Chapter Text
Sun rays shine through the window, casting a blanket of warmth into Ash’s room causing his trophies and objects to gleam in the sunlight. He’s once again sprawled out on his bed, limbs out and carefree while his blanket threatens to fall off his bed.
Bzzt… Bzzt… Bzzt…
A vibration rings out from above his bedframe shelf continuously, disrupting the quiet snores and peaceful sleep. Pikachu languidly pulls himself up as his pointy yellow ear twitches from the buzz.
“Pika…” Pikachu softly mumbles half asleep, nudging Ash with his hindfoot. His efforts are in vain as the raven-haired boy continues to snore on his bed.
“Pika pi…” He huffs out, crawling his way towards the Pokeball shaped alarm clock before something smacks his head and grabs the ball. Pikachu rubs his sore spot — that kind of hurts! His eyes transfix towards his partner as he mumbles in his sleep;
“I choose you…!”
He waves around the ball before slamming it into the wall. Pikachu, with wide eyes, watches in horror as the ball breaks into two with its small pieces scattered across the floor. A small Pidgey pops out, the small bird echoing high-pitched honking sounds. His eyes go half-lidded, unfazed and used to Ash’s antics by now, walks over to him and nudges his face with his paw.
“Pika. Pikaa…” Small slaps start reverberating as his paw keeps hitting his face before sparks coming from his red fluffy cheeks. “PIIIII!!!” He yells, as electricity runs through Ash’s body to shock him, causing the boy to yelp in pain. He lets out a small cough, dazed from being woken up so abruptly before his eyes shut once more. Pikachu sighs, his ears drooping down until he hears a rattling sound coming from the door handle.
“Ash Ketchum! Are you still asleep? You’ll be late getting to professor Oaks' lab!” Delia — Ashes mom exclaims while entering his room. She suddenly cups the sides of his cheeks, softly grazing her thumb over his face. He starts mumbling about how she shouldn’t worry.
She claps his face and Ash suddenly jolts awake.
“Ack!” Ash exclaims with wide eyes, suddenly everything dawns upon him.
Crap! I’m late!
“MOM! WHY DIDN’T YOU WAKE ME UP-?!”
“Because you insisted you could get up on your own!”
Ash falls out of bed and scrambles throughout the house to get everything he needs, even slipping and falling a few times. The front door slams open as his legs stretch across the dirt road.
“Pika, Pika!” Pikachu calls out, catching up with his partner. As his feet leap across the ground his mouth curves into a small grin. Pikachu runs in front of him and he feels a wave of nostalgia rush over him. He remembers that once Pikachu had to be dragged around to be told what to do, look at his friend now. Happily racing him to professor Oak’s lab. The view of the lab seems to near and he outstretches his arm and waves as he sees professor Oak in the distance shut down the trunk of his car.
“Hey, Professor Oak!” He gleefully smiles, letting out a few small giggles.
Professor Oak smiles as he slowly turns around “Oh, it’s you Ash!”
“So what did you want to talk to me about?”
“Well,” The white haired man begins. “A protégé of mine has just started to open a brand new research facility in Vermilion city. I was hoping to invite you to the opening ceremony. You will come, won’t you?”
“Sure!” He glances at his fluffy yellow friend “You’ll come too right?”
“Pi-!”
“I’d love to!” Delia interjects while Mr Mime dances around her.
“Mom?”
“At first I came to deliver your lunch but what a great idea,” She beams, handing him his lunch. “All those delicious sweet shops and those big fashion boutiques in Vermillion city!” She holds her face before walking towards the car, Mr Mime obviously trailing behind.
“Hold on… You aren’t saying you're coming with us…?” He mutters beneath his breath.
She raises her fists into the air “Let’s get going!”
“Mr Mime, Mime!” Mr Mime raises its fist, imitating Delia's energy and actions.
____________________________________________________________________________
The sun shines right above the car as they drive along the road to Vermillion city. The wind blows against their faces but in a way it also complements the heat. There’s not many clouds present in the atmosphere today so there’s plenty of Pokémon soaring across the blue sky and wandering the fields. In the distance there are hills and hills with tree’s, there must be a lot of Pokémon in there! He watches as Turous eat the green luscious grass before the car passes them, he watches a mother Fearow lead its children through the sky, he watches as a bellsprout waddles along the dirt and it makes him think; there’s a lot to appreciate in life, he wonders how many Pokémon he would be able to befriend. He takes another bite of his burger while Pikachu takes a bite of his berry.
