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Content Warning: I thought this was "Teen" at first, but after looking over the ratings rules...it's for everybody. There will be slight implications of heavy themes such as suicide and racism-however, it is mild(nothing explicit) and will be addressed appropriately(however, the suicide and any substance use is EXTREMELY mild-most likely will only be mentioned in a conversation). Some substance use, but to a mild degree, again nothing explicit...I guess there really isn't much more to say here except if this story does touch upon anything, it's not too explicit so it won't be too uncomfortable for anyone. I will give warnings if any chapter is NOT for everybody, however; but for now, this is it.
Story Synopsis(as on Fanfiction.net-with changes): Ash Ketchum was well on his way back to Pallet Town after Kalos, ready to take a break from the events that had transpired in the Kalos region. However, a certain incident lead to him being caught up in a turf war between pokemon, which, in turn, set off yet another chain of events. Ash was used to getting into situations like this, though he knew it was all a part of his goal to become the very best. However, when he makes a flimsy promise on a whim to try and find his best friend's family, he finds himself in for more than he bargained for. His strength, loyalty, and bonds are all put to the test; his pokemon accompanying him for the ride. Will Ash be able to fulfill his promise? Or is it as unachievable as his own dream to be a Pokemon Master?
Another thing-this story's going to be pretty long standing. Anyway, let's get into it, shall we?
***
Chapter 1
Introduction: Geography
***
Ash Ketchum was not a stranger to weird dreams.
Granted, considering the crazy things he got into regularly in real life, he more often than not mixed up his real experiences with his fake ones.
This was most likely why many people regarded him as an idiot. He remembered an instance from back when he was traveling through Johto. One morning he had asked Misty 'what happened the previous night'. She, confused, asked what he was talking about, to which he replied, 'I thought Heracross mistook you for a bug and ate you.'
In hindsight, he probably should have phrased his words better, but getting hit with a mallet-where the hell did she get that from, anyway?-multiple times on the head was enough for the point to get across: don't ask stupid questions.
Of course, for Ash, it was hard to differentiate sometimes what was and wasn't a stupid question, so...yeah.
But the dream he had last night felt different somehow.
A flash of images. Of people. Pokemon. Most of which he didn't know. It didn't help that a small tugging sensation at the corner of his mind was telling him that these were...memories.
It wasn't the first time he had this dream, and most of the time they were the same memories. However, they flashed by far too quickly for him to understand what was happening in them. He did manage to see a little bit, but not enough to fully remember everything the next morning.
This time...he remembered everything, and when he woke up, he was able to vividly recall every single memory he was able to see. It wasn't much, considering how fast the images went by-with no sound-but he was able to piece a few things together.
There were a few things he remembered from the dream last night: A blue flame, a bolt of electricity, and the shining light of evolution so bright he couldn't see who exactly was evolving. Then there were the people and pokemon he remembered: A spearow, a mew, a kangaskhan, and what looked like a man dressed in black from head to toe, making it difficult for Ash to see who he was.
Okay, maybe he didn't get everything...
Ash sighed and looked out the window. The sky was dark outside, and all he could see was the ocean, as the plane flew well over it. Not a single pokemon was in sight. 'Man, why couldn't I have at least waken up when the plane arrived back in Kanto?'
Well, no use complaining about it. Still, Ash wasn't known for being patient, despite having gained a greater sense of it over the years, so he decided to ask one of the flight attendants how long it would take to get to their destination.
Carefully, he grabbed Pikachu-who had been sitting in his lap, and set the pokemon down on the seat next to him. Pikachu twitched slightly before letting out an uncomfortable whine and adjusting his position before twitching again. Ash frowned. 'Guess I'm not the only one having weird dreams...or is it a nightmare?'
After debating in his mind for a while, he decided to let Pikachu sleep. He would wake him up after he asked the flight attendant about the schedule.
He walked down the aisle, once more stepping lightly as to not wake up the other passengers. He was doing a pretty good job of it, too, until he accidentally tripped over a woman's foot. "Sorry!" He whispered apologetically to the pink-haired woman. "It's hard to see with the lights off..."
The woman scowled, before turning her head to the other side with a huff. The man sitting next to her sent Ash an apologetic look before whispering something inaudible to the lady. She whispered back, and the two fell into what looked like an argument, though Ash couldn't hear a thing.
Ash shrugged and sheepishly continued walking. How embarrassing...
He reached the back area of the plane where three flight attendant ladies were quietly chatting among each other. "Um, excuse me?"
The three instantly ceased their quiet chatter as the flight attendant with brown hair turned to Ash with a warm smile-good thing she was nicer than the pink-haired woman-and asked, "Hi, sweetheart, do you need something?"
"Um..." Ash fidgeted uncomfortably. He knew that some people called those younger than them "sweetheart" and the like, but he had never gotten used to it. He was from Kanto after all, and that just wasn't how the culture in Kanto was. It was really hard for him to adjust in Unova, where that seemed to be a regular thing in certain towns, but he still hadn't been able to fully adjust, even to this day. It was probably a good thing nobody called him "sweetheart" in Kalos...no wait, there was that kindergarten teacher, never-mind...he mentally shook off his thoughts and responded to the woman's question. "Do you know when we'll arrive in Kanto?"
"Ah! Hm, let's see...I think..." She frowned before turning to the other two ladies. "I think I forgot..."
The yellow-blonde-haired flight attendant let out a chuckle, as did the other flight attendant with honey-blonde hair. Hm, they both had blonde hair...were they from Kalos, or was Ash being too assumptive? He shook his thoughts away. He probably was. Barry was blond and he was Sinnoan.
The woman with yellow-blonde hair continued chuckling as she teased her brown-haired friend. "Stacey, you're so forgetful. You know the Captain told us before the flight, right?"
Stacey flushed and retorted. "Well, I'm tired! It's not my fault you and Claire wouldn't help me with any of the work!"
"Excuses..." The honey-blonde, now dubbed as Claire, said in a sing-song manner. "And anyway, Lila and I were busy helping the new Co-Pilot get settled in. Strange guy, he was...I could've sworn there was these weird whiskers on his face too..."
Ash furrowed his brow. Whiskers? And did they completely forget that he was here?
Lila, the yellow-blonde-haired woman, shook her head with slight disbelief. "Yeah, tell me about it...he was crazy short too...and he had an Afro...isn't there something in the rules about co-pilots not being allowed to wear Afros? I always wondered why that mattered though..."
Stacey shook her head. "No, they changed that. They got backlash from the Guyana Flight Association and NEO."
Here, Ash's curiosity peaked and he couldn't help but ask-completely forgetting why he had come to these three ladies in the first place-a question of his own. "What's NEO? And...Guyana?"
Claire looked at Ash as if just remembering he was there-he knew it!-before replying, "NEO is an acronym for the National Equality Organization. Their purpose is to make sure everybody has equal rights and isn't treated unfairly in the workplace simply because of their looks, sexuality, race, disabilities, or religion."
Ash nodded, quickly trying to regurgitate the information so he didn't get lost. "So...they're basically there so everyone gets treated fairly?"
"That's what she said, kid," Lila said, though not unkindly. "As for the Guyana Flight Association...you know where the Guyana region is?"
Ash shook his head. "No...I've never heard of that region before." He paused. "Actually, I've never heard of a lot of regions..." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he continued, "The town I grew up in didn't exactly have the best education..."
Granted, it wasn't entirely the fault of Pallet Town's school for why Ash didn't know much. It was simply because he found most of the stuff too boring to be able to study properly. He didn't have the worst grades in class, but he didn't exactly have good ones either. That was fine with him, though. Plus, Pallet Town didn't really teach Geography.
"Ah." Stacey shot Ash a sympathetic look. "Same here. I grew up in a backwater town where the school there was absolutely horrible. They even made it into the Genius Book of World Records for the title of 'Worst School in the Hoenn Region'."
"You're from Hoenn?" Ash asked, surprised.
Stacey smiled wistfully. "Yup. The school was crappy and the town wasn't the best place to grow up in, but I still loved it. I have a lot of memories from there after all...anyway, the Guyana region; I'll show you it so it's a little easier to explain. Lila?"
"Yeah, yeah..." Lila stood up. "I'll go to the front and get a map...maybe I can also sneak a peek at how our new co-pilot's doing too..." She snickered. "I think I'm going to call him Whiskers."
"Oh, uh, thank you," Ash said gratefully as Lila left the room. He then remembered why he had come here in the first place. He also remembered the fact that Stacey didn't know the answer to his inquiry, so he instead turned to Claire. "Hey, do you know when we'll arrive in Kanto?"
Stacey pouted as Claire checked her watch. "Let's see...we should be there in about...huh, wow, that's quite a while...about an hour and a half."
Ash gaped. "Wait, seriously?!"
Claire nodded. "Yup. Sorry, kid...but on the bright side, us ladies will teach you some Geography to pass the time!"
"Oh...uh, you know, you don't have to do that..." Ash said hesitantly. He suddenly felt unsure about being taught Geography by three flight attendants. For one thing, he didn't want to waste their time. For another, he probably was going to have a lot of trouble processing the information given, which will most likely suck them dry out of patience and further waste their time. Plus, he didn't feel comfortable with leaving Pikachu alone for too long. He was slightly paranoid that the mouse would get kidnapped again.
