The next day came. Last night, Violet, Daisy, and Lily had booked a room right next to the gang's so they could hang out with Misty more.
And that's how we got to now, with Brock and Ash in the kitchen cooking breakfast for everyone. Well, it was mostly Ash, since it was a special occasion. He was making the special Alolan pancakes that Misty seemed to be addicted to, and he was the only one who knew the recipe. Brock was preparing the Pokémon food.
Yellow was already sitting with Chuchu and Pikachu on her lap as they ate pancakes, and Misty's sisters were happily eating as well. They were more surprised that Ash and Brock were the ones cooking, but it made sense, they knew Misty was almost useless in the kitchen.
But Misty was still in her room. Everyone just assumed she was still sleeping.
Violet, Daisy, and Lily were gathered around the table, giggling and whispering between bites. They were laughing at some of the stories being shared; it sounded more like they were a dysfunctional family with all the things they were hearing.
"She really lucked out with you guys," Daisy said, stabbing a piece of pancake with her fork.
"No kidding," Violet added. "Last time Misty made anything, the fire alarm went off."
"I still think that was her trying to make steamed eggs," Lily giggled, brushing her hair over her shoulder.
Ash chuckled. "Actually, she tried to make pancakes yesterday, and those things nearly took us out. Nidoking somehow still hasn't recovered."
That got some laughs out of everyone.
"I'm starting to think Misty's cooking is a biohazard," Daisy smirked.
"You're not wrong," Brock chimed in, carefully putting out some Pokéblocks for the Pokémon and giving Bonsly his bottle. "But at least she's aware of it now."
Yellow looked over her shoulder. "Hey, is Misty still asleep? She's usually awake by now."
"I think she's awake, I heard some movement a while ago," Brock said.
"Oh, I'll go check on her if you want," Yellow said, gently taking Chuchu off her lap and setting her next to Pikachu. She walked to Misty's door and knocked a few times. "Misty, it's time for breakfast."
She gently pushed the door open, peeking in, and stopped. Misty was standing in front of a mirror, adjusting her clothes. Instead of her usual shorts, she was wearing pants.
Misty sighed and looked embarrassed as she stepped out of her room, scratching the back of her head. As she noticed everyone staring at her, she blushed nervously.
"W-well… how does it look?"
The pants Misty was wearing were the ones Ash had put in her gift box as a distraction, but now, she was actually wearing them.
Ash blinked in surprise. "Wait… you're actually wearing them?"
Misty groaned, burying her face in her hands for a moment before lowering them. "H-hey… you said it was going to be cold, right? Winter is coming up… I'm just wearing them because they're warmer than shorts."
Ash gave her a half-smile. "Hey, I wasn't judging. I just didn't expect you to wear something I picked out."
Violet smirked. "Aww, Misty in pants? That's new. You look cute."
"Totally!" Daisy added, nudging Lily. "Ash, you've got a good eye."
Lily laughed and looked at Ash playfully. "But then again, I guess it should be expected when you're also a cutie," she said with her not-so-secret crush on Ash. As always, Ash ignored her flirting.
"Anyway," he said, trying to change the subject, "sit down, Misty. You're gonna want to eat these while they're still hot."
Misty slid into the empty seat beside Yellow, still a bit red in the face but trying to act normal as she started stuffing her face.
"These really are good…" Daisy said, finishing her plate. "If you guys ever get tired of doing all that training and traveling, you could open a restaurant."
Ash shook his head. "Been there, done that. My mom owns a restaurant. I've already been both a cook and a waiter for people. Why do you think I even learned how to cook?"
He turned off the stove, placing the last of the pancakes on the table. "I mean, if my mom ever decided to retire, the restaurant would be mine. So I guess, in a way, I already have one."
Daisy raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Wait, seriously? You're like… heir to a restaurant?"
Ash gave a shrug as he sat down with his own plate. "Yeah, technically. I mean, it's the only restaurant in Pallet, but people from all over come for the food."
"You're seriously full of surprises," Violet said, reaching for a second helping. "Like, Misty didn't mention half of this stuff."
"That's 'cause Ash doesn't talk about himself unless you drag it out of him," Brock chimed in, sipping his coffee. "He's been through more crazy stuff than anyone I know, but you'd never know unless you lived with him."
"Very true. Can confirm, there is still lore I have that you will never hear from me," Ash said as he took a bite.
"Don't even bother trying. We've been at it for almost a year and we still barely get anything," Misty said, shaking her head.
