"What are we going to do now Pikachu" I mumble from under my hat while lying down on my old bed back in Pallet Town. After another loss in the Alola region league, I wonder what I'm going to do now. All my life I've wanted to become a pokemon master but no matter how strong my pokemon get we never seem to be able to win the leagues. There's always someone stronger or someone with Legendary Pokemon. Am I letting my pokemon down?
"Pika pika" My best friend replies knocking my hat off so I can see his happy and encouraging smile reminding me not to give up. There is always next time.
"Your right bud," I tell him after letting out a deep breath releasing all my negative feelings with it. The only way for us to become masters is to train harder and not to worry too much about what could be. Most champions and league winners have been a few years older than me. But now that I'm seventeen I got to focus on my goals. Next time I'm going to study the Pokémon I will be facing harder to learn how best to defeat them. A better understanding leads to better results. I just have to trust my pokemon and nothing can go wrong. "Ok moping time is over Pikachu lets go get something to eat."
"Pika Pika." Pikachu yelps happily at the aspect of food before jumping off my and rushing down the stairs. I can't help the giggle that escapes my mouth at his antics cheering my right up. Quickly I follow my electric mouse's lead and follows him down the stairs.
Once I've reached the living room, I spot Professors Oak sitting at the dining table "Ash it's good to see you again." He stands up as I run over to hug him.
"Professor Oak. What are you doing here?" I ask once I release him from my hug.
"Well." Professor Oak starts. "first I wanted to congratulate you for your performance in the Alola league. And although you didn't win you showed great training and love towards your pokemon which is what only the very best trains can truly show in battles. I know you wanted to win Ash but you have to remember that there are always lessons to learn in loses."
"I understand and I believe that I understand pokemon better now which can only make me a stronger trainer. One day I'll show everyone that I am becoming a pokemon master." Oak looks at me proudly.
"Which brings me to the second reason why I'm here." He says as we take a seat and my mom comes in with our dinner. After a few mouth fulls, he continues his line of thought. "Since your journey in the Alola region is now over I bet you're looking to see where you can start your next adventure." I nod my head excitedly about the prospect of travelling to a new region. "I thought so which I why I'm going to suggest you should consider travelling to the Kinsaha region."
"Kinsaha" I repeat sounding confused. "I don't think I've heard of that region before," I admit. I need to work on my regional knowledge as well maybe that can give me an edge in the league.
Professor Oak looks surprised that I didn't know about the region. "Well, I take you haven't heard about the Elite League that will be taking place in a few months." Elite League. What is that? I shake my telling him no. "The Elite League is a new concept that the Kinsaha champion thought of. It's a tournament where all the regions elite four and champions compete to earn the title of elite champion. The point of it is for the champions and elite four have fun pokemon battles without having to worry that this battle might cause them to lose their title. It's something fun for them to help improve their pokemon. Also, it should be quite exciting for everyone to watch the world's best trainers battle it out." Oh man, I gotta go and watch this Elite league. Maybe I can pick up some neat tricks from masters as well. "From what I know however only a few regions are all free to compete this year as this is only a tester year. Next year should be much bigger with almost regions competing."
"What Regions will be competing," I ask wondering if I know any of the trainers joining.
"Surprisingly it's all the regions you've been to so far. Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos and Alola will be battling." Huh, what are the chances?
"Well, I'll be supporting Lance throughout the tournament." My mom Informs us. "He'll be hard to beat showing how strong the trainers from Kanto are."
"I don't know mom," I say thinking back to all my journeys and seeing everyone in battle. "If I'm completely honest I would guess if anyone was going to win the elite it would most probably be Cynthia. The Sinnoh region Champion. She's really a tough trainer to beat. Especially with her Garchomp."
"Pika pika." Pikachu agrees with me.
"Good choice Ash. Many people believe that Cynthia will end up in the finals." Professor Oak agrees with me as well.
The debate about who will win the continues all throughout the rest of dinner. Only when I was washing up did a thought strike me. "Professor Mom," I call out earning their attention. "I just realised we talked about all the champions and Elite four but the ones in Kinsaha. What do you know about them?" I ask curiously.
"Nothing I'm afraid." My mom answers first looking over at Professor Oak for some help.
"From what I've heard from Professor Queen they are all very strong trainer and should perform very well in the tournament. However, if you want more details on them then maybe you should go to Kinsaha and find out for yourself," He says with a smile. It's strange he isn't telling me but I guess he wants it to be a surprise."
"Okay, then that's what I'll do. Kinsaha league here I come." I shout and Pikachu cheers along with me. Both my mom and Professor Oak seem pleased with my decision.