Stacey waved him off. "Oh, don't worry about it, sweetheart. The girls and I would love to help you!"
Ash smiled nervously. "Ah...okay, thank you very much..." He paused before asking, "Is it alright if I go back to my seat real quick and get my pikachu? He's kind of by himself..."
"Oh, you have a pikachu?" Claire asked. Ash nodded wearily in response. He hoped these women wouldn't go crazy over how "cute" Pikachu was...they would probably get shocked, Pikachu wouldn't like it, and there was also the fact that Pikachu wasn't exactly as cute and innocent as everyone thought he was. "Sure, go ahead." Claire snapped Ash out of his thoughts as she waved him off. "Why'd you leave your pokemon alone anyway?"
"He was asleep," Ash explained. "And I didn't want to wake him up-he gets cranky and shocks me if I do that-" Here, Claire and Stacey both giggled. "And I can't just put Pikachu into a Poke ball because he hates them."
Claire raised an eyebrow. "Odd. I've never heard of a pokemon that hates Poke balls before. Poke balls in general, or just it's own?"
"Uh...good question. I don't know." He confessed, frowning. "Is it really not normal?"
Claire looked contemplative for a moment before carefully replying, "Well, I guess it just depends on how much your pikachu dislikes Poke balls."
Ash considered this for a moment before replying, "A lot. Pikachu refuses to get in the Poke ball even when we're in danger. I said, 'hate' for a reason..."
Stacey frowned. "Yeah, 'hate' specifically seems kind of strange. Even pokemon that mostly stay outside their Poke balls are at the very least okay with going inside their Poke balls, but if your pikachu hates them so badly that even in danger it won't go in..."
Ash nodded, the frown never leaving his face. He never really thought much of Pikachu's dislike for Poke balls, but was it really that strange? If so, then what was the reason Pikachu hated Poke balls so strongly? Maybe he could ask sometime later...
"Well, anyway, I'm going to go and get Pikachu." Ash announced and walked down the aisle, extra careful not to step on anyone this time. He noticed that the pink-haired lady and the purple-haired man weren't where he had seen them in their seats the first time around. However, he didn't think much of it and continued walking towards his seat.
"Hey, kid, heading back to your seat already?" Ash looked up and saw Lila heading towards him with a rolled-up map paper in her hands.
"No, I'm just getting my pikachu." He pointed at the rolled-up paper. "What's that?"
Lila looked at the roll of paper in her hand and shot Ash a funny look. "The...map I was getting?"
"...oh."
Lila shook her head, amused. "You're a funny kid. Anyway, I'll go set this map up in the back room with Claire and Stacey...you go and get your pokemon."
Ash nodded as Lila continued walking down the aisle. "Right." He then walked towards his seat and shuffled around the other seats to get to Pikachu, who was now sprawled on his seat haphazardly in the most uncomfortable position possible. Ash shook his head and gently picked up his partner. "You're really tired, huh..." He muttered, then adjusted Pikachu in his arms-still careful as not to wake him before retreating to the back of the plane where the three flight attendants were.
When he got to the back room, he noticed the three women rolling out the large map that Lila had gotten out on a counter-that was obviously glued to the ground; tables in planes weren't exactly smart.
"Hi." He greeted them lamely before setting Pikachu down on a seat next to the counter. He shook his head at the mouse, amused. "You rest up, Pikachu. Meanwhile, I'm going to be...learning about geography...yeah..." He laughed nervously and walked over to the flight attendants, ready for his "lesson".
He hoped that Stacey, Claire, and Lila had enough patience to teach him about other regions...
"Alright, you ready, kid?" Lila asked, putting her elbow against the edge of the counter, the map having been fully unrolled to reveal a map-gee, no kidding-of the world.
Ash nodded sheepishly. "Yup. So...the Guyana Region?"
"Right, right, right, we'll get to that." Claire waved him off. "But we're thinking we should probably start with the closest regions since it's more likely you'd have heard about them before. "First, though...how many regions have you been to?"
"Oh, I've been to lots!" Ash said cheerfully, glad to be the one giving knowledge this time. Granted, it was knowledge that wasn't that important for them to know in the long run, considering it was just how many regions Ash had been to. Still, he was glad to be able to "help" somewhat. "I come from Pallet Town in the Kanto Region and started my journey when I was ten. From there I went to Johto, then Hoenn, then Sinnoh, then Unova, and I just recently came back from Kalos!" He paused before embarrassed admitting. "Well, I guess that last part's kinda obvious..."
"Oh, you're from Kanto? So that's why you're going there...heading home after a long trip?" Claire asked politely.
"Yup." Ash nodded. "...now that I think about it, I didn't introduce myself, huh?"
The three flight attendants shook their heads in amusement, causing Ash to flush with embarrassment. "Oh. Well, my name's Ash Ketchum! Nice to meet you Stacey, Claire, and Lila." He paused for a moment. "Wait, we technically already met..."
Stacey laughed. "Well, that's quite alright. Anyway, Ash, since you've already gone to six well-known regions, we'll tell you about this region first. What have you heard about the Alola Region?"
"Alola?" Ash questioned, already feeling like an idiot.
"So, we're starting here then," Lila said casually and pointed to a group of four islands surrounded by smaller islands on the map. "This is Alola. And don't worry, we'll go slow so you can understand."
Ash rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. Was his slowness really that obvious? Man...he was really glad he had gotten smarter over the years, but the payoff had been that he was insanely slow. Then again, during a time when he wasn't slow, he was incredibly stupid, rude, and had no clue how to take care of a pokemon. Or talk to people. Or do basically anything.
Well, except in Unova, but he didn't like to talk about Unova. The stupid smog in the air messed with his senses and was a far cry from Kanto's crisp and clean air. On the other hand in that matter, it also meant that Unova was technologically more advanced than Kanto was...but you'd think that they would at least come up with a cleaner way of doing things because Unovan air was bad...
Really bad. Like, it said something that the air is what reduced his intelligence to...whatever he was in Unova.
"Alola is made up of four islands. Melemele Island, Akala Island, Ula'ula Island, and Poni Island. You with me so far?" Lila asked.
Ash wearily nodded. "Yeah...hey, wait, do you know if there's a league in Alola?"
Stacey shook her head. "Sorry, sweetheart, but no. The region is far too small for there to be a legitimized leagues, and they don't even have gyms there. It's more of a vacation spot if anything else. They do have this thing called the Island Challenge though...there's even something else called...wait, what is it called again...?" Stacey turned to Claire in confusion.
"Are you talking about Z-moves?" Claire asked, sending Stacey a teasing look, which the brown-haired girl ignored.
Stacey snapped her fingers triumphantly. "Ah! That's the one!" When she saw Ash's confusion, she instantly began explaining. "Despite being known as a vacationing and tourist spot, Alola also has something called an island challenge. And Z-crystals, which are basically crystals that allow a pokemon and trainer to perform a move called...a Z-move!"
Ash blinked. "Is it like Mega Evolution?"
"Mega Evolution? Hm, not exactly. Though, I heard it requires a strong bond between trainer and pokemon to be able to use properly as well...I guess if we're using the Mega Evolution comparison, you could say that a Z-move is basically Mega Evolution...but packed into one 'super move'." Lila said.
"Super move?!" Ash regurgitated excitedly, causing the three women to smile slightly. "Wow...so, if someone wanted to use a Z-move with their pokemon...they just need a Z-crystal? How do they get one?"
"Sorry, but I don't know the specifics." Claire grinned apologetically.
"Me neither." Lila and Stacey chorused, causing Ash to slump with disappointment.
"Man..." Ash whined, before thanking them anyway. "Well, at least now I know about Alola, so thanks for that. What else have you got for me?"
"Wait, we're not exactly done with Alola yet, you know." Claire pointed out teasingly. "Though it's only one more thing, so it's not that much of a big deal...well, it is kind of...you know how pokemon can have different forms for different species?"
"Yeah?" Ash replied, curiosity peaking.
"Well, in Alola, many pokemon have different forms and even types. For example, the exeggutor there are insanely tall, and instead of being a psychic type, they're a dragon type."
Ash gaped. "No way...that's so cool..."
Lila smirked. "You're telling me. I've only been to Alola once before, with my husband on a business trip, but that place is nice. The people there are great too." She paused before adding. "And yeah, the pokemon there are pretty cool too."
Ash grinned, briefly glancing at his pokemon-still snoring softly; how tired was he?-before turning to the three flight attendants. "Well, I think I may have to put Alola on my list of places to go. And who knows, maybe they might actually add a league sometime in the future."
"Thinking positive, kid, I like it," Lila smirked.
"If you're planning on going to Alola, then you should probably try and familiarize yourself with its language," Claire advised, causing Ash to groan.
"What, they don't use normal English like most of the world does?" Ash complained. "What language do they use?"
"Yes, they use English, but the way it's written is slightly different. It's quite similar to how English is written in Unova if you've been there before." Stacey said.
