible, what's wrong with you?” 

Sycamore groaned as he sat up and rubbed his head. “I didn't know you had a Gible.” 

“Well, I didn't know said Gible tackles our guests and then tries to pickpocket them.” Ash glared at the Gible in his hands. “That's rude, Gible. That's not like you. If anything, I'd expect that from Oshawott.” 

Gible looked down in shame. “Gible...” 

Sycamore thought for a moment before smiling. “I don't think it's me who he wanted to meet.” 

“Ugh?” 

Sycamore stood up, took out a pokeball and released Garchomp. Gible stared with wide, bright eyes. "Gible!” 

Garchomp looked at Gible with curiosity. "Gar?” 

“Gible!” Gible freed himself from Ash's grasp and stood in front of Garchomp. “Gib Gible!” 

“Gar gar!” 

Professor Sycamore smiled as he cleaned the sand away from his pants. “I think Gible sense I had a Garchomp with me.” 

Kukui smiled as he made his way to them. “Like I said to Lana, younger Pokémon are always attracted to the more experienced ones, especially if it's the final form of their evolution line.” 

Suddenly, a stampede of Pokémon exited the barn and tackled Ash, Sycamore and Kukui. Some were content to greet Ash and Kukui while most were strangely excited to meet Professor Sycamore. 

OOO 

Meeting Professor Sycamore had been a delight to the Pokémon, if not a confusing experience. The man was like a living lure and as soon as he stepped foot close to the barn, the first one to get attracted was Gible. Bulbasaur was annoyed at Gible's reaction, but as soon as he met the professor, he was quick to forgive Gible's behavior.  

“Boy, that was some really soft hair.” He commented, the others seemed to agree.  

“I wonder what conditioner he uses.” Unfezant wondered. 

“A really expensive one.” Talonflame confirmed.  

They were currently out of the barn waving their goodbyes. Ash was getting into Kukui's car, along with Sycamore, Pikachu, Rotom and Greninja with Kukui driving. They were taking the professor back to the hotel since it was getting late and Sycamore had to leave first thing in the morning, so there wouldn't be time for a proper farewell. 

When the car started moving, Gible ran after them as fast as his little legs could carry him. "Wait, wait! Garchomp, I have so many questions! How do you evolve!? How can you perfect Dragon Rush!?” He tripped and fell on his face. The car drove away.  

“Notice me, senpai!!!!!” He yelled tragically, extending his hand towards the vehicle.  

Bulbasaur shook his head. “Oh Gible.” He helped his younger friend stand up. “You'll evolve eventually and besides, didn't you ask Garchomp those questions already?” 

“Yeah, but he shrugged and told me to just be myself and look inside my soul!” Gible waved his hands in the air. “What does that mean!?” 

Bulbasaur sighed. He often forgot that despite his experience, Gible was still considered a teenager by Pokémon standards, if only close to adulthood like Totodile. “You'll understand eventually. You're just not ready.” 

Gible groaned and lowered his arms. 

Charizard shook his head. “You'll evolve when you evolve. Stop whining about it.” 

Gible glared at Charizard. “Easy for you to say! You evolved quickly!” 

Charizard gave him a smug smirk. “Well, I am better than all of you.” He got booed by the others. 

Gible pointed at him. "No, you're not! Everybody knows that Pikachu is the strongest and the best of all of us!” 

“I don't see him winning any leagues!” Charizard huffed. 

“You lost Ash a league on purpose!” Gible shot back. 

Charizard stared at him with angry eyes. 

“Uhhh...” The others winced, eating up the drama unfolding. 

“That's gotta hurt.” Sceptile winced. Infernape nodded. 

“You're a generic dragon type!” 

The others gasped. 

“Oh yeah, well! Hawlucha was right! You've been demoted to third place!” Gible shot back. 

More gasps. 

“That’s right!” Gible smirked. “Greninja clearly proved to be better than you.” 

“Uffff...” The others winced collectively. 

“How dare you!? You haven't even seen her fight, so you have no evidence!” 

“But we'll see her fight eventually, and you will no longer deny your rightful demotion to third place!” Gible shook an angry fist at the dragon. “Just wait until I evolve! I’ll take your third place away from you!” 

Charizard fumed. “Yeah, well, what kind of Gible are you that you spent so much time trying to control Draco Meteor and it only managed to hit a tiny Piplup!?” He smirked.  

“Hey! It worked to locate Piplup when he got lost!” 

Charizard scoffed. “No wonder Garchomp told you a bunch of baloney! You're a disgrace to your evolution line, you little meatball!” 

“YO MAMA UGLY!” Suddenly, Gible jumped and bit his Charizard's head with a big ‘ chomp! ’ sound. 

“AAAAHHHHHHH!” Charizard screamed. "GET HIM OFF OF ME!” He ran around, trying to get Gible off his head. 

Oshawott cheered Gible on. “Don't let go, Gible! Show him who's boss! The little guys matter too!” 

“Bite! Bite! Bite!” The Pokémon started to happily chant. 

Soon, the others were cheering on Gible as well and even Rockruff had joined in. Bulbasaur knew he had lost control of the group. He sighed. He made his way to Noivern. “Noivern, I know you don't like using your powers outside of a battle with how destructive they are, but I really need you to put a stop to this. Could you do that?” 

Noivern thought about it. “But I don't wanna hurt mister Gible or mister Charizard.” 

“Don't worry, they've taken worst hits.” 

Noivern looked back at Talonflame and Hawlucha, who nodded, giving him permission. Noivern nodded back.  

Meanwhile, the rest of the group cheered Gible on. 

“Hit him with a chair like in wrestling!” Oshawott yelled.  

Suddenly, both Gible and Charizard were attacked by a soundwave. The group stayed quiet, shock written on their faces, as they watched both Pokémon faint on the sand. They all turned to look at Noivern, who looked extremely proud of himself. 

“Did I do good?” He asked. 

“You did great, dear.” Talonflame nodded approvingly. 

Bulbasaur sighed. “Someone better help me get some healing potions before Ash comes back. I don't want him to see these two magikarp-headed idiots like this.” 

Chapter Text

Today was the day. Today Ash will take the Grand Trial against Kahuna Hala. Ash had to admit he was extremely excited for it. He hadn't felt as excited for a battle for months now, except for his recent battle with Professor Sycamore. He was told Grand Trials were not a public affair, so his classmates wouldn't be witnessing the battle. It wasn't a rule, per say. Grand Trials were considered a sacred affair and out of respect, there weren't any audiences unless the trainer taking the trial asked for one. Ash didn't want an audience this time. He wanted to be fully focused on the battle and not feel like a showoff.  

His Pokémon, however, begged to differ. They insisted on coming to watch the Grand Trial whether Ash liked it or not. Hala found this audience with his battle arena filled with Pokémon from different regions when he opened the door to greet Ash.  

“Who are these?” Hala asked curiously.  

Ash scratched the back of his head bashfully. “These are my Pokémon. They insisted on watching the trial.”  

Hala glanced back at Kukui, who shrugged. “Couldn't convince them to stay.” Kukui replied.  

Hala hummed. “I thought you had less Pokémon.”  

“I'm not even counting the thirty Taurus back in Kanto.” Ash commented as if it was a common fact.  

“Thirty what!?” Hala laughed at the sudden unexpected information.   

Then they were both inside Hala's house kneeling in front of a shrine dedicated to Tapu Koko. After a quick prayer, Hala and Ash made their way back to the battle arena as Kukui and the Pokémon waited by the sidelines.  

Kukui stepped between the opponents. “I'll be acting as referee for this battle between Kahuna Hala and challenger Ash Ketchum. Each battler is allowed two Pokémon. Only one Z-Move is allowed for this battle. The last Pokémon standing wins! Begin!”  

The battle went smoothly, and Kahuna Hala demonstrated exactly why he was the Kahuna of Melemele Island. While he started with a simple Crabrawler that gave Rowlet a run for his money, it was obvious he was throwing the soft blows before pulling out the big guns. Rowlet pulled through and defeated Crabrawler. The attack took out his energy and the little owl fell asleep. The Pokémon audience winced, but still cheered for him anyways. Charizard rolled his eyes in frustration but nodded in approval. Inexperience could be forgiven on some occasions, he thought. Despite Rowlet's inexperience and tendency to fall asleep in the middle of the battle, Rowlet didn't disappoint and won the first round.  

“Maybe he's too tired to continue fighting.” Hala mentioned as he recalled the fainted Crabrawler.  

Ash smiled and took out a pokeball. “Great job, Rowlet. You deserve a good rest.” The owl went back inside his pokeball.  

“Hariyama, it's your turn.” Hala called the large Pokémon. Hariyama stomped his way to the battlefield.  

“Alright, Pikachu! You're up!” Ash exclaimed.  

“Pika!” Pikachu jumped in front of Ash, excited to battle. His entrance gathered the cheers from his friends.   

From the corner of his eye, Pikachu could spot Greninja cheering for him. Ok, so maybe he wanted to show off a little, he thought. Infernape and Charizard gave him knowing looks which made Pikachu look away. He truly knew no peace among his friends and that thought ruined his mood.  

Hariyama attacked and Pikachu blocked. The battle went on exchanging blows and attacks. Hariyama landed a few blows on Pikachu. It had been a while since Pikachu fought a strong opponent that wasn't one of Ash's other Pokémon.  

Then Kahuna Hala decided to use his Z-Move. “I am the Kahuna! I make the wills of myself, Melemele and Tapu Koko as one. I am the Kahuna!”  

Ash grinned and held up his Z-Ring. "Alright, Pikachu. Let's go!”   

Ash and Pikachu performed the z-move Breakneck Blitz where they handed Hariyama’s butt back to him in a silver platter.  

“Hariyama is unable to battle. Ash Ketchum passes the Grand Trial!” Kukui declared with a proud grin on his face.  

The Pokémon cheered loudly, shooting fire, water, grass and different attacks into the air as celebration. Hala found it endearing. He nodded approvingly. “Well done, Ash. You passed the Grand Trial of Melemele Island. As a reward, I want to give you this Fightinium-Z crystal.” He extended his hand to Ash holding the red crystal.  

“Whoa...” He reached out to accept the crystal.  

However, in the blink of an eye, the z-crystal was swapped with a Electrium-Z crystal. There was a collective gasp. Hala looked up to the sky and saw Tapu Koko staring down at them.  

“Tapu Koko?” Kukui questioned.   

“Ko-ko!” The legendary exclaimed.  

Hala nodded. “It seems Tapu Koko has determined that Ash shall receive the Electrium-Z instead!” He handed the crystal to Ash who stared at it in awe.  

Tapu Koko nodded back. His eyes slightly drifted back to the little audience filled with Pokémon, who all looked back with curious expressions of awe, but not disbelief at the presence of a legendary Pokémon. If anything, the Charizard was seizing him, which amused Tapu Koko. Unfortunately for him, Pikachu was the Pokémon he wanted to challenge, not the dragon. He could think of a dozen ways he could take down the imposing Charizard without doing much. His eyes landed on Greninja, who stared back curiously. Tapu Koko then swiftly flew away into the forest without much of a farewell.   

As soon as the legendary left, the Pokémon continued celebrating as if they had not encountered a legendary. Kukui scratched the back of his head in confusion. He looked down at Rockruff, who stared in awe at the direction Tapu Koko left. The puppy had probably never seen a legendary before today, meanwhile the more experienced Pokémon probably had encountered dozens of them across the regions. It was a regular Friday for them. He chuckled as he kneeled and patted Rockruff on the head.  

“You'll probably need to get used to that.”  

