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Ash finished packing his bag the following morning as his mom cooked breakfast. Meanwhile Deliah remembered the past and her old home. She sighed as memories came flooding back to her. Ash's father and her dancing in the ballroom, running through the gardens, laughing as his father's stantler pranced around. She worked on auto pilot making a large breakfast for Ash and herself. She snapped out of her reverie when Ash came in yawning and said "Morning mom, you ready to take the ship to Arcania in a few days." Deliah smiled and said "Sure am Honey, it'll be nice to be home for once. Pallete town is wonderful, but Arcania is where I grew up. Now that you're older it'll be nice to see your reaction to the towns and cities."

Ash nodded and slowly started eating while Pikachu dine on his favorite delicacy, ketchup. The three ate in companionable silence as Mimey, Ash's mom's Mr. Mime cleaned up the house. He knew they were going on a journey, but he didn't want to leave a mess behind. Ash couldn't blame him nor could Deliah the two finished eating and Ash's mom went to her room to finish packing while Ash relaxed on the couch watching tv with pikachu. Yesterday he'd picked his team and talked with Professor Oak, and the old professor told him what little he knew of the Arcania region.

Deliah walked out of her room towing a large bag behind her and said "I'm ready to go when you are hun." Ash got up yawning and Pikachu hopped on his shoulder then the three of them headed for the door as Mimey walked up wearing an apron and carrying his own bag. The three set out for Vermillion city where they'd take a boat to the Arcadia region. As they walked Mrs. Ketchum talked to Ash about his adventures. Mimey just walked along humming softly to himself with the occasional "Mime, mime."

The three stopped and rested for the night when they reached Viridian forest. They camped midway through and Deliah made them all dinner. Pikachu sighed softly wishing he had some ketchup. Ash chuckled reading his buddy's mind and said "Don't worry pikachu there'll be ketchup at the pokémon center in Pewter city. At least we have mom's cooking this time." Pikachu nodded sagely and the two watched as Mrs. Ketchum ladled their food into bowls and handed one to everyone.

Ash and Pikachu ate slowly, savoring every bite and thinking back to the many tastes they'd had throughout their journeys, Brock's food which always made them smile, Cilan's special spices and connoisseur experience, and the food they'd had at the different pokémon centers. Ash smiled to himself thinking nothing quite matched his mom's abilities and he silently wondered where she'd learned to cook so well. Meanwhile Deliah and Mimey were talking in their own way. They were happy to be travelling with Ash, however they sensed this journey wasn't something Ash was quite ready for. That was the main reason Deliah went along, the Arcania had their own set of rules to everything. Their battling styles were different, the people had their own customs, and the land lived separate from the rest of the world by choice despite it having some of the best trainers in the world.

Deliah sighed knowing that unless Ash gained a teacher he'd never make it in Arcania. She wondered silently if Damien was inviting Ash due to a grudge with the boy's father then shook the thought away knowing the knights were to honorable for such a cruel ploy. She decided that Damien planned on telling Ash what he knew of Ash's father which wasn't much. The knights had barely known the boy's father even after he became head of the knights he kept to himself. The only thing that he ever admitted to was having blood on his hands before fighting the knights and running from a dark past. He also had a special pokeball he'd hidden in the palace and only Deliah knew the location of now that he was gone.

Ash silently pondered the pensive look on his mother's face then blinked as a weedle fell onto the top of his hat and said "Weedle." He shook it off and glanced at his new outfit. He wore a black vest, a red t shirt, his usual cap with a black and white pokeball on it, jeans, and black and red sneakers. He yawned and pulled his cap down starting to doze as his mother and Mimey went about tidying up camp. As he slept he dreamed he was talking with Lucario from back when he had been at the tree of life. The two talked for a while until Ash was awoken at dawn by his mom. They packed up camp and started for the other side of the forest arriving in Pewter city and heading to the pokémon center. Ash had his pokémon checked on while Deliah and Mimey relaxed in the trainer center eating lunch.

Ash shortly joined them with pikachu and let his team out to eat. They all reacted differently depending on their personality, quilava let his flame flow a few minutes then dug in, Charizard just dug in with a snort, Snivy and bayleef ate slowly and daintily, pikachu ate quickly, and Krookodile did an amusing pose then dug in. Deliah laughed softly at their antics, and Ash just shook his head. The nine of them finished up lunch and headed out for the cave that led through mount moon to cerulean city. Viridian city had been a quick stop before the forest, but it hadn't been worth staying the night there.

