Ash's Power Trip

by PrinceAsmo

Seven years ago, Alola was raided by Team Rainbow Rocket. Champion Ash Ketchum lost his partner Pokemon in an attempt to save the day. Hell bent on gaining power to never feel the pain of loss again,, 25yo Ash is aiming to sit at the top of the Pokemon World. Will he succeed, or will he become drunk in his own power? What happens when a good heart becomes tainted?

5. Chapter 4: Descent Into Madness

I'm not late, am I?

---

September 19, 2022. 21:00 (9:00 pm)
En route to Poni Island, Alola Region

"Ash, what exactly is going on?" The anxious telepathic voice of Latias was heard inside the Champion's head.

"Don't know. At least not yet. Apparently, uncontrollable Ultra Beast invasion. But this... This looks way worse." Ash murmured. His eyes were set on Poni Island which the Latias was gunning for.

On the sky above, a swirling, dark red cloud was covering the entirety of the Canyon Island, gifting its eerie glow to the lands below. An Ultra Wormhole was nowhere to be found.

As Ash started nearing the Island he saw the first signs of damage. Exeggutor Island was ravaged beyond recognition. It was burning and the ground was pulled out from the inside, looking like feet were dragged in sand. On the other hand, half of Seafolk Village was simply gone. It looked like it disappeared from existence, leaving electrically charged sea water where the village should have been. 'Electrically charged' was an understatement - the sea, the wood, and the ground near it looked like they were glowing yellow. As if the sea was hit by Electric Terrain, but Electric Terrain doesn't do damage like that. It doesn't do damage in general. That was a curious situation - the sea had copious amounts of electricity sizzling through. Something dangerous was loose, and the potential for damage was immeasurable.

Suddenly, Ash felt his belt getting heavy. Six Pokeballs were suddenly neatly confined on his belt - courtesy of Mewtwo. When he finished checking them he saw a fleeting blur of white and purple belonging to the Legendary feline rushing towards Poni Altar, or commonly known as the Altar of Sunne and Moone.

A massive Honchrow blew past Ash and stopped for a moment to wait for him. Its rider yelled.

"You're late! Where is your phone? We've been attempting contact for the last half hour!" The purple haired Elite Four of Alola was mad. He was looking disheveled and had multiple scratches and bruises on his face and body. A massive slash had torn through his jeans, cutting deep into his thigh. Ash winced.

"What is happening? Two Elites - unless the other two are also fighting right now - are beaten silly and the fight is not over. An unknown Ultra Beast Legendary or something?" Their flight suddenly stopped when he was motioned to wait by Paul. They hovered in the air above the half destroyed Seafolk Village. Ash did not fail to notice that Paul was trying to scan the island with panic evident in his eyes.

"I have no idea Ash. Two gigantic Xurkitree just appeared on opposite sides of the Island exactly 33 minutes ago. Battle Tree is gone, Exeggutor Island is ruined and half of Seafolk was evaporated in an instant by a thunder that hit like a cannon from Arceus' hands."

Ash was connecting the dots, of course. A lance of thunder evaporating half a village, Electric Terrain activated... That was Max Lightning by a Pokemon of insane power. Gigantic Xurkitree, red clouds above the Island...

"Were the Xurkitree red?"

"Huh?"

"Did their bodies have a red sheen on them like a glow?" Ash insisted, patience dwindling fast and panic growing at the same pace.

"Yes."

"Fuck." Ash spat. Dynamaxed Xurkitree. Two of them. But how? This isn't Galar, Pokemon cannot physically Dynamax and apparently the Xurkitree have been going at it for at least half an hour.

"Ash they are too strong. Pokeballs wont work-"

"Of course Pokeballs won't fucking work!" Ash retorted with a yell. "First of all, we need our Beast Balls, second of all, the Beast Balls don't even have the necessary technology to become Dynamaxed Beast Balls to actually catch the Pokemon in - and even if they did, Alola does not have Galar's energy to Dynamax them in the first place!"

Paul looked at him curiously. "The fuck is a Dynamax?"

"Champion clearance knowledge of the League. Dynamax is some sort of weird phenomenon caused in Galar that makes their Pokemon gigantic and incredibly powerful if they can harness the energy from their native ground. Now, brief me fast before Poni sinks"

"One Xurkitree is being contained by the Tapus behind the Altar and I saw Mewtwo rushing there - apparently, the Xurkitree is unable to faint and it does not return to normal no matter how much damage it takes. The other is advancing from Battle Tree to Poni Alt-"

Suddenly, an extremely loud explosion shook the whole island. Ash noticed a massive spiky head of a Xurkitree with red clouds - significantly darker than usual, bordering on black - around it poking from the cliffs of the canyon. At least he now had vision on the Xurkitree he needed to take care of.

"Evacuate all citizens-"

"No shit!" Paul spat. Ash ignored him.

"- Tell the Tapus to kill the other Xurkitree, we have no other choice." Ash completed his sentence and with a nudge his Latias burst forth, advancing ever closer to Poni Canyon to fight the Xurkitree.

Paul attempted to cut a hard left and fly towards the contained Xurkitree when Ash left, but a white mass of a flying Pokemon slammed into him, sending both flyers plummeting to the sea. But that was a problem, as the sea at the moment was an electric death trap. He was dead. It was all over in the most lame way imaginable.

Honchcrow however would never allow that and barely one second later it swooped back in and let Paul's body land on its back.

Honchcrow's eyes narrowed dangerously staring at the white colored flyer and unleashed an uncalled for Dark Pulse.

"Aura Sphere!" The rider of the Togekiss commanded in retaliation as soon as it dodged, sending a sphere of bright blue light straight at Honchcrow's head, hitting it cleanly and causing it to stumble lower.

Paul was also impacted and after spitting a bit of blood he hissed. "Honchcrow, standby for battle!" Honchcrow in response flew higher to match Togekiss' level. Both the Big Boss Pokemon and its trainer were ready to eliminate the foolish person attempting to stop an operation of the Elite Four.

When the two birds locked eyes, however, both of them cocked their heads. They knew each other. "Honch! Honch-honch!" It tried to tell its trainer, but he wasn't Ash to understand it. Thankfully, the blue haired trainer riding the Togekiss would prevent pointless fighting.

"Wait... I know that command!" Dawn realized and smashed her fist in her open palm and looked at the rider of the black bird with more focus. Yes, it was Paul. "What the fuck are you doing here?" She spat in disgust at Ash's former rival.

Paul from being enraged and fired-up, he turned burned-out and curious, looking at the blunette with a cocked head. "What the fuck are you doing here, Berlitz?" he thought aloud. "And why the fuck are you trying to kill me?"

"I didn't! You turned and intercepted my path, then your Honchcrow attacked me! As for why I'm here, it is to help Ash - and I came to Alola to find him, I won't let him out of my sight again." The Rising Sun responded and held her head high in defiance.

"You are not going anywhere. You are to return to wherever you came flying from, immediately" He commanded and tried to fly away, but the ever-stubborn Dawn cut his path.

"I am not going anywhere! I am going after Ash before I lose him again!" She roared back, but Paul simply shook his head.

"That was a command from the 3rd Elite Four of Alola, now leave" He hissed at her and attempted to leave.

"From the who? In what world you're Ash's Elite?"

"In the world where this stupid immature boy is my best friend of seven years. Someone had to be here for him when you all deserted him!"

"I will not discuss anything more with you." The blunette responded. She could not take Paul seriously right now, she had bigger problems. "Now, before I cut your head off, go do your job and I will do mine." Dawn hissed, clearly not interested in Paul's explanations at the moment.

Paul rolled his eyes in response, but then flew closer to her. "Should you ever cause even a tiny bit of grief to him, I will kill you myself. Honchcrow, to the Tapus." With a piercing screech, the black bird bolted towards the Poni Altar.

"Togekiss, to Ash."

---

This Ultra Beast was absolutely monstrous - it was approximately 100 meters tall and its limbs had an 80 meter reach in all directions. Made sense, considering Xurkitree is completely made of cable limbs and a spiky lightbulb for a head, looking like an awkward, edgy Christmas tree...

He reached the site of the advancing Xurkitree relatively fast, but the massive cable-tree was already too near to the Poni Altar. The gears in his brain were burning from the speed they were rotating with. He needed a plan. Thankfully, despite the limited time he had to actually think, he came up with a solid plan that could work - provided he and his Pokemon weren't interrupted.

"TIME TO FIGHT!" He roared and five Pokeballs were tossed in front of the advancing Ultra Beast.

First, a massive orange pseudo-dragon roared and took flight.

After it, a serious looking blue canine appeared in silence, observing the gigantic Xurkitree.

Next to it, an equally serious and silent blue ninja-frog appeared with arms crossed along with a loud, screeching flame monkey that spawned right behind the blue duo.

Last, but certainly not least, a tiny, origami-looking Pokemon appeared perched on Lucario's shoulder accompanied by small glittering stars indicating the Pokemon is a Shiny. The deadly Ultra Beast named Kartana eyed its Electric-type counterpart and snickered. That would be a fun match.

"Listen up!" Ash commanded and hovered above his team. "We have a plan! Latias, start applying Screens and Safeguards on everybody." Latias did not waste a single moment before heeding his commands, applying yellow, green and silver layers on his team. "Kartana my friend, you go behind Xurkitree's head. Start slashing just under the head on its cables until you break through for a finisher. Charizard, you will be Mega Evolved for Drought. You keep the beast's attention on you by flying around its head and hitting it. Greninja, we will connect after Charizard's Mega Evolution and you will work with Infernape and Lucario to make it fall. Cut off its legs if necessary." Ash took a deep breath and pulled a cigarette, which he promptly put in his mouth. "Latias. I stay on you and we provide support on everyone. And use Tailwind now." Almost immediately, a soft gale blew from behind his team, boosting their speed as a whole.

Xurkitree was slowly advancing towards them. Despite being that massive, it was moving extremely slow. That gave room for Ash to take a deep breath and pull his silver lighter from his locket, Keystone embedded on it. He lit his cigarette up and let the smell of the tobacco to hit his nostrils. After all those years of addiction, it was a welcome feeling. At the same time, he touched the Keystone on his Mega Lighter and bellowed one last command to his team.

"BEGIN!"

Charizard immediately accepted his trainer's feelings and their exploding energies connected with each other. Before the subtle yet significant transformation was complete, a miniature sun had already turned night to day with his ability.

At the same time, a tiny white blur disappeared towards the massive Ultra Beast until it disappeared behind it. Lucario and Infernape rushed to its right leg (?) and before they collided their attacks with it, the complete Mega Charizard Y bellowed a mighty roar of challenge, enough to turn Xurkitree's lightbulb to stare - no one had an idea as to how it actually stared - at it.

In a cocky gesture of challenge, the orange pseudo-dragon took flight to reach it on eye level and hit it with a mighty sun-boosted Overheat. The battle started in earnest.

