The Nugget Bridge Challenge!
Ash, Brock, Lillie and Leaf were currently traveling through route 5, Ash deciding to branch out from his usual spot of picking fights with locals or trainers passing through Vermillion and try a different spot for some final preparations and training so that they were ready to face off against the Cerulean Gym! Leaf was heading a bit further north to try out the nugget bridge challenge which Ash himself planned to do after he finished training, deciding to let Leaf have at it on her own for now. Lillie would be going with her as Leaf was going to try and help her capture a Pokemon! Brock had simply offered to come along and prepare food for his friends while also wanting to check in on the local Pokemon Center to see if he could learn any tips or offer his assistance.
Ash and Espeon soon came to a spot along the road as they decided that it'd be a perfect place to set up shop and challenge any traveling trainers that pass through on the way to either Cerulean or Saffron City.
"Espeon and I will stay here for a bit, you girls sure you'll be fine on your own?" Ash asked.
"Of course we will," Leaf responded by kissing him on the cheek, Lillie cast off a jealous expression as she gazed at the two of them before looking away. "Don't worry about us, everything will be fine! Good luck with your training!" Leaf gave her boyfriend a wave before rushing off down the road, Lillie glanced at Ash and gave him a light nervous wave before going on after her. Ash watched the two of them go while Brock had started cooking up some food for them all to enjoy later, aspiring Pokemon Breeder had his back to the road and didn't see what was going on as Ash saw a cloaked individual walking down the road. The robes we wore looked quite ancient yet also slightly burnt and torn up yet despite the bizarre appearance he seemed to have quite the intimidating presence radiating off of him, no doubt he'd be a great opponent to face off against and Espeon seemed to agree as she cried out.
"Yeah, let's ask! Hey sir-" Ash looked away for one second to look at Espeon but by the time he looked back the man had gone, leaving a singular strip of paper in the road which caught Ash's attention. He walked towards it while wondering if the man had accidentally dropped something of importance but he let out an alarmed shout, his face turning bright red when the slip of paper appeared to call him out!
'Ketchum stop wasting your time and form a harem! Those Lillie and Serena girls won't go fawning after you forever, they'll move on if you don't man up!'
"I-" Ash's face was red from embarrassment as he looked around. Somebody other than the Rocket trio had been stalking him, how else would they know his last name along with Lillie and Serena's names?! Ash clenched the piece of paper before quickly tearing it up as he shook his head. A harem did sound nice but he had to take Leaf and Lillie's feelings into consideration, he couldn't just outright ask Lillie to be his girlfriend as Leaf would likely be pissed and who knew if Lillie would even like sharing, the poor girl sure seemed nervous! Ash really hoped that he could question the guy soon though and learn why he was following him and better yet just why the man seemed to have an obsession with his love life!
"Fairy Clefairy, fairy Clefairy!" Not far off the outskirts of Cerulean City and along the path leading to Mt. Moon was a Clefairy, probably an unfortunate soul that had missed it's ride back to their planet or whatever it was they came from. If that was the case Clefairy honestly didn't seem to mind that much, the Fairy type having quite the delighted tone in it's voice and unaware that it was being watched!
"Alright," Leaf spoke as she and Lillie sat in the bushes, Lillie was busy trying to wipe dirt off of her dress causing Leaf to lightly scowl a few times as she really ought to go clothes shopping with the girl and get her some more traveling friendly attire like a hoodie and a skirt rather than a fancy dress! "That Clefairy shouldn't be too strong, the ones at Mt. Moon weren't good enough to take on Team Rocket yet we beat them as mere rookies only a few weeks into our training careers! You should be able to beat it with-Snowy was it?"
"Vulpix!" Snowy cried out in agreement.
"A-Alright, Snowy use Ice Beam!" Vulpix opened her mouth and fired a beam of ice at the Clefairy, freezing the Fairy type on the spot as it was encased in a block of ice!
