Fuchsia City: Day…

Ash and Calem came to stand across from each other ready to have their battle while everyone else stood back to watch.

"This is a one-on-one battle between Ash and Calem." The ref declared. "Each trainer may use one of their two registered pokemon, and the battle is over when one side's pokemon is unable to continue. Now, chose your pokemon."

"I choose you, Pidgeotto!" Ash shouted.

"Battle time, Porygon2!" Calem declared.

"Whoa, Porygon2." Ash commented before busting out his pokedex:

This upgraded version of Porygon is designed for space exploration. It can't fly, though.

"A normal type vs a flying type." Koga commented. "Looks like neither trainer will have the advantage."

"Hold up Koga." Surge stated. "Normal types are versatile and usually have huge move pools. Depending on what Calem has taught that pokemon, this may be a different battle than we assume."

"Begin!" The ref declared.

Ash vs Calem

"Porygon2, use thunderbolt!" Calem declared.

"Pidgeotto, disrupt him with quick attack." Ash ordered.

Pidgeotto flew in hammering home an attack which stopped Porygon2 in his tracks.

"Now, use mirror move to mimic Porygon2's thunderbolt." Ash declared.

"Launch your ice beam now." Calem commanded.

Pidgeotto sparked with electricity while a sphere of ice appeared before the virtual pokemon. They fired nailing their respective target. Pidgeotto was the one really hurting from that last move. She was even sent crashing to the ground.

"Monopolize on this by striking with thunderbolt!" Calem declared.

"Pidgeotto, use agility to get out of there!" Ash panicked.

Pidgeotto managed to get flying and immediately sped away before the lighting could hit her. She then sped around the field going up a stage to her speed.

"You're certainly becoming quite the trainer Ash." Calem complimented.

"Thanks." Ash smiled. "Same to you."

"That said, you haven't even begun to scratch the surface of what we can do." Calem declared. "Porygon 2, use swift."

"Fly up and counter with hidden power." Ash commanded.

Pidgeotto ascended as Porygon2 launched the stars at her. The spheres of water appeared around the bird and shot off into the stars. Sure, swift may never miss, but no one ever said anything about blocking it.

"Now, let's throw their attack right back at them!" Ash declared. "Mirror move!"

"Like you, we can counter swift, but we'll just use our own sift." Calem declared.

The stars collided in midair creating a beautiful display of golden sparkles in the air.

"Now, steel wing!" Ash shouted.

"Porygon2, quickly!" Calem panicked. "Ice beam!"

Pidgeotto emerged from the golden sparkles with her wings shimmering with metal energy. Porygon2 tried to unleash their ice beam, but that earlier agility put the bird at a higher speed. Pidgeotto flew by their opponent which collapsed to the ground with swirls in their eyes.

"Porygon2 is unable to battle which means Calem is out of the tournament." The ref declared. "The one advancing to the next round will be Ash."

Center of Fuchsia

"We did it!" Pidgeotto had landed, so Ash ran over giving her a hug. "You were amazing Pidgeotto. Thank you for all your hard work."

Pidgeotto rubbed her head affectionately against her trainer.

Calem smiled and returned his pokemon. "You were great, so take a good rest." He then approached Ash and held out his hand. "You've improved a lot since starting your journey."

Ash smiled and shook the offered hand. "Thank you, Calem."

The crowd cheered for the good sportsmanship.

"This is exactly what we like to see during this tournament." Koga nodded. "Respect for a battle well fought."

"Those two certainly fought with that in spades." Surge added. "Now, we do need to move onto the next match which will be Serena vs Gary."

The two Pallet trainers came out to face each other.

"This will be a one-on-one battle between Serena and Gary." The ref declared. "Each trainer may use one of their two registered pokemon, and the battle is over when one side's pokemon is unable to continue. Now, chose your pokemon."

"I choose Haunter." Gary declared.

Serena was nervous facing Gary. Sure, the guy was arrogant, but that arrogance was earned. Out of the trainers from Pallet Town, only Michael could give him a run for his money in terms of pokemon knowledge.

Beyond that, Gary was the grandson of Professor Oak. Even Ash, who often visited to see Pikachu, had far less pokemon experience. Not to mention how effortlessly Gary beat trainers aboard the S.S Anne. Still, she had to try.

"I call, Cubone!" Serena declared.

