Alright, I owe yall a serious explanation. I have had severe neurological issues that I have been dealing with, no I am not crazy(promise), and I have not had any time to dedicate to writing. So hopefully I can change that. I thank each and everyone of you that has stuck with this story. I really love my Ash. I love Pokemon. I hope yall are happy with the choices I made regarding Kanto Pokemon. Kanto is my favorite region, so this region will have the MOST pokemon out of all the regions. However, like I said, if you have picks for future pokemon, lemme know now because I am already planning stories for them.

A soft spring time breeze gently makes its' way through the many acres of Oak's fields, carrying with it the sweet scent of a new day. A small cherry blossom flower idly floats along the wind, its' light pink petals standing out against the vibrant blue afternoon sky. Whiskey glazed eyes, slightly crusted in the corners from sleep, watch the delicate petal's dance across the field, a gentle tug of scarred cheeks when it goes out of view.

Stretching, and sighing in relief when it causes his back to pop, the slender twelve year old boy rolls himself from his right side so that he is propped up on to one of the many majestic pines loitering the Oak Research Lab. Tilting his tanned face towards the sun, Ash smiles as he reminisces all the times he helped the professor in this same area. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Ash runs a hand through his charcoal colored hair as his gaze wonders over the expanse of land; a small smile playing on the edge of his lips.

While Gary was, so to say, less than thrilled about having to wait another year to be able to get his eight Gym Badge and challenge the Pokemon League, Ash was actually not so upset. While he knew his team was good, they had all put a lot of training and hours and effort in, they were nowhere ready to challenge the League. And Ash knew for a fact that his team would have lost if he were to have gone against the Elite Four, let alone the Champion.

So, Ash decided to take the time to travel and train. He put weeks into his aura training, so much so that Arceus himself bumped him up from Novice to Beginner. And along the way, he met a bunch of new family members.

Chuckling, Ash runs his fingers across the springy green grass, picking up a stalk and twirling it around in his dainty fingers. Grinning, Ash tilts his head and eyes the adorable picture Umbreon, Ninetales, and Pikachu make. With the silver of her fur standing as a stark contrast to the black of Umbreon's, the two pokemon almost symbolized yin and yang. Pikachu, his little yellow and brown self, was curled up right in the center of the two entwined Pokemon, the three dozing peacefully to the left of Ash.

Resting his palm under his chin, Ash twists his neck left and right, sighing contently when it pops; and the action also brings his attention towards the seed Pokemon lounging under a shaded tree. Venusaur is softly snoring under the shade of an old oak tree, Butterfree resting in the large flower on his back. Perched on the branch above them in Pidgeot, her large wing draped majestically over Crobat; shielding him from the sun. Ash smiles sadly, Venusaur's scent is the only thing able to keep the easily spooked Pokemon calm most days.

Nidoking and Nidoqueen are curled against each other, the two parental type Pokemon looking content now that they do not have to worry about looking after who they view as their children. Ash leans softly into the satiny fur of Ninetales, being careful not to wake the trio, as he remembers meeting those two. It was near the end of his journey in the Orange Islands, and to celebrate he wanted to have a family day with his Pokemon. Nidoking and Nidoqueen had saw. They adored the family like aspect, stating that all their hatchling had left the nest, and that they wanted to be a part of a new family now.

Ash is broken from his reminiscing by a barrage of tiny giggles. Tilting his head, the slender trainer is not surprised to see Wigglytuff and Clefable practicing their drawing abilities on an unawares Snorlax. Those two really took after Gengar, Ash had to remind himself to have a talk with him next time he went to visit Sabrina. Though, he thinks to himself, he can't be too mad at the two pink Pokemon. They really hit it off. Ash met Clefairy, and incidentally Zubat, when he went back to visit Seymour at Mt. Moon, only to find out that the entire cave was put to sleep by a plump little Jigglypuff's singing. Using his aura, Ash was able to block the flow that causes people, and Pokemon, to fall asleep whenever Jigglypuff sings. Ash came home with three friends from that trip.

Hearing a stomping sound coming from the sanded training grounds, Ash cocks an eye towards Primeape, Sandslash, and Tauros. Those three were his fighters. They would fight and practice even when they rest of the group decided to enjoy the nice spring weather and nap. Ash does not know what they stomping noise was, and honestly, when it comes to those three, he does not want to know.

Blinking slowly as his train of thought is derailed by a red, green, and yellow blur, Ash stares dumbly after Scyther, Arcanine, and Alakazam. Ever since Scyther made a bet that he could beat by Alakazam and Arcanine in a race if none of them could use their abilities, the three have been constantly running. Well, using telekinesis to float/run in Alakazam's case, which Ash ruled as fair.

