Everyone was clustered around the television and the atmosphere was nervous, to say the least. Iris was up against a boy named Hilbert in the final of the Vertress Conference. Gible had evolved into Gabite and took down his Sawk, Emolga scored a double knockout against Golurk, Excadrill avenged Gabite's defeat by beating Bisharp. Dragonite not only took out Bisharp but also scored a double knockout against Conkeldurr. Finally, Iris' new Druddigon scored a double knockout against Bouffalant.

Iris' final Pokémon was Haxorus, who evolved during her previous match against Georgia. Hilbert's final Pokémon was Samurott, and this battle was fierce. After a tense few minutes, Haxorus' Dragon Pulse felled Samurott. The referee's declaration of Iris being the winner, was drowned out by a massive cheer from Ash and his friends.

About a week later, Iris' battles against the Unova Elite Four were televised. Ash and company watched stiffly as Iris took down Shauntal, breezed past Marshall, and defeated Grimsley. Caitlin gave her a good fight and her Gothorita was a pain in the butt to get past, but Iris managed it. Finally, it was just her and Alder.

Two weeks later, Iris trekked to Cerise Labs from the airport. She had a heck of a time dodging reporters, but managed to shake them off. The door was surprisingly unlocked, but it was pitch black inside. Moments after she shut the door and turned, the lights flicked on and dozens of voices cheered, "CONGRATULATIONS IRIS!"

She eeped a little, because the voices startled her. Before she knew it, she was engulfed in a massive group hug. Ash gave her a big kiss on the lips, the girls hugged her and the boys heartily pounded her on the back. That night, Ash gave her a special celebratory reward. As she snuggled into him, she murmured in his ear, "Wow… Best night ever! Looks like you're not such a kid after all."

One fine day, Ash and Kiawe were having a mock battle. His Blaze Tauros against Alolan Marowak. Just as Ash was about to order a Flame Charge, the two of them heard running footsteps. They stopped the battle and turned to see Risa screeching to a halt.

She jerked a thumb behind her, "Professor wants to see all of us. Says it's urgent."

The three of them came back to see the Professor, Chryssa and Ren, all packing suitcases. The others had also gathered and were watching them. Cerise saw them and his eyes lit up, "Oh good! We have a bit of a situation. You lot are needed in Alola for a few days. You remember that Ren, Chryssa and myself are heading to Galar for a Pokémon Professor conference next week, right?"

Ash raised a hand, "Are Uncle Kukui and Aunt Burnet going as well? What about baby Lei?"

Cerise nodded, "That's what I wanted to talk to you all about. Professors Kukui and Burnet were hoping that you lot head over to Alola to babysit little Lei for a few days."

The girls all cooed in delight and Ash pumped a fist, "Alright! Anything to spend time with my godbrother!"

Goh was excited for a different reason, "Yes! A new region for me! I can catch lots of different Pokémon!"

He turned to Ash and the Alola gang, "Is it true that Alola has regional variants of Pokémon?"

Mallow grinned, "Yep! Take your Exeggcute for instance. They evolve into Exeggutor, right? The Alolan variant looks a lot different."

Horace tilted his head curiously, "How different?"

Lillie spoke up, "First and foremost, the Kantonian Exeggutor has a Grass and Psychic Typing. The Alolan variant is Grass and Dragon Typing."

Iris' eyes shone in wonder, "Really!"

Lillie nodded and continued, "Yes! The second major difference is that the Alolan Exeggutor has a longer neck. There are others as well, but it's better that you all see it for yourselves."

Professor Cerise clapped his hands to get their attention, "Okay, so you all will be leaving next week. Your flight leaves two hours before ours. Professor Kukui will pick you up at the airport before he and Burnet also leave."

The day soon arrived and the group were all on a flight to sunny Alola. When they landed, Professor Kukui was there to meet them. As soon as the tanned professor was in view, Pikachu squeaked with joy and Ash's face also lit up, "Uncle Kukui! Alola!"

He pat the 18-year-old on the cap and said, "Alola Ash! Welcome home!"

Aside, Horace asked Sophocles, "So… How are Ash and Professor Kukui related again?"

He replied, "Turns out, Professor Kukui is Ash's mom's half-brother. Same mother, different fathers. From what Ash told us, Delia Ketchum's father passed away when she was young and her mother married a guy from Alola and they had Kukui."

The rest of the group slowly approached and Kukui mused, "It's a good thing that I rented this minibus! Didn't think my jeep would be able to handle multiple trips. Let's see… There are 1, 2, 3, 4…. 25 of you. Yep! Thank Arceus I didn't bring the jeep."

