Prologue
The Monarch's Companions
"This is it, ladies and gentlemen, the beginning of one of, if not the most important event of the last decade! More than one thousand trainers have been battling it out for months, and now we are left with the very best of the best! The eight trainers that have persevered this far, are now ready to clash among one another to see who is worthy of the title of the World's Monarch!"
The public roared in delight at his words, only making his grin go even wider. This is what he loved, to not only see history in the making, but to make sure everyone got as excited as he was!
"Will our current Monarch Leon, Champion of Galar, reign supreme once again?! Or perhaps we will all witness the rise of a new World Champion?! It all starts today as the first battle of the Master 8 tournament is about to begin!"
Once more, nothing but yells of excitement followed his words, as they echoed through the entirety of the, quite frankly, massive stadium.
"Not only that but joining me today in celebration of such an important event is none other than the creator of the Pokedex itself, alongside many, many other accolades that sadly we don't have enough time to properly list!" They truly didn't, as much as he would have liked, "Professor Samuel Oak!"
"Thank you for having me here, Rodger."
"Nonsense, Professor. It is an honor to bring this commentary alongside a figure such as yourself!"
"You flatter me too much, young man!"
"Now now Professor, I'm sorry for putting you on the spot here, but I'm sure everyone is dying to know about what you think of our current competitors! Is there any insight you can give us about them? Or better yet, Professor, who do you think is going to win this? Don't worry, I promise to keep it a secret between us!"
Now it was laughter that was heard through the stadium, and even from Professor Oak himself as he chuckled for a bit before his smile turned into quite the serious expression.
"Well, I can't say for sure as I haven't met all of them personally..."
"I sense there is a 'but' coming here..."
"...but I would be lying If I said there wasn't someone I'm rooting for."
"Hooooo?!" He couldn't control the excitement slipping through his voice. "Who is it, Professor? Is it Champion Lance? He is the Champion of Kanto, after all, or perhaps you also believe our current Monarch is simply unbeatable?"
"Well..."
"Sorry for interrupting you, sir." He truly was, regret showing on his face, but a small ping of his PokeNav was telling him things were about to truly begin. "But it seems we are more than ready for the inaugural fight of the Master 8!"
The crowd followed with another roar, one that had him sighing happily at the fact he was here. Boy did he love his job!
His eyes narrowed a bit though, as a particular area of the stadium caught his attention, even from this far.
For even ignoring the amount of noise that area was making, just the people sitting there would be enough to give anyone a pause.
To him though, it only made him chuckle in glee. He had already been informed of it, but seeing it was another different thing.
Perhaps, he should have seen it coming, but as far as he knew, this was the first time the Master 8 held such attendance!
"Isn't it amazing, Professor?!" He said in awe, while also making sure to turn off his mic first. "I guess it makes sense since most of the Master 8 are Champions, but to see them all gathered like this... if that isn't love for their region then I don't know what is!"
Contrary to what he had expected though, his words only made Professor Oak cough unexpectedly.
"Everything alright, Professor?" The fact that it was followed by him sporting a... sheepish? look, only confused him further.
"Of course, it's just..." Truly, seeing someone like Professor Oak struggling with words was quite the surprising sight. "They aren't here because of that."
"Huh?" What did he mean by that? What other reason could they have? Sure, he knew some of them were here because they enjoyed seeing a good battle, but all of them?
"Well..." Now it was Professor Oak who was laughing to himself, almost as if he had remembered quite the fond memory. "I think you'll understand soon enough."
His confusion was only drowned by the cheers of the masses, just as his attention turned once more to the stadium that was about to witness history in the making.
It was time to call forth the first participant of the inaugural battle, it seemed.
None other than Alola's very first Champion...!
"He'll be fine, Serena."
Those soothing words were enough to take her out of her stupor, her eyes widening for just a second as her gaze went from the empty battlefield to her left, where Delia was sitting, smiling down at her in what seemed like understanding.
Was it that obvious just how nervous she was?
"It is." Delia answered, almost as if reading her mind. "But that's just because I'm the same too... but we both know if someone can do this, it's him."
