Ash and co read Traveler (remastered)

by Askg

Adopted from MAJORMATT1234, Read as Ash and his friends and family get invited to read a story about themselves and discover new things while getting used to the darker world there reading.

5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hi again and welcome back to Ash and Co read the Traveler remastered ! Sorry for the time it took to get this chapter out now that school's open again. I'm pretty busy but I'll try my best to keep up with the monthly update schedule. Also the winner of the champion poll is Cynthia. It was close between her and Lance but she eventually won so she'lll be appearing in this chapter as the new character.

Enjoy the chapter and flames will be ignored.

Once again I don't own Pokemon or any original aspects of Traveler both belong to their respective owners

XXX

" Before we start reading this chapter I'd like to announce that there will be a guest reading with us," Asato said.

" A guest" ? Professor Oak questioned.

" I wonder who it is," Ash said, his curiosity making him think of multiple possible people.

" Maybe the guest is someone you've met on your journey Ash" Serena suggested.

Asato chuckled and replied " well yes Ash has met this person and most people know her also she's quite famous after all".

"Her" ? Is she like a famous coordinator and actor" Dawn asked.

"Nope," Asato said.

"Or perhaps she is one of the fair maidens I've met on my journey with Ash" Brock exclaimed with hearts in his eyes.

" Hm something like that" Anyways let's welcome our guest Cynthia the sinnoh champion"! Asato exclaimed with a huge grin.

Suddenly in a poof a blonde woman wearing a black and gold attire appeared and fell on the floor with a thud this seemed to make Asato's grin widen.

" Champion Cynthia" ! Ash, Brock, Dawn and Iris exclaimed at the same time.

"Wow she's a champion like Diantha" Exclaimed Bonnie

"Ash and Dawn" ? What am I doing here ?

"Well Cynthia Asato brought us here to read about a different universe and my counterpart's journey" Ash exclaimed with a large smile.

"Different universe" ? " I always wondered if the multiverse theory was true due to pokemon like Palkia but actually reading and getting confirmation of another universe is quite fascinating" Cynthia stated.

"And Mr Asato" ? Why is it that I've been brought here?

"Well I've brought you here to read with us of course" Asato said.

"Hm well ok I'm quite interested in the differences that occurred in this universe" Cynthia stated.

" Well so far Ash instead of his starter being Pikachu his starter is a Nidoran and apparently this Ash is much skilled at the start of his journey and instead of travelling with Brock and Misty he's traveling with a boy named Jonathan and a girl named Amelia" Max said.

" Well thank you um.."

" Max " Max replied

" Thank you Max," Cynthia said.

" Anyways let's get on with reading shall we?" Asato said

" Since Cynthia is the guest, why doesn't she read" ? Asato suggested.

" I'd be happy to," Cynthia said as Asato passed her the book.

" Chapter 3: Vermillion" Cynthia began.

"Vermillion as in Vermillion city" ? Ash shivered as he remembered his battle with hopefully his counterpart would do better

" It seems like it, I wonder how your counterpart is going to deal with Surge" Brock said.

They walked into the gym warily. The group had just gotten back from checking in at the Pokemon Center in Vermillion and were disturbed by the sheer scope of the injuries the pokemon there had been put through. None of them were irreparable or life threatening, but for it to all have happened at a single gym was worrying.

Hopefully the journey to Vermillion had toughened them up enough to where they could beat Surge without suffering much damage. It had been a difficult journey – the weather seemed to be against them, and events such as storms and frigid cold had slowed them down – and they had been quite glad when they saw the sunny city of Vermillion.

Ash had spent most of the time battling the myriad of trainers that were travelling down the same road. Most were coming from Vermillion – Surge had frightened most potential challengers away as the tales of his newfound brutality became more famous amongst the Kanto trainers – and were happy to challenge him.

All of his pokemon were almost ready to evolve. Nidoran had been training particularly hard since he was the only one of Ash's pokemon to have a real chance against Surge and was showing many of the signs that showed he was about to evolve: longer barbs, stronger poison, and slightly more aggression.

Plume's plumage was growing more colorful and her crest was starting to lengthen. Her body was also growing tougher and more powerful. Torrent was showing the hints of the barbs that would emerge when he evolved into a seadra and was becoming even more aggressive.

They had also trained after they made camp and had eaten. Ash was relentless in their journey, to the point where even Jonathan and Amelia had stopped attempting to keep up.

" Ash, I honestly think your counterpart does not know how to relax," May said.

" What do you mean my counterpart is just training and battling?" Ash replied.

" Well Ash you have to admit that while your training is intense your counterparts might be even more intense it states his pokemon are close to evolving this is before the third gym and your counterpart has been battling every chance he gets" Clemont said

" I guess you're right with all of that training my counterparts totally gonna destroy and win" ! Ash exclaimed

Now they were in the gym that would pose their first true challenge. Brock had been a trial by fire, the Sisters had been formidable, but Surge was going to truly test their mettle. Everything Ash had worked for would be put to the test.

It was dark in the gym, much like it was in Pewter City. Unlike Pewter City's gym, however, this gym looked more like a warehouse than a gym. There were no environmental factors he could take advantage of other than the plain square of dirt that they would be battling on and was extremely plain.

He noticed that there were two tall trainers standing near each other. Both wore clothes meant to highlight their ruggedness and tough looks. They both sneered at the group as they walked in. From in between them a gigantic, shadowy figure stood in the darkness. The figure stepped forward, revealing it to be the instantly recognizable form of Lt. Surge.

Ash looked up at the massive man in astonishment. He knew that he and his friends were hardly tall, but he'd never seen anyone so mindbogglingly huge before.

Lt. Surge was at least twice the height of Ash and had about ten times the bulk. His two gym trainers – both imposing in their own right – looked positively tiny in comparison. And apparently, judging by the smirk he wore and the clothing that showed off his ridiculously large muscles, his personality fit his appearance.

"So," he growled as he stood between the two gym trainers, "which of you babies are first? Maybe you runts will put up a challenge."

Ash stepped forward and stared Surge in the eye. He felt rather ridiculous as he stared almost directly upward, but kept a defiant glint in his eye. Surge wouldn't cow him.

"I'm first."

"You tell him other me" Ash exclaimed.

" Hm I'm quite interested as to how this Ash battles and how it differs from our dimensions Ash Cynthia said.

" Let's just say he's a lot more quiet in his battles" Misty said with annoyance being next to Ash when he exclaimed his support for his counterpart.

Cynthia chuckled.

Surge looked down at him in disbelief before bursting into laughter. Ash glared up at the man and clenched his fists as the gym leader roared in laughter for what seemed like an eternity. The two gym trainers joined him.

Then the laughter abruptly stopped.

"Oh. You're serious." Surge said. A grin split his broad face. "Alright, runt, let's get this going. One on one. First to knock the other's pokemon unconscious wins. Surrendering is an automatic forfeit."

Ash nodded and continued to glare at the man. One of the tough looking gym trainers led him to one side of the arena while the other led Jonathan and Amelia to an area walled off with clear plastic. Surge took the other side of the arena and withdrew a pokeball.

Surge laughed as he tapped the button to release whatever pokemon was in the ball. Ash withdrew Nidoran's ball and did the same, resolutely staring at the scarlet energy that was beginning to coalesce into the form of a pokemon.

A few seconds later he was able to identify the pokemon. It was a large, powerful looking raichu that had an arrogant smirk on its small face that matched that of its owner. Surge knelt down and scratched the electric type behind the ears before pointing at Nidoran's small form.

"Wreck it."

Pikachu sneered why were Raichus so barbaric? Why couldn't they be like Pikachus, good at battling and civilized?

It was one of the reasons he would never decide to evolve.

The raichu bared its fangs and beat its tail against the ground. Ash saw small arcs of electricity sparking out of its yellow pouches as they began to glow a bright white. He wasted no time in giving Nidoran an order.

"Confusion! Dodge that attack if you can." He shouted. Nidoran's ears twitched in confirmation of the order. His eyes glowed a bright pink and Raichu was slowly raised into the air before being slammed into the ground.

Raichu was too tough to be badly hurt by the attack. It seemed more annoyed by the psychic assault than anything and glared at Nidoran when it had pulled itself back up.

"That's the best you can do?" Surge laughed. "Raichu, finish this. Use thunderbolt! Follow up with mega kick and mega punch if it's still up."

Ash gritted his teeth as Raichu's electric sacs glowed a bright white before quickly releasing a massive surge of electricity. The electricity formed into a bright yellow bolt that surged directly at Nidoran, striking him before Nidoran could try to avoid the attack.

"Use focus kick." He shouted. Nidoran didn't confirm the order in any way other than tensing up as he focused his energy.

Unfortunately, Raichu was too fast for Nidoran. Before Nidoran had completed focusing his energy, the orange mouse had scampered over to Nidoran and jumped up. Nidoran tried to attack back as Raichu neared him, but couldn't react fast enough.

"Fast ?" Ash said in confusion.

" I thought 's Raichu was slow because he evolved it too quickly," Ash said.

"Well that doesn't seem to be the case in this universe, it seems took time to train his Raichu when it was in its lower stages", Professor Oak said.

Ash wanted to close his eyes as Nidoran was hit with the full force of Raichu's mega kick. His friend went skidding down the field from the power of the attack. Nidoran wearily pulled himself up and tried to prepare itself for Raichu's mega punch but was pushed back another few feet as the attack impacted.

"Come on, Nidoran, you've got to dodge!" Ash screamed. He didn't want Nidoran to be put through a beating like those pokemon at the Pokemon Center.

Surge had a wide grin on his face. "So you're little Nidoran is still standing? Not very impressive, but it's better than what I've been getting through here lately. Raichu, finish it off with body slam."

Raichu nodded gleefully at the command. It sprinted at Nidoran as the smaller pokemon recovered and slammed into the pink creature again, sending Nidoran sprawling. Ash noticed that it was slower than before and seemed slightly tired. Maybe Raichu had been poisoned from hitting Nidoran.

Fat load of good it would do him now. Nidoran was about to be knocked out. Even though he was pulling himself to his feet, Ash could see that his best friend was only one good hit away from being defeated.

"Huh." Surge grunted. "It's still up. Raichu, body slam one last time. I'm bored."

The mouse had small arcs of electricity sparking from its cheeks as it made one last charge. Ash closed his eyes as Raichu grew nearer, waiting to hear the horrible pounding sound that would accompany the powerful attack when it hit the defenseless Nidoran.

But he never heard the impact of Raichu's body impacting his friend. Instead he saw a brilliant white light that was powerful enough to be seen through his closed eyelids. A powerful roar that couldn't have belonged to Nidoran sounded throughout the gym. Ash opened them up in confusion and curiosity, wondering what had happened.

" Wait white light ?" Iris said, confused.

" Wait white shines in pokemon usually mean it's using an ability such as Blaze or Torrent or it could mean evolution and Nidoran doesn't have a boosting ability like blaze so it's most likely a evolution as in the start of the story it states Ash's team was close to evolution", Gary said.

" Good inferences Gary", Professor Oak said to his grandson.

" Thanks gramps", Gary replied.

"Woah Gary I never knew you were so smart", Ash said with a smirk on his face.

" Never knew" ? Gary said with an annoyed look on his face.

" Ashyboy, of course I'm smart, you have to be smart and mature to be a pokemon professor," Gary said.

" Funny you act like you have neither of those traits", Ash taunted with a grin.

"Why you" ,Gary said growling

"Now boys calm down, '' Delia said, silencing the two childhood rivals.

A wide grin split his face when he saw the source of the light: Nidoran, who was so infused with the light that Ash could barely make out his shape. His form was quickly morphing and growing. He quickly recognized it as evolution.

The entire gym was silent as Nidoran's transformation continued. Surge was looking at the evolving Nidoran with an indecipherable look on his face, but Ash thought he could see a hint of respect in his eyes. Both of his friends were holding their breath.

Suddenly the light grew even brighter in an incredible surge. Ash quickly shut his eyes lest it blind him. The intense light still left stars in his eyes.

When he was able to see again, he looked straight at Nidora—Nidorino, he corrected. Ash was struck by the strong resemblance Nidorino bore to his previous form. Although much bulkier and stronger looking, the basic looks of Nidoran hadn't faded.

Ash looked at the powerfully built pokemon in awe for a few moments before grinning.

"Looks like you were right Gary" Brock said.

" Yes I do wonder how this new flavor of Nidorino's will change the outcome of this battle", Cilan said.

"Now that Nidorino's evolved and has a power boost there's no way we're losing now" Ash shouted with glee.

"Pika" Pikachu voiced his agreement although he wasn't Ash's starter in this world he would cheer for Ash and Nidorino especially since they were battling a Raichu.

" That's another difference Ash's starter evolves in this world", Cynthia said

" It doesn't look as cute as before" , Serena said the horn and the pokemon looked a lot more menacing now.

Ash looked at the powerfully built pokemon in awe for a few moments before grinning.

