By the next morning, they were already landing back in Vermillion City's airport, right on time for the afternoon sun to shine down upon them brightly.
Time differences between regions were fun like that.
Goh groaned, covering his eyes as they trudged their way out of the airplane, the tan skinned boy was absolutely exhausted, having stayed up all night, and not planning to sleep still for another good few hours yet.
Ash watched him stumble around in amusement. Goh definitely wasn't the most athletic guy out there, being more in line with Clemont, and he was still new to a pokemon journey, having only started a few months ago.
He just wasn't used to the hectic sleeping schedule that came with a journey, he was a city boy through and through.
Admittedly, Ash himself was a bit rusty, having spent the last year attending school in Alola and living with Professor Kukui and then the months following his crowning as the Alola Champion, spending most of his nights either at the Cerise Laboratory or in hotels.
But, honestly, when they got the chance to actually camp outside, Ash felt much more liberated, like he was back in his element.
As much as he enjoyed his stay in Alola and even working with the Cerise Laboratory, they were a bit stifling.
"Oh, you're back!" Professor Cerise greeted them when they made their way into lab, "I saw you caught a Camerupt Goh, nice going!"
Despite the praise, Goh only muttered a quick thanks, before ambling up to their room.
Professor Cerise watched him go with an amused look before turning to look at Ash himself, "What about you, did you get what you wanted?" he asked.
"And then some." Ash smiled, holding up his right hand clad with the mega evolution glove
Professor Cerise's eyes widened, "Amazing, a real key stone!" he praised and walking over, examining it intently, "I've saw a few in passing, but I've never had the chance to study one up close, do you mind if I take a few looks at it?"
"Sure professor," Ash shrugged, agreeing, "Would you like a look at my mega stones as well?"
"If it wouldn't be a bother I'd l-" Professor Cerise froze, "Stones, as in plural?" he gaped at Ash.
You know, somehow he never seemed to get tired of surprising people with his accomplishments. Maybe Iris was right and he still was a bit of a little kid deep down?
"Yeah, after we got our hands on Lucarionite, we ended up getting interrupted by a Salamence and a Pidgeot fighting over a piece of ore that contained a pair of mega stones," Ash explained, though he left out any mention of Mega Island itself, "The Salamence won then kind of attacked us, and I ended up battling and beating it with Lucario after mega evolving and then capturing it, and I was allowed to keep the mega stones since I already have a Pidgeot."
"Fascinating!" the older man clapped his hands together, eyes practically sparkling, "Actually, I had been wondering why Sir Fetch'd was sent back here last night, I assume it was so you could keep Salamence on hand?"
Ash winced, "Yeah, Salamence is kind of temperamental and there isn't really any pokemon here that could deal with him if he got let out of his pokeball went on a rampage." he hadn't actually let Salamence out of his pokeball yet, he'd only had him healed up at the pokemon centre healing machine since the damage he'd taken wasn't too bad and took a look at Salamence using the pokedex in his Rotom phone.
And just as he'd thought, Salamence was pretty impressive. Male, and a bit larger than average in size, knowing the attacks Flamethrower, Dragon Claw, Hydro Pump and Giga Impact.
"I see, that makes sense," Professor Cerise nodded, "There definitely is no pokemon on hand right now here that could deal with a raging Salamence."
Yeah, which as he said, was exactly the reason he kept Salamence with him. His current team besides Pikachu weren't the most experienced, but they were very powerful since he'd had so much free time to focus on training them.
Honestly, they could probably give his Alola team a run for their money at this point, especially now that Lucario could mega evolve.
"Speaking of, if you hear Salamence raging about, don't worry about it," Ash assured the older man in advance, "We'll be able to deal with him."
"I'll be sure to do so, and I'll let Chrysa and Ren know as well," Professor Cerise nodded, "Good thing Chloe's out with her friends after school I suppose."
"Yeah…" Ash gave a bit of an absent reply.
Chloe wasn't exactly his biggest fan.
Giving the older man a nod, Ash made his way through the laboratory and out to the pokemon habitat.
He greeted Golurk who was resting near the entrance and passed by quite a few of Goh's pokemon.
It didn't take him long to find whom he was looking for. Sir Fetch'd had a large clearing all to himself right now and Ash found the small white bird pokemon thrusting his leek lance out over and over again. A simple little exercise, since many of his attacks involved thrusting with it, especially Meteor Assault.
