Welcome back, everybody, and allow me to formally introduce you to my newest story! Back in the concept phase, I had intended this to be a Naruto-Pokemon crossover, majority Pokemon, but the personalities and attributes of the two other main characters of the story are going to be vastly different from the characters I had intended on importing, so I've made this simply a Pokemon story.

And yes, before you start typing away at your keyboards, complaining about 'this guy named his story after the new movie!' or what-have-you, that was intentional, because considering the direction I envisioned this story taking, it was unironically the best title I could think of. And believe me, I lost a decent bit of sleep trying to think of creative names that would convey the theme of the story without being a total drag or being too meme-y.

Anyway, without further ado, I present you with the Prologue of The Power of Us!

Prologue

"Come on, honey, you can do it!" Alexander Ketchum encouraged his wife, Delia, holding her hand with his own, though it was now quite sore from the excessive pressure. The ECG was beeping faster than normal for someone of Delia's age, profession, and lifestyle, though this wasn't a surprise considering she had been in labor for the last two hours.

"Shut up, Alex! Like... like I don't know that already!" Delia loudly chastised Alexander as she slowly pushed their baby boy out, the doctor encouraging her every step of the way. "Aggghhhhhhh...!"

"And just one more, Mrs. Ketchum! Push!" Delia nearly screamed and clamped Alexander's fingers off his hand with the pressure as she found the energy to make one final push, and soon her and Alex's newborn son was revealed to the world. Delia panted from exhaustion as the doctor cleaned the newborn's skin off with a sterile towel, then carefully wrapped him in a soft blanket with the assistance of another. "Here you are, Mr. and Mrs. Ketchum. Your handsome baby boy." The doctor removed the used equipment and quickly escorted himself out of the room along with the two midwives to give the new parents some privacy.

Delia and Alex held their newborn baby boy as they laid on the hospital bed together. Upon close observation, the baby boy's hair was black with a dark blue tint, and he had inherited the brown eyes of his mother and Z-shaped marks on his cheeks that belonged to his father. "Heh... our little baby boy... That feels so weird to say..."

Delia glared at Alex for a brief moment, but in light of the fact they had been responsible for bringing new life into the world, she couldn't stay mad at him for very long. "So, did you ever pick out from the list of names I gave you if it was a boy?"

"Yeah... how about Ashton? Ash for short." Delia smiled. She had thought herself the name was perfect the second she'd laid eyes on her newborn son.

"Yeah... I think that sounds nice." The two newlyweds gazed at Ash lovingly, the newborn still crying as all babies were wont to do. "Hello, my little Ash... I'm your momma."

Alex lightly ran his scarred right hand over Ash's head. "And I'm your papa. Say papa!"

Delia chuckled. Of course he'd already try to swing little Ash into his favor, even though he wasn't even ten minutes old. That was just how her husband was. Goofy and aloof even at the worst of times, though it certainly wasn't unwarranted here.

The two held each other and little Ash in their arms for what felt like hours until the nurse came in, informing the two that per hospital policy, Ash needed to be taken to the incubation room to be given food and have post-labor tests run to make sure he was healthy. The two gave Ash a soft kiss on the forehead and allowed the nurse to take him, though it was clear Delia didn't particularly like it. Of course, the reason she didn't put up much of a fight was because since she was a career researcher, she knew how these things worked.

As the nurse left to take Ash to the incubation, she handed Alex the patient copy of the baby's birth certificate, as well as the other documentation needed for Delia's stay at the hospital, as well as the acknowledgement of Delia's leave of maternity to take to Samuel's lab to file away. Alex kissed Delia and headed for the door as well. Before he left, he turned around. "I've gotta fly over to Pallet and get the documents dropped off to Oak, and after that I'm going to head to the stadium here in the city."

"So you decided you're going to accept Lance's challenge?"

