S.R: Well this should be a good read for y'all.

M.R: Um…. Wasn't this just going to be Celadon gym?

S.R: Originally this was going to be the gym challenge and that was it, but I just couldn't stop so…

M.R: So long as you didn't write up to the Safari Zone we're good.

S.R: No, there's still a few things between where I finally stopped and then.

M.R: Good. Now tell our audience the story already!

S.R: Yes Ma'am!

ASH'S POV

"This will be a 4 on 4 Pokemon battle. The gym leader Erika will release her Pokemon first. The Challenger Ash Ketchum of Pallet town will be given the first move. Substituting Pokemon is allowed for the Challenger only."

The referee called out officially declaring the match.

Erika threw a Pokeball out in front of her to reveal a Tangela. Deciding to give Charmander his Gym debut I unleashed him as my first Pokemon for the battle.

"Alright Charmander we've got the first move! Start off with Ember!"

"Tangela jump over the attack and use Leech Seed"

"Stop Tangela in it's tracks with Metal Claw"

Charmander moved fast enough to side step Tangela's attack and raked it's side with his claws. The attack was strong enough to throw Tangela back a dozen feet or so.

"Charmander use Ember in a circle around Tangela"

Charmander did as I suggested and cut of Tangela's movement by surround it with flames. Erika called out to Tangela, making sure it still wanted to battle. As she did she explained she had to rescue Tangela from a similar situation when it was younger, and didn't want to trigger any PTSD by making it battle. Fortunately Tangela decided to continue the battle.

"Seed Bomb Tangela"

"Charmander dodge it and get in close to finish Tangela off with Bite!"

Tangela's attack just barely was able to hit Charmander but he shrugged it off and charged through the flame circle he created, opened his mouth and bit down on Tangela. Charmander shook Tangela in his jaw before throwing it through the flames when were dying down. The force of Tangela hitting the ground was enough to knock it out cold.

"Tangela is unable to battle. Charmander wins. Gym leader Erika please send out your next Pokemon."

"Alright, that was pretty good. Let's see if you can handle my Weepinbell"

After she released Weepinbell, Charmander turned to me and nodded in confidence that he could keep fighting. Nodding back I smiled at just how strong my Pokemon were pushing themselves to become.

"Let's try something different this time. Use Mud Slap Charmander"

"Take the hit and counter with Vine Whip"

"Use Bite on the closest vine!"

"Shake Charmander off and use Razor Leaf"

"Ember!"

"Now while he's distracted use Poison Powder"

The Poison attack succeeded and Charmander was hurt long enough for the last few leaves of the Razor Leaf to knock him over. Shakily standing back up I watched as the flame on his tail grew stronger, signifying that his ability Blaze was active. Knowing that makes Fire attacks stronger I called out for him to use Ember once again. Erika's Weepinbell was told to counter with Power Whip.

Both attacks hit, but Weepinbell's was stronger and pushed Charmander into a wall, stirring up a dust cloud. After a moment of nothing happening Erika was going to have Weepinbell clear the dirt could, but as she opened her mouth a white glow could faintly be seen inside the cloud. Once the glow faded Charmander burst back out of the wall, only he was no longer a Charmander.

"Nice job buddy. You became a Charmeleon. But you're pretty weak, and probably need to get used to this body. Think you can finish the fight?"

Charmeleon nodded his head, pounded his chest with a fist before letting a small stream of fire out from his mouth.

"I'm quite Impressed by that one. But I'm not sure he'll be able to beat Weepinbell without collapsing himself."

"So long as he does his best, It doesn't matter… Now then. Chameleon let's see how much stronger your Ember attack has become!"

"Weepinbell Power Whip once more!"

Charmeleon reared back as he took a deep breath for his Ember attack but what actually came out was a Flame Burst attack. Both his attack and Weepinbell's collided before causing a small shock-wave that threw both Pokemon into a wall. Nothing happened so Erika ordered the referee to use a fan to blow away the dust clouds that were kicked up.

She did so, revealing that both Pokemon were unconscious just as Erika predicted. We both returned our Pokemon to their Pokeballs' telling them that they did well. The Pokemon Erika had chosen as her third was a Roselia. Trying to keep the advantage I called out Golbat.

"Roselia use Magical Leaf"

"Golbat tank it and use Air Cutter"

"Roselia, Sunny Day"

"Golbat get in close and use Supersonic followed by Pursuit"

"Take it and use Return"

Roselia shrugged off the Supersonic, and used Return throwing Golbat back a bit giving Roselia some breathing room again.

