What? I'm alive? Are you sure? I mean, are you really sure? Well, if you are, then I guess I can upload.

... Finally-

Sorry for the, ah, months of not updating, but my will to write took a maaaaajor drop, and I honestly wasn't sure if I was ever gonna come back or not, but for now I have, and a nice, new chapter for my Fairy Tail crossover should be coming, hopefully, soon, and by that time I'll be working on a little something before Christmas hits, but after that, I don't see much of a future for this sad, lonely account.

At any rate, with my lack of updates being pushed to the a dark, damp corner which we will never speak of again, let me answer some questions you lot had for me after months of not being here.

From some Guest I don't know; I've always hated people having baby's in Fanfiction(I really have no idea why, and I have no idea where my hatred comes from- maybe it stems from so many of my favorite characters having actual kids in canon, and then becoming absolutely shitty parents?), so them having kids is a no-go.

Also, same part of the question, but I feel I should make this separate anyways(For the people who no doubt want to know, cough cough FinalKingdomHearts cough.), there will be no lemons whatsoever in this story. So, sorry for being a tease, but, ah, no.

Crossoverpairinglover- love your stuff by the way, you've made many of the stories I've read when I was first starting out years and years ago and I in no way or form expect someone like you to read one of my stories- but 'Angst' is going to be part of the plot, and while I didn't really want it to come out, chalky, so to say, it's my first time trying something like this, so I'm definitely not the best at it. Didn't really want it to come off as 'Type based angst' either(Gonna be honest, didn't even notice Alain even had 3 dark types on his team so, my bad?), but, ah, for the other stuff, I kind of am mixing a lot of the game verse with the regular verse, as I don't know everything about the Anime, but I DO know just about everything for the games, and I'd rather mix that in so my writing doesn't become overly clunky and near unbearable to read, so there will be a lot of gaming elements peeking their heads in the story- not overly so, but enough to notice.

Also I was just kind of trying to add typical harem cliches in here and that was about as good as you can get it(Plus May and Misty have met each other before so I can see them getting off a bit of friendly rivalry, and they want the same guy, and I'm totally out of my depth when it comes to girls fighting over guys, plz send halp-).

Kairomaru- Hot damn, another author whose stories started me out on this site- For now, they all have the same agenda of getting Ash out of his slump, but who knows in the future?

kurifu gari; I would certainly hope not, otherwise this chapter would be a sequel, and the sequels are always worse than the originals.

AutisticPhantomOtaku; Basically all of them are answered this chapter, but for pretense of me being a good person(Which I'm not.), I will answer anyway: He'll get them back(Well, most at least.), incest is not best, they are all like 5 years younger than him and preteens, so not them, but maybe others, and those Pokemon are so common, I didn't feel the need to have them captured(Plus he's already had a Raticate and hated it, so I don't see why I should give him another.).

And to the guest who literally commented yesterday- you got it buddy!

Also, I heard praying to your Senpai will make chapters come out faster, but that's just a rumor at this point in time.

"Well, well, well. This is one snazzy academy." Ash whistled as he and the others tagging along(Thankfully Serena had woken up halfway to their destination, so he could stop carrying her around, but she didn't have to look so indignant when she flushed red and started stammering while scrambling out of his arms.) with him made their way to the front of the gate. "Wish elementary school was as luscious as this place. Maybe then I wouldn't have almost failed!" Everyone gave him deadpan stares. "Okay, I still would have almost failed, but I would have at least had an amazing time doing it!"

"Ey, ey, yo!" Blinking at the strange noise, everybody turned to the left to see that three strangely dressed people that looked like they belonged at a punk concert rather than riding bikes got off their vehicles and started to… Well, Ash didn't know what to call it, but they were making their way over to them while waving their arms in the air like they just didn't care. "What do ya think you're doin', yo?!"

Ash glanced around at the various girls in his group for help, but they all looked just as lost as he did. "Um… Standing?" Ash scratched his head while his cap raised itself off his head, revealing that the shiny cat Pokemon that was his ward was hiding under it the whole time. "More like standing in our way, fool, ya fool! Hey, hang on a second!" What seemed like the head honcho of the group narrowed his eyes and tapped his chin as he studied the pink furred Pokemon sticking out from under his hat for a minute. "That be a shiny Pokemon, yo!"

Ash couldn't stop the sweat drop if he tried.

Even he wasn't daft enough(About Pokemon, he specified.) to take that long to figure that out.

"Yes- it is." The leader took his other two compatriots into a huddle and whispered some things to themselves before they split up and he walked towards Ash before holding out his hand. "Aight; we've decided to forgive ya this one time, so long as ya hand over that there Pokemon over to us now!"

Silence reigned for a few seconds.

"Okay, one, that's definitely not happening, and two, forgive me for what? Standing in front of a gate? Get real!" The man apparently didn't like what he heard as he lowered his hand and glared at him while his partners stepped forward and retrieved three Pokeballs from their pockets. "You seem to think you have a choice in this, homes! This ain't no request, that's an order! And just like orders, if we don't get it, we sure as hell gettin' it the hard way!"

"They know that we have a champion, a gym leader, two master coordinators, and a Serena with us, right?" May whispered to Dawn before slinking her eyes over to Serena. "No offence." "No, no, I know I haven't made a name for myself like you all, yet. It's fine."

"Are you as daft as you are fashionless? I said no!" Now Ash was starting to get annoyed with the man in front of him as he glowered at them all. "Your choice, buddy! Salazzle!" "Yungoos!" "Zubat!" Nine separate Pokeballs were sent into the air before three of each Pokemon were summoned into the real world. "Hey! You can't send out nine Pokemon at once! It's against the rules!" The lead male snorted while waving off Misty like a bug. "We're Team Skull! We don't give a crap about no damn rules, ya stupid broad!"

