Traveler

by The Straight Elf

Ash Ketchum has been determined to become the best since he was a toddler. He has his eyes set on a charmander, but a twist of fate led him to the humble Nidoran. Note: Mix between anime and the games.

13. Chapter 13: The Master

`Thanks for the huge amount of support last chapter! You guys are awesome and that really makes me feel awesome too. Sorry for the long update time. My prom was last weekend and I've had a lot of tests to study for. The next one won't take as long.

Well, enough of the author's note. I know everyone just wants to read the story. Here's Chapter Thirteen.

Ash was standing on a large hill, thick forest lining the path. The terrain had transformed from the relatively gentle, flat forests into steep hills and sharp drops. He had to be careful exploring now. Plume wasn't here to warn him whenever he was getting close to danger.

He stared out over the huge forest in front of him, the vibrant green and brown of the vegetation shining brightly in the sunlight. It was an incredible sight, one that imparted the full majesty of nature upon him.

But he didn't care too much about the forest. He'd seen trees everywhere during his journey. It paled in comparison to the Viridian Forest, where the canopy was so thick in places light couldn't penetrate, where air hung heavy and still amongst the dens of bug-types.

All of his attention was reserved for the lonely mountain that jutted up from the landscape, dominating the countryside for miles around. Foothills guarded the solitary mount from those too weak-willed to approach it. It was covered in a thick forest of its own, but there were huge chunks of it missing in some areas, as though it had been torn away. Ruts in the earth visible from where Ash stood carved winding lines throughout the thick forest.

In other words, Mt. Hideaway was just as impressive as Ash had expected. It held nothing against the Ore Mountains, where Mt. Silver jutted up through the clouds and served as the primary barrier between Kanto and Johto, but Ash had only seen the tiny mountains that guarded Fuschia's territory. Mt. Hideaway was gigantic in comparison.

Ash glanced over at Nidoking. His plates of armor shined dully in the sunlight, keeping the duo from attracting too much attention. After leaving Dandra Town three days prior, several thousand dollars added to his trainer card and the large, black egg heavy in his pack, the lax atmosphere of the wilderness around Pallet was replaced by older, more territorial pokemon. Nidoking had kept the worst of them away. Few pokemon, no matter how aggressive, were willing to anger a Nidoking. It tended to be bad for their health.

There had been a few attacks by wild fearow, of course. They were plentiful in the area and too mindlessly aggressive untamed to allow him to pass by unscathed. After Nidoking sent three of them to the ground with two thunderbolts, they had left him alone. Now the worst he encountered was a hungry rattata or raticate nosing about in his bag when he was asleep.

"Well, there's Mt. Hideaway." He spoke up. Nidoking grunted and stamped the ground excitedly, clearly ready for an actual challenge. Ash grinned at his friend before returning his gaze to the mountain. "Be careful. There are some really big onix around here. I'd like to avoid a fight if we can."

Nidoking grunted at him, pounding his claws together. Ash knew that he still disliked onix from their experience at Pewter Gym. They had won, but getting up close and personal with a huge stone serpent would rattle the bravest of pokemon.

At least Nidoking would be able to sense them coming. Thanks to his secondary typing, Nidoking was able to sense huge vibrations in the ground, which usually heralded earthquake or other strong attacks. In this case, it would be enough to discover tunneling onix.

Ash sighed and idly shifted his pack to a more comfortable position, careful to avoid jostling the egg too much. Pokemon eggs were incredibly difficult to break – usually only the sharp claws of nest thieves like sneasel could shatter the thick shell – but he wanted to be careful.

"Let's get going." He told his friend. "We've still got a long way to go."

Nidoking nodded and followed him as Ash walked down the unkempt dirt trail, his huge, muscular tail acting as a counterbalance against his hulking body.

Ash sighed as he kept himself from simply running down the hill. Mt. Hideaway was huge. It looked as though it was only a mile away, but he probably had another half hour of walking before he arrived. And then there was the issue of actually finding this mysterious teacher.

It was going to be a long day.

XX

Ash panted as he walked up the steep mountain. He'd finally gotten past the foothills and reached the mountain proper just an hour ago. After taking a short lunch break, he'd begun his search.

So far there was nothing. The forest wasn't too dense, but there was just too much of it for him to actually search it well. Looking around the sections of the mountain that were little more than dirt and a few upturned trees was much easier, but still difficult. While it gave him better visibility, seeing the ruts and winding grooves in the earth that were at least six feet deep and eight feet wide made him feel very nervous.

If he met the onix that looked to be about three times the size of its kin, Ash figured he would run. Torrent would probably be able to force it away or possibly defeat it, but there was too much danger when battling pokemon that gargantuan. The onix probably wouldn't be trying to hurt or kill him, but pokemon that size often didn't know their strength. There were far too many training accidents involving onix for Ash to take them lightly.

Nidoking wasn't able to navigate the harsh terrain, not without tearing it to pieces in the process. His species lived in grasslands and plains, not mountains. He just didn't have the right kind of body structure to easily move around such steep areas.

So instead he had Bruiser with him. While Torrent could have easily levitated behind Ash, the dragon-type wouldn't be able to get rid of obstacles as well as Bruiser would have. Tangela would have difficulty moving around as well, and Dazed would have to constantly teleport to get to higher elevations.

Bruiser pulled him up to the flat area. Ash gave him a thankful nod and stayed on his knees for a few seconds, panting from the exertion of getting up the steep landscape. When his lungs stopped burning, Ash pulled himself up and looked around.

They were in a huge bowl. It almost looked like a meteor had landed in it, although Ash suspected that the onix were a more likely explanation. Judging from the gaping holes in the ground that indicated onix tunnels, this was one of the places that they surfaced, for whatever reason.

Ash frowned. "Bruiser, I don't think this is a good place to be."

Bruiser nodded his agreement, beady eyes glancing warily around the crater. Ash paused only to brush some of the dirt off of his clothes before he started walking forward, making sure to put some distance between him and the hill he'd climbed to get up here. If an onix did surface, he wanted to be away from the drop-off.

After a minute of brisk walking, they had gotten about halfway through the gigantic crater. Ash suddenly froze. Bruiser did as well, although he adopted a fighting position. He grunted at Ash and stood protectively over the trainer.

The entire earth was rumbling and groaning. But it wasn't from beneath the earth. It was as though something incredibly large was coming their way on the surface. He frowned and glanced towards the direction in which the rumbling was loudest.

Ash put a hand on Torrent's pokeball. He was the only pokemon he had that would be able to do real damage to the behemoths that lived beneath this mountain.

And then a loud roar that sounded like stone grating upon stone echoed throughout the crater. Loose dirt and rubble fell from the sides, creating small clouds of dust around the crater's slopes. Ash snapped to attention and prepared to run. He didn't need to be fighting anything that big.

He couldn't hold back the flinch that occurred when a gigantic serpent made of interlocked, thick boulders that were closer to black than grey suddenly shot off the side of the crater, roaring angrily and shaking even midflight.

Ash didn't let his awe at seeing an onix that was about fifty feet long literally fly through the air distract him from his primary goal: Escape. He sprinted to the right as the furious, panicking onix barreled towards him, leaving a huge, segmented groove in the earth.

Onix suddenly came to a stop and began bucking wildly again, roaring angrily and slamming its head into the ground over and over again. Thanks to its sheer size and stone body, the powerful blows that would have crushed a house into mere splinters did nothing to harm the creature.

When he was a safe distance away, around two hundred feet or so, Ash turned back to Onix. The magnificent serpent was still furiously slamming its gigantic head into the ground over and over again, but now Ash was able to see what had upset the gigantic rock-type so much: a large, burly man that was absolutely tiny in comparison to the beast he was riding. He had a maniacal grin on his face as he easily held onto Onix's large, sharp crest, displaying superhuman endurance by holding on despite the immense force rattling the rock-type's body.

Ash's jaw dropped when he realized what he was seeing. Someone was riding an onix. Someone that wasn't being thrown off and seriously injured by the stupid act. Someone that looked as though they were having fun.

And then the man leapt off of the rampaging Onix, flying at least twenty feet into the air before expertly landing on two feet. He tensed up and released one of the pokemon on his belt, releasing a powerfully built hitmonchan. It didn't seem at all perturbed by the Onix that was now glaring at them with pure fury in its huge, slit eyes.

"Hitmonchan, you know what to do!" The man, who was about six and a half feet tall and muscular enough – Ash could tell, since the insane man wasn't wearing a shirt – to not look weedy, shouted happily.

Hitmonchan experimentally punched the air several times, fists moving so fast that they appeared to be a blur. It suddenly leapt at the Onix with incredible speed, darting around Onix's sluggish attempt at a bite and punched it in the forehead with an ice-covered fist.

Onix roared in pain and thrashed angrily, creating an incredibly dangerous situation for the insane man and Hitmonchan. It angrily slammed its head into the ground, sending deep fissures carving throughout the area and shaking the earth.

Ash struggled to keep his footing as tremors rocked through the ground. Bruiser planted his feet until they dug into the ground and maintained a steadying hand on Ash's shoulder. He nodded at the fighting-type in thanks before returning his gaze to the battle.

The gigantic man had taken the opportunity to nimbly jump onto Onix's neck, just near the base of its "skull". He held on tightly, taking care to avoid being pulled into the crevasses on the Onix where its boulders met and ground against each other.

Onix reared up and roared, its fury overcoming its sense. It lashed with its tail, attempting to crush the annoying creature clinging to its back. Unfortunately for Onix, the man dropped off and leapt onto the ground below just as the tail slammed into the back of its skull.

Ash watched in awe as the gigantic serpent reared up one last time and gave a single defiant roar before it collapsed, the blow hitting one of its weak points. He couldn't believe his eyes – a single human had defeated one of the largest onix in the world with only minimal assistance from a pokemon.

The man kept the maniacal grin on his face as he brushed a bit of the dirt incurred from battling Onix off and walked over to Hitmonchan, which was practicing its punches on the air. He patted Hitmonchan on the back before returning the pokemon.

He suddenly turned back and glanced at Ash. Ash just stared at the man who had just done the impossible.

"Hello, there!" The man cried out in a deep voice. He tensed up for a moment before jumping towards Ash, crossing the two hundred foot distance in just a few bounds. When the man expertly landed a foot or so in front of Ash, he extended a hand in a friendly greeting.

Ash just stared at him for a moment, taking the man in. He stood a foot and a half taller than Ash, with the muscle to match. The man wore nothing but a ragged pair of plain pants, worn and torn from harsh training and abuse. Manacles were clasped around his ankles and wrists, apparently serving as training weights. The man's skin was dark from the sun, almost matching his brown hair. His face was calm and serene, the opposite of what Ash would expect after defeating an Onix.

But all that was secondary. Ash recognized this man. He'd watched him battle a challenger the night before he began his journey. This wasn't just a fighting-type expert, this was a Master. Before him stood Elite Four Bruno, notorious for the Elite Four challenges he'd ended by crushing the unprepared.

"You're Bruno!" Ash exclaimed, eyes wide and his hands shaking. He'd met Lance and Steven, true, but that had been somewhat planned. Bruno was a complete surprise.

"Indeed I am." Bruno replied calmly, not surprised in the least at Ash's awe. "And what is your name, Trainer?"

Ash shook some of his awe away. "Ash Ketchum."

Recognition flashed through Bruno's eyes. The Master crossed his arms and looked down on Ash critically and then at Bruiser. "So you're the one Oak told me about. For you to have made it this far is somewhat impressive. The good Professor told me that you are strong, but let us put this to the test. Battle me."

A wide grin split Ash's face. "Yes, Sir!"

Bruno nodded and turned around. He leapt about fifty feet before turning back around, a pokeball already in his hand. The Master seemed immune to Ash's bemusement and sent out Hitmonchan.

The fighting-type needed no prompting. It glared at Ash and punched the air again, fists shifting between burning flame and frost before they'd even completed a single punch. Ash glared right back.

"Bruiser, you're up." He ordered. Bruiser nodded at him thankfully, a grin stretching his reptilian face. Ash knew that Bruiser wouldn't win. None of his pokemon could match that of an Elite Four member. But Bruiser was the one that would be training with Bruno. Maybe he could pick something up from this battle.

Bruiser pounded his chest as he took a fighting stance just a few feet in front of Hitmonchan. His beady eyes were narrow and focused as they took in his opponent.

"Hitmonchan, this is your battle." Bruno shouted. "Begin."

Hitmonchan nodded and suddenly sprinted towards Bruiser and threw an impossibly fast punch. Bruiser tried to dodge, but Hitmonchan's superior speed enabled it to deftly strike him twice in the chest with a glowing white fist.

Bruiser went stumbling back, but managed to dodge the fist Hitmonchan threw at him as he retreated. It was somewhat slower than the first one, but still impossibly fast. Hitmonchan didn't seem at all perturbed by Bruiser's dodge and got in closer before launching a flurry of punches at Bruiser.

Ash's friend took several of the powerful punches, his bulky frame being forced back as the punches slammed into his body again and again with crushing force.

"Low sweep!" Ash shouted. Bruiser ducked the next punch and swept his leg underneath Hitmonchan's. The fighting-type seemed surprised at the trick and went down. Bruiser took the opportunity to throw his own monstrously powerful punch at Hitmonchan, catching it in the chest and knocking the breath out of it.

Bruiser quickly raised his foot to stamp on Hitmonchan, but the fighting-type easily caught the foot in between its two glove-like hands and twisted, sending Bruiser toppling to the hard ground. Before he could land, however, Hitmonchan shot up from the ground and punched upwards, slamming its fist into Bruiser's jaw and snapping his friend's head upwards.

Ash winced as Bruiser fell unconscious. That had been brutal. Apparently Hitmonchan had no qualms about fighting dirty. He quickly recalled Bruiser, thanking his fallen friend.

"Send out your next pokemon." Bruno called out. "It is clear that your machoke needs work."

He nodded and sent out Torrent. His friend would be the best answer to the powerful Hitmonchan. Torrent had the most raw power out of his friends and would be able to shut Hitmonchan down with Ice Storm.

Torrent rumbled and stared down his snout at Hitmonchan, who glared back unflinchingly. It raised both fists and prepared to battle.

"Ice storm!" He shouted. "Keep away from it!"

His friend quickly followed suit, blasting a blizzard all over the area. Hitmonchan simply stood there as the cloud of freezing air neared, leaving a trail of ice shards and frost behind it. The torn dirt was changed into a glittering expanse of pale blue and white.

HItmonchan acted instantly. It rushed around the cloud of icy mist and tried to circle around to Torrent. Torrent casually fired a hydro pump at it, followed by a powerful blizzard. The fighting-type was forced to back away from the attacks and warily darted away.

That was Torrent's cue. His rear fins swished around elegantly and formed a great, roaring twister. It reached a hundred feet into the sky and quickly gathered earth, ice, and air into its great winds. Torrent elegantly floated into the Ice Storm and began to direct it towards Hitmonchan with his mind.

The fighting-type backed away with a stunned expression on its face, although it quickly turned to determination. It raised both fists and closed its narrow eyes for a moment, a look of intense concentration forming on its face as a sphere of light-blue energy was formed between its hands.

Hitmonchan continued to focus even as the great storm drew ever closer, the concentration shifting to a look of impassiveness. The fighting-type suddenly forced its glove-like hands outward, sending the sphere of energy directly into the Ice Storm.

Ash grinned when the focus blast only caused the storm to momentarily paused before Torrent caused the immense column of ice and air to surge forward once more, headed directly towards the helpless fighting-type.

But Hitmonchan had one last trick up its sleeve. It closed its eyes and spun around to gather air, forming a small whirlwind to appear around it as visible sparks of energy arced off of its body. Hitmonchan's body was suffused by an aura of energy just as the Ice Storm consumed it.

He watched intently as both whirlwinds collided, Hitmonchan quickly being engulfed. The two pokemons' forms were visible only as dark outlines in the midst of the clashing twister and what Ash recognized as a vacuum wave.

And then an immense explosion occurred, a shockwave blasting out from Hitmonchan's position and hurling Torrent out of the Ice Storm. While it didn't knock him over or send him into unconsciousness, the shockwave did manage to momentarily stun Torrent and cause him to lose control over the Ice Storm.

The Ice Storm stayed in action for just a few more seconds, whipping up a sandstorm as it roared forward, uncontrolled by Torrent's iron will. Ash's eyes widened as the most powerful technique he'd devised slowly fizzled out, winds slowly dying down as the power that whipped them into a whirlwind vanished.

Hitmonchan stood in the midst, panting and weakened by the effort to dispel the powerful storm, but not done yet. It glared defiantly at Torrent and suddenly reared its fist back. The fist began to glow brightly before Hitmonchan suddenly dashed forward at an incredible speed, the energy it used for the mach punch dramatically increasing its speed.

Torrent automatically fired a powerful hydro pump, the long training sessions with Ash imprinting that tactic firmly into his mind. The hydro pump was ducked by Hitmonchan, who reacted to quickly for Ash to see as anything but a blur before it leapt and punched Torrent in his armored chest, the speed gathered from the charge dramatically increasing the force.

Ash winced as Torrent went careening back, although his friend was still able to fight. But a slow grin spread across his face when he saw Torrent's expression. Torrent's temper had been dulled thanks to his evolution, leaving a fierce willingness to battle but tempered by new wisdom and power.

But it hadn't vanished. It still lurked deep within Torrent, just waiting to be unleashed.

And judging by the murderous glint Torrent's scarlet eyes possessed, Hitmonchan had just shattered all of the barriers keeping Torrent restrained.

He decided to let Torrent do this by himself. Trainers were only there to give directions and overall strategies, not to direct every single moment of the fight. Torrent knew what he was doing.

Torrent was deceptively calm as he levitated to face Hitmonchan, who had tried circling around him. He quickly fired off three hydro pumps, not showing the least bit of strain as the incredibly powerful attacks jetted towards Hitmonchan, whose body flashed white as it dodged the attacks with supernatural speed.

Hitmonchan was grazed by one of the three blasts of water, however, and that sent it reeling back in pain. Instead of immediately taking advantage of the situation and firing another hydro pump, Torrent twitched his rear fins and blasted a huge stream of freezing air and ice shards high into the air, where they hovered thanks to his unyielding control.

Four twisters, each slightly smaller than the one he had used previously, erupted into existence around him, quickly turning dark brown thanks to the loose dirt and earth that was yanked into them. They spun faster and faster as Torrent's body remained tense and furious. The twisters slowly converged upon Torrent, merging into a single, massive funnel of roaring wind.

Ash took a few steps back. The twister was a little too close for comfort, and even his awe at seeing what Torrent was truly capable of was trumped by his desire to avoid the massive twister. It was at least a hundred feet wide and reached several hundred feet into the air, quickly sucking up the clouds of cold mist that Torrent had previously shot into the sky.

He could see Torrent point his elegant head up and shoot another long blast of freezing air into the sky. It was easily absorbed into the tornado and spread throughout the lashing winds. Ash could feel the intense cold and the force of the tornado from where he was standing, more than a hundred feet away.

While the monstrous tornado that Torrent had formed was impressive, it paled in comparison to the effort required to actually move the gigantic column of wind. It started off slowly, Torrent clearly adjusting to the strain, but it slowly picked up its pace and moved towards Hitmonchan.

All of that had taken less than five seconds.

Hitmonchan took a hesitant step back as the icy funnel neared. It hesitantly raised its fists, however, and bravely charged into it with a glowing fist. The boost to its speed carried it through the worst of the wind and straight into Torrent's rigid body, although Ash saw Hitmonchan's body be knocked off course by the immense power of the wind. That probably did a ton of damage to it.

Torrent's barely visible form was knocked backwards by Hitmonchan, but Ash saw that he maintained control of the tornado. Hitmonchan remained in the eye of the storm; although its body staggered as it launched several more lightning-fast punches at Torrent. The fighting-type apparently realized the only way it would beat Torrent was to overpower him, and the beating it gave his friend showed its dedication to that goal.

Ash was simply amazed at Torrent's endurance. While he had no type-disadvantages that Hitmonchan could easily exploit and a thick layer of plate-like scales, to take so many hits from an Elite Four member's pokemon spoke volumes about Torrent's sheer strength.

Still, Torrent was going to faint soon. He'd been trapped by his own power. He couldn't release the tornado – leaving that powerful of a storm raging uncontrolled would be extremely dangerous – and couldn't respond to Hitmonchan's attacks while maintaining control.

But he could perform one last trick. Ash grinned as the tornado quickly intensified and shrank, growing much thinner and taller while losing none of its potency. It was a solid column of dirt and ice now, neither of the combatants visible through the thick veil of the elements.

There was no eye of the storm to hide in anymore. Torrent and Hitmonchan were being hurt by the storm in equal amounts, the dragon-type having realized that if he couldn't win, he might as well take the fighting-type down with him.

And that's exactly what happened. Roughly ten seconds after Torrent enacted the sacrificial plan, the storm suddenly stilled and exploded outwards, the intense blast of air carrying ice and dirt with it. Ash shielded his face from the blast, which was strong enough to make him feel it even at his distance.

When he looked up, he saw Hitmonchan's body collapsed on the frozen ground, the focused Ice Storm too much for its body to handle. Torrent was still levitating, although it was taking everything he had not too collapse.

Unfortunately, the strain creating, maintaining, and dismissing the Ice Storm had placed upon his body was too much. Torrent managed to turn to Ash and met his gaze with mutual pride before the scarlet eyes snapped shut and he collapsed.

Ash recalled his friend, feeling nothing but awe. Torrent had almost singlehandedly defeated an Elite Four pokemon! Even if he did have an advantage in being able to create Ice Storms and use blizzard, it was an incredible feat. While Ash suspected the battle might have gone differently had Hitmonchan been given directions by Bruno, the fact remained that Torrent had won.

"You're amazing." He whispered to his friend as he placed the pokeball back onto his belt. Ash grinned out at Bruno, who had actually let an expression of surprise slip onto his face. The trainer released his next pokemon even as Bruno released his own.

Nidoking emerged, releasing a fearless roar as he analyzed the surroundings. He stamped and sent a small ripple blasting through the earth, although it was nothing on a true earthquake. The poison-type roared again as Bruno's pokemon materialized.

Ash's eyes widened as the cornerstone of Bruno's team appeared: A gigantic, six-foot tall Machamp. It was well over the average size for its species, its muscles being far larger and standing more than a foot over the average. He remembered the last machamp he'd fought, which was onboard the St. Anne, and how he'd lost spectacularly to it.

There was no way Nidoking could match it in power. A Machamp was even stronger than machoke and much faster when it came to fighting. It was like battling four highly-trained, extremely powerful Bruisers at one time.

The key would be in poisoning it. If he could slow it down and damage its body enough, perhaps Nidoking could strike it down with long-ranged attacks or even get a good horn attack in.

"My friend, this battle is yours!" Bruno called out. Machamp nodded as a wide grin split its reptilian features. It used one of its fists to beat its chest before glancing at Nidoking with an unimpressed expression. "Begin!"

"Ice beam!" Ash shouted. Nidoking quickly followed the command, the energy beams all colliding with Machamp as it charged towards them. Machamp was barely slowed, although it was stunned for a moment as a thin layer of ice froze over it. The fighting-type simply flexed in order to break the ice. "Poison sting and get away."

Nidoking opened his mouth and shot out dozens of the barbs, his potent poison loaded into each one. Before they could strike, Machamp shot a ring of purple energy out of one of its fists. The ring struck the ground, causing it to glow a light purple. The fighting-type raised the hand that it had shot the ring out of, causing the purple earth to rise up and shift into stone. All of the poison barbs slammed harmlessly into the wall of stone, each breaking and releasing its dangerous contents onto the earth.

Machamp suddenly charged and leapt over the wall, landing straight in front of Nidoking. His friend shot an ice beam and struck the fighter directly in the chest, but Machamp flexed again to send the debilitating layer of frost falling to the ground. It grinned widely before launching a flurry of blows, too fast for Ash's untrained eyes to see.

Nidoking did his best to fight back, but he just wasn't fast enough to escape from Machamp. Powerful, lightning-fast blows sent him crashing to the ground. Although Nidoking's plates of armor helped to dampen the impact, the rate of attack was so fast that Nidoking was unconscious in less than five seconds.

Ash blinked as one of the strongest members of his team fell into unconsciousness. He recalled his friend and frowned. Against that kind of strength, he would have to use skill and evasion.

Dazed appeared on the field. Almost instantly Machamp charged towards her, fists raised and ready to knock her out with a few blows.

"Disable! Use psychic and psybeam!" Ash commanded. Dazed's eyes flickered blue and her pendulum flew forward, carried by an invisible wind, as Machamp became frozen in a light blue aura of psychic power.

The psychic-type quickly blasted the helpless Machamp with a wave of psychic energy, only to find that it did little to the fighting-type. Dazed's eyes burned blue as she fired an incredibly powerful psybeam at Machamp, only for the fighter to suddenly break out of the disable in a display of incredible willpower and sheer physical strength.

Ash grimaced as the rainbow colored beam of intense energy slammed into Machamp's chest and did little other than slow the powerful fighting-type down. Machamp had a grin on its face as it rushed forward. Just as it would have slammed its fists into Dazed, the psychic-type teleported away. The fighting-type scowled and looked around, only to be shoved forward by a powerful psychic blast.

"You can't beat it through attacking!" He called out to Dazed. "You have to tire it out."

He trusted his friend to understand the message he was trying to impart. Ash couldn't just come out and say his strategy, after all. A pokemon trained by an Elite Four member would easily analyze and tear his friend apart.

Fortunately, Dazed came through for him. She stared at Machamp with glowing eyes, entrancingly swaying her pendulum back and forth. Ash glanced away from the hypnotic motion and looked at Machamp.

The burly pokemon had frozen, its eyes hopelessly lost in Dazed's spell. Dazed stepped up her efforts, reaching into Machamp's mind with her power and slowly twisting it to fit her desires. Machamp's eyes began to close. Ash grinned, knowing that he'd managed to defeat a second member of Bruno's team.

But then Machamp had to ruin the moment. Its eyes snapped open and a wide grin emerged on its reptilian face, showing that it had just been playing with them. Machamp suddenly reared back one of its fists, which glinted a dark, metallic grey, and suddenly flashed towards Dazed.

Dazed stepped back and tried to teleport, but before she could utilize her immense power one of Machamp's fists slammed into her chest. Without a psychic barrier to protect her from damage, the force of the blow sent Dazed staggering backwards, leaving her open to more of Machamp's attacks.

"Zen head butt!" Ash shouted, panicking as Machamp closed in, an unstoppable force in such close quarters. While psychic would have been safer, Dazed was too stunned to maintain the focus needed to exercise the mental attack. Zen head butt was much simpler to pull off.

The psychic-type's eyes briefly glinted blue. A shell of blue energy created a barrier around her head and she leapt at Machamp with uncharacteristic speed.

Had it hit, the zen head butt would have at least given Dazed the time to teleport away and continue her attack.

Unfortunately, it didn't. Machamp simply sidestepped the attack and used two of its muscular arms to snatch Dazed out of the air. The other two fired quick, precise punches to Dazed's body, instantly knocking her out.

Ash sighed and thanked Dazed as he recalled her. That put him down to two pokemon. He wanted to save Infernus until last. The fire-type was the only one that stood a chance against Machamp, but he couldn't take him on with the monster of a fighting-type at full strength. The only way he could win against Machamp was if he softened him up first.

