Entrance to Pewter City

"...So, you plan to enter the Indigo Conference, win all eight badges and all..." Misty spoke in a tone that was both conversational and questioning as the two walked down the hills into the valley Pewter was located in.

"Yep."

"...And I'm taking it you plan to challenge the gym leader of Pewter City?"

"Pi-Pikachu Pi." 'Preferably without that wheel thing again, me being squeezed to death roughly twice and having to win by sprinkler ex machina.'

Ash internally flinched at being reminded of how some of his earliest 'victories' were somewhat less victory and more reward. That and he hated to win because of unfair circumstances.

He still felt bad about Mauville Gym supercharging Pikachu during his battle with Watson. Cheating, directly or not, was something that Ash could not stand in anyone, particularly himself.

"That's the plan. Not much else to see in Pewter if you're not a geologist or astrologist."

Misty nodded and said, "You know that Rock-types are super effective against Flying and Bug-type Pokémon, and that most of the ones in Kanto are also part Ground type, so you can't just shock them to defeat them."

"Pi?" 'We could just aim for a horn and hope for the best.'

Ash thought about how that had happened, and decided that he should not rely on that this time around. Considering how Pokémon seemed to actually be somewhat different (More aggressive for one thing) in this new timeline, Ash had the oddest idea he couldn't use Gainax logic to overrule physics with willpower and awesomeness.

"Well, Pikachu perfected Iron Tail while we were in the forest..." Ash pointed out as Misty shivered involuntarily at the memory of being in said forest, "Steel beats Rock."

"You know, I was wondering why you taught it Iron Tail, wouldn't Brick Break do the same thing but with more versatility?"

"Pikachu can learn Brick Break?"

The mouse on his shoulder shrugged, having no idea if he could learn it.

"Iron Tail would still work, and maybe you just want to make sure Pikachu can have a move capable of hurting a Ghost-Ground type, but to each his own I guess," Misty commented as she shrugged, "You know, this actually works out well..."

She had a thoughtful look as Ash and Pikachu cocked their heads in confusion at her.

"I want to check a few things out while we're here, and if they pan out they should come out nicely."

At no point as they went into the city while Misty was pondering plans or discussing the logic of Iron Tail over Brick Break, did they encounter a rock salesman...which was a real shame not only for getting to possibly meet Brock's father but also because Ash had been looking forward to starting a rock collection that he would have to lug all over the world and would be entirely useless to him.

Well, maybe at least Gary was that stupid and already bought all the rocks...doubtful, but hey a guy could dream.

Gate of Pewter City

Ash had come to accept that time travel had caused several disruptions in time, ranging from people's ages to, as he recalled from his still hazy sets of memories, more wars.

However, it was quite obvious that there were more changes yet, and he hadn't expected this one.

A familiar figure was waiting up front at the gate, a large, muscular man with a large round nose, huge mustache and dressed in a karate-esque uniform.

"I am Don George, of the Pewter City battle club. I take it you're a trainer here to challenge Brock, the Pewter City gym leader?"

Don George, the battle club manager family from Unova...was now in Kanto. Of all the possible...

Ash would have expected Brock to become a woman before something like that...which would admittedly be seriously awkward and wrong but would evoke the question would Brock then be boy crazy?

Ash managed to absently nod through his confusion and shock, while Misty shook her head, "I'm just traveling with him; I don't have any interest in the Pokémon League challenge."

"Well then, you're going to have to come with me young man, and why not you as well miss."

Pewter City Battle Club

Iris had said before about the Battle Club, that it "was an awesome place for trainers to sharpen their skills", or something along those lines, about the battle clubs of the old timeline, and these ones didn't seem to differ from that.

The educational lecture part...was different, as Ash found himself in a room with roughly a dozen plus other trainers around his age, as Don George stood in front of them, more like something out of a school than a battle facility.

"Each and every one of you has come to Pewter City for the purpose of challenging Brock, the leader of the Pewter City Gym," Don George spoke in front of the class, "A noble first step for many of you in your journey to the Pokémon League championships at the Indigo Plateau, however at this point I must ask...how many of you are not from either the Pewter, Viridian or Pallet areas?"

Only four hands went up.

"...And of that, how many of you are from anywhere east of Mount Moon?

The hands dropped.

"As I suspected, so allow me to be straight with you; the Pokémon found within this area are not known for their general ability to fight Brock's Rock-type Pokémon. Allow me to use video demonstrations to explain what used to happen before you were all required to attend this seminar."

The room darkened as the sound of technology activating preceded the projector's activation, revealing a video footage of a gym battle, with Brock (Who looked older, but no more so than twenty if Ash had to guess), once again commanding his Onix, with a young trainer's Pidgey bravely staring it down...

SWAT

Before being whacked by Onix's tail and KO'd.

Similar scenes were shown with Onix easily defeating a Caterpie, Weedle, Rattata, Spearow, Ekans, Jigglypuff and Metapod, then a few scenes that initially brought up the non-Ash's in the room's hopes, but quickly squashed them when a Beedrill, Paras, Mankey and Sandshrew were similarly swatted.

"You cannot just bring in a poorly matched Pokémon, or even a correctly matched one you just caught, into a gym battle. You must train your Pokémon before you battle them. It's in bad taste to use a Pokémon just for a specific battle and never use it again*.

"As Pokémon trainers, you have a long journey ahead of you. There are many paths to take, and there is no 'correct' way to go about it, though there are wrong paths. It's equally as professional to use the same team of Pokémon again and again as it is to occasionally start from scratch in a new region or a mixture of these paths. Just as it is equally as respectable for a trainer to travel to compete in the Pokémon League, the Grand Festival, or for any other goal."

Ash felt a bit better after hearing that. Glad that his tendency to reset his team to just Pikachu in order to catch new Pokémon and learn was just as valid as using Pikachu, Charizard, Squirtle, Bulbasaur and the rest of the old guard from region to region.

"As you are now, you will be battling Brock's first badge team," Don George stated as the projector changed from showing the Gym's epic fail reel 'Onix smashes Com Mon' collection and going to a more directly educational one, showing a single boulder badge next to a image of a Geodude and Onix. "Brock is a Pokémon Breeder, who breeds his own Pokémon as well as the Pokémon of other clients. In doing so, he is one of the most flexible, and most powerful, of the Kanto Gym Leaders. While most, such as certain jerks in Vermillion City, have to catch weaker Pokémon for first timer challengers, Brock breeds them, and thus has more control of what Pokémon he fields"

"For those who may not have picked up what I hinted earlier, Gym Leaders are required to field different teams for different badge numbers. For example, if you had four badges and challenged Brock, his team would look like this."

The display changed to show four boulder badges, and Geodude was replaced by a Graveler, while a Rhyhorn was added.

"Pika Pi?" 'You know, this makes a lot of sense.'

After all, it wasn't like you had to go on a specific gym route or anything. A trainer starting from Cinnabar, for instance, couldn't exactly fight Magmar, and it would seem somewhat anti-climactic if the final gym battle that a trainer from Blackthorn city had in, say, Azalea Town involved a Metapod.

