Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo, GameFreak, or Pokemon Company. You know, standard disclaimer stuff. Now that that's out of the way...

Pokemon Legends: Sidestories

Chapter Nine

A New Gym Challenge

Date: 10 days after the Sanctuary's completion.

Five days after her encounter with Galactica, Celebi, and a third mysterious pokemon, Ashley found herself already hard at work at her new hobby. After dealing with Galactica, Ashley met up with Bill. It worked out well for Ashley as he was in Goldenrod City at the time, giving her a chance to speak with him. Two days later, Bill had a new website up and running for her. She could log into the site from any computer with internet access and add images to the pages easily with a template Bill created for her. It wasn't long after that she had her first request.

"I knew I'd be getting some difficult requests, but this one..." Ashley looked over the piece of paper containing the request she had printed off and sighed. "Get a picture of all the gym leaders of Hoenn with their signature pokemon...my first request and I have to travel all around Hoenn to do it. Figures." Ashley folded up the paper and put it in the small travel bag hanging off her shoulder.

Ashley's first request was just that, visiting each gym leader in Hoenn and getting a picture of them with their signature pokemon. Her first stop on that journey brought her to Rustboro City, where she hoped to get a picture of the gym leader Roxanne alongside her Nosepass. Ashley didn't know whether Nosepass was Roxanne's signature pokemon or not, but the person who requested the photos outlined which pokemon was considered to be each gym leader's signature pokemon.

"Come to think of it, I don't even know what a Nosepass looks like." Ashley thought, looking up from the paper at the gym ahead of her. "I could have found out easily enough I suppose but since this is a trainer's pokemon anyway I didn't bother. I just hope Roxanne's at the gym today..."

Ashley approached the front doors of the gym and tried to open them but, to her dismay, they were locked. "Figures..." She muttered.

"Are you looking for Roxanne?" Ashley heard someone ask her. She turned around to see a young boy standing behind her.

"Actually...yeah, you wouldn't know where she is, would you?" Ashley asked, smiling sheepishly.

"She's teaching at the pokemon school, her class starts in ten minutes." The boy said to her.

"Class?" Ashley blinked. "Wait...so she's a teacher too?" The boy nodded. "Oh..." Ashley rubbed the back of her head. "Well...umm...thanks for telling me then."

"Your welcome!" The boy replied enthusiastically, happy to have been able to help her. "I have to go now though, or else I'll be late!" He said, then bolted off toward the pokemon school.

Ashley thought to herself for a moment and shrugged. "Couldn't hurt to check this out I guess."


By the time Ashley decided to check out the pokemon school the kid she had been talking to was already gone, leaving her to find the school and Roxanne's classroom on her own. The school was easy enough to find, of course. Pretty much everyone in Rustboro knew where it was. The school was a brown building, rather than gray as most buildings in Rustboro seemed to be, and was just to the south of the gym. She was surprised she didn't notice it herself on the way there.

The Rustboro Pokemon School only had a few classrooms, separated into beginner, intermediate, and advanced lessons. Ashley found Roxanne teaching one of the advanced classes, but rather than going into the class and interrupt them she decided to wait outside and listen in. She could hear Roxanne's voice inside.

"Now, pop quiz, what's the best way to train your pokemon in specific attributes?" Roxanne asked the classroom. The class was quiet for a moment, but eventually Ashley could make out the sound of a young girl's voice answering.

"Wouldn't you just have it do something related to that attribute? Like attacking an enemy with special attacks to make the pokemon better at using them?"

"That is one way. For that method to work, you should use simple exercises to allow the training to go on for longer." Roxanne said to the class. "For example, for training a fire pokemon's ability to use special attacks, find an object or opponent that can withstand fire attacks and use Ember repeatedly. Perform this exercise regularly and then move up to stronger attacks to build up its power. If your pokemon knows attacks that would be weaker, a lower powered non-fire attack for example, then it should start with that instead."

"Wow...sounds like Roxanne really knows her stuff." Ashley thought as she continued to listen in.

"Incidentally, special vitamins can also be used." Roxanne continued. "A carbos drink will increase a pokemon's speed, a zinc drink will increase a pokemon's defense against special attacks, and so on. These drinks can be expensive, though, and hard to get your hands on. If you plan to be a serious contender in the pokemon league then you should start such training methods early so you can get a handle on them as well."

