Pokemon: Arceus' Champion

"Ahhh.... There's no place like home..." I sighed in contentment while leaning back in my recliner.

"Really? If you want to call a place like.....this home." Giana said, radiating judgement as she explored the living room and kitchen of my home.

"Yes, I do. And jealousy is an ugly look on you." I said while looking over at her pointedly, making Giana look away just as pointedly. Though I couldn't blame her.

After showing the girls and I the villa, I had admantly decided I didn't like it at all. True, it wasn't the massive mansion I had been dreading, but it still didn't feel like 'home'. And after everything on the SS. Anne, as well as this morning, I just wanted to spend the rest of the day relaxing.

"So what DO you like about a place like this?" Giana asked, still sounding annoyed, but also genuinely curious where she went wrong.

"Its home. That's all I need." I told her.

"I don't get it."

"..."

"Do you not know what a 'home' is?" I asked her incredulously.

"Of course I do. Its the building in which a family dwells." Giana stated confidently.

"..."

"Close, but not quite." I said while leaning forward.

"A home IS a place where one would raise a family, but it's also the place in which one can truly relax just by being there. The villa you got be is certainly big, luxurious, and clean with all of the maids you hired, but it isn't HOME. It felt more like a hospital, which I couldn't wait to get out of.

"A home isn't necessarily supposed to be perfectly clean and proper ALL the time, but also show signs of life in it as well. An example was the backyard at my mother's house. She carefully maintains the yard and garden as best as she can, to the point I wouldn't be surprised if that was what she did with the majority of her time since Ash and I left. But the day before we did we were sparring, and he left a foot indent in her perfectly maintained yard. Though she could have easily fixed it by now, I'm willing to bet that its STILL there as a reminder to her of Ash and I."

"So a home is....imperfect?" Giana asked in confusion.

"Yes! A home is not some place to be prim and proper, but to truly relax and unwind! Surely you've had at least ONE home in your life?"

"..."

Giana fell silent as she seemingly thought on what I said. And since she wasn't actively guarding against me anymore, I probed her mind with my psychic abilities to see what she was thinking of.

First was her life with Giovanni when she was a child, in which all she had were lessons after lessons on how to act, how to manage business and money, and most of all, how to lead Team Rocket. Then there was her life in Paldea, where Giovanni apparently sent her to expand Team Rocket and learn from Naranja Academy.

Despite being away from Giovanni, Giana was forced to basically wear a mask during her entire stay there, playing the 'proper student' while never taking a single moment to truly relax. In fact, it seemed as if the only place Giana could truly 'relax' in her entire life, was in a test tube.

And I mean an actual test tube, like in science fiction movies and stuff.

Literally the only time I saw in Giana's memories that she was able to well and truly relax, was when she had to undergo examinations by the Team Rocket scientists. The times she was basically forced to strip down and climb into a test tube, where she would basically go to sleep while floating in the liquid in the tube as they did their examinations.

When I pulled my consciousness back from Giana's, I had to fight not to shed a tear at the sad reality of what her life had been like until now. Meanwhile, Giana herself just appeared indifferent to the fact that she never experienced what it was like to have a 'home'.

"Its ok." I told her, standing up and pulling her into a hug.

"???"

All I could feel from Giana was confusion at how I was treating her, because as far as I could tell, she genuinely did not know the importance of a good home.

"Don't worry. I'll show you what a home is supposed to look like." I told her, before gripping the back of her suit jacket.

*SHHHHHHHHHHHHR!*

"!?!"

"What are you doing?!" Giana asked as I literally tore the jacket from her body.

"Rule number one in a home, you are supposed to be COMFORTABLE." I told her, before ripping off her blouse and skirt so that she was standing there in her underwear.

"Do you realize how much this suit cost?!" Giana demanded irritably.

"Please. We both know I can afford it." I told her, before I also ripped off her lacy see-through bra and panties, leaving Giana almost completely naked as she stood in my living room.

"So, is a 'home' a place where you are supposed to be naked?" She asked me.

"I mean, you can if you want to. But a suit doesn't exactly scream 'comfort'." I told her, while also sending a mental message to the rest of the girls at the same time.

