Ron the True Fan: And now for the TRio to suffer.

Takeshi Yamato: You certainly love that part… almost as much as you like making your avatar suffer in fics that feature him. Hard to tell if you're a sadist or a masochist.

Ron the True Fan: After nearly 25 years of dealing with their stupidity? I EARNED the right to torture them. Besides, death for them is mercy. I am not INTERESTED in being merciful.

Takeshi Yamato: True enough. Just commenting on how much you enjoy it, is all. And you do seem to enjoy it quite a bit.

Ron the True Fan: Anyone enduring their incompetence for two and a half decades and finding it exceedingly unamusing after the first six months should. On with the show.

Vicinity of Blackthorn City, Johto Region, 1141 hours local time, Day 202 of Ash Ketchum's Pokemon Journey

"TWO THUNDERSTORMS, A FLOCK A FEAROWS AND A GYARADOS?!" Meowth screamed into the uncaring wind. "WHY?!"

You KNOW why. Because I am a vengeful, angry bastard.

"THIS IS BECAUSE OF THE RICHIE THING, ISN'T IT?!" James whined.

Oh, yeeeeeeeeesssssssss.

All the Rockets shared a look. "He did NOT just pull a Beast Wars Megatron." Butch deadpanned.

Its better than the other Transformers out there…

"Yeah, there's a reason that one's critically acclaimed…" James said, getting a look from the rest of the Rockets. "What?!"

He's not WRONG. That said, your lives are going to get SO much worse.

"What?! WHY?!" Jessie demanded.

Because your pain is something I enjoy.

As soon as they processed that, the Rockets were dropped into a nearby lake. The one filled with dragon egg-group Pokemon like Dratini, Dragonair and Gyarados.

Naturally overprotective parents.

"YOU BASTARD!"

Not really. You'll live.

"Why'd you guys drop them in the lake?!" Ash asked over the roar of the wind.

"Geot!" 'Can't land while they're in our talons and the lake's softer then the rocks and dirt!' Pidgeot answered, leaving out the other reason: revenge for all their bullshit.

Just because the TRio helped during the big world-ending incidents did not mean they were forgiven for all the daily, sometimes hourly, crap they caused.

Ash was lenient. They were NOT.

Blackthorn barely looked like Ash remembered. It was a giant fortress, built like the Towers in Ecruteak, or…well, pretty much ANYTHING in Johto that wasn't in one of the bigger, modern cities. There was some modernization, as he could see some modern military stuff on the walls, but it was a mix of ancient style and the needs of modern warfare.

Arceus above, he hated this timeline.

He was not alone, as the TRio plus Butch and Cassidy swam for their lives from an angry Dragonair.

"YOU ASSHOLE!" Burch screamed. "YOU'RE DOING THIS ON PURPOSE!"

Well, you became irrelevant when Ash went to Hoenn. Only reason you were kept around is because they needed comedy relief and that's what you became. Well, I get my amusement from the suffering of the antagonists. And you are most CERTAINLY the antagonists.

"We work for Ash!" Cassidy objected.

No. You work for Giovanni. And while he's retired, he's still a villain. Ergo…

"I HATE HIS LOGIC!" Meowth screeched before they reached the shore…and sighted ten fins in the sands.

"What is WITH this guy and Gibles?!" Jessie demanded.

Because Gible.

"That's not an answer!" they cried.

Clair Wataru knew doom when she saw it and was accordingly respectful.

Ash Ketchum was young, but the look in his eyes, shrouded by false cheer…he was doom incarnate to anyone who DARED stand against him.

Cousin Lance chose well his champion. Johto would be theirs by the end of the next year.

His companions, however…

The boy was immune to the trials of Blackthorn. His companions were not. They would prove worthy or they would burn in dragonfire.

"Welcome to Blackthorn." she said dryly, getting the attention of the boy in question. "You must be Ash Ketchum. Your reputation precedes you."

To his credit, Ash extended his hand, keeping his eyes on hers. No ogling her chest. Good. …Then again, he had enough female eyecandy. "Which one?" he asked. "The one where I'm just a Pokemon trainer or the up and coming warlord that took over Orre?" The last one was rather telling. He didn't like that one. Apparently the whole 'occupation of Orre' thing wasn't something he liked.