"I came here to take pictures but..." Ashley grimaced in embarassment. "Should I be taking notes instead?"

"Excuse me young lady..." Ashley turned around when she heard someone talking. A tall, elderly man was standing behind her with a gold pin on his shirt that said 'principal'. He wore a brown blazer and a small pair of glasses, which he was glaring at her through. "Do you intend to attend class today or do you plan to eavesdrop on your instructor?"

"Ah! No! You've got it all wrong!" Ashley replied, holding up her hands defensively. "I'm not a student here, I'm actually..."

"LIAR!" The principal yelled, cutting her off. He suddenly raised one hand up, brandishing a set of claws. "Bad students get a taste of my QUICK CLAW!" The old man lashed out at Ashley with the claws, which she deftly stepped back to avoid but nearly fell over in the process.

"Whoa! Isn't attacking your students like this illegal?!" Ashley asked frantically.

"SILENCE!" The principal yelled, taking several more swipes at her. The old man wasn't very quick though, which was fortunate for Ashley as she was able to move back to avoid his attacks.

"What the hell is with this old guy?!" Ashley wondered with a frustrated expression. "He won't listen to a thing I say!"

Luckily for Ashley, she didn't have to worry about it much longer. The door behind the principal suddenly opened and a girl in a purple school uniform and pink stockings stepped out and immediately addressed the old man. "Principal Smithers! Just what do you think you're doing?!" The girl yelled at him. The man suddenly froze and looked nervous as he turned around to face her.

"I...I was just testing her!" He replied, then quickly handed off the set of claws to Ashley without even looking at her. "If you're a good student you should know how to use that Quick Claw, right Roxanne?" He said nervously, addressing Roxanne more than he was Ashley.

"Come to think of it...I don't know a whole lot about hold items." Ashley thought, staring at the set of claws. Looking up, she glared at the principal from behind, contemplating whether or not to use the claws on him in return.

"Is that so?" Roxanne replied, folding her arms over her chest. "You're doubting the capabilities of Kanto's regional Champion?" Several students peeking out from the door next to Roxanne gasped and began whispering amongst themselves.

"Ch-ch-ch-champion...?" The principal whimpered, slowly turning to face Ashley with a nervous grin. "S-sorry about that, miss, it was a complete misunderstanding!"

"I would have told you if you didn't cut me off and tried to attack me!" Ashley shot back, brandishing the claws at him. "You really take the 'pal' out of 'principal', you know that? Who's your supervisor?"

"Sorry about this, that would be me." Roxanne said, holding up her hand. "I'm in charge of this school."

"Wait...you?" Ashley asked, pointing at Roxanne and looking confused. "But you...aren't you just a teacher here?"

"Actually, I'm an honour student." Roxanne replied, placing her hands on her hips and looking proud of herself.

"Wait... a... minute... honour student? Supervisor? Teacher? Gym leader?" Ashley felt her head spinning at the number of titles the girl seemed to have. "How...how can you be an honour student, teacher, AND a supervisor here?!" Ashley asked incredulously. Meanwhile, the nervous principal quietly tried to sneak off while Ashley and Roxanne were talking.

"After becoming the gym leader I took over the school and dedicated my time to teaching classes here." Roxanne explained. "The principal here," Roxanne shot him a glare, paralyzing him in his tracks, "...has a bad habit of scaring students with that claw of his. Even though he's never actually hit anyone with it, threatening students with violence is against school regulations. Isn't that right, Principal Smithers?"

"Ah o-of course!" The principal replied nervously, slowly turning around to face her. "I would never dare threaten one of our students!"

"I'll let you off the hook this time since Ashley here isn't technically one of our students." Roxanne said to him. "But you owe her an apology. And do keep this incident in mind the next time you're going to interrupt someone."

"Of...of course..." The principal turned to Ashley and bowed. "I apologize for this, Ms. Ashley. It will not happen again." He then straightened up and walked briskly down the hall, turning and entering an office and then closing and locking the door behind him.

"Anyway..." Roxanne began, coughing to clear her throat and then smiling at Ashley. "Is there anything we can do for you, Ashley, since you made the journey all the way to our school in Hoenn?"

