The Safari Zone

Misty stared at the Slowbro.

The Slowbro stared right back from atop a massive lilypad.

The staredown continued, even as she slowly reached down for a Safari Ball.

She saw the eyes of Slowbro slowly follow her as she did so, only ceasing their slow movement seconds after she picked up the ball and readied the throw.

Slowbro's stare caught up to this moments before the ball plopped itself on the slow beast's head, sucking it in as shaking began.

"Yes!" Misty declared as in a unwelcome sound a Pokéball burst open, though it was not the Safari Ball.

"Psy." 'You do know it has to stop shaking first, right?'

"Well, don't jinx it then," she snarked to the yellow duck.

"This is not the place you'd find a Jynx. If Jynx are in the Safari Zone, might I suggest the hillier expanses with cool caves?"

"Not interested," she snarked at the know-it-all voice, one she hadn't expected would be accompanying her today but somehow was.

"Pity. A Jynx would be quite useful for data collection," the Pokédex spoke, with a unusual mono-tone, from the gray and chipped Pokégear clipped to her backpack.

Yes the Pokédex. Shortly before they had entered the Safari Zone they had spied a pair of Pokégear spilled out of a torn garbage bag. Not one of the new flip ones, but one of the really old versions.

Monocolor, monotone, monosales these days. Few bothered with them anymore outside of tech collectors.

Upon a curious Anabel picking them up and noting them out of nostalgia, the Pokédex had a brilliant, brilliant idea.

It was going with Ash, but she would be doing her own thing with her own goals while he was off far from water sources. So it had suggested they use the old pieces of tech as side bodies as to allow for additional data collection and providing of additional services through a few features like Dexnav.

Ash had been against it but they hadn't seen any harm in it. It was three to one.

In hindsight though, she was starting to see why Ash found the revelation that the Pokédex could split itself into multiple versions of itself in lesser hardware disturbing.

"The Slowbro is captured. The Slowbro is male, possesses the Own Tempo ability, and knows the moves Psyshock, Scald, Slack Off, and Yawn. Slowbro appears to be in healthy shape with..."

The side-dex continued to ramble about the Slowbro's nail length, tail Shellder status, and analysis of how effective the liver was, so she ignored it and turned to her companion for her little bout.

"I'm sorry, this might take a while. Fishing isn't exactly a guarantee I'll find what I need here."

Waving her worry off Anabel didn't open her eyes as she lay in the sun next to her.

The plan itself had been hashed out over breakfast. They had heard the rumors that other regions had rented the Safari Zone for breeding rare Pokémon populations where they didn't have the space, and a quick question to Professor Oak confirmed that wasn't just wild speculation.

However when one leaves a wild area alone for forty years, finding anything became tricky. That was where Iris had come in.

She had volunteered to survey the area for any Pokémon that really should not be in Kanto, and with Anabel this information could be quickly relayed to herself if was a water Pokémon.

If not it would go to Ash, who'd maybe go after it. The Pokédex's second Pokégear body was with Iris and it would get data either way.

Anabel meanwhile would also be able to pop over to Ash and get Safari Balls if she ran out, or if Iris needed one for some reason.

If Misty had to be honest she wasn't sure what Ash was actually looking for beyond 'he really wanted to find it', and she hadn't a chance to ask him about what exactly he was looking for.

….

From behind the bushes, and from downwind as far he knew, Ash could see a watering hole where five Tauros were drinking.

All five of them had their backs to him, tails at ease as their heads were lowered to the water.

Poking his head out of the brush, Ash eyed the Tauros closely as the leftmost Tauros rose his head for a moment, giving him a clear view of the horns.

A familiar notch ran alongside the leftmost horn, one that made Ash smile.

He recognized this Tauros, the fourth most powerful Tauros of his old herd.

Pikachu popped out of the brush with a sniff before giving his observation, which with a few more seconds of looking he had to agree with.

The two rightmost Tauros were also familiar.

Three of his old Tauros were right there and front of him, along with two he didn't recognize.

What was he to do? Did he just leave them, or did he capture them too so both his herd, and the herd right in front of him, stayed together?

True he had infinite Safari Balls, thanks to both the tournament prize and the Pokédex stealing the glitch and turning it into a program. But was it too much?

"Professor Oak does desire to study Tauros behavior. Multiple study Tauros would be appreciated by the man. Doing so could net me additional RAM when you next return to him," the Pokédex noted.

Well if the Professor wanted it... thirty-two couldn't be much worse than thirty, right? It was just two additional Tauros, what could they possibly do that was so much worse than thirty?

Tapping the glove he was given with the ball program glitch, a metallic hand from Gorrigan Engineering if the red lettering on the side was correct, a Safari Ball popped out. Taking a quiet step out of the bushes Ash entered a long distance throwing stance.

The desire to shout 'Go Safari Ball' was resisted as he sent a Safari Ball flying.

This same restraint was held as he popped out and sent four more towards the Tauros in quick succession.

The balls flew close together, aimed at the Tauros group of five in perfect sync.

Bop!

Ash stared in shock as the rightmost Pokéball hit a Spearow mid flight, intercepting it. The ball triggered, sucking the Spearow in as the four other balls continued forward.

The sound alerted the Tauros, who rapidly stopped their consumption of water and prepared to bolt.

The four Tauros without an intercepting Spearow were each struck by a ball safely, but the last one, one of his Tauros, began to bolt.

'I am not going to lose anyone else!'

Ash's thought finished moments after he gave one more powerful throw. The ball narrowly struck the fleeing Tauros on the flank as it activated.

As that ball fell to the ground and waggled Ash collapsed to his knees with a audible exhale.

That...was too close.

Pikachu darted to his side, unease on his face even as he tried to be reasonable.

"Pikapi" 'That was just bad luck. It shouldn't happen again.'

….

Walking along a lake shore, Red kept his eyes focused on the horizon, scanning for movement. For a moment his eyes focused, glaring down a nearby bush that shook with potential.

A Ratatta scurried out of it, quickly revealing the lack of potential.

Steps behind him was Yellow, who had a notepad out and a pen in hand.

"Okay, with that Scyther you just caught that makes three Pokémon from your 'I really would like to have' list', along with a Doduo and a Nidorino. You also caught a Sandshrew, Ekans, and a Psyduck because we happened to walk past them earlier. You're six for seven so far!"

Red abruptly stopped in his tracks and let out a sigh of frustration as Yellow reminded him of the one that got away.

He was sure that Chansey had been caught, and with infinite Safari Balls he should have been able to keep throwing them with abandon even if he had to run after the plump thing for a while. He had all day after all. Since when did Chansey have the ability to use Teleport?

"Now, if we can just find a Rhyhorn or Rhydon, Ponyta, and a Kangaskhan...why do you want one of those?" Yellow inquired of the later as the lake water's serenity was disturbed as a massive form rose from it.

A massive white and blue body of power and rage, a wild Gyarados had appeared.

Roaring loudly at them, hissing with rage and fury.

Yellow whimpered in fear as Red held a Safari Ball up to it. Gyarados roared again, countered only by Pikachu's sparking cheeks, and a thrown Safari Ball.

The ball hit the serpent on its mid torso, opening and sucking the raging beast inside of it. The ball bounced back to his hands, where he held it tightly even as it shook with immense intensity.

His hands still vibrating he turned to the still unsettled Yellow and answered her question.

"Because Kangaskhan, just like this Gyarados, is a Pokémon that is capable of Mega Evolution. I still need to find a Mega Stone to work with my Keystone, so it pays to have as many options for a matching Pokémon as possible."

Meanwhile the ball still shook violently, the Gyarados was not eager to stay inside it.

"...Well in that case I hope we don't find a Gyarados Mega Stone then. He doesn't seem very happy?"

Oh yeah, the Gyarados did look male didn't it? He had missed that.

He had been distracted by the imminent threat of mauling and incineration.

There was a reason he didn't put Gyarados on his list. That and he did want to participate in Johto one day, and they tended to get offended by the use of Gyarados in Leagues.

Something about a crazy person riding twenty of them around, blasting things and the like.

The Blackthorn Gym Leader only got away with it because of family tradition, and glaring at people who objected and reminding them that Gyarados was her going easy on them.

----------------------------------------

Meanwhile in the mountains far from the Safari Zone

Otoshi would like to say he had no idea how he got talked into this, but he knew exactly how.

The scraggly brown-haired kid with the foreign accent had apples, his food bag had been snagged out of his hands by a Fearow two days ago, and his father had always told him about honoring debts, especially involving apples.

He figured the kid would just want help with moving a couch though, not something so elaborate.

Said favor found themselves on a mountain top, wind blowing amidst dark clouds that rumbled threatening sounds that one really should not be hearing when atop a mountain.

The kid, at least in appearance given his lack of height and muscle mass, was kneeling in front of Marowak. Marowak looked uncomfortable as the process continued, before the kid stood up and nodded.

"Voila!" he declared as he stood back and let Otoshi see what he had done.

Otoshi only had one world for it.

"Huh?"

The kid held up a finger as he began to explain what it was he done, and more importantly why.

"These mountains are infamous for intense lightning storms since ancient times. The lightning here is particularly noted for how it reacts to the local mineral deposits, creating a electromagnetic feedback loop that is highly addictive and aggression-inducing to Electric-type Pokémon," the Kalosian noted as Otoshi cringed.

He knew that quite well. He and Marowak had to fight off three Electabuzz acting like the worst drug addicts he had ever seen, just with electric fists instead of bongs. It was good training, but there were healthier ways to prepare for his sixth badge in Pewter City.

"Yes, but I still would like to know why that involves my Marowak standing on top a mountain, with my Keystone, in a bowtie."

Marowak adjusted the blue and green stripped adornment with the Keystone in the center as the kid continued.

"It's a simple explanation. You see, my granny is a master Mega Evolution Trainer. She won the Kalos League with it, and she knows more about it than perhaps anyone alive. Mega Evolution, as I am sure you know, is created when the Pokémon's Infinity Energy is enhanced by the unique energy humans produce as filtered through a conduit known as a Keystone, inducing a temporary state of additional evolution."

"That isn't simple," Otoshi noted as the kid laughed.

"Oh believe me, I'm simplifying it. You don't want to hear the unabridged version. Anyway back on topic, a Keystone isn't the only way to do this. Alolan Trainers use special crystals to create a similar reaction, only with them it creates a singularly powerful attack known as a Z-Move. There are however, manners of enhancing a Pokémon that don't require a stone or a crystal. They're just harder to achieve." The kid turned to the still fidgety Marowak.

"Marowak is unable to Mega Evolve, believe me, I am familiar with all forty-one Pokémon known to Mega Evolve into forty-two forms so I would know this. However Marowak should still be able to use the non-conduit methods with the correct stimulation. One of which involves using Infinity Energy to create temporary bonds with stray photons and harnessing them as a form of lightweight armor that enhances the Pokémon."

"Stray photos?" Otoshi questioned. This was still not making any sense.

"Photons are connected to light," the kid explained as Otoshi scratched his head. "Your Keystone can be used as a crutch for the manipulation of Infinity Energy until Marowak is able to draw upon the skill at will."

"So, you are going to use my Marowak, his Lightning Rod ability, and my Key Stone to attract light, take the light atoms from it, and form a powerful armor?" Otoshi questioned as the kid shrugged.

"That's one way of putting it, though Photons are not at all like atoms. First of all..."

"...Why the bowtie?" Otoshi had to ask as the kid grinned.

"I'm Kalosian," he (not) explained as the sky rumbled, before exploding in intense light.

"Shield your eyes!" the kid shouted.

Well duh.

The flash blinded him for a good minute before Otoshi opened his eyes once more, to find the kid over by Marowak and holding his arm up, grinning.

His now golden, sparking arm, the color of which coated part of his shoulder as well.

Oddly enough the bowtie was still intact.

"...Behold, my Kanto-born friend, something amazing. The beginning of a power used across history that matches the power of Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, and even Bond Phenomenon. The Break Evolution."

He let go of Marowak, who observed his arm in unease before cautiously using it to hit the ground.

The stone cracked from even the gentle touch, causing Marowak to hold the golden arm up to his face in amazement.

Otoshi was at a loss for words. Such power...he and Marowak could win the League with it if they mastered it.

