Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Sinnoh no Isekai
Chapter One-hundred and ninety-three: Training for the final badge in Kalos
The heroes stopped off on the way to Snowbelle City so that Ash and the reborn trainers can each earn their respective eighth and final Kalos gym badges. For Ash, Kenny, and Trip, this meant that they'll be able to enter the Lumiose Conference; Dawn could as well, but she saw no real reason to as she's already the Champion of Sinnoh and didn't wanna battle to earn the chance to claim another Championship title. It would take away from the others, and Dawn wanted the boys to have their moment of time in the spotlight.
Speaking of boys being in the spotlight, the heroes were met up by a random boy with a normal Scizor. Ash was originally going to battle him, but Kenny took it up instead as he wanted to match his named shiny Scizor Cell against a normal Scizor. The one on one match ended in Kenny's favor when he ended up topping the battle off by Mega Evolving Cell, given the red Scizor's trainer noticed Cell had a Mega Stone and he asked to see if it could Mega Evolve. "Your Scizor is strong," Kenny said to the red Scizor trainer as Cell's Mega Evolution came undone, "But Cell like all of my Pokémon runs on the power of cringe. They don't go down easy."
Dawn saw that the red Scizor trainer was about to ask Kenny for tips, but she told him that they were going to be busy helping Ash and his Greninja with training. The red Scizor trainer understood, thanked Kenny for the battle, then took off. "Kenny, we don't need you spreading your own brand of crazy," Dawn said dryly after the red Scizor trainer had taken off.
"Wachu talkn' 'bout?" Kenny asked, only to draw a smack to the back of his head from Trip.
As the heroes relaxed among themselves, they heard the familiar voice of Sawyer call out, "Hey, it's you guys again!" Turning to look, the heroes all saw Sawyer come walking up to them. "What are you all up to?" Sawyer asked.
"We're actually waiting for something to be sent to the nearby Pokémon Center," Dawn said, "My mom's sending winter wear outfits to me, Kenny, and Trip as we're going to Snowbelle City and it's supposedly really cold and snowy over there. Serena's likewise waiting for a package from her mom that has winter wear outfits for the rest of our group."
"Ah yes, Snowbelle City," Sawyer said, "An ice type gym awaits you there, led by a man named Wulfric."
"We got some details there before," Trip replied.
Gesturing to the heroes, Sawyer said, "If you'd like, I can tell you what Wulfric will be bringing to the table, that way you can be better prepared."
"Alright, I'm all ears," Trip replied, and the rest of the heroes zeroed in on Sawyer's words.
"Battles in Wulfric's gym tend to be three on three affairs," Sawyer said, "And he'll be using a Bergmite, an Avalugg, and an Abomasnow that if it's his last Pokémon he Mega Evolves."
"He has an Abomasnow that he Mega Evolves?" Ash said, "Huh, then it's a good thing that I've gotten so much practice in battling against Mega Abomasnow thanks to working with Trip. He has an Abomasnow that he can Mega Evolve."
Looking to Trip, Bonnie said, "Wow Trip, your Abomasnow working with Ash's Greninja so much really helped out!"
Shrugging, Trip replied, "To be honest, I kind of forgot at one point I could also Mega Evolve my Sceptile Dovahgex." This was actually a lie, not that anyone aside from Trip himself, Dawn, and Kenny knew; Trip remembered from the XY anime in his previous life that Wulfric would bring a Mega Abomasnow to the table against Ash, and since Trip himself had an Abomasnow and he got a Mega Ring with a Key Stone, he asked to get the Mega Stone for Abomasnow to sneak in extra help for Ash to maybe tip the scales in Ash's favor.
"Really, Trip?" Sawyer said, "You have a Sceptile too?" Gently shaking his head, Sawyer said, "But I'm getting ahead of myself here." Turning to look at Ash, Sawyer said, "Hey Ash, would you be down for a battle?"
