"NO!"
Ash was relieved to find himself in his bedroom.
"The whole thing was just a dream? What was in that meal I cooked?"
Judging by how quiet it was, Ash could safely assume no one else was awake. It was about time to head out for training, so he figured he'd let Pikachu sleep while he showered and threw together a quick breakfast. After that he set off into the mountains just as the sun began to rise.
"Okay… Which training exercise should we do today?"
Lately Ash had been training Omegamoah as well as his other Pokémon. In a matter of weeks he would be battling Cynthia, the champion of the Sinnoh region, who had been interested in battling Omegamoah for some time. Cynthia was going to be allowed six Pokémon, where Ash would only be allowed to use Omegamoah. During Ash's battle with… him… Omegamoah was able to take out an augmented Pokémon with one punch, but he couldn't afford to get overconfident when battling a trainer of Cynthia's caliber. Videos of the battle for Pallet Town and the fight in the Cerulean Gym were both on the internet. Cynthia would have no doubt studied them and come up with her own way to beat Omegamoah. Ash figured he would just have to try that much harder.
"Okay big guy…" said Ash looking at Omegamoah "Let's see how well you can take a beating. I choose Charizard, Garchomp, Feraligatr, and Snorlax!"
Omegamoah had been more than capable of dealing with all these opponents individually, now it was time to see how well he did when he fought them all at once.
"On three… one… two… three!"
Snorlax charged and started to do a Rollout attack, but when he got too close Omegamoah just sent him flying in the opposite direction with a Focus Punch. Feraligatr countered by using his Superpower to send Snorlax back the other way. Omegamoah ducked and rolled out of the way so Snorlax was sent ramming through a row of trees. He then got up and blasted Feraligatr with a Thunderbolt attack. Feraligatr tried to shield himself from with Protect, but didn't raise the barrier in time. Garchomp and Charizard used the opportunity to attack from behind with massive Fire Blasts. Omegamoah turned around and attempted to blast them both with a Hydro Pump, but Charizard flew into the sky and Garchomp dug underground.
"GYAAAAAARRRRRRGGHHH!"
For a moment Omegamoah looked like he was trying to decide which opponent to go after first. Then he leapt up into the air after Charizard, who countered with a Dragon Rage attack that sent him crashing back to the ground. Garchomp immediately leapt out of the ground and attacked with another Fire Blast.
"Strategy and teamwork… If we keep this up we'll be able to win the Indigo Conference two years in a row."
Omegamoah's greatest strength was his ability to adapt to anything he fought, that is to say after being attacked by an opponent he could change his type and abilities to best suit his needs. Ash and the others were ignorant of this ability when they first fought him so he was practically invincible, but a special ability you know about is one you can use to your advantage. In this particular case Charizard had used a dragon type attack. Naturally Omegamoah had changed into a steel type, which was the only kind of Pokémon that was resistant to dragon type attacks. Garchomp had followed up with a powerful fire type attack, which was one of a steel type's few weaknesses. Ash and friends had done something similar during the battle for Pallet Town, and… he… had also done so during the battle in the Cerulean Gym. Ash was confident Cynthia would do the same thing.
Omegamoah got up and struck Garchomp with an Ice Punch. Charizard went into a dive-bomb and slashed him across the face with a Dragon Claw attack, then span around to attack with Overheat, but Omegamoah shielded himself with Protect.
"The big guy is learning…"
"Pika-chu."
Omegamoah struck Charizard with a Hydro Pump that brought him to the ground. Surprisingly Charizard got up and began to attack viciously.
"Whoa! Time out!"
"Pi-ka-CHU!"
Pikachu's Thunderbolt attack got the attention of both Pokémon.
"Maybe we should try and take it easy for a while…."
"And here I thought I was going to have to drag you back to town."
"Misty?! What are you doing up here?"
"I'm on orders from your mother to bring you home by any means necessary."
"This is kind of important."
"You've been spending fifteen hours a day up here in the mountains for over a week, you and your Pokémon need a little down time."
"I think Charizard and Omegamoah disagree with you."
"What about you Pikachu?"
"Pika!"
As usual Pikachu was siding with Misty.
"This training session isn't over until I say it's over."
Without warning Misty came up to Ash and kissed him on the lips.
"How about now?" she asked.
"Well… I guess I could use a little R&R."
"Since when is Charizard able to go head to toe with Omegamoah like that?" asked Misty as they made their way down the mountain.
"He's been fighting like that for about a week. He's very determined."
Of all Ash's Pokémon, Charizard was clearly training the hardest. He was one of the best Pokémon on Ash's team, but he had been beaten with minimal effort in the fight against… him… Obviously the thing that the augmented Pokémon had hurt the most was Charizard's pride.
"Did you forget anything?" asked Misty.
"We were just going into the mountains for the day, not heading off to Shamouti Island or anything."
"I haven't thought about Shamouti Island for a very long time."
"It's hard to forget. That was a really crazy adventure."
"Last I checked Ash Ketchum; your whole life is full of really crazy adventures."
"True… but on how many of them have I actually saved the world?"
When they made it back to the house Misty paused before they went in.
"Are you sure you didn't forget anything?" she asked.
"I'm certain, so why do you keep asking me that?"
"Well…"
Misty opened the door.
"Surprise! Happy Birthday Ash!"
Ash had been so busy training that he had completely forgotten his own birthday. But that wasn't the only thing that surprised him. There was more than just his mother and Brock waiting for him.
"May, Max, Dawn! What are you guys doing here? I'm not fighting Cynthia for a couple weeks."
"We just couldn't wait to see you." said Dawn giving him a hug.
"And Max just couldn't wait to see Omegamoah." said May.
"Hey you wanted to see him too!"
"Yeah, but I'm not talking about him every five minutes."
"Yeah all you talk about is contests every waking moment."
"Same old May and Max." whispered Ash.