Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon no matter how much I wish I did.

Hi this will potentially have advanced shipping, not sure though. I should apologise in advance for any spelling mistakes etc, English was never my strong point but I try! I hope you enjoy the story! This is set in a region I created called Jiolt. The idea is that Jiolt sits very northernly and has huge expansive areas that are cold and snowy as well as many much more typical of what we see in the Anime! That's me done with a bit of rambling, In future I'll post a brief recap of the previous chapter! Enjoy

Chapter 1: A New Start

The mist slowly tumbled down from the infamous Heaven Reaching Slopes. It was world famous for containing Mt Ysp, the tallest mountain in the world. The entire mountain range itself was renowned for its treacherous paths that for most of the year were covered in a blanket of the whitest snow. Rumours said that due to how isolated the Mountain Range was that it was probably home to one of the legendary Pokémon. However, nobody was brave enough or even more likely stupid enough, to try and explore this mountain range. A majority of the slopes were that steep and treacherous that large parts of the area had been untouched by humans and due to high winds, had very rarely been flown over. However, Foxedge Town, a small fishing village on the edge of Lake Irtun at the foot of the slopes had just established a Pokémon Laboratory to research the theory. Research that was to be undertaken by Gary Oak.

It was for this very reason that a fishing vessel was now slowly crawling through the icy waters of Lake Irtun. The ship itself was no longer than 25 feet in length, and with the amount of rust on its body, it had clearly seen better days. However, along with the small crew who had recently been fishing off the coast of Kanto was the Pride of Pallet Town, Ash Ketchum. Ash was now 17 years old and had certainly matured from his younger years. The raven haired trainer still maintained his "just out of bed" hairstyle with his trademark cap, but now he seemed significantly stronger. Underneath the thick winter jacket and waterproof trousers along with the multiple layers underneath this, Ash was in the shape of his life. A muscly exterior forged by hundreds of miles walking and training alongside his Pokémon.

However, Ash was not the only guest on this rusting old vessel, his good friend and Top Co-ordinator May Maple had come along for the ride along with his trusted partner Pikachu. May was now 16 years old, but she had barely changed one bit. She still had the appetite of a Snorlax whilst maintaining her hourglass figure. Pikachu on the other hand, well despite his appearance not seeming different, he was much stronger. Following his defeat in the Final of the Kalos League, Ash decided to train specifically with Pikachu and Charizard, the two Pokemon he would bring to Jiolt. The intense training schedule the three of them took part in had really paid off and were all looking significantly stronger. Charizard had made incredible progress at the Charicific Valley but recently no other could pose him a serious challenge, so Ash had developed a schedule to really push him.

Flashback

After 3 months of isolation, Ash had returned home to a wonderful return setup by his mother. His friends were all there. Brock, Misty, May, Max, Dawn, Iris, and Cilan had all showed up. His companions from Kalos had not as they had were all too busy. Serena with her newly opened cake shop with the other two running the Lumiose City Gym after their break. A fact Ash was tremendously excited about. However, after announcing his plans to travel to Jiolt he was met with hesitation.

"Wouldn't you be best just taking Scott up on the Frontier Brain offer?" Misty enquired with a somewhat dubious tone.

"Well why would I do that?" Ash was dumbfounded, he looked around the room and saw hesitant looks etched across the large majority of faces in the room. However, two faces seemed to be in disbelief like him. That was May and Dawn. "Wait, you guys don't think I can win. Well at least May and Dawn do." The two girls responded with a nod in agreement.

"Look Ash, it's just you lost again. It's just a dream, one you just cannot seem to let go." Brock replied with a stern tone to Ash's statement. Those not on Ash, May and Dawn's side seemed to nod in agreement.

"Well that is easy for you to say. After all Brock the only dream you've maintained is to date every girl you see." Ash replied coldly. It was a harsh statement but a true one. "You told me when you were younger you wanted to be the best gym leader in Kanto. Then you travelled with me wanting to be a breeder, then you say you want to be a Pokémon Doctor, but you just quit your school for that. And the rest of you nodding? Misty, all you do is talk about wanting to do something else without actually doing anything about it. Max, I don't know what you are agreeing about, you got put out in the last 16 in your first tournament, exactly like me. Iris? You may actually be one of the worst here, your dream is to be a dragon master yet you only have two dragon type Pokemon! Now Cilan, your opinion, I can understand. Because at least you go out and follow what you want to do. However, as a Pokémon Connoisseur you try to be able to predict and pass judgement on trainers and their battling styles. But people change, people adapt. Now my style is unconventional, something that goes against what you are taught as a Connoisseur, my unconventional style is something that I have worked on for years and I just got to the final of the Kalos League. Yet you all seem to forget that I am making progress."

Ash was now bright red with anger. "Look I understand you may be trying to look out for me, but I really wish you could support me and see my progress." May walked over placing her hand on his shoulder. Dawn did the same to the brother she never had.

After a couple of hours had passed and the others left, it was just the trio of Ash, May and Dawn who remained in the house. "Would any of you guys like to come with me?" Ash asked. May nodded enthusiastically. Ever since she left home she had dreamed of seeing the Heaven Reaching Slopes.

