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.

10. Chapter 9 - Growing Up

TRAINING FIELD.

Lance touched down on the field, Dragonite giving off a friendly roar to signify the end of the short journey the champion had made across the border. They had landed on the specialist training field area of Oak's laboratory, and Lance was now petting the orange dragon under the chin to convey his appreciation to the creature.

"Alright, Dragonite. Thank you very much for getting me here." Lance spoke to the dragon, who gave an affectionate rumble as Lance pulled out a Pokeball. "Have a rest now." The red light from the device reached out and quickly caused Dragonite's form to be dispelled into the same red energy mist, recalling it all back into the capture device.

Turning around, Lance only had to wait a minute, before giving a small smile as he saw the moving forms of an elderly man and a young boy, the professor doddering along as usual with his hands behind his back as Ash walked alongside him. The boy had his usual get-up of a hoodie on, as well as the ever-present hat perched on his head that Oak had worn as his signifying feature in his days as a trainer. Then of course, there was the synthetic Pokemon walking beside Ash as always, the armoured being seemingly permanently by Ash's side.

Giving a wave, Lance smirked as he saw Ash wave excitedly back, before sprinting over to greet the Johto champion. The Professor only shook his head at the boy's energy as he didn't bother to break stride to catch up to them, Synergy remaining the same as she only watched Ash hug the red-headed man.

"Hey, Lance!" Ash shouted, looking up with an excited grin at the dragon master, who transformed his smirk into a friendly, greeting smile back.

"Well, hello my young apprentice!" Lance responded, giving Ash a pat on the shoulder before the champion looked up to see that the other two had joined them.

"Greetings, Lance." Oak stated as he stopped before them, hands still behind his back as he regarded the dragon master.

"Hello, old friend." Lance greeted, giving a nod to the black and blue armoured Pokemon beside the professor who reciprocated, before he stuck out his hand to the researcher.

Oak gave a chuckle as he reached forth and grasped Lance's hand, shaking it firmly before speaking. "Well, as much as I would like to catch up with you Lance, I'm afraid I have some work in the river to do with some of my assistants. We need to survey the area to see if its still suitable for all of the water type Pokemon, and if not, have construction work begin to expand the habitat."

Lance only clapped the Professor on the back. "You go do that Samuel, while I begin my first training session with Ash here. I'll see you later when its time for me to leave." Exchanging a few more lines of conversation, Oak eventually made his way away from them and off towards the Pokemon ranch.

Ash looked a bit worried as he saw his adoptive father leave. "Will Mr Oak be OK in there?" Ash asked Lance.

Looking to the boy, Lance laughed and made to reassure Ash. "Don't worry, my boy. You know of how Oak was a champion, yes?" Lance asked, getting a nod from Ash. "Well, his old Pokemon live in this ranch too, and act as security for it with patrols and such. Not a single Pokemon will harm a hair on that man's head so long as they don't wish to be snapped like a twig by Oak's loyal team."

"Oh." Ash said. He had known that the old man had some powerful Pokemon, but not that powerful.

Giving off another laugh, Lance decided to begin as Synergy only looked analytically to the man, silently just filing away information. "OK, Ash, so here starts our first training session together." Lance stated, rubbing his hands together as he thought.

Ash jumped up and down a bit, only stopping when Synergy reached out and placed a synthetic hand on top of his head to calm him, making the robotic Pokemon look to Lance to get the ball rolling. "So, what happens first then, Lance?" Synergy asked.

"Glad you asked." Lance responded as he pondered some more, before just shrugging. "Synergy and Dratini are your only two Pokemon, am I correct, Ash?"

"Yeah." Ash voiced in affirmation as he looked to Lance.

"Alright then." Lance mused out. "How long have you been training with Dratini?"

Taking a moment to think and count on his fingers, Ash responded. "I'd say 'bout a month. Why?"

"I just need to know where you are in terms of progression, that's all." Lance answered. "And I don't think I need to question Synergy's abilities here. But just out of curiosity, how long have you been training?"

Synergy looked at Lance for a moment before responding. "Personally? As much as I could ever since we came here six months ago. With Ash? A month."

"That light tone you say it in belies what you really can do." Lance seemed to speak in a mutter, making Synergy tilt her head slightly at him with a patronising gaze. "Don't look at me like that. I may have not used my strongest Dragonite, but it still took a pseudo-legendary to take you down before you started training."

Synergy looked intrigued at the news that Lance had an even stronger Dragonite somewhere, but merely gestured to Ash. "Shall we start?"

"Yes, lets do that." Lance agreed, before turning to Ash. Taking out a Pokeball from within his jacket, he quickly enlarged the device from its shrunken state and let it fly close to Ash. "Come and help me, Charmander!"

"Char!" Came the happy noise of an orange reptilian Pokemon who emerged from the red energy besides Ash. It stood at two feet tall, with short legs and arms with three sharp claws apiece on each limb, a cream coloured belly taking up the torso area. A small tail wagged behind it, a flame lit and ever-burning on the tip of the tail as the Charmander firstly blinked up at Ash with large, oval blue eyes before opening up its short snout to reveal gap-toothed teeth with an open smile. The rest of its body was a bright orange, and from Synergy's observations, it looked recently caught.

"Hello, Charmander." Lance spoke out then, making the bipedal orange lizard turn to him and let out a more resounding, affectionate call of its name. "You see, Ash, I just caught Charmander a couple of weeks ago, and just started training him. He will make a great training partner for Dratini if you release her."

Ash nodded as he fished out a Pokeball of his own from his pocket and pushing the button whilst it was in the palm of his hand, making the red energy fly out from the opened ball and form the blue serpentine upon the floor right beside him. Extending her neck up and looking to Ash, the serpentine gave a coo as Ash rubbed her head.

"Excellent." Lance stated. "Now, I've got a basic idea of what I want to do for the next year with you, mainly teaching you the basics of how to care for your Pokemon correctly. A few other things needs to be taught, how to survive in the wild, but I won't focus so much on those matters given how you've got both Oak and Synergy to also teach you those things. And of course, there will be training with your Pokemon, but tougher training can come later once you've got an idea of the basics."

"Will that include things like education-wise like Pokemon typing and weaknesses, or more battle oriented scenarios like tactics, strategies and such?" Synergy asked right there and then, deeming it crucial to find out what direction Lance wanted to head in.

Giving an approving nod, Lance answered. "Definitely more battle helpful things. Oak can teach Ash all about what types a Pokemon has and what each type is weak to and such, but I teach Ash on how to exploit those weaknesses. For instance, electrical is strong against water - but how will it help if the opponent just dodges your electrical attack? I will train Ash on how to anticipate such things." Lance rattled off.

Synergy gave an approving nod this time, before Lance turned to Ash and Dratini. "But like I said before, I just want to find out where you are. I wish to see how you do things moving forward, the tempo at which you act and coordinate your Pokemon and other such things. When I get a feel for how you do these things, I will know how to teach you."

"OK." Ash chirped. "What do you want me to do?"

Lance seemed to ponder for a bit before pointing at Dratini. "How far is Dratini in terms of mastering iron tail?"

"Ah." Ash spoke with a bit more of a hesitant tone, as Dratini looked up at Ash. "Not much. Her tail's beginning to look silver, though!"

Lance only chuckled. "Don't worry Ash, for someone with your level of knowledge, I wouldn't have expected you to have got it down in a week." Lance spoke reassuringly. "Besides, my Charmander is just at the same level in terms of learning metal claw. By practicing a move like iron tail, it can lead to easier training of similar moves, like aqua tail. Let's have them both practice their moves now." Scanning the training field, Lance saw the wooden posts at both ends of it. "Yes, those posts will do us nicely. Here, have a try at commanding your Pokemon like you would if you had called them into battle Ash. I'll start."

Taking a pose, Lance called out to Charmander who looked at him with determination. "Charmander, use metal claw on one of the left posts!" Letting out a cry of its name, the orange Pokemon did just that as it charged forth with a stretched out arm, a weak metallic glint emerging on its claws.

Copying Lance's example, Ash pointed at the post furthest to the right. "Dratini, use iron tail on the right post!" Ash cried out, getting Dratini to respond back seriously before then darting forth with a surprising amount of speed that an organism could gain from slithering. Something that would only increase with future training.

Charmander managed to scratch out roughly five centimetres of the post before its claws lost its metal sheen and the lizard quickly pulled its appendage out to stop it getting damaged. Dratini didn't have quite the same problem in that her sheen lasted much longer, but the problem for the serpentine was that her iron tail wasn't strong enough to gouge out much into the post. Her tail slammed down onto the side of the post, and managed to chip it.

"Excellent." Lance spoke out a he clapped his hands together. "Now, let's do some more..."

OAK'S LABORATORY, SIX MONTHS LATER.

"Good luck, Ash." Synergy stated to the nervous raven-haired boy, who gave a weak smile to the robotic Pokemon. Seeing him like that, Synergy just eye-smiled at him and ruffled his hair, temporarily dispersing Ash's nervousness as the boy laughed. "I know you'll do well."

"I'll try, Synergy. Thank you." Ash responded, this time with a more confident smile. Patting him on the shoulder, Synergy gently guided Ash through the door, taking a moment to look in before then closing the door. She stayed there another moment, before going off to round up Dratini. Ash may take it easy on the serpentine with his still child-like views, and Lance seemed to want to make her follow a specific chart of progression, but the synthetic Pokemon was more down-to-earth. It was time that Dratini had a course of true training.

Ash, meanwhile, looked round the room - and saw Professor Oak standing at the front of the classroom styled room. A white screen which was obviously used to display the image from the projector hanging from the ceiling was fixed behind Oak, who was himself stood behind a desk at the front of the room with a computer facing him. The Professor seemed busy, typing into the computer and having not noticed Ash yet - however, a smirking Gary had, who was sat at a small desk in the middle of the room. In fact, there was only two desks in the who empty space in the middle of the room, Gary sat at one - and Ash presumed one meant for him a metre on the right from Gary's own.

"Ashy-boy!" Gary called out with his usual nick-name for Ash as the boy sat at the desk next to Gary. "How you doing?"

"Fine thank you, Gary." Ash spoke more quietly, his nerves acting up a bit again. "Are you ready?"

Gary gave a confident smirk - but Ash saw that flash of emotion in his eyes before he closed them. He knew his best friend, and Gary was just as nervous as he was. "As ready as I'll ever be, Ash." Gary stated confidently nonetheless, making Ash sort-of jealous of the boy. Ash had always admired Gary's more confident disposition, even if he knew it was fake, as opposed to his more guarded, quiet nature that would only roam free when he was in a more private setting with those he trusted.

Professor Oak, meanwhile, had looked up as he heard the noise level pick up - and smiled when he saw Ash sitting at the desk. "Ah, Ash, you're here. Welcome, my boy." The old man greeted as he stepped around his desk to stand directly in front of the two boys, scooping up two sets of papers from his desk as he did so. "Welcome, both of you, to a mock trainers application exam. Here, you will be tested on all of the research and skills you have done and gained ever since you got your student packs a week ago this time last year. This includes how to handle a Pokemon in differing situations, identifying a Pokemon correctly, skills in the wild, Pokemon stats and types and so forth."

Ash rubbed his hands nervously as Gary just drummed his fingers on his desk, only pausing as Oak then slipped the exam tests in front of them on their desks. Comprised of twelve A4 pages, all they could see thus far was the front page which was filled with the title, individual test information and some rules.

"You'll see on the bottom of the front page there that it asks you for some information including your names and age. Please fill that in now." Oak instructed as both Gary and Ash nodded, picking up pencils and writing out the relevant information. "Good, good. Now, you have an hour to complete this test. That means you should spend roughly five minutes per page. You may go over by ten minutes, but any bonus points you earn for good responses in the long-answer questions will be forfeit if you do so. Also, there is to be no cheating, including smuggling of any answers in here or looking for material online via electronic devices. Is that understood?" The Professor questioned sternly as he gave a pointed glance at Ash who possessed such a device, and then at Gary who was a notorious cheat at the local school.

Both boys gave solemn nods, making Oak relax back into a friendly smile. "Excellent. Well, the time is now 12:07, and you have an hour. Please start and turn over the page now."

