Ok, it took actually quite a bit of time to start writing this chapter. And it looks like it's going to take even longer to finish. This is mostly due to personal commitments and a little writer's block.

The writer's block is partly due to the non-linearity of Kanto. See, up to Vermilion City the basic Kanto story has essentially the same structure. You just face the first three gyms in order and then you do the SS Anne, yet the problem is that what should you do after the SS Anne. I wonder if this why, many stories stop abruptly after the SS Anne arc is finished.

This problem is because of Kanto's non linear story, where after the third gym you're basically free to explore a lot of the Kanto map and the game reflects that. You reach Lavender town and then you have to get the Sliph Scope in Celadon and then you have to come back to Lavender, which makes little sense for the story.

Anyway, what are your thoughts about Riolu? While I was initially hesitant to use him in the story, the problem is that there is simply no other Aura pokémon, who can become Ash's aura partner.

There is however one more pokémon that could have been used and that is Kubfu. But I hesitated on picking Kubfu because of its legendary status which would be a little OP to give Ash so early.

Also, other than Ash receiving his next pokémon in the next chapter and Aerodactyl later during the story, I'm out of pokémon for Ash to catch. If you can suggest a pokémon and provide a valid reason for why Ash can/should catch it, it might find its way into the story.


Rota, Two Day Later

Ash had spent the last day shocked and in a funk over Leaf breaking up with him. Though, he could logically understand why she broke up with him, he was still feeling like his life had been overturned in a day.

He had lost a week of his life being dead, he had been handed a major responsibility as a "Chosen One" and then his first ever relationship had ended because of things outside of his control. It was an understatement to say that Ash was feeling lost. To combat this feeling of loneliness, Ash had decided to throw himself into training.

To add to all of the above, his miraculous return had been leaked to the public and the internet had gone bonkers. If Ash was being hailed a hero before, that was nothing compared to the praise, admiration and wonder that he was receiving now.

Things had gone even worse when the newspapers had gotten a hold of it and published stories about him. At least, he consoled himself with the fact that most of the photos of him were good ones, and he was looking particularly dashing in one of them.

The Times of Kanto

National Hero alive. An Ancient Hero?

The national hero Ash Ketchum, hero of the SS Anne attack, may be alive after all. The paper has received multiple eyewitness accounts of him turning up at Cameron Palace, located in the Kingdom of Rota. It is still unclear what happened to him after he vanished from the SS Anne, apparently killed by Team Rocket. Him being alive raises a lot of questions about what happened to him after he vanished. Though some people have linked his miraculous return to an ancient legend. His appearance in Rota, along with a Lucario and Riolu being spotted alongside him, has led some people to believe that he may belong to an ancient order called the Aura Guardians. As readers may know, the Aura Guardians were ancient warriors who defended the weak, both pokémon and human from tyrants and criminals. Their control over Aura, a name for a lifeforce present inside all living beings, allowed them to perform miracles, which may explain the mystery surrounding his vanishing ad return. If he is indeed an Aura Guardian, Mr. Ketchum may indeed be the hero that Kanto needs to defeat Team Rocket. He is also the son of the previous Kanto champion Red and winner of the SS Anne tournament, proving that he has both the pedigree, power and skill needed to defeat the shadowy Team Rocket.

Ash was surprised at how close to the truth they had managed to get. Other than him only being a novice in the ways of Aura, they had managed to get most of the facts correct.

Speaking of Aura, Lucario had explained to him how his training was going to work. Lucario would be training both him and Riolu in the ways of Aura, till Riolu had evolved into Lucario and Ash became a true Aura Guardian. After his training was over, Lucario would then be free to travel the world according to the deal that he had made with Lady Mew.

Speaking of Riolu, he had gotten the nickname Rio from Ash due to his desire to differentiate himself from Lucario. It would also save Ash confusion down the road when Rio inevitably evolved into Lucario. Ash had also managed to check him out using his pokédex.

Riolu – The Emanation Pokémon

It knows how people and Pokémon feel by looking at their auras. It doesn't approach dangerous opponents.

Gender – Male

Ability – Prankster

Known Moves – Quick Attack, Endure, and Feint

Egg Moves – Bullet Punch, Vacuum Wave, Detect and Circle Throw.

