~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

(Theme)

"The Summit of Mt. Silver"

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

Two guards were in front of the entrance to Mt. Silver. They wouldn't let them pass unless they were shown at least sixteen badges, so Ash showed them the insides of his jacket, where all his Kanto and Johto badges were placed. He even went the extra mile and showed off the rest of the badges from the other regions, including his Orange Islands badges and Battle Frontier symbols. The guards could only stand there in shock as Ash, Misty and Brock walked past them.

The first few steps inside of Mt. Silver were uneventful, but that all changed when a horde of Golbat flew towards them on the offensive. Pikachu and Froakie got ready to attack them, but Crobat got in front of them and sent small red rings at the duo. It didn't put them to sleep immediately, but made them a bit drowsy. He then flew above the Golbat, and chattered something inaudible to them.

"Pika, Pika?" Pikachu tapped its head in confusion. Froakie simply chirped in response. The Golbat all seemed to calm down, and slowly fly back to wherever they came from.

"Amazing job, Crobat!" Brock congratulated, as it nested itself back on his head, lowering its wings on his hair. It actually looked quite harmless when perched on Brock.

With the bats out of the way, it was smooth sailing for a while longer. The only thing they encountered within that timeframe were a small horde of Donphan (who were kept busy by Ash's: they had raced each other around Mt. Silver, Ash's Donphan's endurance earning it a victory in each event, and also tiring out the others), and Golduck, who had no intention of letting them pass.

"Looks like we'll have to-" Ash began, before a red laser shot out of one of Misty's balls. Out came her Psyduck, which blankly turned to Golduck.

"Psy...duck?"

Golduck seemed to relax a bit.

Misty sighed in relief. "Maybe this'll be easier than I thought." But alas, she was wrong, as Golduck tensed up and sprayed a blast of water its pre-evolved form's head.

Psyduck cried out in pain and ran around, clutching its face the whole time. Before anyone could react, Psyduck glowed with a light blue outline, and then surrounded its evolved form with the same aura, before slamming it into a rock, angering it further. The blue Pokemon ran towards Psyduck, webbed hands in front of it at an offensive stance, before scratching Psyduck multiple times.

"Psyduck, use Headbutt!" Misty directed, but her Pokemon was engulfed in the psychic aura. It was soon flung to the ceiling, head first. It fell to the ground in front of Golduck, who got ready for another Fury Swipes, when a giant azure sphere suddenly surrounded the yellow duck Pokemon. Everyone stepped back as rocks and debris were forced into the air by the barrier, which was steadily growing larger. Even Golduck looked a bit wary, but it was too late for it to do anything as the energy extended towards it, the scattered debris also hitting it with the psychic energy. This caused a giant smoke cloud to form around the two ducks.

"Psyduck..." Misty prayed. "Please come out okay."

Her prayers were answered as the smoke cleared to reveal Psyduck standing on top of its evolution, confused.

Yvonne shrugged. "That's the power of a headache, I suppose." Ash and Brock glanced at each other.

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

They soon found themselves out of the cave and at the summit, where Yvonne's Sableye lured a bunch of wild Geodude and Graveler out of their way so that they could pass. It then taunted them into exploding, all at the same time. Being part-Ghost type, Sableye wasn't affected by the huge explosion at all. The next Pokemon they encountered was an Ursaring, which Brock's Crobat subdued with Hypnosis. Somehow, it was able to convince the giant bear Pokemon that it was on their side. Most of the rest of the journey to the summit was spent with Ursaring protecting the group from the rest of the wild Pokemon that resided in Mt. Silver, demolishing most of them in mere seconds.

It's only a matter of time, thought Ash, as Crobat led Ursaring away from them, then came back to Brock's side. Just then, they heard a scary roaring noise, this one different from the earlier one. Each of them held out a Poke Ball in a protective stance as Pikachu, Froakie, Azurill, Electrode, Crobat, Sableye, Furret, and Fennekin formed a line of defense in front of everybody.

"Hey, Ash!" a familiar voice rang from above, and everyone relaxed. They all looked up to see a blue and maroon three-headed dragon with black fur that seemed to extend to six thin wings. On the dragon was a boy with brown gray hair, a light orange shirt, blue shorts, and a light blue backpack on his back. Why he was wearing that thin outfit in the cold weather (despite having a white scarf on) was anyone's guess. Behind the boy was the Aura Pokemon, Lucario.

"Camoron!" Ash greeted back. "How'd you get here?" As far as Ash knew, he only had eight badges from Unova.

