Part XXXV: A Different Way to Train
It had been a month since Ash had caught Gengar and he was now fully recovered from his fever. It had taken Ash a good week and a half to be well enough to be cleared to travel and another few days to return to 100% but Misty didn't matter. It gave her a chance to nurse him back to health, in a really cute nursing outfit that Ash seemed to love, with his Pokémon helping. Even Gengar got involved with helping Ash recover and regain his strength.
The Shadow Pokémon had changed a lot since Ash had caught it and started training with it. Gengar was still not fully accepting of humans and it took a little to warm up to anyone who wasn't Ash but it was making good progress on that front. Already Gengar had accepted Misty because it had seen her caring for Ash and could tell she loved him with all her heart. Others would come in time, though it did get along with the Pokémon which was a good start.
Despite this Gengar still had a mischievous streak that his species was known for which cropped up every now and then. Its favorite thing to do was to hide in Ash's Shadow and pop up to startle people or Pokémon, often Piplup if it was the later as he kept falling for Gengar's tricks, whenever Gengar could get away with it. It wasn't often but it was noticeable and usually got a laugh out of everyone but Gengar's unfortunate victim.
As it was a new Pokémon, Ash had decided to keep Gengar as part of his main roster for his upcoming full battle challenge that he had scheduled with Erika in Celadon City. This way he could see how Gengar worked in a battle and bond even more with his latest Pokémon. Most of the training over the last two weeks since resuming their journey had been focused on Gengar and Dratini who was also going be in the battle with Erika. The pair were getting along great and had become fast friends as Ash's two newest Pokémon.
The remaining 3 Pokémon Ash had had been selected though this was Ash so there may be a change before the battle if he felt it was necessary. With the three who had already been being native to Kanto, Ash had decided to go with a full Kanto roster instead of his original roster he had planned to use against Erika back when she had accepted his challenge. It was also fitting because he hadn't actually finished his first battle with Erika thanks to Team Rocket so he felt it was right to go with a team of native Kanto Pokémon against her to truly finish their battle.
Ash's recent sickness had delayed them but not by as much as Misty had feared it might as they had made good progress since leaving Lavender Town. It was still a good month before the Wallace Cup so they had time to achieve at least the two major things before they had to fly out to Hoenn.
As such the plan was to make to hit a Contest that was between Saffron and Celadon City before they got to the latter city. Then, once there, Ash would contact Erika and set up the time for their full battle, something both were looking forward to.
When Ash fell sick, Misty had sent a message to Erika letting her know what was up and that they were going to be delayed. Erika had been very understanding and had simply asked that they give her a heads up when they are in the city so that she had the time to prepare. Misty had exchanged a few messages with the gym leader regarding the battle and what was going on and felt that Erika was a nice and kindhearted person who fully understood the ups and downs of traveling.
The one odd thing was that she had asked that Ash not insult the scents around the gym again or repeat what happened last time. Misty had no idea what that mean and Ash hadn't offered up anything on his own so she was going to have to find out what that was about but only when the time was appropriate.
For the moment they had stopped off at a small, run down, roadside diner of all places that was on the route between Saffron and Celadon City for a bite to eat. They had spent a few days in Saffron to restock and let Sabrina know what had happened but it had only been a brief stop so that they could get on with their journey as quickly as possible after so much time off. The diner was a convenient lunch stop for them on the way and they were in a corner booth now awaiting their lunch.
It also helped that besides themselves and a large man who was drinking coffee at the diner's counter they were alone in the diner. It allowed them to take their time, enjoy their food, and plan for the trip ahead. They hadn't really had a chance to do this since leaving Lavender Town so this was the best time to prepare so that they could make sure that everything worked out before they had to temporarily leave Kanto.
Misty had fished out the Contest calendar she always kept and was pursuing it as they waited for their food, Piplup and Pikachu already eating their own food in bowls beside them. The one plus of Ash's sickness had been that Piplup had stopped annoying them to help out. Misty felt that the peace was fleeting though because as soon as they wounded his pride by accident again he would resume annoying them. Already Gengar was getting to Piplup and soon he would blame them for it and he would resume his own special brand of justice.
