A/N: I apologize for the long wait between chapters for anyone who cared enough to wait. I often write on a whim, and I lacked the motivation to write anything in the past months. All of a sudden, for whatever reason, I just felt like coming back to this story. Hopefully, updates for this story will be more consistent hitherto. Thank you for reading.
In life, there exist moments, moments that you will never forget. Those extraordinary, breathless memories are instantly recognizable. In that instant, Ash knew, that this encounter, this feeling would be unforgettable. Ash almost laughed at the cliche. As ridiculous as it seemed, this was his reality. Ash shook his head, as a blush quickly developed on his face. He noticed the girl approaching him.
"Hey, I'm sorry we almost hit you there, are you okay?" The girl asked with a worried stare. Ash struggled to find the words to respond.
"Uhm, y-yeah, I'm great. That looks really fun by the way." Ash said, gesturing towards the Pokemon. She nodded, smiling brightly. Ash found it difficult to take his eyes off her. He racked his brain trying to find something else to say, but he was met with silence.
"So, what's your name?" The girl asked, the smile never fading as she spoke. Ash mentally smacked himself, acting like a bumbling idiot was not a great first impression.
"Oh, right, I'm Ash, and you?" Ash asked, trying to calm down his racing thoughts.
"I'm Mallow." She replied excitedly. Mallow. Ash grinned at the response. 'It fits her,' was his first thought. The calm breeze and soothing aura that surrounded her were perfectly embodied by that name.
"Hey, whose this." Another voice appeared behind Mallow. Ash looked past her to see a short girl with even shorter blue hair.
"Lana, this is Ash, I almost ran into him on my Tauros." Mallow said matter of factly. Lana giggled and offered her hand to Ash, a gesture which he reciprocated. Ash noticed more of Mallow's friends making their way toward them. Mallow introduced them all to Ash. First was Kiawe, he had an incredibly determined, stoic, expression, and he looked like he could be a strong opponent. Sophocles looked up at Ash curiously before breaking out into a big grin. Lillie looked a bit hesitant, but she was eventually able to smile shyly. Ash chuckled at the diverse group of friends, they looked like they would be a lot of fun.
"Hey, I've got an idea, you should come with us to check out the Pokemon School." Mallow shouted. She was bouncing in place at her brilliant idea. Ash blushed slightly at the scene in front of him.
"Pokemon School?" Ash asked as he was able to reorganize his attention.
"It's the school that all of us go to. We have fun and learn about Pokemon from Professor Kukui!" Mallow exclaimed, growing more animated by the second. Ash rubbed the back of his head. He really should be getting to Professor Oak's lab, but how could he deny such a desirable offer from such a desirable woman?
"Sure, if I'm not imposing on anything." Ash stammered. Mallow simply smirked. She grabbed Ash's hand and dragged him with her toward their next destination, the Pokemon School. Ash took a deep breath. He had never had this much trouble interacting with other people in the past. He was always extremely extroverted and excited to make friends, but for some reason, Mallow suppressed his usual enthusiasm, and he could only react with subdued politeness. It irked him to no end.
"Here we are, the Pokemon School," Mallow shouted, the energy oozing out of her. All Ash could do was nod, the reality setting in that Mallow's hand was very much still wrapped around his own. Soft was the only word floating in Ash's empty mind. He looked up at the massive building, it encapsulated Alola's aesthetic perfectly, with its bright colours that matched the sky, and the coconut-shaped rooftops, blending in with the palm trees which surrounded the structure.
"Wow, this place is gorgeous!" Ash remarked, his eyes gleaming with pure childhood excitement. Ash looked back to Mallow. He noticed that he had separated their hands in his stupor. Mallow's face held an expression he couldn't quite decipher. She was smiling, but for some reason, it seemed more, strained. He abandoned the thought, returning his attention to the school.
"Yup. this is where we all go to school. We learn everything there is to know about Pokemon from Professor Kukui." Mallow explained, the previous expression instantly replaced by her trademark smile. Hearing that name reminded Ash of his original intention.
"Oh right, sorry to cut this all short, but I'm supposed to be meeting with someone named Professor Oak." Ash revealed, with an apologetic look on his face. Mallow simply giggled, to Ash's confusion.
"Don't worry, Professor Oak is actually the principal of the Pokemon School," Sophocles explained. Mallow and the rest of her friends nodded in agreement.
"Really, that's great! If that's the case, can you guys take me to him." Ash asked, sending a pointed gaze toward Mallow, who moved to speak, before being beaten to the punch by Kiawe.
"Well, we should really be getting back to class. If you're okay with it, I can take you to him." Kiawe offered, much to Mallow's dismay, as she was on the brink of saying the same thing.
"That'd be great, thank you. It was great meeting you guys, I'd love to catch up later." Ash waved goodbye to the group. His eyes lingered on Mallow, whose face was adorned with a small pout. The pace of Ash's heartbeat quickened at the sight. He shook his head. What was happening to him? Why was he acting like this?
Kiawe began separating from the group, gesturing for Ash to join him. Ash quickly caught up to him. There was a certain air around Kiawe that Ash couldn't quite comprehend. Ash resolved to attempt to make idle conversation to tear down the walls that Kiawe built up.
"It was really nice to meet all of you guys, but I don't really know you that well. What do you wanna do when you graduate from this school." Ash asked the innocent question, hoping to lighten the mood.
