Showdown

by MeepMeep7913

Delia Ketchum died before she could even see her son go on his journey - or the legendary she helped make abduct Ash briefly. Her death was merely the prelude to a sequence of events and challenges that Ash would battle through on his journey with the help of Oak, Lance and others. All before Red helped plunge Kanto into civil war against the Team Rocket insurgency.

9. Chapter 8 - Classification

OAK'S LAB.

"So, Ashy-boy, how's it been at my grandpa's place?" Gary asked. The two boys, the energetic raven-haired youth and confident brown-haired youth, were walking through the town together towards the park. They had decided to walk towards the park as they normally did to see the Pokemon, as it was the only place in Pallet Town where Pokemon were visible to humans apart from the Pokemon enclosure at the lab and the surrounding countryside.

Neither were allowed to go to those places alone.

Gary glanced at Ash as they walked. His eighth birthday was coming up in a month, having stayed with Professor Oak for five months now. And Gary saw it becoming more pronounced, even his young mind could pick up on his best friend's inner moods that even Ash was unaware of. Ash was still hurting from the loss of his mother, house and previous life; and whilst he had perhaps gained more with Oak, he could tell how much Ash missed having a real family.

Heck, Gary had found Ash's calling of his grandfather 'Mr Oak' weird given the man was his technical father now, but that was until his grandfather took him aside personally and explained. Ash called Professor Oak that due to the fact that he did not want to replace his family, and instead had seemingly, in his own unwitting way, had assigned Oak a whole new place instead as a parental guardian.

Gary didn't quite understand, but he knew that Ash was still troubled - and did as his grandfather asked in just to keep in regular contact with Ash. He found it kinda sad that he was the only friend Ash had that was his age.

"Good." Ash spoke with a shrug. "I went into the Pokemon ranch again yesterday and played about with some of the friendlier Pokemon. Mr Oak promised me that after my birthday, we'd go into the bug forests and start learning about bug Pokemon."

Gary gave a snort, feeling the stirrings of jealousy. "That sounds cool. Grandpa would let me come too if it wasn't for my parents saying they didn't like me going anywhere near the Pokemon enclosure."

Ash thought about that for a second, before giving a small laugh. "Trust me. I've got some extra help for when I go in there."

Gary raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as they arrived at the park. Knowing already what they wanted to do, the two moved straight over to the pond and stood on the small pier that had been built over it.

"You got the bread?" Gary asked.

"But of course." Ash answered, as he took his black rucksack off of his back and fished out a half-finished loaf of bread that had started to go bad. Giving a slice over to Gary, they started to chuck bits of the food into the pond - and got instant results. A whole mass of fish suddenly rose to the surface, most prominently the red glinting scales of the Magikarp that had made their home there.

"It's hard to think that such a duncy fish could evolve into that ferocious Gard-dos thing." Gary spoke to Ash.

"Gyarados." Ash corrected. "Have you not been studying the Pokemon pack, Gary? The tests in just a few months!"

"Yeah, yeah, there's still plenty of time, Ashy-boy." Gary dismissed, making Ash shrug and return to the splashing fish.

ONE WEEK LATER, ROCKY ENCLOSURE.

"It has been five months." Lucario spoke as he sat on the boulder overlooking Ash and Riolu, who were stood looking at the canine. "How far do you two feel you have come?"

The two younger beings looked at one another, before Riolu smacked a closed fist into his palm. "We're ready to move on! We've studied channelling aura for ages now, and can do it proficiently!"

"Not proficiently." Lucario scolded his son. "Your flow is still not as refined as my own, and won't be for some time." Pausing, and contemplating, Lucario then spoke. "But perhaps you are right on being ready to move on. Yes, very well. What do you think, Synergy?"

Synergy looked up to the canine, and slid back her facial plates as her system processed the question. "I've done my own research, and training with you obviously." Synergy spoke. "Yes, I believe they're ready. Shape manipulation, I take it?"

"Yes." Lucario confirmed, getting Ash to smile at the term and Riolu to look more determined than ever. "Today, you two will try to physically manipulate your aura. You have learnt how to bond, channel and even insert aura into other beings. But your aura does not actually 'touch' anything per se, more like either dissipating on contact or bending around it. You must now learn how to shape your aura so that it can come into physical contact with an object and still remain intact in its shape."

A few months ago, Ash would've been very lost at that spiel. But after Oak and Synergy's slave-driving, his language was up to par, and now the only term that confused him there was 'dissipating' - but he could guess. And so Ash was determined to do well on this next stage.

"It's actually a very simple first step." Lucario spoke. "Take your aura, and try and make a spinning motion akin to a whirlpool in your palm. This will turn your aura against itself, and you will get a feel for how to start physically forming it."

Gesturing to Synergy, who then held out her own synthetic hand and showed the action. "It is rather simple." Synergy stated as a thin layer of aura energy less than a centimetre thick coated her palm. The layer took on two distinct sides on the left and right which then began to converge on one another and twist together, eventually forming a spiralling circular layer in her palm. "What do you see that you would need to replicate yourselves?"

Ash and Riolu didn't talk for a few moments before Riolu pointed at her palm. "There's two different sides to it, you've channelled the aura to the different sides of your hand."

"And you've then tossed the two sides at one another." Ash added. "You twisted them together."

"Very good." Synergy praised, as she cancelled the layer of aura in her palm. "You can begin doing so yourselves."

"But before you do so." Lucario interrupted then, stopping Riolu and Ash in their tracks from just jumping right into it. "I don't want to sit here for hours watching you get something down that should only take an hour. The trick is to take the top of the left side of the aura and twist it towards the right, and vice versa for the right - take the bottom of the right side and twist it to come towards the left. It should form a whirlpool then."

Lucario then jumped off of the rock as Ash and Riolu sat down where they stood and faced one another. They had become fast friends, a marked difference in Riolu's first shy attitude as they began to help one another.

"Try not to spin it at first, maybe?" Riolu suggested as they held out their palms and began to channel their aura.

"Yeah, let's just form the two different sides first, with a bit of space between them I guess." Ash agreed.

Lucario, meanwhile, had walked up to Synergy. The robotic Pokemon watched in interest as Lucario approached, before then falling into a battle stance, one paw extended forth which gestured to her. "Let's battle." The canine demanded then.

"Very well. My system does require more experience." Synergy agreed.

"You said that the first time." Lucario spoke. "And we're almost on an even footing when it comes to battling hand to hand. It's taken me more than a decade to become this good, and you've taken only five months. Soon, I'm sure you'll beat me."

"We'll see." Synergy stated, before she suddenly flicked her wrist out and tried to seize the canine's outstretched paw.

That attempt was batted away however, by Lucario chopping the incoming blow with his other hand before lashing out with a kick. A readjustment of Synergy's left elbow took the hit directly onto an armoured plate, before then suddenly sweeping the arm down to knock the leg back. A quick jab to the chest from Lucario was blocked before Synergy decided to retaliate. She swept her leg low in an attempt to trip the canine, who stepped back quickly to avoid it - and falling to the robotic Pokemon's diversion.

A metal hand slammed into Lucario's torso with a punch as Synergy took advantage of her longer reach than Lucario, but the canine quickly recovered and shot a heel kick into Synergy's leg joint as she had extended forth over the space to take a shot. Synergy stumbled a bit at that, but merely blinked as Lucario actually gave a slapping motion to her facial plates in order to not let up. Not feeling a thing, the robotic Pokemon analysed as she drew back, seeing Lucario tense to take a step forth - twisting his body right to send forth a punch.

Synergy fluidly stepped left and avoided the quick punch, reaching out and seizing the limb before jerking it down, causing the canine to stumble this time. She decided to not let up either, as Synergy actually put effort into kneeing Lucario's chest and driving the air from his lungs. However, she was forced to disengage as Lucario's paw lashed out and landed a hit to her arm joint, not even moving her but forcing her to stop moving the arm instead, before stepping back as Lucario's other paw tried to slam against her chest plate.

"You said you'd hold back on your strength." Lucario spoke out with a bit of a wheeze, before snorting as he started to recover.

"I am holding back." Synergy spoke then with a tone of amusement. "Greatly. It is not my fault that organics do not have as much tensile strength as my frame does."

"Right." Lucario stated, before darting forth with a quick paw strike which Synergy tilted her shoulder away from. "When do you want to start teaching Ash the art of hand-to-hand combat?"

"I am still trying to decide if such motions would hamper the development of a growing human child." Synergy answered back as she used the tilt to power a punch of her own towards Lucario.

