As Ash walked down the halls of the academy during his break, he saw Mr. Saguaro's class and saw him making a giant sandwich. Drawn in mainly due to his endless appetite, he entered.

"Hello Saguaro! That is one heck of a sandwich!"

Saguaro turned at the sound, and gave a small smile towards Ash. "Good day, Master Ash. I'm always looking for new recipes for sandwiches, you see."

"A sandwich enthusiast?"

"You could say that. I'm looking for new recipes to master the arts of it, and in fact, having students around making recommendations left and right is helpful in my pursuit of mastery!"

"I would think so. Having more minds around you bring light to things you overlook. Every student has a battle style and personality, and based on that they create strategies specific to themselves. I never thought it would really be like this when I joined, to be honest, but having such close bonds with students is more... fulfilling? I assume you understand."

"I do, Master Ash. Speaking on that topic, you are quite the object of everyone's interest, though I imagine that may be a bother to you..."

Ash sighed. "Having your achievement recognized constantly is flattering, but I believe this is too much. It's no biggie, after all, most students here are young and meeting the guy they saw in TV for them is huge."

Saguaro smiled and pondered to himself, before continuing the conversation. "That is the most popular consensus towards you, and the one I hear constantly. You see, the Home Ec room is something of a place to rest for the students here, and they often gossip while enjoying a light snack, and so often I participate in their conversations, where you're mentioned constantly, and I find myself intrigued. If you don't mind, I would very much appreciate your company from time to time."

"Sure. Besides, I should probably learn how to cook something like a sandwich for road-trips"

"And I myself could learn more about battling. I've often been criticized for my preferences of 'cute' Pokemon, and so I would like to know the correct form of battling."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "There is no 'correct' form of battling. There isn't any Pokemon who guarantees victory, and no Pokemon is incapable of winning. Saguaro, I may not know which Pokemon you prefer using, but if you trust them and they trust you, you can get very far in competition. For example, an experience that marked me for almost my whole career, and the reason Pikachu battles more often than the rest of my Pokemon, is an instance of a trainer winning a double battle world tournament with his Pachirisu, a Pokemon that almost no one considered worthy for a tournament."

Saguaro was visibly surprised by that. "A Pachirisu won a tournament?" Saguaro looked downwards towards the pockets in his apron, and pulled out a pokeball.

"Pachi!"

A Pachirisu exited the pokeball and ran around Saguaro happily, before spotting Pikachu and immediately running up Ash to stand next to him.

"Well, it's true. This little guy could be the next champion of a world tournament. Really, any Pokemon can if trained correctly and with a good strategy."

Saguaro thanked Ash deeply as Pachirisu just bounced up and down, probably not even understanding what they were talking about.

( - )

When he finished his classes, he entered the teacher's lounge, but surprisingly enough Raifort wasn't there, and instead Tyme was grading homework. She immediately looked up from her paper when he sensed him approaching.

"Hello, Tyme!"

"Ah, hello Ash! Have you by chance been following me?"

"Pardon?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just, a bit nervous, I would say."

"Want to talk about it?"

"That would be quite kind of you." Ash sat down on the nearest chair, and let Tyme speak. "You see, I mentioned before that I was a Rock type gym leader, yes?"

"Yup. I remember that it Now the gym is your sister's, and it's a Ghost type gym, right?"

"Correct! I personally like the spark of personality she gave it, but I'm getting distracted. Well, I believe that some students know of my previous position as a Gym Leader. Now, that would be fine, but I've recently had this sensation of a sort of fire in the eyes of the students, and recently I've been saying more and more peeking their heads around me."

"You believe they're stalking you?"

"I do not want to rush to conclusions, but from first impressions, I believe that is unfortunately the case. I believed they wanted to ask a question, but they have been stalking far longer when they've had multiple opportunities of doing so."

<I hope that the stalkers are youngsters or teenagers...> "Well, Tyme. If I see any behavior of the sorts, I will confront the person that is stalking you. Maybe when I do so we will understand the 'why' of the situation."

"I'm truly grateful, Ash. Have a good day."

"You as well, Tyme."

After he finished most of his things, he went to the Director's office, only to find him in a call with some woman. Even so, he urged him to enter the office, and he did.

"Leave the report on the table, I'll read it in a minute... yes, it's a professor of this academy."