"Kartana! Use Solar Blades to cut through! Latias, let's soar." Latias started darting around the battlefield located on a flat surface of the Poni Canyon. While moving, Ash closed his eyes and connected his aura to Greninja. Soon enough, he felt Greninja responding and he heard the explosion of a torrent coming from within his Kalosian powerhouse. Moments later, the mighty Greninja was already rushing on Xurkitree, cradling its massive Water Shuriken like an awkward chakram.

"Move on the opposite side of Charizard. Use Mist Ball to obsure its vision." Ash said to his Latias, which promptly obeyed and the resulting explosion covered the lightbulb headed Beast in mist.

Xurkitree was screeching in mild pain. The fight almost looked like a dog fight. A wild Kartana was hacking on the cable-like flesh behind its head without any sign of remorse with bright, exploding blades of sunlight. Charizard was continuously blasting the lightbulb with Flamethrowers, Fire Blasts and Solar Beams. Lucario, Greninja and Infernape were on the cable limb Ash dubbed right leg using punches, elemental bursts and the slashes from a massive water shuriken.

Unfortunately, the only one actually dealing significant damage was Kartana that was slowly getting deeper in Xurkitree's skin. And apparently, the Beast had enough.

"Latias, Ally Switch on Charizard and Protect!" Ash witnessed his vision completely change and completely disorienting him, suddenly being on the opposite side from where he called his command - he really needed to get used to that. A solid green barrier surrounded the Eon Pokemon and its flier, causing the incoming Thunderbolt to wash over it harmlessly. Ash noticed electricity flowing to the Beast's right leg and of course he reacted. "JUMP OFF THE LEG AND HOLD TIGHT" His trio of powerhouses immediately jumped off to escape most of the damage and valiantly withstood the Thunderbolt that reached them. "Refresh Screens and apply Heal Pulse on them." Latias complied.

Ash recalled Charizard at that moment and re-released him immediately, simply to restore the effects of Drought on their impromptu battlefield. "The trio, keep hacking at the leg. Charizard, stop attacking and start channeling sunlight as much as possible. Latias, move behind it"

Latias flew around the back of Xurkitree and Ash tried to observe the damage done by Kartana. It wasn't much, but with time he would be deep enough in its skin to deal a deadly blow. Kartana itself, however, was no worse for wear - having burn marks from the electricity escaping the slowly growing wound decorating its tiny white frame. Thankfully, that was not an issue to be worried about. "Latias, Heal Pulse on Kartana and keep moving."

By this point, Ash was sweating. The smell of ozone was more than discomforting and the fight was flooding him with anxiety. The amount of micro-management he needed to cover the whole battlefield was not an easy thing to achieve. And things could only get worse. "Latias, maximize Screens on the two of us. We'll need them." Latias turned its eyes to try and look at Ash curiously, but it wouldn't disobey him. Ash waited until preparations were finished and then he roared.

"CHARIZARD! UNLEASH MOLTEN SUN!" Charizard grinned. First, he started flapping its massive wings towards the lightbulb resting on top of Xurkitree's body, releasing a terrible heat that had the potential to burn rainforests in an instant. Then, without a moment of hesitation, it parted its jaws wide and unleashed the solar energy it was absorbing.

The result was disturbing and destructive in equal measures. The absolutely massive white-yellow beam of solar energy had turned to a deep sunset-orange hue - product of all the heat exuded by the Heat Wave, enhancing the beam's effectiveness, temperature and power, distorting the atmosphere in the immediate area. It was also big enough to engulf the massive, 20 meter high lightbulb that acted as the Beast's head.

'Molten Sun' was an accurate description. The beam, colored with the hues of the setting sun, was uncomfortable to even look at - let alone be near it. The Xurkitree - with its head covered in the blanket of hellfire - stumbled back and screamed in unimaginable pain. It was a terrible noise, akin to charged metal rods rubbing against each other, but in a much grander scale. It was so absurdly loud that every one in the vicinity visibly winced and covered their ears - except Charizard that couldn't really hear much under the flaming sun being released from its jaw. Finally, both the Molten Sun and the screams ended.

The result was disgusting. Xurkitree's spiky appendages on its head had melted off completely - they dripped like slime on the rest of its head and body where they solidified - and its head now resembled an actual lightbulb; shiny, round and white. Charizard, on the other hand, was almost passed out from overexertion.

And soon, Charizard would be dead, if Ash didn't respond in time. Lightning focused on the clouds above Charizard, spelling the end for the Flame Pokemon.

"Ally Switch with Charizard NOW!" Ash screamed and suddenly the lightning forming was above him. He couldn't even pay notice to the unconscious, now normal form Charizard free-falling to the ground, nor he could spare the thought of re-orienting to his surroundings. Lightning struck.

"PROTECT!" The Champion roared and the lightning collided with the green barrier. He heard Latias' groans of stress, but she wouldn't stop pouring power on the Protect. One Protect shattered. A second Protect shattered. A third Protect shattered. Max Lightning - and Max moves in general - could not be nullified properly with a simple Protect. So Latias kept using it, and using it, and using it, until Ash stopped it before it burned itself out.

"Let it hit us." He whispered to his loving red Eon Pokemon.

The Max Lightning crashed on them both.

Ash grit his teeth and held a scream, and so did Latias. But the impact wasn't too bad - considering almost 90% of it was nullified before it crashed. Ash took the calculated risk. Latias would get more exhausted by creating a seventh Protect in a row than getting ten percent of the Max Lightning on it. As for Ash... He had been very well trained to withstand electricity. Even still, he didn't know if he would die or live from that.

Sadly enough, he didn't care either.

With hazy eyes, he noticed his unconscious lizard partner laying on the ground and recalled him. He looked at Lucario and lit another cigarette, touching the Keystone on his lighter. Lucario responded, but the Mega Evolution was not smooth by any means. Ash's drained energy didn't help matters a whole lot. Alas, the process was complete with no defects - except the frantic panting coming from Ash - and Lucario rushed back in the fight.

Ash then noticed his Greninja limping. 'Fuck, I forgot about the Bond', he lamented, but he couldn't change it. Both he and Greninja knew the Bond was too strong to not activate. He shook off his thoughts and fatigue and lifted his voice once more.

"Lucario, Swords Dance thrice. Latias, use Recover then refresh Screens, Safeguards and Tailwind. Then stack up Calm Minds and Dragon Dances. Infernape, you-"

"AURA SPHERE ON THE HEAD" A female voice screamed and an impressive Aura Sphere exploded on the Dynamaxed anomaly. Bad idea, however, since the Aura Sphere impacted the damaged head of the Tree and caused greater pain to the poor creature. Irritated, it launched an instantaneous Thunderbolt.

"Psychic the stupid Togekiss out of the way" Ash hissed and narrowly saved the foolish Dawn from a premature end. The Psychic didn't just move the Togekiss out of the way - it pulled it all the way towards Ash along with the rider, until it stopped next to them.

"What are you doing exactly you stupid woman? I told you stay in the FUCKING MANSION!" The Champion screamed.

"I would not leave you alone on this dangerous situation! I'm not leaving you alone ever again!" Dawn retorted, and suddenly a massive jolt of electricity was released their way.

"Mist Ball on Togekiss" Ash commanded in pure rage. Latias reluctantly obeyed, but quickly understood what Ash wanted. The Mist Ball propelled both Latias and Togekiss out of the Thunderbolt's path since they were almost on top of each other. "Dawn please go to the Mansion, I fucking beg you, leave."

Dawn considered him for a moment, then finally spoke. "No. You fall, I fall. We will do this together."

"Get fucking real, Dawn, it's been seven years! Now suddenly 'we do this together'?" Ash grimaced

"Yes Ash, exactly as you said. I wasted not seven years, but ten fucking years waiting around and doing nothing to be with you. That is over. I will change things."

She was telling the truth. He hated the fact that he knew when she was telling the truth and when she was lying. He really was a human lie-detector to Dawn. The saddened Ash closed his eyes - for a single fucking second.

Time froze. The deep breath he wanted to inhale never reached his lungs. Instead, the smell and foul taste of ozone colored his feelings and he shot his eyes open.

That single moment of consideration. That single moment of hesitation. That single moment of him closing his eyes to answer back positively to Dawn was his worst mistake. His awareness was stolen for just a single fucking second, but that single fucking second was more than enough. He could not react to the lightning sweeping over the blue-haired Sinnohan woman, engulfing her slim form and propelling her across the canyon.

"DAWN!" Ash screamed in panic and he motioned Latias to run. He couldn't deal with another loss, no matter how awkward their relationship was. No matter what she did, he simply would not accept another loss.

"Please please please don't be gone, please Dawn don't be dead." He whispered as he neared her flying body. "Come on Latias, use fucking PSYCHIC!" Ash screamed in mounting dread and terror, until Latias barely got in range to suspend her.

"She is alive. She has a pulse, but it is weak. I'm calling Mewtwo" The female Lati whispered and Ash slumped on her. He was trying to process everything. Every event that happened within the last... 24 hours? It hasn't even been a full 24 hours since he encountered May Maple outside of Wela Club. Barely 30 hours have passed since his big championship fight. Why was his life moving on breakneck speeds suddenly? Where was the uneventful peace he learned to love while he was achieving unheard of heights of power?

Before his thoughts ran their full course, Dawn vanished by Mewtwo's teleport. That helped Ash's mind. It set it on a singular thought, one that didn't shift or change under no circumstances.

"Latias. Dragon Dance and Calm Mind. Combine them and use them six times. You have the mind of a Legendary, you can't be too dumb to not understand how to do this" He spat coldly. He got an icy stare in response from the red Eon Pokemon, but it acquiesced and used the combination while Ash jumped off her back and walked back into the fight.

His mind was set on one thing. One tiny, simple thing.

Murder.

He slowly arrived at the scene, a fully stacked Latias glowing beside him. His mind had already created a plan. Thus far, he had no idea how to kill the mad beast.

In truth, his morality didn't allow him to think of measures too extreme to end UB-03 Lightning. But now, morality was out of the frame. He had gone far enough with his plan to give him enough of an opening to execute a move strong enough to cut through Mt. Coronet itself - that's how he saw it, at least.

"Ally Switch with Kartana and use Stored Power on the wound it opened. When you hit it, use Psychic to squeeze the fucking lightbulb so it doesn't scream." He commanded the Lati and the following moment a charred Kartana trembled beside him in the place of the glowing Latias.

"Thank you friend, you did the most work. Rest." The Shiny Ultra Beast disappeared in a flash of crimson light.

"Everyone to me!" He commanded and a trio of bipedal Pokemon rushed next to him. Infernape was recalled after some brief words of praise from its trainer and friend. The stage was set. Now, his murderous thoughts would be fulfilled, plunging his sanity and moral standards even lower. Malicious intent evident in his crooked, menacing grin. Lucario and Greninja really didn't like that.

