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Chapter Text

There was nothing that could ruin Lillie’s mood.

Her father is home and adjusting back into their lives. Her mother seems to be spending more time at home now that Father is back. Gladion is somewhere in Alola. Snowy is at her heels. They had just made it back in time for her to be there to welcome the new school year, and it was their graduating year! Everything was great!

Except for one thing, she thinks somberly.

There would be one less desk in their classroom. Ash wouldn’t be with them this year, wouldn’t graduate with them. She’s happy for him, of course. He had decided to continue seeing the world, to get stronger that way. He was on his way to achieving his dreams!

But after what they’d all been through together last year, it just doesn’t seem…right. In the past two months away, she had a lot of time to think, and she realized how close the class seemed to have gotten once they added Ash into the mix. Sure, they had all been friends, but there were noticeable differences between the time “Before Ash” and the time “After Ash”.

Kiawe and Sophocles stuck around them for longer periods of time now. Kiawe was always a little aloof and preferred returning to Akala Island and the ranch right when school was out. If she was being honest with herself, she never really knew how to deal with his more explosive moments. But after Ash came to their class, Kiawe seemed to relax more around everyone. Ash knew how to react to those moments, and even returned them himself sometimes. Having Ash around gave Kiawe the incentive to stay and train. Sometimes, Kiawe even joined the rest of the class afterward for a snack or a small trip! Sophocles was very much the same, only he wanted to return to his lab and eat his mother’s cooking.

Lana and Mallow had known each other since they were young, and it was always a little awkward for Lillie to hang out with them, especially when she was still unable to touch Pokémon. Now, while she’s sure Mallow and Lana would consider themselves best friends, whatever divide that made their relationship entirely unapproachable had all but disappeared.

And of course, Ash always tried so hard. With Rockruff’s training even when the puppy wasn’t his Pokémon, with exams even if he never did too well,...
With Lillie’s now nonexistent fear of Pokémon.

Oh, she misses Ash so much already…

“Vul!”

Lillie looks down at her partner, whose brows are furrowed.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Snowy,” Lillie tells it, scooping it up. “I just miss Ash already, that’s all.”

Snowy croons softly, ears sagging a little.

“Let’s both stop feeling sad about it!” she announces, upset at herself for making her partner think of its own friend that went back to Kanto. “Neither of them would want us to feel upset! So let’s get to class with a smile on our faces! After all, they don’t know we made it back in time, right?”
Snowy yaps at the reminder, and Lillie has to wonder who it got its more playful side from.

“Then let’s go!”

====================================================================

“Alola, everyone!” Lillie announces as she crosses the threshold of the classroom.

“Lillie!” simultaneous voices call out.

It’s Mallow who rushes up to her first. “Alola, Lillie! When did you get back?! Why didn’t you tell us?!”

“We wanted to surprise you! We just got back a few days ago!”

“So, you found your father?” Lana asks.

“We did! He’s back home and getting used to everything again! I’d love for you all to meet him soon.”

“That’d be awesome!” Sophocles tells her. “Wasn’t he a really awesome battler?”

“He was, though Father seems to be content with Zoroark being Gladion’s partner now.”

“Aw, so we won’t be able to see him battle?”

“Have you always been this interested in Pokémon battling, Sophocles? You never seemed interested when Ash and Kiawe talked about it,” Mallow observes
.
“Well, I’ve been analyzing data from the League in my free time, and it’s absolutely fascinating! I’d love to see what different trainers can do! Maybe different generations have different styles? Or is it just the types they prefer?”

Lillie chuckles. Of course, it was about the data with Sophocles. “I’m sure he’d love to talk about it with you, Sophocles.”

It was Kiawe’s turn to enter the classroom. “Alola, everyone!” His eyes widen when they land on Lillie. “Lillie! Did you find your father?”

“We did! We were just talking about him.”

“That’s great!” He pauses as he approaches. “Uh…does anyone know why we have an extra desk?”

Blinking, Lillie looks towards the area that Kiawe was looking in, and, sure enough, there were six desks.

“That’s what we were wondering before Lillie came in, though we thought we would be getting two new classmates,” Mallow says.

“The Professor should be here soon,” Lana reminds them. “He’ll know.”

They ponder over the extra desk for another five minutes when Professor Kukui walks in-

“Alola, class!”

-and the answer to the extra desk as well.

“Ash!” the name rings out across the school grounds as Lillie and the rest of the class converge on the Kantonian.
“You’re here!”

“Didn’t you say you were going back to Kanto?”

“I thought you were going to travel!”

“You’re back!!!”

Lillie doesn’t know how to express her excitement, so she just throws herself at Ash for a hug.

“Alola, guys,” Ash says sheepishly as Lillie peels herself off of him. She’s rather embarrassed by her action. It’s so unladylike. “I’m back!”

“You better explain yourself, mister,” Mallow demands. “We all thought you were leaving for certain!”

“Now, now,” Professor Kukui interjects. “I’m sure Ash’s story will take a while. How about we start class, make plans during lunch, and he’ll do the explaining after school?”

With agreement going around, Lillie and the others make their way to their desks.

She couldn’t help but vibrate in her seat, though. Everyone was here!

=================================================================================

Ash has his own residence now, was all Lillie could think about after lunch. They had only gotten through Mallow’s recollection of her new recipes and her own tales of her travels looking for her father with her brother and mother. No one else had even touched on their summers before it was time to get back to their lessons.

Which was only a review about last year’s material, and while Lillie always appreciates going over older material, she wants to learn about everyone’s summers!

But the biggest Cufant in the room was that fact that Ash had bought a house. To be more specific, he’d bought land and then had a house built. Just…

Lillie’s mind was a little blown.

So now class was dismissed, and they had gotten groceries from the market, talking about Lana’s adventures on the sea all along the way. The professor had gone home, leaving them be, only telling Ash to get to his home early the next day.

“Though not too early”, the professor had said. “Burnet might or might not get annoyed.”

Right, because Professor Kukui was going to be a father.

And that’s another thing that blows Lillie’s mind.

Next, getting to Ash’s house.

“Where exactly is it, Ash?” Mallow asks.

“On Treasure Island!” he declares.

“Wasn’t that where you brought us with Misty?” Kiawe asks for confirmation.

“Yeah! And there’s a whole story behind that decision, too!”

“How are we going to get there with so many bags, Ash?” Sophocles complains.

“And this is an awful lot for just you and your housemate,” Lillie adds on. “This could feed your team for weeks!”

Ash gives them a secretive grin. “You’ll see.”

He pulls out a black Pokeball with a red circle on the top and a golden middle. A luxury ball, her mind supplies. Was it a new Pokémon? Ash hadn’t let any of his Pokémon out during class or lunch, despite usually letting the smaller ones out.

A Pikachu emerges, looking like it just woke up.

“You have another Pikachu now!?” Sophocles, their resident Electric-type lover, exclaims.

Ash gives them another secretive grin. “You’ll see.” He turns to the Pikachu. “Did you have a nice nap?” A nod. “Can you take my friends and me back home? To Treasure Island?”

The Pikachu looks them over before they're suddenly on Treasure Island, on a cliff overlooking the ocean.

Lillie doesn’t even need her books to know one thing…

Pikachu can’t learn Teleport.

Chapter Text

Ash couldn’t help but internally laugh as his friends’ brains started working again. ‘Pikachu’ was having more difficulty though, laughing into their paws at the hilarious reaction. Pikachu was rolling on the ground laughing.

“A-ash…Where exactly did you find a Pikachu that knows Teleport?” Kiawe asks.

He looks towards ‘Pikachu’, who gives a subtle nod. They had talked about this beforehand, knowing this was life-changing for ‘Pikachu’ and himself. Personally, he wants to be true to himself. If that means revealing some parts of himself, as well as the connections he had, then so be it. These were his peers, his equals, his friends. There was no need to hide. It would just take a while for him to do away with the habit.

And this was the first step.

“You sure you want to do this?” he asks just to be doubly sure.

‘Pikachu’ rolls their eyes and takes the decision out of his hands.

Whatever progress the class had about coming around to their senses again was completely wiped out at the sight of the New Species Pokémon floating before them. The reaction makes Mew laugh more and do circles in the air.

“That’s…Mew,” Lillie says, a little out of breath.

“No way that’s Mew,” Sophocles breathes. “Maybe that’s a Zorua. But wait, no. Their illusions don’t work like that. But-“

“That’s Mew,” Ash confirms before Sophocles could spiral into any other speculations. “It used to hang out around Pallet Town, but when it found out I was moving, it decided to tag along.”

“You…caught the creator of all Pokémon?” Sophocles asks.

“I wouldn’t really say ‘caught’. They wanted to come, and it was more comfortable than waiting for me to find a place and doing a long-distance Teleport. Or that’s the reasoning I got, so that’s why I got what is supposed to be the most comfortable Pokeball on the market and ‘caught’ them.”

Mew nods rapidly at the statement, so Ash adds, “It likes taking naps in it.”

He feels Mew land on his head (it’s their favorite spot to perch on) and assess his friends. No matter how much he had praised his friends, he guesses old habits die hard. Mew is a very sought-after Mythical Pokémon after all. It was natural that they want to check the intentions of people they would likely be around often.

They get the pass, though, with an excited “Mewmew!”

That seems to finally snap everyone out of their trance, with Mallow being the first to express their awe with a “You’re so cute!”

Mew enjoys the attention, and Ash can’t help but think his decision to return to Alola was the right one. These people…they were so good, so accepting.

Flashback

“I miss Alola, buddy,” Ash told Pikachu at the end of their first week back home when they were at Brock’s graduation. Apparently, some of the older male’s Breeder qualifications and drive to take extra classes sped up his graduation, and Ash was home just in time to attend the ceremony.

Brock and his friends were talking and taking pictures together. Ash, not wanting to intrude and not knowing Brock’s family well, had stepped off to the side with Pikachu, overlooking everything, including how his friend seemed to be having a good time with his peers.

He’s not jealous. In fact, he’s happy for his friend. Before they travelled together, he was juggling the Pewter Gym and his younger siblings. Then, it was him and Misty. Then, him and May, and Max. Then, him, and Dawn. Brock never really had a peer, Ash has come to realize. He was always taking care of them, putting his life on the line when he got roped into Legendary incidents.

Ash realized that he didn’t really have any either. Not until Alola, when his friends were also his classmates. He wasn’t led by them, apart from learning more about Alola. He wasn’t leading them. They learned from each other.

“You were like that in Alola, too, you know.”

He looked up. “Misty! I thought you couldn’t make it!”

“My last two challengers weren’t ready for the Cerulean Gym. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.”

Ash laughs. Misty is merciless. “What do you mean?” he asks.

“You were looking at Brock and his classmates.”

“Oh.”

“You know, you were very relaxed in Alola. And I know we haven’t contacted each other as we would both like to in recent years, but I think that was the most relaxed I’ve seen you in a long time, Ash.”

“It felt like the time to continue moving, you know?”

“And what made you think you had to do it by leaving permanently?”

Ash looked at the graduate who had made it to them. “Hey, Brock. Congratulations!”

“Thanks, man.”

“Yeah, Brock. Congratulations.”

“Thanks, Misty.”

They fell silent, watching over the crowd celebrating a new chapter of the graduates’ lives.

“Who knew we would be here today?” Brock said.

“Yeah,” Misty agrees. “A Pokémon Med School graduate, a Champion, and… Well, if you told me at 13 that the Cerulean Gym would be the second toughest in Kanto, I would have laughed in your face.”

“Wait,” Ash said. “You’re seventh?!”

“What do you think I’ve been doing, Ash?”

“Honestly, if it wasn’t for Agatha still running the Viridian Gym, Misty could possibly be first,” Brock told him. “Gyarados, Azumarill, Kingdra, Starmie, Seaking, and Politoed are the ones you would recognize. But Misty has gotten a lot more Pokémon since Johto that aren’t considered just Gym Pokémon.”

“Swampert, Milotic, Gastrodon, Slowbro,” Misty listed, and she wasn’t even done yet, “Ludicolo, Sharpedo, my own Dewgong, Cloyster, Lanturn, and Quagsire.”

Ash gaped at one of his longest friends.

“I have some other Pokémon for newer trainers of course. Psyduck, Staryu, and Corsola are my mains for the strong ones, but I still have Frillish, Corphish, Wooper, Barboach, and Shellder for them.”

“That’s- you’ve been holding out on me!” Ash complained. When did Misty acquire so many Pokémon?

“You never asked, Mr.I’m-Only-Going-To-Call-My-Friend-Once-Every-Two-Months-and-Only-Talk-For-an-Hour!”

“Now, now, guys,” Brock said, stepping in before one of their ‘arguments’ could blow out of proportion. “I’m sure we were all busy. Let’s just consider that water under the bridge, and try harder to keep each other up to date, alright?”

He and Misty grumbled, as they always do, but relented.

“You two never change,” Brock comments. “But I’m proud of you two. You’ve both grown so much.”

“Ugh, Brock, stop being a sap,” Misty complained despite the smile on her face. “But we’re proud of you, too.”

Ash agreed with that. “Yea, Brock. You’ve done great.”

“Thanks, guys.” He waited a beat. “But really, Ash, you don’t have to leave Alola permanently to continue travelling, you know? Especially now that you’re a champion. Leagues won’t accept you. There’s no need to travel for long stretches of time.”

“Brock’s right, Ash,” Misty concurs. “Just make Alola your home base. Travel when you feel like you need to, and then go home. You can fulfill your duties too, unless you’re pulling an Orange League.”

“Hey! I do my duties!” Ash protested.

“The paperwork.”

“And it’s a lot!”

“Alright, let’s stop it there,” Brock interrupted them again before turning to Ash. “We’ve known you since you were ten and the most open book ever, Ash. You want to stay in Alola.”

“I do, but-“

“It’s new. It’s a foreign concept to you. It’s a big move. You’d literally be moving to another region.”

Ash reluctantly nodded. That was part of the problem. It was one thing to travel in another region, but an entirely other thing to move.

“You know a lot of people have moved, right? I mean, I think Agatha ranted once about her ancestors coming from Sinnoh.”

“But my mom. I’ve…always come back. Always, Brock.”

“You can always visit. And technology is advanced now. Alola and Kanto’s time difference is manageable. You can call her any day you want.”

“…there’s not a lot of battlers in Alola,” he tried. Sure, he liked the idea of moving to Alola for good, but he did want to get stronger. He couldn’t do that in Alola.

“Why don’t you join the World Coronation Series, then?” Misty suggested.
“The what?”

“It’s a competition with trainers from all over the world compete to be the world’s strongest trainer,” Brock told him. “It doesn’t take your position in a region as a consideration. Regardless if you’re a regular trainer or a champion, you start in the Normal Rank and work your way up through the Great, Ultra, and Master ranks. Cynthia’s doing it too, actually, and Lance is supposed to be battling the top trainer, Leon, soon.”

“…You know a surprising amount of information about it,” Misty observed. “You’re not in it, are you?”

“Oh no. There’ve just been quite a few battles that ended up with some Pokémon in the Center where I was volunteering at. And when I found out why, I thought of Ash.” He turned to the mentioned trainer. “It works out now, too. You can’t compete in another League now that you’re the Alolan Champion, and the system makes it so that you have to travel to rank up quickly.”

“That’s so true. I signed up, but I’ve only gotten into the Great Class because I haven’t had the time to travel and meet other trainers. There are only so many trainers doing it and in the Great Class that come around Cerulean, you know? You’d have to travel to battle new trainers and participate in these battle days the WCS committee hosts in different regions.”

Huh. Ash had never heard about that. “And I could always return to a home base.”

“Exactly. So, if you were to, you know, do that while finishing school and managing your duties…”

“That’s great, Brock, Misty! Thanks!”

“Anytime, big guy.”

“Yeah, Ash. That’s what friends are for, right?”

End Flashback

And so far, he can’t bring himself to regret the decision to come back.

Chapter Text

“So that’s why I came back,” Ash concludes as they enter the house. “I’ll still be travelling, but Professor Kukui said he’d give me all the work ahead of time.”

“The World Coronation Series, eh?” Kiawe muses.

“You should join, too! It’ll be so much fun!”

“I don’t know if I can leave the ranch that much, Ash.”

Ash groans. He forgot about that. Man, he was really hoping for Kiawe to join just then!

“I’m surprised you were able to build a house here,” Lillie comments. “I would have thought the Aether Foundation wanted the island to stay a natural area, if not a conservation area. How were you able to get a permit to build here?”

“Well…I didn’t really need one? I told the Alolan government in case, but I kinda…bought the island, so they just told me to go for it as long as I follow the nature conservation contract I signed with the Aether Foundation.”

“…You bought the island?”

“Yeah?”

His friends stare at him for a moment before, at the same time, shouting, “WHAT?!?!?!”

Ash bends over to pick up his new Yamper - a new friend he caught when he went to watch Lance battle Leon - before turning to them. “What what?”

“You bought an island!” Sophocles practically shouts.

“Yeah. I was looking around for a house that had enough land area for my Alolan team and some of my other Pokémon. Then, coincidentally, I found that Viren was trying to buy Treasure Island and build a resort here, driving out the Pokémon. Aether Foundation wasn’t happy about that, of course, but the government really was going to sell it to Viren. Then bam, I got the best idea! I called Lusamine and got Aether Foundation on my side by signing a lot of conservation stuff, made some calls to get the legal and money stuff done, and got the government to sell to me instead! Then I asked the locals where the best spot was to build a house and not disturb anyone, and they pointed this place out! So now I live here!”

A beat.

“How much money do you have?” Lana asks.

“Lana!” Mallow scolds. “You don’t ask people that!”

“But Ash is showing off already. He’s rich, and I want to know how rich.”

“I honestly don’t know,” Ash admits. “I called my account manager to see how much I had to work a deal out with Aether Foundation to cover the rest. Then he just told me I could afford it.”

They gape at him even as the door opens to reveal the house’s other occupant.

“Hey, Brock! You’re back early!” Ash calls.

That seems to snap his classmates out of it. “Brock!”

“Alola, everyone!”

“Why are you here?” Lana asks. “Is Misty here, too?”

“I’m doing my residency in Alola, and, no, Misty is back in Kanto.”

“Really?!” Sophocles says. “I didn’t know Alola was looking into expanding their Pokémon Centers.”

“It’s a fairly recent development. The Professor and the kahunas found interest in competitive battling higher than ever, and having more people who can handle injuries is in everyone’s best interest. You don’t want one Nurse Joy getting too many Pokémon in at once, and you want backup doctors in case Nurse Joy falls sick. I heard there was an issue with the Melemele Nurse Joy falling sick last year, and her sister was only able to arrive later that afternoon. If there were anything that needed immediate assistance, that would have turned out badly.”

“Unfortunately, the Alola League is still on a budget, so the decision was made to funnel some money to get some recently graduated med students to help out the Nurse Joys instead of fully qualified doctors. If the graduates do well, the League will hire them after they graduate and build a clinics to give people easier access to Pokémon treatment,” Brock adds. “After a recommendation from Ash, the Melemele Nurse Joy, and several other people, I got offered the chance.”

“That’s great! Can you show me your recipes?!” Mallow asks excitedly.

“Sure. It’ll have to wait until I have a little more time, but let’s start with tonight’s dinner, alright?”

“Yes!”

“Oh, and Ash-“ Brock pulls out some letters from his bag on his way to the kitchen to store the groceries. “-these were in the P.O. Box for you.”

“Thanks, Brock!”

“No problem.”

Ash glances at the letters and goes, “Huh.”

“What is it, Ash?” Kiawe asks, “Is there a problem?”

“No. It’s just that I got my first bank statement just as we’re talking about my finances.”

Ash sees his Alolan friends trying to hide their interest as he places the rest of the letters (probably from people who want him to sponsor their products or something since there wasn’t anything he recognized) down on the coffee table and rips open the bank statement. This really is the first time he got them because they’ve always been sent to Pallet Town ever since his mom created his account during his Johto journey. He knows his account manager, of course, but other than really big issues (like purchasing an island), they only ever briefly talked when Ash was in Viridian City where his branch was. Now that he’s settled, his account manager and his mom thought it was time for him to start looking after his own finances.

Which is kinda ridiculous if you ask Ash because they’ve both been great at handling it for him. He hasn’t gotten word yet that he’s bankrupt, so whatever investments or lack thereof must have worked. He’s more willing to believe there were some, though, since his account manager did contact him towards the end of Hoenn about making some, along with opening his mom’s restaurant.

Ash had told him to do whatever he and his mom thought was best because he really didn’t understand much about finances apart from making deposits when he got too many earnings from trainer battles and withdrawals when supplies needed to be restocked.

Honestly, he barely knows now. Maybe he’ll get Professor Kukui or Brock to teach him the other basic stuff…

Currently, though, he has questions. Because his friends had a point.

How exactly was he able to purchase Treasure Island?

His answer is obvious once he unfolds the paper and-

“What the fuck?” he accidentally blurts the explicit. He’s tried not to curse since Hoenn, with Max being young. By the time he got a Sinnoh, it was a habit despite Dawn being okay with him cursing. Cilan and Iris made faces at him in Unova, though, so he really filtered his usage of curses, and stopping himself from cursing in front of Bonnie really sealed his habit.

