Ash Ketchum/History

## The Old Timeline

Ash begins in The Old Timeline between Camphrier Town and Lumiose City, but is teleported to Arceus before he can be erased with the rest of the world. A distortion gives Ash his 4Kids Entertainment dub voice back and Arceus explains what happened to the world and requests that Ash go back in time to prevent Cyrus from being able to end the world again. Ash expresses doubts as to his ability to do so, and Arceus reminds him of how often he saved the world, before revealing that Cyrus was the reason for many of the times he failed important battles. Around then Cyrus begins to close in on Arceus and Arceus tells him that when he sends him back to his first day as a trainer, he will have the ability to restore the memories of those he has traveled with, but due to limitations on Arceus, not perfectly. With that, Arceus sends him back, warning him that his new incarnation may try to kill him.

## The New Timeline (Past)

Ash was born on May 22, 15 years prior to the start of the story. He was named after his paternal grandfather, Ashton Ketchum, who died of a stroke shortly before Ash's birth.

He was raised by his mother Delia with some help of his maternal grandmother. Unfortunately, Delia's mother died after a few years, leaving her to raise her son alone.

As he grew up, Ash had a relatively happy life, despite his lack of a father. He was well-liked and, according to Delia, very popular with girls due to his kind nature and knack for standing up to bullies who picked on the weak. While he never noticed the attention, he developed a crush on Gary Oak's older sister, Daisy Oak. Ash would also develop a friendship with Gary himself, but also a competitive rivalry, as the two aspired to become Pokémon trainers, although Gary was usually the one seven steps ahead with Ash trailing behind.

At some point, Ash won an all-you-can-eat contest by eating fifty rations in less than an hour, putting a rival restaurant to his mother's Pallet House out of business.

At age 14, Ash would attend Professor Oak's Summer Camp, as a chance to earn a Pokémon Trainer License, along with the right to get a Pokédex and a starter Pokémon from Oak himself. During this camp, he met and befriended a Kalosian girl named Serena, as well as the twins Elwood and Aideen, while also meeting Joshua who'd quickly become disliked among them. Due to an incident caused by Joshua, who was bitter over losing a baseball game against Ash, Serena took the blame and was forced to leave the camp early. Ash was upset about this, but Serena reassured him by promising to stay in touch, which they did by becoming pen pals for the following year.

That Christmas, Ash would celebrate with his mother and Daisy Oak, who came along for a visit before the Pallet Christmas party. Daisy would tease Ash about "having a girlfriend" when Ash received a postcard from Serena, though Ash would shrug it off as just being friends.

On his 15th birthday, while his mother prepared the last minute details of his party, Ash went to a popular fishing spot, where he fished a rusted Poké Ball. After not fishing anything else, he went back to the Pallet House restaurant, where his mother and many other guests awaited him.

That night, he met with Gary Oak, who came in late. The two talked for a bit, and after discussing some things now they were almost ready to begin their journey as Pokémon trainers, the two made a promise, to face each other as equals one day and see who was the better trainer. Ash would give Gary half of the rusted Poké Ball he fished that morning as a testament of said promise.

## Starting Arc

Ash wakes up in his room in Pallet Town, and realizes he's in an older body. He gets his bearings and notices a letter from Serena, remembering an accident involving a Rhyhorn and her mother forced her to return back to Kalos. He also spies a video tape and plays it. The recording of Professor Oak congratulates him on passing the Trainer Test at the end of a summer camp he hosted previously and that Ash has qualified to become a Pokémon Trainer. The professor tells him that he has until 8:00 am the following day to get to his lab in order to receive a starter Pokémon. Ash realizes that he might not wind up with Pikachu and struggles with it until Professor Oak's droning puts him to sleep.

The next day, Ash arrives at Oak's lab at 7:55 am, only to learn that Professor Oak had already given away the starter Pokémon. Apparently, the wealthy father of a pair of twins that had attended the summer camp threatened to cut Professor Oak's budget unless he gave the two of them starter Pokémon. Ash says that he can always try again next year, but the professor decides to give him a selection from other Pokémon. Oak takes him to a storage room and allows Ash to sort through a selection of Pokémon. The first Poké Ball he opens belongs to Pikachu and he restores his memories with a touch. Oak gives him his Pokédex and Poké Balls before letting him return home and Delia sees him off.

Ash walks for a bit and encounters two Pidgey. They immediately attack them and after narrowly driving them off, Pikachu and Ash realize that Pikachu only has his beginning moves. After concluding that wild Pokémon are more aggressive in this timeline, Ash and Pikachu set to work relearning Iron Tail. They practice for a few hours and are about to look for shelter when a horde of Spearow and Fearow attack them.

The two of them immediately flee, with Pikachu shooting down as many as he can, but they are quickly surrounded. They continue to fight until Pikachu gets too tired and a Fearow uses Drill Run to try and kill him, and Ash intercepts the attack, getting his chest cut open and inadvertently using Counter, taking out the rest of the swarm. He falls over and Misty comes to help him. When she bandages him up, she accidentally touches him, partially restoring her memories, and driving her to get him to Viridian City.

Ash wakes up in a hospital bed in the Viridian City Pokémon Center. Pikachu expresses relief that Ash is okay, but Ash hears a voice overlaid on top of Pikachu's and wonders where it came from before asking how he got to Viridian City. Misty tells him that she brought him and he is shocked. She asks why he and Pikachu seem so familiar to her and before Ash can give an answer that won't drive her away, Team Rocket attacks the Pokémon Center.

He gets out of bed and he and Misty confront them. He decides against having Pikachu use Thundershock since in The Old Timeline, that blew up the Pokémon Center. He tries to have Pikachu use Iron Tail, but it fails and Meowth uses Fury Swipes, inadvertently paralyzing himself. Koffing tries to hit Pikachu with sludge and Ash's Pokédex explains that Koffing explode when exposed to heat or electricity. James immediately recalls his Koffing, and Ash promptly has Pikachu use Thundershock to blast them out of the Pokémon Center.

Officer Jenny shows up and thanks Ash and Misty for saving the Pokémon Center, and upon hearing their growling stomachs, rewards them with pizza.

After leaving Viridian City, Ash and Misty go into Viridian Forest so they can talk without being overheard. Shortly after entering, Misty has a brief freak out with a Caterpie that comes too close to her, which Pikachu recognizes as Ash's old Butterfree and he promptly captures him. Once Misty calms down, she proceeds to sit down and explain to Ash that she is a Bloodliner like him, which he doesn't understand. Then a swarm of Beedrill come to attack them, prompting Misty to use a Whirlpool attack to knock them away. Misty then explains that she saw Ash using Counter to drive the flock of Spearow and Fearow away back at Route 1 when she first met him, which he doesn't remember but Pikachu confirms. Seeing there are still many questions unanswered, the two continue to travel across Viridian Forest, with Ash capturing his old Pidgeotto and later evolving Caterpie into Metapod. A few days later, Ash faces Samurai and Metapod evolves into Butterfree once more.

## Pewter Arc

After arriving in Pewter City, Ash tells Misty that he plans to take on the Kanto gyms to compete in the Indigo League. The two of them visit the local Battle Club, where Ash is taken to a lecture for beginner trainers by Don George, who proceeds to explains the rules of gym challenges and the requirements to face Brock in the Pewter Gym.

When they go for registering, Don George notices Ash's Pokédex and allows him to speed up the process, skipping straight to the training facilities. Don George later takes them to begin a small tournament for the right to challenge the Pewter Gym, with Misty joining to have a round number of participants. Ash manages to win the tournament himself, although during the battle Pidgeotto ends up with an injured wing and is forced to sit out of the challenge.

That night, Misty tells Ash of a library that exists in the Duchy of Rota, where they could possibly learn more about Bloodliners to understand how their abilities work and why they're different. Misty suggests that they use it to take a detour from Cerulean City, and when Ash asks why she wants to skip that city, Misty refuses to give details, simply saying she doesn't want to set foot there, much to his confusion.

When going out for a night walk, Ash and Pikachu wander around a rather foggy area outside of Pewter City, which they didn't recall from before. Ash brings out Butterfree to dispel the fog, only to find himself in front of a pair of gravestones, belonging to Brock's parents of all people. The shock causes him to start crying and blaming himself for causing their deaths, and he ends up running off, inadvertedly using Quick Attack.

Back at the Battle Club, Ash continues to blame himself until Pikachu and Butterfree snap him out of it, assuring him that it was something he had no control over whatsoever. Shortly after, Don George comes to inform him that his match against Brock is scheduled for the following day in the afternoon. Don George also lets slip that Brock has a girlfriend and he plans to propose to her soon, much to Ash and Pikachu's shock, although Ash seems to feel happy about it considering what happened earlier with his parents.

The next morning, Ash discusses with his Pokémon what they've learned about Brock before they go to the Pewter Gym, wondering if Brock's memories will be restored at least partially and fearing that he might hate him for killing his parents. Ash and his Pokémon ultimately decide that Brock might be better off without remembering anything and Ash shouldn't force him to come along in his journey. The thought of not having Brock as his traveling companion saddens Ash, but he ultimately accepts it'll be for the best. He decides to get over with the challenge as soon as possible so as to not to dwell too much on it.

Finally at the Pewter Gym, Ash shakes hands with Brock, who doesn't give signs of memory restoration, and the match goes underway. Ash's Butterfree manages to counter the defenses set up by Brock's Geodude and win the first round, but loses to Brock's Onix in the next one when Ash pulls him out to avoid injury. Pikachu takes over and with a mix of speed and use of Iron Tail, they manage to win. After the match, Brock gives Ash the Boulder Badge and an additional prize: a USB drive known as a Technical Manual, or TM, where he can store training tutorials for different moves as well as which Pokémon are capable of learning them, and they can be updated regularly, before wishing him luck in his future challenges. Ash accepts the badge and the TM, while also wishing he could feel more excited for his first victory and saddened to leave his friend behind.

## Rota Arc

After leaving Pewter City, Ash would continue his journey along with Misty towards Rota. During some training, Ash discovers that he learned to use Quick Attack while training with Pikachu at the battle club. While they discuss about how to learn new moves, the Team Rocket trio appears to stop them in their tracks, trying to dissuade them from going to Rota. When Misty's Psyduck sends them flying away, Ash wonders why his life is always so strange.

A few days later, Ash discovers that their food supplies have run out, apparently owing to the fact that as Bloodliners they eat a lot more due to heightened metabolisms. When they have only one rice ball left, an Aipom appears and steals it, making Misty angry. Pikachu immediately identifies it as the same Aipom that Ash owned before trading to Dawn, so Ash promptly catches her before Misty can unleash her anger over her stealing their food.

They continue walking for a few more hours, and they're on the verge of collapsing later. Inadvertedly, when Ash crosses the border of Rota, the roots of the Tree of Beginning sense him, cluing in Duchess Ilene of his arrival, who sends her guards to find them. When they're intercepted by the guards, Ash and Misty demand that they're given food before being taken away to Cameron Palace.

Once they're fed, Ash and Misty are taken to see Duchess Ilene, who apologizes for the rough treatment from her guards, and then gives Ash a staff that the trainer recognizes as the one belonging to Sir Aaron. The staff reacts to him in contact, to which Duchess Ilene replies that it means Ash is the heir of Sir Aaron that Rota has been awaiting for generations. She then takes them to the royal library, where the crystals react to Ash and Misty, projecting images of Lucario performing different moves around Ash, and different Water-type Pokémon around Misty. Duchess Ilene proceeds to explain that she was trying to confirm that Ash and Misty are Bloodliners, as well as what type of Bloodliners they are. She then explains how Sir Aaron studied Bloodliners during his lifetime, and how he discovered four different broad types of them: Species, Heart, Technique and Dominion. Ash is a Lucario Species Bloodliner, while Misty is a Water Heart Bloodliner, and this determines what kind of abilities they have and what more they could achieve with training. She then allows them to have the library for themselves for the rest of the day, so they can learn whatever they might find useful.

