Episode 3: "Future Champions United"
Ash and Iris glanced at both the brown-haired Trainers, who were looking intensely at each other. Iris then piped up. "Um, guys? Care to explain what's going on?"
The brunette redirected her attention to her companions. "Oh, right! Sorry, almost forgot you were here!" said Hilda, scratching her head. "Anyway, I present to you Hilbert. He's an old friend of mine." She then looked at the brown-haired boy. "Hilbert, meet Ash and Iris. We're travelling together for the time being."
Hilbert immediately shook Ash's and Iris's hands. "Nice to meet you, pals!"
"Nice to meet you too, Hilbert!" said Ash to the other boy. Pikachu introduced himself in his Pikaspeech.
"Yeah, same here!" said Iris, with Axew presenting himself by raising his paw and saying his name.
"Well, Hilda's friends are also my friends!" replied the brown-haired boy, smiling at the others.
"Tell me, Hilbert… what are you doing here in Unova? I thought you were in a journey around the world," asked Hilda to her friend.
"And in fact I was, until yesterday. That's a quite long story… let me give my Pokémon to Nurse Joy, so that we can take a seat somewhere and I can explain you some things. Ok?"
"That's ok. Meanwhile, Ash and I will register our Pokédexes. Right, Ash?"
"Right!" replied the raven-haired boy.
In the meantime, the nurse showed up at the reception desk and looked around her. "Yes? Anybody called me?"
Hilbert rushed toward the counter and showed his Poké Balls. "Yes, I did. Can you check my Pokémon, please? They have faced some tough opponents and as such they're quite tired."
"Ok, don't worry. I'll take care of them."
"Thanks!" replied the boy, putting the spheres on the table.
"Um, Nurse Joy… we need your assistance as well. We need to register our Pokédexes for the League," said Ash to the pink-haired lady.
"Sure. Just hand your devices to me and I'll immediately register you for the League."
Ash and Hilda nodded and gave their Pokédexes to the medic. She inserted the electronic encyclopedias in a machine connected to a computer and typed something on the keyboard. The devices beeped a couple of times and the nurse removed them from the machine, before returning them to their respective owners.
"Done. Now you two are registered to the Unova League."
"Thank you, Nurse Joy!" replied the raven-haired boy and the brunette.
The nurse smiled at the Pokémon Trainers before taking Hilbert's Poké Balls and carrying them to another room, in order to get the Pokémon treated.
"Ok, now we can go and take a seat somewhere," said Hilbert to the others.
"Yeah! I can't wait to know what you've done during your journey!" replied Hilda, looking quite excited.
The kids sat down some couches, placed at the entrance of the Pokémon Center for the tired Pokémon Trainers, and made themselves comfortable.
"Well, Hilbert… care to start narrating your story?" asked the brunette to her friend.
The mentioned boy nodded. "Sure, but shouldn't we first tell to Ash and Iris how we know each other?"
"Yeah, I suppose," replied Hilda, shrugging at the brown-haired boy.
"Oh, trust me… if you didn't say that, I would have asked that myself!" replied Iris, showing a smug smile.
"Um… well, Hilda and I both live in Nuvema Town. We've been friends ever since we were just little children. We were almost inseparable, back then."
"Are you sure that there isn't anything else between you two?" remarked Iris, smirking at the duo and leaning a bit forward. Ash glanced at the dark girl with a confused look.
"Oh, please…" retorted Hilda, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.
"I… really don't think so," added Hilbert, sweatdropping and looking at Iris with embarrassed eyes. "Let me continue now, ok?"
"Sure, go ahead," said the purple-haired girl, leaning her back on the seatback.
The blue-clad boy cleared his throat and restarted telling. "Anyway, even if we were… um, often together, my family had signed me up to the Trainers' School in Striaton City, forcing me to stay away from home for a few months. However, it wasn't all bad. I learned a lot of useful things at the school and I became one of the best students of the academy."
"You must be good," said Iris.
"Yeah… I don't like to brag about my successes, but I think I was quite good. And as such I had the chance to start my journey as a Pokémon Trainer earlier than most of my peers."
"Cool! And what Pokémon did you get for your journey? A Snivy, a Tepig or an Oshawott?" asked Ash.
"Nothing of that. I wanted to try something different and I caught my own first Pokémon in the wild."
"Ah. And what did you catch?"
"A Joltik."
"Joltik?" asked Ash, before extracting his Pokédex and typing the name of the Pokémon on it, while Pikachu stared at the device. A picture of a small yellow spider with four legs and four blue eyes appeared on the screen.
"Joltik, the Attaching Pokémon. Joltik cling to larger Pokémon, and absorb static electricity, storing the energy in a special pouch."
Ash pondered a bit about the Pokémon. It didn't seem exactly strong at first glance, considering its size. Hilbert seemed to read the Kanto boy's mind, since he said: "Don't let look deceive you. Joltiks are much stronger than what they seem." This remark made Ash look again at the other boy, who restarted talking. "After I got my first Pokémon, I decided to train him a bit and to catch some new members, before taking on the Unova League. However, I changed my plans after partaking to a special tournament held in Driftveil City: the Ever Grande Cup."
"Ever Grande?" asked Iris, while Axew tilted his head in curiosity. Ash's and Pikachu's eyes suddenly lit up. They had heard that name before.
"Yes. A special tournament organized by no less than Steven Stone, the Hoenn Champion."
"Wait… did you say Steven?" asked the raven-haired boy, looking quite interested.
"Yes, I did. Why?"
"I met a guy called Steven, in Hoenn. He was looking for some stones and helped my friends and I in getting out of the Granite Cave."
"Um… and did he have silver hair?"
"Yes, he did."
"Then we're talking about the same person: Steven Stone from Mossdeep City ."
"I thought that he was simply a very powerful Trainer, not the Champion!" exclaimed the raven-haired boy, quite surprised. He had met the Champion and he didn't even know that.
"A Champion, uh? Kinda like Alder?" asked Hilda, looking at the brown-haired boy.
"Yup. I was really honored to meet him, together with all the other participants. And we got to see a lot of Pokémon found in the Hoenn region." The boy paused for a moment, remembering all his past experiences during the tournament, before resuming. "As the winner of the tournament, I got the chance to challenge him. Needless to say, I lost to his Metagross, but battling him was really fun."
"Metagross…" murmured Hilda, before consulting her Pokédex. The screen showed strange blue tank-like Pokémon with four enormous legs and a silver X on its face.
"Metagross, the Iron Leg Pokémon. With its four brains, it has an intelligence rivaling a supercomputer."
"I like it. It seems a quite powerful Pokémon," remarked the brunette.
"And then what happened? You said that you changed your plans after partaking to the tournament," said Iris.
"That's right! After fighting the Champion, I decided to travel to the Hoenn region together with two other participants and we took on the regional League. I got the chance to see a lot of very rare Pokémon, almost impossible to find in this region."
"How did you rank at the League?" asked Ash to Hilbert.
"I managed to reach the Top 16. That's not bad, considering that it was my first League. Now I hope to reach an higher ranking. Maybe even win it."
"Ah, don't count on that! I'll be the winner!" retorted Ash, showing a confident smile.
"I'm sorry for you, but I'll be the champ!" said Hilda.
The three Pokemon Trainers started staring at each other and Iris decided to intervene in order to release some tension. "Ok, ok! I get that you're all fired up, but shouldn't you wait to see who will win when you'll reach the League?"
The others looked at the purple-haired girl and immediately relaxed.
"Yeah, I guess so. Actions speak more than words, after all," said Hilbert, shrugging. "Anyway, Hilda… what are you going to collect? Badges or Emblems?"
"Well… it was an hard choice, but I decided to collect Emblems."
"What a coincidence! I'm collecting Emblems too! I already won one."
"Really? And how hard is getting Emblems?"
"A bit harder than getting Badges, since as you know the rules are slightly different, but it's not impossible. With a good team and strategies you shouldn't have many problems."
"Ok, if you say so…"
"What about you, Ash? What are you going to collect?"
"I'm going after Badges. I always collected them during my travels and I will do that again."
"I see. And you, Iris? What are you going to do?"
"Oh, I'm not going after Emblems, Badges or whatever. I'm just travelling to improve my skills."
"Ah. So you're travelling just for the fun of it?"
"Um… yeah, more or less."
DING DING DINDIN DING
"Message for Hilbert. Your Pokémon have been restored to health. You are free to get them back."
"Oh, gotta get my Pokémon! I'll come back soon!" said the brown-haired boy, before standing up and going toward the reception.
"Anyway, Ash… do you think you're ready for the Gym?" asked Hilda to the more experienced Trainer.
"Yes! I believe I can win! I trust in my team!" responded the raven-haired boy, looking quite confident.
