Chapter 1: Prologue
Several years ago while a certain raven haired trainer was competing in the Indigo League, another trainer was participating in the Unova League competition in Vertress City. The crowd cheered loudly as a Lucario stood face to face with a large sturdy brown buffalo Pokémon that had appeared to have an afro atop it's head.
"It's all come down to this, folks! The Champion Alder Adeku and the competitor Zach Phoenix are down to their final Pokémon, Alder has held onto his Championship title for well over four decades but is he about to pass the torch to the region's youngest Champion ever?! Both Pokémon are showing signs of exhaustion so it could go either way!"
"You can do it, Zach!" A chirpy red headed trainer with slightly dark skin tone screamed from the lower stands. A beautiful swan sat on the bench beside her, stretching out her wings as she cried out in unison with her trainer. Another trainer sat beside her, merely looking on in silence. He had a slightly darker tone than Skyla, sleek dark hair and wore a pair of sunglasses that masked his expression as his mouth barely moved. His partner, a Sneasel made him look quite out of place compared to the other spectators.
"Snease..."
A light skinned trainer with short brown hair and chocolate brown eyes looked towards his traveling companions and waved at them, causing the red head to blush while the sunglasses wearing trainer merely nodded in acknowledgement. The competing trainer wore a black and blue jacket and a pair of jeans that were quite torn up from the journey, based on his training skill it was possible that he simply misplaced stuff often as he could definitely afford other pants.
"Alright Lucario, let's finish him with Aura Sphere!" Zach shouted out.
"Lucarrrrr!" Lucario clamped his paws together as a sphere of aura formed between them. It was quick to grow large, forming within a few seconds before Lucario sent it firing towards his opponent!
"Bouf!" Bouffalant groaned out as the attack pushed him back, kicking up dirt and rocks that flew up into the stands. The sunglass trainer uttered out an annoyed scoff as he quickly wiped the mess from his glasses.
"Counter with Giga Impact!" Alder shouted.
Bouffalant lowered his horns and rubbed his hooves against the ground as a yellow aura enveloped his body. The buffalo uttered out a loud shout as it charged across the field.
"Carrrr!" Lucario's eyes widened as the move made impact, the jackal too tired to get away in time as the blow knocked the remaining air out of him. He promptly collapsed onto his side as swirls formed within his eyes. "Carr..."
"No!" Skyla shouted out while the sunglass trainer merely punched the seat in front of him from frustration.
Zach lowered his head as the announcer declared Alder the winner before walking over to help Lucario up. "You okay?"
"Car..." Lucario gave a swift nod in response while offering his trainer an apologetic look.
"Don't worry about it, we'll train harder and win the next Championship. Maybe the Hoenn region as I could do with a break from the cold weather, it's been mighty chilly lately." Zach spoke while rubbing his arm. Lucario nodded in agreement. It didn't help their dreams the past few weeks involved a massive ice storm encompassing the region while a strange Dragon Pokémon fired snow and hail upon the few unaffected areas.
Alder approached the pair and outstretched his arm while offering an encouraging smile. "Well done you two, I haven't sweated that hard in years! I actually thought I was going to lose for a second there."
"Thank you sir, it means a lot coming from you." Zach shook his hand while returning an enthusiastic smile. "We just weren't ready to go pro yet, give it another year or two and we'll be there!"
"Carrr!" Lucario swiftly nodded while enthusiastically punching the air.
Alder merely smirked in response. "Well when you do, I look forward to our rematch. I'll let you be for now, it appears there's someone else looking to congratulate you." He turned to take his leave while Zach looked on with a confused expression before uttering out an alarmed gasp as the red head suddenly ran up and kissed him on the lips! His cheeks burned bright red while his brain was sending mixed signals as girls matured faster than boys when it came to those sorts of emotions.
"Skyla...?" He asked while rubbing his cheek with a light smile.
"Just wanted to congratulate you on how far you reached!" Though she felt saddened by the fact he'd be leaving on another adventure as he hadn't won the Championship title. "You wanna head out and do something later? Just the two of us and Lucario, no mister moody." She said while motioning towards the sunglass trainer who silently stood to the side.
"You two love birds done yet? I've got something to show our almost Champion." He simply spoke.
"Shut it, Chase." Skyla growled.
"Sure thing, Skyla! It'd be good to spend some time with you before I head off to Hoenn." Though he planned to head back home and check in on his twin sister before leaving. She was able to leave on a journey of her own but her and Cheren made a pact to not go on an adventure until Bianca's overprotective father allowed her to head off on one of her own, they didn't want to abandon her. Zach had gone as he was never really close to his sister's friends and wanted to escape the small town life and see more of the world.
