Ash the Iron Trainer

by Mar 'Darry' Darren

It was a freak storm. One that separated Ash from Misty and Brock but not with Pikachu. And yet Ash was able to find an entire new region and be reunited with a friend that he never thought he will see again. With four young Pokémon found in a crate as eggs, Ash will take this new region and in the future, Kanto with skill and Mega Evolution!

1. Arrival And Discovery

Ash, the Iron Trainer

Arrival And Discovery

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

"Pokémon" – Normal Speech

'Pokémon' – Thoughts

Pokémon – Flashback

Pokémon – Move Names

{Pokémon} – Pokédex

The sun was shining. It was like a knife through bread, sawing away the fierce storm that raged at the sea and land. Thankfully, the life on either had read the signs and were able to fight the worst. And yet there was still damage; some ground was dug up quite ugly, trees were uprooted and even some buildings needed some repairs but the greatest aftermath of this storm was on a same sandy island of the coast of a beach.

Among the debris that laid to waste, there was a young boy lying as sound as if he was dead. He was like ten years old, almost eleven. He wore light blue pants, a medium blue jacket over a black shirt. On his hands were finger-less gloves, green in color. His shoes were like walking ones and were of a simple design. Finally, he wore a hat with half the body red and the other white.

By his side was a short, chubby rodent creature that was part of a worldwide race known as Pokémon, or short for 'Pocket Monsters'. It is covered in yellow fur, and its ears are long and pointed with black tips. It has a small mouth, brown eyes, and two red circles on its cheeks. There are pouches inside its cheeks where it stores electricity. Its forearms are short, with five fingers on each paw, and its feet have three toes. It has two brown stripes on its back, and its tail is in the shape of a lightning bolt with a patch of brown fur at the base.

"Urrgh…what hit me…?" The boy groaned as he tried to get his wet body up from the sand that made his arms itch but didn't have the strength available to scratch them. "Pikachu!" He suddenly got up from the sandy island and raced to the small yellow rodent that was beside him. He reached down to where the heart usually is for any animal. "Good…" He relaxed after hearing a faint and steady heartbeat against the chest of the little mouse. "But where am I?"

The boy tried to look around for a place to crash but instead, something crash into him. A raft appeared out of nowhere. It took the boy by surprise and the also captured the yellow rodent in his arms onto its wooden surface. The boy was still exhausted from it all and couldn't fight the strange force acting from the raft keeping him there.

After an hour or so, the boy finally was able to wake up again but this time, the raft was not at a beach. It had been drifting on a river and now they came across a bridge connecting a forest on one side to a town on the other side. The boy didn't want to find out what was further up the river because he needed to get his Pikachu to get healed. The rodent Pokémon will get a cold if it stayed in the cold of the night, soaked to the bone.

The boy pushed his aching body onto the side of the river he was facing with Pikachu in hand. He was about to climb to the level of the bridge when he thought he had heard something, from a crate drifting in the river! The boy placed Pikachu in a dry patch of grass and dove back in the river to pull the crate to the river bed.

"Pi Pikachu~?" The boy heard some chirping from behind him as he dragged the crate with all his strength that he could muster through his pain and shivering. "Pik Pikachu~!" The boy was able to see the yellow rodent standing up in the patch of grass and smiled.

"I know Pikachu, I woke up the same way." He said to Pikachu who tried to retain his balance and get the cobwebs out of his yellow small head.

"Pi pi kachu~."

"I know, I guess that I am a little too soft for my own good. I am sure going to catch a cold soon. So let see what is inside this crate, it must have be from the ship because I saw a lot of them fall after we did." The boy said and tried to use his own hands as a crowbar, he ignored the whiteness in his fingers and the blood that dripped from his fingertips all the way until he was able to open the crate. Inside was something that he never imagined. "Pikachu, you have to see this!"

The yellow rodent waddled while trying to maintain his balance and climbed up the boy's arm and onto his left shoulder. He also gasped at the sight. Inside the crate and buddle in a ragged blanket on top a duffel bag were four eggs. Eggs that were not chicken eggs, crocodile eggs, or dinosaur eggs. They each had their own pattern but they all seemed to have this metallic tone.

"These must be Pokémon eggs, like the ones that Professor Oak always told me about. But this is the first time I ever seen one this close before." The boy said in his awe and Pikachu nodded, he never saw eggs up close before either. He then placed his hand on the eggs and was reeled back in shock, nearly shaking off Pikachu. "They are almost as cold as ice!" Pikachu heard that loud and clear and panicked. The boy ignored all that, tightened the blanket around the eggs and pulled them close, hoping that some body heat might help the eggs recover. Pikachu then remembered the duffel bag and pulled it out for the trainer to carefully place the eggs inside.

"Come on, we need to find a Pokémon Center and soon!" The boy said and Pikachu nodded. The trainer then allowed the Pokémon to rest on his shoulder again as he ran in the opposite direction of the town, since there was a trail leading into the woods. After ignoring and passing more Pokémon the boy could count, who just looked at them with confused eyes, he found the end to the forest. He saw another town but this time, a building with the symbol of a ball that was red on the top half, white half on the bottom and a while button in the very center.