"Alright so the meat lovers stack is for the gentleman." The waitress said interrupting their thoughts as she put down a platter of assorted meats in front of Ash just as Misty found a Contest that would work. "And the deluxe noodles of the day for the lady."
The waitress put down a steaming bowl of noodles in a vegetable broth with a roll of bread on the side in front of Misty and left them to their meal. Instantly Ash attacked his food as if he hadn't eaten in a while and given his recent fever it was only natural for Ash to feel like he needed to eat as much as possible. Misty just smiled as she began to eat her noodles.
"I think I know which Contest we can hit next." Misty said after a moment of enjoying the surprisingly good noodles. "There's one in a week's time that will work for us I think. So long as the location is good, I don't know Kanto well enough to judge whether it is good or not."
"Really?" Ash said through a mouthful of food that wasn't his most appealing look to Misty and he swallowed hard at a glare from her before continuing. "Where? Remember with my full battle against Erika and flying to Hoenn for the Wallace Cup we can't go too far out of our way; no more than a week's travel form Celadon if I had to guess. We are going to want a few days in Petalburg City before the Cup as well so there is that to factor in."
"I know which is why I think that this Contest is perfect." Misty said with a smile. "It's in a place called HopHopHop Town. According to the map its right outside of Celadon City but you probably know it better than me. Is it close enough?"
"Yeah it's a suburb of Celadon so less than a day from the gym." Ash said with a nod the odd name reminding him of it. "I've been there once before. It's definitely close enough."
"Really?" Misty asked not as surprised as she thought she would be, of course Ash would have been all over Kanto before so it made sense for him to have been there before and if so then he almost certainly had an adventure in the process. "What happened there?"
"Why do you ask? I could have just been passing through and remembered it by its name." Ash said to which Misty quirked a knowing eyebrow at him and Ash sigh. "Ok yes there was something strange going on there when we visited it."
"And?" Misty asked prodding Ash along. "You can't leave me hanging. I'm your girlfriend Ash, I want to know all your stories from before we met, this included."
"A group of people were using a Hypno to deal with their insomnia but it caused a bad and unpredicted side effect." Ash continued as he recalled the adventure. "It was causing kids to think they were Pokémon and go into a local park so they had been missing and no one knew where they were or why they were disappearing. We figured it out when Dawn got hypnotized and thought she was a Seel."
"Wait what?" Misty asked with a laugh at her rival imitating a Pokémon like Seel. "Dawn thought she was a Pokémon?"
"Yup." Ash said with a nod. "It was pretty amusing."
"Oh I bet; I am so going to remind her of that when we next spar." Misty said with a grin at the idea though Ash had no idea what Misty meant, she and Dawn were friends why would they spar? "Go on, I take it you helped out as always."
"Yeah we managed to use a Drowzee, Hypno's pre evolved form, to cure them." Ash said with a nod. "But that wasn't all that happened there. I'll never forget HopHopHop Town for one reason."
"Of course not." Misty said with a smile, she should have expected more from Ash. "What else happened there?"
"Psyduck decided to catch himself with Dawn's Poke Ball." Ash said with a chuckle. "Now that was the highlight of our time there."
"Don't you mean Dawn caught Psyduck." Misty corrected. "Not the other way around."
"Nope he literally caught himself." Ash said with a shake of his head confusing Misty so he explained. "Nurse Joy had a wild Psyduck that had a massive headache thanks to Hypno that she couldn't help because he wasn't cured by the Drowzee. Naturally Brock volunteered to help."
"Of course he would." Misty said with a sigh at their amorous friend. "Any request from a Nurse Joy would get Brock's assistance."
"Too true." Ash said, even he could see Brock's odd love for all Nurse Joys. "However, even Brock failed when he realized that Psyduck has a permanent headache so he dumped Psyduck off on Dawn as it's a water type so her specialty. Dawn didn't want to deal with Psyduck either, a rarity for her and water types, but as she was backing away she fell over and an empty Poke Ball rolled out of her bag. Psyduck then tapped the ball to expand it and again to catch himself in it. That is how Dawn caught her Psyduck."
