Author's Note: Thanks to everyone that agreed with me about Pidgeot. Also, yeah, I know Ash being an aura guardian is over used...but I never said that he was one, now, did I? Besides, it's pretty much cannon now since he's connected so strongly with his Lucario. But Ash isn't going to be an aura guardian...just someone strong in the force :p HA! Get it?!

3: Alola to Vacation

Pallet Town - Professor Samuel Oak's Ranch/laboratory

Ash winced slightly as the stitch drew his shoulder wound closed. "You were quite lucky this time, Ash," Professor Oak said as he worked on him, "A little deeper, and that Fearow would've shattered your shoulder."

Ash gave a pained grin toward his fretting girlfriend as she hovered nearby, "See? I told you it wasn't as bad as it - OW! - Easy does it Professor!" Ash yelped as the elder smacked him on the back.

"May that serve as a lesson to not make light of a Pokemon's idea of vengeance," he said, the last stitch in place, "Tracey should be done evaluating that brute of a Pokemon, but I hold no hope for it being a people-friendly Pokemon after being so angry for such a long time."

Serena nodded as Ash slipped on a clean shirt, courtesy of the lab, "I don't think I'll be able to train it properly." Her eyes darted over to Ash, her eyes lingering on his toned abs for second, "Er, that is, I mean that I don't want him going after Ash again!" She said, blushing heavily.

"Indeed, my dear," the man said, adopting a thinking pose, "Hmm, I suppose that I could offer it to a Flying-type expert to help it with those issues, but I would need your permission, Serena, as he is your Pokemon."

Serena bobbed her head brightly, "Please do, and I don't need another Pokemon in exchange," she said, "It was enough seeing Ash's beautiful Pidgeot!"

The man smiled at that, "Beautiful is one of the many words I would use to describe her." He said as Ash just looked grim, "Ash, surely you're not still beating yourself up over your promise to her?"

"Kind'a?" Ash muttered uncertainly, "You saw what condition she's in."

"She's a little under weight for a Pokemon of her size, I'll admit that," Professor Oak nodded, "But that's to be expected. Pokemon living in the wild don't get the premium food that captured Pokemon tend to get, though they are by no means malnourished. She's just lean is all."

Serena nodded in agreement, "If she was in poor health, then her feathers wouldn't look so pretty," she said, smiling as she looked out the windows where Ash's many Pokemon were welcoming their old friend. Ash's Charizard in particular was glad to see her...at least, she hoped that what that Flamethrower to the face meant.

"A few days of tender love and care here at the ranch and she'll be as good as new." The professor said, but the man had a slight frown on his face, "Ash, about Pikachu?"

Ash looked at him sharply, "What about him?"

"While I was examining him along with the other Pokemon you'd brought back with you, I noticed that the scans of his electrical pouches showed sign deterioration." He said, making the two teens wince, "Not to worry, this is a normal condition with senior Pokemon like Pikachu." He said.

"But he hasn't shown any signs of weak electric attacks, I should know," Ash said, "I'm usually on the receiving end."

"Yes, but Pikachu has been your constant companion for nearly a decade, Ash," the man explained, "He may not be old enough to retire, but he does need some down time. Recharge his batteries, so to speak."

"So you want me to just leave him here?" Ash sounded horribly depressed.

"Not for long," he said, "Only for a short respite to give him time to let his electrical pouches recover." The man grinned, "Besides, I think you'll be too busy with what's to come."

Serena looked at him in confusion, "Does this have something to do with why Lance wanted Ash to return to Kanto?"

"Indeed," he reached into his lab coat's pocket, "You see, the chairman of the Galar Region Pokemon League has come up with a splendid idea." He produced an envelope and presented it to Ash, "It is called the World Coronation, where trainers across the globe will compete to be crowned the world champion, even the Leagues' champions are competing against one another to determine the strongest trainer in the world."

Ash took the envelope with a look of surprise, "Whoa, you mean I get to compete?"

