So, the story is like this close to getting 100 followers and I'm so excited about this. I'm also happy to note that my average view to visitor ratio is going up. I wonder whether that's because of the greater number of chapter available now or the improvements made to the earlier chapters have been paying off.
Also, I would like to thank UltimateCCC in particular who has left a review for every single chapter of this fic, and I am very grateful for that. I have also started a twitter account solely for Fanfiction. You can find the link in my Bio, and I will be posting updates about the story on it.
I've started reading the earlier chapters and honestly, they're a bit embarrassing. I have held off from improving them significantly because that would mess the pace off the story and confuse the older readers.
I wasn't actually sure what this chapter should be about. I have a bunch of unconnected ideas about what to include in this chapter and even I'm not sure what will make it into the final draft of the chapter.
BTW, Ash has finally got the Rank 9 in the Pokémon Journey's World Coronation Series. I really wonder if he's going to go all the way now. The final battle being Leon's Charizard vs Ash's Greninja would be the sickest thing. Greninja finally defeating Charizard would be a great redemption arc from the Kalos Final.
Celadon City, Two Days later
Ash had spent the last couple of days teaching his pokémon the TM moves that he had brought and then working on perfecting them.
Saur had learnt the moves Sunny Day, Giga Drain, and Sludge Bomb from the TMs. He had also managed to perfect a move that he had been working on for the past week, Double Edge. He had shown remarkable proficiency in all of these new moves.
Luxray had able the learn the move Thunderbolt from TM that Lt. Surge had given him, the one that he had forgotten about. The move had given her a long range STAB move to rely on. She had spent the rest of her time starting to learn the move Night Slash.
Faye, on the other hand had spent her time learning a bunch of new moves. The moves were Meteor Mash, Sunny Day, Shadow Ball, Brick Break and Dazzling Gleam. Obviously, she hadn't managed to get all of them down perfectly, but she was working tirelessly on it.
All of these attacking moves, combined with her already impressive repertoire of status and support moves meant that she would a terror for any trainer to overcome. Ash had also outfitted her with the item, Eviolite making her even harder to knock out.
Trapinch had learnt the moves Sandstorm, Sunny Day, and Earthquake. While he had learnt Earthquake and Sunny Day from the TMs, he had accidentally managed to learn the move Sandstorm by creating a mini Sandstorm while trying to perfect Earthquake.
Kadabra was able to learn the moves Dazzling Gleam, Shadow Ball, Protect, Thunder Wave, and Sunny Day. The moves were a lot of knowledge for any single pokémon to learn at once, even for one of the smartest species.
Thus, Ash had decided to slowly teach him the moves over the week, to lessen the strain on his mind. He had been working on improving the control over his Pyscho Cuts, he was now able to control their shape at will and was working on making them smaller or larger, depending on the situation.
Bugs was in mostly the same boat as Kadabra. He was able to learn the moves Headbutt, Sunny Day, and Protect. He had also been working on perfecting the move Agility, in the meanwhile to improve his already impressive speed even more.
Ash was thinking of having him work on actually learning to use his Egg Moves in battle. All of these new moves would allow him to make the full use of his incredible ability, Libero.
Rio was in the process of learning his own new moves Protect, Earthquake, Sunny Day, and Brick Break. After he was done perfecting these TM moves, Ash was going to have him work on Bullet Punch, one of his Egg moves that he hadn't mastered yet.
Zorua was actually busy perfecting a move that she had been working on for the past week, Knock Off. When she finished with that, Ash was going to teach her Protect, Sunny Day, Sludge Bomb and Shadow Ball.
Ash had actually made a deal with Lucario regarding the training of his pokémon. Ash would increase the time he spent training his Aura every day, if Lucario spent some time helping his pokémon learn their respective moves.
Although he didn't personally know how to use the TM moves himself, he was a master in the art of controlling pokémon type energy. Aura is actually the combination of all different types of pokémon energies, so mastering it is impossible without mastering the art of harnessing energy itself.
