Merry Christmas guys or if you don't celebrate Christmas then Happy Holidays and I hope you will all have a very Happy New Year. This is the final update this year so I'll see you next year.

Thanks for the reviews guys I really appreciate you taking the time to write one.

Here's chapter 4 I hope you enjoy.

In conversations:

'- Translation of Poké Speech – No human unless otherwise stated can understand it.

"- Human speech

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

The next day Ash woke up raring to go. He wanted to get to Petalburg by mid morning so he could make up on lost time. He got all of his things packed and returned his Pokémon . After leaving his room he went to May's room, he knocked on the door but got no answer, he knocked harder but again got no answer. He checked his watch and saw that it was only 6am so he was pretty sure she'd probably never woken up this early before . He tried knocking a few more times but still got no answer so he changed his strategy.

"Hey May the Pokémon Centre has a buffet. If you don't get down there soon you'll just have to have the warmed up leftovers."

Raichu and Meowth snickered quietly. For a moment they heard nothing, Ash was about to give up and go when he suddenly heard footsteps inside. A couple of minutes later her door flew open and a fully dressed May ran straight past Ash headed for the canteen. Ash, Meowth and Raichu broke into hysterics, they were laughing so hard that they having to wipe tears from their eyes. The trio stopped laughing when they heard someone growling menacingly and footsteps thudding on the stairs. May got to the top of the stairs and saw the trio stood outside her door. She sent a terrifying glare at them which made all 3 get chills down their spines. Ash had to admit that May's glare would have challenged Misty's. She stomped up to Ash and said.

"I'm gonna kill you."

Ash took a step back.

"Now calm down May. I just thought you'd wanna get home as soon as you can so you can see your family."

"It's 6am I want to sleep."

"Well you're awake now so we might as well get going."

She took a step forward and her glare intensified. Ash stood there wondering what he could do to placate her then he got an idea.

"How about I make it up to you by making breakfast?"

At the mention of food she momentarily faltered but she still looked furious. She kept glaring at Ash for about a minute and then she sighed.

"Fine but it better be a damn good breakfast."

Ash didn't waste and second and quickly went downstairs. He walked to the main desk and pretty much begged Nurse Joy to allow him to use the Pokémon Centre's kitchen. To his relief she allowed it since the cook didn't start until 7:30. Ash thanked Nurse Joy and went into the kitchen and began making a variety of dishes for May who had taken a seat in the cafeteria. After 10 minutes Ash stated serving the food in hindsight Ash thought he probably went a bit overboard and made too much but she polished off the lot. As she finished the last bite Ash stood there waiting, he was just hoping that he was back in her good books.

"So am I off the hook."

She gave him an angry look for a second and then a smile broke out on her face.

"Yeah I guess so."

Ash breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't like having people angry at him which reminded him that he had to call Misty and Brock when he got a chance. May went and got her bag and the duo left the Pokémon Centre and headed west to Route 102. As they walked down route 102 they saw Zigzagoon, Wurmple, Poochyena and the odd Lotad. Ash had considered catching one of the Lotad but it wouldn't really be a great addition to his team. Ash did want to catch more Pokémon than he had in previous regions but he was being selective he wasn't going to catch a Pokémon just because it was there.

They reached Petalburg at about 10:30 which considering they had taken a break was earlier than Ash expected. He walked through the small town with May to her house which was attached to the gym. May walked up to the door and knocked on the door. While she waited for the door to open she heard footsteps walking away. She turned around and saw Ash now walking towards the open gate. He stopped as he heard May ask.

"Hey Ash where are you going?"

"Well I was gonna head to Rotarka Town. There's a tournament there in a weeks time so I want to get there for that."

"Well could you just come in for a while? I'm sure my family would like to thank you for saving me."

The door then opened and a woman with blue eyes and brown hair appeared.

"Hello May."

The woman looked over May's shoulder and saw Ash.

"Who's your friend?"

"Mum this is Ash."

"Hello Ash. Would you like to come in?"

Ash didn't want to be rude and said.

"Ok, thank you Mrs Maple."

"Please call me Caroline. Mrs Maple makes me feel old."

Ash nodded and followed May as she walked inside. When inside Ash took a look in the main room and saw a man sat in a chair reading a paper. May walked over to him and gave him a hug.

"Hey dad."

He sent a disappointed look at May.

"May you're late. You were supposed to be home yesterday."

She looked down guiltily.