Tangela gurgled happily as he emerged onto the field in a flash of bright light. He waved his vines around excitedly as he spied Machamp, who began to charge towards Tangela with two of his fists emitting frosty air while the others were burning with flickering orange flame.

"Ingrain, Effect Spores!" He called out. Tangela displayed his skill as he performed both commands at the same time. Even as he rooted himself into the ground and began to drain nutrients from the soil, Tangela shook his body and sent a potent mix of both stun spore and sleep powder billowing around him.

Machamp grunted in annoyance and stepped back from the impassable boundary. Ash grinned. The fighting-type was stuck for now. That gave Tangela plenty of time to wear him down in a battle of attrition.

"Vine whip, wrap and giga drain." Ash ordered. The grass-type gurgled happily as he sent out a dozen extendable vines, each lashing out at Machamp with incredible force. Machamp managed to block and snap most of the vines thanks to its incredibly fast reflexes, but it wasn't able to completely avoid the damage. Long red marks from the lashes remained, although it didn't do much damage to the bulky Machamp.

Unfortunately for it, the other vines had also managed to wrap tightly around its legs. Machamp struggled to get free, but the vines simply tightened and glowed faintly as they began to extract energy from the fighting-type.

Machamp was helpless for several seconds as Tangela sucked away its strength. It struggled and thrashed around wildly, but only succeeded in tripping itself and falling over. Tangela quickly took advantage and wrapped five more vines around Machamp's body, although it avoided the arms that would easily snap out of the bindings.

The fighting-type slackened for a moment before rearing its large head back. Ash's eyes widened in surprise as a small stream of feeble, orange flame shot out of its throat and directly into the cloud of stun spores and sleep pow –

No.

"Ancientpower!" Ash quickly shouted as the massive clouds of sleep powder and stun spore ignited in an immense fireball. Tangela reacted quickly, shooting several balls of energy into the earth and wrenching walls of stone and ground up around him.

The makeshift barrier protected Tangela from the inferno that roared around him, but the horrible heat likely did a number on him. Just because he was protected from the fire didn't mean that he would escape unscathed. Convection was forgotten by too many trainers when devising strategies. Ash wasn't one of them, but sometimes it couldn't be avoided.

As the roaring flames died with their fuel source, Machamp suddenly leapt through the remnants of the flames with a furious look on its face. It charged the walls of stone and leapt, rearing a single fist back as it did so.

"Wrap." Ash shouted as Machamp landed, shattering the wall of stone with a single punch. The other hands rapidly removed the rest of the barrier in Machamp's way and hurled it aside. Machamp casually snapped the vines that rushed out to ensnare him and picked Tangela up, tearing him from the ground despite the roots he'd planted. Machamp's movements told him what was going on, even if Ash could no longer see the action well thanks to the remaining barriers.

Machamp grunted and hurled Tangela high into the sky. Ash winced as his friend slammed into the ground again several seconds later, but knew that the worst of the damage had been absorbed by Tangela's spongy layer of vines. Still, that kind of impact would have rattled him.

"Ancient power!" Ash called out again. Tangela tiredly pulled himself up, his ordinarily wide eyes narrowed in pain. Nevertheless, his friend fired another sphere of energy at the ground. Chunks of the earth were ripped from their roots and levitated around Tangela.

Tangela quickly hurled the three large stones at Machamp, who deftly caught each of them and crushed them into rubble. It menacingly approached, all of its fists now burning with a dark orange flame. Machamp reared its head back and fired another weak flamethrower, although Tangela blocked it with another ancient power.

Machamp suddenly broke into another sprint. It vaulted over the wall of earth Tangela had created and struck the grass-type with all four of its fists at the same time. Ash winced as Tangela screeched in pain, a truly horrible sound.

The grass-type was hurled backwards by the combined force of the blows, flying back at least twenty feet. Ash watched as his friend stood up again on wobbly, boot-like feet.

"Sludge bomb!" Ash shouted. "Then give him everything you've got!"

Tangela pulled the vines guarding his face back as he shot the glob of dark, murky sludge at Machamp. It was too fast for the fighting-type to dodge and sizzled as it met Machamp's flesh. The fighting-type roared in pain and staggered backwards, giving Tangela the opportunity to use his full strength.

Four huge chunks of stone were gouged from the earth and hurled at Machamp, each meeting their target. Thanks to its anchoring abilities, Machamp managed to remain standing, although it was clearly injured by the attack. A tornado of spinning, razor sharp leaves slammed into Machamp's chest next, the faintly glowing leaves carving faint lines into the fighting-type's tough hide.

And then came the vines. Three dozen extendable vines, a tiny portion of Tangela's massive collection, shot out from his friend's form and wrapped around Machamp's entire body, instantly glowing green as they rapidly sucked energy. The increased surface area only sped up the rate of the reaction.

Ash grinned, thinking that he'd finally found a way to beat Machamp. There was no way it could escape this, not when it was covered in the burning sludge.

Then, of course, the ridiculously powerful Machamp had to prove him wrong. Something in it snapped as the vines wrapped ever tighter, causing it to roar and suddenly flex. Every single vine ripped at the sudden expansion of the muscles, leaving the most dangerous situation Machamp had faced nothing but tattered vegetation.

Machamp launched a feeble stream of sputtering orange flame at Tangela, igniting his friend and causing Ash to stare in sympathy. Tangela quickly stopped it by using his vines to pull dirt onto the tiny flames, but by that time Machamp had already sprinted towards him and delivered a powerful punch straight into Tangela's body.

His friend went flying across the barren crater, tumbling at least thirty feet before he finally caught himself. Tangela hopped up gingerly, luminous eyes shut in pain.

Guilt gnawed at his stomach and he prepared to recall his friend back, only to put the pokeball back. Tangela's body was slowing glowing brighter and brighter until the grass-type had become a miniature sun, casting the entire crater in shining light as his vines all raised and began to wave around in a hypnotic motion.

Ash watched in awe as Tangela began the process of evolution. It wasn't as dramatic as Nidoking's or Torrent's had been, but it was just as incredible to watch. Even Machamp watched with an intent stare, no longer seeking to attack the evolving pokemon.

The first thing Ash saw was that Tangela's body shot up and lengthened at least three feet, growing from a short, squat form to a tall one. His vines, each independently glowing with intense white light, wriggled furiously. Some vines on his sides began to meld together, forming the long, strong arm-like structures of a tangrowth.

Each of his vines began to grow thicker, each of the hundreds of miniature limbs both lengthening and thickening in order to fully cover his new, large form. The last change was his feet. They grew longer and wider in order to accommodate his new body.

And then the glow faded, much faster than either of the last two evolutions Ash had witnessed. There appeared to be no pain involved, and it was an overall quick process. No drastic changes aside from the height and arms had occurred, and Tangela had always had a high pain tolerance.

Tangrowth stood tall and strong in Tangela's place, eyes wide open and narrowed in determination. He was extremely tall now, at least six feet. His three "fingers" had small red tips and extended from his pair of blue arms.

Ash grinned as his friend experimentally swished his arms around, giving the same familiar happy gurgle, albeit quite a bit deeper, as his new limbs responded to his command. Tangrowth hopped up and down before tensing up and staring at Machamp, his wounds healed by the process of evolution.

He was glad that it was Tangrowth that had evolved after taking that beating. Any other pokemon that evolved with that kind of damage would be put under heavy observation. But Tangela and Tangrowth healed incredibly fast, thanks to every cell in their body dividing rapidly and being able to become any sort of specialized cell. They just didn't take much damage.

Machamp eyed Tangrowth with new eyes, analyzing every feature that could prove a threat. It only took a moment, and Machamp was soon racing towards Tangrowth with a dangerous glint in its eyes.

As the fighting-type neared, it spewed another flamethrower at Tangrowth.

"Ancient power!" Ash shouted. Tangrowth gurgled and swept its arm upwards, new strength and control over its power enabling it to rip a large shield of rock from the ground with the motion. Energy shined around his hand as he levitated the rock, protecting his body from flamethrower.

Machamp tried to vault over the stone shield, but Tangrowth pushed his arm outward and sent the stone crashing into the fighting-type. While an annoyance to Machamp, it was no obstacle. The fighting-type casually smashed his way through it and landed straight in front of Tangrowth.

Tangrowth, reacting quickly thanks to the drills Ash had put him through, reached out with his arms and several of his long vines in an attempt to subdue the powerful Machamp.

The vines wrapped around Machamp's legs. When the fighting-type flexed in an attempt to snap them again, the stronger material managed to resist the move. They shined a bright, iridescent green as they began to sap even more energy from Machamp.

Ash's friend lashed out with his arms and went for Machamp's arms. They were incredibly fast, but Machamp reacted even faster and casually tore both of the arms off with a single motion. The limbs wriggled in a gruesome manner as Machamp angrily tossed them over its shoulder, leaving them to twitch in the torn dirt.

Had Machamp done the action to anything but a Tangrowth, it would have been horrible. As it was, the action was nothing more than an annoyance. Tangrowth wouldn't even register the pain, detecting the even only as loss of feeling and versatility.

"Wrap it up!" Ash commanded, making sure he was loud enough to be heard. Tangrowth quickly responded and lashed out with a dozen vines, assisting those that had already locked Machamp into place.

Machamp wouldn't be defeated so easily, however. It simply blasted another trail of crackling flame onto the vines and lit them on fire, softening them enough so that it could snap them. The powerful fighter grunted as it leapt at Tangrowth and began a quick, efficient beat down.

There was nothing Ash could do this time. Machamp wasn't playing around anymore. It didn't throw Tangrowth and give him a chance to recover. It simply launched an invisible barrage of powerful blows with its fists, alternating between fire and ice punches.

While Tangrowth was taking it incredibly well, Ash couldn't watch it anymore. He raised Tangrowth's pokeball and recalled his friend, knowing that Machamp was only seconds away from finishing the fight anyways.

"You did amazing." He whispered to Tangrowth's pokeball. It shook a little in response, growing a bit warmer. Ash smiled. "I couldn't have asked for better."

With that he put the pokeball on his belt and picked up the last of his pokeballs, and one of the most powerful on the team. He quickly tapped the release button and allowed Infernus to materialize.

The fire-type roared and shot a magnificent trail of white flame into the air when he saw Machamp, eager to test his strength against the powerful pokemon. Machamp grunted in response and began to walk over, a juggernaut confident in its abilities to withstand anything Infernus could throw at it.

"This is the pokemon of an Elite Four member!" Ash shouted. Infernus tensed up, excitement gleaming in his eyes at facing a foe like that. The fire-type seemed to believe he finally had a worthy opponent. "It's taken down Nidoking, Dazed, and Tangela. I'm counting on you."

Infernus roared and blazed up, eyes locked on the approaching Machamp. A huge wreath of white flame burst from his body, leaving him an indistinct, menacing figure in the blaze. He tensed up and prepared to do whatever Ash ordered, the flames encasing his body providing the necessary heat to speed up his reflexes to incredible levels.

"Flamethrower, Haze." Ash called out, struggling to be heard over the roaring of the flames encasing Infernus. The fire-type understood, however, and quickly launched a long stream of white fire from his mouth, surging towards Machamp with incredible intensity.

Machamp simply frowned and used rock tomb again, sending the purple energy ring into the ground and erecting a shield of stone. The rock absorbed most of the heat, although by the end it was nothing but a heap of slag and oozing magma.

The fighting-type carefully walked around the molten heap before breaking into a sprint, taking long, powerful strides across the earth that had been ravaged and torn by the battle. It paused when Infernus used fire spin, turning the area into a burning vortex of flame and heat, but warily watched the flames as it was trapped.

Ash grinned. Infernus could take it from here. It was his job to strike from the angrily swirling flames, a dark figure that stalked his foe.

Machamp didn't stand idly by, however. It shot the purple rings out of all four arms and used rock tomb, erecting a huge, encompassing barrier of rock that would block the flames and Infernus from doing much damage.

Unfortunately, Infernus was too devious to be defeated by such a simple strategy. He raced around the barrier, still emanating long tongues of flame that trailed behind him. Infernus shot quick blasts of intense flame towards the rocky walls, the incredibly hot flame leaving the barriers just a few piles of slowly melting stone. The magma slowly dripped, likely burning the entombed Machamp.

But that was just to distract Machamp. Infernus suddenly stopped and tensed, taking a moment to wrap himself in a cloak of fire before he charged straight towards the rock walls and slammed straight through, a thin layer of molten magma collected over his skin as he did so.

Ash winced as he saw Machamp thrown to the ground, weakened by the many injuries, however slight, that it had accumulated over the battle. It was barely visible within the twisting vortex of fire, but from what Ash could see it had droplets of magma all over it, taking a heavy toll on its strength and body.

Machamp roared defiantly, however, and even as Infernus backed off and began to bathe its muscular form with hot fire, it picked up each of its fists and slammed them into the ground. The earth cracked around it as an earthquake ripped through the ground, the immense force badly hurting Infernus and sending him crashing him to the ground.

The fighting-type and fire-type leapt up at the same time, one powered by the urge to defeat Ash's last pokemon and one powered by the urge to crush the strongest enemy he had ever faced. Both were driven by sheer determination and a furious need for victory.

Infernus recovered quickly thanks to the armor of magma that still oozed down his burning form, kept from solidifying by his incredibly hot body temperature. Ash could barely see the black droplets, laced with red veins of heat, but the imperfections they put on Infernus' form were simple to identify.

Machamp was crippled as it pulled itself up, unable to effectively withstand the flames. It had taken several ice beams, multiple psychic attacks from a powerful hypno, and had much of its energy sucked up by Tangrowth.

Nevertheless, it charged Infernus with a fury that could only be matched by the fire-type's.

Ash's friend stared it down with blazing eyes. Infernus focused for a moment and showed the full extent of his power and control over fire. All of the roaring flames that had been created by fire spin slowed and stilled for a moment before suddenly whipping towards Infernus. They wrapped around him in a column of fire not too different from Torrent's twister.

Unlike twister or Ice Storm, however, Infernus was actually enhanced by the flames that swirled around his body and hid him from view. He was stronger, harder, and faster thanks to the heat suffusing his form.

And it showed as he charged with renewed speed and determination, the extreme heat soothing the injuries he had incurred from the earthquake. Infernus raced towards Machamp, invisible in his aura of fire. The earth he left behind him was cracked and blackened, unable to withstand the impossibly hot fire.

Ash held his breath as both fighters collided, Machamp's sheer strength and power meeting Infernus and the flames that wrapped around their creator like bright, roaring armor.

He couldn't see anything as both were wrapped up by the flames, leaving him only able to guess at the outcome. Whatever would happen would happen quickly. Neither could last long in the brutal melee. Machamp couldn't withstand the hostile environment of a battle amongst flames, while Infernus could only take a few hits before he would go down, powered up by fire or not.

And then the world exploded. Ash staggered backwards as wind slammed into him with incredible force, so strong that he was barely able to keep his footing. He managed to shield his face and arms with his jacket before the searing heat hit.

Ash coughed and took his hat off when it passed him by. He shook some of the new soot off of the hat, although the white sections were still a slightly darker gray. The trainer frowned at it before shrugging and placing it back on his head. It would get clean eventually.

He squinted at the field, trying to make out the results of the clash. The intense heat still radiating from the charred, broken ground obscured his vision, casting everything in a wavy glare. Ash couldn't make anything out for sure. Smoke still curled up from the ground in oily, black clouds.

It took just a few seconds for it to clear up enough to where Ash could actually make things out. While there was still an incredible amount of smoke polluting the atmosphere, it had begun to drift away from the ground.

What he saw put a wide grin on his face.

Infernus was pulling himself up on trembling limbs, his endurance put to the test by taking just a few hits from the weakened Machamp. He glanced over at Ash and saw the trainer's grin and cheers. The fire-type wearily nodded at Ash before collapsing, unable to keep standing from the effort of facing Machamp for mere moments.

Machamp wasn't moving. Its body was covered in soot and ash, the thin layer of black powder leaving it almost unrecognizable. But there was no mistaking the bulky, unconscious form of the previously unstoppable juggernaut.

Ash regarded it curiously for a few moments, having to take in the pokemon strong enough to take down four of his friends. While he was hardly on Elite Four level, Ash was definitely one of the better trainers in Kanto. His Marsh Badge proved that. His friends were no slouches when it came to combat, and even a timely evolution had failed to truly halt Machamp's rampage. It showed that he had a long way to go if he wanted to be in the elite echelons of trainers.

He recalled Infernus' collapsed body a moment later, realizing that his friend needed to be put into stasis. While Machamp wouldn't have done any serious damage, the beating it had given to Infernus in the few seconds it had been within reach was impressive.

"Great job, Infernus." He whispered softly to the pokeball. "You just defeated one of the most powerful pokemon in Indigo."

The pokeball was silent and still, the unconscious fire-type unable to respond. Ash smiled at the red and white orb before placing it onto his belt. Infernus deserved his rest. He'd done more than Ash would have expected from any of his friends.

"You are everything Lance and Oak claimed." A serene voice, a sharp contrast to the sheer destruction that had been wrought upon the crater by the intense battle, said. Ash glanced up and realized that Bruno had somehow gotten over to him in the few seconds that he'd been distracted. The Master was unnervingly similar to Sabrina in that regard. "I believe you are fit to train with me. Come."

Ash blinked in surprise as Bruno suddenly turned around and began walking away, casually traversing the torn land. He quickly jogged to catch up with the Master, a slow grin forming on his face.

It was just hitting him. He, Ash Ketchum, would be trained by one of the Elite Four! Ash didn't know what he would be going through in the coming days, but he knew that he would prove the Champion and Professor right. He would meet and surpass all of their expectations, no matter what he had to do.

XX

Ash was beginning to regret his earlier promise to himself. He had just been pulled up the side of the gigantic crater by Bruno after an hour of climbing. While he'd managed to scale most of the steep wall by himself by carefully following Bruno's trail, his body just wasn't meant to take that kind of punishment. Despite his skill at battling, Ash was only eleven. He wasn't built for this kind of work yet.

"You did well." Bruno told him. The Master stood above him, his hitmonlee standing next to him with his segmented arms crossed in amusement. Ash was thankful for the fighting-type. It had followed behind him and kept him from falling on several occasions, easily catching him with its superb reflexes.

"Thanks." Ash wheezed, still on all fours. His body felt like lead right now, lactic acid making everything burn as he moved. There was the urge to vomit that always accompanied extremely intense workouts roiling in his stomach, although he knew he wouldn't have that relief.

Bruno hummed in response. He glanced over at Hitmonlee. The formal tone dropped from his voice, returning to what it had been when Ash first met him. "Friend, please go and prepare the campsite. I doubt our trainee is up to helping with dinner."

Hitmonlee rumbled in laughter, sending the powerful muscles throughout his torso twitching. He quickly ran off to the east, his long, loping strides carrying him easily across the harsh terrain. His segmented legs extended every time he stepped down, giving him additional power.

"He was my third pokemon." Bruno remarked with a fond smile, his eyes faraway as he watched Hitmonlee race away. "I got him after I won the P1 Grand Prix with my Machoke, three years into my journey. My uncle finally considered me worthy of using such a rare pokemon. He's carried me through many situation that none of my other brethren could have faced."

Ash held back a groan as he pulled himself into a standing position, listening to Bruno attentively. He wouldn't let a single word the Master said go past him. The trainer shifted the egg in his pack to a more comfortable position as he did so. It was padded heavily with several of his unused shirts now, making it very bulky.

Bruno turned to him. "My point is, we all have a start somewhere. You're an accomplished trainer already, despite your youth. Tell me, where did you become a trainer?"

"Pallet Town." Ash replied immediately.

The Master shook his head. "That is where you began. What I wish to know is what made you truly begin your journey. What sent you into the frenzy to become stronger, to reach your full potential and become the best you can be? What made you realize what being a trainer meant to you?"

Ash frowned and thought. He had always wanted to be the very best, the Champion, for as long as he could remember. Ever since he had seen Lance crowned so many years ago as a mere, adoring toddler. Even when he started he had been focused on bonding, training, and battling with his friends above all else.

But what had really drove him to become stronger was Mt. Moon. Seeing what Team Rocket was like in action and knowing the depths to which they would sink made him strive to be stronger, to push himself and his pokemon harder. They were his sick inspiration, the reason he wanted to grow strong.

"The Rockets at Mt. Moon." He replied hesitantly. Bruno nodded, black eyes calm and understanding. The man motioned for him to continue. "I saw what they did to people and pokemon. It wasn't until the St. Anne that I really started to get strong, but it was Mt. Moon that made me want to fight them."

"A worthy goal, but a dangerous one." Bruno replied. He crossed his muscular arms across his bulky chest. "You have succeeded in growing stronger. In a few years you might meet me in battle. Few can defeat Hitmonchan, let alone my oldest friend. You have grown strong. Why do you need my help? From what I can see you are intelligent and determined enough to train your pokemon. They are progressing well."

Ash averted his eyes for a moment, glancing at the bright sun that was beginning to lower over the peak of Mt. Hideaway. "I don't know how to train my Machoke." He admitted, not liking to show a weakness. Ash liked being able to handle everything. "All of the others are simple. They know how to use new moves and techniques. They can access their own strength easily. Bruiser is different. He's the strongest one on the team, but he can't use that strength very well."

Bruno nodded. "Good. You aren't too arrogant to admit a weakness. It's a start." He shifted and met the trainer's eyes. "I believe that you are worthy to train with me. Tonight you will rest. The true training begins tomorrow."

With that the massive man walked off, long strides easily carrying him up the slight hill. Ash quickly followed, ignoring the screaming protests from his heavy legs. He wouldn't let his own weakness hold him back, not when he had the opportunity to train with a true Master.

XX

"Home sweet home." Bruno remarked drily as they walked up the last small, albeit steep, hill and arrived at the campsite. "It is not much, but it's sufficient for our purposes."

Ash nodded and glanced around. As Bruno had said, it wasn't much. The campsite consisted of two tents, a ring of stones that encircled a lightly flickering campfire, which was the only light in the dark night aside from the stars, and a few rolled up sleeping mats. Above the fire was a thin wire, which a sturdy metal bucket was attached to. Something was simmering within, bubbling lightly and sending an unpleasant smell wafting throughout the air.

The entrance to a cave stood in the background. Perhaps it held more equipment to heal their pokemon. Ash was sure that, even though Bruno's pokemon were incredibly powerful, they needed to be healed after training, let alone after an intense battle like the one they'd had.

Hitmonlee suddenly ducked out of the cave, leaning his torso down in greeting to Bruno. The powerful fighter simply stared at Ash for a moment before placing two large bowls he was carrying by the ground in front of the two humans.

Bruno casually walked over to the fire and picked the bucket up by the thin, hot wire. The heat didn't seem to bother him much as he poured a thick, disgusting liquid into the two bowls. It looked black and smelled rancid.

The Master handed the bowl, its contents hot and bubbling, over to Ash, who looked at it in disgust. Now that he could see the "soup" up close, he could see that it was made of a thick, tar-like substance. It was still thin enough to be edible, but Ash thought that he might actually have to chew the thick mixture. Only a few vegetables were visible in the dim light provided by the small flame, but he could see that they wouldn't be particularly appetizing.

Bruno laughed at Ash's disgusted expression. "This will be what you eat while you train with me. It is absolutely vile, disgusting to the strongest stomachs, but it will power you through the day. Back in the feudal era, this is what the greatest warriors ate. No others had the stomach for it."

Ash looked back at the black soup, which stank horribly, and hesitantly accepted a worn spoon from Bruno. He glanced down uncertainly and slowly put the spoon into the black mixture, wrinkling his nose in disgust as he had to push the spoon in to the vile soup. It was just too thick to actually go in without assistance.

"I suggest you sit down first." Bruno told him, eyes shining with amusement. He had sat down himself and held his bowl and spoon in his hand as the Master watched Ash.

The trainer shrugged and sat down on the hard, cold ground. He winced as he dug the spoon into the black soup and managed to wrench some of the mass away from the gelatinous blob. It bubbled slightly as he looked at warily.

Knowing that if it was up to him he'd throw the culinary abomination away and have Infernus burn it away into nothing, Ash realized that he had to force himself to eat the simmering black liquid. He closed his eyes as he hurriedly dumped it into his mouth.

The moment it hit his tongue his gag reflex kicked in, making him wretch, although he refused to spit the soup back up. It was like nothing he'd ever tasted. It tasted of salt and vinegar, both foul tastes thick and strong in the dense liquid.

He was still aware enough to place the hot bowl back on the ground, and the moment he did he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. It felt as though his mouth was boiling away, the sensation as much from the horrible flavor as the heat.

Ash managed to force the slimy concoction down, just as he had some of the liquid medicine his mother had given him years ago. It left a burning trail in his throat, however, and he was fairly certain it was moving in his stomach as it settled. He wouldn't have been surprised if it was made from a grimer's slime.

Bruno, meanwhile, was laughing heartily. It was a deep, booming laugh that would have been pleasant under any other circumstances, but right now it just made Ash's temporarily fractured mind furious. Had his stomach not been trying to expel itself, he might have said something.

"It gets better with time." Bruno said in between deep breaths. It looked like there were tears in his eyes, although they were faint. "The first time is always the worst."

Ash didn't exactly trust that. Nevertheless, he picked the bowl up and glanced away from the black broth as he put his spoon into it again. A tremor passed through his body as he put the spoon into his mouth, but he managed to keep most of the soup off of his tongue. While it was still revolting and left a thick, slimy film across his tongue, it was manageable.

"See, you're learning." Bruno said amusedly. He was happily eating his own soup, barely wincing as it passed through his lips. "So, let us speak of your training." Ash quickly glanced up and was about to put his bowl down when Bruno shook his head. "No, you aren't getting away from the black broth that easily. You need sustenance, and this is the only source."

He sighed and picked the heavy bowl back up, wincing as he began to eat the black broth again. By now, Ash was not concerned that he was potentially eating a grimer. He was absolutely positive. Nevertheless, he listened attentively. Hopefully it would give him some sort of escape.

"Fighting-types are pokemon of power just as psychic-types are pokemon of finesse." Bruno began in between spoonfuls of the vile mixture he called a soup. "All fighting-types are blessed with immense physical strength, fueled by their spirit and honed through harsh training and trials. But they are useless without finesse, just as psychic-types are useless without some sort of mental strength to back their skill up."

Bruno paused for a moment to slurp up some more of the soup, barely affected by the tar-like fluid.

"They are born with strength and instinctively know how to fight, but they need training to reach their potential. They are much like psychic-types in that way." Bruno mused, staring off into the darkness of the mountain below them. Hitmonlee walked over and took a seat beside him. "But I digress. They are more effective than normal-types the moment they leave their egg, simply because they have at least some rudimentary knowledge of tactics and techniques"

A low roar sounded throughout the entire mountain, the furious call of one of the titanic onix. Bruno smiled softly into the darkness, somewhat amused by Ash's surprised flinch. The call, which sounded like stone grinding stone, echoed throughout the darkness for a few more moments before cutting off suddenly.