The villa had a yard large enough that I had been able to set up all three of my Capsules in front of it for us and our pokemon to use while mom, Red and Ash all stayed in the villa itself along with Tracey and Goh. Currently they were all scattered as they explored or otherwise settled in.

In the greenhouse was Lyra, who was apparently quite the flower child, Lillie and Selene. In the Pokemon Center, which we set up so that Joy could treat Pidgeot in he needed it, was Joy making sure she had everything she needed stocked, along with Marnie and Leaf.

In the actual house May was busy putting her new clothes and such away in her room, while also preparing for the next episode of May's Expeditions after everything on the SS. Anne. Misty was showing her sisters around, who were apparently trying to take over her room while also trying to get her to take over the Cerulean city Gym. Dawn was busy preparing for her next contests in her room, drafting different outfit designs and choreographing routines for her pokemon. Chloe was relaxing on her bed with Yamper, and finally Hilda, Rosa, Serena and Gloria were all exploring my room and bathroom.

Upon hearing my message though, they all dropped what they were doing and hurried to the living room to join Giana and I.

"What's wrong Ace?" May asked as soon as she came down the stairs.

"We need a whole pile of comfy clothes, enough for everyone! Sweatpants, booty shorts, oversized t-shirts, everything!" I told her as if it were a genuine emergency. And May responded with full seriousness as she hurried back to her room to gather such clothes.

"Whis is it Ace?" Joy asked as she entered the house with Lillie, Leaf, Lyra, Marnie and Selene.

"Joy, we need a surplus of hot cocoa and snacks! Enough to last everyone for a movie marathon!" I told her, and Joy readily complied without another word while Lillie and Lyra went to help her.

"What's going on Ace?" Leaf asked me confusedly.

"Giana has no idea what 'home' feels like, so I think we should spend the rest of the day lounging in comfy clothes and watching movies." I told her. Obviously just doing that wouldn't magically make Casa de Ketchum Giana's 'home', but it was a start.

While we were talking, May hurried back down the stairs with the rest of the girls in tow, and a large pile of clothes in her arms. Count on May to have enough clothes to outfit a small army.

"Alright ladies! Time to play dressup!" May declared as she dumped the clothes onto the couch, allowing everyone to come and get whatever they wanted from the pile.

As they tore through the clothes, and stripped their own off, I pulled out a few movies that we had tucked away for them to choose from before turning my attention towards the fireplace. We didn't necessarily need a fire, but it would help with the ambience of 'home'. All the while I could feel Giana growing increasingly confused as the girls debated which clothes she should get out of the pile.

Soon I had a decent fire going to add to the atmosphere, while the smell of popcorn began to waft through the air as Joy made some in the kitchen.

"Ace! I'm ordering pizzas! How many should I get?" Lyra called from the kitchen as she helped Joy.

"Let's get ten!" I called back, before turning around to see Giana standing there in a pair of purple booty short and a pink oversized t-shirt.

"THIS is supposed to be 'relaxing'?" Giana asked incredulously.

"Yep. Give me a twirl." I told her, and Giana rolled her eyes before doing just that. She even had the word 'Jynx' printed on the butt of the shorts.

Meanwhile the rest of the girls also finished picking out what casual wear they wanted to wear for the rest of the day, varying between things like sweatpants and different kinds of shorts. Though Serena was attired only in a pair of pink panties with a sheer top.

"So what movie are we going to start with?" She asked while diving for the stack.

"I'll let you chose. We don't have much now, but I hope to cover that entire wall from floor to ceiling with DVDs one day." I said while pointing to an empty wall. I noticed a few of the girls roll their eyes at my ambition, but none of them said anything as they debated which ones to watch.

"Let's watch this one!" Hilda said, holding up a movie with a young farm boy and a Growlithe on the cover, titled Old Growler.

"What's it about?" Lillie asked curiously as she entered the living room with a tray of mugs filled with hot cocoa.

"Its a wonderful movie about a young boy who lives on a farm, and befriends a wild Growlithe after it saves his younger brother from an Ursaring attack!" Hilda happily told her.

"That sounds wonderful!" Lillie exclaimed as she set the tray down on the coffee table, while the bag she always carried with her shuffled slightly without anyone else noticing.

"..."

