Hey everyone, I'm back with a long awaited update for the story here. I apologize it's late, but I had a bit of writers block on this chapter and I was also finishing my final year of college and a bunch of other things, but now I'm back. Thanks again for the continued support with the favorites, alerts and reviews. Take a look at the statement below after you finish reading the chapter. Now, let's get to it!
Last Time: Ash had his first gym battle against Viola who put up a tough fight. Ash got the first victory by taking out Surskit after switching Froakie out with Fletchling, but Viola came right back with her Vivillon and a deadly combination of Psychic and Bug-type attacks and took down Fletchling. Froakie came back in and with Ash's quick thinking used a combination of his frubbles and Smokescreen to get around the deadly Psychic attack and score a hard hit, taking Vivillon out.
Key:
Bold- PA system/Message Bulletins
Bold Italic- Radio/TV/Pokedex descriptions
Italics-Thoughts/Letters/Flashbacks
Ash, Brock and Pikachu just entered the Pokémon Center after Ash's victory at the Santalune Gym against Viola. He made his way to the front desk where Nurse Joy was tending to another trainer's Pokémon. His hands pulled out the balls containing Froakie and Fletchling while Pikachu jumped up to the counter and plopped down. When Joy finished with the trainer in front of him, she hurried over with a smile on her face.
"Back already?" Joy asked.
"Yeah," Ash replied. "My crew put up a great fight and need some rest."
"Oh, so you won your battle?"
Ash smirked as he pulled out his newly acquired Bug Badge and showed it to Joy. Nurse Joy smiled as she saw the badge and Ash pocketed it, stepping back to allow her to collect his Pokémon.
"Congratulations on your victory, Ash," Joy said as she turned to carry his Pokémon away. "You're Pokémon will be ready shortly."
"That sounds great. Thank you," Ash replied with a nod.
Nurse Joy vanished into the backroom to place his Pokémon in the recovery unit. Ash felt the badge in his pocket again and smiled as a wave of accomplishment hit him. Brock came over to him with a knowing smirk on his face. He could tell Ash was fired up from his victory and more confident. That was one thing he recognized with Ash on their travels. Despite losing against a gym leader now and then, he would stay motivated and come back with everything he had and succeed. However, the Ash he saw battling Viola was much different than before. Granted he did training beforehand to prepare for the fight, it was surprising to see him pull a clean and tactical victory with newly caught Pokémon. He knew that Ash was a strong trainer and personally felt that what he saw in Sinnoh was when he was at the peak of his career with the personal milestones he met by beating Paul in the Lily of the Valley Conference and finishing in the top four after losing to Tobias. Even though he lost, he took down two legendary Pokémon, one of which had a record for being undefeated.
The Ash that Brock saw battle against Viola was very similar to the one he last saw in Sinnoh. Although he did not go with Ash on his Unova journey, he learned of what happened to Ash in the league and was surprised with the setback he suffered. He was curious about Ash's sudden urge to train before the gym battle as he usually did not do that, but he now had an idea about why he wanted to. To him, it seemed that Ash could not tolerate the thought of making the same mistakes over and over like he did in the past and was more than likely doing everything that he could to redeem himself for his shortcomings by having a proper start to this new journey to reach his goal of becoming a Pokémon Master.
"You're nearly there, Ash," Brock thought as he looked at his longtime friend. "If you continue doing what you did in that battle with Viola, I know you can win the league."
Brock was broken from his thoughts when Ash said something. He did not catch it, so Ash asked him again.
"Brock, what's the best route to get to Cyllage City?"
"Oh, sorry about that, Ash." Brock laughed as he pulled out the map. "I was looking at the route to get there, but we need to travel back to Lumiose City and head southwest on route five."
"All right, looks like we got a bit of a hike after we get to Lumiose City," Ash replied as he looked at the map.
"What do you mean? Aren't we walking to Lumiose and then down route five?"
"We can cut the travel time in half if we ride Charizard back to Lumiose City."