PALLET TOWN PARK, THE NEXT DAY.

"Well boys, the scores are in." Oak spoke with a jolly tone as he picked out a sheet of paper from his briefcase, much opposed to the two very nervous boys sat down opposite him on the bench. Sat outside in the sunny weather, one of the Professor's assistants had finally finished marking the mock qualification exam for becoming a Pokemon trainer, and sent it to him which he had collected and called the boys to the park for a more informal location.

"Well, good luck, Ashy-boy. Let's see if we'd earn our licenses or not." Gary spoke as the two shook hands, only for Gary to look confusedly at his grandfather as the Professor started laughing. "What's so funny, gramps?"

Oak managed to downgrade his laughter to chuckles after a moment, before then explaining his sudden fit of amusement to the boy. "Do you not remember anything from reading the 'League positions for aspiring students' section in your handbook, Gary?" Oak asked his own relative, who raised an eyebrow at him.

"Not much, it wasn't as important as the other sections. Why, gramps?" Gary asked with further confusion. Ash looked a bit guilty and looked a bit away from Gary, for two reasons - he fully remembered the handbook Oak had given him like Gary, from both Synergy and Oak bashing it into his head and constantly reminding him of its importance to him as a future trainer. And for the fact that he had a very good idea as to what the Professor was referring to.

Oak's laughter picked up a bit more. "Well, since Ash here is a chosen apprentice to a Pokemon League official involved in actual Pokemon, rather than a mentored student as your applying to be under me." Oak started, causing Gary to scowl a little who felt the beginnings of jealousy again. When he'd first heard of it, he'd felt happy for his best friend, but also jealous that he didn't get such privileges - which had mostly gone when he remembered his friend's state when he'd asked how he'd gotten such a position.

"Apprentices don't have to apply as they have a sponsored and recommended fast-track into becoming a trainer among other privileges." Oak continued, finding it somewhat satisfying, as well as good for his grandson to be taken down in his confident nature. "Ash here doesn't have to apply for anything as Lance will take care of everything for him in starting out as a trainer. The only reason I had him take the exam was so he didn't get complacent, and I could test his skills so far. I need to keep both him and you on your toes to be the best you can be in starting out, after all."

Gary's jaw hung open a little in shock at the great benefit Ash had, feeling quite a few things then - before looking over to Ash, and seeing how guilty Ash looked; and he knew his friend wouldn't ever use his position as leverage over him. Ash just wasn't like that. So, swallowing his pride, he nudged Ash on the shoulder and made the boy look at him, holding out his hand again. "Good on you, Ashy-boy. It just means that I'll be better than you in no time whilst you get all soft with that guaranteed entry of yours." Gary stated with a friendly smile that showed he meant none of his insults and was instead congratulating him.

Smiling back and feeling better, Ash took Gary's hand and shook it. "Thanks, Gary. You'd best get better."

Oak looked at the two boys with a proud smile, knowing they'd remain good friends long into the future - before clearing his throat to get their attention back on him. "Well, boys, shall we find out how well you've done?"

"Just do it, gramps." Gary groaned as he was getting fed up with the anticipation, as Ash only nodded beside him.

"Very well." The Professor stated as he looked sternly at his grandson for being so impatient, before looking to the sheet of paper he'd plucked out. Folding it open and smoothing it open, Oak skipped to the bottom of the page and read for a moment, before folding it closed once more and looking to Ash first.

"Well, I knew you had it in you Ash, but to have scored what you did astounds me all the same." Professor Oak spoke in a deliberately mysterious tone, making Ash's nervousness sky rocket to the point that his expression started to look queasy. Gary snickered as he recognised his grandfather's teasing tone, but Oak decided to cut short his chuckling to spare Ash. "97%, my boy! Congratulations!"

Ash's nervous expression disappeared instantly to be replaced by a stunned expression of absolute shock, as Gary thumped him on the back. "Well done, Ashy-boy! You aced it!"

Ash let out a small smile as he was broken from his shock. "Y-yeah. Thanks Gary."

"And now we get to you, Gary." Oak continued as he turned his gaze to his grandson, who looked attentively back at him. "You scored well too. 78%."

Gary did a mental tally of his score and found himself a little disappointed. "78%? That's just 8% from the pass mark."

Oak looked like he wanted to say something, but before the old man could, Ash prodded Gary to make him look at him. "C'mon Gary, it's good and you know it. A pass is a pass, right?"

"Exactly, Ash." The Professor agreed. "Don't be silly and use it as a spot of motivation for your actual test. Since you passed this time around, you can only do better for your actual exam which is in two years time. Then, you'll have four years of studying in my lab to do even better as a trainer, since I promised you that you could do it at ten. I was thinking of starting a new program for aspiring trainers rather than move the test to fourteen years of age like the other professors..."

Gary gave a sigh as he saw his grandfather lapse on himself again, whilst Ash just smiled.

ROCKY ENCLOSURE.

Ash and Riolu stood opposite one another. They'd been at this for a week now, and Synergy still drove them to do the same thing straight for a while now so as to solidly improve it.

"Remember, foundation is key. Once you have a solid base to support your stance with, then we can move onto beginning to move and incorporate techniques whilst in motion. But for now, getting your stance right is key, and being able to aptly act in said stance will enable you to get this down in future." Synergy intoned with a lecturing edge as she gazed at the two before her.

Ash, now six moths past his eighth birthday, was facing Riolu with a peculiar stance. Riolu was also facing him in a similar stance, albeit adjusted to be more natural for a Pokemon. Lucario was helping his own child settle into the stance as Synergy was going about correcting Ash's stance, knowing much more about human physiology.

Walking closer to Ash, Synergy made him put his right foot forward whilst making him put his left leg straight down, and then foot twisted slightly to give it a better grip on the ground. "You won't fully understand or master this for a few years, Ash, but that's alright." Synergy spoke as she gently corrected his body stance. "You can get this down better in a month or so, and then we can move onto more exciting things."

Ash only nodded as he copied Synergy's example that she showed him, left arm held close to the body whilst he held his dominant right hand forward - angled down so it was still a little close to the body. However, his hand was held in a fist, the upside of which was angled to be diagonally forward away from him. "Just think of this as learning some karate or something." Synergy spoke cheerfully as she gripped his shoulders and titled them anticlockwise so the right one moved forth, only accentuating the right hand held forward more. "Except you're using aura constructs. It's why the hand is held the way it is. When you start moving, your hands won't be moving too much - as if this stance is moving with you. That's why this is important."

Ash didn't know whether to roll his eyes as Synergy repeatedly highlighted the importance of what they were doing, or try and get across that he was indeed trying his best to get it right. Deciding upon the second option, Ash put more effort into his actions - getting Synergy to eye-smile at him.

Riolu was watching Ash and Synergy, before looking to his father who was showing him how to correctly angle his paw. "Father, what should I do if Ash really does get ahead of me so much?" As much as the Pokemon didn't like to admit it, he would be a little discomposed if Ash pulled ahead of him after doing this for so long with the human, and nearly always having achieved everything together.

Lucario only gave a snort as he looked to his son, thinking for a moment before asking what sounded like a strange question to Riolu. "Would you consider Ash a good friend, son?"

Riolu frowned. "Of course, we've been at this for so long-"

Lucario then went back to correcting Riolu's stance as he interrupted. "Then none of that matters, does it?" Lucario rhetorically asked, before clarifying himself before Riolu could take any unintended meanings from it. "You've helped each other so far. Ash will merely help you to get to where he is if he does get ahead, and then you'll be on the same level with one another in no time. Don't go forming a rivalry or anything with him now, OK? It's never worked well for our species."

Riolu seemed to accept that with a better mood. "Yes, thank you." The Pokemon stated, getting a nod from Lucario. A minute passed by before Riolu became impatient and complained. "But when are we going to move onto better things?"

Lucario just blankly stared at the pre-evolutionary Pokemon, before giving him an order. "Form an aura construct."

A little confused, Riolu nonetheless did as he was told as he held out his paw and a small, blue rod formed in it as Riolu concentrated. The concentration exercises they'd just moved off of a month ago, having worked on them for a few months before that, really helped in conjuring up a physical construct of aura. Just as Riolu stopped concentrating and was starting to feel proud of the small construct in his hand, a blue bone construct came down and smashed the little rod in one blow. A dismayed look at his father revealed Lucario to be the perpetrator of said act, the blue bone in his hand dissipating as the canine stared at Riolu with an exaggerated unimpressed look.

"That's why we're not moving on." Lucario stated, gesturing to Riolu's now empty paw. "You've focused on physical manipulation for a while now, but your construct still lacks structural integrity, size and other factors to name a few. You need to get the basics down to a good standard before we 'move on', or they will fail you when you need them most. We will be working on physical manipulation, constructs, and battle stances for a while yet."

Still with a perturbed expression, Riolu only nodded slowly as Lucario went back to showing him the correct stance for his species.

OAK'S OFFICE

Professor Oak regarded Ash with a smile as he led the boy into his office for a personal chat. Ash walked into the space and hopped onto a chair beside Oak's desk, whilst the Professor shut the door closed and walked over to the desk, taking out the chair tucked under it and sitting in it.

Settling into the chair with a sigh, Oak smiled and turned to Ash. "Now, Ash, I called you here to talk on your future." Oak started out bluntly.

Ash looked a bit confused, before asking. "What about it, Mr Oak?"

"Ash, you're nine years old now, just a few years ago that would've been really close to the normal trainer's age for receiving a starter and becoming a full legal adult. Not much has changed in my mindset and ways of operating the lab, and so I just want to have a chat with you to ensure you fully well know what you're getting into, and what you want to do." Oak clarified as he put his hands together with a serious look on his face. "You may be just a child, but you're a child that's dedicating himself to exploring the wilderness and fighting powerful creatures. I want to have the reassurance that this is exactly what you want to do."

"Huh?" Ash let out as he processed that for a moment, before a look of determination overtook his features. "Of course it's what I want to do, Mr Oak! You've been training me for so long now about it, as well as Synergy and Lance! I'll be more than ready to face it when I turn 14!"

"That's true, you most certainly will be more prepared than 99% of all starting trainers with all of that learning, I'll give you that." Oak surrendered that point. "I know full well that you could go about the wilderness of Kanto and collect a powerful team of Pokemon. What I'm more concerned about is what you will do when you have done so."

"You mean when I've got all the powerful Pokemon I need already?" Ash asked for the purpose of clarification.

"Exactly, my boy." Oak agreed. "What will you do when you've gathered all the Pokemon, skills and supplies you need?"

"Well, that's easy." Ash answered as he clapped his hands together. "I'll become a champion, like Lance!"

Oak chuckled. "An admirable goal, my boy. Certainly more achievable than being a Pokemon master." He mused, before looking at Ash seriously. "But what if that doesn't work out?"

"What do you mean?" Ash asked again, confused once more.

"Look, Ash, I don't like saying this, but what I wouldn't like more is you going on your journey with false hope. Becoming a champion is tough, Ash. It requires that you face at least five powerful trainers, all with years - some even decades of experience. The truth of the matter is, you may not become a champion." Oak said in a gentle tone.

Ash looked a bit dismayed, before denying Oak's point. "But I can be - Lance is training me, and he's a champion."

"And you will be more set up than most, yes Ash." Oak stated, before continuing his point. "But look at it this way. There are millions of Pokemon trainers, all who would love to be a champion. But at the end of the day, there can only be one. Do you see how difficult it is, Ash?"

"Ah." Ash let out, a tone of sadness evident. "Yeah..."

Putting a friendly hand on Ash's shoulder, the old man consoled the boy. "You do know I'm a 100% behind you, right my boy?"

"Of course, Mr Oak." Ash spoke, with no hesitation. He knew the Professor too well not to know those things by now.

"Then you know that I only speak out of concern, Ash." Oak stated with a gentle tone again. "If there's anything I want you to take away from our conversation here, it's that I want you to broaden your horizons. You need to understand that becoming a champion is very difficult, and that you should have a back-up plan in case, OK?"

"Yeah, OK, Mr Oak." Ash responded with more conviction in his voice, perking up at Professor's Oak reassurance and gentle way of putting it.