"Nidorino, focus kick."

Nidorino growled in confirmation and jumped high up in the air, his previous fatigue and injuries no longer preventing him from fighting. Raichu and Surge were still too stunned to do anything, giving Nidorino a free hit on the weakened Raichu.

Ash grinned even wider when Raichu was knocked to the ground. It looked like the poison was doing its work. He knew that the Raichu was still more powerful than Nidorino – a single evolution without additional training wouldn't close the wide gap between the two pokemon, although it would definitely help to shrink it – but hopefully the poison would continue to work and keep the Raichu slow and unsteady.

"Horn attack!" He shouted. Nidorino twitched his ears – they were about the same size as they were as a Nidoran, although they looked far more proportional and less awkward on Nidorino's larger body – and charged. Ash hadn't been completely sure if Nidorino would know the move, although he was glad that he did.

The pokedex entry on Nidorino – he had looked up almost everything about the Nidoran line and memorized it – had said that they instinctually knew the attack in order to take full advantage of their incredibly powerful horn. Of course, the attack came with an added bonus when used by Nidorino. If the attack hit a susceptible area, the horn would inject a powerful poison into the foe's body. It would be much more potent than that of a Nidoran's poison.

"Dodge it and use thunderbolt again." Surge snapped, finally regaining his senses. "Keep away from it."

Although Surge had recovered from the shock of seeing Nidoran evolve, Raichu was still stunned from the powerful focus kick. It was pulling itself up, but Ash knew that it wouldn't be able to avoid Nidorino's charge.

A few moments later, Nidorino hit the slowly recovering Raichu. Ash cheered for his friend as Raichu was sent flying from the force of the attack, but quickly began giving his friend orders again.

"Focus kick again. Follow with horn attack."

Nidorino charged at Raichu again before forcing himself upwards with his strong legs. His feet glowed as he landed on Raichu's battered body. The helpless mouse was sent sprawling onto its back. Although the mouse tried to recover – Surge's wild shouts at it to get up probably helped motivate it – and had even managed to pull itself up again it was quickly bowled over by Nidorino's ruthless charge.

Even Ash had to wince as Raichu was sent flying, its body going limp as the combination of the powerful poison coursing through its veins and Nidorino's powerful, brutal attacks finally took its toll on the mouse.

He looked up at Surge, who looked as stunned as Ash currently felt.

"Wha – how?" He said, unable to comprehend his loss. "I lost? To a kid?"

"Hell ya"! Ash practically roared.

"Me and Nidorino blew him away; he didn't even know what was coming"!

Everyone's sweat dripped at Ash's reaction.

"Hm well it seems this Ash is much more reserved in battle that the one we know" Cynthia commented she really wished she had a notebook to jot down notes.

As if Asato read her mind a small notebook appeared on her lap. She looked at him and he just grinned a devious grin.

"Okay so Ash has three gym badges now and only one loss. That's very impressive seeing as his only loss wasn't against a gym leader", Clemont said.

Ash couldn't exactly blame him for being so shocked. He certainly hadn't expected himself to make such a great comeback, not when Surge's powerful Raichu had been close to knocking Nidoran out without even breaking a sweat.

Then he realized something. He had won. He had won and Nidoran had finally evolved.

"Come here, buddy!" He shouted in glee. Nidorino looked over and trotted over to Ash, who quickly knelt down and patted his head, although he carefully avoided the long, sharp horn. It was still leaking clear, potent poison. "You did great! Raichu never even had a chance."

Nidorino snorted and pushed his head up against Ash's hand. Ash smiled and patted him some more before he moved his hand upwards to scratch his friend behind his sensitive ears. He made sure to avoid the new spikes and barbs that had come with the evolution, although they were starting to lower now that the battle was over.

Although most of Nidorino's wounds appeared to have been healed by the evolution, Ash could see large bruises and mottled areas on his friend's tough skin. Apparently evolving didn't completely heal injuries. He would have to get the wounds checked out at the Pokemon Center as soon as possible.

He scratched Nidorino a few more times before he stood back up and returned his friend to his pokeball. Nidorino growled happily one last time before the scarlet energy engulfed him and brought him into the ball. Ash attached it to his belt before turning back to Lt. Surge.

Who, as it happened, was only a few feet away from him. Ash jumped in surprise – how was such a large man so quiet? He quickly calmed down and met Surge's eyes. The younger trainer noticed that Surge was cradling Raichu in one of his massive arms.

Ash half-expected Surge to punch him in the face for embarrassing him and hurting Raichu so badly. So he was rather surprised to see that the man had a wide grin on his face and held out his hand. The trainer carefully shook the gym leader's hand, wincing when Surge nearly crushed it.

"Good job!" Surge roared. "I haven't lost since I was given the order to go all out on every challenger. You've got talent!"

He smiled at the praise. But something bothered him.

"Thanks. But why would the League tell you to stop holding back? No one's getting the badge anymore."

"The league told to stop holding back ? Misty said confusedly.

" Why would they do that" ? May questions.

"It seems we'll have to keep on reading to figure it out" Professor Oak replied.

Surge's wide grin reminded Ash of pictures he'd seen of a sharpedo. "You know those tickets for that cruise ship I have to give out to anyone who beats me? The League only wanted the best to get onto that ship for some reason. I'm not complaining. It's good to see the runts that think they can beat me get sent off with their tails between their legs."

Ash nodded, not really sure how to respond. Surge laughed again before fishing around in one of his pockets. He pulled out the Thunder Badge and a wadded up piece of paper.

"Here's your ticket." Surge said loudly, presenting Ash with the crumpled piece of paper. Ash took it carefully. It looked like it had been in that coat for a long time. "It's a little crumpled, but that shouldn't be a problem. Just give it to the guy in front of the boat. It'll be here in a few days, I think. And here's your badge. Don't lose it."

"Thanks." Ash said gratefully as he pocketed the ticket and badge.

"Alright then." Surge muttered. "Are your runt friends going to battle me? Because I've got to get Raichu to the Center. She's pretty beat up."

Ash nodded. Surge had that same grin on his face as he eyed the duo.

"They don't look like a challenge. Tell them to come back in an hour or two. Raichu'll be ready to beat their pokemon into unconsciousness by then."

The younger trainer nodded again. Surge didn't look at him again as the gigantic man swept out of the gym, carrying Raichu like a baby.

One of the gym trainer's came up to him. The other was walking over to Jonathan and Amelia.

"Alright, you've got the badge." The tall trainer growled. "Now get out before Surge gets back. He doesn't have time to babysit you."

Ash rolled and his eyes and nodded. This trainer wasn't intimidating compared to Surge. Nevertheless, he left the gym with his friends in tow.

He winced at the bright light that assaulted the group as they left the gym, but quickly grew used to it. Ash waved his friends' congratulations away as they slipped through the crowded city. All he wanted to do was get Nidorino to the Pokemon Center. His friend had done great at the gym and he wanted him fixed up as soon as possible.

" My other is at a great pace, three badges already, only five more to go " , Ash said with a wide grin.

However when Ash heard the words cruise ship he paled the only cruise ship he went on during his journey was the St. Anne and the ship sunk his mom would freak out if the ship sunk in this universe too and it would probably be way worse to all Ash could do was hope the ship didn't sink.

" Wow Ash your other gets to relax on a cruise ship that's quite lucky" May said.

" Yeah lucky…", Ash ,Brock and Misty winced.

" You don't sound happy, is it a bad thing ?" Bonnie said, confused.

" Eh, you'll find out later in the book if it's a good or bad thing". Ash explained.

Asato just nodded and said "no spoilers Ash".

Ash nodded in response.

Ash ended up not returning to the gym with his friends. Nurse Joy had told him that they would need to hold Nidorino for several hours to make sure he hadn't suffered any complications from evolving after such a beating. She said that if bones or tissues were damaged right before evolution the pokemon could be permanently weakened from the misplaced systems, although it could be easily corrected if caught quickly.

It was extremely rare, but Ash wasn't about to take any risks with his friend. Nurse Joy would need his permission to do anything for Nidoran unless it was life threatening, so he decided to stay there just in case something needed to be done.

"That was a good decision on Ash's part; the safety of your pokemon should always come first," Brock said.

Everyone nodded off in agreement to his statement.

Jonathan and Amelia went to the gym at his urging. They were disappointed that he wouldn't be joining them for their battles, but he didn't want them to have to wait to battle Surge. He didn't think that either of them would beat Surge on their first try – he had only won because Nidoran had evolved at an extremely fortuitous time, and he was much better than either of his friends – but the first battle would show them just how far they would need to go before defeating Surge.

Ash sighed and relaxed. All of his pokemon were out, something that he was afraid he wouldn't be able to do in such a densely populated city. A small aquarium to his side was placed in the room for Torrent, who was darting back and forth in the container. Plume sat on the back of the chair he was reclining in, cleaning herself and smoothing out her feathers. An unhappy Nidorino – covered in monitoring devices that would let Nurse Joy know if she needed to fix anything – sat by his feet.

Nidorino butted his large head against his hand, causing the trainer to idly scratch behind his friend's ears. The pokemon had been trying to tear the small pads and devices that were monitoring his functions and chemical levels off all night, so Ash was happy to give Nidorino some sort of distraction.

Plume chirped loudly – its size caused the noise to sound more like a rumble – and gently pecked Ash's hat in an attempt to get attention. Ash rolled his eyes and gently stroked Plume's bright plumage. She cooed happily at the affection.

Torrent splashed frantically in an attempt to get his attention, his small eyes focused on the bag of food that Ash had bought for him. Ash smiled and poured some food into the aquarium. The horsea quickly sucked it in through his snout before calming down.

The smile stayed on his face as his pokemon continued to vie for his attention. It was nice to finally relax and be around his friends.

" Aww what a nice bonding moment" ,Delia said.

"Indeed if there's one thing Ash is good at it's creating bonds with his pokemon", Professor Oak replied with a smile.

" Heh thanks Professor bonds are really important for you to be in sync with your pokemon after all and that helps make winning battles a lot easier" ,Ash said with a grin.

He was asleep when Jonathan and Amelia knocked on his door. Ash sleepily opened up his eyes and stood up, gently pushing Nidorino – who was already alert, his hearing not diminished by the evolution – off of his feet. The trainer stretched for a moment before walking over to the door. He had fallen asleep in the chair and was feeling rather stiff.

"Wait a minute." He said to his friends as they knocked on the door again. At least he assumed it was his friends. No one else had a reason to knock on his door since Nurse Joy could just call him from the video phone in the room.

Ash yawned as he opened the door, revealing the forms of his friends. He wasn't sure what time it was, but he wanted to get this over with and go back to sleep.

"What do you guys want? Did you win?"

Judging from the expressions on their faces, they hadn't. Ash wanted to be sympathetic to them, he really did, but couldn't see why this couldn't have waited till morning. And – considering that there was no light at all coming through the blinds – he doubted that it was morning.

Jonathan spoke up first. "…No. He kind of curbstomped us. That raichu of his beat Charmander with two attacks. I was actually kind of hoping that he would evolve in the middle of the battle like Nidoran did."

"That's not good." Ash muttered. "So you both lost?"

"Yeah." Amelia growled. "Bulbasaur was beaten by one thundershock! He should have been resistant to it. I guess I haven't been focusing on his training as much as I should have."

"Why didn't you use Rattata?" Ash asked curiously. "He's a lot more aggressive than Bulbasaur and you've managed to perfect his hyper fang."

Amelia frowned. "I saw what that Raichu did to Nidoran in just a few hits. Nidoran is tougher than Rattata, so I didn't think that he would be able to take a single hit without being knocked out. But I might have to use him next time. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense."

Ash and Jonathan nodded. The trainer turned back to his friends.

"Look, I'm sorry that you lost. But could you guys leave? I'm about to pass out. We can go train tomorrow."

"Well it's sad they lost but a loss can push people to do better" Brock said wisely.

"Yeah it's not like every battle is going to be a victory" Iris said.

"You only really lose when you give up" Ash added.

"Wow Ash, that's really mature, maybe you're not such a little kid after all" Iris said with a taunting smirk.

Ash just growled he wasn't a little kid in fact he was older than Iris but she still called him a little kid but he knew it was in a friendly manner so he let it slide.

Jonathan and Amelia agreed and apologized for waking him up before they left. Ash sighed when they left and closed the door. He wasn't sure what he would do tomorrow while they battled other trainers.

He needed to get Nidorino used to his new form if it turned out nothing was wrong. Torrent needed to be worked out – they hadn't had many opportunities to do so on the way to Vermillion, although he fought a few times in ponds or rivers –and he wanted to see if he could get Plume to evolve. She was close to it and seemed to be getting more aggressive lately.

Ash shook the thoughts away. He just wanted to sleep. All of the important things could wait until tomorrow.

The trainer ignored the bed and reclaimed his position next to his friends. In a few minutes he was unconscious. This time he wasn't woken up until morning.

