Finding Roots, Making Ties

Summary:Volker is a teen with more angst than most, Reina wants to go out on an adventure, and Alex just wants to know who he is. Three kids from different families, with completely different lives. But a chance encounter brings them together, and it turns out that they share a common trait. They all have a connection to one Ash Ketchum. Warnings: Future fic, slight adult themes & language.

A/N: This idea just appeared on my mind and I just had to write it down and try it out.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon


Chapter 1

Volker was like any other teen, he liked listening to loud music, enjoyed hanging out with his friends, and of course he had a lot of angst like most people his age. He had jet black hair, ocean blue eyes, and was of an average height for a thirteen year old boy. He lived in New Bark Town with his family and he came from a single parent household. When he was one, his father had left them only to return four years later and even stuck around for a few days before leaving again to who knows where.

But then it turns out that his father's return in those few days were enough to get his mom pregnant with his younger sister, Violetta. But even though their family grew, his father didn't bother to return home. Now, it's been seven years since they've last seen or heard of him. So it was the biggest understatement of the year to say that he had a little bit of animosity towards his father. But don't get him wrong, he had a pretty good childhood, all things considered.

His mom was Marina, Johto's Coordinator queen and three time winner of the Grand Festival, at least before she retired. Now, she works as one of the judges for Pokemon contests and the Grand Festival in the Johto region. The downside to her job kept her away from home a lot, but every summer she'd take them with her on her job. So they got to travel through Johto, watch and go backstage at contests, and meet a lot of new people and Pokemon while they were on the road with their mom.

His life in New Bark town hadn't been bad. He grew up in a nice house, it wasn't too big, but it had a homey feel to it that he loved. He lived with his mom and sister, but usually it was just him and Violetta in the house. When they were younger, their grandmothers would take care of them when their mom wasn't home since they were both living in the same town. But a few years back, his paternal grandma Elinor, suddenly and unexpectedly died.

So it was now only grandma Meg who checked up on them from time to time. He went to Pokemon Trainer elementary; and instead of going on a journey at the age of ten like other kids, he stayed for three more years at Pokemon Graduate School, or just Poke Grad School. It was just like high school, and it was an optional three year school for kids who finished Pokemon Elementary. It just taught you additional knowledge on the other regions and had classes like first aid, foresting, and Survival 101.

This new kind of education system was introduced exclusively in the Johto region in response to the growing number of new trainers getting into accidents, or at worse case, dying during their first year out into the wild. While three out of four new trainers still decided to go on their journey by age ten, he decided not to risk it, much to his mother and grandmother's relief. But two thirds of the students who were enrolled in Poke Grad School were just signed up by their parents.

You could say that the school's majority was made up of angry and angsty teenagers, who feel like they were cheated when they weren't able to start their Pokemon journeys. So some teens who had more excess anger than most, became juvenile delinquents and the bullies at school. Volker was no bully, but he did get into trouble for occasionally getting into fights. It wasn't his fault that the bullies wanted to mess with him and his friends, and it's not like those guys do it when the teachers were around.

Even if they did try to report them to the teacher, no one would believe them since they were already labeled as trouble makers and the bullies were part of the honor role. So he and his friends fought back. He was a lot of things, slightly deferential to authority, sarcastic, insensitive and rude at times, yes, but he was no coward and he wasn't going to take to being bullied lying down. His mom disapproved of violence, but she's seen the kind of place Poke Grad School is, so she doesn't comment on it much.

But when she finds out that he was in another fight, she does give him a look that never fails to make him feel guilty. So in order to appease her he tried to do better at school, which he was able to accomplish to an extent. But studies can only take up some of his time, so he took on a part time job so his mom would be able to rest a bit easier knowing that he wasn't going out and getting into trouble. He worked as a helper at professor Elm's, who was an old family friend of theirs.

His job was to help take care of the Pokemon living there and to help the Professor out with his research and stuff. Nothing too dangerous, mostly menial work but he still liked his job. It was really cool to play with the younger Pokemon at the labs, and he even made friends with the older ones. But another perk to his job was when a starting trainer went to the lab for their first Pokemon. Seeing the happy faces of trainer and Pokemon as they became a team for the first time was pretty rewarding in its own way.

He was also able to meet trainers from different regions because a lot of them went to Professor Elm's lab to get signed up for the Johto league. All in all, things weren't that bad for him and school wasn't always torture. There were a lot nice people there too, not to mention his best friends were there as well. But things were going to get even better for him soon, because in a few months it would be summer. But unlike his sister, he wouldn't be going to travel with his mom this year.

This was already his final year in Poke Grad School and he was going to graduate, which meant that he could finally start his Pokemon journey this summer. The only bad thing was that he wouldn't be traveling with his friends, because he planned to start his journey in another region. It wasn't that he hated Johto or anything, and he did want to journey in his home region… But somehow the prospect of crossing the sea and traveling in a far away region he's never been to, really appealed to him.


