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.

17. Chapter 17: The Champion

AN: Thanks for the support! I never expected Traveler to get this much attention. You guys are great! Sorry the stupidly long wait time, but I got pretty sick about a week in. I tried to make up for it, but I might have gotten a bit sloppy at parts.

There were a few people that expressed confusion about how to pronounce Oz's name, and I apologize for not explaining it before. It's not pronounced Oz like in the Wizard of Oz, but like Ozone. Sorry about not mentioning that last chapter.

Anyways, that's it for the AN. I hope everyone enjoys the chapter!

His heart stopped. Ash's eyes bugged out in surprise as he choked out, "What?"

"I want you to train with me." Lance repeated, a knowing smirk on his lips. His eyes glinted with amusement. "You've proven that you have the potential to tough it out, plus I've been ordered to take mandatory leave. I might as well do something productive during it, and you've proved worthy."

"But you're the Champion." Ash said numbly. "The League needs you to fight against Team Rocket."

Lance laughed and pressed a few buttons on his keyboard. "I've sent you a few files to look at. They should illuminate you to our current position in the war. Make sure to look at them before you pick up your ticket. I'll be waiting."

Ash nodded. A moment later Lance cut the power. He frowned and walked into the cool halls of the power plant. It was surprisingly sunny outside, and the air was muggy from the evaporation of the lakes created by Zapdos' storm.

Plume shrieked at him and landed right behind him as he opened the doors. Ash had let her out earlier. She needed to stretch her wings after so much time spent in the pokeball. He smiled and held the door open for her as she hobbled on unsteady talons into the power plant. She didn't want to be separated from him, and he reciprocated the feeling.

So as to not force Plume to struggle across the tiled floor of the building, Ash sat down against the wall just a few steps in. Plume stood as straight as she could next to him and bent down to see what he was doing. Ash idly stroked her glossy feathers as he looked down at the files Lance had sent him. They were in the application that also allowed him to access his Trainer ID, although he had his pokedex for that.

He frowned when he saw the name of the first of the three files. A spike of worry drove into his gut. "Mysterious Explosion near Pallet Town?"

Plume cooed softly and nuzzled his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. Ash numbly patted her wing as he accessed the file. What had Lance sent him? Some sort of news report?

His guess was correct. As he opened it, the screen showed a news anchor that was popular in Viridian City's territory, Martha Green. Ash remembered that his mother usually watched her in the mornings before she went off to work.

"This morning, an immense explosion occurred roughly fifty miles southeast of Viridian City, although at this moment we do not know who was involved in the event or what caused." She said gravely. It seemed that she had grown all too accustomed to delivering bad news as of late. "The League is confirmed to be investigating the occurrence, but no information has been revealed to us as of yet. We do have footage taken by cameras at Professor Oak's laboratory in Pallet Town, however, and we will show it now."

Ash tensed. If it was close enough to be visible from Pallet Town, he was not happy. That put his mother and Professor Oak in far too much danger, not to mention the other people and pokemon that lived in Pallet Town.

The video was of high quality, just as he would have expected from a camera owned by Professor Oak. It was probably one of the ones that the Professor put up around the Corral to monitor some of the wild pokemons' interactions with the Corral pokemon.

It showed off a clear image of a field, although it was angled upward. Ash wondered if Professor Oak had been having trouble with another spearow flock. The view displayed the massive expanse of grass, but also the large mountains and forests that encircled Pallet Town to the east and west. To the south lay the sea, although it wasn't visible in the video. Judging from the overgrown area and obvious neglect, it seemed to be on the very edge of the massive Corral, probably a mile or so away from the Professor's home.

For a few moments, nothing happened. Ash noted that the video was edited to have been dimmed a bit, perhaps because –

Ash managed to spy a massive cylinder of bright blue light shoot into the infinite sky before the light grew too intense and whited out the screen for a few moments. Plume squawked in surprise and reared back, but he kept his eyes firmly fixed upon the screen. He heard a vast shockwave inside of the video, dampened by the medium through which he was hearing it but still powerful.

Everything in the video was silent for a moment before the wilderness and Corral erupted in a frenzy. Pokemon ran as far away from the direction of the explosion as they could, each with its own unique cry of fear and confusion. Arcanine was barely visible in the video before it cut off. Ash managed to see that the old canine was dashing toward the site of the explosion in a blur of motion.

"I repeat, we do not know the cause of the explosion. Photos taken from an aerial view," here the screen showed pictures of decent quality, although they were unfocused and obviously taken by a camera attached to a pokemon if the unsteady look to them was anything to go by, "show that the explosion flattened two square miles of forest, although we do not know if any humans were injured in the blast. We will report back to you when we receive more information."

The file ended and placed him back at the selection page. Ash took a deep, steadying breath. He'd only gotten a short glimpse at the strange cylinder of energy, but he had a horrible suspicion of what had caused it. Only one entity that he knew of could utilize energy that shade of icy blue, let alone release that kind of power. The Creature was at work. But what had it destroyed, and why?

His face was hard as he accessed the next file. It was another video, but one much longer than the last. He selected it and watched carefully. Plume peered down at the screen warily, not happy with the sudden flash of light from last time.

It seemed to be attached to someone's helmet. The camera shook, but it was still of good quality.

"This is ACE Trainer Morrison." A deep, steady voice began. The camera scanned over a huge pile of molten, smoking metal. It appeared to have cooled, but the metal of the structure was twisted into a mockery of its former self. Most of the building appeared to have been vaporized, however. Only the remnants were left. "My team has reached the site. Our investigation will begin momentarily."

He could hear a muffled voice coming from the video, which he assumed was from some sort of walkie-talkie or mobile communication device. Morrison was silent for a few moments. "Understood. Alpha Team, move in. Search for any identifying markers or evidence of the cause."

A hand that held a pokeball rose into the camera's view. Morrison released a large, stern Alakazam. It nodded at him with eyes perpetually wreathed in a dim glow of blue light.

"Scan for any survivors." Morrison commanded. Alakazam did not show any response other than closing its eyes. There was silence for a few moments before Morrison spoke again. He turned to face several other trainers in solid black uniforms, slightly different than the ACE trainers Ash had seen during the raid on Viridian. "Alakazam, show Gregory and Mackeroy their locations. Hurry. They're on the verge of death. Frederick, Avery, you're with me. We're searching the ruins."

There were a few muttered acknowledgements. Morrison's camera showed two of the ACE trainers splitting off from the main force. The remaining two followed Morrison as he turned around and headed into the smoking ruins.

"Spread out." Morrison barked. Alakazam lazily levitated next to him. As they neared the twisted heap of metal, Alakazam's eyes flashed. The metal wrenched itself into the shape of a door so that the ACE trainers could move in. "There are no survivors. Keep an eye out for any bunkers and identification."

The team was silent, but fulfilled their orders. Alakazam stuck with Morrison, stuck on the edge of the camera's vision, but Ash spotted an Arcanine and Machamp with the other two trainers. Morrison breathed lightly as he navigated through the ruins, alit by the bright midday sun.

Morrison released a Dugtrio, although Ash could barely see it from the camera's vision. "Dugtrio, search for any underground structures."

Dugtrio squealed and disappeared underneath the earth. Morrison patiently waited. Ash could dimly hear the barks of Arcanine in the distance. After several seconds, the ground-type popped out of the ground and forcefully displaced some of the wreckage. It grunted a few times and pushed through the ground. The ACE trainer followed the slow creature. Alakazam levitated beside him and avoided the need to push past heaps of metal.

"Good girl." Morrison said stonily. The camera focused and zoomed in on a small metal hatch. It appeared to have been mostly melted, but it was recognizable. Dugtrio was returned. "Alakazam, break it."

