So, someone tried to steal our food again.

This time it was a pair of Darumaka. However, these guys had a good excuse. In an old building near the town we were staying in, there was a an exhausted Darmanitan, who's using its psychic powers to keep the clock tower's gigantic bell from falling and destroying the entire building. So, of course, Ash being the Ace Ranger he was helped them. He also got the town to aid in the rebuilding of the building, so those three pokemon could have a place to live in.

We then continued our way to Nacrene City, until we got to Luxuria Town and discovered that they had a Battle Club there as well. Max was very interested on stopping there for a warm-up battle. I might not be the empath Ash was, but I can sense auras well, and as soon as we got into the Battle Club there was this annoying confusion and stress following us from a distance. I secretly looked around and found the same guy we shorly met in Professor Juniper's Lab looking at Ash from a distance.

Please don't tell me this is another Paul situation, I moaned in my head. I love the kid, but the last thing I need is another emotionaly constipated trainer that Arceus put in our path so that Ash can teach him how to have human emotions. Because there's no way we ended up meeting Paul so many times in a huge region like Sinnoh without cosmic intervention! What was his name again? Trish? Trey?

"Hey, isn't that Trip?" Ash wondered out loud.

That's right! His name is Trip! I exclaimed in my head, but kept a cool expression outside- though, from how Lucario was trying to keep himself from laughing I was sure he knew what was going on in my head.

"Is he a friend of yours?" Iris asked curiously.

"That's the guy from Professor Juniper's Lab!" Max exclaimed, before turning to Iris. "No, but we did meet him once we got to Unova. He was in Professor Juniper's Lab to get his starter, it was a Snivy like the one I got!"

While Max and Iris were talking, Ash was heading towards Trip with a huge smile on his face. I shook my head, not understanding how one person can be so charismatic. "Hi! How are you? I don't know if you remember but we met in Professor Juniper's Lab! I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, in Kanto!"

"I know," Trip answered quickly, before blushing and rapidly explaining himself. "My little sister is a big fan of yours... would you sign something for me... please? It would mean a lot for her."

Ash expression softened, his smile never leaving his face. "You must love your sister very much... of course I will!" Ash then took out a notebook from his bag and signed a paper, before handing it to the blond boy. "Here you go!"

"Thank you..." Trip blinked stunned that it ended up being so easy. He took the paper and put it safely in his bag. "Would you be up for a battle?"

"Of course I am always up for a battle!" Ash beamed at the boy, who looked at him stunned. I could see a red tint on his cheeks. Oh no... "Three vs three? I need to inform you I only got my newest pokemon with me, I used to have Incineroar and Aegislash with me, but now that they've gotten used to their new evolved bodies I sent them back to Professor Oak's Lab."

"What kind of pokemon?" Trip asked him suspiciously.

"Riolu, Rowlet, Gible, and Dratini," Ash answered with an oblivious smile, as Trip looked at him stupidly. Many trainers around them had stopped to look at him in shock. Those were not pokemon one would hear being mentioned so casually. "I also have a Oshawott, Pidove, Sandile, and Tepig, but they've not completed their training to face anyone in battle yet." There he goes casually mentioning two regional starters and a Sandile, one of the pokemon with the foulest attitudes. Now trainers were gaping at Ash, as he continued to smile obliviously. "I also have Pikachu, but I am not sending him to battle anyone below Elite Four level, that will be overkill."

Now he has done it, I sighed internally. Ash has mentioned one of the rarest pokemon to find in Unova, if you could find a wild Pikachu that is. And then he goes and mentions battling Elite Four level trainers as if he does it every weekend... although, from what he has told me of his time in the Islands he was. I thought he was trying to keep a low profile!

"If possible I would like to face your Gible, Dratini, and Riolu," Trip requested cordially, now the trainers were gaping at the blond boy, as Ash's smile became sharp and vicious- battle hungry for sure! "Those are not pokemon I can easily get to battle."

"Of course!" Ash beamed, turning around and heading to make the request. Trip and the gaping crowd following closely behind.

"The charisma of that boy will never cease to amaze me," Lucario shook his head beside me. "Let's follow them in case Ash goes and decides to do something stupid."

