"I wonder where Ash has run off to?" Brock asked since Ash and Pikachu were absent.
"Maybe he got caught up in another battle. I've got somewhat of an idea what's going on behind his head now." Misty helplessly waved her hand.
"Well he better not take too long or we'll miss the St. Anne."
Brock and Misty were currently lounging around near a port in Vermillion City. Earlier they received tickets to the St. Anne cruise ship by some mysterious sponsors.
"Speak of the devil." Misty widened her eyes and pointed to their friend arriving on time. And with an unknown girl on his back.
"…I was not expecting for us to become accomplices to a kidnapping." Brock dryly said.
"Ash, where did you find this girl and why is she on your back!?" Misty shouted.
"Hey guys, say hello to Mina." Ash introduced the girl he was piggybacking.
"Sup…" Mina idly waved at them lethargically.
"She's kind of an airhead. We happened to cross each other in front of an abandoned house and she decided to barge inside." Ash narrated.
"I thought it'd be an interesting place to make a quick sketch. Even better if it was haunted." Mina made an easygoing smile.
"See what I mean? So I went along in case she got in trouble. Who knew the house was actually haunted!"
"We took our eyes off you for like, two hours, and you stumbled inside a haunted house." Brock raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"A Gengar was living inside it and was playing pranks on us to get out." Ash continued his story unperturbed by his friends' skepticism.
"It freaked me out!" Mina commented.
"Along the way, Gengar dived inside my shadow when we escaped. Later we ended up in the middle of the city. We ran into another guy and he turned out to be Gengar's Trainer!"
"That guy was a total jerk." Mina said with a frown.
"I know! He abandoned Gengar a long time ago since he thinks it was his fault for getting into unlucky situations! Saying some nonsense about being cursed by Gengar!"
"Gengar didn't like hearing that from his former Trainer, so he took it out on him by attacking." There was not a single bit of sympathy behind Mina's words for the Trainer.
"I managed to calm down Gengar. He got really down for a while and I helped cheer him up. I even managed to convince him that I'll take care of him as his new Trainer from now on." Ash proudly stated.
"Yeah, you were pretty cool when you persuaded Gengar. Saying 'I need you,' 'fight by my side as mine,' and stuff. It's amazing you can say it with a straight face."
"Thanks, Mina!" Ash beamed.
"Is she really complimenting you…" Misty held her forehead.
"That reminds me, say hello to Gengar!" When prompted by Ash, Gengar appeared out of his shadow and grinned at Brock and Misty who jumped at his introduction.
"So you were not lying about the haunted house." Brock flatly said with a wry smile.
"If I had a yen coin for every time you pick up an abandoned Pokemon, I'd have two. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird it happened twice." Misty said. "But what about her story with you carrying her?"
"Eh, I got lost in the city and needed to reach the port to find my ship to go back to the Alola region. Ash offered so I thought, why the heck not. I've been meaning to ask, but is he really human? I think we broke the sound barrier during the run." Mina asked flatly.
"You get used to it." Misty answered.
"You've got some nice muscles on you too." Mina said while feeling Ash's arms on her with a smile.
"Okay! You've finally made it to the port, so get going to your own business! We've got a cruise ship to ride on as well that's different from yours!" Misty exclaimed, barely hiding her jealousy.
"What a darn shame. I didn't even get to draw a sketch of you and Gengar or have a battle." Mina pouted.
"Next time, we'll definitely have that battle!" Ash enthusiastically responded.
"Cool." Mina's eyes brightened. She got off Ash, wrote something on her sketchbook and ripped the paper off. "Here's my phone number. Later." She languidly waved and took off towards her ship.
"Now that we're all together again, let's head off on the St. Anne!" Brock declared and received a resounding chorus of agreement.
They found the luxury liner and boarded. The ship sailed away from Vermillion City and the group admired the scenery of moving out towards the sea.
"I forgot the details, so what are we here for again?" Ash asked to which the others facepalmed.