Ash just shrugged, perhaps because of his battle style he didn't really think about tiered strength levels like this. Because he didn't focus on evolving his team, he would hold the one badge level team to the same standards as he would hold the eight badge team.

That was just him anyway, but when your Bulbasaur and Corphish could stand at the same level as a Meganium or Alakazam, you could be forgiven for not really considering things that way.

"As you earn more and more badges, the Pokémon that you could have to face diversify. These are among the Pokémon that Brock has been shown to use."

The display started to show a wider amount of Pokémon with a number of badges around them, including some Golem (7,8), Rhydon (6, 7, 8), Omanyte (2, 3), Omastar, Kabuto (2, 3), Kabutops (7, 8), Aerodactyl (7, 8), Sudowoodo (5), Shuckle (3), Larvitar (2) and Rhyperior (8), as well as more Onix (2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8), Geodude (2, 3), Rhyhorn (3, 5, 6) and Graveler (3,5,6).

"Man, I am so glad that Brock never used one of those teams on me," Ash muttered quietly to himself as Pikachu gave him a look.

"Pi-Kachu Pi-Pikachu Cha." 'Ash, I don't think Gyms were quite like that back in the old timeline. For all you know, gym leaders used only singular sets of Pokémon, seeing as Lt. Surge only had one Raichu and seemingly no other Pokémon, Maylene only had one Lucario, Flannery was definitely too inexperienced to have trained more Fire-types, Sabrina definitely didn't go easy on anyone...'

"Point taken," He whispered so only his mouse heard. Though he had to wonder how many other things about Brock had changed.

"Before any of you can battle Brock, you must prove to me that you are ready to do so. Per the Gym Leader code of conduct, a Gym Leader may set specific restrictions for who can or cannot battle them; as I'm sure many of you are aware with Viridian's restriction on anyone battling without at least six badges, and Brock's one and only restriction is that you must prove that you have actually trained for your battle and know what you’re doing, in addition to making sure you are all properly registered for the Pokémon League of course."

A few minutes later

Ash found himself in a lengthy line for access to a Pokéball registration machine, utterly bored.

"Didn't I already do this or something?" He muttered to himself.

Ash was pretty sure that he had handled all this paperwork at some point previously.

Then again, he did have a unique favorable relationship with Professor Oak that most trainers did not have; perhaps this was how most trainers who didn't get starter Pokémon (such as Stephan or Nando) had to deal with.

Or perhaps it was a just new timeline thing.

"Next."

Ash found himself up now, as Pikachu hopped down from his shoulder and Ash placed the balls containing Pidgeotto and Butterfree in the registration machine as he then reached into his pocket.

"Oh, a Butterfree and Pidgeotto? Not bad, at least you don't think you can defeat a gym leader with a Rattata and Caterpie..." Don George fell silent at seeing what Ash pulled out.

"Is that a...Pokédex?" Ash nodded as Don grabbed the dex and activated it, similar to how the first Jenny Ash had met had once did.

"This unit, to be identified as Dexter Mark 1, is a sixth generation Pokémon Digital Database programmed for trainer Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town by Professor Samuel Oak," the dex blared out, now showing Ash's appearance, "My Function is to provide information on the various Pokémon this trainer is sure to encounter and general relevant information, as well as act as a general identification, including Passport, Credit Card and Insurance Card. If I am stolen and shown to be in the hands of another trainer, please arrest the thief and see me returned to my trainer before he suffers a humiliating incident. Currently, this trainer has seen 21 Pokémon: Those being Pikachu, Mr. Mime, Pidgey, Rattata, Spearow, Fearow, Psyduck, Chansey, Meowth, Ekans, Koffing, Staryu, Starmie, Wingull, Caterpie, Metapod, Butterfree, Weedle, Kakuna, Beedrill and Pinsir and has caught 5, and is unlicensed to drive or operate automobiles, drink alcohol or purchase tobacco. If he attempts to do any of these things, please call his mother at..."

Ash and Pikachu just stared at the electronic device in annoyance while Don George kept looking on in amazement, not even registering Delia's phone number.

"You're a Pokédex Holder!?"

Pokédex holder? That was a new term.

Ash nodded as Don, of all things, bowed.

"My humble apologies for keeping you waiting. As you did not have a Kanto Starter Pokémon on you, I did not immediately recognize who you were. Allow me to speed you along sir, you certainly will not need to go through the required testing period and thus should go straight to the training section."

He was quickly pushed along in his stunned state of paralysis by the overly cheerful Don.

Gym room

In the original timeline, Ash had made use of the Battle Club's training facilities a number of times. Starting after he had trained for his rematch with Lenora and teaching Tepig Flame Charge and Oshawott Aqua Jet, he had later used the facilities to aide in the teaching of several moves, including Pignite's Brick Break, Leavanny's X-Scissor and Krookodile's Aerial Ace.

Of course, the fact he had to work out in the process as well was odd, but not unwelcome, as Misty walked into the training area while Ash and Pikachu were simultaneously on a treadmill for the re-teaching of Quick Attack, while Butterfree was flying in a wind tunnel and Pidgeotto flying through an obstacle course and smashing through targets, in their own training.

"Huh, I could have sworn it would take you far longer to get through those tests," Misty said matter-of-factly as Ash kept up the pace he had been on for a while.

"Apparently, having a Pokédex lets you cut in line," Ash absently stated as Misty looked at him in surprise.

"You really don't realize how big in value a Pokédex is, do you?"

"Well, apparently it functions as a passport, credit card and a 'do not give this minor alcohol' warning, and probably a few hundred other thing's I don't know, so I guess I don't," Ash had to admit and that wasn't even because his memories were still crazy mixed up, that was never covered by Oak or summer camp.

"Pokédexes were only first produced in the last ten years, and so few of them have been made. The first five versions were given out only to the greatest trainers: such as Alder, Cynthia and Eagun, because they take a lot of time to create, and the current model is only given out to trainers who start at Pokémon labs. Each Pokédex is hand assembled by a Pokémon Professor, and constantly have to be upgraded for the latest in Pokémon research, which each Pokédex aides in by taking details on every Pokémon its owner comes across and sending them to the national Pokédex database," Misty explained before blushing, "At least, according to the last National Poké-Geographic I read, anyway."

"Pi-Pika" 'Well, one timeline's common device is another timeline's uber rare tech.'

Don George then chose to pop his head into the gym at this time as he said, "Sorry to keep you here so long sir," Ash couldn't help but feel a certain level of satisfaction for being called 'sir'. "The last part of the testing must begin now, it’s a battle round and thus it requires your presence..."

He then noted Misty as he then addressed her. "Er, excuse me for asking miss, but there is an odd number of trainers for this last round. I'd like to make it an even number if possible..."

Misty shrugged and replied, "I got what I needed done, so I guess I have no reason not to."

In the battle club tournament area

"As per the Gym Leader code of conduct, each and every gym leader may set restrictions for those who wish to challenge them. Some require you to navigate a maze, others may quiz you in a volcano. Some may have no restrictions at all. The gym you are all applying for, however, requires a proper show of aptitude before you are given my final approval to enter into the waiting list for challenging Brock, and it shall be done so in a tournament."

