Day 6

"So do you want to evolve?" Ash asked the next morning to his Ghost/Poison type. He had told/reminded his current traveling companions about his adventures with Haunter.

The Gas Pokémon greeted Ash by tricking him before hugging him after so long. Haunter was introduced to team members on hand: Pikachu, Grovyle, Bayleef, Bulbasaur, Muk, and Glalie. Haunter was especially fond of Glalie, the two being both mischievous Pokémon.

When the question was asked, Haunter thought the potential idea over. During his time at the Saffron Gym, he had seen a few Gengars that battled Sabrina and was impressed at seeing them trick up their opponents. After a minute of thinking, Haunter nodded.

"Great!" Ash cried and returned Haunter to his Pokeball. "Alright, Brock, let's mock trade." Brock nodded before pulling out a Pokeball to trade. It was an instant transition as Haunter popped out and began to glow white.

Haunter's floating claws became shorter and attached themselves to Haunter's body. His physique changed as well, growing in size. The light died down to reveal Gengar. "Gar!" the Shadow Pokémon cackled.

In Brock's Pokeball, his Graveler popped out himself and glowed in the same manner. His physique changed, his two pairs of arms becoming shorter and his rock exterior growing in size. Graveler evolved into a Golem. "Gol!"

Both trainers swapped back their respective Pokémon and Ash sent out his Gengar before scanning him.

[Gengar, the Shadow Pokémon and the evolved form of Haunter. On the night of a full moon, if shadows move on their own and laugh, it must be Gengar's doing.

Gender: Male

Ability: Cursed Body

Moves: Lick, Night Shade, Psychic, Shadow Ball]

Ash whistled at the mention of his Ghost/Poison moves. He only remember Haunter having used Lick before. But now he was glad that he had an official Ghost type on his team.

"Alright Gengar and Bulbasaur, I want you to practice with Muk on some Poison type moves. Give them a bit of an edge. Also practice some of other moves at your disposal," Ash instructed. His on hand Poison type Pokémon nodded and went to a selective area to train.

"Glalie, I plan to work with you in general today, so eyes on me." The Face Pokémon gave a nod.

"Pikachu, do some self training. Practice a few new Electric type moves." The Mouse Pokémon squeaked and readied himself to work on a few moves.

"Bayleef and Grovyle, keep practicing with each other." The two Grass starters gave their respective affirmatives and went to work.

"Alright, Glalie," Ash began facing his Ice type, "Let's see your progress." The Ice type grinned before showing off his new moves. Glalie backed up before giving firing a Dark Pulse from his mouth. Afterwards, Glalie inhaled then exhaled a rush of frozen air. And finally the Face Pokémon then cried to the sky and summoned a dark black cloud. The cloud began to rain an assortment of ice.

Ash looked at what his Ice type had just learned, which was Dark Pulse, Frost Breath, and Avalanche, all very good Ice type moves. "Okay, Glalie, let's see what new moves you can learn..."

As usual, lunch time came around and Ash wanted to see his Pokémon's progress after eating. He had seen Pikachu's process so the Mouse Pokémon didn't have to demonstrate any new moves.

Bulbasaur went first, firing seeds in quick succession. Then the Seed Pokémon conjured an green ball from his mouth and fired away. Bulbasaur sent out his vines, but instead of their usual green, they turned purple, showing a process in Power Whip. The Grass/Poison type's final move was generating a glob of poison and hurled it.

Muk went next, lunging his way over. In a surprise of events, the Sludge Pokémon generated a charge and fired Thunderbolt. Muk's "hand" took a dark purple hue and made a jabbing motion with it. Next up, Muk began to move his entire body, creating a wave of poison that surrounded him and acted as protection in a way. The final move for the Poison type was unleashing a torrent of flames from his mouth.

Gengar started off with a indigo covered fist, showing off his Shadow Punch, before the fist turned into a claw. Gengar made a series of drowsy induced lights, which wasn't made to be as strong. The Shadow Pokémon made a ring of ghostly fire before firing it. Gengar ended his display and made an yellow orb and threw it away.

Bayleef glowed with a faint aura and conjured fossils from beneath her. The Leaf Pokémon then spewed a stream of poison from her mouth, demonstrating Toxic. Her eyes glowed green and made a knot from grass afterwards and finished with putting her head leaf to her mouth and whistled into it. Grass Whistle caused a brief wave of sleep but the heroes shook it off.

Grovyle fired larger seeds, showcasing Seed Bomb had upgraded from Bullet Seed. The Wood Gecko Pokémon began to blitz around the area with the help of Agility. And for his final move, Grovyle exhaled bluish flames.

Glalie demonstrated his moves from before, then created a blue orb of water. Firing the Water Pulse, the Face Pokémon created a shard of ice and fired it at the Water type move, causing a small explosion. Glalie finished his appeal with a ball of ghost energy.

