Hi there!

So, first things first, I've gotta warn people that this contains genderbending in a singular form as in only 1 character will have a gender change. If you don't like it then I am not forcing you to read this story so you don't have to, there are almost 100,000 Pokemon stories on this site which may suit your tastes better than this does so please can flames be kept to a minimum... constructive criticism is fine (Minus the whole 'Your spelling is wrong since you write in the Queen's English' thing which I hate)... but yeah, warning over I guess!

This Au contains differences to the anime of the following:

1. Pokemon can learn any move from their move set. I know this is common but I like doing it, four moves really doesn't show off the true potential of a Pokemon and I like the idea that Pokemon don't just forget a move. A four move limit can be placed on things such as Gym Battles and the like if it bugs people but it's staying around.

2. The starting age is 16. Lets just say some bad things happened involving Pokemon and ten year olds resulting in a rising of the age range. If the anime is to be believed, and this is an anime AU, then most ten year olds aren't entirely smart when they start out on their journeys and haven't had enough time in basic education to do things for themselves, thus we have six more years of education and less unfortunate accidents happening.

3. If placed in the top 8 of a League, your holding capacity will increase by six. It makes things easier for me to keep a team and make a new one since I am thinking about adding trips to Hoenn and Sinnoh to the list. A max amount of Pokemon allowed on a person is respondent to 18 new slots meaning, at most, trainers can carry 24 Pokemon with them.

4. Two league wins gains entry to the Master League. I know that sounds tough but Master Leagues are made only to test the best of the best, one league win shows you have promise, two means you're ready to take it one. Master Leagues happen once every five years so it gives time and chance for a trainer to develop and grow. The winner of the Master League is awarded the role of Pokemon Master.

So, that's it for now, I think. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.

Chapter One: Progression

In the middle of an empty, grass covered field, a lone figure sat meditating under the warming heat of the mid-spring sun, trying with relative ease to ignore the world around them. Their ember eyes were unmoving behind closed eyelids, tanned skin reflecting countless hours of training out in the harsh sunlight. The wind blew through their long black hair – most of which was tied up into a ponytail with a few loose spikes poking out at the sides and down to form a sort of fringe – and ruffled their simple clothing of a black t-shirt and dark blue tracksuit bottoms. They – the figure was actually a girl – were oblivious to everything, or so it seemed. What anyone who may have stumbled across this scene couldn't see was what was happening behind those closed eyes.

For the girl, the world was an array of life and colour, shining brightly across the darkness. Vivid outlines of the trees and the Pokémon in her range of eyesight graces her as she remained still and silent. Deep inside she had a feeling that something wasn't right and continued remaining in her current state. A sudden sense alerted her to a powerful being nearby that was coming ever closer. She didn't move until the aura was right behind her and she threw her eyelids open. Almost in a split second, she went from cross-legged sitting to using her left leg to block a punch that was aimed for the back of her head, locking herself and her attacker into a deadlock situation. The attacker couldn't move his fist lest it give her chance to kick him whilst she couldn't do the same for the near enough same reasons.

Like she was, her attacker was basically dressed in a t-shirt trackie combo and they too had spiked black hair, but theirs was more downwards pointed, not that it mattered with that giant floppy hat that they constantly wore on their head. Cerulean blue orbs met her amber brown as they continued their stalemate. She knew that she had the disadvantage, soon enough her leg would grow tired and she would be in agony from keeping up there for so long. Luckily, she had a tactic for that. Slowly, she began to lower her limb, guiding the attacker into a false sense of security before she quickly swapped legs and sent him flying with a kick to the cheek.

Placing her right foot back on the ground, she lowered her gravity and took a defensive stance as her opponent pushed himself up. He spat the glob of blood that had pooled in his mouth from the impact and rubbed his jaw as he stood up, saying nothing. They entered another standoff, waiting to see who would crack first, who would throw caution to the wind and rush head first into a probably painful experience. The girl shifted her weight, placing most of it onto her back foot so she could get a powerful push off if such an instance was needed. He noticed this, concentrating his power to his hand, ready to form a sphere – or a shield – at a moment's notice.

