ThatGallade: Hello everyone, this is ThatGalladeAcrossTheStreet coming in from the Naga IV! This is my first fic, and I hope to eventually break 100k words without throwing my computer out the window!

Ash: For now though, he'd be happy with just five thousand… (Sniggers)

ThatGallade: Oh yeah, you laugh now, just wait to see what I've got in store for you, asshole. Oh, guess what, I'm calling you Ashhole now! Whew… alright, do the disclaimer, ASHHOLE!

Ash: Why you son of a- fine, whatever. ThatGalladeAcrossTheStreet does not own Pokémon or anyone in it. If he did, the amount of people watching would be same number of people that have favorited this piece of crap, which is currently zero. Unfortunately, he does technically own the plot, not like that counts for much.

ThatGallade: Screw you. (Picks up a book and throws it at him) Also, special thanks to Mekon and ARCEUS-Master, for providing us all two excellent stories; said stories are also where most of the inspiration for this came from.

"So, what now?"-normal speech

"I'm heading out."- telepathy

I love Pokémon.-thoughts and/or emphasis

Chapter Two: Arrival

(3rd Person POV)

It was dawn, arguably the most beautiful time of day in the Pokémon universe. All across the world, people were waking up to see the sunrise, start their day, and go to work, school, etc. However, in the massive ocean between Johto and Hoenn, there was a man that was getting up for a different reason, not the sunrise, nor to go to work, but to return to a place he left long ago.

Ash was looking out over the vast sea of blue with Pikachu on his shoulder, and although he was enjoying the brilliant orange sunrise, he was searching for something, no, somewhere, he left behind him on his journey years ago, and the site of some of his best memories, as well as a few of his worst. Ash had stopped going through different regions and collecting badges after his attempt in Unova; instead, he headed back home for many years. Ash had matured greatly over the six years he'd been gone, both physically and mentally. He had helped many people back in Kanto, which he had returned to for three years, before leaving for another three years to train in aura. He had helped people around town with their problems, as well as frequently helping wild Pokémon when they got hungry in the winter, or when one got too powerful and started bullying the others. He still had the scars from when the Fearow he met early on recognized him, and attacked, slashing long gashes down his chest and face. Because of this, he frequently wears a hooded jacket with a half mask underneath. The Naïve ten-year-old he once was would've been terrified by the changes in him. He was mature, powerful, and most of all, able to hurt those who wished to abuse Pokémon without any regrets.

However, despite the changes to his life and naivety, his style of clothing remained mostly the same, but there were a few tweaks here and there when he got update to date technologically. The changes included a near-limitless backpack and a device on your arm that held your Pokémon inside small crystals, roughly the size of a baseball in diameter. His personality had hardened, but he was still kind, caring, and friendly. He had also gone through a Mental Activation (A specific procedure that allows the patient's mind to be able to interpret the Pokémon language) four years after his return to Pallet, and that greatly assisted with his work in the town…

(Ash's POV)

As the ship, the S.S. Seagale, moves forward, a small smile tugs at Ash's lips as he notices a landmass ahead. As they get closer to Altomare, he casts out his aura to scan the crowds for a certain dragon. He finds her, sitting on the beach, staring out wistfully into the ocean. The ocean, he notices, is the same one where that the tsunami came from that killed- 'no', he thought, forcefully shoving the thought from his mind. 'I won't get back into that day again.' He could still remember the events of Altomare. His smile, which had disappeared by now, slowly begins to form again as he thinks about Latias.

His thoughts are cut short when he notices Brock come up behind him from the lower deck. Smile fading, Ash turns around to see what it is his friend needs.

"Hey Ash, we'll be docking in Altomare in fifteen minutes, so you'd better get packed up so you can go to the garden, as I know what you're thinking." Brock was right, as soon as he said garden, Ash's thoughts returned to Latias, Bianca, and Lorenzo, three of his closest friends, aside from his companions. However, Brock's words brought him back to reality, and he nodded in assent, before going below deck to pack up. "You know, you can be a real lunkhead sometimes, even though you've matured." Pikachu says to Ash while he heads down. "If anyone mentions Latias or any of the others, you lose your train of thought. You need to stop that." he continues. Ash just pushes him off his shoulder and starts to pack.

