Thank you to everyone who read and enjoyed the first chapter. I'm releasing this chapter a bit early mainly due to me wanting to keep each chapter around 10k words. As always, any reviews are much appreciated.

"SANDSHREW! Defense curl into rollout! Knock him out fast!"

"Dragon rush. Get him off balance. Try to end it with rapid fire."

Ash watched the yellow pokemon curl up into a tight ball and its hide take on a reflective sheen, indicating that defense curl had taken effect. The yellow ball started spinning rapidly and begin moving forward.

Typhaon watched everything happen in front of him as he gathered the necessary draconic energy to perform his attack. Being a fire type, it was insanely difficult to harness the energy. That, and he wasn't sure on how to actually execute it. But his trainer was insistent that he practice the move, so here he was performing it for the fifth time today. Even if it resembled more of a glorified tackle than the overwhelming destructive force it was supposed to be.

He waited till the orb had gained enough momentum and closed the distance before he rushed forward. He met the attack head on and for a brief second, struggled to overwhelm the yellow pokemon. Fortunately, his blue aura managed to overpower his opponent and knocked the rodent backwards. He then used a technique that his trainer had showed him a few hours earlier called rapid fire.

The technique was a variation of ember. While ember is considered to be an extremely weak fire attack, one that was only supposed to be used at close range, this technique changed that. His first instinct was to open his jaw wide and spew as much of the feeble fire as he could, but this new method went against that. So, when given the order of rapid fire, he would form his mouth into an "O" shape and fire a tightly controlled and stronger ember at a much faster rate. The effects this had was turning the weak and low range move, into something that crossed further distances at a higher velocity and potency.

He launched the attack as soon as he saw his foe hit the ground. The onslaught continued until Typhaon saw a red beam suck the nearly unconscious pokemon back into his ball. He belt out a large cloud of fire into the air and grinned. He had won.

The trainer across from Ash sighed. What was his name again?

"I thought I had the type- advantage there, but I hadn't expected your Charmander to be so well controlled this fast. Especially since the season just started a couple days ago."

Ash gave the guy a tight grin. He knew Typhaons technique was sloppy and needed more work. Afterall they had barely gotten the basics down this morning. But they had finally found some trainers this morning, so when fighting he had made sure his pokemon practiced their skills as much possible.

"Got lucky I suppose. I wouldn't have stood a chance if that roll out had connected though. It's too strong a move for him to handle right now" responded Ash as he accepted the money being handed to him.

"Yea, well I didn't expect your bird to be so strong either. First of his kind I seen around here so I thought he might have been some weak straggler left behind."

This time Ash gave him a genuine smile. He knew that Horus knocking out the teens spearow so fast had hurt his ego. But Ash didn't care, it had been some good experience for Horus in aerial combat.

"Did you get your sandshrew from Giovanni?" inquired Ash. They weren't exactly common pokemon around here, mostly being seen around the mountain range that separated Kanto and Johto, as well as the area around Mt Moon.

"Yea. Me and several others all got our pokemon from his gym. Didn't get to meet the guy though. Apparently, he had business in Saffron that he had to take care of. "

"Damn"

"Oh? Were you hoping to challenge him this early?"

"No not at all" shrugged Ash." I just wanted to talk to the guy, get some insight on raising ground types. His reputation is legendary after all, plus he's tied with Sabrina for the title of toughest gym leader. Any kind of tips he could give me would go a long way."

"Good luck with that "snorted the teen. "He gives no one the time of day unless they have 6 badges from the reputable gyms."

"Hmm well thanks. I should get going though. Things to do, pokemon to catch."

With that, Ash continued down the dirt path with Typhaon at his heels. He would have let Horus out to fly, but the bird had taken a couple of nasty hits earlier and he wanted to wait until Nurse Joy checked him out.

Letting out a big breath of air after finally seeing the gates to the city, Ash reminisced on their morning.

After waking up and walking down the trail, they finally started encountering trainers after Ash got about an hour away from the city. From what he could gather, most of them had attended school together and decided to train in and around the city for a while. Mostly to get comfortable with their starters and pick up another pokemon or two from the wide variety that surrounded the city.

None of them were bad trainers per say, most just couldn't think outside the box. Since most had received an eclectic mix of ground and rock type, they all thought they could just knock out his fire and flying type without too much hassle. Ash grinned while thinking about he beat most of them easily. The only battle he had lost was against a boy with a hyper-aggressive mankey. But he had used the last of his potions and healed up Horus enough to fight the next kid.

Speaking of which, he mentally began analyzing the fights that both his pokemon had participated in. Maybe I should buy a camera to record our future fights and training sessions? It was something to give some consideration.

Watching the two fight a variety of opponents, Ash felt like he was starting to grasp their individual fighting styles

Typhaons attack style was somewhat predictable. He liked to get up close and personal with his foes and crush them. It was a pretty straight forward fighting style that most people tried to curb out of their more aggressive pokemon. But Ash wasn't most people. Professor Oak had taught him that changing a pokemons style went against most of their natural instincts and created a huge handicap that caused the pokemon to rely heavily on commands. He planned to hone Typhaons instincts as much as possible, and supplement it with endurance, technique, and power.

Horus surprisingly liked to overwhelm them with his speed and ferocity. But one of his greatest strengths also happened to be his biggest weakness. While his size allowed him to move faster than normal, it also made him a bigger target, allowing others who couldn't fly to tag him if he wasn't careful. He also seemed to be a showoff. Performing unnecessary aerobatic maneuvers when fighting. Ash could make it work it work though. It could be useful, especially to throw off other birds when dog fighting. Most seemed to like to play a cat and mouse game in the air and would not expect the fancy moves. He would have to look at videos of the gym leaders of Falkner and Winona to pick up some tricks.

