Hello again! Just want to say SORRY ABOUT THE LATE UPDATE! Some things have happened after the last update. My computer accidentally lost some files, I had college, the Pokemon Sun and Moon anime kept gaining my interest, etc. and etc. But yeah, with that all said, I feel more comfortable to get back to this story and MAYBE start some new ones, too. Here's the fourth chapter and I hope you all enjoy!
Over at the lush, calm, and healthy corral of Professor Oak's Laboratory were large numbers of Pokemon who were sleeping, socializing, or pretty much anything they could do to spend their leisure time. These Pokemon were either wild or belonged to a traveling trainer who didn't had enough room in their party for them. Nonetheless, every single specimen in the corral enjoyed their lives at the peaceful environment due to how caring the owner of the entire lab was.
The owner of the lab was none other than Professor Samantha Oak herself. Despite her age, she still loved Pokemon with all her heart and there was also still some beauty in her too. Professor Oak still had her grey hair in its usual short hairstyle where the sides just barely extend below her ears, along with some of her hair spiked out on the right side at the top. On her face were her thin dark eyebrows over her black-colored eyes, which were above some age lines. Like always, she wore long, white lab coat that was buttoned over a red collar shirt tucked underneath a long, brown skirt that reached just above her feet, which were covered by a pair of heeled, brown shoes.
Professor Oak was currently walking through some bushes to check on the local wild grass and water Pokemon at the corral, making sure they won't in any sort of conflicts. Not that she was worried, the two groups have been more peaceful with each other ever since a certain female Bulbasaur was transported to the lab about eight years ago, and during the Bulbasaur's absence when she went off with her trainer, peace was still retained in both groups. It was just nice to check every often.
Floating behind following the professor was an orange, blue-sparking Pokemon called a Rotom, the one Oak caught back at Unova. Just as it always does, the sparking ghost was snickering and giggling as it followed its trainer, which actually slightly made her nervous, knowing Rotom's constant pranks. She still kept her calm composure, though. Oak and Rotom soon made it to the lakes where the grass and water types resided, and just as Samantha thought, the Pokemon were completely civil with each other, causing Oak to give out a fond smile.
Over at another location, Samantha Oak's granddaughter, Garyn Oak, was sitting some grass, grooming her female Umbreon. Good ole' Garyn Oak has quite matured a bit from when she was 10 year old. Now 18, Garyn still had her mahogany hair in its short, spiky hairstyle. Her same-colored eyebrows appeared sharp and thick above her dark-viridian eyes and red lips. (Garyn always did had a fascination for makeup) Much like her grandmother, Garyn wore a long, white lab coat, though, it was unbuttoned, being the relaxed individual. Underneath her lab coat was a long, sleeveless, black dress that extended just above her knees. Additionally, she wore black heels, blue earrings, and she had purple nail polish on both her fingers and toes.
Besides her Umbreon, Garyn's other Pokemon were all around their trainer, relaxing themselves and enjoying the peaceful environment, compared to the gym. Some of these Pokemon include her starter, Blastoise, along with Electrivire, Arcanine, Scizor, Nidoqueen, and much more.
At another part of the corral was another girl who appeared to be about 19 or 20. She was sitting under a tree with a sketchbook on her lap, and she looked to be sketching a Raticate and a Sandshrew a few feet away from her. This girl's name is Tracy Sketchit. She had dark green hair in a style similar to that of her idol, Professor Oak, only a bit more hairy. On top of her hair was a pink headband. Tracy also had black-colored eyes and she wore a long, green shirt, a red skirt, and blue flipflops. Even though Tracy was now an adult herself, she still looked up to her idol, always trying to draw up the best Pokemon sketches for her, and needless to say, Oak couldn't be any more proud of her talents.
Tracy then heard a noise that took her attention away from her sketchbook. The noise kept getting louder and louder, with the source soon emerging from the trees that were perpendicular from where Tracy was facing. The noise was none other than a herd of stampeding female-only Pokemon cows called Tauras. These Pokemon had a thick, light-brown body that were slightly covered with pink spots. They had three tails, an utter, three grey vertical bumps on their forehead, and two small horns inside a dark brown mane that resembled a big, furry bob. They all also wore pink bows on their heads too.
As the stampede of cows ran by, they scared off the Raticate and Sandshrew Tracy was sketching, though she didn't mind as she had finished her sketch before the herd came. In fact, Tracy fondly smiled at the 29 cows, remembering who their trainer was. Even though their trainer only took the stampede's leader when she went off to train, they were still as active as ever and they still loved their trainer. In a way, stampeding was their way of patiently waiting for the return of Ashley, their herd leader, and all the others too. Of course, destruction from their stampedes are always inevitable.
Back over at Pallet Town, Ashley, Pikachu, and Greninja were still making their way to Professor Oak's laboratory. Once the large facility came into their eyeview, Ashley stopped in her tracks and Greninja did the same thing. A tad confused on her trainer's sudden pause, Greninja turned to Ashley and Pikachu as the two stared toward the lab of Professor Oak.
"There it is, Pikachu! The place where we first met!"
Pikachu smiled at the memory and she happily replied, "Pika kachu pi!"
Ashley smiled back to her starter before refocusing to the far-off lab.
"Looks like it hasn't changed a bit. Just how I like it!"
Greninja then approached her trainer and asked, "Greninja-ja grenin?"
Ashley knew what her Greninja was asking, so she said, "Oh yeah, I forgot that you never been at Oak's lab before, or met Garyn and Tracy too."
Greninja nodded and curiously asked as she pointed to the lab, "Grenin ninja?"
"That's right, Greninja. This was the place where I kept all my Pokemon when I didn't had room for them at the moment. It's a very good place for Pokemon to be watched after, though. Professor Oak is a really great caretaker for any type of Pokemon."
Even though Greninja had only seen the Kanto Professor once in her life as of now (which was when she was a Froakie after being caught by Ashley), she could already tell what her trainer was saying was true, remembering all the kind things Talonflame, Hawlucha, and Noivern told her about the professor upon being reunited with them.
"Come on," exclaimed Ashley as she ran a few feet in front of Greninja before facing her again, "I can't wait for you to meet Professor Oak in person, and Garyn and Tracy too!"
"Pika!"
Greninja, with a smile behind her scarf-wrapped tongue, nodded and said, "Grenin!" before following behind her trainer as the three girls continued their way to the Pokemon Laboratory.
As they ran, Greninja asked Ashley another question.
"Ninja-grenin gre?"
"Who's Tracy and Garyn? Tracy is this girl that I met during my adventures at the Orange Islands. She looks up to Professor Oak a lot and she's a really great sketchist! And considering you're a Pokemon she probably has never seen before, she might try to sketch you! And Garyn, well, she's Professor Oak's granddaughter and the very first rival I ever had. She was even my rival before we started our journeys, too! She used to compete in leagues like me, but after the Silver Conference at Johto, she decided to follow in her grandmother's footsteps instead to become an expert Pokemon Professor just like her! And considering she's now the Viridian City Gym Leader, I bet she's just as strong of a trainer as ever, wouldn't you agree, Pikachu?"
"Pika-chu!" Pikachu replied with a nod.
