Beginning of a New Adventure
"Calem, Alain it brings me great pleasure in introducing you to my marvelous starters!" A rather handsome man with long scruffy black hair introduced a duo of new trainers, his fashion choice was something else compared to other Professors as he wore rather fashionable clothes beneath his lab coat. The man grabbed hold of six Pokeballs before tossing them into the air revealing Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie, Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle.
"Chespin!" Chespin proudly tapped his chest.
"Fennekin!" Fennekin cutely sneezed an ember from her snout.
"Froak." Froakie simply smiled as he was eager to get out there and prove himself as a powerful Pokemon.
"Bulba." Bulbasaur looked rather relaxed and carefree.
"Char..." Charmander shyly looked away as he felt one of the trainer's staring at him.
"Squirtle squirt squirt!" Squirtle fired a water gun into the air before holding out his arms, a joyful smile upon his face as the water splashed back onto him.
"Meet Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie, Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle! All of them are eager to become your lifelong companion on your adventures so pick any one that you like!" The professor offered with a bright encouraging smile.
"Thanks Professor," A young trainer with short black hair smiled while dropping onto his knees as he approached Froakie while the other trainer made their way towards the shy Charmander. "Hello there Froakie, it's great to meet you. The name's Calem and I'd like to be your partner if you'll have me."
"Froakie!" Froakie eagerly leaped into Calem's arms as the Professor let out a hearty laugh before turning towards the other trainer, who strangely enough also had black hair.
"Alain, you made your choice?"
"I have, I choose Charmander." Alain simply spoke while holding up the shy Charmander who could now be seen hugging him as he sat within his arms.
"Char..."
Professor Sycamore smiled at the sight before turning towards a nearby table where he retrieved two Pokedexs and approximately a dozen Pokeballs, giving six of each to the two trainers while passing them their Pokedexs. "That'll be your Pokedex, it'll allow you to keep track of a Pokemon's moves and learn more about the Pokemon that you encounter throughout the region. Those Pokeballs will help you catch them and if you need more, just head to your nearest Pokemart or department store. And of course if you so desire to own more than six Pokemon, I can take care of them here. Calem, Alain I wish the two of you good luck on your adventure."
"Thanks Sycamore," Calem smiled before motioning towards Froakie. "Come on Froakie, if we hurry we can catch something before nightfall!"
"Froakie!" Froakie excitedly exclaimed before leaping after Calem as the boy raced out the door.
Alain however stayed put. "Professor, I'd like to stay here and act as your assistant." He could be heard saying while Calem raced out of Lumiose City, Froakie hot on his heels. The two raced towards a forest that laid to the south of the city and began looking around in search of a Pokemon before eventually coming across a small robin Pokemon.
"Fletchling!" Calem shouted out only to quickly cover his mouth with a fearful expression. Fletchling looked up from it's meal and shot a quick look around before shrugging as it resumed it's meal. "Praise Arceus... alright Froakie let's attack it with Pound!"
"Froak!" Froakie leaped towards Fletchling before slamming his feet against the robin's back.
"Fletch!" Fletchling squawked out before quickly turning to peck at Froakie's face.
"Froak..." Froakie grunted out.
"Bubble!"
"Froakie!" An array of bubbles shot from Froakie's mouth and splattered against Fletchling, soaking the robin as he collapsed to his side.
"Fletch..."
"And now's our chance, Pokeball go!" Calem hurled an empty ball towards the downed bird, the ball opened up as it made it's approach before engulfing Fletchling in a beam of bright red light. The ball hit the ground and began to rapidly shake before chiming out to signal the capture complete.
"Alright, we just caught ourselves a Fletchling!" Calem cheered while excitedly racing to the Pokeball.
"Froakie!" Froakie cheered.
"How about we go deeper in? There's still plenty of daylight and there's sure to be even cooler Pokemon further in!"
"Froakie!" Froakie eagerly nodded at his trainer's suggestion before following his trainer deeper into the forest, the light began to vanish as the tree lines obscured the sky above giving the forest a dark and creepy vibe as silence filled the air around them.
"I don't see or hear anything..." Calem glanced around with an unsure expression. "Maybe they've already gone to sleep?"
"Froak..." Froakie glanced around with an equally unsure look before pausing as he took notice of something moving in a nearby bush. "Froakie!" Froakie pointed towards the bush with an eager expression.
