Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Started on: January 20th, 2025, 6:00 PM

Finished on: February 1st, 2025, 11:34 PM

Posted on: July 27th, 2025, 12:50 AM

Thursday, April 25th, 3003

The sun beat down in golden rays upon the water as it stirred in small splashes from the movement of marine Pokémon. The ocean was the first thing Ash saw as he and his mom left the airport. Their Pokémon trailed behind him, except Pikachu, who eagerly dove headfirst into the sandy shore of Melemele Island. He jumped up in shock as the hot sand particles came into contact with his bright yellow fur. Delia laughed at Pikachu's eagerness to explore as Ash too ran ahead onto the hot sand. The Mr. Mime and Nidorina by her side ran ahead as well and followed suit.

Delia wanted to join in on the fun too, but in her hand she held a fragile container. It was cylindrical with four stubs on the bottom to stay upright when placed on surfaces. Inside was a dull reddish-brown Pokémon egg, a gift from Professor Oak to his Alolan cousin. After Mr. Mime won a plane ticket to Alola in a raffle, she notified the Professor and he entrusted her to deliver the egg. She opened the container so the egg could soak up some sun while they walked.

How much time they’d truly spend here is unknown, but Delia wanted to make the most of it and spend as much time as possible with her son, because Alola meant new beginnings, and that was something they really, really needed.

—————

The Kantonian duo walked along a busy market, it was bustling with various people and Pokémon strolling the stalls. Alola was a very attractive tourist destination, especially in the spring months. It felt pretty hot for spring - much hotter than Kanto springs - though Alola’s average temperature didn’t fluctuate much between the months like Kanto’s does.

A berry stall caught Mr. Mime’s attention and he yanked Delia over to it. ”My, my, these look delicious.” she said. The berries had a very bright color, plus a slight layer of water from an overhead mist dispenser to keep them from shriveling in the sun. Nidorina nipped at a nanab berry and she looked back at Delia with begging eyes. Delia smiled and sighed at her, and she too looked at the other berries at the stand.

”Alola! May I help with anything?” a lady from behind the stall asked, startling Nidorina who hadn’t seen her until now.

Delia smiled at her. ”Oh I’m fine, just looking around.” The woman grabbed a few nanab berries and put them into a weaved basket and handed it to Nidorina who eagerly began to munch on them. She looked up to Delia and winked “Free of charge, nature’s harvest is for all to share.” She put her hand to her heart, “Anela.” she added as she also handed an oran berry to Mr. Mime who’d been eyeing them the whole conversation.

”Delia.” she responded. Anela then turned her head, looking down at something. “Don’t be shy, you can share too.” From the shadows a small quadrupedal figure appeared. Its fur was black, but more grey-brown in the sun with bright reddish-orange stripes on its legs and face. It hesitated for a moment before sheepishly creeping up to the bowl Nidorina had her face shoved in. She backed up when she saw it to let it take what it wanted. Its yellow eyes scanned the area warily as it ate.

”Aww, aren’t you a cutie.” Delia reached out her hand to pet the mysterious Pokémon, but as she was about to touch it, it swiftly grabbed another berry from the bowl and ran away. Delia seemed disappointed because it was so cute but she probably should’ve expected it to run away.

Anela laughed at the scene that just played in front of her, “Yeah that one is certainly a skittish one he is.” She and Delia continued to make small talk as Delia picked out some berries to buy for herself. As the conversation came to a close Delia and Anela said their goodbyes, Delia then called out for her son, but was just barely able to see him chasing Pikachu into the distance. He was running in the direction of the Mememele Trainer Academy, where the egg would be delivered, so she decided to head over and either give the egg to Oak’s cousin and then find him, or meet him there. Whatever happened first.

—————

Ash and Pikachu looked around the market as his mom was talking, when suddenly Pikachu leapt from his shoulder and began running away. He ran after him into the forest, but Pikachu didn’t slow down.

”Wait up!” he yelled for his best friend, who did not wait up. He called his name but Pikachu ignored him. After maybe a minute straight Pikachu suddenly stopped and frantically looked around. Ash caught up a few seconds later, “What is it buddy? Did ya see something?” He too looked around but all he could see was trees from every angle. Pikachu pulled his paws to his head, trying to impersonate what he saw. He dragged his paws up his forehead and up to his ears, forming a sort of crest. Ash couldn’t tell what Pikachu was trying to mimic.