"Not only that, my dear boy, but you're also ranked in the top eight already," the man said much to the surprise of the two teenagers, "As the Champion of the Orange League, and it's representative."

Serena looked at her boyfriend in shock, "Ash, you're a League Champion?!"

"Not of an official League!" Ash shouted, "I-I mean, it's not recognized!"

"That changed two years ago," the professor said, "You didn't hang around long enough to be told of it, nor did you make any calls."

"And you didn't think about it when you came to Kalos to capture a Rotom?" Serena asked with a slight frown.

Oak coughed slightly, "W-well, I'll admit that I was a bit befuddled in my attempts to catch myself a Rotom, and it slipped my mind." He said, before clearing his throat, "But it still stands that you, Ash, are registered as a Champion in the top eight in seventh place just above a former Champion of Hoenn."

"And how do I rank up?" Ash asked.

"By challenging trainers in the same rank," the man said, and pointed to the envelope, "That invitation there contains tickets to Wyndon Stadium in Galar where the first battles will be held. The top eight will be facing each other in one on one battles, and try to unsettle the reigning first rank."

"And Ash is supposed to compete against seven Champions?" Serena marveled, "Who's in the first spot?"

The man chuckled, "He's much like Ash, a born battler, but ever since he started out, he's been undefeated, and was ever strong enough to be sponsored by the Galar's most influential man, Chairman Tudor Rose."

Ash felt his excitement growing, "No wonder the League's were canceled," he began to beam, "The winner of this competition is basically crowned as a Pokemon Master!"

"Exactly," the man smiled. "But you'll have to work for it, my boy, because if you lose a single battle, you'll drop in the rankings, and the higher ranked your opponent is, the farther down you'll fall." He said with a severe look, "Because you are in the top eight, so you can only challenge those in the same ranking, meaning champion trainers of the greatest caliber, and one of them has never known defeat. You have your work cut out for you, Ash."

"And I'm going to be working hard to make sure that I don't lose," Ash promised, looking at his girlfriend in excitement, before he frowned, "I'm sorry we won't get to do any contests."

Serena reached over and hugged his right arm, "Ash, it's fine, really," she smiled, and leaned her head against his shoulder, "I've waited longer for other things, so this can wait just a little longer."

The professor smiled, "Indeed, it can," he said, "What can't wait, however, is seeing your mother." The man chuckled as the young man paled, "You know she was quite worried when I told her you'd been injured."

ガラル

Pallet Town - Ketchum Residence

And Delia Ketchum had been worried, to a great extent. The moment the boy knocked on her door, it was flung open, and Serena almost thought she was attacking with how fast she crushed his ribs.

"His shoulder!" Serena had shouted not a moment too soon as her boyfriend's mother nearly dropped him in fear of pulling his stitches out. Serena was at his side in a moment inspecting the wound, of course, right to the point that she and Delia nearly slammed heads as the worried mother had been about to do the same thing.

Thankfully for Ash, the drama ended just as quickly as it started up.

But that didn't help with his mother's worry as she ushered them both inside, sitting her son down on the couch while she inspected Professor Oak's stitching. Serena could do little more than hover before the woman turned her attention to her with a quick turn of her head. Serena felt like she was being sized up, and she ould only hope that she met with the woman's approval.

However, a moment later Delia's face softened, "Why don't you go and wash up, Dear," she said, and began ushering her toward the stairs, "A nice long bath will get rid of those nasty blood stains in no time at all."

Serena then blushed as she remembered that her clothes were still covered in drops of dried blood from the Fearow's attack since Professor Oak didn't have any clothes that would fit her.

With the promise of some clean clothes that would be close to her size, Serena allowed the woman to lead her up to the bath. Watching them go, Ash sat back with a sigh as Mimey came in with a tea tray and a plate of sandwiches. "Thanks." He reached for one as the family's Pokemon poured him a cup just as his mother came back down.

