"Ash Ketchum…"
"Huh?" Ash asked, mumbling incoherently a few times before getting that out. "Who said that?"
"Ash Ketchum," the voice repeated, more insistently.
"No, I didn't say that," Ash mumbled, still not remotely awake. "Who said that?"
"Open your eyes and look, why don't you," the voice said, and Ash opened his eyes.
There was a strange pink Pokémon floating right in front of him.
"W-wha!?" Ash demanded, getting up and falling off his bed.
Part of him noticed that his alarm clock was smashed to bits, which was a problem for a reason he couldn't quite yet define, but there was also a weird Pokémon in front of him and he had no idea what that could mean.
He'd never even seen a Pokémon like that before. It had big green eyes, and curving antennae with green tips, and a head that was shaped a little bit like an onion.
"Okay, so, this is kind of important," the Pokémon went on. "So, uh, listen closely?"
"Right, right," Ash said, before yawning.
Maybe he was dreaming? He was meant to be getting his starter Pokémon today… a Squirtle, naturally, because they were the best.
"Ash Ketchum, the threads of fate have become tangled," the… weird Pokémon went on.
It had little wings, but it didn't seem to be using them to fly. Maybe it was psychic or something?
"There was an accident with the time ripple," the Pokémon told him, not that Ash had any idea what that meant. "It was an accident that went both forwards and back in time, because, time travel accident… and it was such a jumble that I and the others couldn't put it back together properly. We've got it to this point but if we poke this much more it's just going to fall apart again and I don't think we can do better than this."
Then the Pokémon waved their… her? Her hands. "Don't worry, you will still encounter all of those Pokémon whose fates are entwined with yours, it's just that… it isn't quite all going to be in the same order. I wanted to make sure you knew you haven't lost any of them."
"Right," Ash replied, frowning, because he had no idea what the Pokémon was going on about, but she seemed to think that he knew and it would be awkward to ask now. "So… you mean I'll still get Squirtle?"
"Yes, exactly, and all the others too," the Pokémon agreed. "Your travelling companions should be just fine, it only really affected you and the skeins of fate that are associated, but in a couple of cases it triggered for Pokémon who weren't strictly yours yours, like Larvitar and… look, it's really complicated and I don't think you understand paratemporal relational metamechanics. Just be aware that you'll be getting all the Pokémon you're meant to get."
"...cool," Ash decided. "Thanks?"
"I should have known you'd cope with this just as well as you do with everything else," the weird Pokémon said, and vanished in a swirl of light.
"...huh," Ash said, a moment later, in the darkness of his bedroom, then crawled back into bed.
He was really tired, but when he went to get his Pokémon from Professor Oak he should probably be able to speak without yawning.
Several hours later, as he hurried to the lab, Ash had basically entirely forgotten the weird dream about the hovering pink Pokémon.
He went past Gary, who gloated about already having got his Pokémon and sped off in a sports car, then entered the lab.
In his pyjamas, but still.
"Professor!" he said. "I hope I'm not late?"
"You are late, Ash," Oak replied, sternly. "You'll need to do better if you're going to be a Pokémon trainer, you know."
"I guess – but – I overslept!" Ash protested. "I was so excited and I broke my alarm clock!"
Oak's stern expression faded a little, and he smiled.
"I suppose that's a good enough reason," he said. "Ash, I'm afraid that everyone else has already turned up. That means that the Water-type, Squirtle, has been taken… and so has the Fire-type, Charmander. And the Grass-type, Bulbasaur."
Ash's face fell.
"Then… what's left?" he asked. "You mean I won't be able to become a Pokémon trainer?"
"Well, Ash, fortunately for you I do have one Pokémon left," Professor Oak told him. "Not one of the normal Starter Pokémon, but-"
"I'll take them!" Ash declared, immediately. "Professor, I've wanted to be a Pokémon Master all my life!"
Oak looked at Ash, and Ash looked contrite.
