After healing up in the Pokemon Center, me and the guys, along with Victor, Gloria, and Hop, left to figure out what to do next. Raboot, of course, was still blushing and embarrassed. And I think I heard Milcery giggle a little.

"Oh, shut up, Milcery!" Raboot yelled. "This is embarrassing, you know!"

"Hey! Raboot!" Ash shot back. "Don't talk to Milcery like that!"

"Uh... Oops. Sorry. Geez..."

"It's alright," Hop says. "Raboot really gets like that when it's embarrassed. Did... Milcery say anything, Raboot?"

"Nah. It's just... uh, laughing at me, I guess."

"I just wanna know," Susie says. "Have you guys ever seen a Hybrimon, other than us?"

"We have," Gloria replies. "And we know we can hear our Pokemon talk when one of them's near. But we don't have any Hybrimon traveling with us."

"I see... But do you have any other Pokemon?"

"Victor recently caught a Skwovet. And I caught a Blipbug! Wanna see them?"

"Oh, yeah! I'd love to see them!" Ash exclaimed.

"Alright, then! Let's go, Blipbug!"

"You too, Skwovet!"

When they both let their Pokemon out, I see a grey squirrel and a blue insect. Rotom read their entries for us.

"Skwovet," Rotom said. "The cheeky Pokemon. A Normal-type. Found in the Galar region, this Pokemon becomes uneasy if its cheeks are ever completely empty of berries. Then there's Blipbug, the larva Pokemon. A Bug-type. A constant collector of information, this Pokemon is very smart. Very strong is what it isn't."

"But why'd you catch it if Blipbug isn't so strong?" I ask Gloria.

"Because it can evolve into Dottler, then into Orbeetle," Gloria explains. "And Orbeetle is a really strong Pokemon!"

"Orbeetle," Rotom interjected. "The seven spot Pokemon. A Bug- and Psychic-type. Upon evolving from Dottler, its brain has grown to a gargantuan size, as has the rest of its body. This Pokemon's intellect and abilities are overpowering."

"That's so cool!" Ash says. "Even though Blipbug isn't strong right now, it'll be beyond awesome when it evolves into Orbeetle!"

"You're headed for the Floji Gym, right?" Hop asks us.

"Not only that, but also for the Pokemon Fest," Robert adds.

"You can expect us to be there, too! We hear this Pokemon Fest's gonna be awesome!"

"You're not wrong. As a long-time fan of Pokemon Fests, I can assure you it's the best thing you can ever take part in Terelm!"

I guess we weren't the only ones hyped up about going to Floji. Believe me, I wish I could just Zoom us all there, but it sucks not being able to Zoom somewhere you haven't been. But then again, it wouldn't be fun if it was so easy, right?

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Wait, what?" I ask. "You're coming with us?"

"Of course!" Victor says. "What's the harm in doing that? Besides, Floji's really close. We should get going already!"

"Yeah, you're right. Floji, here we come!"

With Victor, Gloria, and Hop temporarily joining our team, we'd be in Floji in no time. Not to mention if anything gets in our way, we'd have more firepower! With our massive confidence, we left Rifia Town and got on Route FG to reach Floji.

After walking through a forest, I could finally see a savanna. It looked like Floji was just around the corner!

"And it'll only take ten minutes to get to Floji," Rotom analyzed.

"Why don't we take a break?" Lynn suggested. "I know Floji's close by, but you could always do with a little rest."

"Well.. what do you guys think?" I turned to the guys, and they nodded. We set up our camping gear, and let our Pokemon out to roam around. It was a good thing none of us were hungry- If we were, then... we'd have to stomach another serving of Mystery Food X. And considering we had people who hadn't tasted its wrath (No pun intended), it would be better if we just kept it to ourselves... right?

Ash seemed kinda on edge for a while, now that I think about it.

"Hey, Ash?" I ask him. "Is something the matter?"