"Let's," I agreed, fed up with all this nuisance. I quickly followed with Lucario by my side, as Cilan laughed behind me. Iris was wearing a stunned expression on her face, while Max was cleary as fed up as me. We all got seats in the bleachers, even though we were the last ones to enter the battleground, something that would have not been possible in Sinnoh. "Here we go again," I sighed as Ash and Trip took their positions.

"Tranquill!/Riolu!" Trip and Ash shouted as they released their first pokemon.

"Ash is already at a disadvantage!" Iris winced in concern.

"As Ash has proven during our gym battle, type-advantage means nothing to him," Cilan assured her with a carefree chuckle.

"That's right!" Iris beamed, feeling much better now.

"Aerial Ace!" Trip ordered with conviction.

"That move never misses the mark," Iris was once again worried.

"You do not need to worry about it," I finally spoke up, pointing at Riolu. "Just watch." Riolu created a sphere of wind in his hands, he then fired the wind in the form of a beam at Tranquill, throwing the Flying-type pokemon off course and having him crash on the ground. "All that's needed is fot the pokemon hits something, it does not need to be Riolu."

"What move was that?" Iris asked curiously.

"Vacum Wave," Lucario answered her. "It's Riolu's egg move, he unlocked it right before he came to Unova."

"How do you know that?" Max inquired, smiling teasinlgy at me. "From what Ash told me you spent the last month before coming to Unova in Veilstone City."

"Max!" I blushed, in disbelief that a ten years-old-boy was teasing me about my love life- which only made me miss Reggie more.

"Rock Slide!" Ash commanded, as boulders began to fall on Tranquill.

"Take flight and evade them!" Trip ordered and his pokemon did just that. I was impressed at how well Trip has taught his pokemon to fly... but unfortunately for him, it was all part of Ash's plan. Jumping from boulder to boulder, preparing for a sneak attack, was Riolu. "Double Team!" Trip shouted, almost in desperation, as Riolu was coming down on Tranquill with a Thunder Punch.

"He saw Riolu coming?" Cilan hummed impressed, as we watched Riolu punch a double.

"He did well... but it won't be enough," I commented.

"Why?" Iris looked at us confused.

"Because Riolu is trained in aura," Max answered. "He'll know which one is a double and which one is the real Tranquill." As if to prove Max right, Riolu rapidly rushed from boulder to boulder, ignoring various Tranquill doubles, and punching the right one on the gut. "See!" I winced as Tranquill went crushing down, twitching as the electrical current rushed through his body. If that was not enough, he was soon buried by boulders. "Now that's harsh," Max frowned. "Anyway, Ash and Riolu won the first battle!"

"Amazing!" Iris had stars in her eyes, as the referee called the match in Ash's favor. "Even with type disadvantage!"

"You are staying with me now," Ash kissed Riolu's forehead, before placing him beside him. "Gible, you are next!"

"Finally a dragon!" Iris screamed alongside the rest of the crowd- not that I blamed them, that's a future pseudo-legendary pokemon there.

"Servine, come out!" Trip called out his starter, and while Grass-type moves are effective against Gible's Ground-type, it will not affect him as much as Ice-type and Fairy-type moves. "Leaf Tornado!"

Servine jumped and spun on his head with his tail straight up in the air. Servine then started spinning his body and a large green tornado with glowing appeared around the end of Servine's tail and spun around with it. Servine then spun around on his side and caught Gible inside of the tornado. Once the tornado had captured Gible, it separated from the air, moving back into an upward position and floating up into the air. The tornado then crashed down onto the ground, crushing Gible against the floor.

"Gible!" Iris shouted worriedly, while Axew gasped, eyes widening in concern.

"W-what?!" Trip screamed in shock. On the ground, where Gible was supposed to be... there was nothing but a whole. "Servine look out! He used Dig to escape!"

However, it was not enough. The battle was already over. Gible jumped from the ground below Servine and caught him with his powerful jaws.

"Let's do this! Draco Meteor!" Ash shouted, making almost everyone in the crowd gasp.

"The most powerful Dragon-type move!" Iris had jumped on her feet, excited to see the move every Dragon Specialist aims for.