"Sorry dad I was attacked by a bunch of Poochyena and a couple of Mightyena. So I got delayed."

Norman and Caroline sent worried looks at May. Norman then shot up checking his daughter for injuries making the girl giggle.

"Dad I'm fine. My friend Ash saved me."

Norman and Caroline walked over to Ash, the former shook Ash's hand and the latter pulled him into a hug.

"May you are going to tell your father and I everything that has happened."

A young boy raced down the stairs and asked if May was in trouble. But he was disappointed to find out that she wasn't. After introducing Ash to Max everyone took a seat in the main room and May began recounting what had happened from her first angering the Poochyena to her and Ash walking in here. She told everything in excruciating detail which made her little brother laugh when he heard about how Ash had woken her up. Max stopped laughing after he got a smack in the head from May. When May was finished Norman got up and shook Ash's hand again.

"Thank you Ash. You have no idea how grateful we are."

"It's no problem Norman."

"So Ash do you want to challenge me for the Balance Badge now?"

"Thanks for the offer Norman but I know the Hoenn League rules and I will adhere to them. When I win the first four badges I'll return here"

"Okay Ash. I'll be waiting for our battle. Would you like to stay for lunch?"

Ash looked at the time and realised he'd been here for 3 hours. He took them up on their offer and stayed for lunch. Although he was way behind schedule he had enjoyed his time spent with them. After lunch he knew he had to get on the road to have a chance of keeping to his schedule.

"I really must leave now if I am to keep to stick to my plan, thank you Caroline, Norman for your hospitality. Here is the number to my Pokénav, so you can call me if you need to.."

"Okay Ash, thank you again for everything."

Norman shook Ash's hand a final time and Caroline, Max and May hugged him. He smiled and walked out of their home. He took one last look at the house and headed towards the western exit of Petalburg.

Ash left Petalburg and took his first steps on to Route 104. He checked the map feature on his Pokénav and guessed that he'd get to Rotarka Town in about 2 days providing nothing else delayed him. He wanted to get there early so he could get registered for the tournament and use the rest of the time before the tournament starts to train.

As he walked Ash was looking all around for some Pokémon to catch. He was hoping that his luck would change as he hadn't found any wild Pokémon he wanted to capture yet. However this route was known for having a good variety of Pokémon so he thought he had a good chance of finding something. The sky was getting dark and Ash was about to set up camp when he thought he heard someone sobbing. He looked to the south which was a thick forest.

"Hey did you guys hear that?"

Meowth and Raichu both nodded and looked at the forest.

"Let's go see what's happening."

Ash walked through the forest pushing obstructing branches aside. As he got deeper into the forest it thickened making it harder for him to get through the dense woods. He could hear the sobbing getting louder so he picked up the pace and pushed his way through a thicket of trees. Once he got past the trees he came to an open clearing and he saw a tiny figure leaned up against a tree. He ran to the creatures side and saw that it was a Ralts. He felt his heart break for the Ralts, she was covered in blood and grime and her face was badly bruised. Ralts sensed that someone was near and she managed to open an eye and saw the human in front of her. She could sense that he was a kind, compassionate and loving person so she used the last of her strength to crawl to him and then she blacked out.

Ash got to his knees and Raichu and Meowth jumped off Ash's shoulders. Ash handed handed Eevee to Raichu. Ash picked up the Ralts and got a closer look at her injuries it was obvious that she'd been abused. Whether the damage had been caused by a trainer or by other Pokémon would be unknown until he could ask her. Judging by the size of her Ash guessed that she probably wasn't much older than Eevee.

He gently shifted Ralts into his right arm and sent out his Pokémon. They saw the badly injured Ralts in Ash's arms and they looked at the poor Pokémon with sorrow in their eyes. Ash told them to begin making camp but to be as quiet as they could be. They nodded and split up so they could do their own duties whether it was gathering fire wood, finding berries or looking around to make sure there were no threats in the area. Raichu and Meowth were the only ones who stayed behind so they could keep Eevee safe. Whole his Pokémon were off setting up camp Ash took the Ralts to the small lake in the middle of the clearing. He took a cloth out of his back pack and started wiping the blood and grime off her, once he'd cleaned her he sprayed some of her worst wounds with a Super Potion and then placed her in his sleeping bag to rest.