"Bubble!" Calem shouted out.
"Froak!" Froakie fired off another array of bubbles, the bubbles flew towards the bush before splattering against it. A cry of displeasure could be heard as a figure cloaked in shadow rose from the bush before turning to face Calem, revealing that the shadowy humanoid figure had bright red eyes that looked to be flames!
"Whoa, is that a Pokemon?!" Calem excitedly asked.
"Froakie?" Froakie tilted his head lightly as he hadn't seen anything like it in Professor Sycamore's presentations.
"Attack with Bubble!"
"Froakie!" Froakie leaped towards the Shadowy Figure only for a dark purple colored Raichu to leap from a nearby bush, a smirk present across it's face as it lashed out with a bright blue glowing fist!
"Rai rai!" Shadow Raichu struck Froakie across the head, sending Froakie flying towards a nearby tree which he slammed into before slowly sliding back down as he began losing consciousness.
"Froakie!" Calem shouted with a worrisome tone. "Fletchling use Peck!"
"Fletch!" Fletchling burst out from his ball and swooped towards Raichu as he prepared to attack.
"Rai rai!" Raichu's cheeks sparked as he fired off a powerful thunderbolt, giving Fletchling a powerful shock one that was far too strong for a Pokemon of that level to take!
"F-Fletchling..." The color left Fletchling's eyes as he dropped to the ground.
"Fletchling!" Calem shouted out, tears fell from his eyes as he slowly backed away. But out of the corner of his eye he could see Froakie faintly breathing and looking at him, Calem quickly turned to race towards Froakie but before he could get far he was pinned to the ground by the Shadowy Figure who flashed a sinister smirk at him.
"Oh it's been so very long... I'm going to enjoy this!"
The figure's back was turned to Froakie so he couldn't see what was happening but he heard a lot of punches and what sounded like something slashing out. Froakie tried standing back to his feet before falling back down as he lost consciousness. "Froakie..."
When Froakie awoke both the Shadowy Figure and Shadow Raichu were long gone but Calem and Fletchling's lifeless forms could be seen not far off. "Froakie!" Froakie leaped towards his trainer and desperately used Bubble in an attempt to wake him up, the frog even gave Calem a few nudges but nothing worked. Froakie hung his head and laid next to his fallen trainer for several days as it took a bit for another trainer to pass through and find the body.
Professor Sycamore arrived to pick Froakie up and offered him a comforting pat while officials carefully wrapped Calem up before sliding him onto a stretcher. "There there Froakie, it's not your fault..."
"Froakie..." Froakie turned his gaze towards the ground. 'If only I was stronger...'
"Again?" Alain sighed, the boy was now wearing a lab coat as he was officially Sycamore's assistant. His gaze fixated upon Froakie as the frog sat on the lab's steps yet again. "This is the third time this month, you can't keep leaving trainers like this. You're going to get Sycamore in trouble!"
Froakie turned away from Alain. The arrival of new trainers was relatively slow ever since the Pokemon League enforced the age requirement to be a Pokemon Trainer, following Calem and countless others' deaths the League had decided to make some changes requiring one to be sixteen in order to receive your license. Those that already had their license such as Alain were allowed to keep it as it was too much hassle and waste of resources to track tens of thousands trainers down so they simply barred off registration.
Froakie frowned. A few years had passed since Calem's death and everyone he met failed to impress him, Froakie simply abandoned those that were interested in Showcases right away as he had no interest wasting his time doing something that wouldn't get him stronger while everyone else? They failed to impress Froakie, some just wanted a fun adventure and didn't care about getting stronger while those that did want to get stronger tended to choose Charmander. Froakie was jealous and furious, he wanted to become strong so that he'd never fail and lose another trainer. He couldn't bear for it to happen again!
Suddenly an advertisement lit up across one of Lumiose City's massive screens. "Looking for an escape from Kalos? Looking for a warmer climate? Then head to the Hoenn region! We've got warm beaches, weather and even our own Pokemon League!"
"Froakie!" Froakie gasped out. The convenient advertisement made him realize that there were more regions than just Kalos, if the right trainer wasn't in Kalos then perhaps they were out there somewhere!