The camera didn't show Alakazam, but it showed blue light layering over the surface of the hatch. It shone more and more intense, and Ash could see the thick metal crumple under the immense force focused upon it. After a few more seconds it crushed inward with a loud clang.

"Frederick, Avery!" Morrison snapped. The two ACE trainers hurried over and flanked Morrison as the man became enshrouded in psychic energy from Alakazam and was levitated into the fortress. In several seconds the others joined him, if the rustling behind the trainer was anything to go by.

It switched to night vision. The bunker was completely wrecked, although traversable. Alakazam appeared in front of Morrison. "No survivors." The man muttered as Alakazam imparted the information into his mind.

Alakazam shifted debris out of the way with quick blasts of energy, which cleared the way for the ACE trainers. Morrison's breaths stayed slow and steady as he glanced around with the camera, which eventually focused on a bright red R painted on one of the metal walls.

There was a sharp intake of breath as they saw the symbol of Team Rocket, recognizable even through its ruined state.

"What have we found?" Morrison muttered. The camera started to turn, but the video suddenly cut off.

Ash's face was puzzled. It was a Team Rocket base, obviously, but why had the Creature destroyed it? Had it rebelled? If so, he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. While it was devastating and a honed weapon in the hands of the Rockets, the Creature could at least be trusted to not cause too much pointless destruction. Freed of all restraints imposed by its handlers, it had free reign of the world.

He returned to the selection screen and accessed the final file, which appeared to be a document. Ash frowned as it appeared on the screen of the PokeNav. It seemed to be edited to show only a certain part of the full document, as it cut to a segment that had no lead up.

Site of explosion determined to be major base of Team Rocket, evidence gathered from bunker beneath the wreckage suggests Team Rocket HQ. The amount of energy required to destroy the building and heavily damage the fortified bunker beneath, as well as the destruction of the surrounding forest, suggests that UEC is responsible.

Circumstances regarding UEC's sudden change is currently unknown, as are its whereabouts. Protocols regarding potential attacks by UEC should remain in place for now, at least until more information is discovered or UEC has been contained.

Most data hidden in the bunker is deemed recoverable by experts. Porygon teams have been dispatched, along with prototype Porygon- 2, to recover information.

Assessment by Elite Four Bruno calls for immediate action to press forward against Team Rocket. A major number of personnel were believed to be stationed at the base, as well as financial and other organizational records. Movements will be implemented to prevent a second rise, and the power vacuum left in its wake will be suppressed by Elite Four Agatha.

Ash couldn't believe it. They thought Team Rocket was broken and sought to stamp on its ashes lest it rise up again.

Team Rocket hadn't been dealt a death blow by the League, although they had devastated its ranks and assets. They had been crushed through the efforts of their own creation. There was still a fight to finish, but the decisive blow had been struck.

He understood now why Lance could take the time off to train him. There wasn't a war anymore. Kanto didn't need its Champion now. The Elite Four and the wrathful hand of the League would eradicate whatever holdouts the terrorist organization retained.

Ash wasn't foolish enough to believe that Team Rocket was completely broken through their HQ's destruction. They wouldn't put all of their eggs into one basket. Fortunately, the League had already smashed a majority of their eggs. Only the fragments remained.

It was hard to believe. Team Rocket, the organization that had publicly terrorized Kanto for a little more than a decade, had been broken. Giovanni was likely dead. He'd seemed important to the organization, considering that he'd been trusted to handle the Creature and use it in his gym.

He scowled at the thought of the former gym leader. Ash would have liked to have defeated the man himself, or at least helped in his apprehension.

Ash sighed and took a deep, calming breath. He just needed to focus. Team Rocket's end was something he could think on later. For now he just needed to speak to his mother and make plans for the time being.

The trainer figured that he should call right now. Surge would wake up within the hour, at least if Brock's estimate was correct. He wanted to be completely ready to leave. Lance's call and going through the files had taken more time than he expected.

Plume lightly nipped his hat as he dialed in the numbers, to which he simply laughed and tapped her on the forehead. After several months with Tangrowth, it was an instinctual reaction. It had the added benefit of shocking Plume, who cocked her head and cooed at him in confusion.

He absentmindedly stroked her crest apologetically as the screen suddenly flickered to life and revealed his living room, which was even cleaner than usual. Ash frowned at that. His mother tended to clean obsessively whenever she was worried. That wasn't a good sign.

She'd known about his mission. He'd told her what he was doing after Lance had told him. While his mother wasn't thrilled that he was working for the League again, she didn't seem to mind too much. In comparison to the battles against Team Rocket, venturing into a large storm had seemed perfectly safe.

While it was common knowledge that electric-types were migrating to the storm, his mother probably hadn't expected their interference to be bad enough to block all signals. She was probably stuck between being worried sick and absolutely furious. Ash felt a sinking sensation in his stomach as his mother came into view. Her ordinarily smiling face was perfectly composed, which was never a good sign.

Just because he could explain his lack of communication didn't mean that his mother would be any less terrifying.

"Ash Ketchum, why did you not call me for three weeks?" His mother said in a perfectly even voice. Ash inwardly flinched. She definitely wasn't happy. Her eyes seemed tired, but tightly focused on him. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

Ash stayed silent. It was best to let his mother get most of her anger out now and then explain. She was much more rational when she didn't have a bunch of pent up emotions roiling inside her.

"The storm was on the news, Ash." She hissed. "I heard about how bad it got. More than twenty thousand people were evacuated. That doesn't –" his mother suddenly froze and examined him. All anger flooded out of her face, replaced with motherly concern. Her sudden mood swing was disconcerting, to say the least. "You're so pale! Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine." He said reassuringly. Ash knew he didn't look his best. It had been three weeks since he'd had a proper shower, although Torrent had helped when he hadn't been completely drenched. He had also gotten several bad colds and he was sure that the exhaustion incurred by the journey showed as well. The trainer wasn't sure if there was any evidence of the explosion he'd been caught in that was visible.

His mother wasn't convinced. "Are you sure? You look like you're about to collapse."

"I'm fine." He repeated. Ash tried to sound convincing. His mother didn't look too good herself. Seeing the effects of the stress he put on her made him feel guilty. "It was just a harsh journey. Nothing dangerous."

She stared at him suspiciously. Her expression was still one of worry, but she relented. "Alright. How was your journey? Did you see anything interesting?"

"I caught an Electabuzz." He said brightly, a grin on his face as he thought of Oz. Even without the storm powering her, Ash suspected that she'd be perfectly capable of keeping up. She needed some work, but her determination and willpower would make the process fly by. Although it was a struggle, Ash eventually decided to leave out Zapdos until he knew what story the League would be told.

"Really?" His mother questioned. She clasped her hands together in excitement. "I had no idea! Samuel never mentioned it."

He shrugged. "Communications were blocked. There were a lot of magnemite, plus the storm was really powerful once we got closer."

"That makes sense. I'm sorry I snapped at you." His mother smiled guiltily. "I've just been worried, you know. A lot's happened around Pallet lately."

Ash tensed up, almost imperceptibly. "The explosion?"

"You heard about that?" His mother said oddly. Her voice seemed a bit choked. "It was awful. For a moment I thought that there was an earthquake, or that another gyarados attacked. Professor Oak and I were having lunch when it happened."

"Did you see it?" He asked, barely able to hide his eagerness. An eyewitness account would be better than the video Professor Oak released, even if it was from far away.

His mother had a faraway look as she spoke. Ash frowned at himself. That probably wasn't the best question to ask. "No. Samuel did. He wouldn't speak of it, though. I haven't seen him since then. He's been very busy, but he won't say what he's doing."