She knew her Wartortle or Gloom would be the better call, but she had promised the little guy he'd get the first chance to battle outside of training. No matter what happened, she'd never regret keeping her word to her pokemon.

Honestly, scanning this pokemon back in Lavender Town made her confident they could do something here:

A Ground-type Pokémon, Cubone. Cubone has earned its classification as the Lonely Pokémon from its usual attitude of caring only for itself.

Type: Ground

Ability: Battle Armor

Sex: Male

Current Moves: Growl, Mud-Slap, Tail Whip, Bone Club, Headbutt, Focus Energy, Bonemerang, Retaliate, Stomping Tantrum, Dig, Ancient Power, Double Kick, Skull Bash, Iron Head, Detect

The fact is, Serena was at a huge disadvantage, and she knew it. Most of Cubone's moves would be useless, but the few that would work could be worked with. Those few moves still gave him a chance no matter how small.

"Begin!" The ref declared.

Serena vs Gary

"Cubone, focus your energy." Serena declared.

"Haunter, use a confuse ray on Cubone." Gary declared.

Cubone consolidated his energy before being hit by a red beam which confused the ground type.

"Now, strike with shadow punch." Gary commanded.

"Cubone, use iron head." Serena tried.

The lonely pokemon just wacked himself in the head before Haunter slammed a ghost covered fist into the smaller pokemon knocking him away.

"Now, giga drain." Gary ordered.

"Cubone, ancient power." Serena commanded.

Cubone broke through her confusion and used ancient power flinging rocks at the ghost just as he drained massive amounts of energy from the lonely pokemon. Cubone fell to the ground with swirls in his eyes.

"Cubone is unable to battle which means Serena is out of the tournament." The ref declared. "The one advancing to the next round is Gary."

Center of Fuchsia

Serena ran over to the small ground type who was just coming to and on the verge of tears as he felt like he failed his new trainer.

Serena immediately hugged the little guy. "Ah, don't cry Cubone." She smiled down at him. "For a first battle, you were amazing. Especially against such a bad match up. You never gave up and fought to the very end. I'm so proud of you."

Cubone sniffled as he hugged his trainer. Sure, this had been a tough battle, but it was also incentive for the little guy to really take his training seriously. When Serena needed him, he wouldn't be some baby pokemon unable to aid her like his mother.

Gary approached them with a cocky smile. "Well, for a ground type I suppose your Cubone was decent." He held out a hand to the girl. "In the end, my pokemon was better."

Serena sighed and smiled before accepting the hand allowing him to help her up. "Yeah, you're a tough opponent Gary. I honestly should have let you go first. Then, I may not have needed to battle your Haunter."

"Perhaps not." Gary admitted.

Still, the young Oak was confident his other registered pokemon could have handled Cubone.

"In the end, I can respect Serena and her Cubone for not giving up in the face of such a challenging pokemon." Surge declared.

"Despite the challenge, it was still a good battle." Koga declared. "Speaking of battles, our next one is Brock vs Barbara."

The two of them came out to face each other.

"This is a one-on-one battle between Brock and Barbara." The ref declared. "Each trainer may use one of their two registered pokemon, and the battle is over when one side's pokemon is unable to continue. Now, chose your pokemon."

"If I want any chance of Barbara accepting me, I need to put my best out there." Brock grabbed his pokeball. "You're up, Rhyhorn!"

"A Rhyhorn, huh?" Barbara knew just the pokemon to choose. "If he's really strong enough to date my big sis, then he'll have to handle this." She looked at Brock firmly. "I choose you, Alolan Sandslash!"

Barbara's Sandslash appeared; however, it didn't look like a normal Sandslash. This one was ice blue with icicles for spikes and metal claws.

The crowd was amazed while it had those with pokedexes busting them out to find out what was up here:

Sandslash, Alola Form. This is Sandslash's form after adaptation to a frigid environment. The cold air emitted by its body sharpens its icy spikes.

"Interesting, I see you didn't settle for any normal pokemon to challenge me." Brock declared.

"I am my big sister's iron wall, and my type preference portrays that." Barbara declared with a smirk. "Now, let's see if you can handle it once this battle gets underway."

"Begin!" The ref declared.

Brock vs Barbara

"Rhyhorn, use drill run." Brock ordered.

"That's one of your Rhyhorn's biggest weaknesses." Barbara smirked. "That kind of pokemon uses primarily attack based moves. Sandslash, iron defense!"

