Author's Note: If ya'll read the last chapter, is easy to see that Ash has his problems, but they will be solved. Also, the Journeys story line's Pokémon will mostly be captured by Ash.


2: Underground Reunion


Ash's old bed was indeed to small for him, so that night after dinner the young trainer ended up sleeping on the couch with Pikachu curled up on his chest as always. When Mimey woke up to do his morning routine of getting the house cleaned up, he found the two of them nearly sprawled out on the floor.

Using Psychic, he lifted them back up onto the couch and tucked them back in comfortably. Oddly enough, he found the back door hanging open, but thought nothing of it as he closed it before resuming his duties...Of course his duties never included walking into the kitchen and right into a sleeping Tyranitar.

Now, Mimey being a Pyschic type had a healthy fear of Dark type Pokémon, and Tyranitar were certainly no exception. So when he saw the large Pokémon, he did the only thing that was natural to him: he totally lost it.

"MIME MI-I-I-I-I-ME!" His frightened cries were not only loud enough to wake up the sleeping Tyranitar, but also the entire house.

Ash jolted awake at once and fell right off the couch, landing right on top of Pikachu. Pikachu, of course, didn't take kindly to being squashed under his trainer, and let loose a Thunderbolt that caused Ash to let out a pained yell.

Tyranitar, who had already been startled by Mimey's frightened screaming, was further frightened by the suddenly flare of electricity and the trainers yells. The large Pokémon gave a startled roar and scrambled on all fours toward the back door, but since Mimey had closed it, his escape was barred. So the poor Pokémon was looking around for any means of escape...and caught sight of Delia coming down the stairs with her facial mask still on.

"Ash, what in the world - OH!" Delia started but ended on a scream as she caught sight of the nine foot tall Tyranitar standing in her dining room. And of course Tyranitar was already scared out of its wits by all the noise, but seeing the woman in a facial mask pushed it beyond what it could tolerate. So it went barreling through the back door, jumped up and dove right into the ground in the middle of Delia's tulip garden.

Ash scrambled up and rushed toward the destroyed door, just barely catching a glimpse of the disappearing Tyranitar's tail as it burrowed unground. "Hey!" Naturally, Ash being Ash, he ran over and tried to grab the tail, and drag the fleeing Pokémon back out. This only served to frighten the Tyranitar further and made it swing its tail wildly in order to dislodge whatever it was that had a hold of it..

Ash held on for as long as he could while Pikachu tried to come to his defense by grabbing the Tyranitar's tail himself, which only made things worse. The trainer and Pokémon duo didn't last for two seconds before the Tyranitar swung its tail and tossed them off and burrowed out of sight while Ash and Pikachu went flying into Delia's tomato patch.

"Ash, are you alright!" Delia shouted as she ran outside to find her back yard in complete ruin, "Oh, dear..." She moaned as she saw her tulips destroyed, while Ash and Pikachu stumbled out of the tomatoes with several of the fruits all over them. Not so bad for Pikachu considering they were his favorite food. Ash, on the other hand, looked about as grumpy as one could look after such an ordeal.

Mimey peeked out from the ruined doorframe, finger to his lips, wondering if this was his fault.

"How did this even happen?" Ash grumbled as he cleaned off the squashed tomatoes. "How did that Tyranitar get into the house?"

Delia shrugged, "It must have opened the door," she pointed out, "I never see the need to actually lock it since there's no one around that would try breaking in." She explained, though now that she saw just what kind of damage could be done, she was rethinking her options. "Though I never dreamed that a wild Tyranitar would wander in like this?"

Ash frowned at the damage, "It's strange alright." He noted, "If it was hungry, it would've just gone for your vegetable garden." He reasoned, "And as far as nesting, Tyranitar like soft soil for bedding, not something hard like the kitchen floor."

Pikachu, having licked himself clean of his favorite fruit, started sniffing around the area. Something was familiar about the Tyranitar that he couldn't quite place. He perched on the edge of the burrow, peering down the dark tunnel. "Pika?" His voice echoed down the tunnel, "Pika!" He yelled louder.