"And, I… I know I screwed up," he went on. "But I'm going to make sure that I work with this Pokémon to become the best trainer ever out of Pallet Town! Better even than you, Professor! We'll do it together!"
That got a smile from the Pokémon Professor.
"You know, if you can keep that up, I really think you will," he said, and handed Ash the Pokéball.
Ash immediately opened it.
"Wow," he said, staring at the pink-and-white Pokémon floating in front of him. "I don't even know what Pokémon this is, but they look really cool!"
The Pokémon squeaked, sounding quite pleased at his comment.
Professor Oak looked at the Pokémon, then the Pokéball, then back at the Pokémon.
"...you know, I probably should have thought this through," he said. "But, well… I promised you that Pokémon, Ash, and I'll keep to that promise. I hope you and Latias get along well together."
As the Professor picked up the Pokédex and Pokéballs Ash would need, Ash raised Latias's Pokéball, and she immediately shook her head. "-ias!"
"...you don't want to go into… really?" Ash asked, and Latias turned her nose up at the 'ball. "But… I thought Pokémon went into Pokéballs…"
"Every Pokémon is different," Oak advised him, giving him a pile of equipment. "You'll have to learn about every Pokémon you travel with, as you travel with them. And… you'll probably have to get dressed, as well…"
Once Ash was some way out of Pallet Town, he stopped and got out his Pokédex.
Latias immediately flew to hover behind him, looking at it curiously, and Ash waved it. "Oh, this is a Pokédex, Professor Oak… might have invented them? Or just these ones."
He looked somewhat embarrassed. "I guess I wasn't paying attention when he told me… anyway, what does it say about the Pokémon around here?"
Ash pointed the scanner at Latias, which was difficult because she wanted to keep seeing what was on the screen, and they ended up going around in circles for a bit before Ash finally managed to scan her in.
Latias, the Pokédex announced, as Ash panted from the effort of spinning around and around. The Eon Pokémon. It can telepathically communicate with humans. It changes its appearance using down that refracts light.
"That's neat!" Ash said. "Wait, you can telepathically communicate? That would mean I could understand you?"
Latias tilted her head slightly, a bit embarrassed, then shrugged. "Iii… aaas?"
"...or not, then," Ash replied. "Can you change your appearance like it says?"
The floating Pokémon brightened, and turned invisible with a brief shimmer of light.
"That's cool," Ash declared. "And I bet you've got some really great moves, too!"
Latias reappeared again, waving her hands to try and express reservations about how great her moves were. "Ti-as! Latias!"
Ash wasn't actually looking at her. "Okay, so I should see if I can catch some Pokémon… hey, you Pokémon! If you want to become the Pokémon of an awesome trainer-"
A Pidgey flew in and pecked him on the head.
"Ow!" Ash protested, flailing his hands, as Latias attempted to get the Flying-type off his head without much success. "Hey, this isn't how a Pokémon battle is meant to go!"
Thirty eventful minutes later, Ash slumped down outside Viridian City Pokémon Centre.
"This isn't really how I thought my first day would go," he admitted.
"Tiiii…" Latias agreed, grumbling something.
Trying to get rid of the Pidgey had provoked a Spearow, and then Latias had spent a while trying to actually battle the Spearow and an increasing number of friends. That had only revealed that Ash didn't actually know any of the moves Latias had, and that Latias wasn't very good at explaining what they were mid-battle, so Ash had to figure it out by guessing.
The first and most obvious one was a kind of protective shield, which was fortunate given all the Spearow. Then one of them was a move which calmed down one of the Pokémon she was in the middle of a battle with, which would have been great at stopping the Spearow if Latias had been using it at a point when there were only two or three Spearow instead of a whole cloud of them, and her actual attacking move was one that really didn't seem to do much at all.
Except make the Spearow mad.
They'd ended up having to flee at high speed, Latias giving Ash a ride, and both of them had plenty of peck marks from the experience.