"That was actually not that bad, way to go Lillie!" Leaf cheered, clapping for her friend as Lillie lightly blushed before feeling around for an empty Pokeball. "And that is why you shouldn't wear a dress!" Leaf laughed.
"You need pockets like the rest of us!" Leaf produced an empty ball from a pocket before handing it to Lillie, the blonde girl thanked Leaf before it fumbled about within her grasp as she tried to get a good grip on it before giving it an awkward throw, Leaf sweating as the ball hardly made any distance at all as it fall mere inches away from the girl's feet! "We really need to improve on your throw too, luckily for you the Pokemon's just encased in ice so you can simply touch it this time!" She handed the ball back to Lillie who took it before walking towards Clefairy and gently tapping the ball against the frozen Fairy type! Clefairy disappeared in a beam of red light as the ball began quickly shaking within her hands before quickly chiming to announce the capture complete!
"I-I did it!" Lillie exclaimed with a proud smile, soon leaping up into the air as she let out an excited shout. "I caught a Clefairy!"
"Vulpix!" Snowy chimed while Leaf couldn't help but smile at the sight of Lillie being happy, she had to admit that the blonde was rather cute!
"Nothing beats a jelly filled doughnut, they're my favorite!" Brock exclaimed as he bit down on a powdery doughnut. He'd taken a break from preparing to treat himself and suggested that Ash take a break from training as well, Ash agreed to do so as he had to admit training did make him rather hungry. Eventually it came down to the last doughnut and the two boys gave each other a challenging look before they quickly rushed out to grab at it only for a blur of tan fur to rush on by and swipe it right out from under them as the two would collapse onto the now empty table!
"Ugh, what just happened?!" Ash groaned out as he rubbed his head, Brock rubbing his own as the two accidentally knocked their heads against one another.
"Espe!" Espeon pointed forward with her nose causing Ash to quickly turn his head around in the direction she was pointing at, a Mankey sat in the nearby treetops and hungrily munched at the doughnut while Ash let out a growl before angrily waving his fist at it.
"Hey that doesn't belong to you!"
"Mankey!" Mankey quickly stuffed the rest into his mouth before sticking his tongue out at Ash while pulling at his eyelid in a mocking manner, Mankey's actions got the best of Ash as he immediately attempted to leap up and grab at the monkey. That proved to be a foolish maneuver though as Mankey reached out and swiped his hat right off of his head before placing it on it's own head as it excitedly danced about. "Mankey, key key!"
"Hey that hat was the first thing I ever won!" Ash growled over, he was rather possessive of the hat as it was his most prized possession. Winning a Pokemon League wouldn't be the same without that hat! He started leaping up and down like a child trying to get a toy back from a bully. "Give that back!"
"Mankey!" Mankey pointed down at Ash, laughing out as he continued dancing about the treetops while wearing Ash's hat.
"Espe..." Espeon growled out, getting rather frustrated at the Fighting type as her eyes turned a bright blue, picking the monkey up with her Psychic attack before slamming it against the ground quite hard! The Mankey let out a grunt and the hat fell off his head, Ash thanked Espeon and quickly rushed over only to pause as a bright glow surrounded Mankey as he started undergoing evolution! Ash took an alarmed step backwards as the newly evolved Primeape slowly rose up and turned to face him with quite the pissed off expression.
"Primeape!" Primeape sprang forward and began repeatedly striking Espeon with Thrash, his rage seemingly powering him up as Espeon's defeated form was soon thrown right at Ash in a manner of seconds! Ash let out a surprised shock before quickly returning Espeon to her Pokeball as she turned to run off, he didn't like to play the part of a coward but if Primeape just destroyed his strongest Pokemon in seconds and had a murderous look in his eye combined with his heavy and heated breathing? No sane trainer would stick around if they were in his shoes! Primeape's face was burning red as he stamped his feet and chased Ash down the road!
Victor watched and wondered for a moment if he should intervene before laying back and deciding to see how the chosen one would handle it, he'd only step in if Primeape actually touched him!