The puppy whined at him, tilting his head to the side in confusion.  

Kukui shrugged. “If you want to keep hanging around Ash, you'll probably see Tapu Koko more often.”  

Rockruff glanced back at Ash who was celebrating his victory with Pikachu as the other Pokémon swarmed around him to celebrate as well. He happily wagged his tail. Kukui smiled, knowing that the little Rockruff had finally made up his mind on a trainer. Rockruff looked back at Kukui, eyes asking for permission.  

“Go ahead and celebrate with them.” Kukui said to the puppy, nodding in approval.  

Rockruff barked and ran off towards the group of Pokémon surrounding Ash.   

Kukui went to stand by Hala's side as they watched the Pokémon tackle Ash and Pikachu as they celebrated. Hala chuckled. “I've never seen Pokémon this excited for a battle victory.”  

Kukui laughed. “You'd be surprised. That barn is a mad house with that bunch. But in the good way.”  

Hala nodded as they both watched the celebration take place. “To be honest, when Ash first started to live with you, I thought he was the result of a failed relationship you had in the past.”  

“Wait, what?”  

Hala laughed.  

When Kukui said he wanted to talk to Kiawe, he meant it. He knew his students, and Kiawe was acting strange since Ash's battle with Professor Sycamore. It was so unlike him. He was a quiet teenager, but outspoken when he had to be and wise beyond his years. This behavior, the glances at Ash, the frowns... it was out of character for him. Plus, he was actively ignoring Ash as much as he could. Kukui knew Ash hadn't noticed. He was very happy with recent events like Sycamore's visit and winning the Grand Trial and Kukui didn't want to knock down his good mood.  

They had a whole week off from school, so the kids were off doing chores and whatever made them happy. Ash had decided to spend it on his Pokémon and practicing. To make up for the lost time, he said. He had left Ash back home, too busy handling a dispute between Infernape and Noctowl over a bag of poke-treats at the time, much to Kukui's amusement.  

Kukui figured that Kiawe was helping at his family's farm. It was only coincidence, or fate, that he encountered the dark-skinned teen in the middle of a delivery on Melemele Island as he walked back from doing some light grocery shopping.  

Kukui saw Kiawe getting ready to leave after what was probably his last delivery of the day.  

“Kiawe!” He called.  

Kiawe looked back. “Oh, hey, Professor!”  

Kukui smiled. “The weekend is not even over and you're already working.”  

"Yeah, we have had an unusually high order of deliveries lately. I must help.”  

Kukui smiled. “Your parents must be proud of raising such a hardworking young man.”  

Kiawe blushed at the praise. “Uh... thanks.”  

Kukui gave him a sad smile. “Kiawe, I need to talk to you, and I don't think it's something that can wait the whole week off.”  

Kiawe grew serious. “Did something happen? Do you need help?”  

Kukui sighed. “It's about Ash.” He didn't miss how tense Kiawe became, even if he tried to hide it. “And you.”  

“Me? What do I have to do with Ash?”  

Kukui arched an eyebrow. “I'm talking about your strange behavior towards Ash since his battle with Professor Sycamore last Wednesday. Don't think I haven't noticed.”  

Kiawe scoffed. “It's nothing.”  

“What's wrong, Kiawe? You know you can talk to me, right?” He kindly asked.  

Kiawe stayed quiet for a moment, then sighed. “I know, professor. It's just...” He crossed his arms. “I don't like being treated lesser.”  

“Lesser? Kiawe, what are you talking about?”  

Kiawe angrily glared at the ground. “Ash has been battling me since he arrived and I enjoyed it because I finally had a challenge, but that battle with Professor Sycamore showed me he was just going easy on me! I knew he was strong but not that strong! He wasn't even trying with me! All this time, he wasn't taking me seriously! Honestly, I feel like a pastime to him.”  

Kukui stared sadly. “So that's what this is about.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Kiawe, I can assure you; Ash doesn't see you as a pastime, he sees you as a friend.”  

“How do you know that?” Kiawe angrily snapped. “He's on a whole other league of Pokémon battling, why would he want to fight me?” He pointed at himself. “Why would someone that fights on championship level go to a Pokémon School? It doesn't make any sense! Why isn't he in a region with an actual Pokémon League to compete in? He almost won the Kalos League and who knows what else he's not telling us!”  

Kukui let him speak out his frustrations and how he felt. After the teen grew quiet and angrily looked away, the professor finally spoke. “Kiawe, do you really think you're less than Ash?”  

"That's not what I'm--”  

“It's exactly what you're implying.” Kukui calmly interrupted. “And you're no less than Ash. If anything, Ash sees you as an equal.”  

“Professor, I deliver milk and cheese for a living. I don't battle in front of millions of viewers. How can I be his equal?”  

“Haven't you considered that Ash agrees to battle you simply because he wants you to grow stronger too? Or maybe because he just wants a friend who shares the same interests?”  

Kiawe stayed quiet.  

“If you keep battling just Team Skull or anyone on your level, you'll grow comfortable and you'll never grow stronger. I recall he told you the same thing when you first met.”  

“But he still holds back on me.”  

“Kiawe, if Ash were to fight you with his full strength, Turtonator would be in the Pokémon Center right now.” Kukui calmly explained. “Imagine if Mallow asked Ash to battle her without holding back? Poor little Bounsweet would be seriously hurt. Or what about Togedemaru? She wouldn't be able to contain Pikachu's full power for more than a few seconds, as much as Sophocles would beg to differ.” He placed a hand on Kiawe's shoulder while holding his bags with the other. “If anything, Ash holds back out of respect for you and your Pokémon's safety, not because he sees you as less than him.”  

The possibility of his beloved Pokémon getting seriously hurt seemed to shock Kiawe. “But- But my Charizard could battle Ash's Charizard, right?”  

Kiawe's Charizard stared at Kukui with wide eyes. Charizard sighed tiredly and slowly shook his head. Kukui chuckled. “Your Charizard is very experienced and I'm sure he could hold on his own in a battle against Ash's Charizard. But he's getting older and he's no longer in his prime like when he was your grandfather's Pokémon. He was his starter Pokémon after all. That was a long time ago.”  

Kiawe sighed. “Was... was that even his full strength? Back when he battled Professor Sycamore?” He quietly asked.  

Kukui gave him an apologetic smile. “I've been studying his Pokémon's battling skills and to be honest, he could probably go beyond that; I'm not going to lie to you.”  

Kiawe looked down, defeated but with a new perspective. “It doesn't explain why he's going to a Pokémon School.”  

Kukui sighed. “Ash... He's had a rough life.” He removed his hand from Kiawe's shoulder. “I can't tell you more than that, it's not my story to tell. I'm sorry. I just ask you to be patient with him.”  

Kiawe seemed lost in thought. Kukui sighed. “Just talk to Ash. You might be surprised at the results.”  

After saying their goodbyes, Kukui watched as Kiawe flew away on his Charizard and he resumed his walk back home, satisfied at the conversation. He knew there were still some issues to solve, but at least Kiawe wasn't thinking less of himself. As professor, it was his job to check on his students and help solve any problems with each other. Even then, Kukui suspected that Ash hadn't even noticed the change in Kiawe.   

When he arrived back home, he found Ash had settled the dispute between Infernape and Noctowl and was now having practice battles with the smaller Pokémon. He seemed to be having a good time. Kukui smiled as he waved. Ash waved back with a big smile on his face.  

Monday was filled with orders for deliveries and Kiawe was hoping the afternoon would arrive. As much as he loved helping at the farm, he wanted to have a nice day to himself occasionally. He was barely delivering the first batch of Moo-Moo milk when Ash found him.  

“Hey, Kiawe!”  

Kiawe stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Ash. “Oh, hey, Ash.”   

Ash ran to him with Pikachu close behind and Rowlet sleeping on his backpack, as per usual.   

“Say, where's your Greninja?”   

Ash held up a pokeball. “Right here!” He glanced at the merchandise on Charizard. “You're doing deliveries today? Do you need help?”  

A simple question, yet genuine. That's how he found himself taking Ash to Akala Island and showing him around the farm. They spent the day together as Kiawe introduced him to his family and taught him how things were done on the farm. He had to admit, outside of school hours, Ash was fun to have around. His enthusiasm to try new things was contagious. His parents adored him, and his sister Mimo liked him very much, enough to drag him around the farm. And he and Pikachu had blackholes for stomachs, they ate anything thrown their way during lunch time.  

Kiawe noticed Greninja staring at Pikachu during lunch as she ate her own. Pikachu hadn't noticed, too busy stuffing his cheeks with poke-chow and local fruits and just making a mess of himself. When he finally did notice Greninja staring at him, he blushed and quietly cleaned himself up, much to Greninja's amusement. Kiawe briefly wondered what was going on there and if Ash had noticed anything.   

Ash helped with deliveries throughout the day and helped push Team Skull out from interrupting his work and trying to steal his Pokémon. But at the end of the day, they managed to deliver everything. Since it was getting so late, Kukui had given Ash his permission to stay the night at Kiawe's.  

They sat with Moo-Moo milk bottles as they watched their Pokémon play around and waited for dinner to be ready. Ash happily sighed. “You know, Kiawe. You're really living the best life.” He commented.  

Kiawe looked at him as if he had grown a second head. “What? Ash, what do you mean!? I'm stuck in Alola while you have already travelled to seven different regions. You've seen half the world! How can I be living the best life compared to you?” Kiawe asked incredulously. “Your life is exciting! It's filled with adventure and competitions and I'm pretty sure you've met incredible people in your travels.”  

Ash didn't look at him. Instead, he focused on the Pokémon playing tag, suddenly growing serious. “...you have a happy family. You have a sister, hardworking parents, all this space in your family's name and Alola seems like the perfect place to grow up. To be honest, I would have just moved to Alola from the start and stay here.”  

Kiawe stared at him. “You're impossible to understand.”  

Ash finally looked at him with a frown.  

“You're special.” Kiawe finally admitted. “I don't know what makes you special, but it's obvious there's something about you. You compete in the highest leagues, you own ace Pokémon like Infernape, you were barely a few days in Alola and Tapu Koko was already challenging you. Heck, I've never even seen a Bond Phenomenon before you got here! Your life is exciting! Mine is plain boring. Why would you exchange all that in a heartbeat?”  

Ash turned away to look back at the Pokémon. They had changed the game and were now jumping the rope. “There's nothing exciting about being special, Kiawe.” His face shadowed. “You lose more than what you gain.” He watched as Turtonator tried to jump the rope but instead got tangled in it and took the others down with him. They laughed.   

Kiawe scoffed. “Like what?”  

The expression on Ash's face changed so drastically that it made him seem older than he was. “You get lied to, you get stabbed in the back, you get left behind. People can't seem to handle me. Apparently, I'm a bit too much to handle.” He sighed. “My own mother can't handle me being... special . It's complicated. For everything else, I'm expected to deal with it like an adult, but apparently, I'm too young to handle the truth about my dad.”  

Kiawe looked a bit too afraid to ask, but he did anyways. “What about your dad?” he asked quietly.  

Ash shrugged. “Turns out he was murdered and not a deadbeat. I believed that lie for most of my life.” He finally looked at Kiawe. “What?”  

Kiawe stared with wide eyes. “Is your life usually like this?”  

Ash laughed dryly. “Arceus is cruel.” He sighed. “So yeah... you kind of have the life that I would rather have at this point. I'm a little jealous, to be honest.”  

Kiawe felt guilty for even thinking about Ash had it better than him. “I'm sorry.”  

“Don't be. It hasn't been all that bad.”  

“What's next? Are you in someone's hitlist?” Kiawe joked.  