He finally spotted the enormous circular building, and damn was it impressive to behold. The half shell concrete dome on the roof just barely covered the massive red-letter P. The sun dipping just low enough to accentuate the design. The entrance was just as grand. With Tuscan columns evenly spaced out in a bowed fashion in order to support the massive concrete canopy. The entire front of the building being built out of glass in order to allow as much natural light as possible.

Walking through the gardens, Ash couldn't help but admire the beauty of the simplistic design.

He knew all pokemon centers were made by the league to be some of the most majestic buildings in every city. The buildings often gave off a sense of serenity and warmth, which helped alleviate most of the public resentment towards pokemon centers.

While pokemon centers were free for any registered trainer, the same couldn't be said for the general public. The costs of maintaining and staffing the centers, ever growing medical knowledge, and cutting-edge technology were incredibly high. And while the league provided most of the funds and subsidies, this still left a portion of expenses to be covered. They raised the funds by charging any non-registered human a small fee to use their facilities. While there had been some initial backlash when these policies had first been put in place, most of the anger had since been subdued when the benefits of having a pokemon center were plainly evident.

Making his way inside, he gave a nod to the two security officers at the entrance and walked over to the front desk.

"Well hello young man, what can I do for you?" asked the receptionist.

"Could you take a look at my pokemon? My staravia took a couple of unnecessary hits trying to show off to a machop. Also, could I get a room please?"

"No problem. I just need to take a peek at your pokedex to confirm you are who you say you are and that these pokemon belong to you." She hummed as she took his pokedex and checked his identification.

"Hmm everything seems to be in order, so here's this" she handed him back his pokedex along with a card key. "It will be a couple hours before you can get them back though. The staff is having trouble keeping up since most of the new trainers decided to stay around the city for a bit."

"That's no problem, I gotta restock on a couple things." Just as Ash was about to turn around, he remembered something. "Oh, I also need to register for the Indigo Plateau Conference"

The receptionist quickly input a few commands on her keyboard.

"OK, just put your pokedex on the center of the box on this screen and that should do it"

Ash did as he was told and was rewarded with a little pop-up that said Congratulations.

He smiled. So, it's finally official.

"Thank you."- said Ash as he quickly scanned for her nametag- "Alice"

"No problem Ash, and please do enjoy your visit here in our wonderful city" said Alice with a small smile.


Ash looked around the standard sized room. It was sparsely decorated, with a twin sized bed pushed up against the furthest wall, a small nightstand, a perch near the window, and a small bathroom with a shower. It would do for now, but if he was going to get more or even bigger pokemon, he would have to consider staying in hotels when in cities.

He laid down his rucksack next to the bed and started emptying all his edc gear on top of the nightstand.

"Should I let the guys out first, or take a shower?" Ash asked himself. "Na, they been cooped up all day and they need to eat. I can get ready for bed while they finish eating."

He grabbed the two pokeballs off his belt and released them. While the two looked around and got comfortable, Ash fished out the new bowls he had just bought, along with the new food and berries he had picked up from one of the breeders in town.

Ash smiled as they devoured the food

"You guys like it? Picked it up specifically to match your class types."

Horus raise his eyebrow at Ash

"I know that you can hunt, but I would rather get you on a steady diet, offset by some fish of course."

Typhaons interest was piqued at the mention of fish.

Ash smiled and rubbed Typhaons head, making sure to scratch the back of his ear just how he liked it.

"Even though I ordered your food from Charicific Valley, the instructions I got from the breeders said to make sure I feed you some real meat and fish. This synthetic stuff is enough to get you by most of the time, but your body runs better when eating some actual flesh. You guys were once apex predators in the Kanto region after all."

After Ash got out of the shower, he pulled out the fire-resistant blanket and spread it on the bed. He had noticed that Typhaon seemed to enjoy the close- contact, and he wanted his pokemon as comfortable with him as possible. And if that meant withstanding a little heat, then so be it.

He got under the blanket and patted the place next to him.

"C'mon, this blanket won't catch on fire so you're good to sleep next to me."

As Typhaon excitedly jumped up next to him, Ash heard the bed groan a bit at the sudden weight.

He yawned, "Goodnight you guys, remember, tomorrow we're going to check out the Palaestra, so make sure to rest up.


Ash was promptly woken up by a harsh shriek next to his ear.

"What, what happened" asked a groggy Ash as he sat up in bed.

Looking for the cause of his disturbance, he saw that Typhaon seemed to be freaking out and pointing to the door.

"Umm… do you know what's going on?" he asked Horus. The bird paid him little attention as he stared outside the window, as if he sensed something too.

Typhaon let out another roar that seem laced with frustration.

"All right, all right let me just put on some clothes real quick and we can go."

Running down the stairs and out the door, Ash couldn't help but feel some anxiety wash over him. Typhaon never ran if he wasn't in battle or training, preferring to saunter when outside his pokeball. Right now though, Ash was struggling to keep up with the fire pokemon as they made their way across the city with Horus flying just ahead.

Ash took in some his surroundings as they ran towards the northwest side if the city. Noting the tranquility of the city

Viridian didn't have the nightlife that Celadon, Saffron, or even Vermillion boasted. Yet there could be people and pokemon seen at some of the local bars, laughing the night away. Joggers running with poochyena's and houndours, enjoying the last of winters chilly nights as it made way for the warm spring. Even couples just walking around some of the local parks and admiring some of the public works of art.

Ash noticed the road getting a bit wider and more empty building as they got approached the western gate. Seeing as it was a bit past midnight, it looked like there was only two police officers stationed at the entrance.

Typhaon stopped right inside the gates, growling as he looked stared off into the distance. Horus landed right next to him, visibly on the edge too.

"Hey kid, what are you doing out here? A bit past your bedtime isn't it?" asked one of the officers as he stepped out his booth.

Ash noticed that the guy barely looked older than him, must be new to the force.

"I'm… I'm not really sure. My charmander woke me up and dragged me out here."

"Charmander?" The young man spotted Typhaon. "O wow I've never actually seen one. These guys are so rare, and you only ever see charizards being used in the conferences and leagues. Mind if I check him out?"

