BP: It's been quite a while since I touched this story. I know, but I have been busy with what I call the PAL Fanfiction Project. As those who have read it, you should know about my decision on dropping Rosaline Pyra from my stories as I fell out with mysterypink98 and Rosaline is her OC and how emotionally taxing it was for me to write her in when we fell apart.

Of course, as of the revelation of the Generation VII Pokémon, I'll try to add them in without disrupting the flow of the story.

Please forgive me for the sloppy storyline from this story so far, I'll try my best to improve on it as we go along. As for pairings, no I have not decided yet, so do suggest (whether if Ash should be with a girl or boy).

"It's time…" A boy with black hair and amber eyes said, as the four stood around in a room that made them feel more akin to a group of super villains, though Ash knew they were far from that "Another person will soon come to uphold the legacy of PAL Academy and unite our region when he is of age."

"Yes, but he had gone through a trauma that affected him greatly and he's only five." A girl with black hair and emerald green eyes said grimly. "Are you sure we should go through with the plan? I don't think dictating his life is what he wants."

"We are not going to do so. He will still have his freedom. We are protecting him, guiding him." A boy with brown hair and blue eyes replied. "We need to do this for the boy."

"And it's not as if we didn't do this type of undercover jobs before." A girl he recognized as Pakura Ameyuri added. She looked to be carrying a white Vulpix in her arms. "No, our priority is the boy's safety and well-being. And we will put our lives in line for the region, for him. Soon, he will find out what he's destined for."

'What are they talking about?' Ash thought, as he was about to approach Pakura, when a cold wrist stopped him. He turned to see an innocent looking girl clutching to an old doll and wearing rags. Her body was full of cuts, bruises and burns, and her face seemed to be dripping with blood. Her only visible eye was sapphire blue in colour. Ash was unnerved at the thought of her right eye being gouged out and wondered what happened to her.

"Don't." The girl said.

"Don't what?" Ash was puzzled.

"Don't interfere. They are trying to help." The girl replied. "Two children ended up like me, and you won't want to be the third."

"What do you mean?" Ash called to the girl. "Who are you?"

"You will find out soon enough. Ask those students who won't leave you alone." The girl answered. Suddenly, everything went dark. Ash looked around. Where did everybody go, where did the girl go? He heard a girl's giggle, as she said, "Everything will fall in place soon. You have quite the charm, Ash."

Ash sat up, shaking. The room was brighter, the morning sun peeking in from the curtains. It must have been a dream, because Pikachu and Riolu seemed startled.

"You alright, daddy?" Riolu asked. Ash smiled.

"I'm okay, buddy." he said to Riolu, and stifled a yawn, wondering why he felt dizzy. "Now let's get to…" He proceeded to get up, but Pikachu was not having any of that. With an Iron Tail to the head, Ash collapsed to the ground, as Riolu caught him and both of them placed him back on the bed.

"No way. You're going to have a good rest today. You're sick." Pikachu said firmly, but he did not need to do so as Ash fell asleep again

Ash sighed, as he was lying down with a cool cloth over his forehead that was put on him by Pikachu. Pikachu had warned him to try and keep still and not think so much. Ash sighed again at the last part as Pikachu of all Pokémon should know that it's him Pikachu is talking about. It's impossible for him not to think so much, as thinking was all he does. After all, he had so much to plan for and so much to do, and he trusted no one to tell.

"I guess everyone has their breaking point." Pikachu commented, content at the fact that Ash at least stayed in his bed for the entire morning. "At least you get to miss school for today. Although the breaking point has the Elites written all over it."

"They won't leave me alone." Ash groaned. "What did I ever do to them?"

Pikachu shrugged. "Must be due to your new Riolu." The said Pokémon looked up innocently from its meal Pikachu had made, as Ash waved at him to continue eating, and flipped over to face Pikachu. "You've got to stop bottling things up inside you know. You need to verbalize them, not just to us, but to someone who can relate to you."

Ash waved him off. "I'll manage somehow. At least I'll have a day off, seeing I won't run into them into hallways or whatever." He stiffened when he heard knocking on the door, and grabbed Pikachu and Lucario, concealing their presence.

"Ash? Are you in there?" Misty asked. Ash shook his head at both his Pokémon, and waited patiently as Brock said, "It looks like he isn't in his room."

"But where could he be?" Misty sounded concerned, as Ash listened quietly "I'm worried when he did not show up for class and I want him to open up to us."