They waited…

There was silence…

A breeze drifted through…

The chirp of a nearby Pidgey…

NOW!

She pushed off and ran towards the man, getting ready to summon her weapon as he raised his hand which had a pulsating blue sphere forming in the centre of his palm. Even though the situation seemed bleak, she couldn't help but grin. 5 metres, 4 metres. The sphere had fully formed and was about to be fired. 3 metres, 2 metres. She could feel the shaft of her weapon forming in her grasp.

1 metre…

"STOP!"

The man gasped and lost concentration, causing the sphere to explode in his hand, sending both parties flying backwards in their respective directions and causing them to hit the ground harshly with loud thuds. Almost instantly after they had regained comprehension over their bodies and senses after the shockwave of the sphere's spontaneous combustion. Their looks of anger almost instantaneously faded into ones of disappointment with a partial addition of shock in the mixture.

A woman, one much older than the girl, was staring at them with an expression that could only be described as exasperation. Her hand found themselves following their usual routine, finding the familiar placement that they commonly had on her hips touching the fabric of her purple skirt. A yellow blouse was tucked into said skirt whilst a woollen pink cardigan covered most of it with an addition layer of warmth. The woman's eyes matched the girl's to a T, but her scrunchied hair was a chestnut brown colour over the darker tones of the other two. She stared at them, mixing between tutting and sighing loudly as her eyes flickered between them both.

"Seriously, Riley?" The woman stepped closer towards the male, shaking her head at him. "Only ten minutes ago I told you lunch was almost ready, and what do you do? Sometimes I wonder what on earth I was thinking when I married your brother, I really do."

"But, Delia…" Riley's objection was interjected by Delia's piercing glare which told him politely to shut his mouth or there would be consequences.

"No buts," she turned to the girl and sighed deeply, noticing the dried, flaky dirt that covered the items of clothing. "Can't you go five seconds without being dirty, Ash? Honestly…" Unlike her uncle, Ash saw no good reason for arguing with her mother, choosing instead to pretend to listen attentively whilst she actually droned the noise of another lecture out. The only thing she cared about were the words 'lunch' and 'ready'. As soon as she was sure her mother had finished lecturing her, she made a mad dash back home whilst ignoring the adults shouts since she really didn't care. Today was her last day in Pallet Town and tomorrow was her sixteenth birthday, the day she started her Pokémon journey.

~0~o~0~

Delia couldn't help but smile when she looked up from her meal to see niece and uncle eating so ferociously, it didn't help that Riley was her husband – Dylan's – twin brother, identical twin brother at that. Thinking about Dylan caused a stab of pain at her heart after all these years without him being there for his family. She had been told by the Elders of Aura that her husband was alive but doing work out of Kanto and couldn't come back, they went on to be deeply apologetic in the fact that they had no power over the situation.

Yeah right, they were the ones who sent him out the day Ash was born. No power over the situation her ass.

It wasn't just her husband's constant distance from herself and their daughter that made Delia hate these elders, there was something more important that made her want to stab a few of them in the heart and see how they like it. The so called 'Elders of Aura' were a bunch of elderly Aura Guardians that basically ran over the many Aura Clans of the world, sending members to teach the young how to use their abilities whilst instructing trained guardians on what missions they were to partake in. Some were simple like helping the local Pokémon Center or helping a Pokémon Ranger mission, whilst others were more dangerous. Delia wasn't worried that her daughter would be sent on one of these dangerous missions, far from it.

Ash would never be an Aura Guardian.

At least, not in the eyes of the elders.

Typically – or so Riley had told her – adepts in aura would show signs of it around the age of seven and would be trained from there until age sixteen where they would be gifted a starter with aura abilities such as a Riolu or Togepi. Ash, on the flip side, was a defect. Why? Her aura had manifested itself when she was three years old. There was nothing anyone could have done; her husband was away and Riley was still living in Sinnoh at the time. Mother and daughter were watching a TV show about mythical humanoid monsters when one of them made a magical spear which her daughter then went ahead and copied somehow.

And yet that made her a defect because, I hear you ask? Well, it's pretty simple.

