Goh on any other day, under any other situation, would've been thrilled to be allowed to use the technology at the Great Professor Oak's laboratory. It was literally a dream that every young Pokémon researcher had at some point, to work at the lab that created the pokedex, and helped the legendary Professor Willow (now retired) perfect pokeball technology. Yeah, any other day Goh would have been jumping for joy and bouncing up and down.

But today wasn't any other day. Nor would the foreseeable future would be any other day.

His friend had a terrorist group hunting him down, had magic powers, and apparently had met nearly every single most powerful Pokémon in the world. That wasn't something, Goh had ever thought he would have to deal with. Because, one, Goh never really had many friends in the first place, and two, who does this ever happen to?! Within in the past month the young trainer learned more about Ash then he ever thought there was the learn.

Outwardly, Ash seemed like an open book, a very simple open book. Cheerful guy who wanted to be a trainer rather than any other career path, choosing a battle license instead of any degree. He was a lovable reckless goofball, that was amazingly good at understanding battles and Pokémon. At least that's what Ash was if people didn't know him. Ash was a trainer, yes, but a trainer who had seen things and met people that should've been impossible, and was apparently "Arceus's chosen one". Whatever the hell that meant!

Goh couldn't even be mad at Ash for not telling him about all this stuff. He only got a basic summery of all that the dark-haired trainer went through, and even then there were a lot things that weren't said, but Goh could tell Ash probably didn't want to dig all of it up. Though, some part of the young researcher wanted Ash to write a biography just to see it all on paper. Hell, Goh would offer to be the ghost writer! He'd probably wouldn't have to offer anyway. The chance that Ash didn't know how to use a word processor was very high.

Speaking of a lack of technologic understanding, apparently that clueless face wasn't just an Ash thing. Sir Aaron had one that rivaled and mirrored Ash's in such a way it was almost terrifying. Who knew that facial expressions could be genetic? Thankfully, however information seemed to stick easier with Sir Aaron than with Ash.

"Alright, I believe I understand...somewhat. Just to clarify, the computer acts like the library just one that isn't physical, and the search bar is the book keeper, but you do not speak to it. Instead, your communicate through the keyboard?" Sir Aaron said.

"That's one way to think about it," Goh said, "But unlike libraries you can't just ask in full sentences. The computer searches its databases, the books in the metaphorical library, by identifying the words in the search bar...at least that's how this one works. So, you'll want to use key words that relate to what you're searching for, like right now I'm currently searching the names, 'Lorelei', 'Gen', and 'evolution'."

"And is it that working?"

Goh sighed, "Not really..."

"Perhaps, you should remove 'Gen' from the search bar? If her children carry the name and she was not married at the time of her studies it could mean that 'Gen' is not her maidan name. Therefore, it would not be relevant to her work, yet?"

Goh snapped his fingers, and went to adjust his search, "Now you're getting it! And thanks for reminding me, I kinda forgot people did that."

"Is a maidan taking her husband's name not a custom anymore?"

"Well, it depends on the people and their preferences, I guess. My parent did it, but my aunts kept their maidan names because they thought the tradition was outdated. And I guess the LGBTQ+ community chooses whether or not they want to do it considering that custom was invented when people weren't as accepting as they should've been of that community. So, it doesn't really matter what happens anymore. Heck, there are some guys who take their wives names."

Sir Aaron hummed thoughtfully.

"...Would you just calm down, it's not like the first time I've jump between two pissed off Pokémon!" Ash's voice carried through the slightly ajar door.

And you informed me that the first incident ended in your untimely demise! I had the situation handled. You had no reason to get involved in the territorial dispute.

"Why does this conversation feel so familiar?" Spoke an unfamiliar voice.

The door opened fully, letting in Ash, who now had both a Bulbasaur and Pikachu on his shoulders, Lucario, and someone Goh didn't know. The stranger was a kid, probably around his and Ash's age, with deep dark green eyes and spiky chestnut hair.

"Probably because your grandfather gave it to me all the time when we were little kids, and I snuck in the pasture to play with the Pokémon," Ash said flatly.

"Yeah, that's why," Chestnut said.

So, this is a pattern of behavior?

Ash rolled his eyes, "Once again, calm down. It doesn't happen as often as you think."

