Uprising

by A Wordsmith

Ash Ketchum started his journey like every other trainer. He received his starter from the closest gym leader, started challenging gyms, and dreamed of winning the Indigo League. But he rises above the rest - just as Team Rocket does.

10. Recovery

"Ash Ketchum!"

Ash blinked. He had just been released from the care ward he had been stuck in for a day, the only sounds being the beep of his heart monitor and the silence of his own thoughts. Nurse Joy had provided him with several books to read, but they weren't exactly the height of interesting for a ten-year-old trainer, and he was bored again quickly. But now he was free, allowed to wander the Pokemon Center, get his own room, and eat in the trainer room. A lengthened leash, but a leash all the same. Ash's anger and worry had nowhere to go in this contained center.

Footsteps thumped against carpet. He turned around, barely managed to recognize the figure fast approaching.

Professor Oak just about barreled down the hallway, bushy hair sticking up and lab coat flaring out behind him. A young trainer made an almost inaudible squeak and pressed herself against the wall to avoid him.

Ash wasn't much better. Pressing one hand against the bandages still thick over his chest and another on the wall, he grinned as widely as he could toward the approaching man and tried to make himself look casual and relaxed. He doubted it worked. His heart skipped a beat.

Professor Oak slowed before coming to a stop. His eyes were bagged from lack of sleep and full of concern. "Are you okay? Were you released?"

"Yeah." Ash nodded his head, still trying to keep that wide, unconcerned grin up. "Nurse Joy said I won't be able to leave the Pokemon Center for a while and my team is still being healed, but I'm free to walk around and stuff." He paused for a second, still avoiding the professor's bright gaze. "I feel fine."

Professor Oak released a shallow breath, shoulders sagging for a second before he pulled himself together. "May I come into your room to talk?"

The man rarely asked permission like that lightly. Ash had been mentally preparing himself for this, ever since he had come to his senses in the middle of the Viridian Forest. Screaming at Professor Oak was not something you did lightly, no matter how well you knew him, and then Ash had gone and attacked a Team Rocket base. He nodded, carefully removing his balancing hand from the wall and turning to his door. His chest tightened as he swayed. Ash knew he wasn't glass, but it sometimes felt like it, as wrapped in bandages and on as medications as he was. Even walking up the stairs had brought his breath to the top of his throat.

He slid his key into the lock and pushing it open. Nurse Joy had put his clothes already in it, but the rest of his supplies was still being checked over by the League, mainly because of his pokedex recording. Professor Oak stepped inside, stepping next to the bed as he waited for Ash to come in. He did so, hobbling a bit over to the pulled out chair and sitting down. They made eye contact, brown against brown.

"Are you okay?" Professor Oak repeated.

"It still hurts," Ash admitted, now in the safety of his room. His posture slumped a little more over the back of the chair. "Nurse Joy has me on a lot of painkillers, but these stupid burns are taking forever to heal." He gestured at his chest, at the barest hints of white bandages that could be seen through the collar of his shirt. She was replacing them every three days and said that they would be removed shortly, but Ash didn't really know.

Professor Oak sighed, eyes closing. "Thank Arceus." The man seemed so tired at that moment. Ash looked away.

"Now. Do you understand what you did was incredibly stupid?"

"Yes." At Professor Oak's raised eyebrow, he hastened to continue. "I shouldn't have done it like I did. I didn't call anyone, or talk to you or the League, or even tell anyone where I was going. I was angry and wasn't thinking straight."

"No, you were not." The man sighed again, this time deeper. "Will was killed and you were worried you or your mother would be next. In part, this is my fault. I forget that you are just ten years old, off in the world for the first time, and you have lived with only the comforts of your pokemon as companionship. You wanted to do something instead of just try and calm down."

Ash still remembered Alakazam's dull black eyes, the rush of teleportation as Professor Oak just pushed him away. That had only inflamed him. He dropped his head again.

"I cannot fault you for reacting intensely, and I understand you did good that day, but you were not correct in doing so. Let me tell you what could have and did go wrong."

Ash raised his eyes, meeting the blank gaze of Professor Oak. The man was still sagged with exhaustion and concern ran rampant, but there was something harsher. Colder. This was the person who had defended Pallet Town and the League for the past decades.

"Rhydon is still in intensive care, and it has been three days. His plates are still shattered and they've started regrowing over his skin, trapping the splinters inside. Nurse Joy and her team are having to, quite literally, rip him open in order to get them out. Your vulpix has been in a frozen chamber for the same time, and her internal flame has yet to calm down. It could be permanently affected. Your kadabra has not woken up since we took her off her sedatives, and your sealeo is still healing from two puncture wounds to his chest. As for your fearow, he is mostly healed, but has two hairline fractures in his radius, and your haunter has had to be injected with liquid max ether to regain his energy."

Ash made a muffled sound he couldn't control. It hadn't been that bad. He had seen them all afterward, Rhydon had walked him out of the base, they had all communicated with him positively. Only Scorch had been knocked out, and she had released the pressure in her internal flame. "But Nurse Joy said-"

"You had just woken up after being attacked by a high-ranking Team Rocket admin. Any bad news could have sent you into shock, more so than you already were. Of course she didn't tell you!"

Professor Oak cut off the bite of his last statement with a click of his teeth, looking sharply to the side. Ash collapsed further against his chair, breath tight in his chest. He didn't have anything to say.

It made sense, in a horribly twisted way, and Ash knew he would have broken down his own door rather than stand back as his team was in that condition. But what could he have done? Make things worse?

After a moment, Professor Oak regained control, looking back over with dull eyes. "And that's not excusing how injured you were, Ash. The battle you went through was intense, dangerous, and real, and I won't lie to you. If the decision was up to just my emotional side, you would be on probation before you had even woken up. I might even revoke your training license."

Ash's eyes went impossibly wide. He made a motion as if to stand up but Professor Oak waved him down, the man's gaze fixed on the wall as if it held all the answers to questions he hadn't asked.

"But I know that you've encountered Team Rocket or their echoes three times, and only one of your own volition. And each time, you've stood up to them, damn the consequences. You and your team have grown strong fighting them."

A wan smile fought past the frown on his face, softening his eyes. "You are your mother's son." He paused for a moment. "She fought against Team Rocket, even in the early stages of her pregnancy with you. Delia is a fierce warrior to the end."

Ash had known his mother was a trainer, and a good one at that. Her mr. mime had defended his house against wild spearow flocks since he was born seemingly without effort, and he knew she had other pokemon. She hadn't shown them to him, despite many pleadings. But fighting Team Rocket? That was more along the lines of the champions or the League.

And me, I guess. Ash didn't know what to think about that.

Professor Oak's gaze struck Ash like a physical blow. "I will not be stopping you from being a trainer, Ash. But I can see that whether I like it or not, you are going to keep fighting Team Rocket."

"Three is a powerful number in Kanto, Johto, and many other regions," he said, tone going soft. He didn't seem to be speaking to Ash anymore. "Chance encounters rarely occur at such a rate that they would be noticed. I feel that there is more to this than just a random happening."

He snapped back to focus on Ash. "I will allow you to keep training. But I will be showing you how to fight Team Rocket like the villains they are, not like trainer battles. If you are serious about continuing on the path you have both set for yourself and followed from your parents, then you will do it right, or you will not follow it for much longer."

There was silence. Ash swallowed. After Professor Oak's threat, he hadn't known what to expect, but this was both better than what he could have imagined and worse.

Was he going to fight Team Rocket again? While it hadn't been something he had set out on his journey to do, Wraith had shown him a darker side of the pokemon world, and he knew he would fight them. He hadn't thought about it before, not as a conscious decision, but he knew all the same.

He answered his own silent question out loud. "Yes." After a moment, he clarified. "I'll learn how to do it right."

xXx

Jeanne Matori was just as he remembered her - dark hair, narrow glasses, professional suit. In fact, he wasn't positive or not whether she had changed clothes since Viridian. She looked at him over the brim of her glasses from across the room, a single eyebrow raised.

He raised a hand, though he didn't wave it. Nurse Joy finished pointing at him and walked away, leaving Jeanne alone. She crossed the room almost stiffly, back straight, and stopped in front of him.

"Ash Ketchum, I presume?" At his nod, she continued. "And how is your rhyhorn doing?"

He blinked. "You remember me?"

"Of course. Mr. Giovanni instructs me to keep an eye on all trainers that leave his gym." She looked at the clipboard in her hands, brown eyes flashing. "Your personal effects have been inspected and deemed safe to be returned to you. Your clothes have been given to Nurse Joy, who is in the process of washing them." Ash thought he could detect a spark of humor in her eyes, but she didn't acknowledge it outright.

He took the offered bag, scanning through its contents quickly. His biodegradable twine was gone, probably not having stood up that well to the grunts' struggles, but everything else was back. He'd have to reorganize everything, which would be annoying, but at least he had everything. His pokedex was sitting proudly in the first pocket, fully charged. That was nice. There was no bag in the second pocket, which made sense. He still couldn't quite believe that he had both taped himself stealing and then admitted it to the Indigo Champion. Ash was not entirely proud of that memory.

The thought that had been in his head for the entirety of the past two days reared its head. He looked back up her, which earned him another raised eyebrow.

"Champion Lance told me the League was approving me to talk to the bulbasaur in my bag?"

Her expression cleared. "Ah, Mr. Hebi told me of it." Ash found it a little strange that most gym leaders, like Giovanni, went by their last name, while Lance always went by his first. "In fact, I have its pokeball here." She reached into a hidden pocket, removing a shrunken pokeball. A tiny sticker was on its surface.

"This process is rather similar to what you went through with your gastly in Viridian, Mr. Ketchum. You will be allowed to talk with the bulbasaur, during which it will either let itself be captured or not. If it does, you will be required to get confirmation from a League official that it is allowing you to capture it. After that, you will receive a list of the requirements of its care, including how to nurse it back to health and let it recover from its... mistreatments at the hands of Gideon. I would suggest letting it and your haunter spend time together. From what I have gathered, your haunter - Wraith, was it? - has managed to readapt into normal civil life rather quickly, though the fact he was under a psychic block instead of drugs must come in play. The bulbasaur will most likely not be as aggressive because of the nature of its position in the Base, but nevertheless, it will take time to properly train."

Ash nodded. He had predicted much of the same thing, even from his little interaction with the grass type. It seemed to be a protector, given by both its herd and its willingness to haul his sorry self out of the cage during the fight, and he doubted it would have the same vicious attitude Wraith had had in the beginning.

Her suggestion was also useful. Wraith would be a good pokemon to talk with Bulbasaur. From what he had seen, they had similar personalities, though not exactly the same. He reached out to take the pokeball but Jeanne jerked it away from him, glasses flashing.

"Not until your team is returned to you, Mr. Ketchum. I would not like you to have an aggressive pokemon on your hands until you can handle it. When Ms. Joy contacts me, I will give her the pokeball." Ash sighed but nodded his head. That made sense.

She opened her mouth to reply again, but stopped. Her iris' lit up with an inner glow, a pale blue. She didn't talk for nearly a minute, eyes never moving from their fixed position on the wall behind him.

When she talked again, it was surprisingly sudden. "Mr. Giovanni requires me. I apologize, but I must take my leave." Without another word, she spun on her heel and walked off, clipboard clenched in her hands. The pokeball was slipped smoothly back in her pocket, but Ash guessed she would hand it off later.

Bulbasaur. The grass type more than deserved something better than what it had been given.

He would do his best to do just that.

xXx

Ash hurriedly kicked his bag under his bed. After a moment's hesitation, he put the throw under it as well, there was no chance he could fold it in time. His pokedex was tossed - gently - into the closet.

When he finished, it was almost like his room had already been clean. A knock tapped politely on his door. "Coming!" He shouted, diving for the door.

Ash prayed to his lucky stars that Nurse Joy had called ahead to tell him Lance was coming. At least he had been awake. His chest tinged lightly from the hurried movement he had put it through but he ignored it in favor of clicking the locking mechanism and pulling it open. On the other side, Champion Lance grinned at him.

The man seemed more relaxed than the first time they had met. His hair, while still in a tail, had old gel in it. It glittered in the overhead lights. Ash guessed that was how he managed to get the enormous spike he had whenever in public. His earring was in position, but now his clothing was more casual, one of the resistant-to-everything trainer outfits Silph Co sold. He couldn't remember the name. After a moment, he stood back to let the man in, closing the door quickly behind them both.

"Hello again, Ash," Lance said, walking over to sit down on one of the available chairs.

"Hi," Ash answered back. He was very proud of how collected his voice was. He took the seat by the desk, leaning against the back and trying to exude the same level of calm that Lance did.

"I don't have too long today, not enough to bring you up to snuff on what has happened." His face was apologetic."But I wanted to bring you some words of warning. The League is very happy with what you've done, but I would also take caution." Lance sighed, clasping his hands together. "You did a good thing, but not very smartly. I assume Professor Oak has already talked to you?"