Leaf was rather pleased with herself, her Shellder had managed to beat the first trainer on the nugget bridge with surprising ease as he merely used a Caterpie and Weedle against her. Then her Bulbasaur and Nidorina worked together to battle the next few trainers while the only one that honestly gave her trouble was the final opponent as he used a rather powerful Mankey that managed to take down both Shellder and Nidorina before Bulbasaur finally took care of things, winning Leaf the Nugget Bridge challenge as Lillie loudly clapped and cheered her friend on. Leaf cast Lillie a light blush before the two walked on to collect Leaf's prize, Lillie was honestly sweet and adorable and Leaf was surprised that she ever viewed Lillie as a threat to her relationship with Ash. Perhaps she could even share him with her much like May and Dawn shared Zach with one another.
Up ahead were two individuals dressed in black leather coats with black caps covering up most of the visual traits on their face. One could be made up to be a man though, having a short green colored hairstyle while the woman next to him had long blonde hair.
"Hello there, Biff and I-"
"It's Butch!" The male shouted out rather aggressively, shocking Leaf and Lillie for a brief moment as he waved his fist at his partner.
"Butch and I would like to congratulate you on your victory and gift you this Water Stone, you can use it to evolve that pathetic Shellder of yours into a powerful Cloyster!" Leaf had a bad feeling about where this was going but she accepted the gift, pocketing it before hearing them out. "You're quite the talented young lady though, definitely got a bright future ahead of you. Why don't you join up with Team Rocket? We've got quite benefits and you'd possibly be an executive within a few weeks!"
"Yeah, you've got stuff kiddo!" Butch smirked as the two revealed themselves to be Team Rocket scouts! Leaf let out a gasp as she quickly took a step back as a nervous expression formed across her face. With Nidorina and Shellder both out of commission all she had was Bulbasaur if things went south!
"I-I could never join up with you lot!" Leaf shook as she continued stepping back.
"Well then that's just too bad!" Butch smirked. "Eh Cassidy?"
"Right, we can't risk you blowing our operation so we've got no choice but to take you both out!"
"What?!" Lillie let out a frightened scream.
"Hitmontop, let's go!" Butch shouted.
"Granbull, I'm counting on you!" Cassidy called out as the two Johto Pokemon appeared before the two girls, giving them an intense glare as Lillie couldn't help but to nervously shake as the Pokemon looked quite strong and intimidating!
"Lillie!" Leaf called out to her friend, hoping for her support but unfortunately she seemed too frozen with fear to do anything! Leaf let out a frustrated growl, directing it towards the Rocket members rather than Lillie herself. Hitmontop began rapidly spinning towards the two while Granbull charged forward with a Fire Fang. Leaf closed her eyes as she tried thinking something up, she struggled to come up with an answer before noticing Bulbasaur's bulb glowing while it appeared to be absorbing sunlight? That's when it hit her, Bulbasaur had finally mastered Solar Beam!
"Sunny Day!" She quickly shouted out causing the two Rocket members to give one another a confused glance as Granbull's fire only intensified as he got even closer! Leaf was cutting it close but she hoped that it'd be enough to pull off a save! "Solar Beam!"
"Bulba!" Bulbasaur's bulb shined brightly as he shot a powerful beam of solar energy from his mouth, directing the beam as it flew towards Granbull and Hitmontop, sending the two Pokemon flying back to their trainers as they laid atop of them!
"Quick Lillie, have Snowy use Ice Beam!"
"R-Right!" Lillie quickly shook off her nerves before throwing out her arm. "Snowy use Ice Beam!"
Snowy blasted the Rocket agents and their Pokemon with the beam of ice, slowly encasing them in a block of ice and trapping them within it as the two girls let out a sigh of relief. They may not have beaten them officially but still won!
"Good work Lillie, that was awesome!"
