Author's Note:

Hey guys. I'll admit I'm not necessarily an aspiring writer. I'm just a routine fan of reading and pokémon, and had this idea of a fic which I wanted to try to write. So please bear with my mistakes and feel free to make suggestions, both on the story, the characters, and my grammar.

Okay. So, the idea here is basically that I wanted to make sense of the same Ash who ALMOST won the Kalos league randomly deciding to attend a school in Alola. I'd like to explore what he's there to learn and how he aims to become a Pokémon master. I am trying to keep a sense of continuity with the past seasons (all are considered canon), and so, expect old friends to keep appearing perhaps. I've given Kukui the 'Champion' treatment like the Sun and Moon Games.

This fic might turn out to be episodic like the Anime, but I'll try to keep the story interesting.

To be honest, I've not planned much ahead at present, but there are some things at least which I think will happen.

Please read and review :)

PROLOGUE

Professor Kukui's House. Melemele Island, Alola

Sunday evening found Kukui sitting aimlessly on the couch of his living room. He had spent his whole morning at his 'lab,' which was basically a nice stretch of inland forest where he kept all his pokémon (along with those of most of the other Melemele trainers who had more pokémon than a full team), researching moves. He sighed contentedly as he thought back towards his progress from today. Why exactly couldn't Incineroar produce a stronger heat wave than his flamethrower… I guess the belt is good enough for focussed attacks, but… Lost in his thoughts, he stretched his legs over the table with his right heel landing on a button on some kind of remote. Pulled away from his reverie, he figured out he could watch the TV for a while.

"Sponsors for this broadcast…" Noticing the 'live' label near the logo of AlolaSport1, he wondered what could the telecast be about. Since there was as much chance of it being something like Poke-ringer as of being a high-profile battle, he chose to wait. Soon enough, the screen showed a full stadium with the iconic Lumiose Tower visible in the backdrop. After showing the spider-cam view of what looked like a rocky terrain battlefield with a nice waterfall, the screen focussed on a young man wearing a formal indigo suit and having an air of command. "The battle between Ash and Alain is about to get underway! When all six of either trainer's pokémon are unable to continue, the battle will be over. In addition, when three of the pokémon on either side are unable to continue, the battlefield will change. Bring out your pokémon!"

As the roar of crowd intensified, a Pikachu and a Tyranitar was sent out by the opponents. So, a 6-on-6 league match on a Sunday… Has to be at least third-place match. Hmm, a Pikachu at this level? Must be another potential Champion-level pokémon… and a Sand stream Tyranitar huh? Decent size too… looks strong. Certainly has the advantage if it knows a ground-type move… Kukui speculated, intrigued. "Alright! Battle BEGINS!"

"Get ready Alain!"

"Bring it on Ash."

Oh, a hot flamethrower against a controlled psybeam… The two seem to know each other too. Interesting.

The battle began with a Dark Pulse from the Tyranitar, which the Pikachu dodged by jumping away and striking the water from the small stream with an Iron tail. Creative… Sand stream done for and Tyranitar soaked? Kukui chuckled, having a good guess where it was going to go from here. Pikachu managed to get a direct hit with a thunderbolt before its electroball was countered by a stone edge. The Tyranitar smashed the stone edge with its tail, sending debris flying towards its opponent, who batted almost all away with Iron tails. The Pikachu certainly has high speed and both kinds of attacks, though that may be due to all that water… Lucky kid. But seems like he's too focused on avoiding a hit… average defence? The Tyranitar tried to crunch a suspended Pikachu but was countered by Iron tail. Flinging the rodent away, Tyranitar was struck by an electroball, knocking it out. "Impressive win no doubt. And Ash is off to an early lead!" Both trainers recalled their pokémon, sending out a Noivern and a Weavile. Kukui winced, wondering if the flying dragon would be able to hold up against the quick Ice-type for the two minutes before the next allowed substitution. As he had suspected though, the Noivern didn't really stand a chance. Both sides even… Well, there are certainly worse ways to spend a Sunday eve.

