Ron the True Fan: Praise backlog. …You know, I DO need the subscribers for my YouTube channel. The link to it is in my profile. Look at it this way: the more I have, the more I make vids and the more I make vids, the more time I have to write this fic. And who knows, you might enjoy the vids.

Takeshi Yamato: And if you're into the Star Trek Adventures TTRPG, you will probably enjoy the Tethys Shipyards videos where Ron and I convert Trek video game ships to the STA format.

Republic of Selan - 1147 hours local time - Day 258 of Ash Ketchum's Pokemon Journey

Gibles liked the simple things in life. Warm sand, lots of metal or metal-filled rocks, friendly people whose heads could be given a friendly chomp. Pets and scratching the base of their fins were optional, but VERY welcome.

A fin cut through the ground, one Gible hunting. But not for a head to nom on. Like her seaborne counterparts, she had a powerful nose. And she picked up a familiar scent, which she decided to shark towards.

Her fin cut through the ground before closing in… then at the right moment, she shot forward, leaping out of the ground and toward her target.

CHOMP!

"Gible!" 'Hi!' she said, eyesmiling as the yellow land shark looked up and did the same.

"Gib!" 'Friend!' he cried before the yellow shark attempted to chomp back.

Tatsuki stared. "She's… purple." the crown princess of the Ranseian Empire said as she looked at the two Gibles. "Yet… she's still a Gible…" And just like that, she pet the land shark nomming on Kyoji's Gible.

Her older half-brother's Gible.

She was still getting used to that fact. She had an older brother who LIKED Gibles.

He was in the middle of explaining something to Ash about Pokken, which actually made his eyes light up, like he was genuinely excited rather then resigned for once.

She liked it. That his eyes lit up in genuine interest and excitement for something new instead of disinterest and general annoyance for how his life was going. Of course, this was countered by the fact she had been told the truth.

Ash was from an alternate timeline, a future where a psychopath named Cyrus corrupted the Creation Trio and ended the universe. He came back to stop it… and his nights were sleepless and filled with nightmares when he finally succumbed to the natural limits of the human body. Those deep purple bags under his eyes were the ultimate sign he had seen things that would make grown hardened veterans of war who had seen and even committed war crimes pity him for what he had endured.

And in spite of that, in spite of not wanting to do it again… he was, because no one else should have to go through what he went through.

Forget political marriage: he was truly the ideal man for her. For anyone, really. …Though Serena insisted on having his first child. She didn't mind that so long as she had… a dozen. Or more.

She had no idea why she loved the idea of being a mother to an uncertain but certainly large number of children. Maybe it came from watching a massive family of Gibles with one Gabite, a female, treating them all like she was their mom when she was a little girl and seeing herself in her place as a doting mother to a LOT of kids.

And kids obviously brought out the best in Ash. Max may have been mature for his age, but he shared the same wonder as Ash. There was almost a big brother relationship between the two. He would be a WONDERFUL father.

Serena clearly thought so.

"Aw, are you two friends?" Ash asked the two, both Gibles stopping their chomping to look at him. Then they dug and sharked into the distance before…digging deep.

"Oh." Tatsuki said, blushing. Kyoji's Gible had a girlfriend.

"AW…." Serena said, before turning her now red eyes to Tatsuki. Oh hell, the perverted personality was in total control. She'd been…TESTING the princess' limits.

Normally, this would be considered sexual harassment. That said, it was only harassment if it was unwanted…which it kinda wasn't. Serena apparently had a consent thing and Tatsuki had consented. Whether this was a stupid choice or not is entirely up to you to decide.

And Tatsuki's will to resist was… well, she was no match for Serena. And Tatsuki was unsure if she wanted to fight back…

Kanto Region - Pallet Town - Oak Ranch - 1059 hours local time

"Chancy…" 'So many wounds…so little time…' said the shiny as she smiled, clearly getting off on the healing of the combatants.

"Bay." 'She is a sick freak.' Bayleef said, the more seriously injured Pokemon under the freak's care too tired to say anything. The brief war for Ransei was brutal, but swift. Most of the injuries came from XD-001, but there was general exhaustion to deal with. With just one or two major exceptions.