"Sorry," Ash added, after some thought. "I really just thought being a Pokémon trainer would be easy, but I guess… being a trainer isn't just having a Pokémon. Lance and Bruno and the other Elite Four have strong Pokémon, but that's because they made their Pokémon strong… and because they know how to help their Pokémon in battle. And I don't know how to do that for you."
He reached out a hand. "But… now I know what I'm doing wrong, right? So let's make sure we do this properly. We'll make sure we get better."
Latias nodded. "Tiii-as!"
She took Ash's hand, floating up into the air and pulling him upright, then Ash let go and punched his fist into his other hand.
"So let's work on that!" he said. "We'll make that attack of yours stronger, and I'll get better at helping you out in a battle!"
"Laaa!" Latias agreed, nodding firmly.
The training session that resulted revealed how far they had to go, still, but Ash could feel that they were making progress by the end of the first hour. They didn't even stop when a thunderstorm rolled through, by mutual agreement, and then as the clouds parted Ash shaded his eyes to watch an amazing Pokémon with multicoloured wings fly across the sky.
Then a girl with a mangled bike accused him and Latias of going past her so fast that they'd blown her into the river, which was kind of embarrassing.
"I still don't get why you're following us," Ash told Misty, two days later in the middle of Viridian Forest.
"And I still don't get why you don't buy me a new bike!" Misty replied. "You've got such a rare Pokémon, you must have the money for it, they're not that expensive!"
"I didn't pay for Latias!" Ash objected. "I got her as my starter Pokémon, yeah, but Professor Oak had already given out the other three starters!"
Misty just kind of blinked at that, trying to picture what the other three starters would be for that, then they all looked up at a rustling sound.
"Maybe that's a Pokémon we can try and capture?" Ash suggested, glancing at Latias.
"It had better not be a bug!" Misty objected.
A moment later, a little blue Pokémon came bouncing out of the underbrush and looked at them curiously.
"Phaan?" it asked.
"Tii-as," Latias replied. "Laa-tias!"
"What Pokémon is that?" Ash asked, getting out his Pokédex.
Phanpy, the Pokédex replied, helpfully. It swings its long snout around and bumps with it as a sign of affection. However, it is so strong, it may send you flying.
"Cool!"Ash said, then the Phanpy bumped him with its snout.
Ash ended up upside down halfway up a tree, and one of the Pokéballs fell out of his bag. It rolled forwards, stopping halfway to Phanpy, and Phanpy bounced on their hooves for a moment before rolling forwards to copy the Pokéball.
This promptly ended up with Phanpy captured.
Misty and Latias exchanged a kind of astonished glance that crossed species barriers.
"...did… I just see that?" Misty demanded.
"As?" Latias replied, shrugging.
"I caught my first Pokémon!" Ash said, still tangled up in the tree. "Uh… Latias, little help here? Please?"
Phanpy was bouncy, affectionate, and quite willing to take part in training with Latias.
That mostly meant using his Rollout move to roll along the ground, making himself a harder target for Latias's attack (a move they'd eventually identified as Psywave) and that kept them occupied for some time… at least, until Misty pointed out that Ash shouldn't work his Pokémon too hard and should let them rest some of the time.
That then started another argument over whether Latias should rest in her Pokéball or not, with Misty making the point that Pokéballs were the best way to rest a Pokémon on the move and Latias explaining how she didn't want to, and really it was an argument that didn't actually involve Ash much one way or another.
"Whatever," Misty decided, eventually, with a huff. "Don't blame me if you're tired!"
Latias sniffed.
"It's up to her, right?" Ash said. "I mean, she can fly really fast, and she's just moving as fast as we are. This might not count as exercise at all… right?"
"I don't even know," Misty said. "Water Pokémon are my speciality. Though I suppose water Pokémon who were just floating wouldn't get tired…"
She looked thoughtful, and Ash turned back to the path to keep a watch out for any Bug-type Pokémon.
