The group stood outside of the lab as the last car pulled away. A moving team was already picking up the camp equipment to put it back into storage, and everyone was ready to finally relax.
"Here are your phones back." Professor Cerise said, holding out the box.
As soon as Ash picked his up, an alarm went off.
"Never a dull moment around here." Chloe sighed, realizing what that meant.
"You don't have to come, you can stay and relax, or maybe try and find Impidimp." Ash offered.
"Yeah, I think I'll actually go with you." Chloe said.
"I think that's a three person job." Goh said leaving with them.
"So are we just going to keep ignoring the stray Pokémon living in my vents?" Professor Cerise asked to the empty room.
Northern Vermillion
"Are you… Ash?" The girl asked.
"Yeah, are you KS?" Ash responded, confused by the name.
"The one and only." KS taunted. "Ready to start?"
"You know it." Ash responded.
"Weavile let's go!"
"Come on out Bayleef!"
"Weavile use Ice Beam!"
"Bayleef use Body Slam!"
Bayleef jumped out of the way of the attack, and came crashing down, only to miss the Weavile.
"Weavile use Ice Beam again!"
"Bayleef use Razor Leaf!"
Bayleef's attack landed, unfortunately so did the Weavile's.
"Bayleef use Energy Ball!"
"Weavile use Shadow Ball!"
The two attacks collided in a cloud of smoke. As the smoke cleared, Weavile jumped out and struck Bayleef with another Ice Beam, freezing it on the spot.
"Bayleef return. Pikachu I'm counting on you." Ash said.
"Same old Ash." KS said under her breath.
"Pikachu use Quick Attack!"
"Weavile use Shadow Ball!"
Pikachu easily outsped the Weavile landing a hit.
"Weavile use Blizzard!
"Pikachu use Discharge!"
The elements filled the area, making it almost impossible to see.
"How can I fight what I can't see?" Ash asked.
"Not a problem for us. Weavile use Night Slash!"
"Pikachu get ready and when it's right there, use Iron Tail!"
The scuffle was heard, a moment later, Weavile came flying out of the weather, defeated.
"You got lucky with one, but how about two!" KS said, sending out another Weavile.
"Pikachu use Thunderbolt!"
"Weavile use Ice Beam!"
As the storm dissipated, the beams of blue and yellow could be seen pushing back and forth.
"Weavile use Metal Claw!"
"Pikachu quick use Iron Tail!"
The Pokémon clashed, metal vs metal.
"Now Pikachu use Thunderbolt!"
"Weavile use Ice Punch!"
When the smoke cleared both Pikachu and Weavile were unable to battle.
"I won!" Ash exclaimed.
"No we tied!" KS responded.
"Bayleef wasn't knocked out though, just frozen." Ash pointed out.
"Fair enough Ash." KS said, shaking his hand.
"So what brings you here Kidd?" Ash asked.
"How'd you know?" Kidd asked.
"You're the only trainer I know to exclusively use two Weavile." Ash responded.
"To answer your question, I'm just going around right now." Kidd responded.
"Hey, since you're here, I could use your help locating a Pokémon." Ash said.
"How can I help?" Kidd asked.
At the lab
"I can't believe Ash knows Kidd Summers." Chrysa whispered.
"I can't believe she's here." Ren said.
"I can't believe she's doing this for free." Professor Cerise said.
"I can't believe you think I can't hear you." Kidd said.
She had set up some monitoring equipment, and a few drones to look for Impidimp in the vents.
"Don't worry Ash, if your Pokémon is in these vents, I'll be able to find it." Kidd reassured.
"Sorry this isn't tracking legendary Pokémon levels of exciting." Ash apologized.
"No problem, gives me some time to test the new drones out. These ones have nets." Kidd said with a smirk. "Anyways what's your rank at?"
"Let me see." Ash said pulling out his phone. "I'm at #347."
"Wow, I was way out of my league, I was in the low 800s." Kidd said. "Oh, we got something! Two moving targets headed towards the main entrance.
In the vents
Impidimp had the intruder. He was closing in, and there was one way to go now.
Ash was waiting outside the front vent, when he heard a ruckus, and Impidimp and another Pokémon tumbling out of the vents.
"Impidimp there you are!" Ash exclaimed. "And Bagon?"
"Ba Bagon!" Bagon shouted angrily at Impidimp.
"Imp!" Impidimp shouted in response.
"Okay you two. Bagon you want a fight, and Impidimp you want to fight Bagon, let's at least do this outside." Ash said opening the front door.
"Impidimp use Play Rough!"
The Bagon flipped out of the way before charging forward with a Headbutt. Impidimp was hit but quickly recovered.
"You've gotten better. Impidimp use Thief!"
The Bagon took it head on, and responded with a Flamethrower!
"Anyone want to explain what's going on?" Kidd asked.
"Ash met that Bagon back in Hoenn, and it's literally traveled the world to have a real match against him." Goh said.
"I was talking more about the red scales." Kidd said.
"That, no idea." Goh responded.
"Impidimp use Taunt!"
Impidimp patronized the Bagon, enraging it and sending it into a flurry of Dragon Claws. Impidimp simply laughed at the poor attempts to hit him. Bagon kept getting angrier and angrier until…
"It's evolving!" Chloe said shocked.
A bright light engulfed Bagon, as it grew and changed shape. In its place was a Black Shellgon.
"Impidimp look out!" Ash called out as the Shellgon hit another Headbutt.
"Impidimp use Play Rough!"
Shellgon's bulkier size made it more difficult for it to move, as it took the direct attack, only to respond with another Flamethrower.
"Ash this isn't looking good, maybe you should try catching it, or switching to someone else." Chloe said worried for Impidimp.
"Impidimp I'm good to keep going if you are!" Ash said.
Impidimp stood up, ready to keep going as long as it took.
"Alright then, Impidimp use Play Rough again!"
Shellgon once again took the attack, before charging for another Flamethrower. As the flames flew out, Impidimp was no longer there. Shellgon felt a hard knocking on its shell. Impidimp was on top of him. Shellgon flailed back and forth trying to knock off the smaller Pokémon, Impidimp laughing the whole time.
"Impidimp use Play Rough!"
As Impidimp knocked Shellgon off its feet, he landed back in front of Ash and took a bow. Shellgon got up, shook himself off, and let out a yell, before running off.
"Such a strange Pokémon." Kidd said astonished. "Aren't you going after it?"
"No, he's not ready to join me yet, maybe one day. When it happens I want it to be his decision though." Ash said, watching the Pokémon leave. "As for you, we've been worried, and running out of pens." Ash scolded Impidimp.
"Fun as this has been Ash, I'm going to tail that Shellgon and see where it goes, maybe we'll see each other again." Kidd said, before heading off.
Ash turned back into the lab to see a growing pile of pens, utensils, and other assorted small objects below the vent.
"Oh Impidimp." Ash said, shaking his head.