In the short time I have known you I can name over three instances where your actions have nearly gotten you killed.

"Ah, and what is this debate about?" Sir Aaron chimed in.

Your descendant has a death wish. Lucario said stalking over to his human partner.

"It's not a death wish," Ash groaned, "I'm impulsive! I can't help it if I jump into the middle of a fight with no plan! I don't think! I just do!"

Both Pikachu and Bulbasaur murmured like they agreed.

Do you not have an issue with this.

"Lucario if you'd had known me at Ash's age, you wouldn't see much of a difference between us," Sir Aaron said.

"Wait, seriously?" Ash said, seemingly surprised.

"Youth and foolishness come hand and hand, and I was no exception to that," Sir Aaron chuckled.

"I'm sorry who are you?" Chestnut said.

"Oh, right, sorry Gary," Ash said, "This is Sir Aaron, he's a distance relative."

Sir Aaron stood up shaking Gary's hand, "It's a pleasure."

"'Sir'?" Gary said, "I didn't anyone got knighted anymore."

"I'm a rather...special...case," Sir Aaron said.

"You'd have to be. Gary Oak nice to meet you," Gary said, before turning to Ash, "I didn't know you have any family outside of Pallet."

"Uh, yeah this is a more recent discovery," Ash rubbed the back of his neck.

"Wait a minute!" Goh suddenly shouted, spinning around in his chair, almost falling out of it as it came to a stop, "Gary Oak? As in grandson of Professor Samuel Oak? The youngest Pokémon researcher of the decade!?"

"Yep, that me..." Gary said in a small voice.

"Ash why didn't you tell me you knew him!?" Goh said.

"Well, to me Gary has always been the guy who shoved my face into a cake at my sixth birthday party," Ash said with a flat face.

Gary blushed, and groaned, his embarrassment showing, "You're never letting that go, are you?"

"You wasted a perfectly good chocolate cake that day, it was the most horrifying thing I've ever seen," Ash said, and Lucario glared at Gary as if he performed an unforgivable deed.

Gary sighed, "Any way, yeah, I'm him. Please don't ask for an autograph."

"Oh, yeah, yeah, don't worry I won't bother you. I mean it's just a lot of your work is really fascinating and well done. The paper you did on the relations between Pokémon migration and weather patterns, actually kinda helped me track down a lugia so..." Goh said, rubbing the back of his neck, while the Raboot at his feet only looked at him boredly.

"Wait really?" Gary said.

Goh nodded.

"That was my first paper, it was honestly just made to practice publishing. I didn't think anyone would use it. What kind of patterns do you look for to conclude on a Lugia sighting?" Gary said.

"Well...I'll have to looked back on my notes if you want a complete answer, and I didn't really understand what I was actually tracking. I knew it would be big, but nothing more," Goh said.

"Well, I guess considering it wasn't exactly complete data you were working off of, you wouldn't know that, but I would like the read those notes of yours, if you wouldn't mind?" Gary said.

"O-oh, Yeah, no problem. I'm pretty sure it was either clear skies or cirrus clouds out that day. Ash, do you remember?" Goh said.

"Uh...You think I would remember the weather was like when we rode on the back of a Lugia?" Ash said.

"Fair point," Goh said.

The sound of tiny paws scraping against the tile floor slowly became louder. Quickly, Riolu rounded the corner from one doorless entry way. A little happy hop in the blue and black Pokémon's step, a proud smile on his muzzle, and tail wagging. However, the elderly man that was Professor Oak, looked a little worse for wear when he entered, holding an icepack to the back of his head.

"Grandpa?" Gary said raising an eyebrow.

"What did you do?" Ash said look right at Riolu. The little Pokémon kept the proud smile on his face, but his tail dropped.

"He did great," Tracey said walking in, muffling his laughter behind his palm.

"We got the needed, footage. I'm sure it will be informative to someone," Professor Oak said, "How is your research coming?"

"Slower than I would like to admit," Goh said, "I'm not getting anything."

The professor sighed removing the ice pack from his head, "It might be that Lorelei took all her research with her went she left."

"What exactly are you looking for?" Gary said.

"Well, apparently, I also have cousin, and well we think that her mom was once one of the Prof.'s students," Ash said, "And we're trying to get in contact with her through her mom."