What he got was a sinuous blue-white blur slithering along the ground, through the trees – and right for him.
"Gah!" he yelped, reaching for the Pokéball on his belt. "Phanpy, I choose you!"
Phanpy came out, bounced on his feet, and was entirely unable to stop the long slender blur going right past him… and wrapping Ash in a noodly hug.
"...what?" Misty asked. "...that's a Dragonair. Ash, why are you being hugged by a Dragonair?"
"I don't know?" Ash replied, both hands held out as he tried not to fall over from how Dragonair's tail was tying his legs together. "Latias, do you – whoah!"
Ash lost the battle with gravity, and found himself on the floor with the Dragonair cooing at him.
"Phaan?" Phanpy asked, curiously, and Dragonair's tail uncurled enough to hug him as well. Then the Dragon-type looked up at Latias, before sighing.
"Can't Dragonair fly?" Ash asked, suddenly. "I swear I've seen Lance's Dragonair flying…"
"Aaair…" Dragonair said, sounding upset, and Ash glanced at Latias.
"Tii-la-ti-as," Latias declared.
"Phan phan!" Phanpy trumpeted, not wanting to be left out.
"Well, if you can't do it, maybe Latias can help you learn?" Ash suggested.
"Aair!" Dragonair nodded, eagerly.
"Okay, new theory," Misty decided. "Ash, you've got the weirdest luck I've ever seen… I guess the criminals with the hot air balloon back in Viridian make sense now."
She folded her arms. "Just… try and turn some of that luck into a bike!"
As soon as they got to Pewter City, Ash went straight to the Gym.
Then to the Pokémon Centre after Misty pointed out that it would be a good idea, but after that he went back to the gym.
"This feels so weird," he admitted, glancing at where Latias was invisible – since he wasn't going to use her first, and giving away what Pokémon he had seemed vaguely like a bad tactical idea. "I'm actually going to be having a gym battle!"
Latias squeaked, and a moment later the Gym Leader spoke up.
"Welcome to Pewter City Gym," he said. "I'm Brock, the Rock-Solid Pokémon Trainer and the Gym leader here! Where are you from, challenger?"
"I'm Ash Ketchum!" Ash introduced himself. "From Pallet Town!"
"You're not the first," Brock said. "Actually, you're the fourth! How many trainers are there from Pallet Town?"
"You mean all three of – even Gary?" Ash asked. "How did that happen?"
"We were lost in a forest for a week, Ash," Misty pointed out helpfully.
"Oh, yeah," Ash agreed. "Still, it let me train my new Pokémon!"
"Since this is your first gym battle, I'm going to make sure you understand the rules," Brock decided. "I'm going to use two Pokémon, but you can use up to three. As a Rock-type trainer, I'm required to mostly use Rock-type Pokémon, though in this case both of mine are. And if any of your Pokémon are in danger or upset, you should forfeit that match-up to be safe. That won't end your challenge… do you understand?"
"Yeah!" Ash said, nodding, then paused and actually thought about it.
And nodded.
"Yeah," he repeated, more quietly. "I get the idea… but this is going to be my first Gym Badge!"
"We'll see about that," Brock replied. "Send out your first Pokémon!"
He sent out a Geodude, and Ash replied with Phanpy.
"...um," Brock began, sounding curious, as Phanpy waved his trunk. "So… didn't Misty say you were lost in Viridian Forest for a week?"
"How do you know her name?" Ash said.
"Because-" Brock began.
"None of your business!" Misty declared quickly. "And yes, we were lost in the forest all week! There were so many bugs..."
"Then where did you get the… you know what, never mind," Brock decided. "Geodude, close in and use Seismic Toss!"
"Defence Curl and Rollout!" Ash replied. "Build up some speed so your attacks hit harder!"
"Phaan-py!" Phanpy cheered, using Rollout and speeding off, then Ash realized that with all the rock obstacles in the Gym he couldn't actually see what was going on all the time.