"I've got Serena soaking off the road grime from your journey," she told him, her hands on her hips, "Ash, now that you have an official girlfriend, you're going to have to be a bit more attentive to her needs, you know?"

Ash frowned at her, "Yeah, I know, but I'm kind'a making this up as we go along."

"That can work, Dear, but she's going to need more than that at some point," Delia told him, "From what Professor Oak tells me, you're going to be battling a lot this year because of this tournament, but you'll also be traveling, too, so take her somewhere nice." She said thoughtfully, "I here that there's a nice little tropical region not so far from here. You can take a boat there just before this entire mess starts."

"A new region?" Ash perked up, his old habits surfacing.

Delia, however, squashed it right away, "Ask Ketchum!" She huffed, "What did I just say?!"

Ash yelped and dropped his sandwich, "Alright, alright, I get it!" He stammered out, "I was gonna try to do right by her anyway, so there's no need - "

"Oh, after nine years of traveling with several different girls, and not noticing that most of them had a thing for you, I most certainly guarantee that there's a need to worry!" She said loudly, "At this rate I'll be an old crone before I see my first grandbaby!"

"MOM!"

ガラル

Pallet Town - Professor Samuel Oak's Ranch/laboratory

Professor Oak and Tracey were doing the last rounds around the lab for the evening, the pair of them stopping by Pikachu's recovery room last. The little Mouse Pokemon was snoozing peacefully as the two of them checked in, and smiled in relief, "It's good to see him doing so well."

"How long do you think we'll have to keep him?" Tracey asked with a frown, "Ash was really upset that he had to take Pikachu off of his roster."

The man sighed, "I know, and I hate driving them apart like this," he said, "But Pikachu's electrical pouches need time to heal, which could take from as little as a few months, to as long as a year in some cases." He frowned, "The amount of electricity he puts out is more powerful than any of his species has ever been documented to produce, and even outshines that of a powerful Raichu." He smiled, before looking down at the slumbering Pokemon, "And that is a credit to him and Ash's efforts in training his Pokemon. He takes them to new heights, even when they don't wish to evolve."

Tracey frowned, "You mean it'd be better if Pikachu evolved?"

"To an extent," the man sighed, "I will admit that it would be healthier for him in the long run, but ultimately, the decision will always be Ash and Pikachu's." He said, "And Pikachu despises the very thought of evolving, so there's no chance that Ash would force it on him." The smile returned to his face, "We will simply have to insist that Pikachu be given a time of leave every so often if it looks like he needs it." He smiled, "Now, what do we know on Fearow's situation?"

Tracey pulled a disgruntled face, "I tried letting him out of his Poke Ball earlier," he shook his head, "That was a big mistake; he nearly took my head off with a Drill Run! I didn't even know that a Flying-type could learn that move!"

"I thought I heard a commotion earlier," the professor sighed, placing a hand on his assistant's shoulder, "It's good that you weren't injured. Look what happened to Ash after all."

Tracey nodded, "I know, I know," he said, "Still, though, if anyone from the PLA dealt with that Fearow, they would most likely have a Pokemon like that put down since it's so aggressive towards humans."

"And that right there is what makes us different," Professor Oak said as he began walking back toward the lab area, "That Fearow will either be given into the hands of someone that can care for it properly, or it will be released somewhere that it can live in peace without the chance of meeting another human it an harm."

"I hope so," the young Pokemon Watcher sighed, "Oh, that reminds me, you got an e-mail from Professor Willow." He said, "I thought he was doing something in Alola?"

The man chuckled, "Ah, yes, young Willow," the man smiled, "He's been researching what he believes to be a new species of Mythical Pokemon." He said in excitement, "I've been waiting to hear about his findings for months, now."

"Sorry I didn't tell you sooner, then," Tracey said.

"Oh, think nothing of it, my boy," the man said with a small grin, "We've had quite the day as it is, so even an e-mail like that would slip under the radar."