"It'll take time." Brock said firmly. "As an older brother myself, I know that Ash has trust issues. I don't know how, I don't know why, but one thing is for sure- it will take a lot of time. We can't give up, especially Ash is proving to be someone who doesn't open up easily. And by the way, where's the homework you said you'd bring him?"

"Well…Lance took it and said he'd do the delivering." Misty said sheepishly. "Should we check the Sick Bay?"

"Good idea." Brock replied. "He might be sick and got there in the morning." With that, their footsteps faded, and Ash was left alone again.

Ash sighed, as he thought of the two people who were remotely nice to him and even came to try and check on his status. 'What am I going to do?' Ash thought, as he huddled the blanket closer to him, shivering from the cold. Maybe he should talk to them when he sees them the next time and ask them about the lessons he missed for a conversation topic and if anything interesting happened. Pikachu and Riolu started to fall asleep, probably from the fact that they were up all night trying to take care of him while he was unconscious. Ash decided to shift Riolu next to Pikachu and placed an extra blanket around them for comfort.

That was when he realized he was thirsty and he probably should get a glass of water. However, his vision blurred as he made his way to the small kitchen in his dorm room, and he was hardly standing as he filled his glass of water. Heck, even holding the glass was a struggle, as the glass slipped from his hands, and shattered into a million piece.

Ash grumbled under his breath, and got to his hands and knees trying to clean up the glass with his hands as there was no cloth nearby. Unknown to him, two people came in the door with a key to his room, and widened their eyes at the scene. One of them went to the bathroom to get a damp cloth while the other went to get the first-aid kit, and headed towards Ash. Ash seemed to sense the presence, and he waved the person away. "Just leave it alone." Ash muttered.

However, the person stopped him from cleaning the broken glass with his hands, which were already bleeding. The blood dripped to the ground like a faucet. Another person came back with a damp cloth, and wiped his face gently. She gasped at the heat emitting from the cloth.

"He has a really high fever, Lance." Lorelei whispered, as Lance extracted the broken glass from his hands, while she cleaned the blood from a broken glass off his hands. "No wonder he wasn't in class today."

"We better measure his temperature after we clean this mess." Lance replied grimly, as he applied antiseptic on Ash's hands, before wrapping it in bandages.

"No, I'll clean the mess. You carry him back to bed." Lorelei answered. "Should we take him to the Sick Bay?"

Lance shook his head. "No, not yet. We should see if we can bring down the fever first. Otherwise, we'll just bring him tomorrow."

"I'm fine." Ash interrupted, somewhat annoyed that the two came to his room without permission. "I can take care of myself."

"No, you're not." Lance said firmly. "Look, we came to deliver your homework, and we see you cleaning the glass with your hands? Not something anyone would even think of doing when they are fine." With that, he carried Ash bridal style, before putting him back on the bed, and putting a blanket over him.

"You should make him some soup." Lorelei suggested from where she was.

"I can make my own, thanks." Ash tried to get up, but Lance pushed him down again. "Just let us take care of things, alright?" Ash sighed as he could see Lorelei clean up his dorm and drop the garbage down the disposal and mopped the floor. With that done, she nodded towards Lance, who gave him a look that told him to stay still as he got make some soup for him. Lorelei sat down next to him and placed a thermometer under his tongue.

"You know, all of us were so worried when we heard you weren't in class the entire day." Lorelei said, as she adjusted his pillows so he would be more comfortable when lying down.

"I don't really see why, considering I'm just a new student." Ash mumbled.

Lorelei gave a smile. "Just a new student? How modest. Actually, everyone wanted to come, but considering what you did yesterday out of annoyance, we figured only us two should show up to check on you. Will was really pouting at the fact that he can't see you. He's really amazed at your psychic powers, and we were thinking maybe you could train with Will sometime. Also, we study together pretty often to keep our grades up, and we were thinking you should join us sometime. What do you say?"

Ash shook his head and sighed. "I doubt Will would want to teach me, since I find him a nuisance. Besides, I admit I wasn't exactly friendly towards them. Furthermore, I don't think the other members will be very receptive of a new kid in the group."

"Actually, Will was the one that suggested both and everyone agreed. Even Agatha was looking forward to hanging out with you more, and that is saying something, since she isn't receptive to new people." Lorelei explained. "Besides, if the other students have something to say, we'll cut them down to size."

