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

Here's chapter 17 I hope you enjoy.

In conversations:

'- Translation of Poké Speech – No human unless otherwise stated can understand it. Ash can get the gist of what his Pokémon are saying due to his close bond with them.

"- Human speech

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

After what felt like a long two days Ash was stood in the building that was holding the Trading Battle Event. He had gotten there early expecting to be one of the only ones there but was surprised to find that the building was full and battles were now taking place outside. He felt a pang of guilt as he heard Eevee whine from inside of his coat. She had been placed in one of the inner pockets before they had left the Pokémon Centre as they didn't want to have people pester them about trading for her. Eevee had been reluctant to spend time in the pocket however she quickly agreed when the alternative was staying in her Pokéball. Ash could still see the heartbroken look on Eevee's face and it killed him to see her so sad.

Ash looked around and spotted a secluded area that nobody seemed to be using. He walked into the area and after making sure no one was around he opened his coat. Raichu and Meowth then jumped off of his shoulders and stood guard. Knowing that it was now safe Ash took Eevee out of the pocket she had been sat in and hugged her tightly. Ralts saw how sad he sister was and also wrapped her arms around her. Eevee looked up at her dad sadly.

"Eevee I'm sorry that you have to stay in there. Believe me I don't want to do it but I don't want people constantly bothering us about trading for you."

Eevee nodded as she understood why her dad was doing this.

"I promise that I'll get done as soon as possible then we can return to out room in the Pokémon Centre and we can do whatever you want."

The young Pokémon seemed to brighten after hearing that and licked Ash's cheek. Ash let out a short laugh as Eevee's wet tongue tickled his cheek. He then placed a kiss on Eevee's forehead and eased her back into the pocket. Ash then heard a whine from Ralts he looked at her and saw that she was pouting. After a few moments Ash realised what the problem was and placed a kiss on Ralts' forehead which made her giggle happily.

Ash walked out of the area and braced himself as Raichu and Meowth took their places on his shoulders. He then started to step through the crowds looking for an opponent. He finally came to a battle where it was a Chimchar battling an Aipom. The Chimchar easily won and Ash watched as the trainer glared at his own Chimchar then at his opponent.

"Another worthless opponent. Isn't there anyone here who can actually give me a challenge?"

Ash pushed through the crowd and after helping the defeated trainer and his Aipom he stood opposite the purple haired trainer.

"I'll challenge you." Ash declared.

The purple haired boy smirked as he could tell by the Raichu and Meowth sat on his shoulders that this trainer was strong. Meowth and Raichu took Ralts from Ash and stood either side of him. Ash then took one of the Tauros' Pokéballs off his belt.

"Tauros to the battlefield."

The bull Pokémon appeared on the battlefield and snorted as he saw his opponent.

"Okay Tauros this may be our first proper battle together but I know that we can win this."

As soon as the purple haired trainer heard Ash say that this was their first battle he was disappointed and insulted that he would dare waste his time. He wanted a real battle not some practice match for a trainer and a Pokémon he's never used before.

"Chimchar use Flamethrower."

"Run through the flames and use Horn Attack."

Chimchar opened his mouth and shot a burst of flames at Tauros. The bull was not bothered by the flames headed his way and charged full speed at Chimchar. The fire monkey was stunned as he saw Tauros run through his Flamethrower and what was more shocking was that he appeared to be completely fine. Chimchar was so shocked by what he saw that he didn't even have a chance to dodge Tauros who lifted him up and threw him into the air.

"Land on Tauros' back and use Fury Swipes."

Chimchar snapped out of his shock and as he fell towards the ground he aimed himself to land on Tauros' back. The fire monkey let out a small cheer as he managed to do it. His fingers then glowed white and he slashed Tauros' back repeatedly. Tauros bellowed as he felt Chimchar scratch him repeatedly.

"Stampede."

Tauros was confused by Ash's command but didn't question it and started to run around the battlefield as if the herd was around him. Chimchar had to stop attacking in order to hold on to Tauros as he ran and occasionally bucked.

"Now stop!"

Tauros immediately stopped in place which sent Chimchar flying off his back as the fire monkey had not been ready for the sudden stop. Chimchar quickly got back up after he saw his trainer glaring at him and got into a battle stance. Ash admired the tenacity the Chimchar seemed to have but it worried him that it only seemed to be because his trainer would give him a dark look if he didn't get back up.

"Use Take Down."

"Charge at him with Flame Wheel."

