The Deathman's Dragons

by The Deathman's Overlord

What happens if a slightly antisocial, dragon obsessed Ash starts his journey in Kanto with a Deino, not Pikachu? Ash gets thrown from one adventure to the next with a different team, and works his way through his future as a Dragon Master.

13. Chapter 13

Here's our list of everyone

Deino- Barastyr

Horsea- Oceanius

Dratini- Nephthys

Gible- Silvanus

Sandile- Anubis

Larvitar- Icelos

Bagon- Megara

Axew- Hades

Cleffa- Pandora

Vibrara- Viridios

Froakie- Boraes

Litten- Erebus

Chapter 13

Ash grinned to himself, amused beyond belief as he watched the pokemon interact as he set up camp for the night. Most of them were exhausted already, even partly asleep in the case of Hades.

Still, it was interesting to see how well his team fit together. It had been just about a month since he had left Pallet town, and he was finally loving his life. He had spent the last week exploring Route 25 and 24, slowly making his way back towards Cerulean. It was interesting to see how just a month could make so much of a difference.

His team was mostly the same, Viridios trying to eat Oceanius, with Anubis trying to eat him, Icelos trying to beat the crap out of Barastyr, so on and so forth. Some things had changed drastically, such as Viridios learning how to sneak up on the others with his wings. The pokemon enjoyed flying a lot more than anyone expected him to. He wasn't very good at it, but he loved it.

At the moment, Barastyr was hiding behind him, trying to stay out of sight of the others. His starter had definitely been embracing his dark typing the last few days, and that meant he was becoming more jealous, and valuing his space a lot more than he used to.

Anubis was getting more and more angry with every passing day. His rage was building, and he was just waiting for a good fight to let it out, so that he could evolve. Even though Ash knew that Anubis would never intentionally hurt him, he was getting wary letting the croc fight anything. He had almost managed to remove a plate from a Rhyhorn a few hours prior, and needed a strong fight that would back him into a corner.

Oceanius was waiting for something too, and whatever it was, the water type refused to tell him. He was at a bit of a loss on how to help Oceanius evolve when he didn't know why the Pokemon was refusing. If he didn't evolve in the next day or so, Ash knee he would have to talk to Professor Oak.

Viridios was his usual manic self, still cackling often, now as he swooped down from treetops or other high places he could perch. Honestly, if Ash hadn't known better, he would have said that Viridios was some sort of ghost/ dark type hybrid instead of a dragon/ground one. Still, his spirits were high, and he hadn't maimed anyone just yet, so Ash called it a win.

Hades was his usual breath of calmness. The Pokemon may have been his most inquisitive, but he was also the most level headed. He wasn't constantly suppressing rage, like most of the others. Instead, Hades just asked about something, then let it go and moved onto something else. He just, well, relaxed into himself. He was a bit of a loner, but got along with almost all of Ash's pokemon. He had no grudges that Ash could see.

Icelos was probably one of his most violent pokemons, right up there with Anubis and Viridios. He fought each battle like it was the last one he ever would. While most Larvitar were skittish and timid, his was, well, not. Icelos didn't particularly care for any of his team, but he was extremely protective over them. If someone managed to knock out one of the others, and he sent Icelos out after, Icelos would decimate whoever had dared to touch his team members. He was a weird mixture of clingy and distant that only seemed to work for him.

Froakie was always busy, always moving, and always restless. He had a big attitude that didn't match his smaller body. He had challenged all of Ash's Pokemon by this point, and seemed to especially enjoy egging Anubis on to the point that he would get bitten. He was also getting close to evolving, not that Ash was surprised. The little frog had been strong when Ash caught him and had taken to their training practices better than he expected. He was also picky, more so than any of Ash's others. After at least a hundred name choices, the Froakie had finally agreed on a name, Boraes. Why he liked that better than Triton or Hydros, Ash had no idea, but it was what the little frog wanted.

The last member with him was a small black and red cat like Pokemon with large golden eyes. Litten, or Erebus, was by far his laziest pokemon. He napped as often as he could and simply wanted to take it as easy as he could. Which was why Ash had been so surprised when Erebus had worked just as hard as Boraes was.

He had been so stunned when he saw what had been in the left pokeball. Not that Ash hadn't wondered about the other Pokemon, but he had made his choice, and it was a hard one. In all official League battles, so gyms and the actual Conference, he would only use his dragons.

Any other time, and the rest of his Pokemon were fair game.

