Ch 59: All Fired up.
Far away in the Orange islands, an older man slowly walked to the peak of a large rocky island with a pair of Aura guardians beside him.
"This is always so exciting!" The old man said.
The two guardians took deep breaths and channelled their aura through their vision as their eyes glowed blue.
"He's near, follow us." One said as the old man followed to two guardians further up the mountain peak to nearly the highest point.
It was there they saw a large sanctuary and what almost looked like a set of ruins.
"This is it!" The old man said still excited.
The two aura guardians with their Pidgeot and Blastoise beside them.
Moments later the mountain began to shake. The guardians and old man also felt the air and ground around them get hotter and hotter until several torches around the ruins lit into flames.
"Here he comes!" One of the guardians said.
Moments later the ground in the center of the ruins burst open as a massive flaming bird soared out.
"Shrooooo!" The fire bird roared as he soared around covered in fire.
"There he is!" The old man shouted before the bird landed in front of the two aura guardians.
"Shroooooo!" The bird roared before the two guardians held up their arms and tried to ease the pokemon with their aura.
After feeling who they were, the massive fire bird calmed down an let it's body flames ease down.
"It's good to see you again Moltres. We came for a flame just like last time." The first guardian said as the second guardian took out a small lamp.
Moltres lowered his head down and slowly opened his beak as he let out a small flame that lit the lamp.
"Thank you Moltres, again. Your flame represents the pride and spirit of every pokemon league." The first guardian said
"Shroooo!" Moltres roared before taking off and flying back into the mountain.
The two guardians walked back and handed the lamp to the old man.
"Alright President Goodshow, here's the flame."
"Thank you both again so much. No one but you guardians can ever find Moltres and get him to give us a flame. Every year people ask me where I get the flame, I wish I could tell them." The old man said.
"It's important our brotherhood remains a secret." The other guardian said.
"I understand." The old man said as he stared at the flame before lifting it up.
"Soon the Indigo league will start and the fiery flame of Moltres will be the heart of it!" The old man shouted.
It was early in the morning in Pallet town and Ash was awoken by the sounds of Pidgey squawking in the distance.
He slowly opened his eyes to see Serena still laying on top of him. He couldn't get up without waking her so he simply laid his head back down.
Several weeks had passed since he had arrived in Pallet Town and had done almost nothing but training since he arrived. Gary had done the same thing since he arrived, though the two mainly kept away from each other. The Indigo league would be starting soon and both were getting antsy about it.
Twenty minutes later, Ash was up with Brock and Serena in the kitchen as Brock made some breakfast.
"So Ash , the Indigo league will be starting soon. How has the training been going?" Brock asked.
"It's been going well. I've tried to focus on some of the pokemon that I haven't used yet like Krabby and Muk." Ash said.
"When are we leaving for the Indigo Plateau?" Serena asked.
"Actually I was planning on leaving today. Gary hasn't left yet and I want to get there before him." Ash said as Pikachu, Serena, and Brock sweat dropped.
"Well, it's a good time to leave anyway. You certainly don't want to be late." Brock said.
"I'll start getting the things packed." Serena said.
"I need to see the professor before we leave." Ash said.
After having breakfast, Ash made his way over to Oak's lab.
He knocked on the door only to have Tracy open it.
"Hey Tracy, is the professor hear?" Ash.
"He's in the lab right now. What do you need?" Tracy said.
"We're heading out for the plateau today and I wanted to tell him." Ash said.
"Ok , Gary already stopped by when him and Leaf left earlier." Tracy said.
"What!? Awwe." Ash said sweat dropping with a slightly crestfallen expression.
Pikachu sweat dropped upon seeing this.
Ash walked inside and followed Tracy to the lab where he saw Oak with a Raichu sitting on a table.
"Alright let's try this again." Oak said as he tried to attach some electric connectors to Raichu's cheeks.
"Professor." Ash said.
"Ash?" Oak said as he turned and didn't see he accidentally attached the connector's to the wrong spot.
"CHu!" Raichu shouted as he unleashed electricity and shocked Oak.
"Yahhh!" Oak shouted as he was filled with electricity.