The group found themselves in the wilderness outside Vermillion the next day. It was rather cool outside, but it wasn't storming or freezing like it had been on the way to the city. Trainers were practically everywhere – Ash had been challenged several times since leaving the city, and quickly won all of the battles thanks to Nidorino's new strength – and he was getting annoyed by the lack of peace.

Ash had split off from Amelia and Jonathan. They had decided to spend the day battling trainers and toughening their pokemon up – both of his friends were hoping for at least one of their pokemon to evolve today – while Ash had decided to go out and search for another member of the team. He had heard that there was a wide variety of pokemon around Vermillion.

But for now he was just relaxing. He had managed to find a relatively remote area away from the masses of trainers battling each other and only had to defeat a few challengers that had wandered into his spot before he was able to take a nap.

Plume was settled in one of the sturdy branches above him and was raptly glancing around the clearing. Torrent was lazily swimming around the small pond next to the clearing he had found. A few other pokemon had been in it when they'd arrived, but Torrent had quickly driven them off.

Nidorino was sitting next to his leg. He had been deemed perfectly fine by Nurse Joy earlier in the morning and was happy to test his new strength against challengers. For now, however, he was content to simply rest with the others. His ears remained tense and twitched whenever he heard a far off noise.

Ash didn't notice any of this as he fell asleep, his eyes closing almost against his will as he leaned back against a tree. He didn't think anything of it – his pokemon would keep him safe from any possible threat.

He didn't know what woke him up. Ash knew he didn't hear anything, but he could feel a slight itching around his nose. The trainer groaned in annoyance and opened his eyes.

Ash wished he hadn't.

A short, round creature with a yellow torso and brown midsection and legs stared at him. It had tired looking eyes and a short trunk was slightly above its mouth. Ash stared at its face for a moment in shock – it was only a few inches away from him.

Then he reacted. Ash forced himself up – making sure to keep away from the drowzee, as he had identified the pokemon – and jumped away. The drowzee stared at him with tired eyes and raised its claw. The trainer glanced away in order to avoid the drowzee's hypnosis and frantically searched for his pokemon.

"Did the Drowzee steal Ash's pokeballs?" Bonnie gasped.

"Maybe Drowzee are quite dangerous because of their psychic abilities so I wonder how Ash will deal with it" ,Gary said curiously.

There were no identified cases of a drowzee so much as hurting a human, much less killing one. They were generally extremely peaceful, and only ventured to human settlements or approached humans in order to feed – a process that took nothing but a dream from the human it found.

But Ash didn't want to be around a wild pokemon without his own being there to protect him. All pokemon were dangerous and could accidentally hurt someone without even realizing it. He didn't want to risk anything.

Fortunately, he found his friends rather quickly. Unfortunately, they were all asleep.

Nidorino was lazily sprawled on the ground, sleepily pawing the ground as he dreamed. Plume had her head buried under her wing. Torrent, however, was still awake. Ash could see that whatever the drowzee had done was either wearing off or hadn't taken full effect, as Torrent's eyes were still half-closed but were slowly rising.

"Torrent!" Ash shouted. Although for a second he feared his attempt at waking the horsea up had failed, that fear vanished when Torrent's eyes suddenly snapped open. Torrent glanced up at him questioningly, but turned toward drowzee when the creature made a loud wheezing noise.

Something within Torrent shifted. His eyes narrowed and the calm that Ash and the other pokemon had instilled into him vanished, replaced by the rage and love of battle that Ash had seen when he first captured him.

The drowzee didn't have a chance to react before Torrent fired a water gun at it. Ash took his chance to come up with a strategy and act on it as the drowzee toppled over. Torrent continued firing water guns, although the drowzee resisted them now that it was aware of the threat Torrent posed.

Ash saw his bag a few feet away from the drowzee and took his chance. He dashed behind the occupied drowzee and quickly knelt down and sifted through it, frantically searching for a pokeball. The trainer glanced back at the battle as he unzipped the section that held his shrunk pokeballs.

Torrent was being hypnotized. Drowzee was holding his arms up. Pink energy was floating off of its body and energy was forming into a transparent that gently swayed back and forth in front of Drowzee's body. The pink energy was forming into a bright purple energy. Several flew towards Torrent, striking the hypnotized horsea.

" Exactly what I was talking about fighting a psychic types hypnosis is quite annoying and hard to do.

"Poor Torrent I hope he can break out of the hypnosis", Serena said with a frown.

He quickly turned back to his bag and withdrew a pokeball, tapping it in order to prime it. When he turned back, he noticed that Drowzee – who looked to have been badly weakened by the brief fight with Torrent, showing that it hadn't been ready for the battle – was staring and pointing at him. Ash glanced to see what had happened to Torrent and was shocked when he saw that his horsea was staring at him with emotionless, glowing purple eyes.

Torrent was rearing his head back when Ash took his chance. He hurled the pokeball at Drowzee, stunning it for a moment as the pokeball bounced off. A moment later Drowzee was transformed into scarlet energy and sucked into the pokeball. Ash glanced at his friend and was relieved to see that he had snapped out of whatever mind control Drowzee had placed him under.

Ash didn't even bother to look at the pokeball, instead opting to shout out to his other pokemon. Drowzee's power over Torrent had been broken when it was pulled into the ball, so perhaps the hypnosis he had placed onto Plume and Nidorino had been broken as well.

His theory turned out to be correct. Nidorino sleepily got up and looked up at Ash, while Plume immediately snapped to attention and prepared to attack whatever was in the pokeball. When Nidorino realized that there was a threat his ears grew rigid and his long barbs and spines extended out of his back, dripping potent poison.

For a few tense seconds they waited. Judging from how frantically the pokeball was shaking, Drowzee didn't want to be captured. Ash moved away from the shaking ball and prepared to command his pokemon. He tapped another ball to prime it.

Finally, the pokeball stopped shaking and clicked, confirming Drowzee's capture. Ash carefully picked up the ball, but before he released the most recent addition to the team he looked at his friends.

"Get ready to restrain Drowzee if it tries to attack. Be careful not to let it hypnotize you. Knock it out if you have to but don't hurt it." He said tersely. His friends grunted in acceptance of the order.

Ash tapped the button, releasing Drowzee. It warily glanced at the surrounding pokemon before settling its gaze on Ash. He thought that it dearly wanted to attack the group, but apparently it was too concerned for its safety to attack a group of three angry pokemon and their trainer.

"Hey, Drowzee." Ash said slowly. Drowzee continued to stare at him. Its trunk twitched. "You're a part of my team now, alright. We're teammates. So don't try to hypnotize us."

Drowzee's eyes narrowed, but didn't seem to be angry. Ash didn't like not being able to read its emotions very well. It continued to stand absolutely still, but Ash knew it wasn't trying to use its powers. Even the most powerful psychics had to manifest their abilities through some way – a movement or twitch, although sometimes it only showed itself through glowing eyes or other body parts – and Drowzee was far from their ranks.

"True while Drowzee are strong psychic as of now without training it can't compare to something like an Alakazam,

"It also seems like Ash caught the Drowzee that's four pokemon a poison type, flying type,water type and psychic type not a bad team especially since Jonathan and Amelia only have two or three pokemon", Professor Oak said.

"I wonder what pokemon Ash is going to catch next it seems like he's not going to catch Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle" Misty said.

"Wait a minute if I don't save Charmander from the rain does that mean.. Charmander dies" !? Ash said with a horrified look on his face he couldn't imagine his Charizard or Charmander dying.

Everyone else gasped at the realization.

"Well it really depends in some universes yes others your Charmander might not even exist and in others Damian is a good trainer who loves his Charmander" Asato explained.

" Damian and Good trainer"? Brock couldn't even imagine using the two words in the same sentence.

" Um, who's Damian?" Serena asked.

"Damian was Charmander's original trainer who abandoned him in the rain to die" Misty explained.

Serena gasped in horror.

"Anyways this is one of the universes where your Charmander doesn't exist so don't worry" Asato said

Ash let out a sigh of relief.

Ash slowly took out the pokedex and aimed it at the frozen drowzee. If it found annoyance with his actions it did not display them. The pokedex scanned Drowzee for a moment before giving Ash its summary.

"Drowzee. The Hypnosis Pokemon." The pokedex stated. "It puts enemies to sleep, then eats their dreams. Occasionally gets sick from eating bad dreams.

This pokemon currently knows the moves: Hypnosis, disable, confusion, poison gas, and meditate. Its ability is Insomnia, which prevents the pokemon from sleeping."

It had a good move set. Ash scanned the future moves it could learn on the pokedex and was impressed by the amount, even if there wasn't much variety. He could supplement it with TM's if he had to.

"T M's what are those?" Cynthia said.

"There basically the information of a move in a disk and if you give a pokemon the disk and it's compatible they learn the move instantly" Max said.

"Fascinating" ,Cynthia said.

He also took the opportunity to determine Drowzee's gender. He didn't want to refer to Drowzee as an 'it' any longer than he had to. The pokedex said that Drowzee was female.

"So," he said with a smile, "do you want to go train? I want to see just what you can do."

Drowzee didn't respond in any way, instead opting to turn around and sit. Ash stared at Drowzee's back in bemusement. Had she just ignored him?

He looked helplessly at her before glancing to his friends. Torrent made some noise that Ash recognized as his growl and shot a bubblebeam – intentionally weakened, Ash could see – at Drowzee. Drowzee didn't react as the glowing bubbles hit her, instead glancing over at Torrent with glowing blue eyes.

Torrent's eyes turned blue as well and he unsteadily swam over to a rock, which he attached himself to before Drowzee released her control over him. Ash looked at Drowzee with barely concealed fear at the casual way in which she controlled Torrent.

Nidorino seemed to have had enough. Confident in his new power, he extended his barbs and charged at Drowzee with his horn lowered. Ash tried to shout at his friend to stop, but Nidorino had already been taken over by Drowzee, who didn't even bother looking at him.

Unfortunately for Drowzee, Nidorino knew confusion as well. Although it was much weaker than any true psychic pokemon's power and was only due to genetics, it still gave Nidorino the ability to resist Drowzee's ability to a limited degree. His friend refused to move, instead resolutely glaring at Drowzee.

Plume quickly moved to assist Nidorino. She screamed out a challenge for Drowzee before using quick attack, slamming into Drowzee before the slow pokemon could react and weakening its focus. Nidorino quickly broke free of Drowzee's control and tackled it – Ash could see that, despite his anger, Nidorino took care not to stab it with his horn or poison Drowzee – which knocked his newest pokemon to the ground.

Nidorino leapt back and prepared to tackle Drowzee again as she got up, but Ash intervened.

"Nidorino, enough!" He said sternly. "If Drowzee wants to ignore me, that's fine. She's on this team whether she likes it or not. But we won't force her to listen through fear or intimidation. Just leave her alone."

His friend looked down and nodded. Ash sighed and looked at Plume. The large bird had her head hidden under her wing and wasn't looking at him. Torrent had left the rock and was bobbing up and down with the waves. The horsea seemed to have a newfound respect for Ash, judging by his stare.

"Alright, let's go." Ash sighed. "I think we've worn out our welcome here. We should get some exploring in before it gets dark."

He quickly returned Drowzee – she wouldn't follow him anyways and would only slow them down – and Torrent. Plume took off into the air above the trees. Ash could just barely see the large bird flying through the branches and leaves. Nidorino nuzzled his hand, seeking forgiveness.

Ash gladly scratched behind his ears before setting off. They had a lot to do and even more to see.

"It seems Drowzee has thrown a wedge into team dynamics because of it ignoring Ash" Cilan said.

"Oh no I hope Drowzee doesn't ignore me much as time goes on" Ash said frowning.

"Don't worry Ash it just seems like Drowzee prefers being quiet and alone it doesn't seem to be a issue with your training or leadership" Misty said.

That made Ash feel a bit better.

That night they stood in Ash's room at the Pokemon Center. He had gotten back several hours ago, but Jonathan and Amelia had just returned from their long day of battling. Both were exhausted but pleased with their efforts.

"So what did you do all day?" Jonathan asked in between bites. He and Amelia had brought their food from the cafeteria into Ash's room.

"Not much." Ash shrugged as he leaned back in the chair. All of his pokemon were in the same positions as last night, although he hadn't released Drowzee yet. He wanted her to be a surprise. "I walked around, relaxed, battled a few people. I caught a pokemon a few hours in."

Amelia and Jonathan snapped up. "What kind?" She asked. "We didn't see any wild pokemon. I think the trainers scared them all off."

"A Drowzee." Ash stated proudly. "She tried to eat my dreams while I took a nap and put my pokemon to sleep. We managed to beat her though and caught her pretty easily."

He pulled out Drowzee's pokeball and tapped the button, releasing the sullen pokemon. Jonathan and Amelia jumped back when they saw the creature, although they soon began to examine the frozen pokemon with interest.

