A Hero's Rebirth

Chapter Twelve: Johto, Huh?


"So, what, you felt like you wanted the Paralysis to be useful? And then it was?" Ash asked incredulously.

"That's the best I can tell you, Ash. I wanted to be useful, prove to myself that I had gotten stronger and I wished I could make use of the static like Raichu does, since it was the paralysis that stopped me from using Crunch. After that, next thing I know my mouth is spurting out electric bolts." Torterra told him again.

Ash and Raichu looked at each other, equally intrigued.

"Can you, I don't know, do it again?" Raichu asked him. Torterra seemed to shrug as best he could for a turtle-like Pokemon with no shoulders.

Torterra bit with its jaws, opening and closing them attempting to use Thunder Fang like before. There was no sparks like before, and this time it appeared like the Continent Pokemon was munching on a fruit that wasn't there.

"Use Crunch and see if that helps." Ash suggested.

Torterra nodded, jaw glowing white as teeth grew. It chomped down again repeatedly, but there was no yellow glow or sparks. Torterra seemed to sweat-drop in sync with Ash and Raichu.

"Are you picturing yourself doing it again? Making use of the electricity?" Ash asked.

Torterra grunted.

"Yeah, then I'll bet it only happened because you were paralyzed at the time. Raichu said he thought your paralysis went away after that, is that true?" Ash asked next.

"Yeah, I think so. Now that you mention it, after I released all that electricity it was a lot easier to move around." Torterra replied after a beat.

Ash nodded. He guessed he hadn't really noticed because he was ordering Floatzel around to win the match rather than Torterra, too worried for the dual-types condition to try something else but knowing how insulting it would've been to call off the match or substitute him.

"And you," Ash started, turning to face Raichu. "If you picture yourself using Fire Punch?"

"No luck so far, Ash." Raichu reported back. Ash only nodded.

"Well, I guess that's good enough for now." He said, standing up. "We'll think more about what to do once we get to Driftveil, alright?" He double-checked. They both nodded, Raichu jumping down off Torterra as he was recalled with one last thanks.

"I guess we'd better get going if we want to eat dinner in the city again." Raichu said as Ash slung on his bag.

"Guess so. It would've been nice to figure out a bit more, though." Ash said, letting Raichu spring onto his shoulder as he continued walking. He felt Raichu's nod.

"If only there was someone we could ask about this. We've seen a lot of stuff, but explaining and understanding it was never our jobs. Too bad we can't just call Professor Oak like before, huh?" Raichu mumbled.

"Call Professor Oak?" Ash repeated quietly, before he broke into a grin. "Raichu, you're a genius!" He told his partner while starting to sprint towards the drawbridge before Raichu could even let out a startled, 'I know'.


"Boy, am I glad that's over." Leaf muttered as she and Gary trekked across Cinnabar Island.

They had gotten Professor Oak's blessing rather easily that morning to go hunting for more possible Fearowite in Johto, more specifically routes 47 and 48, just west of Cianwood City. They were routes known to be the home of some of the highest-level wild Fearow in the Johto Region and were a much less treacherous terrain than Seavault Canyon.

Only, the only airport in Kanto was on Cinnabar Island.

Vermillion had a port, like a few other places around the region did, but none of the other major cities had enough room in or nearby to hold an airport itself. Viridian came close, but was too heavily surrounded by forest on all sides for planes to take off from. Thus, the Cinnabar Airport was born.

They had gotten there swiftly, Gary getting his Alakazam to Teleport them over. It was more than powerful enough to do so, but with an extra person it took more energy and longer to actually teleport. Add in the fact that Leaf hated teleporting? Equals bad day for Gary.

"It was the quickest way here and you know it, or would you rather hike to Fuchsia City and then ferry over? I'd be in Johto by the time you got even halfway there." Gary sort-of joked.

You could get from Cinnabar to Pallet, but not vice versa. The currents were much too strong for just any old boat to fight through, and it was much easier going with it than against it. Usually only the bigger ships tried, but even then it took longer since they were fighting against the wind and water.

Not only that, Gary could've actually been about halfway to Johto by the time Leaf hiked over to Fuchsia City. Leaf only huffed at Gary's teasing as they made their way over to the hangers.