"Professor!" Ash and Tracy shouted.
Raichu stopped as Oak fidgeted.
"Are you ok?" Tracy asked.
"I'm ….. Ok." He said.
"I'm sorry professor."
"It's quite alright Ash, that was my fault. So what brings you here?" Oak said.
"I'm leaving for the Indigo Plateau today." Ash said.
"I see, well good luck to you my boy. I will be heading up there soon as well. But there are a few things I need to take care of first. Still you'll probably want all your pokemon ready to go." Oak said.
A few years prior Daniel and the champions of the other regions decided that the rule of only 6 pokemon allowed with a trainer a at a time would not be applied when in a pokemon league itself trainers could carry as many pokeballs as they liked. However, in the league matches, they would still register which pokemon they were using to ensure no one used more than 6 in a match.
Oak walked over to the transporter computer that sent his trainers' pokemon to him when they had more than 6. Once on it he set Ash's so that he was in league mode and could carry all his pokemon.
Oak then walked over and picked up a handful of Ash's pokeballs.
"Let's round them up shall we." Oak said.
The three walked into the enclosure outside the lab.
"Guys it's time to go!" Ash shouted as his pokemon gathered around him.
"We're all going to the Indigo plateau." Ash said as his pokemon gave excited expressions.
He put them all in their pokeballs as Tracy and Oak helped him.
"Alright that's all of them. We certainly had a good time doing this with Gary and Leaf earlier." Oak said as he and Tracy sweat dropped.
"He's taking all of his?" Ash said as he and Pikachu sweat dropped.
"I'm afraid so. He said he wanted a variety of options." Oak said.
"He certainly will." Ash said.
"Well good luck to you my boy." Oak said before Ash put the pokeballs in his bag.
After leaving the lab, Ash made his way back to the house where he saw Brock and Serena had packed up their things.
"Everything's ready to go." Serena said.
"Great, I've got all my pokemon." Ash said.
"Alright then, to the Indigo Plateau." Brock said.
The 3 rode Charizard, Charla, and Aerodactyl past Viridian city and to the start of victory road.
"Here we are." Ash said as their pokemon landed.
The 3 got off as Ash and Serena returned them.
"They've flown far enough, we can walk from here." Ash said.
The 3 made their way down victory road. The path was mostly linear with thick trees around the mountains in the distance and lakes on the side of the trail.
"Hey Ash , do you think we'll pass by the league torch like we did last time?" Serena asked.
"We could. It was awesome that we got to run the flame." Ash said.
"I've always wanted to run the flame myself." Brock said.
As the group continued on they occasionally passed a few other trainers also on route to the Indigo plateau.
"Looks like we came at the right time." Ash said.
As they continued walking Serena noticed something along the side of the trail. There was a young woman sitting under a tree with a depressed look on her face.
"Hold on guys." Serena said as she walked over to the young woman.
She looked about 17 years old light skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair put into a ponytail. She wore a grey dress with a black puffer jacket over top.
Serena saw her expression and that she looked very sad and depressed.
"Excuse me, but are you ok?" Serena asked.
The girl turned and saw Serena.
"huh? Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you." The girl said.
"You didn't disturb me, I just wanted to know what was wrong. My name is Serena".
"I'm Alana." She said.
"Why are you upset?" Serena asked.
Alana looked back down again.
"My partner, she's gone." Alana said.
"What?" Serena said.
Moments later Ash and Brock came over.
"Serena what's going on?" Ash asked before he and Brock saw Alana.
"Guys, this is Alana." Serena said.
"What happened?" Brock asked.
"My Gardevoir, she ran away."
"Ran away?" Ash said.
"Pika?".
"It happened earlier today. I came to a small town nearby where a lot of trainers on their way to the pokemon league were resting. Some older trainer named Manny who calls himself "Manny the astounding". You see one of my pokemon was stung by a Beedrill on the way here and got poisoned. But he had taken all of the antidote in town. He said he'd only give me some if I beat him in a battle." Alana said.
"What a jerk." Brock said.
"My first pokemon was knocked out, and before I could bring out my next he said it was over that it was just a one on one battle now."