Now Ash's face was transformed into a full blown glare. "Annoy, belittle, and spit on my face as much as you want. But the minute you target one of my friends is the minute you learn you shouldn't have done that." Reaching for his belt, he fingered a Pokeball for a split second before moving to another one that he felt he hasn't spent nearly enough time with and sending it out. "Buizel, we got some punks to take care of!"

In a flash of red light, the sea weasel was released from his Pokeball. "Bui-Bui!" The goons in front of them blinked slowly at the small Pokemon before they erupted into uproarious laughter, their Pokemon not far behind. Now it was the water weasels turn to glare, as they officially ticked off both master and Pokemon with their actions. "Buizel." Ash called to his friend, getting him to look over his shoulder at him. "Is it safe to assume you learned Hydro Pump while I was away?"

The absolutely vicious grin that settled over the unevolved Water-type was all the answer he needed. "I'm probably going to enjoy this a bit too much- BUIZEL, use Hydro Pump!" That had the opposite effect as intended, because the laughter only seemed to grow even louder. "HA! That little thing is gonna use Hydro Pump? Please! The worst it's gonna do is sprinkle us with some water like from a toy water gun!" Patience officially at its end(Not that this particular Buizel had much in the first place-), the Buizel sucked in air through its mouth before it shot a concentrated stream of high-pressure water that was on par with a riot hose straight at the collection of now wide eyed Yungoos, slamming into one that made it fly back into its trainer, causing him to catch it and let out a grunt.

The attack was far from over, however, as the sea weasel turned his attack to the other Pokemon, moving side to side to hit all the Yungoos and make them going flying back like their other kin into their trainer, causing him finally fall over as three unconscious Pokemon soared straight into his stomach back-to-back. The Zubat and Salandits weren't left out of the fun, though, as they, too, were sprayed with water and sent back similar to their friends, winning Ash the battle and knocking the punks who bad mouthed Misty down a peg.

Walking over to the fallen bodies of the trio with Buizel by his side, Ash stopped right when he got within eye sight of each of them and raised his brow, questioning them. "Had enough yet, or can you give my Buizel here more than just a slight warm-up?" His Pokemon nodded in agreement and held up an arm before flexing a non-existent bicep that he placed his other hand on to emphasize it.

"Grrrr!" Not liking the way this guy was talking, but having been badly trounced with no other way to make him pay, the gang of idiots hastily got up and returned their Pokemon before hopping back on their bikes and pedalling away. "You haven't seen the last of us, ya arrogant punk! And next time, you'll be kneeling at our feet and begging for forgiveness!" With that last piece said, they disappeared over a hill and were gone.

"Well that was something, huh Buizel?" He glanced down at his Pokemon, who crossed his arms and nodded with a frown. "Normally I'd return you, but seeing as how we're nearly at Professor Oak's cousin's place, why don't you stay out and walk with us to meet him?" The Water-type liked that idea as he lost his frown and turned it into a grin while flapping his tails around in excitement. "Zee!" Before they could do just that, however, his Pokemon was overcome with a bright flash of light.

Ash just dropped his jaw as the form of his Pokemon slowly grew in size. "Are you kidding me- all it took was a couple of goons that didn't know how to take no for an answer?!" He was honestly baffled that he had started to evolve from that, but luckily, his mother seemed to have an answer for him as the rest of his group joined his side to watch the evolution progress. "Oh, yes. The Professor DID say something about how a few of your Pokemon were nearing the time of their evolutions a couple weeks back or so when I went to his ranch to have some tea with him. But with the only real challenges they had being your other Pokemon, and seeing as how none of them liked fighting and hurting each other like in a real Pokemon battle, they were never able to get the right push they needed to get past the last hurdle, and so haven't done so yet."

She was interrupted from her explanation as the glow died down and before them stood a wildly grinning Floatzel in place of what used to be a Buizel. "Floooooooooat!" He roared out as he suddenly turned his head to the sky and pulled a Charizard by releasing an immensely denser and more powerful Hydro Pump into the air. "This is amazing, Bui- I mean, Floatzel!" The water weasel took the praise in stride as he puffed out his chest in pride. "Yeah!" Dawn walked over and kneeled down to Floatzels height and rubbed his head, eliciting a purr from the tough acting Pokemon's chest. "Now maybe you can beat Infernape or Torterra in a battle!"

And just like that he deflated faster than a balloon stuck outside in Winter. As Ash and Dawn attempted to cheer him back up, Misty asked Delia the question that was surely at the forefront of everyone's mind before Buizel finished his transformation. "Did the Professor mention any specific Pokemon of Ash's, Mrs. Ketchum?" "Oh, please. Call me Delia, dear." The older woman waved off the girls formalities, before stopping to actively remember what the Oak had told her before. "Hmmmm. I know there were more, but I can only specifically remember three, and two of those had already evolved at this point. I DO know that he said that Scraggy was in prime shape and that it wouldn't be long before he evolved as well, though."

While not seeming to pay attention to the conversation, Ash was, indeed, giving it some major attention as he felt a stab go through his heart at the thought that his Pokemon- that he should know everything about, and should have been the one getting them ready for their evolutions in the first place- were going to evolve soon, and he didn't even know which ones they were!

But, no use crying over things that had already been eating away at him for days now(He'd do that at night when no one was looking.), and he could feel the depression and guilt wearing away at him thin a bit at seeing one of his Pokemon so ecstatic over something, and he himself would be lying if he said he wasn't excited at seeing one of his Pokemon evolve as well.

"Wooooooah!" Blinking, Ash turned his head towards the gates once more when he heard a quiet muttering of someone, and he was surprised to see a bunch of pre-teens hiding behind a gate and staring at the group in awe. "I've never seen a Floatzel before! It looks so cuuuute!" His Floatzel apparently heard that one and started to comically cry while poking a stick in the ground, manly pride injured at the blow.