Ashley, Pikachu, and Greninja eventually crossed the small bridge that led to the bottom of the huge stairway that led up to Professor Oak's lab, where the three began their way up.
Meanwhile, back at the facility itself, Professor Oak was preparing up some tea as she looked toward her granddaughter from a window in the living room. Garyn was now grooming her female Electrivire and the sight caused Samantha to smile. She couldn't be more proud of how passionate of a trainer Garyn had become throughout the years. While she still had that small arrogant side to her, she still extremely loved her Pokemon and knew how to take care of them properly. And even though she wasn't necessarily there yet, Oak knew from her heart that Garyn is only a few steps close into becoming a full-fledged researcher of Pokemon like she is. Samantha was soon taken from her thoughts when she heard the doorbell ring. She wasn't really expecting anyone today, but regardless, she, with Rotom following behind her, made her way to the lab's main doors.
Upon opening the doors, Professor Oak was greeted with a very pleasant surprise.
"Professor Oak, it's great to see you again!" Ashley happily said.
"Pika pikachu!"
Professor Oak was truly joyed seeing Ashley and Pikachu again. Upon seeing them, she quickly wrapped Ashley in a warm hug.
"Ashley, Pikachu, it's great to see you too!"
The professor then stopped hugging Ashley in order to get a good view of the young trainer.
"My, you sure have grown these past years. How long has it been since you left to train? I fear my old age has made me lost count." Oak said as she petted Pikachu.
"I think about 7 years."
"Really now? I must say, you've certainly grown into quite the mature lady."
"Aww, thanks, professor!"
Samantha Oak then took notice of the Kalos-born frog ninja right next to Ashley, instantly starting up her curiosity.
"Why Ashley, is this your Greninja that I've heard so much about?"
"It is, professor! She's the one who helped took down Team Flare's Megalith Zygarde back at Kalos! I released her at the end of my journey there so she could help the real two Zygarde take care of the remaining roots it left behind, but once I went off to train my Pokemon, reuniting with her was the very first thing I did."
After saying that, Ashley clasped her hands with Greninja's and the two happily smiled at each other, showing just how strong their bond and friendship.
"That's very wonderful thing you did, Ashley. Going after one of your closest friends first, it really shows how caring and thoughtful you are to your Pokemon."
Both Ashley and Greninja girly giggled as they both let each other go.
"Now Ashley, if I'm correct, isn't there this special form Greninja can access from the bond between you two?"
"You bet, professor! I think I know the perfect way to show you, too!"
Oak instantly knew what she meant, so she was just about to tell Ashley where Garyn was, though Rotom quickly interrupted before she could get the chance!"
"Ro-TOM!" the electric wisp excitedly screeched behind Oak's shoulder upon seeing Ashley and Pikachu again. It then flew over its trainer to zip around the three visitors in a hyper motion.
Ashley lightly laughed at the behavior of Oak's partner and said, "It's nice to see you too, Rotom. I'm glad to see you haven't changed a bit!"
Rotom soon stopped its aerial rush right next to Pikachu, where the two happily shared a short electric spark to each other; a friendly way for electric-type Pokemon to interact. Speaking of electric-types, Rotom then sensed suddenly very intriguing inside Ashley's backpack, and it started to slowly make its way towards it.
"Come on in, Ashley," started Oak, unaware of her Rotom's actions, "let's head off to the corral now. I'm sure both Tracy and Garyn will be very pleased to see you."
"And I'm excited to see them!"
Ashley, Pikachu, and Greninja then followed Professor Oak into her laboratory just before Rotom could reach the area of Ashley's backpack that she was interested in. While Rotom could just use Thunderbolt on Ashley to keep her still, just like it usually does to get what it wants, it knew how more important the reunion itself is, so it decided to wait until Ashley could hopefully reveal what's inside her backpack herself. Rotom then went back into the lab and floated near its trainer.
Professor Oak guided Ashley, Pikachu, and Greninja through her lab and right outside the corral. Out on the lush environment, Ashley and Pikachu were able to happily familiarize with the area while Greninja was amazed on how well-kept and vibrant the whole corral was. What Talonflame, Hawlucha, and Noivern told her really was true.
"Wow! Professor, you really do a great job in keeping this place beautiful!"
"Oh, Ashley, you're too kind! But I couldn't do it without the help of Tracy, her Pokemon, and all the other Pokemon that also care so much for the wellbeing of this place."
Ashley continued to look around the corral, enjoying the unchanging, beautiful home for Pokemon, unaware of a certain someone approaching her from her right side.
"Ashley? Is that really you?"
Ashley turned to her right to see her good friend, Tracy, walking up to her with her sketchpad in her right hand.
"Tracy!" Ashley happily greeted back before she and Tracy enveloped each other in a hug.
"It's been so long, Ashley! How've you and your Pokemon been?"
"We've all been doing great!" Ashley answered as they stopped hugging. "Right, Pikachu?"
"Pikachu!" the mouse assured as she waved her left paw to Tracy.
"That's awesome to hear, you two! What have you all been up to during your time away?"
"Well, besides getting some new things and reuniting with old friends, we've mostly been training up over on Mt. Silver."
"Mt. Silver? That's a tough place, but I knew nothing could ever stop your training prowess." Tracy then took notice of the ninja frog behind Ashley. "And hey, that's your, uh, Greninja, right? The one I saw you battle with at the Kalos League on T.V.?"
Ashley smiled back at her Greninja and said, "She sure is!"
"Nice! Mind if I draw a quick sketch of her real quick? I've never seen a Greninja before!"
Ashley laughed in her head a little. She was right when she told her Greninja that Tracy would be excited to meet her.
"You sure can, Trace. Just make sure you get her good side. She's kinda sensitive oof her looks."
"I'll do the best I can!"
Greninja walked towards Tracy with her right arm extended out for a greeting handshake. Tracy happily returned it and Greninja then stepped a good distance for Tracy to sketch her, going into her classic, pupil-closed, ninjatic pose. Tracy briefly squealed at the cool pose before she began to move her pencil.
Within only a few seconds, Tracy had finished her sketch of Greninja and she signaled the ninja frog come see it. Greninja was slightly worried on how it would turn out, hoping to her mind she wasn't drawn too fat, her pink bow wasn't off-centered, etc. Upon seeing the sketch, Greninja was pleased to see how accurate the drawing was. Tracy had perfectly captured both her coolness and her prettiness and she gratefully bowed her head to the sketchist before returning to her trainer's side.
"Did she capture you perfectly?"
"Ninja." Greninja responded with a nod.
"Y'see? I told you she was an awesome sketchist!"
Tracy blushed to this and said, "Aww, thanks!"
Oak was pleased seeing the two young ladies meet up with each other and then she got an idea to make things more sweet.
"Tracy," Oak started, "why not show Ashley your Pokemon and how much they've grown?"
Tracy instantly beamed to this and said, "Oh, yeah! That's a great idea, professor! Ashley, while I haven't caught anyone knew, I think you'd like see my team, and I'm sure they would like to see you too!"
"Sounds cool!"
Tracy nodded and she took out her only three Pokeballs before throwing them up to the air. All three of them opened up and released a blue light down to the ground, which then dissipated to reveal a female Venomoth, a male Azumarill, and a female Scyther.
