Nine year old Ash Ketchum ran through the woods on the outskirts of pallet, Gary Oak besides him.
"You're gonna...be...in so much trouble" Gary huffed and the boys ran through a creek, not caring that they got wet.
"You too!" Ash cried out. "You came along too!"
"Yeah" Gary agreed. "To keep you out of trouble!"
"And look how well that tur...Hey!"
"Shh!" Gary hushed Ash as he pulled the other boy into a large hollow log.
A few seconds later they heard the rage filled cries of a Fearow the boys had accidentally stumbled upon. The angered mother had chased the boys the last half mile for daring to look upon her egg.
About a hundred feet from the boys was the edge of the woods. Beyond that was the top of a grass hill that led down to Pallet Town.
"We need to make a break for it" Ash whispered.
"Are you crazy!" Gary whispered back. "As soon as it sees us we're dead! The forest is the only cover we have!"
"We're dead staying here too. It's gonna find us eventually and this tree isn't gonna keep it out. If we can just get over the edge of the hill maybe someone will see us and help."
"And get caught. We'll be in so much trouble."
"I bet Viola will be in more though. I bet she knew the Fearow was here, she led us right to it. There was never any mega stones."
"Of course there wasn't!" Gary whispered screamed at Ash, his eyes bulging.
"You never know" Ash shrugged. "They show up in the weirdest places."
Gary conceded to that with a huff. "If we're going down we're bringing Viola down with us."
"To do that we need to get past that Fearow though" Ash said with a smirk.
"Ohwww, it's on" Gary said flashing Ash a similar smirk. For the moment the boys desire for revenge on their scheming classmate overwhelming their fear of the apex predator.
"One" Ash counted getting into a ready stance.
"Two" Gary said, his eyes locked on the hill top.
"Three!" The boys said together as they took off from their makeshift hiding spot.
The boys were almost to the tree line when they heard an angered cry behind them. Ash glanced back just in time to see the Fearow dive, barely miss them and instead crash into the forest floor. Ash hoped that would be the end of it but to his dismay heard another crash as the bird tried to break through the forest canopy, trying to get back into the sky.
Ash and Gary finally made it out of the forest and start tumbling down the hill. Ash caught a glance of a worried looking Professor Oak and a teary eyed Ella, another one of the boys classmates and Viola's best friend, making their way up the hill. Ella had probably gone to get help as soon as she found up what Viola was up to. It was sorta her nonofficial job.
Ash was broke out of his musing as he heard a cry of alarm from the professor. He glanced back to get a look of the Fearow closing in on Gary's back.
When asked later Ash wouldn't remember how he got behind Gary. How he crossed his arms and tucked in head, getting between his best friend and the Fearow. It was all instinct.
What Ash would remember was the sudden burst of energy that flowed from the air around him to form a protective shield. He would remember how the deadly rage in the Fearows eyes just mere feet from him turned to surprise too late. He would remember the feeling of getting the breath knocked out of him when the Fearow collided with the shield. The Fearow hadn't touched him, but he still fell to the ground gasping for breath like he had been sucker punched.
Ash shackley rolled onto his stomach to look up the hill to find out what happened to the Fearow. To his horror it was starting to get back up, and looked angrier than ever. Before the bird could make a move though a large orange shape blocked his vision. Ash let himself collapse with relief and try to steady his breathing knowing that he was safe now, there was no way the Fearow or anything else was getting past Oak"s Dragonite.
"Ash!"
Before Ash could say anything Gary was on him, yanking him up so he was supported by the others boy body, his head coming to fall on his friend's shoulder.
"Don't ever do that again" Gary horsley said. Ash felt faint distant surprise that the other boy was crying.
"Ash?"
Ash looked up to see Professor Oak kneeling in front of him, the perfect picture of concerned. Dragonite stood behind him, letting out soft worried cry's. The professor was holding a pokeball Ash assumed held a freshly caught Fearow.
So many questions surged through Ash's head. How was he alive? What did he just do? Was he psychic? Could he do it again?
"What just happened?"
