Master Challenge

Disclaimer : I do not own anything

Special thanks to CharmedmilliE- Karry master for letting me adopt the story.

Daniel Angeles/ revolution created by Black Falcoln

Roberto Degaldo created by Red Alfa

Silver/ Tabitha created by CharmedmilliE- Karry master

Kara-the-deaf trainer created by Dragonsrule18

Rei Kurosaki created by Artemis-no-subaku

Chapter 4: Training Part 1

Ash had woken up early leaving his two Pikachu, Jigglypuff, and Riolu asleep on his bed. Those were the only four pokemon he had brought home with him leaving everyone else in the lab and truthfully he had brought the female Pikachu back with him because Pikachu wanted it. He brought Jigglypuff back with him to sing him to sleep and Riolu because the small fighting type had came out of his pokeball and refused to leave Ash.

Now Ash was sitting at his computer, thankful his mom had updated it for him a few years back. He was looking up training tips online and found a book series written by a professional pokemon trainer. There was one book of each type and the book went through moves, explained how to train pokemon to use the moves, and which pokemon could learn the moves. For a bit extra a DVD set came with the book series and Ash ordered them and paid extra for next day delivery. Ash knew he had to train harder then he had ever before. His pokemon had to be at champion level by the time the master challenge started

That was when he got a message from Oak asking him to meet him at the lab soon. "Guys wake up," Ash called to his four sleeping pokemon and slowly they started to wake. "We have to get to the lab," Ash told as he went downstairs with them for breakfast. Everyone else was in the kitchen making breakfast and welcomes Ash back home. There were a couple of questions on where Ash got all his pokemon from but Ash merely smiled. Misty informed Ash she had to go home that day and Ash told her goodbye. Brock too was leaving.. After breakfast Ash and his pokemon headed towards the lab.

When he got to the lab he found Oak and Silver waiting for him. Also as he walked in Silver Eevee ran up to him. "Did you decide?" Ash asked Silver wanting to know and Silver nodded.

"Eevee likes you. Her parents like you, so yes. We'll do the trade," Silver told him and Ash silently cheered.

"Well I do have a trading device you can use but first," Oak said and then took out two pokedexes, one red and one silver. He handed the red one to Ash and the silver to Silver. "These are the latest models. They have every pokemon discovered in them and also the pokedex can tell you how close your pokemon are to evolving or if they are ready to evolve if you need to give them an objet to evolve. Also with these your limits are now raised from six to twelve. You two can now carry two hold teams with you."

"Thank you professor," both Ash and Silver said at the same time.

"You two earned it," Oak said with a smile at the two.

Afterwards Ash and Silver traded the Eevee for one of Ash's Tauros. "I'll be over here," Silver said afterward pointing towards the opposite side of the ranch. "Later we should do practice battles using our weaker pokemon." Ash nodded as Silver ran off to train.

"Hey everyone, I want you to gather around,"' Ash called seeing all his pokemon were already up and training which made Ash smile. "Okay everyone as you can see we have new additions to the team. I want you all to get along and be friends. Most of them we've met before."

Ash took a deep breath as he started the next part of his speech. "I'm not going to lie to you. From now on training is going to be hard. I want you all to be the strongest you can be and I've realized we need to train more and harder to get it done. That being said I've also turning around a new leaf. After this competition win or lose I'm not leaving you all behind here at the lab anymore. You're all going to be on rotation and will be with me to help me win battles and train new pokemon I have caught." There was a lot of cheering from the large group of pokemon at this, which made Ash smile.

"As for the training the first few weeks I'm going to be doing one on ones to see how far you've come, what needs to be worked on, and what you need to know. While I'm with the pokemon I'm doing a one on one with I expect you all to train with each other. If someone knows a move you can learn team up with them to learn it. Do practice battles. After the one on ones are done Monday through Fridays will be learning new moves in the morning, practice battles in the afternoon after lunch. Saturday we'll be doing day trips around Kanto to battle trainers and train elsewhere. Sunday will be a free day. Also my Riolu is able to talk to me through aura so he can translate for us and we can finally talk to each other for real," Ash explained and once again his pokemon cheered. Then Ash was given a surprise as Squirtle and Bulbasaur came running up to him and then started to glow. Soon later in their place stood a Wartortle and Ivysaur. "But why? You two never wanted to evolve?"