Ash resisted the urge to groan for what felt like the fourth time these past ten minutes. He didn't want to come off as rude and disrespectful, which he knew he had before many times in the past. Granted, this was when he traveled through Kanto and was still an inexperienced trainer, but still. "So...they still use English...anything else?"
"The language that is native to the Alolans is called Alona, and is mostly used by those who live there, though, like many other regions, English is a second language that is taught in many schools there, so you should have no problem with communicating if you ever go there. Well, not much." Stacey explained, giving Ash a sense of relief. Unova also had another problem, which was that he couldn't read anything. The written language made no sense whatsoever, and it almost drove him nuts at times. Iris had thankfully restrained herself from poking fun over Ash's illiteracy in Unova because she had known that it was because Ash was from Kanto; where the culture and customs there were vastly different from Unova's. However, it didn't stop her from making a few remarks over it, which definitely didn't help.
Ash only tolerated it because Iris had reminded him of when he had first started as a trainer. New to the world, over-excitable, and tended to be a bit of a hypocrite more often than not. Iris was less experienced than he was, but she definitely knew more than he did when he first started.
"But even so, it probably would be a good idea to at the very least get the basics of Alona down. That way you can somewhat understand any Alola." Claire explained. "Better to be prepared."
Ash winced. Boy did he know that well. Anytime he went into a situation completely unprepared, he had always gotten crushed. Specifically, during the Indigo League, which was something he was just not ready to take on.
"Anyway, next up is this place." Claire pointed to a large area on the map. "This place...is called the Galar Region. And is also home to the mysterious phenomenon known as...Dynamaxing."
Ash furrowed his eyebrows. "Dyna-what?"
"Dynamaxing," Claire repeated. "And I think I'm going to leave this one to Lila because she goes nuts over this subject..."
Lila gave a big grin. "Damn right I do. Anyway, just to clear things up first, just like Alola, there are Galarian forms for certain pokemon in that region. However, unlike Alola, there is a league there, and there is a Champion as well. The current champion is the legendary, handsome, amazing, Leon..." Lila let out a deep sigh and swooned, causing the others to send her strange looks.
Claire leaned into Ash and chuckled. "Sorry. She gets like this anytime the Champion of Galar is brought up..."
"No, it's alright," Ash assured her, surprised that he wasn't freaking out as much as Lila was. After all, he had always been one to get excited at the prospect of learning about a champion. They weren't exactly pushovers. "But...I thought she said she had a husband or something like that."
Claire rubbed her forehead. "Yes, well...there's no telling when it comes to Lila. I regret leaving this up to her...anyway, Dynamaxing."
Ash stood up straighter, glad they were on topic again. "Yeah, what is that?"
"Dynamaxing is basically when a pokemon can grow giant-sized during battle. The Galar Champion, Leon, has a Charizard who has a similar ability, though it's called Gigantamaxing instead." Stacey explained.
Ash's head spun trying to process the onslaught of information. "Wait, pokemon can grow giant-sized?!"
"Yup." Claire nodded, causing Ash's jaw to drop in amazement. "As for Gigantamaxing...apparently it's a special form of Dynamaxing, but I never really knew the difference..."
Stacey hummed, pressing a finger to her lips. "Really? You know, I always felt as if I've seen fewer pokemon supposedly 'Gigantamax' than Dynamax...I think it might be limited to certain pokemon."
"That could be it, yeah." Claire agreed. "Anyway...our information is limited on that subject as well..." She shot an apologetic look at Ash. "But then again, we are just flight attendants, so you might not get the best information from us."
"That's fine with me." Ash shrugged. He rubbed his cheek nervously. "Besides, I'm not really the best at these kinds of things, so any help you give me is great."
Lila had finally snapped out of her stupor and spoke up, "Well, we should probably get to Guyana next, since that's what started this whole conversation in the first place." She pointed to another region on the map, causing Ash to blink in slight surprise. Guyana looked almost as big as Sinnoh! And that was saying something...he hoped that place wasn't as cold as the former region. "Guyana is a region in the Southern Continents and there aren't any pokemon leagues or challenges there...but there are many other sports events held there. In fact, that's pretty much what Guyana's known for."
"...not having a league?" Ash questioned.
"No, sweetheart." Stacey corrected. "They're known for their sporting events."
Ash blinked. "Oh."
"Anyway, so the thing we were talking about earlier...that also started this conversation..." Lila began. "The Guyana Flight Association...and Afros. See, Afros are a common hairstyle in Guyana, and the GFA-Guyana Flight Association-contacted NEO when they felt that many of their workers were being treated unfairly simply because of their hairstyle."
Ash nodded slowly. "Oh, okay...wait, why couldn't they just change their hairstyle?"
Claire smiled painfully. "Because that wouldn't have solved the problem. The main issue was that they were still being treated unfairly, which was only because those workers were from Guyana. And we know for sure that's the reason because there are some workers for the Hoenn Flight Association that have Afros, and they're treated fine. It's simply because of their heritage that they are discriminated against."
Ash frowned, slightly disturbed. "That's...pretty dumb."
Lila rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it. There are racist people everywhere." She sighed and closed her eyes briefly. "But that's just how it is. It's how it's always been."
"...yeah..." Ash agreed, slightly hesitant. He hadn't dealt with any racism throughout his life and had only briefly heard about it through his journey. So his knowledge on this subject was close to zero. Were people treated unfairly simply because of the place they were born? Were people judged over something like that? What happened to a person's character? Wasn't that a factor? Ash shook those thoughts out of his head. He didn't want to continue talking about this anymore, so he changed the topic. "...what about any other regions?"
Claire seemed to welcome the topic change. "Well, there's also Oblivia, Almia, Orre, Holon, Fiore, and Ferrum...just to name a few." She listed off the top of her head. "We can start with Oblivia first, but we probably won't get to all of them, since..." She laughed slightly. "Well, we're not historians and this is just background knowledge we're giving you."
"Well, I don't have to know everything about a region." Ash pointed out. "I think if you just give me the name, what it's known for, and...uh...maybe a fact or something, I'll be fine? I mostly go along with the flow for stuff, so I think the less information, the better." He admitted sheepishly, causing the three flight attendants to chuckle at him.
"Alright, sweetheart. We'll tell you about the Oblivia region. So, Oblivia is-" Whatever Stacey was about to say was cut off by the sudden jerking movement, causing all three flight attendants to grab onto the edge of the counter tightly, with Lila holding Ash tightly. "What the-"
The plane began shaking, causing cries of panic from the passengers. "Excuse me, passengers." A voice spoke through the speaker. The pilot.
"Who's that?!" Claire cried in alarm.
Okay, not the pilot.
"We're experiencing a bit of a...change in course...Team Rocket's takin' over dis ride now!" The same voice from before spoke, causing Ash to gasp and the other passengers to frantically talk among each other.
"Team Rocket!" Ash growled, finally putting a face to the voice. So the co-pilot that Lila had dubbed 'Whiskers' from earlier was Meowth in disguise! "Figures...they're hijacking this plane!"
It was then when he realized that Pikachu wasn't in the place where he had set him on the counter, causing him to clench his fist. "Man, I am not in the mood for this..."
"Team Rocket?!" Lila questioned incredulously. Ash was about to reply when Stacey spoke up instead.
"I've heard of these guys before." She gritted her teeth. "They're well known in the Kanto Region...the feared criminal organization...Team Rocket!"
Ash blinked. Well, who knew that someone other than him knew who they were for once? "Not these guys." He said, catching the attention of the three women. "I actually know these guys personally." He scowled. "They're always after my pikachu and have been following me around almost everywhere I go!" The flight attendants exchanged disturbed looks at this as Ash continued. "They're not really the most dangerous Rocket members out there, but their names are-"
Of course, tradition wasn't going to allow Ash to finish that sentence as panicked cries cut him off. The plane had finally stopped shaking though, which was a plus. That being said, why were people shouting?
With the flight attendants behind him, Ash quickly scurried out the backroom to the aisle seats and saw a familiar face at the front. A familiar group of faces.
Jessie of Team Rocket smirked as she saw Ash. "Well, well, well, the twerp finally decided to show up. We were just about to ask everyone here to hand over their pokemon. Glad to see you'll be joining in."
This show of familiarity between Jessie and Ash confused the passengers. Especially considering they had no clue who either person was and in their eyes, they saw a criminal being familiar with...what looked like an almost fifteen-year-old child confronting her. Because of this, they got oddly quiet so they could figure out what the situation was.
Ah, humanity.
James of Team Rocket crossed his arms, looking cocky. "Guess we have the upper hand in this situation, huh, Twerp?"
Meowth, who had been standing between his two human partners, pulled off a tarp draped over a cage to reveal Pikachu inside it...still sleeping. He, Jessie, and James all looked awkwardly at Pikachu for a few moments, looking slightly unsettled, before Meowth cleared his throat and began talking. "Ya really should pay more attention to yer pokemon, Twerp. Don't ya think it was strange that he was asleep da entire time?"