"Volk, hey Volk!" His eyes snapped open before he groggily raised his head to see a pair of steel colored eyes looking down at him. "Oh, hey Logan. Is class over yet?" He asked with a yawn as he slowly sat up from where he was hunched over his desk. A small giggle could be heard to his right and when he turned he saw another of his friends standing beside his desk. "Volk, class isn't just over. The whole school day is over. You slept through both Mr. Hayden and Mr. Preston's lectures."

"You feeling bad or something?" A new voice asked as Volker looked over at the person entering the classroom. "Nah, I was just up all night watching videos of League matches." He answered as he slowly stood from his seat before getting his bag from where it was hooked on his chair. "Which matches did you watch, Volk?" Volker hummed in thought before slinging his backpack on his shoulder. "Just the videos of the matches from last year's Johto and Kanto league finals. By the way, where's Van, Bailey?"

"Van had to go help Olivia out and told us to go ahead." Bailey, a girl who looked the same age as him with long blond hair and indigo colored eyes, answered. Volker nodded as they wordlessly left the classroom and headed for the school's exit. "But can you believe it, one more week and we'll finally be able to start our Pokemon journeys." Logan said, his eyes twinkling in excitement. "We got to take the final exams next week and pass before that though." The other male teen replied evenly and Logan frowned.

"Don't remind me Seth, you know I'm not exactly looking forward to Ms. Druud's math test. Ugh! Why do we still need to study normal subjects, not like we'll need it when we're on our journeys!" He groaned which caused his other three companions to chuckle slightly. "You should get tutored by Seth then, he's a pretty good teacher in math." Bailey suggested as Logan started to vehemently shake his head. "Oh, no, no, no! Never again! I still have nightmares from last time!"

"Just what did you do to him anyways, dude?" Volker asked as he looked at the slightly smaller male next to him with black hair and sea green eyes. "I didn't do anything to him; he's just being a baby." Seth retorted. "I only made him answer a few problem sheets." Logan then took this time to point an accusing finger at Seth. "Few problem sheets my butt, you made me answer a whole stack! It took me all night to answer everything, you drill sergeant!"

"Did I now? I forgot." Seth answered, unruffled by his friend's words before walking further ahead of the group as Logan stood gaping at his back. Volker placed a comforting hand on Logan's shoulder before speaking. "Well look at the bright side, at least you passed that math quiz." He said as Bailey added, "That's right, you were even bragging to us that it was your all time personal best score in math." Logan closed his mouth, opened it and closed it again. "Oh forget it!" He shouted before trudging forward.

Just as they were about to reach the exit of the school building, a voice called out to them. "Hey guys, wait up!" The group turned back to see a girl with long red hair tied in a one sided pony tail running over to where they were. "Hey Van, done helping Olivia already?" Bailey asked as the other girl reached them. "Yeah, she just needed some help with finalizing the articles for next weeks' school newspaper." She answered as the group began to leave the building and headed to their respective homes.

"Oh yeah, next week will be the last time you'll be printing newspapers for the year before we all graduate." Logan said before stopping and looking back at his friends with a grin. "So you guys decided which one you'll choose as your first Pokemon?" He asked before continuing. "For sure, I'm choosing Cyndaquill." He said as Van sighed. "Yes, yes, we know. You've told us ever since we were just in Pokemon kindergarten. You're dream is to open up a fire Pokemon gym in Johto right?"

"That's right! There's just nothing like the power of a fire Pokemon! I just don't get why there isn't a fire Pokemon gym in Johto in the first place." He replied as he scratched the back of his head when he said the last part. "Well fire Pokemon aren't really easy to raise considering the amount of power they have, but if Blaine, Flannary and Chili were able to do it, why can't you?" Volker told him before adding. "But as for my first Pokemon, that's way too hard of a question."

"I've spent years taking care of a lot of the starters in Johto, and I just can't pick between Chikorita, Totodile and Cyndaquil." He said before Seth spoke up. "Well, I can see why you're in a dilemma. But after thinking about it a lot, I just recently decided that I'll go with Totodile." He said, before he and Volker shared a fist bump. "Great choice, man. The Totodiles at Professor Elm's are really amazing Pokemon." He said before turning to the girls in their group. "How about you two? You guys fancy a Totodile?"

But Bailey only shook her head. "I love Totodiles and all, but it's Chikorita for me." She told them. "Maybe I'll pick Totodile, but Cyndaquil is a really good Pokemon too..." Van trailed off. "This is hard, I can think of a lot of move combinations with either of them." She said as Bailey giggled. "As expected from someone aiming to be top coordinator, you're already thinking up of move combinations for your contests." She said as Van playfully retorted. "Well you need to start early with these things."