Sweatdropping at the fact that everyone seemed out for Floatzel blood today, Ash stood back up from his kneeling position and motioned to the children at the gate. "Hey, it's okay if you come out, you know. We don't bite!" He snuck a glance at the tomboys of the group. "Most of us don't bite." Simultaneously, Misty's and Iris's eyebrows started twitching as they shot glares at the now nervous boy. "What is THAT supposed to mean?!"

As the two women ripped into a silently weeping Ash Ketchum, four young kids who couldn't be older than twelve popped out from behind their hiding spot and walked towards the odd gathering of people.

One was wearing a frilly white dress with a matching sun hat with light blonde hair, another was a tanned girl with green hair wearing a jean overalls with the pant legs cut short, the final girl had blue hair with some kind of gold netting keeping her hair in place with light blue pants and white tank top over a dark blue swimsuit, and the final kid was a rather pudgy, orange haired boy with a yellow ascot designed to look like a Pikachu tail wearing a white t-shirt and brown pants.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my GOSH!" Almost immediately when they got a closer look at some of the people, they started to freak out because they recognized their faces. "You're MAY! The Princess of Hoenn!" The tan girl started gushing over May when she realized she was a famous Coordinator, making the young woman smirk as she closed her eyes and puffed out her chest similar to Floatzel before, but this action had the reaction of unconsciously emphasizing a certain pair of objects, making nearly all of the older females there to send withering glares at the twin orbs in jealousy.

"Why, yes I am, my little fan!" The little exchange caused the nearby fighting to stop and they all stopped to stare at the event happening before them, and Ash couldn't help the sigh that escaped from his mouth. As if May needed MORE of an ego. "Wow! I've watched tons of your Contests, and someday, I was hoping that I could get as good as you!" May laughed as she patted the younger girls head. "Well, my dearest fan, keep getting stronger and more beautiful, and I'm sure that someday, you could be half as amazing as I am!"

That got everyone to sweatdrop except the green haired girl, whose eyes started to sparkle at being in the presence and talking to, her idle. "Wait, aren't you Dawn Berlitz?" Now it seemed it was the bluenettes turn for some recognition as the little blonde haired girl gasped as she finally noticed something. "Oh wow, I love your Lopunny's work for Poké Chic!" This news grabbed the attention of Ash and a certain electric type.

"Really? I didn't even know that this region knew what that was." For her part, Dawn wasn't lording it over everyone's heads, and was even a bit bashful about the praise one of her Pokemon was receiving from a stranger. "Are you kidding? That's the most popular fashion agency when it comes to upcoming trends; Pokemon or not, and your Lopunny, and recently, your Pachirisu are some of their top models!" She was gushing at this point, but considering that May was egging her own fan on, this bit was rather acceptable. "Can- Can I see them?"

At those words, Pikachu couldn't freeze any more even if he was stuck inside a Blizzard for hours on end by Glalie. And, very slowly, so as to not agitate the creature he was standing atop of by the name of Ash Ketchum, he turned his head, centimeter by centimeter, to gaze upon the utterly Grinch like smile that his trainer now wore on that disgusting face of his(Though, that was just in Pikachu's own, ah, censored words… Seriously, how an high-volt rodent could come up with such expletives was beyond him-) partner.

"Oh wow, Dawn, Buneary finally evolved? Gee, I sure would love to see her again, wouldn't you, Pikachu?" Oh come on! The damn boy couldn't see the amount of poon he had lined up in front of him RIGHT NOW, and yet, somehow, in some way, he knew instinctively that the damn rabbit had a thing for him?!

Pikachu's words, not the authors.

"That's right! You guys haven't seen her since I visited you in Unova. I'm sure she's as anxious to see you again as you are her!" Pikachu was too dazed to do anything when the Pokeball was thrown, and he was too slow to react when a large(Relative to him, anyway.) creature of death and suffering was released from it's confines, and he was, yes, dare he say it, afraid to do anything else but stare at directly in the eye it once it's sights were locked onto him.

Yes, it was what he feared above all others, multiplied by ten.

The furry beast had evolved.

May Mew have mercy on his blessed soul…

And so began the life-or-death chase of the mouse and the rabbit(Who, Ash notiecd through his vindictive vindication while grinning like a crazy person, was wearing a larger and more form fitting vest that she had as a Buneary.), who, to Ash's sudden and immense enjoyment, was keeping pace with his best friend, and even catching up.

Much to the now howling yellow mouses displeasure.

Still, Ash was now left without something on his shoulder, and much like a pirate without a parrot, he felt rather naked. But where was he going to find a suitable replacement at this point in ti- oh.

And that was the story of how Dawn's Pachirisu found a perch on top of Ash's shoulder, and a front row seat, with the shiny Pokemon still nestled in ebony tresses, of the amusing race between one of her friends and her once-upon-a-time crush.

Ah, but where were we again?

Right, right, plot and stuff.

"You know, I never thought I'd see the day when Pikachu would find his match… Or a psychotic fangirl. Either or." Misty shook her head in bemusement as the Lopunny(What with the longer legs, and much longer reach when compared to the yellow rat.) had finally caught her prey, and was now basking in the spoils.

AKA: Becoming a static fluff-ball as she vigorously cuddled her cheek with the cheek of an extremely mortified electric type.

"Um, excuse me?" Blinking, the water-type specialist glanced down to find the bluenette of the other group timidly gazing at her. "Aren't you Misty Waterflower… The old leader of the Cerulean gym and newest member of the Kanto Elite 4?" That got everyone's attention, especially Ash, Floatzel, and a still trapped Pikachu's. "You're a part of the Elite 4 and you haven't TOLD us about it?!" To say Ash was shocked was like saying Pikachu knew how to send out a bolt of electricity. True, but severely understated.