"Thank you Leaf, I-wait what's happening to Bulbasaur?" She suddenly asked causing Leaf to turn her head before a look of delight crossed her face as Bulbasaur's body had become encased in a bright blue light! He grew a fair bit taller while his overall appearance before looking more reptilian, the bulb that sat atop his back had also opened up and transformed into what appeared to be a flower ready to bloom!
"Ivysaur!" The newly evolved Grass type cried out causing Leaf's eyes to water before she quickly knelt down to hug her starter. All that training had paid off and she had evolved her starter much like everyone else in her class!
Leaf turned to Lillie after awhile as she began wiping away her tears. "L-Let's head back to Cerulean, w-we should probably warn them about those two!" She pointed towards the block of ice only for her to let out a surprised shout as while they were busy looking over Ivysaur somebody had come along and taken them away! Those two must be important members of the organization to have been rescued so quickly like that! "W-Well at least we can warn them that this is just a trap to recruit more Rocket agents if nothing else!"
"Aaaah!"
"Primeape!" Primeape continued chasing Ash all over the forest as Victor watched while growing rather frustrated with his lack of thought into making a creative solution to deal with the Primeape. Battling it may not have done much good but there was always other ways to deal with situations like this! He grabbed an empty ball and prepared to step in before pausing as he sensed another aura nearby but that was impossible... he'd traveled the entire world and the only one he managed to find was Zinnia! Gurrkin told him to get lost as he had no intention of dragging his granddaughter into the dangerous life, Ghetsis' son wasn't even an option as he always hung out with the wrong crowd of people, and he never thought to look in a backwater region like Alola which is why he didn't realize Zach was alive until recently! As far as he knew Ash, Zinnia, Zach and Korrina were the last good ones around! But here was an entire new source of aura, one he'd never sensed before!
"Darkest Lariat!" A large feline Pokemon breezed past Ash in a fiery inferno before striking his arms against Primeape, sending the Fighting type flying away! Ash stopped to turn around and thank his savior only to let out a shout as he stood face to face with a muscular looking Litten, Ash could only assume that it was the final evolution of the starter Pokemon.
"Thank you," He bowed his head respectfully before pulling out his Pokedex to scan the creature.
"Incineroar the Heel Pokemon, This Pokemon has a violent, selfish disposition. If it's not in the mood to listen, it will ignore its Trainer's orders with complete nonchalance!"
Ash heard the sound of a capture being made nearby causing him to quickly look up and discover a boy that was the same age as him. The male had long orange hair with bangs coming down the front in the form of an 'x'. He wore a black jacket over a white t-shirt while red cargo pants covered his lower half, he also appeared to be wearing boots rather than the initial sneakers that most trainers wore.
"So you're the rainbow hero? What a joke." The male looked Ash over with disinterest in his eyes as Incineroar gave a similar look at him.
Ash let out a growl. "I'm not a joke, I just had nothing I could fight him with! What was I supposed to do fight with my bare fists?!"
"Yes...?" Cross raised his eyebrows before letting out a laugh. "You don't even know what we are, oh how hilarious!" He began circling Ash while looking him up and down. "Not bad... but looks alone won't cut it!"
"What are you doing...?" Ash asked, giving him a nervous look.
"Just seeing what all the fuss is about," Cross spoke before backing away. "And I'm not impressed, I'll see you around kid." He tossed the ball containing Primeape up and down before placing it on his belt as Ash let out a growl before quickly racing on ahead to block his path, stretching out his arms to block his path.
"Hold up, what did you mean by what we are?" Ash asked with a confused expression. "You didn't sound like you were referring to us being trainers there."
Victor pulled a knife out of his pocket and positioned himself above Cross, ready to strike if necessary as he wasn't sure what side Cross was on but with the way Cross was speaking it made him nervous! Surely he wouldn't just go and give Ash the knowledge of the aura guardians, Ash wasn't ready for that yet! It was a big responsibility and he still need to grow a bit first!