"Oh!" Ashley smiled brightly and held up her camera, a small, gray, digital camera that she recently bought. "I'm running a website where I put up photos of pokemon I've taken, collecting pictures of each individual species and hopefully one day having entries for all known pokemon. I take requests too, which is why I'm here. I've been asked to get a picture of all the gym leaders of Hoenn alongside their star pokemon, so I thought I'd start with you and your Nosepass."

"Pictures? Hmm..." Roxanne tapped her finger against her chin, thinking it over for a moment, then folded her arms over her chest and shrugged. "Sure, but perhaps you wouldn't mind taking part in my class first? I'm sure my students would love to hear from another region's champion."

"Sure! I wouldn't mind at all." Ashley replied. Roxanne smiled and turned to the students crowding near her classroom door.

"Did you hear that, class? Kanto Champion Ashley will be joining us today!" The girls and boys let out a loud cheer.

"Well they sound pretty happy about it." Ashley thought, smiling to herself. "Come to think about it, this is the first time I've actually been in a pokemon school. I just kinda learned the basics at home until Oak started letting us practice with some of his old pokemon..."

Ashley followed Roxanne into the classroom, where she could finally see for herself just what kind of students Roxanne dealt with. Being an advanced class, many of the students were not only already over the age of ten and thus able to become official trainers, Ashley could see many of them even had pokeballs. It quickly became clear that Roxanne probably didn't teach anything basic in her advanced class. There were about nine students in total, six boys and three girls between the ages of eight and twelve.

The students took their seats when Ashley and Roxanne entered the classroom. Roxanne stood at the front of the room and Ashley stood next to her. "Class, as you may have heard from the commotion outside, this is Ashley. She's the regional champion from Kanto. You may not have heard of her yourselves for that reason, though." Surprised gasps were heard from the students, who then began to whisper amongst themselves. Roxanne then turned to Ashley and smiled.

"Ashley, perhaps you could tell the students a little about yourself? Perhaps how you train and battle?"

"Of course." Ashley replied, then smiled and bowed to the class. "Pleasure to meet you all! As Roxanne said, my name is Ashley, and I am currently the regional champion of Kanto, meaning I'm recognized as the strongest trainer in Kanto by the Pokemon League. I didn't actually have much training when I set out, everything I learned about pokemon I learned from Professor Oak. He was my friend's grandfather."

"You must have learned alot from Professor Oak, though! He's a renowned pokemon professor!" One of the students said.

"Well...not really..." Ashley replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. "I mean, its not like I didn't learn anything. Unlike Red and Gary, who were also learning from him, I was more interested in how the pokemon looked than trying to battle with them. Which is probably why I took up photography..."

"Wait! Are you a photographer or a trainer?" Another student asked.

"There's no way someone like you can be champion!"

"Eh?!" Ashley blinked. "W-wait now..."

"Kanto's league sucks if someone like her is the champion! Put her in her place Roxanne!"

"Yeah! Kick her butt!"

"Why did this have to happen?" Ashley wondered, grinning nervously. "They're way too serious about this..."

"Well, I suppose it can't be helped..." Roxanne said with a shrug, turning to Ashley and smiling. "What do you say to a three on three battle in my gym? Perhaps you have three pokemon you've caught since arriving in Hoenn that you could use?"

Ashley sighed. "Well if it can't be avoided...I do have exactly three pokemon I've caught while here, but one of them is..."

"Now, now, don't worry about what pokemon they are." Roxanne said, winking suggestively. "I would hate for you to hold anything back..."

"It almost sounds like she WANTS me to use that pokemon." Ashley thought, blinking in disbelief. "Well, if you're sure about that, then I guess I can't disagree. They're not going to hear me out now..."

Roxanne smiled and clasped her hands together. "Good! It's settled then. Rather than telling the class what you can do, we shall demonstrate with a battle!"


Ashley left the school, heading to the pokecenter to change up her team while Roxanne and her class went straight to the gym. The students were seated on the right side of the gym when Ashley arrived through the front doors with her three Hoenn-caught pokemon withdrawn. Ashley paused in front of the door for a moment, gauging the size of the battlefield.