A few days later, they leave Rota to continue their journey, and while he's having a sparring match with Misty they're interrupted by a Bulbasaur, which Pikachu recognizes as Ash's old one. Turns out they came up close to a secret, League-sanctioned facility that breeds starter Pokémon run by Melanie, who takes them inside to explain what she does. Pikachu taunts Bulbasaur into attacking him so Ash can make contact and restore his memories, and immediately Bulbasaur goes off to bring a Poké Ball for him. Melanie explains that Poké Ball contains another Pokémon she's been caring for a while but hasn't been able to adapt, so she offers it to Ash along with Bulbasaur, which he accepts. Later on, Ash opens the Poké Ball and the Pokémon inside turns out to be Charmander, who isn't happy in the least to have regressed to this state, though he manages to calm down somewhat once they fill him in.

That night, Ash and his Pokémon all have a shared dream where they see images of a possible future had Ash's journey through Kalos continued in the old timeline. Immediately afterwards, MissingNo appears to taunt Ash with the revelation that it's a remnant that was born from the time crash, and how in this new world he and his friends have the chance to fulfill their dreams, in exchange for them losing something important. Ash and his Pokémon attempt to attack MissingNo to no avail, and the dream seemingly ends. When Ash and his Pokémon wake, they decide that it wasn't just a dream and discuss what to do about it.

## Cerulean Arc

Ash and his Pokémon wake from the shared vision, and they decide that it wasn't just a dream. They then discuss what to do about it. The conversation eventually deflects to try and use internet media to contact them, and then Ash's Pokédex beeps, accessing Ash's account on its own. Much to Ash's surprise, the device has done updates to his account. Once he has gotten over the shock, Ash gets the Pokédex to try to locate his past traveling companions. He finds May, Tracey, Bonnie and Clemont seemingly to be okay, but there is no record of Dawn ever existing and both Iris and Cilan are presumed dead. Ash finds himself unable to cope with the thought that his friends are dead, and the Pokédex has to play a recording from Professor Oak that urges him to move on and live for what he has, and face adversity no matter how hard things can get. Ash then gets up and addresses his Pokémon, telling them they all, including himself, need to become stronger so they can protect the friends they still have.

A few days later, Ash and Misty stop by the Pokémon Tech school, where after being lured by the students into battling, they pretty much demolish every single student who tries to challenge them. Sometime later, Ash and Misty are offered a feast of everything they can eat as reward for their trouble, before continuing on their travels.

Not long after arriving at Nugget Bridge, Ash and Pikachu, who'd just finished their training, find Misty lying on the ground covered in toxic spores while the Vileplume runs off. The Pokédex quickly describes that Vileplume's spores can be deadly if an antidote isn't administered quickly, which Ash realizes he does not have at hand. The Pokémon start arguing about taking her to a hospital, but the nearest one is in Cerulean where he was explicitly told not to go to, and even if he wanted to the bridge is under repairs and they couldn't easily cross it. Just as Ash picks Misty up, a Squirtle aggressively comes out of the nearby river. Before Squirtle has the chance to attack them, Bulbasaur grabs him with his vines and smacks the turtle's tail against the back of Ash's head, restoring his memories. Pikachu quickly explains what happened to the Water-type, and once everything is clear, Ash tries to ask for his help on carrying Misty across the water so she can be taken to the hospital. Squirtle however says that he's too small to carry her on her own and they'd need a larger Pokémon, like a Gyarados.

Seeing no other choice and determined to save Misty, Ash approaches the edge of the water and starts kicking it, hoping to attract a Gyarados and willing to fight it himself if needed. His Pokémon, including Squirtle, quickly join ready to back him up. They finally succeed and a Gyarados appears roaring at them, but before they start fighting, stops upon seeing Misty. Ash has Squirtle translate and learns that Gyarados is freaking out that his friend is hurt. Ash then explains what happened to Misty and asks Gyarados to help them save her. Gyarados complies, and they all quickly ride on his back. When Ash's unevolved Kingler from the Old Timeline, jumps out of the water to attack them, Ash promptly captures him, and they continue heading for the other side.

After Ash finally gets Misty to the Cerulean hospital, Misty is taken to the ER. Before heading inside, Ash uses one of Misty's Poké Balls to catch Gyarados and one of his own for Squirtle. Ash tries to keep himself busy in the waiting room until the doctor in charge informs him that she'll be alright, before kicking him out for causing too much of a commotion. The doctor says that Ash must either seriously injured himself or have a Cascade badge on hand in order to be let back in.

When Ash arrives at the gym, he gets a sense of uneasiness when the Sensational Sisters approach him. Daisy starts ranting about so called disadvantages of traveling, and offers him the chance to qualify directly for the Pokémon League with a battle. He tries to refuse, but the sisters drag him to it by force (even interrupting the Pokédex's attempt to explain the rules behind such challenge), and despite his protests, he has no choice but to fight a full battle against a Pokémon team that's clearly for an eighth badge level challenge, even if they are obviously out of shape.

Daisy opens up with a Kingdra and Ash begins with Charmander. When he is about to recall Charmander instead of having the Fire-type take a hit, the Pokédex informs him that in a battle like this, switching Pokémon is only allowed after defeating an opponent. With no other choice, Ash orders Charmander to block the approaching Water Gun with Ember. Trying to support Charmander and not wishing to see him die, he triggers a power that makes both his and Charmander's eyes glow, greatly strengthening his Ember and helping him overpower Kingdra, knocking him out, much to the shock of the Sensational Sisters (and his own). Daisy then sends out a Cloyster and Ash substitutes Charmander for Aipom, who breaks her opponent's defense with repetitive Power-up Punches and wins the match. Daisy calls a Poliwrath while Ash switches Aipom for Pidgeotto. Again, Ash takes advantage of a super-effective move, in this case Aerial Ace which is used for both evasion and offense. Frustrated and angry, Daisy orders Poliwrath to go underwater and throw the platform at Pidgeotto, which the Water-type does by using Strength. Again, like it happened with Charmander, Ash's eyes glow again and power up Pidgeotto's attack, and she blows the platform back with Gust, splashing the water out of the pool and sending Poliwrath up into the air for her to finish the round with another Aerial Ace. Daisy sends out a Tentacruel, while Ash switches Pidgeotto for Butterfree. Once more, Ash uses a super-effective attack, in this case Confusion, over and over, winning another round. Daisy then calls out a Seaking, while Ash swaps in Bulbasaur. Ash and Bulbasaur win this round by putting their opponent asleep, leaving it helpless to take enough hits until it is defeated. Daisy sends out a Dewgong and Ash switches Bulbasaur out and Pikachu takes over for the final round. While the battle is closer due to Dewgong being more fit, super-effective electric attacks are more than enough to finish the Sea Lion Pokémon.

Daisy finally breaks down, along with Violet and Lily, but before they can unleash the anger on him, Agent Joy appears and declares they're under arrest for violation of conduct and for losing the final of their last three chances. For his part, while the Cascade Badge he earned technically qualifies him for the Pokémon League on paper, Ash knows that he's not ready for it yet and decides to keep challenging the gyms to become stronger for the League. Oak, who arrived with Misty at the same time as Joy, then gives Ash his H.O.P.E. Glove, explaining how it works while also telling him of its capacities to study Bloodliners, having deduced that Misty is one herself. Before she freaks out, Oak explains that he's not planning on doing anything bad to her or Ash, or reveal it to the world. Instead, he wants to understand more about Bloodliners to aid with his research, and in exchange he also offers her to use his place so she can send her inactive Pokémon. She takes up the offer, and then asks about the package from Rota, which Oak immediately gives to Ash. Upon opening, both Ash and Misty recognize it as the one Ilene was carrying when they met her, and in Ash's case, that it also still has Lucario sealed inside.

## Vermilion Arc

Ash and company stop to do some training on the way to Vermilion City. There he has Pikachu practice Counter Shield against Charmander's Ember while Bulbasaur, Pidgeotto, Aipom and Squirtle watch with interest, with Butterfree and Krabby at Oak's lab to train on their own. After some experimentation only Pikachu, Aipom and Squirtle show interest in practicing it further. That night Misty reveals to Ash that her Psyduck knows Secret Power so they can reliably have separate places to sleep each night.

The next day begins with Ash experimenting on letting Lucario free from the staff he got from Rota. This proves harder in this timeline and Ash is left with a negative result. Ash is then approached by A.J., who challenges him to a battle for his 100th victory. The match ends with Squirtle defeating A.J.'s Sandshrew, and the two trainers leaving on friendly terms promising to meet up at the Indigo League Conference.

Later arriving to Vermilion City, Ash feels ready for his third gym challenge, already having done training with Pikachu and the others to have a solid team for whatever Lt. Surge can throw at them. The two punks guarding the entrance tell him that Surge already has a challenger, but after a quick battle in Ash's favor he is allowed to enter to wait his turn. When Ash walks in he sees Surge's Voltorb defeat the challenger's Dugtrio. Being in the shadows, Ash doesn't realize the challenger is Paul until he hears the catchphrase, "Standby for battle!" Ash is surprised to see Paul both in Kanto as well as using a Pikachu of his own. Ash watches Paul finish his battle calling the Gym Leader pathetic, and Ash comments to Misty that Paul must be a jerk. Surge agrees that Paul won, but he'll give him the badge after he's done with Ash, much to the Sinnohan's annoyance.

The battle is set up to be a three-on-three where Surge begins with a female Pikachu, Private Volty, and Ash decides to start with Bulbasaur. After using Vine Whip to jump and dodge Volty's attacks, Bulbasaur lands a Razor Leaf attack that gives him the first round. Surge then chooses a Joltik to Ash's surprise. Ash thinks about switching out Bulbasaur, but Surge quickly anticipates and has Joltik use Spider Web to stop it, then a Bug Buzz and Shock Wave, leaving both trainers with two Pokémon. Ash decides to call for Charmander, who shocks everyone when he redirects the opponents electric attacks into the ground with Metal Claw while sustaining no damage. The match up is decided when Charmander evolves into a Charmeleon mid Flame Charge, defeating the Bug-type. The final bout is Pikachu against Surge's Raichu, where Pikachu takes the win by inventive uses of speed, Counter Shield and Zap Cannon. Surge congratulates Ash and gives him his Thunder Badge, while also giving Paul his and telling him to leave.

After Ash and Misty exit the gym, they're boarded by the Team Rocket trio in disguise, who give them tickets for the S.S. Anne to Ash's chagrin. Aboard the S.S. Anne, Ash goes about the ship cautiously, recalling what happened last time. Ash spends a good amount of the first day at an event where you have Pokémon battles and the winner can bob for variant Poké Balls in a tank and keep what they get. Later he encounters Burgundy who gives a proper Connoisseuse evaluation of both Pikachu and Butterfree, before revealing that the gathering of Butterfree were all stolen by poachers. Later Ash is dragged bathing suit shopping much to both his pleasure and embarrassment.

The next day Ash spends the morning at the pool with Misty, then leaves to the main deck during the afternoon, where he encounters the man he previously traded Butterfree to. The man and him have a battle that Ash easily wins, but this time he turns down the trade offer of a Dratini for Butterfree or Squirtle. When night comes, Ash and Butterfree have a heart to heart about the trade in The Old Timeline. Then Misty finds him and inquires about why he didn't trade, to which Ash explains he would only want to trade if everyone was in agreement, Pokémon included, and he truly trusted the other trainer. Misty asks if he would ever consider a trade with her, and Ash replies with a maybe.

