Ash's Just Reward Chapter 1

This story is set before Ash and the Alola crew go off to Kanto, and the events that happened from that episode onwards basically don't happen to allow this story to happen. Instead, Ash is just chilling and enjoying life when a bunch of wacky stuff begins happening to him. Some of it good, some of it bad, all of it meant in good intentions. Expect appearances from old characters, legendaries, mythical Pokémon, Ash getting the recognition he deserves and general hilarity.

On Melemele Island, in the Alola region, there is currently a trainer who has seen many great things and saved many people and Pokémon. A trainer who is friend to all and a champion for good for as long as he can remember. Someone who helps all he comes across, from the smallest creatures to the ones who are akin to Gods.

This trainer is Ash Ketchum, and he is currently enjoying having some time to relax. For you see, the usually busy trainer has decided to take it easy, going to the Pokémon school ran by Professor Kukui and Samson Oak (professor Oak's cousin) to learn about the various Alolan Pokémon.

This is considered relaxing for him because for once, he's not travelling the region, battling gyms, aiming to challenge the Pokémon League, and getting into all kinds of trouble involving the various Legendary Pokémon of the world. Now, don't get Ash wrong, he enjoys travelling across the various regions, and he enjoys being able to meet several rare Pokémon, but it can be stressful. Being forced into several dangerous situations where his life is at risk, being a champion of the Gods (as pretentious though it sounds, it's fairly accurate), and just generally trying to be a good person to everyone he comes across: no matter how much they act like a douche to him, is exhausting.

So, this time, in Alola, he's kicking back. He's for the most part staying in one location, he's making friends with nice people who got along with him, he's not aiming to challenge a league and just battling people for fun. And so far, it's been nice. While he has seemed to catch the attention of two local Legendary Pokémon; Tapu Koko and Tapu Lele, but they mostly just seem really curious about him. Which consider that he's met pretty much every Legendary in every region he's been in, he doesn't blame them to be overly curious about him.

Apart from that curiousness, nothing had really happened. Team Rocket were still annoying him, but at this point, Ash doubted that would ever change. He was having fun messing around, learning new things, and just generally being a kid for once. He had no real obligations, no real goal, just to have fun with his new friends.

And he had made quite a few of them. From the Pokémon school, he's met Lillie; someone who was incapable of touching Pokémon but is slowly overcoming her fear, now being able to touch Ash's Pikachu and Snowy, her Alolan Vulpix. He's met Kiawe, an overly serious but pretty cool trainer, who's been helping Ash learn about Z-Moves and how to use them, and his Turtonator. He's met Lana, a mischievous prankster who was also a fan of the ocean and water type Pokémon (much like Ash's old friend Misty), and her partner Popplio. He's met Mallow, an eccentric cook who loved to try new things, and her partner Steenee. And finally, he's met Sophocles, a quirky inventor, and his partner Togedemaru.

Ash has also made new friends in the form of Pokémon, as he has caught three new Pokémon while in Alola, all of them being valued additions to his team. He caught Rowlet, a Grass-Flying type starter Pokémon who has a tendency to fall asleep, sometimes even before an important battle. He caught a Rockruff who loved to fight, challenging opponents much stronger than itself in order to get stronger (which was part of the reason why he and Ash got along so well). He later evolved into a Dusk-form Lycanroc, one of the first of its kind according to the experts Ash knew (not that it mattered to him), and has now gotten even stronger. And finally, he caught Litten, an outcast who refused to be pushed around.

These new friends, plus Ash's long-time best friend Pikachu, have been having a great time at the Pokémon school. And Ash has no interest in getting involved in any large-scale drama, not for at least a couple more months.

It's such a shame for him then, that it would seem that trouble, and several Legendaries, were making their way to Alola, with the sole intent of seeking him out.

Hall of Origin, Spear Pillar, Sinnoh

Arceus had a hell of a headache.

Here she was, hosting a meeting in order to discuss an issue that has been on the minds of several of the Legendaries, including herself, for a long time, in what she had hoped was an orderly manner.

Oh, what a mistake that train of thought was.

Here she was, in the presence of some of the most powerful and ancient creatures in the world after herself, and it was more akin to a bunch of arguing toddlers than wise and knowledgeable beings.

Surveying over the scene, Arceus could feel a migraine coming in.

All of the world's Legendaries were currently present, shouting and threatening one another as they tried to reach a consensus. On her right, Arceus spotted the Beast Trio; Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, arguing with the Bird Trio; Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. She couldn't quite tell what they were saying, but she got the general gist that they didn't agree. On her left, she spotted the Tower Duo; Ho-oh and Lugia, arguing with the Tao Trio; Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem, with the two groups threatening to come to blows with one another. Arceus also could have sworn that he saw Kyogre and Groudon on the verge of fighting, but that seemed to happen whenever the two were in the same room as one another.