Brock blinked, but shrugged and put the map away as Ash gave him that answer. Ash usually walked unless he had no other choice, but he did have a point. They could easily cut out a day of travel from walking back to Lumiose City. Ash turned back to the counter when he heard the familiar ring echo from it. He reached the front of the counter just as Joy came back with Pikachu, Froakie and Fletchling.
"I bet you are all feeling better now, huh?" Ash smiled.
"Pika!" Pikachu replied as he jumped from the counter and on Ash's shoulder.
"Your Pokémon are now back to fighting standard, Ash," Joy said with a smile.
"That's great. Thank you."
Nurse Joy gave a light bow before shifting her attention to a new trainer. Ash clipped Froakie and Fletchling's balls back to his belt and made his way back over to Brock who was on the PC. Ash's head tilted in curiosity as he saw his friend sifting through the tabs on the screen. His eyes landed on weather, maps, terrain and climate. He was wondering what Brock was looking at all of this for, but he suddenly remembered that it was for his research project towards his breeding degree.
"How's it coming over here, Mr. Breeder?" Ash teased.
"It's going great," said Brock as he copied the information to a document. "I'm glad I took a chance to look at this before we took off. I can use these as sources for my research."
Brock hooked up his USB and started to save the document toward it. While he was busy with his research, Ash decided to use the time he had to make a phone call. He sat at the PC beside Brock and picked up the phone and dialed the number. He tapped his fingers on the counter as the phone rang, sending an occasional glance at Brock who was still skimming through various articles. The phone stopped ringing and Ash turned his attention back to the screen to see Professor Oak pop up.
"Ash!" Oak greeted with a grin. "How are you doing? Is Kalos treating you well?"
"Hey, Professor, I'm doing well," Ash replied. "You can say Kalos has been great, but I did have a bit of a wild day when I first got here."
"Ah, are you referring to your misadventure with Garchomp in Lumiose City?"
"Yeah… how did you know that?"
"It was the top story in the news, so everyone has seen what you've done."
"Aw crap, that means Mom's really gonna' tear me a new one when I call her later."
"I wouldn't expect much less from her. She nearly had a heart attack when she saw you jump from the tower."
Ash pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew his mother was going to chew him out for what he did and eventually forgive him, but he was not looking forward to that conversation. He gave a nervous laugh as he looked back at the screen.
"She's, uh, not there with you, is she?" Ash asked.
Ash knew that his mother would visit the professor from time to time and help him take care of the Pokémon. If he could avoid talking to her now and get to the points he wanted to discuss with the elderly professor, he would feel a lot better.
"No, she just left a few minutes ago," Oak replied with a smirk. "You lucked out on that one, but you can expect a call from her later."
"I'll be looking forward to it," Ash said with a roll of his eyes.
"Anyway, what did you need from me?"
"I wanted to ask you two things, actually."
"I'm all ears."
"What do you know about Mega Evolution? I talked with Professor Sycamore about it, but we're both still learning the fundamentals of it."
"I can't shed much light on that one, Ash. All I know about it is what Professor Sycamore told me, but I've decided to help him with his research on it. He also told me that he gave you a Mega Stone that is supposed to synchronize with Charizard."
Ash nodded and reached into his bag to pull out the stone that Sycamore had given him and held it up to the screen for Oak to see. Oak cupped his chin as he observed the stone in front of him.
"Professor Sycamore said that this is supposed to help Charizard evolve to the next level, but he believes outside of a strong bond that there is another component needed to make it happen," Ash said as he set the stone in his bag. "He believes that my journey may lead me to the answer behind it."
"Well, if you discover anything about it, be sure to let us know so we can record the findings and try to make sense of it," Oak said with a nod.
"Way ahead of you. Now, the other thing I wanted to ask is if you can transfer a Pokémon over to the Santalune City Pokémon Center?"
"Of course I can. Which one would you like?"
"I want you to send Gible over and I'll send Fletchling back for a break."
