The Hero of the Forest
"Grand Master," A figure whose body was masked behind a set of black robes walked into a dimly lit room, a golden mask covered up his face as his attention was focused upon a desk whose occupant's face was masked by shadows. "We've long sought out more allies within the Hoenn region and I believe we've found some, much like us they seek out the legendary Pokemon in the hopes of changing the world!"
"Keep an eye on them, Ghetsis and Lysandre are already trouble enough. I know it's only a matter of time before one or both try and betray me but they're still of use in the meantime, I need more allies that I can count on." The man addressed before turning his attention to a silent hooded figure who was meditating in the corner while various objects levitated around his head. "And take Shade with you, if they prove to be trouble to my plans I want you to dispose of them!"
"Right master," The masked man bowed his head while the psychic specialist slowly stood up and gazed at him in a creepy silent fashion. Most people would be creeped out but the masked man kept his cool and turned to leave, allowing his master to continuing scheming.
"Greetings everyone, I am Professor Birch the Professor of the Hoenn region and I will be teaching the class for the next few days!" A man a bit on the large size stood at the front of the classroom, his appearance being quite unlike most Professors as he was wearing a pair of cargo shorts with his knees clearly having grass stains on them. "Professor Oak and I have decided to switch places for the week in order to teach you some things and show off some Pokemon that are unobtainable in your home region!" Birch plopped down a bag and three Pokeballs shortly rolled on out onto the desk with Birch grabbing them before pressing the release buttons causing the room to become lit up by red light as the Hoenn starters Mudkip, Treecko, and Torchic all appeared before the class!
"Treecko, tree!"
"Mudkip, kip kip!"
"Torchic!"
"And as a special surprise, one of you will have the chance to own one of these Pokemon at the end of the week!"
Misty squealed. "I always wanted a Mudkip!"
Serena's eyes were also locked onto Mudkip. Leaf's eyes were focused on the girl's however, giving her a deadly glare. Leaf hadn't forgiven her for messing things up for her and though the two were both Ash's friends, Leaf refused to sit in the same room as her unless she was forced to. To make matters worse it appeared as if Serena loved Ash too! Leaf wasn't about to let some random Kalos girl sneak in and steal him like in some romance flick! She really had to reveal how she felt soon but Serena had ruined the perfect moment, Leaf was having a hard time coming up with another and she hoped Serena wouldn't beat her to the punch!
"Meh, none of them are Electric types." Flash said with disinterest.
"Treecko would be a pretty good addition to our team, what do you say Espeon?"
"Espe!" Espeon cried out.
"Hang on a sec, where's Zach?" Giselle suddenly asked, looking around the room and noticing that neither her friend nor his Lucario were present.
"Ah right, I forgot to mention-One of my students was having health problems so his family thought it best to relocate him to Kanto for awhile as the air is a lot cleaner here for him." Birch began. "So we arranged for an exchange program and your friend was selected."
"What? Why wasn't I told?! He wouldn't have left without saying goodbye!" Flash growled out.
Brock did note that it seemed a bit shady that their classmate was randomly pulled away. Hopefully this wasn't the work of Team Rocket or some other nefarious organization, he knew that he'd had runs in with both Team Flare and Team Plasma so three different organizations had reason to go after him.
Birch simply moved on and began teaching them about the three Hoenn starters and their evolutions.
"I'm telling you I did not sign up for this! If I did I'd have chosen Sinnoh or even gone back home to Alola!" Zach tried explaining to Professor Oak as they walked down the corridor of Rustboro Academy, the blue egg was held within the trainer's arms.
"Professor Venom assured me that he addressed the class and that he drew your name from the selection," Professor Oak waved it off before patting Zach's back with a kind smile. "Relax, it's okay to admit you're nervous. I know all about your anxiety, my friend Agatha was the same way when we were your age."
Raboot walked silently by her trainer's side while Lucario gazed around the corridor with an alert expression.
"I-That may be so but that's not the point!"
"Relax I know for a fact you have a friend here, Birch told me she talks about you a lot. If things get too difficult for you I promise we'll get you right back to Kanto!"
Zach narrowed his eyes at Oak's words, still not seeming to be a fan of the idea but he did seem to calm down a bit upon the mention of May. At least there was somebody here he knew.