"But it's the same for you too right, Bailey? Your dream is to be a Pokemon Breeder and I've seen you reading books on breeding in your spare time." She added as Logan nodded his head. "That makes sense, but what I don't get is why you're going to go on a journey and not just heading to Pokemon med school after we graduate, Seth." He said as Seth gave him a look. "Even Pokemon doctors need experience out on the field and with different Pokemon, Logan." He answered in a tone as if he was explaining something to a five year old.

"What better way is there to get firsthand experience with Pokemon than going on a journey?" He said as Bailey nodded her head as if to agree with him, before a frown appeared on her face. "It's a shame that you won't be joining us on our journey, Volk." She said in a slightly sad tone. "Volk, are you absolutely sure you don't want to travel with us?" Van asked as the said teen stopped in his tracks which prompted the others to stop moving too.

"It's not that I don't want to travel with you guys, because I do want to. It's just that, I can't really explain it very well… But you know the feeling of staring out at the sea and wondering what lies beyond it, it's kind of like that. Even if we learn about the different regions in school it's another thing altogether to go there. It's like there's always something about the horizon out at sea that beckons me to go there and see for myself, what lies beyond it." He said as Logan sighed before grinning.

"Give it up you guys; I guess in a way, traveling to distant lands is Volk's dream. As his best friends we should support him with his dream. But of course we'll definitely meet again, either just to hang out or at the Pokemon league finals." He said with a serious expression as he held out his fist like what Seth had done earlier. "That's already a given. You didn't even need to say it." Volker replied as he brought his fist up to meet his. The group lingered there for a bit more before resuming their walk.


"But it's not gonna be the same without you, man." Logan said from where he was ahead of the group. "Yeah, but just because I won't be joining you in your journey through Johto doesn't mean that I won't be joining up with you guys in another region." Volker answered as the others grinned at his words. "I guess that's true. But you better keep it touch with us, especially Van, because she'll probably go crazy on us if you don't give her a call every once in a while." He said with as sly grin on his face.

The next thing Volk knew, Van was running after Logan screaming bloody murder while Bailey was laughing her heart out in the background. "What happened just now?" He asked as he watched Van begin to strangle Logan who was quickly turning blue. But Seth merely put a hand on his shoulder before answering him. "Volk, you'll understand when you're older." He said as both males watched as Bailey tried to calm Van down enough for her to let go of the other male.


Once Volker arrived home, he found a feast waiting for him and not just that, he also saw his mom was home. "Mom, you're back!" He exclaimed as she gave him a kind smile, but it seemed that something was a bit off. "Yeah, I got a few days off before the next contest… Volker can you and I have a talk after dinner?" She asked and Volker got a weird feeling in his gut, but he tried not to let it show. "Sure, but why not now?" He asked, but she only gave him a small peck on his forehead before heading back to the kitchen.

Dinner had been a quiet affair; while the siblings were usually more open to having conversations when their mom was home, it seemed that her presence had the opposite effect today. Violetta finished dinner first and had quickly went up to her room. He finished soon after and went to take a bath like his mom suggested while she took care of the dishes. He then returned in ten minutes tops only to find his mom no longer in the kitchen and after looking for her, found her on their front porch.

"What are you doing here?" He asked as he sat down next to her. "Just looking at the stars. In the last cities I've been to, I haven't been able to see them at all. But I get a perfect view of them from here." She answered. "It's one of the perks of living in a quaint little town." He said and she just nodded. Then there was a comfortable silence between them that neither wanted to break. "You know, you're father loved the view here." She said so suddenly and softly that he almost missed it.

But when the words registered in his mind, he scowled. "Volk, don't be like that." His mother told him softly as Volker started to get up. "Don't be like what, mom? The old man left us, his family and never came back. There's nothing more to say." He said as Marina bit her bottom lip. "What if I told you that I wanted to talk to you about your father?" She asked as Volker frowned. "Like I said, there's nothing to sa-" He started, but was cut off by his mother.

"No, I'm not talking about Jimmy, I mean your real father." She said as Volker's blood froze at the words. "What?" He asked so softly that his mom had to strain her ears to ear. It was a far cry from the volume of his voice when he had said his previous statements, but Marina could hear the hurt in his tone, crystal clear. "I-I don't, but I'm your son... Or am I not?" Volker started to babble and this time it was Marina who stood up and gave her son a tight hug. "Of course you are Volk; you're my son in every sense of the word. But the truth is you're real father isn't Jimmy."

"Then who?" He asked confusion, hurt and betrayal in his tone as he allowed his mom to hug him. Marina sighed when she heard that question before answering him. "He had been my boyfriend before Jimmy, but then he left to go to another region. We didn't break up, but, well the distance and the lack of contact had been hard for me, and Jimmy suddenly appeared and he was also my ex- and-" She begun to say in a flurry of words . "Mom, calm down. No need to rush." He told her as he begun to feel his mom shake.

