Ash and Teams RWBY and JNPR flew back to Beacon. After about 15 minutes of flying, Ash's eyes widen at the sight of a gigantic tower that was at the center of a campus from beneath. When they touched down right in front of the tower, Ash just stared at it.
"Welcome to Beacon Academy." Ruby said as she walked right next to Ash.
"There's no time for sight-seeing now Ashy boy, we have to get you to Headmaster Ozpin immediately." Yang said with a smirk before tugging on his arm forward towards Beacon.
As they made their way towards Beacon Tower, Ash heard murmurs and whispers from surrounding people eyeing him.
"Is that who I think it is?" A girl spoke close by with another girl next to her.
"It can't be him." A guy said under his breath as he sat on a tree trunk nearby.
Ash was looking around at the people and decided to pull his hood up for concealment. 'The hell are they looking at me like that for?' He thought to himself.
After walking for a few minutes, they all reached the same elevator towards Ozpin's office.
"After you." Juane insisted in a polite tone as Ash went in first.
'I got a bad feeling about this!' Ash thought as everyone else entered behind him and he continued to have his hood up. As the elevator began to ascend, Ash turned around to lean on a wall and saw that they were all watching him.
"What? Why are you all looking at me like that?" Ash asked.
Blake quickly looked away from Ash with a slight blush on her face. Ash noticed it pretty quickly.
"What is it Blake?" Ash asked as the rest of Team RWBY turned towards him.
"Yeah, you've been very quiet ever since we collected Ash." Yang said as she moved closer to her teammate.
"I-it's nothing." Blake tried to ensure them, but Weiss wasn't buying it.
"Don't lie to us. Ever since Ash showed his face to us, you have been nothing but silent all day." Weiss spat out.
It was then Ruby remembered that day 7 years ago when she and the rest of Team RWBY were watching the news of Ash's disappearance. "Well, at least we know that Ash is still alive and well right?"
Ash turned towards Ruby for what she said. "You....heard what happened?" Ash asked.
"All of us here knew what happened. A few days after the Kalos League Championship match, the ones that betrayed you, everything." Ren spoke out.
Pikachu glared at Ren and sparks began to erupt out of his cheeks.
"Easy there Pikachu, he didn't mean such." Ash said as he scratched his lower chin, calming him down at an instant. Everyone took a step back from the event that just happened.
"My apologies for that, Pikachu hasn't fully recovered from that day. Just don't mention that day to him. Just look at his scar, that's the proof." Ash explained before pointing at Pikachu's scar across his face.
The groups looked closely at the scar. Ruby, Blake and Pyrrha eyes widen from that.
"I'm so sorry about what happened. Well, hopefully things will go better with you guys soon." Pyrrha said.
"I'm hoping for the same." Ash said with a smile.
A little bit later, they arrived at Ozpin's office. They saw Ozpin with someone else with them. The person was a matured blonde woman with a cape and a long crop in her hand. The both of them looked over at them, Ash especially.
"Welcome, we have been expecting you." Ozpin said to Ash.
"You must be Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon?" Ash assumed.
"Correct and this is my assistant Glynda Goodwitch, you must be wondering why Teams RWBY and JNPR went to get you from the Emerald Forest. We were wondering if you are willing to help us with the rest of the Grimm, and against a crime organization called the White Fang?" Ozpin asked him as he stood up from his chair.
Ash raised an eyebrow of the group. "The White Fang? What's that?" He asked.
"The White Fang is an organization that was once a peaceful group made up of Faunus's for equality. Even after peace was made, the humans still treated them as low class labor." Glynda explained.
"You mean the slave group?" Ash asked as he developed anger in his eyes.
"Exactly, thus the White Fang's leader stepped down and a new one took over and turned the White Fang turned to a crime group that will kill anyone that don't give them the proper respect they deserve." Ozpin said as he picked up where Glynda picked up.
Ash stood there in shock that a group would do such a thing. Sure he took on many crime organizations that seek world domination to even galactic take over, but killing off innocent lives for not giving any respect to once peace holding group was something he couldn't take.
