What If Ash was in Pokemon Horizons?

The Wild Pair, Friede and Cap!

Ash and Liko join their Indigo Academy Class remotely, seeing that each student has the assignment is to discuss a trainer and Pokemon they look up to. "I think Professor Kukui and Incineroar would be a good pick, don't you think?" Ash asked Pikachu, who nods with a reassuring "Pika!"

Ash looked over to Liko, who was lost in thought. "What about you, Liko?"

"I'm thinking I'll talk about Friede and Cap." Liko said, "But, I've hardly seen them together."

"Guys! Guys!" Roy ran out to the front desk where Ash and Liko were attending their class. "Friede's friend has got a job for us! We just gotta find some lost Pokemon!"

"Seems like a good chance to see them in action." Ash suggested.

Friede and kids arrive in a shack in the middle of the desert, a man comes over and greets Friede, "Man, it's so good to see you again, Friede!" The man said before noticing Ash alongside his old friend. "Woah, when were you gonna tell me you knew the World Monarch?"

"Well, Friede does like to forget things." Ash remarked playfully.

"Well, he'll save it for later." Roy added.

"But later never comes!" Liko giggled.

Friede deadpaned, "I'm right here."

The man laughed, "That's the Friede I know! Nice to meet you all, I'm Shine."

Shine leads the group to a table and shows them a poster of a Pokemon shaped similar to a bush. "This is my Bramblin, I caught it back in Paldea, then the winds of the desert blew it away from me."

Ash scanned the photo with his Rotom Phone, causing the Rotom within to power on. "Bramblin, the Tumbleweed Pokémon. A Grass and Ghost type. This Pokémon is the result of a wandering spirit getting tangled up in dried grass. It tumbles with the wind to destinations unknown."

"Be careful, there've been sightings of Pokemon Hunters here that snatch wild Pokemon up." Shine warned them.

"Shine works a protector of Wild Pokemon," Friede explained, "Catching Pokemon stealers is part of his job."

"I know about Pokemon Hunters." Ash grit his teeth, "They make me sick."

The group seperate from Shine and search the nearby desert, Cap spots Bramblin behind a bush. Bramblin is quickly picked up by the wind and blown away before Cap could catch it. Friede spots a sign indicating more desert to the left and an oasis on the right. "Well, Bramblin hate getting wet, so we should head left."

"Pika." Cap nudges towards the direction of right.

"Well, I said left." Friede snapped at his Pokemon.

Liko sighed, "I mean no one's exactly the same."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu pointed upward, everyone looks up to see Bramblin hanging from a tree on a cliff above them. "Great job buddy!" Ash praised, causing Likot o analyze the difference between them and Friede & Cap.

The wind blows Bramblin away once more, causing the group to follow it and arrive in a nearby town to search for Bramblin. As they ask around, both Pikachu and Cap catch the attention of some girls.

"Aw, look at those Pikachu! So cute!"

Cap's eyes widened and begins to sneeze, Friede begins to laugh uncontrollably while Ash looks concered. "What's wrong with Cap?"

"That's just his allergies," Fried eexplained whilst wiping  tear from his eye. "If someone calls him cute, he can't stop sneezing."

Ash walks up to Cap, wiping his nose in an attempt to make him feel better. Making it clear to the rest of the group that the World Monarch has attained a soft spot for Pikachus upon one being his very first Pokemon.