To her credit, the orange haired beauty coughed into her hand with a bit of a red face and did her best to look nonchalant. "Yeah, well, it never really came up- anyway, why are you so surprised? I was the best water trainer this side of the world!"

And while they were arguing back and forth, the last member of the young teens group walked up to the purple headed tan girl and gave her a once over. "Shouldn't you be in Unova accepting challenges from trainers right now?"

And so it was to the sight of two preteen girls fawning over two actual teenage girls, a Pikachu looking like it would rather be in the stomach of a Wailord as it was cuddled by a rather affectionate Lopunny, a rather rotund ginger boy exchanging scathing quips with what the people walking into this could only assume was the recently named Unova region's champion(Who looked five seconds away from throttling the poor kid.), a rather vicious argument between another ginger and the boy they knew as Ash Ketchum with a shiny Espurr and a Pachirisu riding on top of him while a shy little girl tried to get their attention not too far away, and then a rather pretty brunette off to the side with a rain cloud over her head poking the ground with a stick while muttering something suspiciously along the lines of 'Why am I the only one no one recognizes' as a middle-aged woman tried to console the distraught girl.

Samson Oak dryly looked over to his companion, a rather nervous Professor Kukui. "You wanted me to take on a member of the Kanto Elite 4, two top coordinators, the Unova champion, whatever the hell the other girl is, and the boy who ranked in more leagues than I have fingers on my hand, beat the BATTLE FRONTIER, and some other third thing involving oranges that I can't remember for the life of me, as students in a trainer school?" "Er, in my defense, I had no idea what to expect when I got a call from Professor Oak saying 'I'm sending over one of my trainers- you'll know what to do with him when you see him'."

Hey, he was a Pokemon Professor, not a psychic.

Sue him.

Ash let out a quiet sigh as he finally reached the destination he had in mind when he first entered the region- the Pokemon Ranch, so now he could FINALLY release the rest of his Pokemon from their confines(Because he couldn't imagine all his Pokemon, bar the ones from Kalos, were used to being stuffed inside their Pokeballs anymore for any extended period of time when they were always at the ranch with a LOT more breathing room than a cramped little ball.).

Now all he had to worry about was whether or not to release his newest additions to the team with the rest.

Well, that and the small army of people who had come with him to view his(In his own humble opinion-) amazingly fantastic Pokemon, but that was priority number two right now.

After mulling it over for a bit, he decided to send out his newest catches first and explain the situation to them before he let them properly meet his other Pokemon this time. Rooting around his bag for the right balls, he plucked the nine of them out and grabbed the lone Pokemon from that batch he kept on his belt and let them out. "Okay everyone, time to come out!" Surprisingly, he wasn't attacked immediately after they were released from their Pokeballs, but their contents made nearly everyone who was watching gasp in surprise.

"When did you catch a Togekiss- no better yet, where did you even FIND one?!" "Not one, not two, but THREE Eevees? Wow-" "Is that a Clefable, cooooool! I haven't even seen a Clefairy, let alone one of those!" Ash coughed at all these comments and decided it would be prudent to everyone to just explain the how he got any of these Pokemon in the first place. "Yeah, well, right before I got on the flight to this region, when I went to collect all my Pokemon, it turned out they were under attack from a large group of Pokemon."

Ash glanced at a very off-put Wigglytuff, who was pouting and puffing out its cheeks.

"Oh yeah. You might not recognize her, Misty, but the leader of the them was also the Jigglypuff that used to follow us everywhere in Kanto. Remember?" She did, but she squinted at the assembled Pokemon anyway, not seeing it anywhere, and if Ash captured Pokemon from the group, she was sure he would have- "Wait!" She gasped and looked at the Wigglytuff. "It evolved?!" Ash nodded. "Yep. Apparently, she gathered up some Pokemon to take over the human world- I know, a bit ridiculous, but it happened- and she started by trying to take Professor Oak's Ranch, and well…" He gestured to the Pokemon who were now looking at him in confusion and curiosity.

"Okay, but how in the world did she get three Eevee's, a damn Togekiss, and a Pokemon that had no right being anywhere in Kanto to help her?" "Beats me." He just shrugged and gave his full attention to the gathered Pokemon. "Okay, uh-" Ah crap, he didn't think this entirely through. "Well, my Pokemon, beat you, and then they, kind of, captured you." If all else fails, honesty is the best policy. "So now I guess you're under my employ. Any, errr, objections?"

Thankfully, whether because they were merciful or the Pokeballs made them a lot more docile and tame compared to what they were a little over a day ago, none of them seemed to have any issues with now having a trainer, and some, like the Snubbull and one of the Eevee's were excited at the prospect of getting to train and eventually fight other trainer's Pokemon, making Ash breathe a sigh of relief before he told them that he was about to unleash his other Pokemon.

That got a but less approval from them, if their faces were anything to go by, but they at least kept any complaints to themselves for the moment and that was when Ash dumped out the rest of the Pokeballs he had and started releasing the Pokemon in them in the rather expansive clearing that made up their new home for who-knows how long.

Their was even more shock among the masses this time, as both old and new Pokemon that they both knew and didn't know he even had appeared one by one, and everyone had a type of Pokemon that they were becoming awestruck by and were paying the most attention to.

Misty and the little blue haired girl were observing all the water types he had with him like Palpitoad and Squirtle(Who Misty hadn't seen in ages.), May, Dawn, and the little blonde were ogling the more small and cute of his collection of friends such as Scraggy and Squirtle, while his mom was getting acquainted with his Kalos team with the help of Serena. Then there were the ones who were outright gushing at his Pokemon with a lot less restraint, such as the green haired preteen who was drooling over a very disturbed looking Leavanny and Torterra. The chubby boy was studying his Muk with a look of intrigue, and was even writing something down in a notebook he had pulled out recently, and his once-upon-a-time Unova traveling partner was outright fangirling over a very embarrassed Noivern and overly excited Gible.