He realizes that the class must have caught on by the looks on their faces.

“You curse?” Lana asks. Being the one most prone to using them, she looks way too thrilled at the idea of having someone else in the class cursing freely.

“I know them. I just don’t…have a habit of using them? Travelling with children made it a habit.”

“Well, as long as you don’t curse in front of Mimo, I don’t really care if you curse or not,” Kiawe tells him.

"And Lana has been cursing more since she got back from her trip, so it’s safe to say neither of us care,” Mallow says.

“The possibility of you not knowing how to curse was always low,” Sophocles adds. “I expected it eventually.”
Ash feels gratitude towards these accepting friends he’s made just as Lillie admits, “I’ve always known them. Mother curses a lot. She thinks she’s good at hiding it, but that’s only what Gladion and I want her to think.”

Everyone present gapes at Lillie. Their precious Lillie knows how to curse?!?!?!

Lillie looks uncomfortable under their attention, and gives a polite cough to snap them out of it. “Anyways, Ash, what made you curse?”

The attention turns to him again. “Uh…I found out how I was able to buy an island,” he breathes, still a little shocked, turning the paper he is holding around, and his friends automatically zoom in on his balance.

“WHAT?!?!?!”

Brock peeks out of the kitchen area. “What happened?”

“We just found out how much is in my bank account,” Ash tells his oldest friend.

The older male snorts. “That’s it?”

“That’s it?” Sophocles shrieks. “How- Ash, you- You’re probably richer than Viren! You could probably buy Melemele Island! Much less Treasure Island!”

“I think Sophocles is exaggerating,” Lillie quickly says as Ash is sure his face has gone pale. “But you are probably as rich as Aether Foundation.”

Ash’s jaw has officially drops, and Pikachu, who had approached at the commotion, pushes it back into place. “Brock, do you know what happened?” he asks, waving the statement in the direction of his friend.

“Well, all trainers registered with the League receive a stipend depending on their previous experience. Since you have participated in multiple Leagues and their minor tournaments, I believe that’s where the constant income is coming from, which is probably no small amount. As for the rest, part of it was from your mom. Remember when she said she was going to borrow some of your money to start her restaurant?”

Ash nods.

“Well, it turned out to be more of an investment, so she deposits a substantial amount every month.”

“But that doesn’t explain all the zeroes!”

Brock’s face makes what Ash deems the ‘How Do I Explain This’ expression. “Remember who you gave your account number to after Magma and Aqua?”

Ash’s jaw drops again. “I only gave it to him because he insisted on paying back for that fancy dinner he wanted to try! You know, the one that was 5000 Pokedollars per dish!”

Brock shrugs. “He did pay us back for that.”

“You knew?”

“He asked for mine, too. Granted, you probably got the most, considering everything, but I did call him when I found out how much he deposited into my account. How do you think I got through med school debt-free?”

“That still doesn’t explain how it got to trillions of Pokedollars in five years.”

“Uh…he might have shared it with the others.”

“As in…”

“Sinnoh, Kalos... All the major events that had someone wanting to compensate you.”

“He…gave away my account number?!?!?!”

“Don’t be mad at him. We all know you wouldn’t have taken the money.”

“Yeah! I don’t need it! I’m going to call tomorrow and demand he let me give it back!”

“That won’t affect your account too much, if we’re trying to be honest here.”

“What are you talking about, Brock?”

“Your account manager is really good at investing. How do you think Viridian City got so developed so quickly?”

“You mean-“

“According to your mom, your account manager bought land in Viridian City, built on it, and sold or leased it at a premium. Hence the money. You do know your account is the only one he manages, right?”

Ash is just speechless at this point.

“Excuse me, Brock, Ash,” Lillie interrupts. “Who are you talking about? And does that mean Ash owns quite a few properties?”

“I would assume so,” Brock says as Ash collects himself, bypassing Lillie’s first question entirely, something that Ash is grateful for, considering how talking about Lance could lead into so many things he’s not sure how to share yet. “You’d have to ask his account manager or mom, though.”

“I’m…impressed,” Kiawe breathes. “And you didn’t know anything about it, Ash?”

“No!” Ash all but yells, startling Wimpod, who had just entered the living room. “Sorry, Wimpod,” he tells it as the Turn Tail Pokemon skitters under the sofa.

“I don’t know if I’m more worried about you not knowing what’s happening with your own money, or the fact that wild Pokémon are entering your house.”

“I don’t believe wild Pokémon will intentionally come and harm Ash,” Lillie reassures. “Especially not a Wimpod. They’re not very hostile, especially if they’re not in groups.”

“Oh, this is mine,” Ash tells them as he lures Wimpod out and picks it up, where it curls into Ash to avoid the others. “As is Yamper. Larvitar is probably going to be coming back soon, too.”

“Do you have any Water-types coming in?” Lana asks.

“Totodile is probably in the back already.”

“Totodile?! Lead the way, Ash!”

Ash laughs at Lana’s typical enthusiasm over Water-types. He didn’t pull all of his Pokémon from Professor Oak’s ranch. Some, like Bulbasaur, were busy helping Professor Oak out all the time, and, if they chose to live with Ash, would need more time to hand over their responsibilities. Others, like his Tauros herd, would probably thrive more at the ranch and was only planning to visit him with the new transfer system set up in the house. Between the two, there were only several Pokémon that he could pull right away, Totodile being one of them, but he couldn’t wait to see his friends’ reactions when his other Pokémon come.

On the way over to the back area where the dining area and Pokemon area are, Mallow asks, “Wait, wasn’t Viren arrested?”

It seems like, in the midst of the excitement and shock they were going through, they had forgotten that Viren had been arrested, if the noises of agreement were anything to go by.

Ash shrugs. “Alola’s great, but there are always enough people who can be bribed. Add that to Alola’s best legal team and you have a free Viren.” He lets out a little smirk. “He’s back in, though, and staying there.”

Lillie frowns. “You sound awfully sure, Ash.”

“I might have gotten the International Police involved.”

His friends gawk at him as Brock laughs from where he was following them with snacks and Pokémon food in hand, and for the first time in a long time, Ash feels relaxed, and this is just the beginning of some interesting adventures.

Chapter Text

There's been one thing on Kukui's mind for the last 25 hours, 32 minutes.

Mew.

Or, more specifically, the ramifications of Ash having Mew.

It had been a total shock at first when Ash had shown up on his doorsteps, so early that the sun had barely risen, and told him he was coming back to school that same day but with some things to work around that he had talked to the Principal about already.

And it was great having Ash back. It was great to have this optimistic, Pokémon-loving teen in his class again. It was great having him in Alola again. Ash being their Champion aside, Burnett is pregnant, and Kukui just knows Ash would be the best big brother a kid could ask for.

Then Mew had popped up, shocking him the second time that day. The New Species Pokémon had apparently been invisible around Ash the entire time they had been hashing out plans for the teen to go to school and the WCS, and, once it had deemed Kukui safe, it had turned visible.

While Kukui was having a sip of his coffee.

But when he had collected himself and it registered that Mew was right there, his jaw had dropped.

Because he studies Pokémon moves, and Mew is supposed to know most, if not all, of them and-

Then Burnett had woken up, still tuckered from work and the pregnancy, and she had only taken one look at Mew - a Wake Up Slap if he's ever seen one - before Mew vanished again.

And what a Wake Up Slap it was for him, too.

Because it's Mew. It's a Mythical Pokémon. It's what people deem as the ancestors of all Pokémon.

What happens if someone caught wind that Ash has one around him?

Because people can get ugly. Even in Alola, where most people are friendly, there's this dark underbelly that most people don't speak of. Overpricing tourists? Check. Exploitation? Check. Smuggling? Check.

So Kukui understands the lengths people will go to to get their hands on Mew. They'll maim. They'll hurt. They'll kill.

And he doesn’t want that for Ash, but he's not sure if the teen even thought that far.

That's why he finds himself tracking down Ash's new residence, armed with every argument he could think of to ask him to reconsider. They'll deal with what to do with Mew later, but he wants Ash safe.

“Professor?” Ash asks when he opens the door before Kukui can even knock, rubbing sleep from his eyes. “Alola. What are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to you.”

And maybe it's his lack of greeting or his tone, but Ash's entire body shifts, becoming something more serious and honed in like he's in battle.

“Is Mew around?” he asks just to be sure as he's stepping into the house. No need to offend the Mythical right? He's sure it gets along with Ash, hence why they followed the teen here, but everyone else? Better safe than sorry.

Ash eyes him suspiciously for the question, though, an expression that he files away for later. “It's out exploring.”

“Okay. Then I'll Cut straight to the chase: I don't think it's a good idea to keep Mew around.”

He expects Ash to be angry. He expects Ash to be upset. What he doesn't expect is the completely neutral expression on Ash's face even as Pikachu bounds over from where it was coaxing a Yamper awake.

“I don’t think it's a bad idea,” his former border tells him, turning around towards the stack of Pokémon food in the corner of the living room.

Kukui needs him to understand, though, even if it means powering through Ash's stubbornness, which can be worse than a Mudbray's. “Ash, this isn't taking in Rockruff or Litten or Rowlet because they wanted to follow you. Having Mew around is dangerous. If someone finds out-”

“I know, Professor. Trust me, I know.”

Ash's tone gives him pause. It isn't what people would call confrontational right now. It's not even harsh. He just sounds like he's stating hard facts, unwavering in his belief as usual, but with a sense of indisputable understanding.

“I've seen what people will do to get their hands on what they want. I understand. My team understands. They know what to do. And I have backup. So trust me, I know.”

And Kukui would say more, but everything he wanted to say uses Fly straight out the window.

Because he's never heard Ash sound like that. Hollow. Resigned.

So he doesn't push. Instead, he says, “How about we get you a phone then?”

That snaps Ash out of whatever mood he was in, almost dropping the sack of Pokémon food he was picking up. “What?”

“We should get you a phone then.”

“That’s- you’re not going to say more?”

Kukui raises his hands in surrender. “You've obviously thought about it and made plans. And I trust you, Ash, so I'm not going to make you change anything. I will, however, worry. Because you live on an island by yourself.”

“With my Pokémon. And Brock.”

He doesn’t sigh, but it’s a near thing. “Who is doing his residency and isn’t around all the time. So how about we meet somewhere in the middle? I won't question your plans if anything happens, but you have one more backup plan, so I don’t worry.”

As much, he adds mentally.

“That’s it?” Ash ask, still incredulous. “You're not going to question it?”

“Question what? You've travelled. You’ve probably seen things none of us have. But you need some way to communicate with us if something happens when you’re alone. With just your Pokémon.”

“I’ve got Charizard coming in, and my other Flying-types are already here. They can go get help.”

“Ash,” Kukui says, putting on his best dad voice.

The teen huffs, but at least Pikachu is snickering at his Trainer’s expense. “Fine. But no more suggesting Mew shouldn’t be here?”

“Deal.”

Even though he will get a lot more gray hairs because of it.

Chapter Text

Mallow gets to the Pokémon School a little later than usual today due to a little mishap (read: her new Petilil got a little excited and spilled the entire contents of the mopping tub). She wasn’t going to be late, per se, but it was going to be a close call.

And, fortunately, the bell rang just as she ran through the classroom’s threshold, panting.

Thank the Tapus.

There was one seat still very much empty, though.

“Where’s Ash?” she asks as she sits down in her seat, taking a moment to catch her breath.

“No idea,” Kiawe answers. “I don’t think he said anything about missing school yesterday.”

Right, yesterday, the first day of school and the big surprise that Ash had not left them to travel the world again. Yesterday, when he had brought them to his new, shared residence on Treasure Island and introduced them to his new Pokémon.

Including Mew, of all Pokémon.

Mallow still couldn’t quite wrap her head around it.

“He needs a phone,” Sophocles laments. “Then we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“Oh! We should get him one!” Lillie suggests, clapping her hands together at the idea..

Kiawe frowns, contemplative. “You really think he’d use one? He’d probably just leave it everywhere.”

And that’s not something she can disagree with, nodding her head.

Lana nods, too. “Ash almost lost his Z-Crystal at one point, remember?”

“Well, if it wasn’t for Rotom Dex-“ Sophocles begins to say as Ash walks into the room with Professor Kukui behind him.

And Ash is holding a phone.

“You got a phone?! When? Where? What model?” asks the technology nerd of the class immediately.

“Now, now, class, Ash and I just went to get it this morning. I was expecting us to be done a little earlier, but it seems that Ash really doesn’t know how to use a phone.” Mentioned teen blushes even as he scrolls through something on his new phone. “He’s still trying to figure out functions of the Internet on there. So, here’s my proposal to you all. Since this week was meant to be a review week, how about we all pitch in to get Ash used to his new phone?”

There really isn’t any need to say anything else as the whole class suddenly converges onto Ash, Mallow on his left, as Sophocles takes his right with the others in front.

“You guys don’t have to do this. The Professor just wanted me to have a phone in case of emergencies since I only live with Brock,” Ash mumbles, clearly getting frustrated with the phone.

“The Professor is right, Ash,” Lillie agrees. “As an upcoming Pokémon Doctor, I’m sure Brock is going to be very busy. He won’t always be around if anything happens on the island.”

“Lugia might kidnap you and we’d never know,” Lana says.

The whole class just looks at her for a moment before turning back to their ‘project’. Lana’s always joking, but she is right to a degree. With how much the Tapus like Ash, maybe one of them will bring him somewhere, and they’d never know.

Ash must know, too, because Mallow spies the briefest twitch of his jaw.

Or maybe something else?

“And phones can be really fun!” she adds for Ash’s sake once Lana’s comment wears off. Distraction aside, from what she knows of Ash, serious matters might not make him keep a phone around all the time. On the other hand, if they can show him how fun and useful they can be…

“I don’t know about that…” Ash says.

“Here, stop trying to figure out everything about the Internet first. Try the basic functions out.”

“Oh! Let’s take a group photo!” Sophocles suggests.

“Yeah! And then we can set it as your screensaver, Ash!”

“Screensaver?”

“This is going to take a while,” Kiawe sighs as they all gather around for a picture.

=======================================================================
By the end of the day, the class has covered many aspects of phone usage with Ash. The last two topics they could think of to cover…

“Contacts and social media,” Sophocles says, because they saved one of the easiest and hardest for last, prioritizing the camera functions, settings, and Internet instead. “Of course, social media can be a full day itself, but most socials can pull your contacts to find people you know. We can start with inputting the contacts you have and go from there.”

“You do have contact numbers, right?” Mallow asks, uncertain. After all, she has never seen Ash call anyone before.

“Of course, I do!” Ash defends and reaches for his bag, something that his Bayleef - such a cutie! - helps with, raising it up for her Trainer.

“Well, maybe we should start with the Professor. After all, he was the one who made Ash get a phone. It’s only fair, right?” Lillie asks.

“Yeah, I agree with Lillie,” Lana says.

Kiawe nods seriously. “And I do as well.”

They all look towards the Professor, who looks up from his laptop when he feels the stares. “What is it?”

“We want you to be Ash’s first contact on his phone,” Sophocles states.

“Sure. Charge into it!”

Just as Ash pulls a well-worn contact notebook from his bag, Mallow pulls out her phone to pull up the Professor’s contact.

“What is that, Ash?” Kiawe inquires.

“My contacts! I had to write people’s numbers down somewhere, you know? How else was I going to call them?” Ash answers like that was the obvious thing. To be fair, it probably was if it was anyone else, but Mallow and the others know how unpredictable Ash can get.

“Okay, Ash,” Sophocles says, pulling up the program to input contacts. “It’s pretty straightforward. You press the ‘Add to Contacts’ button and just input the information!”

“You can even put in something silly, like ‘Hothead’!” Lana suggests, referring to the name Mallow knows she put Kiawe under.

“So, if I do this…” Ash says as he inputs ‘Professor Dad’ into the ‘First Name’ section of the page. “That’s fine?”

“Make sure you know who it is!” Lillie reminds.

“Oh, I’ll remember this one. Probably can’t use Hothead though…”

“How many hotheads do you know?” Kiawe asks. “You know Lana was referring to-“

“Fire-type users, yeah. Uh…I know a few. I only have contacts for three, though, including you,” Ash says, carefully entering Kukui’s number into his phone.

He’s also…a little tense? Quite suddenly, too, like his brain just caught up with something, and a glance at Lillie tells her she’s not the only one to spot it.

“Do you know many Electric-type trainers?” Sophocles asks.

“What about Water?”

“Actually, maybe we don’t need to watch Ash enter all of his contacts?” Lillie suggests, as politely as ever, but Mallow can tell she’s trying to get some heat off of Ash. “We don’t have much time left today, and I’m sure Mallow and Kiawe won’t be able to stay long since it’s Friday.”

Mallow nods. The restaurant is always particularly busy on Fridays and weekends. “Yeah, let’s just make sure Ash can do one or two by himself and cover the rest later!”

“Fine,” Sophocles grumbles. “Two.”

“One,” Kiawe argues, looking like he’s caught on to what she and Lillie were doing. Their fiery friend might not be the best when it comes to emotions sometimes, but they can always count on him to come through. “Mimo is expecting me back soon.”

Ash wordlessly flips to a random page (or maybe not that random, considering she spots Brock’s name on the page), silently pulling up the screen they showed him earlier to add a new contact as Lana curiously peers over to see who it is he’s typing in.

“Brandon is a forgettable name, isn’t it?” her best friend mutters, to which Mallow sighs. She loves Lana. She really does. But Lana’s filter has always been a little spotty, and her summer trip has made it somehow worse.

But, surprisingly, Ash agrees. “Yeah, but Brandon is super cool and super strong. Took me three tries to get the Brave Symbol from him.”

Huh. Is the Brave Symbol like a Gym Badge, she wonders, opening her mouth about to ask when their professor suddenly chokes on the coffee he was drinking.

“You okay, Professor?” she asks instead, wondering if she needs to go over to help him.

But the professor waves his hand, instead looking at Ash like he grew a second head. “Did you just say Brave Symbol, Ash? Like from the Battle Frontier?”

Looking like a Deerling caught in headlights, Ash slowly says, “Yeah…”

“Wait, what’s the Battle Frontier, Professor?” Kiawe questions, the word ‘battle’ and Professor Kukui’s shocked expression sparking his interest.

Ash looks rather worried at the professor’s reaction, which makes Professor Kukui look a bit guilty once his brain catches up. Maybe that’s why, instead of using Pursuit (Mallow mentally pats herself on the back for that one), he turns to Kiawe to give Ash some time to recollect himself.

“The Battle Frontier is an elusive challenge in some parts of the world with strong Trainers known as the Frontier Brains. To participate in the Frontier, a trainer has to be invited. Even if you somehow stumbled across one of their facilities, the Brain won’t accept a formal challenge unless that trainer has been invited into it. The Brains are said to be stronger than Gym Leaders.” He turns to Ash, who seems to have gathered himself. “And I haven’t heard of a new Brain in Kanto since Brandon joined because no one can beat him.”

Ash shrugs, which blows Mallow’s mind a little as she processes what the professor just said. Because from what Ash said about taking three tries to get the Brave Symbol off of Brandon and the professor’s reaction, Ash won, and that’s a big deal. Even after a year of knowing him, she finds herself asking herself, ‘Who exactly is Ash?’.

A mystery, a voice that sounds suspiciously like Lana replies in her head.

“Scott probably just wanted to save some face or something because I did beat Brandon, but I turned down the offer to become a Frontier Brain.”

And maybe the Mew should have told her so, but Mallow can’t help but think they only ever got to meet a very small part of Ash, and they know even less about his history.

She won’t push, of course, but hopefully, that will change eventually.

After all, Ash is here now, and they have plenty of time to get to know this whole new side of him.

Chapter Text

Misty has been having a boring day. There had been no challengers except the one starting her journey from Cerulean City, so that had been a quick battle revolving around making sure the girl understood the very, very basics of battling, which meant no Mega Stone or circumventing type disadvantages, etc. She also had no public appearances to be at or meetings to go to.

Even her administrative work was done!

What a boring way to spend the day.

Nothing was wrong with just spending the day with her Pokémon, of course, but she wants something interesting to happen.

Oh, how she misses the days of adventure. No one could ever predict what the next day would bring when being around Ash Ketchum.

Her phone rings on the floating bed next to hers, and Azumarill rouses from its light nap with a light chirp to peek in the general direction of it.

“It’s nothing, dear,” she tells it when she goes to pick it up, coaxing her Pokémon back to sleep. They did have a pretty intense battle yesterday.

But to do that, she does have to make the ringing stop, so she looks at the caller ID.

’Anonymous, ’ the screen announces.

Must be a spam call. But she did ask for something interesting, right? At least she can give them a piece of her mind.

“Give me a minute,” she says as she picks up, getting out of the pool and into the hallway so her team can rest and relax.

Then-

“If you’re calling to ask if I need to borrow money, I will humbly decline. But I want to say that if you have-“

“Uh, I’m not calling to ask if you need to borrow money?”

Wait.

Hold on.

