A/N: sithlorde1988 here, with another chapter of Pokemon: Shuffled Journeys! So far I haven't had a lot of reception to the first chapter, but the bit I have gotten has mainly been positive which I take as a good sign. Before I do much else, let me answer a guest reviewer here (since obviously I can't reply to guests in PM as guests by definition don't likely have their own account):
Definitely interesting start for sure I know you said u aren't sure what the paring or parings would be for ash yet just my opinion just go for a ash x hearm but just keep it to a certain amount where there's not to many of them I do have a some in mind who I love to see be paired with him but I'll wait till the story progresses bit further but I will say at least 4 korrina Gloria may and leaf if it Gose towards becoming a hearm that is definitely looking forward to the next chapter keep up the good work
Thank you for the feedback. At this point I haven't decided as such on who all will be in Ash's harem (assuming this ends up an AshxHarem story which it might), but I will say at least one of the girls you listed is definitely high up on my list of considered members. And I didn't plan on having the harem, if it goes that direction, be more than like 5-7 girls (max 8 if that, likely it'll cap at between 4 and 6 girls since I don't know if I can write too big of a harem while doing it justice). Also, one of the four you mentioned will be seen in this chapter. Those who paid attention to chapter 1 can probably guess who it is.
Also, this chapter (assuming I can fit it in) will probably answer the question of what Ash's starter will be. Considering the options I intend to lay out for Ash and his friends, I doubt anyone will guess who I have in mind for him. (hint: None of the choices are what one would typically associate with starters with one exception which is NOT the starter Ash is getting.) That said, hopefully everyone enjoys what I have planned for this chapter! Without further ado, let's begin chapter 2!
Chapter 2- Welcome to Galar!
(undisclosed location, Red and Elite Four)
"How have we survived this long in captivity?" Agatha asked the other captives, frowning as she looked at her fellow captive Elite Four (with the notable exception of Lorelai who happened to be away on vacation and thus avoided both capture and being caught in the destruction of the Indigo Plateau).
"If I had to guess, I'd say it's because Giovanni is keeping us alive for whatever reason. Probably so he can make examples of us." Bruno replied calmly.
"Honestly, I think it's because Giovanni knows he'd have a mass riot on his hands were it discovered he assasinated not only the Champion of the Kanto League, but also 3 of the 4 members of the Kanto Elite Four. Hopefully, Blue and the Professor got my mom and brother to safety like I told them to. And hopefully Pikachu got to them safely." Red said, unaware that Delia had gotten Pikachu but left it with Professor Oak. Lance looked at Red.
"You arranged that? I'm impressed. I didn't think you could think that far ahead. No wonder you seemed so unfazed when we were all captured. Still, we're going on what, four years since we got captured? There's only so long we can last like this." Lance remarked pensively, sitting by Red as he spoke. Before any more words could be exchanged, a Rocket grunt walked into their prison, opening the door. "You, the elderly Elite. Our boss sent for you. Apparently he needs you to help him with a demonstration. He didn't give specifics, just ordered us to bring you to him." The grunt said, as their partner grabbed Agatha, dragging her out of the cell, ignoring the confused looks on the faces of Bruno, Lance and Red as the two grunts escorted Agatha to Giovanni. After they left, Bruno turned to Lance and Red.
"Is it me, or did those grunts forget to lock the door back up after they dragged off Agatha?" Bruno asked rhetorically, knowing Red and Lance had probably noticed this as well.
"They did do that. However, I sense it won't be as easy as it looks to get out of here. Doubtless Giovanni would expect that and probably had Agatha dragged to him so he had a way to punish us should we try to escape. However, would Agatha want us to forego escaping just to save her? Or would she rather we save ourselves, letting her possibly be killed as retaliation?" Red asked Lance and Bruno, frowning.
"That's a good point. Personally, I'd say we should get out of here, but try to save Agatha while we go if we can. If not, we do have people we can put in her spot. As much as I don't like it, this may be a case where sacrifices might have to be made for the sake of the League's continued survival." Lance said, shocking both Red and Bruno with how cut-throat his statement sounded. Red and Bruno eventually nodded, and the three quickly grabbed their things, before beginning the task of trying to escape their imprisonment...
(meanwhile in Galar)
"What time is their flight supposed to get in again, Mom? I know we're supposed to be waiting for the Ketchums, but did I really have to come along?" A young Pokemon Trainer, a female judging from the fact they were wearing a grey sweater jacket open to reveal a pink blouse, blue sweats and green shoes (feel free to correct me in reviews if I'm getting the default female player character description from Sword and Shield wrong since I'm going off of memory since I couldn't find much on it when I tried to look it up), asked the figure next to her, rolling her brown eyes as she blew a strand of long brown hair out of her face in slight annoyance. As much as she was excited to meet the newest Galarians, she also didn't bank on having to wait literally hours for their flight to get in. The figure next to her, also a female, huffed.
"Now Gloria, you know full well their flight was a late one starting out so it's more than likely it'll get in later as a result, which I tried explaining to you when you asked why I wanted to wait awhile to get to the airport. But of course you were too excited about making a friend to want to wait. So don't be whining to me about the flight taking a long time. Got it?" The now-named Gloria was corrected by the figure next to her.