Rhyhorn's horn spun as he charged at Sandslash who shined with metal energy as her defense went up to its max. As a result, Rhyhorn barely moved his opponent at all.

"I'd admittedly have been stumped a week or two, but I've worked to iron out that weakness further than I once did." Brock smiled. "Rhyhorn, now that your close, strike with flamethrower."

Barbara's eyes went wide. "Get out of there Sandslash!"

It was too late as Rhyhorn opened his mouth letting loose with powerful flames which greatly impacted the ice/steel type. Barbara was the sister of a Frontier Brain, and Rhyhorn may learn special attacking moves; however, that was never his strong suit. Sandslash was still standing.

"Quick, use icicle crash and get out of there!" Barbara declared.

"Rhyhorn, use thunderbolt on yourself!" Brock yelled.

Icicles appeared above the rock/ground type only for him to spark with electricity. As the ice came down, the lighting tore through it hitting Rhyhorn who was unaffected.

"Now, scorching sand." Brock commanded.

Barbara wasn't about to back down. "Use metal claw and push through the sand."

Rhyhorn conjured up hot sand which launched at the ice/steel type. Sandslash charged straight through it before slashing their metal claws into the opposing pokemon. By this point, both pokemon were coming to an end.

Sandslash was by far the stronger pokemon, but Brock's preparation for events such as iron defense, not to mention the surprise that entailed in this moment, had managed to bring this match to the relatively close one it was. The next move could very well decide this.

"Sandslash, ice punch!" Barbara declared.

"Endure!" Brock declared. "Then, counter!"

Sandslash slammed her ice-covered fist into the rock/slash ground type who glowed a dull white. The punch clearly hurt Rhyhorn, but he stood his ground before charging forward cloaked in fighting energy. He slammed into the Alolan pokemon sending her flying.

"Sandslash!" Barbara shouted.

The ice/steel type hit the ground with swirls in her eyes.

"Alolan Sandslash is unable to battle which means Barbara is out of the tournament." The ref declared. "The one advancing to the next round will be Brock."

Center of Fuchsia

"You were great Rhyhorn." Brock returned his pokemon. "Take a nice, long rest."

"Good job Sandslash." Barbara returned her pokemon. "Rest up."

To everyone's shock, as almost everyone didn't realize she was there, Pike Queen Lucy walked out onto the field and over to Brock. Honestly, people just thought her sister was in attendance.

"Oh, this is a surprise." Koga stated. "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Pike Queen Lucy who is the Frontier Brain of the Battle Pike. She operates it right around Fuchsia City and was an unexpected guest at our festival."

Lucy looked to her sister. "So, he beat you which means you approve, right?"

"He did beat me, so I guess he's good enough for you." Barbara then stared firmly at Brock. "I'll be listening for you. If I hear anything on how you betrayed my sister's feelings, you'll have to deal with me."

"I promise I won't." Brock declared. "After that day we had at the beach, she's the only one for me."

"Since you approve, and I really do like you Brock, I'm going to stake my claim." Lucy declared.

She held his face, blushed, and gave him a passionate kiss. Between her younger sister and her status as an exceptional trainer, Lucy never had much luck in the guy's department. She also knew that if she wanted something, she would not wait. She wanted Brock to be hers.

She wanted everyone to know it and did not want to risk losing what she knew to be an exceptional guy. As for Brock, ever since his father left, he had been looking for that special lady. He was a romantic at heart and hoped to one day be better than his father.

That didn't mean he'd go out and get married immediately after finding that girl. He knew what being young and raising children was like. He wanted to accomplish his dream before even thinking of settling down. That way he wouldn't repeat his father's mistakes.

Still, potentially having that future partner in Lucy was something Brock wouldn't turn away. As for Ash, James, and Serena… shocked was an understatement. Ash was gapping in a way that would make a Magikarp proud.

Thinking on it, this did make those three realize that Brock hadn't professed his love to any other girl after Vermillion City. While they were still trying to process this, the people cheered as Lucy released Brock. Both trainers were now blushing as they stared into each other's eyes.

"Well, seems as though this was the battle of a sibling and her sister's potential partner." Koga spoke up. "Ladies and gentlemen, it seems Pike Queen may have just found her king."

"I am happy for her Koga, but we do still have a tournament here." Surge declared. "Not to mention, the two-hour break isn't until this final match of the first round complete. Speaking of this final match, is James vs Janine."