Ash had also gotten a new outfit to signify that he was an aura guardian in training. Queen Ilene had gifted him multiple copies of the standard Aura Guardian outfit, so that he could wear it every day and manage to clean it often. With the hat, cape and the staff, Ash had to admit he looked pretty dashing.

Since he was over the six pokémon limit after catching Riolu, Ash had decided to send Luxio back to Prof Oak's ranch, with explicit instructions about how to keep up her training and what moves she should work on.

Thankfully, Lucario had declined to be caught, stating that he was not Ash's pokémon but his teacher. This meant that Ash didn't need to keep a spot constantly empty for him, meaning Ash could keep more pokémon on hand.

After finalizing the route he was going to take to Lavender Town, Ash had decided to set as soon as possible. He had decided to go to Lavender Town to catch a ghost pokémon from the Pokémon Tower, so that he could train it up for when he inevitably challenged Sabrina.


Abandoned Power Plant, 15 Days Later

It had taken Ash quite a long time to get to the entrance of Rock Tunnel from Rota. He had decided to abandon his original plan of going to Pallet for a week because he was still angry at his mother. Part of the delay from Rota was because of the long hours of training that he and his pokémon were putting in.

Lucario to no one's surprise had turned out to be a sadistic master and had driven Ash into the ground. Because Rio had just hatched recently, he was taking training slow and was spared from Lucario's cruelty, so he spent most of his time goofing off with his best friend Bugs.

Ash had outfitted Rio and Bugs with the Exp shares that he had received from Prof Oak's aide in Cerulean City. It combined with Ash using them in battles against the tons of weaker trainers meant that they had both grown very fast in strength.

Though they were still not on par with the rest of his pokémon, Ash estimated that it would only take them about two more weeks to catch up. Both of had also learnt new moves with Bugs learning Quick Attack and Double Kick and Rio learning Metal Claw and Counter.

Ash hadn't forgotten about his other pokémon either with all of them working on increasing their power and reducing the amount of damage they took from attacks. Ash had taken this opportunity to hit two birds with one stone.

He had paired up Bugs with Saur, ordering Bugs to work on his fire control by using Ember on Saur, who used the weak attack to build up his defenses. After seeing great success with this, Ash had done this with all of his pokémon, pairing them up with each other.

He had even switched Kadabra for Luxio from Prof Oak's lab, to help him navigate the upcoming Rock Tunnel. Luxio would be a big help with her dazzling fur, allowing him to properly see in the dark tunnel.

Ash was torn on whether he should explore the abandoned power plant or whether it would be just a waste of time. He decided to play it safe since there might be something important within and it would be a shame to miss it.

While he wasn't looking for a pokémon to catch, he might if there was a particularly strong one within. He was mostly going to search through the power plant for lost or hidden items and battle the strong pokémon within for experience.

Thankfully, on the way from Rota, Ash had the opportunity to pick up his free bike from the bike store. He had even paid extra to upgrade the regular bike to a multi terrain Rotom Bike.

It was going to come in handy during times like this when he needed to cross a short river or pond. He was still going to need to use a ship when going to places like Cinnabar Island, but it was essential for now, till he caught a rideable water pokémon.

The best rideable water pokémon were generally Lapras but while their numbers had increased tenfold in the past two years, they were still very rare to find in the wild. Buying a Lapras from a breeder was an option but the price would be ruinous for Ash right now.

Taking out his bike in its folded state from his bag, Ash was surprised when Lucario stopped him. "Put that contraption inside Ash. You do not need it to cross the water. Aura will allow you to overcome this challenge" explained Lucario.

Ash was confused as to what he was supposed to do right now but Lucario cleared up his doubts by running on the water at high speeds. Ash had a look of wonder on his face, mostly due to how cool and effortless Lucario was making it look.

"Do you understand Ash? Aura masters need to have complete control over Aura, such that they can manifest and use it anyway they wish" said Lucario.

He demonstrated how to gather Aura on the soles of his feet for Ash and Rio, who both tried to copy him. Rio managed to gather the Aura pretty quickly and was successfully able on stand on water.

It all went wrong for Rio when he got too confident and tried to run on water like Lucario. He was unable to maintain his concentration while running on water and the Aura dissipated and he fell into the water with a splash.