The two started to talk which Riolu translated. "They had both been talking about this for the last few days. They both want to be strong members of your team and realized they never would be able to be without evolving. For Wartortle it was also officially closing down the chapter of his life with the Squirtle Squad and committing himself to being with you permanently. For Ivysaur there is a lady he likes who has already become a Venasaur," Riolu told Ash who nodded and congratulated both his pokemon.

"First one on one. My little Pikachu." Ash knew this Pikachu wanted to evolve and wanted to make sure she was ready before he gave her the stone. "Pikachu will you help Eevee train while I'm with her." Ash turned to his first pokemon who nodded but seemed disappointed for some reason.

Ash took his little Pikachu a bit away from the others and took out his new pokedex. He scanned her. He skipped the description of what Pikachu was and then looked at her move set. She knew the moves thundershock, thunderwave, thunderbolt, nuzzle, quick attack, and agility. According to the pokedex she was ready to evolve.

'Let me see you use quick attack, and agility," Ash told her and the small Pikachu did it. Those were the most important moves since a Raichu couldn't learn them and if he evolved a Pikachu without her knowing them the Raichu would be slow like Lt. Surge's Raichu. She used the moves well and Ash took out his thunderstone and held it out. "You sure you want to evolve?" Ash asked.

The little Pikachu took the stone and then started to glow. A while later Raichu stood in the little Pikachu place. This Raichu was a lot smaller and thinner then other Raichu's Ash had seen. He was about to take out his pokedex to scan her when three very familiar people screaming at him surprised him.

"We spend all this time trying to steal Pikachu and you evolve him. What kind of person are you." James yelled. Ash really wasn't sure what to say as they kept yelling about how stealing a Raichu wouldn't be the same.

"Who are these jokers Ash?" Silver asked coming up having heard the screaming.

'No don't…" Ash said but it was too late as the three went into a very familiar motto.

Jesse: Prepare for trouble

James: And make it double

Jesse: to protect the world from devestation!

James: To unite all people within our nation!

Jesse: To denounce the evil of truth and love!

James: To extend our reach to the stars above

Jesse: Jesse

James: And James

Jessie: Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!

James: Surrender now or prepare to fight!

Meowth: Meowth! That's right!

Then one of Jesse's pokeball opened and Wobbuffet came out to say his name.

"Did that actually just happen?" Silver asked looking at Ash.

"Everyday for the last seven years. There have been four different mottos but this is the one that keeps coming back," Ash told Silver as Pikachu ran onto his shoulder.

"Wait the twerp as a Pikachu and a Raichu?" James questioned seeing them both. "What do we do?"

"We take them both," Meowth said pushing a button and a robot came up. The tri went into it and then arms reached out and took both Raichu and Pikachu and locked them in class cells. The two try to use thunderbolt to break free but it wasn't working.

"Shiftry," Silver very calmly spoke and her Shiftry ran up the machine and to Pikachu capture ball. "Use Rock Smash to break it," She ordered and then turned to ash. "Raichu should have learned a fighting type move after evolving. Try Dynamic Punch or Mach Punch out." Ash nodded and yelled up to Raichu to try using those moves. Dynamic punch worked and broke the glass at the same time Shiftry broke Pikachu free.

All the pokemon came down to their trainers. "Hey no fair. You can't steal back what we rightfully stole," James yelled.

"Do they listen to themselves talk?" Silver asked Ash who shrugged and ordered both his Pikachu and Raichu to use Thunderbolt.

"That's not going to work," Jesse said but Meowth held his face low as then they felt a shock. "Meowth what happened?"