They all piled in the bus and Kukui drove off. He called over the noise of the bus, "Hey! So I know Brock and Misty, but I haven't been introduced to the rest of you! Also, you three look familiar."

Ash cut in, "Uncle Kukui, I'm sure you remember with Jessie, James and Meowth. They're good now. They've left Team Rocket."

Kukui raised an eyebrow, "Left eh? Well… If Ash trusts you now, that's good enough for me!"

"I'm May, and this is my brother, Max! We're from Hoenn"

"I'm Dawn and this is my twin sister, Salvia! We're from Sinnoh"

Kukui hollered, "How do you two tell each other apart?"

Salvia called out, "Ash is actually the one who figured it out!"

"I'm Iris and that's Cilan, we're from Unova."

Kukui smiled, "Nice to meet you, and congratulations for becoming the Unova Champion!"

"I'm Serena, that's Bonnie and her older brother, Clemont. We're from Kalos!"

"I'm Aria, I'm also from Kalos."

"I'm Risa, from Kanto."

"I'm Chloe, that's Goh and Horace, we're also from Kanto."

Just then, Kukui spotted Goh's Raboot in his rear view mirror. A moment later, everyone was clutching each other when the bus swerved. The professor excitedly exclaimed, "Whoa! Is that a Raboot! That's the first Galarian Pokémon I've seen. I bet you can deliver some powerful kicks!"

Ash gently pried a terrified Lillie off him, "Uncle Kukui… I think it's better if you admire our Pokémon AFTER we've reached."

A short drive later, the bus stopped at a familiar cosy wooden shack. Ash scampered out, "I'm home!"

The door opened and there was Professor Burnet. She cheered, "Welcome back, you two!"

"Alola, Auntie Burnet!"

Ash then noticed a small figure in her arms. The child was male with tanned skin, brown hair and hazel eyes. The teen bent forward, "Aww… You must be Lei, right?"

The toddler babbled happily and began reaching out towards him. Burnet smiled, "That's right, big brother."

Ash gently reached out a hand and watched as Lei grabbed a thumb with one of his tiny hands. The other went to gently pat Ash's freckled cheek.

Burnet then turned to the rest of the group, "Hey everyone! Why don't you come inside!"

The group walked inside and made themselves at home. Inside the house, there were a few suitcases. Kukui rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry to drop this on all of you, but Lei is too young for such a long journey. Kahuna Olivia is a bit busy, so she can't babysit. I'll be back in a few minutes. Need to return the bus to Kahuna Hala."

Ash gently took Lei in his arms and cuddled his godbrother, "It's not a problem, Uncle. We're always happy to help."

Burnet held out a sheet of paper, "This is a list of chores to do, especially when taking care of Lei."

Brock grabbed it, "Not a problem! Don't worry, I've got experience taking care of kids. I'm the oldest of 10 siblings, back in Pewter. Mom and dad wanted a large family but underestimated what it took to take care of them. They ran off for a few years while I took care of my siblings. It was only thanks to Ash that Dad was convinced to get his sorry butt back. Mom also returned sometime later, both of them fortunately for good."

Burnet pat his shoulder sympathetically, "Sorry you had to go through that. While I'm glad that this little one is in good hands, I'm sorry for what it took for you to gain that experience."

Brock shrugged, "10 years ago, I would have been resentful of having to act as the parent, but now, I wouldn't trade my siblings for the world."

Just then, there was the sound of a jeep's engine, and that jolted Burnet into action, "Oh! Right! We don't want to miss the plane! Bye Ash! Bye everyone! We'll be back in a week!"

After the couple left, everyone dug out their Pokeballs and let out their Pokémon. Sometime later, Ash was relaxing on a deck chair on the nearby beach. Risa was half spooning him on it. She breathed, "It's so beautiful here. I swear, I'm going to get a lovely tan here."

They watched as Pikachu, Piplup, Skitty, Pancham, Raboot, Sobble and several smaller Pokémon frolicked in the sand. Turns out, that all the Pokémon at Cerise Labs had been relocated to Professor Kukui's since no one was there in the Vermillion City lab.

Just then, Brock came by with Lei riding on his shoulders, "Hey Ash! I've been thinking. Why don't some of us explore Alola and catch some Pokémon. One or two of us can stay back and be with Lei. We'll take turns staying back with Lei. I'll stay back today, along with Clemont."

