Beginning of a new adventure!
"Alright Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"
"Pikaa... chuuuu!" The electric mouse's cheeks sparked before a blast of electricity shot from his body, giving a Dragonite quite the shock! However much to Ash and Pikachu's shock, the Dragonite stood there hardly reacting to the damage at all as it didn't appear to damage him at all!
"Dragonite, use Hyper Beam!" A caped individual threw out his arm as the Dragonite began firing up an orange-yellow beam of energy before firing it off at his opponent.
"Dodge-" Ash's cry was quickly cut off as Dragonite's attack fired across the field quicker than most Hyper Beams that Ash had seen during his lifetime as a trainer. The blast striking the ground beneath Pikachu, resulting in an explosion that caused dust and dirt to fly everywhere and obscure Ash's view as he squinted to try and identify Pikachu's body to see if his friend was alright.
"Chaaaa..." Pikachu's weak cry was heard before the dust eventually settled to reveal him passed out, swirls in his eyes as he let out a defeated groan.
Ash stood there in complete shock as the scoreboard above the battlefield updated to showcase Pikachu along with the rest of his chosen team for the match all darkened out before the board showcased Lance as the winner!
"I can't believe it Pikachu, how did we lose...?" Ash fell to his knees before removing his hat, squeezing it on account of the emotions currently flowing through him. He may be the champion of the Alola League but whenever he fought against somebody like Lance, Steven, or Cynthia they all seemed to sweep his entire team with a singular Pokemon! In fact people outside of Alola had taken to referring to him as 'The weakest champion' and calling him a joke, this sickened Ash to no end. Maybe his dream of becoming a Pokemon Master was exactly that, just a dream...
Ash had returned to Alola and laid motionless on the couch he crashed on at Professor Kukui's, staring up at the ceiling while showing little signs of emotion. His friends would check up on him every once in awhile to make sure he was okay but after realizing he still wasn't in the mood to talk, they respected his wishes and left.
Eventually Professor Kukui had had enough of Ash just laying around and freeloading about. He dropped a brochure onto Ash's lap, the Pallet Town native soon picked it up and gazed at it while wondering what it was about.
"What's up?"
"Mustard, the Galar champion, retired recently and he's opened up a dojo to help train and teach trainers such as yourself. Perhaps you'd like to go and become his student?"
Ash gazed at the pamphlet for quite awhile, a blank expression upon his face.
"You know before Cynthia beat him, Mustard was the Pokemon World Champion for over 30 years." Kukui added, which caused Ash to sit up as a smile started to cross his face.
Ash looked down at Pikachu. "What do you think, buddy? Should we give it a go?"
"Pika!" Pikachu nodded and flicked his tail as a smile formed across his face before the two went down to the Melemele docks and purchased some tickets to the Isle of Armor, which is where the dojo was said to be located on the brochure.
"Just you wait, Pikachu! Once we complete this training course we'll be world champions in no time!" Ash shouted. Pikachu pumped his fists before letting out a cry alongside his trainer as they'd soon be off for the island off the coast of the Galar region.
"We've arrived at the Isle of Armor, folks. If you're wanting to continue on to the mainland of Galar just sit tight and wait for any new passengers to arrive!"
As Ash departed the ship he'd notice several trainers around his age, give or take a few years, getting onboard shortly after. They all seemed to be wearing matching uniforms as well, yellow and black jackets along with matching black shorts.
Ash didn't question it too much and walked along the path until he came across a building that greatly resembled previous dojos that he'd visited while traveling through the various Pokemon regions, only this one had a statute of some strange looking bear cub that Ash had never seen before standing up on top of the building. Ash fished through his pockets before going pale and quickly lowering his head.
"That's right, I forgot Rotom Dex was acting like my Pokedex for the past while..." It hadn't even occurred to him to ask Kukui for a new one or even Professor Oak while he was in Kanto, after all he'd already seen all the Pokemon the older regions had to offer, why on earth would he need one in familiar territory?