"And if that fails think about the Dragon Pokemon here, Hoenn has quite a few Dragon types that you could seek out and catch. It's even home to some rare ones too like Latios and Latias!" Though Oak tried not getting his hopes up too much there as the chances of one actually encountering a Latios or Latias was quite rare if not impossible!
"Well here we are," Oak opened up a classroom door and Zach almost immediately recognized Drew and Harley, tensing up a bit as he hoped they didn't hold a grudge against him for what occurred at the Clubsplosion tournament. Thankfully at least one of them didn't appear to do so as Drew formed a light smirk as he spotted him before giving him a wave, Harley on the other hand had his eyes narrowed as he glared heavily in his direction.
Zach sweated lightly before his attention was drawn to a frantically waving hand as May was trying to catch his attention, an excited expression on the brunette's face as she spotted her friend!
"Oh my gosh, Zach! Over here!" She pointed at an empty desk right next to her own while on the other side of her a red haired girl looked him before giving May a teasing nudge with her elbow.
"That's him? No wonder you always talk about him he sure is hot!" May quickly elbowed her in the stomach to hush her, a dark red color on her cheeks as Zach took the seat next to her.
The red haired girl soon leaned across May's desk and stretched out her arm. "I don't think we've been introduced yet, the name's Flannery and I-" Her attention was diverted as she caught sight of Raboot, a squeal soon escaping from her while Raboot jumped before quickly running over to hide on the other side of her trainer! "Y-You've got a Raboot?! You're so lucky, I've always wanted one after seeing my grandfather's in action!"
Professor Oak soon let out a light cough to get the class' attention.
"Attention everyone, as you may already have noticed Wally will no longer be attending class here as the volcanic ash has been quite strong within the region's air recently so he'll be studying over in Kanto as the air is a lot cleaner there. Zach here will be his replacement for the time being, I trust you'll all get along and treat each other nicely."
"What's up," Drew spoke up with a nod. A girl who appeared to be a year older than them sat on Drew's left and gave a friendly wave before placing her hand atop of Drew's. "I'm Drew and this is Solidad."
"Hey, nice to meet you!" Solidad gave a light wave followed with a friendly smile.
"Hey," Harley spoke with an icy tone.
He also noticed the trainer who had the Meowth in boots sitting in the corner along with another trainer who had a Beldum. Apparently their names were Tyson and Morrison.
"H-Hey everyone, pleasure to meet you." Zach waved while Lucario nodded his head in agreement with his trainer. Raboot remained silent, her eyes simply gazing around the room before resting on the floor.
"Today I'd like to introduce you all to Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur." Oak addressed as he sent out the Kanto starter trio, the starter Pokemon letting out their familiar cries as all eyes were on them. Zach dozed off for a bit as he already knew all about the Kanto trio and found the discussion rather boring, awakening to somebody elbowing him what felt like mere moments later only it was a lot longer than that as May stood before him and appeared ready to go.
"It's time to go," May smiled before pulling him up out of his seat. "I'd like to take you on a tour of the city and help you get a lay of the land!"
"Sounds like a good idea to me!" Zach said before sweating as his stomach rumbled loudly, causing him to blush nervously while May let out a light giggle.
"Sounds like you're hungry, great! I'll take you to my favorite noodle shop, my treat!"
"Ah there he is!" Birch clasped his hands together as a new trainer entered the class near the end of the day, his appearance quite different from everyone else as he stood a few inches smaller than most and also appeared a bit on the skinny side. He also had wild untamed teal green hair along with a pair of ice blue eyes. "Everyone this is Wally, he's a Pokemon trainer just like you or rather he will be."
Wally let out a sigh at Birch's words, remembering his former starter Pokemon.
"Unfortunately Wally's lack of confidence in himself and his Pokemon resulted in his starter Pokemon ditching him several times, we hope that he'll have better luck finding a Pokemon partner over here."
"What's the point, I don't see how the Pokemon here will be any different." Wally hung his head as Professor Cerise entered the room and presented a batch of Kanto starters to him. One by one Wally's curse continued as Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander all proceeded to abandon him after attempts to make them his partner, though Ash couldn't help but notice that Wally didn't exactly appear to be trying at all which made it hard to blame the starter Pokemon but he still couldn't help but feel sorry for Wally.