"On the brochure it said the St. Anne is holding a party where Trainers from many different regions can come together to interact and battle with one another. This year they got in contact with the Naranja Academy from the Paldea region to arrange this as a field trip for the students. Guess we'll be seeing a lot of those on the ship." Brock patiently explained.
"From Paldea, huh? The region that's native to the Capsakid species." Ash recalled his Pokemon that was usually unfamiliar to the Kanto region. "Let's go meet the students!"
"I'm staying around the Deck of the ship. The area has a pool and is a great place to sunbathe." Misty replied and parted from the group.
"Guess it's just you and me, Ash." Brock said.
"Let's go!" Ash cheered and Pikachu happily joined him.
The two boys and mouse wandered through the hallways and found the main ballroom. They were amazed by the huge space inside and the sea of people occupying the room. Most of which consisted of young people wearing matching school outfits.
"Those must be the students of Naranja Academy!" Ash took off towards the crowd. He felt the excitement in the crowd and the tense air of battle occurring in the center of the room. So he made his way through and got a clear view of the scene.
"Tauros, Raging Bull!" A young girl with black hair tied in a ponytail commanded her Pokemon and it rushed forward to utterly dominate its opponent.
"And we have a winner! Give it up for Nemona, the super star of Naranja Academy!" The referee called out her name and she pumped her fist.
"Alright, who's next!? I'll take on anyone! I can battle all day too!" Nemona energetically said.
"I'll take you on!" Ash called out from the crowd. The students around him made a path and were curious to see this foreigner taking up the challenge to battle their school's battle maniac.
"Ooh! Someone not from school! I've been wanting to battle many new people not from Paldea lately. My name's Nemona Xantho and I loooove to battle!" Nemona excitedly said to Ash.
"Me too! I can't think of a better way to spend time than to have a Pokemon battle! I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, a Trainer participating in the Indigo League challenge. I just heard you were a super star, so you must be really strong!" Ash replied with equal enthusiasm.
"Haha, don't mind that! That kind of stuff isn't important, but I do think I'm kinda strong!" Nemona answered.
"Great, how do you want our battle to go? 3v3? 6v6?" Ash asked.
"Oh! Oh! Six versus six! I wanna see and battle all of the Pokemon you have on hand!" Nemona clasped her hands together and strongly requested.
"Haha, you got it!"
"Looks like Ash is fraternizing well with like minded people." Brock crossed his arms and smiled as he watched.
"We've got ourselves another battle between Ash Ketchum and Nemona Xantho. Trainers, send out your first Pokemon!"
"Get ready, Dusclops!"
"This'll be our first time together, Gengar!"
The two Ghost-types were sent out and glared at each other.
"Ice Punch!"
"Ice Punch!"
Two fists, both shrouded in chilly temperatures, clashed.
"Night Shade!"
"Night Shade!"
The Pokemon fired dark crimson beams from their eyes at each other as their Trainers called out their moves simultaneously.
"Shadow Ball!"
"Shadow Ball!"
Two huge shadowy orbs were thrown and collided with each other, producing a small explosion that scattered the Ghost-type energy particles.
"Astonish!"
"Lick!"
Dusclops approached right in front of Gengar and made a fierce expression, scaring him. Gengar responded back by licking its face with his large tongue.
"Not enough! Not enough! We're just getting started!" Nemona chanted. "Again, Shadow Ball!"
"Hide under its shadow!"
Gengar avoided the Shadow Ball by diving into Dusclops' shadow. It reemerged out and struck Dusclops with an Ice Punch, encasing it in ice, forcing Nemona to recall it.
Nemona quickly evened out the field when her Hakamo-o came out and defeated Gengar with an Outrage.
"What kind of Pokemon is that!?" Ash was starry-eyed by the unfamiliar Pokemon he was looking at.
"I've got many more and if you wanna see 'em you're gonna have to force them out!" Nemona encouraged Ash to give it his all to push her Pokemon to their limits.
"You've got it! It's up to you, Capsakid!"
"Wow, you've got a Pokemon from Paldea too!"