Ash eventually shrugged, deciding he'd merely ask about the Pokemon later before continuing on up the path towards the dojo, not noticing that while he got closer the 'statue' began to move, keeping a close eye on him while a interested look formed across it's face.
"Kubfu..."
Ash's fist soon knocked against the door before it was opened up by a rather attractive older woman, possibly in her 40's. Her skin was a light tone and she had medium length brown hair, she also had rather calm looking blue eyes, and was currently dressed in a green sweatshirt and white yoga pants. The woman flashed Ash a warm smile before tilting her head.
"Hello there, have you come to enroll?" She asked.
Ash nodded, pumping his fists with a determined look in his eyes. "That I have, I'm not too late am I..?"
"Nah, you're right on time!" The woman waved him in before motioning towards the center of the dojo where a bunch of trainers wore the same uniform that the trainers who'd left earlier were wearing, Ash realizing they must have left for some reason but didn't bother questioning it. It couldn't be that bad here, could it?
"Honey? We've got a new student!" The woman called out before an older man began walking through the crowd of students, having a bit of a slouch as he walked.
The man wore a teal green and black color schemed jacket with a small paw print pictured on the front that resembled a bear's somewhat. A hat covered up most of his balding head, the only visible hairs that Ash could see on the man's body was a small gray goatee and two long clusters of hair that went around both his eyes and dangled beneath the man's chin. The man gazed at Ash for a moment, stroking his chin as if he was trying to read him. A small smile formed across the man's face before clapping his hands together!
"Welcome to the dojo, lad! My full title is Dojo Master Mustard but please, feel free to call me Mustard." The man spoke, seeming rather humble for his age. He walked towards Ash before pulling back his shirt a bit to gaze at the tag within, Ash gave him a slightly uncomfortable look before Mustard waved it off. "Just seeing what uniform will fit ya, don't worry about it!"
Mustard then continued. "By the way, you'll be assigned a training partner throughout your stay here. This dojo isn't just about forming a bond between you and Pokemon but also to form one between your fellow human. This one's been here for awhile but his partner bailed so he's currently in the market for a new partner and roommate." Mustard also gave a rather knowing look as if he knew it was fate the two would be introduced here, or at least he had suspicions.
"Zach!" Mustard shouted out, resulting in one of the students that Mustard was teaching to spring forward, a Riolu standing by his trainer's side and copying his actions.
"Yes sir, Mustard sir?" The male trainer asked, seeming to have a great deal of respect for Mustard. He appeared to be the same age as Ash from the look of things. He wore the same dojo uniform that all the other students were, though his skin was a light skin tone and he had rather short yet messy brown hair along with chocolate brown eyes to match. He also had a semi-muscular frame going on but he was nowhere as jacked as Brock and Kiawe were!
"This is your new training partner and roommate..." Mustard went quiet before looking towards Ash. "Apologizes but age can make one quite forgetful, I didn't get your name?"
"It's Ash, Ash Ketchum!" Ash reached out his hand to greet his new friend. "I plan on entering the Pokemon World Championship so I figured why not study under the former World Champion for a bit?" Ash let out a light laugh.
"Word Champion, eh?" Zach chuckled softly, shaking Ash's hand before letting out a light sigh. "I'm training to become Galar's next champion, no offense but being the World Champion just sounds a bit too much for me. I just want to give the region somebody it can look up to and entertain crowds." Though by 'crowds', he really meant something else. Stars filled his eyes as he imagined himself as the champion with all sorts of women fawning over him.
"Somebody it can look up to? What do you mean..?" Ash tiled his head with a curious expression.
Mustard shook his head lightly in disgrace. "A former student of mine thought he could cheat to get ahead. He gave his Charizard steroids to make it unbeatable and it was only found out after my retirement. Nobody's been able to best me upon winning the Galar League since that day,"
"Just you wait, Riolu and I will beat you!" Zach smirked down at the jackal who let out a bark before punching at the air with a determined expression.