Birch frowned as he patted Wally's shoulder in a reassuring fashion. Ash felt bad for Wally and wished their could be some way to help him. Just then a light bulb went off in his head as he realized that there were trainers that didn't start off with traditional starters such as Brock with his Onix, Zach and Lucario or Flash and his Electabuzz. Perhaps Wally was meant to have a different Pokemon entirely as his partner much like he and Espeon were clearly meant to be together? If that was the case then Ash was going to do his best to help Wally find that Pokemon, whatever it may be!
May happily slurped up the last of her noodles before turning her attention to Zach, a large satisfied grin on her face for a brief moment before tilting her head with a concerned expression as she noticed her friend had barely touched his food.
"Everything okay? You've barely touched your food."
"Huh? Oh, you can finish if you want." Zach pushed the bowl towards her as he let out a sigh. "I was just thinking about how this completely changes my plans, I enrolled at Vermilion Academy as I wanted to study under Professor Oak much like my idols Lance and Cynthia did. I've always dreamed of being just like them, some of the most powerful trainer in the world and who most people look up to and admire."
May rolled her eyes while uttering a sigh before reaching out and placing a hand on top of his, Lucario noticed that and let out a nervous growl as she did so. "I-There's several people out there who like and admire you for who you are! You don't need to copy Lance's style or follow in his footsteps, you're already a pretty amazing trainer I mean look at Lucario, you taught him the three Elemental punch attacks! And you taught Raboot Electro ball! Plus you managed to beat Drew and Harley by yourself, that was pretty impressive!"
A smile slowly began forming across Zach's face at her words, causing the brunette to blush and quickly withdraw her hand.
"A-And you do have me here so it's not like you've got to start over friend wise!" May flashed Zach a warm smile that helped finish the job of cheering him up.
"Thanks May, you really seem to know what to say to make me feel better..." Zach spoke with a light smile.
May locked eyes with him for a moment before letting out a light gasp as she began asking him a question. "Zach, would you like to.." She paused for a moment with a look of nerves across her face before quickly shaking her head. "W-Would you like to help me make my first catch? I-I've been holding it off for awhile but I think me and Torchic are finally ready!"
"Of course I'll help!" He immediately accepted. "I've actually been thinking about asking you for a good spot to find a Pokemon as I've been considering getting something for myself. I could use some more type coverage on my team, maybe I'll find a Breloom!"
"Thanks so much! There's still time if you want to go out to Petalburg Woods, it's a good place to find Pokemon without straying too far from the city." May shuffled her feet lightly as she gazed at the ground for a moment, the thought of being all alone in the woods with him was quite exciting! If she could summon up the courage perhaps she could even ask what she had planned on asking him originally!
May took him by the hand and began guiding him out of the noodle shop and towards the southern exit of Rustboro with a bit of a skip in her steps. Zach noticed how excited she looked but easily mistook it for her excitement on her first catch. May continued holding his hand until eventually they reached the forest area, May turned to him with a look as if to ask him to take the lead for her.
"You want me to stand guard and protect you?" Zach raised an eyebrow while May giggled out and quickly shook her head.
"No silly, I want you to catch something and show me how it's done!" May poked his side while a large smile spread across her lips. "You're the expert after all, future champion!" She playfully bowed to him.
"Well I'm not exactly an expert but I'll try!" Zach laughed before scanning the nearby area, his eyes soon landing upon a Breloom that was roughly twenty feet away from them. "Alright first you've got to weaken or tire a Pokemon out like so, Noibat come out and use Supersonic!"
Noibat burst from his ball and hovered a few feet above the ground before his trainer while focusing his attention on the Breloom who appeared to be scavenging for some berries.
"You might want to cover your ears by the way," Zach warned May causing her to quickly cover her ears with her hands as sound waves began emitting from Noibat's ears, flying off in every direction. Breloom looked startled from the noise but soon began walking about in a dizzy manner with Zach smirking confidently at the result. "Alright, we're about to get a Breloom! Noibat let's finish this with a Wing Attack!"
"Noibat!" Noibat's wings began glowing brightly as he soared through the sky towards his target but just before he could make contact a yellow and orange blur leaped out from a nearby tree and slammed into the bat dragon!