In other words, he was doing something for the League. Although Professor Oak specialized in human-pokemon relationships, he had a vast amount of knowledge in many fields. He was often called in by the League for particularly interesting or unknown phenomena, or so his mother had told him.

"Was anyone hurt?" Ash said guiltily, aware that it should have been the first thing on his mind. He couldn't help it, though. The explosion held so much more significance than most people knew. It would dominate his thoughts for weeks to come, he expected.

His mother faltered. A brief flash of pain went through her eyes, but she pushed it away. "Y-yes."

"Who?" He questioned tentatively. It was certainly an important question, and one that could be major for both of them. Pallet was a small town. Ash knew everyone.

"No one you would know." She said quietly. "I knew him a long time ago, before you were born."

Ash nodded awkwardly. He wasn't really sure what to say in this situation. He'd never run into it before. "I'm sorry. Did you know him well?"

She smiled softly. "Yes, but we lost touch. It's been a long time. Don't worry about me, I'm fine. It was just…sudden."

He nodded again. Ash resolved to change the subject. "Are you still going to Greenfield?"

"In five days!" His mother said brightly, some of her perpetual cheer back. "I'm so excited to see little Molly again! She was just a baby the last time we visited. Spencer said she's a handful."

Ash smiled. He remembered that she had just been born when they'd last visited the town about three years ago. It would be a lie to say he liked babies in the least, but his mother did. Hopefully Molly would keep his mother happy and cheer her up for a few days.

He suddenly realized something, and his stomach sank. "I don't know if I'll be able to drop by before you leave, Mom."

"Why?" She asked. Although she didn't seem surprised, his mother looked slightly forlorn. The stress his absence had put on her was more visible than ever.

"Lance offered me a chance to train with him." Ash began carefully. His mother wasn't exactly happy with the Champion after the Sevii Islands operation. He dearly hoped that they never met. While it would undoubtedly amusing to watch her lecture Lance, it was something to avoid.

Her eyes narrowed, as he expected. "Lance? As in Champion Lance?"

He nodded and met her eyes guiltily. "I'll try to make it. I can ask Professor Oak to send Alakazam to get me. I have a day to get to Knot Island. I know I can make it to Pallet and back."

"No." His mother said sharply. Ash looked at her in surprise. She was always soft-spoken, even when delivering lectures. Her tone might have reeked with barely constrained fury while giving it, but it was always calm. "This is too important for you. I can wait. I know you'll come home before the Conference, and I can still call you."

"Thanks." Ash smiled.

His mother smiled back, although she looked tired again. "I might not approve of the Champion dragging you into League business, but he can help you a lot more than a visit to me could. You might never get this chance again. It's what's best for you, and that's all I want."

Ash couldn't really articulate what he wanted to say to that. All he knew was that he was deeply touched and would probably wrap his mother up in a hug right now if she was present. He would even stay when she tried to tell him to change his underwear.

In the end, all he could voice was, "Thanks."

But his mother seemed to know what he wanted to say, if her bright smile said anything.

A loud beeping sound went off in the kitchen. His mother leapt out of her seat. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I have to go – the food is burning. Make sure to call every now and then! I love you!"

He wasn't able to say anything back before she left the room in a panic, although the screen stayed on. Ash was about to cut the video, but he spotted a blur of soft blue fur in the air before it slammed into the screen and clung to it.

"How's it going, Seeker?" He laughed. Seeker, whose head was positioned directly over the camera, chattered excitedly and revealed her sharp fangs. From the tiny parts of the room Ash could make out, he saw Bruiser's leathery grey skin in the background. "Bruiser, have you kept up your training?"

Bruiser grunted and delicately pulled Seeker off of the camera, although she promptly clung to the machoke's head instead. Ash snorted in amusement. "Good. I'm going to be bringing you back to the team soon. We're going to be training with Lance."

The machoke gave him a wide, reptilian grin and pounded his chest, although Ash wasn't certain that he knew who Lance was. Ash smiled at him, although there was a bit of guilt hidden in it. He hadn't done a good job of keeping his friend in the rotation, although there had been quite a few unexpected events that had hampered his efforts. Hopefully this would make up for it. Bruiser was powerful, he just needed to get more combat experience.

"Ash, where are you?" Brock yelled. Ash snapped his attention to the direction the gym leader's voice came from. "Surge is getting up!"

"Coming!" He shouted back. Plume squawked in annoyance at the loud noise, so Ash lightly stroked her glossy feathers to placate the great bird. "Sorry, Plume. I know you don't like it when I yell. Can you tell me where Sneasel is?"

Plume shook her head and cooed softly. Ash gave a half-smile. It wasn't unexpected. Sneasel had been interested in exploring the power plant, and Ash wasn't inclined to stop him. The dark-type needed to venture out on his own, and Ash wasn't too concerned about the electric-types that still congregated in some of the halls. His friend was tough enough to fight them off, but the electric-types were still too powerful for Sneasel to risk sticking around to finish them off. Most of the electric-types were confused and placid now, anyway.

"Could you call him, please?" He requested. Plume nodded and let out an earsplitting shriek, one that was sure to attract Sneasel. Ash had made sure that each of his friends were able to get Sneasel to return to him, should the dark-type ever run off. It was a standard practice when dealing with dark-types and infant pokemon.

He crossed his arms and patiently waited. After a while Sneasel rushed into the hallway from deep within the power plant and skidded to a halt. Sneasel whined at him when he realized that there wasn't food, which was his usual reward for coming when called.

"Sorry, buddy." Ash said with a smile. "I need to return you. We're going back to Vermillion. After that we'll be training with someone that's really strong. I'll make sure you're involved. Is that a fair trade?"

Sneasel eagerly nodded and acquiesced to Ash's request. He disappeared into his pokeball. Ash glanced over at Plume. "Thanks for calling him."

She nodded and cooed at him one last time before she was recalled. Ash clipped both of the occupied pokeballs to his belt and started walking to where the group had set up camp. Brock would probably be annoyed that he took so long, but would probably understand. After dealing with his younger siblings, he knew just how hard it could be to get them corralled.

It was just a short jaunt to the camp. He didn't have any trouble with the dazed electric-types wandering the halls. A pikachu that seemed slightly more lucid than the others sniffed at him and a few magnemite levitated over and curiously buzzed at him, but most barely seemed aware of his existence. There was nothing to fear.

"What took you?" Brock asked in annoyance. Surge was sitting up, his entire chest covered with bandages. Most were slightly bloody, although the red stains didn't seem fresh. Ash wouldn't have been surprised if covering Surge's chest had taken their entire supply of bandages.

"I had to get Sneasel." Ash replied as he walked over. He'd cleaned his own portion of the camp up earlier. The materials and his sleeping mat were lying in his pack now, either in the storage compartments or in the physical item itself.

Brock nodded. His face, hard with stress, softened a bit. "I get that." He said quietly, a bit of longing in his eyes. The gym leader sighed and pulled two pokeballs from his belt. Brock released two Alakazam from the spheres, both of whom took a moment to scan their surroundings before closing their gleaming eyes in contemplative silence.

"They'll be taking us back to Vermillion." Surge directed to Ash. He glanced over to Brock after Ash nodded his understanding. "Kid, did you get the report sent in?"

"As soon as communications were clear." Brock said stoically, all business. "Lance should have received it by now. I told him about Zapdos, but I don't know how he'll spin that to the League."

Ash was quiet. He wasn't sure if they'd heard about the fall of the Rockets yet, and if not they'd hear about it in a few hours anyway. The trainer had to admit that he was surprised that Surge didn't show much of a reaction to Zapdos' presence. Brock had probably told him in Ash's absence.