Ash couldn't help but chuckle, seeing a bit of himself in him. There used to be a time that Ash inspired to be the Indigo Champion though eventually his goal had evolved into becoming a Pokemon Master and his current path of reaching that goal was becoming the Pokemon Champion!
"Well would you mind guiding Ash here to your room and help him get settled in?" Mustard asked. "Honey will have my head if I don't help with the cooking again."
"Sure thing, master." Zach bowed to Mustard before turning to face Ash. "Right this way," He waved his hand before walking down the hall, sliding open a door to a room before extending his arm. "Right through there!"
Ash entered the room and looked around, the side to his left seemed completely ransacked as if the former occupant had left in a hurry as the dresser drawers along with some clothing laid on the ground. The right side on the other hand? Ash couldn't help but notice that Zach had quite the collection of Cynthia memorabilia, posters of her lined the walls of his side of the room while he also kept some figurines of her on his desk. Ash gazed towards it before looking back towards Zach who chuckled nervously before looking away from Ash.
"I-I'm a huge fan..." He obviously bluffed but Ash didn't seem bothered, merely shrugging before tossing his bag down on the abandoned bed before putting his clothes away. Zach had wandered off at some point as he came back and placed a spare uniform on Ash's bed.
"You're to wear that at all times while within the dojo grounds, though you can change into something more comfortable at night." Zach informed before waving as he walked out again to allow Ash to get dressed.
Ash soon stepped out before noticing Zach and Riolu leaning against the wall nearby as if they were waiting on him. "So like is there a battlefield that we can practice on?"
Zach turned his attention to Pikachu before locking onto Riolu, quickly shaking his head. "If you're referring to us then no, I don't want to overwhelm Riolu here. Pikachu would obviously crush him." He stated, Riolu nodding in agreement. "But there is a training area that we use for sparring and the occasional battle."
"Could you lead the way? Pikachu and I are itching for a fight!" Ash and Pikachu's fists were pumped with excitement, wondering if there were any Galar Pokemon here that they could fight against.
"Sure, I think we've got time before dinner is ready." Zach glanced towards the kitchen area, noticing Honey yelling at Mustard for trying to sample the cooking too early. He chuckled lightly before waving his hand and leading the way towards the back entrance where it'd be revealed that the backyard of the dojo grounds contained quite the battlefield!
Ash eagerly looked around for an opponent to face before one would come strutting up towards him. "Excuse me, you're the Ash Ketchum aren't you?"
Ash didn't expect somebody to recognize him, giving how unpopular he seemed to be along with this being a new region to him.
"Why yes, who are you?" Ash turned his head only to widened his eyes as he saw a female his age who appeared to be a student much like him and Zach, only she wasn't in her uniform! Instead she wore a uniform that was primarily dark blue with a large green splotch patterned along her shirt and shorts that appeared fashioned after a poison attack! She also had long leggings in a similar tone of coloring, though the rest of her outfit was more feminine-like as she wore a wool jacket atop of her uniform while also wearing what appeared to be white and pink colored boots, completing the look with a white butterfly-shaped headband atop of her short pink hair. She seemed a bit offended that Ash didn't recognize her.
""Y-You don't recognize me?! I'm Klara, the famous underground pop singer!" The girl tapped her chest with a rather proud look.
"More like infamous, you only sold eight albums and one was your mother." Zach smirked before Klara's face turned red.
"Yeah well at least I'm not autis-"
"Rio!" Riolu didn't let her finish, hitting her knee with a Force Palm attack before jumping away.
"Aaah, that hurt you pest!" Riolu growled in response.
"You know he doesn't like it when people use that as an insult!" Zach narrowed his eyes.
Ash looked between them, wondering what was going on though he figured it'd be better to just change the subject.
"So Klara, would you like to battle against me?" Ash asked Klara, who turned in response before nodding her head in agreement.
"That I would, beating you would surely give me the popularity boost that I'm looking for!" Klara smirked, tossing a Pokeball up and down before walking towards one side of the field. Ash smirking back as he walked towards the other side of the field.