"Normal-types and their moves simply use the body as a bludgeon, their weapon of choice one of brute force, while fighting-types must use their body as a lance, using the same raw power as that of a normal-type but harnessing it and maximizing its potential and efficiency." Bruno continued calmly, caring little for the calls of an angry onix. "That is why fighting-types are superior. They force all of their strength and power, fuelled by their bodies and the energy that flows through them, into a single spot. A karate chop rather than a take down, for example. They can shatter stone, bend steel, and dispel the darkness with a single strike. They are the masters of battling the inflexible, pokemon who cannot adapt or rely on their sheer power to defeat their foes. Fighting-types are change, technique melded with indomitable strength."

Ash listened attentively to Bruno's philosophizing. It was unexpected. Bruno and the other members of the Elite Four were mysterious, rarely appearing in front of the media outside of televised tournaments or when they had taken down a Rocket cell. But Bruno's stereotype had been that of a brute, a savage that fought with fury and cared little for thoughts and speech.

He'd never really believed it, since someone who relied purely upon force could never have the skill to join the Elite Four, but Bruno was far more eloquent than he had ever expected. It was clear that he had honed his mind along with his body.

"Your Machoke is a normal-type at the moment." Bruno said softly, barely able to be heard over the light crackling of the flames. Ash watched the man's shadowed face and met his dark eyes. "He has strength and knows a few techniques, but lacks discipline. He has gained a little from the wilderness, but does not know how to use the energy within him to fuel his strength and make him a force to be reckoned with."

Bruno stared at him for a moment, inviting a question. Ash took the bait. He understood everything, but was curious about a single subject. After taking a final bite of the black broth, after which he happily discarded the bowl, which had a thick collection of salt, vinegar, and tar at the bottom, he asked his question.

"What is the energy within him?" He asked, turning to fully face Bruno. The Master was slightly hunched over, shadows cast over him by the dancing flames. "Is it just an expression?"

"No." Bruno replied, a pleased expression on his face. "It is both concrete and metaphorical, existent and a thing of the mind. There is an energy that suffuses every living being, not our spirit but something close. I do not know a name for it, or if it can be named. It is all encompassing, existent everywhere but known by few."

As Ash absorbed the information, Bruno continued. His speech grew more passionate, although it never lost the calm, didactic edge.

"It is the essence of every living thing. It bonds humans and pokemon together, our physiological and psychological differences overcome by it." The Master mused, glancing over at Hitmonlee. "I know little of the role it once played in history. My teacher was old and did not have time for such things. He focused upon the practical aspects of this energy, along with the philosophical. History was useless to him, the echoes of long-dead men pointless to a bitter man."

Ash frowned. "The practical?"

Bruno smiled again and began to trace small circles in the dirt. "Yes. It is not energy that is simply stagnant. It is able to be harnessed. Pokemon are the masters, unconsciously commanding control that few humans can match. It is fully realized in fighting-types, who, while blessed with monumental strength of their own, are able to utilize it to amplify their attacks far beyond what would be otherwise possible. Other techniques draw upon it as well."

He smoothed out the circles he had traced, leaving the earth blank. "All life is a master of this unnamed energy in its own way. Even the meanest bacteria are suffused by it, bursting with it. Humans are no exceptions. There are few that possess any ability to harness the energy, and even fewer able to draw upon it any meaningful way. It grants us abilities beyond the norm, granting us strength beyond what our bodies are capable of giving."

"You can use it." Ash said. It wasn't accusing, but a statement. He remembered Bruno casually jumping dozens of feet in a single leap, utilizing reflexes and speed that no man could possess.

A grin split Bruno's face. "Indeed. Everyone can, really. It just requires work that very few people are willing to put in. I spent two years training before I could enhance my body with it, and that is the full extent of my abilities. It moulds to me, strengthening my muscles, hardening my bones, decreasing the strain my training places upon me."

"Could you train me to use it?" Ash questioned. He wasn't willing to spend two years on it, but maybe he could at least learn how to do something with this mysterious energy. Just being able to move like Bruno would be awesome.

"No." The Master replied with a shake of his head. "I am hardly a student. Teaching is beyond me. Training is my calling, not teaching. I can show you how to shatter a rock or to teach your pokemon how to defeat an opponent by turning their attacks upon them, but I cannot describe to you the subtle nuances of the energy or how to utilize it. That is for a true master, not a man who can hardly feel it."

Ash was silent for a while, understanding but disappointed. He hadn't really expected Bruno to say yes anyway. It was just a wish.

"You should go to bed." Bruno said quietly, staring into the dying flames. "You have done quite well today and will need your rest for tomorrow. Now that you have the intellectual basis, the real training can begin."

The trainer nodded at him and stood up, wincing at the fatigue gathered during the day hit him with full force. All Ash paused to do was take off his jacket, leaving him in just pants and a thin, worn shirt. It was enough.

He rolled out one of the sleeping mats and placed it under a tent, aware of Bruno's impassive gaze all the while. Ash ignored it and got into the large structure, glad that the heat that had seeped into it from the campfire would help to insulate him. He knew that mountains could get bitterly cold at night even during summer, especially this high up.

Before he laid down, he took the pokeballs off of his belt and set them beside him. They were uncomfortable to have on him while sleeping.

It felt odd sleeping without at least one of his friends by his side, but he knew that Bruno wouldn't let anything happen to him. Without having to be afraid or wary of any pokemon stumbling upon him in the night, Ash fell asleep quickly.

If tomorrow was anything like today, he'd need it.

XX

Ash yelped as he was suddenly yanked out of the tent and held up by his ankle. He was upside down and held up in the hot sun, dizzy and confused. The trainer spied Machamp standing in front of him, a broad grin stretching across his face.

He futilely struggled against the fighting-type's iron grip, only succeeding at eliciting an amused grunt from the gigantic fighter. Ash glared at Machamp even as the blood rushed to his head and made his face red. He knew that he didn't exactly look intimidating at the moment.

"Machamp, let him down." Bruno's amused voice said, breaking the silence. Ash grunted as Machamp dropped him, although it angled it so that Ash would land on his stomach instead of his head.

Six pokeballs were suddenly dropped in front of him. Ash hurriedly grabbed them and placed them back on his belt.

"I healed your pokemon." Bruno told him as he helped Ash up. The trainer nodded and sent an annoyed glare at Machamp, who just sent him a grin back. "They are ready to train."

"Thank you." Ash replied. He was about to say something else when Bruno suddenly shoved a bowl of the gelatinous black broth into his hands. The trainer grimaced and looked at it with disgust. A spoon had already been placed into the mixture, the thick soup oozing on the handle.

Bruno was all business now. "You have five minutes to eat. I suggest you take advantage of it." He warned. "Today will be taxing."

Ash nodded and gingerly removed the spoon from the black soup. He sighed and began to shovel it into his mouth, the taste as horrifying as ever but slightly muted by the care he took to avoid letting the mixture touch his tongue.

He was done in no time. Ash was able to scarf a lot of food down quite easily thanks to quite a bit of practice on the road, but this was a new record. The trainer sent the bowl a look of disgust as he placed it down by the fire next to Bruno's bowl, which was wiped clean. His taste buds screamed at him for even touching the broth.

Next, Ash went for his pack. Just as he began to sling it around his shoulders, Bruno rebuked him.

"Do not take it with you." He said with a frown. "You will need all of your speed, and our activities might be dangerous for the egg. Hitmonlee will be guarding the campsite. He's slightly injured and needs recuperation."

Ash nodded, not bothering to ask how Bruno knew about the egg. He didn't seem like the type to snoop around in Ash's things while he was asleep. Maybe he just knew things, like Sabrina did. The trainer walked over to his tent and slid the pack inside, next to the sleeping mat.

"Come." Bruno told him when Ash pulled himself out of the tent. He immediately began walking down the slope in the direction of the forest. It was far away from the crater.

He quickly jogged to reach the man, ignoring the awful pain every movement produced in his body. His muscles felt as though they had been torn in half, but the sensation grew marginally less painful as he started moving around again. It didn't feel good, not by a long shot, but it didn't hurt as bad as before.

Ash settled into a steady pace besides Bruno. He had to take three steps for every one that Bruno took, but it wasn't too difficult to keep up. It was odd to be around such a gigantic man, however. The only person Ash had ever met that rivaled Bruno in sheer size and physical power was Lt. Surge. Even Lance paled in comparison.

Now that it wasn't sunset or night, Ash could really see the terrain of the mountain. They had spent nearly an hour maneuvering through the harsh landscape last night in order to arrive at the campsite, so he honestly had no idea where on the mountain they were. All he knew was that they were at least a thousand feet up. The air felt thinner.

"Prepare yourself." Bruno said as they traversed the harsh landscape of Mt. Hideaway. "Today shall be a testament to your own strength as much as it is your pokemons'. I will not be lenient on you."

Ash nodded determinedly. He wouldn't give up, no matter what Bruno put him through.

They walked for another twenty minutes before finally arriving at a huge clearing. The earth was torn and gutted, massive tunnels and ruts crisscrossing through it. It was clear that the onix were extremely active here.

Bruno came to a stop and turned to Ash. "This is where your test begins. I want to see what you are capable of." He suddenly released Machamp, who sent an obnoxious grin towards Ash. The trainer nodded back, not amused by its earlier antics. "My friend, use earthquake."

Ash blinked. What?

Machamp walked out to the center of the clearing. As it did so, Bruno turned to Ash with a thin smile. "Today will be to test your endurance. The earthquake will summon and anger the onix that live around here. You are to evade them and fight them off if it comes to that. My own allies will follow you and protect you from any particularly dangerous situations. When the onix calm, they will ambush you themselves. Each will act independently."

The trainer blinked again. Was he supposed to survive this?

Bruno glanced over at Machamp, who was tensing up. As the fighting-type leapt high into the air with a guttural roar and landed on the weak foundations of the earth, Bruno spoke up.

"I suggest you hurry. The onix will arrive soon."

Ash didn't waste any time. Even as the soft, structurally weakened earth began to collapse around Machamp, tremors wracked the area. A few trees collapsed, and he saw one of the gargantuan onix erupt from the ground, tearing several trees out as it surfaced.

He broke into a steady run, ignoring all of his instincts that called for him to sprint away as fast as he could. While it would do him well in the short term, sprinting would just drain his energy far too quickly. And from the looks of things, he would need all of his energy if he wanted to pass this test with flying colors.

Another explosion of earth, stone and wood occurred as a second onix surfaced. Ash took a cursory glance back and saw that this one was much thicker than the first one to arrive. It was nearly black and it looked as though it were in the process of evolving into a steelix.

The beast roared and shook the earth for hundreds of meters as it saw the first onix, which bellowed back in return. Ash saw Bruno recall Machamp and leap away from the area, apparently not insane enough to get in between two angry onix.

Ash kept his steady jog, carefully watching his surroundings. He didn't need to trip over a root or fall into an onix tunnel. While Bruno would fish him out, he'd prefer to not require the man's help.

Slowly but surely, he left the roars and the ear-rending crashes of the onix as they clashed behind him. Ash slowed down from his jog, wincing at the burning that had resurfaced from yesterday. He took a moment to glance around his surroundings again before he stopped for a moment.

He panted as he withdrew Tangrowth's ball and released the grass-type. Bruiser followed suit a moment later. The decision was simple: He needed pokemon that could move fast and had good endurance. Tangrowth was still rather slow, but in the forest he was more than capable of keeping up and detecting enemies. Bruiser had good endurance and could at least hold off Bruno's pokemon.

"Hey, guys. We're in the middle of a test. Bruno is setting his pokemon after us and is waking up every onix he can." He wheezed. Both of his friends looked concerned. Tangrowth had even abandoned his customary hug as he looked at Ash with concern with his saucer-like eyes. "Tangrowth, how are you feeling?"

Tangrowth gurgled and waved his arms around. Ash supposed that the pokedex entry hadn't lied when it stated they could grow back as fast as normal vines did. The grass-type pulled Ash into a proper hug this time, although he let go fairly quickly. Apparently he was well aware of their dangerous situation.

Ash grinned when he stepped back and looked up at Tangrowth. It was odd to see the grass-type towering more than a foot above him. He'd gotten used to Tangrowth being at least two feet shorter.

"That's good." He said with a smile, casting wary glances around the area. "Bruiser, are you alright? You took a beating yesterday."

Bruiser nodded, although he looked down a moment after. He seemed to be ashamed by his loss to Hitmonchan. Ash frowned.

"Bruiser, you faced one of the strongest fighting-types in Kanto and did fantastic. Not many pokemon could take one hit from Hitmonchan. You took at least a dozen."

The fighting-type still had a frown on his broad face, but met Ash's eyes and pounded his chest once. Ash grinned back.

"Alright, guys, let's go."

With that, the three set off, each paying as much attention to their surroundings as possible.

Bruno's test was just beginning.

XX

It was two hours later when Ash knew he needed a break. His legs were screaming and his throat was parched. He had taken a few sips from his thick water bottle – he carried it around his neck while training – during the long walk, but he just needed a moment to sit down and calm down.

"Guys, I need to stop for a minute." He told his friends. Bruiser and Tangrowth immediately stopped moving. Tangrowth dropped down from the sturdy trees casually, already adjusted to his body. Ash was half-surprised that the trees were able to take his weight, but figured he should have expected it. To survive in a world with pokemon, everything had to be sturdy and tough.

Bruiser simply flanked and guarded him. The fighting-type had been instrumental in repelling the only attack they'd faced so far. It wasn't even part of the test. They'd just run afoul of a large, angry primeape and her two mankey offspring.

While the primeape had been rather vicious in her attempts to crush every bone in Ash's body, Bruiser had managed to fight her off with a few well-placed blows. Primeape was strong, but nothing wanted to fight an angry machoke. When something could shatter a boulder as easily as it could breathe, not many things could stand a chance.

Ash was nervous as he sat down on a large stump. The tree looked as though it had simply been bitten in half, or perhaps snapped by an inadvertent blow from one of the gigantic onix. Marks of their residency were everywhere, from snapped trees to the deep ruts in the earth and boulders that had huge chunks bitten out of them.

He knew that this was when Bruno would strike. The Master had been playing with him so far. He'd heard onix roaring in the distance, just a mile away, but they'd never been drawn to him. He'd caught glimpses of a lithe, agile pokemon flitting through the forest, but could never find it when he looked.

The tension was worse than any battle could be. Ash was constantly nervous and paranoid. The slightest noise would send his and his friends into a wary silence.

Ash looked around the clearing he was in. He had no idea where he was on the mountain, although the omnipresent slope let him know that he hadn't made his way off of it. The clearing was filled with the similar shattered trees. Only a few had emerged unscathed from the onix that had come through here. It had left a deep trail in the earth as well, deep enough for him to stand and not be able to look over the edge.

Tangrowth happily climbed to the top of one of the unscathed trees. It creaked under his heavy weight, but stood strong as the grass-type settled and began to search for any intruders. While his eyesight wasn't very impressive, Tangrowth had good hearing. That would be more useful than sight for detecting the skilled fighters on Bruno's team anyway.

Bruiser settled next to Ash, although he didn't sit down. He just crossed his arms and prepared for a threat.

Just as Ash began to take a few quick gulps from his water bottle, they got it.

Ash winced as an enormous tremor rumbled through the ground, shaking everything for dozens of meters. It passed by quickly, so it wasn't an onix. That meant it had to be an earthquake. He was right. Bruno wasn't going to let him rest.

"Guys, let's go." He sighed as he stood up. There were more tremors, recognizable as those of the onix. Ash didn't want to be around when they surfaced.

Just as he stood up, the world exploded. Ash was thrown back by the blast, but Bruiser managed to catch him and gently place him back on the ground. He placed a hand on his forehead and shut his eyes. His clothes were covered with dirt, and the hard impact of tiny pebbles had left his skin stinging.

He shook the stunning blow off, however, and looked up. Ash paled when he saw a gigantic serpent rearing up and roaring. The onix was at least sixty feet long and was close to evolving into a steelix, although it hadn't begun to darken quite as much as the last one Ash had seen.

Onix roared again and idly flicked its tail. At least a dozen trees were snapped in half by the blow, but it was too insignificant for the stone behemoth to notice. The gigantic Onix leered down at Ash with cold, furious eyes. It apparently saw him as an intruder.

As the beast reared up and let loose another challenging roar, Ash took the opportunity to release Torrent. Nidoking was too slow to evade even one of Onix's strikes, and just one hit could be dangerous. Torrent could at least take a few hits and had the raw power to fight such a huge creature.

"Hydro pump!" Ash shouted the moment his friend was released. Torrent's attention snapped to Onix and the dragon-type valiantly stood his ground, not intimidated in the least by Onix. As Onix roared and shook the earth with every movement, Torrent rumbled back and fired a powerful, high-pressure blast of water into Onix's dark shell.

Onix's top half was knocked back, although it wasn't actually thrown to the ground by the blast. It quickly reared back up and roared, settling its massive, cold eyes on Torrent. Ash had to run as Onix suddenly struck at the dragon-type, lashing out with speed unbecoming of its size.

Torrent casually drifted away from the blow, firing another hydro pump into Onix's side as it missed and snapped a tree in half. Onix tumbled over, but didn't take much damage from the attack. It quickly opened its mouth and shot a DragonBreath at Torrent, the gale of bright yellow air burning hot as it passed by Ash.

"Blizzard!" Ash shouted as he frantically looked for cover. This wasn't a safe place for him to be right now. With a pokemon as large as onix, anything could happen.

Fortunately, he managed to get away just as Torrent released a flood of icy air from his snout, slowing the DragonBreath and dispersing much of its dangerous power into the icy field. Onix roared as the cold hit it, its cold-blooded body not used to such an extreme shift in temperature.

Ash grinned as he glanced around for Tangrowth. Bruiser was staying beside him, ready to protect Ash at a moment's notice. He quickly locked onto Tangrowth as the grass-type swung through the trees in quick, skilled movements. While Tangrowth hadn't had much practice moving like that, he was largely guided by instinct in this case.

Torrent was definitely the best choice for battling Onix. While onix could easily survive in most conditions outside the poles or underwater, they couldn't take such rapid shifts in temperature. They were cold-blooded since they usually dug deep in the earth, where it grew hot thanks to its proximity to the planet's core. Onix were still hardy enough to adapt easily to surface life when they weren't tunneling, but they were extremely weak to ice-type attacks thanks to their biological makeup. It was a weakness Torrent would exploit well.

But Torrent couldn't win alone, not without taking some damage in the process. He was faster than Onix, but sooner or later the monstrously huge creature would get lucky. That could be extremely, even for a pokemon as durable and powerful as Torrent.

"Tangrowth, climb on Onix and get some of your vines into the crevasses between its boulders." He said, speaking extremely quickly. Time was of the essence. "Mega drain for all you're worth. Use ingrain, as well."

Tangrowth nodded happily and stealthily leapt up into the trees and began swinging over to Onix. The rock serpent was still thrashing furiously and destroying the entire area. Ash knew that it was too angry to be observant of its surroundings. That would just work into his strategy.

Torrent would be able to hold the massive creature off, if not finish it for a few more minutes. That would keep Onix occupied, and while that was going on Tangrowth could climb up the rocky carapace and reach into Onix's slightly softer inner body. The softer, albeit still as hard as rock, area would be the only spot really vulnerable on an Onix that huge.

"Bruiser, stay with me." He said. Bruiser nodded and got ready to block any attacks that might fly their way.

As he waited for Tangrowth to enact the plan and called out orders every now and then for Torrent, he pondered catching one of these giants. It would certainly be a boon to his team. Onix was so massive and powerful that it would take an incredibly strong opponent to take it down. Not much could actually hurt a pokemon that large.

But he immediately shot that idea down. While Onix would certainly be a good teammate, he knew that he didn't have the resources to feed something that massive. Onix required immense amounts of food and minerals, and he certainly couldn't afford that even with the recent supplements to his trainer account. Ash wouldn't want to burden Professor Oak with the duty of feeding it, either. While it would be an interesting specimen for the man to study, it would be like giving him a Snorlax. In other words, prohibitively expensive.

In addition, he just wasn't sure if he could command the behemoth. Onix were notoriously temperamental, and older ones were particularly hard to control. And the risks were enormous. Just the slightest slip up with an onix and he could destroy a building.

So that wouldn't be happening for a while. Maybe when he was older.

Ash turned his focus back to the battle. He grinned when he saw Tangrowth easily leap onto Onix's back from one of the few trees that hadn't been destroyed by the rock-type's thrashing. Tangrowth was unnoticed on Onix's unfeeling armor, even when he extended a dozen vines into the node between two of the immense boulders.

Some of them rooted the grass-type to the roaring Onix, but others simply dug into the hard body and began to suck energy. Ash grinned when Onix suddenly froze in shock. It seemed to have no idea what was going on, apparently having never encountered a grass-type before.

And then it realized that it was under attack. Onix reared up and began to buck up and down in a futile attempt to throw Tangrowth from its back. Tangrowth had rooted itself in too deeply to be thrown off, however, and simply extended more vines into the softer flesh beneath the stone.

"Blizzard!" Ash commanded. Torrent rumbled and glared at Onix as he blasted a huge cloud of icy air towards the thrashing rock-type. The blizzard was so cold that it left a thin layer of frost over everything it drifted over, causing a huge swathe of the forest to be completely white.

Onix froze as the blizzard washed over it, leaving it encrusted in a thin layer of ice. While it would easily be able to shatter the ice with a single sharp movement, Onix was in a state of shock at the sudden temperature drop. The blizzard was much more powerful than the others Torrent had sent, so Onix hadn't expected it. Now the stone serpent was slowly lowering itself to the ground, going dormant for a short period of time.

Ash grinned. Perhaps he'd gotten a little lucky, but at least this meant that he'd get to escape without any of his friends being hurt.

He glanced over to Bruiser. "Finish it."

Bruiser grinned and cracked his knuckles before sprinting at the frozen form of Onix. When he neared it, he leapt and delivered a punch with all of his strength behind straight into the Onix's forehead, right between its eyes.

Ash saw Onix's eyes widen in pain and surprise, the power briefly shocking it awake before the force knocked it unconscious. He winced himself when he saw the dent and long cracks that had been sent throughout Onix's skull. While the damage was quite minor and would heal itself in less than a day if he remembered the regenerative abilities of onix correctly, it looked nasty.

The fighting-type grinned proudly and pounded his chest as Onix remained unmoving. Ash nodded and congratulated him as he walked over to the unconscious stone serpent. He needed to check on Tangrowth. While he should have been relatively unharmed by the blizzard, it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Good job, guys." Ash called out as he walked over to where he'd last seen Tangrowth. Just as he began to climb up the huge serpent's rock body, he was suddenly knocked off his feet by something very large and very strong.

He struggled for a moment as two strong, rubbery arms wrapped themselves around him, but when Ash looked up and saw the round, happy eyes of Tangrowth, he calmed down and laughed. It would take some time to get used to the new size and strength of his new friend.

"Hey, buddy." Ash grinned. Tangrowth gurgled cheerfully and gently placed Ash back on the ground. Bruiser walked over and stood guard over Ash, glancing around the wrecked forest distrustfully. Torrent levitated over as well, proud and regal over his victory.

"You did amazing!" Ash praised. Torrent raised his head up and rumbled his thanks, puffing out his powerful chest as he did so. The trainer laughed and looked over at Bruiser. "You too. You've definitely improved."

Bruiser grunted and smashed his huge fist into his chest again. He continued to stand by Ash as the trainer glanced around at the devastated area. Their battle had completely destroyed it, although much of the damage could be attributed to Onix's mere movements.

He frowned as another earthquake rattled the area. It looked like Bruno didn't want to give him a break.

"Torrent, do you want to stay out?" He asked. Torrent rumbled his agreement. Ash nodded and let him remain outside. The additional firepower would be a boon in the event of another onix attack, or if Bruno ever sent his pokemon directly after Ash. He'd need everything he had to fight off one of them.

Ash turned around and charted out a new path. He needed to get out of the area quickly. It wasn't a good idea to keep on fighting giant onix, even if he could defeat them. They were just too dangerous.

"Let's go."

XX

Bruno didn't let up for another few hours. Whenever Ash tried to take a break, he caused another earthquake and sent the onix into a frenzy. Sometimes he did it when Ash began to slow down to a more comfortable pace. Sometimes Ash thought he did it just for fun.

There had been two more battles with the giants. Neither had been as difficult as the first encounter with the onix had been. Ash had a strategy now: Torrent would use an extremely powerful blizzard and cause the stone serpent to go into shock, freezing their shell and locking them into position. Bruiser would then run up to the frozen beast and punch it as hard as he could, instantly knocking it out.

It had its troubles, but it worked. Torrent had taken another bad hit, although he was already recovering well. He was tough.

But now Bruno was only rarely performing earthquake. There hadn't been an attack in an hour. It was a nice break, but it was making Ash edgy. Bruno was planning something.

"Do you see anything?" He called out to Tangrowth. His friend was agilely leaping through the trees, letting out happy gurgles every now and then. Tangrowth suddenly dropped from one of the limbs and landed lightly on the ground next to Ash. He shook his large, covered head.

Ash nodded and frowned. Bruno was preparing something. The forest was silent and there was a tense atmosphere prevailing over the entire mountain.

But he would be ready. For now, he needed to lighten up. Ash looked over at Tangrowth, who was cheerfully bounding alongside him.

"So, do you want a nickname now?" Ash asked. While he'd tried to give Tangrowth a nickname before he evolved, he never seemed to like them. In addition to that, he had trouble remembering things. Now that he'd evolved, Ash hoped that the grass-type would have improved in that regard.

Tangrowth's eyes glinted as he gurgled an affirmative. Ash grinned and raised his hand as he began counting names off.

"Bramble?" He asked. Tangrowth stared at him blankly before shaking his head. Ash frowned. He hadn't expected Tangrowth to be very picky. "How about Phyll? Constrictor?"

The grass-type shook his shaggy body, not pleased with any of the names. Ash didn't think the last two were very good anyways, but he was still a bit surprised. Tangrowth didn't strike him as picky.

So he broadened his subjects. He started listing all sorts of names. Chlor, Shrub, Wrapper, and Bud were just a few of the examples. Ash actually liked Bud. It had a double meaning.

Tangrowth eventually chose "Binder". He seemed to like some of the names that Ash thought were…odd, to say the least, but the only one he seemed to love was Binder. It fit him, although Ash felt that it wasn't particularly creative. He'd just started to get into the interesting ones, too.

"Alright, Binder." Ash said, experimentally rolling the name off of his tongue. "You should get back up in the trees. I want at least one of us ready if Bruno's pokemon attack."

He continued walking, but stopped when he realized that Binder hadn't stopped following him. Ash glanced back at the grass-type and spoke again. "Binder, could you get back up in the trees?"

Binder stared at him uncomprehendingly, gurgling and waving his long rubbery arms around in a friendly manner as Ash stared at him. The trainer sighed. "Your name is Binder, right? That's what you picked."

The grass-type nodded exuberantly, sending the vines guarding its body shaking and squirming.

"So, Binder, could you please go up and watch from the trees?" Ash requested politely.

Binder blinked.

Ash sighed. "Tangrowth, could you please go up and watch from the trees?"

The grass-type happily nodded and bounded over to a tree they were passing by. He quickly used his strong vines to pull him upward, easily swinging alongside the others as they continued walking by.