## Hunter J Arc

When the S.S. Anne reaches its destination (and much to Ash's surprise, without any Team Rocket ambush), Ash and Misty find themselves in a port town east of Cerulean, northwest of Lavender Town, and the only available route there seems to be through the Rock Tunnel. Misty suggests that they head for Lavender Town through the Rock Tunnel before going to Celadon City for the next gym. As he does so, Ash wonders why neither Professor Oak nor Misty mentioned Saffron as a possible gym to challenge before.

On the road to the Rock Tunnel, they end up encountering the Team Rocket trio and engage them in a battle. During the battle, Charmeleon takes a surprisingly powerful Return from Koffing and gets knocked out, prompting Pikachu to jump in to join Misty's Wingull in the fray. Pikachu and Wingull send out a Thunderbolt/Water Pulse combo that causes a great explosion and blasts them off again. Later, Ash takes interest in the move Return, and using the TM Brock gave him, learns how its power is dependent on how much the Pokémon likes its trainer. He decides to teach it to Squirtle who only has three moves in his arsenal.

Ash and Misty arrive to the town of Puerto Blanco, while it didn't have a gym of its own, with Misty having gone to do some shopping on her own, he was left to his own devices and goes for a walk. He ends up coming across a guy using a pair of angry-looking Mankey to try and intimidate an older man. Ash steps up to his defense and the guy hightails leaving his Mankey behind, much to the old man's chagrin who has to call Pokémon Control to take them. He introduces himself as Forge Smith, and explains to Ash that he's a blacksmith specialized in making holders for Pokémon to equip items legally approved by the Pokémon League to use in battle. He gives Ash a Thunderstone, which Ash rejects, and an Eviolite that gives a defensive power boost for Pokémon with an armband for Pikachu to equip it. He then meets up with Misty and continue on in their travels until they make camp for the night. In the morning Ash leaves his Pokédex behind while he goes and relieves himself. On his way back to camp he is suddenly attacked by someone and falls unconscious.

When Ash regains consciousness, he finds himself unable to see, hear or feel anything around him. Wondering if he's dead or something, the familiar voice of MissingNo appears to him once more, taunting him about losing his way and being the "hero of this story", before daring him to show what he is capable of.

Suddenly, a blue glow appears from nowhere, one that seems familiar, and his prison gets shattered freeing him. The glow apparently came from Lucario's staff, releasing Aipom from her ball and she managed to free him. Ash takes to his surroundings to find where he is. Not far from there he spots Pikachu turned into a statue and then he finally puts two and two together: he's trapped in Hunter J's airship. Aipom frees Pikachu and they quickly try to make their escape. He enters one room and finds it mostly full of petrified Dragonite along with one small blob-like Dragon he does not recognize. However, Pikachu quickly recognizes one of the Dragonite as the one belonging to Iris, much to Ash's shock. Aipom accidentally triggers an alarm when she frees the now identified Goomy, locking Iris' Dragonite and the rest of his kin behind metal walls and leaving Ash unable to rescue them. One of J's henchmen quickly shows up in the room with a Golbat, only to get knocked out by Charmeleon. Aipom tries to apologize for causing it, but Ash assures her they'd be found out sooner or later, and he decides to save Goomy and take him along while they escape. He quickly brings out the rest of his Pokémon before getting out of the room.

Ash and his Pokémon fight their way across the airship, defeating J's goons when they try to stop them. After a while, they reach a hangar full of flying machines, though unfortunately J herself is waiting there with her Pokémon. J's Salamence overpowers Charmeleon in a Fire-type attack contest and Goomy jumps in the way to take the attack while charging a Bide. When Bide releases its energy in a huge explosion, a whole is ripped in the ship's hull and Ash and his team are sucked out of the ship. Helpless in the air as they plummet to the ground, Ash notices that Goomy is out cold as a result of the explosion and doubts he can survive the fall. Suddenly, a Poké Ball, or more specifically, a Heal Ball, falls out of Ash's pocket. He desperately uses it to catch Goomy, teleporting him to Oak's lab, and then tries to focus on getting himself and his Pokémon to survive the fall. Returning Aipom, Charmeleon and Squirtle, he has Pidgeotto and Butterfree hold on to him while he focuses on the power in his eyes. This grants his Flying-types enough extra strength to slow their fall to a survivable speed, before they collapse in exhaustion.

To his surprise, Ash is then approached by and grabbed by Iris. She asks him if he was on the flying ship and if he has seen her family. He explains that Hunter J had kidnapped him and Iris' adoptive family of Dragon-types, and while he managed to escape, Hunter J took Iris' family. Iris wanted to give chase, but Ash's Pokédex told her she would only get herself captured, or worse, killed, as J's Pokémon were trained to challenge Elite Four members, plus she had her airship and a lot of other armaments at her disposal. To prove the point, the Pokédex demanded that Ash let him command Charmeleon against Iris' Excadrill, defeating them and causing the wild girl to break into tears. Ash tried to comfort her by offering her to join them and train together to grow stronger.

The next day, Ash is feeling elated that Iris is alive and well. In his good mood he decides to do some training, including some with his new Goomy. Upon using his Pokédex to scan him, he learns that Goomy is a Kalos-native Pokémon and wonders if they'd have met had Cyrus not botched The Old Timeline. He has his Pokémon try to teach Goomy some moves while practicing themselves. Later, Ash's group decides to continue training, but to this time utilize the Route 10 Battle Club facilities which are nearby. When they arrive Ash explains the purpose of Battle Clubs to Iris before they all break up to do their own training. Ash gets on a winning streak, battling over and over. When Ash finishes his last battle for the day, his Snivy from the Old Timeline drops down from the air vents. Snivy makes a challenging motion with her hands, and Ash decides to send Pidgeotto to battle her, rejecting the Pokédex's offer of using a Quick Ball to catch her (out of respect and to avoid being seen as unworthy). Instead Pidgeotto defeats her using Aerial Ace and he catches her with a Great Ball. Later that night, Ash restores Snivy's memories. He also wonders where Pikachu and Aipom have disappeared to.

The next day, Ash and company arrive to Lavender Town, where Pikachu explains to Ash where he's been with the female Pokémon in his same egg group, much to Ash's discomfort. Suddenly, a blond girl bumps into Ash, making him briefly mistake her for Bianca, until he realizes said girl is shorter and there's no water involved. The girl is actually Yellow, who is quickly followed by Red, and him and Ash lock gazes with each other.

## Battle Dome Tournament Arc

Just when Ash and Red are about to battle each other, Scott arrives to interrupt them. Ash is surprised to see him so early on his journey, while Scott talks to them about the upcoming Battle Dome Tournament that just happens to have three open slots. On the offer of prizes and free food for the contestant, Ash and company decide to accept, and they're all taken to the Battle Dome.

Inside, the tournament is hosted by the Dome Ace himself, Tucker. Ash notices that, aside from wearing his usual outfit, he has a clear stone in the headpiece that he didn't remember from the last time. Tucker then releases his Pokémon for everyone to see half of which are carrying different colored stones in item holders, which seem to radiate some kind of mysterious power. Tucker then announces the rules for the competition. Then, for entry gifts, Tucker's Metagross levitates a series of small stones towards him and the rest of the competitors. Upon glancing it, Ash experiences a series of visions with his Pokémon, including Charizard, Heracross, Pidgeot, Sceptile and Glalie fighting similar yet different battles to The Old Timeline, and acquiring forms he's never seen before. Ash then recalls the Mega Blaziken he got to see during his short stint in Kalos, and wonders if those visions are related to those Pokémon being able to Mega Evolve themselves. Tucker then announces that the tournament is officially underway.

Ash watches the first seven matches and before the eighth battle begins, he tries to ask his Pokédex about information about Mega Evolution. The device tries to deflect his question talking about random topics, before admitting to not have much info about it yet. Ash is then called for his own match, only for Tucker to announce his victories in the Pewter, Cerulean and Vermillion Gyms, also adding that the second one is worth eight badges for everyone to hear, much to his chagrin. Ash's worries about the revelation are compounded when his opponent is revealed to be Solidad, who has six gym badges of her own. Ash is surprised to see her as a trainer instead of a coordinator. The battle gets underway, with Solidad sending out a Slowbro, and Ash sending out Snivy. Ash tries to play it smart by hiding Snivy's typing, but it soon becomes apparent that Snivy is needs the boosted power of multiple Leaf Storms to defeat the Water-type who is using contest style battling. Solidad manages to catch Ash off-guard by pulling off a fifth move: Aerial Ace, but Ash eventually manages to pull off a win by the hair, much to his relief.

During the break between rounds, Iris asks Ash about already being qualified for the Pokémon League. Ash has to explain that he was tricked into battling and managed to win just by having some skill and luck, and just because he's qualified, it doesn't mean he's strong enough for it. The Pokédex then rings out, announcing a call from Delia, which Ash had been dreading since Tucker announced about his Gym Badges.

The second round begins, and Ash is pitted against A.J., who is eager for a rematch from the last time. Ash sends Squirtle once more, while A.J. sends his Sandslash, having already evolved from Sandshrew. The battle goes underway, and despite dodging well, Squirtle is quickly forced to activate Torrent when Sandslash lands two solid blows on him, much to Ash's shock. Squirtle manages to learn Brine in the heat of the moment, helping them win the match. Ash then watches the other battles in the second round where Misty effortlessly defeats the Hiker, and Iris faces an overwhelming defeat at the hand of Red and his Clefairy.

Ash and Misty check the items they earned in their previous matches, a Miracle Seed (which Ash gives to Snivy) and a Mystic Water (which Misty gives to Staryu). Ash notices Iris who is depressed over her loss. He approaches her and he along with his Pokédex explain about Fairy-types like Clefairy. He then reassures her that everyone makes bad calls sometimes and reminds her she also got Axew out before he was injured seriously. The talk does help Iris and Axew feel better.

Ash once more takes his spot on the arena for the semi finals, and now he's set to fight James. The latter says they should put their previous meetings behind for the time being and have a friendly match with all the respect that it entails. Ash decides to play along, while James sends out his Inkay to battle, and Ash sends out Butterfree, and the two engage in combat. James' Inkay's Return is powerful, but a Gust turned Silver Wind from Butterfree wins the match for Ash. Ash then watches Misty lose to Red in a close match.

Misty returns to Ash, who congratulates her despite her loss. Ash assures her that everyone loses sometimes, and the best she can do is move on and learn something from it, such as improving her defenses against electric attacks. Like with Iris, it helps her feel much better afterwards.

Before the final match, Ash discusses with his Pokédex about who he should use in the upcoming battle. The Pokédex is stunned when Ash; rather than going for the logical option in Squirtle, he'd rather use the least likely one: Butterfree, since Red will most likely be expecting Squirtle, and Snivy showed all of her surprises in her match. The Pokédex thinks Ash is mad, but ultimately accepts his decision on account that he gives him good data to analyze.

The final round begins, and both trainers send out their Pokémon, Red with Charmeleon and Ash with Butterfree. Red calls for a Rock Tomb to end the battle quickly, but as soon as the battle starts, Ash orders Butterfree to tie the rocks using String Shot neutralizing the attack. Red continues to call for attacks with Ash effectively countering them. The battle ends when Charmeleon lunges for another Fire Fang while Butterfree hits him on the chest with a Psybeam, knocking each other out. While cheering for Butterfree to stand up, Ash once more feels that power in his eyes and is about to use it, but then realizes that would make the victory hollow, as he'd be winning through unfair means. Sensing that Butterfree agrees with him, he choses to not use his power, but in doing so gives Charmeleon the chance to stand up while Butterfree drops on the field, defeated. Red is then declared the winner of the tournament. The two trainers acknowledge each other skills and then part ways, ending the tournament.