"Let's go, Slowbro!" Klara shouted out, Ash looked a bit disappointed at first as he was hoping to encounter a Galar Pokemon however a look of surprise came across his face as he'd immediately notice the shell usually on the creature's tail was currently on Slowpoke's left hand! That and purple marking were at the top of his head, tip of his tail and completely covering his hands!
"Whoa, what-?!" Ash gazed for a moment before finishing around his pockets for his Pokedex only to frown as he once again realized that he didn't have one, however luck would be in his favor as Zach held out a red smartphone looking device and gave him a friendly smile.
"You don't have a Pokedex on you, do ya?" He chuckled. "Take mine, I got a new one recently as I couldn't find this one for quite awhile."
"Thank you," Ash smiled before pressing the Pokedex app upon activating the phone, a light blue ray of light shot from the camera lens and scanned Ash's face before speaking up.
"Registering user, hello Ash Ketchum!" The device then registered to showcase all of the Pokemon that Ash has owned from past to present day, from Bulbasaur all the way to Melmetal. Even Pokemon like Seaking, Beedrill and the various Ultra Beasts that he briefly owned were registered as 'Owned' by the device. Ash then held the phone towards Slowbro before scanning it as Slowbro's picture appeared on the screen, alongside a picture of the regular Slowbro that he was used to seeing.
"Slowbro, the hermit crab Pokemon, Galarian form. A Shellder bite set off a chemical reaction with the spices inside Slowbro's body, causing Slowbro to become a Poison type Pokemon!"
"A Poison type?!" Ash stared at Slowbro's typing for a moment before looking at Pikachu.
"Think you can handle this, buddy?"
"Pika!" Pikachu smirked in response before leaping forward, his cheeks sparked with electricity as he was raring to go!
"Shell Side Arm!" Klara shouted, which made Ash tense up for a moment as the move was completely new to him.
"Dodge it with Quick Attack!" Slowbro's shell began glowing bright purple before he lashed out at Pikachu as he ran by, punching him in the sides as the electrical mouse let out a cry of pain, his cheeks turning faintly purple as Ash grit his teeth.
"Poisoned..." That wasn't good, they were running on borrowed time now!
"Volt Tackle!" Pikachu's body became covered in golden yellow electricity as he charged at Slowbro! Ash had decided to train Pikachu to relearn the attack in favor over Electroweb.
"Pika-pika-pika-pika... PIKA!" Pikachu slammed his electric covered body against Slowbro, the Poison/Psychic type letting out a groan of pain before falling to his knees while Klara formed a worried look, it appeared that she underestimated Ash! Ash smirked, wondering if Klara believed the 'Weak champion' title some gave him was quite literal!
"Psychic!" Slowbro's eyes glowed bright blue as he started lifting Pikachu off the ground, the Electric type flailing about though Ash remained calm, a smirk crossed his face once more before he thrusted out his arms and shouted out!
"Thunderbolt!"
"Pika... chuuuu!" Pikachu's cheeks sparked as he shocked Slowbro with a heavy dose of electricity, the Galarian form crying out in pain before letting go of Pikachu and falling over in defeat as his eyes were reduced to swirls.
"Slow... bro..."
"Way to go, Pikachu!" Ash shouted out, praising his best friend.
"Wow, I had a feeling you were strong... but not that strong!" Zach noted, pointing towards a rather large scorch mark on the ground where Thunderbolt had struck.
Ash merely chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.
Klara pouted, returning Slowbro before her gaze became rather focused on Ash as a slight amount of interest started to show within her gaze.
Atop the building's roof, Kubfu gazed down at Ash with immense interest in his eyes. The bear cub soon pumped his fists with determination, knowing that he'd make a perfect candidate for a trainer!