Granted, the clearing was actually basically the area taken over by his pokemon as their turf in this habitat. Quite a common thing amongst trainer owned pokemon he'd learned over the years. His own pokemon back at the Oak Ranch had claimed tons of territory for themselves.
"Yo Sir Fetch'd!" Ash greeted as he entered the clearing.
Sir Fetch'd glanced at him out of the corner of the eye, before thrusting one last time, the sheer force and speed behind it making the wind whistle and generate a gale that ruffled the leaves of a tree twenty odd feet away.
"Fetch." righting his grip on his lance, Sir Fetch'd greeted him with a simple, cool nod.
"Sorry for sending you back ahead, I caught a new pokemon yesterday who's a bit testy," Ash explained, "I didn't want him getting out of his pokeball here until we got back."
Sir Fetch'd gave a light shrug and waved it off.
Ash gave a nod back, before tracing his fingers over three of the pokeballs on his belt. They clicked open and in a trio of bright bursts of light, Dragonite, Lucario and Dracovish were released from their pokeballs.
He of course had Gengar with him, but the ghost tended to prefer staying in Ash's shadow than in his pokeball
"Droo!" Dracovish's eyes lit up as soon as he saw Ash and hopped over to him, gently gnawing Ash's head.
And then he was swept up in a huge hug by Dragonite from his other side and Ash couldn't stop himself from laughing.
"Alright, alright!" he continued laughing, "That's enough for now guys, I've got something important to talk about." he added as he eased himself out of their grips.
They calmed down pretty quick, lining up together in front of him, with Pikachu jumping off of his shoulder to join them.
"Right, so we made a quick trip to Kalos yesterday, and thanks to a little help from some friends, we ended up getting our hands on the stuff we need for mega evolution," Ash told the gathered pokemon now that he had their attention, before holding up his mega stone clad hand and gesturing to Lucario, "This is my key stone, and as you can see, Lucario has a mega stone of his own."
His pokemon looked to Lucario, who puffed out his chest in pride, crossing his arms in front of his chest and showed off the dark blue metal bracer on one of his arms, of the same make as Korrina's own Lucari's own, only in a different colour and showed it off proudly for the others to see.
His pokemon congratulated Lucario happily, Dragonite sweeping him up in a hug, while Sir Fetch'd gave him a nod of respect. Pikachu of course had already seen it.
….Though, they did have to pause for a moment to reign in Dracovish before the big lug tried to chew on it.
"Right, that's not all, I got my hands on two more mega stones as well," Ash continued once they calmed down, "And in the process, I caught a new pokemon, a Salamence, which is why I'm talking to you guys like this."
He shifted his bag off his shoulder and crouched down over it, reaching in to retrieve a similar blue metal bracer with a different coloured mega stone embedded within it.
Gurkinn had been kind enough to provide him with three mega bracers, after getting the dimensions for Salamence and Pidgeot from his Rotom phone.
"I'm gonna need your guys help if Salamence goes out of control when I let him out, he's a little testy." he said to his pokemon.
"Droo!" Dracovish hopped up and down in spot and nodded vigorously, ever eager to meet his expectations. Sir Fetch'd, merely crossed his wings and nodded while Lucario shrugged, unconcerned.
"Pi, Pikachu!" Pikachu shrugged and hopped back over onto his shoulder, not seeing an issue, while Dragonite walked over and smiled down at him, patting him on the shoulder.
Dragonite was very touchy feely like that, expressive with physical contact.
"Alright, ready then?" he smiled at them, unclasping Salamence's pokeball from his belt, and holding the metal bracer in the other.
When his pokemon confirmed their readiness, Ash released the pokemon from within the pokeball.
When the light wore off, the large bipedal blue scaled form of Salamence stood in amongst him and his pokemon. The dragon shook his head and looked around, confused.
He seemed to be in a little bit of a daze as his eyes scanned his surroundings, passing by his pokemon, before finally setting on Ash and the dragon just stared.
And stared.
Salamence's eyes looked at him, without really seeing Ash for a few moments, before the glaze of confusion seemed to fade away and was replaced by recognition, followed by Salamence's eyes widening, then abruptly narrowing in fury.
"Raaaaugh!" Salamence roared, rearing up on his hind legs, green energy sparking into existence and forming into a huge pair of ethereal energy claws.
His pokemon all tensed, and then Salamence rushed forward with a flap of his wings, Dragon Claw attack aimed straight for Ash.