The Spicy Pepper Pokemon emerged and was struck by Hakamo-o's Outrage. Enraged by the attack, Capsakid blew a cold breeze from his mouth, critically damaging Hakamo-o and knocking it out.
"What was that!? Did that Capsakid just use Frost Breath!? Unbelievable, no Capsakid could use a move like that!" Nemona was excited by the outrageous move used by an unlikely Pokemon that couldn't learn it normally.
"I-I didn't know he could do that either!" Ash was pleasantly surprised by the reveal as well.
"Hmm…could being enriched with energy from the World Tree have anything to do with that." Brock rubbed his chin as he observed the ongoing battle.
Nemona's next Pokemon was a Monferno and she traded blows with Capsakid. Eventually, the Grass-type was taken down by a Fire Punch.
"So many Pokemon from so many different regions…Coming to this ship was the best decision!" Ash could hardly contain the excitement bubbling in him. "I choose you, Charmander!"
Charmander took the place of his comrade and fought Monferno. He performed a Swords Dance and bit Monferno with Fire Fang. He was smacked away by a Mach Punch, but retaliated with Flamethrower.
In an intense tradeoff between fire against fire, both Fire-types took heavy damage and passed out at the same time.
"Butterfree!"
"Ribombee!"
The two Bug-types were well-matched as they exchanged kicks and pounds of their wings using Acrobatics.
"Energy Ball!"
"Air Slash!"
Butterfree's Air Slash sliced through Ribombee's Energy Ball and struck her. Ribombee was not finished yet and both Pokemon struck out with Psychic. Butterfree came out as the victor.
But victory did not last long as Butterfree was promptly knocked away with Tauros' Raging Bull.
"I've never seen a Tauros with that color before!" Ash exclaimed.
"This is our regional Tauros with two other variants. Mine here is the Combat Breed Tauros!" Nemono briefly explained. "Watch out, this one's not a Normal-type, but a Fighting-type!"
"Man, I'd love to have my own Tauros someday!" Ash grinned. "It's finally time, Pikachu!"
"Pika!"
His trustworthy partner Pokemon entered the field. Tauros came to crash at him with Raging Bull, but Pikachu tripped her with Grass Knot. The mouse evaded each attack and launched Thunderbolts in reaction.
"Skull Bash!"
Pikachu tucked in his head and flew like a rocket, slamming into Tauros' head with his, knocking the wind out of her. He did a flip in the air and shocked Tauros one more time with Thunderbolt, sealing his and Ash's victory.
"What a strong Pikachu! Pawmot will love battling him."
Nemona sent out her Pawmot and he greeted Pikachu eagerly. Pikachu replied joyfully and the two were excited to battle one another.
"Alright, let's give it our full power for this last one!"
"Pika!"
"Thunderbolt!"
"Discharge!"
Pikachu emitted a bolt of electricity and Pawmot answered with a wave of electricity. The two approached each other and landed several hits with Rock Smash from Pikachu and Arm Thrust from Pawmot.
"Grass Knot!"
"Bite!"
Blades of grass sprouted to entangle Pawmot's feet, but he bit them off with Bite. Pikachu went for a Skull Bash, but Pawmot ducked and embedded an Ice Punch to his belly.
"Skull Bash again!"
"Block it this time with your hands!"
Pikachu dived down from the air and Pawmot received the attack by grasping Pikachu's head with his hands. He was pushed far and skidded to a halt, delivering a Bite to Pikachu's back.
"Thunderbolt!"
Pikachu shocked Pawmot at point blank range, staggering the Hands-On Pokemon. They backed off to create distance between them and both heavily breathed.
"Amazing, my Pawmot hasn't been pushed this far in a long time! You're the toughest Trainer I've met yet!" Nemona complimented Ash.
"Thanks! I can say the same to you, nobody has gotten me this pumped up before!" Ash replied back with a compliment as well.
Their stares lingered until both gave each other a toothy grin. Ash jabbed a finger forward while Nemona thrusted a fist forward.
"Thunderbolt!"
"Discharge!"