"Are you ready to teleport?" Brock asked Surge concernedly. Ash could easily understand the worry. Surge was one of the toughest people Ash had ever met, but the amount of blood that soaked the bandages was worrying. The gym leader was still rather pale and his face had several burns and bruises.

"Yeah, just give me a minute." The powerful man growled. He pulled himself up slowly. "Bet you're glad to get back to the litter, eh, Brock?"

Brock gave a short, barking laugh. Most people probably would have showed offense, but no one could have trained under Surge without developing a thick skin. Ash knew that Surge wasn't trying to be hurtful, regardless. It was just his personality.

"You could say that." The teenager snorted. "I can't say I won't miss the quiet. I'll definitely be glad to get away from you, though. Getting shocked every day isn't exactly fun."

Ash's lips curled up into a grin, although he stayed quiet. It was amusing to watch their interaction.

"If you didn't deserve it Raichu wouldn't do it." Surge growled as he stood up on limbs weak from his recovery. Ash had no doubt that he would still be a force to be reckoned with, however. "Let's get out of here. And Brock?"

Brock inclined his head to the giant as his Alakazam's eyes began to burn.

"Give your old man a punch in the jaw for me." Surge said with a dark grin. "Bastard deserves it."

The younger gym leader matched the grin, although his eyes were much more serious. An instant later he vanished along with the Alakazam. Ash had to marvel at the psychic-type's skill. Dazed had grown adept enough with teleportation that she only produced a small flash of light, but Alakazam and Brock simply warped through time and space seamlessly. Hopefully Dazed would be able to master teleportation to that extent one day, although her species' natural limitations would probably keep that from happening.

"I'm ready." Surge grunted to Ash. The trainer nodded and patiently crossed his arms as Alakazam's eyes flashed a bright purple and it crossed its twin spoons. An instant later they were transported hundreds of miles away into one of Vermillion City's hospitals.

Ash glanced around the familiar building. It was just as he remembered it: stark white and incredibly huge. It was one of the largest buildings he'd ever been in, even if he hadn't really been up to exploring it the last time he was here.

"Lt. Surge?" A short, squat man in a lab coat asked. He ignored Ash and Alakazam.

"Yeah?" Surge growled. He held his chest in pain and his face was contorted slightly. Ash wondered just how bad his wounds hurt. Brock had managed to keep him stable, but had mentioned that Surge needed medical attention as soon as possible.

The man smiled. "I'm Dr. Smith. The League called. Everything's ready. We'll just do an inspection before determining if you need further treatment."

Surge nodded stoically and stood up to his full height, which caused him to tower over everyone in the room. Ash was perceptive enough to catch the wince of pain that accompanied the movement. Despite the pain he must have felt, Surge was too proud to reveal any weakness. He was one of the toughest people Ash had ever met.

"Take the Runt to the Vermillion gym." Surge commanded before he made to follow the Doctor. Alakazam nodded. An instant later they disappeared again, although by the time Ash finished blinking they were at their destination.

"Thanks for the help." He said politely. Alakazam nodded stiffly at him before it vanished into nothingness. Ash was extremely impressed with Alakazam's sheer endurance. While it had likely been specifically trained to teleport like that, it was still a notable feat. It took a lot of power to teleport long distances, especially in such a short period of time.

He glanced around. He'd appeared in the room that he'd met Surge in before they'd left on their mission. The large computer, which was locked onto a black screen, hummed gently. Ash wondered where he was supposed to look for the ticket Lance had told him about.

"Who's in here!" A loud, threatening voice snarled. Ash shot a look over to the door and saw that one of the gym trainers stood in it. He didn't recognize the tall, fearsome woman, but that didn't seem to be a problem. "Wait, are you that kid I got a message about?"

"Probably. My name is Ash Ketchum." He said tersely. The heavily muscled woman glared at him suspiciously before she seemed to shrug. She pulled out an envelope and handed it to him.

"Here." She snapped. "It was waiting in the Lt.'s office for you. Now, scram! We've got too many trainers waiting to waste time with you."

Ash rolled his eyes as the bad-tempered gym trainer stormed out of the room. He followed in her footsteps, not particularly concerned with her harshness. Compared to Surge she was a teddiursa, although Surge's words ceased to have the bite the trainer's did.

There was a battle going on as he left the small room. He eyed it with interest. A girl that was about six or seven years older than him used a pokemon he recognized as Meganium against one of the gym trainer's Magneton.

She was certainly skilled, although she wouldn't have been able to handle Surge. Her choice for the battle wouldn't have held up to Surge's overwhelming offensive power. Ash thought that she looked familiar, though. He just couldn't place her face. It was odd, he felt as though he should know her.

Meganium had quite a bit of power behind them and could take hits that most other grass-types couldn't, but they didn't have any sort of aggressive instincts that were needed in high-level battles. They were herbivores. Most of the time they would flee from a fight, although they could be incredibly dangerous when provoked or cornered.

On the bright side, their weight and many ranged attacks meant they could easily stand up to flying-types. Most grass-types were weak to flying-type attacks because they tended to be extremely light and frail. A powerful blast of wind would be impossible for the majority to resist.

Additionally, her Meganium didn't seem trained specifically for battle. Its attacks had plenty of power and obvious skill behind them, but it seemed to unconsciously spend more energy making the attacks look impressive than effective. Meganium and the trainer also made mistakes that no experienced battler would.

He snapped himself out of his thoughts and took one last glance at the oddly familiar girl before he headed out of the gym into the tantalizing sun. Ash had a wide grin on his face as he smelled the crisp, salty air of Vermillion. It was chilly, but compared to the deep freeze of the storm it was perfect.

Ash took a moment to bask in the heat of the sunlight before he looked at the envelope. It had nothing but his name written on it, along with the League symbol: A stylized Rhydon, the cornerstone of the first Champion of Indigo's team, bisected by a line to create two halves.

The trainer deftly opened the envelope and pulled out a single ticket. A scrap of thick, glossy paper was attached to it.

"Ash, the ship will be waiting for you at the League docks. Look for the Seagallop Ferry under Captain Darrow." Ash muttered. He recognized the ferry's name. They were a line of extremely fast ships used by the League to reach areas that they couldn't just teleport into, due to political or tactical reasons.

The Sevii Islands didn't like Indigo or Hoenn butting into their affairs, and tended to frown upon teleportation into their territory. Out of all the regions, they were amongst the most xenophobic. Only Sinnoh came close, and that had ebbed away in recent years. Now the massive region was as accepting as any other, if a bit stiffer.

He continued reading. "I will be waiting for you at the Center on Knot Island. Get some rest on the ferry. We will leave for our destination once you arrive. – Lance."

Ash had a determined look on his face as he carefully placed the ticket and letter into his pocket. He'd be ready for anything Lance could throw at him. He wouldn't let the Champion down.

The trainer moved quickly toward the docks. It wouldn't take long to find the League's partitioned area.

XX

"Captain Darrow?" Ash asked as he stepped up to a large, sleek ferry. It had the League symbol emblazoned upon the side and had the same number as the ticket.

The tall, grizzled man that stood in front of the ramp eyed him. "You Ash Ketchum?"

Ash nodded and held out his ticket. The man eyed it for a moment before he shoved it into the pocket of his coat. "Come on up. The League wants you at Knot Island as soon as possible. You might want to take a nap in your room. It's about a twelve hour trip. Just head into the cabins. You're the first on the right."

"Thank you." He responded before he walked onboard. Ash glanced around the impressive ship. It looked extremely sleek and fast, but also tough. The trainer knew that these ships could go practically anywhere, as long as it wasn't into a hurricane.

