Oh hey, look at that. Not late this time. Its a miracle.

Time skip coming up next chapter. Ready your body for it.

I do not own Pokémon, and I do not make money off of this fic. (I wish though…)

X

The days passed quickly.

Ash spent the majority of his time training his Pokémon. Kai had evolved during the second day, while fighting some of the wild Pokémon the North of the town. The Fire-Type had learned some new moves upon evolution, Fire Fang, Dragon Rage, and Scary Face. Its aggressiveness had definitely grown, and Ash had to stop it before Kai got into any fights with the other Pokémon.

Tsu had evolved too, and with it came the additions of Twister and Agility. The Water-Type had also gained some aggressiveness when it evolved, although not as much as Kai. Ash had started using it in some actual battles, now that it could levitate off of the ground. He had even started saving some money for a Dragon Scale, the item that would evolve Seadra into Kingdra. The only problem was that they were ridiculously expensive, and very rare.

Scyther had improved the least, but had been taught Agility by Tsu. Katana was now much faster in battle.

Snorlax wouldn't even wake up to train, so Ash usually left it in its Pokéball. Riolu had grown much more. Pokémon naturally grew much faster than humans, and Zabuza had grown to be almost the size Kai had been as a Charmander. Ash had it fighting more of the weak Pokémon, like Pidgey or Rattata, but at the rate it was going he might as well have let it fight some of the more powerful ones. Now, in addition to Foresight, Quick Attack, Endure, and Detect, the Emanation Pokémon now had Force Palm.

Riley had commented to him once that the size of Zabuza was abnormal, and it was usually smaller. The Pokémon was above average height-wise of its species.

The two had finally packed up their minimal things, and set out to the Pier. The S.S. Anne was huge, [pretend I put accurate measurements here. Soof, help me out here. I failed measurement class]. The security guard at the ramp that led to the ship nodded and let them past when they held up their tickets. The ship was very fancy, and didn't mesh well with Ash's worn clothes. Riley definitely looked the part, and his clothes didn't even have a stain of them. Maybe that was an Aura trick.

Ash made a mental note to blame everything weird on Aura, as it was obvious thats what it was.

Some of the richer looking men and women glanced at him with distaste as they walked by. Noticing this, Riley whispered to Ash.

"Don't worry, when you finally complete your training, you will receive a suit and hat like mine. Then you won't have to face evil stares from higher-ups any longer."

Ash smirked and snickered a bit, before splitting up with Riley and heading to his own room. Like the rest of the ship, it was very fancy. It was also quite large, obviously if Bill had actually decided to use his tickets, he'd have a lot of room for studying.

Ash set down his bag next to the bed. Even though the First Class of the S.S. Anne, most likely the lower class would actually have trainers like him. Of course, whenever he battled, most of them underestimated him by his lack of Badges. He'd shown them that strength didn't depend on the amount of pins you had in a display case.

Ash sat down on his bed, thinking. Even though he didn't show it, he was still on his path to confront his father. He had accepted the offer of Aura Training, but he didn't care for the specifics. He only needed to be strong enough to beat him. And, if he knew anything about him, he would most likely not play fair. Ash had speculated that he had joined one of the criminal organizations in the world, and they had a reputation for being brutal outside of a battle.

Team Rocket, Magma, Aqua, Galactic, it didn't matter to him where he was. If he had joined one of those gangs, he might as well take them down along with his Father. Aura would certainly help, as while his Pokémon were strong, Ash wasn't the most fit and strong himself. He had seen Riley do things with Aura a regular person wouldn't stand a chance with. Aura Sphere, he had heard Riley say, was one of, if not the most, used Aura technique used with a Aura Guardian.

There was a reason Aaron Hogosha had stopped a war by himself. Although, he had died in a undiscovered way. Some had theorized that he had sacrificed himself to a god in exchange for peace. Others say he had fled, and his Lucario had stopped the warring sides. Some had even thought he had gone into hiding afterwards, to avoid his many enemies.

He was a hero to most, and a prominent Aura Guardian. Many had tried to steal his staff, the one he had used as his weapon. The staff was found after the abandoned war, and had been in the Kingdom of Rota ever since, although many thieves had tried to steal it.

A few hours later, Ash was waken up by a knock on the door of his room. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He hadn't even realised he fell asleep. He opened the door, revealing a older gentleman wearing a brown suit. The man looked down a bit before narrowing his eyes a little.

He cleared his throat as he spoke. "There will be a Pokémon tournament on the deck at 5 PM. If you wish to join, please sign up there. It is a three versus three , with a singles battle format."

The man moved on to the next door, stating the exact message to the people or person who opened the door. Ash sighed and looked at the clock in the room. It was only an hour away, and gave him little time to get himself presentable. He walked into the bathroom and brushed his hair, and splashing some water on his face to wake himself up.

He could worry about finding his father later. He didn't even know if he was in Kanto, or Sinnoh for that matter, and he had more pressing matters.

Like how to brush the strands of his hair that kept sticking up.

