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Chapter Text

Moonlight was sliced by the slightly opened blinds of the boys’ room in the facility. Ash wriggled in his slumber, restless in a battle inside his mind. He jolted up, hitting his head on the ceiling of his room when he tried to stand up. “Mmf,” he grunted, rubbing his head. His Pokédex read 1:15am with no notifications. Ever since he didn’t have to go to the Pokemon Center to talk to her, he never missed an opportunity to check for any notifications. He rubbed his eyes and crawled around his partner as quietly as a Whismur before stepping down the stairs of his bed and out of his bedroom. The house was silent, matching the cozy town that he had lived in most of his life. He snuck past his mother’s room, where he could hear an audible slumber, and crept out the front door into her garden. 

Flowers drifted to the side along the light breeze that the warm spring night had. Above him the stars twinkled like shimmering jewels. Ash silently leaned on the fence of his house and gazed upon the seemingly endless field that was across the path. 

The grass was long and healthy. He could see Pokémon resting in the soft plants. The view of nature destruction was calming… His breath began to quicken. Grass Vines grew out and blanketed wrapped  Pokémon while the people tried to rescue their loved partners. They screamed in terror while the orange-haired, malicious villain stood there, envisioning a beautiful world made from the destruction of an already wonderful place. 

While the chaos ran on, all he could do was struggle to free himself from the metal orbs that held him in place. His Pokémon were exhausted from their attempted escapes. The orange haired villain stood below him with his backstabbing minion beside him. “Alain,” he commended, “Go check on Xerosic’s progress on Zygarde control.” The black haired teen walked off almost instantly, immune to the guilt of watching his friend— or whoever Ash was to him— stay hung in the air. Lysandre directed his gaze to Ash, used his controlled to him closer, and whis-

“Pika?” He snapped out back to reality and turned to the yellow creature at the door. 

“Buddy, I’m sorry, I just couldn’t sleep. All I wanted was some fresh air but…” Pikachu ran to him and climbed up to his shoulder. He gently licked his cheek with sympathy as they laid their eyes upon the starry sky.

“Ash! Where did you go?” He could hear Rotom Dex’s hollers from the shoreline. The ocean was calm, most of the aquatic Pokémon were still resting under the surface. On his regular Pokédex he reread the conversation he had with her before her contest. If only he had just gone with her, they could have traveled for longer. Instead, they would talk whenever they could. At least she wouldn’t have too much attention on her by Arceus. He kept it secret from almost everyone, not wanting to draw too much attention, then again, the spotlight would never fail to shine on the Chosen One . Maybe keeping all of his other secrets hidden who make him appear too mysterious. His classmates hadn’t described him as a hidden person, so he didn’t really feel too bothered. After a little while longer, he stood up and headed back to the beach side house. 

“You yell so loud Rotom,” he chuckled. 

“Pika!” His partner was slowly approaching him, Ash’s backpack being dragged with him. 

“Thanks buddy, let’s go.” 

Rotom buzzed with irritation, “Where were you?” 

“Don’t worry about that, it’s not like it was my first time being out before you woke up.” The path to the Pokémon School winded upwards between a fence and a forest. There had been multiple times where he had seen the island guardian enter the bushy area for whatever reason. Over the short, wooden fence was the sandy shore of the beach. The location was usually empty, due to the long travel and a forest being farther down. Sometimes he would go on walks with his partner on his ‘Dex. 

As they arrived at the front of the school a limousine drove up to the main gate. He immediately knew who would step out and strode over. “Aloha Lillie.” 

“Aloha!” She turned to her butler, Hobes, “Thank you Hobes.” Ash couldn’t hear his response, but assumed a pleasant reply. She walked in beside him and Rotom as they stepped into the school grounds. 

“What do you think the new unit will be about?” 

“I don’t know,” he shrugged, “but we’ll know in a bit.” 

Rotom zipped to the front, “I have a prediction, if you want to hear it.” 

“Even if I said no, you’d tell us anyway.” 

“Rude much?” 

“Says the one who was yelling this morning,” he chuckled alongside Pikachu. They reached the classroom on one of the higher levels of the building. Inside were the other students, talking about a photo. 

“Isn’t that outfit cute though?” 

“So is her Pokémon, it looks like a normal type,” the blue-haired girl, Lana, commented. 

Ash peered at the photo from behind them, “It’s actually a fighting type.”

“Wha-!” 

“Where’d you get that photo from?”

“Lana and I were watching a Pokemon contest we missed yesterday and took a photo.” 

“Hey, I knew some people who were in contests.” He took out a book from his backpack—after getting Rowlet out, of course. The students gathered around and looked at the slightly worn blue cover. There were signatures all over the front. Inside were multiple pages of photos, with Pokémon and many recurring people. 

“What’s that all about?”

“It’s a scrapbook of my travels, Kiawe.”

The dark-skinned fire type trainer looked closer and murmured, “He sure knew a lot of people.” He placed the photo into an empty spot and returned the book to his backpack. As he did, the professor stepped in. 

“Alola class!” 

“Alola Professor Kukui,” they chimed. “As I’m sure you all know, we will be starting a new unit. Which will be…” Ash and Kiawe began to smack their desks aggressively and the other students joined as well. “Evolution!” 

“I was right,” Rotom buzzed. 

“Let’s start right now. So when eggs hatch into Pokémon…” 

Komala rang the final bell of the school as Professor Kukui concluded his lesson and assigned some homework. Ash shot up and cramped his belongings into his bag. “Why are you rushing?” 

“I have to do something today, Rotom,” he responded as he threw his backpack on and picked up his Pokémon partner. 

“We were supposed to hang out as a group today.” He turned to his friends with guilt. 

“I’m sorry,” Ash called as he dashed to the door, “…just go without me!” He disappeared around the corner of the door frame with his Pokémon partner behind him. 

“Chu?” 

“I told you before, I’ve got to get something today if I want it to arrive on her birthday.” Pikachu hopped into his shoulder and the two headed off the school grounds and towards the village. 

“Okay, what do you think about this one?” 

“Pika,” his partner shook his head. 

“This looks kind of cute.” 

“Pika,” he repeated. 

“Now this one is pretty nice.” 

“Pi…ka.” 

“I can’t tell you whether you have good taste or if you are doing this on purpose.” The Pokémon only shrugged. After grabbing a free bite to eat at a battle cafe, Ash and Pikachu began the hunt for the perfect package. They had been there for about thirty minutes already, picking up only the best for his loved one. “There’s no way you say no to this one!” He held up a silky periwinkle gown that puffed up in the middle for a float-like effect. There were similarly colored flowers patterned all over the lower half with ruby flowers around the waist to separate both parts of the fit. The gown had side shoulder sleeves and a thin sleeve to hold it up. He could only dream of how she’d look in it, unless his partner would say-

“Chu!” 

“If you said no, I would have taken it anyway,” he laughed. They checked out the dress and headed out. The mall was bustling with people on the Tuesday afternoon, as lively as the region usually was. He looked at the names of the stores that stood side-by-side, looking for the right place to stop at. After some time, he walked into another store. I definitely know which ones she’d like, the ones she pointed at in Kalos that day! Ash handed his Pokédex to his partner, who was perched on his shoulder. “Can you look for that photo of the shoes Serena sent before? You know my password, right?” Pikachu nodded and took the device. They stepped inside the conditioned store.

Behind them, a voice gasped, “Was that… Ash?” 

Chapter Text

“Ash? Here? He doesn’t even like shopping,” a girl with short, dark teal hair said. Her shirt was like a slate of snow with a shirt cape attached. Her large pants had a wave design along the edge while she wore a bathing suit underneath her outfit. She kept a curved ‘x’ keychain on the dull yellow rope belt. 

A ginger haired teen countered her, “Trust me Lana, I’m sure it was him.” He was more of a round shape, with a silver belt that failed to hold his stomach in. His white shirt displayed his interest in technology with an orange game boy on the front and a yellow lightning bolt notably sticking out of the thick collar. A pair of brown pants covered his lower half.

“Why didn’t he just say he wanted to come here? He could have just said so instead of just running off.”

“Relax Mallow,” a taller, dark-skinned trainer reassured her, “I’m sure he has his reasons. Why don’t we just ask him?”

“If he didn’t tell us earlier, clearly he wouldn’t tell us why,” the redhead predicted. 

“Sophocles has a point,” a softer voice agreed. 

“Look, let’s just send someone to bump into him by coincidence. We can’t just jump to conclusions, especially not overreact.”

“Right. I’ll go, if you all don’t mind.”

Mallow clapped her hands, “Go for it Lillie! We’ll be here.” She nodded and headed towards the store. 

Her light blonde hair flowed underneath her white sun hat as she maneuvered around the crowds of people in the hall. The sign of the store was decorated with fancy letters and flowers. It seemed to be a fancy store, which wasn’t any better for Ash’s case if he really went shopping there. Even though she was wealthy, being seen inside seemed judgmental. She looked down at her puffy dress as she awkwardly walked through the entrance of the store and bumped into a customer stepping out. “I’m so sor-” she looked up with a surprised look, “Ash?” The trainer seemed startled to see her. His raven hair even spiked up under his ruby cap. He quickly picked up the bag he dropped with a periwinkle piece of fabric sticking out. His partner was standing right behind with surprise. 

“Oh…uh… what are you doing here? I thought you and the others were hanging out at Aina’s Kitchen.” 

“We were, but then an afternoon rush came in,” she told him. 

“Wait, are the others here?”

“Well, ye-”

“I’ve got to go, forget I was here!” He ran off with his Pikachu right behind him. She stood there, dumbfounded for a moment, before fully taking in what he had said. That definitely wasn’t suspicious.  

Ash crept out of the beach side house with caution, silent enough for even his Pokémon partner to feel the absence of his presence. He pressed a button on his Pokédex and hoped for a voice to respond at some point. After a moment of ringing, he smiled. “Hello?”

“Ash? Isn’t it like midnight for you right now?” 

“Maybe,” he chuckled, “Happy birthday, by the way.” 

“Aww, thank you.” 

“Did you get a package today?” 

“Yeah, actually. How did you…” He could tell by her silence she knew he had been involved. A shuffling noise took over her audio before she spoke again. “What’s inside?”

“Open it and see.” He could hear the sound of a pair of scissors zipping through the tape of the cardboard box. Her microphone released a wave of crisp noises of movement before going silent. 

She gasped before speaking, “No… you didn’t.” 

“I did,” he chuckled. 

“Gwee! You’re the best Toshi! I can’t believe you- oh my gosh, are those shoes too?” She continued to giggle and squeal over the products inside the package. While Ash sat quietly on the sand, only being able to imagine his partner’s reaction to her gift. Even a video call would not satisfy him this time. He wondered whether he’d ever get a break from school, just a week, so he could see his girl. Maybe she could make the bad memories fade away. The night sky even reminded him of the day they’d gotten together.

The stars in the night sky shaped a heart. Suns from millions of miles away still shone bright enough for their world to see. He wondered which one was housing another world of Pokemon. Looking to his side, he saw his crush seated beside him, taking in the sight as well. “Did you just want to look at the stars all night?” 

“Is there something wrong with that?” 

He grinned at her glowing ruby cheeks. “N-No, I was just curious.” 

“Don’t worry, I just wanted to talk.” 

“About?” 

“I really think Kalos has matured me, you know? I’ve always seemed like a reckless person on the outside, but being with Clemont, Bonnie, and you has built an inner mature self inside of me.”

“You are a reckless person,” she chuckled. “But I do agree with what you said though. You’ve grown into a better person the way I see it.” 

“You’re a wonderful person too. I know I love the person you’ve grown into.” 

She flustered again, “L-Love?” 

“Yeah…” He took a deep breath, “I really like you Serena. It took me so long to realize that Miette had to spell it out for me when she was trying on a dress at that one party a month ago. I know this isn’t a big surprise but-”

“Wait, wait, Miette told you?”

“Well, indirectly…?”

“Oh my gosh, I’m totally getting back at her when I see her again.”

“If she didn’t hint at it I would have never gotten to do this.”

“Do what…?” He took her hand in his and looked deep into her eyes, bringing himself closer with an answer. They kept their hands together and turned to the view of the city. “You better win the match against Sawyer for me tomorrow.” 

“Definitely.” 

He felt a warm tear slip out of his eye, his efforts to hold in his feelings gone to waste when alone. His sniffles were quiet, but not unheard, like a snail; slow, but not unseen. “Ash?” 

“I-I… don’t worry, I’m fine,” he mumbled through a twitch of his nose. 

“Was there another reason you woke up this early?” His silence was an accepted answer. “What’s wrong?” 

“I’m just remembering things, you know? The night we got together, the league, the Kalos Crisis. I guess it was different than the other incidents I’d been in because a lot of bystanders were hurt and killed with Pokémon. There are some things Lysandre did that just haunt me, like I can’t forget what he did. And I feel like he’s still here, waiting for the right moment to try again,” he sighed. His face was a waterfall at this point, tears softly rolling down his usually rosy cheeks. 

There was a moment of shuffling on the receiving side before she concealed him. Your mind is just stuck in repeat; it’s just wedged between the moment and moving on. There’s a time and place for everything, you’ve got to find out where your place is and become strong enough to fight the struggles off. I wish I was there with you, I truly do. After the contest season there is a month break before the final competition, so I’ll be able to come see you.” They continued to chat under the moonlight until the world faded to black. 

A dark hand rested on the slighted tan trainer, “He’s definitely out.” 

“That’s unlike him,” Mallow said with a hint of concern. “Do you know anything, Rotom?” 

The Pokémon possessed Pokédex bzzrted, “I mean, he was pretty out of it this morning. When I was all charged up, breakfast was already ready and he was asleep at the dining table, face first in his food.” 

The students looked at each other with mixed expressions. “Hey Pikachu, do you know anything?” The yellow mouse Pokémon glanced at the group and turned back to his conversation with other partner Pokémon. 

“He was being suspicious this morning, actually.” Rotom pulled up a recording from the morning where he had integrated Pikachu, who was reading something on a hidden item from his recording. After he asked more questions, the Pokémon held the item in a tight hug and scurried off. 

“Based on the video,” Sophocles grasped, “there must be something he didn’t want you seeing.” 

“Where did Pikahu even get that from,” a soft spoken voice brought up, “What even is that ?” The rest of the group seemed to have the same question. 

“He’s hiding something.” 

“Well, no duh.” 

“No, I mean an actual secret.” 

“Lana’s right,” Lillie concluded after a moment of mental debate. “If they are keeping secrets from even Rotom, it must be serious. Clearly he’s sworn Pikachu to secrecy as well. Especially with the bags I saw him with in the mall a few days ago.” 

“What’s so important that he couldn’t tell us?” 

The students munched on their lunches, pondering on the new mystery. Some didn’t take the idea to heart, and others were thinking on a different level. There wasn’t much discussion after the revelation. Only the sounds of chewing people and Pokémon filled the room, along with soft mumbling from a sleeping student. Sophocles crunched on the juicy lettuce of a vegetarian sandwich. (If the sandwich had meat, no one would continue past this point.) Crumbs of white bread tumbled down onto the wooden floor of the classroom like grains of sand. Lana was sharing a malasada with her best friend, Mallow, and their Pokémon. The two had bought them from a food truck before class. She remembered how the stall workers sent waves of familiarity to her, but shrugged the feelings off. Though the extremely short employee and blue employee were concerning. Popplio blew a barge of bubbles from its bright pink, sphere nose. The other Pokemon jumped around and popped them, while only one was curled up next to its trainer. 

“I’m back everyone,” a lighthearted voice called. 

“Kukui! Can you help us?” Rotom zipped towards its original master and shook his lightning bolt shaped arms swiftly. He explained the situation to him and watched him walk up to the sleeping boy with his Pikachu. The class looked up from the last bites of their meals and watched the professor at work. 

“Hmm,” he nodded. “Pikachu?” The mouse Pokemon stretched after awakening from the call. “Can you wake up Ash for us?” Pikachu looked at the clock, then sniffed his trainer and nodded. 

“Why didn’t you say yes to me?” Rotom buzzed with visible annoyance. 

“I mean, he did look at the clock first. Maybe he was just letting Ash get some rest.”

“For what though? He was asleep all night!” Ash’s Pokemon partner licked his cheek after lifting his head up. The raven haired trainer yawned as he raised his head. 

He looked at the many eyes on him in concern, “Sorry, did I miss something?”

“You were out for all of lunch.”

“Oh, sorry.  I wasn’t really hungry anyway.” The group looked around in concern with his response. 

“Well, let’s continue class with this misunderstanding out of the way.” The students moved their desks back to their original positions and listened to the professor begin to talk about evolution lines.

“Hey, Ash,” Kiawe began after the school bell, “Want to train?” 

“Sure,” he agreed. 

“Me, Mallow, and Lillie-” 

“Mallow, Lillie, and I,” Sophocles quickly corrected. 

“We are going to be at my house if you want to stop by.” 

“Alright, aloha!” The group separated into their own separate ways. Kiawe released his grandfather’s Charizard, his age hidden behind a tough face. He immediately softened at his trainer’s grandson and roared. 

“Hey Charizard, Ash and I are going to the beach to train.” The lizard Pokémon nodded and lowered an orange and teal wing for the group to climb on. After settling in, they took to the sky. With Rotom following along. 

“What Pokémon are you two going to train with?” 

“I was thinking we could let the Pokémon train on their own. Let them improve on the skills they know they need to work on.” Kiawe looked at him silently before nodding to the idea. Charizard landed gracefully on the sand of the beach. As they got off of him, Kiawe thanked the large orange Pokémon for the ride and returned the creature to its capsule. “Open training everyone!” Ash and Kiawe threw their Pokéballs into the air and released their companions, along with Rowlet from his backpack. The tan owl-like Pokémon flapped its tan wings. Inside of his wings, part of the feathers were an evergreen color. 

“Hoo,” he yawned before landing on top of his trainer’s hat and cocking its head sideways. 

“You should join the others in training Rowlet.” The Pokémon nodded before flying off towards Pikachu, who was organizing partners. 

“Pikachu’s a good coordinator, like you, huh?” 

“We developed this type of training together, just like the one with me joining in the training.” 

Kiawe sat down on the sand, followed by Ash, “You have such a strong connection with Pokémon.” 

“I guess so.” 

“What about people?” 

“I’ve had a lot of travel buddies over the years. How about you? Do you only talk to our classmates?” 

“Nah, I have plenty of friends on Akala Island. You just haven’t met any. I’ll introduce you to them at some point.” 

“Uh, I’ll see if I can too.” 

“So, you admit that you have been talking to people behind everyone’s back?” 

“I literally tell Kukui when I go to the Pokemon Center to use their devices.” 

“Oh, I guess I misinterpreted that one.”

“You think?” 

“I guess I was concerned about who you talk to in your free time. You can’t just rely on Pokemon alone for comfort.” 

“They are just as comforting as people. Anyway, I know way more people than you think.” 

“Prove it then.” 

“Fine,” he sighed. He dug into his backpack and pulled out a photo with many powerful trainers. “This is a photo with every single champion in the world.” 

“Holy Miltank! How did you get something like that? Why would they take a photo with you?” 

“Well, I’m the champion of the Orange Islands. They sent me a letter a while ago about the rapid expansion of the island ever since a huge tsunami caused new areas to be revealed and significantly increased the landmass and stuff. Since I was the most recent victor of their tournament, they asked me to be the champion of the region. I’m not really too recognized since I don’t make too many large statements, but I make sure to stop by everytime I go to Kanto.” Kiawe looked at him with dilated pupils. His mouth was hung open with a zoned out face. After a moment, he collected himself. 

“Wow. Why didn’t you tell anyone?” 

“Eh, it’s not too important.” 

“Not too important? You are literally one of the strongest trainers in the world and you never brought this up at all!” 

“I’d like to keep it that way. Attention isn’t my style. My only champion status Pokemon with me is Pikachu, so don’t expect me to go undefeated. I told him to go a little easy here anyway.” 

“We should definitely have an all out battle soon, alright? I want to see how powerful Pikachu really is.” 

Ash chuckled, “Alright.” 

“Also, thanks for trusting me with your secret. You know it’s safe with me.” 

“Yeah, no prob-” he grunted. Ash quickly stood up, clutching his stomach, and stepped back. “I’ll be right back!” 

He heard Kiawe call worriedly as he ran to the door, “Wait, what’s wrong?” before he slammed the door of Kukui’s home. His stomach felt as if being pinched from the inside. He automatically knew his second main companion was in another battle. Ash closed his right eye and focused on his second ace’s battle. 

The surrounding area was dim, unlike the bright, sunny skies of Aloha. A long, thick vine was swinging at a black and green Houdoom looking Pokemon, Zygarde– or Squishy–, while his view was showing a glowing blade in his hand as he ran up to the beastly plant. The Cut attack sliced the vine into two. Ruby veins that ran through the outside of the gray vine dimmed as the plant lost its life. He looked towards Squishy. “Nice save Greninja.” 

“Gre- NINJA!” Another vine wrapped around his body and threw him at the ground. Ash winced and looked through his own eyes again. 

He shook off the pain and stepped back outside, where Kiawe was cheering on Turtonator. The blast turtle Pokemon was faced against Rowlet. Both Pokemon were standing parallel to each other. Rowlet’s wings flapped slower, with visible marks from battle. Pikachu, who was across from him, winked at him. Rowlet knows a strategy! He beamed and silently waited for the move. 

“Brrrrr!” Rowlet flew around Turtonator and used Razor Leaf. A barge of leaves was sent towards the back of the fire type Pokemon. Turtonator’s shell exploded when the leaves hit the bomb-like spikes of his shell. Multiple explosions caused a barge of smoke to cover the area they were battling in. Ash couldn't tell what was going on in the smoke, but he heard Rowlet’s signature call when attacking. When the cloud faded, the grass quill Pokemon was napping on top of Turtonator’s fallen body. 

“Rowlet!” Everyone fainted backwards in an anime-like style, their legs kicking into the air. 

“When did you come back?” 

“Soon enough to see that great strategy!” He ran up to Rowlet and held him up in the air for everyone to cheer. Kiawe walked up to Turtonator and gave the Pokemon a quick pep talk before returning him to a Pokeball. 