"I don't think that such a great idea, he's on the edge about something," Ash gave a nod towards the woods that surrounded the road. "I trust his instincts, and if he senses something dangerous is on its way, then something dangerous is on its way."

"Hmmm, what's your name kid?"

"Ash, what's yours?"

"It's Clint. Give me a second to go inform my partner, I'll be right back."

Ash nodded and watched as the two had an animated discussion. He could tell the older man was more disbelieving, and his heart dropped as he saw him go back to watching something on his monitor.

Clint came back outside and sighed

"Sorry Ash, but I'm going to have to ask you to move along. Boss man isn't about to call in to the precinct and start a commotion, all on the word of a kid and his first stage pokemon."

If looks could kill, Typhaon would have murdered the guy at least three times by now.

Ash signaled for the pokemon to calm down.

"Do you mind if we stay here for another five minutes? Just to calm his nerves?" he pleaded.

Clint lifted his hand and rubbed his eyes. Just my luck, first week of duty and already dealing with shenanigans.

"Fine, just make sure to stay out of the road. I don't want you guys getting hit by a car."

"Thanks" Ash replied.

He walked over to his starter and knelt, hoping to see what Typhaon saw.

But it was nighttime, and with the moon waning he could hardly see anything further than a couple feet into the woods.

Ash noticed as Typhaon tensed up and let out a guttural bark of command. He heard Horus squawk in agreement and looked back just in time to see the bird take flight.

Whatever it is, it's here.

Ash stepped back, knowing that Typhaon would defend him.

I need to warn them.

Just as Ash was about to yell at the two distracted officers, he noticed something come out of the woods.

The moon reflected off the pokemon, illuminating it just enough so Ash could make out its more prominent features. The first thing he noticed was how short it was. If he had to guess, it was barely as tall as Typhaon. Its dark skin looked rough and solid, with red scales on its belly that formed a diamond shape. It had short, stubby arms and legs, and sported what looked to be a horn. With glowing red eyes, this pokemon gave off an aura of being exceedingly dangerous. But perhaps the most distinguishing feature of all, was the collar around its neck that repeatedly shot out purple electricity through its body.

It spotted them and roared.

"What the hell was that?" cried Clint as he stepped out the booth. He was about to chastise Ash for letting his pokemon make so much noise, when he spotted the cause of the noise. His eyes widened to comical proportions.

"How in the hell did that get down here," he turned to face Ash, "they're supposed to be restricted to Mt Silver."

"I'm not sure, but it looks like it's in pain, maybe you should call your higher-ups, or Giovanni, and tell them to get down here?"

"That's'-that's a good idea." Muttered the man. "BOB! Call headquarters, tell them we got a situation down here!"

The older man, who had been watching from inside the both, shook his head rapidly and picked up a phone.

Clint pulled the pokeball off his belt clip, "Go Mangnemite!"

A flash of light revealed the magnet pokemon.

"Use Head- "

"WAIT!" interrupted Ash. "Let's see if we can talk to it first, he hasn't don't anything to hurt us yet. Maybe he needs help."

Ash looked at the larvitar and wondered how it had gotten here. They were hundreds of miles away from Mt. Silver. Had it been transported here? He shook his head, it didn't matter. It was here and they needed to stop it before it went on the rampage they were so renown for.

"Hey little guy," he spoke softly, in as soothing a tone as he could muster," how about I walk over there and help take that collar?

It responded by releasing an ear-splitting screech at them.

"Well you tried diplomacy." Commented Clint after uncovering his ears. "Now let's try things my way. Mangnemite, use headbutt!"

Ash watched as the ball of steel rushed forward to carry out his instructions. And was swiftly slammed back by a glowing hardened tail.

But larvitar wasn't done.

Its eyes started glowing as it used its natural geokinetic abilities to gather the dirt and rocks around it to form mid-sized boulders in front of him. He then flung them at the magnemite.

"DODGE IT!"

Clint watched as his pokemon, still stumbling from the explosive power of the iron tail, attempted to evade the rocks. His heart dropped as he watched magnemite swerve out of the paths of the first two, only to accidently fly into the paths of the rest. The impact flung the pokemon even further back then where that charmander was standing. Magnemite had been nearly taken out of the fight in less than 30 seconds.

Ash had seen enough. He had let the older man take the lead, thinking that he might have had something planned. But after watching the magnemite get thoroughly wrecked so quickly, he felt a tad bit disappointed in Viridians finest.

He had never thought he would fight a larvitar this early in his journey, with them being so rare and most people never venturing to the fabled mountain. That being the case, he only knew the basics when it came to the pokemon. That lack of information could result in failure to beat the pokemon if he wasn't careful.

He spared the magnemite a glance. It was only conscious due to its sturdy ability, but he would need to buy some time so Clint could heal it.

"Clint, use a potion on your pokemon, and tell your partner that I might need his help. I'm going to buy you some time."

Clint just stood there, eyes wide, mouth gaping like a freshly caught magikarp, unable to believe he had lost so easily

Ash snapped, "NOW CLINT!"

Clint shook his head, trying to shake himself free of the jitters.

"Sure, thanks Ask."

Ash nodded and then gave the larvitar, who had sat this point reached the inner side of the gate and gave it his full attention.

"Horus, use double team into wing attack, don't let him hit you with rock throw. Typhaon get ready to use dragon rush, I want you to go after him as soon as Horus knocks him off balance.

Ash watched, hopeful that his pokemon could beat the larvitar.

Horus came down fast, its glowing wings ready to strike his opponent. His movements were graceful as he dodged all the rocks the smaller pokemon was sending his way. He was kind of surprised the smaller pokemon didn't make any movements to get out of his way, Your funeral. In his arrogance, he failed to notice the dark energy gathering at the center of larvitar's opened mouth. Just as he was about to strike the pokemon, he was hit by a powerful beam of dark malicious energy

Ash's eye's widened, "Go Typhaon"

The fire pokemon dashed forward, the cerulean blue energy surrounding him a dramatic contrast to his orange scales. He hit the larvitar just as its eyes began to glow, disrupting whatever attack it had been attempting. The smaller pokemon was sent flying backwards. As the larvitar was attempting to stand up, Typhaon decided to end it and use the attack that had worked so well in his earlier matches.

