#ash in paldea

[ominousvibez]

hyperfixating on pokemon again, and thinking of an ash journey in paldea. obviously, a lot to think about-- where does his journey start? how much of the game plot does it follow, and how original does it get.

most importantly, what is his team like?

well, i've done my research (AKA extensive bulbapedia deep dives). and going off previous "trends" of ash's journeys, i think i can put together a likely list of pokemon that i could see on his own team-- and possible character arcs involving those pokemon-- with maybe a bit of creative liberties, of course.

1. PIKACHU

i think this is an obvious one. like, duh, of course he has pikachu. they're besties. they'd kill for each other, and they probably have before. they'd die for each other, and have multiple times.

2. SPRIGATITO -> FLORAGATO

i know this is a weird one, but hear me out.

throughout most of the series, ash gets between 1-3 of the starter pokemon. in earlier seasons when it's him, misty and brock, he's gotten all three, with the only exception being notably unova (he has the starter trios in kanto, johto, and unova). in other seasons, he's only gotten 1-2, with the 3rd going to the Region Girl, usually the more feminine one.

but. but!! he's gotten the grass type starter the most often-- bulbasaur, bayleef, sceptile, torterra, and snivy. and rowlet. so i feel like this gen would follow a similar trend, where through shenanigans ash ends up catching a sprigatito (or Sprigatito goes after him).

i'd like to imagine that this starter ends up somehow getting their hidden ability Protean, which if you didn't know, changes the user's type to whatever move it uses. which isn't handy in tera battles because the pokemon will keep their tera type but in normal battles, having a sprigatito go from grass type to, like, fairy or something would be fun! it would shake up a few gyms, for sure.

i'd also like to imagine this sprigatito evolves into floragato and decides, yep, that's enough, and doesn't want to evolve further. not all of ash's starter pokemon fully evolve.

only like six of the thirteen starter pokemon ash catches ever fully evolve. capping it at a overpowered floragato seems like it'd be in character for the classic seasons of the anime. idk plot reasons i guess

3. ROOKIDEE -> CORVIKNIGHT

Paldea is a very interesting region in the Pokemon world because it deviates just like Johto did and it doesn't have a typical regional bird pokemon. Wattrel and Kilowattrel fill in the void, but they're more like the Hoothoot/Noctowl sort of vibe. but I don't see ash catching a Kilowattrel; he's never had an electric-type other than Pikachu, and i doubt that they would try it with that

so, i offer up the alternative: his first official paldea catch is a lil' rookidee.

in this canon, ash never traveled through Galar in the "typical" way. everything with goh & the world champions still happens, and ifso factso plot stuff happens and ash ends up enrolled in the paldea schools.

rookidee fills in the "bird" pokemon slot for ash. he's caught just about every other regional bird (including a shiny Noctowl, how cool), so it makes sense that this one would end up in his care. i think it'd be cool to see ash train up a corviknight. they're cool pokemon. i had one in my shield game and her name was poe (quoth the raven evermore) and she was a BAMF. give ash a BAMF bird, as a treat.

4. NYMBLE -> LOKIX

along with the trend of ash catching the regional bird, he usually catches at least one bug-type, and i think a nymble -> lokix would really fit well into his team. they're an atypical bug-type (bug/dark) but i think it'd be cool to explore an arc where ash catches this poor little nymble who is afraid of everything to eventually help it get over its fears and evolve into a powerful lokix.

there's always at least one Problem Pokemon on ash's team, and i think a lokix that wins enough battles that it gets too cocky would be a good continuation of an arc, and cause inner team conflict.

plus i think lokix looks a little bit like mothman and i think he's cool

5. FINIZEN -> PALAFIN

finizen is a very interesting pokemon. not just the first dolphin pokemon, but the evolution is convulted in the game. you gotta be in a union group and get it past level, like, 35 to technically evolve, but nothing really changes with it until it's in battle and it transforms into it's hero form.

but a palafin just fits to me! ash is a very heroic character, and palafin is the hero Pokemon. the palafin is probably a bit of a reckless dummy like ash, who gets into fights too easily, but training with ash (despite his own reckless streak), helps mellow the pokemon out a bit. boom! character arc.

