"Normal speech"

'Normal thoughts'

{radio or phone communications}

"Translated poke speech"

'Translated poke thoughts'

~Location and Transition~

Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon

Review corner

I am vegito: he will learn it but that would be spoilers

Patch6782: interesting idea. I could do that. As for Jame's Growlithe. I wholeheartedly agree with that since I see no reason for James not to take him with him

Learcangel1: well, I felt that Legendary pokemon would have a presence to them based on how powerful they are

ArashiNokitsune: I might just do that with the pokemon kneeling. But the reason I made it so Ash wasn't really curious was that I wanted to add in a smidge of early Ash density. In the first season, Ash was a little dense on many things so adding a bit of it makes it closer to canon Ash while still making him different

StarDragon001: I might take up your suggestion for fillers. Thank you for the suggestion on pokemon to add to the team

Johnathan-Mandrake: You want a roundabout idea when Ash will learn the truth about himself. Though it will kinda be spoiled but, to ease your curiosity I will PM you with the general time frame of it. But that is all I will give.

Phaleon: I like that idea. I might do that

Bluepigment: translation is fine. Though it does come out a tiny bit odd, I get the message so you are clear on your questions and statement. It is all good

Morinoka159: it might be but it will be some time before he learns. I just hope that you enjoy the fic till that point and beyond

Smp2000: thank you

Ares26: I hadn't considered it. I mainly gave Feebas to Misty because I think that she should get more pokemon than the ones that she had in Canon. I might but who knows

Guest: thank you

TO ALL READERS: the question that I most commonly get is "when will Ash learn the truth." I will say that it will be a bit of time before he learns it. I know that all of you are anxious for that moment and the more consistent original story. I know that the wait can be annoying but I ask that you be patient with me. I apologize if this is not something you want to hear but I would like to ask that you continue to read if you like it and again I am sorry if you didn't want to hear this. I am also anxious to get to that point in the story but I had already started at the beginning and I will not drop everything to get to it. I started it this way and I will finish it this way.

Important details and questions at the end of the chapter. Please read that when you finish the chapter

Chapter 8: Lesson at the Tech

The gang had made good progress on their journey towards the next town but it turns out that they are close to getting lost due to the thick fog they found themselves in. They had not been able to see far ahead of themselves so they chose to set up camp for the day and hoped that the fog would clear up either that day or tomorrow.

Now Brock had set up a table as he felt like having some Cerulean coffee and offered a cup to Avoline who absentmindedly accepted.

Brock looked at her and asked "Is there something wrong, Avoline? You've been spacing out for some time now."

Avoline had her arms crossed as she looked around at the fog. "I don't know why but something in the back of my mind keeps trying to remind me of something."

Brock looked around as if he might be able to figure out what was bugging her but he couldn't see anything significant about the areas. Though he couldn't see much. "It might come to you in a bit." Brock was about to set up the coffee maker but he realized that they hadn't gotten any firewood. He looked over to Ash and Misty and was about to ask them but he paused as he saw that ash was showing Misty something

Misty had Feebas in her lap as he watched and listened to Ash as he explained a massage technique that she should be doing for Feebas. She still didn't know why he was telling her that Feebas needed to eat specific food and she should do this massage but she enjoyed these moments when he showed his love for pokemon

"So you run your fingers where her fin meets her body right here and slide it down till halfway. Then run circles on these spots here" Ash began to give circular massages to both sides of Feebas's body which got a happy sound from the pokemon

Eevee slid under Ash's hat so it was on her head and patted his hair in agitation. "Hey, why haven't you given us a massage before?"

Pikachu began using her paws to push his head "yeah! We would like them too! You better give us massages too."

Ash chuckled as he felt his head being bombarded from two sides. "I'll give you girls one later. I'll give all of my pokemon one when we have the time. Though I'm not the best since I only know some of the simple ones I'll give it a try."

Misty giggled at the scene in front of her. "Looks like your pokemon want to hog your attention." She looked down at Feebas and began to try giving the massage in the same way that Ash told her.

Ash nodded as he leaned back on his hands. "Yeah, but they should know I'll give them attention if they just ask."

Both Pikachu and Eevee puffed out their cheeks before they slumped in their spot with the mouse mumbling out "you better give us one later."

"Hey, Ash!"

Ash, Misty, and their pokemon looked over to see that Brock had set up a table for them to have something to eat and Ash got to his feet and walked over to the oldest of the group. "What's up, Brock?"

Brock pulled out a bowl and whisk before addressing the youngest of the group. "I plan on making some coffee and tea, with crepes for a snack…."

Misty paused in her action as she heard that they would be having Crepes. "Oooh, I love crepes! I haven't had one in so long." She began to imagine herself enjoying a crepe with a nice cup of tea.

Ash on the other hand made a face of disgust as he heard one of the drinking options. He held his stomach as he remembered the time he tried coffee before. Not only did he not like the taste but the small amount that he had gave him a major headache and stomachache. He felt miserable for the entire day and he swore to not have coffee ever again. 'I better stick with tea.'

Brock noticed the look on Ash's face and asked "don't like crepes?"

Ash shook his head "no, I like crepes. I was just remembering the last time I had coffee. I'm going to stick with tea."

Brock nodded as he was glad that his cooking wouldn't go to waste. "Anyway, I can't make anything if I don't have a fire going. Do you mind if you go into the woods and get some firewood for us?"

Ash nodded "sure. Can you add some berries to my crepe?"

Brock chuckled as he nodded. "No problem. I can add some of it into the mix when I make yours."

Ash began to walk down the path. He was taught this as a way to avoid getting lost. "We'll be back when we have enough."

Avoline shook her head as she heard this. She was only partially listening so she knew what he was going out to do. "Don't be gone long, Ash!"

He waved back signifying that he heard her.

