CHAPTER 24: Training Montage 4!

SERENA

"So, we will all meet up in Vermillion tomorrow, right?" I confirm, and everyone nods.

"I'll be going with Ash." Misty says, and Ash nods.

"I'll be by myself, but give me a shout if you guys need anything." Brock says, and we all nod and go our separate ways.

I've decided that i wont use my birds to fly across towns and Route's I've never been to, as i dont want to miss the sights.

I release all my pokemon, and motion for Beatrice to come over.

She floats over giggling, handing me a jar of honey.

"Already? Alrighty baby girl, from now on, if you get any honey from battles, i want you to just drop it, okay?" She nods, handing me another jar.

"Bea, I don't want... never mind. Go have fun!" I point away and she giggles, flying after Ace.

MISTY & ASH

"Tia, go faster!"

Both kids are on the Rhyhorn's back, as she pummels through the tall grass.

"Ash, we should probably slow down!" Misty yells over the air rushing past them, but he shakes his head.

"This is awesome!" He shrieks in amazement.

"RHYYY!" Tia agrees.

Sighing, Misty taps his shoulder again.

"I'm going to be sick, let me off to walk then you can carry on!" He nods, signalling for Tia to slow down.

As soon as she's at a 'slow' walk, Misty jumps off.

"I'll catch up later, have fun!" She pat's Tia's haunch, and they take off again.

Laughing and shaking her head, Misty releases her pokemon to walk with her.

"Guess we're on our own guys!" They all nod, and start their way down Route 5.

"So, heading down here will lead us to the underground path to Route 6... Know what that means?" Misty asks, and all three of her pokemon shake their heads.

"That means there are Water types around!" She claps.

All three of her pokemon give her a confused look.

"Well, Psyduck are found around that area. But a new team member wouldn't be too bad, would it?"

All three water pokemon shake their heads, and Misty smiles as she keeps going.

ASH

"I'm sorry Tia! I didnt mean to tire you out!"

The rock rhino pokemon is heaving and drinking out of a stream, but she laughs and licks Ash's face anyways.

"From now on, we walk. Deal?"

She nods vigorously.

He pats her back, and they continue down the stream.

Pikachu bolts around, always the bundle of excess energy, while Arnarra and Mizara float beside each other, practicing and honing their mental endurance.

Good! You lasted almost forty minutes longer than you did last time! Mizara pats Arnarra's head as she picks her self up off the ground, where she had just fallen moments ago.

Thank you, Mizara. She smiles up at the Gardevoir, and sets herself afloat again.

"I wish i could float! Walking is SO tiring!" Ash complains, and he's lifted a couple feet off the ground.

There you go, Ash. Now stop complaining, I am trying to learn. Arnarra chuckles as she holds him suspended, and they continue down stream.

SERENA

"Beatrice, use Bug Bite!"

The little honeycomb pokemon lunges at the opposing Meowth, latching on to its hind leg.

The Meowth snarls and swats at the tiny bug, but succeeds at allowing her to sink her fangs in further.

"Release, then use Gust!"

Beatrice lets go, making sure to fall out of Meowth's range of attack, and sends a rough wind into the cat pokemon, sending it into a tree, unconscious.

"Yeah!" I hug the bug, and she purr's happily.

"Your close to evolving!" I say, and she nods happily, floating off to find her next victim.

I look over, and see that the twins are both picking off fish pokemon from the nearby stream, and Alto and Ace are lazily floating above me.

Then, I have an idea.

With a quick, sharp whistle, all five of my pokemon are in front of me.

"Okay guys, listen up. All of you, excluding Beatrice who will get her own job, are going to race."

Everyone tilts their heads.

"You guys are bored, right?" They all nod, even Beatrice.

"I want you guys to race all the way back to Cerulean, then try to find me when you come back."

I see the twins look at each other, a look of competition between them.

"Whomever wins, is GUARANTEED a spot for the next gym battle."

All of their eye's light up.

"But! There's a catch! You have to find THREE jars of honey, that i have scattered around as Beatrice trained. They could be anywhere, i even threw a couple in the bushes for the wild pokemon to munch on. You have to have three, then find me. Got the rules?"

They all nod in excitement, lining themselves up and getting ready to take off.

"Okay, here we go! On your marks... Get set... Belle, get back there you cheater! And... Bane! ...Go!"

All four birds take off at a blinding speed, gone is seconds.

"Lets go Bea!" I take off in the opposite direction, and the little pokemon follows me, squealing in happiness.

We run down the Route, passing many pokemon and trainers alike as we go, and finally see a little building.

We run up to it, and i see a little sign on the door;

Underground Path

Connects Routes 5 & 6

To Vermillion City

I usher Bea in, then close the door.

The inside of the building is way bigger than it looks from the outside, but it drops a level so it sits underground. In the far left corner, there is a large escalator and staircase that lead down. Just to my right is a long row of couches, with vending machines and even a lady in uniform waving at us.

"Hi there! Welcome to the Underground Path! Is there anything i could help you with today?" She smiles, and i shake my head.

"No thank you, I'm just waiting for my pokemon to come back." She smiles and nods, then disappears behind an EMPLOYEE'S ONLY door.

I sit on one of the couches, and look out the skylight, and wait...

MISTY

"Goldeen, Ice Beam! Horsea, Bubblebeam!"

Misty is in the middle of a double battle with a pair of Hiker siblings.

Goldeen's Ice beam hits the opponents Machop straight on, rendering it unconscious instantly, while Horsea's bubblebeam hits the Geodude, knocking it out as well.

