"You guys are doing great, I'm really proud of the effort you guys are putting in," Ash said as he picked up Cleffa.
After 2 long weeks of intense training, he had finally learned how to quickly tap into his fairy and normal energy for techniques. Soon Ash would get him started on the physical exercises that Pikachu had been doing alongside his accuracy training. 10 laps in the morning, followed by 5 minutes of rest. They would spar for a little bit because between the two of them, only Pikachu had actual battle experience thanks to being wild for who knows how long. Once the spar was over, they'd split for the evening.
Pikachu would practice aiming his electricity for the rest of the afternoon. Not only would this help his accuracy, but it'd also get him used to expelling large amounts of electricity back to back. As a side benefit, this would increase the amount of electricity his cheeks could store.
He knew that the Cleffa line was built to be tanks thanks to the Pokédex, but he would still prefer to not have Cleffa take damage if he could avoid it. So, now that Cleffa was old enough to take a hit without snapping like a twig, he was going to regularly spar with Pikachu and get used to the flow of an actual battle. He needed to get used to taking hits before his first real battle.
Once Cleffa could deal actual damage, Pikachu could start to practice using Reversal. In their last wild Pokémon battle it had taken an entire 30 seconds to charge up.
After the spar, they would split up to individually train in separate locations. Just in case Cleffa summoned up an earthquake..
Once they'd separated, Cleffa would practice metronome and get used to its variety of effects. Ash hoped that a couple poison moves would show up just so that Cleffa could build a tolerance to poison before they got to Koga's gym.
Ash put Cleffa down on the ground, "All right, time for your morning laps around the clearing. This time, Pikachu don't start using quick attack until after the fifth lap. You need to be fast without the enhancement, too."
While the Pokémon were doing their laps, Ash was keeping a close eye on their surroundings. Although poachers rarely came to this part of Kanto since there was nothing but common Pokémon in the area, a trainer could never be too careful when they had a rare Pokémon like Cleffa in their party.
He wanted to get this habit started early so that he wasn't caught off guard in places near more popular cities. Like Celadon, for example. Celadon was known for having the most "Missing Pokémon" reports filed in the entire Kanto region. Something that Gym Leader Erika didn't seem the least bit interested in solving.
The sound of footsteps behind him startled Ash. He quickly turns around, prepared to throw a punch if the source was too close.
As Ash examined the person that approached him from behind, the first thing he noticed was his yellow eyes. They weren't very common around here.
Then he noticed that his spiked-back hair looked like it had been dyed red at one point and was now slowly turning back to sandy brown or dirty blond. Ash wasn't entirely sure which. He was wearing a blue coat that covered everything from the neck down to his ankles. Also easily noticeable was a strange black device with an orange glow along the edges. This device on his left arm connected to a shoulder pad with the same color scheme.
"Who are you?" Ash asked, keeping up his guard just in case this 5'7" man turned hostile. He chose to ignore the itch in his right hand for now.
"Calm down, My name is Wes. I'm a trainer from the Orre region. I come in peace. I was just looking for a place to sit down for awhile and let my Pokémon relax." He explained, getting Ash to reluctantly relax.
"Okay, let's say I believe that. Why would you continue to approach after seeing that this clearing was occupied by a Trainer?" Ash asked, examining his expression for any significant changes.
"I could see your Pokémon training and noticed that you had a rare one, not as rare as mine are in this region, but rare nonetheless. So, I figured that I'd see if you wanted any tips from a veteran and I'd be able to help you keep an eye on the Cleffa at the same time. There was a Team Rocket sighting in this area not too long ago, you can never be too careful when you're dealing with them." Wes explained calmly and without changing his tone once. But Ash did notice that his expression briefly darkened when he mentioned Team Rocket.
"I want to see the 2 Pokémon on your belt before I even think of taking your advice," Ash stated. If his Pokémon didn't feel a certain way when they saw Wes, he wouldn't even think about listening to him.
"All right," Wes said as he grabbed a ball with each hand and enlarged them. He tossed them high into the air, allowing them to burst open and shoot a white beam of light at the floor.
From those beams of light, Umbreon and Espeon materialized. They both came out ready to battle, hairs standing up, teeth bared. Espeon's red gem was glowing with psychic energy.
They looked ready to attack Ash at the slightest sign of ill intent.
"I guess living in the Orre Region is tough as the rumors say it is. They came out ready to defend Wes," Ash thought while examining the Eevee evolution duo.