"Soon after the Unova League, I headed to Johto and got eight more badges, and now I'm up here!" Camoron explained. "So, how about a battle, Ash? This won't be like last time, where I got disqualified!"

"Sure thing!" Ash agreed, taking his place as Camoron and Lucario went down. Camoron then recalled Hydriegon and took his place in the battlefield as well. Camoron counted his Poke Balls to make sure he had six, which he did.

"Six-on-six! No substitutions!" he announced. "Go, Ferrothorn!"

A Pokemon looking like a metallic durian with thorns and three vine-like appendages with spiky metal disks. Yvonne took out her tablet and started to record the scene.

"Tauros, I choose you!" Ash cried, sending out the Wild Bull Pokemon.

"A Normal type against a part Steel type...this won't end well for him," Yvonne told herself.

"This battle between Ash's Tauros and Camoron's Ferrothorn will now begin!" refereed Brock.

"Ferrothorn, Power Whip!" Camoron shouted, and his Pokemon waved its three appendages, before flinging them at Tauros.

Ash smiled. "Rock Climb, now!" His Tauros stamped on the ground, and a huge rock pillar appeared below Ferrothorn, forcing it upward and bringing its spiky vines off balance, thus making the Power Whip attack fail to hit its opponent, who was then running up the rock. Its head slammed into the Grass/Steel type and sent it crashing to the ground. Tauros groaned in pain, and that was when Ash remembered that it had the Iron Barbs ability. That meant that contact attacks would do recoil damage to Tauros.

"Pin Missile!" Camoron instructed immediately. The metallic Pokemon pointed two of its appendages at Tauros and shot multiple pin missiles at Tauros.

"Dodge it!" Ash called in urgency. Tauros ran to the side and dodged each one that came towards him.

"Gyro Ball!" Camoron ordered quickly. His Ferrothorn spread its appendages apart and started spinning in place. It then spun towards Tauros while scraping the ground.

"Tauros, stand your ground!" Ash requested. It dug its hooves into the ground as Ferrothorn reached it. Tauros lowered its head and withstood the Gyro Ball attack, its appendages getting tangled in its horns, which shocked Camoron.

"It's trapped! Use Take Down!" Ash shouted. Tauros did the command, but ran away from Ferrothorn, flinging it around and accumulating more and more damage on it. This went on for about a minute. Camoron grabbed his headband and stretched it away from his head, before letting it go, causing the headwear to smack hard on his head. At the same time, Tauros slammed Ferrothorn on the ground, finishing it off once and for all.

"No! Just when I had an idea..." Camoron weeped.

"Ferrothorn is unable to battle, the winner is Tauros from the Safari Zone!" Brock announced.

Yvonne turned to him. "Which Safari Zone?"

As Brock answered the question, Camoron had already replaced his Ferrothorn with Hydriegon.

"Hydriegon, Tri Attack!" Camoron commanded, and Hydriegon opened its three mouths and formed spheres of red, blue and yellow, before sending them towards its opponent.

"Dodge it!" Ash shouted, but Tauros wasn't fast enough to avoid the attack and got sent flying back.

"Giga Impact!" Camoron roared.

Hydriegon glowed in a light-purple-and-yellow aura and flew towards Tauros, who created a huge rock pillar at Ash's request. It then ran onto it as Hydriegon was getting closer.

"Smash through that rock!" shouted the headband wearer, as Tauros had nearly reached the top.

"Jump!" Ash cried, as Tauros reached the apex of the pillar and jumped high in the air. Hydriegon had managed to land its attack, but all it hit was the rock pillar, which crumbled in pieces.

Camoron frowned. "Hydriegon, Tri Attack again!"

His Pokemon panted heavily, having had to rest after that Giga Impact attack. Meanwhile, Ash commanded a Wild Charge. Tauros looked down at the tired Hydriegon and cloaked itself in electricity. Few things were scarier than an electricity-covered wild bull about to descend down on an opponent, so Hydriegon had every reason to be worried, especially as Tauros rammed into its chest hard, sending it crashing to the ground. Tauros landed as nimbly as it could, but was also hurt from the recoil. Hydriegon struggled to get up as Ash ordered a Horn Attack.

Camoron snapped his headband on his head once again, before holding his head. He then grinned at Ash. "Fly above it!"

Hydriegon flapped its wings and narrowly evaded the Horn Attack, now out of reach of its opponent.

"Keep using Tri Attack!" Camoron commanded.