Lucario's help was needed because although TMs are revolutionary products that allow trainers to cut down training times by days, they are not free of flaws. Though they instantly transfer the workings of the particular move into the mind of the pokémon on which it is used, that doesn't mean that the pokémon automatically knows how to use the move.
The pokémon still needs to practice using the move to gain any level of control or mastery over it. Listening to this, it might seem as though TMs are a waste of money, given that training was still required to successfully use the move, but that's not true at all.
The real genius of TMs is that it allows a pokémon to instinctively gain access to the energy needed to perform the move. For example, while it is natural for Fire type pokémon to instinctively know how to access Fire type energy, they don't know how to use energies foreign to their own, such as electric energy.
Finding and learning to harness these energies takes a great amount of time. That's why pokémon used to know very few moves in the olden days, it was too time consuming to constantly teach new moves.
But these days with the invention and popularization of TMs, pokémon knowing dozens of moves in not uncommon. This has actually caused a massive change in the workings of pokémon battling.
In the olden days, winning a match was often reliant on your pokémon knowing the correct move for the particular situation. But these days the focus has shifted more towards speed, strategies, and the physical attributes of the pokémon themselves.
Route 16, Four Days Later
Ash was walking slowly through the forest, with Lucario walking behind him to make sure that he didn't trip or fall into a ditch. The reason for this was that Ash was working on trying to perfect Aura Vision.
Aura Vision was an essential technique for any Aura Guardian. It allows them to see through vision obstructing techniques like a Smokescreen, preventing them from being disoriented during battle. It also allows them a near 360 degree vision, protecting them from being ambushed from behind.
Ash was getting the hang of seeing through Aura when suddenly he heard a large roar. He shut off his Aura Vision and looked at Lucario, non-verbally asking whether they should go check it out. Lucario nodded his consent and they set off towards the noise.
They ran towards the source of the roar, when suddenly they heard an even greater roar. As he got closer to the noise, he could faintly hear the sound of a person crying softly.
When he got there, he was surprised by what he saw in front of him. There was a rampaging angry Snorlax, most probably the source of the noise and a few older kids with their pokémon out. From what he could see the Snorlax was making short work of the trainer's pokémon.
He let out Saur, Faye, and Trapinch to help subdue the Snorlax. Unfortunately he was carrying Bugs and Zorua with him and he wanted to keep them in reserve, since they weren't as experienced as the others. He also had Kadabra, who wasn't going to be used at all except to teleport all of them out of there.
"Ash, you will have to face this challenge on your own. I want to see whether you can handle it" said Lucario. Ash was a little disheartened to hear that but he also wanted to prove to Lucario that he didn't need his help all the time.
He explained the plan to his pokémon and they set out running towards the Snorlax. The Snorlax had managed to knock out nearly all of the Trainer's pokémon except a Lairon who managed to avoid being defeated.
"Hey get away from here and take cover behind Lucario you morons" yelled Ash at the trainers who seemed to be frozen from fear. His command shook them from their funk and they ran to take cover under the massive Aura Shield that Lucario had put up.
Faye was flying near Snorlax's head to distract him by trying to her with a Brick Break on her head. While she did manage to land the attack, it didn't seem to do anything except annoy Snorlax, who swatted her with a Mega Punch. The attack hit Clefairy hard enough that she dropped out of the sky from the impact.
"Faye use Sunny Day and restore your energy using Moonlight" said Ash. Trapinch was hitting Snorlax with crunches and then using Dig to escape, making him impossible to hit. Meanwhile Saur was trying to land a Sleep Powder on Snorlax, to successfully subdue.
Just as Saur was able to get in position close to land a Sleep Powder, Snorlax finally got too annoyed from one of Trapinch's crunch hitting particularly hard. He roared in pain from the attack and then the ground hard, using a powerful Earthquake on all of his pokémon except Clefairy.