"Excellent." Oak stated, before he suddenly opened a drawer in his desk and began rummaging about in it, after a minute pulling out a bound book from within it. "Well, my boy." Oak spoke with a more jolly tone, making Ash happier. "You want to be a champion, and I want you to be more prepared for your future. Shall we see what is required of someone to be a champion then?"

Ash gave an eager nod. "Yeah!"

Oak chuckled before pointing at the bound book with the League's symbol on it. "This here is the career handbook of every job that falls under the Pokemon League Association's jurisdiction. For instance, you could learn of how to be a breeder, Pokemon doctor, gym leader..." Oak spoke slowly as Ash's face got more and more mad, finally ending as Oak laughed, skipping to the second to last career. "Here it is - champion."

PALLET TOWN, ENTRANCE TO ROUTE ONE.

Lance stood once more before the boy. His apprentice had done him massively proud - over the full course of a year and almost a half since they started just a few weeks before Ash's eighth birthday, they had done a lot. Now, four months since the boy's ninth birthday, they were ready to go further.

They were ready to catch another Pokemon.

Ash had worked greatly with Dratini, working side-by-side with her in training all the while. The serpentine had learnt some new moves, such as iron and aqua tails along with a few others such as thunder wave. However, they had been so focused upon how to care for a Pokemon, strategies and tactics as well as how to exploit the different weaknesses and factors of a Pokemon that Lance was beginning to become concerned of the offensive side of Pokemon battling. Ash knew enough on how to make a Pokemon avoid or mitigate damage, but was perhaps lacking in knowing how to deal damage.

"Right, Ash, you know how I said it was time to teach you how to start offensively conducting a Pokemon battle?" Lance questioned, getting an eager nod from his apprentice. "Right, well, I've decided that I will do this in two steps. Step two will be to teach your Pokemon some proper offensive techniques, starting simply of course. Simple offensive techniques for Dratini includes flamethrower, ice beam and even thunderbolt, but we've got a while yet. Step one will first be to catch a new Pokemon."

"A new Pokemon?!" Ash shouted out excitedly. "Is that why you brought me and Synergy to the edge of town?"

Indeed, the two of them and the robotic Pokemon were stood on the path entrance to route one, a normal route to start a trainer's journey from Oak's lab. Just in front of them stood the notorious tall grass, with most of it coming up to Lance's knees - but some of the wavy green plants even came up to Ash's shoulder. Of course, off to the sides of town stood patches of forest as well as the odd tall tree standing proud in the midst of all of the tall grass, like the one Lance was stood next to.

"Oh yes." Lance confirmed. "A new Pokemon will help you, I think, in being able to challenge Dratini as well as broaden your experience and skills with different creatures and types of Pokemon."

"You're not going to take Ash into the tall grass, are you Lance?" Synergy questioned. Not that Ash couldn't protect himself with Synergy and Dratini, but his own offensive aura skills were still lacking and the robotic Pokemon wasn't quite comfortable yet with sending the boy off into such situations.

"Hmm?" Lance let out as he was momentarily distracted, before processing what the Pokemon had said. "Oh, good heavens, no. Oak would have my head if I did so. He's fussy enough as it is with taking Ash into the bug forest biome, let alone with facing actual wild and hostile Pokemon."

Synergy nodded with satisfaction at the champion's answer, whilst Ash looked befuddled. "Then how are we going to get a Pokemon?" He questioned.

"With these." Lance stated as he held out two items, a glass jar of golden honey and a Pokeball. "Here, you take this empty Pokeball. You've been working on your aim with Synergy, correct?" Ash nodded as Lance pressed the empty capture device into his hands. "Good. Well, all that's left is for me to slather the honey on this tree." The Johto champion quickly did so, taking the jar of honey, unscrewing the lid and then unceremoniously chucking its contents straight onto the bark of the tree. "Doesn't matter how you put it on, but for now let's just skedaddle!"

Lance quickly led the two a dozen metres back from the tree which was on the vestiges of the tall grass, smaller grass tufting out among its base as the tall tree stood roughly seven metres tall.

"Hey, Lance, what kind of Pokemon should we be expecting?" Ash asked to the dragon master after a while, the three hanging back close to the entrance to the town as Ash still watched on eagerly for something to happen.

"Well you see, Ash, it could be any type of Pokemon. Honey is an excellent bait in the Pokemon world, and any Pokemon can eat it, so theoretically, we should see any Pokemon from route one come here. That could be a pidgey, a spearow, rattata... maybe a rattata, it is a scavenger after all..." Lance spoke in thought as he looked to his watch, and saw that ten minutes had passed already. Thankfully, Ash had not grown bored under the premise of getting a new Pokemon, but the offer of free food should still have drawn any low-level creature from the tall grass by then.

After a minute more, Lance finally saw what had caused the quiet delay in Pokemon appearing as activity finally occurred at the base of the tree. Some of the earth was being pushed slowly upwards, creating a slowly growing mound to begin piling up close to the honey slathered bark.

Synergy's system quickly pointed out a few Pokemon that could achieve the obvious use of the move dig to move through the soil when combined with factors such as size and power of the slowly growing mound. The computer analysed the facts, especially given the fact that they were in Kanto in a notorious low-level Pokemon area eliminated a lot of the potential Pokemon, and concluded that it was most Diglett that was about to appear. However, Lance knew better, despite the seeming appearance, as he trusted his gut and it told him that he was about to be surprised.

A large round head suddenly popped out of the earth. It had a silver appearance to it as it had an obviously armoured skull, with two large bright blue blinking eyes surveying the area. Seeing no one in the immediate vicinity, the Pokemon quickly finished getting out of the ground and revealed its short and stubby form, a continuous silver and armoured body.

Lance's eyebrows initially screwed up in confusion again as he tried to identify the Pokemon, going high in shock when he did recognise it, before going back to confusion as he didn't understand what it was doing there. However, he didn't get to convey anything as Ash reacted to the appearance of the Pokemon.

"Alright, a Pokemon!" Ash cheered, before Synergy stood ready as the boy pointed to her and then the stubby Pokemon who had looked round to see what the sudden commotion was about. "Synergy, let's get it with aura sphere!"

The newly arrived Pokemon quickly tried to jump back in the hole as it heard a move was called out, but the robotic Pokemon was ultimately faster as she charged up a quick, half-powered aura sphere and then firing it off. Just as the stubby creature was about to dive back into the ground, the blue energy ball had crossed the short distance in a split second and fully slammed into its body with its distinguished guaranteed hit factor. A short cry of pain sounded out as the Pokemon was thrown back against the bark of the tree as the aura sphere slammed into it and then destabilised, adding further force to the blow by the backlash of energy against it.

"Pokeball!" Ash shouted out as he brought the device into his hand, took a moment to aim and then flicked his wrist as Synergy had shown him to send it soaring across the distance. The Pokeball audibly hit something in the small dust cloud that had been thrown up, before the red energy mist that could be seen within it signalled the success of the throw. "Alright!" Ash shouted out as he jumped up and down, before then about to race off.

However, Lance stopped him as he put a hand on the boy's shoulder, making Ash look confusedly at the champion. "Hold on, Ash. The Pokemon being sucked into the ball doesn't mean its captured yet." Remembering that part from the handbook, Ash gave an embarrassed chuckle as the three waited for full visibility to be restored, which it did after a few seconds.

Revealing a perfectly still Pokeball sitting on the dug up earth, and not a Pokemon in sight.

"No signs of footprints nor escape attempts." Synergy noted as she scanned the ground around the tree from a dozen metres away, before looking to Ash. "I'd say it was most likely a successful capture. Please go check."

Not held back this time, Ash dashed forward to the tree and quickly stooped low to the tree next to the capture device. Picking up the ball, Ash looked at it as Lance and Synergy walked over too, before Lance gestured to Ash. "Go on, Ash. We'll only know if you open it."

Nodding, Ash hit the button in the centre of the Pokeball, and quickly adopted a wide grin as it opened up and divulged a mass of red, indeed signifying a successful capture. It quickly formed the shape of the stubby Pokemon they'd seen, the armoured creature looking confused as it looked about before blinking and looking up at Ash. The cobalt blue eyes of the Pokemon revealed its confusion, the large silver skill of the creature tilted and putting the four black indentations in its skull into further view. It had a dark underbelly that was obviously unarmoured and a weak spot, as opposed to its four short stubby legs that was coated in the silver armour. A single, blunt silver spike protruded from its back, as two black circular marks were symmetrically in line with the spike on the sides of its armoured back. It generally looked a little tired from the punishing blow it had received, but otherwise confused.

"Just as I thought." Lance spoke out then, both to himself and everyone else as he got their attention. "That's an Aron."

"An Aron?" Synergy questioned as her system had already accessed the information and identity of the Pokemon from first sight. The robotic Pokemon knelt down to view the stubby steel and ground type. "What's a Hoenn Pokemon doing in Kanto, let alone a low-level area like Pallet Town?"

Lance only gave a shrug as he observed Synergy look at the Aron, who blinked back at its fellow steel type. "No idea." Lance spoke with a couldn't-care-less-tone, only smiling as he ruffled Ash's hair and got a laugh from the boy. "All I know is that Ash here now has a great find, and a powerful Pokemon that he's caught on his first try."

"Thanks, Lance!" Ash said as the dragon master beamed at him, before their attention was brought back to the Aron who barked at Synergy.

The robotic Pokemon blinked, before giving a chuckle. Looking up and seeing two inquisitive faces, she translated. "Aron here wonders what has happened." She spoke out in an obviously amused tone, getting a tilt of the had from the stubby steel type as it heard her speak in the human language.

"I got this!" Ash called out right there and then, stopping anyone else from doing anything - before Lance merely just stepped back and gestured for Ash to continue. Seeing the boy stoop down to the Aron who turned around to see its new owner, Lance then watched in serious fascination as Ash held out a hand - which then started to glow blue with energy. The dragon master only put a hand under his chin as he gazed at the proceedings with a serious and thoughtful face, whilst Synergy watched with approval on her features.

Placing the glowing blue hand gently down on the Aron who had had plenty of time to see it coming and yet only watched on in curiosity, Ash's hand lightly placed itself on the top of Aron's skull. Blinking, Aron felt a cool yet nice feeling sweep over itself as it yipped at Ash again, who smiled as he suddenly understood the Pokemon.

"Hey, I'm Ash." Ash greeted the Pokemon by introducing himself, getting a yip from the Aron. "Yeah, sorry about that, You see, the honey was kind of bait, and we then caught you as a whole part of waiting for a new Pokemon to show up..." Ash trailed off as he was a bit nervous now.

Only for the Aron to blink. "Cool." Was all it said to him, with a high-pitched tone of voice.

"Cool?" Ash repeated with a little shock, getting a nod from the stubby Pokemon before he smiled. "Would you like to come with me then?"

"Eh, sure." The Aron responded with what passed for a shrug from a small creature like it was. "A fair catch is a fair catch. Plus, you have to feed me and make me stronger now, I've heard of the Pokemon caught by trainers. It sounds cool."

"Well, that's a rare personality." Synergy stated to Lance as she stood up and faced him, allowing Ash to keep conversing with the Aron. Seeing Lance's inquisition, she clarified. "Aron here just accepted being Ash's Pokemon. Apparently, it's 'cool'."

"Oh." Lance let out. "Yes, that is a little strange. Normally, wild Pokemon want a proper battle to see if the trainer is worthy."

"Hey, hey!" Ash shouted out as he stood up and ran over to Lance and Synergy. "Aron here wants to be my friend! He said he'll come with me on my journey and everything!"

"Well done, Ash." Synergy congratulated as she ruffled the boy's hair, getting a laugh from him. "Just make sure to get him stronger and ready for your journey then." The other two didn't see Synergy look approvingly at the Aron, who tilted his head back at the robotic Pokemon.

LABORATORY ROOF, MIDNIGHT.

Synergy was out looking at the stars again, sitting on the edge of the roof and swinging a leg gently over it. It was a great time for both her own conscious mind and her system - every system went over its stored data again, and the best time to do so was when there was little new incoming data to process. Plus, she needed to relax, however synthetic she appeared to all of the lab's staff.

