Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, Nintendo, Game Freak or any other subsidiaries affiliated with them. I merely enjoy their work and am using their creations to tell a story of my own.

Prologue – Eight years before Legacy

Breaking news!

Pokémon Champion Red Ketchum has been pronounced dead just four months after ex-Champion Blue Oak's death! His body was discovered near the entrance to Cerulean Cave just a couple of hours ago with gashes littering his entire body.

Champion Red's Charizard was also found lying beside his body, gravely wounded but still alive. However, it would not let any Pokémedics approach and eventually passed away from its wounds.

As for the rest of the Kanto Champion's team, they have yet to be recovered. The authorities believe that they have all perished within the depths of the cave at the hands of the Monster.

In recent years, Cerulean Cave has led to the deaths of many trainers, both rookie and experienced. We, at Pokénews Live, implore trainers of all skill to avoid it at all costs, lest they want to meet as grisly a death as the Champion. In fact, with this recent development, we predict that the authorities will board the cave up to prevent any more tragedy from occurring.

We wish the family of the late Champion our condolences and cannot even fathom the pain they are going through right now.

For now, please join us in a moment of silence for Red Ketchum, our fallen comrade and leader.

…

Now, we will cover Red Ketchum's many achievements and the legacy he has left behind. From winning four Pokémon Leagues, conquering the Kanto Elite Four and his best friend Champion Blue, to even being the projected favorite-to-win of this year's Pokémon Masters Cup, these accomplishments only scratch the surface of the immense strength Red holds. Indeed, how can anyone forget how he crushed and drove criminal organization Team Roc—

click.

"Fools. Thinking we are wiped out, what a truly idiotic notion. They never could figure out my identity, not the Pokémon League, and certainly not Red Ketchum. Nevertheless… today is a great victory."

The purring of a cat echoed through the halls.

"Now, nothing stands in our path to greatness."

Within a quaint house in a small village known as Pallet Town, a young two-year-old babe was howling in sadness for seemingly no reason. His mother, however, was too distracted by her own grief to tend to her child and continued to stare brokenly at the television screen.

Suddenly, the young boy's eyes flashed a bright azure and ceased his crying.

In wonder, he stared at the translucent pink cat in front of him, eyes glimmering with tears. The majestic being tilted its head, seemingly awed by the creature in front of it.

"Ashy?" The boy's mother called for him, her trudging feet slowly growing louder with each step they walked up.

The cat winked and just as abruptly as it appeared, it was gone; leaving no trace behind except for a small, beautiful stone.

'Ashy' smiled softy and began playing with the tiny object, tossing it up in the air and catching the stone on its return.

That is how his mother found him. She smiled; however it was nowhere close to reaching her eyes, at her child's innocence. Then, realization struck.

Her son was playing with a choking hazard—more specifically, a piece of her jewelry, likely a stone that had fallen off a stray necklace.

She was not losing another member of her family today.

"Ash! What are you doing? Give that here!" She frantically tried to take the stone in vain.

"No! Is my!" Ash began crying once more.

"Okay, okay. Fine! At least let me put it on the dresser, it will be your stone now and we will make it into something nice for you to always keep with you." His mother ceased her efforts and placed the stone on a surface where the babe could not reach it.

"My!" the boy whined.

"If only you could see him now, Red." The woman shook her head, amused and a little sad at the same time. "Look the stone is right there, Ashy. There is no reason to be whining!"

The sniffles stopped, but not for much longer.

"Ash, I'm sorry, but… I have some really bad news."

Hello everyone! This is my first addition, to hopefully many more to both Legacy and fanfiction! I hope you enjoyed this prologue, a slight taste for what's to come. If it is not obvious enough, I am intending this story to be an AU on the tale of Ash. It will focus on his journeys and while I'm not sure how long this will be, it will 100% include Kanto and Johto (depending on how this does, I will extend it to Hoenn and Sinnoh as well!) with Pokèmon from every generation barring Galar (not as familiar with the region even if I have finished Pokèmon Shield).

I know that this is a fairly short entry, however as it is the prologue and I wanted to keep it as mysterious as possible for the rest of the journey, I see it fitting for it to be this length. Don't worry though, I will definitely have longer chapters in the future!

I have not yet decided on whether to include Brock and Misty into his travels, or if I should just let Ash travel alone. If you guys have any ideas, be sure to let me know in the comments or via PM!

I am uncertain if there will be a shipping involved with this tale. I am not opposed to romance and if I will have to choose, I will likely go with Rayshipping (Ash x Cynthia) but am open to others as well (side note: Cynthia will be included either way, she will be the same age as Ash, so both will begin their journey the same year at ten, though both competing in different leagues).

Finally, I will briefly touch on my plan for the leagues. I intend for each league to be held every two years with signups beginning shortly after. For the purposes of this fic, the Indigo league will have occurred right before Ash's birthday (April 1 for this fiction). And while I will not really be referencing months like this, I intend for the Indigo League to be in March, the Silver Conference to be in April, the Ever Grande Conference to be in May, and the Lily of the Valley Conference to be in June. The Pokèmon Masters Cup is an event held every 20 years, so Ash will be 20 by the time he will compete.

More will be explained as the fic progresses in Author's Notes following each chapter. Thank you all for your support!

-Azolara