39 years since the end of the Ranger-Trainer Wars, the Ryme City Peace, and the start of the Era of Peace.

The sound of a blaring alarm clock to most would rank among the most obnoxious noises created by man. It was meant to be heard, meant to drive a person to turn it off, and meant to interrupt even the deepest and best dreams. However as it woke a fourteen year old in Pallet Town the sound gave him an exhilaration.

The sheets over him couldn't stop his momentum as he jolted out of bed, the mere microseconds he had been awake still allowing him to pinpoint the location of the alarm that had awoken him.

The morning leap led him to tap the top of his tallest dresser and his palm tapping down on the alarm button to cease the awakening cacophony. It also led him to impact against the sturdy dresser and sent a jolt of rebounding energy through him, but that only served to wake up him up even more as he hopped back and grinned upwards at the alarm.

"That was the first alarm! I didn't break it!"

He was grinning as he looked around his room: noting all of the little thing he had hanging in it. A raised bed from which he had just jumped from, under which were boxes and chests of various items in storage. A writing desk littered with school papers and books. Posters hanging of the wall of some of the most famous trainers in Kanto: Lance posing with Dragonite, Agatha menacing with Gengar if somewhat negated by the fact that one of the tacks holding it up was missing and leaving it a bit lopsided, Bruno lifting with Machamp, and Lorelei leaning on Lapras. That last one had been the only one that he had to work to get from the store as it seemed to be the most popular. He actually had to dash to get the last one.

He didn't really get it. Sure Lorelei was rather physically attractive, but it wasn't really a pose that was super attractive or anything. It wasn't a Pokemon Pals poster or something. Of course he didn't know how hard it would be to get Pokemon Pals magazines in Pallet Town out of a personal desire for his own sanity, but it couldn't be that difficult and less effort than fighting over a poster of a leady leaning on a Lapras.

The poster trivia faded from his mind as his gaze returned to the writing desk, and he felt a wave of dejection wash over him at the sight of the second alarm clock he had set for today.

Specifically the fact that it was no longer an alarm clock, but a wreckage of plastic and wiring with a tack in the center of the wreckage. The same type of tack holding up his Agatha poster and was down one.

He took a quick knee to the underside of his bed where last night he had placed his third alarm clock. One of three alarms he would always put into place before an important day to ensure that he would not oversleep. For he had a strange tendency to manage to wreck his alarm clocks, and his unwanted talent had caused him more than a few problems over the years. He had only managed to solve the problem when he had come up with a bit of a scheme to catch a rare Galarian Champions Match that was on in the early morning a few years go. He always seemed to manage to destroy his alarm clock, but he might be able to pull it off with his alarm clocks.

However there was a bit of a twist to his brilliant solution to his clock problems, and as he lifted the tipped-over crate holding his winter clothes the broken remains of the third alarm clock greeted him. He could only stare at their remains in dismay.

"I spend far too much of my salary on these things."

Also there was the little question of just how he kept doing it? What were his hands and feet even doing at night to tip over crates and pierce alarm clocks with tacks?

…

There were three levels to his home, with the top level holding the two bedrooms used by himself and his mom and a single shared bathroom. It was the smallest floor of the three, and accessed the first floor by a single slight of stairs. It was a set of stairs that were only used by himself and his mom generally, as they were staff stairs.

His home wasn't just the place he and his mom lived. It was also known as Pallet House, Pallet Town's top rated restaurant. It was actually well regarded as an eatery all across Kanto, so the fact it was the only restaurant in Pallet Town didn't diminish from its accolade.

The second floor, served by a separate set of stairs from the first floor, was the inn part of the operation. Similarly to the status of its restaurant monopoly, it was also the only place for travelers to stay while in Pallet Town. It was not famous like the restaurant part, but that didn't meant people didn't get use out of it.

In fact he was quite aware that right now it was getting record visitors and guests, and that was part of the reason he had gotten up so early. Though a part of him was a bit guilty that it wasn't necessarily to help his mom out.

He entered the kitchens with a newly filled garbage bag with the remains of his alarm clocks. His mother didn't even look over from the boiling pot she was tending to as he entered, but did beckon to him with a free hand.

He dropped the bag off in a larger garbage can first as he approached her: noting that the kitchen had a few new staff that weren't normally there. He recognized them of course, as it was a small town. The fact that many of them also were in his school either with him or until last year was also a reason he recognized them.

"Thanks for fixing those pipes Cadence, think you could go make sure there isn't anything wrong with the water pumps in the basement. The last thing we need is problems with the hot water. Giboshi and Tulip could you make sure we have at least five bags of flour and sugar for this morning, I think we're going to need it. Cattleya and Azul I need you two ready to handle pancakes and omelets as the morning rush is going to be intense."