The only Legendaries that didn't seem to be causing any trouble was a small group that were residing near where Arceus was currently watching over the proceedings. This group consisted of Mewtwo, one of the newer additions to the Legendary line-up and a powerful but reclusive individual, Celebi, the time-travelling guardian of the Forrest, Latias, the lone protector of Altomare and the Soul Dew, Mew, a cheerful and playful Pokémon who was one of the oldest in the room, a young Manaphy, the prince of the seas, a shy Shaymin, a travelling protector of nature, and finally Keledo, the youngest member of the Swords of Justice. These legendaries were waiting quietly and patiently for the more abrasive Legendaries to settle down, something that Arceus greatly appreciated.

They seemed to be the only ones trying to act like the powerful and wise forces of nature that they were. The rest were simply being embarrassing.

Deciding enough was enough, Arceus stepped forward, and began taking a deep breath, before unleashing its powerful voice.

"ENOUGH!"

And just like that, the rest of the Legendaries seemed to remember just who they were in the presence of, and began calming down to allow Arceus to talk. She was the one who summoned them after all.

"I understand that many of you are very passionate about this issue, but we must deal with this properly. That means that we must take into account everything that they've done, and decide what the proper course of action is."

This earned her a number of nods from the various Legendaries, most of them agreeing outright with this statement.

"So, the question remains: How shall we reward Ash Ketchum for the deeds he has done, not only for many of us in this room, but for the Pokémon world?" Arceus questioned, bringing everyone's attention to the main reason for why they were here in the first place.

Yes, after five years of travelling the world and saving pretty much everyone and everything he came across, the Legendaries of the world had seen it fit to reward Ash for everything he had done. After saving the Kalos region from Lysander and Team Flare, many of the Legendaries who heard about his involvement began reflecting on how Ash had helped many of them in the past, from either minor problems caused by silly things to threats to the entire world. It was during this reflection that they made a startling revelation: Ash had never been rewarded.

For so many years he had been stumbling into their problems, and then going out of his way to help them, risking his own life for their sake. In one case, he had actually died, giving his own life for others (even if he didn't remember doing it). All these heroic actions done purely from the goodness of his heart, and not once had he ever been given more than a simple 'Thank you', which was something you'd say to someone who had done you a favour: not someone who had saved your life and the lives of everyone on the planet.

So, Arceus had decided to host a meeting, in which the several Legendaries that Ash had helped could discuss what would be a good reward for someone who had done so much for them in the past.

However, this was not as simple as they once thought, as no one could reach a consensus on what would be a good enough reward for the fifteen-year-old, one that was proportionate to the things he had done.

"So, does anyone have any suggestions? I'm open to all ideas?" Arceus coaxed, hoping to get a decent response from the gathered Pokémon.

This was when everyone present began shuffling on their feet, or whatever appendages they had for limbs, as they debated whether or not their idea for a reward was worth throwing out to the assembled Pokémon.

Plucking up her courage, Latias floated forward and cleared her throat.

"I think that it would be nice if we could let him catch us. That and I think it'd be kinda cool to be able to travel with him and that." She timidly put forward, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

And this led to another outburst as a lot of the Legendaries began arguing about the merits or problems with this idea. Those in favour tried arguing that Ash wouldn't abuse their power and would make a good companion, while those against began arguing how they had too many obligations to be tied down to a trainer, no matter what he had done for them.

Sighing again, Arceus slammed her hoof into the floor to silence everyone.

"ENOUGH! Thank you Latias for the suggestion, that's certainly something to keep in circulation. Does anyone else have any ideas?"

Nodding her thanks, Latias shirked back, allowing someone else to step up and try to suggest an idea of a suitable reward.

The assembled Legendaries began internally debating what would be a suitable reward, and what would be too much.

Surprisingly, Zekrom stepped forth, with the intent of putting forward an idea.

"We could teach his Pokémon the ancient techniques of the Legendaries. His partner Pikachu would be a most worthy recipient of the knowledge for Fusion Bolt."

And that caused another uproar between the Legendaries that had such moves, with many of them demanding to know why Zekrom thought that the sharing of such knowledge could ever be allowed.

'Clearly, we're not going to reach a mutual understanding today, are we?' Arceus thought to herself as she watched another argument break out. And that was when she had an idea.

"Silence!" Arceus boomed out, stopping the arguments again before they escalated. Now with everyone's attention on her, Arceus gave her decree.

"Since we clearly cannot reach a common consensus of what we're to do, here is what I'm going to do. I am giving all of you free reign to reward Ash as you please. If you feel that the suitable reward for him is to pass on your ancient knowledge, then pass it on as you please. If you feel that allowing him to have the privilege to capture you, then join him on his travels. If you feel there is some other reward you can give him, then that is what you will do. This meeting is adjourned!"

And just like that, an agreement was reached. All the Legendaries seemed pleased with this outcome, and began making their way out of the ancient halls: all with the intent of rewarding Ash in some manner. Arceus almost felt sorry, since she now knew that all of the Legendaries of the world would now be descending on the Alola Region, the current location of the young hero.

This was not going to end well.