"It…doesn't look very happy." Amelia stated. Jonathan nodded in agreement. "Does it move?"

Ash shrugged. "I know that she moves, but she won't obey me. She just stands there."

Amelia hummed. "Did you try battling it again? Sometimes they only respect you if they're badly beaten by one of your pokemon."

"No." Ash said sharply. "I'm not going to hurt Drowzee unless there's no other way. There's another way to get her to respect me. I just haven't found it yet."

"That's right I'd never force a pokemon to obey me if I did I'd be no better than Damian and I would've never gotten my Charizard to respect me", Ash said.

"Indeed different pokemon have different issues and it takes them more time for them to start trusting the trainer. The worst thing you could do is force them to" ,Professor Oak said.

His friend shrugged and backed down. Jonathan spoke up.

"All of our pokemon got a lot stronger. Charmander evolved and Rhyhorn is finally able to remember more than one command." He stated proudly. "Plus Rattata and Bulbasaur evolved!"

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Three of your pokemon evolved in one day? That's incredible!"

"Yeah." Amelia responded. "They were all really close to evolving. All they needed was one extra push. Tomorrow we're going to beat Surge. Are you going to be there?"

"Of course." Ash said. "Nidorino is completely fine and I don't think I can do anything for Drowzee anytime soon. Besides, I already missed your first match. I want to be there when you both win."

His friends smiled. "Alright then," Jonathan announced, "we're going to leave. We need to get some rest before going to the gym. See you later."

"Bye." Ash said. His friends left the room. He was quiet for a moment before going to shut the slightly ajar door and turning back to his pokemon. "So, are you guys ready for bed?"

Nidorino was already asleep – he was exhausted from the long day of travelling and the numerous battles he had taken part in – so couldn't respond. Drowzee just continued to stare at the wall, completely ignoring him. Plume chirped and fluttered over to his shoulder, causing him to sag a bit before recovering from the additional weight. Torrent was sleeping in his aquarium.

Ash gently stroked Plume's bright plumage – eliciting a pleased chirp from the bird – before pointing at her large perch. She quickly followed his order and fluttered over to the perch. He smiled at her before heading to bed.

He suspected that tomorrow would be an exciting day.

" It seems Jonathan and Amelia aren't lacking in improvement either" Brock commented.

"So every new trainer from Pallet town has evolved their starter including Ash" Max said.

"I wonder how Jonathan and Amelia will battle surge now with the added strength boost" Clemont said.

" It's awesome their pokemon evolved and they're totally going to destroy but there's no way my others letting Jonathan and Amelia beat him" Ash exclaimed.

"Okay " Misty said rolling her eyes while everyone just looked amused at Ash's confidence and determination.

The next morning they found themselves in the gym. Ash had immediately gone to the observation box after greeting Surge. Jonathan followed him since Amelia had won the coin flip that would determine which of them got to battle Surge first.

He made idle chatter with Jonathan, although he only really paid attention when the battle started. Ash stopped talking when the two gym trainers that constantly flanked Surge joined them in the box.

Amelia sent out Ivysaur – who looked to be about average for the species – first. Ivysaur squared itself as Surge sent out Raichu – who, Ash noticed, hadn't lost any of its arrogance from its defeat. Raichu looked to still be injured from his match with Nidorino, as he was limping and looked far weaker than it had when he fought it. Nevertheless, Raichu and Surge projected confidence that couldn't be matched.

"It seems you and have something in common Ash" Misty said.

"Overwhelming confidence and determination to win," Brock said, nodding.

"Hey at least it's not Arrogance" Ash replied.

"Good point, you're not arrogant, just confident," Brock said with a nod.

Ash grinned he would hate to be some kind of arrogant jerk like the old Gary or the in their world.

Ash quickly identified Amelia's strategy. Ivysaur wasn't very fast, but was reasonably durable and could take quite a bit of punishment from Raichu's electrical attacks. Although he was being pummeled by Raichu at first, Amelia had Ivysaur inflict numerous status conditions – she used stunspore, leech seed, and poison powder on it whenever it came near – before finally going on the offensive.

"Good strategy" Gary commented.

Many trainers didn't know how to use status condition moves correctly but a trainer who could apply status moves and attacking moves to the battle had a much greater chance of victory.

"Indeed Gary it's nice to see Amelia taking advantage of status conditions p" Professor Oak said.

Even with the disadvantages, Raichu nearly beat Ivysaur due to Surge's experience and skill and its own brutal power. It remained standing for five minutes after the status conditions were inflicted on it and only seemed slightly slowed down, although it was clear to see that Raichu had lost much of its stamina and strength.

It still fell after a particularly damaging technique that Amelia seemed to favor – picking her opponents up with vine whip and either slamming them repeatedly into the ground or hurling them across the arena – forced the badly weakened Raichu into unconscious.

Ivysaur collapsed the moment the battle was over. Ash could see the bruised, discolored patches all over his body as well as singed areas left from the lightning Raichu had used. Even though Ivysaur was moderately resistant to it and Raichu had lost much of its power, Raichu was still powerful enough to cause major harm with only a few of its attacks.

Amelia quickly collected her badge from Lt. Surge – who looked annoyed at her strategy and victory – and joined Ash in the observation box. Jonathan gulped as Amelia walked in, although Ash and Amelia both wished him luck.

Jonathan sent out Charmeleon. The lizard was large for its breed and seemed to have kept the same personality it had had as a Charmander. It was just as docile and didn't seem to have gained the aggression that Charmeleon were famed for.

"Lucky I wish Charizard was like that when he evolved," Ash said.

While Ash loved all his Pokemon it hurt him when Charmander became aggressive and didn't obey him anymore.

When it saw the small Pikachu Surge sent out, Charmeleon bared his teeth and forced his tail to blaze up. Ash glanced away from the bright flame for a moment before returning his gaze to the battle. Pikachu didn't back down from Charmeleon's challenge, instead opting to glare at the lizard and release small arcs of electricity from its cheeks.

While he knew it wasn't as powerful as Raichu, Ash could tell that this would be a difficult battle. That Pikachu was a fighter and wouldn't back down until it was beaten senseless.

Surge made the first move. "Quick shock."

"Quick Shock" ? Bonnie said, confused.

"It seems to be a combination move, possibly a combination of quick attack and thunder shock", Clemont said to his sister.

Pikachu blurred towards Charmeleon with a quick attack and struck him before using a weak thunder shock. It didn't do much damage, but it stunned Charmeleon for a second. The mouse used the opportunity to skitter away.

"Dragon rage!" Jonathan shouted. Charmeleon blasted Pikachu with purplish flames, although the mouse dodged the attack due to Surge's warning.

"It learned dragon rage that early," Gary said, surprised.

"Yeah what gives Charizard didn't learn it till it was a Charizard", Ash said.

"Well some Pokemon grow differently and learn moves differently and it's especially more different in another universe in this universe a Charmander can learn Dragon rage right after it evolves into a Charmeleon" Asato said.

Surge continued to use the quick shock combination, something that exasperated Jonathan and caused him to begin losing his temper. Ash groaned when he saw Jonathan finally snap. It was likely what Surge had been waiting for.

"Blast that Pikachu!" He shouted to Charmeleon. Charmeleon waved its tail around in the air and caused its flame to grow large. Ash took his hat off as the temperature grew much higher and could already feel the sweat coming.

Ash saw that Pikachu was being forced to stay away, although it was still firing thunder shocks at Charmeleon at the behest of Surge. When the air grew hot enough to keep the Pikachu from stunning Charmeleon with another quick shock, Charmeleon reared his head back.

An inferno erupted from its maw. It wasn't focused and wasn't a specific attack – the lack of control and lack of concentration made it weaker than a flamethrower or other concentrated fire attack – but it was still powerful and engulfed a wide area.

Charmeleon continued spewing fire around the gym for nearly thirty seconds. Ash was completely blinded by the powerful flames and had to cover his eyes. The temperature was becoming nearly unbearable, although it wasn't dangerous in the least.

The inferno finally ended. Charmeleon looked completely exhausted but still searched the area for Pikachu. Ash quickly found Pikachu, its small form unconscious. It would be fine after a rest, but for now it looked awful. Pikachu's fur was singed, but didn't seem to have any outstanding injuries from being caught in the blaze.

Ash put his hat back on and stared at the tired Charmeleon in awe. He didn't know if even Nidorino could stand up to the raw power that Charmeleon had displayed. Nidorino was certainly powerful and versatile, but Ash doubted that he could defeat Charmeleon easily in a straight fight.

He was quiet as Jonathan triumphantly claimed his badge and shook Surge's hand. Surge seemed to respect those that defeated him with power more than those that had done so with status conditions and trickery.

Still, he wasn't sure how Jonathan would have fared against Raichu. Pikachu was obviously well-trained, but it wasn't the kind of pokemon that Surge seemed to work best with – overwhelmingly powerful and fast enough to avoid most attacks. The mouse took a bit longer to react to Surge's commands as well and didn't blend well with Surge's strategy.

Oh well, a win was a win. Ash congratulated him as his friend returned. They were quickly herded out of the gym by Surge's trainers and returned to the Pokemon Center. Ivysaur and Charmeleon might have won, but they were both exhausted and – in Ivysaur's case – battered from their opponents.

"It seems both Amelia and Jonathan have three badges now to and it looks like they'll be joining on the cruise ship too" Max said.

"It's probably going to be amazing rest relaxation sun bathing" ,May gushed.

"Yeah amazing right…" Ash said awkwardly knowing what was actually going to happen.

"Relaxation knowing Ash he'll try to battle every trainer on the ship especially this Ash who's way more battle thirsty", Dawn said.

"There's nothing wrong with being battle thirsty",Ash said "it just means you enjoy battles very much.

The rest of the day was spent eating and relaxing. Jonathan and Amelia both went over their individual battles and gave each other recommendations on how to do better. Ash spent most of the time thinking about how he could get Drowzee to respect him. He wanted the psychic type to warm up to the team and fit in.

And until Drowzee respected him, it would be alienated from the rest of his adoring pokemon. Ash really didn't want that.

They had a week until they could board the St. Anne and travel to Fuschia. He was going to make the most of this free time.

The next week went by extremely fast, almost as if it happened at an accelerated rate. None of the group trained particularly hard, instead opting to relax and enjoy the rare peace.

Amelia and Ash made sure to secure their tickets in a safe place. Jonathan did the same with the ticket that had got from Bill and sold the other ticket for a good bit of cash. The St. Anne was a very famous vessel and there were plenty of people willing to pay a lot for the opportunity to be on the ship.

They still trained, of course. Few of the trainers that hung around Vermilion were willing to battle them again due to the rapidly growing reputation and skill of the trainers. Not many people had defeated Surge since he was cut loose by the League, and when people realized that they were the ones that had defeated him, they either challenged them or left the area.

No more evolutions took place, although Plume and Torrent were obviously nearing the limit. They were growing in power rapidly and were becoming stronger and more efficient with their attacks.

Soon, however, they wouldn't be able to improve. There were limits on how powerful unevolved pokemon could become. Their bodies just weren't capable of growing past a certain point.

"Now that's ridiculous, Pikachu hasn't evolved and he's still growing," Ash said .

Pikachu nodded in agreement he didn't need to evolve into a bigger orange Pikachu to grow

"Well let me explain it" Asato began.

"Yes Pikachu is still growing and Pikachu is quite possibly the strongest Pikachu in your world and while it's attacks and speed will continue to increase the one thing that receives minimal growth is Pikachu's defense Ash from what I've seen you prefer quicker frailer pokemon that take care of the battle fast and hit hard". Asato said

"That's why while your Pikachu is growing in attack and speed it's limited to how much it's growing in defense and that's the reason you lost to Trips Snivy after that storm Trips attacks kept on hitting and Pikachu's attacks weren't at their best so Pikachu eventually lost".

"I'm not trying to say you need evolution for better defense I'm saying when not evolving the trainer and pokemon get stronger and improve in the main categories of their battle strategy." Asato explained.

" I see"… Ash said Asato wasn't telling him evolution was the only thing that made Pokemon stringer he was simply saying evolution changed battle strategies and made it so a Pokemon had to adapt to using its other strengths.

At least that was what an old, experienced trainer – he was one of the few that had defeated Ash – had told him. Ash remembered the words, although he wasn't completely sure about their veracity.

But today the St. Anne had arrived at Vermillion. The group had watched it come in early in the morning, although they left when they realized that it would be a few hours before they could get on it.

The St. Anne was an impressive ship, even if Ash knew absolutely nothing about boats. He couldn't have imagined a ship being so massive. It was dozens of times larger than even the pictures of wailords that he had seen, or even gyarados. The trainer couldn't understand how it managed to float.

They had rushed back to the Pokemon Center after it came into port and packed their things. All of them made sure that they had their tickets secured before going to the cafeteria. None of the group ate very much. Amelia had read the informational packet going around Vermillion and heard that the St. Anne would have a feast later that night. Ash couldn't wait.