After Professor Oak was assured Ash was okay, just exhausted, he had walked the boy home and refused to answer any of his questions. The professor told Ash that it wasn't his place, and that Ash would have to talk to his mother.
On the way there Gary had filled his grandfather in on what happened. The man wasn't surprised, Ella had already told the professor that and more. Oak let Ash and Gary know that Viola had indeed sent them to where she knew there was a nesting Fearow. It was her idea of some cynical prank and the girl was in big trouble with both her parents and Oak. That didn't mean Gary and Ash were off the hook though, they knew never to go into the forest without an adult or Pokemon. Their punishment could wait until tomorrow though and it would be light seeing as how the professor thought their near death experience was bad enough.
Oak did praise them on their quick thinking. They probably should have realized that Ella had gone to get help as she always did when Violas pranks and dares turned dangerous or bullying. The smartest thing to do would have been to hide and wait for an adult. But the boys had no way of knowing anyone was coming, and with the knowledge their sacred nine year brains had they had acted in probably the best way they could.
Once they reached the Ketchum residence Oak had taken Delia aside to explain what happened.
Gary and Ash huddled on the couch, the dark haired boy pulling a large blanket off the back of the sofa for them.
Gary and Ash's friendship had been suffering lately. Gary's minor fame and wealth had been starting to go to his head, turning the boy arrogant and sometimes a bit of a bully. This incident had wiped those thoughts from his head quite painfully. Ash's bravery, quick thinking, and strange ability had been what saved them. Not Gary's wealth or fame and definitely not any super smarts the boy had previously been sure he inherited from his grandfather.
When the adults came back in the room Delia looked visibly shaken. The woman was carrying two mugs though and had a determined look on her face.
Delia passed the two mugs to the boys and Ash took a curious sniff feeling his first smile in hours spread across his face. His favorite, white chocolate peppermint tea.
"Gary", Oak said by the door. "We should be leaving".
"No, no. It's alright" Delia assured with a small smile. "I'm sure whatever I tell Ash will get to Gary eventually, and we're practically family anyway."
It was true. Everyone in Pallet knew the Oak and Ketchum family's were pretty much the same thing. Delia and Samuel's daughter Leaf had been best friends growing up. Delia had spent most of her childhood at the lab because her parents often traveled for work and cared more about promotions than their own daughter. When the girls had turned 13 Delia had decided to stay at the lab and start an apprenticeship with the professor while leaf became a traveling trainer. On the road leaf had met Gary and his sister's Daisy father Bule. They were never married and Blue bailed when he found out Leaf was pregnant, they were both 19. 5 years later when Leaf decided she wanted she wanted to compete in another conference she had come home devastated and pregnant with Gary. She hadn't even made it passed qualifying rounds. She never told anyone what happened other than Blue was Gary's father. She died in childbirth.
A few years before Leaf got pregnant with Daisy while she was still a trainer Delia had gone to watch her compete at the Indigo League. That's where Delia met and fell in love with Red Knight. That was also the year Red became Champion. They married three years later, and Delia became pregnant with Ash five years after that. Red died on a league mission a few months before Ash was due. No one knew what really happened. Red had apparently been in a huge rush when he left his office on his Charizard. His body was found on the Indigo Plateau doorstep three days later. His Pokemon are still missing.
Devastated Delia moved back to Pallet to be close to what family she had left. It also didn't hurt that Professor Oak was a former Champion who could protect her and her newborn son while still being close to the Indigo Plateau in case they needed backup. Foul play still wasn't ruled out in Red's death. She also gave Ash her maiden name, hoping to throw anyone who came looking for him off his tail.
Shortly after Red's death Lance Blackthorn, Red's student, swept the Indigo conference and Elite Four to become Champion. The man and his team we're in a righteous anger after their mentor's death and were determined to find out what happened. In doing so Lance destroyed most criminal organizations in Kanto and Johto. The only one that has managed to escape him so far was Team Rocket.
Not finding who killed Red, Lance decided to honor his mentor and older brother figure by being the best Champion he could and taking care of Red's family. While Lance couldn't be around as much as he wanted he became the closest thing Ash had to a father. He usually found time to stop by at least a couple hours a week to help out around the house and spend time with Ash.