An additional three years passed as Froakie leaped onto a boat that was departing the Galar region, a glum expression upon his face as the boat sailed towards a distant region known as Johto. 'I've tried Kalos, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Galar and even Alola... I sure hope my destiny is waiting for me here, I have to get stronger... I just have to!" It had been seven years since Calem's death but Froakie was still harboring survivor's guilt.
"Happy Birthday, Ash!"
"Eevoi!"
"Croa!" Ash had walked down the steps of the Ketchum Residence home on his seventeenth birthday only for a large group of people to leap into view while confetti flew across the room. Chloe, Brock, Gary, Leaf, Flash, Giselle, Misty, Sabrina, Janine, Tracey, Ren, Todd Snap, Rita, Yellow, Gloria, Professor Cerise and Giovanni clapped and cheered for Ash.
Ash's eyes widened before a large smile spread across his face at the sight of his friends. "Hey everyone!"
"Pika..." Pikachu faintly sweated while giving them all a wave.
"I baked a cake, sweetie!" Delia beamed while carrying a large yellow Pikachu shaped cake into the room.
"I could have just bought a bakery you know," Giovanni placed his hands into his pockets. "You didn't have to go to all that trouble."
"But it wouldn't have been made with love!" Delia cheerfully exclaimed.
Ash smiled for a moment before frowning as he realized that this was his first birthday without Professor Oak and Rex around to celebrate. His hand briefly went towards his hair causing him to remember that during all the chaos he'd also lost his hat! Ash felt very much naked without a hat upon his head causing an uncomfortable expression to form across his face.
Chloe noticed his expression and reached out to hold her boyfriend's hand. "I'm sorry, if we'd had enough time I'd have found you a new hat." She'd forgotten as well on account of Professor Oak and Rex's funeral being fresh on their mind. "We'll find you a new one in Johto, I'm sure of it."
Ash offered his girlfriend a light smile and gave her cheek a quick peck before stepping down the stairs to join the others as Delia began slicing up the cake before offering the first slice to Ash. "Here you go, sweetie!" She beamed.
"Thanks mom." Ash gave his mother a bright smile as he took the cake slice.
Giovanni kept his distance from the others as he reached into his coat and withdrew a small box that was wrapped in Pikachu patterned wrapping paper before setting it down upon the table. He patiently waited for Ash to break away from the others until he finally had his chance. "Hey Ash, come over here."
"Hm? What is it, Giovanni?" Ash gave a light tilt of his head as he approached Giovanni.
Giovanni took hold of the Pikachu wrapped present before handing it off to Ash with a bright friendly smile. "Happy birthday, kid!"
Ash stared at the small box for a moment as he wondered what could be inside, it felt very light whatever it was. He began peeling the paper away but only found a small brown box and only upon opening that would his gift come into view. Stars filled Ash's eyes as a blue Mega Stone with a black/dark blue swirl sat within the box. "I-Is that...?!"
"Charizardite X." Giovanni crossed his arms while offering Ash a light nod as a smirk spread across his face. "Your Charizard proved himself countless times throughout your Kanto and Orange League adventures so I think it's only right that you receive the second stone."
Ash let out an excited shout, Pikachu's expression matched his own as he was happy for his teammate! "Thank you Giovanni, this means a lot! I'm sure that Charizard is going to love this." Charizard's ball excitedly shook upon Ash's belt proving his words correct.
Giovanni smirked and gave Ash's hair a light scruff. "Enjoy it, I know that you'll put it to good use."
After a few hours the party began wearing down, Gary was naturally the first to leave.
"Smell ya later, Ashy boy! The Silver League starts up today and I intended on collecting every badge that Johto has to offer!" Gary laughed, he was sure to give Leaf a goodbye kiss on the lips before hastily taking his leave as he released his Corviknight. "Johto awaits!"
"Whoa!" Ash's eyes widened at the sight of Gary's Corviknight as he hadn't seen it until now. "Who's that Pokemon?" He reached into his jacket and quickly retrieved his Rotom Phone.
"Corviknight the Raven Pokemon, this Pokemon reigns supreme in the skies of the Galar region. The black luster of its steel body could drive terror into the heart of any foe!"
"I can't wait to face that in the Silver League!" Ash excitedly clenched his fists.
"Heh, good luck beating it!" Gary smirked while Corviknight took flight.