Eventually a question did bubble up from within himself, and it was one he felt was quite frank.

"...It can be turned off, right? I like gold as much as the next guy but I don't think Marowak wants to be that color the entire time."

"Maro." Marowak agreed with him.

----------------------------------------

Back to the Safari Zone

"Brooo!"

"Tor!"

The sound of a fight had drawn Ash's attention.

Looking from behind a rock, Ash once again found another group of five Tauros. The lead Tauros had a cowlick which Ash caught glimpes of as the bull Pokémon stomped the earth in a display of aggression, an act that was quickly mirrored by the subordinate Tauros behind him.

A familiar cowlick specifically.

The cowlick of his fastest Tauros.

The main Tauros he used wasn't this one, while he valued speed the lead Tauros of his herd was the second fastest and significantly stronger physically. But he remembered this Tauros quite well from the time he got into a race with his Flying Pokémon and did quite well for himself.

Pikachu sniffed the air before giving a positive call. Ash didn't need to hear that all five of the Tauros were his, and grinned.

That made eight Tauros found. Now he just had to...

"Tor!"

Figure out what was going on.

Ash pulled his gaze away from his Tauros to see what was aggravating them.

"Exeggutor, the Coconut Pokémon. Unlike the so called true Exeggutor of Alola, these are stockier and possess psychic abilities. This Pokémon is capable of breeding without eggs via losing one of it's faces. Exeggutor have horrible singing voices," the Pokédex noted as a herd of ten Exeggutor postured aggressively in response to the Tauros.

The two species continued to glare at one another as Ash felt confusion.

Not the literal one that one Exeggutor was doing to lift a stone threatening, the one that didn't require psychic powers.

"This doesn't seem normal."

"You are correct. Exeggutor and Tauros normally do not conflict like this. They operate in totally different niches and habitat types."

"Tor!" The rock was thrown at one of the subordinate Tauros, who smashed it with a single Headbutt before giving out a defiant call. The Exeggutor looked unnerved, but one quickly used Confusion on a plant at the Tauros's feet.

One of the other Tauros bellowed furiously at this, lowering his head at the acting Exeggutor. A sphere of blue water formed between the horns, before firing.

The ball struck the Exeggutor, who stopped the attempt at Confusion and backed away nervously.

"That was Water Pulse!" Ash exclaimed.

"Yes. It would appear that a Psyduck or Golduck layed that Tauros's egg," the Dex noted.

Ash made a note to check how breeding worked in this world at some point. Something about that sentence sounded off.

"Also of note, the plant that the Exeggutor attempted to take was not a typical plant consumed by wild Exeggutor. It's more of a wild Tauros plant, as it makes up 27% of their diet. It is however commonly fed to captive Exeggutor to prevent fungal growth."

Dexter's observation about the oddness of ther Exeggutor's feeding habits made Ash realize something else about the ten Exeggutor.

"Do they look thin?"

Pikachu looked at the grass types for a moment while he held up the Pokédex for a better look.

"Pi" 'Maybe they heard how freaky looking the Alolan ones were and are on a diet to get that way?'

"Scans indicate that the Exeggutor are indeed underweight, though oddly enough they have traces of over the counter health products used in the preventing of fungal issues. Interesting...scanning for...these Exeggutor were released recently."

"Really?" Ash realized, wondering who let them free. Ash wanted to say Paul but something felt off here.

"Also the release was not triggered normally. Most Trainers that release utilize built in release features, but my scans suggest this release was caused by a different method. Their Pokéballs were broken, and you can't do that easily."

"Really?" He was sure all you needed to do to break a Pokéball was hit it with a rock, or hit a rock with a Pokéball. Regardless of what order it should be easy enough to do.

"They aren't as tough as my outer frame, but you can't break them by dropping them on a rock. You need significant force to do so."

There was no reason for Paul to do that, so he was definitely out. But who else was there?

The only guy he knew with so many Exeggutor was Melvin, but he didn't seem like the type of guy to use a chainsaw on his Pokéballs. Did they get run over by a car?

"However it happened, I do not see these Exeggutor as a whole surviving out here. I'd suggest capture before their continued actions disrupt natural barriers and lead to a brawl." The Pokédex's words were followed by some loud snorting from the Tauros. Ash recognized this behavior.

It was not good to be in front of a Tauros doing it.

"Alright."

He'd need a few good pitches, but he should be able to get all of them in one go.

He didn't wake up today with the plan of capturing ten Exeggutor, but they needed help and he had no ball limits.

Ash rubbed his throwing shoulder in preparation. Fifteen good swings quickly was going to hurt a bit.

...

Psyduck had gotten the pair of cold waters out, which Misty thankfully took and had a long sip out of.

Anabel took hers with a psychic pull.

Seven bites so far.

Goldeen.

Magikarp.

A female Psyduck that her Psyduck said things to that she really wished Anabel had been willing to wipe from her mind.

A Slowpoke Anabel had missed entirely because she was blushing a horrible red from being told just what Psyduck said.

Magikarp.

Magikarp.

Magikarp.

No luck.

"I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea to change locations. It's getting hot, and Iris said something about a pond with more shade a while ago right?" Misty suggested as Anabel got up and nodded.

'She did. I think Ash mentioned having been there. He seemed pretty happy about it.'

"Maybe he found a Shiny Chansey or something," Misty joked. That would make anyone really happy.

Or horribly depressed if it waddled away.

'Or an Eevee,' Anabel offered with some wistfulness. Misty could agree. An Eevee would be nice to find, but what were the odds of finding one in the Safari Zone?

The line tugged, a sign of the pond offering one more secret to her. She pulled at the line, wondering if she'd find a fourth Magikarp.

Or the same one just eager to be fed. She honestly wasn't sure.

"Errrr..." Though this one was giving a lot of force behind it. Did she hook something big?

Before she could even voice her request Anabel was behind her, a blue glow around them both as they pulled back with the catch.

The corner of her eye caught Psyduck motioning to help, before realizing the redundancy of it all and just slumping impotently.

The water bubbled and boiled as the Pokémon was revealed...

"Mmmrrrr..." The blue serpentine Pokémon with a short horn purred, sleek and shiny bar a x-shaped mark on the side of its horn.

"A Dragonair. A Dragon Pokémon known for weather altering abilities and rarity. Capture it you fool!" the sidedex's monotone was frantic sounding.

"It's not a Water-type," Misty pointed out. She had no reason to capture it.

Plus it would be a bit awkward to be unable to talk to it.

The Sidedex promptly used a word not meant for public conversation. The Dragonair made a disapproving sound before slapping the Sidedex with its tail before returning to the water.

….

The hill they climbed was a rocky one, littered with uneven stones and scrubby trees that Ash had no desire to learn the name of.

Pikachu let out a call that he heard as 'stop', stopping him mid-step. The rock he was about to put his foot on opened his eyes and glared at him.

"Dude!" The Geodude bellowed before pulling arms out of the ground and reaching for a nearby stone.

Pikachu still on his shoulders, Ash hopped back a boulder as the rock flew right through the space formerly occupied by his head.

"Such a stone throw would have killed you, both from the impact to the skull and knocking you back on a rock that would also smash your skull. Your skull nearly broke in two ways today," the Pokédex informed him.

So Geodude could kill you? Well that was another Pokémon on the ever growing list of Pokémon that were really dangerous.

"Geodude, in case you have forgotten in a while, is the Rock Pokémon. Geodude use their powerful arms to pull themselves up mountain slopes, while it rolls down them with the aid of gravity. Geodude do not like being stepped on, and are quite common. A scholar who was once bored went to a single mountain slope once and counted one hundred of them," the Pokédex mused.

"Did he step on all of them?" Ash wondered if that was how one surveyed for them. If so that scholar was a bold fellow.

"No, he simply used a box of squirt guns and blasted each stone on the slope to see if it freaked out," the Pokédex quipped.

So he was bold then. Maybe crazy.

"You may be curious to know that Geodude does have an Alolan form," the Pokédex hummed as Ash reached for it to see what it would even look like. Pikachu also cocked his head in curiosity to it.

"Let me guess, it has a really long neck?" Ash joked as the image displayed a paler Geodude with only two fingers, a lot of dark spikes on itself, and a pair of black eyebrows.

"Negative. The Alolan Geodude evolved with the aid of a majority of magnetic stones that compose it, making it a Rock/Electric Type. They are similarly common to their regular counterpart."

Ash eyed the eyebrows of the Alolan Geodude for a moment.

"You know, I'd catch it just for those cool eyebrows."

"...What?" Pikachu chirped in shock.

"The eyebrows are fascinating. I'd love to study their composition in depth." The Pokédex agreed on the eyebrow comment, causing Pikachu to look even more uneasy.

The sound of a distant Tauros breying in pain interrupted the discussion of the wonders of Geodude eyebrows, leading Ash to dart off the rocky hill as soon as he had begun to traverse it.

To the relief of Pikachu at the end of the discussion of the better eyebrowed Electric-type, if at the cost of having to hold on harder to the shoulder of choice.

Five minutes of movement brought him to a heap of four defeated Tauros, all lying on the ground with bruises all over them.

A fifth Tauros was still standing, shaking but with his back to him, a body language that suggested it was struggling to stay up through sheer willpower alone.

A scar on this Tauros's flank told Ash who this Tauros was, it was the Tauros that was constantly pushing itself against other opponents to get stronger, to one day challenge the leader of the herd and become the toughest.

He had a bad habit of getting into headbutting contests with the Onix staying at Oak's ranch and being made to rest by Bulbasaur as a result.

"Pik." 'Well, other than the Tauros after your own heart, three of the defeated ones are ours. I don't recognize the one on the far left.' Pikachu sniffed.

So now he had found twelve of his Tauros, and a third he nor Pikachu recognized. He couldn't leave it when he caught the rest and got them healed up.

Well now the Professor would have thirty-three Tauros. It still shouldn't be much worse than thirty.

The lead Tauros, the one who constantly pushed himself dangerously beyond his limits, collapsed now, and the cause of their injuries was made clear.

"Far far far!"

A Farfetch'd, standing before the defeated Tauros with a smirk that looked so arrogant Ash would not be surprised if someone told him this was the Gary of his Indigo League days, reincarnated as a Farfetch'd.

More noticeably odd about it was the leek stalk it was carrying. Most of the time Farfetch'd used the same kind of stalk. For all Ash knew they could use carrots or squash or corn cobs, but he had never seen them do so. Perhaps they were always careful to live around that specific plant type and Farfetch'd Trainers were expected to buy them new ones if something ate it or if it began to decompose.

However this Farfetch'd was the first time he had observed a difference among the species in that regard, in that it did not have a leek stalk.

This Farfetch'd carried three, one in each wing and the third in its beak.

"Farfetch'd, the Wild Duck Pokémon. Farfetch'd is highly tasty and nutritious, a meal of emperors and nobility. After the decline of these classes, the peasant class ate them extensively. Dedicated efforts have led to a population resurgence in recent times. They are only supposed to use one leek." The last part from the Pokédex sounded incredulous.

"Far!" it declared in a mumble that was still somehow audible, before resting the gaze upon Ash.

"Far far..."

"Translation?" Ash asked Pikachu, wondering if he was going to have to catch the Tauros fast and run from the threatening Farfetch'd.

Pikachu hummed a bit before answering.

'A Human. How rare here, and one who isn't an old crockety man who listens to oldies with the Dragonair. Well, this could serve my purpose.'

"Your purpose?" Ash questioned. Did he want to beat up a Human but figured that Kaiser would shoot him if he tried? Did he think he wouldn't try and eat him for doing so?

Ash wouldn't, but that was making assumptions.

"Fetch."

'I am the greatest Leeksmon in all of this region. I have defeated the best this land has to offer, the Hornsmons, Spoonsmons, Pendulummons, Clawmons...they have all fallen to my three-leek style. However I know there are other Pokémon out there. Those with blades for arms, bones for clubs, bladed leaves on their arms...I wish to defeat them all, but I cannot fly without losing my leeks. I thought I would have to walk to seek them out.''

Pikachu's translation caused Ash to look at the Farfetch'd in confusion.

"I guess you could find Marowak if you walk, but Sceptile and Bisharp live across bodies of water. You can't walk to Hoenn or Unova..."

