Chapter 22

Though they had been in Celadon City for a few days now, the giant city was still hard to navigate through for the pair. Despite this, as Ash and Brock traversed through the winding and busy streets alive with both Pokémon Trainers and business folks going about their day to day life, Brock had his face glued to a map in his hand, while at the same time frantically scanning the street signs in front of him every time they passed by one. The Pokémon Breeder was in the lead, and had been on a mission for some unknown destination since he dragged Ash out of bed early that morning, much to the Pokémon Trainer's chagrin.

Brock turned a corner after some time, noticing a street sign with big flashy lights that read 'Scissor Street', and he folded the map and placed it in his backpack before anxiously looking left to right at every storefront they passed. "Scissor Street? Why'd we come here?" Ash asked.

"You'll see," Brock answered shortly. Brock sounded as though he was excited and trying to hide it, but after traveling with the former Pewter City Gym Leader for months, Ash could tell. But nothing on this street interested Ash at all – it seemed to be all beauty parlors on both sides of the busy boardwalk.

"Is there any place special you want to visit Brock?" the dark-haired Trainer continued as he looked at his friend curiously. But Brock ignored him – or didn't hear him through his quiet muttering – and simply continued to twist his head from side to side like a sprinkler.

The busy street was wide enough to fit four cars side to side, but there wasn't a single one driving on the road. Instead, it was mostly all blocked off to vehicle access and instead Pokémon Trainers crawled all over the road. Strangely enough, they all walked with a Pokémon outside of its Poké Ball, opting to either have them follow them or carry them in their arms. However, the strangest part of it was that the Pokémon were all wearing some sort of make-up or jewelry of some kind. The Trainers were also dressed in fancy clothes, as if they were dressing up for some sort of fancy gathering.

"Some of the best Breeders have shops here," Brock finally explained. "There are lots of terrific make-up places too; just for Pokémon!"

A smile of understanding appeared across Ash's face as soon as the older boy explained the area. "So that's why we're here. Brock's always gotta see the latest Breeder gear." They continued walking down the busy street, but Brock didn't even hesitate or glance in the direction of a busy shop with a line going out of the door. Ash's dark eyes fell upon a Trainer walking past holding a Bulbasaur with the same spiky blue hair as its Trainer, he struggled to hold back a snort, but luckily, it was quickly overshadowed by Brock's exclamation.

"It's there!" Ash turned in the direction of Brock's pointed finger, and it pointed to a shop tucked in the corner of another large building. It was quaint and quiet which almost made it almost invisible compared to some of the other places, but nevertheless, Brock ran up to it as if he couldn't get there fast enough. When they approached the front door, it had a picture of a red Pokémon with six tails on the front of it. "I found it! I've been looking all over for this place!" But now that he was here, his feet seemed to be planted into the pavement just inches away from the dirt.

A shaking hand reached out towards the bar handle, and his joints seemed to be frozen and stuck in place. "What are you so nervous about?" Ash asked his friend, and pushed past Brock and walked inside the salon. The bell at the top of the door announced their presence, and right away, a serene voice called to them from the back of the salon.

"Hi! Can I help you?" It was a female voice, but it seemed to make Brock jump out of his skin and follow Ash inside.

The salon was fairly open in this area, with several seats in the lobby for waiting guests, but they were the only ones inside aside from the woman who spoke up. She stood in the back of the parlor, but didn't even look up at them as they entered. Instead, her attention of focused purely on a Chansey laying on a table in front of her. The Egg Pokémon looked absolutely relaxed as the woman with teal-colored hair that flowed down to her lower back ran her hands up and down the sides of the pink Pokémon's body. Even a novice like Ash could tell that she was skilled as she massaged the Pokémon.

"Just relax," she told the Pokémon in front of her. "Release all your tensions." Finally, she pulled back, and Brock let out a gasp of astonishment as the Chansey bounced up from the table and stood in front of a body mirror. "Now you'll have more energy!"

"Chansey! Chansey!" The Chansey seemed to sparkle like a gem in the lights hanging from the ceiling, and it examined itself from a couple of different angles with a great smile. Just then, a door opened up, and a tall man with spiked red hair that stuck straight up walked in – the bell over the front door jingling to announce his presence.

