Prologue Part I: Separation

The road to Nuvema town was a long one from the Unova Pokemon League, not to say amazingly uneventful for the young Pokemon Trainer. His Pikachu remained asleep for the past couple of hours on his head, cutely letting out snores in a set rhythm. The little yellow rodent had been working superbly hard the past two weeks, having participated in the Unova League. Its trainer, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, had placed second in the conference, his best achievement thus far in the Pokemon League Championships.

Ash had been travelling alone for half the trip to Nuvema, much to his disappointment. After the eventful conference ended, Iris had to go back to the Village of the Dragons while Cilan had to take care of some matters for his Gym's supplies in Mistralton City. The young man took out his medal he received for being the runner up in the conference, grinning widely. Even though he was unable to reach the top seat, he was still extremely happy, his usual excitement quickly replacing his short lived depression. He had proven to himself that he and his Pokemon were able to become strong according to their own beliefs, which got them so far. He was looking forward to getting back to Pallet Town and resting for a while, before finally heading out to the fields of adventure again. Whether it was a new region or re-challenging old ones, he was still hyped about it. But for now, his thoughts revolved around one thing only; his mother's home cooking.

Finally being able to see Nuvema Town in his sights, Ash felt his energy spent on the four day walk had returned. The fifteen year old sprinted to the town, waking up his Pikachu. Being equally excited as his trainer, Pikachu hopped off and raced Ash to the town where they would board the SeaPlane to Pallet Town. With his seemingly endless energy, Ash quickly reached the town of beginnings. They paid a quick visit to Professor Juniper and proceeded to wait at the harbor for their transport.

The Pallet Town native stretched as he saw the the doors of the plane opened, starting to check in its passengers. He flashed his ticket and entered the vehicle. Finding his seat number rather quickly, Ash placed his bag on the overhead cabin and made himself comfortable in his seat. He made a mental complain about the long flight duration and dozed off shortly after take-off.

"...Arrived at our last stop, Cherrygrove City. Please watch your steps as you disembark this carrier and please don't forget your belongings." A voice said through the announcement system.

"Huh..?" Ash said groggily as he tried to wake himself up. Pikachu followed suit as he let out a small cry.

The man sitting beside Ash tapped his shoulder lightly to help him return from his nap. "Hey kid, wake up. We're at Cherrygrove already."

Ash jumped up and looked outside the plane. A large sign was written on the harbor. 'Welcome to Cherrygrove.' The young man groaned and sluggishly grabbed his bag from the cabin. "We're at Cherrygrove? Aw man, I missed my stop at Pallet!"

The man beside him laugh and gave him another tap on his back. "So I was right! You were heading to Pallet. I thought about waking you up but decided against it. You were sleeping too soundly." he lightly commented.

"Uh.. Thanks? I guess." Ash muttered as they stepped down from the SeaPlane. They parted ways shortly after, leaving Ash wondering where to go next. "Sorry Pikachu, it seems we missed our stop." He said meekly to his Pikachu. Ash could feel Pikachu rubbing its cheeks against his, as if to say not to worry about their current situation. "I guess we better find a place to spend the night and head to New Bark Town tomorrow. I think the Pokemon Center is at the northeastern parth of the city."

The two made their way to the northern part of the small town, easily locating the Pokemon Center. They entered the Center to find a group of people gathered in a lively discussion. Ash walked up the the crowd and asked what was wrong. "What's all the commotion about?"

"They're saying they found a Riolu in the forest to the north." One of the trainers answered as he looked back at Ash. "It seems to be hurt pretty badly, but it's refusing to be taken to a Pokemon Center and attacks anyone that come close. It's absurdly strong too, it's beaten every trainer that tried to help." the trainer continued. "We want to help, but it's getting too late and pretty much no one wants to go anymore."

"Then I'll give it a shot!" Ash said as he dashed out of the center, heading inside the forest to look for the Riolu.

"Hey, hey, wait!" the trainer shouted, completely ignored by the Unovan League runner up. "You think we should've told him that the Riolu can use Aura Sphere?" he asked as he turned to the others.