Barastyr yawned and moved closer to Ash. He hadn't expected Bill to change his license, again, to hold eight pokemon. Granted, it was only a temporary thing, at the moment but he was grateful that Bill had been able to persuade him to go after what he really wanted.

He was more at peace with it, and his team was feeding off of it. He was happy with his team, and frankly couldn't wait until it was time for him to enter the Conference itself, where he would be able to have all of his team together. Then again, there were other ways to prove that someone was capable of handling all of their Pokemon, but that was something for later. Way, way later.

Hades yawned loudly, and Barastyr grumbled in agreement. They were exhausted, but satisfied from training and more than ready for dinner.

Ash chuckled quietly and started pulling out the pokéfood bowls. Once they were set up, he filled each one up, some further than others, and put a few berries on top. His team pounced as soon as he stepped back, and started eating. He rolled his eyes slightly. Really, someone who didn't know any better would think that his pokemon hadn't eaten in a week from the way that they were acting.

While they were busy stuffing their faces, Ash got out his usual grooming supplies and laid them out. Most of his team had scales and tough hides which needed careful care to make sure that they didn't crack as the pokemon grew. The others had fur, Erebus had the softest fur while Barastyr had short, mostly coarse hair covering the majority of his body.

He tried to groom his team at least every other day, and today was the day his starter and Erebus would get a little bit of extra time. It was important to him that his team was in the best possible shape that they could be, especially after Misty's accusations.

They were taking their time heading towards Cerulean. At this point, he wasn't sure if he wanted to challenge the gym yet or not. While most people thought that the Waterflower sisters were pushovers, Ash really wanted to be able to fight them when he could actually put up a fight. He knew that he could always wrap back around to Cerulean once one of his bigger dragons gained their wings. Megara and Nephthys would easily be able to handle him. It would take forever for poor Barastyr to finally get his wings though. It would happen, eventually, but having to ride a Salamence and Dragonite instead of a Hydreigon wasn't too much of a downgrade.

Ash could easily admit that he wasn't particularly worried about getting his badges. He still had plenty of time, and to him, it was more important to train up his team than wander around and fight gym leaders. Of course, the chances of him ever competing in the Indigo League Conference without having all eight badges was nonexistent, but he wasn't worried.

He had no doubt that Gary and the others had already moved on, past Surge, possibly Erika, because they were focused on the badges themselves. Blake, Vesper, and Lillian would probably go half and half, with some minor gym badges and only a few major ones. There was no way Lillian or Blake would challenge Sabrina or Giovanni, and Vesper would be hesitant when it came to fighting Blaine.

Gary would probably get all of the major badges, and most of the minor ones as well. He was obsessed with the tokens of power and success.

Ash wasn't going to bother with the minor gyms. He wanted to go head to head with the major leaders, but he would take his time. His dragons had grown a lot, and he was extremely proud of them, but they still had a lot of growing to do before the league started. He wasn't going to be one of those people who thought that they were strong, yet lost in the first round of the competition.

No, he was going to take his time. He was going to work hard, and still take his time to explore the world he lived in. He huffed quietly to himself, getting a weird look from several of his pokemon. It wasn't fair that he had to get his gym badges in such a rushed amount of time. They didn't do anything except tell people that he had won against someone who was going easy on him. The early badges were insulting almost.

Yes, there was technically no way for a new trainer to win against a veteran team, but that didn't make the victory any less bitter. He knew the rules, and he knew the consequences of the leaders not holding back, but if he was going to lose or win, he wanted it to be a fight worth taking on.

He sighed again, and pulled his pokenav out of his pocket. His team needed to train. Yes, they had been working practically all day, but so many of them were so close to evolving that he knew they just needed another push.

Instead, he put it back in his pocket and simply cleaned up around the campsite and worked on getting a fire started. He had already gathered the wood earlier, and just had to arrange it and the stones to the correct shape. Well, actually, he had Icelos gather branches with Boraes while the others were scouting to make sure they didn't enter a strong Pokemon's territory.

He didn't want to wake up to a rampaging Primeape or something like that. He had forgotten to scout a few times, especially lately, and it always ended badly. Funny enough, he had actually stumbled across a very possessive Weepinbell's territory and woke up being lifted by Bellsprout, about to be sacrificed.

Okay, it was more like they stepped foot, root?, into his campsite and Ash's Pokemon went wild on them before being attacked by a Weepinbell, who wasn't happy it's minions were being attacked. Some Pokemon were hilarious.

Ash couldn't stop the snicker from escaping him, and Icelos gave him a death glare. Poor Icelos had been caught by the large grass type, thanks to a vine whip, and juggled by it. His pride was still smarting.