"Chansey, I've come for you, darling!" he said. Both the masseuse and Chansey walked up to the front, and the Trainer gave a squeal and raised his arms high in the air before folding his fingers together and grinning with a lipstick-covered smile at his Pokémon. "Oh! Don't you look precious!"

"Thank you for bringing Chansey to my salon," the young woman thanked with a nod of her head, and the man turned on his heel and stepped out with Chansey in tow.

"See you soon, Suzie!" he said with a final wave of his hand as they left, Chansey also offering a word of goodbye and thanks. Once the door was shut, she looked at the pair of young Trainers, and her eyes happen to fall on Ash.

"May I help the next customer?"

"We're just kinda, sorta browsing arou-"

"N-no!" Brock exclaimed, cutting Ash off. And though he did that and his tanned face was a darker shade because of the blush that had enveloped his whole head making him look like a tomato with hair, he sputtered unintelligible words. A cocked eyebrow guided Ash's eyes to the woman named Suzie, but he ended up looking past her and towards the very back of the shop at something red that stuck out in his vision. Focusing more, he saw that it was a Pokémon with red fur that curled at its head and tails, and it was in fact the same Pokémon that was put up on the front door, but curled up and sleeping on a chair that resembled a throne more than anything.

Once he realized what it was, Ash cut off Brock's embarrassing sputtering and let out a gasp of his own. "Hey, it's a Pokémon!" Walking past Suzie, he approached it, and it didn't even flinch in his presence at all as he rested his hands on his knees and frowned down at it. "What is it?"

"Vulpix, a Fox Pokémon," Dexter told him once he pulled it from his jacket and scanned it. "Its six tails are extremely beautiful. As it evolves, it grows even more tails. Vulpix uses powerful flame attacks."

"Aah!" Ash exclaimed, looking back down at the sleeping Pokémon. He wouldn't have guessed the Fox Pokémon was a Fire-type Pokémon from looking at it.

"Yes, but please don't touch Vulpix," the salon owner warned, approaching Ash cautiously with an apologetic look. "Vulpix doesn't like to be picked up or touched by strangers."

"Uh, Suzie?!" Brock said in a louder-than-normal voice, slowly creeping up to the girl as if he were a statue come to life. The young woman smiled and turned to Brock.

"Yes?"

Instantly, the Pokémon Breeder shot upright as if his spine had frozen suddenly. "Uh, my name's Brock! Nice to meet you, Suzie! Uh, uh, I want to breed like you! Ah, ah, I mean, I wanna be a Breeder like you!"

"It's very nice to meet you Brock," Suzie replied with a humble chuckle. "I'm flattered you want to make me your model."

"Yes, I want to model you! I-I-I mean, I-I'm flattered that you're flattered! I-I mean... your Vulpix is nice..." Ash could only blink at his friend, who he had barely seen so flustered in the time he knew him. "What I'm really trying to say is, Suzie... I'm begging you to accept me as your pupil!" Ash let out a shocked cry, and even Suzie seemed shook by the sudden proposition.

"You've got to be kidding, Brock!" the Pallet Town boy said to him, rushing beside his friend and holding out his hands as if trying to reason with him.

"Mind your own business, Ash! I know what I'm doing," his traveling companion spat quietly, not breaking eye contact with the salon owner. "Please say yes, Suzie!" he begged again, and bowed his head, but Suzie frowned.

"I don't have pupils, Brock; breeding takes up all my time," she said lightly.

"What makes her such a great Breeder anyway?" Ash asked ignorantly, and the question he asked enraged Brock so greatly that he shot up and screamed in the boy's face, forcing him back.

"HOW DARE YOUUUU!" he screamed, and then instantly smiled and curled his hand as if he were pretending to hold a microphone. "The sensation Suzie from Scissor Street has been awarded the trophy for excellence at the World Pokémon Breeder's Contest for three consecutive years!" It was like he was an MC on a game show, and stood in front of Suzie with an arm out to display her for Ash. "Wait, there's more! In addition to that, the readers of 'Pokémon Friends' magazine named her the most popular Breeder four years running! And her hugely popular website records over ten thousand hits per day!" Suzie smiled humbly at the presentation that Brock had prompted, and folded her fingers in front of her scrubs while Brock jumped back and slammed his fists on his hips while frowning down at Ash. "You better believe it!"