"If you're worried about my gym being big enough, don't. I have larger pokemon myself." Roxanne assured Ashley. "However...I'd prefer it if you saved that particular pokemon for last." She added with a knowing grin.

"She definitely knows what pokemon I have then." Ashley thought, nodding to her and approaching the field. Roxanne was already waiting on the other side. She briefly glanced over at Roxanne's students. "She must have some kind of lesson in store for them. Being one of the gym leaders of Hoenn, if she knows what pokemon I caught in Hoenn then she probably knows she won't win..."

"Shall we begin then?" Roxanne said to Ashley, holding up a pokeball. Ashley nodded affirmatively. "Ok then." Roxanne looked at her students briefly. "Now, class, be sure to take notes, I might just put this on the next test!" The students groaned in dismay, but Roxanne ignored them as she held out her pokeball and released her first pokemon, a giant steel snake pokemon. It coiled its body up but still easily had half the battlefield to itself.

"This will be my first pokemon." Roxanne said to Ashley.

"A Steelix?" Ashley blinked. "But...don't you only train rock types?"

"It used to be a rock type, but then it evolved and I'm not getting rid of it just because of that." Roxanne said to Ashley, folding her arms over her chest. "Now call out your first pokemon already."

"This is going to be an incredibly mismatched fight." Ashley thought as she took a yellow and white pokeball from her belt. "I think I can pull it off though."

"Gligaro, go!" Ashley held out the pokeball and released Gligar onto the field. It took several mock swipes at the air with its claws and then posed with its wings crossed in front of it.

"-I am Gligaro the Gligar, the claw that smites evil! There is nothing I cannot crush!-"

"Hey! That's not a Hoenn pokemon!" One of the students called out.

"I said for her to use pokemon she caught in Hoenn, not pokemon first discovered here." Roxanne said to them with a knowing smile. "Ashley, perhaps you could tell them where you caught your Gligar?"

"Oh, sure." Ashley replied, turning to address the students. "I caught it in the expansion at the Hoenn Safari Zone. You can find all kinds of pokemon there that were imported from the Johto region."

"That's right." Roxanne said, nodding in agreement. "I wouldn't expect any of my students to know that, though. Most of them haven't been very far out of Rustboro."

"So that's why she specifically wanted me to use these pokemon." Ashley thought, smirking to herself. "She really is just using this battle as part of her lesson."

"Now, without further delay, let's begin." Roxanne said. "Steelix, use Iron Tail!" Steelix let out a roar and uncoiled its body, then flipped its tail around to slam it down onto Gligaro. Gligaro was too quick for it, though. He moved toward the corner of the battlefield with a quick hop and a glide while Steelix struck the ground where Gligaro had been standing, smashing a large indent into the field and sending rocks flying in all directions.

"-You move too slowly to catch the great Gligaro!-" Gligaro taunted, waving a claw at Steelix.

"Gligaro, use Screech!" Gligaro grimaced, upset that it was being ordered to use such distasteful techniques, but followed through with his trainer's orders regardless. Gligaro put his claws to his mouth and let out a terrible, eardrum-piercing screech that caused even Steelix to shudder.

"Steelix's body is harder than diamond, you'll need more than a Screech to get past it!" Roxanne said confidently. "Now, Steelix, use Iron Tail again!" Steelix lifted its tail, which was still in the large indent it had made in the field before, and took another swat at Gligaro. Gligaro had little room to maneuver this time without going out of the battlefield and was swept from the side by the attack, knocking him along the edge of the field. Gligaro quickly shook it off though, being a fairly sturdy pokemon for its size and build, and stood back up to face Steelix.

"Screech works just fine for what we're doing!" Ashley said to Roxanne. "Gligaro, Dig!" Gligaro dove toward the ground and started scraping with its claws, quickly digging in and disappearing below the battlefield. The students watching from the sidelines snickered at her technique.

"There's no way that attack will do anything to Roxanne's Steelix." One student said.

"Steelix will see that coming from miles away!" Said another.

"I'm afraid you won't defeat my Steelix by engaging in a ground battle." Roxanne said to Ashley. "Steelix, feel for where its going to come out and smash it with Iron Tail." Steelix nodded and raised its tail back. It focused intently, trying to feel the vibrations caused by Gligaro's movement through the ground, but the ringing in its ears caused by Gligaro's Screech attack was still distracting it.

