Family Stress (with a side of filler)

**"Family Stress (with a side of filler)"** is the twenty-second chapter of *Pokémon Reset Bloodlines.* In the aftermath of the Gringy City events, Ash wonders about his possible relationship with Belladonna and other lookalikes of him such as Red or John Archer. John's Gardevoir proposes that she and the rest of her companions investigate if there are more of them, since this might not be a coincidence. While Ash's group continues their journey, in the Alola region, Tapu Koko takes an interest in Ash and makes it known to Kahuha Hala, who notices the trainer's resemblance to a couple of kids he himself knows.

## Plot

In the Saffron City Gym, a trainer from Johto, named Dan, appears looking for a challenge. Suddenly, he runs into a younger trainer who seems to be running in fear, before being lifted off the ground and strangled to death by an invisible force. Suspecting that it might be a Ghost-type, he uses his Golbat to try and find out the invisible force through sonic waves, though the responsible quickly reveals herself as Sabrina, the gym leader, who commends him for his thinking. She then asks if he's worthy of living, thinking that there are too many unremarkable people in the world and they should just disappear. When Dan compares her to a serial killer Gym Leader from Unova, she becomes offended and calls herself "fair", while also giving him a chance to prove himself worthy of living. To do so, she insists to fight him at full strength, deactivating the limiters on his Poké Balls, so all of his Pokémon can fight alongside him against hers. Not wanting to give her the satisfaction of whimpering in fear, Dan declares that he'll fight for his life, much to her delight.

Elsewhere, Ash is experiencing strange dreams involving Gary, John Archer, Belladonna's group, Team Rocket and versions of himself dressed as some of his and his friends' rivals. After he's startled awake, he finds himself being stared at by Gardevoir, who wants to talk to him about Belladonna and the recent events. The Pokédex chimes in, wishing to add its own ideas about the matter, and thus the conversation begins, with Ash repeating what Gardevoir says for the device to hear. Gardevoir overheard the talk between Ash and Belladonna and suspects there might be some truth in what she says. The Pokédex adds by showing a photo and info about Belladonna's mother, who's currently serving a prison sentence for public health hazard and child abandonment, as well as bits about the rest of the other girls which match with her accounts. Gardevoir has taken notice of the physical resemblance between Ash, Belladonna and John, and suggests they should try to seek out if there are more of them, thinking that it might not be a coincidence and they might indeed be related through their father. She volunteers herself and the rest of John's Pokémon to do so, with the Pokédex suggesting they can keep in touch using Probopass' electromagnetic capacities. Despite having some doubts, Ash ultimately agrees to it.

A bit later, Misty and Anabel wake up and decide to watch the stars and talk for a bit before being joined by Iris. Once the sun rises, Ash decides to talk to the girls about what happened and everything else he discussed with Gardevoir and the Pokédex. Iris gives her opinion that Belladonna might be desperate to have a loving family due to her horrible childhood, which is why she quickly accepted the idea that Ash might be her brother. Their talk is interrupted by a drunken man in a sailor uniform who accuses them of trespassing private property, before throwing his Pokémon at them, forcing them to fight back.

Meanwhile in Iki Town, Alola, Kahuha Hala gets a phone call from Lilo, who tells him about Kaiser and how she's planning to stick around for the upcoming Fuchsia Tag Tournament to settle the score with Red, and she might be back for the next Kahuna Battle Royal. Suddenly, Tapu Koko's voice rings out, cluing Hala that the island's guardian might be up to something, like raiding his root beer cellar or perhaps taking Z-Rings to give to random trainers, including a couple of twins he knows.

Back in Kanto, Ash and his companions defeat the drunken sailor. A girl dressed in a waitress uniform approaches and apologizes for what happened, and much to Ash's shock she looks a lot like a teenage version of his "Ashley" disguise from The Old Timeline, even down to having the same name. The waitress offers to come to their restaurant for a free meal, as they've defeated one of their employees (the drunk sailor from before, whose name is Scouse), and they immediately accept as they're rather hungry.

Back in Alola, Hala finds that Tapu Koko knocked a plant pot, leaving him a photo of Ash, whom he notices looks a lot like the twins Frax and Velvet Lono. Hala then notices a book sticking out of the shelf, about King Kahele, who unified the islands into a single kingdom under his rule, and also the first known user and possible creator of the Z-Crystals, who ruled over the region before being overthrown and murdered along with the rest of his family by a man named Kamehameha, who'd try to destroy his predecessor's legacy and thus much of it became lost to history. Then, Tapu Koko flies by again and drops another book, opening it on a page talking about and ancient prophecy that reads:

*...Upon the mixing of two into one to the birth of those who hold the staunchest of opposites, the sleeping shall awaken. Born in number of ones, they shall always be support but not of two. The crown of the king is beyond them, and the twos shall be magnets to the ones. From lands without a crown, the shadow of the throne lingers upon all. Restrained by the shadow and judgment of the world, be opposites bound in blood...*

Hala however has no clue of what it could mean, nor why Tapu Koko seems interested in it, so he decides to look up Ash's data for the time being.

Back in Kanto, Ash's group arrives to the restaurant, which is actually a ship named Baratie. The owner orders Ashley to take Scouse to the back while he talks to Ash and his companions, recognizing them from the Battle Dome Tournament, mentioning that he met Scott before and he tried to add his ship-restaurant to his Battle Frontier, but he refused. He then offers them a table before sending Ashley to take their orders. While they eat, Ash gets a phone call from Professor Oak, who's still not very amused about the bunch of Grimer he sent him the previous day. Ash tries to apologize, saying that it was the most humane way to deal with them, before Oak recognizes where they are, knowing that this restaurant hires their staff based on whether or not they're able to stare at the owner's Gyarados for a two minutes without blinking. Oak then tells Ash he needs him and the rest of his companions to head for Fuchsia City as soon as possible, and that Gary is also on his way there for the upcoming Tag Tournament, explaining that it'd be helpful if one of them wins so they can catch varied Pokémon in the Safari Zone. Checking with the girls if they have objections, they all seem to agree, so Oak ends the call reminding them that the sooner they go, the better.