"Venomoth."
"Azu."
"Scy."
"Hey, you three," Tracy begun, instantly grabbing her Pokemon's attention, "look who's back."
Tracy's three Pokemon turned to the girl their trainer was referring and they instantly ran up to greet her.
Ashley giggled as she met up with Tracy's Venomoth, Azumarill, and Scyther. She was happy to see Venonat and Marill having to have evolved during her absence while Scyther wasn't, she was still pleased to see the mantis still hanging strong despite her older age (which was evidenced by her lighter fur and her clear, visible age lines under her eyes). Ashley was now bending down to pet Azumarill as Pikachu was sitting on Scyther's shoulder, socializing with her and Venomoth, who was floating nearby.
"Alright, Ashley, may I see your Pokemon?" asked Tracy.
"Oh, yes, of course!" answered Ashley as she straightened up. "But first, I'm gonna wait for-"
"Well, well, well! Look who it is!"
Ashley turned around to spot the source of the sudden voice, smiling upon seeing it walking to her.
"Did you miss me, Garyn?"
"Tch, what do you think the answer is?"
When Garyn reached Ashley, the two held each others' hands before going into a girly hug.
"You don't change a bit, Garyn, or should I say, 'Gym Leader of Viridian City'?"
After hearing this, Garyn giggled herself and said, "Looks like you figured it out."
The two stopped hugging and faced each other with a fiery glance in their eyes.
"You bet I did! And you know what, I think I would like to test your skills, Ms. Gym Leader!"
After saying that, Pikachu immediately jumped back to Ashley's shoulder and Greninja leapt to her trainer's side and they both pumped a fist, agreeing with their trainer's request with just as much passion as her's.
Garyn saw this and smirked herself.
"You want a battle, Ashy Girl? Then you're gonna get one! And I would like to see the power of that special Pokemon of yours." Garyn said, pointing to Greninja.
Meanwhile, Tracy and Samantha were watching this from the sides.
"Ahh," Oak cheerfully sighed after a small giggle, "those two just never seem to change."
"Guess I'll just have to wait until this battle's over before I get to see all of Ashley's Pokemon." Tracy pouted with a sweatdrop.
"No need to fret, deary, as I'm positive Ashley here will show some of them during the upcoming battle."
"Yeah, you're right. Well, looks like they'll need a referee for their battle."
Tracy stepped towards Ashley and Garyn and offered to be their referee for their match. They both agreed to that and then Garyn declared that it will be a three-on-three battle, to which Ashley obliged to.
Within only a few minutes, Ashley, Pikachu, Greninja, Garyn, Tracy, and Professor Oak moved to a more larger part of the corral. Ashley and Garyn were a large distance away from each other while Tracy was at the halfway point of the gap between the top two trainers of Pallet Town, acting as referee.
"This match will be three-on-three battle between Ashley Ketchum and Garyn Oak, substitutions are allowed for both sides! Trainers, are you two ready?"
"You know we are!" Ashley yelled with Pikachu on her shoulder and Greninja to her right side.
"Same here!" Garyn yelled as she tossed a Pokeball up and down in her right hand.
"Good! Alright, let the battle begin!"
"I'll choose mine first!" declared Garyn as she arched back her right arm to throw her first Pokeball.
"Electivire, come on out!"
Out from Garyn's Pokeball came her female Electrivire. Upon release, Electivire placed both of her hands on her hips as she leaned over her left hip, awaiting for her opponent.
"Nice to see her again. Alright, let's match her girth."
Ashley took out a Pokeball of her own from her backpack and she threw it to the battlefield. The capsule released out the muscular, fiery female pig, Emboar. Much like the rest of Ashley's female Pokemon, Emboar wore a pink bow which was between her black, bushy eyebrows. She also wore a Focus Band around her head too, with the knotted area also being in a shape of a bow.
"Emboar!" the pig screeched as she clenched her fists, placed them in front of her chest, and let out a tiny stream of fire from her nostrils.
"Electivire!" Garyn's electric monster seized back as she straightened her waist, opened her claws, and placed them in front of her, ready for battle.
"Hmm, looks like Pignite evolved." remarked an impressed Samantha Oak.
The battle has now started.
"Emboar, use Fire Punch!"
"Electivire, hit her with Thunder Punch!"
Emboar's right fist became covered in flames as Electivire's was sparked up with electricity. The two charged and met dead center at the battlefield with their fists colliding against each other. Emboar and Electivire smirked towards each other as they tried to push back and punch the other, though their strength seemed perfectly even.
"Push Emboar back with Iron Tail!"
On her trainer's command, Electivire jumped up a foot back as her two tails glowed white, forcing Emboar to stumble for a bit. Electivire then spun a full 360' in the air to whack her opponent with her hard-steel tails. Thanks to her training, Emboar was able to guard herself with her left arm just in time. The blow pushed her, but due to her well-timed guard and her fire-typing, the attack barely did any damage to her and she stayed on her feet.
"You alright, Emboar?"
Emboar turned back to her trainer and gave a thumbs-up.
"Em emboar!"
"Great! Now use Flamethrower!"
Through her nostrils, Emboar breathed in and then exhaled out an large stream of piping hot flames to her opponent.
"Quick, use Protect!"
Electivire slammed her left fist to the ground to form a turquoise shield around her, effectively blocking Emboar's Flamethrower in time.
"Now use Thunder!"
Electivire's shield disappeared and she fired a large bolt of lightning to her opponent.
"Electi-VIRE!"
However, neither Ashley or Emboar were worried about this.
"Take all that electricity with Thunder Punch!"
Emboar grinned as she leapt up towards Electivire's Thunder with her right fist crackling with electricity. When she got close, Emboar collided her fist with the attack and she spun her body around in the air to drawn in all the electricity into her fist, draining up the entire attack due how well-timed that maneuver was.
Needless to say, everyone else was shocked. No pun intended.
"Oh my..." peeped Oak.
"Now THAT was impressive." stated Tracy.
"Careful Electivire," Garyn warned, "even though you're strong against electric, who knows what they could have planned now with that extra power."
While Garyn was a little worried, Ashley instantly had a strategy in mind.
"Alright Emboar, slam your Thunder Punch on the ground!"
Just as her trainer had ordered, Emboar punched the grassy ground of the battlefield with her extra-charged Thunder Punch. Due to how much stronger her attack was, extremely large sparks were seen emerging through Emboar's claws as they connected with the battlefield. The sparks were so bright from the extra power, they forced everyone watching (except Ashley, Pikachu, and Greninja, of course) to cover their eyes, with Electivire having it worse due to how much closer she was. As Electivire shielded her eyes, Ashley and Emboar saw their chance.
"Emboar, use Heat Crash!"
Emboar quickly jumped high into the air until she was several feet above the battlefield. Upon reaching the highest point she could reach, Emboar then surrounded her body in a sphere of yellow-orange flames before falling down towards Electivire like a meteor. The large electric-type was only rubbing her eyes before she could spot the fiery pig crashing down to her. Upon collision, flames were seen spurting from many different corners as large cloud of smoke formed.
"Electivire!" Garyn called out in worry.