They weren't flying commercial today, there had been no flights out to Olivine for another two days and they both decided they couldn't wait that long. Theoretically, they could've flown in to Cherrygrove instead, but they already had to ferry from Olivine to Cianwood to get to where they wanted and they didn't want to put more distance than necessary between then and Route 47/48. So, between them and Oak, they had arranged to charter a propeller plane.

Soon enough, they arrived by the hanger in the back, opening the door slightly to see a line up of propeller planes on either side of the bunker.

"Are you the Oak party?" A man in a pilot suit asked, coming out of the shadows wiping his hands with a cloth.

"That's us; I'm Gary and this is Leaf." Gary introduced them, shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you folks. Names Louie, but you can just call me Captain." Captain said, chuckling as a Pidgey landed on his head. "And this is my co-pilot, Pilot." Pilot chirped happily.

Gary and Leaf smiled up at the bird happily, both at least a little amused with the bird, before Captain spoke again.

"So, you're flyin' out to Olivine City in Johto, huh?" Captain asked. Gary nodded.

"That's right, when do you think we can leave?" Gary asked back. Captain shrugged.

"Whenever you want, my boy. You're paying, I'm just flying." He replied easily.

"Could we get going right away, then? We'd like to get there as soon as we could." Leaf asked.

"Sure, I don't see why not. Get in; we'll take off in a few minutes. Just let me go get my goggles." Captain told them, gesturing to one of the many identical planes and leaving.

Gary and Leaf shared a look, neither of them quite knowing to which plane he was telling them to board. Unknown to them, a pair of coordinators were also well on their way to Olivine City, Johto.


"Raichu, Iron Tail!" Sho ordered his electric-type.

"Block it, Iron Defense." Paul simply countered.

The two had met on the battle deck not long ago and Paul remembered him as someone he'd seen Ash face way back when in the Sinnoh region. It didn't seem like Sho remembered him at all, but then again he hadn't made his presence known back then. They had settled on a quick one-on-one match while Paul got a feel for his newest addition.

Turtonator's shell glowed white as he turned, pointing his back at the incoming steel-type attack. Raichu's tail slammed against it, steel clinking against steel, before Raichu was forced to push off and land away. Sho refused to let Turtonator's great defense be the end of it, though.

"Get in close, Raichu, Focus Punch!" Sho continued.

Raichu's fist glowed a brilliant white as it ran forward, prepared to strike the Alolan Pokemon's shell.

"Flamethrower, on the ground." Paul ordered next.

Turtonator was confused, but obeyed and fired a torrent of flames downward at the ground between himself and Raichu. The Blast Turtle Pokemon was pleasantly surprised to see it had created a small wall of flames, intense enough to stop the charge of the electric-type. Sho, meanwhile, fell right into Paul's trap and focused too much on the exterior flames.

"Raichu, Iron Tail on the ground, put that fire out!" Sho told it.

Raichu nodded affirmatively, striking its glowing tail at the ground on an angle to kick up sand and dust to suffocate the small flames. It didn't take long for Raichu to make it halfway through the wall, but that's when Paul saw his chance to strike.

"Dragon Pulse, go." Paul commanded.

Turtonator quickly charged the beam of multicolored energy in its mouth, shooting it out and letting it turn into a dragon-shaped beam of energy that struck Raichu's midsection while it was preoccupied with the flames, sending it hurtling backwards to land on its back.

"Flamethrower, again." Paul refused to give Raichu a moments rest.

The Flamethrower attack struck the downed Raichu, kicking it back even further and scorching its fur a bit. There was a pause in the flow of the battle and Raichu didn't stand back up. Sho sighed, recalling Raichu while Paul nodded in satisfaction towards his Turtonator.

"That was a good start. We'll work on your reaction time later, but rest for now." Paul told his dual-type, letting it nod before recalling it. He and Sho merely nodded at each other, neither being much of one for congratulations, and went their separate ways.

For now, Paul was content on finding lunch and feeding his current team than finding another battle. He had battled twice already today, both with Turtonator, having kept his promise to wait a day to battle with the Blast Turtle Pokemon, who did not disappoint. Turtonator had proven himself to be rather powerful and easy to work with already, defeating both Sho's Raichu and another trainers Piloswine without too much difficulty each time.

He would make sure Turtonator got a match against Soledad before they docked in Unova.


Jessie, James, Meowth and Wobbuffet sat gathered around their coffee table staring at the envelope sitting at the center. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be any stranger than anything else they did and ordinarily, they wouldn't be this cautious about a letter.