"Nice to know you have my back." Ash said sarcastically, as Lorelei laughed. "But I'll think about it." He said it just to make Lorelei give up and go away, only it didn't work as she kept hanging around like one of those little kids he encountered back home whenever he wanted to play some fighting video games, which he was not allowed to do so in front of kids as according to Amethyst, it promotes violence and the kids may start to imitate the characters in the game.

Just then, it occurred to Ash that she was one of the more knowledgeable ones in the school. Should he ask her about the question that was in his mind?

"Hey, Lorel…" Ash called out from around the thermometer she'd shoved under his tongue, but quickly shut his mouth.

"Yes?" Lorelei asked, running a hand over his hair as she took his pulse. "Is there something you want to say?"

"No, never mind." Ash muttered.

"Come on, just say it. I promise I won't think any less." Lorelei smiled.

"Well…do you know what the PAL Academy is?" Ash asked.

"Oh! PAL Academy!" Lorelei sounded excited yet wistful. "Sure I can tell you. PAL Academy is a school where they teach other subjects instead of being all about Pokémon, as they believe that the students should know everything about it. It has a lot of CCAs as well, unlike us where we only have a select bunch and even then, we go to PAL Academy for the facilities. They're known for turning out some of the world's smartest students and most of them, especially those better students end up with a really good career. The thing is, we used to attend it, albeit briefly." Lorelei took out the thermometer from his mouth and looked at it. "Oh my. 39.8 Degrees Celsius? It looks like you'll be in bed for a while."

"And what happened?" Ash asked, tilting his head.

"Ah…you got to ask Lance." Lorelei said sheepishly. "It's something we kept a secret."

"No, it's alright Lorelei. He should know. How can he trust us if we don't trust him? It goes both ways." Lance answered, as Lorelei helped adjust his pillows as Lance set the tray across his thighs and slipped a spoon into his hand and he felt the pressure of friendship. Perhaps they truly wanted to be friends.

"So…where should I start?" Lance said thoughtfully. "Well, I guess I should tell you I was from Blackthorn City. You know, where they have the prestigious Dragon Clan there?"

Ash nodded, as he had read about them before. He waited as he drank his soup, which was surpassingly delicious.

"Around ten years ago, they had this family called the Paradinight family. It's an aristocrat family in our Dragon Clan, and is also a true follower of the Elders." Lance went on. "I'm not sure about the children, but they had around two to three sons, and one daughter, the latter whom got into PAL Academy on a scholarship.

"The thing is, there was a rumour that the daughter was born from another father, and because she was not purely from the Dragon Clan, they abused….no, they tortured her during summer break. It's as bad as the one which happened to a teenage Japanese girl back in the 1980s in Japan. Since the torturers involved many males, I think the Paradinight daughter was raped too. Everyone knew, but they agreed not to help her and some even joined in on the torture. Even Lance was threatened not to tell." Lorelei said grimly.

Ash gasped, as he had read about it and was horrified at what they did. "What happened after that?"

"I'm not sure, but what I know is that someone caught wind of it, and arrested the entire family. It was published on the news, and we lost our reputation." Lance looked away.

"What happened to the girl?" Ash frowned.

"I'm not sure. But with the injuries she had, I'm guessing she died." Lance closed his eyes. "I was pretty sure it was Shiki who leaked the information to the authorities and press."

"Who's Shiki?" Ash asked.

"One of the prodigies of the Clan. He's more than a decade older than me." Lance replied. "He attended PAL Academy, and graduated head of his class and was the Class Valedictorian. He wasn't much of a rule-follower, and he also prosecuted the case when the family was arrested in court, and they were found guilty and was sentenced for life."

"Another huge blow happened where the Paradinight family was taken somewhere, and four months later, their bodies were discovered extremely mutilated, much worse than when they found the girl." Lorelei winced.

"No offense, but your Clan deserved it." Ash was disgusted, but this gave him something new to think about: Could the girl he saw in the dream be the Paradinight daughter that was tortured, possibly to death?

"I know, but when the news got out and our reputation was dragged down even further, my parents stopped functioning. Didn't do anything but sit propped up in a chair or, more often, huddled under the blankets on their bed, eyes fixed on some point in the distance. Once in a while, they'd stir, get up as if moved by some urgent purpose, only then to collapse back into stillness. No amount of pleading from Clair seemed to affect them." Lance went on, running a hand through his hair.

"I thought Clair was your cousin." Ash interrupted, feeling sad for Lance.