"Cousin?" Gary raised a brow, "How much family do I not know about?"

"Only one more Riley, my nephew and Ash's other cousin," Sir Aaron said.

"But he was kidnapped by a terrorist group not long ago," Ash said.

Gary blinked.

"I know how it sounds, but the group that took Riley is also going after all of us, so we really need to find her," Ash said.

"Okay? Well, when was your aunt a student?" Gary said.

Ash gave him a confused look.

"You said she was your cousin's mom," Gary explained.

"Well, Lorelei was one of the first students, I took on. It was in the Lab's early days. Before the Tri-Team War in fact," Professor Oak said.

"So, then wouldn't her records still be paper back. I mean when the lab switched to digital a few years back, we only translated relevant files into code," Gary said.

Tracey snapped his fingers, "And since Professor Gen hasn't been here in decades her records wouldn't be considered relevant. They're in the storage room!"

Professor Oak, took off the ice on his head, and sighed, "They should be, but there is nothing G section with her name on it."

"Why are you looking in the 'G' section? Gen isn't her maiden name," Goh said.

The look of embarrassed realization came across the researcher's face, said it all.

"I knew I was forgetting a variable," Professor Oak mumbled.

Tracey, tapped on the table a few times before standing up abruptly and walked out of the room. His determined pace, was enough to make everyone follow him. Down the ivory halls and into a small back room in the middle of the building. The old lights inside the room were flicked on and rows of file boxes were bathed in a show of flickering humming light.

"Okay, now we just have to check every section's 'L's," Tracey said, "No time like the present."

Despite the very obvious difference between now and the scenario that Sir Aaron was remembering, there was something nostalgic about looking through shelves of old writings. It reminded him of his training days, looking through the library's scrolls back at the temple as a young user, still trying to master his skill. Learning about his potential through the documented stories of the great guardians of the past. They were the only kind of scroll he had an easy time reading actually. Young him didn't have the patience to read through a scroll of law or instruction.

Though, there were still the differences that couldn't be ignored. Files and scrolls were completely different things after all. The way they were stored and organized, their shapes and sizes, even the way that they held information was different. Scrolls were always handwritten. The parchment or paper was rolled up tightly then stored on shelves. Stacked with what the archivists' called organization, but no one could ever understand their system. Files were flat, kept in folders (a very bland name for a device that was a poor excuse of a book cover), and lined up in boxes.

Ash sneezed very loudly on the other side of the room. Well, at least that was a similarity. Both scrolls and files were very dusty.

At least that's what the physical version of files were like.

Sir Aaron couldn't even begin to describe files that were, as Goh put them, digital. As far as he could tell, digital files weren't something you could hold, but the information was still the same. How it worked Sir Aaron had no clue, the only logical answer his mind held was they were magic. At least the object reminded him of the file symbol he saw on the screen part of the computer (or was it the computer part of the screen. He couldn't remember). With the old files in his hands, it was nice to see similarities between it and the digital versions.

"A-Hah!" Professor Oak exclaimed.

Sir Aaron nearly jumped at the rather energetic mannerisms of the elder man. Honestly, he hadn't expected the famed head of the professors to be so eccentric, but the knight didn't mind. In many ways Professor Oak was like Old Sage Merlin, at least before the teacher's nervous breakdown. Reminiscing aside, the knight was more interested in the files that Professor Oak was excitedly pulling out of the box.

"Here they are," Professor Oak said, "Well, all that Lorelei didn't take with her when she left," He handed the files to Goh, "Hopefully you'll find what you need in here."

"Thank you, professor," Goh said, already opening the one on the top of rather short manilla colored stack.

"Well, it seems like I've arrived just at the right moment," Spoke a feminine voice.

"Mom!" Ash screamed, running towards the entrance of the room, aura bursting with happiness.

Sir Aaron turned around. A soft smile blooming on his face, without him thinking about it. The scene before him was a joyful one. Ash clung to a woman who was a half a head taller than the lad. Her hair a reddish brown that was tied back in a swooping ponyta-tail, and her own smile matched her son's. When they pulled apart, Sir Aaron could see the stunning shade of brown that colored her eyes. Ash had told him that his eyes came from his mother, but the knight hadn't realized that the stunning eyes would match the rest of her beauty. They truly were a rich shade, and it strangely familiar, though they were probably just reminding him of Ash's own pair.