"Nonsense." Lucario stated as he side-stepped the punch using his better speed. "The child doesn't have to physically exert himself, but you can start teaching him the motions of a style at least so it gets committed to muscle memory." A low kick was shot out at Synergy.

"Revaluating." Synergy spoke as she allowed the hit to connect against her leg, having turned it just enough to make it hit the armoured plate before seizing hold of the leg with a fast strike. "You're right. Perhaps after his birthday, then." The robotic Pokemon threw Lucario towards the tree, who only flipped over, bounded off of the tree and landed upright, awaiting the next bout.

The fight continued for five more minutes in silence apart from the grunts of Lucario as he strained to dodge the heavier punches he faced, and Synergy's metal joints as she blocked the faster strikes. Finally, Lucario actually slammed an aura-infused punch into Synergy's chest which made the robotic Pokemon slide back a metre, but not before she twisted and slammed a foot into the canine's own torso, who was blown back. Landing with a crouch, Lucario just stood up and paused the fighting - to transition it.

"You're becoming better each session with our fights, and soon you will have all the counters to my battle style." Lucario stated. "But what about some longer-reach fighting to take it up a notch?"

Lucario clapped his paws together, a shroud of aura covering them as he then pulled them apart, the shroud in his hands visibly dimming as the energy was instead poured into the forming construct in his limbs. A light blue, rectangular shimmering bone that was at least fifty centimetres long had formed in Lucario's paws, before the canine then grabbed it and twirled it behind his head.

Synergy only reciprocated as another construct formed in her held out hand, but instead all this formed this time was a blue rod from the aura energy. Gripping it in her right hand and angling it downwards in preparation for combat, Synergy's senses analysed Lucario as she waited for him to make the first move.

Giving a snort, the canine charged forth - twirling the aura construct in his left hand to strike at angle at an unprotected spot on Synergy's torso. That was blocked by the robotic Pokemon flicking her own aura weapon up to meet it, scraping the two together. It was quickly disengaged as the connecting weapons swept each other downwards before Lucario thrust it forth towards Synergy's arm, who tilted away in response. A quick jab of her own construct towards the over-reaching canine was met with failure as the Lucario quickly transferred his momentum into a roll to dodge.

He was forced to dodge again as a blue rod slammed into the ground where he was standing by, turning to glare at the robotic Pokemon who tilted her head in amusement back. Another construct quickly formed in her hand as she calculated the maths of another near miss to keep Lucario on his toes, before cancelling the equations as the canine braced himself. The Pokemon slammed his back foot into the earth to rocket off towards the synthetic Pokemon whose sensors didn't actually calculate in time as the move extreme speed allowed Lucario to slam his weapon home.

Synergy only looked at Lucario indifferently as the canine rammed his weapon on left arm joint, allowing it as the construct in her right hand swept low to strike Lucario in the torso. However, her indications appeared off as the canine only grunted, before sweeping the aura bone away from her joint to slam it into her head unit.

That did more damage as Synergy actually let out a mechanical sound from the blow, her optical sensors briefly disoriented by the blow as Lucario took the opportunity to ram home a few more strikes. The construct in her hand failed as one strike slammed into her hand and forced it to open. However, Synergy recovered in time to block a strike against an arm plate, before angling her arm to keep the construct away from her before powering the arm to backhand Lucario away with a blow to his own head.

Lucario recovered just as quickly, however. "See? I am still your better in terms of swords. You won't be beating me any time soon like this."

Synergy only gave a mocking laugh, before preparing her own stance as she held her arms straight. Both sword extensions then slid out quickly and locked into place, extending out from her arms as the robotic Pokemon concentrated fully on Lucario. "If you're so good, then I'll go further."

"Hey now, those things could kill-" Lucario began, but was interrupted as Synergy charged forth, as Lucario had just enough time to put the bone in both hands and split it to form two similar constructs in each hand. Bracing himself, the two met. Lucario actually found himself being pushed to utilise his best combat skills as Synergy fully used her stronger blows and further reach to her advantage. What skills and experience Lucario had was counteracted by Synergy's faster processing times and analytical skills in predicting what would happen next.

Finally, Lucario slipped up as he moved to block a low seeping blow, only to find it to be a feint as Synergy quickly reversed her arm and instead retracted the blade, fully delivering a haymaker into Lucario's jaw. Jumping forth, the robotic Pokemon knocked aside a parrying blow as the disoriented canine tried to recover and continue the fight from where he'd landed in the ground, but his senses were too shaken up. Being restrained and with Synergy's other blade at his throat, his opponent chuckled.

"I believe I win." Synergy spoke amusedly, before retracting her second blade and standing up, hauling Lucario to his feet as well as he shook his head clear from the disorienting blow.

"But how?" Lucario asked in some disbelief. "I have more knowledge on this than you, more skills. I mean no offence, but we've only done this a few times!"

Synergy only seemed more amused. "The benefits of having a machine in your intelligence unit is that you actually do have the necessary knowledge. The only thing I need to do really is practice to get better at it, but I beat you because of superior stats and analysis. Plus, it helps that I know how to actually utilise a blade unlike these aura constructs."

"Of course you already knew how to use those." Lucario sighed, before shaking his head. "Never mind, good win. But don't use those in future. We have to bring your skills in aura and other fields up to scratch. Although don't neglect what your already good in of course, lest they become rusty."

Synergy only nodded at him, but turned her head to see both Ash and Riolu looking at them with wide eyes. The robotic Pokemon gave a grunt as she scolded them. "How far are you two in doing the exercise? I want you to be at least capable in using aura constructs within two months!"

They quickly got back to work as Lucario snickered.

TRAINING FIELDS.

Situated behind Oak's laboratory and left of the entrance to the Pokemon enclosure was a grassy field which had a sole purpose of acting as a battle ground Pokemon battles and a site for training. Given the fact that it had reinforced meshing buried shallowly in the ground which held the ground together as well as the fact that there was an actual asphalt coloured area, it stood up well to Pokemon attacks. Except for those that were designed to tear apart environments - even Oak wasn't about to shell out money for such reinforcing.

"Alright, Dratini!" Ash shouted out as he held out a pumped fist. "Let's get training!"

The blue serpentine let out an excited trill. "You got it!"

The three stood on the asphalt paved area, Synergy watching Ash and Dratini hype one another up for their first ever training session. Four wooden posts stood on the edge of the asphalt, and the robotic Pokemon knew Ash was going to use them.

"Well, let's start with teaching you a new move. There's a very easy one I read about that you could use straight away, but it depends on how strong you are..." Ash trailed off, before shaking his head and pointing at one of the posts. "Dratini! Wrap yourself around that post and squeeze it as hard as you can with your body!"

With a determined noise, Dratini shot forth towards the wooden post and quickly wrapped her body twice round it, before pressing her muscles together and compressing the wood between her resilient scales. Doing it for a half a minute, Ash then called off the struggling Pokemon and observed the effects.

The wood had splintered under the pressure exerted by Dratini, some clear evidence of it having given way somewhat, but its structural integrity remained largely intact. However, Ash took that as a good sign. "Alright! Good work, Dratrini!" Ash praised the Pokemon who cooed at him. "Don't worry, I'll train you up to be stronger, and you'll be able to do it as you grow and get older."

"For now." Ash continued. "Let's work on increasing your speed and strength in one go! By trying to move faster, you'll be able to increase your stats and start learning the move agility, where you release energy in a specific way to temporarily increase your speed. So, give me a lap around the area!" The boy commanded, getting a determined noise from Dratini before she shot off. Pulling out his Pokegear from his pocket, Ash quickly selected the timer and started the clock.

"And let's not have you slacking off, Synergy." Ash spoke as he pointed at the armoured Pokemon when he put his Pokegear down.

Curious, Synergy questioned him. "What would you have me do then, Ash?"

"You can use electricity, right?" Ash responded back with a question, although his face faltered and became quieter. Synergy understood as she held up a hand and clicked her fingers togther, sending a stream of electricity across the digits - knowing where Ash ha dredged up that knowledge from.

"Yes." Synergy answered, and started to prod Ash out of his funk. "What about it?"

Taking a second, Ash nodded to himself. "Well, you need some longer range attacks, ya know?" The boy stated rhetorically with a soft voice. "Electrical attacks are good for that sort of thing."

An old thought surfaced in her mind then, as Synergy blinked and then informed Ash. "Like thunder wave?"

"Yeah, like that." Ash brightened up as his mind turned towards how to help his Pokemon with their techniques again. Hauling the backpack from off his back and rifling around in it, Ash pulled out a book he'd borrowed from the lab's library. "Er, it says here that thunder wave is a weak move that deals no damage, but instead targets the nervous system of a Pokemon directly in a manner that slows its response times. It thus induces the status condition paralysis in an opponent, and is best utilised at close ranges of one to five metres away from a Pokemon due to the move's tendency to fizzle out after ten metres." Ash finished reading from the book.