Ash's cheeks colored. "Yeah. He's been teaching me what to do in those situations and who to contact."

"That's good. I won't say no to you taking down more Team Rocket members if you find them, but make sure you can come out of that encounter alive. We like to avoid trading lives." There was a moment of silence. His face was dead serious. "Gideon Jobane helped take down a member of the Elite Four," Lance said, a shadow crossing over his eyes. "If you keep fighting, stick to the ones you can win."

"I will." Ash nodded, maintaining eye contact. "I know that I didn't go about it right last time but I won't make the same mistakes again."

"Are you planning to keep fighting Team Rocket?"

Ash blinked. The same question again. "Yes."

Lance stared at him, earring seeming to pulse lightly. Ash forced himself not to look away from the man's strangely bright eyes. He couldn't pick out a single emotion from the champion's gaze.

And like that, it was as if a switch had been flicked. A grin flashed over Lance's face and he leaned back, settling easily against the chair and flicking his fingers. Ash relaxed as well, but his shoulders were tight. He knew he had screwed up. If both Lance and Professor Oak dressed him down like this, there was little doubt that whatever he had done would have to change.

"I met with your team," Lance said after a moment of silence. "I wasn't able to see your rhydon or haunter, but Nurse Joy let me see the others." At Ash's confused look, he continued. "I just wanted to see the pokemon that brought down the Jobane Storage Base. Nurse Joy only let me see them through the observation windows, and I didn't bother them in the slightest."

"Oh." Ash couldn't help but wonder why Wraith was unavailable. Nurse Joy had told him he was mostly uninjured. But Professor Oak had said he was still exhausted - his shoulders hunched a little more.

"Your kadabra is strong," Lance noted, a look on his face. "She has very good blocks up. From training with your haunter?" Ash nodded. "I could sense it - even from outside the room. She's got a bright future ahead with how much power she's wielding, and I believe she'll take you to great places. Pure silver spoon, too. That must have been expensive for a starting trainer."

Ash flushed. "That's what she wanted."

"That's how to treat your team," he chuckled. A buzz shook the room - Lance raised his arm to look at the pokenav was on his wrist. It gave another beep before falling silent. The Champion sighed, tapping a few buttons on the touchscreen surface. Another beep came a second later. He closed his eyes before opening them again.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave now, Ash," he said. "Professor Oak knows what information you're cleared for, and he would be the best to talk to about what has happened after you took down the Base. I'm sorry I couldn't be the one to." Before Ash could wave away his apology, a look crossed Lance's face, quickly followed by a grin.

He reached into his pocket, pulling out a package a little larger than a fist. Lance ran his fingers over it for a second before tossing it to Ash, who instinctively caught it, although he nearly fumbled. "And here's my prize to you. I find myself having strange memory loss of when you talked to me, and I'm afraid I'm going to have to focus on other, more important things right now."

Before Ash's confusion could fully manifest, Lance stood up, clicking his finger against his earring. A hollow note rang out, and Ash could feel something in the sound, a whisper. The Champion said his goodbyes, a grin still on his face, and then he left the room.

Ash waited a second before going to the package. It was heavy, wrapped in a cloth bag, and tied with a thin cord. He undid the rather impressive knot and held it upside down, letting the sturdy object fall into his palm. Immediately, it was pressingly hot.

Warm red-yellow light flickered through his fingers as the Fire Stone was bared to the air. Ash leaned against the back of his chair and laughed.

xXx

"Ashy?"

Ash had rarely felt as guilty as he did in the current moment. Summoning a smile, he looked at his mother through the videophone. Her eyes glimmered with held tears. "Hey, Mom."

"Arceus, are you alright? Professor Oak just called me up and then you're here. Where did you get that burn on your neck? And your face! Ash, you're scarred! What did that charizard do to you…"

Her voice slowly faded out as she regained control over herself. Ash felt like a solid lead weight was attached to his chest. Her eyes glittered.

"Please tell me," she said softly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Mom. I really am." Ash felt like his voice was decidedly unconvincing. "My team is getting healed up, and Nurse Joy already took my bandages off. Just a few days of burn heals and then I'll be ready to travel again."

She reached forward to touch the screen. "Travel? But Ashy, shouldn't you relax for a little bit?" He could see her toss around for something. "Come back to Pallet Town. You have plenty of time to prepare for the Conference, you can take some more time off-"

"Ash agreed to travel with another trainer for a few weeks, in order to let his team heal and recuperate. He'll be safe and protected."

Ash jerked, spinning around to fully look at Professor Oak. Though the man was staring at Delia with a relaxed face, Ash could see the twitch of his lips. But the man calmed quickly, smiling warmly at Delia as she let out a soft sound of happiness.

"Oh, Ashy, thank you! I don't want you stomping around right after that." Delia's voice almost cracked. "Professor, that's a great idea. Ash, who are you traveling with? Someone you know, or is it an ACE trainer?"

He was a little busy glaring at Professor Oak, but he managed to fight down the frustration. Professor Oak was good - there was no chance he could turn down such an offer in front of his mother, especially when she was so nervous. He tried for a grin. "I don't know yet, but I'm hoping for Gary, or maybe Leaf."

Professor Oak stiffened. "I'm afraid Gary is available right now, Ash," he said warmly, but Ash could hear the apprehension in his voice. "He's… performing a task for me right now, and isn't traveling. He'll be back on the road soon, but I don't think you'll want to be the Pokemon Center for that long."

"Oh." Ash frowned, but he didn't press it. He was more focused on his mother. "I guess I'll ask Leaf."

Delia smiled, but her eyes were still shining. "Thank you, Ashy. I know you won't travel with her forever, but even just a few weeks would be enough. I just want you to stay safe, okay?"

His chest tightened, but his returning smile was real. They said their goodbyes, and Ash didn't update her on how his journey had been going. Judging by everything, Professor Oak had already told her.

The videophone clicked off. Ash turned to Professor Oak with lowered eyebrows. "I agreed?"

He shrugged, a grin returning to flicker over his face before being replaced with faux solemness. "Well, you did, didn't you? If you really wanted to, you could have refused."

Ash sighed. Professor Oak chuckled softly and patted his shoulder, smile warm. "It's just until you head out to Cinnabar Island, at least if you still want to. I'm sorry you can't go with Gary, but if you want to get out of here faster, a fellow trainer would do that for you. You could rely on them in emergencies while still letting your pokemon finish healing, instead of having to wait until they were ready to defend you."

"And besides, both I and Delia would feel better if you had someone to rely on and talk to after what you went through. Team Rocket isn't a regular gym battle and your team was very injured. She understands that the travel bug helps you calm down - I'm quite proud she's not dragging you back to Pallet Town right now to make sure you're safe." He chuckled at Ash's panicked expression. "Yes, she did tell me that herself."

"Alright, alright, you convinced me," Ash groused, swatting at the man's hand. Professor Oak laughed, retracting it. "Do you know where she is?"

Professor Oak paused, gaze flicking up as he thought. "The last I checked, she was heading toward Victory Road in order to get to Tohjo Falls. If I'm correct, she'll be at the Pokemon Center there, which would let us call her." A wan smile spread over his face. "She has a very tight schedule. I doubt she'll be anywhere else."

Tohjo Falls. They were the connecting barrier between Kanto and Johto, taking the form on an enormous reserve with a bigger territory and laxer rules than the Safari Zone. While there wasn't exactly very exotic pokemon that could be found there, they were a mix of both Kanto and Johto natives, and they were strong. But the biggest point of interest, as well as the thing the reserve had been named for, was the Fall itself, a powerful waterfall that came down from the top of the mountain range. It wasn't as popular of a destination as others, but it still garnered a good following. It would be a nice training ground as he recovered.

"I'd like to go there. Can we call her?"

"I see no reason not to. I'll contact Nurse Joy - if she's at the Pokemon Center, Nurse Joy can reach her. Let me call her."

Ash got out of the seat, offering it to the man. He got in easily, pulling up the keypad. Typing in a number with the ease of having done it many times, he dialed up the other center and waited patiently. Ash scooted around him in order to see the screen as well.

It came to life after only thirty seconds, a warm face appearing in front of a cream background. "Hello, you are calling the Victory Road Pokemon Center, how may I help- Professor Oak!"

He smiled warmly. "Hello. I was wondering whether you had a Romane Chikara in your center?"

Nurse Joy nodded, a little flush on her cheeks, and turned to the side. Ash knew that every trainer scanned their Trainer ID when they used League trainer resources and used legal names, but it was still strange to hear Leaf's non-nickname. It had been years since he'd called her that.

"She's in here, just checked in yesterday. Would you like to speak to her?"

He nodded his head. "Yes please."

"Of course, right away!"

The screen went black again, and Professor Oak let out a small chuckle and stood back. "I've worked closely with her for many years, but she still gets flustered every time she speaks with me." They exchanged a smile before Ash took the seat, Professor Oak standing back to let him in. The screen stayed black before it eventually flashed back on, revealing Leaf.

She looked different than Ash remembered, which wasn't surprising. Her light brown hair, which had been shoulder length, had been neatly shorn into an almost boyish cut. Her skin was much darker with a light tan line from the hat she always wore, though it was still very pale. A narrow cut was on her cheek, probably from a branch of some sort, and it looked to be already fading. Her brown eyes brightened. "Ketchum!"

"Leaf." Ash grinned widely, another mirrored on her face. "Long time no see, eh?"

She scoffed. "Of course! Why are you calling me? Nurse Joy said it was Professor Oak."

He paused, then sucked in a breath and steeled himself. It was better to just get the question out then drag it into excessiveness. "I was wondering whether you'd want to travel together for a while?" Even then, he said it very fast.

Leaf blinked, before a cackle split the air. "Crawlin' back, Ketchum? If you can get over here, I'll let you follow behind me." She lasted a second before her laugh faded into something more real. "Of course. Is Professor Oak going to teleport you over?"

"Yeah. It probably won't be for too long, maybe a couple of weeks." He scratched at the back of his neck. "You're going to Tohjo Falls, right?" At her nod, he continued. "Just up until we finish there, then I'll be out of your hair." He grinned. "Not that you have much else."

She sniffed in mock anger. "I'll have you know that this hair has not bothered me once since I cut it. I doubt you can say the same about your unruly mane."

Ash blinked, reaching up to touch his hair. It was rather long, extending past his ears, mainly because he hadn't had any time to cut it. He hadn't even realized how much time had gone by without one. His mom normally cut it every couple of months. Though he hadn't exactly looked at himself recently, he'd say it was almost long enough to pull into a tail. Maybe he'd copy Lance.

Leaf snickered, and he quickly retracted his hand and pretended like nothing happened. She looked off the screen, seemingly distracted, before coming back. "Why do you want to travel, though? I'm not complaining, but you seemed fine going your separate way the last time we were together."

"Professor Oak suggested it." He decided to give her a partial truth. "I just fought a… pretty intense battle, and my team is still injured. But I want to travel, and by going with another trainer, I'm able to let my team recover more naturally and not be trapped in a Pokemon Center until they're done. I just need to know that if anything happens, I'll be protected, and I'm pretty sure your pokemon are strong."

"Oh." Her fierce humor faded for a moment, and she didn't mention on his compliment. "How bad?"

"Bad," Ash said after a moment. "They'll recover, but it might take a while."

Leaf looked away for a second, a grimace on her features. "You're welcome to come over when you can. I'll be here for the next two days in order to let my team rest up a bit. Have Professor Oak teleport you over, and we'll head out."

Ash nodded, earning himself another wide grin. Leaf kept looking off screen, and before long, they had to cut their conversation short. "Someone's callin' me - talk later?" At his nod, she clicked the off button. Ash let out a sigh, leaning back against the chair. Professor Oak stepped back from around the corner and put a hand on his shoulder, smiling softly.

"Was it that bad?"

Ash sighed deeper. "It wasn't bad, really, it's just that I left her last time. And now I'm asking to travel with her, and I'm going to be relying on her pokemon to protect me if anything happens. Dead weight, you know?" He scratched the back of his neck. "I don't want to feel like I just want to travel with her because I need something."

"I can understand that," he said. "But Leaf is your friend. Would you let her travel with you?"

"Oh." Ash nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense. I'll make it up to her, though."

Professor Oak smiled. "That's fine. I'll teleport you over in two days, once your team has been released. For now, though, just relax. You'll be traveling soon enough." His expression slowly changed, the smile switching to a cool expression. "But in the meantime, you have more to learn."

