Ok, so I'm actually writing this chapter before I've posted the previous chapter because I finished it early. So, I'm writing this right now, so I can have the weekend off from writing and so that I can stockpile some chapters for when I'm busy with exams and stuff.

Ok, I don't have a lot to say but I will be giving Ash pokémon that are typically fan favorites. Ash will catch one of them in this very chapter. Unfortunately, while I don't want to fall into the trap of giving pokémon are that overused in fanfictions, I don't have many choices and the pokémon I've chosen is actually used comparatively less.


Cerulean Pokémon Center, Two Days Later

Ash had spent the last few days training his pokémon with Leaf. Both he and Leaf had learnt a lot from each other's training and battle styles. They had also grown closer with each other, like they had been before they set off on their journeys.

Ash was excited to know what Professor Oak had found out about his fossils and called him a few days after he had entrusted the fossils to Professor's aide. The aide had also given him the Exp Share that Professor Oak gave to all his sponsors after they won two badges. Exp Share was a curious machine, it was able to share the experience a pokémon received during fighting with pokémon that hadn't participated in the battle. Exp Shares were rare and highly sought after items that were very useful at bringing weaker pokémon up to par with a trainers strongest pokémon.

He dialed Professor Oak's number and waited for him to pick up "Hello, I was just calling because I wanted to ask whether you had found out what the fossils are, and can I revive them?" asked a curious Ash.

"Yes, I was just about to call you regarding the fossils you found. I identified the fossils, and they are the Old Amber and Dome Fossil. I need you perform a task for me before I tell you what you can do with these fossils. I have a colleague Bill who invented the Pokémon Storage System and I need you to go to his tower to check up on him. I wanted to talk to him about your fossils and ask him for help, but he hasn't been picking up my calls and I need you to check up on him. Don't worry, his tower is only a couple of hours distance from Cerulean City, and you'll be able to finish this errand very soon" asked a concerned Professor Oak.

"Ok, Professor I guess I can go check up on him. Thanks for responding so quickly about the fossils," said a reluctant Ash. He didn't want to spend time checking up on some old dude when he could be training for the tournament but, he felt that he couldn't refuse Professor Oak who was his sponsor and mentor. Thankfully, his tower was close to Cerulean city so he would be done with the errand in a few hours.

He decided to set off after he had informed Leaf that he wouldn't be able to join her for today's training session.


Route 24, Three Hours Later

Ash was prepared to rush to Bill's lighthouse to reach there as soon as possible. But after Leaf said that she wanted to come with him to the lighthouse, they had adopted a leisurely place, to sightsee and spend more time with each other.

Route 24 and Bill's lighthouse in particular was very popular with couples, as it was considered a very romantic experience. Leaf even wanted to hold hands, leading to Ash blushing like a tomato most of the time. All of these contributed to them taking longer than needed to reach Bill's Lighthouse.

They reached the Lighthouse and rang the doorbell at the entrance. When there was no response for nearly 5 minutes, even after ringing the doorbell Ash released Luxio and ordered her to break down the door. He hoped that they weren't going to get in trouble due to breaking and entering. They both started searching the main hall, calling Bill's name, and looking for clues to figure out what happened to him.

After a few minutes of searching, Leaf found a Clefairy and called Ash over. "Hey Clefairy, do you have any idea what happened to your trainer Bill? We're here to talk to him" sweetly asked Leaf. They both jumped with fright when they heard a voice "Yeah, it's me Bill. Thanks for coming to rescue me," said the voice. It took them a second to realize that the voice was coming from within the Clefairy.

"Hey, Bill are you inside the Clefairy?" asked a confused Ash. "Yeah, I'm stuck inside the Clefairy suit. Please press the button on the back on the suit to release me" pleaded the desperate Bill. Ash started searching for the Button on the back of Clefairy, since it wasn't visible from the surface. After finding it, he pressed it hard since it was recessed into the suit.

The suit started retracting and let out the cramped 25 year old man trapped within. He got up and started stretching his arms and legs while talking, "Thanks from rescuing me. I fear to think what would have happened to me had you guys not found me. I'll tell you the rest of the details while we eat, I've been trapped for the last 3 days inside this hellish costume, and I'm famished."

He led them to the dining hall and started pulling out some food from within. They eat for a few minutes in silence since Bill was eating far too fast to talk. After he had slowed down, Ash asked him "If I may ask, why were you inside that costume and why couldn't you release yourself?".

Bill sheepishly replied "Well I'm a pokémon researcher and I'm researching Clefairy, and I wanted to get inside one to know more about how life is from their viewpoint. I couldn't get free because the idiotic company that made these, didn't make them self-releasable."