But it was stamped shut with a big red 'R'.

Giovanni had reached out to them, or so it seemed, after his release from prison. They could only wonder why, but logically it made sense. He had thrown most of his elites to the wolves during his trial, so it was very unlikely that all of them would be eager to go back to working for him, especially with Team Rocket being gone for over a year now.

And they always were three of the most loyal recruits in the organization. Only, that was before they started working with Ash in his effort to bring down the crime lord. It seemed, however, that they were really good at being double agents because it didn't appear that Giovanni even knew what had happened or that they had, in fact, played a key role in his downfall.

"Well, go on, open it." Jessie said, gesturing to James, who shook his head viciously and crossed his arms defiantly.

"Absolutely not. Meowth, you do it." James ordered. Meowth flinched back, waving his arms dramatically.

"No way Hose. Jessie always wants to be da one in charge, let her open it." Meowth replied, pointing frantically at Jessie, who sweat dropped with a sigh.

"Fine, I'll do it but this is why I'm in charge- because I work with two cowards." Jessie quipped, picking the envelop off the table and slowly opening it. Immediately, James, Meowth and Wobbuffet gathering around, flanking her, to read it over her shoulders. She rolled her eyes, but continued to read it out loud nonetheless.

"Rockets,

Operation Rising Rocket is being put into effect. Gather any and all allies still loyal to the dream Team Rocket represents and get ready to reconvene, rebuilt and remodel. We will meet in the hidden cave behind the waterfall at Tohjo Falls in two days time; if you come, I know I can trust you.

-Giovanni"

Jessie finished reading the letter and placed it back down on the table silently, glancing at James and Meowth.

"So," Jessie started, unsure. "Now what?"

The four all hummed in deep thought, going back to circling the coffee table the now-opened letter and wondering what they should do next.


"So, what're you folks looking to do in Olivine City?" Captain asked politely, glancing back from his position in the cockpit to glimpse Gary and Leaf.

"Well, once we land we're actually heading over to pass through Cianwood City." Leaf explained. Captain raised his eyebrows curiously, so Gary continued.

"You see, since I'm a Pokemon Researcher, my next project involves researching aspects of Mega Evolution, so my grandfather and I have been looking for previously undiscovered Mega Evolved forms." The young Oak informed Captain. "In particular, we've been looking at Fearow as a species with the potential to evolve further."

"That's quite the goal, young man." Captain acknowledged. "It's not every day new evolutions are discovered, especially something as rare as new Mega Evolutions."

Gary and Leaf nodded, both knowing how hard it would be to discover if Fearow could evolve further. Gary himself had been a part of multiple expeditions like this before, failing more than he succeeded, but there was a point when Mega Evolutions weren't thought possible at all before Professor Sycamore came along. Even after that, when everyone thought they knew all about Mega Evolution, even more Pokemon with the potential to evolve further were uncovered day after day for the longest time.

"We understand and we're prepared to search as long as it takes until we find definitive results." Gary replied. As a well-established researcher in his own right now, he was no stranger to disappointment.

"Either way, it'll be a fun trip. It's been forever since we've spent any time together, right Gary?" Leaf asked happily, nudging him with her elbow.

Gary nodded back at her, agreeing. It had been entirely too long since they had talked and, after Ash disappeared, there was always a part of Gary that was afraid she wasn't coming back either. That though terrified Gary even more, since he knew Ash was at least alive after supposedly dying and he would be dammed if anything short of god himself managed to kill Ash Ketchum at this point. The boy was too stubborn to even die.

Leaf, though, was not as immune to death as Gary thought Ash was. He was glad she had come back, even if it was only for a short period of time before she pranced off again like Gary knew she most likely would after a few weeks, if not days.

"You're not kidding." Gary replied instead of telling her how much he missed the days they and Ash would sit around talking for hours and hours. "Just when I thought I'd finally gotten rid of you."

"You should've known it wouldn't be that easy." Leaf replied with a quick wink before turning her attention to the window again, admiring the view.

Captain merely rolled his eyes. He would never understand kids today.


Ash and Raichu arrived in Driftveil City not much longer afterwards thanks to the years of practice the pair had gotten running for extended periods of time, although that did nothing to stop them from almost falling off the drawbridge in their excitement to reach their next destination.