His mom was giving out orders to the temporary hires, and while she hadn't turned to him yet he could tell she had a bit of an amused smile to her. It was just in the way he could see bits of her face move from behind her.

"I've already asked the store to put in an order in for two more alarm clocks. They should arrive in there at some point."

This was a well worn routine, but despite that he couldn't resist keeping the running gag going.

"How did you know that I needed new clocks?"

A bit of mirth entered her voice as she gave the well worn reply. It was common enough to be all but scripted, but it was a bit of fun between the two of them regardless.

"Because you always seem to manage to break them dear. Now I know you have to get ready, but if you could do me a favor and go wait on a table. There are a couple of early birds already in and you're the best one for serving them right now. Their bill is already handled so I just need someone to take their order and then take it out for them. I already baked you some muffins and you can have them on the way out. "

"Sure thing."

…

He wasn't in any particular rush as he had set his alarms early enough so that he not lacked in time to do things beyond shower, preparing himself, and cleaning up the remains of his alarm clocks. He wasn't entirely sure of why his mom needed him specifically to take the orders, though it had become a bit clearer as he approached them with notepad in hand.

"So are you feeling as tired as I am Serena? These time zone differences are really killing me."

The table that was currently occupied had a pair of unfamiliar women sitting at it, and at least one of them was speaking Kalosian. The two looked similar enough to each other he could guess that the two of them were probably related.

The one who was speaking was older and looked close in age to his mother, though he'd probably tap a few more years onto her than his mom's age of thirty-three. She had brown hair and blue eyes, and her exposed arms had a bit of musculature to them suggesting she was involved in some sort of physical activity fairly regularly. Her clothing was something he could call practical and non-gendered: though the bit that looked like a tied-up tracksuit on her waist wasn't something he'd probably wear himself.

He'd guess the other younger lady was a relative of hers, but he'd find it hard to guess if she was a daughter or a niece or something else as she looked rather different from her. The younger girl's hair was a dirtier blonde shade and grown out longer, and she did not seem to be particularly muscular. Her clothing was different too in feel: he was not expert on fashion and it was a bit different from what was common in Pallet but it was a nice look with a sharp looking black top and long red skirt that complimented each other pretty well. The main similarities he saw between the two were their eyes, which were the same color and shape.

The girl, whom he was guessing was named Serena, yawned a response to her older relative, and that was when he chimed in.

"We actually have a pretty good morning tea that everyone says can really help wake you up. We can get it out to you pretty quickly."

Their attentions were drawn to him at his Kalosian came out: looks of surprise on their faces.

"That's pretty good, better than if I tried to speak your language. That's a relief."

The older woman's tone notably relaxed and sped up when she switched back to her home language.

"That's actually pretty good Kalosian. You sort of sound a few decades behind, but it's actually kind of charming the way you sound it and not all that corny. Though I'd actually really appreciate that tea if you could get it for us."

The girl named Serena complimented his language as he took down their requests. He was back with their drinks in only a few minutes, and he lingered around as the two took sips of their tea and visibly began to sharpen and reinvigorate.

They also were genuinely interested in talking.

"I never did get your name, but honestly without this tea I probably would have forgotten it. My name's Grace Gabena, and this is my daughter Serena. We're from Vaniville Town in Kalos, though that part I'm sure you can probably guess."

"I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, which I suppose was pretty obvious."

Serena took a long sip of her tea before asking her own question.

"Ketchum is the name of this bed and breakfast, so is this a family-owned operation?"

"We serve more than breakfast, but yeah it is. I'm the third generation of the family to work here, but I'm not going to be taking it over anytime soon believe me. My grandfather Ashton Ketchum converted his house into the Pallet House while my grandmother Hanako was the first cook. My mom's the owner and head cook, I just do odd jobs to help out. Lifting heavy things, taking orders, cleaning, that sort of thing."

"Languages too? I'm guessing that is why you're the server for us right now, though if you are worried I can't read the menu I can assure you I can read your language better than I can say it. I'm stuck between the pancakes and the grits for the taste, not trying to understand what it is saying. So, how did you get so good at Kalosian?"

Grace fortunately did not see his face gray a little at mention of grits. He could never understand why anyone would want to eat that….thing. Serena had a similar expression, and he could only hope it was about grits and not pancakes. A fellow in the dislike of grits was welcome, but if you didn't like pancakes he wasn't sure what to say to such a person.

"I'm just good at languages. I'm not good at much else in school other than gym, but I do well enough in languages to keep my average looking halfway okay."

Grace shrugged in a way that didn't seem to be quite as judgy about the fact he struggled with literature, math, science, and other classes that did not involve foreign tongues and baseball.

