Ichigo was glad to be out of the forest. He really hated Beedrill now. The damn things kept showing up and trying to sting them.

"So that's Pewter City huh? I heard it's famous for it's fossil collection," said Ichigo.

Ichigo was about to sit down when he noticed something odd about the rock.

"Five hundred for that rock sonny-boy," said the man gruffly.

Ichigo blinked, but handed it over. Misty would have protested about the fact it was a simple rock, but she saw the way Ichigo was looking at it. He hefted it on his shoulder and they headed into town.

Ash and Misty were wondering why he paid for the rock when he dumped a little water on it. Suddenly it unfurled into a less than happy Geodude.

They were floored.

"How did you know?"

"Call it sixth sense. I could tell it wasn't really a rock which is the only reason I paid for it."

Ichigo went down to eye level with the annoyed Rock Pokémon.

"Tell you what. Would you like to join me or do you want to battle like normal?"

"Geo, Geodude."

"Battle it is then. Let's head outside town."

"Dude."

"Kenpachi, Flamethrower!"

"HOUND!"

A long stream of flame erupted from the Houndour's mouth. It hit the Geodude head on, and it was only because the Pokémon used withdraw that it was able to survive. Geodude used Rock Throw, and starting chucking rocks at Kenpachi who dodged using Agility.

Running with Ichigo taught the Houndour that speed is sometimes more effective than strength.

"Kenpachi, Bite!"

The Houndour latched onto the Geodude who cried out in pain, before conceding defeat.

Ichigo put his new Pokémon in the Pokéballs Oak had given all three of them before they left, and decided to name him after he got a better idea of his personality. First he needed to heal his team and take a day off.

Ichigo spotted a teen trying to keep his younger siblings in line at the nearby park. He grinned, remembering his dad having similar trouble before his mother died.

He decided to help the poor guy and a sharp whistle got the attention of the children.

"I know it's fun playing with your big brother in the park, but don't you think it would be more fun if he didn't have to keep taking time away just to keep track of you? Why don't you play a team game or something?" said Ichigo.

The teen shot him a look of gratitude.

That being said, Ichigo spent most of his day off while his team healed at the Pokémon Center helping the teen keep control of his rather large group.

"Thanks for the help. Today was one of my few days off and I promised them we'd go to the park," he said embarrassed. Ichigo couldn't help but feel this guy was similar to Chad, only he didn't seem to have a thing for cute animals or inhuman strength.

"Trust me, I know the feeling. I have a pair of twin sisters back home who are almost as bad. Karin can be a real handful on her own and Yuzu is a trouble magnet," said Ichigo, waving him off.

"My name's Brock," said the teen, holding out his hand.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," he replied, shaking it.

With the help of Ichigo, Brock and his younger siblings had a lot of fun. Ichigo acted as referee with Brock while they played soccer. It helped that Ichigo knew the rules through Karin.

When they split up, Ichigo ran into Ash who was ready for today's training.

They spent the rest of the night practicing katas. Ichigo admitted that Ash made fewer mistakes than he did before.

"So do you think I should challenge the Gym in town?" asked Ash.

"If we hadn't spent the last three days training in that forest, I would have said no. But you're as ready as you can be to face a Gym battle. However, I have an idea. Instead of facing him directly from the start, why don't you let me go first so you can get an idea for his strategies?"

"Are you aiming for the Pokémon League too Ichigo?" asked Ash. It was one of the things they had yet to get out of the boy...what his motivation for training Pokémon was.

Ichigo was the default leader of their small group, with Nelliel a close second. This was mostly because both of the others felt the presence of actual experience of fighting...and not with Pokémon either. Ichigo knew how to lead, and to keep them out of trouble. Plus he was a competent healer, which they learned the hard way as he bandaged up Beedrill stings.

Ichigo was happy to learn that unlike back in his own world, Beedrill stings didn't cause an allergic reaction if hit multiple times. Still, he wasn't pleased at having to restock his First Aid kit with the surplus Nurse Joy was able to give him.

It seemed the Viridian City Nurse Joy had told her of a young trainer with bright orange hair traveling with a girl with lime green hair and a skull cap who thought ahead about both sets of injuries. Pokémon and Human.

Ichigo took that to mean that the Pokémon Centers would be told about him, since he was so unusual. If it meant keeping them alive and in good health, he had no problems with that.

Ichigo didn't see any reason not to humor the kid, after all they would be traveling buddies as far as he could tell.

