Ash, Scott, and Brandon walked into the grounds of the Battle Palace. Ash soaked in the view as memories flooded him.
"Spencer was never big on renovation," Scott lightly stated.
Ash turned to the two men who accompanied him. "Why is Brandon with us?"
"Young man, I've taken interest in you. You have an untapped potential that could be found and you could accomplish many things in life. I have volunteered to tutor you, Ash."
"Didn't the others want to train me?"
"They wanted to train you, but I wanted to tutor you Ash, teach you more than just to be a new Frontier Brain. If you're going to be my pupil, you must pay attention."
Ash lowered his head. Brandon placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's tough, but we'll pull through."
Ash smiled and they advanced through to the main battle arena.
"I'll leave you two to it," Scott said and turned to leave.
"We're already starting?"
"Of course. You have a lot of work to do, may as well start now."
Ash sighed as Scott left his sight. He turned and saw Brandon putting on a backpack and another laying on the ground.
"What are we doing?" Ash asked as he walked over.
"Put it on. We're going for a run." His face was cold and stoic.
"But it's almost 100 degrees out, and this thing weighs at least thirty pounds!" Ash whined.
Brandon sent a sharp glare at him which caused him to shudder. Ash sighed and slipped on the pack. He groaned as the weight sagged on his shoulders.
"Send out your team, Ash."
"What?"
"You heard me, send out your team," Brandon commanded the boy.
Ash nodded and released his team, Pikachu jumping off his shoulder.
His team all stretched, until they noticed the sudden change in environment.
"Guys, this is Brandon. We will be training with him for the next three months."
His team nodded. "Now, let's run!" Brandon took off like a bullet. Ash and his team gawked at the fifty year old, how could he move that fast?
"Not gonna get anywhere standing still. Last one to the end is a rotten Exeggcute!"
They raced off, Goodra lagging behind and Fletchinder racing through the skies. Ash and Pikachu kept pace, with Frogadier ahead and Hawlucha leaping from branch to branch.
After about forty five minutes, they all took a rest in a creek that flowed through the forest. Ash and his team were panting and resting on a boulder that overlooked the creek and Brandon walked through a bush with Oran and Sitrus berries in his hands. He kneeled and gently placed them on the ground.
"Eat up," his smile was warm and inviting. The group nodded and walked over and say on the ground. Hawlucha took a berry and quietly ate, while the others ate as though this would be their last meal.
"Chew slowly, Ash. Savor the taste and it'll fill you up more."
He nodded and went to take a bite until a scream filled the air.
"What was that?" Ash asked. Brandon's eyes narrowed. "It's back."
Brandon got up and went to the West and disappeared into the brush. Ash stood and recalled his team except Hawlucha. "Let's go!" "Cha!"
With Pikachu on his shoulder and Hawlucha in the trees, the trio followed the Pyramid King.
They arrived in a clearing where a monstrous sized Seviper had four Patrats under the blade of its tail, it was glaring at Brandon and his Solrock.
"Brandon what is that?"
"That's a Seviper. We don't know how it got to be so big but we'd like to capture it so we can study it and figure out why."
The Seviper turned and stared Ash dead in the eyes. A little fire appeared in its eyes, loosening its grip on the Patrat's. It slithered away and growled it's name, flicking it's tail as to motion of 'come at me'.
Hawlucha approached in a fighting stance, never letting the Seviper out of its gaze. Time seemed to melt as everyone stood still, until Seviper lunged forward with a Poison Tail attack. Hawlucha side stepped and grabbed its tail, "Brick Break".
He brought down a glowing hand onto the back of the poison type, crashing it into the ground. "High Jump Kick!" Hawlucha jumped into the air and brought its knee forward, a white energy surrounding it as he descended into the snake. The Seviper shook its head and raised it's body, glaring at Hawlucha.
"Use Aerial Ace!" Hawlucha jumped and darted towards Seviper, coated in a white energy. Seviper reared its head back and let loose a Flamethrower. Hawlucha tried to fight the flames, but fell with burns on it's body. Seviper opened its mouth wide, it's fangs dripping poison at it prepared a Poison Fang.
"Hawlucha get out of there!" Ash said as he moved his left hand across his body. Hawlucha stood abruptly and tried to escape, but the wild Seviper bit down on Hawlucha's leg. Hawlucha let out a yell of pain before stumbling down. "That Seviper's power is out of this world" Ash muttered to himself, trying to think of how to get out of the situation.