Avoline sighed as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot, now not only in frustration about the tingle in the back of her mind but from Ash going off on his own

Brock began to put ingredients into the bowl as he noticed her behavior. "Still trying to think of why this area seems familiar?"

Avoline sighed as she nodded "yes. And now I worry about Ash."

Misty looked up as her hands were massaging Feebas. "I'm surprised that you let him go off on his own with how protective you are of him." she watched the young nurse as she wondered about her decision to let Ash go. Though she understood Avoline's reasons for being protective.

Avoline moved to the table and sat in one of the chairs. "I can't limit what he does on his own just to ease my worries. Besides, he is just going to get some wood and he has his pokemon with him. I don't have to worry so much."

Misty could tell by the way Avoline was bouncing her leg and glancing in the direction Ash went that she was mainly putting on a brave face as she was extremely worried. She paused what she was doing and picked Feebas up. She whispered to her pokemon as she turned her eyes to the young nurse. "How about we go and keep an eye on ash so he doesn't get into trouble?"

Feebas nodded as she was also concerned for the young legendary. "Best not let the young legendary be on his own when he cannot protect himself."

Misty pulled out her Pokeball and returned her pokemon before getting up from the ground. "I'm going to go help Ash get the wood. With two people we can carry more wood."

Brock nodded his head while Avoline gave a look of appreciation to the redhead as she watched Misty walk off in the direction Ash went.

Ash picked up another stick only to feel that it was moist, causing him to drop it back to the ground. He had picked up a couple of pieces of wood but not many due to the moisture in the air.

Pikachu and Eevee had gone off to find pieces that they could use to help Ash out.

"Ash! What about this one?"

Ash turned around to see Eevee run up to him with a twig in her mouth. He bent down to grab it and smiled as it was one they could use. "Thanks, Eevee." He put the twig with the rest under his arm and pet her on the head, getting her to chur in happiness.

Pikachu walked up to the pair with a couple in her paws "here's a few more"

Ash smiled and took them from Pikachu and did the same to the mouse pokemon who also made a noise of content. Once he stopped he stood up and began to walk further down the path. "It's not a lot but I think once we get a few more, we can head back." He felt Pikachu and Eevee climb up his back and onto his shoulders before he began to walk further down the path.

Eevee feeling curious about the snack that they would be having decided to ask "Ash, what is a crepe? I've never heard of it before."

Pikachu's ears perked up as she was also interested.

Ash thought about the best way to describe it but came up short. "Well….. It's kinda like a …...desert. I don't know how to describe it. But my Meema sells it in her restaurant and she made it for me a few times. I think they are really good, especially when she put some Nanab berries in them.

The two smaller pokemon felt a little disheartened that they couldn't get any more info on the snack but were even more interested in having one when Brock finishes making them.

After a bit more walking, Pikachu noticed something in the fog. She pointed towards it as she used her other paw to tug on Ash's hair. "Hey, Ash, what's that?"

Ash looked at Pikachu and followed where she was pointing. He then noticed a light coming from the fog. "Maybe someone else set up camp. Let's go see if they have any spare wood."

A group of six kids stood outside in the middle of an empty field with one of them running on a treadmill while the other's held candles to give them a bit of light.

The one on the treadmill had neatly combed brownish tan hair, and appeared to be the youngest of the group.

The others. Holding the candles had various colored hair and styles.

One had spiky red hair,

Another had green hair that was styled for it to swoop on his right side.

one had teal hair styled in a bowl cut

Another had a simply styled burgundy hair

And the last one had long purple hair

All of them were wearing the same suit like uniforms with a badge over their breast pocket

The one with red hair looked at the one on the treadmill as he spoke. "That's all common knowledge about Pidgey. Now tell us at what level does it evolve and the name and special attack it is known for?"

The boy on the treadmill gained a look of concentration as he tried to think of the answer.

The group around the boy waited for him to answer as the one with red hair had his hand on one of the cards that he had in his hand.

After a few seconds of silence, the one with purple hair pressed a button causing the treadmill to begin to go faster.

The boy panicked at the increased speed and tripped on his feet and fell to the side. He pushed himself to his hands, feeling ashamed at not being able to answer the question. "I'm sorry, I forgot."

The rest of the group sighed in disappointment as the one with red hair walked forwards "if you can't get the simplest question right your going to be nothing more than the embarrassment of the school."

"I'm sorry."

Ash, who had witnessed the boy fall off the treadmill and be belittled by the rest of the group, dropped the wood he gathered and walked up to them. "Hey, knock it off!" he walked up to the fallen kid and picked him up. "What's going on here?"

The one with green hair scoffed as he looked at the newcomer. "Hey, this doesn't concern you. We are just trying to help him out in studying. Our school has very high standards and we can't have him drag it down."

Ash glared at the boy with Pikachu and Eevee bristling along with him. "If you call that helping then I'd hate to see what bullying looks like. And if that is the standard of the school then it should be called a prison instead."

"I couldn't agree more, Ash!'

Ash turned around to see Misty standing there. "Misty? What are you doing here?"

Misty walked up to stand next to Ash with her hands on her hips "I came to help you out with the wood but then I saw this happen." he then glared at the group. "You better leave that kid alone or you'll have to answer to us! Right, Ash."

Ash nodded as he stood by her side. I'm good with that."

The group, sans the boy, scoffed as the one with purple hair waved them off. "If we wasted our time fighting a couple of insects like you it would make Pokemon tech look bad."

Misty, Ash, Pikachu, and Eevee grew tick marks at being called insects.

Pikachu let out a few sparks "keep talking and I'll show you what this 'insect' can do!"

The one with green hair walked up to the boy they were "helping" and spoke. "We'll see you back at the institute, Joe."

"Kay!"

The group then turned around and walked away

"Hey! Hold up! We aren't done here!"