"I already told old Charlie that once our son was born, I'd be stepping down as Champion. So I figure why not give one last challenger a chance to actually beat me? The last time anyone came close was Steven seven years ago. Of course, we know where that got him eventually."

"Heh, yeah. Champion of Hoenn, who would've thought? He definitely earned it, though. And we know he'll be a good Champion." Delia still remembered being in the stands that hot spring day in late July of 1991.

Steven was definitely Alex's hardest battle ever. Before then, no one had even managed to knock out half of Alex's team, but he was the first to not only do that, but knock out a fourth too. And Alakazam to boot! Alex always hoped someone would come around that would be able to give his under-battled senior Pokemon a challenge.

Of course, he got cocky after that and Alex wiped the floor with his last two Pokemon. But it was still the best showing any challenger's made since my sweet became the Champion. And it served to teach Steven a valuable lesson. He's probably the best Champion that Hoenn could've asked for right about now, what with Team Rocket doing their best to make their lives hell.

"Well, either way it goes, good luck, dear! And make sure you call me when you get over to Oak's lab!" Delia called to Alex as he shut the door silently behind him and settled in to get some sleep for the night. On the small nightstand-like fixture next to her hospital bed rested a copy of Ash's birth certificate.

Ashton "Ash" Ketchum. DOB: May 22, 1997 7:54 PM, Viridian City General Hospital.

The next morning, Alex knocked on the door to Samuel's lab. The aging Professor quickly answered the door, welcoming the soon-to-be retired Champion into his laboratory. "Hello, Alex! What brings you to this humble professor's abode?"

"Oh, cut the act, old man!" Alex chuckled at the Professor's typical response to visitors. "We both know you can't intimidate me. Though you're welcome to keep trying, of course."

Samuel chuckled. "No, I never did get that past you, not since you won your first League back in Sinnoh ten years ago. So what brings you here? I'd imagine it has to be pretty urgent, considering you were insistent on canceling or postponing all your League events to stay by Delia's side."

Alex chuckled. That was Professor Oak for you; he never beat around the bush. Always getting straight to the point was ingrained in his DNA at this point. He pulled out the Viridian City General Hospital papers and gave them to Oak. "Gotta get these put in the town's official census. Doing my duty as a citizen of Kanto, after all."

Oak chuckled and took the papers in his hand, moving to the computer and scanning them into the Continental Database - CDB for short - while his wife of twenty-seven years, Sherry, brought out some tea for Oak and some sparkling water for Alex. They both thanked her before she headed upstairs to tend to Alicia. Oak's son Graham had also become a father, his newborn son Gary having been born the week before to his wife, Alicia.

Oak turned back to Alex after he'd filed the paperwork in the system and placed the remainder in a manila folder inside a bin nest to his desk labeled "League Documents - Outgoing". "So, have you decided on whether you'll accept this last challenge? I heard this Lance is quite the promising candidate for Champion. He didn't enter a League until he turned seventeen last year, but he's had a political upbringing and he and his team swept the Indigo Conference last year, on his first try. He even managed to do the nigh-impossible and beat all of the Elite Four in one go on the first try."

"Yeah, clearly, he's had all the best training in the right places and the motivation to aim ever higher, just like I did when I started my own journey eighteen years ago. The only time he lost more than one Pokemon was fighting Agatha, though that's to be expected considering Agatha's been in the Four since way back when old Charlie was Champion of Kanto twenty-five years ago, and she's the msot terrifying Ghost-type force you'll ever meet on the field. She's the main reason out of the bunch that I haven't had nearly as many challengers these last few years." Alex chuckled, realizing he was starting to go offtopic. "Anyway, yeah, I decided I'd accept the kid's challenge. If I win, then I'll just go to old Charlie and hand in my resignation and official recommendation, but if I lose, it'll be a hell of a way to go out."

"Well, that's nice. You're supposed to be at the stadium tonight, right?"

"Yeah, not very worried about that. You know Charizard is a very fast flier when he feels like exerting himself."