"..I think this wasn't exactly the best decision, Pikachu." Ash said to Pikachu, who was still on Ash's shoulder keeping a lookout for the Riolu. "I forgot how dark the forests get after the sun goes down." he added, breaking his leg free from being caught by a few twigs. "How far in the forest did they say the Riolu was at, again?" Ash continued wandering deeper into the forest, sunlight lesser by the minute. As the dirt path he was walking on started to end, he took out his flashlight and resumed walking.

"I'm not exactly afraid of ghosts, Pikachu, but going into a forest at night along is pretty scary." Ash commented, answered by a cry from his Pikachu, similarly scared. Pikachu suddenly jerked up and pointed to a clearing not too far in front of them. "What is it, Pikachu?" Ash ran up to the clearing and discovered many small craters laid across the grass clearing.

Pikachu hopped off Ash's shoulder and inspected the craters. He turned to Ash and started making gestures. "Pika pika, pi, pika pi, pika!" the little rodent explained.

Ash nodded and came closer to the craters himself. "You're saying these are caused by Aura Spheres?" the young man muttered, looking around the vicinity for the Riolu. "You think it was caused by a Riolu, Pikachu?"

"Pika pika!" the yellow Pokemon nodded confidently.

"But a Riolu can't use Aura Spheres." Ash commented, crossing his arms. "Only a Lucario can."

"Pi, pikachu, pika!" Pikachu insisted, pointing at its little nose.

Ash raised an eyebrow and let Pikachu clim back up to his shoulder. "You mean to say that it has the same scent as the one we saved from Hunter J?" the trainer asked skeptically.

Pikachu nodded once more, letting out another firm cry, pointing at a general direction. "Pikachu!"

"That way?" Ash said as he started to make his way into the forest once more. "Here goes nothing, I guess. I just hope we don't get lost, Pikachu. We don't exactly have a good sense of direction." he added, to be replied with a light hit from Pikachu's tail. "Alright, alright. I don't have a good sense of direction. I don't understand what Riolu's doing all the way in Johto, though..."

The two continued looking for the Riolu in the dead of the night, accompanied by the soothing cries of the Hoot-Hoot living in the forest. Ash came across a couple of Furret and Sentret families sleeping soundly, seemingly unaffected by the apparent ruckus caused by the fighting-type baby Pokemon. An abnormally strong one, at that. Ash followed Pikachu's instructions on where to go, coming across a few craters every now and then in their way.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu cried, jumping off Ash's shoulder. Pikachu ran to a tree and motioned to Ash, asking the trainer to quickly make his way to the tree.

Ash nodded and sprinted to where his best friend was. He looked over to see that it was indeed the fighting Pokemon rested up against the tree, its condition unconscious and obviously unwell. "Riolu!" Ash came up to check on the Riolu, and set the Pokemon for immediate first-aid. Having ventured too deep into the forest, Ash was unsure whether the Riolu would make it to the Pokemon Center.

Finishing up the treatment, Ash set up his sleeping bag and made a fire to keep themselves warm. He placed the Riolu in the sleeping bag and made sure that the baby Pokemon was nice and cozy. The young trainer watched over the Pokemon for some time before dozing off with Pikachu curled up on his lap, hoping he had done a good enough job to heal the Aura Sphere Riolu.

Ash was woken up by the harsh sunlight shining directly on his face, a method the young trainer did not really fancy after a tiring night. He woke up to see that he was sleeping on the ground with his Pikachu on his stomach, still snoring cutely. He took Pikachu and placed it on the ground, allowing the electric rodent to sleep some more. Ash looked around and saw berries on his sleeping bag, with no sign of the Riolu.

"Hey, Riolu! Where did you go?" the young man shouted, scanning the near vicinity. He was answered by something jumping on his head and taking his cap playfully. "Riolu, you're okay!" he said as he lifted the blue fighting-type up, receiving a happy cry from the Riolu. "You still remember me, huh? What are you doing all the way out here in Johto?"