She looks at the caller ID again, the ‘Anonymous’ still blinking at her. But that’s- “Ash?”

”Heeeeey, Misty.”

Years of knowing Ash Ketchum have her on guard. ”What did you do?”

”Nothing! Why’d you assume I’ve done something, Mist?”

”Because you’re calling me from an anonymous number when I know for a fact that you should have just arrived in Alola three days ago?” she deadpans.

What else is she supposed to think?!

”Okay. I’ll give you that one.”

”Thanks. Mr.Champion.”

”Hey!” Ash protests. “I didn’t have to call you first from my new phone after I called my mom and Professor Oak!”

Huh?

”Repeat that?”

”What, your hearing’s failing you?”

”Ash Ketchum-“

”I got a phone. I’m calling you. This is my number.”

Holy Arceus.

Ash Ketchum got a phone.

Her days are about to get a lot more interesting.

==========================

If there’s one perk of being a Top Coordinator that May has to choose as her favorite, free food would be it. Sponsorships from food products and restaurants came in from left and right when it got out that she was also a food blogger, and most of them did not disappoint.

The worst she’s had so far was a supposed everything-free snack made from various berries that tasted like ash.

Not Ash, but literal dry, crumbly, horrid tasting ash.

But this restaurant certainly isn’t down there with that because May is barely refraining from shoving her mouth with the 3-star Pecha and Aspear sauce spread nicely and evenly over some homemade noodles.

Arceus, the things people can do with such simple ingredients are amazing.

It’s during another mouthful that her phone rings besides, and she picks it up automatically, not wanting to miss a moment of food heaven but not wanting to miss anything.

Such as another sponsor or proposal for her to visit their establishment.

Or, you know, an update on Drew to see how he’s doing after that last rather grimacing loss to Harley.

“‘ello?” she says around her food. She should probably mind her manners, but if someone is put off by it, screw them. Her friends certainly don’t care, and if someone really wants her for something, they can deal with it.

“Uh, May?”

The Petalburg native chokes on her food.

Is that Ash?!?!?!

“Ash?!” she demands, avoiding choking by the hair. Ash practically never calls. She always seems to get his updates through Brock these days! And if the dark-haired teen does call, it’s almost always on a visual call because he has yet to get a phone. “Is that you?”

“Yep. Got a phone.”

That statement shocks May so much that her fork drops out of her hand.

=========================

“Pachirisu! Discharge!”

Dawn grimaces as another Discharge and Double Team combo, shocking poor Togekiss. This particular routine isn’t quite coming together like she wanted it to, falling apart the moment Discharge connects with the multi-colored Double Team Togekiss managed to procure.

It has nothing to do with finesse because she knows both of her Pokémon have got that in spades, but what is she doing wrong?

She sighs. At this rate, she’s gonna have to go with her backup plan for the Doubles Appeals coming up in three days.

She had really wanted to do something inspired by Ash and Pikachu’s 10 million Volt Thunderbolt, though!

Speaking of…

She needs to track down Ash again to see how he’s doing. The last she had heard from him was when he just got back to Pallet Town after his battle to become Alola’s champion.

(A victory he definitely deserves, she thinks, thinking back to the unfairness of Tobias and his Darkrai and Latios. Ash totally could have won that year if not for the man. Could he have beaten Cynthia? Maybe, maybe not, but at least he would have beaten the League. The thought still makes her infuriated for her friend and mentor.)

Was he off on another adventure already? She knows there are a lot of places he hasn’t been - Galar comes to mind as well as Paldea - so Arceus knows where he could be if that were the case.

Actually, she’ll just ask Brock. He always seems to know where Ash is, if not how he’s doing.

Just as she calls her team back for a break and reaches for her phone to call Brock, though, it rings, an unknown number popping up.

Huh, weird. After she had first acquired her phone, her mom had warned her against giving her number to too many people, so the only people who can call her aren’t a lot, and she has the caller ID for all of them.

But no need to worry! If it’s a scam, she can deal with them accordingly.

By hanging up and blocking them.

So she picks it up, opening her mouth to either greet the caller when said caller cuts her off.

“Hey, Dawn? Did I call at a bad time?”

Dawn blinks. Then she blinks again.

“Ash?”

”Yeah, that’s me. New phone and everything. But, really, is this a good time? It wasn’t with May and-“

”No need to worry!” she blurts, excitement bubbling as her shock subsides. “I was just taking a break!”

Any time is a good time for a call with Ash!

Though she’s gonna grill him later for details about why he suddenly got a phone.

She’s been trying for almost three years!

========================

Paperwork sucks.

Who knew being a Champion wasn’t just about battling? It was also about the three P’s.

Press.

Public relations.

Paperwork.

Iris sighs, leaning back in her seat, Haxorus curled up on the floor next to her, taking a nap.

She wants one too.

So badly.

She’s almost finished, though! And her schedule’s clear tomorrow! Just a few more and then she can go to sleep for eight hours before heading to training for a few hours in the morning.

Then it’ll just be relaxation.

Her phone ringing makes her dreams go out the window with a Hurricane, though, and she doesn’t fight the groan that escapes her even as she picks it up with great reluctance, not checking to see who it was that wants to delay her meeting with her bed.

“This better be important,” she hisses to whoever is calling. She hadn’t bothered to check when she flipped it around because she wanted to sleep, damnit. “I had thirty minutes at most before I could get sleep.”

”Oh, is it that late in Unova already?”

Iris’s brain short-circuits. Is her lack of sleep catching up to her?

She pulls her phone away to check the caller ID.

Unknown.

“Hey, Iris?” the voice that sounds way too much like Ash Ketchum filters through into her ears again when she presses her phone back to it. “That is you, right?”

“You got a phone.”

It’s not the best thing she would usually come up with when dealing with Ash, but she’s tired, alright?

”I did.”

Her habit of teasing him rears its head. “Seems like you aren’t such a kid anymore.”

Ash doesn’t say anything but the line does go dead.

She blinks, perplexed. That was…not the reaction she was expecting. Maybe for Ash to get riled up, sure, but hanging up on her?

Such a kid.

But Ash being a kid or not, her paperwork was not going to figure itself out.

Ugh.

=========================

It’s a Contest Day.

Serena takes a deep breath, making sure everything is in place, her outfit looks good, and her Pokémon are ready.

She’s got this.

As she lets a now familiar calm wash over her and waits for her name to be called out onto the Appeals Stage, her phone rings.

The number is unknown, but she picks it up anyway, wondering if some sponsor is trying to get in touch with her. She might not have reached Top Coordinator status just yet, but there have been a few who have reached out since her showdown with the Kalos Queen.

“Hello?”

“Uh, hey, Serena.”

The voice that comes through makes her breath hitch. That’s not…that’s not a stranger. Not some sponsor that wants to talk to her.

That’s a voice she’d know anywhere.

“Ash?”

”Yeah. Um, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

”It has.”

It’s been more than a year now. More than a year since she kissed her crush and then stopped having contact with him. She knows Ash has a tendency to not call people, something she’s learned from May, who travelled with Ash years ago and only ever gets spotty updates on his life, but she’s never stopped wondering if her actions before they parted made Ash cut off any contact with her.

For him to call now…

Before she can say anything, though, the runner for the Contest pokes her head into the dressing room. ”Serena!”

“Oh, Contest?” Ash asks, probably hearing the woman with how loud she was.

“Yeah. For my second ribbon in Hoenn.”

”Good luck, then. I’m sure you’ll do great. Talk to you later?”

Serena feels her cheeks heating and somehow manages to give him an affirmative in her dazed state, staring at her phone even as the line cuts off.

Ash. Has a phone. And he called her.

“Pancham, pan!”

She snaps to attention at the cry. Right, Contest.

“Alright! I’m coming!”

And if she has a smile on her face, heart fluttering, the rest of the day, no one has to know it has more to do with a phone call than the Contest and her win.

Chapter Text

When Kukui had the class teach Ash how to use his new phone, Kukui figured social media was going to be on the list of things they’d cover. It was actually a good thing, too. The League needed some advertising if they wanted to expand participation beyond Alola residents and a handful of foreigners. What better way to do it than to have League-related social media accounts, Ash included?

Ash hadn’t quite understood why he should get a social though.

“But why, Professor?” he had asked.

“Most people have one these days, Ash. It’s a good way to show other people what you’re doing, and a good way to show off Alola.”

“But I talk to my friends, and there are other people in Alola doing this right?”

“First of all, think about it this way. Social media allows you to connect to all your old friends at once. How long would it take for you to call all of them for a simple thing?”

“A while.”

After a little more prompting, Ash had agreed.

Kukui just didn’t expect it to blow up so quickly.

========================================================================
Three days after the impromptu phone lesson, Kukui and his class gather around Ash’s living room after school, ready for their weekend adventures around Treasure Island. Ash has just created his Pokebook and Pokegram accounts, and the class was debating over what he should post first.

“You should post a professional shot with Pikachu,” Lillie, ever proper, suggests.

A look of nervous uncertainty crosses Ash’s face. “Do I have to be in the picture?”

“If you’re not in it, how will people know what you look like?” Lana asks back.

“Remember, class, Ash just got his account,” Kukui reminds them. “He might not be comfortable showing his face yet, and many accounts don’t.”

Unsurprisingly, Sophocles whines. “But those are more boring, Professor.”

“Maybe later,” Ash assures before an argument over how interesting accounts with no face were.

“How about food?” Mallow suggests. “You love eating, and it would be great to show off some Alola cuisine to the world!”

“You already do that.”

Kiawe adds in his opinion. “How about a picture of Incineroar posing?”

“Maybe.”

“The Alola sunset with the sparkling sea!” Lana inputs, the topic unsurprising.

“I’ve seen plenty of pictures of those.”

Sophocles shrugs, looking like he has a billion ideas but knowing it’s futile to suggest them. “Just a picture of Pikachu?”

Ash seems a little more accepting of that idea, looking at his partner playing with Yamper in the kitchen.

“There are plenty of those, too,” Lana huffs.

“But Pikachu is Ash’s partner!” Sophocles argues, more eager now that Ash seems most receptive to his idea.

“Pikachu has been with you for years, right?” Kiawe asks to confirm.

Ash nods. “Yeah. He’s been with me since the beginning.”

“Then anyone who knows you would know about Pikachu.”

Ash nods.

“Then I’d say a picture of Pikachu is a good idea.”

“Yeah!” Like how Tsareena is the picture for the restaurant’s page!” Mallow says

Kukui mentally agrees that Pikachu is probably the best way to go. Who doesn’t like a cute Pokémon like Pikachu? And many trainers do establish a partner/ace Pokémon in their careers (like him and Incineroar, Kiawe and Turtonator, etc). Might as well have Ash establish Pikachu as his before someone got the wrong idea after what Kukui predicts to be an onslaught of Pokémon photography once Ash gets used to social media. After all, most people would probably think some large, strong-looking Pokémon would be a champion’s partner, but they all know Pikachu will always be Ash’s number one partner.

Just as Ash is about to call Pikachu over for a picture, Brock returns with bags of groceries in hand.

“I’m back!” he greets.

“You sure are early, Brock,” Ash comments. “I thought you were coming back tomorrow morning?”

“Yeah, the Akala and Melemele Nurse Joys had a few cases going, but other than that, all the Pokémon in the area seem to be doing pretty well. So I figured I’d restock our fridge and come back early to check on our neighbors. I’ve been a little worried about that Spinarak I told you about, and Crabrawler’s cast should be about ready to come off.” Brock makes his way to the kitchen, Pikachu trailing after him. “What are you guys up to?”

“We were just finished figuring out what Ash should post first on Pokegram and Pokebook,” Sophocles tells the former Gym Leader.

“Wait, you got him to make a social?! Misty and I’ve been trying for at least two years!”

“He wasn’t too thrilled with the idea,” Kukui tells him. “But I managed to make him see the usefulness of it.”

“What’s your username, Ash? I’ll add you before I head out again.”

“Ash Ketchum on Pokebook and AshKetchup on Pokegram,” Ash tells him, and Brock snorts. “Hey! It was Pikachu’s idea!”

Kukui believes it was. Ash was staying over at his place the night before - because he did not like the idea of his kid being alone on an island when his housemate was away checking in on the Pokémon Centers and giving them a Helping Hand. Maybe one day he’ll feel better about it, but not now - when he decided to get a head start on the social media stuff by creating them. Pokebook was easy, as Ash had entered his name right away, but Pokegram was the one the class had told him about making a username for. Kukui could see the kid struggling with it when Pikachu started saying something. Within five minutes, Ash had acquired his Pokegram username.

“Pikachu pika pikapi!”

“It’s a ridiculous idea!”

“Pi pika pika chu!”

“You would have complained to me all day if I didn’t take your suggestion,” Ash huffs before giving Pikachu a look. “And stop getting into the ketchup!”

“Pika pika chu. Pipipi pika.”

“In moderation. Brock said it was okay in moderation.”

“Do all Pikachu eat that much ketchup, Brock?” Mallow asks. “Should I add a ketchup dish to the Pokémon menu?”

“It’s actually just Ash’s Pikachu,” Brock laughs. “Pikachu as a species has a strong stomach, which is why it can eat a lot of human foods that some other Pokémon can’t. But there are plenty of foods they’d rather go for first before a condiment, and I’ve never seen one prefer ketchup over other foods. So it’s just Ash’s Pikachu.”

Kukui’s research area isn’t in Pokémon food preferences, but he finds himself nodding. He had, after all, noticed Pikachu’s obsession with ketchup. The first time, he remembers fondly, was during the first week of Ash’s stay with him. He had bought groceries, and, in the middle of unpacking them all, the ketchup bottle had disappeared. He searched everywhere but didn’t find it until he got into the living room to find Pikachu holding an empty ketchup bottle, red splatters around its mouth. Ash had scolded his partner once he got out of the shower, and, once Ash reassured him that Pikachu didn’t have to go to the Pokémon Center, Kukui had made a mental note to investigate a Pikachu’s typical diet.

News flash: no book mentioned Pikachu liking ketchup that much.

After the second time that same week the ketchup bottle got taken by Pikachu (even in his prime as a trainer, Kukui never had the Agility or reflexes to catch a lunging Pikachu on a mission),Kukui had just kept the ketchup to a minimum. There were times, however, that the condiment seemed necessary. Like for hot dog night, which is probably on the menu for the two Kantonians sometimes next week, considering the bread and sausages he sees.

Right now, though, he watches as Ash pries the ketchup bottle out of Pikachu’s paws. “Stop eating all of the ketchup!”

Pikachu glares up at his trainer, cheeks sparking. “Pikapi!”

The two get into a standstill, unwilling to give in. Kukui sees Brock looking a little nervous, which Kukui thinks is understandable. As his longest companion, Brock probably got shocked by Pikachu quite a lot and was probably not looking forward to it again if he could help it. Kukui has been around them for a year and already thinks along the same lines.

He sees the moment Brock takes pity on them (or decides that any longer would guarantee them all a shock), grabbing one of the grocery bags and pulling out a ketchup pack, dangling it in front of the Mouse Pokémon.

“I’m sure Ash needs you to stay fit for whatever battle he has next,” the doctor says. “So, how about a compromise? Four packets of ketchup a day: one at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and one for a snack.”

“Or no more ketchup for you,” Ash adds.

Kukui knows it’s a blatant lie. He’s heard Ash say that so many times, but a little pleading and a couple of Baby-Doll Eyes (which Pikachu don’t even learn) from his partner make Ash give in with a Quick Attack.

Now was not the time for Pikachu to use that tactic, though, and Kukui knows that Pikachu knows it. So, instead, the rodent pouts, grabs the ketchup pack offered, and glares at his Trainer as it rips into it. Ash, weirdly enough, takes a sudden picture of the expression.

“I’m posting that,” Ash declares.

“You’re already getting it, Ash!” Mallow tells him.

“Thanks, Mallow!”

His class gathers around to help Ash get his first post up. Meanwhile, Kukui walks over to the kitchen where he spies Brock reheating the takeout from Aina’s Kitchen.

“Need any help?” Kukui asks.

“Nah. This is easy stuff. Why not go over there and see what your class is doing?”

“I may be their professor, but I think it’ll be better for them to do their own thing sometimes.”

Brock smiles at that. “You know, I should have said this a lot sooner, Professor, but thank you.”

It’s a comment so out of left field that it stops Kukui in his tracks, but before he can ask, the doctor-in-training turns to start setting up the table.

==============================================================================

“Ash…you wouldn’t happen to know Champion Cynthia, do you?” Sophocles asks as they wrap up their meal. Brock had already left after a little food, stating that the Spinarak he had in mind is not nocturnal and wants to check on it in case it needs the Pokémon Center’s equipment. Everyone else was in a different state of wrapping up. Sophocles and Ash had already finished being their biggest and fastest eaters. Ash, though, is making sure all of his Pokémon had enough while Sophocles is on his phone.

“Wait, what?” Lana asks as she finishes the last portion of his meal. “Champion Cynthia? Like the Sinnoh Champion Cynthia? The one with that gorgeous Milotic?”

Kukui hides a laugh. Of course, that’s how Lana knows about Cynthia. They haven’t covered League trainer designations, after all, but the Champions were definitely on the agenda for that lesson, seeing as they had one in their class. Also, if Kukui had a say in it, the next Champion’s Summit would be in Alola. That’s if he has a say.

Which he probably doesn’t.

But he doesn’t want to risk his class saying something wrong in front of them if the Champions do visit Alola.

Regardless, he finds it interesting that Sophocles brought up Champion Cynthia, and even more interesting that Ash seems hesitant about answering.

“Yeah. I uh…met her a couple of years ago. Why?”

All eyes turn to Ash, who is precariously balancing an impressive stack of bowls in his hands, looking a little nervous.

“Do you know her well enough for her to know Pikachu’s obsession with ketchup?” Sophocles continues.

Ash blinks, probably not expecting that, before he snorts. “Definitely.”

Kukui finds it impossible not to gape at the Kantonian, an emotion mirrored by the rest of the class. Ash, noticing them, blushes.

Because knowing and defeating Brandon was one thing. Knowing Cynthia? And enough for her to know Pikachu’s ketchup obsession?

“Really?” Lana asks, deadpan. “Or are you pulling our leg?”

It’s only because he’s looking at the Kantonian that he sees the quick grimace on his face that’s gone with such Extremespeed that Kukui has to double-guess himself if it was there or not.

“You're the only one pulling any legs around here,” Mallow reminds Lana, drawing Kukui’s attention away from Ash. There’s an excitement gleaming in her eyes, looking absolutely ready for a good story. “How do you know her, Ash?”

And Kukui watches something shift in Ash's demeanor like Mallow’s - and everyone else's, including Lana’s now that her need for sass has passed - genuine curiosity and excitement to know how he knows Champion Cynthia surprises him but also relieves him, and, before he can blink, Ash has one of those mega-watt smiles on, relaxed in a way he wasn't just a moment ago.

“They wanted to have a competition once to see if she loves ice cream more or if Pikachu loves ketchup more. Brock and Garchomp put a stop to that before they got serious about it.”

“So this account is hers…”

The rest of the class snaps their attention to Sophocles.

“Champion Cynthia found Ash’s account?!” Mallow asks, looking shocked.

Sophocles turns his phone around to show them. “I think that’s her account commenting, ‘Did you take his ketchup bottle away? Or did you refuse to buy bottled ketchup?’, and I checked. She’s following him, too.”

Ash peeks at the phone as he passes them to put the bowls in the kitchen. “Cool! Can you reply to her for me? My hands are a bit full…”

“You probably should,” Kiawe says, looking at his phone now as well. “Someone called watarusdragons is telling her to verify it’s you.”

Ash laughs, putting down the bowls by the sink. “Is social media that popular? Is everyone on there?”

Something clicks in Kukui’s mind. “Kiawe, check that account. Is this Wataru-“

“Lance,” Ash says, grabbing his phone from one of the coffee tables. “At least I think it is.”

Kukui gapes at the Kantonian as he takes out his own phone from his pocket and pulls up Pokegram. Did Ash know both of them, or was Lance just looking out for Cynthia?

There it is, he thinks, looking at Ash’s first and only post for the time being. Pikachu is front and center, obviously glaring at the camera while it nibbles on the ketchup pack in its hand. Under that, there weren’t many likes or comments, as Ash hadn’t even had the account for more than an hour, but one stood out in particular.

CynthiaShirona
Did you take his ketchup bottle away? Or did you refuse to buy bottled ketchup?
watarusdragons
Is this actually Ash?
CynthiaShirona
I have never seen a Pikachu like ketchup that much. Have you?
watarusdragons
Point. But verifying an account is always essential.
CynthiaShirona
FINE. @AshKetchup What’s my favorite ice cream flavor?
AshKetchup
You don’t have one? You’ve given me different answers depending on the ice cream stall and day, and if you had one, you wouldn’t stall the ice cream lines for half an hour.
CynthiaShirona
See @watarusdragons?
watarusdragons
I concede. Hey, @AshKetchup what’s my favorite ice cream flavor?

That’s as far as the conversation goes, and Kukui looks up to see Ash cackling.

“Ash?” Lillie asks, glancing up from her own phone. “Are you okay?”

