Author's Note:A very HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone out there. This year has been a blast. I made some mistakes, rectified them and took another step towards my dream. Anyways, I know you all are not here to learn about my life story. So, I bring forward the next chapter of Pokemon Platinum: The Rise of a Master. Many of you asked for a chapter containing the training that Ash does. While in the beginning I was for this, but as I sat down and started writing, I realized that by showing how he trains it reveals a lot of the abilities that his Pokemon have. And that is something that I wanted to keep a secret until the time comes.
This chapter, in essence, is a time skip containing several flashbacks that shows the major events that occurred throughout the training period. I know that it may seem like some sort of hack, but for me this is the perfect way to continue with the story without keeping the pace too slow.
Many of you commented that Ash had met Mewtwo once again in Johto so he shouldn't have forgotten about that incident. Here, I have taken something known as an author's privilege and decided to make it seem that Mewtwo once again removed any memory about himself.
Quite a few wanted Ash to gain another Legendary, a few suggesting a certain Eon Dragoness. To them, I have to say that it might not be possible in this fic. Maybe in the next iteration of this fic. Too many Legendries does not make a good trainer. And that is how I want to show Ash to be. So, sorry guys but no more Legendries for Ash in the foreseeable future.
In the last three weeks I realized that when I try to rush with a fic, the quality of the chapter deteriorates. As a result, the past few chapters for both of my fics have been not up to the mark. Therefore, I have decided that I will not set a timeline for the updation of my chapters and update when I feel that the chapter is up to the mark.
Anyhow, now that the bigass AN is complete, enjoy the latest chapter of Pokemon Platinum: the Rise of a Master. This chapter is the last one before Ash begins his journey in Sinnoh.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, Tajiri does...And i hate him for it.
Chapter 4
Preparation and Departure
As dawn slowly gave way to a bright new morning, our resident Pokémon trainer, Ash Ketchum, could be seen in his backyard. Anyone who knew him would be astonished at seeing the person awake so early in the day, having known him to not be a morning person. And had it been four months ago, they would have been spot on - despite whatever protests the black haired trainer might give.
Now, now he could be seen in the backyard of his house, not only fully awake but going through what one could see was some kind of martial arts stances with a significant amount of fluidity. Unbidden to everyone, the thought of how he had gone on to learning this was running through Ash's mind.
He still shivered internally when he remembered the conversation he had with his mother. It had been a couple of weeks after his decision to stay in Pallet, and mother and son duo had grown even closer than they ever were before. The cooking lessons bridging the non-existent gap between them. Having decided to take the plunge, Ash decided to tell his mother about the adventures, or rather misadventures; his small group had gone throughout his journey.
At first his mother had seemed highly accepting; as she silently listened to her son speak the entire time. Taking it to be a sign of acceptance, he barreled on with his 'speech'. From his adventures in Rota, to the incident on New Island, though he did leave out the fact that he had essentially died for a short while. That was one incident that he was going to take to the grave.
Having ended his speech, he was waiting for Delia to reply, when she simply stood up and went towards the kitchen. A befuddled Ash followed her, not knowing the pit having dug himself into. He had barely made it to the kitchen table, when he was struck on the head.
With a ladle.
HARD.
He had looked into his mother's eyes. And in there, he saw something that made him almost wet his pants.
Fury.
Unbridled fury.
He had never seen that kind of expression on his mother's eyes, and truth be told, it scared the shit out of him. However, that fury had instantly been replaced by concern as she had clutched his head tightly between her bosoms. What followed had made him guiltier.
She cried.
Not the crying she did whenever he restarted his journey. It was one of those heartfelt cries that made his gut churn. He had wanted to argue and tell her how he was the one that fell into such troublesome situations, but lost all heart to argue he had seen her cling to him as though he would vanish the next moment.
He had let her vent. He had let her admonish him for his pigheadedness, for how he did not think about her whenever he went into such life-threatening situations. And when he had given it a deeper thought, he had realized that what she had spoken was the truth. He always, always thought about the Pokémon first, and damned the rest of the consequences.
He had known that his mother knew about his disposition to get into trouble, the episodes in the Shamouti Island and the Unown having taken place in her presence. But she had never known the true extent of his adventures.
She had fallen asleep in his arms, tears streaming from her eyes. He had carried his deceptively light mother and tucked her in the bed. Even then, she had not let go of his hand and no matter how hard he had tried, she wouldn't let go. Giving in, he had somehow dragged a chair and slept by her bedside.
Only to be have been woken up at the break of dawn.
Courtesy of a bucketful on water.
Bucketful of freezing, icy water.
He hadn't even gotten the chance to get his bearings straight before he was grabbed by the earful and dragged from the room. All the while being dressed-down by his mother. She had hauled him out of the house, still fully soaked, and carted him several houses down the road.
By the time he had gotten hold of his faculties, his mother had reached a house and had been talking to a relatively young man. Catching drift of the exchange, he had comprehended that the man, identified as a Mr. Uzumaki, was going to teach him martial arts.
Stunned by the sudden turn of events he had introduced himself almost in a robotic manner, following which he was given the instruction, by Mr. Uzumaki himself, to meet him every morning at five. He had shown no expression, something which his new trainer must have noted, and then simply proffered the adult a farewell.