"Can you give me a lift?" he asked, and Latias hoisted Ash up by holding him under his arms so he could get a better view. "Okay, Phanpy – turn right, curve around – now, Rollout!"
Brock was somewhat distracted by how Ash was holding his arms out to the side and floating without any visible means of support, and Geodude got hit with a crash of elephant on rock.
"How…" the Gym Leader said, then shook his head. "Geodude – this one's serious! Gyro Ball!"
Gyro Ball helped out, but ultimately Phanpy built up too much momentum.
Specifically, he built up the momentum to knock both Pokémon out of the gym entirely on contact, and Brock shook his head.
"Since it's your first Gym Battle, I'll allow that, but doing it deliberately isn't a good idea," he said, helpfully. "That means you now have two Pokémon left and I've got one… ready?"
"Ready!" Ash agreed, returning Phanpy as the Ground-type came tottering back into the gym through the hole. "You'd better put me down now, it's your turn!"
Latias lowered Ash to the ground, then floated forwards, and Brock's jaw dropped as she unstealthed.
It made his sending out an Onix a little bit anticlimactic.
"How did you even…" he began.
"She's my starter Pokémon!" Ash explained. "Okay, Latias, ready?"
Latias glanced back at him, nodding, then Brock called for them to begin.
"Rock Throw!" he added, and Onix flicked a large rock at Latias.
"Dodge and use Charm!" Ash retorted.
Latias pirouetted gracefully out of the way of the attack, sliding sideways through the air, and spread her arms. "Aaas-tiii-latias? Ti-as!"
"Oon?" Onix asked.
"Charm again!" Ash told her. "You're doing great!"
"Bind!" Brock decided. "She's building up to something – catch her!"
"Get out of the way!" Ash warned. "Dodge – right! No, left!"
Latias zipped back and forth, taking two or three hits from Onix's tail and managing to look Charming while she did that, then Ash waved.
"Back here, Latias!" he called, and she flew back over to his side. "I'm calling her back but not using her Pokéball, she doesn't like it… that's okay, right?"
"You mean you're using your third Pokémon?" Brock asked, as Onix attempted to shake off a serious case of Squee. "I'm afraid to ask…"
"Dragonair, your turn!" Ash said, sending the other Dragon-type out. "Use Wrap!"
Dragonair used Wrap.
"I meant on Onix," Ash mumbled, and Dragonair tilted her head for a moment before looking embarrassed.
"Aiir," she said, uncoiling, then slithered across the floor to use Wrap on Onix.
Onix used Wrap back.
"...yeah, this could take a while," Misty said, rolling her eyes. "Any idea if the local Nurse joy knows how to undo knots?"
"I'm sure she does!" Brock said. "She's a paragon of loveliness!"
"What's a paragon?" Ash asked. "Is that a Pokémon I haven't heard of?"
On the other side of Mount Moon from Pewter City was Cerulean City, and once the group – now with Brock accompanying them – reached the city, Misty promptly decided that she had to go off and do… something.
She wasn't very clear about it, and Ash didn't ask in case it turned out to be girl stuff.
"So… what's the gym here, anyway?" Ash asked.
Brock stifled a laugh, and Ash glanced at him.
"What's wrong?" he asked. "What's funny about that?"
Latias squeaked.
"Don't you start," Ash sighed. "Anyway, Brock, I asked…"
"I'd have thought you'd know this, Ash," Brock explained. "This is a gym in your home region."
"...right," Ash realized. "That is true, I guess."
"Well, this is Cerulean City, which means the gym is Cerulean Gym," Brock said. "Naturally! But the type is that it's a Water-type gym."
Ash frowned, thinking, and glanced down at his belt with his two other Pokémon.
"You probably can't use Phanpy," Brock said. "It wouldn't be a good idea."
"That's not what I was thinking about," Ash said. "It's something else, actually… if it's a Water-type gym, then it's got to have a pool, right?"
