Chapter 15

"Alright, you owe me an explanation."

Two boys were sitting at a café in Celadon City. One had raven-black hair, and wore a jacket and blue jeans, and had his arms crossed. The other boy had on glasses, which were slightly bent, and unkempt brown hair, and was rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Ash had to admit, Nate had grown a lot in the two months they'd been apart. His attire had been swapped with a red sweater and black sweatpants, and he looked… older. Whatever he had gone through in the past couple of months had changed him in some way.

"Well… what do you want to know?" Nate asked, raising an eyebrow and placing his elbows on the table.

Ash took a deep breath. He had a lot of questions to ask. "Well for starters, how'd you get to Celadon City?" he blurted, waving his arms. "What happened while you were on Camomile Island? How are you even alive!?"

"Hey, slow down!" Nate said, holding up his hands and raising his eyebrows. The long time apart had made Ash anxious for any sort of answer. "I'll catch you up on everything, okay? I'll start from the beginning. When-"

"Hello, gentlemen! May I take your order?"

Both of them whipped around to see a bald, middle-aged man in a waiter's uniform standing before them. Right. They were in a cafe. They had gone here because Nate had insisted that he was hungry, and Ash agreed. His stomach was a never-ending machine, always needing more food.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Nate said, "I'll just have a Moomoo Milk and a slice of Razz Berry Pie." Suddenly his stomach grumbled, as if to disagree. "Um… make that two slices please."

"I'll just take a Pinap Berry Juice and a side of fries." Ash recited. The man wrote down their order on a small notepad before leaving. Ash directed his attention back to Nate. "You were saying?"

"Right." Nate said, "So anyways, after everything that happened on the S.S. Anne, I was swept away and slammed my head into a rock, knocking me unconscious and giving me this little gift." He lifted his hair covering part of his forehead to reveal a nasty scar, and Ash winced. He'd been lucky enough to have been saved by one of his now team members, without any lasting injuries. Nate however, hadn't been so lucky.

"When I woke up, I was on the back of this weird, flying plant dinosaur thing, right?" Nate continued. "It flew me toward this island, and to my luck, a Pokemon Center. In the middle of some random island! It was a miracle!"

Nate then proceeded to talk about his experience there and the people he met. Well rather, person, as there was only a Nurse Joy there, as well as another dinosaur Pokemon called Meganium. The boy's eyes seemed to gleam as he recounted his adventures, such as when Charmeleon tried to prove he was faster than a few Ponyta in the area, only to end up embarrassing himself.

"Oh it was great!" Nate told him. "There were wild Pokemon as far as the eye can see! I didn't end up catching anything though, but me and my team did a ton of training. It was really fun. Once I was ready, Tropius, that's the flying dino, flew me back to mainland Kanto, and I came here. Took on the gym and got my fourth badge too."

Ash nodded. Just like him, Nate had been through a lot. Two months was certainly a long time to be gone. Suddenly Nate leaned forward, his expression an eager one.

"Alright, now it's your turn." Nate said. "Gimme the details! How'd you get here?"

And so Ash explained everything that had happened since then. How he'd washed up on Cinnabar Island and was saved by a kind but dopey Slowpoke. How he had to stay in the hospital. How he met Harvey, a teen who showed him an example of what he could be one day. His fiery battle against Blaine and Kit's evolution. His arrival to mainland Kanto and the dangers that ensued inside Pokemon Tower. And finally, his loss against Sabrina.

Throughout his recounting of the last couple of months, Nate made various expressions, listening in on every word. It seemed he was just as interested in Ash's story as Ash was with his. When he was done, the boy grinned.

"Wow, I can't believe you met Blaine!" Nate exclaimed. "I've been hoping to get some advice regarding Charmeleon. I really want to take his power to the maximum. He'd be perfect for some advice!"

"Yeah, he's pretty cool." Ash said wistfully, remembering the fierce battle they had in the volcano, and how Blaine had given him some good advice as well. "He's pretty odd though. He dresses up and walks around the island, giving people riddles to find his Gym."

He had promised the old Fire-type Gym Leader a rematch soon. A fight with a Trainer as powerful as him would definitely be one really good battle, if their last battle was any indication. Blaine was smart and crafty, evident by his years of experience. If Nate were to face him, he'd have a rough time for sure, even if he had a type advantage.

After their food came, Ash and Nate started to chow down. Nate had told him that he'd been to this café before and how good the food was, and Ash agreed with him. You couldn't find stuff like this back in Pallet Town

"Hey, wait a minute." Nate said, an idea forming in his head. After swallowing his bite, his grin widened, and Ash knew what was coming next. "You have four badges. I have four badges. You know what that means?"

"A battle?"

"A battle!"

After paying for their meal, Ash and Nate had rushed off to the nearest battlefield to test their skills against each other. Ash was especially excited, not being able to battle his friend until now. Sure, other battles against Trainers were fun, but he won most of them, and it wasn't as fun as the thrill of battling your companions to see how much you've grown.

"Alright Ash!" Nate called from across the dirt battlefield. "No holding back! Three-on-three, and no substitutions!"

Ash nodded silently. While they didn't have a referee, Ash knew Nate would play fair, and after flipping a coin, Nate accepted that he would send out his Pokemon first in their three-on-three match. He unclipped a PokeBall from his belt, staring at it for a few moments before shooting Ash a grin.

"Get ready Ash, 'cause I'm about to blow your socks off!" Nate declared. "Vaporeon, let's do this!"

A slender, fish-like fox Pokemon appeared on the battlefield, landing gracefully on its feet. Ash pulled out his Pokedex immediately to get a reading on his opponent.

"Vaporeon." the Pokedex stated. "The Bubble Jet Pokemon, and one of the eight known evolutions of Eevee. It can freely control water, and thanks to its cell structure, is able to melt away into it. It is usually found in clean bodies of water, and when its fins vibrate, it is a sign that rain will come soon."

So Nate decided to evolve his Eevee into a Vaporeon. Ash put a hand on Petal's PokeBall, but stopped himself. Nate knew that he had a Gloom, and Ash knew he wasn't stupid. He probably had concocted some sort of plan to deal with Grass-types. Vaporeon were known for being especially resilient, so it wouldn't be surprising for Nate to have some sort of surprise tactic. He needed his best teammate for this.

Dexter warbled as it was released, assessing its opponent. Nate looked surprised, obviously not expecting Ash to send out his starter so soon. The raven-haired boy smirked.

"Ready to give up?" Ash taunted.

"Never!" Nate fired back. "Vaporeon, Freeze Barrage!"

Vaporeon gave a slight nod, forming small Water Pulses in its mouth, before freezing them almost instantly and firing them at high speeds. The first few smashed into Dexter, and Ash's eyes widened. How did Nate get Vaporeon to master such a technique?

"Dexter, swerve around by using Agility!" he commanded. Like a fighter jet, Dexter zoomed around the battlefield, dodging the icy projectiles. A stray one slammed into its side, and another its face, and judging by the warbling sounds coming from the Porygon2, Ash assumed they were quite painful.

Once Vaporeon had exhausted herself, Ash issued a command. "Thunderbolt!" he called. A shining bolt of pure electricity shocked the Water-type's body, causing her to cry out in pain. Nice. A direct hit.

"Dexter's grown powerful." Nate observed. "But not powerful enough! Vaporeon, use Surf!"

A towering wave rose out of the ground as the Water-type seemingly melted into it. "Dexter, Protect!" Ash called, knowing the Normal-type couldn't dodge. The Porygon2 erected a shimmering turquoise shield, and while the wave did knock it back, Dexter remained unscathed.

However, once the attack dissipated, Vaporeon was nowhere to be seen. Ash's eyebrows rose. Wouldn't she have reverted back to her physical form after the attack ended? And that's when he noticed it. A medium-sized hole in the ground.

"Dexter she's about to use-!"

"Dig!" Nate called. "Follow it up with Aqua Tail!"

Vaporeon slammed her body weight into Dexter, and using the momentum, smashed her glowing blue tail into Dexter's side, causing the Virtual Pokemon to skid back, a large bruise on the spot where it hit. However, Nate didn't stop there.

"Ice Beam!" he called.

"You too, Dexter! Ice Beam!"

The two rays of freezing energy clashed as they met, and Dexter's eyes narrowed as it increased the intensity of the attack, pushing back against Vaporeon's. Once it realized its attack was being pushed back, it ceased the Ice-type attack and jumped, mere milliseconds before the Ice Beam froze the ground below it.

"Aqua Tail!" Nate called. Vaporeon dashed toward Dexter, its tail glowing a bright cyan. Ash waited a couple of seconds, before calling out a command of his own.