“He’s still-“ he continues laughing. “He’s still upset about it!”

“What? What is he upset about?” Sophocles asks. “And how do you know them that personally?”

“We met a few times,” Ash tells them, typing on his phone.

“You just…met and befriended them?”

“How else?”

Kukui turns his attention back to his phone before his brain short-circuits thinking about Ash being close to two regional champions. Apparently, he didn’t have to introduce the other champions to Ash after all. At least not all of them.

Tapu, and he thought it was surprising Ash finished the Battle Frontier…

CynthiaShirona
Are you still upset he stayed with me before @watarusdragons?
AshKetchup
I think he’s still upset, Cynthia.

“Maybe you should take the conversation into the private messages, Ash,” Kukui suggests. “It’s getting a bit of attention.”

“Oh, um, sure. How do you do that again?”

Kiawe rolls his eyes good-naturedly, heading over to Ash and showing him again how to message someone directly. Meanwhile, Kukui notices that the Kanto/Johto Champion and Sinnoh Champion are starting to have a rather heated public conversation.

He probably should direct their attention to the soon-to-be-coming message from Ash.

MaskedProfessorKukui
@CynthiaShirona @watarusdragons Please continue your conversation in a private chat. Ash is currently being shown how to start one.
CynthiaShirona
If I may ask, who are you?
watarusdragons
Wait, are you actually Kukui?!
MaskedProfessorKukui
Yes, I am. I am also Ash’s teacher and representative until he can handle all his own duties. So please don’t make a media storm.
CynthiaShirona
My apologies, Professor. I knew I should have recognized your name from somewhere. Ash spoke very highly of you when he called me from your video phone a few months ago. Thank you for taking care of him.
watarusdragons
@CynthiaShirona he literally just said to not make a media storm.
CynthiaShirona
Ah, I see Ash’s message. Please excuse me.
ToughasStone
@AshKetchup Add me too, please!

Kukui blinks as the last username registers. Was that…Steven Stone?

“Ash, how many champions do you know?” he ventures.

His former border stares at him for a few seconds. “Lance, Steven…Does Wallace count if he’s not currently the Hoenn Champion? Then there’s Cynthia, obviously. I…kinda know Alder? He fell asleep in the middle of our battle and, well, I didn’t see him enough to really know him… Diantha, I met in Kalos, and Leon, I met recently.”

“Should we expect her on this conversation then?” Mallow asks.

Ash shrugs. “Probably not. She’s too-” Ash waves his hands around like it’s supposed to mean something. “-classy, I guess? Because she’s definitely active on this chat Cynthia just added me to, but there’s nothing on social media?”

“’Social’, Ash. Just say ‘social’,” Sophocles suggests.

“Alright,” Ash grumbles before going back to his phone.

“Care to explain what’s up with Champion Lance?” Kiawe asks.

Ash snorts. “I stayed with Cynthia at her villa once when I was in Unova,” he drops the bomb shell on them. ”And Lance found out, so he’s been trying to get me to stay with him for a bit. He came by Pallet Town on ‘errands with the Professor’, but I wasn’t home yet when he visited me when the Unova League was over. Then I had already left for Kalos when he went again. After that, he was on a mission when I got back to Pallet Town from Kalos and wasn’t back before I came to Alola. Then last time, he was in Galar for the finals of the WCS. I was there, but I didn’t get a chance to see him before my plane left.”

“So, you stood up your Champion?”

Kukui can venture a guess as to how Kiawe was thinking. He must be thinking that the champions were like kahunas. You don’t just turn them down or stand them up. “Kiawe,” he says, getting the teen’s attention to defuse the inevitable blow-out if the situation isn’t clarified. “Remember, while the kahunas lead our islands with little needed input from others, that’s not quite the case with other regions. Champion Lance and the others are well-respected in their regions, and they may seem like the equivalent of a kahuna. However, there are others who check them, such as the Elite Four. And, in this case, if Lance isn’t reaching out to Ash as a League representative, there is no harm done in Ash missing him.”

The teen nods, obviously trying to wrap his brain around the concept. Maybe Kukui should move the lesson on Leagues and League authority up…

“Wallace is following you!” Lana breathes, awed, making Kukui look at Ash’s profile again.

There it was.

ContestMaster

PosefortheChampion

DragonMaster

And the list goes on and on. There are plenty of verified users that Kukui doesn’t recognize such as HoennPrincess, but they all seemed to be famous with plenty of followers.

Their own Alolan Champion can really still Astonish them.

Chapter Text

Cynthia plays many roles in life. A Champion, sure, but she’s also a granddaughter, a daughter, an archeologist, a mentor, a partner, and a leader.

But, most importantly, she’s a friend.

So when she gets a text from Dawn at 1:54 p.m. in the middle of her lunch with Goodshow, she promptly drops the conversation to read it, knowing the girl mainly gets in touch with her when it’s something important despite how Cynthia has told her that she’s open for conversation anytime, for anything.

(Sometimes, being a Champion gets lonely. People always seem to put a distance between themselves and her, the difference in social standing seeming too big for most to try and bridge the chasm and treat her like a normal person.)

(Ash does, she thinks gratefully, and, by default, Brock and Dawn do too, though the latter two still make sure not to burden her with anything if possible. As if listening to them talk about their day away from press and formalities and politics - because even Dawn’s Contest life is less about all of that than hers - is a burden.)

(It does make her jealous to a degree, but she’d never hold it against them.)

It’s not some kind of ‘the world is ending again’ text, thank Arceus, but it is important in its own way.

Ash got a phone and a Pokégram account.

She hastily tells Dawn not to worry about letting her know several days after the fact that Ash has a phone - she had been too preoccupied catching up with him via text and her own training - and pulls up her own Pokégram instead, typing in the username Dawn sent her and promptly laughs at the one and only post.

“Are you okay, Ms.Cynthia?” Goodshow asks, with genuine concern on his face.

“Yeah,” she tells him, the picture with Pikachu glaring at the camera with a packet of ketchup in its hands seared into her mind. “Just catching up with a friend.”

“Ah, I see.”

She places her phone down after leaving a comment on the picture, going back to the review of the previous year’s Sinnoh League with the president of the committee overseeing the event. It wasn’t an impressive year - no year has been impressive since Ash participated in it - but it’s good to talk about it nonetheless.

And when she’s able to look at her phone again - Goodshow went to make a phone call while they wait for dessert - there’s another comment beneath hers on Ash’s post, one that makes her roll her eyes.

Because really, Lance?

Sure, she has reliable information that it is Ash’s account, but it’s not that hard to realize that it is Ash’s account. AshKetchup aside - a very clear play on his name - when has Lance ever met a Pikachu that loves ketchup that much? It’s not even common knowledge as far as she knows!

But she knows it’s out of concern, so she goes along, ending up with Lance’s jealousy making itself known to the world.

(She’s a little smug about it, if she has to be honest. Ash is a great friend to have, and she’s not afraid to make it known. Lance, on the other hand, has yet to have more than a meal with the teen after an almost-world-ending event, unable to track Ash down.)

Cynthia is sure they would have talked more on a public post when Kukui, Ash’s teacher and representative - and probably father-figure, which Ash deserves - urges them to talk privately.

And so The Chat is made.

It’s chaos before they’re even twenty messages in, Diantha seemingly the sanest one in there, though it may be because it’s way too early in Kalos for her to be chaotic with them.

But, during it all, she makes sure to open a new, private chat with Ash, asking for his number in case he doesn’t want to make it widely known.

Wanting to check in on him aside, she wants him to know she’ll be there if he needs it, both because he’s done so much for her region - no, the world - and because she genuinely sees him as a friend.

(If she also wants to have a friend to talk to without any reservations, that’s between her and no one else.)

“It’s rare for you not to touch your dessert immediately.”

She looks over at Goodshow, a teasing grin on his face, and puts down her phone, Ash’s number acquired and an idea forming in her head.

“President Goodshow, what do you think about holding the next Champion’s Summit in Alola?”

Chapter Text

“Hey, Brock! I’m heading out to Kiawe’s!”

“Alright, stay safe!”

“No need to worry!”

They both laugh at the inside joke. When Dawn said it, that was when they’d worry the most. It wasn’t quite the same when Ash said it, but they both know that Brock would always worry about Ash regardless of what he said. There could always be trouble around the corner when Ash was involved, so why not have some fun with Dawn’s catchphrase?

Once Ash leaves, Brock decides it is about time for him to prepare as well.

=================================

Kukui arrives a little later than Brock expected, but he arrives nonetheless, looking nervous like he doesn’t know how to broach the topic they both know is coming.

Brock pushes over a plate of onigiri, and the professor takes one, looking at it contemplatively before saying, “You thanked me the other day.”

“And I meant it.”

“For what?”

“For accepting him.”

At Kukui’s confused look, Brock elaborates, as he guessed he needed to. “I’ve known Ash since he was ten, Professor. He had just started out on his journey, had no idea what to do, and brought an Electric-type into my Gym.”

He huffs fondly at the memory. It feels like yesterday, sometimes. But then other times… “I followed him anyway. Ash has always loved his Pokémon, even back then. He was happy and optimistic and never lacked willpower. And I watched him grow over the four years we travelled together. I watched him step into the shoes of a leader, watched him take in one Pokemon in need after another, and I watched as he threw himself into dangerous situations over and over again just to make sure others are okay.”

Here, he stops, knowing Ash wouldn’t appreciate him telling the professor too much. “How much has he told you about the last eight years?”

Kukui shakes his head. “I know that he and some of the other champions are close. Something about them going through a few things together. Other than that, he’s only said he has Mew’s safety handled. That he has backup and that his team knows what to do.”

Yeah. That’s one way to put it.

“His team does,” Brock confirms. “Some more than others. Because we’ve - they’ve - been through a lot. And I won’t tell you everything. But I will say that even as I watched Ash grow and stay positive even after every encounter that would have driven the average trainer to retire and go home, I also watched from the sidelines as he closed up.”

Brock still remembers the first call they had after Ash had gone to Unova. He still remembers hearing ‘you’re such a kid’ in the background and Ash’s downcast eyes even as he hid whatever had happened from him, instead asking Brock how his studies had been going.

Always others. Never himself.

That’s the thing with Ash.

“There were a lot of times I regretted settling when I did,” he admits. “Because, as I’m sure you’re aware, Ash never thinks about himself first. He will always make sure everyone is okay, but won’t talk about how he’s feeling until later when he’s ready. But Sinnoh…”

Goodness, how does he even begin to explain Sinnoh?

“It was particularly tough. I don’t think he ever got it all out before I decided to leave. When I decided that it was time for me to settle.”

Because they had always been able to talk about it, even with his brief absence on the Orange Islands, Ash always had him to talk to. They would often find themselves sitting outside of a tent, mugs of hot cocoa in hand, just talking about the latest world-shattering disaster that they had happened upon.

Then suddenly, Ash didn’t. Brock went to med school, and Ash went off to a region and met friends he was unable to open up to, whether he admitted it or not. He kept all of the unsaid and trauma of Sinnoh to himself, unwilling to bother Brock.

“I could tell he never let all of it go, and, at some point after the Unova League, I wished he’d stop. I didn’t get the feeling he was being himself around his new friends, and he felt stuck after the League. I thought it would do him good to just…unwind somewhere where he could express himself.”

“But he kept moving, and it just got worse. His companions looked up to him, which might have been the opposite of his companions in Unova. So he hid. And he continued. I thought he’d never stop, that he would just hide and hide until he hurt himself. But he came back to Kanto longing for a place. Longing for Alola. And it was so easy persuading him to chase that because he wanted it.”

“And it made sense. He’s finally amongst his peers, his equals. Even with Misty and me, it was never quite that dynamic. He feels accepted here, like he can be a normal teenager.” As normal as he can be, Brock mentally adds. “He’s finally opening up again, and a large part of it is thanks to you. So thank you.”

“There’s no need for that,” Kukui says, looking touched and sincere. “He’s a good kid. He deserves the best.”

“He does, and I’m glad he’s more like his old self. He’s even telling you guys about his past, his adventures, and achievements. Not a lot yet, but Brandon? He's never told anyone about the Battle Frontier as far as I know. And when he’s stuck… well, most of your class read Ash quite well. They know when not to push, and it definitely lets Ash feel more in control. If he’s pushed, he tends to close up.”

The professor nods. “That sounds about right. We just have to work on Sophocles now. His brain moves a little too quickly sometimes for him to stop talking.”

“They’re good kids. I’m sure he’ll catch on eventually. And when he does, we’ll just need Misty and Gary, and everyone he can freely talk to will be here!”

“Not his mom?”

Brock grimaces. “Uh…After a particular argument during our Johto travels, they…stray from certain topics.”

“Certain…topics?”

“You’ll figure it out.”

Kukui’s brows furrow. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that wormholes and legendaries don’t faze him, right?”

And, at that, all Brock can do is smirk.

Chapter Text

Sophocles has gotten over his fear of the dark, which makes total sense because why would an astronaut be afraid of the dark? That’s ridiculous!

But it does not mean he can’t get spooked.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

A low cackling and a more boisterous laugh make their way to his ears when his heart finally settles back into his chest, and he turns to glare at Ash Ketchum.

“Ash! What was that for?!”

”It’s Gengar’s way to introduce himself.”

The name finally gives him a bit of a pause, and he looks over at the culprit of his near-heart attack, a Gengar halfway through the floor.

A Gengar.

“You don’t have a Gengar,” he accuses automatically, still looking at the Ghost-type, a little weary of it disappearing and scaring him again. In his mind, his recent dive into his friend’s Trainer Record after it was revealed he beat the Battle Frontier is being quickly filtered through.

(It’s a very impressive record, by the way.)

And, yeah, Ash doesn’t have a Ghost-Type.

“I didn’t have a Gengar. It decided it wanted to come with me.”

Sophocles blinks. Then again.

“What? How did you- You were in Kanto for two and a half days to grab a few things and get some WCS battles in. How did you have the time to catch a Pokémon?”

The Alolan Champion shrugs nonchalantly, patting a now on the ground Gengar on the head. “I got what I needed done.”

That’s not the point! How does anyone get so much done in so little time?! That’s crazy!

“I want the whole story,” he demands just as his stomach rumbles. “After lunch.”

Ash laughs. “After lunch. I’m famished from that flight.”

So they head into the mall, the others unable to join them since it’s the weekend, Gengar floating after them, looking around curiously. And, when they finally settle at a table with their very large pile of food, he gets the story.

Which, wow.

“Does Professor Oak always send you to fix problems?” he asks, curious why the professor who had the problem couldn’t fix it himself but rather asked Professor Oak, who then sent Ash, who was already on a time crunch, to fix it.

It's not an efficient way to solve problems. Far from it.

“I’m good at fixing problems.”

Okay, Sophocles will give him that because he’s not wrong. Ash seems to have a knack for solving things, throwing himself into people’s problems just to make someone else’s day. And even when things don’t turn out great, Sophocles can’t say anything turned out horribly.

Speaking of problems…

“Hey, Ash?”

The Kantonian looks at him inquisitively around a mouthful of food. ”Hmm?”

And he is hesitant to ask Ash about this. His friend will always help, but he’s come to realize how much information they don’t know about Ash. Their friend is basically an unknown. Even Ash’s trainer record had holes here and there, like the lack of Ash’s standing in the Kalos League when all the signs point to Ash being there.

(The lack of information is driving him crazy.)

It makes him wonder if there’s a limit to that selflessness. He wonders if, under all the enthusiasm and optimism, Ash is tired of helping others.

But the issue has been on his mind since he worked over the summer at the Mossdeep Space Centre, and doubly so since he’s been told the cousin he has looked up to for so long is being recruited into Alola’s new Elite Four. “You know Electric-type specialists, right?”

“A handful,” Ash tells him after a quick swallow and a quick maneuver to snatch the ketchup bottle Pikachu was trying to sneak off with. “Why?”

”I just…I wanted some advice.”

His friend tilts his head, confused. “About your team?”

“Yeah. I have some plans, but…”

He hates to admit it. His computer and data are his everything, and it’s not like he’s a bad trainer or planner. His battling skills have improved by 67.32% since he put his mind to it. He has his Z-Moves down to the point he can do it in his sleep. And his ability to analyze his opponents on the dot makes him a formidable opponent.

But, he’s been aware that data doesn’t mean anything in the face of trainers like Ash, who takes all of it and dumps it into the landfill, changing their plans on the fly. And, if what the people in the Mossdeep Space Centre were saying is true, there are Pokémon in space, too. Other people who want to go up there are prepared. They have strong teams to prepare for the worst.

Sophocles can’t fall short of that.

“I want to talk to someone with experience. Real-life experience with Electric-types. I want to get stronger, so no space Pokémon will stand a chance.”

If there’s anyone who understands the need to get stronger, it’s Ash. The other teen has always done relatively well in the competitions - even he knows getting Top 16 in the Indigo League during someone’s first year as a trainer is a big deal - but had continued to travel, getting stronger, learning more, working on his dream to become a Pokémon Master.

(Whatever that meant. Sophocles is still trying to figure it out.)

So Ash has to know how much Sophocles wants this for his dreams.

And Sophocles thinks he does, letting out a hopefully inaudible sigh of relief as Ash takes out his phone, a mysterious grin on his face. “Yeah. You don’t want to be unprepared if you meet Rayquaza.”

His brain - the one that is just getting over the fact that Ash can and will help him - has a hard time processing those words, unable to tell whether Ash is serious or not. He’s not the type to make jokes like that unless Lana has rubbed off on him a lot more than they realized, but…

“Have you…met Rayquaza?” he ventures, thinking about the New Species Pokémon that he’s seen around his friend.

“Once or twice,” Ash mumbles, scrolling on his phone even as Sophocles’ brain short-circuits. “You’d probably need a fast way to get out of there if you come across it. Oh, here, let’s try to see if Cynthia can connect us to Volkner because Clemont is either sleeping or on a deep dive, and that’s not something you want to get in the middle of.”

He needs time to process all of what Ash just said.

What was he supposed to focus on?

The fact that Ash met Rayquaza?

His very casual way of saying he’d ask Cynthia, Champion of Sinnoh, to connect them to Volkner, the ‘Shining Shocking Star of Sunyshore’ who revolutionized his city?

Or Clemont, a genius inventor whose Clemontic Showers are a blessing to all Electric-types that are in Lumiose City?

“That was fast!”

Sophocles snaps out of his stupor, zeroing in on the phone Ash places on the table.

“Ash?”

“Hey, Volkner! I hope it’s not a bad time!”

“Of course not. Flint and I were just getting breakfast.”

That’s a name that he should know, shouldn’t he?

“Hey, Ash! What’s up, Champ?” another voice asks, an underlying eagerness in his voice that reminds Sophocles of Kiawe when it comes to battling, just more cheery as opposed to their friend’s simmering until it bursts.

“Just got back to Alola and hanging out with a friend.”

“Nice. Hey, next time you're in Sinnoh, hit me up for a battle, okay?”

Of course. Another eager battler. Why is he surprised?

“Yeah!” Ash agrees enthusiastically. “Do you want-”

“Guys,” the other person - Volkner, he recognizes - interrupts. “Battling plans later. Cynthia said your friend needs some advice?”

“Oh, right. So Sophocles here trains Electric-types, and he has plans to get stronger, but would like some advice from someone with real-life experience?”

Ash looks at him questioningly, and he nods. That’s the gist of it.

“If it's no trouble, of course,” Sophocles quickly amends, cautious of his manners.

“Of course not,” Volkner tells him. “A friend of Ash's is a friend of mine. Now tell me what these plans are?”

Feeling excited about the prospect of having the Volkner listen to and critique his plans, he starts explaining, giddiness in his chest. “I want to be an astronaut, and the chances of me achieving that dream significantly increase by at least 7.87% if I have a full team, another 13.23% more if my Pokémon can help with space mission operations, and another 6.87% if I have more than a full team. Of course, I can’t just catch random Pokémon, so I have to be able to train them too. So I'm thinking if I get a Raichu for its Psychic abilities-

He waves Ash off when his friend gestures to a store on the corner that Gengar and Pikachu seem to be interested in, too immersed in his conversation to stop, but the casual gesture doesn’t make him any less grateful for the opportunity his friend has given him.

(Also, is there anything Ash can’t do?)

Chapter Text

The thing with opening up to people is that you have to break the habit of keeping things close to your chest.

And, unfortunately for Ash, he doesn’t just have one habit of that, but multiple, each a layer of the armor he’s built over the last two to three years.

Not wanting to talk about it, forcing those bad memories into some compartment in his brain? Layer.

Children who shouldn’t have to listen to stories of how people want to end the world? Layer.

People who wouldn’t have believed him? Layer.

But he peeled them back before coming back to Alola, determined to be himself around his friends.

Or so he’d thought.

Because the first time something was brought up? He worried that they’ll treat him differently from before or think he’s lying. Then it happened again, and he started to clam up. And-

It wasn't until Sophocles found Cynthia's comment on his social media - excuse him, social - that it really sank in that they don't care. Curious and eager to know more, sure, but nothing more.