The professors, on the other hand-

"How… How did you get thirty?" Ash nodded in sympathy at their astonished looks and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "Safari Balls. Lots, and lots, of Safari Balls." "They only give you thirty for each visit, and you only caught thirty of the same Pokemon?!"

Ignoring that last question, he turned away from them and looked over to see the rest of his friends with the newest additions to the team. Luckily, there seemed to be no bad blood between any of them, and a few, like Bulbasaur and Meganium, were even giving a rundown of how things were and what life for them would be like now.

And then there was Pikachu, who was now resigned to his fate as he sat in Lopunny's lap, with the Rabbit Pokemon sitting on a nearby bench while it lavished the(Well, depending on how you look at it-) poor electric mouse with far more attention than it was used to getting at any single moment in time, causing laughter to be had all around for his Pokemon that were watching the 'Cute Couple'.

Well, most, anyway, as it seemed a few of his Pokemon, to Ash's complete and utter amusement, were not happy in any way, shape, or form as his best friend was smothered to death by the fluffy bunny. He wouldn't give any names, though.

COUGH Snivy COUGH COUGH Swellow COUGH Glalie COUGH COUGH COUGH!

It might have been his fault that they didn't have any nicknames, but the species name was totally fine to give away.

At any rate, he was happy to have finally gotten all his Pokemon back outside where they could stretch and be free, and absolutely ecstatic to have so many old friends reunite with him and actually get time to catch up, but at the same time, the growing pit in his stomach(What he knew as guilt.) wouldn't go away. If anything, it was growing, as he was reminded, rather harshly, that while he hadn't seen many of his Pokemon in person over the years, he'd at least called the Ranch enough to have Professor Oak bring one of his Pokemon for a brief chat, just to let them know everything was going great for him, and to update them on any current events, but he hadn't done anything remotely similar to any of his human friends.

Hell, thinking back on it, he hadn't even heard from Misty, let alone seen her, since his journey in Hoenn where they met up for a short time.

And he hadn't been in Hoenn since he was thirteen.

All-in-all, he'd been a rather shitty friend. And not only to her, and he was being reminded rather badly of that fact every time he glanced in one of their directions. But still; he hadn't been focused on that at all until very recently, and it was starting to make him frustrated just how depressed he was becoming.

Sure, he could attribute it to maturing, and still being rather sore at coming so close in Kalos, only to lose, but he lost even WORSE in Unova(Seriously, it must have been the fumes or something messing with his head, and if you knew Ash Ketchum, you knew he needed every available brain cell as-is in the first place to make a working human being.), and if anything, seeing a very old childhood friend once again, along with traveling with a kid about as developed as he was when he was ten had made him take a few steps back in terms of mentality in Kalos.

So what the hell was going on with him all of a sudden?

"Ash! You never told me you had a freaking Noivern! Oh, he's so precious!" He was jostled out of his thoughts as a very hyper dragon master ran up to him, dragging a furiously blushing dragon/flying hybrid with her. "Well, he was hatched rather recently all things considered." After those words though, he sent her a rather dry look. "And you never told me you were a freaking champion either, so I think we're fairly even, no?" The young woman at least had the decency to blush.

"Ah, yeah, sorry about that. But like you said, it was a recent thing! Alder was- is old, and he's been looking for a replacement for years. His grandson was a prime candidate, but he wanted nothing to do with it, and the rest of the Elite 4 were either too specialized in a type, or just content with their current positions, so he had to look for one in the gym leaders. Naturally, almost none of them were fit for the throne, and the one who was, Drayden, was almost as old as he was! But then, for some reason I still don't know to this day, Drayden recommended me, and so Alder checked me out, apparently liked what he saw, and decided I'd be a great one. Young, ambitious, I was already familiar and owned several dragon types, some of the strongest Pokemon around, so he deemed me perfect and gifted me the job!"

Ash gave her a blank stare.

"Oh, okay! They both thought I was too rough around the edges, so they took me and spent a year torturing me and my Pokemon under the facade of 'Training', and so I worked my ass off to get to the point where Alder was happy enough to give me a trial run, happy?!" "Very." Ash gave a satisfied nod at being able to provoke the real story from her, but eventually sighed. "Though, all this talk of dragon's has me missing my own, you know?" At her curious look and Noiverns soft screech in what was probably forlornness, Ash got ready to have her yell his ear off at letting a dragon of all things go into the wild after he captured and basically raised it. "Well, before Noivern hatched, I actually had another dragon, who I'm sure he saw as and still sees as a brother to this day."

Ash sighed.

"However, once it grew up, it wanted to go back to its home, and I wasn't one to stop it, so I released it back into the wild. Still, I really miss-" "Goodra?!" Ash blinked very slowly and scratched his head in confusion. "Okay, I know you're a master and all, but how in the hell did you figure out what Pokemon I owned before I told you?" His only answer was an atomic squeal(Iris plus squealing, though, were not words he'd have ever thought in his life time he'd use in the same sentence, unless 'Does not' was put between them.) as she dashed off to where the professors and everyone else were gathered.

"Uh, you know what that was about, buddy?" The avian creature made a sound that obviously displayed his own confusion as well, and so Ash could only shake his head in bewilderment as he went towards where the others were chittering excitedly.

His first clue should have been the species of Pokemon that the dragon crazed female had shouted at the top of her lungs before, and his second should have been the fact that Hawlucha, Talonflame, and even Pikachu(Who had determinedly wiggled his way out of the death hold the she-rabbit had him in before.) were animated to a point he had only seen when they had gone into the finals of the Lumiose Conference.

His third was the near seven foot tall behemoth of a Pokemon that was trying(And failing, as the Pokemon was about two feet shorter than it, and all the more thinner.) to hide behind a Pokemon Ash had convinced himself he'd not see until he had, at least, completed yet another league. "Wha- What the hell?!"