The slight humor Ash had been feeling faded softly, though he didn't lose it. He nodded, determined. This was a good memory, he wouldn't forget it, but now it was time to focus. Ash wasn't going to make the same mistakes he had made before. He stood up, following Professor Oak to the training room.

xXx

Gale snapped his wings down, blowing a gust of wind around the room. Ash laughed as it forcibly rearranged his hair, reaching forward to brush his fingers through Gale's crest. The fearow squawked but let him, leaning slightly into the touch. He wasn't supposed to fly until his wings were completely healed, but Nurse Joy said he was progressing at an extremely fast rate. Ash was pretty sure it was just Gale's determination to touch the skies again.

Scorch pawed at his leg repeatedly until he knelt, pushing her face into his chest. He scratched behind her ears, smoothing over the fur that she hadn't had the time to groom down properly. Heat nearly burned his fingers, but he refused to stop petting her. She churred warmly until pulling back, letting Ash meet his other pokemon.

Karma glowed, floating into the air. Her psionic bubble was still very deflated, but she was still able to hover. She looked at him with wide black eyes, ears perked and tail twitching. Though she didn't have the strength to communicate mentally with him, he could tell what she was thinking. He nodded and answered it. "I'm okay, I swear. Are you? Do you feel better?" She twitched her ears and inclined her head.

Tide barked, slapping his flippers against the ground. Ash laughed, though he did shiver when the sealeo breathed an icy burst of wind over him. Go figure that he'd be the one the least affected by fighting such dangerous opponents. Knowing Tide, he'd probably try and do it again. The ice type looked around, checking up on the other members of his team. He barely seemed to notice the two scars over his chest from Tauros' horns.

Wraith hissed, forming his hands quickly and peering over the whole group. Ash stood, turning to his fourth friend with a grin. The ghost's spines rustled with almost anxiety, claws scratching at each other, but he turned back to Ash when the boy looked at him. His shadow rose in Ash's mind.

Ash touched his belt, at the missing pokeball. Rhydon wasn't recovered enough to be released from Nurse Joy's care, but he imagined the ground type was still there, listening in with a loyal rumble. It gave him a burst of heart.

"We did it, guys," Ash said quietly. They all turned to him. Wraith's bloody eyes were wide. "We took town a Team Rocket base and captured Gideon. He won't be out ever again."

Karma's eyes gleamed at that, shine rippling around her neck.

"When we were done, the League went in and cleaned up the base, arresting all the grunts and freeing over two hundred pokemon."

Gale shrieked proudly, crest snapping up. Scorch yipped as the fearow spread his wings out, nearly catching her side, but they were all swept up in the tidal wave of victory. Karma glowed a pale blue and redirected Tide's cheerful icy breaths, but even she looked pridefully up, ears perked.

Wraith thrummed deep in Ash's bones, baritone voice whispering words he could never decipher. The haunter didn't run around and shout like the others, but he wasn't that kind of pokemon. He looked around, twitching his spines, before making eye contact with Ash. Pride and loyalty burned in the bloody irises. Slowly, he tilted his head down. Ash smiled, warmth unfolding in his chest, and nodded back. The haunter abruptly pulled up and floated away.

"We're going to spend a few more days here, then we'll be traveling to Tohjo Falls with Leaf to recover. It's been a difficult time for all of us, and we'll be using those two weeks to just relax, and maybe train a little, okay? It'll be for us to recover." He paused, thinking of the bag still in his room. "Scorch, can you come here?"

The vulpix yipped and padded forward, much slower than she normally was. As she got closer, Ash nearly began sweating, heat pouring from her body. She seemed to realize that, stopping a fair distance away with a strange expression on her face.

"Hey, Scorch," he said. She barked. "Do you remember the Fire Stone?"

Immediately, her eyes lit up. She flared her tails over her head, ears fully perked, and barked again. Fire surfaced deep in her grey eyes.

"Your internal flame is still too chaotic to evolve, but once you stabilize, I'll give it to you," he promised. She reared, tails stretching back to keep her balance, and stood there. Pawing at the air, she howled. It brought him back to Route 8, where a four-tailed fire type had challenged him in order to let her pack escape. "You'll be a ninetales."

She fell back to all fours, looking up at him. After a moment, she turned and darted back to her side, immediately yipping at Gale. The fearow squawked proudly, extending his great wings. He was still proud of his evolution, and no doubt explaining for the thirtieth time how it felt to do so. But this time, Scorch seemed much more invested, ears twitching.

Ash let them continue, the extra pokeball heavy on his waist. Gale finished, snapping his wings back to his side and looking at Ash with his sharp eyes. The rest of his team seemed to realize he wasn't done telling them information. He let out a low sigh and prepared himself.

Bulbasaur had been healed up by Nurse Joy for two nights, trying to fix the damage done to its vine and bulb over the time it had been in Gideon's care. There hadn't been much she could do. Most of it was permanent, having been done so long ago. Ash hadn't gotten the official report, Nurse Joy having too many other pokemon to work on to devote her time to one, but there had been a paragraph found in the base. Judging by the professional tone, it had probably been by Gideon himself.

Charizard had been released into a cage with fifteen grass types for training. Most had died but Bulbasaur had been able to evade the behemoth for a solid five minutes, enough for Gideon to take notice and stop the fight by using Rapidash. That allowed Bulbasaur to run back into its cage. It had 'fought' Charizard once more before the match was again stopped by Gideon. That explained where it had picked up on little tricks to fighting the fire type. It seemed like it was a fast learner.

"You guys remember Bulbasaur?"

All of them made sounds of agreement, though Tide took a second longer than most. When Ash held up the pokeball, eyes went wide. Wraith hissed.

"It's not on our team yet! We've just been given the chance to talk to it, to see whether it wants to join our team." He gave it a moment of pause. "We're going to do this differently than what we normally do. I'm only going to have it speak to one pokemon, at least in the beginning, so it isn't overwhelmed."

Scorch yipped, but after a second, she seemed to realize that being the same typing as Charizard wouldn't endear her to Bulbasaur. She stepped back. Karma's eyes flashed blue, but she didn't volunteer either - no doubt she already knew who Ash wanted. "Wraith, can you come here?"

The haunter twitched his spines, tilting his hands to the side. He drifted closer to Ash, lowering himself to the ground to be on eye level.

"This pokemon was probably born in Team Rocket like you." Wraith hissed, baring jagged fangs. "It doesn't know a life outside of that base there, and I want you to try and help it. Tell it what you went through, how you combatted that. Don't try to sell being a trainer's pokemon, just talk to it about the world outside."

Wraith's eyes cleared, and he nodded. With a look, he floated a little ways away from Ash. With a look of concentration, he rearranged the gas inside his ectoplasmic skin, shrinking the size of his spines and pulling his hands to his side. Though he didn't look at all unthreatening, it helped a little.

He met gazes with each of his pokemon before recalling them, fingers touching over the empty first slot. Wraith hissed, floating low to the ground. Ash nodded at him, grinned a bit nervously, and clicked the release.

Bulbasaur stood in the middle of the training room, halfway between the two. It glared at them both with scarlet eyes. Turning slowly, it scanned for any other threats, but soon turned back to them. It took a few steps backward to keep them both in its sight.

"Hey there, Bulbasaur," he said softly, drawing its attention. It growled, but seemed to recognize him, ears flicking up. "Are you feeling better?"

Another growl, but he thought he could hear a bit of an answer in it. He nodded, shifting his gaze to Wraith. The ghost hissed a greeting, earning a snarl in response. Despite such an aggressive sound, it didn't seem to be a threat by Wraith's reaction. Bulbasaur seemed to only growl or snarl.

After a moment, it looked back at him, ears still perked despite its narrowed eyes. He took the opportunity. "Are you hungry?"

Ash reached into the little drawstring bag he had brought and pulled out an occa berry, which Nurse Joy had recommended. He held out the orange berry, keeping his grip loose. Bulbasaur's bulb twitched, but it didn't come close. He relaxed his hand and let the berry roll off his fingers, heading toward the grass type. It stopped it with a paw, giving a narrow glance around, before biting into it with surprisingly sharp fangs. The berry was hard, but Bulbasaur got it cracked in half and eaten in record time. It growled almost happily and looked back at Ash, ears perked up. He fed it three more before straightening.

Ash debated for a while before choosing the direction he wanted the conversation to go. Bulbasaur didn't seem to have many fears, and he wanted to get rid of the biggest one.

"Charizard's gone."

Scarlet eyes widened.

"So is Tauros, and Rapidash, and every other pokemon you fought in that cage. They won't hurt you ever again."

Bulbasaur took a step backward. Its bulb twitched, the only visible sign of its emotions. Ash waited for a few moments, letting the message sink in. Its eyes lost their wide awe and it looked back up at him with nearly the same expression as it had had before. "You're free now, Bulbasaur. If you want, we could break your pokeball and release you in the wild to live your life."

It narrowed its eyes again, barely slits now.

"But if you want, you can talk to my pokemon," he offered, trying to make it sound as casual as possible. "My haunter, Wraith, was captured by Team Rocket, too. He can tell you what he went through after being freed."

Bulbasaur waited a moment, still scanning the room, before giving a short bark. Wraith hissed back, dropping close to the ground and floating closer. Even as low as he could go, he towered above the grass type, but it seemed less than afraid - if Ash had to guess, he'd think it only hated fire and flying types. Scorch and Gale might have their work cut out for them in order to be friends.

Their conversation was mostly one-sided, Wraith hissing his story as Bulbasaur growled questions. His spines kept twitching nervously, which Ash hadn't expected from the ghost, but Ash felt himself perking up as Bulbasaur's body posture relaxed more and more. It gave him a quick glance before returning its attention to Wraith.

Before long, Wraith was gesturing more wildly, claws scratching against the air and baring his fangs. Bulbasaur seemed almost amused by his actions, far less scared than it had been at the beginning. Though it kept a constant eye on Ash, it focused in on what Wraith was saying.

Ash stood awkwardly in the back, watching the tiny pokemon begin to fully talk with his friend. Before too long, though, it looked back at him and growled. Wraith gently tapped it on the head, producing a shudder and snarl, but he apparently apologized and pointed toward Ash, spines lowered.

The grass type started walking toward, staying against the wall but heading in Ash's direction. It settled on its haunches, staring up at him. After a long moment, it tilted its head down, jerking it up almost instantly.

Ash couldn't help the wide grin that grew over his face, barely containing a cry of joy. Bulbasaur stared up at him, ears twitching. "Can I scan your moves?" It nodded again, mumbling something under its breath.

The shadow in the back of his mind flared to life, bleeding thoughts across his own. Memories of battling Charizard, and Rhydon, and Karma appeared in front of him. Battle. Then a short one of Wraith rejecting a spicy berry from Scorch. The pieces connected slowly.

"You don't want to battle?" He asked softly.

Bulbasaur immediately hissed, bulb flaring open at the tip. Ash could see the tips of its vines peeking through the top, but it didn't release them, and after another second it retracted the whole thing. But the intent was clear.

"I won't make you battle, Bulbasaur. You can just be one of us, one of the team. If you don't want to, I won't make you."

The grass type made a strange churring sound deep in its throat, nodding its head. When Ash held up his pokedex again, it stared upward with narrow eyes but didn't react otherwise. Ash clicked the button, watching the screen focus in.

He had been assigned temporary access of Bulbasaur, in order to allow him to throw its pokeball. The practice was used for many battling schools or more particular tournament rules, but it only lasted as long as the official owner of the pokemon decreed. For this occasion, the League had given him two hours, marked by a little clock counting down in the corner of his pokedex. He still had plenty of time to scan Bulbasaur's moves.

Bulbasaur, the seed pokemon. Bulbasaur can often be found napping in bright sunlight. By absorbing sunlight, they create nourishments in their bulbs and can go days without eating. They store energy in their bulbs for large battles.

This bulbasaur knows the moves tackle, leech seed, vine whip, sleep powder, poison powder, bind, and giga drain. Its ability is overgrow, which gives it a burst of adrenaline in high-stress situations.

He nodded at that. It was enough to defend itself - herself - if the need arose, and he had little doubt she could handle herself. He flashed a grin at her, which she just narrowed her eyes at. But she didn't seem nearly as hostile as she had been at the beginning.

"Welcome to the team, Bulbasaur. I'll do everything I can to make you happy here," he promised, staring directly in her eyes.

After a moment, she nodded again and churred.

xXx

Ash jerked upright. Something was trapping his arms and legs. He tried to kick it off, but it tangled and trapped and dragged him down. Panic rose up his throat - he was stuck, he couldn't escape, there was fire coming-

A steady beeping came from his side. Gideon was pressing buttons. Charizard-

Nurse Joy ran into the room, taking care not to hit the door against the wall. Ash took a worryingly long time to recognize her, but once he did, he next found that the chains around his legs were just blankets and the beeping was the monitor at his bedside. He looked down frustratingly slowly at the stickers over the side of the bed, ones he had ripped off his chest in his thrashing. That must have been what caused the beeping.

Nurse Joy moved closer to him, sitting on the edge of his bed. Ash growled and thumped against the cushions on his bed, eyes narrowed and angry at himself.