Because they might not think too much about the money in his bank account, nor understand exactly what it means to beat the Battle Frontier, but they know who Cynthia and Lance are. And their continual acceptance, even in the face of his knowing the Champions, made him realize it’s not scary to break the habit after all.

Of course, there’s one thing he didn’t take into account.

“Ash!”

He turns towards the window, Lana’s wonder-filled voice grabbing his attention immediately. His friend had fallen in love with the view he has from living on the edge of the forest overlooking the sea, but this is different. It was more awed, more surprised.

It makes him wonder if Manaphy found its way here, the mythical being the one Lana probably wants to meet the most.

(He’s not sure how to bring the Prince of the Sea - or, as a matter of fact, the whole King of the Sea thing - up with her, not after so long.)

(Sometimes, when he thinks about it, he still feels like he’s drowning.)

Brock, at home after a rather long shift but still insisting on making them - the whole class minus Kukui, who’s with Burnet at a doctor’s appointment - something for dinner, is by his side in an instant, years of world-ending events honing his instincts almost as much as Ash’s.

(No one can match his, he knows. Not with him being the Chosen One.)

Together, they approach the window, Mallow letting them pass even as Lana stays rooted to her spot, and the others slip into the spaces remaining to look at what’s gotten their usually courageous, playful friend so stunned.

And, there, in the middle of the beach, backlit by the sunset, is Lugia.

Silver, his mind supplies, remembering the young Lugia they met years ago, his gut telling him the young legendary’s identity. Not the Lugia from Shamouti. Not the one that started it all.

(No. Not the one who started it all. Something has been niggling in his mind these past few weeks, like it’s trying to remind him of something. Of before.)

“Brock-“

”Already on it,” one of his longest companions says, jogging over to their medicine cabinet for a first-aid kit. Mew, lounging on her - because the New Species Pokémon seems to think of herself as a female more than a male - hammock, watches the upcoming Pokémon Doctor without a care in the world except for the Psychic-type snack Brock made it.

Should her lack of reaction be a relief? Maybe. But Ash knows Mew tends to be a little laidback and playful, even in the face of adversity, so it doesn’t.

And right now, he’s not sure why Silver’s here, especially since he doesn’t think his dad is around.

Is the legendary hurt? Is someone after it?

“Bayleef, get everyone on standby,” he requests when he’s out the door, his affectionate grass-type already around as she’s wont to do.

He doesn’t wait around to see her fire off a ’Standby Solarbeam’ she learned from Bulbasaur, instead bolting down the path to the beach - because he’s not sure if his revival skills apply to jumping down a cliff - with Brock close on his heels and his classmates after him.

(There’s a part of him that wants to tell them to stay behind, to stay safe, but they’ve proven time and time again they won’t stand down from danger.)

And as they get closer and closer, he can tell this is Silver or at least a very young Lugia. They’re smaller than a grown Lugia. The face looks rounder. The feathers look softer.

”Silver?”

The Lugia perks up, and he feels a psychic nudge in his mind, similar to Mew’s - though the Mythical tends to use it only to convey images or emotions - and lets it through.

Ash!

”What are you doing here? Are you hurt?"

Silver shakes its head before nudging him with a happy chirp before giving Brock a nuzzle as well.

Big Boss sent me.

”Big Boss?”

”As in…Shamouti?” Brock asks.

Their visitor tilts his head, clearly confused.

Wondering if Silver is too young to know the islands, he scratches his head trying to remember the name of the sea they're on, only to come up blank.

(He had other things to worry about.)

“Uh…Fire Island? Ice Island? Lightning Island?” he tries instead. “Moltres? Articuno? Zapdos?”

With that, recognition sparks in Silver's expression, and it nods enthusiastically.

Yeah! Big Boss is there! He can’t leave the trio though, so he sent me to be your sea’s guardian!

The young Lugia looks so proud, even as Ash's brain short-circuits a bit, a feeling becoming a little too familiar.

Because first Mew, now Silver?

Granted, Silver's not asking to be caught, but still.

“So you're staying to watch for problems?”

The legendary nods, giving him another happy nuzzle, and images flash through his mind of the vibrant sealife in the Alolan seas.

It’s pretty here! It needs to be protected!

And, honestly, who is Ash to say no to that sort of enthusiasm?

“Alright. Do your best, then I guess.”

I will! I’m getting the hang of Aeroblast!

Even as Ash resigns himself to having another legend around, Brock chuckles. “You might have to prepare for more visitors at this rate.”

He groans, a sound that goes largely ignored.

Then-

“Uh, Ash?”

Silver immediately shrinks behind him - a hilarious sight, he's sure, considering how the legendary is larger than Ash despite his age - at the sound, like he's suddenly aware of the extra presences.

Extra unknown presences.

“Don't worry. They're friends,” he reassures before turning to his friends. “And this is Silver. Brock and I met him years ago. He's gonna stick around a bit to protect the water around here.”

“Oh,” Lana breathes, still mesmerized by the legendary despite it not being a water-type. Considering Lugia's role in the ocean, though, Ash shouldn't be surprised. “So he's going to be our own guardian of the sea?”

Ash looks at the baby Lugia - or maybe a teen now, he's not sure - who's poking his head over Ash's shoulder to inspect his classmates. “Maybe? We'll figure that out later.”

(Maybe he needs to visit Shamouti anyway. Get answers to questions he didn't have in the aftermath of the world almost ending.)

(And almost drowning.)

(He drowns a lot, doesn't he?)

“Can I say hi?”

“You've got to ask him.”

With that, he gives Silver a nudge and a hopefully transmitted message that Lana is safe before stepping away slowly.

His friend and the young Lugia stand there for a moment before Lana hesitantly takes a step forward. Then another. Then another.

Before long, she's offering a hand up, and Silver, still wary, nudges it, making the girl's face light up.

Then, like the spell has broken, everyone else who had been hovering in the background in light of Lana's reverence towards the legendary moves forward to say hi too, and Silver is soon preening at the attention after realizing these are friends.

And huh.

There really isn’t anything about him that can faze them.

Good thing he's not planning on hiding anymore.

(Not that he has a choice, does he?)

Chapter Text

Olivia finds him when he’s getting ready to leave for a WCS event in Hoenn.

“Gib?”

Ash looks over at his Dragon and Ground type, halfway into its pre-flight, nutrient-packed snack that Cynthia had recommended.

(He had sworn to do better by his team when Cynthia had told him Gible looks more than ready to evolve after seeing a picture of the little dragon on Pokégram. He hadn’t realized just how much they had continued to train and train and train at the ranch despite him never taking them on his new adventures, and that would change now.)

”Pikapi.”

His partner’s call for his attention comes just as there’s a knock at the door, and he wonders who it could be. No one had texted him that they would join him and Lana on the trip, and Brock and Kukui are at work.

”Olivia?” he says, surprised, when he opens the door to see the kahuna standing there, looking rather serious compared to her usually cheery self. “Is something wrong?”

”I don’t know.”

He cocks his head, wondering what’s going on if there’s not an imminent disaster bringing her mysteriously to his door.

“Take a walk with me.”

And a part of him wants to say no, that he’s not sure how the wild Pokémon will react to a stranger, and he has a flight to catch.

But it’s Olivia, and something tells him this is too important.

Pikachu must know too because it jumps onto his usual perch, and Ash turns to Noctowl, who’s perched nearby as part of the team going with him to Hoenn. “Find me when it’s almost time to go, okay?”

It nods coolly before returning to preening itself. Snivy, watching the whole exchange, gives him a scrutinizing look.

“I’ll be back before you know it,” he reassures. “But just in case.”

”Sni.”

With that done, he turns to Olivia, gesturing outside, a motion she understands, and Ash soon finds himself walking alongside her even as she sets their path down to the beach, not a hint of clumsiness in sight.

(He wonders, briefly, if he should mentally reach out to Mew and Silver to tell them to hide for a bit, but pushes it aside. Not everyone is out to get them, and they both have enough discretion to hide if they feel like it’s needed.)

”Alola has been shifting.”

“Shifting?”

(There’s been a muted feeling he’s been having since he’s settled here, like something is shifting in his gut. But it can’t be that feeling, can it?)

”It has always been vibrant but steady, changing but not. But when you first arrived, Tapu Koko found you, and things shifted. The gods that people worshipped started showing up more, black holes, ultra beasts…”

She stops, turning towards him, and, amongst the shadows, he finds himself unable to recognize Olivia, intense and threatening in a way he never knew she could be.

“You’re calling Alola home now with the Tapus’ blessing, and I don’t usually question their decision. But I can’t help but wonder: Are you a bringer of catastrophe? Or are you something else?”

Her question hits closer to home than Ash is willing to admit because he has wondered. Would certain events have happened if he hadn’t shown up where and when he did? Or would those events have happened anyway, and, if he weren’t there, it would have been the end of the world?

Sometimes, he believes it’s the latter. Aqua, Magma, Galactic, Flare…They had already been established by the time he got to the region.

But what about those other times?

What if they hadn’t been there when Jirachi was ready to wake up, calling out to Max? Would Butler have been able to unleash that monster Groudon?

What if he hadn’t been there when Diance had been cornered? Would Yveltal have been awakened? Would Xerneas have had to go into a deep slumber?

(What if he hadn’t held the staff? What if Pikachu wasn’t there playing with Mew from the Tree of Beginning? What if-)

He knows, logically, that things could have turned out worse if he weren’t there and the events that played out happened anyway. He knows, okay? And everything turned out fine, didn’t they? At least relatively speaking? And he doesn’t regret meeting Jirachi or saving Diancie or getting to know any of the myths and legends he’s encountered.

But the question is still there.

Was he being there the catalyst for things happening? Could even one life have been saved if he hadn’t gone where he did at the time he did?

“I don’t know,” he admits to her quietly.

Her intense gaze doesn’t let up, though it does turn pensive. “Do you not? Because there’s a prophecy. Disturb not-“

”Don’t.“

The warning stuns him and Olivia both, and he looks away just so he can avoid whatever expression is on her face.

“You were there.”

He snorts, and Pikachu presses himself against his neck, grounding. “When was I not?” he asks, humorless laughter in his voice, before turning to her again. “I don’t know how you found out, but I promise you this: no matter what happens, no matter what trouble finds Alola, I will stop it. This is my home too.”

He doesn’t waver under her scrutinizing gaze, and they’re both so unmoving that the local Pokémon have come to check on them.

But he can’t back down now because it’s the truth. No matter if he’s the catalyst or not, he will do everything to stop whatever it is that steps onto Alola’s doorsteps.

(Even if it means laying down his own life.)

Then, Olivia shifts, and, since he found her on his doorsteps, he recognizes her. “Good. Then I think I know what to do then.”

”What?”

”You’ll find out. And, just so you know, Lugia sings.”

Ash blinks. Then blinks again.

Oh. That’s how she connected the dots.

“His name is Silver.”

”Still, he sings. If being inconspicuous is your goal, you might want to let him know.”

”He can do whatever he wants,” he tells her, worrying if this is going to go from ‘I see you as a threat’ to something similar to his conversation with the professor.

(It did, afterward, give him a sense of warmth at the Professor’s concern. But with Olivia? He’ll pass.)

But all she does is give him a mysterious grin. “Good. Now, I believe you have a plane to catch?”

The change of subject gives him a mild case of whiplash, but that feeling is gone the moment she turns and trips over nothing.

Well, some things never change, it seems.

Just like the role he plays in anything and everything regarding the legends and myths of this world.

Chapter Text

Lana loves Ash.

Not in a romantic way, of course, but in a sibling way. Growing up and caring for her sisters has always made her want to have one, but, unfortunately, humans don't work like that. And, while Mallow will always, always be her best friend, Ash has slipped into a fun brother role, the one who will always go along with her exaggerations and tales, the one who she has the staunchest support of, from the littlest things to her biggest dreams.

Of course, acceptance of some of her more exacerbated tales might be easier for him than she realized, considering he knows a Lugia, but that's not the point.

The point is, she's intrigued.

You see, Ash offered the class to take them along on his adventures around the world on his mission to reach Master Class of the WCS, and, while it was weird at first to have Ash basically waving his wealth around, someone had to accept eventually, right?

So she volunteered when he said he was going to Hoenn.

(One word: Kyogre.)

(Okay, also, Milotic.)

(And Swampert.)

(Lanturn.)

She just hadn't expected this.

It all started because of a battle. Lana gasped when Gible bit down on the arms of a Machamp, only to be hit anyway, considering the number of arms his opponent has. The little dragon didn’t let up, though, going for a Dig on Ash's command as Machamp rained down a series of punches at it. Unfortunately (or fortunately for Ash, who always loves a challenge), Machamp's trainer had the Fighting-type direct its attacks towards the ground instead, and it left Gible unable to leave.

But then, in true Ash fashion, the unexpected happened and Gible evolved and learned Sandstorm, leaving Machamp disoriented enough for Gabite to finish it off with a Draco Meteor.

It was an amazing end to an amazing battle, and Lana clapped loudly as she heard “That’s Ash for you” coming from beside her.

She blinked, whipping around to find a blonde girl looking out onto the field, mesmerized and eyes shining.

“You know Ash?” she asked before she could process it.

Surprised green eyes turned to her, seemingly unaware that she had an audience, but a pleasant smile quickly formed on her face. “Yeah, I do. And you are?”

Lana grinned. “I’m Lana.”

“Oh,” the other girl gasped. “You're Lana. Ash has told me all about you. I'm Serena.”

She had to mentally scratch her head a bit to put a name to the face, but she came up blank.

Is it that surprising, though? They've come to find out that Ash knows a lot of people, so maybe this is one of the many who haven't come up in conversation yet.

Lana will admit her curiosity was piqued, though, now that Serena was there.

“He hasn't told us about you,” she decided to admit, throwing Ash under the bus. “But he sure will now!”

That, of course, led to her dragging Serena to lunch with her and Ash, with a promise from the other girl to join them at the beach afterward as well.

And, boy, what a discovery she made by doing that.

“The contests have been going great,” Serena is telling Ash as they finish up their meal in the park. “I'm a little disappointed about losing so early in the Grand Festival last year, but Delphox and the others are working really hard so that it doesn’t happen again.”

“Hey, Top 20 is great for your first Grand Festival run!” Ash tells her, his attitude unsurprising. “Contest battling is tough! And you were up against Zoey!”

Serena ducks her head and-

Woah.

Is that-?

It is.

That's a blush on Serena's face! She’s 100% sure of it! And Ash is scratching his neck, awkward and embarrassed, because of the reaction he got from Serena.

Awkward! And embarrassed!!!

She looks over at Primarina, wondering if she's hallucinating this, and her partner coos in affirmation.

Lana gapes, the action ignored by the other two people at the table, but not Pikachu, who snickers into his paws.

She doesn’t think it's at her, though.

(Maybe.)

It’s true then. Something’s going on here.

So she keeps her eyes peeled throughout the day - not when she spots a Water-type in the water, though - and, lo and behold, the evidence stacks higher and higher.

Serena has a crush on Ash, and Ash might have some feelings for Serena, too!

Sandy yips at her heels, and she snaps her attention away from the pair of teens to see-

That can’t be a Feebas.

No way.

No fucking way.

She hasn't even been able to fish one up at home! Much less make friends with one!

Adrenaline pumping through her veins at the possibility of adding Feebas to her team, Lana pushes aside the subject of Ash and Serena for now.

She'll get it out of Ash later.

Because that's what sisters do.

(Which includes ribbing him for the whole interaction despite realizing he probably doesn't have a crush on the Pokémon Performer/Coordinator.)

Chapter Text

Kiawe has made a decision

They’re celebrating Ash's promotion into the Great Class after his Hoenn trip and the latest addition to Lana's team - Mallow cooking up a little storm and Lillie providing the decorations - when he gets up to stand in front of the Kantonian.

“Battle me,” he demands of his friend and classmate. “No hold-backs.”

Ash looks up at him, mouth stuffed full of food. Besides him, Snivy - the Grass-type had won Ash the last battle he needed to get that rank up - gives her trainer a judging look at the same time she gives Kiawe a wary look, an expression Kiawe didn't think possible up until now.

“What do you mean?” Ash asks, though it sounds more like ‘whaddya me'’ around the food in his mouth.

“You. Me. All-out battle. Your strongest against my team.”

With a rough swallow that has him worrying about Ash choking, he gets asked, “My strongest?”

Kiawe nods.

“Please,” he tacks on for extra measure.

He wants this.

He needs this.

“What?! You’re stepping down?!”

He doesn’t even think a kahuna can do that!

Olivia gives him a look. “No. I am accepting a position on Kukui’s Elite Four.”

”But-“

“In doing so, I may need to pull back on the kahuna duties. Not entirely, but enough that I’m looking for someone to help me with some stuff.”

”But as a kahuna-“

”Listen, Kiawe, I know how important being a kahuna means both for myself and for the people I serve, including you. Maybe even especially you. And, trust me, it was not a light decision.”

”Then why would you do it?!”

He’s incensed, he knows. Being a kahuna is an honor. It’s sacred. It’s everything he saw his grandfather as and more. It’s everything he wished he could be.

And Olivia is just making it less important?

The kahuna in question looks off into the distance. “Because sometimes, it’s not just about yourself. Sometimes, you realize that your views can expand and change. Sometimes, you get reminded that there are things greater than you are.”

“That doesn't…that doesn't make sense.”

“I think you'll see for yourself, soon, how big the world is, how things even in the farthest of regions will come to affect ours. But for now-”

She leans forward, staring at him intensely in the eyes.

“Will you be my right-hand?”

She had assured him that she would gracefully step down if she were rejected from her position, but it still doesn’t sit well with him. Olivia is his kahuna. She's the one Tapu Lele had picked.

So why? Why split her time between two positions now?

And he thinks the answer lies in Ash.

What else could it be? Who else could it be?

Ash, who Tapu Koko had taken an interest in even as a tourist. Ash, who knows Champions like they're best friends. Ash, who Mew decided to tag along with.

So who else could it be?

If it is Ash that has Olivia willingly split her time between her kahuna duties and an Elite Four position, he wants to understand, and maybe the answer lies in a battle.

Because while he knows he's not a terrible battler, it's obvious his friend has more experience, more options under his belt.

(It had peeved him at first, thinking that Ash never went all out against him, but from what Ash has said, he always starts off on a clean slate when going to a new region, which is something Kiawe thinks of as weird but very Ash.)

Maybe if he can have this, he'll understand what Olivia meant about views that expand. Maybe he'll understand what she meant by things greater than him.

(Maybe, he'll find a greater purpose after resigning himself to not following in his grandfather's footsteps.)

“Who do you have in mind?” Ash asks, snapping Kiawe out of his thoughts. “They’re all strong in their own rights. But Mew isn't a battler. Or Yamper. Or Wimpod.”

He huffs. That’s the issue, isn’t it? He can't decide who he’d want to battle. There are Ash's multitude of Fire-types that have him pumped up, of course. But then there are also the clear heavy hitters like Snorlax.

He’s sure Marowak would love to have a go at any of them, but while he loves a good battle, he doesn’t think his team would fare too well against a 6-to-3 battle.

So, who to pick?

Ash suddenly looks like he has an epiphany. “Oh, I know! How about I just battle you in the order they joined me? No one will feel left out that way!”

Kiawe blinks, a little surprised, but then realizes how much of an idiot he is for thinking this is the only time he could ask Ash for this.

Ash would never turn down a battle. Besides, he's staying. They've got plenty of time for battles.

“I'm not battling all of your Tauros,” he clarifies.

“I've only got five of them here!” Ash protests. “The rest prefer running around on the ranch's fields! And all five are different kinds of battlers!”

“Still not doing it.”

“Kiawe!”

And maybe he won't get his answer now. He might not even get his answer this week or the next.

But he has strived to get stronger again and again and again. He's grown and learned, and experienced.

He'll continue doing it so that, hopefully, one day, he will understand what Olivia meant.

For now, he'll focus on the upcoming battle and see just what being Olivia's right hand means.

Chapter Text

Lillie carefully gets off the helicopter and onto the sands of Treasure Island. It’s Saturday, and her mother asked her to ‘check’ on the status of the environment on Treasure Island. They all know it’s a lie, of course. Despite the very extensive list of promises that Ash signed on to acquire the islands, her mother trusts Ash not to ruin the natural environment or treat the Pokémon poorly. But to keep up the Facade (Professor Kukui would be proud of her for that one) for the Alolan government until they can stop breathing down Ash’s neck for any chance to reclaim the island and keep the money, Mother sent her to do the weekly check.

Hobbes hands her the lunches that Mallow sent along with her. The green-haired girl had wanted to come, as well, to find new inspiration for new dishes, but, with Alolan Stew being in season, there was no way she could make it with how busy the restaurant was.

“Thank you, Hobbes,” Lillie tells the butler.

“It is not a problem, Miss Lillie. You will be fine here by yourself?” he asks for the nth time.

“Yes, Hobbes. I have Snowy-“ the Alolan Vulpix yips. “-and Pikachu and some other Pokémon will be with us, too. Not that the Pokémon on Treasure Island are aggressive…”

“One must never be too careless, Miss Lillie. Master Ash may be Champion, but surprise attacks can take anyone down.”