"Rapid Fire!" Ash called. "Don't let it get close!" Nate's eyes widened as Vaporeon was struck by the barrage of elemental bullets being shot towards it. It erected a Protect, the shimmering green shield stopping it from receiving any more damage. But Ash still has a grin on his face. Vaporeon was trapped.

"Conversion!" Ash ordered. "Then fire!"

Dexter's body shined, sparks dancing off its body as it converted to an Electric-type. It knew what Ash would say next, and blasted a shockingly bright Thunderbolt toward Vaporeon after she had lowered her protective barrier, causing her to howl loudly. Ash saw Nate step back and grit his teeth.

"Water Gun!" Nate cried, copying Ash's strategy from just a few seconds prior. "Keep it at bay!"

"Agility!" Ash called. "Get in close and wait for my signal!"

A steady stream of water followed Dexter wherever it went, but it was too fast and managed to duck, dive, and dodge, getting increasingly closer to the Water-type as she struggled to keep its opponent away from her. Finally Dexter was able to close the distance, and Ash shouted a command.

"Tackle!" Ash commanded. "Knock her down!"

While he rarely used Tackle in battles, since Dexter did better at a distance, he knew that Vaporeon could match his starter in that aspect. It provided him a good move to use in close-quarters combat. While it wasn't very powerful, that wasn't what he was looking for.

Dexter slammed its body into Vaporeon, knocking the wind out of her chest and sending her tumbling to the ground. Ash grinned, before calling out his next command.

"Thunderbolt!"

Nate's eyes widened. "Vaporeon, get out of there!"

But it was too late. Before Vaporeon could scramble away, Dexter fired the attack. The Bubble Jet Pokemon's eyes widened, as though she were staring down death itself, before the Thunderbolt hit and shocked her, kicking up dust. A cry of pain was heard immediately after, and once the dust cleared, Vaporeon's body was limp.

Nate sighed, adjusting his glasses. "Should've known Dexter would have been as strong as ever." he muttered. "I swear, I can never know what that thing can do. Vaporeon, return."

The fainted Eeveelution's body was withdrawn back into the ball, and reattached to Nate's belt. He paused, thinking for a moment, before unlatching another one and throwing with all his might. "Alright then!" Nate called. "If you want a real fight, you've got one!"

What came out of the PokeBall could only be described as the largest Pokemon Ash had ever seen. An extremely rotund, white and blue Pokemon covered in fur plopped onto the ground, the sound of its feet touching down echoing throughout the battlefield. It had small, furry ears, and it yawned as soon as it came out of the PokeBall. How in Arceus' name did Nate get a Snorlax!?

The bespectacled boy noticed his jaw-dropped expression, and grinned widely. "Awesome, huh?" he called. "I caught him around Route 11. I was doing some training there and found him shoving part of a tree in his mouth. It was pretty awesome."

"Wha- I-" Ash stammered, waving his hands. "How!?"

Nate cocked his head. "I just told you."

"No, I mean how!? How are you able to have that… that… thing on your team!? Do you know how much they eat!?" Ash yelled, waving his hands. He'd been called a Snorlax by his mom many times after eating multiple servings of her dinners enough to know those things were monsters, not just in their battling prowess.

Nate waved his hand dismissively. "I just let him eat whatever when my team and I are in between cities." he responded. "He usually comes back with a full belly. But that's not the point! He's the perfect answer to your Porygon2!"

Ash smirked. "We'll see about that!" he called. "Dexter, Thunderbolt!"

A powerful, bright beam of electricity shot from Dexter's beak, illuminating the Snorlax in a blinding light. The raven-haired boy grinned, excited that he had scored a direct hit. However, once the attack stopped, Snorlax remained relatively unscathed, scratching itself as it waited for a command.

"Alright! Retaliate with Body Slam!" Nate called. Snorlax grunted, running towards Dexter at surprising speed, before jumping into the air. Ash's eyes widened.

"Dexter, look out!" Ash yelled. "Use Agility!"

The Porygon2 zipped out the way just before Snorlax's humongous body crashed into the ground. It grunted and got itself up, frustrated that it wasn't able to smash something. Ash gritted his teeth, calling out a command.

"Psybeam! Aim for the face!" Ash commanded. Dexter blasted a pink ray in the Sleeping Pokemon's face, causing it to roar in fury and stumble back. "Oh, you've done it now!" Nate yelled loudly. "Hammer Arm!"

Snorlax, angered by its opponent's attack, rushed toward the Virtual Pokemon once again, its beefy arm glowing orange. Ash's eyes widened. Dexter couldn't dodge it, Snorlax would only swing its arm in the direction it moved. He had to try and stop the attack using force.

"Ice Beam!" he shouted. "Aim for the hand!"

Dexter whirred, firing a powerful Ice Beam that froze the huge Pokemon's hand and lower arm. However, this barely seemed to deter the Pokemon, as it just smashed its meaty, ice-encased fist into Dexter's side, sending it soaring across the battlefield, its body rolling across in the dirt.

Ash stared, wide-eyed at the damage Dexter had sustained as it shakily resumed its levitation. He almost didn't notice Nate shout to Snorlax yet another command. "Heavy Slam! Finish it!"

Snorlax jumped high into the air, its body adopting a metallic sheen. It then let gravity take control, descending lower and lower. Right as Dexter was about to be crushed…

Ash withdrew Dexter back into its ball, as the Snorlax landed with a loud thunderclap, the impact of its body kicking up dust and rocks. Nate shot Ash an annoyed look. "Hey!" he called. "I said no substitutions!"

"You're right." Ash said, putting Dexter's ball back onto his belt. "Which is why I'm forfeiting Dexter from the match. It wouldn't have done much to keep it in. Besides, I have something else in mind to deal with Snorlax." He grinned, unlatching Kit's PokeBall from his belt and throwing it. The Flareon appeared in a flash of light, and after gazing at the immense size of her opponent, started gathering flames in her maw, her eyes hiding a burning passion for battle in them.

"Heh, your Eevee evolved too, eh?" Nate said. "She really reminds me of Charmeleon quite a lot, just looking at her. But Snorlax has battled Charmeleon before! This should be no different! Start this off with Body Slam!"

"Dodge with Quick Attack!" Ash ordered. Snorlax slammed its body onto the ground right after Kit was able to zoom away using the speed boost from Quick Attack.

"Ngh…" Nate growled with frustration. "Rock Tomb!"

Snorlax roared, lifting its hands to summon several medium-sized boulders, launching one at Kit. Ash grinned. It seemed Nate had used Brock's TM on Snorlax to help it deal with flying opponents, or just anything speedy enough to dodge its Body Slam. However, Kit wouldn't go down that easily.

"Jump on the rocks and use Iron Tail!" Ash shouted. Kit nodded, leaping on each rock as they plummeted toward her, using them as boosts to propel herself upward. Once the attack stopped, she took her chance, and delivered a powerful blow to Snorlax's head using her steel-encased tail.

Snorlax bellowed in pain, clutching the side of its face where it had been hit. Nate winced, but refused to back down. "We aren't going down that easy!" he declared. "Bulldoze!"

Kit was knocked off her feet by a series of shock waves rippling through the ground as a result of Snorlax leaping up and down multiple times. Suddenly Snorlax charged forward, intent on smashing the downed Kit with a Hammer Arm.

"Kit, look out!" Ash shouted. "Quick Attack, then Double Team!"

Luckily, the Flareon was able to zip around the attack, right as the Hammer Arm smashed into the ground, and started making illusionary copies of herself. Snorlax growled in frustration yet again, and Nate reared back as the ten different copies of Kit ran around Snorlax, sending it into an angry daze.

"Now!" Ash called. "Iron Tail!"

"Counter!" Nate called.

The Steel-type attack slammed into Snorlax's face, but the Normal-type braved through the pain and delivered a powerful punch into Kit's side that caused her to let out a cry, sending her sailing across the battlefield. When the dust cleared, Ash saw her trying to stand up, with Nate shouting something to Snorlax he couldn't hear.

"Smog!" he shouted. A cloud of poisonous gas shrouded a large portion of the battlefield. Nate's eyes widened slightly, and Ash grinned. While he couldn't see Kit, he was confident she had received the cover she needed.

Some clashing sounds could be heard, and a few seconds later, Ash could see the huge form of Snorlax skidding back out of the smog could, Kit pursuing her target relentlessly. Ash saw his chance to shout another command.

"Iron Tail!" he called. Nate could only watch as within seconds, Kit slammed a shimmering steel tail into Snorlax's stomach, knocking it out instantly and causing it to collapse with a groan, swirls in its eyes.

"Woah." Nate said breathlessly, his expression one of disbelief. "Snorlax, return."

The large Sleeping Pokemon was recalled with a flash of light. Ash grinned at Kit, and he was sure she was smiling now too. Snorlax was one of, if not the biggest opponent she had to face. Taking one down was something not many Pokemon could claim.