"Interesting." Synergy stated in response to try and gee Ash on.

"I just thought it would go well with your style - your good at close ranges, ya know? This gives you a little bit more range, perhaps giving something else for an opponent to focus on; plus if it does work, then you can take advantage of paralysis with your blades." Ash became more excited thinking about dominating matches.

"I have no doubt it would work a treat." Synergy intoned, being actually impressed with the child. "How do I go about using this move then?"

"Er, right." Ash nervously said as he consulted the page again, before his face brightened up as he found a relevant section. "It says here that since the move is basic, its a good move to teach starting Pokemon. You should have no trouble."

"Too right, I am not a starting Pokemon." Synergy spoke then with an indignant tone, crossing her arms.

Ash blinked and looked at her weirdly. "You're only five months old, Synergy."

"Details, details. Not everybody has a computer as a part of their brain." The robotic Pokemon waved off.

"Right..." Ash spoke as he merely read the section again. "Ok, it says here that once you've completed the exercise in allowing a Pokemon to channel electricity into the body part they wish to fire thunder wave from-" Ash paused as he looked at Synergy with some uncertainty, to which she held up a sparking hand and got Ash to smile. "-Then it is simply the matter of getting the electricity to condense in said body part and shoot it off to enable it to cross a distance. The Pokemon should focus on reverberating the electricity to give it motion energy, whilst at the same time condensing the electrical stream into a smaller area. Once this has been achieved, it is as simple as releasing the electricity in the destined direction or opponent. Make sure to have good aim."

Putting down the book, Ash looked at the metal Pokemon. "Well, you heard it. Why not just try making the electricity bounce about a bit more?"

Looking at Ash for a moment, Synergy took in his suggestion and amped up the power of the electricity in her hand to make it erratic. Seeing it visibly cackle about her hand and jump from finger to finger with great energy, the robotic Pokemon just looked to Ash to see what the boy would say rather than self-improvise. No point dashing his hopes of being able to teach in future.

"Alright! Now, try closing your hand a bit more to make the space smaller, I guess?" Ash suggested, which was met an affirmative response form Synergy's logic processors. Bunching her fingers together so that there was just a mere half a centimetre between the thumb and other fingers, she analysed on how the electricity didn't like that as it tried and failed to arc out over a wider area.

"And how do I 'let it go', young man?" Synergy mused with amusement.

"I don't really know." Ash frowned before shrugging. "Just point it at something and cut the power?"

With a shrug of her in response, Synergy straightened up and directed her hand at one of the wooden posts - before simply cutting the control she had on the electrical stream which would make it normally extra-erratic in its final moments and then die out.

Normally.

Instead, a yellow circle shot out from between her fingers as the electricity in them completely disappeared and was instead transferred into a crackling and fizzling yellow ring made up on high-voltage glowing sparks which crossed the distance in under a second. Striking the post, the yellow electrical ring destabilised and arced outwards in a short burst of energy, soon fading away and leaving behind only faint scorch marks on the post.

"Huh." Synergy stated as her system collected the data. "That was easy."

Ash blinked at the results before looking at the robotic Pokemon weirdly. "How come everything's easy for you?"

Synergy looked at him then with a smile. "Because." She answered with a shrug, clearly lacking a definitive answer, or rather unwilling to go into one. "Though there is the fact that my fight with Moltres certainly wasn't easy. If I hadn't evolved in fact, I would've died."

Ash looked horrified at what the Pokemon said, but she only looked at Ash seriously.

"You're going to have to accept that, Ash." Synergy stated, not willing at all to sugar-coat it. "Things don't always go our way."

Ash was still majorly disturbed as Dratini snapped him out of his panicky reflections, making the boy just remember to turn off the timer.

SAFFRON CITY TRAIN STATION.

Synergy gazed unimpressed at the security personnel who had stepped forth as the metal Pokemon had walked behind the Professor and Ash. The security guard had consulted Professor Oak, before the man had gotten frustrated.

"For crying out loud, we're going on a train journey I organised, not a regional flight! The train staff have already cleared us through for both ticketing and everything else, and yes it includes the Pokemon!" Oak ranted at the guard who appeared nervous then. "No, I don't care that you've never seen it before! I am a regional professor with the correct credentials for such things, and I am taking this Pokemon with me."

"Honestly." Oak muttered in an annoyed tone as the cowed security guard let them pass, having finally recognised Oak as the three continued walking forth through the corridor.

"Could you not have had a helicopter land at your lab, Professor?" Synergy mused. "It would've been far quicker, and undoubtedly someone of your authority could've gotten it."

"Hmm?" Oak let out, before grunting. "Oh, no. Most certainly not. I don't want any of the Pokemon in the ranch more disturbed than needs be. Whilst all Pokemon are sentient to a degree, I shudder to think of a large portion of the Pokemon suddenly acting on their animalistic instincts should they be suddenly frightened or startled by such noises. Plus, there's all the other faffing about of securing such a thing, it'd be unnecessary when the magnet train does us nicely, and I don't know how Ash would react to such a thing."

Walking out of a set of doors, the party of three walked into a large open space. The walls of the largely spaced building were of a light colour with sunlight streaming in through the glass roof, giving a welcoming visage and atmosphere. The tiles clacked beneath the steps of the metal Pokemon as they began walking down some steps in the main area of the station to the awaiting trains.

"Why exactly are we doing this again, Mr Oak?" Ash questioned, appearing nervous as they got closer to the magnet train waiting on their left.

"Well, my boy, I'm required for a trip in Johto. It's a gathering of regional professors that took months to organise and I've got quite a bit to discuss with them, and I simply can't be late. Thus, the magnet train. The journey should only take three hours, quite a high speed for crossing countries, but it required us to get up early." Oak explained. "Plus, I've got a research paper I've put effort into I'd like to get feedback on and a classification ceremony for Synergy is being held there, so we're both needed."

"But what about me?" Ash spoke with a saddened tone as it appeared both his Pokemon and adoptive father would be busy.

Both Synergy and Ash were surprised as Oak actually laughed "Ash, my boy! If I mentioned 'Johto', what would be the first thing you think of?"

"Lance is champion of Johto-" Ash began at once, but was cut off by Oak then.

"Exactly, Ash!" Professor Oak chuckled. "Lance has agreed to spend the day with you, and actually has a bit to talk about with you too."

Ash's attitude immediately turned 180 as he appeared excited then. "He did?! That's great!"

"Of course it is." Oak stated with some amusement. "Did you bring Dratini?"

"Yes, Mr Oak." Ash confirmed as he held out a Pokeball he kept in his pocket, before he stuffed it back there and patted it to make sure it was safe.

"Good, good." Oak murmured, before speaking up. "Oh, we're here."

Indeed, one of the waiting conductors at the train doors gestured towards the regional professor, who sighed as he began a very early journey to a busy day he'd only enjoy part of. Ash was on the opposite spectrum, appearing excited to get his day with the dragon master started.

Synergy merely calculated if the train would provide the great views it was hyped up to have. She'd know, her processing system would provide greater detail and analysis of the passing landscapes than any human visual receptors.

GOLDENROD CITY TRAIN STATION.

Yes, it really did, Synergy decided.

The three were now walking through a corridor which emerged into the exit lobby of the train station. An air-conditioned, tiled large room where quite a few families were awaiting arriving passengers who came through corridors like the party of three had come from. Indeed, they themselves had an awaiting individual.

"Professor Oak! Ash!" A red-headed man waved from way over on the right, drawing quite a bit of attention from people around - who gasped as they spotted their champion, and regional leader unexpectedly. Oak gave a small smirk as he wondered over, accompanied by Ash and Synergy who kept a hold on Ash to make sure he didn't get lost in the crowd. This drew yet more glances, as people recognised the professor that had made it into the top three most influential scientists worldwide, as well as a tall armoured Pokemon nobody had ever seen before.

Needless to say, Ash felt very nervous - but kept going as Synergy guided him.

"Ah! Professor Oak, my old friend. Long-time no see." Lance greeted the scientist, who appeared a bit frustrated then.

"Lance, you visited the lab just two weeks ago to see me and Ash." Oak spoke out evenly, making Lance laugh.

"Come, let's get out of the crowd." Lance spoke then, getting a nod from Oak as they began walking through the crowd out of there. He took no notice of the stares and attention from people who were shocked to see the normally reclusive champion suddenly turn up in such a public place.