6. CETODDLE -> CETITAN

every few seasons ash gets ahold of an egg, which evolves into a really strong teammate. i think it'd be funny if ash was given an egg that hatches into this nearly 4 foot tall toddler who likes to bite things. i think it'd be really funny. c'mon.

ice is not a type ash commonly gets. he usually gets the pseudo-legendary or something equal in power to it, some sort of dragon-type. heck, in the last season, he has two dragon-types, a dragonite and a dracovish. i think it'd be a cool juxtaposition to have him come out of a season where he got so many cool dragons and give him this giant literal toddler who will eat anything it sees and is an ice-type.

and, sure, cetitan looks a lot more Mature and Serious. but it is still a toddler, deep down inside, and still bites things. ash needs a comic relief team mate, and cetoddle/cetitan fits pretty well

TRAVELING WITH: KORAIDON

this au that's forming in my brain is a mix of scarlet & violet -- idk how the school works with this, but basically, koraidon and miraidon exist together, as do the paradoxes, and both of arven's parents are emotionally distant professors who focus on research in area zero. poor guy. twice the parental trauma.

anyway, i think i see ash taking care of koraidon a lot more than miraidon. again; he's never had another electric type on his team other than pikachu. and while it'd be cool to see how a "ride" miraidon would interact with pikachu, i think koraidon's past vibes vibes better with ash's more wild nature.

i know ash has caught more than a team's worth of pokemon each generation, and i think there's still definitely room for one more wild card of a pokemon, but i can't think of any that would fit atm.

...

anyway yeah that's what i think ash's paldea team would be like!

[destinywillowleaf]

this might already exist (and if it does please send it my way i want to read it) but XY AU where language barriers exist.

Ash is fluent in Japanese and has decent Galarian (Iris and Cilan helped fill in a lot of gaps from school).

Serena is Kalosian but went out of her way to learn Japanese after that summer camp.

Clemont is fluent in Kalosian, has passable Galarian, and knows enough Paldean and Japanese for challengers (but usually uses a translation tool anyway. which is currently stuck in the gym thanks to Clembot).

Bonnie only knows Kalosian and a couple random Galarian phrases.

i might make loose comic thoughts on it but like. ash shows up in kalos with 0 knowledge of the language aside from MAYBE a few basic things from Alexa like "hello" and "i want to battle". two people with wildly different accents trying to speak the same secondary language until serena shows up and can more effectively communicate some thoughts that get lost in translation. bonnie and ash half-miming to communicate early on but still getting equally excited about pokemon things. an extra layer of "ash does not know miette is flirting with him" cause she thinks he knows at least some kalosian. do you see my vision

[mister-leonn]

So it's all over uh? Im going to hecking cry, this boy built my entire childhood and the way I play and love my Pokémons, it's so hard to say goodbye as some song would say. At least Team Rocket won't give up on their everlasting dream of catching Pikachu.

Thanks Rica Matsumoto, you were the very best.

[potato-frend-blog]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/52349689/chapters/132428347

Paldea Saga: Treasures and Trials by @alittlebookdust

[ede917]

Here's a list (in no particular order) of the various headcanons/theories I imagine as true in my particular fanfic esc Pokémon world.

Penny is trans (and gay but that's practically canon anyway).

Gyarados can only fly if they evolved by climbing a waterfall.

Every region with a League has a Chairman, not just Galar and Paldea.

Charles Goodshow is president of the Pokémon League and thus president of the world (more or less).

Geeta is a bad champion because she was never supposed to be. Something bad happened to the old one forcing her to take the position. That's also why she's a bad boss: she's as overworked as Larry. The reason she's so interested in Nemona and the player is because she's trying to guarantee a new champion to take her spot.

Mina and Ilima's types are switched. Mina is Normal and Ilima is Fairy.

Ash ages normally in universe and is around 19 by series end.

Billy and O'nare are not lovers/partners. Billy is O'nare's bodyguard because he's wearing karate gi.