After Leaf died in childbirth Delia became a mother for not only Ash but a mother figure for Gary as well. And on the flip side Samula was not only Gary's grandfather but a grandfather figure for Ash also.
Delia took a deep breath. "I probably should have told you about this along time ago Ash. You deserve to know. Your father had an enquic gift called Aura. From what I understand it's similar to psychic power but instead of the power coming from the mind it comes from the soul. And it's much rarer. Also while psychic powers usually appear randomly Aura is passed down through a family.A fully mature Aura user is called an Aura Guardian. Yours and your father's ancestor you inherited your power from was the brother of a very famous Aura Guardian named Sir Araon. Red kept his power a secret from the general public. It was his element of surprise that helped him take down Team Rocket. Of course they never stayed down" Delia grumbled, looking unhappily out the window. It's no secret that Team Rocket springing up again after all her husband had done infuriated the woman.
Ash stared at his hands, trying to will them to stop shaking. Already he could tell wielding this power would be a huge responsibility. What if he lost control of it? Young Psychics often hurt the people closest to them by accident. What if next time instead of saving Gary he was hurting him?
"Calm down Ash" Oak said breaking Ash out of his thoughts. The Professor could always tell what the boys were thinking, Ash often questioned if the man was a secret psychic. "Aura comes from the soul, remember. That means it's pretty much impossible for you to hurt someone you don't mean or want to."
Ash gave the man a small grateful smile and let himself relax slightly, his biggest worry now off his mind.
"What can Ash do with Aura?" Gary asked, just as wide eyed and curious as Ash.
Ash perked up at that, his spirits lifted a bit now that he knew he wasn't gonna hurt anyone. His natural unsatisfiable curiosity starting to kick in.
"Red never shared much about it with me to be honest" Delia admitted. "He tried his hardest to keep work and home separate. Plus he was very secretive about it. I do know that he was able to understand his Pokemon though".
"Really!" Ash exploded. His favorite thing in the entire world was Pokemon, being able to talk to them was his biggest wish come true. Even more so than becoming a Pokemon Master. The difference was that until a minute ago the former was the only feasible option.
"Really" Delia said, a smile starting to form on her face. "To know more you're going to have to ask Lance. I know your dad tried to teach him before he died." Delia's smile disappeared. "I don't want this to scare you Ash, but use caution. We believe Aura had something to do with your father's death" Delia said with a grim look on her face.
"What?" Ash asked, his excitement disappearing like water down the drain.
"Yes" Oak said continuing the story. "The Tree Of Beginning in north western Kanto is suppose to be the center of all Aura. Cameran city and palace was built over 1000 years ago to protect it and jealously guard many secrets about the tree and Arua to this day. It's the only place any Aura adapt might go to find a teacher." Here Oak took a deep breath before he continued on, both boys hanging on his every word. "The last place Lance was able to track Red to was Camaran City, a witness spotted him heading towards the Tree Of Beginning."
The adults gave the boys a minute to let that sink in. Ash felt numb. So much life altering information had just been dumped on him. What happened to his father? Was it Aura that really killed him? Or was it something else?
"Queen Iiene of Camaran City told Lance that Red died a hero's death. Sacrificing himself to save the Tree Of Beginning" Oak continued. "The Tree will begin to wilt every 100 years, and an Aura Guardian will travel to the tree never to be seen again. It's believed the Aura Guardian sacrifices all his Aura to save the tree, killing himself in the process. Without the Tree, all life force will begin to fade until everything dies. The thing that was different about Red's death is that the Tree's cycle was 30 years early, and Red's body was discovered outside the Plateau. A body has never been discovered before, researchers presumed it becomes part of the tree. That's all the queen knows. The only one who might know more is the Mew that protects the Tree" Oak trailed off.
Ash didn't know he was crying until his mom wrapped her arms around him. He laid his head on her shoulder and sobbed. He had almost been killed today, discovered strange new powers, and learned the secret of his father's death. Everything his young mind understood had just been flipped upside down.
