Ash, Misty, and Brock all headed back to their cabin where they met with Professor Oak and Delia.
"Hi, honey!" Delia said before enveloping her son in a hug, "I'm so proud of you for making it past the preliminaries!"
"Thanks, mom," Ash replied, even though his mom's hug was crushing him. After she released him, he asked, "What are you doing here?"
"We came to see you compete in person," Oak explained, "I am impressed by your battle style. I would have never imagined using Muk's physiology like that or Bulbasaur's vines to gain extra height. Even going as far with Vaporeon's natural ability to cloak himself in the water."
Ash just grew a smile, "Yeah. Two months on an island with just my Pokémon, I learned many things about what they could do. And that's just nearly half of my teammates. Wait till you see the rest."
The gathered heroes nodded along before Delia recommended to go out and eat.
"There is a restaurant nearby. I heard it's free due to the Indigo League," Brock informed. Everyone agreed on that and went to the establishment.
When they got to the restaurant, everyone sat down at the table... except for Delia. Ms. Ketchum said that Ash deserved a meal fitting of a winner. She entered the kitchen and began to cook, much to Ash's embarrassment and the chefs' confusion.
"Umm... our customers don't usually come here to cook..." a chef pointed out.
"Well, maybe they should try," Delia replied before calling out to her son, "Ash! Your dinner is almost ready!"
"Can't wait," Ash managed to say with a sweat-drop and embarrassed expression on his face.
Later a large display of food was placed onto the table that surprised Misty and Brock.
"Woah..." Both said, astonished by Delia's talent. They each took a bite and soon had starry eyes.
"This food..."
"Is so delicious!"
Ash just chuckled at his friends' reactions before eating his portion of the food.
"Now, Ash," Oak said, getting the attention of the trainer, "The next few matches are still 3-on-3. About two more if I recall. Then you will move onto 6-on-6's all the way to the finals if you make it."
"Don't worry professor," Ash said with a grin, "I plan to make it all the way."
"Do you know which Pokémon you plan to use during your next match?" Misty asked as she consumed a bowl of rice.
Ash thought about it before answering, "Not yet. I don't even know who I'm facing yet. The next day is an off-day for all trainers. Once I know my opponent, I'll make my decision then."
"Smart thinking," Brock commented while eating a sandwich.
After eating, Professor Oak and Delia head to their separate rooms, promising to see them tomorrow. The three heroes had into an elevator before someone shouts to them.
"Hold the door!"
They turned around to see a boy around Ash's age running with a Pikachu on his shoulder. The boy himself had auburn hair and wore a dark teal green vest, yellow and blue pants, a purple cap with a yellow band and red buttons. The Pikachu himself had a tuff of outgoing hair. Ash obliged and held the door open for the trainer.
"*Whew* Thanks for that," the boy said, exhausted from running.
"No problem," Ash responded. The auburn-haired trainer's Pikachu re-positioned himself on the shoulder before seeing Ash's.
"Pika!"
"Pi! Pika!"
"I see you have a Pikachu too," the Pallet Town native noticed.
"Yep!" the auburn-haired boy replied, "He's my starter. This is Sparky and I'm Ritchie!"
"I'm Ash and this is my partner Pikachu."
"I'm Misty and this is Togepi."
"Priii~"
"And I'm Brock."
The elevator came to a sudden halt, the lights flickering off, indicating that they have stopped.
"What happened?" Misty said, cradling her baby who was still oblivious to everything.
"The power must have went out!" Brock exclaimed, "Someone try the emergency button!"
Ash did just that but was he didn't get any response. "No luck. It's probably a power outage."
"What now?" Waterflower asked before Ritchie began to work on a panel.
"Hey what are you doing?" Ketchum questioned.
Ritchie explained, "I'm trying to get the power working again." The auburn-haired trainer pulled two wires out before calling Sparky to use Thunder Shock. The nicknamed Mouse Pokémon obliges, creating a small charge of electricity and zaps the two wires. The Electric-type move allows the lights to flicker on again and the elevator began to descend again.
"Hey, it worked!" the orange-haired girl exclaimed.
"Smart thinking, Ritchie," the squinty-eyed teen applauded.
"Yeah, I would have never thought of using an Electric-type move to jump." Ash commented. The elevator continued to descend before arriving at the 1st floor.
"Attention please. May I have your attention please."
"This is an official announcement to all trainers in the Pokémon League."
The two announcements caught the attention of the four as a van drove up.
"All trainers must bring their Pokéballs to the Pokémon Pavilion for an official inspection immediately," a female League advisor said on a megaphone.
"An inspection?" Misty said in a confused tone.
"A little late for that, don't you think?" Brock asked.
"It's important that you bring all Pokéballs to the Pavilion as quickly as possible."
"And make it snappy!"
Ash grew suspicious of the inspection. "Something is up," he said to himself as he moved through the crowd. He knew something was up. The Pokémon League would never have Pokéball inspections.
"Oh, hey Ash," Ritchie said, walking over.
"Should have known," Ash said, "You're in the Pokémon League too, right?"
"Yep, and I already knew you were in it," Ritchie revealed, "I saw your first four matches. You seem pretty strong."
Ash chuckled at the compliment before he voiced his opinion about the examination, "You think this is odd, Ritchie?"
"Yeah, there wasn't any kind of saying of an inspection in the handbook," Ritchie nodded.
"NAy trainers who fail to turn in all their Pokémon will be disqualified from the League," the official states, which confused even more of the participants or at least the ones still in.