Like during the initial part of the fight, Pikachu and Pawmot attacked with their respective Electric moves. An explosion covered the middle of the field and Pikachu swept through it with Skull Bash. However, Pawmot sidestepped it and landed several Palm Thrusts to Pikachu's side.
Pikachu came down to one knee and intensely stared at Pawmot. He faltered and fell forward with black swirls over his eyes.
"Aww, Pikachu lost!" Ash was disappointed at the result but laughed it off an instant later.
"That was such a good fight! C'mon, show me your last Pokemon! You're one step away from winning, but I'm not giving up easily though!" Nemona encouraged Ash again to do his best.
"Yeah, see, that's the problem…My last Pokemon is still in its egg." Ash sheepishly rubbed his head.
"Oh no! That can't be! And I was about to Terastallize Pawmot in the last fight too!" Nemona bemoaned with a sad expression.
"Terastallize?" Ash blinked at the unfamiliar terminology.
"One more time! Let's have another battle!" Nemona pleaded with clasped hands.
"You've got it! Although…my Pokemon are tuckered out." Ash replied with a helpless expression.
"No worries, we'll get them healed up in no time! The ship's got a healing facility looked after by a Nurse Joy. I'll take you there myself." Nemona suggested.
"Awesome, show me around!" Ash felt his stomach gurgle and rubbed it sheepishly. "While we're at it, let's find food too. I'm starved!"
"Great idea, I've been battling all day and forgot to eat something." Nemona nodded.
"Brock, you coming with us?" Ash turned to his friend.
"I'll stick around here. You go off with your new friend. The two of you seem to hit it off really well." Brock waved at him with a smile and disappeared into the sea of people.
"C'mon, follow me!" Nemona said and grabbed Ash's hand, dragging him with her.
They strode through the halls to find the healing facility and grab a bite while they're at it.
"Man, I'm so disappointed I couldn't fight your sixth Pokemon!" Nemona complained loudly. "What kind of Pokemon do you think is in your egg?"
"I've been told it's a Riolu inside." Ash answered.
"A Riolu!? I so want to fight it after it hatches!" Nemona became starry-eyed at the reveal.
"Go easy on it when it hatches…or wait a little after I train it." Ash nervously chuckled.
"Hmm, fight it right after it hatches, or wait until it gets stronger, then fight it. Tough choice…" Nemona grumbled.
Ash gave her a look. She was a merciless girl in his opinion.
"Say, do you have any other Pokemon? Yours are so well-trained, especially your Pikachu, it was so strong." Nemona changed topics.
"I've had my Pikachu for the longest and he's my ace. I do have others back at my Professor's lab. There's Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Krabby." Ash listed off with his fingers.
"Me too, I have others back at home! We should battle using all of our Pokemon if possible!" Nemona suggested with a grin.
"Oh, you're on!" Ash grasped Nemona's hand in a tight handshake.
The two finally found the room where Nurse Joy was stationed. Ash and Nemono handed over their Pokemon and found an available table that had one other occupant.
"Hey I recognize you, you're Arven, the one who's been skipping classes all year." Nemona said with a raised eyebrow.
"What's it to you?" The boy, Arven, replied annoyed.
"I'm surprised you decided to join us on our field trip." Nemona answered attentively.
"I didn't want to be here, but I'm forced to by the school." Arven grumbled.
"Well let out a smile, why don't you? It's not everyday you get to leave Paldea and experience something new." Nemona widely grinned to demonstrate.
"Yeesh, are you this friendly with everyone?" Arven dryly said.
"What a killjoy. Hey, let me introduce you to my new pal I've found." Nemona moved to the side to unveil Ash.
"Hi, I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. Nice to meet you." Ash offered a handshake.
"…Arven. Arven Peper." Arven looked hesitant at the outstretched hand until he relented and shook it.
"What's that you got there?" Ash pointed to the sandwich in Arven's hand.
"This? I personally made this sandwich before coming here. I tried out what they offered, but it's not as good as what I have." Arven said with a tinge of pride.
"Really? Mind if I try a sample?" Ash asked.
"Well…sure." Arven ripped out a portion of his sandwich and handed it to Ash who gobbled it up.
