A/N: So, I would just like to thank Farla first of all. To answer your comments, I would first like to say that it was great getting such an in-depth review of my work, because seriously, in all my time here no one has ever bothered to go into so much detail like you have. I've kept some of your points in mind.

I will however, completely and utterly disagree about what you said about capitalizing the names of Pokemon. In the video games, which are the real original media about Pokemon, a Pokemon's name is always capitalized, even if you're talking about one as a member of a species, and I mean also in Pokemon X and not the old ones where everything was in caps lock. Even Pokemon, the official site, always uses the name of a Pokemon species with a capital letter even when referring to them in hordes, in which case a normal species of animal would be given a lowercase letter, and also on Bulbapedia and other sites. I agree with you in that it doesn't really make sense, but the plural of Pokemon is just Pokemon so it clearly doesn't always follows all the rules regarding common grammar. Like that, 'surf' is not always capitalized, but the move, Surf, will be, at least in this fanfic, and I'm sorry if that is going to make anyone's head implode, but that's just really how it is going to be.

Again, I'd like to thank Farla again for that review, and I hope that you continue to read what I write and continue to comment on it with such zeal.

"My name's Gulliver," the boy wearing the dirty uniform said.

"I'm Ash Ketchum," Ash said.

"Wait, you have a last name?" Gulliver said. He then immediately began bowing before Ash. "Oh, Lord Ketchum, Sir Ketchum, whichever it is, I'm so sorry that I ever accused you of stealing." To himself, it seemed, he added, "Of course he was a big ol' nob or something, with the way he fought, and his odd clothes…"

"Um, no it isn't anything like that," Ash said. "You see, I'm not from around here. I come from Pallet Town, in a place called Kanto. Have you ever heard of it?"

"Wait, you meant that Kanto?" Gulliver asked while eyeing Ash suspiciously. "That land beyond the sea?"

Ash had a feeling that Gulliver was sure that he was lying, but didn't want to outright say so out of fear of punishment or whatever.

"I'm serious!" Ash said. Pikachu also nodded. He took out various stuff he had, including some photographs of Kanto. "I was riding a boat when a storm hit, and before I knew it I ended up here."

Gulliver still looked unconvinced. "Well, if yous say so. So, what is the House of Ketchum famous for?"

"Umm, there really is no 'House of Ketchum,'" Ash said. "Wait a minute, there's that message-" Ash then showed Gulliver the message in the Pokedex.

"Huh," Gulliver said. "Well, I don't really know much about what happened either. It was long time ago and I just mainly do small odd jobs here and there..."

Ash then accidentally let his bag slip, and the contents fell out, including several Pokeballs.

"Whoa," Gulliver said. "You have actual Pokeballs?"

"Yeah, don't you?" Ash asked as he picked them up.

"No," Gulliver said. "Don't you know that the laws passed by the Court of Gym Leaders forbids unauthorized selling and buying of Pokeballs, as well as Pokemon battles of any kind not approved by them?" He then gulped. "But then I just did a Pokemon battle didn't I? And you ain't a thief, are ya? Oh dear me, you're not going to report me, are ya?"

"No," Ash said weakly. "Look, I said this before, I'm not some sort of super high-up inspector or something."

"Alright, alright," Gulliver replied. "Okay then. I guess I believe you then... it does kind of explain your weird clothes and all."

"Do you have any idea how to fix my Pokedex?" Ash asked, ignoring the comment about his clothes. "It won't show anything except for that message."

Gulliver scratched his chin. After a while, he said, "Have you tried turning it off and turning it on again?"

Ash and Pikachu both did an 'anime fall' at this. "Yes," Ash managed to get out. "Say, why are Pokeballs and battles banned?"

"Oh," Gulliver said, "that's to prevent excessive catching from harming Pokemon in their natural habitats an' disturbing the ecosystem, and there's a belief that Pokemon battlin' is cruel to Pokemon."

"Wow," Arthur said as he sat down near the tree. "I have a friend who was called King Plasma N, or really just N- but hey, he wasn't a real king or anything so you can stop bowing! He'd be happy to hear that."

Gulliver shook his head. "That's all just a cover. Really, the Gym Leaders don't no trainers strong enough to defeat them to come up." He then brightened. "But you look real powerful and all. I think you could take on Marley!"

"Actually, I just want to get back home first," Ash said. He was not one to run away from a Pokemon Battle or a challenge, but the thing was that he didn't know how long he'd been gone, and was sure that his Mom, and Professor Oak, and the rest of his friends and Pokemon must have been worried about him.

"Back to Kanto?" Gulliver asked. "Sorry, but as far as I know, no one in Galea can leave. Not by sea, or teleportation, or anythin' else."

"But I got here somehow, didn't I?" Ash asked. "Shouldn't there also be a way for me to get out, too?"

Gulliver scratched his chin again. "When you say it that way, it does sort of make sense."

Just then though, someone burst in on them. It was a rather tall woman with hair that was also green, but it was closer to the color of damp seaweed rather than Gulliver's emerald green. Also noticeable was she had on a sort of silver uniform with what looked like golden buttons and overall looked considerably nicer than Gulliver's uniform. "Boy! Where have you been all this time?"

