"...And that's my life story up to arriving to Kalos." Ash finished his story to his gathered companions and the Pokemon owned between them all (and Squishy).
"Amazing! Ash, I know you don't think of it much, but you've done amazingly well. Most trainers don't accomplish half of what you've done by the time they're 20, yet you've done so before you've even turned..."
"Wait, this doesn't make sense, how could you-," Clemont began, only to be interrupted by an eager, happy Bonnie.
"Oh please Ash, can you please show us your other Pokemon? Your Palpitoad, Muk, and Glalie sound soo cute!"
Ash chuckled nervously, wondering if he should in fact do that, when Serena spoke.
"Um Ash, I was wondering: if you have all of those Pokemon, why haven't you used them? That Charizard and Infernape you mentioned sound like they could have easily defeated Viola and Wulfric."
Ash smiled in response, and Serena turned an odd red for some reason., "I could, that is true. However, I like to train new Pokemon each league, and if I just use my older Pokemon at the league I feel like I'm cheating them out of their right to prove themselves. At least, that's how I feel," Ash turned to his 5 Pokemon, all of whom nodded in agreement.
"But you used your old ones in Johto and Sinnoh?" Bonnie pointed out.
"I did, but I was going against trainers in that league who used Pokemon from multiple journeys of their own. Gary, Harrison, Paul...in that case I felt it was an exception. Tierno, Trevor, Sawyer, maybe Alain if he actually does qualify in time, none of them traveled as far as those three."
Everyone gathered thought to themselves Ash had a pretty good point, though Bonnie still hoped to see some of Ash's Pokemon.
"So, how many Pokemon do you have?" Clemont asked as Ash looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Well in total individual Pokemon I have 68, but nearly half of them are my Tauros herd. If you mean 'how many types of Pokemon have I had', well I think I've had about 80 in total if you count Pokemon I've evolved, traded, given away, and let go of. My Pokedex should be able to correct me if I'm wrong." he opened his device, which had had his data ever since Kanto uploaded to it.
"Pokedex, how many Pokemon species have I owned."
"151."
The campsite was suddenly very quiet.
"Uh...can you repeat that?" Ash was sure he had misheard it.
"Ash Ketchum has owned 151 kinds of Pokemon."
"That...sounds off." Clemont observed.
"You're telling me..." Ash frowned at the device, looking rather confused, "Maybe it's counting Pokemon I've helped in the past or ones from my friends I've temporarily used: like Litleo, Skiddio, Vivillion, and Rhyhorn. Yeah, that's probably it. I'll ask Professor Oak about it tomorrow. But, until then..."
"Ash, you've trained enough for today." Serena reminded him.
"But the league..."
"Won't be there if you get sick again Ash: it's not healthy for you. The last think you want is to lose at the league because you sneeze."
Yeah, that would be pretty embarrassing. He didn't want to top what happened during his battle with Richie after all.
...
As the morning of the next day dawned, Ash found himself at the desk of a video phone, dialing the old professor. Pikachu was in getting a check up, and behind him his friends were watching, if only because there was nothing better to do with the Pokemon Performers currently off season and no available scraps for Clemont to work on.
Professor Oak appeared on screen, a mug of coffee in hand.
"Oh, good morning Ash. I wasn't expecting to hear from you today."
"Sorry to bother you Professor, but I have a question." Ash held up his Pokedex to the old man, "The Pokedex was telling me the other day that I have had 151 Pokemon species. Professor, I know I am not as good with numbers as you are, but that feels wrong to me. Is it recording Pokemon I didn't catch?"
"That's not it." the Professor shook his head, "What I'm saying is...your Pokemon have produced 71 new species for you via eggs, either as the mother or the father who happened to be the only one found with the egg, as well as many others of their own kind. I'd assume in the later case they just had more parental instinct than the mother, likely a result of being exposed to you and your interactions with young children and Pokemon like Togepi and Max."
Ash's jaw was hanging open, he looked completely flabbergasted at the revelation.
"Did this happen recently..." Serena approached the looming question as the old man shrugged.