A few minutes later Ash was able to control himself. He pushed himself up and accepted the tissue Gary handed him. At the end of the day he was alive, he had strange but cool new powers(he might be able to talk to Pokemon!), and his father had died saving the world. Red hadn't be murdered like he always thought.
"I think that's enough for one night" Delia said. "How about I cook dinner and you boys watch a movie?"
Ash spent the rest of evening surrounded by his family. Gary begged to stay the night when his Grandfather left, which Oak allowed. But he expected to see the boys at noon to paint the new fence around one of the pastures. Neither boy was off the hook for going into the woods.
While the boys were blowing up the air mattress in the living room Delia brought Ash the phone.
"Ash?" Lance's voice came through the speaker.
"Lance!" Ash exclaimed, getting Gary's attention. The brown haired boy hurried over, half tackling Ash in the process, trying to press his face as close as possible to the phone.
"Get off me!" Ash protested.
"I just want to hear" Gary begged, shoving himself further into Ash's personal space.
Ash didn't know why Gary always went complete fanboy over Lance. His own grandfather was a former Champion and the Dragonmaster had been around his whole life. At least Gary was able to rein himself in every time Lance visited after going completely gaga the first few minutes. Ash would then think Gary was over it only for him to see one of Lance's battles on TV and the fanboying would begin anew. It use to annoy Ash but Lance had turned it into a bit of a joke between them. Lance's own best friend Steven Stone was quite like Gary in the way that he was "always serious and never had fun". Lance told Ash you gotta take rare moments like these and never let them forget it.
"Yeah, but you don't need to be on top of me to do that!" Ash shouted, trying to wedge his knee in between them so he can push the other boy off.
Laughter could be heard over the phone. "Gary, if you don't mind I need to talk to Ash. I'll see you tomorrow though."
"You are?" Ash asked happily, finally getting Gary off him. The other boy dropped to the side, not bothering to hide his excitement either. "I thought you weren't coming until Friday?"
"Yeah, well you boys were almost killed and you've had several big bombshells dropped on you today Ash. I'm coming tomorrow morning and staying through Friday. I should be there before you wake up."
"Really!" Ash asked excited.
"Really" Lance answered, humor creeping into his tone.
"You boys should get in bed. Your mom told me you and Gary have a long day ahead of you painting fences. I don't need to talk to you about how stupid it was to go into the forest alone do I?"
"No sir" Ash answered in a low voice. It didn't take a genius to work out the man was disappointed in him.
"Good, now off to bed. I'll see you tomorrow morning."
"Okay, night Lance."
"Goodnight Ash. Sleep well."
Ash put the phone back in it's charging port and crawled under the sheets next to Gary.
"Tomorrow's gonna suck isn't it" Gary said.
"For sure" Ash answered as he got comfortable.
"Hey Gary" Ash said after awhile, staring up at the ceiling.
"Huh" the other boy grunted half asleep.
"You didn't need to come with me into the forest today. Thanks for not leaving me alone."
"Of course you idiot" Gary huffed out. "We're brothers, we stick together. Now go to sleep, I need my beauty rest."
Ash let out a small laugh before turning over and getting comfortable. His world had been flipped upside down today, but he somehow knew it was for the best.
Ash woke up the next morning to Gary's obnoxiously loud voice drifting from the kitchen.
The boy rubbed at his eyes to get the sleep out of them and stretched, letting out a moan. Everything was sore. He felt like he just got the stuffing beat out of him.
Sooner rather than later the enticing smell of breakfast encouraged Ash to get up. He stumbled his way into the kitchen and took a seat at the dining table.
"Morning" Gary greeted cheerfully from his seat besides Ash, his lip covered in a chocolate milk stash.
"Morning" Ash grumbled back, burying his head in his arms.
"Ash honey, are you okay?" Delia asked, moving the bacon off the heat of the stove. Delia knelt in front of Ash, laying the back side of her hand across his forehead to gauge his temperature.
"Fine" Ash mumbled, "Just sore."
"I bet" said another voice making Ash jump. Lance set a glass of chocolate milk down in front of him, a huge smile on his face. "All I was ever able to do with Aura was sense the energy around me and that took a lot out of me. You put up a full blow protect yesterday and was able to take a huge hit with it." Lance ruffled Ash's hair much to the boy's annoyance before leaning against the counter. "Think of it like you just ran a huge marathon without ever jogging or running in your life before."