The officials went around as all remaining trainers who were competing put their Pokéballs in burlap sacks. Soon they worked towards Ash and Ritchie.
"You too tw-I mean young man," the man said, putting the bag in front of them.
Ritchie gave his Pokéballs up but Ash didn't.
"Sir, I am going to have to ask you to give me your Pokéballs," the man insisted.
There was something familiar about the tone that Ash placed instantly. "Not going to happen."
"Well then, I guess you are out of the League," the man informed.
"Yeah, right," Ash said, standing his ground. "Pikachu, use Iron Tail on the hat."
Ash's mouse nodded and his tail turned to steel before swiping it at the hat. The hat was blown off to reveal lavender hair.
"I knew it." Ash growled, "James!"
"Aaah!" The newly revealed Team Rocket grunt gasped as his cover was blown.
"You know this official?" Ritchie questioned.
"He's not an official, he's a member of Team Rocket!" Ash pointed out and all the trainers heard this.
"Team Rocket?!"
"They're not officials, they're thieves!"
"Give us back our Pokémon!"
James and the other official, who was obviously revealed to be Jessie, were surrounded by angry trainers. "We've been busted! The Meowth's out of the bag!"
"That cat's not out of the bag, James… he's our getaway driver!" Jessie said, pulling out a communicator. "Meowth, now!"
The van's window lowered to reveal the talking feline in the van. "Seeing you suckers never!"
"Weezing, Smokescreen!" James threw out his Pokémon and the purple conjoined heads expelled smoke to cover his trainer's tracks.
The trainers coughed, being careful not to inhale the smoke, before Ash noticed and pursued, "They're getting away! Hold it!"
"Ash!" Misty and Brock yelled in concern.
"Ash, wait up!" Ritchie said and tried to catch up with him.
"Ritchie?" Ash asked.
"I'm coming with you! I'm getting my Pokémon back one way or another!" Ritchie declared.
"Alright, but we gotta move!" Ash said, allowing Ritchie to join him, "If we hurry we can cut them off!"
Both boys ran to see a cliffside in front of them. Ash cursed to himself, "We'll never catch them at this rate."
"We will if we climb," Ritchie said and started to climb down, albeit slowly due to being careful.
Ash saw this, which in the hindsight meant he wouldn't be able to see what he was going to do next. "Mew, quickly Transform into a Pidgeot," he whispered to a Pokéball. The Ancestral Pokémon appeared and nodded, morphing her body into a Pidgeot.
Ash hopped on before descending, "Ritchie! Hop on!"
Ritchie was surprised that Ash had a Pidgeot but still jumped onto the 'Bird Pokémon' all the same before the two boys flew off.
It wasn't long before Ash spotted the van. "There it is! Pidgeot, take us down girl."
Mew nodded before decreasing altitude and allowed her trainer and his friend off. Ash quickly returned her before bunkering down on the top of the van.
Two thuds caught the attention of the occupants. "What was that?" Jessie asked.
"I don't know, let me take a look," James said and looked out the window to see Ash and Ritchie aboard. "It's the twerp!"
"What?!" Jessie roared before pointing at Meowth, "Step on the gas!"
The Scratch Cat Pokémon increased speed before seeing a turn up ahead. "I can't go any faster! We'll fall off!"
"No excuses!" Jessie demanded.
James and Meowth sighed before the latter tried to turn, only for the van to swerve too hard and break the railing. Jessie realized her mistake and they were about to pay the price.
Ritchie closed his eyes as Team Rocket screamed in fear and huddled together. Ash while feeling weightless, pulled out another Pokéball.
'Hopefully, Ritchie doesn't see this,' he thought before saying, "Hold the van with Psychic!"
A bright flash occurred and the van was caught in a blue outline. Trainers and the TRio opened their eyes to see that they were saved.
"Teleport us back to Indigo Plateau," Ash said and they all were warped back to the stadium.
Later, all the Pokéballs were returned to their rightful owners and Team Rocket were taken into custody by Officer Jenny.
"Whew," Ritchie let out, "Glad that was over. I thought we were goners."
Ash gave a sheepishly laugh, "Yeah…"
"But your Psychic-type really saved us," Ritchie admitted, "Really strong too. Hope you don't use that one me if we battle."
Ash just shook his head, "Trust me. I won't. He will probably be used in the later matches." Mewtwo was something he wanted to reveal in the preliminary rounds, maybe just the last three or the final match. Same with Mew.
Ritchie had a breath of relief before leaving, "See you around, Ash!"
Ketchum waved back, glad that he was able to make a new friend in the Indigo League.
A few hours later, Ash and his friends were at the registration counter. He had told his traveling companions about the little 'incident' and they were glad he was okay.
"Next up is trainer Ash Ketchum," the receptionist said as the boy appeared.
"Right here," she gestured to the rod and Ash pulled out a Magikarp with a letter and number on it.
"A-3! Your opponent will be…" the receptionist pulled up an image of his opponent in the next round: Ritchie.
Ash was surprised as was Ritchie and the two eyed each other.
"Looks like we are battling sooner than we thought," Ash joked.
"Yeah…" Ritchie deflated but shook it off, "But I'm not going down easily!"
Ash nodded and clenched his fist, "That's what I like to hear. Give it your all out there!"
Both trainers nodded, shook hands, and promised to give their best when they battled.
A/N: Sorry for a long delay on this chapter. Unfortunately, no battle this time. In next chapter though, I promise.
Recently got in the mood again for this story. Been juggling my new job and I currently have a summer class. So expect, some new chapters the next few months.
No flames, please.