Poor, poor Icelos. Barastyr was never going to let him live it down.

A soft, warm head butted gently into his side, jolting him out of his thoughts. Erebus purred quietly and spit a flame at the group of sticks, lighting it instantly. He gave the Litten a small smile and pet his head softly.

Yeah, he could get used to this.

Ash happily caressed Silvanus as the Gible attached himself to his human's leg. Finally in the Pokemon center in Cerulean City, and he was reunited with his dragons. He had missed all of them more than he ever thought possible.

Silvanus had glomped him as soon as his pokeball had been switched for Boraes. Ash scratched his horns happily, ignoring the looks he was getting. He had missed the little dragon and he saw no reason to deny it. He still had one more transfers to make, Nephthys for Icelos as soon as he was done cuddling the blue dragon.

As much as he wanted Megara at his side, when it came to battling, he trusted some of the others more. However, he did trust her more than Nephthys. The problem was that he wanted to trust her, and he could only do that if she could prove to him that she wanted to be on his team. If this went the way he expected it to, he would send his little princess to the ranch, where she would be happier, and just battle with the others instead.

He would be switching Megara for one of the others after they were done at the gym. He wasn't sure how he would make it work, but he wanted to make sure they all got attention.

Depending on the sisters, he would be using Hades and Nephthys, with Oceanius as his backup. He really, really didn't want to use his strongest trio. Oceanius, Anubis, and Viridios would crush any weaker Pokemon, and he didn't want that. He knew that his other Pokemon needed a chance to have battles that would push them to their limits.

After a few seconds, he mentally shook his head. No, he wanted to use Megara as well, instead of Oceanius, and that meant switching the two of them. He could have switched Viridios, but that was a disaster waiting to happen.

As soon as Silvanus settled at his side, he turned back to the video phone. Professor Oak was watching him with a smug, yet surprised look on his aged features.

"You know, Ash, I wasn't expecting him to settle down so easily. You have such excitable pokemon that I was slightly worried for them. I think I get it now. I take it you told them to train while they were here?"

Ash shrugged. "Well, yeah I didn't want them to fall behind the others."

The Professor hummed quietly. "You know that the others already have at least three badges each, correct?"

"Of course. Dragons take longer to raise to a battle appropriate level. Besides, I'm not in a rush. We still have a lot of time before the conference. I could have hurt my Pokemon if I battled them too early." Ash wasn't sure how many times he had told that to Gary over the years.

The others were speeding their way across Kanto. For his dragons sake, he was taking his time. If it wasn't for Oceanius, Anubis, and Viridios he wouldn't even be trying this gym. As much as he trusted his Pokemon, he knew that these three Pokemon were tired of being held back by the others. They wanted stronger fights, and to do that, they would need some badges.

The others would have to keep up or get mowed over.

Ash had faith that Barastyr and Icelos could keep up, as they were growing faster than he expected, but he was more worried about the others. In terms of power, Viridios was the strongest, followed by Oceanius, Anubis, Barastyr, Icelos, Silvanus, Hades, Nephthys, Megara, Boraes, Eris, and Erebus.

Viridios only took first place because his evolution put him ahead of his teammates, but as soon as Oceanius or Anubis evolved, it was anyone's guess who would outdo the others. They were both so close to being ready.

Ash blinked, before releasing Anubis from his pokeball. The sand croc hissed angrily and snapped his jaws, making several of the other trainers scream and back away. "Professor, Anubis and Oceanius have been ready to evolve for a while, but they can't seem to get over that last hump. Is it normal for their species to have trouble evolving?"

He angled the camera down to show the spitting mad croc. Anubis snapped his jaws at Silvanus, who just snapped back. Ash quickly recalled the Gible, knowing that Anubis was in the worst mood to deal with his teammates.

The Sandile seemed to see the Professor, and hissed angrily at him.

"Well, he certainly has enough aggression built up to evolve, Ash. He must be holding himself back. He's a large, aggressive male, and I would hate to have him around the Ranch, but maybe he needs to spend some time alone to evolve."

Ash watched his partner, who seemed to relax slightly at the Professor's words. "Well, Anubis? Do you want to go to the Ranch for a little while? Is that what you want?"

Anubis seemed to consider the words carefully. Ash could tell that his Pokemon wanted to go, but the Sandile shook his head slightly. Clarity filled Ash. Anubis would be struggling with his protective instincts, as well as his need to tear something apart. The Sandile's instincts wouldn't let him leave his trainer with Pokemon he didn't trust, and right now, that was most of his team, especially Viridios.