They all spent the next couple of hours waiting for Ralts to wake up. Ash's Pokémon had been trying to relax but they were far too concerned for the Ralts. As bad as it had been for them it was 10 times worse for Ash, the only thing keeping him sane was Eevee who was sat in his lap purring in satisfaction as he groomed her. Ash heard a faint groan to his right and saw Ralts waking up, he stopped grooming Eevee who whined in discontent.

"Hey I promise that once I've tended to Ralts I'll get straight back to grooming you."

She yipped happily and licked his cheek. Ash smiled back at her and hugged her, he then placed her on the ground and sat down next Ralts who was now sat up. She saw Ash and held her arms out, Ash knew what she wanted and he picked her up. As soon as she was in his arms she clutched on to his shirt and began bawling into it. Ash hugged her tightly and was rubbing her back in an attempt to calm her.

"Please calm down. Nobody will hurt you now."

Her sobbing seemed to lessen but she was still clinging on to Ash's shirt. He moved his hand from her back to her head and began stroking her head which seed to help calm her as her sobs became whimpers. Now that she was calming down Ash thought that he'd try to find out what happened to her.

"Hey Meowth can you come over here?"

The cat stopped his conversation with Raichu and walked over to Ash.

"What do ya need boss?"

"I was wondering if you could translate what she's saying for me?"

"Sure."

Ash turned his attention back to Ralts who had stopped whimpering but was still shaking.

"How old are you?"

She looked up at Ash,with tear stained cheeks and started talking. When she finished Ash looked at Meowth.

"She says dat she is only a couple of weeks old."

Ash was shocked that someone could beat a young defenceless child so mercilessly.

"Who did this to you?"

Again he heard her talking. When she finished all of Ash's Pokémon looked horrified. Their looks told Ash that it was a trainer who did this.

"Well by the look on your face I guess that you know that her trainer did this. He was training her but she couldn't do what he was asking so he got mad and told all of his Pokémon to attack her."

Ash was fuming, how could that scum bag try to make an incredibly young Pokémon start battling?

"Of course she can't start training. She's only a couple of weeks old. That trainer is a disgrace."

The sudden burst of anger from Ash brought a slight whimper came from Ralts. Ash heard the whimper and calmed himself down, he didn't want to scare Ralts anymore than she already was. He banished all the darker thoughts from his mind and softly spoke to her.

"Hey Ralts would you like to come with me? I promise that I will never do anything to hurt you."

She knew that there was no other place she'd rather be. She felt safe in Ash's arms and knew that every word he had said was true. She smiled at Ash and nodded, Ash heard her saying her name over and over again. He smiled as he knew what she was saying.

"Well that settles it you're coming with us Ralts."

A huge smile broke out on her face and she nestled her head into Ash's shirt. Ash tightened his grip on her vowed that if he found the trainer who did this to Ralts he would make sure that he would get a taste of his own medicine. He didn't know that all his Pokémon had done the same thing. Ash decided that they would stay where they were, the sky was now pitch black and the only thing lighting the clearing was Cyndaquil's flames so there really would be no point in travelling any further today. Everyone agreed with Ash's decision and curled quickly falling to sleep. Ash was the last one to fall asleep the last thing he saw before he joined them was the smile on Ralts' face.

Next morning Ash got ready to set off. After everyone had finished their breakfast Ash returned all of his Pokémon. He chose not to put Ralts in a poke ball yet for the same reason he not put Eevee in one. Another reason was that she might associate it with her former trainer which could be terrifying for her. She was looking better than she did yesterday, the bruising had faded slightly but they still looked very painful. He packed everything up and bent down picking the 2 young Pokémon up. Eevee and Ralts both happily nuzzled into his shirt and dozed off again. Ash looked at Meowth and Raichu who were stood either side of him.

"Hey Meowth, Raichu do you mind walking today? I want you to be on guard while I'm carrying Eevee and Ralts."

They both nodded and started walking either side of Ash, all three keeping quiet so that the young ones could rest.

They'd been walking for a couple of hours, Ralts and Eevee had woken up a while ago so everyone was on the lookout for any Pokémon. Ash then spotted one of the Pokémon he'd been wanting. It was lying near a tree in the shade and it looked to be asleep. The Pokémon is a whitish insect. It has a pointed snout, a thin stripe that dips in a V-shaped pattern between its eyes, and whisker-like antennae on its face. Its eyes are black with green iris-like rings inside. Its hind legs are white and the forelegs are brown, and it has small, green wings on its back. Ash took one of the poke balls off his belt.

