Early in the morning, Ash was bright eyed and eating breakfast with his mom. After receiving the letter, Delia noticed her son's sour mood. She wanted to help but he left to go to Oak's for a while. The evening he returned, his joyous mood returned and he explained everything to his mom. Delia just smiled that her son was back and encouraged him to do his best.
Though for his new training schedule, Ash got up at 7:30 to get an early start on the day. His mother was already up as mentioned before and made him breakfast. He scruffed down the pancakes before him and got himself ready for the training of his Pokémon at the lab. He gave his mom a quick goodbye and left, heading to the lab.
When he got there, Professor Oak was being smothered by his Muk. Ash couldn't help but sweatdrop at the sight but shook off his stupor and helped the professor with the Sludge Pokémon. After getting the Poison-type off, Ash saw Bulbasaur doing his morning routine. Ash called over his Seed Pokémon and had him use Solar Beam to attract the attention of his current Pokémon.
"Hey, everyone!" Ash greeted before getting Body Slammed by Bayleef.
"Bay!" She cried, nuzzling against her trainer.
"I missed you too, Bayleef," Ash laughed before the Leaf Pokémon got off him.
"Alright, everyone," Ketchum said, bringing his team together. "I'm not sure if none of you are aware, but we recently got a letter for the Tournament of Legends. A rare tournament that invites the best trainers along with Gym Leaders, Elite 4, and Champions. I wouldn't have been invited with your help so thanks for that."
His Pokémon all nodded in agreement before Ash continued, "We have two months and a half before the tournament officially begins and I want you all to train hard. Harder than ever before. Can I trust you to do that?"
They made their respective cries, all excited for the possibility of fighting and training amongst themselves. "Alright!" Ash cheered before addressing another situation.
"Tauros!" The Wild Bull herd turned to hear what their trainer had to say. Ash decided to break the news gently.
"It's come to my attention that I haven't used all of you… and to that I'm sorry."
The bulls all mooed with reassurement before Ash continued, "And to be fair, I haven't really used any of you except the leader… which is why I'm offering to trade you."
The bulls then look shocked at the development before Ash finishes, "However, if you don't want to be traded, I understand and won;t force you to. The choice is yours."
The herd all looked at one another, each with a different look on their face. It wasn't long before one by one, each of them nodded at the idea of being traded. They had all wanted a battle for a long time now but have just been stampeding around for years in the corral. While it did hurt to trade, they all wanted to battle themselves and this seemed like the best option for them all.
Ash grew a smile on his face, "Alright then. I'll have Professor Oak set up your trade." The bulls mooed with joy before charging up and getting scratches, pets, and all sorts of affection from Ash since it's possibly their last time to see each other. The trainer couldn't help but laugh with the herd before they got off him and he began his training regiment.
Using his Pokédex, Ash looked up potential moves for each of his Pokémon. Needless to say, he was blown away by the amount of moves they could learn and now knowing that he had only been scratching the surface with many of his Pokémon. Like Oak mentioned yesterday, he would work on increasing their move pool.
Ash had split the Pokémon up into learning new moves that he figured would be great for them. Each of his Pokémon had strengths and weaknesses, but Ash was planning countering type disadvantages too. He remembered how a few gym leaders he encountered made special techniques for dealing with trainers. So he was doing his best to incorporate strategies for countering type-effective moves.
Bulbasaur generated a green orb before firing it, showing his newly learned Energy Ball. Muk was alongside him, teaching the Seed Pokémon a few Poison type moves as both needed a greater moveset in that area. The Sludge Pokémon generated an energy trash bag before throwing it, signaling Gunk Shot. Bulbasaur took it slow, practicing Sludge Bomb as Muk had taught him.
Heracross swung his hand down, taking the form of Brick Break. Leavanny blocked with his scythes but strained to hold back the Fighting-type move. The Single Horn Pokémon flew away before coming in with Megahorn. The Nurturing Pokémon crossed his scythes together before using X-Scissor. Both dual Bug-types matched each other but Heracross won the duel as Leavanny was filled with exhaustion.
Bayleef closed her eyes and concentrated before conjuring a glass shield, signaling Reflect. Sceptile nodded before rushing in and slicing with Leaf Blade. The Reflect managed to withstand the Grass-type physical move so the Forest Pokémon bounded back and gave a nod of approval with the Leaf Pokémon. She secretly blushed at the praise before readying herself for more.
Kingler fired his Bubble Beam before Corphish copied it. The both crustaceans demonstrated Harden before trying to improve their defense boosting move. A few minutes later, Kingler took a metal shine signaling Iron Defense while Corphish still was shimmering with Harden. The large crab gave a pat on the abdomen with the crayfish before trying to learn a different move.