They walked over to an unoccupied space in the corner of the lobby, still drawing some glances - but Ash had become better now that the attention had died down. Leaning against a counter in the corner with them, Lance glanced to Ash and smiled.

"Hey, Ash!" The man greeted, getting an excited wave from the boy. "And Synergy." Lance continued, but only getting a cool nod from the synthetic. "So how are you doing, my boy?" He asked, turning back to Ash.

"Great, Lance!" Ash responded. "Are you really gonna spend the day with me?"

"But of course!" Lance confirmed, making Ash excited again. "You see, when Professor Oak here called me to say he was going to attend some boring conference where all they're going to yabber on about is research papers, I just had to rescue you." Lance was acutely aware of Oak's unimpressed look, and only drew amusement from it. "How does a trip to the game corner sound?"

"What's the game corner?" Ash asked.

"Just a place with video games, arcade stuff and prizes, nothing major." Lance spoke non-chalantly, but smirked when he saw the excitement in Ash's expression.

"Right." Oak stepped in before it could continue for too long. "Now, I hate to break it up here, but I must be getting going soon. I believe you had something that you wanted to ask Ash?"

Ash looked up at the two men as they mentioned his name, Synergy also taking particular interest in the conversation.

"Ah, yes." Lance spoke as he withdrew a couple of folded documents from his jacket. "Thank you for the reminder. You'll find it all in order, thanks to the previous talks we've had on this and the process is nearly complete. Now all that's left is the final signings."

Oak took the documents and opened them up, spending a few moments reading them before looking at Lance. "Yes, this all looks in order. Are you sure that there's nothing to worry about?"

Lance gave a chuckle. "My friend, I wouldn't give you anything to worry about, you know that by now. Once you've given permission, well it's all down to me and Ash from there."

"Very well." Oak mused as he took out a pen from his own white coat and signed a couple of lines on the documents against the counter. Meanwhile, Synergy was looking curiously at the proceedings as Ash was looking very confused at what the two men were talking about, only knowing that he was being mentioned in their conversation.

Oak and Lance finally finished their quiet, private conversation after a minute and looked to the other two in their group. Synergy in particular urged them on as Ash still looked lost.

"Is there something you wish to share that concerns Ash, Professor, Champion?" Synergy intoned with a blank tone.

Lance smirked as Professor Oak cleared his throat and spoke. "Well, me and Lance have been talking for a month now on a particular subject that concerns Ash, and it took so long due to all the bureaucracy and paperwork involved. But I believe that Lance should have the honours of asking you this."

Lance took a step forth, before kneeling down to Ash and putting a hand on his shoulder, making the boy fully focus on the red-headed champion. Giving a chuckle and a proud smirk, Lance questioned Ash. "Hey, Ash, tell me - did you know that certain League positions could take on apprentices or mentored students?"

Synergy seemed to catch on quickly as her logic processors supplied a likely answer as her facial plates slid back in interest, but Ash only nodded at the man, still a bit lost. "Yeah, Mr Oak has people at his lab that come round sometimes as his students."

"Indeed, Ash." Lance stated. "Did you know that champions are also one such position?"

"No, I didn't." Ash responded. The boy looked very confused now, not knowing why he was being asked these things.

Lance chuckled, before deciding it had gone on long enough and just dropped the bombshell. "Well, Ash Ketchum, as I am Champion of Johto, how would you like to become my apprentice?"

Ash's brain seemed to become stuck at that, shutting down before rebooting. Professor Oak chuckled too as Lance's smile widened with amusement, and Synergy just watched on with interest. "Really?" Was all Ash could manage then.

"Yes, Ash. Really." Lance laughed aloud as the boy looked star-struck, before a wide, amazed grin came over Ash. Synergy herself eye-smiled as Oak just looked proud.

Ash only hugged Lance then, before the man reciprocated. "I take that as a yes then, my boy?"

"Yes, Mr Lance, definitely!" Ash shouted out then in excitement, jumping up and down a bit.

"Good, good, Ash. I'll tell you all about what it actually means later, OK?" Lance stated as he stood up.

"OK!" Ash chirped, still with a wide grin.

"Alright, say goodbye to Synergy now Ash, we'll be leaving now." Lance instructed, watching as Ash nodded and dashed over to Synergy, before he turned to the Professor and took the documents off of him. As he did so, Lance bent his head towards the slightly smaller Professor before murmuring in his ear. "Are you sure that exposing it like this is a good idea, my friend?" He whispered with a concerned tone.

With closed eyes, Oak only nodded slightly. "It's for the best. It was going to get out soon what with all of Pallet Town knowing he's with me now and the traffic that goes through it, but he'll still be safe enough with me in the small town. Better to have that amount of anonymity in a far location, mixed with the knowledge that you're now officially a protector of him too."

Lance seemed to consider it for a second before asking a question that had been nagging at him. "Are you sure the boy is in real danger, Oak?"

Oak only nodded again, but even more seriously again this time. "I know his father better than anyone, Lance. You can trust me when I say that if it won't happen anytime soon, then it will happen in the next few years. Why do you think we took such a gamble with releasing Synergy if the desired outcome didn't outweigh the risks with a potential legendary of all things?"

Oak left it at that as Lance seemed re-affirmed of the topic, his face a mask of seriousness as he straightened out and nodded to the professor, speaking normally again. "Well, I wish you fun in that conference of yours, my friend."

Oak smirked then, the expression not quite reaching his eyes. "And you have fun entertaining your new apprentice, Lance." He spoke with a coy tone before he departed from the corner then, Synergy having said goodbye to Ash, patting him on the shoulder and then following after the professor, Ash waving after her as she left.

As the two lost themselves in the crowd on the way to one of the smaller, less busy exits, Lance took Ash by the shoulder and began walking him to the main exit. "Well, come on my boy, you'll see them tonight. The arcade awaits!"

Lance and Ash walked right through the door, and was suddenly met by several reporters who had been tipped off to his appearance at the train station. A couple were rapidly taking pictures of him as three closed in to within a metre of him, asking him questions.

"Champion Lance, what are you doing here?!"

"Mr Wataru, are you needed somewhere, perhaps out of the region?"

"Whose the boy?"

To their shock, Lance actually stopped, his cape fluttering in the breeze outside of the train station as he actually gave the media attention. This was surprising to everybody present as they normally had to press to get answers from the man who usually worked to avoid them, and yet here he was - apparently about to answer some of their questions.

"Now, now, Ladies and Gentlemen, if you'd all just back off a bit. This is a child here, I do not need you closing in and giving him a panic attack." Lance shouted at the gathered media, who seemed to get hold of themselves and moved back a bit to give the champion and boy some breathing space; with even intrusive people like reporters concerned about the welfare of a child. Lance quickly took advantage of this to get off a short statement before they could start firing questions again and dictate the topic of conversation.

"Now, I'll give you an answer to your questions here and now so long as you all be silent and not interrupt, OK?" Lance voiced a commanding question, drawing several nods as more pictures were taken of him - the surrounding media happy to get an answer. "Very good." With a gentle tug, Lance squeezed Ash's shoulder to reassure him as he brought Ash in front of him and tried to keep him calm. "I came here to the station this morning to meet with an old friend of mine who agreed to escort this fine young man into my care. Ladies and gentlemen, meet my new apprentice, Ash Ketchum."

That set off a bombshell - several reporters began asking questions again as pictures were rapidly taken once more. Ash appeared very nervous, but Lance only steeled himself and put on a fake smile for the cameras. Allowing Ash to duck behind him, Lance only spent a minute more answering questions as he moved forth once more to the taxi stand located close to the exit.

"Right, no, that will do now-" Lance insisted as he approached a yellow car by the side of the road, before he actually had to push away a particular reporter and point at them. "What in Arceus do you think you're doing?"

The reporter appeared apologetic as they apologised to Lance, who only shook his head as he helped Ash into the car. "These incidents are exactly why I avoid the media. Anymore such incidents from any of your respective companies-" Lance took the time as he spoke to point at all of the reporters present, who remained silent as he spoke. "And I will be talking with the Johto administration about decreasing the power of the media, as it is obvious from your behaviour that you are like animals. Tell that to your executives, and make sure my temper does not get tested again. Especially when I have a child that you seemed to have no problems in almost shoving just there."

With that, Lance climbed into the taxi and stated a quick command to get to the City Square, leaving behind a silent bunch of reporters who had been on the receiving end of one of the publicly serious Champion's criticising talks.

GAME CORNER.

Lance was sat opposite Ash, having bought the boy lunch which had been finished just moments ago. Dratini was sat next to Ash, looking happy to see Lance again by the gleam in her eyes. The three had taken a break from the previous hour spent at the game corner, having turned into the café area to get something for them to eat. Now, with just a couple of empty plates in between them and the stuffed Pidgey Lance had won for the boy sitting next to Ash on the table, the champion decided it was time for conversation.

