Kanto: a place of pure origins and starts for some of the greatest trainers today. This place is also home to the famous Professor Oak, a Pokémon Professor dedicated to learning the origins of Pokémon.

And it is also home to our favorite duo.

Sixteen year old Ash and his partner, Pikachu, are racing back to their house to attempt to meet with Ash's mother after the Alola League had finished and Ash's adventure in the region had completed. Barely managing to win a heated battle with the professor and leaving with a heartfelt goodbye to the rest of the Alolan natives, he is finally on his way back home after what was an incredible experience in his eyes. Both him and Pikachu are excited to see his mother again after so long in Alola. With his Alolan Pokémon staying with Kukui and his friends from the region deciding to take further steps into their futures, Ash decided to make another step in his and find his next adventure.

Running down the path to his house, he smiled at the thought of eating his mothers homemade cooking once again. The thought of that made his mouth water as he approached the porch of his house. He knocked on the door.

"Hello? I'm home." He called out in earnest.

He could hear the locking mechanism on the door shifting just before the door opened to reveal an auburn haired lady with a smile on her face. "Welcome back honey!"

Ash braced himself for a death hug that he normally would experience, but didn't feel it. Instead, he looked up and just saw his mother with a happy look on her face. Ash tilted his head in slight confusion as well as Pikachu. His mother would normally pull him into a death hug at the next instant after he came home from a region. He thought something might be off, but put that in the back of his mind as his mother gestured for him to enter.

"Come on in. You have some visitors." She stepped inside. 

Ash stepped inside the house only to be greeted by many of his past traveling companions and a few of his rivals as well. Ranging from all of his companions from Kanto to Kalos along with his rivals Trip and Paul, Ash's house had never been more full than it was at this particular moment. It was a wonder the living room still had extra room left with all the people in there.

"Wow, all of you showed up? I didn't expect everyone here at one time." Ash said with a warm smile.

"Yeah... we all know each other, so we decided to meet up here." May said in a flat tone.

Ash didn't notice the odd tone in her voice as a question just crossed into his mind. "Wait... how could you all know each other? I never introduced Serena, Clemont or Bonnie to any of you."

"I invited them here Ash." Delia answered simply. "Now go ahead and get comfortable. I'll make some snacks."

"Thanks mom." Ash called out as she disappeared into the kitchen.

Ash sat down on the recliner as Pikachu fell into his lap. He looked at all of his friends politely, but couldn't help but feel a weird presence in the air. Almost like something wrong was going to happen. And whatever it was, it wasn't going to be pretty.

"So..." Ash decided to break the ice first. "How is everyone doing?"

Nobody answered the question. All of them stared Ash down with flat, almost angry looks on their faces. He could barely stand the looks he was having to fight against, and Pikachu was not doing any better. The small electric mouse was twitching with anticipation and anxiety coursing through him, making small sparks of static electricity course through his fur and cheeks.

"Alright Ketchum, listen up." Paul spoke up sternly.

Ash sensed the demanding tone in Paul's voice and widened his eyes in surprise. "What is it? Did I do something wrong?"

"Oh can it Ash!" Misty barked fiercely.

That made Ash frown. Him and Pikachu shared an unnoticed glance, as they both came to the same conclusion: Something bad is about to happen. They decided to comply for the moment and looked around the room, waiting for someone else to continue.

Brock picked up where Paul left off. "Ash, we're getting tired of this." He spoke in a slightly annoyed tone, though Ash noticed he was much softer than Paul and Misty were.

"Tired of what?" Ash rose an eyebrow.

"Tired of you losing every league you come upon." Max remarked. "Every time we have seen you battle in a league, you never win it. You say you can become a Pokémon master, but how can you do that if you haven't even done something simple like that? I mean, it's not-"

"Not what?" Ash cut him off. "Max, you don't get it. First off, winning a league isn't a piece of cake. I've faced so many opponents that are really strong and have more experience or luck than me. I'd like to see you try to win your first league as a 10 year old too. And second, I just won the Alolan League and I beat the Battle Frontier and Orange League."