"There are sixteen of you here today, and of you any number of you are going to prove yourselves ready to fight Brock. The goal of this tournament is not to prove you're the strongest or the luckiest, but that you are competent. Last week’s exam, in which sixteen trainers battled to show their worth to me, I passed five, and three of those five have managed to defeat Brock. The other two, whom managed to get farther than most of the pre-exam first time challengers and defeated his Geodude, are currently training for their rematches."

"Pi." 'How much you willing to bet that Gary was one of them?'

Ash frowned. While Gary at this point in time was an outright ass, Ash was not going to say he was a talentless idiot. Gary knew what he was doing, and probably more so this time around because he no longer had a car or cheerleader squad with him.

Still it would be nice to think to think that, nor would he mind knowing who the other two trainers were who had recently defeated Brock.

"Now, let the battles begin. Show me you know what you’re doing."

The Tournament

Ash was in the third battle, and had his Pidgeotto against a Rattata. The rodent looked outright terrified with a bird that stood over two feet over it staring it down.

The trainer of the Rattata, however, didn't seem as concerned as he should be about it.

"Rattata, the Mouse Pokémon. Rattata are incredibly common and adaptive Pokémon which are capable of colonizing a wide variety of habitats, generally with the aide of stupid travelers. This was the first Wind-Up Toy Pokémon known to have been made by Rumble. Inc," the Pokédex rang out from Ash's pocket as the battle began.

"Use Focus Energy," Rattata's trainer called out as the rodent began to glow white.

"Counter with Gust."

Pidgeotto took into the air and began to blow a powerful burst of wind into the rodent, which lost its grip on the ground with its little claws and was blown into the air.

After a minute, the gust relented and the mouse was on the ground, struggling back up.

"Now, counter with Quick Attack!" The Rattata's trainer ordered as a different white aura surrounded the little nibbler, before it burst forward at an impressive speed.

"Meet it head on Pidgeotto."

A similar, but somehow more impressive white color surrounded Pidgeotto, who took off at the charging mouse at a faster speed. However...

As the two speeding Normal-types approached, Rattata was able to avoid being hit due to its smaller size, and ended up striking a critical hit in the joint of Pidgeotto's right wing.

Out of context, one could refer to this as a 'farmboy destroys ultimate weapon of uber sith lord' technique, minus a Y wing. It could also be considered a 'David vs Goliath' esque trick for those who do not believe in the Force.

As Rattata landed on uneasy legs from the previous gust attack, Pidgeotto just plain crashed to the ground.

As Ash looked on with alarm, his first battle captured Pokémon struggled up on her (yes, it took Ash two timelines to realize that his Pidgeotto was female, but he was never really taught to look for it. Not only were Pokémon 'boy/girl bits' not nearly as large or as noticeable as the biologically stacked [in comparison] humans, but it was considered weird, and abusive, to poke around trying down there to figure out the gender) feet, before flinching on her awkwardly angled wing 'Ow...I think it’s broken.'

His opponent however looked pleased.

"Now, finish it with Tackle Rattata!"

As the rodent charged for the injured bird for the knock out, Ash briefly was overwhelmed with fear for his Pokémon, just before his spontaneous side overtook his caring side as he told Pidgeotto, "Hurry, use Steel Wing to protect yourself!"

"Caw!" 'Use Steel Wing to...you know I really did miss your spontaneous side all these years.' with a voice that went from an 'are you crazy' tone to a 'that's brilliant' one.

Pidgeotto lifted her uninjured left wing up, which was glowing steel gray, and slammed it in front of itself like a wall with enough force to pierce the ground of the battlefield.

The Rattata didn't have time to stop, and crashed into the Steel Wing, tottering backwards from it in a bit of an unnerving daze.

"Pi pi pi." 'That Rattata looks like it might have a concussion' Pikachu observed as Ash had an unnerved look. He didn't mean to do that. That rarely happened in battles in the old timeline; the only battles that did that much damage to a Pokémon were either long and intense (Charizard vs Harrison's Blaziken), or done with that goal in mind (like Team Galactic and Paul).

Pikachu quickly noticed Ash's anxiety. "Pikapi chu" 'Ash, if it makes you feel better, we Pokémon heal from things like that much easier than humans. I'd say it would be more the equivalent of you scraping your knee after crashing a bicycle recovery wise. Effect wise, however, a concussion, while not as long term as in a human, is still a bad thing for a Pokémon.'

The other trainer apparently did not see this or simply did not care as he insisted, "Come on Rattata, finish it!"

"Hey, your Pokémon is too hurt, you should call it back before it really hurts itself!" Ash yelled at his opponent.

"Oh shut up, I know what I'm..."

"Rattata is unable to battle, the victory goes to Ash Ketchum and Pidgeotto!" Don announced, apparently agreeing with Ash, with said muscled man now getting into a shouting match with the Rattata's trainer about Pokémon treatment.

During this shouting match, Pokémon Ethics, decent human decency and 'you are not a Johto born savage' being thrown into the mix, Ash really wasn't paying much attention to the specifics as he was more concerned about his injured Pidgeotto.

"I'm sorry," he apologized as he knelt down in front of his bird and gently stroked her back, "This caught me off guard."

His first flying type captured softly cooed and rubbed herself against his hand and told him, 'It will heal with Nurse Joy quickly enough, that much hasn't changed at least. However, I don't think I can battle Brock again...sigh I was hoping to settle the score with Geodude, all that effort with Steel Wing wasted.'

"Hey, you can have the next..."

Ash paused for a moment, considering Misty's changes in this timeline, was her family even still in charge of Cerulean Gym, if there even was one?

Then the next gym leader that he thought of in Vermillion City would be even worse. With that thought came a horror filled image of Lt. Surge's Raichu destroying Pidgeotto rather literally with Thunderbolt.

He decided to finally finish by telling her, "You know, let's just play it by ear about your gym battle."

Ash returned her to her ball, where the damage she took would not cause her more pain.

Later in battle number 8...

"Wingull use Wing Attack!"

Misty's Wingull slammed its glowing wings into a crab like, pinkish red mushroom crab, who was knocked to the ground defeated.

"Paras, the Mushroom Pokémon. Paras is covered with mushrooms, which are actually slowly taking over the mind and body of the Paras, which is completed by its evolved Parasect state. Other Pokémon do not eat this evolutionary line, for doing so will infect them with the mushrooms. The result of this idiotic action in both Humans and Pokémon is the basis of PokéStar horror films. That means you Ash."

The Pokédex was again giving Ash not only information he never needed to know, but also having attitude.

Did it really think that he would eat strange mushrooms...from the back of a Pokémon?

Well maybe he could try offering some to Gary the next time he ran into him he thought maliciously, then have his grandpa Professor Oak screen him for a drug test.

He'd never do it, but it was oh so fun to imagine it as he grinned.

Still he managed to focus back on the task at hand, namely round 2, and another young trainer.

"Beedrill, go!" His opponent announced, letting loose the infamous giant bee of doom, its twin stingers dripping a poison from them that made the ground steam as it dripped down.

"Butterfree, I choose you!" Ash countered, his Butterfly battler coming out to combat its fellow final bug evolution.