This guy can't be serious Ash thought as he watched Tauros glow white and then charge at Chimchar. The fire monkey quickly got into a ball and became engulfed in flames. Chimchar then rolled full speed at Tauros and they clashed however the difference in physical strength was apparent to everyone and after a very short battle for dominance Tauros easily overpowered Chimchar who skidded along the ground coming to a stop in front of his trainer. Chimchar tried to get up but he had taken too much damage to continue.

"You pathetic Pokémon. Do you finally see how right I am? You lost to a Pokémon which he clearly never uses. That's how weak you are. I'm glad that I'll finally be rid of you." the trainer snarled.

"Hey why the hell are you talking to your Chimchar like that?"

"I talk to my Pokémon how I want. That thing is a weakling and I have no room for weakling."

Chimchar felt heartbroken as his trainers words pierced him like a knife to his heart. Ash looked sadly at the Chimchar who now had tears in his eyes and knew that he couldn't let that Chimchar stay with that trainer but there was no way that he'd give him on of his Tauros. Ash looked to his left and after looking at his best friend he had an idea.

"Hey how about we have another battle?" Ash asked.

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Because I have a deal for you. The deal is that if I win I get Chimchar and if you win you get my Tauros."

The trainer smirked as he liked the sound of that.

"Fine I'll crush you and get the chance to trade this worthless monkey to someone else."

Ash growled angrily as he returned Tauros.

"Raichu to the battlefield."

Raichu jumped on to the battlefield and glared at the trainers as his cheeks crackled. The trainer smirked at Raichu and then turned his gaze to Chimchar who flinched.

"You're going to watch as a strong Pokémon wins a battle. Electibuzz standby for battle."

The electric Pokémon appeared on the battlefield and grinned as he saw the Raichu stood opposite him. Usually he was disappointed to fight a fellow electric Pokémon but this Raichu looked powerful. Ash looked at the Electibuzz who now stood on the battlefield and hoped that this would be an interesting fight as Raichu's electric attacks wouldn't be that effective.

"Thunder Punch." the trainer ordered.

"Match it with Iron Tail.

Electibuzz's fist crackled with electricity and he charged at Raichu who ran to meet the charge as his tail turned metallic. When they were no more than a foot away from each other they made their move. Electibuzz threw his fist forward and Raichu swung his tail at him. Electibuzz's fist met Raichu's tail and Electibuzz winced in pain as he felt his hand punch Raichu's metallic tail. Ash and Raichu saw Electibuzz wince and were disappointed as it showed that Electibuzz wasn't as strong as they had been hoping. The purple haired trainer watched angrily as his Electibuzz was being pushed back by a rat.

"Use Brick Break!" he yelled.

"Jump and use Brick Break."

Electibuzz's left arm glowed white and he aimed it down at Raichu's head. The mouse saw the arm headed his way and leapt away causing Electibuzz's arm to slam into the ground and get stuck. Raichu saw this as a golden opportunity and his right arm glowed white. He then slammed it down on Electibuzz's head making him groan in pain and then collapse. Raichu presumed that the match was over so he started to walk back to Ash. He stopped when he heard another groan behind him. He turned around and was surprised to see that Electibuzz had somehow managed to get back to his feet.

"Thunder Punch." Ash said.

Raichu's fist started to crackle with electricity and he hit Electibuzz with an electric infused uppercut which knocked Electibuzz off his feet. Electibuzz crashed to the ground and let out a pained cry as it felt like the punch had shattered his jaw. He opened an eye and saw Raichu stood in front of him.

'Stay down.' Raichu said.

Raichu once again walked away from Electibuzz, he hadn't enjoyed doing that and he could tell by the look on Ash's face that he hadn't either. Electibuzz watched as Raichu walked away and pushed himself to his knees. He looked at his trainer who had his usual scowl on his face and knew that he couldn't disappoint him. To everyone's surprise Electibuzz managed to get back to his feet once more but was staggering around. Ash didn't want to hurt Electibuzz anymore but technically Ash couldn't win until Electibuzz was finally unconscious or his opponent surrendered.

"This match is over. I suggest that you return your Electibuzz before he gets really hurt." Ash said.

"I never quit. Electibuzz use Thunder Punch."

Ash sighed and shook his head.

"End this with Volt Tackle."

Electibuzz gathered all of his remained strength and charged some electricity into his fist. He watched as Raichu was surrounded in electricity and was charging at him. Electibuzz tried to moving his weary legs but he just didn't have the strength to so he did the only thing he could and waited until Raichu was close to him. He then threw his fist forward but was easily overpowered by the mouse. The force of Raichu's attack sent Electibuzz crashing back to his trainer unconscious.

"Your Electibuzz is finished. Return it and leave." Ash growled.