"Shouldn't you train your Oshawott, at least? He's still inexperienced and I heard that the Striaton's Gym Leaders are tough," retorted the brunette, quite doubtful about Oshawott's abilities.
"Hilda has a point. Don't underestimate them only because you're quite experienced. They aren't Gym Leaders for nothing, after all," added Iris.
"Wait… did you say Gym Leaders? So there are more than one?" asked Ash to the girls.
"Well, yes. The Striaton Gym is run by three brothers and each one specializes in one type. And if I recall correctly, the types utilized in that Gym are Grass, Fire and Water," responded Hilda.
"Grass, Fire and Water, uh?"
The brunette nodded. "Yes, those three. If you want we can train together, so that our Pokémon will be in better shape for our matches. I want to be ready for my Emblem match. What do you think, Ash?"
Ash crossed his arms and looked away, pondering about the girls' proposal. He then looked at them and nodded. "Ok, fair enough. But where can we train?"
Both the girls started thinking about some good place where they could train, when…
"I'm back, guys!" stated Hilbert out loud, coming closer to the others.
"We would have never guessed that…" replied Hilda, turning to the blue-clad boy and smirking at him. Ash and Iris looked at the boy too.
"I hope to not have interrupted something…"
"Don't worry! We were simply talking about training," responded Iris, giving him a reassuring smile.
"Training, uh? I suggest you to try the Battle Clubs, then. They have all kinds of equipment to train Pokémon of all types and can be found in all cities. You should check them out."
"Battle Clubs? Hey, that sounds like a great idea!" said the purple-haired girl, before looking again at Ash and Hilda. "What do you think, guys? Tomorrow you can go and train your Pokémon there."
"Um… that's fine with me," said Ash nodding, before clenching his fist and showing a determined smile. "Alright, I'll take my Pokémon to do some special training. What do you think, Pikachu?" said Ash, before looking at his partner.
"Pika, pika!" responded him, agreeing with his friend.
"Ok, then. Tomorrow we'll go to the local Battle Club. Now we'd better book some rooms to stay the night here," concluded Hilda.
"Speaking of that, I was thinking… why don't we book two rooms together? I can stay with Ash and you, Hilda and Iris, can stay together. What do you think?"
The others thought about that, before Ash responded. "Fine with me. I have nothing against it," said the boy, nodding at the other Trainer.
"As long as I can sleep on a bed tonight, I'm fine with that," declared Hilda.
"If it's ok for you, it's ok for me," added Iris.
"Cool! So let's rent some rooms, then we'll go and have some dinner. Sounds like a good plan, don't you think?" asked Hilbert.
"Sounds great, let's go!" replied the raven-haired boy, while Pikachu agreed in his speech.
In the meantime, the Team Rocket trio was taking inventory in their hiding place, gathering what was left of their gadgets.
"Sigh, we've failed like amateurs. And to think that we had a great technology by our side…" said Meowth, looking quite displeased.
"Grrr, if it wasn't for that nosey Pokémon we would have gotten away with Pikachu and the others!" stated Jessie, still a bit mad about that.
"According to those, the Pokémon who attacked us was an Oshawott," declared James, looking at his cards.
"An Oshawott?" asked Meowth.
"Yeah…" replied the man, showing a card with depicted the water otter, "…this one. "
"Well, next time Pikachu will be ours! Right, guys?" asked Jessie, trying to inject some optimism in the others.
Why did that sound so familiar? However, her burst of enthusiasm and encouragement affected James and Meowth, who looked as excited as her.
"That's right! Those twerps will fall to our next trap!" said Meowth, looking positive.
"True! We just need to plan our next attack better and we'll succeed!" added James, emulating the others' emotions. "But… what should we do now?"
"Shouldn't we contact Archer to make a report, first of all?" asked the cat, gazing at the others.
"And say what? That we have lost to the same twerp who has beaten us for all this time, despite being better prepared?" responded the man.
"Yeah… that doesn't seem a good idea," admitted the Pokémon.
"What about if… we hide that fact to them? We'll simply mention our discovery of those strange individuals that have been roaming the town," suggested the woman.
"Isn't that called omitted information? And aren't we risking our position by doing that?" asked James, showing a quite unsure look.
"What the ear doesn't hear the mind doesn't fuss over it. As long as they don't find out about our failure we shouldn't have problems, right?" retorted Jessie.
"I… guess so. I'm still not sure about this idea, though…"
"Relax, we aren't running any risk! Just play along!" stated Jessie, before typing on the computer. James and Meowth approached the screen and stared at it. The computer kept beeping and beeping, but nobody responded. Jessie tried again, but nothing. Nobody answered.
"That's odd. Why no one is answering us?" asked James, quite puzzled by that.
"Probably they're occupied, or the signal isn't working right now," suggested the Normal-type, shrugging.
"So… what are we gonna do in the meantime?" asked the lavender-haired member.
"We should try to track down those individuals we've seen yesterday. If they are the secret organization we're looking for we could take merit of that discovery. We may have lost against the twerp, but we can still succeed in that."
"You're right, Jessie! Archer will be pleased with us if we'll bring him that information!" replied James.
"So what are we waiting for? Let's go!" exclaimed Jessie, raising her clenched fist. James and Meowth emulated her and then the trio dressed up in their disguises and activated their jetpacks, directed toward the town to look for the unknown people.
After a good and satisfying dinner, the quartet went toward the reserved rooms. Just as planned, Ash, Hilbert and Pikachu took a room for themselves while Iris, Hilda and Axew took the adjacent room. The first thing that the kids did when they reached their rooms was to organize everything for the night.
In the boys' room, Ash was preparing a pillow for his Pikachu, so that he could sleep comfortably, while Hilbert was writing some things on a little notebook. Ash looked at the other boy curiously and asked: "Hey, Hilbert! What are you writing?"
"Uh?" murmured the brown-haired boy, before looking at Ash and answering. "Oh, nothing. I'm simply writing down some stuff, like things learned today or combinations studied during my battles. I always do that, so that I can record and remember the most important things and use them to formulate new strategies."
"That's interesting. Can I have a look at it?"
"Um… sure," said Hilbert, before showing his work to the Kanto Trainer. The notebook was full of various sketches and notes, illustrating some combinations step by step. Among them there was a picture of a sort of flying squirrel with various faded doubles around it and an arrow pointing toward another picture, with the various rodents shooting bolts of electricity everywhere.
"That's a Double Team and Discharge combination. Very accurate and dangerous for the opponent. I've seen Elesa using this technique during one of her matches."
"Elesa?"
"Yes, the Nimbasa's Gym Leader. If you'll ever face her watch out for that strategy."
"Ok, I'll keep that in mind," responded Ash, glancing for a moment at the other boy before restarting watching the little book. Pikachu yawned on his shoulder and rubbed his eyes, trying to not fall asleep. Hilbert noticed that.
"Um… I think it's time to go to bed. We all had a quite long day and we should rest for tomorrow. Don't you think?"
Ash looked at the other boy, before looking at his Pokémon. The yellow mouse gave him a slight nod, agreeing with what Hilbert said.
"Yeah, maybe you're right. Let's get ready for the night."
Meanwhile in the girls' room, Iris and Axew were getting ready to go to sleep while Hilda was sprawled on her bed in a supine position and enjoying the softness of the mattress.
"Ah, a bed! Finally I can sleep on a bed!" said the brunette happily, showing a toothy grin.
Iris looked at the other girl in amusement. "All this contentment for a simple bed. You're such a little girl!"
"Aw, zip it up," replied the beginner Trainer, with a slightly annoyed tone. "You may be used to the wild life and the travels, but I still need to get the hang of my journey. Cut me some slack."
"I don't know how far you'll go by yourself if you're going to whine every time you won't have a bed."
"I'll guess I'll get used to that. It's only a matter of time."
"If you say so…" said the purple-haired lady, shrugging and rolling her eyes.
Hilda looked intensely at her roommate and raised an eyebrow. "What? You think that I'm not able to adapt and take care of myself?"
"Well…" started Iris, before temporarily interrupting herself after Hilda started staring at her with an inquiring gaze. "I won't hide the fact… that I have some teensy-weensy doubts about that."
The brunette blinked a couple of times. "Wow, I'm so touched by your faith in me," responded the girl sarcastically. "Anyway, I want to travel, to see new things and to become a Pokémon Champion. And if that means that I have to get used to the wilderness so be it. That's what I want to do."
The darker girl looked at the other with a certain interest. "And tell me… why do you want to become a Pokémon Champion?"
The brown-haired lady sat down and lowered her gaze, trying to gather her thoughts. She then spoke out. "I want to become one because I want to prove what I'm capable to do. I… I've always been seen by others as someone who can't do things of her own. So… I want to show them what I can do. I want to show them that I can be strong and that I can reach any goal by myself, if I put effort. That's why."