"Noibat?!" Zach looked on with concern as his Pokemon laid on the ground in defeat with a Combusken standing atop of him.
"Busken..." Combusken narrowed his eyes at Zach before pointing at the nearby clearing where some small Shroomish were gathered.
"Breloom's a mother..? Sorry I had no idea, honest!"
"Combusken busk," Treecko shook his head before resuming giving Zach a cold look. "Busken..."
"Carrrr!" Lucario growled back, not taking what Combusken said lightly.
"He just threatened us? Look Combusken, I didn't mean to cause any harm here I was just trying to help my friend here catch a Pokemon!"
"It's true! Zach would never intentionally cause harm, he saved my life!"
Combusken's eyes flickered between the two before he lifted up a hand, proceeding to point at his eyes before pointing at them as he backed up into some nearby bushes.
"What's his problem?" Zach muttered out.
"I always wondered if..." May looked at where the Combusken had disappeared to. "A few years back there was this trainer named Brendan who mysteriously turned up dead alongside his Riolu..." May trailed off as she remembered Zach had a Lucario, looking at him with a bit of worry. "You know, forget my first capture it isn't important. W-We should get back, I-I forgot how afraid of the dark I was!"
Zach narrowed his eyes, seeing right through it. "You're worried I'm gonna die too, aren't you? Forget it, I ain't afraid and I already said I'd help you! I'm not backing out from my word."
May was still visibly concerned but gave in, wrapping her arms around him and holding him close for a brief moment before pulling away. "Alright but if something happens you owe me big time!" She began gazing around the area before setting her eyes upon a red caterpillar Pokemon. "Oh, a Wurmple!"
"I heard of those, they're the Caterpie of this region. A great choice for new trainers like yourself as they're easy to raise, I think you should go for it!"
"I think I will!" May grinned, reaching for Torchic's ball before releasing the fire chicken. "Torchic, use Peck!"
Torchic raced right across the clearing before pecking at Wurmple, the Bug Pokemon proving to be quite weak as it fainted after the singular attack!
"Way to go, May! Now throw a Pokeball, quick!" Zach shouted.
May quickly reached for a Pokeball before hurling it at the Bug type, Wurmple disappeared in a beam of red light as the Pokaball landed on the ground and began shaking for a bit before chiming to announce the capture complete!
"I-I did it!" May quivered from excitement before letting out an excited squeal as she threw her arms around Zach, pulling him close to her as she excitedly cried out. "Oh thank you, thank you! I don't think I could have pulled that off without your help!"
Zach had a light pause for a moment before returning the hug. "Anything to help out a friend!"
May's cheeks started to burn brightly as their faces were mere inches apart, she slowly moved her eyes to meet his as she took a deep breath.
"Zach I-I have something to tell you, something I wanted to tell you earlier..."
"Huh? What is it?" Zach looked confused despite the rather obvious signs causing May to inwardly facepalm as she realized he was a bit dense.
"E-Ever since we met a month ago y-you've been constantly on my mind, a-anytime you call is a highlight of my day and nothing compares to the emotion I feel! I-I think I lov-" Her words were drowned out as a loud explosion sounded off nearby followed by a cry as a Combusken shaped silhouette could be seen blasting into the air before crashing back down!
"Busk!"
"Combusken!" Zach let got of May and quickly rushed to investigate, May puffed her cheeks with an annoyed look. That was the second time she was interrupted when trying to tell him how she felt, it was like the universe was playing a cruel joke on her! "Combusken, are you okay?! I'm-Oh Arceus..."
A pack of Mightyena had Combusken surrounded, growling fiercely as they jerked their heads in Zach's direction. Normally he wouldn't be as worried had it been a simple wild pack but these ones appeared to be tamed as several people wearing red hooded outfits stood side by side. There was another who was dressed differently and appeared to be their leader as the grunts seemed to be waiting for his word. The man was a bit on the heavy side, had a sleek hairstyle and wore a red and black jacket that seemed to signify a higher ranking. His hands currently had a man pinned up against the tree.
"Now you listen good," The man spoke with a threatening tone, a villainous sneer across his face. "You're gonna listen good and give me the Devon goods or I'll wind up feeding ya to the wolves!"
