A/N: This will be a multipart story about what would have happened if Ash had taken the time to train his Pokémon before the Pokémon League. I have him keep Butterfree (the pink mate thing never happens), and he does teach them moves not seen in the anime at the time, including steel and dark. However, none of this will be too unbelievable.
Also there will be some Pokeshipping for fun.
"Normal Speech" 'Character thought' Flashback
Hope you enjoy it!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POKEMON.
Chapter 1: Round One – Begin
"And now the start of the third battle on the water field. On the green side is newcomer Ash Ketchum from Pallet. And on the red side, a Pokémon League favorite, the Astounding Mandy…" the announcer called out, introducing Ash Ketchum to his first Pokémon league preliminary match. His friends, Misty and Brock, sat front row in the stands, staring at the trainer they hadn't seen much of for two months.
After 'winning' his eighth gym badge, Ash had suggested the companions head home for a bit before meeting up at the Pokémon League Tournament.
"I'm going to head home to Pallet and train hard with my Pokémon. The tournament is in two months, so that should give me 6 weeks or so to train before we need to travel to the Indigo Plateau. I'm sure your families are missing you just like my mom is, so why don't you two head home for a bit and we can meet back here and head to the league together?" Ash had asked that night in the Viridian City Pokémon Center.
At this, Ash's red haired friend Misty spoke up, "Are you sure Ash? Brock and I could help you train if you'd like. We have a lot of experience as gym leaders you know!" She leveled Ash with an intimidating look tinged with concern. While she was truly worried about him training on his own, a small voice she chose to ignore poked at her saying 'Two months without Ash?!'
"Yea, Ash. I can help build up your Pokémon's defense with my rock solid group while Misty can work on your Pokémon's attack with her water Pokémon" Brock, the former Pewter City Gym leader told his travelling companion.
"I appreciate that guys, but I want to develop my own training style and do this myself. After the league, I'll definitely want your help working with my team, but I want to prove to the world… and myself… that I can do this as a Pokémon trainer. So many of my gym badges were due to luck. I want to show I am the real deal when it comes to being a Pokémon trainer in my own right!" Ash told his closest friends. His eyes flared with a look of energy and determination rarely seen in the young trainer, convincing his friends that he knew what he was getting into.
"Go Exeggutor!" "Go Krabby!"
Misty was surprised at this, looking at Brock who shared her concern. "I know Ash has been training, but wouldn't Squirtle have been a better choice?" Brock asked her. Misty simply nodded.
'Alright Ash, show me the results of your training. As a water Pokémon expert and your coach, I'll be judging your performance' Misty thought with a smile. She loved that Ash had multiple water Pokémon, feeling a slight connection with him on that.
Ash looked up to Brock and Misty and was surprised to see the serene smile on Misty's face. 'She must be happy to see me fight with a water Pokémon.' The smile helped calmed Ash's nerves a bit, not that he'd tell her that.
"Mandy is starting with his Exeggutor while Ketchum is going with Krabby" the announcer called to the crowd.
"Exeggutor use psybeam" Mandy ordered his grass/psychic Pokémon.
"Krabby jump into the water and get under Exeggutor's platform, then do as we did in training" Ash yelled.
Krabby hopped into the water, the glowing wave of psychic energy passing harmlessly underneath it and scuttled underneath the platform. Jumping quickly it used Crabhammer on one side to flip the platform, sending Exeggutor careening into the water to the surprise of Pokémon and trainer alike.
"Great job Krabby now use Leer and Vicegrip to smash it back onto the platform!" Ash command his aquatic Pokémon.
"Exeggutor use egg bomb to keep the crab away!" yelled Mandy.
The grass type tried to launch its eggs, but being underwater impeded their momentum, having them slow and explode in front of it instead of Krabby. Krabby, meanwhile, jumped up into the face of its opponent and used Leer. Finally it used Vicegrip to flip the Pokémon back onto the platform, slamming it down and knocking it out.
As Krabby looked down onto its defeated opponent it glowed bright white, evolving into a giant crab with an imposing pincer to everyone's surprise.
"Wow what a dynamic battle! Krabby kept calm, controlled the flow of combat, conking out Exeggutor with a Vicegrip flip! And after all that intense battling it evolved into Kingler! What a way to start for rookie Ash Ketchum!" called the announcer to the cheering stadium.
Ash did a little jump in his box screaming "Yea great job Kingler!"
Mandy, recovering from watching his Exeggutor so soundly defeated by a little Krabby, smirked at the green (in all senses of the word) trainer.
"The kid's Kingler is strong, but how will it do against my speedy Seadra. Go Seadra!" Mandy exclaimed, flourishing Seadra's pokeball into the water. Out popped a blue sea dragon with a fierce expression on its face.
"I'm sticking with Kingler all the way! We've been training hard for this!" Ash told the referee, who began the second match.
"Seadra, use your Agility!" With that, Seadra sped forward like a jet ski racing around the surface of the water. Quickly analyzing the way the Pokémon moved, Ash thought up a counter strategy. 'Kingler will never hit that thing with his water gun, nor would it do much damage. I need to find a way to slow it down so I can smash it with his powerful claw.'