The powerful attack combined with the fact that Trapinch was underground, managed to knock him out in one hit. Even Ash and Saur were hit by the move. Ash managed to get up an Aura Shield just in time, which allowed to protect himself from the rocks flying due to the Earthquake. Saur wasn't so lucky and he was hit hard by the move, but he managed to hang on.
"Saur use Synthesis and Clefairy use Thunder Wave" said Ash, shook from the power of Snorlax's attack. Saur nodded and backed away to use Synthesis while Clefairy took to the air, looking for an opening.
He released Bugs, Rio, and Zorua from their pokéballs and explained the plan to them. They sprung in action, racing towards Snorlax and hitting him with their attacks. The attacks weren't doing much but they were doing their job in successfully distracting Snorlax.
Just as Snorlax was distracted by a Brick Break from Rio, Zorua managed to climb on his body and land on his head. She hung from his head and managed to scratch his eyes with multiple Fury Swipes.
Just as Snorlax roared in pain and rage from the attack, Clefairy was able to paralyze him with a Thunder Wave. The paralysis combined with the Fury Swipes seemed to drive Snorlax in an unbridled rage.
He grabbed Zorua with his paw and hit her hard with another Mega Punch. The powerful attack hit Zorua really hard but she managed to hang on as Snorlax throw her into the tree with a loud thud, knocking her out.
His rage didn't seem to calm down even then and he gathered energy into his large jaw. "USE PROTECT" yelled a horrified Ash, putting up his Aura Shield just in time.
His pokémon weren't so quick and were unable to dodge Snorlax's Hyper Beam. The Hyper Beam ripped through the field, hitting all of his Ash's pokémon and even Ash's Aura Shield.
Ash tried to maintain his shield against Snorlax's attack but the attack was too powerful and broke through his shield, knocking him back through the forest. He landed far away from Snorlax from the impact and hit his head hard on a rock, knocking him out.
Only Saur had managed to survive Snorlax's attack, through even he was struggling to get back up from the attack. Seeing Ash fly from the force of Snorlax's attack and get knocked out was too much for him.
He remembered how helpless he had felt facing off against Zapdos, who had played with him with ease. He had promised himself that he would become strong enough that he wouldn't need to rely on anyone's mercy to protect Ash and his teammates.
Now, watching all of them and Ash get knocked out from Snorlax's Hyper Beam broke something in Saur. He roared with rage and managed to stand upright. He gathered all of his power and let it flowing through, bathing him in light and letting him evolve to his pinnacle.
The light faded to reveal a newly evolved Venusaur. Saur roared to challenge Snorlax to a one on one fight as his ability Overgrow activated. He gathered the newly obtained power flowing through his body and gathered it into the bud of his flower, letting an extremely powerful Energy Ball fly at Snorlax.
The Energy Ball hit Snorlax, knocking him and making him cry out in pain from the force of the attack. Snorlax tried to get back from the attack when suddenly his paralysis activated. He finally stood up only see Saur in front of him, hitting on his head with a headbutt.
The attack pushed him back and he flinched from the attack only for Saur to follow up with a Sludge Bomb. The Bomb exploded when it landed on Snorlax, bathing him with an extremely poisonous and painful sludge.
The force of all of these attacks for too much for Snorlax who passed out from the pain. Saur looked at Snorlax with a vengeful smile and went to pick up. He picked Ash up with his vines and brought him to Lucario.
Lucario was worried when he saw Ash get knocked out and was about to intervene when he saw Saur evolve. He was proud of how well Ash and his team had handled this challenge.
He let go of the Aura Shield that he had put up and started gathering his energy into his hands, as Saur put Ash down in front of him. He let the energy flow through his hands onto Ash's head, healing his wound and restoring his energy.
Ash woke up with a throbbing head trying to remember what was happening. As he gathered his wits, he remembered Snorlax and his Hyper Beam. He got jumped up with urgency and looked around to see what was going on.
"Saur, where is Snorlax and when did you evolve?" asked a still disoriented Ash. Saur pointed towards Snorlax with his vine and they walked towards him.