“Tell me Ash, is being a Pokémon master still your dream?”
Professor Oak asks, still looking ahead.
“Of course! And I’m going to do it with my buddy by my side.”
“Pika!”
I hope this is going to be fun.
____________________________________________________________________________
He stands below stairs that reach up to the tall building looming over the two. For a moment the two look up in awe before running up the stairs. At the large gate a small Pokemon awaits them, with its beige, yellow fur, pointy ears, stubby legs and large yellow fluff around its neck — like an Eevee but less fluffy.
“Yamp!”
It barks at them with its tongue sticking out, butt upwards, its eyes glaring at them with a smouldering gaze. Ash gasps and falls to his knees.
“Awh, hello little fella… I haven’t seen a Pokémon like you before…”
He reaches out to pet it but its mouth snaps shut on his fingers. He squeals, causing the small Pokémon to retreat out of fear.
“Ouch… My bad.”
Pikachu snickers behind him. It could be worse, he’d rather be bit than electrocuted any day.
“Ash? Are you alright? You should hurry along now or you’ll be late for the opening ceremony.”
Ash jumps up at Professor Oaks' words and with a refuelled determination he eagerly runs up towards the entrance.
“Okay Pikachu, let’s go!”
He enters the building and is met with a large crowd — He can’t see a thing! Well, he’s only 11. Ash tries going on his tippy toes, jumping, asking people to move, but he still can’t see the stage. He notices some movement before a voice announces something to the room.
“Thank you for coming, I am professor Cerise, owner of the Cerise research laboratory. I especially thank those who have travelled a long distance today, thank you all. Now let’s move on to the subject of Pokémon.”
He snaps his fingers, a hologram appears ahead of them, flickering a moment at its entrance.
“As you’re already aware, our planet plays host to this mysterious life form, in the forest, in the sky, in the ocean. No matter where you are in this world you will undoubtedly find them. And as Pokémon and humans live in our world, they bond with each other in many ways. We at Cerise Laboratory are dedicated to learning about every Pokémon from every region. Investigating, analysing, digging deep, and expanding our knowledge because to know Pokémon is to know the world and that is to make the world a better place for each and every one of us.”
The crowd applauds from the speech before Professor Cerise starts going more in depth of his research.
As interesting as it all sounded, he couldn’t help but be bored. He was never really a smart kid in school, doing actual things such as running is more fun anyway… He could feel Pikachu resting on his shoulder, he had a feeling that his partner was a bit bored too.
As Cerise continued to talk and blabber, a red exclamation mark suddenly appeared on the hologram, catching everyone's attention.
“Huh… let’s see”
He pulls out his phone to glance at it, he places it back into his pocket and faces the hologram. He makes a few hand gestures causing some things to pop up and a holographic keyboard for him to type on.
“Temperature… Humidity… Altitude…” The purple-haired professor mumbles, “This may not be the most accurate forecast, but in about 20 minutes, an extremely rare Pokémon will appear over Vermillion port!”
Suddenly, Ash’s and Pikachu’s demeanor quickly changes into excitement.
A rare Pokémon!?
Professor Cerise shifts the hologram towards Professor Oak.
“Well… What do you think?
“It certainly seems likely….”
Ash’s hand shoots up, quickly interjecting while jumping up and down.
“Hey professor?! I’ll quickly check it out, okay?!”
He stumbles a bit but launches into a sprint outside the building and strides along the ground, he needs to make it to Vermillion Port. He notices the crowd of people trailing behind him.
I bet these people want to see this rare Pokémon too. I gotta beat them!
A massive vortex of grey clouds brew over by the water. Shadows cast above the port as sounds of thunder and static ripple through the dense air. He feels the resound vibrations beneath his feet as he watches a ball of cloud form. Beams of blinding light suddenly shine from inside, before exploding into a powerful whirlwind. He quickly grabs Pikachu and his hat from falling off of him as the wind almost takes him off his feet. He shudders from the cold before he makes it to the port
There it was.
Lugia.