"Can you tell me what our plan is now that we're not moving at Mach 4?" Raichu teased, poking the left side of Ash's chest from the right shoulder with his extended tail. Ash ignored the prodding as he answered his best friend.

"Professor Oak does a radio show, remember? He reads poetry and all that junk, but he has to talk about his research and all at some point, right? He's too crazy about his research not to share it on his show." Ash reasoned now that he was walking at an average pace.

"So, what, you're just going to hope he brings up the topic of Pokemon learning attacks people never thought possible?" Raichu asked curiously. Ash shrugged, careful not to disturb his squatter.

"It'd be nice, but I have no problem calling in and just asking. Worst thing that happens is I tell them my name is Raidyn Stark if they ask who's calling, right?" Ash reasoned. "There's nobody I'd rather ask about this than the Professor, except maybe Gary- but who knows where he is. Not like I can reach him using anything faster than a letter unless he's back in Pallet anyways."

"I guess so, if there's anybody that would know what happened it's probably the Professor." Raichu agreed.

Just a few moments later, they strolled into a diner and sat at the counter, with Ash taking one stool and Raichu taking another. Ash waved over one of the men behind the counter after he had finished wiping down a small section of countertop.

"Could you put on channel three, please? And may I borrow a phone?" Ash asked in succession.

The barkeep shrugged and turned around, turning a knob on the radio to stop the low hum of music and letting it be replaced by the familiar sound of Professor Oak's voice. Next he simply moved the phone into Ash's line of sight from underneath the counter before walking away, leaving the Kanto-native to his new devices.

They had made it just in time, it seemed, because right after the proper channel clicked on Mary began speaking and telling the audience the number to call with any questions. Ash hurriedly started dialing, trying to keep up with the number the first time.

"And now we hope for the best." Ash started speaking as he dialed, lifting the phone to his ear as Raichu signaled for a pair of sodas.

Over the radio, the phone started to ring in the background. Mary clicked a button and a voice that wasn't Ash could be heard, asking about the Professor's poems. Ash shrugged and dialed again after they hung up. When the next caller they took was still not him, he sighed.

"This may take a while, Raichu." Ash said, taking off his hat to run his fingers through his hair. "I guess I forgot how popular Professor Oak was, huh? Not everybody grew up with him next door."

Raichu merely shrugged as well, turning to face Ash and using his tail to dial the phone while Ash kept the phone to his ear. Both Ash and Raichu were pleasantly surprised when Mary's voice echoed through the phone.

"Hello sir, you're the lucky caller! Did you have a question for the famous Professor Oak?" Mary's voice called to him.

Ash shot Raichu a look, insulted that his partner got through on the first try. Raichu only smirked and turned towards the counter, sipping on his soda.

"Yeah, but it might be a little out there…" Ash started, getting both Oak and Mary's wrapped attention.


Paul walked into the fast food restaurant on the ship rather casually. It was the only place on the ship that was both in his price range and not total garbage, even though it was pretty close to being a heart attack on a bun.

The place was average size, Paul supposed, and there was enough space between tables for him to feel like he might not get too annoyed by the presence of anyone else. Even though there hardly seemed to be anyone around at the moment, he noted, glancing around the room. He determined his seat to be towards the back anyway, regardless of the lack of people, at one of the high tables parked by the bathroom doors and directly below one of the many voice boxes mounted on the walls. He quickly ordered at the counter before making his way over to it.

As he sat down, he switched on the voice box to see what would come out and was pleasantly surprised when he heard Professor Oak's voice. He never cared much for the old man's poems, but every now and again on his radio show he would be asked to talk about his research, which Paul was always very interested in hearing. One could never be too informed on Pokemon, after all.

"So, you were fighting two gym leaders at once, Elesa and Skyla, in Nimbassa City with your Torterra, who then seemed to miraculously learn Thunder Fang after being paralyzed by Elesa's Emolga?" Oak's surprised tone was imminent. Paul's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Pretty much, I made it to Driftveil City before I heard you on the radio. I figured it anyone would have any kind of answers for me that it was you, Professor. You don't need to believe me, but I'd really appreciate it if you knew anything related to Pokemon using moves they're not really supposed to." They said simply.