Cross placed his hands into his pockets before rolling his eyes as he let out a sigh. "Something tells me you'll just follow me until I answer you, no point in trying to ignore you so how about this? You beat Incineroar in a fight and I'll give you your answer!"
"You're on, Espeon I choose you!" Ash threw forward the ball containing Espeon. "Use Return!" Espeon raced forward in a blinding bright light before slamming her body against Incineroar and succeeding in knocking the feline back a few feet much to Cross' surprise.
"Hm, not bad... Darkest Lariat!" Incineroar's hands caught fire before he quickly began spinning rapidly, moving towards Espeon as he spun about before slapping his arms up against Espeon, the Eeveelution letting out a loud shriek as she was hurled through the air before landing in a collapsed heap in front of Ash.
"Espeon!" Ash immediately raced to her aid while Cross turned his back to leave.
"What a joke..."
"Wait!" Cross turned to give Ash a questioning stare. "I didn't get your name!"
"It's Cross, I'll see you around kid." Cross began walking off while Victor stared after him from the treetops. His eyes narrowed as he quickly hopped from tree to tree top to tail the boy and see just where he was going and who was his master.
"You fought an Incineroar?! They're quite powerful and a tricky opponent to beat!" Lillie gasped in shock as the girls and Ash filled each other in on their adventures while Brock prepared them all some dinner.
"I-I know I just got... a bit hotheaded is all." Ash lied, not wanting to say the truth about why he challenged Cross. It sounded important whatever Cross was referring to and he didn't want to worry the girls or Brock.
Leaf rolled her eyes before kissing his cheek with a loving expression across her face. "And that's why I love you!"
Ash formed a light smirk before kissing Leaf in return however he noticed a look in her eye that seemed to say that she wanted to tell him something. "Leaf, what's up?"
"I-Lillie and I had a talk on the way home..." Leaf took a deep gulp as Lillie remained quiet though her face was now burning bright red while sweat poured heavily from it. "W-We think... we think that the three of us should have a relationship together!" Her words took Ash by surprise as his eyes widened for a brief moment before he slowly tilted his head.
"You sure...?" He asked, ensuring that it was what the two wanted before he agreed to it. He wasn't going to agree to it simply for his own desires or interests, he wanted to make sure that they were happy too!
"Of course!" Leaf exclaimed with a smile, Lillie quickly nodded unable to speak due to her nerves but it was evident what her actions meant. Ash formed a warm smile before giving the two a quick nod, accepting the idea as Leaf pulled him into a hug before Lillie quickly joined in with a hug of her own. As the hours went by and night set with Lillie walking into the same tent as Ash, no doubt Gladion was going to be extremely pissed when he found out!
"You met the rainbow hero?!" A girl with a light skin tone excitedly chirped up. Her eyes were a bright brown color while her brown hair was tied up along the top of her head. She easily could be mistaken as a relative of Zach and Victor's if one didn't know better, Victor had jumped up startled at first as he wondered if it was Hilda as they never did recover her body but upon reading her aura he realized that it couldn't be her, she was the same age as his dear nephew and Ash.
"I did," Cross slid a picture across the desk within their hideout as Verity let out a delighted squeal at the sight.
"Oooh, he's hot!"
"Silence," A hooded individual spoke from the shadows, Victor noted that they were indeed robes of an aura guardian but which faction it was hard to tell from the lighting. He tried to step closer to get a better view. "The rainbow hero is the key to our plans, he-" Victor silently cursed as whoever it was was just as skilled as he as they heard his foot snap a twig. Victor quickly took off into the night and disappeared from view as the hooded figure looked out and glanced around before slamming the door shut behind them.
Another faction of aura wielders has been revealed but are they friend or foe?
It's a bit short compared to the last two but the nugget bridge is honestly too boring to fully play out, none of the characters other than Butch/Cassidy would appear again so I decided to just have Leaf do a montage through it.
Next up: A certain egg finally hatches and a baby Pokemon gets lost in Galar!