The one with red hair scoffed and looked over his shoulder to him. "Know your place. We don't have time to deal with losers like you." The group then left and disappeared into the fog.

Ash was about to run after them but he then heard behind him

"I knew I recognized the area. We're close to Pokemon Tech."

Ash and Misty turned around to see both Avoline and Brock walking up to them with Avoline being the one to speak up.

Ash tilted his head as he asked. "What are you two doing here?"

Brock was whisking some batter in a bowl as he answered. "Avoline was starting to worry even more and we decided to make sure you didn't get lost."

Ash slumped at that as he looked to Avoline "I don't get lost that much."

Avoline smiled as she knew for a fact that Ash can sometimes have a very bad sense of direction.

Brock then looked at Avoline and said. "Is that what was bugging you all this time?"

The girl nodded "yes. I remembered a time when I came to Pokemon Tech with my aunt from Vermillion as she was called to look over the pokemon they had in the school."

Misty took a thinking pose before she snapped her fingers and reached into her bag. "Hang on, I have a flier with me." After rummaging through her bag for a bit, she pulled out a piece of paper. "Here it is."

Brock held his hand out for him to read and once Misty gave him the flier. "Let's see what it says here."

Pokemon Technical institute: a boarding for serious pokemon trainer preparations. All students are guaranteed to enter the pokemon league upon graduation. Pokemon Tech is the educational facility for exceptional students who wanna become pokemon trainers in a very short time, without going on tough journeys to gather badges.

As Brock read the flier, Pikachu and Eevee began to examine the treadmill with Pikachu on the control panel and messing with the buttons while Eevee sniffed the black surface. Pikachu then pressed a button that turned on the treadmill.

Eevee panicked at the moving surface but after a second, she got the hang of it and began to run in correspondence with the treadmill speed. She thought it was actually fun to run on it.

Pikachu pulled herself up onto the panel and looked down to See Eevee running. She tilted her head as she stepped a bit more to the side and pressed a button.

Eevee's smile slowly dropped as it started going faster and she gained a look of determination as she ran faster.

Brock looked up from the flier as he finished reading it. "Oh, so that's the story about Pokemon tech."

Ash tilted his head as he didn't understand the purpose of it. "But that sounds so boring. To get into the pokemon league without going on a journey? I may not be that excited about going to the pokemon league but even I know that getting a free pass would be too easy."

Brock looked at the flier again. "It says that they maintain the highest standards so that they are ready for the pokemon league so the curriculum is set at a high level. Entrance fees are altered in accordance with any changes in the curriculum."

Misty sighed as she shook her head. "In other words, it is one of those snobby private schools only millionaires can get into."

Avoline sighed in exasperation as she thought about the school.

Ash on the other hand was curious. "At first I thought it was an easy pass to get into the league but if you said that the stuff you learn in it is tough, then maybe the trainers that come out of it aren't buying their way in. Where is this school anyway?"

Joe pointed in the direction the other students walked off in "it's right over there."

As if on cue, the fog began to dissipate showing a large school campus was only a couple of yards away

Ash looked dumbfounded at the appearance of the school "how did we not see that?"

Then an announcement was heard from the school's PA system {today's special class: Fog battle tactics, has now ended. Tomorrow's lesson will be: snowstorm battles.}

Joe slumped as he dreaded tomorrow's lesson. "Oh well. Guess they're going to make me into a snowman again."

Ash looked at Joe in disbelief. "Why are you letting them treat you like that?"

"My friends only do it to help me."

"You call them 'friends'?!"

Brock finished whisking and wrapped plastic over the bowl as he walked up to Joe. "with friends like that, who needs enemies."

As Joe was defending his friends and how he learned so much about Pidgey and its evolution, Ash noticed Eevee still running on the treadmill. He saw that the speed kept increasing and Eevee was doing her best to keep up with it. In fact, she was so close to using quick attack just to not fall off. He walked up behind her and picked her up from the treadmill. "I think you've had enough."

Eevee was panting heavily as she nodded "I can't feel my legs."

Ash chuckled as he reached out to turn off the treadmill with Pikachu running up his arms to sit on his shoulder. He cradled Eevee who just relaxed in his arms.

"If you know so much about Pidgey why didn't you answer the question?"

Ash turned around as he heard Misty's question.

"Sometimes I pretend not to know since they just make the questions harder."

Avoline could not help but think 'that is the purpose of learning. If you always go for the easy stuff, you will never be ready for the harder things'

Joe continued to explain things. "My parents spent a lot of their hard-earned money to send me to this school. But I can't leave without graduation." he then pointed to the side towards a tree that had an older-looking student. "See that guy over there. He's been at this school for years. The lessons were so hard that he couldn't advance to the next level. Everyone is too embarrassed to leave the school without a diploma. He is in the beginners class like me and is still trying to get ahead. "

Ash tilted his head "beginner class?"

Joe nodded "beginners have the same qualifications as a trainer with two badges. The intermediate class equals four, and the advanced class is the same as six. When you graduate you can enter the pokemon league.

Brock and Misty felt like they had something to say about it but they held their tongues. They did, however, give each other a knowing nod.

Ash shook his head in agitation at how the more he heard about this school the more he didn't get how things were run. "Who's in charge of this system? It sounds like an easy pass but the setup keeps anyone from actually getting anywhere."

Joe reached into his blazer and pulled out a picture of the one in charge. "Here's a picture of her. Her name is Giselle"

The group looked at the picture in surprise at who it was

Brock blushed as he looked at it. "Wow, she sure is pretty."

Ash merely nodded before he looked at Joe. "hasn't anyone told her that the system needs to be better?"

"She doesn't see a problem with it and most of the teachers approved of it."

Misty tapped her foot "I'm going to have a talk with this girl. Where can I find her?" She was doing her best to keep her anger in check as she hated this school.