One was napping with his fin sticking out of the ground. The other was just resting. And Charizard was eager to get moving again.

He was a battle nut. He would not deny it. As a Charizard, he had to prove his worth to a potential mate. Beating the shit out of every Charizard in the Valley was just to secure visiting rights and he made that clear. Charla, though, wasn't going to argue with him taking a mate if he so chose.

But he wanted to win HER over. And not through trickery. He had to prove he was worthy. Though not by beating the shit out of her.

Charizards were prideful like that.

And he knew where Ash was, there was ALWAYS action.

"Char." 'I can't take it anymore,' he said, getting to his feet. "Zard." 'Does Ash need anyone?'

Ivysaur gave him a look. "Saur." 'Shouldn't you be meditating?' he asked.

"Zar." 'No. I need to burn off some excess energy and beat something to a pulp.' the fire dragon said honestly. "Char." 'You know how it is with Charizards.'

Ivysaur gave him a look and noticed a slight change to his coloration. A slightly darker… Oh. Right.

"Ivy." 'Great. You're planning on beating something into a coma and proving it to your girlfriend. And you're physically getting ready for the aftermath.' the saurian said. "Saur." 'Let's go see if you're needed.'

The two marched to the lab, finding Belladonna plastered to a wall. The bug-types must've been thinking this was a form of playing.

"MMMMMMFFFFFFFFF!" she screamed.

Ivysaur groaned before ripping her from the wall. Why did all of them - Charizard and himself being among the few exceptions - enjoy making this girl's life hell? Gible, at least, was just trying to be friendly.

Vun-vun.

Speak of the land shark.

CHOMP!

"GET OFF MY HEAD, YOU WALKING MOUTH!" yelled Belladonna, Gible just eyesmiling before jumping off and licking her face.

"Ugh… I'll get you to my brother if it means I don't get burned, licked or spored…" she groused before getting to the computer. "Balls. Now."

Salen - 1502 hours local time

The old master looked at Ash. It was too late for him to join the tournament as a contestant, something Ash did not mind, but the eagerness, the openness, the willingness to do anything related to Pokemon in spite of the clear signs of wear, tear and exhaustion…

"We do require an exhibition match. And I cannot bring myself to deny you the chance to experience Pokken in its' purest form." the old man said. "Choose your Pokemon who will join you in the ring."

Ash already knew Pikachu wasn't interested. Gible went and dug with Tatsuki's, so he was… BUSY.

So that left Charizard.

"As for your opponent…" the master said, thinking for a moment before pointing at Becca. "Her. Get changed and I will see you in the ring."

Becca blinked before Ash sighed. Arceus HATED him.

Kyoji cackled.

A few minutes later, Ash was wearing a simple gi, his hat now in the care of Serena.

Who was a little too happy to be wearing it. He remembered that day with the guitarist where she crossdressed as him. …It wouldn't work this time around. Seriously, how did she hide her breasts the last time? She was certainly not flat in the old timeline! She was BIGGER in this one!

Ash ENDED that train of thought by dunking his head into a tub of water. No. He was not thinking about that. Bad Ash.

With that, he exited the room, entering the grand arena, seeing thousands of locals all watching excitedly.

The old master went to the center of the arena, Becca on the other end, wearing a near-copy of the same outfit he was wearing… and judging from her movements… Oh, boy… this was going to SUCK.

"In ages past, humans fought alongside their Pokemon partners." the old man declared. "We honor that great tradition this day, for a trainer who does not fight at their Pokemon's side is no trainer at all! Release your partners!"

Becca tossed a ball into the air, unleashing the familiar rock snake Onix. Ash just released Charizard.

"Fight well!" the old master declared, levign the ring before Ash knew he was going to regret this.

Onix and Charizard charged, Becca jumping over the rocky tail as she charged at him.

Regrets were had.

Serena DARED anyone to take Ash's hat off her head. Then she smiled.

"That is not a smile I want to see coming from you, mom." Sabrina quipped.