“I know, Hobbes. I thank you for looking out for me, but we’ll be okay. Really. Kiawe will be joining us once his deliveries are done, and that should be soon. Between the three of us, we’ll be fine.”

“Alright, Miss Lillie. Then I bid you goodbye.”

“Bye, Hobbes!”

She waves as the helicopter takes off again and spots Silver mimicking her from amongst the waves, drawing a giggle out of her.
The sighting of the legendary does bring the many mysteries of Ash to the forefront of her mind, though, even as she makes her way to her friend's home.
Because there's a lot to wonder about Ash, isn't there?

Mew. Ash’s calm when faced with Legendaries and wormholes. Brock’s mention of different regions, implying people have had to compensate Ash.

She didn’t dig into it, of course, and she won't. If Ash wants to talk about it, he will. She won't betray his trust by digging as much as she wants to know more about her friend.

Lillie puts it out of her mind again, greeting the various residents of the island instead. Oshawott and Totodile are dancing on the beach. Torkoal is out sunbathing, giving the water a wide berth. The regional birds - along with Mew, she guesses, since Ash definitely only has one Swellow - are racing in the air.

And then there's the training Pokémon.

She has a hard time wrapping her mind around how much they still train, the memories of Ash's battle with Kiawe all but seared into her mind. It had been a brilliant battle, one that she knows Sophocles is breaking down into data still.

Because how could he not when Ash had shown them such strength?

Pidgeot's majestic plumage, slicing through the air with Quick Attacks and Air Slashes so quickly she missed them with a blink. Charizard's flames, so hot they rival the sun, no matter how many Flamethrowers it threw. Kingler's claws, so hard that a Hammer Arm sent poor Turtonator much farther than she could have imagined.

It’s strength she can barely comprehend, much less the strength that her friend had possessed this whole time but hadn't used.

So she stops thinking about it much, knowing it'll be the norm to see sooner or later, instead focusing on how lovely it is having so many Pokemon who you love and love you in return all in one place.

It's a shame that not all of them are here.

She understands, of course. Bulbasaur is still in the process of handing over his responsibilities on the ranch. Ash's Tauros herd likes the ranch and its wide fields to run and graze on more than Treasure Island's sand and mountain. Glalie had tried coming only to immediately freeze the moisture in the air with how hot it was to the Face Pokemon, something that the nearby locals didn't appreciate too much, and there are no options to build it a habitat without disturbing the native locals.

Lillie sighs, feeling bad for the Pokémon who can't be here.

But at least Ash has an International Transfer System now, and she knows it’s being put to good use! Even some of the Pokémon Ash here has requested to visit the ranch and the friends they made there from time to time!

And speaking of friends, there's Ash's home!

Before she can get too close though, she spots someone at the door knocking patiently, making her pause in confusion because she doesn’t recognize the woman standing there.

She also doesn't think the woman is from around here based on the green shirt and white skirt she's wearing. It's not quite an Alolan style.

So is she a friend? Or an enemy?

(Hobbes must be getting to her.)

She shakes her head. If the woman is an enemy, surely she would have done something by now. She could knock down the house. She could attack the Pokémon with her own - at least Lillie believes she's a trainer with her own Pokémon because she definitely didn't see a Ride Pokémon that could have brought the woman here - before anyone could interfere.

So, no, not an enemy.

“Excuse me, are you here for Ash?” Lillie asks once she comes to that conclusion, approaching the woman and coming to a stop beside her, Snowy trotting to a pause when she does.

The girl nods excitedly.

“Can you tell me your name? I can call him to get him to open the door, but it would be best if I send him a warning of a visitor.”

The girl scrambles into her tiny bag, pulling out a notepad and flipping to the first page before turning it around for Lillie to see.

‘Bianca,’ it says.

It clicks for Lillie then. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize-“

The girl shakes her head, not looking offended at all.

“I’ll let him know you’re here right away!”

She feels embarrassed even as she fishes out her phone and unlocks it to text and/or call Ash. Why did she have to work the question that way? Where were her manners?

Bianca doesn’t seem to mind, though. In fact, she's having fun with Snowy, crouched low on the ground so that the Fox Pokémon can nuzzle into her hand.

But Lillie’s still mortified. Thankfully, Ash opens the door not long after she sends him a text, phone in hand, likely coming from the backside of the his home judging by the way his hair sticks up and the dirt on his clothes, all hints to a play session with Yamper.

“Hey Lillie! Sorry about-”

Ash cuts off, eyes widening as he catches sight of Bianca, and, for a moment, Lillie wonders if they're more than friends before she quickly dismisses the thought.

(Lana's retelling of Ash's reaction towards his friend Serena and the ‘detective work’ she did to prove what ended up as nothing must have planted a curiosity about Ash's love life into her mind without her noticing.)

“Bianca?” Ash asks, and Lillie is curious as to why it's so questioning.

The woman nods enthusiastically, jumping onto her feet, and gives Ash a quick peck on his cheeks.

Wait.

What.

But Ash, unlike what they know of his reaction to Serena, just grins. “It’s been a while, hasn't it? Why are you here? Shouldn't you be at home with the Soul Dew?”

Bianca looks downward nervously and glances over at her.

Oh. Is she intruding?

Before she can make herself scarce, though, Ash gives Bianca a reassuring smile. “Lillie's a good friend. You can trust her.”

The woman looks at her, and Lillie has reassurances on the tip of her tongue when the air shifts and Bianca disappears, being replaced by-

Oh goodness.

And should it surprise her? Probably not.

But when the Eon Pokémon is floating in front of her, where Bianca used to be?

Count her surprised.

“Lillie, meet Latias,” Ash says, a little mischievous grin on his face. “Latias, this is Lillie and her partner Snowy.”

“Hi,” Lillie squeaks, unable to look away from Latias's big, curious eyes as it pokes closer at her with a coo. By her feet, Snowy yips, jumping up and down to try and play with her new friend.

Oblivious or unworried about Lillie’s state of mild shock, Ash nods into his home. “Come on in, everyone. I think we have a lot to talk about. And Brock has been working on this Psychic-type Pokémon snack that’s been a hit with Mew and Silver, so I think you’ll like it too, Latias.”

The legendary coos at him, making its way into the quaint little home, and greets Pikachu happily with a nuzzle

”Should I expect a Latios to show up, too?” she asks Ash as they pass through the doorway. There might not be a lot known about the legendaries as a whole, but Lillie has been through many, many books about them, especially since Mew started hanging around. Amongst all the information, she recalls documented sightings of the Eon Pokémon, and they are often seen together.

But she already knows she asked the wrong question when a shadow falls on Ash’s face. “No. Latios…Latias’s brother died years ago.”

Lillie knows better than to ask about the story behind that. “I’m sorry.”

”Just don’t talk about it around her.”

She nods, proceeding to sit at the table as Ash brings out some cups and snacks for them and keeping quiet, conscious of the fact that she’s been asking all the wrong questions today.

Twenty minutes into the conversation, though, she can’t help but echo, “You want to stay?”

The legendary nods, determination laced in its entire, sleek body, and chirps again.

Ash, she notes, just looks resigned to having another legend around, a fact that Lillie is having a very hard time wrapping her mind around. “Alright. Me. You. We’ll get stronger together. We’ll protect the ones we love.”

Her heart twinges at the grief and regret lining those words, and, not for the first time, wonders what Ash has been through since the day his journey started.

Because she doesn’t have to do any research to know that it was not all sunshine and rainbows.

Chapter Text

Ash was given a mission.

Well, a task.

For the past few weeks, he's been ‘planning’ the Champion Summit with the others (read: messing around on the group chat), but, with the event coming closer and closer, there's a sense of finality as plans are made from arrival times to catering.

Then, Diantha brought up an idea.

Since its initiation, the Summit has mainly revolved around the Nippon regions, Unova and Kalos being the most recent additions since those Leagues revamped their systems to be similar to the ones found in Nippon, with a Gym circuit and League. However, since they've decided to invite Galar this year despite their system's difference, Diantha suggested they invite Paldea - Kalos's neighbor- too, whose system is even more different than the ones they use. It'd be a very last-minute thing, of course, but, at the very least, if Paldea is interested, they would know to extend the invitation next year as well.

And Ash, always craving an adventure, had volunteered and been volunteered in equal measures.

That's how he finds himself stepping off a plane on a Saturday morning in a region he's never been to, anticipation flooding through his veins at all the new Pokémon - including Dudunsparce of all things - he may have the opportunity to meet.

Also, did he mention Dudunsparce? Dudunsparce!

But the moment he touches ground - the hard, natural ground that surrounds Mesagoza - he pauses and looks northeast.

“What’s wrong?”

The voice snaps him out of his brief stupor, and he looks towards his companion for this trip.

Olivia.

It had been a shock to him when Kukui had told him she had taken on a spot on the Elite Four, and even more so that she would accompany him as another Alola representative. She had always seemed so set in her position as kahuna, so looked up to by the people, that Ash had never thought she would ever do anything that would compromise her job and duty.

And doesn’t this fall into that category? She’s splitting her time between the League and her duties to Akala Island. She’s going to be away for almost three days.

“Just a feeling,” he tells her as they make their way into the city. Ahead of them, Pikachu and Yamper lead the way, the latter so excited at being out in the world with them that he can see sparks coming off of it ever so often.

“Do you have a sixth sense?” she asks, Lycanroc strolling leisurely beside her.

Ash grimaces, tensing up at the mention of something he has but is unwilling to tap into, even after almost five years; the mere idea of it still almost stops him in his tracks.

(If he had just been stronger-)

He shouldn’t, he knows. He knows that instead of hiding from it, he should take his ability and hone it. He knows he can hone it and save people and Pokémon with it. But, at the same time, he can't bring himself to. He can't bring himself to train the reminder he has of his failure.

(If he had just known about it sooner. If he had somehow trained sooner-)

It’s a contradiction in and of itself, something that even Brock and the numerous encounters with Aura can’t change.

“Trouble usually comes to find me,” he opts to say, though when he looks into the distance, he adds, “Though that direction gives me a bad feeling.”

Olivia hums, and he wonders how much she knows, how much she understands. He feels like, even by kahuna standards, Olivia is the most spiritual one of them all, and her knowledge of the prophecy has Ash on edge around her.

(He has a feeling Olivia only took the Elite Four position after their conversation. Or maybe it was because of their conversation. She took it for him. But why?)

She doesn’t push, and Ash doesn’t expand, instead focusing on his surroundings, excitement bubbling with every new (and old) Pokémon he encounters.

He’d never give up his home in Alola, but he never realized how much he missed the true, joyful exploration of a new region; only his recent trips to Galar and now Paldea with a full support system behind him have brought it back up.

(Maybe, some part of him had started to worry before disaster inevitably struck. Maybe, some part of him had worried about saving the world alone.)

Before he knows it, they’ve reached the League Headquarters, the huge building looming over them.

And it’s kinda…

“You don’t think Professor Kukui would want to build something like this, right?”

“He better not if he knows what’s good for him,” Olivia deadpans before nodding towards the entrance. “But let's go. Geeta should be waiting for us.”

Geeta, Paldea's Top Champion, is, in fact, waiting for them, looking through her phone while addressing who is presumably the receptionist.

“Rika, put a Gym inspection into my schedule, would you? I'm afraid Brassius had some complaints that came in. Might as well do everyone.”

“Of course. Should I let Larry know to be on standby at the Gym?”

“You know how it is, Rika. I can't tell him without making it seem unfair.”

“But considering he's here a third of his time-”

Olivia clears her throat, and the sound brings the two Paldeans’ attention to them.

“Hi,” Ash says, thinking it may be more polite to greet them first. He's never thought much about it before, but he's keenly aware he's not here as Ash Ketchum, but Ash Ketchum Champion of Alola.

Ugh. Maybe he shouldn't have volunteered or agreed to this.

“Good morning,” the receptionist, Rika, returns, her - his? - hand coming up in a friendly wave. “You must be Ash and Olivia.”

“That’s us!”

Olivia nudges him half-heartedly, but Ash can't help it, alright? Meeting new people and Pokémon- because that's definitely a new Pokémon by Rika's desk - is the most thrilling thing ever!

Geeta looks at Rika, questioning, and the receptionist turns to her boss. “Representatives from Alola about the Champions Summit.”

“I see,” the Champion acknowledges before turning her full attention to them with a sigh. “I’m sorry. I'm afraid you made the trip for nothing. I can’t possibly spare anyone to go, nor do I think Paldea would benefit from joining your Conference.”

Wait. That's it? And what does she mean-

“Allow us to ask for an explanation,” Olivia requests before Ash can open his big mouth.

“We appreciate the thought,” Geeta tells them, each word obviously well thought out. “However, Paldea has always operated with partnerships that align with our culture and customs, as well as have the capability to terastallize Pokémon. We don't need mega evolutions, Z-Moves, or Dynamax.”

He gapes. Exactly what is she insinuating?

“Mega evolutions, Z-Moves, and Dynamax are amazing!” he tells her, offended on behalf of everyone who uses those capabilities, a feeling that Pikachu mirrors with a “Pikachu!”

“Compared to changing or strengthening any Pokémon's typing for the whole duration of a battle?”

Well, yes, when she puts it like that, Terastallization does sound cool. But still!

“Let's battle then! Z-Moves against Terastallization!”

Unsurprisingly, Geeta doesn't seem too thrilled by the idea, but she acquiesces. “Considering the long flight you two must have taken, we can have a battle. But how about making it a tag battle? Rika-”

“You want us to battle your receptionist?”

“Ash,” Olivia warns.

“Rika is also part of our Elite Four,” Geeta tells them before looking at the Elite Four member/receptionist. “How about you and Poppy? I believe Larry is at his Gym and Hassel is holding his extracurricular today.”

“You're not battling?” Ash asks, equal parts offended and upset.

“I believe it best if I observe.”

Rika pushes up from where she was leaning on her desk, resignation on her face. “I'll grab Poppy. Clodsire? Would you lead our guests to the field?”

“‘Sire.”

Ash and Olivia follow the Pokémon as its partner makes her way through a door. He looks behind him to make sure Yamper is following, unworried about Pikachu, who’s still bristling.

He does have to do a double-take take though, because Yamper seems to be having fun doing circles in front of the see-through doors, another Pokémon on the other side doing the same.

Ash releases Hawlucha. “Keep an eye on Yamper, would you?”

“Cha!” the Wrestling Pokémon confirms, deciding to perch on the desk.

With that done, he turns back around to a silently waiting Olivia and an unconcerned Clodsire.

Speaking of…

“Clodsire, the Spiny Fish Pokémon,” his Pokédex announces when he pulls it up on his phone. “A Poison and Ground type. When attacked, this Pokémon will retaliate by sticking thick spines out from its body. It’s a risky move that puts everything on the line.

Woah. That's cool. Concerning, but cool.

“Who will you be using?” Olivia asks, calm even under the prospect of a battle to prove themselves.

“Pikachu!” his partner immediately volunteers.

“I don’t know,” he admits, fiddling with the Pokéballs on his belt. Hawlucha and Yamper are out, for obvious reasons. But the remaining four…

“Pikapi!”

Normally, he wouldn't put much thought into a casual battle, but he can’t, can he? This was about proving to Geeta that Z-Moves are not worse than Terastallization. This is about proving Alola’s strength internationally. This is about proving that there is much to be learned if Paldea joins the Summit.

And he knows there's much to learn. Traveling so much has taught him that there are many things different in each region, and that everyone can learn from others.

So he can't just send anyone out. But at the same time…

He's not sure Scraggy is necessarily ready for an Elite Four battle yet, even with the enthusiasm the Shedding Pokemon has. But Pikachu, Infernape, and Bayleef don't do great against Poison and/or Ground.

He should have covered himself for that weakness, but it's too late to change it now. When has he ever let type advantage determine how he battles anyway?

“I'll figure it out.”

Maybe this Poppy person, who Ash assumes is also an Elite Four member, will give him a better idea of who to go with.

Then-

“Oh wow,” Olivia mutters under her breath as they spot Rika and the girl who is presumably Poppy.

Well, girl might be the wrong choice of word.

Because, apparently, Paldea's Elite Four not only has a member who’s also a Gym Leader (if Ash was guessing correctly) but a kid.

“I can assure you Poppy's ability to battle is not determined by her age,” Geeta tells them.

And Ash isn’t exactly questioning Poppy's ability to battle. He knows there are prodigies out there, but a child on the Elite Four?

Who does her paperwork?

Ash has seen some of the paperwork the Elite Four has to take care of, and you're expecting him to believe a kid does them?

Well, he guesses kids can do paperwork too. Max certainly could take care of some.

Eh.

Olivia snaps him out of his thoughts, corralling him to their side of the field.

“This will be a tag battle,” Geeta announces from the referee box. “One Pokémon per trainer and all Pokémon will be released at the same time. Please make your selections.”

It's an unfortunate turn of events considering he can't tell what Poppy's specialty is, but at least Rika doesn't cower from her choice being known, gesturing for Clodsire to enter the field. On his side, Olivia doesn't hesitate either, letting Lycanroc step up.

Well then… who should he pick?

“3, 2, and battle begins!”

Ash releases his gut choice, watching as Bayleef emerges at the same time as a gigantic Pokémon he doesn’t know does, and it's a habit that has him pulling out his Pokedex again even as the battle commences.

“Copperajah, the Copperderm Pokémon. A Steel-type,” his Pokédex tells him, even as Ash grimaces, telling Bayleef to dodge as a rather ruthless Iron Head comes her way. “These Pokémon live in herds. Their trunks have incredible grip strength, strong enough to crush giant rocks into powder.”

He immediately knows it's an uphill battle on their side. While Bayleef and Lycanroc aren’t the typical Pokémon, Bayleef is weak against Clodsire’s Poison typing, and Lycanroc is weak against both Ground and Steel.

Not that Ash cowers from this fight. Far from it.

Because as much fun as battles in Alola are, there’s just something about them that is more relaxed, based mostly on timing for the perfect execution of a Z-Move. Even when he battles Kiawe or Gladion or Hau, there’s a difference in rhythm from battles that he’s more used to. And even with his current WCS battles, they more often than not don’t reach the pace that gets his blood pumping.

But this?

This is it.

It’s second nature to command Bayleef to move in the most unpredictable ways, to make use of the debris starting to make themselves known. His mind is working on overdrive, scooping out every detail and little thing he could use to turn the tide to their favor.

And it’s a double battle.

Rita and Poppy have obviously battled together before, which puts him and Olivia at a disadvantage, but it’s not something that can’t be overcome.

-strong enough to crush giant rocks into powder.

It’s a stretch, but once the idea hits him, he can’t help but grin.

“Olivia, mind using Continental Crush?” he yells over the chaos of the battle.

The kahuna nods, moving to prepare the movements as Bayleef takes up a defense stance to allow them to execute the move. It’s risky, of course, but Ash thinks the results will be totally worth it.

So it's with anticipation flooding his veins that he watches the Continental Crush form and head towards their opponents, and he grins when Copperajah, Tera on its head and all, steps in front of a now Ground-Only Clodsire.

Hook.

“Bayleef!” he calls out, and his ever-loyal Grass-Type looks at him in determination, fatigued from the fight they’ve had but still determined to go on. “Vine Whip on that Continental Crush!”

The thing is, anyone who knows him, like Cynthia and the others, would say he does best when pushed into a corner, but they always forget that his Pokémon are just as tough, as determined as he is. So, despite the energy needed to do much to the gigantic Z-Move, Bayleef does, adding enough force onto it that Ash can see the cracks start to form as Copperajah’s trunk exerts force on it to stop its descent onto it and Clodsire.

Line.

He watches closely, keeping a close eye on Clodsire in case Rika decides to order it to move from behind the safety of Copperajah, so he sees the moment the Copperderm Pokémon manages to start breaking the attack.

And sinker.

The Continental Crush breaks into millions of pieces as Ash orders, “Bayleef! Razor Leaf!”

It speaks to their time together that she understands exactly what he wants, spinning up a ferocious storm of leaves, the momentum sending a million pieces of rocks and debris flying towards their opponents.

Then, unexpectedly, even to him, the leaves start turning into petals as Bayleef glows, her neck lengthening and the buds unfolding.

And when the glow fades out, Meganium stands there, a Petal Dance spurring on the onslaught of shattered Continental Crush.

But it isn’t over.

“Stomping Tantrum!”

“Accelerock!”

The thing is, though, evolution brings out new powers, new abilities, and, maybe it’s also because of exposure to Torterra, but Meganium’s Stomping Tantrum becomes Earthquake, which is not quite ideal for a tag battle with Lycanroc.

So, instead, he has her stop, hoping that Meganium’s new body won’t impede her from executing their own Z-Move.

“Let's finish this Meganium!” he encourages as he strikes his final pose. “Bloom Doom!”

And the Z-move hits.

And the Tera on their opponents’ heads both shatter.

Ash pauses for a moment before cheering, getting met with a huge mass of green and pink only moments later.

“Good job, Meganium,” he praises as she assaults him with nuzzles and nudges.

“Well, that was fun.”

He looks up at Olivia, who has a grin on her face, Lycanroc exhausted but still standing at her heels.