"I can't sorry Ash! I'm travelling the Hoenn Region with Kenny next!" Dawn reluctantly replied.

"That's okay Dawn. Follow your heart and I know it's with him!" She was blushing at that statement. Ash was right, but she had never admitted to her crush to anyone. She gave him a bemused look whilst blushing. "Dawn you forget we are like siblings, I can read you like a book!" May giggled alongside the two of them. Dawn gave them both a hug, however, when hugging Ash she slipped something into his pocket. After she had left he opened it up.

"Let her know how you feel." Ash grinned, May desperately tried to see what it was but he dismissed it as nothing.

END FLASHBACK

As they crawled through the icy waters, Ash was stood at the front of the boat with Pikachu casting their eyes on the astonishing Mt Ysp that stood on the horizon. Ash could only dream what was at the top. He knew that it was too risky to try and climb it though. As much as he had been in dangerous situations before, the idea of knowingly putting May and his Pokémon at risk was too much for him. However, he did make one vow. "I will climb it one day."

During this, May was hiding from the cold by hanging out with the crew on the lower deck of the boat. The crew seemed to be giving her a lot of attention, something she did not think twice about, however, the Captain and Ash had a smirk. May's family were rather well off and how out of touch May sometimes was showed here. It would not be right to say they were rich, but rather oblivious to some things. Ash's father was a fisherman in his younger years so Ash knew about the long journeys and how it was only men on the boat. No wonder May was getting all the attention, however, Ash could not help but feel a tinge of jealousy towards the crew. "Why am I jealous? Nothing is gonna happen." He muttered underneath his breath.

2 hours later

Ash and May had already visited Foxedge Town's Pokémon Centre and were now outside the new Laboratory. The laboratory itself was situated midway up the mountain on the edge of the lake so was a fair distance from the actual town. The laboratory was on the crest of the mountain with the peak to the right of the building a significant distance vertically. It was a strange sort of position for the building, without really much of a view bar the peak due to the amount of trees.

"Why hello Ashy Boy! And May! It's good to see you!" Gary smirked offering them a handshake each. Ash was rather taken aback by how polite Gary was acting, he knew that Gary had matured… But to this extent? However, he did still insist on calling Ash "Ashy". Some things just never change after all.

Gary began showing them around the laboratory. The building itself did not appear to be too much from the outside, it seemed modern but modern to the point where it seemed a little derivative. But after stepping inside it was easy to spot the amount of thought that had gone into this building. The main hall once you walk in had a clear see through roof that morphed into the back wall. The glass panels made Ash wonder how much it would cost for his windows to be cleaned, this was however, before they really took notice of the view.

The Heaven Reaching Slopes stood in their direct line of sight. The mountain the laboratory was on was now placed into perspective. It was tiny compared to the other mountains. Gary could not help but smirk at the look on their faces, a look of pure awe.

"It's a shame its misty today, otherwise you would be able to see Mt Ysp clearly. You can make it out in the distance but not that well." Gary placed a hand on each of their shoulder before gesturing them to follow him. "Shall we continue?" Both Ash and May nodded enthusiastically, but as they departed they could not help but still continue to stare at the mountains dwarfing the building even from the distance.

After passing numerous machines and rooms where testing was taking place, Gary continued onwards to the part he felt Ash would love. He led them through a small corridor before opening the door. Inside this new room, it became apparent it was not just a room, it was a hall and inside this hall stood four battlefields. A normal type, a water type, a rock type and an ice type.

"Those four are only half size however, if I press this button, you may want to step back." Both Ash and May obliged to Gary's request and saw as the floor began to shift, replacing the four battlefields with two normal type full size ones. "Ash, I know you want to battle but sadly I am expecting a starter trainer so we must wait. He should be here in a minute."

"Ah okay Gary." Ash responded sounding a little deflated.

"So Gary what are you researching just now?" May had been awfully quiet up until this point, however, due to a combination of the cold and the sights she was taking in, it was easy to understand why she would be a little speechless.

"Well May, it has long been rumoured that due to the remoteness of these mountains, that a legendary Pokémon lives here." Both Ash and May turned giddy with excitement. "The thing is many of these mountains have not been climbed before and are as such, are untouched by humans. The logic is that the Legendary Pokémon are either all incredible at concealing themselves, which no doubt the ones who can change form are, or they live in remote areas. It might also be a brand new Pokémon! A majority of the rest of the world has been searched, or is being seen daily. However, this has not. I received grant money from each of the regions leagues to set this up and research."

"So who came up with this idea? About how it seems plausible that they are here." Ash enquired with a puzzling expression. "After all surely they would want to do it?"

"You are right Ash he did." Gary smirked. "I was the one who created the paper detailing this idea. So far we have had some strange results about power fluctuations in towns close to the mountains. However, right now we cannot rule out this being attributed to the extreme weather conditions. Right now our main challenge is to develop technology to allow ourselves to take better readings and hopefully, explore the unexplored."

Ash was never usually into research, but this research was astounding him. His mind quickly began to wander, wondering exactly what kind of Pokémon could be there. Would it be a legendary? Would it be a Pokémon he had met before? Or just one of immense strength? All these questions filled his mind. He did not know how but he just felt like one day he would find out.