”Pika pika! Pika pikapika!” Pikachu continued to try but seeing he wasn’t gonna get anywhere, sighed and stopped attempting to impersonate whatever mysterious thing he saw. A sitrus berry then dropped from the trees and hit him in the head, startling him. He looked up to where it fell but couldn’t see any sitrus trees. He shrugged and roasted the berry with a spark before biting into it. Ash sighed at his buddies' behavior but then noticed another path leading to a building. He gently nudged Pikachu with his foot to follow him so Pikachu quickly finished the berry and followed his trainer.

—————

Ash and Pikachu emerged from the forest they were just in to see the building he had seen from the forest. Without the trees in the way the building's detail was much clearer. It was fenced in with an arch entrance by a bridge over a creek. The building was actually composed of many, smaller buildings with a round straw roof. The biggest one in the center sort of looked like a massive tree house of some kind. Off to the side was a small lake he could see some Pokémon swimming in, Water-Types and non Water-Types alike. A lot of people were swarming the various buildings, specifically children. Maybe it was a school of sorts? Though he’s never seen a school like this. Pikachu's cheeks sparked and he went through the arch into the campus with Ash in pursuit.

Walking in, Pikachu came face to face with a round, white and grey Pokémon with yellow and brown spines on its back. Its round ears twitched and its cheeks sparked just like Pikachu’s. They communicated with the electrical currents they produced as most Electric-Types could. They grey Pokémon then cried excitedly and much to Pikachu’s dismay, tackled him and they rolled around on the ground.

”Ah! Togedemaru stop it!” a voice cried out and ran over to the two rolling Pokémon. The voice came from a short kid with orange hair, he watched as the kid pulled the Togedemaru off of Pikachu, who then ran and hid behind Ash. The boy looked up to Ash and apologized.

”I’m so sorry. I don't know why Togedemaru does that.” He bowed his head low and had Togedemaru do the same.

Ash laughed. ”It’s ok, we’re all good.” The boy then looked curious. “I'm Sophocles, are you new here?”

”Nice to meet you, I’m Ash. But-“ he was cut off before he could answer Sophocles’s question as a few more people came up to him.

A girl with two long green ponytails looked at Sophocles and then at Ash. “Whose this?”

“This is Ash, he’s new here.” Sophocles answered.

”Hold on hold on hold on.“ Ash tried to correct him, because A.) he wasn’t new and B.) he didn’t even know where he was, much less what he was new to. “I just followed Pikachu here, I think he was sensing Togedemaru’s electricity or something.”

The green-haired girl raised an eyebrow at Sophocles. His face turned red in embarrassment. “Oh Tapu, sorry about that! I guess I misread that part.”

“No, it’s all good.” Ash laughed.

The green-haired girl seemed a little disappointed by that news, ”Bummer. We haven’t had a new student in so long! Nice to meet you anyways, I’m Mallow!” She then turned to the other people who were behind her and pointed to two other girls, one with short blue hair and another with long blonde hair, “That’s Lana, and that's Lillie.”

As the two girls both exchanged hellos to him another boy approached, he also had green hair, but it was darker than Mallows, and an even darker green shirt - almost black - to match. On him were remnants of a dusty white powder. In his hand he held a small piece of bread dusted with the same powder.

”Hi! I’m Hau, I’ve never seen you ‘round here before, you new?” His words were strung together to the point it sounded like one single word. Ash was surprised he could even sort of understand him. Hau was visibly jittering with excitement. ”Are you? If so, are you taking General Battle Studies? ‘Cause we’d be in the same class! If you’re doing that you must be a trainer! If you’re a trainer can you battle me!?” Ash glanced back over to the others, to which Mallow loudly facepalmed.

”Woah woah woah Hau calm down.” Mallow had finally found a point to butt in through Hau’s quick talk. “He’s not.” Hau slumped.

While Mallow was calming Hau down, Ash thought to himself. This place kind of looks like a school, and mom said the egg we had to deliver was at one. What was the name of it again? “Hey, uh Mallow was it?” She turned back around. “What is this place?”