A few weeks would pass, Ash was a bit disappointed so far as Mustard's training mostly consisted of sparring with his fellow students, which he didn't mind as his Oshawott seemed to be having a fun time sparring with Zach's Riolu while Pikachu also got in some sparring on occasion since Klara insisted upon a rematch every few days. But it was the fetch quests that were getting to Ash, first a bunch of Slowpoke that were fast as wild Rapidash stole everyone's gym uniforms during the night and it was he who was tasked with retrieving them due to him being the new guy, though at least Zach was kind enough to offer his assistant as Ash didn't have a great lay of the land just yet.
"Poke!"
"Slowpoke!"
"Slow!" The Pokemon were merely speaking but given how fast they were moving Ash couldn't help but feel as if they were insulting him!
"Ugh, are the Slowpoke of this region always this fast?" Even Pikachu was having trouble as the Slowpoke were running circles around him.
"Pika..." Pikachu uttered an agitated snarl as his cheeks began sparking with electricity as if he were about to electrocute the whole herd of Slowpoke! Zach's eyes widened in horror before Ash was quick to dive at Pikachu and take the shock, his body had grown used to it so it wouldn't hurt him as bad as it would those poor Slowpoke!
"Whoa..."
"Rio..."
"You uh... okay?" Zach raised his eyebrow as concern was visible across his face.
"Yeah don't worry... Pikachu has a short fuse sometimes, I'm used to it!" Ash let out a light chuckle as Pikachu nervously rubbed the back of his neck and flashed his trainer an apologetic smile.
"Heh, well I've noticed only one Slowpoke seems to be carrying something... looks to be a duffel bag? I'm guessing that's the uniforms." Zach narrowed his eyes as he jerked his head around to follow the speeding Slowpoke. "So all we have to do is stop it or slow it down without causing it harm!"
Ash instinctively reached for an empty Pokeball and activated it before hurling it across the sandy beach, the ball opened up as it homed in on the Galarian Slowpoke before absorbing it as a bright red light surrounded the Pokemon! The ball hit the ground and began shaking back and forth before chiming out to announce the capture complete! Though Ash was surprised to feel a faint vibration in his pocket causing him to swiftly retrieve his Rotom Phone revealing that the device activated the Pokedex app to register his capture!
"Slowpoke the Dopey Pokemon, Galarian form, although this Pokemon is normally zoned out its expression abruptly sharpens on occasion. The cause for this seems to lie in Slowpoke's diet!"
"Well looks like I caught a Slowpoke!" Ash let out an amused chuckle.
Then Mustard had him go out and retrieve some strange mushrooms from the nearby forest in order to make some special soup. It wasn't even good soup either! Though Pikachu sure seemed to enjoy it!
"Gah!" Zach stuck his tongue out at the horrible taste.
Ash made a disgusted face and began missing Brock, Cilan, Serena and Mallow's cooking. Anything was better than this slob!
And lastly he and Zach were both sent to collect even more mushrooms, Mustard demanding that each fill up their bags with them! Zach who seemed to hold a great deal of respect towards Mustard seemed to be getting as impatient as Ash was, though he'd been there for far longer so he probably had managed to keep his patience for quite some time.
Though thankfully this time, Mustard clasped his hands together.
"Well done you two, you're the first two to ever pass my beginner trials!" Mustard then carefully placed three Pokeballs down upon a table and smiled at them. "In these Pokeballs contain the three starters of the Galar region, they're quite hard to find in the wild but I trust you'll give them good homes. Feel free to pick one!" He pressed release buttons and one by one the three starters formed before the two trainers.
Ash quickly getting out his Rotom Phone in order to scan each of them, starting off with the white rabbit Pokemon.
"Scorbunny, the rabbit Pokemon. A warm-up of running around gets fire energy coursing through this Pokémon's body. Once that happens, it's ready to fight at full power!"
Then following up by scanning a blue lizard Pokemon.
"Sobble, the water lizard Pokemon. When it gets wet, its skin changes color, and this Pokemon becomes invisible as if it were camouflaged!"
And finally a green monkey Pokemon!