Of course, he still recognized that Nate's Snorlax was still quite new to his team. He'd seen a few Snorlax when he watched League matches, and the damage they'd done not only to the battlefield, but to their opponent's team, was monstrous to say the least.

Nate stood there for a moment, thinking carefully about who to use next. He finally made a decision, and tossed a PokeBall. "You can do this, Nidorino!"

The familiar form of the purple Poison Pin Pokemon appeared. A flicker of recognition was sparked in his eyes as he made eye contact with Kit, remembering her from past sparring sessions. He was a little surprised that Nate wouldn't opt for his starter, but didn't question it.

"Kit, let's keep this going!" he called. "Quick Attack!"

The Flareon burst forward, but Nate called out a command as soon as she did. "Protect!" he ordered. A shimmering green shield appeared before Nidorino, causing Kit to bounce off it and leaving the Poison-type unharmed. Nate grinned,

"Heh." he chuckled. "Rain Dance."

Ash's eyes widened. Wait, what?

Nidorino let out a cry, shooting a small blue orb into the sky. Dark clouds started to form over the battlefield, and while the area covered wasn't much, Ash could still feel raindrops on his skin. Onlookers of the battle started to groan, not appreciative of the sudden rainstorm. Kit's fire moves would easily be weakened by the weather. And then Nate shouted a command that shocked Ash even more.

"Water Pulse!" Nate yelled.

A blue orb formed in Nidorino's mouth, before it was blasted toward Kit. The Flareon barely had time to react before the attack exploded, causing her to fly across the battlefield and land with a thud.

"Kit!" Ash cried. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she was still able to get up. Out of all the moves he thought Nate would pull, he never thought Nate would go for something like Rain Dance. Still, he needed to keep a cool head and think. He needed to somehow get close without being caught by one of those Water Pulses.

Suddenly an idea came to him. "Kit, use Double Team! Get in close!" he ordered. Illusionary copies of Kit appeared instantly, all of them closing in on the Nidorino.

"Bulldoze!" Nate commanded. Ash's eyes widened. He had to act fast.

"Quick Attack!" he shouted. Kit, or rather the eight copies of Kit and the real one, sprang forward. One of them tackled Nidorino before it could slam its feet into the ground, causing it to go off balance.

"Now! Iron Tail!" Ash called, hoping to end this quickly. However, Nate seemed to have prepared for this.

"Horn Attack! Deflect it!" Nidorino turned toward his opponent, and within seconds, blocked Kit's attack with his giant glowing horn. For a few seconds, they were in a stalemate, before Kit relented and flipped back.

"SHE'S GONNA LAND!" Nate yelled. "WATER PULSE!"

Ash's eyes widened. "No!" he screamed, but it was too late. As Kit jumped back into a better position, she was nailed in the chest by a rain-boosted Water Pulse, blasting her into the sky. Ash gasped, before pulling out her PokeBall and immediately returning her. If she wasn't already knocked out by the Water Pulse, the impact from the fall would've finished the job.

He sighed. This was getting bad. It was clear that Nidorino was powerful. Slowpoke ran the risk of being hit by one of his many powerful moves since he was primarily a stationary fighter, and Petal couldn't hit Nidorino for much damage.

He didn't want to, but it was his only option.

"Cubone, let's do this!" he called, throwing its PokeBall. The Lonely Pokemon popped out of it, landing on its feet. It cocked its head at his new opponent. However, Nidorino proceeded to shoot a threatening glare toward Cubone, and he reared back and whimpered.

"Cubone, don't worry." Ash whispered to it. "I promise you that we'll be able to beat him. I'll still be here guiding you." The Ground-type managed a shaky nod, before turning back to his opponent. Despite having taken down an Electabuzz, the Ground-type was still a toddler. Nidorino was twice as large as it and was probably much more aggressive than the Electabuzz.

"The rain clouds are still here! We can end this easily!" Nate proclaimed. "Water Pulse!" Nidorino roared, gathering another ball of water in its mouth. Ash looked at Cubone. Their eyes met for a moment, and he could tell that Cubone trusted him. He wouldn't let him down.

"Protect!" Ash shouted. "Then use Bonemerang!"

Cubone's shimmering shield was erected, and the Water Pulse burst as soon as it made contact. It threw its bone club with all its might at Nidorino, the weapon sailing through the air. It slammed into the Poison Pin Pokemon's face with much force, causing it to skid back. Ash grinned. For such a young Pokemon, he sure was adept at using his club.

"Charge in for a Headbutt!" Ash called. Cubone shrieked, the top of its skull glowing, as it ran toward Nidorino. Before it could make contact however, Nate shouted a command.

"Poison Sting!" he shouted. Nidorino opened its mouth and dozens of tiny toxic barbs were released, the projectiles flying toward Cubone. However, Cubone only narrowed his eyes, not needing any command from Ash. Using his bone club, he expertly blocked each any every barb before slamming his skull helmet into Nidorino's face.

"Gah!" Nate yelled as Nidorino slid back once more. "That Cubone is stronger than it looks!" Ash grinned. "Never underestimate what my Pokemon can do," he said. Cubone nodded, as though it made perfect sense. "Now Cubone! Bone Club!"

"Now's our chance!" Nate called. "Horn Attack!"

Both weapons clashed with each other, Nidorino's horn and Cubone's club. Suddenly, Nidorino overpowered Cubone and the bone club went flying out of Cubone's hands, leaving the Lonely Pokemon defenseless.

"Sand Attack, then Double Kick!" Nate commanded. Before Ash could call a command, Cubone was blinded by a blast of sand, and two powerful kicks slammed into his chest, sending the Ground-type flying back to Ash's side of the field.

Nidorino charged out of the dust cloud, horn glowing, intent on finishing this. Ash's eyes widened, and he called out a command. "Protect!"

A shimmering green shield was formed, causing Nidorino's Horn Attack to bounce off it. "Get your club!" Ash called to Cubone. "Now!"

"Oh no you don't!" Nate called. "Water Pulse!"

Cubone leapt out of the way as a watery orb smashed into the ground, running frantically to get his bone club. Finally he was able to get a grasp on his treasured weapon, right before another Water Pulse slammed into his side.

Ash's eyes widened. "Cubone, no!" he shouted. This was bad… Cubone couldn't take more hits.

And then at the last second he had an idea.

"Alright!" Nate cheered. "One more Water Pulse! Finish this!"

"Use Rage!" Another sphere of water slammed into Cubone's chest, causing it to fly back with a cry of pain. Luckily it was far from going down, but Ash could tell it took a lot of damage from the super-effective attack. And the red aura emanating from Cubone's body confirmed that his strategy had worked.

"Yes!"

"Wait what!?"

Ash grinned. He'd won this battle already. "Now, Cubone!" he called. "Focus Energy!"

Cubone let out a loud cry, the aura around its body growing more intense. It locked eyes with its opponent once more, and Nidorino growled at it, showing it wasn't backing down. However, instead of rearing back, Cubone growled back even louder, causing the Poison Pin Pokemon's eyes to widen as it stepped back.

"We have to finish this quickly, Nidorino!" Nate called. The boy looked up to see the rain clouds had already been blown away. "Ice Beam!"

"Use Protect!" Ash called, wanting to go for a more defensive option. However, instead of erecting a shield, Cubone jumped over to Ice-type attack and charged in with a powerful Heabutt that caused Nidorino to topple backwards.

"...Okay." Ash said. "Now try to jump and use Bonemerang!"

"P-protect!" Nate stammered.

However, Cubone proceeded to barrage Nidorino with a flurry of whacks with his Bone Club before he could do anything. An especially powerful slam sent Nidorino flying, and before Ash knew the Ground-type was still trying to whack his opponent, chasing after his opponent with a fury Ash had never seen before.

"Wait! Stop!" Nate yelled. "I think Nidorino has had enough!"

Ash's eyes widened as he fumbled with Cubone's PokeBall. "Cubone, return!" he called, and before Cubone could land another hit, the Ground-type was back in his ball. Ash let out a sigh of relief, and Nate returned his Nidorino, who was already unconscious.

"Well, I guess you won." Nate said, rubbing his head sheepishly. "That was a great battle! I guess I still have a lot to learn after all!"

Ash grinned. "My team and I have been training hard," he replied. "You still did great though." He was happy that he won. His team had been showing promise these past few days, despite their setbacks. He was confident that with several days more of training, they'd be able to beat the Celadon Gym Leader.

However, Ash's mind was focused on other things. If he hadn't called back Cubone, it could've done some serious damage with the power it had gotten from Rage and Focus Energy. And it only led him to wonder…

What happened?