O'nare is Nemona's mother.

Nemona has some form of impairment (likely asthma) which hinders her ability to preform physical activity.

[blueikeproductions]

I was working on how to approach James’ Tandemaus becoming Maushold anyway, but @reshrom inspired me with their nice note they sent me~!

Jessie: No he’s not! That means I’m the grandma and I refuse to accept I’m old!

Meowth: So what does that make me? Dexter: Second cousin once removed.

Wobbuffet: Wooooobba~! -puts a cigar in everyone’s mouth-

———

As for the joke the occurs in Maushold’s, ah, Evolution…

-Jessie, James, Meowth and Wobbuffet are walking through the Arborliva Forest, having spotted Ash and Alfie training there, until Jessie hears something…-

Jessie: …Say, does anyone else hear that song they play a lot in Fast Times At Celadon High, only muffled?

Meowth: I don’t hear nuttin’.

Jessie: Hmm it stopped. Must’ve just been my imagination…

[dailaz]

Pokémon. The Master 8. Ex version.

[duckapus]

Story idea: Ash decides to livestream his journey through Kanto in an attempt to make the money he needs to replace Misty's bike. Internet Fame-related Hilarity quickly ensues.

Also a few weeks in Cassiopeia becomes the channel's manager and editor, mostly as a cover to help them take down Team Rocket. She initially tries the "hack their phone and present myself as a Mysterious Benefactor" route but Ash recognizes her as Penny despite her modulating her voice because apparently in this universe they're cousins. And yet he still can't see through Team Rocket's disguises...

[missashketchum]

Hi, quick question. You're story mention Paldea. Will you add Paldean Pokémon into your story as well?

maybe? it’s a bit weird with the pokemon I want to add, mainly just figuring out the most convent times for ash to start getting her pokemon back, but seeing as how I agreed to let some pokemon be caught by her, mainly by giving her an aegislash at some point, I may as well add in Paldean pokemon for the fun

maybe a paradox pokemon to add a bit of a challenge? we’ll never know :)

[the-great-knight-gay]

Good starting points in the Pokémon anime

Okay so the Pokémon anime as of posting this is over 1,300 episodes which, if you study math will know, is really fucking big.

Now it may seem pretty daunting to get into it but it thankfully has a simple order and many different starting points to jump into.

(All places which are recommended by me to start from are labelled in bold)

Indigo League: - Start here for the full experience

The first ever arc of the show

Introduces many classic characters

Adventures in the Orange Islands:

Continues on from the story started in Indigo League but the latter half serves as mostly filler while waiting for the Johto arc to begin

Not a good starting place as it requires Indigo League knowledge to watch it

The Johto Journeys:

The start of the Johto arc - New region, new faces

While it is technically a new region, a lot of Indigo League lore as well as some storylines like the GS Ball from Orange Islands is carried over so also not a good start point

Johto League Champions:

Continuation of Johto

Requires Johto Journeys so not a good start point

Master Quest:

Season 3 of Johto

Requires all previous seasons to watch, mainly JJ and JLC but IL and AitOI is also recommended for information on Gary Oak

Advanced:

Start of Hoenn

Technically an OK starting point but references a lot of previous events from Johto and Kanto so wouldn't recommend as a starting point

Advanced Challenge:

Season 2 of Hoenn

Requires Advanced so not a good starting point

Advanced Battle:

Season 3 of Hoenn

Again requires AC and Advanced so not a good starting point

Battle Frontier:

While it is seperate from the Hoenn, Johto and Kanto journeys, they are all required watching for this season as it acts as a sort of finalé to all of it.

It also acts as a season 4 of Hoenn.