The Dark/Dragon type continued to launch orbs of the three primary colors at Tauros, who dodged all of them. Eventually, the dragon got so tired that it slowly began to descend from the air, in reach of Tauros once again.

"Horn Attack, one more time!" cried Ash, as Tauros rammed into Hydriegon's chest with its horns, sending it falling to the ground in defeat.

"Hydriegon is unable to battle, the winner is Tauros from the Safari Zone!" announced Brock again.

"Two down, four to go," Ash told himself, as Camoron replaced his fallen Pokemon with the fully evolved Unova Water Starter Pokemon, the quadrupedal Samurott.

"Wow, a Samurott!" Misty gushed. "I've only ever heard of this Pokemon, but finally I get to see one in person!"

"Samurott, Aqua Jet!" Camoron yelled out, as it cloaked itself in water and quickly launched itself at Tauros, sending it staggering back.

"Now, Hydro Cannon!" continued Camoron, as Samurott opened its mouth and spat a huge stream of water at Tauros, forcing it backward. The attack took its toll on the Wild Bull and fainted it.

"Tauros is unable to battle, the winner is Samurott from-" Misty began, before Ash cut in with, "From Professor Juniper's lab!"

Misty glared at a smirking Ash. Ash returned his Tauros, gave his thanks, and then threw another Poke Ball. "I have the perfect opponent for you...Infernape, I choose you!" The Sinnoh Fire/Fighting starter emerged from its Poke Ball, poised for battle. The two fully evolved starters both glared at each other.

Yvonne turned pale at the sight of Infernape. "Why did he use a fire type against Samurott, is he trying to get Camoron to catch up?!"

Misty also looked a bit worried. "I sure hope he knows what he's doing..."

"Begin!" Brock announced.

"Mach Punch!" Ash instructed, as Infernape zoomed towards its enemy and gave it a hard punch in the face, and then zipped back to its original position.

Camoron's jaw dropped. "Whoa, that thing's fast! Aqua Jet, quick!"

Once again, Samurott covered itself in a veil of water as it leaped towards Infernape, who stood there with a smirk on his face.

"Dodge it!" Ash urged the monkey, as Infernape did a series of flips above the Water type to dodge. I'm sure he'll use Hydro Cannon next...

Ash's prediction was right as Samurott unleashed a giant geyser of water, which Infernape dug under. Just like Hydriegon before, Samurott was tuckered out from the immense stamina required for the powerful attack. Just then, Infernape reemerged from below Samurott and gave it an uppercut under its jaw, forcing it skyward. When it landed down, Ash asked for a Close Combat attack, and Infernape proceeded to kick and punch Infernape everywhere.

"Samurott, get away!" Camoron shouted, but it was no use. "I knew I should have used Razor Shell instead..." Before Infernape was finished, Samurott struck it with her horn so it could have some breathing room.

"All right! Use Aqua Jet again!" yelled Camoron, who had just smacked himself again. Samurott, again for its part, launched its water-covered body at Infernape, who jumped over it, which led to Samurott redirecting it upward and hitting him. Infernape tumbled on the ground as Samurott used the attack once more, but this time, Ash was ready.

"Dodge with Flamethrower!" Infernape lied on its stomach and spat flames on the ground, ascending itself above the Aqua Jet. Samurott stopped its attack and looked up in surprise.

"Mach Punch!" Infernape immediately turned to Samurott and zipped towards it, giving it another punch in the face. That was enough to knock it down, rendering it unable to battle.

"Infernape is unable to battle, the winner is Samurott!" Brock declared.

Yvonne gasped. "H-H-He won?"

Infernape whooped for joy as Camoron recalled Samurott and replaced it with Swanna.

"Infernape vs Swanna. Begin!" Brock cried.

"Infernape, Dig!" called Ash, as Infernape created another hole. It reemerged under Swanna, intending to uppercut it, but this time, it missed. Swanna tried desperately to attack Infernape with its wings, beak and bubbles, but each time, they missed. By the time Infernape was done digging, there were at least thirty holes in the battlefield. Infernape jumped above Swanna, who was going in for another Wing Attack.

"Flamethrower!" Infernape aimed its Flamethrower at Swanna, who avoided it by swerving to the side. The flames went inside one of the holes, and out of another. Unfortunately for Swanna, it was above the second hole, so it took the Flamethrower.

"Swanna, no!" Camoron yelled. Swanna probably could have taken the attack, but it was so tired from all of that moving, so it just collapsed on the ground.