"The Devon goods?! I have no idea what you're talking about, now I suggest you get your filthy hands off me! I am the father of the great Steven Stone, you wouldn't dare lay a finger on me!"
"Don't play games with me," The man leered, giving the businessman a push. "I worked my fingers to the man doing mindless labor for your stupid company, we've even met before... I'm the guy who made the pressurized space suit!"
"T-Tabitha...? W-What are you doing siding with these eco-gangsters?!" Mr. Stone appeared to recognize him after Tabitha couldn't keep his big mouth shut, the man seemed to have a big ego.
"Unlike some people they actually acknowledge my skills and don't steal credit for my work!" Tabitha punched Mr. Stone in the gut, a increasingly ticked off look in his eye. "Now I'll ask you again. Where. Are. The. Devon. Goods?!"
"T-They're right here..." Mr. Stone weakly reached out for his briefcase before a fireball was sent flying at the briefcase, knocking it away from him and causing Tabitha to jerk his head from annoyance. "Who dares?!"
"I do," Raboot stood next to her trainer as he spoke up. "I have no idea who you lot are or what Devon goods are but I'm not about to stand by and let you just take them!"
Tabitha looked Zach up and down, sizing him up before letting off a sneer. "You're obviously nothing but a rookie and from the sound of things, you're not from here. This should be easy pickings, boys-"
"And girls," A grunt spoke up causing Tabitha to let off a growl.
"And girls," Tabitha added on. "Take care of him!" He snapped his fingers, resulting in the Mightyena springing forward all at once to attack!
"Noibat, we need you and your Supersonic!" Zach threw the ball containing the dragon bat forward.
"Noi!" Noibat appeared once more, seeming to have recovered from his bout with Treecko as the loud painful sound waves began emitting from his ears as he flew about the air above the Mightyena, causing them all to yelp out from the loud noise before some of them winded up turning on the others in a state of confusion.
"Goomy, use Bubble!" The slime dragon appeared and quickly fired bubbles from his mouth, causing the ground beneath the Mightyena to become wet and even forming puddles in some places.
"Now to finish this, Lucario use Thunder Punch!" Lucario rushed forward, his fists charging up with bright yellow electricity as he slammed them into a puddle, causing nearby Mightyena to yelp out in pain as electricity surged their bodies, eventually striking through all of the Mightyena as the ones stricken with confusion winded up pushing the rest along with themselves right into the attack!
Tabitha's eyes widened as all the Mightyena laid out in a defeated heap, his eye twitched before pointing his finger at Zach. "You!"
"Zach, what's going on-?" May caught up only to freeze up as her eyes landed upon Team Magma.
"I ain't about to let some troublesome noob take me out but Courtney would never let me hear the end of it if I just give up," Tabitha rubbed his chin before a lightbulb went off in his head. "Aha! We'll make a strategical retreat but mark my words we'll be back, Mr. Stone!" Tabitha warned, he enlarged his own Pokeball before throwing it forward. "But first a distraction so we're not followed, Mightyena dispose of the annoying twerp's girlfriend! We'll teach him to mess with Team Magma's business!"
"Grrrr!" Another Mightyena, one more fearsome looking than the rest appeared and began lunging out for May! Zach knew Lucario wouldn't be quick enough if he wasted time ordering it so instead he leaped forward and heroically pushed May out of the way mere seconds before Mightyena latched onto him and began biting down on him, shaking it's head menacingly as Raboot's eyes widened from the sight, her body shaking once more as she remembered Sneasel and Goh doing similar things to her.
"Carrr!" Lucario panicked, wondering how to knock it off without harming his master!
"Zach!" May screamed out, tears in her eyes as she could do nothing to stop it.
"...No." One of the grunts reached into her pocket and withdrew a Loudred who appeared from the bushes, looking to be a wild one to others as he stomped his feet before opening his mouth and letting off blue waves of sound! Mightyena let go of Zach before covering his ears with his paws, Tabitha had a look of annoyance as he was sick of the universe interrupting him today.
"Screw this, let's go!" Tabitha rushed off causing the rest of the grunts to follow though one lingered for a brief while, her eyes focusing on Zach and Lucario before eventually turning and retreating with the others.