Apart from sensing auras and emotions, plus another feature that all Aura Guardians were taught, Ash couldn't learn any other aura techniques no matter how hard she tried to. When Riley came over to teach her the art of aura, he was shocked to learn what had happened four years prior and went straight to the elders, those elders then immediately labelled her daughter as the defect, not worthy to be a part of the Ketchum family Aura Clan.

Riley, however, never gave up on his niece. He continued to train her in what he could, including multiple forms of hand to hand and weaponry combat which may be useful in the future. Delia was grateful to him for being so supportive and for taking nine years out of his life to prepare her daughter for the day she was allowed out into the world. To be honest, Riley was more or less in awe of his niece's early start and, as time went on, he realised the lack of extra abilities wasn't a problem at all. By the time she was twelve, Ash had total control over the spears she could produce, making multiple or many; long or short, big or small ones without too much effort. Riley couldn't help but compare her to the ancient aura goddess of war, who could to the exact same things as she could. He had even begun to theorise why the comparison was as strong as it was but was shot down by the elders and told to leave the defect alone.

Like hell he was.

Even though he couldn't use the typical training an Aura Guardian could receive, he made his own version planned around the few skills his niece had and went from there. It made his job much easier, not having to juggle multiple techniques and Aura Guardian etiquette at the same time and instead focusing on empathy, sensing and her special skill. Ash, herself, wasn't all that bothered by the lack of an Aura Guardian status, constantly making jokes about her 'defective' status such as when she would laugh at Riley for having had his "ass beaten by a defect". The thing was, she never wanted to be an Aura Guardian.

Ash wanted to be a Pokémon Master.

Without Dylan around to punch the goal of Aura Guardian into her brain, Ash was practically given free will up until Riley showed up to give her training when she was seven, and by then she was already crazy about the idea. The girl loved Pokémon and, for some reason, the critters loved her back. Whether it was her kind and caring nature or her warm, comforting aura but Pokémon came to her like Venomoth to any light source. It only made sense for her to go down a Pokémon based career path and with both contests and performances seemed to girly – the latter being borderline sexist in Ash's book – it was obvious she'd choose to be a trainer. But not just any trainer, she wanted to be the best.

"So, planning one last training session?" Delia suddenly decided to speak up, trying to stop herself from laughing from the two sets of food full faces that looked up at her from their meal.

Riley swallowed what was in his mouth and nodded. "That's the plan Delia, I wanna make sure that this bag of trouble…" he ruffled Ash's hair which resulted in a glare from said girl. "… has perfected her other form before she leaves tomorrow cause Arceus knows she's gonna need it."

"Well don't do it for too long!" Delia huffed, narrowing her eyes at her brother in law. "You two need to freshen up afterwards for the birthday meal tonight."

"What birthday meal… OW!" Riley rubbed his head as the flat surface of an aura spear bashed him one. "Oh right, sorry Ash."

"I'll be a trainer tomorrow so it'll be the last family gathering," The fifteen-year-old told him sternly, the glare still ever present from earlier on when he tried to ruffle her hair. "And thanks to the elders, I can call and visit mum whenever I like since I'm going to be a trainer instead of an Aura Guardian. Right, mum?"

"Right," That was one of the few reasons why Delia was glad Ash was going to be a trainer over a guardian. She didn't want to lose her daughter and her husband to the will of the elders, it was bad enough they had full control over her husband and Riley included… well nearly full control over Riley. "I know I'll look forwards to hearing your adventures but promise me that you won't get into too much trouble out there."

"Mum…" It wasn't really Ash's fault that she was a trouble magnet, she just was and a part of her hated it with a passion.

"Ah, leave her be Delia," Riley shovelled the rest of his food in his mouth, placing his now empty plate down loudly. "With her aura training she should be fine. Speaking of, finish that plate off. We're doing one training match and then we'll come back here so your mother and I can work on the dinner, Miss birthday girl shouldn't have to lift a finger on her special but one day."

"Okay," Like her uncle, Ash wolfed down the rest of her plate but put it down gently and bowed her head in her mother's direction. "Thanks for lunch mum, it was delicious."