Sinnoh Champion Cynthia's Villa, Undella Town, Unova

Eyes glued on the screen, Cynthia shook her head as one of Ash's pokéball opened on its own accord to reveal a bird-like pokémon. He really needs to be strict occasionally with his pokémon. She sighed, recalling the tendencies of his Oshawatt from their last meeting. She suspected Ash would have to use this pokémon next despite a disadvantage unless the opponent allowed the switch. Still, she didn't want her young friend to lose this match; she knew that with his habit of travelling so much and resetting his team for every journey, there was no guarantee when will he ever have an equally strong team going into a new league. From what she had learnt about him, he didn't really plan his captures from a region and most of his pokémon chose him than the other way. The contrast between him and her teenage self couldn't have been greater. Like she had learnt the value of forming loving relationships with pokémon on her journeys, Ash needed to learn the importance of picking strong, battle-suited and disciplined pokémon if he wanted the championship. When she saw the Hawlucha wheedle Ash into letting it take over the battle, she sighed. He's going to lose his advantage. She had wanted his Sinnoh rival- Paul, she recalled- to be able to influence Ash as much has he was influenced, but even though Ash had matured as a battler, he hadn't become as assertive as he needed to be away from the field.

I almost feel tempted to ask Professor Oak to transfer his mentorship rights to me, though there is no polite way. Anyways, what came of trying to track him down in Unova and inviting him here? I would have been able to help him work with most of his experienced battlers, but to be honest his Unovan team was mediocre; not useless, it had been years since I've thought of any pokémon in THAT way, but simply not capable of being in any champions' leagues. Plus, I had to spend a lot of my free hours protecting Meloetta…

She cut her train of thoughts as the battle resumed after the brief pause. She realised that the bird must also be a fighting type from its battle style. Not that it seemed to matter to the fast-dodging Weavile though… When the opponent ordered an ice beam at the pokémon's feet, the flying-type had to open a gap between the two as well as deal with an ice battlefield. She thought this was it until the camera focussed on Ash's face and showed him looking awfully smug. The next few minutes were simply amazing, as his pokémon took super-effective ice beams as well as powerful night slashes without really showing strain. Finally, a high-jump kick and a 'flying-press?' was sufficient to knock out the Weavile. Good strategy. My Glaceon wouldn't have fallen though… her ice-beam would simply have been too strong. That was the problem with being as strong as she was; she couldn't really expect a match out of most good battlers simply because of the raw power her pokémon possessed. And when the trainers had power… They usually turned out to be all power. Tobias had turned out to be a disappointment too. Boy she wanted a challenge. That's why she wanted Ash to understand that catching strong pokémon and raising them with affection go hand-in-hand to produce quality partners for trainers with battling prowess like him.

The opponent wasted little time in sending out Bisharp and ordering a thunder wave to paralyse Ash's bird. Good one…

Professor Kukui's House. Melemele Island, Alola

Kukui finally released his breath as the first half of the battle was finally concluded with an exciting aerial bout between an Unfezant and a Talonflame which ended in a double-KO. As the field was replaced by a grass-field, the camera showed the faces of the two trainers. It seemed to Kukui that one of them was either making a boast or complimenting his opponent, who was smiling. He felt that excitement of the battle was acting like syncronoise on both of them as well as the viewers. And him. The pokémon finally sent out were a Metagross and the Pikachu, again. Though there was a possibility that this round would be a repeat of Pikachu vs Tyranitar, the trainer Alain had to have thought of a counter by now. This was certainly verified when the Metagross began outmanoeuvring Pikachu using its Agility. A high speed IV Metagross… Huh. It managed to strike with a metal claw before landing a stone edge. Surprisingly though, Pikachu pulled through. And again, after a Meteor Mash. Good endurance for a Pikachu… could be on Eviolite though, but are they allowed in the freestyle trainer leagues? Wonder how strong will it be when it evolves. Might give Incineroar a good match. Even more surprisingly, it overpowered the next meteor mash with an electroball, before jumping on the steel-type's body. Checkmate, Kukui chuckled, as Metagross was left unconscious within the next few seconds.