"Kingler use bubble to slow Seadra down!" Ash yelled to his Pokémon.
Kingler began spewing dense jets of bubbles that covered the surface of the water. As Seadra darted into them, it began to slow down, having to work harder to push through the foam.
Ash smiled at his Pokémon's perfect move and thought of the next step, calling out "now use Surf to push toward it. You know how this works!"
"Seadra dive under the water to dodge the wave!" Mandy yelled out desperately.
Before it could react, however, Kingler launched forward on top of a huge wave of water and bubbles, crashing over Seadra. As the water dragon surface slightly dazed from the wave, Kingler fell on it with a powerful Crabhammer attack, smashing it down into the water. After a few moments, Seadra appeared belly up, with swirls in its eyes.
"Seadra is unable to battle!" the referee signaled.
"Yeah! Two down, one left" Ash exclaimed, tipping his hat to Kingler who smiled back. Ash was excited, but was trying to keep a semiprofessional air to himself. In training at Professor Oak's ranch, the researcher had commented on Ash's style, "Ash your enthusiasm is commendable, but at the elite level trainers are expected to have a little more poise. If you reign in your antics just a bit, you'd be surprised how much more seriously trainers and Pokémon alike will take you. "
'Kingler looks a bit tired, but I know he wants to try and go the full distance, so I'll keep him out there.' Ash thought to himself, nodding to the judge.
Mandy, not used to being put in a corner, tried to play off his situation. "The kid's had some beginner's luck but now his luck's run out. Ladies and gentleman, may I present Golbat!" Mandy exclaimed, as a blinding light revealed his last Pokémon.
Up in the stands Brock looked over to Misty in worry. "It seems like Ash really wants to show what Kingler can do, but Golbat can be really tricky. It'll be tough to reach with physical attacks and they often use confusion, poison, and life drain moves to mess with their opponents."
Misty thought for a moment then nodded her head, "Yeah but as a water expert I can tell you Ash has done a really good job not only training his Kingler in moves but in battle style. It has power, surprising speed, and though it is yet to take a hit, probably a strong defense. Best of all it seems to have a good sense of strategy. Whatever training Ash did with Krabby sure paid off. And didn't Ash hint that he had some surprise moves in all of his Pokémon's movesets? I haven't seen anything too surprising besides Surf in Kingler's yet."
"Golbat, use gust!"
"Kingler, jump in the water and focus energy!" Ash called in response.
As the winds whipped at the big crab, it jumped into the pool, sinking down as it began to glow orange, focusing its power.
Mandy smirked, thinking to himself 'hiding in the water won't help you this time!' "Golbat, now we've got them, use Take Down!"
Then it was Ash's turn to smirk. He was so excited to have Kingler try this move in the water. Time to reveal one of his trump cards.
Krabby and Pidgeotto had been sparring for about an hour as Ash wandered around his Pokémon training grounds. Krabby was trying to hit Pidgeotto with Water Guns, working on aim and power, while the bird Pokémon dodged. Krabby, in frustration, tried to spray water everywhere at once. To counter it, Pidgeotto used Whirlwind, sweeping up the water and trapping it. Krabby, watching the tornado of water and wind form, started to glow aqua as it learned a move to copy the impressive waterspout.
"Kingler use Twister and trap Golbat!"
With that, Kingler glowed aqua while a tornado appeared around it whipping up beyond the water. As it grew out of the pool it pulled in a struggling Golbat along with a lot of water. As the bat Pokémon was whipped around it was bombarded not only by wind and water, but by a draconic energy, as Twister is a dragon type move. Above the howl of the tempest in front of them, the crowd could only gasp in astonishment as Golbat got pounded. When Ash finally called off his attack, Golbat was shown to be knocked out floating face up in the water. Kingler bounded up onto the platforms, tired but proud.
"Golbat is unable to battle. The winner of this match is Ash of Pallet Town" yelled the referee.
Mandy on his hand and knees shook his head in disbelief, "But I am the Astounding Mandy, how can I lose?"
"AWESOME! Great job Kingler that was even better than in training!" Ash called to his Pokémon, jumping out onto the platforms to hug it. Poise and grace may be a good trainers manners, but few could judge the rookie trainer for wanting to praise his Pokémon's amazing efforts.
"It's all over and what a finish! Pokémon League rookie Ash Ketchum has scored his first victory without once switching Pokémon!" the announcer yelled, trying to be heard over the applause of the crowd. Ash smiled deeply, thanking his Kingler and waving to the crowd before heading off.
Misty and Brock were floored. 'In two months, Ash took a freshly caught Krabby, and taught it a dragon move? And what kind of crazy stamina does it have? I want to see how it handles a blow, if its defense is as good as its offense' thought Brock. For him, you always start with a strong defense.
'Wow…. his Kingler faced down a type disadvantage, a speed disadvantage, and a maneuverability disadvantage without taking a single hit. I've never seen a Krabby beat a grass type like that! And he tried so hard to be a least somewhat professional, not jumping up and down or yelling like usual. It was kinda cute to see…' thought Misty, who then smacked her head repeatedly for thinking of Ash Ketchum as 'cute'.
As Ash walked down the corridor, still reeling from his win, he wondered what Misty thought of his battle…