"Considering Kenny scooped up the last one, sure thing," Ash replied, "Is three on three okay with you?" Sawyer nodded in agreement, and the two boys plus the rest of the heroes made their way to the battlefield behind the nearby Pokémon Center.
...
"This is a three on three battle between Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, Kanto," Dawn said as she was acting as referee for the battle, "And Sawyer..." Turning to look at Sawyer, Dawn asked, "...Umm, Sawyer what's your last name?"
"Sawyer is my last name," Sawyer admitted, "My first name is Tom. Also, I'm from Lavaridge Town in the Hoenn region."
"...alright," Dawn said, then she turned back to continue officiating the battle. "...Between Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, Kanto, and Tom Sawyer from Lavaridge Town, Hoenn! Both trainers can use up to three Pokémon each, one Pokémon at a time, and both can substitute Pokémon at any point! The last trainer with any Pokémon left able to continue battling when the battle ends will be declared the winner! Alright, then!" Throwing a hand up into the air, Dawn called out, "Let's get goin'!"
"Go, Doublade!" Sawyer said as he sent out his Doublade.
"Charizard, I choose you!" Ash said as he sent his Charizard out into battle. Pointing forward, Ash called out, "Charizard, use Flamethrower!"
"Doublade return!" Sawyer said as he swapped his Pokémon around, "Go Clawitzer!" Clawitzer was sent out, and it got hit by Charizard's Flamethrower, also it was burned as a result. Pointing forward, Sawyer said, "Clawitzer, use Crabhammer!"
"Charizard return!" Ash said as he called Charizard back. Looking to Pikachu, Ash said, "Wanna go in there, buddy?" Pikachu gave an affirmative cry as he dashed out, and did a roll to his side to avoid Clawitzer's Crabhammer. Clawitzer was then pained by its burn.
Sawyer looked concerned that Clawitzer may be in trouble. "Clawitzer, use Heal Pulse on yourself!" Sawyer called out.
"Pikachu, trip Clawitzer up with Grass Knot!" Ash called out.
Clawitzer fired a Heal Pulse up to come falling down on itself, but Pikachu tripped it up with Grass Knot, not only doing more damage but making it fall away from the falling Heal Pulse, denying Clawitzer the heal. "Hit 'em with Thunderbolt!" Ash called out. Pikachu then cast a powerful Thunderbolt at Clawitzer, blasting it and hitting it for just enough damage to knock it out.
Holding up a hand, Dawn called out, "Clawitzer is unable to battle! The winner is Pikachu!"
Ash cheered as he scored the first win in the battle. Sawyer recalled his fainted Clawitzer to send Doublade back out, to which Ash had Pikachu come back to send Charizard back out. "Charizard, use Flamethrower!" Ash ordered.
"Doublade, Iron Defense!" Sawyer commanded. Doublade used Iron Defence to try and give it more buffness to withstand the attack from Charizard, but Iron Defense boosted physical defense, not special defense meaning special attacks like Flamethrower will still hit with their full punch. Doublade ended up taking a serious blow from Ash's Charizard. But Sawyer wasn't finished yet. "Doublade, use Night Slash!"
"Charizard, use Flamethrower again!" Ash called out.
"Try to dodge it, Doublade!" Sawyer called out, but it didn't help ultimately; Doublade as it moved in to use Night Slash got confused by the sudden order to dodge while moving, and as such it was still just long enough to get hit by Charizard's Flamethrower again, this time getting knocked out as a result.
Holding up a hand, Dawn announced, "Doublade is unable to battle! The winner is Charizard!"
Sawyer recalled his fainted Doublade before sending out his last Pokémon for the battle. "Go, Sceptile!" Sawyer said as he sent his Sceptile out.
"Charizard return!" Ash said as he called his Charizard back, "Greninja, I choose you!" The heroes were surprised to see Ash send his Greninja out to battle against Sawyer's Sceptile, given it put Greninja at the type disadvantage.
Even Sawyer commented on it. "You're pitting a water Pokémon against a grass Pokémon?"