"Well… yes?" Brock replied, thrown. "I think Cerulean has several, actually. But I don't think it's available for swimming."
"What about for Pokémon training?" Ash asked.
This didn't seem to explain things for Brock.
"Oh, a challenger!" one of three very similar looking women said, as Ash came in. "Unfortunately, we're not taking any more-"
"Ssh!" the second woman cut her off. "We have to take challengers! And your challenge is Seel!"
"A Seel, huh…" Ash asked, then shook his head as the Water-type scooted up. "But I'm not here to challenge the gym yet!"
This seemed to confuse Seel, who stuck his tongue out and revealed a Cascade Badge on it.
It also confused all three of the Gym Leaders.
"You're… not here to challenge us yet?" the third woman said. "Is it your friend, then?"
"The Sensational Sisters are sensational!" Brock declared, clearly only having eyes for the Gym Leaders. "Daisy, Lily, Violet, you're all beautiful!"
Seel stopped sticking his tongue out, because apparently nobody else was interested.
"I'm going to challenge you, but not yet," Ash explained. "First – can I use the pool for training one of my Pokémon?"
That seemed to be a bit of a puzzler, and Daisy, Lily and Violet talked amongst themselves.
As they did, Ash frowned.
"...do they have to take challengers?" he asked. "What if all their Pokémon were tired?"
"Gyms do need to have a certain minimum level of ability," Brock said, now that he wasn't distracted any more. "But you can say you're not taking any more battles and for a challenger to come back tomorrow."
"I guess that's not a problem," Violet said, speaking for all of them. "Just, uh… don't make too much of a mess?"
Then a door burst open, and Misty came in.
"I'll do your gym challenge, Ash!" she said.
"...what?" Ash asked, now as lost as everyone else.
Once that had been slightly cleared up, Ash sent out Dragonair, and all of Misty's sisters immediately cooed over her.
"Dragonair are such beautiful Pokémon!" Daisy said. "It's a real pity that they're not Water type!"
Dragonair cooed, then splashed into the water and went over to give them a hug.
"...why are you having Dragonair go swimming, anyway?" Misty asked.
"She can't fly, remember?" Ash replied. "But I got to thinking… swimming is like flying, right?"
Misty gave him a very confused look.
"No, it's not," she told him.
"You can float for both of them, right?" Ash asked, glancing up at Latias.
She nodded, and Misty huffed.
"Fine, fine, don't trust the Water-type expert," she said.
"Didn't you send out a Goldeen to battle in a Pokémon Centre when we met?" Ash asked.
"...I'm not used to battling on dry land, that's what that was about!" Misty objected. "But I don't get what your idea is."
"Okay, so…" Ash said, then waved Dragonair over. "Dragonair – let's try this first, okay?"
He pointed. "Swim down to the bottom of the pool, then back up again as fast as you can! You'll come out into the air!"
Misty blinked.
"What?" she asked, then managed to stand back just before the instructions resulted in everyone getting splashed.
Dragonair hung in the air for a moment, then splashed back into the water, and Ash nodded.
"Right!" he said. "Only, just kinda… stay up there! Latias, can you demonstrate?"
Latias plunged into the water herself, then splashed out again and hovered there, and Dragonair nodded in determination before diving and jumping again.
And again.
"This is stupid," Misty muttered. "Right, Brock?"
"Maybe, but it's working," Brock replied.
Misty did a double-take. "What?"
"Watch," Brock said,
Ash already knew what Brock meant.
Dragonair was coming out of the water with more force as she got used to it, but she was also managing to hang in the air. A bit at a time. Longer each time.
Then she sprang out one more time… and didn't come down.
"Great!" Ash said, applauding. "Well done, Dragonair!"
Then the Dragon-type hugged him, and it was his turn to fall into the water.
Latias giggled, then fetched them both out again.