The older trainer sent out a Charizard on the battlefield. Kukui gasped on noticing its neckpiece. Is that… a Mega-stone? It certainly looked somewhat like those stones sold in the battle tree. Pikachu started off with a quick attack and then launched a massive thunderbolt. When Charizard wasn't ordered to dodge the super-effective move even when it had to go down on a knee to maintain its balance, Kukui knew. This is the pokémon of his team. Certainly champion level. This was further emphasised when the flurry of attacks launched by Pikachu ended to reveal it virtually unharmed, and fully established when it finally bought the opposite 'champion potential' pokémon down without being significantly winded.

The trainer Ash sent out a Goodra as Alain returned the Charizard for his Bisharp. Well… pulling out your strongest out of the battle against a pseudo-legendary. Kukui got psyched having already figured out the familiarity between the opponents. What's coming has to be even stronger. As soon as this round started though, Kukui realised that the Goodra had a poor moveset. As such, neither Dragon Pulse nor Ice beam could hurt a steel-type much, so the only way to hurt it was bide. Now that I think, His Noivern too… Only Dragon Pulse, Boomburst and Air Slash… Nothing for steel types. Lucky that Pikachu took out Metagross… After a few moments, he realised, even his Pikachu: Quick attack, Thunderbolt, Electroball, Iron tail… most other electric types will handle it easily. Hawlucha had no elemental punches. Talonflame's set wasn't much better. Kukui found himself deep in thought. Must take a heck of a battler to make it so far in such a competitive league, given he's fighting with such limited movesets in his pokémon. Hell, one of them is a Pikachu! Even a champion-level one can't survive a lot of hits. Kukui mentally noted his desire to know more about this trainer and his methods. He looked up to find the Goodra, indeed, unconscious. Bisharp wasn't in the best shape either, implying the use of a successful bide. The next pokémon sent out was a Greninja. Must be his starter. Why save a Charizard for It though? However, when the Greninja put Bisharp away with a single water shuriken after dodging an iron head effortlessly using an extremely well executed double-team, Kukui decided that the Charizard can simply not take it, however good it was. Unless it mega-evolves.

However, Charizard did not mega-evolve. It came in with a flamethrower, which the Greninja dodged before coming in with cut. "Seriously?" Even though the cut attack pushed it back, the Charizard still seemed largely unfazed. What happened next, however, shocked Kukui, who stood up surprised as the Greninja transformed into a different form, which bore a striking resemblance to its trainer's outfit and was complete with raven-brown hair. In response, Alain finally mega evolved his Charizard, who changed its whole coloration to reflect the draconic energy now rushing into its blood along with its fire, which took a shade of light blue.

What followed next was so intense Kukui dared not blink. Although things almost became a blur, Kukui did notice the sheer power of Charizard's flames which were used to make Greninja's double team useless, the surprise use of cut to defend against the flamethrower effectively (note to self: explore the defensive potential of cut against beam attacks), the sheer power of the blast burn and the water shuriken, how Ash seemed to be affected when Greninja took damage… However, Kukui realised that mega-Charizard X was overpowering the strange transformed ninja-frog bit by bit. It had the stronger attacks and the better moveset. Its dragon claw was stronger than Greninja's cut, its flamethrower was somehow as strong as water shuriken (which arguably is not the best attack to have as your only same type move), and when it began using thunderpunches, its odds of winning shot up even more on account of it having the only super-effective move on the battlefield. However, It all seemed to change when Greninja managed to fire an ORANGE water shuriken, which was countered by a hasty blast burn by Alain. When the smoke from the resulting explosion finally cleared, it revealed a Charizard down on its knees facing a Greninja standing nonchalant.