"Okay. You can stay if you want to, Anu." He crouched down next to the Pokemon and scratched his head. Ash was the only one Anubis would let even get close to him right now. Still, the young trainer could see Anubis fighting with himself to allow the touch instead of biting off the hand touching him. "Would you be okay if I let Oceanius out so that the Professor can take a look at him, or would you rayber go back in your pokeball?"

After a few seconds of indecision, Anubis turned his massive snout towards Ash's belt. He easily recalled Anubis and sent out Oceanius instead.

His water type Pokemon trumpeted in greeting as he bounced into Ash's arms. Oceanius was always happiest when he was the only one of Ash's Pokemon out. The switch seemed to make the entire Pokemon center relax slightly. They were unaware just how dangerous Oceanius could be when provoked.

It only took a few seconds for Oceanius to spot the Professor and the two of them locked eyes for a minute, before sending the older man a dismissive glance and focusing on Ash again. The boy just laughed at his pokemon. Only Oceanius.

"Professor, this is Oceanius." He introduced. "He and Anubis are the two who are the most physically ready to evolve of my team."

The Professor laughed heartily, tears stinging his eyes. It took almost a full minute for the older man to calm down enough to speak. "He's just stubborn. He likes being a Horsea, I'm sure, and doesn't want to become a Seadra. It honestly seems like he had maxed out what he can do as a Horsea, so I would be surprised if he didn't get frustrating quickly and evolve simply so he can outdo someone else." The Professor took a few breaths to even himself out. "He reminds me of my Alakazam. Even when he was an Abra, he had an attitude problem, and his stubbornness only multiplied when he evolved. The poor thing only decided to become a Kadabra when he was asleep and got hit by an acorn on the head. It never would have happened if he was awake, and hasn't happened since."

"So, he's just being stubborn? That's it?" Ash couldn't believe that his Pokemon was worrying him because he was simply not wanting to evolve. Oceanius's eyes glinted when they met his. Then again, Oceanius was probably the most stubborn Pokemon he had, even if he was the most regal and well behaved.

He supposed he could understand it. Oceanius was proud of what he had accomplished as a Horsea, and as long as he could keep up with the other two, he wouldn't want to evolve. If anyone beat him, however, that might be enough for his Pokemon to snap.

They needed to fight some stronger opponents. And quickly.

He held Oceanius for a few more seconds, before recalling him as well. "I'm sending him and Icelos your way so that I can get Nephthys and Megara. Don't let them out of their pokeballs. Icelos will break something and Oceanius will try to poison you. I'll take them back as soon as I can."

Ash felt a tinge of regret as he sent the two Pokemon, but he knew that this was the best for all of them. Besides, he needed to spend some time with all of his girls, and he was probably going to have Eris with him when he left Cerulean. It was only fair that the others got a chance to spend some time with their trainer.

As soon as he was done, he said his goodbyes and headed out again. He had six dragons with him at the moment, and his two dark types of course, but his team was mainly dragons.

It only took a few minutes for him to reach the gym again, all shing glass walls and tanks filled with Pokemon from every region. As soon as he walked in the door dinged overhead, making the secretary jump up from where she had been napping at her desk.

Violet was apparently working the desk. She blinked at him, surprise in her features. Clearly, she hadn't been expecting him to be back, but there he was.

"I'm here for a gym battle." He said shortly, stomping down his excitement and anxiety.

She blinked again. "I thought you were going to challenge Surge first, or at least that's what everyone's expecting you to do."

"I will, when I get to Vermillion. Right now, I'm challenging you." He said easily, before pausing. "Or whichever one of you is acting as the Leader at the moment, I guess."

She shrugged and tossed her blue hair over her shoulders. "Lily is taking challenges right now. Give her a few more minutes to finish up with the kid she's beating, then she'll deal with you."

Ash nodded, eyes moving to a screen above the desk. It certainly seemed like Lily was going to win. The other trainer, a girl with red curls and green eyes, had sent out a Tentacruel, with too many legs to count and a large, blue, gel like body.

Lily had a Starmie that was playing around with the girl's pokemon. It was out of the girl's league, something obvious to any trainer who knew what they were doing.

From the pokemon, Ash guessed the girl had come in with a few badges already, possibly two or three, and had dived into the deep end. He could tell that this was a Pokemon that Lily was comfortable using, but it wasn't on her true team. It was too weak for that, even if it was stronger than the girl they were fighting.