"Careful, Pikachu," Ash cautioned him as he continued sniffing around the burrow, "You might fall in." He peered over the edge himself, "Man, that Tyranitar was huge." He noted from the size of the hole.

Pikachu tapped him on the shoe, "Pika kaka pika!" He was pointing down, smiling.

"You wanna go after it?" Ash asked him.

"Pi!" Pikachu nodded.

Delia cupped her face with worry, "Is that a good idea? What about a cave-ins?" She asked, fearing what could happen in such a tight space. "And what about if that Tyranitar decides to turn and fight? You'd have no room to get away!"

Ash thought about it for a moment, "Tyranitar are usually really timid, so this one's definitely not the run of the mill Pokémon of that species," he said thoughtfully, "But if it wanted to hurt us, then why didn't do that during the night when it broke in?" He asked her, "It seemed more frightened than anything, even though it came into a house full of people. If Mimey hadn't startled it, then I think it would have stayed."

"Well..." Delia wasn't one to believe wild rumors, but all the things she had heard about Tyranitar did nothing to settle her nerves about her son going down into one's burrow. "Let me give Professor Oak a call, alright?" She pleaded, "Then he could have Gary or Tracey go with you."

Ash nodded since he needed to get cleaned up and ready for whatever the tunnel was holding. "I'll go get them myself," he said, "I'll need some different Pokémon for this."


ポケモン


"Remind me why we're doing this again?" Gary asked while he, Ash, and Tracey repelled down the Tyranitar's burrow. "I can think of at least a dozen reasons why going into a giant Pokémon's lair is a bad idea."

Tracey shone his headlamp down the hole, "I think this is neat," the Pokémon Watcher said, "I've never been inside of burrow like this, not even when we were looking for that crystalized Onix in the Orange Archipelagos."

Ash chuckled as he repelled lower, "Besides that, we need to take care of this Tyranitar," Ash reasoned, "I don't think it's aggressive, but it did break in last night and I can't have that happen again."

"Seems pretty focused on you for some reason," Tracey pointed out as his friend touched down on the bottom, "First of all it was making friends with your Pokémon at the ranch, and when you showed up at home, it curled up on your mom's kitchen floor." He recounted, "This Pokémon definitely has something to do with you." He touched down next to Ash. "You remember having any connection one?"

Ash was detaching his ropes as he thought of the Tyranitars that he had met over his travels. But none of them had a bond with him. "Nothing comes to mind."

"What about that little Larvitar you had?" Gary asked as he detached his ropes, "You hatched it, right? So what ever happened to it?"

Ash looked at him, "Hey, yeah!" Ash smiled, "That makes a lot of sense. Mount. Silver is really close to here, and that's where I left Larvitar with its mother."

"So maybe this is that same Larvitar, just evolved." Gary put in, then smiled hugely as he shone his light down the tunnel, "Oh man, am I glad that this tunnel opens up!"

Tracey grinned at him, "Never pegged you for a claustrophobic, Gary."

"It's not so much claustrophobia, it's these freshly dug tunnels," Gary said as he reached over to the wall and dug out a handful of dirt, "It's unstable, and we're going in after an oversized Tyranitar that could collapse this whole place down on us."

Ash shined his light above them, "I wouldn't worry," he said, pointing upward, "You see those tree roots?" He said as the others looked up at the roof of the tunnel, "They've been here for a while," he reached out and patted the wall, "It's an old cave system. Tyranitar just burrowed into it. The soft dirt's probably just from him digging out the tunnel."

Gary wasn't so sure, "I hope you're right."

Ash silently hoped for the same thing as he started down the tunnel. When he had gone to the lab, he picked up his Krookodile because it was one of his best battlers, and it knew how to fight underground. Not to mention he could dig them out if something happened that caved in the tunnel. Another Pokémon he had picked up was his Snivy. She was small, and almost as strong as his Sceptile, his most powerful Grass type. Given the small space, she would be the best one to battle the Tyranitar if it came to a fight.

"Hey, check this out," Tracey suddenly piped up while shining his light on the wall. "Is this a Fires Stone?" He walked over to the wall and started digging something out of it.