“This is the Melemele Trainer Academy!” She said with an ecstatic tone. “They have a bunch of different courses all Pokémon related, from biology, diets, battle studies like Hau said, and a lot more useful information trainers are taught.”

Right, that’s the name of the school! Ash sighed. “Good.” He whispered.

“What do you mean?” The blonde girl, Lillie asked.

“I came here with my mom to deliver something to the principal. Samson Oak I think his name was?”

Mallow snapped her fingers. “Oh yeah! We’d heard from Principal Oak that someone would be coming to do just that. Here, I can show you to his office.” She gestured with her hands a ‘follow me’ and Ash did just that. As he left he waved to the others and they waved back. He followed Mallow through the doors of the building - if you could call it that - there were no doors, just an open arch like the campus entrance. Ash was mesmerized at the way the school looked, from all the places he’d traveled to this was probably the most unique infrastructure he’s ever seen, and for a school no less. The walls were lined with vertical wooden boards colored a dull teal, but the sun through the glass-less windows made it look a lot brighter and the ceiling was lined with some sort of reinforced straw just like the outside.

He continued to follow her up a curved wooden staircase and on the next floor a bunch of archeology-type stuff hung from the walls and on displays. In the middle there was even a full Aerodactyl fossil strung from the ceiling. There was also a small bunch of classrooms in the wing related to the exhibits, history, geography, and even a class specifically dedicated to archeology and fossil studies. This school was everything Ash had always dreamed of in a school if he ever found himself going back to one.

Up another flight of stairs they went, this time it led directly to a room aptly labeled “Principals Office” in a jarringly bold wood carve.

“‘Okay this is it!” Mallow exclaimed as she and Ash stepped forward and knocked on the door. Ash could hear voices on the other side abruptly stop, and then the sound of nearing footsteps. The door then opened and a man bearing a horrifyingly similar resemblance to Professor Oak appeared. Though unlike the Kantonian Professor, the principal looked a lot more laid back, his skin was tanner and his hair was longer. He also wore a shirt Ash could never imagine the principal of a school wearing. A dark greenish teal with a tan wave down the center and a darker blue Wailord graphic. Behind him on a couch sat a familiar face.

—————

⁉️ Who’s that Pokémon? ⁉️

It shapes an invisible wall in midair by minutely vibrating its fingertips to stop molecules in the air. (Platinum, Black, White, Black 2, White 2)

—————

”Mom!?”

”I was waiting for you to show up.” Delia said with a smug remark as Mr. Mime and Nidorina greeted him.

”Mr Mime, Mime!”

”Rina! Nido!”

”That’s your mom?” Mallow asked.

Ash sighed, “Yep.” She definitely assumed he’d just find his way on his own.

”Great! Well I have to go back to the field and continue doing student things. See you around?” Mallow and Ash shook hands and she went back down the stairs. She seemed really nice, he’d hoped to see her again. He didn’t know how long he’d be here after all so every second had to count for something.

Samson then led Ash into the room. He stood next to his mom as the man began a video call on a large TV screen. Samuel appeared on screen and greeted them all.

”Alola, cousin. I’m happy to report the egg had made it to my office safe and soundoom!” The Alolan principal mimicked a Houndoom as he said that last part. It kind of reminded Ash a lot of Pikachu’s impersonations.

“Egg-cellent!” Professor Oak joked from the other side of the screen. “I thank you again Delia, Ash, for doing this for me.”

“Oh it’s no problem at all!” Delia said. “Alola is so lovely, I'm surprised I haven’t decided to take a trip here sooner!”

”Wonderful to see you enjoying your stay, hope the rest is as fun!” Professor Oak added as he ended the video call.

“They thought I was a student when I first showed up.” Ash whispered to himself before slumping onto the couch next to his mom.

Delia laughed, “I would probably assume the same if some random kid showed up to my school too.”

Ash looked at her, ”Would you though?” Delia shrugged and hummed an “I dunno.”

Samson sat on another couch facing them, “We haven’t had a new student in a while so it’s not impossible to believe they assumed.” That’s what Mallow said to him earlier. “On the topic of school, do you attend anywhere?”

Ash had not expected that to be his first question. Pikachu looked up at him. “No. Well, sorta. Not in person anyway. I just take that basic online course for trainers who travel around and don’t have the time.”