"Greninja, charge up a Water Shuriken to toss, but don't throw it. Lucario, let's go for some All Out Pummeling!" With that word, he struck the first pose of the Fighting Z-Move. Lucario was following in perfect tempo.

One step. Stored Power was unleashed on the gaping wound behind UB-03's head - courtesy of the overcharged Latias.

Second step. A loud explosion of psychic power and leaking electricity was heard from the gaping wound on the beast's body.

Third step. Xurkitree tried to scream, but its head got squeezed instead. Latias' fully maxed psychic powers squeezed its head hard enough to dent it like folded aluminum paper.

Fourth step. "LATIAS, ALLY SWITCH WITH LUCARIO"

Final step. The Z-Move ritual was completed with Lucario shadow-stepping on air, floating next to Xurkitree's head.

Lucario was engulfed in a fiery orange aura and after letting a mighty roar it started punching the air in front of it. Massive, orange fists were launched from the pummeled wind between it and the Xurkitree, one by one landing on the molten, dented mess all of them called a head. Xurkitree was too beaten to scream at this point and just started to wobble, slowly falling to the front. "ALLY SWITCH" Latias changed positions with Lucario mid-move and the Punches were also redirected - this time to Xurkitree's front - stabilizing the half-dead Ultra Beast in a standing position.

"Lucario, land safely. LATIAS, ALLY SWITCH AGAIN." The Eon Pokemon appeared in front of him again. To his joy, Greninja was still keeping the spinning shuriken above him. "Take control of the Water Shuriken with Psychic and maximize its speed." He softly said, and as always, his word was an order.

The massive water shuriken glowed an icy blue light and left Greninja's control, floating right in front of Latias. "Weak Ice Beam to slowly freeze it without breaking it". Slowly, the glowing saw-blade of water had frozen over, retaining its shape and edges. And yet, its rotations were still accelerating. "Compress it as much as possible to give it maximum density and sharpness." The shuriken shrunk a tiny bit and gained even better momentum. After a certain point, it looked like a glowing disk of icy blue light. It looked like something out of a sci-fi movie made in Unova. Was it called a plasma saw, or something?

Regardless, it was primed to kill.

Xurkitree screeched one final time and Lightning started gather above the group that was scheming UB-03's demise. But they could not be stopped. Not now.

"Plasma Sawblade."

The disk of light was launched with Latias' aid at unprecedented speeds. The disk cleanly passed through the Giant's body as if it was hot butter, severing multiple cable-limbs at once.

"Return it through the head." Ash commanded with a sinister glint in his eyes. The sawblade stopped moving through the air, remaining suspended and ever spinning above the Canyons. Not a full second later it moved in reverse, passing easily through the disfigured lightbulb. Max Lightning stopped forming. The Xurkitree immediately lost its life when the disk opened a gaping hole dead center on its shiny silver head.

"Move it again, cut its arms" The blind in malice Ash Ketchum commanded once more. Latias reluctantly obliged, obviously uncomfortable. The glowing disc of death rotated around the already dead Xurkitree, cutting its cord-like hands from their roots, getting no reaction or protest from the giant.

"Now cut its legs" Ash hissed in murderous glee, causing Latias to quiver. Not able to stomach the sight of their trainer, Lucario returned itself by tapping its ball and Greninja shortly followed. This case was closed anyway. The saw cleaved the legs, causing the electric corpse to start its fall.

"Decapitate it!" Ash's eyes were glowing in sheer, disturbing happiness - pleasure of inflicting pain and serving a twisted justice filled his heart. Latias closed its eyes and moved the deadly move one last time, cutting the connection of the disfigured head with its body.

"Cut the falling head in pieces!" Ash gleefully commanded - a corrupted, malevolent and unsettling version of glee, of course - not able to realize that Latias had returned to its Pokeball on its own volition.

"Decimate the body, force the Beast to its normal size, even if it becomes a thousand parts!" Finally - well under death's clutches - the Xurkitree returned to normal, its bloody pieces dropping like ripe fruit from a tree. And yet, Ash kept going.

"Make it pay for ever stepping foot in Alola, destroying buildings and people's lives! Cut its wires to ribbons! Reduce that lightbulb into minced meat! Make it a mangled caricature of UB-03 and let us-"

"Enough you feral child!" An angry, disappointed voice of a Legendary feline washed over Ash's head and he found himself teleported some miles away, back in Manalo Mansion - specifically the Throne Room.

"Do you understand that you brutalized a Pokemon, Ash Ketchum?" Mewtwo asked, and Ash blinked in response, not able to understand why Mewtwo was angry.

"I killed the distorted, corrupted creature of mass destruction!" Ash spat and pointed a finger towards Poni Island. "Half of Poni Island was ravaged and destroyed by this foul being, endangered Pokemon and Humans alike! I didn't kill it enough!"

"You already over-killed the Ultra Beast, Ketchum. That is enough." Mewtwo stated and teleported Ash again in his room. "I suggest you sleep. You severely lack it."

"No, take me back to the site. There is a second Xurkitree, I need a second team and I need to clean up the place and start damage re-"

"Your Elites are handling everything and the other Ultra Beast died, without pain, by the Guardians. You have nothing to do there." Mewtwo retorted. Ash already lost his mind enough.

"Is it really dead? They need to make sure, keep hitting until-" Suddenly, his mouth was taped shut by psychic power.

Mewtwo regarded the trainer with a grimace of disgust. He would not discuss this further. He was on his own to understand his errors. "Your friend is in stable condition in Manalo Hospital."

---

Same time
Manalo City Hospital for Humans and Pokemon
Manalo City, Alola Region

Brock Harrison M.D. was inside the Emergency booth of the seventh floor of the hospital. The operation was already complete, so he was just running tests on the patient laying unconscious on the bed. The amount of electricity that ran through the girl was enough to kill most people. The only reason she was alive was her Togekiss redirecting a bit of it, and Mewtwo performing several Life Dews on her before dropping her off.

Brock sighed. He had no idea how Dawn Berlitz, of all people, ended up on this emergency room. He heard from Gladion that there was an Ultra Beast invasion and that he would need to be prepared, but his old traveling companion was the only one that appeared here wounded.

Well, wounded was an understatement. She was hit hard enough to get burns and blisters all over her body. Thankfully, the only lasting effect would be the erratic scar tissue covering her right arm like a tattoo. A weird, but very eerily beautiful pattern that looked like overlapping tree branches.

"Patient Dawn Berlitz 00 is in stable condition. Her vitals have returned to normal levels - the scar from the lightning has been cured enough to look like a years old scar and carries no risk of infection. The patient is under Hospital-administered coma to allow her brain to recover from the shock her system sustained. Her neurons will need a couple of weeks to fully recover." Brock Harrison M.D. was recording his whole progress by talking to a Rotom Phone, a common practice to easily archive everything happening in the hospital. The recording begun with the patient's name and the number coming after it indicated the amount of times the individual was a patient inside the hospital, allowing for easy access to different files with a simple voice command. The first visit was always referred to as 00. "Brain activity tests will be conducted every eight hours, until we determine that it is indeed safe to wake her up from the artificial coma. 24hour supervision will be enforced to ensure patient's safety. Three Alakazam and two Blissey are in charge of supervision and accelerating the healing process with safety as the first priority."

Sighing, the good doctor ended the recording, dismissed his Rotom phone and slumped down on a chair. He hid his face behind his palms and yelled to no one in particular.

"Why the fuck are you here Dawn, and how did you manage to almost die already?!"

---

September 20, 2022, 00:10am
Manalo Pokemon Center
Manalo City, Alola Region

The majority of Ultra Beast invasions were never noticed by Alola residents. Back in the era of the Ultra Guardians, Ultra Beast invasions were handled in remote areas, away from the eyes of the population - the sole exception being the Necrozma Invasion. Since Ash Ketchum became a champion, however, the Ultra Beast Combat Force (UBCF) was created by him - an army of shorts that employed past Manalo Conference contestants of enough skill and power. Their sole purpose is taking care of Ultra Beast invasions. The pay was handsome and the accommodations supreme. Along with advanced Aether Foundation technology calculating Wormholes a while before they become reality, the UBCF takes care of invasions before they even spawn in Alola. The only exception to that norm was the Team Rainbow Rocket incident - that was a weird case on its own, since the Wormhole spawned a castle with Legendary-wielding humans instead of an Ultra Beast.

In order to keep that system effective, the Elite Four and the Champion were always on alert for any call to duty caused by unforeseen circumstances - today was no different. The extreme variable of Dynamaxing was unforeseen, but thankfully, with the help of the Champion and the Tapus the damage - and attention - was limited to Poni Island. Aether and League representatives ensured the inhabitants of Poni all damages would be restored, simply asking for their silence in return. Preventing civil unrest was of outmost importance, after all.

Therefore, Manalo City had no idea that Poni had been damaged in the first place. That included two very specific foreign ladies that were relaxing in their room in the Pokemon Center - it was almost an apartment, sporting its own living room and kitchen, along with a side room that housed three beds.

"Where did Dawn go?" Serena chimed from her bed and looked at herself. She was only wearing a shirt and underwear - she really needed to go shopping if she were to stay in Alola for long.

"Knowing her, she is still at the Mansion." May shrugged in her light nightgown. She had a remote control in her hands, continuously swapping channels trying to see any kind of world news - the world was still buzzing with 'The Myth of Alola'.

"You don't think Ash would have kicked her out by now?"

"I don't know if you noticed, but Ash was almost pleading for us to leave. And Dawn being the hard nut she is, she won't have any of it. She's probably still pestering him to the point of madness."

"Huh.. Didn't consider that. Honestly, we should be a lot more like her... Just look at her guts!"

"I.. I can't. I can't act like I didn't do him wrong. Out of us three, Dawn was the only one that was wronged by Ash."

"And what, you'll keep hiding in his shadow?"

"I'll do whatever it takes. He wants me away to think, I'll be away to let him think. Like, not really away, just out of his immediate area..."

Serena shrugged instead of responding to the brunette. After some moments of thought, however, she spoke again.

"You think we can re-enter the Mansion tomorrow?"

They wouldn't be able to enter the mansion again.

They wouldn't even be able to find the gate.

---

September 20, 2022, 9:00am
Lusamine's Office, Aether Paradise
Alola Region

"Ash please just go to sleep! You haven't slept all night!" Lusamine pleaded. The sight of the mess in front of her was awful - hair disheveled, casual clothes that were filthy with dirt and sweat and the crazy eyes of Ash Ketchum proved that he was doing everything but sleeping all night.

"I will not go to fucking sleep! I want answers!" Ash yelled back, patience long gone.