"It's okay, Ash," she soothed. "You're okay."

"I was fine yesterday," he said stubbornly, frustrated, lost. "I barely even thought of it - why did I suddenly freak out-"

She squeezed his shoulder, shutting him up. Her eyes locked onto his. "Ash, let me put it this way. Less than a week ago, you nearly died. Your team nearly died. Yesterday, you found our your team was still alive and happy, and that you would be gaining a new member. You were overcome with happiness, which happens to everyone. But now your brain is remembering what happened in order for that to happen to you."

Ash sighed, dropping back onto the bed. Fire flashed behind his eyes. He wanted his team here. "But I can't just do this all the time. I mean, that was just-"

He trailed off. There wasn't anything he knew how to say.

"You're doing amazing, Ash," she said, voice still soothing. "How many other trainers could have done what you did? You and your team are strong, and I know you'll only keep growing. This isn't the end - it's only your beginning."

Ash leaned further against his headrest, anger leaking from his body as exhaustion overtook it. "Can you tell me how Rhydon is doing?"

"He'll be able to be released to you tomorrow just in time for you to travel, but he's still too sensitive to battle." Her voice was still that soothing, soft tone, and it both calmed and angered him. He wanted Rhydon.

Nurse Joy stayed with him for a while longer, still speaking warmly, but then she had to leave. He wasn't the only patient here.

There wasn't much sleep to be had that night.

He got out of the room far too early, shoulders tight. Professor Oak's room was in the special wing, but Nurse Joy's assistant had seen his face enough to let him. He knocked sharply on the door, waited for three minutes without a response, and knocked again. The door opened a moment later.

"Ash?" The professor yawned, rubbing his eyes. He had apparently pulled close to an all-nighter again. "Are you ready to go?"

He nodded, tightening the straps of his bag around his shoulder. Having been alert and moving around for an hour, he was jittery and ready to go. Being trapped in the Pokemon Center for a week had done wonders to make him anxious.

Ash had met with Rhydon early in the morning. In the fifteen minutes they were together, he felt like an enormous weight had been rolled off his shoulders. The ground type, while sore and stiff, was the same he had always been. Ash had introduced him and the team to Bulbasaur, who took it rather easily. Scorch and Gale were treated with wariness but not hostility, and Rhydon had been acknowledged as the leader. But he needed to travel. The Pokemon Center was doing nothing for the pit in his stomach nor the restlessness of his team. They all needed to get out, to show Bulbasaur the green of the world and the sun. He brushed air out of his eyes.

"Go call Leaf, and then I'll send Alakazam over." Professor Oak yawned again, jaw popping.

Ash nodded and sped away, darting down to the videophones. Nurse Joy had given him plenty of burn heals, which he would take every morning and afternoon. She had been nice enough to get rid of the spray aspect of the medicine, making it just a drink. While pokemon medicines worked fine on humans, if less effective, they could be annoying to take.

Scanning his Trainer ID under the videophone, he waited patiently for it to open and then immediately plugged in the number Professor Oak had taught him. It came to life quickly, revealing a smiling face.

"Welcome to the Victory Road Pokemon Center, how may I help you?" Nurse Joy said, at least before she caught sight of Ash. She relaxed. "Ah. Hello, Ash."

"Hey, Nurse Joy. I'm here to talk to Leaf again."

Nurse Joy let out a sigh, pink hair swinging. "I'll grab her for you." Ash nodded and she put the call on hold, switching the video and audio feed off in favor of a black screen.

The videophone stayed blank for a solid four minutes before flaring to life. Leaf stared through the camera, a deranged grin on her face. "Hey, Ketchum, sorry 'bout that. Was grabbing my bag. How soon 'til you're over?"

"Soon." Her mood was infectious, and he could feel a grin build on his face. "Alakazam is ready to teleport me over, I just wanted to confirm with you."

She snorted, waving a hand. "No need. Nurse Joy is gettin' sick of having to tell me whenever you call, and she'll be glad to get me out of her hair. Come over." She hung up with a click, the screen flashing merrily to black.

Ash flicked the videophone off and immediately ran back upstairs. Professor Oak looked moderately more awake, eyes still bleary but hair combed and clothes arranged. He nodded as Ash approached, a smile on his face.

"I'll be sending the last of my training practices to you. Alakazam will take you to the Victory Road center, and I'll expect a call from you in two weeks, alright?" Ash nodded again, bouncing slightly. The man sighed.

Without so much as a flash or sound, Alakazam appeared in the room. She blinked her black eyes, muscles twitching, as she communicated quickly with Professor Oak. With a twitch of her ears Ash knew meant a sigh, she raised her two spoons and aimed them at him. He closed in eyes, felt a slight pressure on his shoulders, and opened them again in a new location.

The Pokemon Center was just as he knew they all looked - white, orange, and covered in glass. He looked at Alakazam, only to find her gone. She didn't want to wait around.

Ash walked over to the side of the center to stay out of everyone's way, looking around. It wasn't a large town, but it was still bigger than Pallet Town. He couldn't see Victory Road past the buildings, but it was a small, quiet town he enjoyed the feeling of. The houses were made of wood and stone, rarely over two floors, and were lined with endless flowers. It gave an almost Celadon-like smell, but nowhere near as overpowering.

After only a few minutes, the door to the center burst open and Leaf emerged. Their eyes locked.

"There you are!" He said, grinning. "I was waiting for forever. Getting lazy?"

She snorted. "You wish. Grabbed a few more potions just to be ready."

After a moment, she nodded in the direction opposite of the Pokemon Center. "Let's get going. I want to get a good distance by tonight."

"Yeah." He looked around, but if there was a directional sign, he couldn't see it. He could, however, see the shock of dark green a little ways toward where Leaf was looking. "How big is the forest compared to the others? Viridian, Fuschia, or Vermillion?"

"Route 1," she said instantly. "It's got a forest at the beginning, but everything else is mostly mountainous. Trees for the first day, mountains for the rest. Should be a max of three days before we reach the falls, and it shouldn't take too long for me to find a proper poliwhirl."

Ash nodded, though he did pause for a second. He knew that Leaf was a very organized person, despite what many people thought, but he hadn't thought that she had planned out all her different pokemon to catch. But she did want to be a fighting type master and poliwhirl could evolve into poliwrath. "Do you already have a Water Stone?"

"Not yet," she said, shaking her head. "I've been saving a lot of money, got my eye on the ones in Celadon. It's been taking forever, though, which sucks." She kicked a loose stone.

They walked in about twenty seconds of silence before she started talking again.

"It's been a royal pain staying here," Leaf complained, hauling her bag higher up on her shoulders. "I can't so much as breathe in the direction of Victory Road without being interrogated and there are constant ACE trainers running border patrols and checking bags. These falls better be worth the struggle."

Ash snorted. "Why are you going to the falls to catch a poliwhirl anyway? Aren't they pretty common near Vermillion?"

"Of course they are, but Tohjo Falls has a high population of the wooper line, which could potentially give me a poliwhirl with the egg move haze or mist. Those are really handy moves, and I feel like it would be useful for a fighting type as they could hide before attacking right out."

"You've really planned this all out," he said, a bit wide-eyed. "Why aren't you gunning for a poliwag? Maybe you could train its fighting type side up more from the beginning."

She shook her head. "Nah, poliwhirl are better. Poliwag don't have arms, and they're more focused on water attacks. Poliwhirl are the best place to start for training a fighting type."

He shrugged. "Alright. You know what's best."

"Damn right I do!" She crowed, pumping at the air. "I've been waiting for getting a poliwhirl since forever - they're my second favourite Kanto fighting type. The machop line still holds a place in my heart."

Ash grinned. They kept walking, the town fading away. Signs for Route 26 appeared with rising frequency, and he grew more and more excited. Traveling again, something he had been missing for nearly two weeks, four if he included being on The Gyarados' Tooth. Leaf gave him a curious look as he nearly started running to the start of the route, but he brushed it off, slowing down slightly.

Trees rose up from the earth, only barely trimmed. The wilderness seemed remarkably thick for such a small forest, but there was no way he was complaining. Leaf grinned, cracking her knuckles, and turned to him. "Teams?"

Ash's hand fell to his belt. "Of course!"

Leaf practically dragged him onto the route, traveling for less than five minutes before they found a decently sized clearing. They both went to separate sides of it and grabbed their pokeballs.

"I'm going first, Ketchum! Stand back!"

In a flash of red light, a machoke appeared. He flexed his arms, the strange, thick veins over them shining in the light. Leaf grinned, patting her starter on the arm. He was only an inch or two shorter than her and still had plenty to grow. He grunted back, scanning the clearing. When he saw Ash, he inclined his head, thumping his chest. Fighting types were known for their honor.

"He looks strong," Ash said, a grin on his face. "How long ago did he evolve?"

"Four and a half weeks ago, in the Vermillion Gym. Won me the battle against Surge's raichu." Machoke flexed again, a smirk over his reptilian face. "He's my strongest, but the others are catching up." The fighting type snorted.

There were two more flashes of light a second later. A magnemite hummed in its odd voice, floating higher into the air. Ash could feel the crackle of electricity in the air as it moved. On the opposite side, a primeape grunted and pounded its fists together.

Ash waited for a second, but noticed she only had three pokeballs on her belt. He raised his eyebrows. "Only three?"

"There's only four fighting type lines in Kanto, and tyrogue are rare enough to find. But I've going to travel to Johto at the six-month mark to catch a heracross and houndour." She adjusted the brim of her hat and gave a glare to Primeape, who grunted but lowered its fists. "Magnemite is to combat fairy and flying types, and when I catch a houndour, it'll be to fight psychic and ghosts types. I've got some dream pokemon I'll be hunting for after the Indigo Conference, mainly ralts, shroomish, or maybe even a riolu." A glimmer appeared in her eyes. "Did you know Bruno only managed to find a riolu less than a year ago? He's been searching since the start of his journey!"

Ash didn't know that, but Leaf followed Bruno more religiously than Arceus.

"Alright, show me your team! How's rhyhorn?"

With a grin, Ash released him.

Rhydon rumbled, thudding against the ground. He looked around for a second before his gaze narrowed in on Machoke. The fighting type stared up at the nearly two-feet taller ground type, red eyes going wide before he narrowed them with a snort. He pounded his fists together, power-save belt flashing once.

Leaf chuckled. "And how long ago did he evolve?"

"About a month ago, too." He patted his starter's side, grimacing at the armor on his chest. The stone-keratin was an obviously different color and much thinner than the armor surrounding it. It was still regenerating, still holding narrow cracks spreading over the surface. If Rhydon felt any pain, he didn't show it. He spun his horn, electricity crackling over the tip, and rumbled. Ash chuckled.

He released most of the rest of his team. Gale shrieked, stalking rather awkwardly away in order to glare at Leaf's team from his new position separate from the others. Ash assumed it upped the intimidation aspect of it. Scorch yipped, waves of heat pouring out of her before she forcibly reigned it in. Karma floated next to Ash, idly tracing new designs in the bottom of her shine with her claws. Tide barked, immediately narrowing in on Primeape. The pig monkey screeched back, the manacles on its limbs clanking as it pounded its fists.

He kept Bulbasaur in her pokeball. She disliked it, being as similar to a cage as it was, but he wanted to release her once everyone else had met each other. If the others picked a fight, he didn't want her to have to defend herself. He knew she would be one of the pokemon he rarely recalled.

Leaf whistled slowly, eyes flashing between Gale and Karma. "Flying and psychic, eh? I've got ways around them. And six tails! The vulpix of yours is releasing heat like no one's business."

"Her internal flame still isn't stable yet," he explained. "She absorbed too much fire during the… battle and is having trouble converting it over still. She can't even activate flash fire yet." A grin split his face, and he settled back, looking as casual as he could manage. "But they're not the worst I have." He reached out to the shadow in his mind.

Wraith emerged from his shadow, spines stabbing upward. Poison condensed on his fangs to drip into his mouth, only to be reabsorbed and recycled back into his body. Leaf jerked back, eyes wide, but she groaned, good-naturedly. "A fearow, kadabra, and haunter?"

Ash grinned back. "All the more to crush you with." Wraith cackled in the back of his mind, raising jagged claws.

"And it had to be a haunter, too - the gastly line is one of the most proficient at using incorporeal forms." She sighed, giving a glance at Machoke. He was glaring fully at Wraith, red eyes narrowed. "That's not even mentioning the complete hack it is that ghosts are able to avoid normal and fighting moves. Entirely unfair."

Ash tilted his head slightly in Wraith's direction. "I didn't know we were signed up for a lecture." The haunter hissed in amusement, only for Leaf's head to snap in their direction.

"You think I'm joking? Alright, you're going to get it. Full lecture on ghost types!" She marched up to him, ignoring Wraith to sock him on the shoulder. "Get your team ready. I'll give it as we travel."