Gible fired a Dragon Pulse before having Noivern do his best to demonstrate his. The Soundwave Pokémon did his best, firing a small multicolored beam in the shape of the dragon. It wasn't much but the small Land Shark Pokémon nodded at his progress. Noivern then showed his Dragon Claw as Gible attempted to do the same but only let his claws take a white sheen, symbolizing Slash. Both dual Dragon-types worked on improving their dragon abilities to the best of their ability.
Krookodile erupted several glowing blue stone spires from the ground before ending the display of Stone Edge. Lycanroc dodged them all and managed to get to the maroon crocodile with ease. The Wolf Pokémon stopped in front before getting ready to learn his new move. The Intimidation Pokémon grew a Dragon Claw while the orange-furred canine grew a crimson red claw on his paw. They both slashed at each other, meeting in a stalemate which the crocodile won. Through PokéSpeech, the Intimidation Pokémon told the Wolf Pokémon to better use his claws.
Torterra stood tall, watching Boldore from a distance. The two defensive Pokémon stared at each other before firing off their moves. The Continent Pokémon fired an Energy Ball that the Ore Pokémon destroyed with a Flash Cannon. Then, the Unovan Rock-type fired several Rock Blasts that pelted the Sinnoh Grass/Ground-type's shell. Torterra held before rearing up and slamming to the ground with his newly learned Earth Power that effectively disoriented Boldore.
Sirfetch'd held up his shield to protect himself against Gengar's Dazzling Gleam. After the Shadow Pokémon used the Fairy-type move, the Wild Duck Pokémon prepared his next move. Knowing his Fighting-type moves wouldn't work, he opted for a different move. Thrusting his leek sword forward, it took a venomous shade of purple and hit the phantom. Gengar shook the minimal damage of Poison Jab, impressed before trying himself.
Pignite took a deep breath before snorting a Flamethrower. Infernape dodged it before prompting the Fire Pig Pokémon to do so again. The Sinnoh Flame Pokémon continued to evade before rushing in with a Mach Punch. The simian socked the swine in the stomach but too hard and was pushed back. Snorting with annoyance, Pignite spewed a few plumes of black smoke through his snout, showing his Smog attack as Infernape leaped back and flashed a thumbs-up at the new move.
With a nimble structure, Quilava ran circles around Torkoal. The Volcano Pokémon decided to attack, curling into a ball and rolling into ramming the Coal Pokémon. Shaking off the Rollout, the tortoise unleashed Heat Wave but the slender Fire-type managed to avoid it. Torkoal took a more direct approach, leaping and trying to hit with a Body Slam. The physical move landed on Quilava but led to a retaliation with Eruption.
Hawlucha lectured Scraggy about his moves, trying to demonstrate his Fighting-type skills. The Shedding Pokémon merely nodded along before Headbutting another rock. The Wrestling Pokémon sighed before showing the reptile a Karate Chop attack. The Fighting/Dark-type took his hand and repeated himself, before having it use Brick Break as a makeshift Karate Chop as of now. The Fighting/Flying-type grew a smile on his face, teaching Scraggy such a move.
Snivy had to pop the bubble Rowlet had, breaking the owl out of his sleep. The Grass Snake Pokémon muttered in PokéSpeech before shooting out Vine Whip. The Grass Quill Pokémon flew and weaved out of the way of the vines before showering with field with Seed Bomb. The serpent used her speed to her advantage, jumped up and matched a Brave Bird with Leaf Blade. A miniature explosion occurred and both Grass starters righted themselves and eyed each other, Snivy now having some respect towards Rowlet.
Gliscor ignited a Fire Fang before gesturing to Donphan to the same. The Armor Pokémon did his best to copy the Fang-Scorpion Pokémon's example but only got a few flickers at first. Eventually, the pachyderm managed to get a mini Fire Fang going which made him snort with displeasure. The bat-scorpion hybrid patted his hide and explained what he needed to do to better improve the Fire-type move.
After getting the herd squared away, the leader Tauros charged head first with Horn Attack. The Normal-type attack did not do anything to Snorlax, given the size of the behemoth Pokémon. The bull snorted as physical attacks were his only method of attacking right but the Sleeping Pokémon stood on his two feet and began to demonstrate Hyper Beam. The Wild Bull Pokémon followed along, conjuring his own version of the powerful Normal-type move and fired it.
While not the same type, Incineroar was down for training with Melmetal. The Heel Pokémon watched as the Hex Nut Pokémon spun around and threw out a Double Iron Bash. The purpose of this was to get the red bipedal tiger to learn Darkest Lariat since the move itself required spinning. The Fire/Dark-type spun himself and got a few dark red flames on his claws while the biotic metallic mold chirped with joy.