He stopped the onslaught of fireballs after a couple of seconds and let the dirt that had been kicked up subside. He was positive that the pokemon had gone down just like the rest. But was surprised that the larvitar was nowhere to be seen. He knew it was still around here, his instincts that had originally alerted him to the other apex predator told him so. So, where was he?

His question was answered as the pokemon shot up from underneath and almost hit him. Jumping back just in time, he fired a full powered ember. But the attack seemed to have little effect on larvitar as he lunged forward through the fire and bit his neck.

"Get him off you! Horus try wing attack again, then gust"

Typhaon heard the bird caw in agreement. The larvitar then managed to overpower him and push him onto the ground while still maintaining the painful grip. He tried scratching the bastard, but his claws did nothing to its armor.

Horus moved fast. He strengthened his wings and tilted to the side, adjusting himself so he wouldn't hit his teammate.

Typhaon saw the bird hit the larvitar on its side, managing to get him off him. He grunted a thanks to the bird.

"Dragon Pulse! Don't let him get up"

Larvitar looked at the bird, annoyed more than hurt by the silly wind being sent his way. The fire pokemon on the other hand was in his way. The collar commanded him to attack the city, and no challengers would stand in his way. He saw it was preparing another attack, although it didn't look like fire. Either way he wasn't about to let it hit him. He punched the dirt in front of him and raised stones from the ground, stopping the attack.

"Typhaon get out of the way!"

Ash clenched his fists as he watched both his pokemon get put on the defensive. The larvitar was shooting out dark pulses at both of his pokemon, not letting either of them get close.

None of my attacks are working. I'm at a serious type advantage and its defenses are insane.

He watched the collar that was still wrapped around the pokemons neck as it sent out another shock. He needed to get that off if he wanted to end the fight.

"Growlithe, use agility to get in close, then double kick."

Ash turned to where he heard the commands come from and saw the older officer that had been in the booth walking up to him.

"I can help you out and distract that thing, but I don't have the firepower to knock it out. You need to use that dragon pulse to put it to sleep."

Ash nodded and turned back towards the fight.

"Typhaon, help out growlithe, use dragon rush and end it with dragon pulse!"

Both pokemon did as ordered. Zigzagging towards the enemy at breakneck speeds, they managed to avoid getting hit by the dark pulses or rocks larvitar was attacking them with. A stone shot up in front of larvitar, a last defense against the incoming pokemon. Growlithe jumped over the rock with its muscular legs. She tucked herself in as she flipped forward to gain a bit more momentum. As she came down, she infused her feet with energy, and drop kicked larvitar

Typhaon had enough force to bust through the rock that stood in his way, but all his momentum had been dispersed. As soon as the growlithe dropped back and he had a clear line of sight, he blasted the larvitar with the strongest dragon pulse he had ever produced. The force being so great it sent the pokemon flying.

Larvitar hit one of the trees with so much force, it cracked and fell backwards under the pressure, with the pokemon falling forward unconscious.

Ash took a step forward but felt a hand on his shoulder holding him back.

"Wait" ordered Bob, "it's not safe yet. We don't know how long it'll be knocked out for, or if he's the only one."

"Then we need to get that collar off him," argued Ash. "It's hurting him."

"I think my magnemite can override it" Said Clint.

"Then do it"

Clint nodded and sent the pokemon that had been resting in his arms forward.

The magnemite cautiously levitated towards the unconscious larvitar. It lined up its U-shaped magnetic pole up with the black receiver on the back of its neck. As soon as the magnemite touched it, some purple electricity shot from the collar.

"Must have been designed to prevent any kind of tampering," observed Bob. "It's a good thing Magnemites internal physiology can convert most electricity into sustenance, unless it's overloaded"

Ash had an uneasy feeling about all this. This whole thing felt off. Who sends a larvitar to try and attack a city? While their reputation proceeded it, they where no where near the walking destructive forces that Tyranitar where.

Tyranitar…

O shit.

Ash brought his hands up to his mouth to amplify his voice.

"EVERYONE GET BACK!"

"What's going on?" asked Bob. "Why are you calling them back?"

Ash didn't answer, instead choosing to scan the woodline.

Oh shit, we're fucked.

Coming out of the woods, was a monstrous titan.

Ash had been worried about larvitar, but this beast frightened him. There was a reason there were so few tyranitar in the world. Why all the wild tyranitar were contained to Mt. Silver. Why they were tracked by the rangers to make sure that if they wondered outside of the quarantine, they could be tracked and captured. After a couple of pokemon rangers had found the bodies of a several newbie trainers and their pokemon, the league had even started requiring that you have 5 years' experience minimum before you could go into the mountain.

The brute looked at them, eyes looking murderous (Ash had an odd sense of Deja-vu) and roared.

The thunderous sound sent chills down his spine. For the first time ever, Ash felt scared for his life.

How in the hell are we supposed to fight this thing?

"Please tell me you contacted Giovanni?"

"I left him a message," said Bob, looking just as scared as Ash felt.

"Any chance of back up from the rest of your department?"

Bob gulped, "No, they received a tip from Interpol that someone was going to attack the pokemon center. They directed all our manpower there."

"So, we're on our own," Ash felt his fists clench," great."

"Can we beat it if we attack all at once?" asked Clint.

"Not unless you have more pokemon" responded Ash.

Both Clint and Bob visibly deflated.

No one said another thing, waiting for the tyranitar to make a move.

Tyranitar looked at them with obvious contempt. Ash noticed this one had a collar too. Then it opened its mouth and started gathering orange particles of pure energy. And released it at them.