Suddenly the door behind them opened. "Professor Oak? Are you here?"

The group turned around. Stood before them was a teenager of 18 years old, he was 6 foot tall with jet black hair that sat like Drew's. Except unlike Drew, this man had a stubbly face. It was not particularly long, more like a "5 o'clock shadow". "Ah Cedric, are you here for your starter?"

"Starter?" Ash and May squealed with confusion turning to face Cedric and Gary. "Aren't you a little old to just be getting your starter Pokémon?"

"Yeah I am, I get that a lot. I had to help run the family business till I was 18, but seeing as I turned 18 today I finally get to go and challenge the Jiolt League!" Cedric gave them a warm smile. "So do you have all five Pokémon Professor Oak?"

"All five?" Once again Ash had a dumbfounded look etched across his face.

"Yes Ash. Here trainers can choose from Squirtle, Turtwig, Chespin, Shinx or Riolu. And I have one of all five!" Gary explained as his assistant walked over producing a briefcase containing five Pokéballs.

"I'll have Shinx." Cedric remarked. "Seeing as we are so acquainted." Cedric picked up the small Pokeball which had a small lightning bolt etched onto it.

"I thought you would! You see Ash and May, I have been teaching Cedric about Pokémon for the last 2 years whilst letting him interact with the 5 starter Pokémon. I give out Pokémon once a month to new trainers, just so we have time to get more and enough. It does prove quite a rush on that day but it's enjoyable. However, due to Cedric's age and remarkable knowledge I let him know he could have his whenever."

As Gary turned to Ash it became apparent that he had not listened to a word Gary had said. Ash stepped forward.

"So Cedric how about a battle?" A statement which led to Gary and May rolling their eyes.

After a nod, both Cedric and Ash took their places with Gary officiating. "The one on one battle between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town against Cedric Dan of Foxedge Town will now begin. The battle will be over when either Pokémon is unable to battle with no time limit. Begin!"

"Shinx use agility!"

"Pikachu use quick attack to catch her!"

As Shinx was just beginning to pick up speed Pikachu had already caught up and rammed into the side of Shinx sending her across the field.

"Shinx! Are you okay?" Shinx stood up on all fours and gave Cedric a nod. "Okay, Shinx use agility again but zig-zag across the field and back."

The cat like Pokemon began to zig zag back and forth across the field. Pikachu was unable to keep up with Shinx as she increased in speed.

"Okay Pikachu stop, and watch her movements." Pikachu concurred however, Cedric was not about to let up.

"Shinx quick attack now!"

"Pikachu use iron tail!"

Just as Shinx was nearing Pikachu, Pikachu's tail turned a metallic colour as it swung round hitting Shinx directly in the side, leaving it in a heap on the field. It was not unconscious but Gary had seen enough.

"Shinx is unable to battle! Pikachu is the winner!" Ash gave Pikachu a small pat on the head. Before Gary made his way to Cedric. "I called it there because Shinx had taken a couple of powerful hits and looked worse for wear. There would have been no point continuing it after that, I know first-hand how strong that Pikachu is! As a trainer it is important to understand your Pokémon's limits, and not see them needlessly hurt." Cedric agreed, assuring Gary that he understood completely.

"You put up a good fight Cedric!" Ash said as he placed his hand on Cedric's shoulder. It was clear in Cedric's eyes that he was bitterly disappointed to say the least. He had spent hours on end studying for two years, to try and formulate a strong battle strategy, yet today it was not enough. He failed to implement his strategies at all.

"Please Ash, we both know you were taking it easy." Ash sweat dropped. He did not want to crush a beginner trainer and damage his confidence, but Cedric knew he had been toyed with. "You just showed me I have a lot to learn."

"Well how about we go get some food? No doubt you will all be hungry!" At these words from Gary's assistant the whole group, including Gary jumped up and sprinted towards the lounge area to eat. It was not until they were all seated they realised the food was not actually ready. This was met with a groan from the whole group, however, this was soon rectified. As now there was a feast of food. Predominately burgers, pizza, among other food. The reason this was put on was that Gary was actually good friends with Cedric. So this was sort of a "last feast".

After all the food was eaten, surprisingly quickly and predominately by Ash and May, the conversation soon shifted on to what their plans were.

"So Cedric, if you and Ash are both challenging the league why don't you three all travel together?" Ash looked up at that before quickly looking at May. Clearly unsure of how to respond to that. Lucky for him though, she did.

"Yes! Cedric join us! It'll give you both somebody to measure your level against." May gave him a welcoming smile which eased the anxious look that Cedric was displaying.

"If that's okay then sure!" Ash had relaxed visibly. However, he could not help but feel a little disappointed. The prospect of travelling alone with May was one he seemed to look forward to. However, the logistics of it would dictate cases of food poisoning so hopefully Cedric can cook! "I'm a good cook to so I could do that in return for your kindness!" Ash and May immediately high fived at this statement. They would not be starving!

Shortly after eating, they bid Gary farewell and set off towards Aldham City, the capital city of Jiolt.