"That's just how some people are. I couldn't even claim to be good at two things in school, and hey I managed to be pretty well off in the end. It's not really a thing in Kanto from what I understand, but I'm a champion Rhyhorn Racer. 'Gruff' Grace Gabena: five time gold winner, seven time silver winner, twice bronze, and my record holding twenty-five straight victories that no one's come close to topping. Put your back into it and you can be well off with whatever skills you have. Of course being a champ is why we're here: got Serena here an invite to Professor Oak's international event he's hosting today and for a while. You're surely familiar with that shinding, seeing as most of them are going to be staying here and all."

"'Course I am, I'm actually part of it. Its part of how the Professor is paying my mom for everyone's room and board"

Serena was surprised at hearing that, while Grace was grinning.

"That's excellent Serena, you already know someone! You've already got a friend."

The way Grace said that was a playfully patronizing tone more set for a young child than a fourteen year old, and he was blushing a bit in empathy, though far less than Serena was at her mother's teasing.

"Oh yeah, I'm ready to order. Grits please!"

…

Some time later in which he had muffins and Grace had 'food' he found himself on the walk from Pallet House to Professor Oak's lab. It wasn't the most common walk he'd take, but it was hardly out of the ordinary.

What was a bit more out of the ordinary though was the fact he had a companion on the way there.

"Everything here is so spread out and open. You could walk anywhere."

Serena was with him, and she said that part with a bit of amazement as her eyes seemed more focused on staring off into the fields and yards around her than anything specific. He wasn't entirely sure what was so special about being able to walk anywhere though

"Yeah, I guess I can do that. Got to hop over a fence or two to get anywhere and everywhere here, but I've been able to do that for years. I don't normally do that because no one ever locks any gates or doors and I can just use those. Is that odd or something? I wouldn't know as I've never actually left Pallet Town before."

He knew that the wider world was a thing, but it was always a bit of a hazy thing as to what it was. It wasn't just stadiums and Hollywood, but an old globe wasn't really the world. It was just a means of him being able to know that if he walked west for a long time he'd be in Johto and not Unova unless he really walked west and somehow started walking on water.

Serena had a thoughtful look, almost like she was trying to figure out how to explain something properly. Though, as she promptly didn't say it in Kalosian it was likely partially her translating what she wanted to say first.

"Vaniville's a lot smaller than this town, and I'm not talking about the people. I think this town's population is something like a thousand or something, right?"

He nodded as that was about what it was. Maybe it was a bit larger than that, perhaps a bit lower, but it was about the total.

"Vainville has more people than that by a good amount, but they're all in a lot less space. There isn't nearly as much space between things, though there is oddly more space fenced in for each house at my home than here. Is everything everyone's or something, like a town green or something like that? But the fences at home separate everything more. They're taller and made of stone, so you can't take them down or jump over them. You can't see through them and they muffle the sounds your neighbors can hear through them. Everyone is just more separated."

That was certainly different, very different, from Pallet Town. He couldn't imagine anyone here just walling themselves off like that, let alone the entire town. Not even Gary.

…

They eventually made it up with the hill and into Professor Oak's lab, where they were far from alone. He didn't recognize the dozens of unfamiliar young people who were gathered in the room he and Serena had been ushered into except a brief glimpse he had of Gary's hair. He was honestly amazed that they had all managed to fit into Pallet House's second floor hotel rooms, let alone when he also counted the adults and older teenagers present as chaperones. While Professor Oak was in the center, he was the only face he could put a name in front of.

A tap of the microphone silenced the chatter and drew all eyes onto the Professor, who surprisingly began to speak without a throat-clearing cough like he was expecting to.

"Hello, hello, hello, hello, hello. I'm glad to see that so many of those invited here today were able to make it all the way out here. It's a bit remote, and for many far from home, but in truth the far from home part is what this is all about. As I'm sure you've probably heard far too many times in your lives the world you all were born into is better than the world of your grandparents and parents in some of your cases. Peace has reigned for close to four centuries, and our technology and habits have become greener and more sustainable. Our air is cleaner and our waters clearer. It's safer to travel than it has ever quite possibly been with less dangers from man and Pokemon alike. However in spite of this, so few of the people in the world ever consider leaving their home countries and seeing all the world has to offer. 'Every region is the same' they say, 'you can get beaches and deserts and mountains and fancy cities and forests at home so why go afar' they claim. Every region may in fact have these things, but I wish to make strides to change that. The better world that we all have played a part in making: my generation helped make it, the next generation kept it going, and yours is soon to carry that very same torch will only become better with forging positive friendships and experiences beyond your home borders. Look to your left and to your right: the odds are that the person you are standing next to was born and raised in an entirely different country than your own."

He looked to his right where indeed Serena was, and she looked left in tandem. She smiled and he smiled back, before they both reversed directions to look at their other side. The person next to him had a different skin tone than his: a dusky brown that was almost like a tan. He was dressed in a black shirt and orange tropical shorts, with a pair of sandals making him think of a tropical beach vacation. Certainly likely to be from another region where such things were more common, like Alola or Hoenn, though the Professor wasn't wrong in that Kanto also had tropical beaches too.