Getting close to Snorlax, Ash took out one of the Ultra Balls he picked up somewhere along the way and tossed it on Snorlax. The ball sucked him in and started shaking violently but eventually slowed down and clicked signifying a successful capture.
He picked up his staff and hat that had fallen on the ground and started recalling his fainted pokémon.
"You did an incredible job today buddy and I'm really proud of you" praised Ash as he rubbed Saur's head and then recalled him. Walking back towards Lucario, he saw that the pokémon were still present.
Before he could say anything the girl in the group burst forward and hugged him. "Thank you for saving all of us from that Snorlax" she said, while hugging him tightly.
"Ok who are all of you and why did that Snorlax attack you" asked a blushing Ash.
"Ahh, we are actually students of Pokémon Tech and we were here because we heard rumour of a Snorlax napping here and we wanted to capture it" said one of students in an embarrassed tone.
"You mean you MORONS actually thought that you were strong enough to defeat a slumbering Snorlax and capture it" yelled Ash getting angry at their stupidity, as got out of the hug.
Snorlax were one of the pokémon infamous for being deadly if disturbed. That is why the League had put a Run on Sight advisory for trainers. While it wasn't legally binding, most trainers followed it out of basic common sense.
"What made you think that you could guys could ever take on a Snorlax all by yourself" said a still angry Ash. He had been nearly killed by their stupidity and was in no mood to hear any of their excuses.
"We're really sorry for what happened and thank you for saving us. Can I know your name, sir?" asked the girl who had hugged him.
"I'm Ash Ketchum and who are you?"
"OMG, YOU'RE ASH KETCHUM. I mean, you are like my hero. I'm Giselle" squealed the now christened Giselle, nearly deafening Ash with her loudness.
"It's nice to meet you Giselle" replied a blushing Ash, due to her fanboying. The other students started introducing themselves and asking Ash about his adventures.
"Ash would you like to come back to our school, I'm sure that everyone would love to meet you at the school. Plus I would like to get know you more" said a blushing Giselle, whispering the last sentence.
"Sure, I'm down with that. But could you do me a favour and not tell people I'm Ask Ketchum, though?" asked Ash.
"But why? Why wouldn't you want to meet your fans Ash?" asked a disheartened and baffled Giselle.
"It's just that I want to be explore the school without being mobbed by people, okay" said Ash, letting a little of his annoyance leak through.
Pokémon Tech, 4 hours later
"And this is the battle arena, Ash. This is where we practice Pokémon battling in the morning and on the weekends" said the ever bubbly Giselle, finishing the tour of the school.
"Wow this school is indeed impressive" said Ash. And he wasn't lying, the school was even bigger than the whole of Prof Oak's lab and it even then it only took in 100 students per year.
He had actually gotten into the school when he had applied a few years ago. He hadn't gone because the fees was far too high for his mom to pay and he didn't want to be even more indebted to his father.
"Hey what's going on there? Who are the ones battling?" asked a curious Ash, looking at the battle going on at the field.
"Oh someone's challenging Paul again, no doubt trying to take his place as the strongest trainer at the school" said Giselle, with a frown on her face.
"Which one is Paul?"
"The one with the purple hair and the frown on his face, like someone killed his Meowth, is Paul. He's undefeated in the school, even though he only has 6 badges" explained Giselle, showing her dislike for Paul.
"Really? He's the strongest trainer here and he only has the equivalent of 6 badges. Either he's insanely talented or people here suck" said Ash, thinking the last sentence in his mind.
"Oh I know what you could do. Ash will you please teach Paul a lesson and put him in his place?" asked Giselle, pleading Ash in a sweet voice.
Ash had had enough of battling for today but looking at Giselle's big eyes and pouty smile made all of his protests melt away. He nodded his head and walked forward through the crowd.
Emerging from the crowd, he said "So you're the strongest trainer here huh. Wanna take me on and prove that you actually deserve that title?"
