(My First) Author's Note:

Thank you to all the readers for the support I have received on my first fanfiction. I'll never forget the feeling when I saw the first people view/ follow/favorite my fic. You dudes are real Chads. When I was 12/13 I was amazed by the worlds created for fictional characters by the brilliant minds of a fanbase, and decided to give it a shot myself. This process turned out to be way harder than expected, as I have been working on this one story for eight-ish years now. In this time, I have always debated whether or not I would continue writing, or even if I would post it anywhere. Often times, I would get writers block or lose interest, and take months off. Then, one day, I just got back into writing it consistently, and haven't really stopped since. The earlier stages of The Aura Guardian draw inspiration from a few other fanfics, but as the story went on (and I got older) I was hopefully able to come up with some more creative stuff. I wanted to make a story for casual and hardcore Pokemon Fans, so I packed this tale with a variety of characters, references, and call backs as a way to kind of reward those die-hard fans like myself.

Considering how I have spent so long writing this one story, there is going to be a lot to tell, hence the reason why it will be broken up into multiple parts on my page. Throughout this journey, we will see Ash and a select group of companions make new lives for themselves following a devastating turn of events that will change everything for the young trainer. While the first few chapters will serve as a Prologue, once we hit Chapter 5 there will be an 11 year time skip. A 21 year old Ash will have learned to channel the powerful Aura within him, following the darkest day of his life. After an invitation to a tournament for the world's elite trainers, he will come out of hiding to prove what it means to be a Pokemon Master... all while a Dark Being lurks in the shadows. The story as a whole will be pretty battle-heavy, as we see Ash with Pokemon (new and old) attempt to win the Indigo Crown.

Feel free to favorite/follow or even leave a review of your own! I greatly appreciate hearing what other people think of my work!

-Kid Arceus

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon by any means. I'm just a guy who wants to put a spin on a franchise loved by many.

I hope you enjoy:

The Aura Guardian

Prologue

A Return to Kanto

It was a rainy night in the Kanto region. Ash Ketchum, after being beaten by Gladion in the Alola League, made the decision to return home to his mom and Pokemon at Oak's lab before he set off on his new journey to the Galar region. A beaten Pikachu sat on the trainer's shoulder. The mouse Pokemon fought hard, but in the end Ash's team lost another tough battle in the latest Pokemon League Tournament.

Ash finally returned home and entered his house. "Mom! I'm home!" yelled the young trainer.

Ash's mother Delia entered from the kitchen. "Welcome home Ashy!" His mother called. "I know you just walked through the door, but your friends wanted to have you meet them at Professor Oak's lab. It's probably a welcome home party of some sort."

"Ok," Ash replied. He asked his mom if she knew who was there and his mom replied Ritchie, Tracey, May, Max, Brock, Iris, Cilan, Misty and his long time rival Gary. This excited Ash because he hadn't seen a lot of his friends in such a long time, and found it incredible how they all were willing to travel from all over the globe to visit him, wishing him luck on his next journey.

Ash left his mother's house and walked to the lab where he saw Brock standing at the doorway. Having not seen his old traveling companion in quite some time, Ash excitedly ran forwards to meet his friend.

"Hey Brock! What's going-?"

"Ash, we need to talk to you," Brock said with a serious look on his face, which was rather unlike him.

"Alright!... Hey, where's Professor Oak?" The young trainer asked his friend.

"He's in the Alola Region visiting his cousin." The older Gym Leader replied, stepping aside so Ash could enter. He shut the door behind him and led him towards the back, where Ash's Pokemon were all kept.

Standing aloof from the group of trainers were Paul and May, having a private discussion to themselves. While the pair had never met before this day, it was crucial that the coordinator shared important information with Ash's Sinnoh rival, regarding the true intentions of this meeting.

"You think this is some kind of a joke?" Paul said to the female coordinator. "The whole reason I came to Kanto was to smooth things out with Ash. Now you're asking me to give up everything I have back in Sinnoh to go on the run with you guys?"

"That's exactly what I'm asking you for!" May said. "I know that we just met today, but I do know that you have certainly had quite the impact on Ash. If anyone can persuade him, it's you! You'll be the only reason he comes with us!"

"Why do we need to leave in the first place?" Paul asked. "I say we just take 'em all on right here in a battle."

"Because," The coordinator stated, clenching her fists. "The others that are here are trying to take Ash's Pokemon from him!"

Paul stood perplexed by this remark. Crossing his arms, while keeping a low tone so the others couldn't hear, he uttered: "That doesn't make any sense! From what I gathered, these guys all used to care about him!"

"Well things have changed. A few weeks ago Misty, Max, Iris, Ritchie and I all received a letter from an Anonymous sender, along with cruise tickets for the S.S. Anne, to attend an 'Exclusive Night on the Harbor.' But when we got there, we learned that it was this Giovanni guy who invited us! I'm talking fancy suit, fancy gold watch, fancy Persian on his lap!"

"A Persian? That sounds like the head of Team Rocket!" Paul said keeping his voice low, glancing at the people in Oak's Ranch as to make sure he wasn't being listened to. "That guy's a serious Crime Lord!"

"Well long story short, he promised everybody there money, fame, strong Pokemon, whatever we wanted! All that we had to do was capture all of Ash's Pokemon for him! Ritchie and I were the only ones who were against it." May said, as she was filled with emotion.

"But now, my stupid brother and everyone else has convinced Ash's friends here to turn on him, and I don't know what to do." The coordinator's eyes began to water, then wiped away her tears. Even though he had just met the girl today, Paul hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder and patted it, which was out of character for him. "I just really care about Ash, but I know I can't do this on my own. We need to do whatever it takes to get him and his Pokemon out of here."

"Look, I have to tell you that I respect the hell out of Ash," Paul said to the girl. "And what these backstabbers are going to do to him is not right. That's why I'll get out of here with you, Ritchie and Ash. And if things end up going South, I can stay behind to-."

"Guys!" Ritchie exclaimed, running over to Paul and May. "Ash just got here. We better hurry!"