Ash nodded, that made sense. From what he understood Aura was just a part of himself he had never used before. Like a muscle. And he had pushed that muscle to the max yesterday, of course he was sore.
Delia's worries averted she moved to the fridge and pulled the egg carton out. "So there's no way Aura can GET YOUR HANDS OFF THE BACON!"
Lance ducked when Delia threw a soon at him, a piece of bacon hanging from his mouth.
"It was getting cold" he argued back weakly.
On the other side of the room the boys were in fits of laughter, not bothering to try to hide it.
"Sit" Deila ordered, pointing at the table. "That way I don't have to keep an eye on you."
"But" before Lance could finish his body was outlined by a pink glow, psychic power forcing him into the chair. Even without turning away from the now cooking eggs Mr. Mime somehow managed to look very proud of himself.
"Thank you Mimey" Deila said with a soft smile. Mr. Mime turned from the stove for only a second to sault Deila with his spatula before getting back to work.
"Laugh it up now you two" Lance directed at the two boys. "We'll see who's laughing later".
"Me" Delia answered sounding smug. "Watching you muck out the barn today."
"What!" Lance exclaimed not being able to hide the horror in his voice.
"Someone has to keep an eye on Viola. She can't be in there by herself with that many Tauros. Plus there's no way a little kid can get it done in one day by herself. Who else but the big brave noble Champion to help her."
Lance sputtered back while trying to come up with some counter argument. Ash and Gary continued to laugh.
"They bicker worse than you and Daisy" Ash whispered to Gary.
"I know" the other boy said between laughs. "And that's saying something."
The next day found Ash and Lance sitting across from each other on the Ketchum lawn. Ash was eager to start learning about Aura. Ever since he first used it two days ago he had something like an itch in the back of his mind that he couldn't scratch that had been becoming worse as time went on.
"The way your dad starting teaching me about Aura was to meditate in a way. To give yourself over to the world around you. Let it feel you and you feel it. Experienced Aura Guardians can feel the shape the energy takes, being able to see blinded that way. Even able to see through walls. Your dad described it similar to night or heat vision. For now all you will feel is like that energy is assaulting you. Like you're caught up in the middle of a tornado of it. Don't expect to be able to sense it at all at first. Some people will get it the first day, some it will take weeks. Once you're able to sense the energy it should feel like a breakthrough and you'll progress quickly until you get to that overwhelming point. Your next breakthrough after that will be when the energy starts to take shape. And so forth."
"Every person has the potential to learn to manipulate Aura, like Pokemon can learn moves of different types. Some people like you and your father have it a lot easier because you are born with Aura already inside you, like a Pokemon having a much easier time learning moves of it own type. The rest of us, once again like a Pokemon using a move of a different type, have to learn to sense Aura around them, draw it to them, then manipulate it. That's why I never got far with it. For you the hardest part is already done. Aura is already within, you don't need to draw it from other places."
"I suggest you start by actually meditating on the feelings you experienced when you created that protect. You have already felt it, so you should have an easier time replicating it. Other than that I don't know how to help you. There's one other Aura Guardian I know that will probably be willing to teach you. I already reached out to him the night your mom called. He wants to meet you first but there shouldn't be any problems."
Ash nodded his understanding. He already knew what Lance could teach him was limited, but was surprised he had already managed to find a possible teacher for him.
"I'll leave you to it. Good luck. I'll be in the house if you need anything."
Ash took a deep breath, letting the world around him melt about. All that mattered was his breathing. Then he thought back to the moment he used protect. He discarded thoughts about the fear, saving Gary, the Fearow, or the impact. All that mattered was what the energy felt like.
It was like wind without the air currents. It felt like electricity without the static. It felt alive.
After Ash had a good idea of what he was looking for he slipped out of meditation. The next part was tricky, what Lance had described was not quite meditation.
Last year Lance had taught him and Gary to meditate. He said it was a good way to reflect and work out problems. It was something very much in the mind. What he was trying to do next was with his soul.