"We've got to get going to," Flash smirked while holding onto Giselle's hand. "Neither of us have Flying types so we've got to walk to Tohjo Falls and head into Johto that way."
"Right!" Giselle leaned affectionately against her boyfriend's shoulder. "See you all at the Silver League!"
"See ya!" Ash waved after his friends and rivals as they took their leave.
The others began taking their leave one by one. Giovanni seemed to have no intent on leaving anytime soon which Ash, who was still a bit dense when it came to certain subjects, didn't seem to understand but he shrugged it off.
Professor Cerise exited the home but stopped beside Ash, Chloe and Brock. "Can we talk?"
"Sure Professor, what is it?" Ash blinked.
"It's about Rex," Professor Cerise stated while retrieving a piece of paper from his pocket. "As you know his entire family is gone and there was only one name listed within his will, yours."
"Whoa, so Ash is rich?!" Chloe's eyes widened.
"Heh, no. Rex stated that he wished his income went to help children in need at hospitals and orphanages." Cerise spoke. "And his Pokemon are no longer of this world so that part won't apply to you but he did leave you his house!"
"I have a house?!" Ash gasped out.
"Ash has a house?!" Delia shot from the homes at the words before pulling Ash into a tight hug. "Oh I'm so happy that my little boy is moving out!"
"Ack! Mom, the neighbors are staring!"
"Rex moved out of Pallet Town a long time ago, didn't he?" Chloe asked.
"That he did, his old home only brought back sad memories so rather than sell it he chose to burn it that way he didn't have to see it whenever he came to visit you all and Professor Oak." Cerise stated. "His new home is actually ranch not far off from New Bark Town."
"That's where Professor Elm resides right?" Chloe recalled. Ash was still in possession of the GS ball and both him and Cerise decided to find a way to open it as Oak had been intrigued by the mystery and intent on opening it before his passing, figuring it was the honorable thing to do rather than leave it unresolved. Cerise tried for a few days to open it before handing it back to Ash during the party. Cerise had no idea how to open it as he was still 'new to the whole Professor thing' but went on to suggest Professor Elm as he'd been Oak's student before Cerise, if anyone knew where to start it'd be Professor Elm!
"Right, we could head to New Bark Town after checking out the ranch!" Brock exclaimed.
"Sounds like a plan to me, I've never seen Rex's place before. I'm curious what it looks like!"
The sounds of a rushing waterfall sounded off as Ash, Brock and Chloe took their first steps into the Johto region. Ash took a deep breath of air before smiling as he turned towards Pikachu and the others. "Today's the beginning of a brand new adventure, I can't wait to see what's waiting for us in the Johto region!"
"Pika pika!"
"I bet there's all sorts of cool Pokemon we've never seen before." Chloe smiled.
"Eevoi!"
"And plenty of beautiful girls!" Brock gushed.
"Croa..." Croagunk raised his hand as he prepared to jab Brock's back.
A few hours passed before the group came across a large open field as a two story home came into view in the distance, they were a good distance from civilization so the air was quiet while a nice pleasant breeze flowed through the air and hit against their faces.
"Feel that air, Pikachu? It smells different than back home!"
"Pika..."
"It could be because we're closer to Mt. Silver than we are in Pallet Town." Chloe motioned towards the large mountain range that divided the Kanto and Johto regions.
Brock was quick to notice that a fence bordered a large open field that sat in the home's backyard, a large lake could be seen along with several trees filled to the brim with berries while there was also plenty of space for Pokemon to graze or laze about in the sun. "Hey look, there's more than enough room for all your guy's Pokemon several times over! You know this'd be a good place for you two to settle down when you get married!"
Ash and Chloe both shot red at Brock's words and gave each other a look. They both wanted that but it was still too soon to be discussing that as they'd only begun dating four months ago.
"Maybe..." Ash sweated.
"It's certainly big enough, you'd never have to worry about space unless you captured something extremely massive like Wailord." Chloe playfully joked.
"Yeah, maybe I'll keep it..." Ash trailed off while looking over the fence. There were several wild Pokemon that helped themselves to the area much like Professor Oak's own ranch. A look of excitement filled Ash's eyes as he quickly climbed the fence upon spotting a Pokemon that he'd never seen before. "How about we take a look around?!"