Ash felt his heart start racing faster than it already had been. He fell to the ground, barely avoiding the intense attack.

The beam shot past them and hit some of the empty buildings, causing a massive explosion.

And then it fired again. Destroying even more buildings.

"We have to do something," screamed Ash. "At this rate it'll destroy the whole city"

Clint was hysterical "This-this isn't my problem. This is my first week on the job. I'm not trained for this!"

"Clint, you need to calm down. Remember the oath you swore-"

"That oath didn't mention anything about getting killed by a damn pseudo-legendary Bob!"

As Ash listened to the two bicker, he couldn't help but think of his father. Ash didn't remember the man much, having been so young when he had died. But he felt like he could understand him now. Why his father has chosen to sacrifice himself to save others. As he looked upon the destruction, fires blazing, people running and screaming, he came upon to the realization the he could help stop this. If only to distract the pokemon enough until help came.

He grabbed a pokeball off his belt, stood up and threw it.

The tyranitar had been in the middle of charging another hyper beam, when it was sucked into the ball.

Both Clint and Bob stopped arguing, looking at Ash like he was out of his mind.

The pokeball didn't even shake once, before bursting apart and being destroyed.

The tyranitar looked at him in disbelief, unable to believe the gall the human had in even trying to catch him with that infernal device.

Even with everything going on, Ash couldn't help but smile at the expression on the tyranitars face.

"Dragon pulse, max strength! Horus just stay back, even if you attack, you won't be able to hurt it."

"I'm gonna need backup you guys" Ash told the two stunned cops.

"O-OK-sure, no problem. Magnemite use sonic boom."

"Growlithe use fire spin"

Up until this point, the other pokemon had just been there, paralyzed, knowing that they stood no chance against the frightening behemoth. But upon hearing their trainers, they jumped into action.

They all fired their attacks in conjunction, their aim true. But even with the pokemon not stopping their attacks, it wasn't enough. It just stood there tanking their attacks, like it didn't even feel it. And now they had its attention.

Typhaon felt himself getting madder. He had about enough of these pokemon acting like he was nothing but a bug. He was going in. He barked a command at the growlithe, telling her to use the same combo that had taken out the smaller one.

Ash watched as his pokemon raced forward, realizing that they were trying the same combo as earlier. Unfortunately, the tyranitar was more experienced and stronger than the larvitar. It used its massive tail to stop the two pokemon in their tracks and flung them backwards. The two hit the ground hard and were separated as they slid across the grass. Ash swore he heard something crack. He saw the tyranitar prepare another hyper beam, looking like it was aiming at his charmander.

Without thinking, he started sprinting.

"ASH WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" yelled Bob, eyes wide, watching the kid running into danger.

"I HAVE TO SAVE HIM!"

Ash jumped forward, grabbing Typhaon, and rolled out of the way. They narrowly avoided the attack that would've blown them to pieces.

Once he felt the intense heat of the attack fade, Ash lifted his head.

"You all right bud?"

"Char," Typhaon murmured weakly.

Ash smiled, looking down at the pokemon he his arms "Good, because I'm not ready to lose you"

He stood, adjusting the charmander so he could hold him easier.

"Alight bud, I need to get you out of here, you've done all you can, and now you need to rest."

"LOOK OUT"

He looked at the tyranitar and saw that it was charging another attack. Doesn't this thing get tired? He dashed like a madman, knowing that the beam was trailing them.

Ok, legs on fire? Check. Lungs feeling like they're about to explode? Check. There wasn't any place he could really run, and Horus wasn't strong enough to lift them up yet. At this point, staying alive was the number one priority

That's when he saw something flicker into existence. It looked like someone had teleported in with an alakazam. Finally. A blast erupted several feet away, the shockwaves causing him to be flung back. The moment of distraction had cost him. He landed several feet apart from Typhaon, having been unable to keep his grip.

The ground near him trembled, indicating the tyranitar was walking closer. Pushing through the agony, refusing to let the pain stop him, Ash Ketchum stood up and faced the beast. If I'm going to die, I want to face death head on.

The pokemon stopped right in front, almost surprised that Ash had stood up. But it seemed like it had taken that as a challenge and roared in his face. Ash screamed back defiantly, unwilling to back down from the nightmarish beast. It opened its jaw and began coalescing energy for the attack that would end his life.

He heard Horus shriek something in the background and felt the sudden rush of air as two giant objects raced past him. Eyes wide, he watched the struggle in front of him unfold.

Two enormous pokemon, nearly matching tyranitar in size, battled the beast back. Together, they were able to put the tyranitar on the defensive and keep it from firing off any more hyper beams. The huge purple pokemon swung its gigantic tail, and the one that looked like it was covered in red plates of armor swung its massive glowing arm. The two hits collided against the monster, and for the first time that night, Ash heard the tyranitar cry out in pain.

"Are you all right young man?" asked a deep, dispassionate voice.

Ash stared in disbelief at the man who had walked up next to him. Giovanni Sakaki, the most feared and respected gym leader in all of Kanto for the last ten years. It was highly speculated that he could even defeat Sabrina, the most powerful psychic in the world, with his fearsome pokemon. He was rarely seen in the Viridian city gym, preferring to focus on his many business endeavors. Most trainers even avoided earning the earth badge, preferring to fight at one of minor gyms, rather than face his wrath. Dressed in a tailored three-piece suit and an unbuttoned black overcoat, the man looked like he belonged in a board meeting more than a battlefield.

"I don't like repeating myself, so I'll ask you one more time. Are you all right?"

"Ye-yea" Ash stuttered, still in awe of the man.

"Close your mouth, its rude to gawk and it's unbefitting for a trainer your age."

"Sorry… sir"

Ash turned his attention back to the battle raging in front of him. Now that the esteemed leader was here, his nerves calmed down enough to assess what was happening in front of him. He recognized the massive creatures as Rhyperior and Nidoking, two of Giovannis' more prominent pokemon. Watching them during the annual exhibition matches that the league hosted had often been some of the highlights of his year. And now here they were, combating the titan that had nearly killed him.