"I still want a rematch," Misty grumbled, as they made their way through the woods.
Or what was probably their way, anyway.
"Are you still talking about that?" Ash replied. "It's been whole days since I beat you!"
"That was a draw," Misty declared, folding her arms. "Staryu's Rapid Spin broke out of Dragonair's hug, and I still had Starmie to use, while Latias can't really battle and Phanpy is no good in a water match… only the way those Team Rocket guys turned up meant you got the badge."
Latias made a hurt sound, sniffing and folding her arms.
"Latias is improving," Ash agreed. "Dragonair can't help teach her Dragon Tail, because she doesn't really have a tail and Dragonair is all tail, but she's faster now!"
"You really should try and get Latias a proper attacking move, though," Brock said, then frowned as they reached a river. "...huh."
"What's wrong?" Misty asked.
"Well – look at it," Brock said, pointing at the rickety bridge. "Is that the main road from Cerulean City to Vermillion City? Because I… really don't think it's the main road."
They looked at the bridge, which swayed in the breeze.
"...yeah, probably not," Ash admitted. "How come we're lost, Misty?"
"Me?" Misty demanded. "Why are you blaming me?"
"You're from Cerulean," Ash objected. "Have you never gone to Vermillion City before?"
"That's not important, Brock's the one with the map," Misty replied. "Besides, I used to take the train."
"Uh…" Brock began. "I was… expecting that you were leading us, Misty. Or that you'd say something if we took a wrong turn?"
Latias started giggling.
"Well, whether or not this is a wrong turn, we should cross the river, right?" Ash asked.
"No, of course not!" Misty countered. "We don't know where this road leads, and it's not to Vermillion!"
"How do you know that?" Ash challenged. "Anyway, it's going to lead to somewhere, right? And if we get somewhere then we can ask for directions!"
"Fine!" Misty declared.
"Fine!" Ash agreed.
Brock sighed.
"I could imagine exactly that conversation but with the names the other way around," he said, shaking his head.
"You take that back!" both younger trainers demanded, at the same time.
Once over the bridge – with only one case of Latias needing to fly down to rescue Brock when he nearly fell in the water – they continued on, hoping to find out where they were, in addition to hoping that they weren't actually going in entirely the wrong direction.
The road had to lead to somewhere, after all.
"I guess you're enjoying being able to fly?" Ash asked, glancing at Dragonair as she floated alongside them. "That's great!"
"Air!" Dragonair agreed, nodding enthusiastically, and the nod flowed down her body like a wave. "Dra-gon-aiiiir!"
Then the ground gave way beneath Ash, and he fell into a pit.
"Ash, are you okay?" Brock asked.
"Mostly just confused," Ash replied. "Who puts a pit trap on a road?"
"Someone who doesn't want guests," Misty suggested. "But this is really dangerous… now we've got even more reason to find out what's going on."
She looked worried. "Or maybe Team Rocket was doing it?"
"I kind of hope it was Team Rocket," Brock said, thoughtfully, as Latias and Dragonair hauled Ash out of the hole. "Because if they're digging pit traps to catch a Latias we probably don't need to worry about them much."
"True," Misty agreed. "But Team Rocket couldn't build the road this way, right?"
She frowned. "Especially because they couldn't know that we'd get lost."
"I don't know, they have met us," Brock said, thinking out loud. "All right, let's keep an eye out for any more traps."
Their journey took them down a road that went further and further into forest, and after the second trap they discussed it a bit and Ash asked Phanpy to roll ahead of them and look out for traps.
The Ground-type took to his new task with enthusiasm, trundling along and trumpeting happily to himself, and set off at least half a dozen traps before they finally came upon a house.
With a woman sitting out in front of it.
"Oh, hello," she said. "My name's-"
"Are you the one who made that road so dangerous?" Misty interrupted. "Ash fell in a pit! A rope trap caught us in a cage and we had to get Dragonair's help to get out of it! And I don't think there's any reason for the rolling logs."