Normally he wouldn't be so rude to someone he had never met before but from Giselle's dislike of him, he guessed that he wasn't someone that Ash would like either.
Paul gnashed his teeth on hearing Ash's taunt and said with barely controlled anger in his voice "I don't waste my time on losers such as you. Students here don't stand a chance against me so what could a nobody like you do."
That taunt really got to Ash. Having been used to being taking seriously, both by his peers and elders, this insult by a pompous ass felt like a major slight.
Setting his face into a scowl, he stepped forward and taunted Paul "All I got from that is that you're too torchic to actually battle because you know that I'm going to demolish you."
Paul knew that the idiot in the silly medieval costume didn't stand a chance against him but he couldn't turn down his challenge without losing face. He nodded his acceptance for the challenge and asked the usual referee to start the match.
"This i battle between Paul and someone, I don't know. Item usage isn't allowed but substitutions are" the student referee said.
"Ursaring, standby for battle" said Paul. He released Ursaring from a heavy ball, surprising Ash by how aggressive and large it was. While Ursaring were generally aggressive, training them properly and letting them release their frustrations during training made them calmer to be more effective in battle.
He decided to play it safe and sent out Kadabra. Against a physical attacker like Ursaring, Kadabra could easily dodge his attacks using Teleport and deal huge damage with his high Special Attack.
"Kadabra let's slow him down huh" said a smiling Ash. Before Paul could understand what was happening, Kadabra was able to nail Ursaring with Thunder Wave, paralysing him.
What Ash didn't expect was for Ursaring to then roar in anger and a red hue to surround him. Ash then understood that Ursaring probably had the ability Guts, which activated upon him getting paralysed.
Ash's confusion over Ursaring's reaction to the paralysis allowed Paul to gather his wits and yell out "Ursaring, use Feint Attack."
Ursaring barrelled forward towards Kadabra to hit with the Dark type move Feint Attack. Now, normally the attack was impossible to protect or dodge against but it was impossible to actually connect without getting in close, which Ursaring was unable to do due to Kadabra constantly teleporting and his speed being lowered from the paralysis.
"Enough of playing around Kadabra. Hit him with a Psybeam" said Ash, getting bored with the teleporting routine. Just as Ursaring came in close to Kadabra, he had finished powering up his Psybeam and he nailed Ursaring point blank with it.
The move powered up with Kadabra's high Special Attack, STAB and Life Orb hit Ursaring extremely hard, knocking him back several feet.
Paul was shocked to see Ursaring barely hanging after receiving a single attack from Kadabra. He gnashed his teeth in anger and yelled out "Get up Ursaring and use Slash."
But as before, Ursaring was unable to land a single hit on Kadabra due to him constantly teleporting when he got near. With every dodge, Ursaring got a little more tired and frustrated, all the running around sapping his energy.
Ash was having fun putting this jerk in his place and taunted "So you're the best this place has to offer? Yikes. What a waste of money."
The taunt really got to Paul whose face turned red after Ash's taunt and he started losing his cool, shouting at Ursaring and berating him for being unable to hit Kadabra. The crowd who had been cheering on Paul at the start had gone silent at seeing Paul get humiliated.
"Okay I'm getting bored now. Kadabra put him out of his misery with a Psycho Cut" said Ash, having fun at Paul's thrashing. Kadabra let a weak Psycho Cut, which was enough to knock Ursaring out.
Paul recalled Ursaring without a word but Ash could see that the loss had gotten to him. After being the top snubull at was purported to be the best trainer school in the region, losing so easily to Ash must have upended all his beliefs at once.
"Well that was a disappointment" mocked Ash while recalling Kadabra and walking towards Giselle. The crowd was stunned shocked at seeing their hero lose so handily to a random stranger.
Before Ash could leave with Giselle, Paul snapped out of his funk and stepped forward towards Ash and asked him slowly, as though the words were paining him, "Who are you and how did you do that?"