"You're welcome, at least you have my manners unlike your father," Delia sent a smug grin in Riley's direction, implying that the lack of manners applied to him as well which made the man grumble. "Now go and kick Riley's behind for me, will you sweetheart?"

"Oh, happily!" Riley did not like the evil glint in his niece's eyes, that meant trouble for him big time.

~0~o~0~

The two members of the Ketchum clan were walking to Professor Oak's lab for two reasons, one was to remind him he was invited to dinner at Delia's request and the second was to ask for the use for one of the ranch's fields for their sparring. Neither said anything as they were both thinking up creative ways to badmouth the other into losing their temper which could cost them their final fight's victory. Upon making it up the curling steep staircase to the laboratory's front doorstep, Riley knocked on the door three times.

The door opened revealing an aging man with greying brown hair, who was blinking wearily at the two people on his doorstep. His red shirt was tucked into light brown khakis and both were covered with a long-sleeved lab coat. Professor Samuel Oak's confusion instantly changed to joy as his face lit up at the sight of them.

"Ah, Ash and Riley…" A guilty smile adjourned his facial features. "If it's about later then there is no need to remind me, I know Delia must have sent you and…"

"Professor, please," Riley tried to calm him down and actually sent a wave of aura in the old man's direction which soothed his nerves and worries. "We are here to ask if you have any empty fields on the ranch? I want to finish Ash's training with a battle."

"Oh… OH!" Samuel nodded, now less on edge than he was earlier thanks to Riley's abilities. "Of course, there is one close to the lab that is not in use but please be wary of the Pokémon around you whilst you fight, okay?"

"Of course, Professor, we will." Ash promised before bowing in respect to him. "Thank you ever so much."

"No problem, my girl," Professor Oak smiled at her before inviting them through with a simple gesture of the arm. "Anything for relatives of Delia, I owe her a lot for what she did here as an assistant." They followed the professor through and thanked him once more as they left into an open space, much like the one they almost fought in until Delia interrupted them.

"So, what are the rules?" Ash asked, taking her place opposite from Riley.

"Aura Forms from the beginning," he explained, adjusting his hat fondly. "The aim is to incapacitate the opponent so they can't fight back, got it?"

"Got it."

"I'll go first," As he spoke, Riley began to glow with his aura and it began to swirl around him into a vortex, covering him from view. Ash had to cover her eyes from the brightness as her hair fluttered viciously in the winds whipped up by the spiritual power, she couldn't even use Aura Sense as it could possibly blind her from the pure light she would see from it. It took ten seconds for everything to be over, revealing her uncle in his Aura Guardian garbs, the exact same ones Sir Aaron wore around a thousand years prior. "Now, it's your turn."

Not saying a word, she nodded and closed her eyes in concentration. She imagined the feeling of her aura sweeping in circles around her, she felt everything change slowly as she was lifted up into the air slightly but put back down when the vortex vanished. Gone were her trackies, replaced by a turtle neck, sleeveless, blue top with a metallic, large band around her waist which connected to a metal made, light blue skirt like cover with an upside down v down the middle of the front. Blue, above the knee lenghted leggings met the skin to which a pair of black boots continued below. On her hands, white middle fingered, looped gloves tied with red string in a criss-crossing pattern and her hair was clasped back with three blue bands, with two short lengths falling over her shoulders.

"Perfect?" She asked with a cocky grin, placing her hands on her armour above the upper leg protection device.

"Pretty good, I'd say," Riley was actually very impressed on the inside, he'd only ever practised Aura Forms with Ash twice before, and she'd only ever got a partial form once. "Not a typical guardian uniform but it fits…"

The girl couldn't help but laugh. "Uncle, I'm a defect remember? Why would I be wearing your precious Elders' zombie outfit?"

"I detest the zombie analogy," he huffed as she continued to laugh at him. "For that remark young lady, I get to start… now!" Stopping her laughter, Ash only just managed to avoid an Aura Sphere to the face. The ball of pure energy hit a tree behind her, leaving a burnt indent as a reminder of what could have happened if it had it. She blinked as she stared at it for a bit, growling silently as she pushed her power into her hand to form a spear made entirely out of aura but that wasn't the beginning of it. Extending her arm harshly out to the side, an army of spears formed behind her, all pointed towards the man in the Aura Guardian garbs. Riley couldn't help but gulp at the sheer amount of pointy ended sticks that were about to skewer him if he wasn't careful, what his niece couldn't make up for with lack of quantity through her abilities, she could make up for with the control and quality of the ones she did have.