"Bisharp are also found in Kalos."

"Still can't walk there." The Pokédex did not change his point.

"Far."

'I would have walked there regardless, but it would have taken too long. But you are a human, you can go on an airplane. If you have come to capture Pokémon, I wish to see if you are worthy of me.'

Ash wasn't sure if the Farfetch'd meant 'defeat me' or some other show of worth. Given Kaiser's comments on what he'd do to him if he heard 'even one crack of electricity from ya', Ash would like to avoid that if he could.

Perhaps some other show of skill?

He didn't necessarily need to capture this Farfetch'd, but he was pretty sure if he didn't it would walk into the mountains and be turned into a frozen meal for something.

Otoshi was around so he would be able to give him a Marowak to fight at the very least.

Ash opened up his jacket, revealing his four sparkling badges.

"Fetch?"

'He has no idea what those are,' Pikachu explained. Apparently just having badges was not sufficient.

"These are Gym Badges. They are signs that I conquered the best of entire types of this region, and masters Trainers of their type." Well three masters and Misty's sisters.

"I defeated the master of Rock, the master of Electricity, and the master of Grass," Ash offered them up, "I also defeated one who isn't that for Water, but I defeated her best far beyond what I should have by all accounts."

Farfetch'd still looked contemplative, so Ash took out the Pokédex.

"Pokédex, show my Pokémon."

"...Don't talk to me like I'm a Xbox One," the Pokédex declared indignantly, but nonetheless displayed his Pokémon.

They appeared in single still images one after another, Pikachu, Charizard, Pidgeot, Butterfree. Servine, on and on.

Farfetch'd nodded at these images before giving out a squawk.

'He says you are looking better, though he still is not a hundred percent sure. Walking to 'Unavo' is still an option he is considering'.

Pikachu's translation left Ash wondering what he could do next.

Mindlessly he reached for the bottom of his shirt and pulled it up.

He apparently had muscles in this timeline, maybe they'd do it for him.

Farfetch'd wasn't moved by it.

Hmm...

Ash held out his non Pokédex holding hand, and set it alight with Power-up Punch. Farfetch stared at in in amazement.

"Fetch'd!"

'Glowing fists win the day,' Pikachu simply said as Ash disengaged the Power-up Punch and got on his knees, a Safari Ball in hand.

Farfetch'd nodded before tapping it with his mouth leek, activating it and being sucked inside.

"That was highly unconventional capturing," the Pokédex stated the obvious even as five more Safari Balls flew for the Tauros.

Yes, yes it was. But now he had a Farfetch'd and said Farfetch'd wouldn't hurt itself walking to Unova.

...How long would that take if one could walk on water anyway?

…

"As we are in a quiet zone now, I will display the long put off information dump. Tauros is a Normal-Type, the Wild Bull Pokémon. They are fond of charging motions and greet their friends with friendly head butting. In some parts of the world Tauros are ridden around as transportation," the Pokédex mused as Ash and Pikachu walked through a silent stretch of the Safari Zone.

"You mean like tying a skateboard to a collar around the Tauros, right?" Ash asked. They couldn't mean riding the Tauros like a Ponyta, right?

"...Your knowledge of obscure transportation techniques is notable, but no. They put a saddle on Tauros and ride them. The idea was created by an ancient Alolan King named Kahele, but it is stated he learned the basic idea of the concept from a monk whose name and location are lost to history. By stated of course he ordered his scribes to stop omitting it from the official histories on threat of being made to clear the beaches of Pyukumuku for a month. As such this fact remains in place, though the name of the monk was lost sometime a few centuries ago."

Pyukumuku? What was that, some sort of driftwood? The driftwood of the Pyuku tree or something?

Before Ash could ask the sound of Tauros braying rang through the distance, and so Trainer and Pikachu darted towards it.

"Why are you so insistent on catching Tauros? You are currently in possession of twelve of the things," the Pokeded inquired as they jogged towards the sound.

"Because Tauros live in herds," Ash told the Pokédex.

Also because he still had twenty-one specific Tauros to find.

"There is...logic in what he says." The Pokédex gave an odd-sounding response, and Ash wasn't sure if it was quoting something.

Regardless of what the reason was Ash stopped running, his sneakers barely avoiding sinking right into the steaming pool of water in front of him.

Pikachu tumbled into said water, though he popped out of said water with a relaxed look on his face.

"Pi..." Pikachu's words were more a sigh of contentment than a full on sentence, and so Ash scanned the warm pool in question.

He did indeed see four Tauros in the pool, looks of content on their faces and tongues sticking out. Alongside them were a troop of Mankey, a Chansey, a Tangela, and two Dodrio.

In the back was a Arcanine.

"This should not be here," the Pokédex pointed out. It did seem out of place, unless this place had a volcano.

Moments after the Pokédex noted this the Arcanine, who Ash only just realized was looking old in the muzzle, dipped said muzzle into the water. The area around said muzzle glowed red, and the water bubbled and steamed just a bit more.

"...Okay, the question is answered but now I have even more questions," the Pokédex noted as Pikachu looked at the Tauros absently and waved Ash off.

So none of them were from his herd then.

Pikachu, reluctantly, exited the hot spring and, without a word, Ash and Pikachu continued on.

"I am confused," was all the Pokédex had to say on the matter.

…

Iris had called them, and with that Anabel had teleported the two to her location.

There Iris was looking at a pool uneasily.

The pool was an odd one. It looked deep, and it had a lot of disturbances in it. It was clearly filled with life.

But it also had a sign around it, a wooden sign post that read.

Emergency Lunch Pool/Study Site 'Ponyboy'. Do not tell Kaiser. Dangerous. Research Curtis

It also didn't have many tracks around it, unlike the other pool. Few Pokémon came to drink here for some reason.

"Well, you said you wanted all the Water Pokémon in the world," Iris told Misty with a tone of dismay.

Clearly she knew what was in this pool, and was not a fan of it.

This was one of the foreign Pokémon introduction sites that Professor Oak had confirmed were in the Safari Zone.

Good.

Curious as to what was going in with the pool, Misty extended an arm towards the pool.

She immediately jerked it back reflexively as the water surface broke, and a green shape leapt out. It bit at the air before falling back in with a splash.

"Analyzing...Basculin, the Hostile Pokémon. A Water-type extremely common in the Unova Region. Basculin are prone to fighting with each other over what color they are born with a stripe of, and this has driven several colors into extinction. The only species known to exist today are those with a blue stripe and those with a red stripe. The fact they are quite edible did not help," the side Pokédex monotoned as Iris turned to Misty with a look of 'well here you go'.

"Basculin are a pain. They also are very aggressive." She emphasized this point by holding up her left leg, revealing a few puncture marks in the shape of teeth around her ankle.

'Ouch,' Anabel emphathically declared.

"It took a month for me to use this leg properly. That was ten years ago I think..."

Double ouch.

Misty eyed the pool, a thousand ideas wafting through her head.

Clearly they were aggressive and voracious, making her wonder exactly what they were eating in the pool. As Iris said, she wanted to capture one. One of every Water-Pokémon after all.

Would her rod even survive in that pool if they were that aggressive though?

Reaching for one of the Safari Balls Ash had lent her, she decided to try something.

She threw the Ball towards the water, which caused the pool to burst again as another Basculin jumped. This time she caught the red stripe it had across it.

It bit the Safari Ball with the sound of metal screws slashing something, as the ball opened up slightly.

It was hindered by the fact the bite of the Basculin was across its front.

The ball worked none the less, and red energy sucked the Basculin inside of it. A few other Basculin jumped, mostly ones with blue stripes, but the ball was teleported off to Professor Oak before they could bite it.

"Capture complete," the side dex declared.

'Do you think maybe we should...' Anabel noted the pool, and Misty knew what she meant.

The question of what the Basculin were eating bothered her the more she thought of it.

"The things do like to live in schools, but I cannot see why anyone would want more of them," Iris declared her disbelief in what they decided to do as both Misty and Iris took out four Safari Balls.

All of them were thrown over the pool, and after each a Basculin jumped. Half were blue, the other red.

All were sucked into the balls.

This was repeated with similar results twice more.

….

A group of Kangaskhan were on the edge of a wooded area, reaching for fruit in the branches with a slow, relaxed pace to it.

Upon grabbing a fruit several broke it into two pieces. The larger, about two thirds if Ash had to guess, was eaten by the mother.

The smaller bit was handed down into the pouch, where small hands grasped at them.

Young Kangaskhan.

Ash looked for any sign of human hands being among them, but saw nothing.

Was he even in the right place for Tommy?

Still if there was no sign of him, he might as well move…

"Broo!"

From his distant vantage point Ash was drawn by the sound, as were Kangaskhan as two Tauros charged towards each other.

The earth trembled with their force.

"Pi!" 'Those are two of ours.' Pikachu confirmed. Ash nodded as he prepared to throw.

However a snag had developed.

The Kangaskhan let out an alarmed call at the charge of the Tauros, and began moving wildly, making Ash pause.

The wall of flesh that the Kangaskhan were creating would make throwing through them impossible without hitting them.

He had gotten one accidental Spearow today, he'd like to avoid doing that again.

To solve this problem, he would have to get around them, and quickly.

Quickly..

"Hey buddy, hold on," he told his partner, who gripped onto his jacket as tight as possible.

A white glow surrounded Ash after that, and so he used Quick Attack.

A white blur, he sped through the Kangaskhan chaos and out the other side, yards from the charging Tauros.

As the blur dissipated Ash threw two Safari Balls at once.

The two spheres struck the Tauros in sink, sucking both in without a fuss.

Fourteen Tauros found. Sixteen to go.

Pikachu jumped off his shoulder, a tad uneasy but fine regardless, with Ash giving his shoulder a stretch after the darting….only to feel like something was off.

Cautiously he felt around the shoulder Pikachu had been holding on. It felt…off.

He couldn't describe how, but it felt a bit distorted.

Pikachu noted what Ash was doing and flinched.

'Sorry, that wasn't supposed to happen.'

Ash shrugged. It wasn't that noticeable, and his shirts always accumulated use after a while.

….

Red held out his arm, stopping Yellow from darting ahead. The two stayed silent for a moment, before moving ahead.

They parted grass, and with a bit of flames a bramble in front of them was cut.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

As the slight embers burned it away his Pikachu darted ahead, and the two followed into a clearing in the grass.

"Nggghhh…"

Where his Pikachu was crouched next to a Ponyta, lying on the ground. Its back right leg was twisted oddly.

The Ponyta also looked thin.

Yellow gasped, before darting towards the leg. The Ponyta neighed in fright even as she kneeled in front of it.

"Shhh….shhh….it's okay…it's okay….." Yellow told the frightened creature as she held her hands over the broken leg, as a wave of pink light radiated out of it.

The leg began to glow, and Red knew what was happening now.

Healing. Yellow's abilities included the ability to heal physical injuries. It was useful for training accidents, as well as roots.

Tree roots were evil sometimes.

Perhaps that was what happened to this poor creature.

The neighs of fright began to relax, the edge of pain leaving them as the grass near them rustled.

Red eyed this, standing up and walking towards the rustling and into the grass a few feet.

A large purple tail slithered by, as a head poked through the grass. A wide disturbance was behind it, flat and marked with red and black.

Arbok. A predator.

The Arbok hissed at him, clearly interested at passing him and getting to the Ponyta. It was nervous though, it did not know what he was.

Isolation had its benefits it would seem.

Red opened his mouth slightly, and noted the feeling of heat that often followed this. Flames danced in his mouth, a hot expanse of heat and flames that was intimidating he was told.

It also helped prevent plaque build up or getting things stuck in his teeth. Who needed mouth wash when one's mouth burned away the problem.

Arbok quickly retreated at his display, clearly not wanting a burn.

Satisfied Red turned around and returned to Pikachu and Yellow. Ponyta's leg was now better and Yellow was helping it back up.

She was struggling, but they were making progress.

He stepped forward to help, but in a shout of will Yellow managed to complete it on her own. The Ponyta stood, uneasy but back on four legs, as he held out a Safari Ball.

He stepped forward and held the ball up to Ponyta's muzzle.

The Ponyta looked at him for a moment, then turned towards Yellow. She nodded, and thus Ponyta returned to his way, and stepped forward.