I literally had to bite my tongue to keep from saying anything as Lillie looked forward to watching the movie, deciding that maybe she should just experience it for herself.

Once all the snacks were ready, and everyone was dressed in comfy clothes, we all settled down to watch the movie with several blankets while killing the lights, leaving the tv and the fireplace as the only sources of light.

"And here, we, go." I said as I pressed play.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!*

"MOTHERFUCKER!"

I swore angrily as someone knocked on the front door, and I knew it wasn't the pizzas. It hadn't been long enough for them to be done.

I paused the movie and sat up from my chair, on which Lillie and Marnie were sitting with me on my lap, and went to the door to answer it.

"Yes?" I asked while opening the door, to see mom, Red and Ash standing there.

"Hey son. We were going to let you all rest alone, but..."

"We wanted to see YOUR house!" Mom finished for Red and she looked past me into the house.

"Haaa... Alright, come in." I said with undisguised exasperation while stepping to the side and allow them in.

The words were barely out of my mouth when mom hurried into the house to explore it, while all of the girls waved and greeted her from the living room.

"Its nice in here." Mom commented as she looked around the kitchen and dining room, before making her way to the living room.

"Yeah. Silph co. let me design it the way I wanted for no charge." I told her, as Red also looked around, though much more reservedly than mom was.

"So this is one of those Capsule things I've been hearing about?" Red asked.

"Yep. I wanted a house we can take with us on the road. Its the same with the greenhouse and the Pokemon Center, while I also have a training center and stables coming as well once they finish construction." I explained, which drew mom's attention towards me.

"Ace, how can you afford all of this? Aren't Capsule supposed to be REALLY expensive?" She asked worriedly.

"The three you see here were all free, because I saved the engineer that designed them. Not only that, but I was also the one who gave him the idea for Cpasules to begin with when I asked if it were possible to store buildings the way we do pokemon, as well as adding the spatial expanding tech we use on our bags and stuff."

"Wait... Really?!" Mom exclaimed in shock.

"Yep. That's also why I technically own a fraction of Cpasules, and receive a portion of the profits from Silph co. They just subtracted a portion of my earnings when they were deposited into my account to pay for the other two Capsules I have ordered. They should be completely paid off by now though."

"Amazing!" Mom exclaimed excitedly, making me wonder if she also knew the specifics about Giana with Arceus Aegis or not. Because techinically I was now rich enough to rival the top tycoons around the world.

"That he is Delia. Ace is just full of surprises." Said a new voice from the doorway, heralding the entrance of professor Oak along with Daisy.

"Professor." I said in greeting.

"Hello Ace. Its good to see you up and about." The professor said as he entered the house, placing a large cylindrical device on the counter as he did so.

"Its nice to be up and about. What have you been up to though?" I asked, since I hadn't seen or heard from him all day.

"We've been exploring the hideout of Team Rocket, though it looked as if someone got there before we did." The professor said while looking pointedly at Red.

"What? Did you think I'd leave things to LANCE given his track record so far?" Red asked defensively.

"So long as they are dealt with." The professor replied, before continuing, "With them dealt with though, I spent the last few hours going over as much data as we could from their mainframe. Specifically the data regarding Mewtwo."

"!!!"

"And?" I asked him curiously, hoping I wasn't about to hear how the League was going to try and make more or something.

"And from what we saw, Mewtwo is simply amazing. I'd daresay there's nothing like him in the entire world, excpet for possibly Mew of course. Unfortunately, I would have to be able to properly study Mew to make that conclusion, which no one has ever done."

"And what does the League plan to do with this information?" I asked the professor pointedly. After all, I already called Lance out on his thinking of turning Mewtwo into a weapon.

"Nothing." The professor replied, surprising me a little. "It was already decided that I have full control over the data regarding Mewtwo, which I only plan to use to understand him better."

"Good. He already has no hope for humanity, so the last thing we need is the League confirming his doubts by doing something stupid." I said.

"Um, This may be a bit late to ask, but what's a Mewtwo?" Red asked curiously, while mom also appeared confused.

"I'll explain later, but first I have some business with Ace real quick." The professor told them, before turning back towards me.

"I hope you remember the agreement you made with professors Elm, Juniper, Sycamore, Kukui, and Magnolia the other day, Ace."

