Ash stayed behind with Abra to make sure she would recover from her surgery, while Misty, Adam, and Julia traveled to the Vermillion. The city of Saffron was closer, but it had gained a reputation of being a inhospitable place because of the gym leader, who was extremely powerful, Sabrina.

His team wouldn't stand a chance against Sabrina and her psychic pokemon. She was considered one of the strongest trainers in the world because of them. He needed to train his current team and capture more dragon-types. The Dratini-line, the Mareep-line, Gyarados line, Milotic line, and Aerodactyl-line, were all native to Kanto, some rarer than others but still could be found.

Maybe he should. He was running pretty low on supplies, and Smaug was vying for berries, which the plain regions of Saffron and Vermillion did not grow. The city of Celadon had the best soil in Kanto for growing all types of plants, which attracted hundreds of Grass-type pokemon for the exotic plant life. Just like how Electric-type pokemon were attracted to the large deposit of Thunder Stones underneath Vermillion City or Fire-types who were attracted to the volcanoes on Cinnibar Island. Their cities were gigantic compared to Viridian. Vermillion, Saffron, Cinnibar, Fuschia, and the city on Seafoam Islands all had their own militia, all which were very powerful. When Kanto called for an army, they were the ones to provide.

Compared to the other regions, Kanto was the newest. It was established a couple of centuries after Hoenn and Johto were and Kanto was directly ruled by the Council of Johto and Hoenn. Of course, the Elite Four had tried to get Kanto to become independent, but the Council had rejected the idea. This lead to many bloody civil wars that Kanto lost because of a uncooridinated army and terrible leaders who were excuted in public. Though Kanto had recovered fairly quickly. Mainly because of its mighty economy, that flowed through its many ports, markets, and scientific discoveries.

Yes, a trip to Saffron would do well for him. Though he would have to train a couple of more days near the Pokemon Center, to let Abra recover more, and to get his team up to a level where they could hold their own against some of the pyschic pokemon trainers that resided in Saffron.

Ash sank back into the fluffy couch of the Pokemon Center, letting his muscles relax. Smaug was by his legs, snoring gently. Tyrunt was by the windowsill, enjoying the sun rays on his scales. Mael, was gently bobbing up and down in the large water tank that all Pokemon Centers had.

The familiar ding of the door caught Ash's attention. He opened one of his eyes to see the person that walked in; and nearly sprung up in rage. There, in the door way, was Gary and Violet Oak.

They were worn and and tired. Both had heavy body armor, scars on their faces, and their skin were tanned heavily. They still had the same hairstyle though; Gary's was still spiked up, and Violet's was hanging down her shoulders. Gary's sword and shield were hanging off his back, while Voilet's short dagger was placed on her belt.

They saw him too. Violet nearly came over, her face contorted in anger, but was stopped by Gary's hand on her arm. He stared at Ash, his eyes holding controlled anger, and detest. It meant nothing to Ash right now, as he didn't want a confrontation inside a Pokemon Center, while Nurse Joy was working so hard. Apparently they didn't either. Gary and Violet just walked to the front desk where they handed their poke-balls to Nurse Joy, who put them into a machine that began glowing a light green. Then, they moved to the opposite side of the room and silence soon followed.

Ash was at peace at first, but the silence was getting to him. It was like a low ringing, that grew louder every second. Soon, Ash couldn't take anymore and returned Mael, and Tyrunt to their poke-balls. He put on his helmet and attached his scabbard to his belt. He gently shook Smaug, and he raised his small head in acknowledgment.

"Lets get some training done. Were going to a place where you'll have to be really strong to beat other trainers." Ash said.

Smaug gave a puff of fire before he rose up and followed Ash out of the Pokemon Center. Unknown to Smaug, two pairs of eyes followed him.

Luckily, there were many trainers that helped train his team. Ash constantly switched them out to give them all a chance to battle.

Ash was currently using Smaug against another trainer. He had taken down two of his three pokemon; a Rattata and a Pikachu. He was currently using a Pidgeotto.