"How many badges does she have?" Ash couldn't help but ask. Everyone was rushing for their badges, some going for one every week or less if they had a flying type pokemon.

"Three. She was being cocky and trying to say that all of the Pokemon here were first gym leader levels." Violet answered, picking up a nail file from her desk as she inspected her hands.

"Ah. Lily didn't take it well?"

She shrugged easily. "Frankly, she deserves to lose. She forced her Tentacruel to evolve too early, and its supposedly her strongest pokemon. Starmie will put it in its place."

Sure enough, two minutes and a Psywave later, Daisy called the match in favor of her sister. Ash was a bit surprised when the challenger burst into tears and tried to run out of the gym, only to be caught at the edge of the float. She hardly waited for it to go back to the starting position.

Ash was disgusted with her behavior. He understood, losing was hard, but to burst into tears and not be able to pull yourself together was simply unacceptable. It made him wonder how she had gotten her trainers license.

He watched calmly as she rushed past him, tears streaming out of her face as she bolted away. Being a trainer meant that one had to have at least some emotional control, because they were responsible for more than just their lives. She was overly emotional, and that meant that her Pokemon could suffer.

The other two sisters came through the doorway, chatting contentedly amongst themselves. He cleared his throat, trying to catch their attention. Daisy and Lily glanced around the room. Ash could tell exactly when they caught sight of him, because they ended up freezing.

He waved awkwardly in greeting, waiting for them to restart their brains so that he could have the battle he wanted so badly. He wasn't sure why they were so surprised to see him back when they knew he hadn't gotten the Cascade Badge yet. "Hey guys."

The sisters exchanged dark looks. "If the Runt finds out that your here, she'll kick your ass." Daisy told him.

He shrugged. "She challenged me, and she's the one who screwed up, not me."

Violet sighed to herself, leaning her head on her palm. "You know that you already have the Cascade Badge in the eyes of the league, right?"

"For that?" There was no way he would take the badge for a battle where the gym leaders starter retreated and had clearly been neglected. He would rather take on a minor gym than take a badge from Misty.

"Rules are rules. As our apprentice, when you beat her, you get a badge. Your trainers license should have said you got the badge a few weeks ago." Lilly said easily .

Ash scowled at that. "Any chance I can get a rematch then?"

The three of them exchanged looks again, before shrugging again. "I'll take you on, but I'm going to be using a stronger team than Misty used." Lilly warned, eyes hardening slightly.

Ash nodded. "That's fine. My team is ready."

He followed her into the main gym, not at all surprised to see her sisters behind him. This was going to be interesting.

Ash kept his balance as he stepped onto the raft, barely moving as he was moved out into the giant pool. This felt more like a gym battle than the temper tantrum that Misty had thrown during their battle. His team was solid, his strategy was adaptable, and his Pokemon were ready to fight.

Daisy took her place in the center with two flags, one red for Ash's side, and a blue one for her sister. "This battle will be four on four. Substitutions are allowed on the challenger side only. The first one to have all of their opponents pokemon unconscious wins. Leader Lily, send out your first pokemon." And with that she stepped back.

Lily grabbed a pokeball from her side and tossed it forward. The Pokemon came out in a white beam, and the pokeball slapped back into her hand, which placed it back on her belt.

Ash took a few seconds to look at it. The Pokemon was large, blue with white gloves covering its hands, and had a black and white spiral on its stomach. A Poliwhirl was a potentially powerful threat. They could fight out of water just as well as they could fight in it. His pokemon had never fought something so powerful before.

He wanted to stick with his original strategy, but he was hesitant. There was no way Megara would have been able to fight something like that. No way at all. Hades, on the other hand...

Hades would be able to do some damage. If all of their Pokemon were around this level, he'd have to do some mental shuffling, but he could do it.

He picked his own choice and released Hades onto the field, before placing his pokeball back in its usual spot. They were as ready as they could be.

The Axew blinked curiously at his opponent, tilting his head slightly to the side. The move normally made someone look like they were lost, but Hades used it in another way, one that only someone who knew the clever mind he would notice.

The Pokemon turned slightly, just enough for Ash to see a familiar glint in his eyes. Ash grinned, and relaxed. Hades had an idea. Most dragons were smart, but some took it in different ways. In Hades case, he wasn't a prankster, like Viridios, nor did he go after everything with his jaws, like Barastyr and Silvanus. No, he liked to play psychological games with his opponent, underperforming his moves to get them comfortable before striking heavily. It worked well for him, as he seemed to be just as clueless as any rock type.

