Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

—Time: 2:45 —

—Region: Kanto—

—Pov: Ash—

A desolate landscape in front of his eyes, the dead bodies of his Alolan friends, of Professor Kukui, why did everyone always get hurt when he comes near? whywhywhywhywhy

…

It seemed he wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight… again. And wasn’t that a surprise.

Professor Oak seemed to have an errand for him in the morning…maybe he should just visit his Pokemon in the Center.

“Pika?” He knew he was worrying his best friend (not that anyone accepted that) with his recurring nightmares and lack of sleep…

“I’m okay buddie… let’s get ready for the day and go for a walk until we can go see Prof. Oak.” He hoped the task wouldn’t be too difficult, and that it wouldn’t take too long.

Gosh he was tired

—Time: 7:30—

—Region: Kanto—

—Pov: No ones—

“Ash! My boy, thank you for coming today. I was hoping you could come with me to a new region for a reunion between Professors.”

Ash in fact did not want to go. He was starting to hate going on journeys. It always ended the same way. With a Team getting in the way, causing a disaster and lots of people hurt or dead.

“Professor… you know that I have stopped adventuring. I don’t feel like going.”

The Professor looked a bit disappointed but seemed to shake it off.

“Truly a shame. I was hoping you could explain what exactly happened in Alola during the Ultra Beast breakout to Professor Sand, the Professor of said region.”

The Ultra Beast breakout was broadcasted across the world. Known to be a possible disaster in other regions, most Champions were working with Professor Kukui on making sure no damage was done.

“Why me? Why not Professor Kukui?” Oak seemed to consider something before answering.

“Well… let’s just say I have had a hunch that perhaps, you should visit Driew at least once, before calling it quits.”

Driew? That name seemed familiar… where had he heard it before?

“Fine… I will join you… but only for a couple days, then I’m coming back.”

—Time: 16:50—

—Local: Sea border of Driew—

—Pov: Ash—

Why did the name of the region sound so familiar? Where had he heard it before?

…

He was way too tired for this. There was still another hour of travel to go, maybe he should try to get some sleep…

Where was he? Is this… the other dimension? Why was he dreaming of this again? Why couldn’t he just rest?

“Ash! You wanna hear a story? This one is good, I swear”

He remembered agreeing to it

“The Legend goes like this. 

Across the Great Sea. 

Beyond the fog.

There is a Region that hasn’t been overtaken by the Ultra Beasts.

Where people live happily and safe

Where there are no threats.

There where the sun sets 

Is Driew of the outcasts.”

Ashs’ eyes flare open, panting slightly.

What was that?! That dream was a memory of his time on the other Dimension… why did the Region have the name of the Legend?

There is a knocking at the door as Professor Oak calls

“Ash? Are you awake? We are almost there”

Ash groans and runs a hand through his hair, swinging his legs off the bed as Pikachu hops up to his shoulder with a concerned “Chu” noise

He gives Pikachu a head rub as he stands up, “Just a dream buddy,” he says as he walks out of the room, closing the door behind him. 

As he emerges onto the deck, a sunset greets him warmly. The rays of sunlight remind him of the rainbow he saw so long ago at the start of his first journey. Back when things were so much simpler. before all the legendary encounters, before all the evil teams, before the Ultra Beasts . Back when all he worried about was becoming the very best

Chapter Text

As Ash steps upon the dock of Driew, he notices several things. First, the dock seemed more built for dealing with cargo haulers than handling the large cruise liners he had been upon in the past like St Anne. And second, the very energy of the place seemed different than all the other regions he had visited.

Johto had an energy of tradition, the energy of the region feeling calm and composed, set in its ways.

Hoenn had felt wild, constantly changing and becoming something new with each battle of Groudon and Kyogre.

Sinnoh had an air of ancient history, feeling like every stone and tree held history, fitting for the region where Arceus originated.

Unova had a constant energy, full of hustle and bustle, dynamic and ridged, due to the influence of truth and ideals. constantly moving like its residents.

Kalos had felt tense, which upon retrospection, made a lot of sense. Filling the energy wind up more and more the closer and closer he got to the tournament, and what happened afterward.