The trainer shook his head, a little amused but far more exasperated. He should have known that Tangrowth wouldn't remember his nickname, even if he had picked it out himself. Tangrowth was an incredible battler, but when it came to everyday things he wasn't the brightest. To the grass-type, friends and having fun were important. Remembering things outside of attacks and techniques? Not so much.

Still, Ash couldn't keep a small smile off of his face as he watched Tangrowth happily leap through the trees with in elegance that didn't befit his bulky frame. He frowned thoughtfully a few seconds later. Nidoking had changed a bit since evolving. He'd become a bit more aggressive and prideful, along with a host of other tiny alterations, so he should probably ask his friend if he wanted a nickname. The powerful poison-type hadn't shown any desire of a nickname, but Ash didn't know everything.

In fact –

Ash barely had time to blink as Bruiser shoved him to the side as gently as the massive fighter could. It still sent Ash sprawling to the ground six feet away, but it kept Ash from being caught up in the melee that had suddenly ensued.

He blearily looked over at Bruiser and saw the fighting-type doing his best to defend from a short, fast figure. It was launching punches faster than Ash could see, although it wasn't the blur of motion that Machamp could produce.

When his vision cleared, Ash realized that it was Hitmonchan. A jolt of lightning danced down his spine, sending all of his senses into overdrive. He leapt up and quickly released Dazed. She would be the best to guard him at the moment. Her psychic shields would dilute the force from any attacks that came too close and she could teleport him whenever he needed it.

She didn't spare him a glance when she was released, instead focusing in on the fighters sending testing blows at each other, Hitmonchan a quick, lithe blur and Bruiser a steadfast wall, easily taking and avoiding some of the rapid punches.

"Psybeam." Ash said calmly, noting Tangrowth swinging over to him from the trees. Dazed quickly followed suit, her experience showing as her eyes flickered blue for a mere instant. After focusing her great power, she released an intense, rainbow-hued beam of energy towards Hitmonchan, striking the fighting-type in the side.

The psybeam was powerful enough to knock out most fighting-types and poison-types instantly, but it simply sent Hitmonchan stumbling back. Hitmonchan recovered almost instantaneously, however, and sent an annoyed glare at Dazed. It quickly returned its focus to Bruiser, however, as the machoke sent a powerful fist at it.

"Dazed, disable. Torrent, hydro pump."

Ash grinned as his commands were followed instantaneously. Dazed's eyes glimmered brightly and her pendulum swept forward, carried by an invisible wind, as Hitmonchan suddenly froze, a layer of psychic power overlaying its body and locking its limbs into place. Torrent rumbled and suddenly levitated out from the trees, rearing his head back before releasing an intense jet of water from his snout.

The hydro pump carried enough power to free Hitmonchan from the disable. Hitmonchan grimaced as it was hurled backward into a tree, slamming into the wood with a loud crack. It quickly recovered, revealing that the tall tree had a deep split through the center of it.

Hitmonchan glared furiously at them and suddenly flashed towards them at an incredible speed. Bruiser grunted as a fist was slammed into his gut with incredible force, amplified by the speed of the bullet punch. He tried to recover, but Hitmonchan suddenly launched a quick flurry of blows into Bruiser, instantly knocking him down.

The fighter didn't have time to savor its momentary victory, however. A second after it knocked Bruiser to the ground, Dazed picked it up with psychic and put an immense amount of force crushing into the creature. Hitmonchan's eyes squeezed shut in pain, although it valiantly struggled to break out of the psychic.

Just as Dazed was about to finish the job, she suddenly collapsed. Ash's eyes widened as his friend fell to the ground unconscious, barely catching a glimpse of a pale, grey fist drawing back from the attack. He backed away as he saw the immense form of Machamp leering down at him, a smirk on its reptilian face as it glanced at Dazed.

He tried to run, knowing that he would be able to outrun Machamp if he got a good start. Machamp wouldn't hurt him, just restrain him.

Unfortunately, Machamp realized what he was doing and easily snatched one of its hands out and grabbed Ash's collar before Ash could blink. It held Ash securely and forced him to watch the rest of the battle without being able to actually help.

Torrent was facing Hitmonchan, who had managed to pull itself up after the brutal psychic crush. They both stared at each other impassively, the memories of their last battle flitting between them. Hitmonchan's fists emanated wisps of icy cold air as they stared each other down, neither one willing to make the first move.

Bruiser suddenly charged at Hitmonchan, having pulled himself up from the soft ground several seconds ago. He reared his fist back and meant to send the hardy fighting-type flying back into another tree, but a blur suddenly slammed into the side of his broad face. The fighting-type groaned and went staggering back as the form of Hitmonlee suddenly appeared.

Ash blinked in surprise at the new arrival. He'd thought Hitmonlee was guarding the camp.

Hitmonlee allowed Bruiser a brief respite. The addled machoke grunted in pain but pulled himself into a fighting stance before the fight began. He didn't bother attacking, knowing that Hitmonlee would effortlessly strike him down.

The trainer glanced over to see how Torrent was doing. It looked like the fight had begun between the two powerful pokemon. Torrent was levitating away from Hitmonchan at a steady pace while the fighting-type sent barrage after barrage of lightning-fast blows towards the dragon-type. Ash grinned when he saw Hitmonchan suddenly fly backward from a hydro pump.

Since Torrent had the situation under control, Ash was free to focus on Bruiser. The two fighters were still staring at each other, neither wanting to make the first move. It would be a stalemate for a while, it seemed.

Of course, Ash held the means of ending that stalemate.

"Tangrowth, now!" He shouted. Tangrowth gurgled excitedly as he dropped on top of Hitmonlee with surprising grace, knowing enough of tactics to have maneuvered himself above the motionless fighter.

Ash didn't have to tell Tangrowth what to do. The knowledge was instinctual to the grass-type, who instantly began wrapping his vines around Hitmonlee as he smothered the larger pokemon. Despite Hitmonlee's sudden struggles – Ash could see his extendable legs kicking out furiously in an attempt to kick Tangrowth off – he just didn't have the muscle required to push the immense Tangrowth off of his body.

After nearly ten seconds of slowly weakening struggles, Hitmonlee fell unconscious. While he would have been more than a match for any of Ash's pokemon in a straight fight, Tangrowth's ambush was sufficient to overwhelm the fighting-type before a fair fight could commence.

Ash grinned at that. "Help out Torrent!" He cried. His friends instantly followed his commands, leaving the unconscious Hitmonlee behind.

He tried to reach for another of his pokeballs, but found that he was grasping empty space. Ash began to panic, but calmed when he realized that his belt was dangling in front of him. The trainer glared at Machamp's large grey hand as it tauntingly held the belt away from him, his chance of victory in plain sight.

Machamp laughed, a deep, low sound that sent shivers running down Ash's spine. While it wasn't particularly malicious, it was a sound humans had grown to instinctually fear. It generally wasn't a good survival strategy to hang around a gigantic Machamp.

Sighing resignedly, Ash focused on the fight. Hitmonchan was surrounded now. Bruiser was advancing from the front, Tangrowth from the side, and Torrent from behind. Somehow the powerful dragon had managed to maneuver himself around Hitmonchan.

One of Machamp's heavy, calloused hands covered Ash's mouth as the duel began. Apparently it wanted to see just how good Ash's friends were without his input.

Bruiser charged and drew Hitmonchan's attention, although the fighter obviously recognized it as a feint. Hitmonchan casually sidestepped the charge and ducked underneath the hydro pump Torrent sent its way. Ash winced as the hydro pump slammed into Bruiser's side and sent him flying several feet into a tree, where he landed with a loud thump.

Tangrowth was silent as he sent a dozen vines lashing towards Hitmonchan. The fighting-type's eyes suddenly burned a bright white, obviously using the Mind Reader technique. Ash supposed it was one of the moves that drew upon the energy Bruno had mentioned. There was no explanation for how fighting-types were able to use a move like that in the pokedex.

Hitmonchan was like water as it dodged the vines with fast, fluid movements. None of the vines made contact, and HItmonchan even managed to dodge a second hydro pump from Torrent. It showed its resilience by moving so quickly even after taking quite a bit of damage earlier in the fight.

Ash winced as it reared its fist back and suddenly launched towards Tangrowth at a great speed. While the comet punch did little to actually hurt Tangrowth, it gave HItmonchan time to launch a flurry of fast, powerful blows. Its fists alternated between being wreathed in flames and entombed in ice as the beatdown began.

Tangrowth gurgled helplessly and reached out with more vines, but Hitmonchan simply darted around them and quickly jabbed Tangrowth in the base of his neck, expertly striking through the vines. Ash winced as the grass-type collapsed to the ground, knocked unconscious by the strike. Apparently Hitmonchan knew where pokemon's weak points were at, not a natural ability of its species as far as Ash remembered, but carefully honed from long training.

Hitmonchan looked up after knocking Tangrowth unconscious, the iridescent white glow of Mind Reader leaving its eyes. That proved to be a mistake, as Torrent fired a powerful sphere of churning green energy into its chest a moment later. Torrent hadn't been idle while Hitmonchan battled Tangrowth.

The dragon pulse sent Hitmonchan flying onto its back as it was consumed in a huge explosion of bright green energy. Ash squeezed his eyes shut at the sudden light, but opened them as soon as he was able.

Where Hitmonchan had been standing was completely destroyed by the dragon pulse. Torrent hadn't held back. Previously splintered or cracked trees were now little more than large, charred twigs. The dirt had been swept away by the winds of the explosion, and a thin layer of ash covered everything.

Still, Hitmonchan remained. It had large burn marks all over its front, although Ash knew they were merely superficial for a pokemon. Hitmonchan had been brought to its knees by the attack, however, and was panting heavily. While it had truly proven itself to be an Elite's pokemon, it couldn't have much more fight in it.

Nevertheless, it pulled itself to its feet and stood defiantly against Torrent. The great dragon rumbled before rearing his head back, even as Hitmonchan reared its fist back and launched towards Torrent at an incredible speed, leaving it as little more than a tan blur.

The hydro pump went past the blur as it was carried forward by the attack. Torrent rumbled angrily as he was sent flying back by the force behind the punch, although he managed to catch himself with his levitation before he hit anything.

Torrent instantly prepared another dragon pulse, pouring all of his power into it. By the end the green ball of energy had grown to the size of a large boulder. He quickly shot the sphere of energy into the ground as Hitmonchan charged, causing an immense explosion that forced Ash to shut his eyes again.

When he opened them, he saw both combatants wearily staying on their feet, both too worn down by the draconic energy blast to fight anymore. Ash winced as he saw the energy take its toll on Torrent, his own attack's power doing an incredible amount of damage to his body.

Dragon-types weren't made to take their own energy. They had never been at anything less than the very top of their food web and, rare as they were, had certainly never faced competition from their own kind. There was simply no need to evolve defenses.

Torrent finally collapsed, fighting with every part of his will to stay upright. The strain was too much for his body, however, and the dragon-type fell unconscious.

Hitmonchan pumped its fist into the air proudly before staggering over to Hitmonlee's fallen form. It lightly kicked its fallen comrade before sighing and picking Hitmonlee up and throwing him over its bulky, pad-like shoulders.

Machamp lessened its grip on Ash, allowing the trainer to recall his defeated friends. He couldn't believe that they'd all been defeated by Hitmonchan. Hitmonchan was incredibly powerful and resilient, of course, but he'd have thought that the combined might of his friends would be enough to stop it, even without Ash guiding them.

He thought about releasing Infernus and Nidoking, but a tight grip on his jacket made him think better of it. While they'd certainly defeat Hitmonchan, Ash wasn't so sure if they would be able to defeat Machamp. The fighting-type had only had trouble with Infernus because of Infernus' incredibly hot body temperature and aura of flames. It would know how to fight him this time.

Hitmonchan grunted as it hauled Hitmonlee over, shaking its head when Machamp offered one of its gigantic hands out for the fighting-type. It just readjusted Hitmonlee's unconscious form and trudged off.

Machamp let Ash go and pointed after Hitmonchan. Ash got the memo and nodded. He quickly began to follow the fighting-type, figuring that it would take him to Bruno. It looked like he'd failed this exercise.

XX

Bruno was a serene figure in the dark, sitting cross-legged with his eyes shut. He didn't react at all as Ash sat down in front of him, taking a cue from Machamp.

It had taken more than two hours for them to get back to Bruno. They had been attacked by an onix once, although Machamp had casually defeated it with a quick flurry of punches. The destruction it wreaked upon the landscape – the onix was massive even for the breed of the mountain, so it had sent huge fissures carving throughout the earth simply by surfacing – had greatly slowed their travels, however.

But now, nearly an hour after night had fallen, he stood in front of the Master again. He was exhausted and knew that his pokemon needed healing, but he was proud. They'd fought hard and had proved their strength today.

"…You did well." Bruno said after an uncomfortable silence. "Sit."

Ash did so, mimicking Bruno's position. He watched the Master intently.

"You and your pokemon defeated Hitmonlee and nearly did the same with Hitmonchan." The Master began. His eyes were still closed. "Not many can. Still, you have a long way to go. Your Machoke is undisciplined."

He nodded. "Will we train him tomorrow?"

"Yes." Bruno replied. "You came here to strengthen your Machoke. Today you proved that you are tough enough to take my training. Today was merely a warm up. We will repeat this exercise one day."

Ash nodded, although a frown spread across his face at the realization that this was just an exercise. While the training today hadn't been overly difficult, it was still tough. A more intense version of today would probably entail Bruno setting every onix under the mountain after him.

A slow grin spread across his face. Now that he had a plan to actually fight the massive onix, something like that actually sounded fun.

"How long will I be staying here?" Ash asked curiously. He'd be willing to stay any amount of time to train with the Master, but he knew that the Elite Four were busy people, especially now that the conflict with the Rockets had picked up.

Bruno's eyes opened. The man regarded him thoughtfully. A few moments later, he gave his answer. "I doubt that we will have more than a week together. It shall be enough to train your Machoke. The rest it will learn itself."

"Is something happening?" Ash questioned. He remembered Professor Oak saying that Bruno would be on the mountain for nearly a month. Either Oak had gotten his information wrong – doubtful, considering how particular and organized the man was – or something big was occurring.

"…Something is happening." The man allowed; his face completely blank. He stared at Ash for a few more moments. "You are trusted by Lance. I believe that he wouldn't mind you knowing."

Ash leaned forward eagerly, knowing that this had to have something to do with Team Rocket. There was nothing else that would convince the Master to abandon his training early.

Bruno remained stiff as he began speaking. "We have found the location of another Rocket Executive." He started, looking uncomfortable with divulging the information. "Ariana. She was the head of research in the Sevii Islands cell. Something teleported her and her grunts out of the area before she could be arrested."

He scowled. Ash knew that name.

"Can't forget the women. Might make Ariana mad." Petrel's disturbingly affable voice whispered into his mind, hiding his malice behind a thin veneer of jovial words. It looked like the mystery of Ariana's identity was solved once and for all.

Ash clenched his fists furiously. It sounded like that thing the Rockets were using was involved somehow. It just seemed to be everywhere, either teleporting Rockets away from the League or liberating the monsters from prison.

"She is currently operating in Celadon." Bruno said with a frown, his face growing hard and tense. His eyes glittered with disapproval. "Erika has grown too lax in her duties as gym leader. After I eliminate the cell I will have to have a talk with her."

"You're going to do it alone?" Ash asked in awe. While he'd done the same thing, he'd only gotten by through a mixture of luck and Dazed being particularly skilled with hypnosis. Bruno would simply be charging through.

Bruno smiled softly. "You did the same thing. The majority will be easily eliminated. Rockets believe in quantity over quality. Executives are dangerous, but they are no threat to me."

Ash frowned again. "What if that strange pokemon of theirs is at the hideout?"

"Then I will fight it." Bruno said simply. He crossed his arms. "We know little about it. Should I win, an unknown threat will be defeated. Should I lose, then it will be hunted."

He was silent. There just wasn't much to say to that kind of thinking.

Ash frowned when he saw a pair of glowing red eyes in the darkness behind Bruno. Its eyes didn't even notice him. They glimmered mischievously as it suddenly flashed towards Bruno. He began to stand up and tried to warn Bruno, but before he could rise to his feet Bruno had casually caught the shadowed creature and threw it onto the ground in front of the campfire.

The trainer looked at the wriggling, furious creature interestedly. Bruno had a soft smile on his face as he effortlessly held the creature to the ground with one of his massive hands. It was a small, blue canine-like pokemon. Its legs and torso were covered black, and its tail was blue. Large ears flapped around as the strange creature struggled to escape Bruno's grip.

"This is Riolu." Bruno said with a grin as he held the struggling pokemon up by the scruff of its neck. It glared at Ash defiantly with bright red eyes. "I received him from one of my acquaintances in Sinnoh. His Lucario had just laid an egg, and he believed that I was worthy of its offspring."

"How does it fight?" Ash asked as he examined Riolu. He'd never seen a pokemon like it before, nor had he even heard of one. It must be incredibly rare.

"Not well." Bruno smiled, lightly poking Riolu on its forehead. The creature sullenly crossed its arms and glared. "He is a fighting-type, although not particularly fearsome yet. When he evolves into Lucario, he will gain the steel-typing."

Ash nodded, a small grin making its way onto his face. It sounded like it would grow to be incredibly strong. As far as Ash knew, that was a unique typing, although there might be others considering that he was less-informed about foreign pokemon. "Will he be training with us tomorrow?"

"Yes." Bruno stated, lightly tapping Riolu's forehead in amusement when the rambunctious creature began wriggling in excitement. "He and Tyrogue. They are actually the reason I first came to this mountain. It has been nearly a year since I last came here to train. I believed that they would do well from training here. The landscape is harsh, and there are many powerful onix."

While he wasn't so sure about pitting baby pokemon against the onix that ruled the lonely mountain, Ash figured that Bruno knew what he was doing. He probably had Machamp and the other fighting-types make sure that they were safe most of the time.

Bruno set Riolu back down. The canine growled cutely at him before scampering off into the darkness. Ash grinned as Hitmonlee, who had recovered from his battle with Ash, seemed to sigh before following after the tiny creature.

"Tyrogue, could you please bring the soup out?" The Master called into the cave. A few moments later a tiny, humanoid pokemon walked out with two bowls of soup. It was a light purple in coloration and looked as though it were wearing pants and shoes, although it was really just brown sections of Tyrogue. Numerous bruises and scrapes marred its small, tough body, but the fighter looked perfectly content.

Tyrogue placed the bowl of black broth in front of Ash first. He wrinkled his nose in disgust and gingerly took the spoon out of it. Gelatinous black soup oozed off of the spoon.

In an attempt to distract himself from the food – and he used that term loosely – he was about to eat, Ash watched Tyrogue. The small fighter moved gracefully, although its body was tense and tough. It bowed to Bruno before handing him the bowl, and after Bruno thanked the young pokemon for it, Tyrogue scurried over to Machamp's side. He couldn't hold back a grin when Machamp glanced down at the younger pokemon and patted him on the head.

"Eat up." Bruno said in an amused tone. "Tomorrow won't be as strenuous, but it will be long. I will allow you to watch me train your Machoke and show you how to help him, but after that I wish for you to train your own pokemon. This is an ideal training environment for ground-type pokemon, and your other pokemon will not have to worry about damaging the environment. The onix have done so already."

Ash nodded and reluctantly began to eat the black broth, although he remembered to move it around his mouth instead of over his tongue. As long as he kept it as far from his tongue as possible, he didn't have to think about it too much. He was still positive that he was eating a grimer.

As his stomach churned in protest of the black sludge, Ash glanced down at his belt. His pokeballs were all securely clipped on, but he figured that Bruno would be healing his pokemon again. Perhaps it would be best to leave them out for Bruno.

"That would be a good idea." Bruno responded when Ash voiced his thoughts. He took another dignified sip of the black broth before continuing. "I suspect that they will require longer than last night. They've had less time to naturally recover."

The trainer nodded before looking down disgustedly at the bowl. It was empty now, although some of the sludge still clung to the bowl's walls. He placed it in front of the campfire as Bruno had done before and held back a sigh. His body was tired, and he was starting to feel all of the exhaustion he had forced back the rest of the day.

"I'm going to bed." Ash said before standing up. He hesitantly left his pokeballs next to the bowl, the gently crackling flame lightly heating the red and white orbs. The trainer stared at them for a moment before shaking his head. Bruno would take care of them. "Good night."

"Good night." Bruno replied as Ash walked into the tent. His dirty clothes were uncomfortable as he laid down, but his exhaustion was strong enough to overwhelm that feeling.

He figured he'd just get Torrent to lightly hose him down tomorrow, Ash thought as he shut his eyes. There probably wasn't any water easily available or safe.

Those were his last thoughts before unconsciousness consumed him.

XX

"Watch me." Bruno commanded to Ash and Bruiser. They stood in the crater, close to where they'd first met. It had been similar to yesterday morning, although Bruno was more lax in allowing Ash to eat and get ready.

Tyrogue and Riolu flanked Bruno, each eagerly watching as the Master launched into a quick flurry of blows and motions that had been honed over thousands of hours of practice and training. With his enhanced abilities, Ash wouldn't have been surprised if Bruno could take on most fighting-types himself. He was simply incredible.

"Tyrogue, Bruiser, repeat it." Bruno told them. Tyrogue bowed respectfully to the Master before bouncing over and assuming his fighting position. Bruiser did the same, although he simply nodded to the Elite.

They both performed the motion slowly, drawing it out and memorizing the movements instead of performing them in a blur of movement like Bruno. Ash had no idea how they even kept up with Bruno's actions. He'd moved too fast for Ash to see.

"Fighting-types react faster than most humans." Bruno explained, seeing Ash's stunned expression. "And when it comes to battling, you will find no better eye for detail."

Ash didn't bother nodding. He was too entranced by watching the fighting-types perform their motions. Bruiser had never been particularly graceful. While fast for his size, his strikes were normally rough and inefficient. He'd never been taught, and it showed.

But with a real example in front of him, Bruiser was already doing better. His movements were more fluid, less rough and choppy. Ash wasn't sure if Bruiser would keep it, but he was improving.

That continued on for a few more minutes. Bruno had them repeat the motions several more times until Bruiser had it down pat. Tyrogue seemed to be used to the basic movements, but was there as more a guide for Bruiser than anything else.

"Enough." Bruno said as he stepped forward. "Let me show you a new set."

With that he performed another flurry of blows, each one focused on landing devastating punches and other strong movements. His feet rarely left the ground except when he moved to deliver a punch. Bruno was an anchor for himself, an indomitable wall.

Bruno suddenly stopped and motioned for the fighting-types to copy him. As they began their motions, Ash asked a question. "Why aren't you kicking at all? Is it just part of that style?"

"No." Bruno said with a shake of his head. "There are several reasons. For one, I don't use kicks. I find them to be inefficient for my style of fighting. Additionally, few fighting-type pokemon are designed to fight with kicks. Only Hitmonlee and Blaziken come to mind immediately. Most have evolved to fight with their fists."

Ash understood. He'd noticed that, but wasn't sure if fighting-types were able to shift their technique towards kicks. At least Bruno had cleared that up.

He continued to watch as Bruno demonstrated basic exercises and techniques to the fighting-types. Ash could barely even believe that Bruno was human. The Master moved too fast and too gracefully for an ordinary human. Even if Ash knew the key to Bruno's physical capabilities, watching him was awe-inspiring.

After Bruno demonstrated a complex set of motions once more, he stopped and turned to Ash. He was sweating a bit, proving that even Bruno wasn't immune to the heat and sun that was pounding down on them.

"I'll take it from here." The massive man stated simply. "Go train your other pokemon. There's nothing you can do to help here. Make the most of your time here."

Ash frowned. "Are you sure?" He asked, not wanting to leave Bruiser behind. It didn't feel right to not be part of training his friend.

"I'm sure." Bruno said firmly. He inclined his head towards Bruiser. "You cannot train a fighting-type. It takes long years of training in the martial arts and a true understanding of the type to hone them into the best they can be. You would not be able to assist Bruiser if you simply watched. Go a bit away and train your other pokemon."

His frown grew as he followed Bruno's finger. The Master was pointing at an area not too far away, but with enough distance put between them that their training would not interfere with each other's. Reluctantly, Ash acquiesced to Bruno's request.

While he didn't feel right about leaving Bruiser behind, Bruno knew what he was doing. He was a Master of the fighting-type, one of the foremost experts in the world. Ash would probably get in the way. Besides, there might be training secrets that Bruno might not want Ash to hear.

"Good luck, buddy." Ash called out to Bruiser. The heavily muscled fighter smiled at him and waved, thick red veins bulging from his grey skin as he did so. He smiled and waved back before turning back to Bruno. "Thanks for helping me. Bruiser won't let you down."

Bruno's mouth turned upwards. "I'm sure he won't. He's raw, but by the time I'm done with him he'll have a foundation. This is the best way for him to learn. I'll teach you the basics on training fighting-types one of these days."

"Thank you." Ash said with a dip of his head. He palmed Nidoking's pokeball. If he wasn't able to train Bruiser, he would definitely use the time to work with Nidoking. It was about time he got his TMs, after all.

The Master nodded at him again before turning to Bruiser. Ash took the hint and left, listening intently to Bruno's movements as he walked away. It sounded like he was doing another group of motions and stances. Bruiser would learn well.

When he was about four hundred feet away, Ash released the rest of his friends. They'd all been healed by Bruno while Ash slept. As a member of the Elite Four, Bruno had access to incredibly powerful potions and medicines. They were powerful enough to fully heal his friends in an hour or so, even after the heavy injuries they'd sustained in their battle with Hitmonchan.

Nidoking roared and crushed his claws together when he was released, eyes instantly recognizing the harsh terrain in which they stood. Ash smiled at him guiltily, well aware that he hadn't released Nidoking since the first battle with Bruno.

"Are you alright?" He asked. Nidoking had taken some bad hits from Machamp. It wouldn't be too much of a surprise if he was still feeling it.

The poison-type nodded and grinned, exposing his large, blade-like fangs. Ash smiled back before he released the others. Nidoking lumbered over to him as he did so, making the earth tremble slightly just from moving.

"We've already trained for a day with Bruno." Ash told his oldest friend as the other members of the team appeared. "Sorry I didn't let you out, but it's been pretty tough so far. Bruno isn't too bad, but he's challenging. It's great!"

Nidoking nodded and rumbled questioningly, pausing only to nod at Dazed as she was released. The psychic-type blinked at him in acknowledgement before shuffling over to Ash, her eyes red and tired. Ash glanced over at his friend.

"How're you feeling?" He asked her as he released Infernus. The psychic-type cocked her head and shrugged, lifting her thick white mane up as she did so. Ash knew her well enough to know that she was fine. The potions had probably fixed most of her injuries.

Infernus roared and set to performing his release ritual. When he was done spitting a long stream of churning flame high into the sky, Ash shook his head with a grin on his face. While the fire-type could be a handful sometimes, Ash had missed his friend.

"Did you have a good rest?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. Infernus crossed his arms and nodded quickly, snorting a quick plume of red flame as he did so. "That's good. We're training today. I want you to try and master fire blast today, got that?"

The fire-type nodded again, determination beginning to glint in his black eyes. Ash knew that he would actually work on it today. Infernus had been working on fire blast for several weeks and hadn't mastered it yet, although Ash had to admit that Infernus had come quite far. Fire blast was an important move to learn, though. While flamethrower was more dependable, fire blast was powerful and intense enough to crack defenses and amplify Infernus' already impressive destructive potential.