"Greninja is a lot better than you think!" Ash declared, "Better because of the trust, the bond between us! Nothing can slow Greninja down!"
"This is so meta," Kenny whispered to Trip over where the rest of the heroes sat watching.
Greninja then gave a loud cry of, "GRENINJA!" before the water cloak appeared around it and allowed him to transform. The water then broke away, revealing a perfected Ash-Greninja transformation
Pointing forward, Ash said, "Greninja, use cut!"
"Sceptile, use Leaf Blade!" Sawyer called out.
The two Pokémons' slicing attacks struck one another, parried away like swords used in duels. Greninja leapt back and got some distance from Sawyer's Sceptile. "Use Double Team!" Ash commanded, sending Greninja forward as it conjured doppelgangers of itself, putting fear into Sawyer's eyes. "Now use Water Shuriken, all of you!"
"Sceptile, counter with Leaf Storm!" Sawyer called out, a faint hint of panic in his tone. But it was ultimately no use; the Leaf Storm did block some of the many Water Shurikens, but the rest all got through and struck Septile many times. Despite not being very effective, the assault still did a great deal of damage. It's possible that only Sceptile's resistance to water is why it didn't go down right there and then.
As Sceptile came back from reeling from the assault, Ash called out, "Use Aerial Ace!" The real Ash-Greninja rushed by and struck at Sceptile with Aerial Ace, striking it hard and sending it tumbling back until it fell over and landed on the battlefield on its back, clearly out of it.
Holding up a hand, Dawn announced, "Sceptile is unable to battle! The winner is Greninja! Victory of this battle goes to-"
"Ah!"
Dawn stopped short when Ash fell to one knee, breathing hard out of exhaustion as Greninja's transformation power became undone, and Greninja was similarly tired. "You okay, Ash?" Sawyer asked as he recalled his fainted Sceptile.
"Yeah, it's just that using the special power Greninja and I share takes a toll on us," Ash replied. Dawn, seeing that Ash will be fine, finished declaring him the winner before she and the others tended to Ash.
...
"From what I'm seeing here," Clemont said as he reviewed data from the Clembot Mini, "It's safe to say that Ash and his Greninja have indeed mastered the power that they share. I think the only problem left remaining is being able to build up their stamina to maintain the power while they're using it."
The rest of the heroes all breathed sighs of relief. "So maybe Ash and Greninja can build up their stamina before they take on the gym in Snowbelle City?" Serena asked.
Gesturing to himself, Trip said, "I can train with Ash more before our goes at the Snowbelle City gym. Since it turns out my insistence on having Ash's Greninja spar with Veda if perfect prep help, we should continue doing that."
"Oh, can I come with you guys to watch you battle against Wulfric?" Sawyer asked, "Also, maybe I can help Ash train. I already have the eight badges I need to enter the Lumiose Conference, so training with Ash will also help me."
"The more the merrier I always say," Kenny replied, drawing a round of agreeing cheers from the rest of the heroes. While the Pokémon of Ash and Sawyer were being treated, the packages that Dawn and Serena were expecting came. Dawn's contained two copies of the male Winter outfit and one copy of the female Winter outfit from the BDSP games in her previous life, whereas Serena's package contained the Winter wear outfits she, Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie wore. After everyone was dressed up for colder climates, they were informed that the treated Pokémon were ready to go.
As the heroes and Sawyer traveled, Ash was going on excitedly about how he was totally going to nail the gym in Snowbelle City and get his last badge he needed to qualify for the Lumiose Conference. Kenny and Trip were likewise excited for their badges, and Dawn although she wouldn't be entering the Lumiose Conference was still looking forward to getting her eighth Kalos gym badge. Sawyer was even offering tips on what to look out for, and the whole group seemed all in good cheer as they eventually saw Snowbelle City in the distance.
...As such, none of the rest of the group noticed it that Serena looked upset, a look of melancholy sadness on her face.