"Okay, Brock! We heard you clear and loud," Ash argued back, regretting saying anything in the first place. "But if Suzie is such a great Breeder, then Vulpix must have won some awards too, hasn't it?"

His question was directed to Suzie, but Brock once again cut in. "That's a fabulous question, Ash. Vulpix is the hottest supermodel of the Pokémon world!" He knelt down beside Vulpix's chair and waved his hands to fan the Fox Pokémon's tails. "Notice the gorgeous flowing tails that have made Vulpix a champ! Plus, there's-" But Ash, finally having enough, snatched Brock up in a full-nelson from behind and pulled him away.

"We get the idea, Brock; Vulpix is terrific too!" he exclaimed. But despite all the commotion, Vulpix only let out a yawn and its eyes didn't even flutter open at all.

o 0 o

Despite turning down Brock's request, Suzie still invited them to have tea with her since they traveled all this way. In the back of the salon was a large open area with large windows that gave view to the beautiful day outside. They sat at a round table with comfortable stools that they sat upon. They sat talking with the teal-haired Breeder, though Brock seemed too flustered to even speak from his position next to Suzie, so Ash did most of the talking with her.

In between them, on a bench, Brock had put out a plate of his own homemade Pokémon food, and Ash's Wartortle and Brock's newly acquired Psyduck were munching away at the food. It did, however, take some time for Psyduck to realize that it was food, and it sat staring at it blankly with its webbed hands holding its head while Wartortle ate its fill.

"So the two of you are traveling on a Pokémon journey together," she said as she sat down and poured tea into their cups once it was hot enough. Her soft eyes fell on Wartortle and she watched it eat before speaking up again. "Your Wartortle's tail has a beautiful shiny coat. Are you the one who prepares all of Wartortle's food, Brock?" When she asked her question, Brock's face immediately flushed red, and he hopped up from his seat and stood up straight with his nose pointing at the ceiling and arms straight down at his sides.

"Yes! I do!"

"My career as a Breeder first began when I became interested in Pokémon nutrition," she continued. Just then, their heads all turned when Vulpix jumped up on the bench beside Psyduck and opposite Wartortle. Its amber eyes looked at the food in Wartortle's hand with a cocked head, and Wartortle smiled and held out the half-bitten food pellet for Vulpix. The Fire-type put the pellet into its mouth and chewed for a moment.

"Woah..." Brock murmured quietly, watching from the other side of the table as if not wanting to startle it. The room was quiet as Vulpix swallowed the food, and for a moment, it didn't react, but then finally it grinned.

"Vulpix!" it cried happily, and cooed as it began to eat more directly out of the bowl this time.

"I can't believe Vulpix is eating the food I made!" the older teen said with a smile on his face.

"Brock, this is really impressive," Suzie told him, watching Vulpix with a smile to mirror his. "Vulpix never eats food that I haven't made myself."

"Looks like Vulpix is a fan of Brock's cooking!" Ash commented.

Shooting up once again, Brock once again sputtered, but with a smile on his face. "A-ah, thank you, Vulpix!" he thanked, and bent at a ninety-degree angle to bow, but bowed too fast and slammed his forehead against the table. Instantly, he recoiled and his fingers gripped his reddened forehead, but Suzie chuckled as he ignored the pain and moaned, "I'm not... worthy..."

Turning back to Ash, Suzie's smile fell as she asked her next question. "By any chance, did you happen to pass a very large salon along the way?"

"Well, they were all pretty big," Ash muttered as he thought back. "But we did notice some really tacky-looking Pokémon."

"Ever since that salon opened, some Trainers are trying to make their Pokémon as flashy as possible."

"So that salon started the trend?" Brock asked, sitting down now that he had recovered.

"A good Breeder is always trying to bring out a Pokemon's inner strength and personality," she began with a concerned look on her face. "But this new fad is about standing out, not what's inside."