After just a few seconds after the attack, Emboar was seen calmly walking out of the smoke. As soon Emboar was out, the smoke cleared, revealing Garyn's Electrivire having to have fainted from the attack, as shown by her eyes being replaced with swirls.
"Electivire is unable to battle. This match goes to Ashley and Emboar!" Tracy announced.
"Emboar, you were awesome!" Ashley cheerfully congratulated her Emboar as she high-fived her.
"Pika-pika!"
"Grenin ninja!"
Emboar happily smiled from her praise as blushed and re-straightened her bow.
"Emboar em-emboar!"
Ashley then took out two Sitrus Berries from her backpack and fed them to Emboar to heal her up. The fire pig cheerfully munched on the two berries.
"Em-booaaar!" she cooed.
Garyn only sighed at her Electivire's defeat and she walked towards and bent down to her faithful Pokemon.
"Hey, big girl, you okay?"
Electivire weakly lifted her head and nodded.
"Tivire."
"I'm glad," Garyn then took out Electivire's Pokeball. "Alright, girly, take a good, long rest now, okay?"
Electivire was then absorbed back into her Pokeball and Garyn walked back to her side of the battlefield.
"Huh. Looks like you haven't lost your touch, Ashley!" snarked Garyn.
"Thanks! Same to you!" Ashley said back as she returned her Emboar to her Pokeball.
"That was just a warm-up, though. Wait til' you see how much stronger my last two are as well!"
Garyn took out her second Pokeball and threw it to the battlefield.
"Umbreon, let's go!"
The dark-type canine appeared on the battlefield and she instantly smirked upon seeing Ashley and Pikachu again.
"Umbre!"
Ashley smiled down at the familiar eeveelution and she took a Safari Ball from her backpack.
"Tauras, come on out!"
From Ashley's Safari Ball came the singular Tauras Ashley brought with her when she left Pallet Town. What stood her out from the rest of her kind was that she was a bit bigger.
"Moooo!" the cow roared out once she was on the battlefield.
Before Tracy could commence the second round to start, a bunch of rumbling was heard heading right for the battlefield. No one was worried, as they all knew what it was, especially Ashley, Tauras, and Professor Oak.
More mooing was heard amongst the rumbling, and soon enough, the 29 Tauras were seen stampeding to the battlefield from Ashley's side. Once they were right behind their long-absent trainer, they all stopped in their paths and began to excitedly jump up and down, overly ecstatic to see their trainer and leader again.
Ashley giggled and said with open arms, "All my awesome Tauras! I missed you all too!"
"Pikaka!"
Seeing her old herd, the Tauras on the battlefield turned around and happily greeted them all back.
"Greninja-grenin?"
"Yep Greninja, these are all the rest of the Tauras you've heard about back at Mt. Silver, and this Tauras right here happens to be the leader of all of them."
Amidst the excitement, one of the Tauras noticed the current situation the leader was in and yelled to the others to calm down and cheer for her. Tauras smiled at her herd and faced Umbreon once again.
"Alright trainers," began Tracy, "let round 2 start!"
"We'll have the first move this time! Umbreon, use Dark Pulse!"
Umbreon opened her mouth a fired a ray of dark circles towards Tauras.
"Dodge that, quick!"
With surprising agility, Tauras jumped high away from Umbreon's attack and landed safely on the ground once the Dark Pulse was over.
"Now use Horn Attack!"
Having her horns face Umbreon, Tauras began to charge at a rapid pace to her smaller opponent.
"Use Psychic to throw her off-course!"
Umbreon glowed blue and she focused her mind on the charging cow. She managed to force Tauras back just a little for a very brief time, but the cow kept moving her powerful legs, determined to land her attack. Unfortunately for Umbreon, Taurus's strength and will-power proved too much for her, she couldn't even lift her, forcing the canine to cease the attack as Tauras, now no longer restrained in any way, resumed her fast charge towards Umbreon.
"Dodge!"
Umbreon gritted her teeth and quickly leapt to her left side just before Tauras's horns could strike her. After her Horn Attack missed, Tauras skidded to a stop and redirected her eyes to her opponent's new position.
"Alright Umbreon, give her your Dark Pulse!"
Umbreon opened her mouth and fired out a ray of dark purple circles towards Tauras. The cow wasn't able to react in time to dodge, forcing her to close her eyes and wince as she took the attack on her side. After Umbreon finished up her attack, Tauras shook off the damage, opened her eyes, and sharpened them to her dark-type opponent.
"Mooooooo!"
Back on the sidelines, the other 29 Tauras continued to cheer for their leader, telling her to keep doing her best.
"Now hit Tauras with Iron Tail!"
"Block with your horns!"
Umbreon jumped from her spot as her tail started to glow a shining white. In the air, Umbreon somersaulted on her way down to Tauras to slam her steel-hard tail on the cow, but Tauras quickly raised her head to block the attack in time. Tauras then swung her neck up to bounce Umbreon off her horns. Umbreon safely landed on her feet a couple feet behind Tauras, who then turned around to directly face her.
"Double Team, Umbreon!"
On her trainer's command, Umbreon configured multiple copies of itself that surround Tauras in a circle.
Double Team was normally a tricky move to counter, but not Ashley and her Pokemon.
"That attack is not gonna fool us, right Tauras?"
"Moooo!"
"Awesome! Tauras, use Smart Strike!"
Tauras pointed out her horns forward and they grew in size and started to shine like steel. She then turned to one of surrounding Umbreon and charged right for it, and upon contact, instead of fading like a false copy would, the figure was knocked away off her feet.
"Umbre!" screeched Garyn's Umbreon as all her copies faded away.
The dark-type landed on her side in front of her trainer.
"You okay, Umbreon? Garyn called out, worriedly.
"Whoa," Tracy said on the sidelines, "how did Tauras instantly knew which one was the real Umbreon?"
"Well, you see," started Oak, "when a Pokemon uses the move Smart Strike, their horns gain some type of heat-seeking ability that allows the detect where their opponent is and where they will move to, much like how moves like Aerial Ace heighten a Pokemon's senses, thus, making the attack never miss. It's kind of like a metal-detector, only with living, organic beings and not metal. Why, my dear cousin Sammie Oak, along with many of her acquaintances at Alola, are quite familiar with that move."
Back to Garyn's side, Umbreon weakly got back up to her feet, really tired, but still able to battle.
"You feel all good down there?"
"Umbre!" the dark-type answered with a nod.
"Alright, now use Dark Pulse again!"
With her remaining strength, Umbreon ran forward and fired another ray of dark purple circles from her mouth.
"Dodge to the side!"
Tauras quickly dashed to her right to avoid the Dark Pulse attack.
"Now use Water Pulse!"
Tauras jerked her head back and formed a sphere of water between her horns before pushing her forward to fire the attack towards Umbreon.
"Quick! Look out!"
Unfortunately for Umbreon, she was too tired to dodge Tauras's Water Pulse, causing her to take the attack, get launched off her feet, and land right next to her trainer, knocked out.
"Umbreon is unable to battle. This match goes to Ashley and Tauras!"
