Ash sighed in relief when he finally managed to sit down. The bite on his leg from Rhyperior was throbbing. Being forced to make his way across the pokemon center was just pure torture. He had two poke ball on his belt as he dialed the number for Professor Oak's.

It only took a couple rings for the phone to be answered and Ash was amazed at the party happening on the other side. He heard music and saw people dancing. Professor Oak had a party hat on when he answered the phone. Professor Oak was laughing so hard that he wasn;t even to see who was on the phone.

Ash asked nervously, "Professor, what's happening?"

His voice seemed to catch the attention of Professor Oak who immediately yelled, "Delia, Ash is on the phone." Immediately people started to gather around as they jostled to look through the video phone. Ash laughed nervously at all the people he had grown up with. Finally Professor Oak yelled, "Not right now. Please stop crowding."

Ash chuckled in anxiety before asking, "Professor Oak, why is everyone at your lab?"

Ash watched as his mother jumped into view and exclaimed, "For the celebration party of your victory over Volkner, of course."

Ash grinned and questioned, "Did everyone watch it?"

Delia nodded and continued to speak happily, "Of course, everyone did. You're the trainer's pride of Pallet Town. Whenever you have televised matches, we watch. Same thing when Gary has lectures on TV. You two make this entire town happy."

Ash sighed and looked at Professor Oak and questioned, "Professor, what ever happened to the other two trainers that started with me and Gary?"

Professor Oak frowned and scratched his chin as he admitted, "I don't know. I sort of forgot about them."

Ash sighed and mumbled, "Wonder what happens when I settle down."

Professor Oak didn't hear and quickly asked, "So why are you calling right now, Ash? You should be celebrating."

Ash shrugged and stated, "Can't celebrate, leg injury, but you can't celebrate over winning a gym battle. Even if it is televised, but I called to send over Floatzel and Infernape."

Professor Oak frowned and inquired, "Why? You are allowed to carry seven pokemon. Why are you sending two over?"

Ash quickly asked, "Professor, have you checked the new capture information in your computer?" When Oak shook his head Ash quickly explained, "Well some things have happened. I caught another pokemon, ad need to send some back. Infernape is still hurt from that Explosion, and Floatzel got hurt by my new pokemon. I'll be in Pallet Town tomorrow night, so I just wanted to send them over so they could relax."

Professor Oak replied, "That will be fine, but what pokemon did you capture?"

Ash smirked and answered, "You'll have to wait and see." He then turned off the phone and limped over to the transporter. He inserted the two poke balls and watched as they disappeared in a flash of light. Ash sighed and was ready for sleep by then. Almost drowning can get someone really tired.

But as he walked over to the staircase, Nurse Joy called him over. He sighed gloomily and walked over. She smiled and held out a tray with five poke balls on it. She then claimed, "All your pokemon are fine. They still need some rest, but you can take them."

As Ash reached for them, Pikachu ran out from the backroom and jumped into his arms. Ash smiled and pet his friend on the head. Pikachu snuggled deeper into his arms and Ash laughed before lifting him to his shoulder. When Pikachu was settled firmly on his shoulder, Ash grabbed the other poke balls. He tucked them onto his belt before saying to Pikachu, "I think it is time to show our new teammate to everyone." Pikachu smiled in response.

Ash struggled to walk outside. He felt his leg burning, but he wanted to get this done before he went to sleep. He finally got outside the pokemon center and he walked to a small clearing that was deserted. Ash quickly grabbed Rhyperior's poke ball and released the large pokemon.

Rhyperior looked around in slight confusion so Ash informed it, "Rhyperior, we are outside the pokemon center. I caught you. Do you want to travel with me?" Ash wanted to phrase the question. Rhyperior nodded instantly. Ash sighed and announced, "Then I'll show you the rest of the team. Come out, guys, and meet Rhyperior."

Staraptor, Torterra, Gible, and Spiritomb all came out. All except reacted in shock to the gigantic pokemon before them. Even Torterra felt like he was suddenly a Grotle again, such was the size of Rhyperior. Rhyperior quickly raised an arm in greeting and Staraptor flew up and perched herself on his shoulder. Gible immediately followed and Torterra, Spiritomb, and Pikachu followed after that. Rhyperior was fitting in even better than Spiritomb had.