Let it be known, that Ash Ketchum was not the brightest bulb in the box.

It did not take a 150 watt light bulb to illuminate a very poorly concealed plot to get all his Pokemon back to him.

Honestly, all they were missing now was Butterfree, Lapras, and the little Larvitar if you counted that one as his as well.

Either way, something was happening, and Ash never did like not knowing things, especially when those certain things revolved around HIM.

While Goodra stood behind him(Really, he was only hiding away from the scary dark skinned lady who was practically foaming at the mouth with her eyes sparkling like spring water though.), Greninja, ever the vigil, stoically examined each of the faces before him(Though, he was rather tempted to go hide in a hole once his eyes skimmed over a red haired woman who was currently trying her best to imitate the expression of the female that Goodra sorely wanted to go away, except directed at himself.), though he relaxed a little when he noticed the familiar faces of his comrades from back in Kalos, and the honey blonde girl who had that fine piece of ass- er, he meant the Braixen- and who themselves wanted the fine piece of ass that was his oblivious trainer.

Hey, its not gay when it's neither human nor completely wrong.

Luckily, the cause of him being here soon turned up and he could assess the situation at hand for himself and not just through a paltry messenger from the Sycamore professor, with a blasted message saying 'Your trainer's depressed, needs as much help as he can get, grab Goodra and come to the lab so I can transfer you to him'.

Honestly. Humans.

"Goodra, Greninja, what in the blue blazes of hell are you both doing here instead of in Kalos?!" A quick glance at the yellow mouse standing on the Talonflames back told him that his trainer was as oblivious as ever, even when it came to himself, and that he didn't know of his current state of mind himself, so he wasn't about to tell the boy himself. Instead, he walked up to the human teen and looked up to see his face. Like he expected, his trainer looked down to look at him as well, and that gave the Greninja ample time to stare into the eyes that he knew better than anyone, even the boys mother(Their bond did more than just fuse themselves to each other, after all.).

It was then that he was able to tell that something was immediately off. What it was, he did not know, as even Ash was unaware of what it was, and even the bond was useless if Ash himself didn't know anything.

So, he'd have to settle with sticking by his trainer's side until either himself found out what was wrong, or his friend.

Either way, they were in for a ride, that was for sure.

With that over with, he ended the eye contact he had with Ash and merely took up position behind him, close enough to help him should something go wrong, but far enough to give him the space he knew humans so loved and appreciated.

Bleh.

The tension left both their bodies as soon as the staring contest between them was had, and Ash let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding as everyone watched it all happen in bafflement.

Of course, that only lasted so long.

"YOU OWN A GOODRA/GRENINJA?!" Ash expected that to be asked, and he even guessed who would do so first before the others. "What can I say? A lot has happened in Kalos." That was an understatement, if the eye roll Serena did was anything to go by, but it was the only thing he said. "A lot- damn it, Ketchum! You can't just show a girl an extremely rare, fully evolved water type Pokemon! It has consequences!" Ash rolled his eyes at Misty's harping. "Oh yeah, sure it does. What, it made you wet?"

While Ash was high-fiving himself for the, in his opinion, amazing pun, he missed almost everyone but the preteens facepalm, and most certainly didn't see the way Misty flushed and rubbed her thighs together a little bit. So when he came back from la-la land, and DID see the red on her face, he took it for outright anger at him. "Geez, no need to get all red on me, red. It was just a joke."

And now the red was from anger.

"That's it, Ketchum, you and me, right now!" She pulled a ball from… Somewhere(Come to think of it, a lot of female trainers he's fought have done that before. He'd have to ask one sometime and find out their secret.) and threw it in the air before catching it in her hand again. "My Pokemon versus your Greninja, lets go!" Ash shared an uneasy glance with his Pokemon. "Uh, I don't know if that's such a good idea, Misty."

Misty was good- hell, she was probably great(You didn't get to Elite 4 status being decent.), but this might have been a bit over her head. "Oh yeah, why?" And of course she had to ask. "Well, uh, you see- and I know you're really powerful, just hear me out here- me and Greninja here don't really know the word 'Restraint'." He couldn't quite hold back a wince as he said that; both from the pure livid aura Misty was now releasing, and form the actual truth in the statement.

As much as they trained, if the fight got too intense, or wasn't ended quick enough, they couldn't stop the transformation from taking place. In fact, if anything, the more they trained the more in sync they became, and the harder it was to hold it off. In all honesty, if Greninja hadn't stayed back in Kalos, by the time they had arrived to Alola it wouldn't have surprised Ash if Greninja stayed as 'Ash-Greninja' constantly, or just changed the first second a battle started.

And(Lately, at least.), Ash wasn't one to brag, but Greninja was strong- he was vastly surperior to just about every Pokemon not legendary or Mega(And even then, he has beaten multiple!) when he transformed. And unless Misty had somehow procured a Kyogre from her ass, it would be looking like her pride would be getting ripped a new one if Ash let this happen.

"Really, though. Greninja is strong, probably the strongest Pokemon I have, bar, perhaps, Pikachu, but that's only because Pikachu has a type advantage over him." That got everyone's attention, especially the extremely prideful members of his team. Otherwise known as Charizard, Sceptile, and Krookodile. "A Pokemon stronger than Pikachu?" Misty frowned for all of a second before intense determination(Something Ash had hoped would not appear on that same face today.) took hold of it and made it a smirk. "Well now I HAVE to fight him and beat him. Maybe that'll finally knock you down a few pegs, eh?"

That was the exact opposite of what he wanted to hear.

"I don't really have a say in this, do I?" Ash muttered that to himself, though, as he already knew the answer.

And so it was then that everyone crowded onto a set of bleachers to watch the battle as Ash and Misty stood across from each other in a sanctioned battlefield on the property of the academy. "This match will be a one-on-one battle between Ash of Pallet town and Misty of Cerulean city!" And the referee was none other than the man who apparently didn't own a shirt(As Lily so eloquently dubbed him.). "Will the trainers please select your Pokemon and send them out?"