Tauras gleefully 'mooed' to the air out of victory as her herd at the side cheered for her. Ashley walked up to her cow Pokemon and started to stroke her horns, pet her fur, and fed her some Sitrus Berries.
"You did an amazing job, Tauras! How 'bout you catch up with your friends, now?"
Tauras nodded in agreement and she walked away from the battlefield to meet up with her herd while her trainer walked back to her side of the battlefield, who then saw Garyn kneeling down to her Umbreon and petting her head.
"Hey, Umbreon, you alright, girl?"
Umbreon weakly opened her eyes and nodded.
"Umbre-on."
"That's great. Why don't you rest up for a little bit?"
With that said, Garyn returned Umbreon to her Pokeball and stood back up.
"Y'know Ashley, this battle is really showing how much your training at Mt. Silver did for you! You already got me down to my last Pokemon without much trouble, but just because I'm at my last doesn't mean I won't give it my all!"
"I wouldn't want it any other way, Garyn!"
"Glad to hear, as this last one loves a good fight!" Garyn stated as she took out her last Pokeball and gave it a kiss.
"Blastoise, I choose you!"
Garyn threw her final Pokeball and released out her started, her female Blastoise. The giant turtle landed on the grassy battlefield and when she saw her trainer's opponent, she grew a small smirk on her snout.
"Your Blastoise, huh? Kinda thought so, but she looks strong and beautiful as ever!"
"Yep! Just because I'm a researcher now doesn't mean I have to stop training! Now, is it time for me to see what your Greninja can do?"
"You bet it is! Greninja, you ready for this?"
"Ninja!" Greninja cried as she clenched both of her fists under her chin and gracefully jumped to the battlefield.
"Alright trainers, let the final round begin!"
"Blastoise, use Hydro Pump!"
Starting off the final round, Blastoise pointed her shoulder cannons to the frog kunoichi and let out two powerful streams of water.
"Dodge, Greninja!"
With elegant grace, Greninja easily dodged the Hydro Pump attack with keen acrobatics. Blastoise moved her cannons around to try to land a hit, but Greninja just kept dodging.
"Now use Night Slash!"
Greninja landed on the ground and formed two blades of darkness in both of her palms. Then, with blinding speed, she rushed towards Blastoise, landing multiple good hits before the turtle could even react.
"Use Iron Defense to protect yourself!"
Pulling through the Night Slash assault, Blastoise quickly ducked her head and all her limbs into her giant shell, effectively guarding herself from any more damage. Knowing her Night Slash won't do anything now, Greninja made the blades disappear and rushed back to the area in front of her trainer, waiting for either her trainer's next command or Blastoise's next move.
"Now give her your Rapid Spin!"
From inside her shell, Blastoise started to spin around in a rapid pace, heading straight for Greninja. The spinning shell got closer and closer to the Kalos started, who just patiently kept her stance, trusting her trainer.
"Shadow Sneak, and then Aerial Ace!"
When Blastoise was just an inch away from hitting Greninja, the kunoichi frog's body sunk into the earth below. Upon missing, Blastoise swerved to the side and popped out of her shell before she started to look around the battlefield for her opponent. What she wasn't expecting, though, was some kind of shadowy-blob to appear on the ground in front of her, rise up with an uppercut, and then turned into Greninja, who then jumped up and kicked Blastoise away with her right leg glowing white.
Garyn gritted her teeth at the sight of her Blastoise landing back to their side. Even with the turtle's high defenses, she was still taking plenty good hits.
"Geez, with all that speed and power, no wonder she got Ashley far in the Kalos League years ago."
Garyn then faced forward and saw Greninja back to her spot in front of her trainer. Interestingly enough, the two started to the a variety of actions in insanely perfect sync.
"Well, Garyn-" Ashley started as she straightened up her hat as Greninja did the same for her pink bow.
"I think it's time for you to see-" Ashley went on as both she and Greninja leaned their left hip over and placed their right arm on the other.
"what makes my Greninja so special!" Ashley finished as both she and Greninja pumped their left fist.
With their minds in perfect sync, Ashley and Greninja pumped both of their fists as Greninja became surrounded in large veil of water, drastically surprising everyone minus Pikachu and Tauras. The veil soon condensed towards a certain spot at the top, revealing Greninja high in the air with a different form. Greninja's chest had a different appearance, being in that of a similar design of Ashley's jacket that she wore at Kalos. She also now had red stripes on her face her cheeks and ears were now as dark as Ashley's hair and they had a similar appearance as well, along with now extending down beneath Greninja's shoulders, just like how Ashley's hair is. Greninja still kept her pink bow. On Greninja's back, the veil had configured into what appeared to look like wings, but after one, flashy, aerial somersault, the "wings" then configured into a giant shuriken.
With the transformation complete, Greninja landed back in front of her trainer, both sharing a tall stance.
"Garyn, this is Ashley-Greninja!"
"Wow! So this is Synchro Evolution up close?!" beamed Professor Oak, who despite her age, is always ecstatic to see new Pokemon phenomenons.
"I HAVE to get a good sketch of this!" Tracy exclaimed as she dropped her referee flags and took out her pencil and sketchbook.
"Whoa, better than on T.V..." murmured a speechless Garyn. "So, Ashy Girl, is it true that only Greninja accesses this form once the bond between you two reaches its maximum potential, and that you and Greninja share the same feelings and senses during this form?"
"Uh-huh, and that just shows how strong a bond between a trainer and their Pokemon can be! Greninja, let's show them your true power!"
"Gre-nin!"
Garyn, while a bit uneasy on what this new form could hold, still wasn't going to back down just yet.
"Well, Blastoise and I aren't done either! Alright, girl, use Whirlpool!"
Blastoise raised her arms and tilted her arms up as she shot water from her cannons to form a giant whirlpool above her. When the aquatic vortex got big enough, Blastoise threw it over to Ashley-Greninja.
"Night Slash!"
Despite how simple the command sounded, Ashley-Greninja instantly knew what her trainer meant because of their shared thoughts. In an instant, Ashley-Greninja took out two dark blades from her back, jumped high to the air with her powerful legs, and then headed straight for the incoming vortex as Ashley copied her every movement. In the blink of an eye, Ashley-Greninja was now behind the Whirlpool before a giant diagonal cut was seen forming outside the vortex, leading for the entire attack to splash on the ground.
Ashley-Greninja then saw Blastoise stomp right in front of her, preparing for another attack.
"Blastoise, give her your Mega Punch!"
Blastoise threw her right fist back as it glowed a yellow aura.
"Mat Block!" Ashley quickly yelled as she stomped her left foot.
Ashley-Greninja did the same thing, flipping over a sudden green mat before grabbing it as a shield, easily blocking Blastoise's Mega Punch.
"Now jump back and use Camouflage!"
Ashley-Greninja jumped away from Blastoise (while the green mat disappeared) and she spun around in a fast motion before completely disappearing from view.
Both Garyn and Blastoise cautiously looked around for any clues of Ashley-Greninja's presence, but because of Ashley-Greninja's training and natural kunoichi instincts, their efforts had no avail.
"Let's try this! Blastoise, use Hydro Pump in a circle!"