"Alright Ash, how exactly am I supposed to run tests on the corpse of the Ultra Beast in half a day? And yes, one corpse because the one you cause was so severely mutilated it was hard to even recognize it as a UB-03!" Lusamine paced back and forth behind her desk. "You need to wait. Knowledge of Dynamaxing and Galarian energy was given to me 6 hours ago by UR officials, and I have barely studied it all. I need to study every single word on that massive dossier, and when I'm done I will need to compile it to data in the main servers, THEN modify the test tubes and scanners with the Dynamax data, and THEN wait for the tests to run their course and THEN we will get SOME answers when that whole thing is done! And after that we will need to cross refer-"

"Fine fine fine!" Ash spat and slumped in his chair. He lit up a cigarette and stared at Lusamine, deep in thought. The office was drowning in uncomfortable silence, causing Lusamine to shift enough in her clothes to make her beautiful long hair move in waves.

"How long?" The Champion finally asked.

"A week? Maybe less if the modifications prove easy? I honestly have no idea, this is completely new to me and from what you told me its even an anomaly compared to regular Dynamaxing." Lusamine's eyes bore in Ash's tired, auburn slits, a pleading look in her eyes. Perhaps she was pleading for understanding from the young champion.

He closed his eyes in response, thinking about the whole situation for a few moments before he spoke. "Fine. I will schedule an emergency meeting with the Champion Table. I will make sure it takes place in ten days. I hope you have results until then." He stood up and looked at her before walking towards a teleport pad next to a trap door. "Make sure to contact me to my personal device when you have any kind of answer." With that, Ash was teleported away, leaving behind a very stressed Lusamine Aether.

---

Ash appeared on the corner of his master bedroom in the Manalo Mansion and disabled the teleporter pad before taking off his clothes. Being done with his cloth removal, he jumped on his broken bed and closed his eyes.

"Mewtwo, conceal the Mansion from May Maple and Serena Yvonne-Gabenna until further notice please." he mumbled in the air, and Mewtwo listened - as always.

"Not Dawn Berlitz?"

Ash was silent for a moment, pondering the question. He wanted to relax these next days. These two days were too big for him to handle with how much has been happening. Besides, Dawn is under an artificial coma, but even if she wasn't... He knew that things with Dawn were not that simple. Maybe he did wrong her, and not the other way around.

Of course he didn't, she deserved everything! She must remain away!

No, he did wrong her. But look at what happened! She came too close, he responded to her feelings, yet not even an hour later she almost died! Why should he let her stay close to him if she wouldn't be safe? No one was safe around him. He needed to keep everyone away, and he would do so! But for now... He finally answered Mewtwo's question.

"No. Dawn Berlitz is not allowed to come."

---

September 27, 2022, 11:30am
Manalo City Hospital for Humans and Pokemon
Manalo City, Alola Region

The full week that passed was everything Ash Ketchum could pray for. Uneventful. Apart from three failed attempts to enter the mansion from Serena and May - they stopped when they found out about Dawn's condition - and a couple visits to Dawn at the hospital, nothing else of importance happened.

He was constantly training and his breaks were consumed by occasional visits by Cilan and Kiawe to watch some League Matches. All of them were KCT matches - Gym battles, the Island Challenge and Elite Four Challenges were all halted for the KCT Preliminary round. So far, around 300 people have passed the 500 point mark and Ash took notice of three special names when he was skimming through the contestant list; Trip Williams, Tobias Takuto and some guy named Brendan Birch that he remembered fighting in LaRousse City before the Deoxys incident.

He done his research on him and the Hoennian was pretty impressive. For starters, he was the current Frontier Brain of Hoenn's Battle Tower. Former Ever Grande conference winner that took the Elite Four Challenge of Hoenn, losing to Drake after a very impressive run. Son of Professor David Birch of Littleroot. He was also a one-time Wallace Cup winner. Ash hoped he would fight him.

As for the other two, Tobias won all of his matches with just his Darkrai. The odd thing was that it was battling physically, using moves like Hone Claws and Night Slashes to finish off their opponents - It didn't use Dark Void once.

Trip seemed like he kept his Unovan team from 9 years ago and he has trained them to perfection. Another interesting contestant to follow.

All in all, this was Ash's week. And he wouldn't have it any other way. He needed that calm before the multiple storms that were approaching.

Yesterday night the Champion received a text from Brock Harrison M.D., asking him if he wanted to hang out for some coffee today morning. Knowing that Brock Harrison M.D's schedule was always packed, Ash of course agreed and thus he was in the hospital elevator - ascending the floors to reach Brock's private office. He fixed his neck tie, and the silver doors opened.

"Ah! Finally, my little brother arrived!" The tanned Kantonian man smiled at the young Champion and approached to hug him.

"Nice to see you too, Brock" Ash said and hugged him back.

"Come come, I already made you iced coffee, black with a tiny touch of sugar, just how you love it." Brock gestured towards an empty seat with a glass of ice cold coffee in front of it. Ash obliged and sat down. Next to the glass was a beautiful silver ashtray, carefully sculpted and modeled after a Torterra with a hollow shell. Ash lit up a cigarette, and drank a sip of his coffee that caused him to shiver in pleasure.

"You know Ash, usually we have no news to share, but today is very special. We both have news, so lets start with yours!" Brock said and sat down opposite to his long time friend. "Soo... I am certain you know that our little friend Dawn is hospitalized and under a coma right below us, right Ash?"

Ash shifted uncomfortably and shut his eyes. "Please, don't remind me. Letting her even come close to me was a mistake."

"Oh come the fuck on Ash. I thought you got over those petty feelings about them!"

"They are not petty feelings!" Ash retorted in defense. "But I was not even speaking about that... My feelings for May and Serena have not changed, they failed to be there for me, and apparently my wild accusations were right! May was actually having sex with Drew that night!"

Brock lifted his eyebrow. He never expected that Ash's outlandish claims - products of wild grief - would ever prove right. "Yes... I know that all three of them are here in Manalo. Nurse Joy of the Center let me know that they were on our grounds and I took the liberty to inform them of Dawn's condition. I've had a brief chat with both and apparently, they are both determined to prove that they care about you. It's not my place to interfere, but they looked broken. At everything."

"They fucking should be broken, Brock-"

"Brock Harrison M.D." The voice of a random Nurse Joy poking her head through a door quipped. The head vanished before Ash could even process the interruption.

Shaking his head, the champion continued. "I didn't just remove them because I woke up one day and chose violence! I was waiting for a month in Pallet hoping to see a Togekiss, a Swanna or something to come visit me! But... Anyway, we were speaking about Dawn. It seems I..." Ash paused awkwardly "Misjudged her. She tried to contact me the day after I removed contacts"

Brock was taken aback and almost chuckled. "Can I say it now?"

"... Fine."

"I told you so, Ash Ketchum." Brock stated triumphantly and looked at the Champion. "That means you are giving her another chance - never thought I'd see the day. But why is it a mistake you let her get close then?"

"I let her on me and less than an hour later she was here, nearly dead! All of that because she chose to follow me to Poni Island! I have told you multiple times, I must not be near people I care about! They either destroy me or get destroyed themselves!"

"You know that is a load of bullshit, right?" Brock deadpanned. "And also... What do you mean you let her on you? Just how close did you let her get?"

Ash stared at Brock in silence. He had no idea how to describe that whole... Scene on the pillar of the Throne Room..

"Ash? Come on buddy, I know you are capable of human speech."

"I- Uh- We-..." Ash stopped after stuttering miserably.

"Come on, be honest and explain yourself. You don't need to get shy on the details now."

"How honest should I be?" Ash inquired with a cocked eyebrow.

"Fully honest, no holds barred."

"We nearly ate each other" Ash deadpanned.

"... Fuck you mean you ate each other?"

"I mean that I pinned her on a pillar inside the throne room and we made out like violent animals."

"... Huh." Brock was trying to process it. Dawn finally released her feelings?

"In my defense, she provoked me enough for all of this to happen."

Yes. Yes, she released her feelings. Brock was a bit proud. Better ten years late than never, huh? "Well. I wish you both happiness. And good luck with the horde of girls that are after you."

"What happiness Brock? Dawn will probably see me once before never seeing me again." Ash pouted. It was his decision, yet something inside him didn't actually want that. But by now, Ash had murdered half his subconscious mind.

"Why would she never see you again, Ketchum?"

"First of all, maybe she'll hate me for getting her near danger. Second, I will zone her out of my life to keep her safe." Ash explained like all of that was completely normal. In his eyes, it was normal, logical, and completely rational. "But... How is she?"

"Fully stable. We woke her up twice for one hour each time under supervision to let her move her body and communicate with some people. She will be woken once more before we fully wake her up on October 4th." The good doctor explained.

Ash never responded to that, so Brock decided to shift the conversation, fully changing the subject. "So, wanna hear my news?" He inquired.

Ash emptied his head of his negative thoughts and nodded. Maybe it was something that would help with his mood?

"Misty is pregnant."

"Ah, wow, congatu- Wait, MISTY'S PREGNANT?" Ash spat his coffee and screamed.

"Yes! We confirmed it yesterday!" Brock responded with glee and he was engulfed by Ash's hug.

Ash was brimming with rare, genuine happiness. But it quickly faded and he returned to his seat. His good mood, however, remained.

"Fuck, that's a scary thought. And I thought Misty on her period was unbearably dangerous. Now she's pregnant. How bout I fund you a vacation to Orre until she breeds the child?" Ash suddenly shuddered. "Uh, a tan child with orange hair... I'm gonna have a Kiawe clone in baby form. Please keep it away from the Wela Volcano"

Brock laughed loudly. "Come on, it won't be that bad."

"Honestly, I still have trouble understanding how you married Misty." Ash shrugged.

"It's really simple, honestly. After I returned to Kanto when we finished the Sinnoh journey, me and Misty were always hanging out. She was always beating the pervert out of me..." Brock trailed away in fond memories. "Until I could only focus on the one woman that kept my eyes on her. Thus, I fell in love with her. After some years, I realized that she felt the same."

"Did she tell you how that miracle happened?" Ash joked and looked at his friend.

"Yes, actually. At first, she would drag me away from women because I was annoying. Two years after Sinnoh, she admitted that she was incredibly confused because she felt like she was stopping me from hitting on women because she was afraid I'd succeed. She realized that she was jealous and wanted me for her instead. One thing brought the other and... Here we are! Waiting for a child!" He announced - again - in glee.

Ash was honestly surprised. It was something he didn't really expect. He always believed that they ended up together out of necessity. Not that he'd ever voice that opinion.

Around an hour passed of the duo making small talk and discussing age old memories - religiously avoiding anything related to Pikachu. But alas, their time was up, and Brock needed to return to work and left Ash to descent the elevator after a heart-warming farewell.

Ash went straight back to his thoughts. The never-ending training to be the best. The need to acquire the power to protect his close people - now he had another important human to protect, Brock and Misty's toddler. The need to slowly cut everyone off to make sure they are safe. The need to achieve new heights of power, the first step of that being a full set of Mega Rings for his hand, made from the Keystones earned from the corpses of Team Rainbow Rocket leaders.