"Calm down boys, he isn't an enemy," Wes said, petting his Pokémon on the head. Espeon leaned into his touch, but Umbreon just made a low rumbling sound.
Ash could feel his excitement and joy all the same though. He'd never seen a dark type that felt happy with its trainer. The dark types in Professor Oak's ranch only felt content or brief anger when they saw their trainers.
Ash sat down in a spot that allowed him to see Wes and his Pokémon at the same time. "My name is Ash. Now, what advice did you want to share?"
Wes sat down as well, his position allowing him to see Ash and Ash's Pokémon. His Espeon curled up on his legs and close to his chest, immediately rubbing up against Wes' hand, prompting Wes to start rubbing Espeon from his head to the base of his tail that splits into 2 tails. Meanwhile, his Umbreon simply laid down next to him in a position where Wes could effortlessly reach over to scratch behind his ears without interrupting Espeon's back pets.
"The first thing you have to know if you want to be a Trainer is how to battle. Too often, young trainers will try to command their Pokémon's every move. That method is inefficient and demeaning to your Pokémon. It's as if you're saying they're incapable of winning without being guided every step of the way. Some of the best Trainers I know are the ones that take a back seat, trusting their Pokémon's intelligence and their own training enough to only speak up if the opponent's strategy is unfamiliar or something is happening that their Pokémon can't see from their current position. This strategy stops your opponent from preemptively able to prepare a counter before the attacks actually start flying," Wes explained before he opened his jacket and started to scratch his glowing chest through his black shirt.
Ash slid off the glove on his right hand and started to scratch it. He noticed that it's glowing a blinding blue this time.
"What are the odds," Wes asked while vigorously scratching his chest, "That two of 'Ho-Oh's chosen' find each other in the middle of a forest?"
"High enough to advance that bored bird's big plot, apparently," Ash responded as he continued to scratch his palm.
"Arceus damn it, this shit itches worse than my butt when Michael tricked me into wiping with poison ivy." Wes whispered to himself. Wes was half tempted to find some of that gympie gympie plant that makes people want to kill themselves because of the pain.
Ash repositioned his right hand closer to Wes out of curiosity at the fact that this only happened when another Rainbow wing was present, noticing that it started glowing even brighter in the process.
"I know this is going to sound weird, but I need to touch your chest. I have a theory I need to test." Ash asked while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, his face burning with self-induced embarrassment. He probably sounded creepy to Wes, but it wasn't his fault. In Pallet Town the population of children was primarily male, while most adults were female. Childish pride and an instinctual desire to be independent teens made it inevitable that they would all get desensitized to making prolonged contact with other dudes. Whether that be because of them treating each other's wounds, or quickly shuffling the injured party off to the Professor without being spotted by any of the other adults.
There was no need to worry their mothers or grandparents as far as they were concerned.
"Sure, go ahead," Wes reluctantly responded. Living alone in Orre for his entire life had made him wary of physical human contact. Michael wasn't like that, but then again, he had a little sister and mother that'd make nonviolent human contact common.
Ash slowly reached towards Wes' chest. Both his hand and Wes' chest began glowing brighter and brighter as Ash bridged the gap. As Ash's hand hovered over Wes' legs, the resting Espeon intentionally rubbed up against it.
Finally, after what felt like ages, Ash touched the shirt right in front the feather and his vision went blue. Closing his eyes barely helped to lessen the light's intensity.
And suddenly, it all stopped. The bright blue light dims to pale blue, and the itches ceased as if they were never there at all.
"So, that's a thing," Ash muttered as Umbreon decided to to rub its head against Ash's hand, "the feathers resonate with each other, meaning that it could probably tell us if Ho-Oh is near. But will it only react to things related to Ho-oh, or does it just respond to the raw power Legendaries supposedly exude in waves if the leading theories are in fact true."
"You seem to know a lot about Legendaries, any particular reason why?" Wes asked as Ash stood up to walk away, Umbreon reluctantly pulling away from his hand as he did so.
"As a kid, my mom would read me thick textbooks about Pokémon Mythos and theories, so I know more than the average Kanto citizen. Although, none of them ever mentioned Ho-Oh's feathers." Ash replied before he sat down facing his incoming Pokémon.
Judging by the fact that Pikachu was carrying Cleffa back to him, Ash was almost certain that he had pushed himself past his limits just to try and keep up with Pikachu.
Pikachu held Cleffa out for Ash to grab, but when Ash reached out with his right hand Pikachu flinched back and batted it away with his tail before using that tail to gesture at Ash's left hand
"Fine, fine, whatever," Ash said before Pikachu gently sat Cleffa on the palm of his hand.