"I don't like it either. It's pretty stupid to waste your time showing off," Ash agreed, giving a faraway smile as he stared at his Wartortle. "I think Wartortle is perfect just the way it is. We don't need any goofy fashions. It's what's going on inside that really counts." His eyes trailed over to Brock's Psyduck, who was still holding its head and staring blankly at the table. It hadn't eaten very much food, and Ash silently wondered if it remembered it was there. "Well, that might not be the case for Psyduck..."

Suzie's eyes fell to her tucked knees, and she gripped her stool with a sigh. "I wonder if it's what's on the outside or what's inside that really counts in the end... Ever since that new salon opened, I've been wondering about my methods." Much to both of their surprise, Brock stood up and clenched a fist.

"Don't say things like that!" Suzie's head whipped around and she looked up at Brock with her mouth open. "Suzie, you've got to keep following the path you believe in!"

"We have to stick up for what's inside together!" Ash agreed, standing up and knitting his eyebrows together before turning to his starter once again. "Right, Wartortle?"

"Wartor!" the Water-type agreed with a nod.

"That's very kind," Suzie said, smiling for a moment before turning back to Brock. "But... how can we?"

"If they wanna put style over substance, we'll give customers substance with style!"

o 0 o

No matter what he faults were, in Ash's eyes, Brock was absolutely amazing. In simply an hour, he had formulated a presentation for Suzy, created and printed flyers, and enlisted Ash to hand them out to the many wildly-dressed Trainers and Breeders out on Scissor Street. And by the time that the Pallet Town Trainer got back from handing all of them out, Suzie and Brock were already setting up a space in the middle of her salon.

The pair seemed to be getting along despite the rocky start, and Suzie even laughed a few times when Brock tripped over Psyduck who seemed to be constantly in the way despite standing in place and holding its head while staring vacantly at the wall. They had set up two tables with white cloth over it, and Suzie had brought up several chairs from her back room to set up for viewers. And soon, as the allocated time for the event started to come around, Trainers started to come trickling in.

Most of them were holding Pokémon with wild hairstyles and dripping with decorations, but were showing up just to see what was going on. Some of them seemed to also just be regular customers of Suzie's – Ash recognized the Chansey Trainer from when they first arrived standing among the background with a knowing smile painted on his lips. But not long after, they all started to pile in, and Ash was astounded at how many there were. Were they here because they just wanted to know what was going on, or was this just a reflection of Suzie's fame?

"Uh, there are still a few seats in the back of the room for our lecture about Pokémon care!" Brock called, waving his free hand that wasn't holding a microphone. Behind him, the Trainers who were lucky enough to get there early watched as Suzie started to massage Ash's Wartortle, rubbing her fingers carefully in gentle, circular motions on the top of its head and around its ears.

"Each Pokémon needs your special care and attention," she told the audience, not taking her eyes off Wartortle as she spoke. "Whenever a Pokémon's been injured in a battle, it should be given a therapeutic massage." Below her, Wartortle let out a moan of satisfaction, closing its eyes and grinning from ear to ear.

Next, she walked over to the other table, where Brock's Psyduck was laying on its back, staring at the ceiling and holding its head. Her Vulpix watched from its stoop on the counter off to the side as she gripped Psyduck's head by both temples where it was holding its head. For the first time, Psyduck blinked and looked around as if it had snapped out of a trance, but once Suzie began the motions of massaging its skull, it let out a relaxed sigh. "For example, while I was massaging the sensitive ears of Wartortle, Psyduck constantly suffers from a headache, so to ease its tension, I've moved to the most sensitive area on Psyduck. Only through studying and connecting with your Pokémon will you know what is the most sensitive area on its body."

Suzie gasped as Psyduck made a strange noise, but she looked down to see the Duck Pokémon had let out a snore, and it had fallen asleep with its arms spread out. Suzie laughed, and the audience soon followed. Nodding to Ash, the Pallet Town boy walked up to the table with his starter Pokémon sitting up on it, and discarded his gloves. Gesturing to Ash, she looked out to the viewers. "This volunteer and his Wartortle will now demonstrate the techniques we learned in today's lecture." Ash nodded, and Suzie continued. "As you may already know, a Wartortle's ears help it keep balance, and they become very tense after a difficult battle."

"War, wartortle!" Wartortle nodded and spoke out to the audience.