"Ash!" Chloe gasped out as Ash eagerly climbed over the fence while shaking her head lightly as she looked towards a gate that sat only a few feet away from where Ash had been standing. Chloe and Brock opened the gate and quickly closed it behind him before following him into the large field.
"So this is what a Mareep looks like!" Ash excitedly shook while looking over a cute blue sheep that had a thick coat of white wool.
"Baaaa!" Mareep sweated lightly as she stared up at Ash.
Ash then quickly raced towards what appeared to be a sentient sunflower. "I've never seen this one before either!"
"Sunflora!" Sunflora cheerfully cried while waving to Ash before frowning lightly as he blocked her sun. "Flora..."
"Sunflora the Sun Pokemon, Sunflora converts solar energy into nutrition. It moves around actively in the daytime when it is warm. It stops moving as soon as the sun goes down for the night."
"Oops, sorry!" Ash quickly stepped to the side allowing for Sunflora to bask in the sun once more.
"Sunflora..." Sunflora uttered out a peaceful sigh.
"This one's cool!"
"Shuckle, shuck shuck!" The yellow tortoise beamed up at Ash.
"Shuckle the Mold Pokemon, Shuckle quietly hides itself under rocks, keeping its body concealed inside its hard shell while eating berries it has stored away. The berries mix with its body fluids to become a juice."
Ash quickly shot a look around before spotting a strange blue frog Pokemon that sat beside the lake, quickly recognizing the Pokemon from the memorial in Lavender Town. "A Froakie!" Ash eagerly shot forward as he intended on catching this one. "Alright Toxel, this is a perfect chance for your first battle!"
"Toxel!" Toxel burst from his ball at his father's call, his cheeks sparked as he prepared to attack Froakie.
"Nuzzle!"
"Tox!" Toxel rushed towards Froakie only for Froakie to swiftly dodge.
"Froa!" Froakie leaped aside before firing off a powerful pulse of water, the water shot towards Toxel and splashed against him upon impact.
"Tox..." Toxel collapsed against the ground, swirls formed within his eyes as Ash and Pikachu sweated.
"Perhaps we underestimated how strong you are..." The other Pokemon that Ash scanned were within Toxel's level range so he may have jumped the gun and assumed Froakie was. "Toxel return!"
Froakie gave Ash an unimpressed look and shook his head before proceeding to leap away towards the nearby tree line. "Froakie wait, come back!"
"Pika pi!" Ash and Pikachu shouted out while chasing after Froakie. Froakie glanced back at them and uttered a grunt of frustration as he picked up speed, leaping further into the treelines.
Ash was persistent as always, refusing to give up as he pursued Froakie deeper into the forest while ignoring Brock and Chloe's cries to wait up. "We can't let this get away, Froakie looks like he'd be an amazing addition to our team!"
"Pika!"
"Froakie... froak..." Froakie began running out of breath and quickly leaped into a bush as he dove around the corner, Ash and Pikachu raced around the corner and kept going causing Froakie to breath a sigh of relief. The frog caught his breath for a moment before leaping on out of the bush as he prepared to continue on his way and find a more impressive candidate to be his trainer. The kid seemed alright but Froakie had bested his Electric type with a Water attack!
A pair of red eyes lit up and leered down towards Froakie as he began leaping away. The sound of buzzing wings could be heard before a pair of feet slammed against the ground. "Froak!" Froakie gasped and froze in place as he saw a dark purple colored Heracross, it's eyes burned the same fiery red that Raichu's had all those years ago.
"Heracross..."
"Froakie!" Froakie fired off a Water Pulse but Heracross stood there and took it like a champ, flashing a mocking smirk to Froakie before reaching out as he performed a tight grip.
"Cross!" Heracross flew upwards high above the trees and spiraled about midair before hurling Froakie towards the ground below!
"Froakie!" Froakie cried out as he flew towards the ground below, his eyes widened in horror as he saw the ground getting closer by the second. His eyes closed as he realized that this was probably the end.
"Charizard I choose you!" Could be heard in the distance, a pair of sharp claws soon dug into Froakie's back as something had caught him. Froakie slowly opened his eyes and glanced up to see Ash riding atop Charizard's back. Ash offered Froakie a light smirk and waved at the frog before quickly turning his attention towards Shadow Heracross.