Joe pointed to the school. "She usually spends her time in the battle room. I'll show you." Joe began to walk towards the school with the rest of the gang following him.

Ash turned to Brock and asked, "how come you didn't know about the school?"

Brock looked ahead to Joe before leaning close to Ash and whispered "I already knew about the school. All gym leaders know about it. But the thing is that none of us approved of it due to the issues that arose."

Ash blinks in confusion "huh?"

Misty joined in the whispering conversation. "We have a problem with it because a lot of the trainers that come from this school bypass all the gyms and enter the pokemon league. And every single one of them loses in the first rounds. None of the students that leave this school have any of the abilities to actually compete in them."

Brock continued "and the thing is that only a certain number of trainers get the chance to even compete due to the limit of trainers allowed. There was one year that most of the contestants came from Pokemon Tech but none of them lasted long and couldn't get past the prelims. It was noticed that despite their knowledge of pokemon, they don't have the battle skills to even get past the first three gyms. Heck, they wouldn't even be able to handle the first gym's A-team."

Avoline sighed as she added. "There is another issue with the school."

The other three turned to her and listened to what she had to say.

"The school's knowledge of Pokemon is extremely outdated. When the school was founded, the only pokemon that were known were the pokemon in Kanto. The thing is that even then the school was based on an early understanding of pokemon. As time went on, more pokemon species and types were discovered but the school didn't change any of its material. The information he gave about the Pidgey evolutionary line lacks several key details. Like how moves can be learned earlier than the designated level and he didn't even mention Steel wing or aerial ace. Moves that your Pidgeotto has learned through your hard work."

Ash now understood why his human friends didn't like the school.

So Joe gave them a tour of the school showing the classrooms, the offices, and the common areas.

The gang stopped at one of the classroom windows to see a teacher reprimanding a student as the teacher pointed to an image of a Pokiwag and Poliwhirl, with his hand gesturing to the swirl on their stomach.

Avoline heard a bit of what the teacher was saying. It was about the swirl on the water pokemon and that the clearer the marking is, the healthier the pokemon is. She sighed as she remembered how this theory was debunked a couple of decades ago. The clarity of the marking on its belly was actually due to the cleanliness of the water the pokemon swam in. it was understandable how the theory came to be since the poorer the quality of the water was, the more unhealthy the pokemon can get, which led to the misleading theory.

The group made their way into a large room with Joe explaining what it was. "Giselle spends most of her time here alone."

The group looked around as they were a little confused about the machines that filled the room.

Ash thought they looked like arcade machines. "What are these?"

Joe paused in the middle of the room and turned to them. "These allow us to set up simulations for pokemon battles. Giselle is the top in the beginners' course and she always spends her time here and beats every simulation here. She doesn't care if you beat her in a single fight since she cares about the skill level you have in battle. Everyone who battled her in a simulation has lost and now she has no real competition from the beginners or even the intermediate class. She puts everything she did in the simulation into battles and it's the same result, no one has beaten her."

Brock felt irritated about what was said. To him, it sounded like all they did was simulate battles and just put what they did in the simulation into real-life battles. Almost as if they didn't take into account tactics and strategy and only focused on levels and pokemon type advantages. Yes, those are important but there are moves and strategies that will win the battle. 'Like Ash's Pikachu. If we based the battle on pokemon type, Pikachu would automatically lose to rock and ground types. But she used speed and Ash's interesting pokemon moves to beat my team. With Pikachu being at a lower level, that just shows that Ash knows how to mix things up.'

Ash then asked "you said that those in the beginners class are just as strong as those with two badges. So does that make her as strong as those with four badges?"

Joe nodded "yeah everyone in the beginners class can beat anyone with two badges, even me. I'm way more powerful than someone with two badges."

Misty felt her eyebrow twitch in annoyance as this kid was saying that thanks to a simulation, he would be able to beat both Brock's and her gym. She could understand if someone trained hard to be able to wipe the floor of her gym's water pokemon but this is the same as saying that a game could beat her. In as calm a voice she could muster she spoke through gritted teeth. "So you're saying that you could beat the cerulean city gym no problem?"

Joe smiled as he moved to one of the simulators and imputed the data for the gym "Cerulean city gym, water pokemon. those are easy."

Misty grit her teeth as she asked "what makes you say that?!"

"I always beat them."

On the screen of the simulator, an image of a Starmie and Weepinbell appeared with the Starmie in the background and the Weepinbell in the foreground.

Joe pressed a few buttons to have the Weepinbell attack, causing the health bar for Starmie to drop to zero. "See."

Misty had had enough. She stomped up to him and pointed at the simulator. "You can't believe that just because you beat this simulator, you can actually beat the real thing. As gym leader of the Cerulean City gym, I won't accept this!"

"Doesn't matter if you accept it. The data here shows that you would lose to me."

Misty pulled out a Pokeball and glared "why don't you and your 'data' prove how better you are by actually battling me!"

Joe got up and gave a cocky smirk. "You'll be sorry."

The group moved to a battlefield inside the same room and stood in their respective spots facing each other.

Avoline chose to be the referee for the battle and took her spot "are battlers ready?"

Misty nodded with Joe smiling with confidence

Ash looked at Brock as he asked, "who do you think will win?"

Pikachu raised her paws into the air as she shouted out "show him how a battle really is!"

Eevee was still snuggled in Ash's arms so she just watched the upcoming battle.

Brock looked at the two trainers. "If I was to base this on trainers, it would most likely be Misty who wins since she is a gym leader and has much more practical experience. But I don't know about the battling in this school. Despite what I said earlier, that was against those who trained to be in the Pokemon league but this is against a gym leader so he might be able to beat her."

Avoline raised her hand "trainers, release your pokemon!"

Misty pulled her arm back as she called out "Misty calls: Starmie"

Starmie burst out of the Pokeball ready to battle. "ready to assist."