Ash shrugged, as if it was the most normal question he had heard. “Some people want both me and Pikachu dead and buried.” He affirmed. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”  

“Wait, are you serious? What did you do to make people angry enough to want you dead!? You're like ten!”  

“I'm thirteen!” Ash snapped. He rolled his eyes. “And I didn't do anything. I was just caught in the middle of it all at the wrong place at the wrong time.”  

Kiawe glared. “That doesn't make it any better!” He sighed, defeated. “I still don't understand you.”  

Ash grinned sadly. “Kiawe, even if I told you the whole story, you still wouldn't be able to understand me.”  

“You mean to tell me... that what you just told me... is just a fragment of the whole story!?” Kiawe groaned. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, then sighed. “Alright, maybe I don't need to understand. Your life is way too complicated to understand.” Said Kiawe. “And you can spare yourself the details. It's none of my business. But just help me understand one thing,” He looked at him dead in the eye. “Why were you holding back on me every time we battled?”  

Ash simply smiled. “You just wanted to battle. You didn't seem like the type to just show off your strength or your skills. You just wanted a challenge and I wanted someone that would battle me for the fun of it. It wasn't because I wanted to hold back, it's just that you were having fun and so did I. And besides, you battle because you aim to protect, not to seek glory.” He grinned. “It's a bit refreshing to me.” He scratched the back of his head. “And truthfully, if I let Pikachu go wild, he could seriously hurt your Pokémon and himself. I'm sorry if I made you feel like I didn't take you seriously.”  

Kiawe smiled. “No, I'm sorry.”  

“For what?”  

“For doubting you. I honestly thought you were just humoring me.”  

“What!? No way!”  

Kiawe shook his head. “Tell you what. Let's keep battling, but this time, you'll teach me how to battle the league style. I want to become as strong as you are.”  

Ash grinned. “It's a deal!”  

Both teens turned their heads towards their Pokémon as they kept playing. Kiawe sighed happily as he took in the sight and the smell of his mother's cooking filled his nostrils. Ash was right, he thought. He was living the best life, and he should be grateful for what he had. He glanced at Ash, who was happily drinking his Moo-Moo milk without much of a care in the world it seemed. Despite the little bits of story, Kiawe felt like he was meeting a whole new person behind the goofy and fun-loving exterior.   

He might not know Ash's life story and frankly, Kiawe thought it should stay that way. He may not have said it out loud, but Kiawe knew now why Ash was here in Alola. He wanted to start anew from whatever hardships he had endured. He could respect that. And he believed he made a great friend in Ash.  

Chapter Text

School was back in session after their week off and the following week brough chaos, but in a good way. Ash and Mallow went to find a rare herb for Mallow's soup but encountered Team Rocket instead. Bounsweet helped in defeating them, evolving into Steenee in the process. Rowlet's silly little crush on her became even more noticeable as her sweet smell abilities were much stronger, though she still seemed oblivious about it. Litten also made an appearance during the week. Class was going great, and they had to write a paper on the differences between a Kantonian Vulpix and an Alolan Vulpix, thanks to Snowy and Lillie.  

That was how their week was going so far. Kukui and Ash were watching Alolan Detective Lacky that night after a long day. Ash seemed to be enjoying it, along with Rotom and some Pokémon that decided to tag along for the night such as Snivy, Greninja, Totodile, and Oshawott sitting on the floor close to the TV. Rowlet was asleep inside Ash’s bag.  

Kukui didn't find the current episode that amusing, it was rather boring. He decided to be on popcorn duty while wondering how much popcorn a Pokémon could consume. One glance at the bunch sitting in front of the TV gave him the answer: they could consume a lot of it. He was making more popcorn when Ash got up and went to the kitchen.  

“Do you need help with that?” He asked.  

“Nah, I'm good. It just takes a long time to make literal pounds of popcorn for hungry Pokémon.” Kukui laughed. “And hungry teenagers.”  

Then he got it through his head to tease Ash a little. He grinned as Ash stuffed his face with fresh popcorn.  

"So... Any girlfriend?”  

Ash coughed on his snack. “What!?”  

“I asked you if you have a girlfriend.”  

“No-no! No girlfriend here! What's a girl!? W-what are you talking about!?” He nervously stuttered with the reddest face Kukui had ever seen.  

"Geez, calm down!” Kukui laughed. “I just asked if there was a girl in your life!” He exclaimed as he took out the last bag of popcorn from the microwave and poured it into one of the bowls.  

Suddenly, Pikachu ran up to them, overhearing Kukui's question and proceeded to throw mocking kisses at Ash. “Pika pika, pika-chu! Pikapi!”  

Ash glared at the Pokémon. “Oh no, you shut up! You don’t get to talk!” He leaned closer to the Pokémon and whispered in his ear. “...I know everything.”  

Pikachu gasped. “Pika pika!?” He angrily questioned Ash while making sure the others weren't listening.  

“How do I know?” Ash glanced sideways at Greninja who was munching on popcorn and clearly invested in the episode. “A hunch.”  

Pikachu arched an eyebrow.   

“Ok, maybe not a hunch but it's starting to become a little obvious, buddy. Even for me, and I know I may be a little dense with those things.”  

Kukui attempted not to laugh at the revelation. "That was an unexpected turn of events.”  

Pikachu huffed angrily. “Pika-chu!”  

“Don't you dare try what I think you're trying to say!” Ash snapped back.  

“Pikapi pi Pika-chu, pipika pikachu!” Pikachu gave him a smug, knowing look.  

Ash blushed. “That-that's not true!”  

Kukui grinned. “There is a girl!”  

“I don't have a girlfriend!” Ash exclaimed a bit too desperately as he waved his hands frantically. “She's just a girl who happens to be a friend who happens to be very pretty who happened to kiss me right before she caught a flight! Nothing more than that!”  

Kukui whistled, impressed. “Well, she has clear goals and her eyes on the price.” He wheezed.  

“Professor, stop laughing!” Ash exclaimed with a red face. Kukui tried to gather himself, but the look on Ash's face was too funny.  

“Shut up!” Rotom yelled from the living room. “I'm trying to solve the mystery before Detective Lacky!” He glared at both humans. “I don't care about Ash's little girlfriend!” Then he went back to watch the series along with the other Pokémon.  

“Serena is not my girlfriend!” Ash covered his mouth as soon as he said that.  

“Awww... Is that her name?” Kukui teased.  

Ash groaned, burying his face in his hands. “Go ahead, laugh at my misery.”  

Kukui grinned. “Hey, there's nothing to be ashamed about.” He arched an eyebrow. “Does that mean that you're still making up your mind about her or you just haven't told her how you feel just yet?”  

Ash gave him a sideways glare.  

Kukui chuckled. “I wouldn't wait too long if I were you.” He warned.  

Ash fully faced him. “Are you giving me love advice, professor?”  

“Probably.” Kukui shrugged, pretending that wasn't exactly what he was doing.  

Pikachu paid attention to every single word and took the advice to heart as he stole one glance at Greninja, who still seemed very invested in the show.  

“Do you have a girlfriend, professor?” Ash asked accusingly.   

Kukui gulped and looked away embarrassed. “It's complicated adult stuff.” He explained.  

“Mmmhhhh....” Ash hummed. “I wouldn't wait too long if I were you.” He shot the professor's advice back at him. “Rotom?” He prompted.  

“Professor Burnet works as a researcher at the Aether Foundation.” Rotom offered the information without looking back as he still focused on the show. “Professor Kukui has five unread text messages from her asking him out for coffee. The last one has a sad emoji. That’s not a good sign.”  

“Did you hack my phone, Rotom!?”  

“If I remember correctly, you gave me access to it.” Rotom snapped back without turning away from the TV.  

Kukui facepalmed, a failed attempt to hide his slight blush. “I was asking her first and she was busy with work!”  

Ash gave him a deadpanned stare. “She's asking you out and you haven't answered? Even I know you should at least say something.”  

“Ok, ok, I’ll do it! I forgot, alright?” Said Kukui as he took out his phone and frantically texted back with a confirmation. “You all have turned against me. Lesson learned.”  

Ash gave him a smug smirk. Suddenly, they saw Rockruff quietly leaving the house without much of a goodbye. Kukui and Ash looked at each other, nodded and decided to follow him. Pikachu followed closely behind. The puppy had been acting strange lately, so they had agreed that they should follow him next time.  

“Rotom, let's go!” Ash yelled.   

“But-but—Detective Lacky!” Rotom complained.  

“You can watch a rerun later, now come on!” Yelled Ash as he ran out the door right behind Kukui and Pikachu close by.  

Rotom groaned and turned to the other Pokémon staying to finish the episode. “Don't spoil it for me, understand!?”  

Greninja smiled kindly as she took the leftover popcorn. “We'll make no such promises.”  

Snivy took some popcorn from the bowl. “I bet my pokecoins that the butler did it.”  

Totodile nodded. “It's always the butler.”  

"It's not the butler, I'm telling you!” Rotom argued. “It's the billionaire widow! She wanted to keep the money!”  

“I bet the dead husband is actually alive and is looking for sweet revenge.” Oshawott commented without taking his eyes off the TV screen. “He knew the widow was having an affair with the butler and so he faked his death to get revenge!” He tragically stated.  

“But they found his body, how could he have faked--!” Rotom pointed out.   

“ ROTOM! ” Ash called from outside.  

“Coming!” Rotom flew out of the house.  

Rockruff was just a puppy.  

At least, that's what every other Pokémon used to say. He was a big Pokémon! He was no longer a kid! Maybe not an adult just yet, but he was grown up! Yet, he always felt behind, like he didn't belong with the other Rockruffs and Lycanrocs. He promised himself he would find a trainer that would help him grow strong and great. So, he left the only home he had ever known in the forest and found himself with Kukui. It was logical to find himself a Pokémon Professor that would point him to the right trainer. Kukui was amazing, though Rockruff suspected the professor hid his real battling skills. He went out every couple of nights or so and came back exhausted. He claimed it was a second job he did some nights.   

“Sure, like I believe that.” Rockruff mumbled to himself one of those nights. The man was entitled to his secrets, only if they weren't harmful. Rockruff had his suspicions about wrestling, but he wasn't sure just yet.  

He spends months living with Kukui. As regional professor, one of his duties was to hand over Pokémon to new trainers starting their journey. Maybe not as often as professors in other regions did, but he did so in the Pokémon Center when new trainers came of age. Rockruff used to go with him to see if a trainer would pick him, but all he got was belly rubs at best. There were a couple who were interested in him, but in the end, they went for either a Popplio, a Rowlet or a Litten, Alola's starters. Rockruff realized he didn't want a newbie trainer. He wanted one with experience. And one that could give better belly rubs than these guys. The best belly rubs!  

But as the months went by, no trainer as such showed up. Rockruff gave up on his search and decided to stick around Kukui's place as a wild Pokémon. He had already accepted the fact that he may never find that one trainer and he was at peace with it. He just had to become stronger on his own.  

Then one day this mysterious boy appeared with his Pikachu and a Bayleef. He looked so sad and hurt and Rockruff felt bad for him. As the days went by, bits and pieces of Ash's real self-showed and Rockruff loved it. He was a strong trainer with a strong team and lots and lots of experience! He even gave the most glorious belly rubs! Rockruff decided this was the trainer he wanted, but there was one problem...  

...he had way too many Pokémon.  

Not that it was wrong to have lots of Pokémon, it was just that Rockruff worried that Ash wouldn't have enough time to train him. Why train him when he had trained battling beasts such as Charizard or Pikachu himself? He could win battles with those two alone, why bother with a tiny little puppy? Except that... he was so caring with each of them, always making enough time for them, even when he was tired. It filled Rockruff with hope that maybe Ash would catch him.  