"Ahh okay that makes sense. We're glad that we were able to help you," said Ash. "Don't worry I've learnt my lesson, no more putting on costume anymore without checking them properly. I wouldn't have put it on in the first place if these darn Clefairy weren't so hard to find. Anyway, what are you guys doing here? Are you on a date?" asked Bill with a smirk. Both Ash and Leaf turned red before stuttering out a denial.

"Well, I actually have a Clefairy if want to examine her. And we're here because Professor Oak wanted to talk to you about the fossils, I found in Mount Moon" replied Ash more seriously. "You're kidding me. You found a Clefairy and Fossils in Mount Moon? Good Lord, some people have all the luck in the world I swear," said a shocked Bill.

They talked about battling and pokémon in general for a while. Bill told them a little about his research and how he had invented the Pokémon Storage System and the part he had played in the creation the Global Positioning System.

After they had finished eating, Bill called up Professor Oak to talk to him about Ash's discovery and Ash and Leaf explored the Lighthouse and looked at the incredible view it offered while Bill was occupied. After Bill had finished talking to Professor Oak, he called them back because he needed to talk to them before they went back to Cerulean City.

"Ash, so I talked to Professor Oak, and he told me about the fossils and explained that they were in perfect condition. Now, you have a few options as to what you can do with them, first you could sell both for a lot of money or you can try to revive them. The problem with reviving them is that it costs a lot of money but what you can do is sell one of them and revive the other using the money you get" explained Bill.

"Wow, I am not going to sell them for money because that would be foolhardy. But isn't there some way to get the cost down for reviving so that I can't revive both of them?" asked a hopeful Ash.

"Well, I already pulled in all the favors I have at the Cinnabar research facility so that you could get the option of reviving them. As you know, prehistoric pokémon are quite rare and valued, so the League was reluctant to let a rookie have them. Your help in rescuing me and the Clefairy data I got from the pokédex is why I went so far in helping you" said Bill with a hint of disapproval.

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to be greedy or ungrateful. I just wanted to know all my options before I committed to any one of them. Thank you for all your help, truly" Ash said sincerely.

"Don't worry, it's good to ask questions. On that note, for all your help I have something to give both of you. As a noted researcher, I get invited to a lot of events and one such event is the famous SS Anne. I have two tickets given to me and I would like you two to have it" reassured Bill.

They both thanked Bill for all his help and left the Lighthouse to get back to Cerulean. Before they could start, Ash gathered up his courage and tried to ask Leaf something without blushing. After a few seconds of stuttering, he asked "Leaf, would you like to go and see the Cerulean Cape. We're close to it, and it would be a shame to miss it." Leaf smiled on seeing how cute Ash was being and nodded her consent to his plan.

They both walked to the cape holding hands where they both admired the view silently for a few minutes when they both started getting a headache at the same time. They fell on the ground in pain and Ash managed to release Faye from her pokéball before they both fainted from the pain.

Ash woke a little while later, when shaken awake by Faye. He rubbed his eyes and held his still pounding head before noticing a knocked out Kadabra in front him. He picked up an empty pokéball and tossed it at the Kadabra before shaking Leaf who was still unconscious.

She started stirring after a few shakes, but she still seemed pretty out of it. After a few minutes of trying, they still weren't in any shape to get back to the city themselves. So, Ash used his Pokédex to call the Kanto Flying Service.

It was modeled after the Galar Taxi, but they used Pidgeot instead of Corvikinight. They usually charged a steep fee that made it uneconomical to use it frequently but as this was an emergency, it couldn't be helped.


Cerulean City, Next Day

Ash was thankful for the 12 hours of sleep that he had able to achieve. Getting attacked by a pokémon really took it out of you, who knew? Anyway, the doctor had recommended that both Leaf and Ash rest and take it easy for a few days. After promising the doctor that he wouldn't take unnecessary stress, the doctor had cleared him to participate in the tournament.

Since the tournament began in the evening for the convenience of viewers, Ash had decided to spend the morning taking care of Kadabra. Ash had pondered on what to do with Kadabra for a while. Eventually, he decided to see if Kadabra could be trained to use in battles, since the Abra line were excellent for pokémon battling.

He went to a clearing near the city and released all of his pokémon except Kadabra. He explained to them about the situation regarding Kadabra and was touched by the level of outrage they showed. He ordered them to be protect him if Kadabra attacked or showed signs of disobedience.