Ash was a tad curious for what the conversation was about, but knowing better than to interrupt, Ash went for the door.

"Who is he, if I may ask?"

At the sound of the woman's voice, a pokeball opened, and Koraidon looked for the source.

"Aagiiiaaaaa!"

Ash quickly turned around at the sound, and much to his chagrin there Koraidon was, looking with curiosity at the giant screen where the woman was, now turned to face him. Ash could see the woman now clearly, as she wore a sort of caveman-styled two piece, and was looking at him directly, completely neutrally.

"Young man, are you Koraidon's trainer?"

Ash felt his Adam's apple tightening, as he spoke with all the firmness he had. "Yes I am."

The woman stared with the same expression of neutrality at him, as she continued. "Where did you meet him?"

"Injured on a beach after escaping from a house. I defeated the Pokemon who were attacking him, and he decided to join me."

The woman nodded twice. "Very well. I assume you know already, but I am Koraidon's original trainer. My name is Sada, I'm a professor who works in Area Zero, researching ancient Pokemon."

"Yes, I've been informed of who you are."

The woman continued, almost neglecting his interruption. "I am currently stuck there. As you have Koraidon, I urge you to take care of him exceptionally well."

"I'm already doing so. Also, as you know more about him than I do, I've been made aware that Koraidon is incapable of battling. Do you know why?"

The woman stared at him, before speaking as normal. "Koraidon got into an accident back at the lab, and lost his spirit for battling. Currently, there is no solution, though you are more than welcome to try..."

"Ash Ketchum. Battle Studies teacher at Naranja Academy."

The woman nodded, and promptly ended the call. Director Clavell was still awestruck at Koraidon, when he snapped out of it to talk to Ash.

"I was not aware of you possessing a Pokemon from Professor Sada."

Ash relaxed. "The first day I arrived here was when I met him. Then I had no idea who he was, but Jacq informed me of Professor Sada, and I put two and two together."

Koraidon was still softly standing there, looking happily at Ash. Clavell sighed. "There's no exception to having any Pokemon, so it's allowed, however do not bring him out during lectures or at public places."

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning to."

"Good. Thank you for your efforts today."

Ash bid his goodbye and, as it wasn't too late, decided to go on a ride through the wilderness around his house. Not long after, while riding Koraidon, Ash spotted a tall tower, and decided to head there.

When he arrived, he saw a man with a compass standing there, looking at his phone.

"Excuse me, what is this tower?"

The man immediately jumped, and began greeting Ash extremely excitedly.

"Oh, hello young man! Been having some nice battles?"

"Huh? I mean, the few I've battled, yeah."

"Perfect! Finally, I don't have to stand around here all day!" The man gave Ash an Amulet Coin, and left immediately via a flying taxi.

After Ash accepted what just happened, he hung the Amulet Coin like a collar, and climbed the tower. After a good two minutes of exercise, he reached the top only to find a disk laying around and a treasure chest. He picked up the disk, which had written on it the words "TM012:LowKick".

<Well, I now at least have a TM...> Ash went to the treasure chest to open it, but was attacked by a small pokemon inside, who opened the chest fast enough and swung it at him, making him fall flat.

"What the-" He didn't get to finish, as Pikachu launched a quick Electro Ball at the Pokemon, defeating him instantly. The Pokemon woke up after a couple seconds of being down, before teleporting away, in the process dropping a ton of coins.

Ash picked up all of them, though he didn't recognize them from anywhere. He swiftly then returned to his home, where his Pokemon were doing whatever they felt like doing.

It was nice to see the new Tauros bonding so quickly with the rest of them, and Nymble finding himself a nice friendship with Leavanny, who was happier than she had been in a long time. After checking up on them, he discovered Leavanny had taught Nymble Bug Bite, and he was really proud of that.

There was a bit of a commotion cause by Typhlosion wanting to battle Charizard, and him declining, which shocked both Ash and Typhlosion.

"Ty typh sion!" Charizard exited smoke as a response, as Typhlosion continued to refute Charizard, who crossed his arms.

"Alright, what's up with both of you? Typhlosion, don't get so antsy, and Charizard, why don't you wanna battle?" Charizard looked annoyed, before signaling to Typhlosion, who looked shocked. "Uh, I don't understand your language, y'know? A bit of help?" Charizard shot a flamethrower at the sky, as Typhlosion continued to argue at him.