Then he got it through his thick head that maybe Ash would notice him if he became stronger on his own. Hence, the reason why he joined a nocturnal fight club ran by a Midday Lycanroc and a Midnight Lycnaroc. Pokémon went to this place to fight and get stronger where no one would see them.  

Except that he wasn't counting on Kukui and Ash following him. Which was his own fault, he had been acting rather grumpy and came back home a little hurt. Their suspicions and worry rose and finally, they followed him. The most embarrassing thing about this was that they saw how he got his butt kicked by a Magmar. It was a shameful event he was not willing to repeat.  

When Ash and Kukui confronted him, along with Pikachu, all Rockruff could do was keep his head down, embarrassed at himself and angry for making himself a joke in front of the trainer he wanted.  

“Rockruff, if you wanted help, all you had to do was ask.”  

Rockruff looked up, surprised at what Ash said. That's how he found himself being trained by Ash to become stronger. During the night, Pikachu would give him private lessons on how to focus his power. Rockruff felt like he had a chance at defeating Magmar with Ash and Pikachu's guidance.  

During the week before Rockruff went back to Clawmark Hill, Lillie's egg hatched into a beautiful Alolan Vulpix that she named Snowy. Snowy quickly recognized Lillie as her caretaker and was quick to accept being caught by her. She was patient with her fear of Pokémon and was content with just walking beside her. Then Team Rocket appeared to try and steal her away. Lillie got over her Pokémon fear momentarily to save her from falling from a building. Thankfully, Ash and her friends were there to help her. Now Lillie could touch a Pokémon, even if it was just Snowy. But it was another step forward for her.  

Ash brought Lillie to visit one afternoon to introduce Snowy to more Pokémon. That's how Rockruff met Snowy when he was practicing on the beach.  

“What are you doing?” Her young voice asked.  

Rockruff paused his training. “Training. I want to beat a Magmar.”  

Snowy looked at him confused. “What's a Magmar?” She asked innocently.  

Rockruff sort of wanted to laugh. He completely forgot he was dealing with a literal baby Pokémon. “It's a fire-type Pokémon.”  

“But why?”  

“Because I want Ash to catch me.”  

"Lillie caught me and I didn't have to beat a Magmar.” She commented, suddenly looking worried. “Do I have to fight one!? I don't know how! It sounds scary!”  

“Um... no, you don't.” Rockruff laughed. “That's just me. I want to prove myself to Ash.”  

Snowy still looked confused. “But why?” She asked again.  

Rockruff felt a bit frustrated. He didn't have to go in circles with this baby.  

“He already seems like your trainer.” She said.  

Rockruff stared at her. “Do you really think so?”  

Snowy nodded. “I thought he was your trainer already.”  

That gave Rockruff something to think about. Then they heard Lillie approaching Ash.  

“Snowy!” She exclaimed. “There you are!”  

Ash smiled. “I see you made friends with Rockruff already!”  

“Ruff rufff!”  “Vuulll!”   

“We were going to introduce you to Noivern, he's a little bit older and much bigger than you but he's around your age and you can become friends with him!” Ash commented.  

“Vulll!” Snowy seemed to agree and jumped into Lillie's arms.  

“Alright, let's go!” Both humans walked back towards the barn.   

Pikachu stayed behind for a bit and turned to Rockruff. “Are you alright?”  

“I'm fine, Pikachu. Just thinking.” Rockruff sat down on the sand.   

“Take a break, kid. If you train too hard, you'll hurt yourself.” Said Pikachu.  

Rockruff sighed and nodded.   

Pikachu smiled. “You know, if you want to get caught by Ash, all you had to do was ask.”  

Rockruff looked up. “But, how?”  

“What do you mean, Rockruff?”  

“Ash has so many ace Pokémon and you are super powerful! He's the bloody Chosen One, dude!” He looked down sadly, his teenager voice breaking. “Why would he notice a weak puppy like me? I'm not worthy to be his Pokémon.”  

“Oh, Rockruff...” Pikachu smiled sadly. “You're not weak by any means. You just lack experience. And Ash doesn't care about worthy or not worthy. Just look at Oshawott. Any trainer would have released him a long time ago with that behavior.” He chuckled.   

Rockruff smiled at the joke. “But even Oshawott can battle, I saw him practicing with you guys! And he's not even the weakest by far!”  

“He can battle because he has experience and practice. But he's also a water type that was afraid to open his eyes underwater at one point.” Pikachu emphasized. “You may lack experience, but you have the discipline. Trust me, everything else comes on its own right after. Discipline is the most important thing you can have if you want to be stronger.”  

Rockruff still wasn't convinced. Pikachu sighed. “Back when I first met Ash, I was a lousy Pokémon.”  

“You!?” Rockruff asked incredulously. “No way!”  

Pikachu chuckled. “Yes, me. I could barely take on stronger opponents without constantly losing. Not because of lack of strength but lack of focus. And Ash wasn't a great trainer either. He didn't know the first thing about training Pokémon. What I mean to say is that we all start from somewhere and now I'm one of his strongest Pokémon.”  

“But you are THE strongest one.”  

“Please, Rockruff. Let me humble myself.” Pikachu smiled. “And if you think you aren't worthy of Ash, just look at Charizard. That ungrateful idiot didn't deserve Ash, but Ash still stuck with him until Charizard recognized Ash was the best trainer for him. Buizel isn't a saint either, he wasn’t a team player. But he got over it for Ash.” He smiled. “If we go by your logic, none of us are worthy of Ash.”  

Rockruff listened carefully.  

“Just do your best. Ash will love you anyways.”   

“...Do you really think he’ll love me?”  

“Of course he will. He loves all of us. Even Oshawott.”  

Rockruff chuckled. Then Pikachu left, leaving Rockruff with much to think about.  

When the time finally came, Rockruff went back to Clawmark Hill, knowing fully well that Kukui, Ash, Pikachu and Rotom watched from a safe distance. He challenged Magmar again. Rockruff couldn't deny that he felt stronger, faster and with his new Rock Throw move, he won the battle. The amazed look on Ash's face was worth it and Pikachu looked proud of him too. It made it all seem worthwhile. As they went back home walking by the beach. He finally decided to ask. He jumped on Ash's arms and licked his face.  

“Hey, Rockruff!”  

Kukui smiled. “You know, I think you should catch Rockruff. It seems you two have developed quite a bond.”  

Ash stared at Kukui with wide eyes. "Wait, Rockruff is not your Pokémon?”  

Rockruff's jaw dropped. All this time... Ash thought he was Kukui's Pokémon. Was that the one reason Ash hadn't caught him yet?   

Kukui chuckled. “No, he never was. Rockruff has been staying with me for months, waiting for a trainer that would help him get stronger. And I think he choose you.”  

Rockruff barked happily. Ash smiled. “Rockruff? You want me to catch you?”  

Rockruff barked again with a nod. As soon as the puppy saw the pokeball in Ash's hand, he bopped his nose against it, securing a successful catch. He was now officially Ash's Pokémon.  

And it felt great.  

There was even a small celebration at the barn where the others officially welcomed him as part of Ash's team.  

“It wasn't a matter of how, but a matter of when.” Donphan commented after congratulating Rockruff. Most seemed to agree.  

There were offers of sparring and training from the more experienced ones as well, plus an offer to join a certain ongoing bet.  

"...so, you in?” Charizard asked.  

Rockruff stole a glance at Pikachu and Greninja, who were talking by a corner. He smiled back at Charizard. “Sure, I'm betting on Pikachu.” Charizard grinned in delight.  

During the night, at bedtime, Rockruff couldn't sleep thinking about the great time he had. From his little dog bed, he watched Ash sleep soundly with Pikachu by his side, Rowlet still in his backpack and Rotom in his charging station. There were some Pokémon downstairs sleeping in the living room, like Greninja, Snivy, Sceptile, Bayleef and Unfeazant. Apparently, the Pokémon had been rotating turns to sleep inside the house, except for the larger ones for obvious reasons.   

He couldn't help but wonder how he got so lucky.  

‘...All you had to do was ask.’ Pikachu's words came back to him.  

Rockruff sighed contently and went back to sleep. Starting tomorrow, he will wake up every day as one of Ash's Pokémon.  

He couldn't wait for tomorrow.  

Chapter Text

It was only a matter of time before Tapu Koko challenged Ash again. At least, that was the conversation the class was having. Sophocles was a clever boy, and he knew there was something else going with Ash. An Island Guardian challenging a foreigner so often was bound to raise a lot of questions. When the conversation came up, Sophocles saw his chance to find out what was going on.  

“You can come to my house! I have lots of research on Tapu Koko's battles! Maybe we can find a way for you get an advantage!” He suggested.   

“That's awesome! Let's do it!” Ash agreed.  

After school, they went to his house which was very close by. Sophocles introduced Ash to his mother, who made them fresh malasadas. After that, the boys entered Sophocles’ lab to figure out a way to beat Tapu Koko.  

“Tapu Koko uses electric fields which makes his attacks stronger. They should make Pikachu's attacks stronger too.”  

Ash shook his head. “Pikachu would be stronger but so would Tapu Koko. I'll need another strategy.”  

“Maybe stick to normal type moves?”  

Ash shook his head again. “Pikachu's Iron Tail is strong, but normal attacks are not enough against a legendary.”  

Sophocles winced. "You're right. Hey, maybe we can strengthen your z-move! Z-Moves are supposed to bring out the strongest attacks in your Pokémon, so that should do the trick.”  

"Gigavolt Havoc didn't do a thing to Tapu Koko, remember? You were there.” Ash pointed out.  

“Z-Moves also gets stronger with time and practice, Ash.” Rotom confirmed. “I think it's a good strategy!”  

Ash smiled. “Well, alright. What do you suggest, Sophocles?”  

Sophocles smiled. “I'd say we do some testing!”  

Sophocles took Ash outside and guided him to a giant mouse wheel. He had to admit, it was a bit over the top, but he was proud of his invention. "This will help us measure the synergy levels between you and your Pokémon and check for any complications with your Z-Move!” He pointed at his computer. “This is going to be great, Ash! This baby will help us gather the data!”  

“Sure!”  

Pikachu looked at Ash with a worried look. He had grown to dislike the word data when it included Ash in the same statement.  

“Alright, everyone. Hop in!” Ash gave the Pokémon a smile as he helped Rowlet, Rockruff, Togedemaru and Pikachu get on the giant wheel.  

“Wait! Put this on!” Suddenly, Sophocles put a white sticker on their foreheads. “It will help with the data!”  

“Um... is this sticker necessary?” Ash asked nervously.  

But Sophocles was too excited, too in his element. “Relax, it's a simple way to gather data on your brain activity when you bond with your Pokémon. It will help us know any surge of power and tackle it to make your Z-Move stronger!”  

“If you say so.” Ash said, not too sure of himself.  

Rotom noticed Ash's worry and decided to stand behind Sophocles as Ash reassured the Pokémon, not paying attention to the blond boy. “Is this really necessary?” Rotom asked.  

“Well, sort of. Professor Kukui told us in a class from long before Ash arrived that aura has a lot to do with Z-Moves and they can be influenced by it. That's why we're checking for that. If we can pinpoint the exact moment where Ash and Pikachu's auras combine, then maybe they can create a stronger attack!” Sophocles explained. “The stronger the aura, the stronger the Z-Move can be!”  

‘ Arceus, please no... ’ Rotom told himself.   