"But if you did your homework, then you should know a ground assault isn't my style." Ashley said smugly.

"Then just what are you trying for with that attack?"

"What else?" As Ashley replied, a hole opened up in the ground near Steelix. Unnoticed at first, and with no pokemon emerging, Steelix noticed the hole and turned its head. "An aerial attack!" Before Steelix had a chance to react, Gligaro suddenly shot out of the hole and flew straight up at it, striking Steelix in the jaw.

"-I AM GLIGARO!-" Gligaro cried out as he struck Steelix. Steelix groaned in pain, its eyes rolling back into its head. Gligaro then quickly dove back toward the ground, landing with its arms crossed in front of it as Steelix crashed to the ground behind it. "-Evil shall fall before my might!-"

"...I see, so you've trained your Gligar to take to the air after a Dig attack." Roxanne noted as she recalled Steelix, undisturbed by her loss. "And that Screech attack prevented Steelix from seeing the attack coming, allowing you to blindside it." She smiled to herself and looked over at her students, whom were shocked by her defeat. "Now, class, what did you learn from this?"

"I learned Gligar is a badass." One student said, awed by the battle. Several other students snickered.

"-Heh heh heh! Your praise is unwarranted, civilian!-" Gligaro said, waving a claw dismissively. "-I only do what comes naturally!-"

"Gligaro's certainly unique at any rate." Ashley thought, smiling to herself.

"What you should have taken note of was her choice of tactics." Roxanne said to them, waving a finger. "She used Dig, a ground-type attack, in an unusual way by turning it into an aerial attack. Gligar is one of a few pokemon who can do such as most pokemon capable of learning dig either can't fly or can't pull it off so well for other reasons. Ninjask is another pokemon that could potentially use such a technique."

"...And Roxanne is definitely more interested in using this as a lesson than an actual battle." Ashley noted mentally. "I wonder if, as a gym leader, she's at all confident in her ability to hold her own against a champion?"

"Now, moving right along." Roxanne took another pokeball from her belt. She released her pokemon, sending out a blue, shelled pokemon with a beak-like mouth and tentacles. "Omastar will be my next pokemon."

"A pokemon revived from a fossil. A Kanto pokemon revived from a fossil. Did NOT see that coming." Ashley thought. Realizing she now faced a water-type pokemon, she quickly took Gligaro's pokeball in her hand. "Gligaro, good job but that's enough for now! Return!" Ashley called out, recalling Gligaro into its pokeball.

"Here's hoping this guy's done some training at the Sanctuary." Ashley thought as she switched Gligaro's pokeball with another one from her belt. "Lairon, you're up next! Go!" She called out, releasing Lairon from its pokeball. At a glance, Ashley couldn't tell if Lairon got any stronger or not.

"Ha! There's no way an unevolved Lairon is going to beat Roxanne's Omastar!" One of the boys on the bench said.

"Yeah, and there's no way she'll beat Roxanne with a rock-type! Roxanne's a rock pokemon expert!" One of the girls added.

"-Oh, I'm finally with my trainer?-" Lairon wondered aloud as it looked back at Ashley. "-Good! I've been saving this so she could see it!-"

Lairon suddenly stood on its hind legs, a difficult feat due to its heavy body, then started glowing. A long tail grew out of its backside, helping it maintain balance. Its body grew as well, and grew a lot. As a Lairon, it was around three feet tall. The pokemon it was evolving into grew to over twice that height, standing at over seven feet tall. The glowing faded shortly after it had reached its full height. Seeing her Lairon evolved, Ashley quickly took out her pokedex to check it.

"Aggron, the Iron Armor pokemon. It claims a large mountain as its sole territory. It mercilessly thrashes those that violate its space." After reading the entry, Ashley looked at Aggron in amazement. The students weren't overly impressed, knowing Ashley was still using a rock-type against a rock-type gym leader, but they kept their mouths shut after it evolved.

"Ok...I never would have guessed that little Aron would evolve into something as cool looking as that." Ashley said under her breath.

"I see you've been taking the time to raise your newly caught pokemon as well." Roxanne said to her. "Now, if you're quite ready, shall we get round two underway?"