"That's.....that's horrible. I might be afraid to ask this, but....what's a Faunus?" Ash asked.
Everyone in the room was shocked to hear that. Ozpin calmed down first and spoke, "A Faunus is a human with animal instincts and traits."
"I see. Where I'm from, we don't have any of them. I'm willing to bet we would accept them. I'm willing to help out as much as I can to stop the White Fang and the Grimm." Ash said with a smile.
Blake just stared at him with a shocked and a heartwarming feeling that Ash would help to fight off the White Fang.
"Excellent. But first, where did you learn to do these stunts?" Ozpin asked as he showed him a recorded footage of Ash and his Pokemon fighting off the Grimm with ease.
After watching the footage, Ash decided to be clear. But first, he decided to take his hood off. "7 years of isolated training thanks to the power of the Keyblade and Lord Arceus himself." Ash answered, leaving a stunned Ozpin and Glynda as they stared at the man everyone thought had disappeared from that fateful day.
"Yep, it's Ash Ketchum alright. In the flesh and combat fit." Blake stepped in and placed a hand on his shoulder. For some reason, Ash felt a calming sensation from the touch from her. He glanced towards her and looked into the amber color eyes and smiled at her.
"I....I can see that. (Clears throat) Anyway, you seemed to be a master with the Keyblade. Have you ever considered being a Pokemon Huntsman?" Ozpin continued.
Ash looked confused at this. "A Pokemon Huntsman? I'm willing to bet they are people that use Pokemon to fight by their sides, as well as the trainer getting into combat as well with weapons as well. Is that right?" Ash wondered.
"More or less. They help keep the people around the 4 kingdoms safe from the White Fang and the Grimm as well. They are willing to risk their lives to save others around them." Ozpin answered.
Ash grew a smile. He could never forget how he risked to even having to sacrifice himself to save countless lives, ranging from Mewtwo's domination, to even Arceus's rage towards the humans.
"Sounds like the times when throughout many of my journeys from many regions, I had to risk everything to stop a crime organizations schemes, to even quelling the rage of multiple legendaries. I'm in." Ash responed as he summoned his Divine Elemental Keyblade and flung it over his shoulder.
This was the best news that Ozpin heard. "Wonderful, tomorrow morning you will be put through an initiation that will be viewed here to see a new Pokemon Huntsman in training become one of them. Talk among these 2 Teams to decide where you will sleep for the night. All of you are dismissed." Ozpin said.
Ash nodded as he dismissed his Keyblade. "I'll be waiting sir." Ash said with a smile as he turned towards the elevator with the others behind him. By the time the elevator closed, Ozpin took his scroll and punched in a number.
"Professor Ozpin, if what we believe about him is true, is it wise to have an outsider like him attending here?" Glynda asked.
"For all that has happened, we're gonna need all the help we can get. His footage here explains it all." Ozpin replied.
Ash put his hood back up before the elevator doors opened. To his surprise, he saw that everywhere was completely disserted.
"Must be dinner time." Pyrrha spoke that broke the silence.
"It has been an interesting day. Let's go grab some grub." Ash suggested. Everyone agreed to this and Ash followed the others to the dining hall.
Upon arrival, Ash saw that everyone was there socializing like in a cafeteria in a school. They went to grab some food and they sat at RWBY and JNPR's usual spot, with Ash sitting next to Blake, who gave him a quick look over.
Soon after they ate and socialized, the group decided to return to their dorm rooms for the rest of the day. Ash followed them and ignored many people that stared at him due to him with his hood up. A few minutes of walking, they entered RWBY's dorm and Ash was shocked at how it looked. It was your typical girls room with boy band posters, and the most iconic thing that stood out were the modified 'bunk beds' with one of them on top of some textbooks, and one that was being held onto with ropes from the ceiling.
"Wow." Ash murmured to himself of the look of this room.
"So Ash, I know you probably won't like it if we ask but.....what happened that day after you supposedly disappeared?" Ruby asked as everyone eyed him.