"I am aware that I like to ramble, so I won't bore you of my own achievements. However today I would like to begin the process of adding another achievement to my fairly illustrious, if possibly a tad over hyped, reputation as a man who has made the world a better place. In this all too brief period of time to come I want to achieve so much with yourselves and your parents, guardians, and chaperones. To yourselves I have a few simple but important goals: to forge links of friendship with your fellow citizens of the world, to interest you all in the wider world beyond your places of birth, and to assist you as you approach that age where you can make your own choices in the world with Pokemon by your side. Now, to borrow a certain saying from one of our participating nations let us all have a Champion Time!"

…

What had followed was an assigned other participant as your buddy for the rest of the day. He would've loved to be paired up with Serena and talk a bit more about things, but he supposed it was more in line with the spirit of what was going on to meet someone else.

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In the spirit of that Serena had been paired up with a younger girl with blue hair from the Sinnoh region, and he had been paired up with a boy about his age from Galar. His name was Hop, and the darker-skinned Galarian certainly had a few things he didn't.

"Baa!"

For one thing, he already had his own Pokemon: a fluffy and adorable thing named Wooloo that he was unable to resist hugging.

"So soft…."

The white fur that coated Wooloo made his thickest blankets feel like tissue paper. The black skin beneath it visible only on the little guy's face and feet was warm to the touch. Wooloo was just a joy to hug.

If Professor Oak wanted to convince him to go to Galar, he'd do it just for the Wooloo hugging!

Hop chuckled at his continued hugging of Wooloo.

"Yeah he's wonderful. He's my best friend and the Pokemon who is going to help me take down Lee one day."

Hop's declaration, said for only the three of them to hear on top of the grassy hill a bit away from Oak's lab, got his attention and led him to leave the fluffy and adorable Wooloo.

"Lee? Is he your rival or something?"

Was Lee Hop's Gary? Did everyone have a Gary in their lives?

Hop chuckled at that question.

"Lee's my brother, and he's actually called Leon but I prefer to call him Lee. My brother's Lee, but when anyone says Leon they are talking about the champion of the Galar region. He was actually supposed to be there, and probably be the one to say 'Champion Time', but he got lost. Lee gets lost really easily…"

He'd ask how anyone could get lost trying to get to Professor Oak's place, but that was really minor in comparison to who Leon was actually.

"A champion!? Seriously! That is so cool!"

Hop shrugged, before an uneasy expression came over him.

"Yeah it is, but it's also a bit rough sometimes. He's not just a champion, but THE champion. He's never lost a battle, became champion in his first year as a trainer, and everyone loves him. It's a lot of pressure…and honestly it can get to you sometimes. Sometimes you can even hurt your best friend because of it."

Hop's tone had been a lot more subdued and uneasy than he had previously used, and he had even slipped into his native tongue for a last, quieter bit. Wooloo bleated soothingly at that, and he wondered if there had been an incident over that sort of thing before.

"Wish I could relate. I don't have any siblings, and I don't really have any expectations on me. My mom doesn't even expect me to take over the family restaurant when I get older, though maybe that's because she's not anywhere near retirement age. Everything I want to be is because I want to do it."

He wanted to be a Pokemon Master, and now he wanted to travel to Galar to see more Wooloo. Sure that last part wasn't nearly as much of a driving life goal as him finding himself in a place to be a Pokemon Master, but it was still a goal that only applied to him because he wanted it to.

"I probably could avoid a lot of pressure if I wanted to be…well anything else. Lee's a Champion, but there are plenty of thing he's not. He's not a baker, an architect, a farmer…I could avoid everything if I was just those things or just anything a few steps away from Pokemon. But I don't want to be those things; I want to work with Pokemon. And of course, with that comes comparisons to the most famous person in the entire Galar region"

Hop let out a bit of a bemused chuckle at his situation, before managing to make himself at least externally a bit more cheerful

"Well part of the reason the both of us are here is because we're supposed to learn from each other. Not sure all the expectations in the world versus no expectations at all is what it was meant to be but…"

Any further talk of learning was shelved as a strong wind gust blew over the hill. It whipped the grass around into a shimmer of light and sent Wooloo rolling away like a ball, one that was only picking up more speed every second.

"Baaaa!"

"Wooloo!"

Both of them promptly began to run after the little sheep: all three of them almost blurs as they ran down the hill. He was moving faster than Hop, but Wooloo had time and gravity to pick up even more speed. Wooloo was bleating more and more in concern, and he continued to run to try and minimize just how much space was between them.