He released Kadabra and braced himself for any attack. Before Kadabra could do anything, Ash started speaking in the most threatening voice he could muster, "Now, Kadabra I captured you yesterday. That means I'm your trainer, so you have to obey my commands. Now, are you going to do this the easy way or the hard way?"

Kadabra stared at him for a few seconds and nodded its head slightly. Ash wasn't surprised that he had complied so easily, Kadabra were very intelligent pokémon and it knew that it had no other choice. Before Ash recalled it, he pulled out Dexter to check it out.

Kadabra – The Psi Pokémon

It stares at a silver spoon to amplify its psychic powers before it lets loose. Apparently, gold spoons are no good.

Gender – Male

Ability – Magic Guard

Known Moves – Teleport and Confusion.

Ash looked at his pokédex entry and nodded. "I'm going to get you a hunk of silver, to make your spoon. Do you want a nickname?" asked Ash rather icily. All Kadabra used their own psychic powers to shape and mold the spoon they were so associated with. This helped their hone their powers and it was a rite of passage for them.

Seeing that Kadabra only knew two moves, Ash suspected that he had evolved not very long ago and wasn't skilled with his powers yet.

Ash was getting close to filling the six pokémon limit that rookie trainers had to adhere to, that limit was increased after winning 8 badges and removed completely after coming in Top 64 rank in a regional conference. He recalled all the pokémon and started on his way back to the pokémon center.


Nugget Bridge, 6:00 pm

Ash and Leaf were standing near to each other with other trainers, waiting for the tournament to commence. The tournament followed an Elimination system with the rookie group comprising of 32 trainers. So, Ash would have to win 5 matches straight to win the best trainer prize. He just hoped that he wouldn't have to face Leaf too soon.

All the categories in the tournament would be held simultaneously. So, the tournament would be finished in three days, with the last day being the awards ceremony. The tournament commenced after the opening ceremony finished. Ash and Leaf started to move towards the board containing the match ups. Ash was glad to see that he and Leaf were on opposite sides of the match ups, meaning they wouldn't meet before the final battle, if they both qualified.

Ash's first match was Match 4 and it was against a trainer named Joey. He and Leaf headed to the stands, to watch the matches until their chance came. Ash had taken a Notepad out of his bag, so that he could make notes of Trainers with strong pokémon. Ash liked to know what he was up against, and this was the simplest method. The first two matches were rather boring, with both trainers being weak and simplistic. When the third match began, he got up and started to make his way to the trainer rooms.


Nugget Bridge, 2 days later

Today was the last day of the tournament and both Ash and Leaf had managed to make it into the Top 4. Leaf was up against this guy named AJ while he was up against Zeke. AJ was an experienced trainer, but Ash wasn't worried about him defeating Leaf. Zeke on the other hand, was a fighting type trainer and his pokémon were pretty strong.

His match was first, and he was thankful that he had made notes about other trainers. His research allowed him to prepare for Zeke, choosing pokémon from his team well suited against fighting types.

He waited in anticipation for his match to begin. When the announcer announced his name, Leaf hugged him, and he headed out to the arena.

"This will b match between Ash of Pallet Town and Zeke of Saffron City. Substitutions are allowed but item usage is not allowed" explained the referee.

Both he and Zeke released their pokémon at the same time. He released Faye and Zeke released his Machop. Ash had chosen Faye since Machop had the Guts ability and Saur, Shinx and Kadabra would be useless against it. He was aiming to knock Machop out early to have more pokémon available against his Trump Card.

"Faye use Pound on him and then use Baby routine" said Ash in arrogant voice. Baby routine was the name for the Sing and Sweet Kiss combo. Zeke ordered his Machop to dodge and use Low Kick. While Machop was able to get the hit in, he was put to sleep with Sing. Ash ordered Clefairy to use Minimize and Defense Curl till Machop woke up.

"Machop use Bulk up and then Karate Chop on that Clefairy" yelled a frustrated Zeke. Unfortunately for him, Clefairy's increased defenses and fairy typing made the attack have little effect on Clefairy.

Ash ordered Clefairy to finish maxing out her defense and evasion while Zeke ordered his Machop to use Focus Punch. Machop had finished preparing the move when Ash smirked and told Clefairy to use Protect.

Zeke gnashed his teeth on seeing Machop's attack go to waste but decided to make the right decision. "Referee I'd like to forfeit Machop. None of his attacks are going to knock Clefairy out now" he said in a defeated voice. He recalled Machop and sent out his Trump Card, Hitmonchan.

Ash smiled at seeing how easy his first victory had been, but he was a little confused why he had forfeited his Machop. Even if Machop couldn't defeat Clefairy, he could have damaged her to make her easier to defeat for his other pokémon. He decided to let it go for now and triumphantly ordered Clefairy to knock it using Stored Power.