The Captain didn't give Ash a second glance as he headed up to the bridge. He was much less interested in Ash than Taggart had been when he'd taken him back to Pallet Town. Maybe Darrow had been at it long enough to know better than to ask questions.

Before he followed the Captain's advice, he released Plume. She shrieked as she appeared, a challenge to any opponents. Ash smiled and stroked her feathers, which elicited a soft coo from the great bird and caused her to lean her large head into his hand.

"Hey, girl." He said quietly. "We're heading to Knot Island now. I figured that you'd want a chance to stretch your wings. Just land and call for me if you want to come in."

Plume cooed again before she took off. Ash stumbled backward as the powerful gust of wind buffeted him, but kept his feet. He'd gotten plenty of practice resisting the winds by now.

He watched her blast into the atmosphere with a small smile on his face before he turned away. The trainer figured that he should follow the Captain's suggestion. Ash could feel the exhaustion from the last few weeks heavy on his shoulders.

He headed into the cabins, which were accessed through a door directly below the bridge, and found his room. Ash noted that it was quite similar to the room he had during the journey from Cinnabar Island to Pallet, although a little less luxurious. It was still quite nice, however, and he eagerly sat down on the bed before he released his friends.

Ash opted against releasing Torrent, Infernus, and Oz. Torrent had grown too much to be able to fit into the cramped quarters of the cabin. It was a reminder that although he was fully evolved, he wasn't completely mature yet. He would grow for another few months to a year at the least. Infernus didn't do too well inside. Oz might have panicked if she was released in an unfamiliar environment, especially one so cramped.

The trainer kept a careful eye on Sneasel. His friend had lost some of the aggression from his puberty, although the process was still going on. Instead of attacking viciously and without warning, Sneasel had begun to steal things. It was something he'd only barely noticed during the mission, since he'd had more important things to worry about, but he'd noted it. Hopefully he could curb that behavior as well, although he doubted he could stamp it out altogether.

Nidoking curled up beside his bed, although he took up a good portion of the room in the process. Dazed simply stood next to him in silence, content to simply be around him.

As expected, Tangrowth gave Ash a light hug with one of his vines before he tried to catch Sneasel. Ash smiled as the dark-type hissed in annoyance and playfully slashed at the seeking vines, and couldn't stifle his laughter when the indignant Sneasel was easily wrapped up and tickled.

"We're going to train with Lance." Ash said quietly to Nidoking and Dazed. Nidoking's narrow black eyes widened as far as they could go and his large ears perked up with interest. Dazed snapped her head toward him and stopped polishing her pendulum. "It's about a twelve hour boat ride, so get some rest. I have no idea what we'll be doing with him."

Nidoking grunted in return and curled up into a ball, his armored back to the door. Ash patted his shoulder before he stood up. There was a bathroom in the cabin and he needed to get a proper shower. He was filthy. It would be nice to sleep without bringing a bunch of dirt into the bed.

He narrowly ducked underneath an errant vine from Tangrowth before he walked into the room. Before he thought about getting into the shower or any other luxuries that he hadn't had for the last few weeks, Ash looked at his reflection.

It was no wonder that his mother thought he was sick. Although he was healthier now that he'd had time to rest, he still looked awful. His face had lost some of its tan thanks to the constant cloud coverage and the illnesses he had suffered through had left him even paler. While he didn't look as though he suffered from malnutrition, his eyes were a bit sunken in and exhaustion was obvious in his face.

Ash rubbed some of the fatigue out of his eyes and splashed some water on his face. The icy liquid did the trick, and he felt more of the exhaustion fade, if only for a moment. He looked disdainfully at the layer of mud that caked his boots and pants. As a trainer it was a common sight, but he'd probably have to get new clothing. It was a good thing he had several extra pairs in his pack.

Hopefully the shower would make him feel better. At the very least it would be better than getting doused by Torrent.

XX

Ash leaned onto the railing as they approached Knot Island. His friends were walking around the deck. Plume let out a piercing shriek every now and then. It had gotten too dark for her to safely fly several hours ago, so she had landed. By then Ash had finished his nap, which ended up being about seven hours, and had left the cozy cabin.

"Are you ready for this?" He asked Nidoking as the Seagallop Ferry danced across the water at a dizzying pace. A small spray of salty water hit him every now and then, but he bore the annoyance unflinchingly. Ash kept his eyes on the great form of Mt. Ember, whose top glowed with a great inner fire. He frowned at that. Mt. Ember was supposed to be dormant.

He was distracted by Nidoking's low growl. A dull thud echoed through his ears as his friend crushed his claws together in an expression of determination.

"I think so too." He said softly, his eyes locked on Mt. Ember. Its light, dim from this distance, was still large enough to drown out the starlight from the heavens. "If we aren't, then we'll become ready. This'll make us strong."

Nidoking grunted again and affectionately tapped his shoulder. Ash smiled and returned the gesture. He knew that Nidoking would fight just as hard as he would to get the most out of this training. Lance might be a Master of the dragon-type, but there was no doubt that he didn't know a lot about other types as well. To be a Master one had to know the ins and outs of every pokemon that might show up and what techniques they could learn.

Ash had to marvel at the pace at which they approached the island. It had been a mere speck in the distance a few minutes ago. Now they had almost arrived. He knew that the Seagallop Ferry was fast, but it was hard to appreciate its speed without encountering it firsthand.

On a ferry such as Captain Stewart's, the trip from Fuschia to Cinnabar was about a week if the Seafoam Islands were skipped over. It would take it another twelve hours to a day to reach Knot Island, although the ship that he'd taken with the Champions had made it in an hour.

It would have taken Captain Stewart's ferry a good four or five days to reach Knot Island from Vermillion. The Seagallop Ferry had cut that time down to twelve hours. He couldn't help but be amazed at just how fast it was.

But that didn't matter. Right now he needed to prepare. They'd reach the docks in a few minutes.

"I'm recalling you." He announced to his friends. Ash heard a few noises of understanding before he returned his friends. Only Sneasel was left out, and the dark-type swiftly dashed over and leapt up onto Ash's back. "Hey, Sneasel. Are you making progress on Ice Beam?"

Sneasel hissed an affirmative, which put a smile on Ash's face. The dark-type's training had slowed thanks to the mission, but they'd kept up lessons when the weather wasn't too bad. Torrent was particularly good for teaching Sneasel in the harshest parts of the storm. Training had only been abandoned when using an ice-type move was deemed unsafe. Hypothermia would have put a dampener on the mission.

"Good. If you get to fight any of Lance's dragons, you'll need it." Ash said with a grin. He wasn't quite sure how this training would work out. It wouldn't be too much of a surprise if Lance had brought some of his weaker pokemon along for a workout. There was no way Ash could defeat any of his main team.

He looked back at the sea, which was a dim orange thanks to the light of Mt. Ember. Ash wondered if they would be training there. Most of Knot Island seemed fairly mundane and absent of powerful pokemon or rugged environments. He could only see Lance training in the most extreme of locales.

Ash held onto the railing tightly with one hand. The other was used to steady Sneasel as the ship turned and slowed. While it was still fast, it wasn't even close to its previous speed. Sneasel hissed in annoyance and clasped on tightly to Ash.

As the Seagallop Ferry slowly angled toward Knot Island's port, which was bright with lights, Ash wondered how well Sneasel would adapt to the new environment. Sneasel had evolved to the harsh winters of the north, not hot, humid tropics. He might have to try and cut some of Sneasel's thick fur. His friend normally kept it a perfect length, but Ash was afraid that Sneasel would overheat otherwise.