So, it had become a hobby of hers. She'd long ago catalogued all of the star formations she could see that were well known and still occasionally came across what looked to be new shapes, but it was a way of calming down with something idle yet familiar. It was a great way to ponder on what to do next, and to evaluate the course of the day to see what could be improved in the next.

At least, it would be, if her sensors hadn't alerted her to the fact that she wasn't alone.

"Back again, are we?" Synergy intoned, turning her head to view behind her.

Sure enough, the shadowy figure was back - although they had noticeably toned down on the wreathing shadows, now instead of dark masses continuously swirling about, they clung to the bipedal, lanky frame of the Pokemon opposite her. Two oval, bright cyan orbs gazed apathetically at her.

"Indeed." Came the rough sounding reply. Silence ensued from there for a minute, as the unknown being just seemed to gaze at Synergy who was analysing the mysterious Pokemon. There wasn't much to be gleaned from a bunch of smoke and mirrors, and voice pattern analysis turned up no matches.

"So, what have you been up to since we last met?" Synergy prodded the Pokemon, taking a sense of amusement from an unusual question in the situation.

It was as if the shadowy figure raised an eyebrow to her question. "It is frankly none of your concern." The Pokemon uttered, only blinking and still looking blankly at Synergy.

"If you say so." The robotic Pokemon spoke out, still with a tone of some amusement. She'd already confirmed the chances of combat were low, but the Pokemon was welcome to try if they wanted. "Though I'd imagine it was probably stuff like training and exploring."

"Of sorts." The mysterious Pokemon ambiguously confirmed, taking a step closer to look more deeply at the synthetic Pokemon.

Synergy gave a mechanical grunt, before shrugging and changing the topic. "That was more indulging than our last conversation." She spoke out loud, before jabbing her finger in the air as her system reminded her of said conversation. "Speaking of which, still trying to find your place in the world?"

The unknown Pokemon blinked again, before taking another step closer and analysing Synergy's expression. "It is..." The Pokemon paused, seeming to ponder before voicing it the way it wanted. "...still an avenue of consideration."

The two Pokemon seemed to take a moment, before Synergy felt a prod on her mind. Initially confused, her system counteracted her conscious mind as it quickly supplied an alert to it. Understanding dawned as she quickly focused aura into her mind, raising her mental defences and chuckling as the prod came again - albeit much weaker as she was more prepared this time.

"That's a strong mental defence you have there." The shadowy Pokemon spoke, a tone of curiosity permeating its rough edge.

"Indeed." Synergy responded, nodding at the compliment. "I have trained for a couple of years in the use of aura now."

"Is that what it is? Aura?" The unknown Pokemon spoke, getting a nod from Synergy. "How intriguing. I've heard of it, but I've never managed to personally use it."

"The same can be said to you. That was obviously a physic attempt on my mind there." Synergy stated, getting an affirmation from the shadowy figure who saw no reason to hide it. The conversation had stagnated once more as the two took the time to just contemplate. Sensing enough time had passed for the waters to have become completely calm again, Synergy prodded again. "The humans still getting you down?"

There was the unmistakeable act of a nod in the wreathing cloak of shadows this time. "I do not trust them, and perhaps never will. The very structure of their society demonstrates their modes and methods of thinking, of putting themselves on top and everything else below."

It took a moment, but Synergy suddenly let out a chuckle, making the shadowy figure look solidly at her with unblinking eyes. "You focus too much upon certain aspects, don't you?" She mused out, making sure that the Pokemon was paying attention. "Like I said before, don't let one person make you hate, especially the world."

"Oh?" The Pokemon spoke back, a hint of more emotion in its voice. "And what would you have me do instead then?"

"That is something I cannot answer for you." Synergy spoke out instantly, facial plates sliding back as she gave thought to her answer. "But I can tell you that you need to look at the complete picture. You speak of human society and its race as a whole, as well as previously about Pokemon. Well, you may have explored some in the time between our last conversation, but perhaps you need to look more specifically. For instance - take the time to see how humans interact with Pokemon in their society. You may just be surprised at what you find."

The shadowy figure gave a grunt this time, before speaking. "That is acceptable, I suppose. I don't know why I am agreeing with you, but it is something to consider, at least."

Synergy only gave another chuckle, before pointing to the empty space left of her from where she sat, having never moved. "Have you considered relaxing, 'at least?' It'll do you some good probably, with all this depressing talk on hate and humans." Synergy questioned with amusement once more. "Come, sit here and just enjoy the view. I don't know who you are, but you seem like you haven't properly sat down to just relax in a long time."

The unknown Pokemon hesitated at that, but Synergy only pointed once more with an amused glint in her eyes, waiting to see if they would do it. She was actually surprised when after some thought, they actually did take a few steps over and sit down next to her, obviously cross-legged next to her given the state of the shadows that didn't go over the edge of the building. The robotic Pokemon said nothing more as she just turned back to the stars, just occasionally glancing to the figure next to her who was also staring unblinkingly at the night sky.

They remained like that for an hour more, until the unknown Pokemon suddenly wreathed itself in a blue light that caused her to readjust her optical sensors to the sudden emergence of bright light. By the time she could see properly again, in just a fraction of a second, the shadowy Pokemon was already gone.

ROCKY ENCLOSURE

Lucario looked to Ash with a keen eye. His skills had improved greatly throughout the course of two and a half years in the learning of aura, being better than Riolu at physical manipulation, conjuring up aura constructs and keeping a good hold on their structural integrity. However, Riolu was better at channelling aura, which would serve him better in the more defensive and non-combat applications of the energy.

They had learnt quite a few things throughout their time, mostly spent doing channelling or manipulation exercises to better get a grip on their aura before learning actual techniques. Techniques that included bonding with aura, actually channelling it, shrouding body appendages in the aura, physical manipulation; and aura constructs.

"Next year. I will fight you." Lucario spoke bluntly without warning to the boy and pre-evolutionary Pokemon, making both of them shocked. "You will both fight me and I will restrict myself to using only techniques you know as well as hold back in my strength and skill, but nonetheless this will be a challenge for the both of you."

Ash looked to Synergy, positively alarmed by the proclamation from the canine Pokemon, but Synergy only looked calmly back. It was clear she thought this was a good thing.

"Better make sure your aura skills are up to standard. Because this will be a test to see if you are ready to go further - you have learnt all the basics to an acceptable standard. You should continue to hone them, but that can be done with Synergy in your own time Ash, as Riolu will do with me." Lucario spoke out with a firm tone. "Should you pass my test, I will begin teaching you two the more advanced applications that would lead to the mastering of the energy that is aura. That includes aura sphere and sight, which I know both of you are keen to learn."

Ash and Riolu looked better at the promise to learn much cooler things, even if the motivation for it was an obviously dangled carrot, but the signs of horror were still clear in their faces.

OAK'S LABORATORY - LIVING ROOM.

Oak sat with Ash in the evening then, looking over the boy's shoulder at the maths problems he was stuck on. Maths had always been a hated subject for Ash, but as always after so long of dealing with a stubborn robotic caretaker and an old man who could get grouchy when he wanted to, he got on with it without complaint.

"Trust me, Ash, I often have to help Gary with these sorts of things when his parents dump him on me." Oak stated as he pointed at one of the problems. "The trick here is not to try and do it all in one go, but to break down the numbers into simpler ones. Sure, it means more work and you have to add it all back up to get where you once were, but at least you can keep track of it that way."

Ash nodded as he did as the Professor said, scribbling out the current attempt and starting anew. This continued for twenty further minutes as Oak patiently helped the boy to complete his mathematics homework, Ash often struggling but the old man proved resilient in only providing tips and making Ash do all of the work.

"It helped make me the man I am today, Ash! Hard work got me both the position of champion and regional professor! It's a proven method, do as this old geezer did and you'll be just fine." Oak would be rather fond of saying such things to Ash when the young boy looked to be on the brink of giving up or stressing out.

Strangely enough, it often worked.

Ash slammed the exercise book shut as if he couldn't do it fast enough, Oak chuckling as he saw the clear relief on the boy's face from having done with his long mathematics problems. The Professor merely reached over and drank some of his tea as Ash was putting everything away, before Oak then put it down and spoke to him.

"So, Ash, I've been meaning to ask. How was your day?" The old man asked in a kind tone.

"Oh, it was good Mr Oak!" Ash replied. "We were in the rock enclosure with Riolu and Lucario, doing aura again. We were just going over stuff again, they want to spend a whole year just going over things we've done already... then Synergy showed me how to begin starting a campfire."

Oak gave a hum. He didn't really like Ash practicing aura at such a young age if he was honest with himself, but then again, he didn't have to like it. He just had to allow it, given how it was necessary - he and Lance had already had a long conversation on that front; and it had culminated in nothing changing. Not that Synergy would allow it to stop, either. "Well, that must've been exciting. You children always have a fascination with such things." Oak commented as he thought.

"Yeah, well, don't you?" Ash fired back in a sarcastic tone.

Oak only chuckled. "No, not really, my boy. When you get to my age, such things become just another task to do - been there, done that, so to say."

"Ok then, old man." Ash stated in a mocking voice, with a clear jovial tone of amusement.

The Professor raised an eyebrow at the boy, his mood also becoming more entertained. "And how is that supposed to insult me when I refer to myself like that on a daily basis, young man?"

Ash gave a grunt, before falling silent in his embarrassment. Oak only laughed, before reaching over and drinking some more of his tea during this interlude in their conversation. Sure enough, only a minute had gone by before Ash started speaking again.

"Hey, Mr Oak." Ash spoke, getting the elderly researcher's attention who put down his mug to pay attention.

"Yes, what is it Ash?" Oak asked as he settled further into his chair whilst clasping his hands together.

"I was thinking of giving a name to my Pokemon, but I don't know if I should..." Ash stated, seemingly getting caught up in thinking about it.

Oak looked to Ash and merely put him on the right track. "Well, why shouldn't you, my boy?" He asked in a friendly manner.

"Well, I don't know if they'd like it." Ash answered with a shrug.

"That's just it, Ash. You don't know." Oak stated, getting a bit of confusion from Ash until he clarified. "To me, it sounds like a wonderful idea in getting to further make friends with your Pokemon. Why don't you just ask them, then you'll know, hmm?"

Ash blinked. "Hey, that's a good idea!" He said excitedly. "Thanks, Mr Oak!"

Oak chuckled again as Ash dashed from the room, before returning with two of his Pokemon. Dratini was slithering along behind him as Ash was holding Aron in his hands, setting the steel-type onto the table as Dratini further extended her neck to coo at Oak over the table.

"Hey, I was thinking. Did you want names?" The nine year old boy asked his two Pokemon, which got their attention as they looked to their not-official trainer. "Just a cool nickname or something if you wanted it."

Dratini and Aron looked at one another, before the stubby steel-type spoke with a barking tone. "I think it goes for the both of us when I say yes."

Ash smiled at that. "OK, that's awesome. I've been thinking about this for a little while, so how about..." Ash paused before he then pointed to Aron. "...Silver for you?"

Mulling it over, the newly named Silver gave an approving nod. "Yeah, that sounds cool."

"Nice." Ash commented, before then directing his finger to Dratini who stood taller and looking at him with inquisitive eyes. "How about Peeper for you?"

Tilting her head, Ash could see her thinking as he shrugged. "I just thought it fit you with your eyes and that." Ash reasoned.

Peeper gave a coo then. "Yep. Sounds nice." Dratini commented with a simple, high-pitched tone.

Oak smiled proudly as he saw Ash interacting with his Pokemon. Even if he could only hear half of the conversation, it was still a great moment to see as the young boy started cheering with his Pokemon.

KANTO, INDIGO PLATEAU.

"This, Ash, is the Indigo Plateau. Home of the Pokemon League headquarters in Kanto, and of course, the site of every Pokemon tournament in Kanto." Lance stated as he swept through the street, swiftly approaching the brick wall that ringed the site of both the headquarters and the tournament area where the stadium sat. "But we won't be going there today, I'm sure you've seen it on TV already. No, today we shall just be going into this lovely administrative building in front of us." Taking Ash by the hand, he guided them forth.

Lance had strolled right up to a metal gate in the high brick wall, where a security guard asked for some identification from Lance. The guard looked like they knew Lance already, most people would, but standard procedure was something the Johto champion understood. A quick flourish of a Pokedex to the guard who took it and scanned the device in a slot of a machine cleared the way through, nodding to Lance as they handed back his Pokedex.