Before Kukui could figure out what exactly happened, Greninja inexplicably collapsed along with its trainer.

Sinnoh Champion Cynthia's Villa, Undella Town, Unova

After noticing the special Greninja, and strangely Ash, collapsed on the floor, Cynthia let out a breath. Honestly, her head was a swirl of thoughts and she wasn't really sure what to make of everything that happened. She could feel excitement from the battle, anticipation of being able to let Garchomp loose against that amazing Charizard, desire of facing Ash's Greninja sooner rather than later, confusion over the strange orange water shuriken which seemed stronger than the regular one but was either overpowered by the blast burn (which the normal one had countered) or (perhaps more likely) was so exhausting it caused Greninja and Ash to pass out against all odds... sadness for her friend who was so close, pride over Ash's achievements in Kalos, concern for his safety, awe at Pikachu's performance against the two pseudo-legendaries, curiosity over how strong would it be when it evolves, irritation over Ash's acceptance of his pokémon who 'choose not to evolve'…. She decided she needed to compose her mind first.

On the flip side, Ash will probably return to Pallet Town sometime soon, and she might finally be able to talk to him over telephone after what was almost a year.

Oak Labs, Pallet Town, Kanto

"Not this year then," Delia observed neutrally after the result finally sunk in to the small gathering in the living room of Professor Oak's residence.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Ketchum," Tracey said, "I expected him to pull through when his Greninja transformed, but it was a great battle anyway...?"

"Thanks Tracey, but don't worry about me. I'd have been sad, but did you notice how much he enjoyed the battle? Did you see that smile he and Pikachu had throughout? I don't care if he loses, as long as he keeps having fun doing what he loves. Plus, this only means he's going to return home any day now!" Delia replied with a smile which seemed genuine, though a tear still escaped her eye.

"He's getting there though," observed one of Professor Oak's outfield research assistants who happened to be paying a rare visit to Pallet town, and who also happened to be Ash's first real rival. "I mean, had he been using this team in Johto or Hoenn, he'd have won. It's only a matter of time." Not that I'd say this to Ashy-Boy's face.

"I suspect that's why he's still traveling," observed Tracey. "I mean, had he stopped after Johto, Hoenn or Sinnoh, he'd have missed out on his Greninja for starters. Plus, he was much better than ever before in this tournament."

How right you are Tracey, Professor Oak thought for the umpteenth time. It's clear to anyone who watches closely that Ash has been an elite level battler since back in Sinnoh. The only things holding him back are the variable strength of his Pokémon, his team building and his move selection. He sighed, as he headed towards the lab to be able to think. Nothing that can't be fixed if he spends a little time here with me... But I can't stop him from going to some new place if he wants, isn't it? He knew that it wasn't true; that Ash would listen if he just asked. However, since the day he came barging in the lab in his pyjamas back then, the only time he had been home for more than a week was during his first year and then after Sinnoh. Back then he was too depressed from his league loss to really think much about his future. But Samuel Oak had never stopped him, had never tried to correct him over his mistakes. Although most kids learn about strong Pokémon, type advantage etc in their childhood, Ash had no one to teach him. Not even the professor himself. Wasn't it just an honest mistake though? He thought back to the rash, energetic and naive kid that was Ash before he left. He didn't even know how to use a pokéball and had a starter who should most likely have run away even before Ash could have left Pallet far behind. Oak had thought Ash incapable of being a good trainer, and had wanted him to leave that dream behind and return home to his mother before he hurt himself out there. But he had survived all odds then, and he keeps surviving them now.

Though Oak didn't really beat himself up over it, he still felt guilty over not being a good mentor for Ash. I would have made it up to him if he had stayed back for a while, but I dare not make the suggestion. It was not a matter of being afraid, rather it was just that he always looked forward to the data and interactions Ash bought back with him for the Pokémon of any region he set feet on. Even legendaries. He was ashamed that his personal research demanded him to let Ash keep visiting new regions and meeting new Pokémon.