Diamond and Pearl:

Season 1 of Sinnoh

Definitely a good starting point as all events referenced from previous seasons are explained well enough that watching the episodes are less of a requirement

From here on out, using the wiki to find out about returning characters is mostly fine as it would be too much to ask to watch 9 seasons for a character that shows up for a small arc

Animation picks up here and battle rules are more standard from here on out

The four move rule is properly implemented here

Plus Sinnoh is overall a highlight of Pokémon

DP Battle Dimension:

Season 2 of Sinnoh

Requires DP so not a good starting point

DP Galactic Battles:

Season 3 of Sinnoh

Requires DP and DPBD so not a good starting point

DP Sinnoh League Victors:

Season 4 of Sinnoh

Requires DP and DPBD

Some returning characters from before Diamond and Pearl appear but from here, using the wiki for information is fine here.

Black and White:

Season 1 of Unova

Sort of a complete fresh start and technically perfect for a new starting point but apart from the first season, the rest of the Unova anime is subpar and should never be someone's first experience with the show.

This is the only somewhat good season of Unova

BW Rival Destinies:

Season 2 of Unova

Honestly you can skip the rest of Unova and just use the wiki for the remaining characters

BW Adventures in Unova and Beyond:

Season 3 of Unova

The only section that requires prior knowledge is Charizard's return and they spend an entire episode explaining what you need to know anyways so no previous watching before Unova is needed but honestly the same rule from Rival Destinies apply. You can skip this one too.

XY:

Season 1 of Kalos

Is a perfect start point for the same reasons as Black and White but doesn't get trash later down the line.

The Kalos section of the anime is widely considered its greatest for good reason.

XY Kalos Quest:

Season 2 of Kalos

XY is required but nothing else.

XYZ:

Season 3 of Kalos

Widely regarded as the best season of Pokemon ever for good reason.

Requires XY and Kalos Quest

Sun and Moon:

Season 1 of Alola

Can start here but is very unconventional to start here.

Amazingly good season but received large negative reception due to releasing after its best season and the animation dipping slightly

Don't let bad reviews fool you. Alola is still a top 3 contender.

Finale does require some Indigo League knowledge but the wiki covers it.

Sun and Moon - Ultra Adventures:

Season 2 of Alola

Requires Sun and Moon

Sun and Moon - Ultra Legends:

Season 3 of Alola

Requires Sun and Moon and Ultra Adventures:

Easily one of the greatest seasons along with XYZ (also my personal favourite)

Journeys:

This was originally supposed to be the start of Galar but with Ash Ketchum leaving the show at the end of this arc, they changed it into a big 3 season memorial for Ash's journey so it became Season 1 of the Journeys arc

Requires basic knowledge of the whole season but nothing too much

It's the earliest available season on Netflix but is not a good starting point because of the content of the rest of the Journeys arc

Master Journeys:

Season 2 of Journeys

Requires a much larger and more intimate knowledge of the rest of the show from Indigo League to Journeys.

Ultimate Journeys:

Season 3 of Journeys

Literally requires complete knowledge of the series characters at the minimum

Or intense use of the wiki for all returning characters which is every other episode

To be a Pokémon Master:

Epilogue of Journeys and Ash's adventure as a whole

Requires knowledge of all of Ash's Pokémon

Horizons:

From here on out, consider this a new show.

All characters are new and all storylines are new

Also it's really good so don't avoid it because Ash isn't there. Give it a chance and you will love it.

[precure-stuff]

I can't be the only oone who finds the writing in Pokemon Horizons so subtle and mature. Even without dialogue the scene conveys their emotions and relationship

[yagurlhere]

Bro, the AUDACITY of Pokemon to end Ash's journey after where he was constantly overshadowed by this Gary Stu that came out of nowhere and caught Pokemon and barely even using them and right before he could enter the Paldea region, especially with how they missed out on the rivalry of a life time.

[mister-leonn]

I miss this baddie so much... I wish they will put him in the next main game like Cynthia in Sun and Moon

[masterofthez]

So I'm overall fine with Ash no longer being the protagonist, but I am a little sad that he stopped right before Paldea. We missed the perfect chance to see Ash catch 20 more Tauros (10 Combat Breed, 5 Blaze Breed, 5 Aqua Breed)

[airandangels]

When her whirlwind airship adventure begins, Liko is worried about missing school and signs up for remote learning on her Rotomphone.