The ball tapped right between Ponyta's forehead, sucking it inside.

….

The expanse was rocky, and littered with holes.

"Brooo!"

Holes that were dangerous.

A Tauros was here, just beyond a hole and clearly in pain. It wasn't standing, just lying on the ground vocalizing its pain to the world.

"It appears this Tauros broke its leg," the Pokédex noted.

Ash knelt down beside the Tauros, the action causing Tauros to react and bellow with even more alarm.

"Professor Oak can heal this, right?" he asked the Pokédex.

"He can," the Pokédex confirmed seriously as Ash pressed a Safari Ball to the Tauros's flank. The Tauros was sucked in even as Pikachu gave the Tauros a sniff.

"Pikapi." 'That was one of ours.'

So it was. Well that was just a bonus. He hadn't even thought of that.

He was halfway there. He still had to find the leader, but he would in time.

Standing back up he gazed at the holes in confusion.

Who exactly dug all of these…

"Diglett."

A Diglett popped out of the ground, and Ash would have said 'a ha!', but he then noted the holes around them.

They looked off for Diglett make, or Dugtrio for that matter.

The Diglett ducked back into the earth, only for another Pokémon to pop its head out.

Or more specifically, fin and head out.

"Gi," went the Gible.

"Gible, the Land Shark Pokémon. Gible are fond of tropical areas but can live in temperate regions with the aid of caves for warmth. They can also clearly live in communal hole infested areas, known as towns, that burrowing Pokémon are sometimes known to make. They are also really rare and valuable Pokémon, now capture it you fool!"

The Pokédex was starting to sound like Team Rocket, and Ash wondered if they were going to spring out at him today or not. Regardless of that question he looked at the Gible again.

He didn't need Pikachu to tell him that wasn't his Gible.

"Nope." He popped.

"What is wrong with you!?" the Pokédex demanded as the Gible retreated into the earth.

However from another hole in the ground popped out another Pokémon that someone had introduced here for some reason or another.

"Dwe," cried the Dwebble.

"Dwebble the Rock Inn Pokémon. A Bug and Rock Type who maintain breakable stone shells as their home. They are found in beaches and deserts. Now, could you please capture it," the Pokédex requested as Ash looked at the Dwebble curiously.

Pikachu did as well, sniffing the air for good measure before shaking his head in negative.

It wasn't Cilan's.

And so they let Dwebble dart back down into the ground.

"This is why I don't do polite," the Pokédex sulked as pebbles at the edge of the holes began to dislodge and fall, as new Pokémon popped out.

"Ro!" ceclared the gray stone with the knob on top.

"Gen!" It had a depression in the center body. It was apparently their ear, as Ash recalled.

"Rol!"

"Hoochie Koo," the Pokédex snarked as it lazily described an entry. "Roggenrola. Mantle Pokémon. Rock. Unova. Common. You don't care to capture it. Let's move on."

Ash would be worried about how the Pokédex was acting, but he looked over the Roggenrola that popped out.

He had to be sure that a very specific one wasn't here, because if it was…

He looked over all three of them, with the final one drawing his attention. The Rol among the roll call felt familiar, very familiar.

He was already reaching for his Safari Ball.

"Pi?" 'That can't be….how did she get here? This is impossible.'

She? Roggenrola/Boldore was a girl? He had never gotten a read on that, and when it came to gender he had a pretty good idea with his Unovan team.

Still with both his gut feeling and Pikachu's nose, they had an I.D. An unlikely and unexpected I.D, but an I.D none the less.

With no more time to waste, he threw the Safari Ball.

It tapped her right below the top knob, and sucked her in as her two friends darted back inside.

"….I am stunned." The Pokédex had no words as the Safari Ball teleported to Professor Oak, moments after which Ash went for the H.O.P.E glove.

He wasn't sure if touching the Safari Ball allowed for the transfer of the memory restoring effect, but he'd find that out now.

Now that he had a Pokémon who would not greet him with a broken foot, and that he knew.

The Pokédex voiced no words as he put in Ambipom's ball and sent it off, and even auto-set in Roggenrola to come back moments later.

As the Safari Ball popped back, he removed the ball and the glove, and threw the Safari Ball into the air even as he put the glove away.

The ball released Roggenrola, who was looking around in confusion. First at her surroundings, than at her lack of large limbs, than at him and the fact he was taller, probably older, and in different clothing.

"Rog." 'I am so confused right now.'

"Fair enough. Walk with me and Pikachu and we'll explain."

…

The waves that lapped up against the shore smelled of salt.

Misty and Anabel stared at the narrow canal that wafted into the distance. It was indeed a canal of sort sorts, the water edge was without curves or bends.

Someone had made this.

"Okay I sort of get the pit of Basculin, but this I'm not sure. I can't make heads or tails of it." Misty mused as the mono-dex in her possession spoke up.

"Data suggests that this is a Gyarados canal."

'A Gyarados canal?' Anabel questioned, though after several moments she remembered that the Pokédex could not hear her.

"A Gyarados canal?" Misty repeated the question for the dex.

"Correct. It is a recent observation conducted by Jared that Gyarados occasionally blast canals from the sea inland purposefully. Originally it was just assumed to be a byproduct of shooting lasers when they get angry. "

"Oh I see." Misty noted how that had could have been missed and looked down the canal in thought.

"So…why do they do it?"

The monodex did not answer them.

'Is it buffering again?'

"Jared…isn't sure. He thought it might have been for breeding purposes, but Gyarados breeding habits are well known. They don't lay eggs in them. His theories for them include territorial marking, the impressing of mates, excess stress releasing, and as a form of play between Gyarados. He means to do further research on the subject, but last was heard of him he had taken a wrong turn on his Gyarados and ended up sighted off the coast of Pinkan Island. Which is odd given he was going to Dandelion Island in the Sinnoh Region originally…"

The canal spat out a bubble, drawing the girls attention away from Monodex and to the salt water connection before them.

Misty moved to get her rod in, but Anabel rose a hand to stop her. She took a deep breath before clapping her hands.

A blue glow surrounded them, and she part them.

In tandem the waters parted, revealing the source of bubbles.

"Ko…." a Krabby declared as it struggled. Both pincers were holding the edges of a Shellder's shell, pulling at the thing with immense force.

"A predator and prey relationship revealed. Krabby the predator who uses claws to obtain food, and Shellder the prey who uses its shell to hold back predators," the Monodex mused as Misty set loose two Safari Balls.

They plopped on the distracted combatants, taking them away as Anabel let the water return to its natural state.

As the water returned to a normal shimmering sheen Misty smiled.

To think she had seventeen now. Staryu, Starmie, Wingull, Psyduck, Horsea, Goldeen, Gyarados, Poliwrath, Magikarp, Slowpoke, Golduck, Wooper, Tentacool, Basculin, Slowbro, Krabby, and Shellder.

Her dream was making good progress.

Interesting how much progress had sped up after she met good friends.

…

"….And that's everything about the end of the world, unless Pikachu has anything more to add." Ash finished explaining to his first Rock Pokémon given that Larvitar was never officially his.

Pikachu responded in negative to the prompting as Roggenrola stood still.

"Rol." 'So, the fate of the world is at stake.'

"In a few years anyway. Before that we can probably expect at least a few other scenarios that threaten the world to occur," Ash confirmed as Roggenrola continued to ponder.

"Rola." 'Not sure why I'm here. I think I was taken as an egg, but I want to check on my old friends. But….Team Rocket were the ones to try and turn them into a laser blaster, and they are still following you around….'

Ash caught a bit of what she was worried about. If they were to go back and see them, Team Rocket could follow and choose to make a Roggenrola cannon again.

She was conflicted. Checking on them could easily invite the problem. Even after he had noted Team Rocket's change of habit in the current manner of reality, that didn't mean lasers were beyond them.

"Even after defeating Cyrus, I still have life ahead of me. Even if I win all the Leagues in the world before him, I still want to find all my friends again. Palpitoad isn't that far from them."

He wasn't going to leave any of them behind. While finding Snivy and Roggenrola early was good, he'd still make sure to find everyone else.

It wasn't like they were going to all appear a lot earlier. That would be nice, but it would be really strange.

So Team Rocket be damned, they would go see them after finding Palpitoad.

Roggenrola motioned in a thankful manner, before her sensory nob twitched.

"Rol." 'There's a Tauros up ahead.' And with that they were on the move once more.

Only later would Ash note he hadn't brought up a few details he could have, instead of filling her in on what had happened in Kalos before the world ended.

…

"Good morning class. My name is Professor Oak. Your teacher was kind enough to let me talk to you today about Pokémon safety."

"Hello!" the class cheered as the old man gestured towards Ash, who was getting the last of his monies worth from his Sinnoh clothes.

"This is my assistant Ash. You may have heard of him."

"Isn't he the guy who got beaten by that ye old fairs guy?" a child asked innocently as Pikachu's eye twitched in annoyance.

"I'm not sure I would have called Tobias a, whatever that is…" Ash noted as the Professor coughed to regain order.

"He did well for himself at Lily of the Valley, but that is besides the point. He generously donated his time to helping me with today's lesson. He's kindly brought several of his Pokémon with him for us to see. Stand back everyone."

The Professor took a step to the left as Ash threw a Safari Ball into the air. Bursting open, the sphere revealed a Tauros, who bellowed loudly.

The children looked uneasily towards the bull, but Professor Oak quickly gestured to them.

"Relax little ones, this Tauros is the tamest of all the Tauros my young friend has. He's a gentle soul and quite calm when he isn't with the rest of the herd. He's quite good with children."

The children stared at the Tauros for a moment, not quite believing him. Ash stepping forward and petting Tauros did not move anyone.

Seconds passed, then a minute, then a little girl stood up and walked slowly to the Tauros.

Small fingers touched Tauros's snout, which was followed by a hand.

Followed by more children, who were becoming more open to approaching the bull Pokémon.

...

This memory was up front in Ash's mind as they entered a grotto hidden in a nest of trees.

After all, that very same Tauros was staring him down. The Bull Pokémon was resting on his knees, with a small red fluff ball popping out from the side of him, gazing at him doey-eyed.

"Vulpix, the Fox Pokémon. Vulpix are able to control fire with psychic power, though they themselves are not psychic types. This is true even in their Alolan forms."

Ash would have asked what an Alola Vulpix looked like, but he was still stuck on something.

"Why is there a Vulpix here? Did they fall asleep together or something?"

"The most likely reason is a parental bond. A Tauros can father a Vulpix," the Pokédex noted as Ash tried to picture that.

Ash would have tried to figure out how that would even work, but the Vulpix caught his eye again.

Specifically for the purple sheen that was covering its face.

He immediately reached for his bag.

Tauros eyed his cautiously as he fumbled blindly through the bag, noting each and every random item he pulled out of it.

A ball of socks, a pair of pink rubber gloves still store bound, a screwdriver, before finally coming up with what he was looking for.

"Vulpix isn't feeling well is it? This'll help," Ash offered as he held up a Antidote spray. Tauros eyed the spray with a long gaze, but gave a slow nod in allowance.

Ash promptly sprayed it on Vulpix, who coughed. The purple sheen began to fade as the poison was combated.

As the poison continued to fade Tauros continued to stare at him for a while, before turning to the recovering Vulpix.

The Vulpix nodded, and the Tauros followed with his own nod. With that unspoken request the Safari Balls were flown, and both clicked.

Sixteen Tauros found, and a Vulpix too. That his Tauros apparently fathered….

"That, never happened before, did it?" Ash questioned his two Pokémon. As they looked at him curious, he elaborated.

"Did the Tauros have kids? Were there entire legions of eggs that you guys had that I never knew about? I mean you mentioned Azu…"

"Pika." 'I said I might have fathered her. I have no idea frankly. And no, Professor Oak was quite clear to ensure Pokémon did not breed out of control without the express permission of Trainers."

"How did he do that?" Did he give them lectures about death or something?

'Drugs!''

Pikachu's response made both Ash and Roggenrola step away from the mouse.

'Legal drugs I assure you, and drugs that don't exist in this timeline. Bulbasaur confirmed that is part of the reason that the guy has a giant room of eggs.' Oh yeah, he did didn't he….