"What were you saying?" Ash asked sweetly, before pointing her finger at him, which sent the spears flying towards him like a swarm of Beedrill following their alpha's instructions. Riley formed a dome shield over himself just in time, causing the spears to push against it whilst trying to get in. Adding an extra push of power, he had flung them away from any form of danger, which then left him open for a close and personal attack. He only just managed to dodge the swipe of a sharp, pointed spear with a quick side step, which Riley managed to lead into with an Aura Sphere to the chest.

Ash was sent flying backwards with a yelp and she only just managed to rectify her positioning, flipping in the air to land on her own two feet. Knowing that she didn't want this fight to last forever, she thrust a clenched fist into the air, causing four spears to burst from the ground and trap her uncle as more joined them in a spinning ring around it. With another spear in her hands, she walked over with a huge grin on her face.

"You could form a makeshift weapon or shield to free yourself and stop the others from piercing you," she quickly held her weapon so that the pointed edge was as close to his throat as it physically could be without any movement causing injury. "But this little bad boy should tell you otherwise."

Riley looked down at the ground, only to laugh whilst he raised his hands in surrender. "I yield, I yield." He immediately felt more comfortable once the spears had vanished. "Hmm, one minute, thirty seconds. Better than last week's spar. You have been getting exceedingly better but I've been going easy on you. In real life, most people with aura powers wouldn't wait for you to leisurely meander towards them inside that cage of spikes."

"I know that," Ash huffed, placing her hands on her hips. "But I just wanted to show you that the defect can kick an Aura Guardian's ass any day."

"You get that attitude from your father," Riley shook his head as both of their forms deactivated and they returned to their already sweat drenched tracksuits. "Alright then miss Guardian ass kicker, let's head back home and get ready for dinner tonight. Delia is gonna cook up a storm, isn't she?"

"That's mum for you."

~0~o~0~

Once the two had showered and changed into something more formal for the dinner, the two aura users came down to finish helping set everything up with Professor Oak joining them. Not even half an hour later, all four were sat at the table enjoy a well-prepared meal whilst the elderly man was recounting tales from his grandson – Gary Oak – who had already been on his journey for two months.

"He recently caught a Growlithe," Samuel told the three Ketchum's with avid pride for his flesh and blood. "That line is known for being highly loyal if trained right and it helps having a psychical attacking fire type as well as a special like his Charmander."

"Two fire types?" Riley raised an eyebrow, stopping his fork mid-rise to his mouth. "Why catch two fire types?" Before the professor could interject, Delia put her opinion across.

"I have to agree Samuel," she frowned with slight displeasure at his enthusiasm at boasting his grandson's achievements at HER daughter's leaving/birthday dinner. "Trainers of Gary's stature can only have six Pokémon so how would two Pokémon of the same typing cover a wide range of disadvantages? It's taking two spaces instead of one."

"Gary rotates." Professor Oak flushed in embarrassment, but Delia wasn't done.

"Anyway, why are you talking about your grandson when it's my daughter's birthday meal?" She stood up, picking up the empty plates as she did so, leaving the ones that were still being used. "I haven't boasted about Ash during any of Gary's birthdays and my daughter has a mythical power that allows her to defend herself."

"Mum, it's okay." Ash really didn't want her mother to go into a rant right now, it would honestly never end. "I don't mind, just get ready to throw back stories of me kicking his ass in battle, okay?" Delia laughed as she left, much to Professor Oak's chagrin. Riley snorted through his drink, not caring that speckles of it now littered the tablecloth.

"That's my niece!" He pulled her into a headlock and ruffled her hair, much to Ash's annoyance. "Anyway, if it is alright with queen mother out there, may I give my present to the birthday girl?"