"Ash, would you please massage Wartortle's ears just like I showed you earlier?"

"Uh, sure..." Ash was out of his comfort zone, and was thrown off when she asked him instead of Brock, but he nevertheless decided to try. Walking over to the massage table, Wartortle flopped onto its back and closed its eyes in anticipation. "Uh, let's see..." His hands traveled up to Wartortle's ears, but he gripped them too tight and Wartortle shook its head. "Maybe, uh..." Trying to remember how Suzie had done it, he cradled Wartortle's head in his palms, and moved his hands up and down while circling his thumbs against the back where the fur on its ears began. This time, there was no protest from the Water-type, and he could feel it melt into his grip. "How's that feel, Wartortle?"

"Wartor..." the Pokémon moaned happily, and the audience let out a collective gasp at how quickly Ash was easily able to get a hold of it.

"Good communication between Pokémon and their Trainers is essential," Suzie continued as she folded her hands in front of her. "These techniques build trust and bring out a Pokémon's personality."

"I think Suzie will agree with me that any technique is only as good as the Trainer or Breeder who uses it," Brock added at the edge of the crowd. A murmur came over the crowd, and they all seemed to look down with guilt at the decorated Pokémon in their arms or by their feet.

"So this is where all my customers disappeared to!" a voice called out by the doorway leading into Suzie's shop. Many heads turned to see a young man about Suzie's age standing with a frown on his face. Some of the audience members had moved away from him, sensing his hidden anger and parting like oil from water. His forest green hair was spiked from underneath a red backwards cap, and his black eyes looked around first at the audience, then at Suzie.

"You're the owner of that new salon!" Suzie pointed out.

"That's right; the name's Shawn," he replied. "And you happen to be stealing my customers, which is putting an end to fashion itself."

"What do you know about fashion?! Fashion and breeding are two different things!" Brock interjected.

"I'm not so sure," the salon owner replied smugly. "Everyone knows it's how the Pokémon looks on the outside that counts. That's why I've decorated every single one of these Pokémon." He opened his arms and gestured out to the audience beside him, and they all looked away uncomfortably, as if they had betrayed Suzie.

"Every Pokémon is beautiful; it's our job as Breeders to help the Pokémon realize it!" Suzie argued as her Vulpix jumped into her arms.

"What do you know, lady? I took away all of your customers, so it's obvious who is right," Shawn snapped back.

"That's not right and you know it!" Ash shot, stepping around the massage table. "Let's battle!"

"Wait, Ash!" Brock declared, stepping in front of the younger teen and holding his own Poké Ball. "I'm going to battle him! If this guy thinks he can get away with insulting not only Suzie, but the name of a Pokémon Breeder, then as a Pokémon Breeder myself, I have to defend it." Across the store, Shawn laughed.

"You're only setting yourself up for humiliation!"

"And you're only in this business for money! I'll show you what a true Pokémon Breeder's Pokémon looks like." The audience emptied Suzie's cramped shop and all piled in a ring on the street where Brock and Shawn stood with some space between them.

"Be careful, Brock," Suzie called, but Brock didn't respond and simply held up his arm and gripping his Poké Ball in his fingers.

Retrieving his own Poké Ball from his leather jacket, Shawn pressed the control button and threw it high into the air. "Dazzle 'em, Persian!" A flash of light came out from the Poké Ball, and a sleek, cat-like Pokémon on four legs appeared. However, unlike normal Persians, not only did it have fur that was a reddish hue to it instead of its normal cream color, but it also wore a black beret on its head, a white silk scarf around its neck, and a multicolored cape on its back that draped over its body like a shawl. "In its debut appearance, my Persian not only dazzles with its beauty and fashion, but will knock my opponents dead in their tracks."

Brock ignored him and kept the hardened look on his face as he reared his arm holding his Poké Ball back. "Geodude, go! Ah!" From his own Poké Ball, the Rock Pokémon appeared after another flash of light, and it held its fists in the air and floated above the ground.

"Geodude!"

"Geodude, give 'im the Seismic Toss!" Brock ordered, and his Pokémon didn't waste a second before shooting at Shawn's Persian. Dipping underneath the Normal-type Pokémon, Geodude then floated upward and wrapped its arms around Persian before floating high into the air. Before it got too high, however, Geodude turned around and threw Persian over its shoulder and down toward the ground. The Classy Cat Pokémon spun through the air with a screech, but Shawn didn't seem worried. In fact, it seemed he was smiling.