"That's no way to battle." Ash said.
"Pika!".
"He said that because I lost I needed to pay him 300 dollars. I didn't have that much money so he said I had to give him my badges as payment." Alana said.
"What!?" All 3 said in disbelief.
"Did you give them to him?" Brock asked.
"I didn't want to, my pokemon and I worked so hard to get all those badges and went through so much together. But when he saw my badge case and just took it and left." Alana said.
"Did he at least give you the antidote?" Serena asked.
"No." Alana said as tears started to come down her eyes.
" When my Gardevoir saw this, she lost faith in me and just left me." Alana said.
"Where's your poisoned pokemon? I've got an antidote." Brock said.
Alana took out a black pokeball and let out a large Dusknoir who looked very sick.
"Here he is." Alana said.
Brock walked over to him and took out some medicine he made out of Pecha berries.
"Drink this." He said as the Dusknoir drank it and felt the poison melt away.
"Thank you." Alana said.
"Alana you can't just give up." Ash said.
"But my partner is gone and everything we worked for is gone too." Alana said.
Serena put her hand on Alana's shoulder as she looked up at her.
"Never give up, never give up until the end." Serena said in a serious tone.
"We're going to find this Manny and get your badges back, then we're going to find your Gardevoir." Ash said.
Serena helped Alana up.
"Where is this town?" Serena asked.
Alana lead them further down the trail to a small town where they saw a crown had gathered.
"What's going on here?" Brock asked a trainer.
"Some guy was followed by a weird looking Gardevoir."
"What!?" Alana almost shouted.
"Yeah she looked angry and was shouting at him , but he sent 2 of his pokemon to tag team her. She didn't stand a chance."
The 4 made their way through the crowd to see a Gardevoir on the ground looking very hurt. Instead of white and green skin she had light pink and blue.
"Gardevoir!" Alana shouted as she knelt down over her.
Gardevoir looked up at her.
"Void." the hurt Gardevoir said.
"Well well well, look who's back." Another voice said.
Ash and the others saw a tall young man with long greenish hair and an expensive looking outfit on. Beside him was an Executor and a Crobat.
"It appears your pokemon didn't learn not to mess with Manny the Astounding like your pathetic Gengar did." He said.
Without even thinking Ash walked up to the man who saw he saw Ash's fist crash into his face.
This dumbstruck everyone in the crowd, including the group as they saw Manny crash into the ground.
His pokemon turned to Ash only to see Pikachu growling with his cheeks sparking.
Manny held his jaw as he looked up at Ash.
"Why the hell did you do that you brute!" Manny shouted.
"You took Alana's badges!" Ash shouted.
Manny looked over at Alana.
"Ah yes, the girl who owed me money for loosing her battle against me. I took her badges as payment." Manny said.
"You're a disgrace, you don't deserve to be a trainer." Serena said.
Manny got up.
"I am Manny the Astounding. I am the greatest trainer in Kanto." He said confidently.
"Why would you even want her badges? Don't you have enough?" Brock asked.
"I have 9 badges. But taking hers ensured one less competitor." Manny said.
"Give those back now." Serena said.
Manny smiled.
"Never."
Ash slammed his fist back into Manny's face, hurling him back onto the ground.
"Alana, take back your badges." Serena said.
"What?" Alana said.
"You need to stand up for yourself. Show Gardevoir that you are strong." Serena said.
Alana looked down at Gardevoir before she got up and walked over to Manny who couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Without flinching Alana reached into Manny's jacket and took back her badges.
Gardevoir gave a proud expression before Alana turned.
"Why you little." Manny started as he reached for her.
Manny was punched in the face again, this time by Serena.
He looked up at her and Ash as they glared at him.
His pokemon saw Pikachu sparking his cheeks and backed up.
Alana came back to her Gardevoir who had a proud look on her face.
"I'm not going to be a push over anymore." Alana said as she helped her Gardevoir up.
She then turned to Ash and the others.
"Thank you, for making me stand up for myself." She said.
"Just do your best, and we'll see you at the Indigo Plateau." Ash said.