Joe smiled as he grabbed the Pokeball he grabbed from a shelf. "Too bad you won't be able to beat my pokemon. Let's go, Weepinbell"

Weepinbell popped out of his Pokeball prepared to win. "Ready!"

Avoline saw that both battlers were ready so she called for the battle to start. "Begin!"

Misty chose to start the battle. "Starmie! Watergun!"

Starmie leaped into the air before launching her water gun towards the grass pokemon. Weepinbell waited for a command but when none came, he took the attack head-on. The strength of the watergun was strong enough to send him flying behind Joe and impact the wall before sliding to the ground with swirls in his eyes.

Avoline called the match "Weepinbell is unable to battle. Misty and Starmie are the winners!"

Brock chuckled nervously as he rubbed his head "or it could go exactly the way I thought it would."

Joe was shocked to see that Weepinbell lost to a Starmie. "But that doesn't make any sense. Grass Pokemon are strong against water pokemon."

"True but you need to see that pokemon type isn't the only thing that factors into the battle."

Everyone turned to the entrance of the room to see Giselle standing there with the other students that were helping Joe earlier.

Giselle walked forward as she continued to talk as if she was lecturing them. "Her pokemon are at a higher level than Weepinbell due to experience. You should have known that she would have been able to beat a low-level grass type."

Brock blushed when he saw her "oh wow. She's just like a movie star. I wonder if I can get her autograph and maybe her number?"

Misty's eye twitched at hearing Brock praise the girl. 'He likes stars huh. I'll give him stars alright.' She was a little surprised to see that Ash hadn't reacted the same way Brock did when all the other boys seemed to be taken in by her beauty. 'Huh, wonder why he isn't reacting?'

Giselle began to introduce herself as if it was a privilege for the others to be in her presence "I'm the top student in the beginning class of the most exclusive prep school in the world: Pokemon Tech. It's sad that others aren't blessed with my beauty, my talent, my humble attitude." She then raised her right arm in the air with the other on her hip as she posed. "People call me a star but...I'm just Giselle."

The females, both pokemon and human, gave a dry look to the girl as they could not believe how conceited Giselle made herself to be.

Giselle stood in front of Joe as she looked down at him. She smiled as she put a hand over her chest. "I like to help all my underclassmen. To help them become better trainers in all aspects of pokemon." her smile turned into a frown of slight disgust as she glared at Joe "but you are an embarrassment to the whole school. If you keep doing as poorly as you are now, everyone will turn their backs on you for good." she turned away from a shocked Joe with the other students doing the same.

"Hold it!" Misty took a few steps forward as she could not stand what Giselle just did. "For someone who says she wants to help, you're quick to abandon someone in need of help. You may claim to be beautiful but your attitude sure shows how ugly you are inside."

Gisel smirked as she turned to Misty. "It's sad to see jealousy rear its ugly head, especially in someone like you."

Pikachu and Eevee glared at the girl as Eevee spoke. "I thought Joe was cocky but this girl is insufferable."

Pikachu tugged on Ash's hair as she pointed to the girl. "Can I shock her, Ash?"

Ash looked at Brock to see that he was more focused on Giselle and Misty. He then whispered back to Pikachu. "No, you can't, Pikachu."

"But why~!" she whined as she really wanted to.

"You just can't."

Gisselle walked over to the shelf of Pokeballs "against you water pokemon, I'll choose…" she then posed as if she was dancing before she tossed her Pokeball "...Graveler!"

Out of the Pokeball came said pokemon. "Let's go!"

Brock crossed his arms as he figured that the Graveler must be trained well if she was confident in its victory

Avoline raised her arm to referee the match. "Are trainers ready?" seeing both nod, she dropped her arms to get the match started "then begin!"

Giselle put her hand on her hip as she gave her order "Graveler, stomp."

Graveler jumped into the air before dropping where Starmie was.

"Starmie! Dodge and use Watergun."

Starmie jumped into the air, avoiding the rock pokemon's attack before sending out a blast of water.

Giselle scoffed as she raised her nose in the air "Graveler, Rollout."

Graveler jumped back towards the water pokemon while spinning, causing the water to splash on it. He grimaced a bit but kept going till he crashed into Starmie.

Starmie felt her jewel crack as she was sent flying out the window and into the pool.

Misty and Ash gasped in shock as they forgot about the battle and ran outside towards the pool with Brock and Avoline chasing after them

Giselle gave a cocky smirk as she watched them leave.

Once they got to the pool they looked into the water to see if Starmie would come back up.

After a second of nothing, Misty was about to dive in but was stopped when Ash handed Eevee to her and he jumped in "Ash!"

Ash swam to the bottom of the pool to see Starmie slumped on the pool's floor. He swam to her and picked her up before swimming back to the surface.

"Tell Misty….I'm sorry I lost."

Ash looked at Starmie before nodding. He burst through the water surface as he swam to the edge and lifted Starmie up to Brock. He then pulled himself out of the water and shook his head to get some of the water off. He looked to see Misty hug Starmie and Eevee now being held by Avoline. He heard Starmie make a sigh and said "I think she is saying 'sorry for losing'."

Misty smiled at Ash before looking at Starmie. "It's fine."

Giselle walked up to them and spoke "well, we're by the pool now, your specialty. You can use another pokemon if ya want."

Misty glared at Giselle as she did not appreciate the tone she had "and I bet you're gonna choose another Pokemon that is weak to water types!"

"A pokemon is only as strong as the trainer. a pokemon that's weaker but better trained can still win. It depends on the trainer." she looked back to Joe who stood by the other students "I hope you're learning something from this, Joe. A pokemon's training is just as important as the type in deciding the match. A first-class trainer can calculate that."

"Hold on!"

Giselle looked to see who spoke to see that it was the boy that was with the Cerulean gym leader.

