Don't own Pokemon, nor do I profit off this work.
The rest of the day flew by for Ash as he hung out with his team talking about everything from their favorite foods to if they had any goals outside of winning the league with him.
While it was not surprising to hear his Pokemon unanimously agree that Brock's cooking was the best, Ash actually did learn a few new things regarding his team.
It was interesting to hear that Cyndaquil actually wanted to become a strong battler considering her typically lethargic demeanor however what was even more off putting was finding out that Totodile wanted to find the girl of his dreams which sounded like one of Brock's goals to Ash than anything else.
Pikachu desired to venture the world and see brand new places while Phanphy didn't really know yet and Noctowl avoided the question entirely. The only one that Ash already knew was Bayleef wishing to spend more time out of her Pokeball with him, but that was more due to hearing it shortly beforehand than anything else.
"Hey everyone food is ready." Brock announced. "Come and get it before it gets cold."
"You heard him everyone let's get something to eat, I'm starving." Ash said rubbing his stomach for emphasis.
Not needing to be told twice Ash's whole team quickly made their way to the area where Brock set up his temporary kitchen. With their plates already set up it only took a few seconds for the Pokemon to begin eating.
Ash was no exception as Brock hadn't only cooked for the Pokemon. As the trainer from Pallet dug in, he noticed something odd. Namely the food was suspiciously bland which should have been impossible considering Brock was an amazing cook, better than his mom even!
Just as he was about to ask the aspiring Pokemon breeder why his cooking took a sudden nosedive in quality a mouthwatering aroma caught Ash's attention. It was coming from the pot of food that Brock had made, specifically the one for the Pokemon.
Ash stared for a moment stupefied, only to be interrupted by his stomach grumbling prompting the blue haired Pokemon to make his move.
The fifteen-year-old hailing from Pewter was the first to notice Ash's strange behavior as the newly turned Pokemon dropped his own food to make a beeline for the surplus Pokechow he had made.
Brock quirked a brow as he watched Ash cautiously bring the meal not meant for human consumption to his mouth. Ash's hesitance made sense to Brock as he remembered the time when the trainer from Pallet had tried some kibble with Seymour back at Mt. Moon to predictable results.
Yet that begged the question why would Ash try to eat Pokemon food again when its burned him before?
It was obvious when Brock thought about it, but if his guess was correct then Ash's new look was more than skin deep. Intrigued the rock type specialist watched as the bipedal Pokemon nibbled on the first bite before hastily shoveling the food into his mouth in a manner that was distinctly Ash.
Brock could tell that Ash was actually enjoying the food he'd made when he heard the supposed trainer's happy exclamations. "Gar Gar devoir."
"He's actually eating Pokemon food." Misty mumbled while shaking her head before repeating to herself. "Pokemon food."
"It seems that Ash's tastes have changed to fit that of a Pokemon." Brock acknowledged Misty while nodding to himself. "I suppose I'll have to make larger portions of my Pokechow until Ash is back to normal."
Misty's eyes went towards Brock as she said. "I hope its soon, seeing Ash like this is so weird."
"Speaking of how long," Brock asked. "Lily when is the spell going to wear off?"
A reply never came as when he looked, the Pokemon magician was nowhere to be found much to Brock's disappointment. "Misty where did Lily go?"
Misty gave a sigh as she replied. "She left Brock, you were too busy cooking to notice but she said something about needing to get a petal from a Sunflora at a certain time today."
Brock crumpled into a fetal position at the terrible news, muttering in defeat. "I didn't get to serve her my meal cooked with love."
Misty merely rolled her eyes at his reaction, well used to Brock's melodramatics regarding women by now. Ash for his part was not aware of the interaction, too busy scarfing down the best tasting food he'd ever had in his life.
When he finished with his meal Ash patted his stomach in satisfaction concluding his team was absolutely correct, Brock's food was the best. Yawning Ash stood up looking at the darkening sky, it seemed about time to set up for the night.
"Hey guys are we going to set up camp here?" Ash called over to the two other trainers.