"Wow I didn't know." Misty said her eyes wide at the idea of a Pokémon actively catching itself, or likely being too dumb to realize knowing Psyduck. "Though given their odd relationship I am not that surprised that's how Psyduck was caught."
"Yeah it was an odd start to a friendship." Ash said with a nod. "But it worked out in the end because I know that Dawn secretly loves her Psyduck a lot. Plus his habit of popping out of his Poke Ball without warning has come in handy as it would sometimes happen when we got caught by Team Rocket and then he could get help for us. Dawn wasn't joking in our battle, her Psyduck is probably her second-best Pokémon after Gyarados, he just needs to take a few shots to the head and ironically be nowhere near water to be good."
"I remember." Misty said, she had been surprised when Psyduck had beaten Buizel in their matchup. "So that is where she caught her Psyduck, interesting. It is also where a Contest is going to be so that is why I think we should go there. If it is really that close to Celadon City then there is no point in me not entering it."
"Yes the Contest." Ash said feeling a little embarrassed that he had forgotten about it while remembering how Psyduck joined their adventure. "We got sidetracked with some memories of mine. I see no reason why we can't hit the Contest there."
"Great because I think it's the best one for me out of all the possible ones we could hit." Misty said putting down her chopsticks and pulling out her Contest book and flipping to the HopHopHop Town Contest entry. "Here it is, it's in a week's time and it is a classified as a Grand Festival practice Contest minus the ribbon requirement."
"Those are the ones that mirror how the Grand Festival will be, right?" Ash asked remembering how there had been a few like that in his various travels. "At least in terms of general format but not the entirety."
"Correct." Misty said with a nod. "Apparently the Kanto Grand Festival starts with two appeal rounds, one with a single move and then one with as many as you want but it is a single Pokémon appeal. After that the top 16 advance to the battle round which is done in the double battle format. HopHopHop Town is doing it as a single appeal followed by double battles in the battle round though only 8 coordinators will advance to the battle round it seems. So they follow the same general format minus the single move appeal hence why it is a practice Contest. There aren't many on the calendar making this Contest by far the best for me to compete in."
"That does sounds like the Kanto Grand Festival." Ash said recalling the time May was in it a few years back. "That is good practice for to get used to how the format would be. I take it you already know who you're using."
"Of course." Misty said with a nod. "All 3 of my new Pokémon. Eevee will be my appeals Pokémon and then I will use Gloom and Pinsir in the double battles as they already have great chemistry so this is perfect for them. That is if I make it there of course which is never a given."
"That is a good plan." Ash said as an idea came to his mind. "You know, I may actually join you on this Contest, it sounds like just what I need."
"You will?" Misty asked surprised, she knew her boyfriend was going to compete in at least the Wallace Cup but she was surprised he wanted to compete in a normal Contest like the one being held in HopHopHop Town. "You want to compete in a Contest? What would make the great trainer Ash Ketchum want to enter a lowly Contest that isn't the Wallace Cup?"
"I mean I know I won't win it but it will be fun to compete." Ash said with a shrug. "Other than the full battles I am not getting much training for my Pokémon in actual battle scenarios and Contests still allow that if I can advance. Plus it will be the perfect thing for Dratini and Gengar's training."
"How so?" Misty asked curiously, she always enjoyed hearing about Ash's training strategies as they were usually pretty effective and apparently this Contest was going to be one.
"Well you gave me the idea." Ash said causing Misty to blink in surprise. "As always you are an inspiration to me."
"I did?" Misty asked blushing uncontrollably at the complement.
"Yeah when you said you were going to have Gloom and Pinsir in the battle round." Ash said. "Which we know you will get to by the way."
"Well I hope but I could fuck up." Misty mumbled as her cheeks still red from Ash's continued compliments. "That is always a possibility, I have seen it happen before to experienced coordinators so it could always happen to me in any appeal. Always best to never jinx yourself, I learned that the hard way."