Since Nate had already reserved a room, Ash had to get his own room for himself. He handed Nurse Joy his Pokemon, collected his room key, and collapsed on the bed. The day had been exhausting, both physically and mentally. Finding Nate was amazing, and seeing how much he'd improved was surprising. While he did win, he never expected Nate to pull out the kinds of moves he'd shown.

Nate hadn't even used his starter and had still come close to beating him.

It was a sort of wake-up call for Ash as he laid in his bed, thinking about it more and more. Yes, he was happy with his team. Yes they were making progress.

But that battle should not have been as close as it was. Nate had only gotten his fourth badge yesterday, whereas Ash had beaten Blaine well over a month ago.

As Sabrina had shown, things were only getting harder, and he needed to prepare as much as possible for the gym battle ahead. He didn't doubt that whoever the Celadon Gym leader was, he or she was no pushover. Grass-types had tons of weaknesses, and knowing how to deal with them was crucial for success.

He did still have that Flamethrower TM from Blaine, but he had held off on using it until Kit had mastered Smog. The Flareon had been making astounding progress with her moves, and she did deserve a reward for not only helping herself, but Cubone as well.

Dexter had finally mastered Recover, and Ash wanted to teach it Tri Attack as soon as possible. It was a move that tuned into the elemental powers of fire, electric, and ice most Normal-types had. Their typing allowed them to adapt to change relatively easily, from new environments to new techniques, and seeing how Dexter was able to use electric, ice, and psychic attacks easily, he had no doubt it would be able to get the hang of the move fairly quickly. It would just have to learn how to use fire to complete the move.

It was a good thing he had a Flareon.

Cubone was still young, but Ash wanted it to catch up to the rest of the team soon. He wanted to integrate it into some of the more grueling training the other team members did, but was afraid that it wasn't strong enough for that. Sure, Cubone had to learn how to adapt to hostile conditions without their parents, but he still wasn't sure yet.

Then again, Petal was several months older than Cubone, and seemed to be doing just fine. Maybe he could try it.

Petal. The Weed Pokemon had been trying to get the hang of Razor Leaf for quite some time now, with little to no luck. It had been starting to get to the Gloom, despite his cheery and overall friendly nature. It reminded him of how Dexter had been when the same Gloom had stolen his spotlight.

He wouldn't make the same mistake as he did with Dexter though. He had to be there for Petal throughout his hardships, instead of being ignorant and standing by.

Slowpoke had been showing some good progress, and seemed to be on the levels of the other team members, despite being unevolved. He was a little stuck on what to teach it next however. It could learn a few good physical moves like Iron Tail and Strength, but being quite a stationary fighter, those were pretty useless.

Suddenly the intercom in his room fizzled to life. "Ash Ketchum, your Pokemon are completely healed! Please come down to the lobby."

Ash smiled. He had some training to do.

30 minutes later, he and his Pokemon were standing outside in a training field provided by the Pokemon Center. As always, trainers young and old were battling and training with their Pokemon. Ash could see plenty of Fire, Flying, and Bug-types around. Celadon was home to a Grass-type Gym, so it was natural to train the fighters best suited to win.

Still, Ash wanted to train all of his Pokemon. He only had five anyways, and he believed in quality over quantity. Who knows, maybe he could battle some of the Trainers here for practice.

"Alright, everyone." Ash called, getting his team's attention. "Last time we did a Gym battle, we didn't do so great, and we got crushed." Dejected looks started to form on the faces of his Pokemon, but he wasn't here to bring their spirits down. "However I still think we can win this time. I've been told by Nate that the battle format is three-on-three, so I'm only going to be picking three of you."

That got their attention. Now that Ash had more Pokemon, he couldn't guarantee everyone had a spot in the upcoming battles. Still, that didn't mean he wouldn't work them as hard as possible. Something could come up, like an emergency switch-in, so it was always good to put time and effort into every Pokemon.

"Now, if you don't get picked, don't worry." Ash said. "I promise you'll have a role in battles in the future. Now, the team members I've picked are…"

"Dexter."

The Porygon2 gave a slight nod at the mention of its name. It had partaken in every Gym battle since Ash had started his journey. Ash had chosen it because of the versatility it possessed, and having Ice Beam and Psybeam was always a plus.

"Petal."

The Gloom brightened at the mention of his name. He was glad that Ash remembered the promise he had made several days ago. Ash knew Petal had great strengths in the form of disruption and being frustratingly hard to deal with on the battlefield. No one wanted to take one of his signature Acid attacks to the face.

"And Kit."

Kit beamed at the mention of her name. Like Dexter, she was a consistent battler in Ash's gym battles. And Ash would be stupid to not use his only Fire-type against Erika. Her speed and power were immense, and he'd be sure to play her strengths in this battle.

Slowpoke seemed indifferent to not being chosen, although it might've just not processed Ash's words yet. Cubone however, seemed a little down, and so Ash knelt down until he was eye level with Cubone.

"Hey." Ash said. "I know you're upset. But I'm keeping you out of this battle for your safety. Remember, you're still the newest member of the team. You were able to take down that Electabuzz and Nate's Nidorino, but only because you had a type advantage. And even then, you still had trouble. I want some more time to work with you, okay? Just promise me that you'll work with me."

After a moment, Cubone nodded, and hugged Ash's leg. Ash smiled, petting Cubone's head. In truth, he was worried. It was the first time he'd seen Cubone lose control of his rage. Even when he was battling with Electabuzz and used the move, the Lonely Pokemon almost looked… insane. He couldn't let that happen in a battle like this.

"Alright, everyone." Ash announced. "I'm splitting you all into groups. We've got a lot of work to do tonight."

A bright ball of fire formed in front of Dexter's beak. It was small and a little shaky and unrefined, but what mattered was that it was there. Kit grinned after seeing her teammate's progress, and Ash smiled as well.

"Alright, now fire it." Ash ordered. Dexter shot the small fireball, and it hit its mark, a small, ring-like target provided by the Pokemon Center for accuracy training. Since they were made partially out of the shedded hide of Pupitar, they rarely ever got damaged, and so the attack barely left a mark.

"Great." Ash commended Dexter. "Keep practicing on your own. Now that you've got the basics down, what matters now is refining the technique." Dexter nodded, and floated off to the side to do its work.

Ash turned to Kit. "Thanks a lot for helping Dexter out." he told her. "You've been a great team member." Kit gave him a look as if to say "Tell me something I don't know". Ash chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah, you already know don't you?" he asked her. "Anyways, since you've been doing well in training, I think you're ready to take your Fire-type moves to the next level." He pulled out a faded orange disc from his backpack, and Kit's eyes lit up after seeing it. Ash still clearly remembered Blaine giving him the Flamethrower TM several weeks ago.

"Now that you've gotten the hang of your new body and being a Fire-type, I think you're ready for one of the more powerful Fire-type moves." Ash told her. Kit's grin widened, and Ash mirrored it. He recalled her back into her PokeBall and inserted the disc into the back of the ball. The PokeBall glowed red for a few moments, until the glow faded and Ash sent out Kit once more.

"Alright, now use Flamethrower on that tree!" Ash called, pointing to the same target Dexter had used as target practice. Kit nodded, a steady stream of hot flames coming from her mouth. Ash could feel the heat radiating off the attack as the target was engulfed in flames. Thankfully though, once the attack ended, it seemed to be unharmed. Ash did notice that the attack wasn't as concentrated as other Flamethrowers he had seen, but it was nothing some training couldn't fix.

"Awesome job, Kit." Ash told her. "With a bit of practice, you should have that move down in no time." Still though, Ash hadn't run out of ideas for Kit just yet.

He had stumbled upon a move that could really help Kit control the battle much more easily not too long ago, and was eager to try it. Fire Spin.

Fire Spin was a moderately difficult technique for a lot of Fire-types to learn. The user needed to have a solid grasp of fire manipulation to pull it off. Species such as Vulpix and Ninetales with strong psychic abilities could learn it faster than others. He wanted to teach Kit Flamethrower now, since a steady stream of flame was necessary for pulling it off.

He'd been intrigued when Blaine had used it with his Ponyta. The Ponyta species itself also had some semblance of psychic power, and the Galarian forms of the species took that to the next level. Its ability to trap the opponent in a torrent of flames was quite useful in making sure you had a grip on the way the battle turned out.

Kit looked in awe at the video he showed her of a Magmar using the technique. Determination burned in her eyes, and her tail started to wag furiously. It was clear she wanted results. And she would stop at nothing to get them.

Ash grinned. "Glad you're as excited as I am." he told her. "Keep working on your Flamethrower. We'll work on it starting tomorrow."

Kit nodded excitedly, and Ash walked away to go check on other team members. This was the kind of progress he wanted. They'd been working on pretty basic moves so far, but now that things were getting more difficult, Ash knew he needed to step into new frontiers.