"Oh, I see…" replied the other girl, looking at Hilda sympathetically. Axew too was quite moved by the brunette's story. "Well, sorry for what I've said before."
"Nah, never mind! I'm used to that!" responded the beginner Trainer, waving her hand in front of her. "I admit that I can be a bit… childish, sometimes. Eh eh eh! But eh, people grow up during their travels, right?"
"Right!"
Axew stifled a tired yawn, before curling up into a ball on a pillow. Iris looked at her Pokemon, before saying: "I guess it's time to go to sleep. It's quite late."
"You're right. Tomorrow we have to go to the Battle Club and train. I can't wait for that!" said the brown-haired girl, pumping her fists.
Iris chuckled at her enthusiasm, while Hilda simply grinned at her roommate. They then proceeded in going under their covers and have some deserved rest.
The boys were already under their covers, trying to get some sleep, while Pikachu was already fast asleep.
"So, Ash… you've travelled to the Hoenn region, right?"
"Yes, I did."
"Ah… did you participate to the Hoenn League?"
"Yup, long time ago."
"And what Pokémon did you catch there?"
"Um… I caught a Taillow, a Treecko, a Corpish, a Torkoal and a Snorunt. Now Taillow is a Swellow, Treecko is a Sceptile and Snorunt is a Glalie."
"A Treecko, uh? Good choice."
"Yeah! Treeckos are cool, don't you think?"
"Yeah, I agree. Did you participate to some other League?"
"Yes, I have participated to the Lily of the Valley Conference in Sinnoh, a couple of months ago."
"Really?"
"Yes. And I managed to reach the Top 4."
"Top 4…" repeated Hilbert, trying to remember the tournament. He then gasped in realization. "Wait… were you that Trainer who faced a Darkrai?"
"Uh… yeah," responded Ash, quite amused by the brown-haired boy's reaction.
"No way! I remember now! You… you managed to defeat the undefeated Darkrai with your Sceptile!"
"Yes, but it was really hard! I had to use four Pokémon to take it out!"
"Well, Darkrai isn't considered a legend for nothing. But still, that was a great feat!"
"Oh, please! Now you're embarrassing me!" replied Ash, scratching his head.
"Sorry. It's that… whoa!" said Hilbert. "And, if I recall correctly, you used your Pikachu to defeat another legendary. Um, what was its name?"
"Latios."
"Right, a Latios. That Pikachu, the one who is besides you, managed to defeat a Latios? I'm impressed. I never expected that a Pokémon as small as him could do that!"
"Yeah! My Pikachu is very special!" replied the raven-haired boy, looking at his Pokémon.
Hilbert yawned and started to grow weary. Ash subconsciously did the same.
"Oh, well… it's time to rest. Goodnight, Ash."
"Goodnight, Hilbert."
Both boys closed their eyes and soon after fell asleep.
In another part of the town…
The Team Rocket criminals were moving warily around the sleeping residential zone, trying to find some clues about the mysterious organization. Jessie and James were wearing infrared glasses to see well despite being dark, Meowth relied on his natural feline abilities and Woobat used its sonic waves to move around easily and to try to pick up some suspicious sounds. They were easily concealed thanks to their black cloaks and were carrying some Smoke Balls in case they needed to run away. Suddenly…
"Woo?" said Woobat, looking around. Its cry made the others stop.
"Woobat, did you hear something?" asked Jessie to her Pokémon.
"Woh, bat bat!"
"Woobat's saying that she has hear' somethin' strange comin' from over there!" translated Meowth, pointing toward an alley.
"Could they be the mysterious organization?" asked James.
"We have to check it out! Let's go!" said Jessie. "Woobat, lead us!"
The bat nodded and took the lead, conducting the trio toward the origin of the sound. They moved as silently as possible, in order to not alert whoever was operating. After a while, they saw a man's silhouette moving around and they immediately stopped. They stared at the figure, who was wearing a sort of medieval clothing, and he was soon caught up with by another comrade, a woman this time. They approached an enormous building in the form of a trapezoid and glanced through the glass, as if looking for something. Team Rocket tried to come closer to them quietly, in order to find out who they were or what they were doing.
CRACK
"Who's there?" said one of the individuals, alarmed by the noise.
"Uh oh…" muttered James, glancing down. Under his foot there was a broken twig.
"Goodbye element of surprise," murmured Meowth.
The strange individuals attempted to run away, but Woobat rapidly blocked their path and cried menacingly. They backed off some steps, before turning toward the other humans and the catlike Pokémon.
"Who are you?" asked the female knight, scowling at Team Rocket.
"How funny, we wanted to ask you the same thing," retorted Jessie, staring coldly at the mysterious duo.
"Who we are is nothing of your concern! Now buzz off!" said the other individual.
"Not before you reveal yourselves!" countered James. Meowth readied himself for any eventual fight.
The two knights looked at each other, before looking again at the other humans. The girl then spoke: "Sigh, it seems that we have no other choice…"
They both extracted some Poké Balls and launched them in the air. The spheres burst open and a purple cat and a brown crocodile exited from them, glaring angrily at Team Rocket.
"Purrloh!"
"Saaan!"
Jessie, James and Meowth looked at their opponents in surprise, while Woobat looked quite worried. She knew those species and knew that those Pokémon were strong against her.
"Don't force us to use our Pokémon, or else..." said the male grunt, trying to threaten the other humans.
"Ah, we're not afraid of you!" exclaimed Jessie confidently, before looking at her Pokémon. "Woobat, use Air Slash!"
The bat spread her wings before rapidly making an X-motion with them, sending several disks made of air at the foes. The cat and the crocodile dodged the attack by jumping out of the way.
"Fine, if that's what you want… Sandile, use Bite!" shouted the male knight.
The little reptile's fangs started shining with a faint white light and it lunged at the azure Pokémon. Woobat managed to dodge the attack by flying higher, but the other opponent didn't give her any chance.
"Night Slash!" ordered the other knight.
The cat jumped on a wall to gain altitude, while the claws of its forepaws grew longer and were enveloped by a whitish purple aura. It then slashed the Psychic-type with them, causing a lot of damage and knocking her down.
"Baaah!" cried the azure Pokémon, before crashing with a wall and making a dent in it. The impact was so violent that the Pokémon fainted instantly.
"Woobat!" shouted the magenta-haired woman, before pointing her Poké Ball at her Pokémon. "Return!"
James and Meowth were impressed by the speed and power of the purple cat. It was quite strong.
The purple cat and the crocodile growled threateningly at the Team Rocket trio, which went back a couple of steps, while the two mysterious people showed a rather malicious and triumphant gaze.
"I guess it's my turn!", thought Meowth, before removing his uniform and showing his claws. Now it was the strangers' turn to back off.
"What the… a Pokémon?" exclaimed the mysterious girl. She and her companion stared at Meowth, since they had never seen a Pokémon like him before. Their Pokémon were as astonished as their Trainers.
Meowth didn't wait for any command and charged at the other Pokémon, with his claws glowing white. He leapt at the other cat, ready to scratch it with a Fury Swipes.
"Use Night Slash once more!" ordered the knight, regaining her composure.
The purple cat nodded and pounced on the other feline. Their claws clashed against each other, releasing some sparkles with each collision. They continued with their swipes until the purple cat accidentally lowered its guard. Meowth took this chance to strike it with a fast swipe, sending it flying a couple of meters. The darker feline meowed in pain, falling just a few inches in front of its Trainer and twitching. The crocodile was quite horrified by what happened to its comrade, while Meowth smirked.
"Purrloin! Hold on!" screamed the girl, staring worriedly at her Pokémon.
"Great job, Meowth!" exclaimed James. The Normal-type turned to his human companions and gave them a thumbs-up, before looking again at his opponents.
"One down, the other to go!" thought Meowth, looking quite confident.
The reptile bared its fangs and started scratching the floor with its front paws, getting ready for the fight. However its human partner had other plans.
"Sandile, Sandstorm!"
The Pokémon glanced at its Trainer and immediately understood what was his plan. Its forefeet started glowing white and it rapidly slammed them into the floor, generating a shock wave and a twister of greenish sand around it. The tornado grew in size before breaking apart in a sandy gust, making the trio stagger and blocking their visual. The members of Team Rocket held their hands in front of them to block the sand and tried to locate their opponents, without success. After a while, the storm subsided and the wind blew the sand away. The three criminals looked at the place where the strange members were standing and, unsurprisingly, they were gone.
"Argh, they escaped!" shouted Jessie, looking around her.
"Ya, and we don't even know who they are," added Meowth, quite disappointed.