"Well, what do you say, Aggron?" Ashley asked, looking up at her pokemon.

Aggron snorted and smashed his fists together. "-LET'S BREAK STUFF!-"

"Well, that certainly sounded like a yes." Ashley said. "Though, is it just me, or does he seem a bit more aggressive than I remember?"

"Unfortunately for you, Aggron is still badly matched against my Omastar!" Roxanne said to Ashley. "Omastar, use Surf!" Omastar raised several of it's tentacles into the air, causing a wall of water to rise up in front of it. With another motion of its tentacles, it sent the water rushing across the gym in a wave.

"Aggron, Protect!" Ashley called out quickly. Aggron crossed its arms in front of its body, forming a blue bubble around it. The wave reached him only seconds after, crashing down on top of him. The water couldn't bypass the protective bubble, though, and was scattered around the field in a large splash instead.

"Ok, let's see if Aggron has a better attack than Iron Tail to use against this thing." Ashley thought, taking another look at her pokedex. Scrolling through Aggron's list of known attacks, one technique stood out to her and left her in shock when she read it. "But that...I thought...where did it..."

"Omastar, don't let up! Use Surf again, this one should work!" Omastar raised its tentacles again, calling up another wall of water from the ground.

Roxanne calling out an attack got Ashley's attention, snapping her out of her shocked state. She quickly ordered Aggron to use the technique she saw. "Aggron, push through it and attack with Superpower!"

An aura of power flowed around Aggron as it flexed its arms and let out a roar. Omastar directed the wave it summoned across the gym, but Aggron charged toward it without a moment's hesitation. Roxanne and her students stared in shock. Though they were familiar with the technique, the only pokemon they knew to ever use them were the three 'Regi' pokemon.

Aggron barreled through the wave Omastar was attacking with, any pain it might have inflicted being briefly numbed while the power was flowing through Aggron's body. It stopped when it reached Omastar and raised its hands in the air, holding them together like a club, then smashed Omastar with all its power. Omastar's shell took the brunt of the impact, but the sheer power of the attack created several small cracks in the shell and created even larger cracks in the ground it was standing on. The attack left Omastar briefly dazed, but also left Aggron slightly drained.

"Where on Earth did her Aggron pick up an attack like that?!" Roxanne wondered. "Superpower has only been observed being used by the golems, how is her Aggron able to use it?"

"Aggron, finish it while its still dazed! Iron Tail!" Aggron summoned its strength for another attack while Omastar was still recovering from the initial blow. Aggron spun around, smashing its large steel-armored tail into Omastar's body and sending it rolling across the rocky gym floor. Omastar eventually landed on its side and came to a stop, coming close to the edge of the battlefield near where the students were seated. It was unconscious.

"Well, I think the lesson falls upon you this time, Ashley." Roxanne said as she recalled her Omastar. "Honestly, I have no idea how your Aggron was able to use such a technique as Superpower, so perhaps you could explain it?"

"I have no idea either, really." Ashley replied, rubbing the back of her neck. "It just showed up on the pokedex. I'm not even that familiar with it, aside from seeing Melany's pokemon use it."

"Hmm...that's right, you're friends with her, aren't you?" Roxanne asked, contemplating the issue while examining Ashley's Aggron. "Your Aggron...would it have had the chance to see this technique in action from the Regi's?"

"It could have I guess." Ashley replied. "It was doing training on its own back at the Sanctuary, and..."

"Sanctuary?" Roxanne asked with a raised eyebrow, interrupting Ashley. "What is that?"

"It's an island that me, May, Melany, and Rina worked together to make. Its where we keep our pokemon stored now, and only people with legendary pokemon of their own can get in because of a barrier around it." Roxanne's students stared at Ashley in disbelief, jaws dropped. Not only were they hearing that Ashley, Kanto's champion, had connections with their own champion, May, but that a group of four girls had created an island where only legendary pokemon or people accompanied by one could go.

"Hmm. Well, if your Aggron was there mingling with the Regi's, perhaps it picked it up from them?" Roxanne suggested with a shrug. The news of the island, though the first she heard of it, didn't come as nearly as much of a surprise to her as it did her students. "Perhaps Superpower is a technique which, given the chance, some ordinary pokemon are capable of learning?"