"Roselia quickly use Synthesis followed by a Solarbeam"

"Golbat, use Quick Attack to boost your Double Team and dodge that attack!"

"Energy Ball, Roselia."

"Charge through it and use Wing Attack"

"Roselia use Absorb"

"Golbat try and finish it with Bite"

Golbat managed to chomp down into Roselia before it used absorb, but instead of flinching or crying in pain Roselia used it's Absorb anyway, leeching energy from Golbat. After loosing enough energy to start feeling dizzy Golbat released it's jaws, and shakily fluttered back from Roselia.

"I've got to hand it to you Ash, your Pokemon so far have been extremely well trained. But they've still got room to grow… Roselia finish Golbat off with Shadow Ball"

I ordered Golbat to dodge it and use Double Team to disguise it's position before unleashing an Air Cutter. Erika had Roselia use Magical Leaf.

"Golbat use Quick Attack and lead the leaves back towards Roselia!"

"Use Ingrain Roselia!"

"let's finish it Golbat! Use Wing Attack"

Golbat's attack hit and pushed Roselia into the ground. After a moment we noticed Roselia wasn't getting back up. Quickly checking we saw that Golbat had beaten Roselia.

"You're quick thinking there surprised me. But Golbat's in no shape to continue… You may be up right now, but it's time for my last and strongest Pokemon. Come on out Vileplume."

Knowing she was right about Golbat I recalled him. Telling Golbat I was proud of how well he hung on I made sure he knew after a good rest we'd get right back to it so that he could get even stronger.

"Your best Pokemon huh… Alright then I'll show you my best to. Come on buddy let's do this" I said looking at Pikachu. He eagerly cried out as he hopped off my shoulder and onto the battlefield. Nothing happened for several minutes, both Erika and I waiting to see who would make the first move. But we spoke at the same time.

"Vileplume use Hidden Power"

"Pikachu use Iron Tail"

Luckily Pikachu was a lot faster than Vileplume, dissapearing then reappearing right above it and slamming his glowing tail into Vileplume's head. Deciding to not give it a chance to counter attack I told Pikachu use the recoil to bounce away and use Quick Attack to push Vileplume back.

"Vileplume use Toxic"

"Dodge it and use Electro Ball"

"Mega Drain, Vileplume"

"Pikachu use Dig"

"Vileplume use Toxic on the ground around you!"

"Come up at a distance and use Thunderbolt, Pikachu!"

"Vileplume use Energy Ball"

"Dodge it and use an Agility powered Iron Tail!"

Vileplume it's time for our strongest attack use Petal Blizzard"

Vileplume unleashed it's attack right as Pikachu bashed it's side with his tail. Both attacks hit pretty hard and threw them to separate sides of the room. Vileplume and Pikachu both slowly stood back up, shaking their heads.

"Use Agility to get in close and use Spark"

"Vileplume Use In-" was all Erika was able to say before Pikachu had shocked Vileplume with Spark.

Smirking I decided to put the finishing touches on Vileplume to set up Pikachu's finishing attack.

I had Pikachu use Thunderbolt twice in a row, to help generate enough static in the air.

"You're Pikachu is on a whole other level compared to your other Pokemon. But he doesn't have the power to finish Vileplume off yet. Vileplume let's end this. Petal Blizzard once more"

"Pikachu use Dig to hide, then come back up at a distance."

"Staying ranged won't change anything. Vileplume when Pikachu comes up let's hit it with Mega Drain"

"Pikachu come up charging, it's time for Volt Tackle!"

Once Pikachu popped out of the ground he took off, quickly building speed and generating a field of electricity around himself. It wasn't the best but it was far better than his Volt Tackle against Lt. Surge and his Raichu. As Pikachu moved it was clear to everyone that Vileplume wasn't going to be able to use Mega Drain fast enough to stop Pikachu. Especially since Vileplume had only just started gathering the energy to use the move when Pikachu's head slammed into it and a bright light enveloped the two.

After a moment the light died down to reveal Vileplume on the ground unable to move and Pikachu standing tall but slightly panting.

"Vileplume is unable to battle. Pikachu wins! The winner of this battle is Ash Ketchum of Pallet town!"

At that announcement I ran over to Pikachu and caught him as he leapt up into my arms. I praised his good work, as Erika walked over to us. She handed me the Rainbow badge, and thanked me for showing her a wonderful battle.