Alola was a welcome respite after Kalos, feeling calm and relaxed, as Pokemon and humans lived together, at least until the Ultra Beasts appeared and their energy seemed to taint everything for him.

But Driew? Driew felt different, it felt welcoming like he was finally coming home, which, that couldn’t be, right? He was just going to be visiting for a few days as he explained the dangers of the Ultra Beasts to the Professor, and besides, his home was in Kanto.

As they reached the port, Ash saw a teenager waving at the boat.
“Professor Oak! Over here!” the teenager, now identified as a girl called. She seemed pretty energetic and had a camera around her shoulders.

“Grace! Is that you? My child, it’s been quite some time since I saw you! You are practically a woman now!” Professor Oak exclaimed, obviously happy to see this Grace

“It’s great to see you too, Professor. Now what was that? We heard rumors of the Ultra Pests invading another Region?”

What did the girl mean by another Region? From what he knew the Ultra Beasts were a new threat. And why did she call them Pests? The threat they posed was a legit one!

“Whatever, you can talk with Professor Sand about it. Right now we need to go to a celebration!” She interrupts herself
“And what would that be exactly?” Professor Oak asks curiously
Ash personally was hoping it was just a small thing… he couldn’t wait to get back home.
“Oh! It will be a… Oh my!” She exclaims

A small, brown animal was currently walking near the water towards the group, eating a berry. Grace walked towards the animal and picked it up gently, and then brings it over, the creature still munching on the berry

“Professor Oak, Assistant Satoshi. Meet Driew’s laziest Legendary! Capycalm!”
That thing, which had the color of mud, and was calmly munching on a berry in the arms of their Guide, was a Legendary.
It didn’t look like one. ~~All Legendary Pokemon were so mighty and powerful and destructive and deadly, oh so deadly and destructive, ruining his life and others again, and again and-~~
-Grace shoved the mon in his arms, and almost as if on cue, he felt… better? Ash stares baffled at the Pokemon in his arms. He’s grown unfortunately used to his flashbacks, so to have one cut off so suddenly was… disconcerting and surprising, though not unwelcome

“Passive ability of Capy, Placate! You looked like you were going to have a PTSD attack, so I had to use it.”
So the fact that he was calm was because of the mons ability? That was pretty interesting…
“Back to your question.” She continues, “We are going to an Evolution Ceremony. To watch Pokemon Evolve or not.”
Satoshi already knew what would come next. Why don’t you evolve your Pikachu? See everyone else does it.

“Oh my! That sounds interesting!”

“There will be food, berries, drinks, and music! Professor Sand will be meeting us there, after all, he is the host of the celebration!”

“That does sound like him,” Professor Oak comments “He hasn't created any international incidents since the one with Team Rocket 4 years ago, did he?”

“Why would you ask that Professor?! We are saints you know!” She asks aghast, before breaking out in a smile and laughing alongside Professor Oak
“Well, we need to get going. Professor, I trust that you brought a transportation mon with you. What about you, Satoshi?”
“I didn’t bring any… Also, how do you know my name?”
“Oak sent a letter telling us that he would bring an assistant called Satoshi ‘Ash’ Ketchum. So I was pretty sure it was you.”
“Oh…”

Grace seemed to be considering something. Then her face lit up as if she just had an idea.
“Alright! Satoshi, you come with me on Bode! Professor, you can go on your own! However, since our dear assistant doesn’t have a transportation mon, we need to get him a little welcome gift!”

Out of nowhere the Gogoat started sprinting like a rocket, hell he was sure it was almost flying. They rocketed across many streets, one with the statue of a Goodra and a woman watering the plants, only to stop at the outskirts of the city. Where a herd of Skiddos were frocking around.

“You! Go stand right there!” Grace ordered, pointing at the middle of the herd of Skiddos

“What are you talking about?” Ash asked in confusion. Thinking that it was by far one of the weirdest first days in a new region
“is is a welcome gift! Go stand right in the middle of the herd and one of the Skiddos might choose you as their trainer!”

Was this a regional thing? Like, it was pretty cool that they let the Pokemon choose their trainers but still. He was a newcomer, shouldn’t they first show him the Professor?!