As they leave Lavender Town, Misty and Iris are surprised that Ash is taking his loss so well. He replies that he can't mope over a defeat, instead taking what he can to learn from it and help make his Pokémon stronger.

The next day, Ash gathers his Pokémon to consult them about something important he realized after the Battle Dome Tournament. He brings up to them that he noticed that being unevolved means a lack of defensive and offensive power on their part that could probably give them trouble in the future. Ash then asks who is interested in evolving. Ash gets positive responses from Pidgeotto, Aipom and Goomy, an impartial one from Snivy and a if absolutely necessary from Squirtle.

Ash and his Pokémon begin doing some training on their own. Ash himself is trying to teach Goomy offensive moves, but isn't having much success. Iris approaches him and explains how Dragon-types, usually require a lot of willpower to learn new moves or evolve. She then offers to teach Goomy an offensive move on her own. He accepts while he goes off to train himself to use Power-Up Punch, and three hours later, not only does Goomy learn to use Dragon Breath, but also evolves to Sliggoo, much to Ash's joy.

Ash's group reaches the scrublands before Celadon City, where Ash is eager to find Primeape. However, much to his shock, an explosion goes off that sends something flying up in the air. The Pokédex identifies it as a Primeape, while also stating that it might not survive that, and Pikachu confirms that it was the same Primeape they knew, leaving Ash in shock. Then, Paul comes out of the tall grass and runs into Ash. He immediately mocks him for "cheating [his] way to the Pokémon League by beating a bunch of talentless bimbos". Ash, who is still in shock over seeing Primeape being blasted away, feels anger building up within and immediately takes the bait, and Paul continues to taunt him by mentioning that he saw him at the Battle Dome tournament and was surprised he made it to the final round with such weak Pokémon. Ash immediately challenges him to a battle, and Paul agrees to a best two out of three.

Both trainers release their first Pokémon, Paul using Grotle and Ash using Charmeleon. Grotle puts up a good fight, but Charmeleon manages to win without much difficulty, though before going down Grotle sets up a Stealth Rock without Ash noticing. The second round goes underway, with Paul using Nidoking and Ash sending Pikachu, the latter of which is immediately pelted by the Stealth Rock. Despite the type disadvantage, Pikachu holds his own, but Nidoking ultimately manages to defeat him, knocking him away towards Ash who's forced to catch him. Ash then hands Pikachu over to Misty, who immediately tells Ash that he's unusually angry and that's hampering his battle performance. She tells him that he needs to calm down or otherwise Paul will defeat him. Misty's words get to calm down, and he returns to the battle with Paul. The two immediately release their final Pokémon, Ash using Aipom and Paul sending out a Drowzee. While at first it seems like Paul's Drowzee has the upper hand, Aipom manages to perfect Double Hit and evolve mid-battle, giving her the power boost to turn the tide around and win. Ash then recalls that when he fought Paul in the past timeline, the two were equally experienced, but this Paul is still a rookie, thus Ash has an edge over him.

## Celadon Arc

Ash and company make it to Celadon City and head to the Pokémon Center. Once they are there Nurse Joy asks about them coming to challenge Erika, at Ash's nod she replies that Erika won't be accepting his challenge. Ash asks about it, and Nurse Joy clarifies that the gym is currently off-limits for male challengers. As soon as Ash and his group step out of the Pokémon Center, they end up getting caught by a mob of rushing people, causing Ash and Pikachu to separate from Misty and Iris. Ash decides that if he ever retires he will never move to a city as big as Celadon. He decides to pick a path at random and soon becomes lost. They find themselves in a dark alleyway with a single locked door. The Pokédex detects a large underground gathering and warns Ash against entering, but Ash ignores this and decides to go in hoping that somebody there could give him directions to return to the Pokémon Center.

In the underground, Ash notices that it's pretty crowded and noisy. It turns out to be an underground fight club, which Ash recalls is similar to the P-1 Grand Prix from The Old Timeline, and the latest challenger who's been defeated is none other than Anthony, the man who trained Primeape. When the announcer asks if anybody wants to challenge the current champion, The Giant, for the prize, Ash decides to step up, offering the prize for the man who just lost. The Giant is uses a Hitmonlee, while Ash calls Charmeleon, who wins the match without too much trouble. After giving the money prize to Anthony, Ash asks for directions to return to the Pokémon Center, which Anthony happily provides alongside a couple of Eviolites he found.

Unfortunately, Ash and Pikachu get lost again despite the directions, and end up in a warehouse district. Suddenly, a telepathic voice calls out the name "John" in Ash's head, prompting him to follow it. After knocking out a guard to get inside a building they heard a large crash inside, Ash enters a room full of item filled crates and Scatterbug locked in cages and looking miserable, in the middle of the room is a man who seems to have been waiting for him. Unimpressed, the man notices that Ash is reacting as if hearing voices, which he reveals to be a powerful Psychic-type Pokémon that has probably been trying to contact him for help. Upon hearing Ash's Pokédex ringing out, the man introduces himself as Felgrand and a black market dealer, declaring his intent to take Ash's Pokédex to add to his goods. Bringing out an Onix to attack Ash and Pikachu, the trainer communicates with his partner telepathically, telling Pikachu to break the Scatterbug out while he keeps Felgrand busy. Ash brings out Squirtle for backup, attacking the Onix with water to quickly knock it out. Shocked at how easily his Onix was defeated, Felgrand brings out a Kangaskhan, which both Ash and Squirtle notice is missing an offspring. The Kangaskhan punches Squirtle away and is almost ready to attack Ash, but Pikachu has freed the Scatterbug who quickly use String Shot to ensnare Kangaskhan, prompting Felgrand to bring out a Rhyhorn to join the fray. While Squirtle fights off the Rhyhorn, the Kangaskhan tries to punch Ash, who catches the attack and pushes it back. Then when it tries a Headbutt, Ash instinctively uses Counter to defend himself. Felgrand finally decides to cut his looses and recalls his Pokémon, before dropping a bunch of smoke balls to cover his escape.

As Ash glances at the Scatterbug, he wonders what to do with them. The Pokédex informs him that, since they're not native to Kanto, they'll probably starve or become a pest, unless they get eaten by Pidgey swarms, so they can't just drop them off in the wild. The Pokédex suggests that it can hack some Poké Balls from the crates and register them to Ash's ownership so they can be used to catch the Scatterbug. Ash asks the Bug-types and they agree on the condition that they're not forced to fight, barring one, and they end up sent to Oak's lab. Ash then approaches six Poké Balls, one of which supposedly contains the Psychic-type, and the Pokédex reveals that they're no longer synced to their previous trainer, and Ash could theoretically claim them as his own now. He decides to ask first, hoping to find the Psychic-type who called out to him before. One by one, Ash opens the Poké Balls, bringing out six Pokémon while his own also come out, ready to fight at any time. Finally, he brings out a Gardevoir, who briefly mistakes Ash for her former trainer, John Archer, due to their physical resemblance. Upon mentioning the name John Archer, the Pokédex searches him up, revealing him as a trainer that competed in the last Hoenn League, but was found dead several months before. The news immediately hit Gardevoir, as the Pokédex continues to elaborate that John was apparently killed in his sleep and by orders of someone called "The Emissary" and his Pokémon ended up sold in the black market. Ash then takes the now returned Pokémon with him as he leaves.

Ash finally returns to the Pokémon Center, where Misty and Iris are very worried about him. Afterwards, they drag him for dinner and they inform him they managed to get him a gym battle with Erika, lifting his spirits just a bit after all that happened to the point he even hugs them in thanks, much to their surprise. After eating, he decides to rest and deal with everything else tomorrow.

In the morning an Exeggcute appears in front of Ash's group with a letter for him while they are having breakfast. The letter is from Erika, telling him that the Exeggcute has been ordered to teleport him and his companions to the gym so he won't be late for his match. Once Ash's group is teleported to the gym, the Gym Leader praises him for having an interesting Pokémon collection, while also commenting that knowledge is a valuable asset for winning battles. Ash then goes to take his place on the battlefield.

The battle is set up to be four on four, no substitutions allowed. Erika opens up with a Leafeon, while Ash brings out Butterfree. Butterfree takes an early lead but before Ash has Butterfree deliver the final blow, Erika orders Leafeon to use Rain Dance, which doesn't prevent the incoming Psybeam from hitting him, but fills the entire field in a heavy moisture. Ash wins the bout, but the rain starts falling on top of Butterfree's wings, making it hard for him to stay in the air. Erika explains that the heavy moisture has just crippled Butterfree and if he brings out Charmeleon or Pidgeotto, they too will be hampered by it. Erika then brings out a Tangrowth, and while Butterfree tries to defend himself, he ends up taken out by a Shock Wave attack. Forced to choose his second Pokémon while the rain is still present, Ash brings out Ambipom. The battle is close but after breaking free of a grapple, Ambipom takes the lead for Ash once more with a powerful Double Hit. Erika brings out a Parasect, that is able to tank Ambipom's fattacks thanks to its Dry Skin ability and the lingering rain. In the end, Ambipom gets hit by a Spore, and before she gets injured by Parasect's incoming attack, Ash recalls her. Ash then considers his remaining options: and settles on Sliggoo. Sliggoo's Hydration quickly washes away an opening Spore from Parasect and a Rain Dance changes the weather to a heavy downpour before clearing up shortly after. A couple Dragon Breaths that Parasect can no longer ignore are enough to defeat the Mushroom Pokémon. Erika brings out her last Pokémon, a Vileplume. Sliggoo does its best to combat the Grass-Type, but Vileplume is able to win this round without taking a hit. Ash debates between Charmeleon and Pidgeotto as his next choice, but the soggy ground will still hamper the former, prompting him to choose Pidgeotto. This is a much closer match, but when Vileplume tries to get up close to Pidgeotto's face to unleash a point-blank Dazzling Gleam, the light of evolution engulfs Pidgeotto, making her grow in size and become a Pidgeot. Ash orders Pidgeot to use Aerial Ace, while Erika has Vileplume counter with a Dragon Breath mimicked from Sliggoo with all her strength, but Pidgeot pierces through the attack and hits Vileplume, knocking her out and winning the match and badge for Ash.

## Poison War Arc

The night after defeating Erika, Ash struggles with composing a letter to Serena. Eventually settling on something, he gives it to Pidgeot who leaves to deliver it to the Vaniville Town native.

Later, Ash and friends head towards Crimson City, where Ash has some sparring matches in the Battle Club. Before leaving, A.J. shows up, asking Ash if he's up for a battle with him. Before accepting Ash looks at Misty and Iris to find out if they are okay with waiting. Ash sends out Snivy to fight along with Charmeleon, while A.J. brings out a Beedrill and a Butterfree. During the battle, Ash mentions to A.J. that he battled Erika not long ago, and that she has counters for Bug-types that could give him trouble if he's not careful. The battle continues and Ash once again proves the victor in their rivalry. Once the battle is over, A.J. asks about how his match with Erika went, before deciding he's going to enter the upcoming Bug-catching Contest for additional backup. This peaks Ash's interest, and he asks A.J. where it'll be, planning to sign up himself as well.

Afterwards, Ash tells Misty and Iris of his plan to enter the Bug-catching Contest. A young passerby boy with a Caterpie explains the rules while complaining on the difficulties he is having training the Bug-Type. Ash offers to have a sparring match with his Scatterbug, who might be on similar level. The battle goes underway, and the two Pokémon end up evolving as a result. With his new Metapod in tow, the boy thanks Ash for his help with tears in his eyes.