"Well, Ash, I believe its time you learned what exactly being an apprentice is all about." Lance stated, catching the boy's interest and getting him to nod. "For one thing, it's not that much different to being a student under Professor Oak, for example. It basically means that I am sponsoring your entry as a Pokemon trainer, which means you don't have to pay for a license. You also get my recommendation to your potential, which doesn't mean anything officially more than if you were Oak's student, but you'll soon find it can carry weight."

Ash appeared shocked that he even had to pay for a license, before shrugging. "Cool." Ash spoke.

"There are certain obligations for the both of us with you becoming my apprentice." Lance instructed as he folded his arms onto the table. "Whilst the benefits of you becoming my apprentice means you get my recommendation, sponsorship and obviously training under me, there are responsibilities. For a child such as yourself, you don't have to worry too much. But you do have to make appearances with me occasionally. You will have to attend some Pokemon matches with me so you can both learn and be seen publicly, I'll take you to the odd meeting with the other champions, that sort of thing. Do you feel up to that?"

Ash thought on that before nodding his head. "Yeah, that sounds interesting." The boy spoke, making Dratini coo beside him.

Ash looked to the serpentine. "What are you talking about? He didn't say you had to, he said I had to."

The dragon-type trilled at the boy again, as Lance watched on in confusion. "No problem."

Lance gave a snort, drawing the attention of both Ash and his Pokemon. "You've bonded with Dratini that much already that it's like you can understand her, hmm? I knew I made the right choice giving her to you, my boy."

Lance's smile quickly became a bit more of a confused expression again as Ash only arched an eyebrow at him, as even Dratini blinked at the champion. "But I can understand her, Lance." Ash spoke.

"What?" Lance let out firstly, before looking at Ash seriously. "You're saying that you understand Dratini here as if she was speaking English?"

"Well, yeah." Ash nodded to the shocked man. "I know its not actually English, but it sounds like it."

"But how?" Lance questioned, still in some disbelief at the motion of actually understanding a Pokemon.

"Did Mr Oak not tell you?" Ash asked back, getting a firm shake of Lance's head, before Ash looked to Dratini. "Oops. I didn't know that Mr Oak perhaps wanted to keep it a secret."

Dratini only cooed at him before gesturing to Lance, getting a nod from Ash. "Well, Ash." Lance as he leaned forward slightly. "You are my apprentice now, which means you're going to have to trust me with big things like these. I'm just going to politely ask if you can tell me how this is possible."

"Sure." Ash shrugged at the man. "Dratini said I should tell you. Synergy has had me training in aura, this magical energy that does loads of things, including bonding with a Pokemon. Apparently its this bond that lets me understand a Pokemon."

Lance's arm unfolded and instead gripped the table when he heard that. "Aura, Ash?" Lance questioned with a very serious complexion, making Ash look a bit daunted by the change in mood. "Are you sure about that?"

"Er, yeah." Ash responded slowly. "I've been learning it for a few months now, why?"

Lance seemed in deep thought as he mulled over that, gazing back at Ash. "And how much have you learnt so far?" Lance asked, with a soft commanding tone to it.

Ash gulped slightly. "Channelling it, shrouding my hand in aura, several concentration techniques..." Ash spoke out nervously as he stumbled slightly in Lance's seemingly unforgiving visage, which the man noticed and caused his features to soften. "Bonding with Pokemon and we've started on physical manipulation, sir." Ash finished quietly, having shrunk in on himself slightly.

Dratini noticed this and moved closer to the boy, causing him to perk up at her friendly coo before giving a glare to her former master when Ash couldn't see her face. Lance saw that, and sighed. "I'm sorry, Ash. I didn't mean to be so tough on you. But there are some things in this world that can't be taken lightly. Aura is definitely such a thing."

"OK." Ash replied, still with a bit of a quiet tone.

"Don't worry about anything, Ash." Lance then reassured, as he re-folded his arms back onto the table. "I'll have to talk with Oak about this, but you haven't done anything wrong."

The table stayed quiet for a minute as Lance just regarded what he found out, and Ash just wanted to stay out of any trouble. However, he couldn't stop thinking about things. "Hey, Lance." Ash mumbled out, catching the man's attention who gestured to him to continue. "What else does being an apprentice include?"

Lance gave a small smile at the boy. "Well, aside from the having to be with me sometimes in a few places and my recommendation, there are quite a few benefits to you as a whole. The training for one thing will be incredibly useful to you, as League regulations dictate that at least one day a week has to be spent training if a champion gets an apprentice."

Ash looked ecstatic about that, before he spotted a problem and frowned. "But you live in another country."

Lance actually let out a loud laugh at that. "Ash, my boy, it's no problem when your dragon flies faster than sound! I've visited you quite often overt he past few months, haven't I? I managed then!"

Ash appeared struck by realisation at Lance's words. "Oh yeah." Was all he said.

That caused Lance to only laugh longer, before calming down and speaking again, still smiling. "Well, let's see, other benefits and such shenanigans. Yes, there is of course better equipment for sale straight away. Normally, trainers can only buy certain stocks of things until they've proven that they're dedicated to their journeys. There's also the fact that people will recognise you as stronger than the average starting trainer - whether that's a benefit, is up to you." Lance paused as he thought. "You'll be able to establish connections in high places through me. Oh yes, and there is of course the fact that I'll be paying you as my apprentice. Part of the whole responsibilities thig, it's a way of keeping people enticed to the job."

Ash blinked at that, before smiling. Who didn't like to be paid?

Lance continued talking with Ash some more, who inquired into further details that he'd forget within the hour and of Lance's own experience as Champion and within the Pokemon League. Lance was happy to tell him, taking cheer from the conversation in continuing to thrill his new apprentice as well as having a proud moment of self-satisfaction. Eventually, however, Lance realised they couldn't stay in the corner of some arcade café forever.

"Right, well if that wraps up everything." Lance paused, getting a nod from Ash. "Very good. We've still got quite a bit of time to kill, so how about we head over to the Goldenrod City pier, have a bit of fun there. I can also show you a few tips and tricks for Dratini there, whilst we're at it." Ash definitely looked excited at that as he leapt up. "Then, we'll go see your friend Synergy's classification ceremony. It's a private event, but being champion helps you to get into those sorts of things. We'll go towards the end though, I meant it when I said I didn't like lots of scientific talk."

GOLDENROD CITY PIER.

Lance was regarding Dratini in front of him, his red hair and cape blowing in the wind as Ash awaited the verdict of how the serpentine was performing. Right now, Dratini was showing off her wrap technique which she had begun learning from Ash, having steadily built up her strength and speed over the past few months, and weeks especially ever since they began training at a more serious rate.

Flexing her coils and twisted twice around a wooden post that Lance had spotted as discarded wreckage, Dratini poured her strength into trying to crush the post between her scales. Lance watched with a keen eye as Dratini tensed her muscles once more before roughly pressing as hard as possible against the post.

"OK, that's enough." Lance called to the Pokemon, who then unwrapped from the now splintered post and faithfully slithered over to Ash, who petted her for a job well done. Taking stock of the damage marks inflicted in the wood, Lance passed on his knowledge.

"That was a very good wrap, you've obviously been working on it for some time now." Lance praised. "Dratini, you've obviously become stronger under Ash's care, and that makes me proud of you." Dratini's head perked up and she let out a pleased trill. "However, there is always room for improvement. For instance, it is actually a waste to try and squeeze the post, or your opponent in any case, with your whole body. This is because the strength of your body is not uniform - Dratini is weaker nearer to the tail in terms of strength than closer to the mid-section of her body for example. In this regard, you should focus your strength into one location - apply steep pressure from two sides onto the same horizontal line or layer, and you'll find improved results than trying to crush everything with your body at once."

Ash quickly scooped into his black rucksack and pulled out a small pencil and pad, scribbling the words of wisdom. "I didn't think of that." Ash admitted. "Thanks Lance."

"No problem, Ash." Lance responded with a smile, before looking to the Pokemon. "Did you get that, Dratini?" Dratini cooed again as she dipped her head in affirmation.

"Good." Lance spoke. "Now, approach the wooden post slowly, and point your tail at a clean section of the wood." Dratini looked to Lance for a moment, before slithering over to the wooden post and stopping at an area devoid of splinter marks, she rested her tail on top of the smooth wood. "Now, raise the tail into the air, and then tense it and straighten it as much as you can." Dratini did as she was instructed, sticking her small scaled tail up and straightening it as best she could. "Now, bring it down as hard as you can on the wood!"

