@Thor94 and Rosenkruz
Yeah, he's not great. I always felt that even in the anime, Ash's absent father was put on a golden pedestal where as fathers like Norman to May and Max, Flint to Brock and his siblings, and even Kukui to Ash in Alola, they had flaws that they accepted, as did their "kids". So having Ash's dad have the opposite where he was more flawed than good seemed appropriate.
"Alright team, first mission with you four in a while, reports of Relicanth in a lake north of Icirrus have come in. I know the Regi project has been on the back burner, but Relicanth have appeared in many of the related texts, and one appearing now could be linked to it." Professor Cerise said.
"Just in case, Goh and Chloe leave your Regi's behind. We don't want to risk four of them in one spot." Ash said. "Other than that, north of Icirrus is a swamp, prepare appropriately."
Later that afternoon in Icirrus
"A swamp Huh?" Goh said looking at the tower in the middle of the lake.
"See that stream off to the side, that leads to a swamp, we split into two teams. Goh and I will take the swamp, Serena and Chloe, check out the lake and tower. There might be something interesting there." Ash said.
"Lumineon, Araquanid, come on out." Chloe said, tossing out her water types.
"Mantine, let's go." Serena said following suit.
"Swampert, I choose you." Ash called.
"Dewgong you're up!" Goh said.
As Chloe was searching deeper in the lake, something big and fast swam past her heading for the surface.
"Incoming, and fast.' Chloe texted to Serena, chasing after the thing.
"Mantine, be ready." Serena said, she could see the shadow coming in fast. "Use Ice Beam!"
The attack missed completely as the orange blur kept going upward. Completely unfazed by Serena, followed by several more. Eventually Chloe came up after they had all gone off.
"Any idea what they were?" Chloe asked.
"No, but I'd hate to find out what scared all of them." Serena said.
"Maybe another Regi?" Chloe asked, "Has Regirock said anything?"
"You know he isn't the chatty kind. Anyways nothing, he said they aren't here." Serena said.
"Well where are they?" Chloe asked.
"And he's back to not talking." Serena sighed. "Why are legendaries so childish at times?"
"Speaking of childish, want to talk about what happened between you and Ash, you know before the breakup?" Chloe asked.
"Not sure I'm comfortable talking to you about that." Serena said.
"I may be the youngest of the team, but I've helped Aah the most in this experience of yours." Chloe pointed out. "You guys go away for a weekend alone for his birthday and come back before the first day ended, what happened?"
"I wanted to try something, mix things up, and Ash, either he got scared, or was repulsed by it." Serena admitted.
"So that thing I found while helping you look for your phone wasn't for you?" Chloe said.
"You found it?!" Serena said.
"Found, saw, felt, compared to the size of my arm." Chloe listed off. "Honestly, I think the problem is you went too big, Ash still sees himself as a guy, ease him into it, don't thrust him into the deep end."
"What about you and Seb, if you don't mind me asking." Serena said.
"Seb is ready, but said he won't push until I am. I'm only 15, I've had the talk and everything, but he doesn't want me to be uncomfortable about it." Chloe said. "Give Ash time to come around, and discuss it with him."
At the swamp
"Blegh, why are we swimming through the swamp?" Goh said spitting out water.
Swampert turned around on a dime, allowing Ash to face Goh and Dewgong.
"No one told you that you had to swim." Ash pointed out.
"You are." Goh retorted.
"Swampert can detect Pokémon and objects in water, a sort of echolocation. Last I checked, Dewgong can't." Ash retorted.
"Fair enough." Goh agreed.
"I think Swampert found something, keep up." Ash said, as Swampert rushed off.
"Dewgong, let's go!" Goh said, trying to keep up.
Goh searched for Ash and Swampert, it was a dead end, he hadn't found any offshoots, so where could they have gone.
"Ash! Swampert! Are you out here!" Goh called out.
A pillar of bubbles began rising from below them, with a bulky figure below it.
"Dewgong, Inteleon, be ready." Goh said warily.
What looked like a swamp monster appeared out of the pond. It had a long neck, seaweed and lily pads covering it, and it's breathing was muffled.
"Inteleon use Snipe Shot!" Goh shouted in fear.
"Ahh!" Ash shouted, having been hit by the attack.
"Ash? I thought you were a monster!" Goh said in shock.
"Thanks, you have such a way with words." Ash said.
"Did you find anything?" Goh asked.
"Yeah, grab your rebreather and come on." Ash said, climbing back onto Swampert.
Ash lead Goh deeper and deeper, eventually reaching an underground passage. Ash motioned for Goh to stay close. They kept going through the passage for what felt like forever, a light eventually coming from in front of them. The two sped forward out of the passage and towards the surface.
"Hahah." Goh said taking a deep breath of fresh air. "Where are we?"
"Looks like one of the rivers that runs through the region." Ash said, looking at his phone.
"Aren't these used as canals for boats?" Goh said curiously.
"Good point, we should get out of here." Ash said rushing to the bank of the river.
On the river bed
"So Goh, do you regret rejoining, disgusting areas, dangerous mysteries, dead ends." Ash joked.
"You and Serena still in the opposite roles of what most consider normal." Goh added.
"We're not, we're still not better yet." Ash admitted.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to imply." Goh said.
"It's fine, and hey. Thanks for sticking up for me against my dad the other day." Ash said nudging him in the side.
"No problem, swamp monster." Goh laughed. "I just wish we had found that Relicanth."
"It probably found its way to the ocean, same way we did." Ash said. "We should head back, check if the girls found anything."
Authors note
This is not becoming the new Regirock of they keep failing to find it, this just ended with them finding nothing of note.