"Grookey, the chimp Pokemon! It attacks with rapid beats of its stick. As it strikes with amazing speed, it gets more and more pumped!"
Zach appeared to make his choice right away, he slowly reached out for Scorbunny before looking at Ash to make sure that he wasn't wanting her. Ash soon acknowledged him with a thumbs up, resulting in Zach reaching out for Scorbunny as the rabbit leaped up and hugged him!
"I bet a cute Pokemon such as yourself will be quite the chick magnet! That energetic personality will also come in handy on the battlefield, I bet we'll make a great team!"
"Scor!" She cried out, nuzzling her new trainer affectionately as she couldn't wait to start training with him!
Ash's gaze hovered between Grookey and Sobble as he began making his decision, his hand slowly started moving towards Grookey, an excited look formed on the grass monkey's face before a gray blur suddenly leaped out and kicked Ash to the ground before he could make the decision. Ash letting out a grunt of pain before looking up and noticing the cub Pokemon from weeks back standing directly over him.
"Kubfu!" Kubfu did a fighting stance before pointing at Ash, then pointing at the other starters before shaking his head.
Mustard could be heard chuckling. "Well it appears that my Kubfu is interested in becoming your Pokemon," Mustard shook his head before smiling. "What do you say, Ash? Would you like Kubfu instead of Sobble or Grookey?"
Ash stared into Kubfu's eyes for a brief moment, feeling a kindred spirit brewing within the cub Pokemon before he'd eventually nod, Mustard handed the two of them the Pokeballs belonging to their new trainers. "Good luck and take good care of them," Mustard looked away as he thought to himself. 'They'll need all the help that they can get if they really are the heroes that the prophecy speaks of! Save us all from eternal darkness you two,"
"Tomorrow you two are to gather 1,000 Galarica Twigs... each!" Mustard suddenly spoke, giving them a wave. "And bring them back by midnight tomorrow!"
"...What are Galarica Twigs?" Ash turned to Zach who merely looked down and let out an annoyed sigh.
"What he asks is basically impossible unless we cut down the entire forest! There are Galarica trees once every mile on this island and they only lose ten or twenty-five twig each day!" Zach pulled at his hair in frustration before looking at Riolu who looked equally frustrated, how were these fetch quests helping get stronger at all?!
Ash let out a sigh before walking straight to bed and laying down for the night, though as he laid there and thought of the seemingly impossible task ahead he began thinking to himself. 'You know, I grew stronger because I traveled across a vast amount of regions and seen so many Pokemon and done so many things that most trainers never would experience in their lifetime! Perhaps I should get back out there...? Travel the world, challenge some familiar faces and new ones in the Pokemon World Championship and slowly work my way towards Cynthia! This time I won't lose!"
Zach noticed Ash get up and begin packing as he entered the room, tilting his head before speaking up. "Where are you going...?"
"I'm leaving, I'm going to start traveling the world again like I've done for the past eight years and I'm going to work my way up the Championship ladder to face Cynthia!" Ash spoke, his voice full of drive and determination! "I'm going to go wherever the road takes us, rather that be Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Kalos, Unova, Alola, or some new region that I've never heard of before!"
Zach bit his lip as he looked towards the door before looking back towards Ash. "C-Could I come with you...? I'd like to become the Galar champion but seeing the rest of the world would be nice and also allow me to catch Pokemon that we can't find here!" Riolu nodded in agreement with his trainer, pumping his fist. "Besides, you'll be visiting Galar right? Not like I can't collect badges when we come back."
Ash turned to his friend with a grin before extending his hand. "Sure, it's like I always say traveling with friends is better than traveling alone!" The two friends clasped hands, smirking at one another while Riolu and Pikachu fist bumped.
"Rio!"
"Pika!"
The two soon had their bags packed and were headed up the path towards the dock, they were about halfway there before Klara's voice could be heard.