He didn't feel threatened at all though. Honestly, he didn't even feel any need to take action, he didn't need to.
Dragonite was the first to move, shooting forward, green energy flaring around his own arms and flaring into similar claws of energy.
Dragonite met Salamence before the larger dragon even cleared five feet, smashing his dragon claw into the newest of Ash's dragons and he witnessed as Salamence's eyes widened in absolute shock as Dragonite completely overpowered Salamence's own attack and was abruptly slammed into the ground hard.
It was a testament to how powerful Dragonite had become, able to easily overpower Salamence despite how large his newest pokemon was, a decent bit bigger and broader than Dragonite's own substantial size.
Pinning Salamence beneath him, Dragonite gave a warbling sound and looked down at Salamence in disapproval.
Salamence outright gaped at Dragonite and began struggling underneath the Kantonian pseudo legendary dragon, red hot flames beginning to pool in its maw.
"Alright, that's enough." Ash's voice was clear and stern as he cut in, a rare occurrence.
Both dragons froze abruptly at his voice, and Dragonite immediately let go of Salamence, jumping back with a flap of his wings to land at Ash's side, leaving Salamence laying there on the ground, dazed and confused, the embers of red and yellow flame in the dragons mouth, sputtering and dying out.
"That's three for three now isn't it?" Ash said clearly, eyes locking with Salamence's own as he walked over to the downed dragon, "Pikachu, Lucario and now Dragonite as well, have you learned your lesson yet?"
Salamence visibly grit his teeth together, but did not attack. Not that it would have meant much if he did, he trusted Gengar to deal with any attacks it let off.
"So, I guess you've noticed by now, but after you lost to Lucario after you attacked me yesterday, I caught you," Ash began, "You'll have to deal with that for a bit, sorry to say."
Usually, he'd give pokemon the option of staying with him or leaving if they wanted, he wasn't a big fan of forcing pokemon to be his if they didn't like him.
But Salamence was a whole other kettle of Magikarp. Salamence was a pokemon species part of a specific group, known as pseudo legendary pokemon, known for their absurd innate power and potential. They stood heads and shoulders above other pokemon even without training, naturally.
And this Salamence specifically, had shown a tendency to attack others at the drop of a hat. Really, he should have caught this guy back when he was travelling through Kalos, who knows how many people or other pokemon Salamence had hurt just because they wandered near by?
He'd take on the responsibility of keeping an eye on Salamence, few others could. It would take a seasoned gym circuit trainer to have a chance at dealing with a pokemon like this.
And while he was sure he could find one that could do the job if needed, it was Ash who caught Salamence, he wasn't going to foist the responsibility on anyone else.
…He'd been doing enough of that lately. And getting paid for it. The salary of a regional Champion, paid directly by the league, wasn't exactly a small amount.
"Gruh!" Salamence spat in disgust, glaring to the side, but the large pokemon didn't make any threatening moves.
He was at least smart enough to know when he was outclassed.
"It's not all bad you know," Ash chuckled, and boldly reached out, placing his hand on Salamence's head, "You seem like the type of guy that likes to be strong, and I can definitely help you with that."
Salamence froze, head mechanically turning to glare into Ash's eyes, a menacing snarl leaving his lips at the teen.
Ash stared the dragon right in the eyes, unafraid, he'd faced down far more terrifying things and pokemon than a single Salamence.
"No dice, huh?" Ash clicked his tongue, oh well, he wasn't expecting things to be easy, "By the way, that Salamencite you were after yesterday that you fought that Pidgeot for? It's completely useless to you as you are."
Another snarl left Salamence's lips and the dragon forced his way up to his feet and stared daggers down at Ash, as if daring him to continue.
He wouldn't be Ash Ketchum if he backed down from a challenge though.
"It is needed for you to mega evolve, don't get me wrong," Ash grinned right back at Salamence, "But without a trainer, with a key stone like this, you can't mega evolve." to punctuate his point, he held up his fist and displayed his key stone to the dragon.
A growl rumbled in the back of Salamence's throat, but he eyed the gem nonetheless, before huffing and looking away.
"So why not stick around with me?" Ash probed, "I'll make you stronger than you can even imagine, and in the future, you may be able to become Mega Salamence with my help."
Salamence didn't even bother looking at him.