Ash stared at the Flamethrower TM in his hands, silently wondering who else could learn such a useful move.

Slowpoke and Cubone were released from their PokeBalls, Cubone a little woozy from the knowledge transplanted in his brain. Slowpoke's pupils seemed to be focused for a few moments after being released, but soon became unfocused.

"Alright you two." Ash said. "You both need to work on your coverage. The reason I haven't been able to use you both in a lot of battles is because you guys don't have a lot of tools to work with. Hopefully Flamethrower should help with that."

Ash was surprised that both Cubone and Slowpoke could learn Flamethrower. It was great, since it would really help them against their shared weakness to Grass-types. He was a

little anxious though. While Kit seemed to be adept with Fire-type techniques, neither Slowpoke nor Cubone had ever used an attack like this.

"Alright you two." Ash told them. I want you to aim a Flamethrower toward the sky. Whoever reaches farther gets a treat." He pulled out a ripe Sitrus Berry, getting the attention of both of them. When in doubt, food is the answer. Ash knew because his mom used the same trick on him.

Two blasts of fire erupted into the sky. Cubone's Flamethrower, like Kit's, wasn't as concentrated as it could be. Slowpoke's, however, was actually quite good for a first attempt, although as he looked closer at the Dopey Pokemon, he could see his eyes glowing. Ash chuckled. He was using psychic manipulation to make his own Flamethrower more impressive. Quite smart for a Pokemon that was so dull.

"Alright, that's enough." Ash told them. He broke off half the Sitrus Berry and tossed one half to Slowpoke and the other to Cubone, who both gobbled up their respective halves happily.

"Technically Slowpoke was supposed to win, but being a Psychic-type makes it a little unfair." Ash explained. "We can work on Flamethrower later though. I just wanted you guys to learn the basics first."

He turned to Cubone. "Since you have the hang of using your bone club now, I want you to try learning some other moves. If you lose your bone club, you won't have much in the way of defending yourself, so let's try learning something that doesn't involve your club, okay?"

Cubone nodded, a fearful expression on its face, horrified at the prospect of losing its precious club. Ash scrolled through information on the Cubone species on his Pokedex, trying to find a good starting point to work with. "Ah, here we go." he finally said, showing Cubone his Pokedex. "How about we start with Brick Break? It's a chopping attack that can break through barriers."

In truth, Ash was a little nervous about it. Brick Break was only learnable by a TM for the Cubone species, and while it wasn't unheard of for Pokemon to learn moves only available to them by TMs, it was still a good amount more difficult than the moves they naturally learned.

The Ground-type stared at Ash's Pokedex, and Ash tried to read his expression. The Lonely Pokemon looked intrigued but also a little… fearful? Finally, after a few moments Cubone nodded, and Ash inwardly celebrated his victory.

"Great!" he said with a smile. "If you want to work on this move you need some more arm strength." He looked around, trying to find something suitable. He spied a Golem on the far end of the training ground, maybe he could ask its Trainer for it to make some rocks for Cubone to lift?

Nah, too heavy.

He then laid eyes on his backpack, which was sitting in the corner, away from most of the training. His backpack had a lot of heavy stuff in it, his water bottle and rations, camping gear, sleeping bag, maps and PokeBalls. It was no training weight, but it would work until he got something better.

For the next few minutes, he watched as Cubone used his left arm to drag his backpack back and forth through the training field. Ash had suggested using both arms, but Cubone had just given him a dirty look after he said it.

He supposed there were benefits to Cubone's approach though. It would allow him to dedicate one arm to weaponized combat and another to hand-to-hand combat. Learning Flamethrower gave him a ranged option to work with as well.

Hopefully this could be the start of Cubone's integration into more grueling training. He saw loads of potential in the little guy, and it would be a shame for it to go to waste.

Ash watched as Dexter practiced Ice Beam with Slowpoke. The Dopey Pokemon could learn Ice Beam as well as Flamethrower, although that wasn't the least bit surprising to Ash, seeing as many Water-types could learn it.

He decided to leave them to it though. Dexter was smart enough to analyze whether Slowpoke was doing something wrong, and fix it accordingly. He trusted his starter to lead one of his newer members of the team.

Ash spied Petal off to the side, looking unsure of what to do. He frowned. While he wanted Petal to be as useful as possible for his next fight, Razor Leaf wasn't coming along well and was only making the Gloom feel down. While he wanted a strong ranged option like Razor Leaf for Petal, Ash knew he needed to prioritize Petal's feelings over training.

He approached Petal, knelt down, and smiled. "Hey." he said. "I know you've been feeling pretty down about learning Razor Leaf, so let's try something else for now. Sound good?"

Petal met Ash's gaze and gave him one of his goofy grins. Ash pulled out his Pokedex and looked for any sort of alternative. He spied a move that looked intriguing, and dug deeper.

"Hey, this is great!" Ash exclaimed. "How about you try to learn Moonblast, eh?" He thrust the Pokedex into Petal's face, showing him a video of a Clefable using the move. A large pink orb appeared in front of the Clefable, who waved its hand, causing it to fly toward its target and create a large dust cloud.

Petal gazed in awe at the power of the attack, and gave Ash an unsure look. "Don't worry." Ash told him. "Your species can naturally learn it. Since it's getting dark, it'll be the perfect time for you to practice."

The Gloom thought deeply for a moment, before nodding. Ash grinned. "Okay." he said. "Remember how we practiced. Loosen up your arms and legs. Focus on your target. Pretend that target is a Rocket Grunt. A bad person that wouldn't hesitate to hurt your friends. You don't want that, do you?"

Petal shook his head vigorously, and got into a battle stance. Ash watched as the tip of Petal's bulb started to glow a vibrant pink, and a glimmering orb appeared between his hands. It thrust out his arms, firing the orb.

However, as the orb maintained more distance, it started to get smaller and less bright, and had dissipated before it could even reach its target.

Petal lowered his head, not satisfied with the results of his first attempt. Ash knelt down and met the Gloom eyes. "Hey, no need to worry!" he told the Weed Pokemon. "You'll get it down eventually. That was a great first attempt. How about you try it again?"

And so for the next half an hour, Ash worked with Petal to perfect Moonblast. He could see results already, the orbs growing larger and lasting for longer in the air. A few even managed to hit their targets.

However, something seemed off to Ash. Petal wore a smile for most of training, but every so often he'd see it be replaced with a frown, before immediately turning back into a smile. It was strange, but Ash didn't want to pry in case it was really nothing.

It was a stark contrast to the normally cheerful Petal he'd known. Even when they were practicing with Razor Leaf, Petal would be down for a few hours, but then revert back to his cheerful self. This was another thing entirely, almost as though the Gloom was hiding his doubts under a mask of cheerfulness.

It was making Ash think Petal's failures were getting to him.

And he didn't have a clue of what to do next.

Ash went to sleep late that night. A lot of things had been going on, and it wasn't until almost midnight that he finally drifted into dreamland.

He was worried. About a lot of things actually. He didn't want to fail his team again by losing to this Gym Leader too. Yes, all three of the Pokemon he was bringing to this battle did have the type advantage, but he doubted that

would make much of a difference now. Grass-types were crafty fighters at times, and he needed to make sure he was as prepared as possible before challenging the Gym Leader.

It was all the more frustrating when he saw that Petal was starting to give up entirely on training. It just didn't make sense. There was no reason for the Gloom to feel down. Petal had dominated the first two Gyms. It had trouble with moves in the past, so why did having trouble now bother it so much? He knew that Ash would help him, right?

Ash desperately wanted to find out what was wrong. But it wasn't like it was easy. Petal couldn't speak, and gestures and charades like they used most of the time could only go so far. He didn't have a Psychic-type with telepathy either, since Slowpoke wasn't strong enough to master such a skill.

He was awoken by a persistent knocking sound coming from the door to his hotel room. He rubbed his eyes and stretched, before slowly lumbering toward the door. He unlatched the lock and opened the door, and then…

"AGHUGHUGH!"

Ash shielded his face from the onslaught of water aimed at him, and stepped back. Suddenly it stopped, and Ash wiped his face and looked to see Nate with the largest grin on his face he'd ever seen, standing with his Vaporeon.

"Finally!" Nate yelled. "You don't know how long I've been waiting to get you back for shocking me on Route 1!"

"Wha- Nate are you out of your mind!?" Ash cried. "Dexter wasn't even trained when it shocked you!"

"Yeah, but it still hurt!" Nate complained, crossing his arms. "I've been holding a grudge against you for that little stunt for a while now."

Ash rolled his eyes. "So is that all of you came for?" he said dryly. "To blast my face with water?" He turned to Nate's Vaporeon, who was watching the exchange with mild interest. "I'm surprised he convinced you to accompany him in his scheme. How do you put up with him?"