”I take it you travel a lot then?” Samson inquired and Ash responded with an “Mhm.”

Delia chimed in with an unnecessary fun-fact. “He begged me to take it a year early because kids at school kept picking on him.” 

”Wha-! Mom!” he quieted and hissed through his teeth. “He doesn’t need to know that.”

”Yeah? You don’t have to worry about that stuff here.” Samson stated and pointed to a really corny poster above his desk that read ‘NO BULLY ZONE’ with a big red X.

”Well it’s not like I’m a student here, but good to the kids who are.” Ash said. He couldn’t deny what Delia said though, the students at his old school - and his old school in general - truly did suck. Especially because Gary was in the same class. Ash was so glad he wasn’t like that anymore, at least somewhat.

”Unless you want to.” Delia smirked, it was like she could read his mind or something.

Samson laughed, “I guess I’ll have to take back what I had said previously. If you are interested in attending I can sort that out for you. Mallow and some of her friends like Lana and Lillie - you might have seen them - take the General Pokémon Study course that includes all Pokémon-related studies like diets, habitat, evolutions, types, and battling.”

”You’re too kind.” Delia smiled, “Who teaches this class?”

”That would be me, Alola.” From a door labeled ‘Teachers Lounge’ Ash hadn’t even noticed was there before, a man walked out. He had a long white coat with no shirt underneath. His hair was tied in a low bun and he wore sweatpants that only went down a bit past his knees. He continued walking until he was in front of Delia.

“Nice to meet you.” He and Delia shook hands and then turned to shake Ash’s.

”Great timing Professor Kukui, Ash here is thinking of enrolling in your class, care to show him around?”

“Of course Samson.”

“Then Bagon your way!” He added as Kukui led Ash out of the room. Delia stayed behind to talk more with Samson and also fill out the papers required for her son's enrollment.

Kukui led Ash to a circular classroom with a few half-moon-shaped desks and from the outer wall he could see the sky from a sort of balcony. Pikachu ecstatically leapt from Ash’s shoulder up onto the balcony fence. From the view he could see the campus’s lake, as well as more of the field and other parts of the school he hadn't before. Ash followed and pet the electric mouse. “Pikupika chuuu.” Pikachu said with a sparkle in his eyes.

Kukui also came up to the balcony’s edge, ”Beautiful isn’t it?”

”Yeah. It’s nothing like the school I used to go to. No big field, no lake, no balconies in classrooms.” A sound from below suddenly caught the three's attention.

Ash could barely make it out because of the distance but he saw three people stop their bikes and approach another student who had just dismounted a Charizard. The three bikers had near-identical black and white outfits, the main thing telling them apart being their hair color. He couldn’t hear them but by the gang-like signs they made with their hands, Ash could tell they weren’t there to do good.

—————

⁉️ It’s Mr. Mime! ⁉️

—————

“You gotta lotta nerve landin’ down ‘ere in the middle of the road even though we clearly had the right ‘a way.” a blue haired boy spoke. The pink and brown haired two behind him followed with a cocky, “Uh huh!” The Charizard trainer didn’t seem to be doing anything to provoke them, the black and white trio clearly just wanted to pick a fight.

Mallow, Lana, Lillie, and Sophecles were ducking behind the fence entrance of the campus. Even though most of them had Pokémon, they didn’t seem to want to fight them. Hau then stepped up with a Pokéball in his hand and was about to call whatever was inside out, but the pink biker shot him a ‘don’t you dare’ look and Hau stepped back. They didn’t necessarily look threatening but there was probably some elaborate history behind them that made people fear them.

The three bikers continued to approach the Charizard kid and the blue one spoke again, “If ya wanna be such a street hogger, how ‘bout we battle, huh?” he turned and glanced back at the other two bikers, “Though I wouldn’t get yer hopes up, nobody beats Team Skull, we're the strongest of the strongest.” Sure they were. Trainers who gang up with those numbers don’t mean they have the strength to win, but the fear of losing.

As the small back and forth just about seemed time to erupt into a clash of Pokémon, Ash had ran back into the field, followed by Kukui, and back up to the students behind the gate. “Who’re those guys?”