Still, the boy was relieved to see such a building and ran through the grass and on the streets, passing anyone nearby. He charged into the building for everyone to see in fright at the sight of a boy drenched and ragged as well as his Pokémon running as if the devil was on his trail.

"Nurse Joy!" The boy ran and stopped at a counter on the other side of the building from the door. "Please help us!"

"O-of course, I will see to your Pokémon at once…" Nurse Joy was a young woman who was wearing a nurse's uniform and hat in her pink hair that was tied in a manner not to interfere with her duties.

"Pikachu will be fine but these are not to last long!" The boy protested and Pikachu even avoided Nurse Joy's hands. The boy took the duffel bag and opened it to reveal the Pokémon Eggs that were still freezing! Nurse Joy gasped,

"Oh my goodness, you are right! I will warm these up right away but you two still need to be seen to. Wigglytuff!" Nurse Joy shouted out to a door near her counter and out came a Pokémon. It resembles a pink blob with stubby arms and legs. There is a fluffy, curled tuft of fur on its head, and it has long, rabbit-like ears and large, blue eyes. A layer of tears covers its eyes. It is covered in pink fur with a white underbelly and ear tips. "Take these young man and his Pokémon to be treated while I heat up these Pokémon eggs!"

"Wigglytuff~!" the Pokémon nodded and gently took the exhausted boy, now too tired to even scream now, along with Pikachu through the door it came from. Nurse Joy then took the duffel bag with the eggs and hurried out back as well but not before asking the boy who he was, to brave the cold and pain in order to save four Pokémon Eggs.

"My name…" The boy said between breathes from the long run through the woods and from the experience ever since he first woke up in in this region, "…is Ash Ketchum."

XXXXX

Several hours passed so it was early in the morning, Ash was able to get some sleep and a warm blanket to cover himself after he took a warm shower. Pikachu was snuggling next to him, wearing his own blanket that the Pokémon Center had for Pokémon size. Ash will momentary rub Pikachu where the little mouse likes it best, to make all this seem lighter for both of them. Then they heard a familiar ding, like when Nurse Joy alerts trainers that she was finished with healing Pokémon. Or in this case, tending to those eggs that Ash had found

Ash got up gently, not give a sudden jolt to Pikachu. "Well Nurse Joy? How are the eggs?" Nurse Joy smiled as part of her answer,

"They are doing rather well, they were definitely freezing to death but you were able to stabilize them with your body heat. That saved their lives but that is not all I found while warming them." Nurse Joy then directed the eggs were lying on a tray and in their blanket but Ash noticed that they were twitching and stirring, like smoothing inside is trying to awaken and get out. "They were about to hatch so I brought them here, so you could watch them hatch. There is this code among us Nurse Joys that whoever finds an egg is the one for the Pokémon to see first."

Ash just nodded the whole way while waiting for the eggs to hatch. He was so focused that he barely noticed Pikachu coming his way and climbing to his shoulder. But when Ash turned to face his best buddy, he heard the crack of a shell!

Ash couldn't believe what he was seeing when he turned his attention to the source of the cracking sound, the eggs were hatching! He knew what that meant, they were going to be born in this world and Ash knew what will happen once they see the very first thing since first waking up. Somehow, that wasn't something that Ash was nervous about at all. Perhaps it is because Ash was not some dreamer, he was passionate and serious about his goal, to be a Pokémon Master; to him that meant that nothing about Pokémon is going to be too tough for him.

Ash took out his new Pokédex and scanned every single one of this new Pokémon since they are still asleep. Nurse Joy said that he first one was not updated yet and gave him the latest Pokédex; the design of it was a flat screen that expands once it scans a Pokémon.

The first one was a Pokémon that resembles a sword from the medieval times. Its appearance sheathed is dark brown with curved lines across its surface. Its appearance unsheathed is a silver sword, with a gem that looks like an eye engraved on its hilt. Attached to the pommel is a long, dark blue cloth with a swirl design in lighter blue at its four-split end.

{Honedge, the Sword Pokémon. If anyone dares to grab its hilt, it wraps a blue cloth around that person's arm and drains that person's life energy completely.}

The second one was a short, bipedal Pokémon with a pale yellow body and black arms and feet. Its legs have a thick, fur-like covering resembling hakama or a skirt. Its most notable feature is a pair of large black jaws emerging from the back of its head. These jaws have an oval yellow spot on their top surface and contain ten pointed teeth - six on the top row and four on the bottom. It has red eyes and two black ear-like extensions on either side of its head.

{Mawile, the Deceiver Pokémon. Mawile's horns form a huge set of jaws strong enough to chew up an iron beam.}

The third one was an insectoid Pokémon with a steel body that has three distinct sections. Its ovoid abdomen is dark gray with a light gray band wrapping around the middle and two circles resembling rivets near a jagged seam. Its thorax is slightly smaller, but identical in design with its abdomen. The only difference being one circle instead of two. Its head is spherical, containing the same light gray wrap design as its body. However, it wraps from front to back on the head. On each side of its head are large red eyes with hollow black pupils. It has two round mandibles. The mandibles are attached below its eyes and are situated in front of its horizontally opening mouth. Atop its head are two long antennae, each tipped with small spheres. It has six black legs sprouting from its thorax. Each leg has one claw at its tip, except the front legs that each have two.