"Yes, mother. I'm just impatient since there's not a lot to do here so waiting tends to be boring after awhile." Gloria said to the figure next to her, now identified as her mother. Gloria's mother frowned at her daughter, who had her hands on her hips in what appeared to be a bored fashion.
"Fair enough. You know, you could've brought a book to read or something and I'd have let you know when the flight got in. But you didn't, so you have to wait it out with me." Gloria's mother chided her gently. Before Gloria could reply further, the sound of an aircraft approaching caught the attention of both mother and daughter as they looked out the window to see an aircraft approaching the airport, eventually coming to a stop as it landed near the gate that Gloria and her mother were waiting at. Eventually, the gate door opened and many people started spilling out, causing Gloria and her mom to have to lean against a wall to not get trampled by the rush of people exiting the flight. Eventually the throng died down a bit so that Gloria and her mom could look around, and eventually they spotted the people they were sent to pick up among the last few passengers to exit. Gloria's mother immediately recognized Delia as she walked off the flight, dragging Gloria with her to greet the Ketchums, ignoring Gloria's indignant sputters at being dragged around.
"Finally, we're here. That flight took forever." Delia said, stretching as she waited for Ash to catch up to her. She didn't have long to wait as a few moments later a distinct cry of "HELLLOOOOO GALAR REGION!" could be heard as Ash exited the plane, looking excited as he walked over to his mother, not seeing Gloria or her mom right away. Delia saw them however.
"Lumie? Is that you? I didn't know you were the one picking us up?" Delia said, looking at Gloria's mother, now named Lumie. Lumie smiled as she and Delia hugged.
"Yeah, it's me. It's been so long since we saw each other, hasn't it?" Lumie said to Delia, ignoring the twin looks of confusion on Ash and Gloria's faces, neither noticing each other right away. Delia also ignored the children briefly.
"It's been too long. But now I get why the Professor was so insistent Ash and I come here. I think he knew you were expecting us. But never mind that. Who's this young lady with you?" Delia asked Lumie, smiling as she noticed Gloria for the first time.
"This is my daughter Gloria. Gloria, this is my old friend Delia Ketchum, and I assume that's her son behind her. Though I thought I was told you had two sons?" Lumie questioned, frowning as she finally realized Delia had only one son with her.
"I do, but it's kind of a long story. Needless to say, Red, my oldest, was captured by a criminal group and Ash and I had to flee for our safety." Delia explained to Lumie. Gloria rolled her eyes, getting bored of the adults' conversation before turning and noticing Ash behind Delia, looking similarly bored. She decided to walk over to him. However, what she wasn't accounting for was the suitcase that Delia had next to her, causing Gloria to trip and almost fall as she made her way towards Ash. Fortunately for her, Ash noticed this and dove to the ground in time to catch Gloria before she could hit the ground, leaving both of them with identical expressions of embarrassment as Ash helped Gloria to her feet.
"Careful. That would've been a painful fall for you. Are you okay?" Ash asked Gloria, who recovered from her mortification enough to nod.
"Yeah, I think I'll be fine. Thanks for breaking my fall though. I hope I didn't hurt you when I landed on you. I'm Gloria, by the way." Gloria said to Ash, waiting until her embarrassment had faded before looking him in the eyes and smiling as she introduced herself.
"Ah, I see. Nice to meet you, Gloria. I'm Ash Ketchum. I take it you and your mother are the welcoming committee for me and my mom? We just moved to Galar, you see." Ash said to Gloria. Gloria blinked at this, but then figured there was a good reason for the sudden move.
"Yeah, something like that. My mom mentioned there'd be new people moving in with us for awhile and I should be with her to greet them. I was honestly expecting a bunch of people her age. Imagine my surprise when I find out you were about my age. There's not that many kids my age where I live, you know. So it'll be nice to have more people to hang out with. So what do you like to do for fun?" Gloria asked Ash. Ash blinked at the question before smiling.
"I tend to study Pokemon stuff and watch battles for fun mostly. Outside of that, I hang out with friends where I can, or I did back in Kanto. Needless to say, my friends there had to stay behind since there was no sense in them uprooting their lives needlessly, since they don't have siblings who got themselves captured." Ash replied, frowning slightly towards the end as he thought about Red who he hadn't seen in some years. Gloria noticed the frown on Ash's face and sighed softly, before gently pulling Ash into a comforting hug (or what she hoped was comforting).
"I can't imagine what most of that has to be like, but I hope you'll find Galar has much to offer. And while what I said about there not being many kids our age back in Postwick is true, those few kids that do live there are a pretty tight-knit group. I think you'll fit in with us just fine, Ash. For what it's worth though, I'm sorry you've had to go through so much getting here." Gloria said to Ash, smiling at him as she gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder before breaking the hug. Ash for his part was too shocked to say much at first when Gloria hugged him. But then he recovered eventually, also smiling.