He was surprised when the Stored Power didn't knock Hitmonchan out but damaged it to the verge of fainting. Zeke saw his expression and yelled "Now, knock it out using Mirror Coat". Ash stared in horror as Mirror Coat released massive energy that knocked out Faye on impact.

Suddenly, his actions made complete sense to Ash. He had forfeited Machop to lure him into a false sense of security, only for him to surprise him with Mirror Coat. He recalled Faye and released Luxio on the field. "Knock him using Spark" told Ash. Zeke ordered his pokémon to use Mach Punch before he was knocked out.

Since, Mach Punch was a priority move, it was able to hit Luxio hard before Hitmonchan was knocked out. Zeke smiled and released his final pokémon, Mankey. "Mankey keep using Brick Break on Luxio until it's knocked out."

Sadly, Zeke was under the impression that Luxio was a dark type pokémon and was shocked why Brick Break wasn't doing more. Ash grimaced and commanded Luxio to use Spark on Mankey. After that, it was a battle of attrition, with both waiting to see who would fall first.

It was a sight to see as they both knocked each other using their respective moves. Ash was glad to see the crowd cheering and clapping him on. He shook Zeke's hand and went to the stands, to see Leaf's match.

Ash didn't take out his notepad since he assumed that Leaf would win easily against AJ, the self-titled gym leader of "AJ's Gym". He watched in horror as AJ used a completely different team from his previous matches and went to basically demolish Leaf. Leaf was only able to knock out one of his pokémon before she was defeated.

She shook AJ's hand graciously and went back into the trainer waiting room. Ash went in there to confront her and was surprised to see tears in her eyes. He hugged her and stayed that way for a few seconds. "Don't feel bad, he was just a lot stronger than any of the rookies here. You were excellent and even managed to knock out one of his pokémon" tried to comfort Ash.

Now, Ash was pissed and wary of AJ. The different team he had shown against Leaf meant that he had been saving his stronger pokémon for last and that Ash was going into battle blind.

He healed up and selected his pokémon after careful thought. He wished that he had caught and trained Kadabra sooner, because currently he only had 4 options to choose from.

He paced around the room, waiting for the announcer to call his name. He had decided to go with Saur, Faye and Luxio, his strongest pokémon.

As the referee called his name, he went out of the waiting room to see the cheering crowd. "This will b match between Ash of Pallet Town and AJ of Vermilion City. Substitutions are allowed but item usage is not allowed" explained the referee.

The referee explained the rules every time, for the understanding of TV viewers at home, who had just tuned in. Ash and AJ both released their first pokémon at the same time. Ash had gone with Saur while AJ had started off with his infamous Sandslash.

"Saur use Sleep Powder on it and then use Leech Vine," said Ash. AJ ordered his Sandslash to dodge and Ash grimaced at seeing how fast it was. "Well, then Saur use Growth and use Magical Leaf," ordered Ash. Saur had gotten much faster with growth, using it just under three seconds now.

Saur released the impossible to dodge attack and Ash was disappointed to see it do only quite a bit of damage. Ash had hoping that with Saur's STAB and Sandslash's weakness, it would do quite a bit more. Ash ordered Saur to dodge when AJ told his Sandslash to use Magnitude.

Sandslash's attack quite a bit of damage to Saur. Ash told Saur to wait until Sandslash comes close and then to use Sleep Powder on him. Unfortunately for Ash, Sandslash was far too fast for Saur to hit him. Ash watched in shock as Sandslash's fury swipes knocked Saur out.

Ash was in a bind, Luxio would be useless against Sandslash, and Faye would have a similarly hard time. He released Faye and ordered her to use Metronome, hoping for good luck. Thankfully, the attack turned out to be Energy Ball, which did a lot against Sandslash.

"Sandslash, use Fissure on that Clefairy," said a smirking AJ. Ash desperately yelled for Faye to use Protect and sighed in relief seeing that it had worked. When he saw that Sandslash wasn't anywhere on the field, it took him a second to realize that it was using Dig. Ash was too late as Sandslash hit Clefairy with the attack, damaging her a lot.

"Clefairy use Metronome again" yelled a desperate Ash. Ash watched in horror as Metronome turned out to be Self Destruct. The move knocked out both Clefairy and Sandslash. Ash recalled Clefairy while apologizing to her through the pokéball.