"Oh please. The Battle Frontier isn't a league, and Goodshow doesn't allow the Orange Islands to count as a league." May commented. "And as for the Alolan League, we watched it on television. Not only was that a trial league, but it's pretty obvious you cheated!" She accused.

"WHAT!?" "PIKA!?" Ash and Pikachu cried out in shock. "What do you mean I cheated!?

"You weren't even in Alola for a full year and most of your Pokémon were way too powerful to have been some of your newer catches. On top of that, there's no way Pikachu should have won against a deity of Alola without some form of drug enhancement." Trip stated. "That is, unless Alola really is just that weak." He mocked.

That was the last straw for Ash. "THAT'S IT! YOU CAN SAY ALL YOU WANT ABOUT ME, BUT YOU CAN NEVER SAY ANYTHING ABOUT ME FALLING SO LOW AS TO DRUG MY POKEMON!"

"Ash, that's enough!" Delia yelled from the other room. "We all just want you to find another path. One that will make you successful and not resort to abuse. It's not fair to your Pokémon to do that to them."

Ash's heart dropped. His own mother even sided against him. 'She really just...' He couldn't bear to finish the thought. Ash looked at everyone in the room one last time with a large amount of malice as Pikachu sparked angrily on his shoulder.

"If that's what you want, then my answer is no. Now I'm leaving before you all make me do something I might regret." Ash ran out the door with Pikachu before anyone could get up. As he left, he could feel malice and almost killing intent coming out from behind him.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

He was walking along the path to Professor Oak's lab grumbling to himself in anger. "What is wrong with them? They should know I wouldn't drug my Pokémon to win a match." He muttered under his breath. "Why is it that they can't seem to let me celebrate my first official league victory!?"

"Pika pi. Pikachu pi." Pikachu nuzzled his trainer affectionately in a slight attempt to calm him down.

Ash managed to form a smile and rub under his partner's chin. "You're right buddy. If they don't believe in us, then they clearly don't know who we are anymore.

"Who doesn't know you?" A feminine voice spoke up behind him.

"Huh?" Ash turned his head to look behind him.

Before him stood a girl with long, Lilac hair and somewhat pale skin. She wore skinny jeans and a purple t-shirt with a purple backpack. She had on black fingerless gloves and held a curious gaze in her expression as she stared at Ash. An Espeon was standing next to her, looking at Ash and Pikachu with interest while the girl gave a questioning look.

It took Ash a second, but he pieced the puzzle together. "Wait... Anabel?!"

The Salon Maiden gave Ash a genuine smile. "So you did remember me, Ash. Glad I can stop holding my breath."

"How couldn't I remember? I'm just surprised you remember me. I was just a challenger after all." Ash replied.

Anabel shook her head. "You stood out to me. After all, you're the only one I know that has beaten Brandon at this moment."

"Really? Well, not that I'm not happy to see you, but why are you here?" Ash asked, which was a legitimate question. Last he remembered, Anabel lived near Tohjo Falls, which by default is over a week-long trip to get from there to Pallet on foot.

"Well I saw your Alola league final." Ash slightly winced as his mind drifted back to what the others said about him. "I thought you did great, so I decided to come congratulate you in person. Also, Scott wanted me to toss you the Frontier Brain job offer again. Though I think I can guess your answer."

Ash sighed. "At least you thought it was ok..."

Anabel frowned. "Is everything alright? After winning a league and defeating a legendary Pokémon to do that, I thought you would be as energetic as ever."

"Not really... you see... well..." Ash turned around. "You know what, forget I said anything. I don't want to worry-"

Ash was cut off as he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Just spill it Ash. It's clear you need a listener right now." She stated softly.

So Ash explained his situation quickly to the Salon Maiden. As the story went on, her scowl only grew until she looked like she was close to hitting something. An expression that was unnatural for the normally composed Salon Maiden was present as the story ended: anger. Not to mention her Espeon was flicking her tail in agitation, which Pikachu attempted to rectify, but to no avail.

"I can't say I knew the others well enough to know they wouldn't do that, but I expected more out of Max, May and Brock." Anabel retorted, Espeon frowning in agreement.