Dratini responded with a cry as she hit the wood as hard she can, but received only a thud on the wood which remained smooth from her hit. Looking back at Lance, the dragon master instead turned to Ash. "Now, my apprentice, if your Dratini wishes to break the wood with just her tail, what do you think needs to have happened?"

Ash scratched his head as he thought, before giving a small shrug. "Well, like you said, she needs to keep her tail strong. Making it straight would be crucial I guess-"

"Exactly!" Lance interrupted with a flourishing tone as he pointed at Ash. "Spot on! Perhaps you didn't notice, but as she brought her tail down, she allowed it to sag a little. This won't do if you wish to preserve the strength in the blow! Dratini, you have to keep your tail straight and strong!"

Ash quickly wrote down that as well. "Straight, tense, strong..." He mumbled out, underlining some key notes.

Lance chuckled before bringing out a Pokeball from his jacket. Throwing it towards the wooden post, in a flash of light emerged a now familiar orange Pokemon - Dragonite. With a friendly roar, the wide eyes of the dragon Pokemon looked round, waving to Ash and then awaiting an order from Lance.

"Dragonite, my good friend!" Lance addressed theatrically. "Ash and Dratini here seek to polish up some techniques. What say you show them how its done with an iron tail upon that wooden post there?"

Dragonite looked to the splintered wooden post, gave an affirmative grunt before acting in one fluid motion. Turning sharply and raising their tail in one go, the entire metre-long tail quickly took on a metal sheen in appearance which glinted in the sunlight before being rammed down on the post. The increased sharpness of the temporarily metallic appendage allowed it to cleave right through the wood, snapping the post in half and scattering a few small wooden chunks about the floor. Giving a satisfied huff, Dragonite's tail resumed its normal appearance as Dratini looked impressed up at her evolved brethren.

"Great." Lance praised. "Now, can you please work with Dratini in teaching her how to start learning iron tail?"

Dragonite responded with a nod, before the orange beast stooped low to begin conversing with the blue serpentine. Seeing them busy, Ash looked to Lance. "Iron tail, Mr Lance?" Ash inquired.

"Oh yes." Lance nodded to his apprentice. "It'll be a good move for your Dratini, she's gotten stronger and I believe she's ready for it. Iron tail is a steel-type physical move which has incredible cutting power and attack stats. However, whilst strength is obviously a crucial factor in making the move a success, so is speed and accuracy. An opponent can dodge or block any such close-range move, and so making it land accurately in an effective location will enhance the attack, as well as good speed will help to overcome any dodging attempt."

Ash was scribbling away in his pad again as he listened to Lance with an intrigued expression. "How should I go about doing this, Lance?" He asked as he finished his note taking and looked up to the dragon master.

Lance merely smiled and ruffled Ash's hair, getting a laugh out of the boy. "All that and more I'll be teaching you every Saturday from now on, my boy. Don't you worry." Lance stated, getting Ash to smile in turn. "But a good place to start would be to watch how Dragonite and Dratini are doing it now." Ash looked over to the two Pokemon, just as Dratini let out a cry as her tail chopped at the wooden post again.

GOLDENROD CITY POKEMON CENTRE.

Ash and Lance walked straight past the Nurse Joy manning the counter at the front desk, Lance only giving a wave as Nurse Joy saw no need in stopping the instantly recognisable Johto champion. Lance led Ash down a corridor past the cafeteria where three trainers were eating an early dinner, disappearing into a tiled section reserved for normally the Pokemon centre staff and their caretaking Pokemon, but the champion was a normal exception to everything in his own region.

As it turned out, the scheduled meeting of the scientific gathering was taking place in one of the conference rooms of the Pokemon centre. Taking place in Johto at Lance's own invitation, combined with the fact that Goldenrod City had good transport links and sat close to the centre of the continent for ease of access; and it had been agreed.

Among the gathered scientific members was Kanto's most notorious professors, that of Professor Oak and researcher Bill, who was a small man particularly interested in Pokemon biology and science. The inventors of the Pokedex and Pokemon Storage System respectively. Professor Elm was there of course as Johto's own regional professor, a tall man with brown hair and glasses, with a seemingly permanent dim-witted expression.

Several other scientists were also there, making the room a large gathering of white lab coats, but seeing as his friends Oak and Elm were busy in conversation together at one end of the conference room, Lance headed towards the only other non-scientist there. Steven Stone, the Hoenn champion sat in a chair against the wall, a drink in one hand as the calm man sipped from it as he regarded the general chatty atmosphere of the room.

Seeing his Johto counterpart approach him with his usual caped, enigmatic presence, Steven gave a smirk as he sipped again - before raising an eyebrow as he saw Lance leading a raven-haired child by the hand. Calmly regarding the man, Steven shifted his chair left a bit to give the seat beside him at the wall a bit more room.

"Hello, Steven." Lance greeted with a cool tone as he took the offered seat, ushering the boy into the seat left of his own and handing him some Pidgey toy before looking to the Hoenn Champion.

"Lance." Steven replied as he put down his drink and sat back to regard the dragon master. "Where were you? This is a scientific meeting in your region, after all."

Lance gave a snort. "You know that science has never been my thing, unlike you with your love of rocks." He spoke, only making the Hoenn champion smirk at the barb. "Besides, I've been busy looking after Ash today." He tilted his head towards the boy, who looked up from the teddy as he heard his name being called.

Steven raised an eyebrow again. "Babysitting, Lance? That's not like you." Steven stated, but Lance fully heard the inquisition in the man's tone.

"I owe Professor Oak a few favours, and this is one such circumstance as the man was busy today." Lance started, before unveiling the bigger reason. "But most of all, I had to spend the day with my new apprentice."

Now that fully caught Steven's attention, as the man paused and looked at Lance with a very interested expression. "Oh? A new apprentice?" Steven voiced out, before leaning forth to look at Ash with closer detail, who looked back. "Do tell, Lance."

Giving a laugh, Lance took Ash from his chair and stood him in front of Steven. "Ash, I'd like you to meet a colleague of mine. This is Steven Stone, the Hoenn Champion." Lance introduced the man to Ash, who nodded at the boy. "Steven, this is Ash Ketchum, my new apprentice."

Lance didn't miss the flicker in Steven's eyes to him at the mention of the surname, but Steven didn't act on it as he merely held out a hand to the boy. "Well, congratulations on being made an apprentice, Ash."

Taking a nervous look at the hand, Ash nonetheless placed a smaller hand forward through which Steven grasped gently and shook gently for the both of them. "Nice to meet you, Mr Stone." Ash responded.

"Oh?" Steven repeated. "A polite young man, no wonder you made him your apprentice Lance."

Ash gave a small smile at the praise as Lance chuckled, before ushering Ash back to his seat. "Yes, I rather do like my new apprentice."

Picking his drink back up and taking a sip, the Hoenn champion inquired further, and with a quieter voice so as not to be overheard by Ash. "So, Lance, is there any particular reason that you're the first champion out of all of us, and particularly for twenty years of any champion, to get an apprentice?"

Lance lowered his voice too. "A few reasons. I'm sure you heard the surname, after all." Lance stated, as Steven only nodded with a blank expression back. "Also, do you know of that new potential legendary that you were classifying for definite today?"

"Yes." Steven answered. "Yes, it appeared an hour ago and caused quite the excitement amongst all the professors. I myself evaluated it because of its steel-type. Plasteel, Professor Oak himself introduced it as. In fact, he and Elm are just having a final conversation amongst themselves about its classification now, now that all the evaluations are out of the way. Why?"

Lance's expression became a bit more guarded as his quiet tone remained. "That was the Pokemon that took Ash here and disappeared into the Orange Archipelago."

"Oh." Steven said once more but with a tone of realisation, taking a pause with another sip of his drink as he pondered over what he'd just been told as he looked over to the Kanto regional professor. "Were you not the one that rescued Ash then, and captured Plasteel?"

"Indeed." Lance confirmed.

"That's how you got introduced then?" Steven asked, moving on with the topic.

"Yes, after looking after Ash for a short while, I ended up quite liking him. I promised to visit him, kept visiting..." Lance spoke with a gesture of his hands with each point in the sentence. "Then here we are today. He's got potential, I like him, and that's all that's needed."

Steven nodded with a tilt of his glass to Lance. "Well, good for you, Lance. I wish you fun with the boy, and luck as well fitting all this into a champion's busy schedule."