Skyla uttered out a light squeal while trying her best to restrain her emotions as she knew Zach wasn't fully there yet, though she was determined to win him over in the end. They had each other's Pokegear numbers in case they ever got separated so she'd make sure they remained in touch. "I'll see you two later then, good luck with whatever it is you two are doing!"
Chase shook his head as he grabbed Zach's arm and began leading him out of the stadium.
"Zach! Oh my gosh!"
"Can I have your autograph?!" A crowd instantly swarmed the pair. Zach reached out to sign a few things before Chase pushed their way through the crowd, leading him and Lucario through the town before eventually reaching the lower-class district of the city, which was more worn down and dimly lit compared to the tourist district. Lucario and Zach both felt a minor disturbance in the surrounding aura but shook it off as Chase motioned towards a nearby alley.
"Look." He motioned towards a tan colored Axew. "I saw that yesterday but you and Skyla were off on one of your dates."
"Dates? What do you mean? She always wants to hang out with me." Zach simply stated while Chase facepalmed.
"You-Forget it, just go try and catch it." Chase muttered while backing away. Lucario approached slightly before stopping as Zach silently approached while reaching into his pocket to reveal genuine jelly filled doughnut which looked nothing like the rice cakes being sold several streets back.
"Hey there little guy, looking for scraps?" Zach asked while dropping to a knee as he offered the dragon the doughnut.
The Axew cautiously approached, giving the dessert a sniff before licking his lips as he quickly yanked it from the trainer's hands. "Axew ew ew!" The dragon cried before scarfing it down. Zach reached into his bag and formed a confused expression as he wandered where his Pokeballs had gone off to before eventually finding a sole ball, a Luxury Ball which had been carefully stashed beneath his spare jacket.
"Axew, how would you feel about joining me and Lucario on our adventure? You'll never have to scavenge for scraps again, I don't like to brag but... I'm a bit well off from my Unova League progress." Winning the standard League had given him a considerate amount of money and beating the Elite Four had doubled it. He didn't need to worry about picking fights with every trainer he saw any more. "You'll never be hungry again."
"Xew!" The dragon nodded and eagerly headbutt the ball which absorbed him in a beam of bright red light. The ball shook before chiming to signal the capture, the ball remained in front of him but was temporarily locked as Unova hadn't caught up to the other regions in regards to automatic transfer just yet. It'd have to be manually done at a later point if he wished to use Axew. Though the ball did began to shake as Lucario began frantically tapping his trainer's shoulder.
"Carrrr!"
"What's-Wait I feel it too." Due to his intense bond, he did have a decent understanding of how to read aura though he wasn't able to physically manipulate it like Aura Wielders of the past.
"Tri-Attack!" A strong commanding voice called out as a large three headed Dragon appeared above them.
"Hydr!" Zach whipped out his Pokedex and began sweating.
"No way, it's level 85?! Chase I-" He looked for his traveling companion but he was nowhere to be seen as a wave of lightning, fire and ice rained upon Lucario causing the jackal to instantly drop to his knees.
"Carr..." Lucario stood back up with a weak yet defiant look as he remained determined to protect his trainer.
"Aura Sphere!" Zach shouted out while pointing towards Hydreigon.
"Carrrr!" Lucario sent a massive sphere of aura up towards the hydra dragon but it barely even put a dent in it.
"Ugh, it looks like I'll have to use the whole gang if we want to get out of this. Serperior, Zebstrika, Bisharp, Braviary and Seismitoad I need you all out here with me!" Several beams of light appeared as he called them out however they swiftly reached back nearly instantly.
"What the f-" Zach looked down at the Pokeballs before looking towards Lucario who seemed to be resisting something. "Something forced them to go in... and it's doing the same thing to you." Lucario silently nodded while refusing to go inside as he hated tight spaces.
"Clever lad," An elder man in his late forties stepped into view. He wore a cloak that looked straight out of a medieval movie while a strange red monocle device sat atop his nose. He held up a cane while flashing a sinister smirk. "This device was created by a good colleague of mine, it enables me to turn off Pokeball technology preventing them from coming out to assist my victims."
"Sounds like a lot of work to get my winnings," Zach growled. "If that's what you want then why aren't you competing in the League?! That Hydreigon is insanely powerful."
"Because it's pumped full of steroids." Chase stepped into view. "He'd never get past the testing screening."
"Chase?! You're with him?"
"Yep, you were too dumb and naive to see it." Chase scoffed. "Much like you never realized that Skyla is in love with you."
"Huh? What do you mean by that?!"
"Car!" Lucario cried out, telling his trainer to focus.
"Right, sorry."
"You see, it was never about becoming a Pokémon League Official. All along I was watching and spying on you for my lord and savior, Ghetsis!" Chase revealed while laughing out in a creepy sinister fashion. "You see we're going to make Unova a better place and to do that, we got to take you off the playing field."