"Great we've found a Nincada."

Ash placed Ralts and Eevee on the ground who both whined at not being in Ash's embrace anymore. Ash gave them a quick hug and stood back up. He saw Raichu and Meowth stand in front of the two young Pokémon to protect them. Ash threw the Pokéball that was in his hand.

"Totodile to the battlefield."

Totodile came out and looked focussed, although he was still the happy-go-lucky Pokémon he'd always been he now knew that there were times when you had to be serious.

"Hit Nincada with Water Gun."

Totodile opened his mouth and fired a forceful shot of water at Nincada who jumped out of the way which surprised Ash as Nincada generally have poor eyesight and rely on other senses. This meant that this Nincada must have very heightened senses which impressed Ash. He also had to admit that the Nincada's agility was also quite impressive. Nincada scraped his claws across the ground which sent a cloud of dust at Totodile. The dust blinded Totodile for a moment which was long enough for Nincada to rush forward and ram into Totodile. The small crocodile quickly recovered and smirked.

"Use Aqua Jet."

Totodile was surrounded in water and shot off towards Nincada who dug underground avoiding the attack. Totodile was looking all around him trying to see where Nincada was but couldn't find anything. The bug then burst out of the ground and its forelegs were crossed in front of him and he hit Totodile with an X-Scissor. Totodile's fist became encased in ice and he threw a punch at where Nincada was but he dodged by digging back underground.

"Totodile calm down and focus."

Totodile steadied his breathing and closed his eyes which. He stood completely still, then felt the ground behind him shake and turned around.

"Hit him with Iron Tail and then finish him with Ice Punch."

Nincada shot out of the ground and tried to use X-Scissor again like he had done before. But this time Totodile was ready and slammed his now metallic tail into the bugs midriff which sent him flying into the air. Totodile's fist was then encased in ice and he waited until Nincada nearly hit the ground and punched him making the bug slam into a tree. Nincada slumped to the ground, seeing his chance Ash threw a spare poke ball at Nincada, it shook 3 times before it signalled the capture.

"Great job Totodile."

'Thanks Ash.'

Totodile gave Ash a thumbs up and then began dancing happily making everyone laugh at the fact that in a matter of seconds he had gone from a deadly serious battler to someone completely carefree. Ash went and picked up Nincada's Pokéball.

"This guy put up a good fight and by what we saw he knows some good moves."

Ash returned Totodile and put his and Nincada's poke balls on his belt, he bent down and picked up Ralts and Eevee and got back on the road to Rotarka Town.

As midday approached Ash looked for somewhere they could stop for lunch and do some training. He searched for about half an hour until he finally came across a small clearing which would be perfect. He shrugged off his back pack and put Ralts and Eevee next to it, he then sent out all his Pokémon.

"Alright everyone we're doing some training today, Nincada, Mudkip and Sneasel you're with me the rest of you have a free for all. It will be a good opportunity for you to test any new moves you've been working on, this also give you great experience in fighting multiple opponents on your own."

The Pokémon did as Ash asked and began their battle. Ash saw Ralts' shoulders droop and she started shuffling towards the other's, he walked over to her and scooped her up.

"Whoa, I didn't mean you Ralts, you're staying with me and Eevee."

She looked up at him with a smile and with relief in her eyes. Ash smiled back at her until he heard an irritated yip and looked down at the pouting Eevee next to him, he bent down and picked her up.

"Sorry Eevee."

She yipped happily and licked his cheek. Ash tightened his grip on both young Pokémon who snuggled into his embrace. Ash then started looking around the area, he needed something heavy to use as weights for Mudkip. Ash then spotted a boulder and got an idea.

"Hey Raichu come over here."

The mouse broke off from the mêlée and was now in front of Ash.

"Can you go over there and use Iron Tail on that boulder and bring me back a heavy piece of rock that I can use for Mudkip."

Raichu nodded and ran at the boulder, he leapt in the air and slammed his metallic tail on the boulder which shattered it. Raichu picked up on of the larger rocks and took it back to Ash placing it at his feet.

"Thanks buddy."

'No problem Ash'

Raichu turned around and jumped back into the mêlée, Ash then took some rope out of his bag.

"Right Mudkip I am going to strap this rock to your tail-fin to strengthen it. When you're ready we'll work on Iron Tail."

Ash placed Eevee and Ralts back on the ground and began tying the rock to Mudkip's tail-fin.