The trainer glared at Ash and returned his Electibuzz. He then turned his attention to Chimchar.

"Well at least I'm rid of you."

The trainer took out a Pokéball and threw it on the ground causing it to shatter into a thousand pieces. After glaring at Chimchar he stomped off leaving Chimchar with a dejected look on his face. Ash looked sadly at Chimchar and then walked over to him. He got on his knees and moved his hand towards the fire monkey who flinched and raised his arms in defence.

"Hey I'm not going to hurt you." Ash whispered softly.

Chimchar looked at the human and could tell by the warm smile on his face that he was telling the truth. He then looked at the Meowth, Raichu and Ralts that were stood next to him. The former two gave him a nod and the latter walked towards him. Chimchar wondered why she was approaching him and quickly got his answer when the Ralts wrapped her arms around him. The fire monkey was in shock, he'd never been hugged the whole time he was with his former trainer and within five minutes of being with his new trainer he'd been hugged. He suddenly felt his new trainer place his hand on his hand and start to gently rub it making Chimchar sigh in content. Meowth and Raichu then stood either side of Chimchar and placed a hand on his shoulders. The fire monkey looked at them both and saw them smiling at him.

It all became to much for Chimchar and he burst into tears. They all backed away from Chimchar thinking that maybe they had done something wrong however he quickly jumped at Ash and clung to his shirt as he cried. Ash hugged Chimchar tightly eventually he stopped crying and looked up at Ash who was smiling at him.

"Listen Chimchar your trainer was wrong, I can tell that you're a strong Pokémon. So do you want to come with us so we can get stronger together?"

Chimchar nodded and smiled.

"Great. If you want you can stay out with us for now and I'll put you in a Pokéball later."

Chimchar nodded again liking the sound of that. He then felt himself be lifted up and was now sat on Ash's shoulder. Ash picked up Ralts and after standing up he started looking for someone else he could trade his Tauros to.

Salem walked into the building where the Trading Event was taking place and started looking for Ash. She wished he had woken her up when he was leaving as she wanted to watch any battles he would have. When she woke up she had looked at her alarm and saw that she had slept in. That was when she spotted a note that had been shoved under her door. She picked the note up and saw that it was from Ash saying that he had left early and that he didn't want to wake her. After reading the note she had quickly gotten washed and dressed then eaten a small bowl of cereal so she could go and find Ash.

As she looked around the building she was amazed at how many people had come to this event. She remembered Captain Stern saying that the event was popular but she didn't think it would be that popular.

After looking around the building and not finding Ash anywhere she went outside where the majority of the battles were taking place. Large crowds had gathered around every battle however there was an exceptionally large crowd of people gathered around one of the battlefield like areas. She decided to temporarily stop her search for Ash to see what was happening in this battle as she assumed that due to the size of the crowd there was either a rare Pokémon on display or an excellent battle must be taking place. She got to the crowd but was stuck at the back so when she tried to see what was going on she couldn't due to the amount of people obscuring her view.

"Both of you use Take Down." one of the battlers said.

Salem knew that voice, she started pushing through the crowd hearing many of them complain but she disregarded them. Finally she got to the front row and as expected she saw Ash and two of his Tauros battling a Tyrogue and a Sandshrew. Salem looked to her right as she heard several of the young females in the crowd swoon over Ash and glared at the girls. Pikachu saw the look on her trainers face and was shocked. She had never seen her look at anyone like that. Pikachu rubbed her cheek against Salem''s which made her look at Pikachu.

'Salem are you okay?' Pikachu asked.

"I'm fine Pikachu."

Pikachu and Salem turned their attention to the battle and watched as both of Ash's Tauros charged forward and rammed into the Sandshrew and Tyrogue who were knocked down.

"Tau use Horn Attack on Tyrogue and Ros use Iron Tail on Sandshrew."

"Tyrogue grab Tauros by his horns and Sandshrew dodge with Dig."

Tau charged towards Tyrogue and lowered his horns. Tyrogue watched the approaching bull and prepared for the charge. When the bull was mere inches away Tyrogue reached out and grabbed Tauros' horns, the bull managed to push Tyrogue back but the small fighting type wouldn't release his grip. Tyrogue then summoned all of its strength and lifted Tauros up then quickly slammed him to the ground. Everyone Ash included was astonished at the strength the little Tyrogue possessed. Ash looked over to Ros and watched his metallic tails slam into a hole in the ground where Sandshrew had once stood. Sandshrew then burst out of the ground behind Ros and ran its claws along his side. Ros roared and then swung his tails at Sandshrew slamming them into the mouses face which sent it skidding over to Tyrogue. All four Pokémon got back in front of their trainers Pokémon and smirked.