Later in the Crimson City Park, the contest goes underway and the Pokédex informs Ash of the Pokémon they can find in the area using the DexNav. Ash starts by catching a Shuckle from within a nearby rock. Ash asks Pikachu if they should keep the Shuckle, and the mouse denies, leaving the trainer wondering what it said in the brief encounter to offend Pikachu so quickly.

Not long after, Ash notices a line of Weedle walking nearby in a very strange manner. Some Oddish quickly follow, then also a Venonat and a Spinarak, which Ash decides to catch to replace the Shuckle. The Pokédex then notices that when Ash caught the Spinarak, it caused a sudden shift in its brain activity, breaking it out of the abnormal behavior exhibited by the nearby Poison-Type Pokémon. Ash wonders if Team Rocket is behind it, but then as if called on cue, they appear to break it to him that whatever's happening here is not their fault, as they've been ordered to stalk him until told otherwise. They leave him to continue the contest, even wishing him luck on it.

Ash overhears some of the other contestants, who've also noticed the erratic behavior of the Pokémon, and suspect there might be a Bloodliner behind it trying to cheat to win the contest. The comment gets Ash wondering if that's what's going on, but the Pokédex doesn't have enough info to give him an answer. Not long after, they run into a Yanma, that Ash catches after the Pokédex reveals that it is rare. The Yanma is enough to win the contest and Ash selects a Water Stone as his prize, with the intention of giving it to the red-head. After finding Misty and Iris he gives her the stone and they start on their way to Gringy City.

After they arrive they find a clean city that Ash notes is very different from how he experienced it in The Old Timeline. Ash wonders where that'll leave his Muk, since it doesn't look like a place he'd reside, while Misty decides they should go through it before nightfall. Despite Ash's worries, Pikachu assures him they'll probably find the Sludge Pokémon elsewhere, considering that they found Krabby in a different place than before. When they are part way through the city, they power suddenly goes out. Ash and Pikachu think this might be an excuse to investigate the Power Plant and possibly find Muk, so they try to convince Misty and Iris to go there, on the grounds that the people there might need help. They finally agree to go and check if they can do something about it, and leave immediately if that's not the case.

Near the power plant's entrance they see a line of Koffing guarding the place and looking like they're in some kind of trance. Misty immediately asks Ash to swap some of her Pokémon with those at the lab. She explains that a Poison Heart Bloodliner must be controlling these Pokémon, as she's seen that look before. Ash complies, and after leaving Sliggoo to guard his stuff, they all get ready to split up and cross the water to the power plant with the help of Misty's Pokémon. They go unnoticed by the Koffing, and when they reach the opposite shore Ash gets out of the water along with Starmie and Pikachu, and they find themselves surrounded by a group of possessed Vileplume. Ash brings out Charmeleon and sends him along with Pikachu to fight them, quickly taking them out. A Tentacruel emerges from the water and tries to attack them, but Charmeleon blocks his attempt and threatens to boil his ocean. Ash reminds him they don't have the time for that and prompts him to follow him and Pikachu inside, much to his chagrin but he ultimately complies.

Inside they run into Ash's Muk, who is surrounded by a bunch of Grimer. Ash has Pikachu attack Muk to weaken him and prepares for the catch, but upon throwing the Poké Ball one of the Grimer jumps in the way and gets caught instead. Ash tries again and another Grimer takes it again. Ash realizes he's going to run out of Poké Balls if this keeps up and needs a way to neutralize those Grimer first. Fortunately, Misty's Starmie finds a nearby crate full of them, which the Pokédex hacks immediately and Ash spends the next five minutes throwing to catch the Grimer, who seem determined to protect their boss. In the end, only Muk remains and Ash manages to catch him, sending him to Oak's lab along with his thirty-two Grimer friends. Ash brings out his other Pokémon: Yanma, Butterfree and Snivy, and they split in groups to cover more ground.

Ash manages to get to the control room, seeing the message on the wall about a living guard inside. Despite the Pokédex's warnings, he decides to enter and when the door won't budge, he just kicks it open. As soon as he enters, however, he gets frozen to a wall by an Ice Beam, which he noticed came from a nearby girl who looks rather nervous and shocked at what she just did. Another girl gets up from a chair and approaches him, and Ash quickly deduces she must be the Poison Heart Bloodliner they're looking for. As she comes nearby, he notices she has eyes similar to Red, and facial markings similar to his own. The girl, looking murderously angry, demands to know about some people named Vedia and Evanna, and he denies seeing anybody else. Suddenly, the girl's eyes glow orange and she asks once more, and this time Ash feels compelled to talk, adding that he also brought friends along. Ash realizes that this girl, like him, probably possesses two Bloodlines, and she prepares to attack him with a Poison Jab. She however looks at the other girl, Aurora, and stops to ask her what's the matter. Aurora points out the physical resemblance between her and Ash. The Poison Heart Bloodliner, Belladonna, admits that they do share some traits, and then uses her Bloodline once more to force Ash to tell her if he's a Bloodliner. Again, Ash feels compelled to talk, explaining how his own abilities work in full. Belladonna suddenly calms down, and this time asks him about his parents, albeit not using her powers. Trying to keep himself safe, he decides to play along and the two introduce themselves before talking a bit about their family and home lives. Belladonna explains that after she was thrown out by her mother, she went off on her own and found Aurora, Vedia and Evanna, and they've been better off since then. When Ash realizes that the *four* of them are in a romantic relationship, Ash becomes confused and shocked at the implications, thinking that this is the one thing he would have never expected to find in the new timeline.

Belladonna finishes telling Ash her story about how she and the others came together, and when Ash inquires about it being illegal, Belladonna replies that she has no use for the laws of humans and that they all as Bloodliners are above such laws. Ash then asks about if said rules state that it's okay to invade a power plant, which Belladonna explains that the power plant gives energy to the hospital where Tokiomi, Aurora's father, is on life support and she wants to kill him for how he treated Aurora. Ash points out that she's going to kill several other people apart from him, which Belladonna replies that anybody in that probably deserves what's coming to them anyway, as they're in there for drugs, alcohol and bad lifestyles. While Ash agrees that Tokiomi seems a horrible guy, he still thinks they're going too far, but Belladonna asks her if he's ever lost somebody he cares about, or if he's ever seen a loved one suffer and felt anger over not being able to punish the one responsible. She charges a Poison Jab to emphasize her point, telling him that if somebody hurts one of his loved ones, he has to pay them in full with interest. Ash then recalls the rage he felt against Paul when he blasted Primeape away, somehow knowing that it strengthens the connection between them, which makes him feel worried.

The control room door is suddenly smashed down by Charizard, allowing himself, Servine, Pikachu and Starmie to get inside. As Pikachu sees Ash frozen against the wall, he attacks Belladonna and Aurora with his Thunderbolt, which the latter counters with her Ice Beam. Charizard attacks Belladonna and pins her against the wall. Pikachu notices the resemblance between Belladonna and Ash, and while he has no time to explain, Charizard seems ready to blow a Flamethrower on her after she bites him in the arm with Poison Fang, before a Golbat comes in and rams him in the chest to force him to let her go. The Golbat informs her that Tokiomi is finally dead, much to her delight. She then commends Ash's Pokémon, while also calling him "brother" much to the shock of Pikachu and the others, before she and Aurora Teleport away using a Shellder. With the Pokémon in shock about the "brother" thing, Ash decides to put them up to speed about what happened, and this encounter has him wondering if the resemblance between him, Red and John Archer might mean they're all related. Iris then comes up, and he's relieved to see she's alright. Then, Misty and Anabel teleport into the room, the latter much to Ash's surprise to see her so soon. Misty explains that Anabel saved her, and Anabel reveals that she's a Bloodliner like them, but since she's unable to talk, she uses telepathy to communicate. Misty invites Anabel to join their group, and after some more chatter, they hear police sirens approaching, so they quickly teleport away, not before going with Sliggoo to pick up Ash's stuff.

Having left Gringy City and made camp for the night, 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 contributes by showing a photo and info about Belladonna's mother, 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 John's Probopass' electromagnetic capacities. Despite having some doubts, Ash ultimately agrees to it.

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. Ash and his companions easily win in battle. 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, Scouse, from before), and they immediately accept as they're rather hungry.

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. 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. 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 Fuchsia 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, 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 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 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 about what happened in the power plant. 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.

While waiting for the start of the tournament Ash does some training, where he battles against Anabel and her Kadabra. She proved that this timeline did not diminish her skills at all and the battle ended with a double KO. Ash then had Anabel help in his attempts to learn Foresight while he explained the purpose of the H.O.P.E. Glove. After training for a couple hours the earth began to rumble and Ash recognized a small herd of Tauros stampeding towards town. The group then had their Pokémon help some Ponyta riders, Lara Laramie and Hex, stop them. As thanks the two invited Ash and his friends to come to the local festival for the upcoming Big P Pokémon Race. They agree and Lara leads them all to the Pokémon Big P Ranch.

At the ranch, Ash confirms to Lara that they are going to be competeing in the upcoming tag tournament. They are then interupted by Dario, who brags that he will win the upcoming race and that Lara doesn't stand a chance, before riding his Dodrio away. Over lunch Hex and Lara explain that they suspect Dario to have cheated in the previous years race, and that he may try to do so again this year. Ash asks if they can help keep an eye on it, but Lara says not to worry. She then asks if Ash and company want to take part in the race. Ash said that they would think about it, while thinking he would keep an eye out anyways so that Lara was not hurt in this timeline like she had last time.

Later Ash heard a commotion where Lara and Hex were training for the race. When he arrived to see what was going on he found a collapsed Hex, he then had Charizard rush the girl off to get medical attention. Moments later Lara's Ponyta reared up, launching Lara off of its back. Ash calmed the Fire-type before turning to Lara and helping her to the hospital as well.

After they returned to the Laramie home with Lara's arm in a cast, Ash was feeling guilty for not preventing the injury. He told Lara he would race on her behalf and win so that Dario did not profit from his cheating. Misty also agreed to race with her Gyarados. Lara asked why they would help, with Ash saying that he could not stand cheaters and he'd never ignore someone that needs help. Lara thanked them before they all left for her to show them the course. Lara then helped Ash get to know her Ponyta and practice so that the two could work together properly. Impressed by the speed he got used to riding Ponyta, Lara asked him whether he was sure this is his first time. Ash replied that it was, but he had a friend who knew about Rhyhorn racing and that she had given him tips on it when he partook in one during a summer camp. They then decided on a plan for everyone to help keep an eye on things. Before heading to bed, Ash was confronted by Misty wonderring who this "friend" of his was. This made Ash realize he had never mentioned Serena to Misty, Iris or Anabel before, so he explained a bit of their past.

The next day, Ash competed in the race. When the race began Ash was in second place, and mangaged to hold that spot for much of the first couple legs. When it became time to cross a river, Anabel warned him to avoid the center path so he had Ponyta veer to a side path allowing him to safely cross. At the half way point only Ash, Misty and Dario remained in the running. While Ponyta tried to finish the obstical of eating a traugh of food, a smokescreen suddenly surrounded the competetors and a bunch of goons with the Squirtle evolutionary line showed up trying to stop Ash and Misty from completing the race while Dario rushed ahead. Anabel, Iris and many of the group's Pokémon soon appeared to fight off the Water-types. Misty too remained behind to make it so Ash could follow Dario safely. When a group of Wartortle tried to interfere, Ponyta felt power rush through it and evolved. The newly evolved Rapidash burst into flames and raced through the turtles and after Dario. As Ash began to catch up to Dario, suddenly the walls of the cayon they were racing through collapsed and Ash had to have Rapidash use another Flare Blitz to smash the rocks in the way. Ash and Rapidash could see Dario getting close to the finish line, and in desperation Ash accidentally activated his Bloodline to power up Rapidash. The Fire-type gained an immense amount of speed and was able to pass the opposing Dodrio with less than 100 meters left. Ash was able to gain control of his power and shut it off so they could stop, but the two had already overshot the end of the race by a large amount. When everyone caught up to him Dario accused him of cheating, before Anabel, Iris and Misty came up with the thugs Dario hired who confessed that Dario payed them off.