Gary stepped next to him to have a look, "No, wrong color," he said as Tracey dug it out and held it up to his light, "This is a piece of amber."

"Like the kind that have fossils in them?" Tracey asked as Ash moved to examine one for himself. "But this is a little small."

Gary shrugged, "It probably doesn't have a fossil in it." He said as he looked over toward Ash, "Got something there?"

Ash dug his hand into the wall, "Another piece of amber, I think." He said before pulling a much large stone out of the wall. "Or not..."

Gary took an interest as Ash showed it to him, "This is a piece of Old Amber," he smiled, "Man, maybe this isn't such a bad idea after all!"

Ash chuckled and stuffed the fossil into his jacket pocket, "We can explore later," he shined his light down the tunnel, showing that there was more glittering in the walls as they progressed, "We need to find Tyranitar."


ポケモン


The tunnel seemed to go on for quite a long distance as the trio searched. To Gary's surprise, the tunnel was littered with all sorts of underground treasures that had the researcher in him salivating.

Ash was more concerned with finding the Tyranitar. The deeper they went, the less Ash felt that the Pokémon was still around. "How long have we been down here?" He asked as he checked for tracks.

Gary looked down at his Rotom Phone, "It's just passed two," he frowned, "Hard to believe it, but we've been down here for a couple of hours."

"Think we should head back?" Tracey asked, "Try again later?"

"No," Ash shook his head, "It's scared, guys, and if we don't find it, then someone else might find it, and set it off again." Ash motioned to the ceiling, "You saw what happened to my mom's house, and it was just trying to run away, then. What if it gets scared and attacks?"

Gary shivered, "Not something I wanna think about." He said, remembering some of the stories he had heard, "I hope none of those horror stories are true." He said before looking down at the tunnel floors, "But how the hell are we supposed to find it?" He saw no signs of tracks anywhere, "Even if we found prints, it could've tunneled out anywhere it wanted to."

Ash looked at both of them, and his friends saw a flicker of something in his eyes that Gary had never seen before: fear. "I have an idea...but I'm not sure it'll work." The young man said.

"Okay," Tracey frowned, "But why do you look so scared?"

He shook his head, "It's...not something I try to use often, if ever," he said as he looked at his friends, "And it's not something I want getting out, either, so I need you guys..." he took a deep, shaky breath, "I need you guys to swear that you won't talk about this to anyone without asking me first."

Tracey and Gary looked at each other with apprehension: it wasn't like their friend to have secrets. Gary was the first to speak, "Is it dangerous?"

"Yeah, it is." Ash nodded, "But only if I overdo it."

Tracey didn't like the sound of that, "But you know you can handle it, right?"

Ash nodded, "I know my limits."

The two of them shared one last look before nodding, "You won't have to worry."

"We won't tell anyone, whatever it is you're gonna do." Gary said with a grin.

Ash smiled at them and set his flash light down. "I need you guys to give me some room, alright?" He said, sounding scared. The two of them stepped back while Ash turned his back to them. He then knelt to the ground, and placed his hand against the soil. He closed his eyes and focused on expanding his Aura out.

Tracey was watching the trainer, "Ash, are you - ?"

"Shh!" Gary hushed him as he saw a light glow forming around him. "Is...whoa..."

When Ash used his Aura, he felt like he was connected to everything around him. When he was in the Kalos Region, he was connected deeply to his Greninja, so much so that it physically changed the Pokémon, and allowed Ash to feel everything that Greninja had. They were one.

Now, when he was spreading his Aura through the ground, it was like seeing everything without actually seeing it. He could feel Gary and Tracey behind him, and far above them he could feel where his mother was waiting with Professor Oak by the burrow with Pikachu perched on her shoulders while Mimey was serving lemonade.

[So where are you?] Ash wondered as he pushed forward. He sent out a small pulse down the tunnel, the walls lighting up with small pulses of their own as his Aura struck hidden evolution stones in the walls. Further down the tunnel his Aura made contact with something. Its Aura was pulsing black with fear. It knew he was there, but was afraid of him. [It's okay,] he called out to the frightened Pokémon, [You know me, don't you?] The black Aura turned a light shade of yellow. [I thought so,] he sent out a comforting pulse to the Pokémon, [I used to carry you around as baby. Remember?] More yellow overtook the black Aura.