"Yeah, well that makes two of us. I guess now I need to grab my old Pokémon quickly and tell them what's going on. With the others in the mood that they are now, I don't trust them to be near my Pokémon. Professor Oak should still be taking care of them." Ash surmised.

"Well then let's go get them."

Ash was about to argue against her coming along, but then saw the determined look on Anabel's face along with her Espeon. Just one look at them and Ash could tell she was not about to stay out of this. He gestured for her to follow along towards the lab before his 'friends' beat them to it.

Ash knocked on the front door quickly, which was answered my the younger Oak respectively.

"Ash? You just got back, huh? It's great to see you again." Gary stated with a smile. "Way to go by the way. I saw your victory on tv."

"Sorry Gary, but I don't have the time right now. Something's wrong and I need some help." Ash stated.

Gary could see the urgency on his face and let him in, leading him to where the older Oak was writing notes and Tracey was tending to some starter Pokémon. Ash called out to them and explained what was happening as quick as possible while also explaining who Anabel is. Ash finished quickly, leaving the group with very upset glances.

"All of them? And even Delia too?! What in the world would possess her to do that?" Oak exclaimed.

"I thought Misty believed in you no matter what..." Tracey voiced out, disdain in his voice. "What changed?"

"Same goes for the rest of the group. This makes no sense for them to do it, but... they decided to anyways. Why?" Gary thought aloud.

Anabel nodded. "I got that impression too when Ash told me, but I still can't place a finger on it. But for now, we need his Pokémon, and I'll take him back to my home in Tohjo Falls with me. We'll figure out what to do from there."

Oak nodded. "Very well. I also have a new invention I would like to pass to you and Anabel. It'll help get all of your Pokémon out of here easier. Go gather your Pokémon, and I'll finish setting the software to respond to you and her only. We don't know how long we have until they show up."

Everyone spread out among the lab to complete their set tasks quickly. Ash and Anabel ran outside to go gather his Pokémon quickly, but they were met with a nasty surprise. Almost all of the Pokémon in the corral were glaring at Ash harshly, making him wonder if it was too late.

Anabel winced as she placed a hand over her chest. "I've... never felt so much hate in one spot..." She muttered, her Espeon doing the best it can to soothe her trainer. "It's almost overwhelming." 

"Did they already beat us here?" Ash wondered aloud, Pikachu voicing his concern as well.

"Sorry Ketchum, but we knew this would be your first stop." A snide voice  remarked

Ash turned towards the fence and saw Paul, Clemont, and Serena standing off to the side, knowing smirks evident on their faces. "Knowing how pathetically predictable you are, we guessed you would come for your Pokémon. Sorry to say, but they're not on your side anymore."

Anabel frowned in realization. "I see now. So you're some of the ones that told Ash to quit, am I correct?"

That made the group frown at the girl. "What's it to you?" Clemont demanded.

"To me, it seems like you're attacking a trainer that has more achievements than you could ever get out of jealousy. Pity, and I thought you were all mature." She disappointingly said.

"Espe espeon..." Her partner mewled in agreement.

"Whoever you are, there's no point in standing up for him. I already tried to defend him. Face it. At his rate, he won't make it anywhere and he'll only want to cheat more like he did in Alola with how weak he is."

"You keep calling Ash weak, yet Paul still hasn't defeated Greta, much less Brandon." Anabel retorted.

Paul widened his eyes in complete shock. Nobody should be able to know that unless he's told them, and Anabel seemed to pick up on that.

"Surprised? You should be. I'm Salon Maiden Anabel: The 6th Kanto Frontier Brain." She said simply, keeping a solid glare on the group. "And mind you, Ash beat all the Brains in one try, excluding me and Brandon, so I would watch who you call weak."

"What!?" Paul yelled, Clemont and Serena also voicing their shock right behind him.

She then narrowed her eyes, and cut off their protests. "Before you try to claim Ash cheated again, I should tell you that all the Frontier Brains have faced plenty of drug abusers in the past, myself included. Ash would have been disqualified on the first sight of abuse and drug enhancements."

Paul started seeing red. "So basically, you're being Ketchum's bitch right now, huh? Figures, cause you sure look the part!"