Bugs fell on the floor laughing from laughter and after Rio managed to swim to the shore, he started chasing after Bugs who was taunting him. Ash knew that he should probably call it off, but he let them have their fun for now.

He started focusing within himself to find his Aura and bring it out. Although Lucario had made him focus on reducing the time needed to use his Aura almost exclusively, he was still not at a level where he could do it instantaneously.

After a couple hours of practicing Ash had managed to get the hang of walking on water, though he only could only do it slowly. He thought that the whole thing was ridiculous, since they could have gotten over with the whole thing by now instead of wasting time trying to stand on water.

Walking slowly, he managed to get to the power plant after nearly 15 minutes. Sighing relief, he collapsed on the ground, tired from the constant effort.

"Good job Ash. Although it may seem pointless to you right now, it will help you in building greater control over your Aura. Someday this split second access to your Aura will save your life" complimented Lucario.

Nodding his head to pretend that he understood, he looked ahead to find that the place lived up to its name. While he was still unsure whether he would find anything inside, he decided that go anyway after having spent so much time learning how to walk on water.

Walking inside the place, he surprised to find the place totally empty. While he knew that humans generally tended to avoid the place, he had read that the place was often swarming with electric type pokémon.

After almost an hour searching, he still hadn't found any pokémon. He did find a free TM on the floor, and it was a very good one. It was the TM for the electric move Thunder.

Thunder was a devastatingly powerful electric move, though it was a little inaccurate. The power it contained for often overwhelming for pokémon to handle, leading to a loss of accuracy. While he could technically teach it to Luxio and Faye, he decided to hold off for now.

Luxio would gain the power required for move when she evolved while Faye needed to increase her strength and control before she could learn it.

At least the trip wasn't a complete waste, the TM would be very useful in the future and its high price meant that Ash had saved a bunch of money.

Before he made to leave, he decided to check out the generator making the noise inside the plant. He was curious about who was operating it, since there wasn't a soul in sight, human or pokémon.

Walking towards the source of the noise, he decided to release Saur in case a pokémon decided to attack him. While he always had Lucario following him, Lucario had made it clear that he wasn't Ash pokémon and thus wouldn't help in any trainer battles. Lucario would help though, if there a threat to Ash's life however, which Ash appreciated.

Walking into the generator room, Ash was surprised at the sight in front of him. The pokémon drawing electricity from the generator was none other than Zapdos.

Now Ash was at a loss as to what he should do here. He tried to ask Lucario through hand signs for his next move. Ash wasn't adept yet at using Aura to talk to pokémon, so his crude hand gestures would have to do.

"Ash, you have to listen to me very carefully. Walk out of here as quickly as you can, making sure not to make a sound. Waking Zapdos from his nap would not end well for us" ordered Lucario.

Ash made to follow his instructions when Zapdos woke up with a bang. He screeched and released powerful bolts from his wings. "Who dares to disturb my sleep" he asked.

Ash knew that he should probably say something, but he was afraid of accidentally angering him. "My Lord, my apologies for waking you up but I promise that it was a mistake. We are going to leave just this second" he said, trying to placate the God of Thunderstorms.

"It doesn't matter how it happened human. You must face the consequences for trying to wake me up" said a furious Zapdos.

He shot a thunderbolt at Ash, who would have died if not for Lucario using Protect in front of him. Ash released all of his pokémon in an instant, ordering them to distract Zapdos.

They waited for a second, to prepare themselves for the battle ahead. They sprinted from the place, just as Lucario's protect broke, the pokémon trying to distract Zapdos with their attacks.

Ash helped Lucario whose energy was totally sapped from the protect, move to hide behind a crate. He looked up from the crate to see what was happening.

Ash wasn't sure what his next course of action should be, there was no conceivable way to defeat Zapdos. Maybe they could try to incapacitate him in some way.

"Saur try to hit Zapdos with Sleep Powder. Others try to distract Zapdos so that Saur can try to put Zapdos to sleep" yelled a desperate Ash.

Unfortunately for Ash, Zapdos could understand English, and he just started using Hurricane instead of Thunder, blowing Ash and all of his pokémon away from the sheer strength of the winds.

Ash was really wishing that he had Kadabra on hand, so he could try to attempt an escape using Teleport, alas his luck was not on his side today.