"Indeed, I shall see you both there, and you'll regret crossing Manny the astounding." Manny said as he and his pokemon walked off.
As Brock looked at Gardevoir the group noticed the crowd in town shouting and chanting.
"What's going on?" Serena asked as they saw a young man in black shorts with a tucked in grey T-shirt on that had the word 'Army' in black written in the center, with a torch in hand running down the street with a large van behind him.
"It's the torch carrier!" Ash shouted.
The young man stopped as President Goodshow stepped out of the van with Colonel Surge in his Army combat camo beside him.
"Excellent work private." Colonel Surge said as he walked up to him and took the torch.
"Alright now we just pass off the torch to the next runner." President Goodshow said before he saw Ash and the others.
"Well call me a Nidoran, look who it is." He said.
Colonel Surge saw them as well.
"Wait you know them?" Surge asked.
"I do, Ash, Serena!" He called out.
"It's president Goodshow." Ash said as Goodshow and Surge walked over.
"What brings a Kalos league runner up here?" He asked.
"I'm competing in the Indigo league." Ash said.
"Are you know. I assume that's how the Colonel here knows you." Goodshow said.
"You've come a long way. I even heard rumors that you beat the Legendary Tarvel city gym leader. I've never met a trainer who could beat him." Colonel Surge said.
"What brings you here Colonel?" Brock asked.
"The army is sponsoring this years run. Private Jetson and a few other veterans of the liberation of Saffron city have ran the torch." Surge said.
"Now we're here to pass it on to the next runner. Wait? Where is he, I'm sure we told Manny to meet us here." President Goodshow said.
Ash, Pikachu, Serena, Brock, and Alana all sweat dropped.
"Uh, well we saw a Manny here and he uh left." Serena said.
"What? Ducking out on such an honor? Surge asked.
"This is terrible, if he's gone then the next 3 runners after him will certainly leave too once they see him." Goodshow said.
"Private Jetson and all the other soldiers including myself have already ran it." Surge said.
"This is a disaster! Wait! Ash my boy, I don't suppose you wouldn't mind being a runner again?"
"Are you kidding, I'd love to." Ash said before he had another idea.
"But there's someone I think should also run it." Ash said as he directed them to Alana.
"What, me?" Alana said.
"Another competitor I see." Goodshow said.
"I don't know if I could I'm just." Alana started before her Gardevoir looked back at her and she gave a determined look.
Alana got up.
"I'll do it." She said.
"Well it looks like we have our 4 needed runners." Goodshow said.
Alana changed into running attire as the group and her Gardevoir got into the van.
Alana began running the flame down the road followed by the van.
After passing several miles, the van stopped as Alana passed the torch on to Serena.
Serena continued down the trail for the next few miles before she passed the torch on to Brock.
Brock carried the torch until they reached the Indigo plateau.
"We're here!" Alana shouted as they saw the Plateau.
"Alright Ash, you have it from here. " Goodshow said as Ash took the torch and Pikachu leapt to the ground and began running beside him.
As Ash and Pikchu ran across the Plateau they saw the village and stadiums get closer. As Ash got closer , Pikachu could feel a strange sensation inside Ash.
He wasn't sure if Ash was nervous or excited, but something was going on as they got closer to the Indigo stadium.
A massive crowd of people had gathered around the Indigo stadium as Ash ran towards it.
Just from looking at the outside, Ash saw the Indigo Stadium was far bigger than the main stadium in Kalos. In fact it was bigger than any Stadium he had ever seen.
Standing in front of the Stadium was none other than the Kanto Champion Lance and the entire Kanto elite 4.
"Woah it's the elite four!" Brock said.
"There not the only guests of honor here today." President Goodshow said.
Just before Ash could reach the elite four he and Pikachu noticed a man standing on an upper section of the Indigo Stadium.
Without flinching, the man performed a leap of faith off the stadium.
Many in the crowd gasped before a massive Charizard flew down faster than anything they had ever seen before and caught the man before landing and creating a gust of wind that almost knocked several people off their feet.
As the man stepped down Ash saw he was none other than Daniel.
Lance gave un unpleasant look at him.