"That's great Ash I'll go and get in touch with Professor Queen who will help you get settled on the Island. "I barely managed to shout a thank you before he's out the door. He seems really happy that I'm heading to Kinsaha.
"Oh, Ash I know you're going to have a great time. I'll book you a place on the plane for tomorrow" My mom says supportively pulling me into a hug. "And when you get to the league just remember that I'll be rooting for ya."
"Thanks, move," I tell her before leaving to start packing for my next adventure.
"Oh, and Ash." She stops me right before I run up the stairs. "I heard that Dawn was also heading to Kinsaha to compete in the contests there. Maybe you two could travel together again." My face suddenly becomes very hot.
"Uhh yeah, mom. That sounds great." I quickly shout before sprinting up the stairs ignoring my mother's laughter. Out of everyone I've travelled with I am the closest with Dawn and have really missed her since we went our separate ways which mom always loves to tease me about. Calming myself down I quickly start packing all my essentials. I'm going to miss the team I built up in the Alola region but I'm also looking forward to making some new pokemon friends. I wonder if Dawn has any new pokemon since the last time I saw her.
Stop thinking about her Ash and focus. I'm going to plan which type of pokemon I'm going to capture. Of course, Pikachu is going with and will be my electric pokemon. I should also have a fire type a water type a grass type and a flying type. That makes five out of my possible six pokemon to carry. Maybe four if my flying type is a grass water or fire type. I could try getting a ghost pokemon this time or perhaps I should grab myself an ice type. Oh, what about a steel type they are powerful. Decisions, decisions. Chances are I'll plan my team here then the moment I get there I forget all about it a grab the pokemon which I like the most. Plans are good in theory but are quickly destroyed by reality.
For my main outfit, I pick my black and white trainers with my black trousers. My hat is the one I used while I travelled through Sinnoh and my new jacket is shorted sleeved black and white coat covering whatever shirt I decide to wear on that day. Now that everything is sorted for my journey tomorrow. In the morning I'll drop the rest of my pokemon off with Professor Oak so he can study and look after them for me. Now that everything is sorted, I change into my PJ's and get into bed. Pikachu curls up at the bottom of my bed. "Tomorrow bud we start our next adventure and I get the feeling it's going to be the best one yet."
The following day.
Jumping off the plane I am greeted to the warm air of Kinsaha. It's not as warm as Alola but it's still pretty warm. I landed in Silverdale city on the East side of the island. Walking through the airport I immediately spot Professor Queen by her who is standing next to a pokemon I have never seen before.
"Ash so it's nice to finally meet you. Oak is constantly talking about you." She's a middle aged woman with short dark brown hair wearing a lab coat. I notice her eyes are a dark shade of green.
"He is," I question before I remember my manners. "And it's an honour to meet you as well Professor Queen. If you don't mind me asking who the pokemon standing next to you." It looks like a flying type with its wings and is all white apart from a red circle on its belly. It also has a large head with what appears to be whiskers on its beak. Not to mention it's long legs.
"Why don't you tell me, Ash." She responds handing me a Pokedex. "Every trainer needs one of these when starting on a new journey."
"Thank you." Opening the Pokedex I scan the pokemon next to me. "Groomingo. The vibration bird. Groomingo will stand on its long legs sleeping trusting its whiskers to pick up any vibration or changes in the wind while in the wild."
"Wow. Hello there." I stroke its head and it chirps happily. "You're really cute you know."
"Yes, Groomingo is a kind natured pokemon and very protective of younglings. I remember when my youngest daughter ran into the forest one day searching for pokemon. A pack of wild pokemon were about to attack her when Groomingo jumped in front of her and battled the wild pokemon away. He then picked her up and carried her back to the house. She's a hard pokemon to sneak up on as her whiskers pick up even the slightest change in the surrounding area." Professor Queen throws a treat up for Groomingo to catch before giving it a quick pet.
"Wow, that's incredible." Groomingo sounds like an amazing pokemon by how she protected her trainer's child. The two of them must have a great bond. I can't wait to see what other new pokemon this place has. We continued walking through the city with Queen pointing out important landmarks for me.
"I take you will want to compete in gym battles ash." She asks stopping outside a yellow looking building.
"You bet I do," I say to her with enthusiasm bring up my fist in front of me. "I want to be a Pokemon master and to do that I want to win the Kinsaha league."
"Well, when you're ready I would suggest taking on this gym first." She says indicating to the building we are standing in front of. "Jot specializes in electric Pokemon and performs two on two gym battles as most trainers start off in this city and don't have a lot of time to catch and train three different pokemon. Beating him in battle will earn you the Spark badge. There are a total of eight badges to win."
