Last time, Ash, along with his new friend, Misty, rushed Pikachu and Froakie to the Pokémon Center after a grave encounter with the strange beast from Route 1. Professor Oak hypothesized that Ash's encounter with Froakie, a Pokémon who is far away from it's native region, must be linked to seeing what could possibly be two legendary Pokémon at Route 1: The golden bird and the strange beast. Froakie decided to go along with Ash and join him on his quest to be a Pokémon Master. With strange encounters already in the books, our heroes embark on what is sure to be a wild adventure!

"C'mon, Pikachu! The noise came from over here! I'm sure of it!" Ash enthused as he scanned the forest for what he thinks could be a Pokémon. He clinched his fists as he frantically searched every direction, "Maybe it'll be a legendary Pokémon, huh, Pikachu?" the trainer said to his electric mouse who rested calmly on his shoulder.

Misty rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Don't let that get to your head, Mr. Pokémon Master," she said teasingly.

Ash poked his head out of a bush near by Misty. "Keep your comments to yourself, will ya? I'm trying to capture my first Pokémon!" He shot back.

She arched her eyebrows, "Uh...Froakie?" She said.

"I had an agreement with Froakie that didn't require a battle! Doesn't count!" He proudly insisted, as if there were something noble about it. She simply shrugged as the boy and his Pikachu kept searching.

"Ah ha! That's it!" He finally spoke up after a few silent minutes of rustling around the shrubbery.

Misty, slightly intrigued, followed his voice. Ash, with his hat turned backwards, made his way to a small field where he stood opposite to a Pidgeotto, who had been feeding.

"Wow! A Pidgeotto!" Ash exclaimed as he lifted his Pokedex.

"Pidgeotto, an evolved form of Pidgey. Pidgeotto are armed with sharp talons and dives from the sky to capture it's prey. Unlike the more gentle Pidgey, Pidgeotto can be quite aggressive." The Pokedex read.

Ash grinned and secured both of his gloves on each hand before grabbing a Pokeball from his belt. "Alright, Pidgeotto. I'll show you who's the dangerous one around here." He enlarged the ball and threw it in front of him, releasing Froakie.

"Froakie: use Bubble!" Ash commanded. Froakie spat out a stream of bubbles that did make some contact with Pidgeotto. Ash grabbed a Pokeball and chunked it at Pidgeotto, who effortlessly swatted it away.

"What are you doing? You have to weaken it more than that, ya know?" Misty shouted.

Ash turned to her with a frown. "I know what I'm doing! Why don't you keep your opinions to yourself?" He asserted as the two bickered.

After the two argued for a minute, Pikachu tugged on his trainer's shoulder and pointed at the Pidgeotto and Froakie. Pidgeotto had swooped down and hit Froakie several times, doing significant damage to the Water-type.

Ash was startled as his mind scrambled for a response.

"Call it back, you dummy! It obviously isn't going to win!" Misty shouted.

Ash nodded. "Right," he said calmly, calling back his Froakie into it's Pokeball.

"Ya know, Pikachu IS an ELECTRIC-TYPE!" She said with a flare.

Ash pointed in front of him, "Pikachu!" he said firmly. Pikachu hopped from Ash's shoulder and onto the battlefield.

Pidgeotto tried to swoop down and hit Pikachu, but the electric mouse avoided the attack.

Ash racked his brain for a plan as Pidgeotto soared around the field. "I've got it!" He said popping his fist. "Pikachu, wait for Pidgeotto and grab onto it's feet!" He commanded.

Misty appeared to be flabbergasted by the command.

Pikachu did as commanded and grabbed onto Pidgeotto's feet as it tried to attack. "Use Thundershock!" Ash commanded. Pikachu became consumed with lightning, as did Pidgeotto. Both Pokémon dropped to the ground.

Ash chunked a Pokeball at Pidgeotto, this time, after a few shakes, it was a success. He grabbed the pokeball and attempted to hold in his excitement before bursting into a celebration. "YES! I caught a Pidgeotto!" He shouted as he jumped around, once shoving the pokeball near Misty's face.

Misty shot him a dirty look, clearly not pleased with his arrogance.

"Well, well. If it isn't Ash Ketchum." A female voice said, catching both Ash and Misty's attention.

The girl emerging from the thick of the forest had light-brown hair and brown eyes. She wore a blue shirt, red skirt and a white hat.