Tangrowth was released next. He gurgled happily when he saw Nidoking and sent a few vines to greet the large, purple creature. Nidoking blinked in surprise at Tangrowth's new form and allowed the vines to gently tap him on the head and explore his plates before the grass-type withdrew.

Infernus received no such greeting. He was probably the only member of the team that Tangrowth actually disliked, mostly thanks to Infernus' prank during their first meeting. Aside from that, their personalities just didn't mesh well together. Tangrowth's cheerfulness and Infernus' aggressiveness weren't good matches.

Still, Ash was glad that they'd kept from getting in a fight. Tangrowth was at a distinct disadvantage against Infernus, but the two could cause quite a bit of inadvertent destruction if they ever got into a real battle. Infernus would certainly win in the end, but Tangrowth was no push over.

He shook his thoughts away and released Torrent. The regal dragon greeted all of the others with a low rumble. Nidoking returned it, although the others simply inclined their heads or, in Tangrowth's case, sent a few vines over to wrap Torrent in a hug.

"Well, now that that's over with, we should get down to business." Ash said with a grin. That drew their attention, although the mere sound of his voice would usually get them to pay attention, just as any attempts at communication on their part would gain them his. "We have four days to train. Bruiser is with Bruno, so I can focus on all of you."

Ash paused for a moment to cough and sip at his water bottle. While he'd gotten used to the arid environment inside the crater, the dust that was constantly whipping up was still an annoyance. Aside from that, some of the soup was still clinging to the inside of his throat like black glue.

"Anyways, Nidoking and Dazed are with me today." He began, wiping his mouth with his slightly dirty sleeve. "Torrent, you're tomorrow. Infernus is the day after that. Tangrowth, I'll be working with you on the last day and whenever I get a chance on the other days."

That seemed to please all of his friends. Tangrowth was bouncing up and down, excited at being able to work with Ash a bit more often than the others. Normally Ash wouldn't do something like that, but Tangrowth needed to get completely used to his new body before he faced Giovanni.

Ash stopped his friends before they could wander off. "I need your help. Nidoking is going to be practicing earthquake and it'll probably attract some onix. Dazed, can you teleport and get Machamp or Hitmonchan for me? I'd like them here just in case."

Dazed nodded. Her eyes flashed blue before she flitted away into nothingness. Ash started rooting around in his pack, trying to find the correct storage compartment for the TM case. The reorganizing he'd done thanks to the presence of the large, heavy egg in his pack meant that he wasn't completely sure where everything was now.

When he finally found it, Ash grinned and glanced up at Nidoking to let him know he was about to be recalled. Nidoking bared his fangs in excitement, crushing his claws together proudly. An instant later he was converted into red energy and sucked into the pokeball.

Ash quickly set the shrunken pokeball into the small slot on the TM case before inserting both disks into their slots. It was a much more elegant process than his first fumbling attempts next to the pond so many months ago.

An instant later he clicked the button that would activate the process and watched. First Nidoking's pokeball glowed a dull brown and then a vivid, striking purple. Ash grinned. Nidoking now had both earthquake and shadow claw at his disposal. He'd been powerful before. Now he had entirely new ways of fighting.

He gently pulled the ball out of the slot and put his TM case back into the storage compartment. Nidoking was released an instant later. His narrow eyes glinted with excitement, obviously anxious to test out his new abilities.

"Give it a moment." Ash told his friend. "We need to wait on Dazed. Machamp'll be able to take care of the onix with no problem."

Nidoking grunted his understanding and impatiently thrashed his tail against the ground. Huge cracks spread throughout the earth when the powerful muscle struck, but Ash didn't rebuke him for it. They were about to cause a lot more damage than that.

He'd seen a nidoking use earthquake at the last Conference. Ash couldn't remember the trainer's name – he hadn't gotten to the Finals, so he wasn't particularly impressive – but he'd won that match by a landslide. His opponent had used a steelix as his last pokemon, but one earthquake instantly knocked the behemoth unconscious as it tunneled. The arena had been torn apart by the attack, huge fissures carving throughout the ground and chunks of earth pulled upward.

If Nidoking could perform earthquake half as well as that one could, Ash would be pleased. Earthquake was an immensely powerful attack, especially when wielded by a ground-type that had a particular affinity for it. It couldn't replace Nidoking's immensely powerful physical capabilities, but it would let him avoid getting up close and personal right off the bat.

Ash was torn from his thoughts when Dazed suddenly appeared a few inches in front of him. He jumped back in surprise and frowned at Dazed. She liked teleporting uncomfortable close to him. It was getting rather annoying, although he could appreciate the humor of it after the shock had worn off.

Before he could say anything, a huge shadow fell over him. Ash glanced upwards and saw Machamp standing next to Dazed, dull grey skin blending in surprisingly well with their surroundings. The fighting-type leered down at him and cracked all four of its knuckles together, eyes showing that it was anticipating a fight.

He nodded his thanks at the gigantic fighter before he turned back and released Nidoking. His friend snorted angrily when he saw Machamp. Apparently his pride had been hurt worse by his defeat than Ash had thought.

"Calm down." He said soothingly, patting his friend on the shoulder. There was no chance for him to get stabbed by a highly poisonous spike there. Nidoking's eyes lost some of their anger, although he still glared at Machamp. The fighter just grinned back.

"Everyone, get back." He warned. His friends followed him until they were about fifty feet away. Of all of his friends, Ash suspected that Infernus was the most interested in this development. The fire-type was always interested in gauging Nidoking's strength and always sought to surpass it. It was a difficult chore now that Nidoking had evolved, but Ash figured that was a good thing. Now Infernus had real motivation to master fire blast and work with Ash on other techniques.

When they were a safe distance away, Ash looked at Machamp. The fighter had taken its own position and was watching with interest. It seemed a bit like Infernus in that respect.

Nidoking was standing alone now, a hulking purple figure that was distinct around the dull brown earth of the crater. His body was tense with excitement, the poison-type's earlier annoyance with Machamp all but forgotten as he anticipated Ash's order.

Ash grinned. "Earthquake!" He shouted. His voice echoed throughout the crater, bouncing off of the vast walls of earth and stone.

The poison-type roared and focused for a moment. Ash watched intently. It was time to see if that TM had been worth the hefty sum of money he'd paid.

Nidoking suddenly leapt high into the air, his monumental bulk briefly overcome by the sheer power stored in his muscles. When he landed, the earth shattered.

Ash staggered backwards as a wave of incredible force ripped through the earth, carving deep lines and cracks throughout the ground and forcing the area around the poison-type to explode upward. Nidoking was left standing in what appeared to be a sunken pit, although in reality he had simply caused the earth adjacent to him to shift and churn upwards.

Tangrowth carefully caught him and held him secure with his rubbery arms. Ash grinned his thanks at his friend before glancing over at Machamp. The indomitable beast simply grinned and cracked its knuckles again as it saw the power behind the earthquake.

Clouds of dust billowed upwards, wildly swirling around before they settled into a thin haze. All Ash could see of Nidoking was his muscular torso, his friend's lower half obscured by the dust and upturned earth.

"Dazed, could you please blow that away?" He asked. Dazed blinked before her eyes flashed. Her pendulum suddenly swept to the side as an immense wave of psychic energy blew the clouds away. Ash thanked her politely before walking over to Nidoking.

Nidoking grunted happily when he saw Ash. The trainer grinned at his friend. "That was incredible! There's no way Giovanni will be able to resist that."

His grin slowly stretched wider. "We can practice that more later. Can you feel any onix coming toward us?"

Nidoking shut his narrow eyes for a moment before he shook his head. Ash frowned. That was odd. After Machamp's tiny earthquake two onix had immediately surfaced. Perhaps they had learned to avoid the crater. It was Bruno's training ground, after all. Or else the earthquake might have been enough to dissuade them, a sign that showed whatever had created it was not to be trifled with. Machamp's weak earthquakes were probably more insults than anything else.

"Let's start on shadow claw, then." Ash stated. He started to back away. Shadow claw wasn't as dangerous as earthquake, but that didn't mean he wanted to be around it. No attack was completely safe to be around, especially not when they were used by a pokemon of Nidoking's caliber.

He gazed curiously as Nidoking closed his eyes and outstretched one of his immense claws. The claws shined dully in the bright sunlight as Nidoking focused his energy. For a few moments, nothing happened. Then his entire arm suddenly went ablaze with black energy, outlined in a deadly violet and formed into a dark, grasping claw.

Nidoking's eyes glinted purple for just a moment as he examined the energy suffusing his arm. He bared his teeth in amusement and then slashed with the shadow claw. It left wisps of darkness trailing behind it, the move's energies momentarily disrupting the natural laws and keeping the intense daylight from banishing the wisps.

The energy left Nidoking as he finished his slash. It surged forward into the ground, bathing the area in darkness for just a moment. Ash watched it curiously as its ghostly energies were slowly consumed and destroyed until the ground was back to normal.

Ash noticed Dazed shut her eyes as the energy bled off into the atmosphere. He didn't like that it hurt her and made her uncomfortable, but he did like that shadow claw was powerful enough to affect psychics even at that distance. It could at least distract them from taking advantage of Nidoking's weakness.

"Good job, buddy!" He called out. Nidoking roared back happily, causing the earth to vibrate a bit. The poison-type was beginning to grow into his ground abilities. Everything was a bit more controlled now.

Now that he was sure that Nidoking was fine, he turned back to his other friends. Most of them seemed at least somewhat impressed with Nidoking's new abilities. With these new additions to his arsenal only Torrent could outmatch him in raw power.

"Go and train." He ordered, glancing at each of his friends. "I'll be checking up on you every now and then. Don't leave the crater or stray too far. The onix here are too dangerous to battle without some backup."

His friends signaled their understanding before they went off to train. Dazed stayed near his side, watching the others leave with impassive eyes.

Ash turned to her with a grin. He could hear Nidoking lumbering towards him. "Well, we've got a lot to do. Let's get some training in."

XX

The next night and morning passed by much as the last had: After training, Ash followed Bruno back to the campsite and talked with him over dinner, he gagged down the black broth, and went to bed. There was one key difference, however. Since his friends weren't too badly beaten by the end of the day – with the notable exception of Bruiser, who had clear signs of battle all over his body – he let them sleep outside.

Most of them huddled around his tent. None of his friends were small enough to get in the shelter with him now that Tangela had evolved and he had thought earnestly about sleeping outside with them. Unfortunately it was simply too cold at night and Bruno, assisted by Ash's common sense, swiftly dissuaded him from that course of action.

Still, he was glad that he was close to his friends. It had been odd sleeping alone. At least he knew they were next to him now.

Infernus was the lone exception. While he did sleep outside and didn't stray too far, he did stay a few feet away from Ash's tent at all times. He didn't like being close to the others, and his body temperature was hot enough to make it uncomfortable anyways.

But Ash knew that Infernus was just as happy to be out at any of them. What he wasn't happy about was the duty Ash had imparted on him. While pokemon eggs could hatch at all but the most extreme temperatures and weren't negatively affected, they tended to hatch faster when exposed to heat. Heat that Infernus radiated.

He wasn't too happy about curling up with the egg at night, but Infernus didn't protest too much. Ash just thanked him and promised that he wouldn't have to stay with the egg after they left Mt. Hideaway. The climate was much gentler when they weren't sleeping on the peak of a mountain.

As he tried to sleep, Ash wondered just what was in the egg. It was definitely a black pokemon, so it would probably be a dark or ghost-type. There were a handful of other pure black pokemon, but most were foreign.

He could probably get it scanned at a Pokemon Center to see what was inside, but Ash didn't really want to do that. It was going to be a surprise, and he'd be happy no matter what he got. Ash thought it would be nice to have a baby on the team. He wouldn't bother trying to get it trained for the Indigo Conference, but it would definitely be ready to be a participant in the next Conference.

His last thoughts were of the egg. Even as he fell into unconsciousness, his mind still swam with questions about the ebony egg. He couldn't wait for it to hatch.

XX

"There's only one more move I think you need to learn." Ash announced to Torrent as he looked away from Bruiser. The fighting-type was duking it out with Tyrogue and Riolu, each putting their rudimentary training so far to the test. Bruiser was holding his own, although he did have more experience than the other two.

Torrent watched him with his regal scarlet eyes, waiting for Ash to continue. Ash grinned and showed Torrent his pokedex screen, which had been set to show a video of one very special, very powerful move.

"Draco Meteor." Ash stated as Torrent interestedly watched the video, his large form shadowing the pokedex enough for the video to be visible. Torrent blinked as a strange pokemon called a Garchomp that belonged to Champion Cynthia of Sinnoh glowed a bright orange and fired an iridescent ball of orange energy high into the air. It exploded into a dozen orbs of energy spheres that caused massive explosions to wrack the battlefield.

"It's one of the most powerful dragon-type moves in existence." Ash recited from the description of the pokedex. It was surprisingly obscure. He'd had to really look for it in the database. "It is enough to defeat almost any opponent, although it temporarily weakens an inexperienced wielder. But I think you're ready for it."

Torrent rumbled his agreement, determination burning in his eyes and stance. He was never one to back down from a challenge, and Ash knew that he would work as long as necessary to harness the incredible power behind Draco Meteor.

Ash backed away and began to speak. He'd memorized most of the instructions behind the attack last night. Hopefully that would be enough, although he would probably have to ask Professor Oak if Dragonite knew it. Torrent was strong and a quick learner, but dragon-type moves were complex. A real example would speed progress along considerably.

"It's similar to using Dragon Pulse, but to the next level." Ash began. Torrent listened on intently. He wasn't about to slack off, not with his discipline and this kind of reward at stake. "You've got to make the Pulse, but make it stronger and more intense. It'll take everything you've got. Try forming that orange energy ball first."

Torrent rumbled and waited until Ash walked away another few feet before he shut his eyes and focused. Nothing happened for a moment, but soon enough small particles of energy began to form in front of his snout. It was a much slower process than Dragon Pulse, but Ash smiled softly when he saw that some of the particles were the bright orange required for Draco Meteor. Most were the shining green of the Pulse, but it was a good start.

Suddenly, Torrent snapped his head up and fired the ball into the sky. Less than twenty feet up it exploded, sending a huge wave of force and energy through the air. Torrent levitated in front of Ash and took the worst of the blast, rumbling a bit as the draconic energy hurt him a bit.

"Thanks." Ash said as he patted Torrent's thick scales for a moment. Torrent rumbled back, although he seemed annoyed at the disastrous first attempt. "What went wrong?"

Torrent blinked and cocked his head. It was an expression that Ash knew meant that he had no idea.

"It was probably just bad luck." Ash told his friend encouragingly. "You got some of the energy you needed. I'll bet you'll have it down in no time."

The dragon-type seemed to smile at him with his wise eyes and nodded before levitating back to his former position. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate again.

Ash just watched, trying to find anything that might help Torrent. He knew his friend was capable of performing this attack. Torrent was strong and determined. It might take weeks of training, but he would get it down.

Ash would make sure of it.

XX

"Show me what you've got." Ash said with a grin. Infernus nodded back, his black eyes gleaming brightly. Flames erupted from his body as the fire-type stepped forward and spat a fireball. It was white-hot, tinged with impure orange flame. As it travelled, it five "limbs" of flame erupted from the front, appearing to take on one of the ancient symbols of Kanto. It was nothing more than a strange resemblance, but one that had gathered a bit of attention from researchers.

Unfortunately, the attack sputtered out a bit before it was supposed to explode. The bright flames died down, leaving nothing but embers that flickered through the air. Ash smiled. While it wasn't a success, it showed that Infernus was getting close to mastering the technique.

Infernus clenched his fists and angrily spat a huge column of flame into the sky. When it dissipated he appeared to have calmed down a bit, although he was still clearly annoyed with his failure. Ash knew that his friend normally mastered techniques in mere days, much like Torrent. He wasn't used to having difficulties.

"Again." Ash said soothingly. "Don't let your anger get in the way. Just focus on intensifying the flames and focusing the fire to your will."

The fire-type took a deep breath, causing the heat waves simmering from his body to slow for a moment. Small flames began to trickle down his body as he concentrated. Infernus suddenly reared his head back and prepared the attack.

Ash grinned as he suddenly let loose the powerful attack. He had been training with Infernus for two hours now and had seen Infernus' real problem: He was getting frustrated. Infernus had failed at the attack so many times now that, although he was still making progress, he was doing little more than releasing increasingly intense blasts of flame.

It had taken him a while, but he'd managed to calm the worst of Infernus' ire. His friend was remarkably calm now as he spat out a perfect Fire Blast, which roared through the air for nearly thirty feet before exploding in an impressive fireball.

"Great job!" Ash exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. Fire blast was the most advanced technique most magmar were capable of learning, although there were other attacks and plenty of strategies Ash could still teach Infernus.

For his part, Infernus just seemed surprised. His eyes narrowed happily as he realized that he'd finally pulled it off. After weeks of training and solo practice, the fire-type had finally perfected the technique.

Infernus roared and stamped his foot, causing the earth around him to explode. Lava dribbled out of the torn earth, not nearly as much as Infernus would create in a real battle thanks to Ash's presence but still enough to get the point across. He looked up to the sky and spat two fire blasts into the air, the effort much simpler now that he had perfected it.

Ash just grinned and crossed his arms. Infernus had finally gotten past one of his few hurdles. They could focus more on actual combat now. Haze wouldn't be enough to carry them through the finals.

"You know, I think it's time we introduce a bit more variation." Ash said. Infernus' eyes glinted interestedly and he walked over to Ash. Small flames burned where he stepped, his elation so great that he failed to hold back his body temperature.

"Do you remember battling Alakazam?" He asked. The fire-type snorted a plume of flame, still bitter about his loss. Ash smiled. "That's what I thought. Let's get started on Faint Attack, then. It shouldn't be too hard to learn. You've got the right attitude for it, from what I hear."

Infernus' eyes seemed to smirk, and he drank in every word Ash said. Whatever someone that didn't know Infernus could say about his temperament, they could never say that he wasn't dedicated to growing stronger.

"There are two methods." Ash recited. "One is just the basic way, which is to go up and distract the target before hitting them. The second is more complicated, but I know you can do it. You'll have to use a variation on quick attack which will let you…"

Ash droned on for a bit more, glad that Infernus' attention never strayed. He didn't spend enough time with Infernus, he realized as he coached his friend on the process. He'd have to fix that.

Infernus deserved it.

XX

Tangrowth blinked at him.

Ash blinked back.

They were standing in the designated training area. Ash could see Bruiser battling Tyrogue in the background. The two had been fighting for nearly an hour, showing the incredible endurance fighting-types were known for.

"So, are you used to your body yet?" Ash asked slowly, making sure that Tangrowth would be able to keep up. His friend nodded excitedly, wrapping a few vines around him in a display of happiness. The trainer couldn't hold back a smile and patted one of his friend's rubbery arms. "I'm glad. You've been doing good these last few days, but I just wanted to make sure."

Tangrowth gurgled back a response. Ash laughed. "Alright, alright. You've been working hard these past few days, and it looks like you know most of the techniques that you can naturally learn. But you still don't know power whip. That'll give you an edge that not much can stand up against."

The grass-type blinked his agreement and waved his arms wildly. His eyes were bright and excited at the notion of learning a new attack. Ash nodded in a satisfied manner. If Tangrowth kept this enthusiasm up they'd be working on new techniques in no time.

"The method's a lot like vine whip." Ash explained, accentuating his words with hand motions. Tangrowth's wide eyes followed them interestedly. "You've just got to focus your energy into the strike. Do you understand?"

A fervent nod gave him his answer. "Alright, then. Use ancient power and pull a few rocks up. You'll need targets."

Tangrowth easily ripped a large wall of rock and earth from the ground. Ash ignored the dust that exploded around him. It was trivial, and he could just get Torrent to wash him off when they were done.

"Try it." Ash ordered. Tangrowth gurgled and extended two of his large vines. They twisted in the air for a moment before lashing towards the wall, each glowing an odd mixture of purple and green. Green was the predominant color, but at least Tangrowth was able to use the right kind of energy.

Despite the attack being an odd mix of vine whip and power whip, the attack still held enough power behind it to easily tear through the earthen wall, shattering the construct. Tangrowth quickly yanked his vines back, causing the remainder of the barrier to collapse into chunks of rock and dust.

Ash smiled. "Good work. Do it again."

Tangrowth determinedly followed Ash's command. The trainer smiled. This was his last day with Bruno, so he might as well make the most of it.

XX

"Bruiser is a fighting-type now." Bruno said proudly. Bruiser pounded his chest happily, excitement gleaming in his beady eyes as he met Ash's gaze. Ash smiled at him, just as proud as he was. "You have watched him as he became a fighter, a keen edge instead of a blunt surface."

Ash nodded. "Thank you. I could never have taught him how to meet his potential. We owe you."

"No." Bruno said sharply. "It is my duty to aid promising young trainers. Bruiser is strong and deserved a teacher. You are strong and needed one."

The man sat down on the hot, baked ground and motioned for Ash to do the same. They were in the crater, next to a large onix pit. Ash had returned Tangrowth and the others a few minutes ago once they were done training. It was getting dark and they needed to return to camp.

Bruno clasped his hands together as he met Ash's eyes with his serious gaze. Ash steadfastly returned it. "You have helped me as well. You are no martial artist, but you are a fighter. You survived the St. Anne and have defeated Rockets everywhere you go. You have the spirit of a fighter, just not the skill. While you are not amongst those destined to learn to fight with your body, you have learned to fight with your friends."

Ash nodded understandingly, noting that Bruno was doodling strange symbols in the dirt as he fell into a short silence. When he looked up and met Ash's eyes once more, he continued in a grave tone.

"You are not a fighter of my kind." Bruno said with a shake of his head. "But I have ensured that you know of the fighting-type and the philosophy and skills that drive it. Should you ever receive another fighting-type, Bruiser will not be its sole teacher. He shall teach it how to fight, but you shall teach it how to think."

"Thank you." He said earnestly. "I'll do my best to impart your teachings upon any fighters I come across."

Bruno smiled and dipped his head. "That is all I ask. I have given you knowledge and Bruiser skill. Use it and spread it. Allow everyone willing to listen to grow."

Ash returned the nod. Bruno had been a good teacher. Outside of making his body stronger through the long hike and climb they had to do every day just to get here from the camp, Bruno had made him think. He owed the Master at least that much.

"…After tomorrow we will not see each other again for a long time." Bruno began, a little bit of sadness creaking in his voice. "But one day, I fully expect to meet you on the battlefield."

"I'm looking forward to it." Ash smiled. He glanced over at Bruiser. The fighting-type had walked over to him and was now standing behind him. Riolu and Tyrogue were doing the same to Bruno. Machamp and Hitmonchan were far in the distance.

Bruno gazed off into the sunset before he pulled himself up. "We should return to camp." He smirked, an expression far out of place on the ordinarily humble Master's face. "We cannot part from each other without having a last bowl of the black broth."

The trainer grimaced as he pulled himself up. He wiped his dirty hands off on his pants. He'd enjoyed Bruno's training – aside from the knowledge he imparted upon Ash over supper, he'd shown Ash and his friends how to maximize their efficiency during battle and shortcuts on learning physical techniques – but the black broth was one thing that he'd never miss.

He walked after Bruno and wiped the disgusted expression off of his face. They would be parting in the morning. Ash wanted to make the most of the remaining time. There was no point in being sullen.

XX

Ash and Bruno stood side by side. The campsite had been cleaned up, although Bruno had simply put most of it into the cave and had Machamp seal it up with Rock Tomb. He'd said he would come back in a few months once the Rockets had been pushed back into hiding.

The sun was bright and hot as they looked out past the mountain. Kanto stood before them, happy and beautiful. Ash would enjoy traversing its forests again. Mt. Hideaway's harsh terrain and constant threat of being attacked by an onix didn't make it the most hospitable environment.

"What are you coming back here for?" Ash asked, breaking the peaceful silence. As far as he knew, Bruno didn't have any other pokemon in training. Riolu and Tyrogue had improved just as much as Bruiser had. Bruno had pushed them to their absolute limits.

"I didn't come here just to train Tyrogue and Riolu." Bruno stated, still looking out at the proud landscape. "There is a gigantic onix that lives around these parts."

Ash blinked. Bruno would have to be much more specific.

"The locals call it the King Under the Mountain." Bruno said, eyes glinting. "It is said to be centuries old, yet hasn't evolved. I am seeking it out. Even if it will not join me, I would be honored to battle it. The experience would be a reward in itself."

The trainer nodded in understanding. He could get that. So many people focused on finding rare, powerful pokemon and catching them. Sometimes just seeing them or battling them was worth it.

"Are you going straight to Celadon?" The trainer inquired. Bruno sighed and crossed his arms as he looked down at Ash.

"No. First I'm going to Indigo Plateau." Bruno told him, a fond note entering his words as he spoke of the Plateau. "I need to speak with Lance and assemble my pokemon. They have been training hard for this day. Ariana is one of the last Executives. After she falls, the Rockets will be scrambled for a week or so. That is when the League will strike."

It made sense. Team Rocket had lost at least three Executives in a matter of months: Petrel, Pierce, and soon, Ariana. Ash didn't know much about Team Rocket's organization, but Pierce at least must have been a hefty loss. That Metagross of his was practically undefeatable in a remotely fair fight.

As for Petrel…well, he seemed competent. Much more affable than Ash had expected of a Rocket Executive, but that ridiculous exterior hid an intelligent, calculating mind. He'd proved that much with his ambush.

And soon the Rockets would lose another leader. They couldn't keep up under that kind of strain. Soon they would fall and Kanto would finally be able to rest easy, free from the nightmare that had gnawed at its safety for the past decade.

Ash looked up at the massive man beside him. He had full confidence in his ability to singlehandedly wipe out a dozen Rocket hideouts, but still… "Good luck, Bruno."

Bruno smiled. "Thank you. But it is not needed." He glanced surreptiously over his shoulder to where Hitmonchan and Machamp were dutifully sparring with Tyrogue and Riolu, pretending that each of the blows from the younger pokemon did a great deal of damage. "Who needs luck when you have friends like these?"

The trainer couldn't hold back a smile. "True. Well, I guess I should be leaving now. It's a long way back to Pallet." He turned away, but hesitated. "I know you said it was your duty to help me, but thank you. You could have told Professor Oak to find someone else. Thanks for giving me a chance."

"I've heard a lot about you." Bruno said slowly. "Lance was impressed with your efforts in the Sevii Islands and Oak has been singing about you and his grandson ever since you two started out." A sudden grin broke out on his broad face. "What was it Agatha called you two after he wouldn't stop bragging? Ah, yes, the "Prodigies of Pallet". High praise from the Crone, no matter how sarcastic."

Ash glanced away, a little embarrassed. He and Gary were good, but they were no prodigies. Still, he couldn't help but feel a little bit of pride that Professor Oak was actually bragging about him. The Professor's praise was rare. Encouraging words were easy, but praise? That was difficult to come by.

"But I didn't decide to train you just for that." Bruno said. "You're skilled and your pokemon are strong, yes, but there are plenty of trainers with the same quality. What made me choose you was that you had something that not enough trainers possess these days: Friendship. From what the Professor told me, your pokemon are your brothers and sisters. There is great trust between you, and that is what will make you stronger than all others."