"That'd have to be it I guess." Ashley replied with a shrug. "Though, I wonder how many pokemon could actually learn it then?"

"-You two talk as if that was hard for me to learn.-" Aggron said, snorting derisively.

"Teacher! Aren't you being surprised by the wrong thing here?!" A female student cried out in confusion.

"If you did a little research, you would know that Ashley has been to this region for a while now." Roxanne said to them. "You would also know that she's famous in Kanto not only for her part in shutting down a criminal organization, but for capturing three legendary birds said to roam the region." Roxanne smirked. "She and her friend Rina have just as much of a reputation in the Kanto League as May and Melany do here in the Hoenn League."

"You really do seem to know a lot about me, Roxanne." Ashley said with a slight smirk. "Am I right in assuming you knew exactly which three pokemon I would be using in this battle?"

Roxanne smiled and shrugged. "You caught me." Her students gasped. "Well, now that that's out in the open, how about we get to our last pokemon now?"

Ashley nodded in agreement. "Ok then. Aggron, good job! That's it for now!" Ashley recalled Aggron, putting its pokeball on her belt while Roxanne took a pokeball in her hand to send out her final pokemon.

"Nosepass, go!" Roxanne called out, releasing her pokemon. A three foot tall moai statue with short, stubby arms and legs materialized on the field.

"My turn then!" Ashley called out, taking another pokeball in her hand. "Hope you're all ready for this one!"

Ashley pressed the button on her pokeball, causing it to open up and release a red beam. Only a few feet from the edge of the field it began to materialize into a pokemon, growing into a red dinosaur-like creature that stood at eleven and a half feet tall with huge claws and a tail that was practically in Ashley's face from where the pokemon was standing. Heat radiated from the pokemon's body and the sunlight outside the gym intensified greatly.

The pokemon let out a mighty roar once it had materialized, rattling the windows of the gym. It's appearance left the students in a stunned silence, save for the whimpering of one student.

"After that day I never thought I'd see this pokemon again." Roxanne said, smirking lightly. "The ancient pokemon Groudon who fought with Kyogre at Sootopolis."

"-Have we met?-" Groudon snorted, looking down at Roxanne. "-I can't be expected to remember all you lowly humans.-"

"It's a powerful pokemon, especially physically." Ashley said to Roxanne. "I don't think any pokemon could match its offensive attack power. A rock-type like your Nosepass isn't likely to be able to take an Earthquake from this guy."

"You're right, which is why I'm forfeiting the match as of now." Roxanne said to Ashley, then turned to face her students. "Now, with all this said and done, if Ashley really wasn't fit to be a champion, do you really think she could tame such a pokemon?" She smiled at them. "Do keep in mind the threat that it and Kyogre posed."

The students looked at Ashley in disbelief but remained quiet. They knew very well what Groudon was capable of and what that meant for a trainer who managed to capture it.

"Just because she wasn't as serious about learning pokemon doesn't mean she didn't learn as much." Roxanne said to her students. "Even though she didn't get her first pokemon until she was fourteen, as she said, she did get to practice with pokemon belonging to Professor Oak and received instruction from him. And from what you've witnessed, you should be able to see that Ashley is a smart girl. She probably picked up pretty quickly on Oak's lessons."

"And in my defense, if you saw the way Gary and Red went at it, you wouldn't have wanted to practice with them either." Ashley said to them, grinning widely. "Beside that, just because someone is a strong trainer doesn't mean they have to devote their life to that in full. As I understand, Hoenn's last champion doesn't battle much these days, but he's still as strong as ever."

After Roxanne and Ashley's speech, the gym remained quiet while the students took this in. The only sounds were the grunting and other noises coming from Groudon and Nosepass.

"-WHAT IS THIS? I THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE A BATTLE BUT THEY ARE JUST TALKING?-" Nosepass said in confusion, it's voice loud and deep.

"-It wouldn't have been much of a battle anyway.-" Groudon grunted.

Eventually the silence was broken as a young boy stood up, the same one Ashley met outside Roxanne's gym before, and bowed to Ashley. "I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions and doubted your abilities. I'm happy to have had this chance to learn from your battle, Ashley." The boy then sat back down and one by one the rest of the students followed suit, apologizing to Ashley for doubting her when she said she was a photographer.