Professor Oak nodded and set the phone down to go and get Gible. He returned moments later with the sleeves of his lab coats torn to shreds. Ash grimaced and apologized to the professor for Gible's biting to which the professor brushed off with a laugh. He stood up and set Fletchling's ball in the bay of the transfer machine.
"Ready?" Oak asked.
"Yeah, let's do it," said Ash.
"Transferring now."
Ash and Oak each pushed the buttons on their end and a bright flash of light zapped the ball and it vanished. A side tab opened on the screen of the PC and the two balls passed each other in the link. Seconds ticked by and another ball materialized in the spot where Fletchling's was a moment ago.
"Transfer complete," Oak said as he held Fletchling's ball. "Fletchling is here now."
"All right, thanks a bunch," Ash replied as he picked up Gible's ball and attached it to his belt.
"So where are you off to now?"
"I am heading back to Lumiose City with Brock and then we will be heading to Cyllage City for my second badge."
"Second badge? You already got your first badge?"
"Yeah, I got it about an hour ago."
Ash pulled out the badge to show the professor who looked a little surprised, but a smile formed on his face. He congratulated him on the win and wished him luck before he hung up to tend to other matters. Ash hung up the phone and turned back to Brock who unplugged his USB from the PC.
"Are you all set?" Ash asked.
"Yeah, are you?" Brock replied.
"Yeah, let's get moving!"
Ash dashed to the front door with Brock having to do a surprise sprint to catch up. The two of them departed the Pokémon Center and Ash unclipped Charizard's ball from his belt and tossed it into the air. The ball opened with a loud snap and Charizard appeared a second later after the white glow vanished.
"Charizard, do you think you can give me and Brock a ride back to Lumiose City?" Ash asked with a smirk. "You can get a chance to stretch your wings."
Charizard smirked back and nodded, lowering himself down to allow Ash, Brock and Pikachu to climb on. Once the three of them were on, Charizard's wings stretched out and he pushed off the ground giving a few hard flaps with his wings. Within seconds they were soaring over Santalune City before Ash pointed out the direction to Charizard. Charizard gave a loud roar and shot forward like a bullet making Ash, Brock and Pikachu hang on tight. Ash had to keep a hand on his hat to keep it from blowing away.
"This will really save us a lot of time!" Ash grinned.
"Yeah, but do you think you can make Charizard slow down just a bit?" Brock replied.
"Not a chance! I wanna' see how fast he can go!"
"Wait, what?"
"Charizard, don't hold back! Fly as fast as you can!"
"Ash, wait!"
Brock's cries fell on deaf ears as Charizard seemed to gain more speed upon encouragement from Ash. He clung for life as Charizard shot through the sky at speeds he did not know he had. Ash and Pikachu were cheering Charizard on as he flew, clearly enjoying the ride.
"This is why I prefer walking!" Brock thought as his stomach dropped when Charizard dove down.
Serena and Shauna were sitting outside a café eating a late breakfast. After they received their Pokémon from Professor Sycamore the day before, they spent the day building their relationship with them. Serena was gently scratching behind Fennekin's ears while sipping her tea. Shauna pulled out the ball containing the Pokémon she chose. As she looked at the ball, memories from the day before filled her head.
/Flashback/
Shauna's hand caught the coin that she flipped into the air and she slapped it on top of her free hand. When she pulled her hand back, it came up heads. She pocketed the coin and looked up at Chespin with a smile.
"Chespin, I choose you!" Shauna said as she held her arms out wide to which Chespin jumped into and hugged her.
"Good choice," Sycamore said with smile. "I'm sure you two will get along just fine."
"I know we will."
Shauna smiled at Chespin again before sending an apologetic look at Froakie who looked downtrodden at not being picked. She raised her hand and gently rubbed Froakie's head and managed to garner a smile from the dejected Pokémon.
"I'm sorry, Froakie. This was not an easy choice," Shauna said with a sad smile. "But I know that someone will take you when the time comes."