Ash got up on the giant wheel after the Pokémon. He seemed a little nervous, but fine other than that. Pikachu eyed his trainer's chest as he tried to breathe normally. “Pika?”  

“It's ok, Pikachu! It's just a fun exercise!” Ash assured him. But it sounded more like he was assuring himself. Pikachu didn't like it. He strongly suspected Ash's aura was acting up. He glanced at Rotom who seemed even more nervous than Ash.  

Rotom threw Pikachu a worried look and tried to get in control of the situation. “Oh really, everybody knows Ash can battle well with his Pokémon! Surely there's another way!”  

Sophocles smiled. “Nope!” He pressed the recording button on the computer. “Come on, guys! Start running!”  

Ash started jogging. “Alright, guys. Let's go!”  

He and the Pokémon started running as Sophocles’ computer started gathering data. The genius gasped. “Whoa! Check that out!”  

Rotom yelped upon seeing the data. Ash and Pikachu's aura levels were quickly rising among the rest, almost reaching the point of suspicion. Rowlet's stopped abruptly when he rolled out of the wheel by accident. Then Rockruff followed along with Togedemaru, leaving only Ash and Pikachu in the wheel. Rotom debated with himself what to do. He knew Sophocles was smart enough to puzzle all the pieces together and find out Ash's secret. He couldn't let that happen; he had promised Kukui no one would find out, despite their good intentions.  

But Rotom didn't have to wait long, because the very thing that Sophocles was trying to gather data on started destroying the machine. This was either Arceus’ doing or just pure dumb luck.  

“What?” Sophocles panicked as the computer started to show error messages. “Wait! No!”  

Rotom looked back at Pikachu and Ash and gasped. Sophocles was so engrossed in trying to fix his computer that he didn't see what Rotom was seeing. Rockruff, Rowlet and Togedemaru saw it as well. Ash's Z-Crystal was glowing a bright yellow and Ash's irises were glowing a faint blue; Pikachu was emitting crazy amounts of electricity from his cheek pouches. Rotom didn't think those two had noticed.  

“Come on, you stupid thing!” Sophocles hit the computer over the top. He started to look up and almost got a glimpse of what was going on before Rotom blocked his line of view.  

“Sophocles, I think it's best you turn that thing off!”  

“But it's now working!”  

Rotom sneaked a hand behind the computer's back while blocking Sophocles view. “I don't think it's working! Shut it off!”  

“But it's gathering the data!”  

“ FORGET ABOUT THE DATA!!! IT DOESN'T CONCERN YOU!!! ” Rotom snapped at the blonde boy before finally overriding the computer's database and shutting down the whole operation.  

He might have succeeded in shutting down the computer, but the huge hamster wheel was still running at full speed. Pikachu and Ash had tripped, losing control over their speed, and were going around in circles.  

“MAKE IT STOP! WHHOOOOAAAAA! ” Ash yelled.  

“PIKAAA AAAAAAAA !”  

Sophocles yelled in desperation. “What do I do!?”  

They didn't need to wait too long. The giant wheel exploded, releasing includible amounts of electricity into the air. Sophocles, Rotom and the Pokémon all coughed from the thick smoke. Once it settled, Ash and Pikachu were sitting in the middle of the wreckage covered head to toe in ashes and smoke.  

“That was... something.” Ash coughed a puff of smoke.  

Sophocles stared in shock at the mess, wondering what went wrong. He gave Rotom a suspicious look. Togedemaru, who had seen everything, tried to warn her trainer. “Maru! Maru- UFF!” A brown paw covered her mouth.  

She looked up to see Rockruff and Rowlet glaring down at her. Rockruff shook his head slowly. A silent warning. Rowlet narrowed his eyes. Togedemaru gulped and nodded, understanding the warning. Rockruff removed his paw from her mouth, leaving the poor Pokémon shaken by what she had witnessed and the knowledge of something she couldn't discuss. Maybe they were right, maybe they weren't privy to what she had seen.  

Ash carefully stood up and helped Pikachu as well.  

“Ash! What just happened!?” Sophocles exclaimed.  

Ash looked around at the mess. “I have no idea.”  

“Maybe your machine just didn't work properly.” Rotom smugly replied, crossing his arms.  

Sophocles glared suspiciously at the dex. “Right, sure...”  

Sophocles’ parents arrived at the scene. “What happened?” His father exclaimed.  

“Oh, look at you boys, you're all so dirty!” His mom replied.  

Ash looked down at himself and at Pikachu. “Man, we are... Maybe we should get home and get cleaned up.” He exited the small wreckage but slipped on wet grass and landed face first on a puddle of mud. He slowly looked up; face covered in thick mud. “...Or maybe I should just go back home and take a bath.”  

Sophocles nodded. “Maybe you should. Sorry about that.”   

He narrowed his eyes and glared at the Rotom Dex suspiciously. Rotom stole a glance at him and quickly turned away to avoid eye contact.  

“Ash, maybe we should get going. Who knows what type of bacteria are in that mud and you could get sick.” Rotom suggested.  

Ash nodded as he tried to get as much of the mud out as he could. “You're right, Rotom.” He turned to Sophocles’ parents. “Sorry about the mess.”  

“It's alright, as far as we're concerned, this was our son's idea. Wasn't it?” The dad gave Sophocles a pointed look.  

Sophocles looked down in shame. “I'll clean it up.”  

“I'll help!” Ash volunteered.  

“Dear, it's best if you go home and get yourself cleaned up.” The mom insisted.  

Sophocles watched as Ash and his Pokémon waved goodbye and he was handed a broom and a bag by his father. When he was left alone to clean the mess, Sophocles couldn't help but wonder.  

“Rotom seemed insistent on covering something up.” He wondered. “And he didn't want me to find out. Whatever I was going to find in that data, Rotom must have known about it already.” He groaned. “Oh, he's going to pay for sabotaging my computer!” He looked down at Togedemaru. “You wouldn't happen to have seen something suspicious, right?”  

Togedemaru looked at Sophocles nervously and quickly shook her head. “Maru!” She denied.  

“Alright, I guess.” He looked at the direction Ash had gone in. “What are you hiding, Ash Ketchum?”  

When Ash, Pikachu, Rockruff, Rowlet and Rotom arrived back at Kukui's house, Kukui stared at the young trainer with wide eyes. “Um... what happened to you?” He asked.  

Ash simply smiled. “Sophocles was helping me with finding out a way to use my Z-Move to defeat Tapu Koko, but I guess his giant hamster wheel didn't work out.”  

“His giant what?”  

Rotom raised his hand. “Um... Ash? I think we might have a problem. That machine was reading your aura levels.”  

Ash paled.  

“Sophocles said that Professor Kukui explained in an old class that aura can have a big influence in how strong a Z-Move can be.”  

“That's right,” Kukui confirmed. “But there should be no need for using a machine to measure aura for a Z-Move. Even if he did measure it, it wasn't going to help you with your Z-Move without practicing as you should. It was going to be unnecessary.”  

“Um... Maybe helping Ash was Sophocles’ intention, but I saw the data on that computer and your aura levels were... well...” Rotom sweated. “He was going to find out.”  

Kukui arched an eyebrow. “Find out what?”  

Ash sweated. “Um... Professor... You see...”  

Kukui's eyes widened in realization, then sighed. “...You're an aura user, aren't you?”  

Ash nodded, looking down.  

Kukui sighed again. “Why doesn't that surprise me?” He asked himself. “Alright, take a bath first, then we'll be having this conversation. If Sophocles is starting to suspect something, he's going to do his research on the subject. I know my students, and Sophocles is extremely smart. If he finds out, the others will follow.”  

“But I can't let the others know that!” Ash exclaimed, panicking at the thought. “I don’t want history to repeat itself!”  

“Repeat itself? Oh...” Kukui realized. Ash didn’t want them to find out because he didn’t want them to fear him. “Calm down. We'll just have to make sure Sophocles doesn't find out. Just go take a bath and we’ll figure it out, alright?”  

Greninja was still debating with herself. At this point, the rest of Ash's Pokémon knew about her crush on Pikachu, hiding it behind cheeky grins and knowing looks. And even Ash was suspicious, which was a new one. He could not tell when a girl had a painfully obvious crush on him but could tell when Pokémon had crushes. Sometimes she wondered if he should have been born a Pokémon instead.  

She did not get it. How did they notice? She hid it as best as she could by being stoic and calm about it, even though on the inside she was panicking. And silently gushing at Pikachu's cuteness. Two weeks in and she still had not gathered the courage to tell Pikachu. For all the power she possessed and how much stronger she was than most Pokémon will ever be in their lifetime... she was a coward.  

But her feelings aside, she had other matters to attend to. Much more important ones concerning Ash. When she connected with him through the Bond when they battled Professor Sycamore at the Pokémon School, she felt an overwhelming sense of misery and grief that almost threw her for a loop. She kept up with the thrill of the battle since she felt that it was the only thing making him happy and forget his trouble for just a moment. She wanted to ask, but she hadn't found a moment to do so. Ash was keeping himself extremely busy with school, training, taking care of them, and spending time with his new friends.  

Greninja may not have been the Pokémon with seniority, that honor belonged to Pikachu. But she could confidently say she was the only one that knew the deepest, most inner thoughts in that boy's mind. In the time that she bonded with him in that battle, their minds connected, and the rush of all those thoughts and feelings from all the months they'd been apart stuck with her. She briefly wondered if that was how Ash knew about her crush on Pikachu; he had been indirectly pushing her into confessing.  

It was overwhelming, all those negative thoughts. She couldn't believe that her trainer thought such things.  

Then, she finally had some alone time with Pikachu, she found him training on his own by the beach with no Ash in sight. She finally had a chance to tell him how she felt. But instead of taking the opportunity, she used it for something else.  

“Pikachu, may I talk to you?”  

Pikachu stopped training and turned to look at her. “Sure, what's up?”  

“It's about Ash.” She sat on the sand next to him.  

“If you're looking for him, he's taking a bath.” Pikachu shrugged. “He tripped and landed face-first in a puddle of mud just exiting Sophocles’ house.”  

“Oh.”  

“Who I also think is onto Ash. He's starting to suspect something, and we should keep an eye on him. But I think Rotom has it covered.”  

“Rotom? Why Rotom?” Greninja tilted her head to the side in curiosity. “What did he do?”  

“Let's just say Rotom made an enemy today...” Pikachu carefully explained. “Anyways, back to Ash. What did you want to ask?”  

Greninja looked towards the ocean's horizon. “You know how the Bond works between the two of us, our minds become one and we can feel what the other feels. If I get hurt, then Ash feels the pain too and the same way around.” She turns to him. “That also applies to the emotional side.”  

Pikachu lowered his ears, understanding what she meant to say. “I see...”  

“Pikachu, what happened while I was gone?”  

Pikachu sighed and sat down. “This is going to take a while.”  

“We got time. And I really want to know.”  

Then Pikachu told her everything that happened right after Kalos. From friends choosing to keep away out of fear, to the shock and trauma from Kalos. From Ash giving up on Professor Oak, to Delia pretending everything was fine. From discovering his father's fate to his aura abilities starting to get out of control.  

"He can't take it anymore, Greninja.” Said Pikachu. “I fear that if something else happens, he's going to lose himself.”  

Greninja looked down. “But... he seems happier than what I would expect after all of that. Especially about his father.”  

Pikachu chuckled sadly. “You could really thank Kukui for that. That man is a saint. He really pulled through and guided Ash through it. And Kahuna Hala too. I feel like the kahuna is probably the only other human being that can understand Ash the way we understand him.”  

"You said Hala was soul touched as well.”  