Wooloo was still gaining distance, but it seemed like it wasn't as much now. Perhaps soon Wooloo would reach the bottom of the hill and gain a bit less speed or even start slowing down.

Before that happened however, something else did. Something strange.

In tandem with a quick and deep gulp of air, everything around him seemed to lose its color and definition. Wooloo was the only thing he could see that seemed to have anything in this void, but Wooloo appeared to him without fluffyness. Wooloo radiated a gold aura around itself, and the brief bits of his hands he saw as momentum alone kept him running had them also glowing blue with a golden sheen around it.

However before he could let out a sound of surprise or shock at what he was seeing, he noticed something ahead. The void left the world without details of grass and light to hide it, and the golden aura at the base of the hill was clear to see. The aura radiated around that of a round figure curled up, but he could just make up under-detailed arms in the curled up being.

A Geodude.

"Wooloo, there's a Geodude ahead of you! If you run into it, it'll attack you!"

Geodude weren't common here around Pallet Town, but there were a few around who rolled down from the nearby mountains and settled in the area. If you stepped on one they could attack you, though it wasn't guaranteed. Sometimes they ignored it, and sometimes they attacked with their powerful arms throwing punches, stones, and shaking the ground. A few really angry ones used all of their energy and let off explosions before falling asleep.

Wooloo let out an alarmed bleat before all four little stubby legs shot out and began to grind against the ground. The resulting slowdown scraped against the earth and severed hundreds of blades of grass, but in doing so slowed the little guy down. The world was still under detailed, but he was now nearly at Wooloo. Wooloo had managed to stop barely a foot away from the Geodude whom did not shift from its position.

He stopped and picked up the nervously bleating Pokemon, even as a tired Hop managed to reach them. He was panting and he was still glowing in the odd version of sight he was currently stuck in, but Hop was entirely blue unlike Wooloo and Geodude's gold and his blue and gold.

"Thanks man, thanks. Thanks for saving Wooloo from that thing. So that's a Geodude huh…they don't live in Galar so it's all new to me. I didn't see it until like, a few feet ago. How did you spot it?"

He'd give Hop an answer, but he wasn't all that sure himself. Everything was still a strange world of underdetail and auras. He shut his eyes forcefully and slowly opened them back up, and that seem to do the trick. He could see Wooloo's fluffiness just as much as he could feel it, and he could see the confusion and relief on Hop's face clearly now. He couldn't see any auras.

"I couldn't explain even if I wanted to. It was…intuition I guess?"

What other way could be explain it?

…

The rest of the day hadn't really had anything else as strange as his sudden vision abilities. Hop had been interested in trying to capture the Geodude after he had mentioned that Geodude was a rock-type and it evolved twice, but that hadn't gone all that well.

Geodude had thrown Wooloo and the two of them had to both run after Wooloo again and away from the very cross Geodude. Fortunately Geodude were not frequent pursuers of those that earn their ire, and once they were out of Rock Throw range they were safe.

By the time they had found Wooloo again it was time for dinner and with that the day was fairly mundane: he helped clean up for the night and before he knew it tomorrow morning had arrived.

That morning found him bringing some tea out to his mom who was taking a bit of a break after her early morning breakfast work. Said tea was with Grace of all people, along with a third woman he didn't recognize.

The woman was probably between Delia and Grace in age, and had blue hair. She had paler skin than his mom or Grace, and unlike Grace she wasn't speaking a second language.

"Oh this is your son Delia?"

However the way she spoke had a bit of an accent to it. Compared to how he and his mom talked her words had a hint of snow-laden wind to them.

His mom smiled in response, even as he was putting down their morning tea.

"Oh he is, and you could call him my pride and joy. Anyone can run a restaurant and inn, but only a few people are really capable of being parents, let alone a single mother. I like to think I did pretty well, even if he does have a problem with insomnia sometimes."

Outside of the situation he was in, he'd really have liked to not respond to that. The borderline whine he'd give in response only would add to the embarrassment. However he was not outside of the situation, but living it.

"Mommmm! I don't have an insomnia problem; I just break my clocks in my sleep!"

He blushed in embarrassment and shut his mouth, but it was too late to prevent the three ladies from having a laugh at his expense. Grace was the first to stop laughing and start talking once again.

"Must be a teenager thing. Serena sleeps like the dead and I had to train a Fletchling to wake her up. With that girl it's either timezones or Peck attacks to wake up her in the morning. Though I suppose she at least doesn't break anything afterwards, though she does glare at me sometimes. "

The blue haired newcomer winced at that.

"You know my Dawn's eleven right? I really don't want to imagine what she's going to be like as a teenager. I'd rather her stay sweet and a bit silly than, well, grumpy and breaking things in her sleep."

Delia waved the woman's concerns off a bit, and Grace had a bit of a friendly chuckle at that.