And so, breakfast continued, just everyone sitting down, eating, and enjoying themselves. Eventually, Violet, Daisy, and Lily had to leave. After a few more hugs with Misty and a promise to tell their parents about her win, they left with Abby and headed back to the Gym.
Now it was just the core four together again.
It was time to talk about what came next. Brock and Misty had already done everything they wanted to do, and Yellow was just along for the ride.
"So, what's the plan? Are we going to Olivine City again?" Misty asked.
Ash shook his head. "Nah. I talked with Jasmine recently, she's still stuck in that wheelchair. But give it a month or so and she should be fine to battle."
Brock nodded. "Yeah… I get that. Her rest is important. She can't be a Gym Leader with that kind of injury. So what do you think, Ash?"
Ash took a breath and looked over at them. "How about Mahogany Town?"
"Oh yeah, there's a Gym there. But I hear getting to it is complicated, hardly anyone goes…" Brock said, pulling out his map.
Misty waved her hand dismissively. "Come on, it can't be that bad. Let's go, then."
Brock blinked and sighed, but smiled. "Since when are you so enthusiastic? I would've thought you'd be the most against what we're going to see. But I guess I can't argue with your energy. We can catch a boat to drop us off at a city nearby."
Ash just nodded. "Got it. Yeah, let's."
But in his head, he was trying to calm himself. Because now, his next target was Pryce, and things were either going to go really well… or horribly wrong.
Let's just say, he was hoping it would be a situation similar to Surge, where he would turn out to be more like his anime and game counterpart rather than the manga version.
Ash shook his head and stood up. "Before we go, give me a moment," he said, stepping out onto the porch.
He could tell they were watching him, but it didn't matter. It wasn't like he was trying to hide anything. He reached into his jacket, pulled out Charizard's Poké Ball, and let him out.
The moment Charizard appeared, he walked right over and nuzzled into Ash's side. Ash rubbed his head affectionately. "Hey, bud."
Yeah, Ash never sent Charizard back after the Whirl Cup. He'd been worried he might need him. But, y'know… being underwater kind of makes a Fire-type useless.
Just then, Abby returned. It looked like she'd gotten a pedicure from Misty's sisters, but Ash didn't say anything.
"Well, I guess it's time for you to head back to the valley, huh?" Ash said.
Charizard let out a small sound of disappointment.
Ash smiled at him. "Yeah, bud, I know. But think of it like this, the sooner you beat that king, the sooner you can come back. Besides, those female Charizard sure seem to want you back, huh~"
Charizard blushed and huffed, looking away. "Char…"
Ash laughed and nudged his shoulder. "C'mon, you idiot. Who said I won't need you again? Who else can I trust?"
Charizard looked up and huffed with a little more pride this time.
Ash smiled and held up his Dynamax Band. "So, what do you say? One more charge before you go?"
Charizard nodded, inhaled deeply, and released a weak [Eternabeam], which the band immediately began absorbing. It shimmered faintly as it finished charging.
Ash grinned and held out his fist. "Thanks, man. I'll see you soon. And I mean it, I expect some shinies when I get back~"
Charizard blushed again and looked away, but still met Ash's fist half way for a fist bump. Then he looked over at Abby and nodded.
Just like that, Abby and Charizard teleported away.
Ash sighed and turned back around, only to see everyone watching from the window. Yellow looked like she might've been wiping her eyes.
Ash rolled his eyes… but smiled anyway.
He wouldn't want it any other way.
—-
{Ashtwo}
Ash sat at a workbench, a screwdriver in one hand and a welding tool in the other, eyes narrowed in focus as he worked on the strange device in front of him.
Spread across the table were salvaged bits of tech, scrap circuit boards, fried PokéGear components, tangled wires, and an unfinished exoskeletal frame that vaguely resembled a pair of gauntlets and boots. He paused, tightened a screw, and leaned back to inspect his progress.
"What do you think?" he asked without looking up.
His phone lit up, Rotom and Porygon-Z flickered into view, avatars dancing across the screen.
"Bzzz—Sir, weld section two to five, then update the circuit paths," Porygon-Z advised in its signature glitchy monotone.
Rotom immediately cut in, static crackling. "Wait! That'll cut power to section four! Bzzz—you should cut out section three instead!"
Ash sighed, cracking a crooked smile. "You two are worse than Meowth when she wants to nap on my chest."
"We take offense to that—Bzzz," Rotom huffed.