Pikachu all but squealed with delight. The yellow mouse, jumped onto the woman's shoulders, nuzzling her head and neck. The Pokémon's aura singed with joy.

"What are you doing here?" Ash said.

"Professor Oak keeps me in the loop whenever you plan on visiting home," The lad's mother said, rubbing Pikachu's head, "It's nice to see you too Pikachu."

"Chaaa..."

She chuckled, "You as well, Goh. How have you been doing?"

"Hello, Ms. Ketchum," Goh said, "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, it's just I've heard you've had the first taste of the bizarreness that tends to happen to our family. I was worried," Mrs. Ketchum said.

"Wait, you know all about this weird stuff?" Goh said.

Mrs. Ketchum smiled, "Of course, I was kidnapped by an Entei at one point."

Her eyes looked from the human lad, and traveled downward, completely ignoring the shocked look on Goh's face. The brown pair settled on Riolu with a look of welcoming love. The pup, peering out from behind Ash's legs. She kneeled down, and reached out a hand. Her movement gentle and comforting. The moment her dainty fingers, began to stroke Riolu's head the pup all but melted. The little Pokémon leaned into touch with a pleased smile.

"It's wonderful to final meet you Riolu," she said.

The little Pokémon's rosy eyes sparkled with adoration as he gazed up at the human woman.

Sir Aaron's own gaze however began to swell with curiosity. Mrs. Ketchum was no aura user, not even a dormant. Her soul didn't burn and blaze like a wild fire, or turn and thrash like a stormy sea. It was a merely a non-user spirit, calm like a candle lit wick, peaceful like a small pool. Yet, it still radiated such a strong feeling of love, safety and trust. Just the fact that Riolu went from cautious of her to loyal until the end for her with just a single touch...Well it spoke of what kind of person Mrs. Ketchum was.

No wonder Ash was so special.

Mrs. Ketchum stood up with a smile, and Riolu ran to hug her leg, his tail wagging so fast it was blurring. She smiled down at the pup, before looking upward. The brown eyes looking towards him? Why did his mouth suddenly feel so dry?

Sir Aaron swallowed, walking forward, nodding his head in greeting, "Mrs. Ketchum."

Mrs. Ketchum reached out her hand, unfolding it from where it had been clasped with the other in front of her. Her grip was strong and steady, not gentle as he was used to when greeting maidens.

"Delia," She smiled, "No, Mrs. is required. I don't think I'm married. I take it your Sir Aaron?"

"Yes, madam, it's a pleasure to meet the woman who raised my newest pupil," Sir Aaron said.

"He hasn't been any trouble, has he?" Mrs. Ketch...Delia said.

"Mom," Ash groaned.

"I'm sorry sweetie, but you're track record when it comes to teachers hasn't been the best," Delia winced.

"It's not my fault that rattata escaped," Ash said.

"But you were the one who put him in your bookbag sweetheart," Delia said.

"I thought he was hurt! I didn't know he was pretending," Ash said, "Besides, it only took a long weekend and six teachers to return order to the school."

Delia sighed, "Well, did you all find what you were looking for here?"

"Hopefully," Goh said, fiddling with the files again, "Whether or not it will help us...Well...we'll find out."

"Then I suggest you start looking into those tonight, after we've had dinner. In fact, we should be getting back to the house," Delia looked back at Sir Aaron, "And don't worry I've already prepped our guest room for you. The boys can share Ash's bedroom."

"Madam I don't want to impose..." Sir Aaron tried to say out of reflex.

"Oh, don't start," Delia face twisted into an expression of blankness, "After all you're doing for my family, the least I can do is offer a bed for the night and a hot meal. Besides where else would you sleep, underneath a tree?"

Sir Aaron knew when a war was not worth fighting, and not even a magic rock tree would help him win against the foe known as Delia Ketchum.

A/N:

So, here's the newest chapter. A little shorter to give me a break. Sorry.

If you want to know what Riolu did to professor Oak. Watch this -

It is a personal headcanon that this is Ash's riolu.

Did everyone seem in character for this one? I'm just a little worried they seem off.