"Teenagers aren't that bad Johanna. Sure Ash is a menace to clocks everywhere, but he's a good worker and pays for his property himself. I mean sure I pay his salary so I'm sort of still paying for it, but there isn't a better cleaner in all of Pallet Town than my little boy so it all works out in the end."

"And my little girl might be a bit stubborn about sleeping and still needs to master riding Rhyhorn, but she's a doll too. Once they wake up teenagers are like children who can do more to help you and their sweetness is just as wonderful as it ever is, if perhaps just a bit rarer. Why, my daughter even took your Dawn out to get some fresh air after she didn't quite sleep right, and she really could use a nice guy to bring them back here for breakfast."

He took Grace's offered exit and darted off, and he tried to ignore the chuckling from the three mothers. He heard only a light snippet of their conversation that entered the topic of 'so tell me, were your husband's wusses who couldn't handle a friendly Rhyhorn too'?

…

He did not dwell on what might have come up next in that conversation: the topic of his father was not something that was generally talked about. His mom never really dwelled on the subject, and he didn't really here anyone else in town mention him.

He knew he wasn't from Pallet Town, but that was hardly a distinct feature. A lot of people weren't from Pallet Town, in fact most people were not from here.

When it came to family he only had photos of his mom's parents, though he did know that his grandmother had been alive when he was young. He just did not have any clear memories of her. His father was an utter unknown.

It was always a half-held wish of his to find him when he left Pallet Town on his Pokemon journey. His dream was to be a Pokemon master, and a dream of his now was to visit Galar and see more Wooloo. Maybe he'd even get to challenge 'The Champion Leon' too. But if he found evidence of his father while he was traveling, that would be nice. He'd need a name for the man though.

Thoughts of such heavy topics were for another time though, as he spotted Serena and the girl with blue hair from before sitting on a grassy hill. He was no expert of hair management, but it looked like Serena was doing something with the girl's hair: braiding maybe?

Whatever she was doing with the girl he was pretty sure was Dawn, the two finished up whatever they were doing and stood and spun around to spot him. Serena's smile beamed as she saw him again, and the little girl she was with gave a less bold but still friendly smile at him.

"Oh Ash! Good morning!"

He nodded back to Serena.

"Good morning to you too. Breakfast is starting soon, you want to get in quickly before nothing is left but grits."

All three of them looked ill at the thought of having to choose between hunger and grits. The blue haired girl clapped her hands together and spoke in a similar accent to that of her mother: like a fresh cold wind blowing snow in words.

"You guys are still serving those sweetened pancakes right? You had them yesterday and I really enjoyed them!"

He had to think on that a bit, but he had an answer for the girl.

"We are serving pancakes, but I think the pancakes are the sort more sweetened by berries than candies this time. You okay with Pecha Pancakes?"

The girl didn't hesitate with her answer, and he had a moment to note more about her than her age and hair color. The girl, whose name was probably Dawn but he hadn't gotten it said aloud yet to be 100% sure, was mostly dressed in pink: pink boots and short skirt and scarf. Her white hat and black blouse was also tinged with pink. Her hair was now braided, framing her face with bright blue eyes and a pair of marks under her cheeks that were oddly like his own.

"I'm more than okay with those! Mom and I always made them back home. No need to worry!"

…

Somehow Hop and the kid he noticed during Oak's speech had managed to eat all of the Pecha Pancakes before they got any. Fortunately there was in fact food before they had to resort to eating grits.

After a bit more of breakfast and a bit of a dismissal from his mom when he offered to help with the clean up they found themselves back at Professor Oak's for a second day of activities. He wasn't sure what he expected, but being given six Pokeballs was not what he expected at all.

Especially the fact that one of them seemed to have something in it.

"I'm not fifteen yet! I can't have…"

He was quieted by a finger to the person's lips.

The person who had given him the Pokeballs was a tall young woman, probably a year or so older than him who was one of the chaperones to all of this. She was dressed sort of like Hop's fellow Pecha decimator in a way suitable for tropical living. Her feet were clad in sandals, her jeans were short, and her top was a tube top with a black tie-notted shirt around her. Her skin was paler than his, and her eyes grey and hair black. Oddly she also had marks on her cheeks like him and Dawn. A nametag on her tube top said her name was Iolani, with Alola also on the label. (*)

"If you don't end up in Viridian City until you're fifteen you won't have anything to worry about. Now you seemed to have noticed that one of the Pokeballs you have has a Pokemon in it. It's one from the Alola region, and you will be its trainer for the time being. If you bond with it you two will actually be partners going forward. I'm a bit of an expert of Pokemon like this one: I'm something called a Trial Captain so it comes with the territory. That familiarity tells me that you and this Pokemon will have a very good chance of getting along swimmingly. The trainer and Pokemon who put on the best results together in regards to all factors will get a special reward at the end of this, so good luck Ash. I think you have a shot. Oh, and you can use those five extra Pokeballs however you want. I heard from the professor that you want to become a Pokemon Trainer when you turn fifteen. Consider this not just a means of learning about a Pokemon from Alola, but also about what sort of Pokemon Trainer you want to be."