Tide barked as he was recalled, brown eyes still fixed on Primeape. The fighting screeched again as the target of its aggression vanished, but before it could do anything, Magnemite hummed softly and released a jagged spike of electricity. It struck Primeape on the top of its head, jolting it enough that Ash could see its fur stand on end. But instead of getting mad, it just growled and calmed down. Leaf was apparently quite used to the legendary rages the mankey line was known for. Her counter was brilliant.

Karma also requested to be recalled. After finishing a narrow hatch mark on her spoon, she nodded to him, disappearing the next second. She still didn't like traveling very much.

Leaf called back Magnemite, but Primeape stayed out. The fighting type bounced on the balls of its feet, stepping in line behind Machoke, who grunted at it with a swipe of his muscled arm.

When Ash was sure everyone was out who was going to be out, he clicked the release on his final pokeball, which was on the left side of his waist in the extra slot. Bulbasaur growled as she was released, looking around with scarlet eyes.

"Hey, Bulbasaur," he said. She looked up at him, but her attention was clearly captured by her surroundings. Green, grass, trees, nature - everything Gideon's cage and the Pokemon Center hadn't been. Her bulb twitched, seeming to draw her attention.

She looked up and saw the sun. Ash couldn't help the smile on his face as she made a soft sound of awe, so different from her usual snarls. Almost immediately, she looked happier, turning to look at him.

"We're getting ready to travel to Tohjo Falls, remember?" She growled at him, nodding her head slightly. "I'm not going to recall you unless an emergency, but try to stay close to the group." She twitched her ears in response.

Leaf paused in her checking up on Machoke and looked over. She jerked.

"Is that a bulbasaur?" She almost screamed, taking a step forward. Ash waved her away. Bulbasaur snarled, walking over to Wraith. The haunter floated down to be next to her, hissing softly.

"Yeah. I got her from… an abusive trainer. She's not a battling pokemon, just on my team."

Leaf's expression cleared, and a note of pain appeared in her eyes. "Ah. I'm sorry. Did you get her recently?"

"A few days ago. She's gotten used to my team and stuff, but this is the first time she's been outside, I think." Ash looked back at her. She was growling back at Wraith, who was offering her pieces of grass to inspect. It was rather cute.

Leaf nodded, before she snapped back to attention. "Ghost types time, Ketchum! I'm 'bout to educate you on why your ghost type is one of the most annoying pokemon you could have captured."

Ash smiled, preparing the rest of his team. Wraith didn't go into his shadow, sticking next to Bulbasaur as they walked. Rhydon lumbered by his side, Scorch by his feet, and Gale immediately took to the skies. Primeape stayed behind Machoke, who was next to Leaf.

"Now see, the issue isn't just normal and fighting type moves. It's physical moves of those types. For them, the energy level of those attacks is almost nothing, as they rely mostly on just the pokemon's body. But ghosts can only be injured by energy. So the little energy in those physical hits just pushes them back a little. A giga impact would probably do a lot of damage, but that's because it is a very high-energy physical attack. But a hyper beam is completely energy, so even though it is classified as a normal type move, it still damages…"

xXx

Tohjo Falls was powerful, immense, and almost frightening.

Ash heard the dull roar of the waterfall nearly half a mile before they reached it, carrying through the wide mountain pass and echoing off of the heavy rock walls. Leaf grew more and more excited as time went on, pushing them all to go faster.

Bulbasaur loved the outside. Her bulb was constantly glowing green, which took Ash a little bit before discovering that she was absorbing sunlight to make into nutrients. In only three days, her skin had started to lighten and her stomach had begun filling out. Ash went through the League's care sheet every night, feeding her twice what her body size would normally get and always sleeping in a clearing that let her have every second of sunlight she could get. Leaf adjusted fine to it, and he knew that she was just excited to be so close to one of the Kanto starters.

Though Ash didn't train much, he got to see Leaf work with her pokemon. She actively worked out next to them, going through the punches and even mock-fighting with Machoke. The fighting type never used any moves and barely seemed to tap her, but they both got a good workout from it. Primeape could fly into rages when attacking and Machoke could shatter boulders. Magnemite, while not battling much, had a wicked flash cannon that could carve furrows into the mountains.

Trainers were common on the path, and Ash and Leaf split them evenly. Rhydon and Scorch didn't battle, but the rest of his team did so and thoroughly enjoyed it. Bulbasaur always sat on the sidelines, halfway behind Rhydon for his bulk to protect her from stray attacks, and simply watched the battles. She was good at that - as a not very vocal pokemon, she mainly stuck to the sidelines and just watched. It was almost eerie at times, but she had a soft growl for when they won.

Life with Bulbasaur was strange at times. When he had suggested a nickname, she had vehemently denied it. He knew Wraith had chosen one to show he was different than the others at Team Rocket, that he wasn't just a gastly in their ranks, but Bulbasaur had snarled when he had so much as mentioned it. She ate away from the others of the group, even going so far as to find a new clearing to absorb sunlight in. Ash had given up trying to keep her close after the first time, and just sent Wraith to keep an eye on her, which the ghost never seemed to mind.

Leaf grinned, twisting her hat's brim around. The roar of the waterfall grew louder and louder as they got closer, and Ash could feel the moisture in the air. Water beaded in his hair.

Before too long, the road switched to cobbled brick and signs welcomed them to Tohjo Falls. A League official scanned their Trainer IDs in order to record the number of people who visited the reserve. The cobbled street was soon overtaken by a wooden deck, multiple other people walking around on it. The sound of the waterfall grew louder.

Both Leaf and Ash gasped as they walked around the corner.

Tohjo Falls was a location, not just a single waterfall, but the Fall was more impressive than Ash could have imagined. An enormous line carved its way down the side of the mountain, gleaming white-blue. Spray exploded up with every second, and even from nearly half a mile away Ash could feel the mist. Bulbasaur growled, pressing further behind Ash. The rest of his team was already recalled except for Wraith, and Ash was glad for it - Rhydon would be miserable with the moisture.

Leaf laughed furiously, staring up at the awe of the Fall. No wonder this was what divided Kanto and Johto - the League couldn't have picked a more memorable landmark. Why hadn't he planned to go here?

They both walked around the deck, unable to remove their gazes. Bulbasaur growled, but she did seem to enjoy the high level of moisture in the air. Machoke grunted, stepping around another sight-seer, but he stayed by Leaf and seemed to enjoy the water. Wraith didn't emerge. He was quite happy to stay dry, judging by the grumbling hisses from the shadow in Ash's mind.

The deck was large, nearly the size of a gym. It was in a half circle on the very edge of the lake, providing a good viewing platform for the Fall while being far enough away to avoid most everything and being tall enough to let ships past underneath. The deck continued backward, creating a sort of boardwalk that went to the Tohjo Falls town. Ash could see the lake the waterfall fed running beneath the deck, a clear stream of fierce blue that darted off to the left in a wide river. On the side of the deck, Ash could see a path running next to the river, extending out into the forest. The continuation of Route 27.

Leaf poked his side, and he nodded. Sidestepping around a fellow trainer who was soaked to the bone, they walked toward the exit off of the deck. They'd check it more tomorrow, but Leaf wanted to set up camp first. It was getting late, and the poliwag line was not nocturnal.

Route 27 seemed like they hadn't ever encountered the Fall. While almost the entirety of Route 27 and a part of Route 26 was inside the borders of the Tohjo Falls reserve, only the actual Fall was very closely monitored. Another League official gave them a lazy salute as they hopped off the deck, punching a number into his gear, but they didn't have to scan their Trainer IDs again.

The mountain retreated almost hesitantly, letting narrow trees claim the land it had once occupied. Though it wasn't truly a mountain pass, it was more difficult to traverse than other routes Ash had been on, rocks littering from smaller avalanches and exposed roots ready to trip at any opportunity. Before the night truly had a chance to fall, they found a spot.

Leaf grinned, punching Ash's shoulder. The river gurgled pleasantly by their side, especially from where it expanded, ballooning out into a wide, sort-of pond next to the road. They weren't the first to have camped there - Ash could see that enough trainers had chosen this spot that there was a permanent fire pit - but they were the only ones currently around. Machoke picked up a couple of enormous branches, probably having been carried down by the river. There weren't many trees around, as this was a pretty mountainous area, but Tohjo Falls strictly forbid pulling live wood for fire pits in order to protect what little they had. He set them near the firepit, already looking for more.

"This'll be perfect," Leaf said, hands on her hips. "I've got a few hours of daylight and I want to get catching. You can just relax for a bit, or train if you don't do too much." She fixed him with a glare. "But if you scare away my poliwhirl, Ketchum, I'm using you as bait."

He laughed. Releasing the rest of his team, he shushed them before they started their general cries of welcome. Gale narrowed his eyes at the lack of suitable trees to perch on but found a good enough pile of rocks that had come down the mountain. He kept staring at the pond with an extended crest - swooping in and picking out water types was a major part of how he hunted.

Bulbasaur snarled as Primeape and Magnemite were released. The fighting type turned at that, eyes flashing red as it saw Wraith right behind her. It screeched at the sight of the ghost type, pounding its fists together.

Bulbasaur immediately stepped forward, the tips of her vines emerging from her bulb. Wraith hissed good naturally, floating down to be by her side. She growled at him, still tensed.

Magnemite shocked Primeape again, and it turned away with a low growl. Leaf stood in front of it, hands on her hips, and held up its pokeball. Primeape stalked off and sat near the firepit, eyes fixed on the water's edge, but it seemed to be calming down.

Leaf dug through her bag, pulling out a wrapped pole. After only a minute, she had all the different pieces locked together and the line spooled up, attaching a chunk of meat to the end. The great rod whistled as the line flew out into the water, landing with a plop.

Ash sighed, reaching to his belt and pulling out his pokedex. He explained what was going on quickly, and they all moved to their own things. Gale flew back up to his perch, tucking his head under his wing. Tide glared at Primeape, also giving a longing look to the river. When Leaf caught her poliwhirl, Tide would probably sleep in there. Karma floated to a corner, eyes burning blue as she gathered her energy. She could practice her new move without distracting Leaf or disturbing the pokemon of the river. Wraith dove into Bulbasaur's shadow, who was exploring a clump of wildflowers near the river. She glowed with giga drain, absorbing energy from anything nearby. Rhydon and Scorch curled up next to Ash, the ground type providing a useful backrest as he read.

Leaf pulled up a distracted wooper who barely seemed to notice the hook in its mouth. She sighed, pulled it out, and let it go back into the pond. A poliwag came up next, spitting water guns. Machoke punched it halfway across the pond the second Leaf got the hook out of its mouth. There were two more of the wooper line and a dazed slowpoke, but no poliwhirl yet. She sighed, throwing back a goldeen, and gave a look of frustration to Machoke. They were nearly two hours in, and night was fast approaching.

The next bite tugged hard enough to nearly yank the rod out of Leaf's hands. She growled and pulled back, Machoke's hands landing on her shoulders. The line whined, nearly pulling completely out of the rod, but then Leaf started spinning. After a second, the surface of the pond exploded upward.

Ash only caught a glimpse of blue and white before a cloud of mist filled the air, dropping the temperature fast. Bulbasaur barreled back toward his side, dragging Wraith along with her.

"Grab it!" Leaf barked. If it escaped back into the water, she would lose it, and it had already managed to get out of her hook. "Seismic toss!"

Machoke roared, reaching forward through the haze. He disappeared for a second before a blue form emerged from the cloud and flew across the clearing, slamming into a lone tree with enough force to break several branches. Machoke ran toward it, fists glowing. "Karate chop."

Poliwhirl, now that Ash could recognize it, pulled itself to its feet and met Machoke's charge head-on with a spray of bubbles. Each exploded on contact, making Machoke flinch, and it was enough for the water type to snip him with several water guns.

He was flung surprisingly far back. Machoke grunted, sprinting forward with another karate chop. Poliwhirl couldn't dodge but it did glow with what Ash guessed was body slam, throwing itself at the fighting type. It was a clean hit.

Machoke grunted, straightened, and slammed at its lower half with low kick. Poliwhirl gurgled in surprise and fell over. "Cross chop!"

The fighting type sprung forward, fists glowing, and nailed Poliwhirl right across its spiraled belly. The first hit stopped its attempt at getting up. The second nearly embedded it in the ground. Machoke jumped out of the way and Leaf threw the pokeball. It smacked against Poliwhirl's stomach and drew it inside.

One shake. Two. Click.

Leaf grinned, running forward to grab the sphere. "Finally! And that was either haze or mist, I'm not sure which. Welcome to the team, Poliwhirl!" Machoke grunted his approval, poking at his chest with a wince. It was strong, though not well-versed in actual battling.

Ash stood, petting Scorch behind her uncomfortably hot ears. "That was great! When are you going to introduce it to your other members?"