The three walked through Mount Moon with Pikachu chasing away the stray zubat that thought them easy targets. Mimey kept the rock types away with psychic moves and all in all, their journey was rather short. They got to cerulean and had a quick rest at the pokémon center they decided to stay the night and finish their journey in the morning. Ash sat up talking with Pikachu and his mom long after she returned Mimey to his ball and thought about sleep herself. Finally after a time they fell asleep each dreaming of the journey ahead in their own way.

The following morning they got up and headed out with a refreshed Mimey and a relaxed pikachu. They took a shortcut to Vermilion City where they would look for a boat; however first, as they were leaving they dropped by the gym to say by to Ash's friend Misty and her sisters. The four of them looked Ash up and down then Daisy, the eldest sister, said "Wow Ash you've changed a lot since the last time we saw you, what's your secret." He blushed slightly at the praise and said "Training with my pokémon for six years." She nodded and bid him and his mom adieu. When they arrived in Vermillion City they had to look all over until they found the one captain who knew the way to Arcania.

He smiled slightly when they mentioned the place and said "Aye, I can take you there, but I doubt you'll thank me for it after all it is the toughest region." Ash grinned and said "Great that means me and my team will have our work cut out for us." Deliah smiled fondly at Ash's enthusiasm, but didn't comment. The three of them, Ash, Deliah, and Mimey, followed the captain to his boat and loaded up in an organized manner with Deliah directing the boys where to put their stuff in their rooms. The captain laughed and said "You sure know how to run things Mrs. Ketchum." Deliah just smiled back and replied "It comes from having run a restaurant a while and having raised Ash."

The captain nodded and then went to work preparing the ship for the journey across the sea. Meanwhile Ash leaned on the railing remembering his adventures and psyching himself up for the coming battles. Meanwhile Mimey was in the room Deliah would be using and tidying it up. Ash looked at pikachu who sat on the rail next to him and said "Off on another adventure buddy, think things will be ok, or think this'll be our biggest challenge yet?" Pikachu just shrugged and said "Chu, pikachu." Ash nodded in acceptance of what his buddy said and replied "You're right, we'll have to see what happens when we get to the island.

After that the captain set out and both Ash and Deliah reclined in their quarters. The ships journey would last about five days so Ash figured that would be five days of rest before his biggest challenge yet. Meanwhile Deliah had time to think back and remember her life on the island. This also gave Mimey and Pikachu a chance to relax without worrying about their owners getting into some kind of trouble, especially with Team Rocket no longer chasing Ash.

The journey was uneventful and rather pleasant, but this just made the slightly excitable teenager who'd been aboard the ship for the last five days antsy to get to shore and let his pokémon out. As soon as the boat docked Ash ran down the loading ramp with his bag on his back and pikachu on his shoulder and calling out his pokémon. As soon as they were out Ash's team started exploring the beach, well all of them except Krookodile and Charizard who were staring each other down in a silent battle of wills. Both stopped when Deliah coughed from the loading dock and went their separate ways. Krookodile went to check on bayleef and quilava while Charizard took to the sky to explore the area from the air.

Snivy meanwhile relaxed with Pikachu on Ash's shoulders. Eventually Ash let out a loud sharp whistle calling his team to him and returning them as a young man with dirty blonde hair, a sword strapped to his back over a dark green cape, wearing a brown tunic and black leggings walked up. The man studied Ash and said "Are you Ash Ketchum?" Ash nodded slowly said "Yeah, might I ask who you are?" The man laughed and said "I'm Jared Vance, and I challenge you to a pokémon duel." Ash blinked and asked "What's a pokémon duel?" Jared stared at him and Deliah answered "It's where the trainer battles beside their pokémon."

She then glanced at Jared and said "Have we met before?" The man slowly bowed to Deliah and said "Yes Ma'am. We met when you were here last. My name is Jared Vance; your husband taught me everything I know before you both vanished." Deliah smiled and replied "Wow, I didn't think you'd end up growing into such an attractive young man when you were so skinny as a child. Has the knights' way of training truly helped change you that much?" Jared nodded then said "Sine your son doesn't know that much about the way of life here on the island I think I'll give him a lesson, if you don't mind." Deliah shook her head and Jared called out a Salamance. What was different about this Salamance was his coloring, he was black and silver rather than the usual blue and red. He snorted and Ash grinned saying "If you want an aerial battle then face my partner Charizard!" as he spoke he threw the pokeball into the air and released Charizard who roared jet of flame into the sky.