Those words did wonders to her beating heart, for right after a slow and calming breath left her lips, with them then turning into a small, hopeful smile.
She was right, if someone could win this, it was definitely him!
"If you want to distract yourself you can always bring out the pompoms like Dawn over here." An amused voice said from her right, belonging to a quite bemused May, just as she pointed to her own right.
"Well, someone has to keep the spirits up!" Such was Dawn's response, just as she blew a raspberry towards an eye-rolling May. "I have another pair if you want to help, Serena!"
"I... think I'm good, thanks..." As much as she wanted to show her support, she would probably die of embarrassment if she tried the whole cheerleader thing Dawn liked to do.
"Oh c'mon, it's fun!" Dawn's words put did little to change her mind, which resulted in her moving her attention to Delia's left. "Lillie? Chloe? Prety pleaseeeee!"
Considering the former looked like a ripped tomato, and the latter was trying to act as if she wasn't part of the group, something told her Dawn would be the only one here waving those pompoms.
"You guys are such a bore!" Which ended with Dawn huffing in clear annoyance. "We're going to lose to them at this rate!"
It didn't take a genius to know who Dawn was referring too, especially since that particular group was sitting just a few seats beside them.
"I think you would need one hundred more cheerleaders to compete." Chloe's dry tone cut through them like a knife to butter, with her gaze, alongside the rest, landing on the quite...hectic group for a moment before a collective sigh left them all, except for Delia who simply giggled in apparent amusement.
"That's...true enough." Dawn could do nothing but to agree
"At least your friends aren't there..." Which was followed by Lillie's mix of amusement and bewilderment.
"At least your dad isn't there." While May simply looked resigned.
She really didn't have much to add here that hadn't been said already. It wasn't the first time she was witness of his rather... intense group of friends, and she doubted it would be the last.
Specially since the tournament was only now starting.
"My baby sure has some interesting friends!"
That...was one way of putting it, she supposed.
"Are you ready, Pikachu?" He asked with a grin, his whole body shaking in anticipation. This was it; they had all trained so hard for this day, the closest he had ever been to his dream of being a Master, now only a few battles away...!
Sure, they would probably be the hardest battles of his life given that he was pretty much only facing other Champions out there, but as if that was going to stop him or his team!
Pikachu's sudden cry of resolution told him they were on the same page, which only made his grin go even wider.
He couldn't have asked for a better partner to start his journey.
"And now, presenting our very first combatant! Hailing from Kanto but holding the title of Alola's first ever Champion! The newcoming wonder that has taken every League by storm and has even conquered the Battle Frontier...! Here he is, Ash Ketchum!
"That's our cue!" Those were his last words as he rushed through the hall, the light at the end of the tunnel growing brighter right in front of his eyes.
Until he was standing among thousands of people, their roars and cheers all hitting him from every side, even as he kept running towards his area of the arena.
It was only when he got there that he finally looked up, with nothing but wonder and awe in his face. It didn't matter how many times he stood in stages like this, that feeling of sheer adrenaline never got old.
But when his eyes swept through the entire arena, they did so with a mission.
When they landed on Professor Oak, he gave him a resolute nod.
When they landed on his mom and his friends that were sitting around her, he couldn't help but to waive at them.
And then, when they landed on the massive group of people that were all somehow cheering even louder than the rest of the stadium, he simply adjusted his cap, his eyes watering for just a second before a grin was right back in his face.
They didn't have to, but they were all here.
Not to cheer for the Champions of their own regions, but to support him.
And he wasn't going to let those feelings go to waste.
Right here, right now, he was going to do it, in front of their very own eyes.
He was going to become the very best.
"Let's do this, Pikachu!"
Just something that refused to leave my head until I wrote it. Something for laughs about Ash' thing of taking Gym Leaders alongside with him through his journey going into maximum overdrive.
What to expect? Most of the fic is going to be random moments leading up to this version of the Master 8 as we jump back and forth through Ash's, of Ash with the Gym Leaders and the insanity that would be traveling with the guys that are supposed to be working on the Gyms.
Thank you all for having read this far!
Next Chapter: Kanto I