Froakie nodded and the sad look that was on his face was replaced with a more upbeat one. Shauna stood up with Chespin in her arms and held out her hand for the Pokédex and Poké Balls that Sycamore was holding out for her. She took the balls and tucked them away in a pouch on her bag and then grabbed the electronic encyclopedia.
"Unless you two have any questions you wish to ask me, I would suggest you spend the day getting to know your Pokémon," Sycamore said as he folded his arms.
"I just had one question," Serena replied. "How far away is Santalune City from here?"
"It would take at least a day by foot."
"Oh, okay."
Serena thanked Sycamore with a light bow before returning her attention to Fennekin who looked eager to play. She giggled as she walked to the door with Fennekin following close behind. While Serena went outside to play with Fennekin, Shauna stayed put. Sycamore noticed the thoughtful look on Shauna's face and was wondering what she was thinking about.
"Are you okay, Shauna?" Sycamore asked.
"I actually had one question for you, but I did not feel comfortable asking it with Serena in the room because I didn't want her to think I was a chicken," Shauna replied as she looked back at him.
"Oh? What question did you want to ask that would make you think like that?"
"It was about something we talked about on our way here."
"Which was?"
"A couple days ago with what happened with Garchomp… are all Pokémon like that when they get mad? Do they attack people or lose control if it does not respect its trainer?"
"Ah, well, to answer your question, no. What happened with Garchomp was an unfortunate accident, but she only acted that way because she was angered by a group of thieves. Pokémon usually never attack people unless they are startled or feel threatened by them. If a Pokémon under a trainer does not respect them, they usually just ignore their orders and do their own thing. I have never read any reports about a Pokémon turning on their trainer or anyone else for that matter out of anger or disrespect."
"Oh… I see."
Shauna's grip tightened around Chespin a little, making the smaller Pokémon shift uncomfortably. She apologized to her partner before loosening the grip she had and gently setting him on the ground. Chespin tilted his head as he looked up at Shauna and gently patted her leg as an act of comfort to ease her mind. Smiling down at her partner, Shauna gently scratched the bottom of his chin.
"I understand your concern, Shauna, but you have my word. No Pokémon under a trainer will lose control like what happened with Garchomp," Sycamore said with an assuring tone. "If that were to happen, it is because there was a trigger to set them off. So long as your bonds with your Pokémon are strong, you have nothing to worry about as you will always be able to reach them in the end."
"Okay. Thank you, Professor Sycamore," said Shauna as she nodded. "I will make sure the bonds I make with my Pokémon are strong to keep them safe."
"I'm sure you will. Now, get out there and start your journey!"
Shauna smiled and looked down at Chespin before motioning for him to race her outside. As they ran outside, they saw Serena playing fetch with Fennekin.
"Let's go, Serena!" Shauna cheered as she ran out of the yard.
"Shauna, wait up!" Serena hollered after her as she ran with Fennekin in tow.
/Flashback End/
Shauna released Chespin from his ball to let him stretch his legs. Chespin appeared seconds later and gave a long stretch followed by a yawn. Shauna giggled at her partner's cute appearance and tickled his stomach. Chespin began stumbled back from the surprise tickle attack and laughed.
"So what should we do today?" Shauna asked.
"I want to get a move on to Santalune City," Serena replied as she took another sip of tea.
"You know, I never asked you this yet, but why are you so eager to get to Santalune City? Coming to think of it, you've been acting like this since you saw that boy who saved Garchomp on TV."
Serena sputtered in surprise and her cheeks flushed a bit at Shauna's accusation. She knew that Shauna could be a bit of an airhead at times, but she was smarter than she looked. The fact that she was spot on with her accusation was just a testament to that.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Serena lied, her face growing redder by the second.
"Uh huh, sure you don't," Shauna replied with an eye roll. "Spill it. You got a crush on him, don't you?"
"Don't be ridiculous! I just wanted to meet him because he looked like someone I met a long time ago!"
"How long are we talking?"