"The former." Clair answered. "Tearing through Team Rocket wherever you go, dealing with threats to the world whenever you run into them, all while gathering badges. You must have stories to tell."

"ō sugite, Clair-san ni wa shitsurei desu ga, dore mo kankei nai desu ne." Ash responded, politely, if curtly… and in the Johtoan dialect. There wasn't even a trace of an accent! (1)

Regardless, he eyed the surrounding area cautiously. "Is there a reason everyone is eying my friends like they're pieces of meat?" he demanded, an EDGE in his voice.

He was pissed. She could get that. And approve of it. His starter may have been a Pikachu, but his demeanor was that of a dragon: possessive, protective and proactive in their defense.

She knew of his status as the Chosen of Arceus and all of the Creator's direct children were dragon-types. While Ash's physical body was human, his soul was the same as that of the Creation Trio. At least that was true to form.

"It is the way of Blackthorn. We do not welcome all openly." Lance explained as he dismounted Dragonite. "You have to prove your worth."

Ash's eye turned to Lance warningly. "Tell them to back off." he ordered, getting a look from the champion. "If they do anything to hurt them-"

The Ranseian clapped Ash on the back. "We'll be fine, Ash. Go kick Lance's ass." he encouraged. "We'll be ok."

Clair scoffed. Fine? They'd be under contant Pokemon attack and having to defend themselves.

Lance and herself were immune because they were the masters of Blackthorn. Attacking Ash was suicide and they knew it. He took down Yveltal: she saw the footage of it and made damn sure the people of Blackthorn did, too.

His companions, though… they were fair game.

"Come inside." she said. "The interior is more then capable of handling any dragon-type. Someone even brought Rayquaza here once."

"Tenchi sōzō sanbagarasu o atsukaeru no ka gimon desu." Ash replied cheekily, Clair giving him a look. (2)

"I have been speaking Unovan for the convenience of your comrades." she said. "Show me the same courtesy."

Ash shrugged. "I could translate." he said. "Doesn't take me very long to learn new languages."

Clair saw him pull out his Pokedex, one of the newer Oak models, cycling in Pokemon as the Pokeballs glowed as Pokemon were cycled in and out.

Probably to deal with Lance's dragons. Ice and fairy. It made sense.

Lance was a champion. Ash, while a prodigy, was still a new trainer. There was nothing wrong with stacking the odds in his favor.

Oak Ranch - Pallet Town, Kanto Region - 1239 hours local time

Ivysaur and Infernape looked at the requests, sending Flitchinder to gather them.

One was… a surprise.

"Ape?" 'You think Ash can handle him?' the fire monkey asked.

"Saur." 'He's gonna be fine.' the plant toad answered, before…

Vun-vun.

"Ape." 'Anyone figured out how he does that?' Infernape asked before his head suffered a case of Gible to the head.

CHOMP!

At least it was a friendly case of Gible to the head.

"Gible!" 'Hi!' cried the eyesmiling land shark.

The field was… different then Ash remembered.

The building in his timeline was almost Unovan in styling, but here? Johtoan, like everything else, with an open-air arena.

"Due to the fact that you would destroy anything ELSE in Kanto, we've moved this match here to Blackthorn." Lance said, taking one side of the field as Ash finished cycling in his last Pokemon. "Are you ready to face the might of the strongest Pokemon type?"

Ash scoffed, then started laughing. Lance rose an eyebrow. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"Dragons aren't the strongest type." Ash answered after he stopped laughing. "There is no such thing as a 'strongest type'. I'd know. A little TOO well, to be honest. I've BEATEN dragons. With Pikachu. Who's only got one-fourth effectiveness against dragon-types. So that reasoning makes about as much sense as Team Rocket trying to steal him."

Lance was taken aback. Well, that little intimidation tactic wasn't going to work on someone that went through multiple leagues, all of which had a dragon-type gym leader. Or someone that knew the type chart and trained to obliterate it as Ash often did.

And his Pikachu smirked. "Pika." he said, not jumping to the field. Lance was suddenly nervous.

This wasn't a trainer facing a champion.

This was two champions facing off, preparing for war.

…This was not going to end well.

Misty didn't like how the locals were eying her. Nor did she like how she wasn't within line of sight of Ash, but that was nothing new.