The next morning Ash and company left the ranch in order to head back to Fuchsia City. Ash confessed to his friends that he had accidentally activated his second Bloodline. Anabe was able to comfort Ash that he didn't do it on purpose and his Bloodline probably activated it because he needed it in order to help Lara instead of just for his own gain. The group all agreed that Bloodlines seemed to often work that way.

## Fuchsia Arc

A few days later before the tournament begins, Ash looks around for his partner with the number six. 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.

Ash and Red are lined up to be in the second battle of the tournament against two trainers who use a Rhydon and Bellossom. Ash sends his Yanma and Red sends his Poliwrath. Yanma manages to defeat the Bellossom using physical moves, both regular attacks and improvised ones, and Poliwrath is able to handle the Rhydon.

Ash then retreats to the spectator seats and watches the rest of that day's battles. When Red comments on Iris and Misty being stronger than he last saw, Ash chimes in that travelling and training together with friends helps a lot with that. Yellow suggests they could have dinner together tonight, and they all agree to do so.

At dinner Ash talks about Pallet Town as well as the circumstances that lead to him starting with Pikachu. He mentions the twins Elwood and Aideen, and Red acknowledges that he has met them before. Dinner conversation continues with all of Ash, his companions, as well Red and Yellow talking about themselves, with the exception of Anabel due to her speaking disability. Red questions Ash on his Yanma focusing on physical moves rather than special like its species is more oriented to, and Ash responds that he focuses on individual Pokémon and their strengths rather than as representative of their species.

That night, Ash and Pikachu have another strange dream, finding themselves in a room full of frozen Pokémon. Pikachu points out like they smell sick and one of them even smells like blood. Suddenly, MissingNo's voice speak up, and they see him sitting on a ice block, this time in the form of a version of Ash wearing a blue and white striped shirt, black shorts and no gloves. MissingNo mockingly says this is payback for him getting away the last time, and then the room's door opens. A robot-like figure with blue and yellow metal plates enters, and after it talks, Ash recognizes the voice as belonging to Clemont, which MissingNo confirms that it's Clemont from "a" possible future. Three more figures then join him, and they start talking about several things that Ash doesn't understand, making Ash wonder what's going on. After the conversation mentions a pair of twins named Frax and Velvet Lono, MissingNo pops them into existence for Ash to see. Surprisingly, they all take notice of their physical resemblance, but MissingNo immediately pops them back out. The group continues to talk about how a Bloodliner War broke out, and somehow Ash, Red, Belladonna, and many others were involved, somehow spelling the "end of the world". MissingNo then begins drawing a picture of Ash, his companions, and both his and their Pokémon. The drawing continues to add others, like Red and Yellow, Belladonna's group, and many others, some he doesn't know but look a lot like himself. Then MissingNo begins drawing on the other side, showing a lot of more figures standing in opposition to the others, all loomed by a shadowy figure with a large crown and red eyes, whose hands are crumpling May's ribbon and Serena's hat, much to Ash's horror. The picture is completed with drawings of several Pokémon, including Groudon and Kyogre in Primal Forms, a shadowy Lugia and a Pokémon Ash does not recognize. As the group continues to talk, and settle that they are back to square one. Ash and Pikachu then wake up.

At the battlefield, Ash is surprised to see that their opponents are none other than the twins Elwood and Aideen. Aideen calls out a Nidorina, and Ash calls Ambipom. In turn, Elwood brings out a Hitmonlee, leaving Red to go for his Victreebel. A Counter Shield from Ambipom gives Ash and Red the edge and allows Victreebell to finish off Hitmonlee with a Leaf Storm. A combo attack from Ambipom and the Grass-Type then is enough to defeat Nidorina winning the match and advancing them to the next round.

Later Ash and Red watch Lilo, a trainer Red had previously stated could be the strongest opponent there, in her match. They talk about and have the Pokédex look up the species of Pokémon they know Lilo has, and Ash is intrigued by the changes in an Alolan Exeggutor compared to the ones they know.

The next morning, Ash's Pokédex informs him that he's learned a glitch that allows the infinite replication of all kinds of Poké Balls and he can implement it through Ash's H.O.P.E. Glove. While Ash questions if such thing is legal, the Pokédex says that it is as long as he doesn't sell them for money. He also reports from John Archer's Pokémon about a possible half-sibling named Cleff Matsuoka. The report includes that he was seen living with and romancing three different girls. Ash gets the chills at this, wondering if this will keep happening.

Later that day, Ash and Red prepare to battle their two next opponents, Tim Mortis and Mike. The latter, sends out a Ninetales whose Drought ability immediately activates sunlight on the field. Ash decides to send out Charizard to capitalize on this, while Tim sends out a Misdreavus. Red chooses to use his Persian. Ash and Charizard start by targeting Ninetales while Persion faces Misdeavus, but after trading a few blows they switch targets and overpower the opponents to win the match and advance to the semifinals.

After the match. Ash ponders on his choices for the following rounds while he does some training with Servine and Muk. Before he can make up his mind, the girls Misty, Iris and Anabel tell him that Lara and Hex called claiming Dario has mysteriously gone missing. Ash is left wondering what could have happened to him, but then Yellow appears to tell him that Red needs to talk to him. Red quickly follows, looking rather serious, and before saying a word he ignites his hand with a Fire Punch, then reveals that he knows Ash is a Bloodliner himself. Anabel then realizes that she can talk to them using her telepathy, surprising Yellow but not Red. Red then makes his eyes glow, and tells Ash that he knows he too has a power like his but has been holding back on using it. After he explains how his Victory Sight works, he demands to know how Ash's does, and Anabel explains it for him. Ash however replies that he doesn't use it often and it usually activates on its own, but they've won their battles without it. Red however doesn't seem pleased at this, and Ash says that he doesn't use it because he views it as an unfair advantage and considers it cheating. Red tells him that it's not cheating, they all were born with those abilities and have both the right and the duty to use them in competitions to give their all, and tells him that he could have used his power to win back at the Battle Dome, just like Red used his. Upon learning this, Ash becomes shocked and angry, thinking that Red cheated to win against Misty and Iris. Red defends himself by saying that battling against or alongside Ash screws with his Victory Sight and he hasn't been able to use it for the whole tournament, and tells Ash to stop "holding back". Ash refuses to budge, telling him that he relies on his own abilities instead of using shortcuts. Red replies that he does too, but doesn't feel like "trying to run with one leg", before leaving.

That night, Ash recalls that Misty, Iris and Anabel got into an argument of their own about the whole matter, with Misty taking Ash's side, Iris agreeing with Red to an extent, and Anabel feeling conflicted without picking either side. Ash himself feels angry with Red, having lost a lot of the respect he had gained after they fought in the Battle Dome, thinking that he's only won his battles so far through cheating. Both Pikachu and the Pokédex seem to think Ash is going overboard in trying to defend his principles, with Pikachu even arguing that he's fine with Ash not using his powers in Gym or League matches, but in this tournament they have something at stake: the entry to the Safari Zone and the retrieval of Ash's Tauros, and in this case, what Ash considers "cheating" might be a better alternative to breaking the law, in the scenario that they lose the tournament.

When the semi final match is set to begin, Ash and Red are both tense and avoid looking at each other. As the referee calls to start, Ash and Red send out Pikachu and Haunter respectively, with their opponents Lilo and an unnamed trainer send out a Mudsdale and Pidgeotto. Pidgeotto quickly sets up a Tailwind before Pikachu takes the bird out in one hit. Lilo's Mudsdale then uses its new speed to surprise Ash and Pikachu. Haunter and Pikachu are both able to land hits but Mudsdale's Stamina ability kicks in both times. Mudsdale is able to counter everything that either Red or Ash can think of to try, but an attempt by Pikachu to stop Mudsdale from using High Horsepower against Haunter with a Thunderbolt has the consequence of it also hitting the Ghost-type and paralyzing it. This further creates a rift between the two Bloodliners. The Tailwind's effect peters out, and Lilo prepares to use her ultimate weapon: her Z-Move Tectonic Rage. Ash orders Pikachu to get out of there, which the mouse follows through on. Red tries to do the same with Haunter, but the paralysis flares up and leaves the Ghost-type helpless to take the full brunt of the Z-Move's power. The resulting explosion of light and dirt leaves Ash blind as to what happened, but Pikachu managed to get through unscathed, and he also sees that Mudsdale looks exhausted after using it. Ash tries to wipe the sweat off his forehead, before noticing he has a grainy brown substance in his hand for some reason. Before they can resume the battle, the referee declares that Haunter is unable to continue. Red then admits defeat, but Ash berates him for behaving as if the match is concluded, and declares that he still intends to win. The battle continues with neither Pikachu not Mudsdale being able to land a substantial hit, leaving them both at a stalemate. Ash tries to come up with something, and notices Paul in the stands. Suddenly, an idea strikes him: he orders Pikachu to gather as much electricity as he can in his tail, then he orders Pikachu to slam his tail on the ground straight at Mudsdale. The attack sends out an explosion of rock and dirt chunks over Mudsdale, heavily damaging it. Ash orders Pikachu to use one last Iron Tail boosted by a Quick Attack, while Mudsdale tries to defend with High Horse power, but Pikachu strikes first and lands behind Mudsdale, who collapses after a few seconds, winning the match for them.

Ash watches the next match of Misty and Iris with Poliwrath and Excadrill, against Gary and Paul with Porygon and Raichu. The match was close but his friends are unfortunately able to clinch the win. After the battle, Ash starts making his plans for the tournament's finals, trying to decide who'd be the best choice. He suspects that Gary and Paul might use their starters, Blastoise and Torterra respectively, but Pikachu tries to remind him that Red will still fight alongside him and he doesn't have to do it alone. Suddenly, the Pokédex detects a nearby Pokémon. It turns out to be a recently released Paul's Raichu, whose wounds from the previous battle haven't fully healed. Red comes up and also recognizes her, and then inquires as to why he would release her. Ash explains that Paul has a habit of releasing the Pokémon that don't match his expectations. Red states that he understands not catching a Pokémon in the first place, or either trading or giving it away to someone who'd want it, but not discarding it that way. Pikachu explains that Raichu didn't want to fight, but Paul forced her to do it. The Pokédex suggests that Ash uses the Poké Ball duplication glitch with a Heal Ball to catch Raichu, since trying to take her to the Pokémon Center in this state could potentially worsen her wounds. Ash explains that he can send her to Professor Oak's ranch where she'll be safe and won't have to battle if she doesn't want to. She agrees and lets herself be captured and teleported. Red then decides that they have to win tomorrow's match, asking Ash to tell him as much as he can about Paul so they can plan together. They might have disagreements, but Paul crossed a serious line and Red won't stand for it. Ash agrees and begins to tell him as much as he can.