{Durant, the Iron Ant Pokémon. Durant build twisting tunnels in the mountains where they form their nests. They are covered with a steel armor for protection.}

The last one was a small, bipedal Pokémon. It has a rounded red and black head with a silvery blade extending from the front. Its face is grey with yellow eyes. Four steel spikes protrude from its black torso, two on each side connected by steel ribs. Its red arms that end with knife-like blades instead of hands. Its legs are red with two-toed feet.

{Pawniard, the Sharp Blade Pokémon. Pawniard's entire body is made of blades which it uses to inflict damage on its opponent.}

"You sure are a lucky trainer Ash. All these Pokémon have one thing in common." Nurse Joy said and Ash was willing to learn, "They all are Steel-Type Pokémon!" Ash gasped and so did Pikachu. Steel-Type Pokémon were a typing that the two had thought to only exist as moves, like Pikachu's Iron Tail. But now they had finally met a Steel-type Pokémon and four of them at the same time!?"

"Are you kidding me? I never saw Steel Type Pokémon before!" Ash said and Pikachu shared the excitement as well. Nurse joy smiled at how trainer and Pokémon had such a close knit relationship. Especially with such a young trainer. "They never taught that in Pallet Town." Ash let that slip in his excitement and Nurse Joy seemed to not recognize that town name

"Pallet Town? Where is that?" Nurse Joy asked and pretty soon, the other trainers and visitors were just waiting for the same answer.

"Why in Kanto, that is where me and Pikachu were born." Ash said without a hitch, he didn't think it was such a big deal. That was where he is, right?

"You came from Kanto!?" Nurse Joy shouted and scared Ash and Pikachu greatly. She saw that and calmed herself down. "Sorry Ash but we haven't been able to get to Kanto from here or anywhere else for that matter. It is because of the fog." Ash was confused, he couldn't remember any fog he saw when he woke up but he did remember seeing a fog while on the S.S. Anne; he just thought that it was all part of the sea surroundings and never gave it much thought.

Everyone else gave their reports,

"It started very early in the morning, I was supposed to go fishing but when he I tried to enter the fog, I always found myself going in the opposite direction."

"We can't contact anyone outside the fog."

"No one ever came from the fog in the first place either."

"Even the Pokémon can't get through the fog and they are scared."

"We are just glad that we can get our supplies form inland and we were only getting minor goods from the other regions."

All this added up to a dense fog forming a crown around this region. Nothing ever comes out from outside and no one can go through the fog to the outside. Occasionally, there will be lightning surging through the fog but no rain or snow or storms happen there, only more inland. It was like this region was trapped as if they were going to be punished but why?

"So when did this fog first appear?" Ash asked, not realizing how heavy his answer will be. Nurse Joy looked it up on his computer to verify her memory of the fog.

"It was two weeks ago like I said, on July 15, 1997 (1) and at 6:30." Nurse Joy finally said and once again, everyone nodded but this time they didn't go back to their devices. They just noticed that Ash was aware of their attention on him or his Pikachu. They just stood there, like they were seeing a ghost or something.

"Are you serious Nurse Joy? And you are sure that we had only be on the beach for a few hours?" Ash started to get frantic, as if he was in a hurry to catch a train. "Please tell us!" Ash raised his voice when he was getting no answer.

"Yes. What is wrong with you?" Nurse Joy was starting to get crept out but she will soon get her answer.

"That is the date and exact time that the S.S. Anne was hit by the storm and was going to sink! I remembered seeing that date on a clock before me and Pikachu were sent out of the ship! Two weeks had passed here but seeming no time had passed outside!" Ash shouted out and everyone gasped at this. This fog was trapping them between different time streams? Who could do this to them!?

End of Chapter 1.

*I had this idea for a while but was never able to get anywhere with it so I decided to put it aside but now I need something to work on now I am trying to get back to writing. So I will answer some questions to those who may still be confused.

One, I have tried to make it seem that Ash will not throw away his chance at the Indigo Plateau Conference for the Kalos League. He will be spending a good amount of months in Kalos which will cause only seconds to pass outside the Kalos border, where the St. Anne is still sinking.

Second, Ash had lost his Pokémon including his Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle but Misty and Brock have them as they were able to catch the Pokémon while still in their balls. So that is why Ash had a clean state and only his Pikachu before finding the four eggs.

Third, I will need to hear from you. I could either tell you of Ash's adventures in Kalos or skip to when Ash returns to the Kanto Border, just moments after St. Anne sank and tell the story in flashbacks as Ash finishes his adventures in Kanto. It will make quite the difference and you, the audience, are important to me; I will love to hear what you suggest for the next chapter.

I hope that clears a few things and I will be waiting. Have a great summer!*

1. I am using the date the episode, Pokémon Shipwreck, was aired as the date of when the S.S. Anne was caught in the storm and was sinking. That will be the best date I can use for the timeline of the Pokémon universe.