"Mom?!" He called as he brought his own arms around his mother, his tone betraying how worried he was. "I'm fine. It's just the ending of this story isn't one I'm proud of. I ended up cheating on your father with Jimmy." She said and she could feel Volker tensing up at her words. "Ah." Was the only thing he said, but there was no accusation in his tone, just acceptance and resignation. "It was a horrible thing I did to him, but he still forgave me afterwards and we buried the hatchet, but more than that, he…"

"He what mom?" He asked as Marina slowly let go of him. "I actually only found out that you were his after I got married, but when I told him about you, he was very happy." She answered as Volker raised an eyebrow. "Happy about what? Having a bastard son with a married woman?" He asked as Marina gave him a look. "Watch your language young man. But no, what he was happy about was having a son." She answered as a shocked look appeared on the young man's face.

But on the inside, he felt a strange and unfamiliar warmth that just suddenly appeared when his mind processed the second statement. Not that he was particularly happy with finding out that he was a bastard, but the words that at least someone was glad that he had been born did make him slightly happy. "But why are you telling me about him now?" He asked as Marina once again sat down on the porch. "We had a talk, your father and I and we decided to tell you the truth of your birth when you begin your journey."

"That's already in a week's time. But I can't believe it's been thirteen years already since you've came into my life, Volk. It was just like yesterday that you wanted Wani-Wani to give you piggyback rides and now, you'll be going off to another region for your journey." She said which made Volker flush slightly in embarrassment. "Did you know Volk, your first name was actually picked out by your real dad?" She said as Volker's eyes widened.

"Really? I always thought it was you who choose it." He said as Marina shook her head. "Nope, it was your dad who thought of it. While I was still looking for baby names, he suggested it. He said that if he were to ever have a son, he'd name him that. At the time, I didn't know you were his, but I loved the name so I decided that if my child was a boy, I would give him the name 'Volker'." She answered before adding. "But I didn't expect you to accept the news so easily, Volk."

He laughed at that. "I may look like I'm calm on the outside, but its pandemonium on the inside." He said as he tapped his temple with his finger. "But I guess I am being pretty calm about all this, but maybe I'm just weird like that. I personally don't think that it matters if I'm your child with your ex-boyfriend who you cheated on because no matter what I'm still your son, Viola is still my little sister, and Grandma Meg and Grandma Elinor will always be my grandmas." He said as tears welled up in Marina's eyes.

"Just hearing you say that makes me think that I did something right with how I raised you." She said as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Mom, don't say that. You did a great job with raising me and Viola." He said before adding. "But just who exactly is my real dad then? Is he someone I know?" He asked and Marina sighed. "I'm sorry Volk, but I can't tell you that, at least not now. But when the time is right, you'll find out."


Ring, Ring, Ring the phone went before its owner picked it up on the fifth ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey it's me."

"Oh Marina, it's you. Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong everything's fine here. I'm actually calling you from New Bark town. I just finished telling Volker the truth."

"…"

"Hello, are you still there?"

"Yeah, I am. Sorry. I was just surprised with what you said. So how he'd take it?"

"Pretty well actually, all things considered."

"Oh? Now that's a pleasant surprise. So did he ask for my identity?"

"Of course he did."

"What did you say to him then?"

"I told him that I couldn't tell him yet, but that he'd find out when the time was right."

"So how did he react to that?"

"For a second, I thought he would try to pry. But he just nodded his head and went in the house."

"Oh? Was it because he was just not that curious about me or was it something else?"

"If I know my son, and I do, I think that to him you're one mystery in his life that's been watching over him from somewhere. So yes, you've definitely got his curiosity piqued."

"Then why do you think he dropped the subject like that?"

"Maybe he's just more mature than we thought. I told you that he gets into fights in school occasionally, but he did have to take care of his younger sister mostly by himself, you know."

"I do know that. You often tell me about that. So you're thinking he was just mature enough to accept that as an answer and would just wait patiently to find out who I am?"

"Well, it could also be that you're a mystery he wants to solve by himself. I have told you how the boy likes a good mystery."

"Hahaha… That sounds more like him. Hey, Marina?"

"Hmm? What is it?"

"It's nothing, I was just wondering how long it would take for the two of us to meet in person."

"That's a good question. Wanna make a bet on it Ash?"


Thank you for Reading.

Please Review. As usual, no flames please!

A/N: I do not hate Jimmy/Marina, but I needed someone who could have a pair that wasn't Ash, and who wasn't one of his friends.

The pairings for this fic will mostly be OC/OC, but there will be multiple pairings and Ash/Harem, kinda? ^_^"

But as for the members of the harem(?) They will all be people whom Ash didn't travel with. You'll just find out who they are in the succeeding chapters. :)

Of course, his friends were also paired to other people! :D