Ash sighed and looked at Pikachu. He nodded at him for it being okay to talk about it. "It's kind of a long story, but I'll break it down to the most important details." Ash began as he took a chair and sat on it.
"Before I was almost killed, the Keyblade called the Divine Elemental was summoned and blocked the incoming attacks. Through the smoke, it created a portal to a heavenly place called the Hall of Origin. The great Arceus, along with Palkia and Dialga, the deities of time and space, explained to me that I was chosen to help keep this world safe from the darkness that was growing. They sent me to Mt. Silver to train until such time when the Keyblade knew that my training was complete." Ash began.
"Hold on! MT. SILVER!? THE LARGEST MOUNTAIN ON THE PLANET!?" Yang yelled out.
"Yes. There I have stayed for 7 years, away from any human population." Ash responded.
"No wonder no one was able to find you. That place is too dangerous for anyone to go from Kanto and Johto." Jaune said in disbelief.
"Anyway, after my training began I knew I needed some backup, and a new team to call my own. A week later, I heard a rumor going around Kanto that Unova placed a tombstone in the center of Celestial Tower. When nighttime fell, I was able to go inside thanks to my knowledge of creating portals so I can get to places easily. It was true; a giant tombstone that had my name on it was there. It was there I met a Litwick, which later evolved into the Chandelure that you all saw earlier today. Here's the proof of the tombstone." Ash said as he took out his Pokedex and showed them the picture of the tombstone.
Everyone gasped at this, even Weiss was terrified at this. "This is horrible. Everyone there must've thought you died and your body was pulverized." She said.
Unbeknownst to the others, Blake was almost about to shed tears hearing this story from her favorite idol, who she gained a crush on for years now.
"That's the worst part. After Litwick saw me alive and well, she joined me and we began our training. Avalugg was next. After about a year of training with the two I have now, me and Pikachu decided to head towards the Frost Cavern in Kalos to cool off for a while. I guess the news even reached to the Pokemon there, the guardian of the cave Abomasnow especially. Upon meeting with it again, I saw that it was showing pity of what happened. So, it offered me a Pokemon of my choice to help me train, and to keep me cool on hot day. I chose to take a well determined Bergmite that day. Not only did he accept it, but he swore to be a bodyguard in case the ones that did this to us come before us again." Ash said with a slight smile.
"Your Avalugg didn't seem hostile when we met you earlier. It just stood there, that is until Nora decided to strike." Ren stated as he glared at Nora, who stuck her tongue out at him in retaliation.
"You can thank Lucario for that. Upon returning to Mt. Silver to continue training, a Riolu stood there waiting for us. It turns out, this belonged to an old friend of mine named Riley from Sinnoh. I'm guessing that Riley breed his Lucario, and the egg hatched and Riolu told him that he needed to find me for my aura was in danger. Ever since then, we trained together to keep my aura calmed. I learned meditation to keep it stable." Ash said.
"Speaking of aura, what's your semblance?" Yang asked.
"Semblance? I have no idea." Ash commented.
"Pyrrha, if you would?" Jaune said to Pyrrha, who nodded. She walked towards Ash and placed a hand on his chest. She closed her eyes as she began to glow red. Ash suddenly felt some sort of power serge through his body from head to toe. He began to glow blue, and he began to see some sort of energy coming off the others around him. Pyrrha let go of him and opened her eyes and she saw Ash continue to glow blue. Suddenly, a powerful blue flame erupted from his body, and Ash began to shout for a few seconds, unleashing his power.
Semblance Analysis
Ash Ketchum: Power of Aura
A power that is given to one that is said to master the ways of aura, a spiritual energy that thrives in all living beings. Only one person is known for this power, Sir Aaron, the last of the Guardians of Aura.
As the power began to settle, everyone backed away from him in fright.
"No way, you must be a descendant of Sir Aaron." Blake spoke out.
"This power....it's incredible." Ash spoke silently.
