1,383Six years she had been traveling and she still wasn't any closer to becoming a Pokémon master. She had been to all sorts of regions, seen and dealt with so many issues that most kids her age wouldn't be ten feet within range of it, and come out stronger.
After learning of her Aura, she had tried to train it but without a dedicated teacher she wasn't making much progress. There was Riley, who had at least been kind enough to share his number so she could ask him questions, but he was often outside the range of service or she had figured it out herself (or given up for the time being) and often forgot to ask him when she did managed to contact him.
Throughout it all, Pikachu was by her side. He was an indispensable partner that she was dependent on, and a constant companion in her everyday life.
Forget Pokémon master...at this point she had given up on getting a boyfriend. All the traveling companions she had gained parted ways, or had fallen into the sibling role, as was the case with Brock. Or they simply weren't her type at all.
But now, traveling had gotten boring and her mother had started talking about her possibly returning to school for a bit. Don't get her wrong, she knew Ash enjoyed it, but most trainers at least returned to normal schooling in between leagues and didn't travel between regions as often as Ash did.
Ash would be the first to admit, her wanderlust needed a break and it meant she could bond with the ones she left behind.
Too bad for her, her chaotic luck wouldn't allow that.
In the dreamscape...
"So let me get this straight...there's this world on the other side of the dimensional gap you guard that has been having issues with dark energy leaking into your distortion world...and you want me to go there and find out what's causing it and get it to stop?"
Giratina (with the assistance of a passing Mew) nodded.
"This energy is really becoming a problem, and because they travel through mirrors to get around, it leaks back here," translated Mew. "Giratina wants to find out if they can put a filter or something to get them to knock it off, but he can't leave this world for obvious reasons long enough to get their attention to the issue."
"Which is why you called me," said Ash, guessing.
"Giratina also talked to Arceus, and he would permit you to travel between realms to solve the issue."
"Mom's going to be annoyed...she wanted me to find a decent school for a while to settle down, rather than go to the next region like usual," said Ash.
"Didn't we tell you? The main source of the headache is a school," said Mew, tilting it's head.
"Question...do these people know I'm coming? Generally speaking humans don't like someone showing up on their doorstep making demands without a proper introduction first..."asked Ash.
That...had apparently slipped their mind.
Mew suddenly looked to Giratina, who said something.
"He said that he could contact the spirit in charge of the mirror they use and ask them to 'select' you as a new student," said Mew. "Apparently he's been complaining about it as well, but it's trapped inside the mirror realm so it can't interact directly."
This...solved quite a few problems. She could go on another adventure with Pikachu in a new world entirely, and go to school like her mom wanted.
"Wait...I can still contact mom and the rest, right?"
"Arceus can fix your phone to allow it," said Mew. He had done it before, after all.
Ash was excited...an entirely new adventure in a land she had never heard of before. She couldn't wait.
To say Crowley was surprised that the Dark Mirror requested a meeting was an understatement. Apparently the issue of the negative energy in his school had gotten to the point the spirit could no longer ignore it...and neither could others like it.
There was one small catch...the one chosen to possibly resolve the issue was a female, and the school specifically catered only to males.
"This is ridiculous," complained Crewel. "Allowing a mere puppy who can't even dress appropriately and barely wears the essentials is low, even for you headmage."
"Her decorum is appalling," said Trein.
"I don't know, this seems exciting!" said Sam.
"In any case my hands are tied... the Dark Mirror was firm that this was necessary, unless we want even more trouble than usual," said Crowley. "Her gender aside, her magic levels are acceptable for our school. The problem is she has no proper training to use it."
"Where is this puppy anyway?" said Crewel annoyed.
"Currently in her home town settling her affairs," replied Crowley.
"If we're allowing her into this school, we'll need ground rules or else there will be anarchy," said Trein.
"Agreed," said Crewel.
"The main issue is her gender, correct?" said Sam. "Why not have her agreed to take a gender-switching potion for as long as she's a student?"
"Those can have long term side effects," said Crewel. "But you make a solid point...if the real problem is the gender, then a few spells and an iron-clad agreement might resolve the main issue neatly without us having to get involved."
"What about payment?" asked Sam. "From what was implied, I doubt this girl would know anything about our currency, let alone have any on her."
"Good question," said Crowley. He hadn't considered that, and they weren't running on a charity here.
A few inquiries later, and whoever the Dark Mirror was contacting had him spit out a large number of what looked to be diamonds. Crewel picked up to inspect it and his expression was comical, to say the least.
"I've never seen diamonds of this clarity and purity...just where in the name of the Seven is this student from, royalty?" he said incredulous.
"Would this suffice?" asked Crowley.
Sam picked one up, and tested for a moment.
"Definitely. If they can supply this, I can sell them to some jewelers I know to our currency."
Things became rather hectic, as the teachers worked together to allow this outsider into their school as a student.