“I’m going to go process all this new data!” Rotom zoomed into the beach house without a goodbye at all.

Kiawe turned towards Ash, “So, are you okay?” 

“Huh? Oh, sure, don’t worry about that,” he chuckled, wiping the underneath of his nose. 

“Alright, I have to go home. See you tomorrow, Champion Ketchum,” he whispered the last part. As he walked away, he overheard Ash beginning to talk to Pikachu:

“Come on, her performance is going to be on soon.” 

“Pi chu.” 

His face flushed red, “Seriously?” 

Charizard took to the sky after Kiawe climbed on with the overhead words. Who is she?  

Chapter Text

“So, how many candidates passed the acceptance test?” Ash circled around the living room in conversation. His Pokémon and Rotom were asleep except his Pokemon partner and Rockruff, who were chatting. Rockruff excitedly admired the Lycanroc they saw early. His tail seemed to be doing most of the talking. “Mhm, I think that’s fine.” 

“Of course we’ll be keeping the original style of the gyms. That’s been a custom for years.” 

“I’m half Orenji, technically three-fourths. My father was from the islands and my mom’s mom was born there before moving to Kanto. I know my history, dude.” 

“The league can be a mix of both, can’t it? That makes the island special,” he persuaded. 

“Don’t let the usual mojo change how our islands’ league is run. 彼らはただ嫉妬しているだけです。 (They are just jealous.)” 

“Mhm.” 

“I mean, you are the only Elite Four member right now. You get to call the shots.” 

“Drake, that technically wasn’t a gym. Hypothetically, you were never a gym leader. Aren’t you getting the construction work there for the league anyway?” 

“Now we’re just getting off topic.” 

“Okay, who’s the first one?” 

“A.J.? Oh, yeah, I think I met him years ago. He has an unofficial gym in Kanto, right?” 

“Yeah, what island has the most amount of wild Pokemon? I’m sure he’d love to be around them.” 

“The island doesn’t have a name? I’d call that island a ポケモンパラダイス (Pokemon Paradise) with all the wild ones I saw there.” 

“Yeah, I’m sure we are talking about the same island. Give him the ‘okay’ for me.” Pikachu tugged his leg.. “I’ve got to go. I think a gym could also be on Hamlin, but don’t use up the whole open field in the middle. A lot of Pokemon roam the area. I’ll talk to you later. さようなら。(Bye.)” 

“Pika!” 

“What’s up buddy?” His Pokémon partner pointed above him, to the window in the roof. A familiar Umbreon looked down at him, with a note in its jaw. Its fur was barely noticeable with the upcoming sunrise, but the glow of the rings on its forehand and thighs created a shadow. The note drifted down, swaying like a leaf on an autumn’s day. He caught the note, and looked inside, smiling when he finished. “Rockruff, you up for a early adventure?” 

“Gladion,” he calmly greeted him. The sun was peeking out of the horizon, using the sky as a canvas for orange and pink paints. 

“I asked you here to test your battling skills, to see what Tapu Koko saw in you,” he firmly stated. 

“I don’t really think I’m anything special.” 

“I didn’t think I was battling a cocky trainer. What did Tapu Koko even see in this?” 

He slit his eyes, “If you want to test my skills, then I’ll show you what I got. Rockruff, you okay sitting this one out?” 

“Ruff!” The puppy Pokémon seemed excited, even while being on the sidelines. 

“Don’t let one sentence determine your look on someone.” 

He flicked an ultra ball in his hand, “Lycanroc, show your crimson glare. Let’s go!” 

“Awooooo!” Rockruff jumped with glee at the sight of his new idol. 

“Let’s go, Pikachu.” His partner hopped off his shoulder and faced the intimidating Pokémon. “Make some dust.” The mouse Pokémon dashed around the Lycanroc, particles of sand flying around and blinding his opponent. Without a commend, an Iron Tail attack whipped the opposing Pokémon. The blow caused a slow clearing in the cloud of dust. 

His hand covered his hair as he spoke, “Stone Edge.” Lycanroc growled and punched the ground. Spiked glowing rock sprouted out of the ground. They illuminated a sharp cyan, sending clumps of sand aside. Rockruff waved his tail in awe. 

“Quick Attack.” Pikachu leapt on top of one of the stones and dived towards the wolf Pokémon. He aimed slightly to the side of the wolf Pokémon, so when Lycanroc attempted a dodge he successfully avoided the attack. Ash saw Gladion squint at the Pokémon before continuing on. “Iron Tail!” 

“Counter!” An Iron Tail attack smacked the arm Lycanroc focused its Counter on. The collision caused a fog of beige. Their attacks were like blades of colliding swords. Some of Lycanroc’s hits landed a minimal blow. His trainer slightly twitched, pondering over something Ash didn’t focus on every time his Pokémon made a hit. “Crunch.” Lycanroc clutched his opponent in its jaw and threw him into the sand. “Again!” The process repeated, everytime Pikachu was slammed to the ground Gladion glanced at Ash. “Aren’t you going to do anything?” 

“Yeah, be patient.” 

“Don’t tell me you’re keeping up this act.” 

“Huh?” 

“You’re holding back. I didn’t realize you’d be so self-centered that you’d give free wins.” 

“It’s not li-” 

“Battle like you mean it. You aren’t something special.” Gladion murmured under his breath, “Tapu Koko definitely chose the wrong person.” 

“I just wanted a longer battle. Pikachu?” His Pokémon partner automatically somersaulted backwards before Lycanroc could grab him again. “You alright?” 

“Pi,” he nodded. 

“Electro Ball, full force,” he commanded calmly with an arm out. His Pokémon partner looked at him before attacking. Ash gave a calm nod and the mouse Pokémon scratched the sand. He zipped towards the Lycanroc, moving like a flickering light. Lycanroc’s eyes bulged out as it tried to keep its eyes locked on its opponent. Sand flew into the air as he dizzied the wolf Pokémon. Gladion watched with an emotionless face, but Ash knew his partner was an amazement. “Don’t land the attack, buddy.” 

“Piiika,” it groaned in the cloud of dust. He leapt into the air with a backwards somersault and launched a ball vibrating of electricity into the ground beside Lycanroc. The powerful blow to the sand released a large burst of energy, clearing the dust around their battlefield in a flash. Ash stood there with the same soft expression: his eyes locked on Gladion with a slight grin while his hair whipped backwards from the blast. His clothes rippled like waves during a storm. Gladion dug his heels into the ground, he seemed to be bracing the strong winds, unlike his Pokémon. Lycanroc was sent high into the sky, the rock-type fainted indefinitely. In the air, a net grabbed the flung rock type and another grabbed Pikachu. 

“Hey!” 

“Huh?” The two Pokémon struggled while being dangled inside of a net attached to a crane, a part of a pickup truck. Gladion redeemed his emotionless demeanor, “Who are you?” 

The scene faded into a white background, a large, decorated letter ‘R’ in the middle of the backdrop. Two people and Pokémon were poised in front of the large letter. “The new kid asked something, prepare to find out,” a sassy tone said. Her hair was a dark shade of hot pink, shaped in one large curl like a semicircle. She wore a bright red lipstick in close compliment to her lapis blue eyes.

“Noble answers are what we’re all about!” The other human leaned against the stem of the fictional ‘R.’ His dark lavender hair fell to his shoulders with spiky edges. His eyes flashed an emerald green which could compare to Gladion’s. 

“A beauty so radiant, the flowers and moon hide in shame,” she continued, “a single flower of evil in this fleeting world, Jessie!” 

“The nobly heroic man of our time,” the male chimed in, “the master of darkness fighting back against a tragic world, it’s James!” 

“It’s all fo’ one and one fo’ all,” the cat Pokémon followed along, “a glittering dark sta’ that always shines bright! Dig it, while Meowth takes flight.” 

“Team Rocket, let’s fight,” they cheered in chorus. 

“That’s right!”

“Wobbuffet,” the patient Pokémon saluted. 

“You guys again?” Ash looked at Team Rocket with an annoyed expression. 

“We’d love to stay and chat, twerp, but we have to scat.” They drove off in their pickup truck with an evil grin, “Ta ta!”

Ash grumbled before turning to Rockruff, “Let’s go Rockruff.” He dashed off after the truck with Gladion at his tail shortly after. The trainer didn’t say a word to him, his eyes glued to the vehicle. They chased down the vehicle with human speed. The distance between them and the truck only increased. “I have an idea,” he said, picking up Rockruff. “Use Bite!” He threw Rockruff ahead of him. 

The puppy Pokémon dashed the shorter distance to the truck, leapt, and attacked the net. “Mmruf!” He hung on to the tough ropes of Lycanroc’s net, his tail wagging with the thrill of saving his idol. 

A head peaked out from the open back of the truck. “Hold up, we got comp’ony,” the talking Meowth said with his signature accent. 

“Can we please get a little more action on this chase?” Jessie looked at James in the front seat of the truck. Wobbuffet agreed from right beside him. 

“Right,” he nodded, spinning the steering wheel. The pickup truck moved like a ruby Ekans, moving in a crooked zigzag across the sand. Rockruff kept his jaw locked with the net still in the grasp of his teeth. He was whipped wildly in the air with the nets as the truck began to pick up speed. 

“Umbreon, Dark Pulse!” 

“Bre bre bre bre!” Ash didn’t realize Umbreon was running alongside his trainer. Ellipse shaped pulses rapidly punctured the back right wheel of the vehicle. The speed automatically slowed down, now moving like it was on a rocky road. 

“Bite!” Rockruff attacked the net again and it snapped. The truck flipped over with the mighty momentum of the attack. The three Pokemon fell to the ground. Rockruff and Pikachu landed in a battle stance while Lycanroc was still weak from the prior battle. Ash’s Pokémon helped him get from the explosion of the truck, acting as crutches for the larger Pokémon. 

“Did you have to let them do that?” Team Rocket dizzily landed into a pile on the side-ways truck. 

“I didn’t exactly let him,” he mumbled. 

“Pika!”

“Grrrr.” 

“Breon!” Their Pokémon faced Team Rocket with an irritated glare. 

“Pikachu us-” 

“Would it be alright if we took it from here?” Ash took a step back, allowing Gladion to head over to Lycanroc. “Come on, Lycanroc, let’s use the last of your remaining strength for something good.” 

“Grrr-ruff,” he nodded. Pikachu and Rockruff waited at Ash’s ankles to watch Gladion’s move. Umbreon also gave his trainer space. 

“Hi-ya,” he grunted. Lycanroc and him made an ‘x’ with their arms and spread them out again, just to stretch them forward. Gladion’s crimson Z-ring radiated Z-power. “The blue moon’s Z-power washes over us…” The trainer and Pokémon moved as one, punching forward in the coordination of the move’s dance. “…and the crumbling world…” They brought their fists up into the attack and moved them to the side like the action of flexing muscles. After doing a jabbing motion, their heels dug into the ground and stomped. “… then seals it up!” Gladion glowed with orange rock-type energy. 

“Lyiiiicanroc,” it grumbled. 

“Now!” The energy was transferred to Lycanroc. A symbol appeared before it. “Get ready, use Continental Crush!” Lycanroc punched the ground and leapt high into the sky. Chunks of earth were pulled into an enormous rock, Ash thought he could compare the size to a mini planet. Lycanroc howled, throwing the rock towards Team Rocket with one paw. 

Jessie looked dumbfounded, “What is that?” 

“I doi’n’t know, but it ain’t look so good.” The rock mimicked a meteor, falling onto Team Rocket for an inevitable doom. Large clouds of smoke covered the field, led by an exploding vehicle. Team Rocket went flying into the sky, becoming a twinkle. Ash didn’t know what they were saying as they were flung off, but he assumed something about being on a blast off and mumbling about Bewear saving them. He looked around to see Gladion helping Lycanroc up to his hinge paws. 

“How?” 

“Huh?” 

“You one shot Lycanroc, how?” 

“I’m sure Pikachu didn’t-” 

“I know what I saw. How are you going to the Pokémon School with this immense power under your belt?” 

“It wasn’t a single shot.” 

“Are you seriously underplaying this?” 

“On another note,” he quickly moved on, “that was a cool Z-move. I’d like to do that.” 

“You have a rock-type Z-crystal?” 

“Nope!” 

“Oh. Then do the island challenge of the Akala Island Grand Trial.” 

“Alright! I have to get ready for school, bye!” He dashed off without waiting for a goodbye. 

He’s definitely up to something. Maybe Lillie knows.

Chapter Text

“Pika! Pi chu pi,” Pikachu excitedly jumped in Ash’s lap. 

“Hey, come here bud,” he held on to his excited partner as the plane began to land at the airport in Saffron City. After having a whole unit on evolution, the class was taking a trip to Kanto for special lessons on the topic. Unbeknownst to Professor Kukui, he knew his first traveling companions, Brock and Misty, were the special guests who were going to teach the class. 

The class gathered in the lobby of the airport whispering about the mystery people. Ash followed along in their thrill. “Alright class, we will be heading to Professor Oak’s laboratory tomorrow morning. We’ll have two leaders, a gym leader and her friend, a Pokemon doctor, to help with these extra lessons,” Professor Kukui explained. 

“So, a Nurse Joy?” 

“A Pokemon doctor covers medical health, not battle damage. Pokemon doctors usually work deeper inside a Pokemon Center.” 

“Right, Ash.” The professor confirmed before waving someone over, “And there they are. Aloha!” 

“Alo-la, did I say that right?” 

Ash laughed, “It’s ‘aloha’, Misty.” 

“I knew that, I was just testing you,” she pouted jokingly. “I’m Misty, nice to meet you all.” 

“I didn’t know you knew Ash,” the professor said, trying to hide his surprise. 

“Hmmf, this kid knows more than you think,” she laughed, patting his head. “It’s been a while since we’ve spoken in person though.” 

“It’s not my fault you were out when I stopped by.” 

“You know where I was. Someone said ‘hi’ and also left you something,” she grinned, handing him a bag. Ash took it with a light blush. 

“Misty!” A voice called over the crowd. “Wait up and what’s in this suitcase?!” A tall, tan man came up to the group with a suitcase in each of his hands. He wore a tangy orange T-shirt with a jade green vest which went along with his dust brown cargo pants and generic belt with two big pockets. His brown hair was spiked up like a Sandslash’s quills, but directly upwards. “Oh, hey Ash, Professor Kukui’s class,” he greeted calmly. 

“You’re Brock, correct?” 

“Brock the Rock , at your service.” Ash thought he was being polite to the class, but he was falling head over heels for a random woman who was walking past the class. 

Misty pinched his ear and dragged him back over, “Seriously? Ignore him, he’s a bit of a hopeless romantic.” The class chuckled at his comedic actions and continued on with the day. Professor Oak had rented a small jade green bus for travel to and from the hotel in Celadon City. On the trip there, Ash sat in the back of the bus, with Misty and Kiawe, Mallow and Lana were in front of them, Lillie and Sophocles were behind the driver's seat, and Professor Lukui sat next to Brock, who took the wheel. “So, Ash, does anyone know?” 

“He does,” he said, nudging Kiawe. 

“Hey, what did Ash tell you?”

“Huh?”

“Like, do you know any secrets?” 

“Oh, he’s a champion,” Kiawe whispered, wary of his classmates' proximity. “A bit of a big secret to keep, huh?” 

Misty glanced over at Ash, who gave a weak smile. “Yeah, pretty big,” she repeated. “What’s your name again?” 

“I’m Kiawe,” he replied, taking his arm out to shake Misty’s hand. 

“And I already introduced myself as Misty,” she said, raising her voice, “I’m a gym leader in this region.” 

“I used to be one,” Brock called from the front seat. 

“I remember winning those badges, which is what you earn when you beat the gym leaders,” Ash said proudly petting Pikachu, who was on his lap. 

Misty side-eyed Ash, “That’s not how I remember it.” 

“Hmmf, I think the same story follows here, huh Ash?” Brock chuckled before continuing his conversation with the professor. 

Mallow looked up with a puzzle expression, “What’s a gym leader?” 

“Basically, in almost every region, there are Pokémon Leagues that new trainers aim to win to battle the champion. The champion of a region is the strongest trainer in the region and responsible during situations of chaos. To compete in the league, you need to defeat eight gym leaders. Like Ash said earlier, when you beat one you earn a gym badge to mark your win,” Brock explained. “We’re here.” The bus stopped in front of the Celadon Hotel. People bustled through the busy city with ease, walking on the many sidewalks of the streets. Even though the city was the most populous, there were clear patches of grass and even a fountain in front of the hotel surrounded by red poppies. The hotel was a rough lilac purple with three pillars. There were two thin ones on each side of the front and a thick one on the center face of the building. They were colored a soft gold with a set of windows along the pillars horizontally making the pillars look like a light blue and sunflower yellow stripe pattern. 

The class walked in with their luggage through the left set of doors marked as the entrance. His classmates bustled with excitement about the new region and the sights they saw on the way there. Ash looked around the area, scouting out to make sure nothing would surprise him. “Chu, pi pika?” 

“Mhm. It’ll probably be for… the whole trip,” he tried to hide a wince from a vine attack. “I’ll be fine though.” 

“Pi?” 

“They found an energy source for a pretty large cluster,” he sighed. He focused on Greninja’s movement as everyone broke into mini groups while waiting for registration. Lana, Mallow, and Misty seemed to be discussing water type Pokémon, while Brock, Kiawe, and Lillie were checking up on Snowy, who was a bit sick from the flight. 

“Ash,” a voice broke through his focus. 

“Yeah?” 

“What are you looking at?” 

“I’m watching Professor Kukui get our rooms.” 

Sophocles didn’t seem to fall for his lie, “Then why do you eyes keep flying around the room?” 

“They aren’t.” 

“You’re not even looking at me,” he argued. “It’s kind of weird...” He faced the short teenager with hidden annoyance. Even though Sophocles probably didn’t want to bother him, he couldn’t help but feel a little grumpy. With his eyes away from the field, he knew an unexpected at- 

“Umph,” he grunted before breaking into a coughing fit. A vine had slapped Greninja against the rough bark of a tree. He felt the cold wind brush past him as he slammed against the bark, like a headbutt from a Taruos. 

The professor turned towards him. “You alright, Ash?” 

“I’ll be right back,” he called as he already began to head off. Ash ran out of the building in a flash. He went behind the hotel, where no one would go without a secret to hide. The grass felt soft at the breakaway to the forest where he sat. Behind the hotel was a lush forest, like the ones Pikachu and him always traveled through. 

“Pika?” His Pokémon partner had followed right behind him. He held up the miniature medkit Ash had in his suitcase. 

He chuckled with a cough, “I’m fine buddy.” 

“Pika, chu pika pika,” he argued. Pikachu brought his paw to the corner of his mouth and dragged it down to his chin. 

Ash mimicked him, bringing his finger to his lip. A sticky substance was crawling down his chin. He dabbed a bit with his index finger and confirmed the blood leaking from his lip. “Shoot,” he cursed under his breath. “What would I do without you buddy?” 

“Pika pi.” 

“Let me guess: A reward would be nice.” 

“Pi chu!” The dazed trainer laughed and dug up two packets of ketchup and a tissue from his pocket. His best friend gladly accepted the gift and began licking the contents of the first packet. He took another moment of restoration to check on Greninja and Squishy before heading back into the hotel. 

“Ash, hey, you alright?” The class had already left to settle into their rooms, he assumed Brock had just been waiting for him to come back. 

“Yeah,” he nodded. “But I should probably explain what happened, huh?” 

“If it's related to what happened in Kalos, definitely. That’s been due for a long while.” 

“Yeah, I guess I’ll explain to Misty soon then. Where’re the rooms?” 

“Upstairs,” he nodded towards the elevator. Brock led Pikachu and him to the elevator and went to the second floor. They walked down the hallway to Room 2E, a room at the end of the hallway. If they turned around and walked down the hall, they would end up walking around the whole floor. Ash’s suitcase was already beside a bed with light blue bed sheets and a blanket. Their suite had two beds on either side of the room. There was a dresser beside either bed and a glass window part of the pillar across from the door. At the right corner of the room near the pillar window was the bathroom. Pikachu jumped off of Ash’s shoulder and onto Brock’s to nuzzle his cheek. “Heh, I’ve missed you too. Now, Ash, let’s hear what you did this time.” 

… 

“He was pretty messed up,” he chuckled, breaking into a sweat. 

“That sounds extremely crude. And I thought Hunter J couldn’t be surpassed.” 

“I guess so. I think I’ll go to bed early.” 

“Yeah,” he replied, “I guess the jet lag is still in effect.” 

“Pika,” Ash’s Pokémon part ran up to Brock. “Chu, pika pika ka pikachu.” 

“What do you mean there’s more?”

Chapter Text

The dawn air was filled with the familiar air of his home region, well, where he lived for most of his life. Ash woke up to a beautiful sunrise creeping through the curtains of the window. He shook off the trembling thoughts of his nightmare and gingerly sat down in front of the window with the curtains covering his back. The sky wasn’t as clear as an Alolan sky. Clouds drifted across the sky while the sun rose from the horizon. Their lavender hue was blended between the blue and orange mix of the background. After a while of watching the sunrise, he shook Brock awake. “Hey, good morning sleepyhead.” 

“Yes… you’re my Juliet,” he mumbled in a daze. 

“What? Eww, I’m taken… and straight!” 

“Mmm…” 

His partner climbed up his shoulder with a yawn. “Pi pika pi,” he sighed, showing Ash how things are really done. “Pikachuuu!” 

“AAH!” Brock leapt out of his bed and landed face first on the floor. “Uh, good morning?” 

“Same to you,” he chuckled and high-fived Pikachu. 

The class met up in the cafeteria on the first floor. Ash could smell the thick scent of cinnamon from the pancakes from the staircase alone. He walked down the stairs with a bit of pep in his step. Pikachu rode down on his shoulder, still being a bit drowsy from the soft bed they had. The cafeteria was stuffed with hotel members. He walked over to his class, who were already finishing up the last crumbs of their breakfast. “What took you so long?” 

“Someone used up all the hot water,” he chuckled, hinting at Brock. “Do I have time to grab a quick bite?” 

“Sorry Ash, we have a time slot at the Cerulean Gym. You can eat when we get back.” 