The heroes and Sawyer soon made it to Snowbelle City, where the first thing they did was stop off at the Pokémon Center. "Hey, I hope you kids are gonna be okay," the local Nurse Joy said, "Temperatures in Snowbelle City will be reaching all time record lows soon according to weather reports. Even Wulfric, the local gym leader and a user of ice types, says the temperatures will be cold even for him."
"Why is it going to be so cold?" Bonnie asked.
"It's connected to how there have been sightings of the legendary Pokémon Articuno around these parts in recent events," Nurse Joy replied. Ash heard that while he was in the middle of rotating his party, and the news made him switch his party up to be a bit different than what he originally was planning to have on hand to deal with taking on the Snowbelle City gym. After Ash was done, Kenny did some party rotation himself; Dawn and Trip had gone before Ash. Once all of the heroes who were planning to take on the Snowbelle City gym were ready, they took off from the Pokémon Center.
...
They soon got to the gym, where they were greeted by the sight of Wulfric standing there. "You must be the gym leader Wulfric," Dawn said in greeting.
"And you all must be some challengers, although I do recognize Sawyer," Wulfric replied, "Yes, normally trainers requesting to challenge my gym would have to see a screen first, and some Bergmite would do a little show, but some of the mechanisms for all of that are down due to the cold being greater than normal. Those reported sightings of Articuno must be for real if temperatures are getting this low!" Looking to the heroes, Wulfric asked, "So who's battling me first?"
The heroes talked it over and agreed to have Dawn go first; she had with her the party of Chi-Chi, Argent, Zancrow, Leni, Tobias, and Tsukune, although she was planning to use only the fire types, or two of them and Leni if Abomasnow Mega Evolves. Once it was determined that Dawn would battle Wulfric, they all headed into the stadium, where the rest of the heroes and Sawyer went into the bleachers while Dawn took to a spot on the battlefield, Wulfric going to the opposite end. The gym's referee, bundled up more than what's typical according to Wulfric, officiated the battle before the battle kicked off.
Given she was bringing powerful fire types against an ice gym, Dawn ended up winning rather handily; Zancrow took out Bergmite and Avalugg, then Wulfric sent his Abomasnow out who he Mega Evolved, saying he noticed Dawn's Mega Ring thus he knew she herself could also use Mega Evolution so that his use was fair. Dawn gave an agreeing nod as she withdrew Zancrow and sent Leni out, who Dawn Mega Evolved. Abomasnow tried sending a flurry of Blizzard at Leni, but she staved it off with her Psychic. She then conjured and cast a Flash Cannon, and when that sent Abomasnow reeling, she finished it off with Aura Sphere, winning the battle for Dawn.
After Dawn got the Iceberg Badge from Wulfric, the big man gave a sincerely amused, booming belly-laugh. "Well I'll be! You got some fire in you, young lady! Both metaphorical and literal! No wonder you're the Champion of Sinnoh!" Settling down, Wulfric said, "I gotta get my Pokémon treated at the local Pokémon Center before I can take another challenger. You and the others stay safe now. Oh, stay warm as well, because the temperatures are low in Snowbelle City, even for me." Dawn gave a nod of acknowledgement to Wulfric before she and the others took off from Wulfric's gym.
While the heroes were waiting for Wulfric to be ready, Kenny, Trip, and Ash got training for their goes; this saw Kenny spar with Sawyer while Trip helped Ash and Ash's Greninja build up their stamina so they can use the Ash-Greninja power without getting worn out too quickly; they have indeed mastered using the power, but they still need to build up stamina to be able to use it for a prolonged period. By the time the heroes were informed that Wulfric was ready to take on another challenger, Kenny declared he'll go, given that Ash was looking a bit worn out from building up stamina.
Kenny, similar to Dawn before him, won against Wulfric, netting the Iceberg Badge for himself. Kenny's use of Goofy, Cell, and Godzilla who he Mega Evolved got him a clean win, and the snowstorm triggered by Abomasnow's Snow Warning was replaced by a sandstorm triggered by Godzilla's Sand Stream. Kenny had scored two wins against Wulfric; a win against him in their gym battle, and an unintentional win against him in the weather wars. Wulfric said he would have to rest his Pokémon for the rest of the night, but could see a challenger first thing in the morning.