In the river, Buizel shot out with Aqua Jet, Oshawott followed shortly after. The Sea Otter Pokémon watched as the Sea Weasel Pokémon generated an Ice Punch, freezing the water coat over and landed without a scratch. The otter wanted to copy his example so he triumphantly used Razor Shell as a makeshift weapon. This resulted in the blade getting stuck in the ground when Oshawott landed which made Buizel facepalm at the situation his partner just did.
Glalie observed Dracovish, the Frankenstein fossil using Water Gun before wanting the Face Pokémon to work on some moves himself. The Hoenn Ice-type did his best to copy and generated a small orb of water, signaling a work-in-progress of Water Pulse. The floating head also worked with teaching the fish-faced fossil some Ice-type moves, most notably Ice Beam which the Fossil Pokémon got down easily as a counter for Grass-types.
Being chipper, Totodile danced as Palpitoad tried to find the rhythm. The Big Jaw Pokémon soon stopped after seeing the Vibration Pokémon not dancing as well as he thought. The small, blue crocodile decided to do some training in his Water-type moves, showing his Water Gun. The limbless amphibian nodded before using Hydro Pump which made Totodile look in awe and tried to copy that himself.
Squirtle took a deep breath before spewing a gushing torrent of water. Dragonite watched the move in interest and became determined. Concentrating herself, the Dragon Pokémon worked on the Water-type move and managed to get a spout. A few minutes later, the pseudo-legendary managed to get Hydro Pump down. Squirtle flashed a thumbs up to the light orange dragon.
In the air, Talonflame watched Charizard showcase his Flamethrower. Ash wanted the Scorching Pokémon to have some form of ranged attack now since he vaguely remembered Moria's using Fire Blast. The Kanto Flame Pokémon ended his example and let the Kalos Fire/Flying-type copied the example the best he could. The Kalos raptor nodded and made a few embers at first before they turned into a stream of fire. Talonflame cawed as Charizard gave a nod of success at the progress.
Staraptor watched as Unfezant flew with Aerial Ace around her. The Proud Pokémon stopped in front of the Predator Pokémon, the latter nodding before trying to teach her a new move. The Sinnoh bird of prey flew with Brave Bird while the Unova game bird tried to copy the powerful Flying-type move. Instead she glowed with a yellowish aura, signaling Sky Attack. It wasn't the intended outcome but she liked the move and Staraptor nodded with acceptance.
What Swellow had in speed made Noctowl have to be cautious when fighting him. The Swallow Pokémon flew circles around the Owl Pokémon but the shiny refused to give in. Flapping his wings, the owl fired several Air Slashes that the swallow avoided. Swellow glowed with a purple aura around him and rushed in with a Secret Power but Noctowl stopped him in his flight with the use of Extrasensory.
Pikachu and Lucario went at it with one another. His first intention was learning a few countering moves like Oak mentioned the day before. The Mouse Pokémon had watched Hawlucha demonstrate Karate Chop so he took it upon himself to learn Brick Break. Leaping up, the rodent turned his paw white. The Aura Pokémon blocked it successfully and his claws extended with a silver sheen. The mouse saw this and backed away before the jackal swiped his Metal Claw. Squeaking with joy, the Mouse Pokémon was pleased with himself.
Ash watched all his Pokémon train hard. He let them rest during the afternoon after lunch then had them continue again afterwards each Pokémon improve with themselves till the evening and when Ash called it a day.
When he got home, the trainer felt proud of how his team was coming along. He reminisced on the progress his Pokémon made today.
Bulbasaur learning Energy Ball and Sludge Bomb, Muk with Gunk Shot, Bayleef learning Reflect, Kingler learning Iron Defense, Noivern's slow process of Dragon Pulse, Gible's Slash, Lycanroc's Crush Claw, Torterra's newly learned Earth Power, Pignite's use of Smog, Scraggy and Pikachu learning Brick Break, Tauros learning Hyper Beam, Incineroar's Darkest Lariat, Dragonite learning Hydro Pump, Sirfetch'd and Gengar's Poison Jab, Glaile's steady process of Water Pulse, Talonflame practicing Flamethrower, Unfezant's Sky Attack, Lucario's Metal Claw, and Swellow's Secret Power.
Ash couldn't help but be satisfied with his work today…
But then he got thinking.
He remembered releasing some of his Pokémon, wondering where they were now. Some he knew, others still wandered around the world so finding them might take time. That's when it hit him, he should try to find those Pokémon. No doubt they would want some action and Ash was happy in trying to reconnect with them.
Staring out the window, he knew where exactly to find one of his old teammates…
11/29: Revised with Journeys Team