Ash blinked before the implications of what Meowth had said sank in. His eyes widened with horror, as a few passengers gasped in horror as well. "Wait, you mean you dru-"
"No!" James interrupted, looking irritated. "Just who do you think we are? We may be criminals, but even we have standards!"
"Then what did you do to that poor thing?" Stacey demanded.
Jessie waved her off. "Oh, we just transmitted a high-frequency white noise to put Pikachu to sleep...and some other pokemon that might have just as sensitive hearing. It's kind of like hypnosis that puts a pokemon to sleep...only it's through science." Jessie paused before adding. "And it only works when the target is asleep...so you just made our job easier when you and Pikachu fell asleep earlier. Too bad you woke up." She then brightened. "On the plus side, I got to trip you!"
Ash blinked before pointing a finger accusingly at Team Rocket. "Wait...you were those passengers from earlier! And Meowth, you're the co-pilot..." He paused, something occurring to him. "Wait, if you're here, then...who's piloting the plane?"
"The pilot," Jessie replied as if it were obvious.
Claire frowned. "The pilot...wait, then what was all the shaking earlier about?"
Meowth's face scrunched up with irritation. "Oh, that...ya see, I kind of had to wrestle da rights ta control da plane from him...and it caused a whole buncha turbulence..." He smirked and pointed to himself. "Of course, I won...he became a lot more willing to do whatever we asked him once I took out my claws...Wobbuffet is watching over him right now to make sure he doesn't try anything funny."
Ash glared at the Team Rocket group, which was nothing new. "Well, I'm going to stop you right here, Team Rocket, take back Pikachu, and save everyone here!"
There were a few murmurs in the crowd at the declaration, mostly uncertain. How was this kid supposed to fight back against two adults and a Meowth? Plus, they did have his pokemon hostage...what if they used that against him?
Jessie tossed her head up. "And how exactly do you plan to do that, Twerp? Last I checked, none of your pokemon are small enough to be able to fight in an area this tight without causing collateral damage...or worse."
Ash's hand, which had been reaching towards his belt for his Poke-balls, froze. Damn, she was right. That was surprising. Since when was Team Rocket smart?
Ignoring Unova, of course. Ash completely figured that the Unovan Air's ability to sap intelligence out of people made the Rockets seem much more competent than usual. Granted, they still were pretty dumb in Unova, which was different...
He shook his head, snarling at Team Rocket. How was he supposed to fight now? His eyes drifted towards Pikachu in worry. Pikachu looked exhausted...and though he didn't know why he had a sinking suspicion that this wasn't entirely because of Team Rocket's transmitting device...wherever that was. He frowned. "Hey, where's your transmitter device thing, anyway? You know, what you used to keep Pikachu asleep?"
James's eyes glinted with excitement as he gleefully shouted, "I'm so glad you asked!" He took out a...cube...pressed a button on it, turned it, causing a high-pitched tone to fill the air, and for a couple of kids and young pokemon to whine in annoyance. Ash flinched slightly. Wow, that was loud...
Stacey frowned. "I'm guessing that the frequency you put it at right now is pretty high since none of the adults are getting affected, am I right? But...how come it made the pikachu fall asleep?"
"Ah. Well, that's because I put it at the highest setting, which causes nausea after a while...and since a pikachu's hearing is pretty sensitive, Pikachu would've been the only one to have heard the sound, causing it to sleep off nausea...and maybe a few children too." James admitted. "Well, a few kids getting sick wasn't going to bother us..."
This was the wrong thing to say as a few parents on the plane shot James dirty looks.
"So, that's why my baby was crying!" A mother accused.
"You horrible human being!"
"You should be ashamed of yourselves for not having anything better to do with your life!"
"And get that poor pikachu out of that cage already!"
"Yeah, you stupid son of a bi-"
Everyone stopped their insults when a high heel flew in the air out of nowhere and smacked James' invention on the floor, causing it to spark for a few moments, before canceling out.
"What," Lila said flatly.
Team Rocket screamed in panic. "You broke it!" Jessie accused, turning around to see a stern woman with her hand outstretched. The woman had light blue hair in a ponytail and red-brown eyes. She was wearing all black for some strange reason, even wearing a black cap on her head, almost completely obscuring her face. Ash, strangely enough, felt as if he recognized the woman...
"I would let the pikachu go if I were you. Unless, of course, you want to get yourselves in more trouble than you're already in." The woman spoke, her voice as stern and steely as her eyes were.
Team Rocket scoffed at her, eyeing her up and down. Meowth bared his teeth at her. "And just what're you gonna do 'bout it? Throw yer other shoe?"
The woman replied by promptly throwing her other shoe, smacking Meowth dead in the face.
"Wasn't expecting that to happen." A man spoke up, the other passengers murmuring in agreement. "You guys aren't very good at being bad, are you?"
"Shut up!" Jessie flushed. "We try!"
A woman with glasses and beady eyes pushed her glasses on the bridge of her nose, staring at Team Rocket. "Keyword being 'try'...why are you after a pikachu that belongs to a child anyway? And how long have you been after him? Stalking is a very serious crime, you know."
Lila blinked. "And hijacking a plane, attacking a pilot, and kidnapping a pikachu isn't?"
"They've kidnapped me and my friends before too." Ash volunteered, causing everyone to stare at him, and Team Rocket to look on with annoyance. Since when were bystanders this talkative? They usually captured pokemon, did normal 'bad guy' stuff, and none of the other bystanders aside from Ash, his friends, their pokemon, and maybe some other people of importance did anything to stop them. And these passengers should be just like any other witness of their crimes-by sitting there doing nothing. But, they aren't. Instead, one passenger is throwing a shoe at them, another smack-talking them, and casual conversation going on between them as they are standing right there.
Stacey tossed Ash a sympathetic look. "Oh, really, sweetheart? I'm so sorry...why haven't you reported this to the police yet?"
Ash rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Well, they actually got arrested a few times before...but they always get out. I don't know how. And apparently, they don't know how either."
The glasses woman blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Is that out of intelligence to keep this from you, or stupidity as in they genuinely don't know?"
Team Rocket began growling like a lawnmower as Ash replied, "I think it's the second one."
The familiar-looking woman who had thrown the shoe cleared her throat, catching everyone's attention. "Excuse me, but I believe you three were about to surrender?" She pointed to the TRio. "Your device isn't working, we're over an ocean right now, so there's nowhere to run, and like you said earlier, this space is far too tight to take out any pokemon to fight or threaten anyone here. What else can you do in a situation like this?"
Jessie, James, and Meowth exchanged looks. They hadn't thought of that before...but then again, that was how most of their plans went. Downhill.
In this case, 'downhill' was about to become quite literal as the plane suddenly rocked, slowly tipping downward and causing those passengers not sitting in their sits to stumble and fall. People began screaming frantically as Ash stumbled forward, desperately trying to grab onto something to keep his balance.
Jessie screamed. "What's going on in there?!"
Meowth ran into the pilot area and screamed, causing more panic throughout the plane. "Da controls are goin' nuts in there! I think da engines are broken!"
"They are broken!" A gruff, male voice confirmed from inside the pilot area, sounding irritable. "Something hit it!"
"What hit it?!" James cried back. "Aren't you the pilot? Shouldn't you know this stuff?"
"I don't know what hit it, that's why I said 'something' did!" The pilot shot back, causing James to be taken aback.
The blue-haired woman who had thrown the shoe tried to get everyone to calm down. "Everyone! Please remain calm-"
Ash didn't hear what else the woman said, because he had run after Pikachu, who was tumbling towards the pilot area where Meowth and the Pilot were inside his cage. Ignoring the cries of worry from the three flight attendants he had befriended, he reached out and tried to grab Pikachu's cage-
-and was stopped by a familiar set of claws swiping at him. "Not so fast, bub!" Meowth glared, latching onto Pikachu's cage and somehow staying upright, despite the plane still tipping at a dangerous angle. "We worked our butts off trying to figure out da perfect plan ta take Pikachu!"
At that moment, the plane tipped further, causing the screams and panicked cries to escalate-the plane rapidly plummeting towards the ocean, showing no signs of stopping. Ash's eyes widened as he shouted at Meowth, who looked genuinely terrified at that moment. "Your 'perfect plan' involves a plane crashing into an ocean!?"
"We didn't plan this!" James stumbled nearby, joining in the conversation-the blue-haired woman had taken her attention off Team Rocket to try and calm the passengers down with a surprising amount of authority-and adding. "We didn't plan any of this at all! Do you think if we had our balloon that we would hijack a plane?!"
Ash's eyes flashed. "YES! I know! You would do anything to get what you want! You're just selfish like that!"
Meowth and James exchanged nervous looks before the former unlocked Pikachu's cage with one of his claws and handed Pikachu to a stunned Ash with some considerable amount of difficulty. James was about to say something, but Ash never got to hear what he said, because, at that moment, the plane jerked once more, and submerged underwater; the impact of the plane hitting the water causing Ash to smack his head against a seat hard and blackout.
The last thing he heard was the panicked screams of the passengers, the sound of shattering glass, and a large amount of water splashing.
There was something else too. A strange sound, something that felt almost as if it came from...within him. The sound of quiet running water, which seemed almost contradictory considering what was currently happening at that moment.