Trainers gather around the large flying beast, all with their own Pokémon, launching moves at it. He can’t help but feel this thrill of adrenaline pulse in his veins as he makes it closer to Lugia.
The winged Pokémon blasts a whirlwind from its mouth, Ash watches as Pokémon and people fly off and hit the nearby objects.
“Alright Lugia,” He says, adjusting his hat, “let’s have a battle.”
“Pikkaa!” Static flickers from his red cheeks, excited and ready to fight.
The beast roars in return, almost as if it’s keen on the idea.
“Okay Pikachu, thunderbolt!”
“Pika!” The mouse Pokémon slaps its red cheeks, the static getting brighter and larger.
“Pikaa… CHUUUU!!” He yells out, a flash of violent branching light, cleaves through the air, hitting Lugia’s face. The animal thrashes its head away, cutting off the thunderbolt and opens its mouth. A large blue beam aims at them below, a relentless gust tears across the city, streetlights begin to sway with trash skittering across the road. Pikachu gets swept off his feet from the sheer force of the wind. Ash quickly reaches out for him, holding him close before Pikachu could slam into anything. The large Pokémon flaps its hefty wings, flying through the city.
“Wait, Lugia, where are you going?!”
Well Ash sure has to run a lot today…
He chases Lugia, running from the port to the mountain, he watches the world below become smaller and how the water twinkles from the sun. Pikachu holds on tightly on his shoulder. His chest starts to hurt, breaths become shallow while his thighs begin to burn. He can’t give up yet… He’s too close! He barrels around each swerve of the hill, his shoes pound against the dirt and legs scramble to keep up with his own momentum.
Perfect! This is it!
He pushes himself off the mountain, leaping towards the white-winged creature. He feels his body plunging toward the hard ground below but his hands desperately reach out for Lugia.
“Hold on!”
A familiar voice yells out. The figure grips on his arm, their nails piercing his skin while pulling Ash up towards a safer surface. Their fingers begin to cramp and their knuckles start to turn white. They grit their teeth, throwing their entire weight backwards, bunching their shoulders. He feels something fluffy trying to pull his hand up too. Must be Pikachu. Ash looks up, vision blurring slightly, but their — or his — silhouette seems familiar. His head pounds, breath hitching. He feels the strain in his arms as he’s being pulled up. He kicks his body onto Lugia, his chest heaves from all that physical work… and maybe panic.
He doesn’t know why he was panicking so much, he’s been through much worse.
Ash notices the spiky brown haired kid heaving too, he opens his mouth to thank him before something clicks in his mind.
“GARY?!”
“Ash..?”
“Pika, pika!”
Ash feels a blunt pain shoot on the back of his head as Gary Oak punches him.
“Ouch! What was that for??”
“That’s what you get for almost getting yourself killed,” Gary hits him hard again “and that’s what you get for almost getting me killed. You didn’t even know that I or anybody was on here. Are you suicidal?!”
Pikachu winces as he witnesses his partner getting berated.
“Jeez.. Nice to see you too Gary...” He mumbles, rubbing the back of his head “I can feel myself getting dumber.”
“You’re already dumb, how dumb could you possibly get?!” He sighs, kneading his temples. “Alright, sorry Ashy. It’s nice to see you too… It’s also great to see you Pikachu, you look healthy.” He sees Pikachu looking at him happily but a bit weary, Gary lifts his hand to stroke the yellow mouse and pulls out his rotom phone from his pocket to record. The brunette boy lifts his hand from Pikachu and grazes his fingers along Lugia's skin “Hmm… Lugia’s a lot rougher than I thought..” He mutters to himself. “So you’re the champion of the Alola now, huh? That’s quite impressive, Ashy-boy, you’re certainly getting close to your goal.”
Ash crawls towards one of Lugia's dark blue protrusions on its back and hugs it. He feels its warmth before replying.
“Nah… I don’t know… I don’t think I am. Afterall, I want to be a Pokémon Master”
“But what does it mean to be a Pokémon Master?”
“Well… I uh.. To become a champion in every region?”
“Is that it?”
“Uhm… I… No…? What’s up with all these questions? Are we ignoring the fact we’re on Lugia?!”