"This is one of the best sandwiches I've ever had! It's almost as good as what Brock makes." Ash cheerfully evaluated.
Arven nodded until his eyes sharpened. "Almost as good? You're saying someone can make better sandwiches than I can?" Arven said with a resentful undertone.
"It can't be helped. Brock had to feed nine of his siblings before coming with me on my journey. I think the experience of catering to different tastes helped shape up his cooking skills." Ash explained with a thoughtful look. "I can introduce you to him later if you want."
"Alright, I wanna judge for myself if he's as good as you say he is." Arven finished.
"Woo, didn't know you can be so competitive. It's a shame you can't show this same enthusiasm towards battling." Nemona commented.
"Not everyone has a brain built like yours that can only think of Pokemon battles." Arven sarcastically said.
"The world would be way more beautiful if it was! Hahaha!" Nemona's laughter caused Arven to roll his eyes.
Ash smiled along as the group fraternized. His eyes then caught a figure walking by the entrance of the facility that grabbed his attention.
"Huh, Gary's here too?"
"Who's Gary?" Nemona asked.
"He's a Trainer who departed at the same time as me. He's one of my rivals."
"So he's as strong as you!?" Nemona inquired with a glint in her eyes.
"He's almost as good as me." Ash firmly replied.
"Now I have to battle him!" Nemona declared vigorously.
There was a ping sound and Nurse Joy came back with a tray of Ash and Nemona's Pokemon fully healed inside their Poke Balls minus Pikachu.
After saying goodbye to Arven, Ash and Nemona rushed out the room to find Gary. They spotted him down a few hallways and approached.
"Hey, Gary! So you're here too." Ash greeted and was greeted back by Gary.
"Same to you. Have you seen any suspicious activity lately?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Ash asked back with Nemona watching curiously.
"I was tipped off that Team Rocket might be crawling around on the ship." Gary admitted gravely.
"Team Rocket? Oh, those troublemakers. They're not such a big deal. I've had regular encounters with three specific ones and they're more like a comedy group than someone villainous." Ash waved it off with a laugh.
"How lucky of you to have the most non-threatening ones attached to you." Gary snarked. "But this time's different. We're dealing with a criminal organization out to use Pokemon for profit through illegal means. They're holed up mainly in Kanto, so they won't pass this chance to steal Pokemon from other regions from a bunch of students."
"You're saying my school is being targeted!?" Nemona exclaimed with a shocked expression.
"It's very likely. By the way, who are you?" Gary finally asked with a distrustful glare.
"She's Nemona Xantho from Naranja Academy." Ash hurriedly introduced her.
"I'm Ash's newest rival!" Nemona claimed and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
"…Good for you, and I'm Ash's eternal rival!" Gary haughtily declared with crossed arms.
"It looks like the eager ones gravitate towards you, Ash. We're gonna get along so well once we have a battle!" Nemona cheered with a bright smile.
"Ugh, how can there be another one as happy-go-lucky as Ash?" Gary said with some disgust. "In any case, watch your surroundings. Who knows when Team Rocket will make their move."
[I can help with that.]
"Who's there!?" Gary shouted as the group was taken aback by the disembodied voice.
[I'm talking to you from the speaker within the hallway you're occupying.]
"And you are?" Gary questioned distrustfully.
[…You can just call me Cassiopeia. I'll give you the room number of one of my subordinates and she can discuss with you what I've found about this ship and how Team Rocket is related.]
"…Well, what do you guys think? Should we trust this guy?" Nemona asked between the two Kantonians.
"I say we should trust them!" Ash fearlessly said without a shred of doubt.
"It is our greatest lead right now. I still don't trust them." Gary said.
[And I can't find myself trusting a bunch of immature kids who don't have any second thoughts about confronting a crime syndicate, but I'm running out of options. Here's my subordinate's room number, 391. Make your way there quickly.]
Ash had thoughts of finding Misty and Brock to let them know, but hearing the urgency behind the speaker washed those thoughts away.
Thus, the three Trainers made their way.