“Right.” 

“Welcome to the Cerulean Gym!” The class stepped into a large room with an aquamarine triangle tile patterned floor and glass walls. A wavy line made the walls to mimic  a wave. There were six large stone pillars on a dusty battlefield. They held up a circle of stone above the battlefield. “We’re going to do some battles today!” 

The class overlapped with cheerful comments. 

“Misty, we should definitely go,” Ash said, scratching Pikachu’s head. 

“You can go after we battle some of your classmates. Steelix has been itching to stretch,” Brock chuckled, pressing down on the raven-haired trainer’s hat. 

“Alright.” He patted Kiawe on the back and whispered, “You’d do great against him.” 

“Fire types are stronger against steel types.” 

“Hey, Steelix is part ground type. Type advantages don’t determine strength. You got this.” 

Kiawe beamed and stepped forward, “I’d like to have a go.” Brock looked pleased and headed over to the other side of the battlefield. 

“I’ll get to my position then,” Brock said, heading over to the other side of the battlefield. He felt a bit of nerves tingling through his body. Battling someone who has battled many trainers before wasn’t as common in Aloha. Technically Ash had too, not as many as he originally thought. Would he be nervous about battling Ash too? His feelings on him were mixed. On one hand, he was lying to the whole class. He kept secrets from his friends and was definitely hiding more. On the other hand, he said he’d tell him more when he was comfortable. Ash acted so extroverted, yet when he kept to himself he was content. 

Kiawe looked at his Pokéball. Brock had already released the Steelix he brought up earlier. With such a long structure, Turtanator’s defensive stance wouldn’t be the best choice. “Go, Turtonator!” 

“Torrr,” it cheered, swinging his bone weapon. 

“Let’s start then. Steelix, Dragon Breath!” Steelix roared and slithered up to Turtonator with the look of a mafia boss. He furiously sent his monstrous breath in a blast onto his opponent. Turtonator matched the attack with Flamethrower. 

Kiawe now use “Shell Trap!” His Pokémon leapt turned around and sent a set of spikes to Steelix’s face.

“Take the hit and use Stone Edge!” The iron snake Pokémon withstood the attack and sent stones bursting out of the battlefield. Turtonator went flying into the air… somehow.

“Flamethrower!” He tried to steady himself in the air but Steelix was already in place. 

“Finish it,” Brock grinned. Steelix brought its tail up and smacked Turtonator into the ground. His opponent laid on the ground. “Thank Ash for that move. Works like a charm almost every time.” 

“Using a battle ending move that early doesn’t really make it fun though,” Misty called from the stand. Kiawe saw Ash stick his tongue out. 

“Right, sorry!” 

“Hey, he’s not down yet!” 

“Trrrrroar!” 

“This isn’t over.” 

“I like your spirit, kid. Iron Tail!” Steelix dashed towards Turtanator with predictable speed. Kiawe grinned as his partner already knew what to do. He turns out at the last second and a huge explosion occurs. 

“Nice one! Now use Flamethrower,” he said fiercely. Turtanator positioned itself before sending a fire blast through the cloud of smoke. He could hear his opponent’s partner grumble in pain. A cloud of dust blew over the whole field as a swift blow was heard. When the dust settled, Steelix was slightly swaying. 

“Let’s make this interesting. I’m not called ‘Brock the Rock’ for nothing, you know!” Brock threw his upper clothing off effortlessly to reveal a mega stone necklace. Steelix roared while an evolutionary glow covered him. “Time for mega evolution!” At the end of the visual, he was bulkier with crystal-like stones growing out of his body. “Iron Head!” 

His Z-Ring began to glow, “Woah. If that’s his full power, then we’ll use ours too!” 

“Ah, a Z-Move. I’ve been wanting to see one.” 

“The zenith…” Turtanator and Kiawe synced as they began to share their power. “…of my mind, body, and spirit!” Their movement was the same, moving their palms to the ground. “Like the great mountain of Akala…” His hands moved like flames, then stretched out to Turtanator. “…become a raging fire and burn!” 

“Tuuuuur!” 

“Use Inferno Overdrive!” An enormous sized Fireball formed in front of Turtonator. He sent the attack towards Steelix with great force. The attack exploded on collision. When the dust and smoke settled, Steelix was still standing. “We’ve almost got him!” He never felt this feeling when battling. Kiawe would usually only battle when Team Skull came around. There were Battle Cafes and ways to find other trainers, he never really thought about looking deeper into the idea of battling. To be an Island Kauna, I’d have to be a strong trainer too. 

“Let’s end this before it’s too late, Dragon Breath.”

“Flamethrower.” The two Pokémon moved closer to each other as their blast collided into a mythical smoke. When close enough, Brock made his final move. 

“Iron Tail!” Steelix wiped Turtonator at his legs and pushed him back onto his back, where his spikes exploded once again. “Now that was a battle!” 

“Yeah! Steelix moved way faster than I expected.” 

“Well, with heavy-weighted Pokémon like Steelix— Turtonator too— you’ve got to train them to either build up speed or defense.” 

“Right, do you have any strategies I could use?” 

“Definitely. You could also ask Ash. He told me you know his status. Trust me, he can think of a strategy for any Pokémon.” 

Kiawe turned to look at Ash, but he wasn’t seated in the bleachers. “I’ll ask him for his champion advice.” 

“Has he told anyone else?” 

“Not that I know of..” 

“I guess he saw your potential, so do I.” 

“Speaking of seeing, where is he?” The two looked over to the stands again. Misty was stepping down, ranting about how Brock was showing off a bit. As she came down, the girls whispered about the battle with Mallow’s cheeks burning red like they had a sunburn. The professor, Sophocles, and Rotom were most likely chatting about statistics and what not. 

“Alright, it’s my turn!” Misty nudged Brock, “And I won’t show off.” 

“You’re going to go all out though. And give Steelix a break.” 

“You know me too well. Where’s Ketchum?” 

“Right here,” Ash responded. 

Ash tried to hide the intense pain in his stomach. His eyes kept glancing towards Greninja’s vision while he chatted with his friends. Luckily, no one had noticed when he slipped away. “You ready for this Misty?” 

“Yeah! I’ve got a v̸̧̀̓e̴̞͛̚ṙ̷͈ÿ̸̩͉́̅ special surprise for you too.” 

“R-Right,” he chuckled with a hint of concern. “You’re up buddy.” He held up his hand and Pikachu slapped it with his tail. 

“Pika!” The duo took their positions where Kiawe last was. It took a second, but the battlefield began to shake. The battlefield of dusty stone structures lowered into a pool of water. Now only the tops of the rock towers peaked out of the surface like a Stunfisk. 

“That’s better. Let’s go Gyarados!” He shook himself back into focus. It’s just Misty’s Pokémon. “Hydro Pump.” 

“Thunderbolt.” The two Pokémon sent their elemental blasts towards each other. Collision of the two blasts sent ripples into the water like the rings in a tree stump. 

“Iron Tail!” Pikachu zipped across the stones towards Gyarados, who still awaited a command from Ly- Misty. 

Greninja shakily stood up from being slammed into a tree. The vines he battled have a greater sense of vibration when he closed in on their core. He quickly rebounded and looked at Squishy. They had changed to their ten percent form to try and out run the vines. 

“Gren?” 

“‘M good Greninja. Don’t worry about me. Just do what you have to do,” he reassured through his thoughts. Greninja leaped into a tree and took action. He jumped from a branch into the air. The vine followed behind him, breaking through the thick leaves on the forest into the thick air. The red veins of the vines released a red gas similar to the blood red sky of the crisis. Could this be a distorted terrain? Greninja tried to stretch out the vine, but his legs could only push him so high. 

Working with what he had, Greninja formed a Cut attack and sliced through the vine. He placed his webbed feet on the vine, its veins felt like the bark of a tree. Slicing through it was the same. He ran down the vine, dragging his attack alongside him. Being a bit heavier would have let me slide down without any force. This was his their only weakness of being light-weighted so far. His foot pads pressed against the vine as he ran down it. He broke into a barge of leaves, twigs and branches snapped off and he made his way back down. 

“Crunch.” Gyarados dove for Pikachu, fangs of darkness stretched out to bite down his opponent. Pikachu took to it, he charged right for the attack and overpowered it with his tail of metal. His opponent was sent crashing into the water in pain. “You’ve definitely been training.” 

“I did whatever you think I did,” he shrugged, fighting a pain in his back. . 

“Hyper Beam.” Her Pokémon emerged from the water and chased Pikachu across the rocks with the attack. 

“Chu!” He watched his partner fall back into the crashing waves made by Gyarados. 

“This is your fault for pushing him in, by the way,” Ash said, bowing his head slightly and swiping the underneath of his nose. “Thunderbolt!” A strike of electricity zipped through the water with high spreads.

“Gwaaar!” The cry of Gyarados pleased the trainer’s ears. 

Misty smirked and pinched her hairpin, “Oh ho ho, this isn’t over! You ready, Gyarados?” 

It’s too early.  

“Ash, feast your eyes. It looks great on me, don’t you think?” Sere could rock it better- right, the… monster. 

“Strong, valiant, and powerful. And now my beautiful blue sweetheart, rise with mega evolution!” Ash stood speechless as a creature of unimaginable doom appeared. His stomach felt empty, he was light on his feet… right, he was locked in the air. The red vines were destroying the city, his friends were lost in the chaos, Alain had left him to- 

He splited the vine into two, its core spewing red, bloody energy. The vine crippled into crimson flakes, adding on to the red terrain. With the largest vine out of their way for the timing being, he took immediate action. He zipped towards every vine and slashed it with a Cut attack surrounded by water. The slaps and whips didn’t make him falter, but strengthened him. 

Squishy, too, used his claws to swipe the vines into too. They looked like a lime green Houndoom with a loose leash floating from their neck. His second half, the other Zygarde, was taking time to rest and restore its balance internally from being under the control of Team Flare. 

Team Flare… Greninja despised them, he wished they were all gone. He heard bits and pieces of what Lysandre said to Ash to… mess up his mind. If they had figured out telepathy sooner maybe he wouldn’t be as broken. The scene of being laid horizontally in the air by the retaining balls was like a fresh cut when he thought about the crisis. The top of Lumiose Tower, which his trainer once jumped off of, held him captive. Lysandre had sent the betrayer Alain away to have a moment with his captives. He walked over to Ash, moving the trainer closer to himself with the metal balls. 

His toxic orange hair blew in the wind like leaves of a bush, his smile curled more than a Jigglypuff’s usual hair tuff. “Maybe after you, I can see that little girlfriend of yours,” he said aloud. If only he broke through early, if only he could do what Ash had done for him countless times. 

When they faced Lysandre’s Pokémon, he knew something had changed. Ash’s thoughts were quiet, lacking the excited ideas which usually bounced in his head. His aura was flat too, no ripples of burst energy in a single vibration.“Ninj ja ja?” he nodded. 

Why was he remembering this… his eyes focused into Ash’s vision. “Ninja!” It was too late.

“ Hey? Ash? I didn’t think you’d be that stunned. Rain Dance!” A stormy cloud formed inside of the gym. The shadows of the room grew deeper and darker. His vision looked around at the red vines that continued to attack him. And now that red-haired bastard wants to get away with all he’s done. 

“Eletroball.” His voice deepened as he commanded his partner. The crowd behind him had become too hypnotized by the battle to focus on his tone. A bright yellow ball zipped over the water and struck the watery beast. 

“Alright, Hur-” 

“Thunderbolt.” Pikachu sent a bolt of lightning without holding back, the room glowed from the shocked water type. 

“Dang, you’re fast!” 

“Again.” Another strike was sent with reluctance. 

“Ash?” 

“Again.” Gyarados roared in repeated pain. 

“Dude, you’re never so focused in a playful battle. Rel-” 

“Again.” Gyarados fell over, its eyes becoming dizzy spirals. 

“Oh, okay then.” 

“Again.” Pikachu looked backwards with concern. 

“He’s already fa-” 

“Pikachu, I said again.” 

“Pika pi. Pi chu ka ka.” 

“Ash,” someone called from the stands, “the battles over.” 

“I. Said. USE THUNDERBOLT!” A blast of quick moving power zipped toward an unmoving Gyarados with inaccuracy. He didn’t even glance at the damage until he heard a cry. He looked up to see Misty, luckily not with critical injuries, and an area of the wall crumbled in a dent. Ash stepped back, his eyes shaking like a shivering Snowrunt. He was right there…  

Professor Kukui stood up in the stands, calling out Ash’s name while his classmates looked shocked. Pikachu dashed to Ash’s shoulder, probably knowing what he was about to do. He dashed out of the gym, tearing rolling down his cheeks. Sunlight greeted him as dashed into Cerulean City. 

“I’ve never seen a Pikachu use blue electricity though. I must add this to my data!” 

“Not the right time Rotom,” Kiawe sighed. 

Chapter Text

Ba thump. Tears stung his cheeks like static. Lysandre had won, he couldn’t survive his final move. He couldn’t even look at his Pokemon one more time before Arceus took him away. His toxic orange hair stood out from the depressing view. Hundreds of people and Pokemon were dying at the moment, and all he could do was wait for the final blow in slow motion. Was fighting even worth it anymore? 

Ba thump, ba thump. Memories of the past rolled through his mind like a time lapse. All the people he had sacrificed himself for, just to leave him in fear. All the Pokémon he had saved, not knowing his last visit was a good bye. All the ones who loved him, family and friends, not knowing his body was to fall limp at any moment. All the time she spent loving him, just to be wasted on a dead body. Would they celebrate his death or cry till the ocean ran dry? 

Ba thump, ba thump, ba thump. Was this how he was going to leave? His father never got the chance to be found. He fought for the world too, it was his turn now. Why should Lysandre get to end him? Shouldn’t he do one more thing to help someone? After all, there were so many who wanted to do the same. 

Ba thump. His fingers curled around the cold rubber handle. Ba thump. He looked the villain dead in the eyes, matching his malicious grin with an innocent smile. Ba thump. And ripped it ou- 

“Satoshi!” Ash blinked and found himself in Viridian Forest. His hands were grabbing something at his heart, but when he released them there was nothing. 

“M-Mom? P-Pikac-chu,” he sniffed. His arms wrapped around his mom’s torso as he broke into sobs. 

“Don’t worry, I know where to find him. He’ll be back soon enough. Bye,” he heard through the door. Ash’s mom quietly entered his room and plopped herself beside him. “Feeling better?” 

“Mhm.” 

“Your friends are worried about you, Ashy.” 

“Is Misty okay?” 

“Yes.” 

“How about the others?” 

“I’m sure they’re fine too. You’ve got to focus on yourself right now, Satoshi,” his mother sighed with a soft smile. “You’re so much like your father sometimes.” 

“Mhm.” If only she knew how much I really am. He felt a vibration in his pocket. Looking at his Pokédex, he smiled, “Oh, it’s Serena.” 

“We were just talking yesterday,” his mom grinned. 

“About what?” 

“Can’t a mother just talk to her son’s future wife?” 

“Mooom!” 

“Heh, I’ll give you some space,” she winked as she walked out of his room. 

He rolled his eyes with a smile and picked up the call, “Bonjour?” (Hello?) 

“Ash! Are you okay? Misty told me what happened!” 

“I’m fine Sere.” 

“That’s hard to believe when I get a text asking if I knew where you were.” 

“I just overreacted a bit. Greninja’s battlefield just set the mood a bit,” he sighed. 

“Okay, I’m glad you're safe then.” 

“Right. How are contests doing for you?” 

“Pretty great, I have two ribbons already.” 

“I saw, you did great.” 

“Showcase experience prepared me well. I just need to work on my battling.” 

“I can always give you a few tips later. Speaking of which, I have to go. I need to open up my podium and take the last thing you gave me at the airport.” 

“Hah ha Ash,” he could tell she rolled her eyes. “Feel better soon. Te aime.” (I love you.)

“Same, bye.” He hung up and turned to Pikachu, “Want a snack before we head out? It’ll be a bit of a walk.” 

“Chu!” 

“No, actual food.” 

“Pika,” he pouted. 

“Let me just grab something right quick, then we can grab a bite.” He walked up to a drawer and pulled out a hat different from his usual ones. The hat was a short pink top hat with a black ribbon and bow around the cylinder. The bottom part of the hair curled in. “What do you think, bud?” 

“Ka chu,” he grinned. 

“Right, now let’s grab some food.” The two stepped out of their room and headed straight to the kitchen. Ash could hear Mimey singing in the kitchen with his mom. Pikachu climbed up his shoulder and hopped onto the counter. 

“Mime mime,” Mimey greeted. He was whisking up Duduo eggs in a shiny steel bowl. “Mime mi.” 

“That’s nice. Can we join?” 

“Of course, go grab the sugar. Chuchu, get the flour.” Ash walked over to a higher cabinet to grab the sugar, while Pikachu peered downwards to the cabinet below him to get the sugar. The Ketchum family got to work mixing ingredients and bonding in the kitchen. Pikachu was measuring out ingredients while Ash and Mimey mixed the dry and wet ones separately. Delia would add in her magic touches here and there to make the batch special. After half an hour, Mimey opened the freezer and placed the batch of cookies inside. 

“I’m glad we stayed to help,” Ash grinned. 

“Me too Ashy.” 

“Pika pika!” 

“Honestly, I can’t believe you got me to add ketchup to your cookies,” his mom shook her head, “Maybe you weren’t wrong about the ketchup obsession.” 

“Told you,” he sang. “We better head out if we are going to make it by dark. I’ll see you tomorrow Mom?” 

“I actually have to go somewhere tomorrow, but I’ll drop off the cookies. Bye honey, love you! Love you ChuChu!” 

“Love you too Mom.” 

“Pika pi,” he echoed as Ash closed the door behind them. The sky was a cozy orange color, like the warm scales of a Charmander. He could feel the rays of the tangy yolk sun behind him. Pikachu’s coat glowed from the light, and he felt like he was brighter as well. “Chu pi pi.” 

“We aren’t that far from the stop though.” 

“Pika pika chuuu,” he begged. 

“I guess it is kind of boring just walking to a bus stop. This is only because I need practice.” He took his hands out of his pockets and shaped a sphere with them. An aura sphere formed, luminate and glowing. In the blink of an eye, the sphere melted into a liquid. 

Ash’s aura had changed after he met Greninja. When he was just a Froakie, his aura was still regular, but a bit deformed. His aura spheres were wonky spheres and his other attacks seemed bent. After Froakie evolved, the melted form of his abilities were noticeable. During practice, the attacks would spat when not used with force. At least he was given an excuse to work harder on his ability. When the duo finally performed the Bond Phenomenon for the first time, he understood what was happening to him. He was able to create and control water at his will. The water was still infused with aura, so he could control how solid the liquid was as well. 

 Ash took off the pink hat on his head and beckoned his Pokémon partner inside. “Pika pi ka ka,” he cheered. He tossed the hat with Pikachu inside in the air and caught him with aura water. He swirled the water in the air as he walked towards the city. The mouse Pokémon made cheers of joy as he rode his personal waterslide ride. By the time he made it to the bus stop, Pikachu was back on his shoulder while his hat was slightly wet.  

“Ash!” His two close friends wrapped him in an Ursarang hug when he showed up for breakfast the next morning. 

“Hey guys. Are you okay, Misty?” 

“I should be asking you, dude,” Misty said with her hands on Ash’s shoulders. “I should’ve been suspicious when you shivered at the mention of Gyarados.” 

“And I should have warned her,” Brock said deflatingly. 

“I’m glad you’re back, Ash,” Professor Kukui broke in, “I’m sure your classmates can fill you in on what you missed. Just enjoy your breakfast for now, we’ll talk when we get back to Alola.” Ash placed the plate with his food at a seat beside Sophocles and Pikachu’s food with everyone’s Pokémon. 

“Good morning,” he greeted. 

“What happened yesterday?” 

“I’m just a bit freaked out by Gyarados… and mega evolution in general. Just a random fear, you know?” 

“Hmm, is it like me being scared of the dark? A phobia?” 

“I guess so,” he shrugged. 

“Interesting. Research says Poképhobia derives from painful memories or experiences. Maybe it’s something like that?” 

“Maybe. Lillie’s afraid to touch most Pokémon, and she said something about a fuzzy memory once.” 

“When we get back to Alola, I can conduct some tests,” Sophocles suggested, “I’ve been wanting to collect some data of Pokémon other than Togedemaru for a while.” 

“It’s a plan then.” 

“Were you even planning on inviting me?” The two of them turned around to see Rotom fuming. 

“We don’t need to invite you if you were going to come anyway,” Ash grinned. 

“Yeah, I’ll have to share the data with someone.” Ash broke away from the conversation before the two started to rant about testing methods and spoke to Kiawe and Mallow instead about yesterday’s lesson. He heard bits and pieces, but was sure Rotom would facilitate their plan well. 

“Alright class, be ready to go in five minutes. We’ll be heading to Professor Oak’s lab.” 

Chapter Text

“What’s with the new hat?” 

“Huh?” 

Kiawe raised an eyebrow, “You know, the pink one you have on.” Everyone was in the same seats as before in the small jade green bus. Brock and Professor Kukui were discussing different medical issues in Pokémon and people with Rotom, the girls were cooing Misty’s team, and Sophocles was typing away on his holographic keyboard. 

“Pika pika,” his buddy began with an excuse. 

“Uh… Pikachu, I can’t really understand you,” Kiawe chuckled, breaking into a sweat. 

“Pi?” 

“You might have to give it some time bud,” he said, patting his head. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Can’t you understand Turtanator?” 

“Not really, I just read his facial expressions.” 

“People can understand their Pokémon when they grow a strong enough bond. Like I can understand all my Pokémon, actually, all in general completely-” 

“Pikaaa,” he said, raising a brow. 

“Shush, I’m born talented. Anyway, my mom can understand Pikachu and a Mr. Mime pretty well. Actually, a lot of my traveling buddies can understand Pikachu a bit. Then there’s some who basically understand him, like Misty and Brock. 

“Pi pi,” he called to Misty. She turned to him. “Ka!” She high-fived him by his tail and turned back to her conversation. 

“See?” 

“That explains a lot. Maybe I should start talking to Turtanator about different things.” 