Sophecles, who was the most hidden of the four, spoke up first. “They’re a part of Team Skull.” he whispered the last bit as if he’d be cursed if he said their name too loudly.

Mallow nodded. “They’re real annoying, painting crude graffiti, trashing places, always causing some sort of problem whenever they can.”

“Aaand really scary!” Sophocles added.

”And every chance they get they always find some sort of way to get people to battle them, like yeah, I get wanting to do so, but they always force people into it! They always stage these stupid incidents so they're the victim and right to pick a fight with others.” Hau chimed in, now ducking behind the fence with the others.

“Seems you oughta be taught a lesson on manners.” The blue kid said. They all then called out their Pokémon. The brown-haired kid had a Garbodor, the pink one had a Zubat and Yungoos, and the blue one called out a gang of three Salandit. As they were called out, the Pokémon all snarled. It was a 6v1, totally unfair, and Ash had decided to step in, much to everyone’s surprise.

”Lookie here.” the pink one laughed to herself and put her hand to her face to fan herself, like a rich person would in a movie. “That kid thinks he has a chance against us, what’re you gonna fight with, that puny Pikachu?”

The brown-haired one laughed too. “Yeah! It don’t look strong.”

Ash ignored their remark about Pikachu and retaliated, “You shouldn’t need to gang up six to one to win in a fight, there's more to strength than numbers y’know!” The bikers rolled their eyes at his statement like it was complete blasphemy. They then all shouted a simultaneous “Go!” And their Pokémon charged forward. At the same time, the Charizard rider pulled out a Pokéball and threw it into the air. From the emitting blue light, a Pokémon with a Blastoise-esque silhouette - but red and with a lot of spikes - appeared. Team Skulls Pokémon momentarily stopped, seemingly intimidated by the big foe, but after a moment they charged again.

They weren’t given any commands just yet, so they all chose their moves at random. The three Salandit all turned and whipped their tails to create a simultaneous triple Flame Burst attack, the separate liquid-like fire balls all conjoined into one as they hurled towards Pikachu.

”Electro Ball!” Ash called out his first move and Pikachu darted forwards, jumped up, and fired a ball of electricity at the flames, scattering the fire back towards the Salandit that fired it.

“Pika!” he cried out pridefully as he landed back on the ground. Hau gasped from the sideline as he watched Ash command his partner.

The redhead student then called his move, “Turtonator, use Flamethrower!” Turtonator did as it was commanded and fired a point-blank beam of fire right into Garbodor's face. The brown-haired kid shouted angrily and commanded Garbodor to use Sludge Bomb.

Mallow began to cheer. “Go Kiawe!” Everyone else slowly came out of the shadow of the gate to watch closer.

As the trash heap Pokémon charged purple sludge from inside its finger cannons, Ash called for Pikachu to attack it with Quick Attack. Pikachu shrouded himself in a white light and sprang forwards so fast you almost couldn't see it. He head butted Garbodor in the chest causing the Sludge Bomb fire haphazardly in all directions. The other skull Pokémon frantically dodged the sludge. Yungoos then climbed on Garbodor's back and as it leapt into the air, many clones of itself appeared as they rushed towards Pikachu with Crunch.

Kiawe grinned as he instructed Turtonator to turn and take the attack for Pikachu. The Yungoos clones latched onto its back spikes and they exploded.

“Woah! What was that!?” Ash turned to Kiawe in amazement before looking back to Turtonator as the dust cleared, leaving only the original Yungoos on the ground.

“Turtonators spines erupt on contact, its best defense also gives it the best offense, especially if opponents don’t know it.” What he said couldn’t’ve been more true.

As Pikachu watched Turtonators spikes grow back almost instantly, Zubat and the Salandit gang had tried to sneak up on him, but Pikachu noticed last second and used Iron Tail to smack the Salandit head to head with each other as he then fired an Electro Ball at Zubat, colliding with the wonky Air Cutter Zubat had tried and failed to successfully fully conjure in time. The four Pokémon were knocked back into Garbodor, the Yungoos also by its side. Seeing an opportunity as they were all together, Ash went to command the finishing move.

”’Kay buddy, use Thunderbolt!” Pikachu slapped the red circles on his face to charge electricity as he built up a cry, but he was cut off from firing his ultimate attack as Turtonator stepped in front of him. The Thunderbolt was fired to the side instead, lightly charring the grass.