"This makes badge number five buddy. We're more than halfway to our goal of getting to the Indigo League."

"Oh, I hadn't realized this was your fifth gym battle. Most of the time I'm the third or fourth gym leader challenged…"

"Well we had to make a slight detour after Team Rocket attacked the St. Anne. Otherwise you probably would have been the fourth gym leader we challenged."

"I see… it seems you're challenging the original eight Kanto gyms because we are more difficult yes? That means Koga, Blaine, and Giovanni are your next targets. Beware Koga might not seem like much but his Pokemon specialize in drawing battles out so long that challengers can't continue. As for Blaine and Giovanni well their teams are monstrously powerful. You will need to match and surpass their power if you want those badges."

"Sabrina said something similar. But we'll be taking our time from here on out. I mean we still have 9 months before the League starts. I'll make sure we're ready for whatever comes our way."

"If you're that determined, then allow me to give you a gift. This TM is for the move Energy Ball. While it might not be as powerful as say Solarbeam, it doesn't have the draw back of needing large amounts of energy to use just once. It should come in handy."

I thanked Erika for the TM and the great battle and left for the Pokemon Center. After walking through the door and handing my Pokemon over to Nurse Joy, I sat down at a table and thought about if I felt Conan was ready for tournament battling. I knew he could handle himself in battles with wild Pokemon but there is a difference between them and Pokemon that have been trained for this competition.

I was so lost in my thoughts it took the tapping on my shoulder for me to look up and see some people trying to get my attention. Not surprisingly Brock was one of them. The other two however were people I didn't expect to see just yet. One was Gary, and the other was Cynthia.

"Sup Ashy-boy. I heard from gramps that you started with a Pikachu instead of one of the regular starters"

"Nice to see you to Gary. Also how long have you all been trying to get my attention"

"Long enough that Brock was telling me to -"

"He doesn't need to know what I was joking about… Anyway how'd the battle with Erika go Ash?"

"We won. Plus Charmander evolved. I'll say this though her Roselia and Vileplume are tough."

"Yeah those two gave me a bit of trouble to. Anyway are you going to particpate in the Grand Prix? I need a good challenge"

"Same here. I finally got my mother and professor Rowan to calm down after what happened on the S.S. Anne so I came back with my Lucario for this tournament."

"You know what. I'm confident Conan can at least beat you Gary so why not? I'll go enter the tournament now"

Time skip

"I'd like to welcome everybody back for the third round of the Grand Prix. We've had some amazing battles and surprisingly tough newcomers. But who cares about me talking it's time for the next battle."

At that I walked out to the battle field to see my opponent. Funnily enough it was Gary.

"So Ashy-boy you think you're capable of beating me? Let's see it"

"Trainers send out your Pokemon!"

At the call I let Conan out of his Pokeball as Gary did the same for his Mankey.

It's sure to be an interesting one! We have tournament newcomers Gary Oak and Ash Ketchum both of whom are from Pallet town facing off. Both trainers have shocked veteran tournament members with their young but powerful Pokemon."

As the commentator spoke Mankey and Conan circled each other, waiting for the match to start. Never taking their eyes off each other. Finally the announcer shut up and the referee began the match.

"Mankey use Low Kick and knock that Riolu over!"

"Jump over the kick and use Brick Break"

"Use Counter"

Conan using the momentum from his attack twisted his body around Mankey's counter, and spun using the bottom of his paw to hit Mankeys side. Due to his training with the others, and the experience he's gains so far in the tournament the attack was a lot stronger than it seemed considering it threw Mankey back a few feet.

"Good work Conan, we got the first hit. Let's keep it up and take him down. Get in close and hit him with another Brick Break"

"Mankey wait until he can't move away and hit him with Karate Chop"

The attacks connected and the Pokemon were thrown back. Both recovered quickly and used their feet to dig into the ground to stay steady.

"Charge forward and use Seismic Toss"

Mankey had recovered faster and managed to toss Conan fairly hard. Conan hit the wall head first, but was still awake. Shaking his head Conan looked at me asking to continue. Nodding my head I called out for him to use Force Palm.

"Focus Blast now Mankey!"

Mankey managed to connect with it's attack faster than Conan could react. But the momentum Conan had built up prevented him from being thrown back.

"Low Kick, Conan!"

"Catch the kick and use Seismic Toss once more!"