Once Ash had a firm grip on Cleffa, Pikachu scurried back to where they were doing their laps.
"You did better than my expectations, you're still new to physical exercise after all. It was probably especially difficult for you on those short stubby legs. I'm proud of you," Ash told Cleffa, who was currently nuzzling Ash's chest.
"Hey, Wes. I've been meaning to ask for awhile, but what's with that device on your arm?"
Wes froze up momentarily, "It's a device programmed to only capture Shadow Pokémon, even ones owned by a trainer. Back in Orre, we call this the Snag Machine Mark 2."
"Shadow Pokémon? I've never heard of those before." Ash responded, while turning around to face Wes.
"Good, that means you never encountered Team Cipher. If you want the exact science, you'd need to ask Professor Krane and Lily, Michael's mom, about it. But as far as I understand it, Shadow Pokémon are Pokémon that artificially had their hearts 'closed.' They have all their unimportant memories and every emotion siphoned out of them, leaving them as soulless machines that can only fight. They're mentally conditioned to obey every order given even if it goes against basic self preservation for that species. This process has 2 major flaws that Team Cipher never found out how to fix though: they lose their regular moves, being replaced by shadow moves, and it's reversible. Shadow Pokémon can be cured if you show them love and let them mingle with other Pokémon. They'll slowly regain their moves, and eventually they'll regain the ability to feel emotions." Wes lectured. It was almost like he had given that speech many times before.
"I think I understood all that, but how does it steal from other trainers?" Ash inquired. He sat Cleffa down in his lap, whose eyes were shut and was lightly snoring.
"The snag machine turns any Pokéball it throws into a snag ball. This ball overrides the link between a Pokémon and its Pokéball, allowing it to be captured. You can reprogram a regular Pokéball to behave like a snag ball, but in Orre doing it by hand is too expensive and requires more trial and error than it's worth. It was much more cost effective in the long run for Team Snagem to build a machine that can reprogram the Pokéballs. Team Snagem developed one that could capture any Pokémon, but I stole it and blew their base up before I snagged the snag machine for myself. Then after I caught every shadow Pokémon and sent Team Cipher into hiding, I gave it to Professor Krane for him to reverse engineer. He took it one step further while I was on the run from Team Snagem, making a device that'd identify Shadow Pokémon and only work on them. No longer would we have to rely on Rui, my girlfriend, to see the aura around a Shadow Pokémon. This second snag machine was given to Michael, who would rise up to the occasion at a young age, stopping Cipher while I was preoccupied running away from my old gang. He would save my butt 2 years later, moments before Team Snagem managed to send me over a cliff. They had managed to wear down my team through sheer numbers, so I was helpless at that moment. He dragged my exhausted party and I back to Krane, but on the way there, we got sidetracked by a certain bird we both know. After that, we went back to the lab and received news that a Cipher Admin and her grunts had fled to Kanto when our backs were turned, carrying all of their research with her. We all knew that more Shadow Pokémon would be created here, so Krane made me another snag machine for this mission and we came as soon as the first ship arrived, " Wes answered the question, talking his lungs to near empty in the process, with some added backstory. He felt the sudden and strange desire to explain his entire history to someone he met twenty minutes ago.
It took a long time for Ash to respond after that information dump. It was a lot to take in all at once.
"That's a lot to take in," Ash replied. A device that could steal any Pokémon. Pokémon that are turned into brutal killing machines. And the people responsible were somewhere in Kanto.
"Yeah I know. I know this is sudden, but I need to ask you for a favor. Let me come with you on your Journey for now or at least let me help you train. We have reason to believe that Cipher and Rocket are teaming up now and Team Rocket was just in this area. I have a hunch that there are other members of Rocket and maybe some from Cipher nearby. They may have a way to steal Pokémon, Cipher may even have Shadow Pokémon again. A crime organization could benefit from both after all. This is about the safety of you and your Cleffa, you aren't strong enough to face a Cipher grunt or Shadow Pokémon yet. Team Cipher isn't afraid to kill."
Ash sat there deliberating Wes' request. The opportunity to be trained by someone strong enough to repel a crime organization single handedly was invaluable and he'd have to have been a fool to pass that up.
To make it even more tempting, his Pokémon would be protected by that person and if something happened, Wes could probably deactivate the program that only lets him catch shadow Pokémon. Allowing him to immediately steal Cleffa back..