"You two are really running off? I'd expect that behavior from him," Klara pointed at Zach before looking at Ash with narrowed eyes. "But you? I honestly thought you'd have actually done the unthinkable and beat Mustard's grand trial but I guess you really are the weakest champion after all!" She added with a mocking tone.
Ash's eye twitched as he turned to Klara and was about to speak up before Zach impatiently grabbed his arm. "Man forget her, let's go before we miss the boat!"
Ash knew his friend had a point and chose to remain silent, he'd beaten Klara countless times yet she still seemed to have it out for him for some reason. Winning the World Championship was probably the only way to shut her up.
"Good luck, hope his autism doesn't slow you down!" Klara shouted after him with a laugh as the pair began continuing down the path to the docks, she turned to head back to camp only to let out a shriek as she tripped and fell right into a poison ivy patch!
Mustard stood atop the dojo roof, staring down at the two as they walked towards the docks. "Exactly as I imagined it'd go, good luck you two. I wish you luck in your various goals." He knew they couldn't hear him but he was hoping that Arceus would hear and watch over them.
Boom!
A loud explosion rumbled through the ground as the wall of an ancient Galarian temple was blasted apart with an individual stepping through the hole shortly afterwards, his eyes scanning the area with a calm and serious expression before his eyes landed upon an ancient stone tablet. After making his way over to it and giving it a quick glance he reached into his pocket and withdrew a black Rotom Phone, proceeding to speed dial a specific individual.
"Who dares bother me? Do you have any idea what time it is?!"
"Giovanni, it's Pierce sir. I believe I've found the tablet that you've been looking for, the one that can perfect the Shadow Pokemon formula that the Masked Marauder started years back." The man calmly relayed to his boss, despite having been on a seemingly endless search since the botched Unova operation the man didn't appear to hold a grudge against his employer
"Excellent, I'll send Matori to collect it immediately." After her countless failures in Alola, his former righthand had been demoted to a simple errand girl, forced to do Giovanni's bidding no matter how useless it seemed to the operation as a whole, including fetching Giovanni's laundry or getting him his morning latte! "I want you to start tracking down Dr. Yung, the authorities believe him to be dead but I know for a fact he survived. His genius combined with the information on that tablet will allow us to transform any Pokemon we desire into Shadow Pokemon, including ones owned by powerful trainers. Team Rocket will finally reign supreme!"
Yeah, so a rewrite of a rewrite... Not much changed here admittingly part from me fixing some typos, swapping Lance's role as World Champion with Cynthia, the addition of Galarian Slowpoke to Ash's arsenal and fleshing out the time at the dojo a bit more. I decided to remake it as I made some mistakes with the old one and seeing how the actual anime doesn't appear to be giving Marnie any love whatsoever, I guess I have to do it! Basically "Fine, I'll do it myself!". So yeah, no romance with Lillie this time sorry! Marnie will still come in a few chapters into the story but I'm going to try and make it a better introduction than last time.
I was tempted to have Ash comment on Honey and Mustard's age difference and have Zach joke about her being a vampire but thought it a bit bunch.
For the most part Ash's team will remain the same and he'll be challenging the Hoenn Elite Four, Wallace and Sinnoh Battle Frontier Brains again but you're free to suggest future captures and/or opponents for him and Marnie! :)
Ash will travel the world with his new friend while every single region gets a fair amount of focus and it isn't ninety percent Kanto, five percent Galar, one percent every other region like the actual series!
You'll see old friends and new appear; Ash will evolve Pokemon, reunite with ones like Primeape and Greninja, and obviously catch new ones too as evident by Kubfu. 'But he didn't get a Galar starter!' Doesn't mean it can't happen. The only Pokemon I can promise that will not happen, is Ash owning a Lucario. There are literally thousands of fics where he owns a Lucario, I'm trying to be different. He may canonically own one, his Lucario is my favorite Pokemon of the current team, but it's not happening here sorry.
Yes, Zach has a disability. Am I making fun of it? Hell no, Klara's a judgmental prick but she may grow out of it!