The only response Ash got was Brock and Misty sharing a look of incomprehension reminding the budding Pokemon master that they could not understand him. This was a huge problem, there had to be a way he could communicate with them…
The moment Ash had that thought it struck him like one of Pikachu's thunderbolt attacks as the extrasensory perception sharply pinged at the back of his mind. Once again trusting his new instincts Ash sent out a mental pulse hooking a mysterious energy onto his two targets.
'was that it?' Ash thought to himself after not seeing any visible results.
"Whoa, did you hear that Misty?" Brock shouted standing up in surprise from the loud voice ringing in his head.
Misty replied, her eyes wide. "Yeah sure did, it sounded a lot like Ash."
"So you guys can hear me then?" Ash happily projected his thoughts using his newly discovered ability.
Brock nodded to Ash in confirmation answering. "It seems you're using telepathy, it's an ability mainly possessed by psychic type Pokemon that allows them to communicate with others using their minds."
Ash's face lit up with recognition. "Oh, you mean like Lugia and Entei?"
"Oh, so that's why I'm hearing Ash's voice in my head." Misty remarked, relieved she wasn't going crazy.
Brocks brow creased in confusion as he said. "Lugia?"
"Oh right you were still with professor Ivy when that happened." Ash stated. "Basically Lugia talked to us but without moving his mouth, so he was probably using telepathy, right?"
"Man I must've missed a lot while you two were traveling the Orange Islands." Brock groused.
Misty scoffed at Brock stating the obvious. "Yeah, you did which is a bit strange since professor Ivy was near us when that happened, so where were you Brock?"
"I'd rather not talk about it." The former Pewter city gym leader murmured listlessly.
Misty was somewhat chagrined to find she hit a sore spot, so she tried to distract Brock. "Anyways Ash here saved the world from flooding if you can believe it."
"Hold on those worldwide weather disasters a few months back were stopped by Ash?" Brock exclaimed. "How come you two didn't tell me about this before?"
Ash scratched his cheek while giving a rueful grin "I hadn't thought about it until now so never came up."
"Okay I can see that coming from Ash, but Misty?" Brock said giving voice to his doubt.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean." Ash retorted only for Pikachu to give a disappointed shake of his head. "Oh not you too Pikachu."
"Ash saved the world?" A starstruck voice announced from behind.
Ash distracted from his two traveling companions conversation turned towards the voice only to see his whole team except Pikachu who was once again perched on his shoulder gathered around him.
"Sure did." Ash affirmed, thumping his chest in pride.
Bayleef had stars in her eyes while the rest of his team gave Ash looks of skepticism. Pikachu noticing the stares directed at Ash sighed before explaining "I know it's hard to believe, but Ash really did save the world."
The trainer from Pallet could feel their doubt fade away, yet Ash couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed that his team trusted Pikachu's word more than his own.
"I knew Ash was amazing, so him saving the world is only natural." Bayleef gushed to herself as she admired at her idol.
"Don't praise him too much or he'll grow a big head again." Pikachu chastised the fangirl as he explained. "Like when near the start of our journey Ash-"
Ash hurriedly covered Pikachu's mouth to prevent his starter from leaking any of his embarrassing moments. "Ah, I think it's time for you guys to head to bed."
Feeling that Pikachu got the message Ash moved his hands away to reach for his Pokeballs wanting to return his team to them, but he only grabbed air. Right, Ash didn't have them because his belt no longer fit him and without it nothing to carry a pokeball.
Ash remembered where he left the spherical devices, and the mere thought triggered an instinctive response somehow bringing all five Pokeballs soaring through the air to hover above him.
Stunned Ash stared at what he did in awe. He did that, just like - like Sabrina!
"Hey guys look what I can do!" Ash psychically shouted, amazed as he tested the power to move things with his mind.
All that was required was the simple desire and the Pokeballs would obey weaving in the air with but a thought, attracting the attention of everyone who could see the spectacle.
"Hmm I can do something similar, but not to that degree of power." Noctowl mused unruffled.
Bayleef and Phanphy began to question flying type as to what exactly was happening and how their trainer was doing it.
Brock followed the trajectory of the flying objects seemingly unconcerned. "I suspected it, but this confirms Ash really is a psychic type. It's definitely not the first type I would imagine fitting Ash."