X

An hour later, Ash, who had finally fixed his hair and signed up for the Tournament, was facing his first battle.

He was the second battle of the tourney, and he was facing a slightly younger guy named Jason. A blond hair kid who couldn't keep his mouth shut about being the Champion. Ash almost snorted. If you wanted to be a Champion, you had to be respected, intelligent, and strong. The referee signaled for the two trainers to send out their Pokémon.

Ash sent out Zabuza, while Jason sent out a Vulpix. Ash's Riolu was still a bit young for serious battles, but if the match got too much for it, Ash would call it back. The Emanation Pokémon bounced around happily when it was first released, but stopped when it noticed the other Pokémon in the field.

"Alright Vulpix, torch that thing with a Ember!" Jason yelled, pointing a finger at Zabuza unnecessarily, as that was the only other Pokémon on the field.

"Quick Attack, hit with Force Palm." Ash calmly said to his Pokémon. Zabuza shouted its name, before dodging to the left with Quick Attack, quickly closing the space between it and Vulpix. Its hand glowed white before quickly moving to the other side of the Fox Pokémon, avoiding another Ember, before thrusting its arm out and hitting Vulpix with its palm.

The Fire-Type growled before digging underground at its Trainer's orders. Zabuza looked around, wondering where the small Fox Pokémon had gone.

"Dig back up and use scratch, Vulpix!" Jason yelled, again pointing, although his Pokémon was underground.

"Detect, another Force Palm." Riolu nodded, signalling that it heard its Trainer. It closed its eyes before jumping back, its paw glowing again. The Vulpix came up out of the ground, but it didn't know that the Pokémon had dodged. It was hit with the Force Palm before it could completely land on the ground. It was sent skidding to the right, before being declared knocked out by the Referee. It was returned a moment later.

"Aw man! You just got lucky, Ash! My next one won't be so easy to beat," Jason declared, taking another Pokéball off of his belt and throwing it into the field. The ball opened, and a Toad Pokémon appeared from it. A quick scan from the Pokédex revealed it was a Palpitoad, from the Unova region. Ash really didn't have much to face a Water/Ground Type, but he eventually settled for switching out Zabuza for Tsu. Ash knew from a quick look at Palpitoad's possible abilities that most were only effective in rain.

Tsu had the ability Swift Swim, which would make it much faster if it rained. This way, if Jason planned to use Rain Dance, it would backfire. Judging by the scowl on his opponent's face, he guessed his strategy correctly.

The match started with Jason ordering a water gun on the ground. It quickly wet the dirt, turning it into mud.

"Mud Slap, Palpitoad!" He pointed again. His Pokémon used its tail to scoop up some mud before flinging it at the Seadra. Tsu seemed to scoff before levitating higher, avoiding the mud completely.

"Agility, Twister." Tsu glowed before puffing up its cheeks and blowing. The wind picked up before a small tornado picked up, lifting some of the mud and blowing the Palpitoad back, getting hit with some of its own mud.

"Bubblebeam, before it gets back up." Tsu spit out some bubbles from its mouth(?) at the Toad Pokémon. The bubbles popped on contact, releasing some energy stored inside and damaging it.

"Water gun, follow with Mud Shot!" Jason yelled, getting frustrated by how badly the battle was going for him.

The Palpitoad rolled out of the way of the bubbles, before blasting a jet of water at Tsu. The Seadra couldn't stop its attack in time to dodge, and was hit by the blast of water, before also getting hit by a jet of mud. Tsu quickly levitated to Palpitoad, Agility enhancing its speed, before firing a point blank Water gun. The attack knocked out the Palpitoad, Jason returning it after the Ref officially declared it fainted.

Ash's opponent sent out a Buizel next, another look at the Pokédex giving him the information he needed. He returned Tsu and sent out Katana. The Ref nodded and they began the match.

Ash opened up the battle this time. "Night Slash, Fury Cutter. Get in close with Quick Attack."

The Scyther nodded before running over to the Buizel, a white line trailing it. Its scythes glowed green on the left, and black on the right.

"Don't let it near you! Water Gun, Ice Punch if it gets too close to you!" Again with the pointing. from Jason. His Buizel nodded before firing jets of water at Katana. The Scyther weaved to the right, and left to avoid the water. Once it was near the Water-Type, it raised a scythe and tried to slash at the Buizel. The Sea Weasel Pokémon blocked the Night Slash with its Ice Punch, but it couldn't block the other scythe. Before the Buizel could recover, Ash ordered another Fury Cutter, before telling Katana to jump back.

"Aqua Jet, c'mon, hit it!" Jason yelled.

The Orange Pokémon struggled to remain standing a moment before cloaking itself in water and rushing at Katana. The Scyther was hit before Ash could fully finish his commands to it, and was pushed back a few inches. The Scyther Growled before slashing at it with Slash, the Buizel took it dead on, causing it to sway and fall to the ground.