He probably should make sure the Professor would tell him about any eggs. He didn't want to end up in Kalos again and suddenly find out he had every Pokémon in the Kanto Pokédex without even realizing it.

Just as the image of that very awkward phone call that was follow such a revelation ended Roggenrola's sensor nob twitched again.

'It didn't take me that long to learn how to pick up Tauros stampedes, and I hear a big one over that way. Follow me.'

And so they did.

….

Red's eye was twitching.

His hand trembling, it continued to try and reach for a Safari Ball but held in place by his other arm.

The impulse to capture, and the logic to not even bother, were at war in himself, and it was maddening.

Yellow was unaffected by his concerns though, and was looking at what they had found in amazement.

"A Snorlax!" she declared as the two behold the large sleeping lummox in the middle of a stripped forest.

"Yes..." Red choked out in frustration as Yellow looked at him oddly. Pikachu had moved to her shoulder early in his madness, and he looked at him with understanding of his dilemma, but still annoyance.

"Why aren't you trying to catch it? Not only is it asleep, but aren't Snorlax supposed to be super powerful and awesome?!"

"They also...eat a lot," Red pointed out as Yellow looked at him oddly.

"So do we, and it isn't a problem."

Red gestured to the forest around them as Yellow stared at the trees without leaves, the torn apart bushes of berries, and the torn apart mushrooms.

She looked at it for a moment, before her eyes widened.

"Wait, are you saying Snorlax ate everything here!?"

"Probablys" he declared as he continued to stare at the Snorlax, the argument of immense power vs immense cost continuing to ring through him.

Yellow pinched her lips as she stared at the forest that Snorlax had fully snacked through.

"Is it possible to just keep Snorlax in a ball for long periods of time?"

"It is, and it will likely get you eaten by a starving Snorlax the moment you let it out," Red noted the story he had heard. It was only a story because Snorlax digestive systems left no traces of what they ate behind, not even bones.

Said Trainer's mother still hoped he was just missing.

"Oh...well what about just letting it eat everything around us, kind of like what it did here. Could that work?" Yellow suggested as Red looked around.

That...was an option. He could feed all of his Pokémon first, then let Snorlax out and have it forage for itself. They moved enough it would not be an issue, and Grass-Pokémon were good at restoring forests...though he could see himself running into problems.

Plus what would happen in urban areas? He'd get arrested if he left Snorlax in the middle of Celadon's park system and it ate everything in it.

'My Pokémon actually stay at Professor Oak's Laboratory when I'm not using them. It's a massive place where they can get stronger and get looked after by experts. They even help with science, though I have no idea how.' Ash's words from their dinner conversation rang in his ears as a wave of indignation coursed through him.

Oh course. The Trainer who didn't even find it worth his time to fight people properly just happened to be friends with a person who could easily house and feed a Snorlax.

How wonderful. Regular Trainers had to work with their Pokémon in rotation, requiring Pokéballs locking themselves down and inactive when not in use, while he could just give them to an old man to work on their own.

Come to think of it, wasn't Gary the same way, and possibly Paul too? He had a Pokédex if what Ash mentioned was true, did he have someone he sent his Pokémon off to to work on their own?

What injustice.

Part of Red now wanted to just capture the Snorlax so he wouldn't get it. They were rare after all, and there was no reason to give him another powerful Pokémon he could use to half-ass himself through everything after all.

"Red!" Yellow snapped, breaking him out of his funk.

The little girl was looking at him in annoyance. His Pikachu looked to be on his side at least.

"I see your posture, you are getting upset about Ash again, aren't you? He's not even here Red, you don't have to think of him at all." She looked at the Snorlax with a frown before turning back his way.

"I swear, Ash may be an idiot who thinks that doing his best is cheating, but what's he done now? Is it because he knows an old man who can feed Snorlax for him? Honestly if he captures this Snorlax and does that, isn't that him actually using his advantages for once?"

Red opened his mouth to rebute, but stopped when he realized that Yellow was right. Ash doing that was him actually behaving correctly.

He wasn't even sure that him doing that with captures, and not with battle, was even hypocrisy.

It was...annoying. Annoyance on top of the frustration of the question of Snorlax.

"Yes, the Pallet Town guy is a frustration, isn't he? So perfect, and yet so imperfect at the same time."

The new voice in the area drew both their attention to the still slumbering Snorlax, where a girl sat, looking at them from atop the blubber of the slumbering beast.

She had green hair cut in a short style Red couldn't name. He really didn't care for such things. Her shirt was white and pants blue, and she had a slender build to her.

Her eyes were the most notable thing about her, one eye was brown like chocolate, the other black like the night.

"Who are you?" Red questioned. He'd have asked how she knew Ash, but he really could care less. He was more interested in how a girl just randomly appeared behind them like that.

Pikachu didn't pick her approach up. No one was that stealthy.

She smirked as she held a finger up as her eyes glowed blue. A Safari Ball flew her way also glowing blue as she held it above said finger.

"My left eye sees the exact past, and my right eye sees the possible futures. I think that's all you need to know there, but for who I am you can call me Naty."

"Okay then, what are you doing here?" Red pressed again as she continued to spin the Safari Ball, ignoring Pikachu's threatening sparks.

"Well I've been thinking of getting involved more for a while, and I just happened to notice that someone a lot less pleasant than I am is wandering about. She's off looking elsewhere now, but you are in notice now, and both you and Ketchum made good impressions."

"Care to elaborate?"

She shrugged.

"Sadly one only can know so much about mysterious organizations before you run into their disposal men, or worse. Still I can say that the group, or at least the one their little spy works for personally, thinks you or Ketchum could be excellent candidates for a personal project of theirs, and I feel it is only fair to help you make up the ground that that oddity has over you."

"Is it pick-on-Ash day?" Yellow snarked as Naty shrugged.

"For some reason looking at his past is hazy and confusing, and I am not much for what I see in his future. He could do amazing things, but all of them just keep the world on the same path it is already. He improves something flawed, but it remains just that, flawed. You on the other hand..."

"If you are seeing the future of Red the politician, you are not going to get it," Red declared seriously as Naty laughed.

"That's not what I'm seeing. No, I'm thinking something else. Beyond a winner of a League, or even being declared Champion. I want to see you get there Red, and for that I'm here to offer you a bit of help."

From her pocket sped something right at him. Red caught it with a pair of fingers, and looked at it.

"A Rainbow Pass?" Red observed as Naty nodded.

"Yes. This will allow you to travel to any place in my native Sevii Islands, where me and my associates work from. We have a little place we want you to find. It's off the beaten path, but it will be well worth your while to find. Not only are the rock formations surrounding it made of a mineral that counteracts the limits Pokéballs have, thus allowing for them all to be as free as Ketchum's collection, but my friend Meg makes sure the place never is barren. She can just breath on a plant like all the ones here and they'll be good as new. Of course, I am not without additional benefits."

She held up a brown and grey rounded stone with telekinesis once more, as Red looked at it in surprise.

"That's..."

"A Mega Stone, yes. Specifically a Kangaskhanite. I can see that you are looking for one here, and this is incentive to do so, and find us when you're done here. We'll be holding your Snorlax with us until then."

With that she dropped the Safari Ball on Snorlax. It bounced off the fat of the beast, before opening up and sucking it inside. As the ball began shaking she held it in place with her mind before vanishing suddenly.

Teleportation.

"...I don't trust her," Yellow stated bluntly as Red eyed the spot where Snorlax and Naty had once been. He then looked at the ticket again.

"Vermilion." He noted the Kanto port listed on it as Yellow looked his way with concern, a look mirrored by Pikachu.

"Red...why do you want to chase after the girl who said cryptic things about steering your future? That is a giant red flag." Yellow questioned as Red did a few mental calculations.

"Between here and Vermillion I can easily hit several Gyms. Nothing major, but we could do it fairly quickly and be back for a final one in good time."

"Again, following the creepy teleporting girl who talks about a possible future of yours she wants to make happen?" Yellow reminded him as he shrugged.

"The future is mine to make for myself. She can point me in any direction she wants, even politics, and I can say no if it is something I don't want. Playing her game gives me benefits and whenever she wants to go somewhere I don't I can simply say no. Simple as that." And with that Red walked ahead, followed by Pikachu.

They still had a Rhyhorn and Kangaskhan to find after all.

Yellow followed moments later, and he suspected she was still not on board with his plans.

….

Following Roggenrola they passed through many expanses of the Safari Zone.

They hopped across streams.

They had to jump across large holes, with Ash having to carry Roggenrola as he made the jump.

Charizard had to be let out to set a wall of thorns afire to remove them, all the while being bothered that he was being used as a glorified pair of clippers, but Ash promised him a role in the upcoming Gym Battle to soothe his nerves.

Bar certain issues of course, with the existence of Alola versions of Pokémon he knew he'd like to have an out in case he ran into some sort of Alolan Onix that was Poison-Rock or something.

Given that he was walking through nothing right now, that did give him some time to plan for it though.

Poison was up next...and in Kanto that would mean he could see something related to Bulbasaur, Weedle, the Nidorans, Ekans, Koffing, Zubat, Oddish, Venonat, Bellsprout, Tentacool, Gastly and Grimer...and that wasn't even thinking about anything from Johto.

Come to think of it, Kanto had a lot of Poison types. He swore they got a lot less common in other regions. Johto just meant Qwilfish, Spinarak or Ariados.

Still with those Pokémon Butterfree was a definite choice. Psybeam would be useful, and Pikachu of course would be good backup. Charizard could certainly be even better backup given what was there, but that still left three other Pokémon to have ready.

Who would make good choices?

"I have just gotten an update from our wandering friends. Time to expand your family tree," the Pokédex declared out of nowhere, causing both Ash and Pikachu to stop in unison. Roggenrolla trotted ahead for a few more steps before turning around in confusion.

"Rol?" 'What about a tree?'

"Long story short," Ash sighed, "I have siblings now, probably, somehow."

"The likelihood of similarity is 93.53%. Genetic testing is required but I am waiting on an update to set that up." the Pokédex mused before displaying the image of a girl.

Unlike him and Red she did not have black hair, but instead a color that looked like honey, in a long white skirt and pink shirt. She had red eyes like Red and Belladonna, but no marks on her face. Like with Cleff, the screen had measurements next to her that gave her height.

Again, tall. Quite tall.

Come to think of it, why was that a thing? He was never that tall before time broke, was that just an age thing or was that just with this reality?

Did he change fathers or something? While his mind was not as foggy as it had been a while ago, the identity of his father before time broke, a thing that had never been all that important, eluded him.

He was sure someone could make a big deal of that if they thought about it too much.

Back to the sister though….like all but one of his possibly sisters, she was...womanly. Given that Yellow was also a lot younger than they all were...

Come to think of it, how young would they go? If he ever ran into one of those daycares he occasionally walked by and was asked to show Pokémon off at, would there be five-year-olds who looked like him there?

"Rol." 'What do those marks by her mean?' Roggenrola asked about the numbers. Pikachu promptly translated them, before making gestures of comparison.

Roggenrola promptly whistled, which was weird sounding.

"Now that you have communicated, and I still need to figure out how to translate your language for data collection purposes, allow me to report the information sent by Gardevoir and Probopass and enhanced via my searching. Hem hem."

Was that really necessary? What did the Pokédex accomplish by false coughing?

"Meliae is Johto native, though I am still searching for a location of her bi...found it. She's a native of Cherrygrove City, though I am struggling to find further information than that. She's your age unlike Cleff and Belladonna, and began with a Teddiursa. A majority of her Pokémon are those that live in trees or are attracted to honey, including an Aipom, Heracross, Munchlax, Gligar, Fearow, Exeggcute, Natu, and Beedrill, though oddly enough my records have that as a Park Capture following a successful challenge of the Ecruteak Gym, a contest she apparently lost to a Venonat. She has six Gym badges, among them the Zephyr, Hive, Fog, and Mineral badges. She apparently challenged Whitney, but was defeated and has not tried since."

So Whitney was still as tough as ever. Not sure he could agree with not going back though.

"She apparently mostly hangs out, when not going somewhere, and does most of her Pokémon training, in a hanging valley found on Route 46." The Pokédex now had an image of a valley in a hilly area, though with one edge of said valley ending in a massive cliff that looked dangerous if one was to fall off of it.