"Always the one for the spectacles aren't you."
"Just displaying my trust in my Charizard." Daniel said smiling.
Agatha smiled as well.
Ash stopped in front of them.
"Well look who's delivering the torch." Agatha said giving Ash a secretive smile.
"The Moltres flame." Ash said as he handed it to Daniel.
"Ash I present you the Kanto elite four. Will, Koga, Bruno, and Agatha." Daniel said.
Daniel walked forward.
"With the flame of Moltres the Indigo league will now begin!" He shouted as the crowd cheered.
Pikachu looked up at Ash again as he felt the feeling inside him again.
Ash met back up with the rest of the group.
"We're finally here." Ash said.
"Thank you guys again, for getting me here. I hope we can meet each other in the area at one point." Alana said.
"Maybe we will, good luck Alana." Ash said before she and her Gardevoir walked off.
Ash and the others made their way through the village after collecting the key to the condo they would be staying in.
The village was structured similarly to the village at the Kalos league, except based more on Kanto culture.
"This place is amazing, I've never been here before." Brock said.
Like the Kalos village it was filled with stores, restaurants, hotels, and pokemon centers. Everything guests and contestants would need.
"I hate to say it, but I think this village is nicer than the one in Kalos." Serena said.
"I'm more interested in the stadiums. I just need to win 4 matches and then I'm in the Indigo stadium." Ash said.
"If you make it that far." Another voice said.
Ash and the others turned to see Gary and leaf sitting on a table outside a cafe.
"Gary, Leaf." Ash said.
"So you guys finally made it." Leaf said.
"Late as usual." Gary said.
"Well you may have gotten here before us, but we got to carry the torch and meet the elite 4." Ash said in a serious tone.
"I'll have plenty of time to meet the elite 4 when I'm in it." Gary said.
"We'll see about that." Ash said.
"We will." Gary said as Brock and the others sweat dropped.
Leaf and Serena grabbed them and tried to keep them from getting any closer.
"Well we should probably get going. We'll see you later." Serena said as she guided Ash away from Gary.
"Well Gary's here. I wonder if any of the trainers we've met will be here?" Brock asked.
As they entered a less populated area of the village Ash felt a pair of familiar auras.
"Guys there's no point in tailing us, I know you're here." Ash said.
"Where's the fun in that." Another voice said.
Serena and Brock turned to see Red and Korrina standing behind them.
"Red, Korrina." Serena said.
"We were wondering when you'd get here?" Red said.
"How did you two get here so fast?" Brock asked.
"We went right here after leaving Seafoam." Korrina said.
"Why?" Serena asked.
"Why not, this is the location of the Kanto enclave." Red said.
"What?!" Serena and Brock said.
"Why because the pokemon league is here?" Brock asked.
"No, the enclave was here long before the pokemon league was." Korrina said.
"This enclave was the very first in guardian history. It was the location of Altair's village." Ash said.
"It was!" Brock and Serena shouted.
"Dad said he'd be here too with mom and grandpa, but his eye is still getting looked at and he's getting his new teeth put in." Red said.
"We'll I'm glad you guys are here." Ash said.
"It will be nice to see you in the league again. It almost makes me want to enter the league, if I had the badges." Red said.
"Still we're glad to be here and support you. But we're not alone." Korrina said. Moments later they saw Clemont, Bonnie, and Shauna walk out.
"Clemont, Bonnie, Shauna? What are you guys doing here?" Serena asked.
"Well we were still in Kanto from your wedding, we thought we'd come here to see you get into the elite 4." Clemont said.
"I'm glad you guys came." Ash said.
"Have you eaten yet?" Korrina asked.
"No." Brock said.
"Well come with us." Red said.
They lead them to a the condos and realized they were being lead to their own condo.
"Wait what's going on?" Ash asked before they saw the table outside the condo field with food and Lucy sitting there.
"Lucy!" Brock shouted.
"We've been waiting for you guys, thought we'd surprise you." Lucy said before Brock rushed over to her.
"Oh boy." Serena said.
Brock's face turned red as he knelt down in front of Lucy.