"What can you tell me about the other kids in Postwick? And I'm guessing that's where you live?" Ash said, curious to hear about the others in Postwick. Before Gloria could reply, Lumie and Delia turned to them. "Let's grab the Ketchums' things and get them to the car so we can start the drive back to Postwick, Gloria." Lumie said to Gloria, who nodded.
"As you might've guessed, we're gonna be staying with Gloria and Lumie for awhile until our new house is finished in Postwick. But it looks like you and Gloria have hit it off to some extent, so I think you'll be fine with that arrangement, am I right?" Delia said to Ash.
"Hmm? Yeah, that's fine with me Mom. I'm sure we'll manage somehow." Ash replied, as he and his mom got their things, and loaded them into the back of Lumie and Gloria's car, before they got into the car with Lumie and Gloria, beginning the drive back to Galar...
(back with Red and the Elite Four)
"Boss, we've brought you the Elite Four member you asked for." One of the two Rocket Grunts spoke to their Boss as they dragged Agatha into a room with them where their boss was waiting. The Boss smirked.
"Excellent. Now leave us. I wish to speak to Agatha here alone." The Boss said as the grunts left the room. Agatha then frowned at The Boss.
"So, it's true. You really are the boss of Team Rocket. Why would you betray all the League stands for like this, Giovanni?" Agatha asked The Boss, who stepped out of the shadows to reveal that he was in fact Giovanni as Agatha had said.
"I doubt a decrepit crone like you would understand if I explained it to you. But that's not why I had you brought here. No, you get to be the test subject for my new weapon. And if you do a good enough job, I might just let you and your friends go free. Though, your Champion stays put if I do since he's caused my organization no small amount of grief in the past. Do you accept these terms?" Giovanni asked Agatha, who frowned at him.
"Why would I accept those terms? Either all of us escape or none of us do, Giovanni! You know nothing of solidarity or loyalty! And I have no intention of helping you test your new weapon, now or ever! So you can take your 'terms' and shove them up your-" Agatha said, before Giovanni cut her off.
"I see. Well then, I suppose I have no choice but to do this." Giovanni said, snapping his fingers as a Persian, Rhyhorn and Rhydon appeared in front of him, glaring at Agatha. When next Giovanni spoke, it was to utter a single phrase to the Pokemon while pointing towards Agatha.
"Kill her!" Giovanni said to the Pokemon, who advanced on Agatha. While Red, Lance and Bruno made their way through the corridors of what they'd figured out to be a Team Rocket base trying to find their Pokemon as well as Agatha, they heard what was unmistakably Agatha's screams, sounding very much pained, for a few agonizing moments, before an eerie silence replaced them moments later. The three frowned, as they figured the worst had happened to Agatha. Not bothering to waste any time verifying their theory, the group eventually retrieved their Pokemon, starting to escape the base, deciding to get to safety before making plans to avenge Agatha...
(meanwhile, in Postwick Town of the Galar Region)
"So, when did you say Gloria and her mom would be back with their guests, Mom?" A young man asked his mother, crossing his arms as he looked at her, his brown eyes filled with impatience and excitement. The young man's mother smiled at her son.
"Gloria's mom called me about an hour ago. Apparently, their guests just arrived so they're driving back to Postwick now. Given the length of the drive, they'll probably be back in a few hours. Surely you can be patient until then, Hop?" The now named Hop's mother asked Hop, causing Hop to frown but nod.
"Yeah, I suppose so. I mean, I think there's a few of Lee's matches I haven't watched yet that I can catch up on while I wait." Hop replied shrugging as he decided to head into the living room to watch footage of his older brother Lee, or Leon as he was known to most of Galar, defending his title as Galar's Champion. However, Hop's mother stopped Hop.
"Hold on, Hop. I just remembered something else. Supposedly an incident occurred recently in the Unova region, involving a criminal syndicate called Team Plasma destroying a place called the Village of Dragons. However, not everyone there was killed, and as a result your cousin Iris is coming to stay with us for a while, so maybe you should clean your room up a bit so we have a place for her to sleep while she's here." Hop's mother said to Hop, prompting him to groan at the prospect of having to share a room with his cousin who he'd not seen in several years, when she left Galar to go stay in the Village of Dragons, having been accepted into a dragon school there by Drayden, the village's mayor and the leader of the Opelucid Gym in the Unova Region. Before that, Hop and Iris were fairly close, though that didn't mean that Iris didn't annoy Hop at times, because she did. So Hop reluctantly went to do as his mother asked, hoping that Gloria would have better luck with her day than he was having.
(back in the car en route to Postwick, with Gloria, Lumie and the Ketchums)
"So let me make sure I have this straight, Gloria. In addition to you, there's a young man named Hop who lives in Postwick with his mother, and that's it? I thought there'd be more people than that in Postwick?" Ash said to Gloria, confused by what she'd just told him about her neighbors in Postwick. Lumie smiled at Ash from the front.
"There are more people, but they live down Route 1 in another part of town, and most of them are merchants and the like. Although I do know that Professor Magnolia's lab is there as well, though I understand she doesn't really run it herself these days, instead leaving that task to her granddaughter, who is friends with Leon, the older brother of Hop and the current Champion of the Galar region. However, what Gloria didn't say and I'm sure she didn't know is that Hop's cousin, who neither Hop or Gloria has seen in years, is coming to stay with Hop for a while, according to Hop's mom." Lumie said to Ash, expecting the gasp from Gloria that came.