Walking up a gravel path with pristinely mowed green on either side of them, both the champion and his apprentice had appeared in a courtyard surrounded on three sides by a neat formation of three rectangular brick buildings. The Pokemon League Association's symbol hung from the building in front of them, right above the two main entrance doors which Lance didn't hesitate to enter, holding one of them open for Ash who stepped through.

Emerging into a semi-busy reception area, Lance only waved to the receptionist on duty as he already knew where he was going - across the furnished wooden floor to the stairs, opening the door and ushering Ash through. Heading up six flights of stairs, Lance looked approvingly to Ash for not complaining once as they arrived on the landing and walked straight into the administrative area set aside for high ranking League officials.

The floor was once again a dark, furnished wood as the office area itself had a coordinating decorative scheme involving the theme of wood and professionalism to give a high-end, formal yet comfortable taste to the area. All of the furniture was made of high-quality wood and obviously well made and maintained too, with a spacious feel to the office as there was ample room between desks and the clean windows had a large view of the pristine lawns below. Some of the greenery had even made its way into the office, with wealthy plants like the bonsai tree sitting in prosperous pots in the corners.

"Come on Ash, there's plenty to do today." Lance spoke as he ushered the inquisitive boy forth. "If you truly do want to be a champion, then here's the boring side of things with all of the paperwork. I've got a couple of meetings today that I've managed to weasel you permission to see, and you can help me do paperwork as well. Luckily, I've got us an office space set aside for us where the first meeting will also be, so we won't have to move for the first couple of hours."

Ash looked at Lance as they moved into a corridor. "What sorts of paperwork will you have to do, Lance?" Ash asked with interest.

"Important stuff that needs cooperation and permission from the teams working here, that's why we're here today rather than me doing it in Johto. I may have to take a few calls to coordinate things, but fortunately, most of it is on the internal system here, which may not be so fortunate actually." Lance mused as he frowned. "If it wasn't for the internal system and security protocols here, I could've done this in Johto. But then again, I wouldn't have been able to show you around then, would I?" Lance finished with a smile to Ash.

"Thanks for showing me around, Lance." Ash thanked to the man with a sincere tone, making the champion's smile widen before the man had to pay proper attention to where they were going as the space got more confusing. Corridors branched off from one another occasionally as they passed by a multitude of doors, Ash seeing that Lance was keeping a mental count in his head as he looked to the sign on each door.

A minute later, and Lance stopped before a wooden door that merely read '352'. "Ah, here we are. It's a small space, but I've only got it for the day, it'll do us fine." Lance rattled off as he took out a set of keys and unlocked the door. "Come on my apprentice, let's get-"

"Your apprentice, Lance?" A voice spoke then, making Lance stop as an apprehensive expression took hold on his face, making Ash become confused before looking round Lance as the dragon master slowly turned to face the new arrival himself.

"Cynthia." Lance spoke out cordially then, with a controlled expression now on his face. Cynthia's expression, too, was guarded as she looked to the older man in front of her. Ash looked at the blonde woman in a black dress, whose eyes flickered to look at Ash with curiosity before becoming guarded again as they looked back to Lance. "Whatever are you doing in Kanto?"

"The same as you I imagine." Cynthia spoke in the same cordial tone. "I had some administrative work to do, and since the main headquarters lie in Kanto, it made sense to do them here."

"I see." Lance responded, looking at her carefully before then opening the door enough so as to admit himself. "Well, I have some important work to do now, so if you'd excuse us-"

"Are you not going to introduce your new apprentice, Lance?" Cynthia asked then, and even Ash could sense the interruption then. "Apparently you made enough noise about it to Blue and Steven, but not to me."

"With good reason." Lance stated, having picked up the audacity to be snarky with Cynthia's interruption. Nonetheless, as Cynthia raised an eyebrow, Lance could tell she was perfectly fine with dragging out this awkward encounter - whilst he was not. Giving a small sigh, Lance looked to Ash with a false smile. "Ash, this here is Cynthia Shirona, the Champion of the Sinnoh region." Lance introduced before he looked to Cynthia with a cooler expression. "Cynthia, meet Ash."

Ash could almost visibly see the animosity between the two champions as they regarded one another, Cynthia still looking to Lance with a raised eyebrow at the incomplete introduction, but one look at the steely look in Lance's eyes told her she would get no more. Cynthia then looked to Ash as her features softened then towards the child. "Hello, Ash." The Sinnoh Champion with a polite tone.

"Hello." Ash greeted back, a bit of an unsure expression on his own face, as he could sense the emotions behind the champion's expressions, but couldn't interpret them.

"So, you're the apprentice to the dragon master?" Cynthia questioned, still in a friendly manner as Ash only nodded to her. Cynthia smiled slightly as she spoke then. "You know, I've got a dragon type of my own, a Garchomp. She's the strongest on my team, and perhaps would give any of Lance's Pokemon a run for their money."

Lance's face soured slightly then from behind Cynthia's own smiling face as he clearly heard the subtle jab in it, and Ash saw that as he frowned slightly. Nobody insulted his hero like that. "Didn't Mr Lance's Dragonite beat both your Garchomp and Togetic a couple of months ago?" Ash spoke in an inquisitive manner then, as he tilted his head as if he was questioning it.

Lance's face instantly smirked then as Ash saw he'd done the right thing (at least by Lance, and that was enough for the boy) as it was Cynthia's turn for her face to sour slightly. She remembered well the champion's contest they'd all attended in Hoenn, and the matches held to determine the strength rankings of the champions. Cynthia had actually moved up two spots from close to the bottom, but as it turned out, Lance's experience and longer trained Pokemon had pulled through massively for him as he had beaten Cynthia 6-3.

"That may be so, but we shall see what occurs in the next champion's contest in three years." Cynthia spoke then, before looking to Lance with an apathetic face. "You said you were busy, Lance? My apologies, I won't hold you up anymore." With that, Cynthia strode down the corridor and turned out of sight.

Lance was still smirking slightly as he and Ash entered the small private office space, having found Ash's counter-jab highly amusing as he ruffled the boy's hair, getting a laugh from his apprentice as he said nothing. It was better if he gave Ash subtle praise for such acts rather than have Oak look at him disapprovingly for the next few weeks.

Arceus knows how that man found out everything he did within the League, right down to the small goings on like this. He was a scientist, not a Pokemon League official.

Sitting himself at the desk beside the window and flicking on the computer upon it, Lance pointed at the chair to the right of the doorway before gesturing to the side of the desk. "Bring that chair over here, Ash, and then we can begin your six hour work experience adventure." Lance instructed as he entered his login details into the computer.

Seeing it loading, Lance looked to Ash. "Now, Ash, do you have League guidebooks and other such things I gave you?" Lance asked, getting a nod from the boy.

Ash took off his black rucksack and hoisted it onto the desk next to him. "Yep!" Ash spoke out as he opened the bag and then divulged three big books, and a stack of paperwork onto the desk.

"Good, good." Lance stated, as he quickly opened a few programs on the computer, and saw several emails in his inbox which he groaned at. "Trust me Ash, you're going to hate this as much as I am..." Lance trailed off as he wrote up a quick reply on the keyboard to an email, Ash looking on impressed at his typing speed before the dragon master then reached over to the mouse and sent it off. "Right, what's first?"

"Er." Ash let out as he picked up the first sheet of a paper from the pile he'd had in his bag and gazed at it. "A Professor Elm requests funding for an increase in breeding facilities at his lab for Johto starter Pokemon for beginning trainers." Ash copied off from the summary at the top of the paper, before looking over to Lance with a curious gaze.

Lance gave an almost mirthless chuckle as he plucked up the paper and scanned it with a more detailed eye. "Ah, yes, Elm is the regional professor of my region, you met him at the science gathering a couple of years ago if you remember. A pleasure to work with, if a bit befuddled at times." Lance mused as he finished reading the paper, before then consulting the computer.

"This is where the administrative side of things come into play, Ash, as you have to check all of the corresponding bureaucratic and paperwork factors to make sure everything is in order; then you have to make sure the request is feasible. Then, you have to outline what you're going to do in response to the request." Lance rattled out as he brought up the corresponding information on the computer. "Like this, a simple request fortunately. We have to check the stats for Professor Elm's laboratory to make sure it's feasible, one second please..."

Lance clicked his tongue as he brought up a spreadsheet onto the screen, before turning the monitor so Ash could see and pointing out the graphs and tables of numbers on it. "See here? Professor Elm can currently maintain six starting Pokemon each year for new students of his before they become too experienced and he needs more. But because of the sudden wait for a lot of people under the new age restriction I put forth, Elm here is anticipating fifteen to twenty students next year as they built up over the last few years. Now, we check the lab's budgeting."

Ash looked more and more lost as Lance started going through the monthly finances of the lab, and finding it 'completely in the green' as he had said. Ash could understand the distribution of starters per trainer (Oak had gone through maths often enough with him), it was simple at one Pokemon per starting trainer, but finances?

"Hence, Ash, all we have to do is approve the request as Elm will then take care of everything, and nothing was required from us except checking everything was in order and overall approval. Simple." Lance stated as brought out a stamp and stamped an impression of green ink at the bottom of the paper, which he then put to one side.

"That was the simple stuff?!" Ash couldn't help but let out.

Lance smirked again as he plucked out the next sheet of paper and smoothed it over. "Indeed." He confirmed in a tone that was too jovial for Ash's tastes.

ROCKY ENCLOSURE.

Lucario twirled his bone construct in his hand, before then putting his opposite paw forth and beckoning to both Ash and Riolu opposite him. They were in the large open space outside of the cave in the flat terrain where the tall oak tree stood proud, and the two aura students were facing Lucario ten metres away from one another. It had been a year since Lucario's proclamation, and here they were - test day.

"Come." Lucario ordered with a barking tone. "You've spent a year learning basic close combat and solidifying all you know about aura. Prove to me that you have such skills."

Looking to one another, Riolu and Ash nodded before falling into the basic stances. Ash tugged at the black, fingerless cotton gloves that Synergy had got for him, before holding his hand out in a fist which had basically become an action committed to muscle memory by now. Riolu, now smaller than Ash by a foot as the boy had grown more over the past year, still nonetheless proved to be his equal as he clapped his paws together.

Spacing his limbs apart, a blue aura construct shaped like a rectangular bone appeared in the space which Riolu then grabbed with his dominant right hand. Ash had also formed a blue aura construct shaped like a rod with a sharp end in his fist, exhaling as he formed it correctly. When he'd first formed it after many failures, it had taken a full minute to form - but after quite some time doing exercises and repeated attempts, the time had come down dramatically to just three seconds. At ten years of age, Ash was ready to prove that his three years of training had paid off - and that he was ready for more.

Lucario said nothing when he started the battle prematurely. In the canine's opinion, he had been fair - he'd give them time to form their respective constructs (something a normal opponent wouldn't do if they could), and had used quick attack to get in between them rather than extreme speed. Nonetheless, Riolu and Ash were caught off guard for a second - which was all the Pokemon needed.

Pushing Ash away with a quick paw strike, this gave Riolu enough time to raise his bone construct to block a downward sweep of Lucario's own. The canine was pleased to note how his son's construct withstood the blow this time, before a kick lashed out from his leg which sent Riolu to the ground.

"Come. Don't disappoint me." Lucario spoke out, and then smirked as Ash thrust his weapon at the canine, who merely deflected the attempt with his own construct - but what he was impressed with was Ash's thinking. The thrust had been a feint as Ash's left hand glowed blue with a shroud of aura which he then punched towards Lucario's torso. Powered up by aura, even Ash's strength now would be enough to give the Lucario a hard bruise. Let alone what it would be with further training, and a higher base physical strength behind it in future.

Jumping back, Lucario avoided the blow entirely as Riolu then stepped up to engage him. Clashing bone constructs together, Lucario limited himself to just engaging his son in close combat with aura weapons to get a true taste for his skill - and found himself impressed. True, there was room for improvement, but unlike a year ago, Riolu's aura construct held together as it clashed against Lucario's own. A cross to the left was transferred to an attempt to hit his father on the right, making Riolu scowl as it was deflected up - which he tried to use to his advantage to use its downward momentum to strike at Lucario's shoulder.