Lance nodded. "Yes, but her parents died when she was very young, so my family adopted her. Well, at that moment, I knew I lost my parents and I took over as head of the family at eleven years old. Tried to care for my family and feed them…stuff like that. Also, in school, I became a social pariah because of what my Clan did and well, I decided to transfer here to start over. Lorelei and the others came as well so I won't be alone, and they are my true friends."

"I…see…" Ash was stunned at his story.

"Well, I'm not really sorry actually. After all, I am happy with my life and like you said, they deserved it. So, why not tell us yours?" Lance asked.

"I found a map that was in my brother's book. It said it was made by Jude Harrison, Akeno Calfuray Cheveyo, Phillip Robinson and Pakura Ameyuri."

"The best four students from PAL Academy around ten years ago?" Lorelei was surprised. "No way, your brother had something of theirs?"

Ash frowned. "I'm not sure, but I wish to investigate this matter in private. I can only say that this is something I must settle on my own...I don't know how my brother got them because knowing those four, they probably keep to themselves and not let any of their things go to other people's hands. I have a feeling they are connected to PAL Academy somehow. I don't know what, but I'm going to find out." Now he thought of it, maybe the four people he saw in his dream was the four students. What was so special about them? And why did they have special interest in a certain someone?

"We understand, Ash." Lorelei said, smiling as Ash did just open up. "We won't tell anyone. I better get back to the others."

"I'll stay." Lance nodded, as Lorelei got up. "I'll take good care of him!"

She kissed Ash on the forehead, and he pushed her away. "What the hell, Lorelei?"

"Her way of showing she likes you a lot." Lance shrugged. "Anything I can get you?"

"Yeah, you can shut up while I do my homework." Ash muttered, as Lance pushed him back down, and shook his head.

"No, Ash, you can't do your homework with that condition." Lance chided. "Today is a day for resting!"

"But how am I supposed to catch up and hand in my homework to the teacher?" Ash protested. When he saw Lance grinning, Ash said, "Oh no, you are not doing that."

"You know the teacher would know that isn't my handwriting, right?" Ash asked, as he watched Lance do his homework for him. "And that's cheating!"

"Please, it's not as if you don't know anything that I know. We know you are supposed to be in the Advanced Class." Lance said dismissively. "Yes, this has to be handed up tomorrow and in your condition, you can't do it anyway. Besides, I have a sample of your handwriting, it isn't hard to mimic." He held up a piece of scrap paper with his writing on it.

"Right…." Ash muttered, as someone knocked on the door. Lance got up, giving a look to Ash to make sure he stays in bed, and opened the door.

"Oh…hey, Steven." Lance said. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here looking for you." Steven replied. "Lorelei told me you were here, but didn't say why." He looked at the homework on his desk. "So, helping a student to cheat now?"

"Technically it isn't cheating. Ash knows the answers to the homework, he should have been in Advanced Class. He always gets full marks for them after all." Lance replied. "And in his condition, there is no way he can do the homework. Especially with the fever as high as his."

"Is that so?" Steven entered, and looked at Ash closely. "Well, looking at him, I didn't know he was such a cutie."

"Excuse me?" Lance was offended, but Steven approached closer to the bed, as Ash became annoyed. He threw the blanket over his head, as Steven laughed.

"Is he the Ash you like to talk about?" Steven teased, and to Ash he said, "Hey, you won't be able to breathe if you keep that above your head."

"Leave him alone, Steven. He's sick." Lance rolled his eyes.

"I know that." Steven pulled down the blanket and touched his forehead, which made Ash cringe. "That's why I'm staying."

'Why won't people leave me alone even on sick days?' Ash thought.

"You don't even know him, Steven." Lance was annoyed.

"And I know that he pushed you and your friends away and you persisted." Steven shot back.

"I don't need an argument in my room!" Ash shouted, before he coughed. Lance was about to get up to get a drink of water, but Steven had beat him to it, and Ash gulped the water gratefully. He gestured to the homework to ask him to continue, and Lance begrudgingly did it.

"So, how are you feeling, Ash?" Steven asked, being cautious as he knew about the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Ash may be suffering from.

"I'm feeling fine." Ash greeted out, as Lance entered his field of vision, and sat down on his other side. "It's just a fever, nothing to worry about."

"What is that thing on your neck?" Steven pointed to the key on Ash's neck.

"It's a lucky charm." Ash told him. "My siblings gave it to me." Without asking, he took the key from his neck and began to inspect them. Ash went to stop him, but remembered it needed aura to activate, so Steven won't be able to use it to go to that dimension. A few minutes later, he placed it back onto his neck.