"Iris is coming back to Galar?" Gloria said, almost seeming to squeal in excitement at hearing about her old friend returning from the Village of Dragons.
"Seems like it. However, from what Hop's mom said, it's not under happy circumstances. Apparently Iris' village was destroyed and she was the lone survivor or something along those lines. She wouldn't go into further details, though." Lumie replied. Ash then looked at Gloria.
"Iris? That's an unusual name but I suppose I've heard stranger names. After all, my older brother is named Red, so I have no room to talk about strange names." Ash said, frowning slightly as he started missing Red, prompting Gloria to look at Ash.
"You miss your brother, don't you Ash?" Gloria asked Ash, looking at him with concern. Ash merely sighed, looking at Gloria.
"Yes, I miss him. But considering he was the closest thing to a friend I had at one point, that's to be expected I think. At least he's still safe and well. Hopefully." Ash replied, looking at Gloria, his eyes filled with hints of gratitude to Gloria for her concern. Ash then had a thought occur to him. "Say, Gloria, it occurs to me that you might not have that many friends in Postwick. I figure maybe if you want, we could be friends since I'm gonna be staying in Postwick for awhile with you. You seem like a nice enough girl." Ash said to Gloria, prompting her to look Ash in the eyes, briefly looking away to hide the slight embarrassment on her face at his suggestion. She then turned back to Ash.
"I agree. We should be friends, if for no other reason than we seem to get along already. That, and as I think I already said, those of us in Postwick tend to be a tight-knit bunch, staying close to one another. So it really is only natural we'd be friends." Gloria replied, prompting Ash to grin at her, nodding his head in agreement with her statement. Since he couldn't really shake her hand as they were in a car presently, he settled for placing his hand on hers and giving it a gentle squeeze, ignoring the look of surprise Gloria gave him.
"I get the feeling you and I will get along just fine, Gloria. Hopefully Hop's as cool as you are so he can be our friend too." Ash said, seeming excited for the first time since leaving Kanto. Naturally, both Ash and Gloria ignored the smiles on Delia and Lumie's faces as they watched their children start to bond to a point. After awhile of silence in the car as the drive continued, a rural-looking town came into view prompting Gloria to smile at Ash as she recognized the area. She gestured for Ash to look out the window, which he did with wide eyes as he saw the village before him.
"Welcome, Ash, to the town of Postwick!" Gloria said, as the car pulled into Postwick...
(a few days later, after the Ketchums got settled in)
"Gloria, get the Ketchums up! They need to eat quickly so we can get to the neighbors' house! Apparentliy they want to meet the Ketchums for some reason." Lumie called down the hall to Gloria, who at that moment was being awoken by a Rookidee pecking at her window cheerfully, causing her to groan as she sat up, rubbing her hazel eyes sleepily as she stretched, before getting up and nudging Ash awake.
"Hey, Ash, get up! Breakfast's ready!" Gloria said, waiting for Ash to acknowledge her before leaving the room, presumably heading into the bathroom to freshen up for the day. Luckily for her, Lumie had already gotten Delia up, so she heard Gloria trying to wake Ash up, and woke him up herself by yanking the blanket off of him, prompting him to sit bolt upright in bed with a start.
"Wha? Mom, what're you doing in here?" Ash said sleepily as he realized his mother was in his room.
"You need to get up Ash. Apparently, the family next door invited us to breakfast. It seems they want to meet us. I'm just glad they waited until we got settled in before inviting us over." Delia said to Ash who blinked before processing what his mom said. "Oh, ok. I'm up. I'll see you in the kitchen once I get dressed." Ash said, reaching into the drawer under his bed to get his outfit out for the day which consisted of a red hat with a black section sporting a yellow half Poke Ball symbol, a black t-shirt, a red vest, black fingerless gloves, black jeans and white velcro shoes with red trim on the bottoms and black tongues. After Delia left the room, Ash quickly got dressed in his outfit, only just finishing in time for Gloria to come back in, also dressed for the day in a simple green dress, paired with a black skirt, a black jacket and a green beanie that she had on her head mostly covering up her caramel-blonde hair, her brown eyes sparkling slightly as she looked Ash over briefly.
"Ah good, you're dressed. Now we can go get breakfast and meet the neighbors. Kinda glad you weren't in the middle of dressing when I came in. That might've been embarrassing for us both." Gloria teased Ash, enjoying the slight bit of mortification on his face as he processed her comment followed by his eyes widening briefly before returning to normal.
"That's not funny, Gloria. You know our moms would skin us both if anything like that happened! Besides, we're both only 10, much too young for anything like that! Why is it I keep having this conversation with my female friends recently?" Ash said, shaking his head as he recalled having a very similar conversation with Leaf and Gary before leaving Pallet Town, though thankfully that one wasn't prompted by such an embarrassing remark as this one was. Gloria frowned, looking at Ash.