Pikachu nodded. “Kukui helped Ash the moment he broke down. Hala helped Ash to process and understand all sides. He quickly figured out everything about Ash with just one conversation. Which is why I think he's taking this better than expected. If it weren't for those two... I really don't want to think about it.”  

Greninja sighed. “What about the aura?”  

Pikachu shrugged. “I don't know. As far as we know, there's no one else alive other than an Aura Guardian named Riley, but we don't even know where he is. Last thing I knew, he was on some sort of mission with no way to contact him. I was thinking maybe you could help him with that.”  

“I know nothing about aura.” Greninja shook her head.  

“Not that exactly. Rotom says the problem with Ash's abilities could be because of an emotional blockage and that could be affecting them.” Pikachu explained. “Ash has always put a lid on those abilities ever since he knew about them. We... lost a friend back them.”  

“I see. I'm sorry.” Greninja sighed. “I don't know if I can help him. It is not that I can read his mind, exactly.”  

"Yeah, but you're probably the only one who can at least try. If not, I'll have to get the big guns and I don't know where those are.”  

“What are the big guns?” Greninja asked, a little worried about the answer.  

"Mewtwo and Mew. I know Mewtwo would try to help Ash, but Mew is a bit too playful for her sake. Mew and Mewtwo can perform aura sphere and I’m sure they’ll help Ash if we asked. And I only say that because they’re probably two of the only legendaries I can trust with Ash.” Pikachu explained. “Other than Squishy and Lugia. But Lugia got Ash into this Chosen One mess so I’m not so sure. Maybe Giratina...”  

Greninja sighed. Legendaries and their shenanigans were probably the last thing Ash wanted to deal with right now. “I'll see what I can do.”  

Pikachu nodded and turned to look at the ocean horizon. “Hala said that the region itself could be awakening those abilities and overpowering the emotional walls.”  

Greninja nodded. “I did feel a different aura in this place.” She hummed. “Come to think of it, when I arrived with Professor Sycamore, he also felt different.”  

Pikachu's ears perked at the mention of Professor Sycamore. "That's right! When Rowlet met the professor, he mentioned that Sycamore felt different, like meeting Ash all over again or Kahuna Hala.”  

Greninja thought for a bit. “All this talk about auras and soul touched makes me believe that Professor Sycamore could perhaps be soul touched as well.”  

“But... if he was soul touched, how come we never noticed before? Sure, he's charming and extremely likable by Pokémon, maybe more so than other professors I've met. That could have been a clue. But other than that, being near him never felt anything like Ash.”  

“Let's put it this way. Ash arrives in Alola and suddenly his aura abilities are going haywire. It's not so out of the way to think that maybe this mysterious influence Alola has could also have something to do with how enhanced Sycamore's own inner aura feels.” Greninja mused. “Maybe even awakening that part of him that was dormant. I know for a fact that soul touched people could go on all their lives without knowing what they were. He probably doesn't know it himself.”  

Pikachu stared at her with wide eyes and slightly red cheeks. “I love how you put a puzzle together...”  

Greninja blushed and giggled. “Thanks. I guess I spent way too much time with Zygarde and learned quite a few things.” They chuckled bashfully for a moment and then sighed, still sporting slight blushes.   

“It still doesn't explain the whole mysterious influence Alola has.” Pikachu asked.   

Greninja nodded, still wondering about it.  

“...It's called the Power of Alola, you tourists .” A deep voice spoke behind them.  

“AAAAHHHH!!!” Both screamed. Pikachu jumped into Greninja's arms out of fright as she held on to him like there was no tomorrow.  

Tapu Koko gave them a deadpanned look, not impressed by their actions.  

Greninja and Pikachu looked at each other, then at the legendary standing just two feet away from them.  

“You can talk? I never heard you talk before.” Pikachu mentioned.  

Tapu Koko gave them another deadpanned look but remained in silence.   

“How long were you standing there?” Greninja asked.  

“Long enough.”  

Both Pokémon glared at the legendary.  

“...three minutes ago. Your conversation was interesting.” Tapu Koko confessed.  

Greninja glared at him. “Why did you scare us like that?”  

“Because I enjoy scaring the crap out of tourists.” The legendary said with all sincerity.  

“We're not tourists.” Pikachu said as Greninja put him down. “And what's up with your voice?” Pikachu asked.  

“What's wrong with my voice?” Tapu Koko asked.  

“It's... well... deeper than I imagined. It doesn't suit the way you look and it's a little...” Pikachu stared at the legendary. He held in his laughter as he tried not to think of the hilariously deep voice.   

Tapu Koko glared at him. “I ask again, what's wrong with my voice?”  

Pikachu sweated. “Nothing. Nothing is wrong with it.”  

“What is the Power of Alola?” Greninja asked.  

“It's the special aura surrounding the region.” Tapu Koko simply said.  

Greninja and Pikachu glanced at each other, then back at the legendary. "...And?”  

Tapu Koko shrugged. “What else do you want me to say?”  

“You don't give long explanations, do you?”  

The tapu shook his head. “That's why I have Kahuna Hala. He does the dirty work for me.”  

“These legendaries and their stupid games...” Pikachu mumbled. “Just tell us.” He groaned.  

“It's really just aura.” Tapu Koko answered honestly.  

“No, no. It can't be just aura! Everybody keeps telling us this special power heals and brings peace and joy.” Pikachu pointed out. “It has to be something else behind all that.”  

Tapu Koko rolled his eyes. “It's uncorrupted aura. What other explanation do you want?”  

“What's the catch?”  

“What?”  

“There's always a catch.” Pikachu eyed him suspiciously. “And if Ash it's going to get affected negatively, I swear, we'll be out of here first thing in the morning.”  

The tapu had to admire Pikachu's protectiveness over his trainer. He sighed. “It's truly just uncorrupted, pure aura. The region is a beacon of overabundance of it and in turn, it positively affects everything around it. It perfectly balances everything around it. As balanced as the sun and the moon.” He explained. “Which is why your trainer is awakening his abilities under its influence.”  

“You knew about that!?” Pikachu exclaimed.  

“I also know that he's the Chosen One, that he has problems with his mother, that he frequents a malasada truck run by suspicious people and a weird Meowth, and that he will eat anything thrown his way.” The tapu explained. “Oh, and that his father is very, very dead. I'm sorry to hear that.”  

Greninja and Pikachu stared with horrified looks. “Have you been spying on him?” Greninja asked.  

“Only sometimes.”  

Silence.  

“I spy on everybody...?” Tapu Koko looked down, visibly ashamed.  

Greninja and Pikachu glared at the legendary.  

Tapu Koko looked a bit bashful. “Alright, I do it often. Especially when he's making a mess of himself. Which was most of those things I mentioned.” He explained. “It’s my island and I would like to know what’s going on in it.”  

“You just like the gossip.” Greninja pointed out.  

“That too.” Tapu Koko admitted. “The job gets a little boring sometimes.”  

Pikachu gave him a questioning look. “What else do you know?”  

Tapu Koko looked between Pikachu and Greninja. Then he looked back at Pikachu. “...I know enough.” He finally answered.  

Uncomfortable silence followed. Greninja and Pikachu silently concluded that Tapu Koko was simply a painfully honest and blunt Pokémon to a fault. Almost .  

“Alola will take care of him; I can assure you that.” He declared honorably.  

Pikachu nodded. “Well, it better.”  

Tapu Koko nodded, then turned to Greninja. “You're right about your kalosian professor.”   

"Really?” Greninja asked.  

Tapu Koko nodded. “Your analysis was quite accurate. I felt his presence once he arrived and watched him as he battled your trainer.” He looked down at Pikachu. “Aside from successfully scaring the crap out of you, tourists--”  

“--we're not tourists.” Greninja and Pikachu corrected, but it was in vain.  

“-- I'm looking for your trainer.”  

Pikachu gave him a small glare. “What do you want with him?”  

“To battle him.” Tapu Koko answered. “What else?”  

Pikachu sighed. “Now is not a good time. He's taking a bath. He tripped and fell into a puddle of mud.”  

“Ahhh...” Tapu Koko nodded in understanding. “That won't be a problem.” The legendary was fast enough to leave them and break into Kukui's house in less than two seconds.  

“Tapu Koko, don't do that!” Pikachu yelled.  

It was too late. There was a terrified scream coming from the bathroom and Tapu Koko flew out of an open window with Ash's hat in tow. Then there was an angry yell and colorful curses in Kantonian. Ash opened the front door with nothing but a towel around his torso. He ran off after the legendary, still wet, with shampoo in his hair and parts of him still covered in mud.  

“Oh no you don't!” He yelled as her an after the legendary with his precious hat. “Get back here!”  

Kukui zoomed out of the house and ran after Ash and Tapu Koko. “Wait! At least put some clothes on!” He yelled, running after them as he held up Ash's shirt, pants and shoes like a worried parent.  

Pikachu sighed. “I should probably go and make sure Ash doesn't fall in a puddle of mud again--”  

Greninja picked him up and held him in her arms, not noticing Pikachu's heavy blush. “Say no more.” She ran at full speed after Ash, Kukui and Tapu Koko.  

Chapter Text

Litten didn't want to admit it, but Stoutland didn't have much time left. He was lying to himself that his friend would be able to live longer, but life on the streets was harsh and it wasn't kind to those that were weakened by it. Which was why Litten wanted to become stronger. He had lived all his life on the streets, and he knew first-hand how hard it was. Unlike those Pokémon that had it easy with a pampered life with a trainer. Food was simply handed to them and baths, Nurse Joy visits and comfy places to sleep were frequent.   

But Litten didn't care. The whole reason why he was on the streets was because he was born in them. He wasn't hatched in a research center where he would be given away to a loving beginner trainer who would love and care for him. Besides, he was above beginner level. He didn't need a trainer. He had Stoutland. But even then, Stoutland's time was coming to an end. It was just that Litten didn't want to admit it. Stoutland has taken care of him since he was very young, like a father, and now... Litten couldn't imagine a life without him.  

Roaming the streets, he found that stupid trainer again and his idiotic Pikachu. Boy, were they persistent. Litten liked determination, but he did not appreciate them poking their noses into his business.  

Stoutland let out a nerve-wracking cough and Litten silently winced. He was strongly considering getting their help.  

“Stoutland?” He asked worryingly.  

Stoutland gave him a weak smile. “I'm fine, Litten. Just a cough.”  

It wasn't a cough and Litten knew it. When the coughing became too much to bear, Litten decided to find the raven-haired trainer and his Pikachu. It didn't take long for him to find them, it seemed that they were always lurking around.  

“Litten?” The trainer asked. The cat had long since learned his name was Ash.  

Litten was desperate. He guided Ash to his temporary home under the bridge, where Stoutland was having a coughing fit. Ash kneeled next to him. "Stoutland!”  

Stoutland sounded bad. Ash declared that he needed to go to Nurse Joy immediately as he attempted to lift the old Pokémon on his back. However, a Greninja let herself out of her pokeball and carried Stoutland with ease. The group went to find Professor Kukui, who took them in his jeep to the Pokémon Center. Stoutland was quickly admitted by Nurse Joy into an intensive care room. As she talked with Ash and Kukui outside the room, Litten lay in the bed next to Stoutland. It was by far the most comfortable place he had ever laid in... Ironically, a hospital bed.  

“Litten?” Stoutland spoke. Despite the roughness of his tone, he was always kind.  

“Yes?”  

Stoutland coughed. “I won't be able to look out for you any longer, little one.”  

Litten frowned. “Yes, you will! You're going to get better!”  