As they reached the lab, the professor sat down at his desk, "While I'm at this, I'll send an e-mail to Falkner, the Violet City Gym Leader, about that Fearow." He said, "That man is known for his skill in raising Flying-types."

"Good idea," Tracey said, "Ash told me about him once, and said that he was one of the best at battling with them."

The professor smiled and then clicked on the message from Professor Willow. A video message popped up, "Professor Oak, I hope that this message finds you in good health," said a man with wild silvery blue hair. Behind him were red canyon walls, and sandy soil, "It'll probably be late when you get this, but I had to hope that you would see it eventually," he continued as he held up a Poke Ball, "I'm happy to report that my mission was a soaring success. The Mythical Pokemon that I'd thought that I'd discovered is real, and I've managed to catch one of them." He released the Poke Ball, and a little steel-colored blob with a nut for a head and one small black eye appeared on his shoulder, "Meet Meltan."

"My word," the professor said in wonder as Tracey pulled out his sketch pad to make a quick drawing of the little Pokemon, "It's even smaller than a Caterpie!"

"As you can see, my little friend here is, indeed, very small," Willow continued, "But that doesn't make it any less powerful. I've witnessed first hand what just one of them can do since I battled and caught one, but these little rascals travel in large groups of a hundred or more." He handed the little Pokemon a empty tin can, which it started to eat right away with great relish, "And, as you probably tell, they're metal eaters. I found this one's group in a dumping ground devouring all of the metal they could find along with a group of unique Alolan Grimer."

"Alolan Grimer?" Tracey asked.

"The Grimer in Alola have a different appearance than what we're used to," Oak explained.

"I was lucky enough to find this one alone," Willow said, "My Heatmor was able to make short work of it, but the real trouble started when the group it was with tried to come to its aide. I'd never run so fast in my life!" He laughed. "But, luckily for me, I'd already caught the little fellow, and hightailed it out of there before the rest of them could get at me."

"Then I got to see something incredible," Willow smiled, "One of them, probably the leader of the bunch, engulfed what was left of an old car." He leaned in close to the screen, "Eating that much metal cause it to evolve, Sam; a Mythical Pokemon that can evolve! Can you believe it!?" As the man brayed with excited laughter, the elder professor and Pokemon Watcher looked at each other before he paused the message.

"Tracey, get packed, I want you and Ash on my private boat first thing in the morning," the man said and rose, "I want all that you can find out about his Pokemon, and have Ash capture one if he can!" He dashed about the lab, grabbing books and files from all over, "A Mythical Pokemon that can evolve?! Outstanding! I must study one for myself!"

"Professor! You're blood pressure!" Tracey yelped after him.

ガラル

Pallet Town Docks - The Next Morning

"Ash, I'm serious, you'll need something better than a newly hatched Riolu," Tracey tried to reason with the trainer, but Ash was hearing none of it. When he head stopped by the Ketchum Residence the next morning, and found them already packing for a short vacation, he readily explained what the professor had wanted, and Ash was quick to agree.

But, learning that his Pikachu would be staying at the lab for more than a few months had put the normally excitable teen in a foul mood. So he had opted to take his Riolu instead of deciding to take one of his veteran Pokemon.

The little Fighting-type seemed more than happy with the choice, and was more than ready for a fight as it turned out when Ash found him trying to box with Mimey whilst he was preparing breakfast.

"And I'm telling you, Riolu needs to be my go-to Pokemon for a bit," Ash said as he loaded his and Serena's luggage onto the boat, "He was in that egg for four years, Tracey, he needs to burn off all of that energy he has in him."

"But we're talking about a Mythical Pokemon here, Ash," Tracey said, "What if the one you find is too strong for him?" He asked as Riolu padded alongside them. Riolu didn't take too kindly to his doubt, however, and kicked him in the side with a powerful blow. "Ugh!"