From her spot, Blastoise fired out Hydro Pump and started to rotate around, hoping to hit the invisible fellow water-type, but still no avail, though Blastoise still kept it up. To Blastoise's surprise, Ashley-Greninja soon came down from the sky, returning her visibility, and the turtle a good Aerial Ace to the head, sending her back.
"Wait," spoke up a shocked Garyn, "how did Greninja use an attack without a command? I didn't hear anything from you, Ashley!"
To this, Ashley and Ashley-Greninja faced each other and shared a grin before facing Garyn again.
"It's a long story, so I'll explain later, but now, it's time to finish this! Greninja, use your Water Shuriken!"
Ashley-Greninja jumped high to the air again, grabbed the shuriken from her back, and raised it above her head, causing it to extremely grow in size. Needless to say, Garyn was frightened.
"Quick! Use Hydro Cannon!"
Blastoise pointed her cannons up to Ashley-Greninja and fired two orbs of water from them just as Ashley-Greninja threw the giant Water Shuriken down to her. Even though Hydro Cannon is one of the most powerful water type moves of all time, it absolutely paled in comparison to Ashley-Greninja's Water Shuriken as her attack completely obliterated the Hydro Cannon orbs upon slicing through them.
With no other choice, Blastoise could only close her eyes as the giant Water Shuriken reached her. Upon impact, the attack caused a huge cloud of steam. Ashley-Greninja landed back in front of her trainer, waiting for the cloud to dissipate with her and Pikachu.
"Blastoise, you okay, girl?" Garyn called out to the steam cloud.
The steam soon dissipated, revealing Blastoise lying on the ground with swirls on her eyes.
On the sidelines, upon seeing Blastoise, it took Tracy three seconds to realize the outcome, and upon realization, she quickly placed her sketchbook away and grabbed her flags.
"Blastoise is unable to battle! This battle goes to Ashley and Greninja!"
On Ashley's side, Greninja resumed back to her original form and she and her trainer then shared a girly hug.
"Looks like we're just as strong as ever, Greninja!"
"Grenin-grenin!"
Pikachu excitedly jumped to the air next to them with her left palm to the air.
"Pika-pika!"
Nearby the battlefield, all of the Tauras 'mooed' on their trainer's victory.
And on Garyn's side, the researcher ran to her fainted started and knelt down next to her.
"Are you okay, old friend?"
Blastoise weakly lifted her head from the ground and nodded.
"Blast..."
"Glad to hear. Now, take a good rest. You and others will get healed up soon."
Blastoise winked to her trainer before she was recalled to her Pokeball.
After recalling her starter, Garyn stood back up and she started to walk towards Ashley, who was just finishing up her hug with her Greninja.
"I said once, and I'll say it again, that training you and your Pokemon did at Mt. Silver really has done wonders to you all."
"Thanks, Garyn! And being a Gym Leader has really made you stronger, too! Even when we had your team at a corner, you still persevered and did your best."
Garyn giggled and said, "Yeah, well, it's a cool thing that every good Gym Leader should have."
Ashley giggled as well and the two shared a friendly handshake as Oak and Tracy joined them.
"That was a really cool battle, you two!" said Tracy. "And I was able to get a great sketch of Greninja's Ashley-Greninja form, too!"
Tracy showed off her sketch of Ashley-Greninja standing tall, causing the frog kunoichi to giggle and blush, pleased that Tracy was able to accurately capture her figure.
"The two of you fought very well." stated Oak, back to her calmer composer. "And the trust and care you all had for your Pokemon really shows how remarkable you both are as trainers."
"Teehee! Thanks, professor!" Ashley happily replied.
"Yeah. Thanks, granny." Garyn said, giving her grandmother her occasional nickname.
"You both are very welcome. Now, Ashley, with you bringing Garyn's position as a Gym Leader, that reminds me of a certain question I've been wanting to ask you."
"Oh, what is it, professor?"
"Ashley, now that you've finished your training at Mt. Silver, what do you plan to do now?"
"Well, professor, I have actually do have something planned now that I'm done over there, but it's kinda a long story, and I would like I get my Pokemon all healed up first, if you don't mind."
"Oh, I don't mind at all, Ashley. Go right ahead!"
"Alright, thanks! I promise I'll tell you all what I want to do once I have the time."
Oak smiled to Ashley. She couldn't be more proud and pleased knowing that Ashley will always put her Pokemon first, seeing them as her friends and family and not as mere means to a goal. Even though Ashley talk about the possible great things she could do now that both she and her Pokemon are a lot stronger than they were back before they went off to Mt. Silver, the young trainer will always care about their wellbeing the most.
Ashley then walked up to her Tauras herd, who were all discussing how great and pretty each others' fur, mane, hooves, tail, and horns were. She told the leader she's going to get her healed up before returning her to her Safari Ball. After telling the rest of the herd she'll catch up with all of them, Ashley started to make her way to Oak's lab.
"Garyn," Oak started as she faced her granddaughter, "are you going to heal up your Pokemon too?"
"You know it!" Garyn instantly replied as she joined Ashley's walk to her grandmother's lab.
Oak and Tracy smiled at each other and they followed behind the two top trainers of Pallet.
Later, after getting Emboar, Tauras, and Greninja all healed up, Ashley was back outside with her Pikachu and Greninja. The raven-haired trainer happily basked in the familiar, comfortable setting that was Oak's Corral. After watching the sun shine on a flock of floating-by Jumpluff, Ashley looked down to her Pikachu brushing her own fur and Greninja wiping off any dirt off her bow before putting it back on.
"Y'know, you two," Ashley started, gaining their attention, "I think it's a good time to release everyone else out for some relaxation. Besides, I bet Garyn, Tracy, and Professor Oak would love to see the rest after all these years."
Pikachu and Greninja happily nodded in agreement as their trainer took off her backpack, placed it in front of her, and opened up the front pouch, revealing a large amount of regular Pokeballs, with the only ones sticking out were a Lure Ball and Tauras's Safari Ball. Ashley dug both of her hands into her the pouch, quickly taking them out after grabbing 9 regular Pokeballs and the Safari Ball.
"Let's start with the Kanto bunch!" Ashley said before tossing all 10 Pokeballs up to the air as they slightly enlarged in size and opened up to release bright white lights that rained back down to the ground.
From the 10 Pokeballs came Butterfree, Pidgeot, Venusaur, Charizard, Blastoise, Kingler, Gengar, Primeape, Muk, and Tauras. They were all female, wearing pink bows on their heads, with exception of Butterfree, who wore smaller yellow bows on her antennas.
Ashley was able to get Butterfree back when she first arrived at Mt. Silver. To her luck, that was where Butterfree and her uniquely light-blue colored mate went to after Ashley released her as a 10 year old. Upon reuniting with her trainer, Butterfree happily agreed to fight on her trainer's side again, though, she still occasionally visits her mate at Mt. Silver, along with their Caterpie children. For Pidgeot, Ashley instantly went to Viridian Forest to get her back, as that was the closest area to go to when started her long years of training. Pidgeot's flock now had some other Pidgeot who could protect and lead the flock in her place, allowing Ashley's first bird Pokemon to easily rejoin her trainer. This applies the same for Squirtle, Haunter, and Primeape as well, since Ashley was still around in Kanto, being able to get them from Officer Jimmy, Severn, and Anita respectively.