[See?] Ash felt himself smiling, [No one's gonna scare you anymore, okay?] The black Aura returned as the Pokémon sensed the other two humans behind him, [They're friends. You don't need to worry about them.] A darker shade of blue turned to black again. [It's okay. Remember, I'll never let anyone hurt you.]

The black Aura calmed down to the normal blue that Ash knew so well. [Come on.] He beckoned, [We'll go home now.] He let his Aura come back to him as he took his hand away from the ground, and stood up.

"Ash?" Gary called out softly, "What the hell did you just do?"

Ash smiled, "Later," he said as he felt the ground vibrate with the footfalls of something large. "I've got an old friend to say hello to."

Before either of them could ask what he meant, Tracey's life shone on the giant form of a very large Tyranitar. "Whoa..."

"That thing is huge," Gary breathed out shakily.

As they had suspected, the Tyranitar was acting very timid, its head ducked low while it kept its claws close to its body as if expecting to be scolded or attacked. It looked at Ash, then to Gary and Tracey before taking a small step back.

"It's okay, big guy," Ash held his hands up, "I told you, we're all friends here."

Tyranitar smiled then, and stepped forward.

Gary went for one of his Poké Balls, but stopped when the giant of a Pokémon wrapped those stubby arms around Ash. Ash hugged it back and then took out a Heavy Ball from his belt, "What do you say, big guy?" He showed him the Ball, "Ready to come back to us?"

Tyranitar nodded his head prompting Ash to activate the Ball, and press the button against Tyranitar's chest. The Ball sprang open, eveloping the Pokémon in blue light before being drawn inside. The Heavy Ball chimed.

Ash turned to his friends, grinning, "Mission accomplished."


ポケモン


Galar Region -

Motostoke Stadium was one of the largest of its kind in the world. Like all League Stadiums, it was built to host countless spectators whenever a battle between the Galar Region's top trainers took place. And, of course, the VIP seats were the best in the stadium, which also doubled as the office for the chairman of the Galarian Pokémon League.

An office which now hosted several members of the world's Leagues. The people seated around the table were none other than the Champions of each Regional League, from Kanto's Lance and Mr. Goodshow all the way up to the Kalos League's Diantha.

"This is quite the undertaking, Chairman Rose," said the elderly Goodshow whilst stroking his bushy beard, "But it sounds quite exciting as well!" He said with a look toward his Regional Champion, "What do you say, Lance?"

Lance smiled, "I think it's a fine idea," he looked around the table at his fellow Champions, "The world's strongest trainer will be decided with this tournament," he said as he looked toward Hoenn's Champion Wallace, and former Champion Steven Stone, "It may be one of us," He looked toward Sinnoh's Champion Cynthia, "Or it may be someone unknown to any of us here," he looked to Unova's Alder.

"Aren't we missing someone?" Cynthia asked, "I was under the impression that there was another Regional Champion?"

Mr. Goodshow chuckled, "If I'm to understand it, the young man is quite new to his role, and has returned to his home in Kanto."

"Kanto has another region under its thumb?" Alder frowned, "Bad enough that Lance has a Championship title in Johto, now we have another one in Alola?"

Goodshow chuckled, "Now, now, Alder, you know it doesn't work like that," he said, "True that the Champions hold some sway over the masses, but they are more of an inspiration to them than actual political presences."

Diantha giggled, "Don't mind him, Mr. Goodshow, he's just grumpy that he couldn't beat me in our last match." She said while Alder grumbled incoherently. "But about this new Champion: who are they?"

Chairman Rose picked up a file in front of him, "If the information I have is accurate, then he quite young, even younger than my own region's Champion," he smiled as he passed it to Mr. Goodshow. "A young man named Ash Ketchum who recently turned eighteen."

Lance's head snapped around, "Did you say - ?!"

"Ash Ketchum?!" The other Champions spoke all at once.

Chairman Rose looked thoroughly surprised, "You all know him?" He smiled, "Well, then, this young man must be quite something?"