"My dad sent me here with my friend Nel in order to get over a couple of friends of mine going away. I hope to see them again someday, but until then I'll be joining you right up until the Pokémon League," said Ichigo.

Then he noted that Ash was getting off track and grinned mischievously. If he was stuck as a ten-year-old, then he was going to enjoy it!

"But first, you're going to have to be able to keep up with me!" said Ichigo. He playfully pulled Ash's favorite hat down on his head, and the boy squawked. Soon the two started wrestling for the fun of it, to Nel's amusement as she joined in.

Ichigo wasn't the least bit surprised to find Brock in the Gym. Brock had mentioned that he took odd jobs to keep the family afloat while his dad was gone, and one of the best paying jobs for someone his age was that of a Gym Leader. In fact it was one of the only ones that he could possibly take since he was closer to Ichigo's actual age than anything.

"Yo," said Ichigo, raising a hand in greeting.

Brock grinned. Somehow, he had a feeling he would be seeing Ichigo again.

"Hey," said Brock, raising his own hand.

Ash looked between the two of them.

"You two know each other?"

"I ran into him on his day off and helped him control a herd of ravenous monsters," quipped Ichigo.

Brock withheld a laugh, because the way his siblings attacked the ice cream and pizza was something out of a horror movie.

"Ravenous monsters?" said Ash worried.

"My younger siblings," said Brock amused, "So which of you is challenging me today?"

"I am. I figured I could give Ash a chance to see what he's about to deal with later," said Ichigo.

"Don't forget me!" said Nel.

Brock sweatdropped. He normally only got one challenger at a time, but today he had three. At least he didn't have to worry about the second girl, because he knew she was one of the Sisters from Cerulean City. She was a fellow Gym Leader!

"Challenger Ichigo Kurosaki from Karakura Town against Brock, the Gym Leader of Pewter City! Challenger may switch Pokémon at any time and healing items are allowed! This is a two-on-two battle! First to knock out both Pokémon is the winner!" said the referee.

"I hope you're ready Ichigo, because I won't be pulling any punches. Go, Geodude!"

"Geo!"

"Funny, I was thinking the same thing. Go, Emeth!"

"GEO!"

Brock gave Ichigo a look.

"Emeth?"

"Back home there are these creations called golems who come to life through sorcery. According to the legends, there is supposed to be a piece of paper with the word Emeth inside, and if you removed the first 'E' it turns back into a lifeless doll."

"And since Geodude's final evolution is called Golem..." said Brock, seeing where Ichigo's reasoning went.

"Well that and it was the first thing to come to mind."

Brock was just amused Ichigo decided to challenge him with the same Pokémon he had just sent out.

"Geodude, Rock Throw!"

"Emeth, use Earthquake!"

Brock looked surprised as the earth shook.

His Geodude was so shaken it couldn't dodge the Rollout attack Ichigo sent his way.

"Geo..." Brock's Geodude was out cold.

"Geodude is unable to battle! Emeth and Ichigo are the winners!"

Ichigo beamed at his Geodude.

"I don't get it. How did yours know Earthquake?" asked Brock. The Rollout attack didn't surprise him, it was easy to figure out how to teach that one, but Earthquake didn't come to a Geodude until they were about ready to evolve.

Ichigo looked slightly embarrassed.

"I bought a rock outside town, because I had the feeling it wasn't a rock at all. When I went to check on the man who sold it to me, he was looking over this disk that said Earthquake on the side like it was broken. I found out by accident that he had left it on the rock and it activated without him knowing about it."

"You bought a Geodude that was taught Earthquake by accident?" said Brock. That was some really weird luck.

"Technically I bought a rock that I was fairly certain wasn't a rock at all that happened to have that move in it's arsenal. I did give him the option of a fair fight before I put him in the ball though."

Brock liked Ichigo's sense of fairness. It was more than most trainers had.

"In that case... I suppose it's time to kick things up a notch. Go, Onix!"

"Emeth return! Go, Kenpachi!" shouted Ichigo.

The Houndour had grown a bit, and from what Ichigo's Pokédex told him Kenpachi was at least level sixteen.

Ichigo's Pokédex was black and the buttons were white. On the front of his device was the same skull that was on his Substitute Soul Reaper badge and the inside had a four swords. On one side was Ichigo and Shiro's version of Zangetsu (shikai form) and on the other was the bankai form. Ichigo's swords were pointed up while Shiro's were pointed down.