Having reached his home, he immediately inquired his mother of the reason for this 'training'. Delia had taken a seat in the living room and responded by saying that while she could have simply voiced him to not get into such escapades, she knew that it would be for naught, having known his penchant to assist Pokémon regardless of any self-preservation. And the only thing she could do was ensure that he was ready for any kind of such adventures.
And luck seemed to favor him as Mr. Uzumaki, the newest resident of Pallet Town, had started a martial arts course to better prepare upcoming trainers, along with anyone else who wanted to join the classes. He was, apparently, a master of the several old martial arts forms and was, in fact, one of the few masters of the ancient arts, across the regions.
Ash had felt relief flood into his body, and had smiled afterwards at the concern she had displayed for him. The smile was wiped out the next moment when she had threatened to beat him to a pulp should he try to instigate such incident by his own volition.
So, abiding by his mother's wishes, he had gone to Mr. Uzumaki's classes the next morning.
Only to wish he hadn't.
Behind the façade of a nice, joyful man was a hard taskmaster who had taken it upon himself to drive young Ash to the ground with his tor-training. Ash really believed that the young man wanted to kill him with the amount of exercises that he had made him do. And while Ash was no slouch in the physical department, having travelled the many regions primarily on foot, he was cursing Naruto-sensei- the man having told Ash to call him by that title in his dojo- for the exercises he had to do.
He could not believe that there were these many muscles in his body. He had dragged his battered body to his home, and made his way to his room, forgoing any kind of extra activity, falling into the abyss of sleep. He was therefore oblivious of the admonishment that Delia had given to the martial arts master, her visage creating an image of horror among the populace who had avowed never to get on the bad side of the unpretentious Delia Ketchum.
Although it did not seem to have any kind of effect on the young man, if the rigorous training was any evidence.
However, now that three months had passed Ash could say that he was ecstatic with the outcome. As he went through the katas that Naruto-sensei had taught him, one could see the thin sheen of sweat on his 5'10" body, as his recently shaped muscles contracted and expanded at the same time. His previously nicely shaped pectoral muscles having gained a good definition along with the rest of his body.
The effortless flow from one stance to another showed the hard work he had done in order to memorize the forms shown to him by his teacher. Yes, he could easily say that the rewards outweighed the tor-training. Sure, he was no master but he knew that should he be in another life-threatening situation, he would be as ready as he could be. Besides, Naruto had already given him scrolls-an odd form of way to store information according to him- containing information on what he had to do to further his skills, something that he completely intended to do.
After another hour of exercises, he retreated to his room and went through his morning ablutions, his mind ruminating through the major events that had transpired in the past four months.
Flashback-Four months ago
Ash stood in the clearing, which he now recognized had been claimed by his Pokémon, staring at the situation in front of him. The situation would have seemed serious or even heartening, had his head not looked as though it had been burnt to a crisp.
His day had started good enough, if he overlooked the snickering that his mother had directed towards him on account of the huge blush he had on his face.
It wasn't his fault that he had had some rather inappropriate dreams regarding his mother and was trying, and failing, to subdue those images.
After a hasty breakfast, he had immediately made his way to Oak's Corral, ignoring the fact that the snickers had turned into a full blown guffaws. Having reached there, he had immediately asked Mewtwo to erase the entire conversation that he had with his mother, only to find the Legendary unable to do so. Something that shocked even the Genetic Pokémon.
Ash undeniably thought that he was doomed.
Disconsolately acquiescing to the fact that he was to forever have the memory etched in his mind, he had gone to meet Professor Oak, ecstatic and ready to learn from the famous Professor. Said ecstasy was quashed when Oak gave him a book encompassing the different Pokémon types, along with the description of several attacks in each type and abilities. Oak had informed him that he had till the end of the week to learn everything in the book, after which he would have to give an exam of sorts to see how much he remembered.
Although the book was fairly small, Ash had grouched at the fact that he had to learn from the book. He had always considered him to be better at learning through experience rather than the books. Still, he had vowed to the Professor that he would do his best, and he would do his utmost to fulfill it.
He, therefore, grabbed the book and went outside to study as well as train his Pokémon. He had barely made it outside when a loud roar had caught the attention of every Pokémon.
Except Mewtwo. He seemed to have sensed the presence of the Pokémon beforehand.
Having recognized the roar, Ash turned his gaze upwards in the direction of the roar and smiled when he saw the familiar visage of his first Fire Type flying towards the group. It was as the Pokémon was about to reach the group when Ash noticed something coiled around him. He was about to ask what, or rather who, it was, when Charizard let out another roar and burned his trainer's hair to a crisp.
The book was somehow left unscathed.
While a few of the Pokémon looked aghast, most of the group simply shook their heads at the antics of the Fire Type. Ash merely stood still for a few moments before coughing a puff of soot from his mouth. He then turned to the form curled around Charizard's body, immediately recognizing it as a Pokémon. It was a small, blue serpentine Pokémon with what appeared to be a white underbelly. It has white, three-pronged fins on the sides of its head and a white bump on its forehead. Above its large, round, white snout are oval, purple eyes.
Recognizing the relatively young Dratini, Ash turned his attention back to Charizard, only to be surprised to see a sheepish look on said Pokémon's face, something that he had never seen before ever.
Charizard was about to speak something, when Mewtwo broke the sudden silence.