Ash placed one of his hands flat on the tree next to him. He felt the bark and then tried to imagine what was under it. The wood and the water. He imagined he could feel the leaves up high and the roots down below. Then Ash started looking for the energy in it, the Aura.
Ash didn't feel anything. And try as he might over the next few days he couldn't find anything.
But Ash didn't give up. He only stopped when someone forced him inside to eat or sleep. Deila and Lance were starting to get concerned that Ash was getting obsessed but didn't stop him just yet. This was Ash's journey, and as aggravating as it was they couldn't help him. Ash tried to explain it to them. It was like some part of him he didn't know was there was missing, and now that he was aware of it he desperately needed it back.
Friday finally rolled around and Ash still hadn't made any progress. He was still sitting besides the stupid tree and the stupid energy was still eluding him. Lance was due to leave in a few hours and Ash knew he should probably be spending time with him but he just couldn't. He needed to get his Aura back. The longer it went on the more and more the feeling of a hand closing around his throat got worse.
"You need to give. It's your own walls that are blocking the Aura out."
Ash starled and whipped his head around to face the newcomer. The man before him wore black pants and a blue blazer with black accents. Under the blazer was a black shirt with strang gold marking. What really stole Ash's attention though was the flamboyant hat on his head. It looked like some strange spiked fedora matching his blazers color. The man looked down on him with kind blue eyes but other than that it was hard to tell what his face looked like. The man's spiked brown hair and his hat covered most of it.
"What?" Ash blurted out, thoroughly confused.
"The tree" the man said. He knelt down next to Ash and placed his own hand on the tree. "It's Aura has been trying to reach for you, can you feel it."
"No" Ash answered, figuring that this must be his potential teach Lance sent for. "I can't feel anything. Why? What am I doing wrong?"
"Aura is mostly about connection. Your connection to your own Aura and others. Everything has Aura, living and nonliving. The air, the flowers, the rocks, the moon, Pokemon, you, me, the tree. Aura is much stronger from living organisms though. It is believed Aura is life's energy and it is also believed nonliving things have Aura because they are so in tune with life. Everything is connected in some way or another. For you to sense the tree's Aura you have to connect with it. The tree's Aura responded, but you haven't responded back because you can't feel it. Until you can unlock your own Aura you can't connect with it."
Seeing Ash's confused face the man elaborated "The tree has extended its hand to you, now you just need to reach and take it. But you are a blind and deaf man chained to a wall. To be able to reach out with your Aura you first need to unlock it first. When you used protect a few days ago your desperation broke into it. But you didn't know what was going on and didn't accept it. So your Aura locked itself away again. But it's lock is cracked and fragile now, it should be easy for you to get in again."
"But if it's locked how did I reach it before?" Ash asked.
"Think as if your Aura is trapped in a little ball in your chest. Unable to move or grow. Once you unlock it the Aura will encompass your whole body, reaching out through it, taking forms, and growing stronger with exercise. Like a muscle. Sometimes in moments of distress though that little ball temporally bursts to keep you safe. Pokemon are born with their energy unlocked. It's believed humans bodies aren't strong enough in their infancy to handle psychic power or Aura, so the energy locks itself away until we are ready. Psychic's usually come into their power around seven or eight years of age and so do Aura Guardians. The difference is Psychics will have access to their power right away, it will unlock itself. It will start to show itself in the midst of any heighten emotion the child may have. An Aura Guardians energy stays locked until we reach for it, only showing itself in life threatening situations. Some people have gone their whole life without knowing they have it. But mostly Aura is passed down through families, and with it the knowledge of how to use Arua."
"Ha" the man said sheepishly, rubbing his head. "I'm rambling aren't I."
"It's okay" Ash encouraged eagerly, his eyes bright. "Please don't stop!" The more the mystery person talked the more things fell into place for Ash. Arua was finally starting to make more sense.
"All you need to do is reach for your own Aura like you were with the tree, acknowledge it, and accept it. Once you do that there is no going back."
"Now" the man said while standing. "I don't think I caught your name young man."