"Oh. Hi, Leaf." Ash said, somewhat surprised to see her.

"Leaf? What a name..." Misty said under her breath.

Leaf approached Ash with her hands on her hips and a condescending look on her face. "Did I hear you say that Pidgeotto is the first Pokémon you've caught?" She asked teasingly.

Ash crossed his arms and closed his eyes, with a hint of agitation. "Yeah.. So?" He shot back.

"What a coincidence. I just beat 5 trainers who caught their first Pokémon today."

Ash fiercely held up a Pokeball and confronted her. "Yeah? I bet you won't beat me?"

"Hmm. Fine. Let's do a one-on-one. I haven't had a chance to use this Pokémon I caught while fishing south of Pallet Town," she held up a pokeball, "I used a rare deep-sea fishing rod to get it." She said with a grin.

Ash smiled, welcoming the challenge. "Yeah, well I'll use a Pokémon from a far away region!" He countered.

Leaf's expression became intrigued. "Let's do this, you'll be number six!"

Misty stood near by in a position where she could call the battle as a judge. "Go!" She declared.

"Dratini: Let's go!" Leaf said, tossing a pokeball in front of her.

"Froakie: I choose you!" Ash replied, tossing his pokeball out in front of him.

Froakie and Dratini eagerly faced each other, awaiting their command.

"A Froakie? How did you find one of those here in Kanto? On Route 1?"

Ash smirked. "What happened to me being number six?" He said teasingly.

Leaf snarled. "Dratini: Thunder Wave!" She commanded. Dratini summoned electricity that quickly surrounded Froakie, making it occasionally harder to move.

Ash clinched his fists. "Two can play it that game! Froakie: use Lick!" Froakie leaped towards Dratini and used it's long tongue to deal damage to the Dragon-type. "HA! Now you're paralyzed!" He said as electricity surrounded Dratini's body as well.

"Dratini: Twister!" Leaf wasted no time responding. Dratini whipped up a small tornado. Froakie desperately tried to avoid it, and Ash tried to come up with an answer, but it was too late. The mini tornado grabbed Froakie and slung it around the field. Froakie slowly picked itself up.

"Froakie: Bubblebeam!" Ash commanded. Froakie attempted to attack, but it's paralysis prevented it from doing so.

Leaf grinned. "Dratini: Slam!" Dratini used it's long tail to pound Froakie into the ground.

Froakie, bruises and all, once again slowly picked itself up.

Ash snarled as he nervously analyzed what his next move would be.

"It's been fun, Ketchum. This is it! Dratini: finish it off with Dragon Rage!" She commanded. Dratini summoned blue flames that formed to resemble a gaping dragon's mouth.

"Quick! Use BOUNCE!" Ash responded. Froakie sprang up 20 feet in the air as the attack hit the ground. Froakie came spiraling down towards Dratini who struggled to move due to the earlier paralysis.

"DRAGON RAGE!" Leaf commanded.

"WATER PULSE!" Ash commanded.

Both Pokémon collided with their attacks and the surrounding area shook. For a few tense moments, the result of the battle was not clear due to a large amount of dust. Both trainers shielded the dust as it slowly settled. Dratini and Froakie were both passed out on the ground.

Misty observed this and made her call. "It's a tie!" She declared.

Ash and Leaf both called their Pokémon back.

"I'll give it to you. That wasn't bad, but you have a long way to go." Leaf said as she approached Ash. He simply nodded and looked closely at Froakie's pokeball.

"Well. I have to get going. I have a lot of Pokémon to catch before the Pewter City Gym. Smell ya later!"

Ash and Misty made their way back to the Pokémon Center to get Froakie healed up after a tough battle.

"So, Ash. Have you ever battled before?" Misty asked.

Ash nodded. "Yeah. I've competed in some of Professor Oak's rental battle tournaments. I even won some."

"Well, it's good that you have experience with Pokémon who are already prepped for battle, but catching and raising your own Pokémon is a totally different story. Pikachu, Froakie and Pidgeotto are YOUR Pokémon. It's totally different now."

"Misty. Something strange happened out there..." Ash said in a surprisingly serious tone.

"What?"

"Well...for a split second, it's like I could see what Froakie was seeing. I even felt that collision at the end..."

Misty tilted her head and tried to find empathy, considering this was Ash's first time having a serious conversation with her. "Uhhh..." She struggled to find a response.