Shaking his head, Ash gazes towards the lake towards his calmer pokemon. Kingler, Lapras and Gyarados are lazily swimming around the lake, the crystal blue water, reflecting off their skin. The twelve year old trainer's eyes follows the lake's edge towards a cliff, following the cliff up, Ash grins when he sees Dragonite, Charizard and Aerodactyl soaking up the sun's rays.

Ash is happy to note that the only reason Blastoise is not enjoying the water with his siblings, is because he made his dream a reality. With the help of all the Pokemon Ash has, they were able to build a small Firefighter's Station near the center of town.

Cubone and Marowak are with mom, as usual, keeping her and Mr. Mime company around the house as the go about the daily chores. Cubone's goofy antics keeping mom on her feet and a laughter in the house.

The only other Pokemon missing was Mewtwo, though Ash did not blame him. The dour psychic type showed up when he felt like it, though because of the mental link the two share, if Ash ever really needs him, Mewtwo will show. He considers them all his kids, even the parentally Nidoking and Nidoqueen.

Ash smiles fondly as he thinks back on all that has happened over the past year. Even though all the circumstances for meeting his newest brothers and sisters might not have been the best, he is beyond grateful that he had been there for them. He is happy that he had this extra year for training. Without it he might not have ever met them. Might not have ever saved them.

1 year ago

Ash did not know what compelled him to get out in this storm, but some voice in his head, no, some urging, told him he needed to find someone. He needed to get out and look. So he did. He left the warmth and safety of the Pokemon Center, against the warnings of Nurse Joy, and embarked on a fool's mission. Scouring the unfamiliar lands of Orange Island for hours Ash finally found what he was looking for just as the sun was setting.

And what he found made his stomach twist.

A broken and bloody carcass of a Pidgeot lay in a mockery of a protective embrace over two small pokemon. One looked like a just hatched Pidgey and the other looked like it could be nothing more than a couple of days old Vulpix. They were both shivering and curled up against the Pidgeot, the rain obviously covering the smell of death from their young noses.

Rubbing his fist across his face, Ash tries to take in the scene before him. The Pidgeot's wing is hanging at an awkward angle. So obviously it hit it somehow, fell, and then the rain started so it was not able to help itself heal before it died of blood loss. These kinds of things are horrible, but Ash needs to get the two young ones back to the Pokemon Center before they die from the cold.

Approaching both of them carefully, Ash keeps his hands held out, though he is sure they cannot see him through the rain…

"I'm so sorry Ash, I won't know more until tomorrow. It was a very brave thing you did though. Bringing both pokemon and their mother back. It is so sad that the storm caused such a negative side effect for the Pokemon though. It really did come out of nowhere."

Nurse Joy's usually vibrant skin is jaunt and pale, her eyes stricken with grief. Her pristine uniform is bloodied and messy, a testimony to her long shift working on saving numerous pokemon lives the night before, her Pokemon partner sick, leaving her to work alone.

Plopping down onto one of the small stools conveniently located near the front, Joy begins flipping through her notes, tiredly rubbing her eyes. "What I can tell you is this, if those two last the day, they should make a full recovery. I expect that you will be waiting for them?" She pauses mid-flip, her finger toying with the edge of the paper as she eyes the young trainer, already knowing his answer. She knows his type.

Sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, Ash nods slightly. "Caught me." Laughing softly, he rolls his eyes. "I better go wake the gang up. They don't know I went out last night. They are going to be angry."

That night was very traumatic for both Ninetales and Pidgeot. For Pidgeot it was because she was freshly hatched, and because Ninetales had lost her family and the mother Pidgeot had taken her in. They were both so young. It took months of counseling, and using his aura to help lessen the pain of their grief for Ninetails and Pidgeot to finally start recovering. But once they did, they surprised Ash with their determination to succeed and be strong. Apparently their mother had once led a group of Pidgey and protected them from Fearow. They wanted to honor her memory. They almost reminded him of Butterfree in that regard.

The next chapter or two will be back ground on Ash's adventures through the Orange Islands and how he got his pokemon he currently has. I will also include the gym battle with Giovanni. I hope yall stick with this story because I have a lot of interesting twists and turns planned out for it. However if you are intimidated by the huge number of pokemon I have picked out, or do not like my choices, I will be really really sad to see you leave. I love everyone of you.

I hope yall enjoyed. I will try to have a new chapter out soon!