"Now I want you to run laps around the clearing and don't drag your tail-fin on the ground."

Mudkip nodded and ran around the area watching the battle between Ash's older Pokémon. This just left Nincada and Sneasel, Ash at first had planned to see what moves they had but he saw the way both of them were staring at the free for all going on and he knew that was what Nincada and Sneasel wanted to be doing

"Ok you two I was thinking I'd heal you up Nincada and then both of you can get involved in the battle."

Nincada and Sneasel nodded and Ash went and got a Super Potion from his back pack and sprayed it on Nincada's wounds which were now almost fully healed. Nincada and Sneasel then moved as quickly as they could to the battle and got involved. Nincada started trading blows with Totodile and Sneasel was battling Meowth. Ash sat down at the base of a tree with Eevee and Ralts and watched the battle. He had done a lot of this kind of battling back at the ranch, it allowed him to see any weaknesses they had and it would be a good demonstration of Nincada and Sneasel's abilities.

Ash stopped the battle after about 2 and a half hours. He had been very been impressed by what he'd seen as everyone had clearly improved since the last time they'd battled like this. But the real surprise was how well Nincada and Sneasel did. Ash was pretty sure that it wouldn't take long for them to catch up to the others. Sneasel and Nincada staggered over to Ash, both were struggling to stand after the intense battle but both were proud of how they had managed to keep going against Ash's old Pokémon. Ash took a look at Mudkip who was doing one final lap of the clearing. He was amazed that Mudkip had kept going for the full 2 and a half hours without a single break. Ash was incredibly proud of the dedication all of his Pokémon were showing especially Mudkip, Nincada and Sneasel. All of his Pokémon started walking back to Ash Nincada, Mudkip and Sneasel then collapsed to the ground in front of him, the trio looked exhausted and sweat was pouring off them. Raichu and the other's were tired but were still more than capable of battling again. Ash removed the rock from Mudkip's tail-fin which made him relax and he now sat up although he still looked completely drained.

They all looked longingly at the food Ash had prepared for them. Seeing the looks on their faces made Ash chuckle, he put the food he had made into some bowls and placed them in front of the Pokémon. They dug into the food and instantly felt revitalised as Ash had crushed some Oran berries and sprinkled that on top of the food. As usual the food was polished off in no time making Ash chuckle again. They all then went off and started relaxing while Ash fed Eevee and Ralts

While Ash was feeding the young Pokémon he heard a rustling to his left where his back pack was. It didn't take a genius to know that it was Raichu searching for his favourite condiment. Usually Ash would have been quick to stop the mouse however today he wouldn't as he'd planned a little surprise for Raichu with the help of Sneasel. He looked over to Sneasel who was trying and failing to stifle a giggle. Raichu completely oblivious to everyone now watching him kept rummaging through the bag until he finally found what he was looking for. He pulled the bottle out and stared lovingly at it. He took a few steps away from the backpack and took the lid off the ketchup which then exploded in his face covering him in ketchup. Everyone burst out laughing at the ketchup covered mouse.

Raichu turned around and sent everyone a glare but nobody was intimidated by the look it just made them laugh even harder. Raichu feeling embarrassed about the situation sat down and started trying to wipe the ketchup off but wasn't having much success. Raichu was still wiping the ketchup off when he was hit by 2 streams of water which completely drenched the mouse. He got to his feet and glared at the water types. Mudkip chuckled and said nervously.

'Hey me and Totodile thought that you needed a hand cleaning the ketchup off.'

'Well let me repay you. I believe you two could use a bit of a shock.'

Raichu fired a Thunderbolt at them but they managed to dodge it. Raichu started chasing the duo around the clearing firing several Thunderbolt's at them but they were managing to avoid to the electricity. As he watched them run around the clearing Ash considered stopping them but he really didn't want to get in the way of Raichu right now so he left them be. If nothing else it would be a good way for Mudkip and Totodile to gain a bit of resistance against electric moves.

Notes

Please give a review telling me what you liked/didn't like.

If you have any questions I am more than happy to answer them.

Ash:

Kanto – Raichu, Meowth, Ivysaur, Wartortle, Charizard, Pidgeot, Kingler, Muk, Tauros(x29), Snorlax & Eevee (Shiny)

Johto – Totodile, Bayleaf, Cyndaquil, Heracross, Noctowl (Shiny), Phanpy & Sneasel

Hoenn – Mudkip, Nincada & Ralts