The need to eliminate all threats to his people's lives.

The need to find the threats and kill them, and kill them again, and kill them more, and kill them all over again.

Everything he was doing was for the well being of others. He would carry the burden of being the strongest and most feared in the world with pride. He was the only one capable of wielding it. He would sit at the top of this vile world, exacting revenge from the shadows. Killing all variables.

He was the only just man in a world of injustice.

That was his sweet delusion.

---

September 29, 2022, 18:00 (6:00pm)
Lusamine's Office, Aether Paradise
Alola Region

Tension and an awful amount of uncomfortable silence were flooding Lusamine's office this beautiful afternoon. Of course, there was a single reason for that.

Half an hour ago, Lusamine cut Ash's training short to inform him of the results the Dynamax tests yielded. And yet, she was not speaking. Ash's eyes were that scary.

"Lusamine, I've been here for 10 minutes and you are dancing around the subject. Tomorrow is the Champion Summit I called for and I need to discuss results." Ash hissed in impatience.

Lusamine sighed and finally talked. "That's exactly the issue. The results make no sense! Apparently, the Xurkitrees were born Dynamaxed!"

"That is impossible. It is like telling me that I hatched Lucario not as a Riolu, but as Mega Lucario." Ash retorted, unamused.

"Exactly. It is impossible and yet DNA tests show that their genetic code had Max energy written on it. The code looked like a pure bred result, but obviously the subjects were injected with that energy! Somehow, somewhere, someone managed to come up with a formula that turns Pokemon into Dynamaxed Pokemon permanently, as if they were born Dynamaxed!" Lusamine excitedly explained. "I have no idea why they would make something like that, but apparently it works. But..." She paused for a moment and considered her words. "That process corrodes the Pokemon's brain. Basically degenerating it, discarding all functions except animalistic instincts and the lust for battle. The Xurkitrees were mindless husks of Pokemon rampaging blindly long before you found them."

Ash was pondering the results silently. In order to make something like that possible you needed three things - Intimate knowledge of Max energy, facilities to operate it and access to that same Max energy. That kind of research is only possible in Galar, and it must have had significant founding. Some questions, however, were still floating.

"So, they were turned like that in their habitat? Are there more 'experiments' back in Xurkitree's realm?" Ash inquired, fearing for the worst. The answer he got, was both better and worst than what he feared.

"No. Here is the funny thing. You know that we can study the Wormholes that appear in Alola to discover where they are connected, yes?" Ash nodded. "Well, turns out the Xurkitree didn't even come from the Ultra Plant. They came from a barren Ultra Space named US-12, and I dubbed it Ultra Wasteland. There are no lifeforms in that area! To put it bluntly, they came from a place that cannot sustain life it self. They either lost their way and ended up in US-12 before coming here, or they were planted there." Lusamine suddenly rushed towards her computer and started typing something with clear urgency.

"Is it possible for another Region to have Ultra Wormholes?" Ash inquired with a level voice.

"Yes, of course. Alola is simply a hotspot thanks to the energies of Solgaleo and Lunala being native to Alola."

"Is it possible to manipulate Ultra Wormholes?" Ash asked next, causing Lusamine to stop typing to ponder the question.

"That's a weird question. And it is weird because the answer is very weird on its own." Lusamine answered while she tapped her chin with a pen.

"Well, it is the answer that I want."

"Well, the answer is yesn't" Lusamine said with a coy smile.

"The fuck is a 'yesn't'?"

"A term I came up with! A combination of yes and no in the form of not! Yes not, therefore yesn't!" She responded in pure, childish glee but quickly turned serious. "Basically, yes and no. The only way you can fully manipulate Ultra Wormholes is by using Solgaleo, Lunala or Necrozma. But it is impossible for anyone to own any of the three - they are pure Legends, not avatars of a whole."

Lusamine stood up and started pacing her room again. "The only things you can do without their aid are the following. You can open Ultra Wormholes to locations you choose from our world to the Ultra Space. But you cannot open accurate Wormholes from the Ultra Space to our world. And to open a Wormhole inside the Ultra Space you need some sort of particle explosion, no matter how tiny. Even a needle sized Ultra Wormhole can be stretched by Ultra Beasts. So yes, theoretically, you can send Pokemon and/or travel from one place of the world to another through the Ultra Space, if you calculate everything correctly - and yes, I know that this is the answer you actually were looking for. But even then, you won't be accurate enough. For example, if you wanted to send Lucario to Lilycove of Hoenn, it might end up in Lavaridge." Lusamine finally ended her explanation and sat back down to continue typing. "Is that all, Ashy?" She asked when she saw the boy stand up.

"Yes Lusamine. Thank you. I am in your debt." He said sincerely and moved towards his teleport pad.

"Your debt will be paid if you come to dinner with me and the rest of the family." Lusamine chimed with an amused tone.

"We'll see. I still owe Lydia dinner, and I'd rather not die such a lame death in her hands." Ash retorted nonchalantly.

"I understand that. But Lillie is coming back from Unova next week. She got into the KCT. And from what I've gathered, she can't wait to see her favorite Champion. She was ecstatic seeing your battle. She fully bit into the 'Myth of Alola'." Lusamine's voice was hiding tons of amusement in them. As a mother, she was still not sure whether Lillie admired Ash as a mentor and big brother or if she had a mad crush for the young Champion.

Ash simply stood silently, without even turning to look at her. Lillie had grown enough to join this elite tournament, huh. He remembered her being afraid of Pokemon like it was yesterday.

Finally, he gave his benefactor an answer. "I'll see what I can do."

With that, Lusamine was left alone in her office. Her eyes lingered to the spot where Ash had disappeared and sighed heavily.

"You're getting lost, Ash..."

---

September 30, 2022, 10:00am
Manalo Mansion Meeting Room
Manalo City, Alola Region

Ash Ketchum was sitting alone at a small table near the massive plasma screen situated on the far wall of the Meeting Room. An elaborate presentation was set up showcasing all test results that came from analyzing the corpses of the Xurkitree. It was still a bit early, but Ash was impatient - and enraged - enough to be waiting here wearing his Champion attire.

He lit up a cigarette and idly played with his lighter until a knock was heard.

"Enter." He commanded, not caring enough to welcome any visitors in this room today.

"You could at least be polite" The voice of the dark-skinned Unovan Champion chimed as Iris entered.

"Welcome. Sit. Drinks in the minifridge. Coffee on the desk, coffee-maker on the left." He recited, voice devoid of feeling.

"Alright alright, what's wrong with you Robo-Ketchum?" Iris chimed and went to the fridge to get an energy drink. She was wearing plain clothes - jeans and a pink shirt - while her hair was braided in a massive ponytail flowing behind her.

"Just not in the mood, Iris dear." He responded in the same exact tone as before. Before anyone could say anything more, another knock was heard on the door.

"Enter." He commanded again, earning a cocked eyebrow from Iris.

"Well well, look who's not in a good mood." The Hoenn Champion Steven Stone remarked as he entered the room.

"Welcome. Sit. Drinks in the minifridge. Coffee on the desk, coffee-maker on the left." He recited, voice devoid of feeling again.

Steven froze for a moment before shrugging and moving next to Iris to make some coffee. "I guess the Dynamax fiasco provided really shitty results." He whispered to the Unovan Champion who nodded in agreement.

Yet another knock was heard.

"Enter." He commanded again, earning a cocked eyebrow from Steven and an exasperated sigh from Iris.

"My, you haven't been that cold for years Ash!" The Sinnohan Champion deadpanned as she entered the room and moved towards the coffee machine with obvious urgency. Of course, Ash didn't even care about that.

"Welcome. Sit. Drinks in the minifridge. Coffee on the desk, coffee-maker on the left." He recited, causing Iris and Steven to rub their temples. Cynthia looked at them in curiosity.

"Has he really repeated that same thing to you?" She whispered and the Champions simply sighed in response.

A soft knock was heard.

"Enter." He commanded again, but this time his voice wavered for a single moment. That earned curious looks from the trio that was already inside the room.

"Hi Ashy!" A cheery Diantha said as she entered and waved at the other Champions. She was moving towards the Alola Champion to greet him.

"Welcome. Sit. Drinks in the minifridge. Coffee on the desk, coffee-maker on the left." He recited, but paid for it, if the empty can of energy drink colliding with his face was any indication. He grimaced in something that looked like a mix of resignation and irritation.

Diantha hugged the sitting Alola Champion tightly and buried her head in his neck. Face hidden from prying eyes, she planted an innocent kiss to his neck. That caused Ash to inexplicably shiver. Being the amateur he is, he identified the shiver as a negative feeling and he softly pushed Diantha.

"Looks like someone isn't in the mood. What's wrong?" Diantha asked with worry coloring her voice when she released Ash.

"Depends on how you take it. What is the 'Kill Champion Leon and mutilate his corpse' mood supposed to look like?" He sneered, causing Diantha to step back in horror and the other Champions to turn white.

"What's this talk about mutilation I'm hearing?" An orange head belonging to the Johtoan Champion was poking through the door, watching over them curiously. He entered fully after a moment and paced through the room. "Who made you mad Ash?"

"You, motherfucker- you owe me a fucking bed. It completely broke down when I woke up after the party." Ash sneered with mad irritation. Lance simply laughed and sat down in his chair.

"I already ordered you one. It's probably arriving either today or in three days, on Monday." He replied coolly and looked over at the door after waving to the rest of the - still shocked - Champions. Coincidentally, the door was opened again.

"I see the rowdy bunch is as rowdy as ever." The Champion/Top Coordinator Wallace remarked as he swiftly took his seat. "I believe we're missing Charles-"

"No we're not!" The cheery old man said as he entered the Meeting room and closed the door behind him. With simple greetings towards his Champions he moved to his seat and everyone quickly returned to order.

Ash gave them a couple minutes to take their drinks at the table in front of them and get seated before he started his tirade. Everyone was looking at him expectantly.

"Thank you for attending this emergency meeting called by me, The Champion of The Alola Region." Ash started and stood up, taking a deep puff from his cigarette. Exhaling it, he continued. "Eleven days ago, on September 19th, Poni Island was invaded by a couple of Dynamaxed Xurkitree. I am sure you all know of our Region handling Ultra Beast Invasions, but the Dynamax element was an unforeseen variable. This, is the reason I called you here today."

"As you are all aware, Dynamaxing is only possible in the lands of Galar. And to solidify the claims, we have dispatched recon teams in all of the known Ultra Space habitats - including the habitat where these Dynamaxed Xurkitree came from - to recover samples of their ground. Results turned negative, solidifying the belief that Galar is the only land able of harnessing Max Energy."

"Thus, the Aether Foundation analyzed the corpses of the twin Beasts to gain answers, and we have some of them."