James sighed, quite dissatisfied himself, when he noticed something on the ground. It was a sort of magnetic card with something printed on it and the man collected the item. It was a gray card with depicted a sort of shield, which was divided in two halves: the left side was white and the right side was black. In the middle there was a blue P and a line resembling a reverse Z.
"What's that?" asked Meowth.
"I don't know. It seems a sort of card. Probably those guys dropped it," responded James, scrutinizing the little piece of plastic.
"Hey… that could be a clue! We'd better scan that card and send the data to Archer. Maybe he'll manage to find some more information about them," responded Jessie.
"Ya got that right. Maybe this mission wasn't a complete failure, after all," said the Pokémon, putting on his uniform.
"Now we'd better go, before someone comes here," declared the woman, extracting her jetpack.
The other members agreed with her and immediately activated their jets, before going toward their hiding place.
The next morning, Ash and Hilbert were gathering their stuff and getting ready to meet up with the girls. They checked the room to make sure to not leave anything behind and headed to the door, while Pikachu approached his Trainer and jumped on his shoulder. The boys exited from their room and noticed Iris leaning against the wall near her room, with Axew inside her hair.
The lads approached the dark girl and Ash asked "Hey, where is Hilda?"
Iris looked at the boys and responded with a rather bored voice. "Oh, she's just trying to make herself more presentable, because far be it for anyone to see her in her actual appearance!"
"I heard you, Iris!" yelled Hilda from inside the room, quite annoyed.
Iris rolled her eyes. "I don't even understand why she cares so much…" added the girl, shaking her head and shrugging. Axew emulated her by shrugging as well.
"Ah, don't ask! I don't know what goes through Hilda's mind," replied Hilbert with a rather playful tone. The door of the room burst open, startling the others.
"For your information, I'm a quite refined person and I think that the aspect has its importance. It's not my fault if you three can't get that," stated the brunette, crossing her arms and pouting at the trio.
"Relax, Hilda! Nobody is criticizing you for that!" replied the other brown-haired Trainer, holding his hands in front of him.
Hilda had her doubts about that, but she decided to drop the matter. "Bah, never mind. Anyway… what do you think if we have some breakfast?"
The others were about to answer, when…
GRUMBLE
Everyone's eyes widened and looked at the source of the sound. It was Ash.
"Ash!" exclaimed Iris, quite embarrassed.
"Ops, sorry! Eh he he!" apologized the raven-haired boy, scratching his head sheepishly. But then more grumbles resonated in the area, coming from the other people and Pokémon and making them sweatdrop. Iris's head reddened in discomfort, while Hilda and Hilbert laughed nervously.
"It seems that I'm not the only one who is hungry, uh?" declared Ash, looking quite amused.
"Yeah… eh he he! Maybe we should really go and eat something!" added Hilbert, stifling a laugh. "Let's go!"
A breakfast later…
"Ah, finally I could enjoy some true meals!" exclaimed Hilda, raising her arms and grinning happily.
"Enjoy them while you can. There may be times when a Pokémon Center isn't around the corner, you know," retorted Iris, glancing at the other lady.
"Ahhh, I know…" muttered the brunette in a low voice.
"So… now you're going to the Battle Club, right?" asked Hilbert.
"Yes. Are you coming with us?" said Ash.
"No, I'd like to return home. It's been months since I've seen mom and I'd like to visit her before restarting my journey."
"Oh, ok. We understand, Hilbert," said Hilda, nodding at her friend.
The brown-haired boy nodded back, before turning to Ash. From the look in his face it seemed that he had something in mind. "But first I'd like to ask you something, Ash…"
"Sure, what is it?"
"Can we have a little fight, before leaving? I'd like to test your skills."
Ash thought about that for a moment, before pumping his fists and looking at the other boy with determination. "Ah, I never say no to a battle! Let's go!"
"Pikapika!" said Pikachu, looking as determined as his Trainer.
The group exited from the Pokémon Center and reached a quite isolated area. Ash and Hilbert distanced themselves and looked at each other, while Hilda and Iris stood at a safe distance from them.
"Ok. Are you ready, Ash?" asked the blue-clad boy, rolling up his sleeves.
"You bet I am! I'll use my Pikachu for this battle," said Ash, before looking at his partner. "Let's do that, buddy!"
"Pika!" responded the mouse, before hopping off Ash's shoulder and standing in front of his Trainer.
"Ok, my friend! It's time to rock!" shouted Hilbert, throwing a Poké Ball in the air. The item burst open and the Pokémon who exited from it left Ash amazed and Hilda and Iris quite baffled. It was green bipedal lizard-like Pokémon, with a red underbelly and a long dark green tail divided in two segments. Its eyes were big with yellow sclera and little black pupils, and around its neck it was wearing a blue bandana.
"Treecko!" said the Pokémon, crossing its arms and looking at its opponents.
"Hey, that's a Treecko!" exclaimed Ash excitedly.
"Yeah! Now do you see why I was interested in yours?"
"Yes, I see."
"A Treecko, uh?" murmured Hilda, before pointing her Pokédex at the green Pokémon. Iris looked at the device as well.
"Treecko, the Wood Gecko Pokémon. The soles of its feet are covered by countless tiny spikes, enabling it to walk on walls and ceilings."
"Wow, he seems a good Pokémon!" said the brunette in amazement.
"Yeah, my Treecko is great. And despite him being the youngest and most recent member of my team he's quite skillful already," explained the blue-clad boy to the others. The gecko responded to his praise by punching the air a couple of times, as if warming up for the upcoming battle.
"Ok, then! Are you ready, Pikachu?"
"Pikapika!" responded the mouse, nodding and going into his fighting stance.
"Let's show them what you can do, Treecko!"
The Pokémon turned his head and gave a thumbs-up to his Trainer. "Treecko tree!" said the reptilian, before looking again at his opponent.
"Alright Pikachu, let's start! Use Thunderbolt!"
The yellow Pokémon gathered electricity in his cheeks and fired a powerful electric discharge at the other battler.
"Treecko, use Quick Attack!"
The gecko nodded and rushed toward his foe, leaving a white and silver streak behind him and dodging the electric attack effortlessly thanks to his increased speed.
"Pikachu, use Quick Attack too!"
The mouse sprinted forward, him too leaving a white and silver streak behind him. Both Pokémon glared at each other and collided, but Pikachu showed to be stronger than the reptilian and sent the gecko flying upwards.
"Ckooo!" shouted the Pokémon, before falling on the floor on his back.
"Treecko! Are you ok, buddy?"
The green Pokémon rapidly stood up and reassured his Trainer by nodding.
"That Pikachu is really strong! I'd better be more careful…" thought Hilbert, placing a hand on his mouth.
"Now Pikachu, use Iron Tail!"
Hilbert and Treecko focused again on their opponents and saw Pikachu running toward the reptilian, with his tail turning into steel and glimmering brightly.
"Ok, Treecko! Use Detect!"
The Grass-type's eyes started glowing light green and time seemed to slow down for the little gecko. All his opponent's movements seemed much slower and he easily avoided an horizontal strike by ducking and a vertical swipe by jumping back, leaving Pikachu quite baffled. After that, Treecko's eyes returned back to normal.
"Great job, Treecko! Now use Dragon Breath!"
The gecko opened his mouth and a green and white sphere of spiraling energy appeared inside it. Treecko then blew a semitransparent beam of energy at Pikachu, who was hit head on and pushed back by the shockwave. Pikachu felt some static electricity circulating all around his body, but he shook off the effect by shaking his body.
"Now go with Grass Pledge!" commanded the blue-clad boy.
Pikachu and Ash prepared themselves for the upcoming attack, having no idea how it was. They saw Treecko raising his hand, which started glowing with a faint green aura, and immediately slamming it into the floor. A pillar of green light with several leaves erupted from the point where the Grass-type hit the ground and various other pillars started erupting, moving rapidly toward the electric mouse. The columns formed a ring around Pikachu, before merging into a giant pilaster of energy and leaves.
"Piii!" shouted the mouse, gritting his teeth and trying to endure the attack.
Ash didn't lose any time and ordered his counterattack. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"
The Electric-type gathered electricity and unleashed it all around him, dispelling the pillar of energy and hitting his opponent as a bonus. Luckily for Treecko, his Grass-type's properties reduced the damage taken, but the move still hurt him a lot.
"Treecko, go with Quick Attack!"
The Pokémon sprinted forward, determined to hit his opponent.
"Pikachu, counter with Volt Tackle!"
With electricity covering his body, the mouse ran toward the gecko.
"Quick, use Detect!"
Treecko's eyes flashed green and he rapidly sidestepped, easily avoiding Pikachu's attack.
"Exactly as planned," thought Ash, before giving his next command. "Pikachu, use Iron Tail!"
The yellow Pokémon spun around by using his front paws as a pivot and charged the reptilian at high speed, with his tail coated by a steel-like surface.