"He saved the Dratini from a group of wild Sharpedo," Mewtwo began, before turning his attention towards the now gawking Dragon-Type. "Apparently, this young one's mother was captured by a trainer. He wanted to catch her as well but she escaped in the bare nick of time. She swam as far as she could, only to end up being attacked by said group. Charizard here saw her while he was flying overhead and decided to help her. After saving her, he tried looking for the trainer thinking that he might…force him to release the mother. He searched for the entire evening and a large part of the night, but was unsuccessful. Not wanting to leave her alone, he decided to bring her here."
The raising of his non-existent eyebrow was the only reaction that Ash received from Charizard, although the young Dratini seemed all the more amazed.
Flashback End
Ash couldn't help but grow ecstatic at that particular incident. Though at first, Dratini was quite reserved, spending most of her time with Charizard, she eventually got used to being around so many Pokémon and himself. Mostly due to the coaxing of Charizard himself, having become the unofficial guardian of the young Dragon Type. Two weeks later, surprising no one bar Ash, she decided that she wanted to join the team, leaving a flummoxed, yet excited Ash Ketchum. The rest of his Pokémon simply welcomed the young Dragon into their fold, while leaving Ash into wondering how he could have gotten so lucky.
Thinking about his recent captures brought forth another memory from the depths of his mind.
Flashback – Three Months Ago
"She what now?" Ash exclaimed.
"She says she wants to stay with you," Mewtwo spoke slowly, as though talking to a child.
A dumb child.
Just a day before Suicune's injuries had completely healed and she had been deemed fit by the Professor a couple of hours ago. Ash, keeping his promise was about to release the Pokémon when she shook her head, and rubbed her head against the trainer. Meanwhile, the rest of his Pokémon were snickering in the background. Even his trusty Pikachu.
"Why?" Ash asked, still confused with the entire notion. "Not that I am happy that you want to stay Suicune." He immediately added, seeing the Aurora Pokémon's head droop down a bit. "But aren't you Legendries required to maintain some sort of balance of nature?"
Suicune turned towards Mewtwo, the Genetic Pokémon having become sort of an unofficial translator for group, not that he minded it all. In fact, he seemed to enjoy talking to all of them, Ash included.
"She says that while they do maintain the balance, should a Legendary want, he or she may choose to go with a trainer, while the rest of the Legendries take care of their areas until another one is relegated the duties. She says you have already met the Lugia and her baby. That was one of the instances when a new Legendary was created so that it could take over her mother's responsibilities."
"What do you mean that Legendries are created?" Ash asked, astonished at having never heard that tidbit.
Suicune looked conflicted at that, and in the end shook her head.
"She says that she cannot say any further on the matter," Mewtwo translated. "The amount she has disclosed is enough to get her in trouble."
Ash backed off immediately, not wanting his friend to get into any further trouble, though there was still the question as to who would administer the punishment. He once again focused on the topic on hand.
"Are you sure about this Suicune?" he asked, once more wanting the Pokémon to know what she was getting into.
In reply, Suicune nodded before once again rubbing her head with Ash's. Ash sighed, before smiling as he welcomed another new member into his family.
Flashback End
Ash smiled as he made way to the kitchen, ready to prepare the breakfast. It had become a good ritual between them. Ash would prepare the breakfast, allowing Delia to have a little bit of a sleep in. In the afternoon, Delia would bring him lunch to Oak's Corral while they would prepare dinner together. All in all, it provided more opportunities for the mother-son duo to bond further.
Creating a simple breakfast, he wasn't surprised to hear his mother enter the kitchen and blearily take a seat in front of kitchen table, a cup of black coffee already sliding in front of her that she drank almost robotically. Ash leaned back towards the kitchen counter, an amusing smile on his face, almost as if he was waiting for something.
That something happened not five seconds later, when the caffeine actively kicked in and Delia gave a blissful sigh. The dreaminess in her face evaporated in a moment, her jovial disposition reemerging as she took another sip.
"I don't know what you Ashy," she purred, "but you make this coffee so much better."
"I don't know what to say mom," Ash said, as he took the seat across his mother, taking a sip from the glass of orange juice he had poured for himself. "I just make it the way you showed me to. I don't know what you find so special." He himself had tried the drink once, and was in no hurry to try it again.
"So," Delia chirruped, though Ash did hear a slight solemnity in her voice, "have you decided who you are going to take to Sinnoh."
"Yup," Ash nodded, "Was up late at night deciding who was going to accompany me." And truly, it had been a hell of a decision for the 16 year old trainer, having to decide whom to take and whom not to. And while Professor Oak had increased the maximum carrying capacity for his team, something that he was immensely grateful about, it still meant that quite a few of them were going to feel left behind. Still, he knew that they would understand. Besides, he had already planned on switching them out on a regular basis so that he could spend time with each of them and personally oversee their training from time to time.
"So Ashy…" Delia began, a glimmer of mischievousness that was not missed by the sixteen year old trainer if the groan was any evidence. "Waiting to go on your journey with Daisy?"
Ash groaned further, burying his face in his arms as his face burned crimson as another memory surfaced.
Flashback – Two Months Ago
It was a warm morning as Ash made his way to Oak's Corral, his mother alongside him. Delia had completed making lunch early and with nothing to do at home, courtesy of Mr. Mime, had decided to join him for the rest of the day. Ash knocked on the door, waiting for it to be opened by Professor Oak or Tracy.