Ash recalled Typhaon, wanting to put him in suspended animation as quickly as possible in order to keep his injuries from getting any worse. Whistling to Horus, the bird who had been helplessly flying above them, he descended and landed next to its trainer. With both his pokemon out of harms way, Ash felt a sense of relieve on having both his pokemon close to him.

Now feeling more like a spectator than a combatant, Ash began watching and analyzing the fighting happening in front of them. He noted how Giovanni gave no orders, instead trusting two of his oldest pokemon to handle the situation accordingly. The two seemed to have plenty of experience fighting alongside each other, since they were coordinated in their attacks and there was never a moment in which they were in each other's way. Each movement was calculated. No energy wasted from the two. Each punch, kick, and tail swing was powerful and precise in how much energy was expended. Being closer than he was to the action than he was comfortable with, he could feel every impact reverberate in his bones. It almost felt like it was too much for him to keep up with. This battle was one Ash had only ever dreamed of witnessing. Still, as a testament to its strength, the two ground pokemon struggled to gain the upper hand against the seemingly unrelenting juggernaut.

"What a nuisance" Ash heard Giovanni say to himself. While he knew he could learn a lot from the fight, he also wanted to try and grasp an understanding of the man next to him. Surprised at the older man's actions, Ash watched Giovanni reach for a pokeball inside his coat and released the pokemon.

"Sleep powder on all three," he commanded the exeggutor. "They tired that beast out enough."

It felt surreal, watching these enormous pokemon succumb to the effects of one of the most useful attacks accessible to grass types.

"That wouldn't have worked if my exeggutor had been any weaker or if its powder had been any less potent." He heard the gym leader say. He recalled his sleeping pokemon, while leaving the grass type out. Giovanni walked over to the downed tyranitar and started examining it, with Ash following him.

"How curious" he muttered as he examined the collar that was still releasing shocks across the sleeping pokemons body. Ash waved the magnemite over, along with the other two officers who had been completely useless throughout most of the fight.

With the collar taken off and the tyranitar giving so signs of waking up. Ash began to grow a bit uncomfortable with the silence.

"So, what's going to happen to it now? Questioned Ash.

"Oh, well we're going to-"

"I was asking our resident gym leader," interrupted Ash.

Giovanni raised his eyebrow, his interest peaked in the young man who seemed to be indifferent to the police officer.

"My initial reaction was to capture him and use him as my own. But he's too old, too wild, and I don't have the patience or time to break him in."

"Well, what about the larvitar sir," said Clint, pointing to the downed pokemon that hadn't moved since they had knocked it out earlier.

"Ah yes, I was surprised at seeing the fully grown tyranitar, considering the message I received said that the pre-evolution was on the loose. I never seem to have the time to travel to Mt. Silver to capture one, and seeing as how this one is younger and still able to be tamed, I shall be taking this one as my own."

NO! Ash's heart dropped. Even though he knew it was irrational, he wanted the larvitar. He had been the one to alert them that it was coming. He had been the one to who had taken control of the situation and knocked out the rock pokemon. Watching Giovanni start walking over to smaller pokemon, Ash knew he had to do something, fast.

"What the"- Giovanni's eyes widened in surprise as he watched the pokemon get sucked into the pokeball, and be successfully captured.

"Are you sure that's wise young man?" Giovanni looked at the youngster, scrutinizing him.

Ash walked over, pain shooting throughout his entire body, picked up the pokeball, and put it on its belt clip. He needed to remember to buy some more pokeballs. Turning to face the older man, he felt the need to stand his ground.

"My Typhaon was the one who made sure we were ready for these guys. Typhaon was the one who delivered the knock-out blow. While I appreciate you saving my life, I'm taking the larvitar"

Giovanni smirked, he liked the spunk the kid was showing. "Typhaon is your charmander, correct? Did you get him from a breeder?

"No," answered Ash, "I got him from Professor Oak."

"Ash Ketchum I presume? Don't look so surprised. It's been years since Samuel sponsored three kids. Once word got out, my interest was piqued. Gary resembles his grandfather when he was younger, and you're not a female, so that excludes young Midori, so by deduction, that leaves you. Although, I do find it curious as to why you choose the most difficult to raise of the three, especially since rumor has is that Samuel managed to procure a riolu."

"He's the only one I ever had any interest in training," responded ash defensibly

"Is that staravia yours as well? And now you've captured a larvitar" Giovanni commented.

"Your point being sir?" Ash wasn't sure what conclusions the older man was reaching, but he didn't think it would be a good idea for a gym leader to think negatively of him.

"Just observing on how you've managed to procure two of the most hostile and dangerous pokemon species in the world. One could go so far to say that you deliberately went out of your way to capture them. Quite frankly, it's fascinating.

OK, now Ash was starting to get confused, "Why is that sir? I'm sure, given the chance, that most trainers would do the same thing. And just because they're more troublesome than normal doesn't mean they can't be trained"

Giovanni looked to the burning building in the distance, watching as the first responders and their water type pokemon fought to control and contain the fires caused by the beast.

"The way I see things, the way I see life, I see it as a struggle. And there's a great deal of reward I have gained coming to that understanding - that existence is a struggle. Most trainers never travel out of their comfort zone. But you" he addressed Ash, "You have chosen to seek out these difficulties, embracing a life of challengers and obstacles."

Ash couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed under the praise the gym leader seemed to be giving him. He felt the heat seep into his cheeks. He had never seen it from that perspective, he had always just thought he had an odd taste in deadly pokemon

"Stop by my gym in 2 days, once your pokemon are fully healed, 9 A.M sharp. I am a busy man after all." With that dismissal, the gym leader teleported away with the alakazam that had been on standby.