"And just how many girls have you had this conversation with, Ash?" Gloria asked, crossing her arms as she glared at him with a disapproving look on her face. Ash chuckled as he looked at the annoyed look on Gloria's face.
"Other than you? Just one other. I think you remember the friends I left behind in Pallet Town that I mentioned?" Ash asked Gloria.
"Yeah, though you never gave any names." Gloria replied.
"Sorry. Their names are Gary and Leaf. Leaf was the one that I had this same conversation with, though to be fair it was mostly directed at Gary since he made a remark accusing me and Leaf of basically having feelings for each other, which we don't since as far as I can tell, we see each other as brother and sister." Ash explained, frowning as he recalled having to put Gary in his place on that subject. Gloria smiled slightly, looking at Ash apologetically as she pulled him into a light hug.
"I'm sorry. I was just teasing you. I didn't mean to bring up rough memories for you." Gloria said, before stepping away from Ash, smiling at him. The two then went downstairs to join their parents for breakfast, after which they went over down the road to the house where Gloria's friend Hop was waiting for them, smiling and waving as he saw Gloria.
"Gloria! Hey! Long time no see!" Hop said to Gloria, racing up to her as they arrived and shaking her hand, not expecting her to pull him into a hug after returning the handshake, to Hop's shock. He then saw Ash.
"Who's he?" Hop asked, jerking his head in Ash's direction carefully. Gloria blinked.
"Oh, right. Hop, this is Ash Ketchum. Ash, this is my friend Hop that I told you about on the ride home. I should've mentioned he can be a tad blunt at times but otherwise is a pretty cheerful guy." Gloria said, prompting Ash to nod and extend his hand out to Hop.
"Nice to meet you, Hop. I'm Ash Ketchum, formerly from Pallet Town." Ash said, introducing himself to Hop who smiled and shook Ash's hand.
"Nice to meet you too, Ash. I'm Hop." Hop said smiling. Before much more could be said, the door opened behind Hop, and out came a dark-skinned girl who looked to be about Hop, Ash and Gloria's age, whose chocolate-brown eyes widened as she recognized Gloria.
"Gloria, is that you? It's been way too long!" the girl said, excitedly running up to Gloria and hugging her enthusiastically, to Hop and Ash's surprise.
"Is she always this enthusiastic in her greetings?" Ash asked Hop, sweat dropping as he had a confused look on his face.
"Believe it or not, no. She's only like this with her close friends." Hop replied. Almost as if she heard Ash's voice, the girl stepped away from Gloria, looking at Ash before walking up to him.
"You new here, kid?" The girl asked Ash, who frowned at the question.
"Yes, I am new here. But kid? I'm the same age as you! So wouldn't that make us all kids? I'm Ash by the way." Ash said, introducing himself while frowning in confusion at the girl calling him a kid. The girl rolled her eyes at him.
"Yes we are about the same age, but I consider all new people as 'kid' until I get to know them. Ask Gloria over here if you don't believe me, kid. My name is Iris. I'm Hop's cousin." The girl, now named Iris, said, smirking at Ash as she looked him over, prompting Gloria to look at Iris in confusion, not usually seeing this side of her.
"Whatever. Nice to meet you, Iris. I hope we can learn to get along, if only for Gloria's sake, since I don't think she likes seeing us at odds. Besides, I'd like to think we could be friends even. Granted I don't appreciate being called 'kid', but I'll let it slide for now so as not to stress out Gloria." Ash said, holding his hand out to Iris for her to shake. Iris frowned but then sighed, looking at Ash.
"Yeah, you're right. Besides, I can reserve judgement for now. Who knows, you might end up being all right, Ash." Iris said, shaking Ash's hand, smiling as she turned to Gloria.
"Did you hear? Leon's coming to Postwick today!" Iris said to Gloria who gasped, and both girls ignored Hop's wide-eyed stare at them at this information.
"Leon?" Ash questioned, confused by the name that Iris had mentioned to Gloria.
"He's Hop's older brother, and the champion of Galar that my mom told you about on the car ride home when we picked you up a few days ago, remember?" Gloria told Ash, who blinked as he recalled that conversation.
"Oh that's right, THAT Leon!" Ash said, then he turned to Hop.
"Is Leon really undefeated?" Ash asked Hop, who grinned at the question.
"Oh yeah! Not only that, he's beaten even Elite Four members from various regions! My brother Lee is one of the greatest trainers there is! I don't think anyone could beat him!" Hop said, an arrogant smirk on his face as he bragged of his brother's accomplishments. Ash frowned at this.
"I have a brother who's a champion too, Hop. But I don't go around parading him as some all-powerful super trainer or anything like that. Besides, if he was, would he have gotten himself captured by criminals?" Ash said, not liking the arrogance in Hop's tone when he spoke of his brother, not really registering Iris' gasp of surprise at Ash's statement. Hop blinked, looking at Ash.
"Your brother is a Champion too?" Hop asked Ash, surprised. Ash smiled as he looked at Hop.