Ash and his opponent looked at each other and nodded.

"I think I've seen enough." Ash declared.

"Me too." his opponent responded.

Ash walked over to his opponent and shook hands with him. A loud groan came from the crowd as they realised the battle was over and the crowd gradually dispersed looking for other battles to watch. Salem was the only one of the crowd who had stayed and after watching Ash and his opponent return their Pokémon and trade the Pokéballs she walked over to him.

"Hey Salem how long have you been here?" Ash asked as he clipped the two Pokéballs on to his belt.

"I got here at the end of your battle. So have you traded all three of your Tauros now?"

"Yep. Oh by the way while I was here I got you a present."

"Ash you didn't have to get me anything."

"Well I wanted to. Now close your eyes and no peeking."

Salem smiled and did as he asked. After making sure Salem had her eyes tightly shut Ash took a Pokéball off his belt and sent out the Pokémon that resided in the Pokéball Ash looked at the adorable Mareep that was now stood on the ground in front of him and he made a shushing noise hoping that Mareep would understand that he didn't want her to make any noise. Mareep nodded and stayed silent, she watched as he took some sort of ribbon out of his pocket.

"I'm just gonna tie this loosely around you if that's okay." Ash whispered

Mareep nodded again and allowed Ash to wrap the ribbon around her. Once he tied the ribbon Ash stood up.

"Okay you can open your eyes now. Your present is on the ground."

Salem opened her eyes and glanced down seeing the Mareep with a ribbon wrapped around it looking up at her. She looked at Ash wondering if that was actually her present and he gave her a nod. A massive smile appeared on Salem's face and she wrapped her arms around Ash and then placed a kiss on his cheek which made both trainers blush. They broke the hug and spent a minute trying to regain their composure. Eventually the redness of their cheeks started to fade.

"T-t-thank you Ash."

"I-it was m-my pleasure.".

Ash handed Mareep's Pokéball to Salem which she quickly attached to her belt. She then then picked up Mareep and hugged her tightly. Mareep sighed happily and nuzzled Salem's face which made her new trainer giggle.

"When did you get this cutie then?" Salem asked.

"Well shortly after winning Chimchar the kid who wanted to battle me on the boat just before we docked at Dewford approached me and asked me to trade. He showed me his Mareep and I instantly thought of you so I traded with him."

"What did you mean when you said winning Chimchar?"

"Well one of my Tauros beat Chimchar in a battle."

Chimchar looked down sadly as Ash said that.

"Hey don't be so down. You'd already had several battles so you did well to keep going as long as you did."

This seemed to brightened Chimchar and he smiled again.

"Anyway Chimchar's old trainer was yelling at Chimchar and I knew I couldn't let him have one of my Tauros but I couldn't leave Chimchar with him. So I made a bet and I won which meant I got Chimchar and he got nothing."

"Well I'm glad that you got Chimchar away from that trainer."

"Yeah. How about we go back to the Pokémon Centre and get to know our new Pokémon?" Ash suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea to me."

Ash took out a Pokéball and tapped it on Chimchar which instantly caught him. The fire monkey was immediately sent back out and sat on Ash's shoulder again. Salem decided to keep Mareep out and followed Ash back to the Pokémon Centre.

When they got back to the Pokémon Centre Salem had sent Jolteon back to Professor Juniper so she could keep Mareep and then she had followed Ash upstairs. Ash opened the door to his room and Raichu, Meowth and Ralts walked inside and jumped on to the bed. Ash and Salem then walked into the room and he sent out Tyrogue and Sandshrew, Chimchar then jumped off of Ash's shoulder and stood next to them. Ash smiled as he watched Chimchar shake hands with the new Pokémon. Before he did anything else Ash took Eevee out of his pocket and gave her a tight hug. Eevee sighed in content and then took a look around the room. She yipped happily as she saw that they were back in the Pokémon Centre.

"Okay Eevee I'm just going to see what moves these guys know and then I'm all yours."

Eevee licked Ash's face and then jumped on the bed next to her sister. Ash smiled at them and then took his Pokédex off his belt and pointed it at Chimchar.

"This Chimchar is male and had the ability Blaze. He knows the following moves - Flamethrower, Flame Wheel, Fury Swipes, Dig and Scratch."

Ash looked at Chimchar who was looking down. Ash knelt down and picked up Chimchar.

"Hey what's wrong?" Ash asked.

Chimchar muttered his name a few times causing Ash to look at Meowth.

"He says dat he's ashamed of how few moves he knows." Meowth said.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of. Knowing Flamethrower and Dig is awesome."