<Arceus, this would be so much better if I actually knew what they were saying...> "Okay, Typhlosion, cut out the arguing. Charizard, I may not know what you're saying, but I know you, and you wouldn't turn down a challenge unless it was for a good reason. Typhlosion-" But she had already left fuming. Noctowl, who was watching the conflict and making sure it didn't get out of hand, flew for her as Ash shaked his head.

Conflicts like these happened rarely, but when they did, Ash wanted nothing more than to be able to help. However, he didn't understand them, and he never would. Sighing, he entered his house and did the daily chores.

While doing said chores, he found he had received mail from the Paldean government that he needed to get a paldean ID, and that a reservation was made for him at 8:00 a.m.

<Another problem to add on, I suppose.> Pikachu sensed his trainers distress, and nuzzled his cheek, restoring his trainer's spirit slightly. Picking up his Rotom Phone, he dialed Kuro's number. After a few rings, he picked up.

"Hello, who is this?"

"It's Ash."

"Ah, what's up mate?"

"Well, I need to get my ID done tomorrow. Can you sub for the first three classes?"

"Sure, no prob." A sound of a knife stabbing into a table twice was heard, slightly worrying Ash.

"Where are you, by the way?"

"At my house playing a card game, why?"

"Ah, I thought I heard a knife stabbing something."

"You heard well." A small bell rang from Kuro's phone, and the sound of three items getting placed into a scale soon followed.

"I have no clue what you're playing, but I'll leave you alone now."

"Alright. I'll be tomorrow. See ya later, mate."

"Bye, dude." Ash hung up. "Pikachu, what the hell was he playing?" Pikachu just shrugged.

(Time skip.)

Kuro arrived at the courtyard, this time dressing himself with a white professional jacket instead of his usual white hoodie.

Soon, a couple of kids entered, and two immediately went towards him.

"Hi, do you know where Mr. Ash is?"

"Well, Ash today can't be here, so I'm his substitute. The name's Kuro. Don't worry, I'm doing basically the same things he will be doing, but with my own twist, of course."

"Ok. My name's Florian, and this is my sis Juliana!" That earned him a bonk on the head, which Kuro found mildly amusing.

"Do you always have to say that?"

"What? Is there a problem?"

Juliana sighed, not wanting to continue arguing.

"You two remind me of two... friends of mine."

That made the two kids look at him.

"Yeah, I would consider them friends, though I never got their real names, I only knew them as Aster and Eclipse." The bell rang, and just then Kuro realized that everyone was present.

The class itself was normal. He passed attendance, let everyone have their Pokemon out, and refereed a couple of battles, giving tips whenever one finished to both battlers.

As he surveyed each battle, he saw Florian and Juliana battling, and promptly headed there. It was a match of Fuecoco versus Quaxly, and Fuecoco was winning, as Quaxly fired off Water Guns that could be svoided by the trained Pokemon, who Ember by Ember was dealing Quaxly some damage. In the end, Fuecoco came out on top.

"Nice match, you two. Even with type disadvantage, you managed to win, Florian."

"Thanks!" Juliana just returned her Quaxly, not even paying attention to Florian blabbering about how great his Fuecoco is. Kuro caught on to this, and tapped Florian's head, before signaling to her sister. Florian quickly got a look of surprise and shame, as he went running towards his sister.

"That was such a good battle, Juliana!" She looked at him with doubt.

"How so? You practically floored Quaxly."

"Not at all! Quaxly put up a great fight!" Fuecoco agreed, as Juliana raised both eyebrows in surprise. "Not only because of the type advantage! Ash told us that trust is what will get you the farthest in Pokemon battles, and Quaxly trusts you!"

"If I may, he is right." Kuro entered the conversation, as both youngsters turned to look at him. "Quaxly trust you as his trainer, and you trust him as your partner. The reason why you lost was because Florian was picking up an advantage, and you didn't fight for it. Each hit he dealt demoralized you, and you were more reluctant to throw out attacks, or to try out another strategy."