Only to stop short when he saw the person standing in front of him.
She was a woman, who looked at least a couple of years older than him. With long auburn hair that went down her shoulders, she had a beautiful, heart-shaped face that was enhanced by a pair of emerald green eyes. She was dressed in a green colored turtleneck and a white skirt that reached just below her thighs, showing an ample amount of leg. Over this, she wore a normal Professor's coat, which in Ash's opinion further enhanced her beauty. Finishing the ensemble was a tear shaped pendant that hung from her neck, down to her bounteous bust.
Ash immediately tore his eyes away from that area, having been already warned by his mother to not stare at a woman's bust for too long if he did not want to receive a thrashing. Focusing back on the face, it took him less than a second to recognize her.
Daisy Oak, chief research assistant to Professor Oak, and childhood crush of the black haired trainer and it was now he realized what he felt for her. She had relocated to Johto a couple of months before he had begun his journey, in order to do some research for the Professor, something that had pissed off said trainer a lot.
Ash stood there, mouth agape while his cheeks had developed hue on them. Delia smirked when she saw how smitten her son seemed to be of the young lady in front of them.
"Hey there Daisy," she decided to break the awkward silence. "Nice to see you back in Pallet. Can we come in?"
The inquisitive look on Daisy's face evaporated, and she gave a dazzling smile. "Good morning, Mrs. Ketchum," she said, as she stepped aside. "Come on in. You too Ash."
Broken out of his semi-trance, Ash followed his mother as she entered the facility with a shit-eating grin on her face, while the young man himself blushed a deep crimson.
He just knew that his mother was going to milk this for all its worth.
Flashback End
"You don't have to sound like that mom," Ash griped as he lifted his head and looked straight ahead. He comprehended what his mother was trying to imply. She had seen him get flustered in the young researcher's presence and had never missed a chance to embarrass him.
"Yes, it will be nice to travel with Daisy," he continued, deciding not to pay attention to the way his mother was grinning at the prospect. It had been decided just a couple of days ago that Daisy would accompany Ash to Sinnoh, as she wanted to do some research on the Legendries of Sinnoh. And given Ash's tendency to run into Legendries gave her an even greater chance to come across at least a few of them.
Yes, she knew about Ash's adventures. After spending one month in Oak's Lab, with a lot of her time in the company of the black haired trainer, be it to help him study or for any other reason, Ash had decided to trust her with the knowledge about Suicune and Mewtwo, as well as his various adventures throughout the regions that he had visited.
Just like anyone who had heard of his escapades, she was baffled hearing about the number of life threatening situations he had been in. Said expression turned to one of elation when she heard about the numerous Legendries he had encountered. She was especially enraptured when he narrated the tale of Manaphy and The Temple of Sea, mostly due to the fact that the legendary was considered to be a Sinnoh native.
Her first meeting with Mewtwo and Suicune was somewhat shaky, mostly due to Mewtwo's inherent suspicion of the human race, but with continued effort and coaxing from Ash and the rest of the Pokémon, she was accepted by the duo. Her warm and caring nature further helped her blend in with the rest of the group.
Ash was happy that he got to travel with her. While he was not averse to travelling alone, he knew the joy of travelling in a group especially with people that he could call his friends. And he could damn well call Daisy a friend. He had asked Brock if he wanted to join in on the journey as well, but the breeder had declined the offer. The reason he cited that he had decided to become a Pokémon doctor and had been accepted in the institute that trained them.
Ash had stayed in touch with the young breeder throughout this time period, getting his advice on proper ways to take care of the different types of Pokémon, knowing that while Professor Oak had a much better knowledge base, he was generalized, whereas Brock adhered to each type on a different basis.
Ash, although he was sad that he wouldn't get to travel with his elder brother figure was nevertheless happy that Brock would get to achieve his dream. This meant that Ash had to journey alongside Daisy, not that he was complaining.
Finishing his breakfast, Ash dumped his plates in the sink, knowing that Mr. Mime would clean them up, he went upstairs to change one last time into the gear that his mother had prepared for the journey. Having already packed the essentials the night before, he was back in the kitchen.
He was dressed in new attire consisting of black, half-sleeved muscle shirt over which he wore a sleeveless burnt orange hoodie. Below this he wore sky blue cargo pants and a pair of black and grey sneakers. Finishing the ensemble was a black cap with a huge Pokéball drawn on its brim.
The serious countenance on his face, as he held his new backpack, was shattered when he was engulfed in a rib-shattering hug from his mother. Say what you will about Delia Ketchum, but her hugs packed a punch completely belying her petite frame.
"I cannot believe you are going away again," she mumbled into his chest, keeping back the tears from overflowing. "The past months passed by so quickly. I will miss you so much."
"I will miss you too mom," Ash sighed as he rubbed her back. "I promise that I will stay in regular contact with you. Besides you have the number for my Xtransceiver so you can call me whenever you want."
Just a few days ago, his birthday had passed by and he was surprised as hell when a party had been thrown for him at Oak's Corral. It was a small affair attended by everyone close to him. He was all the more surprised to find Brock and Misty present there. She had commented on how he had taken a good decision to train before beginning his new journey and how it was good to see him mature.