"Do you know what they say about Persians?" he asked rhetorically. "They always land on their feet!" As the words left his mouth, Persian was able to right itself in the air and it smirked a cat-like grin as it landed firmly and harmlessly on the ground.

Brock seemed slightly surprised as Geodude floated back down to the ground in front of Shawn and facing its opponent, but he discarded it and proceeded to his next attack. "Geodude, Tackle attack!"

"Geo...!" The Rock and Ground Pokémon launched itself forward, and this time, the attack connected hard. Both Geodude and Persian skidded towards Brock, but Persian soon managed to break away from the smaller Pokémon and jumped high into the air. Suddenly, its tail straightened out, and both Brock and Suzie gasped.

"It's getting ready to attack!" Suzie observed.

"How can you tell?" Ash asked the older woman.

"Its tail shows that it's been well-trained."

"Now it's our turn!" Shawn proclaimed, closing his eyes and holding his arms out wide. "Persian cutie... Hyper Beam makeover!" Looking directly at Geodude, Persian opened its mouth and under the brim of the beret on its head, the red gemstone on its forehead flashed before an orange ball of energy began to glow brightly in front of its mouth. With a yowl, Persian fired the ball in the form of an orange beam that came down on Geodude and resulted in an explosion. Ash threw his arms up to avoid getting any debris in his eyes, and when he lowered them, Brock's Geodude was singed as if it had been burned, and it was no longer floating inches above the concrete street but collapsed on the ground.

"Geodude!" Brock exclaimed as Shawn's Persian landed in front of its Trainer, and they both looked at the Rock Pokémon with matching smirks.

"Now the finale... Go!" the salon owner declared. Persian opened its mouth and gave a blood-curdling screech, and its claws came out of its paws as it arched its back to pounce, but before it could leap forward, a flash of red appeared in front of Geodude, and Brock and Ash gasped when they saw that Suzie's Vulpix was standing protectively in front of the hurt Rock-type. Persian recoiled in surprise, and even Shawn seemed taken aback momentarily.

"Now, what?" Brock asked Suzie, who walked past him with a look of determination on his face and her fingers pinching into her palm from how tightly she was gripping her fists.

"Vulpix and I will take care of him," she spat.

"Don't worry, love," Shawn stated with a smirk. "I'll give your Vulpix a makeover. The first thing to go will be those tails."

"Time to give you a lesson in breeding!" Suzie snapped back. "If all you worry about is your Pokémon's outer beauty, its inner strength will be lost!"

"A Pokémon is like a fashion model! All that counts is a pretty face!" Shawn declared. "Persian, use Slash!" Continuing its attack from earlier, Persian leapt forward with its claws reared, but this time its eyes were locked on Vulpix.

"Vulpix, wrap it up with Fire Spin!" Suzie ordered with her arms open wide. Lowering its head, Vulpix's face snarled into one of hatred, and a glowing, golden aura drifted off it as its body temperature increased dramatically. Its eyes began to glow light blue, and once the attack was completed, it turned from blue to pink, to red, and Vulpix opened its mouth and let out a cry before releasing a spiraling stream of fire from its mouth. The attack hit Persian and blasted it back to the ground before a tornado of fire engulfed it. For a moment, Persian couldn't be seen, but when the attack faded away, the Classy Cat Pokémon fell to the ground after being spat into the air by the vortex of flames, and it landed in a heap, its clothes having been burned off and turned to ash in the powerful Fire-type attack.

"Persian! A fashion disaster!" Shawn exclaimed as he slapped his hands against his cheeks.

"Now that's an attack!" Ash commented and retrieved his Pokédex from the pocket of his jacket to get more information on it.

"Vulpix's greatest attack: Fire Spin. Using powerful flames to block its opponent from moving, it then inflicts great damage."