"And lose your free will." Ghetsis smirked while pulling out an ancient book. "You're the reincarnation of the Hero of Ideals, you were born exactly a thousand years after the former died. Your love and compassion for your Pokémon and friends is immense, you're stupidly brave and you're gifted in the technique of aura. All we need is this-" Ghetsis whipped out an ancient black sword and kicked it towards Zach. "Go on, touch it. Or I'll track down that red head friend of yours and kill her." Ghetsis threatened with such a tone that showed he genuinely meant it. Chase briefly looked at him before turning his attention to Zach who wasted no time in picking up the sword. Blue electricity instantly crackled out, signaling that Ghetsis was right!
"Ha!" Ghetsis rubbed his hands gleefully together as an insane look formed within his eyes. "I was right! Alright Chase, go get his Pokeballs and smash them! But spare the jackal."
"No! You can't!" Zach got into a combat stance, determined to protect them but Hydreigon sent down a gust of wind that slammed the two against the wall. "Ugh..." He groaned while Chase stood above him. "Don't do it, Chase. That Axew is just a baby..." Chase stood silently above for a moment before turning to Ghetsis.
"I can't, I won't kill." He said while subtly kicking Axew's ball into his trainer's pocket. He threw the other balls towards Ghetsis before turning his back to them as Ghetsis ordered Hydreigon to blast them with Hyper Beam!
Zach and Lucario shivered as they felt the aura of their partners disappearing.
"M-My lord, if I may... why spare Lucario?" Chase questioned.
"To keep him in line should he break out of the mind manipulation." Ghetsis spoke while tying the now unconscious Zach and Lucario together. "Kidnapping the girl will create too much attention, we need to draw more followers to our cause and find the Grey One before making our move. We can't afford to make too much noise just yet." Ghetsis motioned for Hydreigon to lower so they could discreetly carry the pair out of the city.
"Oh..." Ghetsis ripped the jacket off and threw it towards Chase before pocketing Axew's ball. "You're lucky that Axew will make a good minion for him, Chase. If you ever disobey my orders again, I will strike you down. We clear?" He threatened while shoving Zach's bag into his arm. "Now burn this garbage, burn it all!"
Chase simply nodded in response before jumping as the Pokegear began to ring. Ghetsis turned and yanked it from his grasp before smashing it against the wall.
Skyla was on the other line tapping her fingers impatiently as she waited for Zach to show, the minutes soon turned to hours and she ended up falling asleep with her face resting on her arms. The next day she awoke and looked around before crying as Zach never showed. "I guess he doesn't really care after her..." She soon returned to Mistralton and kept calling at least once a week, even months after he was theorized to be dead somewhere. A ticket in his name had been bought the same day he disappeared but nobody had seen or heard from him anywhere in the world yet for years she remained hopeful that he was out there somewhere and would eventually return before ultimately giving up seven years from the date he vanished. The world had changed, everyone was using Rotom Phones or the cheaper Poryphone model, making keeping in touch easier than ever yet there was still no sign of him.
In the present day, a blue haired man with a cold emotionless facial expression walked through Team Rocket headquarters causing gasps as most members thought the man was dead or in rotting in prison as he'd been missing for nearly a decade. "Excuse me," A light blue haired man with a calculating look blocked the door to Giovanni's office. "I don't know who you are but you can't just barge in and expose to talk to the boss. Who do you think you are?"
"Who are you?" The man countered. "You weren't around when I left."
"Archer, Giovanni's second in command." Archer spoke while looking him over. "And you...?"
"I'm Agent Pierce, here to report on Operation Meteor." The man spoke.
"Eh?" Archer raised an eyebrow.
"Send him in, Archer." Giovanni spoke from the other side of the door.
"Sir yes, sir!" Archer gave Pierce a salute while stepping aside.
"Pierce, I trust you return with good news?" Giovanni spoke.
"Yes sir, I've done some digging and it appears that our rival may be on the edge of location the meteorite you seek. The one containing the powerful Pokémon you desire. I need some agents though as I can't go up against an entire organization by myself." Pierce bowed.
"No problem, I can spare a few agents." Giovanni reached for some files. "I can't send the entire organization as I can't risk alerting our presence to our rival but you have my word I'll be arriving myself along with an entire fleet as soon as we have the precise location discovered." Giovanni threw a file at him. "My best agents Butch and Cassidy are busy, so these three will do. They've been dead weight since that Ketchum boy decided to stay home and train, making no progress at capturing Pokémon but they did eliminate Team Magma, Aqua and Galactic for me so they have experience with rival organizations. I'll contact them immediately."