He had received several gifts including a Metal Coat and a Protector from Brock, an Xtransceiver from his mother, a Water Stone from Misty, a book on Sinnoh legends from Daisy, several of the sketches of him and his Pokémon from Tracy and the top of the line Pokédex from Oak. He had later been informed that the Dex was connected to Oak's central library and therefore could access data on all the data from all the regions, this making sure that Ash did not have to get his Pokédex updated in every region.
Professor Oak had commented on how the Xtransceiver was a new invention from the Unova region and how getting one outside of said region was supposed to be extremely difficult, not to mention costly. Delia had shrugged of the question saying that it was a family secret. Later that evening, Ash had asked the same question from Delia personally and it was then that he found out the answer.
He had been stumped.
Apparently, all the major corporations across the regions, including Silph Co. and Devon Enterprises, which provided the tools for Pokémon trainers, were in fact subsidiaries to one larger ghost corporation, Ketchum Inc.
The existence of said company was known only to the chairmen of each individual corporation, with all of them answering to the head of Ketchum Inc. namely Delia Ketchum. Delia had then explained to him how their family had handled all the various corporations from obscurity, never revealing their true identities to the crowd as no one would want one family to have such a large influence on the entire Pokémon world.
How she had always wanted to live in a small, quaint area and how she had decided to settle down in Pallet Town. By the end of the family history lesson, she had dropped the bomb by saying how he would be the one to take over her position as head when he reached the age of twenty-five and how he was currently the richest teenager across the regions.
Ash had spent the entire night awake, thinking back to all the things his mother had explained. It was then that he noticed how his mother never had to work yet there was never a shortage of funds for her usage. It also answered the question as to how his mother provided with the unending supply of Pokémon products at the beginning of his journey.
Back in the present, Delia rubbed away the tears from her eyes as she separated from Ash. "I will," Delia replied as she then rubbed away the non-existent dust from his hoodie, before straightening his cap. Ash, having spent a good amount of time around his mother knew that she was getting anxious, decided not to drag it any further.
"Mom," he began, "you know that you are welcome to spend time in the Corral. All of my Pokémon love you and enjoy your company."
"I don't think you could keep me away even if you tried honey." Delia replied with a smirk, before it morphed into a gentle smile. "Now, I know that ii cannot ask you to not help Pokémon. But I can ask you to be careful and look out for yourself. Can you promise me that?"
"I promise mom," Ash declared with a nod as he made his way towards the door. "I also promise that this time when you come to see me fight in the Sinnoh League, it will be to see me lift the cup."
Delia smiled further as she heard the conviction in his voice, and while she had heard similar declarations before, this time she knew that her son would accomplish it. She followed him outside as he waved Mr. Mime, who was cleaning the garden area, goodbye and made his way towards Oak's Laboratory.
He was just outside of her talking range when she took a deep breath.
"AND DON'T FORGET TO CHANGE YOUR UNDERWEAR!"
On the road, Ash face palmed at his mother's antics and increased his pace, not wanting to hear any further advice from said person.
"AND DON'T TRY TO TURN ME INTO A GRANDMOTHER SO EARLY!"
He ran, his face burning crimson, not wanting to hear the laughter that ensued. With his newly developed muscles, it did not take him long to reach the familiar laboratory. He knocked on the door, and did not have to wait as the door was answered by Daisy herself.
"Hey there Ash," she began, a smile forming on her face. "You ready for the trip?"
"Yup," Ash nodded as a similar smile formed on his face. "I was packed and ready to go last night. You look nice by the way." The last part was spoken with sincerity as he truly liked the way she had dressed. She had forgone the lab coat and decided to wear a simple turtleneck t-shirt, that clung to her bodacious frame, along with her white thigh length skirt. She had replaced her normal footwear for a pair of boots owing to the fact that she had to travel on foot.
"Aren't you the flatterer," she teased the young trainer, who gained a slight blush. Despite having grown accustomed to the researcher's company, there were still instances when the black haired trainer would blush at the comments from said woman, a state that was worsened now that his brain was aware of how his hormones were working. Still, he now knew that once his Sinnoh journey began, he would have to curb them as much as possible.
As she moved aside, Ash entered the facility and made his way towards the storage room, having grown accustomed to the surroundings while Daisy walked beside him.
"You decided whom you are going to take along with you?" she asked, all the while keeping her gaze ahead. "You taking any one of the new ones? And how many are you taking?"
"You betcha," Ash nodded as he finally made it to the storage room and took eight Pokéballs from his pile. "I wanted to take more but I decided that I'd leave the rest of the slots for any Pokémon that I capture over there. Besides, Mewtwo said that he wanted to visit the cloned Pokémon once and I am okay with that. He can then join us in Sinnoh."
"Who are you going to take then?" she asked, as the duo made their way towards the Corral.
"You're coming with me, aren't you?" Ash asked with a smirk, to which she nodded in reply. "Then you can simply see them. Anyways, I didn't see Professor in there. Is he outside?"
"Arse," she muttered halfheartedly ignoring Ash's muttering of 'language' before she went back to his side. "And no. Grandpa suddenly got a call from the League as they wanted to find out about Mewtwo."
A proverbial light bulb lit in his mind as he remembered how the Professor had spoken the previous night that he had registered Mewtwo into the Pokédex and how coincidentally he had been given the number 150, one right before Mew. He had further explained how the authorities at the League would most likely call him in the next few days to prove his claim.
"So who is looking after the Corral in his absence?" Ash asked, as he saw his group of Pokémon resting near the lake.