He released Luxio and his mood improved when he saw AJ release a Beedrill. "Luxio use Spark on it and then paralyzed it" said Ash with a hard look. Beedrill dodged Luxio's Spark but was paralyzed by Thunder Wave. AJ ordered his Beedrill to use Venoshock on Luxio, because Beedrill's attack had been lowered by Luxio's Intimidate.

Thankfully, the Venoshock did little to Luxio because of Beedrill's low Special Attack. Ash ordered Luxio to use charge, to strengthen her electric attacks and raise her Special Defense. AJ ordered Beedrill to use Fury Attack on Luxio, which did little damage to Luxio.

Ash ordered Luxio to use Spark on Beedrill, who was unable to dodge because of its paralysis and closeness. The Super Effective attack powered up by STAB and Luxio's high attack managed to one shot Beedrill.

AJ recalled Beedrill and released a menacing Raticate. Ash was still hopeful of winning but decided to proceed cautiously. AJ was getting frustrated and yelled for Raticate to use Hyper Fang. Ash ordered Luxio to use Thunder Wave on Raticate and was confused why AJ didn't order Raticate to dodge.

He soon realized his mistake when Raticate was paralyzed and his ability Guts activated. Ash knew that a single attack from Raticate would knock Luxio out and ordered Luxio to maintain her distance from Raticate. AJ figured out his strategy and ordered Raticate to use Quick Attack.

"Use Protect Luxio and keep using Thunder Shock Luxio" yelled a desperate Ash. Luxio managed to protect herself from Raticate, but Raticate's managed to land a Hyper Fang on her. Luxio managed to withstand the attack, but she was very clearly on her last legs.

Ash decided that instead putting Luxio through more pain for an unachievable pain, he would do the right thing. He raised his voice to the referee and asked to forfeit.


Cerulean City, Next Day

The awards ceremony was going to start in a few minutes. AJ, he, and Leaf were the winners, with Leaf winning Third Place by defeating Zeke i match. The host awarded them their medals and announced the mystery prizes for this year.

"As is our tradition, every year we change up our prizes. This year the first prize winner will receive a mystery pokémon, the second prize winner will receive an Advance trainers set by Silph, and the third prize winner will receive 5 TM vouchers. To honor the Nugget Bridge, all winners will also receive a Big Nugget.

AJ released his pokéball, to check out his new pokémon and Ash was surprised to see Scyther materialize. Scyther were rare and powerful pokémon and Ash was envious of AJ for getting such a pokémon. Though he was happy to have won an Advance trainer set. It contained expensive supplies like Ultra balls, Max revives and Full Restores. It was going to be a relief for his wallet, especially when he sold the Big Nugget.

After the ceremony ended, Ash asked Leaf a question he had been gathering courage for. "Leaf since we're both going to Vermilion City for the SS Anne, why don't we travel together?" asked a nervous Ash.

"I'll do you one better" said Leaf and she kissed him.


Ok, so Ash's loss to AJ is because AJ has been training for much longer than Ash and his pokémon are at least 5 levels above Ash's pokémon. I wanted to use this loss to convey that no matter how good a strategy is, power and experience are still the most crucial components of pokémon battle.

I would like to thank CrimsonStarBlade was giving permission to use his OC and his pokemon. If you want your personal OC to appear in tournaments, then leave a review describing them and what pokémon they have. Please try to be as creative as you can be.

Using OCs that readers come up with is beneficial for both me and the readers. I don't have to come up with OCs for every battle or tournament and you guys can get your own creation in a story you like. Just try not to send in something too OP please.

I've already decided the next two pokémon that Ash is going to get. Write a review to see if you can guess what they are. Hint: One is a fire type, and the other is a dark type. They are both fan favorites, especially the dark type.

I actually didn't want to give Ash a Kadabra, but my choices were limited. It was either this or the Ralts or Beldum lines and those are either overused or too powerful.

Ivysaur (Saur) – Lv 20 - Tackle, Growl, Vine Whip, Growth, Leech Seed, Razor Leaf, Sleep Powder, Poison Powder, Protect and Magical Leaf.

Luxio – Lv 19 - Tackle, Leer, Charge, Thunder Shock, Thunder Wave, Charge, Bite, Protect and Fake Tears.

Trapinch – Lv 18 - Bite, Sand Attack, Bide, Mud Slap, Bulldoze, Protect and Feint Attack.

Clefairy (Faye) – Lv 21 - Sing, Sweet Kiss, Disarming Voice, Encore, Charm, Pound, Copycat, Growl, Defence Curl, Stored power, Minimize, After You, Life Dew Metronome, Thunder Wave and Protect.

Kadabra – Lv 16 – Teleport and Confusion.