"Yep. Red is the Champion of the Kanto region, where I came from. Though he's been missing for the last 4 years since he was captured by a group called Team Rocket. Supposedly they grabbed him and three of his region's Elite Four members. Luckily for Kanto, Lorelai was away on vacation when Team Rocket attacked so at least one Elite Four is safe." Ash said, ignoring the collective jaw drops of Gloria, Hop and Iris at Ash's explanation, though for different reasons. As the three gaped at him, another person arrived to the house, smiling at the scene.
"Well, well. I think this is the first time I've seen both Hop AND Iris stunned speechless. I'm impressed." The new arrival spoke, getting Hop and Iris' attention as they turned to the new arrival.
"LEON, YOU'RE HOME!" The two said, both running forward to hug the now named Leon, ignoring the surprised look on Ash's face and the slightly awed look on Gloria's face as they saw Leon.
"Yep, I'm back. I didn't know Gloria and Iris would be back already. And who's the new guy?" Leon asked, indicating Ash with his head. Gloria blushed slightly in embarrassment as she turned to Leon.
"Leon, this is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, little brother of Red, the Kanto league Champion." Gloria explained to Leon, who then looked Ash over speculatively, before nodding.
"So this is the little brother of the undefeated Kanto Champion who beat Lance. I was expecting you to be younger for some reason, I'm sorry to say." Leon said before looking at Ash.
"In any case, it's a pleasure to meet you, Ash. I'm Leon, though Hop tends to call me Lee for some reason." Leon said, holding out his hand to Ash, which Ash shook.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too. Did you ever battle Red?" Ash asked Leon, who frowned.
"Sadly, no I have not as I didn't get the chance before he was captured. Honestly, between you and Iris here, I feel like the world's just going to heck these days." Leon said, prompting Ash to look over at Iris in confusion.
"What do you mean between me and Iris?" Ash asked. Iris frowned at this question but looked at Ash.
"He means that we both have lost our homes recently. At least you left yours without it being destroyed." Iris said, frowning as she thought about all those she lost in the Village of Dragons, prompting Ash to blink at Iris briefly before smiling slightly at her and putting his hand on top of hers to give it a comforting squeeze.
"I'm sorry to hear that that happened to you. No doubt you've had it much rougher than I have, Iris. I know you likely don't want pity, so I won't give you that. Instead, I'll give you my hand in friendship if you want it, since I can empathize with losing something dear to you, even though your loss is much more devastating to be sure given yours is a permanent loss. But at least you still have family in Hop and Leon. And you have friends in Gloria and Hop, and myself as well if you want me as a friend." Ash said, surprising Iris by gently hugging her briefly, trying to make her feel better. He quickly stepped back, not seeing the shocked and surprised expression in Iris' eyes as Ash stepped away, leaving her unsure what to think of the ex-Kantonian. Eventually she smiled at Ash.
"Thank you, Ash. I'm sorry I was rude to you before. I'd be happy to be your friend." Iris said. Ash nodded.
"The feeling's mutual, Iris." Ash said. After that, the four kids followed Leon inside, where the parents awaited, and the group had dinner...
(Time skip- 3 years later)
"Get up, Ash! It's Hop's birthday! We need to hurry and get ready if we're gonna make it to the party on time! Word is Leon's gonna be there, and he's gonna have gifts for not just Hop but possibly the rest of us as well!" Gloria said, shocking Ash awake.
"I'm up, I'm up!" Ash said. The now-13 year old Ash looked around, excited before remembering something.
"Wait a second, it's not just Hop's birthday, Gloria!" Ash said, leaving Gloria wide-eyed as she realized an important detail she'd previously overlooked.
"Oh shoot, you're right! Happy birthday, Ash! I forgot it was also your birthday as well!" Gloria said, referring to a conversation that had happened two years ago, when they'd figured out that Hop and Ash shared a birthday. But this birthday was a special one, as it was the day that Ash and Hop were finally old enough to start their Pokemon journey. Iris and Gloria had reached that age a few months previous but had chosen to wait until Ash and Hop were of age so they could all travel together through Galar. Ash and Gloria were excited as they went down to breakfast, after which they and their parents went over to Hop and Iris' house, where Leon would meet them with the surprise for all four of them. Hop and Iris smiled and raced over to Ash and Gloria as they entered the yard of their house, racing over to them.
"Happy birthday, Ash!" Iris said, hugging Ash, before Hop pushed her gently aside to shake Ash's hand.
"Happy birthday, fellow birthday boy Ash!" Hop said to Ash, who laughed at Hop's antics.
"And a happy birthday to you as well, Hop!" Ash replied, exchanging a fist bump with Hop, prompting a mutual eye roll by Iris and Gloria. But all four trainers quickly sobered up as Leon came out to greet Ash and Gloria.
"So, the day has finally come that the four of you have come of age to start your Pokemon journey." Leon said, holding out a case and setting down, opening it to reveal several round objects that were red and white with buttons on the front of them. Hop looked at the objects then at Leon.
"Lee, are those...?" Hop said, looking at Leon questioningly. Leon nodded.
"Yes, Hop. These are some Pokemon a friend of mine helped me to gather. However, she was only able to gather three of them, so unfortunately one of you will have to wait a bit until we gather a fourth Pokemon for you to use as your starter. Until then, let me release the choices of starters!" Leon said, opening up the Poke Balls to reveal three Pokemon. One looked like a cluster of eggs with one of the eggs looking broken at the top, one looked like a glowing lump of rock that was glowing red, and the third looked like a small otter with a seashell on its' stomach. Leon looked at the four.