"Use Flame Burst!" commanded Ash. Smaug released three fireballs, from his mouth, all targeting Pidgeotto. With its natural born agility, it maneuvered away from the first two fire balls, before the third one clipped its wing. It screeched in pain before a command from its trainer sent it on the attack.

"Gust!" Even with the Pigeotto's injured wing, it began flapping it wings wildly, throwing wind at Smaug, who's small scales were peeled away and his skin was sliced by the strong winds. Gust wasn't as strong as Hurricane or Twister, but it still packed a punch and Smaug's scales weren't thick enough to save him from injury.

Eventually Smaug was pushed back. He was swept of his feet and he was blown back a few feet before, he caught the ground with a strike of his claw.

Ash grimaced. For this battle, a simple Ember wouldn't do anything against the bird. He needed to end this now before the trainer pulled out a stronger attack. The winds died down as the trainer ordered another attack.

"Talon Attack!" ordered the trainer. The Pidgeotto quit its attack before it launched itself at Smaug, its talons raised as it dived at him like it would catch its prey. Smaug was trying to get up, his skin and scales were still raw from the Gust attack, so he would need time to recompose. That meant no dodging. Only attacking would help.

"Dragon Pulse!" Ash said, but he was too late. Smaug was already in Pidgeotto's grasp, but the attack was charging in Smaug's mouth. Smaug was grappled by Pidgeotto, its talons puncturing through his skin before he was hurled away, bleeding from several wounds. On the ground, Smaug raised his head before he launched the powerful Dragon attack at Pidgeotto, who was coming back for another attack.

It impacted right in the middle of its chest, piercing skin, burning feathers, and cauterizing the wound at the same time.

Pidgeotto was thrown off course by the attack, it flapped around wildly before it crashed into the ground next to Smaug.

"Peck!" the trainer said desperately, he could see that Pidgeotto was almost finished and wanted to finish Smaug off quickly. Pidgeotto hobbled over to Smaug and before he could react, stabbed its sharp beak into his neck.

He gave a screech of pain before, by pure instinct, he stabbed his claws into Pidgeotto's neck. It too, gave a screech of pain before it pulled away from Smaug, bleeding heavily.

Smaug in his final act, blasted Pidgeotto with a ball of fire that gave a explosion that blasted the great bird away, unconscious. Smaug stumbled a bit before a red beam sucked him back into his poke-ball.

Ash sighed in relief. Smaug wouldn't suffer anymore damage from his injuries, inside the poke-ball he was put into a stasis that put them into a deep relaxing sleep and that stalled wounds from getting worst.

The other trainer, returned his Pidgeotto, and walked over to Ash.

"Wow, your starter took out my entire team! The only other one to beat my Pidgeotto was a kid named AJ." he said.

"AJ?" Ash said, questioningly.

"Yeah, he and his team are decked." he said, while fingering a short blade strapped to his side. "Makes me a bit jealous, but it gives me a reason to continue training." he said, cheerfully.

"Well, we better get going. Both our pokemon took a beating." Ash said, taking off his helmet too swipe off some sweat off his head.

"The name's Ritchie." he said stretching out his hand. Ash met it and shook it with a good spirit.

"The name's Ash." he replied.

"That armor of yours, everybody else I've seen as more, umm stylish armor." Ritchie said.

Ash felt his chest tighten in anger, but he released it. It was true. All the other trainers, armor were lighter, stronger, and ,yes, more visually appealing than Ash's heavy, falling apart, dull armor.

"It was my Grandfather's. I'm just using it before it finally falls apart." Ash said.

"Ohh, sorry if I offended you." Ritchie said sheepishly.

"Its fine, but we should get going before its gets dark." Ash said, looking at the now setting sun.

"Sure lets get going!" he said cheerfully, following the retreating figure of Ash.

Ritchie was an oddity. He was a very cheerful guy with a close friendship with his pokemon, espicially his starter Pikachu. From what Ash knew of him, he was never in a bad mood. And he was just fascinated in pokemon. Sometimes Ash just saw him looking out the window, staring at the wild Pidgeys flying in the morning.