“That’s a great start,” he nodded. “Anyway, I-” 

“We’re here!” The bus stopped at a path which climbed up a hill. Professor Oak’s lab was a memorable part of any trip to Pallet town. As everyone stepped out of the bus, the fresh smell of cookies drew them in like a Sweet Scent attack. “Today’s lesson will be on regional differences. As we know, every Pokémon is different, but some species have different appearances based on their location. Can anyone think of some reasons why?” 

“Climate?” 

“Yes, good one Lillie. We’ll be seeing some of these Pokémon today.” 

“Are they going to be different types, like Brock’s Geodude?” Sophocles recalled battling the Pokémon with Lillie yesterday. 

“You’ll see,” he winked. The lab was a white building with two different structure styles. One half was shaped like a Diglett, the roof a curved, ruby red hat, while the other half was more like a regular house with the roof on the front and back instead of the sides. The Diglett looking half was taller than the regular half, with a set of windows making that half stretch higher. An even taller windmill stood behind the whole building with shiny white paint. The hill was surrounded by a forest which led to the Viridian Forest. At the door of the lab was a young man with a jett black hair. He wore a casual green t-shirt with red shorts and a red sweatband. 

“Welcome everyone! Oh, hey Ash.” 

“Hi Tracey.” 

Professor Kukui looked dumbfounded, “I keep forgetting you're a native here. Are you close with the professor as well?” 

“I mean, he does hold most of my Pokémon. Our families are tied together too.” 

“No doubt about that, Ashy-boy,” a voice called from the fence by the back of the building. “You guys should come in from the fence.” The class and Tracey went to the gate entrance and saw an open field of Pokémon. While everyone was watching the Pokémon, Ash greeted the trainer who called them over. 

“Woah!” Mallow gasped looking at the Pokémon community of the field, “Are these all wild Pokémon?” 

“Nope, a lot of them are trainer’s Pokémon,” the spiky, reddish-brown haired trainer who called out before said. He wore an unbuttoned black polo shirt with Muk purple cargo pants. His originally bland black necklace with a silver charm was replaced by a blue change with half of a small Pokéball attached. Ash actually wore a matching neckwear under his shirt, but his chain was red with the white part of the Pokéball. “Oh, and I’m Gary Oak. The professor is my gramps.” 

“Where is he?” 

“Right here,” an elderly man called from the building. He walked over the class with a few Pokéballs in his hands. “I know you’ve been here for a day or two, but I would still like to welcome most of you to the Kanto region!” The professor was dressed in his usual red polo shirt and tan cargo pants under an outstanding white lab coat, just like Professor Kukui’s. 

Professor Oak led them to a more open part of the field, where nearby Pokémon were playing and battling. The two professors began to show the class the differences between regional Pokémon. They released different Pokémon as the class ‘ooo’ed at the same named pocket creatures. 

“Psst,” Gary whispered to Ash in the back of the group. 

“What?” 

Gary stumbled back. “Are you-” 

“Telepathy,” he reminded him. 

“Right, I kept forgettin’ we can do that.” 

“So, what’s up?” 

“I got some info on Team Flare.” 

“Yeah?” 

“So, I overheard my dad and grams talkin’ about Team Flare. Pops brought up the secret mission your friend found in the corrupted files. They spoke before the Kalos Crisis happened. So, he probably knows about you and everything that happened during it. Maybe it was X who was killed in Kalos and Red was taken captive. Apparently, my dad had been looking into it for a long while but I guess he stopped now. Don’t know why.” 

“Okay, do you know where he was taken?” 

“I can’t confirm, but it has to be Alola based on the data and the plot of this story.” 

“What?” 

“Nothing.” 

“Mhm… Isn’t that a good thing? I can easily look around while I’m staying there.” 

“Are you stupid? They know about you, they know you have what Red had. You’ll get taken or killed!” 

“Relax, you Garchomp.” 

“I’m coming to Alola.” 

“What?” 

“I’m not letting you go alone. We’re in this together, idiot. ” 

Ash slit his eyes, “Were you al-” A large, purple mass of Muk absorbed the distracted trainer. “Hey! Muk, you’ve gotten larger,” he choked under the sludge Pokémon. Ash remembered catching him in Gringey City at an abandoned power plant. Whenever his Pokémon hadn’t seen him in a while, they would tackle him as a special greeting.

“Muuuk.” 

“Last of all is the Kantoian Muk,” Professor Oak chuckled. “This one in particular is Ash’s.” 

“The sunny weather of Alolan must have also lightened its color since this one is a duller color,” Mallow noted. 

“It’s mood is always pretty bright though,” Kiawe jokes, making Mallow chuckle. 

“Now that this lesson is over, feel free to explore the area. There are Pokémon from all over the world, mostly thanks to Ash and Gary.” 

“Hey, As-” 

“I need to borrow this kid for a second. You can have him afterwards blondie,” Gary interrupted before yanking Ash away. The two headed away from the Alola natives and resumed their previous conversation. “I’ll be joining your class too, by the way.” 

“Why?” 

“Why are you in school when you know everything?” 

“Touché. But seriously though, you could always get a hotel suite.” 

“Well, I need at least one year of Pokémon school if I’m going to become a Pokémon professor,” he shrugged. 

“You going to replace your grandpa?” 

“Nah, but I heard my aunt talking about my dad settling down here. The Oak line will never die!” 

“Woo!” 

“You should probably bond with your future classmates,” Ash nudged, glancing at their classmates as they caught up with the childhood friends. 

Chapter Text

“So, what should we do for our final day?” Ash listened to his classmates overlap with ideas. Professor Kukui had given them the freedom to explore the region on their own as long as they were with a Kanto native. 

“Misty said she’d go to the mall with anyone who wanted to come,” Mallow reminded the group. “Is anyone else going ?” 

“I’ll come with you, Mallow,” Kiawe said quickly. 

“I’ll join too,” Lana chimed in. 

“Brock said he’d show me some of his research as a Pokémon Doctor,” Lillie said. 

“I’ll start to listen to that,” Rotom bzzrted. 

“I’m gonna to be hangin’ out with my baby bro here.” 

“Can I join you?” 

“Erm,” Gary cringed, “I was hoping for a one-on-one day with my baby bro-” 

“Well, it’d be a good opportunity to get to know you!” 

“Fine, uh…” 

“Sophocles.” 

“Right,” he said, pushing out his chair, “Let’s head out then.” 

“What about breakfast? They open the buffet in a minute.” 

“We’re eating out all day today,” Ash spoke up. 

“Where’d you get the money for that?” 

“Don’t worry about that part,” he winked as he held the door open for his friends as they stepped out. 

“See you later! Aloha!” 

“Aloha,” Ash and Sophocles said back. 

“Doesn’t that mean ‘hello’?” 

“It also means ‘goodbye’.” The trio headed to a bus stop near the hotel and waited for the next one to come. About three years ago, Lance, the champion of Kanto and Johto, implemented a plan to lower the amount of greenhouse gases emitted from the many cars people used daily. With enough money from taxpayers, he updated the public transportation system and encouraged people to walk more. His efforts were effective, Ash could see more people walking to destinations, especially with their Pokemon and friends. The buses were more attractive, having different Pokemon assigned to every bus. 

They ended up in Saffron City when they got off the bus. Ash and Pikachu caught up with Gary’s Umbreon while Sophocles interrogated Gary. He would ask him about his life like he was a research project. Ash noticed he would keep looking back towards him every few minutes. Sometimes he wondered if he wanted something from him. 

“Why did you join the class?” 

“Is this your last question?” 

“Yeah, sure,” he shrugged. 

“Well, I need one more year of Pokémon school. Usually I do it online, but I’d like to spend some time with my baby bro.” 

“I thought you guys weren’t related.”

“We’re close enough to be,” Ash said with a smile. Even though starting his journey made him turn into a jerk, Gary was someone he knew always had his back. They reached a corner restaurant after a few more minutes of discussion. 

“Wait, there’s a bus stop right across the street. Why didn’t we just take it here?” 

“For fun,” Gary dismissed. “And ‘cause our to-go order wouldn’t be ready yet.” 

“Don’t tell me we are walking out again,” Sophocles groaned. 

“Relax, it’s not too far. There’s a big Pokémon park around the block for our Pokémon to play at after eating,” Ash said. 

“Okay.” 

The park was like an amusement park for Pokémon only. There were multiple different,y scaled rides for Pokémon of all sizes to enjoy: A slide large enough for a Onix, a swing an Oddish wouldn’t fall off of, and even a merry-go-round for a Rhyhorn. “Alright guys, you have fun!” All of the Pokémon, including Litten who was in a depressed state from a recent loss, charged towards the exciting playground. “So, how’s Project Mew going? Have you gotten in?” 

“Yeah, I actually finished the final assignment yesterday.” 

“What’s Project Mew?” 

“It’s a research team which investigates the DNA of all Pokemon to find its connection to Mew.” 

“Are you a part of it, Ash?” 

“Nah, I’m too busy for it.” 

“Doing what?” 

Gary squinted at the round boy, “Do you only ask questions?” 

“When I’m curious, yeah.” 

“You don’t always have to know everything. Let people have their secrets.” 

“Knowledge is meant to be shared.” 

“Somethings aren’ meant for everyone to know.” 

Sophocles raised an eyebrow, “And why do you say that?” 

“Let’s finish our meals guys!” Ash broke into a sweat as he sat between the two furious Charizard. 

“Tell your friend to stay in his lane,” Gary growled through telepathy. 

“Our classmate just got a little curious,” Ash retorted, “I’m sure he knows where not to stick his nose.” 

“More like no one stops him from doing it.” He sighed with that. 

“Return!” Gary returned his Blastoise to its Pokéball while all the other Pokémon joined Ash and the others in their walk. The childhood friends chatted while Sophocles silently listened, noting down everything they said. Ash could tell Gary and Sophocles had growing resentment, he didn’t need aura to tell him that. They were just two scientists with different looks on life. “What’s the school like?” 

“It’s big, I guess. Hasn’t your great-uncle shown you around before?” 

“A couple of years ago. I haven’ been there in years though,” he justified. “It’ll be nice to see him again, and Komala.” 

“Are you going to try adding on to that one chapter in your book?” 

“Yeah. Who wouldn’t want to know about how sleeping Pokémon communicate?” 

“Me,” Sophocles mumbled in the back. 

“Did you say something?” Gary glared at him. 

“It’s nothing.” 

“Guys woul- Pikachu watch out,” Ash yelled, bolting up to him to push him and the other Pokémon out the way. Instead, he only got Rowlet out the way and was caught into the cage. The Pokémon and him screamed as they were lifted into the air. 

“What’s happening?” 

“Prepare for trouble, as we lift to the sky!” 

“And make it double, I think we also caught them twerp, oh my!” 

“To protect the world from devastation,” a familiar pink-haired villain sang. 

“To unite all people in our nation,” a different familiar violet-haired continued. 

“To denounce the evils of truth and love!” 

“To extend our reach to the stars above.” 

“Jessie!” 

“James.” 

“Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!” 

“Surrender now, or prepare to fight.” 

“Meowth, that’s right!” 

“Wooobbuffet,” their cheerful Pokémon finished. 

“Oi, I thought you busters were gone by now,” Gary groaned as he and Sophocles chased the hot air balloon. Team Rocket had caught everyone in a gigantic cage and were attempting to fly away to Team Rocket Headquarters. “Blastoise, use Rapid Spin!” He threw out his Pokeball. Blastoise zoomed out already using the attack. It sliced the rope in half and made the cage fall into a tree. While Gary and Blastoise finished off Team Rocket, Pikachu used Iron Tail to cut the bars off and let everyone escape. 

“You know, maybe we should have done this in a better place,” James sighed. 

“Can it, just blame the slow breeze,” Meowth corrected him. 

“Whatever, at least we can finally blast off!” 

“Oh yeah! We’re blas-” Suddenly, a Bewear flew in and caught the bunch. As it continued to fly by rapidly spinning its tail, they groaned, “We’re off with a new blast.” 

Chapter Text

“Lunch is on me everyone,” Mallow called, obviously talking about eating at her family’s restaurant. As soon as the plane landed, the class decided to eat out to celebrate their arrival. Professor Kukui took everyone’s suitcases, except for Kiawe’s, to deliver them to their homes. 

“Aww yeah!” The class, minus the professor, gathered in the closed diner with fresh meals placed in front of them. Ever since she talked about an Oranguru in the forest, she had really been into trying new ingredients and making her meals satisfy both people and Pokémon. In front of everyone was a mix of assortment from Kantoian ingredients she found at the mall in Celadon Department Store. For today, she made malasadas for fun. 

As everyone descended into a whole of tangy goodness. Their taste buds danced over a rainbow as they themselves wiggled like waves. Kiawe was on cloud nine with his favorite flavor in front of him. Mallow added tomato berries to his spiced malasadas and his taste buds danced with the challenge of standing up to the heat. She always knew what he was willing to try. 

Across the table, he glanced at Ash and their apparent new classmate. He seemed like a nice guy, an aspiring Pokémon professor with a somewhat Kantoian accent. He was starry eyed with the mystical malasadas on his plate. Who wouldn’t enjoy them? Ash was asleep on his friend’s shoulder, looking more peaceful then he usually did when Kiawe saw him fall asleep in class. When he thought about it again, he looked more calm when Pikachu was napping or just near him in his sleep and in general. 

Sophocles looked at Gary when he noticed the sleeping trainer, “So, you’re Ash’s childhood friend?” 

“We are basically family, but yeah, what about it? Didn’ you already ask me ‘bout myself on the plane ride?” 

“I want to ask you about Ash this time.” 

“That’s a good idea,” Lana supported him, “He acts kid of suspicious.” 

His expression changed, “What do you mean?” 

“Well, before the Kanto trip, he ditched us to go shopping. Which he said he doesn’t enjoy.” 

“He also falls asleep during class when he gets a full night's rest like right now,” Rotom bzzrted. “My calculations don’t add up!” 

“Guys,” Lillie spoke up, “Maybe he just wanted alone time.” 

“Yeah, you know he’s always been excited to spend time with us. Maybe he just wanted to chill with Pikachu,” Kiawe agreed. “I thought we were supposed to drop this anyway. If he has something to say, then he will. He only joined school like a month ago so we don’t really know him well anyway.” 

Gary moved Ash’s head to an open spot on the table and rested his arm on Ash’s sleeping head, “Ashy-boy here is a group guy, but he likes one-on-one time with people he wants to get to know. He’s only tired right now because he was helping me unpack yesterday and did most of the work.” 

“Ignore Sophocles, he’s probably just excited. You should have seen him when Lillie joined the class. Sophocles would test to see how close a Pokémon had to be to freeze her up,” Lana laughed. 

“Not funny,” she pouted. 

“I guess it’s a quirk,” he shrugged. Gary eyed him until the subject changed and they continued their meals. The atmosphere was tense between Gary and Sophocles afterwards. 

Gary seemed protective over Ash, almost like Pikachu when they came. He didn’t really help Ash look any less suspicious, but he did get along with everyone… mostly. Things would probably calm down once everyone got to know each other. Well, if Sophocles would relax. 

Kiawe liked him, he used to be the only other boy in the class after all. Sophocles was the kind to stay indoors all day working on inventions with Togedemaru, which was why he lacked the usual Alolan tan. He knew the tech-savvy teenager didn’t know many people on the island, not even in his neighborhood. Having new trainers around were like new subjects for him, though he never really tested things with the class before. He would stick to simple questions and look at their Pokémon’s statistics compared to the usual ones, or whatever he did. 

Not that the others really stopped it. Well, they couldn’t try as long as Lana. She was the jokester of the group to some degree. Mallow’s best friend as well. She was always joking about catching Kyogre and making obvious jokes everyone fell for. 

“Hey, Ash,” Gary whispered to the sleeping trainer. He shuffled a bit before lifting his head and opening his eyes. 

“Huh?” Ash felt groggy as he opened his eyes. Everyone was returning their Pokémon, who were eating nearby, back into their Pokéballs. “Sorry, did I fall asleep?” 

“Yeah. I would leave you here, but I wouldn’t be able to get back on my own,” Gary sighed. 

“Har har. So, what are we doing now?” 

Lana raised her hand, “I’m going to go swimming, anyone want to join?” 

“I’ll come,” Ash stood up. 

“I’m going to hang out with Kiawe,” Mallow said, “Oranguru would probably love to meet him.” 

“I’m going to step up some stuff for some tests,” Sophocles said, winking at Ash. 

“Hobes will be here to take me home in a minute or so,” Lillie sighed. 

“I’m gonna to head home too.”

“You should follow me and Lana then,” Ash said, nodding towards the door. “Let’s go buddy.” Ash returned all his Pokémon and Pikachu climbed up to his shoulder as he walked out the restaurant. Ash, Gary, and Lana fell in line side-by-side as they walked to the beach. The sun was high in the sky, lighting up the whole region like a Chinchou’s bulb. Pikachu’s fur glowed from the blazing sunlight, so did his mood as he chatted with Popplio, Lana’s partner. Popplio was a sea lion Pokémon with blue waterproof fur, a white snout, and a big sphere nose which could make bubbles. (Add one?) 

“So, Ash, Gary,” Lana began, “What were your journeys like?” 

“Eh, I usually go on research trips,” Gary explained, “I was takin’ classes for a college I want to go to for my career choice, Pokémon professor. I used to do some tasks for my gramps, but my recent journeys were for this organization which requires particular tasks to make it into their team.” 

“Cool, how about you Ash? You said you’ve been to every region.” 

He nodded, “I have, but I’ve only traveled through seven so far. It was pretty fun, I met a lot of people and made some close friends. I’ve competed in the Pokémon league of those regions too. Nothing much.” 

“Pika pika!” 

“Right, and Pikachu’s been through it all with me.” 

“I was there too!” 

“In spirit,” he commented. 

“Have you been to Hoenn then?” 

“Yeah, why?” 

“Well, I’ve caught a Kygore while fishing before, so I wanted to know if it got back safe,” she grinned. 

The boys looked dumbfounded, “Really?!” 

“Just kidding,” she stuck her tongue out. “But have you seen it before?” 

“Uh… it’s back?” 

“Seriously?” 

“Mhm, it was just a quick sighting though,” he shrugged. 

“Cool! Maybe you’ll have more luck seeing one!” 

“You know Kygore’s native to Hoenn, so it won’t show up here,” Gary reminded. 

“He can move around, can’t he?” 

“That’s… fair.” 

“Gary, the house is over there,” he pointed to the left, where a small beach house sat. “We’ll be out here for a while.” 

“Alright.” “I’ll start some research, where’s your Pokédex?” 

“Under my pillow.” Gary walked off, leaving behind footprints in the sand. “Come on out everyone,” Ash cheered. He threw up his Pokéballs and released Rockruff and Litten and pulled Rowlet out of his backpack. Rockruff bounced around the sand, mostly running around Litten, who wasn’t in the usual Alolan mood. About three days ago— before the Kanto trip— his caretaker, an elderly Stoutland, passed away. The Stoutland raised Litten and he would steal from the market to get food for his ‘father’. Ash remembered giving Litten part of his sandwich, just for him to steal the whole thing and give it to Stoutland. Litten’s dedication and loyalty to Stoutland was admirable, and reminded him of himself when he was a child, doing anything for his mother and trying to keep her happy while mourning her husband. Adding on to the comparison, Rockruff was Litten’s Gary, someone who was looking after him while he sacrificed himself blindly. Things never changed, even now. Thank goodness Gary was still so protective, even though he would never vocally admit it.  

“Ruff ruff,” Rockruff barked, beckoning Litten into a battle. “Bark ruff~” 

“Litten!” Litten jumped back into battle stance after hearing Rockruff say he would win even if Litten didn’t try. The two automatically began to attack each other, and Rockruff smiled as Litten’s sorrow withered away. 

Rowlet watched on the sideline, almost drifting off into sleep again until Pikachu picked him up and threw him at Rockruff, who bumped into Litten. “Hooo?!” 

“Meorw,” Litten smirked. He pulled Rockruff up and was up to a double battle against Pikachu and Rowlet. 

“Pikachu, your ways to ask for a battle are weird,” Ash laughed. Lana was laughing alongside him and Popplio clapped with her flippers. 

“Aren’t you going to take off your shirt?” 

“Uh, nah, I look weird without a shirt on.” 

“What do you mean weird ?” 

“Don’t worry about it, let’s just go.” Ash ran into the water and moved like a Luvdisc with Lana and Popplio not far behind. 

Chapter Text

“Man, the water was great today,” Ash cheered as he stepped onto the sandy beach. He could feel every grain stick to the bottom of his wet feet. 

 “Yeah. and I can’t believe you know so many water type Pokémon,” Lana agreed, popping the bubble around her head Popplio made for each of them to breathe underwater. 

“I did travel with a water type fanatic.” 

“True. I better head home to dry off.” She took out a towel from her bag. 

“Alright, I’m going to head home too. Let’s go gang!” His Pokémon were sunbathing on the sand, exhausted from their double battle. They still had the energy to yelp their goodbyes and dash off to the beach house though. As he walked away, he pulled off his blue and white shirt. There were small scars all over his chest, back, arms, and legs. No one noticed the ones on his arms and legs unless he particularly mentioned them. The main one he was concerned about was a long, gruelly scar which stretched from directed over his heart to the right side of his chest. The mark was also on his back. He became used to the repeated pain the scar gave him, reminding him of the lingering danger of someone wanting to finish him off for good or just use him. He thought he heard a gasp behind him as he walked away. 

Inside the house he found Gary, Professor Kukui, and Rotom chatting on the couch with Alolan Detective Laki on the screen. Rotom was wearing his Laki wig while ranting about different mysteries Laki had solved. The professor looked up as the door swung open, “Hey Ash… oh my gosh, are you okay?” 

“Oh, yeah, why?” Rotom had stopped his rumble as soon as he looked at Ash. “What? Is there something on me? I took off my shirt because it was sticking to me.” 

“AAH! Let me scan you! I can test out my medical scanner,” Rotom zipped over and began scanning the trainer. 

“Woah,” he said, jumping out the way, “What is up with you guys?” 

“Ashy-boy, the scar,” Gary reminded him. 