Before they had left for the ship – they were going to get there a few minutes early in order to be the first ones on board – Ash had made sure to call his mom. He had made sure to call her every night while he stayed at the Pokemon Center, but figured that he might not be able to call her again for a few nights.

But now they were standing in the front of the long line that would grant them entry into the ship. He'd been annoyed when quite a few people had already been waiting in the line when the group arrived, but Ash had put it out of his mind. They wouldn't have to wait too long.

And now, half an hour later, they were finally being processed.

"Tickets, please." A tall, clean-shaven sailor said to them. Ash held out their three tickets and handed them to the sailor. The man scanned them with some sort of device. When it was determined that they were legitimate, he smiled at them.

"Go ahead. Your rooms are BD98 and BD99." He said to the group. "One of your tickets isn't from the Vermillion gym, so one of you will be staying in FC76. Directions can be found on any part of the ship. If you require assistance, there are numerous personnel you can ask for help. Have a pleasant stay."

"Thanks." The group said in unison as they took their tickets. They walked until they found a reasonably open area. Ash led them to a corner.

Amelia looked at them. "Alright." She began. "Who's going to go to the other room? It sounds like its first class, especially since Jonathan got his ticket from that researcher. Jonathan, are you going to stay in it? It's your ticket, after all."

Jonathan didn't hesitate. "Nah. I don't want to be alone."

"Well, can't we all just stay in it?" Ash asked. If it was a first class room then it should be large enough for all of them to stay in.

"No." Amelia said with a shake of her head. "All of these rooms are made for one person. The pamphlet said that passengers had to specifically request rooms that could hold more than one person. We'd be cramped."

Ash sighed. "Do you want it, Amelia? I'm fine with being in normal quarters."

She shook her head. "I'd rather not be alone. You can have it."

He shrugged, although he was slightly disappointed that he'd be separated from his friends. But he was willing to take this one for the team. Maybe he'd get more food. That would definitely be a plus.

"It seems while Ash is in the first class room he's in it alone" Cynthia said.

" That's sad but I'm sure they won't just break up for a long while; they'll eventually find each other after unpacking their belongings". Gary said.

There were nods at Gary's statement.

"I wonder what they'll be doing on the cruise ship though it seems enormous by the description so there should be loads of activities right?" Dawn said.

"Of course cruise ships tend to have lots of entertaining activities," Cynthia replied.

"It also seems that the love of food doesn't change in Ash", Iris said snickering

"Hey food is delicious and it gives you energy there's nothing wrong with enjoying food" Ash said.

"I have to agree Iris" Cilan said.

Iris just rolled her eyes "There's nothing wrong with enjoying a healthy amount of food" key word being healthy.

Sounds fine. Anyways, let's go check out our rooms and put our stuff up. You guys want to meet up here in an hour? We have nearly eight hours before dinner and I heard that there's a pokemon tournament in the lower decks."

The others grinned and enthusiastically nodded. Ash bid the others goodbye and went to find his room. A map of the ship showed him where to go and he found himself there in no time at all. It was almost at the very top of the ship – just a stairway away from the deck.

Although the entire ship reeked of wealth and elegance, the section of the ship that Ash found himself in was the pinnacle of luxury. He doubted he would ever find himself in such a nice place ever again and was determined to enjoy it.

Still, he couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious as he strode through the halls. Few people were strolling around, but those that were had clothes on that probably cost as much as everything he owned. None seemed to look down upon him, but they did give him a few odd looks.

Not that he could blame them – he did stand out in his worn travelling outfit. It was a stark contrast to the refinement and wealth that surrounded him. The stains from hard travel were much different from the perfection surrounding him.

When he did find his room, however, he was amazed. It was the nicest place he had ever been in. The carpet covering the ground was thick and soft, while there were several areas for his pokemon. Three large beds that could easily fit a nidoking in them stood to the right, while a large aquarium encircled the room. Four massive perches extended from the sides of the room.

Expensive wooden furniture was scattered throughout the room, and a large, comfortable looking bed stood at the back. If it weren't for the fact he had to meet up with his friends in a few minutes he would have tried to go to sleep in it.

As it was, he left his small bag of equipment in the room. He wouldn't need it. All he needed were his pokeballs.

An hour later he found himself facing an opponent in the large stadium that had been constructed below deck. The tournament offered substantial prizes for the people that made it to the Top Four, so it had attracted almost every trainer on board.

First place received ten thousand dollars and a mystery pokemon. Ash doubted it was anything special, but it would be nice to have another member for his team.

Second place received five thousand dollars and four of the newest Silph Co. products – ultra balls. They were said to be much more effective at catching pokemon than ordinary pokeballs and were valued much higher than the cash prize.

Third place received a thousand dollars and one ultra ball. Fourth place received a thousand dollars.

"That's a lot of dough!" Team rocket who had been quiet mostly yelled out at the same time.

"Yeah but what are ultra balls"? Ash said, looking towards Asato for an explanation.

"Hm that's right not many trainers use any other poke ball besides the standard one in this universe well like the book said ultra balls are poke balls with much more efficiency and accuracy for example if the conditions were right and the pokemon was damaged enough an ultra ball would be capable of catching a legendary pokemon the ultra ball itself is just a black poke ball with a gold u symbol it's however really popular among top tier trainers." Asato said.

"Catch a legendary pokemon" !? Ash exclaimed shocked he knew how powerful certain legendary pokemon were and they were all stronger than the ace pokemon of a gym leader.

"So if we had one of these ultra ball things we'd be able to swipe a legendary pokemon for ourselves" Jessie said with a hungry look in her eyes.

"Nope while an ultra ball is an extremely reliable poke ball I said if there were suitable conditions and enough damage done to the legendary pokemon, ultra balls aren't a magic 100% capture there basically just poke balls but for legendary". Asato said.

"Ingenious to think such a poke ball was possible" Clemont said.

"Heh well while ultra balls are great and all ultra balls aren't the best poke ball to catch pokemon with" Asato said.

"What there's something better"!? Brock said in shock

"Well yes but it's very rare and only few of them exist in this universe and any universe where it's been invented at all it's also a very dangerous poke ball that has a 100% capture rate with even legendaries so it's very dangerous" Asato said seriously.

"100% and even with legendaries" Ash paled realizing what would happen if people like team flare got a hold of a poke ball like that.

"A 100% capture rate with no fail"!? Professor Oak exclaimed shocked how could such a poke ball be possible.

"Wait you said in this universe most trainers use the standard poke ball does that mean Ultra balls exist in this universe and does the 100% capture rate poke bal mentioned earlier exist to"? Cilan said.

"Well yes they are made but not a lot of people use them for normal catches and hardly any people use them without an important reason in fact few champions use them either mostly because they don't need them right Cynthia"? Asato said.

Cynthia who had remained quiet for the duration of the explanation nodded as she had no reason to use or have ultra balls.

"Anyways as for the other pokeball with a 100% capture rate which is called a master ball to be honest I don't know if it's been developed yet different universes have different development times but most likely there's at least one master ball hidden away protected somewhere".

"Phew" Ash sighed if it was protected than that meant people like team flare didn't have it.

"Anyways let's get back to reading shall we"? Asato said.

Ash didn't really care about the rewards though – he just wanted to win. He was one of the first matches and found himself facing a scrawny teenager with a pinched face.

The boy didn't say anything to him, instead quickly releasing a small raticate. Ash was glad that the teenager didn't try to engage him in banter and sent out Nidorino.

Nidorino snorted when he saw the raticate but prepared to charge. His long barbs extended, dripping clear, potent poison. Ash sprang into action the moment the referee let them go.

"Poison sting." He said tersely. Nidorino opened his mouth and fired multiple white darts at raticate. Although the other trainer shouted for his pokemon to avoid, Raticate was too slow and was struck by all of the barbs.

The poison worked quickly. It wouldn't knock the Raticate out for a while, but it was already slowing it down and draining its stamina. Raticate soon charged at Nidorino with a glowing fang after its trainer ordered it to use hyper fang.

"Focus kick." Ash said lazily. Nidorino roared as he tensed up for a moment – he was much faster at focusing his energy than he had been as a Nidoran, and was also quicker at producing his other attacks – and leapt high into the air.

Raticate never had a chance. Nidorino slammed his feet into the rat, knocking it out without suffering a single scratch. When he was sure that Raticate was unconscious, Nidorino scurried over to Ash. Ash laughed and scratched behind his friend's ears.

"Good match." He called to the teenager. The teen just recalled Raticate and growled at him. Ash shrugged and went to the heavily protected side of the arena.

He watched the tournament for more than an hour before he was called up again. Jonathan and Amelia had both won their matches. They had both fought rather weak trainers, just as he had. There was a noticeable discrepancy between the trainers in this tournament. Some looked to be beginners while others were quite powerful.

"Wow Ash you beat that kid pretty easily and you're not even saying words of encouragement like you usually do , I know we've seen your other act like this for a while but it's still quite surprising". Clemont said.

"Yes in fact Ash your other kind of reminds me of Paul before your league battle with him but kinder" Cynthia said".

"Paul"? Clemont says confused.

"My rival in sinnoh" Ash replied.

"Hm now that I think about it yeah your other sort of does act like a nicer version of Paul" Dawn exclaimed.

"There are similarities between the two there, both calm and collected and good battaler's that don't say much during battles and are very focused and take training very very seriously and Paul has a Nidoking while Ash's counterpart has a Nidoran". Brock compared

Ash realized there were lots of notable similarities; he still didn't like being called like Paul though because he was a jerk before their league battle.

"However Ash did say good match so that shows he is still a good sportsman and has sportsmanship". Professor Oak said.

His next match was against a stocky man that looked to be in his thirties. Ash smiled at him and greeted him as they took their positions at the stadium. The man smiled and nodded at him before speaking.

"You've got talent, boy, but you aren't going to beat me!" The man proclaimed. "I've been training pokemon for years! Go, Vileplume."

Ash observed the large grass-type carefully for a moment, analyzing it. It was large for its species and looked to be well-trained. Vileplume was staring at him and was tensed up.

He didn't say anything back to the man, instead releasing Plume. Plume screamed her challenge to the Vileplume as she was released and puffed up her feathers in order to look more intimidating. Ash smiled as he heard the many admiring comments made about his friend.

"Go!" The referee shouted.

Ash didn't even have to say anything. Plume forced herself up into the air with her powerful wings and easily dodged the shower of poison Vileplume had blasted at her the moment the battle began.

"Gust." He muttered. Plume heard and flapped her wings at Vileplume, sending a powerful blast of air at the grass-type. Vileplume was too slow to avoid it and was knocked over.

"Get up!" The other trainer shouted frantically. "Use stun spore!"

"Fly."

Plume quickly dived. By the time Vileplume was beginning to pull itself back up she was upon her opponent. Ash watched carefully as Plume's talons raked Vileplume. The grass-type looked to be extremely fragile in the face of Plume's sharp talons.

"Sleep powder!" The other trainer shouted. Vileplume shook its body and released a sparkling purple powder out of its flower. It slowly wafted up through the air, although it would be a while before it reached Plume.

Ash rolled his eyes. The trainer didn't seem to be living up to the boasts he'd made. While Vileplume was certainly powerful and experienced, the trainer himself was making rookie mistakes. He wasn't trying to put any strategies together and was blatantly screaming his moves.

"Gust. Blow it back."

Plume screeched and flapped her wings. The powerful wind produced swept most of the poison powder – if it weren't so concentrated it never would have worked – back at Vileplume. It didn't poison Vileplume, but the powder irritated the grass type.

"Fly. Gust and wing attack if it stays up."

Vileplume had no chance to avoid Plume's attack. The bird barreled into the grass-type, raking it with her sharp talons for a second time before flying back up and using gust. When Vileplume – who was helpless against the attack – was knocked over, Plume flew down and slammed into the Vileplume with a brightly glowing wing.

That knocked the unfortunate grass-type out. Ash smiled at Plume as she excitedly flew back to him and landed on his shoulder and nodded at the other trainer. His opponent looked annoyed for a moment before nodding back.

He recalled Plume before sitting next to his friends in the stands. They congratulated him and clapped him on the back before returning their focus to the battlers.

" It seems in some cases experience doesn't give you the advantage," Cilan said.

" That old man was rather arrogant though and because of that he made rookie mistakes so Ashy boys counterpart beat him easily", Gary said.

" Seems like someone I know huh Gary"? Ash said with a grin.

" There's a difference between confidence and arrogance Ashy boy and I'm all confidence" ,Gary said smirking.

"Yeah okay sure" Ash said, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"My other still won really quickly he's still on a winning streak", Ash said beaming.

"You don't know Ash winning streaks come and go so maybe your other might lose some time in the near future" Professor Oak said.

"That's okay though since I'm sure your other will learn from any loss just like you do" Professor Oak said.

"Yeah that's right" Ash said grinned no matter how many times he lost he would still get right back up and keep trying and he was sure his other would too.