Skeptical, but trusting her as Professor Oak knew her, he walked towards the middle and stood there. In a couple of minutes, a very determined-looking Skiddo approached him and started nudging him in the leg.

“Huh? Oh! Hello there!”
Ash squats down to pet the persistent Skiddo. The fur on the Skiddos head is soft, it reminds him of his time in Kalos, before the countdown to the end of the world.

“Bah!”
The Skiddo, seemingly sensing his distress, began to rub up against his leg, trying to offer him some comfort.

“Huh… thanks, buddy.”
The Skiddo looked at him. And then started to push him towards where a bunch of saddles were.

“Well, I guess your welcome gift already chose you. Ya just need to catch him now.” Grace comments from the fence.

That was strange, really strange. In the other regions the trainer chooses which mons they would capture, but it seemed that things were different here, a good different he would say.

“We are already running late! Take care of things quickly!”
“Coming!”
Perhaps this new region wouldn’t be all that bad.

Chapter Text

As Ash arrived at the Evolution Ceremony having saddled his Skiddo, and followed Grace on her Gogoat, the first thing he notices is the atmosphere. While he wasn't expecting anything negative, it still took him by surprise when he feels how welcoming and joyous the people seem to be.

The second thing he notices is that a majority of the people have a Pokemon partner out, and a good chunk of those that have one out, their pokemon still have a evolution to go. And while Driew has been welcoming so far, he raises his guard unconsciously as he flashes back to Lt. Surge and the Eeveelution brothers back when he started his journey.

Pikachu hops down to his shoulder from where he was on Ash's head, and comfortingly nuzzles Ash's cheek with a small squeak.

They look around in curiosity, almost overwhelmed by the amount of energy in the air, hesitantly, he reaches out to Grace and taps her shoulder to get her attention.

“What’s up?” She asks

Ash waves a hand at the party, “Explain, please. I am terribly lost”

Grace makes a noise of understanding, “Right, none of the other regions have these.” she turns to give Ash her full attention, “So an Evolution Ceremony is where the people of the community come to celebrate their bond with their partner pokemon, and formalize their partner pokemons choice to evolve or not”

Ash blinks owlishly at that, “Wait, so you're telling me that the choice to evolve is in the Pokémons metaphorical or not hands?”

She nods with a smile, “Yep! Here in Driew, we prefer to let our pokemon partners be able to choose their path, it’s only the least we can do to our dear helpers and friends.”

She points out a kid, looks to about nine or ten who has a bulbasaur next to him.
“Take a look”

The kid seemed to be talking about his pokemon in a worried manner:
“Ivy, are you sure you want to evolve? I hope I didn’t put pressure on you to evolve. If I did I’m really really sorry and…”
The boy looked ready to start crying when I kind ginger lady with a pokeberry basket and a Goodra on her side started talking to him and to ‘mon’, after a while the child calmed down and hugged their leafy friend.

“See… A trainer imposing their wishes upon their pokemon is frowned upon, unless the ‘mon’ in question is heavily hurt and evolving could save their lives, we don’t do it without their approval first. That’s why the EvolParty happens every year, in case old pokemons decide to finally evolve and new mons decide not to.”

Grace looked deep in thought, when suddenly the lights went out and a man’s voice was heard throughout the area.
“Goodnight, Lasses and Lads! I’m your pokemon professor speaking directly from this balcony in front of you!”
People seemed to laugh at the man’s jokes when the person in question walked onto the stage.
The man was around his mid 30’s, had platinum blond hair, a lot of scars in his arms and face, sported sunglasses despite being night, and wore a tuxedo under a coconut themed t-shirt.

“A year has passed since the last time we were here, my friends! Let’s see what new evolutions, or not, will happen today! Who will come first, huh?”

“Me!” Exclaimed the boy with the bulbasaur. “We want to go!”
“Then come up here Paul. Beware of the staircase.”
As if on cue in the middle of the staircase the boy trips and his ‘mon’ had to save him from taking the fall.
“Sorry!”

