"So… I've become Ash Ketchum?!"
Staring at the unfamiliar face reflected in the water—and at the Pikachu perched on his shoulder—Leo Elessar couldn't help but let out a helpless smile. He never imagined he'd transmigrate… and actually become the protagonist, Ash himself.
From the memories flooding his mind, Ash had just wrapped up his journey through the Kanto region. He had made it to the Top 16 of the Indigo League and earned the title of Honorary Trainer in the Orange League, then returned home to Pallet Town.
Just moments ago, he and his travel companions—Brock and Misty—had packed their bags and were preparing to head west, toward the Johto region, to challenge the Johto League.
On top of that, Professor Oak had entrusted him with an additional mission: deliver the mysterious GS Ball to Kurt in Azalea Town.
"From now on, I am Ash Ketchum!"
The strange feeling in his body quickly faded as Leo Elessar's soul fully fused with Ash's. A new Ash was born.
"The Silver Conference in Johto, the Ever Grande Conference in Hoenn, the Lily of the Valley Conference in Sinnoh, the Vertress Conference in Unova… I'm going to win every single one of them. And after that, I'll become Champion of the Kanto region and make up for all the regrets I had before transmigrating!"
Ash clenched his fist tightly. Now, with a clear goal in mind, this journey would be one without regrets. His coming to this world would not be in vain.
"Come to think of it, the original Ash really underperformed in Johto. None of the Johto starters evolved to their final forms, and his performance in the league was pretty disappointing."
"And it wasn't just that. During his journey, all the Pokémon he caught in Kanto either got loaned out or released. Aside from Charizard, most of them disappeared from the spotlight. The saddest case has to be Bulbasaur—reduced to being a babysitter in Professor Oak's lab."
As a transmigrator, Ash discovered he had been granted a system—aptly named the Bond System.
The name instantly reminded him of the time the original Ash traveled through the Kalos region, when he and Greninja formed a unique Bond Evolution, transforming Greninja into Ash-Greninja.
Although they eventually lost to a Mega Charizard X in a type disadvantage battle, that tournament had marked the peak of the original Ash's competitive career.
The system included a shop, a storage space, and a Bond Level display feature.
It could measure the bond level between Ash and each of his Pokémon. Once a bond reached a certain threshold, they could undergo Bond Evolution—just like Ash-Greninja.
Even Pokémon that could Mega Evolve, like Charizard, could instead undergo this Bond Evolution to become an "Ash" version—Ash-Charizard.
How cool is that?!
As for the system shop, it only allowed the exchange of Pokémon items and certain supernatural powers unique to the Pokémon world—things like the Aura or the Power of Dragon.
You couldn't exchange for Pokémon themselves.
Exchange Points were earned by winning battles, with the amount depending on performance.
After finishing one full region's journey, the system had rewarded the original Ash with 3,000 points—a pretty decent starting bonus.
"Maybe I should redeem Aura first!"
Having read the original story, Ash knew that he was born with the power of Aura. He had even been called the Aura Guardian with a Pikachu by his side. But the original Ash had never trained it, nor knew how to.
However, he had a theory: maybe the Bond Evolution ability stemmed from his latent Aura.
And coincidentally, 3,000 points were just enough to redeem a basic-level Aura.
In the next moment, a blue light flashed across Ash's body. His vision cleared, and an innate understanding of how to wield Aura began to surface within him.
"Pika?"
Pikachu let out a puzzled cry. It could sense that something had changed in Ash.
"Haha, Pikachu, I'm counting on you from here on out!"
Ash took a glance at the Bond Level data displayed by the system.
Pikachu: 180 / 255
Charizard: 140 / 255
Snorlax: 120 / 255
Squirtle: 120 / 175
Bulbasaur: 120 / 180
The numbers after the slash confused him for a moment, so he looked them up.
Turns out, every Pokémon had a unique Compatibility Level with him.
That number determined the maximum bond level possible with each Pokémon.
Compatibility wasn't fixed—it changed with evolution, training intensity, and the time they spent together. The more they bonded, the higher the cap became.
It was kind of like how married couples began to resemble each other the longer they lived together.
To undergo Bond Evolution, the bond had to reach 255—the maximum level.
So, realistically, only Pikachu, Charizard, and Snorlax were within reach right now.
Ash hadn't expected to have such a high compatibility with Snorlax of all Pokémon.
As for Pikachu—not even fully evolved—having such high compatibility only confirmed what Ash already knew: this was his soulmate. Truly a destined partner!
As for Squirtle and Bulbasaur, he wouldn't force anything. After all, both had clearly expressed their refusal to evolve.
"Pika!"
Upon hearing Ash's words, Pikachu's fighting spirit ignited. It looked up with confident eyes that said, Leave it to me!
"Ash, what are you doing? I think we're lost again!"
Misty's irritated voice suddenly rang out.
Ash snapped out of his thoughts. Right—they had just left Pallet Town, heading west toward New Bark Town.
The town where the winds of new beginnings blow!
Technically, they should've reached it already, just by passing through this forest—but a heavy fog had completely obscured the path.
They had been wandering for a while. And somewhere during that confusion… he had transmigrated.
"Don't worry, Misty! We'll find the way soon!"
Now that Ash had a basic grasp of Aura, he believed he wouldn't get lost again.
At that moment, he suddenly felt something—a warm, gentle, yet powerful Aura.
He looked up, and right in the water ahead, a shimmering blue figure emerged.
"Suicune?"
Of course Ash recognized it. That was clearly Suicune's silhouette!
Suicune met his gaze, then leapt gracefully in one direction. It was unmistakably guiding them.
Ash could feel Suicune's Aura gradually fade as it disappeared into the distance.
"Thank you, Suicune! I'll find you somewhere in Johto!"
Ash shouted after it with all his heart. He was certain Suicune could hear him.
And in that moment, he wasn't just speaking to Suicune—he was calling out to the entire world of Pokémon.
He had arrived.
And somewhere out there, Pokémon awaited him.