The next few rounds went well for him and Jonathan, but not so well for Amelia. She faced a rather powerful battler – he was experienced enough to easily command a Machamp – and was promptly defeated. Amelia was annoyed at her defeat, although she wasn't very bitter.

Now they were in the Top Four. He was also facing a rather unexpected opponent – Jonathan.

They had both been shocked when their names were called out, but both were eager to face the other. None of them had ever battled each other before, so this would be a great opportunity to test each other's strength. The gloating rights for whoever won were just an added incentive.

Although he knew that Jonathan was a much stronger trainer than most beginning trainers, Ash knew he was better. Jonathan had raw power – he had seen how strong Charmeleon was the previous week, and Rhyhorn was no slouch either – and was skilled, but relied too much on that power and never implemented many strategies. Combined with the fact that he had a tendency to lose his temper and had lost control of his emotions several times during previous battles made Ash feel confident.

Ash nodded at Jonathan as they sent their pokemon out. They both sent their starters, predictably enough.

Aside from Nidorino being the most powerful member of his team, Ash also knew that the others weren't ready for a match against Charmeleon's sheer strength. Plume was fast and tough, but she wouldn't be able to stand up to his flames or fight him when the lizard was even faster than she was. Torrent couldn't fight outside of water, although his type would let him beat the fire-type in most cases.

" It seems Ash and Jonathan are having their first battle" Clemont said.

"My other's going to win and beat Jonathan" Ash exclaimed.

"Hm maybe" Professor Oak said.

" So Ash and Jonathan are in the top four in their first tournament"? Clemont said surprised.

"It did say that many of the competitors weren't serious battalers, however to be in the top four in your first tournament is still a good accomplishment," Professor Oak said.

As for Drowzee…well, she still wouldn't follow orders.

He certainly understood why. Charmeleon was intelligent and powerful, and possessed the speed and strength to counter most of his pokemon. Rhyhorn wasn't very good for competitive battling – she was powerful, but too dumb to follow orders and could only remember two commands at a time.

Nidorino looked surprised when he saw the identity of his opponent but quickly tensed up and extended his barbs. Charmeleon seemed to have the pokemon equivalent to a grin on his face and rapidly swished his tail around, increasing the temperature around him.

"Go!"

"Poison sting." Ash said. Nidorino quickly launched the shower of barbs from his mouth, although Jonathan quickly countered it.

He seemed very relaxed as he battled Ash. "Burn it away." Jonathan said calmly. "Then blast Nidorino!"

"Dodge. Follow with confusion."

Nidorino quickly dodged the first blast of fire that consumed the poison sting, although he had slightly more difficulty with the massive inferno Charmeleon launched at him. Ash had to hide his eyes from the bright flame and was forced to trust in Nidorino's abilities.

Ash silently cheered for his friend when the flames cleared. Nidorino was completely unscathed – he had managed to run away and dodge the blast – and was currently staring at Charmeleon with glowing eyes.

Charmeleon was helpless to resist the psychic attack. He attempted to thrash against the mental energy – mostly due to his own pride and Jonathan's frantic shouts – but failed. Nidorino's eyes flashed even brighter for a moment when he forced Charmeleon higher and higher above the ground.

"Slam him. Follow it up with a horn attack." Ash said with a grin. Nidorino's eyes flashed again as he forced Charmeleon down to the ground as hard as he could with his meager psychic ability. Charmeleon was stunned for several seconds, giving Nidorino the opportunity to charge across the short distance separating them.

Jonathan seemed to realize that he might not win if Nidorino got up close. "Blast him again! Use fire tail!"

Ash wasn't sure what fire tail was – it must have been some secret technique Jonathan had developed in the days that Ash wasn't with him – but he didn't give Charmeleon a chance to use it. As the lizard was pulling itself up, Nidorino slammed into him with incredible force.

"Get up!" Jonathan screamed. "Use dragon rage or fire tail!"

"Use poison sting." Ash commanded. "Follow it up with horn attack."

Charmeleon recovered faster this time, although not quickly enough to avoid the poisonous darts that Nidorino aimed with perfect accuracy – accuracy resulting from untold amounts of battles with other trainers and hours spent training in the forest.

But he was fast enough to stop Nidorino's second charge. Charmeleon growled and turned around as Nidorino charged at him, slapping the poison-type to the side with his incredibly powerful tail. Ash wasn't too worried about Charmeleon's temporary advantage – he was already becoming sluggish and would be exhausted and weak within a minute or so.

"Slam." Ash commanded. Nidorino's ears twitched as he moved to attack Charmeleon again, although the lizard was still too fast and slashed at Nidorino's side. Charmeleon seemed to be becoming angry, and its rush of adrenaline was letting it counteract the poison for a short period.

It only worked out in Ash's favor. The accelerated heart rate would pump the poison through Charmeleon's veins even faster than before. Soon the lizard would be slow and weak enough for Nidorino to safely engage him in close combat.

"Charmeleon," Jonathan called out with a smirk. "Blast him."

Charmeleon reared its head back, but Ash already moved to stop the lizard from engulfing Nidorino in flames.

"Horn attack."

Nidorino bravely charged straight at Charmeleon and struck him a mere moment before he would have been caught in Charmeleon's blast of fire. Charmeleon was knocked onto his back, but Ash ordered Nidorino to back off. In less than thirty seconds Charmeleon would be too badly poisoned to fight back.

Unfortunately, Ash had forgotten about Charmeleon's ability, Blaze.

Jonathan hadn't. He grinned when Charmeleon forced itself back up, its eyes glowing a vivid, bloody red. Charmeleon was wreathed in flames and didn't seem affected by Nidorino's poison or previous attacks at all.

"Charmeleon!" Jonathan smirked. "Blast him."

Charmeleon didn't disappoint. He released a gigantic, white blast of flame from his mouth. Nidorino was completely engulfed in it, causing Ash to be tempted to call the battle off. Bragging rights weren't worth Nidorino being seriously hurt.

But Nidorino surprised him yet again. Using his newfound endurance and resilience, the poison-type sprinted through the hot flame and slammed into Charmeleon, knocking the fire-type over. Ash took the opportunity.

"Horn attack!" He shouted. Nidorino's ears twitched, showing that he heard the order even above the din of the roaring crowd.

Nidorino quickly performed the attack on the downed lizard. Ash could see that Charmeleon had been knocked unconscious by the blow. Its body had only been temporarily revitalized by its ability, not truly healed.

Jonathan looked dumbfounded as he returned Charmeleon. Ash just grinned at him and waved before calling Nidorino over.

His friend was bruised and slightly burnt, leaving Nidorino's entire body tender. Ash wasn't worried about the damage. Even without any medical aid the injuries would be gone in a day or so. Pokemon were much tougher and healed much faster than any human. Nidorino were even more resilient than most.

"Good job, buddy." Ash whispered as he gingerly patted his friend's head. Nidorino wouldn't be seriously hurt by the injury, but he would definitely be sore for a few days. "I'll make sure to get you some food tonight."

Nidorino growled softly before Ash recalled him. Ash glanced at Jonathan as the other boy walked back to their spot in the stands. He followed a few moments later.

He didn't go back to their seats, instead opting for a closer view. Ash would be in the final battle in just a few minutes and didn't want to have maneuver through the masses of people in the stands.

"Yes I knew my other would win and get to the finals and he's gonna win too" Ash said with a huge grin.

"It also states that Drowzee still isn't listening to your other Ashy Boy" Gary stated.

"Oh yeah … well I'm sure in the near future my other will get Drowzee to obey" Ash said confidently.

" Wait since you beat Jonathan does that mean you're the strongest trainer currently out of the four trainers that came from Pallet town" ? May said.

"Actually I'd say that title right now is probably shared between Ash and Gary seeing as both have beat each other once" Brock said.

"I wonder what mysterious pokemon the tournament winner will get through winning," Max said curiously.

"It's probably a rare pokemon and if it is and the twerp wins we'll swipe it right out of his grasps" Team Rocket said with grins.

"Yes but remember you're not following me in this universe" Ash said with a smirk.

"Oh right" James said with a sour look on his face.

"I'm still demanding the rewrite with us as major characters" Jessie exclaimed furiously.

"Yeah not gonna happen you'll make cameos though" Asato said.

His next opponent was the trainer that had beaten Amelia. Ash wasn't expecting to win this battle.

"What !?" "Why"! Ash practically shouted no matter which universe it was he would never give up!

"Hm I'm sure it'll be revealed after all no matter what dimension Ash isn't one to give up or realize he isn't going to win without a good reason, Brock said

Anyone that managed to keep a Machamp firmly under control – or anyone that managed to train one at all, really – had to be incredibly powerful and experienced. And this wasn't a Machamp that had been quickly evolved from a Machoke. It was massive. The Machamp stood even taller than most of its kin and looked even bulkier. There was no way it was a weaker, more rapidly evolved Machamp.

And he had nothing to fight it with. Even if any of his pokemon besides Drowzee were effective against it, they simply weren't powerful enough to face a Machamp.

Oh… well even if he does have a super strong Machamp my other won't go down without a fight !" Ash exclaimed.

"Pika !" Pikachu exclaimed with his trainer no version of his best friend would ever give up no matter what opponent he was facing.

The Machamp was much faster than Plume and too strong to risk sending her out against. Torrent was out of the question – he was too delicate and there wasn't any water around to begin with. Nidorino was too beaten to even consider using.

That left Drowzee. He consigned himself to defeat as he sent the rebellious psychic out. Drowzee looked bored as she stared at the Machamp, only glancing back at him once. Ash wanted to close his eyes and turn around. This was going to be quick.

"Go!" The referee shouted.

His opponent – a massive man that looked to have trained with his Machamp, judging from the absurd amount of muscle he possessed – looked at Ash with something resembling pity.

"Sorry, mate." He said with a lazy drawl. "This is gonna be a fast one. Machamp, dynamic punch."

Drowzee sat down when she heard the order. Ash just groaned in defeat as the Machamp sprang into action.

A ball of light formed around each of Machamp's fists before it charged the sitting Drowzee. It wasn't particularly fast as it ran towards the psychic, but Ash knew that it could launch punches faster than he could see.

"Hypnosis." He said. Drowzee glanced back at him once before calmly returning her gaze to Machamp. She wasn't going to listen to him, not even to keep herself safe.

And then Machamp was upon Drowzee. Ash could only track its fists for the first punch before Drowzee was knocked unconscious. Even though its attack didn't have type effectiveness on Drowzee, the punches it sent were so powerful that Drowzee couldn't resist them.

Ash sighed and returned Drowzee. He wasn't disappointed at losing the battle. It was expected when he was going up such a superior opponent. What disappointed him was that Drowzee refused to listen to him. She must really hate him.

He nodded back at the other trainer. His opponent didn't really seem happy to have won so easily – he looked like the type that wanted challenges.

The trainer glanced over at the referee, who was declaring Ash's opponent the champion of the tournament – Ash thought that the referee called him Brian. He called up Ash, the trainer that Brian had defeated, and Jonathan.

"Ah man, I lost," Ash said.

"Don't be too sad Ash you still placed in second in your first tournament" Max said trying to cheer his idol up.

"You're right Max, my other may have lost this one but he's definitely going to get better and win the next tournament" Ash said confidently.

"It also seems like Drowzee won't listen to you even if it's for her safety," Clemont said.

"A quite sour flavor," Cilan commented.

" Oh yeah… it's fine I know Drowzee will turn around eventually I know it" Ash said confident in his other's ability to get Drowzee to listen to him.

"At least you're getting the Ultra Balls and money right Ash" ? Serena said.

"Huh oh yeah"!

"I can't wait to see the Ultra Balls in action" Ash said giddy

"Yes, but remember they're really rare so I bet your other will only use them on really rare or strong pokemon" Brock said.

"They're also worth a lot so your other should be careful and not reveal them too much" Gary said.

"Yeah I guess even you can be right sometimes Gary" Ash said with a grin.

"Sometimes"!?

"Why you.." ,Gary growled

When they had all walked into the center of the arena, the referee began to announce the place they had achieved and what their prize would be.

Brian got the money and the pokemon. He released it in front of the entire stadium, so Ash was able to see what it was. Ash had to admit that he was surprised when a powerful looking scythe was released from the ball. He had been expecting some weak but rare pokemon, not one that was a valued piece of any team.

Ash was given the hefty collection of bills and a case containing his new ultra balls. The referee quietly warned him to take them to his room as quickly as possible. There were plenty of people willing to steal such rare items.

"Looks like your assumption was correct Gary" Professor Oak said to his grandson.

"Hey the only people who are allowed to steal from the twerp are us"! Team Rocket

Ash didn't comment on the stealing part; it was actually quite endearing they wouldn't let anyone else steal from him but themselves in a weird way.

The third place contender was given the money and his ultra ball before being given the same warning as Ash. He noted that the referee didn't seem to care about anyone but the Top Two, at least judging by the disdainful glances the referee was giving to the third place winner and Jonathan.