Shadow bugs messed with her head.

'Time travel's making it worse.' Astral Misty said. 'At least you're stable and not going crazy.'

She was never gonna have a normal life. 'Normal's for the weak.' Astral Misty deadpanned. 'Trust me, life at that gym was boring.'

'And an exciting life is better?' Misty asked before one of the natives pulled out a Pokeball.

"You. The scantily clad one." he said, Misty sighing before she turned to face him.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"To live in Blackthorn, you must be able to fight." he said. "To come here, you must be strong."

Heavily militarized society. Johto sucked.

"Buddy, you don't want to mess with her." Kyoji stated warningly. "Her boyfriend's fighting Lance. You know, Champion of the Kanto and Johto Leagues? You REALLY want to bring him down on you?"

"You're not safe, either." said the challenger as more people from Blackthorn pulled out Pokeballs. "To survive in this place, to survive the dragons, one must be strong. And PROVE their strength beyond doubt. You've proven nothing."

Serena pulled out all of her Pokeballs, releasing her entire team. "We're not going to be able to talk our way out of this, so why not kick their asses?" she said, the more violent tsundere personality coming forth. "It'll help when we start going through Johto proper."

"Well, we needed to prove to Ash we could handle ourselves." Iris said, releasing her own team, her Gible latching onto her head. "This is a good start."

When diplomacy is never an option, there is only one alternative.

Violence. And a LOT of it.

"You know my Pokemon. I presume you came prepared." Lance half-demanded.

"I think so." Ash said. "You use dragons. Dragonite, mostly."

"You should know I'm prepared for ice." Lance said, tossing out his first Pokeball, releasing an odd one.

A palm tree with legs. "Exeggutor!" 'We're ready!' cried the Alolan coconut Pokemon.

Ash looked at the thing and… wasn't impressed. "I prefer the Kanto ones." he said. "They look normal. That guy's probably going to smack off a few ceilings."

Lance scoffed, likely having heard that joke too often. "Send out your Pokemon, Ash." he said, annoyed at the comment. "Unless it's Pikachu."

Ash smiled. "I'm not that predictable." he said before pulling out a ball and tossing it out. "Go, Noivern!"

The look on Lance's face was shock and confusion. A dragon-type? He wasn't expecting that.

And that was Ash's plan. A dragon-on-dragon attack? No one would expect that, especially Lance.

"Exeggutor, Wood Hammer." Lance said, still slightly dumbfounded.

"Boomburst! Knock him back!" Ash countered.

"Vern!" 'Got it!' cried Noivern, unleashing a sonic wave from his speaker-shaped ears, making Exeggutor bow backward.

Lance pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is why I usually open with Dragonite…" he groaned. "Someone always turns Exeggutor into a spring."

"Hey, I know your pain. People kept saying I chose the wrong Pokemon." Ash said. "But I proved them wrong in the end. Maybe Exeggutor will do good here."

"Cheering up your opponent?" Lance said. "That's counterproductive."

"We're not enemies, Lance." Ash retorted. "And it's not the first time I helped someone in a battle."

He loved helping people be the best they could be. That would never change.

'Idiot. The only one that matters is your-ARGH! THAT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE!'

'My mind, asshole, MY RULES.' Ash snapped at the King after…let's just say spiky things were involved. BIG spiky things. 'And if I want to help people, I WILL.'

Exeggutor's neck bent back and back and back as Noivern continued hitting it with sonic strikes. And he kept inching forward.

"Uh, Noivern, maybe you should back off!" Ash suggested to his Pokemon.

"Noi?" 'Huh? Why?' Noivern asked, stopping the attack. And like a bow snapping, the palm tree Pokemon's excessively long neck flung forward.

WHACK!

It was chaos. Dragon Rages, breaths and other attacks shot at them, returned by lightning, fire and psionics.

Max struggled, Ralts not having enough time to train his mental abilities for battle, having had to be saved by Serena's Goomy, which returned the strikes with Bide.

"Goomy!" 'This entire situation is so barbaric!' she said.

"Braixen!" 'We're Pokemon! This is what we do!' Braixen retorted, sending a Confusion at a Seadra, which stunned it and forced it to attack its' fellow Blacthorners. "Brai!" 'Keep fighting!'