He looked down at his chest and grimaced, “Oh, right. Don’t worry Professor, Rotom, I’m fine. It’s just a small mark.” 

“Small?! That thing looks huge!” Rotom spun around him and looked at his back. “It goes THROUGH?!” His eyes bulged out into mismatched rectangles in worry. 

“Relax, it’s… uh… two different marks?” 

“Ash, this is serious. How did you get that?” 

“It’s nothing, really. I’m just going to take a shower.” He began to walk off until Professor Kukui blocked his way. 

“Did you get hurt with Lana?” 

“No.” 

“You have to tell him Ash,” Gary said with a serious tone. “If you’re living in his house, shouldn’t he know why you are covered with injuries?” With that mention, the professor scanned him more thoroughly and noticed all the marks and bruises hidden in his skin. He probably assumed they were childhood scars until now. 

“It’s different when it’s an adult, Garchomp. I don’t feel ready yet.” 

“Then when will you be?” 

“After some predictable crisis happens” 

“You can’t just assume-” 

“It’s going to happen, no matter how much we pretend it might not.” 

“Just tell him a little bit.” 

“Then can you do it, since you want him to know so badly. Let him read my file or something. I don’t feel so good,” he moaned. 

“Alright then. Pikachu, you’ve got him, right?” 

“Pi pi,” he nodded. 

“I’m taking a shower now. I won’t be surprised if I have to leave afterwards,” he walked off without another word. 

Gary watched his ‘brother’ walk off with a deflated face. The professor stood there like a Magikarp out of water, which he couldn’t blame him for. Even if he had only been staying here for a month, Ash was never the kind of person to get defensive over things. Pikachu led the younger Pokémon upstairs, probably to rest. The house was silent, except for the sound of a running shower in the background. “So, how do we find his records?” 

“Just go into his trainer card.” 

“He’s shown me that before. There’s nothing eye catching, other than his broad traveling experiences,” the professor explained. 

“You’re talking about Ash, your student,” Gary said with a shake of his head, “I’m talking about Satoshi C. Ketchum. It’s not important right now. We don’t need this again,” he mumbled the last part to himself. 

“Look, I might not know everything admit you two but I swear I’ll always be here whenever he wants to talk,” the professor nodded. 

“And me,” Rotom chimed in. 

“You can trust me too, Gary.” 

“Uh, yeah. Thanks Professor.” 

Lysandre directed his gaze to Ash, using his controller to him closer with the spherical wrist and ankle holders. “You remind me of him,” he whispered with a toxic grin. 

“What?” 

“There was a trainer just like you a couple of years ago. He looked just like you, minus the eye color. Just as blind either way.” 

“S-So?” 

“I’m sure you know him, he gave you his biggest feat. Do you think they chose people like you randomly, Chosen One?” 

“…” 

“It’s easy to tell who you are when you have the blood of the previous one pumping through your body. Your father was qui-” 

“You don’t know him. Stop trying to mess with me!” 

“Red Ketchum, what a character. Stopped so many hopeless causes, twisted minds if you will. Then he set his eyes on me, what misjudgment of character he made.” 

“Get to the point!” 

“It’s easy, you will use yourself as a power source for my technology.” 

“Don’t you know what ‘NO’ means? I’ll never help someone like you.” 

“Who said you had a choice? You haven’t even noticed it yet,” he took a step back as Ash looked down to his chest. A knife was stabbed into the right side of his chest and dragged almost completely through his heart. “I’ll remove that knife if you don’t follow what I say.” With the mention of a knife, his Pokémon screamed and cried with furious worry. 

Alain came back with a stone cold face, “Xerosic said he’s located… what the heck.” Ash locked eyes with the betraying trainer, he softly smiled as blood dripped from his open wound and tears fell from his cheeks like a light drizzle. “What did you do?” 

“Only the necessary, you’ll und-” 

“No! Are you insane? You literally stabbed him.” 

“There are others dying out there too,” he justified, waving his hand to the open ledge to the city, “He didn’t want to be in this new world anyway.” 

“There won’t be a new world here for me to deny,” Ash coughed. 

“Shush,” Lysandre commended, “I’m tired of you rejecting my nicer method.” He activated a remote which released the same mind controlling energy which started the whole mess. Both Ash and Greninja screamed, battling their minds to stop the guaranteed win from happening. After that, things changed for the better . 

“Satoshi!” His eyes were blurry when Gary’s voice reached him. “Please, come back to me!” 

“Mmm…?” 

“Ash!” He felt a pair of arms wrap around him, along with multiple different sized ones. 

“Ka pi!” 

“S-Sorry b’ddy,” he chuckled with a sick look. 

Professor Kukui rushed up the ladder into the boy’s room with a damp cloth and a long wrap of bandage, “I got it. Ash, are you alright?” He also whispered something to Gary that he couldn’t hear. 

“Just a bit… a bi…” his words slurred as he leaned to the side. He looked down at the chest to realize he was a leaking faucet of blood before the world fell into an ink black.

Chapter Text

“Aloha Ash, aloha Gary.”

“Aloha,” they said in unison. Most of the class was in the classroom when they arrived. Mallow and Lana were watching Popplio bubble up everyone’s Pokémon, Lillie was reading a book, and Sophocles was locked into his laptop. Ash gingerly walked up to Sophocles with a teeth grin.

“What are you doing?”  Sophocles looked up at him and quickly closed his laptop.

“Nothing!”

“Doesn’t seem like nothing to me. Suit yourself then,” he shrugged. “Where’s Kiawe?”

“He's doing some extra work today. I think his parents are sick.”

“Of course you know that, Mallow,” Lana said slyly.

Ash seated himself in his chair while letting his Pokémon run free in the classroom. His wound was dripping like a broken pipe, constantly out soaking the bandages wrapped against them. Even worse, he felt like he hadn’t slept in days. Passing out wasn’t the source of sleep he hoped it would be. “Hello? Are you even listening?” Ash looked up to see Sophocles waving his hand in his face.

“Huh?”

“Right, as I was saying: What day will you be free to do the testing?”

“Uh… today?”

“Ruff ruff!”

“Right, my bad Rockruff. Tomorrow then,” he sighed.

“Wait, you can understand Rockruff?”

“Yeah.”

“That leads into our next unit,” Professor Kukui said as he entered the classroom with Kiawe close behind him. The professor walked up to Ash to check on him before beginning the new lesson. “Our new unit will be Languages and Pokémon Communication. By the end of this unit, I want you all to be able to understand your partners to some degree.” Their Pokémon cheered in the back of the room. “We are going to learn how to play a game. Ash, Pikachu, would you like to demonstrate?”

“Sure.”

“Pi chu!” The two walked up to the front of the classroom.

“Right, Ash is going to have this blindfold on,” he held up a red handkerchief and wrapped it around the trainer’s eyes. “Now I need someone to point at a random object in the room.” Fingers darted around the room. “Right, let’s go with Lana’s choice. Pikachu, you see it?”

“Chu,” he nodded.

“Now tell Ash the item.”

“Pikachu pi chu.”

“The clock. And it’s 8:35 am.”

“Woah, that was specific too,” Lana said in awe.

“Thank you, you can sit down now. We are only going to play this game on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting next week. Spend your free time talking to your partners to understand their talking patterns. Now let’s get into today’s lesson…”

Don’t drift off Ash, he told himself. He knew his recent activity was already suspicious, and he didn’t have a planned out excuse yet. His focus drifted to Greninja, who was napping. The whispers of the forest were a lullaby for his slumber. Fletchlings hopped from branch to branch, the twigs scratched against each other while the leaves slightly crumpled with autumn in full swing. The weather wasn’t too chilly to relax in. He could feel the soft moss under him like a bed sheet to his branch. Squishy was probably nearby as well. He usually laid-

“Ash, do you agree?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah?”

“Alright, let’s go outside then,” Professor Kukui, standing at the door as all his students walked out. “As you watch this battle, focus on the different communication Ash, Gary, Kiawe, and Lillie use.” Ash had unknowingly agreed to do a double battle with Lillie, which he was okay with.

“Rowlet, do you-”

“Uhm, Ash, can you use Pikachu?”

“Sure, sorry Rowlet.”

“Hoo hoo,” the owl Pokémon sighed, landing on Litten’s back instead of flying. He was going to train with them later anyway, so he hoped Rowlet wasn’t too down about it.

“Sorry Rowlet! I just haven’t gotten used to other Pokémon yet,” Lillie quickly said after seeing Rowlet deflate.

“What Pokémon do you have on you, Gary?”

“Umbreon and Blastoise. You?”

“I have Turtonator and my grandpa’s Charizard, but I don’t use him in battle too much though.”

“Alright, let’s see what we can do.” The class entered the school’s backyard, where there was a patch of grass the size of a gym. Ash remembered it was the same area where he first met his classmates Tauros racing around the track. Their ‘gym’ was outside since the weather was usually nice and warm. Lillie and him stood side-by-side at one end with Gary and Kiawe at the other end.

“Ooo, this will be great for my double battle data,” Rotom buzzed.

The professor waved his arm like a race’s beginning flag, “Go!”

“Dark pulse at Vulpix!”

“Snowy,” she corrected as her partner was flung backwards.

“Flamethrower,” Kiawe followed.

“Counter it with your Thunderbolt.” The two attacks collided into smoke. “Iron Tail!” In the foggy cloud, Pikachu sent a fury of attacks on Turtonator.

“Powder Snow!”

“Vul,” Snowy howled, blowing out a frosty mist at both of her opponents. Turtonator matched the attack with Flamethrower. Snowy didn’t have enough speed to dodge it, but Pikachu came to the rescue by tackling her out of the way. Pikachu used Quick Attack around Turtonator, Umbreon followed behind it in an attempt to stop his pending attack. Instead of landing the attack on Turtonator, he suddenly stopped and formed an Electroball that Umbreon collided with.

Turtonator used Pikachu’s attacking time to send his own attack, pushing the mouse Pokémon away. “Tur?” The blast turtle Pokémon looked down to see Snowy had gotten stuck in its chest while attempting to use Tackle. He finished off the Vulpix by using a super effective Flamethrower.

“Win the battle for me Ash!” He nodded and winked to Gary, who whispered something to Kiawe.

“We’ll give it all we got,” he beamed.

“Pikachu, let’s show them true power!”

“Pika chu!” The usually easygoing Pokemon now looked more into the battle. When he used his Quick Attack, he moved faster. His attacks landed with more accuracy and with a harder blow. Anyone outside of the battle would assume he was working harder to cover for Snowy’s loss.

Pikachu bolted straight into Turtonator, who tried to dig his claws into the ground enough to stop him from being pushed back. He pushed off of Turtonator, ultimately pushing him onto his exploding shells, and leapt into the air to strike Umbreon with a Thunderbolt. He countered the attack with Dark Pulse, making a huge cloud of smoke.

The battle continued on back and forth until he yelled “Let’s end this!” Ash crossed his arms into an ‘X’ shape, Pikachu copied. “You’ve got the chance to win any battle you have to fight, whether it’s through perseverance or power.” They mimicked each other, moving their arms apart then forming a lightning bolt with their arms. “You can’t beat this one though, we believe in each other more than you ever will. Use Gigavolt Havoc!”

“Pi… ka… CHU!” A huge blast of electricity blinded the students. When the smoke subsided, Turtonator fainted and Umbreon was still able to hold out for a little longer.

“I think we know who’s winning this,” Gary said in defeat.

“Man, I wanted you to go down. No offense Umbreon, you did great.”

“Bre!”

“Turtonator and Snowy did great too.”

“Thanks Ash.”

“You weren’t kidding, huh?”

“I guess not Kiawe,” Ash grinned.

“Uhm, Ash?”

“Yeah?”

“You really were amazing during the battle today,” Lillie awed as the class headed inside. “How did Pikachu become so strong?”

“Years of experience, I guess. It’s our bond that really builds our strength.”

“Can you help me bring out Snowy’s strength?”

“Yeah. Did the battle inspire you?”

She looked down at her Pokémon’s capsule with a soft expression, “I guess I’ve never really seen you use strength like that. While I might not be that into battling, I want to be able to hold my own.”

“You should think of a dream based off that.”

“A dream?”

“Yeah, a goal. Come to the beach around seven if you want to talk about it.”

“Okay,” she nodded.

“Guys, keep it down. Rockruff is asleep.”

“Hoo hoo?”

“You only wake up when you’re yelled at, I don't need to give you a quiet area.”

“You talk to Pokémon like you’ve known them for years.” Ash turned around to see Lillie walking up to him and his Pokémon. After an afternoon of training and giving Rockruff a spa bath, they were all relaxing on the sand to watch the Alolan sunset. She took a seat next to Ash on the sand.

“Well, I will at some point.”

“Is that your dream? To befriend all Pokémon?”

“I want to save them and people from evil, and help everyone find their happiness,” he petted his sleeping Rockruff.

“Oh, so end Team Rocket, for example.”

“Sure. Have you thought about one?”

“Yeah,” she stopped watching the sunset and faced him. Her eyes twinkled with determination. “But first, I need to be able to touch Pokémon. I can have multiple dreams, right?”

“A dream is just an end goal, something to keep you going. Any steps involved are just ways to better yourself. You can have multiple dreams, but they all lead to the same finish line.” He smiled and turned to Lillie, who was staring at him with pink cheeks. “No matter what you do, it’ll always end up bringing you closer to the finish line. I bet even Gladion will be watching your progress. Just do whatever makes you happy, okay? …Lille?”

“Huh? Oh, uhm, yeah,” she mumbled.

“How are you going to build the confidence to touch Pokémon?”

“Well, I was hoping you could come over every week to help me. I’ll do my own self work, then you can test how it goes by bringing your Pokémon over.”

“Are Wednesdays good?”

“Yeah.”

“Then it’s a plan. We can start next week,” he said standing up. Lillie stood up too. She hesitated for a moment, then wrapped her arms around Ash into a hug.

“Thank you Ash!”

“No problem.”

“I better go now. See you tomorrow!” She collected herself and headed off.

Chapter Text

Komala rang the school bell while Professor Kukui finished up today’s lesson. Ash automatically stood up, just like the rest of his classmates. Everyone was making plans for after class. Gary was even joining in with the others. He usually stuck to small talk with the class, minus Sophocles. They still bickered about big topics whenever they were brought up. Gary, Kiawe, Lana, Lillie, and Mallow were going to practice talking to their Pokémon together. He said he could give a few tips. 

Ash turned to Sophocles, who was finishing up typing something. He said he was typing up a whole doc for all the data he planned to collect. Rotom watched over his shoulder with excitement. “Come on, let’s go!” He didn’t even wait for the boys before zipping out the door with Pikachu behind him. 

“Wait up Rotom,” Ash called as he dashed after the two Pokémon. 

“Hey, guys, I can’t run that fast!” 

Sophocles’ home was a two-story house with pale yellow walls and a solar panel roof. He guessed every region had its own way to have better energy usage. The group walked through his house, quickly greeting his parents before rushing to the back of the house where Sophocles’ ‘research facility’ was. “I know last time we did a small test for your battle with Tapu Koko, but this time we’ll be doing a lot more.” 

“Alright. Can the Pokémon join in?” 

“Yeah, it’ll be easier to get data on them.” 

“Come on out everyone!” 

“Ruff ruff!” 

“Roo!” 

“Meorw!” 

“So, I’ve done some research on some new experiments I want to try on you. But first…” he took out the same small tan patches from last time and placed them onto each of their heads. “I’ll definitely be saving this data!” 

“I’m sure it won’t be that interesting,” Rotom said with a pinch of doubt. 

“Trust me, it will. I’ve even raised the graphs for unexpected measurements. And it won’t just measure one factor this time.” 

Rotom looked over the multiple graphs on his screens. “What’s this one? It doesn’t have a title and we hadn’t discussed it.” 

“Uh… it’s just an extra on to fill in the space. I care about appearance too.” 

“Fair enough.” 

“First test, stamina. This time we just have a large treadmill. You just keep running until you can’t.” 

“This is definitely going to take a while with the Pokémon joining in.” 

“Don’t worry, the speed was raised. Ready? Go!” The treadmill turned on and the team hopped onto the machine. 

“Pika pi.” 

“Nah, we both know I’d beat you.” 

“Arf!” 

“Litten!” 

“It’s a competition then!” The team competed to see who would last the longest. Rowlet, unexpectedly, ran out of running energy after fifteen minutes. Ash thought about training Rowlet to work on not flying all the time, but he was a flying type; flying was what they should be best at. Rockruff and Litten tied for third, or rather they were trying to sabotage each other and ended up both tumbling off the machine. Ash and Pikachu lasted for about thirty minutes. Both of them were slowing down a bit. He knew he couldn’t use his aura to hold up the bandages forever though. “Tie?” 

“Pika.” 

“Oh come on!” 

“Pi chu ka.” 

“No fair. I could go for another five minutes! This doesn’t count.” 

“Pi pika pi pi,” he taunted, sticking his tongue out. 

“Wow, and then at night you cuddle up next to my chest with concern. Cruel much?” He slowed himself down and hopped off the treadmill with Pikachu behind him. 

“Alright guys, I’ve already set up the next test.” 

“Now you want us to… stand in water?” 

“Yeah. Just close your eyes and stand still.” 

“I don’t know… what’s this supposed to test?” 

“Stuff,” he shrugged. Ash stepped in the inflatable pool alongside his Pokémon. “This tests the energy you release at rest alone. I don’t know if you’d be able to do the second part of the test.” 

“Alright then. Litten, you stepping in?” 

“Lit,” it shook its head. Rockruff shoved him in anyway, as revenge. “Hmmf.” 

“You two are too much,” he sighed with a smile. 

“All of these tests were… weird,” Ash thought aloud. Sophocles made them do tests to spark their inner power and strength to some about physical ability.. They even were blindfolded and had to guess where Togedemaru was. Ash spent most of time holding himself back and purposely failing most of the tasks. He already felt lightheaded after running for thirty minutes, so taking it easy wasn’t as hard. 

Maybe he would ask Gary if he knew anything about the category of tests he just took. They seemed pretty random, from running around to intellectual intuition to internal energy, was there any correlation at all? When he thought about it again, Gary would probably interrogate Sophocles on his motives. Which was fair for once, Sophocles never specified nor made any mention of telling him about the reasons on the data. The whole plan was initiated when he asked about Ash’s fear of Gyarados and mega evolution. “What did all of these tests have to do with my fear?” 

“Huh?” 

“Wasn’t that the whole reason we did this?” 

“Oh yeah. I was thinking about adding some mega evolution factors, but I didn’t want to freak you out.” 

“Fair enough. I guess we’ll go home now. I’ve got to finish the homework… and other stuff.” 

“Alright, see you tomorrow!” 

“Hey Professor, Garchomp,” Ash greeted as he entered the beach house. The professor waved from the kitchen while Gary rolled his eyes on the coach. He was carrying three of his Pokémon while Rowlet slept on his head. The Pokémon jumped out of his arms and went off to do their own thing. “How was the trip?” 

“Pretty cool. I like the class. They’ve all got their own thing to bring to the table, ya know?” 

“Mhm.” 

“And what were you up to with the ginger?” 

“Sophocles just wanted to test out some new experiments he found.” 

“Okay then, definitely not weird at all.” 

“He’s just a bit quirky. I’m sure he’ll want to do tests on you too.” Gary raised an eyebrow before he added in, “Yeah… I heard it now.” 

“Good for you.” 

“So, what-ca watching?” He came over to the coach and sat next to Gary. 

Gary turned to explain the show, but Ash was already knocked out. Geez, what were they doing all afternoon? His other Pokémon were also tuckered out, laying around the house instead of goofing off. “Hey Gary,” Professor Kukui called as he approached him, “Want to come with me to the Pokémon Center? Nurse Joy called earlier about a package for Ash.” 

“Yeah. Are we walking there?” 

“No, we’ll take the car to make it quick.” 

“Alright,” he nodded, following behind the professor as they headed out. Professor Kukui had a red roofless convertible stored at the back of his house. Gary sat next to the professor in the front seat and awkwardly stared out at the Alolan sky beginning to fade into orange. 

“So, Gary, you want to be a professor, right?” 

“Yeah.” 

“What do you research for a living?” 

“Pokémon DNA. It’s interesting how some of them can change themselves during particular circumstances.” 

“Like Mega Evolution?” 

“I guess. The way evolution stones, crystals, dynamax energy, and tera crystals cause Pokémon to change is one thing, then there are shinies, regional forms, and whatever the heck Ash does. At what point does a regional form become a whole ‘nother Pokémon?” 

“Now that’s an answer I would look for! You must have really been looking into it. Who or what inspired you?” 

“Ashy-boy defeating me in a league made me reconsider what I wanted to do with my life. Then my gramps’ writings inspired me to follow in his footsteps. How ‘bout you?” 

“Well, I was actually a trainer once, just like you. The kahuna of the island, Kahuna Hala, was my mentor with another student. He was great at battling, but I would be him a lot. After a while, it came to the point where he wouldn’t try to strengthen himself past the basics. He didn’t even want to try the Island Challenge, probably in fear of losing at least once. One day, Hala and I tried to talk to him, but he got mad and ran away. I haven’t seen him since. I wish I could have helped him.” 

“That must have ruined your motivation in battling, huh?” 

“No, but him leaving helped me become closer with other friends, like my long-term girlfriend. I also found out I was more interested in helping other trainers start their journeys and helping them get farther in their own journeys. Hence, why I’m a teacher,” Professor Kukui said, parking the car and stepping out. “Come on, let’s see what he’s got waiting.” The two walked into the Pokémon Center with the dawn sky overhead. Nurse Joy was reading over something at her main desk. She was a bit tan from the tropical heat, but still had the usual recognizable pale skin, pink double-hooped hair, and bright blue eyes as every other Nurse Joy. 

“Excuse me, Nurse Joy?” 

“Aloha, how can I help you?” 

“Package for Ketchum?” 

“Package? Oh, you mean the Pokéball. I don’t know why the transfer machine wasn’t used.” She dug into a cabinet and handed Gary a golden covered ball with the letter G and S capitalized at the top. “Aloha, have a nice evening.” The duo walked out of the center and stared at the ball. 