"Treecko, look out!" shouted Hilbert, alarmed by Pikachu's assault.
His partner looked at the rodent and was as alarmed as the Trainer, since his Detect had lost its effect. He tried desperately to avoid the attack by running away, but Pikachu struck him on his back, squashing him between his tail and the floor and knocking the air out of his lungs. Pikachu jumped back and stared at his opponent, who struggled a bit to stand up.
"Ok, I think that's enough!" declared Hilbert, forming a T with his hands. He then approached the other boy and smiled at him. "Congratulations, Ash! Your Pikachu is really strong! Now I see why he performed so well at the Sinnoh League!"
"Thanks, Hilbert! But your Treecko is quite strong too!"
Pikachu approached the gecko and asked him if he was alright. The Grass-type nodded and responded with an affirmative tone, while tightening the knot of his bandana.
"That was an awesome battle!" commented Hilda, obtaining the attention of the boys. "Your Pokémon were great!"
"I agree. Even if your Treecko is young, he still showed to be a strong Pokémon. Surely someday he will become quite powerful!" added Iris. Her Axew agreed with a cry.
"Eh he! Thanks!" said the brown-haired boy, smiling at the girls.
"Tree trecko!" said the green reptilian, crossing his arms and showing a prideful smile.
"Well, it's time to go! It's been a pleasure to meet you again, Hilda! And also a pleasure to know you guys!" said Hilbert, while his Treecko jumped on his shoulder.
"Oh, Hilbert! Before you leave…"
"Um? Yeah, Hilda?"
"What do you think if we exchange our Xtransceivers' numbers? In that way we can always stay in touch and exchange opinions and tips whenever we want."
"Sure, let's do that!"
The Trainers started pressing some buttons on their devices and put the screens one in front of the other. They held them that way until they beeped and the kids registered the numbers.
"Perfect!" said Hilda enthusiastically.
"Ok. Now I really need to go!" said Hilbert, readjusting his beret. The Trainer then turned to leave, while looking back and waving his arm. "See you soon, pals!"
"Treeecko!" added his Pokémon, emulating his Trainer.
"See ya, Hilbert!" said Hilda, waving her arm as well.
"Goodbye, Hilbert!" "Pikaaa!" added Ash and Pikachu respectively.
"Have a nice trip!" "Axewww!" concluded Iris and Axew.
It wasn't too long until the brown-haired Trainer and Treecko disappeared on the horizon.
"Ok, now… let's go to the Battle Club!" exclaimed Hilda quite excitedly. "But… do you know where it is, Iris?"
"Of course I do. It's not too far from here. Follow me!"
A while later…
The group reached a rather big and green trapezoidal facility, full of windows of glass to allow light to filter inside. In the front of the building there was a symbol which resembled an arena and colored white and red.
"Here we are! This is the Battle Club!" declared Iris, looking at the other Trainers and motioning toward the edifice with her arms. Ash and Hilda looked at the enormous building, before following the dark girl inside. The first thing everybody noticed was a series of computers with touch screen, which were showing some colorful icons. Iris and the others approached one of them. "This is a notice board."
"Um… is that the machine where Trainers can insert their profiles and the Pokémon they'd like to fight?" asked Hilda, crossing her arms while scrutinizing the device.
"That's correct! Battle Clubs are the best place where Trainers can improve their skills and a lot of matches are held here."
"Wow, that's interesting!" exclaimed Ash.
"Pika!" replied Pikachu, quite interested as well.
"Do you have buildings like that in Kanto?" asked the brunette.
"Um… no, as far as I know."
"Well, what do you think if we find some Trainers willing to fight?" asked Iris to the others.
"Sure, let's check!" replied Hilda.
The purple-haired girl nodded and started pressing on some buttons. They saw various pictures of various Trainers and their Pokémon and after a while stopped on an announcement with a couple of pictures.
There were two Trainers: one with brown hair and an orange and red shirt and the other with dark green hair and yellow shirt. The first one owned one of those pink fawns, while the latter owned a strange circular and red Pokémon, which resembled a daruma doll. According to their announcement, they were looking for some Trainers with Grass-, Fire- or Water-type Pokémon for a Tag Battle.
"Oh, this seems the perfect battle for you two!" said the dark lady, turning toward the duo.
"A Tag Battle? I don't know… I'm still quite inexperienced and I could mess up," remarked the brunette, a bit hesitant. "Maybe it's better if I take on something easier…"
"Nah, I think that this could be a great way to train our Pokémon. It requires a lot of coordination to fight during a Double Battle. If you manage to have enough control during a Tag you shouldn't have problems during a Single Match," replied Ash, looking at the beginner Trainer. "We could try that, don't you think? In that way we can train our Pokémon at the same time."
"Um… I guess you're right, Ash," responded Hilda, pondering about that idea. She then clenched her fists and put them in front of her, before showing a determined smile. "Alright, let's do that!"
"That's the spirit!" replied Ash, quite determined himself. Even Pikachu was rather resolute.
"Ok, then! I'll sign you up for the battle!" said Iris, before pressing on some buttons. After a while, a confirmation message appeared on the screen and invited them to go to the arena for the match. The group did so and reached a rather plain battlefield, with some soil to allow Pokémon with moves like Dig to fight.
The party immediately noticed the unknown Trainers together with a brown-haired mustached man coming toward them and they decided to approach them.
"Hello, young Trainers! I imagine you're new, since I've never seen you before. I'm Don George, the battle manager and owner of this Battle Club."
"Nice to meet you! I'm Iris and those two are Ash and Hilda. They're the Trainers who requested a fight."
"Hi there!" said Ash.
"Pleased to meet you!" added Hilda.
"Same here! I'm Rick!" responded the brown-haired kid.
"And I'm Ken!" declared the green-haired boy.
"So… do you wanna battle?" asked Rick.
"Of course! We're here for that reason!" replied Ash, looking quite pumped.
"Pika pika!" exclaimed Pikachu excitedly. His cry drew the attention of George and the two Trainers, who looked at the mouse quite incredulously.
"Look at that Pikachu! It's quite rare to see a Pikachu here in Unova!" exclaimed the battle manager, caressing the yellow creature. The Electric-type released some pleased cries.
"Is that Pikachu yours?" asked Ken.
"Yes, he is," responded Ash politely.
"He seems quite strong…" remarked the other opponent.
"Um… weren't we going to have a battle?" asked Hilda.
"Oh, right! Trainers, get in your positions," said the man.
Every Trainer nodded and went on the opposite sides of the field, while Don George went toward an area where he could watch the battle properly. Meanwhile Iris sat down on a bench, with Axew sitting on her lap. She looked around her and noticed a few other people watching toward the arena.
"Oh, Ash! I'm so nervous!" remarked the brown-haired girl, looking at the other Trainer.
"Don't be, Hilda! Relax! Consider it a simple friendly match!" replied the raven-haired boy, showing a reassuring smile.
"A simple friendly match…" murmured the girl, nodding absent-mindedly.
"Deerling, come out!" "Darumaka, I choose you!" shouted Rick and Ken respectively, throwing their Poké Balls in the air. The spheres burst open and the Pokémon looked quite intensely at their opponents.
"Deer deerling!"
"Daru daru!"
"Deerling and Darumaka, uh?" muttered Ash, before pointing his Pokédex toward the pink Pokémon.
"Deerling, the Season Pokémon. With the change of each season, Deerling's appearance changes as well."
Hilda extracted her device as well and pointed it toward the other Pokémon.
"Darumaka, the Zen Charm Pokémon. When asleep, even when pushed or pulled, it cannot be knocked over."
"Alright! Tepig, come out!" shouted the brunette, throwing her Poké Ball. Her Pokémon exited from it and immediately blew some flames and shouted his name, ready to fight.
"Ok! Osha-" started Ash, before being interrupted by a blue beam cast from his belt. The ray compounded the water otter, who shouted his name happily and startled the fire pig. Ash, Hilda and Iris were left baffled by his sudden appearance.
"Hey, who told you to come out without permission?" asked Ash to his Pokémon, quite surprised.
"Osha oshawa!" responded the Water-type, looking quite excited.
"He seems very eager to fight…" commented Hilda, shaking her head in amusement.
"Oh, well… I wanted to choose him anyway," responded Ash, shrugging. Pikachu lowered his ears and tilted his head, a bit bewildered by Oshawott's behavior.
Oshawott grinned contentedly and looked at his opponents, who were ready to fight. He then looked at Tepig and started pushing him away.
"Tep?" asked the Fire-type quizzically.
"Oshawa!" responded the otter. It seemed that he wanted to fight by himself.
Tepig snorted and started making a stand, successfully stopping the blue Pokémon, who was struggling against the other starter.