Jonathan was handed his money. After that the referee – who was apparently in charge of the entire tournament – congratulated the winners again and thanked everyone for participating.

And after that, of course, was the mad rush by everyone to get out. They still had two hours before they needed to be at the banquet, but most of the crowd and trainers seemed to think that every second counted.

Ash and Jonathan just shrugged and stayed in the stadium. There was no way that they would be able to get through the crowd. Besides, both of them hated lines. It would be better to just wait here for a while than be trampled by the mad rush to get out.

Then Ash realized something.

"Hey." He said loudly. Jonathan looked at him, showing that he had heard him over the loud roar of the crowds talking. "How are you going to find Amelia again?"

Jonathan's eyes widened. "Oh. Damn it. I forgot about her."

"Now they'll have to spend a bunch of time looking for her in the huge ship," Max said.

"It's always a good idea to stay together in crowded places," Cilan said.

"Splitting up usually only leads to problems," Brock said, nodding his head sagely.

Ash grinned at Jonathan's fear. The other boy was going to get a verbal chewing when he got back to the room. Amelia probably didn't like getting left in the crowd.

Ash stared at the ultra balls in awe. He hadn't really thought of how they'd compare to an ordinary pokeball. They shared their shapes, but the ultra ball's design and coloring was just more…impressive, he supposed.

Something about the design just exuded an air of professionalism and elegance. Of course, that could just be an illusion created by his mind due to the fact that he was holding something that was more valuable than what most people owned.

He was dragged from his thoughts by Nidorino. His friend was relaxing on one of the beds – a potion bought at the built in Pokemart had healed the worst of the damage, although Nidorino was still exhausted – and stared at the door with erect ears.

Ash hastily put the ultra ball back into its case and placed the case under his bed. Nidorino didn't seem particularly worried, but it was better to be on the safe side. A few moments later he heard knocks on his door.

Nidorino still didn't seem worried, but Ash glanced at him and Plume. They both became more alert and looked ready to attack if anything happened.

He looked through the eyehole and relaxed. As he had expected, it was just his friends.

Ash let them through. They greeted him before continuing whatever argument he'd interrupted.

"Look, I'm telling you that it's not my fault!" Jonathan growled. Ash noticed that he had surprisingly nice clothes on. They weren't formal, but they were much nicer than the travelling clothes that Ash wore. "It's not like I could have run through the crowd just to find you."

"I know that." Amelia said. "But it's still annoying. It took me ages to find my way back to the room."

She was wearing nicer clothes as well, although they were in better condition than Jonathan's.

"Where'd you get those clothes?" He asked. Jonathan sighed as he was interrupted.

"My sister sent them to us through the PC." Amelia replied before looking around the room. "Wow, this is really nice. I kind of wish that I'd picked it."

Jonathan nodded in agreement. "Are you sure that you want to come to dinner with us? If I kept this room I would just sleep until we got to Vermillion. That bed looks great."

Ash grinned. "I'll get to enjoy it later. Right now, though, I'm starving. How much time have we got?"

Jonathan checked his watch. "We've got fifteen minutes. We should probably get going. I don't want to be late."

He shrugged. Although he would have liked to get his mom to send him some better clothes, he supposed it didn't really matter. Ash was a trainer. What difference did it make if he actually looked like one?

Ash quickly returned his pokemon and placed their balls on his belt. He walked over to his bed and pulled out the case that held his ultra balls. Even though he was sure that the room was secure, he just wanted to be careful.

"I'm ready." He announced as he picked up the case and captured it with one of his spare pokeballs. The pokeball could be reused later if he needed it. Besides, those ultra balls were much more important.

Jonathan nodded. "Let's go, then. I'm starving."

Ash could definitely sympathize with that. He kept up admirably as they raced to the banquet room, happily awaiting the opportunity to gorge on everything he saw.

The banquet turned out to be one of the best things in Ash's life. It turned out that they had a practically unlimited amount of food to eat, something that he took full advantage of. Plus, it turned out that he wasn't alone in wearing dirty travelling clothes. Quite a few of the other trainers were dressed similarly to him.

He and Jonathan were honored along with the other high-placers in the tournament. Although none of them were acknowledge directly in the captain's brief speech, Ash hadn't thought that they'd be mentioned at all. The tournament was just a way to keep everyone busy, after all. It wasn't really competitive or important.

After about two hours, however, most people began to clear out. They were tired and full and had no desire to mingle anymore. Their group stayed in the banquet hall and continued to excitedly look around and talk to other trainers.

They all split up after a while, although at ten o'clock they all met back up at the entrance. By then Ash was exhausted and wanted to return to his room. He'd had an exciting day and wanted nothing more than to go to sleep.

But he wanted to say good night to his friends first. They were both still full of energy and were bouncing all over the place.

"Hey, Ash!" Jonathan called when he first spotted him. Ash smiled and waved back at him. Amelia was coming from his other side. They both arrived at him around the same time.

"What's up?" He asked. Jonathan looked rather pleased – the short boy had a wide grin on his face and had something in his pocket.

Jonathan grinned wider. "I just bought a pokemon off this guy. It was only five hundred dollars."

"Really?" Amelia asked with peaked interest. "What is it?"

"A magikarp." Jonathan said proudly.

Ash stared at him.

Amelia ended up being the one that broke the silence. "A magikarp?!" She sputtered, wildly waving her hands in the air. "You bought a magikarp? Why would you waste the money?"

"Hey no pokemon is a waste any pokemon can be strong if you train it correctly and show that you care" Ash exclaimed.

"Yeah especially Magikarp if your patient with it it will eventually get stronger" Misty agreed no water pokemon was useless not even her Psyduck.

Jonathan looked offended. "Hey, shut up! He's going to evolve into a gyarados soon, and then we'll see whose talking."

"It'll still be me." Amelia said drily. "That stupid fish isn't going to evolve. Magikarp take forever to train and you don't have the patience for it."

"Hm I'm sure a growth in Jonathan and Magikarp's bond and enough training will allow Magikarp to evolve", Professor Oak said.

The boy growled in annoyance but didn't respond to Amelia's jab. Ash took the moment to interrupt their little spat, although he had to admit he didn't understand the decision either.

"Hey, guys, I'm going to bed." He said with a yawn. "I'm tired."

Both of them stared at him oddly, their argument forgotten.

"Really?" Jonathan asked in bemusement. "It's only ten. We were going to go explore the rest of the ship. Are you sure you don't want to come?"

Ash shook his head. "I'm fine. Just really tired. You guys go on without me – I already feel like a dead man walking."

Amelia shrugged. "Alright. I guess we'll see you in the morning, then."

He nodded tiredly and began to walk away. Before he left he heard Jonathan quietly ask Amelia a question.

"Are you sure that creepy Drowzee of his isn't screwing with his head? He's never this tired."

Ash frowned and ignored Amelia's retort. He rubbed his temples with his head. There was nothing wrong with him, he was just tired.

He didn't know how long he was asleep in his bed. All he knew was that he was having very pleasant dreams, consisting of beating Gary, becoming Champion, and then becoming the most powerful Pokemon Master in the entire world.

"That's what you dream of in your sleep Ash"? Misty said, sweat dropping.

Ash blushed it was true though he'd make everything he dreamt about a reality no matter what !

His fantasy world was shattered by a loud knock on the door. He lazily opened his eyes and blinked a few times to unglue them. Ash yawned and stood up, ignoring the urge to climb back into his bed and ignore all external influences.

Ash figured it was just a crewmember coming to tell him it was morning or that they were going to be docking soon. The knocking sounded too heavy and powerful to belong to either of his friends. He stood on his toes to peer into the small glass.

He couldn't really see who it was, although he could see that they were wearing a black uniform. Since most of the crewmembers did wear dark-colored uniforms – he's only seen the actual sailors in white – he clumsily opened the door. Besides, he really just wanted to go back to sleep.

The trainer yawned again and looked up at his visitor. He was about to greet them when the words died in his mouth.

"What happened Ash not greeting someone is rude" Delia scolded her son.

"I'm sure I have a good reason, Mom," Ash reasoned.

He stared at the Team Rocket grunt in confusion and terror for a moment before trying to run to his pokeballs. Ash barely made it into the room when the grunt grabbed him by the neck and slammed his face into the wall. The trainer grunted in pain as a short spike of pain flashed through his nose, although he didn't think it was broken.

"Team Rocket grunt again!?" Everyone in the room shouted except for Asato and Cynthia.

"What's wrong it's team rocket and a grunt. Surely it's a member like those three" Cynthia said, pointing to Jessie, James and Mewoth.

"Well the team Rocket of this world are much more violent and they use more underhanded tactics such as hostages and murder" Brock explained.

"Oh.." Cynthia said, frowning.

"My baby barely got through his first encounter with them. Why are they appearing again" Delia shouted, looking horrified.

"Hopefully Ash can get through this" Professor Oak said, frowning worried for the boy he thought of as his grandson.

Ash could feel hot liquid draining from his nose onto his face. He groaned in pain and tried to stand up, but his vision was swimming and blurred with tears. His muscles were weak and shaky from the stunning blow and he collapsed back down to the ground.

The trainer had to struggle not to fall unconscious. His vision was turning black at the edges, but he could see the grunt kneeling in front of him to take the pokeballs off of his belt. Ash tried to struggle, but his body stopped obeying his mind. He was helpless as the grunt carefully began to reach for the pokeballs.

Suddenly, the grunt turned his head as a fearsome roar erupted from the side. Ash saw that the grunt tried to take one of his own pokeballs, but was tackled to the ground by an enraged, protective Nidorino. He could see Plume screeching in the background and Torrent thrashing wildly in the aquarium in an attempt to escape.

His vision dimmed, but he saw Nidorino – fearsome and angrier than Ash had ever seen him before; his horn and barbs were dripping the clear, powerful poison in dangerous amounts – attacking the grunt. Ash tried to call Nidorino off, but his vision dimmed as the blow finally took its toll on him.

Ash was confused when he was finally woken up. He couldn't remember what happened to make him feel so bad, although he could recall fuzzy images and memories of terror. The trainer felt weak as he pushed himself up. A large, coarse tongue was licking his face and he wanted to get away from it – the spit tingled and burned a little bit.

He opened his eyes and realized that Nidorino was licking him. Ash smiled as best he could and shakily patted his friend. Then he realized that he was leaning up against a wall and that he was very sore and very tired. Plus there was some hot liquid covering his mouth.

The trainer also became aware of his pokemon huddled around him. Even Drowzee was standing above him, staring him in the eyes. Ash smiled at her and stood up on trembling limbs. He curiously checked his pokeballs and realized that they were all still there. Torrent was huddled as close to the glass of his aquarium as he could.

"Drowzee is turning around," Ash said with a huge grin.

"It's a nice bonding moment," Clemont said smiling.

"Too bad about the situation though it would've been better without the Rockets" Dawn said frowning.

Ash frowned and tapped Torrent's pokeball. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he just noticed that the ship was shaking a little bit. He looked around the room to see if anything strange was happening when he noticed a body on the floor.

He stumbled over – he was aware of Nidorino closely following him to support him – to the body and knelt to see if whoever it was needed help. They didn't look to be breathing, and they were face down. Ash couldn't tell if they were hurt or not or if they were a member of the crew. Although the figure seemed oddly familiar somehow, Ash couldn't remember where he'd seen him.

The trainer nearly fell over when he knelt, but Nidorino carefully kept him from falling. Ash nodded his thanks to his starter pokemon and felt the unconscious man's pale, exposed neck. It was oddly cold, and then Ash realized it.

That man was dead. Ash's eyes widened in horror and he tried to pull himself away from the cold, limp corpse. He stumbled again, but Nidorino carefully held him up with his long, wide body. Ash breathed quickly and loudly as he stared at the corpse.

Then he noticed signs of a fight. Blood was on the carpet around where he woke up – he wiped his mouth and saw with horror that his sleeve was stained red, explaining the slight metallic taste on his lips. The door looked to have been forced open and more blood stained the thick, lush carpet around the corpse.

"What the fuck"!? Gary said horrified.

"What happened?" Ash said, looking horrified as well.

Cynthia had a stoic expression being able to figure out what had happened.

Professor Oak also put the clues together and understood.

"Ash … it seems that Nidorino killed that Rocket grunt". Professor Oak said solemnly.

"What!?"

"No he'd never" Ash denied.

While everyone looked shocked Bonnie looked terrified and tears fell from her eyes Clemont and Serena then hugged her trying to comfort her.

"A pokemon, especially any of mine would never kill a human being" Ash said tears falling from his eyes knowing that Nidorino did kill the grunt.

Delia hugged Ash knowing how devastated her son must be.

"What happened, buddies?" He asked in a tight, terrified voice. Ash looked at Nidorino and saw that his pink face had traces of blood and that his horn was stained red, although the clear poison was beginning to dissolve it.