Ash looked around and everyone seemed to be smiling at the child’s antics. The energy in the air was starting to become more bearable.
“So~ Paul. Tell us what was your ‘mons’ choice!”
“Ivy wants to evolve, Professor!”
“What wonderful news, kid!”
The professor took out a leaf stone and gave it to the boy, who knelt in front of their friend and said: “To our continued friendship!”
Then the bulbasaur proceeded to extend her paws and touch the stone, kickstarting their evolution. After the pokemon started to shine and her body started to change, a newly evolved Ivysaur stood in it’s place.
“Saur!”

“Congratulations on your evolution! Now who will come next?”
“Th-that would be me professor!” A teen surrounded by 3 Mareeps and two Flaaffy was the one who raised his hand this time.
“How wonderful! Come on Francis, did some of your herd decide to evolve?”
The boy, Francis, clearly hated the attention, but looked determined.
“That’s right professor. These 3 have decided to evolve into Flaaffy and these two are aiming for Ampharos!”

The teenager walked up to the stage with his ‘mons’ and received their Electric Stones
As the Mareeps and Flaaffys evolved the people around Ash made a couple of comments that caught his attention.
“Francis is truly a talented shepherd, every year he gives his all to protect our herds in those seasons despite his fear of wild pokemon and of those pests.”
“With these two new Ampharus the Lighthouse of Mareep Port, the one in the Reverse Mountains and the one of Midnight Bay are finally going to be able to work throughout the year!”

Was there some sort of story behind the name of the city and the shepherd status? What season are they talking about?
New trainers and their ‘mons’ continued going to the stage, 3 trainers and their mons chose Everstones, 5 said that they would wait some more and other 2 decided to evolve. The party was coming close to an end.

“Hey… let’s go, Professor Sand is probably going to find us on the backstage.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Grace led him to the backstage, Ash contemplated what he had just seen. A celebration where pokemons and their trainers announced their choice of evolving or not. Something outstanding. Oh, how he wished this existed in Kanto when he remembered Lt Surge.

“Professors! I have brought the Assistant over. I think he liked our party!”
“How wonderful! I must say that once again this year was a blast.”

Ash takes Professor Sands hand in his for a handshake, and he feels that the Professor’s hand is calloused, and while some of the callouses are the typical ones from being a Pokemon trainer, such as handling Pokeballs and such, Ash feels callouses that remind him of the Fighting type gym leaders he has battled in the past. The callouses of one who exercises their hands and fists often, strange thing to feel on a Professor, much less one that looks so much like he stays in the lab, despite his strange choice of attire

“Professor Sand,” the Professor states, “A pleasure to finally meet you, I've heard a lot about you”

“Ash Ketchum,” Ash replies, “And I can't say the same about you unfortunately. the internet didn't have much on you”

Sand chuckles as he pulls his hand back,

“It’s how Driew works, we like to keep our cards close to our chest, although, if you go looking, you can find some of my old records. Just don't tell anyone I told you,” he informed Ash with a wink

Ash nods his head slowly in confusion and agreement, wondering what is up with this Professor.

“Now,” Professor Sand begins, “Let’s head to somewhere private so we can discuss what brought you here.”

Ash nods again, and follows Professor Sand as he weaves his way through the crowd, Professor Oak and Grace following behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Several minutes later, Professor Sands leads the group into what appears to be a simple research lab. Bookshelves line the walls, ranging from topics about Type Energy to regional Variations in Pokémon

The Professor motions towards a table, as he goes and grabs a tablet, and then sits down with them, a Delfox walking out of the attached kitchen area with tea and what smells like coffee

“Thank you Del,” Professor Sand murmurs, as the Delfox replies with a short, “Fox’, and walks back

Professor Sand chuckles as he sips some of the prepared coffee, “Please, help yourself, something tells me that you will need something for your throats as we talk.”

Ash raises an eyebrow, beginning to get annoyed with how the Professor doesn't seem to be taking the potential news he carries seriously. Ash grabs a cup a tea, and is surprised at how he actually enjoys it

Professor Sand than clears his throat and leans forward a bit, “Now, Professor Oak has led me to believe that the Ultra Beasts have finally begun to make a move towards other regions”