"When I was seven. It was before I moved here."
Shauna's head perked up and a teasing smile spread across her face. She continued to ask Serena the story behind the boy she mentioned until she finally gave up. Serena told Shauna about the first time she met the boy at a Pokémon Summer Camp that Professor Oak was hosting. She accidentally got separated from the group when they were roaming around the camp one day and got very lost.
/Flashback/
"Hello! Where did everyone go?" Serena called out.
Serena heard rustling in the bushes nearby and jumped in fright. She turned to run, but her foot got caught on a root and she fell to the ground with a hard thump. Tears began to well in her eyes as she looked back to the bush where the noise came from. Looking down at her knee, she saw that it was bleeding after she scraped it on the ground. Her level of fear rose when the noise in the bush came again and almost screamed when a Pokémon burst from it.
Serena sat on the ground petrified as the Pokémon looked at her for a moment before taking off into the woods again. Not being able to hold it in any longer, Serena began to cry.
"I didn't even want to come to this stupid camp in the first place." Serena sobbed. "Someone help me!"
She turned back to the bushes after hearing something coming towards her again. Covering her mouth to stifle her sobs, she closed her eyes and trembled, hoping that whatever came out of the bushes would not hurt her. The footsteps in the bushes got closer and closer and Serena could barely take the suspense of what was coming. However, she was surprised when she heard someone's voice instead of a Pokémon.
"Poliwag?" A boy's voice called out. "Where'd you go?"
Serena opened her eyes and saw a boy around her age step out of the bushes, his eyes looking around the clearing for the Poliwag that she saw moments ago. She had seen him every day at the camp, but never actually talked to him, but watched him from afar. He was wearing blue shorts, and a red and yellow shirt. His brown eyes looked up and met hers. A look of concern came to his face as he walked over to her.
"Hey, are you okay?" The boy asked.
"What?" Serena asked as she rubbed her eyes free from tears.
"I'm Ash. Who are you?"
"I-I'm Serena. Ouch!"
Serena flinched as her leg ached again. They boy, now known as Ash, stepped forward and knelt in front of her to look at her leg.
"I hurt my leg," Serena said as she rubbed her eyes again.
"Don't worry," Ash replied as he fiddled in his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. "This will make it feel better."
Ash unfolded the handkerchief and wrapped it around Serena's bleeding knee before tying it into a knot. When he finished tying it, he smiled up at her. Serena tried to move her leg again, but whimpered as another shot of pain went through her.
"Oops, I forgot the magic chant," Ash said as he waved his hands around her knee. "Feel better, feel better, right away!"
He stopped moving his hands and Serena tried to stand again, but the pain was too much. She shook her head in defeat and fresh tears began to trickle down her cheeks.
"It's no use, I can't stand up," Serena said with a sob.
Ash stood up and smiled down at her. He held out his hand for her to take.
"Hey, you can't think like that," Ash said.
"Huh?" Serena replied.
"Never give up until it's over, okay?"
Serena looked at Ash and then at his hand. She grabbed his hand and he gave a hard pull and pulled her up. Serena stumbled forward a bit from the pain in her leg and almost fell back to the ground, but Ash managed to catch her and help her stand. He looked at her again and smiled.
"See? You're just fine."
Serena managed to smile for the first time that day.
"Come on, let's get back to the campsite," Ash said as he began to lead her through the trees.
/Flashback End/
Serena finished telling Shauna the story and saw the smile on her face was threatening to split it into two. The amount of teasing she was going to get would make her die from embarrassment.
"Aw, that was so cute," Shauna said. "No wonder you are crushing on him."
"I am not!" Serena protested with a fierce blush on her face.
"You say you don't, but your face says otherwise!"
Shauna clutched her sides as she laughed while Serena merely buried her face in her hands. She was regretting ever telling Shauna about the story as she would now have to endure ruthless teasing from her. She shook her head and groaned as she looked up at the sky. She had to be sure that the boy she saw on the TV a few days back was Ash. Deep down, she was sure that it was him. The wild raven hair and the warm brown eyes looked the same as the first time she remembered seeing them.