"Good battle girl!" The lady says, clapping Misty on the back.

"Thanks! You to!" With a smile and a pocket full of cash, Misty struts way, her pokemon behind her.

"Hors?" She hears Horsea make a weird noise behind her, and turns around quickly, concerned.

Horsea is keeled over, softly moaning.

"Hooooors..." She moans.

"HORSEA?!" Misty grabs the water type, and quickly leaps into the stream beside the path.

As soon as they hit the water, Horsea begins to glow a brights white.

"Oh my gosh!" Misty steps back, and a strong pair of hands pulls her onto the shore.

"Here we go!" Brock's voice rings, as the glowing finally subsides, leaving a new form behind.

"Sea...Dra?" It asks, looking itself over.

"Horsea- I mean, Seadra!" Misty drops her backpack and jumps back into the water, hugging her newly evolved pokemon tightly.

The sea dragon pokemon hugs her tightly with it's larger fins, murmuring softly.

Tears in her eyes, Misty holds Seadra in front of her.

"Oh wow... your gorgeous!" She sobs happily into the pokemon, who cries right back.

Brock sticks a hand out, and Misty grabs it, and he pulls both of them up in one go.

"Congratulations to both of you!" He laughs, rubbing Seadra's neck as she purrs.

"I'm so proud of you Seadra!" Misty hugs the sea dragon again, then backs up.

Seadra points her snout to the sky, and unleashes a massive torrent of water.

"Hydro Pump!" Brock laughs, as the water rains down on us.

"And Rainy Day, it looks like."

Both of them whip around to see...

ASH

"So... like this?" Ash throws his hand up, and narrowly catches the piece of wood.

After annoying Mizara enough, she agreed to 'train' him, but since he obviously couldn't learn anything Psychic related, she was helping both him and Arnarra at the same time by training his reflexes.

Good! Very good, both of you! Now, again! Both students obediently nod, and go back to training as they walk.

Arnarra picks up another log using telekinesis, then breaks it into small branch sized chunks, before throwing them in Ash's direction. Ash then grabs them, and throws them back into the forest beside them.

"Ha! Ah! Oh! Ha!" Ash grunts as he quickly deflects and grabs the wood.

All of a sudden, there is a loud squawking above them, and they stop training to look.

Belle, Bane, Alto, and Ace whiz past, each carrying three jars of honey each.

SERENA

"...huh?" I slowly wake up, having dozed off on one of the couches.

Above me, flying circles above the skylight and giving me death glares, are Ace, Alto, Belle, and Bane.

"Wha... OH SHOOT!" I quickly stand up, accidentally throwing a still-asleep Beatrice onto the floor.

"Sorry Bea!" I help her up as she murmurs, and quickly dart to the door, letting my birds in.

They fly in, single file, dropping a total of twelve jars of honey on the nearest couch, then staring at me accusingly.

"I am SO SO SO sorry, guys. I must have dozed off, these couches are comfortable." I say, and they soften a little, but not by much.

"Anyways, who came in first?" I ask, and Belle and Ace flap forward.

"Oh? Was it a tie?" Bane nods tiredly, and lays down on the couch, snoring instantly.

"Well, i guess your both battling, huh?" I laugh and hug them, then Alto.

I look over to Bane, to see Beatrice cuddled up under his wing, sleeping as well.

Looking outside, i realize that the sun is now going down.

"We will spend the night here, then. Get comfortable!" I grab the jars of honey, and place them on the information desk, with a little 'TAKE ME' sign, then head back to the couch that i was on before.

Belle curls up beside Bane, and Alto and Ace huddle together on another couch.

I lay down and close my eyes, falling asleep instantly...

MISTY & BROCK

"Hilary?"

"Hey guys! How's it hanging?" She laughs as Misty flies in for a hug.

"Oh my gosh, you missed the most wonderful thing!" Misty gasps.

"I saw it! Horsea evolved!" Hilary laughs, but Brock shakes his head.

"No, it's your mom!" Misty says excitedly, and Hilary goes quiet.

"Misty, please dont." But Misty shakes her head.

"Shes alive! She contacted Serena and Mizara!"

Hilary's eyebrows fly up.

"But... thats not..."

"It happened! She's in Hoenn, and shes coming here! We have to find Serena!" Misty laughs, as Hilary starts to cry.

"She cant be... after all this time..."

Brock hugs her tightly, letting her cry onto his shoulder.

"Hey, are you okay?" He murmurs into her ear, and she nods.

"Processing. Now, lets go find my sister."

Even though the sun's almost down, It doesn't take them long to follow the stream to the little building.

They head in, and are surprised to see Serena and her whole team, passed out on the couches, snoring loudly.

Laughing, Hilary walks over and kisses Serena's forehead, then grabs a seat.

"We might be waiting awhile, so lets try to get some sleep to." Misty and Brock nod, grabbing their sleeping bags and laying them out.

The door flies open with a bang.

"GUESS I'M THE FIRST... Oh." Ash walks in fist raised, then he sees the rest of the group.

"Nevermind." He sulks in, Mizara behind him.

Hello again everyone- Hilary! You'll never believe what has happened!

"Is it true, Miz? Is Mom really alive?"

Yes, Hilary! She contacted us through a very powerful Psychic type, and is currently on her way back!

Hilary quietly sobs in happiness, as Mizara sits beside her, comforting her.

Ash unroll's his sleeping bag, as Pikachu and Arnarra hop onto couches with the other pokemon.

Everyone falls asleep quickly, ready to start the next day...