Iris' Dratini Wrapped around a Deino's necks, before, of all things, a Gible fired a Draco Meteor at them both.

"Dra." 'Oh, hell.' Dratini said before they were hit with a draconic nuke.

"Dratini!" Iris cried, even as her own Gible took revenge… in the fashion of Gibles.

CHOMP!

While the enemy Gible was dragged underground for his scolding, a dragonbreath struck out, followed by an ANGRY Dragonair that launched at a weird apple-dragon thing and started choking it.

That Dragon had ISSUES.

"BRAI!" 'BURN! BURN!'

…Then again, the starter of the multiple personality girl who happened to be part psychic-type wasn't exactly better off…

'WHY Do we have to be so BROKEN in this timeline?!' Astral Serena demanded.

'Hell if I know!' Astral Misty shouted before they all turned their attention to a loud metallic clang.

'…What the hell was that?' Astral Iris asked before they saw exactly what it was.

A massive spiral shell made of steel. And out of it came… a Sliggoo?

"Goo?" 'What happened to my sight?! I CAN'T SEE!' cried the Sliggoo, which was apparently once Serena's Goomy, before spraying acid on a Dratini, causing it to scream in pain as scales were dissolved, making it dive into the lake.

Then a Blast burn shot past, hitting the apple-dragon-thing.

"That wasn't Charizard!" Kyoji said, as his own Flame Pokemon was in the middle of a fist fight with a Dragonite.

It seemed it was a day for evolutions for Serena as her Braixen was no more and a Delphox stood in her place, which was confirmed as Serena looked to her starter, who blew out her 'wand' before telekinetically slamming a Fraxure into a wall. "Del." 'I am ANNOYED.' she declared.

You and the readers both. (WHACK!)

"I got a question." Ash asked. "Can we edit this part out? It's… humiliating for all of us."

Ash's comment was due to the flexing power of the palm tree Pokemon as it kept hitting Noivern, who kept Boom Bursting it back, which resulted in more whacks.

It was hurting Exeggutor more then Noivern (one-eighth the damage thanks to flying/dragon-typing) but this was just ridiculous.

Lance was silent as this comedy of errors took place. Ash was right. This WAS humiliating for both Pokemon.

"Pika." 'Arceus is getting a sick kick out of this.' the mouse deadpanned as Exeggutor finally fell over unconscious.

"Noi…" 'I'm…I'm good.' Noivern said, though obviously concussed. "Ver…" 'It's just a flesh wound.'

"You're done, Noivern." Ash retorted. "You're hurt and you need to rest and that is that. I'm not letting you get hurt more."

The bat-dragon was returned to his ball without much more protest, Lance doing the same before they heard an explosion outside.

Ash almost bolted for the door before Lance coughed into his hand.

"I don't have to remind you that if you leave, you forfeit." he said. "And that your friends can take care of themselves."

"You seriously think I'm going to let them get hurt or worse?!" Ash demanded.

Lance chuckled. "You got the wrong starter." he said, Pikachu glaring at him before Ash faced him.

"Excuse me?" Ash demanded, now thoroughly incensed, his Sakai 'curse' flaring up. "What was that?"

"You act like a dragon." Lance answered. "Overprotective, possessive, furious. Your starter should've been a dragon-type, not a Pikachu."

From his long, long, LONG sessions with Gaffery, Ash picked up a few lessons in psychology. Lance was baiting him. He knew it.

And he was falling for it.

"The sooner you kick my ass, Ash, the sooner you can 'save' your friends." Lance offered, sending out something more… conventional: a Charizard.

With a tail-mounted mega stone.

Later, Ash would say he made a mistake. Lance did something that made him overreact.

But it brought up VERY bad memories and a LOT of anger, especially towards Alain, who did the same damn thing Lance did and MEga Evolved Charizard into a Mega Charizard X after tapping the key stone on his wrist.

He knew he shouldn't. He KNEW. It would be cruel.

But he did it anyway.

He tossed out a ball and out came Goodra.

Mei watched Natu continue to teleport, avoiding combat.

Natu was a seer, not a battler. These idiots didn't see that.

"Hold." came the voice of a woman, making those attacking Natu stop, their trainers looking at the source.