And:
"Ash!"
'Who said that...?'
Ash didn't know. Nor did he know if this was a dream or not. He really hoped it was. After all, he wasn't exactly a stranger to weird and surreal dreams before.
Then again, he did always have a bad habit of confusing reality with dreams...
Story Synopsis(as on Fanfiction.net-with changes): Ash Ketchum was well on his way back to Pallet Town after Kalos, ready to take a break from the events that had transpired in the Kalos region. However, a certain incident lead to him being caught up in a turf war between pokemon, which, in turn, set off yet another chain of events. Ash was used to getting into situations like this, though he knew it was all a part of his goal to become the very best. However, when he makes a flimsy promise on a whim to try and find his best friend's family, he finds himself in for more than he bargained for. His strength, loyalty, and bonds are all put to the test; his pokemon accompanying him for the ride. Will Ash be able to fulfill his promise? Or is it as unachievable as his own dream to be a Pokemon Master?
Another thing-this story's going to be pretty long standing. Anyway, let's get into it, shall we?
***
Chapter 1
Introduction: Geography
***
Ash Ketchum was not a stranger to weird dreams.
Granted, considering the crazy things he got into regularly in real life, he more often than not mixed up his real experiences with his fake ones.
This was most likely why many people regarded him as an idiot. He remembered an instance from back when he was traveling through Johto. One morning he had asked Misty 'what happened the previous night'. She, confused, asked what he was talking about, to which he replied, 'I thought Heracross mistook you for a bug and ate you.'
In hindsight, he probably should have phrased his words better, but getting hit with a mallet-where the hell did she get that from, anyway?-multiple times on the head was enough for the point to get across: don't ask stupid questions.
Of course, for Ash, it was hard to differentiate sometimes what was and wasn't a stupid question, so...yeah.
But the dream he had last night felt different somehow.
A flash of images. Of people. Pokemon. Most of which he didn't know. It didn't help that a small tugging sensation at the corner of his mind was telling him that these were...memories.
It wasn't the first time he had this dream, and most of the time they were the same memories. However, they flashed by far too quickly for him to understand what was happening in them. He did manage to see a little bit, but not enough to fully remember everything the next morning.
This time...he remembered everything, and when he woke up, he was able to vividly recall every single memory he was able to see. It wasn't much, considering how fast the images went by-with no sound-but he was able to piece a few things together.
There were a few things he remembered from the dream last night: A blue flame, a bolt of electricity, and the shining light of evolution so bright he couldn't see who exactly was evolving. Then there were the people and pokemon he remembered: A spearow, a mew, a kangaskhan, and what looked like a man dressed in black from head to toe, making it difficult for Ash to see who he was.
Okay, maybe he didn't get everything...
Ash sighed and looked out the window. The sky was dark outside, and all he could see was the ocean, as the plane flew well over it. Not a single pokemon was in sight. 'Man, why couldn't I have at least waken up when the plane arrived back in Kanto?'
Well, no use complaining about it. Still, Ash wasn't known for being patient, despite having gained a greater sense of it over the years, so he decided to ask one of the flight attendants how long it would take to get to their destination.
Carefully, he grabbed Pikachu-who had been sitting in his lap, and set the pokemon down on the seat next to him. Pikachu twitched slightly before letting out an uncomfortable whine and adjusting his position before twitching again. Ash frowned. 'Guess I'm not the only one having weird dreams...or is it a nightmare?'
After debating in his mind for a while, he decided to let Pikachu sleep. He would wake him up after he asked the flight attendant about the schedule.
He walked down the aisle, once more stepping lightly as to not wake up the other passengers. He was doing a pretty good job of it, too, until he accidentally tripped over a woman's foot. "Sorry!" He whispered apologetically to the pink-haired woman. "It's hard to see with the lights off..."
The woman scowled, before turning her head to the other side with a huff. The man sitting next to her sent Ash an apologetic look before whispering something inaudible to the lady. She whispered back, and the two fell into what looked like an argument, though Ash couldn't hear a thing.
Ash shrugged and sheepishly continued walking. How embarrassing...
He reached the back area of the plane where three flight attendant ladies were quietly chatting among each other. "Um, excuse me?"
The three instantly ceased their quiet chatter as the flight attendant with brown hair turned to Ash with a warm smile-good thing she was nicer than the pink-haired woman-and asked, "Hi, sweetheart, do you need something?"
"Um..." Ash fidgeted uncomfortably. He knew that some people called those younger than them "sweetheart" and the like, but he had never gotten used to it. He was from Kanto after all, and that just wasn't how the culture in Kanto was. It was really hard for him to adjust in Unova, where that seemed to be a regular thing in certain towns, but he still hadn't been able to fully adjust, even to this day. It was probably a good thing nobody called him "sweetheart" in Kalos...no wait, there was that kindergarten teacher, never-mind...he mentally shook off his thoughts and responded to the woman's question. "Do you know when we'll arrive in Kanto?"
"Ah! Hm, let's see...I think..." She frowned before turning to the other two ladies. "I think I forgot..."
The yellow-blonde-haired flight attendant let out a chuckle, as did the other flight attendant with honey-blonde hair. Hm, they both had blonde hair...were they from Kalos, or was Ash being too assumptive? He shook his thoughts away. He probably was. Barry was blond and he was Sinnoan.
The woman with yellow-blonde hair continued chuckling as she teased her brown-haired friend. "Stacey, you're so forgetful. You know the Captain told us before the flight, right?"
Stacey flushed and retorted. "Well, I'm tired! It's not my fault you and Claire wouldn't help me with any of the work!"
"Excuses..." The honey-blonde, now dubbed as Claire, said in a sing-song manner. "And anyway, Lila and I were busy helping the new Co-Pilot get settled in. Strange guy, he was...I could've sworn there was these weird whiskers on his face too..."
Ash furrowed his brow. Whiskers? And did they completely forget that he was here?
Lila, the yellow-blonde-haired woman, shook her head with slight disbelief. "Yeah, tell me about it...he was crazy short too...and he had an Afro...isn't there something in the rules about co-pilots not being allowed to wear Afros? I always wondered why that mattered though..."
Stacey shook her head. "No, they changed that. They got backlash from the Guyana Flight Association and NEO."
Here, Ash's curiosity peaked and he couldn't help but ask-completely forgetting why he had come to these three ladies in the first place-a question of his own. "What's NEO? And...Guyana?"
Claire looked at Ash as if just remembering he was there-he knew it!-before replying, "NEO is an acronym for the National Equality Organization. Their purpose is to make sure everybody has equal rights and isn't treated unfairly in the workplace simply because of their looks, sexuality, race, disabilities, or religion."
Ash nodded, quickly trying to regurgitate the information so he didn't get lost. "So...they're basically there so everyone gets treated fairly?"
"That's what she said, kid," Lila said, though not unkindly. "As for the Guyana Flight Association...you know where the Guyana region is?"
Ash shook his head. "No...I've never heard of that region before." He paused. "Actually, I've never heard of a lot of regions..." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he continued, "The town I grew up in didn't exactly have the best education..."
Granted, it wasn't entirely the fault of Pallet Town's school for why Ash didn't know much. It was simply because he found most of the stuff too boring to be able to study properly. He didn't have the worst grades in class, but he didn't exactly have good ones either. That was fine with him, though. Plus, Pallet Town didn't really teach Geography.
"Ah." Stacey shot Ash a sympathetic look. "Same here. I grew up in a backwater town where the school there was absolutely horrible. They even made it into the Genius Book of World Records for the title of 'Worst School in the Hoenn Region'."
"You're from Hoenn?" Ash asked, surprised.
Stacey smiled wistfully. "Yup. The school was crappy and the town wasn't the best place to grow up in, but I still loved it. I have a lot of memories from there after all...anyway, the Guyana region; I'll show you it so it's a little easier to explain. Lila?"
"Yeah, yeah..." Lila stood up. "I'll go to the front and get a map...maybe I can also sneak a peek at how our new co-pilot's doing too..." She snickered. "I think I'm going to call him Whiskers."
"Oh, uh, thank you," Ash said gratefully as Lila left the room. He then remembered why he had come here in the first place. He also remembered the fact that Stacey didn't know the answer to his inquiry, so he instead turned to Claire. "Hey, do you know when we'll arrive in Kanto?"
Stacey pouted as Claire checked her watch. "Let's see...we should be there in about...huh, wow, that's quite a while...about an hour and a half."
Ash gaped. "Wait, seriously?!"
Claire nodded. "Yup. Sorry, kid...but on the bright side, us ladies will teach you some Geography to pass the time!"
"Oh...uh, you know, you don't have to do that..." Ash said hesitantly. He suddenly felt unsure about being taught Geography by three flight attendants. For one thing, he didn't want to waste their time. For another, he probably was going to have a lot of trouble processing the information given, which will most likely suck them dry out of patience and further waste their time. Plus, he didn't feel comfortable with leaving Pikachu alone for too long. He was slightly paranoid that the mouse would get kidnapped again.
Stacey waved him off. "Oh, don't worry about it, sweetheart. The girls and I would love to help you!"