"Meet Exeggcute, Rolycoly and Oshawott, or your starter choices. But first, which of you is going to wait for your starter?" Leon asked, prompting the four to look at each other, before Gloria eventually looked at Leon, looking a tad disappointed.
"I'll volunteer to wait for my starter. Iris and Ash shouldn't have to wait since they've been through enough in the past. And I wouldn't dream of making Hop wait for a starter on his birthday. I don't mind waiting a bit, really." Gloria said, smiling at Ash, Iris and Hop.
"Are you sure, Gloria?" Ash asked her, surprised. Gloria nodded.
"Yes, I'm sure." Gloria said, smiling at Ash. Leon nodded at Gloria, giving her an impressed look, prompting her to look away to hide the dusting of color that had crept onto her cheeks when Leon looked at her. Leon then turned to Ash, Hop and Iris.
"Well, as much as it's Ash and Hop's birthday, I feel it's only fair that ladies pick first, so Iris if you would, please come choose a starter." Leon said, prompting Iris to walk up to the Pokemon, looking the three over, before eventually deciding on the cluster of eggs. "I choose Exeggcute, since I sense potential in it." Iris said, looking at Exeggcute. "Would you like to be my partner, little one?" Iris asked the Exeggcute, looking at it hopefully while gently patting it on the tops of the eggs, being careful not to hurt it. After a bit, Exeggcute looked at Iris before smiling at her.
"Exeggcute!" Exeggcute cried, happily leaping into Iris' arms, nearly knocking her over from the surprise of it as well as the sudden weight shift. Leon nodded, handing Iris Exeggcute's Poke Ball before turning to the other two. "Hop, you next since this is your house." Leon said to Hop, who nodded, eventually walking up to the sea otter, and kneeling so he was at its' eye level. Hop then looked the sea otter in the eyes.
"What do you say, little fella? Wanna come with me on my journey to be the next Champions of Galar?" Hop asked the otter who looked into Hop's eyes before smiling at him, a determined look on its' face.
"Osha osha wott woot, Oshawott!" The otter, or Oshawott as it apparently called itself, said, putting its' paw in Hop's hand as if trying to shake his hand, making Hop smile and gently curl his hand into a fist, giving Oshawott a fistbump before turning to Leon.
"I choose Oshawott, Lee." Hop said to Leon, who nodded and handed over Oshawott's Poke Ball. He then turned to Ash.
"Well, I guess that leaves you with Rolycoly unless you want to let Gloria have Rolycoly and wait for the other starter instead." Leon said to Ash, who looked over at Gloria.
"One more time, are you absolutely sure you're fine with waiting for your starter, Gloria? Because I can let you have Rolycoly if you want it. I don't mind waiting so you can get your starter." Ash said to Gloria, who hesitated but shook her head.
"No, Ash. It's your birthday, and besides I don't think you should have to be the one who waits for a starter when you've already been made to wait once before from what you told me. No, I'm quite content to wait so you can finally get your starter. Now take the Rolycoly already before I get annoyed at you." Gloria said, smiling at Ash who nodded reluctantly before walking over to Rolycoly.
"Hi there, Rolycoly. I'm Ash. Would you like to accompany on my journey to become a Pokemon master? You seem like a very powerful Pokemon." Ash said, looking Rolycoly in its' one eye carefully, before Rolycoly nodded, smiling at Ash.
"Coly coly, Rolycoly!" Rolycoly said, hopping happily into Ash's arms, carefully settling itself on his shoulder to Ash's surprise. Ash then turned to Leon.
"Looks like Rolycoly and I are partners." Ash said to Leon, who nodded to Ash before looking at Gloria.
"Again, I'm really sorry you have to wait, but the fourth Pokemon we had ready to go, a Pikachu of all things, ran away from the lab before we could get all the Pokemon ready to go. Apparently it ran all the way here from Kanto, according to what that region's professor, a Professor Oak, told my friend Sonia's grandmother recently. So yeah, we're trying to get a fourth Pokemon ready to go for you, Gloria." Leon said, looking at her apologetically. Gloria smiled at Leon.
"That's fine, I don't mind waiting. As long as Ash and Iris are happy, that's enough for me." Gloria said, not expecting to be pulled into a sudden group hug by the two aforementioned trainers, each hugging her from a different side happily. As all this happened, another person arrived, this one a young woman who looked to be about Leon's age with long red hair pulled into a ponytail which had a heart shaped sticker in it, black sunglasses, blue-green eyes, a brown sweater jacket, an aquamarine colored blouse (similarly colored to her eyes) and white stretch pants. The new arrival had a Poke Ball in her hand, and was followed by what looked like a multi-colored dog that trailed behind her, its' tail wagging happily as it followed her. Leon turned to face the new arrival.