Kiawe crossed his arms in an X shape as the bracelet around his left wrist began to glow. The look on the bikers and their Pokémon’s faces immediately turned from anger to horror as Kiawe recited a chant.

”The zenith of my mind. Of body and spirit. Like the great mountain of Akala, become a raging fire and burn!” The light from the bracket turned from a yellow and green to a fiery orange as Kiawe and Turtonators movements synchronized while they both performed various poses. The energy first surrounded Kiawe before shooting out in lines towards Turtonator. The energy swirled around him and a gigantic fireball formed in front of its face. Kiawe then finished the chant with a loud, “INFERNO OVERDRIVE!” The fireball was bigger than Turtonator at this point as it was finally released and sent rocketing towards the Skull members Pokémon. It exploded on impact and after a moment revealed all six Pokémon unable to battle.

The bikers were absolutely stunned, as was Ash. They frantically returned their Pokémon and re-mounted their bikes, then sped away, cursing Kiawe out for being unfair and using ‘that’ move.

Ash took a moment to re-gather his thoughts, but found himself unable to say anything before his mom’s Nidorina ran towards Turtonator. She excitedly barked and jumped around, wildly impressed by its display of firepower. Turtonator blushed, flustered by its new admirer. The students then dispersed from the cover of the fence as Kukui and Delia too walked out onto the now cleared battlefield. Delia high-fived her son before having to forcibly pull Nidorina away from Turtonator.

“Kiawe?” Ash began. “What was that?”

“A Z-Move.” Kukui clapped his hands together to commemorate the victory. Seeing how that did not clear any of the questions Ash had, he explained further. “A Z-Move is a special move used in Alola powered by the bond between a trainer and Pokémon. They can be used once a Z-Crystal and Z-Ring have been earned.”

“Participating and winning an Alolan Grand Trial is the only way one can earn the honor of using them.” Kiawe added.

”Way too cool.” Ash whispered to Pikachu, who was equally as impressed by the thought of being able to use a move like that.

“You were amazing Kiawe!” Mallow complimented.

“Mhm! You and Turtonator were certainly in sync!” Lillie said to her fiery peer, the other students agreed with her claim.

Lana then added on. “You were a great battler too Ash!” The students agreed again. Then, Nidorina - who was still being dragged back by Delia - yanked herself free and almost ran into Lillie. She shrieked and backed up, hiding behind Mallow. Nidorina tilted her head in confusion.

“What was that? Are you scared of Pokémon?” Ash asked her.

“No way! I am not scared!” Lillie declared loudly before reverting back to a more quiet voice. “I love Pokémon, at least…from a researching perspective."

A final add-on to the conversation was from Kukui, revealing a fun new fact, “And there’s still so much more to learn, especially ‘cause he’ll do it with you now.” He gently pushed Ash closer to the circle of Alolan students.

It took no time at all for Hau to get the message, “So you decided to enroll!? Awesome!” He was quiet for a moment as a mischievous smile overcame him, “Socanyoubattlemenow?” He blurted out his desire to fight like it was some sort of deep dark secret he's held onto for years, but it surprised nobody. Everybody laughed with him, and Ash ensured he’d fight him at some point, though not now. As they all were about to part ways so the students could finish what was left of the day, Pikachu spotted something in the sky.

A quick flash of yellow trailed by sparks, it made no noise but Pikachu was certain it was what he had seen earlier, he tugged at his trainers hair but by the time Ash could look at whatever Pikachu saw, nothing was there. He shot a confused glance at Pikachu, who now looked entirely disappointed. Ash paid no mind as he followed his mom away from the students of the Melemele Trainer School.

Ash and Delia still had a few days left in Alola, so they decided to enjoy it to the fullest. And since it would take a similar amount of time before Ash would begin classes, he could still spend the time with his mom. Over the span of the next few days Ash, Pikachu, Delia, Mr. Mime, and Nidorina would explore many parts of Melemele island, and those few days went by faster than Pikachu's Thunderbolt.