"Swanna is unable to battle, which means Infernape wins!" announced Misty, as Infernape and Ash cheered again. Camoron recalled the Water/Flying type and looked at his fifth Poke Ball. After a few seconds, he tossed it in an overhead motion.

"Watchog, go!" It opened up...and nothing came out. The sphere just fell to the ground. "It's...empty?"

The rest of them (including Lucario) sighed as Camoron scrambled to pick it up. He then pointed to the field. "Lucario, go!"

"Infernape, up for another round?" questioned Ash. Infernape nodded. "Then we're gonna win it!" He roared in assent.

"Begin!" chanted Yvonne/Misty/Brock, who all stared at each other.

"Infernape/Lucario, Mach Punch!" Ash/Camoron called. Both of them dashed towards each other and clashed fists.

"Use Close Combat!" They both went into a flurry of punches and kicks, most of which were blocked by the other.

"Flamethrower!" Ash cried, as Infernape released flames from its mouth at Lucario, who blocked it with Aura Sphere.

The rest of the match went on like this, until Infernape got too tired to keep up with Lucario in yet another Close Combat attack war. Lucario kicked it off, and then followed up with Aura Sphere, which took down Infernape.

"Infernape is unable to battle, the winner is Lucario!" Brock shouted.

"Thanks a lot, Infernape, you were great," Ash told the Sinnoh Pokemon, after he recalled it. He then took out another Poke Ball. "I choose you...Tauros!" He sent out the Wild Bull Pokemon, looking perfectly healthy.

Yvonne's jaw dropped. "Huh!?"

If Yvonne was surprised, then Camoron was downright shocked. "How did it revive! I took it out, I know I did!"

Pikachu, Misty and Brock held back laughter as Ash just smirked. Without hesitation, he told Tauros to use take Down while Camoron was still distracted. Tauros charged at Lucario, who grabbed it at the request of its trainer. Ash immediately called for a Fire Blast, which shocked Lucario and Camoron. Tauros opened its mouth and sent out flames the shape of an outstretched person towards Lucario. Before it even snapped out of its initial distraction, the attack engulfed the Fighting/Steel type, burning it.

"That's the way, Tauros!" Ash encouraged, as the flames disappeared to reveal a charred Lucario, who fell over seconds later.

"That's it! Lucario is unable to battle, and since that was Camoron's last Pokemon, the winners are Tauros and Ash, from Pallet Town!" Brock and Misty cheered, as a distraught Camoron yelled out, "WAIT!" He then released all of his Pokemon...who were still fainted. The boy hung his head. "How did he revive his Pokemon like that..."

"Great battle!" Ash called out to him, as Camoron tended to his Lucario.

"Thanks!" the shorts-wearer thanked him. "I think you could beat the guy on the top. He beat me pretty badly, but I think you can take him on."

"Who?" Yvonne looked confused.

"There's a guy all the way at the top, who just sits there, with a Pikachu by his side..." Camoron explained to her. Ash, who was making a couple of rotations with his Pokedex, couldn't hide his shock. "He just waits there, presumably for challengers. He managed to sweep me with just his Pikachu. Another guy with a bunch of Pokemon I've never seen before did better than me, but only got to his second Pokemon, Jigglypuff."

Ash, Misty and Brock couldn't help but giggle at the mention of Jigglypuff.

"It seems funny now...until you can't land a single hit on it!" Camoron yelled frantically.

Ash smiled. "Sounds like quite the challenge! You guys coming? After we pick up Larvitar, I'll see what this guy's all about!"

"Did you say Larvitar?" Camoron turned to Ash, who nodded. "Follow me!"

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

A few minutes later, Camoron led them to a fierce Tyranitar and her Larvitar child. Tyranitar at first tensed up, but then softened up upon seeing Ash, Misty and Brock.

"If you're wondering why it was roaring a while ago - that is, if you heard it - then it's because I...kinda tried to catch it..." Camoron told them. They all stole glances at each other.

"Larvitar, it's nice to see you again!" Misty cooed, as she came a bit closer to them.

"Larvitar!" it cried, as Brock did the same, and then fully opened his eyes, which were just circles with a dot in the middle of each one. Unlike years ago, Larvitar actually laughed at him, having warmed up to humans.

"Please tell me that Tyranitar is not his..." Yvonne repeated quietly, but not quiet enough, apparently.

"No, his Pokemon is Larvitar," Misty answered.

"That is, unless Larvitar evolved between the time we brought it back to its mother, and then - " Brock began, before Misty hit him on the head. "Brock, you're scaring her!"