He asked a lot of questions too. Especially about the scar on his head from when the Abominations first attacked them in Viridian Forest. It was uncomfortable situation for Ash so he had lied that he had a mishap with a flock of Spearows. Ritchie seemed to buy it.

He wasn't just the pacifist either. When Ash and his pokemon went out to train, he and Ritchie would sometimes sword-play, although he wasn't as good as Ash, it was still good practice.

Their pokemon also were getting along well. Smaug and Pikachu were very enriched with rivalry between each other, despite Pikachu's earlier lost. Pikachu was faster than Smaug, and packed quite a punch with its attacks, enough for Smaug to back off during their mock battles.

Mael seemed interested in Pidgeotto, both were almost the complete opposite of each other. While Pidgeotto relied on its vast speed and powerful physical attacks, Mael was sluggish on land; his levitation from his dragon-genes were not fully mastered, but he had incredibly powerful ranged attacks. But both seemed to have the same code of honor and loyalty to their trainers.

Ritchie's Rattata and Tyrunt, however were not on the best of terms. They both fought very often and it took either Ash and Ritchie or one of their pokemon to stop their quarreling. Despite Rattata's lost against Smaug, he was far more effective against Tyrunt. He used his impressive speed, and a move that Ritchie had taught to him called Metal Fang. However, out of the three pokemon he had, Tyrunt had the thickest scales. The attack merely knocked a few out of place, opening a place for a real attack.

When Smaug had recovered completely from his fight with Ritchie's Pidgeotto, Ash had set out to defeat AJ. Ritchie had stayed behind with Abra, who was absolutely fascinated with her. Of course he had asked Ash and Abra's permission, which they both granted.

Ash released Smaug, as the two traveled down the dirt path. According to Ritchie, AJ's base camp was about 2 hours away from the Pokemon Center. It was good place to see the wonderful fields of Saffron and Vermillion.

High emerald grass swayed in the wind, beautiful flowers were every where, all colored with the colors of the rainbows. A chorus of Pidgey's rang out, adding a nice feeling of comfort to the walk.

Off course the field ended when Ash a large spot had been plowed through for a training camp. A large building dominated the area. High walls with barbed wire surrounded the area and a large gate marked the entrance to the facility.

Ash pushed the gate aside, he saw numerous types of pokemon with training suits on, doing different exercises in various areas.

"Ahh yes. My hundredth win as just walked through my gates. Come over here." a green haired kid said, beckoning towards the building. Once inside, Ash saw a large field made for pokemon battles, with, who he assumed was AJ, standing at the other side. The inside of the building was filled with dozens of weapons, and the walls were reinforced with strong beams of wood. Ash could see how Ritchie was a bit jealous of AJ, he was set for life in his mini fortress.

"Alright the rules are simple. Three on three. First one to lose all their pokemon loses the battle. K?" he asked.

Ash just nodded before he primed Tyrunt's poke-ball. AJ released a large Butterfree, it wings glimmering in the light. Ash was quite impressed. It took a lot of patience to evolve a Caterpie into a Butterfree.

Ash released Tyrunt, who gave a loud roar of challenge. Ash instantly went on the attack. Butterfrees were not the best atackers, but they had numerous types of powders on their wings, that could put Tyrunt out of commission for awhile.

"Hyper Voice!" Ash said. Tyrunt unleashed a deafening roar, that quickly sent the hearing sensitive Butterfree into a frenzy.

"Dragon Rage!" A blast of blue fire burst from Tyrunt's mouth and impacted on Butterfree, sending it back several feet before it could regain its composure. Blue fire began settling on its wings, despite its frantic beating of its wings. Soon its wings were to damaged to fly and it fell to the ground defenseless.

Tyrunt began stalking towards the fallen bug, while it continued to beat its wings in vain. Before Tyrunt could get any closer, however, though AJ had recalled his Butterfree.

"It won't be any good on the ground. I might as well recall her before she gets in more trouble." he said, before he released a Beedrill. It began darting through the air, its wings creating the familiar buzz that Ash had heard in Viridian Forest.