Chimchar smiled and hugged Ash.

"I think if we have you train with Raichu and learn Brick Break that will really make you a force to be feared. Maybe sometime in the future you can try to learn Thunder Punch too."

The fire monkey let out a cheer and raised his right fist. Ash then placed Chimchar on the ground and pointed the Pokédex at Tyrogue.

"This Tyrogue is male and has the ability Guts. He knows the following moves – Tackle, Low Kick, Rapid Spin, Bulk Up and Mach Punch."

Ash looked at Tyrogue who had his arms crossed and had a cocky grin on his face.

"Well you're a tough little guy. The first thing we need to decide is which Pokémon do you want to evolve into if you want to evolve that is."

Tyrogue looked at Ash with an of course I want to evolve look so Ash pulled up the images of what Pokémon he can evolve into on the screen. He showed the images to Tyrogue who looked intently at all of them.

"So you can become Hitmonchan who is a more defensive Pokémon that looks to block an enemies attack then hit a counter attack. Hitmonlee is the next option which is far more offensive Pokémon who looks to just hit the opponent first. The final choice is Hitmontop who is like an equal balance of the two."

Tyrogue stood there for several minutes trying to decide which evolution to go for. Finally he pointed to Hitmontop.

"Okay so if you want to become a Hitmontop we're going to have to balance your training so you improve both your offence and defence. Does that sound good?"

Tyrogue took his former pose and nodded. Ash then pointed his Pokédex to Sandshrew.

"This Sandshrew is female and has the ability Sand Veil. She knows the following moves – Dig, Poison Sting, Rollout, Swift and Fury Swipes.

"That's a pretty good move set. If we add in Magnitude then it will be an excellent set for now."

Sandshrew blushed at the praise and rubbed the back of head. Ash rubbed Sandshrew's head and then looked at Salem who had just finished looking through Mareep's moves and ability. He watched as Pikachu walked over to Mareep and suddenly remembered what he'd promised in Captain Stern's office.

"Hey Salem I just remembered that I said I'd trade an item for your Deep Sea Scale."

Salem had in all honesty forgotten about the Scale. She opened her bag and rummaged around for it finding it at the bottom of her bag. She pulled it out and looked at Ash who to her surprise had a Thunder Stone in his hand.

"I'll trade you this Thunder Stone for the Deep Sea Scale."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am. You need a Thunder Stone and I'm hoping to get a couple of Clamperl in the future so we both benefit."

"Okay. Thanks Ash."

Ash and Salem traded the items and the minute Pikachu saw the Thunder Stone in Salem's hand she leapt for it. Salem saw it coming and quickly moved her hand away causing Pikachu to fall flat on her face. She got up and looked longingly at her trainer and the Thunder Stone. The look on Pikachu's face almost broke Salem's resolve however she knew that Pikachu wasn't ready to evolve yet for a few reasons. The main one being that she hadn't fully mastered Quick Attack.

"Sorry Pikachu but you can't have this until you've mastered Quick Attack and Agility." Salem said.

Pikachu pouted and sat down which made everyone laugh. Pikachu blushed as she heard their laughter and then stomped out of the room. Salem quickly chased after the mouse with Mareep in her arms leaving Ash and his Pokémon alone. Ash picked up Eevee and hugged her.

"So what do you want to do?"

Ash looked to Raichu as he heard Eevee say her name a few times.

'She wants to go to the beach.' Raichu said.

"Okay but before we go let's go and see if Salem and Pikachu want to join us."

All of the Pokémon either cheered or gave a nod. Ash then returned Chimchar, Sandshrew and Tyrogue and picked up his backpack. He walked out of the room and after locking the door went to go and find Salem.

Notes

Next chapter we'll have what happens at the beach and Ash and Salem will start the journey to Mauville.

Thanks for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.

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(x26), Snorlax, Sandshrew & Eevee (Shiny)

Johto - Totodile, Meganium, Cyndaquil, Heracross, Noctowl (Shiny), Phanpy, Tyrogue & Sneasel

Hoenn - Marshtomp, Nincada, Treecko, Zangoose, Sableye & Ralts

Sinnoh - Chimchar

Pokémon on hand – Raichu, Meowth, Charizard, Meganium, Wartortle, Treecko, Sableye, Chimchar, Sandshrew, Tyrogue Ralts & Eevee

Salem:

Kanto - Pikachu & Jolteon

Johto - Chinchou & Mareep

Sinnoh - Luxray

Unova - Zebstrika & Galvantula

Pokémon on hand – Pikachu, Mareep, Chinchou, Luxray, Zebstrika & Galvantula