Ash thought for a couple seconds whether he should help Paul out or not before replying "My name is Ash Ketchum and as for how I beat you, this place is a waste. Nothing you learn here will be of any real use out in the wild and if you rely on this place to teach you pokémon battling, then you will never win a league either. If you really want to beat me then leave this place and travel like a regular trainer."
The crowd was silent as they pondered his words, allowing Ash and Giselle to leave the place without trouble. After a few seconds someone yelled "Hey was that Ash Ketchum?", causing the crowd to go wild.
Near the Entrance of Pokémon Tech, 2 hours later
"So Ash I'm going to miss you" said a sad Giselle. She had developed a crush on him after he had saved her from the Snorlax and she didn't want him to go.
"I'm going to miss you too" said Ash. He had grown to like Giselle quite a lot too. While he had originally disliked Giselle for her stupidity in provoking the Snorlax, after spending some time with her, he had seen that she wasn't bad after all.
"I really wish I could come with you but my parents won't let me" said a wistful Giselle.
They both looked at each other, not wanting to turn away and let go. Just as Giselle turned to leave, Ash stepped forward and kissed her.
So, I have to apologise that the chapter was delayed so much but my exams are starting so I'll be busy for the next 3 months with that. Hence, the chapters will be released sporadically on Sundays.
Also this was a little fun chapter, with the Snorlax and Paul battle. Don't worry, Paul will get stronger and he will definitely reappear. This chapter was just to set him up for future appearances.
Also we get to see how far Ash has come in his Aura Guardian training in the Snorlax battle. And we finally get to talk about the training that Ash's team is undergoing.
I post updates about the story on my Twitter account which you can follow to receive them. You can also talk with me about the story in my Twitter DMs. The link is in my bio.
Ash's pokémon list:
Venusaur (Saur) – Overgrow - Male – Lv 33 - Tackle, Growl, Vine Whip, Growth, Leech Seed, Razor Leaf, Sleep Powder, Poison Powder, Protect, Magical Leaf, Seed Bomb, Take Down, Sweet Scent, Sunny Day, Giga Drain, and Sludge Bomb.
Luxray – Guts – Female - Lv 33 - Tackle, Leer, Charge, Thunder Shock, Thunder Wave, Charge, Bite, Protect, Fake Tears, Roar, Volt Switch, Thunderbolt and Night Slash.
Trapinch – Sheer Force - Male – Lv 32 - Bite, Sand Attack, Bide, Mud Slap, Bulldoze, Protect, Feint Attack, Laser Focus, Dig, Crunch, Sandstorm, Sunny Day, and Earthquake.
Clefairy (Faye) – Magic Guard - Female – Lv 31 - Sing, Sweet Kiss, Disarming Voice, Encore, Charm, Pound, Copycat, Growl, Defence Curl, Stored power, Minimize, After You, Life Dew Metronome, Thunder Wave, Protect, Moonlight, Gravity, Meteor Mash, Sunny Day, Shadow Ball, Brick Break and Dazzling Gleam
Kadabra – Magic Guard – Male - Lv 33 – Teleport, Confusion, Disable, Psybeam, Recover, Psyshock, Dazzling Gleam, Shadow Ball, Protect, Thunder Wave, and Sunny Day.
Raboot (Bugs)– Libero – Male - Lv 24 – Tackle, Growl, Ember, High Jump Kick, Sand Attack, Sucker Punch, Super Fang, Quick Attack, Double Kick, Flame Charge, Headbutt, Sunny Day, Protect and Agility.
Riolu (Rio) – Prankster – Male - Lv 23 – Quick Attack, Endure, Feint, Bullet Punch, Vacuum Wave, Detect, Circle Throw, Metal Claw, Counter, Work Up, Rock Smash, Protect, Earthquake, Sunny Day, and Brick Break.
Zorua – Illusion – Female – Lv 24 - Scratch, Leer, Torment, Hone Claws, Fury Swipes, Scary Face, Taunt, Knock Off, Protect, Sunny Day, Sludge Bomb and Shadow Ball.