Ash laid in bed a few miles away from Team Rocket Headquarters, completely oblivious as to what was going on. Following his Sinnoh adventures, Ash decided to take the next two years off to train in the Silver Mountains while thinking over where to go next. Several Pokémon had benefitted from the training as Totodile had evolved into a Croconaw while Quilava and Bayleef evolved into Typhlosion and Meganium respectively. Gible had also evolved into Gabite while Larvitar had officially joined his team and evolved into a Pupitar following his return. Primeape, Charizard and Squirtle had also returned from their training, with the Squirtle Squad taking up residence at Oak's lab while serving as the town's fire fighter squad following their retirement.
His friends had also changed, he met up with them twice over the past two years on his birthday. Misty was still the Gym Leader of Cerulean and Tracey still worked at Oak's, not much changed there. May and Dawn were both Grand Coordinators, having each won a Grand Festival while Brock was still in med school and Max had set off on his own journey. He still didn't know where to go next as there were so many options, making it hard for him to choose. He'd just returned and would likely be thinking it over the next week or so had his mother not walked in at that moment.
"Ash dear, you still awake?" She softly spoke.
"Yeah, what's up?" Ash turned to face her while Pikachu softly slept beside him.
"Professor Oak is heading to the Unova region to trade some research notes with the local Professor and asked me if you'd like to tag along with him, he thought you'd like it as 'there's well over one hundred Pokémon there you've never seen before."
"Over one hundred?!" Ash excitedly shouted out causing Pikachu to give him a quick shock as he didn't appreciate the wake up call.
"Pika!"
"S-Sorry Pikachu, mom was just telling me about this far away region called Unova. There's over a hundred Pokémon that we can befriend and battle, no doubt we'll make some new friends too!" After traveling alone for the past two years he longed for a traveling companion again.
"Pi Pikachu!" Delia smiled and left the two to sleep, though they barely got much sleep as they were too excited. Fortunately there would be time to catch up on the plane but they were so sleep deprived the following morning that Ash thought he was imagining the figure that was cooking in the kitchen but the smell soon proved it to not be a dream.
"Brock?!"
"Hello Ash, long time no see." Brock smiled while offering him some pancakes and eggs. "I heard you were going on another adventure and was wondering if you'd like to travel together again!"
"I'd love to!" Ash excitedly exclaimed before pausing. "Wait a second, don't you have-"
Brock quickly held up a degree. "I graduated! I'm a traveling doctor, there's no better to discover true love than being out on the open road! Right Ash?!"
"If you say so...?" Ash was now eighteen but admittingly hadn't had an attraction to anyone yet. It was possible there was somebody out there for him but he was more concerned about his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master.
"I'm sure you'll find somebody," Brock placed his hand on his shoulder while offering an encouraging smile. "Now eat up, we've got a long road ahead of us!"
Back in the Unova region there laid a castle hidden in the mountains at the northern border of the region. An older Chase, now sporting a light goatee could be seen standing in the lobby alongside a slim blonde haired trainer and a large bulky dark skinned trainer that bore similar robes.
"Chase, Brooke, Brick." A voice spoke out, causing the trio to salute as a figure clad in dark armor fashioned after the knights of old stepped into the room. The knight looked the three over while Chase raised an eyebrow, wondering if the figure recognized him as a black Haxorus followed the knight. "My lord Ghetsis requires Dream Energy for our mission, you're to journey to Striaton City and acquire it for him."
Chase noticed the voice lacked any emotion whatsoever. He had seen him in the castle a few times over the years and each time the brain washing had gotten more severe, there was no sign that this was once the brave, bold and friendly companion he used to travel with. "Yes sir."
"And Chase, remember what I told you." Ghetsis spoke while looking down from atop a balcony, another green haired figure stood beside him. "You fail me? You're dead."
"Y-Yes sir." Chase gulped while motioning to his partners. "You heard the man, let's get out of here."
Finally back with it! I was out of Pokémon for awhile, finally losing some interest. But I'm back, I don't think I'll continue the other stories for awhile apart from potentially rebooting Journeys at some point. I was not happy with how Ash's story ended, Team Rocket didn't get redeemed, Ash didn't get to beat Alder or Lance but the Hoenn Champions? The ones he barely interacted with?! No Ho-oh conclusion, Ash just heads off and is written off like he's the secondary protagonist! It took me out of it and I still haven't seen Horizons, not sure if I ever will. Still play the games though, excited for Legends Kalos! Hopefully we can get a Legends Unova at some point
And I purposefully left Pokémon unevolved, saying everything is fully evolved will be boring and I'd like to show some evolving like Quilava did in Sinnoh. I feel like I made him OP too quickly in Journeys and I'd rather not repeat that. He will be starting off with just Pikachu but I promise he's not losing to a level five Snivy lol
Next time, Ash meets his first Unova companion and a rival