"Eh, probably tomorrow." She shrugged. "I'll let it heal up tonight and then deal with it in the morning. It didn't look aggressive, more upset at being caught." Ash nodded. He had noticed the same thing.

Tide gave a low whine, drawing Ash's attention. He flicked his tail at the pond, which was smooth again, the cloud of white fading into the air. With a chuckle, he nodded his head. Tide immediately dove in, disappearing beneath the surface.

Leaf patted the pokeball, slipping it onto her waist. "You have no idea how much easier this is going to make gym battles. I'm finally going to have some variety, which is somethin' I've been struggling with. And did you see how well it used haze? That's perfect for what I need."

Ash grinned. He understood that. "You going to train tonight, or just sleep?"

"Sleep." Leaf looked a bit mareepish. "I want to meet it as soon as possible but I want it to be at least mostly healed, and I don't want to worry 'bout it attacking me if I try with potions."

"That's fair. I'll be training, but I'll try to keep it quiet." He gave a bit of a nervous grin.

Leaf snorted. "Are you kidding? Primeape's ability is vital spirit, which makes his brain shut down in tiny sections in order to rest. He can't sleep like we do. I've got the highest quality earplugs on the planet. As long as you don't practice earthquake-" she gave Rhydon a narrowed look, "and keep it away from me, I'll be fine."

Ash laughed. "Will do. I haven't started on earthquake yet, so that should be fine."

"What? Why?" Leaf looked confused. "It's one of the most powerful ground moves that a rhydon can learn."

Ash frowned. Why hadn't he started it yet? "He's got earth power right now, and I'm working on stone edge, but earthquake is next to learn." Ah yes, that was why. "It's just a little difficult to find a proper place to practice, because-"

"-it can be very dangerous if not properly controlled." Leaf nodded. "That's cool. See you in the morning."

She gathered her pokemon, recalling Magnemite. Apparently, the steel type didn't like to be out when it didn't have to. Machoke growled at Primeape, who screeched back but headed off to sit next to the pond, slapping repeatedly at the water. "Strengthens his muscles," she said to Ash, climbing into her sleeping bag. Her earbuds were large, metal things that looked only slightly more comfortable than hunks of stone, but she slipped them easily on and closed her eyes. Machoke sat next to her, red eyes watching Ash and his team. He didn't think the fighting type would go to sleep until Ash did.

Rhydon rumbled, standing fully. He avoided the path, though there wasn't anyone on it, and headed just far enough away that Ash could see him but not feel the vibrations spreading through the earth. After a moment, a spike of rock exploded upward, nearly four feet up and half across. Earth power was about having the earth explode or move, while stone edge was simply summoning a stalagmite of rock. Stone edge would reach high and be more precise, while earth power had more, well, power. He wasn't going to be practicing any physical moves for at least another week, and this was the first night he had been able to train. Rhydon had been more than ready but Ash was strict on following Nurse Joy's instructions.

Karma's ears perked up as he walked closer, tail twitching. "How's psycho cut going?"

She raised her shine, eyes glowing. A blade of psychic energy formed between her extended claws, glowing a blue-purple. She moved it slowly, examining each angle. But when she took aim toward the side of the mountain, it fizzled out before it ever crossed the pond. Her ears flattened.

"That was good, Karma. You've got this!" Her stain hummed at him, and her ears flicked happily. "Have you tried making it smaller? Compacting the energy?" Her tail twitched. She formed another, much tinier blade, and examined it closely. Another appeared a little aways, seemingly more sturdy. She tapped it with her claw, creating a ringing note.

There was a splash, and Ash looked over just in time to see a seaking float to the surface of the pond. Tide appeared on a second later, barking proudly. The seaking was obviously knocked out, a few of its scales bruised. Ash made a move to heal it, but it fell beneath the water after another second, form fading almost immediately. Tide barked again before narrowing in on Primeape, who was still slapping the water. Before he could attack him, Ash snapped his fingers and got the sealeo's attention.

"Keep working on aqua tail, Tide," he said a bit warningly. "You can battle him tomorrow, if Leaf says okay. Not now." Tide groaned lowly but dipped below the water again.

Gale flew overhead, working on his speed, and Wraith was practicing dark pulse. Ash frowned. Wraith had one of the weakest movesets of his team, even if he was able to use them in creative manners. He pulled out his pokedex and scanned through what he could learn. Ghosts had a very varied moveset, though Wraith wouldn't come into his full potential until he evolved into gengar. But- Ash's eyes lit up. The three elemental punches.

"Wraith?"

The haunter looked up from where he had formed a dark pulse, letting it dissipate with a wince from the energy. He floated over to Ash, spines rustling.

"You need another move. What's your favourite out of fire, electricity, and ice?"

The shadow in his mind flared to life. Wraith's eyes narrowed, considering the different ones. A question was silently murmured. "The three elemental punches, you can learn them. I was planning on them for a while, but I kept getting distracted, which is my fault. But they'll give you an edge against other pokemon."

Wraith waited a long moment before answering. It was different to communicate with Wraith - with Karma, it was like she was talking to him, but for Wraith, it was more like a thought he had himself rose to the surface, pushing past the others to announce its presence. Fire.

Ash had kind of been guessing that. Wraith had a tendency to attach himself to other pokemon - given as with Bulbasaur - and Scorch was one of them, though to a lesser degree. "That makes things easier. Scorch can help you, though she can't actually use fire to help. Maybe. Don't push her." A contemplative look spread over his face. "Maybe ask Bulbasaur to listen in as well? Learning how fire attacks work could maybe help her get over her fear of them."

Wraith hissed, eyes narrowed. His spines extended upward.

Ash held his hands up. "Hey, I'm not saying force her or anything! It just might help her learn more about them. And you're the best to ask her - poison types and Team Rocket and all." Wraith hissed again, scratching claws against the air. "You don't have to."

The haunter sunk slightly, but even touching the ground he was taller than Ash. He floated over to Bulbasaur, hissing softly. After a few minutes, they both crossed over to Scorch, who had been practicing toxic. She yipped, tails wagging as Wraith explained the situation to her.

Bulbasaur glared, refusing to back down even as Scorch gave her a confused look. After a second, Scorch just shook her head and started barking to the pair of them, explaining how she harnessed her fire.

Ash watched them for a few minutes, taking care in keeping a track on Bulbasaur. The grass type watched Scorch unendingly, her back to no other pokemon, but she listened to everything Scorch said. Rhydon rumbled loud enough that Ash could hear, punching his failed attempt at a stone edge. The rock exploded to the ground with a shake that made Machoke grunt and look back at Leaf. She still hadn't moved since laying down.

Gale snapped his wings down, crest fully extended. He flew overhead like a blur and Ash paused, staring up, but heard a furious shriek. The fearow swooped lowly around, sagging slightly with exhaustion. He was close, so close, to breaking the sound barrier, but he hadn't managed to get there yet. Gale flew down to pick at the pile of berries Ash had left out for him before going at it again. Pidgeot could fly at twice the sound barrier, and Gale refused to be left behind.

Karma's ears perked, a single blade carving a divot into the earth. Ash trotted over, sticking his finger into the hole, and grinned. Solidly deep. She thrummed happily and tugged on his shirt with a burst of psychic energy, forcing him to fall flat on his face. He chucked a pebble at her. Karma created a narrow shield and it bounced fruitlessly off. She flicked her ears and threw a small barrage of rocks at him. Ash, laughing, fled the scene. It seemed she had gotten her energy back.

Frequent splashes came from the pond, but Tide only rose up once every hour or so to breathe, spending most of his time beneath. Ash didn't bother him. Though the sealeo was battle-hungry and never wanted to stop fighting, he knew when to hunker down and train. Aqua tail was a good move for his bulk and Ash was ready to use it in battle when he got it ready.

His eyes fluttered. They had traveled a lot today.

Ash distantly saw Rhydon gathering the others for bed before he fell asleep.

xXx

He woke in the night. His vision only showed black. "Rhydon?"

No response. Ash tried to stand, but Scorch was on his lap and he couldn't push her off. She was too warm, she was burning him, there was smoke.

A rumble split the air, and then Rhydon was by him, dull claws on his shoulder. "Bud?"

The ground type curled up behind him, his stone-keratin surprisingly not too uncomfortable. Ash relaxed slightly - he was cool to the touch, a bright contrast to Scorch's warmth. His eyes slid closed again.

xXx

Poliwhirl, the tadpole pokemon. Poliwhirl are capable of living in and out of water, on their well-developed legs. They sweat whenever out of water in order to stay moist. The pattern on their chest slowly spirals, and causes drowsiness even outside of battle.

This poliwhirl has the ability water absorb and knows the moves water gun, bubble, bubble beam, hypnosis, double slap, body slam, and haze.

Leaf whistled lowly. Poliwhirl gurgled happily, pounding her fist on her chest. She had calmed since Machoke thrashed her in battle again, showing her the power of the fighting type. Ash had little doubt Leaf would be getting that Celadon Water Stone as soon as possible.

She pursed her lips, already planning a training reign. Ash decided to throw in his question now. "Any chance Tide could battle Primeape?"

"Yeah, he needs the adrenaline." A grin split her face. Poliwhirl gave a soft, almost confused, gurgle. "Make sure he's prepared though, yeah? Primeape goes haywall against most enemies." When Ash nodded, she waved Primeape over, explaining it quickly. Ash went to find Tide.

The sealeo was in the pond, having finished with his meal before anyone else. He was only partially comfortable with bouncing his food on his nose around his teammates, and definitely not with Leaf's team here, so he ate it as fast as he could and went back into the pond for training.

Ash threw a few stones into the water, scaring a poliwag, before Tide came up. "Hey, bud. You ready for a battle?"

The ice type immediately pulled himself out, narrowing in on Primeape. The pig monkey screeched, pounding his fists together. "You're at a disadvantage, Tide," Ash called, getting out of the danger zone. "Fighting beats ice - show him that's wrong!"

By the furious bark, Tide was planning on just that.

xXx

The town of Tohjo Falls was large, sprawling, and full of people and stores and things to do. It was a tourist town, there was no doubt about it, but it was a quieter sense than Celadon. No overpowering scent, no hordes of faux cultural apparel, no towering skyscrapers with gleaming silver windows. Ash was thoroughly enjoying it.

Leaf outlined her plan for the day as they walked. The first half of a day would be for shopping, buying all the souvenirs and extra supplies they needed, and the second would be for seeing the sights of the town and everything else. Ash agreed, not that there were many other options. Leaf always had everything planned.

They dropped their stuff off at the Pokemon Center. Neither wanted to leave their bags unguarded at a reserve, and they would probably be spending most of their time at the town anyway.

Because it was so crowded, it was generally frowned upon to have pokemon out while walking the streets, at least all those that couldn't just stay on their trainer's shoulder. Ash kept touching his pokeballs as they walked out, preparing to explore. Something quickly distracted them.

"Ketchum, look at this!" Leaf pointed at a sign posted on the Pokemon Center's wall, neatly printed in large words and colorful pictures. An enormous waterfall took up most of it, the words arranged around it.

The Myths and Legends of the Tohjo Falls: Tour, by Reena Minaki.

Ash grinned, reading over the rest of the thing. Tohjo Falls was a place with lots of connections to many places, giving it a rich sense of place as well as many myths and legends surrounding it. He'd love to learn more.

"Day tour or night?"

Leaf paused, furrowing her eyebrows. "They'd both be nice," she said, rereading it. "Night tour is probably less crowded, and it gets a cruise around the Fall Lake? Damn, costs more. Can you afford it?"

"That's not too much, I can handle it." He patted his Trainer ID bracelet. "I have plenty right now. If you want to save for your Water Stone, I can pay for you too."

She shook her head. "Nah, I've got enough too. Come on, let's find this Reena."

The signs were very informative, and it took the pair of them less than an hour to find their way across the entire city and locate the tour guide building. It was a regular house converted to a business building, flower boxes covered in blue and white blooms. Reena seemed to be the owner, judging by the name Minaki Tours.

Who Ash assumed was Reena smiled as they entered. She had long red hair pinned back in a bun, blue eyes twinkling and casual scarlet clothes on. Waving them over to her counter, she leaned on her elbows and talked warmly. "Welcome to Minaki Tours. How can I help you?"

"We'd like two tickets for today's night tour, please," Ash said. Reena's eyes lit up.

"The tour starts at eight, right here in this building. The majority of it is about the Fall, while the day tour covers more about the town. That okay?" At their nods, she continued. "The boat ride should continue until about eleven, then I'll bring you back and have you here by midnight. We'll cover a lot about the different folk tales built up around the Fall, the stories of it, and even mysteries of the legendary pokemon rumored to be found here."

They both exchanged looks before offering their wrists. She scanned them quickly, punching a few buttons. She glanced over at her screen, reading it quickly.

"Ash Ketchum and Romane Chikara?"

The trainer winced. "Leaf, please."