"I knew you wouldn't disappoint me." Roxanne said to her students once they had each apologized. "Now, I hope you remember what you learned today." She smiled gleefully and clasped her hands together. "There was some excellent testing material in today's matches!"

"-Feh. Doesn't sound like I missed much anyway.-" Groudon grumbled to himself. "-And these brats show more respect for Ashley than they do me! I'm the land titan, damn it!-" Groudon turned its head toward the students and growled, startling them.

"Ok, that's enough out of you." Ashley said, taking Groudon's pokeball in her hand. "Back into the pokeball you go." Groudon could only manage a low, angered growl before Ashley recalled it into the pokeball. As soon as Groudon was inside, the sudden heatwave that had struck quickly cooled off.

"It's amazing to think someone could have such a handle on that pokemon after the way it rampaged at Sootopolis." Roxanne said, giggling to herself. "In any case, I believe I owe you a photo shoot with my Nosepass now?"

"That's what I'm here for." Ashley said, grinning as she took out her camera again.

Roxanne moved to stand next to her Nosepass, posing with her arms folded in front of her. "How's this then?" She asked Ashley. Ashley thought for a moment and shook her head.

"No...how about something a bit more...you?" Ashley smiled and shrugged. "Maybe hold a book under your arm or something?"

Roxanne nodded and smiled. "Very well. Thomas?" Roxanne looked over at one of the boys. "Do you still have that book on ground techniques?"

"I gave it to Gia, actually..." Thomas replied, glancing over at the girl sitting next to him.

"I...uh...left it at home..." Gia said, looking toward the ground in shame.

"You can have my book, Roxanne!" Another student piped up, quickly getting up from the bench and walking over to Roxanne with the book. "It's just a dictionary, does that matter any?"

"I doubt anyone will be able to tell from the picture anyway." Roxanne replied, taking the book from him. Roxanne then turned to Ashley, holding the dictionary under her right arm and resting her left arm against her side. "How's this, then?"

"Perfect!" Ashley replied enthusiastically. She quickly moved closer to Roxanne and her Nosepass, kneeling down to take the picture. The boy that handed Roxanne the book quickly returned to the bench. Roxanne smiled and maintained the pose while Ashley took the picture. A quiet click from the button on the camera was the only clue that the picture had been taken as Ashley opted not to use the camera's flash.

"And there we go." Ashley said, looking at her camera as she stood up to look at the picture she just took. A screen on the back displayed the image.

"Hmm...you do requests for that website, don't you?" Roxanne asked Ashley. Ashley nodded to her. "Would you mind if my students got in on a few pictures then?"

"Not at all!" Ashley replied with a grin. "With this baby I don't even have to worry about using up my film, so I can take as many pictures as I want."

"Excellent!" Roxanne smiled and turned toward her class. "Let's get a few class photos together then, everyone!" The students cheered in agreement and got up from the bench, running to join Roxanne and her Nosepass on the gym's battlefield.

"Now why couldn't this be the kind of thing I was doing when I was travelling across Kanto?" Ashley wondered, smiling to herself as she got her camera ready to take a few more photos. "Maybe I should go back to Kanto after this and get the gym leaders there too? And maybe Johto's and the Elite Four while I'm at it!"

Ashley took several photos of Roxanne and her students before she left, finding herself in a good mood as she left the gym. Though she had dreaded the idea of having to visit so many gym leaders to take pictures before, she suddenly found herself reveling in the idea. After a quick stop at the Rustboro pokemon center, Ashley set out for the island of Dewford to get photos of the next Hoenn gym leader.


Author's Notes: Superpower. In the 3rd gen, there were all of five pokemon that could learn the technique. The three Regi's, Deoxys, and Nidoqueen. Only one of those pokemon wasn't a legendary pokemon and even it couldn't pass on the technique through breeding. It's become a lot more commonplace in the 4th gen, though, and now Aggron is capable of learning the technique through move tutors.

Enough about Superpower though. This chapter was to show Ashley finally getting into the whole photography thing for real. Obviously, I don't plan to show her going to the rest of the gym leaders and what not. I could write a whole saga on that one alone. There is a good reason she was doing Hoenn's gyms to start, though. Let's just say the request came from someone she knows.