With that Iolani the Trial Captain left him, and he held the occupied Pokeball in his hand nervously.

"A Pokemon that I'd get along with swimmingly? Wonder if that means it is a water-type or something? Well I'll only find out if I try: Pokeball go!"

With that he tossed the ball into the air, his arms outstretched as to catch whatever would fall out. He had only a moment to worry about what he'd do if a Snorlax fell out before the shape that came out revealed itself.

What popped out was a round shape with beige and green colors. He could make little orange feet, and the sound of snoring. The shape was also falling, so he fortunately found himself catching the snoozing Pokemon as it landed in his arms in a puffy pile of snores and feathers. He held the little bird in his arms as a beaming smile came over him.

Another adorable round Pokemon! And this one had wings!

…

The little bird continued to sleep even after five minutes in his arms, and he wasn't entirely sure what he should do. Even when he walked out into the open fields of Pallet the bird did not wake up, be it from motion or the impact of sunlight.

It would be rude to wake it up, but he was not going to manage the 'bond with the Pokemon' exercise if the Pokemon he was going to bond with stayed asleep the entire time. Though he was at the disadvantage of having no idea what the Pokemon in question was even called, let alone the question of what it was like.

It could be some sort of miniature Snorlax that did not respond well to being woken up for all he knew. How could he avoid that problem?

He stared at the snoring bird for a bit, when suddenly the detail out of everything left once more. The world was an underdetailed void once again, with the brightest of remaining colors being the blue and gold that radiated from his hands and the gold color that the bird in his hand was giving off.

"Well, this is another problem that does not cancel out the first one."

His snark at the oddness that was happening to him aside, he did find himself staring at the round bird in this strange state of seeing things and noticed something

The glow that was coming from the bird seemed to be constantly growing, if only a little bit, the longer it was in sleeping. Shifting the little Pokemon to only being in one hand for a moment he used his other hand to hold his hat over the Pokemon as to block the sunlight. The shade seemed to keep the aura from growing. Was this Pokemon absorbing sunlight?

"Are you a grass-type? A grass and flying type maybe?"

The snoring bird did not answer him, but he was pretty confident in his guess. This Pokemon must be able to feed on sunlight, or at least absorb it when asleep as to use as energy later. He knew that many grass Pokemon did something like that: a Venusaur or a Oddish could gain energy by dozing in the sun without doing anything else.

However he also knew that both of those Pokemon did in fact like eating. He also knew that eating was a good way of waking up in the morning.

With a forceful blink he snapped his eyesight back out of the strange state for the second time and saw his little bow-tied bird friend. He had a question for the little bird, even if it was something the bird would not respond to or possibly even hear.

"Want to raid the kitchen?"

…

Raid suggested he was not allowed to eat things there. Truth was he was not supposed to, say; eat the entire roast that was being prepared all morning for the night, but a single fruit or something was fine.

He had left the snoring little bird outside of the storage area for a moment as he looked for a fruit, and he came out with a apple in hand. He held the fruit in front of the bird which did what motion and a lack of direct sunlight failed to do. It woke the bird.

The eyes of the bird shot open, revealing round little black eyes. A flurry of energy followed, as the bird promptly tore into the apple without restraint. The core of the apple eventually vanished from sight and the little bird was left to stare at him in surprise.

"Row?"

So the Pokemon had 'Row' in its name somewhere. With that fact revealed he smiled and held the little bird up to his face as to be eye to eye.

"Hey there, my name is Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town. At least for the moment I'm your trainer, and I'd hope it gets to stay that way. What's your name?"

"Rowlettt?"

The last part was a bit of a stretched sound, so he was going to guess that its name was in fact Rowlet.

"Okay Rowlet."

The chirped reply sounded like it was an affirmative 'yep that is my name' to him, so he grinned at the bird and gave it a second apple.

Rowlet's eyes lit up and with a cheerful and eager cry Rowlet flew onto his arm and began to go after the fruit voraciously. He winced a bit as the bird dug talons into his arm, but he grinned through the pain.

His very own Pokemon (hopefully)! This was so wonderful!

"Say, you wouldn't mind helping me out with something would you?"

He asked as the bird finished off the second apple, leaving said bird to look up at him in curiosity.

He had five Pokeballs and a Pokemon with him, what he should be doing now was obvious. He should try and capture some Pokemon! There was a lot of space between here and Viridian City, and he could only guess how many Pokemon there were in that space!

Battling together was a good way to get to know Rowlet even better, and he was supposed to try and figure out 'what sort of Pokemon Trainer he wanted to be' with Rowlet's help after all.