"Of course I do." I immediately replied.

"Good. While you were unconscious, I took the liberty of finalizing it on your behalf, and I've been holding onto these until you awoke." The professor said as he tapped a button on the device he brought with him, and it opened to reveal fifteen pokeballs.

"!!!"

"Awesome!"

Any irritation I felt from our movie night being interrupted evaporated on the spot when I saw the pokeballs that professor Oak had been holding onto for me, and was instead replaced by excitement from all of the new and powerful pokemon I had.

"New pokemon?" Red asked as he looked at them all curiously.

"Yep! Specially delivered from the Johto, Unova, Kalos, Alola and Galar regions!" I said while picking up the case holding them all.

"Oh? And what pokemon are those?" Mom asked, her eyes shining expectantly.

"Let's go and see." I said, taking the case out the door and heading to the greenhouse.

"I hope they're cute~!" Mom said as she followed after me.

"Knowing Aniki, they're all going to be so cool!" Ash declared behind her.

Also following was Red, professor Oak and Daisy, while I could feel the rest of the girls also following after grabbing some robes for decency.

"I saw this when we came out here. Is it some kind of greenhouse?" Red asked curiously.

"Exactly. But the inside has also been expanded like the house, so there's actually a small forest inside complete with a pond and small river. Not only do we grow all the berries we want inside, but it also functions as a home for most my pokemon when we make camp."

"'Most'? You don't keep all of your pokemon inside?" Mom asked curiously.

"No way! Can you imagine if I let Sorlax inside? The entire place would be picked clean within minutes. Plus some of my pokemon won't like being inside too much, like Onix or Pidgeot. Usually." As I finished speaking I opened the door to the greenhouse, letting everyone inside.

"Oh? Are we training after all today?" Lucario asked while looking over at us.

"No, we're still taking a rest today." I said while suppressing a smirk, since Lucario was currently being smothered by Blaziken, Empoleon, Gardevoir and Absol. Too bad Cynthia's Lucario wasn't here to join in.

"I just wanted to introduce these guys to the rest of the team." I said while holding up the case for Lucario to see, earning the attention of the rest of my pokemon.

"Geo!" Pidgeot chirped irritably from where he was resting, a giant nest that had recently been built close to the entrance.

"You know I can't do that." I told him, as Pidgeot demanded to leave the greenhouse so he could fly. Not only was he still technically grounded for the next month, but Pidgeot was even still wrapped up with numerous bandages.

I set the case down as several of my pokemon in the greenhouse came to join us, specifically Charizard, Chimchar, Grotle, Bulbasaur, Blastoise, and Sceptile. I wanted them here as well due to their relation to the pokemon I got.

"Alright! Let's bring you three out first!" I declared, picking up the top three pokemon and sending them out at the same time.

"Chika!"

"Cyndaquil?"

"Tototototototodile!"

Immediately we were greeted by a cheerful Chikorita, a shy Cyndaquil, and quite the hyperactive Totodile. All three being the starter pokemon from Johto.

"KYAAAAA! CHIKORITA!" Lyra squealed excitedly when she saw the grass type starter.

"Who cares about a Chikorita? Look at the Totodile!" Misty squealed when she saw the water type.

"Cynda?" Cyndaquil asked shyly when no one seemed excited to see him.

"I'm happy to see you Cyndaquil." I assured it.

"Cyndaquil!" It declared happily.

So you must REALLY like Chikorita, huh Lyra?" I asked her curiously.

"Of course!" Lyra declared. "My starter pokemon was a Chikorita after all! Meanwhile Ethan got Cyndaquil, and then Totodile was stolen after we went on our journey."

"Someone stole a Totodile from Elm?" Professor Oak asked curiously.

"Yep! professor Elm said he was absorbed in his research, and didn't realize it until it already happened. We know who took it though, a rude guy named Silver." Lyra explained, which caught my and Giana's attention.

"Silver?" Giana asked Lyra.

"Yep! He's REALLY rude! He keeps challenging Ethan and I to battles whenever he gets the chance, and he even shoves us when we meet! The only good thing is that Silver seems to REALLY hate Team Rocket more than anything."

"I see..." Giana said as she visibly thought on what Lyra said.