Lance only chuckled, before the two men went quiet for a minute. Taking a drink himself from the refreshment stand and keeping Ash happy with a chocolate bar, Lance and Steven just watched all of the scientists chat happily in the conference room. Plenty of discussion was occurring amongst them about papers and research the scientists had published, with a bit of disagreement going on a few times; but mostly they agreed with one another and only supplied further theories and ideas to build it up more.

Seeing Oak converse with Bill about something as Elm stood there nodding, Lance turned to Steven again. "So what did you make of Plasteel, out of curiosity?" The dragon master asked.

Thinking for a moment, Steven answered whilst gently stirring his drink in an idle motion. "It's truly an amazing steel-type. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a legendary, I would bet right now there is no other such Pokemon like it on the planet." Steven stated with a voice of interest.

The fact that the Pokemon was created didn't need to be said by either man, as few people knew of that fact - and only five people in the room knew. "Please, go on Steven." Lance urged.

"Well, there was a few facts I was able to glean about it." Steven said matter-of-factly. "Like the fact that the metal the Pokemon is made up of is mostly titanium. Titanium, Lance, the third strongest metal on this planet. It's no wonder it's so strong."

"Is that usual for a steel-type?" Lance questioned.

"No, not in the slightest." Steven answered, making Lance's curiosity rise. "I wondered how on earth it's armour stood up to a fire-type legendary of all things for so long, being inexperienced and just recently exposed to the world. But seeing that, it was a treat to see. I'll tell you right now, Lance, as of this moment with my knowledge, no such Pokemon has that type of armour. A few could match it in defensive strength, sure, like Metagross. But as soon as that thing gets more experience and training? It'll surpass them."

Lance gave a low whistle, looking briefly to Ash before turning back to Steven. "Anything else?"

The Hoenn champion shrugged as they drank again. "Not much to say once I confirmed the metal composition of the Pokemon and verified that everything was right with it. It's a true machine with a few biological properties - doesn't need necessities like eating like 99% of Pokemon, it's got an actual computer in it's skull area and it's got bloody swords on its arms." Steven informed, before making a contemplative expression. "They only needed me to evaluate its type properties, nothing more than that - besides keep an eye on it, of course. I swear, everyone was so uneasy when Oak said it had killed Moltres of all things. Speaking of which, Professor Oak could tell you a heck of a lot more, he's the one who's scanned it and got all the info on its biology and such."

Lance nodded at that, patting Steven on the shoulder. "Thanks for that, Steven."

Steven gave a short chuckle. "Don't thank me, it wasn't that much work. It's been a good day off, meeting everyone to be honest. Besides, didn't you put more work into capturing Plasteel?"

Giving a nod, Lance confirmed that. "Yeah, it was a bit of a pain. I'm lucky it had expended so much energy fighting Moltres." Finishing his own drink unlike Steven whose slow rate ensured he still had a third left, Lance frowned as he looked about the room. "Speaking of which, where is Plasteel?"

Steven chuckled as he withdrew an ultra ball from his pocket. Glancing at it for a moment, he then pressed it into Lance's hands. "Here you are. I had to recall it in the end because of all the dodgy looks, and the Pokemon didn't look happy at all with going back in, but needs be. It is your Pokemon right, I mean you caught it?"

Lance chuckled before he actually turned then and gave the Pokeball to Ash, who gasped at the sight of the Pokeball. Steven's own face blinked as he was shocked at such a powerful Pokemon being given to a child. "Actually, she's Ash's Pokemon. Turns out she took a liking to the boy, and wouldn't accept anyone else."

"Right..." Steven trailed off then. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Me and Oak have already been over this." Lance stated with a firm tone. "Ash will be her trainer."

The men could say nothing more as Steven's shocked expression quickly became very alarmed as Ash tossed the Pokeball onto the floor, and released the Pokemon within. However, Lance's arm darted forth and stopped Steven from withdrawing a Pokeball, the irony not lost on the dragon master as he merely gestured to Steven to keep calm. Looking into Lance's serious eyes, the Hoenn champion backed down, albeit with some reluctance as the room itself was plunged into silence. Glancing around, Lance saw exactly what Steven meant as he saw the uneasy expressions on many - with some taking a step back. However, Lance knew that things would be alright now that Ash was reunited with the Pokeball.

Blinking, the robotic Pokemon stood up to her full height and quickly recalibrated her optical senses to bring the room into full focus from the contrasting darkness of the Pokeball device. Her expression quickly turned into disinterest as she saw the scientific gathering from before looking to her with unease, blank, and a few interested expressions. She had remained silent throughout the proceedings she was needed for, having remained by the only people she had taken an interest in - the Stone champion, the Johto Professor, and of course the only person in the room she had any trust in - Oak. Her system was trying to comprehend why they couldn't have spared her the rest of their gathering when a tap on her back interrupted her processing. Gazing round, Synergy blinked before eye-smiling at the sight of Ash in his favourite black hoodie.

"Hey Synergy!" Ash chirped then, waving up at the much taller Pokemon who was smiling at him. He didn't seem to notice the general quiet atmosphere of the room now, only focused on his friend - which had caused a few of the scientists to begin silent conversations about the potential legendary.

Drawing back the facial plates, Synergy greeted Ash in turn. "Hello, Ash." Synergy spoke in her usual deep tone as she ruffled the boy's hair, getting a laugh from Ash which quickly turned into a yelp as Synergy picked him up from his chair.

Steven gave a gasp at the exchange, before looking to the totally unsurprised Lance with a slackened expression for the first time that day - a rare occurrence for such a calm individual. "It talked?" Steven asked to Lance, who only nodded.

"Yep." Lance stated. He almost felt like smiling, laughing even as he saw the stunned expressions on everyone else in the room. He didn't blame them, given the fact that probably not a single person in the room before had ever heard a Pokemon speak bar Oak, but it was still funny all the same. "She always could."

Steven looked like he was gathering his features back in order as he wished to question Lance some more, but it was then that Professor Oak stepped forth with Elm beside him. Clearing his throat, the elderly man spoke then. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen, I understand we may be a little shocked right now. But please, me and the champions need a moment of discussion about Plasteel here." Seeing some of the scientists acquiesce as they began to walk to the other side of the room, Oak quickly became annoyed as a few of them still remained. "Away from here, if you will." He spoke then with a slight commanding tone.

Being the only scientist among them who'd ever been a champion, the rest quickly agreed and trudged away. The noise level quickly rose again as the chatty atmosphere returned, and Oak didn't need three guesses to know what topic would be forefront in a lot of the conversations.

As he and Elm walked over to the two champions, Professor Oak gestured to Synergy to join them, who complied as she made her way over with her usual clanking movements, Ash in her arms. With everyone necessary gathered, Oak gave a nod.

"Well, we've all gone over it." Oak started our. "And it wasn't easy, but we've got a majority vote from everybody, and we've gathered some new information on Plasteel here."

Synergy herself asked then - she felt she had a right to, given how she was the one in question. "Like what, Professor?"

"It's more detailed than I could describe in a simple answer, but here's the basic run-down." Oak answered without hesitating, drawing everyone's attention then. "Your overall metal quality has been rated excellent with results we've only seen in a few steel types, like the fact that your over 70% titanium. Your second typing is electrical, we ascertained that through your robotic nature and the fact that you seemed to have a natural disposition to electrical attacks in the tests. And you have very high defence and special defence stats which will only get higher with training. The stat you seem to be lowest on is speed."

"Er, Professor, are you forgetting that Plasteel here was flying when I first saw her?" Lance questioned, getting a tilt of the head from the mentioned Pokemon.

"No, Lance, I did not. It's another analysis of Plasteel that I was getting to." Oak answered as he sent a small glare to Lace for interrupting him. "There's also other things, like the fact that your best attacking range is close-range and that, but I can tell Plasteel here more back at the lab. For now, my point is, for a Pokemon whose experienced the world for just five months and a bit, she's already much better than most wild and trainer's Pokemon in general. That already makes her special, but her best feature would have to be her aura."

Elm looked particularly interested as Lance gave a nod as Ash perked up at the mention of the 'magical energy', as Steven looked like he wanted to ask. A pat on the shoulder from Lance, however, made him wait.

"Overall." Elm spoke then, a high-pitched voice coming from the tall man. "We have considered what status we were going to give you."

"Congratulations." Oak smiled then to Synergy, who focused her full, rapt attention on the elderly professor. "You're the latest legendary Pokemon in over two hundred years."

Ash gave a cheer then, as Synergy merely chuckled at Ash's enthusiasm.

MIDNIGHT - ROOF OF OAK'S LABORATORY.

Synergy was sat on the edge of the second storey of the Professor's laboratory, her senses just taking in the view of the night sky. She didn't know if this is what the humans called contemplation, or just relaxing, but the robotic Pokemon had found it helpful. Her leg was placed on the roof drawn towards her as the other one was allowed to gently sway off the edge of the building.