'What a tough nut to crack.' Ash rolled his eyes, but he already knew this wasn't going to be easy. Salamence weren't exactly known for being easy going and gentle like Dragonite, "Alright, how about this then, take a look." he tried another avenue and walked around to get within Salamence's gaze and held up the metal bracer with the Salamencite within it.
Salamence's attitude changed almost immediately, the huge dragons eyes widening with shock and then filling with desire just as quick.
"I got it fashioned into a bracer for you to wear," he continued, even as Salamence's entire attention was focused on it, "Gimme your leg and I'll put it on you."
This time, Salamence actually listened to him and lifted up one large, tree-trunk thick leg and allowed him to clasp the mega bracer onto it.
As soon as he did, Salamence went right back to ignoring Ash, and he heard Lucario scoff in annoyance. He looked over his shoulder to see the fighting and steel type pokemon's fingers twitching.
He was apparently not a fan of the disrespect Salamence was giving Ash.
"I've got this from here guys, so feel free to go chill out, I'll call you later for training." he told the assembled pokemon.
"Droo!" Dracovish happily nodded and rushed off, hopping into one of the nearby river streams. Sir Fetch'd had to drag Lucario with him, since it seemed his first mega evolved pokemon looked eager to pick a fight with Salamence.
Dragonite eyed Salamence with a frown, before giving Ash a worried look, "Don't worry, I'll be fine, you can go play with your friends." he assured.
Dragonite gave one last lingering look, before taking his words at face value and flapping his wings and taking off into the sky and out of sight a moment later, leaving Ash alone with Salamence, except for Pikachu on his shoulder.
And Gengar in his shadow.
Honestly, if he didn't specifically need Gengar for something, the ghost pokemon tended to prefer to just stay in Ash's shadow and be around him constantly. Ash honestly didn't mind, but when he thought on it, he was always reminded of that asshole that was Gengar's first trainer, it was like Damian all over again.
Just thinking of that guy made him want to punch his lights out.
"Gruh! Gruh!" he was broken from his thoughts by Salamence snarling and Ash turned to see that the huge dragon was now glaring at the mega stone attached to his leg and stamping his foot.
Ah, frustration, an old friend.
"I told you, it's impossible to mega evolve on your part without a trainer that you share a strong bond with and also have a key stone to go with your Salamencite." Ash pointed out with a shrug.
Salamence whipped around to snarl at Ash now and he rolled his eyes, "Come on, give it a rest already, you're not as scary as you think are," he huffed himself now, "I can prove it to you if you want?"
Salamence blinked, before giving him a confused look.
Ash sighed, "Alright, but we're only doing this once," he said, raising his hand and touching two fingers to the key stone, and focusing, "Salamence, mega evolve!" the power within him rose up and surged, spreading out in a wave, amplified by the key stone.
Bright brilliant ribbons of light erupted from the key stone and soared through the air to wrap around Salamence. He could feel within him as they connected to the Salamencite attached to the dragons legs, and tried to merge into Salamence's own aura through it.
But, even as the ribbons of light encased Salamence within a cocoon of light, he could almost physically feel it, almost like a wall, blocking the connection and power from merging with Salamence.
'So this is what it feels like to try and mega evolve a pokemon you don't have a bond with, huh?' Ash thought absently. It was interesting, and in a way, dangerous. He could only imagine the heart break that could result from this kind of thing, with a trainer trying to mega evolve a pokemon they truly cared for, only to find that wall in place.
If he tried this with like Pikachu for instance and felt that, he'd be devastated.
That wasn't the only thing though. Maybe it was because of how powerful those in the know always told him his aura was, or maybe it was just his prior experience with using it unlike Alain and such that had no idea what aura really was-
But, Ash felt like he could force his power through, actually, he was almost sure of it, and force Salamence to mega evolve even without the bond.
…He had after all, already seen forced mega evolution in person before.
But he wouldn't do that, rather, couldn't imagine himself even doing so, disgusted him that the mere idea even occurred to him. Never, not unless it was a truly drastic time would he do something like that.
Moments later, the cocoon of light burst apart, to reveal Salamence, not changed at all.
The disappointment in the dragons eyes was blatantly apparent.
"Told you," Ash pointed out before smiling reassuringly at the dragon pokemon, "You're plenty strong already, so don't feel too bad, and mega evolution is hardly the be all and end all, I've got plenty of pokemon that have beaten mega evolved pokemon without it themselves."
Salamence glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes.