"Zach!" May quickly knelt over him, tears in her eyes while Mr. Stone looked them over before pulling out his Pokegear. There was still enough time to save him, the trainer saved his research so it was only fair to return the favor!
Wally was on his way out of the classroom when he felt a hand touch his shoulder, the newcomer turned his head and noticed Ash standing there.
"Oh hey, what's up?"
"I'm gonna help you find a Pokemon partner if it's the last thing I do," Ash declared with a smile upon his face. "I've been thinking it over and I think the issue here is that none of those starters are who you're destined to be with. The one you're destined for is probably out there in the wild right now waiting on you, like Espeon here. I was originally wanting Squirtle but it turns out that Espeon and I were meant to be together instead as due to circumstances outside my control, she and I were stuck together even if he didn't want that at first."
"Espe..." Espeon rubbed the back of her head in an embarrassed manner.
Wally looked the pair over while looking unconvinced but soon let out a defeated sigh. "I guess I have nothing to lose but when we fail, I want you to drop this okay?"
"Deal!" Ash took his hand with a confident smirk. "Cause we're not failing, you will have a Pokemon by the end of tonight!"
Birch watched this taking place, stroking his chin with an impressed look. Leaf was also watching this, finding his behavior admirable.
Ash took Wally's hand as he guided him out of the city and eventually to a clearing where he knew wild Pokemon resided.
"Alright this is a good starting place, see anything that catches your attention?" Ash asked.
Wally's eyes gazed upon the clearing halfheartedly before shaking his head, Ash rolled his eyes lightly but didn't give up. He then scanned the clearing with his own eyes before spotting Gardevoir, Kirlia and some Ralts.
"Oh that's perfect, I've been thinking about getting a Garde-" Ash paused as he remembered this was about Wally, not himself. He took a calming breath before looking at Wally.
"Ralts should be a good starting Pokemon for you," Ash handed Wally a spare Pokeball. "Here, you'll need this. Wait until a Ralts is on it's own and then strike! You don't want to risk upsetting it's friends or making them think you're a threat by throwing one now."
Wally nodded his head in understanding though still looked a bit unsure about this. After awhile of waiting one of the Ralts teleported away from the others and began curiously inspecting a berry bush.
"Now's your chance, hurry!" Ash hissed out.
Wally jumped up, his hands nervously shaking as his gaze focused upon the Ralts. Soon forming a tight grip on the Pokeball, he pulled back his arm before throwing the ball across the field and sent it flying towards the Ralts. Ralts disappeared in a beam of red light as the ball smacked him clean in the face, Wally began sweating as he felt bad about that, the ball shook a few times before chiming to announce the capture!
"Alright, you got it!" Ash shouted out, pumping his fist. "Now call it out and introduce yourself to it!"
Wally picked up the Pokeball and stared at it, seeming to debate the thought for a moment before his finger soon triggered the release and Ralts appeared before him, gazing up at him with a curious expression. Wally shook lightly as he extended his hand, Ralts smiled and let out a cry before their hands touched. Thoughts becoming one as Ralts' eyes glowed blue as the Pokemon read Wally's mind. It gave him a reassuring smile before teleporting up onto his shoulder and happily crying out once more.
"Ralts!"
'Looks like Ralts likes you, hope you take good care of it!" Ash grinned.
Wally looked a bit more confident now though it was obvious some nerves was still present within him. "T-Thank you, I'll try my best!"
"Good cause I'd really like the chance to battle you someday, we're gonna be rivals from here on out!" Ash declared as he held out his hand.
Wally stared at it for a moment before lightly smiling as he shook it. "R-Right!"
Professor Birch had followed them and kept his distance, watching what had happened with an impressed look before looking down at the Pokeballs containing the Hoenn starters with a thoughtful expression.
"Ugh, where am I...?" Zach opened up his eyes only to find himself in a hospital room, he tried sitting up only to grunt in pain as he held onto his side. He then noticed that May was sitting in a chair by the bed, currently sleeping with her head resting on his leg. He couldn't help but smile, thankful that she was okay. Though he noticed outside the window stood Combusken looking in, their eyes met and Combusken smirked lightly, giving him a thumbs up before crawling into the room.