Ash smiled nervously. "Ah...okay, thank you very much..." He paused before asking, "Is it alright if I go back to my seat real quick and get my pikachu? He's kind of by himself..."
"Oh, you have a pikachu?" Claire asked. Ash nodded wearily in response. He hoped these women wouldn't go crazy over how "cute" Pikachu was...they would probably get shocked, Pikachu wouldn't like it, and there was also the fact that Pikachu wasn't exactly as cute and innocent as everyone thought he was. "Sure, go ahead." Claire snapped Ash out of his thoughts as she waved him off. "Why'd you leave your pokemon alone anyway?"
"He was asleep," Ash explained. "And I didn't want to wake him up-he gets cranky and shocks me if I do that-" Here, Claire and Stacey both giggled. "And I can't just put Pikachu into a Poke ball because he hates them."
Claire raised an eyebrow. "Odd. I've never heard of a pokemon that hates Poke balls before. Poke balls in general, or just it's own?"
"Uh...good question. I don't know." He confessed, frowning. "Is it really not normal?"
Claire looked contemplative for a moment before carefully replying, "Well, I guess it just depends on how much your pikachu dislikes Poke balls."
Ash considered this for a moment before replying, "A lot. Pikachu refuses to get in the Poke ball even when we're in danger. I said, 'hate' for a reason..."
Stacey frowned. "Yeah, 'hate' specifically seems kind of strange. Even pokemon that mostly stay outside their Poke balls are at the very least okay with going inside their Poke balls, but if your pikachu hates them so badly that even in danger it won't go in..."
Ash nodded, the frown never leaving his face. He never really thought much of Pikachu's dislike for Poke balls, but was it really that strange? If so, then what was the reason Pikachu hated Poke balls so strongly? Maybe he could ask sometime later...
"Well, anyway, I'm going to go and get Pikachu." Ash announced and walked down the aisle, extra careful not to step on anyone this time. He noticed that the pink-haired lady and the purple-haired man weren't where he had seen them in their seats the first time around. However, he didn't think much of it and continued walking towards his seat.
"Hey, kid, heading back to your seat already?" Ash looked up and saw Lila heading towards him with a rolled-up map paper in her hands.
"No, I'm just getting my pikachu." He pointed at the rolled-up paper. "What's that?"
Lila looked at the roll of paper in her hand and shot Ash a funny look. "The...map I was getting?"
"...oh."
Lila shook her head, amused. "You're a funny kid. Anyway, I'll go set this map up in the back room with Claire and Stacey...you go and get your pokemon."
Ash nodded as Lila continued walking down the aisle. "Right." He then walked towards his seat and shuffled around the other seats to get to Pikachu, who was now sprawled on his seat haphazardly in the most uncomfortable position possible. Ash shook his head and gently picked up his partner. "You're really tired, huh..." He muttered, then adjusted Pikachu in his arms-still careful as not to wake him before retreating to the back of the plane where the three flight attendants were.
When he got to the back room, he noticed the three women rolling out the large map that Lila had gotten out on a counter-that was obviously glued to the ground; tables in planes weren't exactly smart.
"Hi." He greeted them lamely before setting Pikachu down on a seat next to the counter. He shook his head at the mouse, amused. "You rest up, Pikachu. Meanwhile, I'm going to be...learning about geography...yeah..." He laughed nervously and walked over to the flight attendants, ready for his "lesson".
He hoped that Stacey, Claire, and Lila had enough patience to teach him about other regions...
"Alright, you ready, kid?" Lila asked, putting her elbow against the edge of the counter, the map having been fully unrolled to reveal a map-gee, no kidding-of the world.
Ash nodded sheepishly. "Yup. So...the Guyana Region?"
"Right, right, right, we'll get to that." Claire waved him off. "But we're thinking we should probably start with the closest regions since it's more likely you'd have heard about them before. "First, though...how many regions have you been to?"
"Oh, I've been to lots!" Ash said cheerfully, glad to be the one giving knowledge this time. Granted, it was knowledge that wasn't that important for them to know in the long run, considering it was just how many regions Ash had been to. Still, he was glad to be able to "help" somewhat. "I come from Pallet Town in the Kanto Region and started my journey when I was ten. From there I went to Johto, then Hoenn, then Sinnoh, then Unova, and I just recently came back from Kalos!" He paused before embarrassed admitting. "Well, I guess that last part's kinda obvious..."
"Oh, you're from Kanto? So that's why you're going there...heading home after a long trip?" Claire asked politely.
"Yup." Ash nodded. "...now that I think about it, I didn't introduce myself, huh?"
The three flight attendants shook their heads in amusement, causing Ash to flush with embarrassment. "Oh. Well, my name's Ash Ketchum! Nice to meet you Stacey, Claire, and Lila." He paused for a moment. "Wait, we technically already met..."
Stacey laughed. "Well, that's quite alright. Anyway, Ash, since you've already gone to six well-known regions, we'll tell you about this region first. What have you heard about the Alola Region?"
"Alola?" Ash questioned, already feeling like an idiot.
"So, we're starting here then," Lila said casually and pointed to a group of four islands surrounded by smaller islands on the map. "This is Alola. And don't worry, we'll go slow so you can understand."
Ash rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. Was his slowness really that obvious? Man...he was really glad he had gotten smarter over the years, but the payoff had been that he was insanely slow. Then again, during a time when he wasn't slow, he was incredibly stupid, rude, and had no clue how to take care of a pokemon. Or talk to people. Or do basically anything.
Well, except in Unova, but he didn't like to talk about Unova. The stupid smog in the air messed with his senses and was a far cry from Kanto's crisp and clean air. On the other hand in that matter, it also meant that Unova was technologically more advanced than Kanto was...but you'd think that they would at least come up with a cleaner way of doing things because Unovan air was bad...
Really bad. Like, it said something that the air is what reduced his intelligence to...whatever he was in Unova.
"Alola is made up of four islands. Melemele Island, Akala Island, Ula'ula Island, and Poni Island. You with me so far?" Lila asked.
Ash wearily nodded. "Yeah...hey, wait, do you know if there's a league in Alola?"
Stacey shook her head. "Sorry, sweetheart, but no. The region is far too small for there to be a legitimized leagues, and they don't even have gyms there. It's more of a vacation spot if anything else. They do have this thing called the Island Challenge though...there's even something else called...wait, what is it called again...?" Stacey turned to Claire in confusion.
"Are you talking about Z-moves?" Claire asked, sending Stacey a teasing look, which the brown-haired girl ignored.
Stacey snapped her fingers triumphantly. "Ah! That's the one!" When she saw Ash's confusion, she instantly began explaining. "Despite being known as a vacationing and tourist spot, Alola also has something called an island challenge. And Z-crystals, which are basically crystals that allow a pokemon and trainer to perform a move called...a Z-move!"
Ash blinked. "Is it like Mega Evolution?"
"Mega Evolution? Hm, not exactly. Though, I heard it requires a strong bond between trainer and pokemon to be able to use properly as well...I guess if we're using the Mega Evolution comparison, you could say that a Z-move is basically Mega Evolution...but packed into one 'super move'." Lila said.
"Super move?!" Ash regurgitated excitedly, causing the three women to smile slightly. "Wow...so, if someone wanted to use a Z-move with their pokemon...they just need a Z-crystal? How do they get one?"
"Sorry, but I don't know the specifics." Claire grinned apologetically.
"Me neither." Lila and Stacey chorused, causing Ash to slump with disappointment.
"Man..." Ash whined, before thanking them anyway. "Well, at least now I know about Alola, so thanks for that. What else have you got for me?"
"Wait, we're not exactly done with Alola yet, you know." Claire pointed out teasingly. "Though it's only one more thing, so it's not that much of a big deal...well, it is kind of...you know how pokemon can have different forms for different species?"
"Yeah?" Ash replied, curiosity peaking.
"Well, in Alola, many pokemon have different forms and even types. For example, the exeggutor there are insanely tall, and instead of being a psychic type, they're a dragon type."
Ash gaped. "No way...that's so cool..."
Lila smirked. "You're telling me. I've only been to Alola once before, with my husband on a business trip, but that place is nice. The people there are great too." She paused before adding. "And yeah, the pokemon there are pretty cool too."
Ash grinned, briefly glancing at his pokemon-still snoring softly; how tired was he?-before turning to the three flight attendants. "Well, I think I may have to put Alola on my list of places to go. And who knows, maybe they might actually add a league sometime in the future."
"Thinking positive, kid, I like it," Lila smirked.
"If you're planning on going to Alola, then you should probably try and familiarize yourself with its language," Claire advised, causing Ash to groan.
"What, they don't use normal English like most of the world does?" Ash complained. "What language do they use?"
"Yes, they use English, but the way it's written is slightly different. It's quite similar to how English is written in Unova if you've been there before." Stacey said.
Ash resisted the urge to groan for what felt like the fourth time these past ten minutes. He didn't want to come off as rude and disrespectful, which he knew he had before many times in the past. Granted, this was when he traveled through Kanto and was still an inexperienced trainer, but still. "So...they still use English...anything else?"