“It’s just a Pokéball?” 

“I guess so. I wonder what’s in it.” 

“I think my gramps wrote something on this with two other professors. They couldn’t open the ball, even with a drill!” 

“Woah. Maybe I should start reading Professor Oak’s papers more.” 

“Definitely. Maybe you could take a look at mine too? Ash has written some eye-witness accounts and information in mine and I’ve been trying to build my name before college.” 

“Alright then.” 

Chapter Text

“I remember Professor Oak telling me about sending the GS ball over when the class met him in Kanto. A year or so ago, I tried using aura to open the ball and an egg came out.” 

“Eggs can’t be caught though,” Rotom brought up. 

“Egg-actly!” 

“Really?”

“Sorry,” he chuckled. 

“So, is aura some sort of power source?” 

“Yeah, it’s the manipulation of an infinite energy source,” Ash explained to Rotom, who he assumed hadn’t reached that far into the files the professor now had. “Riolu and Lucario use it in an attack form. I guess when you can break its shape like I can, it’s able to charge up stuff.” 

“I see.” 

“Anyway, I don’t know why he wanted me to have it,” Ash pondered aloud. 

“Maybe he wants you to be with the egg. Let’s see it.” 

“Alright,” he agreed. Ash lightly tapped the lock of the Pokeball, releasing a liquid aura into the cracks of the ball, and released the egg into his hands. “See it’s… oh my gosh it’s cracked!” 

The egg was brown with a white, zigzagged stripe across it horizontally. Wherever Ash placed his hands on the egg, it would dimly glow red. A long crack was formed near the top of the egg, like a stream flowing down a hill. “Maybe it’s stuck?” 

“Ash, that’s the best thing you could think of?” 

“Uh, yeah,” he beamed with innocence. 

“If we’re going with that, then many use aura again? That opened the Pokeball.” Ash nodded and closed his eyes to focus. His hands glowed blue with life essence. Pikachu climbed down from his shoulder and sat on his arms. The mouse Pokémon pressed its paws against the egg and mimicked its trainer. His eyes glowed red, like Greninja when he performed the Bond Phenomenon. Both Greninja and Pikachu had permanent crimson eyes after they were able to use aura alongside Ash. Greninja did when his body was in sync with Ash and Pikachu did when his mind was set on the same objective as him. 

“Are you… glowing?” Ash stopped, and almost dropped the egg if it wasn’t for Pikachu, to stare at the door. Gary and Rotom were awkwardly hovering around him. Kiawe was standing there with wide eyes. “Uhm, did I interrupt something?” 

“This is what you get for doing this in the classroom,” Gary sighed, pressing two fingers against his temple in dismay. In the middle of the impending explanation, the egg began to shake and glow. The egg’s shell fell to the floor while a newborn Pokémon formed in his hands. When the evolutionary glow dimmed, a silver Pokémon sat in his hands. 

“Bui?” 

“Eevee, the evolution Pokémon, a normal-type. Possessing an unbalanced and unstable genetic makeup, it conceals many possible evolutions.Current studies show it can evolve into an incredible eight different species of Pokémon,” Rotom read from its entry. “This one is a shiny.” 

“That’s cool. Now, explain what just happened,” Kiawe looked at Ash with his usual calm expression. “People don’t usually glow like that.” 

“You know how Lucario can use the move Aura Sphere?” 

“Wait, you’re just going to tell him?” 

“I guess.” 

“Hold up, hold up… you’re an Aura Guardian?” 

“You know what that is?” 

“Can we not with all the revaluations here?” 

“Breon! Umbre bre,” Umbreon said, breaking between the three trainers. “Umb.” 

“Good idea Umbreon.” 

“What’d he say?” 

“We should meet up after school to talk. Clearly everyone has secrets here that we’re just revealed,” Gary translated. 

“I can work with that.” 

“It’s a plan then!” 

“What’s a plan?” Sophocles walked through the door with Mallow close behind him. 

“We’re going to hang out in the town to give Star a tour,” Ash said quickly. 

“Who’s Star?” 

“This baby,” he cooed, showing the Eevee he was holding. 

“Why’d you name her Star?” 

“Pikachu’s name starts with a S and so does another one of my Pokémon’s, so I thought it’d be a nice pattern.” 

“Pikachu doesn’t have a name,” Sophocles reminded him. 

“Actually, all Pokémon have names. In the Pokémon language, when you call them just by saying their species with them as the intention it is calling them by their name.” 

“And how do you know that?” 

“I wrote a paper with a professor from Sinnoh about it, actually,” Gary grinned. 

“I’ll have to see it to believe it.” 

“Toge,” his partner called from his side. 

“Huh?” 

“Maru maru,” she pointed to Gary and nodded. 

“He’s right? Oh.” 

“Learn to accept things, geez,” Gary sighed. 

“Turn in your permission slips tomorrow for our upcoming trip. Class dismissed. Aloha, and keep talking to your Pokemon!” 

“Come on Lillie, you said you’d introduce me,” Sophocles excitedly reminded her. 

Ash looked at the technology enthusiast curiously, “Meet who?” 

“Sophocles was researching something around Mother’s field, so he asked me if I could get him a meeting with her and her coworker. 

“I thought you don’t talk to her much,” Mallow brought up. 

“Yeah, but she would do anything for work. He said she wants to see me soon though. It’s not like I never see her, she’s just really invested in her work.” 

“This is super exciting! Come on, let’s go,” he cheered. The ginger grabbed her things and dashed out the door. Snowy and Togedemaru chased after him. 

“Hey, wait, you don’t know if Hobbs is here yet!” She ran after them. 

“Well that was something,” Professor Kukui chuckled, grabbing his bag. “Come on Mallow, Steenee.” 

“What are you two doing?” 

“She’s on the Student Board. They probably have a meeting today,” Kiawe guessed. 

“Yup, you know my schedule better than I do sometimes,” she chuckled. “I’ll call you tonight. Aloha!” 

“Stee nee nee!” 

“You want a…?” The Pokémon pointed at her mouth. “Oh, a snack,” Mallow understood as she walked out the door with that professor. 

“I guess we’ll head out too,” Lana said as she headed out with Popplio, “Wait, Mallow, are we still hanging out after your meeting?” 

“Yeah, you can help me pack the pot for Saturday!”

“Come on guys, we can talk as we head out,” Ash jumped up. “And before I forget again, I have to catch you Star.” He took out a Pokeball and tapped her with it. The capsule shook three times, made a bust noise, and sparked a bit. Then she shot out. 

“Bui bui!” 

“Pika pi. Pika ka pika,” Pikachu patted her head. 

“Is she okay?” 

“What happened?” 

“I don’t know, I guess the Pokeball is just a little weird with her. That's alright. I can carry you like I do with Pikachu. His Pokeball is a bit weird too.” He allowed Pikachu to hop on his shoulder, then picked up Star from his desk. “See?” 

“Eevee,” she cheered. 

“Alright, so, Kiawe, you know what aura guardians are?” 

“Yeah. My grandfather told me about one who came here. I can tell you the story he told me.” 

“Yes please.” 

“He said one day, when the Aloha sky bright, yet cloudy, he met a trainer with eyes of worry. Apparently, he was about to face a villain in Kalos. My grandpa said they both had a grasp of the soul, he was a Riolu, but the trainer was a Lucario. I think he was named after a color or something.” 

“Red?” 

“Yeah! How’d you know?” 

“That’s my dad,” he revealed. 

“Wait, the Chosen One?” 

“Man, your grandpa knew a lot.” 

“Well, all the island kakunas know this stuff. Don’t champions too?” 

“Yeah, I guess so.” 

“What happened to him then? My grandpa never told me.” 

“We don’t really know. All I know is that he’s dead and he passed his abilities onto me.” 

“Passed on?” 

“Yeah. I’m, uhm, kind of the Chosen One now,” he chuckled. 

“On Wela Volcano?!” 

“Yup, on another note, if your grandpa had a bit of aura in him, maybe you do too.” 

“I thought it was an island kakuna thing. Doesn’t it get passed down too?” 

“I don’t know. Gary has a bit though.” 

“It’s just telepathy and using Aura Sphere. Pretty much Riolu level stuff,” he shrugged. “Didn’t you say you wanted to be a kakuna?” 

“Yeah, but I have to be chosen by Tapu Lele.” 

“Who’s Tapu Lele?” 

“There are four Tapus who watch over different parts of Alola. Akala is the main island of Tapu Lele, kind of like how Tapu Koko is mainly here.” 

“Speaking of which, isn’t that it now?” The three looked up to see Tapu Koko looking down at them. They all paused and stared for a while longer, until the legendary Pokemon took Ash’s hat and zipped towards the forest. 

“Hey! Give that back,” Ash bolted after him into the bushes. Everyone else followed after him. 

Tapu Koko was a black Pokemon with sharp orange feathers on its bottom half and towering on its head. Its arms connected to an outer shell which looked like a yellow Farfetch'd with black, white, and orange triangles decorated on it when it was closed. 

“Koko,” the Land Spirit Pokemon, used Electric Terrain, while still moving. 

“Do you mind if I use Star here?” 

“Pu,” it shook its head. 

“Great,” Ash looked down to her, “Baby, you’re going to have your first battle. All you’ve got to do is follow my command. You can also listen to Pikachu comments. He’ll probably be a great mentor for you, even outside of battles.” 

“Chu,” he agreed. 

“Bui!” She jumped out of his arms and joined in their run through the less dense part of the forest. Gary and Kiawe rode on Charizard above them to watch the battle. He could also hear Gary explain their whole story. 

“Swift!” Star shot a barge of stars towards the legendary Pokemon, who easily dodged the attack. The Eevee seemed to have natural battle instincts, she knew how to use attacks and even dodged on her own sometimes. Ash questioned if she was only a newborn physically and mentally. While commanding her, he could feel something in her aura. The same feeling as Pikachu and Greninja’s. Emotionally. She completes it. “Electroball!” 

“What?” 

“Eevee can’t use Electroball!” 

“I think he forgot who he’s using.” 

“Bui!” Star followed the command and shot the attack at a stunned Tapu Koko, who took the hit head on. It seemed to be satisfied, and cheered. 

“Koko!” It flew away without another word. Ash ran up to Star, who laid on the ground in exhaustion and pain. 

“Pika pika!” 

“Yeah, that was great! We’re proud of you Star. You held up for a long time for being freshly hatched,” Ash commented, picking up the tired Pokemon. “You think you can work with what you saw buddy?” 

“Chu.” 

“Great.” 

“Ash, Pikachu, Star, that was incredible!” 

“I caught the whole battle on camera! How does Star know Electroball?” 

“I don’t know. She was just giving off some electric energy, so I called out one of Pikachu’s moves. Basically, random guess,” he shrugged. 

“Gary, I’m starting to see what you mean.” 

“Did he tell you everything?” 

“Mhm,” Kiawe nodded, “Honestly, after knowing you’re the Chosen One, everything else falls into place.” 

“Lucky you, so many people freak out about it.” 

“Probably because you tell people at the worst times, Ashy,” Gary reminded him. 

“Whoops.” 

Chapter Text

Ash sat up and took a deep breath. He had fallen asleep on the couch with Litten and Star curled up with him. Pikachu, Rockruff, and Rowlet had probably gone to their own spots to sleep in his room. “Hey, Litten, Star,” he whispered, shaking them awake. “Want to go on a walk?”

“Lit,” he nodded. “Ten meorw meow.”

“Yeah, it has been a while.” He opened the door and stepped out with Litten walking ahead of him. Star cuddled against his chest in his arms. “How was training with the others today?”

“Litten, lit. Lit ten ten.”

“You two just balance each other out. Rockruff is just the kind of ‘mon you need to get you motivated sometimes. You’d be surprised how much a bond can change you.”

“Lit?”

“Yeah. So, where do you want to go?”

“Meow,” he shrugged. “En?” Litten ran ahead at the sight of someone familiar.

“Mallow?” He placed a hand on her shoulder as a greeting.

“Huh? Oh, aloha,” she said with a smile. Her eyes looked puffy, they shimmered in the light of the streetlights from the water she was holding in.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, why would you ask?”

Ash sighed, “Yeah, you’re right. I’m probably just seeing things. Let’s look at some I can confirm.” He started to walk away, and Mallow followed in curiosity. Ash could tell she wasn’t the best at holding in feelings. While he hadn’t gotten much time to spend time with her, it was obvious she had a bouncy personality. Maybe he was better at reading emotions because he hid his feelings whenever he remembered any of his traumatic memories. At least he could be there for someone else so they don’t become as good as he is.

The two ended up at a ledge in the forest. Past it, they could see the starry sky above another lush forest beneath them. Ash dangled his legs over the edge, just like Mallow did when she sat down. Steenee and Star were playing around behind while Litten sat between the two trainers. “So, what's wrong?”

“Didn’t you already ask me that?”

“Yeah, but I can tell something’s on your mind. Litten got your tongue?”

“Lit?”

“Heh, not you, Litten.”

“Since you took the time to take me here, I guess I owe you something. Today’s the day my mom passed away.”

“Oh,” he murmured.

“S-She was dying of some sickness. Even when she was sick, she caught Steenee for me. E-Every single day I v-visited her, she would ap-pologize for being sick. The day before s-she passed, I told her I hated her and I n-never got to say sorry!” Mallow began to bawl into her hands. Ash scooted over and wrapped her into a hug, Litten joined in as well.

“People say things they don’t mean all the time. Her way of coping was apologizing, your way back then was a burst of energy. Your mom knows that you didn’t mean that. I know someday you’ll get to give her your true thoughts and final regards. There’s a time and place for everything, you’ve just got to be ready for it to happen.”

“Lit litten.”

“Stee? Nee nee,” her partner Pokemon said softly.

“I only understood a few words of that, but thank you Steenee, Litten, and you too Star,” she sniffed, petting Star who was snuggling against her. “I know you understand how it feels, Litten.”

“Ten,” he nodded.

“I do too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I lost my dad the day after I opened my eyes.”

“What happened?”

“Uh, I don’t know much. But my mom said he left for his job and never came back. She just said she received a message from Gary’s dad that he was killed,” he explained, leaving out many details of the story.

“So, you’ve never gotten to meet him?”

“No, I have the only photo of me with him and everyone who’s known him to fill in the gap.” He took off his hat and removed a photo from a secret compartment. “See?” It was a photo with a trainer with long spiky hair, a white shirt, and a red vest holding a baby with growing black hair like his and shimmering light brown eyes. The trainer had crimson eyes.

“You look so much like him, but your hair his shorter.”

“Maybe I should grow out my hair then,” he chuckled.

“You should. And thanks for this. Usually Kiawe would be here to comfort me, but this is nice too.”

“You two really care about each other alot.”

“Yeah, we’ve been friends for a pretty long time. Not as long as I’ve known Lana though. Speaking of which, I should probably go home to go text her. Thanks Ash. Are you coming too?”

“Nah, I think I’ll stay here a bit longer.” When he couldn’t see her anymore, he turned to his Pokemon. “You two want to do a two-on-one?”

“Litten?”

“Yeah, I can hold my own. You’ve just never realized it.” He formed an aura sphere. “Come on! You and Baby could use some tag team time.” He sent an Aura Sphere at Star, who was saved by Litten with a Fury Swipe. Star used Swift, which Ash blocked with a wave a water. He was too distracted to notice Litten had snuck up behind him and was hit by a Fire Fang. “Nice one Litten!” He hit him back with a Water Pulse.

“Lit!”

“Bui bui!” Star watched Litten use Ember at Ash, then attempted to copy with a Fireball.

“You know Fireball too? But that’s more than four moves,” Ash questioned as he jumped back. “It’s almost like you know Weather Ball, but with more different move types. Let’s pause for a second.” He walked up to Star and had an idea. “Baby, copy me, okay?”

“Vee?” He used Water Pulse at Litten, who obviously wasn’t pleased.

“Meorw!”

“Oops, sorry.”

“Bui,” Star called out while also using Water Pulse, but not at Litten.

“How about this?” He used an Aura Sphere at the ground. She copied. “Hmm, I’ve got an idea. Litten, can you take a hit or two?”

“Lit meow?”

“No, not by me, by Star.” Litten nodded. “Alright, Baby, can you use an attack from before at Litten?”

“Bui bui,” she nodded. The evolution Pokémon used Water Pulse at Litten and Ash observed it carefully.

“Try a different one.”

“Bui!” She used Fireball.

“You okay Litten?”

“Lit!”

“Yeah… I have no idea what it all means.” Litten and Star fell over in an exaggerated anime style at their trainer’s lack of knowledge. They didn’t know anything themself though. “Maybe we can work on it another time. Let’s go home, it’ll probably be midnight by the time we get back and you two need some rest.”

Chapter Text

“I didn’t expect you to be this excited,” Ash said when he saw Kiawe look out the window for the fifth time.

“It’s not everyday you get to go on a trip with a champion.”

“It’s just a one night trip, nothing much.”

“You act so calm, yet you are always bouncing around and being clumsy.”

“Heh, I wouldn’t say that.”

“Pika pika!”

“Right, thanks for reminding me.” He pulled out his Pokédex and messaged someone.

“Who’s that?”

“Elite Four. They are basically like the island kakunas. We’ve only got one member so far though.”

“Oh, you guys used to have a different league, right?”

“Mhm. We are still doing the same league style, it’s just being expanded with the growing population.”

“Flight Pidgeot has now landed, please remember to take all of your belongings with you.”

“You know how you asked about me not being recognized?” He stood up and picked up Star. Pikachu hopped onto his shoulder.

“Yeah?”

“Watch this,” he grinned. The duo walked out of the plane and into the airport, where many passengers and workers were moving to wherever they had to go. As they headed out, a few people waved at Ash and others bowed their heads slighting with recognition. Kiawe also took to the friendliness, waving to some of the passing people. When they were close to one of the exits, Pikachu leapt off Ash’s shoulder and ran forward.

“Pika pi!”

“Aye, Mr. Champion Pikachu, where’s your partner?”

“Right here, Drake!”

“What’s good little man?”

“Not much,” he replied, clapping his hand with his. “Still one-shotting with a Ditto?”

“Ai’. Who’s the flame and this little cutie?”

“This is Kiawe and Star. She’s my baby,” he winked.

“Nice you meet you sir.”

“Hey, hey, no need to be all formal. Anyone who's buddy-buddy with the champ is cool with me.”

“I like you already,” Kiawe grinned, fist bumping the tall, green-haired trainer.

“Bui!”

“How’d you get your hands on a shiny Eevee?”

“Hatched from the GS ball.”

“There was an egg in the ball?”

“I mean, if it couldn’t be opened by a drill, then I guess it’s strong enough to catch an egg. Pretty sure being caught as an egg messed her up a bit.”

“How do you know that?”

“Well, her ability to evolve into different types mixed into Weather Ball but with more typings, according to Gary.”

“She’s just special then,” he proudly stated, petting her in Ash’s hold. “Enough chitchat, let’s go to the meeting.”

“Hold up, we’re going to a meeting?”

“Yeah! Not the kind you’re thinking off though.” The trio walked outside of the airport and headed to a Dragonite who was waiting outside. “Dragonite, you think you can hold us all up?”

“Nite!” It flapped its wings proudly.

“I see you’re as confident as always, Dragonite.”

“He’s learned from the best.”

“Luckily, he doesn’t overestimate like you,” he chuckled.

“Don’t make me push you off him,” Drake teased. They climbed onto Dragonite and took to the skies. The weather was starting to get chilly, a sign of schools being past the new feelings in regions with multiple seasons. Ash hoped Kiawe wasn’t regretting being shirtless.

After half an hour, they reached Pummelo Island. Dragonite flew all the way to the top of the island, where most of the construction he remembered the last time he visited the isles. “Thanks Dragonite.” Everyone else thanked the (…) Pokémon as well. The original Pummelo Stadium still stood at the highest part of the mountain. It had been there for over a hundred years after all. The group entered the stadium and traveled to the battlefield, where multiple gym leaders were standing around and chatting. “Hey everyone!”

“Satoshi, glad you could make it,” Rudy greeted politely. “How’s Alola been?”

“Bright and sunny.”

“Hope you haven’t been dominating with Pikachu the whole team,” Cissy laughed.

Luana picked up Pikachu, “How are you, Pikachu?”

“Pika pika.” Danny just waved at the newly arrived members.

“Hey, A.J., I see you took to the offer,” Ash commented, seeing the dark green-haired trainer from Kanto.

“Yeah, Sandshrew is loving the new environment.”

“Are these all the gym leaders?”

“Yup. Meet Rudy, Cissy, Luana, Danny, and A.J.!” He turned to the gym leaders, “This is Kiawe, a friend of mine.”

“Nice to meet you, Kiawe. Are you joining in the fun today?”

“I thought this was a meeting.”

“Meeting up to battle,” Cissy said, “Which I plan to win!”

“It’s a free for all, I don’t think Blastoise will be able to move fast enough.”

“I’ll take that as a challenge, Luana.”

“Let’s get started then. Ash, you’re refereeing since it’s obvious you’d win.”

“Fine, but let Pikachu mentor Star during it. She isn’t champion level yet,” he added.

“There’s no way I lost to Ditto.”

Drake laughed, “You did though. I knew dedicating myself to normal-types was worth it!”

“Hey, Ash,” someone quietly called.

“What’s up, Danny?”

“Kiawe’s pretty good at battling. Is he planning to do any more of those island challenges he mentioned?”

“Sorry for intruding,” Kiawe apologized before continuing, “But I actually want to become an island kakuna. It’s basically like an elite four.”

“I can’t wait for that day, we’ll be on the same level,” Drake cheered.

“Speaking of Elite Four, how’ll you determine more members?”

“Eh, I’ve got my ways to find people.”

“You did discover me for a full here,” A.J. laughed.

“I don't even know how.”

“You definitely bulked up your Ditto,” Cissy pouted jokingly.

“There’s a reason I have my titles. Speaking of which, Star held her ground pretty well. Kudos to Pikachu.”

“Pi.”

“Was this battling for your gyms?”

“No, the gyms in the Orange Isles work differently than the rest of the world,” Ash explained, “Instead of just testing battling skills, the gym leaders have their own creative challenges for a trainer and their Pokemon to do.”