"Pin Missile!" AJ said, while pointing dramatically at Tyrunt. Dozens of glowing white pins began shooting out of Beedrill's stingers. Ash didn't need to order for Tyrunt to do anything. He could take the attack.

Like Ash had thought, the pins had just bounced off his scales and fell to the ground broken.

" Ice Fang!" Ash said. Ash had trained with Tyrunt to help him use his powerful jaws for a powerful attack. Bite was already down, so Ash had Mael help him teach Tyrunt Ice Fang, by blowing a small stream of ice onto his fangs. After awhile, Tyrunt could produce a small amount of ice that coated his fangs.

With speed nobody could see with his small body, he lunged forward and and bit deeply into a unsuspecting Beedrill. It flew around wildly trying to shake off Tyrunt, while ice slowly began creeping up its body. When Tyrunt finally released, black ooze was falling out of Beedrill's wound and his movements began becoming sluggish.

"Rock Throw" Ash said, wanting to end the battle quickly. Tyrunt began glowing red and several large rocks were pulled off the field and hurled at the injured Beedrill. It buzzed in pain as its exoskeleton was battered and broken as it fell to the ground. AJ, again returned his pokemon, before he gained an arrogant smirk on his face.

"I must say, that pokemon of yours sure is strong, but my starter as never been beaten." he said, before he released a Sandshrew.

"Mach Punch." AJ said, and before Ash could say anything Sandshrew had appeared by a surprised Tyrunt before it slammed its fist into his jaw sending Tyrunt flying.

Tyrunt stumbled up before it released a powerful Dragon Rage at Sandshrew. It didn't even move as the attack slammed into it, creating a large explosion and kicking up dust. When the dust settled it showed Sandshrew still standing, though its armor was cracked and falling apart in a few places.

"Finish this. Rollout!" AJ commanded. Sandshrew jumped into the air and curled up into a ball, which began speeding towards Tyrunt. In an attempt of stopping the attack, Tyrunt released another Dragon Rage that hit the rolling mass of Sandshrew but didn't do anything, but crack its armor more.

Sandshrew slammed into Tyrunt and sent him hurdling at the opposite wall which he slid down, unconscious. Ash returned Tyrunt back to his poke-ball, and pondered who to send out.

Smaug would be at a disadvantage with out his fire attacks, but Sandshrew's armor was already damaged and a well placed Dragon Pulse would pierce through it. Thankfully pokemon like Sandshrew regrew their ground armor after shedded or damaged, so the injuries following suit would not affect Sandshrew in the long run.

Smaug appeared on the damaged field in a stream of red data, and eyed down Sandshrew as they both stood on opposite sides of the field.

"Sand-Attack!" AJ commanded. Sandshrew kicked several clusters of sand at Smaug, who easily dodged the blinding attack, knowing the severeness of getting it in his eyes.

"Fury Swipe!" AJ said, continuing to be on the attack. Sandshrew's small claws glowed white, as it lunged towards Smaug.

"Metal Claw!" Ash countered. Smaug's claws grew twice in size and shined with a metallic glint as he blocked Sanshrew's attack with one of his claws. The other one, he used to slash its chest, but all that happened was it made three large scratches.

"Flame Burst!" Smaug released a burst of flames, that made Sandshrew back up becuase of the heat. Its armor was still strong, but burn marks could be seen, along with some of the armored plating falling off, blackened by the fire.

"Fury Swipe" AJ barked, as Sandshrew drove its claw by Smaug, drawing blood as it collided with his shoulder.

"Dragon Pulse!" Ash commanded. Smaug hopped back as a small orb of light green energy formed in his mouth before he blasted Sandshrew. The ensuing explosion sent Sandshrew a couple of feet back, its armor showing signs of deteriorating as blood leaked from the cracks of its armor.

"Finish this with Sandstorm!" AJ said, seeing his last pokemon bad state. Sandshrew raised its hands, which glowed blue and soon sand began closing in on Smaug.

"Flame Burst!" Ash said, trying to get the final shot in befoore the whirlwind of sand closed in. But he was too late. By the time Smaug blasted the three fire balls at Sandshrew, the sand had closed in, and he missed the attack.