"What did you do?!" Ash tried to scream, although it ended up as an awkward, choked out sentence. Nidorino didn't seem ashamed at all and slowly walked over to the corpse, tucking his horn underneath the body and flipping it.

That's when Ash saw the mask and scarlet R on the grunt's shirt. Team Rocket.

He gulped and sat down, cradling his aching, sore head in his hands. Ash was on the verge of tears – he had just been attacked and Nidorino had killed someone in his defense. Did that mean it was his fault that the man died? Would Nidorino be put down by the League? That would be the worst thing in the world. Nidorino was one of his best friends.

"What no" !

"The league wouldn't, Nidorino didn't mean to kill the grunt he was just trying to protect my other" Ash shouted.

"What does put down mean"? Bonnie asked, still having a few tears in her eyes.

"It means killed by an organization for being uncontrollable," Clemont said to his sister.

"What no" !

"They can't," Bonnie said, tears falling from her face once more.

Ash couldn't really blame Nidorino, though. Even if he was horrified by his friend's actions, Nidorino just acted on his instincts and protective urges. He thought he was doing the best thing.

"How can my other be so calm"!? Ash said

"It's because he knows his Nidorino was protecting him and feels grateful to his pokemon" Asato said.

"Trust me Ash, any of your Pokemon would do the same thing in this situation. That's how deep a trainer and Pokemon's bond can get" Asato said.

Still, he felt the distinct urge to vomit. Nidorino walked over and supported him as he wretched, throwing up the banquet all over the beautiful carpet. Ash was ashamed of himself and felt the urge to cry as his blood mixed with the vomit.

He pulled himself up again and slowly moved away from the smell, heading toward the open door. Ash was stopped by a growl from Nidorino. The pale boy turned back to his friend with red-rimmed eyes and tried to see what Nidorino wanted.

The pokemon was poking a pokeball on the grunt's waist. Ash looked at in horror for a moment, realizing what Nidorino wanted him to do. He gulped and slowly walked over to the body and knelt when he was close.

Ash took the pokeball with shaking hands, making sure not to touch the body. When it was over he scrambled away from the body as fast as he could and stared at it for a moment. Nidorino insistently rubbed up against him and roused Ash from his stupor.

He carefully clipped the pokeball to his belt. Ash was sure that it was illegal, but he wanted the pokemon inside of it to be safe. The League would probably take it up soon anyway.

Ash took another moment to recall Plume. She would just get excited and there wasn't much she could do right now. He took a deep, rattling breath as he looked at the body. He needed to call the crew. They would know what to do.

As he stumbled over to the phone – taking care to stay away from the blood, corpse, and vomit – the ship's small shakes suddenly increased by many magnitudes and threw him off his feet. Ash grunted in pain when his body slammed into one of the walls, although he slowly picked himself up.

"Attention, my dear friends." A cultured, oddly familiar voice said over the intercom that was in every room. "This is Rocket Executive Pierce. To those who are currently resisting our acquisition of your pokemon and valuables, please desist or you will be killed. To my men and the rest, I suggest you hurry up. This ship will be destroyed in five minutes. Tick tock."

"Pierce"!? Everyone shouted.

Cynthia looked confused.

Seeing the look of confusion on her face Gary explained that Pierce was an executive of Team Rocket and he then explained how he threatened to kill Ash,Jonathan and Amelia if they didn't join Team Rocket in their last encounter with him.

Memories of Pierce flooded through Ash's mind – his refined cruelty and deceptively elegant manner at the forefront of it all – and the trainer realized that the Executive wasn't kidding. This ship would blow up in five minutes. He had to get out of here – he was sure that his friends would be fine. They were strong enough to escape Team Rocket.

"Nidorino." He choked out. His friend's ears twitched and he looked at the trainer. "Help me out of here. This place is about to blow."

'What"!?

"The ships are going to explode and sink!? Everyone shouted except for Ash Misty and Brock.

"Yeah that's why I said cruise ships aren't that great," Ash said.

"This happened in our universe too"? May asked

"Yeah, just without Pierce," Ash replied.

Nidorino nodded and stayed a little bit ahead of Ash, ready to fight off any threats. Ash recalled Drowzee. She wouldn't be much help, especially since she wouldn't listen to him.

Ash slowly forced himself to walk out of the room and into the hall. His swirling vision and a strange ringing in his ears slowed his progress immensely, and he was nearly run over by a swarm of panicked people when he stepped out of his room. Nidorino leapt back and gently pushed Ash back into the room.

"Thanks." He muttered through a dry throat. Nidorino growled when he saw a Rocket grunt and two minor poison-types chasing the crowd, but didn't intervene. When they'd passed, Nidorino slowly walked back outside and looked for threats.

Ash slowly stumbled after his friend, taking a few moments to steady himself when he got tipsy. He was beginning to feel terrified – time was running out and he still had no idea how he would escape. Maybe there would be life boats, but they were probably already leaving with whatever passengers they could get.

He silently raged at Team Rocket for giving everyone such a short amount of time to escape. Ash was sure it was intentional – Pierce probably wanted to kill as many people as he could. Still, he wasn't sure how they would destroy the St. Anne. Probably a hyper beam of some sort.

Soon enough, the duo found themselves slowly climbing the stairs that would take them to the deck. Ash was silently glad that he'd picked the suite. If he hadn't there'd be no way he would escape. Jonathan and Amelia were probably already out – Charmeleon could easily blast a hole through the steel walls and give them a way out. He wasn't sure how they could swim away though – it was storming and they didn't have a life boat.

They would find a way, he assured himself. They were strong enough.

"How are they going to find each other again?" Bonnie exclaimed.

This left many of the other viewers to ask the same thing in their minds.

As they finally climbed out of the stairs – Nidorino tackled the door open, snapping it off its hinges – Ash realized that it was storming much worse than he'd feared. It was almost completely black, the darkness only chased away by the electric lights and brief flashes of lightning.

He really didn't want to go into the ocean during such terrible weather, but he didn't have a choice. Suddenly, his attention was attracted to a large, bat pokemon swooping at him, briefly illuminated by the lightning. Ash tried to call out for Nidorino, but his voice was drowned in the raging storm.

Ash's vision went blurry again – the rain and loud thunder weren't helping his headache – but he felt a pokeball snap open and release a pokemon. He managed to make out a short, squat form before the lightning flashed again.

Drowzee was protecting him. Shock and glee raced through him in equal measure as he saw Drowzee raise its clawed hand at the pokemon – a golbat, he could see now – and stare at it with powerfully glowing eyes that illuminated the area around him. The golbat bared its fangs at Drowzee as a blue glow suffused its large form.

"I knew Drowzee would come around" Ash exclaimed in glee.

"With perfect timing to," Misty said.

The psychic took control of the golbat and slammed it into the ground, immobilizing it. Nidorino had realized something was going on at that point and charged the golbat, slamming into it with his horn and knocking it unconscious.

Ash looked at Drowzee with awe for a second before she returned to her pokeball. Nidorino roared at him, reminding Ash that they were still in danger.

Their progress continued to be painstakingly slow, and Ash was beginning to consider returning Nidorino. Pokemon couldn't die in their pokeballs – they were essentially frozen in time, and, even if the pokeball broke, it would just release them. Nidorino was a strong enough swimmer to get to land if he had to, and if not he would be recovered from the wreck.

Before he could do so, however, he saw nearly a dozen large helicopters with a crimson R on them take off into the sky. Ash clenched his fist in anger as the Rockets escaped, leaving him and who knew how many others to die in this wreck. Tears burned at his eyes, but he didn't let them run free.

Suddenly an immense power made itself known. It was impossible to describe – it made his drenched skin tingle and cast a bright, icy blue light throughout the area. Everything for miles was illuminated in the eerie light – Ash could see several lifeboats making their way through the crashing waves and a large, serpent like pokemon arcing its way through the waves. A gyarados.

Then he was drawn to the source of the light – an impossibly bright blue orb that hung in midair. A humanoid figure hovered in the middle of it, although Ash couldn't make out the details. He knew that it was the source of the great power.

And it soon displayed its power. Before it had been passive – only tingling and illuminating and causing the waves underneath the figure to leap impossibly high – but now it was active. Ash screamed as the tingling turned into a single moment of intense, invisible burning as the light grew brighter and brighter until it seemed like a miniature blue sun.

He recalled Nidorino the moment he wasn't stunned by the pain. His friend wouldn't die like this.

A tiny, bright beam of energy split off from the main ball of it and flashed towards the ship. It hit the bottom part first and quickly traced upwards, destroying and cutting a clean, precise line through everything it touched.

The figure glanced at its handiwork for a moment before flashing away, leaving nothing but a bright trail of icy blue energy and hundreds of dead men. Ash glared at it hatefully for a moment before he was thrown from his feet.

With a great groan, the ship began to split. It slowly began to be submerged into the raging ocean, the bright lights of its cabins and deck being extinguished as the St. Anne died.

Ash finally began to cry as he began to slide down the deck. He shut his eyes as a bright flash of light erupted through the darkness. For a moment he thought he was dead, but he was still falling, drenched, and freezing.

Then a pair of talons pulled him up by the neck of his jacket. Ash's eyes glanced up in shock and saw Plume struggling to pull him away from the sinking ship, although even the large bird was struggling to do so. He was tempted to recall her, but he knew that she would just pop out again.

"Such loyal Pokemon" Delia said smiling as her other's son's pokemon were trying their absolute hardest to get their trainer to safety, which reassured her quite a bit.

Plume carried him for a distance until he was off the ship and then began to slowly lose altitude through a mixture of exhaustion and strategy. Ash felt the neck of his coat began to tear from the force being exerted on it, but by then he was only a few feet above the clashing waves.

Finally, his jacket couldn't handle the stress and tore. Plume screeched in terror as he was swallowed up by the crashing waves, but he quickly recalled her. Even as he was pulled under Ash knew that she wouldn't survive in this storm for long.

He was too exhausted to struggle against the powerful waves, and he could barely keep from expelling the air he'd gulped in and breathing in deadly water. Ash closed his eyes against the sting of the salt and winced as the waves passed his body around.

As his lungs started to horribly burn, he felt a pokeball shaking. Torrent looked at him from a few feet away and determinedly swam over to him, obviously wanting Ash to grab him. Ash didn't do it – he was too heavy for Torrent to move.

But when Torrent started thrashing in annoyance, the exhausted and suffocating trainer retained enough of his intelligence to grab on to the water-type's small body. Torrent surprisingly managed to pull him to the surface, albeit slowly and with a great deal of difficulty.

Ash's eyes snapped open when he could feel cold air on his face and he gratefully sucked in as much air as he could, breathing in quick, deep breaths. The burning in his lungs abated and he could feel something besides his mad desire for air.

"Thanks, Torr—" he began to mutter. Suddenly, another wave crashed down on him. Ash gurgled as he was pulled under the waves, and Torrent tried to get to him again. The trainer could see that Torrent was being thrown around by the waves worse than he was – horsea weren't meant to be swimming in the middle of a massive storm, after all. Torrent should be safely connected to a rock.

He saw a bright light illuminate the water for a single moment, but he couldn't see what it was. His vision was going blurry and he couldn't focus on anything. Ash's lungs burned and he couldn't even move himself anymore.

"Bright light"? Everyone said in confusion.

"Maybe Torrent was using some sort of move," May suggested.

No one replied to focused on what was happening.

As his vision dimmed, he couldn't find it in him to keep fighting for air. He slowly began to relax, giving up on the frantic, painful struggle.

His vision finally turned black and he lost all consciousness. But before he did so, he felt a large, spiky force pushing him upwards. Ash barely registered it before blacking out.

"It ends here no!" Delia shouted she needed to see what happened to her others son and Ash shared the same sentiment wanting to know if his others pokemon were okay.

"Relax we just have to read the next chapter" Asato said calming the worried mother.

"This chapter was a bit too dark" Brock said frowning looking at Bonnie and Max who looked to be terrified.

"Agreed" Gary said.

"What did you think "? Asato said with a grin.

"Well it was very fascinating however it seems crime rates and murders are much higher in this dimension it looks much more dangerous than ours" Cynthia said with a frown.

"It was also nice to see how this version of Ash battles. I still stand by the notion that this Ash is quite similar to paul.

"I see, thank you for your response," Asato said with a grin.

"Anyways, who wants to read the next chapter"? Asato said.

"I'll read," Delia said, wanting to know what happened to her son as soon as possible.

"Here you go " Asato said, handing her the book.

XXX

A/N: Sorry for the wait. I for real got this out the last day of October, crazy. ANyways a reader pointed out sometimes there's not much reaction. Thank you for that review because it made me think about how to balance the reactions because of how long the story is and I'm trying to keep the reactions not too repetitive. Anyways I'll try to get the next chapter out in November but i'm a lot more busy now because of school and an important test I have coming up but I'll try my best to get it out in November.

See you all next time.