"Close family first, you know the rules Riley," Delia returned at that moment with two wrapped shapes in her arms. "Sorry sweetie, but this year I went more practical than money and books but I'm sure you've studied up enough on each of the major types and Pokémon that fall under them." She handed over the presents in the cleaned area of the table. Within seconds the wrapping paper was on the floor and the two gifts were out in the open. One was a set of travelling clothing comprised of knee length jean shorts; under the knee black socks, white tennis trainers, a blue jacket with white sleeves and a golden trim around the hem and at the bands on the pockets, a black t-shirt, dark green fingerless gloves with a lighter green band and a red and white baseball cap with a green triangular shape on the front. The second was a green backpack already full to the brim with everything that was needed for a region wide tour.

"Mum, these are amazing!" The daughter thanked her mother in the form of a warm, loving hug. "Wait, is that the Pokémon League Expo hat?"

"The very same!" Delia grinned, remembering the competition she had entered five years ago. "I won it and kept it for the day you started your own journey."

"I had no idea you were the winner, Delia," Samuel was shocked at the item on top of the other neatly folded items of clothing. "A lot of people entered so it was a wonder you won."

"Not really," she smiled charmingly. "I sent a thousand postcards so I could be sure that I won it."

"A thousand," Riley whistled at the number given to him. "That's pure dedication there. Guess you thought your little cupcake deserved it." Whilst Ash blushed at the nickname, Delia nodded and replied to her brother in law.

"She did, working hard at learning as much as she could about Pokémon whilst also training under you was more than enough reason to do it, my daughter will be a Pokémon Master one day, you know." She couldn't help but roll her eyes at Riley. He had been around them for nine years and he should know that she was training under him and being home schooled at the same time thanks to the long and extensive training of aura users.

"Thanks mum," Delia received another hug before her daughter put on the said hat of discussion, which flattened her outward spikes somewhat. "It fits perfectly."

"Don't worry about your travelling clothes," She winked at Ash as she spoke. "I hand made them myself so they will fit your exact measurements for quite a while and have already pre-packed at least three sets of spares."

"A real fashion designer," Riley rolled his eyes at her, but smiling none the less. "My turn, and hopefully you'll find this a lot better than some backpack and a travel outfit." He ignored Delia's scornful glare that was aimed at the back of his head as he pulled out a red and white spherical orb – a Poké Ball – from his trouser pockets.

"Is that…?" He laughed at his niece's shocked expression as he handed over the device to her.

"Yep, your starter Pokémon," Riley nodded. "As your trainer and Aura Guardian, it is my duty to give you a Pokémon at the end of your training. However, since you aren't an Aura Guardian yourself then a line such as the Riolu line wouldn't make sense so, here's one I think you'll love."

The three adults watched as, with a shaking hand, Ash activated the Poké Ball and released the creature that was inside. It was a small Pokémon whose body was almost entirely hidden under a dusty, sun-bleached yellow rag with pointed black ears. Its beady black eyes were visible through holes in the body of its disguise, and the fringe of an amorphous foot or lower body appeared to be visible under the hem of its rag. The veil itself resembled that of a Pokémon called Pikachu. The Pikachu face appeared to be drawn on with crayons, consisting of black eyes, red cheeks, and a squiggly black mouth. It also had a small stick resembling a lightning bolt to create some sort of tail for its costume.

Delia went to lunge at Riley with Samuel having to hold her back as she cursed the name of Riley Aaron Ketchum very loudly. Out of all of the Pokémon he could have chosen he had to pick one resembling a Pikachu, the one Pokémon Ash was scared to death of. Thanks to a childhood event which ended up in her almost dying from a Thunderbolt that forced her into a hospital for a week, and if there was anything Ash hated more than Pikachu then it was hospitals. She never really liked needles or doctors after her vaccination jabs when she was little. Any sight of the yellow rodent caused her to freeze up, start gasping for breath as she hyperventilated and ultimately faint away onto the floor. Riley knew this and yet still he gave the laughing girl a Pikachu copy that was currently being hugged in her arms… wait, what?