He wanted to be a Pokemon Master, and he wanted to see Galar, but there was more he wanted to figure out about himself if he could. What sort of Pokemon did he really click with? What strategies worked the best for him? Did he want to capture a lot of Pokemon or really work with a few of them?

If Rowlet was willing to help him out, he'd like to try and get an idea of that sort of thing.

Rowlet chirped an affirmative to the idea of helping him, just as the lights flickered and the sound of something chewing began to faintly echo through the storage area he was in.

…

He had no business messing with wires and electrical things, but he did know how to access the electrical systems of Pallet House from said storage room. It was a bit of panel shifting and moving a few things around, nothing that interesting. He didn't have a flashlight on him right then and there, but he could see that something was in there and it seemed to be chewing on the cables. Whatever it was didn't seem to have noticed him.

He couldn't quite judge the distance, but he had a guess it was a bit out of reach for him to try and grab it himself.

"Row…"

He only realized that the target of his request had moved from his spot when he saw Rowlet swoop out of the interior of the walls having managed to swoop in without being heard or seen by him. Rowlet was not alone however, as just seconds away and right after a kick from Rowlet's feet a yellow shape was flung out.

The shape landed on a box and sparked at them threateningly. Out of the dark he could recognize the shape for what it actually was.

"That's a Pikachu!"

Indeed it was a Pokemon he was familiar with, if having never seen in person before. The yellow Pokemon had red cheeks that were sparking, and black tipped ears. The tail of the little rodent was standing up aggressively, though that wasn't what really seemed noticeable to him.

It was the fact the Pokemon looked rather thin. Was that why it had broken into the walls to suck electricity from the cables?

"Do you need something to eat? I can give you some fru…"

The Pikachu flew at his head with what looked like a Quick Attack. He ducked to avoid the speed attack, which seemed to peter out at the end and had Pikachu land on a box of unopened mustard bottles.

He couldn't tell if Pikachu ran out of gas there or if it was planned, however it did make him think the mouse was probably not going to be in a mood to listen, but if it got away he had no idea what would happen to it next.

At best it would just steal electricity from the rest of the town and cause problems with the electric grid and bills. At worst it would run off into the woods half starved and weak, and that would be dangerous for it. There was only thing he could do here: capture it. Though hungry, Pikachu did not seem to be weakened enough for capture just yet.

"Rowlet, do you think you can help me weaken that Pikachu?"

"Row!"

His Alolan friend's declarative yowl was to the affirmative, and with that he pointed at the Pikachu.

"Rowlet, use an attack!"

Rowlet flew towards the Pikachu with a glowing beak: he was going to guess that was Peck. Pikachu dodged the attack and clenched its fist with a flickering orange light.

Said fist struck into Rowlet, sending his bird friend bouncing into the wall. However like a ball bounced into a wall Rowlet rebounded back from that and flew back at Pikachu with Peck. The attack struck Pikachu this time, blasting the Pikachu into a box of napkins. The cardboard crumbled a bit, but he was sure the napkins would be fine.

The Pikachu glared at Rowlet before firing an electrical attack. It singed the cardboard but seemed weak, weak enough for Rowlet to block it with a grass attack of some sort.

Pikachu glared at Rowlet in frustration before white glowed around him once more. Quick Attack was then used, sending Pikachu flying at Rowlet. The bird swooped out of the way and Pikachu landed on the very wall Rowlet had struck earlier.

Pikachu landed on the wall and bounced back down onto a box's covered top and looked around for Rowlet. Rowlet then attacked from above, where Pikachu had not been looking, and sent Pikachu crashing down on the floor right in front of him.

He had already taken out one of the Pokeballs he had been given with Rowlet and held it up to the struck Pikachu's face.

"Please, you aren't doing well, you can barely battle. I can't let you just eat everyone's electricity but I can get you help. I need to make sure you don't run off first."

With that he poked the Pokeball against Pikachu's head, sucking the mouse into the ball. The ball glowed red and he instinctively gripped it as it shook violently.

Rowlet flew over to him with a worried expression as he continued to struggle with the violently wiggling ball, but eventually the ball calmed down and was no longer shaking so aggressively.

He held the ball in his hand, and despite the fact the capture was more for Pikachu's benefit than his own he really couldn't help himself. A smile had broken out of his worry and was taking over his face, and he really, really wanted to shout it out.

"I caught a Pokemon! I caught Pikachu!"

"Rowww!"

Rowlet at least didn't think less of him out of his shouting and posing with the ball held high.

After a bit to really let the feeling of such a pivotal step in his dream wash over him he lowered the ball down and felt Rowlet flutter down on his shoulder.

"I think Professor Oak has healing equipment, let's go Rowlet!"

"Row!"