"You and I are going to the Game Corner to make up for lost time!" Nate declared, ignoring the remark Ash made. Ash looked at him as though he'd grown two heads. Not that he didn't think spraying him with water to get back at him for a prank that happened months ago wasn't already crazy.

"It's six-thirty in the morning, Nate." Ash said with a deadpan expression.

"Yep!" he exclaimed. "And the Game Corner opens at seven, so we've gotta move! I'll meet you downstairs in twenty minutes!" With that, Nate ran off towards the direction of his room, and Ash sighed as he began to realize some of the benefits of traveling alone.

He closed the door and saw that some of his Pokemon were starting to stir, awoken by the commotion at the door. Petal sat by the window, soaking up sun, while Kit stretched her legs. Cubone and Slowpoke stayed sound asleep however, and Kit softly took the Ground-type and placed him beside Slowpoke, using his body as a pillow for the Cubone.

Ash sighed, plopping himself on the bed. Kit jumped onto the bed with him and sat beside him. He grabbed a remote off the bedside table and turned on the TV latched to the wall opposite of the beds. Come to think of it, he hadn't watched any sort of television program in ages, besides the time in which he was in the hospital. It got boring pretty fast.

The raven-haired boy flicked through channels, nothing really catching his interest. He finally settled on a news program, and the topic they were reporting caught his eye.

"-other news, a couple of nights ago a raid was conducted on the Cerulean City Pokemon Center by individuals dressed in dark uniforms. A total of seventy-three Pokemon were stolen, many of them owned by Trainers with at least six badges."

"Police have identified the culprit as none other than Team Rocket, a terrorist organization that aims to steal Pokemon for their use. The Cerulean City Gym Leaders have not given any comment on the situation. The leader of Team Rocket still remains at large, and police and League officials have still not given any comment on who he or she could be. However, Champion Lance was asked some questions during a press conference late last night, many of them having to do with Team Rocket, in which he said that the League will be scanning all of Indigo in search for any trace of these criminals."

Ash leaned forward, and Kit cocked her head, expressing interest. He was intrigued not only in what was being said about Team Rocket, but also because Champion Lance was on TV, a person he idolized ever since he was little.

He'd seen how Lance's dragons tore through the competition when he took the throne, and he had assumed the title of Champion quite nicely, bringing much needed improvements to Indigo. Ash knew many kids just like him wanted to be like him. And who wouldn't? Not every Champion strolled around in a cape.

"However, recent reports have suggested that not all raids conducted on Rocket bases, which are scattered throughout most of Kanto and Johto, were conducted by the League. For example, several Rocket Grunts were found frozen in blocks of ice after a huge hole in the side of Pokemon Tower caught the police's attention a few weeks ago. No A.C.E. Trainer or Elite Four member was responsible for this however, as no one else was found there, apart from an unknown boy found at the site and questioned by police, according to eyewitnesses. It is unknown whether he was responsible for putting a stop to their operations. Another example was-"

Ash shut the TV off, and Kit looked at him, cocking her head. He gulped. People knew about what he did in Lavender Town. Sure, nobody actually knew his name, but Proton, Petrel, and Archer both had a good idea of how he looked. He was a little surprised that they hadn't already sent some Grunts out to capture him.

It was a little scary to think back and realize that he fought literal criminals. He wasn't even a teen yet and had already gone toe-to-toe with people who wouldn't hesitate to kill him. He was lucky his mother didn't know about what happened in Lavender Town. When he stormed Mt. Moon, tons of other Trainers were there to help him, and the S.S. Anne wasn't even his doing. Mostly.

He didn't even want to think about what would happen if his mother found out that he fought criminals and almost got himself killed by an exploding Electrode. If Kit and Petal weren't there to be his shields, he would've been done for.

Right, his mom. He hadn't called her since he reached Celadon. He vaguely remembered the promise he made to call her every time he reached a new city. He made a note to call her when he got downstairs. There was no reason to make her worry.

Ash looked at the clock and his eyes widened. "How has fifteen minutes already passed!?" he thought to himself frantically. Nate would kill him if he was late. Either that or blast him with another Water Gun again, and he didn't want to be on the receiving end of that anytime soon.

Ash got changed out of his pajamas and into his regular Trainer gear, and recalled all of his Pokemon back into their balls, except for Dexter, who he let stay out of its PokeBall as a reminder to Nate to not mess with the Pokemon that beat his Vaporeon in a battle.

After getting ready, Ash ran out of the door, his Porygon2 on his heels.

"It's great to see you're holding up well!" Delia Ketchum said over the videophone. She then eyed him with suspicion. "You're not getting into trouble, right?"

"Nope." Ash responded, plastering a smile on his face. Luckily his mom seemed to buy it, and changed the subject. "So how're you doing?" she asked. "You haven't called in several days. I was beginning to get a little worried."

Ash rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, mom." he said sheepishly. "But you'll never guess what happened! I found Nate! He's gotten a lot stronger since we parted ways."

"That's great, honey!" his mother said with a smile. "It's good that you'll be able to travel with someone again. I won't have to worry as much. You know what they say, 'Cheerful company shortens the miles!'"

Ash smiled. "I'm not alone, Mom." he said, shaking his head. "I have Dexter and everyone else with me." Upon hearing its name, the Porygon2 floated over to Ash, its body floating next to Ash. It stared at the videophone screen, blinking and observing. His mother giggled.

"I know, honey." Delia replied. "But I'm still going to worry. It's part of my duty as a mother, you know." Just then, a beeping sound was heard over the videophone, and Delia's eyes widened. "Oh! My casserole must be ready. The Professor and I are having lunch together. Things are getting a little lonely without you and Gary around to keep us company."

"Tell him I said hi." Ash responded. He'd have to call the Professor pretty soon as well and update him on his progress. It would always be useful to find out what the old man had to say. He was a renowned researcher after all.

"I will, honey." his mother said. "I'll see you soon, sweetie. Remember to eat healthy and brush your teeth twice a day. Oh! And remember to change your under-"

Ash hung up before she could finish that sentence. He didn't need any passing Trainers hearing that sentence. He heard footsteps behind him, and saw Nate walking toward him with his Charmeleon and Vaporeon, chomping on a biscuit.

"Sho wut ded yur maum shay?" Nate asked him, his mouth full of biscuit.

"Nothing much." Ash said with a shrug. "Just mom stuff mostly." His eyes shifted over to the Vaporeon by Nate, who was carefully and quietly preening herself. His mind flashed back to when he, Nate, and Angelina got their Eevees from Bill, the Pokemaniac accidentally turned Clefairy. He was still thankful that Bill gave him that Eevee. Kit was one of, if not the most powerful member of his team, and a great team member overall.

And then his eyes widened as he remembered that Bill had asked him for updates on Kit's progress. He'd forgotten all about calling the young man after everything that happened. It must have slipped his mind somehow.

He was sure Bill would be happy to hear that two of his Eevee had evolved into healthy, more powerful forms.

Ash hurried over to the videophone and dialed in Bill's number. "Come on… pick up…" he muttered to himself. After a few seconds, the face of Bill, still with the same unkempt brain hair, appeared on screen.

"Ah, Ash!" Bill exclaimed happily. "I was wondering when you'd call!"

Ash rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that." he said. "It must've slipped my mind."

"Well, better late than never, right?" the researcher responded. "So how are my three Eevee holding up? I trust that they're in good care, correct?"

"Yep! In fact, they're-whoa!" Ash suddenly yelped as Kit burst out of her PokeBall and put her forelegs on the video phone, anxious to get a look at her original Trainer. Bill's smile widened and he chuckled.

"Why hello there, Viola!" Bill said happily. "It's great to see you! You've grown so big over the last few months!" Kit barked happily, her tail wagging like a flag. Ash smiled. It was nice that Kit looked this happy. Bill must've named her before he'd received her.

"Ash, Viola looks great!" Bill praised him, scribbling quickly and intensely in his notebook. The pencil seemed as though it was zooming across the paper, making sketches and notes at a breakneck pace. "Her coat looks fantastic, and she's grown quite large for a Flareon at this age! Has she been battling well?"

"For sure!" Ash said happily. "Kit's one of my best team members! She's always been a passionate battler." Kit grinned as well, nodding in agreement.

"That's great to hear!" Bill said. "If you don't mind me asking though, do you know where the other two Eevees are? I'd like to check up on their progress."

Just then, Nate appeared next to Ash with his Vaporeon in tow, who also scrambled onto the videophone to see Bill. "Hey, Mr. Bill!" Nate said with a wave. "I'm one of Ash's friends! Vapreon's been great since I got her!"