“I have a target test and a surfing race,” Cissy announced.

“Trainers have to climb a mountain and race me down it with a toboggan,” Danny followed quietly.

“Mine is a three-on-three but we battle with Pokemon of the same typing,” Rudy said next.

“I just do a double battle, I’m thinking of adding a rule where you can only command one of your Pokémon,” Luana said.

“And I have a race where the Pokémon and trainer have to carry the same amount,” A.J. said.

“So, it’s more about bonding with your Pokémon?”

“Precisely. We are thinking of making the league battling in the most interesting ways just to challenge their bond and skills.”

“Winning the league is just proving you’ve truly grown close to your Pokémon through both strength and skill.”

“And commitment!”

Chapter Text

“Bonjour?” (Hello?) 

“Bonjour! Tu me manques.” (Hi! I miss you.) 

“I miss your cute, yet dense, face so much.” 

“I thought I was above that now.” 

“Should I add delusional to the list now?” 

“I’ve missed your sarcasm too,” he laughed. “Anyway, I have something big to tell you!” 

“I thought you already text me everything.” 

“Yeah, but this time I have someone I want you to meet. Baby’s sleeping though.”

“B-Baby?” 

“Yeah, let me send a photo of her. She’s sleeping right now.” 

“Are you ch-” She paused for a second. “Ash, that’s an Eevee.” 

“Yeah! I’ve been telling you about her. He-” 

“Hold that thought. Her name is Baby?” 

“No, her name is Star. I just call her ‘baby’. It kind of goes with Crescent, right?” 

“Syvleon will be glad to hear. Toshi, you know couples call each other ‘baby’, right?” 

“Huh?” 

“You know what, nevermind. Continue.” 

“So, her ability to evolve into a different type has glitched into being able to do different typed ‘ball’ attacks. I don’t know if she can evolve, though. Rotom said the DNA is way more unstable than a regular Eevee. ” 

“Interesting. I’m sure Sylveon can help with her after contest season.” 

“Speaking of which. Your recent contest was amazing! You look dazzling in red, and went well with Pancham.” 

“Yeah, too bad I lost to my friend’s boyfriend. Pancham needs to work on his battling skills.” 

“Wait, you know Drew and May?” 

“Yeah, she’s the girl I’ve been traveling with.” 

“I used to travel with her too. She’s a fun one.” 

“I should ask her about you then.” 

“Uh… I wasn’t the best person back then.” 

“Yeah, yeah, you were more sassy than I am. You’re mom showed me some videos. You and Gary were so cute!” 

He blushed furiously, “I- you better not have kept those.” 

“No promises. How is Gary, by the way?” 

“He’s good. Didn’t he get your number a while ago?” 

“Mhm. It’s nice to have someone on the outside to talk to. We’ve talked about the Orange Isles a lot.” 

“What about them?” 

“It’s more of a future plan.” 

“Alright. I’ll be ready for you when you’re ready to get it started.” 

“Thanks Toshi. How was the meet up yesterday?” 

“Good. Drake beat everyone with his Ditto.” 

“I wouldn’t want to lose to that.” 

“It just shows how much everyone has worked to get their positions. I bet if Pancham knew, he’d work hard to be that strong too.” 

“Chu ka.” 

“What’s up Pikachu?” 

“Hi Pikachu!” 

“Pi pi!” He turned to Ash, “Chu pika.” 

“Okay. Sorry Sere, I have to go.” 

“It’s alright, you do have school tomorrow anyway,” she chuckled. 

“Yeah, yeah. Enjoy your day, mi amour.” (…my love.) 

“Mhm, goodnight.” 

“Bwa hah haha! You just called her ‘baby’ in front of her?” 

“What’s so wrong about that?” 

“Dude, she probably thought you were sleeping with another girl,” Gary explained. “That’s a really common couple’s nickname.” 

“Yeeeah? She said that yesterday.” 

“No you idiot, if you call someone ‘baby’ it sounds like you’re dating because you have cheesy nicknames an’ junk.”

“Oh, okay,” Ash nodded calmly, the gears in his thick skull slowly turning. “Oh. OH! Arceus!” 

“Hah, you’re the color of the top of a Voltorb.” 

“I should get a photo of this rare moment,” Rotom added onto the embarrassment. 

Gary laughed, “Do you want me to give you her hat to hide your blushing?” 

“Shush!” 

“Who’s hat?” Mallow, Lana, and Lillie walked into the room to see Ash with his face buried in his hat, Star nudging him, Gary and Rotom laughing, and Pikachu napping with Rowlet. “What’s going on?” 

“Nothing!” 

“Ashy-boy’s just a little embarrassed,” Gary smirked. The girls glanced at Lillie before walking over. 

“Are you just going to die there, Ash?” 

“If only, Lana.” 

“I’ve never seen you like this,” Mallow noted, then turned, “What did you say, Gary? Is something on his face?” 

“Oh nothing. He’d kill me if I said anything.” 

“Would you shut up Gary?!” 

“Aloha everyone,” Kiawe greeted. 

“I’m here too,” Sophocles called from behind him. 

“What’s going on?” 

“Ash is getting teased about something.” 

“It was nothing. Can we please change the subject?” 

“Sure,” Kiawe nodded, tying something around Steenee. “As soon as you stop shoving your head into your hat.”

“What are you doing?” 

“Kiawe got a cute bow for Steenee!” 

“Nee!” 

“No problem, Steenee.” 

“Man, you’re been getting at understanding Pokemon so quickly. It’s like magic!” 

“Eh, Gary owed me a lesson or two,” he shrugged, winking at Gary. 

“You know, I think it’s finally gone.” 

“I can tell her right now, if you like,” he whispered loudly. 

“I think he’s living in his hat now,” Lana laughed as Ash's face planted into his hat like a Grubin trying to tunnel into the ground. 

Chapter Text

“Alright Lillie,” Ash cheered. “We’re going to work on Snowy’s aim.” 

“But she lands her hits when the opponent doesn’t dodge.” 

“No, I mean specific aim.” Ash and Lillie were at their weekly session to work on Lillie’s relationship with Pokemon. Last week, they had worked on understanding how Snowy felt during battle and knowing how different attacks affect a Pokémon in battle. At the end of the day, Lillie was able to quickly tap smaller Pokémon. She said she would also take walks in the forest to get closer to Pokémon and ask people outside if she could pet their partners. “For example: if you want to use Powder Snow on Rowlet, where would you want it to hit?” 

“…All of Rowlet?” 

“Wouldn’t you want to aim at Rowlet’s wings to hope for them to freeze? Then he couldn’t use some of his attacks nor fly.” 

“Oh! Is that why you make Rowlet practice battling without flying with Star sometimes?” Near the edge of the pearly white battlefield, Rowlet was battling Star by running. 

“Yep!” 

“That’s smart. You have so many good battle strategies. Does that just come from traveling for so long.” 

“You could say that. I’ve also been inspired by people and my own look on stuff.” 

“That’s great. Will any of the people from your travel stories ever visit?” 

“I don’t know. I don’t talk with a lot of them anymore.”

“Was there a falling out or-” 

“Maybe they were annoyed with his narcissistic personality,” a voice called from the forest next to the battlefield. A familiar pale teenager who looked like Lillie, but with an opposite wardrobe, stepped out of the bushy area with a cold expression. “Step away from my sister.” 

“Brother?!” 

“That guy isn’t safe.” 

“He’s my classmate though. And-” 

“He’s a sly Deciueye, I know for a fact.” 

Ash challenged him with a raised eyebrow, “How?” 

“That Pikachu is overpowered, and I saw what your Eevee can do.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Lillie, don’t trust him.” 

“W-Why?” 

“What?” 

“Why should I believe you?” 

“I’m your brother. Do you not trust me?” 

“I-I… uhm,” Lillie mumbled. Ash put a reassuring hand on her shoulder to motivate her. “How can I trust you when you left me? Dad’s gone, which I still haven’t been told why, and we both know Mom doesn’t give enough support. Y-You left me all alone with Hobes. And then you just come back and expect me to believe that someone who’s helped me finally get better is a danger?” 

“Bu-” 

“Look! I can lightly touch Pokémon,” she reached to Ash’s shoulder, where Pikachu now was, and patted his head. “Where were you at that moment? Where were you when I got Snowy?” 

“Lillie, you don’t understand what she-.” 

“Then explain,” she sniffed. “Ash, can you give us some space, please?” 

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I’ll be in the front when you’re done.” 

“Are you alright?” 

“Yeah. Thank you,” Lillie said. 

“That was all you. I’m proud of you.” 

“Mhm. Gladion told me some stuff, not everything though. He said he’d tell me more tonight.” 

“That’s great. Let’s go out to celebrate,” Ash cheered, rushing down the street. “I’m not waiting!” 

“Hey!” 

“Vul!” 

“Snowy, don’t leave me behind too!” 

“I’ll stay behind,” Rotom said. The duo and their Pokemon rushed down the street and into the town. Ash fell into second, tied with Star, Rockruff, and Litten. Pikachu and Rowlet ran and flew ahead and paused at a familiar restaurant. “Are… we finally… here?” 

“Yeah! Oh, I see Kiawe and Mallow inside.” Ash held the door open and greeted their classmates. 

“Aloha!” 

“Aloha Ash, Lillie, you two here for a meal?” 

“Of course.” 

“You know, Kiawe and I were just about to get something ourselves. You guys should join us!” 

“That sounds great.” 

“Mhm.” 

“Alright everyone, return.” 

“Aren’t they eating too?” 

“They already ate. And we should just spend some time together.” 

“I see,” Mallow grinned, “Let’s eat at this table. Kiawe, save me a seat next to you while I cook something up.” 

“Alright. I can help you with it.” He waved to them before heading off. (He watched Pikachu, Rotom, and Star play guess t)

“Oh, I forgot to give you this.” Ash turned to his side and dug into his backpack. “Lana gave everyone else jewelry, and I said I’d give you yours.” 

“Personally? That’s so sweet.” 

He pulled himself up and handed her a blue hair tie with a blue crystal attached, “I was making scrunchies with a friend yesterday, and I thought it’d be cool to make you a little someone too.” 

“Thanks Ash. Who were you with?” 

“Just a partner of an old friend from Hoenn. We were making stuff for our friends.” 

“What’s he like?” 

“He’s pretty relaxed, been dating my friend for a while. Oh, you’ve watched contests with Mallow and Lana, right?” 

“Yeah. Is he a Coordinator?” 

“Mhm.” 

“Hey, we got the food,” Mallow said, carrying some food over with Steenee and Kiawe. “Let me just finish up some final meals for some customers and then I’ll join you. Come on, Steenee.”

Chapter Text

Not even after ten seconds of being on the school grounds, Ash was sent flying by a wild Tauros. He watched the rampaging Pokémon run around in misdirections from the air before crashing onto the ground at his brother’s feet. Gary laughed at his predictable airborne interaction with Tauros. “You could have caught me.” 

“Mmm, nah, you’d survive the fall either way.” 

“How helpful. You suck,” Ash pouted jokingly. 

“You know you love it, baby bro’.” 

“Hey, who’s that?” Rotom’s question made the two look ahead to see dark-skinned women walking up to the rampant Tauros with a soft smile. It darted its eyes at her and made a b-line. Hoofs clamped against the dusty ground as the Pokémon approached the calm woman. She held a single hand out, her fingers were curled slightly like she wasn’t trying to signal a stopping motion. The Tauros slowed down as it approached her, and moved its head into her palm. 

The three spheres in its head, made of the same material as its horn, rubbed against the woman’s hands. She cooed the normal-type and scratched its chin affectionately. Ash watched in awe, already feeling the excess aura in her. Before he could even take a step forward, the trainer of the Tauros and Kiawe came. The trainer profusely apologized for his Pokémon, who also apologized. She nodded gracefully and laughed it off. Kiawe pointed to the classroom and started off with her in tow. 

“Hey, wait, Kiawe!” 

His classmate took a quick look behind him and paused, “Olivia, you’ll definitely want to know these two. This is Ash and Gary.” 

“Aloha,” they both greeted politely as they fell in line with them. 

“Aloha! It’s lovely to meet more of Kiawe’s friends off the island. I’m Olivia,” she introduced, taking Ash’s hand to shake. Her expression slightly darkened at his touch, but he ignored it. At least Gary was given a completely bright smile. Even Pikachu gave a polite tail-shake and Rotom fawned over her friendliness with Pokémon. 

When the whole class arrived, Professor Kukui introduced Olivia as the kahuna of Akala island who was their personal guide for their trip to the island. Ash was in awe of her ability to easily soften the hearts of even the most tense Pokémon. All of their Pokémon had gathered around her for pets and appreciation. She even commented on how they all seemed very happy. Like most people in Aloha, Olivia had her quirks.  She was somehow even more clumsy than him, though, continuously tripping with her pink short heels. Her outfit consisted of thigh high magenta shorts, a pink crop top, a yellow-ish tan open shirt, and large necklaces around her neck. She had decorative stones as her Z-bracelet, which had a rock-type Z-crystal inside, alongside her other bracelets on her arm and one on her thigh. 

“Does that mean I can do your island challenge?” 

“Uhm, of course,” she smiled. 

“Can I try it too?” 

“You two can do the island challenge together, then have your double battle after each other!” 

“Cool,” they both cheered. 

“I’m sure that’ll be a sight to see,” the professor said. “Grab your bags and let’s head to the boat!” The students grabbed their luggage and walked out in conversation. Before Ash could start any conversation, a soft hand pulled her to the back of the group. 

“Ash, right?” 

“Yeah. Something wrong Olivia?” 

“… No. I’m just making sure I get everyone’s name down. Kiawe hasn’t said much about you.” 

“I bet you’ll learn more throughout the trip,” he beamed, before walking ahead to talk to Gary about the island challenge until they reached the boat. Ash explained how before someone could challenge the island kauna, they had to do an island challenge: defeating a Totem Pokémon who would give them a Z-Crystal as well. People only got Z-Rings from Island Kaunas. 

On the boat, Gary dragged Ash into a lawn chair while they were still docked. He threw on a pair of shades and kicked his legs back on the long chair. Ash knew it had been a long time since he had been on any sort of luxurious ride, even though it was just a regular boat with a nice deck. His brother even commented about feeling like he was in the car he used to drive. “Weren’t you ten?” 

“Shush. We don’t talk about that.” 

“Riiight. Hey, is the boat turning?” 

“Yeah,” Mallow said, pulling up a chair next to Gary, “We’re taking a detour because Lana saw something in the water.” 

“Isn’t the boat ride long enough?” 

“Anything for a possible lesson, according to Professor Kukui,” she shrugged, “Who knows, it could be really cool!” Gary nodded and laid back down, continuing the conversation with Mallow when they thought Ash was asleep. 

Pikachu was a heated blanket keeping him company as he relaxed on his chair. His buddy’s small, slow-moving body gave him a slow tempo to match with. The slow rocking of the boat cradled the zoned-out trainer and Pokémon like a baby in a crib. Calm waves tapped the pearly white sides of the boat. They sounded a hypnotizing whisper to relax while he still could. Before he could fully lose himself to the command, a huge splash drew everyone to where Olivia was just standing. 

Kiawe’s worried call brought him over to the edge, “Olivia, are you okay?” 

“Whoopises,” she chuckled, “You worry too much! The water’s great, hop in! It’s easier to look at Pokémon from here anyway.”  

“Yeah, come on Kiawe!” Ash leapt off the side of the boat with Pikachu at his tail. The two dove under the waves, where he felt like the water around him was just an extension of his own body. “Hey, do you feel that?” 

“Pi?” 

“Mhm.” Without a warning, Ash and Pikachu began to swim away from the boat and towards two large rocks sticking out of the water nearby. 

“Where are you two going?” 

“I think I hear something from over here.” Olivia didn’t make any extra reactions like she usually did and followed him silently. Ash didn’t look behind him, but he could hear the boat breaking through the water following them as well. Sure enough, a Wailmer was weakly flapping its fins while wedged between the rocks. 

“Hey, Ash, Olivia,” Rotom questioned as he zipped over from the boat, “what’s going on?” 

“There seems to be a Wailmer stuck here,” she pointed out. “We’ve got to help it.” 

“I’ll alert everyone else!” The two, and Pikachu, now alone with the Wailmer, moved to positions to pull the Wailmer out on Olivia’s command. Their first attempt sent the island kauna into the ocean, where she warned them about an approaching Brusix. 

“Ash, get back on the boat, I can…” she paused and noticed the missing trainer and his Pokémon, “Where did they go?” 

“Get Wailmer out, I can deal with the Brusix,” he said positively as he swam near the Pokémon. 

“I can handle it, their known to be a bit of a higher level over here. Like level f-” Kiawe and Lana jumped down from the boat and came to her ready to free the Wailmer, followed by Mallow and Gary. Sophocles joined in when he changed to his bathing suit. With the class’s full effort, the Wailmer was freed and healed by the Professor and Lillie who worked beside Lycanroc, Rockruff, and Litten sleeping peacefully. Ash joined everyone else as they climbed back into the boat. They all cheered at a job well down and set sails back on track to Akala Island. 

The sun was hidden behind the trees surrounding the Pokémon Center by the time they made it to the island. Olivia had said she’d meet up with them tomorrow with a treasure hunt prepared. Ash followed behind the rest of the boys as they settled into their room at the very back of the Pokémon Center. They were lucky enough to get one of the more soundproofed rooms since Sophocles requested it. Gary took the bunk above Ash and Kiawe took the bunk above Sophocles as they awaited their upcoming adventures on the island of Wela Volcano. 

Greninja was outside of the forest when Ash focused on his vision. There was a familiar dome above him with the cool adore flowing in from above. There was a circle of Froakie seated around him, looking up at him in awe. He didn’t show much excitement, as he was a more down-to-Earth Pokémon, but he would pat their heads from time-to-time to show affection to the young of his species. A few of them went off to swim in the stream of water nearby or play in the bushes while the rest asked him trivial questions about evolving and exploring. 

After a while, all the Froakie went off to do their own thing. Greninja walked past a few small Kalos Pokémon and exited the dome into a lab, where Professor Sycamore was with Garchomp and talking to his old travel companion: a bright blonde-haired trainer in a blue jumpsuit and wearing his classic robotic backpack. His little sister Bonnie was nearby, petting the starters at their feet getting ready to set out with a trainer. “Hey Greninja, have fun with the Froakies?” He nodded. 

“I’m glad you've been able to stop by more often,” the professor noted in their region’s tongue like Clemont did, “Knowing you aren’t overworking yourself is a gift.” 

“And Squishy comes too!” 

“You know he’ll have to return to his legendary duties soon enough, right Bonnie?” 

“Yeeeah, but that doesn’t stop him from visiting!” She hugged Squishy lovingly, who reciprocated it. Even though it looked like the order Pokémon was annoyed by her, he enjoyed being unconditionally loved by the young child. He was already napping in her arms at the moment. Greninja was a little jealous of the attention, knowing his trainer would give him the type of attention he preferred, quiet signs. Though he was okay with the different kind that came from Braxien, who used to hand him poffins out of the blue and chat with him even though his responses were quiet. Pikachu would do the same, but it was more of a friendship than with Braxien. 

“Gren,” he said to the chatting people. They looked at him and sent their greetings to Ash. He knew his right eye would become red when Ash was focusing on his vision. Greninja was focusing on what his trainer was up to more and more, since Squishy and him were rounding up the last of the vines. There were a few more errands he wanted to do before he would return.

Chapter Text

Olivia greeted the class at a Stoutland farm the next morning for their treasure hunt. Litten stayed close to Ash, not feeling ready to associate with other Stoutland still. To the fire cat Pokémon’s dismay, his friend growled about overthinking a random species of Pokémon. He hissed at his friend’s out of character comment and leapt into Ash’s arms, next to Star. Ash softly told Rockruff his comment was rude, and the puppy Pokémon whimpered as a response to being corrected. Ever since they got to the island, which was only yesterday, the rock-type had a shift in attitude. He would ignore the other Pokémon half of the time and growl rude comments under his breath. 

“And here’s your list,” Olivia said, walking up to the trainer and handing the paper to Litten. “I’m sure all your Pokémon can fit on Stoutland’s back, so you don’t have to carry them all.” He nodded. The Professor told them to choose a Stoutland to ride. Ash let Litten choose their Stoutland, a calm and polite Pokémon. His classmates mostly chose Stoutland that wore harnesses which matched their favorite colors. Gary and Lana debated over who could tame the disobedient Stoutland Olivia talked about. Kiawe and him made their own little rivalry of who would find their items first. Before he left with his Pokémon, the professor said to return at the sound of the bell. 

“Alright guys, let’s look at our area before we get any further,” Ash said, slowing down Stoutland. Rowlet was sleeping on its head, while Pikachu and Litten sat in front of Ash and Rockruff and Star sat behind him. The trainer opened the folded paper, and had a map instead of a list of items. “Weird, we have a marked map. Pikachu, take the map, you’re the captain of this ship!” 

“Pika,” he cheered as he grabbed the map from Litten. The experienced Pokémon pointed Stoutland towards Route Five. 

The journey to location was the least of Ash’s problems. He was still worried about the tension between Litten and Rockruff, who were not speaking at the moment. Litten was deeply hurt by the friend who helped him through the lost, while Ash would overhear quiet mumbling from Rockruff. Star pawed at his back, asking to be held as if she could feel the tension too. Rowlet continued to doze off on top of Stoutland and Pikachu chatted with Litten to make him feel better. 

Traveling through the region gave Ash deja vu of his travels in other regions. The trampled path of the routes had the marks of the other trains who chose to have their own adventure before following along the other Alolan who settled in roaming the islands with their Pokémon. Most of the journey was him and Pokémon seated on Stoutland, who did most of the work. At some point, Ash found him walking at his fast speed alongside the ride Pokémon to stretch his legs. Rockruff and Pikachu stepped off as well. 

After a while, the group made it to a winding part of Route Nine. There was a maze of gravestones with multiple flowers planted at them in the route. Pikachu pointed out a particular one with no flowers on it. Ash stepped down from Stoutland and read the grave with pondering eyes. The one with the power of Lucario. His eyes moved down to a note on the ground in front of it. He shoved it in his pocket and darted back to Stoutland, saying they should stretch outside of the graveyard. As they headed out, they walked past a white-haired with weird green goggles. The man stared at him as he walked passed. 