He walked up to a shelf affixed on the wall facing his work bench and pulled out a file. Scanning his pages, he found what he was looking for.

International League of Pokémon Relations, Kanto Chapter

Registration of Trainers Under League Mentorship Program.

Name: Ash Ketchum

Father's Name: unknown

Mother's Name: Delia Hanako Ketchum

Mentor's Name: Professor Samuel Oak

Age (must be less than 18): 16y

Why should he be considered for the scholarship (if outside first year as a trainer)?

The professor quickly jotted down a few words describing his final league performance, which added to his other accomplishments from Kalos (written down from what Ash told him through his calls), should make a compelling case to keep him funded for another year.

The leagues all over the world funded new trainers in their first year of journey along with providing them a starter. This, they reasoned, was to provide everyone a chance to be able to form bonds with Pokémon. However, if a person managed to get through a year, he was expected to take care of himself henceforth: no more free pokémon centres and the like. This is one reason why most trainers who continued past their one year stayed in their home regions, or at most travelled their neighbouring ones; although most people simply got tired after a while. But if a trainer bought some benefit to the league from his journeys, he could still get funded from the league. This is why Ash was still able to keep up his wanderlust... His Dex entries were far more valuable to professor Oak and the league than what it cost to let him travel far and wide. Not to mention his work on bringing down criminal organisations and averting crises.

Suggested Funds: 15,000 poké/month

Next course of action:

Oak wondered what Ash would do next, where he would go and when. He hoped that Ash could stay home for a bit, so that Oak could at least fulfil his duties as a mentor besides simply taking care of his protégé's Pokémon till he comes of age. He left that section blank and closed the file. I'll complete it once Ash returns.

With Delia having returned to her home and the professor having busied himself, Tracey and Gary were left to their own devices. They were currently talking over a mug of coffee in the kitchen.

"What's gotten into Gramps today, eh Trace? He's kept himself in the lab all day," Gary wondered.

"I don't really know but I think it's something to do with Ash," Tracey speculated. "This happens every time he's about to return from somewhere."

"Oh... I haven't been around when he's here forever, isn't it? Man, Gramps makes me do all his fieldwork," Gary complained.

"I know, right?" Tracey chuckled. "But if not you, who else? It's not like Daisy's gonna stop coordinating like you."

"Yeah, yeah I asked for it..." Gary grumbled. He returned to their previous conversation. "What about Ash though?"

"I don't really know, but I think he might just be excited to see Ash's pokédex."

"Huh? Last I checked, he doesn't catch many Pokémon. Why then?"

"Let me see… when was the last time he called you? Or you him?"

"Me? Call Ashy-boy?" Gary snorted haughtily, as Tracey rolled his eyes. With a serious tone, Gary said, "Nah I spend my time in forests. He's the last person I can call, given how hard he is to track down. I'm positive he doesn't call anyone anyway." Gary took a sip out of his mug.

"You're wrong about that. Ash calls his mom and us from every pokémon centre he checks in to talk to his pokémon and to discuss their training routines. There's a reason Delia is fine with him travelling as much as he does. I've heard from Brock that he also calls him, Misty and his other friends who have settled down after his every gym battle. Iris once said that he spends 5-6 hours in the Pokémon Centre videophone booth after every badge."

"5-6 hours? Overdoing much, isn't he?" Gary smirked mischievously. "Oh, I get it now. He might just want to brag about his gym badges to everyone who still listens. What about I knock the whiny kid down a peg or two when he returns?" He laughed along with Tracey.

"Hey, he's not that bad, you know? He doesn't brag about badges anymore. Perhaps he's got enough of 'em. It's just his stories... You've never travelled with him, so I don't think you'd understand."