"The language that is native to the Alolans is called Alona, and is mostly used by those who live there, though, like many other regions, English is a second language that is taught in many schools there, so you should have no problem with communicating if you ever go there. Well, not much." Stacey explained, giving Ash a sense of relief. Unova also had another problem, which was that he couldn't read anything. The written language made no sense whatsoever, and it almost drove him nuts at times. Iris had thankfully restrained herself from poking fun over Ash's illiteracy in Unova because she had known that it was because Ash was from Kanto; where the culture and customs there were vastly different from Unova's. However, it didn't stop her from making a few remarks over it, which definitely didn't help.
Ash only tolerated it because Iris had reminded him of when he had first started as a trainer. New to the world, over-excitable, and tended to be a bit of a hypocrite more often than not. Iris was less experienced than he was, but she definitely knew more than he did when he first started.
"But even so, it probably would be a good idea to at the very least get the basics of Alona down. That way you can somewhat understand any Alola." Claire explained. "Better to be prepared."
Ash winced. Boy did he know that well. Anytime he went into a situation completely unprepared, he had always gotten crushed. Specifically, during the Indigo League, which was something he was just not ready to take on.
"Anyway, next up is this place." Claire pointed to a large area on the map. "This place...is called the Galar Region. And is also home to the mysterious phenomenon known as...Dynamaxing."
Ash furrowed his eyebrows. "Dyna-what?"
"Dynamaxing," Claire repeated. "And I think I'm going to leave this one to Lila because she goes nuts over this subject..."
Lila gave a big grin. "Damn right I do. Anyway, just to clear things up first, just like Alola, there are Galarian forms for certain pokemon in that region. However, unlike Alola, there is a league there, and there is a Champion as well. The current champion is the legendary, handsome, amazing, Leon..." Lila let out a deep sigh and swooned, causing the others to send her strange looks.
Claire leaned into Ash and chuckled. "Sorry. She gets like this anytime the Champion of Galar is brought up..."
"No, it's alright," Ash assured her, surprised that he wasn't freaking out as much as Lila was. After all, he had always been one to get excited at the prospect of learning about a champion. They weren't exactly pushovers. "But...I thought she said she had a husband or something like that."
Claire rubbed her forehead. "Yes, well...there's no telling when it comes to Lila. I regret leaving this up to her...anyway, Dynamaxing."
Ash stood up straighter, glad they were on topic again. "Yeah, what is that?"
"Dynamaxing is basically when a pokemon can grow giant-sized during battle. The Galar Champion, Leon, has a Charizard who has a similar ability, though it's called Gigantamaxing instead." Stacey explained.
Ash's head spun trying to process the onslaught of information. "Wait, pokemon can grow giant-sized?!"
"Yup." Claire nodded, causing Ash's jaw to drop in amazement. "As for Gigantamaxing...apparently it's a special form of Dynamaxing, but I never really knew the difference..."
Stacey hummed, pressing a finger to her lips. "Really? You know, I always felt as if I've seen fewer pokemon supposedly 'Gigantamax' than Dynamax...I think it might be limited to certain pokemon."
"That could be it, yeah." Claire agreed. "Anyway...our information is limited on that subject as well..." She shot an apologetic look at Ash. "But then again, we are just flight attendants, so you might not get the best information from us."
"That's fine with me." Ash shrugged. He rubbed his cheek nervously. "Besides, I'm not really the best at these kinds of things, so any help you give me is great."
Lila had finally snapped out of her stupor and spoke up, "Well, we should probably get to Guyana next, since that's what started this whole conversation in the first place." She pointed to another region on the map, causing Ash to blink in slight surprise. Guyana looked almost as big as Sinnoh! And that was saying something...he hoped that place wasn't as cold as the former region. "Guyana is a region in the Southern Continents and there aren't any pokemon leagues or challenges there...but there are many other sports events held there. In fact, that's pretty much what Guyana's known for."
"...not having a league?" Ash questioned.
"No, sweetheart." Stacey corrected. "They're known for their sporting events."
Ash blinked. "Oh."
"Anyway, so the thing we were talking about earlier...that also started this conversation..." Lila began. "The Guyana Flight Association...and Afros. See, Afros are a common hairstyle in Guyana, and the GFA-Guyana Flight Association-contacted NEO when they felt that many of their workers were being treated unfairly simply because of their hairstyle."
Ash nodded slowly. "Oh, okay...wait, why couldn't they just change their hairstyle?"
Claire smiled painfully. "Because that wouldn't have solved the problem. The main issue was that they were still being treated unfairly, which was only because those workers were from Guyana. And we know for sure that's the reason because there are some workers for the Hoenn Flight Association that have Afros, and they're treated fine. It's simply because of their heritage that they are discriminated against."
Ash frowned, slightly disturbed. "That's...pretty dumb."
Lila rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it. There are racist people everywhere." She sighed and closed her eyes briefly. "But that's just how it is. It's how it's always been."
"...yeah..." Ash agreed, slightly hesitant. He hadn't dealt with any racism throughout his life and had only briefly heard about it through his journey. So his knowledge on this subject was close to zero. Were people treated unfairly simply because of the place they were born? Were people judged over something like that? What happened to a person's character? Wasn't that a factor? Ash shook those thoughts out of his head. He didn't want to continue talking about this anymore, so he changed the topic. "...what about any other regions?"
Claire seemed to welcome the topic change. "Well, there's also Oblivia, Almia, Orre, Holon, Fiore, and Ferrum...just to name a few." She listed off the top of her head. "We can start with Oblivia first, but we probably won't get to all of them, since..." She laughed slightly. "Well, we're not historians and this is just background knowledge we're giving you."
"Well, I don't have to know everything about a region." Ash pointed out. "I think if you just give me the name, what it's known for, and...uh...maybe a fact or something, I'll be fine? I mostly go along with the flow for stuff, so I think the less information, the better." He admitted sheepishly, causing the three flight attendants to chuckle at him.
"Alright, sweetheart. We'll tell you about the Oblivia region. So, Oblivia is-" Whatever Stacey was about to say was cut off by the sudden jerking movement, causing all three flight attendants to grab onto the edge of the counter tightly, with Lila holding Ash tightly. "What the-"
The plane began shaking, causing cries of panic from the passengers. "Excuse me, passengers." A voice spoke through the speaker. The pilot.
"Who's that?!" Claire cried in alarm.
Okay, not the pilot.
"We're experiencing a bit of a...change in course...Team Rocket's takin' over dis ride now!" The same voice from before spoke, causing Ash to gasp and the other passengers to frantically talk among each other.
"Team Rocket!" Ash growled, finally putting a face to the voice. So the co-pilot that Lila had dubbed 'Whiskers' from earlier was Meowth in disguise! "Figures...they're hijacking this plane!"
It was then when he realized that Pikachu wasn't in the place where he had set him on the counter, causing him to clench his fist. "Man, I am not in the mood for this..."
"Team Rocket?!" Lila questioned incredulously. Ash was about to reply when Stacey spoke up instead.
"I've heard of these guys before." She gritted her teeth. "They're well known in the Kanto Region...the feared criminal organization...Team Rocket!"
Ash blinked. Well, who knew that someone other than him knew who they were for once? "Not these guys." He said, catching the attention of the three women. "I actually know these guys personally." He scowled. "They're always after my pikachu and have been following me around almost everywhere I go!" The flight attendants exchanged disturbed looks at this as Ash continued. "They're not really the most dangerous Rocket members out there, but their names are-"
Of course, tradition wasn't going to allow Ash to finish that sentence as panicked cries cut him off. The plane had finally stopped shaking though, which was a plus. That being said, why were people shouting?
With the flight attendants behind him, Ash quickly scurried out the backroom to the aisle seats and saw a familiar face at the front. A familiar group of faces.
Jessie of Team Rocket smirked as she saw Ash. "Well, well, well, the twerp finally decided to show up. We were just about to ask everyone here to hand over their pokemon. Glad to see you'll be joining in."
This show of familiarity between Jessie and Ash confused the passengers. Especially considering they had no clue who either person was and in their eyes, they saw a criminal being familiar with...what looked like an almost fifteen-year-old child confronting her. Because of this, they got oddly quiet so they could figure out what the situation was.
Ah, humanity.
James of Team Rocket crossed his arms, looking cocky. "Guess we have the upper hand in this situation, huh, Twerp?"
Meowth, who had been standing between his two human partners, pulled off a tarp draped over a cage to reveal Pikachu inside it...still sleeping. He, Jessie, and James all looked awkwardly at Pikachu for a few moments, looking slightly unsettled, before Meowth cleared his throat and began talking. "Ya really should pay more attention to yer pokemon, Twerp. Don't ya think it was strange that he was asleep da entire time?"
Ash blinked before the implications of what Meowth had said sank in. His eyes widened with horror, as a few passengers gasped in horror as well. "Wait, you mean you dru-"
"No!" James interrupted, looking irritated. "Just who do you think we are? We may be criminals, but even we have standards!"
"Then what did you do to that poor thing?" Stacey demanded.