"I wonder if Dexter can tell us what kind of Pokemon Ash is." Misty wondered out loud.
Pikachu crossed his arms while sneaking glances at the psychically puppeted red and white containment spheres, mildly impressed.
"That's a great idea Misty," Ash admitted making Misty blush. "I don't know why I didn't think of that."
Out from Ash's bag flew out his familiar red Pokedex which opened up to scan the psychic Pokemon manipulating it. Dexter lit up imparting the wisdom held within its database in a tinny voice. "No available data."
Ash stared at his Pokedex in confusion. "No data?"
"It makes sense Ash, I've never seen anything that resembles you before and I know about every Pokemon from the regions we've been to." Brock informed making Ash wonder what that had to do with anything before the aspiring breeder continued. "You're Pokedex only has information regarding Pokemon native to Johto and Kanto so it obviously can't identify what you are."
"If not even his Pokedex can help then who would know about what Ash turned into?" Misty asked Brock.
"Professor Oak is probably our best bet at finding out, but I wouldn't worry about it too much since Lily said the spell affecting Ash should wear off soon." Brock stated with his usual confidence.
Ash made a mental note to ask the professor before shifting his focus back to his Pokemon. Telekinetically Ash clicked the button at the back of all five Pokeballs sending out a red light that recalled the Pokemon into them.
"Got it." The trainer from Pallet acknowledged. "By the way are we going to set up camp here?"
Brock raised his head up to look at the sky before responding. "It is getting dark, and this spot has a spacious clearing, so I don't see why not."
With that said the three trainers went about cleaning their areas before pitching their tents, but Ash was interrupted near the start when one of his Pokeballs cracked open to reveal Bayleef.
The leaf Pokemon looked at Ash with narrowed eyes, stamping her feet as she protested. "Ash, you promised me that I could stay with you more so why did you send me back to the ball."
"Oh Um…" Ash trailed off sending a mental call for help to his best buddy. "Pikachu help me out here!."
The electric type looked at the situation moving from Ash to Bayleef and coming to a decision, averted his gaze as if to say 'not my problem'.
"Pikachuuu!"
There will be no hard limit to four moves as the anime has shown Pokemon using more than four at a time. My personal take is Pokemon know four moves by default but can keep more through effort. However the more moves a Pokemon knows the harder it is to learn new ones and easier it is to forget old ones as well as keep them up to par.
One thing to note though is that the only times Pokemon have shown more than four moves has been outside of official League matches(Battle frontier and Orange league), so anything involving the Pokemon league aka gym and conference battles will be limited to four moves.
Ash's mega form is his base so it's not dependent on a mega-stone to sustain itself, as a consequence the mega evolution will be permanent. As for why, well I need a way to justify Ash easily picking up his psychic skills quickly instead of it taking forever and what better reason than overwhelming power?
Now Ash's first revealed move is Psychic and his ability is Telepathy which can be naturally held by Gardevoir, also because Pixilate is worthless lol. Telepathy will allow Ash to communicate with people, but it has a limit on how many it can connect to and can't be projected through electronic devices. This may give Ash some troubles considering the Pokemon league has thousands in attendance and is broadcasted live.
Speaking of abilities here is a list for his current Pokemon team.
Pikachu, Static: Small chance to paralyze opponents on physical contact.
Bayleef, Leaf Guard: Great resistance to status effects in sunny weather.
Cyndaquil, Flash Fire: When hit by fire attacks absorbs some damage to increase power.
Totodile, Sheer Force: Less chance to inflict status effects on moves when applicable for more power.
Noctowl, Tinted Lens: Ineffective moves deal more damage than they should.
Phanphy, Sand Veil: Increased chance to dodge in a sandstorm.
Finally this is roughly how I see the Pokemon Ash owns or can take back in terms of power right now: Charizard ≥ Snorlax Pikachu Heracross Bulbasaur Primeape ≥ Bayleef ≥ Kingler Muk ≥ Noctowl Cyndaquil Totodile ≥ Tauros Phanphy.
A reason why I didn't include Squirtle or Pidgeot is while they can join for a battle or two they have tasks that make it so they can't accompany Ash for extended periods of time.