"There's more to pokemon training than calculations."

Giselle looked him over and with his wet appearance, she wasn't impressed "and you are?"

"I'm Ash Ketchum, and I don't like the attitude you have with my friends."

"Hehe, I'm only stating the truth. And what about your level? How many badges do you have?"

Ash was really starting to not like this girl. "I have two badges."

Giselle was even less impressed now. "In other words, you're a beginner. And how long have you been trying to become a pokemon trainer?"

Ash paused as he tried to think of how long he had been on this journey. "...two and half months….I guess"

Giselle gasped as she was in mock shock "two and a half months and you let your Pikachu walk free? You haven't been able to tame it yet? Maybe your pokemon are training you."

Every one of Ash's friends glared at the girl as they hated how condescending she was being, with Pikachu and Eevee bristling.

"Hmm, with two and a half months of pokemon training, your Pikachu should be at least level 27. But it's most likely not there yet. You must not be very knowledgeable about pokemon if you chose a Pikachu to be on your team. For beginners, they are hard to handle. It says so in any beginning pokemon manual."

Ash clenched his fist as he listened to her

Giselle mock gasped as she figured that he didn't know. "You really didn't know? And you still got two badges? How funny." She then went on spouting out statistics about a Pikachu's species, such as height and its evolved form. "Pikachu can shock you but overall they aren't anything impressive. They are cute though and make great pets if you don't make them evolve, especially for little girls. But I'm sure you knew that. Really you didn't? And you still have two badges?" she then began to laugh haughtily

"That's it!"

Giselle stopped her laughing when a spark of electricity hit right in front of her. She looked up to see his Pikachu land in front of him with the Eevee standing next to it

Ash stood behind them. "You can make fun of me but don't make fun of my friends. If you think that my pokemon can't be anything other than cute, then let us prove to you how wrong you are."

Giselle still didn't see anything threatening from the pokemon he had. "Looks like you have nothing but cute pokemon."

Eevee bristled at this. "I don't mind if Ash calls us 'cute' but when she says it, it just makes my fur crawl!"

"Then let's show her 'cute'!"

Ash glared at Giselle. "Why don't we make this a two on two battle."

Giselle flipped her hair at the challenge. "Fine by me. I can spare a few seconds." she pulled out a Pokeball and sent out her Graveler

"Ready to…...ba….ttle….." his bravado died down when he came out of his ball and felt the presence of an angry legendary. Something all pokemon knew was that when there is a legendary nearby and it is angry, you need to avoid causing it to aim its anger at you. He looked around to see what legendary it might be but when his eyes landed on it, he was surprised to see that it was just a boy. Despite the relief he felt when he learned it wasn't a legendary, he felt more relief when he saw his opponents.

Ash looked at the Graveler and then to his pokemon. Since Pikachu was insulted the most and this was a rock type, he chose his first pokemon. "Pikachu, let's show 'em."

Pikachu let out a few sparks as she leaped forward "gladly!"

Eevee hopped up to Ash's shoulder and waited to see Pikachu take down the rock-head

Avoline took the role of referee again as she internally cheered for Ash to win. "Are both contestants ready?" seeing Giselle and Ash nod she called the beginning. "Then let the first match begin!"

~Pikachu vs Graveler~

Giselle chose to finish the battle quickly "Graveler, Rollout."

Graveler began to roll towards Pikachu ready to end this

"Pikachu, evade the attack!"

Pikachu jumped to the side in time for the rock type to miss her.

Graveler spun around to continue the assault but just as before, the mouse pokemon avoided the attack.

Giselle was confused as this should have ended already with Graveler's attack making an impact and causing Pikachu to faint. "Graveler, stop Rollout and use Rock throw!"

Graveler stopped in front of Gisselle and began to grab pieces of rock off its body and throwing them at Pikachu.

Pikachu kept dodging the rocks thrown at her and even jumping off the ones on the ground. Once the move ended, she stood tall on one of the rocks and glared at Graveler. Despite how Graveler did nothing wrong, the fact that Giselle was his trainer, did nothing to stop her anger.

Ash thrusted his hand forward and ordered "Pikachu, Quick Iron!"

Giselle, Joe, and the other students were confused as they had never heard of that move before.

Pikachu jumped off the rock and activated quick attack. "Sorry but this is going to hurt!"

Gisselle and the rest saw that it was nothing more than a simple quick attack. "Nothing more than a simple normal type move."

Pikachu's tail then began to glow and when she was close enough, she jumped and swung her tail into Graveler's face"

Graveler was not expecting a steel-type move and was ill-prepared as the super effective move landed hard and sent him flying into the wall.

The Tech students looked in shock at the now unconscious Graveler.

~winner: Pikachu~

Avoline raised her hand to announce "Graveler is unable to battle. The winner of the round is Ash and his Pikachu!"

Giselle spun around and pointed to ash "what move was that? There is no way that Pikachu could use a move that could cause that much damage to Graveler unless it used dig."

Ash adjusted his hat "that was a combination of Quick attack and Iron tail. Quick attack made Pikachu pick up speed and when she was close enough she switched moves to Iron tail, which is super effective against rock types.

Joe tilted his head in disbelief "that must be an illegal move since I haven't heard of Iron tail before."

Avoline immediately corrected the statement. "It is a legal move, validated by the pokemon League association. Now Giselle, choose your next pokemon."

Ash looked at Pikachu and commanded, "Pikachu, return."

Pikachu puffed out her cheeks in a pout but complied. She moved to Ash and climbed up his leg to sit at his shoulder

"Feel better?"

Pikachu still had her cheeks pouting but she nodded "still wish you let me battle her second pokemon."

Ash chuckled before looking to his other shoulder at Eevee "ready?"