Silence coated the area.

Anabel almost blew a fuse, but managed to keep her composure and respond. "You know what? I don't need to waste my breath on someone who can't beat the Battle Frontier. With the path you've decided to take, you're not worth my time."

She turned to Ash, leaving Paul fuming. "While some of the Pokémon here... dislike you currently, there are some that still are on your side. I should be able to help you find them. Now let's find them and get out of here."

As they looked around, Serena and Clemont tried to calm Paul down.

"Who does that piece of shit think she is! I wouldn't need to break a sweat, and I could beat her!" Paul growled. This blow to his pride would not go unanswered if he could help it.

"Calm down Paul. You're letting one person get to you. Remember, we still have the one plan we can use to keep him down." Clemont reminded him.

Serena nodded in agreement. "They can't handle it if we tried that. Not even if Gary helped them."

Paul barely managed to compose himself. "Alright... Let's just go then. We did our part of the plan." He muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away with the Kalos natives at his heels.

Meanwhile, Ash and Anabel managed to gather all of the Pokémon that were still on Ash's side, which included his Charizard, Infernape, Gible, Sceptile, Krookodile, Snorlax, Noivern, Snivy, Staraptor, Bulbasaur, and Donphan. He quickly returned them and put the Poke Balls of all of them into his backpack while also making a mental note to see what he could do about his Alolan Pokémon.

He nodded to Anabel. "Looks like that's all of them. Let's get going."

"Right."

They ran for the lab again, but were stopped by a number of Pokémon, where Dawn, May, Max, and Misty stood. They glared angrily and demandingly at the pair as they called out their own Pokémon.

"You're not getting out of here alive, Ash." Dawn stated.

"Pika!" Pikachu barked a warning at the others, electricity coursing through him.

"You don't have to do this!" Ash cried out, trying to reason with them.

"We know we don't. But we want to!" Misty replied angrily.

Anabel spoke for him this time. "You can be charged for assault and harassment for doing this."

May frowned. "You're leaving us no choice. Ash needs to stop or else someone else that's close to him is going to get caught in the crossfire, just like I did with Team Aqua and Team Magma! Blaziken, Flamethrower!"

"Kirlia, use Psyshock!"

"Gyarados, Hydro Pump!"

"Togekiss, Air Slash!"

The traitors called out an attack from their Pokémon while some of the corral Pokémon targeted Ash and Anabel as well. Ash knew this was too many to dodge at once, so in his last wish, he shoved Anabel and Pikachu out of the way of the blast just as they fired.

He stood there, eyes closed, as he prepared to meet his fate at the hands of the blasts as they quickly drew near. All the while Anabel had only just hit the ground several meters away and could only scream out in horror as Pikachu cried out to his trainer.

"ASH!"

"PIKACHU!"

Ash sighed in resignation as he prepared to meet his end alone. He couldn't bear to think if his friends got hurt because of him. As the attacks all merged together, he stood there, waiting... and waiting... and waiting...

And still... waiting? Shouldn't he have been hit by now?

"Wait, what?"

He opened his eyes to see something with two tails, a blue head and a greyish body holding a Protect together combined with Psychic to keep it held strong. The Pokémon then let out a repelling cry as it pushed the Protect straight at the group ahead with Psychic, which damaged many of the attacking Pokémon.

"No way..." Ash muttered.

The Pokémon then used Telekinesis on all of the opposing party, suspending them in the air before his eyes flashed blue. In a moment, the eyes of all of the others flashed blue as well before they slowly drifted off to sleep. They floated back to the ground softly, making sure that they were all still unconscious.

The Pokémon turned around and floated at Ash, hugging him tightly. Ash smiled in realization and returned the hug.

"Thanks... Azelf. I owe you one."

Ash let go as he heard noises behind him. As soon as he turned, he was enveloped into a bone crushing hug from a lilac haired girl.

"I'm so glad you're OK. I thought you died." Anabel said with as much control as she could manage.

Ash returned her embrace. "Sorry I scared you like that, but I didn't want you to go out because of me."