Ash paid attention to the explanation Riolu made with Pikachu in the background doing his trademark shape shifting to help its trainer better understand the story Riolu was telling. To Ash's surprise, he understood it better than he thought he would have.

"I see." Ash started. "So you were heading west from Sinnoh to reach your destination, when you were attacked by a gang of Fearow and Spearow when you entered Johto. Seems like you had a rough time." the young man clarified the story while the small, dog-like Pokemon happily nodded. "So where do you need to go now, Riolu?"

Riolu pointed to a general direction.

"That's.. North." the young trainer said as he checked his PokeNav which he had just bought quite recently in Nimbasa City. Considering how much the little device had helped him when he was travelling in Hoenn with May and Max, it was definitely a good purchase. "What's up North, Riolu?"

The aura sensitive Pokemon picked up a twig and started drawing on the ground.

"Is that a tree?" Ash popped another question as he looked over the drawing. He noticed Riolu making another gesture. "A very big tree?"

The Riolu excitedly nodded. Riolu then tugged on Ash's jacket and pointed north again.

"You want me to go with you, huh? I guess there's no harm in that. A few days delay doesn't hurt anybody, right, Pikachu?" he asked his best friend, answered with an energetic cry. "I can also rest easy knowing Riolu here has made it safely to his destination."

After Pikachu jumped back up on his shoulder, the three made their way north, lead by the little Riolu.

"Riolu, why didn't you tell us that you were heading to the Tree of Beginning?!" Ash shrieked in horror as they were being chased by Rock counterpart of the legendary golems of Hoenn. "It was so much less scary last time when we had a humvee!" the young trainer added, dodging the Hyper Beams launched by the Regirock. The three finally found the entrance to the tree and immediately entered, securing their temporary safety. "Actually when I think about it, the humvee was destroyed by Regirock last time, so I guess it's pretty much the same." Ash said to himself, trying to catch his breath.

Slowly recalling the way to the top, the three made their way deeper in the natural structure, managing through the familiar narrow passages.

"It seems I'm forgetting something here..." Ash commented as he was leading Riolu through the passages. Suddenly, a red blob emerged from the ground and attempted to engulf Ash, narrowly stopped by Pikachu's Thunderbolt. "That's what." the young trainer simply stated before making another break for his life.

"I can't believe we made it, you guys... I really thought that was the end of us." Ash muttered in between sharp gasps. They had reached a relatively safe place from the Tree's 'antibody cells' and the three legendary golems of Hoenn, coming to a sanctuary sprinkled with toys and arbitrary objects. According to Pikachu, this was the place that he and Meowth were taken to by Mew a couple of years back, during their first visit to the Tree. Surely enough, they were greeted by a familiar cry. Ash turned to see the playful legendary Pokemon. "Mew! I can't believe I get to see you again! Are you doing well?" the young trainer asked the pink legendary, answered with cheerful cries, seemingly very happy to welcome its guests. "Now, what are we doing here again?"

"To train!" a small voice shouted.

Ash quickly turned around to see the source of the voice, finding nothing. "Did you say something, Pikachu?" He asked his best friend as he knelt down beside the electric mouse.

"We're here to train!" The voice shouted again.

A little spooked, Ash looked around the area frantically to find the source of the strange voice. Trees, toys, Pikachu, Mew sitting on top of the toys giggling, and Riolu looking up at Ash. The young trainer sat down in front of the aura Pokemon and patted its head. "Did you hear that voice, Riolu?" he asked.

"Hear what?" the little Pokemon asked back.

"Kyaa!" Ash shrieked a little-less-than-manly scream, falling backwards in surprise. "Y-you can talk?!" the young trainer questioned, trying to regain his composure.

Riolu cocked his little head sideways. "Does that mean Ash is able to understand me?"

"P-pretty much, I guess..." Ash nervously answered.

"It does?" Riolu asked again, getting a nod from Ash. "Yay! Riolu is finally able to talk to Ash! I learned telepathy!" the fighting-type said as he excitedly jumped around Ash.

Looking at the energetic Riolu, Ash sighed in amazement. "How come you can talk, though? And why didn't you talk to me sooner?"