"Hmm... I did run into him in Sinnoh. Come to think of it, things were crazy back then. Even in Johto... kay point taken. But what about his Pokédex?"

"Have you ever seen his dex?"

"How can I? Isn't his dex always with him?"

"Oh no. Well, let's see… Follow me." Tracey headed to professor Oak's bedroom, and picked up a normal-looking Pokédex from his night table. "This is Ash's Unova Pokédex and professor's current night time reading material. Go on, have a look."

For the next few minutes, Gary's eyes kept widening and his jaw kept getting slacker. After what seems like an eternity, he mouthed "Ze- zek-rom? Reshi" hic "ram? Victini? TorNADUS? THUNDURUS? LANDORUS? HOW MANY LEGENDARIES HAS THE GUY SEEN?"

It's quite a sight, seeing Gary flustered. Tracey let out a chuckle. Enjoying his misery, Tracey silently handed him Ash's Sinnoh Dex.

5 minues later

Tracey and Gary were now in a storeroom on the first floor of Oak residence. Gary was panting, his head a swirl of emotions. Tracey had patiently given Gary some time to recover. Seeing him slightly composed, Tracey noted, smug, "Seems like you understand now."

"Oh, HELL I do." Gary said. "How does he manage to see all known pokémon in every region he goes? Is he a Legendary magnet or something?"

"More like a trouble magnet, you know. He runs into trouble everywhere, and just has to help everyone, without giving a rattata shit about his time. No doubt he ends up seeing every pokémon ever caught in a region this way." Tracey replied.

"It makes sense, putting it like that." Gary mused. He paused with his mug held to his mouth. "This at least explains why he always ended up being behind me in Kanto and Johto. And in Hoenn and Sinnoh… Didn't he waste time cheering for some contest-goers there? Is it me, or he could have become a champion somewhere by now if he simply started behaving like a normal trainer?"

"Never really thought about that." Tracey reflexively moved in to defend his old friend from his ex-rival. "Still, he improves every region. Even in Kalos, he had to spend time on Serena's Pokémon Showcases, and he came second. He's not that old, anyway, that Alain guy was much older. I think It's only a matter of time he wins a big tournament."

"Unless he does a Unova." Gary snorted. "Man, but his team was shit in that league."

"Never let him hear that," chuckled Tracey. "By the way, you know this Serena literally fawns on him? If only I knew his secret."

"This one too? Hahaha. Another poor girl bites the dust. How long would it take for them to figure out their chances? Misty says the guy's still as clueless as he was at 10."

"You're in touch with Misty?"

"Eh… don't ask. I tried to hit on her once, but she seemed like she hasn't gotten over Ashy-boy yet. At least the others understood that he's hopeless and moved on. Imagine, a guy who friend-zones girls left, right and centre." Both assistants laughed. "Anyway, tell gramps I'm taking all these dexes with me. They are pure gold."

"Don't worry about them. Professor wouldn't notice, he's getting a fully-filled Kalos-dex soon. Plus, he's gonna have his hands full with Ash-Greninja for a few weeks… unless Ash runs off somewhere again, that is. Night."

"Yeah, good night."

How did you find it? This was just a prologue, but I'm setting up Kukui as a mentor/father figure for Ash. You might not like my treatment of Cynthia, but I remember she outright claims that she used to be like Paul in her first DP episode. As for her and Ash being in phone call terms, I find it the only way to explain why Dawn attended the little cup and why Cynthia offered her (and Ash) her Unova home for weeks.

Note: IV- something like genes. Just so you know, high speed IV means that the Pokémon has naturally high speed. So, if such a Pokémon is trained similarly to another Pokémon with lower IV, it will finally have greater speed.

Eviolite is a held item which boosts defenses of a non fully-evolved pokémon, and the only explanation why Pikachu randomly turns into a tank in some anime battles.

Please review, and share your ideas. Would you like any special Pokémon for Ash's team? Thanks.