It was true, Ash was hugging her first ever Pokémon, a Mimikyu, with laughter ringing from her lips as the ghost and fairy type snuggled back. Samuel let go of Delia, who was no longer trying to rip Riley's head off. Of course, Riley had a goal in mind to help her get over the fear but it seemed the fear of Pikachu didn't apply to Mimikyu somehow. Whilst still holding her first Pokémon in a loose hug, Ash turned to face her uncle with a beaming grin.

"She's so adorable! How did you catch her?!" Riley noted his apprentice's usage of her aura abilities to determine the aura of her starter, something which could reveal a lot about the owner of the aura as he had told her a few years back.

"Like any person would, using Lucario to fight and catch her during that mission I was forced into whilst at Alola last month." He replied with a soft smile, glad that she was happy with his choice. "This little one was looking for a trainer and I knew you were almost sixteen so the two of you would make the perfect mix, especially with how determined she was to beat Lucario even though I had the upper hand."

"Mimikyu is a heavily offensive Pokémon," Professor Oak decided to impart his knowledge onto the group. "It's ability Disguise allows a free hit without damage which could be used as a free hit or for defensive set up. Plus, ghost and fairy means it is immune to three types of attack and can fight back against most of a ghost type's weaknesses. It's a very rare Pokémon, even in Alola."

"Well, Mimi's my starter and I bet she's going to be awesome, right Mimi?" The newly named Pokémon jumped for joy with her nickname and hugged her trainer once again, wrapping a shadowy claw around her shoulder gently to bring them closer together as friends.

"Not very creative for your first nickname but… OWW!" Mimi watched as her new trainer formed a glowing blue spear above the Lucario man's head and dropped it on him whilst winking at her. She got the drift and fired a Shadow Ball at him for good measure. Within seconds, Riley was on the floor whilst still being sat on his chair with a victorious Mimi sitting on her new trainer's lap.

"Oh, she's going to be more than awesome!" Ash gushed, lifting Mimi up into the air. "She's gonna win me the title of Pokémon Master, no doubt!" The ghost type trilled in agreement, the fabric of her rag turning red where she was seemingly blushing.

"I may not have a Pokémon to give you or handmade clothing," Samuel reached into his lab coat and handed over a book filled with training tips and useful knowledge for beginners whilst not sounding too patronising. It even gave information for raising unusual types and the types of berries that should be kept on hand at all times if Potions were run out of and a Pokémon Center was nowhere nearby. Of course, it was pretty useful and would be read from front to back at least twice during the journey around Kanto. "But I hope this and the promise of a Pokédex and Poké Balls early tomorrow morning will make up for it."

"It's fine professor, and thank you for doing this for me," Ash smiled at all of them, holding Mimi in her arms. "Thank you all."

"No problem, sweetie," Delia answered back for everyone on the table. "And happy birthday."

~0~o~0~

Not too long after – once desert had been served and Ash had fed Mimi some standard Pokémon food with some sneakily hidden desert pieces added in – the professor left for his lab and everyone else retired to their bedrooms for an early wake up start the next day. Mimi was still out of her Poké Ball, cuddling up to her trainer in her bed that night. Struggling to sleep out of pure excitement for what tomorrow would hold, Ash looked over at her first ever Pokémon, who had trapped her arm underneath her weight. Mimi was snoring away, with her eyes being just two bent lines against the rag that covered her true form. Apparently looking at it caused a person to die once, so Ash wasn't going to take any chances around that front. She valued her life thank you very much and she was sure that Mimi valued her life as well, judging from the reaction she got from the part fairy type after picking her up into a hug upon their meeting.

It also helped that – whilst it wasn't commonly known but was still true – Mimikyu as a species always seemed to gain a power boost when fighting a Pikachu, possibly due to the hidden jealously towards the electric type that stole everyone's love in Alola, a Pokémon species that Ash found impossible to even go near so knowing that Mimi could send one flying if she needed too was reassuring enough.

"We're going to be the best, right Mimi?" Ash asked softly, getting a soft trill of her starter's name in response to her question, a response that sounded like a yes in the teenager's ears. A smile formed on her face and stuck there as she drifted off to sleep with her thoughts stuck on what tomorrow would bring as her first day on the path to Pokémon mastery.