The next day, when the match is set to begin, Ash notices that Gary is uneasy next to Paul. He then thinks of his own issues with Red and wonders if he should tell him about Belladonna's family theory, before deciding to shelve that idea for later. Just as Ash predicted, Paul starts with Torterra and Gary, Blastoise. In response Red brings out Charmeleon and he summons Servine. Ash and Red decide to defeat Blastoise quickly and then shift focus onto Torterra, which they manage due to the increasing strength of Leaf Storm. At this point in the battle Torterra has used what Ash thinks are all four of its moves, but Paul surprises him by ordering a fifth move, Stone Edge. Ash ponders on the fact that, for all his faults, Paul is still good when it comes to strength. Torterra seems capable of stopping everything Ash and Red can throw at it due to setting up with Curse while they focused on Blastoise. After one last Leaf Storm attack, Ash tells Red that he has a plan, but for it to work they need Charmeleon to evolve. Red is initially unconvinced by Ash, but Ash insists that, having his own Charizard, he knows that Red's Charmeleon is on the verge of evolving. Red relents to Ash and gives a small speech to encourage his Fire-type, which as Ash claimed sparked an evolution. With the new power brought by evolution, Charizard's super effective Heat Wave is able to overpower Torterra defeat it, concluding the battle and the tournament with a victory for Ash and Red.

Later, Ash feels somewhat bitter after the tournament, after managing to slip away from the mobs of admirers and back to their hotel. The girls still maintain their stances in their previous argument, with the addition of Anabel claiming that she can sense a lot of pain in Red. Ash finally states that he doesn't expect Red to understand him, but he won't force his beliefs on him either, and he'll keep doing things his own way.

The next day Ash and company proceed to the Safari Zone that Ash has won them entrance to. Once in the park, Ash splits up with his friends and goes on a mission to locate and recapture all of his Tauros from The Old Timeline. As he begins doing so it becomes apparent that they are often part of smaller herds, so in order to not separate them he captures the additional Tauros as well. He also captures a Spearow on mistake when it flies in the way of one Tauros-bound ball. One small group of his Tauros are in conflict with some Exeggutor, that his Pokédex claims will struggle to survive in this habitat. Ash decides to prevent this by capturing the Grass-types as well. Another group of Tauros he finds have been defeated by a Farfetch'd that holds three leeks. This Farfetch'd shows interest in Ash but wants Ash to prove himself to it, Ash shows it his Pokémon roster, badges and musculature but it takes demonstrating his Bloodliner powers to win it over completely. When Ash captures a Tauros that had hurt itself in a rocky area, a Gible and Dwebble both appear that Ash decides not to capture due to them not being the ones he is familiar with, this is followed by his Roggenrola that he does choose to recapture. He teleports Roggenrola back to him with the H.O.P.E. Glove and gives the Rock-type the recap of what has happened along with her initial memories. Roggenrola helps him find and capture his other Tauros along with a Vulpix that his most gentle-hearted Tauros had fathered. On the way out of the Safari Zone, Ash accidentally drops his last Safari Ball on hand and it rolls to a bush that a shiny Chansey jumps out of and collides with the ball capturing itself.

After returning to the Pokémon Center, Ash and his companions talk to Professor Oak via video call. Oak informs them of the Item Capsules that Dr. Kim Monocles Boxer invented and that Ash will receive a set of them for testing purposes. The Center's Nurse Joy then pages Ash and informs him a package has arrived for him. In the package from Melemele Island's "Kahuna and Guardian Deity," is to his surprise a Z-Ring. When he first touches the ring, Ash begins experiencing visions of several important battles of his old timeline, albeit changed while using Z-Moves.

He's snapped out of the visions by Anabel pinching him in the neck. He then asks if any Z-Crystals were sent along, but Misty confirms that no, no crystals are in the package for him, so he's left having to figure out how to use it himself. He decides to leave it for after the upcoming gym battle, and asks the girls to help him train in the meantime, which they gladly agree to. He then puts on the Z-Ring on his wrist, if only to make sure he doesn't lose it.

Ash spends the next few days creating a battle plan for the gym challenge. When he is confident in his plan, Ash and company head towards the gym, and Ash is surprised that Koga was replaced as the Gym Leader by his daughter Janine. As they near the gym, Ash runs into an invisible wall. After a short discussion on the possibility of burning it down, Anabel suggests teleporting past them instead, to which everyone agrees. At the battlefield, they find Janine waiting for them hanging from the ceiling. Iris suddenly glares at the girl, as if expecting her to attack them. The ninja girl jumps down before pulling out a couple of shurikens, causing Iris to glare at her even harder. She compliments Iris on her instincts for picking up the threat, before introducing herself and claiming that Red had defeated her, but was unable to see through her test. She then heads to her side of the field as a referee suddenly appears in a poof of smoke.

Janine starts with a Nidoqueen, and Ash counters with his Squirtle. Squirtle does manage to defeat the Poison-type but not before she is able to set up Stealth Rocks. This proves to be a problem for many of the Pokémon he brought with him for the battle. Squirtle then falls to Janine's Wheezing, who in turn falls to Ash's Butterfree. After a Golbat defeats Butterfree, Ash sends out his Yanma who ends up winning the round, but also rips holes in the ceiling in the process. Janine's last Pokémon is her Ariados, whom defeats Yanma along with setting up Toxic Spikes to bring the battle to the last round. Ash debates about choosing Charizard, but reasons that the Fire-type would take too much damage from entry hazards to properly battle. This leaves Ash to choose his Sliggoo, whose ability washes away the poison thanks to the rain falling through the ceiling. Sliggoo is able to put up a good fight until he hears Ariados cry out. The Dragon-type freezes in fear and it takes Ash giving a motivational speech to inspire Sliggo to not only continue the battle, but also to trigger an evolution. Goodra is able to face its fears and defeat the Ariados before engulfing Ash in a big hug. When he is finally released, Ash receives his badge from his friends, who were given it by Janine earlier before she left.

Two days further down the road, Ash found a waterfall to take a bath. Much to his shock and embarrassment, Iris shows up and looks at him before joining him in showering, though she seemingly does not understand why he would be embarrassed. While Ash tries to preserve his modesty and dignity by not looking at Iris' naked form, Iris reminds him that he promised they'd help each other become stronger, and she feels that it's time that he himself starts training on that. She then states that she won't help him with his Dominion Bloodline, and still thinks he should use it more, but will respect his decision, yet she does plan to help him train on his physical strength so he can fight his own battles one day.

## Stuff In Between Arc

Ash finds himself having yet another strange dream, where an older version of himself and a shadowy figure argue about the pros and cons of altruism. The older him eventually turns to Ash and explains whenever Ash questions whether his actions are the right thing to do, he needs to recall that people who are irredeemably evil are very rare, and even people who are general jerkasses can be capable of goodness. If there's any shred of good in people, he should work to bring it out.

The next couple days are full of training, where Ash both spends time running in front of a charging Tauros and learns to use his feet to feel vibrations caused by burrowing Pokémon. During this training he notes the state of his clothes and decides it may be time to get replacements.

During one night, the Pokédex informs Ash that he's been updated with an app that will alert Ash of any egg that his Pokémon might have, and will also tell him when it hatches and what it hatches into, with any additional relevant data. Ash wonders about the odds that his Pokémon will find themselves having eggs at random, but then sees Pikachu and realizes they might be higher than he thinks.

Another day of training has Iris beginning to include Anabel in her and Ash's personal training, to which Ash apologizes to the purplette. However, the conversation gets interrupted when they overhear Team Rocket nearby, and they run in their direction. They find them about to mug an old man, but upon noticing Ash, they tell him to scram off. James sends his Yamask to attack them, and then Pikachu engages and sends them all blasting off. The old man thanks them for helping him, and asks if they're going to stay around the following day. Since they're not in a hurry, the old man, named Masuda, invites them to a house party in Stone Town, at an address that Ash recognizes as the house of Mikey and his older brothers. Ash agrees once they tell Misty and Iris about it.

Once they arrive, Ash takes a look around the estate as the party is going on. He sees some familiar faces, and others he doesn't recognize, such as a young woman with long silver-blue hair who keeps drawing his eye for some reason. Iris takes notice of her as well and calls her "the most dangerous person here". Not long after, Ash finds himself approached by a group of people, a boy who looks a lot like him and four girls who look slightly younger than himself. They seem to be fans of him and they ask him for advice before they depart in their own Pokémon journeys. Ash happily complies, telling him a bit of his own experiences, which they seem delighted to hear. The boy introduces himself as Midori, and the girls quickly follow suit: Hoshi, Monet, Rana and Kusa. The conversation then deflects to them having different goals, like Pokémon Gyms and Contests, but Ash tells them there's always a chance to take a detour and do everything, which makes them happy as they'll be able to travel together. Ash quickly takes notice that the five of them seem rather close, and wonders if they're another group of lovers in the making like Belladonna.

Ash notices that there seems to be an argument nearby about evolution, and not long after, one of the older Eevee brothers, Rainer, takes notice of him and angrilly approaches. Rainer warns Ash to stay away from his younger brother and then claims that Mikey would imitate Ash's tendency to battle with unevolved Pokémon. Soon a second brother, Sparky, approaches looking for Mikey. He too is upset Ash is present and the two brothers agree that if they beat him, MIkey imitate him and instead use a stone to evolve Eevee.

The guests take notice of the challenge and quickly gather around to see it. As he wonders how to get out of this, the woman Ash saw before approaches, offering to team up with him to make it two-on-two. As the argument seems to be about evolutions, she pulls out a Luxury Ball and brings out a Murkrow. As Rainer tries to point out the obvious weakness to Sparky's Jolteon and to his Vaporeon's Ice-type attack, the woman reveals that she knows Rainer's experiences in the Indigo League Conference. The woman declares that Ash will use Pikachu, which the trainer agrees, and the battle gets underway. During the battle, they all argue the advantages and disadvantages of evolution. Eventually Ash and the women defeat the two brother's evolved Eevees and the women points out that while everything they said about evolution is true, it isn't everything. Rainer confirms he knows that, but insists that just because it works out for her and Ash, it doesn't mean it'll work for Mikey and that he needs to choose a stone. The woman brings out an Umbreon and explains that evolutionary stones are less common in Johto, and that Eevee doesn't have to forcibly use one to evolve. Ash then adds that he understands they're trying to help Mikey, but they need to let him make his own choices. Mikey himself steps in, agreeing with Ash, and tells his brothers that, while he has yet to choose his path, he wants to find it on his own, and have his first battle right then and there with Ash. The Pallet trainer uses his H.O.P.E. Glove to teleport Goodra's ball away, and offers to battle Mikey with one or two Pokémon that might be good matches for Eevee: Spearow or Vivillon. Mikey asks which one is stronger, and after Ash replies that Vivillon is, Mikey chooses that one, prompting Ash to retrieve the same Scatterbug he used with the boy in Crimson City, now having reached the final form.

The battle goes underway, and Mikey's Eevee proves much stronger than expected, despite being unevolved. Ash himself takes notice of it, especially after they use Refresh to heal from a spore attack from Vivillon. The older brothers recall that they did let Mikey watch their partners for them, and Ash can see they've done some training themselves. Eevee manages to pull off a win against Vivillon, and the result seems to alleviate the older brothers' concerns altogether.

As the group leaves Stone Town, they come across the woman from before on her motorcycle and greet her. She introduces herself as Karen, Elite Four member of Johto. After a moment of silence, she ponders about whether she should give them a speech about strong and weak Pokémon, but she decides they don't need it, and wishes she could give them some advice or something that can help him on the way. She finally settles for giving Ash a Moon Ball, which Ash recognizes, and hopes it can be useful to him. She wishes him luck at Indigo before speeding off in her motorcycle.

Sometime later, Ash and his team decided to do some dedicated training to break the four move limit. While training they come across Elwood and Aideen who challenged him to a double battle. Ash is able to win the battle with his Tauros and Servine against Elwood's Venusaur and Aideen's Bellossom. After the battle when he goes to give his opponents a handshake in good sportsmanship, they find his hand is unusually grainy, full of a green sand-like substance.