That first challenger ended up being Trip, who brought a bunch of steel types against Wulfric whereas Dawn brought a bunch of fire types; either way it's super effective against ice types. Trip's use of Myde and HedonismBot took out Bergmite and Avalugg, and Trip decided to counter Wulfric's Mega Abomasnow with Veda who he Mega Evolved. The back and forth went on for a bit, but ultimately Veda won out because Trip had Veda know Brick Break and kept spamming that until the other Abomasnow ended up going down, netting Trip his own Iceberg Badge.
After Wulfric's Pokémon had time to rest, it was Ash's turn. Dawn was a bit worried given that Ash lost on his first try against Wulfric in the XY anime in Dawn's previous life. However, Ash ended up winning on his first try against Wulfric here; Wulfric's Bergmite and Avalugg went down to Pikachu and Charizard respectively, and when Greninja came out and it and Ash synched up to achieve the perfect Ash-Greninja transformation, Wulfric asked if it would be okay for him to Mega Evolve Abomasnow, given Kalos League rules thast are now in effect where gym leaders can't use Mega Evolution unless their challengers can as well.
Ash gave it the okay, saying he'll vouch for Wulfric if necessary. After Wulfric Mega Evolved his Abomasnow, he and Ash continued their battle. Here, the transformed Ash-Greninja skillfully avoided all of Mega Abomsnow's attacks while chipping away with a Cut here and an Aerial Ace there. Near the end, Ash called for Greninja to use Double Team, then the real Greninja and all of its doppelgangers fell onto Mega Abomasnow while they all struck with Aerial Ace, providing to be enough of a beatdown to defeat Abomasnow and net Ash the win, netting him an Iceberg Badge and qualifying him for the Lumiose Conference.
...
Now that all of the heroes earning badges were finished earning badges in Kalos, they heroes prepared to get going to head on back to Lumiose City, where Ash, Kenny, and Trip would be entering the Lumiose Conference. Sawyer actually broke away from the group ahead of time, saying he wanted to get to Lumiose City and away from the cold temperatures of Lumiose City, which were colder than normal. "So the reason why you needed to work on stamina is because a kind of 'heat' builds up inside of you while you and Greninja are using your shared power," Clemont said, "And the cold helped to keep a dampener on that heat, allowing for you and Greninja to work for a longer time, which led to building up a lot of stamina."
Ash nodded in the affirmative, but stopped short when Dawn asked, "Hey, where did Serena go? We need to get going soon."
"Oh, I saw her head off in the direction of Winding Woods," Bonnie said, "She looked sad and said she wanted to be alone for a bit before we got going."
"At this time of the day when it's getting dark?" Dawn asked, "And with temperatures getting to all time lows? Is she crazy?"
Ash, a worried yet determined look on his face, made a beeline for the front door of the Pokémon Center. "I'm going out to find Serena."
...
Somewhere in Winding Woods, with a great deal of snowfall around and more snow coming down, Serena was sitting in a small cave, huddled up and looking dejected. She thought about all of the recent successes she and her friends had seen, and was also thinking about how Ash, Kenny, and Trip were set to take part in the Lumiose Conference. Sure, it was all amazing, and Serena was proud of the boys, Ash especially so. However, all of the thinking about the successes that she and the others had seen left Serena wondering one thing.
"...Why couldn't I achieve my big dream?"
"Serena!"
Serena perked up when she heard Ash call out for her. Turning to look, Serena saw Ash walk by about a dozen meters ahead. Serena was suddenly struck with a bolt of embarrassment; did Ash come out all this way to find her? Serena now felt guilty on top of miserable for how she failed to achieve her dreams. Figuring that she had whatever scolding from Ash coming, Serena called out, "Ash! Over Here!"