Kid, your school is in Kanto! They don't care! They expect you to drop out at age 10!

[blueikeproductions]

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet anime adaption Ash version.

After another adventure with old friends and foiling Team Rocket’s schemes yet again, the young Champion Ash Ketchum gets an invite to visit the illustrious Orange-Grape Academy in the Paldea Region. He is offered a student teaching position to speak of his experiences in Pokémon Battling as well as get offered a chance to compete in the Blueberry League and fight the local Elite Four.

After being seen off by his current traveling companions, who decide to stay in Kanto to surprise visit their little cousin Liko at Indigo Academy, Ash enrolls at Paldea, starting fresh once more with Pikachu at his side.

Team Rocket, overhearing the matter, decide to infiltrate the school disguised as the RAs of Ash’s dorm in an attempt to get Pikachu, and if possible, nab every Pokémon at the facility.

Ash’s students include Nemona, Arven, Penny, and new character Alfie, an exchange student from Galar who looks up to Ash. These two share a big brother-little brother dynamic and form a duo. Completing the trio is Iono, another student teacher and popular streamer of Paldea. She handles the school’s audio visual arts, and helps fund the school with her videos.

Ash quickly finds Champion life isn’t what it’s cracked up to be, as Iono has made it her mission to document the life of the new World Champ, and films him every waking moment no matter what he’s doing, while Nemona is a teacher’s pet, and as a fellow Champion herself, desperately wants Ash to be her rival. While Ash and Iono manage to get along after finding a compromise (as well as being forced to room together), Nemona proves to be the more annoyingly persistent one that even Team Rocket (disguised or not) has had to step in between on occasion. Nemona openly hates Team Rocket, mostly because of how they interfere in her quest to get Ash to be her rival, and her Pawmo has sent them flying off with a single punch more than once.

Ash works under Director Clavell, who in this universe is a little more eccentric and tries to be more openly “with it” to appeal to the children of the academy. He’s not particularly good at it: he seems somewhat stuck in the 90’s, but he means well and is respected, and someone Ash can go to for advice when unable to talk to his father figure Kukui. When Team Star causes trouble on the school grounds, Clavell often turns to Ash and his friends to “set them straight”. Team Rocket form a rivalry with Team Star and find them tacky and annoying. Like with Team Skull, they often clash with a trio of younger grunts that are analogous to Jessie, James and Meowth. There has at least been one clash between them that involved a weaponized Starmobile and weaponized Meowth balloon mecha.

Team Rocket is instructed to take Giovanni’s teenage nephew Lorenzo under their wing to teach him the ropes. He is functionally the Amethio equivalent, only far less rigid but not any less goal oriented. While he finds TR bizarre, he develops a begrudging respect for the trio. He has some deep rooted issues that see him exploited by the Four Disaster Pokémon. He isn’t a permanent fixture of the group and attends the Academy to learn about Paldea and its Pokémon to benefit Team Rocket while Jessie and James scheme to get Pikachu and the school’s Pokémon.

Goh and Gary meanwhile have reunited and form a research team investigating sightings of the Paradox Pokémon. A running gag is they tend to get distracted by other matters, and often miss the Paradox who is standing right behind them, wondering what they’re doing before wandering off. They host segments on Paldean Pokémon at the end of the episode and are occasionally joined by Professor Oak offering his own opinions and comedic timing to the proceedings. It’s stated on occasion Gary has worked with Friede of the Rising Voltekkars in the past on Pokémon research. Later on in the story, Ash’s group and Team Rocket start having their own experiences with the Paradox and Titan Pokemon, leading to a team up with Goh and Gary to get to the bottom of the matter. Ash’s Orthworm is actually a Titan Pokémon that has an addiction to Herba Mystica, and is a little pathetic, but with Ash’s help, it slowly quits the habit and becomes a capable battler. It had a rivalry from fellow Titan, Klawf, that Team Rocket egged on as a means to be able to control a Titan for their purposes, if temporarily.