Paul could hear Oak hum in though, attempting to collect his thoughts on the matter. While Oak wasn't talking, Paul's attention was called elsewhere by the waitress bringing out his lunch, which he thanked her for, before turning back to listen to the good Professor's response.

"Fancy seeing you here." A familiar voice called. Paul turned to see none other than Soledad approaching him, drink in hand. "What's going on there?" She asked, motioning towards the radio behind Paul's table.

"Someone's called into Professor Oak's radio show asking about his Torterra learning Thunder Fang." Paul told her, pausing a beat.

He might as well tell her, he decided, she was didn't seem intent on going anywhere else. As expected, she was interested and sat down opposite him to listen better while she sipped her drink.

"Well," Oak started finally, after collecting his thoughts. "There have always been similar reports in the past of Pokemon using attacks we didn't think they could use. We don't know everything about Pokemon, after all." He paused, chuckling a bit. "Pokemon types are just different forms of the same energy, yes? The energy required to perform fire-type attacks is different than the energy needed to perform water-type attacks, and different attacks of all types are just the various ways that energy can be manifested and controlled through Pokemon." Oak paused. "Arceus, creator of all Pokemon, supposedly has access to plates that can change its type at will, letting it essentially be or have access to every type. There are people out there that theorize Arceus made all Pokemon in its image, including giving every species the potential to access the rest of these energy types since many Pokemon can learn attacks that don't line up with its classified typing."

"So, does that mean that any Pokemon can learn any attack?" The caller asked, intrigued. Paul and Soledad exchanged glances at the prospect.

"No, probably not. Just in the same way that not every fire-type learns Heat Crash or not every grass-type learns Razor Leaf." Oak explained. "It's mostly in the same way that every Pokemon theoretically and technically has access to moves like Tackle or Double-Edge, even if they don't seem to learn the move naturally through level up. Because Torterra can learn moves like Bite and Crunch, I would wager that played the biggest part in your Torterra using Thunder Fang." Oak continued on. "According to this theory, Pokemon that can use moves like Bite or Crunch all have the capability of learning attacks of a similar nature with different types, like Thunder Fang, Fire Fang and Ice Fang, for example."

"I see what you mean, Professor. So do you personally believe in this theory?" They asked, before a brief pause. "And would it be safe for my Pokemon if I pursued trying to train them in these methods?" Came the next question, added as an afterthought.

"If there's anything I've learned for sure in all my years it's that you should always be open to learning new things. If there was more than just rumor and scuttlebutt about this kind of thing, I could say for sure what I believed but for now, I'm more than willing to hear out both sides." Oak replied. "As for your other question, I don't see any immediate problems as long as you and your Pokemon are aware of the consequences and are willing to try and push boundaries and limits. However, I must ask that you let me know what you find should you find yourself studying and training more down this path." Oak requested happily.

"Sure thing, Professor. Thanks a lot for your help, we sure learned a lot." The next reply came. It sounded like they were about to hang up, before both Mary and Oak screeched out their last question.

"Wait!" They both cried, though only Mary's voice could be heard after. "What's your name?" She asked curiously.

"Sorry, guess I was so excited I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Raidyn Stark, and I'm gonna win the Champion's League!" The now-named Raidyn proclaimed excitedly.

With that, Paul and Soledad both seemed to lose interest after with Oak wishing Raidyn Stark good luck in the league and the next caller asking to hear some of the professors' poems.

Meanwhile, Paul couldn't believe what he had heard. In hindsight, he should have figured that if anyone in the modern day era had managed to accidentally stumble upon something like this it would be Ash. Really, it would have been more confusing if it were anyone else, Paul thought.

'Good thing I stopped in here for lunch,' Paul thought to himself. 'Now I have a location on Ash and two something's to talk to him about when I find him.'

With Paul thinking about how he was going to get from Castelia to Driftveil before Ash managed to plow through the gym there, Soledad was the first to break the silence.

"That was an interesting radio show, wouldn't you say?" Soledad asked. Paul hummed.

"It raises a lot of interesting questions. If he's telling the truth anyway." He replied easily. Although, he thought to himself, Ash wouldn't just go around making up stuff like this.

"I guess we'll see at the Champion's League, he said he was competing." Soledad said with a smile. "I'd love a chance at this guy, sounds like a really strong opponent. What did he say his name was?" She asked.

Paul could practically see the gears in her head turning, no doubt thinking about training her Pokemon in the way he was after hearing Ash's story.