"Steven, I thought you were going to contact Cynthia and inform her we're going to Sinnoh together next week." Lance commented offhandedly.

"Yes I was. I was done talking to her." Steven answered. "Why so interested in my life, Lance?"

"Quiet already." Ash groaned. "Lance, you've been here all day. Why don't you go get some rest?"

"Well then how about some dinner?" Steven suggested.

"Good, I'm starving!" Lance nodded.

"I'm not." Ash added.

"But you still need something in your stomach." Steven pointed out. "I'll whip something up. You two can stay here in the bedroom while I go cook."

"Are you sure you don't need any help?" Lance asked.

"Don't worry, I got it." Steven waved him off, winking at Ash, which Lance frowned suspiciously to. He went into the kitchen to start something for dinner. Lance sat down next to Ash and turned on the TV while waiting. Just then, Pikachu and Riolu woke up and saw Lance.

"Don't ask. They barged in like always." Ash muttered. Lance turned, and saw Pikachu and Lucairo awake. Steven stepped out of the kitchen, as Ash swallowed his pride, and asked, "Could you make something for my Pokémon?"

"Sure." Steven nodded. "Could you show me the Pokémon?" Ash waved towards the computer desk where he left his Pokéballs, and Steven nodded as he walked over to let them out. As soon as he let them out, however, they all growled at him and intimidated him with their size.

"It's fine, guys. Settle down." Ash said, as they placated. Lance looked in interest at the Goodra, as he had never seen it before and it looked to be a Dragon-type, but knew better than to ask now, as Ash was sick.

"Oh wow..." Lance admired. "Can I pet Goodra?" he asked Ash

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, just remember to wash up later." Ash waved him off, giving Goodra a look as to stay still. Lance walked up to Goodra and began petting it. Riolu walked up to Goodra sniffing at it curiously.

Steven smiled and shook his head at the scene, knowing Lance's obsession with Dragon-types (either through the tradition of his family and his hometown's Gym or merely his love of them, Lance preferred to train Dragon-type Pokémon) and seeing what looked like a new Dragon-type would interest him a lot. He was distracted when he heard the oven ding, prompting him to return to the kitchen.

The TV changed to some sort of competition which Ash recognized as a Pokémon Conference, and he became immediately enthralled in the program. Lance turned up the volume, as the program was on a previous Trainer's Tournament, and on the program was a boy with black hair and purple eyes battling a girl with his Latios. The way he composed himself rather elegant and he had the noble feel about him. Ash noted that boy was extremely handsome with his glasses enhancing his hotness even further.

"Shiki…" Lance whispered.

"Wait, are you saying that hot guy is Shiki?" Ash pointed to the boy.

Lance nodded, as Ash said, "No way, he looks so young! Are you sure he is more than ten years older than you?"

Lance shrugged, and as Shiki knocked out a Blastoise, Steven walked in the room with a big plate of pasta and a small bowl of ramen for Ash. As he handed them the dishes, he saw Shiki on the TV.

"Oh yeah, he was one of the most brilliant students PAL Academy ever had. Shiki, was it?" Steven asked.

"You know him?" Ash asked, as he started on the ramen.

"Yes. He was a well-known student even in other schools." Steven explained. "I heard many parents wishing that Shiki was their child and some even offered to adopt him, when a recent rumour that Shiki was parentless circulated."

Ash nodded, as he mentally noted down the information on the Shiki guy in his head. "Seems to be they only want the bragging rights and the credit that their child is an A-Student and captain of many clubs." He said sarcastically.

"Unfortunately, I must say it's true." Lance nodded."If my parents were still here spiritually, I'm sure they'll pressure me to be as good as Shiki, since he was a member of our clan."

"I say he's jealous of Shiki." Pikachu nodded knowingly, as Lance took the remote to change the channel, seemingly unable to take the talk of Shiki any longer for some reason.

Ash gave Pikachu a look that said, "Why would you think so?"

Pikachu laughed. "Well, basically because Shiki is very good looking and is superior to him in every way. I bet he's even better than Lance in Dragon training at his age from what I see in the television. Also, the comment you made about him looking hot and young despite his age might be a factor."

'But it was just a comment.' Ash resorted to telepathy, not wanting to expose his secret of being able to understand Pokémon. 'It's not as if anyone won't agree to that sentiment.' He turned to watch the television, where a news reporter is doing a story on school dances and the traits for each of the school when organizing the various school dances and when they usually hold them.