Greninja was already on his side of the field before he had even said 'Trainers'.

Misty saw that and frowned(Most likely from his speed, as he had been behind Ash one second, and then twenty feet forward the next.), but said nothing as she sent out her own Pokemon. "Misty choose Gyarados." Nobody saw Ash glowering at the atrocious creature as it let out a loud roar, nor that Greninja imperceptibly tensed at what was his opponent.

Of course it would be a Gyarados.

"If both trainers are ready-" Misty gave a sound of consent and Ash nodded stiffly. "-Then BEGIN!" "Hurricane, don't let him get close!" Misty seemed to have took the initiative, but Ash just stood there as an intense burst of wind shot at his Pokemon, and did absolutely nothing when it overtook him and soon shot past him, ruffling his clothing greatly.

"What the- Ash, why'd you make your Pokemon take that?!" "Cut." It was then that everyone noticed that there was nobody left behind in the Hurricane and there wasn't a braced water type holding out against the worst of it when they looked back to where Greninja had stood before, and only when a loud bellow of pain sounded did they see he was actually directly below the large water snake, having just unleashed a pair of blades to slash painfully into its underbelly.

"How- Okay then, Crunch!" As Greninja dodged to the side to avoid the large maw of the Pokemon, Ash couldn't help himself when he made the same motion, as if it would help his Pokemon, and let out a curse as he realized they were already getting in sync after note even thirty seconds. "Get out of their and use Water Shuriken." His Pokemon gave an imperceptible nod and just as it looked like he was about to get bitten, his body blurred before vanishing, making it rather obvious that it was only a clone from a Double Team.

"So that's how!" Misty made a sound at the back of her throat at the tactic, and nodded to herself. "Okay Gyarados, endure it and start up some rain!" Ash frowned at that, and could only watch as the blue snake endured a few shuriken made of water hitting its side so that it could gather water into a ball that it shot into the sky.

He didn't truly understand what Misty was up to with that move, as his own Pokemon would get as much of a boost as hers would, and even if it was resisted, Greninja's Water Shuriken do some absurd damage to Pokemon, so the risk really wasn't worth the negligible reward in this case, so why? His eyes widened though when the same wind from before shot out at his Pokemon.

"You can't dodge it Greninja! Counter it!" His Pokemon apparently caught on, and instead of using another Double Team to avoid it like last time, he brought out his daggers again, just as the Hurricane caught him in it's pull. He tsked as he could feel his Pokemon shooting back and forth inside of it, before he finally slashed at it enough to escape, though only barely with the already powerful move being powered more by rain. "You powered your way out through brute force?" Misty whistled in appreciation at the trick. "Not many have been able to stop that from Gyarados as he is now."

Ash frowned. She couldn't… Could she?

He didn't want to find out. "Greninja, get in close and engage it!" He let himself lean forward, much the same way Greninja was as he sprinted toward the beast with unmatched speed. "Aerial Ace!" As soon as the amphibian was under the Gyarados, he suddenly sprung up high, his fists glowing brightly as he uppercutted the sea creature right under its chin, sending it higher into the air than it was already floating, before jabbing at what Ash believed was his throat, and giving the thing a kick to the side before using his other foot to stick to its body and propel itself backwards to avoid a Hydro Pump Misty ordered it to do to get him off.

"Man, I must say, Ash, that he is something special. I can see why he would give Pikachu a run for his money." Misty observed her Pokemon, who was breathing heavily(Though that might have just been from getting hit so hard in its throat.) and was slightly lower to the ground than when it started out, but was otherwise fine. Then she glanced over to the stands, where the people were watching this in awe(It's not every day they get to see Ash Ketchum fight- at least anymore- nor is it very often you get to see him battle this refined, and their faces showed it.), and Samson was even taking this time to give the students a lesson(Not everyday you get to see an Elite 4 member fight and get her ass handed to her either, she admitted with gritted teeth.) as they looked at Ash and his Greninja with what could only be admiration.

Really, she was glad for it.

The boy never got enough recognition, and he had done plenty to deserve it(Ranked in as many leagues as she had limbs, caught and trained great, and even rare, Pokemon, saved legendaries and the world enough that if he were to receive keys to cities from mayors, he'd be able to walk in any public building around the world even if they were closed.), and as much as she tried to put him down, it was just her way of showing she cared for him(Tell that to him though and she'd knock your teeth out.) and didn't just stick with him because of those accomplishments, as she's sure many more greedy and vile people out there would no doubt.

That and it rubbed him the wrong way, but mostly the other stuff.

Sadly, though, with her pride on the line, she would have to crush that admiration right where it started.

"But I'm afraid that I have a little something that I'm not sure even Pikachu could handle if I used it." And suddenly Ash wasn't the only one to feel a pit grow in their stomach, as both Pikachu and Greninja eyed either Misty or Gyarados for a little stone that spelled trouble. "And it would be an utter waste if I didn't use it here!" With a growing sense of trepidation, he watched as Misty took out a small hair tie from the pocket of her coat. But it wasn't the hair tie that had him flinching back and cause Greninja to growl lowly in barely suppressed anger.

Of course it would be a Gyarados.

"Let's show them all our power, Gyarados!" As she said this, she touched the small keystone on her accessory, making a larger version of it to suddenly appear on the atrocious Pokemon's crest before its entire body glowed and suddenly expanded as it mega evolved.

It obviously wasn't as bad as the last one he had seen(Though, that could also be attributed to the kidnapping and torture to him and his Pokemon before he had to take on a man who was trying to destroy the world.), but it still brought up memories he'd rather forget, and from what he knew, it was the same for Greninja as well.