'Ash, don't be afraid to use your surroundings. Nature is everything, utilize it.' Ash snapped his head up. His eyes met with a blue apparition of Spenser in the brush. Spenser smiled at him. Ash looked at his surroundings, leaving a mental note in his head to ask about that later. He saw various rocks that seemed to ascend that had a gap which led to a circle of trees.
He smirked and figured out his plan. "Hawlucha, if you can run up those rocks to gain momentum to get yourself in the trees!" Ash knew Hawlucha was weakened greatly, so he needed that rock ramp. Hawlucha nodded and ran up the stones, as the Seviper launched another flamethrower. Hawlucha jumped and landed in the trees, causing Seviper to lose sight of it. "Hawlucha, Flying Press!"
Hawlucha dove down and spun, glowing white and struck into the side of the Seviper. It recoiled in pain and fell over. "Now use High Jump Kick!" Hawlucha's adrenaline was going now, which helped it get enough energy to jump up and crash down into Seviper, who was standing and shaking it's head, with its glowing red knee. The wild Seviper was launched into another tree on the far right side and was not getting up.
"Catch it Ash!" Brandon said excitedly. Ash jumped in fear, having forgotten he was there. He took out a pokeball and threw it at the toxic snake. The Seviper was enveloped in a red light and absorbed in the pokeball. It wiggles once, twice, ding! Success!
Ash ran over and picked up the ball. He looked at it fiercely. His Hawlucha stumbled up to him. He turned and smiled at his flying luchador friend. "Return buddy, that was an amazing fight." Hawlucha smiles as Ash pulled at his pokeball and returned him.
Brandon walked up to Ash, a smile tugging on his lips. "Excellent work, that Seviper has been a real nuisance ever since Spenser was sick."
Ash smiled somberly. 'Well done Ash.' Again Spenser's blue apparition appeared. The two smiled at each other before Spenser's presence was taken by the wind.
"You said that this was needed for research?" Ash looked up at Brandon. "Yes, Professor Oak will love to take a look at this odd Seviper." Ash nodded. The two made their return to the Battle Palace, the sun setting in the background.
Ash healed his Hawlucha and the Seviper, before contacting Professor Oak on the phone.
"Hello Ash! I've heard the news, how are you feeling?"
Ash was quiet for a few seconds. "I think it will be a good experience, but the reason for me to be here is one that is unfortunate." Oak smiled at the boy, seeing his maturity show. But this was short lived, as Ash gave a goofy smile. "Guess what I caught."
Oak already knew, seeing the data being registered in the Pokédex. Nonetheless, he was excited. "That beastly sized Seviper?" Oak asked with a smile.
Ash smiled back and nodded. "Yup, kept it in one piece for you." The two shared a chuckle. "Alright then Ash, set the Pokeball on the transporter." Ash placed the pokeball on the little saucer in the machine next to him. A zap of electricity hit the pokeball and a few seconds later Professor Oak was holding it with a giddy grin. "Thank you so much Ash! I'm going to enjoy studying this Pokémon!"
Ash and the Professor chatted for a few minutes, until Brandon entered the room. "Alright Professor Oak, I'll call again soon!" "Good luck Ash! Call if you ever want to pick up your older Pokémon!"
The two hung up and Ash turned to Brandon.
"You did good out there today. Hopefully you can keep that up. As Spenser's place holder for now, you must keep order in the Battle Palace and surrounding areas." Ash nodded.
"Brandon? What did Scott mean about me having my own facility and symbol?"
Brandon crossed his arms and sighed, closing his eyes. "Ash you have a choice to make: either have your own facility constructed and symbol created, or become the new Palace Maven. You are going to be taught here at the Battle Palace how to be a frontier brain, but if you so choose so the Battle Frontier will sponsor a new facility.
Ash widened his eyes. His own facility? Or new Palace Maven? Both sounded awesome, but he knew immediately what his choice was.
"Brandon, I want to be the new Palace Maven. It's the right thing to do." Brandon looked up and smirked at the boy.
"Good, that's very honorable Ash." Brandon walked up to him. "It won't be an easy journey or trial, you will get pushed to your limits and even further. You will break down. You will want to give up at points. You will get scared. But if you succeed, you'll be one of the most powerful trainers in Kanto, and the world.
Ash smirked at him, a blue glow from his eyes. "Let's do it."
Brandon smirked at Ash. "Well then, this is going to be interesting."
Deep in the Battle Palace on a shrine for Spenser, his staff glowed blue for a moment.