"I-I was not scared!" the blonde retorted. Her Sableye just laughed at this in amusement.

Ash and Pikachu talked to Larvitar and its fully-evolved form for a bit, before the former slowly turned around. "Let's go on, he's waiting for us."

Yvonne came to his side. "Why did you come here? I thought you were going to bring back your Pokemon."

Ash looked at her. "Yeah, but look." He pointed to Larvitar, who seemed content just being with its mother. "He looks so happy with his mom."

"I still think you should take it," Yvonne began. "It wouldn't be where it is now without you, and it is your Pokemon. Aren't you sad?"

"Maybe, but it's really up to Larvitar if he wants to stay or not. I wouldn't like it if someone forcibly separated..." He glanced at Tyranitar once again. "...me from my mom. I at least owe it that much. It's pretty sad for me, but if it makes my Pokemon happy, that's what I'll do."

"That's pretty sweet," Yvonne admitted. "You really do care about Pokemon." She looked into his eyes and smiled at him. In the background, Misty gagged and Camoron snickered. Pikachu merely gave Ash the "thumbs-up" sign without so much as a "Pika!".

"What's so funny?" Yvonne quickly did an about-face formation to Camoron, who Misty was smiling at for some unknown reason.

"Nothing. Are we gonna go or not?" Camoron questioned, his hands over his mouth. They all nodded, said their goodbyes to the two part-Rock type Pokemon, and started to go higher up Mt. Silver."

"Why's that Larvitar following us!?" Camoron yelped, as they all turned back to see Larvitar running up to them.

"What is it?" Ash wanted to know, and at one fell swoop, it yanked his backpack, and started rummaged through it, when it suddenly turned into red energy and got sucked into it.

"Ash! Your backpack ate Larvitar!" Camoron shouted, as the others laughed at him. Ash slowly went towards his backpack, picked up everything, and then held up a Poke Ball. "All right, I caught...a Larvitar?" He declared.

"No, Larvitar caught itself," Yvonne responded to him flatly.

"Eh, it wouldn't be the first time," Misty chimed in.

"Yeah, like her Psyduck for example," Ash smirked at her.

Brock sighed. "Come on, do we really need to fight now? You two are supposed to be grown up."

"Keywords: supposed to be," replied Misty. "At least, for Ash."

"I'M SERIOUS! KNOCK IT OFF!" Brock yelled out in pure frustration. "I swear, I'm taking care of two big babies..."

"I could help you out next time," Yvonne offered, bringing Brock to an odd silence. "...Was it something I said?"

"Pika/Azurill/Fur..."

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

They soon found themselves on the summit of Mt. Silver, facing someone similar to Ash. The brown-haired boy had a red baseball hat with half of a white Poke Ball symbol on it, a black shirt with a red vest with a light blue badge on it, blue jeans, red and black shoes, and a yellow backpack. He was about the same height as Ash, maybe slightly taller. On his side was a slightly bigger Pikachu than Ash's wearing a blue party hat on its head.

"That's him?" Misty wanted to know for sure. Camoron nodded as Ash went closer to him.

"Good luck, we believe in you," Brock encouraged his friend.

"You can do it!" Misty/Yvonne added in at the same time.

"Kick his butt, okay?" Camoron told Ash quietly.

"Thanks, everyone. And to Camoron, I'll kick his butt twice as hard as yours," Ash grinned, before turning back to the battlefield. Both of them held out a Poke Ball at the same time, in the same manner. It was almost like looking into a mirror, only it reflected Ash only. They both then threw it.

"Go, Ivysaur/Bulbasaur!" They both released the Pokemon of their choice: Bulbasaur for Ash, and Ivysaur for the mysterious trainer. Without a word, Ivysaur glowed a light-green.

"That's Synthesis, but why now?" Yvonne questioned, but she soon got her answer when Ash's Poke Balls all glowed.

"He's healing his Pokemon so they'll have a fair fight," Camoron informed them.

When the glow disappeared, Ash's opponent immediately tipped his hat. Ivysaur ran towards its pre-evolved form, initiating the first move...

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

CREDITS

Back to Basics

Creator: marioluigifan05

Theme Song: Jason Paige

4Kids Entertainment

Voices

Ash, Delia: Veronica Taylor

Brock: Eric Stuart

Professor Oak: Stan Hart

Tracey: Ted Lewis

Misty: Rachael Lillis

Pikachu: Ikue Otani

Yvonne: Rachael Lillis