Oak let out a bark of laughter. "Oh, I know. You certainly gave the people of Fuchsia a dose of shock when Charizard decided it'd be a good idea to turn the whole city into a flight course." Alex chuckled as well, remembering how he'd nearly shit his pants in shock at the time. "Oh, before you leave. I almost forgot, but Steven just called me before you got here. He says he and Helga just finished sailing in from Hoenn and Sinnoh to watch the match. They should be here any second." At the moment, a knock was heard. "Oh, that must be them. Open the door, would you please?"

Alex got up off the small couch in the living room before checking the peephole. Upon confirming Steven and Helga had arrived, he opened the door and greeted the two of them, Steven with a firm handshake as the two were wont to do, and Helga with a quick hug.

Steven Stone, the current Champion of Hoenn, had decided to wear a suit for his visit to the laboratory. His wild silver hair, as usual, was left untouched, the top part forming the signature diagonal upward flat shape that made him recognizable in any crowd. Helga wore a long-sleeved black shirt that fit very snugly against her body, as if she didn't care about the late-spring weather. She also wore a pair of light green carpenter pants with a green and red belt fastened through its clips. Her normally frizzy brown hair had been smoothed and put up in two pigtails, leaving her to look ten years or more younger than she actually was.

"So how's it been, Alex?" Steven was the first to speak after the two and exchanged a quick round of pleasantries with Oak and thanking him for inviting them to the laboratory. "If you're here dropping off papers, can I guess that means your kid's finally popped out?"

Alex frowned at Steven's rather crude referral to his hospital visit with Delia. "Yes, Steven. And we decided his name would be Ash, by the way."

"Ash? That's such an adorable name!" Helga gushed at the name-drop of Alex's newborn child, giggling to herself for a second before regaining her composure.

"Yeah, that's what Delia told me too, after I told her that was the name I'd agreed on. Anyway, are you guys ready for the trip over to Viridian?"

Steven chuckled. As always, Alex was in a rush to get absolutely everything done, even if he had all the time in the world. "Yeah, we're ready. What, do you think you're going to be late to this?"

"Yes, I do. I haven't let myself live down the day I was late to my own crowning as Champion. Do you remember how humiliating the headlines were?! 'Champion Blows Off Ceremony, League Seeks Blood'? I won't let that happen again, and even if it means I'm hours early to everything, then so be it."

Steven shook his head and Helga chuckled at the little argument the two had gotten themselves into. "Come on, you two. I believe we have a match in Viridian to get to. See you later, dear Samuel! And tell the newlyweds I said congrats on the little one!"

"Heh, will do! You guys take care now." Oak shut the door behind the three Champions as Alex called forth his massive Charizard and the three began their journey to Viridian for Alex's final match as the Kanto Champion.

The sun and sky had given way to night by the time the match had started. That was twenty-six minutes, forty-one seconds ago - he'd kept a mental count - and Alex could honestly say he hadn't had as challenging a battle as this in ages. The last time he remembered being pushed this hard for a victory was his second League attempt.

Back after he'd started his journey, he and his best friend Daniel Waterflower had ended up facing off against one another in the semifinal round of the Lily-of-the-Valley Conference. Better known back then by their government codenames Red and Blue, the two had fought a fierce battle that lasted thirty-five minutes. In the end, it had been the last match to date Alex had lost, but that loss was pivotal to his growth as a Trainer.

Alex had been run down to his final Pokemon, his trusty partner Charizard, and it wasn't hard to tell he had been put through the ringer. Through Charizard's efforts, Alex and managed to trim a 5-3 lead down to a tie, Charizard having managed to bring down Lance's Salamence with its most recent attack.

"Salamence, return!" Lance looked down at his Pokeball, a serene smile on his face. "You did good. Take a nice, long rest, and we'll get you to a Center soon, okay?" He pocketed Salamence's Pokeball and threw out the last standing member of his team, Dragonite. It was clear to anyone with a keen eye that his Dragonite had taken its share of damage as well.