Sensing that his son had pulled one over him as he could never turn his aura construct inwards in time to meet it, Lucario instead amped up the clash by thrusting forth his opposing paw at much higher speed. Riolu actually let out a gagging sound as a glowing force palm move struck him solidly in the chest, doing quite a bit of damage in the clash to the pre-evolutionary Pokemon. Riolu was sent skidding back several metres before falling to the ground, bone construct dissipating as his control and attention over it was lost.

Ash wasn't idle as he saw he would no longer get in Riolu's way as he tried to strike at the canine from behind - but Lucario avoided the blow as he sensed the use of aura behind him. Leaning forwards, the Pokemon avoided the sweep of the rod construct from hitting him - but he was still bound by his own physical senses as Ash's next non-aura move took him by surprise. Preoccupied with dodging as he was, Lucario never saw Ash twist round and hit him fully in the small of his back with as powerful a kick as Ash could do.

Stumbling forth, Lucario was then met with Riolu who had recovered and now lashed out. His paw glowed blue as it was shrouded in the blue energy of aura, and scored a direct hit to Lucario's right arm. Powered up with higher strength than should be normal for any Pokemon, Lucario was sent pitching right and towards the floor - but quickly got his act together as he transferred the momentum into a roll before standing fully upright. Summoning another aura construct within the second, the canine had just enough time to brace himself as Riolu came upon him once more.

Riolu's claws flashed then, turning a metallic silver as Lucario registered the use of metal claw against him, and accurately moved his bone construct to meet the incoming claws. Blocking the move, Lucario stared his son fully in the eyes with an impressed glint before tilting his shoulder back as he sensed the sudden incoming thrust of Ash's aura construct. A retaliatory kick back in Ash's direction was deflected by the boy with an aura shrouded hand, before Lucario then had to disengage Riolu as as his other paw with the metal claw came to strike his father in the torso. Instead, Lucario sent Riolu stumbling back with an increase of strength in sending the bone construct downwards in a strike which overwhelmed Riolu's paw against it.

Another use of quick speed by Lucario had him arrive behind Ash before the boy could even sense where he'd gone. A note in the back of Lucario's mind registered how Ash could've seen him coming if he'd used one of the few human-only aura moves, aura sight, but that was an advanced technique he'd not been taught yet. Which further necessitated them learning advanced aura techniques after the test, as Lucario smirked whilst lashing out at the surprised Ash with a kick into his back this time. He could've used a fighting move, but Ash was unused to reinforcing body areas with aura to strengthen them nor could he withstand it as much as Riolu could, so a kick would suffice.

As Ash stumbled and fell, Lucario sensed Riolu moving in, and twirled the aura construct in his paw round to meet Riolu's newly constructed bone in the move bone rush. Meeting again in a blocked clash of constructs, Lucario pushed Riolu's construct down before stabbing forth this time. It was time to test their reactions more.

Synergy just stood, arms folded and watching from a vantage point over the fighting as she analysed the battle. Mostly seeing how Riolu and Ash performed, she found herself pleasantly surprised, and toned down the processing power allocated to analysing the occurring fight. She could already tell they would pass.

Lucario could've taken them apart, true. He had deliberately not used the highest power of stats he could, and stayed just higher in terms of skill than both Riolu and Ash, but his experience allowed him to drag on this fight. But, they had four years to get Riolu and Ash up to standard. For now, they had clearly shown basic proficiency in the use of aura with constructs and shrouding limbs in it, as well as close combat. Synergy was proud.

TRAINING FIELD.

Lance plucked a Pokeball from inside his jacket, and held it in his hand, throwing it up and down in an idle motion as he gazed at his apprentice, who looked back at him with a face of determination. Ash gripped his own Pokeball as he braced himself for the upcoming test.

"Are you ready, my apprentice?" Lance questioned. "Should you pass this, you will gain your second-stage apprenticeship position from the League, which will give you an official capacity. Remember, this is not a trainer's license, but rather a legitimate title of representation to state that you have proven yourself as my apprentice and worthy of an official capacity and its privileges so long as I remain a champion."

Ash gave a determined nod to the man, who smiled back reassuringly.

"Worry not, Ash. You are still a child and not yet even a trainer, and so you will face none of my official team." Lance spoke with a friendly tone, before spiking his seriousness next. "However! That does not mean this will be easy. I hereby challenge you to a one-on-one Pokemon battle with a familiar face. Go, Charmander!"

Tossing up the Pokeball in Lance's hand, the familiar orange reptile landed on the training field with an excited cry of its name. However, it was evidently better trained - standing taller, more confident and in a defensive manner as it saw that the trainers were spaced apart in a battle like manner.

"Your Charmander looks stronger than ever." Synergy intoned as she observed the orange reptile, who snorted back at her with a confident exhale of air.

"But of course!" Lance called back. "He hasn't yet evolved as I haven't trained him as much as my other Pokemon, but that's what makes him perfect for this battle." Turning to look at Ash, Lance spoke. "Ash, this will be perhaps a difficult battle for you given your lack of experience in these situations, and the fact that Charmander here is maybe as strong as one of Brock's Pokemon, the weakest gym leader in Kanto. Maybe more so. But don't let that deter you! You've been training for a while now, so show it to me with your own Pokemon!"

Giving a serious nod, Ash took a breath before tossing forth his own Pokeball. "I need you, Peeper!"

Still not used to the name after a year, Lance gave a smile as Ash's Dratini appeared on the battlefield before them, and raised her neck up to take a look about. "Peeper!" Ash called out, gaining her attention. "We're battling Lance's Charmander! Give it all you got!"

With a determined nod, Peeper turned back around to stare down at the Charmander with determination, who looked right back.

"Well, let's get this show on the road!" Lance announced before he pointed right at Dratini whilst staring at Charmander. "Charmander, use ember!"

Ash watched on for a second in hesitant thinking as the orange lizard opened its mouth wide, giving a cry of its name as dozens of orange, fiery pellets were then launched from said mouth right at Dratini. However, it came to him in time.

"Just like we've been practicing, Peeper!" Ash called out. "Use agility to dodge and gain some more speed!"

Peeper cried out her own name as she did so, a white sheen enveloping her body as she shot left on the battlefield, slithering away from the hailstorm of fire and gaining increasing amounts of speed as the agility move boosted her speed stat.

"Don't take that, Charmander! Use quick attack to catch up to Dratini!" Lance shouted out, getting a cry from his Pokemon who was then enveloped in his own white sheen before shooting forth, catching up to the Dragon-type.

Dratini quickly let out a yelp of pain as the orange lizard careered right into her as she just completed boosting her speed stat, but Ash's eyes gleamed as he spotted a very good opportunity. "Quickly, Peeper! Use aqua tail whilst Charmander is close!"

Having lost his own boost in speed with the end of the quick attack, Charmander let out a bigger cry of pain as Peeper had not lost her boost in speed - and use it to devastating effect to turn her own body and slam a super effective attack home on the lizard with the strike of a water-covered tail. "Again, Peeper!" Ash called out, getting carried away.

However, Lance saw that he was perhaps taking it too easy on Ash. "Recover Charmander, and use a short, point-blank smokescreen in Dratini's face!"

Charmander did indeed get over himself quickly with the tough training Lance gave his Pokemon enabling the lizard to stand up straighter with just a shake of its head. Facing the Dratini quickly and then opening his mouth to divulge a thick cloud of black, belching smoke in the dragon-type's face.

Peeper stopped turning around to attempt another tail strike as she recoiled from the sudden smoke cloud slamming into her face and making her eyes water, leaving Charmander free. An opportunity Lance took gladly. "Charmander, fire ember right through the smoke cloud!"

Charmander did so quickly, unleashing another barrage of fiery pellets right into the black smoke. However, Lance knew that it wouldn't have taken out the dragon-type, he knew from his own experience that fire attacks would only be half-effective against Dratini.

Ash was now starting to panic a little. "Peeper! Fire back with flamethrower!" However, it turned out to be the wrong move to use as the serpentine was blinded in the smoke, as the fire attack from his Pokemon completely missed Charmander as the rush of flames emerged harmlessly on the right side of the smoke. Instead, Charmander now had a better idea of where the Dratini was, and adjusted his aim accordingly - hearing a successful signifying strike as a cry of pain emerged from within the smoke.

Seeing as the smoke was starting to clear, Lance decided that his apprentice certainly needed more training in reacting to a Pokemon's moves as he seemed very indecisive.

Ash could only think of how he needed to get his Pokemon out of the smoke which seemed to be very disadvantageous to his side. "Peeper! Try and use agility again to get out of there!"

As the smoke was indeed thinning and even Lance from further away could now see the Dratini's head, he countered Ash's order. "Charmander, run and get her with metal claw!" Lance shouted out before looking to Ash. "Bad move, my apprentice! Dratini has just been hurt, and so it will take longer for her to react!"

Indeed, Charmander had already caught up to the dragon type as he raised his claws which enveloped themselves in a metallic sheen - just as Ash smirked. "Trump card time, Peeper! Use protect!"

Peeper gave a cry of her name, not having to move as a green translucent screen suddenly sprang up in front of her, making Charmander shocked as his claws just rebounded off the screen. "Quick, Peeper, fire off thunder wave!" Ash called out then as the screen fell down as Charmander's attack was cancelled out.

Ash's Pokemon wasted no time, not emitting a single noise as instead a cackle of electricity passed in front of its mouth before being spat right onto the orange lizard who gave a cry of its name as the net of electricity scored a direct hit. No damage was taken by Charmander, but the Pokemon certainly gave a wince when his movements suddenly halted with sparks of electricity flying from his limbs.

"Paralysis, very smart, my apprentice." Lance commented, before wagging his finger. "Let's just hope this works then! Charmander, use our trump card! Use mega punch since you're all so close!"

Fortunately for Lance, the paralysis never kicked in as Charmander dashed forth and raised a glowing white paw, Dratini's eyes going wide as she had just finished using the previous move and so couldn't dodge the incoming blow. Landing it right onto the white underbelly of the dragon-type, Charmander successfully blasted back the Pokemon a couple of metres as Peeper let out another cry of pain. The Dratini landed fully on the floor, wincing and bruised from the heavy-hitting physical move, as Ash looked on in great concern.

"Peeper! Are you OK?!" Ash shouted out to his Dratini, his expression only growing more worried as the serpentine let out another groan of pain, Lance allowing Ash time to consider his next move. He only looked on approvingly as Ash took out Peeper's Pokeball to recall her and forfeit the match to get her medical attention, but both Champion and apprentice didn't anticipate what happened then. Ash halted his actions as his Dratini let out another cry, but not of pain this time - Lance looking on in intrigue as Peeper was coated in a bright aura of white suddenly.

The blinding white light that totally covered the serpentine shifted around, the shape of the Pokemon within growing bigger and developing more, before the white light suddenly cancelled itself out after a few seconds. Now, sitting on Ash's side of the battlefield, sat the serpentine - albeit bigger and more charming. Dragonair, having evolved, now had a much more graceful air about her. Her scales had turned a deeper blue like that of the deeper currents of the ocean that her species normally resided in, with small stylised wings adorning both sides of her head. Peeper now had spherical crystal orbs on her body, one hanging just below her rounded snout and a couple on the end of the tail - which Lance knew helped to concentrate the large amounts of energy the Dragonite evolutionary line was gifted with. If the Champion had to guess, he'd now say that the Pokemon was now about ten feet in length.

Ash let out a happy gasp as the dragon type turned to look at him and let out a happy trill. She was now completely unmarred by the previous fighting, although the tiredness in her body language showed how low on energy she was from both fighting and evolving. "Peeper! You evolved!"

Peeper dipped her head at him, in a very happy mood herself. "Yes, I did. Thank you."

The happy moment was broken by Lance who chuckled. "We're still battling, Ash! Charmander, use quick attack to get in close before using metal claw! Dragonair would've lost her speed boost now that she's evolved!"