Reena shrugged. "Will do." A grin crossed her lips. "See you at eight. Bring warm clothing - it gets cold at night. I'd also suggest heading down to José's Cafe - his leppa berry smoothies can get you through the night. You'll probably need that, too."

Ash and Leaf nodded. That sounded like a good thing to try.

Another customer came into the store and Reena perked up again, waving her over. They both immediately struck up a conversation about the tours. Ash took the opportunity to leave, Leaf following him.

She looked around, checking her watch. "Smoothie?"

José's Café had the sort of warm, cozy feeling that immediately made Ash think of his own restaurant in Pallet Town, the one filled with his mom's cooking and light perfume. The bell dinged cheerfully as they entered, showing them into a brightly lit café. The cashier on duty took their orders - two large leppa berry smoothies - and made them incredibly fast, pointing them toward an outdoor seating arrangement. They took a seat away from the other group of trainers outside.

The smoothies were delicious, and Ash was warring with himself about going back for seconds. Leaf finished hers with a sigh, setting the glass down. "That was good. Totally worth it. Want to come here tomorrow?"

"Definitely," Ash agreed, patting his stomach.

Leaf looked around, staring at each of souvenir shops on the block. "I'm going to start buying some supplies and stuff for my family, okay? I'll probably be a few hours."

Ash looked around as well. "I want to go to that store," he said, pointing. It was less flashy than most of the souvenir stores, filled with more native, handmade items. "That looks exactly like what I want."

Leaf nodded, looking at it herself. "Sounds good. You want to head there now?"

"Maybe not," he said, a flush building on his cheeks. "I want some more food from this place. I'll probably just have an early lunch here if the other food is just as good as their smoothies."

"No kidding." A grin spread over Leaf's face. "You drank that like a dying man. Alright. It might be an hour or two while I hit the other store, but we can shop there together."

Ash's blush deepened, but Leaf just laughed, stood, and walked her way out of the café's seating area. He waited a solid minute before heading back inside. Time to see what else he could get.

Although it took him a while to decide what he wanted, he ended up with another leppa berry smoothie in order to last the night, a muffin, and a wrap sandwich he liked the name of. Everything was just as delicious as he imagined.

Ash scrolled through his pokedex, poking in on any previous search he found interesting. Eating things slowly meant he didn't feel like he was loitering, and he bought a second muffin to give to Leaf because they were that good. He eyed the hour in the upper hand corner. She had been gone for a little over an hour, but he didn't know when she'd return. With a sigh, he returned to scrolling.

His finger paused.

Alola, alola kanto, alola surge, alola battle.

Why had he searched that up? Alola was a relatively new region, one that had only just recently joined the Council of Leagues, though there were hints of a new region called Galar doing the same. He quickly found a picture of an alolan vulpix, staring up at him with cute blue eyes, but that wouldn't have been enough for him to search it. He already knew what they looked like. So why had he done that?

Alola surge. Two keywords he hadn't thought would be in the same area. Alola was known for having several strange magnetic fields near their mountains, similar to Sinnoh, but he doubted he'd have looked that up without even having an electric type-

"Yeah, Alola. They're the shittiest fighters of all the regions. Couldn't even handle their own war."

Lt. Surge. After the Vermillion Raid. He had told Ash that Gladion was from there, that Professor Kukui was nice, and how he had spent two years fighting in a war in Alola. A war that, according to the Indigo documents, didn't exist.

Ash laid back against the chair, staring up. How could he have forgotten that?

Now that he was actively thinking about it, he could remember Surge's face, the almost anxious look the normally boisterous man had held. Bright eyes. Alola was supposed to be an entirely peaceful region, having ride pokemon and roaming packs of wild pokemon that helped each other out in battles.

But Surge had said there had been a war. Ash was confused. The memory flickered once in his brain before beginning to sink away. He grappled for it. Sluggishly, it rose back into clarity. Ash's heart beat a staccato beat in his chest.

"Ketchum!" He looked up. Leaf was waving at him furiously from across the plaza, multiple bags over her arms and a new pair of sunglasses over her eyes. "Come here!"

He stood up, downing the last of his second smoothie and grabbing the muffin. His thoughts slipped away. Slipping his pokedex onto his belt, he hopped the fence and trotted over to her. "You have to try this muffin, I swear, they are one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten."

Leaf laughed, shuffling some of her bags over in order to grab the napkin-wrapped treat. She placed it delicately in one of her smaller ones. "After we finish shopping, I'll eat it. Come on, let's go."

"Where are you going to put all your stuff?" Ash asked, walking beside her. "I mean, that's got to be fifteen pounds already."

"Sending it to Professor Oak," she said. "He'll give it to my parents, who'll distribute it to everyone. I can't wait to see what my mom thinks - I got her this little pot that's shaped like an oddish. She loves grass types." A grin split her face. "She hasn't been very subtle about what she's getting for me - an honest black belt. Ordered it from the Fighting Dojo in Saffron. Machoke is going to flip."

Ash laughed. "No kidding!"

The store was partially full, but there was plenty of room for them both to shop. Ash made his way through the different shelves, past engraved rocks, handmade embroidered flags of blue, white, and purple, and wooden carvings of common pokemon found in the area.

Ash stopped in front of a low shelf, one with only a few items on it. He picked one up - a stone carving of the Fall. The lake was colored a crisp, perfectly clear blue, and Ash almost thought he could see little painted pokemon beneath it. A deck extended over it, though the whole model was shrunken down in order to have the deck closer to the Fall. He touched the waterfall itself. There were individual groves for the streams of water, different blues making it up. The whole thing was nearly ten pounds.

It was exactly the kind of table centerpiece his mom would want. He grunted, picking it fully up, and heading to the cash register. Leaf gave him a thumbs up, holding a wooden carving of a poliwhirl and an engraved stone in the same hand. The Fall was rather expensive, but the cashier got it expertly wrapped and handed over in record time.

"Okay, only two more hours," Ash said, coming back to Leaf's side. "Then we'll stop shopping."

Five hours later, Ash collapsed in his Pokemon Center room.

His stone carving was back in Pallet Town, rather horribly wrapped but a present nonetheless. Leaf had sent it - he hadn't quite wanted to face Professor Oak yet. In his bag, there were a ton of berries for his team to eat, as well as two TMs, surf and fly. He'd be waiting a bit to give them, but it was nice to know they were there. Tide and Gale would definitely be pleased with that, and Ash couldn't wait to learn how to fly on his second friend. Both of them depleted his savings, being more expensive than regular TMs, but his team would make good use of them.

Ash took a power nap, setting his alarm for seven. He woke up feeling a lot better, though Leaf still yawned when they joined back together. It felt weird to put back on long clothes in the heat of summer, but he knew that temperatures dropped near large bodies of water.

Minaki Tours was easier to find the second time around, and they got there with ten minutes to spare. Most of the buildings around it were still on, but the town of Tohjo Falls didn't have much of a nightlife, and things were closing up as it grew dark.

There were already a couple of people there, all dressed like they were. Reena chatted easily with them while they waited, and while the last person was five minutes late, they were able to set out fast.

Reena led them easily through the mostly empty streets, answering any questions they had about the surrounding buildings. A tourist, a woman in khaki everything, ran constant questions about what was going on around them, and Reena answered them all with the same ease as she did everything else. Ash kind of doubted she was ever surprised.

The light disappeared steadily from the sky, darkening to a rich black. As if on cue, street lamps turned themselves on, tinted as to not blind those in their houses. Orange light trickled over the street, just bright enough Ash could see where he was going but not much else. The tour group walked quietly, Reena leading them through alleys as shortcuts.

They reached the edge of the town, skipping the dock and heading to the left. Ash could see a dock somewhere off in that direction, seemingly private. There were only a few boats on it - it was probably regulated in order to protect the Fall Lake. While he hadn't heard of much vandalization, he guessed it had happened before.

The lake glittered darkly in the night. Stars appeared like burning pinpricks on the surface, dancing in their wavering position. He could have compared it to glass, but that wasn't right. It was pitch black, the mountains' reflection was swallowed by the dark. Ash was strangely peaceful, watching the lake grow closer. It looked cold.

Reena's boat was a wide cruiser, probably able to fit thirty people. With the ten in their tour party, there was plenty of space, and Ash and Leaf nabbed two seats near the front of the boat. Everyone kind of sectioned themselves off, content to sit by themselves. His hand fell to his waist. "Reena?"

She turned to him, curious. "Yeah, Ash?"

"What's your policy on pokemon?"

"Under three feet, under fifty pounds. If they destroy anything, you pay double what it costs, and I reserve the right to tell you to recall them at any time." She looked around quickly. "Normally it's one per person, but you can have two, since there are so few of you guys."

Ash felt along his pokeballs. Only two of his met the full requirements, though Wraith definitely weighed less. After a moment, he clicked the button on his left side.

Bulbasaur appeared with a growl, looking around. Almost immediately, she took the path of least concern and backed up against his legs, staring around at the other trainers. Ash didn't worry about her being aggressive - she avoided picking fights like a plague - but he did worry about her, well, worrying.

"Hey, Bulbasaur," he said. One ear flicked back. "We're about to go on a boat cruise near Tohjo Falls. Would you like to watch?"

She actually looked moderately interested, which Ash counted as a win. Stepping closer to the side of the boat, she extended her uninjured vine and wrapped it around the back of a chair, pulling herself up. Ash couldn't help a smile as her eyes went wide when she saw the shadowed water.

Scorch could stay in her pokeball, Ash would be taking her and the others to the lake later. For tonight, though, he just sat peacefully next to Bulbasaur as the grass type tried to absorb the view of the crystal waters beneath. She didn't remove her gaze from the lake despite Ash shuffling to a better position.

When he looked up, he could see things were a little less calm - two trainers had their mouths agape as they looked at the Kanto starter, eyes wide. Ash grinned a bit nervously.

The tourist woman had a meowth perched on her shoulder, and another had a bellsprout clinging to their arm. Ash turned his gaze away and stared over the water, making out the gleaming streak of white that was the Fall. Despite it being night, it ran just a strongly as it had in the day, the roar of its waters easily audible even from their distance.

"Come on out!" Reena called, clicking a pokeball. A starmie agreed, groaning in an almost cheerful manner. It immediately slipped into the water, pressing its back against the ship. Though he didn't become aware of it until a second after it happened, he noticed he couldn't hear the Fall anymore, and what wind had existed was gone.

Reena leaned over and tapped its tallest appendage. Immediately, Ash could see the water beginning to swirl with the power of surf, brushing against the boat. After another second, it slipped smoothly off of the dock, heading into the heart of the lake. Bulbasaur growled, tightening her hold on the chair. Falling in sounded like the opposite of good.

"I like to avoid using the engine, as it disturbs other pokemon," she explained. "Besides, Starmie can create a psychic shield around the boat, which blocks wind and such. Now please, enjoy yourself for a few minutes until we get into position to start the tour!"

Ash and Leaf chatted quietly, the boat moving smoothly beneath them. He kept peering over the edge to look at Starmie - surf was an incredible move, giving the pokemon partial control over the surrounding water. He couldn't wait until he gave it to Tide.

They passed beneath the dock quickly. It was taller from this angle, wide wooden boards extending overhead and enormous concrete pillars surging up through the water. Though Ash had been a little nervous, it came nowhere close to hitting the boat.

Before too long, Reena stood back up from her position and tapped Starmie again. The water immediately calmed, sending the boat gently drifting in the black. Starmie let out another groan and sunk mostly beneath the waves. Its gem sent a pale glow through the water as it maintained the psychic shields.

"Tohjo Falls was founded nearly a hundred years before the Indigo League. It held almost the same borders, the same land, the same mountains. What you see today is very similar to what you would have seen them." Reena's voice held an almost mysterious rasp it hadn't before, sending shiver sup Ash's spines. She knew how to tell stories. "This land stays as it wishes through the time, though one thing has been left different: it was not under the name it is now. Originally, it was known as Katikaze."

Ash's breath seemed terribly loud in the absence of wind, only the soft splash of waves against the side of the boat. He made eye contact with Leaf, who was just as fixated as he was. Even Bulbasaur had turned around to listen.

"Katikaze was mapped by a man named Qilin, whose last name is lost to time. He found the land, spent ten years exploring every crevice of the mountains, every tree of the forest, every rock of the river. When he finally reemerged into society, he spent every penny he had to buy the entire plot of land. When that was said and done, he named it Katikaze, made a shrine at the Fall, and built a house on the opposite side of Kanto. Qilin never revisited Katikaze, and he died without seeing it again." Waves created a soft rhythm in the atmosphere.

"Katikaze sat untouched for a hundred years until the Indigo League was created, when the land was investigated. Qilin had left a will, one the expressively said that his land was to be made free but not disturbed. And such, it was made into a reserve. The League wanted to protect what he had built, so they planned to move his shrine to a safe location. The stone could not be removed from the ground."