"Drrrr...RRRAA!"

"And Lance brings his Dragonite back onto the battlefield for a final showdown! This final stretch will determine Kanto history! Will Alex manage to defend his title as Champion and end his career undefeated, or will Lance go on to become the first Trainer to become Champion in a single try?!"

"The final round of the battle between Kanto Champion Alexander Ketchum and challenger Lance Fuller, Charizard versus Dragonite! Let the battle... BEGIN!"

"Dragonite, Hyper Beam!" Lance shouted to Dragonite. Alarm bells immediately went off in Alex's head. What is he planning? Lance has to know Hyper Beam leaves paralysis for a few seconds!

"Charizard, get off the ground!" Charizard beat its huge wings to get off the ground as Alex ordered, but Alex felt a pit of dread form in his stomach at Lance's smirk. Oh damn, I've been played! Hyper Beam was a diversion!

The Hyper Beam, instead of having been directed at Charizard, had been aimed at a part of the ground in the center of the field right in front of the dragon-type that had been dislodged from an earlier Psychic clash between Alex's Drowzee and Lance's Slowking. The chunk of broken field, having been struck by Hyper Beam just so, flew at Charizard almost before either of them knew what was happening.

"Shit! Metal Claw, now!"

"CCHHHHHAAARRRRR!" Charizard roared as his claw became coated in a metallic sheen and he struck at the approaching ground. Unfortunately, it hadn't been entirely destroyed, and the rest had clipped his left wing, leaving the dragon-type to crash clumsily into the ground. Charizard struggled to get back on his feet, having been pushed almost to his limits as a result of the earlier rounds in the match.

"And Charizard goes to the ground! What a clever usage of the environment on Lance and Dragonite's part! Can they follow it up with a finishing blow?"

It turned out they could. Alex encouraged Charizard to get off the ground as best he could, but the dragon was too injured to avoid Dragonite's final attack as the mythical Pokemon recovered from the ailment inflicted by its usage of Hyper Beam. Dragonite came in for a wicked Ice Punch which connected squarely with Charizard's jaw, and the dragon-type fell to the ground, defeated.

"HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE! In a shocking upset, Lance Fuller has managed to accomplish the inconceivable feat of going from League rookie to Champion in one go for the first time in Pokemon League history! A round of applause to Lance Fuller, the new Kanto Pokemon League Champion!"

The crowd roared in applause at the amazing spectacle that was the match as Alex called Charizard back. "You fought amazingly, Charizard. You deserve a good rest and some top-quality food when we get back to Pallet." Alex approached Lance, and the two Trainers met in the center of the field, over the crater that Dragonite's Hyper Beam had carved into the ground. "Lance Fuller, you are the most challenging and fulfilling battle I've ever fought. You have my blessings as the new Champion. Always remember to keep Kanto and her people safe and happy, and lead the region and the League to a brighter future."

"Thank you, Mr. Alex. I promise I'll do everything in my power to protect Kanto, in the name of the League and of people and Pokemon all over the world." The two prepared for the official crowning ceremony as Charles Goodshow, known as the President of the League Committee the world over, approached.

"You both fought amazingly and gave everything you had. The crowd, both here and watching through TV and listening through radio stations all over the world thank you for the opportunity to witness a defining moment in history." Goodshow spoke into the mic as the two were led to the upper platform, and, as part of League tradition, Alex held up Lance's hand for the audience to see. The crowd went into an uproar, cheering for the battle as well as wishing Lance a fulfilling tenure as Champion.

Delia kissed Alex as he walked into the hospital room and laid down gently on the bed. "That was an amazing match, dear. I can say Lance definitely earned it. Beating you is something no one has done since Daniel all those years ago."