"I'm not gonna lie and say I wasn't hoping you didn't have a keystone." Misty blinked at his lack of shock and quickly recovered. "So this isn't your first time seeing mega evolution?" "Misty, this isn't even the first time seeing a mega Gyarados. Heck, I was in Kalos this past year, and they're the ones who founded it in the first place, so I've seen some things." That seemed to lower her excitement for the fight by a fair margin, and it seemed she accepted something. "So are you gonna give up? If you already know about it, you know mega evolving any Pokemon makes them exceptionally stronger than nearly every other Pokemon, and that includes your Greninja."

If there was one thing Ash hated, it was being underestimated, if there was something he hated more than that, it was people looking down on his Pokemon.

"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" Ash gave a crooked smile. "Water Shuriken." Neither trainer nor Pokemon seemed to expect that so the Gyarados was on a one way trip to receiving a stronger than normal shuriken of water slamming into its face, making it grunt but not much else.

That seemed to reinvigorate the self-proclaimed water master. "That's more like it! Hydro Pump him until you hit him! He's got to tire eventually!" Ash held back a wince. Hydro Pump from a water type in rain was pretty bad, Hydro Pump from a mega evolved water type was a near one hit KO for his Greninja.

Unluckily for Misty, though, Greninja was really good at dodging, and now that Ash knew Misty had an ace up her sleeve to balance things in her favor, he didn't necessarily feel bad about this next part coming up.

"You know what to do, buddy." Nobody noticed that when the Pokemon inclined his head, Ash did as well. They did notice, however, that when Greninja slid to the side to avoid a Hydro Pump that had no right being anywhere that thick and powerful, Ash did so as well. They didn't say anything, though, nor did they when Greninja leaned to the left the same time as Ash, avoiding the next beam of water, but someone did voice something when the water type dodged one by narrowly flipping over the next when it came straight at him, landing on his feet in a crouch after doing so, and Ash had done the same exact thing.

"Okay, I'm confused- why does Ash follow his Pokemon's movements like he's in the Matrix or something?" May finally had to say something, and it was the same question that was one everyone else's minds as well. "No…" The man related to Samuel Oak shook his head slowly as he stopped teaching the students to watch the same spectacle as everyone else, before looking over to Iris. "You're no doubt a great trainer, so what do you see?" Iris watched closely as Greninja veered to the right of another beam, before charging straight at the mega Pokemon, ducking low as another soared straight above his head. "Ash isn't following his moves so much as Greninja is following Ash's moves."

That caused a great amount of confusion amongst everyone. "You all don't see it? Look at Ash and then Greninja right now." They did, and they witnessed the wily Pokemon gliding much too closely to another Hydro Pump for it to be safe if it wasn't a water type itself, before Ash threw a fist upward just a fraction of a second before Greninja leapt into the air with the same motion, slamming an Aerial Aced fist into the Gyarados's chin once more, but having to escape much earlier when it shook off the blow and tried to pry it with it's jaw.

May was once again the one to voice everyones thoughts. "What the… How are they so, so-" "In sync?" There wasn't a single eye that didn't move over to Serena as she spoke. "Wait a minute- that's right! You were there with him in Kalos, so you should know what's going on." Serena watched the battle for a little bit before turning to them all with a confused expression. "Didn't you all watch the Lumiose Conference this year?" All the girls blushed while rubbing the back of their heads with their hands, amusing Delia to no small end. "Er, well, I tried, but I was rather busy, and I didn't see Ash at all for the hour or two I was able to watch the first day, and I saw no mention of him the second so I just thought he didn't make it and stopped watching." Apparently, Dawn and May had similar excuses.

Serena stared at them for a long while. "But he made it to the finals." "He WHAT?!" It was apparently news to them, but before they could question anything further, Misty had seemed to figure out that Greninja wasn't tiring any time soon, and switched up strategies. "Hurricane to stop his ability to dodge, and we can end the fight then!" That was a game changer, as last time Greninja had to brute force his way out, and was only just able, but now that the Pokemon responsible mega evolved-

There was nothing he could do as the water piled up from rain dance after all this time gathered up and started raging into a bastardized, but no doubt more effect version of Hurricane and surrounded his Greninja. "Ready to call it quits, Ash? No one has been able to best this combo when Gyarados is at his best, and you only barely made it out last time because he wasn't mega evolved, but no such luck this time!" She threw her arm to the side in triumph, assured of her victory it seemed.

He would be glad to prove her wrong.

They were ready to use the 'Bond Phenomenon' as it was coined, but strangely enough, even though they hadn't done so yet, he was starting to feel the pain coming from greninja as he was shoved forcefully inside the Hurricane, making it his own, unfortunately, and he wanted his friend out as soon as he could get him.

"You should know me better than most, Misty! I never give up until I succeed!" Closing his eyes, he could feel Greninja already trying to link up to him, and he gladly allowed the link to form.

To everyone, he just stood there with his eyes closed, and though they were waiting for him to give some command of some type, he didn't, making them grow a little worried. "Uh, didn't he just say he wasn't giving up? So why is he just standing there?" The teens Kalos companion shot a look at the green haired brat. "Wait for it."

They didn't have to wait long, though, because soon enough Ash's eyes snapped open and he let out a loud yell that was matched by a similar one given by the Pokemon in the water prison, only for it to become undone as a pillar of water covered the Greninja and destroyed any remnants of the attack in its tracks.

Misty wasn't the only one to gape as the water slowly dissipated, only to collect on a much different Greninja's back, forming an actual water shuriken at least twice as large as any it had thrown so far.

Examining it further, though, revealed one particular thing about it that was rather obvious.

"It… Kind of looks like Ash." Serena nodded at the observation. "It's why we named this form 'Ash-Greninja'." "Seems pretentious to name it after himself."

The honey blonde teen wasn't the only one to give the pudgy ginger a dark look. "Just saying…"