Ash sat on the ground and watched the socializing pokemon. Now he had a rock type. Ash quickly pulled out his pokedex and scanned Rhyperior. It beeped for a second before saying, Rhyperior, the Drill Pokemon. The final evolution of Rhyhorn. Evolves when a Rhydon trains intensely when surrounded by a special type of hardened rock. Humans have created an artificial coat called a Protector that trainers can use to evolve their Rhydon. Rhyperior are able to form a large rock from soil they absorb through their arms, and launch this rock by tightening and then expanding their muscles. Rhyperior is the only pokemon that is able to use Rock Wrecker, the strongest rock type move. It then beeped three more times before continuing, Male, Height: 11 feet four inches, Weight: 971.2 pounds, Moves: Poison Jab, Horn Drill, Hammer Arm, Stone Edge, Hyper Beam, Earthquake, Rock Wrecker, Thunderbolt, Iron Tail, Ice Beam, and Dragon Pulse. Ash then skimmed through the list of possible moves. Rhyperior could be even more versatile then Spiritomb, and he was sure Solid Rock could come in handy. Ash decided to work on Megahorn and Flamethrower first.

Ash watched as Pallet Town came into view. The ship ride had been completely uneventful. For a thirteen hour cruise, uneventful wasn't good. Ash was practically itching to get off and be in his home town again. Pikachu also looked to be excited to see all his old friends at the lab again. Lucky that Pallet Town was right by the port.

It only took another twenty minutes before the boat docked. Ash and Pikachu were the first to get off the boat. They rushed down the platform and started to walk quickly towards Pallet Town. Between the sleep the previous night, and the nap he'd taken, Ash's leg was now only a dull throb. That and his enthusiasm allowed him to travel the short distance without once thinking about the pain in his leg.

Ash first went to his house. He saw the familiar humble home where he'd grown up. Mr. Mime was, as usual, sweeping the front steps. Ash walked by and said, "Good morning, Mr. Mime. Is mom inside?"

Mr. Mme nodded with a smile and Ash walked through the front door. Mom wasn't in the living room, so he knew she'd be in the kitchen. Ash was right and was greeted with the smell of dinner. He was immediately pulled into a bone crunching hug as he walked into the kitchen.

"Oh Ash, I'm so proud of you. You did so great against Volkner. I remember all the shows that said you didn't stand a chance, but you proved them wrong."

Ash was trying to signal for his mom to get off, but she was too busy talking to release him. Finally he yelled, "Mom, stop trying to give me internal bleeding."

Finally his mom released him, and Ash stepped back and bent down to get his breath. He heard his mom apologize, "Sorry, baby. I just haven't seen you in so long, but I made your favorite. Steak with garlic potatoes."

Ash immediately looked up at the mention of food. His mouth started to water as he set down in front of the food. He managed to slow down and tell his mom of some of his adventures in Sinnoh. He told her of Riolu, the lake trio, Team Galactic, his gym battles, Paul, and finally how Brock and Dawn ended up leaving. Ash was glad to see that his mother agreed with him about Dawn, but Ash defended Brock before telling her he was going to the lab to see his pokemon.

The lab was only down the street from his house, situated on a hill. Ash didn't bother going up the driveway, he just jumped the fence and walked straight to the back. He wanted to see his pokemon. Ash hadn't even entered the trees when he heard a cry. He turned to see a small pokemon coming forward excitedly. It was on all fours and had a green bulb on its back. His Bulbasaur. It ran over within seconds.

"Bulbasaur, how you doing? I came to see everyone," Ash quickly announced. Bulbasaur nodded and quickly started leading him through the trees. Ash attempted to keep up with the grass type, but quickly found himself covered in small cuts and his leg throbbing again.

Ash was about to call out to Bulbasaur, but immediately he found himself in a wide clearing. Bulbasaur let out a loud cry as they waited. Suddenly all of Ash's pokemon started stampeding towards him. He managed to back up a couple feet before he got trampled. A few minutes of pure hell later, and Ash found himself looking at all his pokemon. He proudly surveyed his collection. Glalie, Noctowl, Sceptile, Donphan…. Ash smiled and said, "What's up guys? You ready to meet your new teammates."

All his pokemon cried in response and Ash pulled out his five poke balls and released them. All came out. The first thing they all looked at was Rhyperior, and immediately Noctowl flew to perch on its fellow shiny. Ash laughed at that, but then watched as his pokemon started to mix.

Ash saw Floatzel and Infernape and started to examine them. Floatzel looked to be fully recovered with only a small mark still on his forehead, but Infernape still showed signs of damage. Mainly in the foot he had been about to attack with. If Ash left soon, Infernape would need to stay here for a while.

He was thinking on that when he noticed someone missing. Ponyta. She wasn't here. Ash turned to Bulbasaur and asked, "Where is the Ponyta I caught?" Bulbasaur looked around for a second before shaking his head in confusion. Ash turned to Pikachu and ordered, "Let's go find Ponyta."

Pikachu jumped on his shoulder before he ran off to look for his missing pokemon. He wanted to see if Ponyta had any future with battling.

A half hour later, Ash and Pikachu were still looking. Ponyta wasn't with the other of its evolutionary family, and wasn't in the main clearing. Ash was now checking any of the smaller clearings spread throughout the huge area Professor Oak managed.