"That reminds me, isn't your school dance coming up, Lance, Ash?" Steven asked. When Lance nodded, Steven went on to enquire, "Do you guys have a date yet?"

"A lot of girls asked me to the dance." Lance admitted. "But I don't really want to go with any of them."

"Is that why you went with Clair every time, so no one would ask you?" Steven snorted.

"And how about you?" Lance asked sarcastically.

"I just pick one and say it's to go as friends." Steven answered, shrugging.

"Like that is any better." Lance rolled his eyes. "So Ash, are you going? Last I heard you said you wanted to ask someone called Amethyst."

"I was joking. You guys won't shut up about it, so I made it up." Ash said with a deadpan look. "Of course I'm not going, let alone asking anyone to the dance."

"Come on, of course you should go. Even your friend Misty has a date." Lance pointed out.

"She's not my friend." Ash shot him a look. "And I thought all the boys in school were terrified of her."

"Rudy isn't." Lance looked at him. "You should go. It'll be a nice change from the books and a chance to let your hair down and mingle around with the students…" He stopped when he saw the intense glare on Ash's face, before he shut his mouth, knowing Ash hates these types of things.

Ash stayed silent for a long time, before saying, "Not interested in these kind of things. If I have to go, then maybe during the weekend when we go out, I'll dig up someone from somewhere and bring them to the dance. After all, we can bring someone that is outside of school to the dance and it's not as if I should like whoever I took in that way."

Lance sighed in relief as at least Ash didn't use his psychic powers on him. Suddenly, he had an idea, as Ash didn't have a date yet.

"If that is the case…" Steven started in a totally casual way, as both Ash and Lance looked at him. "Ash, since you aren't going to the dance with anyone, why don't we go together?"

"What?" Ash gave him a look as Lance said, "No fair, Steven! I was about to ask him!"

"Really, you haven't asked your cousin to go with you?" Steven was amused.

"Er…no, I figured I should do something different this year. Ash, would you go with me to the dance? I probably want this more than Steven."

"Please tell me this is a joke." Ash looked at both of them, as they glared at each other.

"No it is not." They said in unison, and they started bickering.

'Oh no, this is not happening.' Ash thought, as Pikachu and Riolu started laughing in amusement. 'Did my fever come up with some nightmare I am unaware about?'

Ash took a deep breath, and pushed them aside with telekinesis. "Guys. I know it's nice of you to ask me to the dance and all, but I do believe my head is swimming from my not-so-normal sick day. I think I need to go have a bit of a lie down in my bed alone, and apply some lavender oil to my temples while I think this over. But, no, don't approach me for the answer, I'll approach you with the answer."

Ash took out a Pokéball and said, "Gardevoir, please use Teleport." Gardevoir appeared, and grabbed the two boys before they could even react, and teleported them, presumably back to their rooms, and teleporting back

"Finally, I'm alone." Ash muttered. "What was that all about?"

"Well, that is not your typical sick day." Pikachu nodded, sounding amused.

"Whatever. I got loads to do. With the information I acquired." Ash huffed."How dare they play that prank on me when I'm sick?"

"They must have noticed you're more docile when sick, so…" Pikachu shrugged.

"Very funny, Pikachu. I have other things to worry about besides this joke being played on me." Ash nodded in a sarcastic way, as he took out his notebook and ran a hand over his hair. At this point, he could care less how he looks.

"What are you doing, daddy?" Riolu asked.

"Making plans to get to the PAL Region. Looks like something is going on and I don't think I like it. After all, from what Lance told me, there is something off about the Paradinight daughter that was tortured, possibly to death." Ash replied. "And that dream. I'm sure it is telling me something." Ash sighed, as he took out his Pokégear and dialled his home number.

However, there was no answer, and Ash was forced to leave a message on the answering machine. He took a deep breath, and said, "Uh, hi, Amethyst, Phinks. Yeah, it's Ash. I was just wondering if you could, uh, call me when you get this message. Because I realized I haven't checked on you in a while, and I just wanted to know if you guys are alright and make sure our mother didn't well, kill you and that there's nothing wrong. Ok, that's all. Well, bye." Ash clicked his Pokégear shut as soon as the voice message was sent.

However, he groaned as there was a knock on the door. As the aura did not seem familiar, he went over to answer it. 'What do these people want now?' As he opened the door, he frowned as he saw a student worker carrying a number of what looked like gifts.