"Lucy, you're the love of my life! I know I've said this to other girls, but you are truly my soul mate! I want this to be forever!" Brock said as he took out the ring he had gotten her.
Lucy blushed a little before closing her eyes.
"Brock, just stop. You know what I'm going to say." Lucy said.
Lucy grabbed his head and kissed him.
"Wow, a wedding proposal that didn't involve Bonnie and myself. It's been too long." Clemont said sweat dropping.
"Looks like we have another wedding to go to." Red said.
"Give you any ideas." Korrina said in a rather forceful tone as Red's face turned slightly red and he sweat dropped.
Later that night, Ash was in bed beside Serena. He had a lot on his mind and couldn't sleep. He saw Pikachu still asleep on his pillow and did his best to get up without waking either of them.
Once he got up he put his cloths on and slowly walked out of the room.
As he did Pikachu slowly opened his eyes and saw Ash leaving.
"Pika?" He said.
Ash walked through the plateau village and into the stadium area.
He looked at the entrance and took a deep breath before walking inside.
He walked to the center of the stadium and looked around before he felt Pikachu climb onto his shoulder.
"Pika?" Pikachu asked.
"Oh Pikachu, I didn't know you followed me." Ash said.
"Pika, Pikachu?".
"So you know that I've been feeling strange. I guess I owe you an explanation." Ash said before he looked up again.
"I know I competed in the Kalos league 6 years ago, I also know this is just a stepping stone to the elite 4. But ever since I was a child I dreamed of one day winning the Indigo league. Standing here as I stood before the world. Now I'm doing it, it's almost overwhelming."
"Don't think of it that way." Another voice said.
Ash and Pikachu turned to see Daniel and his Charizard there.
"Daniel what are you doing here?" Ash asked.
"I love this stadium, I like to come here when I can. I was only 10 years when Charizard and I came to the Indigo plateau to compete in the Indigo league. We gave everything we had and beat the favorite for the win."
"You were a prodigy. I only wish I could have seen the match." Ash said.
"You know what happened after that?" Daniel asked.
"No."
"It turns out the trainer I beat for the win was an aura guardian. He saw potential in me and realized that I had connected to my pokemon with aura even without training."
"So that's how you got into the brotherhood." Ash said.
"It was, and it all started here, in the Indigo stadium. I always dreamed of winning the league here and I was able to complete it. You can do the same Ash. I know it seems overwhelming now that this is finally happening. But just remember why you wanted it to happen and enjoy it, enjoy every moment of it." Daniel said.
Ash and Pikachu smiled.
"Thanks Daniel, you're right."
The following morning everyone but Ash was sitting in the Indigo stadium.
"Finally the opening Ceremony." Brock said.
"This is always a good time." Red said.
President Hoodshop and Lance stood on a podium area on the side of the stadium.
In the center of the stadium was Daniel and his Charizard who had the Moltres torch in his jaws.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the Indigo league is about to begin. Before we begin I present you this year's competitors. " Goodshow said
Moments later dozens of trainers came into the stadium and around Daniel.
"Look it's Ash!" Serena shouted as they saw Ash and PIkachu standing beside Daniel.
"Gary too." Leaf said.
Ash and Gary stared at each other competitively as Daniel climbed onto his Charizard's back and rode him as he flew up to the central torch.
When Charizard landed, Daniel got down and took the torch from his mouth.
He held it up and then lit the central torch.
"Let the Indigo league begin!" He shouted before his Charizard roared and unleashed a blast burn into the air.
Author's note
And so the Indigo league begins,
Like the anime and my last story, Ash will have to win at the 4 different arenas before getting into the Indigo stadium.
I will still accept characters submitted to me, but there are some specifications I would like to make.
First, I'd prefer if they had mostly Kanto pokemon since this is Kanto they are in.
Second I'd prefer if they weren't aura guardians seeing as I have enough OC guardians.
Third, no legendary pokemon in their teams.
Aside from that anything should do.
Lastly I will be setting up a poll on who your favorite character from these stories are. So please vote seeing as I want to know what you think of my versions of the characters.
So until next time, please review, comment, suggest, or ask(via PM) and vote