Lance smiled, "I've faced him in battle before," he said before holding up a Poké Ball fondly, "And it's because of him that I have my red Gyarados. He's helped me on more than one occasion."

"Me, too." Said Steven.

"I as well," Wallace said.

Cynthia chuckled, "He is quite something."

"That he is," Alder laughed loudly.

"He is worthy of being a Champion," Diantha said.

Chairman Rose smiled, "Then we should get in touch with him immediately," the man said, "I would not wish for such an amazingly well known trainer to miss out on something as grand as this tournament!"

"We will need to get everyone's attention," Mr. Goodshow said with a thoughtful expression, "Mmm, I suppose we could send out words that because of this worldwide tournament, all other competitions will be suspended until the climax?"

"That'll cause a stir," Lance nodded, "And we can involve the Gym Leaders, too."

Mr. Goodshow nodded, "Then let us get to it!" He said boisterously, "I'll give Professor Oak a call as soon as we're done with this conference, and we shall be underway as soon as Chairman Rose organizes everything!"

"I'd like to announce it with an exhibition match," Chairman Rose said with a smile, "My Leon against your Lance, what do you say?"

Mr. Goodshow shared a glance with his Champion and both nodded, "I think it's a wonderful idea," he said, "A match between reigning Champions is sure to get the attention of the masses."

"And we'll send out applications through those new Rotom Phones that have been gaining popularity." Cynthia added, "The easier, the better is what I say!"

Chairman Rose smiled at the table, "Then we're all in agreement?" His guests nodded, "Then let us begin the preparations for the Grand Championship Pokémon League Tournament!"


ポケモン


When Ash and his friends returned above ground, they were met with relief as Ash's mother hugged him tightly while the professor helped his grandson and assistance out of the burrow. Ash explained why the Tyranitar, his former Larvitar, had been sneaking around. From what he was able to discern from Tyranitar, it had only evolved in the passed few months, waiting until it was strong enough so that it could leave his mountain home, and return. However, it was still mistrustful around humans, so when he had followed Ash's scent to Professor Oak's laboratory, he had stayed well away from him, and the other lab assistants.

But when Ash had returned, he hoped to make contact. But he was always with other humans. So he waited until Ash went to his home, and snuck in, leading up to Mimey finding him that very morning and causing the incident that led up to this point.

"So it was all just a big misunderstanding?" Delia sighed as Ash and Gary repaired the door. "The poor thing was just trying to find a home to come back to?"

Professor Oak nodded, "From what Ash has told us, that is the case," he said with some relief, "I knew this one gentle, and thank goodness it all played out without an major incident - "

"Ahem!" Delia coughed, her eyes trailing to her ruined back door.

"Well, nobody was hurt, I mean," he chuckled nervously.

"Mom, do we have any idea when the new door's supposed to be here?" Ash asked as he finished up the frame, "I don't wanna leave this open all night again."

Delia frowned, "I'm afraid that they won't be able to deliver until tomorrow morning," she sighed, "We'll just have to push something in front of it until then."

Ash groaned and stepped out of the door frame, "I think I saw some boards in the garage." He said, "Tracey, give me a hand?"

"Yup," Tracey followed him toward the garage. "Say, Ash, I was wondering about something."

Ash looked behind them, seeing that they were far enough away, "Is this about what I did down in the tunnel?"

Tracey nodded, "I've never seen anything like that before." The Watcher said, "I've seen people with Esper abilities before, but nothing like you did down there." Tracey said as they rounded the corner to the garage, "And you said that it was dangerous for you."

"It is," Ash said as he bent down and pulled the garage door open. As the two of them stepped into the garage, Tracey looked at him patiently, and Ash sighed, "It's called Aura," he started, "It's something that exists in everything, every living thing, and it's really rare for someone to control it." He explained.

Tracey looked at him, "Aura...like Aura Sphere, used by some Pokémon?"

"And there's the Aura Pokémon, Lucario," he went on, "Pokémon like Lucario can naturally control it. Feel it." He sighed, "It's life, Tracey. Pure lifeforce."

"So you mean that using too much would drain your life away?" Tracey breathed out, "Ash, how did you - ?"