"Beedrill, the Poison Bee Pokémon. Beedrill attack their enemies in swarms and sting them rapidly with their stingers. During the pre-Oak centuries, human attempts to exterminate Beedrill populations led to a decimation of weaker Beedrill, unintentionally accelerating biological battle evolution to allow for post sting survival and increasing human by Beedrill fatalities by 251%. This unit needs no more evidence that humans are flawed creatures..."

Ash just whacked the thing to shut it up even if it did have a point, Beedrill were near the top of the list of Pokémon you wouldn't want to make more aggressive or deadly.

"Begin!"

"Go Beedrill, use Twineedle!"

The Bug-type came flying at his first Pokémon caught, with barbs coated in poison.

"Time to try out that new move of yours, use Gust!"

Butterfree began flapping its wings rapidly, unleashing a powerful Gust attack that stopped the bee in its flight, and blew it back and caused it to crash into the ground.

Ash briefly was worried he might have injured the bug, but it got up pretty easily.

"Counter with Poison Sting," his opponent called out as the insect, standing up on the ground pointed its left stinger at Butterfree and let the purple barbs fly towards Butterfree.

"Dodge and use Tackle!"

Its wings still fine, Butterfree dodged the barbs and flew right into the bug.

"Harden!"

The carapace of the Beedrill shimmered briefly, causing Butterfree's Tackle to fizzle out and seem to do more to Butterfree (in a headache), than Beedrill.

"Free" 'Ow...did someone catch the number on that oak tree?'

Great his Pokémon had a thing for oak trees, that was just perfect. He seriously hoped Butterfree just had its mind seriously addled.

"Twineedle while it's distracted Beedrill!"

The bee held its purple tipped stingers up like a pair of swords and began rapidly stabbing them at Butterfree, who dodged the attacks, if in somewhat of a daze.

"Stop it with Confusion!"

Ash had not particularly wanted to use this move, if simply because they were still working on mastering it. This was a particular issue as, of the moves he had been working with his Pokémon to relearn, or in some cases, learn for the first time (Iron Tail and Quick Attack for Pikachu, Steel Wing for Pidgeotto and Gust for Butterfree), he had some idea of how they worked, though Steel Wing not to the same extent as it was a move that his Fletchling had known when he caught it and, due to the world ending, he hadn't the time to really grasp the basics of how it works or how you would go about teaching it.

However, it was the best choice at this point, considering that Twineedle could poison Butterfree even if he could use Harden as a defense.

Butterfree responded with glowing blue eyes, surrounding the large bee with a blue aura. The aura blinked on and off, the move not being completely mastered being a problem that Ash was quite aware of.

However, it gave Butterfree the time he needed to fly out of the way of the Twineedle, and end up behind Beedrill.

"Now, give it a Sleep Powder!" he commanded Butterfree.

A storm of shimmering powder was blown from Butterfree's wings, covering the outflanked insect and causing it to fall to the ground below, deep in sleep.

Luckily for Ash's morality (and concern about the differences in effects of battling possibly meaning it was now far less ethical to use flamethrower on a sleeping Pokémon), Beedrill's trainer was less of an ass.

"This is enough, you won!"

He returned his Beedrill and Ash his Butterfree, as the two foes walked up to one another, and shook hands.

Always right to be polite, after all...unless of course it was a member of a criminal organization trying to steal your Pokémon, but they usually tended to blast off somewhere at this point anyway.

The trainer on the other side of the tournament who saw his Pidgey blasted out of the sky by Staryu's Water Gun, however, was far less polite about it.

"So, you think he's going to let me go on to fight Brock?" Ash inquired to Misty after she had finished, who shrugged.

"Probably, aside for the fact that you're a Pokédex holder and thus he worships the ground you walk on," Misty commented which Ash still found that to be somewhat unnerving. "You've done well in your last two battles. You have a decent strategic mind and are concerned with the wellbeing on your Pokémon. With a lot of people, particularly in Kanto and Hoenn from what I've heard, you could be the next Cynthia when it comes to battling skills, but if you were an ass to your Pokémon, no one would give you a pass."

At least if it was visible.

Region talk again...Ash thought for a moment about how to phrase the question he wanted to ask before going for it, "I never really was that interested in politics, and neither was my mother. She often turned any political talk off on the television at home, so I might be a little clueless on what you mean by Kanto and Hoenn."

"Pokémon abuse laws first started being proposed forty years ago" Misty began. "However, some regions are more progressive on them than others. Hoenn was the first to pass them, and has some of the most comprehensive. Kanto is the next most liberal; the laws are somewhat newer, but just as comprehensive. On the other end of the spectrum, Johto has barely passed any such laws, it’s a rural and conservative place where Slowpoke tails are still treated as a delicacy, and the Orange Islands are only slightly better. Sinnoh is somewhere in between the two extremes. I don't know the exacts of the laws in Unova and Kalos, but I'm told they are generally akin to Kanto and Hoenn in that regard."

Ash thought on that. While the thought of anyone abusing Pokémon was horrid to him, he knew that it wasn't a universally held idea. While he had no idea why Hoenn would be the most friendly region (Then again, he had a hard time imagining any region being unfriendly to Pokémon), Ash did have to recall that the villainous teams of Hoenn, Team Aqua and Magma, weren't as bad as the other villainous teams he had encountered.

They were by no means good teams, but he had seen far worse deeds done by Teams' Rocket, Galactic and Plasma in the old timeline.

Of course, they still did attempt to control environmental altering Pokémon of mass destruction, so they were still evil, but perhaps just not as evil as Cyrus or Ghetsis.

Not that being less evil than those two was that hard. Though, it was possible that Ghetsis in this timeline was a benevolent orphanage operator who had donated his millionaire status to charity.

Not likely but still possible.

With those thoughts on his mind, Ash found himself up against a third opponent, who looked confident.

"Go, Spearow!"

The, agonizingly familiar bird Pokémon flew out of its ball, fluttering to the ground as Ash and Pikachu looked mildly upset; they had hoped to get a chance to test out quick attack's successful re-training, but still, payback was in order.

Ash motioned for Pikachu to jump off his shoulder, as the Spearow and its trainer both suddenly had looks of sheer terror.

With some degree of glee, he thought: this is going to be fun.

"Pikachu, Thundershock!"

ZAP

"Spearow is unable to battle, Pikachu is the winner!"

That was easy.

The other battle

Misty's Psyduck hadn't been planning on being used to battle, but he did manage to blast a Zubat out of the picture after it had used supersonic and given it a headache.

Some things had remained the same, and it would appear that Psyduck was just as dangerous as Pikachu in its own way.

Don coughed as the two remaining trainers; Ash and Misty, stood before him. Specifically, he coughed after Misty gave him a sharp look.

"When we began this exam, there were fifteen trainers who sought to get my permission to challenge Brock, so I had asked an additional trainer to come in to make it a simple 16, and save us all the headache of a misnumbered tournament. As her opponent has shown himself ready for a Gym battle in my eyes, and in part because she is glaring at me," the last part was muttered more to himself, "we shall conclude this exam with four trainers out of fifteen having shown themselves ready to face Brock, though technically five out of sixteen in all accounts."