Afterword:
In the words of Tomioka Atsuhiro, a screenwriter for the Pokemon anime since its beginning, "Ash is a protagonist who transcends the game's logic." I'm taking that to the extreme in this fic as my inspiration such as how his Capsakid knows Frost Breath.
Well, I also took that inspiration from playing a lot of PokeRogue and my Capsakid learned the egg move Frost Breath.
In any case, we have been introduced to Nemona and Arven, and then we'll meet with Penny in the next chapter.
And here we have a roadmap of arcs that will occur in this story. There are arcs that will occur in the middle of an already ongoing arc as indicated by a dash mark.
Kanto
Orange Islands
Johto - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX
Hoenn - Delta Episode
Battle Frontier - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky
Sinnoh - Legends: Arceus
Unova - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity
Kalos - Potentially Legends: Z-A when it releases
Alola - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Super Mystery Dungeon
Galar/Journeys
Paldea - Potentially Horizons
Sammy-1000:
Thank you for the kind words! Look forward to this small arc with the Paldea trio!
RKF22:
Thank you for the kind words!
NightShark774:
Woo, this one's going to be long.
1. I'm not even sure if I can fit Pokemon Conquest into this fic. We just have to wait and see what'll happen in the future as things could change during the writing process. Although, it is a shame we don't see any heroines from that game get shipped with Ash in a fanfic. I'm almost convinced of doing it for that reason alone.
2. Yes, I will be doing all of the Mystery Dungeon games as arcs with the exception of the Japan exclusive games.
3. All of the Pokemon movies except the ones that happen in a parallel world will be included.
4. I don't know if Journeys will occur in normal cases. Characters such as Chloe and Goh will appear, though Chloe will have way more prominence while Goh will have brief mentions. I can't write characters that I have no motivation to write. Sorry Goh fans.
5. DLCs will be included such as those of the Sword/Shield and Scarlet/Violet DLCs.
6. DLC girls will be included.
7. Legends Arceus will definitely become a plot point in the Sinnoh arc. It will be tied to the twelfth movie, Arceus and the Jewel of Life as the plot will be considerably different from the actual movie.
8. Some rivals might make appearances but I worry about including too many rivals in case there's a bloat within a single arc because having to pay attention to all of them will be a challenge.
9. The harem is big. Like, real big. Easily in the double digits.
10. Some male player characters might appear briefly, but as I said, I don't have motivation to write characters I don't want to write. Having to create a background and personality for blank slates like the player characters is a hassle so when they do appear they'll have at most basic personalities.
11. Colosseum and Gale of Darkness is a big question mark for me. I've played the games, but I've no idea if there's a way to insert them cohesively into the fic.
12. Horizons is another big question mark as it's still ongoing, so while I have ideas, I'm not confident yet to actually tackle it since there's still some mysteries the anime has to explore.
13. A favorite Pokemon of mine…Lugia.
The suggestion of a Baxcalibur is also good. I can think of something to do to have Ash capture a Frigibax.
A Hydreigon for Ash? How about the Hydreigon from Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity for Ash.
Guest:
We'll see what can be done about Giselle. I'm leaving her on the backburner for now.
Ldrago master:
We'll see about which of them it'll be eventually.
JAUNE117:
Oh…catching all the starter Pokemon? Yeaaah…about that…
thanhmacu:
It might not look realistic to some, but I'm giving the readers something to think about. So Aaron's Lucario in the movie is well-matched with the Titan Legends, Regirock, Regice, and Registeel. His Aura Sphere can even overpower the Hyper Beam of Regirock. When it was time to heal Mew by offering Aura to him to restore the World Tree, Lucario's Aura was not enough and he was tired out immediately. But when Ash, who had zero training honing his Aura, emitted his, it was a game changer. Combined with Lucario's, they eventually succeeded with restoring the entire World Tree. Let that sink in.
UltimateCCC:
You know what's about to happen.
Guest 2:
Sure.
Guest 3:
Sure, why not.
Please leave a review or PM me for questions. They really help motivate me to write.