Not many Pokemon realized how nasty Hades could be, especially with his Night Slash attack. But, it seemed like Poliwhirl would find out.

Daisy motioned for them to start, and he knew just how to begin. A little known fact: Hades knew more attacks than anyone, save Viridios. He could fight up close and personal, or further away without having to get anywhere near their opponents. "Dragon Dance." He commanded simply, as his Pokemon started collecting the necessary energy.

It seemed like Lily wasn't even going to bother trying to distract him. Oh well, he thought with a mental sigh, her loss. It only took about five seconds for Hades to gather the draconic energy, which would boost several of his future attacks.

As soon as the energy was gathered, Hades took off, charging his opponent with one clawed hand glowing harshly. Hades scratched at the Poliwhirl with a toned down version of his usual dragon claw.

The Pokemon took the attack, not seeming that impressed, which was a shame for it. As much as Hades wanted to play, Ash just wanted his fight to be done. "Detonate." He whispered.

While poor Hades could only learn one fire type move, in the form of Incinerate, he had a love of explosions. Night slash was his favorite, to be sure, but it wasn't the only one he had. Ash had learned that Hades had great control over draconic energy, better than any of his other Pokemon, honestly. And with that, came the knowledge that Hades would focus on the energy he left behind after an attack and make it explode. The weaker the move, they had learned, the stronger the explosions ended up.

Hades had barely sliced through any of Poliwhirl's skin.

At his command, Hades jumped back, smirking as he landed next to Ash. As soon as his back paws touched the raft, Poliwhirl, well, exploded. It wasn't strong enough to kill the guppy Pokemon, but it had certainly hurt it pretty badly. It had been launched upwards towards the ceiling and crashed harshly, before falling roughly on the platform below.

Poliwhirl pushed itself up, panting roughly and bruised all over. Several ringlets of blood slowly fell as the Pokemon tried to recover.

He heard Lily yelling command after command, but Ash just waited. Hades had a plan after all.

Even if the Axew lost to this Pokemon, it wouldn't be without a fight. He rushed forward, dodging beams of water that could have hurt him. Once he was in the face of the Poliwhirl, he let loose another attack, blowing the pokemon up again. This time, instead of going up and hitting the roof, it went sideways, hitting the psychic barrier instead.

Another cut, this one much longer and deeper, appeared on the Pokemon's body. Ash knew what had just happened: Hades had let loose a Night Slash, but had done so without having the glow turn black. It was impossible for a Pokemon to dodge something they couldn't figure out.

He resisted the urge to shake his head at his little pyromaniac. It was both adorable and sad. It was also a great deterrent for some of his pokemon. None of them wanted to get blasted by him.

Ignoring the yelling, Ash focused on Hades, taking notes on how quickly he charged his attacks and just how much more work they had to do. There were some things about being a trainer that he didn't understand, and yelling out instructions that your opponent could hear was one of them. He had spent some time with most of his Pokemon and had gone over a strategy beforehand. With Neph, he knew that he would have to instruct her, but Hades knew what he was doing, and had no problem getting everything he wanted done.

Hades knew what his strongest moves were, and what moves he should avoid in an actual battle because they took too long to form. Ash had confidence that Hades would win this, hopefully before Poliwhirl got a chance to show off rather or not he knew an ice type move or not.

Sure enough, after almost seven minutes of turning Poliwhirl into a bouncy ball, Hades finally landed a proper Night Slash, proving that he was just playing the whole time. Ash tisked as Hades landed easily in front of him while Poliwhirl slammed once more on his platform, eyes swirling in unconsciousness.

The sisters were quiet as they took in the brutality that Hades loved to use. He was still weak, when it came to most of his moves, but Hades was a perfectionist. There was no way he would ever use a move in battle that he hadn't completed. They didn't know that though. They had no idea how many hours Hades had spent just learning how to manipulate the energy necessary for his two favourites.

Something glinted in Lily's eyes that wasn't there before. She had been trying to go easy on him, and she had been crushed by the ruthless dragon. She twirled a strand of her pink hair in her fingers as she considered what to do next. Unlike her sisters, she rarely used pure water types. Daisy preferred her pure water types, Violet didn't care, so long as they had some sort of extra power that she could use.

Lily's love was water Pokemon, of course, and ice types. She was a duel type leader, not that she used her others very often. Because of that, all of her Pokemon knew ice type moves, and she knew how to take down Ash's pesky pokemon.