Though Reena didn't say anything, Starmie came back to the surface, but Ash could see where she had kicked the side of the boat. They began moving again, heading toward the Fall. The air grew colder, and Ash was thoroughly grateful for his long pants. They stopped far enough away from the Fall in order to avoid the powerful waves rippling outward, and Starmie's psychic shields protected them from the loud roar of it, but Ash swore he could still hear something. Reena stood again.

"The Qilin Shrine," Reena said, pointing. And there, on a narrow outcropping from the base of the mountain, was a collection of stones. He couldn't see much of anything from here, but there was definitely something - a statue, he guessed, standing over a small mountain of stones. Even from here, it looked big. Taller than him, at least.

"We aren't allowed closer in case we disturb it, but the League did their best and couldn't so much as move it." Reena let them absorb it a second longer. "Would you like to know what Katikaze means?" No one said anything, but she must have seen in on their faces. "Northern wind."

There was a pause. The trainer across from Ash gasped softly.

"Yes, the northern wind. There was one pokemon rumored to be born from the Fall, that every time pure rain fell from the skies and struck the Fall, a new beast was born. Though you may have heard of it, its name is something far less common - Suicune."

The name thrummed in his bones, even though Reena had been whispering. Ash frowned, placing on a hand on his chest. It sounded almost like when Wraith spoke to him, hearing it both through his ears and through his mind. By Leaf's reaction, she felt the same way. Bulbasaur growled softly. A smile played on Reena's lips.

"And now, to the other side of the lake. Despite being such a large body of water, there are surprisingly few large pokemon to match it. There is a reason for this, and that it the fearsome gyarados that is rumored to have been here since Qilin himself. If we travel this way, we can see a furrow in the mountain where it once practiced its hyper beam…"

Ash and Leaf got off the boat in silence, Bulbasaur quiet by his side. The walk back to the Minaki Tours seemed faster than it had been to the lake, even with the rich darkness pressing down on them from all sides.

Both of them went to their respective rooms and passed out. Ash's dreams danced around him with blue and white and beauty.

xXx

They spent the next day just training and battling. Poliwhirl had a wicked bubble, and Ash kept having to limbo underneath wide, floating explosive spheres. Leaf apologized, but he found it rather fun. His team, not so much. Rhydon had nearly bathed the clearing in fire when they popped against his armor.

Under the promise of surf and tide, both Tide and Gale threw themselves into their respective tasks. Tide was able to release sufficient amounts of water over his tail, but he was still struggling with successfully wrapping it. Gale was close, frustratingly close, and Ash was only giving him a week before giving him fly. It was next to impossible to tell how close he was getting, and the fearow got frustrated easily. Fly might be able to help him break the sound barrier - though Gale wanted to do it alone - by showing which muscles he needed to exercise more in order to get it.

His other pokemon were coming along fine, and Ash couldn't be prouder. He settled in that night with a smile on his face.

Scorch's heat abruptly left Ash in the middle of the night.

He woke slowly, a shiver running down his spine. Ash was so used to having the vulpix's warmth that he only had one blanket, tucked in the bottom of his bag. He yawned, opening his eyes, only to come face-to-face with Scorch.

She was dripping, pure water in a thin layer over her scarlet fur. Her eyes were confused. She made wet circles on Ash's chest with her paws.

He rose to a sitting position, and she inched backward to be in his lap. It wasn't raining, and Leaf's Poliwhirl was still in her pokeball. Scorch yipped again, shaking off the most of the water. Ash groaned and covered his face with his arm, but he was still thoroughly damp by the time she finished. She woofed an apology before a strange expression crossed her face.

Scorch leapt backward, sneezed, and lit on fire.

Flash fire created a warm glow over the clearing, reflecting off of Wraith's bloody eyes from where he was hidden in a shadow. Ash stood fully up, all traces of sleepiness gone. "Your internal flame is stable."

Scorch deactivated flash fire with a flick of her ears, tails waving gently. She released an ember from her longest tail, immediately seizing control of it. It floated peacefully in front of her nose, flickering warmly until she squashed it with her mental control. With barely a flash, it went out.

He knelt next to her, running his fingers through her rapidly-drying fur. "You know what that means?"

Scorch perked up, grey eyes going wide.

"You're going to evolve."

xXx

It was early morning, bright and tipped with dew. Scorch had barely been able to contain herself that night, and she had been the one to wake Ash up. She had been glowing all day, her excitement pushing her internal flame to new heights. Ash was a little concerned about that but he didn't tell her to stop. In all honesty, he didn't know whether he could. Scorch hadn't been this excited in a long time.

The pond was calm, the only ripples from the river. It was still cool from the morning, and the last traces of mist could be seen escaping into the sky. A poliwag was swimming playfully on the surface, and a small flock of pidgey flew overhead.

Scorch ran around the clearing, chasing away pokemon from the center of the clearing. Her tails flashed, releasing constant heat, enough to make Ash start to sweat. Because she didn't exactly have access to a volcano or desert, and her prime habitat wasn't as easy as water types, she had to try and recreate it as best she could. Tide was distinctly uncomfortable in the heat, but he stayed silent. It was Scorch's time.

Rhydon rumbled, standing to attention. Scorch barked until he stood into a more perfect position, leaning slightly forward with his tail stretched out for a counterbalance.

Ash didn't know how Scorch's internal flame had been affected by the battle against Charizard, but he didn't want to risk it. The most likely outcome was that her flame had been expanded by being forced to absorb so much heat, and there was the slightest chance that the Fire Stone wouldn't be enough. So he was going to have Rhydon use flamethrower on her while she used the Fire Stone so that the extra heat might be what was needed to propel her into evolution.

The rest of his pokemon were spread out in a half circle, positioned behind him. Karma had her shine out, ready to form a shield if needed, and her eyes were softly glowing. Leaf and her pokemon weren't here. While she wanted to see the vulpix's evolution, she understood that it was best to have an evolution occur surrounded by the pokemon's team. She had made Ash promise to give her a complete script.

When Scorch seemed satisfied with the state of the clearing, she turned back to him and barked. He nodded and pulled out the Fire Stone.

It burned the palm of his hand, hot enough he had to switch it between hands. But he held it up to the air, letting both Scorch and the rest of his team see it. Silence spread over the clearing.

Ash looked around and saw pokemon. The flock of the pidgey line had settled on the branches, staring into the clearing. Water pokemon poked their eyes above the lake, though they sunk below when he looked at them. There was a soft whinny and he looked in shock as a herd of ponyta appeared from the route, having come from behind the mountain. They watched from a distance, manes popping sluggishly. No rapidash were among them and for that Ash was grateful, but it was still incredible to see the sway a Fire Stone held over fire pokemon.

Scorch growled at them, ears flat, and the ponyta acknowledged her power and moved backward. She stopped once they were at a respectable distance, giving a warning glance to the other pokemon.

He brought the Fire Stone down. The magma inside was perfectly frozen in a state of being active, unable to escape or die by the mystic powers of Entei and its volcanoes, though its heat easily trickled outward. Ash turned to Scorch and offered it

Scorch looked up at him with wide grey eyes, gratitude and joy filling her gaze, and yipped softly. Her gaze slid down to the Fire Stone. Red reflected back in her eyes.

In a flash, she leapt forward, grabbed the Fire Stone, and darted backward. Her fur flared brighter. In a strange, smooth motion, she tossed her head back and bit down on the Fire Stone. The glass cracked, shattered, and the lava spilled down her throat.

Nothing happened for a few seconds. Scorch's eyes began to glow, two slits of coal. Ash opened his mouth to say something when she splayed her tails out, pointed their tips at the ground, and released a torrent of flames.

It immediately roared into the air, seeming to reach the sky in an instant. But it didn't escape - it stayed tightly contained in a roaring spiral of fire, only ten feet wide. Rhydon stepped forward, and Karma created a reinforced barrier, molded around his armor. He rumbled his thanks before opening his maw and using flamethrower, his own fire spilling out to join in the funnel. The flames crackled fiercely, roaring out. Though Ash knew it was loud, it felt strangely silent all the same. The clearing was still beside Scorch.

Ash heard an exuberant bark before the fire flared to nearly triple the height. He sprang backward, Karma creating a thick barrier almost instantly in front of him. The flames started red, then tendrils of blue crept outward from the center, staining the whole thing. Karma reinforced her shield as the heat increased. The fire turned white at the tips. Rhydon kept pumping his own flames into the mass before standing back - whatever was going on in there, it was pretty obvious it was working. Scorch had struggled to harness blue flames before, but nothing to this level, and definitely not white.

A glow surfaced from deep in the vortex, somehow bright enough to be visible. He had to avert his eyes. From the corner of his vision, he could see the form of his friend, tails splayed and head thrown back. It wavered like a mirage in the desert.

The energy being released from his friend redoubled. Pressure built in his mind, eerily similar to Karma and Wraith. The sun seemed to burn, redoubling its strength. Ash could barely stand to look at Scorch, and now overhead was the same way - it was like she was using sunny day. Harsh sunlight roared over the clearing.

With a bang, the light inside the vortex shut off. Ash jerked, eyes going wide behind Karma's protection. All he could see now was the fire. The only sound was the roar of flames, still spiraling in the air. He frowned. Gale or Wraith hadn't taken nearly this long-

A vulpix leapt out of the fire.

Ash blinked.

It was the same size as Scorch, bright red with strange, reflective eyes. It stared up at him, opening its mouth, but nothing came out. It paused, as if confused, before looking up at him again. Its six tails wagged happily. Ash was just as confused.

Had the Fire Stone not worked? Scorch's internal flame might not have been completely stable, and had managed to absorb the Fire Stone, only forcing more energy into Scorch for her to convert while not actually evolving her. But then why was the vortex still active?

The vulpix's tails fell off.

Ash just about screamed.

It looked back, confused, before the column of fire extended a wide, writhing tendril, and gently tapped the vulpix. Fire flowed into the vulpine, and suddenly it had new tails, tipped in burning white flames. It silently yipped again, beginning to prance about.

The column of fire retreated into itself. It spun faster and faster, converging in on a single point not much larger than Ash himself. As it shrunk, it turned fully white, bright enough Ash could barely look. The vulpix perked its ears up, staring at the fire. Part of its ears began to flicker like flames before abruptly switching back to fur.

Without a sound, the fire retreated and revealed what was inside.

Beautiful golden-white fur rippled in the heat of the air, smoothed back over powerful muscles. What had once been narrow curls on her forehead was now a crest, flowing backward. Nine tails curled upward, each longer than she was tall, tipped it a streak of pure gold so bright it shone. She stared at him with glowing crimson eyes, gaze cool. Ash was filled with awe.

Scorch stood in front of him. She slowly unfurled her tails, each one extending out to form a waterfall behind her. Her eyes flashed briefly and the vulpix from before exploded into a plume of flames. It didn't go out, trembling in midair. With an almost imperceptible twitch of her ear, the fire disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Ash held his breath as Scorch started forward. She was slightly below eye level - taller than the average ninetales, the pokedex-filled part of his mind supplied - but she stared at him pridefully nevertheless. Her ears perked, though she never stopped looking at him.

He had heard of pokemon who were caught up in the evolution buzz of power, so desperate to test their newfound strength that they attacked anything and everything in their path. Scorch seemed much calmer than that, but there was a dangerous note in her movement, the flick of her longest tail and tilt of her muzzle.

Ash stared at her, fully raising himself up. This was still Scorch, the pokemon who got jealous of Ash's blankets and liked to jump on Rhydon's shoulders. He nodded his head slowly.

Scorch, after a moment of pause, nodded back.

He immediately broke out into a grin. Scorch's ears perked and she stepped forward the rest of the way, lowering her head somewhat. Ash raised his hand and pet her behind the ears. She purred happily, inclining her neck further to give him better access. Her fur was richly warm, thin enough he could scratch at her more sensitive skin. She was releasing heat like an honest fire, each of her tails having the air waver above them.

"You're amazing," Ash said, voice full of awe.

The ninetales purred.

xXx

And here's chapter ten. I hope this helps clear up a lot of the dislike for Ash's rashness last chapter - eventually, I will be rewriting that chapter, but not anytime soon. But think of it this way: Ash took down a Team Rocket base that the League hadn't managed to do so yet and didn't die. So now they can relax, send Professor Oak in to teach him how to do it right, and tell the public that it was taken down. Is that necessarily a good thing? No. But it's a realistic response from a League that just had one of its top members killed.

Second, I found a comparison for Wraith's battle style - if anyone has seen Matrix: Reloaded, he fights a bit like the Twins. Just a fun bit of information.

I have mostly picked out the OCs I need, but I won't be making the final decision until I release the next chapter. Thank you to everyone who has submitted so far.

Those who reviewed last time were very helpful, and I'm making a point to now respond to every review and PM I get. Thank you!