"Well I have faith in you, you're amazing at this so I know you will advance." Ash said and Misty's blush continued to deepen. "But to answer your question I intend on using them in the double battle stage, if I advance that is and as I will use Pikachu in the appeals I should have a good chance to do so. I want them to get some practice together and help them continue to bond as a team. What better way than to use them in a double battle in a Contest where they have to work together. That way they will be ready for when I face Erika and I will have some sense of how Gengar is in battle before I face her."
"Oh I see, yeah that makes a lot of sense." Misty said seeing the logic in Ash's idea, it was such an Ash idea to have as well. "Well I support it but if we face off in one of the battles then I won't go easy on you. I am there for the ribbon not the practice."
"I don't want you to." Ash said with a grin. "If we face off I expect you to not hold back, we rarely have a serious battle so I want your best. This may be practice for me but I need the challenge in a proper battle and that is what I expect in the Contest."
"Good because I don't intend to, I will come after you with everything I've got as a seasoned coordinator." Misty said with a grin of her own at the idea of possibly facing Ash in a serious competition for once. "So it is settled, we will both enter the HopHopHop Town Contest, after you register for it to get a pass which you will need in the Wallace Cup as well so this gets that sorted out before we get to Hoenn. That just leaves our plans for the week."
"I say we head towards HopHopHop Town from here and then camp out on the outskirts to practice." Ash said simply. "It should take us about a day to get there from here if memory serves, give or take I think. The we set up camp just outside the town and practice for the Contest. Then the day before we head check into their Pokémon Center. After that it is just a matter of registering for the Contest and you winning your third ribbon. Once our celebrations are over we head on to Celadon and I face Erika and try to actually beat her this time."
"Sounds like a good plan." Misty said before shifting the conversation to Ash's upcoming battle and trying to get some answers to questions that Erika's messages had created. "So what exactly happened last time you faced Erika? Why didn't you beat her?"
"Oh that well it was just the standard interruption that you would expect to happen to me." Ash said a little too quickly as his cheeks flushed for some reason. "Team Rocket interrupted us mid battle and began causing serious problems. This time it was by setting fire to Erika's greenery."
"Ok that is a little much even for them." Misty said. "Greenery? What kind of gym leader is Erika, I don't think you've actually mentioned that."
"Oh Erika is a grass type specialist so her gym is also a lush greenhouse at the same time." Ash explained which did explain why there was greenery, it was only natural for a grass type specialist to have a gym that reflected that. "Anyway, most of the Pokémon who live there got out but her starter and best friend, a Gloom she had once saved from another Pokémon, was trapped. I saved it because I couldn't let it come to harm and she gave me the Rainbow Badge for doing so. We never actually finished our battle and as such I didn't truly earn the badge so I really want to beat her."
"I see so it's kinda like with Sabrina." Misty said knowing that Ash wasn't telling her the full story, there was clearly more that he was leaving out. "And the whole request to not insult the smell around the gym? What do you think she would mean by that?"
"Erika told you?" Ash asked with a gulp, he really didn't want to tell Misty the full story of his ordeal at the Celadon City Gym or with its odd leader. "When?"
"She just asked you not to insult the smell when I told her you were sick." Misty said with a sly look at Ash. "I know that we should have already been there by now but we were held up so I figured giving her a heads up when you were sick that we would be later than expected was a good idea. She was so polite in our messages that I didn't see the need to tell you that all she said was that and to let her know when you reached Celadon so she could close the gym for your battle, she didn't give me any details."
"Oh that." Ash said with a sigh of relief, he could just explain that part and not the rest and hope that Erika didn't remind him of it. "That was just a misunderstanding between us that's all. We disagreed on a certain fragrance at Erika's perfumery which she runs as well as her gym, She uses the essence of a scent that I found unappealing but everyone else liked and I, er, voiced my displeasure at it which she didn't like. After I saved her Gloom we put that behind us though so it is all good."