"Tracy and I," she replied without a hitch before gaining a thoughtful look. "Though now that he will have to look after everything."
"Don't worry," Ash waved her off, "he will manage. He has been here for a while. GUYS!"
His loud shout caught the entire group's attention, all of who immediately started running towards the duo. Daisy, knowing what was about to happen, got out of the way as the entire horde barreled into the young trainer, throwing him off his feet, a smile adorned on her face.
One would have expected to keel over in pain, but Ash merely started laughing as he eyed the group. Most of his Pokémon were there, including those Pokémon whom he had acquired in the last four months.
The smallest among them were Mudkip, the Mud Fish Pokémon and Ralts, the Feeling Pokémon. He still remembered the conversation that had led to him owning these two.
Flashback – Two Months Ago
Ash had completed training his Pokémon for the day and had bid the Professor a good night when he was suddenly asked to wait by said person. He took a seat on the couch while Oak took the armchair opposite to him, a serious expression on his face. Just this meant that whatever the Professor was about to say was going to be crucial.
"Ash," he began, "how are you training your Tauros?"
The topic took Ash by surprise, before he bowed his head down. "It's been…difficult," Ash replied somewhat solemnly. "I try to give each of them individual time but always end up short somehow. Whenever I want to train the herd a new move I simply teach the leader first and he in turn teaches the rest of them. But still, it takes a while for me to remember the strength and weaknesses of each one of them."
"I see," Oak mused as he placed a finger on his chin. "It was as I thought," he muttered, just loud enough for Ash to hear. Directing his attention back to Ash, he continued, "Ash, let me be honest with you. And please don't take this the wrong way but I think there is no way that you can effectively train thirty Tauros." He raised his hand to stop the trainer from interrupting, "Hear me out will you." Seeing that Ash had once again deferential, he spoke further, "No matter how much you train them you will never utilize all of them. And I don't think that you want that to happen, do you?" Ash shook his head, prompting the Professor to continue.
"The only way I see all of them getting their chance on the battlefield is if you trade a few of them with some worthy trainers. Now I know that you don't like trading but you have to see that no one is benefitting in the current situation. Trading not only gives you different Pokémon but it also provides your Tauros the chance to prove their worth in the battlefield."
He sighed as he saw the conflicted look on Ash's face. He knew that Ash was utterly loyal to his Pokémon. He had heard from Brock how the young man had once traded away his Butterfree for a Raticate, only for him to trade back Butterfree not a couple of hours later out of guilt.
"Ash," he said as he placed his arm on the young trainer's shoulder. "I know that this will weigh heavily on you should you go with my advice. However, I am not saying that you have to decide right this instant. Think this through. Ask different people for their opinion. Ask your Tauros what they think, you have Mewtwo to help you in that. If you decide to go through, I can use my sources to search for some good trainers who would be willing to trade their Pokémon for your Tauros."
Flashback End
Ash had spent the next couple of days asking various people for their advice. Most of them were in favor of the idea. His mother had simply advised him to do what his heart said. He followed the advice and asked his Tauros herd if they wanted to go to a different trainer.
His heart was warmed when a majority of them wanted to stay with him while the rest of them wanted to one day lead their own herd someday and were okay with being traded away. Although he was sad in the beginning, he respected their decision and asked the Professor to find trainer with whom he could trade.
One month had passed from the day, and while the black haired trainer had gotten several offers he hadn't liked any one of them and declined. However, one day Oak had come to him informing him that a trainer wanted to give away his Mudkip and Ralts from the Hoenn Region.
When Ash asked why he would want to give away his starter, Oak had begrudgingly told him that the trainer had received Mudkip just one week ago and had caught Ralts not a day after. However, a tragedy had struck the young boy's family resulting in the sudden death of his father. As a result, the boy had inherited his father's farm, and since his mother was grieving he had to take care of it.
The problem had emerged when the Tauros in the farm were unwilling to obey to his orders and he had therefore asked Professor Birch if he could find someone who was willing to trade a couple of Tauros for his Pokémon, provided that the Tauros obeyed his commands.
Ash, being the sentimental person he was, got in touch with the trainer, who went by the name of Zacharias, and within the next few hours was the owner of a confused Mudkip and a shy Ralts.
As Ash turned his attention towards the back of the group, his attention turned towards his newer arrivals. A female Rhyhorn that he had captured from the Fuchsia City Safari Zone three months ago. Call it providence or what, but the young trainer was damn sure that she was the same one that he had wanted to catch when he had first visited the city during his first League. She was a somewhat shy Pokémon who was slowly breaking out of her shell, but still had a long way to go before she wanted to show any kind of affection towards her trainer.
Standing beside her, under the shade of a tree were two purple Ghost-Type Pokémon, one of them looking like a purple ball of has while the other had a humanoid look.
If one were to disregard the large eyes and the creepy looking smile that is.
The giggling pair were Gastly and Gengar. He had caught them from the Lavender Town's Pokémon Tower. He had initially wanted to go and ask Sabrina for Haunter, but realized that he had never caught the Pokémon and had therefore no right to it. After realizing that, he had decided to visit the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town in the hope of catching another Ghost Type. Imagine his surprise when he not only found these two, but that both of them were desperate to leave the Tower. Apparently they had gotten bored of pranking the trainers and had readily decided to join Ash.