"Is he insane?!" Someone in the croud gasped.

"Do you think that he'll be able to do it?"

"Impossible!" Another person scoffed. "He'll embarrass himself!"

But Ash did not, neither did Gible. Gible held onto Servine with his mouth, as Servine became surrounded by an orange ball of energy. The ball then fired into the sky, Servine within it, and exploded, causing multiple smaller orange spheres to fall from the sky onto the ground.

A deep silence fell in the room.

Then.

The crowd went wild!

"Did you fucking see that?!"

"Amazing!"

"Unbelievable!"

"How the heck did he manage that?!"

"He is so cool!"

"What?!" Trip looked stunned at his fainted starter. "T-that's a first stage pokemon! A baby! A pokemon you said is one of your newest! How is he able to achieve a move many fully evolved Dragon-types pokemon struggle with?!"

"Well, my Gible is a stubborn little fella, who won't give up until he manages to achieve something he had put his mind on," Ash laughed. "He swore that he would not evolve until he achieves a perfect Draco Meteor that will defeat his opponent in a fair battle." Ash's laugh boomed as Gible began to shine. "Look! The rescal is unbelievable! He is evolving!"

Trip's jaw fell as he watched a rare dragon pokemon evolve, as he observed the pokemon roar and shake the room with his power. This was a pokemon one stage below pseudo-legendary...

"Gabite! Awesome!" Iris was jumping up and down as a little girls pumped up with sugar- I've never seen her this excited before.

"Incredible!" Someone in the crowd exclaimed, awe in her tone.

"We are so lucky!"

"Nice!"

"This is... astonishing!"

"Leave it to Ash to cause a racket like this," Max shook his head in amusement.

"Only with Ash," I chuckled in good humor. "In all honesty, I am happy for them."

"I hope this does not cause any problems with Dratini," Cilan commented. "They are both very competetive."

"With Ash as their trainer never!" Lucario refuted easily. "If you should be worried about something is about Espeon, who is joining us soon. Her and Snivy will get along like a house on fire, and if you had Mightyena, who is already best friends with Snivy... Mew have mercy on us."

My eyes widened at my partner's words, he was right.

I looked at Max, who looked as panicked as me.

We were in trouble.

"Frillish, you are next!" Trip called out his last pokemon, and a blue Frillish, a male Frillish, came out on the battleground.

"Return Gabite!" Ash recalled his newly evolved pokemon.

"Why is he recalling him?!" Iris complained as she threw herself on her seat. "He just evolved! He is stronger than before!"

"It's because he just evolved that Ash was recalling him," Max informed her. "Newly evolved pokemon are in a precarious position, because as stronger as they have become, they are also in a lot of pain. Most of the time they grow in size, sking and bones stretching a lot in a small amount of time. Not to mention, the times they gain new body parts like arms or wings. They also gain a lot of power, which they do not know how to control. Not to mention, their senses have become much sharper, being able to hear or scent much more than before. They might get overwhelmed. So, yes, Ash recalled him because that's the safest and smartest decision. Even if Riolu and Dratini fall against Frillish, Ash will not call Gabite out for a battle."

I looked at Max proudly and smiled, having heard the same exact speech from another rookie trainer last year. Someone who had been mentored by Ash as well, and took those lesons seriously.

"Frillish is unable to battle!" We rapidly turned towards the battleground, to watch Frillish twitching electrocuted on the ground, while Dratini was wrapped around Ash's shoulders in celebration. "Ash and Dratini are the winners! Ash Ketchum is the winner of the battle!"

"H-how? What happened?" I stuttered, not believing I had been that distracted.

"Did I miss Dratini's battle?!" Iris moaned grumpily.

"Frillish was about to use Water Pulse, which Ash took advantage off. While the water was forming around Frillish he commanded Dratini to use Shock Wave, using the water as a conduit and paralyzed Frillish. Dratini then finished the battle with a Thunderbolt," Cilan explained impressed.

"Thunderbolt?!" I turned to Cilan in shock. "When did he learn that move?!"

"I have no idea," Cilan answered. "But it was wonderful!"

I shook me head and looked down to see Ash congratulating Trip and giving him some tips.

Only Ash.