Shawn, now utterly embarrassed, collected Persian back into its Poké Ball and rushed away without even another word, and as he did, Brock turned to the audience that had come for a Pokémon lesson and had stayed for the battle. "Did you see that? A cute exterior hides inner strength; that's the Pokémon's true personality!" Murmurs waved through the audience, and some of them looked down at their decorated Pokémon in shame. Now that Shawn had been revealed as a fraud, they slowly began to pluck away at the accessories that dotted their Pokémon, while others took out handkerchiefs and wiped away any make-up or paint that was on them.

Just then, they heard a noise coming out from Suzie's shop, and Brock, Ash and Suzie all turned to see Psyduck waddling out from the shop, rubbing the sleep from its eyes. Looking around at all the people, it looked up at its Trainer with its beady black eyes and cocked its head. "Psy?"

o 0 o

The audience was long since gone, and everything had been cleaned up since the lecture on Pokémon massage, and now the only ones that remained in the shop were Ash and Brock, and Suzie, who was kneeling down and petting her Pokémon with delight. "Nice work, Vulpix," she complimented it, and stood back up. "Thanks to you two, I believe in what I'm doing again. You helped me regain confidence in my beliefs!"

"It's not hard when the person you're helping is as great as you are," Ash admitted bashfully with a chuckle and rubbing the back of his head.

"And Brock?" Suzie stepped forward, and looked at the training Pokémon Breeder. Right away, the former Gym Leader perked up.

"Uh, yes?"

"I was very impressed by the way you handled your Pokémon the way you did."

"Suzie..."

"I have a lot more to learn about breeding Pokémon, even if I do have a championship," she continued, and leaned forward with her hands on her hips but a soft smile on her face. "I'm still a student, not a teacher. Looks like you and I both have journeys ahead of us."

"You're leaving Suzie?" Ash questioned. "What about your Pokémon salon?"

"There are things I can only learn if I leave here," she answered him. "I want you to continue your journey too, Brock. From now on, we're rivals!" She uncurled her hand from her chest and held it forward. Brock was taken aback by the gesture, but still shook her hand.

"Uh, sure!"

When they pulled back their hands, Vulpix walked over to Brock, and nuzzled its head against his cargo pants. "Vulll-pix!"

"I'd be grateful if you took care of Vulpix for me." Brock was even more shocked by Suzie's words, almost falling backwards. "You're the first person other than me that Vulpix has been friendly with. Right now, I believe you could do a better job of raising Vulpix than I could." Brock seemed skeptical, but when he looked down at Vulpix's amber eyes, the red Fox Pokémon gave him an affirming nod. Instantly, tears formed in the corners of his eyes, and soon fell down his cheeks as he bowed.

"T-thanks! I don't know what to say!" Even Ash was tearing up slightly at the emotional sight before him, but a smile was planted on every one of their faces. Stepping back, Brock dug a hand into his pocket. "You don't have to worry, Vulpix. I promise I'll take good care of you!" Pulling out an empty Poké Ball, he pressed the button in the center of it, and the mechanical device opened up, converting Vulpix at his feet into red energy before drawing it inside. The ball closed once the energy had been drawn inside, and it flashed for only a second before clicking in place instantly.

Wiping away a tear with his forearm, he held the Poké Ball high into the air and a big smile spread across Brock's face. "All right! I got Vulpix!"

Ash:

Party:

Wartortle (Poké Ball)

Moves: Tackle, Dig, Water Gun, BubbleBeam

Pidgeotto (Poké Ball)

Moves: Gust, Quick Attack, Whirlwind, Wing Attack

Bulbasaur (Poké Ball)

Moves: Tackle, Vine Whip, Razor Leaf

Charmander (Poké Ball)

Moves: Flamethrower, Leer, Rage, Skull Bash

Krabby (Poké Ball)

Moves: ViceGrip

Mankey (Poké Ball)

Moves: Thrash, Mega Kick

Badges:

Boulder Badge

Cascade Badge

Thunder Badge

Marsh Badge

Rainbow Badge

Brock:

Party:

Onix (Poké Ball)

Moves: Tackle, Bind, Dig

Geodude (Poké Ball)

Moves: Seismic Toss, Tackle

Zubat (Poké Ball)

Moves: Whirlwind, Supersonic

Psyduck (Poké Ball)

Moves:

Vulpix (Poké Ball)

Moves: Fire Spin