Ash turned when he heard Serena call out, spotted Serena, then made his way over to her. "Serena!" Ash said when he got to her, "It's too dark and cold to be out here like this! What are you thinking?!"
Serena looked down, when shuddered a bit as she started crying. "I... I... why couldn't I have been as lucky as you? Or Dawn or Kenny or Trip for that matter?" Serena cried, "I failed multiple times in a row at Showcases, only won my first two due mostly to luck, won my third because the only votes that mattered were for me, and then I couldn't even try to face Aria because Team Scorn attacked Gloire City before I could! I'm not as skilled and talented as people say I am, and I needed help and even pity in order to make it to the Master Class Showcase! Why can't I be strong like-"
*BAMPH*
Serena was cut off when Ash threw a snowball into her face. "This..." Ash said, his voice trembling in a manner suggesting he was about to start ranting, "...This isn't the Serena that I know."
Getting a lot louder, Ash yelled, "You have no idea how wrong you're being about yourself, Serena! You are lucky! You do have talent! You have been able to achieve feats that Dawn, who mind you is the girl that defeated Cynthia and became the Champion of Sinnoh, readily admits she could never do! You're better than you give yourself credit for! You're stronger than you give yourself credit for! You're one of the strongest people that I know! So quit crying and show me that strength of yours that I know you have, that I admire abo-"
"CUNO!"
Ash's loud, angry, worried yelling at Serena was cut off when a loud Pokémon's cry sounded out, followed by a powerful and bone chilling cold wind blew around Ash and Serena. The two trainers covered themselves to brace for the cold, but the winds suddenly settled down, followed by another loud cry of, "CUNO!" When Ash and Serena lowered their arms to see, they were shocked to see that they were being confronted by the legendary Pokémon Articuno. The legendary ice bird cawed at the humans it had found, drawn in by Ash's loud yelling.
Serena was about to call for her and Ash to flee, but stopped short when Ash called out, "Go, Zapdos and Moltres!" Serena saw that Ash was going to battle Articuno, and he brought Zapdos and Moltres to the table. "Zapdos, use Thunderbolt on Articuno!" Ash called out, "Moltres, use Flamethrower on Articuno!" Ash's two legendary birds fired their respective attacks at Articuno, with Zapdos's Thunderbolt paralyzing the ice bird as well. After taking two super effective attacks from the other members of its trio, Articuno was able to fight through paralysis and hit Zapdos with an Air Slash, but it didn't do much to the part electric type Zapdos.
"Zapdos and Moltres, both of you use Ancient Power on Articuno!" Ash called out. Zapdos and Moltres both willed up and cast their Ancient Power attacks and struck Articuno with both, taking it down where it collapsed onto the ground. It took a Thunderbolt and a Flamethrower, then two Ancient Powers which are times four super effective, and all of that came from other legendary Pokémon; Articuno, as mighty as it is as a legendary Pokémon, isn't so mighty that it can shrug off all of that and keep on going in the battle.
After Serena had watched him bring Articuno to kneel, she then watched it as Ash took out a poké ball, expanded it, and tossed it at Articuno while calling out, "Go Poké Ball!" The poké ball flew at the downed Articuno and took it inside before landing on the snowy ground. Ash held a hand up to signal for Zapdos and Moltres to attack if need be, but that wasn't necessary as the poké ball made a ping soiund, indicating that Ash had just captured the legendary Pokémon Articuno. As Ash saw the ball containing his new Articuno be sent away, he and Serena noticed that the cold and snowstorm had ceased.
"I... I think it'll be a little bit safer to head back now," Serena said, "And Ash?" As he looked right at her, Ash saw Serena give him an appreciative smile. "...Thank you." Ash gave a smile and a nod in return before he recalled Zapdos and Moltres before leading Serena back to Snowbelle City.
...
When Ash and Serena got back, they were met up by the rest of the heroes and Ash's Pikachu, who he left at the Pokémon Center. There, Ash and Serena explained everything, from Serena wanting to be alone because she saw herself as a failure, to Ash scolding her for thinking down about herself, to Articuno showing up and Ash siccing Zapdos and Moltres on it until it went down and then Ash caught it, to the return walk to the Pokémon Center.