"I'm Ash" the boy said while also standing, extending his hand.
"And I'm Riley" the man said with a smile while shaking Ash's hand.
"Now Ash" Riley said, "I have a very important question for you. Why do you want to become an Aura Guardian?"
"Mostly I want to be able to talk to Pokemon. Pokemon are the best things in the world! To be able to communicate with Pokemon, especially my own, would make me the happiest person on the planet!" The boy exclaimed. "Plus my dream is to be a Pokemon Master, and that usually takes the form of either an experienced Gym Leader, Elite Four member, or Champion. That means it will be my job to protect people. Protect my Pokemon, people following me, and the public. Aura can help me do that, help bring more people home to their families."
"Spoken like a true hero" Riley said softly. "Alright! I expect to see you here 8:00 AM sharp tomorrow. Your real training starts then!"
"Really! Really, really really!" Ash shouted, jumping up and down for joy.
"Yep" Riley agreed. "Now get out here before I change my mind. I think you parents want to see you" Riley teased, sending a side eye towards the twitching curtains in the window of the Ketchum house.
Ash thanked Riley one more time before dashing into the house, yelling the good news to Deila and Lance. The two congratulated him, relieved to see him back to his old self.
Over the next few years Riley would visit for about a week once a month. Ash learned fast under him. He unlocked his Aura the very same day Riley started training him. Ash would describe it as the most freeing experience in his life. Like a heavy weight had been lifted off him that he didn't even know was there. Riley told him to wait until he joined his Aura with his Pokemon for the first time. The Aura Guardian also informed Ash of ways Aura was working in the `world around him that he never realized before.
Turns out Mega Evolution was just a trainers and Pokemon Aura becoming one. Mega and key stones just picked up the frequency of the energy of the bond between trainers with no Aura and Pokemon who hadn't unlocked their Aura. That why some Pokemon could mega evolve without a mega stone. Watching Riley and his Lucario mega evolve without a mega or key stone had been the coolest thing ever. Even Lance was amazed.
It was then Lance asked Riley if he would pick up his own training where Red had left off. Riley politely denied. He wanted to focus on Ash, but Ash in a year or two would most likely be experienced enough to pick up Lance's training himself.
And Ash had been. A year and a half after Ash starting training under Riley, Ash started to train Lance too. Riley said it was the final test of his understanding on basic concepts, to be able to teach Aura to someone not naturally gifted with it. In the two and a half years since Lance was able to use a bleary form of Aura sight but the man said it was becoming clearer every day. It had already saved lives on League missions because Lance could make out enough to spot things like bombs and count how many hostiles were in a building before entering.
Not that these missions happened often. Team Rocket was keeping a low profile for some reason the last few years and other criminal groups that sprung up were quickly shut down.
Ash also learned that Pokemon were born with every single energy type inside them, but only energy of their own type was unlocked from birth. The energy of a Pokemon's same type tended to grow much faster and stronger than other types. That was why a Dragonites flamethrower might be powerful but it could never amount to that of a Charizard with the same age and experience. Similar as to how a Charizard's dragon claw would never be on the same level of a Dragonites that was the same age and experience level.
Some energy types clashed though. That's where type advantage came from and why Pokemon could never learn to use some moves, even if they unlocked that energy type. Like say a water type could almost never learn a fire type move. Their base type and energy just clashed with the other too much, canceling it out. Majority of trainers didn't know that. Their Pokemon unlocking the energy of other types through instinct, tough battles and evolution. Ash on the other hand did, and would be able to train his Pokemon to unlock those other types much quicker.
Ash mastered Aura sight and Protect, and was well on his way to mastering Quick Guard and learning healing techniques.
Along with teaching Ash Aura, Riley also began to teach Ash martial arts. Something Ash loved and picked up on quickly. The boy also improved in school, while Ash would never be able to match people like Gary or Ella in the classroom his study habits did improve over the years and he rose to one of the top students.
When Ash was eight he was diagnosed with ADHD. After his Aura was unlocked he was able to sit still and think a lot longer, it also helped with his focus. While Ash was in no way cured his ADHD was controllable now and no longer a hindrance when he needed to get things done. That said he still let loose with other kids quite often and put all that extra energy to good use. He was still a child after all.
