Faith Knows No Bounds

A/N: I finally managed to finish this chapter after so long. Remember, updates on this won't be very frequent due to the amount of other projects I have. But hey, at least one of my stories is in the home stretch, so maybe when I get that and one other story finished, I can have more time to update other stories that you guys really want me to continue after so long.

All I ask that you please, please, PRETTY please, do NOT ask me when I'll update any of my stories anymore. It doesn't help me, nor does it get stories done faster. I haven't given up on any of them, so at least understand that they all will get done eventually. All I want is just for you guys to keep being patient. I know that for some, patience wears thin, but I do have a life outside of my stories.

Okay, now that I got that off my chest, I hope you guys still want more of what I write. If so, then enjoy this chapter! And roll it!

Volume I

Chapter 1

A Mysterious Voice

It was another bright, warm and sunny day at the Pokémon School on Melemele Island in the Alola Region. Everyone in Professor Kukui's class was bright-eyed and ready to face another day, wondering what the day would bring this time. Everyone that is, except for one person. He was currently much too tired to even think at that moment.

Ash Ketchum yawned silently as he tried to rub the sleep from his drowsy amber brown eyes with one hand while the other covered his mouth to mask his fatigue. He was doing everything he can to keep himself from face planting onto his desk. But he knew that there was no way he was going to last the entire morning without falling asleep. He really wanted, needed, a nap.

"Ash, are you alright?" Ash's head almost slipped off his propped up fist as he quickly snapped up and turned to look up at who was addressing him.

It was his temporary guardian while he was staying in Alola, and his teacher, Professor Kukui. The tanned man had dark hair pulled into a man bun under a white cap, a white lab coat over his bare torso, and dark gray capri pants with green and white water shoes on his feet. Perched on his head was a white visor hat.

"You've yawned almost twenty times since you got up this morning." A floating red device with a blue and white face on it came beside him. It was his Rotom Dex.

"I'm fine, Rotom." Ash said, brushing off their concerns. "I just... didn't sleep well last night."

Normally, Ash wouldn't mind sharing what would keep him up if he couldn't sleep the night before. But this time, the dream that he had, he couldn't even begin to figure out how to explain it. First hearing a strange voice call out to him, then him getting outside, and then seeing glowing forms of all kinds of creatures that he had never seen before. They seemed to be like Dragon type Pokémon, but at the same time, they weren't. They were not like anything he had ever seen before.

"Something kept you up?" A chubby teenage boy with orange hair named Sophocles asked him.

Ash lightly bit his lip, unsure of how to answer the question. He wasn't quite sure if he should tell his teacher and friends about his dream right now. Plus, it didn't even make sense to him. Even though dreams don't often make sense in the beginning, it just didn't seem like the best moment to talk about it. For once, Ash just wanted to focus on school, so he silently shook his head and looked straight out to the chalkboard at the front of the room.

He ignored the concerned looks on his classmates' faces as Professor Kukui continued speaking. "Today, as part of our unit about the types of professions that Pokémon Trainers can pursue wherever in the world, we will be having a special guest to give us a demonstration about her career." He said.

"What kind of Trainer is she?" A green-haired girl named Mallow asked.

"She's a Pokémon Coordinator." Kukui answered her, making Ash perk up visibly in curiosity, eager to learn more about this person, a smile growing on his face. It was like he was sincerely hoping that this is someone he knew.

"How did you plan this exactly, Professor?" A girl with long, platinum blonde hair asked.

"Well, Lillie, I only happened to bump into this person yesterday while she was training out near the city." Professor Kukui explained. "When she explained to me about her career, I asked her if she would be willing to come to school today to give us a demonstration. She'll be arriving after lunch."

Pikachu noticed that his Trainer seemed a little more awake when Professor Kukui first mentioned their special guest and of her career. Since she is a Pokémon Coordinator, there was a chance that they might know her personally. Honestly, he really hoped it was one of their old friends. It would be great to catch up with her and her Pokémon.

Suddenly, they heard Komala ringing the school bell rapidly, like in a panic. That meant that there was an emergency that the Ultra Guardians needed to fix.

"I guess lunch will have to wait." Ash muttered to himself in annoyance.

But as he got up to head over to the entrance that led down to the headquarters, he heard it. "Follow your heart, and it will never steer you wrong."

It was the same voice he had dreamed of the night before. But how could that be? It was just a dream, right? Ash paused for a moment, and then moved again to head over to the platform that Professor Kukui had just opened.

"Come on, Ash!" The tall boy named Kiawe called out to him. "Let's go!"

"We've got a mission!" A girl with short blue hair named Lana added.

"Follow your heart, and it will never steer you wrong." The voice called out again. This time, Ash could somehow tell that it was coming from somewhere nearby. Just by the tone, he knew that he had to find where it was coming from.

Without a word, Ash bolted out of the room, Pikachu calling and chasing after him. Lycanroc, Rowlet, Torracat, and Meltan quickly followed their leader and their Trainer.

"Ash, come back!" Lillie called after him.

"Where are you going?!" Rotom screeched as it followed the rest of the companions.

"Ash!" Professor Kukui shouted, running after his young charge.

To the young Kantonian teen, it was like nothing else mattered except finding where the voice was coming from. He couldn't explain it, but it felt like he was drawn to it for some reason; like something or someone was calling out to him. If past experience had taught him anything about this sort of thing, it's that it's always something very important, and something only he could do.