"No, not really," He responds. "I just really wanna catch a Pokemon."

"Why now?"

"You see, if I'm going to beat the Floji Gym, then I'm going to need more than just Pikachu and Milcery. Rotom, what Pokemon live here?"

"Hmm..." Rotom paused for a moment to analyze its surroundings. "These do."

"Farfetch'd... Litleo... and Mawile?" I mutter to myself. These were pretty interesting choices, and that wasn't all of them, but it'd take forever for me to list them all.

"Let's see... How about Mawile?" Ash says.

"Mawile?!" Rotom gasps. "You should know that Mawile's a Steel- and Fairy- type, meaning it'll be weak to the Gym Leader's Fire-type Pokemon!"

"Yeah, I know that. But I have won against type disadvantages before! And a lot of them, actually."

"Well... if you say so. The chance of encountering a Mawile here is 35 percent."

"That's a pretty low encounter rate," I observe.

"Yeah, but I'll take it!" Ash declares. "I'll catch that Mawile and get my Floji Gym Badge!"

Ash and I ditch the camp in order to get a Mawile. Lynn's probably gonna freak out about this, but whatever. I may have the maximum amount of Pokemon, but I'll help Ash in any way I can! ...Although, it was easier said than done. I was right when I said 35 percent was a low encounter rate, because all we ever encountered was any Pokemon but Mawile.

"Ugh... No dice," I mutter.

"We can't give up now," Ash says. "We can't quit if we want to beat the Floji Gym!"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Rotom gasps. Was something wrong?

"What's up, Rotom?"

"Look, Ash!" Rotom says. It pointed at something, but I was surprised to see that it was pointing at a Mawile that had collapsed! We rush over to it and see if it's alive, let alone alright.

"I think it's fine. It's just unconscious."

"Don't we have any healing items? I used up all my Oran and Sitrus Berries..."

"This oughta do it!" I declare as I pull a Sitrus Berry from my bag. I give Mawile the berry and let it heal its wounds. Finally, it opened its eyes. Phew...

"You alright, Mawile?" Ash asked it. To my surprise, Mawile looked away. What the-?! That's no way to show respect to someone who saved your life! I was still processing that when Mawile took another glance at Ash, then at me, then at Pikachu. After a pause, it smirked, and jumped away. Without warning, it tries to use Bite on us! We narrowly dodge the attack.

"What's with this Mawile?!" I yell, and draw my sword.

"Wait, David!" Rotom interrupted me. "I think Mawile wants to fight! But it's more like it only wants to fight to get stronger, not because it wants to eat you."

Mawile, knowing what Rotom just said, nods in agreement. So it really does want to fight...? Well then, I'm game! I smile as I step forward, and Pikachu jumps from Ash's shoulder to get ready to battle.

Mawile runs at Pikachu and uses Sucker Punch on it before Pikachu has time to counterattack. Pikachu hastily gets back up and uses Quick Attack, but Mawile's too quick for it and dodges by jumping. However, I take this chance to cast Frizzle on it to deal a super-effective hit!

Mawile falls and hits the floor hard. It struggles to get up, but it forces itself to keep fighting. Pikachu uses Iron Tail to attack, but Mawile jumps up. If it was doing the same thing... Then surely the same attack will work! I cast Frizzle again, and just as I expected, it's a direct hit.

Mawile crashes into the floor again. It looked like it couldn't muster up any more strength to continue. So... that was it? That was the battle? Mawile started pounding the floor in frustration.

"Hey... what's wrong?" Ash asked timidly. He tried to approach Mawile, but it pushed him away, and ran off.

"That's kinda weird," Rotom says. "First it wants to fight, then it acts like a sore loser and runs away..."

"No," I counter. "There's definitely a reason why it wanted to fight other than doing it on a whim."


The one in which Ash decides to catch a Pokemon, and sets his sights on a Mawile. But it runs away...

After a few chapters, you might see Ash do something he never did in the anime.