Brock and Lucy left the field and stood together while the next two trainers came out. James resolved to push the shocking revelation from his mind as he did have a battle to focus on.

"This is a one-on-one battle between James and Janine." The ref declared. "Each trainer may use one of their two registered pokemon, and the battle is over when one side's pokemon is unable to continue. Now, chose your pokemon."

"I choose you, Koffing!" James declared.

"Battle time, Venonat!" Janine declared.

The two pokemon appeared ready for battle.

"A poison type vs a bug/poison type." Surge commented. "This one may just be our closest match yet since neither type do much to the other."

"You are right about that Surge." Koga stated. "Though they do both learn effective moves against the other. This may just come down to whose raised their pokemon the best."

"No matter how this battle goes, I will win." Janine declared firmly. "Let's do this, Venonat!"

"Anyone can be determined to win any battle." James retorted. "Even if you do beat me here, I won't make it easy. Let's go, Koffing!"

"Begin!" The ref declared.

James vs Janine

"Venonat, strike with confusion." Janine declared.

James waited as Koffing was picked up and slammed into the ground taking heavy damage. "Use payback!" The pokemon was cloaked in dark energy as he slammed into Venonat for massive damage. "Combo it with dark pulse!"

"Venonat, use protect." Per Janine's orders, Venonat threw up a shield blocking the powerful dark type attack. "Now, mega drain."

"Wait for the attack to get off before striking back with assurance." James commanded.

Koffing's energy was sucked out before cloaking himself in dark energy which he used to smash into Venonat for massive damage since he just took damage. By this point, both pokemon had taken massive damage through one means or another making them pant.

"Like that boy Ash, his comrade seems to have taught his pokemon moves outside of his typing to prepare for encounters where he is at a disadvantage." Janine thought. "Still, I cannot fall in the first round." She held out her hand. "Venonat, we must fight to the very end!"

"Janine left Vermillion with Surge, and he seemed to be her teacher." James thought. "Anyone who can catch a legendary is a powerful mentor, but I can't concern myself with something going wrong." James held out his hand."Koffing and I won't give up!"

Their pokemon suddenly started glowing a brilliant white. Venonat ascended into the air while becoming moth like and Koffing grew gaining a second, smaller head.

"Venomoth!" Venomoth declared.

"Weezing!" Weezing declared.

James and Janine were amazed as the crowd cheered at the sudden turn of events.

"Impressive." Surge stated. "Seems their pokemon were well trained to the point of evolution and used their trainers' eagerness to give this battle their all as the catalyst."

"It is truly a wonder, but it still remains to be seen who will win." Koga stated.

Upon evolving, their pokemon had acquired a new move. Weezing started to heat up while Venomoth opened her mouth revealing a sphere of poison energy. They fired off a heat wave and sludge bomb, respectively. Weezing's heat clashed with the poison dissipating both.

"Weezing, that was heat wave." James smiled. "I'm so proud of you."

"You learned sludge bomb." Janine smiled. "That's what I'm talking about."

"Use gust Venomoth." Janine declared.

James said, "Use dark pulse Weezing!"

Venomoth beat her wings whipping up a lot of wind, but Weezing's dark pulse tore through the coming gust before slamming into the opposing pokemon.

"Alright, let's finish this with a heat wave!" James shouted.

"Counter with your strongest confusion." Janine declared.

Weezing began to radiate heat before being surrounded by confusion and slammed into the ground hard. Weezing tried to get back up but immediately collapsed with swirls in his eyes.

"Weezing is unable to battle which means James is out of the tournament." The ref declared. "The one advancing to the next round will be Janine."

Center of Fuchsia

James walked over to his Weezing and helped him back up. The poison type seemed down to have lost even after evolving.

"Hey, don't be down Weezing." James just smiled at him. "Evolution isn't always going to grant us that victory, and I'm just proud you gave it your all."

Weezing was glad his trainer didn't seem to be disappointed in him. "Weezing. Weez."

Janine had returned her pokemon with proper thanks before approaching James. "It is true that your pokemon should not be down." She looked at him. "He gave me far more trouble than I was expecting, but I would much rather have a battle than an easy win."

"Thanks." James nodded. "Your Venomoth has clearly been well trained. Plus, I've learned a lot about how to take a loss to a worthy opponent from my friends." He smiled. "Still, I wouldn't mind another battle in the future."