"The cages were electric proof but not the machine," Meowth said as the machine blew up. They were about to fly through the air but Charizard and Salamence stopped them and put them on the floor,

Silver's Persian walked up and hissed at them. "Persian still a little upset over her last defeat. I wouldn't try anything," Silver told them as Meowth moaned about not liking Persians.

"Why did you do that?" Ash asked confused.

"I'm turning them over to Officer Jenny," Silver said holding up a phone. Jesse and James tried to battle their way out but their pokemon were no match for the combined pokemon of both Ash and Silver. Jenny arrived not long later and took the three away and took their pokeballs.

"What's going to happen to them?" Ash asked thinking it would be weird never having to worry about them.

"Well they are wanted in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos, but if they cooperate and help us find Team Rocket base they could get off easy," Jenny informed them before leaving.

"Practice battle?" Silver asked Ash after they were gone. Ash still had one on ones to do but figured why not.

For the first practice battle Ash used Spoink and Silver used a Deerling. Spoink wasn't a bad battler it turned out. Was very good at dodging and had a couple of good attacks including Psywave, Psybeam, and Psychic. The battle ended though when Deerling knocked Spoink down and his pearl fell off his head. Torkoal returned it to him, but that was the end.

"Don't worry. When you evolve you won't have to worry about your pearl falling off anymore. You do want to evolve, right?" Ash asked and Spoink started to talk which Riolu translated as yes definitely.

The second battle Gible was up, but before Silver could call in her pokemon a dragon with two heads came running up. "Zwellous, I didn't choose you," Silver said but it was clear to her that the dragon wasn't going anywhere. "I get it. She likes Gible but she wants to make sure he's good enough for her," Silver told Ash as the two pokemon seemed to battle without commands from either of their trainers. Gible Draco Meteor was really good but Zwellous had strength. It looked like Zwellous was going to win and then Gible started to glow. In Gible place stood a Gabite.

Gabite used a move Ash had never seen before and Zwellous was down. "What was that?" Ash asked, but before he could take out his pokedex to check Silver called out Dragon Claw. "Nice job Gabite." Zwellow got back up and walked over to Gabite. The two looked at each other for a second and then seemed to get very happy.

"If they have an egg…" Silver started but Ash stopped her with "I know."

Ash's one on ones took a few weeks to complete. In that time he had some interesting conversations with his pokemon through Riolu. Charizard apologized for his behavior after evolving and Ash told him it was all in the past. Ash promised if they ever ran into his former trainer Damian again he could crush him. After a conversation with the herd of Tauros Ash agreed to start trading them and finding them homes where they would be more useful to their trainer since Ash would only ever use one. Snivy told Ash she only wished to evolve once into Servine, which Ash agreed to but asked her why. Apparently she didn't want to lose her legs when she became a Serperior.

Ash had been worried about the pokemon he barely traveled with adjusting to the new training routine, but he seemed to have no problem. Muk, Kingler, the Tauros he was keeping, and Snorlax all seemed excited to grow stronger and finally get to be with him more. As long as Snorlax got an extra big meal and got to sleep on his day off he was fine.

Even his two new pokemon he had been worried about, Aerodactyl and Swampert, were doing great and adjusting well to being with him. They were showing they could be powerhouses along with Ash's older pokemon and Aerodactyl found a new love in food in Brock pokemon food.

It also surprised Ash how many of his pokemon had been close to evolving when Ash stopped using them. Bayleef and Totodile evolved at the same time. Buziel evolved not long after. Also two of Ash's newer pokemon had evolved. Houndour had become Houndoom and Larvitar had become Pupitar. The last one really surprised Ash but he figured Larvitar had gotten a lot of training with his mother.

He continued doing practice battles with Silver only using their weaker pokemon to help with training to. That seemed to really help get his pokemon into shape as well. Also his new book and DVD collection were really helping him help his pokemon learn new moves. He had also decided to become a better cook for his pokemon and for himself since he couldn't always expect to travel with a great cook. Everything seemed to be going great though.