"Don't I know that. I hope Lance becomes a great Champion, just like those before him." Alex wrapped his arms around Delia and pulled her into a second kiss, before he rested his chin on top of her head. "I hope you don't mind if I sleep here with you tonight. I know the hospital won't."

"I don't mind at all, dear. Besides, you're famous anyway, so it's not like the hospital would want to get rid of you."

Alex chuckled at the truth in Delia's words. "True. They see me as some sort of paragon these days thanks not just to having been Champion, but also helping Oak and the League with issues back in my youth." Alex let out a drawn-out sigh. "Well, at least I won't have nearly as much stress, since running the country is now someone else's problem."

"I wonder how Daniel and the others are doing? I barely remember the last time I saw any of them."

"I think Daniel just got clearance to start a Gym in Cerulean a year or so back from the League. I say good on him. He never liked traveling that much, even when we were still going around, so it'd probably fit his MO to be in one place helping the younger generation out." Alex recalled the phone call he'd received from the mild-mannered man that had said as much.

"Well, that's nice. Maybe one of these days after I get out of here, we could go for a visit."

"Maybe. Don't forget Cerulean is ninety miles from here and a hundred fifty from Pallet. It'll be an expensive trip and something we won't be able to do very often."

Delia chuckled mirthlessly. "I know, dear, you don't need to patronize me. I've had to make research trips just as much as you've had to travel for Champion business, you know."

"Heh, of course. I think I'll sleep here again tonight, and then hopefully, you'll be released tomorrow or the day after."

Delia leaned into Alex's embrace. "Of course. These walls get so boring all the time!" The two chuckled, before getting ready for bed.

In the shadow of a tall tower in Viridian City, Giovanni, leader of world-infamous Team Rocket, clasped his fingers together and set his chin on them. "So someone has finally managed to dethrone my old enemy. It seems now is a better time than ever to take operations back into Kanto." The man tapped an intercom button on his desk. "Matori, come in."

"Yes, Mr. Giovanni?"

"It's time to take over Kanto once again. Gather Rocket's forces and return as soon as possible."

"Roger, sir!" Giovanni released the button on the intercom, then tapped it twice to engage local mode. "I am in the mood of celebrating. Someone bring me unhealthy snacks that I may gorge myself upon. Meanwhile, he contemplated Butch and Cassidy's first mission and how it might be going.

Justin and Theresa Stonewood and Fitch and Rachel Pratt ran to get the gas masks as quickly as they could. What had Oak been thinking, removing the fire extinguishers where they had been needed the most? That was a safety hazard of the highest caliber!

Rachel tripped on her lab coat and landed in a puddle of oil that didn't have any right to be there, and the fire soon licked the oil, quickly spreading until it engulfed Rachel in flames. Rachel screamed in agony as Fitch went into the flames to try to get her, but right as he went to pull her out of the fire and beat her off, a wooden beam fell from the ceiling and crushed both of them under its weight.

Theresa tried to run to help, but was stopped short both by her husband and by the weight cracking the wooden floor under the two trapped lab techs, causing them to fall through the floor and down to the basement. "Justin, what are you doing?! We have to... we have to help them!"

"No, it's too late. We can't go down there... You know as well as I do that Oak keeps the basement locked so there's no way we... Oh... oh God..." The two were very distraught at the realization that Fitch and Rachel were going to die, and there was nothing they could do about it.

They had managed to get away from the worst of the fire, but such was their grief, they never noticed as two figures in the trees outside shot sleeping darts at them, and they were soon out cold, trapped in the burning laboratory.

"Laboratory destroyed, targets killed. Oak will soon suffocate through the fumes as a result of the flammable liquid introduced. Mission success." The two unknown figures retreated through the chaos of the crumbling structure and the silent night to parts unknown.

Whew, this took six whole hours to write, but man, was it worth it! As always, leave a review or PM me with feedback regarding the chapter. It will be greatly appreciated, especially now, considering this is the first foray I've ever taken into Pokemon!