"I will keep this short and sweet, since discussion on course of action are of outmost importance today. The Xurkitree were artificially turned into Dynamaxed forms. Test results showed that the Beasts were injected with Max energy with enough precision to make them look like they were born Dynamaxed. Some scientist apparently came up with a formula that permanently turns Pokemon into Dynamaxed Pokemon by altering their very DNA, destroying their mind in the process. The result were a duo of destructive power and the simple battle lust of feral animals. Nothing more, nothing less."

"The Xurkitree came from a habitat that has no life and no potential to breed life. The Ultra Beasts were planted there either by getting lost in a Wormhole or by the hands of men. After discussion with Aether President Lusamine, I have found out that Ultra Space travel is indeed possible, albeit mildly inaccurate. Conclusions reach the possibility of the invasion being manmade and intentional instead of a natural occurrence."

During the whole speech, Ash was pointing to different sections of the presentation on the screen, until he finally finished and sat back down. "I called you here to discuss course of action. And honestly, if the invasion was indeed caused by Galarian scientists, my course of action would be to stage an attack on Galar." Ash hissed and the group shifted uncomfortably.

"Ash my boy, such a thing would be an act of war!" Charles Goodshow said, clearly shaken from all of this.

"I. Don't. Care. Unfortunately for Galar, I have no clear proof of them being behind the lethal attack on Alola. I wouldn't even care to call a meeting if I had proof." Ash spat in hate, obviously overcome by that emotion.

"Ash, please, be reasonable." Diantha pleaded.

"Don't worry Diantha, I won't disfigure dear Leon too much." Ash spoke and grinned in pure malice.

"Ash-"

"Don't keep speaking on him, Diantha. Trust me, I can't give any less fucks about your pathetic old fling than I already give. The number is obviously zero." Ash cut her off and provoked the outrage of some other Champions.

"That was uncalled for Ash!" Steven yelled as he stood up, Cynthia standing up beside him.

"I suggest you hold your tongue. You are already going way too far." Cynthia remarked. Diantha, for her part, was slack-jawed and her eyes were wide at the personal attack. At one point, when she was 18, she briefly dated the Galarian Legend.

Ash, however, was obviously unamused. "Or what? I don't see Lilycove and Hearthome being raided now to help you understand me, am I? This is a possible attack from a region outside the UR." Patience was gone, evident by Ash's hand slamming on the wooden table he had in front of him, cracking it. "Fucking act like it!" He spat and the Champions sat back down.

Whether they liked his attitude or not, he was completely right. Everything was pointing to a hostile action from Galar. But that wasn't the only suspicious thing...

"Why are we not sending a representative to discuss with the Galarian League?" Ash inquired to Goodshow, but Wallace was the one to hesitantly respond.

"Galar closed their borders five days ago..." The water-type specialist whispered.

"What?" Ash asked, face frozen in surprise.

The room was dead silent. Ash broke that silence.

"So, a week after Alola was raided by an unnatural phenomenon with Galar's fingerprints on it, Galar went into lockdown and cut itself from the world." He summarized, silence being his answer. He stood up and paced towards the door of the Meeting Room.

"Unfortunately, no solid proof is in my hands. At this point, I can't bother to drill the subject anymore, so I will simply implore you dear Champions to come up with answers to my predicament, as my people will be intently searching every nook and cranny of this event for proof. I have no other discussions to bring to the table." He opened the door and exited the room, yelling one last time. "Meeting dismissed!"

The door closed behind him.

After several moments of collective silence, Lance nodded, for once being the serious one. "Anyone else feeling like Ash is slowly descending into Distortion?"

Everyone in the meeting room nodded in agreement. Steven, however, felt the need to speak.

"The thing I hate the most is that, despite his aggression, he is almost always right."

---

Ash simply ascended two flights of stairs to enter his room - the perks of having a meeting inside your own home. He was certain that the Champions would leave shortly after. All he had to say had already reached their ears. His feelings were made well-known to them. However... If there was one Champion that would try to come and talk to him would be-

"You know, I didn't expect you to attack me like that." The sad voice of Diantha filled his ears, causing him to turn around. She had already entered the room and closed the door behind her. "You had no reason to bring up my past in that manner. And it was completely irrelevant as well. It happened ten years ago."

Ash didn't speak. He honestly had nothing to say. He understood that what he said was extremely uncalled for and yet... He didn't really care that he said it. It was helpful, even. Drive everyone away without having to physically keep them away.

"You honestly have nothing to say? You don't want to say sorry or something? I don't remember ever attacking you verbally. I don't remember having any ill thoughts about you in general." Diantha softly urged him to speak. She didn't want to get mad. She couldn't get mad at him easily.

"Precisely. I don't have anything to say because I don't know what to say." Ash spoke, voice slightly off tune as if he was uncomfortable.

"Ash, your behavior is sending everyone away, you know that?"

"So? It's for the best." Ash retorted with coldness in his voice.

"Why do you think that? Many people want to be at your side and help you. I want to be at your side and help you!" Diantha pleaded and walked towards him.

"I don't need help from anyone, Diantha. Never needed it, never had it. Being alone is for the best. No variables. No limits, as well." Ash put up an arm to prevent her from coming closer.

"Never had it? You own every single Mega Stone variant known to the modern world. You did that alone?" Diantha asked with a cocked eyebrow. "And you honestly think that people are just holding you back?"

"People have done nothing but hold me back." Ash spat in frustration. "People stepped over me, people used me, people saw me as a fucking ladder for them to climb higher! And even the ones that didn't treat me that way just become hurt and damaged by my presence! You should know better, I knocked you head first on the floor without caring about you!"

Diantha groaned loudly and rolled her eyes. "You're still going on about that? I told you multiple times that you, did, NOTHING wrong. Did our talk really go over your head? Maybe you don't even remember it?"

"I remember it Diantha, I remember that pretty lie you conjured to make me feel better by masking the fact that I hit you!" He yelled back at her. She was just looking at him incredulously.

"Why the fuck would I lie about that, Ash Ketchum? And don't fucking dare call me a liar ever again!" She yelled pointing a finger at his chest.

"The fact still remains that my close ones get hurt. Just like Dawn almost died because she wanted to join the mission on Poni Island!"

Diantha chose to not comment on the fact that Dawn was back in Ash's life. Of course, she had nothing against it. Diantha's opinion was always on the side of the girls - she could see that Ash was severely overreacting - but never stated that out loud. "Ash, why do you want to be alone?" She finally asked.

"Because people are either weak or cunning." Ash answered with finality and held his head high.

"And why can't I be with you then? Am I weak? Or cunning?" Diantha questioned his logic straight on and walked forward until she stopped in front of him. Their faces were almost on the same height thanks to her high heels. Her tone and face were harsh, but they were just a mask.

Ash's statement hurt her way more than she expected.

To make matters worse, Ash looked confused and didn't answer. Not only by her question, but also by the oddly familiar smell of fresh cherries coming from her soft breath just inches away from him.

Diantha bore her blue eyes into Ash's dead, auburn slits. She was failing with him. Everyone was failing with him.

The problem wasn't everyone else. The problem was Ash himself. He had deluded his own soul so much that only he was capable of knocking himself out of it. They only way he could fix his mind was by his own, foolish actions. He would eventually end up alone like this. Maybe even his Pokemon would abandon him. He was no longer Ash Ketchum, the optimistic and energetic child from Pallet Town. He was Ash Ketchum, the fractured soul. Ash Ketchum, the pessimistic, delusional adult. Ash Ketchum, a man drowned in pain. Ash Ketchum, a man that reeked of fear, fear of loss and failure.

Ash Ketchum never accepted Pikachu's death seven years ago. He never moved on. He deluded himself with false notions of abandonment and manipulation from humans. He took every minor negative action and turned it into a completely malignant act against him. Should you drop a nail on the floor near him, he will immediately believe you just missed shooting him in the eye with that very nail. A group of evil men killed his best friend - in all honestly, his whole life was him fighting against evil men for the sake of the world. His perception of humans was twisted and distorted. To combat that, he assumed a different persona. The powerful, cold, distant and untouchable persona of Hadrian his had grown into a whole second personality. And only he could kill it.

Nevertheless, she would try to fix him. But kid gloves were off now. Her love for the man could wait until he was saved. Either the good way, or the bad way. A dam finally broke and a tear ran down her beautiful face as she was staring into Ash's beautiful - yet dead - eyes. She turned around to leave.

Before she opened the door, Ash spoke, his voice tinged in sadness. "I will protect you too, Diantha. I will protect all of you when I reach the top of the world."

Diantha opened the wooden door without even looking at him. "I'd rather die by my own hand than get saved by you. I don't need your help. No one does." She spat and stepped out of the room.

"Have a beautiful day, Hadrian." With her last farewell, she closed the door behind her on her way out, leaving a slack-jawed and frozen Ash looking at the door where she was just a moment ago.

His mind was broken and empty.

---

October 4th, 2022, 15:35 (3:35pm)
Manalo City Hospital
Manalo City, Alola Region

A groan was heard inside the private booth on the far end of the seventh floor of the hospital. A young woman in her twenties lifted her upper body from where she was laying in her bed, making her long blue hair flow right in front of her beautiful face. She took a moment to scan her surroundings.

"I feel so fucking stiff, it's like I've been sleeping for a full day." She murmured and moved her hair out of her face. "But no, I've been sleeping for a million days, it's probably fucking 2030 and I'm late for my own wedding."

"It's actually October 4th of 2022. You were in a coma for two weeks. Memories of prior awakenings will fill in the rest." The tanned leader of the Hospital recited from a chair next to the room windows.

"Yes Brock, my memories are already here and secure. I know everything. " Dawn replied, obviously unamused. She grabbed a glass of fresh cold water next to her and she started drinking it until there was not a drop of the liquid left. "It's the fourth time I have been woken up, this time is permanent, and you explained the necessary healing process to me the first time I woke up. It's all good, I've accepted it." She looked at her right arm with curiosity. It looked oddly nice. With her left hand she caressed the scar. Even more odd was the fact that it felt oddly nice. "You know. I think this is a perk of the accident." She murmured referring to her scar.

Brock chuckled in amusement but ignored her comments about the scar, instead speaking on her excellent memory. "I should have expected it. Also, I had no idea you were that intelligent. I mean, Ash used to go on and on about you being smarter than what you showed everyone - and I believed it but..." Brock trailed off and Dawn eyed him curiously. "But an IQ of 178? Seriously Dawn? No wonder you can't really stand still, your mind races two times faster than the average brain."

Dawn was not shocked. Instead... "How do you know of my IQ?" She inquired and Brock pointed at an Alakazam. Dawn nodded. "Makes sense. But honestly, my brain is something I don't care about at this moment. How is Ash?"

