Alola, Vacation
A Pokémon story
Summary: After a tough battle at the Kalos League finals, coupled with all the troubles with Lysandre and Team Flare, not to mention all the other times the world had turned to Ash in the last seven years, it was finally, finally time for an Arceus-damned vacation. And Ash Ketchum was going to get his break, whether the world wanted him to or not.
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It was a beautiful, sunny day, like many other days in Alola. The Flying type Pokémon were chirping in the sky, and the Water types were leisurely swimming through the oceans surrounding the islands. The people were enjoying the day as well, lounging on the beaches, playing in the waters, and exploring in the woods. It was another day in paradise.
On one of the many beaches scattered around the Alolan islands, a young man and a small mouse were sleeping.
The mouse was yellow, brown shapes on its back and its tail shaped like a lightning bolt. It was laying on its stomach on a small deck chair beneath a small parasol, doing a very admirable job of sleeping the day away.
The young man, a raven-haired teen dressed in shorts and a blue button-up shirt with an Alolan Exeggutor print. A red cap was on his head, positioned over his eyes. His deck chair and umbrella were larger, but he was trying his best to follow along with his partner in blissful slumber.
Their collective plan would have definitely worked if the sun wasn't blocked, causing both man and mouse to stir.
"Yo, yo, yo, what's this?" The young man used a finger to lift the brim of his hat.
There were four people gathered in front of him. Three were male, dressed in shorths and sleeveless shirts, black with white accents. They had white beanies with two black dots on their heads, and their jaws were covered by black bandanas. The lone woman was dressed similarly, same beanie, bandana and shirt, below which she wore white short shorts.
The teen let his eye wonder down the woman's legs for a moment, before refocusing on the one at the front.
"Yo, yo, yo, is that a Pikachu, yo? Watcha think boys?"
"Yeah, that's def a Pikachu, yo. You think our boy Guzma'd like 'em?"
"Yeah, yo, yeah he would."
The young man watched the four of them for a moment. Glancing left, he saw that the other beachgoers had scattered. "Go away."
"What, what, what?"
"What's that, yo?"
"Yo, this boy here don't wanna play."
"We're taking your rat, yo." The woman grabbed the Pikachu by the tail.
"He's not a rat and I wouldn't do that if I were you." The red sacks on the Pikachu's cheeks started sparking. "Let Pikachu go, and go away. We're on vacation."
"Yo, vacation?"
"Vacation, yo?"
"Yo, this boy think-"
"Pikachu, Thundershock."
"Piiika-Chuuu!" The mouse fired off arcs of yellow lightning, sending all four goons to the ground.
"Yo…"
"Pika." The Pikachu nodded once at the downed thugs and went back to his seat.
"Nice work, buddy." The young man reached over and scratched the mouse behind the ear.
"Chaaa…"
The two went back to their nap. No teams, no Legendaries, and definitely no world-ending events. Because, after Kalos, Ash Ketchum was on a vacation. And a vacation he'd get, whether the world wanted to let him or not.
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"I'm worried about him." Delia commented, watching the empty beach from a nearby café.
"The boy will be fine, Delia." Professor Samuel Oak sipped on a fruity, umbrella-decorated drink. "He just needs a break, as do we all. Oh, I feel a haiku coming up."
"I'd rather you not." Sam looked at the woman staring at him for a moment before reconsidering.
"Either way, this will be good for him. He saved the world many times already, he deserves to enjoy it for a bit."
"I suppose you're right. I just wish that, for once, the world could take care of itself. A nice, quiet, and safe adventure."
The two adults turned their heads back to the beach, watching as four strangely-dressed men ran away, their hair spiked and their clothes smoking, cursing up a storm and threatening Ash, who had gone back to napping on the chair.
"I wouldn't hold my breath." Professor Oak commented dryly, taking another sip of his drink.
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"Samuel!" A tanned copy of Professor Oak with longer hair yelled out, giving his continental cousin a hug.
"Samson." Samuel gave an awkward pat on the back. "How have you been?"
"Just phantumpstic!" The Alolan professor waved his hands in front of him, doing his best to imitate a ghost-possessed tree stump.
"How nice." The Kanto professor just sighed. Behind him, Ash and his mother shared a bewildered look. "Where are my manners, Ash, Delia, this is my cousin Samson Oak, a professor specializing in the study of regional forms. He is also the principal of the Pokémon school here on Melemele Island. Samson, this is one of my best trainers Ash Ketchum, and his mother Delia."
"Pika!"
"And his Pikachu. Apologies."
"Alola!" The tanned man waved at them.
"Yes… We're in Alola." Ash blinked slowly, tilting his head in time with Pikachu."
"No, no, that's how we say 'hello' here. Alola. And goodbye, too."
"Aha… alola, then." He gave a smile and an awkward wave back.
"A bit more enthousiasm, but I'll take it. Welcome to Alola. Come, I'll take you to get something to eat, you must be hungry. Have you ever tried malasadas?"
"No, I can't say I have." Delia hummed.
"Neither have we."
"They're sweet balls of fried dough, you're going to love them. Come, we can talk while we eat." Samson grabbed Samuel by the wrist and started dragging him along, ignoring the distinguished professor's protests. Delia giggled and went after them.
"Vacation." Ash and Pikachu stayed back for a few more moments, looking over at the horizon above the sea. "It's gonna be great. Right, buddy?"
"Pika!"
With that thought the two turned and walked off to follow the others, completely missing a pair of blue eyes staring at them from a nearby tree.
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Full disclosure: I haven't been watching the anime since Sinnoh. But I swear I'll do my research, if I ever end up continuing this.
I went with seventeen for his age. The basic idea is Ash doing his best to get a holiday in Alola while the plot gets in his way.
The formatting on this site is annoying me, by the way. But much, much less so than AO3's weird tag-system-thing.