He took a deep breath of warm air as they slowed down even more. Knot Island wasn't as hot as it was last time he'd been here, which was in the midst of summer, but it was still much hotter than the crisp, cold air of Kanto. The first few days here would be brutal, especially if the training was as intensive as Ash expected.

The ship came to a stop, and Ash waited patiently as the ramp mechanically lowered to the dock. He waited for Captain Darrow to come out of the bridge before he stepped off. There were a few burly sailors hanging around.

Ash took the opportunity to examine Knot Island. The town was larger than when he had left it, and seemed to be in much better condition. It was still rather small, but it was larger than Pallet Town to a fair degree. He wondered whether the Rockets had destroyed it and chased most of the residents off or if inhabitants of other islands had moved here.

"Thanks for the ride." Ash said gratefully. Darrow nodded.

"You're welcome." Darrow glanced over at the large, modern Center that dominated the town with his hard brown eyes. "I suggest you hurry. The League message was rather urgent that you reach the Center as quickly as possible."

The trainer nodded and shouldered his pack before he set off. Sneasel swung himself up to a more comfortable position as they made their way through the town, which was alit by the light of Mt. Ember and a large number of streetlights. Some of the sailors edged away from him when they saw Sneasel.

He knew that the Sevii Islands didn't use pokemon to the extent of other regions. They didn't have Apricorns to develop pokeballs from, and the pokeball had been a rather late arrival to the Islands. While they still had pokemon as friends and partners, there were few trainers and most work relied on humanity's skill and effort. Most only had one or two pokemon, if any. It was one of the reasons they were so fiercely independent.

It didn't take long for him to reach the Center. He took one last glance down at the town before he stepped in. The inhabitants of Knot Island had done an amazing job of bounding back from the Rocket occupation.

Sneasel sniffed the air curiously as they walked into the cool Center. He'd forgotten how large it was. The Center easily matched the sheer size of one of Saffron's Pokemon Center. Ash glanced around and looked for Lance. It was around midnight, but Lance should have expected him to arrive about now.

When he turned to look again, a wide grin split his face. Lance, who towered above all of the few islanders still walking about at this hour, strode towards him. Two pokemon followed on his heels. One was the pokemon Ash had seen resting on Lance's desk the last few times he'd called and the other was mostly blue, but had a thick helmet of a grey, bone-like substance. Neither were particularly impressive, but Ash expected that they would be monsters when they reached adulthood.

"Ash!" Lance boomed. Sneasel's ears laid back as he hissed at the unexpected noise. The Champion didn't even notice. "It's good to see you. Good job with the mission, by the way. I could barely believe the report when I read it."

"I couldn't believe what I saw." Ash admitted as the Champion walked up to him. Lance motioned for Ash to walk alongside him as they headed deeper into the Center, close to the Trading Room. "It was stronger than anything I've ever seen."

Lance sent a quick glance at him. "Even the Creature?" He asked nonchalantly. Ash looked back questioningly. The trainer had no idea where he'd heard the name Ash came up with for the Creature.

"Sabrina included it in her report." Lance said with an easy grin as they entered the Trading Room. "It's as apt a name as any. Much better than UEC, anyway."

Ash sent another look at Lance, whose face grew a bit more serious. "Unidentified Enemy Combatant. It's the Creature's latest designation. Our analysts went through a host of others before we found the Rocket HQ. Its ruins, anyway."

"So it's really over?" Ash asked quietly, a silent contemplativeness in his eyes.

"It's never over." Lance said bitterly, although his face loosened a bit when one of the tiny creatures by his feet tugged on his pants. "But for now, there's a break. Team Rocket is shattered, and we're hunting down the fragments. As long as I'm Champion, Team Rocket will never rise from its ashes. Kanto has peace for now, and I intend to keep it that way."

He didn't have much to say to that. Ash had never heard Lance so passionate, although there were glimpses of that side of the Champion during battles.

"You don't have a limit on the amount of pokeballs you can carry." Lance spoke up, quiet now. "Bring all of your pokemon. They deserve to come."

"How long will we be training?" Ash asked as he typed in Professor Oak's number. He hoped the Professor wouldn't be too annoyed at being woken up. It was rather late, after all. As the video phone began to ring, Lance spoke.

"A month, give or take a few days." Lance shrugged. Ash looked back and noted that the Champion didn't seem too happy about being pulled away from the League. "They think I've been pushing myself too hard. This is supposed to be my downtime. I figured I would do something productive, and you deserve a bonus after everything you've helped the League with."

Ash smiled a bit, but paused when the screen suddenly flickered to life. Professor Oak didn't seem surprised to see him.

"Ah, hello, Ash." The older man said tiredly. He didn't look exhausted, but it was clear that he would have preferred to be asleep. "I've been waiting for your call. Which pokemon would you like to switch out?"

"I'd like you to send over Bruiser and Seeker." Ash grinned. Oak squinted at him suspiciously before he checked something on his computer. The Professor smiled lightly and shook his head before he placed the two pokeballs into the trading machine. It looked like he had prepared for this. "Wait, did you say you were waiting on me?"

Oak nodded as he transferred the pokeballs to Ash. "Indeed. I received a rather urgent message from a League representative today." He quickly glanced at Lance before he focused back to Ash. Oak wasn't surprised to see the Champion. "Delia told me about your training, so it wasn't too unexpected."

Ash frowned, but didn't say anything. He simply picked Bruiser and Seeker's pokeballs up. Seeker wouldn't be training thanks to how timid she was, but he wouldn't leave her alone at the Corral. She deserved better, and he would enjoy seeing the zubat again.

"Thanks, Professor." He said with a dip of his hat. Ash gave the older man a rueful smile. "Sorry that you had to stay up."

"It's fine." Oak waved his concerns away. "I wish you good luck on your training." Before Ash could disconnect from the call, the Professor seemed to remember something. "Oh, Ash?"

He cocked his head at the man and waited for his question.

"Gary's decided to head into the Seafoam Caverns. The Ice Time is over, and he's trying to find somewhere to train for the Conference." Oak explained. Ash just nodded, a bit of dislike in his gut at the mention of his rival. "Do you have any advice?"

Ash couldn't say he wanted to help Gary, but he would at the Professor's behest. Oak had done far too much for him to even consider refusing. "Stay out of the deeper levels, and run from any dewgong. Have a pokemon that can echolocate."

Oak hummed his agreement. "Thank you, Ash. It has been far too long since I travelled through the Caverns. My memory isn't what it was."

"You're welcome." Ash said quietly. He looked up. "Could you tell my mother that I said goodbye before she leaves? I'm not sure I'll be able to call her in time."

"Of course." Oak promised. The Professor sent a stern glance at Lance, although Ash missed the Champion's reaction. He idly clipped the pokeballs onto his belt as Oak stood up out of his chair and placed a finger on the keyboard. "Goodbye, Ash. I'm sure you will do well."

Ash nodded back with a grateful smile before the call was cut. He stood up from the chair and looked at Lance, who stood with his arms crossed. "I'm ready."

"You are." Lance agreed. "Follow me. The roof should be empty now."

He looked at Lance oddly as the large man turned around, but acquiesced. Lance swiftly exited the room and headed up a staircase. Ash noted that the room they entered was the same as where he'd found Steven and Lance the day he liberated Knot Island.

"And here we are." Lance opened up a closet, which revealed a ladder. He climbed it with swiftness and agility someone of his size shouldn't possess. Ash was right behind him, although he was a bit slower than Lance. The young trainer just didn't have the power the Champion did.

The roof was rather plain, as he'd expected. It was flat with a few machines atop it, along with a few hatches. Lance kicked the entrance they'd taken shut, probably to prevent the warm air from diffusing into the cold Center.