Charmander let out a cry of its name as a white sheen enveloped his body, signifying the use of the offensive move - before faltering and giving a gasp as more sparks of electricity flew off of the lizard, the paralysis kicking in again. Lance's expression turned grim. "Hang in there Charmander, when you recover, dodge whatever Dragonair does to you!"

Ash took full advantage of this respite. "Peeper! End this with another aqua tail!"

The Dragonair let out a determined trill as she darted forth, her tail held aloft as she speedily slithered over to the lizard as said appendage glowed blue and began dripping as it was covered in water. Charmander hastened to move and dodge like Lance had said - but more sparks were released from his limbs as he could only watch in dread as the tail slammed right into his torso.

Lance didn't even let Charmander hit the ground as he held out a Pokeball and recalled the lizard in a beam of red light, before smiling satisfactorily with closed eyes. Taking a moment to tuck away the Pokeball and collect himself together, the Johto Champion then marched over the battlefield to talk to his apprentice.

Ash was busy thanking and hugging the now much bigger serpentine who was cooing at him, before looking up with cheerful eyes as Lance smiled proudly at him. "I did it, Lance! I beat you!"

"Indeed you did, my apprentice! You have my full congratulations!" Lance stated boisterously as he clapped Ash on the shoulder. "Though, don't get too carried away now. I haven't trained Charmander as much as my other Pokemon, and Dragonair did evolve in the midst of battle when things were looking bad for you. We have more training to do in future regarding Pokemon battles!"

Ash could only smile wondrously at Lance who was smiling proudly back, the Dragonair besides Ash looking at her former trainer with a determined gaze.

JOHTO, TWO DAYS LATER.

A figure sat in one of the temporary rooms in the Pokemon Centre where trainers could spend a night, silently watching the TV. Lying in the bed without having even taken his shoes off, the trainer slowly sat up as what he wanted to see made an appearance on the screen. The Espeon beside him gave a mew, making his hand automatically scratch the evolutionary Pokemon behind the ears as the lilac, small quadrupedal creature gazed in contentment at its trainer with purple eyes.

"Mr Wataru, how's your apprentice coming along?" Shouted out one of the reporters to the dragon master as he swept along outside of the Pokemon League headquarters in Johto, having emerged from it.

The red-headed man looked to the reporter, slightly surprised by the question before then actually answering to the shock of the reporters. The trainer slowly brought their hat a bit more down over their eyes as they keenly watched the news. "My apprentice is coming along just fine, thank you. I spend a great deal of time with Ash, and I am very proud of his progress. He'll be a fine trainer when he gets his license."

"But where is he? He has only appeared twice beside you in public appearances." Another reporter shouted out.

"I will not answer that." Lance snapped back with a firm and commanding tone, speeding up slightly and flustering the reporters.

"Well, Mr Champion, what about the news of your apprentice passing the second-stage position test? Is it true they are now officially representing you as your apprentice?" A female reporter asked Lance then as she was closest to the champion, making the dragon master turn to the reporter with interest as a microphone was held close to him.

"Why, yes, that is true." Lance confirmed to the reporter. "He does indeed represent me as my apprentice, and has fully earned his official title."

The trainer paused the TV as a fourth question fired at the champion swung it away from the topic of Lance and his apprentice, as the man raised his hat slightly with a smirk. He sat there for a moment, taking his time to think over his thoughts - ruminating on the news and other similar subjects.

Before long, he used an arm to pull a bag up from the side of the bed, quickly opening it and fishing out a CD from the contents of the bag. Stroking the Espeon for a final time, he then gently pressed the CD to its mouth, where it grasped it and leaped down to trot to the paused TV. Sliding the disc into the correct slot, the man gave an approving nod to the Pokemon before then using the remote to start playing the contents of the disc.

Skipping through some of the footage on the disc, he paused at the timings he knew to be correct.

"...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..."

Cracking open a canned drink, the man took a few sips as he watched the questions asked to the dragon master about the revelation, before pausing it when the footage stopped showing that particular scene.

Thinking over the situation some more, the trainer merely took another sip before pulling out a Pokegear and dialling a number.

LABORATORY TRAINING FIELD, A MONTH LATER.

"One last time, Peeper!" Ash called out as snapped his arm forth and pointed at the post again, the ten year old eager to get the technique down right. It was late in the afternoon and soon would be evening, and Ash was beginning to wrap up the training session of the day where he would meet Synergy at the lab who had wanted to talk with Oak about something. "Use thunderbolt on the post!"

The Dragonair gave a cry as she charged up electricity right in front of her mouth, the cackling streams being focused in place by the glowing crystal orb on her neck before she launched it right at the post. The electrical attack struck true, hitting the post and denting it, not doing much physical damage to it - but the large burn on the post pointed out the other factors of damage the move could do.

"Great job, Peeper! Take a rest." Ash stated as the serpentine trilled before she was recalled by Ash back into her Pokeball. Ash then looked closer to his feet to see Silver the Aron looking up at him. "What about you, boy? You want a rest?"

The Aron blinked at him before nodding. "If you don't mind. I'm tired from all that headbutting I've done today!"

Ash chuckled as he recalled the Aron too, before placing both Pokeballs safely in his pocket in their shrunken state. Taking a breath in, the boy paused to contemplate on the training session before turning around to begin walking back to the lab. However, he had only walked forward a couple of steps when something seemed to fluctuate in his aura - as if it was warning him. Frowning, Ash focused on the feeling, before then looking over his shoulder - and his eyes went wide.

Ten people had walked onto the asphalt training ground and gathered behind him, seemingly moving to catch up to him before halting as he did. They were all wearing dark clothing, which was becoming the camouflage it was meant to be as the sky darkened as the hour went by. Most were gazing apathetically at Ash, before one man stepped forth with a smirk.

"Hey kid." The man spoke out in a confident tone, making Ash swallow nervously as real amounts of dread began to form in his stomach. Thinking for a second as the man opened his mouth, Ash's hand quickly reached down to his pocket - but the man was faster. The darkly clothed stranger darted forth and seized Ash's hand, tutting in disapproval. "Ah, ah, ah. I don't know what you were about to do, but let's not make this any harder than this has to be."

Ash was now full on frightened by this as he tried to wrench his arm from the man's grasp, his mind not thinking right as he became more panicked in the face of the man's smirk. "W-what do you want with me?" He stammered out in fright as he unsuccessfully tugged his arm once more, the strength and size differences making it no contest in who was winning.

"Well, it's simple kid." The man spoke roughly as he grabbed Ash by his hoodie to halt his attempts and hauled him up to eye level with himself. "Your dear old daddy decided that he'd make a nuisance of himself with my employer, and since we can't touch him, we'll teach him a lesson through the only known connection he has left. It's just the way it is, unfortunately for you kid."

Ash watched horrified, terror gripping his heart as the man raised a fist to land a punch to his face - but it never even moved past that as the attacker's face erupted in blood instead. Ash actually let loose a scream as a dark metal blade blew straight through in between the man's eye sockets, the metal edge pointed straight up and away from the boy. The man let out a pained gargle as blood flowed out from his mouth, which was nothing in turn compared to the geyser of blood which sprayed out from the wound the sword occupied and over Ash's own face.

A metallic hand grabbed Ash from behind and hauled him out of the grip of the faltering man, when the sword was swiftly expunged from the now dead man's skull and leaving him to collapse to the floor in a bloody heap. Revealing a very angry robotic Pokemon who had transferred Ash to her right arm.

Before anybody could even do anything else, Synergy teleported both herself and Ash to the other side of the training field, where she set Ash gently down. A reassuring look at Ash was all she gave before forcing him behind her and turning around to face the group of people who had just appeared to attack her charge.

Two Pokeballs were thrown out then by two members of the group - revealing the flying steel-type Magnemite, the metal spherical Pokemon with a single large eye and two magnets it used as appendages. The fire-type Houndoom also appeared, the large black dog with a pointed tail and two horns along with three bone-like ridges on its back.

"Quickly Houndoom, go all out and use fire blast on that steel-type!" A feminine voice cried out from among the group, getting the dog Pokemon to bark before gathering flames in its mouth. This was then spat out in a wide splay of fire, forming a kanji with five extended arms from its centre.

"You too, Magnemite, use thunderbolt!" Another voice commanded, getting a buzz from the electric type who took a moment to cackle electricity between its hanging magnets which was then blasted in a sizzling beam towards Synergy.

Reaching forth with her arm, a green protective screen rose up which completely negated the attacks as Synergy's other hand was held aloft, a swirling blue ball of energy forming in it. Just as the robotic Pokemon allowed the protect screen to fall, she launched the aura sphere forth in the direction of both opposing Pokemon - where it then directed itself towards Houndoom. The canine tried to dodge, but that was not how aura sphere worked - as its guaranteed hit factor made it slam into the dog and launched it several metres back.

As that was going down, Synergy's arm reached forth again, her hand glowing blue as the synthetic fingers became shrouded in aura - before suddenly yanking it back. The results were seen instantly, as Magnemite let out a panicked buzz as it was suddenly sent hurtling forward by an unseen force - right at Synergy. The sword extension on Synergy's left arm slid out and locked into place, becoming illuminated by a bright blue glow as the robotic Pokemon channelled aura energy into the sword, giving it an acute level of sharpness. Taking a step to the right, the computer in her system calculated as she analysed the steel and electric type hurtling towards her. The sword then flashed out, too fast to be seen entirely as the bright blue after-image of the aura glow showed it splicing cleanly through the Magnemite as it passed her by, the Pokemon giving off a dying buzz before falling to the floor, dead and in two halves.

"Magnemite!" A panicked voice shouted from the crowd, soon joined by the growl of Houndoom as it had found its feet, only to be tossed to the floor once more by a wave of Synergy's glowing hand. Cancelling the aura in the hand, the same appendage was used to instead charge up an electrical attack as cackling electricity flew between the fingers for a second.

"Run!" One of the group shouted, the rest of the attackers scattering about training field as the only Pokemon left standing charged up an attack pointed at them. Viewing them run, Synergy continued with the attack - unleashing a widespread electrical arc that shot forward over twenty metres. The move Discharge, an attack which dealt a medium-range amount of damage but was far more useful for its widespread utilisation to be able to hit multiple targets, as Synergy did now.

Two of the attackers were hit by the attack, screaming as large amounts of electricity flooded their nervous systems and caused them to spasm, as was the Houndoom who became knocked out by the attack. All three fell to the ground, unmoving.

A cry from her left alerted Synergy, who found her attacker rather foolish - as the person ran at her with a raised machete, which she merely calculated the path of with faster speeds than any organic could hope to process. Having predicted the most likely angle of attack by the machete, the robotic Pokemon's arm shot out and grabbed the machete, completely halting its swing at her as her attacker looked shocked. They couldn't do anything else as Synergy's other arm swept low, the sword extension flying out and bisecting them at the waist.

A warning then flared up within Synergy's view as an attacker had bypassed her on the right, aiming directly for Ash. A brief thought passed through her system as to why they were going so vehemently for a child, but it was dismissed as soon as it came up as she merely waved a glowing hand at them to send them to the floor. However, it seemed her attackers had gotten smarter, as they sent out a Pokeball as they flailed to the floor.

A Machamp gave a cry of its name then, the human-like Pokemon with four strong arms and three white fin-like extensions on its head emerging from the mass of red light. The blue-skinned fighting type smashed two of its fists together as it faced Synergy, ready for battle.

"Machamp!" The floored attacker called out. "Use-"

Synergy was done playing.

A simple shift of her aura-glowing hand to target the new Pokemon instead was achieved in under a second, catching the fighting-type in a field of gripping force it couldn't escape, giving a panicked clamour. Synergy spared no thought to its struggles as the fingers of her flowing hand slammed shut on one another, the mechanical sound ringing out as the action clenched it into a fist - with devastating results. Machamp instantly explored in a shower of blood and gore as Synergy commanded the unseen force to completely crush the Pokemon between its field of effect.

A quick bound over silenced the screaming person on the floor with a simple plunge of her sword into the vital brain cavity, unsheathing the sword from the skull when her aura spiked. Looking up panicked, Synergy's system suddenly rang out then as she felt Ash's aura chaotically shift in the tell-tale signs of danger. The robotic Pokemon saw as an attacker she hadn't sensed behind her was now within metres of Ash, charging forth with a raised combat knife to impale Ash right in the torso...