It was enough for Ash, his smile widened, "If you want to get much much stronger, I told you, I can definitely help you with that, it's a pretty sweet deal really," he said, "Not to brag, but I'm one of the best trainers in the world right now, I'm a champion of an entire region, and on top of getting trained by me, you'll get all the food you want without having to look for it yourself."
And Salamence was hardly the first pokemon like this he'd dealt with, he'd come around eventually.
"Give it a few months, and you'll forget about ever even wanting mega evolution, that's how strong you'll be." he promised.
Salamence's jaw worked back and forth a bit, before he cast a glance at Pikachu on his shoulder and then the dragon's head slumped and it nodded, "Gruah." he agreed.
"Good to have ya' on board buddy!" Ash laughed, once more reaching up to boldly pat Salamence on the head, "Why don't you get get settled in then, meet the other pokemon around here? I'll call you for training and dinner in a few hours."
Salamence huffed, and merely turned around and walked away, ambling over on thick powerful legs to a large tree and curling up beneath it and laying down to sleep.
"Guess he isn't the social type then," Ash snorted, before speaking quietly, "Keep an eye on him for me, will you Gengar? Any of you guys can handle him if he gets violent, but none of Goh's can."
As soon as he asked, a cold shudder ran up his spine, and a part of his shadow disconnected, trailing across the ground to connect with Salamence's own.
Nodding, Ash turned on his feet and began making his way back to the main lab, "Let's call Professor Oak then check in with Professor Kukui buddy."
"Pika!" Pikachu agreed happily.
There was one thing Ash had to admit. And it was that Rotom phones sure were convenient. They had so many uses.
Not only could he make calls with it and not only did it function as a pokedex, it also had a world wide map function, a copy of his ID, the ability to browse the internet and tons of other functions like being able to play music and download tons of other apps like games to keep him occupied and an app that let him directly deal with his bank account and everything.
Science was so amazing!
It made it so, that by time he had made it back to the main lab and to where the pokemon transporter was, he had already been able to call Professor Oak and arrange for Pidgeot to be sent over.
"How's it fit?" Ash asked.
"Geot!" Pidgeot happily spread his wings widely, the sheer span of length his wings could reach making Ash stop and gaze a bit in awe and holding up his leg where he'd strapped the third and final bracer Gurkinn had presented him with, the shining stone of Pidgeotite gleaming proudly in the middle of it.
He'd grown so much since he caught him way back during his first few days as a trainer, heck, he'd grown so much since he evolved. Pidgeot was absolutely massive these days.
"Good, good, we'll try it out later then, okay?" Ash fondly reached up and stroked Pidgeot's mane, "I've got a few things to take care of first."
"Pidgo!" the huge bird pokemon shrugged, before nipping him affectionately on the head with his large beak.
"I can't wait to battle again together either." Ash grinned, before raising Pidgeot's pokeball and returning him inside.
'Right, now to call Professor Kukui.' Ash mused. Just as he was about to bring up his contact list, his phone vibrated as he received a message.
And surprise surprise, it was from Professor Kukui himself. What amazing timing.
'Alola Ash! How are you? Hope you're keeping up with your training and not getting too caught up helping Goh. Your pokemon here are doing well, Nagandel even dropped by for a visit the other day, he was disappointed you weren't here, but I told him you'd be back next month, so look forward to that! Sorry to say, while I'd love to just catch up a bit more, this is message is more business than anything. While I've been handling a few things in your stead, some important matters have come up that need you to handle them specifically.
Three of them mainly. I've been contacted by Drake of Pummelo Islands, he tells me you know him quite well? Well, you probably don't know, but the Orange Islands actually lie closer to Alola than Kanto, and through Mr. Goodshow has found out you are the new champion of Alola. He wants to meet you and discuss the possibility of the Orange Islands officially becoming part of the Alola Region.
Surprisingly, he is not the only one who contacted me about knowing you. A man named Scott did as well, the head of the Battle Frontier and my was I surprised to hear that, especially when he let loose that you actually won the Battle Frontier and had the chance to become a Frontier Brain yourself! Why did you never tell me that!? Anyway, he also wants to talk to you, about getting his Battle Frontier set up in Alola, can you believe it? We're just getting started on getting the gyms all set up and now possibly the Battle Frontier as well? I'm getting super excited just at the thought of it!