Riolu stopped and thought about the question for a while, before finally coming up with an answer. "Riolu wasn't able to."

"What?" the young trainer shot back, raising an eyebrow.

"Riolu was only able to talk this way every since we entered this Tree, this whole place resonates with your Aura! And somebody else's!" Riolu explained.

Ash nodded to himself as he crossed his arms. "Well, I did help invest some of my own Aura to save this Tree..." He muttered.

"Ash is able to freely manipulate Aura?" the fighting-type baby asked.

"Not really, no. I have no clue how to activate my Aura, let alone manipulate it. At that time it was more like a 'spur of the moment' kind of thing." Ash casually answered, shrugging.

"Then let Riolu train Ash! Ash will be a master of the Aura in no time!" Riolu excitedly said as started to force Ash to stand up.

"H-huh? Riolu, wait!" the trainer tried to protest, however, to no avail.

Two weeks had passed since Ash's 'training' begun, and the young trainer was progressing quite nicely. He was starting to be able to bring out his Aura quite comfortably, though the Aura he was able to bring out was still relatively weak, according to Riolu. The fourteen days went by very quickly, as every moment was filled with Riolu's harsh training regiments, which included training for even Pikachu and his other Pokemon, including the ones from Professor Oak's Laboratory, courtesy of the playful pink legendary. The reason Mew teleported all of his Pokemon, including Charizard, was still a mystery to Ash. He would have a lot of explaining to do to Professor Oak when he got back to Pallet Town. Also a quick call to Liza in Charicific Valley to let her know that Charizard was okay. Setting aside the troublesome little things he would have to do when he got back to Pallet Town, he was extremely happy to see all his Pokemon again.

"Riolu... Let's take a break..." Ash painfully called out the Aura Pokemon as he crawled towards the toy pile.

Riolu stopped his combat routine and walked up to the young trainer, paws on hips. "But Ash has just started two hours ago!"

"Just? I don't two hours is a 'just'..." Ash muttered tiredly. "Besides, I need to head back to Pallet soon, Riolu. I haven't even called my mom to let her know I would be coming home late. I bet she's worried sick about me." he continued.

the blue Pokemon pouted. "It's lonely training alone, though..."

Ash snapped his finger as a new idea popped. "Why don't you come with us to Pallet Town?"

"But this place is so comfortable for training... Now Riolu gets why many of Riolu's friends from the Lucario Kingdom come here to train." Riolu said, dissapointed.

Ash got up and placed patted Riolu's head. "Don't worry little guy, I'll come back after I finish up my business in Pallet. And then we can continue with our training!"

"Is that a promise?" Riolu sheepishly asked.

"Promise." Ash replied with his trademark grin.

"But before Ash goes, can we try this one technique?" the fighting Pokemon said as he ran to the toy pile, pulling out a book from the horrid mess. Riolu opened the book to a specific page and handed it over to Ash.

"What's this... 'Book of Aura Techniques'?" the young trainer read the title aloud. "Mew, did you take this from Cameran's Royal Library?" Ash asked the legendary Pokemon. Mew simply giggled and nodded. Sighing, Ash went back to the page opened by Riolu. "Separation?"

"Yup! Ash can definitely do it now!" Rioly said with excitement. "Let's try it together!"

Ash could only smile at the little Pokemon, as he found it hard to reject Riolu. "Fine, fine. But after this I really have to go."

"Of course!" Riolu reassured Ash.

The Pallet native read the instructions on the Technique for quite a while, coming across some difficulties from the language used in the book and the confusing terms the book contained. After some time, Ash was finally ready to try it out with Riolu. Ash sat down in a relatively wide space next to Riolu, all his Pokemon watching in anticipation. He relaxed his body and began following the steps he had memorized from the book.

Moments later, the young trainer found himself in a dark space filled with mist, seemingly floating. Gray in color, the world he was in was absurdly horrifying, yet soothing at the same time. "Where are we?" he said aloud, his voice echoed.