Janine nodded. "Same."

"With another display of respect, this concludes the initial four battles." Surge declared. "As mentioned before, there will be a two-hour break to give those remaining the chance to heal their pokemon. That way they'll have one fresh pokemon if they make it to the finals."

"Speaking of our next matches, they will be Ash vs Gary and Brock vs Janine." Koga declared. "All of you should take this time to get some food and stretch your legs."

James and Janine parted ways before he rejoined Ash and Serena. The trio needed to find Brock and Lucy to learn what was going on here. That also brought up the point of the Vulpix the breeder was holding.

"Hey James, who's that Pokemon?" Ash asked.

Serena smiled. "She looks really beautiful."

"Oh, this is Vulpix." James stated. "I'm looking after her while we're in and around Fuchsia City."

"Cool." Ash replied as he pulled out his pokedex:

Vulpix, a Fox Pokémon. Its six tails are extremely beautiful. As it evolves, it grows even more tails. Vulpix uses powerful flame attacks.

"So, where did you get her?" Serena asked.

"She's from the best breeder in all of Kanto, Suzy." James replied.

"That's pretty cool." Ash stated. "Now, do you guys see Brock and Lucy anywhere?"

"I haven't seen them since they went back into the crowd." James replied.

"Maybe we should check at the pokemon center." Serena suggested. "Even if they're not there, we shouldn't let Ash neglect his Pidgeotto."

"Good point." Ash stated before they started walking that way. "Does anyone know why she was called Pike Queen Lucy?"

"Yeah, that was rather odd." Serena stated. "What was this talk about the Battle Frontier?"

"Odd as it may sound to you, it is actually a pretty important tittle." James stated. "The Battle Frontier is comprised of seven facilities scattered around Kanto. Only trainers selected to compete may battle them. These facilities are headed by some of the strongest trainers in Kanto.

The only trainers that come close in this region are the Elite Four, Champion, and Giovani. To put it into context, Team Rocket is told to skirt around the gym leaders, but Giovani outright forbade even the admins from going near those facilities.

"That strong, huh?" Ash was excited. "Maybe I haven't been invited to compete, but I'd still like to have a battle with this Lucy." He was pumped to try his luck. "That's it, I'm going to ask her to a battle just to see where I stack up."

Ash certainly was ambitious, and no one could deny that.


Before anything else, there has been a small change to the question of: Should Ash catch legendary pokemon, eventually, in my story Ash's Remixed Journey? (Note: This does not mean he'd use them right away.)

I shall now be accepting votes from the pool, pm's, and reviews. If you have an opinion on this question, you can pm me, review on this story, or vote in the poll to have your vote counted. So far, the result's, from all areas, are:

Yes: 2 Votes

No: 2 Votes


Brock & Lucy: I get that that some of you may think this is to soon for anything that happened in this chapter; however, Brock and Lucy are not Ash and Serena. Brock, in canon, professed his love to practically every girl he encounters. The guy is not shy in the slightest. As for Lucy, we really only say her in one episode, but she was one of the few girls who seemed like she returned Brock's feelings.

Considering her short time in the series, I had to take some liberties her. I'd imagine someone with a position like Frontier Brain would scare many guys off. With someone like Barbra always around, she's likely had guys loose interest in her. Then, in comes Brock. During their first meeting in Vermillion, he's not put off by her tittle and only wants to be closer with her.

Barbra wasn't able to scare him off either. Couple all that with the fact we know Brock is a good guy, and the fact that he's on the road. In my mind, Lucy would not hesitate to stake her claim in Brock. Even if you dislike this, keep in mind that Lucy isn't a constant character. She's not going to suddenly drop everything to travel with them. So, you won't have to see this all the time.


Rowlets and Oshawotts: I can understand your feelings on the main pairing and how you wanted more build up, but the final confrontation with Team Rocket, in Kanto, is still badges away at this point. Perhaps I could have gone with the date idea, but I felt they had their moments before hand. Still, I am trying my best, and I do thank you for your review. Writers of anything can only improve when give constructive criticism.

Reader: Brock did meet Lucy back in Vermillion, and it made sense for James to meet Suzy considering he is the breeder. Yeah, guest can't vote, but I've decided to expand the pool to all forms of submissions on that question. Your vote will be counted.