A lot of annoyed commotion followed as the two other passing trainers joined him up on the stands, the noise preventing him from getting any sort of name identification, however informally in his head he noted them as 'Beedrill guy', 'Zubat guy' and 'Spearow guy'.

"Please train further, regardless of if you have passed or not, for the challenges to come. I'll fill the three passing trainers in on their appointments with Brock after I confirm it with Brock himself so your appointments can be made. Please note that, if you lose your gym battle, you will have to re-schedule on your own time."

Later that night, at the Pokémon Center

Pidgeotto had a cast on her wing, and would have it for at least a week.

That was the bad news, and it was hard to figure out who was taking it worse; the trainer who had put her out in a battle that could hurt her like that, or the bird who wasn't going to be able to fight for a while.

At least the Nurse Joy in charge of the Pokémon Center (Ash had been concerned that the Jennies and Joys would no longer be identical individuals. That would be...weird...and a different kind of weird than their general identicalness) didn't bear down on him for it.

She had actually praised his concern and promptness with her injury. Ash didn't know if he should blush at the praise, or pale at the idea that concern about your Pokémon was warranted of such praise.

Though the free food was quite a nice reward, particularly because they were always hungry, for both humans and Pokémon however they also had to eat next to a large tank in order to allow the feeding of all of Misty's Pokémon (In particular, her Goldeen and Horsea, which Ash had not expected her to have had so early).

"You did well today Ash," Misty told him with a smile, "You know, it's sometimes hard to actually believe you started out with Pokémon not even a month ago. Most rookie trainers lack the connection and understanding you have with Pokémon."

"Well, I went to a Pokémon Summer Camp to qualify for a Pokédex, so I managed to learn a thing or two," He admitted before blushing as he...was he even lying for that matter? For all he knew, that was the truth.

"So, you're using Butterfree and Pikachu in your gym battle, correct?" Misty inquired.

"Yep" Ash nodded. It was his only plan anyway, it wasn't like he was going to only bring a single Pokémon to a gym battle (Again...he had learned that lesson with Elesa).

"After you finish that battle, I happened to have done some fact checking, and remember how I said I was going to check some things while we were here?" she asked.

At Ash's positive nodding, she elaborated on it "I recall learning of a public library in Cameran Palace, a location that has a lengthy tradition of Bloodline users. Their legendary hero, Sir Aaron, was said to be one, and if there is any place we can figure out why your powers are different from mine, it would be there. Plus, it allows us both to take a detour around Cerulean City."

That caught the four fully returned individuals who had been previously eating (Ash, Pikachu, Butterfree and Pidgeotto), off guard. That was certainly...an unexpected request.

Cautiously, Ash inquired further, "But isn't there a Gym in Cerulean City? I could have sworn I had read it was filled with Water-types."

He gestured at Pikachu trying to write off his inquiry about Cerulean as a completely gym based question, with no possible context related to Misty's possibly no longer present genetic connection to the gym staff.

Misty looked grim as she asked, "Do you want my help Ash?"

Ash nodded without hesitation.

"Then we don't set foot in Cerulean City, at all," Misty declared and that was all she would elaborate on the subject.

Later that night.

Pikachu trotted alongside Ash as he took a late night stroll through town, trying to think.

Cameran Palace...and this Cerulean thing, what did they mean?

"Pika-Pi Chuuuu." 'Okay, how much are you willing to bet that aura has something to do with it'

Ash just stared at Pikachu as he pointed out, "You do know Aura isn't the answer to everything, right Pikachu? I actually did ask Riley about it on Iron Island, and he stated that if I wanted to learn Aura, I'd have to seclude myself away from civilization for a few years. As much as I'd love to hide out as some mountain hermit with you, Charizard, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Snorlax and whoever else for a few years, I can't isolate myself like that. It's just not me."

However he'd no longer have to worry about washing himself so much even if it would earn him the nickname Ash Stinkum. On the other hand, he'd have to learn to feed himself.

"Chaa Pi-Chu." 'Yeah, but look at it this way Ash; you have strange powers, and Misty is directing you to the place that stated directly you already had strange powers. For all you know, you're going to have to learn to sense the living aura in everything, fight the dark side of aura on a daily basis and possibly have to go to some hidden castle school to learn it for seven years before rejoining a hidden aura world or something.'

Ash just stared at his walking companion as he remarked, "You do realize that this is neither Tatooine nor Hogwarts, right Pikachu?"

Pikachu just shrugged; he had seen the movies at Oak's lab, and liked them. He would have loved to meet Hagrid or R2-D2. R2 and he could even have electric shock wars.

However, as they discussed the question of how likely it was Sir Aaron, Lucario and destiny was going to be involved (More of Ash trying to figure out any possible alternative really), they unintentionally ran into a problem.

They ran out of road and found themselves in a place filled with fog.

"What the...damn it, it’s Johto all over again!" Ash stated in a fury. They were lost.

Deeply, utterly, lost.

"Pi?" 'Why is it all misty all of the sudden¡? When does Pewter have fog?'

Ash drew a Pokéball, but quickly de-activated it. It was Pidgeotto's ball, and she was not up to de-fogging anywhere.

Or, de-smokescreen for that matter. Hopefully Team Rocket was not around today, and he was not in the mood for them to pop up.

Thankfully, Team Rocket, having reported in to Giovanni that Ash had been training all day at the Battle Club were currently in a hotel with room service and a rented Breaking Bad DVD for the evening. They wouldn't be coming out for a while for obvious reasons.

Of course, Ash had no idea about what they were doing, so he had just the same urgency as if they were breathing down his neck (As they had done in the old timeline. Heck, the lack of them was getting to him a bit).

Thankfully, this was one of the few times in his journey he had two fliers on hand (And who would not scorch his face or just make things worse).

Ash quickly let loose his other Flying-type out, and his Butterfree fluttered up in front of him and Pikachu.

"Free?" 'You know Ash, I adore any moment to fly after having to spend time in a cocoon again, but this isn't exactly what I'd call ideal flying conditions. It’s all foggy.'

"Yeah, can you blow it away so we can at least figure out if we wandered all the way to Snowpoint City or not?"

"Free!?' 'I don't know Defog though.'

"Pi!" 'Did that ever stop any of us from blowing away Smokescreen from Weezing?!'

Butterfree couldn't figure out anything wrong about that logic, and commenced to blow with his wings with all the force he could, causing the fog to be blown away, just with a bit less flair and permanence than if the proper move had been used.

As the fog began to dissipate away, Ash began to see something faintly visible, which he began to squint at to figure out what it exactly was.

As soon as he could see it, he wished he couldn't.

Here lies Flint and Lola Harrison

Beloved Husband/Wife/Father/Mother

He was looking at a pair of graves...of Brock's parents.

It was so shocking that he willed his legs to get him as far away from it as possible, and they did...with a familiar white glow.

Pikachu and Butterfree just stared in shock as Ash Quick Attacked himself into a tree behind him.

It couldn't be...this wasn't supposed to happen...

He began to weep. At least in the original timeline Brock's dad had been around, but now...it appeared that Brock and all of his siblings were orphans, just how messed up was that?