"It has to be him. It just has to be," Serena thought.
As Serena stared up at the sky, an orange blur soared above her. She was not sure what it was, but it was very fast. From the corner of her eye she could see people looking up where the orange blue was a second ago. Her ears perked up as she heard some people talking around her.
"Was that a Charizard?" A man asked.
"I'm not sure, it was moving too fast for me to see," a woman added.
"It was a Charizard!" A boy shouted.
"It looked like it was heading for the Prism Tower," another woman said.
Serena's anticipation was growing with each word she heard. If the orange blur was a Charizard, there was a chance it belonged to the boy she saw on the TV a few days back. The fact that it was heading towards the Prism Tower excited her. Maybe now was her chance to meet the boy she saw that resembled her old childhood friend. She quickly gulped down the rest of her tea and stood up before running towards the center of the city.
"Serena, wait!" Shauna called after her.
Shauna scooped up Chespin and bolted after Serena and Fennekin down the street.
Charizard's speed proved to be impressive as he managed to get Ash, Brock and Pikachu to Lumiose City in half an hour. He began to descend to the ground and continued his path to the Prism Tower. Ash gave Charizard a pat on the back for a job well done and held on as Charizard's wings flapped to allow him to land smoothly. Ash, Brock and Pikachu hopped off of Charizard who looked proud of the time it took him to reach the city.
"Nice job, Charizard. Take a long rest," Ash said as he returned him to the ball.
Ash clipped Charizard's ball to his belt and looked at Brock to see him looking green. He cocked a brow at his normally calm and collected friend as he brought a hand to his mouth. Ash was about to ask Brock if he was alright, but the latter quickly bolted to the nearest garbage bin and emptied the contents in his stomach. He laughed as Brock slumped against the bin and shook off the nasty taste the vomit left in his mouth.
"You okay?" Ash laughed.
"Shut up." Brock groaned back. "I'm never flying again unless I have to."
"You have a little puke on the corner of your mouth there."
Brock wiped the spot on his chin only to gag and puke again in the garbage. By this time Ash was holding his sides as he laughed again. He had no idea that Brock got air sick easily, but it sure gave him a lot of laughing material.
"I'm sorry, Brock," Ash said as he struggled to stop laughing. "You should have said something."
"I tried, but you didn't listen," Brock replied as he wiped his mouth and stood up again.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry. Let's go get something to eat before we hit the road again."
Brock nodded in agreement and walked back over to Ash. He looked around at the buildings and was able to make out many cafés and restaurants.
"So where do you want to go?" Brock asked.
"Anywhere that has a variety." Ash smirked. "Let's head this way."
Ash led Brock down a side street along the canal leaving the Prism Tower behind. Just as they left, Serena and Shauna ran up to the Prism Tower. The two of them looked around for any sign of a Charizard, but there was none. Serena frowned as her eyes failed to find any trace of the large, orange Pokémon. She looked at the people around them and hurried over to the one closest to her.
"Excuse me," Serena said, getting the man's attention.
"Yes?" The man replied.
"Did you happen to see a Charizard land here?"
"Yeah. The two that rode in on it went that way."
Serena looked to the southwest where the man was pointing and thanked him before taking off in hot pursuit of the Charizard's trainer. Shauna sighed as she started running after her friend once again.
"Sheesh, I'm going to have to take another bath after all this running," Shauna thought as she followed Serena down the street.
That's the chapter everybody! I hope the wait was worth it. So what's in store for next time? Anyway, take a look at the statement below. Till next time. -Captain
Statement:
1.) I have decided to stop answering questions from reviews. All that ends up happening is that I will either slowly spoil the story by answering them instead of having you all come up with your own ideas and theories as to what may happen. It also just makes reviewers just keep asking questions rather than give critique. I apologize if this comes as an inconvenience for some of you.