“I guess I got distracted–"
An ugly screech escapes Lugia's mouth causing the three to groan and cover their ears, Lugia suddenly soars higher into the sky. They feel gravity trying to pull the trio down but they quickly grab onto the dark blue protrusions. Their screams become muffled from the wind screaming in their ears and the thuds in their pulses. Suddenly Lugia goes back into its usual pace, it soars with a group of Fearows. Gary, with his trembling hand, records the birds beside him.
“Interesting… Fearows must have good wing power to be flying beside Lugia.”
Pikachu and Ash on the other hand stare in awe at the Fearows on their side, it’s strange to see them flying so close. He reaches out to touch them before Lugia suddenly descends to the ground at a rapid rate, and they once again cling onto the Legendary. Their heart beats drop as the water gets closer. Lugia shoots a beam into the water. Time stretches like melted glass as small droplets cascade onto them and a rainbow appears above. The water twinkles like stars as it plummets towards the bottom of the water crater. Lugia descends deeper into the crater and slowly enters the water like it was getting swallowed. The three hold their breath, preparing themselves for a hopefully not so long ‘swim’.
Ash opens his eyes and soon does Pikachu, their eyes dart around the ocean as Starmies float, Tenticruels squirm and Magikarps swim around in schools. He lightly nudges his spikey-haired friend causing him to open his eyes. He pulls out his phone to record the surrounding area. A group of Horseas flock around Ash and Pikachu. They both smile and giggle at them before they realize that they’re still underwater.. Air bubbles escape their mouth and they both desperately turn to Gary. Gary stops recording for a moment and turns to them, he notices their pitiful eyes and puffed up cheeks. He panics internally and tells them that they’re going to be okay — except he can’t because he’s also underwater. All three of them cling onto Lugia harder with the same mentality;
‘We’re going to drown.’
Lugia suddenly rushes up to the surface, causing an explosion of water. They all gasp for air, exhausted. They lay down on the rough surface, still soaring on Lugia’s back, attempting to catch their breath.
“Y’know… this is all worth it… Meeting all these Pokémon.” Ash squeezes out of his lungs.
“Heh… yeah, of course you’d say that.”
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?!”
“Nothing bad, it’s just super in character for you.”
Ash hums in acknowledgement before Lugia soars down onto a field, Rapidash gallops nearby, Vileplumes and Tangela swarm a field of flowers. There Lugia drops them onto a Vileplume, it roars once more creating a whirlwind which picks up a bunch of loose flowers of all variants of color. Ash and Pikachu wave goodbye and Gary does so too, the large legendary beast flies away and into the distance. Ash lays on his back staring up into the sky.
“Wow, what a day, am I right, Pikachu?”
“Pika!”
Gary looks through his gallery, quickly scanning through all the recordings he made.
“Dang it.. I forgot to record Lugia leaving.”
“That’s alright… I’m sure you’ve recorded a lot already.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” He lays beside Ash and Pikachu, inhaling the floral scent of the area and stares at the bright blue sky. “It really has been a while huh? You’ve accomplished a lot since I last saw you.”
“I bet you have too Gary! Are you still Professor Rowan’s assistant?”
“A little? I guess I asked him if I could start working and doing my own research about Pokémon. He’s pretty supportive of it. Were you originally here for Professor Cerise’s opening?”
“Yep, I thought it was cool, but if I’m being honest I didn’t understand a lot of what he was saying. The best part was the announcement that a rare Pokémon may come! Were you there too? I don’t think I saw you, but I guess I am kinda short, and there were a lot of people…”
“Well I was supposed to be there but something else caught my attention, I noticed that the temperature, humidity and altitude and some other factors were strange today so I decided to check it out. I guess it’s pretty rude to not show up though. I’ll admit, I sorta feel bad.”
“Well Gary, if it makes you feel any better I sorta interrupted a bit by announcing that I’ll check the rare Pokémon out, a whole bunch of people started to leave too. I guess today wasn’t the best opening day, huh?”
The sun begins to set, the blue sky fades into a slight orange hue. Gary sits back up and drags himself onto his feet. He extends his hand out for Ash to reach before talking.
“We should go now, Gramps and your Mom might be getting worried.”
Ash accepts his hand, and Pikachu climbs onto his shoulder.
“Yeah, let’s go! Uh.. except.. There may be one problem. Where exactly are we..?”
Gary glances around the area before sighing.
“Ehh.. Maybe Rotom will know.”