”That was,” he agrees.

She hums, patting Meganium on her neck. “You love him a lot, don’t you?”

”Ma!”

”He is, isn’t he?” And with a loaded expression towards him, she adds, “Definitely someone worth lending a hand to.”

With that, he realizes that Olivia hadn’t questioned him when he asked her to perform that Z-Move despite the timing being so unusual. And it wasn’t just that moment either. Ever since they set off together, she’s been curious, but she never pushed, just stayed there like a pillar of support.

Huh.

“Hey, Olivia?” he asks as Meganium gives him room to get up. “You know you didn’t have to, right? Joining the Elite Four, coming here with me?”

”I know,” she tells him, reaching a hand out. “But even heroes need a hand sometimes, right?”

Somehow, that makes something shift in his chest, like the last foundational beam has settled, and it makes him reach a hand out, letting her pull him up.

He grins. “Yeah. And speaking of helping…”

Ash doesn’t know what makes him think of it, but it’s out of his mouth before he knows it, and Olivia looks at him, expression inviting.

“Boldore has been wanting to evolve. I would ask Brock, but could you…lend a hand?”

The kahuna smiles.

“It’d be an honor.”

Chapter Text

Kukui can’t say that he doesn’t do his due diligence. It’s kinda required to be a professor and teacher because there are so many nitty-gritty rules and guidelines and requirements that people expect, and that kind of due diligence that comes from his career easily bleeds into his everyday life. For the most part, it just means he’s most thorough, going above and beyond to make sure everything is in order and will run smoothly. Sure, he has his moments where he probably could have thought things through a little more (like the whole Masked Royal fiasco Molayne had helped him with), but, for the most part, Kukui can say he’s thorough.

But, despite it probably being a good idea to check the Trainer profile of his boarder before agreeing to house him, he didn’t.

In his Iron Defense, though, Professor Oak and Principal Oak had vouched for Ash, so who was Kukui to second-guess them?

So when Augustine asks after Ash, Kukui is both surprised and not, the latter only because he's realized Ash knows a lot of famous people.

”You know Ash?” he asks, taking his attention away from his calendar as he tries to book a flight to Kalos.

Generally speaking, a lot of Pokémon Professors can collaborate because so many things in the Pokémon world are connected, and this time is no different. Because why is evolution a precursor to some moves being learned by Pokémon? Is it just because their forms change? Or is it because of something else? Why are some moves required before a Pokémon can evolve?

And it's those sorts of questions that have Kukui getting ready to Fly out to meet Augustine across the world.

“He did us a great favor.”

Kukui blinks, trying to think of any acknowledgement of Kalos from Ash’s lengthy stories, but coming up blank.

“I mean, he’s Champion of Alola,” he says, not knowing what to say to that but knowing he should reply to how Ash is doing.

Augustine chuckles. “I heard. I’m glad. He deserves it.”

”He does. Not that it’s stopping him from getting stronger. He’s doing the WCS right now.”

”Oh. Then maybe I’ll see if I can flag him down if he ever comes. I know Kalos participates, considering how often my assistant goes to look for battles.”

And it’s that statement that has Kukui thinking of the most brilliant idea ever, and, before he knows it, he’s persuading Ash to join him for a day or two once he’s done in Paldea, since the two regions are neighbors. Paldea, as far as he knows, doesn't compete in the WCS, but Kalos does, so the teen can get some battles in. Then, they can get back to Alola together. It’s a great idea!

Or so he thought.

Because now, weeks later and in the middle of a relatively foreign region, he’s realizing that his lack of knowledge of Ash’s background and overall Trainer profile might be coming back to Bite him.

“Ash-“

”I get it. Just drop it, Alain.”

His student is as stiff as a board, unbudging in a way that he’s never seen. In a way, it’s like Ash had used Iron Defense and all the screen moves known to fortify himself.

“Hey, Alain, how about you go check on Garchomp and the others?” Augustine suggests, getting in between them, Kukui still at a loss about what to do.

The young man nods, backing away several meters before turning to exit the room they’re in, and Augustine turns to them apologetically, Ash in particular.

“I’m terribly sorry, Ash. I didn’t realize…”

”It’s fine, Professor Sycamore.”

”You know, he’s really sorry about what happened.”

”I know. It’s just…hard, you know?”

Augustine grimaces before turning to him. “Sorry, Kukui, I didn’t mean to put a damper on our research.”

They were, indeed, in the middle of a very fascinating discussion when Ash had arrived, followed very closely by Alain, who Augustine hadn’t expected to show up today. “It’s fine. It’s time for a break anyway.”

”Oh, then how about some lunch? My assistants know all the best places for take-out.”

Kukui glances over at Ash, the teen still looking uncomfortable being here. “I think Ash and I will do some sightseeing.”

Fortunately, Augustine understands what his intentions are and nods at them. “That sounds like a good plan. How about we break for three hours? That should give you enough time to see the major parts of the city and grab something to eat. And Ash-“ Here, Augustine looks at Kukui’s student again. “Maybe take a stroll in the forest? His job might be almost done, but I think he’d appreciate a visit.”

Ash nods tightly before pulling something out of his pocket. “Can you check to see who this is for? Yamper found it.”

In his hand is a small orb, the middle bearing the obvious symbol of Mega Evolution, this one in gray-purple and blue. Privately, Kukui wonders how Yamper found a Mega Stone, but he really shouldn’t be surprised by anything that happens around Ash anymore.

Augustine doesn’t seem surprised either, taking it from the teen with a smile. “I’ll let you know by the time you get back.”

So, with that, he and Ash set out to find lunch, and he only has to ask Ash to not be on his phone while walking once - goodness, how can this kid be so clueless with a phone yet so frustratingly like every other teen - before they find a nice-looking restaurant to eat in.

Then, an exuberant young girl joins them minutes later, jumping onto a chair with a Bounce and a Dedenne perched on her head.

“Hi Ash! Hi Pikachu!”

”Hey Bonnie! Hey Dedenne!” Ash greets in return with a grin, his earlier tension with Alain completely melting away in the face of this girl. “Where’s your brother?”

The girl, Bonnie, sighs dramatically. “He had another challenger come in when we were leaving, and Clembot’s on charge.”

Ash grimaces. “What happened?”

”What do you think?”

The deadpan tone Bonnie gives draws a chuckle out of him, and it’s only then that she looks at him.

“Oh! I’m sorry! Hi, I’m Bonnie!”

”I’m Professor Kukui.”

”The professor Ash was living with!”

”That’s me.”

Somehow, that ropes him into the conversation, Bonnie asking all about Ash’s adventures in Alola, exchanging stories from Kalos in return. Briefly, Kukui wonders if these are stories that Ash is comfortable with sharing, but one look at the teen and his indulgent expression tells Kukui all he needs to know.

Ash will make an amazing big brother.

“Can I come visit Greninja with you? You are visiting, right? Or have you already?” Bonnie asks as they prepare to leave after an hour of eating and story exchanges which gives Kukui a lot more information about Ash‘s adventures than before.

“Of course. I was going to head to the forests after this.” His student looks at him. “You’re welcome to come, too, Professor.”

He goes, of course, because how could he not?

And whoa.

Kukui has heard rumors, of course. He’s heard all the ones surrounding the Kalos Crisis and the events that led to a lot of that year’s League footage being kept from the public eye. He’s heard about the players, of the swarm of Mega Evolutions that had hit the League this year, including a new Greninja evolution.

And, somehow, with all of that and all the mind-boggling things that happen around Ash Ketchum, he still hadn’t put two and two together.

But now he does, staring at the Greninja - Ash’s Greninja - in front of him.

It has his head spinning as he tries to wrap his mind around it despite the fact it shouldn’t be entirely surprisingly. This is Ash, who has a Mew and Latias registered onto his Trainer profile, whose home on Treasure Island is protected by a Lugia, who holds a much more important position in the universe if Olivia’s willingness to put some kahuna work aside is any indication of, and whose presence on Alola had summoned Tapu Koko.

So what is a strange evolution on top of all of that?

It still doesn’t make it easy, though, and Kukui also finds himself biting back the urge to ask Ash and Greninja to show him some moves, his academic brain wondering what difference, if any, this evolution has on its moves.

Ethics aside, he refuses to be that kind of person, especially with Ash, so he keeps all of his thoughts to himself even as Greninja takes care of a few vines that are definitely not natural and it enters a discussion with Ash that must be about when it can return to its trainer’s side if Kukui has all the context correct.

Then they’re back at Augustine’s lab sans Bonnie, and Kukui breathes a sigh of relief when they’re told Alain has gone home because he really doesn’t want Ash to be upset when it was his idea to get the teen here. He also can’t help but be relieved because his brain is still working through the information dump that is Ash.

So, unless Augustine does him dirty, he should be safe.

“It’s a Latiosite.”

The declaration surprises Kukui. There is research about the Mega Evolutions of legendary Pokémon, of course, but they’re exceedingly rare, happening mainly out in nature where a Pokémon’s natural strength triggers it. Because finding a Mega Stone for a legendary? It’s almost impossible.

“That’s amazing,” he finds himself saying when Ash falls silent, staring at the Mega Stone that Augustine returned to him after stating that it was Ash who found it, therefore who it belongs to. “Too bad it’s not a Latiasite though. You’d have something else to deal with Dynamax then.”

Not that Z-Moves are a terrible counter to Dynamax, of course. Ash had told him all the thoughts he had about it, how a Z-Move seems just big enough to do decent damage to a Dynamaxed Pokémon and how the reversion of Dynamax would allow him to execute a Z-move without having to worry about incoming attacks. But they had also discussed other options like Mega Evolution that would do well if a battle is dragged out or less reliant on power which is becoming more and more likely as Kukui looks into who exactly the Master 8 usually are.

But that doesn’t seem to be something Ash is thinking about, his face blank and looking a lot farther away than to the Mega Stone in his hand.

“You’re not thinking about the chances of a Latios showing up at your door, right?”

He wouldn’t bet against that happening if he’s being honest.

Ash finally unfreezes. “No. The only one I know - the only one I knew - hasn’t been around for a while.”

Oh.

Augustine did him dirty, didn’t he?

“Hey, Professor Sycamore, I’m gonna leave this with you, okay?” Ash asks, handing the Mega Stone over like it had suddenly caught on fire.

“Are you sure, Ash?”

”Yeah. Just…consider it a loan or something. But I’m just- I’m just going to find some battles.”

His student is out of there with Extremespeed, and Kukui groans.

Yep. Augustine definitely did him one dirty.

His big mouth, too.

Chapter Text

Mallow isn’t sure what she was expecting when class got back in session after their long weekend. Somehow, it wasn’t Ash having a new Pokémon from his brief trip to Paldea and Kalos.

The Champion looks entirely jetlagged, even as he trudges into class and Pikachu hops off his shoulder to chitter to the Pokémon already in the room. In Ash’s arms, however, is a new Pokémon.

“Ash, what is that?” she asks out of curiosity.

He blinks a few times like he’s unclear about where he is before looking at her and down at the Pokémon in his arms. “Oh, this is Fidough. Fidough, this is Mallow.” He gestures to the others already in the room as he introduces them. “These are Lillie, Kiawe, Lana, and Sophocles.”

The Pokémon being addressed barks in greeting.

It's sooooo cute! Buns on the side of its head, a little loaf of bread as a body-

“It became fast friends with Yamper and decided to tag along when we were leaving,” Ash explains like that's the biggest question here, patting Fidough's head while the Pokemon looks around curiously but not making a move to leave the safety of Ash's arms.

But Mallow doesn't particularly care about how Ash caught Fidough, though she doesn't mean it in a heartless way. It's just that they're very well aware that a good portion of Ash's Pokémon had decided out of their own will to follow him rather than the Trainer catching them, so it's not surprising. Instead, she wants to know more about Fidough!

“Dog-gone it, Ash, you should specialize in dog Pokémon,” Lana says, a joke that has Mallow and Sophocles groaning as her best friend snickers.

Kiawe frowns, looking skeptical about the idea. “Is that a thing?”

Ash tilts his head to the side, thinking, while Fidough jumps down to greet the other Pokémon. “Lucy has a Seviper and a Milotic.”

Professor Kukui walks in at that exact moment, carrying a big stack of papers that were probably the work they had done the day he was off to make an appointment in Kalos, also looking a bit jetlagged like Ash. “What are we talking about?” he asks, setting down the papers.

“We were wondering if there are Trainers who specialize in a certain shape of Pokémon because Ash seems to be in the process of building one with dogs,” Lillie explains.

Sophocles pipes up, phone in hand. “According to my research, there are Trainers that do it.”

Kukui nods in agreement. “Yes, especially in certain professions or hobbies. Jugglers, for example, have a high chance of having spherical Pokémon. Or Bird Keepers have, as you may guess, mainly avians. So I'd say that, if you want to, Ash, having a team of canines is something viable.”

“And you have half a team already,” Sophocles says, obviously invested in this despite it not being his team they're talking about. “You already have a Rock and Electric type with Lycanroc and Yamper-”

“Yamper’s not a battler,” Ash reminds them.

“-and Fidough covers Fairy.”

Mallow looks at the cute pup, who’s curiously butting noises with Petilil, and thinks that tracks.

“If we're including all canines, what about a Vulpix?” Lillie suggests, and Mallow watches Snowy pause in her running around with Shaymin nearby to look in her Trainer’s direction at the suggestion, yipping her agreement.

Sophocles shakes his head. “That would overlap with Fidough's typing, though.”

“Kantonian Vulpix is a Fire-type.”

“He could also get a Houndoom,” Kiawe suggests.

Wait. Why are they even suggesting these things to begin with?

“Do you even want a canine team?” she asks quietly, not knowing if she should step in or not, especially when Lana adds her two cents, making it a full-blown conversation.

Because her best friend sure loves spurring on chaos.

Ash shrugs. “Never really thought about it.”

“But if we're just-”

“A Zorua-”

“Maybe a-”

“That definitely doesn’t-”

“What do you mean-”

“It counts!”

“Based on the information-”

At this point, even the professor seems unsure if he should step in, and he's their teacher!

Mallow sighs. Even Lillie, ever the information-lover, seems to be too immersed in this conversation, trying hard in her determined, soft-spoken way to fight for vulpines’ rights to be considered.

“If we're making the qualifications vague, Ash should get a Lucario!”

“I'm not getting a Lucario.”

He didn't raise his voice, but the way Ash says it makes everyone stop.

“I’m not getting a Lucario,” he repeats, voice still as hard and firm as before.

In the corner of her eyes, she sees Professor Kukui reach behind him, likely for the Pokéball holding his own Lucario, in reaction to Ash's apparent dislike for the species.

But is it dislike? She finds it hard to imagine Ash disliking a Pokémon. Even with the Ultra Beasts, she can't recall Ash ever saying much, if anything, negative about them besides a light annoyance at them causing people trouble. So, just some history he has with the Lucario species that makes him not want to have one? But he didn't seem to have a reaction when he saw the Professor's Lucario during the League.

Lillie is the first one to come back to her senses. “Oh, we're terribly sorry, Ash. We got ahead of ourselves.”

“It's fine,” the Champion says, though it's obvious he's not.

Mallow meets Lillie's eyes, and she knows that she's not the only one to think that.

Time to provide a distraction! “Hey, Sophocles said Fidough is a Fairy-type, right?”

The raven-haired teen blinks at her. “Yeah?”

“Well, I think it's time for some taste-testing then! Because our only Fairy-type is Snowy, but she's part Ice. So let's go over to my place and I'll cook everyone something up! There's gotta be something I can base a treat for Fidough off of!”

At the prospect of food, Ash's eyes light up, and Mallow gives herself a mental pat on the back.

Food is the best solution for everything! And getting to try a new recipe? It's a win-win and she's rearing to go!

“Well, I think that means we should get our lesson started then!”

After class, though.

Chapter Text

Ash has to admit that having a phone is super handy. He’s able to connect with his friends a lot more now - Dawn and the others insist on ‘checking in’ with him at least once a week now that they can - his WCS stuff is all on there, and it’s like he has a timeline in the palm of his hands with how many photos of his Pokémon he takes!

It’s still not something he’s really used to having, though. He’s constantly leaving it everywhere, and it’s such a problem that no one is even surprised when they find it somewhere, whether that’s in the kitchen at home - Brock has had to stop by the Pokémon School to give it to him at least a dozen times now - or at school or in the wilderness, anymore. He’s constantly forgetting to charge it, so it dies halfway through the day 46.7% of the time (according to Sophocles).

And he keeps on forgetting to turn the sound off, damnit.

So when his phone rings in the middle of class, he doesn’t even put up a fight anymore, resigning himself to having whoever it is announce themselves to his friends.

At least he’s well-assured that nothing will scare them or make them think differently anymore.

(Well, he says nothing, but they don’t know everything, do they?)

”Hello?” he says once he picks up the call and puts it on speaker, according to the class rules when a phone rings.

“Ash?”

Oh great. Just great. It’s not someone the class doesn’t know about, which means he doesn’t have to answer questions, but this is going to be fun nonetheless.

“Hey, Lance.”

”Good. I’m glad to get a hold of you. Is there any way you’re at home right now?”

Ash deadpans even though the man can’t see him. “It’s the middle of the day on a Monday, man. What do you think?”

Somewhere in the back of his mind, the kid in him - the ten-year-old who looked up to Lance and couldn’t help but wish to meet him - is still mortified at how he talks to his native region’s champion. But, in his defense, he’s been in a group chat with Lance and the others for far too long - yes, he’s aware it hasn’t even been three months - for the hero worship to have lasted.

The man huffs. “Fine.”

His phone beeps as the line goes dead, and he would be worried he’s finally upset the man if not for the fact that he has a secret weapon in his freezer right now.

“Finally caught you.”

Ash snaps out of his musings about how to train his newly-caught Gengar and blinks up at a ruffled Lance, his disguise - if one could even call it that - so terrible and headache-inducing that Ash has to look over the Champion’s shoulder rather than directly at him.

“Hey,” he grins, omitting the name in honor of supposed discretion. “Sorry, I can't get ice cream right now. The plane's about to leave.”

Like he needs to prove a point, he waves at the gate he’s been sitting in front of for the last half hour.

Lance huffs, dropping into the seat beside him. “Of course. Just when I got back in time to see you, too. But for the record, my favorite ice cream flavor is vanilla.”

Ash frowns. “Just vanilla?”

“Just vanilla.”

“You need to live a little.”

They had talked a little before Ash had flown back, and, when he found out that Lance was coming in a day earlier than the rest of the champions, he had bought vanilla ice cream and invited Lance to stay over on Treasure Island.

He did look up to the man at one point, after all.

And, okay, Lance is still pretty cool in his books. He’s probably Ash’s second-favorite champion after Cynthia.

(Iris should be his favorite, though, shouldn’t she?)

Right now, though, Ash is just confused.

Because why did Lance call him in the middle of the day?

The answer comes when a soft thump sounds from outside their classroom, followed by a bellow that does not sound too familiar.

Not too familiar, but familiar nonetheless.

As in, the cry does not belong to a fellow schoolmate, but it does belong to someone else.

“He's early,” Ash says to no one in particular before he even pokes his head out to confirm his guess or check his phone. Then, he decides it's better not to drag this out and gets out of his desk with an approving nod from Kukui so that he can get downstairs.

Latias - as Bianca since she's been sitting in class as a ‘student’ after finding the concept of school curious - intercepts him, though, with an excited croon. Before he knows it, she has him and Pikachu in a psychic hold, floating him out the window and down into the courtyard, following after him with a quick transformation.

Huh, that was cool, and it's good to know she's comfortable with the people around him - even the ones he's not particularly close to - that she'd show herself so easily.

“Pikachu!” his partner greets, jumping onto Dragonite's head, earning himself a croon in return.

“You’re early,” Ash states the obvious as Lance jumps down from the Dragon Pokémon. “Weren't you supposed to arrive Thursday?”

Lance gives him an unimpressed look, patting his partner's arm to get his attention. “Hello to you, too. And, yes, but we had a change of plans.”

“You didn't say anything.”

The other champion takes a box from Dragonite. “Well, it was a little bit of a last-minute decision. But it’s best if we talk about this in private.”

Oh no.

=======================

Private ends up being at a little restaurant on the edge of the woods run by Team Rocket due to the fact that Lance has not eaten yet.

“Are you sure this is…safe?” Lance asks when he realizes just who's running the place.

“Whatcha implying there, eh?” Meowth asks, giving them a plate of malasadas. They aren't quite up to Aina's Kitchen standards, but Ash thinks they’re pretty good for a trio that hasn't been cooking them long. Besides, it's almost lunch, which means all of the other good spots are going to be crowded.

“They've retired,” he tells Lance, digging in.

“Okay.”

Ash rolls his eyes. “They’re not that bad. You know that.”

Lance frowns before choosing a plain malasada - because of course, the vanilla ice cream lover would go for the plain ones - and trying it. “That’s good.”

“It's not bad, all things considered.”

James, who Ash knows is the one mainly doing the cooking and had come by to see how they like the food, puffs up proudly, a gesture mirrored by Mareanie. “Of course they are!”