She reached for her second choice, Dewgong, and knew that this would change the entire battle. It wasn't her main teams Dewgong, it was her fifth one actually, but this one was newly evolved and would put up a fight. She sent it out, whispering her commands to use Ice beam as soon as she could lock onto her target. Aurora was nothing like Loki, her first Dewgong, but that didn't mean she was a pushover.

Hades hadn't been expecting the attack, which knocked him back into the water almost instantly.

Lily smiled to herself. If there was one thing Dragons hated, it was ice. Poor thing hadn't even stood a chance.

Ash instantly recalled Hades, knowing better than to let him flail in the water after a direct hit from a powerful Ice beam. He grimaced to himself. Ice types were one of the most frustrating Pokemon types in the world, and from the smile on the leaders lips, she knew it. He took a moment to think. He wanted to send out Neph next. She was the next Pokemon in his list to use, but she was a pure dragon, and Ash was hesitant. She was fast on land, but she was faster in the water, which she would probably seek out. If the Dewgong froze the water, he'd be in big trouble.

He took a calming breath, and selected his next choice before he could think about it. Silvanus wasn't a smart move, normally, but he could still cause a good bit of damage. He had the ability to call a sandstorm, which would constantly hurt Dewgong and any other Pokemon that were on the field, so long as they weren't immune.

Silvanus formed in the light, moving constantly and never stopping. Ash took the chance to really look at his pokemon for the first time in a long while. Something was different. Sure, he still charged randomly and tried to bite Dewgong's fins in order to slow it down. He was following his usual patterns, but something seemed off. Ash watched as his pokemon used a rare ferocity to land hits on Dewgong.

The ice type opened its mouth, sending a frosty beam at Silvanus and making him slam against the wall, frozen in place by the attack. Ash sighed to himself as he lifted the pokeball. He was forced to stop once his eyes locked onto Silvanus'. He still wanted to fight, and he wasn't about to be knocked out this early in the game.

His black eyes glowed red as a light engulfed the Land Shark Pokemon.

Ash felt his breath freeze in his lungs as he watched. He knew that several of his partners were nearing their evolutions, but he had no idea that Silvanus' patience had worn out with being simply a Gible. He watched in amazement as the once small Pokemon that was pretty much all mouth suddenly grew over twice the size he had been. His short, stubby hands and feet became longer, thin yet dangerous claws. The fin on his back grew almost three times the size it had been, and he grew three more fins, one on each arm and one on his tail. Several claw like spikes emerged from the skin on his knees, adding to the predators dangerous aura.

The biggest change, however, was that his eyes were no longer the black pools that they had been, but golden with black surrounding them. He roared loudly in anger, and broke the ice that had been holding him back. He was much bigger, around Ash's size now, and he moved in unsure, lagging stepps.

Ash could see that Silvanus wanted nothing more than to charge and bite, but that strategy wouldn't work as well now that he had grown so much. Still unsure with his newly large limbs, Silvanus took a few seconds to stretch his arms, claws and legs, as he tried to focus on his new body.

Thankfully, Lily and her Dewgong seemed content to wait a few minutes for him to figure out how to move, before they dove back into the battle.

That round didn't last much longer, as a certain newly evolved Pokemon had an extra rush of hormones and energy running through his veins. Silvanus seemed surprised when he was able to knock out the Dewgong so easily.

Ash hid a smile. It seemed like someone had been training extensively while he was at the ranch. Like this, Silvanus would be a challenge for Viridios, Oceanius, and Anubis to take down. He was so glad to see that the shy, abused Gible he had gotten in Viridian had been able to become so strong. It had taken a lot of work, he knew, but it had paid off.

He was so proud.

As soon as they were done here, he would take Silvanius, Icelos, Viridios, Oceanius, Anubis, and Barastyr to see just where his Gabite landed in power compared to his others.

It only took another five or so minutes for Silvanus to take Dewgong down. His instincts led him to slash at the ice type, while his personality told him to bite down and not let go. Ash told himself that one day, he would take the time to learn why pokemon battled differently depending on which form they were in.

Still, somehow, someway, his once clingy little Gible managed to defeat a pretty strong Dewgong. Ash held back a smile as he noticed a shaky, new, yet strangely strong attack from his friend. Silvanus had taught himself dual chop, and while it wasn't perfect yet, it was far more effective of a technique as a Gabite than it was for a Gible.

He was so proud. Every move, every attack, had a point. Silvanus seemed to be strategizing, and had been waiting for just the right moment to prove his strength. And it worked too.

Lily was smiling finally, enjoying herself with a battle that made her blood sing as she recalled her second pokemon. Her third choice was a little more surprising, a purple floating clam shell pokemon, a Cloyster.