"Uh huh." Misty said unconvinced that that was the full story but deciding not to press it as she knew Ash would tell her what he was hiding in his own time. "Well have you thought about your team for her? I know you have a team but it could change, right? It has already changed, that's why I ask."
"I am always tinkering with my roster as new developments happen so I could still change it." Ash confirmed. "I had planned on using Scraggy in Saffron until I changed my mind after beating Surge and went after a new Pokémon. I was planning on using Unphezant, Torterra, Torkoal, and Donphan against Erika before I caught Gengar. After Gengar joined me I decided to change it up and go with a full Kanto roster against her."
"Yeah I know the three you have chosen." Misty said thinking on Ash's choices, she had seen him training hard with them but still she had to ask. "Two of them I understand but the third, are you sure?"
"Yes." Ash said with a nod. "In fact if I have to change one of them for any reason then that's the only one that will stay with Pikachu, Dratini and Gengar in my roster. The other two are replaceable but those 4 are locked in."
"Ok well I am looking forward to seeing it." Misty said and meaning it, it was going to be memorable in Celadon for sure. "One this is for sure Ash; you certainly like to make things interesting."
-break-
As Ash and Misty continued to talk they continued to ignore the man at the counter drinking his coffee. However he had wasn't ignoring them and heard everything that they had said. It wasn't hard in the quiet diner and he had nothing to do but casually listen to the pair of youngsters.
For the most part he wasn't too concerned with the conversation, they were just a young couple who were talking about their journey through Kanto together. One, the girl, was clearly a coordinator for sure and her boyfriend seemed to be a standard trainer given his talk about facing Erika when they got to Celadon. They seemed a bit old but who was he to judge, people went into training at all ages so maybe they were just late bloomers. There was until he heard one thing that had instantly peaked his interest in them, the boy's name.
He wasn't certain but he thought he had heard his name earlier in the conversation and it had caused him to shift his mental focus entirely to the young couple. Surely it couldn't be him, why would he be here of all places and why would their paths cross now in such an out of the way diner. Then he heard it again, the boy's full name this time and it was more than enough to cause the man to have to confirm it no matter how rude it was.
"More coffee hun?" The waitress asked sweetly interrupting the man's thoughts and causing him to look up at the waitress who was now behind the counter holding a pot of fresh coffee. "You look like you could use a top off."
"Yes thank you." The man said with a nod as the waitress refilled his mug and left.
He stayed there for a few more minutes sipping the warm, bitter liquid and casually listening in on the conversation between the couple. With no one else present he could easily hear them and he was getting more and more certain that his assumption was right. He just needed the right moment to get up an approach them.
That came when the waitress went to collect their empty plates causing a lull in the couple's conversation and the man knew that now was his chance. As the waitress left he finished his coffee, put some bills on the table to pay for it, rose and walked over to the couple.
As he approached them he studied them. The red haired girl was new to him, he'd never seen her before and judging by the Piplup next to her she almost certainly wasn't from Kanto but she wasn't his concern. No that was all for the raven-haired male with a Pikachu by his side, a Pokémon that helped further confirm his suspicions. He clearly looked like who the man though he was just older and in a different outfit to the one he had seen before, all he had to do was ask.
"I am so sorry to interrupt such a lovely young couple but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation from the counter." The man said as he reached them causing them to jump slightly and look at him in confusion followed by a look of near recognition flashing across the boy's face when their eyes me. "And I just had to ask, you wouldn't happen to be Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town now would you?"
The red haired girl gasped in surprise all but confirming his suspicion, clearly she wasn't expecting her boyfriend to have been recognized her. The boy on the other hand seemed more composed as if he had been in a situation like this before.
"I am." The boy confirmed as he nodded. "And I have to say you look familiar to me as well. Have we met?"
"Once many years ago." The man said glad that this was in deed Ash Ketchum.
"I am sorry for not recognizing you or remembering your name." Ash said with a slight bow of his head in apology. "I have met many people in my life in many regions so faces sometimes blur together. How can I help you?"
"Actually it is I who can help you Ash." The man said with a wide smile at him. "If you have a moment, there is something I think we should talk about."