"Oh me, that's an easy one. I wanna be a strong trainer that can protect his family!" Kiawe exclaimed, with great vigour. Ash grinned at the childlike answer, not too far away from his own dream.
"If I'm being honest. I'm really nervous right now. I didn't expect to meet Ash Ketchum in Alola of all places." Kiawe admitted sheepishly. Ash tilted his head, puzzlement possessing his body.
"Wait, you know who I am?" Ash questioned, shocked to hear that Kiawe not only knew who he was but was also nervous to meet him.
"Of course. I watched the Kalos League last year, your Greninja was just amazing! Your battle in the finals was one of the greatest that I've ever seen." Kiawe explained excitedly. Ash smiled at Kiawe's passion, the fond memories of his adventure in Kalos returning to him. He had almost forgotten that the tournament was televised. Ash's smile began to fade when he thought about a certain person he met in Kalos. He shook the thought. Ash was glad that Kiawe was only nervous, and didn't hate Ash after just meeting him.
"So what brings you to Alola anyway? There aren't many opportunities for battling. Someone like you would be better off exploring another region, right?" Kiawe asked. Ash sighed as he thought about his past.
"It's a long story, but to make it simple, Battling just became a lot. I felt like in chasing my dreams, I lost sight of what was important. I just needed to take a break from everything and figure out where to go from here. Professor Oak back in Kanto said that his cousin had an opportunity for me try to get back into the flow of things here in Alola, so here I am." Ash laughed after explaining his dilemma, not wanting to bring down the atmosphere. Kiawe looked at Ash sympathetically.
"Don't worry, I'm not giving up or anything, I'm just taking a small break. I'll be back to battling and become a Pokemon Master in the blink of an eye." Ash proclaimed with feigned intensity, noticing Kiawe's apprehension. Kiawe didn't seem to fully believe Ash's answer, but he didn't want to make Ash uncomfortable, so moving on would be the best course of action.
"Anyway, I saw you and Mallow eyeing each other up, is there something there?" Ash nearly stumbled at Kiawe's sudden questioning.
"No, I mean we just met today, I just got to Alola not too long ago. How about you, are you interested in her?" Ash replied, trying to shift the attention away from himself.
"Ah no way, Mallow's like a sister to me. It's just that I've never seen her act like this around anyone else. Usually, she's not so easily trusting of others. She'll smile and act nicely, but she'd never do anything like invite them over to the school. When I saw her invite you so quickly, I thought you guys knew each other or something." Kiawe revealed. Ash was taken aback by Kiawe's words. If that were the case, why did Mallow trust him so readily? Ash sighed, he had never been so wrapped in a girl before, let alone someone he knew so little about. He could admit that Mallow was insanely attractive, but Ash had met plenty of beautiful girls before, and he had never behaved like this around them. Ash was acting more like Brock than himself whenever he spoke to Mallow. A not-so-unfamiliar feeling began creeping into his heart, Ash thought that he had feelings for someone else, but could it be that his attention was being stolen away so effortlessly?
"Here we are, Professor Oak's office." Kiawe gestured toward the small door in front of them. Ash thanked him as Kiawe made his way to his classroom. Ash gently knocked on the door. He heard a loud "Alola" from inside the room, and taking that as his cue to enter, he opened the door. He was greeted by a man who looked seemingly identical to the Professor Oak he knew in Kanto, only with longer hair and tan skin.
"You must be Ash, welcome to the Pokemon School! I'm Professor Samson Oak, it's great to meet you." Oak introduced himself, waving his hand out as Ash moved to shake it.
"Thank you for having me, it's great to meet you too." Ash responded politely. Ash took the opportunity to look around the Professor and supposed principal's office. It was filled to the brim with items and merchandise having to do with Pokemon. Ash was glad to meet someone who seemed to love Pokemon just as much as himself.
"Samuel has told me so much about you, and of course, I'm familiar with you myself. Anyone that knows anything about Pokemon battling knows about your history. It's truly an honour to be in your presence." Ash blushed at the influx of compliments.
"Please, I've accomplished nothing when compared to someone like you. Anyway, the professor told me that you had a mission for me." Ash asked, getting straight to the point. A serious expression replaced the formerly kind one on the older man's face.
"There is this strange phenomenon that has only been observed to occur on Alola. It only seems to affect Pokemon. They grow in size and power significantly, we call them, Totem Pokemon. We've tried to observe their behaviour in the past but to no avail. It seems that the only way we can gather any data is to battle and defeat them. Of course, it wouldn't be difficult for a veteran trainer such as yourself to defeat them. Your power would greatly assist us in our research, so I beg, please help us." The professor bowed his head after his thorough explanation. Ash urged him to raise his head. Ash had an inkling that the request would be something of this nature, he really had no purpose or worth outside of battling. Ash hastily agreed to the professor's request. He could barely hold back his grin, he was finally back.
"Amazing! Now, Samuel has given me access to your PC, so we'll be able to transfer your Pokemon here at will." Samuel offered. Ash shook his head.
"Honestly, I'd rather try to catch some new Alolan Pokemon if that's not an issue." Ash requested. The professor simply laughed.
"I had a feeling you would say that. I've prepared these for you in case that you would say that." Samson handed Ash a slew of Pokeballs. Ash's smile widened. The smell of an adventure had him salivating. Ash looked up with a strong conviction.
"I'd also like one more request." Ash shouted.
"Sure, anything." The professor replied.
"Please! Allow me to enroll in the Pokemon School!"