Her outfit was akin to that of a traditional miko, but unlike most, it was dark, grays and muted crimson with gold bands on the sleeves. Her gray hair was matched with heterocromatic red and yellow eyes, a hawkish face and around her neck a simple necklace with an opaque stone.

A priestess of the Lord of the Dead. And NO ONE touched one of the holies.

"You are clearly blind." she continued. "She is a priestess of the Creator God. Leave her be. NOW."

Natu teleprted onto her head, then paused. She was exhausted and sleeping.

Mei bowed, showing respect. "Thank you." she said. "I thought-"

"You serve. They are idiots." the communer with the dead cut off. "They are unfamiliar with the robes of a servant of the Creator, only the Lord of the Dead do they know. But now you are a trainer."

Mei sighed. "I was given permission." she said. "I have much to learn. Too much."

"The Chosen of Arceus will need your help." the dour-sounding woman said, getting a look of surprise from Mei. "It was obvious to those with the eyes to see. But then I am one who communes with the dead and my Lord has told me everything I need to know."

"Clearly." Mei replied as the priestess retrieved a parasol, painted in the colors of her patron god and unfurled it. A staple of the priestesses of the Lord of the Underworld. "Thank you."

"Only a fool would not recognize the colors of a priestess of the creator, even if they only saw it once." the 'lesser' priestess - her patron was Giratina, not Arceus - stated before a bright light erupted from the gym. "It appears Lance made a mistake."

Angering the Chosen One? A mistake?

That wasn't a mistake.

That was a sin.

And sins were punished.

Entry 96: Blackthorn City

Once the regional capital of the Fusube Prefecture, Blackthorn was a military base-turned-city, but the highly defensible location made it continue to be useful militarily, serving as a secondary palace for both the Nihon Emperor and in thousands of years past, the King of Rota.

Due to this, the city has always had a highly martial culture, where if you are not strong enough to stay, you were removed. While tough, the treatment was fair, as there was always a chance to return once you proved yourself, with a cave serving to protect those who 'failed' and get themselves 'worthy'. A comparison has been made to a military drill sergeant: they break you down to build you up better, which is always necessary, as Blackthorn is always under attack by both Shadow Pokemon and raiders in the post-Cipher War era.

Entry 97: Priesthood of Giratina

A DRASTICALLY misunderstood sect, the Priesthood are often referred to as a 'death cult', but there is a distinction between the similar Cult of Yveltal that began to rule Orre, then became Cipher, and Giratina's.

Giratina is an arbiter of fairness and a maintainer of the cycle of life, of truth, for the dead cannot lie. Neither do those that maintain his worship. They are subdued, but they are not fatalists.

Blackthorn is the center of their sect, as, through Yveltal, they are forced to deal with the consciquences of Giratina's well-intended hubris. Shame is how many join the priesthood.

And through that shame, they maintain humility and honesty.

Translations

(1) Too many, and respectfully, Clair-san, none of them are your business.

(2) I doubt it can handle the creation trio. (note: translator didn't want to actually use Japanese for 'creation trio', so it might be a BIT butchered. If anyone can get me a proper one WITHOUT English, please do so)

Takeshi Yamato: Well, Lance is about to have a bad time (cues up Megalovania).

Ron the True Fan: (Pulls out force lance and puts MULTIPLE shots into music player) I FUCKING HATE THAT TUNE! People use it too much and I find it as boring as most SRW music!

Takeshi Yamato: (Winces at the state of the music player) Jeez. You certainly have a… forceful way of showing your distaste.

Ron the True Fan: I have high standards. Speaking of which…25 FUCKING YEARS! It took the writing staff for the anime TWO AND A HALF DECADES for Ash to win a league, then defeat a champion! WE COULD'VE HAD THAT IN SINNOH! UNOVA! KALOS!

Takeshi Yamato: That's certainly true. But yeah, Lance is pushing Ash's hot buttons and is not knowing he won't like the result. It's a bit like making Bruce Banner angry. Only one result comes of that. Anderson?

HA Anderson: Well, you know what time it is! (RAPE!)

Ron the True Fan: …On that subject… (Pulls out SECOND force lance and extends both) START RUNNING.

Takeshi Yamato: YIPE!

Ja ne!