At first Smaug's scales held up against the raging sand, but it became too much for his small scales. His skin began to be peeled off and blood began to ooze out. Smaug was trying to get out of the Sandstorm, but it was all in vain.

Ash prepared Smaug's poke-ball, he had done his best, even when he was at a disadvantage with out his primary attacks. Mael could finish this up in a couple of seconds.

But before he could recall Smaug, a brilliant white light could be seen from the middle of the storm of swirling sand. A silhouette appeared, the same size of Smaug, and began growing. His stubby arms lengthened, his claws became more prominent, his tail became longer. Smaug's body grew to about the hieght of Ash, his head narrowed down and a horn appeared on the back of his head. Both Ash and AJ gasped in shock at the newly evolved pokemon.

When the light died down, a loud roar sounded out before fire began leaking out of the Sandstorm. The storm began dissapearing as glittering specks of glass fell to the ground, from the heat. When the storm had burned away, Smaug was revealed.

His body was more muscular and was covered in crimsons scales. The fire on the tip of his tail burned brighter and he snarled at the now terrified Sandshrew. Ash pulled out his Poke-Dex and scanned his newly evolved starter.

Charmeleon; The Flame Pokemon

They are known to be merciless in battle as they lash at their foes with sharp claws and their burning tails.

Moves aquired; Flamethrower and Dragon's Breath. Dragon Tail can be learned.

The Poke-Dex said. Ash grinned with the power that Smaug pulled now. This battle was over.

"Flamethrower!" Ash said happily. Smaug didn't even bat an eye as a river of flames bursted out of his mouth onto Sandshrew. The temprature in the building built up the longer the attack was sustained. Soon, Ash was forced to pull off his helmet as sweat poured down from his head.

After about ten seconds of holding the attack, the river of flames died down revealing a blackend and burned Sandshrew. Smaug roared in victory as Sandshrew was recalled back into its poke-ball.

"Your pokemon are really strong. Nobody has ever beaten my Sandshrew." AJ compliemented.

"Thanks, your pokemon are strong too. Especially your starter, Sandshrew." Ash said.

"Oh no. He isn't my starter. My starter is a Dratini. We got along when we first started, but when he got stronger, he started being unobdient and rebelled against me." he said sadly.

"Oh I'm sorry."

"You can take him if you want. You could probably whip him up to shape." AJ said.

"Ohh I couldn't do that he's your starter." Ash pleaded with AJ.

"When my parents left me here to get some stuff from Sinnoh they gave me Dratini as my starter. That was a couple of weeks ago. By now Sandshrew could beat Dratini." he said, as he pulled out a marked poke-ball.

"Here." AJ said, placing the poke-ball in the palm of his hand. An awkward silence went by as they stood there.

"I guess I'll see you at the Pokemon League." AJ said, trying to break the ice.

"Yeah, but it will be a while away, and I need to train some more." Ash said, clipping the poke-ball to his belt, while motioning for Smaug to come to his side.

"Well I guess I'll see you later." AJ said, as he walked towards a medical bay with his three pokeball in his hand.

Ash turned towards the doorway, followed by Smaug, as they left the small fortress.

When Ash arrived at the Pokemon Center, it was already dark. But with Smaug's tail light that now glowed brighter than his previous form, they had a clear path. The Pokemon Center was quiet, except for the gentle snoring that came from the multiple rooms. He silently healed Tyrunt on one of the Medical Machines.

Being as quiet as he can, he slowly slipped inside of his room followed by Smaug, who was having a hard time to be quiet with his new form.

Once inside, he let out all of his pokemon except for his new Dratini, not wanting to have a confrontation while everbody was asleep.

Smaug and Tyrunt laid down next to Mael's tanks, where they seemed to be communicating with each other. Ash was too tired to care right now, so after taking off his armor, he got into bed and felt his body relax with the warm and comforting material. Soon Ash fell into a deep sleep.

Lordofire here, hope you guys like the new chapter 15. Its my longest chapter so far and I hope you guys like it.