"This is the Ehereal Plane." Riolu said, coming up behind Ash. "The book says The Ethereal is a like an ocean, but rather than water, it is a sea of boundless possibilities. Here, we feel no pain and fatigue. All the progress we will make here will be directly transferred to our real bodies in the real world, such as growth in strength, physical, and all the others."

"The Ethereal Plane, huh..." Ash turned back to see Riolu ready in combat stance. "And what do you suggest we do?"

Riolu smirked as he charged at Ash, paws at the ready. "We battle, of course!"

Much to Ash's surprise, he really felt no pain and was always at top-form the whole time he was sparring with Riolu. In the short time he was battling it out with the fighting-type, he was able to learn a great deal. Deciding it was enough, the two stopped and got ready to exit the Ethereal, when Ash remembered something crucial.

"Riolu, how do we get out of here?" Ash asked his sparring partner.

"...Riolu thought Ash knew..." Riolu sheepishly replied.

"You mean... We can't get out of here?" the young trainer stated, afraid of the answer. "And we also have no communication with our world?"

Riolu pondered for a while before nodding. "That sounds about right."

Feeling his strength leave his body hearing the horrible news, Ash fell to his knees. "This can't be happening! I still have so much to live for! All the delicious food, the exciting Pokemon Battles, the Pokemon League- Oh dammit, my biggest achievement in the Pokemon League was only being the runner-up in the Unovan League!" Ash ranted, before finally noticing a strange vision appearing in front of him and Riolu. "Hey, what's that? I can see Pikachu! And my other Pokemon! Hey guys!" He shouted as he waved, his Pokemon answering back. "What's this?"

Riolu came closer and inspected the screen-like object. "It seems like a communication window. Riolu wonders, who was able to establish this?" Mew then came into the screen, giggling like always. "That answered Riolu's question."

"Good job, Mew! As expected of a legendary Pokemon!" Ash gave a thumbs up to the legendary cat. "Now, Pikachu, can you get the book I was reading earlier? That one, no, that one. Yes, that one. Open it to the page I was at earlier." the young trainer instructed his Pikachu for a while, before finally getting to the right page. "Let's see now... The way to get out of here... What's that? Pikachu, can you put it closer to me?" After being able to read it better, Ash's face paled a considerable amount.

"Is something the matter?" Riolu asked.

"Riolu... It basically says; Use this technique at your own discretion; there is no known method to exit the Ethereal, it can only be done through trial and error. Many have fallen due to this Technique, it is strongly advised to enter the Ethereal only if you are really confident in your Aura skills- Wait, how in the world did you get over to that side?!" Ash's explanation was cut short, due to Riolu popping up with Pikachu and the others.

"It was pretty easy, Ash! All you have to do is concentrate - and poof! You're back!" Riolu explained with exaggerated gestures.

Due to his try hard nature, Ash attempted many times before finally giving up. "This is bad! What if I have to pee and poop! I'm going to mess up my clothes! Oh no, I'm going to die of hunger!" the young trainer said, imagining horrible possibilities.

"Actually, going into the Ethereal enables your body to absorb nutrients from around you, or so the book says. And because Ash doesn't consume food in the real world, Ash doesn't have to secrete waste! - Or so Riolu read in the book..." the little fighting-type explained as he referenced the book. "But don't worry! Riolu will help Ash in the quest of getting out of the Ethereal! And we can do some training to increase your Aura abilities as it is needed to easily exit the Ethereal!"

"Thanks, Riolu, that's going to be a great help. No, wait- This is all your fault to begin with!" Ash shouted.

Riolu tilted his head and pouted. "Does Ash not like Riolu anymore?"

"N-No, that's not what I meant..." Ash meekly answered.

"Yay! Then, Riolu will be right there, as soon as Riolu gets some berries for dinner!" Riolu said as he sprinted to the shrubberies to pick out some food.

"No, wait! Ah, I'm hungry already... Wait, never mind. I can't get hungry in here..." Ash muttered as he cursed his bad luck.

A/N: So here goes, another fic of mine. I did a poll not too long ago asking which pairing would be good, and Clair won 50% of the votes.

Hope you enjoyed.