"Do you know who this Silver is?" Red asked her.

"Of course I do." Giana said, surprising everyone else. But not nearly as much as they were surprised by what she said next.

"Silver is none other than the son of Giovanni."

"""!?!"""

Everyone's reactions were about what someone would expect to such a bomb being dropped, while Red also appeared confused.

"Wouldn't that make him your brother?!"

"..."

"Not quite. But perhaps we should wait to get into the complicated dynamics of my family." Giana said as she tried to deflect the bomb she just dropped, not that I can blame her. After all, then she would need to get into the fact that she was a human clone as well.

"Yeah, plus we have more pokemon to meet!" I stated while reaching for the next trio of pokeballs.

"Come on out!"

"Snivy, Snive!"

"Tepig!"

"Osha, Oshawott!"

This time we were looking at the three starter pokemon of the Unova region, a haughty Snivy, a timid Tepig and an Oshawott that radiated a troublesome aura.

"Awe! Snivy!" Hilda declared when she saw the grass type starter, while Rosa appeared similarly happy at the sight of Oshawott.

"They all look so cute." Lillie said as she looked them over.

"You wouldn't think they were all future powerhouses, would you?" I asked with a smile at the image of all my new pokemon, fully evolved and standing above everyone around them. Apparently they too liked that idea as Snivy smirked, Oshawott looked even more excited, and Tepig looked up at me with awe in his eyes.

"Now for batch number three!" I stated, picking up the next three pokeballs before activating them as well.

"Chespin!"

"Fen~!"

"Fro?"

The trio I released this time were the starters from the Kalos region, a peppy Chespin, a strangely sensual and mischevious Fennekin, and a Froakie that had it's guard up as it analyzed all of us.

"Char..." Chimchar exclaimed as he immediately became entranced by Fennekin, who winked back at him with what I recognized as a Charm attack.

"!!!"

Chimchar immediately acted as if he had been shot through the heart, and collapsed backwards where he had been standing from the cuteness of Fennekin, which made the fox-like pokemon snicker in amusement.

"Fennekin can be quite mischevious at times Ace, so good luck." Serena said to me with a wry smile. I'm sure she was speaking from experience since her starter was a Delphox.

"Thanks for the heads up." I told her even as I kept an eye on my new pokemon. Chespin had gone to say hello to the others, and instantly became friends with Oshawott and Totodile, while Froakie was busy sizing up my other pokemon that were present, especially Blastoise as a fellow water type. I cocked a brow when the little frog then gave a small nod of it's head, as if it found me and my pokemon acceptable.

"Now for round four!" I stated, grabbing the next three pokeballs and activating them as well.

"Row-ow-ow-ow!"

"Litten, lit."

"Popo!"

Now was the starter trio from Alola, a refined Rowlet, a haughty Litten, and a slap-happy Popplio.

"KYAAA! Look at this little guy!" Mom immediately screamed as she rushed at Rowlet, who deftly dodged her attempt to hug him before he flew up atop my head.

"Mother please." I said while adopting a more refined demeanor and voice, and pretending to straighten a tie. "We are both men."

"Row." Rowlet said while mimicing my actions, pretending to straighten the two leaves on his front that resembled a bowtie.

"But look how cute he is with his little bowtie..." Mom pouted pitifully.

"There there dear, maybe I can see about getting you a Rowlet?" Red offered, to which mom adamantly shook her head.

"No! I can just play with him when I go over to professor Oak's!" Mom said with determination, which made Rowlet shudder atop my head.

"Does mom go over to your place often?" I asked professor Oak suspiciously.

"She does come over every few days or so, typically to help us feed and take care of your and Ash's pokemon while also familiarizing herself and them with each other." The professor explained, actually shocking me.

"I didn't know you did that, mom." I said, which made mom actually look at me.

"Well, I DO get awfully lonely at home by myself. Gardevoir is lovely to have around, but she's only been around for a few days." Mom said.

"Huh." I uttered in surprise, though I also couldn't help but to wonder just how 'lonely' mom was going to be in the future now that Red was back. Though he also planned to take the Champion position from Lance, so it wasn't like he was going to have a ton of free time in the future.

"So what region are your last three pokemon from?" Gloria asked me excitedly, drawing my attention back to my final three pokeballs.