Eevee responded by jumping off his shoulder and in position to battle

Giselle was now nervous as all textbooks stated that Pikachu should by all accounts lose to Graveler. But it pulled out a move that wasn't ever documented in any of the books that were in the school. She didn't know anything about steel-type moves so she didn't know its limits and weaknesses. But she was already in the battle and she could not forfeit. She pulled out a Pokeball and hoped that this Eevee would not have any surprises like that Pikachu. "Cubone, go!"

Cubone came out of the Pokeball and immediately felt nervous about the presence that surrounded the area. Being young, he had no idea what was causing this feeling but his instincts were telling him to be wary.

Avoline saw that both pokemon were ready, though she did notice that Giselle and her pokemon were nervous. She figured that Giselle was nervous because of the last battle and Cubone was nervous because of the aura that Ash let out that affected other pokemon. She was told as such thanks to Gardevior. "Are both battlers ready?"

Ash and Eevee nodded eagerly

Giselle gulped as she hesitantly nodded with Cubone holding tightly to its bone club

Avoline then called the beginning of the match "then begin!"

~Cubone vs Eevee~

Ash had the right to start the round this time. "Eevee! Double Quick!"

Eevee charged at Cubone using quick attack ready to switch moves but she noticed something about her opponent.

Cubone, thanks to the aura that hit the area, was so startled about the sudden attack that he dropped the bone club, held his head in fear, and whimpered. "Meema!"

This did not go unnoticed by everyone there

Ash heard Cubone's cry and called out "Eevee stop!"

Eevee began to slow down her attack until she stopped right in front of the crying Cubone. Now that she was in front of the pokemon she could tell that this Cubone was extremely young.

"Meema! Meema!"

Eevee saw that Cubone was holding onto the skull that he wore. She felt terrible for causing this clearly young pokemon to call out for his Meema. She had once heard that humans thought that the skull was the skull of a Cubone's Meema. But it was actually just part of the eggshell that they hatch from that is shaped while inside.

It was an odd thing that happens only to Cubone, but while inside the shell, a large chunk of the egg shapes around the Cubone into the shape of its head. The reason that Cubone thinks of their mother when they hold the helmet, was because it has the same smell that their shell had which would have the same smell of their mother.

Eevee gently nudged the Cubone. "Hey, it's ok. I'm not going to hurt you."

Cubone stopped crying to look up to see the gentle smile of the fox pokemon. "Really?"

Eevee nodded to reassure the pokemon

Giselle was confused about what the pokemon were doing. "What happened?"

Ash walked forward as slowly as possible till he knelt to them and smiled at Cubone. "I'm sorry. We don't have to battle anymore."

Cubone recognized the aura that came off the boy but this time, instead of threatening, it was comforting. In a sudden burst of relief, he collapsed on his lap and cried in his pants. "I'm sorry!"

Ash patted his head "it's ok. You didn't do anything wrong."

Everyone watched as Cubone cried onto Ash's lap with Avoline calling out "this battle is invalid. No winner."

Giselle walked up to them and asked "what's wrong with him."

Ash looked up and could hear the concern in the girl's voice. "He was scared. He is really young and I don't think he is ready to battle yet."

Giselle could see that Cubone was distraught and nodded as she knew that he was not ready to battle. "It is surprising though. He did well with the other pokemon in the school."

Avoline, Brock, and Misty walked up to them with the breeder speaking up. "It's most likely because he is used to the other pokemon around. But when sent out to another pokemon that he hasn't met before, he grew scared and couldn't handle it."

Giselle nodded in understanding before she patted Cubone on the head, getting the pokemon to look at her.

Cubone recognized Giselle and turned to hug her as he cried on her.

"I'm sorry, Cubone."

Ash sighed as he stretched his arm to Eevee for her to climb up. "We should call off this battle."

Joe looked to Ash. "Well, with how you did in the first match, I think you won either way. That was an amazing battle in my opinion."

Misty smiled as she walked up to stand next to Ash. "just goes to show you that despite your statistics, you can't always win against someone that has the practical experience."

The students nodded as they could see where they were coming from.

Ash looked to his friends. "I think we should head back to camp. We've done a lot today."

The rest of the gang nodded as they began making their way out of the pool area.

Ash paused and looked at Joe. "Thanks for the tour. But if you want to be a pokemon trainer, you should go out on a journey to get the badges. The guy you pointed at earlier… you said that he had been here for years but still only has the qualifications of someone with two badges. Yet I've been on my journey for just over two months and I already caught up to you based on how your system works."

The students were stunned by this logic. Many had spent a good amount of time at the school and here was a kid their age only on his journey for a short time and already surpassed them.

Ash then turned his gaze to Gisselle who was holding Cubone. "I don't see my pokemon as pets. They are my friends and they will always be my friends. Whether I train them to be ready for the gyms or to just have some fun." he then smiled at Cubone "you better take care of Cubone." he then turned around and ran after his friends.

Eevee nodded as she nuzzled his cheek while Pikachu cheered in the air

Once he joined them he had a random thought. 'Cubone said…..Meema….I wonder why?' (just wanted to add some Canon Ash density. Don't hate me for it.)

Joe watched Ash leave as he thought to himself. 'Maybe he is right. He did a bunch of stuff that I never read in any textbook.' his mind kept going around with this thought

Giselle looked at Cubone and smiled "yeah. He needs someone to take care of him."

~that night~

The gang made it back to camp and Misty enjoyed the crepes that Brock made when the second they got back.

Ash took a bite out of his crepe that had a couple of berries in them. He looked over to Eevee and Pikachu to see them eating theirs with stars in their eyes. He looked around to see that all of their pokemon were enjoying a crepe themselves. Though he did notice that Avoline didn't release all of her pokemon. He didn't know what the rest of her team was but he knew that she should have a full team. "So….how far away are we from Vermillion city?"