Next to them was a Pokémon that he knew was a Sinnoh native. It was a feline, quadrupled Pokémon resembling a young lion with black and blue fur covering most of its body. Its ears, face, hind paws and front half of the body were blue while its hindquarters was black. It had a tufty black mane surrounding its head. The insides of its ears were yellow, a color matching its eyes. There were two yellow rings around each front leg and a yellow, four-point star on the tip of its tail. This Pokémon was Luxio, the extended fur on its hind paws showing that it was a female one.
Ash had been contacted a month ago by Norman, the Petalburg City gym leader informing that he wanted to trade a Shinx for one of his Tauros. Apparently, he had caught Shinx by mistake while on a holiday trip in Sinnoh. He would have kept the Pokémon, but he was primarily a trainer for Normal Type Pokémon. So, while he did train the Shinx for a few months he had started experiencing difficulties in training her.
It was around that time when he heard from Birch that Ash was looking to trade a few of his Tauros. Norman, knowing the kind of trainer Ash was, knew that the Tauros would be strong and had jumped at the opportunity to get a Tauros, which was considered to be among the stronger Normal Type Pokémon. Besides, he knew that Shinx would be trained nicely, having already seen Pikachu in action.
Therefore he had gotten in touch with Ash and not a few minutes later, the young trainer was the proud owner of a new Pokémon. Ash's delight was amplified two fold when Shinx evolved into Luxio not a week later. It seemed that the one week training with Pikachu, who had become sort of a mentor for the young Pokémon, was enough for her to cross the threshold required for evolution.
Shinx was not the only Pokémon who had evolved in the four months' time. Cyndaquil had evolved into Quilava, so had Corphish into Crawdawnt. He could feel that Larvitar and Bayleef were on the cusp of evolution and needed one incentive to do so. However the biggest surprise for the entire group was the surprise evolution of Bulbasaur. He remembered the incident clearly.
Flashback-Four Months Ago
Ash stood by the side, massaging his head in order to stave off the impending headache. Primeape had been dropped off by Anthony not fifteen minutes ago, and here he was picking up a fight with Charizard. And he could see that even Sceptile seemed to be primed to fight in order to prove his superiority. He just knew that the situation was going to be troublesome.
He moved to tell them to back off when Mewtwo's voice abruptly rang out. "Ash, someone is coming here."
Ash immediately turned his gaze towards the entrance of the Corral. "You know what to do Mewtwo."
Giving an imperceptible nod, Mewtwo's eyes glowed before he along with Suicune vanished from the spot, not even leaving a trace of them ever being there. And it seemed to be timed down to the second as a woman in blue police uniform made way towards the group.
"Good evening, Officer Jenny," Ash made his way towards the now recognized police officer. His attention was momentarily distracted by the figure that was trying to hide behind said officer.
"Good evening to you too Ash," Jenny responded while taking his hand to shake it. "You called to get Squirtle back didn't you?" Seeing his eyes lit up, Jenny smirked. "There is a surprise for you however." Seeing his confused expression, she continued. "I think it would be best if you simply saw it." Not giving any further indication, she stepped aside.
To a sight that made Ash widen his eyes in astonishment. As a matter of fact, several of the Pokémon behind him had a similar expression on their faces.
Standing in front of them was a bipedal, indigo blue Pokémon similar to a turtle. It had brown eyes, a dark blue streak on each cheek, and two sharp teeth protruding from its upper jaw. It had three clawed fingers and pointed toes. Bluish white fur covered its long ears and tail while a brown shell with a pale yellow underside encased its body. Finally a thick, white rim separated the upper and lower halves of the shell. This was Wartortle, the evolved form of Squirtle.
Seeing everyone's flummoxed countenance, Jenny decided to expound, "A few months ago, we were called to subdue a fire in an apartment complex. While initially it looked like we were succeeding, soon the fire at one of the levels went out of control. People were trapped inside so we redirected our attention to that level. However, no matter how much we tried we weren't able to restrain the fire and the Squirtle Squad, except for your Squirtle, were running on fumes."
"They were just about to collapse from exhaustion when Squirtle started glowing. And the next thing I know, he evolves and expels water at such a high rate that the entire complex fire was doused within the next two minutes."
Ash marveled as he crouched down to the level of his fidgeting Pokémon, when Jenny added, "Though he has been skittish and somewhat morose for the entire time. Do you know why?"
Ash gently stroked the Water Type, who leaned into the touch. "He was sad because he did not want to evolve. He had promised my Bulbasaur that he would stay in his base form just like him and now that he has evolved, he has broken his promise he thinks that Bulbasaur will not stay his friend any more. Isn't that right bud?"
"Wartortle" the Pokémon muttered, his head down in what he would have perceived as shame.
Ash was about to console the Pokémon, when something else caught his attention.
It was a bright light.
Everyone turned towards the direction of the light, and were stunned in silence with what they saw. It was the light generated when a Pokémon evolved. However, rather than the evolution generating the silence, it was the Pokémon that had caused such a reaction.
Flashback End
Ash smiled as he saw Wartortle standing beside Ivysaur. Ivysaur was a bluish-green quadrupled Pokémon with darker patches. Two pointed teeth protrude from its upper jaw, and it has narrow red to purple eyes. On top of its head were pointed ears with black inside. It had a short, rounded snout with a wide mouth while each of its feet had three claws on them. The bulb on its back had bloomed into a large pink bud that was supported by a short brown trunk surrounded by leafy green fronds.
