Fyre Red: Well, he'll try. But knowing Ash, teaching might be hard... Rambling? I'd prefer more rambling reviews, actually... Those are the kind I really like.

Chapter 7

(Ash)

They were able to reach Pewter City without further trouble.

"You should probably get Luke and Casey healed up at the Pokemon Center," Ash suggested. "I'll meet you there later."

"And get more food to satisfy both of your appetites," Luigi deadpanned. "I'll be going now."

"... Uh, do we eat a lot, Pikachu?"

"... Maybe. Hey, what's with the crowd?" Pikachu pointed towards the center of town, where there was indeed a crowd

"Let's go see!" Ash ran to the crowd, to see that they were gathered in around a small area set aside for battle with a trainer he'd never seen before standing in the middle. He was wearing a red hat, brim backwards; sunglasses; a firey-print black shirt; and jeans; with a Quilava standing just by him. From the looks of things, he'd been battling and was on a winning streak.

"Who here can beat me?" The brown-haired boy yelled. "The Yo'ster and I can take any of you on, no problem! Here and now!"

"Who's that?" Ash asked a boy standing next to him.

"Mikey. He's a new trainer from the Johto Region, a bit full of himself, really, but he definitely has talent. He beat Forrest easily."

"A new trainer..." Ash looked at Pikachu.

"Let's do it!"

"Hey, Mikey!" Ash yelled.

"Yo, dude with the red hat! You wanna battle?"

"Yes! One-on-one!"

"Radical!"

"... Does anyone even say that anymore?" Ash whispered to Pikachu as he and Mikey got into place. One of the people watching stepped out to referee.

"Alright, let's get this party started!" Mikey yelled. "Choose your Pokemon, Mister..."

"Ash Ketchum."

"Right, I'll call you Mr. Tree-K. Dig?"

"... Uh..."

"Anyways, time for moi to totally smoke you! Let's go, Yo!"

"Quil!" The Quilava, apparently named 'Yo', jumped into the middle of the field.

"Pikachu, I CHOOSE YOU!"

"Ready!"

"Gnarly! Yo'ster, let's start this off with Quick Attack!"

"Be quicker, Pikachu!"

Pikachu and the Quilava rushed at each other, colliding mid-field. Yo was sent flying, and slammed into the ground near Mikey. It got up quickly, ready for more.

"It won't be that slick! Yo, use Ember!" It opened its mouth, sending out little pellets of fire at Pikachu.

"Dodge and use ThunderShock!" Pikachu jumped upwards, and delivered a powerful ThunderShock to Yo.

"Still ready, Yo?" Mikey asked. Yo'ster got up, more determined than ever. "Right, let's pwn this noob! Use Heat Wave!" Yo'ster opened its mouth and sent a wave of heat at Pikachu, hitting him dead-on.

"You alright, Pikachu?" Ash asked. "No burns?"

"I'm fine. Let's stop messing with him, alright?"

"Right. Time to stop playing around! Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

"Pika..." Pikachu charged electricity in his cheeks, preparing to release.

"Get moving!" Mikey yelled. "Don't make-"

"CHU!" Pikachu let loose a huge bolt of electricity, hitting Yo'ster before it had a chance to move. Yo'ster collapsed, swirls in its eyes.

"Quilava is unable to battle!" The referee said. "Pikachu is the winner."

"... Thank you so much for playing, Yo'ster." Mikey took out a Poke Ball. "Return, and have a nice rest." Yo'ster was sucked back into its Poke Ball, and Mikey walked up to shake Ash's hand.

"That battle was mondo groovy, yo," Mikey said as he shook Ash's hand. "Battling you again would be outrageous! Gotta jet." Mikey took off, without even giving Ash time to reply.

"He's very odd," Pikachu noted as he climbed back to Ash's shoulder. Ash nodded, and began walking to the Pokemon Center to meet up with Luigi.

They found Luigi sitting in the lobby of the Pokemon center, watching Luke and Casey interact. Luke had a very annoyed look on his face, and the Weedle was giggling.

"What's going on?" Ash asked Luigi.

"Casey's..." Luigi trailed off. "Well, Luke tried asking if Casey was a boy or a girl. It got a really weird look on its face, and started laughing. Not like 'I can't believe you can't tell', more like 'Ha ha, I'm not telling you'. Everything else Luke says is met with prettymuch the same response. So, how's it been going for you?"

"Met someone, had a battle. He said stuff like 'radical' and 'mondo' a lot, and his Pokemon was named 'Yo'. What kind of name is Yo?"

"Chinese. Anyway, weren't we going to go meet your friend?"

"That's right. Come on, I'll show you where he lives."

Luigi got up, and motioned for Luke and Casey to follow. While nobody was looking, Casey spit on the back of Luke's head.

"Roy-"

"Casey, be nice," Luigi said without turning around.

A few minutes and several arguments between Luke and Casey later, they reached the Pewter City Gym; where they found a certain teenage boy with ever-closed eyes and spiky hair waiting out front.

"Ash!" He yelled as soon as he saw the boy.

"Hi, Brock," Ash greeted cheerfully. "You knew I was coming?"

"Yes, your mom wanted me to give you the X-transceiver she bought for you. You know, the one you were supposed to come home to get," Brock took out what seemed to be a small digital watch, and strapped it to Ash's wrist. "And that's so you don't forget."

"Oh... Thanks Brock! Oh, this is Luigi. He wants to battle you."

"I don't really-"

"RAI-CHA!" Luke cried enthusiastically. "Rairai!"

"... But Luke apparently wants to, and I think Casey wants to too."

"Weedledledledle..." Casey laughed, a mischevous look on its face.

"Alright, but we'll have to move it inside, and I'm not the Gym Leader anymore." Brock said, turning around. "Let's go."

Mikey's dialogue was... A bit painful to write. I had to make it seem really outdated. He's going to be Ash's main rival this time around. He's also relevant to resolving the plot, so watch him closely.