Ash turned to Pikachu and asked, "Do you have any idea where to look next, Pikachu?" Pikachu shook his head and Ash sighed before continuing their random search. Finally a sign came, but not in the way he wanted. A pained cry rang out of the forest. Ash yelled, "Ponyta!"

He sprinted in the direction. After barely twenty yards of densely packed trees, Ash ran into another small clearing and was horrified by what he saw. A kid with a Blastoise was taunting Ponyta who was attempting to run away. "Why won't you fight? Afraid or just weak. Probably got all those scars when you attempted to fight. I wonder who would want just an ugly Ponyta like you."

Ash finally snapped out of it and yelled, "Stop it." He then ran towards the group. Ponyta saw him and immediately ran to him and buried its head in his chest. Ash finally saw his pokemon. Scars riddled its body. Dark blotches over an otherwise perfect silver coat.

The kid looked at Ash with a smirk. The kid had short dark hair and looked to be about the same age as Ash. The kid then said, "You must be the trainer of this pitiful pokemon."

Ash hissed back, "Ponyta isn't pathetic."

The kid just smirked more and shrugged before saying, "It wouldn't even fight. Plus the scars. It seems pretty worthless to me."

Ash shook in anger. This guy reminded him of Paul. Ash immediately yelled, "Ponyta isn't worthless. Any pokemon can be strong if you work with them."

The kid laughed and stated spitefully, "Yeah right. Why not just evolve them. Like that rat on your shoulder. I evolved my Squirtle into Blastoise as fast as I could. That made him strong, and I didn't have to work at all."

Ash shook his head and stated, "If you think like that, you won't ever become strong. You shall remain weak for the rest of your life."

This got the kid mad and he yelled, "I'm stronger than you. Blastoise, use Hydro Pump on that wimp's Ponyta."

The pokemon nodded and shot the attack at Ponyta. Ash quickly yelled, "Dodge that." Ponyta managed to jump to the side and avoid the attack. Ash quickly shoved the kid down and yelled, "Imbecile, what kind of a coward are you. To attack a pokemon simply because it won't fight back. You make me sick." Ash stood above the kid as he literally shook with anger.

The kid scrambled to his feet and spat, "Go fuck yourself. Blastoise, hit him with Hydro Pump." This time the pokemon hesitated, but still launched the attack.

Ash hadn't been expecting and couldn't move out of the way in time. He closed his eyes and waited for impact. He couldn't feel it, but heard the attack connect with something. He opened his eyes and saw a glowing shape blocking the attack. Ash saw the shape of Ponyta, but she was glowing. Before his eyes he watched as the shape changed. She grew larger and longer legged. The glowing faded to show a Rapidash. The scars were gone and the flickering of flames all over her body was gorgeous. This was a magnificent Rapidash.

Ash immediately acted quickly and yelled, "Pikachu, hit that Blastoise with Thunderbolt." Pikachu jumped up and shot a bolt of lightning at the water type. The super effective attack rolled it backwards, showing clearly that it was out. One shot was ll. The kid looked in concern at his beaten pokemon and turned around to look at a fist a it cannoned into his nose.

Ash watched as the kid fell back clutching a bleeding nose. Ash then yelled at a kid, "We are meant to be friends with our pokemon. That is what makes them strong. Now get out of here and never let me see you again." Ash then climbed on Rapidash who ran off extremely quick.

Ash felt himself calming down as Rapidash sped through the clearings. He finally pat Rapidash's neck and asked, "You okay? You should take it easy after evolving."

Rapidash nuzzled his hand and Ash smiled before ordering, "Let's go find everyone else." Rapidash started to speed off as they searched for his pokemon. He finally saw them in the distance and they arrived in seconds. Ash saw Professor Oak among his pokemon.

Professor Oak waved and called, "Great, your Ponyta evolved. I knew it was extremely strong, but it was afraid to battle after being hurt. I thought it just needed a reason to evolve. What caused it?"

Ash shook his head and stated, "Nothing of consequence. Just some stupid trainer."

Professor Oak looked curious, but passed it and commented, "You have some very impressive pokemon. Gary also called and said you were planning on capturing more pokemon. I've thought you should too, but figured you needed to figure out on your own. Have you any ideas yet on what you will do?"

Ash jumped off Rapidash and waved Professor Oak over as he claimed seriously, "I actually need your help with that. We need to talk." He then started walking towards the lab with the confused professor in tow.

Repeat, any comments welcome.

Want to figure out what everyone thinks. Vote on the future romances.

Ash/Cynthia, Ash/May, Ash/(insert name here) or Ash/harem

Ash starts on his capturing quest next chapter. Still need recommendations on more future pokemon. I've already got like ten or so planned.