Bulbasaur, showing that he did not care whether he had evolved or not and in order to show his support had decided to evolve himself. When he later asked the Seed Pokémon about his own resolve, Ivysaur had declared that he had grown as much as he could as a Bulbasaur and that he did not see any further growth for himself in that form.
His attention turned towards the final Pokémon who had evolved in the group. The Pokémon was encased inside a thick shell made of grayish-blue rock. Its red eyes could be seen through two holes in the shell, while two more holes were directly above resembling eyebrows. The upper portion of its body it was covered by a masklike plate with four large spikes on either side and three additional spikes protruded from its forehead. This was Pupitar, the evolved form of Larvitar.
The young Pokémon had trained day and night for the past four months, wanting to be Ash's strongest Pokémon and the outcome was discernible. Larvitar had shown the resilience to go the extra mile just to gain any new skill. As such, he had evolved just a few weeks ago which according to Ash was an accomplishment as it was known that it took the Larvitar line notoriously long time to evolve.
"All right, all right back off everyone," Ash implored the group and the group begrudgingly backed off. Taking a deep breath, he looked at them with a ear splitting grin on his face.
"You all don't know how proud I am of you," he began, and he could literally see most of them puff up their chest. He continued, "I know the last four months have been great for us and we all have grown. And now we are going to do our best to conquer Sinnoh. Are we not?"
The affirmative shout would have made a normal per on deaf, but Ash seemed to take it in stride. He continued speaking, "Now I know that all of you would like to join as I begin the journey. However, you all must understand that I can only carry a limited number. Even then I have to leave a few slots for any Pokémon that I will eventually catch in Sinnoh. So I will only take eight of you with me right now and regularly rotate so that each one of you spends some time with me."
Several of those whom weren't chosen were somewhat disheartened at not being picked by their trainer, however all of them were mature enough to know that even though he didn't choose them that didn't mean that he had forgotten about them. They were confident that they would help him in conquering a new region.
Although one Pokémon standing off to the sides seemed to have altogether another idea.
"You know Ash," Daisy began, in what he now recognized as her teasing voice, "you should start writing motivational books. If this small speech was anything to go by, I am sure that it will be a bestseller. I'm sure that if grandpa was here, he would have taken notes to publish in his books."
"It was nothing," Ash mumbled before he shrugged. "I spoke what came in my mind. Besides, if it makes my Pokémon happy I will happily do so again." He continued, as he turned to face the rest of his Pokémon, "Anyways, are you ready to go?"
"Pi Pika Chu!"
Daisy did not get to reply as Pikachu suddenly jumped on Ash's shoulder.
"Hey bud," Ash smiled as he rubbed his starter under his chin. "You ready to conquer Sinnoh?"
"Pikachu!" the Mouse Pokémon nodded with a pumped up fist.
"Yeah!" Ash exclaimed, his Pokémon's joy leaching into him. "I can't wait either." He turned back towards Daisy, and rubbed the back of his neck at her deadpan. "Ah, sorry about that. You ready to go?"
"Yup," she nodded, before frowning. "How are we going to reach Vermillion City? You do know that the ship leaves in the evening, don't you?"
"Of course I know," Ash grouched at the lack of faith. "And I have a plan by which we can reach Vermillion well before the ship leaves." Seeing that he had her undivided attention, he tossed two Pokéballs into the air, Charizard and Pidgeot appearing in a flash.
Being the smart person she was, it didn't take long for Daisy to realize what Ash wanted to do. She gave an ear-splitting grin before mounting Pidgeot while Ash climbed on Charizard's back, while Pikachu mounted on his regular spot.
Not waiting for any kind of reply, the duo launched into the air and made their way towards their destination, shouts of exhilaration emanating from both of them.
Turns out Daisy Oak is an adrenaline junkie. Go figure.
It was close to lunchtime when the duo landed on the outskirts of Vermillion City. Ash would have directly entered the city, but the appearance of two fully evolved Pokémon would have created some commotion, something that he didn't want. So, recalling both his Pokémon, they made their way into the city.
As they entered the city, Ash removed his cap to try, and fail, at giving his hair some semblance of order. He gave a quick glance towards Daisy, whose hair seemed to be immaculate as ever despite the high speed at which they were flying. He thought of any way that she could have done it herself and soon left it as a mystery that he had come to know as the opposite sex.
The duo spent the rest of the afternoon travelling throughout the city, before having a quick lunch at one of the roadside stands. They soon made their way onto the huge cruise liner, S.S. Anne, a slightly larger replica of the ship that had that had sunk nearly four years ago.
Ash shivered as he remembered that particular incident. He did not want to experience such a thing again. EVER. As they went towards their particular rooms, Ash couldn't help but feel excited about the new land that he was about to visit. The new adventures that he would have. And the new friends that he would make.
Too bad he didn't notice the trio that shadowed them as they had entered the ship. Equally bad for him was the fact that he had let Mewtwo go and visit his clone friends before joining him back in Sinnoh.
Still, as he decided to take a short nap, he couldn't help but feel eager thinking about the adventure he would have when the ship reached their destination.
In two days' time.
He just had to think of ways to spend the next two days in a ship.
He groaned.