Several awkward minutes later...

"...I killed Brock's parents..." Ash muttered for the tenth time as his two released Pokémon walked and fluttered alongside him.

"Free..." 'Should we focus more on the fact that Ash just did, apparently, another Pokémon technique that goes against what Misty said was possible.'

"Pi...Pika-Chu." 'No, let's focus on Ash and Brock's parents before we question Ash's ability to defy logic.'

"...I killed..."

"Pi!" Pikachu decided to take the tough road and just take a tough love approach and yell at Ash, "Cha Chu Pika-Chu cha!" 'You did not kill anyone!'

"Brock's parents are dead because I caused time..."

"Free." 'To restart after a crazed bluenette decided to break it. They'd have been dead if you hadn't done anything.'

"Cha." 'And it's not like you even know what exactly killed them.'

Ash would have continued this conversation, but they had managed to walk all the way back to the Pokémon Center, where Don George was waiting for them.

It wouldn't do to talk about time travel around someone who was quite out of the know after all.

"Oh, there you are champ in the making,'" Don greeted in a cheerful tone totally unaware of the somber mood that Ash was still in. "Glad to see you made it back, I have great news. You're first up for battling Brock, it's scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at 2:00, right after Brock is finished with his date with his girlfriend. I heard their getting pretty serious, heard a rumor he was browsing the local jewelry store for diamonds the other day. And to think they had met at SteelixCon just two years ago." The last part was Don muttering to himself.

It took the limited amount of tact Ash had (which was normally used for battle tactics, such as hiding the ace in the hole) not to outright express how...shocking that was. The idea of Brock having a girlfriend was just ludicrous, and against cosmic law.

Pikachu had no such restraint, and collapsed. Butterfree, having had less exposure to Brock's antics (Particularly when they got more desperate), just fluttered in place.

"Your Pikachu looks all tuckered out. You better make sure it gets some rest for tomorrow. Brock has nine younger siblings, and they will want to hug the poor thing. You better make sure he can run away from them," Don told him and with that jolly note, Don George walked away as the fainted Pikachu revived himself.

"Chu?" 'I had a nightmare that I just found out Brock had a girl...'

He looked at the astonished Ash.

"Ka" 'He has a girlfriend, doesn't he?'

Ash just nodded, still in shock about it himself.

"Free Butter Free" 'Well I suppose it shouldn't be a nightmare Pikachu, I think that's what humans do for some odd reason including Brock. Besides he was bound to get lucky sometime."

"Yeah, the 1000th time is the charm," Ash replied in the most conservative estimate for Brock's antics.

The next morning

Ash, Pidgeotto, Butterfree and Pikachu were sitting around their room in the Pokémon Center hotel, in part to discuss the Brock question, and in part to avoid accidentally encountering a showering Misty.

She had stated quite often during the trip through Viridian Forest she needed a shower. While she probably could do that whirlpool thing of hers as a shower, Ash didn't know if she could, plus there was that whole 'guy walks in on showering girl' routine that Misty probably was aware of.

Ash didn't trust his luck not to end up ruining his first companion's friendship in this new world by unintentionally seeing her naked even if his Pokémon didn't consider being seen naked a big deal as they were always naked.

"Caw." 'So, Brock has a girlfriend at last, and with his parent's...he is now the sole caretaker of his siblings, assuming the girlfriend doesn't live with him or something,' Pidgeotto surmised, 'So, what does this mean for possibly...'

"Pi Pika-chu Pikachu-Pi." 'Assuming we can actually fully restore his memories, which based on Misty isn't quite the case with people...can we really give him back any sort of memory at all?"

At Ash's alarmed look, Pikachu elaborated, "Pi Pika-Chu Cha-Cho." 'Look at it this way, let's say that we did try to fix his memories, say using my own shock therapy, and only a part of them came back. If he gets even a faint bit of his old memories back, he will want to help by his nature alone. What happens if he gets torn between his siblings and girlfriend/quite possibly fiance, and a feeling he needs to be saving the world?!'

Ash paled as he questioned, "What if...he hates me for causing his parents to die?"

Pikachu resisted the urge to shock him due to that being a legitimate concern.

"Free" 'Ash,' Butterfree said remorsefully, 'I fear that, for the good of Brock...he can't remember a thing.'

"Brock..." Ash sounded remorseful at the thought of having to abandon Brock.

Pidgeotto and Butterfree gave him sad looks as Pidgeotto said, "Caw." 'Ash, you once let Butterfree go for him to find love, and you let me go to protect those who could not protect themselves. You must let Brock go for these very reasons.'

A sad looking Ash nodded at their reasoning, but still, tears were visible from his face.

This stunk. No Brock with him on his journey...well he'd definitely miss him and not just because of his cooking.

Of course he had to think of food at a time like this, he chided himself.

"Free." 'So...when do we talk about Ash teaching himself Quick Attack?'

"Sure...do you think it's worth trying to figure out who he could possibly be dating?" Ash brought up the big question, and got no good responses.

2:00 PM The Pewter Gym

The stone battle arena that had been the host of Ash's first gym battle, his first lost battle and his first gym victory, was revisited for a battle that meant more to Ash than a simple gym battle ever did.

It was a battle Ash did not want to fight (A rare event indeed), yet Ash did not want to have to come back for another one. It was something he doubted he could repeat, or even gather the nerve for.

Ash didn't know if he should have been happy or depressed that nothing happened when he shook Brock's hand to start the match. No memories at all seemed to go back to Brock.

Even if that meant that Brock wouldn't get the emotional chaos as he struggled between his family and the world, it still was depressing his friend would never be coming back.

"Let's make this a good match, I am grateful that you could battle me so quickly." Ash managed to keep the sadness out of his voice as Brock smiled in a heart-aching familiar way.

"You actually seem to be a polite young fellow, so much nicer than the last three trainers I've fought," Brock admitted, "The two other Pokédex holders I ran into were...well asses."

He said the last part somewhat quietly as his siblings were in the stands watching the battle, alongside Misty and a few gym personnel and local people, including a disguised Team Rocket Trio among them (not that Ash could tell.)

"And the other one, another guy with a Pikachu, was not much of a talker at all."

Ash barely even registered what Brock said. He didn't put much thought into the other Pokédex user who was not Gary or the other Pikachu guy.

"However, I doubt you came for small talk."

"The official gym battle between the gym leader, Brock, and the challenger, Ash of Pallet Town, will now begin. Each trainer will use only two Pokémon, and the match will be over when either side is out of usable Pokémon. In addition, only the challenger may substitute his Pokémon. Trainers ready?" The next oldest sibling, Forrest, was refereeing as both trainers drew Pokéballs.

"Go, Geodude!"

"Butterfree, I choose you!"

The battle began as the animated stone with arms faced the giant butterfly, and while the Pokédex was rolling, it, perhaps sensing the mood, did not make a witty comment about Geodude.

"Geodude, start this off with Tackle!" Brock commanded his Pokémon.

'Squirtle use Hydro Pump!' Ash thought to himself. Unfortunately he did not have Squirtle yet so he supposed he would have to make do.