"Rex cured everything that Yveltal transformed during the incident so I'm guessing this is either the second puppet's doing or something that Rex unknowingly transformed while under Yveltal's influence." Ash frowned. Either way it needed to be stopped and a quick scan showed just how powerful Heracross was. 'That's around the same level as Nidoking and Tauros!'
Ash held up his Mega Glove as he activated it. "Alright Charizard, let's show Heracross just how strong our bond is with Mega Evolution!" A bright pink glow consumed Charizard's body as his scales turned to a black coloring while his chest turned blue. Blue flames flew from his snout while his tail flame turned a bright blue color.
"CHAR!" The newly transformed Mega Charizard X roared out.
"Froakie..." Froakie's jaw dropped as stars filled his eyes. He could practically feel the power radiating off of Charizard, only a very powerful Pokemon could emit that aura!
"Flamethrower!"
"CHAR!" Charizard took a deep breath before firing off a powerful stream of blue colored flames! Heracross' eyes widened as the attack soared towards him, Heracross grunted out as the attack made contact with his body before a pained cry emitted from his mouth. His eyes rolled up into his head shortly before a golden glow surrounded Heracross, proving that Rex had been successful in ensuring that the Rainbow Wing was no longer necessary to cure Shadow Pokemon as the Rainbow Wing wasn't within Ash's reach at the moment. The defeated Heracross slowly began descending towards the ground below and at a very rapid pace, a fall at this height was liable to kill Heracross!
Ash whipped out an empty Pokeball and hurled it towards Heracross as he fell, the Pokeball zoomed after Heracross and opened up before sucking the Bug into the capture device. The ball rapidly shook back and forth before chiming out to announce the capture a success, a bright white light soon enveloped the Pokeball as it was transported to the safety of Professor Cerise's lab.
"Hey look champ, you caught a Heracross just like you wanted to!" The Rotom Phone chimed out from Ash's pocket.
"Yeah, I guess I did." Ash sweated before looking down towards Froakie. "You okay down there, Froakie?"
"F-Froakie..." Froakie was lightly shaken up but managed to pull off a light nod.
Ash offered Froakie a smile before tapping Charizard's neck. "Take us down, Charizard."
"Char!" Charizard roared out while making his descent towards the ground below, Froakie soon safely released onto the ground before Charizard landed next to him. Ash climbed off Charizard's back as the pink light consumed him once more, reverting him back to his standard form.
Ash reached into his pocket and withdrew an Oran Berry before placing it next to Froakie. "There, that should help with your injuries." Ash turned his back to Froakie before starting to walk away. "You can go back to basking by the lake, if you want to remain free then I'll respect your wish."
Froakie stared after Ash as he walked off. "Froakie..." He trailed off.
Ash and Pikachu soon reunited with Brock and Chloe. "There you are, what happened?" Chloe asked. "We heard what sounded like fighting, Team Rocket didn't try and ambush you did they?"
"No, I actually haven't seen them since they sacrificed themselves." Ash shook his head. He had a feeling they were still around somewhere but he hadn't seen any sign of them. "But I did ran into a Shadow Heracross and cured it, caught it too!" An excited grin spread across Ash's face as he couldn't wait to properly meet Heracross and battle alongside him!
Chloe felt her hair and noticed the Rainbow Wing was still there. "That's great!" Chloe beamed brightly before taking notice of some mist forming atop the field's lake. Brock and Ash had their backs to it while Chloe's gaze was fixated right on it, allowing her to see a large blue colored beast with a long flowing purple colored mane standing atop the water surface as if it were Arceus itself! Chloe's eyes widened at the sight as she'd never seen anything like it before, she slowly pointed towards the lake with one hand while reaching into her jacket with the other as words struggled to come out. "L-L..."
Brock and Ash tilted their heads with visible concern. "What is it Chloe?"
"You coming down with something?" Ash asked.
Chloe hastily shook her head as her hand continued slowly moving before fully pointing towards the lake behind them as she pulled out her Rotom Phone. "Look behind you!"
"Huh?" Ash and Brock swiftly turned and caught a brief sight of the blue beast. The beast turned towards the ground and stared at them for a quick second before racing off across the lake and into the nearby forest where it disappeared from sight!
"Whoa, what Pokemon was that?!" Ash gasped.
