While visiting the Unova region, Ash decided to explore Victory Road past Route 10 to get some training in. He was no stranger to hiking through mountains, but this mountain felt more maze-like than any other he's explored so far. Not long into the trip though, he came across another Pokémon trainer who also seemed to be training there.
"Hey kid, I don't think you have any right being here." The older girl said. She had light blue hair and wore an outfit that consisted of an orange vest over a navy blue long sleeve shirt along with a navy blue skirt with an orange-lined hem and tights of the same shade as the vest and skirt. She also wore orange boots.
"Are you trying to pick a fight with me?" Ash had a competitive grin. "Because I'll gladly take on your challenge!" He said while readying a Poké Ball and flipping his hat backwards as Pikachu climbed down his shoulder and stood next to him. She simply smiled confidently, expecting the battle to go her way.
"Heh, don't say I didn't warn ya. Let's do this, Zebstrika!" She tossed an Ultra Ball containing the zebra-like Pokémon. Ash returned the expression with a grin of his own, as he released Krookodile from its Poké Ball.
"Ugh, not good… Use Signal Beam!" Zebstrika's mane glowed light green as it released a beam of light at Krookodile, who simply stood its ground and waited for Zebstrika to finish its attack.
"What? It's a super-effective move! How come it's still standing?" She was totally dumbfounded. Sure, Zebstrika's Attack stat is better than its Special Attack stat, but it's not like it should do nothing normally.
"Super-effectiveness isn't everything in a battle, I've fought enough battles to learn this the hard way. Krookodile, use Foul Play!" Ash's Pokémon smiled evilly and ran towards a cowering Zebstrika, before grabbing hold of it and tossing it to the side, kicking up dust on the cave floor. When the dust settled, Zebstrika had fainted.
"Alright! Nice work Krookodile!" Ash praised his Pokémon, who gave him a thumbs-up.
"I'm just getting started. Let's do this Whimsicott!" She sent out the Grass and Fairy type Pokémon, who floated around with a gleeful look.
"Do you want to keep battling?" Ash asked Krookodile, who nodded with a battle-hungry look, which made Ash chuckle.
"Whimsicott, use Cotton Guard!" The fluff on its body increased in volume before shining like steel, increasing its defense.
"Going on the defensive, huh? Then we'll just have to kick it up a notch. Use Gunk Shot!" Krookodile got on all fours and opened its mouth wide, before globs of garbage were launched towards Whimsicott, who was unable to dodge the attack. Though the use of Cotton Guard helped, it couldn't prevent Whimsicott from becoming poisoned by the attack.
"Oh no! Use Leech Seed!" Whimsicott weakly released a handful of seeds that fell to the ground and caused vines to wrap around Krookodile, who looked mildly annoyed by the move.
"That won't work! Slash at the vines with Hone Claws!" Krookodile's claws extended with an orange energy as it slashed at the vines and raised its Attack and Accuracy in the process.
"Ugh! Use Energy Ball!" Whimsicott formed a green ball of energy in its hands and softly launched it at Krookodile, who looked unimpressed.
"Use Gunk Shot again!' Krookodile prepared the attack again, launching one glob of gunk to take down the ball of energy, and then launching one more at the opponent, who at that point was too weakened by its poison to make an attempt to dodge.
"Whimsicott, no!" It fell to the ground with a thud and swirly eyes, as the girl fell to her knees in defeat and returned her Pokémon.
"Good job Krookodile!" Ash turned his hat back forwards and returned the crocodilian Pokémon, who was triumphantly flexing its arms.
"Wow, you totally floored me with just your Krookodile. I'm sorry about what I said before." She apologized after she got back up from the ground. Ash shook his head.
"Don't worry about it! That was a fun battle, and I understand now that you aren't a bad person." He said, with Pikachu nodding in agreement as he climbed back up on his favourite spot. She gave him a confused look.
"What do you mean?" She asked with an amused expression.
"Don't you think it's easier to get to know someone by the way they battle? It's not hard to tell you care about your Pokémon." Ash said with a grin. She placed a hand on her chin and thought about his words for a moment. It's impressive that he managed to get that just from their battle, but to her he didn't seem like the kind of person to lie to make someone feel better, although they have only just met.
"Yeah, I think I get what you mean now! Thank you." As she thanked him, her stomach growled, which was followed by Ash's own stomach growling as well.
"Heh, I guess it must be lunchtime." Ash said with an embarrassed laugh while the girl's face turned red.
"Well you're in luck! I just so happen to have a homemade lunch in my bag." She said, retrieving a boxed lunch with two meals worth of food in it. Contained in the boxed lunch was some vegetables and rice arranged to look like a Whimsicott, with the same arrangement in the other half of the box.
"That looks tasty! The way it's decorated looks too good to eat!" Ash said with some drool forming at the edge of his mouth.
"Thanks, I guess it's obvious what my favourite Pokémon is… Wait! I just realized I didn't introduce myself yet, right?" Ash nodded with a sweatdrop.
"I know this is kinda late, but my name is Shanta! Nice to meet you, Mr…." Ash facepalmed.
"Oh yeah, my name is Ash Ketchum, and I'm aiming to become a Pokémon Master!" He introduced himself. She raised her eyebrow a little at his dream, but he said it so earnestly that she couldn't say anything bad about it.
"That sounds like a lot of work, but I'm sure you'll achieve it some day! I mean, you took down my team so effortlessly that I would be surprised if you weren't already a champion." He turned his head when she said that, but thankfully for him she didn't understand why.
"W-well, thanks. Anyway, let's dig in already!" He said, as she chuckled and handed him a boxed lunch and took the chopsticks from hers.