The stone being used its muscular arms to launch himself upward to the Bug-type, intent on knocking it down.

"Counter with Confusion!" Ash called, wanting to end this quickly as Butterfree's eyes glowed blue for just long enough to slam Geodude back down.

Brock gritted his teeth as he told his Pokémon, "Don't give up Geodude, use Rock Tomb!"

"Geo!" Geodude shouted as a large gray boulder began to form above its arms.

"Snare it up with String Shot before it can launch that attack!" Ash countered just as quickly as string flew from his first bug type, ensnaring the stone and binding it to the ground like a fun house, with four lengthy string segments going from the center of the stone into the ground, barely avoiding crushing Geodude.

"Impressive," Brock commended, "Glad to see a nice challenger who knows what he's doing, but we're not done, not by a long shot. Geodude, Rock Smash!"

Geodude's fist glowed reddish orange as it launched itself at Butterfree.

"Tackle!"

The quarter effective move clashed with the half effective move, as the two clashed again and again across the battlefield once, than twice, than a third time as the two seemed evenly matched due to stats and type.

"Stun Spore!"

"Mud Sport!"

Geodude launched itself into the air and impacted himself into the ground, sporting up a protective mud spurt that caught all the status powder in its tracks.

"Now, charge up a Rock Tomb while the mud protects you from String Shot!" Brock commanded as Geodude began to form the boulder from beneath the rising Mud Sport.

"Use Gust to blow that mud back to Geodude!"

Butterfree flew up into the sky as he let loose a powerful wind burst into the mud, rebounding it downwards and on top of Geodude.

"Dude!" Geodude stopped the Rock Tomb charging as it began to feel the effects of the spore.

"Oh no!" Brock shouted in shock.

"Now, use Confusion to send it into the wall" Ash shouted as Butterfree fluttered down in front of the paralyzed stone Pokémon with glowing blue eyes, causing Geodude to be surrounded by the glow and slammed into the wall, where it laid KO'd.

"Geodude is unable to battle, this round goes to Ash and Butterfree," Forrest sounded depressed, clearly not happy about the results as Brock returned his Geodude before turning to Ash.

"Using a flying attack to counter a Rock-type, in particular my defense I developed for Butterfree specifically? I must say Ash, you're quite clever. However, Boulder Badges don't just grow on trees, nor are they free to pluck as you wish. To win, you still have to defeat my second Pokémon, Onix!"

'Of course he did,' he realized grimly as he wished that Brock had chosen a Bonsly instead.

Pikachu could just make a face and the match would go to him.

Instead he could only stare with determination (and still some sadness) as the giant rock snake, no longer an evolved Steelix, rose up from the energy of Brock's Pokéball to stare them down.

"Begin!"

"Let's start this off with Screech!" Brock decided to get things going on a high note, literally speaking as a sonic blast flew out from Onix's mouth and straight at Butterfree.

"Hurry, dodge..."

It was too late, as Butterfree was caught in the sound blast and slammed down into the ground of the arena.

"Now, use Tackle!"

The great train that was Onix charged towards the downed Bug-type, who was still struggling back into the air from the force of the impact.

"Sleep Powder!" Ash called out as Butterfree managed to, with some cringing, let loose a few of the sleep causing spores.

"Onix, stop and use Screech again!" Onix ceased his charge attack as another sound tunnel flew from its mouth, blowing away the sleep powder and striking Butterfree with all the force needed to send him right into the air, from where he dropped like a lead balloon.

Thankfully Ash managed to run right into the battle and catch his falling Pokémon, not wanting another injured friend on his hands with the severity of Pidgeotto.

"Butterfree is now forfeited from the match, the winner is Onix," Forrest called as Brock nodded.

"Saving your Pokémon from a potentially severe injury is always the right thing to do, and I applaud you for it. While I could disqualify you for running onto the field like that, I do not need to, nor shall I. I only wish that the young man from Sinnoh had that same instinct."

Ash returned Butterfree to his ball, not registering that last part.

"Pikachu, it’s all up to you buddy..." He told his electric companion of many a year (in theory, considering how Ash couldn't recall how old he had been in Kalos) as his electric mouse burst onto the battle field.

To Brock's credit, he didn't even raise an eyebrow over the type issues.

"Begin!"

"Onix, let's finish this off with Screech!"

"Dodge with Quick Attack and get in close!"

The white outline around Pikachu sped him up enough to easily avoid the sound tunnel that had gotten Butterfree as the mouse approached the snake.

"Use Rock Throw!"

Stones shot out from Onix's body and flew towards Pikachu like missiles. Expertly, Pikachu dodged each and every one as he got up close and personal with Onix's body.

"Gutsy, but foolish. You can't beat Onix with Quick Attack, and Thundershock will have no effect what so..."

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail!"

"Wha!?" Brock said in alarm.

He grinned a bit at taking Brock by surprise like that.

Pikachu's tail turned to a steel like color as it began to swing it.

"Onix, quickly use Harden!"

A shimmer covered Onix's entire body just before the Iron Tail struck, dropping the damage it did to the powerful beast.

"So, we're going to have to force our way through is it? Fine, Pikachu, rapid Iron Tails!"

"Onix, use Bide!"

Ash only registered what Brock had called for as Onix began to glow a brownish white.

"Wait, Pikachu, stop and get out of there with Quick Attack!"

Pikachu did stop, but by the time it had, it had already delivered three Iron Tails, but responded just fast enough with a Quick Attack spring boarded from Onix's head.

"Now, let's end this, unleash the power of Bide!" Brock called out as the brown light all congealed in front of Onix's mouth as a huge burst of power flew from Onix and straight towards the retreating Pikachu.

"Block it with Thundershock!"

"Pika-CHU!"

Pikachu began to glow yellow as a powerful electric burst flew right into the oncoming Bide blast.

"You overestimate yourself if you think a simple attack can equal the power of three super effective moves..." Brock began before the two energies met, with the Bide briefly dominate before all the power was absorbed into, and fire with, the Thundershock straight into Onix.

The power from Thundershock didn't harm Onix at all, but the Bide did, as it got a face full of all the damage it had taken previously, times two.

This was too much for the rock snake, and it fell over, defeated in a huge smack to the ground.

"Impossible! It cannot be..." Brock said in complete surprise.

"Onix...is unable to battle," Forrest announced lamely, "The winner is Pikachu, and the battle, and the badge, go to Pikachu and Ash of Pallet Town."

The two old companions just stared.

"Pi-Pi." 'We beat Onix with electric attacks...again!?'

Ash, who had asked Butterfree and Pikachu to not mentally be commanded due to Ash finding it harder to hear them when he wasn't focusing on it (with his focus instead on the battle at hand), only just nodded in shock as Brock returned his Onix and walked towards Ash.

"Of the last three trainers to battle me, two of them began with type advantaged starter Pokémon, and the third was a tactician of impressive merit, who used similarly type-disadvantaged Pokémon. You, on the other hand Ash, think on your feet with such astonishing skill, I am inspired myself to learn from it." Brock mused as he reached into his pocket, and took out a badge in the shape of a gray octagon, as well as a USB drive of some sort.