It was littered with trees, and he wasn't sure where she stayed there. Did she build a house too, or did she use Secret Power like Psyduck did for a secret base?

Speaking of Secret Power...

"Any idea what she does?" Right now he had no idea, and at the moment all he had was an association with trees and honey.

Did she have excellent skills at headbutting them? Did she leak honey? He wasn't sure which of those unnerved him more between the pain of hitting trees with your skull or sweating honey.

"Not as so far obser...oh, data update..." The Pokédex was quiet for a moment before continuing.

"Data was found. She tripped on a rock just seconds ago. After cursing for a moment she glowed white and the bruised skin patched itself back up. Given the flickering of the effect after a cloud briefly covered the sun we can identify her as a Synthesis Technique Bloodliner."

So she could heal herself. A useful ability. But before anything else, he needed to know.

"No warrants are out for her arrest?"

Roggenrola looked at him funnily for that, but he really had be sure.

"No. No warrants, no records of criminal behavior, no ties to any murder cases or thefts suspected."

Ash would cheer in relief that he wasn't adding any more terrorists or people he considered immoral to his family tree, but he had to be sure of one more thing.

He'd say two if she hadn't been just observed and thus she wasn't dead. Even if he didn't need to realize his family tree was loaded with branches, he would prefer them to not all be murdered.

"And she doesn't have a bunch of boyfriends or girlfriends she lives with." Two polygamous siblings in all likelihoods were enough frankly.

"Polygamous...is not the word I'd use." The Pokédex paused before continuing as Ash felt his eye twitch.

He tried to not notice Pikachu wasn't bothered by the point, nor Roggenrola. She was still a bit confused.

"Then what word would you use?" Ash was ready to learn some other word he had no business knowing about had Cyrus just decided to knit for all eternity.

"In context, open. Possibly casual would also be acceptable. Gardevoir's observations show that the girl, while not in any serious relationship, does have one night flings with people she meets in bars and in her travels. Before you ask, she does take precautions as to prevent you from having any nieces or nephews."

Ash filed away the bit about people one day calling him Uncle Ash for a moment before just staring at the Pokédex blankly for a moment, before sighing.

"Is it legal?"

"Yes, though under immense social disapproval in some circles."

Ash flung his arms wide in joy at the confirmation, idly wondering why one felt oddly lighter after he did that.

"You know what, okay. I can accept that. That is fine."

"...You flung me into a bush," the Pokédex complained from inside a thorn bush. Oh, so that was why his hand felt lighter.

"My bad...you are fireproof right?"

"If I say no you won't leave me in here, will you?"

….

After going on her own for a while, Iris figured it would make no harm to stop to take a breather, and perhaps eat something. She and Axew stopped to pick some apples from a tree, and they'd save a few for the others later.

While she had enjoyed her tour around this Safari Zone, she had come along only because she thought she could use it to become stronger, but she hadn't had much chance to actually train herself or battle. On the other hand, it was a good breather, and she hadn't felt at home this much since she had met with Ash. Being able to swing around and hop from tree to tree brought her memories of her time with her family, as well as how much she missed them.

'They are still out there, and I will find them. One day. Big Brother, Mother, Father, everyone, I will rescue you.'

It was comforting to know that she wasn't alone in her crusade. Ash and the others were ready to not only to help her in getting stronger, but to stand by her side when the time to confront Hunter J came. That meant a lot to her.

That being said, even if the tournament had been good training, she felt there wasn't much point in coming here after all. At least Misty wanted to catch more Water-types and Ash was… looking for whatever he wanted to find. But what about her, Iris?

"Axew?" Suddenly her little brother stopped chewing on his apple as he heard some rumbling noise, and a few seconds later, something popped out from underground.

"Gible?" The little land shark stared at the Unovan dragon in confusion, sniffed him around, and all of a sudden began chewing on his head.

'Hey! Get off of me! Sister!'

Iris jumped off of her tree and saw the two Pokémon in what to one looked like a playful fight, and to the other a huge headache. She quickly stepped in to separate them. None was hurt, but Axew was notably annoyed and didn't enjoy the game.

"That is enough," The dragon girl said sternly. "My little brother doesn't like that kind of games."

'Brother?' s aid Gible, and Iris figured that if she could understand it, then it was a Dragon-type. 'But you're a human.'

"Can humans do this?" To prove her point, Iris raised her left hand, and bluish draconic energy claws appeared in it, surprising the newly arrived Pokémon. "You are a Dragon-type, aren't you? We have a lot in common. They call me Iris, who are you?"

'I'm Gible. Are you friends with that other human I saw a while ago? I think he was looking for something.'

The Sidedex chimed in. "I can confirm this is the same Gible my owner allowed to escape a while ago. This is a very rare Dragon-type native to the Sinnoh region, and if you let it go now, I'll be extremely disappointed."

"Yeah yeah…." said Iris. She still hadn't gotten used to the machine's sudden interventions, opportune or otherwise. "Were you brought here by the humans? It is a bit far from Sinnoh."

A good few days worth of flying far in fact. It got boring after a while. Misty had once said that humans would look at clouds to pass the time, but she failed to see the amusement of it.

A cloud was a cloud, nothing more.

'Yeah. I don't know why, there were a lot of us in a cave and one day a bunch of them came and grabbed a few of us,' s aid Gible. 'They said something about soil, and then they tossed me out here and just come out every few months to put odd sticks in the ground. They taste bad.'

"So… you are far away from home too." Iris suddenly found herself sympathizing with the little shark-like dragon. "Have you felt lonely?"

'Sometimes,' Gible admitted. 'This is a nice place to live, but sometimes I miss my family, and I would like to see more of the world than just this place. I'm sure there are warmer places.'

"I know that feeling," said Iris, smiling with a tinge of sadness. "In my family everyone is a Dragon-type. You would probably fit in nicely, and you can see the world ."

'Oh no, sister. Please tell me you're not thinking about taking him,' said Axew, still rubbing his head from those bites.

"He didn't mean to hurt you, did he?" Iris glanced at Axew. "He was just happy to have found a friend to play with."

Axew wasn't still convinced, but he seemed to have decided it was not worthy further argument.

"So, would you like to come with us?"

Gible nodded happily. Iris smiled, and she lifted both Dragon-types to hide them in their hair, and then concentrated her thoughts. 'Anabel, could you tell Ash to get me a Safari Ball? I think I've found a new friend I'd like to take with me.'

….

"Sea!"

The great fish's declaration bellowed through the creek as Misty's pole pulled the mighty fish from the water.

Moments later a Safari Ball struck the side of the fish. As the ball sucked in Seaking Anabel put a finger up to her temple.

The ball vanished from sight just as Anabel walked over to her, hand outstretched.

'Iris found something.'

"She did?" Misty was curious what she had found.

A instant after grabbing Anabel's offered hand the two found themselves below an apple tree, where Iris was eating an apple.

As was Axew, who was hiding behind her leg.

As was another Pokémon, also eating an apple who was looking at them cautiously.

"Who's that Pokémon?" A old phrase from a children's show but it was the question of the moment wasn't it.

"Gible, a Pokémon generally found in Sinnoh, Kalos, and Alola. It generally lives in caves and deserts, and based on what my linked self was able to get out of the tall one."

By that Misty assumed the Monodex meant insistent nagging.

"That it was brought to the Safari Zone in part to aid in an experiment about soil composition. Air pockets, the amount of silt, clay, and sand in said soil, the age of the soil, etc etc."

'Why would they want to know that?' Anabel's confusion was outer as well as in her thoughts, given the head scratching she was doing to communicate this.

Normally the Pokédex could notice that, but a Monodex extension was not able to, so Misty translated.

"Soil is of the upmost importance to everything! Such research could help improve building codes, foundational stability, agriculture…."

"Here." Misty spoke over the ranting monodex as she threw Iris a Safari Ball. "I had the Pokédex sync it to you instead of myself or Ash. It should work."

Iris knelt down before the Gible, who was still nervous around all the ranting of the Monodex. When it reached a crescendo about soil age (soil had age?), Gible tapped the ball to get out of range for the Monodex.

The ball opened wide and sucked into the sphere, resting in Iris's hand as Axew let out a tired sigh.

A story there she was sure, but that was neither here nor there.

"Vee!"

A call went out from the tree, interrupting not only the Monodex, but also the focus on the finalized Gible capture.

A brown furry creature poked out of the tree bushes, staring at them with wide brown eyes and curiosity

"…..An Eevee. A wild Eevee has appeared..." the Monodex she had noted.

"A very rare Pokémon," Iris's Monodex noted.

"It must…"

"Be…."

"Captur…"

'Want an apple?' Anabel, in the midst of the building up explosion of want from the Monodexes, had pulled a apple from Iris telekinetically and held it up to the little creature calmly.

The Eevee let out a cry of enthusiasm and jumped from the tree onto Anabel's shoulder. Anabel let out a pained humph, but still smiled as she positioned the apple up to the Eevee there and let it begin biting enthusiastically.

Misty would have preferred it if the Eevee had come her way. She had a Water Stone after all, but she knew that Anabel also had wanted one, and the Eevee had jumped her way.

So Anabel would have it. She'd simply keep an eye out for a Vaporeon or Eevee somewhere else.

"…..Well, just chuck a ball at it when you are finished feeding it, would you?" the Monodexes requested in unison.

…

Roggenrola came to a stop at the edge of a massive field.

Ash and Pikachu skidded to a stop just past her, and both broke out into huge smiles at what they saw here.

Tauros.

Lots, and lots, of Tauros.

A great sea of the multi tailed Pokémon, brown fur shifting in the slight breeze as they grazed and snorted and stomped in great numbers.

And off to the left edge of the herd, pushing against another, was the leader of his herd.

The Tauros he battled Drake with. The one who won him at Palmpona, and aided him against Gary and Anabel.

"Brooo!"

Looking as strong as ever, Tauros slammed the rival back before bellowing in victory as the losing Tauros, who Ash recognized a bit as another of his herd, slumped away in defeat. At the end of the bellow Tauros snorted before returning to grazing.

With calm at hand again Ash looked at the Tauros as closely as he could, looking for familiar hair licks, scars, or similar identifying features.

He saw two he recognized.

Three.

Four…

"Pikapi!" 'I smell the rest of them. All of the other Tauros are here….with a lot of ones who aren't ours.'

How many was that? This herd had fourteen Tauros from his herd, but in total the herd had twenty, twenty-two…

"Twenty-five Tauros counted," the Pokédex told him.

So, if he caught the eleven additional Tauros, plus the ones he already had obtained….that would mean the Professor would find himself with forty-four Tauros in his herd running around.

"Professor Oak likes me, right?" Ash figured he should verify this.

"You were an excellent student, fine test subject, good neighbor, and a human being who has not worked towards making him misanthropic. He likes you fine," the Pokédex noted before pausing for a moment. "You are going to capture all of them, aren't you?"

"Yep."

"…..Should I charge your finances for something to apologize for the various damages they'll surely cause? Perhaps a platter of exotic cheeses from the four corners of the Earth."

"Do you think that is necessary?" Was cheese enough to apologize for the broken fences?

"It wouldn't hurt. Also the man accidentally lost the remote while stuck on the Food Network and is thus currently craving cheese."

"Can I afford it?"

"Ash, your accounts from your tournament competing, and various other means of financial gain you both knowingly and unknowingly possess suggest that you could easily join your half-brother in the house building game. You can easily afford cheddar."

Good to know. He didn't feel a desire to build a house though, mustn't be a family trait.

"Then order cheese." Ash declared as hereached for a Safari Ball.

Then a second in his other hand, as more were ready for him, and with that the balls began to fly like a tempest.

Five minutes later found a field barren of Tauros, and Ash lying on the ground in exhaustion.

A smile on his face at the completed task.

All the Tauros were back with him. They were not going to go away.

They would not be lost like Primape.

They were safe….everyone in Kanto was safe bar Primape.

Haunter too…but if Ash counted Haunter he'd have to count Meloetta too. Plus reality seemed to have a way of ensuring old Pokémon were met.

If Krabby jumped at him from the water and Muk was mind controlled into trying to sludge him, but Haunter never showed up….well that was that.