Brock shifted uncomfortably but spoke nonetheless. "Ash is Ash. He is training every day for the King's Coronation Tournament. But lately... I'd suggest not visit him. He even had a fall off with the champions."

"That won't stop me and you know it." Dawn retorted and stood up, accompanied by a multitude of cracking noises coming from her bones. By stretching her arms she produced even more of these sounds. "I swear to Arceus I sound like a broken marionette." She mumbled and retreated to the restroom to shower and change clothes.

Brock for his part sighed and stood up. "Your clothes are in the closet next to your bed. Just make sure you don't piss him off too much. Please."

"Will do!" The voice of the blunette was heard in a yell, muffled by the closed door and the water running over her body. Brock sighed yet again and left the room.

Dawn, while showering, had already planned her entrance to the Manalo Mansion just to be around Ash. She would never place blame on him for her accident. It was her fault. But she would not change a thing. Besides, it was far from being the first time she had close calls with death for him. And it was surely one of the lighter ones. Hell, didn't she even die once when they saved Arceus' Avatar?

Unfortunately for her, she too, wouldn't be able to find the gates of the Mansion.

---

October 8th, 2022, 18:30 (6:30pm)
Champion's Quarters Pokemon Ranch
Aether Paradise, Alola Region

"Come on people! This is the last day of training!" Ash's voice hollered loud enough to cover the small artificial Island that served as his Pokemon's resting place.

"Tomorrow, we all take a break. The day after, the Tournament begins! Let's push ourselves to the limit. Latias, with me to polish Mega Evolution. The rest, work on your moves, combinations and conditioning." Suddenly, he felt a beak nudge him on his shoulder. A massive, cream-white and brown bird was standing next to him. Ash petted the bird and stroked her plumes. "Looking beautiful today Pidgeot. Wanna fight in the first round?"

The bird preened under the praise and nodded positively and that gave Ash another thought. He turned to the scattered group and yelled again. "Who wants to fight in two days? I need to inform you that this will be the easiest round."

A metallic-sounding smack was heard. Ash realized it was his Crawdaunt, hitting its pincers against each other in excitement. Not a moment later, he felt a chilling wind run over his body, making him shiver. He looked at Glalie behind him and smiled. "Well. It seems I have the three Pokemon for the three battles. Make sure you train hard and enjoy your break tomorrow." He said kindly and the three Pokemon nodded and bolted away.

Ash himself started pacing towards the base of the small hill on the back side of the Island, Latias following religiously. Neither of them spoke until they arrived at their training grounds.

"Ash this is pointless, we have mastered my Mega Evolution some days ago. I am not a stupid Pokemon, my capabilities are more than enough." Latias stated completely unamused at having to Mega Evolve almost every day, multiple times.

"Yes, but I need to get used to our connection. You are a Legendary, it doesn't feel the same as normal Pokemon. I can feel the massive gap in strength and I need to get used to it. Thankfully, I have almost fully adapted." Ash shook his left wrist. He was wearing a new accessory - a Mega Cuff custom made from pure silver to cover his left wrist. Five different Keystones were embedded on the bracelet, evenly spaced out to cover Ash's wrist fully. These Keystones belonged to five hated people - their names being Maxie, Archie, Cyrus, Ghetsis and Lysandre - removed from their artifacts that were recovered after the Rainbow Rocket Incident. A sixth Keystone - Ash's usual Keystone that belonged to Giovanni of Universe 0 - was embedded on his silver lighter.

After a moment of thought, Ash touched one of the Keystones on his bracelet, and Latias' Mega Stone that was hanging from a scarf around her neck lit up. After a few moments, a purple and white jet-looking Eon Pokemon was in its place.

"I honestly don't see how this is helping. You just Mega Evolve me and let me roam around to practice moves." Latias commented but Ash waved her off.

"I think this will be the last time we do this anyway. Your Evolution felt natural this time. I'm used to it."

"I thought I'd find you here. You never stop training, after all." A new voice joined them. It was female and it sounded very cute. Ash, of course, knew who this voice belonged to but turned around to see her anyway.

His vision was graced with the sight of a platinum-blonde beauty, wearing an ash grey sleeveless sweater and a snow white skirt that ended in icy blue frills. The outfit was complimented by a pink belt connecting the sweater to the skirt, along with icy blue stockings that reached up to her thighs with short black boots. A white handbag was freely hanging from her shoulder. Her hair was done in an indescribable way, a mixture of a ponytail, braids and straight flowing hair - even still, it was a very beautiful sight that went along perfectly with her beautiful face. A well groomed, beautiful Alolan Ninetales was pacing next to her.

"Welcome back to Alola, Lillie. You have my congratulations for your successful entry in the King's Coronation Tournament." Ash spoke in a lukewarm and awfully formal manner, causing Lillie to frown.

"If I wanted that kind of welcome I'd go to an embassy" Lillie said sarcastically and basically lunged into Ash's arms. "I missed you sooooo much!" She screeched with her face buried into his torso. Ash sweatdropped and slowly pushed her off.

"I appreciate the sentiment. I am, however, busy. I wish you luck in your endeavors during the tournament." Ash coldly said and turned around. Lillie was staring at him with a slack jaw.

"Ash. What the Distortion is wrong with you?" Lillie asked seriously to her long time friend. His dismissal against her hurt quite a bit.

"I am perfectly fine. Better than usual, even. No one is bothering me and no one comes near me. As they should. You should get away as well, this place is dangerous and I would rather not have you near me." Ash stated nonchalantly and waved her off. An Ice Beam struck his extended arm, causing him to curse in pain. When he turned around to confront Lillie, however, she was already gone.

His eyes caught a glimpse of a fast-moving cloud getting away from the island. Unbeknownst to him, Lillie was not sad. Merely extremely mad at his behavior. She realized that he had deteriorated even further, but she would not cry - she already done a lot of that these past seven years.

Ash did not care. He succeeded in his goal. He drove yet another person away. It was all for their safety and well being. He kept them safe.

But he never realized that he was hurting everyone, males and females alike.

Who wouldn't be hurt and sad when a close friend violently ripped them out of their life?

---

Οctober 10, 2022, 9:00am
Alola Coliseum
Alola Region

"Tension is peaking today!" The voice of the announcer named Mark Davidson was heard across the Coliseum and through TV. "Just look at this line-up waiting for the flag that signals the start of the KCT!"

The line-up he was referring to was situated inside the battlefield of the Coliseum. A total of 31 people of insane fame and power were separated in six groups of five, except one group that had six members instead of five.

During the past week, Manalo and Alola in general had been blowing up with activity and tourism. Every Gym Leader, Elite, Champion and Frontier Brain had come to Alola. In some cases, they came with families, like the Maple family that had father and son participating in the Tournament while the daughter was already in Alola for an indefinite amount of time - she claimed that she would move to Alola if necessary. Hotels were almost blowing up, Pokemon Centers were filled beyond capacity and many empty apartments across Alola had become temporary rentals.

The Aether Foundation opened eleven different hotels in the biggest cities of the region - it was barely enough. Of course, they were not constructed in a span of three weeks. They were already created and ready to operate, but they were not necessary prior to the Tournament. Quite a significant show of foresight.

The six groups on the battlefield represented the Leagues. All groups were on a straight line, facing the announcer booth in order to be captured by the cameras of the floating Rotom Drones.

On the far left, 'Dragon Master' Lance Wataru was standing as the front man, while Bruno, Karen, Will and Koga were standing behind him. They were all silent and deadly still. All dressed in their championship outfits.

Next to them, Hoenn was represented by their two front men, 'Contest Legend' Wallace Mikuri and 'Steel Wall' Steven Stone. Behind them stood Sidney, Phoebe, Glacia and Drake. Phoebe had a massive grin and was almost preening under the spotlight, while Sidney was grimacing with that much spotlight. In similar fashion to Indigo, they too were wearing their championship outfits.

Third in line, the League of Sinnoh had 'Queen of Sinnoh' Cynthia Shirona standing in front, exuding an air of confidence and power - quite fitting for the woman that was recognized and respected as 'The Strongest Trainer in The World'. Behind her, the famous Sinnohan Elite Four consisting of Aaron, Bertha, Flint and Lucian was standing in attention. Just like everyone else, championship outfits were decorating their bodies.

Coming up next, the Unovan Elites of the Grand Western Continent. Their brand new Champion, 'Draconian Queen' Iris Emerald was representing the Elite Four of Grimsley, Marshall, Shauntal and Caitlyn.

Between Alola and Unova, 'Crystal Idol' Diantha Carne was representing Kalos. The elites behind her were Malva, Siebold, Drasna and Wikstrom. While the Elite Four of Kalos were wearing their usual outfits, Diantha decided to completely destroy the protocol and her widely recognized Champion outfit at the same time. She was wearing an outfit that was shaped and modeled as an exact copy of her usual Championship outfit but with inverted colors. Instead of pure white, it was completely black. The usual gold stripes were turned to a deep electric blue. She was also not wearing her usual Mega Necklace, it was replaced with a black choker with a crystal hanging from small silver chain, Key Stone hanging from it right above the neckline of her dress. The outfit was complete with black high heels. Her usual cheery demeanor she had for the cameras was nowhere to be seen - an iron determination and seriousness were visible in her features.

She had a reason for this change, of course. She came to this Tournament with two goals in mind. To win it all and to beat Ash Ketchum senseless. Her outfit represented that. In reality, this was the original outfit while her white outfit was the replacement. She was always an extremely serious woman with a healthy dose of cockiness and sarcasm when it came to battling, but it all changed when she reached the peak of Kalos and became the most renowned actress in the world during the same year. After those occurrences, she became a lighthearted young woman, always bringing positivity and light to the lives of people. She tried the same with Ash, so she had to fight his darkness with everything she had. For the first time in 10 years, she would fight with every single drop of power and skill she had until she would finally reach him and defeat him.

Finally, on the far right, the Alola League Elite Four made their first appearance as a group. The Elite Four were standing in a line, Champion in front of them. Obviously, the Alola Elite Four were the more rowdy of the bunch, each doing whatever they actually wanted while keeping up the bare minimum of public appeal. The truth was that a less formal view of the top authorities of a region was a pleasant sight to many. Every single Elite was standing in attention, like stoic heroes in front of the people and cameras. Not the Alolan group. They were simply their good old human selves.

From left to right the Elites each represented their rank within the Four. First one on the left, was the man named Gladion Aether, son of Lusamine and Mohn Aether. He had long, platinum-blonde hair that was caught in a ponytail flowing down to his waist, while several bangs were covering the right side of his face - some long enough to reach his chest. He was wearing a black hooded long sleeve jacket that reached his calves - on the inside of the jacket were multiple disks stored, looking like a shady vendor that hid his product from prying eyes. His hands were covered with black gloves - both gloves had the pinky and ring finger cut off. He was wearing a dark grey t-shirt that was crossed by an X shape colored in red. The outfit was complete by black cargo jeans that were cut in multiple places and sported big red pockets that stored his Pokeballs while black heavy-duty boots with red details wrapped everything up. Hanging from his left ear was a custom made Mega Earring, while hidden under his right sleeve was a Z-Ring. Gladion was looking at the announcer booth with very obvious boredom while he was tossing a Pokeball in the air simply to keep his hands occupied.

