Fanfic / The Ash Connection

Dedicated to the fans
Who have stuck with the series
From 1997 to 2013
This is for those
Who still believe in Ash.

The Ash Connection is a Pokémon Fanfic authored by I am Lu, started and finished in 2013. A sequel, The Ash Connection II: The Rising, was completed on July 26th, 2016.

A string of violent attacks at the hands of a mysterious Pokémon has caught Lance and the G-Men off-guard. Little about the motive is clear, other than Ash Ketchum is somehow a factor. His friends and rivals now must confront an important question: Is he really the fabled Chosen One? The story contains multiple pairings, including Ash/Misty, May/Drew, and Gary/Leaf, and features an Ensemble Cast, as does the sequel. Many ideas are taken from many facets of Pokemon canon, including the musical Pokémon Live! implying Giovanni was Ash's father.

The sequel begins seven years since the fall of Team Rocket. Lance, Cynthia, and Alder have left their Championship seats to a new generation of trainers who will face their first true test after Team Plasma terrorizes Iris on the day of her inauguration.

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The Ash Connection provides examples of the following tropes:

• Adults Are Useless: More than one of the teenage protagonists have this opinion.
• All-Loving Hero: Ash.
• Antihero: Paul and, later on, Silver.
• Badass Crew: The G-Men, considering who the leaders are. Even Team Rocket as well!
• Big Bad: Giovanni.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: Family is a major theme and almost every character has some kind of familial issue.
• The Chosen One: Ash is said to be this, but ultimately it comes down to the characters believing or not Ash really is The Chosen One. Ash himself does not believe he's really the Chosen.
• Contrived Coincidence: Best phrased as "going wrong in the right way". However, whether it is luck or fate is up to the reader.
• Crapsaccharine World:
  • There are multiple social issues rampart in the fanfic from abandonment to alcoholism with obvious grey morality but the world chose to view in black and white. There's also the Champion's political status and they can do anything they want despite not being elected leaders.
  • Kids having their trainer's license legally or illegally. They are free to do whatever they want but they need support from parents or a legal guardian to give them the path they needed (bank accounts for example, which they would not likely have access to or even have without connections). So if you don't have support, the last possible action is to join Team Rocket, which offered a widespread of opportunities, no matter how amoral the missions may be. It was heavily implied in Drew, Leaf, and Felly, and even Domino's case.
• Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Paul and Reggie's father kept a distant father relationship to keep his family safe. To say the least, Paul and Reggie didn't take it well and had a major grudge.
• Deadpan Snarker: There are quite a few with some gems then and there.
• Diabolical Mastermind: Even in canon, Giovanni was made for this trope.
• Driven to Suicide: Paul and Reggie's mother, and the Team Rocket member Proton.
• Dysfunction Junction: Name one character who doesn't have some kind of issue in this story
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Or Bittersweet Ending more like.
• The End of the World as We Know It: Giovanni is messing with the legendaries, so this is a given.
• Evil Plan: Giovanni has it all planned out. He plans to hold Moltres hostage so that the world would beg him to release it. He will then rule the world. But is there more to it?
• Everyone Meets Everyone: The premise is that everyone is connected to Ash in some way, which makes them walking targets when Giovanni decides to strike.
• Faking the Dead: An elaborate plan of Lance's to make Giovanni think his obstacles are gone.
• Growing Up Sucks: Heavily examined.
• Happily Married:
  • Steven and Cynthia, eventually Reggie and Maylene by the end of the story.
  • Iris and Cilan, as well as Tracey and Daisy, in the sequel.
• Heel–Face Turn: Jessie, James, and Meowth.
• Heroes "R" Us: The G-Men are this in concept, though their methods are revealed to be just as dark as Team Rocket and corruption is there.
• Heroic Bastard: Ash and Silver are the sons of Giovanni.
• It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: Ash completely melts down in chapter 22, feeling everything that's happening was his fault. Too much pressure hinges on him to the point he finally cracked.
• Mind-Control Music: Meloetta's music is essentially this.
• Nebulous Evil Organisation: Team Rocket, though there are some good people who had no idea they are working for them, or worked for them because it was the belief of actually achieving something great in there, or to just live.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Silver points out to Leaf the similarities between Team Rocket and G-Men but Leaf also points out the differences.
• Original Generation: Erol Adalet and Trip's mother Emily aren't from the anime or games.
• The Prophecy: And thus the world shall turn to Ash. Sounds familiar?
• The Reveal: Delia reveals Giovanni is Ash's father early on in the story.
• Poor Communication Kills: Drew, Paul and Reggie's problems with their fathers could have been avoided if they sat down and talked.
• Psychic Dreams for Everyone: Ash receives warnings from Mewtwo in the form of nightmares.
• Take Over the World: Seemingly Giovanni's plan, as revealed in chapter 15.
• True Companions: The group Ash met became this, even Paul and Gary. Best known for being called The Ash Connection.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Leaf wants to be recognized by Lance. Averted with Silver, Drew. Zig-zagged with Paul and Reggie.

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