"Crystal!" Bill exclaimed. "It's great to see you as well! I must say, it's fantastic to meet one of the Trainers that Ash entrusted. I trust she's doing well too, right?"

Nate grinned widely. "Yep! Ash is still the better battler though!"

Bill chuckled. "Well I'd expect nothing less from a boy who beat five Trainers in a row and a member of Team Rocket!"

Nate looked at Ash incredulously. "Hey, you never mentioned you fought Team Rocket when you were out!" he said. "I could've helped, you know!"

Ash shook his head. "He was really easy to beat." the raven-haired boy commented. "I guess Team Rocket really does prefer quality over quantity after all…"

"Anyways, I gave you three Eevee, correct?" Bill questioned Ash. "Do you… happen to know where the other one is?"

Ash froze up. He'd given the third Eevee to Angelina. The last that he'd heard of her was that she was stuck on the Seafoam Islands. He didn't have a chance to contact her, mainly because he didn't exactly know where she was on the islands, or if the place she was staying at even had a videophone.

He really hoped she was okay.

Nate also seemed to have a similar reaction, his face falling after being reminded of Angelina, which was quite strange seeing as they fought quite frequently. Bill seemed to get that he ruined the atmosphere and his eyes widened. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "My apologies, I didn't-!"

"It's fine." Nate said, a smile returning to his face. "We just got split up is all. But Angelina, the other person who has an Eevee, is a great Trainer too! She's nice and she's great at taking care of Pokemon."

Bill's relaxed smile returned. "Well that's good to hear." the researcher responded. "If you don't mind, I'd like to hear from both of you soon. Does that sound good?"

"Sure!" Ash and Nate said in unison. After saying their goodbyes, Ash hung up the videophone. It was certainly nice to see Bill again and talk with the Pokemaniac. Before he could even comprehend what was happening, he was yanked by the arm by Nate.

"Woah-hey!" Ash exclaimed, but Nate didn't seem to hear him, already running through the automatic doors with Kit, Vaporeon, and Dexter in tow. Ash's arm was already starting to hurt, and people were starting to stare. Ah well.

Some things never change.

Thirty minutes later, Nate pulled Ash to the entrance of the Game Corner. "Come on!" Nate said hurriedly. Ash yelped as he was practically thrown through the automatic doors of the game corner, the glass doors parting to ensure he didn't painfully collide with them.

"Hey!" Ash yelled after being released. "Jeez… now my arm is sore…"After he was able to recover from Nate's iron grip, he looked in awe at the interior of the Game Corner. It was filled with all kinds of arcade machines, as well as a prize corner to the left of the entrance.

Ash noticed the contrasting expressions of the people who were there as well. One man was slumped along the wall, holding his head in his hands as though he'd lost all of his possessions, while a woman came running past Ash, dozens and dozens of tokens in her arms.

"Yeesh." Nate said, staring at the woman and shaking his head. "Talk about crazy."

Nate then glanced at the prize booth, and his eyes lit up. "Hey Ash!" he exclaimed. "Come look at this!"

Ash followed him over to the prize counter, where a bored-looking employee was standing, as well as a long menu of rewards to choose from, all with different token prices. The eleven-year old scanned the prize menu. A lot of the prizes were mainly common items; plush toys, PokeBalls, and even TMs. However, as Ash looked at the next section of the menu his eyes widened.

"Woah!" he exclaimed. "They sell Pokemon!" And it was true. There were tons of options to choose from. Some of the more common Pokemon, such as Nidoran, Horsea, and Vulpix were available, but there were also even rarer options, such as Abra, Clefairy, and…

"Wow, Dratini!" Ash gasped in awe. Dratini were astonishingly rare as a species. They were classified as extinct until remote populations started cropping up in areas around Fuchsia City, which was later converted into the Safari Zone as a way to protect them and all the other rare Pokemon around the area from poaching. It seemed as though the Game Corner had some big shot contact that supplied them with these Dratini.

"I have my eyes set on that Abra." Nate declared. "That way, I don't have to walk anymore! Abra can just teleport me wherever I want!"

"You do know Abra can only teleport to places it has seen before… right?" Ash asked him, but Nate had already sprinted off toward the arcade machines, anxious on getting his prize as fast as possible.

Ash grinned and sharpened his focus. It was time to earn some tokens.

FAILURE! YOU LOSE!

The raven-haired boy groaned, slamming his hands on the arcade machine for what seemed like the umpteenth time. He was currently playing a fighting game called Road Brawler, and had picked a furry, weasel-like Pokemon called Mienshao as his character. Sometimes he won, but most of the time he lost, and he was starting to lose tokens.

A pained groan came from behind him, and he looked to see Nate crumpling to the floor, his face clearly conveying the immense emotional torture he was feeling at the moment. "Why…" he moaned. "Why must the world treat me so badly…?"

Ash sighed. "This is a waste of time." he said. "I'm taking a walk."

"What?" Nate asked, cocking his head. "You're leaving already?"

"Don't worry, I'm just taking a walk around the Game Corner." Ash said with a wave of his hand. "Maybe there are other games around that won't eat up my tokens."

"Well in that case, I'm coming with you." Nate declared. "I need that Abra. It's been my lifelong dream since thirty minutes ago, and I'm determined to succeed!"

Suddenly a ball on Ash's belt burst open, and out came Kit, her tail wagging. She stretched her rear and forelegs, and looked up expectantly at Ash. "I think she wants to come with you." Nate observed. "Probably wants to stretch her legs. Weird. She didn't seem especially tired when we talked to Bill."

Ash rolled his eyes. "She's tired because you were yelling like a maniac just a few hours ago." Kit shot Nate a glare, agreeing with her Trainer wholeheartedly.

"Oh… right." Nate said, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, nothing like a good wake-up call to get you ready in the morning, right?"

Ash sighed. "Whatever." he responded. "Let's just scout this place out."

And so they did. Ash could hear the constant beeping and whirring of the arcade machines, as well as the occasional clank followed by an angry shout. Probably someone who lost a game.

Eventually, Ash decided to sit down at a food court located inside the building, probably there to keep customers from leaving and getting their own food elsewhere. Ash hadn't been able to eat breakfast, so after getting some spaghetti, he sat down with Nate and started to eat. Since his Pokemon hadn't gotten breakfast either, he decided to let them all out and gave them their food as well.

"So what do you plan on doing after you compete in the Indigo Conference?" Nate asked him. Ash gave him a look and swallowed his food.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked, washing down his last bite with water.

"What I mean is, do you have anything planned for after you're done with the Kanto Circuit and participate in the conference?" Nate pressed. Ash shrugged.

"I dunno." he said nonchalantly. "I'll probably train some more, catch a few more Pokemon, and try again. You act as if I won't win."

Nate shot him a grin. "Yup! Because I'm the one who's winning that conference!" he shouted, causing a few people passing by to stare at them. Ash rolled his eyes and smirked at Nate.

"As if." he fired back. "I just beat you yesterday. How do you know you'll beat me, much less win the conference, if you couldn't beat me now?"

Nate shrugged. "Hey, you never know." he said. Ash just shook his head. He looked down and saw that his Pokemon had finished their food, and packed up their bowls. He recalled all of them back into their balls one by one, but right as he was about to recall Kit, her head whipped to the side and she sprinted away from him.

Ash was taken by surprise as she sprinted away, and started running after her. "Hey!" he shouted. "Kit! What do you think you're doing!?"

Dang it. She was fast. Ash was starting to regret giving her all that speed training.

And then he saw what she was chasing after, or rather, who. A middle-aged man was running away from the Flareon as fast as his legs could carry him. Kit began barking at the man, and Ash increased his pace, intent on catching up to Kit and finding out what was wrong. The man already had a good distance between him and Kit, but the Flareon was gaining on him fast.

"Woah!" Ash yelped as he almost collided with another person. "Sorry!" he yelled back as he continued running. The man soon turned a corner, and Kit did the same. It was a few seconds before Ash turned the corner as well, where he saw Kit standing still, the fur on her back raised. She let out a low growl, but what confused Ash was that the man wasn't there. He seemed to have just… disappeared. Could he have teleported away?

"Ash… *huff* wait for me!" Nate coughed out, stumbling from behind him. After taking a moment to catch his breath, he stared at Kit. "Ash, what's up with her?"

Ash shook his head. "No idea." he simply responded. He watched as Kit ceased her growling and sniffed the air, carefully creeping across the floor, her eyes still narrowed. He observed her movements. It seemed as though she were sniffing for something important. Prey, maybe?

Kit suddenly stopped in front of a poster, and her eyes narrowed even more, letting out another growl. "Kit, what's wrong?" Ash asked. They were in a part of the Game Corner that was pretty far away from any notable areas, besides an employee-only area a few feet away.