The trainer nodded. Bruno suddenly gave him a crooked smile. "Of course, you shouldn't let up on your training. Trust and brotherhood will not help you if you fool around all day. Continue to grow in every way, and you will truly be a match for any of the Elite Four."

Ash grinned with pride, his brown eyes sharp with determination. "I will, Bruno. You'll see me soon."

"Good!" Bruno said with a great, booming laugh. It echoed throughout the mountain, eliciting annoyed screeches from fearow and spearow. "I will be waiting."

The Master looked down at the land again once his laughter had died down. "It is time for us to part." He said gravely. "Remember Bruiser's training. He has the foundations, but he must fight in order to reach his full potential. I wish you luck."

"Thank you." Ash replied with a dip of his head. Bruno suddenly returned all of his pokemon. Riolu whined piteously before he was recalled. He released the familiar form of a Gallade. The trainer frowned at that. It looked like his suspicions about it being a fighting-type were correct.

"Normally I prefer to travel by land, but time is short." Bruno explained as Gallade became aware of its surroundings. The pokemon bowed to Bruno before standing up and awaiting the Master's orders. "Gallade, please teleport me to Indigo Plateau."

Gallade's eyes flashed a brilliant white, but there was no burst of light before the two disappeared from the lonely mountain. Ash sighed and stared at the empty space for a few seconds. Bruno had taught him a lot, even if most of it was more philosophy than real battling. Knowledge was knowledge, however, and he knew much more than he had before.

Before he started the long trek down the mountain and towards Pallet, Ash dug around in his pack for something and released Bruiser. His friend had improved greatly under the Master's tutelage and deserved something to demonstrate his new skill.

Bruiser lowered his head in respect to Ash. Ash returned the favor. "Bruiser, you've learned a lot. As Bruno would say, you're a fighting-type now. You use skill to accentuate your power, not just brute strength. So I figured you deserved something to prove it."

He revealed the object in his hands: a smooth, long length of black cloth. Bruiser's eyes widened at the sight, somehow knowing just what it was. The fighting-type didn't try to take it.

"This is a black belt." Ash recited, remembering the Dojo Master's words from months ago. "It is a sign of your strength, and has been worn by many powerful fighting-types over the years." His voice dropped the official tone, changing to a proud one. "You've become strong in more than just the body. You trained under a member of the Elite Four and he found you worthy. So take the belt. You earned it."

Bruiser took the belt with a hand that trembled with excitement. His large, grey skin was a light contrast to the black belt. He examined it carefully with his beady eyes, taking in every fiber woven into the belt.

When his examination was complete, Bruiser frowned. He didn't place it on or around his power belt, but instead tied it around his neck. Ash looked at him oddly. "Do you not like it?"

The fighter frantically shook his head. Ash frowned at that, but his eyes lit up in understanding moments later. "You don't think you're worthy of it, do you?"

Bruiser nodded, a worried grimace distorting his features. Ash smiled softly. "It's alright, Bruiser. Just keep it until you think you're worthy to wear it. If you think you aren't ready then it's your choice." He sent a friendly glance at his friend. "But for myself, I think you've earned it."

Ash smiled as his friend pounded his chest proudly, taking care not to hit the loop of black cloth wrapped loosely around his neck. Bruiser dipped his head once more to Ash as the trainer glanced out over the rugged terrain. "We should get moving. I want to get back to Pallet as soon as possible."

The machoke grunted his understanding and followed the trainer as Ash carefully began to walk down from the peak, glad that Bruno had made a somewhat traversable trail. It would have been impossible to get up and down from the peak otherwise.

He made sure to go a bit faster than usual. Ash and his pokemon had grown stronger under Bruno's tutelage. While most of the Master's attention had been reserved for Bruiser, he had allowed Ash's friends to spar with his pokemon and had lent helpful advice every now and then. This trip hadn't been a dramatic improvement for any but Bruiser and Tangrowth, but they'd all grown in small ways.

That improvement made Ash certain of one thing: He was ready to face the Viridian Gym.

Giovanni awaited him.

XX

It was raining when he arrived home. Nothing major, just a slight drizzle. Still, it made Ash feel rather glum. He was tired from the four days he'd spent on the road. The return home had been about a day shorter than it had taken him to reach Mt. Hideaway. For one, he didn't spend an entire day battling in a tournament.

Ash couldn't hold back a smile at the thought of the town. He'd been welcomed at the Pokemon Center and people had recognized him in the streets. The attention was a little uncomfortable at first, but he could easily live with it. It was nice having people recognize his abilities.

Torrent rumbled at him questioningly when Ash smiled. He'd released the water-type when it started raining. Nidoking didn't like the rain, and Ash didn't want his first friend to feel uncomfortable in the least.

"It's nothing." He replied, glancing over at the large dragon. "Just thinking."

His friend rumbled his understanding and grew quiet again. They remained in a companionable silence as they walked through the deserted streets of Pallet. Most people were either working or staying home during the dreary weather.

Ash pulled out his PokeNav and glanced at the time. It was a bit after noon, so that meant that his mother was probably at Professor Oak's for lunch. He sighed and glanced over at his small house when he passed by. The rain was picking up, and he really didn't want to spend more time in it than necessary.

He shrugged his annoyance off and released Dazed. Her eyes frowned at him, slightly unhappy with him for releasing her while it was raining. Ash rolled his eyes, although he had a wide grin on his face as he saw his friend. They didn't get to spend time together while they travelled except at night or when they battled. Dazed wasn't able to keep up with him on the road.

"Could you teleport us up to Professor Oak's house?" He requested politely. Dazed nodded. Her eyes flashed briefly before they suddenly appeared outside the venerable Professor's laboratory. "Thanks, Dazed. You want to go back in your pokeball now?"

Dazed shook her head stiffly, glaring up at the grey sky. Her eyes burned as a shell of bright blue energy formed over her head, the psychic shield protecting her furred form from the annoying drops of water. Ash laughed and shook his head before ringing the doorbell.

"Torrent, do you want to stay out here?" Ash asked as he waited on someone to answer. Torrent nodded and bowed his head thankfully. The trainer knew his friend loved being in the rain. It wasn't as good as being in water, but it still refreshed the water-type.

He was distracted when the door opened. Professor Oak glanced down at him. "Ash! It's good to see you. Come in!"

Ash grinned back and followed the Professor into the warm, cozy house. He held the door open for Dazed as she shuffled in, glancing about the familiar room critically. The trainer swiftly followed Oak into the dining room, where his mother sat with a half-eaten plate of steaming food.

"Ash!" His mother exclaimed when he walked through the door. Ash barely had time to take a breath before his mom barreled towards him and wrapped him up in a tight hug. He returned it as best he could. A few seconds later his mother pulled back, although she kept her hands on his shoulders. "I've missed you so much! How was your trip?"

The trainer grinned. "Great! I won a tournament in Dandra, and I got to train with Bruno!"

His mother blinked and her jaw dropped open in surprise. Ash smiled when he saw Professor Oak in the background, a pleased smile on his face. "Bruno of the Elite Four?"

"Yes." He replied still grinning wildly. His mother couldn't seem to say anything. Ash had told her about Steven and Lance, but he didn't think she could ever bring herself to really believe it. It was pretty amazing, after all. "But that's not all."

He reached into his pack and pulled out the egg. Ash gently set the hard shell on the table. His mother stared at the egg and gently picked it up, examining it carefully. Professor Oak had a similar reaction. Ash knew that Oak's specialty wasn't eggs, but the man still had an astounding amount of knowledge about them.

"Oh, I know what this is!" His mother said happily. She was running her finger down the smooth surface carefully, smiling at the egg. "It's a –"

"Don't tell me." Ash interrupted quickly. His mother looked at him oddly.

"Don't you want to know what it is?"

Ash shook his head. "I want it to be a surprise. I don't want my opinion to be colored by knowing what's inside. I just want everything to go along naturally."

Oak smiled at him. "I understand. Some of my old training friends did the same." He sighed and looked past Ash. "I never got to raise an egg. It's something I regret. Hatching and raising a pokemon is a highly educational experience. You bond with it in a special way. I'm sure that you'll learn a lot."

The trainer nodded. He could definitely see that. But he was surprised that Professor Oak had never hatched an egg before. The Professor had a long career as a trainer, although Ash had never heard just how far the man had gone. It was kept quiet, and Ash had never had the opportunity to really look for Oak's legacy. But if his incredibly powerful pokemon were any indication, Oak had won at least one Conference.

He picked the egg up, but nearly dropped it when it suddenly shook a bit. Ash gently placed it on the wooden table and watched carefully, a grin raising across his face.

His hopes were suddenly dashed by Professor Oak.

"It's not hatching." The researcher told him. Ash glanced over, confused. "I'd say it's relatively close to hatching, but eggs often shake when touched. The shaking will become more frequent as the hatching date grows closer."

Ash frowned, a little disappointed. He'd been hoping that the egg would hatch. He wanted to see what his newest teammate was.

"By the way, make sure to call me when it hatches." Oak told him. Ash nodded as he gently placed the egg back into his pack. It shivered again, although it was more of a twitch than real movement. "I can temporarily add an additional slot to your Trainer ID. Because of the importance of guiding and maintaining a close bond with a hatched pokemon, you are allowed to bring it along with the rest of your team."

That made sense. Ash remembered reading something about that in the trainer handbook. Young pokemon needed some sort of parental figure in their lives, and it was best for a trainer to supervise their growth.

"If you need any tips, I'll be glad to help!" His mother chimed in. Ash smiled gratefully at her. She was never a trainer herself, but she knew a lot. Now that he thought about it, she'd probably helped to hatch a few eggs herself. "Now, sit down. You must be hungry after being on the road."

Surprisingly enough, Ash shook his head. "I ate an hour ago." He explained. "I wasn't sure if the rain would pick up, so I wanted to eat lunch just in case."

As he sat down, his mother asked him another question. "So, what was training with Bruno like? I've heard a lot about him."

"It was intense." Ash recalled, tapping his chin with his finger. Oak slid into the seat next to his mother. "He gave me a few tips and a lot of advice, but I didn't actually train with him that much. Bruno spent most of his time with Bruiser and taught me how to train him. A lot of it was him explaining the fighting-type to me."

"That sounds like Bruno." Oak said with a fond smile. "His passion is fighting-type pokemon. He realized that you had no idea how to train Bruiser, but at least he could pass his teachings on. Bruno is far more than he appears."

Ash flashed back to their long conversations, especially the ones about the mysterious energy Bruno used. He'd told Ash a lot about it and had peaked the trainer's interest. Maybe when he had time he'd look for a teacher. It would be amazing if he could do half the feats Bruno could perform.

"Thanks for sending me to him, Professor." Ash said with a thankful grin. "I learned a lot. Bruiser would never have been as strong as he could have been otherwise. Now I can actually help him."

"You're a good trainer." Oak replied. "You needed help with Bruiser and you've helped Kanto quite a bit lately. The very least I could do was to get you a proper teacher."

His mother frowned at the mention of his battles against the Rockets. "So, where are you going next? I know that you said that you were going to Viridian City, but don't you want to go to another gym first? It would be good practice." She said, trying to divert the conversation away from where it was headed.

"No." Ash told his mother. A mournful shadow flickered over her features, so fast that Ash barely caught it. He frowned at that, but didn't say anything. "I beat Sabrina. None of the other gym leaders could pose a challenge. I want to beat Giovanni so I can start training for the Conference."

She didn't say anything to that. A few seconds later she spoke up. "Alright. When do you think you'll leave?"

"As soon as possible." Ash said without hesitation.

"That won't be possible." Oak said suddenly, a frown on his tan face. "The gym leader has taken a few days off. Gary is waiting there now. I'll tell you when you can head off."

That was odd. Gym leaders generally didn't take time off, or at least had a substitute while they were gone. While it was probably more lax in Viridian since Giovanni only got a few dozen challengers the entire year it still didn't make sense. The League probably wasn't very happy with Giovanni.

"I guess I'll spend a few more days training, then." Ash shrugged. It wasn't as though he was in a huge hurry. There were months before the Conference. Suddenly, something Oak said struck him. "Wait, Gary's challenging Giovanni?"

Professor Oak scowled. "Yes." He said shortly. "He believes that Blastoise will carry him through. Gary's a strong trainer, but I don't believe he's faced off against enough powerful trainers to match Giovanni. I'm afraid that one of his pokemon will be hurt. Giovanni is not a kind foe."

Ash frowned when another brief flash of emotion went across his mother's face. He'd have to get the story eventually. His mother didn't seem comfortable around the subject of the Viridian gym. It was odd, but he wouldn't pressure her until he had more of a reason.

"I've started planning for him." Ash revealed. Neither of the adults looked surprised. Oak had helped him a bit before, but Ash had looked up one of Giovanni's battles in the pokedex database. He seemed to stick to just a few pokemon, so Ash felt comfortable in his strategy. "It's like this –"

They spent another hour talking about his next gym challenge and Ash's journey. Ash spent a while talking to his mother. He'd missed her.

Finally, they left Oak's house. The rain had died down a bit, so Ash was fine with walking to his own home. Besides, that meant that he might get to see Plume and Seeker.

XX

Just as Ash's home entered his vision, he heard a loud shriek. Ash glanced up into the air and grinned as he saw the massive form of a great bird hurtling towards him, the shadow large enough to cover a huge amount of land.

Plume slammed into the ground in front of him, tearing the muddy road apart with the force she landed with. She awkwardly hopped over to him and lightly pecked him on the shoulder, taking care to avoid hurting him. The pidgeot cooed happily as Ash gently stroked her crest in greetings.

"Plume!" He exclaimed with a grin. "I missed you! How have you been?"

His mother smiled and mouthed that she was going inside. Ash distractedly nodded as Plume happily shrieked and lightly butted her head into him, sending him stumbling back a bit. It looked like she'd had a good few days, although she clearly missed him.

"That's nice." He said softly. Plume cooed again and excitedly hopped around. Her sharp talons absolutely destroyed the soft, wet ground but Ash couldn't find it in himself to care. He'd missed Plume. Ash hated being away from any of his friends. "So, did you get along with seeker alright?"

Plume chirped. Ash construed it as a yes. "That's great! Did anything exciting happen?"

She shook her head. Ash hadn't exactly expected anything, but it was always worth asking. Arcanine did too good a job keeping harmony in the Corral for anything to go wrong.

"Listen, I've got to go inside but I'll be out in just a few minutes, alright?" He patted her side gently. She nodded and fluffed up her wings. "Good, good. See you in a bit."

Plume called after him happily as he made his way to his house. He could see that his mother was just walking in. Ash glanced over at Dazed. She nodded at Plume in greetings and plodded after Ash as he began the trek. The psychic-type seemed a bit annoyed at the mud that was plastering her feet. She'd probably use psychic to clean it off later.

In just a minute he arrived at the door. Ash absentmindedly wiped his feet off before he walked in and held the door open for Dazed. She shuffled in and moved to a corner. The trainer glanced at her as he walked in, but a small ball of blue fur suddenly slammed into his chest.

Ash blinked in surprise as he was knocked back a step and glanced down at Seeker, who was cuddling into his chest. She was chattering excitedly and lightly butting her head into him. His mouth curved upwards and he lightly scratched behind his friend's ears.

"Hey, Seeker." He said softly. She glanced up at him with blind eyes and chattered happily. "Were you good?"

She hissed indignantly, just as she had when he'd posed the same question before he'd left. Ash laughed again. "I know. You're always good. Did you get along well with Plume?"

Seeker chattered some more. Her small, soft ears were twitching excitedly. Ash smiled again and stroked her furry back. She shivered happily and dug in closer to his chest.

"Bruiser learned a lot." He murmured. Seeker glanced up confusedly. "He's always been strong, but now he knows how to use that strength. Do you want to see him?"

The zubat clicked an affirmative. Ash grinned as he released the large fighting-type. Bruiser's eyes lit up when he saw Seeker. He dipped his head to Ash in thanks before gently picking Seeker up from Ash's chest.

"Have fun catching up." Ash told the duo. Bruiser nodded. "I'll be back in a few minutes. I've got to check up on Plume."

Ash walked away from the two with a smile on his face. Watching the two friends was always heartwarming. Most of his friends got along with each other and liked each other, but Bruiser and Seeker had the closest friendship out of the bunch. Hopefully the rest of his friends would gain a bond like that as time went on.

He took one last glance at the two before walking out the door. There was a lot to get done, and he'd like to see a bit more of their friendship before he started training for Giovanni. They only had a few days, and Ash wanted to be completely ready before facing the most powerful gym leader in Indigo.

XX

Ash glanced down in surprise when he heard a loud beeping coming from his belt. He unclipped his PokeNav and glanced down at the screen. Professor Oak was calling him. Now that his interest was piqued, Ash quickly flipped the device open and answered the message.

"Hey." He replied, a little surprised. It had been two days since he'd returned to Pallet. Ash hadn't expected any news from the Professor this quickly. Tangrowth waddled over from his training and peered into the screen curiously. "Sorry, Tangrowth, but I need to talk to Professor Oak."

Tangrowth gurgled understandingly and tapped Ash on the forehead before walking away. Ash smiled and watched as he went over to continue sparring with Bruiser. They'd just started training an hour ago. It was nowhere near as intense as when they'd trained at Mt. Hideaway. Their training was more of maintenance, really.

"Ah, hello, Ash." Oak greeted. He was in his lab. Ash could see the Corral's wide open fields in the background. "I have good news. Giovanni returned to his gym last night. I just received the message from my contacts in the League."

Ash grinned. "Thanks, Professor. I'll head back to my house right now. Does my mom know?"

"No." The Professor shook his head. "She hasn't come over for lunch yet. Do you want me to call her?"

"I'll tell her." Ash told him. "I'm not sure how long I'll be gone. I need to say goodbye before I head off."

The Professor smiled. Ash caught a hint of sadness before Oak said his goodbyes. "Good luck, Ash. Tell me how it goes."

"I will." Ash promised. A moment later the screen went black. He quickly folded it back up and clipped it onto his belt. The trainer glanced out at his friends. They were completely focused on his training, although Bruiser was taking a breather. Even he wasn't immune to the stresses of training. Seeker had stayed at the house. The sun and heat were too great for her today. "Hey, we're leaving! I'm returning you now."

His friends immediately stopped training and stood still, making it all the easier for them to be returned. Ash only left Dazed out of her ball. She stared at him with sleepy eyes and cocked her head, relatively certain of Ash's request.

Ash confirmed her suspicions with his next words. "Dazed, do you mind teleporting me to my house?"

She nodded tightly and shuffled over to him. Her eyes were showed a hint of dislike at the thought of teleporting, but Ash knew she didn't mind teleporting him too much. He made sure to thank her each time, though. Dazed hadn't evolved to warp space and time with her mental powers. It required far more effort than it would otherwise.

They vanished in a brief flash of light. It forced Ash to blink. When he opened his eyes back up, he found himself inside of his house. Dazed smiled at him with her expressive eyes before shuffling to the corner, where she could keep a tight watch on everything.

"Thanks, Dazed." Ash said offhandedly to his friend. She blinked at him before staring at the bright light that lit up the room. He turned to the rest of his house. "Mom! Are you here?"

"Coming!" His mother's cheery voice called out from her room. She walked into the living room a few seconds later with a wide smile on her face. "Ash, I thought you were training for the rest of the day?" His mother grew worried. "Did something happen?"

Ash shook his head and raised his hands in a calming motion. "No, no. Everyone's fine. Professor Oak just called and told me that Giovanni went back to Viridian. I wanted to tell you that I'm leaving soon."

A flicker of unease passed over his mother's face, so fast that Ash wasn't even sure if he'd seen it. While her face returned to its normal happy smile, her voice seemed a little choked up. "Of course! I'll pack a lunch. It's a short journey to Viridian, but you shouldn't have to eat those trainer meals."

"Thanks." Ash said with a grin. He'd gotten used to the bland, flavorless meals that most trainers bought, but it was always nice to get something else. He could easily afford good food now, but most of it would spoil over the long duration of his expeditions. Trainer Meals weren't bad and they lasted practically forever. "I'll go pack, then."

He heard his mother heading to the kitchen as he jogged up the stairs. Dazed lazily teleported up behind him. Ash smiled at her and held the door to his room open for the psychic-type. She didn't like not being able to watch him.

Ash hurriedly put all of the necessities into his pack. Most of his things were already packed, but some things like his toothbrush weren't. He'd made sure to be able to leave at a moment's notice.

Before he left, he went over and pulled his trophies from their hiding place. Dazed paused in polishing her stone pendulum when Ash pulled out the shard of the Moon Stone. He smiled at the inky stone. It had given Nidoking all the power he deserved, just as the massive, golden Dragon Scale had for Torrent.

He sighed and placed them both back. Eventually he'd have to get a case for them. They shouldn't be sitting in his drawer for the next few years. Ash stood up and shouldered his pack. Dazed shuffled after him until they reached the stairs, where she quickly teleported to the bottom.

When he walked into the kitchen, his mother was humming an unfamiliar tune as she finished packing a few sandwiches. He patiently waited for her to finish. She turned around and smiled at him when she realized that he was there before returning to her task silently.

Suddenly a small blue ball of fur slammed into his chest. He coughed and glanced down at Seeker, who was relentlessly clutching to his jacket. She chattered sadly at him.

"I'll miss you too." He said remorsefully to her. Seeker buried her blind face into his chest. Ash gently scratched behind her soft ears, making her grow a bit lax. "But I'm leaving Bruiser behind for a few days. I'll need him for my gym battle, but until then he's yours."

Seeker wriggled happily at that. Ash grinned and took Bruiser's pokeball off of his belt so he could release the powerful fighting-type. His friend pounded his thick chest and bowed his head to Ash in respect when he saw him. The zubat happily fluttered over to Bruiser and climbed onto his back. Ash could see her small head peeking out from behind Bruiser's.

"You heard we're going to Viridian, right?" Ash asked. Bruiser nodded. "I'm leaving you here until the battle. I know you haven't had much of a chance to catch up with Seeker over the last few days. Just make sure to keep up with your training." He grinned. "We don't want Bruno's training going to waste, do we?"

Bruiser made a grunt that Ash construed as a laugh and nodded. He dipped his head to Ash once more before walking out of the room with Seeker. She turned back and chattered a goodbye to Ash before vanishing into the rest of the house.

Ash watched the two friends fondly for a few moments before his mother tapped his shoulder.

"Here's your lunch!" She said as she handed him the wrapped up sandwiches. Ash quickly placed them into the storage compartment where he kept his food. The second he was done doing that, he was wrapped into a crushing hug. "Good luck." His mother said quietly. Ash idly realized that he was as tall as she was now. "I know you can win."

"I will." Ash promised, pulling back and meeting his mother's eyes. "But I'm going to be gone a while."

His mother furrowed her brow curiously. "Why?" A dawning sense of realization made its way onto her face. "You aren't coming back to Pallet, are you?"

"No." Ash said with a frown. He felt a lump in his throat. He'd plotted out the rest of his journey and was glad to get back into travelling, but it had been nice seeing his mother so often. He would miss her. "After I beat Giovanni I'm going to go back through the gym circuit. The gym leaders want rematches and I want to oblige them. There's a lot I need to do before the Conference."

"I understand." His mom told him quietly. She hugged him again, taking Ash off guard. He managed to return it, though, even if his arms were practically locked to his sides. "Stay safe, sweetie."

Ash stepped back and dipped his hat in acknowledgement. "I will." He promised as he adjusted his pack. Ash was quiet as he walked to the door. "…Bye, Mom. I'll see you soon."

His mother gave him a teary smile. "I know." It took on a slightly more mischievous shape, and Ash grimaced. He knew what she was about to say. "And remember to change your under—"

He was out the door before she could finish the joke, although Ash couldn't keep a small smile off of his face.

XX

Ash stood at the gates of Pallet Town. He hadn't been here since the first day of his journey, when he'd started off with just Nidoran and his two travelling companions. The trainer spared a moment of thought for his human friends, wondering just where they were.

He hoped they'd gotten as good as he had. When they met again, Ash wanted a challenge. Jonathan had a gyarados, at least. Maybe that would be a good battle for one of his friends that wasn't Nidoking.

As he thought of his friend, he released Nidoking. The poison-type growled happily at the sight of him and gently tapped Ash on the shoulder. His friend had gotten better at controlling his strength, but it still made Ash's knees buckle.

"Hey, buddy." Ash grinned. He patted Nidoking on his leathery, muscular chest. Nidoking rumbled at the contact. "Sorry we haven't gotten to talk that much lately. Do you want to stay out with me? Plume's watching us, so we don't have to be too paranoid."

Nidoking smiled, exposing his long, powerful fangs. His ears, which were the same size as they had been as Nidoran but were much more normal relative to his bulky frame, twitched happily. He stamped on the ground and sent a few trembles through it for good measure. It made Ash think a bit of Infernus.

"Sounds good." Ash replied with a laugh. He grew a bit more sober. "Do you remember the first time we were here? It feels like it was so long ago."

The poison-type grunted in agreement. A bit of nostalgia swirled through his sharp, narrow eyes. Nidoking gave the gates a long look before stepping forward, grunting insistently as he did so.

"You're right. We should get a move on." Ash said as he glanced up at the sky. Plume was circling high above them, barely a dot in the bright sun. He'd switched her pokeball with Bruiser's. He missed Plume. She would be staying with them until at least Viridian City, and he'd likely take her through the Viridian Forest. Her skills and navigational abilities were invaluable in the dense maze of a forest.

With that he stepped forward and began the next step of his journey.

Giovanni awaited him.

XX

The trip was about a day shorter than it had been the first time he'd gone to Viridian. He was more experienced now and he wasn't horribly sore, which was always a plus. It was strange seeing the first steps of his journey through more experienced eyes. What had seemed a vast and insurmountable distance before was just another few days of walking now.

He recognized quite a few landmarks from his days as a newbie trainer: the area where the group had made their first campsite, where he'd beaten Misty the first time, even where he'd first met Plume. Ash smiled at that memory. Plume had swept down from the air when they'd passed over it and terrified the pidgey and spearow roosting in the tree that was practically sacred to her. She'd taken the exact same position as she had when they'd first met and peered down her beak at Ash with faux arrogance.

Ash had laughed and asked her if she wanted to battle again. Plume had ruffled her feathers disdainfully and hopped down to the ground so that she could lightly peck Ash's shoulder. It was still a little sore and his clothes were still dirty from when she took off and created a dust cloud.

The trainer had even recognized the place where he'd been chased by the spearow and fearow. It was a fairly distinctive campsite set up by the League, so it wasn't too hard to identify. Ash had frowned at the memories of being so weak he'd had to have help to protect himself from a flock of spearow. He'd grown a lot since then.

He had idly wondered what had happened to fearow. Ash hadn't thought to ask Michael when he'd last seen him in between Celadon and Saffron all those months ago. It wasn't really important, but it would have been nice to know.

But now he had reached something that he would always remember: the gates of Viridian. They were large and thick, mostly to keep any of the aggressive pokemon competing for mates outside during mating season. Pokemon never killed anyone, but their attempts to show off their strength constantly resulted in major property damage and some minor injuries amongst the populace.