Ash applaud his Pokémon for their hard work and allowed them to eat. As they ate, Bayleef and Grovyle were noticeable close to each other. Ash noticed their connection and decided to finally address the growing affection between his two second stage Grass types. Ash wasn't as dense when it came to Pokémon love.

Taking a brief break, Ash and his two evolved Grass types for a walk in a secluded area. Grovyle walked had a tinge of red around his face while Bayleef was being happy.

The Wood Gecko Pokémon wasn't good when it came to romance. Battling and standing his ground was great in all, but he had zero experience with love. Grovyle, even as a Treecko, was never infatuated with other Pokémon.

"Alright, you two," Ash said, turning around and addressing his Pokémon, "I think I know what's going on with you two." Bayleef just weakly nodded as Grovyle attempted to deny the feelings. "Grovyle," Ash said in a comforting tone, "It's alright if you like Bayleef." Grovyle sort of huffed at the claim, but his mannerisms said otherwise.

Bayleef meanwhile didn't deny the fact she had a thing for the Wood Gecko Pokémon. She was always infatuated with Ash from the moment he saved her from Team Rocket when she was a stubborn Chikorita. Even as Bayleef, she wanted Ash to love her. But Grovyle had caught her eye. These recent spar sessions had made the Hoenn Grass starter attractive in her eyes.

"Come on, Grovyle," Ash said, "There's nothing wrong with you falling in love." Grovyle became a bit stubborn, not wanting to admit he had feelings for Bayleef. The Leaf Pokémon noticed and thought he was beginning to deny that he wasn't feeling in love anymore. She slowly became to have tears run across her face.

"Grovyle, don't be like that," Ketchum said. He wanted all his Pokémon to be happy. It didn't matter if they were on the same team, Grovyle felt too prideful to admit his feelings towards Bayleef.

"Bay!" The Leaf Pokémon cried and began to run away, not wanting to look her crush in the eyes. Grovyle balked at that, realizing he had hurt his crush's feeling. "Grov!" The Wood Gecko Pokémon began to chase after her, saying in PokeSpeech that he was sorry for being in denial but the Johto Grass Starter continued to run, not wanting to look him in the eyes. Ash secretly sighed before running after his two evolved Grass types.

After sometime, Ash managed to find only Grovyle and was searching for Bayleef. "Bayleef! Hey Bayleef!" "Grovyle!"

"Ugh, we wouldn't find her before the sun goes down," Ash said before turning to Grovyle, "Grovyle, there is nothing wrong with being in love with Bayleef." The Wood Gecko Pokémon just nodded before some tears began to appear. He wiped them away, trying to hide his pain.

Ash said, "Hey, listen to me. I know you're a bit prideful and don't want emotion to get in your way, but it's okay. When you find her, tell her how you feel." Grovyle wiped his tears before getting his usual serious face on. With an affirmed cry, he became determined to see Bayleef again.

"BAY!"

Both trainer and Pokémon heard the cry and began to pinpoint it. Ash heard it again and rushed towards its location. Ash and Grovyle eventually found Bayleef only to see a familiar threat harboring Bayleef in a cage.

"Well what do you know?" Meowth said.

"A Bayleef for show!" James rhymed.

"And now..." Jessie began.

"The boss will give us a 'whoa!'" the TRio cheered, delighted they could capture such a rare Pokémon.

"Bay!" the Leaf Pokémon shouted in defiance. "Eh? What do you mean your trainer will come for you?" Meowth said.

"Come to think of it," James noticed, "Haven't we seen this Bayleef before?"

"You might be getting mixed up with the many Pokémon we have stolen before, James," Jessie commented.

Ash and Grovyle growled at seeing their teammate/crush captured in the same clutches that have been stalking them. The Wood Gecko knew this was his fault and refused to see Bayleef in pain all because of his pride.

"Vyle!" Grovyle immediately appeared with Ash behind him. "Team Rocket! Give me back Bayleef!" Ketchum roared.

(Team Rocket motto)

"AH! I knew it!" James realized.

"So this Bayleef is yours?" Meowth said.

"Correction. I think you mean 'was' considering we found her weeping in the forest," Jessie chided in.

Grovyle became furious. He readied a Fury Cutter, preparing to free his crush. Bayleef just ignored the Hoenn Pokémon, she was no longer interested in the Grass type.

"If you think, you're taking Bayleef away, you have another thing coming!" Ash shouted, "Fury Cutter!" Grovyle rushed in with red blades.

"Nice try! Seviper go!"

"Cacnea! Join in!"

Jessie and James summoned their respective Pokémon, ready to battle. Grovyle slashed in a rapid succession on the Fang Snake Pokémon since she was the closest, but Seviper used Wrap, constricting Grovyle's movement.

