"Hey Flannery, didn't we pass by here earlier?" Ash asked, as he saw familiar looking buildings.

"Yeah, about this." Flannery paused. "I want to run this by you before we go in Ash."

"Run what by me?" Ash asked.

"I want to train more, and not just at the gym." Flannery said.

"So what, is this the home of a battling expert?" Ash asked.

"Sort of, but I'm not here to train. I'm here to ask permission to go and train." Flannery explained.

"Permission to go and… that would be amazing, you could catch so many other Pokemon along the way!" Ash said.

"Yeah, but I would like to go with you and your friends, if I'm able to that is." Flannery said.

"I don't think Wally would have a problem. Brendan might be a bit weirded out by it though." Ash said.

"What about you Ash?" Flannery asked.

"You already have my vote Flame." Ash said.

"Flame?" Flannery questioned.

"You said it, not me. Ash and Flame." Ash joked.

"We can work on a better nickname." Flannery said. "That is if my grandfather agrees to this.

Ash followed Flannery inside to see the house was fairly cozy, lining the main entrance was a large amount of trophies and awards that Ash had to guess were from Flannery's grandfather based on their age.

"Grandfather, are you home?" Flannery asked.

A few moments later an older man walked into the main area of the house.

"Flannery, what a surprise, and who's your friend?" Her Grandfather asked.

"This is Ash." Flannery said, as Ash waved hello. "And I wanted to talk to you about the gym leader position."

"You do, huh?" Flannery's grandfather said. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I, I don't think I'm ready to be the gym leader yet." Flannery admitted.

"Flannery, if you lost your first match, that's nothing to be ashamed of." Flannery's grandfather said.

"It's not that, it's just my strongest Pokemon was Dad's Torkoal, and Numel and Slugma are nowhere near that level." Flannery said disheartenedly.

"You'll get there, I know you took the position early, but…". Flannery's Grandfather was cut off by Ash.

"She wants to be a better trainer so she can be a better gym leader but she can't do that staying here!" Ash argued.

"And what would you know about gym battles? I've seen you on the television, you're one of those floofy coordinators." Flannery's grandfather said angrily.

"I know more than I care to admit." Ash said angrily. "I also know what it takes to train a strong fire type, and you can't have them just battling one level of opponents, you need to find stronger Pokemon if you want their fire attacks to get any better."

"Then we can resume your training if that's all you want Flannery." Flannery's grandfather said.

"You don't get it Grandpa!" Flannery argued. "Being the gym leader, that's your dream! I love fire types, but I don't know if I want to be the gym leader just yet!"

"I thought you did all of this for me." Flannery's grandfather said, in shock.

"I did, but I'm not ready to be a gym leader. I want to make my team my own, and if one day I decide to take over the gym, I want it to be my own as well, not just reusing the gym that you and dad used." Flannery said.

"Flannery, your father…". Flannery's grandfather said.

"Stop it. I don't know what he would say, he's been gone since I was three." Flannery said in tears.

"Your father, he had the same fiery spirit at your age." Flannery's grandfather said with a smile. "He'd be proud to know this is what you want to do." He continued. "He may be gone, but he still watches over both of us."

"Grandfather, I didn't mean." Flannery said, realizing what she had done.

"No, no. I rushed you, you were right." Flannery's grandfather said. "I can manage the gym for a few more years if that's what you'd like." He said going over to a small shrine. "But here, your father said to give this to you when you found your spark. It was your mothers."

Flannery was handed a pendant with a black rock in the middle.

"Your father gave this to your mother when he found out she was pregnant with you, it's a coal from the heart of Mt. Chimney." Flannery's grandfather said. "He said it symbolized that just as the volcano will always be there, they'd always be together."

"Thank you grandfather." Flannery said, hugging him.

"Now run along, and Ash, can you stick behind for just a moment." Flannery's grandfather said.

"Go, the guys are probably at the Pokemon Center, and I can handle whatever he has to say." Ash assured.

"Ashton Richard Ketchum, your from Pallet Town correct?" Flannery's grandfather said.

"How did you?" Ash said in shock.

"I was going to offer the position to you after the silver conference." Flannery's grandfather said. "But then you disappeared, and suddenly you show up in my house."

"If your threatening me." Ash said his tone changing drastically.

"No, no. I'm just saying, if you ever wish to talk about what happened." Flannery's grandfather said.

"Nothing happened." Ash said coldly. "It was nice meeting you."

"Take care of Flannery." Flannery's grandfather added before Ash left. "She's all I have left."

Authors Note

That's it for this chapter, not much exciting happened, but I wanted to have Flannery join the team for a while. In this timeline she is fourteen like Ash in comparison to the 18ish she is in the games and anime where she's had a bit more experience.

Flannery's Current Team and their moves

Slugma: Ember - Sunny Day - Smog

Numel: Ember - Magnitude - Tackle

Torkoal: Overheat - Flamethrower - Iron Defense - Body Slam