"Oshawott, leave Tepig be! He will be your partner for this battle!" ordered Ash.
Oshawott looked at his Trainer quite puzzled, while Tepig rolled his eyes and shook his head. He then rapidly explained to his battle partner that they were going to have a Tag Battle and the otter nodded in understanding. The pig nodded back and they both stared at their opponents.
"Are you ready for the battle?" asked Don George to the kids.
"We're ready!" responded everybody at the same time. The Pokémon replied in their Pokéspeechs.
"Very well. Go!"
"Deerling, use Energy Ball on Oshawott!" shouted Rick.
"Darumaka, go with Rollout on Tepig!" commanded Ken.
The little deer started gathering energy from the nature in the form of a bright green sphere, while the Fire-type retracted its arms and feet in its body and became a little ball. They then attacked their opponents by shooting the energetic pulse and by rolling respectively. Tepig crouched down, bracing himself for the eventual impact, while Oshawott backed off slightly, a bit scared by the incoming move.
"Quick, Oshawott! Jump!"
"You too, Tepig!"
Both the starters immediately jumped over their opponents' attacks, missing the green energy and the rolling creature.
"Ok, Tepig! Go with Tackle on Darumaka!"
Just when the pig touched the ground, he whirled around and rammed his opponent. However, despite putting a lot of strength in his attack, the Zen Charm Pokémon didn't even budge. The fire pig bounced back and looked at his opponent dumbfounded, while the other Fire-type grinned.
"What?! He managed to block Tackle? How?" thought Hilda, looking quite surprised. Meanwhile...
"Oshawott, use Water Gun!"
"Energy Ball once more!"
The otter spat a stream of water at the deer and the Grass-type shot another sphere of natural power. The ball of energy tore apart the spurt quite easily and hit the blue mammal at full force, sending him flying.
"Oshaaa!" yelled the Pokémon.
"Oh, no! Oshawott!" shouted Ash in concern.
The Water-type fell near his partner, who turned toward him and looked at him worriedly.
"Darumaka, use Incinerate!"
The red Pokémon pointed its stubby arms toward the ground beneath its foes and its hands started glowing with a bright red aura. A similar light appeared below Tepig and Oshawott, which looked at it. Suddenly, various rapid and incandescent plumes erupted from the ground, damaging both the starters and making them grit their teeth in pain. Oshawott hopped on his spot several times to avoid the burning soil, while Tepig had a better time enduring the move since fire was his natural element.
"Ash, we gotta do something!" said Hilda to the more experienced Trainer.
"I know that!" replied Ash, before adding "You take care of Deerling, while I'll try to deal with Darumaka. Ok?"
"Ok!"
"Oshawott, use Razor Shell on Darumaka!"
"Tepig, use Heat Crash on Deerling!"
The starters nodded and went to fight their opponents. Oshawott ran toward the round Fire-type with his scalchop emanating a watery energy, while Tepig charged the Grass-type with his body cloaked in fire.
"Trying to hit us in our weak points? It won't work!" said Ken. "Darumaka, use Fire Punch!"
"Deerling, go with Take Down!"
Darumaka's fist became surrounded by fire, while Deerling's body was enveloped by a golden force field. They then counterattacked their respective opponents.
Darumaka managed to block the water attack by punching the sword with its hand and successfully pushing back its adversary. Oshawott almost lost balance due to the strength of the opposing move, but managed to regain balance quite easily. He then looked at his opponent and started to feel a bit uneasy.
In the meantime, Deerling clashed with the pig. Despite having the type disadvantage, the deer managed to overpower the Fire-type quite easily and the poor starter was thrown back by the sheer force of the attack.
"Teeep!" yelled the Pokémon, falling unceremoniously on the floor and sliding for a few meters on it. He rapidly shook his head and stared at his opponent, unsure of what to do.
"Tepig, are you alright?" asked his Trainer. The Pokémon turned toward the lady and nodded, even if he wasn't really alright.
"Hey, how come Heat Crash was so weak? When you used it against Pidove it seemed quite powerful," asked Ash to the beginner.
"I know, but…" started Hilda, before suddenly remembering something. "Oh, no!"
"What?"
"Um… Heat Crash is a move that takes advantage of the weight of the user. The heavier the user is compared to its opponent, the more damage the move does. And… well, Pidove was lighter than Tepig, while Deerling is heavier. And I think that Darumaka is heavier as well."
"Ah, so that's why!"
"Yeah…" responded the brunette, before sighing. "That's not good for us…"
"Hilda, don't give up! We haven't lost yet! Let's try to do our best!" said the raven-haired boy, trying to encourage her. But the girl was still quite skeptical about that.
"Come on, Ash and Hilda! You can do it!" cheered Iris.
"Axew ax!" shouted the little dragon, cheering along his partner.
"See? Don't let them and your Pokémon down. We can win!" exclaimed Ash, showing a confident smile to the beginner Trainer.
Taking advantage of the other Trainers' distraction, Ken gave his next order. "Darumaka, use Rollout!"
Both the capped Trainers gasped and looked toward the arena. The Zen Charm Pokémon was coming toward Tepig and Oshawott, who were temporarily looking at their Trainers while waiting for the next command and as such didn't see the rolling creature coming toward them.
"Dodge, dodge!" shouted both Trainers at the same time. The starters had no time to turn around that the red Pokémon hit them hard and sent them flying upwards.
"Deerling, use Leech Seed!" commanded Rick.
The little deer pulled its head back and rapidly moved it forward, sending a seed toward its opponents. The seed opened in midair and wrapped the targets together with some thin vines. The Pokémon fell on the floor and the seed and vines started flashing red, draining the energy of the starters and making them cry in pain.
"Tepig, use Ember to free yourself and Oshawott!"
"Oshawott, try to use Razor Shell!"
The Pokémon rapidly tried to free themselves by using the ordered moves, but the vines were too tight for them and as such couldn't move at all to aim their attacks.
"Go, Darumaka! Use Rollout again!" yelled the green-haired boy.
His Pokémon obeyed and restarted rolling toward its foes, this time faster than before. Both Tepig and Oshawott began wriggling and flailing desperately, trying to break loose.
Ash and Hilda looked very worried. That powered up Rollout could easily knock out their Pokémon, if they didn't find some way to help them. Suddenly Hilda got an idea.
"Tepig, use Heat Crash! Burn that Leech Seed away!"
The pig was quite surprised by the command and a bit hesitant, since he knew that if he used the move he would hurt his companion, while the otter was quite horrified by the request. Ash gave to his human partner an astonished gaze, but Hilda reassured him with a nod.
"Do that! Quick!"
Seeing that Darumaka was at only a few meters from them, Tepig immediately ignited himself and set the vines and seed on fire, reducing them into cinder. Oshawott ended up blackened by the flames, but thanks to his water properties he managed to endure the attack. Just when Rollout was about to hit its targets, the pig pushed the otter out of the way and they managed to avoid the move. Ash and Hilda sighed in relief, but the battle wasn't over yet.
"Darumaka, Fire Punch!" ordered Ken.
The red Pokémon decided to assault the fire pig with its fiery punch, but Tepig managed to move swiftly and avoid the strike. The starter then coiled his tail around the other Fire-type's arm and prevented it from moving. The Zen Charm Pokémon wriggled and tried to free itself from the pig's grip, but to no avail. The starter grinned and tightened the grip around his opponent's arm, determined to not let it run away.
"Good job, Tepig! Now use Ember!"
The little pig nodded and blew a spray of embers at his opponent who, despite being a Fire-type, suffered from the continuous hits.
"Hilda, I have an idea!" said Ash to his partner, before turning to his Pokémon. "Oshawott, go behind Tepig and use Water Gun on Darumaka!"
The blue mammal nodded and did as commanded. He rapidly went behind the other starter and spat a powerful stream of water. The other mammal interrupted his attack and ducked just before the water jet was about to hit its opponent, completely avoiding the liquid. The water did a lot of damage to the daruma doll Pokémon, which couldn't move aside since the pig was holding it tightly. Ken was becoming quite nervous, since he knew that if his Pokémon kept receiving water it would faint soon.
"Deerling, we have to help Darumaka! Use Energy Ball on Tepig!" ordered Rick.
"Ling!" said the hooved Pokémon, before nodding. It then started gathering energy and aimed it at the starter. Tepig noticed that and he immediately thought of something.
"Tep tep tep!" said him, directed to Oshawott. The otter raised his arm in agreement and took some steps aside, still squirting his attack on his opponent. Ash and Hilda blinked, wondering what their Pokémon were doing. Just when the Season Pokémon shot its sphere of energy, Tepig released the Darumaka and Oshawott's Water Gun sent it flying and colliding with the Energy Ball. The green attack did some damage to the Pokémon, who soon after fell on its companion, damaging both Pokémon. All Trainers were impressed by Tepig's tactic, who showed a satisfied gaze.