Since it wasn't breeding season, there were only a few guards on the walls. Viridian City was notoriously hard on crime and had completely driven out Team Rocket and other organized crime groups within its famous walls. The police and guards that would ordinarily be watching for frenzied pokemon were probably focused within the small city now.

Ash gave a polite nod to the lone policeman standing outside the walls and returned Nidoking. The guard returned the nod after that and motioned for him to go on through.

He had never gone to the Pokemon Center in Viridian City, but he knew where it was thanks to the PokeNav maps. Like most major cities, Viridian's Pokemon Center was just a few minutes in. Ash took in the sights eagerly as he made his way to the Center.

Viridian City was one of the oldest cities in Kanto, but amongst the great cities that held the major gyms it was one of the smallest. While a respectable size, Viridian City had no massive skyscrapers like Saffron or the sheer size and sprawling suburbs of Celadon. If Ash had to pick, he'd say it was more similar to Fuschia than anywhere else.

While Viridian wasn't quite as ancient or isolated as Fuschia, it boasted a similar heritage of defending Indigo Plateau, was only accessible through the south from Pallet and the surrounding areas, west from Indigo Plateau, and north from the dangerous Viridian forest. It was practically inapproachable from the east, thanks to a small, rugged mountain chain and dense forests. There was a route that allowed Celadon to be accessed, but it was dangerous and only accessible to trainers who had six gym badges or could prove their strength.

Ash shook himself out of his thoughts as he walked up to the Pokemon Center. It was of a similar elegant style to the buildings around it. He thought it was odd that it largely rejected the standard of Pokemon Centers, but didn't think on it too much. The Center was probably just old.

He didn't bother going to the front desk first. There was a line already and he wanted to get his pokemon switched out. If everything worked out, he planned on challenging Giovanni today.

The trade room was practically empty, which was somewhat of a surprise considering that the lobby was filled. Ash quickly sat down at one of the computers and dialed Professor Oak. While he waited, Ash released Plume so he could say goodbye.

She would be able to avoid the ground-type attacks Giovanni commonly utilized, but she just lacked the offensive power to battle the hardy and heavy ground-types. Plume just didn't have the right skills to deal damage. They'd already discussed this on the journey over, and she knew it was true.

"Hey, girl." He said with a smile. Plume playfully nipped at him, although he swerved back at the last second. "You ready?"

Plume nodded. She liked the Corral quite a bit, Ash knew, although she would rather be him. At least this wasn't a punishment for her.

Professor Oak suddenly connected. He already had Bruiser's pokeball in hand. Ash was glad that he'd called Professor Oak just before he arrived at the city limits. It really sped the process up.

"Hello, Ash!" The Professor said with his standard greetings. "How is your journey coming along?"

Ash smiled. "Pretty good. I'm going to go get a room at the Center and then I'm heading off to face Giovanni."

"I know I've said this a lot lately, but good luck." Professor Oak said earnestly. He placed Bruiser's pokeball into the trader machine. Ash almost did the same with Plume, but hesitated. "Giovanni is a brutal battler. You will face injuries, but I'm sure you can overcome him. You are strong, your pokemon are strong, and your will is strong."

"Thank you." Ash said as he bowed his head. He glanced at Plume before he recalled her. "I'll have you back in no time at all. I won't be letting you run away from me again for a long time." He said teasingly.

Plume chirped happily and cocked her head at him before he recalled her. He stared at the smooth metal of the pokeball for a moment before placing it into the trading machine. The pokeball briefly glowed a bright white before vanishing. Bruiser's replaced it.

He met Oak's eyes and nodded thankfully as he clipped Bruiser's pokeball to his belt. Oak smiled and nodded back before the screen cut off.

Ash made sure the pokeball was secure before he walked out of the trading room, leaving the large, black screens and their computers behind. He glanced over at the front desk and noticed that the line had disappeared.

"How may I help you?" Nurse Joy asked as he walked up to the desk. Ash smiled at her and dipped his hat before responding.

"I just need a room." He said politely. Much to his surprise, Nurse Joy frowned.

"I'm sorry." She said apologetically. Ash noted that she was very flustered. "But all of our rooms are full. We've had a huge influx of trainers for some reason. I'm so sorry!" Nurse Joy said very quickly.

Ash shook his head and held back. "It's fine." He replied. "Thanks for helping me out."

Nurse Joy smiled guiltily at him. "I really am sorry. I could try to find you alternative housing if you'd like. There are a few families that will be more than happy to let you stay with them for a night or two."

"No, thank you." Ash said quickly. "I've got it under control. Again, thanks for your help."

With that, he said goodbye to Nurse Joy and walked out of the Center. He wasn't sure if he would be coming back in an hour not. There was a certain someone in Viridian that would probably let him stay for a night, but he wasn't sure.

XX

He eventually made his way to Jessica's house. Ash remembered the general area of it, so it wasn't too hard to narrow it down. A few helpful sets of directions from sympathetic strangers had led him right to the small, drab house.

Ash felt a little awkward as he walked up the worn wooden steps. He'd met Jessica a lot in Pallet – it was such a small town that everyone knew each other at least a bit, even if it was only on sight – but didn't really know her. The age difference hadn't exactly made them stay in contact.

The trainer glanced at the sleek, powerful Persian that hissed at him as he knocked on the door. It lazed happily in the sun, one eye slit open so that it could see Ash. While it was too lazy to actually do anything without Ash posing a threat, Ash could see just how dangerous it could be. Persian were naturally aggressive to anyone they considered weak, and the long, sharp claws the specimen in front of him was carelessly exposing bespoke of incredible strength.

"Persian, stop that!" A kind, yet stern, voice chided as Jessica opened up the door. "I'm sorry about him. He's usually not this bad-tempered." Jessica suddenly realized who she was looking at. "Ash? What are you doing here?"

Ash scratched the back of his neck, a little embarrassed. "The Pokemon Center ran out of space. So I was just wondering –"

"Sure!" Jessica exclaimed. "You can stay for as long as you want. I haven't had company in a while. I guess you're here to battle Giovanni?"

Ash followed her in, but was butted out of the way by Persian. It glanced back at him with the closest it could get to a smirk on its face. The trainer frowned back as the arrogant feline strutted behind its trainer. He watched curiously as the Unown he'd seen last time whizzed through the room, emitting a strange humming noise.

"Uno, calm down!" Jessica said softly. Uno hummed some more before flying out of the room. She turned to Ash "So, it's been a while. What's your team looking like?"

That made a grin spread on his face. "Nidoking, Pidgeot, Kingdra, Hypno, Magmar, Machoke, Tangrowth, and Zubat."

"Huh, the zubat kind of sticks out." Jessica commented as she took a seat. "Nice team, though. Especially for how long you've been training. How'd you get a Kingdra, though? Those things are way too expensive to buy, and I haven't even seen a Dragon Scale on the market."

"I helped some people out." Ash said simply. He trusted Jessica, but he wasn't about to go into the operations at the Sevii Islands.

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Alright, thanks for going in-depth." She leaned forward and took on a serious tone. "Look, I'll let you go battle Giovanni – the nasty piece of work – soon. I just want to know what happened on the St. Anne. Amelia and Jon have only called twice since then, and I'm worried about them."

"I don't know what they're doing. We were split up after the St. Anne was destroyed. I haven't seen them since." Ash said stonily, the subject of the St. Anne – falling into the freezing ocean, watching the great ship be neatly sliced in half and condemned to the depths of the sea, rushing water – causing him to tighten up. "I don't have a way to contact them."

"Thanks." Jessica sighed, a troubled look on her face. "Sorry you had to go through that. I watched the stories on it – that's awful. So many people just…gone. I'm glad you got out of that mess."

Ash just nodded. There was nothing to say. "Could I leave my pack in the guest room?"

"Sure." Jessica muttered, looking as though her mind was somewhere far away from the cramped living room. "Good luck with your gym battle. I never managed to beat Giovanni."

"Thanks." Ash said before he departed. He didn't feel like talking much. The St. Anne wasn't something to remember.

The guest room was fairly easy to find in the small house, even if he barely remembered it. He smiled at the Leafeon that was curled up on the bed. It looked like the Eevee that had been sleeping there that night had evolved. The trainer was careful not to wake it as he slid his pack under the bed, old habits refusing to die.

He briskly walked out of Jessica's house and pulled out his PokeNav. It gave him directions through Viridian's maze of streets and would lead him directly to the gym.

Ash had a scowl on his face and a blaze of fire in his eyes. Maybe it was the bad mood he'd been put in, but he wanted to beat Giovanni now more than ever. He just wanted to win and leave this city.

XX

"Identification, please." A tall, broad-shouldered man said. He was polite but firm. Three pokeballs hung on his belt, each ready to be used at a moment's notice.

Ash showed him his pokedex ID, assuming that word of mouth wouldn't be enough. The guard glanced at it with hard eyes and scribbled something onto a clipboard before motioning for Ash to go through. "Good luck."

The trainer nodded his thanks to the man as he passed through the checkpoint. For some reason Viridian City had become extremely paranoid. No other gym required going through a security gate to pass. Perhaps they were wary of Team Rocket's retribution. Giovanni had been vicious when dealing with the group and had run them out of Viridian and its territory.

He paused for a moment as he saw the gym. Unlike the rest of Viridian, which was plain and utilitarian in design, the gym was ornate. Four marble columns proudly jutted from the ground as he approached and they guarded the walkway of white stone, evenly cut and distributed.

Two guards in ancient, metal armor stood sentry in front of a shimmering bronze door. They carried halberds and their faces were obscured by large helmets. Ash frowned at that. It was an odd choice and much more ceremonial than most gyms. He assumed that it was a testament to Viridian's ancient task of guarding Indigo Plateau. Viridian was a city steeped in traditions, so the gym, which exemplified the city's attributes, would likely adhere to some of them.

They frowned and clashed their halberds together when he walked closer. Ash met their silent glares with one of his own. He wasn't in the mood for this.

"There is only one trainer allowed in the gym at a time." They said in a chorus. Ash crossed his arms. "When the current trainer exits the building, you will be allowed into –"

A blur in a dark blue shirt suddenly rushed out of the building, throwing the heavy doors open with furious strength. The figure slammed into Ash and knocked him to the side.

Ash scowled when the figure spoke.

"Out of my way, Ashy-boy!" Gary said with pure rage in his voice. "I don't have time for you today."

The trainer frowned and grabbed Gary's shoulder, forcing him to stay. Gary never lost a chance to put in a few comments to Ash. Something had happened in there. Probably a loss, but it must have been major. "What are you talking about?"

Gary wrenched out of Ash's grip and stared daggers at the trainer. "I just got creamed! I couldn't even take down his first pokemon. My pokemon weren't even able to hurt that, that thing he sent out against me!" His voice had lost its hot rage and was now just upset. "You won't do any better, so let me go and leave me alone!"

Ash stared at Gary as he rushed past the security checkpoint. Gary hadn't even managed to defeat one of Giovanni's pokemon? That was odd. His rival had a long way to go in the personality department, but he was a strong trainer. He should have been able to beat some of Giovanni's pokemon. Something strange was going on.

"Challenger, you are now being allowed entry." One of the guards told him dispassionately. The two casually slid the massive bronze doors open, allowing Ash to walk into the dark gym.

He breathed once before heading in. The room was pitch black for a moment before the lights flashed on and revealed a massive, plain stadium. It was of high-quality and showed no signs of the battle that had just taken place on it, although if Gary had been as easily defeated as he claimed there probably wouldn't be much damage anyways.

Ash winced as he felt the air. It felt energized somehow, as though an incredibly powerful psychic like Oak's Alakazam had just done some incredible feat. It made his skin tingle and the hairs on his neck and arms stand straight up. It reminded Ash of something, although his mind seemed unable to lock onto the exact source.

The only part that remained dark was a single balcony. He could barely make out a solitary form in it, although the shape became clearer when it stood up and walked over to the edge of the balcony, where it was revealed to be a tall, broad-shouldered man in a dark suit. Ash knew that this was Giovanni, although the reclusive gym leader had never been photographed clearly. When he was caught by the media, he often wore a stylish fedora to obscure his face.

Giovanni was familiar, somehow. He was stern looking and, even if he didn't seem to be doing it intentionally, seemed dark. There was something behind those cold, dispassionate eyes that disturbed Ash, although it was replaced the moment Giovanni met his eyes. Ash noticed that they were black. Aside from the obvious, something about Giovanni's face looked as though he'd seen it in a mirror every day of his life.

"I am Giovanni, Gym Leader of Viridian and holder of the Earth Badge." The gym leader boomed, his powerful voice projecting throughout the massive chamber and echoing off the walls. His face was completely relaxed now, friendly even. An absolutely massive Persian that made Jessica's look like a skitty prowled up beside him, purring loudly enough for Ash to hear as Giovanni scratched behind its ears. "What is your name, Challenger? I don't get many of your kind anymore."

"Ash Ketchum." Ash replied, as much confidence as he could muster infused into his voice. It was not nearly as deep as Giovanni's, but the effect was similar. Giovanni's narrow eyes that reminded Ash a bit of Nidoking's widened in shock for a brief moment and he blanched. The powerful gym leader recovered quickly, however, and it was as though the reaction never happened.

Giovanni's voice was almost hesitant, the first show of weakness Ash had noticed. "Are you related to Delia Ketchum?" He asked quietly. The force behind his voice was still enough to let Ash hear him clearly.

"Yes. She's my mother." Ash replied slowly, not sure why Giovanni was asking. His mother had grown up in Pallet. He couldn't see her knowing the reclusive Giovanni at all.

The gym leader stared at him with something new in his eyes. He pulled out a small communications device and muttered something into it. Giovanni's eyes turned hard, but his powerful shoulders relaxed after a few moments.

Ash breathed a sigh of relief as the tingling that accompanied incredibly powerful actions undertaken by psychics suddenly disappeared. It had begun to become uncomfortable. Something about the vast energies that had been used in the previous battles by whatever highly trained Alakazam or Gardevoir Giovanni was using was oppressive, like a constant pressure on his body.

"I knew Delia long ago." Giovanni said quietly, gently stroking the gigantic Persian's fur. "I'll give you a fair battle for that. This will be a six-on-six battle."

The gym leader didn't offer any further explanation. Instead, he raised a pokeball and silently released a gigantic, thirty-five foot long Steelix. It reared back and roared furiously, shaking the entire gym. Steelix leered at Ash with its cold, lifeless eyes and spun its head around in a complete circle. Ash didn't like it. Something about it seemed off, too dangerous.

Nevertheless, he quickly reacted. Infernus would be best against Steelix on the surface, but Ash suspected that Giovanni would allow the beast to tunnel. Steelix were able to tear through the earth like a knife through butter. It would be trivial for one to tunnel through such a large field, especially when it was in the Earth Gym.

Instead he released Nidoking. His friend's horn wasn't sharp enough to penetrate the perfect armor of Steelix, but the force behind his tail was enough to crack it and his powerful earthquake would easily defeat Steelix should it try to tunnel. Steel-types and their inflexible armor were vulnerable to the powerful vibrations of ground-type moves, and the effect would only be amplified should it actually be underneath the ground.

Giovanni snapped his fingers. Steelix roared, a loud, shrill sound that reminded Ash of metal screeching against metal, and opened its gaping jaws. Neither Ash nor Nidoking were particularly impressed. The steel-type was powerful, true, but Ash had seen onix that dwarfed it.

It shut its cold eyes and focused for a moment. Several light blue rings formed around its massive body and transformed into sharp, jagged stones. Steelix's maw shifted into a horrible grin as it sent the shards hurtling towards Nidoking.

"Confusion." Ash ordered. Nidoking's eyes shined a bright pink as his weak psychic abilities manifested. Confusion wasn't a move commonly used by Ash anymore now that Nidoking had major sources of offensive power, but this was the only way he could protect against the dozens of rock shards.

Just before they slammed into Nidoking's hard, muscular chest the weak wave of psychic power caught the shards. They were too fast for Nidoking to actually stop them, but they were slowed so much that they were little more than pebbles when they hit his friend.

"Earthquake!" Ash shouted. He didn't want to show off ice beam yet. It might come in handy in the future. Nidoking roared and leapt high into the air before slamming into the ground. He kicked up a cloud of dust from the force and sent long, jagged fissures carving throughout the room as immense waves of force radiated from his position.

Steelix roared and thrashed in pain as its heavy armor painfully shook against its sensitive inner body, but easily survived the attack. It reared back and suddenly lashed towards Nidoking, its long body easily carrying it across the battlefield.

"Ice beam." Ash called out frantically. Nidoking was tough but he couldn't take a hit from Steelix. It was just too big and heavy to take on physically. "Follow with earthquake."

Even as Steelix's gaping maw snapped towards Nidoking, the poison-type fired an ice beam straight into it. Steelix's eyes bugged out as intense cold radiated throughout its body, sending it into a brief state of shock. It was more resistant to sudden temperature changes than its pre-evolution, but that improvement didn't work well when the cold struck inside the body.

Steelix collapsed to the ground for a moment, its body locked into place thanks to the sudden shift in temperature. Nidoking grinned as he performed another earthquake and caused Steelix to roar in pain again. The steel-type had been severely weakened by the lucky ice beam. For now it was a sitting duck.

Giovanni seemed to realize this as well. "Explosion." He commanded coldly. The gym leader must have realized that Steelix wouldn't be doing any more damage otherwise.

Ash's eyes widened as Steelix's body shined brightly and sent wide beams of light spreading throughout the stadium. Explosion was a brutal move, one that was rarely used thanks to the potential for serious harm it carried. It was too uncontrollable to be used safely.

"Turn around!" Ash shouted. There was barely any time to give an order before Steelix exploded in a huge fireball, an unreal amount of energy released from the reaction. Ash had to hide his face, protected only by the phenomenally powerful psychic barriers that enclosed his box. He coughed as smoke drifted into his air and worriedly glanced over at Nidoking.

Despite having no way to really protect himself from the titanic release of energy, Nidoking still stood. He was covered in soot and looked ready to drop, but he bared his fangs at Ash proudly before roaring and pounding on his chest.

Steelix was a blackened mess. Some of its armor had been slightly melted by the intense heat, but it would probably be fine after a few potions. Ash winced at the charred creature. It was disturbing, but using explosion was painful. The steel-type hadn't deserved that.

"Good job, Nidoking!" He called out proudly. Nidoking had his armor to help him out, but it was still incredibly impressive. Ash hadn't expected Nidoking to escape so easily from that attack, nor had he expected his friend to take down Steelix with that little trouble.

Nidoking roared and glared at Giovanni as the tall man smirked. He returned Steelix and released his next pokemon. Ash watched with bated breath at whatever Giovanni would be using next. The trainer suspected that Steelix had just been a test. Giovanni hadn't given it much direction.

A new nidoking, six feet tall and even bulkier than Ash's Nidoking, appeared on the field. Its armor was thick and battle-scarred, but no less tough for it. What should have been dull claws appeared to have been sharpened and honed to their most dangerous, as had the spikes on its back. Ash looked at it in respect. That nidoking was a monster, even larger than Ash's and much more experienced.

It snorted at Nidoking disdainfully and stamped. Without even trying it send large cracks groaning through the ground. Giovanni's Nidoking waited for its trainers command just as Nidoking did.

Ash made the first move. Nidoking didn't have much left in him, so he knew this wouldn't last long. "Ice beam!" He commanded, not caring if Giovanni probably expected it.

"Earth Power!" Giovanni hissed at the same time. His Nidoking briefly glowed yellow before he smashed his fist into the ground. Glowing gold cracks raced towards Nidoking, leaving a gaping chasm in its wake. Nidoking roared and fired an ice beam even as that occurred, but Giovanni's Nidoking took it without too much trouble. It was staggered, but it simply flexed in order to shatter the layer of glistening ice.

Ash winced as the crack widened underneath Nidoking, forcing his friend to fall into it at a painful angle. Nidoking growled in agony but stared defiantly at its larger, more experienced foe. The trainer glared as well. "Ice beam! Then use earthquake."

Nidoking quickly fired off the ice beam. All three jagged arcs of heat-draining energy blasted through the air before hitting Giovanni's Nidoking squarely in the chest. It roared in pain and something in its eyes snapped. They became furious and bloodthirsty, and everything about the powerful old Nidoking grew a dozen times more terrifying.

Ash's eyes widened as he saw what happened when a Nidoking went into a frenzy. He could never imagine his friend like this.

His friend fearlessly roared in defiance as Giovanni's Nidoking raced towards him, its trainer simply watching. Giovanni obviously realized the futility of trying to command a Nidoking in frenzy and seemed to be fine watching the spectacle unfold.

Nidoking wasn't able to use his normal method of earthquake thanks to being stuck in the ground. Instead he raised his tail, which was still on the surface, and slammed it onto the ground. If anything it seemed more powerful than before, although less refined and controlled.

Ash briefly shut his eyes as he heard his friend screech in pain as the shockwaves ripped through his armored form. At least some of his friend's volatile poison sacs had probably leaked thanks to the powerful force. Nidoking wouldn't be seriously injured from his own poison, but it would cause him horrible pain.

He glanced over at Giovanni's Nidoking even as he prepared to recall his best friend. The immense beast had collapsed, but was pulling itself up. There was murder in its eyes as it glared at Nidoking, but the furious poison-type suddenly stamped its foot. The earth suddenly rippled and forced Nidoking out of the ground, closing the crevasse.

Nidoking glanced back at Ash, obviously in horrible pain. But he shook his head at the pokeball and pulled himself up. Ash didn't bother commanding him as Nidoking faced his foe with as much dignity as he could manage.

Giovanni's Nidoking roared and charged towards Ash's friend. Nidoking stood his ground and met the charge head on, ducking underneath the sharp horn that would have torn through his armor like paper and grunting as he was still caught by the full force of his foe's charge. His hulking form was send to the ground, but Nidoking managed to slam his powerful tail into Giovanni's Nidoking's chest.

The larger creature grunted in pain but remained relatively unfazed by the blow. He roared at Nidoking in hatred and stamped into Ash's friend's chest. Ash prepared to recall Nidoking. This was going too far.

Just as he began to raise his pokeball, Nidoking roared and fired an ice beam directly into his foe's face. Giovanni's Nidoking's bloodlust returned in full force, but was tempered by an icy edge. It turned around and raised its huge tail and slammed it into Nidoking's chest. Nidoking couldn't even grunt as the thick muscle suddenly wrapped around him and began to squeeze, a potentially lethal situation.

The furious creature blinked in surprise as Ash recalled Nidoking. He whispered his thanks to his friend before glaring at the beast with pure fury. It must have been exactly how Giovanni's rampaging beast felt.

The creature in front of him had just hurt his friend and gone far beyond the ordinary limits of a gym battle. It was going to pay, and Ash was going to spare no expense in doing so.

Dazed sleepily emerged onto the field. She looked at the massive Nidoking in surprise and glanced at Ash, her emotions for once clearly visible. Ash just glared at the feral beast. "It hurt Nidoking. Psychic."

Ash grinned satisfactorily as Dazed snapped to the Nidoking, which had just begun to charge at her with its horn lowered. The long, purple weapon was glowing brightly in a manner that Ash instantly recognized as Megahorn. That would do serious damage to Dazed if it and would easily knock her unconscious in a single blow.

Fortunately, it didn't even come close. Dazed's eyes burned like miniature suns as she stared at Nidoking unflinchingly, her silent fury driving the full force of her psychic power. Nidoking roared and flailed around in confusion as it was roughly yanked into the air and held in a vice-grip.

Nidoking roared louder and stared at Dazed with pure hatred in its narrow eyes. Ash was surprised it was able to move with the crushing force Dazed was applying to it, but he supposed he shouldn't have been. It was strong and experienced.

In fact, it almost looked like –

Ash's eyes widened as Nidoking forcefully broke out of the psychic grip and charged toward Dazed. She reacted quickly and teleported just before it would have gored her with its huge horn. The trainer snarled. "Psybeam, catch it with psychic if it stays up."

"Sludge wave." Giovanni ordered, seeing as Nidoking had finally calmed down a bit. "Then Superpunch."

He frowned as a huge blob of black and purple sludge formed around Nidoking before exploding outward, briefly obscuring his entire field of vision. Dazed easily avoided the attack thanks to her psychic shield, but that just let Ash see Nidoking appear behind her with a leer on his face. Its claws were engulfed with shadowy energy even as its body was surrounded in an aura of light blue energy.

Ash's eyes widened as he realized what Giovanni had made: a combination of Sucker Punch, which allowed Nidoking to avoid Dazed's notice thanks to the dark-type energy surrounding him, and Superpower, which amplified its already monumental strength to unnatural heights.

"Teleport!" He shouted frantically. Dazed did so without hesitation, sparing her from being knocked unconscious by the devious combination. Normally he would have told her to disable Nidoking, but it would have failed thanks to him utilizing dark-type energy in his attack.

Dazed quickly fired a ruthlessly powerful psybeam straight into Nidoking's face as it charged forward. Nidoking stumbled, but the monster didn't collapse. The psychic-type finished Ash's earlier commands then, her eyes shining even brighter as she used all of her strength to yank Nidoking into the air and bombard him with crushing force.

Giovanni realized it was over then, and didn't bother giving the thrashing Nidoking an order. It was all as well. Nidoking slackened in unconsciousness moments later, leaving only Dazed as Giovanni returned the brute.

The gym leader had a smile on his face, replacing the confident frown that Ash had noted before. He casually released another pokemon that Ash didn't recognize.

It had a large black body with two small, stubby legs. The mystery pokemon levitated several feet into the air and looked to be made from earth or clay. It had a wide, rounded head with a protrusion on the top and a circling pattern. Cannon-like arms were held close to its body, and the pokemon looked as though it had several faces encircling its head.

"It's a claydol." Giovanni said with a small smirk. He looked down at Ash. "I had to take it because of the Interregional Gym Leader's Agreement." The man scowled suddenly. "At least I have an excuse to use it now.

Giovanni's comments bothered Ash a little, but he paid them little heed. Instead he focused on Claydol. It gazed at him impassively with several of its blind faces. He suspected that it was psychic considering that it was levitating, and he automatically assumed it was a ground-type. This could be an interesting battle.

Then again, he'd rather it not be a battle at all.

"Multiball!" He ordered. Dazed's eyes were alit with a light, flickering grey aura as she formed a dozen tiny shadow balls. They instantly began to circle around her, guided by Dazed's relentless will.

In response, Claydol's arms disconnected from its body and were held in the air, both of the cannon-like appendages pointed at Dazed. Its body glowed brightly as a shimmering veil of psychic energy appeared around it, encasing it in a protective barrier. Both of its cannons began to glow, prompting Dazed to immediately fire the weak shadow balls at it.

They tore through the veil, but each were weakened even further. Claydol was sent flying back and began to fall a little from the shadow balls that did hit, but quickly recovered. That did expose a weakness, however, and one that Ash should have realized earlier.

Claydol depended on its psychic abilities to levitate and operate. If it were momentarily disrupted – say, by a shadow ball – then it would be unable to function for a short period of time. All that stood in his way was getting it in without the shadow ball being weakened.

Unfortunately, Claydol soon proved that it wasn't just an odd pokemon. Its attacks had been briefly stopped by the shadow balls, but now they were primed again.