Red's Haunter wasn't the same Haunter, so he had nothing to worry about…

"Pi." 'Ash, you went overboard a bit.'

Except the possibility he might have captured more Spearow.

Ash pushed himself back up, only to feel an unnatural item against his leftmost finger. Grabbing it as he pushed himself into a sitting position, he saw what Pikachu meant.

He had one more Safari Ball than he needed. A twenty-sixth ball as it were.

….So, what to do with it?

'Well, you always did want that Rhyhorn,' Pikachu suggested.

True.

"I thought I heard a lot of Pokéballs going off here!"

The little girl's voice caught their attention as Yellow appeared, looking around the field curiously.

"What did you end up catching that involved so many? It wasn't a bunch of Chansey, was it?"

"No." He was pretty sure Chansey didn't travel in groups.

"Oh, were they Dratini? I only just remembered my uncle mentioning them being here and Red's been looking for one since we got everything else he was looking for, plus a Parasect."

"I haven't seen any." Was it a lie when he did see them, but in another timeline?

Regardless of if it was, he wasn't going to say anything. Regardless of his own issues with Red, he promised he would never reveal where they were, and he'd keep to it.

With everything else that happened in his life, he did not want to risk Kaiser being able to shoot him across time space and time for breaking said promise.

Given Celebi was a thing, that was certainly possible.

(Though that left him with the odd mental image of a scowling old cowboy crossing through space and time with Celebi carrying him by the shoulder.)

Yellow noticed Roggenrola at his side and cocked her head in curiosity.

"Who's that Pokémon?"

"Roggenrola, the Mantle Pokémon found normally in Unova, Kalos, and Alola. Roggenrola's body is basically an ear and it generates energy within its central core."

The Pokédex answered that question a lot more actively than earlier.

So they were in Alola too….did they have long necks or eyebrows?

"I had heard non-native Pokémon were in this place, but I had only seen evidence of one before now. A Dunsparce….which I had no interest in."

Red had arrived, towering over Yellow from behind as he looked his way.

Ash looked back, straight at him.

The emotions of the past encounter, even with some hindsight and thinking, still welling around in him like a chaotic blender.

With a fresh pinch of 'you don't want a Dunsparce?' disbelief added in for good measure, as Cilan would probably say.

Roggenrola looked at Red in confusion.

"Rol?" 'I know humans say Pokémon look alike, but that guy looks a lot like Ash doesn't he?'

"Pi." 'They are probably half-brothers, long story.'

At Pikachu's offhanded comment Red's Pikachu darted off his shoulder towards the two, curiosity etched on his face.

The two Pikachu and Roggenrola darted off into a nearby bush, much to the confusion of Red and Yellow.

"What was that about?" Yellow questioned.

Should he tell them? 'Hey, we all probably share the same father. I've been meeting and hearing about others who look like us and have similar marks and eyes and possibly earlobes too.'

Was it worth it…

Should he….

On one hand, he didn't particularly feel like calling Red his brother out loud, and Yellow kind of came with him it seemed. Just saying he might be related to only Yellow would probably lead to being reminded that Red looked a lot more like him than Yellow did.

On the other, how likely was it they'd never see people who look like themselves while wandering? It might be a good idea to prepare them for it.

What to say, what to say?

….

The two Pikachu looked at each other for a moment, Roggenrola looking at the two as silence lasted for a few good seconds.

Then the Pikachu who accompanied Red pointed back at the Trainers, and let out a short chirp that declared a simple, direct question.

'What did you mean your idiot and my Trainer are brothers?'

'He said half-brothers,' Roggenrola pointed out.

'A brother is a brother, no matter what you add before it,' Red's Pikachu declared before gesturing back to the humans.

'I won't argue they don't look alike. However, humans can do that. They all sort of look alike, even if yours and mine are more so than usual. What makes you think so.'

And so Pikachu began to explain what had happened to them. The encounters with the legacy of John Archer, the battle with Belladonna, the sightings since of Ashley, Cleff, and Meliae, and the thoughts Ash had on the situation.

How they were the only ones with two bloodlines, had similar marks, and all seemed to be missing a father figure but had a single mother.

Red's Pikachu was silent for a moment, before nodding.

'Well, I guess that is reasonable to assume. This is a bit more than just humans all having the same face. Red never had anything to say about a father after all, not in all the years I've been with him. Still I must admit I have to ask this, why?'

'Why would there be so many? Humans are not nearly as obsessed with reproduction as we are, and they actually choose to stop reproduction. With their culture and their practices, why are there so many born?'

'Add that to the ever growing list of questions I have'. Ash's Pikachu sighed.

'Well at least you can talk to your Trainer. Red can pick up the general things I say, but I can't exactly tell him this. Tell me, what are the odds your Trainer will inform him?'

'I….have no idea.'

…

And Pikachu would not find out if Ash did or did not comment to Red about the family thing until they were half way back to Misty, Iris, and Anabel.

The excess Safari Ball still in Ash's hand as the three of them walked.

Pikachu, Ash, and Roggenrola.

"So…..do I just throw it at the first rustling bush I see?" Ash questioned of his additional shot.

Not that he didn't have more of course, but he just happened to have one ball on hand and he might as well use it on something before the day was done.

'I guess. Though that might just get you a Ratatta.'

"I could probably make that work." Assuming the Ratatta wanted to battle and liked him, a fast little rodent would be of no issue to work in.

'You know, are there any Alolan Ratatta?' Might as well ask.

"Okay then, Alolan Ratatta true or false?" Ash asked the Pokédex as it showed an image of a pitch black Ratatta with a mustache.

The image required an exclamation for the shared feature that this Alolan form had with another one.

"Another Alolan Pokémon with facial hair?" It was a pattern it seemed. Did they all have them?

Did Alolan Tauros have soul patches? Alolan Drowzee those mustaches creepy people have? Did Alolan Onix have sideburns?

"Eyebrows are not facial hair," the Pokédex declared.

"It's hair on your face."

"A Geodude doesn't have hair."

"It looks like hair so it counts."

"No it doesn't."

"Yes it does."

"You know nothing of the question."

"I so do. I have eyebrows and have to shave, unlike youuuuuuuu!"

The extended you was due to a root Ash missed, causing him to trip and smack the ground with a hard thump.

"Rol!" Roggenrola darted over to her Trainer in concern, just seconds after Pikachu.

'You okay?'

Ash groaned and got back up.

"I'm fine. I tripped all the time as a kid." Looking down at his pants thought, he couldn't help but grimace a bit.

"Pikapi' 'Your pant leg has a slight tear on your knee.'

Indeed there was a slight opening there on his right knee, surrounded by the dirt from the fall.

"Well…it's not too bad I guess." Ash felt up the damaged area as well as his left knee.

"Rol?" 'Didn't you have stuff in your hands before you fell?'

Oh yeah, he did. The Safari Ball and the Pokédex.

Was he going to have to set something on fire again to get….

"Clearly your possession of facial hair did not prevent you from hurting yourself," the Pokédex snarked a foot down the path, free of anything that needed to be set on fire.

A few feet down the path the Safari Ball was still rolling, though it was slowing down. It would stop a few more seconds.

Three.

Two.

The grass rustled at the edge of the path as a shape emerged from the grass just in front of the rolling ball.

One.

The Pokémon fully emerged from the grass and looked back at the them, obliviously smiling their way.

"Chansey," the round friend of nurses greeted, though there was something off about the Chansey.

It wasn't pink, but instead a greenish color that reminded Ash of aged copper.

The ball rolled right up to Chansey's foot and tapped it. The ball sucked Chansey in and began shaking.

Ash, Pikachu, and Roggenrola stared at the ball in shock as the ball shook….and then stopped.

It clicked, and then vanished off to Oak's lab.

The path was silent for a moment, then a second…

"Ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! YES! YES! Finally one of you actually did something right!"

The Pokédex exploded in joy, echoing through its speakers enthusiasm and a slightly mad glee.

"A Chansey, a Shiny Chansey. A Chansey of a different color! What wonderful news, what wonderful data! Chansey is a rare Pokémon that runs easily, runs fast, and carries delicious eggs! Many chase it, but rarely does anyone ever get it. Let alone a Shiny Chansey. Like all Chansey the Shiny Chansey is female, with the ability Natural Cure. If this Chansey ever got poisoned, paralyzed, put to sleep, or some other condition you can recall it to restore it to normal. This Chansey has the moves Aromatherapy, Sing, Pound, and Softboiled! Congratulations on your wonderful capture, do remember to do so again next time you find such a rare and valuable Pokémon!"

Ash just stared at the spot the ball was with disbelief, still trying to wrap his head around what had just happened.

Though another question was coming to mind at this point.

What on earth would he even do with a Chansey, regardless of the color?

He could see how a Ratatta would work with him, but a Chansey?

----------------------------------------

The night found all four of them at the Pokémon Center, a video call with the Professor in progress.

Said Professor who had the Spearow Ash had accidentally caught perched atop his head.

"Well, I am certainly glad to see that the trip into the Safari Zone went well for you all. I have obtained plenty of data, both recorded and ongoing."

"That's good and all, but why do you have…" Misty questioned as the Professor briefly grimaced. Spearow let out a cry and flapped its wings for a few moments, at which point the Professor's face relaxed.

"One of the interns is working on some research. Very promising, but not the most pleasant smelling, and the smell wafts down here. Spearow is proving quite handy at keeping the smell away when need be."

One wonders if a fan could provide a similar task, but the Professor continued before they could suggest the idea.

"Oh yes, before I forget in the midst of my excitement. Recently I finished working with an old friend of mine with patenting and marketing his recent invention. The resulting agreement was mutually beneficial and will alleviate my financial issues even while ensuring the man never has to work a day again. He'll still do so of course, given that sneakers can still melt."

"The product will soon be shown off at an upcoming consumers conference and will enter the mass market in the next few years as pricing and ethics are debated and gauged, but before they get to that point additional practical testing would be appreciated."

"Sure, but what sort of product are you talking about?" The H.O.P.E gloves were useful, but he wasn't sure there would be a huge amount of testing he could do for a new type of balaclava (whatever a balaclava was exactly).

"It's a recent breakthrough in shrinkage technology. My friend recently discovered the method for shrinking items and storing them in data, much the same as Pokémon are. He calls them Item Capsules."

"Is that a big deal?" Iris questioned.

'In the scale of big deals, it is somewhere between flying cars and the eradication of poverty,' Anabel gave a modest example of their implication.

"Flying cars?" Iris did not seem to get why that was a big deal.

"It is in the ballpark of such an invention, young one. Right now the limit is one overall item per capsule, though that item can be a fully furnished home, a folder filled with important papers, or a space ship fully built and stocked for a three-hundred-year sleeper cruise. I may be outshone in improving the world at this point. However before we get to such a future we want to get feedback from the average consumer. As such four sets have been given to me for testing purposes, and you are receiving one of them."

"Just one?" They had four people with them.

"One set contains more than enough capsules for you all, even if you lose one or two. No, the other sets are going out elsewhere. Gary of course is getting a set, and I was recently in contact with Aideen and Elwood. The two have agreed to receive the other two for feedback purposes. They are currently being shipped at corporate express rates, and should reach you.."

"Package for Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town. I repeat, an express package for Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town," was declared through the loudspeakers.

"Well, I guess it really was express shipped." Misty quipped as the Professor did a confused head tilt, knocking Spearow off his head with an angry squawk.

"No, that is not my shipment. That is too fast even for corporate. That is something else."

He would have said more, but the video suddenly ended as Spearow lunged at Professor Oak in anger for the loss of perch.

…

At the desk Ash had picked up a brown package. They had taken it back to the hotel to examine, given that the last time Ash had gotten a package like that he had gotten an ancient staff he still wasn't sure how to activate, and something like that would draw some weird looks.

When they had gotten back the box was examined. The heavily post marked box had apparently come from Melemele Island, which the Pokédex confirmed as a location from Alola.

The sender was labeled as 'Kahuna and Guardian Deity', which sounded like the name of a rockband. Did he have fans in the music industry who wanted to give him a theme song?

What was inside however, was no sample tape….if sample tapes were even a thing.

The ring that he had been the main thing in the box but filler and paper was white, just like the one Lilo had worn, and used to create that Tectonic Rage attack. Unlike hers however, Ash did not see a crystal on it.