"Recalculating. Adjusting logic tree for optimal build route," Porygon-Z murmured as its screen avatar distorted in pixelated static.
You might be wondering what Ash was building. A mech? That would be cool. But no, that wasn't realistic. He wasn't an expert in robotics, not yet, anyway.
Right now, it was something more grounded. Gauntlets. Boots. Maybe some reactive armor nodes. Realistically attainable stuff, if you had cheat codes.
And Ash did.
Rotom and Porygon-Z had downloaded nearly every robotics database on the open internet. Thanks to Porygon-Z's… morally flexible data gathering, they'd even snagged some restricted schematics no civilian was supposed to see.
Ash wasn't an expert. Not yet. But with his photographic memory and his two digital companions, he was getting there.
In the corner of the room sat someone else, thumbing through a thick robotics manual. Not Drowzee anymore. He was Hypno now.
Ash had finally started training his old Team Rocket team, the ones everyone assumed he'd left behind. Turns out, he was just waiting for the right time.
And now? That time had come.
Because when Hypno evolved, he finally found out what his mutation was.
—
[Hypno (M)]
[Blessed by Hypnos – Has full control over dreams and can induce waking dreams in others.]
—
Basically? Genjutsu And while it didn't seem like much at first, Ash was nothing if not creative. Borrowing a few tricks from Naruto's playbook didn't hurt either.
But back to the tech.
You're probably wondering where Ash was getting the parts for all this. Well he stole them.
—
{Flashback no Jutsu}
He'd waited until Helena left on a mission with Jay, Enid, and Domino. Then, under the cover of night, Hypno teleported him to the ruins of the abandoned laboratory.
It had collapsed, of course. Self-destruct protocol and all that.
But Ash didn't care.
He summoned Gengar, nodding once. "Find us a way in."
Gengar grinned, turned intangible, and drifted forward like a shadow. Ash linked his vision to Gengar's using Aura, watching through the ghost's eyes.
After a few tense minutes, Gengar paused in front of a jagged crack in the rubble, just barely wide enough for a person.
"Perfect," Ash murmured.
Hypno blinked them to the spot. The air was thick with dust and stale heat. The scent of scorched metal and ozone still lingered, like ghosts of the last explosion. Gengar lit a [Will-O-Wisp] in his palm, casting a flickering blue light that danced across the fractured corridor.
The underground lab was mangled. Beams had fused from the heat, consoles were melted together, walls half-caved in. But Ash wasn't here to mourn.
He was here to salvage what was left
"Gengar, Hypno, make sure this place doesn't collapse on us."
Both Pokémon nodded and took up position. Ash pointed ahead, and Muk began oozing from his sleeves, spilling forward in viscous, purple waves.
"Drill mode."
Muk solidified into a spiraling corkscrew, drilling through the wreckage. Ash guided the rotation with subtle gestures, leaving reinforced walls behind, sludge hardened into a support shell.
Soon, they broke into the lab proper.
There it was, his first target: the prototype Iron Hands.
Unlike the others, it hadn't self-destructed. Ash took this one out before any of them, so it was in good condition
Without hesitation, Ash dragged it over and shoved the heavy frame into his personal dimension.
He didn't need to study it, not yet. The prize wasn't the data. It was the tech.
The paradox Pokémon were destroyed, but their technology… was still very real and more valuable
His eyes gleamed. "Let's find more."
Gengar took point again, phasing through the walls ahead, scouting. Hypno's psychic covered the ceiling, keeping the ruins stable.
Ash pushed forward, boots crunching over shattered consoles and melted paneling, eyes scanning with Aura for anything
After about half an hour, he found the next jackpot: a pile of wrecked robots, casualties from the battle against Proton's forces.
Many had self-destructed, leaving only mangled limbs and scorched metal husks. But some were intact enough to be useful.
He quickly spotted the lifeless bodies of an Iron Jugulis and an Iron Treads, two of other ones that got beaten by Proton's squad instead of self destructing. Into the dimension they went.
Then came a few battered Iron Bundles, some more Iron Treads (in worse condition), and a scattering of miscellaneous components, broken arms, sparking cores, severed necks.
Perfect for spare parts… or new toys.
Ash wasn't an expert, not yet. He knew he'd mess things up. So, the more backup parts, the better.
Eventually, he reached the wreckage of the Iron Thorns, what was left of it. Into the dimension it went too.
From the look of it, this was the end of the facility. No sign of additional robots. No further hallways.
But Ash didn't trust appearances.