"Cacnea, close range Pin Missile!" The Cactus Pokémon fired white pin-like missiles right at the Wood Gecko's face. Seviper added insult to injury with Wrapping around tighter.

"Grovyle get free!" Ash called out, the Hoenn Grass starter kept taking damage from the unfair position he was in. The assault eventually ended and released a battered Grovyle.

"Hey, twerp!" James said, "Hand over that Grovyle of yours and maybe we will let you have your Bayleef instead!"

Ash grit his teeth at the jab. He would never surrender one of his Pokémon to people like them. Grovyle made an effort to get up, even with his bruised body. Seviper reared up as Cacnea extending his spikes in his most dangerous manner, even if he was shorter.

"Gro... Grovyle! Grovyle! Vyle!" the Wood Gecko said defiantly. Bayleef turned a glance at him before listening to what the Hoenn starter had to say.

"Grov... Vyle,' the Wood Gecko began to go on with how he was sorry and how much he like Bayleef. He was never good at putting himself out there, this was a new experience for him. The Leaf Pokémon began to slightly tear up at his declaration.

"Uh? Meowth, what's the twerp's Pokémon saying?" Jessie asked their 'translator.' "The twiop's Pokémon is just confessing his feelings for Bayleef," Meowth informed.

Grovyle stood to his feet before roaring and glowing in a white light. Grovyle began to grown in size as his head leaf diminished. His trio of arm leaf blades began to morph into two, balls grew on his back, and his two leaf tails turned into a single bushy tail. The light died down, revealing a large green lizard.

"Scep!"

"Awesome, you evolved!" Ash said before scanning his newly evolved member.

[Sceptile, the Forest Pokémon and evolved form of Grovyle. The leaves growing on Sceptile's body are very sharp edged. This Pokémon is very agile—it leaps all over the branches of trees and jumps on its foe from above or behind.]

Getting a brief overview of his new moves, Ash gave a command, "Use Leaf Blade!" Sceptile's arm leaves turned a vibrant green and slashed through the two opponents before reaching Bayleef's cage. The Forest Pokémon hacked through the bars, freeing the Leaf Pokémon.

"Oh no!" the TRio cried in horror as their trap was cut opened.

"Bay!" The Leaf Pokémon nuzzled against her savior and Ash smiled. The two Grass starters then narrowed their eyes at the TRio. "H-hey n-now," James said.

"N-no need t-to be a-agressive," Jessie said.

"Will you two quit it?!" Meowth huffed, "We still have Seviper and Cacnea up and at 'em!"

"Oh right..." the two human members said before commanding attacks. "Poison Tail/Needle Arm!"

Seviper rushed in with a purple glowing tail as Cacnea ran in with a sharp arm. Sceptile reeled his head back before spitting out explosive set of seeds that exploded at the TRio's Pokémon. Bayleef joined in, shimmering with a white aura and summoning fossils that she threw at the Fang Snake and Cactus Pokémon.

Bayleef smirked before glowing herself. Her body became bigger, her head leaf shrunk and two stamen sprouted, and her neck leaf bloomed into a flower. The light revealed a large lime green saurpod Pokémon with a pink petal around her neck. "Meg!"

"Alright, you evolved too, Bayleef!" Ash whopped before scanning her.

[Meganium, the Herb Pokémon and the evolved form of Bayleef. The aroma that rises from its petals contains a substance that calms aggressive feelings.]

Meganium and Sceptile both smiled at each other before readying two of their newest moves. Sceptile turned around and generated a cyclone of leaves around his tail before firing them. Meganium's neck petal began to generate various pink petals that began to swarm with the Leaf Storm, creating a Petal Dance and Leaf Storm combination that Seviper, Cacnea and the TRio flying into the sky.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off againnnnnnnnnnnn! *twinkle*"

Ash cheered, "Way to go you too!" Meganium and Sceptile beamed at the praise before looking at each other. The Forest Pokémon held his arm, nervousness present on his face. Meganium extend her vine before nuzzling against Sceptile, getting a red blush on his face.

Ash smiled at his Pokémon's affection towards each other, glad he had gotten that settled out.

It was 9 o'clock when Ash went to sleep and once again laid in his bed. Tomorrow was the opening ceremony for the Ever Grande Conference. He felt prepared for the battles ahead. One more day of training and he would show his progress on the field.

He was more pumped than ever for the Hoenn League.

A/N: I plan to make this Gengar like Ash's canonical Gengar he has right now.

To the guest reviewer: I don't plan on having Ash catch any non-canon Pokémon in this story, but I have been thinking about adding at least one new member in Unova, Kalos, and Alola for Ash to catch.

True Master: Wait and see ;)

Also, this might become a monthly updated story because I will be starting college soon.