Some of the visual glitches are used for comedic purposes, like Ash’s Fuecoco falling into a lake, or Team Rocket getting buggy eyed when a situation goes hairy. The creepy stretched out Player avatar is seen as a sculpture in Brassius’s art class as well.

The Paradox/Titan Pokémon and Arven’s plot are the first major story arc, followed up by the Teal Mask DLC and confrontation with the Four Disasters as the second major arc with the Blueberry League and a related final confrontation with Team Star closing out the series. While the Teal Mask DLC is the main focus, Indigo Disk material outside of the Blueberry League is partly dependent on what Horizons does with Terapagos and if Liko and Ash meet canonically at all.

Ash and James are a major part of Arven’s arc, the three bonding over food and shared love of dog Pokémon. (James doubly so because of Greavard and Growlie.) Greavard is also the return of the loving Pokémon that injures James archetype, accidentally draining his life force when it happily pounces on him. It once slept on top of James during the night and almost killed him. It returns life force by giving James a big sloppy lick in the face.

Partner Pokémon (* designates Evolution):

Ash: Pikachu, Fuecoco, Frigibax*, Wattrel*, Orthworm, Primeape*

Alfie: G-Slowpoke*, Quaxly, Toedscool, Eiscue, Fidough*, Chewtle*

Iono: Bellibolt, Porygon*, Toxel*, Sandy Shocks, Jolteon

Jessie: Wobuffet, Scovillain, Lechonk*

James: Tandemaus*, Poltchageist, Greavard

Lorenzo: Maschiff*, Spidops, G-Meowth, Charcadet*

Supporting Pokémon: Miraidon: A Legendary Pokémon Ash befriends. Ash, Alfie, and Arven nurse it back to health during the early Paradox plot, and it becomes loyal to Ash, sticking with him to the end of the adventure. It has a bit of a Speed Buggy type personality and speech impediment, and drives Ash around campus and later to the Kitakami Region.

Bombirdier: A new courier employed at Team Rocket taking over Delibird’s job. It’s strongly suggested it did a hostile take over of the position… Besides Delibird, it also hates Iron Bundle, mistaking it for Delibird. It has a cruel personality and enjoys dropping heavy deliveries on Team Rocket.

Scream Tail: A little weirdo who pesters both factions. Analogous to the original Jigglypuff, and first encountered by Goh’s group. Seems to have found camaraderie in Team Star.

Iron Bundle: Encountered by Goh’s team, but more properly encountered by Team Rocket. It seems to want to help out people, but also doesn’t abide nonsense, blasting people and Pokémon that anger it with its blaster bag. Seems to have found a place at the Academy’s school store. It has a personality and mannerisms similar to Bubo the robot owl from Clash of the Titans.

Tinkaton: The Bewear equivalent that harasses Team Rocket and occasionally Ash’s group. Its primary motivation is to get James’ bottle caps to bling its hammer, and appears in all manner of crazy ways to acquire them. It once led a squad of its own family of Tinkatuffs riding Cyclizars after Team Rocket during the middle of a Pikachu operation to accomplish this. Team Rocket also once made the mistake of piloting a Corviknight mecha in its presence unknowingly….

Gimmighoul: Another weirdo that took residence in Team Rocket’s dorm room and started playing havoc with their finances and that of the school’s. It takes a fancy to James’ bottle caps also, and forms a friendship with Tinkaton. Its various Gimmighoul Coins are scattered around Paldea, with Ash, Iono, Alfie, Meowth and others having found at least one in passing not knowing what it was but kept it. Gimmighoul, after experimenting with James’ bottle caps, manages to collect its G-Coins and evolve into Gholdengo. Iono affectionately nicknames Gimmighoul/Gholdengo “Earl” after a particular video game character she likes. Has mannerisms and speech patterns similar to Digit the Cockroach from An American Tail as Gimmighoul.

Okidogi, Munkidori, Fezandipiti: The mysterious, mildly eccentric Pokémon of the Kitakami Region. They choose Ash, Team Rocket, Alfie and Iono to assist in preventing a coming disaster that threatens Paldea and Kitakami. Ogerpon’s role is pending further DLC information.