i've had a lot of people ask me in the comments of ao3 on how the After Hours section of the Ta!au is so different for the actual TA aspect. So I'm just gonna do a little run done on the whole premise.
so the Teacher Assistant job that Ash has is actually is second job, his main one is working of the International League as some sort of mercenary for them. kinda dark, I know. originally the INL, the legendries' in human form, offered the position to Ash as a way to keep him a little more protected during world ending events so he doesn't die as often. having the legal right to carry weapons on hand during public like a variety of knives and even a small gun every know and then. it also forces Ash into a mandated therapy sessions, which he's actually avoided so far regardless since he's joined, and giving him a net of safety if things go to shit.
Ash turns this down as he's just a fresh 16 year old and half way through his journey in Unova. after dealing with N and Ghetsis Ash heavily reconsiders as he ends up killing Ghetsis with his own two hands after snapping for the first time due to the stress of the entire thing. he's actually really fucked up in this Au so you've been warned, I just haven't actually written the more gruesome moments yet.
his sanity slips quite a bit during his break as with Ghetsis dead Team Rocket tries to step in during the moment of chaos. like trying to completely gain control over Unova in one go. this shakes up Ash's already very fragile mind and he goes completely feral and a killing spree. in the end he wipes out about over 150 Team Rocket members in his rage across Unova somehow in the span of 8 days. this is also the first instance of Ash's aura returning to him since Hoenn and without the need of gloves, like the rage in him had unlocked the blocker that trapped his natural ability.
it's almost like Ash turns into an enraged wild Pokémon and it's not until he stumbles across the Unova INL council members, either just one of them or a few, and they see what has happened. Ash willingly goes with them after they help him calm down and he's struck with the realization that he's never been so calm in his life.
he doesn't have the urge to fill the silence, his leg doesn't jitter with unused energy and Ash's mind is completely blank for the first time in history. there's no train of thought running in the background or anything else like that. just total silence. during this time that he's being treated at the main INL HQ in Unova Giovanni pulls out every team rocket member out of the region. loosing years of ground they've struggled to gain over the region just because Ash lost his shit.
Ash is walking the fine line between a god and a human at this moment for the first time and he struggles with this so once he's freed from the INL, they've over looked the killing spree since Ash and his friends saved Unova and their collective 14 to 18 years old, Ash heads to the Orange Isles and goes to consult Lugia about it. as what he felt during the entire time was the same feelings he experienced during the battle against the Shamouti battle without the fear that had gripped him at the age of 11. Lugia talks him through it and then informs Ash that since he's not just Lugia's chosen but Arceus's as well Ash will succumb into primal urges when pushed far enough. the Legendary makes it known that Ash can not hide or run from it and that it's easier in the end to let it flow through you.
he brings up the INL offer and Lugia, who is apart of the INL in his human form, tells him to take it. it's quite manipulative on the legendry's end since he knows deep down Ash will lose a lot of his humanity if he does but the entire world needs the buffer that Ash can offer between them and the other humans. not only does Ash understand them to an unspeakable point but he's also able to go toe to toe even at the age he was in Unova and when he was younger as well. Ash does join and he's quickly followed by Gary for the older boys own reasons that they chose not to speak about and they become a pair during Ash's first break in traveling.
Lugia was right, Ash looses a lot of his humanity and kindness for humans after seeing just what they could and will do to the Pokémon that inhabited this planet first but he also learns to navigate around it and act like a normal human in society. sleep never comes easy anymore, it's why he naps a lot now in Alola and drinks a shit ton of coffee, and he's seen some shit that no one should ever bare witness too.
Delia and Professor Oak see's a little sliver of it, like Ash flinching away when large Pokémon suddenly appear around him and how he's lost his patience for literally every in pallet town when he's home. they have good intentions but go about it wrong by trying to force Ash's hand in giving up in being a trainer. thinking that spending a long time in his home town will help-shocker it doesn't. so Ash ask's Gary and Rowan if he could crash with them at the professors house/lab. Rowan excepts and very quickly learns not just why Ash hates pallet town and the people there but the whole shebang.
**haven't quite figured out this part yet. deciding if I should have him walk in on Ash and Gary prepping to leave for a mission in another region under the guise of Ash making Gary take a break from sciencing it up or have Rowan be kind of a consultant for lesser INL members and the G-men since he's still ridiculously good with battle plans, infiltrations and other shit that hasn't left him since being discharged from the Marine Corps and he's asked be a handler of some sort for Ash and Gary. i'm leaning towards the second option but the first one is more funny thought-Rowan blinking in shock as Ash and Gary have Ash's weapons and gear sprawled out on one of their beds and talking in hush whispers without noticing Rowan is there.
either way, Ash moves his permanent address to Rowan's house and stay's there 90% of the time he's not on missions or during his travel through Kalos. it doesn't help that Rowan starts to slowly teach Ash how to be more deadly, kind of acting more like a Master Gunnery Sergeant which is why Ash refers to him as Gunny during the present time. coming to be like the father figure Ash never had for the majority of his life and actively agreeing that Oak is an ass.
this all ends up with Ash being able to shut off his emotions and become a stone cold killing machine like he's flipping a damn switch off and on in his head. he's extremely proficient in what he does that Gary and Ash are basically handed free reigns over INL missions, getting to pick which ones they wanted to do and pass down the ones that they don't. the council members of the INL are naturally inclined in treating Ash like a distant family member, due to the fact that he is Lugia and Tapu Koko's son in a fucked up way-which thanks Arceus. Gary and Ash are a package deal so the Oak is treated like one to.
** I find it funny that I subconsciously switched it around for the INL and Rowan. like Rowan got Gary and found out Ash is a part of him and how the INL have Ash and Gary followed after him. I'm literally just realizing this now as I type it out.
Alola is the reprieve Ash didn't know he needed. he literally just went because Oak needed someone to bring the egg to his cousin at the Pokémon School and Delia absolutely loathes traveling by herself now. he's awkward around the kids after nearly getting trampled by the racing Tauros and continues to be. the only reason why he accepted the TA position in the first place was because Delia tried turning it down for him while he was in the same room.
it was an very petty move on Ash's part but he's had almost complete control over his life after leaving for Hoenn and he's not giving it up, even for his own mother. he does make it very clear to both Kukui and Oak that, unless the kids physically come up and ask for help, he will not be interacting with the students. he is a Teachers Assistant and not a Student-Teacher Assistant. both agree to create a new contract that everyone likes later on the next day.
of course the kids wiggle their way into his life and, unbeknownst to them, their almost slowly reviving Ash's lost humanity bit by itty-bit.