"No, I just keep forgetting to tell him about it. I found the first egg sometime while you were doing the G.S ball errand for me. Apparently your Pokemon are considered very attractive, rivaled on my ranch only by Gary's more used Pokemon like Blastoise and Umbreon."
"Sorry for the interruption, but used as in?" Clemont trailed off.
"Yes."
Clemont stared at the screen, mouth moving but no words coming out for the longest time.
"Anyway, I just forgot to mention it to Ash over the past few years," Professor Oak cheerfully explained.
Everyone did a face fault in response to how long Oak had forgotten to mention it.
"Well let me see...I have a chart here somewhere...oh yes here it is...your Tauros are responsible for the bulk of the eggs: I've found them with Stantler, 4 Ratatta, 6 Ponyta, 9 Eevee eggs, Mankey, Diglett, 3 Growlithe, Swinub, 2 Vulpix, Aipom, Meowth, Zigzagoon, Numel, Nidorans male and female by the dozen, Girafarig, 4 Houndour, Phanpy, Poochyena, and Sandshrew eggs, Muk's smothered me with eggs that hatched into 3 Grimer, a Gastly, a Koffing, a Wynaut, 2 Slugma, a Misdreavous, and a Ralts egg whose origin I can't pin down, Snorlax has had Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Charmander, 3 Mareep, Whismur, Rhyhorn, and Slowpoke eggs, Heracross has had Scyther, Gligar, 15 Caterpie, and 12 Weedle eggs, Bayleaf has 3 Chikorita eggs hatched, Quilava has had Sentret, Dunsparce, and Sneasel eggs, Totodile's danced with Wooper, 3 Azurril, Poliwag, Psyduck, and another Slowpoke egg, Sceptile's had Tangela, Lotad, Oddish, Dratini, Budew and Exeggcute eggs, Swellow's had 4 Tailow eggs, Glalie's given me eggs that hatched into Igglybuff, Onix, Cleffa, Pichu, Happiny, Snubbul, Mawile and Shroomish to warm, Staraptor's been found with 4 Pidgey, Spearow, Doduo, 2 Hoothoot, Natu, and Murkrow eggs, Torterra with a Sunkern, Oddish, Bellsprout, Hoppit, Seedot and a Petilil egg I am pretty sure came from a visitor I had a few months ago from a Unovan magazine, Inferape's given me eggs that became a Abra, Drowzee, and Machop, Gliscor's had 3 Ledyba, a Spinarak, and 3 Venonant eggs, Gible with a Ekans egg, your Unfeazant has had 6 Pidove eggs since you sent her here, and your Boldore I most recently found with a Geodude egg."
"Well, I'll make sure that I have them all together when you come back so you can meet them. Maybe now Bulbasaur and your other Pokemon will stop giving me looks! Okay, by!" He signed off to an emotional odd room.
"...Why do I suddenly feel like my father..." Ash stated in a depressed tone. Serena, not wanting him to get into another funk, took a brave breath and gave him a hug.
"Ash..." She told the now stunned and still depressed boy, "...Your father knew about you and left. You didn't know about them. It is completely different."
"Plus...now you know." She said in a quieter volume, "so now, you can do whatever you've always wanted your father to do in this situation."
"Yeah...you're right Serena." he told her as she let go, and he felt his confidence and drive go up to 11.
"I'll meet them when I win the Kalos League! They'll see me with the winner's trophy, to see that I spent the time I wasn't with them well." He declared as Serena beamed at him, Bonnie nodded enthusiastically, and Clemont smiled.
...
After another journey comes to end, a journey that soared higher than before a trained returned to Pallet Town.
Upon entering a meadow, he was met by a large group of Pokemon. The silence between them was awkward and lasted several minutes, before an Eevee darted forward and came to hands length.
The trainer extended his hand, and began petting the Eevee.
"Sorry I've haven't met you guys yet." Ash told the Eevee, and the Pokemon behind it, truthfully, "I want to make up for it, if I can. My name is Ash."
In response, all of the young Pokemon made a beeline for him for a friendly social pile.
...
This little thing is something I threw together mostly as a bit of crack, but I like to think it might have some use. If anyone here reads Reset Bloodlines, think I should take some ideas from this snip and use it there?