Ash smirked, "He seems plenty strong enough to me," he said as the little Pokemon hopped up to sit on his shoulder, pleased with himself, "Besides, I can have another Pokemon sent over if he strikes out," he told his old friend, "And Fighting-types are strong against Steel-types, so Riolu won't be at a complete disadvantage."

Serena popped her head out of her cabin, "Since when do you play it by types, Ash?" She giggled, "How many times have you gone into battle with that sort of thing totally against you?"

"Plenty, and I'm still going," Ash smiled, and kissed her on the cheek, making her squeak as Tracey watched in slight shock.

"Ash!" The girl admonished happily.

"I don't believe this!" Tracey yelled, "Not only is my best friend one of the densest people I know, and most unorthodox battler, but he somehow manages to get a girlfriend before I do!"

Ash made a rude gesture at him that made Serena gasp, "Ask Ketchum!"

"Whoops," Ash chuckled, and stuck his hands in his pockets, "Look on the bright side, Tracey, at least Brock's still single."

Tracey huffed, "He's married."

"Hrk!" Ash choked as he whipped around, "You're kidding?!"

Tracey shook his head, "No, he got married not long after becoming a Pokemon doctor to some girl from a traveling circus." He shrugged, "She's pretty nice, from what I know of her, and uses Water and Psychic-types."

Ash thought for a moment, and realized who he was talking about with a huge smile on his face, "Lizabeth?"

"That's her!" Tracey smiled, "You must know her."

Ash nodded, "We met her back when I was traveling with May and Max," he said, which gained a look of curiosity from Serena, "We talked about her while we were in Hoenn," he reminded her, "Anyway, she was from some kind'a sea people, and she really seemed to like Brock when they met."

"He's entered in the tournament, too, so you'll probably see him soon enough," Tracey said.

Ash nodded, but decided to send him a few of his Apricorn Balls as a belated wedding gift.

"I'd like to meet them," Serena said, curious about Ash's friends.

Ash smiled at her as he brought their things into the cabin, "You'll like him," Ash said with a nod, and then added on a grumbled, "As long as he doesn't flirt with you."

She giggled and sat down on the bed as Riolu jumped down and plopped down next to her. "I'm sure he won't," she assured him, "After all, he's married."

"I wonder if his Croagunk is still around," Ash wondered, Serena looking at him in question, "He has this Croagunk that always gave him a Poison Jab to the ass whenever he started flirting with any girl he met."

Serena spluttered out a giggle that grew into a full blown belly laugh as the mental picture formed in her head. Ash had to grin at her mirth. He hadn't seen her laugh this much in months. "Oh," she wiped a joyful little tear from her eye, "I wish I could've seen that!" She chortled as she reached for her Budew's Poke Ball, and let the little Pokemon out to play with Riolu. Her other Pokemon were all resting back at Professor Oak's lab with Ash's for the the time being.

"Maybe I can convince it to put on a little show if we're lucky to meet with him," Ash promised, sitting down next to her. She then leaned on his shoulder, "Who knows? Maybe I'll meet more than a few of my old friends in this tournament?"

Serena giggled, "Just so long as I'm the only girl you cuddle and kiss."

He put his arm around her as they watched their Pokemon playing on the floor. "Don't worry about that," he told her, and kissed the top of her head, "I don't plan on messing this up."

[Me neither,] Serena thought to herself, [Not after it took me so long to find you again.]

And so, the young couple set off again, this time to the tropical islands of Alola.

ガラル

Author's Note: Two Alolan Pokemon from Ash's team will be rejoining him. One, if you haven't guessed, is the Melmetal he caught. And the other one, my favorite from the Sun and Moon series, will be Kukui's Rockruff, and its evolved Dusk Form.

Ash and Serena are going to have a few traveling companions, too. No OCs, though.

P.S. Brock's wife is from the Temple of the Sea Movie. I liked her :P

Anyway, wanna know what happens, then ya know what to do! Adios Amigos!