"Raidyn Stark." Paul answered sternly. Soledad hummed in further thought about the mystery that seemed to be Raidyn Stark as she scratched her chin. "Let me know what you find on him." Paul requested, knowing that the pink-haired coordinator was going to attempt researching Ash's alias.

"Of course, wouldn't want him to catch you by surprise either. But don't you leave me with all the work," Soledad jibbed back. "I expect updates from you when you start to pursue these types of training. Here's my PokeGear number so you have no excuse not to keep me posted." She finished, stressing the 'when' as she handed over a pre-printed card with her PokeGear number on it.

Years ago it would have been odd for trainers to do such a thing, but now it was quite commonplace. It eliminated the need to swap PokeGears to input numbers, saving on time and convenience as well as cut out the awkward process of searching for a pencil and parchment to handwrite numbers down on. Many trainers now a day kept cards with their PokeGear numbers and trainer information (name, place of birth, age etc. usually) printed on them in case they ran into a friendly passerby to quickly exchange information with.

Being as common as it was, Paul slipped her one of his from the front pocket of his black backpack. She smiled, taking it as she saluted him while holding his card between her fingers. He only nodded his goodbye in return, both trainers having acknowledged their agreement to speak again in the near future as Soledad exited the restaurant, throwing away her empty drink on her way out.

Paul turned his attention back to his thoughts, wondering how to go about training in the way Ash almost certainly was at the moment. He figured the best first thing he could do was go and watch Ash's gym battle with Elesa and Skyla on the Gym Leader's Association website using Reggie's account, and he left the restaurant for the serenity and privacy of his room.


"Gyarados, finish it off with Hyper Beam!" Misty commanded.

Gyarados obeyed, rapidly charging a ball of dark purple energy in its mouth as it broke out of the water. Her opponent could not even order his own Pokemon, an Ampharos, fast enough before the fully charged Hyper Beam slammed into its chest and threw it back, slamming the electric-type into the wall behind him.

"Ampharos is unable to battle! As the challenger has lost all his Pokemon, the winner is Gym Leader Misty!" The ref called, raising a flag.

Misty watched as her opponent calmly recalled his Ampharos before turning to her, bowing in respect before speaking.

"I'll be back in a few days after I train some more. I know I can earn this badge." He declared. Misty smiled; the feisty ones always were her favorite.

"I look forward to your future challenge." She said simply, petting Gyarados as he swam to the edge of the field to her. She smiled at him. "You were great out there today, Gyarados. You really turned it around, we couldn't have done it without you."

"Well, isn't that always the way?" A new voice said. Misty and Gyarados turned to see the familiar face of their old friend and fellow gym leader Brock coming through the front doors.

Misty broke into a grin and sprinted around pool of a battlefield in order to pull her friend into a hug. Brock chuckled a bit at the speed and force of the hug as he hugged her back.

"How's it going, Mist? I would think good, considering how fast that I saw the last guy run out of here towards Victory Road." Brock joked. He then faked recoiling back in pain as Misty playfully shoved him at his comment. "Did you make him cry?"

"No," Misty practically growled. "I just beat his Ampharos with Gyarados, that's all."

"Good to see you haven't changed any." Brock said with a chuckle. "You too, Gyarados, great to see you." He said, petting the sea serpents side as is swam over to the side of the pool Brock and Misty were talking by and reading his head down to say hello to his trainers close friend.

"It's been like a month, Brock. Nobody gets a drastic personality overhaul in barely three weeks." Misty said, rolling her eyes. "So," She said, starting to walk away from the entrance and towards the back of the gym. "Is this a business or social visit?"

They passed the end of the pool with Misty deciding to leave Gyarados out for now to stretch his muscles more in the pool. The training areas pool was bigger, sure, but it had most of her Pokemon out at the moment and Gyarados was a sucker for his own space.

"Social, nothing much on the business end yet. With he Champion's League coming up there probably won't be too much activity in our higher-ups that isn't related to that." Brock told her. "I just came to see how you were doing is all while I have the time to get out of the city. Last challenger I had was probably the kid you just beat, said he was from Johto."

"Dylan, yeah. He's a bit conceited with himself and his abilities, but battled decent." Misty informed him. "Damn near throttled my Goldeen, though. He didn't tell me he was an advanced trainer." Brock rolled his eyes.