The third matter, isn't quite as important as the other two. Mr. Goodshow wants to reveal the fact Alola is now part of the League and as the new champion, he wants you to be interviewed as the face of the Alola League through some pretty big news stations so its broadcasted to every other region. Though, he has left the matter of choosing who you want to be interviewed by up to you. I've included an attached document with the details of those chosen to interview you, so you can pick from them.
Sorry to dump this on you all of a sudden little buddy, but I can't really hold it back for you any longer. I'm excited to see you when you come back though, let's have a battle so I can see how strong your new pokemon are when you do!'
To think he was just thinking about all this stuff and now it was being presented to him? Guilty assaulted Ash, even as a headache began forming at the thought of such big decisions needing to be made on his part.
Dread began to fill him, could he do this? He'd never had to make any big decisions like this in his life, not ones that could effect entire regions!
"Pi?" Pikachu gently tapping him on the cheek broke him from his thoughts and he looked to his partner.
"Chu!" Pikachu smirked and pumped one paw shaped into a fist into the air, electricity sparking from his cheeks.
Ash released a deep breath before chuckling, "Yeah, you're right, it's not like me to back down from a challenge!" he slapped his cheeks and focused himself.
It was time to step up to the plate. How could he ever be a Pokemon Master, if he couldn't handle this?
"Rotom, can you bring up the file Professor Kukui sent?" he asked.
"Affirmative." Rotom phone replied, before the screen shifted as the document was pulled up.
It was a huge spreadsheet listing various names of reporters, who they worked for, the regions they were situated in and more.
Some names popped out to him that he recognised, like Rhonda Rhane. But, he was disappointed he couldn't see Alexa on the list. He supposed she didn't really work for a real high up there news station or anything like that. It was too bad really, getting the first interview with an all new champion would surely be a good thing for her career.
One other name did stand out to him, "Aria..?" he blinked. Aria, as in the Kalos Queen?
And yes, it was listed here that she was the Kalos Queen. Apparently she ran a really popular talk show where she interviewed celebrities that was broadcasted internationally.
First he'd ever heard of it. 'Pokestar World' it was called, quite a catchy name.
Well, Aria was quite nice and he got along with her alright, so she would be a safe bet, right? Serena probably watched that kind of show as well since it featured Aria, her rival and goal to surpass. So he could let her know he was doing well, and it was probably also the kind of show a bunch of his friends watched like May and Dawn.
He really should look into getting contact numbers for him. But then again, it was unlikely they would have Rotom Phones, they were kind of a very, very new product and he was quite lucky himself to get one.
"Yeah, guess I'll go with Aria." Ash nodded to himself.
Easy peasy.
…Now he just had to decide on what to do about an entire archipelago wanting to become part of the region he now oversaw and figure out if it was actually okay for him to let the Battle Frontier become part of Alola as well.
Knowing Scott, he'd field the costs. But, that much change, so quickly, might not go over too well with Alola itself.
Hmm...
The Orange Islands, huh? That could work.
I figured I'd go for the second chapter of this while I was still inspired for it and the fact that it got a decent reception. It's funny actually, I've noticed that stories where I get a it further with these days, I find easier to continue. Maybe the best idea for me, is to rush the first few chapters of stories I've started so it's easier to keep going? Food for thought for me I guess.
Anyway, not a lot happened in this chapter. Mostly, it was all about Salamence. A few probably aren't quite that happy with Pidgeot's appearance was so glossed over, but, as far as my headcanon goes, Ash visits Pidgeot every time he's near that area or in Kanto after his journeys or before starting a new one, so it isn't a return here, and I wanted it to feel like that, to feel like Ash and Pidgeot hadn't spent five plus years apart and actually see each other quite often.
And with that message from Kukui, you guys get to see a glimpse into some of the stuff Ash will have to deal with in the upcoming future. One of his biggest problems being, how to integrate Alola with the league fully, without losing its vibe as Alola and modernising it, losing a lot of that spark Ash himself loves about Alola.
And there is of course the matter of Ash's Elite Four. Right now, he only has Kukui, who himself is near or on the level of a champion himself, having been able to give Ash a challenge when he was much younger and having grown much stronger since then. I've already got the three others picked out, I'm wondering if any of you can guess who? Besides one, I'm going a bit outside the box with two of them.
Anyway, again, shameless Pa-atreon plug. I've got one, go by the same username on there, easy to find and all that jazz. Support me if you want, it'd be swell, but don't feel pressured lads and ladies, I'll be uploading my stuff outside it regardless and not keeping it all behind a paywall or anything like that.