During the summer Deila and Lance took Ash and Gary out on camping trips to teach them how to survive in the wild and avoid dangerous wild Pokemon. Just because they had Pokemon when they left on their journeys didn't mean their little starters could stand up to a full grown Pigeot on the way to Viridian City.
Lance also gifted Ash and Gary with upgraded pokenavs. He explained technically it was a gift from Steven who had heard a lot about the boys and vice versa even though they had never actually met. The pokenavs would let the boys switch Pokemon from anywhere, make calls from anywhere, access things like the internet from anywhere, and most importantly in Lance's opinion it had a built in tracker and Smart Distress Signal.
The Smart Distress Signal was an AI that was built to listen to everything going on around the boys and send an SOS, the boys location, and a recording of whatever the AI heard it thought was a threat to the nearest gym leader, the Elite Four, Lance and Steven. It would be stupid thinking the boys didn't have a target painted on their backs. Ash was the son of the former Champion and raised by the new one. Gary was also the grandson of a former Champion and the region's official professor. And anyone in Pallet could tell Lance cared about Gary, and Oak cared about Ash. The boys guardians had tried to keep their existence low profile and had succeeded for the most part but anyone in Pattet could talk. Daisy had been kidnapped and held for ransom when she first started her journey. She was able to get her Pokemon back and escape before authorities had a chance to make a move though. Since then she always traveled in other regions an kept little contact with her family, Professor Oak had been devastated. Lance had gone ahead and pre programmed the numbers of all the gym leaders and Elite Four in case of an emergency. He put himself, Delia, Professor Oak, and Steven on speed dial.
Lance drilled into the boy's head that while he may spoil them not to expect special treatment from the League. He trained them and got them fancy gadgets as a head start but it was with his own money and his own time. Yes, the Kanto gym leaders and Elite Four were a bit of a family but Ash and Gary hadn't been introduced yet. And in the future they may treat the boys however they wanted with their own time and their own money. Never on the League. Never showing any sort of official favoritism. The boys would have to earn their badges, train their Pokemon, and reach the top with as much struggle as any other trainer. They were just being set on the right path by people who cared about them that happened to be in positions to help. They were very lucky. And the boys knew it. They were also very, very grateful.
That's a wrap on my first chapter! Wow! Over 6'000 words!
I tried to cram all the background and important info into this while still keeping you interested. Hope I succeeded!
If you haven't noticed I suck at grammar and spelling and am looking for a Beta. If you would like to volunteer or know anyone who might be interested please send me a PM.
I hoped you liked the character history. I had a rough idea planned and knew I wanted to include Lance because he's my favorite and it just sorta played out as I wrote. I think it turned out okay. Original to the best of my knowledge while still being slightly possible in Canon if you squint and look at it sideways. I've only ever wrote fluffy Percy Jackson family stuff so this is new to me. But I did want to give Ash more family support. That family will grow and mostly center around his Pokemon but characters like Deila and Lance are gonna be a constant. Ash is still a kid who needs his parents to guide him. I sorta feel bad for Delia though, as soon as Team Rocket comes in I can already see myself writing mostly Lance since he'll probably be coming to the rescue at least once. You guys can keep me in check on that (;
I'm influenced by my some of my favorite Pokemon fanfics like "Ashes of the Past" and "Traveler". Like I got the idea about more of family like league from Traveler, I'm just running with it. Expect to see a lot of Lance and Steven, but in this pic they will be Uncle/Dad instead of mentor. Gary also. They're still rivals but the incident with the Fearow brought them closer together, finally cementing their relationship as brothers instead of drifting apart as they would have without the life-death situation. Let me know if I accidentally get too close to something you've read.
OC'S! I've already included some like Viola and Ella and I have one more major one planned but all the minor ones are up to you guys! Let me know looks, personality, Pokemon ect. And later I will take your suggestions for my OC's Pokemon.
I already have Ash's team planned out for quite awhile but you guys are welcome to guess! I might drop hints in PM's if you get close (;
And finally…..
REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!