"I'll call it in to the league, he did the same thing to me. His Feraligatr would've maimed by Geodude if I didn't forfeit it. I guess he's looking for some early advantages, but I did tell him it was illegal to impersonate a beginning trainer like that." Brock told her.

Misty rolled her eyes. People could be so nasty sometimes.

"Anyway," Brock continued on. "I talked to May a few days ago, she said both her and Dawn were planning on going to the Champion's League. It'll be nice to have the gang back together." He told her. She smiled widely at the thought.

"That's great Brock, I haven't seen anyone else in ages. I talked to May and Dawn about a month ago, but it feels like it's been years." Misty told him. "I wish we all weren't so far from one another all the time. We're in the same region and it takes weeks at a time to get to see each other in person."

"It's better than nothing, Mist." Brock reminded her, flinching right after. "That was a poor choice of words."

"A little, but I know what you mean." Misty paused. "Want to stay for lunch? That kid shouldn't be coming back today if he seriously want to earn my badge."

"Sure, it would be my pleasure." Brock said as they began to head past the training area. Misty smiled a bit.

"Great, what are we having? It's been ages since I've tasted your cooking, you know?" She teased, taking a few steps ahead of Brock.

"Hey wait, you said-" Brock cut himself off at her teasing wink. "If you wanted me to cook, all you had to do was ask." He said, playfully glaring at her as he walked by her still form.

The both chuckled as they entered the kitchen, trying their best not to be reminded of their old days traveling the lands.

"Hey Brock," Misty said as Brock began preparing ingredients. "Would you be interested in a vacation somewhere? Before the Champion's League?"

"Well I'm always down for more vacation time. Anywhere you had in mind?" Brock asked curiously, his interest piqued.

"I was thinking maybe somewhere in Johto. I remember it's nice this time of year." She suggested, hopping on to one of the countertops. "But I'm not sure, we've seen most of what there is from Johto."

"Were you thinking just us? Or the others?"

"Us and Max, I was thinking, but if May and Dawn want to come I wouldn't say no. Vacation to warm up and stuff for the league, you know, so I don't think they'd appreciate it too much. No outside influences, no schedules, just us, our Pokemon and learning." She informed him, getting a hum of approval.

"That does sound nice." He paused. "I'm in, the location doesn't matter too much if it's more about training than sightseeing. Maybe we can go somewhere none of us have gone before if Max is interested too?" Brock proposed. "Do you have tomatoes?"

"In the fridge, bottom drawer." She paused. "I guess we'll call the house after lunch and see, hopefully May upset at the idea of a trip to do nothing but battle and train." Misty said. Brock chuckled a bit.

"I'm sure it won't be a big deal, she'll probably make a week with Dawn out of it instead." He speculated. "I wonder if there's any coordinators in the Champion's League this year." He wondered out loud.

"I heard there was a few." Misty informed him. "Nobody I knew by name, though. But I don't know as many as you do. Why?"

"Just curious. There's a few people I haven't seen in a while that I wouldn't be surprised if they showed up." He shrugged. "Guess we'll just have to wait and see."

"That's the fun part, Brocko." Misty said, pleased with her wordplay.

"Yeah it used to be, back when we had a trouble magnet around." Brock replied instantly.

Misty remained quiet as Brock finished preparing lunch.


"Bless you." Raichu said from the stool next to Ash.

Ash wiped his nose with a napkin as he muttered thanks, closing his Pokedex up and slipping it into his pocket again.

"Alright buddy, do you think we should challenge the gym tonight or train with Torterra?" Ash asked, standing up.

"We tried that earlier and it didn't really go anywhere. We know a little bit more than we did then, but we don't really have any kind of plan yet." Raichu commented. Ash nodded, picking his bag up off the ground and slinging it over his shoulders.

"So, challenge the gym now and come up with a training regimen tonight?" Ash suggested. Raichu nodded, leaping onto Ash's right shoulder.

"Did we want to stay here tonight or try and move on?" Raichu took his turn asking questions.

"I was thinking just crash here, we've made plenty of progress today to make ourselves comfy and get a good nights rest. Then tomorrow, if we get to battle Clay today, we can get up around ten and move out." Ash informed his partner, who nodded along.

"Sounds like a plan, Ash. Let's keep moving." Raichu encouraged.