"Oh, sweety, that's because you haven't noticed a detail Ash has." her adopted mother replied. "Though I'm very jealous."

Onix was punched to the ground, both trainers hidden by both the fallen snake and Charizard's large wings.

"That's convenient." Anabel said dryly. "And that's what you're jealous about?"

"And why shouldn't I?" Serena asked, sounding a tad bit haughty. "I'm supposed to be his first in everything!"

Kyoji turned his head to look at her. "You're KIDDING." he said, starting to laugh. "You mean-"

"Her outfit got undone and he's getting a show? Well, that's what you get for not wearing a bra." Serena said, Misty spitting out her drink.

"You mean she's TOPLESS?" the swimmer demanded, Kyoji laughing madly before Serena continued. "She'll get her robe tied up and then get knocked to the floor by Ash." she groused. "A shame he won't press, but then again, not old enough and CERTAINLY not in PUBLIC."

Kyoji just kept laughing. Arceus REALLY wanted Ash to give up on this whole celibacy thing. That was the only explanation for this! …Other then bad luck.

And Ash DID have bad luck. Still… it was a sign as far as he was concerned. So Kyoji just kept laughing, coughing after a few minutes.

At least he didn't have to give Ash the whole 'touch my little sister you die' talk. If anything, he'd have to protect Ash from Tatsuki.

He snorted again at the inversion of the usual situation and laughed.

The next day

The fact that Becca's dark skin was visibly red and averting Ash's eyes said a LOT. Serena would deal with that.

Ash was just… too tired to react. At least he'd get a nap on the flight back.

CHOMP!

Kyoji nearly fell on his face before seeing a local Gible, eyesmiling while attached to his head. "Gible!" 'I'm coming with you!' she cried.

Kyoji's land shark eyesmiled, going in for a special chomp. A VERY special chomp.

So THAT'S how it was. Baby land sharks were coming! There was ALWAYS a need for more Gible in the world.

Serena pushed Ash onto the plane, pushing him to a window seat and sitting on his lap. The flight attendant didn't even bother trying to move her.

NOW he'd get some real sleep. Still… he was being stupid.

'You played a part in your family's destruction and could've lived a life of luxury. You didn't. Guilt is a powerful thing'.

He hated that Ryo was right.

Entry 118: Selan, Post-Ferran War

While the civil war in the now-disintegrating People's Republic of Ferrum as well as the counter-invasion by Ransei is ongoing (and often unites warring units to slow down the Ranseians, who, after pushing them back, go right back to punching each other in the face) Selan has started to take over liberated settlements and begin rebuilding the damage they've received.

However, due to the ongoing war, this is slow, but resistance forces are assisting with securing the areas that were abandoned and helping the remaining civilians.

The URN would assist them in reconstruction efforts had it not been for the necessities of rebuilding their own damaged infrastructure, even nearly 70 years after the Cipher War.

Ron the True Fan: Ok. Not going to lie. This IS filler. I hate it as much as you do, but look at the bright side: we're going to be three chapters away from Johto proper soon. Why three? We have a fucking actual PLANNING DOCUMENT that we are following TO THE LETTER. So if I sound just a bit ANNOYED, blame that on the people demanding more chapters (Natu flock STARES) and Archive of Our Own's uploads being slower then a Gible in the middle of an ice field!

Takeshi Yamato: Yeah, Ron honestly is our resident RAGE guru. And all the reviews demanding more chapters don't help. I'm not sure if he's more '40K Eversor Assassin' or 'Doom Slayer' these days.

Ron the True Fan: Also, as the top notes indicate, I'd LOVE subscribers for my channel. The link is in the description.

Takeshi Yamato: He does good vids. Expect him to get really annoyed when stupidity happens, though. And, again indicated by top notes, he and I do well together with our Tethys Shipyard series.

Ron the True Fan: Seriously. Favoriting is nice and all, but if you really want to show that 'yes, I'd like more', subscribe to my channel on YouTube. Don't just demand updates. MOTIVATE my ass. And nothing motivates more then subs.

Ja Ne!