Charizard and Salamance stared each other down then took to the sky ripping and clawing at each other. Ash blinked as a piece of wood was tossed in his hand then quickly grasped it with both hands as Jared rushed at him. Jared swung a piece of wood roughly cut into the shape of a sword at Ash's head only to have Ash block it with his own piece of wood and push back against him as they clinched. Slowly he pushed Jared back enough to have breathing room only to be attacked again ferociously, meanwhile Charizard was having a hard time fighting Salamance who was always one step ahead of him.

Both trainers were soon covered in sweat and Ash was covered in a few welts that couldn't be seen through his clothing but hampered his movements. He swung again at Jared this time knocking him in the shoulder but Jared had anticipated the blow and used it to thrust his piece of wood forward and slam it into Ash's stomach saying "It's over. Nice try, but you need a teacher if you want to get any better at pokémon dueling." As he finished speaking Charizard was slammed into the ground next to Ash pinned by Salamance. Ash slowly fell on his face as everything started to go black.

As Ash passed out Deliah walked over to Jared and said "If you did any permanent harm to him Jared you'll have to deal with my wrath." Jared sweat dropped and replied "He'll be up in a little bit, but he really does need a teacher." Deliah smirked and said "Then you'll be happy to take him under your wing, won't you?" Jared mentally swore and said "Yes Ma'am." Deliah nodded then returned Charizard and handed his ball to Ash who was slowly climbing to his feet. Ash smiled in thanks then Jared coughed politely and said "About a teacher, I figure I can show you what I know if you're up for it." Ash slowly nodded and said "Sure, I'd be glad to learn more about pokémon dueling."

With that taken care of Ash, Jared, and Deliah headed to the castle with Mimey in tow, along the way Jared told Ash a bit about the island's history and how its traditions were still held onto after years of new trainers coming and going. Deliah meanwhile remembered her childhood on the island playing on the beach with a raven haired princess, and a blonde haired boy who was always watching out for her and had once offered her his heart.

After about ten minutes they got to the castle gate where Jared was saluted and they were met by a tall man with slightly graying blonde hair wearing an elegant suit who said "So I see you've met our guests Jared. I didn't know you'd attack one of them or I'd have warned them ahead of time." Ash grimaced and said "My fault, I accepted his challenge not realizing just how tough he is." The man laughed and said "Just like your father, willing to take on the blame even when it wasn't his fault. Hello Deliah, how've you been?" Deliah smiled at the man and said "Hello Damien glad to see you haven't changed."

Damien grinned and said "Not really, I'm still the young man who fights whenever he gets the chance at heart. Sadly the same can't be said for my body." Deliah nodded in understanding and the two walked off leaving Jared and Ash to themselves. Jared led Ash inside then to one of the guest rooms where he tossed everything except his pokeballs. Jared led Ash to a garden and said "You can let your pokémon out here." Ash nodded and called everyone out only to have Charizard nearly fall on him in exhaustion. Jared chuckled and motioned for Ash and Charizard to follow him then led them to a hot spring and said "There are lava pools under the castle that keep it heated year round. They are a great place for fire pokémon to heal up as well." Ash nodded and Jared led them down to the lava pools which Charizard promptly jumped into then they left him there and headed back to Ash's room.

Ash plopped on his bed when they got to his room and asked Jared "What do you know about my dad." Jared winced slightly and said "Not a lot, he was the head of all three of the king's battalions. The knights, the psychics, and the aura guard. He was around your mom a lot, and he showed up on the island after a shipwreck so he was raised by Sir Timothy Alexander. When Sir Alexander died he was crushed, but your mom pulled him through it and he went on to become the youngest leader the knights, the aura guard, and the psychic battalion have ever had. Is that enough for you to think on Ash?" Ash nodded and closed his eyes as Pikachu walked in and hopped up on the bed before Jared left closing the door behind him.

While Ash slept on his mother sat down with Sir Damien and talked about the past. She didn't bring up why she left, and he never asked. They just laughed about the good times until someone knocked on Damien's door. He walked over and opened it to reveal the raven haired girl from Deliah's memory only more mature walked in. She was wearing a simple white gown with lace cuffs and smiled when she saw Deliah. She walked over and hugged the slightly older woman and said "Good to see you Deliah. I wish you'd come back sooner but from what I heard you only came back to protect your son from politics."

Deliah smiled sadly and said "That is part of why I'm back, but I wished to check up on old friends as well. Have you changed Lydia, or is the inside as bright as the outside is dark?" Princess Lydia smiled and said "I've only matured a little. My father still complains about the fact I refuse to pick a suitor, but the one man I loved, chose you instead of me."