A few hours later, they're going down the road to Fuchsia City, with Anabel suggesting that they could save a lot of time if she just teleported them there. Ash at first thinks of taking the normal road so they can strengthen themselves, until the sky gets dark and begins raining. With no nearby place to take shelter, they all agree that bad weather seems like a perfectly valid reason to teleport and they do so, much to the shock of the Team Rocket trio, who are nearby watching them.

Much later, Ash and company arrive to the city. Ash takes note that the gym is much closer to the city than he remembered before, but it's currently closed with a notice that the gym leader is currently out testing a security system while the gym is ready with traps for intruders and that it'll open again after the tournament, so Ash realizes they're gonna stick around for a bit. After a meeting with Muk to put him up to speed with everything, Ash begins to explain to the rest of his present Pokémon, Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Butterfree and Servine about what happened in the power plant, including why they had to capture all those Grimer along with Muk. Ash feels really disturbed at the thought of being related to Belladonna, Red and perhaps other people he doesn't even know, and wonders if this will become a thing. Ash's Pokémon reply that, whatever happens, he has to move on and face it without being afraid of living, and they should focus for the time being on the tournament to enter the Safari Zone to get back their Tauros. They have to win, and if they don't, they'll have to find another way.

A few days later before the tournament begins, Ash looks around for his partner with the number six, while also recalling a sparring match he and Pikachu had with Anabel and her Kadabra, seeing that she's still a pretty skilled trainer in the new timeline, ending with a double KO. Ash spots Paul in the room but thankfully he has the number nine, and after searching he finds he's been paired up with Red, which Yellow, who is also around, quickly celebrates and declares them "the greatest team ever".

Meanwhile in the Kalos region, Alain is climbing Mount Auburn, looking for a trainer named Vermell, so as to challenge him to a Mega Evolution battle between his Charizard and Vermell's Steelix. After finding him, the two prepare to engage each other under the snowstorm.

## Continuity

* First full appearance of Sabrina.
* Dan briefly recalls his gym battle against Walker as told the *Falkner Gaiden* side story.
* Gardevoir and the rest of John Archer's Pokémon begin traveling to find other possible siblings of Ash.
* Ash references Butterfree's brief leave during the *Butterfree Interlude* side story, albeit he remains unaware of what happened then.

## Characters

### Humans

* Dan
* Random Trainer
* Sabrina
* Ash-Gary (Dream)
* Ash Ketchum
* Ash-Tobius (Dream)
* Ash-Drew (Dream)
* Ash-Cameron (Dream)
* Ash-Harley (Dream)
* Ash-Bonnie (Dream)
* Ash-Dawn (Dream)
* Ash-Delia (Dream)
* Red Tajiri
* John Archer (Dream)
* Gary Oak (Dream)
* Yellow
* Cheerleaders (Dream)
* Jessie
* James
* Domino (Dream)
* Cassidy (Dream)
* Aurora Aoi Borealis (Dream)
* Belladonna Tyrian (Dream)
* Atropa Tyrian (Picture)
* Anabel
* Misty Waterflower
* Iris
* Scouse
* Hala
* Lilo
* Ashley Sennenryu
* Baratie Head Chef
* Professor Samuel Oak
* Alain
* Vermell Arcer

### Pokémon

* Crobat (Dan's)
* Abra (Sabrina's)
* Kadabra (Sabrina's)
* Alakazam (Sabrina's)
* Hypno (Sabrina's)
* Drowzee (Sabrina's)
* Espeon (Sabrina's)
* Natu (Sabrina's)
* Xatu (Sabrina's)
* Exeggcute (Sabrina's)
* Exeggutor (Sabrina's)
* Jynx (Sabrina's)
* Smoochum (Sabrina's)
* Girafarig (Sabrina's)
* Wobbufett (Sabrina's)
* Typhlosion (Dan's)
* Ampharos (Dan's)
* Golem (Dan's)
* Slowbro (Dan's)
* Sandslash (Dan's)
* Arbok (Dan's)
* Jumpluff (Dan's)
* Poliwrath (Dan's)
* Bellossom (Dan's)
* Pinsir (Dan's)
* Granbull (Dan's)
* Magmar (Dan's)
* Octillery (Dan's)
* Gligar (Dan's)
* Bellsprout (Dan's)
* Charizard (Dream)
* Meowth (Team Rocket)
* Pikachu (Ash's)
* Gardevoir (John Archer's)
* Tapu Koko
* Machoke (Scouse's)
* Golduck (Scouse's)
* Poliwrath (Scouse's)
* Kingler (Scouse's)
* Raticate (Scouse's)
* Magikarp (Scouse's)
* Emolga (Iris')
* Wingull (Misty's)
* Kadabra (Anabel's)
* Wobbufett (Jessie's)
* Muk (Ash's)
* Bulbasaur (Ash's)
* Squirtle (Ash's)
* Butterfree (Ash's)
* Servine (Ash's)
* Charizard (Alain's)
* Steelix (Vermell's)
* Roserade (Vermell's)
* Talonflame (Vermell's)
* Octillery (Vermell's)
* Jynx (Vermell's)
* Ursaring (Vermell's)

### Pokédexes

* Dan's Pokédex
* Ash's Pokédex