Ash himself was absolutely terrified, a roaring notion in his head as he seemed to be screaming, a deep nauseous feeling in his stomach as his entire self trembled. Just as the man before him was within a metre of him, a downward swing of the knife all but a second from spearing the area around the heart, instinct took over. All Ash could remember was that this was perhaps like the regular close combat sessions with Lucario, and that was all that was required. Combined with the chaotic variation of emotions triggering an intensive reaction to his aura, and Ash moved seemingly on instinct.

A blue, circular shield of energy extended from his hand as he moved to cower from the man, the aura infused within withstanding the knife thrust that clanged against it, changing the concentration in the man's eyes to shock. The shield, a glowing blue translucent shield with visibly pulsing energy of hexagonal sections was then pushed forth by the almost hyperventilating boy, causing the man to stumble back. Everything went silent for the boy, as a flick of the wrist formed an aura construct in Ash's right hand before it rose up at his command made the next few moments sear into Ash's brain forever.

Ash stared only in horror at the sight before him. A low buzz seemed to be prevalent in his ears as they seemed pressurized, an oppressive atmosphere bearing down upon them that made it heard to hear anything except the erratic beat of his own heart. Ash's body was quivering, shaken with fright yet hooked on the absurd amounts of adrenalin that was being pumped throughout his body. It was possibly the only reason the boy was standing in that moment, as he certainly looked and felt like he was going to faint. His hand trembled as the man let out another wretch, blood splaying from his throat before he fell back and forcibly slid off of the generated weapon. The aura construct the boy had generated in his panic now slid quickly out of the man's neck, allowing a geyser of crimson life liquid to erupt as a heightened amount of retching and wheezing occurred.

The blue rod that Ash had conjoined had blown straight through the arteries of the neck and through to the other side as the man swooped down towards the boy, having been surprised and then ultimately defeated as Ash reacted. Now, the noises died down as did the pressurized spurts of blood splattering over the grass - as the man spasmed for a final time upon the ground before going still.

The rest of the attackers were gathered behind Synergy, having gotten their act together to form a concerted effort to distract the legendary Pokemon whilst one of their number went to attack and kill the target. However, that plan was shot as something they never anticipated occurred before their eyes.

"You-you..." One of the attackers let out as they saw the whole thing, eyes wide and appearing stupefied - and afraid. "Just like his father - he's got that power..."

Another of the group snarled. "Well, its a good thing we came then. We can't let another of him enter this world." With that, the man reached into his coat, and withdrew a fully loaded, metal pistol. Aiming it squarely at the shocked and frozen child, he flicked the safety off of the gun and cocked it. "Nothing personal, kid. Just securing the future."

The gun fired twice, and sent two bullets soaring across the empty space, directly on target to Ash. Flying at twice the speed of sound, the distance would've been crossed in just half a second.

That's if a computer didn't work at even faster speeds.

The bullets were brought to an immediate halt that put a lot of duress on the metal casings that they became mangled and dented, pausing and suspended in mid-air a metre above the grass, glinting in the moonlight. The two attackers watched with wide eyes as the metal casings then began to slowly rise, gaining height through some unseen motion that made it look as if they moved up with a mind of their own.

The rest of the attackers began to become hysteric as many other things began rising off of the ground, entire sections of the ground suddenly ripped up from the earth. The asphalt cracked deeply as an audible thrum of power sounded out, the entire training field splitting apart to form wide cracks racing throughout it - before sections between the cracks began levitating upwards. Grass, plant life, soil and things around became trapped in the uplift, lighter objects soaring upwards as chunks of earth weighing a lot shakily rose up out of the ground.

The aggressors were no different as they were swept up in the forceful tirade, many screaming as a few simply sharply departed from the ground; as opposed to a woman who tried to run was stopped mid-step as she began peddling and thrashing about in the air instead, releasing panicked shouts. Everything was rising up sharply, more than twenty metres off the ground and rising as Ash gasped at the display of power, somehow fine and standing straight on the unaffected patch of ground he was on. He was in awe of Synergy's power as she held both her arms aloft, beginning to use her power to fly upwards too as she carried the mass of earth, asphalt and organisms upwards with her.

"Let us go, please!" One of the attackers, audibly a female, shrieked out in fright.

"How the fuck are you doing this, Pokemon?!" One of the others snarled out. Indeed, nothing like this had ever been seen by them - and as such it would blow the mind of anyone who witnessed it.

Synergy only tilted her head. "Well, I am a legendary." She stated blankly before raising her right hand before her. This sent the massive amounts of earth, plant-life, debris and humans soaring several metres higher still as she then began to close the glowing digits of her fingers. The panicked shouts rose in volume and pitch as everything began to fly closer together into a big congregation, Synergy uncaring as several agonised screams rang out as several of the attackers collided with patches of rock and earth which weighed in the tonnes.

Rearing her left arm back as everything was now gathered together in visible range, her arm took on a dark blue shroud of aura as she charged the power within it. "Nothing personal." Synergy intoned. "Gravity blast." Her arm was thrust forth and released the charged power within - unleashing a scything wave of energy which quickly rippled out and expanded. Whatever the energy wave came into contact with was visibly coated in the aura even after the wave shot pass the object, sending it tossed tens of metres higher still before then bringing an accelerated pace downwards. With a deliberate motion of the wave to send the items higher in the air and then send them hurtling back to earth with a crushing motion, every suspended object caught in the field projected by the robotic Pokemon were now mere splatters and blood stains in the scarred and barren field below.

Landing softly on the ground, strewn with debris and bloodied body parts as it was, Synergy merely observed the equivocal disaster zone now. She merely felt a sense of duty as her system tried to catalogue the situation that had just occurred, trying to analyse if that was all-

The ringing blast denoting the discharge of a handheld firearm brought all processing to a halt as the robotic Pokemon instantly turned about to view the source of the sound.

Ash stood behind her, the ten year old giving off struggling sounds as he appeared to be slightly retching and gagging. His face was etched in deep pain, contorted with agony as the trembling that ran along his body violently increased only in pitch as a few seconds went by. And it was easy to see why, as a small hole had been blown straight through the right side of his torso, blood splattered up the child-sized hoodie with a Pokeball design. Blood dripped from his lips as he gave a cough and wordlessly said Synergy's name, copious amounts of the crimson life-sustaining fluid pouring from the gaping wound in his torso before the child then collapsed.

A woman stood behind the dying boy, a smoking pistol in her hand being lowered as the dark clothing she wore could be seen to be also splattered with the blood of the child she had just shot. An apathetic look was paramount on her face, before a strained look of anger yet self-loathing appeared on her face as dropped the gun with trembling hands. Instead, a knife appeared in her hand.

"Fuck your father!" She screamed out, visibly crying the evening light as the knife glinted and plunged downwards into Ash's neck, getting only a gargle of blood from the delirious boy. The impaling instrument stabbed through Ash's cheek and diagonally straight down to the blood vessels below in the neck, getting squirts of further blood to stain that which had already been shed on her hands from before.

Synergy was but a metre from the woman at this point, sword ready and extended to take her life as the woman only seemed to brace herself in her kneeling position, eyes closed and ready to die when time seemed to stand still. A sudden mass of shadows covered both Synergy and the attacker's peripheral vision then, wreathing and bathing the world in darkness for a few moments, before all Synergy heard then was deep, agonised screams.

Knowing who it was and not caring as the world returned to normal albeit with one less human, Synergy slid right next to Ash and fell to the floor as she observed the dying child spasm, further blood splattering from his wounds. Distress flared within the robotic Pokemon as she watched the boy retch on his own blood, agony contorting his features as he trembled, before her own hands reached forth and sought to try and save him.

The shadowy being regarded Synergy as she knelt next to the downed boy. The ten year old looked pitiful, pale in the face as crimson stained the clothes a deep taint that could never hope to be removed. The two wounds were obvious to the two as they witnessed it, blood bleeding out from the torso and trickling right through the robotic Pokemon's fingers as she hopelessly tried to stem the tide. It was to of no avail as Ash gave another gasping wheeze, the deep fright in his face not leaving despite the ever-increasing fatigue that took hold from the traumatic events and loss of life-sustaining fluid. The deep scar on his face that arced up from his right cheek to below his right eye was also heavily bleeding as Synergy watched on in horror, a range of unknown feelings she'd never felt before racing through her system as she watched the boy slowly die.

Synergy merely looked up to the unknown figure who silently stood there, having disposed of the final threat and now just regarded them. For the first time in her life, Synergy was afraid. "Help him." The Pokemon begged with a strained face. "Please."

The shadowy being stayed silent for a few moments as it merely regarded their equal, begging for the life of a human. Somehow, the robotic Pokemon knew that it could help her - and she was right, but in that moment it was just a matter of contemplation. The boy would die within the minute from his loss of blood, and still the unknown figure stayed their hand. It was not the way they had lived so far.

But neither had they seen this too, having never experienced a bond like this. And sometimes, the world threw things at you to see what you'd do on a whim.

"You really care for a human this much?" The being spoke, getting only Synergy to look at him.

The sheer determination in the robotic Pokemon's face slightly impressed them. "Yes." Synergy spoke seriously, without a single hint of reluctance or hesitation. "I do."

The figure was silent for a few moments more, thinking. True, they may not like doing this. But then, something about this interested them - and so they gave in to the moment of fate that brought it here.

A murky arm raised out from the mass of shadows that wreathed the unknown figure, three digits prevalent on what passed for a hand before they glowed blue - directed right at the child. Their eyes lit up an even deeper shade of blue, signifying the use of their powers. It took a moment, but the colour soon returned full force to Ash's face as his wound became wreathed in a green energetic shroud, closing away in less than a second. New life was rejuvenated in the boy as the boy looked perfectly healthy in comparison to the death-like state he'd been in just moments ago, blood now fully restored unlike the crimson patches that still stained the ground and clothing. The only thing that remained was the deep scars that marred right up from the stab site in Ash's face, and the circular bullet site with several scars branching off like cracks in a structure from it. The stab wound was particularly prevalent, an angry red disfiguration with a thick, jagged line from his jaw right up to under the right eyeball that marred and defaced the natural skin of the boy's face.

The figure lowered their arm after seeing their work was complete, remaining silent as they watched. Ash awoke with a groan, still tired but nonetheless revitalised and healed by the shadowy being. Synergy gave a weak smile at the blinking boy, Ash letting out a grunt of pain as he lifted his head. The boy certainly felt like he had bruises all over him, a deep ache that left him feeling sore all over. But it was as if he had physically exerted himself for hours and ran out of energy - not as if he had just been stabbed.

One thing that did not go away, however, was the deep traumatic fright in Ash's mind. Synergy hugged the boy close as he started trembling in her arms again, seeing that they were still exactly in the same spot where he'd been dying. It played over and over again in Ash's mind, as it did in Synergy's - but the robotic Pokemon was beginning to think of what to do next, when looked up.

The dark blue eyes of the psychic Pokemon before her were regarding her, watching as Synergy tended to the troubled child. It was all a new experience to it, as the robotic Pokemon looked back, before then to Ash.

"They healed you, Ash." Synergy spoke as she gestured to the shadowy being, wreathed in the illusion of darkness. "We have them to thank."

The Pokemon who was deliberately keeping their identity from them said nothing, but only watched as Ash turned to see what Synergy was pointing at, his eyes going wide at what he saw. The unknown figure only observed as Ash looked frightened at them, shrinking further into Synergy's arms - after what he'd been through, new people were not a good thing. Nonetheless, the shadowy Pokemon saw the emotion buried deep in Ash's terrified gaze, a small glimmer of grateful thanks to them that the psychically adept Pokemon could sense.

The Pokemon seemed to regard that with some thought, then speaking before Synergy could thank them as well. "You have seen a bit of this world." They spoke in their cordial, rough tone. "But not as much I have. Whether you are prepared for not just the challenges that test your strength, but your resolve too, remains to be seen."

A tail twitched clearly behind the figure then, as they pointed at Synergy. "Become stronger. We will meet again." They spoke sternly to the robotic Pokemon, before lowering their arm and stepping back, their eyes glowing blue again to signify a use of their power. With that, the figure teleported away in a flash of blue.