(I really don't need to go through this, do I?)

Fourteen minutes later, Ash is standing on the top deck of the Seagale, waiting for the call to depart to be made. When the call finally comes, Ash steps up to the safety fence, looks down, and jumps off toward the dock. He flips twice in the air with Pikachu right next to him while people scream around him, afraid this man is suicidal, and his taking his pokémon with him. Imagine everyone's surprise when they both twist though the air, with Ash landing powerfully on one knee and Pikachu landing gracefully on his shoulder.

"You're still a show off Ash!" is what he hears a second after he hits the ground, when the wind stops whistling in his ears. He turns around to see Misty running up to him, mallet over her shoulder. "Hey, I try, I try, Misty." he says back, with his trademark grin. "I miss this place so much, but I miss Latios. It's nice to finally be back here though…" He thinks aloud.

"It's alright Ash." Brock says. "We all miss him. At least we can see Bianca and Lorenzo again. Besides; there are SOOO MANY BEAUTIFUL LADIES!" He yells, before running toward the nearest girl, only to be stopped by an Aura Barrier. "Brock, I'll cut you a deal." Ash says. "You wait an hour and a half to allow us to get situated, and THEN you can go and flirt. Make sure to tell Toxicroak you have my clearance for seven girls." He continues, before getting out a piece of paper and writing something down. "Here, show that to Toxicroak before you start." He says, noting Brock's creepy look of glee. "Stay away from both Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy, try someone else for once. That's on the paper as well." Ash finishes, before walking off.

"So anyways Ash, what do you think about visiting the garden?" Misty asks as she catches up to him "and why did you let him flirt? He's hopeless!" "I thought I'd give him a chance, his constant flirting is getting annoying but anyway, let's go!" he says, before using his aura to enhance his legs, and then running off at 40 kph.

As they head off, a certain red dragon begins to follow them. As she tries to search for them, she notices they walk into a back alleyway that leads into the garden. Ecstatic that she followed them without their knowledge, she creeps up on them invisible as they sit down at a bench, and wait patiently. She fails to notice the slight sheen of their bodies until it's too late. A massive weight falls down on her shoulders, and, fearing that Team Rocket is attacking again, she quickly throws up a psychic barrier to repel the offender, only to be surprised when the figure counters it with an Aura Shield. She charges up a Mist Ball, (Latias's signature move) when the figure uses an Aura Dampener, an ability available only to veteran Aura Guardians, negating her attack. She is about to turn and fly off when suddenly, she gets glomped from behind. Fearfully, she turns her head to face her attacker. However, she is shocked by who she sees.

"Hahaha, I got you good Tia!" says Ash, his younger self poking through the cracks in the wall of age and wisdom. (Wow, metaphors? I am such a loser)

"WHAT?"she cries. "How could you do that, and why in Arceus are you wearing a hood and mask?"

"Oh my Arceus, you should've seen your face! How about we go to Bianca's place and I'll explain everything, let's just say I've had an eventful five years… Also, you don't really need to worry about telepathy once we get to Bianca's, I can understand you just fine. Besides, I like hearing your beautiful voice." He says, flirting not-so-subtly before bursting out laughing at her face, which had gone as red as her feathers from his little comment.

(3rd Person POV/Omniscient (There will be thoughts and emotions from most of the people in the room, as I'd rather not switch POV's every two sentences. Remember, I'm fairly new to writing.))

Ash, after finally calming down from laughing his ass off, heads off to Bianca's house next to the garden, with Latias following him, invisible. They chat mentally along the way, and he catches up with the events that occurred after he left Altomare. Apparently, no major threats to the city had shown up, and it was mostly just watching over the Soul Dew and keeping the garden safe. After a couple minutes, the two reach Bianca's house. Ash is somewhat surprised to see his friends already there with Bianca, but decided that they had gone straight to Lorenzo's, rather than head to the garden like he had.

"Come on Ash, why do you always take so long? Did you get lost AGAIN?" Misty yells. "Knowing you, that wouldn't be much of a surprise now would it…" She muttered under her breath.