"Quickly use Brick Break on Mankey's arm stop it from throwing you!"

Conan built up the power needed for the attack and brought his curled paw down on Mankey's arm making it cry out in pain as it let go of him. Mankey also staggered back as if it had some energy drained.

"It seems that Riolu has somehow learned to use Drain Punch!" the commentator could out in excitement as Mankey recovered from the attack.

"You're doing far better than I expected Ashy-boy but Mankey and I are gonna win this one. Mankey use Cross Chop!"

"Conan use Force Palm!"

Unfortunately for us Mankey was faster and attacked using both fists to force Conan into the ground, out cold. After waiting to see if Conan would recover the referee called it declaring Gary's win. I took Conan to get healed up at the Pokemon Center, but decided to watch the rest of the matches. I got back just in time to witness Gary and his Mankey lose to Cynthia and her Lucario. Cynthia and her Lucario did amazingly well and ended up coming in second place for the whole tournament.

I made my way down to her side after a few moments and congratulated her. We continued to chat for a while, even after she had turned her Pokemon over to Nurse Joy for a check up. Strangely during this time I never once saw Brock. Gary however stopped by after recovering his team said he was leaving for his next gym battle and left.

Eventually it came time to turn in for the night and Brock finally showed up. He and I offered her to join us traveling for a bit if she wanted. Not even giving it a second of thought she replied that would be wonderful before walking off to her room. Not really feeling tired yet I told Brock I was going to chat with my Pokemon for a bit and went out back behind the Pokemon Center to let them all out.

We spoke for a bit, and I used my aura bonds to check up on the Pokemon that were with the Professor. Taking everything everyone wanted into account I decided to send Gyarados, Beedrill, and Nidorino back to the ranch. Squirtle was feeling antsy about training on her own and so I had her transferred to me, and called it a night.

The next morning Brock and I met up with Cynthia just outside of the Pokemon Center. We chatted for a while about how we were going to take it slow on our way to Fuchsia City, which as I found out last night was also Cynthia's next destination because she wanted to explore and study the Safari Zone. Cynthia said she didn't mind taking it slow since after the S.S. Anne incident she had been focusing more on training her Pokemon and helping Professor Rowan with his research.

Apparently she felt her team wasn't ready for the Indigo League so Professor Rowan bought her a ticket to watch them and study other trainers Pokemon, so she gave up on challenging the Kanto gyms. Once she heard how confident I was that I'd make it to the conference she told me she'd be there to cheer me on which made me blush.

We did all that talking while making sure we had everything we'd need, and so once we finished checking our bags we set out. While we traveled Cynthia and I both found pretty powerful Growlithes that we caught. Both of them were female, had the same ability, and almost the same move set.

Growlithe's Pokedex entry was this "Growlithe, the puppy Pokemon. These Pokemon are friendly and loyal, though fiercely protective of their territory biting and barking to repel intruders. This Growlithe is Female. It's ability is Flash Fire. It knows the moves Bite, Roar, Ember, Flame Wheel, Agility, and Reversal. It's egg move Iron Tail hasn't been activated yet."

The only difference between my Growlithe and the one Cynthia caught was hers knew it's egg move which was Double Kick... Well that was the only difference anybody else would be able to tell since I formed an aura bond with my Growlithe. We were both very satisfied with our newly caught Pokemon, and I was thankful that Professor Oak had given me researcher status so I could keep Growlithe with me.

The day continued on, and around the time it started getting dark out we could see off in the distance a Pokemon Center. Agreeing to stop their for the night we made our way towards it, discovering that it was suffering from a power outage. We didn't really have any problems with that, so we asked for rooms anyway. We had all just turned in for the night when I was awoken by a horrid smell. I quickly threw some pants on and grabbed my bag, following the smell with the hope I could do something about it.

S.R: Next time Ash catches Muk! But not for himself...

M.R: I don't think that counts as a preview...

S.R: No but it should be foreshadowing a little bit since he won't catch Muk for himself.

M.R: Eh, fair enough I suppose.

ON HAND:

1. Pikachu (m) 2. Riolu (m) 3. Golbat (m) 4. Gengar (f) 5. Charmeleon (m) 6. Squirtle (f)

TRAINEE FIELD RESEARCHER SLOT ADDITIONS:

7. Growlithe (f)

AT THE RANCH:

1. Bulbasaur (f) 2. Pidgeot (f) 3. Gyarados (f) 4. Beedrill (m) 5. Nidorino (m)