"Hi." The student worker said. "Well, we saw that your locker was overflowing, so we thought we'd bring everything to your room." When Ash read some of the notes carefully, he realized to his horror that it was invitations to the school dance. He slammed the door in the student worker's face, as his Pokémon laughed.

"Oh boy, you sure became popular!" Pikachu commented.

"No…just no." Ash was hyperventilating. "Please tell me this is just a crazy nightmare." The events of the sick day is too abnormal to be a reality.

"Nope, it's happening." Gardevoir said, as she opened the door and got the stuff the student worker left on the doorstep. "It's mostly invitations from females. Wow, Ash, you're a hit with the girls in the school. No way would you go without a date, they'll be hounding you before you can say 'Indigo High' until you get one. Ash, put some aura in that key of yours and hand it to me. I'll feed the Pokémon for you."

"I still wonder what I did to deserve this?" Ash muttered, as he handed the key to Gardevoir. "I mean all I did was to mind my own business and take up some activities in my free time without even pissing off anybody by keeping quiet. I need some advice on what is on my plate at the moment, without being patronized."

"You can ask one of your acquaintances, Misty and Brock or one of the Elite." Pikachu said.

"Great." Ash groaned. "But I don't even have their number." Ash opened his Pokégear and took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Alright, who inserted all these numbers in the Pokégear? And who the hell is Wallace?" It turned out that he had all the Elites' contact numbers that he didn't even remember acquiring, and even Steven's number is inside and someone called Wallace. Either Lorelei or Lance must have done it when he was not looking when they were in his room. Or maybe Steven did it too, who knows?

"Well, no excuse now." Pikachu snickered. "You need someone to talk to anyway…besides Professor Oak I mean."

Ash weighed his options as he looked at the names in the Contacts. "Alright, I'll contact…"

BP: Poor Ash, being popular must be so hard for him, as he is used to being alone after all before he came to school.

So I have two questions to help me in the story:

1. Who should Ash contact for advice in the next chapter?

2. Who should Ash go with to the dance? It can be a boy or a girl, doesn't matter since Ash mentioned he can just dig up someone from somewhere. (Just not Misty, because I don't really like her to be honest and she already has a date).

Oh and also, yes something is going on and it had to do with the four students, two of whom is working undercover as Ash's older siblings and the event Lance had mentioned happened to his Clan. Somehow it is all interrelated and whether Ash finds out everything and the truth of what actually happened to his real siblings remains to be seen and the Paradinight daughter also had a distant connection with him. Ash and the girl has something in common and Shiki also had a connection with him as well, though it would only be revealed later.

Let's just say hopefully Ash can make friends that would help him through this difficult time as when he finds out the truth of what really happened to him and his siblings when he was a child, no way would he take it very well. The girl provided a hint as to what actually happened to him and his siblings when he was a child (Pakura and Phillip did not mention the entire thing) at the hands of the mother, and I would only say if not for Akeno, Ash would not be there at all. Akeno is actually a character created by both Core AI and myself, and she will be appearing in the upcoming fanfiction story we would be writing together, so you'll see her again, that's for sure.

Of course, I was trying to portray his school life in a not-so-normal way as Ash was never a normal student in the first place and I more or less ironed out the school system which while useful, still pales in comparison to PAL Academy, which may be shown later in the story. Ash in this story had this sort of charm and charisma that attracts people to him. He is also someone who is good at what he does and knowledgeable in various subjects. Oh and also the 1980 torture thing in Japan is real, and there are details as to what happened during the days she was there until she died, but really I felt really sick after reading all of it, so read at your own risk, yeah?

Speaking of which, I have another story idea where I'll actually do a rewrite of the One Piece storyline where many years ago prior to the One Piece storyline, Ash (married to Amethyst) had created a glowing aura fruit which contained his own aura and psychic abilities and sent it into another dimension using his aura so that it would not fall into the hands of the greedy to help a special person to unlock their dormant psychic and aura powers (though in the strict condition that the aura and psychic powers must belong to his wife Amethyst), before dying of unknown means.

Of course, the Red-Haired pirates retrieved it from thieves along with the Gomu Gomu No Mi, and Luffy ate them both (being the curious idiot he was) and he found himself his canon powers along with aura and psychic powers and found himself with a Guardian Angel (invisible to everyone else) that is also known as Ashura Red Satoshi Ketchum, who informed him that only those who have inherited his wife's aura and psychic powers can even touch the aura fruit he made and that his wife's aura and psychic powers currently reincarnated into Luffy.