Brock took the last bite of his crepe before he wiped his hands and reached into his bag to pull out the map. Looking it over he spoke "we're nowhere close to it. There are a few small towns between here and Vermillion so we can stop in them for the nights we get there." it was then that he noticed something about his group and the time. He looked to Avoline and asked, "isn't this the time you do your examination on Ash's health?"

Ash began to fidget as he knew that it was past the time he would be examined by Avoline but he didn't want to go through with it since he was enjoying the time he spent not being a patient. 'Darn it, Brock!'

Avoline sighed as she put her crepe down. "Normally I would but that school has really gotten to me. I do not think that I could do it without my mind going to the outdated information they taught all their students. And to make the lessons so difficult that many are held back for so long just seems like a scheme to put down potential trainers. So for tonight, I will let Ash skip his exam." She then turned to Ash. "but don't think you can get out of tomorrow's exam."

Ash winced as he saw that he was caught at not mentioning it.

All of his pokemon chuckled at him and being caught red-handed

Even his human friends chuckled at his nervous behavior

Misty was feeding Feebas pieces of a crepe that Brock made for the pokemon that had a berry paste that Avoline told her to give to Feebas. "Hey, Ash, you still haven't told me why I need to do these specific things for Feebas and not my other pokemon."

Ash finished his last crepe by tossing the berry into his mouth as he looked at Misty. "It's a surprise. Take it from me or Avoline. The surprise will be well worth it."

"Well how long do I need to keep doing it?" she wasn't asking out of irritation but more from suppressed excitement on what this surprise could be.

Avoline moved over to Misty and looked over the fish pokemon. "Hmm. I would say pretty soon. Then when the surprise happens you can begin training "

Brock looked at the new pokemon and Avoline. "You and I have to go over notes about caring for pokemon. You know so much more about pokemon care than I do, especially about pokemon out of the region."

Avoline smiled "all Nurse Joys know these things. But I diverted a bit away from just caring for their health and into raising pokemon so you could say that I am both an amateur breeder and nurse." But I have my reasons for it.' her gaze fell to Ash as he had stopped eating his crepe and was now chasing Eevee who was now wearing his hat. She smiled as she saw him laughing with his pokemon. She giggled when she saw the rest of his pokemon joined in the fun before they pokemon-piled him

Gardevoir moved over to the pile before she pulled Ash up out of the pile before placing him down.

Ash smiled up at the psychic type before he tagged her and ran away from her

Gardevior was a little stunned before she smiled and began to float after him with the other pokemon rejoining

Later on, Ash had lost when Gardevior used her power to lift him in the air and pulled him towards her. He knew he lost but he didn't get the chance to chase any of his pokemon when Gardevior hugged him and rubbed her cheek on his head. He grumbled as this was her way of telling him that he was now shorter than he was since he did this once when she was a Ralts.

And then the other pokemon jumped on top of them and they all burst out laughing,

Ash smiled as he felt all the pokemon on top of him. Giselle said that his pokemon were his pets but this just showed that they weren't his pets. They were his friends and he wouldn't change that for anything.

End of chapter

will go back and fix any missing words that apparently never make the transition into Fanfic doc manager

the students that were "helping" Joe had never been named so that is why I depicted them with their hair

I was on the fence on whether to do this filler episode since not much happens in the episode. But when I rewatched it I so wanted to have Ash wipe the floor with Gisselle. Which is why I had Pikachu beat Graveler in one of the combined moves. But when I got to Cubone, the crying bit made me think that it was a young pokemon and I didn't have the heart, nor did Ash, to hurt a child pokemon.

And as I did the chapter, I came up with a more believable story about Cubone's mother's skull thing. So I came up with the egg shaping, kinda like Togepi's body being the very shell it was inside of.

I removed Team Rocket's appearance since they literally did nothing in the episode. There will be chapters I don't add Team rocket unless necessary.

Now I get the feeling that many of you readers would have wanted Cubone to go with Ash. I thought about it and I just couldn't make a decision about it so I made this. I Ki~nda could still give Ash the Cubone but he might also just stay with Giselle

NOW FOR THE FILLERS. I have decided to take one of the suggestions that were given to me in a review. Which was that during phone calls with Ash and his mom, a brief summary would be given to tell such events instead of making a full chapter. Now there are a few fillers that I have/want to do. One of them (spoilers) is the SS Anne two-part filler. For reasons

Now for Ash's potential partner options

1: secret

2: secret

…...yep that's it. I know that he has a lot of females around him but with how I am setting it up, they can either have a platonic relationship, a sibling one, or they can be more. Also, the relationship with his Partner/s will be fluff. I like fluff. If you have a suggestion then let me know and I will put it on the potential partner list. Keeping the two a secret more for fun than anything else

Ash's team

Pikachu - female - Thundershock, quick attack, tail whip, Iron tail - Quick Iron (Quick attack + Iron tail)

Eevee - female - quick attack, growl, yawn, and double kick, Iron tail - Double quick (Double kick + quick attack)

Oddish - female - Poison powder, growth, Sleep powder, Mega drain

Butterfree - male - Sleep powder, stun spore

Pidgeoto - male - quick attack, sand attack, wing attack, whirlwind, aerial ace, steel wing - Steel Ace (Aerial ace + Steel wing)

Sandshrew - male - TBA

Avoline's team

Chansey - female - Sing

Dratini - female - Twister,

Gardevoir - female - psychic, teleport

New pokemon revealed next chapter

Brock's team

Geodude - male - TBA

Zubat - male - Supersonic

Onix - male - Dig, bind

NOW I am open to suggestions for any pokemon to add to the group's team. Ash will be able to get more pokemon soon in the upcoming chapter. As I am taking an idea from another pokemon fic.

Flames will be ignored.

Criticism is accepted

Ideas are taken into account and considered

Positive reviews are appreciated

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