"Jason Namaki is out of usable Pokémon, the winner of this battle is Ash Ketchum!" The Commentator said into his microphone. The small crowd on the deck clapped. Ash cringed slightly, he hadn't realised there were so many people watching his battle. He saw someone taking pictures in the crowd.

It was a good thing he finally got his hair to stay down.

X

"And Katelyn's Dragonair has fainted! The winner of the battle and first place winner goes to Ash Ketchum!" The crowd cheered louder for the Trainer. After defeated 2 more opponents, he had won the tournament. Most of the Trainers that joined weren't too experienced, and many had probably only tagged along with their parents.

Some of the better dressed Trainers were probably from some of the richer families, and had bought their Pokémon instead of catching them themselves. They had likely tagged along with their families on Vacation.

For winning, Ash was given some prizes. He stepped onto the platform that he was instructed to go. He stood with the Second and Third place winners, someone he didn't battle and the girl he had just fought against.

"For the third place prize, we have a set of Wings from Unova! These Wings will increase a Pokémon's capabilities!" The man handed Katelyn the case of Wings, before moving on the second place as she left.

"For the second place prize, we have 10 Great Balls from Silph Company!" He handed the second, a guy named Mark, the case of Great Balls. They were usually expensive, and were much more efficient for catching Pokémon. 10 of them probably cost the host a few hundred dollars.

"For our First place Winner, we have a Pokémon, gifted from the Pokémon Hoenn League!" The Host handed Ash a completely white Pokéball, with a red line around the middle, a Premier Ball. Ash studied it for a moment.

"Now go ahead and open it, we'd love to see what Pokémon they sent!" The man urged.

Ash clicked the Premier Ball's button, and a four legged Pokémon was released from it. It had white hair and a crescent-like scythe on its head, pointing up.

"Its an Absol, a rare Dark-Type that is said to bring disaster. But those rumours were disproven long ago, and the truth was that it warned of disaster, not bring it." The crowd looked in awe at the Absol, before cheering one last time for the three Trainers.

Ash smiled and waved.

X

Their time on the ship was over, And Ash with his company stepped on to Canalave City. Sinnoh was very cold, and Ash wished he had brought a jacket a few minutes after docking. His light jacket wasn't very resistant to the weather.

Of course, they didn't have to wait very long before they got on another boat, this one heading to an Island Riley hadn't mentioned to him. The Captain of the small ship mentioned to him that it was Iron Island, home of many Steel and Fighting Pokémon.

The ride on the boat was much quicker than the one on the S.S. Anne. A few hours, and they'd already reached the Island.

Ash and Riley walked off, Riley bidding goodbye to the Captain. The two humans and Lucario, who was finally released from his Pokéball that Riley held on a necklace.

They walked into a small clearing, where they had seen a house. It looked completely out of place, a wooden house on a mountain-like area. Riley unlocked the door with a Key he had pulled from his coat pocket. He opened the door, taking off his hat and placing it down on a table near the door.

A man, probably in his mid 30's, was sitting on the middle of the floor, in a meditative-like state. He looked up at them, although he glanced at Ash a little longer, and spoke.

"Well, when you said you had a surprise, you weren't kidding."

X

Ash studied the man. He had told him that his name was Reiki Namisei, and he was Riley's teacher. Riley had told him that he brought Ash because of his willingness to learn to manipulate Aura.

"Cynthia stopped by while you were away, Riley. She declined my offer to train her. She already has her hands full with being a Champion, and her Togekiss had recently fallen ill. She does not know when it will recover."

Riley nodded, Cynthia would have not had the time for Training and being a Champion. She would also have to care for her Togekiss.

"Anyways, nice to meet you, Ash. I will train you in Aura. I am aware you have the Riolu who had hatched from the egg. He will be your partner, trained by mine and Riley's Lucario. You will not be the only one training, and your Pokémon have permission to receive training from our Pokémon," Reiki said.

Ash noticed someone standing outside through the window. The boy was around his age, and had red hair with a black jacket on. Reiki noticed his stare and smiled.

"I see you have found my own apprentice. Silver, you may come in!" He yelled to the boy.

The door opened and the boy walked in.

"I noticed him in Johto, and decided to train him myself. He has only been here for a few days and has not yet begun his training. I had decided to wait for Riley to return, but I did not expect to see another Aura User. Although, now that you are here Riley, we can start soon."

"Before we begin, although, I have one question for you, two," He said, standing up and looking at the two boys.

"Are you ready to begin your Path of Aura?"

X

And that sets up the next chapter to begin the timeskip. I have finally decided on the amount of time to go by, but you guys won't know until I post it :P

THANK YOU ALL FOR 35 FAVS, 66 FOLLOWS, AND 20 REVIEWS!

Reiki is my OC for this story, and he should be the only one, as far as I've planned. Silver was kind of a last minute decision to add into the story, but he is one of my favorite characters. Silver will be important later, but for now he is a side character.

If some people want me to, I will post some one-shots or a few chapters of Ash's time on Iron Island. Let me know in the reviews if you want me to!

Reviews are love. And I finally decided to devote my life to them. 3