Stoutland simply sighed. “You know very well I won't be able to.”  

“But-but! But you said you'll help me grow stronger!” Litten cried, refusing to let the tears fall.  

Stoutland stayed quiet for a moment. “I have helped you get strong as much as I could. I've taught you everything I know...” He coughed. “You must find yourself someone else to tutor you...”  

“No!” Litten sniffed.   

“Litten, listen to me.” Stoutland said with a bit more force. “You're not an adult Pokémon just yet. You need someone to watch out for you.”  

“I can take care of myself!”  

“What about that Alolan Persian? He won't leave you alone and will only see you as easy bait once I'm gone...” He coughed. “I don't want you to be alone.”  

“I'm better off without anyone else! I'll be fine!” The tears were flowing freely, powered by anger and sadness.  

Stoutland glanced at the window. Nurse Joy still talked to Ash and Kukui. They had somber looks on their faces. “...Let that trainer catch you.”  

“What? No! No trainers!”  

Stoutland didn't have the energy to glare at the stubborn cat. “He will protect you and I'm sure he has more Pokémon that will surely look out for you.”  

“I don't want anyone else looking out for me! I just want you!” Litten couldn't take it anymore and crumbled.  

“If I could change something in my life, I would have let a trainer catch me.” Stoutland confessed. “Look at what the streets have done to me, Litten... I don't want you to have the same fate.”   

Litten would have answered back, but Nurse Joy entered the room with the trainer and the professor. “Stoutland, would you like to go somewhere near the beach?” She asked with a kind smile, but it hid the sorrow behind it.  

Litten felt horrified. Near the beach? Not the Pokémon Center? But that would mean... was she offering Stoutland to choose where to die!?  

“Meeeoowww! Hisss!” He hissed angrily at the humans. The humans gasped, stepping away.  

“Stoutland!” Stoutland snapped at Litten. Litten tucked his tail between his legs and lowered his ears in shame. He watched as the older Pokémon went into a coughing fit.  

Nurse Joy gave him a worried look. “Maybe it is for the best that he stays--”  

“Stoud.” Stoutland denied, a bit out of breath. “Stoutland."  

Ash gave him a sad smile. “We have a barn where all my Pokémon live and there's lots of space too. It's near the beach.”  

Stoutland nodded. “Stoud...”  

Litten looked away. He couldn't believe Stoutland agreed to go with the humans. Now he had to go too. He hated this. It made the end seem sooner than he liked.  

The ride to Professor Kukui's house was silent. Ash rode on the back of the jeep with Stoutland, Pikachu and Litten. Greninja was back inside her pokeball and so was Rowlet to make space in the car. Ash gently stroked Stoutland's rough hair and massaged it behind the ears. The old Pokémon melted at the touch. Litten glared.   

Once they arrived, Kukui gently lifted Stoutland and carried him to the barn. Ash opened the doors for him to walk through. Pikachu followed, then Kukui carried the sick Pokémon and finally, Litten. The little fire cat was stunned when he saw all those Pokémon under one roof. They shot curious and worried glances at the Pokémon in Kukui's arms.   

Litten followed the humans to an empty stable-like space with lots of hay and blankets where Kukui placed Stoutland.  

“There you go, buddy.” Said Kukui as he gently patted Stoutland's head.  

Ash let Greninja and Rowlet out of their pokeballs. Rowlet quickly perched himself next to Noctowl and Unfezant, looking small among the birds and looking down at the scene below them. Then Ash let out Rockruff. Ash and Kukui left with Rotom for a moment to look for potions and more blankets.  

Litten stood next to Stoutland, weary of the eyes on them.  

Pikachu turned to the curious Pokémon. “Guys, give them some space, please. They're our guests.”  

The Pokémon backed away a little, but it helped little to ease Litten's nerves. Then a big, intimidating Charizard stepped closer to the newcomers. Litten hissed at the dragon.  

Charizard scoffed. “Who's the scamp?”  

“Who are you calling a scamp!?” Litten hissed.  

Infernape frowned. “Charizard, not now.”  

“I didn't do anything. The pussy cat hissed at me first.” Charizard stated.   

“Maybe because you're not so likable.” Pikachu mumbled.  

“And who's the old dog?” Charizard asked, pretending he didn't hear Pikachu.  

Stoutland looked up. “Who are you?”  

“I asked you first.”  

“I asked you second.” Stoutland chuckled, taking it as a good joke, then went into a coughing fit.  

Litten gave him a worried look. When he looked at the other Pokémon, they all had looks of sadness, but seemed to understand the situation. The situation that Litten really wanted to ignore but couldn't.  

Charizard smirked. “I like you.” He said to Stoutland. Stoutland gave him a nod.   

Litten still glared at the dragon, but said nothing else, not wanting to disturb Stoutland or test his patience. Ash, Kukui and Rotom came back with potions, blankets and two hammocks.  

“We'll be staying here tonight. It will be like a slumber party!” Ash exclaimed.  

Kukui smiled. “That way we can keep an eye on Stoutland.”  

They quickly installed the hammocks in an empty space. Kukui went off to cook something for both him and Ash while Ash went to feed all the Pokémon.  

“Here you go, Stoutland.” He placed a bowl of pokechow and fresh fruits for the dog. “And Litten.” The trainer placed a smaller bowl with the same type of food. It smelled so delicious. Litten's mouth watered a bit. His tummy rumbled. He was so hungry.   

Litten looked up to see Ash feeding all the Pokémon one by one as they all enjoyed their meals with delight. They seemed quite happy.  

“I'm surprised you're not devouring that plate.” Stoutland said.  

Litten looked at him. “I... well...”  

“It's very delicious.” Stoutland ate carefully. Litten suspected he wasn't hungry, but if he ate, Litten didn't see a problem.  

Then a small Rockruff approached them, wagging his tail. “Hi, I'm Rockruff!”  

Stoutland smiled. “Hello. I'm Stoutland.” He turned to the cat. “And this grumpy cat is Litten.”  

“I'm not grumpy.” Litten denied while frowning.  

“Hi, Litten! Hey, you look around my age. You want to play with us?”  

Litten stared. “Aren't we, like, teenagers or something? We don't play, we train.”  

Rockruff shrugged. “I don't know. We play tag a lot around here. Especially the adults. We were planning on having a race by the beach after dinner. Just us the younger Pokémon. You in?”  

Litten was about to decline the invitation with a solid and unfriendly remark, but Stoutland beat him to it. “He'd love to!” He exclaimed. “Right, Litten?” He gave him a pointed look.  

Litten sighed. “Right...”  

“Great!” Rockruff exclaimed. “I'll go tell the others. When you finish, meet us by the beach.” With that said, Rockruff ran off.  

“Why did you tell him I'd go?” Litten quietly snapped at Stoutland.  

“Because you need friends.”  

“I don't need friends.” Litten growled.   

Stoutland glared at him. “Litten, finish up and go.”  

Litten sighed. As strict as always, he thought. He decided to obey and started eating. An explosion of flavors hit his tongue and suddenly, he found himself devouring the contents of the bowl. Stoutland smiled and resumed his own meal. As soon as Litten was done, he stepped out of the barn to look for the younger Pokémon as Stoutland instructed him to do.  

Once the cat was out of sight, Stoutland sighed and pushed his mostly untouched bowl to the side, preferring to lay on the hay to ease his pain.  

Pikachu saw this and approached him. “Hey Stoutland.” He saw the food bowl. “You’re not eating?”  

Stoutland weakly shook his head.  

Pikachu adopted a sad look. “It must be hard putting up a strong front for Litten.”  

“I don't want him to see me like this. He'd blame himself.” Said the old Pokémon. “When you take care of a youngster, they look up to you. They believe you’re invincible.” He coughed. “But the truth couldn’t be farther from that…”  

Pikachu lowered his ears. “I get it.”  

Stoutland chuckled weakly. “You do not. You mentor the younger ones. You assume the role of a teacher. But when they assume the role of a child, your child, it’s different… you start to see the world with different eyes. You’d want them safe; you’d want them comfortable; you don’t want them to be left alone in such a cruel world once you’re gone…”  

Pikachu gave him a confused look.  

“You’ll understand when you have your own little ones, Pikachu… Or at the very least, when one simply decides to become your child.”  

Pikachu chuckled. “I don't think that will happen.”  

“Possibly, but your trainer could eventually catch a young Pokémon that will adopt you as a parent.” Stoutland smiled. “Or simply have your own.”  

Pikachu blushed. “Um... I don’t think that would be possible either.”  

Stoutland glanced at Greninja as she ate and talked with the other females of the group. “I see.” He went into another coughing fit, a bad one.  

Pikachu looked worried. “Should I get Ash or Kukui? I should get them!”  

“No!” Stoutland coughed. “Don’t...”  

“Stoutland...”  

“My time will come soon.” The old Pokémon said. “You all have been so kind to me and Litten in my final moments.” He saw how Pikachu’s eyes teared up a bit. “Please don’t cry for me. I heard the afterlife is painless.” He chuckled.  

Pikachu couldn’t help but chuckle. “Is there anything you need?”  

Stoutland thought for a moment. “Just one thing... After I’m gone, please... You, or any of you, please take care of Litten for me.”  

Both Pokémon were unaware of Charizard overhearing their gloomy conversation.  

As soon as Litten stepped outside the barn, he was planning on hiding to avoid interacting with the younger Pokémon, but alas, Rockruff spotted him.  

“Litten, come on!” The puppy ran off towards the beach.  

Litten sighed and followed the puppy. Once at the beach, he saw the sun starting to set on the horizon and a small group of Pokémon playing around with each other. He saw Donphan, Bayleef, Glalie, Torkoal, Noivern, Totodile, Rowlet , Gible and Krookodile. Rockruff guided him to the group. “Hey, guys! Litten agreed to play with us!”  

They cheered. Litten rolled his eyes. He didn’t agree, Stoutland agreed for him.  

Rockruff smiled. “Litten, these are Donphan, Glalie and Torkoal. They are our age.”  

“Hello!” Donphan smiled.  

“What’s up, man?” Glalie laughed.  

“Nice to meet you!” Torkoal greets before bursting into tears. “Muuaaawaaaaa!”  

Litten looked at the fire turtle, then at Rockruff, expecting an explanation. Rockruff simply smiled. “He’s a very emotional turtle.” He turned to the rest. “Noivern is the youngest, he’s still a little kid, but the biggest of us in size.”  

Noivern blushed. “Hi!” He greets in that charming, childish voice.  

“Hey.” Litten greeted.  

“You already know Rowlet and he’s our age, so no introductions.”  

Rowlet smiled. “Glad to see you join us, Litten.”  

“Sure...”  

“Then there’s Bayleef, Totodile, Gible and the croc with the sunglasses is Krookodile. Bayleef is the only one considered an adult, but a child at heart. The rest aren’t adults just yet, but they’re still teenagers. Just old and ancient on the inside.”  

“Hey!” the trio exclaimed before laughing about it.  

“Now, who’s up for a race!?” Rockruff exclaimed.  

“Yay!”  

Litten had to admit, with such a diverse group, he was a little curious about the race. They all got into position behind a line they drew on the sand. Rowlet pointed at a far-off palm tree. “The first to touch the palm tree wins!”  

“On your marks!” Rockruff exclaimed. They all got into position. “Get set!” They all smirked at each other. “GO!” They all shot off like bullets.  