"Either way, you're right," he shook off his earlier concerns. "I have a lot to learn before I go for my first Gym Badge!"

Misty smiled as Ash allowed confidence to overtake him again.

Meanwhile in the Alola region...Lillie is being closely followed by some thugs after befriending a rare Pokémon known as Cosmog during her investigation of the strange beasts known as "Ultra Beasts". While simply tring to make their way to school, these bandits confront Lillie and Hau in the school courtyard...

Hau stared down the group of bandits and stood in front of Lille. "Listen, yo. We don't want any problems, kay?" he pleaded.

One of the grunts approached Hau and held him up by the shirt collar. "Listen, kid. The girl has something the boss wants. Got it? We don't answer to children."

Hau struggled to grab one of his Pokeballs, but the grunt had him immobilized.

The other 4 grunts slowly approached Lillie, who closely secured her bag as she tried not to panic.

"Yo. She sure would be a pretty thing to have around, huh?" one of the grunts said.

"Haha! Yeah!" another added as the grunts got closer to Lillie.

Lillie shook her head and slowly backed up before bumping into someone. She turned around in fear to notice another one of the grunts had come up behind her.

"Stop! Please!" she shouted.

A blue flame quickly engulfed the area as the bandits backed away, shielding themselves.

"What the hell was that!?" one of the grunts shouted.

Standing a couple of feet behind Lillie was Trenton Ketchum and his Drampa, the Normal/Dragon-type.

"Yo, it's President Ketchum!"

"What is he doing here! I thought we had a -"

"SHHHHHH! That's no one's business!" one of the grunt's interjected.

"Gentlemen: I think it's time for you to go." Mr. Ketchum said calmly as he walked in front of Lillie, without acknowledging her.

"Listen, Mr. Prez. That stupid girl has something in that bag worth THE BOSS' interest. So I think you might want to BACK UP and LET US GET IT."

Mr. Ketchum didn't seem fazed by the grunt's attempt to reason with him.

"I don't think you're in a position to negotiate, so why don't we just walk away from this, so there's no trouble." the politician responded.

One of the grunts confronted the president. "Listen here, pretty boy Ketchum. We don't care about your standing with the boss and President Lusamine. We don't answer to you! So get out of the way so we can take this stupid girl's bag.." the grunt fell back after being punched in the jaw by Mr. Ketchum.

Mr. Ketchum's Drampa slowly approached. "DRAGON PULSE!" He commanded. Drampa shot out an attack that caused the group to scramble.

Hau dusted himself off and approached Lillie. "Hey, you OK?" he asked.

"Yeah." she smiled and nodded to her friend.

Professor Kukui and Principle Oak ran outside after hearing of the commotion.

"Lillie! Hau! You alright!" the professor asked.

"Professor. Principle. I'm not excited about the prospect of pouring my funds into this school if my daughter is in danger." Mr. Ketchum said.

"Yes, of course, Mr. Ketchum! We will be steadfast like Lucario and defensive like Golem!" Principle Oak responded with his usual Pokémon impression antics.

"Never a dull moment around you, Principle Oak." Professor Kukui embarrassingly commented. "Truly sorry about this, Mr. Ketchum. I heard you are leaving for the Kanto region today. We'll keep a close eye on Lillie and Hau. " he went on.

Mr. Ketchum turned around and faced Lillie, who stared deeply into his eyes. He closed his eyes and bowed quickly before leaving the campus.

"Alright, kids. Let's leave this craziness behind and go back to class. There's a lot of ground to cover." Professor Kukui announced to his two students. Lillie stared intently at Mr. Ketchum as he walked away.

Thanks for reading!

Last chapter, Froakie did make Xurxitree run away. I spent the majority of the first chapter, (the scientist's email to Lusamine) explaining that while Froakie's power level was average, something was odd about it. It's not an accident that I didn't elaborate on exactly what it is that makes this Froakie unique yet. Xurxitree running will make sense soon.

Also, I personally reject the idea that making the characters in their late teens means they have to be these stale and mature adults all of the time. Especially as it pertains to anime, 10 and 17 aren't that far off to be honest. Ash pwning everyone in his path and acting stale is played out. I'm looking for a nice balance for the characters and it will take time. Another thing that will take time is Ash's father being implemented the way he is. I know people won't like that I'm making him Gladion and Lillie's father as well, but just give it some time. That's all I ask. Thanks for the input, everyone!