"Sorry ma'am," Gulliver said and immediately prostrated himself like people in old samurai movies that Ash had seen his mother watch. "I was just walkin' along when I saw this person who was eating on some of those apples. I then tried to stop him, but his Pikachu is really powerful."

The woman then blinked, looking at Ash, and then Pikachu. She then flipped through a small book she had and then she smiled. "Yes, that thing is not native to this region. I'm afraid Marley, our Gym Leader, and ruler of this territory, will be taking that for himself."

"Wait, you can't just do that!" Ash retorted. "That's my Pokemon!"

"Actually, she can," Gulliver said. "The Gym Leaders can do whatever they want in their own territory, take taxes, seize property, pass laws, and imprison people. The answer to no one... except for the Four Heavenly Kings."

"Four Heavenly Kings?" Ash asked.

"Um, the Elite Four," Gulliver said as if this should have been obvious.

"But I thought you'd said that they'd been overthrown?" Ash asked.

"Exactly," Gulliver replied.

"Well, well," the woman said, who was reminding Ash of Jessie a lot, "if you don't want to hand it over, I can always take it from you."

She sent out a Houndoom. However, Ash noticed that something seemed weird about it, namely, the fact that its paws seemed to be too small for its body, giving it the appearance that it was sick or had some sort of skeletal disorder.

It was apparently not very good at battling either, as Pikachu dispatched it with a Thunderbolt as easily it had done with Gulliver's Pidgey.

The next Pokemon, a Kirlia, quickly met the same fate. Ash noticed that its legs were way too small and that its hair was grey instead of green for some reason.

The woman seemed unable to believe it. "But how? That Pikachu's been trained… and that's not allowed. Curse it all, I'll be back with more!"

She ran off, and Gulliver stared at Ash, speechless. "That was amazing! I've wanted to do that for ages! Though she is going to come back with reinforcements, so we should probably get a move on."

"We?" Arthur asked, confused.

"Yeah, we," Gulliver said. "I mean, if you're going to go and challenge Marley, I want in on the fun. I mean, I'm probably dead someway or the other if they catch you too- they'll figure out that I'm your accomplice or somewhat, so I might as well join in! I mean, the guy makes us work for hours and ends up taking all our produce and stuff. That person you met, was Elizabeth, an overseer, and there'll be more of them. What you gots to do is take Marley's Gym Badge."

"But I have gym badges," Ash protested, and showed them to Gulliver. He still had his from his journey in Kalos. They were a reminder of all that he had accomplished... and also of his failure, despite all those years, to win a Championship.

Gulliver scratched his head. "They don't look like Gym Badges. Aren't they supposed to glow with power and radiance or something?"

"Um, what?" Ash asked as his Pokedex began beeping and there was a new entry there.

There are only eight Gym Badges in Galea, one for each Gym Leader. Each of them is a special, unique gem which carries power over the Pokemon and even the elements in its region, even giving some special powers to the Gym Leaders themselves. What you're currently calling and carrying 'badges' seem to be little more than some colored stones without any real power. Take a Gym Leader's Badge, and you've taken their territory.

"How do I get them?" Ash asked. Again, the voices speaking the entry seemed to be far away and soft, with crackling in between.

You must simply defeat them in a Pokemon Battle, because they can neither be taken by force nor stolen from their owners. They each have special properties, and are tied to the land that they control, giving those that wield one considerable power even without their Pokemon on the very forces of nature itself.

Power is never without price however, and though the badges are powerful, at the same time, they mean that the Gym Leaders who use them are constrained by ancient laws, and will have to accept your challenge to a fight if you challenge them. They have of course, undertaken several measures to prevent any challengers from appearing, but you are free to challenge them and must defeat Marley if you want his Badge.

The message ended there.

Ash frowned. "I don't know how... first of all, who are you? And where are you sending this from? Why did you pick me?"

The Pokedex remained unresponsive. It had answered his question before, so this clearly meant that whoever was talking to him through it could hear him, but Ash didn't get an answer to any more of his questions. It was quite frustrating, and he almost smashed his Pokedex in anger before his Pikachu tugged on his sleeve and snapped him out of it.

Ash realized though that if he was going to battle with Marley, he was going to need some more Pokemon.

A/N: And that ends this. It occurs to me that it is really difficult to describe how Pokemon characters look like, and when I try describing any of them and comparing them to how they actually look like, and how I would think of them if I hadn't seen them, they seem to have no connection at all.

Also, feudal lords, or the Daimyo in ancient Japan did have the rights mentioned above, at times taxes were so high that the peasants were expected to give all of their crop over to the feudal lord, and in return the lord 'might' give some back as a rebate, and having a last name was also considered a big deal in earlier times in Japan. The Elite Four's Japanese name literally translates to 'Four Heavenly Kings' which I thought was appropriate given that they're actually acting as kings here. Before anyone complains, it is perfectly alright to capitalize that if that is their actual title.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I do appreciate reviews as always. I'd just like to add one last thing, in this story, it might be more important to pay attention to what wasn't said rather than what was.