"Oh yeah! Come on out!" I declared, activating them at the same time like I had the ones before.

"Grookey!"

"Scorbun?"

"Sobble..."

This time we were greeted by an energetic Grookey that was holding a stick, a cautious Scorbunny, and a Sobble that looked as if it were going to burst into tears at any second. They were, of course, the starter trio from Galar.

"It IS a Sobble!" Gloria exclaimed, as she herself had an Inteleon that was the final form of that line.

"Yep! and with them I have at least one starter from every region, except Paldea!" I stated happily, to which Giana immediately responded.

"If you like, I can use our connections to help you acquire the remainder starter pokemon to complete your collection."

"..."

I had to admit, I was VERY interested, but I glanced over the fifteen pokemon I just received, as well as the other pokemon I had recently acquired that had come to investigate, Machop, Dratini, Eevee, Diglett, Dugtrio, Bulbasaur, Ralts, Grimer, Alolan Muk, Snover, Croagunk, Rookidee, Tinkatink, Whismer, Rolycoly, Chimchar and Dieno.

"I think I have enough new pokemon for now. Maybe after I train them all up a bit more." I told Giana eventually, to which she nodded in affirmation of my decision.

"I'll say. What do you even need all of these fire, grass and water type pokemon for?" Red asked as he looked over all of my new pokemon.

"Well, considering the things I need to do in the future, I'd say I need myself a small army of pokemon to be able to do the bare minimum. Not only that, but the starter pokemon from each region are all individually powerful in their own rights. I planned to collect as many as I could throughout my travels anyways." I told him.

"That....is true." Red admitted after a moment of thought. After all, its not as if I'm just collecting pokemon to take on the League. If anything, the League was just a sidequest to me.

"Well I can't wait to see how powerful they all become~!" Selene said as she stood from playing with my new Popplio, which was also the pokemon she chose as her own starter.

"Ehhh..." Misty meanwhile let out a whine of longing at all of my new and incredibly rare water type pokemon, which reminded me of something.

"Hey Misty, there's an island that's home to a bunch of Squirtle line pokemon, and we'll end up going right by it as we travel sometime in the next few weeks."

"!!!"

"Do you mean it?!" Misty immediately demanded, her eyes practically turning into stars at the info.

"Of course. And with Team Rocket gone, I'm sure that there'll be no problem if you want to catch one." I told her, recalling how I almost got into trouble for doing so.

"Blaaaast~!" Blastoise stated happily, also recalling the memory.

*PA!*

All of my pokemon, both new and old, looked at me as I clapped my hands to get their attention.

"There's a lot that we may need to go over, but I'm not going to dump all of that onto all of you right here and now. So, just take the rest of the day to visit with my other pokemon and get to know them, or explore the greenhouse an make yourselves comfortable. Tomorrow, we start our training. And in three days we'll take on the Celadon city Gym for the Rainbow Badge. If you do well enough in our training, then I may also bring you to challenge the Gym with me."

"""!!!"""

Immediatey all of my new pokemon grew excited at the prospect of growing stronger, and taking on a Gym right away. Though I only planned to use a few of them, while the other half of my team would have veterans like Houndoom, Vespiquen and Parasect.

I left that part unsaid though, since I was curious to see what they would show me over the next few days, and turned to let them all get acquainted with the rest of my pokemon.

For the most part they all scattered, going off in different directions to explore the greenhouse like I had said. Oshawott, Totodile and Chespin all went off together, Grookey immediately started climbing and leaping through the trees, Chimchar shyly brought Fennekin an armful of berries, Bulbasaur went off with Chikorita to show her around, Popplio made her way to the pond immediately, Snivy started darting through the grass and bushes with Scorbunny darting in the other direction, Rowlet was flying around to explore, Litten found himself a spot of sunlight to relax in along with Cyndaquil, Tepig was looking around slowly and curiously, Sobble quickly vanished as her body turned transparent, and finally Froakie immediately proceeded to challenge Blastoise despite the latter's towering size and immense strength.

"The next few weeks aught to be fun." I said as we exited the greenhouse, leaving them all alone for the moment as we headed back to the house. And apparently not a moment too soon, as the delivery man arrived with all of our pizzas.