"A Z-Ring?" Why would someone send him one of those? Who did for that matter.

The box had no indication beyond a flier that said 'Figure it out' that the sender clearly hadn't made themselves known beyond a band name that, according to Dexter, did not actually exist. It came from a place called Iki Town, most likely on Melemele Island and it was express shipped to him, but beyond that...

Apparently a Kahuna was an important person in Alola, something between a Gym Leader, Elite Four Member, Governor, and Religious Leader. Alola apparently had Pokémon who were said to be Guardian Deities, with the one on Melemele being named Tapu Koko.

Why a Kahuna and Tapu Koko would send him a Z-Ring was beyond him, or even how it was supposed to work.

Ash held it up close to his face, wondering if there might be a message written on it.

Perhaps 'press once to create giant ground attack, press twice to do grass thing,' or something like that…

...

Only to find himself somewhere else instead of their hotel room pondering how the thing worked.

The windows of a Gym were blowing up.

Ash knew this place. This time.

The looks of fear on his face, Misty's, and Brock's.

As was the dust that formed in the aftermath of the great attack.

"Err...the end of tha' match."

And the voice speaking was Lt. Surge during their Gym battle.

The one he won in the old timeline, but why was he...

"Huh?" Lt. Surge questioned as the dust cleared, revealing Pikachu, sticking out of the ground on his lightning rod tail.

"Pikachu!" his younger self declared in relief, before grinning and making a pose with the ring on his arm, this time with a white crystal on it.

"Let's end this!"

"What in the world..." Lt. Surge asked of the ring, even as his Pikachu looked in exhaustion as he began to pose.

As did Pikachu...and after a synchronized arm crossing, a surge of energy travelled from Ash to Pikachu

"Alright Pikachu, let's show them our power! Breakneck Blitz!" his younger self shouted as Pikachu charged towards Raichu in a massive tackle that felt more like a Giga Impact done in a Quick Attack.

The attack struck Raichu dead center, and send the tired evolution flying into the wall.

"Oh noo!" To Lt. Surge's shock and disbelief.

The scene shifted to the Indigo League, where Mandi's Seadra was speeding around the field, taunting Kingler even as bubbles were sent flying at it.

"Koo kee.." Kingler declared as Seadra avoided a bubble wall, causing Ash to growl.

"Alright Kingler, let's end this before this gets too crazy. You with me?"

"Koo kee!" Kingler agreed as the younger Ash again posed with his crystal, but this time it was blue.

More posing ensued, this time with wave like motions Kingler mirrored.

"What in the..." the Announcer asked before it completed, and Kingler got a surge of energy.

"Alright Kingler, let's show them our power! Hydro Vortex!" And with that Kingler hopped into the water, which began to form into a massive whirlpool.

Seadra was sucked into it, spinning wildly before being spat out of with massive force, defeated and right into Mandi.

A second scene that didn't happen as it should became a third as Ash found himself back at a Gym.

"Cyn!"

And it was Bugsy, whose Scyther had just blocked Cyndaquil's flamethrower and jabbed at his second fire type.

"Cyndaquil, can you still battle?" his other self asked, to which he got a yes. Grinning, he again posed with the ring, this time with a red crystal.

"Now let's try this out!" Ash declared as the posing began again, this time with a open palm pointing at Cynadquil as the energy formed.

"I don't know what that is supposed to be, but it won't beat my Scyther. Use Fury..."

"Cyndaquil, let's show them our power! Inferno Overdrive!"

And Bugsy was silenced by a giant fire ball of doom hitting Scyther in the face.

They jumped ahead again before he could see Scyther fall, this time only to Morty's Gym battle.

Noctowl was flying in the air, a faint blue light still lingering in the air. Gengar had just become visible again, pained from the full area Confusion attack.

"Now we got 'em! Noctowl, let's do it!" And this time with a pink crystal his other self was making motions to be telepathic, as he did once with Caterpie, along with the call of Shattered Psyche.

Unlike that time, energy flowed into Noctowl and from there blasted Gengar, who promptly began pinballing against invisible walls like a pinball.

"Grovyle got up?" Max's question signaled the next place he was, which was the Petalburg Gym battle. Grovyle cringed as his other self asked if he was okay.

"Ash, wait," Norman interjected. "It is obvious Slaking's Hyper Beam has taken a lot out of Grovyle. There is no shame in calling it off, not when it comes to the safety of your Pokémon."

He could see his younger self consider it briefly, though he felt like scenes were missing before Grovyle let out a determined yowl and began glowing Overgrow Green.

"Alright Norman, your Hyper Beam really did take a lot out of us. It's clear it's time to bet it all on one more attack. Grovyle!" The Z-Ring was back up, this time with a green coloring.

Posing ensued, the usual thing was said, he posed like a tree before calling Bloom Doom...then a massive green explosion engulfed the field.

He lingered long enough to see he had messed up May's hair with that explosion before reality wisely took him away from said incident and to...

"Medicham Hi Jump Kick, one more time!"

The Battle Frontier, where Snorlax was battling Medicham.

"Dodge it!" he shouted, sounding a bit odd even as Snorlax was even more odd by performing a hand stand with a single hand. Medicham flinched as Snorlax hopped over to his younger self.

"Good job Snorlax!"

"I'm impressed," Greta declared as Medicham smarted over the missed attack.

"That's nothing, you haven't seen nothing yet." His other self declared, even as a new Crystal came into play, this one blackish blue, like a Snorlax actually.

"Time to show you our real power!" And more posing, and Snorlax charged at Medicham, faster than he thought Snorlax could do. But this was not the same move that Pikachu had used.

For one thing, Snorlax jumped, causing Medicham to scream in horror before the impact.

Though it came after the name Pulverizing Pancake, so horror was debatable.

Cut to the next place...

"No, Roserade!"

Apparently Gardenia. Why was he jumping around like this in vision land again?

As Gardenia's Roserade got back up it was again posing time, this time with a orange crystal.

"Not sure what you are doing Ash, but I won't let you! Roserade Magical Leaf!"

In response he began punching the air a lot as energy went to Aipom and a call for All-out Pummeling.

This was followed by a giant storm of giant glowing fists, shattering the Magical Leaves like glass and shattering trees and Roserades in their path.

And then he found himself...

"Latios, ascend and let us get this over with!"

Fighting Tobias.

The Light Screen clad Latios flew into the sky, even as he called for Thunderbolts.

"Descend and toss it off!" And with that Latios flung Pikachu off high in the sky, descending to the ground and heeding the call for a Luster Purge, even as Pikachu fell towards the attack.

Once before that had led to Volt Tackle and Iron Tail combining into a mighty combination attack. But this time...

More posing, and a yellow crystal.

"Alright Tobias, I am not going to lose here! Pikachu and I have worked far too hard! Eat this! Gigavolt Havoc!"

"Never!" Tobias snarled as a giant bolt of electricity formed in front of Pikachu's fist before being fired into the purple luster purge field.

It shattered the attack into purple dust before striking Latios right in the chest.

The defeated thump of Latios was preceded by Pikachu landing on said defeated legendary, before rolling back onto the grass, exhausted but still standing.

"Incredible! With his Z-Move held in reserve, Ash Ketchum managed the impossible feat twice! Tobias's Latios is defeated!" and with that Tobias returned Latios, but before he could see what Tobias's third Pokémon was...

...

He was pinched on the neck, breaking him out of what he was seeing.

'Misty's right, you do see odd things when you look at Key Stones...and apparently Z-Rings as well, ' Anabel mused as she retracted her fingers from his neck.

"I mean, I guess it did give me more than the Key Stone did. I apparently need to do a series of poses and have crystals to make it work. Did they send any crystals?"

"Nope, just packing peanuts?" Misty had upturned said box, leaving only a pile of filler and no shiny crystals.

"Guess you just have to 'figure it out'," Iris quoted the message in the box.

"Maybe after the Gym battle." They had heard that the Gym Leader was going to back the day after tomorrow, and he'd have time to 'figure it out' after then.

Doing so now would probably not work, and it would waste time he could be using better. So..

"Tomorrow I'm thinking practicing for the Gym battle. You up for helping me?"

'Sure'.

"Always."

"Why not?"

Misty got odd looks from Iris and Anabel for it.

"I do have a Tentacool, and this is a Poison Gym."

"Great!" Ash declared as he reached for the Z-Ring and placed it on his right wrist.

It may have no use yet, but might as well make sure he didn't lose it.

----------------------------------------

OMAKE

NON CANON

FAWCETT EVOLUTION

The kid held up a finger as he began to explain what it was he done, and more importantly why.

"These mountains are infamous for intense lightning storms since ancient times. The lightning here is particularly noted for how it reacts to the local mineral deposits, creating a electromagnetic feedback loop that is highly addictive and aggression inducing to Electric-type Pokémon," the Kalosian noted as Otoshi cringed.

He knew that quite well. He and Marowak had to fight off three Electabuzz acting like the worst drug addicts he had ever seen, just with electric fists instead of bongs. It was good training, but there were healthier ways to prepare for his sixth badge in Pewter City.

"Yes, but I still would like to know why that involves my Marowak standing on top a mountain, with my Keystone, in a bowtie."

Marowak adjusted the blue and green stripped adornment with the Keystone in the center as the kid continued.

"It's a simple explanation. You see, my granny is a master Mega Evolution Trainer. She won the Kalos League with it, and she knows more about it than perhaps anyone alive. Mega Evolution, as I am sure you know, is created when the Pokémon's Infinity Energy is enhanced by the unique energy humans produce as filtered through a conduit known as a Keystone, inducing a temporary state of additional evolution."

"That isn't simple," Otoshi noted as the kid laughed.

"Oh believe me I'm simplifying it. You don't want to hear the unabridged version. Anyway back on topic, a Keystone isn't the only way to do this. Alolan Trainers use special crystals to create a similar reaction, only with them it creates a singularly powerful attack known as a Z-Move. There are however, manners of enhancing a Pokémon that don't require a stone or a crystal. They're just harder to achieve." The kid turned to the still fidgety Marowak.

"Marowak is unable to Mega Evolve, believe me I am familiar with all forty-one Pokémon known to Mega Evolve into forty-two forms so I would know this. However Marowak should still be able to use the non-conduit methods with the correct stimulation. One of which involves using Infinity Energy to create temporary bonds with stray photons and harnessing them as a form of lightweight armor that enhances the Pokémon."

"Stray photos?" Otoshi questioned. This was still not making any sense.

"Photons are connected to light," the kid explained as Otoshi scratched his head. "Your Keystone can be used as a crutch for the manipulation of Infinity Energy until Marowak is able to draw upon the skill at will."

"So, you are going to use my Marowak, his Lightning Rod ability, and my Key Stone to attract light, take the light atoms from it, and form a powerful armor?" Otoshi questioned as the kid shrugged.

"That's one way of putting it, though Photons are not at all like atoms. First of all..."

"...Why the bowtie?" Otoshi had to ask as the kid grinned.

"I'm Kalosian," he (not) explained as the sky rumbled, before exploding in intense light.

"Shield your eyes!" the kid shouted.

Well duh.

The flash blinded him for a good minute before Otoshi opened his eyes once more….

To find his Marowak had suddenly grown several feet in height, was now in a red costume with a white shoulder cape, and had a giant lightning bolt symbol on his chest.

The Kalosian looked at the Marowak in confusion.

"This…is not what was supposed to happen."

Otoshi sort of suspected that was the case. Capes were not part of what he was explained would happen, let alone shoulder capes.

"Marowak…..are you okay?" Otoshi couldn't think of anything better to say

Before Marowak could give any indication of him being okay.

"Heh! Heh! Heh! So, I've finally found you, you big red cheese!"

The two humans and the Marowak with the shoulder cape all turned to a cliff side, where a odd looking man was looking down at them. Bald and bespectacled, he was the most hideous man that Otoshi had ever seen.

"It is I, Doctor Thaddeus Sivanna, the world's wickedest scientist! You thought you could hide from me, but no world are you safe from my all mighty mind! You will be foiled this day, after which I will take over this world with the power of science!"

"Never!" Marowak shouted in English before flying at the man with wingless propulsion.

Otoshi and the scientist were promptly both confused and amazed by the fight scene that ensued.

….