What If Ash was in Pokemon Horizons?

Transform! The Hero of the Seas, Palafin

Friede, Ludlow, Murdock, Liko, Roy and Ash arrive at the beach. Pikachu, Roy, Ash, Fuecoco and Rockruff immediately take to the sea and play in the waves.

Murdock smirked, "Have fun, y'all! And be sure to work up an appetite for the barbecue tonight!"

"Can't wait..." Ash said dreamily, already drooling.

Liko looks to Friede, "Hey Friede, where's Orla and Mollie?"

"They'll be here." Friede reassured, "Hard workers like them deserve a break too."

Murdock appoarches Friede, "Hey man, you mind shopping for ingredients with me? Ludlow doesn't mind watching the kids."

Friede nodded before turning to Liko, "Be safe and listen to whatever Ludlow says." With that, he and Murdock leave for the nearby town.

Roy eagerly runs up to Ludlow, "Hey Ludlow! Ash, Liko and me are gonna go swim, you wanna come?"

"Why, what a fine offer, but I pefer admiring the sea from afar." Ludlow answered.

"Before we go, whatever happened to Dot?" Ash asked.

Well, I invited her, but she just complained about how sticky you get from being in the water." Liko recalled.

"Well that makes sense," Roy replied, "Dot is still Dot."

Liko notices Sprigatito nearby clawing into the sand. "What are you doing Sprigatito?"

Ash kneeled down and obsevered the hole. "Doesn't look like Sprigatito made this herself, think Diglett live near here?"

A Pokemon suddenly pops out of the hole, looking similar to Diglett but having a white slender body. "Who's that Pokemon?" Ash said as he pulled out his Rotom Phone, "Is that a Paldean Diglett?"

"Wiglett, the Garden Eel Pokémon, a Water type. Though it looks like Diglett, Wiglett is an entirely different species. The resemblance seems to be a coincidental result of environmental adaptation."

"I believe Friede was previously conducting a study on Pokemon such as these." Ludlow recalled, "He called them convergent-evolution Pokemon."

"Woah, so it's kinda like a Diglett, but it's also a new Pokemon!" Ash beamed, "Neat!"

Sprigatito follows Wiglett to the sea, finding a fod of small light-blue Pokemon with fins that only Ludlow recognizes, "Now what are those Pokemon?" Roy pulled out his Rotom Phone.

"Finizen, the Dolphin Pokémon. A type. It likes playing with others using the water ring on its tail. It uses ultrasonic waves to sense the emotions of other living creatures."

Ash and Liko dive underwater and play with the Finizen. Liko then spots one with a red heart-shaped mark on its chest. "Why's that Finizen have a heart marking?"

"Help! Someone help!"

The trainers dive out of the water in an instant, seeing a man hanging on his roof with a broken ladder below him. "Hang on! I'm coming!" Ash said without hesitation, running over to the man. Before Ash can make it, a Pokemon looking similar to Finizen, but standing up straight and looking like a superhero, catches the man just before he falls. "What's that Pokemon?" Ash pulled out his Rotom Phone yet again.

"Palafin, Hero Form, the Dolphin Pokémon and the evolved form of Finizen. A Water type, This hero of the ocean swims at a speed of 50 knots and saves drowning people and Pokémon."

"Hero Form?" Ash wondered, adjusting the settings to view Palifin's Zero Form. Ash gasps upon seeing the image of a Finizen with a red-heart mark. "Hey Liko I think i figured out why that Finizen had that mark!"