"You feel okay Ashy?" Nora asked from behind Ren.
"Yeah. Now where was I? Oh yeah, after a few more years of training, I still needed more to the group. So we decided to take a look around Hoenn to see if I can find a good user for my team. Not long after we arrived, a Gardevoir came to me. After a few seconds of staring, I realized that this was once the same Ralts that me and the others saved. She must've sensed of what happened and she wanted to join me to become not only stronger, but be closer to one that saved her life all those years ago." Ash stated as everyone calmed down from the event that just happened.
"Sounds to me like that Gardevoir of yours may have a crush on you since then." Yang teased with a smirk. This caused Ash's face to turn red out of embarrassment.
"OKAY MOVING ON!" Ruby yelled out.
"Thank you. Finally, Dragonite was last. Despite me having some of the best of the best, I was still short one more Pokemon. I thought to myself 'Hmm, what am I missing in my team?...A DRAGON!' So I decided to head to the one place I know where I can find a good Dragon type, The Dragon's Den. I decided to head inside to begin my search. Upon entering, I saw a terrible thing. Multiple Dragonairs and Dratinis were ganging up on one small Dratini. With anger, I ordered my team to save him, and not only did it see me as a hero, but wishes to join me to become stronger so he can show them one day who's better. So from that day forth, for the last 3 years, our training was complete. The rest you know." Ash finished as he looked down from his chair.
There was a long silence as everyone just looked at Ash, who started to shed some tears from revealing his dark past of isolation and lonesome, aside from his Pokemon. Realizing that there was one way to help, Blake decided to get up from her bunk and wrap her arms around Ash to comfort him. Ash was now feeling that same sensation from Ozpin's office where he felt nothing but calmness from her touch. He decided to return the hug to Blake, who knew that her planned worked.
"Get a room you two." Weiss spoke to the two. Ash and Blake broke the hug and were blushing up a storm from that.
"Perhaps it's time that we turn in for the night." Ren suggested.
It was getting late, and Ash had an initiation tomorrow morning.
"I agree, but first where do I sleep?" Ash wondered.
Everyone was thinking for a moment, until Ash noticed a tree from outside their window.
"That'll work." Ash spoke up as he made his way towards the window, confusing everyone.
They saw him jump out the window onto the trunk and quickly gotten comfy on it with his arms behind his head.
"NO WAY! It's not safe out there at night." Weiss yelled as she stomped towards the window.
"Alright, then I'll take the floor then." Ash said as he jumped back inside and went towards a corner.
"Good. Here are some of our spare sheets and a couple of pillows for ya." Ruby said as she gave him the sheets and pillows. This was a weird feeling for Ash, who hasn't slept like with bedsheets in 7 years.
"Thanks guys. You didn't have to do this." Ash said as he began to take off his coat, revealing the body glove from underneath.
"As team leader, I have to make sure that our guest feels right as home." Ruby stated with a smile.
"We should be going, good luck tomorrow Ash." Pyrrha said as she and the rest of Team JNPR began to leave.
"Okay, night guys." Ash said to them as they left.
As everyone gotten changed into their night clothes, Ash went and showered to get cleaned up. After he was finished, he put his body glove back on and made his way to his corner for the night. After about an hour of sleeping, Blake woke up and looked over at Ash. She quietly made her way over to him and sat down next to him. She gave him a slight tab on the shoulder, waking him up.
"What's wrong Blake?" Ash whispered.
"I just wanted you to know that I'm very grateful that you are willing to help us against the White Fang." Blake spoke softly.
"Anything to help a friend." Ash said as he placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to blush.
"Thanks again Ash." Blake said as she leaned her head onto his hand. As she was slowly getting up, she stopped for a moment as Ash was going back to sleep. She took a deep breath and slowly moved closer to his face. She closed her eyes and gave Ash a quick kiss on the cheek. Ash just readjusted himself as he slept, not knowing what happened. Blake went back to her bunk and drifted off to sleep, happy that she got to interact, and finally kiss him for the first time.