Ashley's Venusaur was the first of Ashley's Kanto bunch that recognized their current location and she quickly ran up to her trainer.
"Venu-venusaur?"
"Yep, Venusaur, we're at Professor Oak's lab. Right now, Oak is inside healing up Garyn's Pokemon after a battle we just had, but she should be out here eventually."
Venusaur nodded and she went off to join Charizard and Blastoise. The three Kanto starters were complimenting each other on their nails and eyelashes. Pikachu, happy to see her old gang all out, quickly joined them all as well. Meanwhile, Ashley took out two more Pokeballs from her backpack.
"Next up are the ones from the Orange Islands!"
Ashley threw the next two Pokeballs up, releasing out a Lapras onto a nearby lake and a Snorlax onto the field next to the other Pokemon. While Snorlax was female like others, as evident by her pink bow, Lapras was male and he wore a red scarf around his neck.
Some time after retrieving Greninja and her Key Stone, Ashley went back to Johto and found her Lapras's school hanging out around the bays of New Bark Town. Turns out, Lapras was just about to hand over his title of leader to another inspiring Lapras, allowing him to easily rejoin his trainer.
Ashley then took out six more Pokeballs from her backpack, along with the Lure Ball.
"Alright, Johto gang, you're all up next!"
Ashley tossed up the next set to make them release out Heracross, Meganium, Typhlosion, Feraligatr (who was the one who came out of the Lure Ball), a shiny Noctowl, Donphan, and even a Tyranitar. Meganium was the only male of the group, and much like Lapras, he wore a red scarf. All the rest were female.
The Tyranitar in this particular ground was the same Larvitar Ashley hatched and took care of back at her adventures in the Johto region before returning her to her Tyranitar father. By the same Ashley went back to the mountains to train, Larvitar was now a Tyranitar herself and she first reunited with Ashley and Pikachu when she came to their rescue from an angry Steelix. Now all grown up, she eagerly allowed Ashley to catch her, allowing her to officially join her party.
Upon release, Heracross quickly spotted Venusaur and she instantly flew towards her, landing on top of her flower without further notice and started to suck up her favorite food, sap, from the seed on Venusaur's flower. Irritated as ever, Venusaur took out eight vines and with all her might, started to pull the female stag beetle off her flower, though Heracross's strength proved that task to be difficult. As that all happened, Charizard placed the tip of her right claws in front of her snout out of worry while Blastoise giggled at her best friend's occasional predicament.
Seeing his trainer, Meganium gave her a flirtatious wink, causing Ashley to sigh and roll her eyes in an easygoing manner. Even though Meganium was significantly matured throughout the years, he still had a small crush on his trainer. Meganium kept his glance on his trainer until he was accidentally knocked over by Feraligatr's ballerina dancing, causing Ashley to giggle before taking out six more Pokeballs from her backpack.
"Hoenn gang, come on out!" Ashley exclaimed as she tossed up the next set.
The six Pokeballs released out Swellow, Sceptile, Crawdaunt, Torkoal, Glalie, and Ambipom. Much like the Johto set, the only male was the Ambipom, leaving the rest female.
Even though Ambipom was a Pokemon in the Sinnoh Dex and he was caught at Kanto, not Hoenn, during Ashley's Battle Frontier journey as an Aipom, he was mostly considered a member of the Hoenn gang considering he spent more time with them than so the upcoming Sinnoh gang. Ambipom rejoined Ashley before the girl left Kanto to start training. The reunion took place at Viridian City where Ambipom recently finished another ping pong match and Ashley got her Squirtle back. Being the thrill-seeker he was, Ambipom now got bored of the ping pong life, but upon seeing Ashley walk by out of coincidence, he quickly ran up and hugged her. Happy to see Ambipom again and feeling his contest talents could make him a valuable asset to her entire party, Ashley talked with Olga and she agreed to let Ashley have Ambipom again.
Going back to the topic of the Sinnoh gang, Ashley took out another set of six Pokeballs from her backpack before tossing them to the air.
"And here comes Sinnoh!"
Out from the next set came Staraptor, Torterra, Infernape, Floatzel, Gliscor, and Garchomp. Unlike the Johto and Hoenn sets, this group was all female.
Ashley was then about to take out another set of Pokeballs until to remembered just one thing.
"Oopsie! Almost forgot you!" Ashley spoke out as she took out a single Pokeball from her backpack and tossed it up to the air to release out the Pokemon inside.
Out from the singular Pokeball came the jackal Pokemon, Lucario. This very Lucario was the same Riolu Ashley rescued and bonded with at Sinnoh. Back then, even though the two had the same Aura, Ashley wasn't really able to catch Riolu as it belonged to an old lady at the Lucario Kingdom. After Ashley left home to train and got her Keystone at Kalos, she went back over to Sinnoh in order to reunite with Riolu for certain reasons. After explaining these "certain reasons" to Riolu's original caretaker, the old lady happily allowed Riolu to be under Ashley's care for now on, and during these long years of training, Riolu had evolved into Lucario. Much like the rest, Lucario wore a pink bow on her, showing her female gender.
"Ashley," the jackal started, communicating with her trainer telepathically, "why are we all out here right now? And what is this place?"
"This is Professor Oak's corral that I told you about." Ashley responded back.
"Right now, I'm getting everyone out for the professor to see, so right now, you can just relax with everyone else."
"Very well." replied Lucario as she turned back toward her fellow Sinnoh Pokemon, quickly meeting up with Infernape.
"Infernape!" Lucario called out, gaining the fire monkey's attention. "Your fur looks absolutely beautiful today!"
The two fighting-types then began complimenting each other on their looks as Ashley took out 9 Pokeballs from her backpack.
"Come on out, my Unova friends!"
The 9 capsules were tossed to the air, releasing Unfezant, Samurott, Emboar, Serperior, Scrafty, Leavanny, Seismitoad, Gigalith, and Krookodile. In this particular group, there was actually more than one male this time, with a total of two, who were Unfezant and Serperior. Of course, the rest were female
The Unova set then began to socialize with the each other and the other Pokemon while their trainer, once again, took out another regional set from her backpack, with was getting significantly lighter. This time, there were only four Pokeballs, as one particular member of this group was already out.
"Here comes the Kalos group!"
Ashley tossed up the four capsules to have them release out Talonflame, Hawlucha, Goodra, and Noivern, and once they were all on the field, Greninja quickly joined them. Much like the Sinnoh set, this group was all female, with Goodra having two pink bows instead of one like the others. Her bows were at the bottom of her large antennas.
Speaking of Goodra, Ashley was got her back around the same time she got Greninja back and retrieved her Keystone. Upon returning to the Wetlands, Ashley saw that not only Goodra and the blue-flower Florsum were protectors of the area, but also Goodra's Wooper friend, who had now evolved into Quagsire, and much like his friend, Quagsire knew the move, Rain Dance, to help keep their homeland hydrated and flourishing. After speaking with Katie, Ashley was able to get Goodra back to her team with no problem.
Upon release, Goodra, joined by Greninja, started to look around Oak's corral, being the only two of the Kalos bunch who have been to it before. Talonflame joined the other bird Pokemon and Hawlucha started doing her usual girly poses (like one hand on head and other on hip, just to name a few) as Noivern watched admirably.