Next to Gladion was the infamous former leader and founder of 'Team Skull', Guzma Skullen. His white hair was trimmed and styled slightly backwards, held tightly by a pair of black sunglasses with golden frame. He was wearing a pitch-black biker jacket that was zipped up to his navel, black jeans and an indigo colored t-shirt peeking from within the jacket. The outfit ended on a pair of black boots. Guzma was a man of accessories and it showed. He was wearing a gold wrist watch on his right hand and had a multitude of golden rings of different styles on both hands. Hanging from his neck was a gold chain with a massive hanging 'S', the Team Skull insignia. Embedded on middle of that golden insignia was a Keystone. A Z-Ring was nowhere to be found, as Guzma was adamantly refusing to use Z-Moves. Guzma also looked significantly more bulky compared to before - gym days with Kukui under direct orders from the Champion helped him quite a lot. His eyes were scanning the crowds with obvious amusement aimed at their excitement, all of that while a lit cigarette was hanging from his lips.

Third in line was the Sinnohan Trainer Paul Shinji. His dark purple hair had grown enough to fashion a ponytail that was hanging on his left shoulder. He was wearing a long sleeved purple sweater and black jeans, ending on a pair of black sneakers with purple details. A pretty simple attire, perfectly complimenting his simple yet explosive battle style. His right hand was wearing a fingerless glove with a Z-Crystal socket on it - that specific model of the Z-Ring was simply called a Z-Glove. On his left had he had a Mega Ring on his middle finger. He was playing with the dirt of the battlefield, trying to write something by kicking the field.

Last, but most certainly not least, Makani Kukui was enjoying the spotlight. Alolan Elite Four Makani Kukui - King of The Battle Royale Dome, The 'Masked Royal' - Alola Region Professor Kukui - Teacher Kukui of the Pokemon School of Alola - Loving husband and family man. He was a man of many talents and many names. The most influential figure of Alola alongside Lusamine Aether. He was the only out of the five members of the Alola League that never changed his attire - a long white lab coat that was opened to show his perfectly sculpted and tanned body, gray sweatpants decorated by a thick green stripe around the waistline and green moccasins. The only thing that actually changed was his cap, being a white cap with the new Alola League Insignia, a yellow circle that had a black moon in it and a prismatic rainbow above it - quite a successful combination representing the Legendary Trio of Alola. Other accessories on him were his green framed visor, a Z-Ring on the left hand and a wedding ring with a Keystone on it.

All four of the Alola Elites had massive fan bases. Articles often compared the four of them to find out which was the hottest or most impactful of them all. Online discussions about which Elite was the best could turn into all-out virtual wars between fans. To date, no fan club was on top of another - all four were growing on an equal scale.

None, however, was nearly as big as the fan club for the Champion of Alola.

Representing the Alola League in front of his four Elites, stood 'The Myth of Alola' Ashton Hadrian Ketchum. The fastest growing fan club in the world was dedicated to his name. Right now, he was intently looking at the announcer booth, occasionally glancing to the Rotom drones floating around the Elites of the world. He was smoking a cigarette without a care in the world, idly playing with his silver lighter that had his Keystone embedded on it. He was wearing the exact same outfit that he wore on his first official match - with one exception. On his left hand, right under his custom made Z-Glove was a - custom made as well, of course - silver cuff bracelet. That very silver bracelet had five Keystones embedded on it. Adding the Keystone on his lighter, Ash Ketchum had immediate access to a full team of Mega Evolved Pokemon, if he so desired. And that didn't go unnoticed by the two announcers and the spectators watching from TVs. The Rotom Drones had zoomed in on his Mega Cuff and Mega Lighter.

"Mark, are my eyes deceiving me?" The announcer named John Dirk inquired. "Does Champion Ketchum have a whopping SIX Keystones?!"

"I- I- I have no idea what to say" Mark stuttered in disbelief. "I have never seen anything like this. Ash Ketchum has six different Keystones on him! Five are on his wrist! The Champion of Alola can potentially fight with a full team of Mega Evolved Pokemon!"

"This is unprecedented Mark. The Champion of Alola can use six Mega Evolutions in a single fight and can use Z-Moves as well - probably all of them! This needs to be moderated. If it isn't, we might as well crown Ash Ketchum the first Pokemon Legend without even fighting!"

---

"Did any one of you know that Ash was capable of something like this?!" May spat, pointing at the Mega Cuff on the TV.

"I mean, I saw him fighting with coordinated perfection with five Pokemon against that monstrosity, and he had one Mega Evolved Lucario and his Ash-form Greninja at the same time." Dawn shrugged.

"What else could he possibly be hiding..." Serena thought out loud and provoked a cocked eyebrow from Dawn.

"Did I mention he was riding a fucking Latias?" The blunette spat and May face-palmed.

"Yes, Dawn, around fifty times so far." May deadpanned and kept staring at the screen. "But this... I never imagined Ash would come that far... He is holding-"

"Uncontrollable amounts of power?" Serena and Dawn interjected at the same time.

"Yeah, we know. I saw it first hand. Ash is completely losing it." Dawn continued, but got a scowl from May.

"Yeah, he's most likely losing it because you ate his mouth!"

---

"Who the fuck does this cocky dude think he is, acting as a Champion? He's just the Champion of a tiny speck of land in the middle of the Grand Ocean!"

The voice belonging to the Grand Duke of the Battle Chateau of Kalos, Calem Xavier was almost sour. He couldn't stand the sight of the Hero of Kalos holding six Mega Stones without a care in the world. Even himself, one of the most powerful trainers in Kalos only had three!

"I can't wait to pound him in the dirt."

---

"It is time Mark! The time to wave the green flag to the Tournament is here!" John said in the mic excitedly. A short, old man walked in the battlefield under the sounds of applause and cheering. Mark never responded to John - it was time for the President of the Pokemon League to speak.

"Welcome, one and all! To the first step of the biggest Tournament in history!" Charles Goodshow bellowed to his microphone in a mighty voice. "The King's Coronation Tournament!" Applause exploded on his declaration, forcing him to wait until it died down. "It has been a long, long three weeks since Champion Ash Ketchum's announcement after his first official match! But the time has finally come! In the span of two weeks, we have reached the 1024 participants that we needed for this event! A total of 99 Trainers were already in the competition - The total of Elite Four members, Champions, Gym Leaders, Island Kahunas and Trial Captains and Frontier Brains of Kanto and Sinnoh are 99! So, excluding them, a total of 925 trainers from around the world with fight for a chance to be named a 'Pokemon Legend'!" The crowd roared once again, disrupting Goodshow's speech. They surely did not realize that if they let him finish his speech, the tournament will begin.

"Before I explain some things about the first stage of the Tournament, I need to address a small issue caused by Champion Ash Ketchum. I want to ensure the participants and spectators that each trainer will be able to use Mega Evolution and Z-Moves once each." Goodshow said and Ash lifted his head with a cocky grin. All Champion's had microphones and ear pieces on them.

"Allowing me to use Mega Evolution even once is overkill in and of itself." The Champion of Alola declared. Guzma chuckled, Gladion snorted, Paul rolled his eyes and Kukui masked his laugh behind a cough. The other Champions didn't seem to notice his cocky declaration - except Diantha, whose eye twitched. The Alolan natives in the battlefield erupted in roars and cheers for their Champion. Charles laughed heartily at the show of confidence and continued.

"Now. Twenty four Hoennian Battleships are located around Manalo Island, waiting for the battles to begin. Let me remind you that the first round of the tournament will be a group elimination! 256 groups of four trainers will be randomly generated along with the time frame in which they will be battling, along with which battleship they will be attending! Each of the battlefields will hold one group for two hours! Three 1 on 1 matches - with a chance for two on two double battle! - will be held in a span of two hours on each battle field! The Group Elimination stage will be split in two - today in a span of ten hours and tomorrow in a span of twelve hours! 24 groups multiplied by five two-hour splits - 120 groups will have their winners today, and the rest of the 136 groups will have their winners tomorrow! Then, after a two day break, the Bracket of 512 will begin!"

"I am certain that I have tired everyone with all these math equations, so let's speed this up. As of this moment, the King's Coronation Tournament... Begins!"

The stadium erupted in loud roars. Along with the spectators, a multitude of fireworks were fired from the hidden firework launchers around the Coliseum. Green flags waved everywhere.

The Champions and the Elites, however, were busy looking at their Rotom Phones for their groups. The fights would start at 10:00am sharp and end ten hours later at 20:00.

Ash found his group and smiled. He was fighting today during the last two-hour split.

Group #144
October 10, 18:00-20:00
Battleship 7
Contestants:
1. Ishiki Kobayashi - Johto Region
2. Ashton Hadrian Ketchum - Alola Region
3. Michel O'Brien - Unova Region
4. Calem Xavier - Kalos Region

---

Aether Foundation Level 1 Files.

Clearance required for access: Any Aether Foundation employee

File 788: Universe Zero (0)

Compiled and documented by Aether President Lusamine Aether.

Universe Zero is the name given to the Universe we are currently living in. The discovery of the Multiverse in which we belong came along with the invasion of Team Rainbow Rocket in year 2015. Intel compiled from the collapsed castle documented the existence of at least six (6) different Universes apart from our own, each formerly ruled under tyranny by leaders of different Underground Organizations that commanded different Legendary Pokemon of extreme power. Attempts to visit the different universes have not been made, and will likely never be made. Champion Ashton Hadrian Ketchum advised that invading parallel universes can prove deadly to the multiverse as a whole. The appearance of the Mythical - and its spawns - and - to end the invasion proves Ash Ketchum's claims.

---

Thank you once again for being here! But this time, I need to speak a little seriously.

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but our good ol' pal Ash Ketchum tries to send everyone off. So even I don't know if he will end up with a harem or not, despite knowing what happens to him later on. Perks of being the author.

That said, even if he does have a harem, it will surely not ruin the story in any shape or form. This will not turn into slice of life romance. There are still way bigger things at play than Ash's love interests. Let's take everything one step at a time and wait for our boi to realize that he actually has romantic feelings for some girls. Everything will come in due time.

As always, I am always open to criticism and reviews!

PS. The story says that it has 14 reviews, yet only 12 are visible. Where are the other two reviews hiding? I swear to Arceus if the Gibles ate the reviews again-

Chapter 5 - Group Elimination: 3/10/22
Chapter 6 - The Terror of The 64: 13/10/22
Chapter 7 - The Final 8: 22/10/22
Chapter 8 - Grand Chaos: 31/10/22