Ash stood next to her, trying to figure out what the heck she was growling at. The poster was merely an advertisement telling people about the prize shop here. One of the corners of the poster was detached from the wall, and Ash stopped. There was a squarish lump under the poster. Could this be what Kit was so agitated about?

He ripped the poster off the wall, and what he found underneath surprised him.

A large red button.

"What the…?" Ash muttered. Why was there a button here on the wall? Did it even do anything? "What even is this button for?"

"Well… there's only one way to find out!" Nate proclaimed, slamming his fist onto the button. Ash recoiled, surprised by the sudden action, and then froze as he heard a clunk coming to his right.

The door to the employee-only area swung open, revealing a set of stairs going down a dark corridor. The transition reminded Ash of those spy movies he used to watch with his mom. It was a little strange for something like that to happen in real life. "Woah…" Nate said. "Is that a secret passageway?"

Ash stared at the stairwell for a few seconds. Why would there be a stairwell hidden away from everything else here? Why was there a button behind that poster? It just didn't make sense. Unless…

They were trying to hide something. Something they didn't want anyone to find out.

"Cool!" Nate exclaimed. "I'll race you down the stairs!"

"Wait! What if-" Ash started to say, but Nate had already taken off down the corridor. Ash jogged after him, Kit on his heels. The Flareon seemed uneasy, and Ash finally understood why. Something bad was about to happen, he knew it.

At the bottom of the stairs was another door. Nate pushed it open, and before them was yet another hallway. The walls and floors were white, and various machines were set up on the walls. There was also a statue of a Persian in the far back.

But what surprised Ash was that the same man Kit was chasing was standing in front of them, dressed in a Team Rocket uniform, a mixture of shock and fury on his face. "What the-!" he spat out. "What are kids doing here!? And that stupid Flareon is here too!"

Kit let out a fearsome snarl, causing the man to yelp and jump back. "I'm the one who should be asking the questions!" Nate countered, stepping forward and jutting his finger toward the man. "What's Team Rocket doing here!?"

"Hah!" the Rocket grunt laughed. "As if I'll tell you! You all are coming with me!" With that, the Grunt pulled out two PokeBalls and threw them, a Drowzee and a Sandslash appearing.

"Charmeleon, let's do this!" Nate called out, sending out his trusty starter. Kit stayed by Ash's side, growling, and he knew she wanted to handle this herself. She was furious at Team Rocket for not only injuring her badly during the S.S. Anne, but making her look weak. She wanted revenge.

"Drowzee, use Psybeam!" the Rocket Grunt shouted. "Sandslash, Poison Sting!"

"Dodge it!"

"Block the Poison Sting with Metal Claw!"

Charmeleon's claws took on a metal sheen, and he raised a claw to block the poison barbs that Sandslash had launched from its back. Kit jumped back, easily dodging the violet ray Drowzee had sent toward it.

"Now, Iron Tail!"

"Let's attack too, Charmeleon! Cinder Claw, let's go!"

Kit slammed her steel encased tail into the side of Drowzee's face, causing the Psychic-type to slam painfully into the wall and crumple to the floor. Charmeleon however, let out a loud roar. His claws suddenly combusted into hot flames, as he made a mad dash forward and slashed the Sandslash's exposed belly with his hot claws. The Ground-type hissed and staggered back, before falling on its back, out cold.

"WHAT!?" the man yelled. Nate pumped his fist upward, Charmeleon mirroring the action. Ash smiled. Kit's training had definitely yielded some good results.

"Heh. That's just a new technique me and Charmeleon used against Erika." Nate boasted. "Like it? Now that you've been defeated, tell us what you're doing here!"

"I'm not telling you anything, you little snot-nosed brats!" the Rocket grunt yelled. "I have to tell Ariana about this!" The Rocket Grunt immediately sprinted away from them, and before Ash or Nate could do anything, the man slammed his fist on a button atop the head of the Persian statue, before disappearing around the corner.

Loud sirens started to echo throughout the hallway, and the door behind them that was previously open slammed shut. "Wait, no!" Ash yelled, turning the handle and pulling on it with all his might. But the door remained shut. A pang of fear shot through Ash's chest. Everyone in this secret Rocket base knew they were here.

"Kit, Flamethrower!" he ordered. Kit reared her head back, spitting out a stream of fire that engulfed the door. When her attack ended however, the door remained unharmed.

"Dammit!" Nate said under his breath. "Now what?"

Ash paused for a second. There was only a matter of time before grunts would start to close in on their location, and while the grunts were weak individually, taking on thirty all at once was not a good idea. Kit seemed to realize this, and she sent a powerful Flamethrower toward the Persian statue that caused it to combust and explode into pieces.

"We have to go further in." Ash said, his gaze turning sharp. "If we can alert the police that we're here, take out as many grunts as possible, and get some information on what they're doing, we can stop them from escaping." Nate gave him a look, but realized his thought process and nodded.

"Dexter, send out a distress call." Ash said, releasing the robotic bird from its PokeBall. Dexter gave a short nod before concentrating, its eyes turning red. However, just a few seconds later, Dexter's expression became pained, and it shook its head at Ash, seemingly not wanting to do that again.

"Dexter, what's wrong?" Ash asked. "We need you to call the police, or else we can't get out of here!" Dexter just shook its head again and tapped its PokeBall with its beak, sucking it back in.

"Ash… I think communications are disrupted." Nate said, showing Ashthe screen of his Pokedex. The words "NO SIGNAL" were displayed on Nate's map feature. "The Pokedex doesn't even know where we are. There must be some kind of signal jammer of some sort here."

Ash held his head in his hands. "You know… we wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't dragged me into the Game Corner and rushed downstairs like a lunatic." he seethed. Nate recoiled, but after realizing the grim reality of the situation, he sighed.

"You're right, Ash." Nate said dejectedly. "I'm sorry. But we have to get out of this mess somehow. What're we going to do?"

"We still have to push forward." Ash declared. "If we're going down, we're putting up a fight first. If we can find another way to contact someone, anyone to help us, then we can get out here."

"To be honest, I'm a little scared, considering what happened the last time we did this." Nate admitted. Then he shot Ash a grin. "But me, Charmeleon, and everyone else have gotten a lot stronger! We can totally do this! We're right behind you, Ash." Charmeleon nodded, giving Ash a thumbs-up.

Suddenly, Ash and Nate both started to hear footsteps, and within a few moments, several Rocket Grunts were closing in on them. "It's over, little boys!" one of them barked. "We're taking you with us!"

Ash made eye contact with Nate, and the bespectacled boy flashed him a grin, setting his gaze on Charmeleon. Kit dashed in front of Ash, growling at her opponents, although the boy could see a hint of a smile on her face.

It was time to be a hero.

Author's Note: Hey guys! This was quite a doozy to write! I've been nuzlocking a RomHack called Pokemon Radical Red in my free time. It's slowly chipping away at my sanity… but I'm not stopping until I get that Champion title.

Enough about me though! We got to see more expansion on Nate's return and him slowly maturing, thrilling battles, and action! What a chapter, huh? Chapter 16 will come soon. Happy Thanksgiving! Now there are a few things I want to say.

I'm splitting this chapter into two parts. This chapter is "The City of Rainbow Dreams, Part 1". Next chapter will be Part 2. I'm splitting this into two parts, since this is my longest chapter yet. I hope you guys are looking forward to it!

I've completely rewritten Chapter 6, changing a lot of the Bill scene as well as when Ash meets Kit and Misty. I've also edited the prologue, and I'm going to be doing periodic edits as I update. I've come a long way with my writing, and I want to make sure my earlier chapters are up to par with my later chapters.

For the options listed at the Game Corner, I decided not to include Porygon in this listing. In this story, Dr. Akihabara is one of the only people who even knows of the Porygon species, as well as other privately operated corporations that he decided to lend his research to (the Aether Foundation, the P2 Laboratory, etc.) so it wouldn't make sense for such a valuable Pokemon to be able to be bought by the public.

Now say it with me.

Review responses!

Reader: Glad you liked the chapter. Cubone will not participate in the P1, as he's only a few months old and wouldn't react well to such a competitive atmosphere. Also, I'm pretty sure the P1 only allows Pokemon with actual fists, which is why Brock's Geodude was able to enter, since it's literally just a rock with human arms and hands.

Fearofvengance: Glad you liked it!

Magdenfan311: Hey, thanks for reading! And I like the idea of Ash teaching Satoshi. I think he didn't really feel like having to train such an unstable fighter. If Satoshi wanted to train a monkey who's constantly angry, that's his choice. But I'll think about what you said.

Petal's constant losses and shortcomings are all part of his character development, and will tie in next chapter. There's a reason why I timed this to happen around Celadon…

Borisu: Thanks!