In fact when his one on ones was over he only noticed three problems. One had been Fearow. No matter what Ash did Fearow would not listen and kept trying to attack him. His pokemon kept beating Fearow but the pokemon was just not giving up. He hated Ash with a passion and Ash didn't know what to do. Luckily Professor Oak had solved that problem. He had found a man who took on hard to train pokemon and tamed them. The man came to see Fearow and offered Ash a pokemon he had already tamed for the bird. Ash had taken the Skarmory in a second and his new pokemon had adjusted well to his training and team.

The second problem had been with Lapras. While Lapras was strong and fast on water on land she was kind of helpless. Now Ash could decide to only use her on a water field, but he wanted to find a way to be able to use her whenever he wanted. This had been solved using a trick he saw in his very first gym battle in Kalos. Lapras could use ice beam and create an ice field. Then he could move on the ice a lot better then on the land. He had to be careful which pokemon he chooses to use after this though. Only a few pokemon could handle the ice field, the flying types could fly over it, and Charizard and Infernape had enough firepower to melt the ice.

The third problem was also the biggest. Oshawott wasn't getting into the new training. Often times Ash would see him sneaking away and laying back. All his other water pokemon were getting a lot stronger then Oshawott and if this continued Ash couldn't see himself using the Unova starter. Ash knew Oshawott was never the biggest battler. He remembered many times when Oshawott would try to throw Pikachu out in his place. He wasn't ready to give up on his friend though yet.

On his first day trip he devoted it to his water pokemon and took them to Cerulean Gym. He figured Misty could help him with the problem. When he got there he was welcomed warmly by Misty sisters and the gym leader herself. He was surprised to see Misty had caught herself a lot of other water pokemon. He was even more surprised to realize Togetic had returned to Misty as well. A lot of the pokemon she had when she traveled with Ash had evolved. Horsea had become Seadra and Misty told Ash that Seadra was ready to evolve again but Misty couldn't find the necessary dragon scale. At that Ash took out his dragon scale and threw it to Seadra who evolved instantly.

"You didn't have to do that," Misty had told Ash, but Ash insisted he did and that it was repayment for the bike. He also asked Misty not to tell Dawn and May he had repaid her and Misty laughed and promised not to.

Ash then told Misty his problem and Misty was more then willing to help. Oshawott was called out and was willing to fight Misty weaker pokemon but when it came to her stronger pokemon Oshawott wimped out. It was surprisingly when it was facing Golduck that the water pokemon ran away and tried to throw Pikachu out onto the field.

"So?" Ash asked Misty when he had returned Oshawott to his pokeball.

"You're not going to like it," Misty said after having watched Oshawott. "It's just his personality. He seems to not want to fight against opponent he doesn't think he can beat. At these times he backs down. You also said your new training method wasn't working which means he doesn't want to work that hard to get stronger. I don't think there's fix to this."

"What do I do?" Ash asked her.

"You either have to find some way to get him stronger so he'll be more confident which could be tricky if he doesn't want to train hard or you have to let him go. Maybe he needs a trainer more his speed. One with not so many pokemon that has more time for one on one with him. Do you have the time to devote hours on end with him?" Ash shook his head no. He didn't have the time. He was splitting between all his pokemon. It was why he had his pokemon teamed up so they didn't need him as much. "Can you see yourself using Oshawott over your other water pokemon?"

Ash again shook his head. All his other water pokemon were working hard. Oshawott one strength over some of his others was he had a good defense to electric pokemon but now he had Swampert who electric pokemon had no effect on. "Come on. Lets battle. I want to see some of your other water pokemon in action," Misty said which cheered Ash up. He spent the rest of the day with Misty testing out his other water pokemon against hers.