"Wow… way to go, Tepig!" shouted Hilda, quite wowed by her Pokémon's initiative. The pig turned around and smiled happily, glad to have pleased his Trainer, while Oshawott pouted at the lack of credit. "Oh, and you too, Oshawott!" added the girl, obtaining a satisfied look from Oshawott.
Meanwhile Deerling managed to get Darumaka off itself, even if with a lot of trouble due to its partner's weight.
"Come on, Deerling! You can do it! Use Take Down!" shouted the brown-haired boy.
The Grass-type struggled a little to stand up, but it managed to gather enough strength to form a golden field around it. It then rushed toward its opponents at high speed. Ash and Hilda looked at each other and immediately knew what to do.
"Oshawott…"
"Tepig…"
"Use Tackle on Deerling!" shouted the Trainers at the same time.
The starters immediately charged the other Pokémon and rammed into it at full force, successfully overpowering the Take Down attack, and sent it flying for a couple of meters.
"Deer!" shouted the fawn, hitting the floor quite harshly and receiving further damage.
"Well, we aren't going to give up! Darumaka, use Incinerate!"
"Daru daru!" cried the Fire-type with determination, before pointing its arms toward the ground and raising the temperature of the soil.
"Dodge!" shouted Ash and Hilda. Their Pokémon immediately started running around the field, avoiding the plumes with little effort.
"Let's end this battle! Oshawott, use Razor Shell on Darumaka!"
"Tepig, Heat Crash on Deerling!"
Oshawott and Tepig jumped up, the first raising his scalchop high and creating a sharp blade of water and the latter cloaking himself in a ball of fire. The attacks both connected with their opponents, who were too weak to move, and the impact was so strong that the stricken Pokémon were abruptly knocked to the floor, raising a dust cloud. The humans kept staring at the battlefield, trying to see what happened. When the dust settled, Deerling and Darumaka were lying on the floor, with their eyes turned into swirls.
"Deerling!" "Oh, no! Darumaka!" yelled Rick and Ken respectively.
"Deerling and Darumaka are unable to battle. The winners of this match are Ash with his Oshawott and Hilda with her Tepig!" declared Don George, raising his arm toward the mentioned Pokémon Trainers and Pokémon.
"Yay! We won!" shouted Hilda happily, raising her fist.
"Yes!" added Ash, him too raising his fist.
"Pikaaah!" yelled Pikachu, waving his paws.
Iris and Axew cheered for Ash and Hilda, while the people inside the Battle Club clapped in excitement, satisfied by the battle. Oshawott and Tepig looked around them, waging their tails and bowing to the people, while Ken and Rick returned their fainted Pokémon in their Poké Balls and thanked them for the good job. Ash and Hilda then decided to approach their opponents, with their Pokémon trailing them.
"Congratulations, Ash and Hilda! Your Pokémon are really strong!" complimented Rick, smiling at the mentioned people despite having lost.
"Yeah! You really are a great team!" commented Ken, agreeing with what his partner said.
"Thank you, but you're strong too!" replied Ash.
"Indeed! You really gave us some problems during the fight!" said Hilda.
"Tep tep!" "Osha osha!" exclaimed the starters contentedly.
Don George approached the children while slowly clapping his hands and the kids turned to him.
"Well done, young challengers. Your performance was really good and you and your Pokémon have showed to have the potential to be great battlers. Keep up with your training and you'll become stronger and more skilled in no time."
"Thanks, Don George," said the Trainers, bowing slightly at the man. Pikachu, Tepig and Oshawott nodded with their heads.
"Now you'd better take your Pokémon to the infirmary, so that they will get treated and can rest. After that, you will be free to go."
"Ok," responded the battlers at the same time. Ash and Hilda picked up their Pokémon and followed Ken, Rick and Iris toward the infirmary, with Iris and Axew joining them.
Not too far from the Battle Club…
Jessie, James and Meowth were sitting on a bar, savoring some Unova drinks while being concealed by their black overcoats. They decided to scrutinize the situation in town through a rather good perspective, in case those weird individuals from the night before showed up again.
"So… any news from Archer?" asked James to Jessie, breaking the silence.
"Not yet. Probably they're still analyzing the information," responded the woman, glancing at her PTC.
"Archer seemed quite satisfied by our job. He will probably put a good word for us to the boss," said Meowth.
"Yes! And if we'll keep doing that way, our previous failures will be just a distant memory," exclaimed the woman.
"Indeed! Finally they're appreciating our work!" added James, nodding.
Suddenly, they heard some noises of various people marching and the trio turned toward the origin of the noise. Some pedestrians and Pokémon stopped to look at the strange organization and a few of them started murmuring some things to others.
What they saw was a group of people dressed like medieval knights, just like the duo with the cat and the crocodile. After a more proper attention, the trio spotted the same couple that attacked them the night before and could analyze the clothing of them and their comrades much better: they were all wearing gray and white clothes with hoods, with depicted a shield on the middle of the same type of the one portrayed on the card. They also had gray long gloves and boots and dark grey trousers and belt.
They were forming a sort of rectangular human shield around someone and a couple of grunts in the front were holding two flags with depicted a shield on each. The strange individuals soon rearranged themselves to let the figure in the middle and the knight holding the flag to move forward, allowing the trio to see the figure clearly.
He was a strange mustached and bearded man, who was wearing a long dark brown clothing with a yellow collar and a shield depicted in the middle of the dress and a dark brown tall hat. He looked quite solemn and placid and turned toward the pedestrians, while all the grunts moved behind him and formed a line, standing the ones beside the others. After that, the knights with the flags planted them on the floor and at the opposite extremities of the line, before joining their comrades.
"Please, ladies and gentlemen, come closer. I have a very important speech to make," declared the brown-clad man, holding his arms open. The people and Pokémon looked at each other before slowly approaching the strange individuals. Team Rocket, on the other hand, opted to stay put and study the situation.
"First to all, let me introduce myself. My name is Gorm and I'm a representative of Team Plasma."
"Team Plasma?" murmured Jessie.
"You surely are wondering who we are. I'll be glad to answer you, but first I need to talk about the Pokémon's emotions."
"Emotions?" "Pokémon?" asked some people, looking at each other quizzically. The various Pokémon were puzzled as well.
The brown-clad man diverted his gaze from the crowd and resumed his speech. "As most of you know already, Pokémon are fully capable of feeling emotions, like happiness, sadness and fear… exactly like us. We have been together with them long enough to understand their emotions and sentiments."
Some people nodded, while Team Rocket was listening carefully to the Team Plasma's representative, trying to understand what he was getting at.
"However, do we really know what they truly feel? The emotions they show to us is what comes from their true inner selves or we influence their sentiments in some way? How can we be sure that we aren't manipulating them?"
Now people were puzzled by this statement. They all knew their Pokémon's inner feelings… right?
The representative looked again at the crowd. "Pokémon are different from us. Their signals and ways in which they experience their feelings are different from ours. What is inside their hearts is still untapped. We barely managed to scratch the surface of our own hearts, so how can we know what's inside the Pokémon's hearts? How can we be sure that we are seeing how they truly feel if we don't even know how we feel ourselves? How do we know that we aren't simply looking at the surface and pretending to know their feelings?"
Confusion and doubts started spreading within the crowd. Even Jessie and James had a minuscule pang, but they didn't show it. What the strange person was saying made some sense. Meowth, to the contrary, looked quite suspicious. He sensed something weird in the air and it was coming from that strange man.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it's our duty to preserve the Pokémon from our bad influence and to let them develop their own pure feelings. And what's better way to help them… if not by detaching ourselves from them?"
The orator raised his hands toward the sky. "Let your Pokémon free. Let them develop their own feelings. Then, and only then, humans and Pokémon will have pure and uncorrupted emotions."
He then lowered his hands and concluded. "With that said, I end my speech. I prompt you to consider the relationship between you all and all Pokémon and to make the best decision. We, Team Plasma, thank you for your attention."
The bearded man bowed to the crowd and the other members rapidly organized around him, rebuilding the human shield. After they were all done, they restarted marching, distancing themselves from the crowd. When they were gone, people and Trainers started looking at each other. Their gazes had a mix of bewilderment and abashment.
"No. We… we aren't doing that to our Pokémon… right?"
"I've never thought about that…"
"Should we really… release them?"
"No! I… I can't think of a life without my Cottonee and Petilil."
"But… are we really egotistical?"
With various doubts troubling their minds, the people dispersed and left the place, still unsure of what to do. Meanwhile, the members of Team Rocket kept drinking their beverages in silence, until James piped up "Uh… did you get anything of what that guy was saying?"