"Hey!" He retorts smartly. "I'll have you know that I took so long because I was pranking Latias, and what I did takes a bit of time to perform! You know Aura Clones are draining on someone's energy reserves, even me!"

Bianca watched to two go at it, and was wondering whether to intervene when Brock did so instead, pulling the two apart before things got physical. At the same time, Lorenzo walked in the room and saw the two seething at each other. Bianca heads over to talk with her grandfather and explain what is going on before he started jumping to conclusions.

Misty grumbles something about Ash actually having a valid point for once while he explains what happened over the past few years, including his training and staying at Pallet Town, and to Latias specifically, why he could understand her. Latias's face, which had started out relatively calm, with hints of fear and anger, began to show mortification as she heard about some of his hardships. Bianca had a similar look on her face, and Lorenzo looked somewhat disturbed. It wasn't until he explained some of what he had gained, both in body, and in spirit, that they began relaxing. Latias began to smile. 'He really is different than he used to be.' She thought. 'Maybe now that he's matured, he'll notice me more for being a woman, and not just a friend. Maybe we can be more…'

(Ash's POV (I intend to stick with this one for a bit.))

As her thoughts wander, Ash notices that the Soul Dew is glowing. As he looks further, he feels an overwhelming compulsion to go and pick it up. As he walks over, he checks to see if Latias saw. However, she was still lost in her own fantasy, and failed to notice that he was gone. Ash felt another bout of desire to pick up the Soul Dew, and goes back to walking closer to it. The Dew begins to glow brighter and brighter with each step, and it eventually comes to the point where he has to use Aura to enhance his eyesight just to see somewhat clearly.

When he gets close, the urge to pick up the Dew is so powerful that it is as if his hands are not in control of themselves anymore. He picks up the gem, when suddenly; everything around him disappears, only for a new landscape, a field of absolutely nothing, to take it over. Ash turns around, curious as to what just happened, only to be shocked and scared out of his mind when he sees the bright, slightly transparent red eyes that could only belong to Latios.

ThatGallade: Sooooo, what do you all think? For anyone that may or may not ask, I got the idea for holding pokémon in crystals from Primordial Soul's The Altomare Ace. Heck, about 86% of my ideas come from other stories. (Muffled curses can be heard) I locked up Ash so he won't bother me while I'm writing this. Remember, flames are NOT appreciated and will be ignored. (Maybe) However, constructive criticism that does not involve insulting me, my work, or anything about my work is welcome, as long as it isn't a flame. (Muffled screaming) Dammit, I'd better go get Ash out of that closet before he remembers his Aura and breaks the door down. Before I go, I'll post some great stories I've read and you all should read too if you haven't already. (Most will be Altoshipping, and underlined stories are stories I got ideas from. I'm pretty dependent on other stories to get things started. I have no life.)

A New Chance at Life and A New Chance for Adventure – ARCEUS-master

The Altomare Ace – Primordial Soul

The Blade and the Embrace – galladefenrir4

The Black Latios – Mekon

Guardian of Altomare – BladeofthePoet

Time-Crossed Heroes (sequel to GoA) – BladeofthePoet

Light's Adventures – EeveeinHeat

Soul Guardians – latiasfan1

Thank you for considering my opinion (I hope). I would actually post others, but I don't know the author names off the top of my head. As you can see, I draw inspiration from a lot of things. Unfortunately, it's hard for me to start off a piece of writing without first reading through five or six stories. Also for anyone that asks, I WILL be including some of Ash's companions, but I think only May and/or Dawn will have travel with him in the long term. Still wondering if I'm going to add Bianca (Altomare, not Unova) to this for any major length of time, or if she'll just be someone who shows up every now and then. Note that Bianca and Lorenzo are still under the same roof, so though I may refer to the house as Bianca's or Lorenzo's, they stay at the same place. I was tempted to give Bianca her own place, but decided that in the timeframe of this story, she wouldn't have earned quite enough money selling paintings to potentially buy a house yet. Some may ask why Bianca and Lorenzo are two of his closest non-companion friends, but y'know, the DMA, a tsunami, and a bunch of other scary shit'll do that to you…

ThatGalladeAcrossTheStreet, signing off!