The past few months had been fruitfully spent heavily researching when she could, gaining experience by battling Lucario which had helped improve the accuracy of the battle analysing software by 14%, aura training and generally just caring for her charge. Synergy didn't really know why she had decided to remain with Ash initially - at first, Ash had been priority one to protect, above all else. But then, after the battle with Moltres, the commanding software that drove her system had no longer made it an unconscious action to try and keep him safe.

Instead, Synergy had become truly sentient - no longer driven by a computer, software commands and pre-emptive knowledge, but everything was now at her own command. She was truly in control.

And, according to the Professor, she had Ash to thank for that as well. Ripping out the 'inhibitor chip' had granted her total control. So now, for the synthetic being, she had the child to thank for both allowing her freedom, and control. She'd stick with him for a long time, she mused.

Something her creator had undoubtedly not wanted. If the documents were to be believed, she was a created being that was being designed for the ultimate purpose of power and maximum destruction. Delia certainly wasn't her creator, more like a helping hand - and she was dead, so the robotic Pokemon didn't bother analysing how she felt towards the woman. Synergy did ponder on who on earth had designed her and what they ultimately wanted, but she found herself conclusively unbothered it. All she could do was train to be better to defeat them should they come after her, but for now, she was safe in relative anonymity in an isolated spot in Kanto; with connections to important figures like a regional professor and a champion. Or at least Ash did - another, lesser reason, to stick with him. For now, remaining out of reach and helping however she could satisfied whatever antagonism she felt towards her unknown creator.

Oh, and there was the fact that she had been made a legendary class Pokemon yesterday.

She indeed had a lot to think about as she sat there, leg gently swinging as she'd seen the Professor do. It was nice, just to allow her system to slow down its rate of processing and to just think on things with a more clarifying viewpoint, as the logic processors had more time to churn over the results. Not to mention there was the fact that her actual biological mind was doing a lot of the thinking and processing this time, rather than just being a command centre that directed the system on what to do as the system handled everything else, only supplying data and taking away commands.

A pick-up in wind shook the robotic Pokemon out of her contemplation as her system alerted her to the change in conditions. It wouldn't normally have gotten her to pay attention, but it was detected to be strange in its sudden spike of blowing wind, prompting the computer to provide a list of possible reasons. Turning around anyway to see whatever the reason was, Synergy became quite shocked to see that all there was behind her was a wreath of swirling darkness. Lighter shades of black rolled across the rooftop than the night sky, making the swirling and moving shadows visible to Synergy's senses.

And in the middle of it all, was a dark outline and representation of a being. Clearly a Pokemon, for the wind had died down after the sudden appearance of this being and allowed Synergy to deduce that this Pokemon was the cause of this fake darkness.

Her senses struggled to make out the details of the Pokemon, which was strange - she could see the entire area clearly with her optical systems, and yet this shadowy being appeared obscured, as if wreathed in a shifting cloak. A warning flashed up on her system that it was 96.8% probable that this was a technique tampering with her visual receptors, and Synergy would believe it. There was ways to trick mechanical systems, though it was difficult - and the fact that her system was 5.1% organic meant she was susceptible, somewhat, to illusion techniques. The only thing that was clear was the shape of the being - a bulky, bipedal appearance, that had two piercing, solidly bright blue eyes staring right at her through the generated murky conditions.

Synergy continued trying to clear up the jamming that was messing up her senses, but eventually stopped as it had no visible impact upon the technique. Instead, she analysed the situation. The entity causing the jamming was obviously not initially hostile as it had made no move to strike at her yet, but was indeed suspicious due to the clear intent to hide its identity from her. Further data was required.

"Who are you?" Synergy called out as she braced herself slightly, standing up slowly and flexing her right wrist which was ready to engage its blade at any moment.

The unknown figure merely twitched its head a bit, the oblong blue eyes tilting. "I think the better question, is who are you?" The deep tone of the shadowy being sounded rough, with a callous edge. "You feel similar."

Synergy regarded that with due consideration. "I'm afraid I can't say the same. I've never met you, and my system can't identify you or the technique you're using."

"That's because we haven't met before." The being replied, drawing up some confusion in the robotic Pokemon. How could she be similar then?

"What is it you are looking for here?" Synergy asked, seeking to get to the point of the appearance of this mysterious Pokemon.

"No need to worry." The shadowy figure spoke, as the outline of their arm pointed at her with one extended digit. "I came here to see you. There are rumours abound of a new legendary, and as soon as I felt the similarity between us I came directly before you, to perhaps settle my intrigue. You are as perhaps as mysterious to me, as I am to you."

The combat likeliness of the situation decreased in her system, but her right hand remained flexed at any rate. "How so?" Synergy inquired.

"You do not have my powers, as I do not have yours. You do not sense the connection, and yet neither can I sense anything beyond that." The unknown being spoke, an interested tone clear in their rugged voice. "That is the mystery."

Synergy was getting interested now. "So you and I share some sort of connection?"

"Evidently." The Pokemon spoke, before gesturing to the lab beneath them. "Just like you seem to have bonded with the humans, you and I share some indescribable bond."

Synergy merely blinked. "Not quite. We haven't met, and the humans here have at least earned my trust."

The shadowy figure's head twitched at that. "The humans can't be trusted." Was all they said.

Synergy's eyes narrowed slightly at that, the logic processors picking up on the animosity towards the human race being projected by the Pokemon before her. "False." Synergy countered. "Pokemon and humans are more alike than you seem to think. You just have to find the right person to trust."

The figure remained quiet as they just kept gazing at Synergy, who continued speaking as it seemed the other Pokemon wouldn't. "Just look in the right place. I trust one of the humans with my life. I already owe it to them twice."

The unknown figure seemed to find that funny, perhaps ironic as they replied in a quiet tone. "I once trusted a human. They gave me a purpose, and I was content to serve once. Until they showed me their true colours, and the true intentions of the human race. Now, I have no such purpose. You see, they're all the same - it'll happen to you."

"Really?" Synergy questioned of the being, who seemed to give a nod.

The shadowy Pokemon pressed their point. "Like I said, the humans can't be trusted. They've ordered this world into one of control and dominance, and when they finally tire of their lack of control over you, they'll turn on you. Come with me, and I'll see to it that you'll never experience what I did."

Synergy's facial plates opened then, before closing as she thought on that. "With respect, I'll have to decline." Synergy responded, receiving not an ounce of movement from the Pokemon opposite her. "Ash means too much to me. I apologise that that happened to you, but I am truly happy here. I will stay here, and look out for the human who granted me a chance at life, then gave me control - not took it away. So neither can I go away now."

The unknown figure remained silent for a few moments in contemplation before speaking in a more resigned, callous tone. "I find myself somewhat pitying you for caring for the humans like this."

"And it is I that pities you." Synergy replied back without hesitation. "I have found my way in this world, disregarding the purpose my own creator set out for me and it is with the help of the humans that I found a new one. You do not have such a purpose, you said so yourself." The robotic Pokemon intoned with a lecturing tone, before chuckling. "Find your way. Hating everything around you because one human befouled you only makes you empty."

The shadowy being twitched, before speaking in a rough tone. "I know nothing but hate. This world has shown me nothing but the callous disregard of humanity and Pokemon alike. I would have to destroy this laboratory just to feel some fulfilment."

"Incorrect." Synergy stated, facial plates sliding back as her system pointed out the error in the figure's statements. "This world has shown you positivity. You have seen my own care for these humans, the Pokemon in the world living and caring for one another as they can, and the general cooperation of Pokemon and humans alike to sustain this balance the world has evolved around." Synergy spoke before raising her fingers to quote her next words. "There is no such thing as 'nature intended', or 'human controlled'. It is humans and Pokemon who have evolved side by side to form the planet we live on today, not some natural or specific species' order that determined fate. It would illogical to assume otherwise. You merely have to find where you belong on this planet, not assume that you don't belong in it - there is always a place. I was created, and yet I found my place where others would say I wouldn't belong."

"Besides." Synergy finished. "I would not let you destroy this place."

The unknown figure gave another twitch. It remained like that for some time, as the shadowy being just looked at Synergy with a regarding gaze as she looked back analytically. It was broken as the unknown figure began to move.

"...You intrigue me." They spoke after some time, making Synergy looked at them curiously. "I'll be back."

"Please do." Synergy responded, but more to herself as she detected they had already teleported away. Thinking about what had occurred, Synergy merely returned to sitting on the edge of the rooftop. She had more to ponder about.