Well that was certainly, interesting. I wonder what he wants to see me for? With the effects of everything happening and the weight of two injured pokemon on his belt finally catching up to him, he decided to get back to the pokemon center. Leaving behind two extremely baffled Viridian City officers


"Boss, please, let us explain," implored a gruff voice on the other side of the call. "Someone let slip the details about the operation to the VPD. Officer Jenny and her men were there waiting to ambush us. We lucked out on our guy on the inside giving us the heads up in time before we made our move. If we had continued, we would had lost too many men and resources just in the fighting, so I made the decision to call off the mission."

"I don't like this setback Petrel. Capturing those beasts and bringing them here to serve as a distraction was risky enough. Attacking the pokemon center was solely for the opportunity to obtain some of the pre-evolved pokemon from the trainers who had stayed within the confines of the city. And now you're telling me we wasted those assets? And why did no one tell me that a larvitar was also ensnared?"

"Sorry Boss," replied the purple haired man. "I got too excited and developed tunnel vision in regards to the mission. I promise it won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't. I want no mistakes in regards to our operations in Mt. Moon. Brock has grown suspicious to our activities there and has begun investigating, so you need to practice extreme caution" with that, the man ended the call. Walking over to the bar, he poured himself a drink of his favorite scotch and thought over the events of the night. His thoughts lingering on the rookie trainer that nearly died to protect his pokemon.


"Alright you two, ready to meet the new guy?" Ash asked the pokemon standing with him at the edge of Viridian City. After going back to the pokemon center and handing his injured pokemon over to the night staff, Ash had finally gotten them back late in the day. While he could have waited to welcome the new guy, especially since he didn't have a good method for actually dealing with said pokemon, he wanted to get started on making the larvitar comfortable around him, especially since he planned to make him a key part of the team.

"Wait for my signal, I don't want you guys getting trigger happy, especially you Typhaon." Ash wished Typhaon had even looked the tiniest bit ashamed, considering he had already scared off several pokemon who had been curious at their presence. Nodding to Typhaon on his right and Horus to his left, Ash released the pokemon.

The first thing Ash noticed was the color, under the cover of night ash hadn't noticed the pale-green plating that made up most of its body. Or the tail that seemed to have a cone-like pattern, almost as if it was meant for drilling. It looked around, seemingly distraught with the unfamiliar surroundings. When it spotted them, he growled.

"You can relax, I'm not going to hurt you. Here, you must be hungry, want a berry?" Ash had initially been unsure on how to handle the larvitar. But after spending some of his downtime reading up on the creature, he had learned they had a general disposition to love berries, or anything sweet really. Being an evolutionary line that was confined to Mt. Silver and the mountain range it encompassed, berries were difficult to come by. And since their diets were so mineral heavy, the craving for the nutrients found in the sweet berries were intensified much more in these pokemon than normal. Evidence being that as soon as larvitar smelled the berry in his outstretched hand, he gobbled it up. Ash laughed when the pokemon looked sad at having finished the fruit so fast.

"Here you can have another one, but not too many," he said as he reached for another Mago berry. "Eating more than a couple at a time will upset your digestive system." Larvitar held the berry in between his arms, taking smaller bites in order to savor it more. It looked to Ash like it was smiling. Might as well get a reading on the guy.

Larvitar- The Rock Skin Pokemon - Larvitar is born deep under the ground. To come up to the surface, this Pokémon, must eat its way through the soil above. Until it does, larvitar cannot see its parents. This Larvitar stands at 2 ft tall, weighing 160 lbs. Its ability is guts, hidden ability is sand veil, which allows it to move freely during a sandstorm. The moves this larvitar knows are screech, tackle, rock throw, bite, dig, dark pulse, sandstorm, stone edge, and iron tail.

"Hmm not bad at all. You have a bit of variety, and remembering last night, you seemed to like mixing up your attacks. We're just going to have to figure out your style and adapt accordingly," he told the pokemon. Larvitar just gave him a blank look. Internally, Ash groaned. Are all the pokemon I catch going to give me a hard time?

"Look, I'm not really sure how you ended up so far away from your home, or why you had that collar on your neck last night. I've tried asking around, but nobody seems to be able to give me an answer. Now I have the option of turning you over to the rangers and they can take you back home, but I would prefer if you came with me." Larvitar at least seemed like he was paying attention to Ash. "I'm not going to lie, you were fucking tough," chuckled Ash. "So tough in fact that I was afraid for a bit that we weren't going to able to bring you down. But we did, and we brought the big guy down too." At this, larvitars eyes widened. "But you both lacked control. Your tactics and moves were too sloppy. And you didn't use your strength to its fullest potential. I know you guys spend your lives fighting, always looking for the next challenge. I want to offer you the chance to fight among the best. To be an unforgiving storm against the titans that walk our world. And I promise that as long as you always give me 100%, I will never turn my back on you. We'll face every challenge, together."

Larvitar looked unconvinced, but then Typhaon walked over to him and headbutted him. What the hell? What began next was probably the oddest conversation he had ever been a part of. It began as a series of grunts and growls, and devolved into a tame fight for dominance. Neither of them used any attacks, they just punched and kicked each other until they one of them jumped on top of the other and started rolling around on the ground. It seemed to finally be decided when Typhaon pinned down larvitar on its stomach and refused to let him up until he conceded. Ash couldn't help but smile as he watched Typhaon help larvitar get up, looking about as smug as a pokemon could look. Larvitar looked over to Ash and nodded.

"Great" Ash beamed. "Now it's time for a nickname, and I have the perfect one picked out for you" Larivtar just seemed to accept the inevitable, still looking at Typhaon like he wanted to go another round. "I'm going to name you Ares." Typhaon and Horus had no reaction to the out of place name, used to the trainer's odd fascination with myths and folktales. Meanwhile the name caused larvitar to finally look him in the eye.