“And we are retired, if you're gonna be a skeptic,” Meowth adds, obviously not letting Lance's comment go even as James leaves them to it. “Full benefits and everything.”

Ash steps in before anything else can be said. “He didn’t mean anything about it, Meowth. It’s just a habit from his job. Right?”

He sends Lance a look, hoping to convey they'll talk about the whole Team Rocket retiring thing later. He understands that the G-Man has probably seen way too much involving the organization to trust the trio, but there's no need to hash it all out here.

Because even though Kukui excused him from school for the rest of the day, Ash would still like to get out of here before dark, thank you very much.

“Right,” the man acquiesces, passing Dragonite a pecha berry malasada to try.

Fortunately, Meowth doesn't push as a Stufful sniffs its way into the restaurant, drawing the Scratch Cat Pokémon away from them.

“So, what do you want to talk about?”

“Two things, actually. One, I want to have a public battle with you, and I want you to think about what other Trainers in Alola you would consider the strongest.”

Ash frowns, the idea making his blood sing but also making him confused. “Not that I wouldn’t love to battle you, but…why?”

Lance sighs, taking another bite of a malasada. “Your trip to Paldea has brought to light some issues that we should have thought about with the Alola League.”

“Shouldn't you talk to Professor Kukui then?”

“Yes. But you have the best idea about what the world looks like, what each region thinks about when it comes to strength.”

Okay, Ash is at a complete loss here, and it seems that Lance knows it, too, when he continues.

“The easiest way to put it is this: Alola's battling reputation is terrible.”

Ash bristles at the slightest against his chosen home, but Lance doesn't let him say anything, rolling over him like he knows exactly what Ash wants to say.

“That's why Geeta refused to battle you, Ash. Stick up her ass aside - it's true, don't give me that look - she didn’t think your battling abilities would be worth battling against. Because Alola has an undeniable reputation for not having experienced or competitive battling. And the battle royale thing the Alola League did as the preliminaries? It was kinda barbaric to some people.”

“And you? Some people are saying you're only champion because it's Alola. Sure, some people see your strength, but, Ash, they're not saying it's because of Alola. It's because you're Kantonian.”

“So you see now? In the eyes of most people, the Alola League is kind of a farce.”

Ash can feel the indignation for the region bubbling under his skin, and he chews on his malasada with more force than necessary. He can't deny anything Lance is saying, though. He is Kantonian, and Alola really doesn’t have a history in competitive battling. That’s part of the charm that drew Ash in after the disaster that was Kalos.

“You think a battle will change that?” he asks instead of blowing up, though it's a very close thing.

“Not entirely, but it's a start. There’s nothing we can do about the Kantonian part, but a battle with me will at least show people who doubt your abilities your strength. And we'll arrange for other well-known battlers to compete with anyone you think will put in a good enough battle to show the world Alola's strength. It's better than trying to persuade people with conferences and interviews.”

“Won't they just think it's…staged?”

“Maybe. But it’s better than not trying.”

Ash mulls it over despite knowing what his answer will be. International relations and reputation aside, he will never turn down a good battle.

“I’ll battle you. As for everyone else, you've got the kahunas. Olivia and Hala are on the Elite Four, but the other two are strong in their own right. The professor says that Kahili and Molayne - the other two on the Elite Four - have quite a good battling background. Gladion's good, but he’s on a training trip. Hau and Kiawe are viable options.”

“Okay, that’s a good start. We'll figure out who to battle who once we can get some options going.”

Ash nods. “And the second thing?”

If he were to put a label on it, he'd say Lance is nervous, but he’s not a champion and G-Man for nothing, so Ash pushes that thought to the side. “This is why I wanted to talk to you in private, actually.”

The man puts the box from earlier on the table, and Pikachu ignores its ketchup-filled malasada (which he still needs to talk to Team Rocket about) to lean forward and give it a curious sniff just as Lance pulls the covers off and-

It’s an Egg.

And even if it weren't for the fact that he’s finally able to tell why there's been a tingling under his skin since Lance arrived, he'd know what kind of Pokémon it is based on the black and blue with a small yellow ring alone.

His partner abandons its food entirely to make his way over to his side, ears pressed against its head. “Pikapi.”

“I know.”

How could he not?

“Professor Elm gave me this egg,” Lance says, each word measured. “It was given to him after it got transferred to every Pokémon Center in the Kanto and Johto region, each one hoping that they'll be able to find why it refuses to hatch.”

“And you thought of me,” Ash infers, hand coming up to brush through Pikachu's fur as his partner lets out a worried ‘chu’.

“I know what happened in Rota.”

“Of course you do.”

He knows he probably sounds hollow, but what else can he do in the face of a reminder of a long-lost friend he failed to save? Besides, Lance knows.

“And I wouldn’t give this to you if I thought there was any other way. But I think it'd have the best chance with you.”

“Why? Because of an ability I don't use? Or because I’m the Chosen One?”

Why him?

“Because you’re you. And if there's one thing you're good at, it's motivating others.”

Ash looks away from Lance's sincerity and the Egg, settling on Mime Jr., twirling on the cashier counter.

“Can I think about it?”

He hates to let Lance down. He hates that he can't help this egg’s inhabitant get into this world.

But it’s a lot.

(What if he fails again?)

“Of course. In the meantime-” The other taps his arm, drawing Ash's attention back to him, before leaning in and whispering, “Can you introduce me?”

Ash follows Lance's line of sight until it settles on Latias, the Eon Pokémon happily munching on a malasada with Dragonite and the other Pokémon. Then, he looks back at Lance, who looks way too much like a kid in a candy store over meeting a Dragon-type.

See? How could his hero worship have lasted?

But it’s at least something he can do right now.

“Of course.”

Chapter Text

Sophocles might have died. How else was he supposed to explain how he’s in heaven?

He can practically hear the information being loaded onto his computer even as his eyes are glued to the battle before him, trusting his battle analysis system to do all the work so he can go through the information later.

And he can't wait for later.

He's already looked over plenty of information regarding Ash's battling now that they're progressively seeing all of his Pokémon in action during Ash and Kiawe's weekly battles, and, while the Kantonian's style hasn't changed much, Sophocles is pretty proud to say he's put together some pretty good data about the full range of Ash's capabilities.

But this is going to let him add a lot more.

“Meet it head-on with Darkest Lariat!”

Sophocles grimaces at the tactic, but if there's one thing that tops Ash's Pokémon's abilities, it's definitely determination, just like their Trainer.

But cutting through a Dragon Dance boosted Scale Shot from a Champion's Gyarados?

Ouch.

Incineroar manages though, looking exhausted from the battle but still on its feet even as it stops spinning in front of its opponent.

“Fire Punch!”

“Aqua Tail!”

And Sophocles might not be the best battler there is despite the training he's been doing, but even he can tell that Incineroar had anticipated that command, launching its attack much faster than Gyarados, and even a part Water-type can't withstand a STAB move after the long battle it's had.

It’s two to one now.

Sophocles chances a look at Kiawe to see how the Fire-type specialist is reacting to the battle because Sophocles knows Kiawe had asked for all-out battles against their Champion. But this Ash? Sudden strategies aside, this seems like a completely different side of him.

Was the Kantonian style of battling really that different? He'll have to do some research on it.

For now, though, satisfied that Kiawe seems more determined to see Ash win for Alola instead of anything else, he turns back to the battlefield as Lance sends out his last Pokémon and-

Hold up.

“It's glowing!”

His observation draws the attention of everyone around him, the two battlers the only ones unaware of what's happening, though Kiawe and Lana are obviously more invested in the battle, the latter despite Lance's Water-type being knocked out.

But Sophocles can't wait around for them, nor does he think he can stop the battle with Lance's phone recording. Instead, he opens the new system he invented for Pokémon Eggs - he didn't have one when Ash had asked him to take a look at it, Lance in tow, but Sophocles never backed down from a chance to get information about something - to scan the unhatchable Egg that seems to be hatching.

Why now, though? The scans had come back to show the Egg in perfect health when he analyzed it, matching all the results from the Pokémon Centers that had had the Egg in their care, so it can't be something he missed.

Right?

The numbers look stronger now, though, he thinks as his computer is done scanning the Egg, not a beat slower despite the simultaneous things it's doing. What he can't figure out is why now of all times.

“Professor?” he asks, wondering if this would be something the man would know being a professor and all.

“I'm afraid Pokémon Eggs are a little out of my specialty.”

“But don't Pokémon have Egg Moves?” Lillie wonders before looking appalled at questioning the professor.

“Well, yes, but this concerns the hatching part of the process, not the breeding for moves or the moves themselves.”

Mallow reaches for the incubator's top. “We should at least take the cover off, right?”

With a nod of approval from Professor Kukui, Mallow slowly takes the cover off just as the glow fades.

Huh?

Sophocles is confused now. “Is that…normal?”

“Not particularly,” Professor Kukui admits. “They'll sometimes flash, but when they're glowing steadily, the glow usually doesn't fade.”

Lillie frowns, concerned. “Then why would it stop?”

He shrugs, watching the numbers go back to normal again. “Guess we'll have to wait until it happens again to collect the data.”

“Thunderbolt!”

The sound of Ash's voice, command quickly falling, draws all of their attention back to the battlefield.

“One to one now?” Mallow asks.

Lana nods. “Hyper Beam.”

Yeah, that would do it. “So it's only the aces now.”

“Incineroar fought valiantly,” Kiawe defends, even though no one is saying it didn’t. Sceptile had taken out Lance's Hydreigon and had gotten a few hits in on Gyarados, but Incineroar had definitely done most of the damage to the Atrocious Pokemon.

It's with bated breath that their conversation dies down as Pikachu takes a nasty hit from a Fire Punch, unable to dodge it after just landing a Quick Attack. The Mouse Pokémon quickly regroups, though, swinging an Iron Tail to meet another Fire Punch, getting ready to launch a Thunderbolt on command.

This is going to give him plenty of information for sure.

The battle goes from close combat to long distance soon enough, and Sophocles really wants to break down all the little details of Lance's Dragonite's Hyper Beam recharge, even as Ash uses the time to get a Thunderbolt in.

Was the recharge time shorter with a high-level Pokémon like Dragonite? Or is it proportional to the power?

He definitely needs to talk to the professor about it.

Suddenly, a Dragon Tail smashes into the ground, followed closely by a Hurricane that sends the debris from the first attack in Pikachu's direction, putting Ash on defense with Electrowebs and dodging.

Sophocles has no idea how Ash does it.

Finally, he sees it.

Ash moves just subtly enough - just like his information says - to indicate that he's going to execute a Z-Move just as Dragonite needs to recharge from another Hyper Beam.

It's good timing. Great even.

But the downside of Z-Moves is the time it takes to get them ready. No matter how much anyone practices - and he's definitely gathered a lot of information on it - there's no shortcut if they want their Z-Move to be executed perfectly.

So by the time Ash is finished Gigacolt Havoc (wait, why Gigavolt and not-), Dragonite already has another Hyper Beam firing, the two moves colliding, crashing, and-

It’s a draw.

The backlash and explosion from the collision had hit both Pikachu and Dragonite, and the two were already so exhausted from their back and forth barrage of attacks and defenses that it knocked them both out.

Woah.

They swarm the two champions as the Pokémon are returned/retrieved, Lana gushing about Gyarados, Kiawe standing silently probably to ask for a battle from the Kanto/Johto champion, Mallow declaring they should go eat to celebrate, Lillie looking amazed, and Professor Kukui looking at Ash proudly.

As for him-

A bark interrupts his thoughts, and he’d be annoyed if it wasn't for the fact that none of their Pokémon barks in that pitch.

Which means-

A look back over at the sidelines reveals what he thought.

The Egg had hatched, and in its place stands a Riolu, staring at Ash.

Chapter Text

This is not turning out how Kukui thought it’d be.

He’s sitting in the conference room in Manalo Stadium, surrounded by some of the strongest battlers in the world, and-

It’s just a chaotic sort of reunion?

“I always thought you’d do well with a ghost,” Agatha, Ghost-Type specialist and Viridian City Gym Leader (which, what?), on top of being one of Kanto’s Elite Four, says. “I’m glad Gengar found you and your creative tactics, Ash Ketchum.”

Ash smiles bashfully. “It’s all Gengar, really. He’s something else.”

”Ash has always had a good head on his shoulder,” Cynthia, Champion of Sinnoh and lover of sweets, adds after swallowing a mouthful of malasada catered by Aina’s Kitchen. “These are really good, by the way. Please give Mallow’s family my greatest commendations.”

It goes on and on like that, and Kukui really isn’t sure what to do about the summit that’s supposed to be going on. Instead, he looks at the corner filled with Pokémon, specifically at Riolu, the previous inhabitant of that strange egg that had hatched at the end of Ash and Lance’s battle, and that was as persistent as a Pursuit about following his student despite the arm’s length that Ash has been keeping it at.

He lets his mind wander onto the why, a mystery that’s been on his mind for the last 48 hours because Kukui will admit he peeked into Ash’s trainer record a little after the Kalos fiasco as a sort of Future Sight to prevent a repeat, looking at the Trainer’s full roster of Pokémon, both current and previous. There hadn’t been a Latios, and there hadn’t been a Lucario or Riolu. There had been, however, notes showing that Ash had hatched and raised Pokémon from Eggs before.

So if it wasn’t an issue of a former Pokémon under his care or concern about raising a Pokémon from an Egg, then it has to be something else that’s causing Ash's reaction to the Emanation Pokémon, a reaction that makes him worried out of his mind. Because Ash has always loved Pokémon. From the first day Kukui had known him, Ash flocked to Pokémon, from the Luvdisc in his home that no one ever seemed excited over to the Tapus that people worshipped.

So this?

Worrisome.

And Kukui wants to help Ash get over whatever it is that’s stopping him from accepting Riolu like he’s accepted so many other Pokémon.

He’s just not sure how.

Like his thoughts are being read, Lance catches his eye, giving him a slight shake of his head when the champion notices where Kukui is looking.

Right. Lance knows.

“Don't.”

Kukui turns around, a bit of anger directed at the red-haired man who's stopping him from going after Ash, from going after his kid. He can't show it, of course, not with the rest of his class here, all of them shocked at how Ash had beelined it out of the stadium on Charizard when Riolu had approached him, but his irritation can barely be concealed when he tells Lance, “Ash is my responsibility.”

“And he needs space.”

“From what?”

“From the past.”

Kukui appreciates Lance for respecting Ash and not saying anything else, of course, but that doesn't mean Kukui wouldn't like to know.

(Especially because he swears he's been seeing a familiar blue flash across Ash's eyes several times now, and he thought he’d have to schedule an optometrist appointment for the teen before it clicked that the blue was Aura blue, making it risky territory to ask about.)

Because he wants to lend a Helping Hand to his kid, damnit, but he can’t when he doesn't know anything.

“Alright, people,” Diantha announces during a slight lull in conversation. “Anything we have to officially address before we continue?"

Steven Stone twists his fancy pen in his hand. “Well, Lance and Ash's battle.”

“Yes, that was a great battle, you two. Did you intentionally go for the double knockout?”

“That's not really either of your style, though,” Cynthia adds, and Lucian, her Elite Four representative, closes his book as the topic makes a U-turn into more serious territory.

“Well, no,” Lance admits. “We talked about it being the best outcome, yes, but we never planned it out to end that way. It was just a friendly exhibition match to showcase what Ash can do.”

Kukui nods, having been there for that conversation.

“Friendly, he says,” Steven parrots, a small smirk on his face. “Like he wasn't reaching for his Mega Stone multiple times.”

“You would, too.”

“Why didn't you Mega Evolve Gyarados?” Sidney asks with something akin to a sneer. “Not doing it is pretty much a throw.”

Steven gives his Elite Four representative a side eye. “Ash didn't use 10-Million-Volt Thunderbolt either.”

Kukui parses that interaction briefly, wondering why Steven was so defensive of his fellow champions’ decisions not to go all-out. Because at least Ash had a Z-Move. Lance didn't. Friendly match or not, going all-out would have leveled the playing field.

His musings must have made him miss something, though, because Ash is suddenly saying, “I will let you look at my Z-crystal later, Steven.”

With an eye roll.

“Ash,” Kukui warns in a whisper. Friends or not, was it really necessary to roll his eyes at international representatives in an official meeting?

“We're all friends here,” Diantha reassures. “Ash has never met Sidney or Drasna before today, but just give it a day.”

He sighs. See what he means by this not being what he expected?

Then again, when has the expected happened around Ash?

“Or a battle.”

“Or an emergency.”

Olivia raises a brow at Lance's addition. “That bad?”

Was he missing something here?

But Lance seems to get it and nods solemnly. “That bad.”

“It is not,” Ash defends, whatever the accusation is. Maybe Ash's tendency to be a trouble magnet? “I didn’t meet anyone else during an emergency!”

“Does getting chased by a horde of Aron count?”

Ash rolls his eyes again like the teen he is, but Kukui lets him be. If the majority is fine with it, then it's fine, he supposes.

“Anyway, I sent out that list Ash gave me,” Lance says. “We need to figure out the best way to organize some more battles.”

“We could have some now,” Kukui lets them know. “Olivia is here, and Hala and Molayne are in Alola. Kahili is on a PR trip, though. Also, the Alola League will, of course, be the ones traveling to your respective regions for these battles to make it easier on everyone helping us.”

Diantha gives him a grateful smile. “We are more than glad to do some traveling too, but that will make it easier for some of my Trainers.”

“Malva will certainly be glad to have a chance to battle,” Drasna adds.

The name elicits a reaction from the champions that Kukui can't quite place into words, a mixture of disappointment, resignation, and anger, amongst other things.

Malva is a Kalos Elite Four member, if he remembers correctly. He hadn't heard much about her in the last year or so, but that's to be said for a lot of notable Trainers in Kalos since the aftermath of the Crisis required a lot of manpower to address.

“Let's not talk about that,” Diantha suggests just as Lance murmurs, “Still can't believe she got away with just house arrest.”

Oh, goodness. That can’t be good.

And Ash's expression that used Withdraw?

Fortunately, Cynthia comes to the rescue, nodding to her Psychic-type specialist. “Well, Lucian has agreed to a battle with Hala, so we can start with that.”

The save is received with little relief, and even Olivia doesn't seem to know what to make of it when Kukui looks over at the kahuna.

“So, what’s going on in Unova?” Ash asks at last, which seems to break the spell. “I know Leon said he couldn’t come because Rose scheduled something that couldn’t be on any other date, but Iris didn’t say anything.”

Kukui is interested in this topic too. The Champion of Galar had declined this year due to a sudden scheduling issue, but the new Champion of Unova had called very last minute to let them know she couldn’t come.

“We were hoping you knew something,” Cynthia admits.

Ash shakes his head. “Iris and I don’t talk much.”

That's new to him. He knows out of all his previous travel companions, Ash is probably closest with Brock, a coordinator named Dawn he’s always mentioning, and Misty, but for neither Ash nor Iris to contact each other seems off.

“Was that before or after Cynthia told her off for calling you a kid?” Lance asks, looking displeased. “Because she had it coming.”

Hold up. “She called you a kid? Aren't you two the same age?”

Ash sighs. “She's called me a kid since the first day we met. It’s just her- It's just teasing, Professor. It's okay.”

That is very much not okay because Ash doesn’t make it sound like he’s okay with it, and teasing is no longer teasing when someone is hurt.

And something must show on his face because Ash adds, “She doesn’t do it anymore. Cynthia made her stop.”

“Good.”

Ash looks at him, surprised, before a shy, pleased smile makes an appearance on his face. Across from them, Cynthia gives him an approving look.

Diantha gets them back on track. “Whatever is going on in Unova, they're keeping it really under wraps. But it has something to do with Nimbasa City at the very least. Elesa canceled her shows for the foreseeable future.”

Ash frowns. “Nimbasa? That could be anything.”

“The G-Men haven't heard anything from Unova,” Lance tells them. “Not that it means anything since our information in Unova has always been spotty.”

“Could it be Plasma?” Cynthia asks. “The organization might have scattered since the International Police arrested Ghetsis and Colress, but there could be pockets of them still active. Arceus knows we still find Galactic units from time to time.”

Diantha frowns. “But Iris should know we'd help if she just asks. We all have our history with evil organizations, and the Crisis is a prime example of everyone coming in to help.”

“Maybe it’s not an evil organization then.”

Kukui frowns at the serious tone in Ash's voice, even as the teen continues with a look at Lance and Cynthia.

“But you two were there? In Kalos?”

“Only after,” Lance informs him. “I was undercover when the call came in.”

“And I was at a dig site with the worst reception known on earth,” Cynthia says, looking regretful.

Ash hums, accepting, brows furrowed like he’s thinking about something. “I think I'll pay Iris a visit.”

“Ash-”

“You don't really think-”

“It might be,” the Champion of Alola says over the overlapping voices of his fellow champions. “And if it is, I don't know if Iris will be able to deal with it.”

No one really knows what to say to that, which leaves Kukui ever more confused, but the atmosphere makes him hold his tongue. And when no one seems to have anything else to say, they adjourn instead of sticking around, all lost in their own thoughts.

What an ominous way to end the day.