"The Rota Kingdom," he said as he started pile boards into his arms, "While I was challenging the Battle Frontier, I went there with Brock, May, and Max to see their festival honoring their local hero. An Aura Guardian named Sir Aaron...apparently I'm one of his descendants."

"I've heard a few things about Aura Guardians," Tracey said as he started taking up boards, "Didn't they all die out, though?"

Ash nodded, "There's only a small handful of them left in the world."

"And you're one of them?" Tracey asked, but Ash shook his head, "Then what are you?"

Ash smiled at his friend, "I could be one," he said, "But I never wanted to be..." he looked away for a moment, "I don't even know what I want to be anymore." He admitted, "But being an Aura Guardian is the bottom of my career choice list."

"Okay, I guess that's good since this could kill you," Tracey relented, "What all can you do?"

Ash paused for a moment, "A lot...and sometimes not enough." He sighed, hefting the boards, "Come on, we've talked about this enough. You can tell Gary later, but no one else, okay?"

Tracey nodded, "Just one more question," he said, "Besides us, Gary and me I mean, who else knows?"

"May, her brother, Brock, my mom, and the professor." Ash counted off, "I made sure that no one else in Rota knew I could use it, or else they have hounded me until I trained to become a Guardian."

"Then it's a good thing we won't tell anyone," Tracey said with a promise, "Thanks for telling me, Ash."

Ash smiled, "No problem."

Back around the rear of the house, Gary was covering up the burrow that Tyranitar made, "I hope this holds," he said at the makeshift cover of wood. "We can probably have a few professionals fill this in better, but at least no one should fall in."

"Looks good enough to me," Ash said as he prodded the cover with his foot.

Gary nodded in appreciation while the others carried the lumber toward the door. "Hey, Ash, I wanted to ask a favor!"

Ash looked at him curiously, "What's up?"

"Gramps is supposed to head to Vermilion City in a few days for Professor Cerise's lab's big opening." He explained, "It's also when he's supposed to unveil his new Pokémon finding app to the general public. I was gonna go myself, but I have to be back at my lab pretty soon, and I'd like it if someone went with him."

Ash nodded, "Sounds fun to me, but I still think that app-thing is gonna cause a lot of trouble."

"What do you mean, Ash?" Tracey asked as he picked up a hammer and some nails while Gary came over and did the same. Ash held a board up to the frame while the others started hammering.

"Well think about it," he said, "Trainers go crazy when there's a rare Pokémon up for grabs." He explained, "If that app can do what they say it can, and if something like, say, an Entei or Zapdos pops up, then everyone and their mother's gonna be after it, and that could cause a lot of trouble."

Professor Oak heard them and called out, "He's quite right, boys," he said while the three of them boarded up the back door. "Ash is worried that, should one of these Pokémon show up in a populated area, then it'll be complete chaos with trainers trying to catch it, and possibly driving it into a town or a city where no end of damage could be caused."

Ash nodded, "People can be idiots when it comes to something they want, damn anyone that gets in their way," he remembered his time in the Orange Islands and the man trying to collect four Legendary Pokémon. He still had nightmares about that a few once in a while.

Gary frowned as he placed another nail, "Well, maybe it won't be as bad as you think?" Gary said, though he didn't sound convinced himself, know that Ash was probably right.

He usually was concerning matters like this one.


ポケモン


Author's Note: Quick little update for those wanting to see more. Ash now has his old friend, who is now a Tyranitar, back. I wanted to make the whole thing touching and funny at the same time, so I hope I succeeded, if not...I will work on that like my bad language skills :p

Also we see Ash using Aura abilities. Now before anyone goes loco, he is not going to be a cloak-wearing, broad-rim hat toting, swashbuckling Aura Guardian, he just has the power. Honestly, up to the XY series, Ash showed lots of superhuman abilities like his strength, speed, and ability to jump across small canyons carrying two Pokémon under his arms! Muy macho!

Next up is the official starting spiel of the Pokémon Journeys anime, which will include the incident with Lugia, and a few other surprise characters (not Goh!). If ya wanna see it happen, ya'll know what to do!

Adios Pokéfans!