"He was known as the god of war in ancient times. Back when people still prayed to the gods for strength against their enemies, Ares would be the one they turned to. The problem with Ares was that he loved the battle, the ability for soldiers to test their mettle, he even loved the brutality of war. If ever there was an embodiment for the chaos and savagery of war, it was him. In our world, according to the old ways, names have power. By naming you this, I want you to embody the entity of raw power and destruction that you will bring onto our adversaries."

While Ash knew he might have gone a little over the top with selling the name to his larvitar, it had worked. Larvitar had ben captivated by his little spiel, and by the end of it, seemed to love the name just as much as Ash did.

"So, it's settled then, Ares it is." Ash rubbed his new pokémon's head, trying to get used to the texture of the rocky skin that almost resembled armor. "We'll get started on training you tomorrow, after our meeting with Giovanni. But it's getting late, and I'm hungry, so let's go get some burgers."

8:45 AM, well I'm only a bit early. It's a good thing we went to sleep early last night, especially with all of us still being tired from the night before.

Ash stood outside and inspected the inconspicuous structure. With all the notoriety the gym received, he had kind of expected something larger and grander than what was in front of him. If anything, it seemed to resemble a large warehouse more than any kind of facility sanctioned by the league. The only thing that gave it away was the simple sign in front of the building that stated that this was the Viridian City gym.

Taking in a deep breath and bracing himself for whatever was about to come, he walked in. It wasn't that he wasn't excited about being able to have a one on one meeting with Giovanni, in fact he was ecstatic about that part. It was more of the fact on why Giovanni had demanded he meet him. He felt like he hadn't made the best impression by just taking Ares when Giovanni had clearly wanted him. Looking around, the inside seemed to resemble the outside insofar as there were very little personal touches. It felt more like he had walked into a place of business rather than a place where pokemon battled.

Walking up to the receptionist who was typing something on the computer, he opened his mouth to greet the guy before he cut him off.

"Please proceed through the main hallway to the arena, Giovanni is waiting for you and he does not like to be kept waiting"

"Err- thanks I guess." Ash followed the hallway down about twenty feet until it opened up, revealing a pretty generic looking battlefield that could be found around most of Kanto. "Don't know why I keep expecting something impressive" he mumbled to himself. Typhaon on the other hand just seemed to take it all in, seeing as this was the first time he had stepped into an official Indigo League Gym. He spotted Giovanni standing near him, looking out onto the battlefield.

"I was debating on whether you would show up at all," Giovanni addressed him.

"Well sir, I'm not usually one to back down from anything. But I gotta ask, is there a particular reason why you wanted to meet me?" Ash's curiosity was starting to get the better of him.

"I'm curious as to how exactly it was that you knew when and where those pokemon were going to show up?" Giovanni asked, still not bothering to look at him. "Especially since there have been no reports about a tyranitar and larvitar rampaging through the countryside. Even Officer Jenny had trouble finding any kind of evidence indicating that they were going to attack the city, and this was after the fact."

"I didn't have anything to do with it, if that's what you're insinuating." Ash defended himself. "Typhaon sensed them coming while I was sleeping, and dragged me out to confront them. But I don't think even he knew that the tyranitar would be there."

"Sensed them you say?" Giovanni asked while taking a closer look at his charmander. "How unusual. Especially since no one else seemed to sense the abnormality."

At this, Ash felt a bit surprised. "No one sir? Not even you? What about some of the other high-ranked trainers that live in the city?"

"I was in Saffron when I received the distress signal from the VPD, requesting my presence back here in Viridian," He remarked ."As to these other 'high ranked' trainers' I'm not entirely sure as to why their pokemon weren't as distressed as yours seemed to be. But perhaps your charmanders fight-or-flight instincts are more sensitive than others. Or perhaps it felt a need to defend its territory against another predator," Giovanni stated as he continued to observe his charmander. "Well, the how matters less now that the danger has passed, in no small part thanks to you.

"ME?" Exclaimed Ash. "All I did was take out Ares. I didn't even manage to hurt the big guy. If you hadn't stepped in when you did, I would be 6 ft under alongside Typhaon." He countered.

Giovanni let a flicker of surprise cross his at the mention of the name Ash had chosen for his larvitar, but had remained silent during the rest of his rebuttal. "While I don't disagree with you, I would be doing you a disservice by not pointing out that your contributions did in fact help save lives last night."

"But how?" asked Ash, still in disbelief at the commendation the older man was giving him.

"You acted and took charge when those imbeciles- "Ash's eyes widened at the casual insult- "froze and were negligent in their duty. While no one would expect them to be able to defeat a fully grown tyranitar, they were derelict in their duty and did next to nothing to help you defend my city. Which is why I recommended that you be rewarded for your efforts."

Giovanni walked over to a portion of the wall that held a single pokeball. He picked it up and stared at the ball for a couple seconds, almost as if he was second guessing himself.

"Officer Jenny was planning on giving you a monetary reward, but I informed her that I would take care of your compensation." He turned back around and started walking back towards Ash. "I planned for years and gave quite a large contribution to the Opelucid Academy in order to obtain this pokemon. I had meant for him to be a gift for my son." Giovanni has a son? "But he refused my gift, instead he chose to use the pokemon his mother captured for him."

"Well thank you sir, but I-I still don't understand, why give me the pokemon?" Asked Ash, he understood the reward part, but he wanted to know why he was being given a pokemon that seemed awfully personal.

Giovanni seemed pensive, as if he was deciding to give him an honest answer or not. "Truthfully, you surprised me. Most novices would have run scared at the sight of a tyranitar. Most professional trainers go years without ever going up to Mt. Silver, preferring never to put themselves in that precarious position. But you, you stood your ground, and now you own a dragon for your efforts."

Ash didn't really know how to respond. He took the pokeball that Giovanni was holding out for him. While he had received praise in his life, mainly through his mother and Professor Oak, there were few people alive that could say Giovanni offered them some kind words.

Wait did he just say dragon?

"Any other reasons are my own. Now here take the pokemon and go, I have another meeting in half an hour that requires my attention.