"Rolling… oh, dear," the woman said, shaking her head. "No, some of them are mine, but not all. I wanted to keep trainers from coming here and capturing Pokémon, but… I didn't do the rolling logs, and I think I know who must have got carried away."
She looked sternly at them. "But while you're here, I have to ask you – no catching Pokémon. Pokémon come to me for help in recovering, and so this is a safe place for them."
"You're a Pokémon medic?" Ash asked. "I get it, but… isn't that what Pokémon Centres are for?"
"Some Pokémon aren't comfortable being around Pokémon centres," the woman explained. "Especially if they've been abandoned by humans before. My name's Melanie, and they trust me, but… that doesn't extend to all humans."
Brock looked amazed, but not in the way he'd looked with Misty's sisters.
Instead he looked… thoughtful.
"So you've dedicated yourself to Pokémon medicine?" he asked. "That's interesting… it's one of the things I've thought about. But I've never been sure if I could find the time for a qualification."
"I don't have a qualification, but I've learned a lot by asking," Melanie explained. "I couldn't do anything advanced like they can do in a Pokémon centre, and sometimes I do have to take them to a centre if it's serious, but most of the time it's just making sure they don't hurt themselves and keeping them safe while they heal on their own."
Latias nodded to herself. "Tiii…"
"Phan!" Phanpy said, bouncing on his hooves. "Pyyy?"
Melanie looked thoughtful. "You've got a very strange assortment of Pokémon… is one of them invisible? One of those noises didn't sound right."
Latias revealed herself, waving, and Melanie's eyes widened.
"Yes, I understand," she said. "I think… who is your trainer, Latias?"
Latias pointed at Ash.
Phanpy had missed the exact question, but pointed at Ash with his trunk because pointing at Ash was a lot of fun.
And Dragonair hugged Ash, because that was sort of her whole thing.
"I think I can trust you," Melanie decided. "And… there's something I'd like to ask for your help with. You see, one of the Pokémon here is very strong, and they've been keeping the hidden village… a bit too safe."
"Why is too safe a bad thing?" Ash asked, curious.
"Because the Pokémon aren't supposed to stay here permanently, I'd guess," Brock suggested. "But if it's too safe, then that just means the Hidden Village gets more and more Pokémon… coming here to heal is fine, but you don't want them to just stay here forever."
"Exactly," Melanie said. "And if there's anyone who I think I can trust to be a good trainer to my friend, it's someone who has a Legendary Pokémon."
She whistled, and there was a peculiar sound off in the distance.
Ash looked curious.
"Which one's the Legendary?" he asked.
Misty and Brock exchanged a glance of I-thought-you-must-have-mentioned-it, then sighed.
"That's Ash for you," Misty said.
"Yeah," Brock agreed. "But… Melanie, you do know that Pokémon can get out of Pokéballs if they want to, right? Or refuse to come out?"
Melanie looked embarrassed.
"I did not, no," she said.
Then what was probably a Pokémon came hurrying over.
"...what Pokémon is that?" Brock asked, staring, as a green-bodied Pokémon with a blue and vaguely piscine head came bounding up before skidding to a halt in front of them.
"Dracooo-vish!" the Pokémon declared.
Ash held up his Pokédex, which beeped.
Unknown, it stated. Please record all the information you can on this Pokémon.
"Sure thing!" Ash agreed.
"Dracovish, this trainer is one of the good ones," Melanie said. "Do you want to-"
Dracovish nodded before Melanie had finished speaking, then began nibbling curiously on Ash's head.
"Are you sure that's one Pokémon?" Misty said. "Instead of two?"
Melanie shrugged. "I don't have any specific qualifications," she replied.
AN:
Another one of those ideas that could turn into a full length fic, like Boons and Companions. In this, I took the list of all Pokémon who were Ash's (going by the wiki box) and added two Travelled With (Larvitar and Latias) then… randomized them.