The front pouch of Ashley's backpack was now close to being empty, even more so as Ashley took out six more Pokeballs from it.
"And now, Alola!"
Like always, Ashley threw the six Pokeballs high to the air. The capsules released Decidueye, Lycanroc (midday), Incineroar, Passimian, Toucannon, and Golisopod. Just like the bunch before, all of Ashley's Alola Pokemon were all female.
Upon release, Lycanroc quickly ran to her trainer and rubbed her head on her legs before placing it under her left palm. Ashley happily petted her loyal dog before telling her to play with the others as she lets the last few remaining out. Lycanroc obediently nodded and she ran towards Pikachu to play.
There were now only two Pokeballs left in the pouch. Ashley grabbed them and threw them up to the air. Out from the two came an Espeon and a Dunsparce, and both of them were female.
Ashley caught Espeon as an Eevee before she left Kanto. She was captured by some Team Rocket Grunts hiding in Celadon City and they were planning to do an awful experiment with her where they would alter her DNA to make her change between the several Eevee forms. After figuring out their plan, Ashley defeated the grunts and freed Eevee. Extremely grateful, she allowed Ashley to catch her, eventually evolving into Espeon at Mt. Silver.
For Dunsparce, Ashley always wanted to catch one, but in the past, she always failed for certain reasons and circumstances. However, during her time away from home, Ashley came across the Sevii Islands and found a small area around the port of Three Isle that had an abundance of Dunsparce, and Ashley joyfully caught one.
The front pouch was now empty and all of Ashley's Pokemon were out of their Pokeballs. All of the powerful creatures were either chatting or doing some sort of small spar. All of Ashley's bird Pokemon (minus Hawlucha and Decidueye) were flying around the air and some of the water Pokemon joined Lapras in or around the lake.
Ashley Ketchum watched all of them with a smile on her face. She distinctly remembered catching every single one of them and all of the memories she shared with them, too. One common she did whenever she caught a Pokemon was to give them a pink bow or red scarf, depending on their gender. While many might think it's silly to put accessories on Pokemon, Ashley has her reasons. For female Pokemon, Ashley loved to have them pink bows so that it would be clear to her opponents that they're girls. Even though many Pokemon, like Starter Pokemon, are more likely to be female than male (87.5% to be born female, 12.5% to be born male), many people usually expect male Pokemon to battle more. With her Pokemon showing clear signs to be female, Ashley could show that female Pokemon should also expect to fight a lot, too. Plus, Ashley thought the pink bows made them look cute and pretty and all of them really enjoy wearing them as well, especially those like Charizard, Sceptile, and Krookodile.
Ashley continued to watch over her Pokemon until she a door open up behind. She turned around to see Professor Oak, Tracy, and Garyn walk out with surprised looks on their faces.
"Ashley," Oak gasped, "are these all your Pokemon?"
Ashley smiled and proudly replied, "Yep!"
Woo! That took a lot out of me, but hey! I still had! Before I close things off, I wanna mention some more things:
-The Pokemon, Tauras, is the female version of Tauros. Like I said before, every single Pokemon will be gender-bent in this universe, and that includes Pokemon with only one gender, just like I did with Hitmonchan back at Chapter 1. For this Pokemon, I would like to give credit to SergeantMuffins from DeviantArt. Y'see, I was scrolling through DeviantArt, looking for ideas, and I soon came across his female Tauros design: Tauras. I asked if I could use that for my fanfic, and he said "yes", so he's awesome!
-On a similar note, the Pokemon mentioned, Florsum, is the male version of Florges. While I don't have I design in mind, though, Google has a lot of good ones, I came up with the name by corresponding it with the fact that, as I saw on Bulbapedia, Florges is a combination of 'flora' and 'gorgeous', and I decided to switch things up from 'gorgeous' to 'handsome', just to make it more male orientated.
-Ashley's Alola team is, at the moment, only what I believe it would be by the end of the series, which, I know is gonna be a long time from now, but whatevs. As the series progresses, I do indeed to change things up if my predictions prove to be wrong, and throughout the story, I will mostly include Alola Pokemon Ash has now in the series and not so much Pokemon I'm predicting and if I do use them for something, but another thing in the anime happens, then I will make appropriate changes. For example, if I were to have Ashley use Toucannon in a battle, but Ash never catches anything in the Pikipek line, then I will just take away Toucannon and replace it with another bird Pokemon.
-I gave Ashley Lucario, Espeon, and Dunsparce because I feel it would be fitting to her/Ash. Lucario always felt like a perfect Pokemon for Ash ever since it was introduced years ago, and I really thought Ash was going to catch that Riolu back then, but sadly, he didn't. Plus, Lucario, in general, plays a huge role for a certain something coming up soon. Espeon is a Pokemon that is owned by Ash's game counterpart, Red, and the only one Ash himself never caught, so... why not? I also gave Ashley's Espeon to same backstory as Red's Espeon from the Pokemon Adventures Manga. Ash always tried to catch a Dunsparce in the anime, but he always failed, so why not fulfill that wish for his female counterpart?
-I had Ashley give her father a Zigzagoon in the last chapter because I remember in one of the Pokemon Chronicles episodes where Delia said she hoped her son were to capture one.
-If I haven't posted it already, I will have the pic for this fanfic to be Charla from the anime, just to represent Ashley's female Charizard. Though, if anyone has artistic skills (which I don't have) or knows someone who could draw some art for a fair price, feel free to let me know!
-Huge thanks in general for anyone who gave me ideas or the inspiration to continue! Love you all!
Well, that's all I wanted to say for now. Hope you all enjoyed reading and PLEASE leave a review for anything you would like to say! Feedback and/or thoughts are always awesome! Another thing that would be awesome would be any grammar or spelling mistakes I might've put down! I proofread this A LOT, but with something so big, a mistake would be inevitable. Have a great day everyone!
Main characters and Pokemon introduced:
Professor Samantha Oak
Professor Oak's Rotom (genderless)
Tracy Sketchit
Tracy's Venomoth (female)
Tracy's Azumarill (male)
Tracy's Scyther (female)
Garyn Oak
Garyn's Blastoise (female)
Garyn's Umbreon (female)
Garyn's Electrivire (female)
Ashley's FEMALE Pokemon: Pikachu, Butterfree, Pidgeot, Venusaur, Charizard, Blastoise, Kingler, Muk, Gengar, Primeape, Tauras, Snorlax, Heracross, Typhlosion, Feraligatr, Noctowl*, Donphan, Tyranitar, Swellow, Sceptile, Crawdaunt, Torkoal, Glalie, Staraptor, Torterra, Infernape, Floatzel, Gliscor, Garchomp, Samurott, Emboar, Scrafty, Leavanny, Seismitoad, Gigalith, Krookodile, Greninja, Talonflame, Hawlucha, Goodra, Noivern, Decidueye, Lycanroc, Incineroar, Passimian, Toucannon, Golisopod, Lucario, Espeon, and Dunsparce
Ashley's MALE Pokemon: Lapras, Meganium, Ambipom, Unfezant, and Serperior