Ash shrugged, "Works for me."

He sat up and helped Risa out of the deck chair. Lana came rushing up, "There you are! Come on! We're taking everyone to see the Pokémon School!"

Everyone elected to take the scenic route, with Goh catching a Pyukumuku and a Grubbin. Horace caught an Alolan Dugtrio and a Sandygast. Jessie, James and Meowth reunited with Bewear, and the latter officially caught him. May was in heaven when she tasted her first malasada, and gorged on a dozen of them before Max had to drag her out. There were similar scenes at the pancake parlour, and especially at Aina's Kitchen.

After the gastronomic journey, everyone finally made it to the Pokémon School. May and Dawn got roped into explaining about Pokémon Coordinating. Serena and Aria also spoke about Pokémon Showcases.

Along the way, they bumped into Kahuna Hala, and his eyes lit up, "Ash and friends! So good to see all of you! I hope I'm not imposing, but I need your help with something."

Ever eager to help, Ash asked, "Of course, Kahuna Hala!"

Hala gestured, "Walk with me, please?"

He shuffled away and the group followed. Then the portly man spoke, "It's my grandson, Hau. You are aware that the Pokémon World Coronation Series recently concluded, right? Hau was part of the Master Class, where the Top 8 trainers face off. Usually the champions are considered in the Master Class. Sadly, Hau lost very badly, that's all that I can reveal. He's… not been himself and is very depressed. I was hoping that you could talk to him and get his spirits up."

Ash was shocked to hear that. Hau was a nice guy and there were no hard feelings between them when he lost in the Manalo Conference. Ash adopted a serious look, "Where is he? I'll go talk to him."

Misty called out, "Hey Ash! The rest of us are going to go and catch some Pokémon! When you're done, just drop a text on our Rotom Phones!"

As the group split up to do their own thing, Ash followed Kahuna Hala. Eventually, they entered the Kahuna's house and Ash made his way to Hau's bedroom. The door was closed, so Ash did the polite thing and knocked.

A thoroughly defeated voice called out, "Grandpa, I'm not in the mood."

Ash replied, "It's me, Ash. You doing okay buddy?"

Moments later, the door opened and Ash got a good look at his rival. Frankly, he didn't like what he was seeing. The dark-skinned teenager looked like he hadn't slept in days, his eyes were bloodshot, said eyes also had bags under them, and he looked absolutely lethargic.

Hau weakly gestured, "Come in…"

They sat down on the bed and there was silence between them for a while. Ash broke the silence, "I heard you weren't doing okay. Kahuna Hala figured that we should talk."

Hau moaned, "I feel like such a fluke! Dude, you deserved to win the Alola League more than me. I got way too cocky during the WCS. Kind of breezed through until I reached the Masters 8. Couldn't even freaking beat Alder in his final battle before he retired. The guy didn't even lose a single Pokémon. His Bouffalant took out my entire team."

Ash pat his back, "It happens, buddy. Like you said, you didn't take it seriously. But I know you. If you make a mistake and lose, you will learn from it and train harder. I'll even help you train for the next WCS, if you want. I'm here for the whole week because Professors Kukui and Burnet have to attend some conference. My friends and I volunteered to fly over and babysit Lei while they were away."

Suddenly, Hau perked up, "Wait! I have a better idea! For the next World Coronation Series, YOU should represent Alola!"

Ash nearly fell off the bd in shock, "Me?!"

"Yeah! I mean, you have loads more experience. Also, I looked up your trainer profile. You have a lot more Pokémon and you've competed in a lot of Leagues. You're the perfect guy to show that you are the best in the world."

Ash stared at him for a few seconds while his brain processed that information. Then he grinned, "Thanks Hau. And here I was, moping about losing the Manalo Conference to you."

The boys grasped each other's shoulders and Hau snorted, "We really are a pair, aren't we?"

Ash squeezed his rival's shoulder, "I'll make you a deal. Both of us will stop moping around about our losses, and we'll work harder to get stronger. The World Coronation Series won't start until next year. Plenty of time for us to prepare."

He got up off the bed and held out a hand, "I'll see you over there, won't I?"

Hau hesitated slightly and then shook Ash's hand, "You got it!"

I have to be honest, while I loved the family dynamic between Ash and Professors Kukui and Burnet, I didn't want to disrespect Ash's actual mom. A fair number of Alola family fics have a tendency to ignore Delia.

And yes, I firmly believe that the 'lightning bolts' on Ash's cheeks are freckles, and no one can convince me otherwise.