"Pikachu!!!!" Pikachu quickly jumped onto his trainer's shoulder and nuzzled him, happy and relieved. Ash laughed at Pikachu's antics, but then turned to the Willpower Pokémon.

"So Azelf, why did you appear here?"

"Azelf zelf azelf."

Ash tilted his head in confusion just before Anabel spoke up. "He said he could sense you were in danger through the empathetic link you share together. So he decided to come and help you."

Ash looked at Anabel in shock for a second before he remembered that Anabel has psychic abilities. "I almost forgot you could do that."

"Well I should be asking you how you know one of the legendary lake trio of Sinnoh, and why you share an empathetic link with it." Anabel responded in minor awe, though she kept her composure.

"I'll explain later." He turned to Azelf. "Well I'm happy you came when you did. I needed all the help I could get right there."

"Azelf az azelf."

He turned to Anabel, who widened her eyes. "He just asked if he could join you."

Ash tilted his head. "Join me?" He mumbled before his eyes widened. "Wait, you're not talking about-"

"Yes, I am. He want's to be your Pokémon." She muttered. "I've never heard about a legendary Pokémon wanting to simply join a trainer like this before..."

Ash turned back to Azelf and pulled out a spare Poke Ball, looking at it for a brief moment. "But what about Lake Valor?" He asked the Willpower Pokémon.

"Azelf Az. Azelf az azelf."

"He said he can still sense his dimension in case something happens." Anabel stated. "He also said he understands your concerns, but he's been preparing to join you for a while now and has taken every precaution regarding himself."

Ash and Pikachu stood there in awe. "Wow... thanks Azelf. If you really want to come with me, then I won't stop you." He promised.

Ash held up the Poke Ball, which Azelf tapped lightly letting himself be pulled inside the capturing device. In just a moment, after a few light shakes, the Poke Ball dinged, signaling a capture. Ash smiled at the Poke Ball and glanced at Pikachu.

"Well what do you know. Never thought in my life I would capture a Legendary Pokémon. But we caught Azelf." Ash stated happily.

"Pikaaa." Pikachu chirped in happiness as well.

*Ahem*

Ash turned around to Anabel. "We should probably get going. While I don't doubt Azelf's power, who knows when they will wake up. Especially with how many he put to sleep."

Ash nodded and they raced out of the corral. With little time at all, they raced towards the lab, where the Oaks and Tracey were waiting for him. The late Professor was holding what looked like an electronic wristwatch in his hand that was colored red while Tracey had one that was colored purple.

"Here Ash." Professor Oak handed Ash the red device.

"What is it?" Ash asked.

"A new device that I was going to have tested later this year, but now seems better than never. It is the newest edition of the Pokedex, which I was crafting for the last few years. The technology is state of the art and has many great features. Wireless calls, maps, a built in Pokémon storage, data on all known Pokémon, and I synced your Pokedex ID to it, which officially makes it yours."

Ash marveled at the device. "Wow. Thanks Professor."

"It is the least I can do. Also, Anabel, here. You can have one as well. I had Tracey re-color it, which he is pretty good it if I must say." He handed the purple one to Anabel.

Tracey scratched the back of his head. "I'm not that great. But anyways, you two stay safe."

"We'll take care of the others when they wake up. Don't worry." Gary said with a mischievous smirk on his face.

Ash sweatdropped at that look. 'Something tells me there's gonna be pictures...'

Ash and Anabel both pulled out their Poke Balls and began storing them in there with the laser function as Professor Oak showed him how to use it. Once they were all stored, he released his Staraptor as Anabel released a Togekiss.

"Thank you guys for everything. I'll make sure to call from time to time. Ok?" Ash promised.

"Of course. Take care my boy. And please stay safe." The Pokémon Professor yelled as the others waved them off, as Ash and Anabel took off towards Tohjo Falls.

Ash took one last look below them and looked at the small town below them. "Well Pikachu... we better drink it in while we can." He mumbled to himself in sadness. "I don't think we'll be coming back anytime soon."

Both of them looked down for a bit longer before turning away, deciding that staring at it any longer would only draw on past memories that he would rather put away for the time being. All that's left for him now is to decide one last thing?

Where will they continue to next?