The first was a hyper beam. From the cannon to the right a gigantic stream of red-orange energy flashed towards Dazed. She easily teleported away, but a blast of bright, light-green energy from a solar beam slammed into her a moment later.

Ash cried out as his friend was consumed in the blast, but calmed down when he realized that she had blocked the brunt of the attack with a shield. "Disable. Then hit it with a shadow ball!"

Dazed's eyes flashed as a light blue aura of psychic energy hit the momentarily stunned Claydol. It was still too weak from its two attacks to fight against the disable, so it was helpless as Dazed hurled a massive shadow ball into its.

Claydol was silent as it fell, but managed to levitate itself back up. It circled to face Dazed with a face that appeared rather angry. The odd creature glowed brightly as it fired two shadow balls from its two cannons. As Dazed teleported away, however, it stared at the ground.

"Field Wipe." Giovanni called out.

Ash had a bad feeling as he saw the ground tremble. Dust was pulled up as an incredibly powerful psychic force acted upon the ground. Just as Dazed reappeared, he heard a loud boom as the earth in the battlefield was torn in two, separating the sides. It would be a challenge to face later, but he couldn't see what value it would have now.

He understood when he saw Dazed get thrown to the ground from the immense energy released from the earthquake. She barely levitated herself up before two hyper beams slammed into her shimmering shield. Ash winced as Dazed was sent staggering back, but reacted quickly.

"Multiball, shadow ball, disable!" He ordered, hoping that Dazed would process the command fast enough.

Thankfully, she did. Dazed was surrounded by ghostly energy as she sent a dozen tiny, weak shadow balls flying towards Claydol. The strange pokemon had raised the shimmering veil once again, which practically nullified the shadow balls, but it was helpless when a proper shadow ball impacted and exploded in a black cloud.

Ash grinned as Claydol fell to the ground, although Dazed was suddenly struck by an ice beam from one of its cannons. The other hadn't charged up its attack before Claydol had lost control of its body. The ice beam barely fazed her, however, and she instantly disabled Claydol.

Thanks to the psychic energies locking it in place, Claydol was unable to actually recover its levitation. Its mind appeared to be shut down every time it was struck by a ghost-type attack, so it was essentially being kept in a coma thanks to the disable.

Now all he had to do was finish it off. "Shadow ball!"

Claydol limply fell to the ground as Dazed released the disable. She couldn't maintain it while using a ghost-type attack, but it was no problem. The odd psychic and ground-type needed a few seconds to harness its energies again.

Just as it began to regain its senses, Dazed's last shadow ball slammed into Claydol, consuming the creature in an explosion of black energy. Arcs of unnatural lightning jumped around on it as it collapsed to the ground unconscious.

Ash grinned. Dazed was doing great. "Good job, keep it up!"

Dazed turned to him and smiled with her eyes. She idly polished her pendulum in her white mane as Giovanni recalled Claydol. The gym leader had a puzzled frown on his face as he raised a pokeball.

The trainer frowned as he saw the spherical form of a Golem appear. It was dangerous, but it didn't seem as apt for defeating Dazed as Claydol did. Golem couldn't shoot a hyper beam and solar beam simultaneously, for one. Ash shuddered – he wouldn't be missing that.

Golem leered at Dazed, its beady red eyes shining maliciously. It didn't even need an order from Giovanni before several rings surrounded it and shifted into stone shards. Ash sighed when he saw Stone Edge once again. Giovanni seemed to like the move.

Dazed prepared to teleport as the jagged stone shards aimed outward in every direction. As they were launched, she quickly disappeared in a flash of light in order to avoid them. He frowned when Giovanni smirked.

"Magnitude. Then use Stealth Rock and Steamroller."

Ash scowled as he saw Dazed appear. Golem's body was surrounded in a brown aura as it leapt into the air. When it landed, the aura suddenly disappeared into the ground and created massive shockwaves that rippled through the battlefield.

"Teleport up a few inches!" He commanded. It was a strategy he'd developed for earthquake and moves similar to it. If Dazed wasn't touching the ground they couldn't hurt her. "Now, psychic!"

As Dazed disappeared, Golem gave Ash a disturbing grin. It reminded him starkly of Giovanni's Steelix. Golem clenched its large fist and caused stones to be torn up from the ground around it. They were sharp and large and levitated around the battlefield. Ash frowned when he realized what they were for.

"Shield." He shouted as Dazed appeared a dozen feet behind Golem. She followed his order instantaneously and managed to hold the large stones back before they crushed her. Ash could see that it was everything she could do to keep them back. They were straining against the shield and putting immense pressure on her. If Dazed tried to teleport she'd be slammed into by a rock.

There was only one thing he could do. If Dazed could only use shields, then he'd make the most of it. "Force your shield out! Send Golem back."

Dazed's eyes burned as she put herself through immense strain. The shield flared brighter and brighter and slowly pushed the Stealth Rocks backwards. Ash fell prey to the spectacle and only realized what Golem was doing right as Dazed exhausted herself.

"Teleport!" He shouted fearfully. Golem had pulled its head, arms, and legs into its shell. It spun rapidly and made a beeline for Dazed. The shields disappeared right as it would have hit them, but Dazed didn't teleport fast enough to avoid the Steamroller.

"Dazed!" He cried as Golem slammed into her and sent her flying into the gym's wall. She crumpled to the ground and couldn't get up. Her body couldn't take the hit. Ash sighed and looked at his pokeball worriedly once he recalled her. He'd seen blood before she was returned. She needed to go to the Pokemon Center and get a full restore the moment he could.

Golem cackled as it pulled itself out of the shell. Ash scowled at it. It wouldn't be laughing for long.

Bruiser pounded his chest as he appeared on the ravaged battlefield, on the same side that Golem was on. The great chasm in the battlefield was incredibly inconvenient if a pokemon couldn't levitate or teleport across it. Ash suspected that was the point.

"It hurt Dazed. Take it down." Ash ordered. Bruiser nodded and entered a fighting stance. Without any input from Giovanni, Golem sent the Stealth Rocks flying towards Bruiser.

Ash grinned as Bruiser easily smashed the massive stones with a quick flurry of blows. His grin grew wider as Giovanni began to give orders.

"Focus Energy!" Ash ordered, taking advantage of Golem's momentarily lapse. Bruiser closed his eyes and focused his power. His incredible strength would be amplified for a bit, which was just what Ash needed.

"Magnitude." Giovanni said icily. "Then Earth Power."

Golem quickly sent tremors blasting through the earth. It was noticeably more powerful than before. Bruiser was sent staggering back from the force behind the waves, but held his ground. He was too slow to react when Golem sent a crack carving through the ground, however.

"Jump over it!" Ash shouted. Bruiser nodded and leapt as the crack carved around him. Golem growled and clenched its meaty hands. The crack suddenly widened and the entire section of the battlefield Bruiser was in fell into the gaping chasm. He idly wondered just how deep it was.

The rock-type suddenly acted without Giovanni's input. It was surrounded in a light blue aura that Ash recognized as both Superpower and Iron Defense before it pulled into its shell and spun towards Bruiser, leaving a deep rut in the earth. Apparently it was what Giovanni wanted it to do, however, as the gym leader simply smiled at the motion.

"Catch it and throw it into the chasm!" Ash said with a grin. Bruiser prepared himself and widened his stance as Golem raced towards him. He silently wondered just who would win this confrontation – the unstoppable force or the immovable object.

As Golem rolled towards Bruiser, it suddenly did something that worried Ash. Instead of one, two Golem appeared, both flickering and impossible to trace accurately. He groaned as he realized that Golem was using double team. It was impossible to detect which one was which.

"Get out of the way." He called out, knowing that Bruiser would try and take Golem on otherwise. Bruiser barely had enough time to follow his order, but Golem had one last trick up its sleeve. It shot its head up and had it spit a stream of flame at Bruiser as it passed by, but the technique backfired.

Bruiser automatically punched with his full force as Golem flew by. Thanks to focusing his energy, the hit was fast and strong enough to divert Golem's momentum and send him flying into the black chasm. Ash blinked, not horrified but glad.

Giovanni had showed a propensity toward brutal tactics in this battle, but he wouldn't make a chasm that could lead to a pokemon's death. So Ash wasn't too worried as Golem flew into the chasm. After about four seconds of stunned silence he heard the rock-type impact at the bottom.

Strangely, however, Giovanni didn't try to return Golem. Bruiser walked over to the edge of the chasm with a smile on his broad, reptilian face. He peered over, but a flash of confusion over his features made Ash worry a bit.

"Don't get close. There's always one last trick when everything else is lost." Blaine's sharp, cutting voice whispered into his mind.

"Get back!" Ash cried. Bruiser turned his head over to look at Ash in confusion, missing Golem as it erupted from the chasm and slammed its fist into the underside of Bruiser's chin. The trainer winced as Bruiser was knocked unconscious by the blow, which had been empowered by the momentum granted to Golem by Rock Climb.

Ash recalled Bruiser and glared at Golem. The surprisingly powerful and devious pokemon had proved to be much more of a problem than he'd expected. It had to be dealt with immediately and with overwhelming force.

Torrent rumbled happily when he was released. He looked down his snout at Golem disinterestedly. Golem leered back, its reptilian face split by a disturbing grin.

"Hydro pump!" Ash commanded, even as Giovanni called out, "Explosion!"

Ash shut his eyes as a huge flash of light and heat ripped through the battlefield. He peered worriedly at Torrent, although he gave a sigh of relief when he realized the powerful dragon-type had easily held up against the powerful attack. Torrent was weakened, but hadn't taken nearly as much damage as Nidoking.

Golem, on the other hand, was collapsed and unconscious. Some of its hard, rocky plates had fused together, leaving it a seamless sphere of stone. The ground around it was nothing but a huge scorch mark.

Giovanni actually had a smile on his face as he recalled Golem. It almost looked as though the cold gym leader was enjoying their battle. Ash liked the challenge, but he didn't like the serious damage Nidoking and Dazed had taken. That had pushed the limits of gym battles and was horribly dangerous. Neither would be able to fight for a while if it was as bad as he feared.

The gym leader released a large Machamp next, although it wasn't quite as impressive as Bruno's. Nevertheless, it was quite a powerful specimen. It flexed and grinned at Ash and Torrent. He noted that its eyes were as cold as Golem's.

"Ice Storm!" Ash snapped out. Torrent immediately set to work creating the devastating technique.

Giovanni wasn't intimidated even as Torrent began to create the Ice Storm. "Knock Out."

Machamp's eyes lit up with glee. It reared one of its arms back and suddenly flashed towards Torrent, completely ignoring the field of ice in its way. The Bullet Punch carried it far, and it struck Torrent with incredible force.

Still, even though Torrent was weakened he fought back well. He immediately stopped creating the Ice Storm and blasted a stream of frozen air into Machamp's face. Machamp was slowed down, but its arms continued launching lightning quick strikes.

Ash could see each of Machamp's fists glowing with bright energy as they hammered Torrent, doing little damage to his thick scale plates but still hurting him. Machamp seemed to be using a technique that had no regard for its own safety – it was taking Torrent's hydro pumps and blizzards without halting its attack. It was obviously suffering horribly, but it just didn't care.

"Dual Chop." Giovanni ordered triumphantly, victory gleaming in his black eyes as Machamp suddenly began launching horribly brutal chops at Torrent. Something about it seemed to deal incredible damage to Torrent, although his friend held up. He didn't seem to be able to move, however. It was as though he were crippled.

Torrent was fading fast. He wasn't able to escape, and Machamp had rained dozens of powerful blows on him in the few seconds they'd been battling. There was just one thing left to do. Machamp couldn't hold up well against energy-based attack, so that was what he would use.

"Dragon pulse." Ash said with a grim sense of finality. Torrent focused all of his power for a single moment before blasting the immense sphere of swirling green energy into Machamp's muscular chest.

The fighting-type was finally forced back. It clutched its chest with all four of its hands and looked up at Torrent with icy rage. That didn't even bother Torrent, who casually took the opportunity to blast Machamp in the face with an overpowered hydro pump.

Machamp's eyes widened and it tried to step forward, but the damage was too great. Ash grinned as the dangerous fighting-type collapsed, although he knew Torrent was going to fall soon as well.

"You did amazing!" He told his friend proudly. "You can finish this, I know you can!"

Torrent rumbled an affirmative at Ash and prepared to face the last of Giovanni's pokemon. The thought put a wide smile on Ash's face – he'd taken some damage, but he was about to beat the Earth Gym! He'd be amongst some of the greatest trainers in Kanto, and all he had to do was finish this battle.

Giovanni's small smile had grown larger. It looked almost proud to Ash, although he was a little puzzled as to why. But he was focused more on the ultra ball in Giovanni's hand. It held his last foe.

His eyes widened when an absolutely massive Rhyperior appeared on the ravaged battlefield. It snorted and spun its drill before glaring at Torrent unflinchingly, the type-disadvantage not bothering it in the least. Rhyperior stamped its foot and roared its challenge to Torrent, which the dragon-type immediately returned.

Rhyperior didn't have that cold, disconnected look the other pokemon had, but it might be the more dangerous for it. Its eyes showed respect for Torrent as the bulky creature casually stepped forward, its large black eyes meeting Torrent's determined, tired scarlet ones.

It was eight feet tall and looked to weigh at least a thousand pounds. A thousand pounds of pure power and impenetrable armor. Torrent had never faced a worthier foe.

This would be a battle to remember. Two titans fighting for victory, both staring each other down unflinchingly in a test of wills. He would never forget this as long as he lived, no matter how far he went. This was a defining moment in his trainer career.

"Blizzard." Ash broke the silence. Torrent reared his head back and spewed a massive amount of icy air towards Rhyperior. It would at the very least slow the massive creature down and at best instantly knock it out.

The icy haze was suddenly split in half by a small, yet horribly intense beam of energy. Ash blinked as the unnaturally powerful hyper beam slammed into Torrent and exploded, instantly knocking the proud dragon unconscious.

He blinked and returned Torrent disbelievingly. How had Rhyperior done that? Torrent was badly weakened, yes, but he should have been able to take a hyper beam. Was the rock-type really that powerful?

Rhyperior was silent as Ash sent out his next battler. He only had two left: Infernus and Tangrowth. Tangrowth was the best choice since he had an incredible advantage over Rhyperior, but Ash wanted to soften it up as best he could.

Infernus roared furiously as he appeared on the field. His eyes lit up when he saw Rhyperior standing stoically ahead of him, staring at Infernus unflinchingly. The fire-type stamped his foot and caused an immense wave of lava to explode out of the ground, a testament to his great power.

The rock-type stamped the ground as well and casually closed the great crevasse that split the battlefield. Ash blinked at the sheer power that the deed must have taken. He knew that Rhyperior was powerful, but he hadn't thought it was that strong.

"Infernus, you have one job." He said quietly. Infernus tensed up at his words and blazed up, flames cascading down his form and making him the best he could be. "Get to Rhyperior, and break him. You can do it."

If Infernus could grin, Ash was sure he would be. The flames rippling down his form and leaving him an indistinct figure in the middle of a fiery haze shifted from orange to white and grew much larger. Infernus was ready.

Ash knew that Infernus could complete his job, but he knew that his friend wouldn't defeat Rhyperior. The type advantage was too substantial and Rhyperior was essentially immune to fire thanks to its thick armor. What Infernus could do was hurt it, and hurt it bad. He could break the armor and leave it open to Tangrowth.

"Haze." Ash said simply. There wasn't much he could do. This was up to Infernus and all he would do was distract him.

Infernus blasted fire everywhere around the battlefield before taking off, practically invisible amongst the roaring flames.

"Quench the flames." Giovanni said casually, unbefitting his professional image. "Once you see it, use Rock Wrecker."

Rhyperior briskly nodded before it shut its eyes. It reared its thick head back and shot tons of cold air out over the battlefield and into the raging fires, although the Blizzard was much weaker than Torrent's. Ash watched closely as the cold air managed to keep the flames at bay and extinguish the outlying part. It kept a zone where Rhyperior was able to avoid any sneak attacks from Infernus.

It was nearly a minute before any real actions began. Infernus shot blasts of flame towards Rhyperior, which the large rock-type steadfastly ignored. Rhyperior used Stone Edge every now and then, but Infernus was never hit.

Finally, Infernus raced from the flames at an incredible speed. The flames trailed along behind him, leaving him with a cloak of fire. Infernus spat long streams of flame at Rhyperior to distract it, but Rhyperior seemed to smile as it put its hands together.

Small chunks of gray stone came out of the holes on Rhyperior's hands and formed together into a large rock that was outlined in red. The red outline faded and Rhyperior launched the stone toward Infernus at an incredible speed.

Infernus seemed to snort as the huge stone flashed towards him and casually smashed through it with a glowing fist. He raced around Rhyperior's attempts at retribution and made use of his superior agility to avoid any hits.

Rhyperior finally had enough, and, at Giovanni's command, leapt a foot into the air before landing. An incredibly powerful earthquake ripped through the arena, turning it into a few islands of stable earth and many gaping chasms.

The rock-type seemed to smile, believing that Infernus had fallen into one of the crevasses, but a sudden strike to the side of its head shook it away from that notion. Rhyperior roared and tried to fight back, but Infernus managed to dodge its slow, powerful strikes and hit Rhyperior's chest with a powerful Brick Break.

Ash grinned as a large crack opened down Rhyperior's front. The immensely powerful creature roared in agony as Infernus maliciously spat a burst of flame into the exposed core, but couldn't do anything but thrash wildly as Infernus ducked underneath its furious blows and placed both hands underneath the pieces of armor exposed by the large crack.

Even though he was glad that Infernus was doing so well, Ash had to wince as Infernus wrenched the heavy shell of armor as far up as he could and created a large section of soft, exposed flesh. Infernus instantly took advantage of Rhyperior's momentary weakness and shot a huge blast of flame into the vulnerable area.

"Enough!" Giovanni roared, his patience gone with Rhyperior. The massive creature was snapped out of its agony by Giovanni's fury and slammed a fist at Infernus. Ash grinned as his friend ducked away and tried to circle around the behemoth, but blanched when Rhyperior's thick, club-like tail slammed into Infernus' side.

The magmar was sent sprawling onto the ground. He was completely helpless against Rhyperior, who was menacingly advancing, but continued to fire blast after blast of fire at the nigh invulnerable beast. Rhyperior roared and used one of its thick arms to guard the sensitive skin of its exposed chest while the other was raised at Infernus.

Rhyperior had a righteous fury about it as its arms contracted and shot a large stone at an incredible force into Infernus' chest. The magmar was instantly knocked unconscious by the blow, the churning flames that still raged over the battlefield suddenly extinguished without his forceful will.

"You did your job." Ash whispered to Infernus as he recalled him. He met Rhyperior's unnervingly calm eyes, his brown meeting the titan's dull black. This would determine the outcome of the match, and he would win. This was a test of wills – his and Tangrowth's against Giovanni and Rhyperior.

He would win.

Tangrowth gurgled happily as he realized that he was battling, although he glanced around with confusion at the wrecked battlefield. It wouldn't be a problem for the grass-type to maneuver, but it was odd.

"You're my last pokemon." Ash said quietly. He saw Tangrowth listen attentively. "It's all up to you. Tangrowth, I know you can do this! Rhyperior has an exposed spot on his chest. You can do it."

His friend gurgled an affirmative and stared happily at Rhyperior with his saucer-like eyes. Several dozen of his long, thick vines suddenly extended, giving Tangrowth the appearance of being much larger than he really was.

"Stone Edge and then Rock Wrecker." Giovanni said calmly. Ash couldn't read the gym leader's face, but thought he saw concealed pride in his black eyes. The trainer clenched his fists as Rhyperior wrenched a dozen large, sharp stones from the ground and aimed them at Tangrowth.

"You know what to do, buddy." Ash murmured. As the jagged stones flew towards Tangrowth, the grass-type casually extended his vines and expertly caught each of the large rocks before he let them drop to the ground. "Launch some stun spore!"

As Rhyperior focused its energy on using Rock Wrecker again, Tangrowth rustled his body and accurately shot a condensed cloud of stun spore at Rhyperior. It didn't quite make it before exploding, but the cloud of golden spores slowly drifted towards Rhyperior.

"When it hits, extend your vines." Ash commanded, tension building in his chest. He was so close. "Catch the rock it's about to throw at you and get rid of it. Get into the chest and mega drain."

Tangrowth gurgled as Rhyperior stared at him, a huge stone boulder in its large hands. Before Rhyperior send the powerful attack towards the grass-type, however, it breathed a thick blast of flame and set the boulder alit for a few seconds.

Ash's eyes widened when the sleep powder around Rhyperior suddenly combusted, setting that entire section of the field alight. That meant that Tangrowth couldn't get up close and personal with Rhyperior, but it wouldn't cause too much of a problem. He could work this to his advantage.

He grinned as Tangrowth caught the boulder with his powerful vines. Although the fire spread onto the two vines that secured the boulder before dropping it, Tangrowth simply used another vine to slice through the others and send them into the crevasses with the flaming boulder.

After that, Tangrowth used several of his vines to pull itself about ten feet closer to Rhyperior so he could have more maneuverability. When he was at a good position, Tangrowth followed Ash's commands and sent two dozen vines lashing towards the helpless Rhyperior.

Ash noticed that Tangrowth's vines were alit as they rushed through the cloud of burning stun spore, but that simply made them more effective weapons, if shorter-lived. He could hear Rhyperior's roars from his box as Tangrowth snuck the burning vines into his exposed skin – it was still much thicker than most organisms' skin, but Rhyperior had grown so accustomed to little feeling that any pain was intense – and began to suck away Rhyperior's energy.

He could see a few blasts of fire as Rhyperior tried to burn the vines away, but they were thick enough that it didn't matter. Additionally, the vines of Tangrowth had a minor flame retardant in them, a major change from the defenseless vines of a Tangela. It wouldn't prevent them from burning or catching on fire, but it would draw the process out much more.

Tangrowth kept it up for nearly a minute. Rhyperior was tearing through as many vines as it could, but more were always there to replace it and lash at Rhyperior to distract the beast.

And finally, Rhyperior's gigantic form fell. It caused the entire arena to tremble a bit, but Ash was too dumbfounded to notice.

"You…you did it!" Ash shouted excitedly. Tangrowth gurgled and waved his large arms around. He tried to send a few vines over so he could hug Ash, but the psychic barriers prevented it.

He couldn't believe it – he'd won. He'd won the Earth Badge, where so many trainers before him had failed. He was ready for anything now.

For nearly a minute he just stared at the ravaged arena with a strange, mad smile on his face. He felt like he'd gotten so excited that he couldn't feel anything over the surge of adrenaline racing through his system. Ash finally grew aware enough to return Tangrowth, smiling at his friend as the powerful grass-type vanished into the pokeball.

"You are the first to defeat me in a very long time." The calm, serious voice of Giovanni announced from behind him. Ash turned towards the tall man and saw him up close for the first time. Now that he wasn't far away and obscured by shadows, Ash could see that the man had a facial structure that was sort of like his own, although there were some major differences. He wasn't too focused on that though – he was staring at the small green Earth Badge in Giovanni's hand.

"You are worthy of the Earth Badge." Giovanni told him, his large hand handing it over to Ash's small one. "Even those I fight on even terms rarely progress to my third battler. You are amongst the rare few that can claim to have defeated me."

Ash met Giovanni's eyes. They'd appeared cold during their battle, but something seemed a bit warmer about them now. He still noted that niggling sense of familiarity that told him that he'd seen the man before, although he knew he hadn't.

Giovanni suddenly smiled and pet the massive Persian that was sitting beside him. Ash hadn't even noticed the large cat until now. "I might have a job offer for you in a few years. My organization can always use skilled individuals as yourself."

"Thanks." Ash said with a friendly smile, although the words contributed to the sense of familiarity. "I'll keep that in mind."

"I expect to see you go far, Mr. Ketchum." The tall gym leader said with a strange smile on his face. "If you're anything like your parents, I know you will. It runs in the blood, after all."

He wasn't really sure what to say to that, but he didn't have to. Giovanni abruptly began speaking again. "Go to the Pokemon Center. You need to heal."

"Thanks." Ash said with a dip of his hat. He glanced over at the battlefield. It was strange to think that in mere minutes it would be smoothed out by whatever psychic watched over the gym. He shook himself out of those thoughts and began to walk out the gym.

He could feel Giovanni's eyes watching him as he left. Just before he opened the door, he felt the immensely powerful psychic presence from before appear. Ash shuddered as he felt every hair on his body stand up from the sheer power it was emitting.

The trainer looked back and saw a strange figure on the battlefield. Its eyes were glowing a bright blue from behind an odd visor and armor covered it. His skin tingled as the entire field was suddenly corrected, and he briefly met the figure's burning eyes before he walked out. Ash's mind ached just from looking at it.

Ash gave a short nod to both of the guards, who watched him with awe as he walked to the security checkpoint deep in thought. He barely noted the last guard, who looked at him strangely as he let the trainer through.

He was halfway to the Pokemon Center before he froze. The adrenaline in his system was dying down.

He knew where he'd seen Giovanni before: the Rocket Hideout in Celadon. Petrel had appeared as him for some reason. That on its own was odd, but not incriminating. Petrel was half-insane and transforming into the gym leader that most opposed Team Rocket would probably give him a laugh.

But what was damning was the unnaturally powerful psychic energy that pervaded the entire gym. No Alakazam could make that – not even a group. And that strange figure was not an Alakazam, nor any other psychic Ash had ever heard of. It was too humanoid, and he couldn't think of anything that would need that odd, advanced armor.

"I heard that my boss managed to procure a pretty powerful psychic." Petrel laughed in his mind.

Thoughts of the sheer presence of the strange psychic that had destroyed the St. Anne, released Pierce and the other Rockets from prison, and a host of other acts that Ash didn't know about echoed in his mind – the effects were so familiar.

Connections – no matter how half-baked – rapidly formed together in a web in his mind. Memories of a dying ship and a noxious, heavy muk slowly devouring him began to surface – no. He had to stay calm.

He ducked into an alley and released Tangrowth. "Don't let anyone in here." Ash commanded shakily, feeling as though he were disconnected from the world at the moment.

Tangrowth gurgled worriedly at him but nodded.

Ash plucked the PokeNav off of his belt and typed some numbers in with trembling hands.

One ring.

Two ring.

Three ring.

Four ring. Ash began to get worried. He had to tell someone, the one person who could make this right.

Fifth – "Hello?" A familiar, strong voice asked him. "Who is this? How did you get this number?"

Ash dimly remembered that, although he had never called this person, he'd been given their number. It was for safety back during the operation.

"Lance, it's Ash." He said quietly into the phone. Ash heard a sharp intake of breath and continued. "I need to tell you something."

XX

And there it is! Sorry for the horrible wait and the cliffhanger, but I think this monster of a chapter makes up for it, eh? I will definitely not be making a habit of this. It would have been out earlier, but I've had a ton of school stuff going on lately.

Well, my hands aren't going to be usable for a few days. I think I might end up with nerve damage if I keep these monster chapters up. This is more than 45000 words and 94 pages on Microsoft Word. So…yeah.

Anyways, make sure to review! Let's reach 400! Thanks again for the awesome response I got for last chapter.

The next chapter will be up as soon as I'm able.

I just checked the clock, so Happy Mother's Day.