From here he had a perfect view of Knot Island. This was the highest point of the main island, although Mt. Ember loomed magnificently in the background. He could see the dark forests and beaches from here, along with the town. It had grown even larger than he'd thought. At least a thousand people lived here. While still small, it wasn't at a dangerously low level.

But he couldn't tear his eyes off of Mt. Ember. It wasn't as massive as Cinnabar Island's volcano, but it was extremely impressive nonetheless. Mt. Ember was its own island, separated from Knot Island only by a mile or two of water. The red glow that adorned the top and the shower of embers that scattered out from it made him wonder if it was active again.

"Mt. Ember's why I chose this place." Lance said mysteriously. He swept his cape to his back and crossed his arms after he released the two tiny pokemon again. Sneasel had simply clung onto Ash as he climbed the ladder.

"Is it active? Knot Island's too close for the town to be safe." Ash commented worriedly. Sneasel hissed and clung on tighter at the sign of tension.

Lance shrugged. "It's not active in the conventional sense. Fire lurks within, but no one's in danger unless they try and go inside…in which case it's probably for the best. Most people aren't stupid enough to try and go into the volcano."

His eyes narrowed. Conventional sense? Nevertheless, he waited for Lance to elaborate. There was still a bit of fatigue left in his system and he wasn't quite up to asking questions.

"I have a lot to tell you." Lance said ominously. In the dim red light of Mt. Ember's flames he looked dangerous and mysterious, not at all like the proud Champion Ash knew. "Team Rocket is broken. At least in Indigo. There are splinter groups in other regions, but we hope that their Leagues will apprehend them soon enough. We found a treasure trove of data in the Rocket bunker, although a good bit of it is corrupted."

Ash patiently waited for Lance to continue. He'd known about the other Rocket branches from Steven, although he remembered that the former Champion had shut it down. It wasn't surprising that Team Rocket had extended into other regions. It was amongst the most powerful criminal organizations in the world.

"But we've found several caches about the Creature." Lance said, hatred in his voice. The Champion reflexively grasped onto the arm that had been mangled thanks to its actions. "Team Rocket created an abomination. They took the DNA of Mew and twisted it into their own super weapon."

He recoiled, both in disgust at Team Rocket's actions in defiling the Legendary and at the sheer vitriol in Lance's voice. Ash couldn't believe just how far Team Rocket had sunk, or the horrible brilliance that had birthed the idea in the first place.

According to ancient legends, Mew was the guardian of the Kanto region. It kept the balance and healed the hatred in men's hearts, calmed armies that screamed for blood with a thought. While most believed they were just legends, the Legendary kept its symbolic value.

For Team Rocket to have twisted and corrupted the DNA of the peace bringer into a weapon of war was simply sickening. It certainly explained the power the Creature displayed. Mew was said to be amongst the most powerful pokemon in the world.

"They called it Mewtwo." Lance continued with disgust. "Our Porygon are still working to recover more information. There's no doubt that Mewtwo was the one that destroyed their base. Ghosts that investigated had their physical forms incinerated from the aftereffects and even dark-types were in pain."

"Are you looking for it?" Ash eyed Lance speculatively. Perhaps it would be weakened by whatever Team Rocket did to anger it. The armor would probably slow it down if it wasn't maintained.

Lance nodded curtly. "Agatha. She's the only one of the Elite Four that could hope to handle it. Karen's with her."

Ash blushed almost imperceptibly at the mention of Karen. "What will you do if Agatha finds it? It was too powerful for an army last time."

"Find a way to track it." Lance replied immediately. His angular face drifted into a scowl. "It's too dangerous to leave alone. I doubt Mewtwo was programmed to be caring in the first place. Whatever time it spent with Team Rocket put it beyond redemption. I want to know where it is. If I can't kill it, I can prepare for it."

Although disturbed at the prospect of killing, Ash couldn't help but agree. Rushing water and the destruction of an army flashed before his eyes. If the Creature could do that, it could do anything. Something that powerful and dangerous had to be destroyed. They couldn't contain it.

"Did you ever find Giovanni, or was he killed in the blast?" Ash suddenly said. He could see the dark man's face now, the shadowy gleam in the man's eyes evident to him now. Giovanni was a monster.

"We recovered him." Lance said enigmatically. "I'm sorry, but I promised to keep that confidential. Giovanni has been dealt with."

Ash frowned, but signified his understanding. "I wouldn't ask you to break a promise."

"Good." Lance smiled. It took the harsh edge from his expression. "I can appreciate that. But I think I should tell you what we'll be doing for the month."

He crossed his arms and cocked his head at the Champion expectantly. Ash had been curious about the methods Lance would use to train him. The training methods of the Elite Four were generally secret, although Ash expected that they could be brutal. At their level of power and experience it had to be. Nothing else would let their pokemon improve further.

"I'm putting a year of training into one month. It will be difficult, and you and your pokemon will be pushed to your limits. You're too young to undergo the Elite Four physical conditioning, but I will push you just as hard as I push your team." Lance warned. Ash nodded, glad to accept the challenge.

The Champion suddenly recalled the small pokemon that waited attentively by his feet and released two Dragonite. Ash recognized the first as Lance's primary Dragonite. He smiled as the great dragon let out a long, keening cry and patted Lance on the shoulder.

He didn't recognize the other. It was large, but slimmer than the first. The dragon-type's scales held a tiny tint of blue and seemed thinner and more fragile than the other Dragonite. Ash didn't think that it was Lance's second Dragonite, either. From the brief glimpse he'd seen of it, the second was almost as bulky as the primary Dragonite.

"Don't you recognize Saph?" Lance commented as he affectionately patted Dragonite's massive arm. Saph called out happily and snorted at Lance before she waved at Ash. He returned it and stared at Saph with wide eyes. As a Dragonair she was obviously powerful. As Dragonite, he had no doubt that she could easily defeat him easily. "She evolved last week. I'm hoping to get her acclimated to her new form. Dov has been training her, but she's still a bit clumsy."

"Dov?" Ash remarked as Saph gave Lance an offended growl. The Champion rolled his eyes and waved Saph's annoyance away before he answered.

"My second Dragonite." Lance explained. "He's helping Saph learn to fly. Some of it's instinctual, but the change from manipulation of air and draconic energy to actual wings is a hard one."

Saph snorted in agreement and awkwardly unfurled her wings. Lance glanced at her. "Get on. We're flying to the camp. I have everything arranged. I'll give you the rest of the information when we get there."

Ash nodded and recalled Sneasel, who had dived into his pack when Lance released the twin Dragonite. He managed to see Sneasel's bright eyes narrowed suspiciously at the great dragons before he was engulfed by scarlet energy.

"Hold on tight!" Lance warned as he casually leapt up onto Dragonite's back. "The flight is short."

Saph considerately leaned down for Ash. The trainer felt a moment of awe at actually riding one of the Champion's most powerful pokemon. He clung on tightly to Saph's scales, although he made sure to avoid the smooth and sharp edges.

When he was secure, Saph took off to follow Lance. Wind whistled past them as they suddenly vanished into the dark night, and Ash had to lower his head and remove his cap to keep it from flying away. He tried to look up, but even with Saph's air manipulation the travel was too rough for him to weather the powerful winds.

He squeezed his eyes shut in an effort to keep them from drying out and dearly wished that he had taken Plume. Saph was probably faster, at least at going short distances, but Plume was much better at keeping the ride comfortable. The convenient bubble of air she could produce was much more effective than whatever Saph was doing.

Thankfully, it was over almost as soon as it began. They couldn't have spent more than a minute in the air. Saph was careful with her landing. Ash looked up as she slowly descended to the earth and realized that they were camped right on the slope of Mt. Ember. The red and orange glow of the mountaintop caused the air to be cast with an eerie glow.