During a break where Anabel and he try to figure out how to pull off Psychic themselves, Anabel collapses in exhaustion thanks to her previous training with Iris. She takes he top off, much to Ash embarrassment when he sees her wearing only a bra. She reminds him that he saw more of Iris before, and he admits to himself that he finds all three of his female companions physically attractive. Wishing to have something to help her feel better, suddenly his hands begin to glow green in a Heal Pulse. Anabel feels it and asks Ash to get closer so she can try to figure it out herself. They continue to talk about some of Anabel's insecurities until she eventually is able to perform the move herself. He then has similar personal training sessions with Iris and then Misty. With Iris they discuss their goals for the future, and with Misty he discusses that they usually learn moves by accident or when they are in danger without it. Later the group comes across a wild Jigglypuff that Ash and Pikachu immediately recognize. In their fear of being put to sleep Ash accidentally throws the Moon Ball he had been playing with, which then strikes the Fairy-type and captures it.

While doing some cliff climbing with Iris, the two hear a commotion and then investigate to find Samurai who was just defeated by Joshua in a battle. Joshua insults Ash and Iris, and then challenges him to battle. Ash immediately accepts but gets unusually angry about the confrontation. He is easilly able to defeat the other trainer, but is a lot sloppier with his battle commands than he usually is.

After Ash and company reach the coast they come across a group of Seafolk who have set up shop with their wares to sell. Ash uses some duplicated Nest Balls to trade for a meal while the girls do some shopping on their own. When they leave to go back on their way, Misty gifts Ash a Sceptilite, which Ash is immensly grateful for. After asking for the next destination, Misty mentions about the shopping event that's coming soon, and tells Ash he might also be needing some new clothes. Ash agrees, thinking about Iris' training, and since neither Anabel nor Iris have any objections, they head for the next town.

In the morning Ash comes across Anabel trying to sort out her hair. Ash comments that while her bangs could use a trim he likes her hair longer. Anabel questions Ash if he has a preference for long hair, causing Ash to go quiet in embaressment. Later that morning, the group arrive at Grampa Canyon and are stopped by a group of guards who are protecting the fossils there. Ash wants to just go find Togepi's egg, but has to follow the group who are lead into a trailer by a paleontologist, Professor Cycad. Fortunately while talking an assistant comes in with the egg and the two offer it to Ash as they have no use for it. That night, Ash and the girls talk about who should keep the egg and after the girls, including Misty to Ash's dissapointment, decline, it is decided Ash will keep the to-be-hatched Togepi.

The group arrives to a town on Princess Day and taking advantage of the good prices, they all purchase furniture, new outfits and and anything else any of them could think of. The various new belogings are stored in Item Capsules that had arrived in a package from Professor Oak shortly before.

The next day after they were on the road again, an Abra suddenly appears, grabs Ash and teleports away. Ash finds himself and Pikachu appearing in a mysterious building and when he asks why the Abra has brought them there it sudddenly attacks him. After knocking the Abra out, the Pokédex reveals that they are in the Saffron City gym and that it has a plan to try to help them escape and will be too busy to provide any other assistance. Suddenly a group of Exeggcute appear and chase Ash to a staircase, where he makes the decision to go up rather than down as it would be more difficult for the round Pokémon to pursue him. When he gets close to the top he sees a Drowzee waiting for him so he brings out Roggenrola to take care of it.

## Sabrina Arc

In the Saffron Gym, Ash soon brings out Servine to back up Pikachu and Roggenrola, and the Grass-type asks if their opponents are wild Pokémon or owned. To find out Ash throws a ball at a Starmie which soon answers the question as the latter. He then brings out his other Pokémon, Squirtle, Muk and Tauros before they all unsuccessfully try to break out of the Gym through the walls and windows. Sabrina suddenly appears in front of them and explains the rules of her gym and reveals that she knows that Ash is from a different timeline. After stating that he would just leave rather than play Sabrina's game, Sabrina brings up her ace in the whole that she has his Primeape locked up in her basement. Ash is shocked about this, but knowing that Primeape is alive gives him the resolve to save him this time around, and his Pokémon quickly join him on it, as more of Sabrina's Psychic-types appear to join the fray.

Ash and his Pokémon continue to fight, but they're lesser in numbers and their strength is limited. While they've managed to hold out this long, Ash knows that the numbers will eventually overwhelm them and he has to hurry. His Pokémon start to fall to their opponents, starting with Squirtle and soon followed by Roggenrola, Servine, Muk and Tauros, with the latter being done by Sabrina herself. Sabrina compliments Ash for lasting so long and unlike others who entered her domain, will not be dieing today. Ash vows that he's going to get Primeape back, and Sabrina begins to goad Ash into anger and using his Bloodliner powers against her, while continuing to show that she has been reading his mind the whole while. Ash's thoughts drift to images of Delia and his friends being teleported here to be used as hostages, but Sabrina says that is not what she had in mind and can make him angry in another way. Ash wonders if she is going to reveal that they are related, which she denies, but instead tells what she knows about his father's lineage, the Dominion of Power Bloodline, which is different depending on the user's nature. She proceeds to reveal that she's dealt with Ash's father before and he's a monster. When Ash replies "You're one to talk", Sabrina admits to having similarities with him, but there are lines that she won't cross, such as comitting patricide. She then proceeds to explain what Ash's father does with his bloodline: manipulate women both biologically and with their subconscious to not only concieve children but also to ensure they wouldn't abort. Much to Ash's shock, Sabrina also reveals that his paternal grandfather wished to have him aborted so he wouldn't ruin Delia's life. Ash realizes how Sabrina is trying to make him angry using that, so he tries to keep resisting. The gym leader adds that Ash might not be aware of the full implications: namely, that his grandfather in this timeline and his grandfather in the old one might not be the very same people in behavior, adding that his genetic material from his father also makes him different from the Ash from The Old Timeline. Ash replies that he's himself and not anyone else and he's not going to fall for that trick. Surprisingly, Sabrina replies amusedly that she's not denying that he's Ash Ketchum, but it doesn't change the fact that his father is a monster who sired him and the rest of his siblings not out of love or lust, but because he wanted to use them as tools, and he's willing to discard them if he finds them of no use. After a denial of this being the truth from Pikachu, she shows them her encounter with the Bloodline King's Emissary in his mind. She goes beyond and sees the dream he had with MissingNo showing him the bad future where the Bloodline King had done something to Serena and May. This, along with Sabrina's offer to give him a dream-catching device she stole from a scientist she killed, seems to finally hit Ash's rage-breaking point, and he orders Pikachu to attack her. However, Squirtle blasts Pikachu with a Water Gun to stop his attack, while Muk jumps on top of Ash. The rest of his Pokémon, having partially recovered from the onslaught, quickly get next to Ash, telling him that if he gives in to his anger he'll be letting her win, and just like they've learned from him, it's time for him to learn something from them, namely, that he needs to control his anger just like he taught Infernape to control his.

Sabrina is angry that Ash's Pokémon interfered right when she seemed to make some progress with Ash, but right then, the Pokédex chimes in to reveal the plan to get them out of there: with the help of the Exegguttor Ash caught in the Safari Zone, all of which can use Teleport, and coordinated by Bulbasaur, they managed to bring every single of the Pokémon Ash has at Oak's lab, just in the right time so Sabrina doesn't notice them and can control them. Right then, Ash's Pokémon break all through the gym's ceiling, forcing Sabrina's Pokémon to deflect the debris, while some Marsh Badges fall along with them and Squirtle grabs one and tucks it away in his shell. While most of the Pokémon immediately charge towards Sabrina and her Psychic-types, Chansey moves in to heal Ash and his active party, while the reinforcements start to take on Sabrina and her forces. When Sabrina Mega Evolves one of her Alakazam, Ash has multiple of his Pokémon attempt to take it on in different ways but each time they are unsuccessful until Yanma gets a surprise tackle in. As the scuffle around him continues, he is saved by Raichu from a Flamethrower attack, and then grabs a Timer Ball from his bag before iving it to the Electric-type with instructions to go to the basement and catch Primeape with it.

Ash continues to direct his Pokémon against Sabrina's Mega Alakazam, trying to overpower him with their multiple attacks, but he continues to deflect them into each other to cancel them out. Sabrina remarks that Ash would need even more Pokémon to overwhelm her Mega Alakazam with sheer numbers, yet things would be much easier for him if he just used his Dominion Bloodline. Ash insists that if he does that, she'll win, to what she replies that she wins all the time, whether her challengers prove themselves worthy or not, and wondering what Ash might try to pull off. Suddenly, Ash's Z-Ring begins acting out emitting a purple hue, as if absorbing psychic energies around and causing Ash's hand to shake violently. The energy eventually condenses into a solid object: a small crystal that falls into Ash's hands, much to his, his Pokémon's and Sabrina's shock. The Pokédex explains that this is a Z-Crystal, specifically a Psychium-Z, which enables the use of the Shattered Psyche Z-Move, and theorizing that it might have been created through the mixture of the residual Psychic-type energies in the gym and Ash's own Bloodliner energies, with the Z-Ring as the missing element. Ash then recalls his battles against Lilo and the twins, how it formed colored dust in his hand, perhaps as failed attempts to create Z-Crystals. Ash places the crystal on the ring, and recalling the visions he had before, imitates the poses to summon the power and calls Butterfree to help him, as he's the only one of his Pokémon who knows a Psychic-type move. Sabrina has her Mega Alakazam use Protect while Ash prepares the Z-Move and charges Butterfree with the power. However, the Protect is shattered when Farfetch'd throws a leek at it using Feint. Ash calls out the move, and Mega Alakazam gets sent all over the place ricocheting while ramming on several of Sabrina's Pokémon, and the power explodes in a burst of light that sends a wave of energy washing over Ash. The Pokédex informs him that the attack sent out three waves of radiation, the last of which reached the nearby city area, albeit with no ill effects for anyone in the vicinity. Mega Alakazam is defeated and Raichu has rescued Primeape, but Sabrina isn't happy with this development and prepares to attack Ash herself, determined to force him to do what she wants, while her remaining Pokémon gather around her to assist her.

Right then, however, Ash's female companions and Belladonna's group teleport in, and they all immediately attack Sabrina's Pokémon to clear the path. As Sabrina is shocked by the new arrivals, Misty and Belladonna quickly get a hold of Ash's arms to protect him, while the Pokédex explains the situation and that Sabrina is the one responsible, and they need to immobilize her so she can't thwart their escape. Sabrina snaps out of her shock and tries to attack them, but Aurora shoots an Ice Beam and freezes her. When she tries to use her psychic powers to break the ice, Anabel uses her own to reinforce the ice and keep her there, while Ash's Exeggutor proceed to teleport everyone out of there and back to Oak's place. Just as she manages to break the ice, Anabel teleports them all away.

Having returned to the same spot they were at the beginning of the day, Ash throws the Item Capsule containing his bed into the Secret Base they had used last night, wanting to rest and put an end to this day, while Pikachu claims Ash's jacket and goes to curl himself in a corner, feeling as tired as his trainer. Suddenly, Anabel teleports into the cave, along with Iris, with both of them implicitly asking to sleep with him tonight just to make sure he'll stay safe. Misty then comes in too, albeit she hesitates until Belladonna gives her a push to get inside, saying that the bed is large enough for all of them. Ash tries to assure them they don't need to do this, but Misty shushes him, telling him she wants to stay close and be sure nothing will happen to him, and that she doesn't want to lose him. With that thought in mind, she and the other girls stay with him and they all go to sleep.

## Links

1. ↑ https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/4Kids\_Entertainment