"I have no idea..." Brock trailed off.
"Suicune the Aurora Pokemon, Suicune embodies the compassion of a pure spring of water. It runs across the land with gracefulness. This Pokemon has the power to purify dirty water!" Chloe's Rotom Phone read.
"Heh. You sure seem to have a habit of running into legendaries, champ. Nobody's seen a Suicune in over a thousand years!" Ash's Rotom Phone chimed in, true enough much like Lugia and Mew it was merely an illustration of Suicune though Lugia's entry had since been updated to showcase the real deal as it's presence had been recorded during the incident.
"You know, I've begun to notice that too." Chloe stroked the side of her cheek in a thoughtful fashion. "We saw Mew when we were kids, then you saw Ho-oh the day we left, I still think that Mew saved us when the SS Anne sank, then you captured Melmetal before proceeding to meet not just Zapdos but Articuno, Moltres, Lugia and now we've seen Suicune! It's definitely unusual as most trainers go through whole lives without seeing a single rare Pokemon let alone a legendary!"
Ash clenched his fists as he turned his gaze towards the horizon. "Well I hope I get to meet Suicune again, I'd love to challenge them to a Pokemon battle!"
"I hope so too, it's so amazing getting to meet these legendary Pokemon!" Chloe gushed while stars filled her eyes.
"Who knows, maybe we'll meet Suicune's friends if they have anything." Brock joked causing the group to laugh for a moment and only stopping as Ash felt something slap his rear.
"Ow!" Ash gasped out before quickly turning around as he heard a Pokeball hit the ground. "Who did-?" Ash froze up upon seeing Froakie staring directly up at him, the Pokeball sat between Froakie's legs.
"Froak!" Froakie offered Ash a smile before nudging the ball back towards him.
"Whoa, a Froakie!" Brock exclaimed.
"Is that what you chased after?" Chloe asked, recalling that Ash thought the frog was an 'amazing' looking Pokemon.
"It is..." Ash trailed off while dropping to a knee in order to look Froakie in the eye as he offered the frog a smile. "Froakie, you want to come with us?"
"Froakie!" Froakie gave off an eager nod.
Ash picked the ball up. "That's great, the two of us can grow stronger together then! It's my dream to beat the Silver League and work my way towards becoming a Pokemon Master, together I'm sure that we can accomplish that!"
Stars filled Froakie's eyes in response to Ash's words as he gave off another nod. "Froakie!" Ash smiled before tapping the ball up against Froakie's head, a bright red light engulfed Froakie's body as he was absorbed into the Pokeball which shook within Ash's grasp before chiming out to announce the capture complete!
"Alright, we just caught a Froakie!" Ash performed his signature victory pose while holding the ball above his head.
"Pika pi!" Pikachu chimed in while posing alongside his trainer.
The Pokeball soon whisked itself away to Professor Cerise's lab as Ash and Pikachu turned towards each other with equally excited expressions. They couldn't wait to begin training with their new friend as their new adventure officially began!
Ash is still hatless for now but he's still dressed like his Power of Us counterpart, Brock's still in his Let's GO outfit, Misty with her HGSS design, etc. The hat's the only change in appearance for the time being but rest assured Ash will get a hat again later.
Originally Heracross was going to join by struggling to beat James' Grapploct and offer to join Ash after besting it but I felt like it'd take away from where I left Team Rocket off if they immediately went back to stealing Pikachu. And Heracross is one of my favorite members of Ash's team so there was no way I'd pass him up by writing it off, so the plot started with Froakie losing a trainer to a Shadow Pokemon to then gaining a new trainer and friend after seeing the trainer best a Shadow Pokemon, giving Froakie a mean's to grow stronger and improve.
I wanted to start off with a flashback too, all of the stories(Apart from possibly Alola/Galar/Pokespain) start with flashbacks introducing new characters but Johto doesn't start off with a new protag embarking on a journey so Froakie took the spotlight.
Charizardite X may feel like a freebie but Charizard's repeatedly had chances to shine and I thought that giving it to him later on in this story would just take away from Greninja developing a new form, especially when Greninja needs to prove himself as Ash's ace still. So Giovanni just gave it to Ash as a present rather than Ash earning it, he's going to earn Sceptile's, Heracross', etc when we get to Hoenn though.