“You guys can relax while I read this and make a plan,” Ash said as his Pokémon roamed Route Nine. Inside of the already opened envelope was another circled location on a map and a note. The map was the same one as before, but with a different route traced out for him to follow. 

His team spread out in the area. Rockruff was acting like his usual self, bouncing around Litten, who still didn’t want to talk with the puppy Pokémon. He went over to Rowlet instead, who was open to the chance to bond with the fire-type. His best friend didn’t take it to heart, clearly understanding what he said before had crossed a line, so he settled with playing with Pikachu and Stoutland. Star was napping on top of Stoutland. 

I’m sure your grandfather has told you this story before, but… Ash read the rest of the note within a few minutes while turned away from his Pokémon. He had mistakenly gotten something for Kiawe. Olivia wrote about the story his grandfather had written and wanted to know if Kantoian friends had heard anything similar. Was that all she wanted to know from them? Pikachu climbed him up and looked but he folded it back as soon as he looked over the last sentence written in a different font. 

“Pi?” 

“Don’t worry about it buddy. Let’s keep going, here’s the area we can look around in. Come on everyone.” 

By the time Ash and the Pokémon made it back, everyone was showing off their treasures. Kiawe found some fossils, Mallow some mushrooms, Sophocles some stardust, Lillie was able to finally touch her Stoutland, and Gary and Lana found a Z-Ring with a Z-Crystal in it. “What took you so long, Ashy-boy?” 

“We lost track of time,” he laughed off, “Someone made a competition on who could find the most colored shards of their color.” His Pokémon cheerfully dropped a pile of colored tiles in front of Stoutland, who gave a soft smile. 

“I’m sure you can make something cool out of that,” Olivia thought aloud. “Anywho, I hope you all had fun today! In two days we have the Wela Fire Festival, so I’ll be busy tomorrow. I’ll see you there and the day after, okay class?” 

“Okay! Thank you Olivia, aloha,” the class said in union. 

Ash petted Star as they walked to the restaurant they were trying out. His fingers dug through the patch of fur acting like her bangs, the locks nicely brushed by Rockruff. The two would groom each other in the morning for fun, well, Rockruff wouldn’t let her leave the house with a single tangle so it was more of a requirement. He was surprised that he continued the habit with his out of character outbursts. 

“You okay?” 

“Yeah, why?” 

“You’ been quiet for a while, ever since the Treasure Hunt.” 

“Just tired,” he shrugged. His excuse still got him in trouble with his brother, who had recently started to force him to get more sleep. Obviously, Ash didn’t appreciate being interrupted from his trick to escape the reminders his mind had to give him for full healing. He tried to justify the better habit by reminding himself there was a baby Pokémon still prone to influence. She doesn’t seem like much of a baby compared to Snowy though. Then again, he still felt guilty for Noivern’s upbringing. 

At dinner, he found himself stirring his food into a sloppy mess. The curry, a courtesy of Galar but not as authentic, swirled the contents around like a slow hurricane. He could imagine every person that would sink down into the spinning disaster without any warning. Their lives cut short because he couldn’t stop them fast enough. The ones who survived escaped while they still could. Why did some choose to stay? He wished they would leave while they still could. Chills struck his back like a xylophone playing a doomsday song. The keys sounded pleasant, but he could hear the curses hidden behind the simple premise. If he hadn’t kept coming back, if the villains hadn’t realized they had the wrong source of power, would the world have been safe? “何かお考えですか” (Somethin’ on your mind?) 

“Hmm? それはチャンピオンのものです. 心配しないでください,” he whispered to his brother. (It’s champion stuff. Don’t worry.) 

“Were you saying something Ash?” 

“It’s just Kantoian. Like how the official language of Alola is Alolan, but everyone knows their fair share of English.” 

“I see,” his classmate nodded, “What were you saying?” 

“It was just gibberish,” he brushed off. “Hey, I think Kiawe is calling you.” 

Kiawe wondered whether he had done the wrong thing. His friend looked worried enough when Mallow saw him whispering to Gary. Now, across from him was someone who knew things no one else was supposed to hear. She almost did exactly what Ash said always happened: become scared and stay away. It took two weeks to ease her mind and make her realize what she just experienced was what he had to deal with almost yearly. Right now, the thought was floating around the table like a Poison Spore attack. “So… that's the rest of the story?” 

“Mhm. Ash is here on vacation while trying to keep it all a secret.” 

“That makes a lot of sense. I’m sorry for asking you to tell me everything.” 

“Don’t worry about it. It’s like you said: ‘We are in everything together, my problem is our problem.’” He remembered how his sister had called her with his phone and forgot to hang up. The camera showed him trying to form a small Aura Sphere and asking himself aloud how Ash had taught him. She hung up on her own and pulled him aside the next day to ask him what he was doing and about Ash’s involvement. Their class had quieted down about Ash’s habits by then, since he had fallen into normalized patterns at that point. But they were always on the lookout for a reason for anything he did. He should have known giving an honest reason would lead to the dam breaking out through the crack. 

Unlike him, who had grown up learning the secrets of the legendaries and information of tales told to the island kahunas, she had never heard of these other worldly properties. Maybe her mother dying of something unknown was her only instance of something in the hands of Arceus. She had claimed Ash was another thing destined to bring losses, her heart taking control of her mind. After that, Kiawe spent the weekend in the Orange Islands. They only got to finish their discussion on him when he came over to her and talked about it through Ash’s perspective. Maybe Ash and Lillie stopping by that day gave her the small push she needed to accept his secret life. “I’m sorry you had to learn this so abruptly,” he sighed, taking her hands into his across the table. 

“I was the one who pushed, you just wanted to be honest. If anything, I’m sorry about what I said.” 

“We both made mistakes, and now we’ll have to work with them. In the end, the one who’ll be hurt the most is Ash. Just keep this between us until if or when the truth is revealed.” 

“Akau.” (Okay.)

Chapter Text

The midnight howl of a Lycanroc reminded Gary of the lateness of the hour. His online class teacher had given him extra work since he was always finishing his classwork early. After this year of online school, he was planning on spending his final year doing school in-person again before heading off to college. He didn’t know how Ash adapted to having a terrible attendance online yet got all high marks. Maybe he would question his geniuses later. His brother in question had faced a totem Pokémon with their classmate earlier the same day. Now he had to know where he found time to work on his homework while being up to all his crazy shenanigans.

Umbreon purred at his side, finally falling asleep after enjoying the silence with his trainer. It was nice to get to spend more time with her without battling or strategizing when he was usually busy serving some mission for Project Mew. They were so excited for his skill set, the newer generation were said to be more focused on a single skill rather than a variety. He wondered what happened to the peers who didn’t step out to take a Pokémon journey. 

“Bre?” His partner woke up and perked her ears. 

“What’s wrong…” he paused, and focused his senses. He didn’t need to double check what he felt when a slight glow broke his concentration. Gary slid down his bunk bed and locked eyes with his brother, who was shaking more than a dizzy Spinda. Ash was still laying down and his eyes were closed, but whispers slipped between his lips. His face and mouth movement showed he was yelling to someone Gary couldn’t see. Tears were rolling down his face, his body was still shaking horribly. He felt like he was paralyzed by the sight. Slowly, his brother sat up in his sleep and clutched his chest with his right hand. A glow gradually brightened as if he was going to attack. While still paralyzed by the sight, Ash’s other arm tried to pull his right arm away. Greninja. The chest scar had finally closed again after a long while, and he could tell Ash was probably thinking about Lysandre if he was trying to injure the same place again. 

“If I steal a curse,” Ash mumbled clearly in the dead of the night, “would that fix everything? …Would they come back?” 

Umbreon climbed down as well and nuzzled Gary’s leg to try to move the frozen trainer. It was about him, the one who pushed the dominoes for his deepest instructors, who taught others to drop him off like he was a toy and him to ignore himself. A warm arm greeted his shoulder. “Hey, want me to take this one?” 

“I got it,” Gary whispered, still not moving. 

“Just sit down, you’re worrying Umbreon,” Kiawe commanded softly. He crawled onto Ash’s bed and moved his hand away from his chest after listening to Ash mumble some more.  The raven-hair trainer opened his eyes and looked ahead with tears stinging his cheeks. 

Gary scooted onto the bed and pulled his brother close like he would never let go, Kiawe did as well. No words could ever make him understand the cycle he had to live over and over again, but he still whispered into his brother’s ear. The raven-haired trainer broke into silent sobs and held them tighter as his words melted into the stream of salty tears. 

“Thanks,” Gary whispered after a long while of listening to the soft sounds of their classmates’ slumber. “I really owe you. It was just one of those nights, you know?” 

“Anything for a friend, especially one who’s suffering. What was he talking about though?” 

“I was reall’ harsh when we were younger,” Gary began to explain, “Before Ash was born, I was close to his dad. Our parents had this whole group of friends and they were always having fun together. His birth kind of struck everyone, Red died the same day as you know. A lot of the adults were too busy mourning him to really pay attention to what we were up to. My grams died in a car crash coming over to meet him too. I guess my child brain just saw every bad event as something he caused. 

One day, when we were fishing, we both caught a Pokéball on the line and argued over who would keep it. We broke it, and I lashed out at him about how he could have just killed a Pokémon and how everything bad happens around him. I said ‘No one wants to be with someone who keeps taking.’ Maybe that’s when he started sacrificing everything, after he sassed everyone in Kanto.” 

“I’m glad things worked out. You two are basically brothers now.” 

“We are brothers, if you ignore the DNA and look at the removed quotations around ‘brother’ when it’s used.” 

“Wait what?” 

“I said if you ignore the DNA.” 

“I don’t think a future professor should be sponsoring that idea,” Kiawe chuckled, “Do you think Ash’ll trust me like that?” 

“He trusts everyone, that’s the part I get worried about.” They both looked at the sleeping trainer on Gary’s side. 

“Luckily, Alola has that more relaxed attitude. It’s hard not to have hilinai in anyone.” 

“Hey, I don’t learn languages as easily as Ash. I only got everyone’s basic English, and Kantoian.” 

“You’ll get some Alolan soon enough. ‘Hilinai’ means ‘trust’.”

“Aloha kakahiaka,” (Good morning) Sophocles yawned as he rose from his bunk. Gary looked up at the ginger with a neutral expression. He knew Ash wouldn’t want him to be so negative this early in the morning. Kiawe was asleep on Ash’s bed while the trainer himself was still asleep on his shoulder. He closed his laptop and looked up at the trainer. 

“Morning.” 

“What happened with you three?” 

“Nothing, just midnight shenanigans.” 

“Mhm. Is that why there were headphones and a blanket on me when I woke up?” 

“I guess so.” 

“Sorry about that Soph,” Kiawe apologized sleepily, “I didn’t want to wake you up from the noise.” 

“Did you have to cover my face too? It’s already hot in here.” 

“Well, you never know,” he shrugged. “Let’s just get ready, okay?” The boys got ready for their day with their customized routine for the trip. 

When Ash woke up, he was quiet. His words came in the form of hand motions and quiet Kantoian phrases under his breath to Pikachu. Gary assumed it was something to do with the champion duties he mentioned, the one thing he wasn’t usually told about right away. Though, he knew his stronger nightmares usually shook him a bit.  He also glanced at Ash’s other Pokémon, Star, who was getting a ride from Umbreon since she had some nighttime training from Pikachu. He appreciated Pikachu’s mentoring position to any new Pokemon who would join Ash’s team. The two could fill in for each other without question, as if they were their other world counterpart. 

The class met up at the front of the Pokémon Center and headed out for breakfast. “Psst, ‘Ry.” When did he use that childhood name? Didn’t gram make that name? “私のためにカバーしてください.” (Cover for me.) 

“なぜ? どこに行くの?” (Why? Where are you going?) 

“誰かが遠くから私たちを追いかけています.”  (Someone’s following us from afar.) 

Ash wasn’t in the mood to deal with any strangers today, let alone bad people. His friend’s cheeks sparked his electricity from his shoulder, easily reading his neutral expression as annoyance. They exited the bush they were watching the strange man who tried to follow them from. 

“Looking for something?” 

“Aah! I mean, no!” 

“What’s your deal? Don’t you know stalking minors is a bit weird?” 

“I wasn’t trying to stalk, I was just trying to approach you.” 

“Kidnapping?” 

“The only one making this weird is you! Sure I’m curious about you, but I’m here for Lillie.” 

“Who are you to her?” 

“Faba, I work with her mother.” The man explained that her mom wanted to ask how she was doing since she refused to see her anymore ever since two weeks ago. Ash knew this had to do with the siblings talking at her mansion before. He pretended to not believe the man, which wasn’t hard to do since he hadn’t heard of him at all and was protective of his friend. Pikachu took a defense stance on his shoulder as well. “And why do you care so much?” 

“She’s my friend, I’m not going to let some stranger cause her trouble.” 

“Whatever you say, Ash .” The man quickly covered his mouth as Ash looked at him with bubbling suspicion. He quickly ran off before any more questions could be thrown at him. Ash caught Pikachu before he could run after the strange man, telling him it probably wasn’t too big of a deal. Even though he argued the man had been watching him from inside the Pokémon Center, he said if he was caught again then Pikachu could let loose.

No one noticed the trainer had slipped away, he casually reappeared beside Lillie and asked her if she wanted to hang out with him. The other students also made their plans for tomorrow. “Hey Lillie, do you know someone named Faba?” 

“I’ve met him! He came with Lillie’s mom when I met her,” Sophocles brought up. 

“Yeah, he works with my mom, I think. What did you do with him and my mom anyway? You never told us.” 

“She wanted me to collect more data on the type of tests and suggested better ways to retrieve it.” 

“I still don’t get how half of those tests were actually tests. How do-” 

“It’s complicated. Honestly, I think they were more interested in the data I collected on you and your Pokémon. Pikachu really is strong, huh?” 

“Pika,” his partner Pokémon boasted, pumping out his chest and flexing his muscles like a bodybuilder. “Chu!” 

“Togede!” Sophocles’ Pokémon cheered along with him. 

“He works out a little. I think battling Team Rocket daily has buffed him up a bit.” 

“You know, they always call him the strongest Pikachu in the world. What’s his level?” 

“Uh… around Turtonator’s, probably,” he shrugged. 

“I’m sure Rotom can check.” 

“You called?” Rotom bzzrted, zipping away from his conversation with Gary. Ash quieted himself down when Lillie took over explaining their question. The Pokémon controlled device nodded along, then turned to Pikachu for permission. He obviously shook his yellow head and snuggled with Ash’s chin. Ash slowly exited their conversation and stuck behind the group with Pikachu.

Chapter Text

“Has anyone ever told you you’re great at helping people?” 

“No,” Rotom said after he said there was a fifty percent chance of the direction Marowak took being either way of a fork in the path for the third time. 

“Good.” Gary took a breather from running with Umbreon as they strategized. A wild Alolan Marowak had taken the Wela Crown from Wela Volcano Park during Litten’s crowning and ran off with it. Gary was planning to stay behind and help Olivia and the Professor calm down the crowd, but he was dragged along with Kiawe since Ash snuck off to do something. ‘Champion business’ he had told him. 

When Gary finally found Kiawe and Marowak, the scene was not what he was hoping for. His classmate was slumped on Turtanator’s side while the bone keeper Pokémon was celebrating a victory. “Woah, are you two alright?” 

“Maro!” 

“Rotom, take my backpack and help Kiawe and Turtanator. I’ll need them to back me up when I tire out this guy.” 

“Huh?” 

“Focus on a quick recovery,” he commanded, now turning to Marowak, “We’re gettin’ this crown back today... ‘Cause I’m too lazy to come back some other time like in the canon!” Gary ignored the question from Kiawe and threw his backpack to Rotom. He hadn’t gotten dirty in a short while. 

The Marowak seemed prideful, beckoning Umbreon and him over with his bone like he was a king making orders. Gary ignored the fact Marowak wanted to win and focused on stalling the battle enough for Turtabator to be able to finish him off. He knew his partner could take out Marowak herself, but he could tell this wasn’t a battle that was meant for him. 

Umbreon sent a Shadow Ball at the crime Pokémon. He leapt to the side instantly and sent dust into the area like fog. Her slick black coat was a shadow as it zipped around Marowak. He didn’t let her even land an attack before spinning his bone around and breaking the dust into shards of glass. His bone struck his head multiple times like a match, lighting a blue flame into the edge of the bone. He shot a large burst of fire that barely missed Umbreon. “Maybe I underestimated this ‘mon a bit. You’ve got this Umbreon!” 

She landed harshly on the ground, her paw pads scraping against the rocky soil. Marowak didn’t give her a second to breathe before using Headbutt. Umbreon leapt backwards and used Shadow Ball to send Marowak into the ground. He got up and dashed towards her again. He must prefer close range battling. The wild Pokemon struck his bone helmet as he ran towards Umbreon. She waited until he was about to attack before using Flash. His bone missed and gave her the chance to make space between them. 

“Turtonator’s ready for a second round. I won’t make the same mistakes.” 

“Great, Umbreon, do you want to keep going?” 

“Bre!” 

“Hey, wait, where is Marowak going?” Rotom caught Marowak leaping out of the battling area and into the mountain area again. Kiawe returned Turtonator before joining behind Gary, Rotom, and Umbreon in chasing after the wild Pokémon again. At some point, Gary found himself carrying his Pokémon on his back to conserve her energy. Her soft fur brushed against him as a reminder of their close relationship. She was one of the first Pokémon he formed a close bond with. Unlike Blastoise, who preferred to listen out for his interaction from his Pokéball, Umbreon enjoyed being out and about with her partner. Gary found comfort in her presence and would never forget to show it in his own way. He was the kind of person to tease people he cared for, and threatened anyone who wasn’t at the same standard as them. And he enjoyed clapping back in general. 

Gary looked over at Kiawe, who wasn’t defeated by the continuous pace they had to hold up, but still had a lingering emotion in his eye. He guessed anyone with the confidence to follow the supposed Alolan culture to be shirtless had to have some form of muscle or advanced feseekh. “Something da matter?” 

“I’m alright, just upset about being distracted against that Marowak.” Sometimes I forget people don’t hide their feelings uptight like Ashy-boy does. 

Gary flashed him a satisfied grin, “You got in some good hits while distracted when we arrived, let that rascal see you when you’re in it.” The fire-type enthusiast nodded and faced ahead to where Rotom had zipped ahead, calling out he found a dead end. “You ready for round two, ‘breon?” 

“Bre!” She leapt off her trainer and took her stance. Gary chose to focus on stopping any escape plans the Marowak had. The wild Pokemon was too full of itself to lose a battle. Even in question, he was breathing heavily in a battle stance. If they didn’t faint him, he’d pass out himself. Kiawe sent out Turtanator, who was looking better than he was before, but still huffed audibly. He was glad Ash always packed his bag with emergency stuff or else there would only be a laptop and a small potion there for Kiawe to use. Turtanator blasted a Flamethrower at his opponent on command. Roaring orange collided with the wild Pokémon, who stood to brace the attack. He looked to expect a weak or miscalculated attack, but the blast sent him flying into a rocky wall. 

“Marooo,” it growled. It held its bone weapon and lit it aflame with his head armor. The bone held a crisp blue light that challenged them. Gary watched Kiawe keep his calm expression while commanding like a war general. Marowak didn’t change his bratty attitude of taunting Turtanator, but his movement was quicker than before. Dust clouds covered his heels as Marowak zipped around the turt Pokémon. Kiawe let him move like a forming tornado until he made his move. 

Marowak made a b-line for Turtanator with fury in mind. At the same time, Kiawe yelled to turn around. A cloud of smoke covered the two when Shell Blast landed. The wild Pokémon rolled back and growled, looking for an escape route. Flamethrower slices through the cloud of smoke and dust and barely misses the agile Marowak. Turtanator continues his shots of fire, even having Kiawe try to predict where Marowak would move next. “Enough fun and games, let’s finish this,” he announced, while his Z-crystal began to shimmer, “From the zenith of my heart…”

“Turrr!” 

“… from body and spirit…” His foot brushed against the ground in unison with Turtonator. “… like the great mountain of Akala, become a raging friend and burn. Use Inferno Overdrive!”  Swirling flames engulfed the whole dead end. Scorching boulders crackled and crumbled at the touch. When the heat simmered down, Marowak was dizzily twirling, then fell flat on his face. Umbreon swooped in and grabbed the crown before it could crack underneath Marowak’s skull. 

“Now that’s what I call a victory. I think chasing him around tired him out.” 

“Maro.” The duo paused in surprise when the wild Marowak crawled out of the rumble. His shaky legs trudged in front of Kiawe, where he kneeled in front of him in acceptance of his strength. He would have loved to get bowed down to, too. The chosen trainer looked down at it, then kneeled down as well. He laid his hands out in front of Marowak, who fainted right into him. Gary watched him lift him up with a soft smile. 

“Got a Pokéball?”

“Catch.” 

By the time they made it back to Wela Volcano Park, the crowd was in a controlled line again. There were whispers about the crown tossed in the air as they passed the long line to the front. “Aloha, welcome back. Did you get the crown back?” 

“We did, thanks to Kiawe,” he nodded, pushing Kiawe forward with a friendly nudge. The dark-skinned trainer faced Olivia with determination and handed her the shaped molten rock. She flashed him a satisfied grin and thanked them both for their efforts. The crowd even gave them an applause. Gary wiped the sweat off his drenched head as a final gesture before dragging himself to their new place in line from the chaos they missed. 

“Aloha, maikaʻi ʻoukou?” (… are you okay?)

“We’re fine, just exhausted.” 

“And got the crown back.” Their classmates congratulated them on their mission. Gary enjoyed being recognized for his work, especially when he was still heaving like he just ran a marathon. He wasn’t too far off. Sweat made a dripping slime design form on his shirt. Even more like slime, it was sticky on his chest. His forehead was leaking like a faucet. I should get some thinner shirts. He tiredly flapped his shirt forward and rested a shoulder on Ash who was still strangely quiet. Maybe he’d ask him about it later.