He turned to Gengar. "Look for hidden rooms. A storage wing, anything sealed."
Gengar nodded and slipped underground. A few seconds passed.
Then he popped back up with a gleeful grin. "Jie jie!"
Ash followed him to a solid slab of concrete. No markings. No doors.
But that never stopped him.
"Muk," Ash ordered.
Muk slammed into the wall with a spiraling drill-arm, and the concrete cracked, groaned, and then collapsed inward.
Behind it was a hidden chamber.
He stepped into the hidden room, and immediately found a sealed terminal glowing softly in the dark.
Ash didn't even bother touching it himself. "Porygon-Z. Go wild."
The glitchy Pokémon flickered out of the Rotomphone and phased directly into the console. "Bzzz—Acknowledged. Downloading all useful data. Disabling bombs and security systems. One moment..."
Ash moved deeper into the hidden chamber, passing through another door, which he promptly kicked open.
Inside was a storage bay filled with capsules. Most were empty. But three were occupied.
One held a dormant Iron Valiant. Two others held Iron Moths, intact and inactive.
Then Ash spotted the real prize: three more pods off to the side. His heart skipped.
They held an Iron Leaves, an Iron Boulder, and an Iron Crown. Unlike the others, these weren't even complete. Parts of them were clearly unfinished, exposed inner cores, half-assembled limbs, cracked visors. That explained why they hadn't self-destructed with the others.
On the floor lay other robotic Paradox Pokémon, deactivated or destroyed. Scrap, mostly—but potentially valuable.
Ash tapped his earpiece. "Porygon, I've got a few here. I need them completely disabled. If there's any bomb protocol, shut it down. Wipe whatever control code they have."
"Roger roger," came Porygon-Z's glitchy response.
A mechanical hiss echoed as the capsules disengaged. The robots fell out, lifeless, inert. Ash loaded them one by one into his dimension storage, taking the Iron Valiant and both Iron Moths, plus whatever salvageable scraps were scattered nearby.
The remaining three opened, and Iron Leaves, Iron Boulder, and Iron Crown, collapsed to the floor with dull thuds.
"Too valuable to leave behind," he muttered, adding them to his collection. He pried one of the empty pods free from the floor for later use.
Job done, he returned to the main chamber, retrieved Porygon-Z, and gave Hypno the nod.
A pulse of psychic energy, and they teleported back.
—
{Flashback no Jutsu end}
Ash leaned back from the workbench, sweat glistening on his brow, his gloves coated in grime and soot. He stared down at the half-finished gauntlet in his hands, Iron Hands tech, repurposed and personalized.
The work wasn't finished. Not even close. He'd had more failures than successes. But he had time.
He wasn't planning to rely on his Aura forever. It was powerful, yes, but not infinite. Not when hes been getting pushed to his limits again and again
Rotom and Porygon-Z buzzed with suggestions, overlaying holographic schematics in front of him.
Rotom chattered in one ear. "Bzzz—Pressure is exceeding tolerance! Reinforce micro-actuators in Segment B!"
Porygon-Z chimed in from a screen. "Segment B irreparably flawed–Bzzz—suggest replacement with alloy Type-γ."
Ash adjusted the circuitry with a small smile. "You're both right. So, compromise."
Then Ash stopped.
He felt something, someone, approaching. Aura flared.
He put the welding tool down and walked to the door, opening it just as a fist hovered in front of it, ready to knock.
Helena blinked, hand still mid-air.
"Ah… D… I was going to, nevermind," she said awkwardly, stepping back.
Behind her stood Jay, Enid, and Domino.
Ash raised an eyebrow. "Can I help you? I was busy."
Enid crossed her arms. "Well, Sayoko assigned us a mission. And you're coming with us."
Ash opened his mouth to object, but Domino jumped in, "Actually, Sayoko told Helena about the mission and asked her to invite you. The rest of us? Helena was allowed to pick some others. So, here we are."
Ash closed his eyes for a moment. "That makes more sense." He stepped back, already retreating. "Very well. I'll meet you there."
Then he shut the door.
Enid's eye twitched. "Rude."
Helena stared at the door a moment longer, shoulders slumping. "I was going to ask if he wanted to join us for lunch…"
Jay patted her shoulder gently. "We'll get the chance after the mission. Let's just get ready."
"Yeah, alright," Helena sighed
----
By the way the Rewrite is out, first 21 chapters have been changed, i recommend you go reread those since i made some very big changes, and some stuff is going to happen that won't make any sense unless you do