Out of ideas, he tried his last possible course of action. Maybe if he managed to destroy or shutdown the generator, then Zapdos would leave this place and them alone.

Ordering Saur and the other pokémon to keep barraging Zapdos with their attacks, Ash subtly signaled Rio and Bugs to get to the generator.

While Rio was able to sneakily make his way to the generator, Bugs started sprinting towards the machine, causing flames to come out of his feet as he started powering up. This alerted Zapdos to his plan of action, causing him to shoot a massive thunderbolt at Bugs.

"Bugs, get of out there" yelled a desperate Ash. While Bugs was too slow to respond, Luxio jumped into front of him and tried to protect him from the attack. The attack was too powerful however and even though Luxio was an electric type, it succeeded in knocking her out.

"No, Luxio" said a distraught Ash, who was on the verge of tears. Just as he was about to give up, Rio who had reached the generator, managed to stop the generator by damaging it repeatedly with his metal claw.

Ash was going to heave a sigh of relief but alas Lady Luck was not on his side today as the destruction of the generator only made Zapdos madder.

Zapdos went berserk on seeing the generator get destroyed, spewing even more powerful electric bolts all over the place. The attacks managed to hit all of his pokémon, knocking all of them out one by one.

Somehow, saved from the electric attacks, Ash stood up and recalled all of his pokémon into their pokéballs. Walking up to the now calm Zapdos, Ash stood in front of him, waiting for his judgement.

Just as Zapdos began powering up for a final Thunder attack, came a desperate voice from behind Ash. Lucario had managed to regain consciousness and was limping towards them.

"Lord Zapdos, please forgive my apprentice and myself for trespassing on your territory. Please inflict on your punishment on me and spare Ash. He is the chosen one and his destiny lies ahead of him" pleaded Lucario.

Ash made to protest Lucario's plea, but his voice died on his lips when Lucario raised his hand and signaled Ash to shut up.

Zapdos looked shocked for a second before stopping his attack. He dropped down to the ground and said "Since you are chosen one, I will let you leave here alive. Do not poke your nose where it does not belong chosen one."

He took to the air but before he could leave, he chose to impart a warning to Ash. "Get stronger, chosen one. You will have to face much greater challenges in the future and if you and your pokémon are in such pitiful shape, you will not be able to overcome them."


Ok, that ends this chapter. Have to say that the final product is far different from my original plan. I was going to finish the Lavender Town in this chapter but ultimately, it got delayed to next week.

The battle against Zapdos in this chapter is mainly to showcase how out of his league Ash currently is. None of his pokémon, including Lucario who is not his pokémon can even try to go toe to toe with a legendary currently.

This battle will have a deep impact on Ash and will create a fire in him to better himself and his pokémon. It will give him the motivation and kick he needs to step up his training.

BTW, thank you to the people who felt that Ash's team is a great one. With him getting his last pokémon in the next chapter, the team is mostly solid now. He just needs to get a water type in the future and he will be set.

Ash's pokémon list:

Ivysaur (Saur) – Lv 27 - Tackle, Growl, Vine Whip, Growth, Leech Seed, Razor Leaf, Sleep Powder, Poison Powder, Protect, Magical Leaf, Seed Bomb and Take Down.

Luxio – Lv 28 - Tackle, Leer, Charge, Thunder Shock, Thunder Wave, Charge, Bite, Protect, Fake Tears and Roar.

Trapinch – Lv 29 - Bite, Sand Attack, Bide, Mud Slap, Bulldoze, Protect, Feint Attack, Laser Focus, Dig and Crunch.

Clefairy (Faye) – Lv 28 - Sing, Sweet Kiss, Disarming Voice, Encore, Charm, Pound, Copycat, Growl, Defence Curl, Stored power, Minimize, After You, Life Dew Metronome, Thunder Wave, Protect, Moonlight and Gravity.

Kadabra – Lv 28 – Teleport, Confusion, Disable, Psybeam and Recover.

Scorbunny (Bugs)– Lv 15 – Tackle, Growl, Ember, High Jump Kick, Sand Attack, Sucker Punch, Super Fang, Quick Attack and Double Kick.

Riolu (Rio) – Lv 14 – Quick Attack, Endure, Feint, Bullet Punch, Vacuum Wave, Detect, Circle Throw, Metal Claw, and Counter.