*****************

Finally, Ash found himself in the back courtyard of the school. He panted for breath as he listened closely, hoping that he was doing the right thing by following the voice.

Then, he heard it again. "Follow your heart, and it will never steer you wrong."

Pikachu finally caught up with his Trainer, also taking in deep breaths of air from all of the running. And right before there was a bright flash of light appearing several feet away from them. Both of them shielded their eyes for a moment before the light dimmed a bit.

Ash took the opportunity to see what had just happened, and then a chill immediately ran down his spine. He recognized that spatial crack of light ripping right in front of him. Then, the tear burst open to reveal a gaping hole in time and space. An Ultra Wormhole.

"Ash!" The raven-haired barely caught the horrified voices of his friends and teacher calling his name.

"Get away from here, Ash!"

"Ash!"

"Ash!"

"Careful, Ash!"

"Pika-pi!"

"Follow your heart, and it will never steer you wrong."

Ash stiffened for a second, hearing the voice again. Is this what it wanted him to do? Enter an Ultra Wormhole and end up who knows where?

Apparently yes, since the spatial vacuum of air began sucking him inside. Ash struggled to keep his ground, digging his feet into the dirt and grass since there was nothing nearby for him to grab onto to keep himself grounded. But the pull of the dimensional vacuum was too strong. The young Kantonian Trainer suddenly found himself dragged out of the earth's hold and pulled into the Ultra Wormhole, screaming as he did.

"Ash!" Everyone shouted after him.

"Pika-pi!" Pikachu screamed before scampering as fast as he could and jumping into the Wormhole to follow his Trainer.

The other Pokémon that belonged to Ash tried to follow their leader, but the Ultra Wormhole closed right before any one of them could. Lycanroc and Torracat fell onto their faces eating dirt, while Rowlet immediately stopped in his stoop mid-flight, with Meltan being held in his talons, all of them realizing that they were too late.

Professor Kukui and the rest of the class only gaped in silent horror at what had just happened. For once, the usually chatty Rotom Dex was silent as well, trying to compute the recent event. The only thing that was running through their heads was this: they knew what the Ultra Guardians' next mission was.

Get back their friend and his partner. No matter what.

*********************

Ash screamed his lungs out as he tumbled and flew through the rainbow-colored travelway that connected Ultra Wormholes to the many thousands of dimensions that humans were both aware and unaware of. He wasn't necessarily afraid of traveling through an Ultra Wormhole, since he had already done so a few times. But those times, he was either riding the Solgaleo that he raised from a Cosmog or on his Ultra Guardian Ride Pokémon, Garchomp.

Not this time. He was just getting jostled around like a bumper car as he rode down the dimensional stream. His stomach was agreeing with him, not liking the crazy ride. But Ash managed to swallow the bile that was building up in his throat. No way was he going to throw up until he was back on solid ground.

"Pika-pi!" Ash immediately looked behind him as he recognized the cry. Pikachu was trying his best to keep up with him, not wanting to lose sight of his Trainer and best friend.

"Pikachu!" Ash called out to his partner. He tried to climb, swim, fly, run; in other words, just move closer to the little Electric type. Pikachu was trying to do the same thing as his Trainer, and he was having better success with it as well.

Finally, he crashed into Ash's chest, wrapping his tiny little arms around him as best as he could. Ash in turn quickly wrapped his own arms around his little partner, holding him close to him in a tight embrace.

"Don't worry, buddy!" He shouted to the little Electric type over the roar of sound that was ringing in his ears as they continued down the dimensional stream at blazing speed. "We're going to be okay!"

If only Ash really believed his own words this time. He had no idea what kind of crazy world that they'll end up in this time. The last time they were sent through time and space, they ended up in an alternate future in which all of Alola was destroyed and basically abandoned because of the gluttonous and destructive Guzzlord. It was kind of hard to be in that kind of world, but at least he managed to help send that Dark and Dragon type back.

As much as Ash embraced and accepted the unknown even if he couldn't always understand it, that didn't mean that he wasn't afraid of the dangers it could possess. However, he could easily push aside those fears and fight to make things right. But that same fear was coursing through his veins as he held Pikachu closer to him, but not squeezing him tight enough to where his partner could accidentally shock him due to lack of air.

Just then, Ash and Pikachu caught a burst of light appearing at the end of the dimensional stream they were in. That meant that it was the end of the path, and it would spit them out the other end and into a different world. Ash and Pikachu quickly closed their eyes shut and held each other even closer, bracing for any kind of impact. As the light behind their eyelids grew brighter, there was only one thing going through Ash's mind at that moment.

Hearing a strange voice that he had heard before in a dream, and then being sucked into an Ultra Wormhole the following morning? That could only mean one thing: that he was in for another strange and wild adventure. It only depends on where he and Pikachu will eventually end up that will determine just how strange and wild it will be.

A/N: I know that some of you guys have been giving me suggestions about how this crossover can go, but honestly, I don't know. It will be tricky enough with Pikachu getting wrapped up in this adventure, but to include some of Ash's other Pokémon? That would be interesting, but I'm not sure how that can work out.

Fret not, eventually, we'll have someone from Ash's world and their Pokémon (singular or plural, not telling) join in as well. Not saying who, you'll find out. If any of you guys are fans of my stories and know me and my preferences, you might take a guess who. But I'm not saying anything until we get to that point.

Well, hopefully I did a good job setting the scene. Let me know what you guys think in the comments. And remember to stay healthy as we enjoy the summer!

Got to fly! ;)