"Ah, there you are, Sonia. Good timing. Ash, Gloria, meet Sonia, an old friend of mine who used to travel with me when we were a bit younger." Leon said, indicating the now named Sonia with the wave of a gloved hand (Leon wore a striped uniform of mostly black, with purple hair, a black cap, a striped shirt with a sword on the front and athletic shoes). Gloria nodded, smiling at Sonia.
"Hello, Miss Sonia. It's nice to meet you." Gloria said, bowing politely to Sonia, to the amusement of Leon, Ash and Hop. Iris merely rolled her eyes at Gloria's apparent hero worship of Sonia. Sonia chuckled at Gloria's bowing before speaking.
"It's nice to meet all of you, Ash, Gloria and Iris. Don't think I missed you not introducing me to your cousin over there, Leon. *1*" Sonia said, looking pointedly at Leon after speaking to Ash, Gloria and Iris. Sonia then held out the Poke Ball from before. "So which of you didn't get a starter yet?" Sonia asked the four younger trainers, prompting Ash, Iris and Hop to all smirk.
"Gloria graciously let us pick our starters and volunteered to wait for a starter, even when Ash offered to let her have the last starter after Hop and I picked Oshawott and Exeggcute, respectively. But eventually Gloria convinced Ash to take Rolycoly." Iris said, smirking at the obvious closeness between Ash and Gloria, even if the two wouldn't acknowledge it as of yet. Sonia's eyes widened, turning to face Gloria.
"Is this true? Did you willingly allow the others to get the three starters that Leon brought?" Sonia asked Gloria, who nodded.
"Yes. It's Hop's, and Ash's, birthday, and both Ash and Iris have been through some rough stuff in their pasts so I felt they deserved to get the starters rather than having to wait any longer. I didn't mind waiting if it meant they could get their first Pokemon." Gloria said, smiling.
"I see. In that case, maybe you can handle the Pokemon in this Poke Ball." Sonia said, opening the Poke Ball to reveal a brown-colored fox Pokemon that Ash immediately recognized from when Red started out as a trainer.
"Oh wow, is that an Eevee?" Ash asked, prompting Sonia to look at him with a pleased expression.
"Very good, Ash. You know your Pokemon. Yes, this is an Eevee." Sonia said, as the Eevee looked around, before looking Gloria in the eyes, eventually smiling as it gently nuzzled its' face against her leg playfully.
"Eie vui?" The fox Pokemon (a female, if the tone of its' voice is any indication) said, her eyes locking onto Gloria's, before Gloria smiled, gently pulling the Eevee into a hug, giving it some gentle pets, enjoying the contented sounds that Eevee made. She looked at Sonia.
"Wow, I can't believe you found such an adorable Pokemon for the fourth starter. I'm really glad I waited now." Gloria said, looking at Eevee.
"I think me and this little lady will be great friends, won't we Eevee?" Gloria said, smiling as she gently stroked her fingers through Eevee's soft fur happily, Eevee closing her eyes as she leaned into the strokes, looking dreamily contented already. Sonia smiled at Gloria.
"Very well, it seems you have your starter. I'll warn you now, Eevee is a unique Pokemon in that it has the most different evolutions of any Pokemon at eight, so keep that in mind when planning how, if at all, you go about that when you and Eevee decide it's time for evolution. That said, good luck to all four of you." Sonia said, smiling at the new trainers before standing next to Leon as the four new trainers got to know their Pokemon. After a bit, the four decided to set out on their journey after receiving their Pokedexes (which were also Rotom Phones) from Sonia and 10 Poke Balls each from Leon as presents to get them started on their journeys. That said, the quartet set out on their journey, not expecting what would await them as they began their journey into the world of Pokemon...
End of chapter
A/N: Wow, I know right? Who expected the starters to be what they were? And originally, i wasn't gonna have a starter right away for Gloria, but couldn't resist having her travel with Ash, Hop and Iris. And how many of you expected me to give Rolycoly to Ash as his starter? As to the Pikachu that Leon mentioned, make sure to remember that because that may or may not be the same one that the Ketchums thought they left in Kanto with Professor Oak. *wink wink* But that said, onto a more serious topic. While it likely won't happen until at least the 2nd or 3rd region (maybe 4th) that Ash visits, would you prefer this be a single pairing for Ash, or AshXHarem? Also, would you prefer the story to be all one big fic or would you rather I split it up into a multi-fic series, one fic per region? I'm open to feedback. I'll open PMs and reviews to people so I can hear your feedback! And please, if you're going to review, I would prefer it not be on a guest account unless you absolutely have to as I like to be able to respond to my reviewers and acknowledge their feedback. So yeah, feel free to review and/or PM me with your feedback and opinions on the questions (both Harem VS No Harem and single story versus multiple fics) I posed. And until next update, sithlorde1988 out!
*1* I recall reading somewhere when Sword and Shield first came out that Leon (and presumably Hop by extension) is Iris' cousin, though for the life of me I forget where I heard it from. If that's true then someone give me a link to where it was said. Also, even if it's not, for the purposes of this fic Iris is Leon and Hop's cousin. So yeah, make of that what you will.
Pokemon teams so far
Ash-Rolycoly
Hop-Oshawott
Iris-Exeggcute
Gloria-Eevee