"Wait, wait, wait," Clemont said to Ash, "You have Articuno now?"
"When Ash caught it," Serena spoke up, "The wind and snowing died down."
"Yeah, Nurse Joy did say something before you and Ash got back about how the temperatures are returning back up to the normal levels for Snowbelle City," Dawn said, "And that the change was rather sudden, as if something had occurred suddenly to make it happen."
Clapping his hands together, Kenny said, "Well now I think we've had a productive time here in Snowbelle City. The lads and I all got our final Kalos gym badges each, Serena was reassured by Ash, Ash caught the final legendary bird trio member that he didn't have yet, and now we can head out right away for Lumiose City so that we can enter the Lumiose Conference."
"Well not now as it's just hit nighttime," Trip said, "We should just rest here the night and get going in the morning." The rest of the heroes all agreed with Trip, and they all retired for the evening. In the morning, to save time getting to Lumiose City, the heroes rode Tsukune, Black, and Deelia straight to Lumiose city, landing in an area near the house where Clemont and Bonnie live with their dad; the area was secluded enough so that the heroes wouldn't draw attention to themselves arriving on the backs of legendary dragons. Clemont expressed some disappointment that he'll be missing a gadget festival of some sort, but given that time was of the essence here, he said he can simply go the the gadget festival next year.
Right now, the Lumiose Conference, which Ash, Kenny, and Trip are set to enter, was the top priority.
END, CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND NINETY-THREE
Author's notes;
This chapter covers more Ash and Greninja training, where Ash wins a battle against Sawyer (Ash loses said battle in the anime but here he wins it instead) while showing he and Greninja have indeed perfected using their shared power, but all they had to do now was work on building up stamina to use it without getting pooped too quickly. This is addressed while Ash and the reborn trainers train for their respective battles against Wulfric in Snowbelle City, which is reporting all time lows that even the cold tolerant Wulfric says is strong for him.
Dawn, Kenny, Trip, and Ash in that order all win on their respective first goes against Wulfric (Ash needed two tries in the anime but only needed one try here; the sparring against Trip's own Abomasnow that Mega Evolved regularly helped out a LOT), but before they could leave Ash goes to find Serena in the woods, as she's upset she failed to achieve her dreams. Ash scolds her for thinking badly about herself and reassures Serena she's better than what she's saying, but Ash being loud draws the attention of a wild Articuno, the source of the aforementioned all time lows.
Ash, having heard Nurse Joy mention the sightings of Articuno, decided to have Zapdos and Moltres on hand to deal with it in case he encountered it. Well encounter Articuno Ash did, and with Zapdos and Moltres tag teaming it, Ash soon defeated Articuno and then caught it, giving him all three of the legendary birds. Ash and Serena then get back to the rest of the heroes, they stay the night in Snowbelle City, then zoom straight over to Lumiose City, skipping the two filler episodes between Ash's last Kalos badge and the start of the Lumiose Conference in the process.
The next chapter will begin the portion of the story where the Lumiose Conference kicks off. With more names and different reasons going into it, not to mention a different villainous team lurking in the background of Kalos, the Lumiose Conference here will be quite the spectacle. But until then, take care.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Tobias (Darkrai), Argent (male Arcanine; alpha; Hisuian), Zancrow (male Volcarona), Leni (female Lucario), Tsukune (Palkia)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Goofy (male Houndoom), Juan (male Pikachu; Libre), Godzilla (male Tyranitar), Black (Giratina; Origin Form)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Fourze (male Electivire), Veda (female Abomasnow), Myde (male Empoleon), Kululu (male Greninja), Deelia (Dialga), HedonismBot (Magnezone)
Ash's Pokémon: (on hand) Pikachu (male), Zapdos (gender unknown), Moltres (gender unknown), Greninja (male), Talonflame (male), Charizard (male)