"I'm going to catch a pokemon and then come and challenge Jot." I declare. Queen just laughs.
"I figured as much." She sounds amused. "Come it's not much further to my house. It's just on the outskirts of town." As we casually walk I was already plotting my strategy for my first gym badge. Electric type pokemon are weak against grass ground dragon and sometimes other electric type pokemon. So I'm using Pikachu and maybe I should start looking for a grass pokemon. "Here we are." The professor announces snapping me out of my head. The house was a green two story building with an orange outline under the doors and windows. It was a very large house surrounding my fields a river and a forest. "My Husband is a pokemon breeder which is why the surrounding area is so large. As for the house, it looks big now but a few years ago I had five children running around made it seem smaller." I wonder what they are doing now.
After a quick tour of the house she takes to her lab area and I see an egg seating on the table. "Ohh a pokemon egg." The egg itself was brown with red and green dots. "Do you know what type of pokemon it will be," I ask while Pikachu sniffs it.
"Not until it hatches. But I'm sure you'll know before I do." She states earning a confused look from me. "Here we offer new trainers with two choices. Either they pick one of the three starter pokemon or we give them an egg which could include any pokemon. We offer this to trainers as it teaches them responsibility and they are always proud of how they raised their own pokemon from an egg. Sadly we haven't got a spare starter for you so if you want a second pokemon we are offering you the egg."
I look more closely at the egg and pick it up. She's right raising a pokemon puts trust in the trainer to protect and care from their pokemon even before they hatch. "I promise I'll raise with care" I swear to her.
"I know you will Ash. It's why I'm trusting you with this one. Now if you excuse me I have some work to do. Your welcome to train and if you see my husband about don't be afraid to talk to him and I'm sure he will help you train." Leaving the lab, me and Pikachu head outside into the field. I gently put down the egg so I can focus on our training.
"Ok, Pikachu lets start off with a quick attack to build up speed," I shout as Pikachu starts running. "Ok good. Now we'll be battling against an electric type so I want you to hit the ground in front of you using iron tail. When the ground shoots up climb it and then jump off using another iron tail." Just as I thought the momentum from the broken up ground and his jump made his iron tail even more powerful. "Great job Pikachu"
"Pika Pika." He agrees with my assessment and follows up with a thunderbolt.
"Wow, that's looking really powerful." We'll win that first badge on the first try.
"It sure did." A voice from behind me said causing me to jump. The voice only laughed. Turning around I see a man with brown hair with some slightly grey streaks. He was followed by a Leafeon. "Sorry about that kid. Didn't mean to scare ya." I'm guessing that this is Mr Queen the breeder.
"It's fine don't worry about it. I'm Ash by the way." I offer him my hand which he takes.
"Nice to meet you, Ash, I'm Alan Queen." He tells me. "You have a strong Pikachu there." He compliments causing both me and Pikachu to blush.
"Thank you, sir. We've been training really hard." I say picking up the egg again.
"I take it your training for when you go up against Jot." At my nod his continues. "If you want, I can help you battle."
"You would. Thank you." I move over to the other side of the field.
"Don't mention it I helped my five children train early on and they have become very accomplished trainers." He sounds really proud of his children. I wonder if I will meet them at some point. "Flaaffy your up." The Flaaffy appeared from his Pokeball. "As the challenger, it's your move ok."
"Alright. Pikachu starts off by using quick attack." I don't know how much Alan saw so I'm going to assume that he saw all of it.
"Flaaffy counter with power gem." The gem formed and shot off at a charging Pikachu.
"Use iron tail." Pikachu tail glowed as it smashed against the incoming rock power moves. "Now use quick attack again." This time Flaaffy couldn't counter leading to a direct hit. "Alright."
"Flaaffy use signal beam," I call out for Pikachu to doge it but he isn't fast enough. "Bodyslam." Its second attack followed up right away also landing on defenceless Pikachu.
"Pikachu," I shout on in concern but he seems fine. "Ok then let's do this. Use quick attack." He goes off running again.
"Use thundershock," Alan called out only this time Pikachu dodged it kept running.
"Now use Iron tail." Just as we had just practised Pikachu hit the ground and climbed the shard before jumping and landing a direct hit knocking Flaaffy out when some of the ground shards also made contact with it. Alan quickly runs over to the downed pokemon. "You fought well Flaaffy return." As Flaaffy returns to its Pokeball. " You fought well Ash and Pikachu. Come on Dinner will be severed soon."
After a delicious meal, me and Pikachu adjourned upstairs with the egg. "Tomorrow we're going to go and catch ourselves some new pokemon. Then we're going to take on Jot. Just you wait for it buddy."