Urahara had helped Oak and his friend in Johto design Ichigo and Nel's devices, and they had functions Ichigo had no idea about that would come into play later when Ichigo's spirit energy finally started to come back.

"Onix, use Tackle!"

"Kenpachi, run up Onix and use flamethrower!"

Kenpachi ran along Onix's snake like body and sent a flamethrower right in the rock snake's face. The rock Pokémon squawked in surprise, but was relatively unharmed. Ichigo knew that he had caught Brock by surprise, and that none of his current team had any type advantage to Brock's rock only team.

In fact, Ichigo was almost positive that Brock was taking things easy on any trainers coming from Pallet Town, because unless they picked Squirtle he had a type advantage. The forest was filled with Bug, Flying and Normal types, unless they caught a Magikarp and evolved it into Gyarados they wouldn't have a water Pokémon to fight with.

Which was highly unlikely as most people seemed content to simply capture a Gyarados and skip the Magikarp.

So Ichigo improvised. His Pokédex did have a function that told him all the moves his team had (he learned that after the man who sold him the Geodude told him about it) so he knew exactly what Kenpachi could do.

As the Onix attempted to Bind Kenpachi, Ichigo had the hellhound puppy dodge using a large amount of Agility. It was something like Ichigo dodging using Tensa Zangetsu or a lot of Shun Po in shikai form. Finally Ichigo launched his most powerful attack.

"Kenpachi, Fire Fang!"

"Hound!"

Kenpachi's mouth erupted in flames as his teeth were coated in fire. Onix was out for the count once Kenpachi latched onto it.

"Onix is unable to battle! The winner is Ichigo Kurosaki of Karakura Town and Kenpachi!" said the referee.

"Impressive. I didn't expect your Pokémon to know that move."

"According to Professor Oak, Kenpachi knew that move from the egg. He just needed help refining the power levels."

"As the winner, I award you the Boulder Badge. Congrats Ichigo," said Brock.

Ichigo grinned and put it in the badge case that he had bought earlier. Like his Pokédex, it had something from home. This time it was the symbols for the Gotei Thirteen. Thirteen different flowers plus the symbols for the Stealth Force, the Kido Force and the Royal Guard. Yet another gift from Urahara.

The bag, though was a gift from his father. Inside was his music (he found he could just capture an electric Pokémon to charge the batteries, though he mostly borrowed Pikachu who apparently liked ketchup enough to be bribed with it), a laptop (which had apparently been outfitted with an internet connection to his home dimension and one of the tabs set to his high school which he learned after deciding to try home school for a while had a page where you could do the homework without suffering the class. He was currently in the lead grades wise, which annoyed Uryu something fierce because Ichigo no longer had to stay up late at night to deal with hollows.) another first aid kit from his father who went all out so he was equipped to deal with almost anything in the field, some books Ichigo could read in his free time, and snacks.

The bag looked quite a bit like the one Hanataro used, only the coloring was very different and it had a lot more space. The strap for instance was red like the one Zangetsu used to rest in, and the bag itself was more blue than green. And instead of the symbol for the fourth division, Isshin put something that Masaki sometimes wore on her clothes. He didn't know what it was and he had never asked. Ichigo, however, always thought it looked very familiar for some reason. Ichigo also stored his clothes inside the bag inside a waterproof bag as a just in case measure.

He was both surprised and relieved that the clothes had shrunk to fit his younger self.

Ichigo healed his team and went to the local library and picked up a few books to kill time while Ash and Nel tried their luck. Nel easily beat Brock, but Ash had to challenge Brock again because he lost spectacularly.

Brock healed his team between battles, but eventually Ash won his Boulder Badge.

"...The old man I bought Geodude from was your dad? The same one who ditched the family and you haven't heard from since?" said Ichigo incredulous.

Brock had an evil grin on his face when he told Ichigo the news that his father would take over the Pewter City Gym until he came back...and taking care of the kids. Ichigo laughed with him.

"Cruel but fitting. Seems like your dad is just as messed up as mine."

"How bad is yours?"

"He wakes me up every morning by attacking me. I generally knock him out of the window or into a nearby wall. Plus his standard greetings is embarrassing when you get home a little too late."

"We have messed up fathers don't we?" asked Brock sweatdropping.

"True...but at least the payback is always satisfying," said Ichigo grinning.

(Insert Fist Bump)

Meanwhile Ash, Misty and Nel sweatdropped at how well the two got along. It was spooky...