Juliana lowered her head, as if called out, and her entire head was covered by her overly large sunhat. Kuro picked up the hat, causing Juliana to raise her head in surprise, and he put it back afterwards, so that now she was facing him. "I was caught out like that before. During a gym battle, the field was a pitch black cavern. I went in extremely confident because I had a good team with really good moves against the gym leader, but the more I began losing Pokemon, even though we were technically even, the more I thought I had lost. And that mindset was what made me actually lose. I could've won if I wasn't so dejected. I know that, because a day later, without changing my strategy, I fought the gym again, and won."

Juliana and Florian looked at Kuro with empathy, as he continued. "If you learn to think positively about losing situations, you can turn around otherwise lost causes. I mean, look at Ash, for example. The lad has made absolutely insane comebacks. Who's to say you can't?"

The bell rang, and Kuro bid farewell to the youngsters and began preparing the next class. As he was doing so, after the last student left, Viennois released himself from his pokeball and slithered to coil himself around him.

Soon enough, the girl from yesterday dashed straight at Kuro, but stopped once he saw that he wasn't Ash.

"Where's Ash?"

"Getting his ID. I'm subbing for him today."

"So, is it battling time?!"

"Once everyone arrives and I pass attendance, sure."

And after he did exactly that, Nemona began battling every student he could come aceros that would want to battle her. Soon enough, he floored everyone, and no one wanted a rematch. After Nemona returned from healing her Pokemon, he asked people for battles, to which they all declined, while having their own matches. Almost twenty minutes before the class finished, Nemona had nothing to do, and was just running around doing laps.

"Viennois, I think it's about time you stretch yourself a bit." "Pe!" "Too bad, so sad. You haven't battled in a month, mate." Viennois reluctantly accepted, and Kuro stopped Nemona's laps. Nemona immediately understood, surprising Kuro, and went to one side of the many battlefields. Kuro took his place, and Viennois slithered down and into the battlefield, coiling in a way so he was fanning himself with his tail.

"Ok, que empiece la fiesta, Floragato!" A green cat with a rose he used as a yo-yo was released, and after seeing his opponent, he did a trick with his flower, placed it on his mouth, and got ready for battle.

"You start."

"Floragato, start off with Hone Claws!"

"Wring Out!"

Viennois slithered menacingly and quickly towards Floragato, who sharpened his claws between eachother.

"U-Turn to stop him!"

"Leaf Storm point blank!" As Floragato prepared to kick and run, Viennois stopped, slammed his tail on the ground, and summoned enormous amounts of leaves, who carried Floragato away while dealing damage. In the end, the damage was minor.

"SEEEERP!"

Viennois glowed a bright red, surprising everyone watching the battle.

"Huh?! It gained special attack instead of losing it?!"

"Yup! I'll explain later. Your turn."

"Alright, that won't stop us! Floragato, Quick Attack!" Floragato dashed at the Serperior, who did not have enough time to react, and was hit in the face by the move, dealing a bit of damage.

"Dragon Pulse!"

"Get out of there!" Floragato began dashing away from Viennois, who quickly charged the attack and released it. At the sound of its release, Floragato jumped to the right, barely avoiding the attack, who impacted the ground and made the grass catch a bit aflame.

"Keep the attack!"

"Keep dodging with Quick Attack!" Viennois continued firing the beam, as Floragato jumped over it when necessary and dealing damage to Serperior when he was close. Nemona then saw what the plan was, as the grass began catching on the fire thanks to the blue flare inside the Dragon Pulse, and soon both Viennois and Floragato were trapped inside the flames of the arena.

"Nature Power!" Viennois slammed his tail on the ground, burning himself in the process, but managed to create a beam of fire in the semblance of Flamethrower, and it hit Floragato, who wasn't prepared for the attack, dealing enough damage for the opposing Grass type to faint.

Kuro was about to return Serperior, when he realized the terrain was practically smoking. Muffling curses under his breath, he quietly released a pokemon, who used rain dance, and then was swiftly returned. Once the fire was put out, Serperior used Sunny Day, and all was normal again.

Except for how some of the grass was burned, but that's besides the point.

"Eso ha molado un huevo! Your Serperior is crazy strong!"

"That he is! He is by far the strongest Pokemon I have." As Viennois went towards him and coiled himself around Kuro in pride, Kuro swiftly bonked him in the head. At the Serperior's protest, he reprimanded him. "He wasn't a fully evolved Pokemon, and you went practically all out on