Litten was stunned for a moment before realizing that the group was leaving him behind. He ran after them, attempting to catch up. He saw how Bayleef tried to playfully block Donphan’s path as Noivern flew above them. Litten suspected the large bat could fly faster than just gliding but was simply holding back for the fun of it. Glalie threw ice at Torkoal’s way, but the fire turtle was surprisingly fast and avoided the attack. Rowlet flew beside Noivern, again Litten believed he was faster than that. Gible was doing his best with his short legs. He saw Krookodile in third place, making an ‘L’ sign to the ones behind him, calling them losers with a smirk on his face. Totodile and Rockruff were competing for first place. Litten smiled and used flames to run faster. He quickly passed Glalie, Torkoal, Bayleef, Rowlet, Noivern and Krookodile.   

Krookodile gave him a shocked look, knocking off the smug smirk on his face. Litten smirked. “Later!” He playfully bid him farewell. He quickly reached Totodile and passed him.  

Soon he was in a tie with Rockruff, competing for first place. The puppy had a competitive, fun look on his face. The palm tree was getting close. They locked their eyes, smirked, and ran as fast as they could towards the palm tree. Suddenly, the race was just between a cat and a puppy competing to see who the fastest Pokémon was. Both jumped at the same time and touched the palm tree in the exact same second, ending the race in a tie.  

They fell onto the sand, panting. The rest arrived and touched the palm tree and quickly sat on the sand, panting as well.  

“Whoa, Litten! You’re super-fast!” Totodile exclaimed.  

“That was radical, my man!” Krookodile smirked.  

Rockruff smiled, still panting. “We need to do the un-tie race some other time.”  

Litten found himself smiling. “Yeah, that was some work out.”  

“This is how we train in our spare time.” Bayleef said. “The others are way too serious about training, so we gather the younger ones and make training into simple games to keep stamina and healthy competition.” She explained. “Also, it helps us to bond.’  

Litten hummed. “I never thought about it like that before.” He smiled. “It was fun.”  

Suddenly, Ash was calling them from the barn’s entrance. “Guys! We’re doing an Alolan Detective Lacky special episode in the barn! Come on!”  

The Pokémon cheered and made their way to the barn. Litten smiled as he watched the others run. He was about to run after them when a movement caught his eye from the palm trees. He stared at them for a moment and sniffed the air.  

“Meowth?”  

The Team Rocket member appeared from the shadows, not fully stepping into the light. “Didn’t think you’d see me, Litten.”  

Litten frowned. He had the misfortune of having met Team Rocket a while back, during one of the times they tried to steal Pikachu and Litten had been involved. He had run away after that, before Ash could even talk to him. But ever since then, he had been spotting Meowth more frequently.  

“What do you want, Meowth?”  

Meowth looked a bit hurt. “I heard about Stoutland. I’m sorry, kid.”  

“He’s not dead!” He snapped.  

Meowth sighed. “You seemed to have fun in that race.”  

“Why do you care if I have fun or not?”  

“Geez, kid. Did anybody ever tell you have the potential to be the next grumpy cat meme?”  

Litten glared.  

“Look, like it or not, Stoutland doesn’t have long.”  

“Stop!”  

“I’m speaking to you with the truth, kid. Cat to cat.” Meowth glared. “You better face the facts.”  

“Why are you--”  

“Listen to me because I will not be repeating myself and this will go against my Team Rocket creed, but...” He pointed at the barn. “That twerp taking care of your good ole’ father figure? He’s the best chance you got at having a decent life.”  

Litten stared.   

“And he’s the best trainer any Pokémon could ever ask for. He will take care of you and the other Pokémon will look out for you. Just know that if you choose to go with the twerp, we’re enemies.”  

Litten frowned. “Why are you telling me this?”  

Meowth frowned. “I have a soft spot for my fellow felines. I’ve been following the twerp for a long time. Trust me, he’s the best out there. You’ve seen how happy those Pokémon are in that barn, they don't lack a loving home and have food and water, and even Stoutland decided to spend his final moments in there.”   

“...Why would he decide to spend his last moments here?”  

Meowth rolled his eyes. “Silly pussy cat. He did it for you.”  

Litten stared. “For me?”  

“Yes, you. He wanted you to see what your life could be like if you choose to stay here with the twerp. Otherwise, with how stubborn you are, you would still be going hungry in the streets. And honestly, that’s the best gift he could ever give you. And you better take it.” He pointed at the barn’s direction. “Go, spend time with him before it’s too late.”  

Litten looked at the barn, then back at Meowth, only to see that the older cat was gone. Litten looked around, to see if he was still lurking around.”  

“Litten!” Ash called. “Where are you?”  

Litten looked back at the direction of the voice and decided to follow it. Meowth watched from the top of a palm tree as Litten ran to Ash. The boy smiled at him and opened the barn door to let him in, then walked in himself. Meowth smiled. Hopefully, he had drilled some sense into that cat.  

Litten smelled fresh popcorn being passed around. They were all gathering around the stable space where Stoutland was in. They had set up a projector against the wall with the episode already starting. Litten went and cuddled next to Stoutland.  

Stoutland looked down at Litten. “Did you have fun?”  

“Yeah, it was fun.” Litten looked down.  

Stoutland arched an eyebrow. “Litten?”  

The cat rubbed his cheek against Stoutland's but said nothing else. They all watched the episode, they had fun and lots of laughs and before they knew it, it was bedtime. Everybody had gone to bed, Ash and Kukui slept in the hammocks they’d set up for the night.  

Litten couldn’t sleep. He wouldn’t leave Stoutland’s side. “Thank you, Stoutland.” He whispered.  

“For what, little cat?”  

Litten’s eyes were closing, unable to fight sleep any longer. “For everything. For taking care of me... and for taking me here.”  

Stoutland smiled, content that he had achieved his goal. “Sleep well, Litten. Sleep well...”  

The older Pokémon waited until the cat was asleep, far off into dreamland to worry about the real world. Then Stoutland got up in his weak legs and quietly left the barn through the slightly open barn door. He walked towards the beach, feeling the soft cold sand underneath his paws. He sat there, staring at the horizon as the moon reflected herself on the ocean.  

He was content.  

The next morning, everybody was awoken by a terrified scream.  

“ MEEEOOOWWWW! ”  

Ash fell off his hammock. “What is it!? What’s wrong!?”  

Kukui adopted a horrified look. “Um... Ash?” He pointed at Litten.  

Litten was desperately looking around the barn. Stoutland was nowhere in sight. Ash gasped. “Everybody! Search for Stoutland!” He exclaimed as the Pokémon scattered to look for the missing dog. He saw Litten running out of the barn.  

“Pikachu, Rockruff, Rowlet, with me!” He called as he ran after the cat. But Litten was slippery. He went onto the beach first, but there was no one there. Then he ran off into the road leading to the city at high speeds. Ash couldn’t keep up.  

Surprisingly, Charizard got his trainer and the three Pokémon on his back and flew into the skies. Pikachu climbed on top of Charizard’s head.  

“Why are you taking us?” He half yelled due to the sound of the fast wind.  

“Didn’t the old dog’s wish was for us to take care of his brat?”  

Pikachu was surprised, he didn’t think anyone had overheard that conversation. He nodded. “Alright, let’s follow Litten!”  

Litten had run into the city, searching all the places he thought Stoutland might be but had no such luck. He knew what had happened, he just didn’t want to believe it was real or that it happened so soon. The skies had greyed, and it started raining. He ended up in their old home, under the bridge. The old sofa was still there along with all the other junk. He stared at the couch. No one was sitting there.  

Litten’s eyes filled with tears that mixed with the rainwater as he stepped out into the rain. He looked up at an old tree that was still there, with just one leaf left. Stoutland used to say he liked this tree. Litten never understood why. It was old and dry and had very little life. He realized, somberly, that Stoutland liked the tree because the tree was like him, with his last days accounted for.  

A gust of wind blew and the last green leaf on the tree flew away and Litten couldn’t do anything about it. Like Stoutland. He cried like he never cried before, grieving the only Pokémon that ever loved him. But he felt... strangely at peace. Stoutland wasn’t suffering anymore.  

“Litten?”  

Litten gasped and looked to his right. Ash was standing underneath the bridge, soaked to the bone, with Pikachu, Rowlet, Rockruff and Charizard behind him. The flame on Charizard’s tail was the only source of light under that bridge. Litten sniffed as he stared.  

“Litten, let’s go home.” Said Ash.  

Litten sniffed again as Ash stepped into the rain and kneeled next to him. “It’s your choice to come with me, but we can’t stand here in the rain all day, or we’ll get sick. At least get out of the rain.”  

Home. Litten liked the sound of that.  

Litten was still trying to process that the boy he had been trying too hard to avoid was here for him. The rain started to cease and Litten smiled. Then he got into a fighting position.  

“Meow!!!”  

“Ugh!?” Ash then realized. “You want a battle!?”  

“Meow meow!”  

Ash smiled. “Alright, but after this we’re going home. Alright, Pikachu! You’re up!”  

The battle was short and sweet. It was mostly a formality before Ash officially caught him. Litten smiled. “Now we can go home, Litten.”  

Home felt warm and Litten was received with open arms by the rest of the Pokémon as one of their own. It helped ease his aching heart a bit. The younger Pokémon he had raced with were beyond thrilled that Litten would be joining them permanently. Even though the skies were still grey, the sun still shone through the clouds and Litten knew everything would be fine.  

He had to admit he was still a bit angry at the world and how unfair it was, and it wasn't easy changing his lifestyle so suddenly. He kept his distance from the other Pokémon, though, they seemed to understand he needed his space. Going to the beach, he stared at the ocean horizon. Not a day had gone by, and he was already missing Stoutland deeply.  

“Hey, scamp.”  

Litten turned, frowning at whoever called him a scamp. Charizard stood there. Litten frowned. “What do you want?"  

Charizard scoffed at the cat. “I can't believe you talk like that to your elders.”  

“Only to those that call me a scamp.” Litten snapped.  

Charizard took a good look at him and smirked. “Come on, let's train.” He started walking to the other side of the beach.  

Litten stared at the dragon, confused at the command. "Train?"  

Charizard looked over his shoulder. “You want to become stronger, don't you? Then you better start pulling your weight around here, scamp. We're not slackers!”  

Litten stared for a moment before deciding to follow the large dragon.  

During dinner that night, he was tired and hungry enough to devour two full bowls worth of food. The training with Charizard had proven challenging but satisfying.  

“Whoa, I can't believe Charizard agreed to train you." Krookodile said.  

Litten munched on his food. “What's weird about that?”  

“He's not the friendliest dragon and he's rather self-absorbed. Just the other day Gible made a spectacular show of biting his head off for being an idiot.” The crocodile smirked.  

Gible fumed. “Well, he deserved it!” He angrily munched on his pokechow.  

“He never trains anyone, and he'd rather see us get strong on our own. If you want his respect, then you must be strong.” Krookodile explained. “He must like you. You should take advantage of that. He decided to train you for some reason. He's the third strongest Pokémon here.”  

“Previously second, then Greninja arrived.” Glalie said, the others chuckled.  

Litten hadn't thought about that. “Say, there are a lot of strong Pokémon here. How come?”  

Rockruff smiled after licking off the reminders of his meal from his mouth. “Oh, these guys have competed in so many leagues and battled legendary Pokémon and Charizard even defeated an Articuno, Pikachu has fought dozens of legendaries, Infernape is the absolute goat and I'm pretty sure most of them almost lost their lives fighting world-ending events!” Rockruff happily explained, as if it was all completely normal. “It's awesome! I want to pick a fight a legendary too!”  

Litten stared, cheeks full of food and crumbs falling from his slightly open mouth. “What...” He swallowed his food.  

“Litten... Ash is the Chosen One.” Rockruff specified. “And now you're one of his Pokémon.”