Silvanus growled viciously at the ice type, but Ash could see through it. He had gotten stronger, a lot stronger, but his burst of adrenaline was starting to wear off and he needed to rest. He knew that the dragon type would want to protest, especially as his hormones were probably screaming at Silvanus to protect his trainer.

Part of being a good trainer, though, was knowing when enough was enough. Which was why he withdrew Silvanus before either Cloyster or his dragon could get an attack out.

He took a few seconds to think, before deciding that it was Nephthys's turn. Even if she didn't do well, he still wanted her to try. As a pure dragon type, she would have a heck of a time against an ice type, but this would be good practice for her, and he wanted to see just how much his third pokemon had grown without his guidance.

He tossed her pokeball into the air and released her with a beam of light. Nephthys trilled in greeting, happily wiggling around on the platform for a few seconds, before getting serious.

Ash frowned to himself as he watched her move. Normally, as soon as he let her out of her pokeball, the small dragon looked around everywhere, and met his eyes before they settled on her opponents. Not this time though.

He muttered a few choice words under his breath as he held his hand up for a time out. "Nephthys, to me."

He heard her whine quietly, but she moved back to his side. He knelt down next to her, taking in her dark, foggy eyes and off purple scales with a frown. It wasn't hard to figure out why she was moving so slowly, but he couldn't for the life of him, understand why the Professor had sent her to him like this.

Unfortunately for him, Neph was shedding. It was too soon for her to need a full body shed again, yet as he touched her head, he knew that was what was happening. He gently scratched her head, feeling the uneven scales with a sigh.

There was no way he could let her fight. Not like this. Part of him was ecstatic that she was already starting to shed again, but most of him just wanted to bang his head against the wall.

She was going to evolve soon, which was awesome, but she would be extremely vulnerable until she did.

Neph saw something in his eyes and whined again, but Ash wasn't going to budge. "She can't fight, so you get this round." He said calmly, stroking her scales as she grumbled at him. He glanced down sharply as she tried to move forward again. "No. You can either stay here with me and watch V work or you can go back in your pokeball. Those are your only two options."

The little dragon shifted quietly and wrapped herself around Ash's feet, but didn't try to argue anymore. She was too tired and her scales were starting to hurt. She didn't really want to fight, she just wanted to prove that she could. Sadly, she knew her trainer was right. Fighting right now would just hurt her more in the long run. She pouted cutely. Neph just wanted to evolve already.

While his girl was settling at his feet, he lazily selected his next pokeball. Viridios would have to take out Cloyster and whatever Lily's fourth Pokemon was in order to win. He hated using V on any Pokemon, but his choices were extremely limited right now. He just had to hope that Viridios wouldn't snap and kill any of Lily's pokemon.

Normally, sending out a ground type, or a dragon type, against an ice type was a stupid move. Normally, it wouldn't have ended well for the dragon. But Viridios, well, he wasn't normal. Not in the slightest. If anyone had a chance to help him win this, it was V.

He had no doubt that Viridios would be cackling as he won in a few minutes. It was exhausting to try and find opponents that could keep up with V, and his appetite for battles. Hopefully, this would help the insane Vibrava calm down at least slightly.

And if, by chance, V wasn't enough to win, he knew that the reality check would be good for him too.

Mind made up, he tossed the pokeball in the air, letting Viridios get a flying start. "Show them no mercy, Viridios." He muttered out, knowing that the Pokemon could hear him just fine.

V glided through the air, green eyes glowing in surprise at the command. Usually, Ash did little more than tell him to hold back, to show mercy when the Vibrava had none. But with that command instead, he was given the ability to do what he wanted against his opponent, so long as he won.

The dragonfly pokemon hovered closer to Ash, knowing that there was more to his command than a simple free for all.

"She's got one left after this, and you're my last one left." Ash muttered quietly, knowing that his pokemon would understand what he was saying just as clearly as what he wasn't.

Viridios couldn't go all out on this one. He would need to make sure he had enough energy to take down another Pokemon as well. Admittedly, his stamina wasn't as good as the damned croc Pokemon, but he had a few tricks that he had been dying to test out. His strength was his creativity with his attacks. Not his sheer power, or his jaws, he missed his jaws, but his mind.

He looked at his opponent, sizing up the ice type, before freezing. The Cloyster had laughed at him. It was chuckling at him!

Bloodlust flashed through his emerald eyes as he readied himself to take down the giant clam. It thought he was a joke? Then the joke would make it bleed. It's not funny, after all, until someone gets hurt.