—————

Tuesday, April 30th, 3003

Delia took her son to an outdoor restaurant for the final night she’d spend on Alola before going back to Kanto without Ash. The restaurant was another popular tourist spot. It had a group of dancers on a stage performing to traditional Alolan music and the food was incredible. The restaurant's signature dish was the Alolan Plate, a combination of many common Alolan foods in one, so many tastes and textures but it all somehow worked together. It was nothing like Kanto, Delia and her Pokémon were one hundred percent going to miss it.

Delia then finally broke the silence, ”I think you’re gonna like it here.” She smiled as Ash looked up at her, smiling back. “These few days have shown me Alola is truly a wonderful place. I’d love to stay but I do have things to tend to at home, my garden, the Pokémon on Oak’s ranch, the house.” She simultaneously laughed and sighed as she took another bite of food, she didn’t mind being at home all the time, she loved taking care of everything there, but there was one thing she was uncertain of.

“If you’re gonna be a full-time student…” she paused to give him a ‘you will be a full-time student right?’ look, “…you’re okay with the fact that that means you probably won't be traveling around Alola as much as you’d like if you’ll be spending five of the seven week days in a classroom.”

That was something Ash had thought considerably about, but school doesn’t run ALL day, so he’d assume there would be at least some time for him to explore. “Yeah, I know. I’ll find time, plus summer break is a thing!”

They all watched the various performances while everybody finished their food, Nidorina was visibly upset to find out there was no more once she was done. Delia paid the food bill and began to walk back to the airport. Ash followed her so he could say his final goodbyes before she left.

—————

“Final call. Plane to (Vermillion), (Kanto) will be departing in (10) (Minutes).” A robotic voice echoed over the loudspeaker, a slightly different voice playing for the destination and time. Pikachu and Nidorina nuzzled each other as they - along with Mr. Mime - joined for one last group hug. Ash and Delia did the same.

”Kukui agreed for you to stay at his place for your time here, so can you thank him again for me?” Delia pulled away from her son, she’s said goodbye so many times before but she felt sadder about it this time, and Ash could tell.

He reassured her with all the confidence he had, “You don’t have to worry mom, I’ll be fine.” Pikachu climbed onto his shoulder and saluted to Delia, with Pikachu by her son's side, she wouldn’t have to.

Ash watched as she boarded the plane, one final wave shared before she and her Pokémon were out of sight. He and Pikachu ran outside the airport to get a clear view of the plane as it flew into the starry horizon. As the plane went out of sight, they went down the path that would eventually lead them to Kukui’s cabin. But one final time Pikachu leapt from Ash’s shoulder and began running.

Up a pathway he moved swifter than ever, so swift in fact he couldn’t react in time when a blur of pink ran into the road, causing Pikachu to slam headfirst into it.

Pikachu and the pink blur both cried out as they were pushed back from the force of the collision. It was an Espeon, a gold accessory on its neck and front paws. It had an offended look on its face as it got up and ran back down the pathway Pikachu just came from.

As quickly as the Espeon left Pikachu's view, another Pokemon came into it as Pikachu just now realised he was at the top of a balcony view, over the ocean. It was even better than the view he saw the plane depart from, and next to the railing a black and yellow Pokémon floated, electricity around it sparkled as Pikachu ran up to it. Pikachu silently begged in his head for it to not disappear right before Ash could see it. The Pokémon didn’t move. Pikachu quieted his footsteps and neared closer.

Ash caught up, nearly tripping over the still fleeing Espeon, he looked back at it for a moment, before turning his head again to finally see what Pikachu had.

”Pi…Pika chu!” He questioned the Pokémon’s identity, and it turned around. A clear view of its face now seen by him and Ash. On its face bore a large orange crest, and it was clear to Ash now it was what Pikachu had tried to imitate before.

After a moment of the three staring each other in the eyes, Ash tried to ask it something, “Who are you?” The same question Pikachu asked it was met with the same answer. Silence.

Pikachu sparked to test if it could communicate that way, and after another moment of nothing it screamed, “Tapuuu Kokooooooo!!!” Its voice was shrill, causing Pikachu to cover his ears as he and Ash both flinched at the sudden noise.

When the duo looked up again, it was nowhere to be found, the only thing left was a shower of sparks illuminated by the moon’s rays.

As those same rays shone down onto the ocean, only one thing was clear, there were so many new things to discover, to learn, and to see, and Ash and Pikachu couldn’t wait to discover it!