"Combusken." The chicken spoke as he crawled up onto the bed, looking the trainer's body over before looking upwards. "Busk...?"
"I think I'll be fine Combusken at least I hope so, what about you though? I noticed they sent you flying off before I arrived, I never did get the chance to see if you were okay." Combusken shook his head, assuring him that he was alright. The chicken's eyes rested on the nearby table where the Pokeballs containing Zach's partners currently rested.
"Busk..."
"Y-You want to battle?" Combusken narrowed his eyes before turning around and giving him a light slap with his hand.
"Combusk!" Combusken pointed at the Pokeballs once more before pointing at himself then pointing at Zach, waving and repeatedly motioning with his paw. "Combusken, busk busk!"
"You want to join us?" Combusken nodded at that, it seemed like his bravery had managed to win the Fire/Fighting type over and the chicken was giving life a second shot at being on a team!
Zach reached for a empty ball, tensing up and holding his side for a moment before latching onto the ball and gently tapping Combusken on the head with it. The chicken disappeared in a beam of red light as the ball chimed almost immediately afterwards to announce the capture! Zach's Rotom Phone lit up on the table, showing Combusken's data appearing onscreen before quickly fading away to reveal his messages. It appeared he'd been out of it for quite a few days as he'd gotten quite a few texts. Most were from Dawn as he'd missed their daily chats with another and some even begging him to answer as she was getting worried sick!
'Are you okay? Normally you don't miss more than a day without giving me a heads up.'
'I'm starting to get worried, please be okay! Message me when you can please!'
Zach could tell she was genuinely worried and quickly replied. 'In the hospital, was out for several days. I'll talk to you later'
'Oh Arceus! Hope you're okay, I miss you!' Dawn replied almost instantly.
Flash had merely asked how he was doing but seeing how he sent that a few hours ago he thought it'd be best to wait and reply later once he could think up something to stop his friends in Kanto from worrying. He didn't want to bother them with his problems!
There was another message from an unknown number simply wording 'Stay safe from now on you idiot, Hoenn is doomed if you die on us!'
Outside the hospital Shade gazed upwards with a menacing expression as he sensed the aura belonging to somebody he thought long dead, his eyes glowed brightly as he began making his way into the building only to get pulled back as his companion stopped him.
"No. Keep this one alive, he's the test we need to see Team Magma's skills. I have no doubt that their paths will cross again."
Shade let off a growl as he turned to face him, his eyes losing their glow.
"He's not a real Aura Guardian, no proper training and no knowledge of legendary Pokemon. He's not worth our time." The two disappeared into the streets of the city.
Professor Birch was packing up his things at the end of the week, stuffing some papers into his bag before noticing Ash standing up to leave the classroom.
"Mr. Ketchum, a word?" Ash tensed up but noticed that Birch didn't sound angry or upset so he walked on over while doing his best to keep a calm expression.
"Yes, sir?"
"I noticed what you did for Wally, that was really kind of you helping out a newcomer with no visible benefit for doing such a deed." Birch addressed as he reached his hand into the bag once more and began fishing around.
"It's not a big deal, I merely wanted to help Wally and become his friend. Besides having another rival around does make things interesting!" Ash grinned, looking in Wally's direction. The boy had grown a bit the past few days, looking more confident as he interacted with Ralts.
"Well it just so happens that I've decided to mark you as the candidate to receive a Hoenn starter," Birch smiled while placing three Pokeballs upon the desk. "I trust you've already got a choice in mind?"
Ash's eyes widened as he began quivering from excitement. "Treecko!" He shouted without a moment's pause, Espeon crying out at the same time as he did.
Birch laughed before handing him the Pokeball. "Take good care of him, I trust you two will do great things and excel together!"
Ash gazed down at the Pokeball, a large grin upon his face as he showed his appreciation. "Thank you Birch, I promise to take good care of him!" He then directed his attention to the Pokemon inside. "Welcome to the team, Treecko. We'll conquer the World Tournament together!" The ball shook within his grasp as Treecko looked forward to the idea!
Wally has made his appearance and Ash got himself a Treecko
'Will we see gyms soon?' Seeing how a character was literally sitting in one albeit not knowing it yet, yep! Ash and Brock will go to Pewter City soon