Also, instead of Ace and Sabo rescuing Luffy from Porchemy, Luffy's psychic powers saved him by ripping him apart the moment he screamed, killing Porchemy and traumatizing Luffy. Shiki Ketchum (first son of Ash and Amethyst, named after Amethyst's late fiancé and the current Prince of the region) found him and took him back to his home in the PAL Region as he was alerted by the fact that he detected his parents' aura and decided to train and raise him himself, and Luffy learns more about the Pokémon culture and world and find out what psychic and aura powers he possessed were and the fact that they can be manifested into abilities.

Fortunately, he had Ash as his guide and advisor as to what he should do next and was renamed Ketchum D. Luffy and was trained alongside his children and also met the previous Elites' children and learn about the history of the legendary generation of Elites (consisting of Jude, Akeno, Phillip and Amethyst, whose aura and psychic powers he had inherited) and more about the first Champion Ash, who is also his current Guardian Angel.

Meanwhile, Ace and Sabo thought Luffy had died and made a gravestone for him where he had been taken, and made him a sworn brother in his memory as he had not told Porchemy about their hidden treasure. Luffy decided to be the King of the Pirates and find the legendary treasure One Piece as he had not given up on his dreams as opposed to being a Pokémon Trainer, which Shiki decided to let him train and be taught some more knowledge for a few more years as he knew being a Pirate is as dangerous as the missions of a Treasure and Deep Sea Hunters.

However, Luffy's goals changed slightly as he wished to bring the legendary treasure back to the home region so that no one would taint the legacy of the region he lives in as he knew just how much they value it. As he spent a lot of time with Ash and due to the fact that Amethyst's aura and psychic powers were reincarnated into him, he had also learnt how to use some of Amethyst's weapons especially her sword style (something that had been passed down throughout the generations) in addition to developing some psychic and aura abilities. However, the downside was unless he had fully mastered his Devil Fruit powers and psychic and aura abilities, he cannot use both Devil Fruit and Aura/Psychic powers at the same time, for his body might not be able to take the strain and can kill him.

When Luffy finally returns to his old hometown ready to start his journey and packed with everything he would ever need (thanks to Shiki Ketchum) along with his Guardian Angel Ash who will be there to guide the person who inherited his wife's aura and psychic powers, though only he can see him he was still a cheerful and lovable boy with the good luck of growing into a supernatural beauty inherited from Ash's wife Amethyst (and attracting both guys and girls alike), but beneath that mask lies a calculating, independent, smart and distant personality from his past and the teachings instilled into him and one that keeps secrets, even from his friends as he had also inherited some of Amethyst's personality traits and skills outside of combat. His morals may be questionable, but one thing is for sure- He will be the Pirate King.

I doubt Luffy would own any Pokémon. As for pairing wise, I probably go for yaoi considering Luffy is thought of as cute and attractive and even the boys want him. It doesn't hurt that he is cooler, calmer and colder in this (not to mention smarter) and actually thinks before he acts and is really good in psychology and strategy. Not to mention, he can use weapons and hand-to-hand combat if he can't use any of his abilities in battle, including the Devil Fruit ones thanks to his training with Amethyst, Ash and Shiki (their son, not Amethyst's deceased fiancé). Who won't be attracted to him?

However, he have to keep his aura/psychic abilities and adopted heritage a secret as the World Government or those Marines or whatever would stop at nothing to try and find out his secrets behind possessing them so they can gain it for themselves.

Yeah, it's RoyalShipping (what else?), since I am on board with Ash being with Amethyst. I originally thought she'd go well with Lance or Steven, but after seeing all you readers ship Ash and Pakura, I started to like them together. It's your fault! *points to the readers*

It's not really a crossover, just a reference or two, since Ash and Amethyst are already dead in the story, though they will appear in forms of dreams and Luffy will learn more about them via those since he did have Amethyst's aura and psychic powers and he has Ash to guide him until he is able to master all his abilities fully. I might write this alongside the Ashura Kurobane fic once I finish my PAL Chronicles and Dark Chronicles, who knows?

Anyway I know, half the time I had no idea what the heck I was writing, but do review, favourite and follow anyway. For pairings, I'll leave it up to you whether Ash ends up with a girl or boy. I'm trying to put if off for as long as possible, until I can really decide.

Do review, favourite and follow anyway!