"Take this Ash, the Boulder Badge is yours. You have more than earned it today, and I expect great things from you. If I don't see you in the Indigo Conference, I'm going to be disappointed. So, to help you along, I'll give you this" He noted the USB drive. "This is a TM, or Technical Manual. It contains the instructions for training most any move a Pokémon can learn, and which Pokémon can learn it. Gym Leaders and Breeders get these in the mail, so I have plenty to spare. You have to occasionally update it when someone manages to teach a new move to a Pokémon species, like the guy in Kalos who got Squirtles to use Aura Sphere, but it's pretty much up to date with everything you could need to know. You can plug it into your Pokédex I believe, so good luck out there. There are all kinds of trainers in the world Ash, and I can't wait to see what kind of trainer you turn out to be."

While Ash tried to be strong as he got the badge and TM, nodded to Brock in respect, and turned to leave to get Butterfree and Pikachu healed (plus to get ready to go to Cameran Palace with Misty), only a single thought remained to him, a thought that prevented him from doing his traditional victory pose (which somehow did not stand out as strange in this world by any means).

'Goodbye Brock...' Ash thought with a level of sadness that was alien to him.

Even if he wasn't depressed, he probably would not have noticed Team Rocket watching him, and then sneaking off to report to their boss he had just won a gym badge.

Mt. Moon

The shadowy caverns of this great mountain were famous for many things.

The Zubat swarms, the fossil deposits, the Zubat swarms, the many extra-terrestrial sightings, the Zubat swarms...the deposits the Zubat swarms made...

Yes, there were in fact a lot of Zubat in Mount Moon. However, Ash would not be running into them this time around.

"Pikachu, use Thundershock," An unknown voice shouted in the echoed confines of the cave as a burst of electricity struck into a Zubat swarm, blasting all of them away from a shaking mass beneath them.

The Zubat, upon being electrocuted, flew away en mass, as the shaking mass stopped.

This mass, when no longer covered in Zubat, was quite noticeable to be that of a female human, though not female in the same way as Misty, for this girl was far younger.

She looked to be only ten in fact.

The girl's clothes, formerly a yellow vest and a black undershirt and pants, were torn in several places from Zubat bites. Her pony tailed blond hair was in disarray from the attack, and a straw hat she had previously been wearing lay off her side, now utterly ruined with all sorts of holes and gashes.

She looked up at her savior in shock and wonder.

As for the identity of this still as yet unknown stranger, his face was veiled by shadows, with only his fiery eyes visible through the darkness; and a Pikachu quickly climbed up his shoulder, though not with the same familiarity and expertise that Ash's Pikachu had in doing the same such task.

The girl looked up at her savior, her brown eyes wide in awe and admiration; the little marks under her eyes making her look even more adorable as she did so.

Omake

Canon Relativity to the Reset Universe; Non Canon

Get an original idea!

CrossoverpairingLover studios

The four main characters of Cross studios; the blond haired, orange ninja Naruto, the bespectacled wizard Harry Potter, sea green eyed demigod Percy Jackson and Ash of Pallet Town were reading the latest story ideas to come down the pipe, all looking nauseous.

"Not again!" Ash yelled, slamming his paper to the table, not willing to look at it anymore.

"Really?" Percy remarked next, looking quite peeved as well.

"This has to be the third one this week," Harry added.

Naruto just stabbed his huge stack of paper with a kunai knife.

"What is with all these betrayal fic ideas?!" Ash complained, "It seems like nearly every story coming out into the market now a days involves everyone betraying me, including most of my Pokémon. Does the, at times admittedly disturbing idea of Pokéball based absolute loyalty mean anything to these writers?"

"I mean really, just because some new Son of Poseidon or Zeus or Ares or anyone really comes into Camp Half Blood and kills a monster doesn't mean everyone's going to admire him like the second coming," Percy agreed.

"At least you don't get thrown into Azkaban all the time," Harry sulked, "I'm tired of going to prison for something I didn't do."

"I get thrown into a literal hell far too often, does that count?" Percy offered, "I'd count House of Hades as that being literal, but I wasn't banished there by the gods, Annabeth and I fell into Tartarus, and I don't even want to see if that increased the amount of fics sending me down there or not."

"That might be canon for me with that Blood Prison thing...do the movies count for me? I mean, some of the Shippuden arcs are borderline canon ish, Utakata and the Three Tails..." Naruto offered.

"Canonicity or not, you got framed by a shape shifter. These fics seem to think all our friends are going to one day betray us all, and somehow lead us to turn into dark anti-heroes" Harry observed with a frown, "Do the fans really think so lowly of our friends?"

"Some do, but I think it’s more than that," Ash suggested, "The problem is that fanfiction writers do cliché stories far too often, and do them shallowly. Where once there might have been betrayal fics and ignored Uzumaki twin fics and Wrong Boy Who lived fics, people don't put the same effort into making them deep and semi plausible."

"So what, we send a request to ask fan fiction writers to be more unique?" Harry suggested.

"Fan Fiction and unique don't go that well together. Recall we're pretty much stolen ideas," Percy snarked.

"No, Harry's right. Fan fiction writers need to be more aware of what fics are out there and put more effort into avoiding copying other ideas, shallow or not. Hopefully if they do that, the author can actually find new stories that are not all the same old, dark idea done poorly," Naruto added.

"Like what?" Ash questioned, "Having betrayal fics where people turn on me because they were all paid to go with me by my Darth father Giovanni? As somewhat doable as that sounds, its possible for people to actually become real friends. Pokémon special pulled the false friends become real friends cliché off a few times last I checked, in the Diamond and Pearl chapter, and perhaps in the Black and White chapter, I'm not sure."

"Or, perhaps if they really want to write betrayal fics...you know, I actually have no clue where they'd be actually a good idea. I mean, I would say Star Wars and have Anakin be betrayed by the council, but that could also affect Padme, who the author sees as the holder of Anakin's sanity, particularly after Season 5..."

"You know, maybe some people just like dark and broody stories while the author is abnormal in his dislike of them. I mean, he is sort of crazy, just look at some of his ideas," Harry offered "There was Devil Luna a while ago, not sure where she got off too, he apparently thinks that that Teletoon/XD character Heliose is what happens when Hermione and me have a kid, and then gets raised by Voldemort and Bellatrix, and I've heard rumors of the alternate universe Darth Sidious just waiting to appear..."

"Who has spoken my name..."

A multi-layered, nightmare inducing voice surrounded the four as a dark mist surrounded them all. As Naruto formed a hand sign, Harry drew his wand, Percy his sword and Ash a Pokéball, a figure began walking towards them...a tall, eye stalked amphibious figure.

"...Now, Mesa shall smite you for it," the evil Jar Jar Binks who exists in the author's plot bunny farm spoke in a tone that overlayed his own with the voices of beings like Trigon, Darth Sidious, certain Megatrons and Thanos, as he drew a huge chakram that looked like a oversized version of something Axel would use, which ignited four red light sabers from each spike, as the billed creature let loose hell fire from its mouth, ending the omake on a epic level as clones and Pokémon swarmed him, while several spells flew in support with a huge tidal wave of water.