Intentions mapped out, Ash and Raichu peacefully exited the diner in favor of heading towards the gym for an anything but peaceful battle.


Hello, folks!

Sorry for the long delay, but college is a nightmare and a killer on my time, motivation and overall mood. I hope that now that it's summer I can keep myself in a good enough headspace and free enough for more regular updates and that, when next year comes around, I won't be put to a standstill again.

That said how did you guys feel about this one? Worth the wait or not really? Feel free to let me know your thoughts and opinions in a review because I enjoy your feedback!

And lastly, before we get to your reviews from last chapter, I want to let you all know that Cynthia will be appearing in the next chapter, but as to where- well, take your best guess.


Zach Flare SOLDIER Class S: Noted.

Vital Info: Thanks; I'm glad I managed to do your vision justice. From the moment we talked about something like this happening I knew I wanted it to be Torterra that did it, just had to make it in the best scenario possible. It means a lot that you in particular are satisfied with how that scene played out. As for Ash and Paul's reunion, it'll definitely be soon, although with Ash now being able to skip Mistralton City on his travels, how soon?

Yeah, it's one of the first cases like this with such a large amount of witnesses to go on too and some of them (Ash, Elesa and Skyla) have friends in pretty high places. This'll certainly make a splash.

I thought so too, Paul's definitely one of the characters that wouldn't hesitate to trade away certain members of his arsenal if the deal was good enough. I hope I made clear that, while he had changed, he still has viewpoints that don't exactly line up with Ash's. As for Z-Moves, he'll probably be figuring it out at least before the Champion's League.

Your vote for Rampardos is also noted.

Lightningblade49: Yeah maybe, but it won't be any of the Unova gym leaders that notice. Ash wasn't exactly the same Ash in Unova as he was in the other regions, let alone how he is at the moment. And thanks! I'm glad you liked the events of the chapter!

Sovereign2808: One is correct, one is not ;)

I suppose that's fair; I guess I just misunderstood what you were saying. Sorry for jumping down your throat like that, I hope you didn't find me too rude. I understand what you mean now, seeing as that I basically did what you were afraid of and let the story stir. As for the moves, that's why I eventually decided to do so- for people that didn't want to read through the nitty-gritty of each individual motion and turn, but I'll try not to let the battles drag on so long in the future.

Sorry again for misunderstanding, but I'm glad we're on the same page now. Don't hesitate to continue telling me like it is, Cheers!

Guest: Sorry for disappointing you, I just didn't think it would be best to go back and just give him the Pokemon he gets since, back when I started planning and even writing the story, the Sun and Moon games hadn't even come out yet- let alone the anime, so I wanted to play it very safe. Ash can Mega certain Pokemon at the moment, and will eventually learn Z-Moves. And yes, we will see Alolan-forms under the ownership of a few people- some very important.

Voltage-Livewire: I'm glad you enjoyed my twist! I wanted to do something pretty different with that so it didn't feel like just a way for Torterra to get more spotlight and that it was an event all its own as well.

Hy6r1d60y: Some of them he will eventually battle, yes. I don't know about all, yet, though. As for Cynthia, it's hard to make her important just yet since the focus thus far has all been preparing for the Champion's League which she's only recently been allowed time to do so. Now that she's free of her league duties for a bit, we'll be checking in with her more often.

Roma: I'm glad you enjoy the story! Here's your update sorry it took so long! Hopefully you'll stick around a bit longer!

Siloo666: Ash will definitely not command Mew in battle, haven't decided about Mewtwo yet. But he will certainly battle Gary later.

Besen: I know, I was really nervous about it but I felt like it had to be done. (And I also personally prefer Raichu, but that wasn't really the deciding factor). Thanks for the nice words; I hope I manage to keep you happy!

A: I'm doing my best.

Bosma17: Your wish is my command; I hope you weren't waiting too long.


That's it for today, guys. Don't forget to leave your thoughts in a review & I hope you're all happy with this chapter! See you all in Chapter Thirteen: Becoming the King of the Mines.

EDIT; May 21, 2018- If enough of you want me to include Ash's Alola Pokemon in the bunch I've figured out how I could do it [it would be a huge coincidence, though, but what isn't in the Pokemon world]. If you want me to bring in Ash's Alola team I would be bringing in basically what I theorize will be the final team he would have in the canon Sun and Moon anime, just so you all know. But still, let me know.