Jessie waved her off. "Oh, we just transmitted a high-frequency white noise to put Pikachu to sleep...and some other pokemon that might have just as sensitive hearing. It's kind of like hypnosis that puts a pokemon to sleep...only it's through science." Jessie paused before adding. "And it only works when the target is asleep...so you just made our job easier when you and Pikachu fell asleep earlier. Too bad you woke up." She then brightened. "On the plus side, I got to trip you!"
Ash blinked before pointing a finger accusingly at Team Rocket. "Wait...you were those passengers from earlier! And Meowth, you're the co-pilot..." He paused, something occurring to him. "Wait, if you're here, then...who's piloting the plane?"
"The pilot," Jessie replied as if it were obvious.
Claire frowned. "The pilot...wait, then what was all the shaking earlier about?"
Meowth's face scrunched up with irritation. "Oh, that...ya see, I kind of had to wrestle da rights ta control da plane from him...and it caused a whole buncha turbulence..." He smirked and pointed to himself. "Of course, I won...he became a lot more willing to do whatever we asked him once I took out my claws...Wobbuffet is watching over him right now to make sure he doesn't try anything funny."
Ash glared at the Team Rocket group, which was nothing new. "Well, I'm going to stop you right here, Team Rocket, take back Pikachu, and save everyone here!"
There were a few murmurs in the crowd at the declaration, mostly uncertain. How was this kid supposed to fight back against two adults and a Meowth? Plus, they did have his pokemon hostage...what if they used that against him?
Jessie tossed her head up. "And how exactly do you plan to do that, Twerp? Last I checked, none of your pokemon are small enough to be able to fight in an area this tight without causing collateral damage...or worse."
Ash's hand, which had been reaching towards his belt for his Poke-balls, froze. Damn, she was right. That was surprising. Since when was Team Rocket smart?
Ignoring Unova, of course. Ash completely figured that the Unovan Air's ability to sap intelligence out of people made the Rockets seem much more competent than usual. Granted, they still were pretty dumb in Unova, which was different...
He shook his head, snarling at Team Rocket. How was he supposed to fight now? His eyes drifted towards Pikachu in worry. Pikachu looked exhausted...and though he didn't know why he had a sinking suspicion that this wasn't entirely because of Team Rocket's transmitting device...wherever that was. He frowned. "Hey, where's your transmitter device thing, anyway? You know, what you used to keep Pikachu asleep?"
James's eyes glinted with excitement as he gleefully shouted, "I'm so glad you asked!" He took out a...cube...pressed a button on it, turned it, causing a high-pitched tone to fill the air, and for a couple of kids and young pokemon to whine in annoyance. Ash flinched slightly. Wow, that was loud...
Stacey frowned. "I'm guessing that the frequency you put it at right now is pretty high since none of the adults are getting affected, am I right? But...how come it made the pikachu fall asleep?"
"Ah. Well, that's because I put it at the highest setting, which causes nausea after a while...and since a pikachu's hearing is pretty sensitive, Pikachu would've been the only one to have heard the sound, causing it to sleep off nausea...and maybe a few children too." James admitted. "Well, a few kids getting sick wasn't going to bother us..."
This was the wrong thing to say as a few parents on the plane shot James dirty looks.
"So, that's why my baby was crying!" A mother accused.
"You horrible human being!"
"You should be ashamed of yourselves for not having anything better to do with your life!"
"And get that poor pikachu out of that cage already!"
"Yeah, you stupid son of a bi-"
Everyone stopped their insults when a high heel flew in the air out of nowhere and smacked James' invention on the floor, causing it to spark for a few moments, before canceling out.
"What," Lila said flatly.
Team Rocket screamed in panic. "You broke it!" Jessie accused, turning around to see a stern woman with her hand outstretched. The woman had light blue hair in a ponytail and red-brown eyes. She was wearing all black for some strange reason, even wearing a black cap on her head, almost completely obscuring her face. Ash, strangely enough, felt as if he recognized the woman...
"I would let the pikachu go if I were you. Unless, of course, you want to get yourselves in more trouble than you're already in." The woman spoke, her voice as stern and steely as her eyes were.
Team Rocket scoffed at her, eyeing her up and down. Meowth bared his teeth at her. "And just what're you gonna do 'bout it? Throw yer other shoe?"
The woman replied by promptly throwing her other shoe, smacking Meowth dead in the face.
"Wasn't expecting that to happen." A man spoke up, the other passengers murmuring in agreement. "You guys aren't very good at being bad, are you?"
"Shut up!" Jessie flushed. "We try!"
A woman with glasses and beady eyes pushed her glasses on the bridge of her nose, staring at Team Rocket. "Keyword being 'try'...why are you after a pikachu that belongs to a child anyway? And how long have you been after him? Stalking is a very serious crime, you know."
Lila blinked. "And hijacking a plane, attacking a pilot, and kidnapping a pikachu isn't?"
"They've kidnapped me and my friends before too." Ash volunteered, causing everyone to stare at him, and Team Rocket to look on with annoyance. Since when were bystanders this talkative? They usually captured pokemon, did normal 'bad guy' stuff, and none of the other bystanders aside from Ash, his friends, their pokemon, and maybe some other people of importance did anything to stop them. And these passengers should be just like any other witness of their crimes-by sitting there doing nothing. But, they aren't. Instead, one passenger is throwing a shoe at them, another smack-talking them, and casual conversation going on between them as they are standing right there.
Stacey tossed Ash a sympathetic look. "Oh, really, sweetheart? I'm so sorry...why haven't you reported this to the police yet?"
Ash rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Well, they actually got arrested a few times before...but they always get out. I don't know how. And apparently, they don't know how either."
The glasses woman blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Is that out of intelligence to keep this from you, or stupidity as in they genuinely don't know?"
Team Rocket began growling like a lawnmower as Ash replied, "I think it's the second one."
The familiar-looking woman who had thrown the shoe cleared her throat, catching everyone's attention. "Excuse me, but I believe you three were about to surrender?" She pointed to the TRio. "Your device isn't working, we're over an ocean right now, so there's nowhere to run, and like you said earlier, this space is far too tight to take out any pokemon to fight or threaten anyone here. What else can you do in a situation like this?"
Jessie, James, and Meowth exchanged looks. They hadn't thought of that before...but then again, that was how most of their plans went. Downhill.
In this case, 'downhill' was about to become quite literal as the plane suddenly rocked, slowly tipping downward and causing those passengers not sitting in their sits to stumble and fall. People began screaming frantically as Ash stumbled forward, desperately trying to grab onto something to keep his balance.
Jessie screamed. "What's going on in there?!"
Meowth ran into the pilot area and screamed, causing more panic throughout the plane. "Da controls are goin' nuts in there! I think da engines are broken!"
"They are broken!" A gruff, male voice confirmed from inside the pilot area, sounding irritable. "Something hit it!"
"What hit it?!" James cried back. "Aren't you the pilot? Shouldn't you know this stuff?"
"I don't know what hit it, that's why I said 'something' did!" The pilot shot back, causing James to be taken aback.
The blue-haired woman who had thrown the shoe tried to get everyone to calm down. "Everyone! Please remain calm-"
Ash didn't hear what else the woman said, because he had run after Pikachu, who was tumbling towards the pilot area where Meowth and the Pilot were inside his cage. Ignoring the cries of worry from the three flight attendants he had befriended, he reached out and tried to grab Pikachu's cage-
-and was stopped by a familiar set of claws swiping at him. "Not so fast, bub!" Meowth glared, latching onto Pikachu's cage and somehow staying upright, despite the plane still tipping at a dangerous angle. "We worked our butts off trying to figure out da perfect plan ta take Pikachu!"
At that moment, the plane tipped further, causing the screams and panicked cries to escalate-the plane rapidly plummeting towards the ocean, showing no signs of stopping. Ash's eyes widened as he shouted at Meowth, who looked genuinely terrified at that moment. "Your 'perfect plan' involves a plane crashing into an ocean!?"
"We didn't plan this!" James stumbled nearby, joining in the conversation-the blue-haired woman had taken her attention off Team Rocket to try and calm the passengers down with a surprising amount of authority-and adding. "We didn't plan any of this at all! Do you think if we had our balloon that we would hijack a plane?!"
Ash's eyes flashed. "YES! I know! You would do anything to get what you want! You're just selfish like that!"
Meowth and James exchanged nervous looks before the former unlocked Pikachu's cage with one of his claws and handed Pikachu to a stunned Ash with some considerable amount of difficulty. James was about to say something, but Ash never got to hear what he said, because, at that moment, the plane jerked once more, and submerged underwater; the impact of the plane hitting the water causing Ash to smack his head against a seat hard and blackout.
The last thing he heard was the panicked screams of the passengers, the sound of shattering glass, and a large amount of water splashing.
There was something else too. A strange sound, something that felt almost as if it came from...within him. The sound of quiet running water, which seemed almost contradictory considering what was currently happening at that moment.
And:
"Ash!"
'Who said that...?'
Ash didn't know. Nor did he know if this was a dream or not. He really hoped it was. After all, he wasn't exactly a stranger to weird and surreal dreams before.
Then again, he did always have a bad habit of confusing reality with dreams...
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