It was fortunate her name was gender-equal, as it meant she wouldn't have to get used to a new name when she enrolled.
More importantly were the jewels sent by this mysterious party. With help from Crewel and Sam, they were able to create a magical artifact that would hide the girl's gender from the rest of the school, and more importantly outsiders. She would be required to wear it at all times, and forbidden from revealing her gender to the others unless it was an 'exceptional circumstance'.
From what Crowley learned of the girl, odds were she'd be drawn to trouble on her own.
"Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah mom. I'm actually pretty excited, restrictions aside," said Ash.
Maybe now she'd finally get the hang of using Aura correctly. She was really excited about that.
Ash had her current Pokedex on her, as she was eager to see what sort of Pokémon were there. As per usual, she had none of her Pokéballs on her belt, as she liked to start out fresh with Pikachu, for the better experience. It wouldn't be fair if she curbstomped all the locals with a highly trained team after all.
In order to travel through the mirror, she needed one big enough for her to fit through. Traveling through Giratina's realm was weird, but she had done it before with no issue.
She had even checked that she could contact her mom and her friends via her newly upgraded phone. It had vanished from her bedside table one morning, only to reappear during dinner by dropping on her head. It now highly resembled Arceus.
It was so weird, walking through the mirror. Giratina personally delivered her and Pikachu to the portal she would be using to get to and from her home and this school.
Almost immediately she was greeted by someone wearing a Murkrow mask, or something similar.
"Welcome, welcome!" he said cheerfully. "I am the headmage Crowley, and you must be Mr. Ketchum."
"Just call me Ash," she replied.
"In order for you to undergo a proper enrollment, you'll need to be sorted. But before that happens, you need to put these on."
In his hands were a very fancy looking robe and...a bracelet?
"What's this for?"
"It's an enchanted bracelet. I'm afraid this school only allows boys to enroll, so this will conceal your gender among them. It's non-negotiable I'm afraid."
"Wait...this is an all-boy's school? They said something about special restrictions, but they never mentioned that!" said Ash.
Still, she had already committed to going and she acted more like a tomboy to begin with, according to damn near everyone she knew. Misty and some of her female friends had said that it was an honest shame she had such a one-track mind when it came to being a trainer. Especially the rare times they managed to convince her to dress up as a girl.
"This is so weird," said Ash. Her voice had changed slightly and her curves had disappeared almost completely. She still had a feminine-figure, but her bust-line had disappeared almost completely. Still, it was a small price to pay to see what sort of Pokémon were in this place.
If that wasn't weird enough, being put into a literal coffin (thankfully Pikachu was allowed) was beyond scary.
Ash felt nervous...but at the same time, excited. Though she did wonder at the lack of pokeballs. Did the headmaster have everyone take theirs off to keep the piece? Some trainers simply couldn't help but brag and let their team out to do some damage.
The more she looked around, the more confused she became. There were a lot of people with animal ears and features. One of them reminded her a lot of Entei, just grumpier.
Standing before the mirror, Ash tried to hide her excitement.
The form your soul takes is...Savanaclaw!
"Shishishi...so the little mouse is in the same dorm as me? This is going to be fun."
Ash turned to face who said that. He had fluffy ears that made her want to pet him, and a mischievous expression on his face. She knew she'd get along great with him.
Ash wandered over to him with a grin on her face. This was going to be fun!
A few hours later...
She was wrong. This was not fun. Not only were the other students completely oblivious to what a Pokémon was, they looked at her strangely for mentioning anything about her world at all. And stuff they took as common knowledge were completely foreign to her.
"Shishishi... looks like the mousy is a fish out of water around here," said the boy she noticed earlier. His name was Ruggie and he was a freshman too.
"I suppose I am a bit of a Magikarp out of water," she agreed. "And the name's Ash, not Mousy."
"Nah, with that familiar of yours, mousy suits you just fine," said Ruggie.
"Pi...ka...CHU!"
"GAH! What the heck?!" said Ruggie, being given a 'love tap' of an electric shock.
"Sorry about that. Pikachu takes offense to being dismissed as a common mouse...even if his classification is the Electric Mouse Pokémon. That was pretty low-level for him," said Ash.
"That thing can shock people?" said Ruggie surprised.
Ash grinned.
"What do you say Pikachu, want to show off what you can do?"
"Pika-pi!"
"Oh? So the mouse duo thinks they can survive my dorm with a few shocks?" said the housewarden. Leona, if she remembered right.
"Bring it on!" said Ash confidently. "Pikachu and I will take on any challengers!"
"Pika!"
What happened next gave Ash a major hint of how her life at this school was going to be like...because the moment she tried to use her aura via the weird spell pen Crowley had given her (changed to Savanaclaw colors)...the thing exploded and so did everyone in her vicinity.
Plus side, no one doubted her place as one of them again, because Pikachu was a fierce battler and Ash didn't hesitate to back him up with the limited martial arts she had learned.