That night when he got back he released everyone and then called Oshawott and Riolu over to him. "Oshawott, I know you haven't been doing the training," Ash started. "And I know sometimes you're unwilling to fight. You can't chicken out of battles. You can't try to push Pikachu out in your place, and you have to train." Ash felt he was being too hard. "Look I really like you, but things aren't going back to the way they were. This training is staying do you understand?'

Oshawott said something which Riolu translated as "No what are you saying Ash? Do you not want me anymore?"

"I want you, but I need you to train. I need you to be a pokemon I would be willing to call out into battle. At this moment in time I would not choose you over all my other water types. Do you understand the problem?" Ash told Oshawott. "I'm going to give you a choice. You can both start getting into the hard training and be better in battles or you can go back to Professor Junipers lab and wait for a new trainer to take you. One who might have more time to spend with you in one on one training," Ash told Oshawott. "You can have a couple of days to think it over."

That talk hurt Ash. He loved all his pokemon including Oshawott but if Oshawott wasn't going to be a pokemon he could battle hard opponent with it was better for both of them to separate now. A few days later Oshawott made his choice. The new harder training and fewer playtimes weren't for him. He had tried it. Also he didn't want to go against hard opponents, which he knew Ash would need him to face if he stayed. He also didn't want to stay with Ash and never be used again and he knew with the way Ash's other water pokemon were growing he would never be used if he stayed here.

Ash transferred him back to professor Juniper that night and that day was a no training day. Ash spent the day with the rest of his pokemon wondering if he did something wrong. It was his pokemon who told him he didn't. That the rest of them were all happy to train harder and be better. It had just been Oshawott. That they all still loved him and wanted to be with him.

Ash continued training the next day and continued the day trips. He learned half the Kanto gym leaders were entering the challenge and so were about half of the frontier brains, but everyone was willing to help him see how his pokemon matched up to theirs. Spoink evolved in a practice battle with Sabrina. Towards the end of his second month of training Ash started to realize the battles were becoming a lot easier. That there didn't feel like there was any real challenge besides Silver who he still did practice battles with. Charizard could fly him all over Kanto and back to Pallet town in a day but getting to the other regions was harder. Ash wondered where he could go to get stronger battles.

It was Silver herself who solved the problem. One night she knocked on Ash's door right before dinner. "What's going on?" Ash asked as he invited her in.

"Well I just wanted…" Silver was interrupted by Ash's mom who asked who it was.

"Just Silver mom,' Ash answered.

"Have you had dinner?" Delia asked and Silver shook her head. "Then I insist you join us. Come."

Silver started to walk to the kitchen but stopped as she looked at a photo on the wall. "Who is that?" Silver asked pointing.

"My dad," Ash answered.

"Oh," Silver said still looking.

"He was a pokemon trainer. He used to write all the time when I was young but they stopped coming not long before my sixth birthday. When a present from him never came I knew he was dead," Ash told Silver as they sat down at the kitchen table. "But you came here for something."

"Oh yeah. I just wanted to tell you I'll be gone from the lab for a few days," Silver told him disappointing Ash. His practice battles with Silver were the highlights of his training. "I'm going to Mt. Silver."

"Why head there?" Ash asked.

"Not the part you're thinking of. Right off Route 28 there's another section of Mt. Silver. The pokemon there are not off limit to catch and are some of the strongest wild pokemon there are. It is also where a lot of strong trainers live. The strongest in the world," Silver said.

'I heard of that. At the very top is where pokemon Master Red lived before he died," Ash said thinking of the pokemon master. When he was a kid he dreamed about one day venturing to the stop of the mountain and taking on the mysterious man. He called Red mysterious because the man used a stage name and never told anyone his real name. He also wore a red mask over his face and a hat similar to Ash's hat on his head so no one could recognize him.

"Yeah," Silver stated. "Why don't you come with me? Only the best are allowed in and we qualify. You can really get a challenge there."

Ash paused for a moment but couldn't think of a reason why not to go. It sounded great to him. "Sure," Ash said. "Sounds like fun."