"It seemed all nonsense to me. However, he somehow managed to convince some of those simpletons," said Jessie, while trying to hide the fact that the brown-clad man was about to convince her as well.
"What do you think about that, Meowth? Did you find yourself agreeing with what he said about Pokémon?"
"Dunno, guys…" replied the cat, while showing a quite suspicious look. "I find dat emotions thing quite fishy. I think dat he was hiding something."
"Well, if he really was hiding something, we must find out what it is," declared the woman. "Let's return to our refuge. We have to arrange everything in case they return."
The others agreed with what Jessie said and, upon finishing their drinks, they headed towards their little hideaway.
Meanwhile, Ash and his friends were exiting from the Battle Club, just after finishing Tepig's and Oshawott's check-ups. Both the starters were walking behind their respective Trainers, while looking around them curiously.
"Ah, perfect! Now let's go to Striaton City, so that I can win my first Badge!" exclaimed the boy excitedly.
"Pika pika!" said Pikachu, eager to fight for his friend.
"Oshawa!" added the otter, quite excited as well.
"Uh… are you sure about that, Ash? Don't you want to train your Pokémon a bit longer?" asked Hilda to the other Trainer.
"Nah, I think I'm ready. Pikachu and Gible are already very capable and now I know Oshawott's abilities and skills. I feel we're ready!"
"Ok, if you say so…"
"So it's decided. I'll accompany you to Striaton. If we hurry we should arrive in the afternoon," said Iris to her travelling companions.
"Fine with me. Let's-" started the boy, before being interrupted by the noises of a march. He and the others turned toward the noises and saw a group of individuals advancing with a certain vigor. They were arranged in a rectangular shape and were surrounding a strange brown-clad man. The gang deduced that said figure was really important if the other members were making sure that nobody came close to him.
"Who are they?" asked Ash to the girls, in a very low voice.
"I have no idea. That's the first time that I see those guys," replied Hilda with a whisper, looking at the group with a certain interest.
"Yeah. I've never seen them before either," said Iris, quite curious as well.
Ash looked at the distancing march for a while before shrugging. "Oh, well… it doesn't matter right now. Who knows, maybe we'll see them again."
Pikachu, Axew, Tepig and Oshawott kept staring at the strange knights for a while. They could feel something weird coming from the man, but couldn't pinpoint what it was. However, they simply ignored that sensation and focused on their human partners.
"Alright! Let's go! To Striaton City!" said the raven-haired Trainer at last, before him and the others started their journey, toward the next city.
In another part of the city…
"I wonder if Archer will respond now…" asked James, more as a rhetorical question than a query made to the others.
"We'll find out right now," responded Jessie, looking at the screen of her tablet. Suddenly some static appeared and the admin's image appeared on the screen.
"Greeting, Jessie, James and Meowth," said Archer to the trio.
"Greetings, Archer," responded the trio, bowing their heads at their superior.
"What news are you bringing me today?"
"We've found out about some kind of organization that seems to be aiming to free the Pokémon from humans. The group's name is seemingly Team Plasma," responded rapidly James.
"Free Pokémon from humans? That's unheard-of. And… did you say Team Plasma?"
"Yes, sir."
The executive started looking at his tablet, before saying: "What a coincidence. I have received some information from some of our Unova agents about an organization named Team Plasma just a few hours ago. According to our information, they have started operating undercover just a couple of days ago. However, that's the first time that they have showed themselves in public."
"Goodbye exclusive news…" whispered Meowth, a bit disappointed that they were second in finding out about Team Plasma.
"Anyway, thanks for confirming what we have gathered already. Now we have enough proofs to put them on our checklist and investigate more thoroughly about them."
The trio simply nodded at the executive.
"I wonder what is their objective…" said the admin, looking quite pensive.
"What do we have to do now, sir?" asked Jessie to the executive.
"You three have to keep investigating about them. We've managed to intercept some information and we have found out that they are directed to Striaton City. Go there and keep me informed. I'm counting on you."
"Yes, Archer."
After that, the Team Rocket Executive interrupted the communication.
"Free Pokémon from humans…" mused the admin, looking again at his tablet. "What is the point of that?"
Suddenly, the ringtone of the videophone started ringing again, obtaining the attention of the teal-haired man. Soon after, an image of a grunt appeared on the screen. "Sir, there is an incoming call from Captain Petrel. What do you want me to do?"
"Ah, I've been waiting for his call. Put him on."
"Yes, sir," responded the recruit. The image went static for a while, before showing the image of the purple-haired executive.
"Petrel…" greeted Archer.
"Howdy, Archer! Hey, you don't even say hello to your colleague?" greeted back the other executive, showing a broad smile.
"Professional bias, what can I say? Anyway, I know you have tried to contact me yesterday."
"Yes, but couldn't connect with you for some reason," responded Petrel, shrugging at the other.
"The problem was that we got some technical issues. Some Klinks managed to disrupt some delicate machines and all communications ended up interrupted for a few hours, but everything is solved now."
"Those strange gears seem quite hard to handle, I guess."
"Yeah, especially when they decide to use their electric attacks."
"Why don't you hire the disastrous trio? They must be used to the electricity after being hit multiple times by the twerp's Pikachu's Thunderbolts. They are perfect for this job!" replied Petrel.
"… we're getting off the track now. Can you tell me the real reason of why you have contacted me?"
"Oh, yeah! I have some great news for you, Archer!"
"Please, go ahead."
"First, we've managed to get everything ready for… you know, that secret plan…"
The teal-haired admin showed a pleased smile. "Oh, right. Excellent. I've been waiting for that for a while. However, we must wait for the proper time. Right now it would be too risky."
"We already know that. You kept reminding us thousands and thousands of times about this detail."
"Well, I want to make sure that everything will go smoothly. Is there anything else?"
"Ummm…" muttered the purple-haired man, before placing a hand on his mouth and looking down while thinking. After a few seconds, he snapped his fingers and returned his attention to Archer. "Oh, yeah! Lord Giovanni has decided to send some members to aid the buff- I mean… Jessie, James and Meowth. Once they'll reach the base and we finish some stuff here me and the others will come as well."
"Good. That's what I wanted to hear."
"Why? Don't tell me you are already bored without us," retorted Petrel, while smirking at his colleague.
"Mind your business. We're at work, after all. We must act accordingly."
"Ok, ok. But man, you were funnier when we were still working in Johto. Now you're such a spoilsport."
"We can't let anything go wrong. Not after the whole Goldenrod fiasco. We must make sure to not disappoint Lord Giovanni again."
"Yeah, you have a point! That was our worst mission. Hopefully our performance will be better in Unova…"
"I'll make sure that everything will go perfectly this time. We don't need to worry about that right now."
"If you say so…" murmured the black-clad admin, putting his hands on his hips. "Anyway… if you don't need to tell me anything else, I'll go and help Proton and Ariana!"
"I have nothing more to say for now. You can go," reassured the second-on-command to the other member.
"Alright. See you soon then! I'll say hello to the others on your behalf."
"Fine. Goodbye, Petrel. Until next time."
The purple-haired admin nodded and interrupted the communication before going to help the other executives, while the white-clad man was left staring at the screen for a while. He leaned his back on the chair and started fiddling with the computer's keyboard.
"Perfect," said him, thinking about the secret project and opening a file. It showed only a giant X and a bar, which required a secret password. The admin unlocked the security system and looked at the project. He couldn't help but smile while looking at the screen. "Everything is going exactly as planned. Nothing can go wrong."
Oshawott was running ahead, quite happy to stay outside the Poké Ball for a while. He wanted to enjoy the weather and to see various things, since he had no idea how the world outside the lab was. Tepig kept looking at him with an amused gaze, but he understood perfectly how Oshawott felt. However, he preferred to stay besides Hilda. He wanted to make sure to stay always by her side, in case some wild Pokémon attacked.
After a while Iris quickened her pace and climbed up a little hill, in order to see what was ahead. When she reached the top, she turned to her travelling companions and exclaimed happily: "Hey guys! I can already see Striaton City!"
"Axew!" added the little dragon, as if asking to the others to catch up.
The otter was the first to reach the top and he stared at the city in awe. Soon after, Ash, Hilda and the other Pokémon climbed up the hill and emulated the Water-type Pokémon. They could see various skyscrapers on various colors in the distance and Ash's excitement reached the roof in no time.
"Finally! Pikachu… Oshawott… here is Striaton City!"
"Pikaaa…"
"Shawaaa…"
"Let's go and get our first Badge!"
"Pika pika!"
"Osha osha!"
Narrator: After meeting a new friend and trying the Battle Club for the first time, our hero is ready to take on the first Unova Gym in order to get his first Badge for the Unova League. Will he succeed in getting the so coveted prize? And what does Team Plasma have to do with Striaton City? Find out about that in the next episode.