Saph landed on all fours, although it looked to be uncomfortable for her. Ash thanked the dragonite and leapt off of her onto shaky legs. He reminded himself to get more experience flying. Plume would enjoy it and he didn't like feeling faintly nauseous whenever he got back to the ground. Practice would hopefully fix that.

"So you survived." Lance remarked as he walked up to Ash. Dragonite walked behind him, a vigilant guardian. The earth trembled lightly when it stepped. Ash didn't know how much it weighed, but he knew anything that large had to weigh at least a few hundred pounds. "That's a good sign."

Ash just rolled his eyes and focused on getting rid of the aftereffects of vertigo. The air was abnormally hot, although just enough to be uncomfortable. It was at least a few degrees warmer than the main island, although he could chalk that up to Mt. Ember's presence. "Where's the camp?"

"In that cave." Lance pointed to the aforementioned gap in the earth. It was easily large enough to fit an onix, although Ash couldn't make out the interior through the veil of darkness, which was unbroken by the red light of Mt. Ember. He assumed that it was quite large inside, however. "It leads into the tunnels inside Mt. Ember. You'll be training there a lot."

"What kind of training will I be doing?"

"Harsh." Lance grinned when he saw the annoyed glint in Ash's eyes. "It depends. Some days I'll just have you working on techniques and moves. I'm sure there are some that you can't teach your team, but I can help with that. Other days you'll be battling me."

Ash looked at Lance oddly. There was no way he could battle any of the Champion's pokemon. Any of the real team was too powerful for him to hope to take on and the pokemon Lance seemed to be training now would only be useful for Sneasel to battle.

"I'll go easy on you." Lance assured him. "But it's the best way for a pokemon to grow. If we had a proper amount of time to train, I'd go a little lighter on the battles. I'm having to put a year into a month, though. There's no time to coddle you."

"I understand." Ash said resolutely. He frowned, though. "What do you mean that it's the best way for them to grow? I know that battling a lot helps with getting practical experience, but isn't training just as important?"

Lance's voice took on a didactic tone. "It is training. Training isn't just repetition and honing techniques. That's a major part of it, true, but the real meat of it is in battle. It doesn't just give them experience: it makes them strong. Battle gives them the knowledge and strength to apply their skill."

He motioned for Ash to follow him. Dragonite and Saph crawled behind them on all fours, nostrils open as they entered the cavern, which smelled of steam and stone.

"Battle is how pokemon grow strong." Lance repeated as they entered the dark cave. It was hot and humid, although only to an uncomfortable level. The camp certainly wasn't dangerous. "You can train them in speed or endurance all you want, but to be a decent fighter they have to know the thrill of battle. Power is gained through practical experience."

Ash nodded and paid rapt attention to the Champion's words. He was learning from one of the most powerful trainers in the world. Every word Lance said needed to be committed to memory.

Lance suddenly changed topic. "Have you eaten?"

"Yes." Ash replied. He'd gotten a meal aboard the Seagallop Ferry. The League certainly didn't hold any expense on the food supplies. His rich meal had been a great change from the flavorless food he'd eaten during the mission.

"We can talk more tomorrow." Lance sighed. He snapped his fingers. Dragonite reared up and spat a stream of hot flame into the middle of the floor. Ash flinched when an immense pile of brush ignited furiously. The smoke gently wafted up into a large hole in the ceiling, through which red light shined through.

Ash spotted a mat at a comfortable distance away from the fire, which burned comfortably thanks to Dragonite's powerful flame. "Is that mine?"

Lance nodded. "Get some sleep. Tomorrow will be tough. I'm not holding back."

The trainer grinned. "I'm looking forward to it." He didn't see Lance's reaction before he walked over to the mat, which was of much higher quality than the cheap sleeping mat that he used. Perhaps he'd buy a new one when he returned to Kanto.

He took a moment to glance around the cave. It was incredibly large. The ceiling was probably high enough for a small flying-type to comfortably maneuver and it widened enough to easily hold all of Ash's team, although he wasn't sure if Lance's team of monstrous dragons would be able to fit as well.

Ash released his friends. He figured it would be best to get them introduced to each other. Oz only had the barest amount of contact with the rest of the team thanks to her own rage and the dangerous conditions. That situation needed to be rectified.

"The training begins tomorrow." Ash told Nidoking when his friend appeared beside him. Nidoking snorted and crushed his claws together in understanding. He sent a reverent glance at Dragonite, who had curled up in the general vicinity of Lance's sleeping mat. Saph's head rested atop the massive creature's back. "I'm going to introduce Sneasel and Oz to Bruiser and Seeker. I need you and Dazed to keep the peace. Restrain Sneasel if anything goes wrong."

Nidoking nodded and squared himself, ready to show off his physical power should the introductions not go as planned. Ash nodded approvingly and release Torrent, Dazed, and Tangrowth.

He greeted each of his friends as they materialized and informed them of their duties. Torrent was to try and keep the peace, an easy task for the incredibly powerful dragon-type. All of the team respected him. Dazed would instantly Disable any of the troublemakers, although Tangrowth was tasked with restraining Sneasel should a scuffle occur.

Ash suspected that it would be an unnecessary measure. Dazed would be more than happy to knock Sneasel out with Focus Blast should he cause an issue. It was a good thing Tangrowth was faster.

The trainer opted against releasing Plume or Infernus. Plume would be useless in such tight quarters and was more likely than most to get injured in such a physical battle. Bringing Infernus out in an enclosed space was just a bad idea.

Next, he released Sneasel and Oz. Sneasel hissed happily and rushed up to his ordinary perch on Ash's back. Oz whirred at Ash in a friendly manner, which brought a smile from Ash. Nidoking tensed up and directed a hateful look at Oz, who didn't bother acknowledging it. "Hey, Oz. How are you doing?"

She shrugged and caused electricity to crackle over her fur. Ash was glad that he still had his cap on. If he didn't his hair would be standing straight up right now. At least his hat covered it. It wasn't as though he could simply smooth it with a burst of psychic energy like Dazed could.

"That's good." Ash smiled. His face twisted into a more serious expression. He glanced back at Sneasel. "I'm about to introduce the both of you to the rest of the team. Sneasel, you've already met Bruiser."

Sneasel nodded, a hint of dislike in his eyes. Although he didn't know Bruiser, Ash knew that Sneasel tended to dislike fighting-types. While he was more than a match for fighting-types on his level thanks to his incredible speed and agility he was bitter toward anything with an advantage over him.

Dark-types such as Sneasel were deadly in close quarters, in no small part because of their ruthless mindset and wily cunning, but fighting-types were more than their match. Fighting-types tended to be amazingly strong and durable enough to take the quick attacks of dark-types, plus they had reflexes to match.

It didn't hurt that dark-types tended to be quite fragile, which was a negative side effect of having evolved to ambush and work in the shadows, oftentimes with groups. One good hit could easily defeat them if it was sufficiently powerful. Dark-types just weren't meant to fight fair.

At least Sneasel didn't have to worry about the normal weakness of ice-types to fighting-types. That weakness mostly applied to ice-types whose physiology incorporated ice or ice-like material. Sneasel simply had an elemental affinity for it. His body was flesh and blood, not brittle ice that could be easily smashed and shattered.

"Be nice." Ash reprimanded. He turned to Oz. "Their names are Bruiser and Seeker. Seeker can be a little timid at first, but I'm sure she'll open up to you."

Oz whirred and put her large fists behind her back. Ash remembered from the electabuzz entry in the pokedex that it was a sign of submission, or at least agreement. He smiled. "Thanks."

He sent Sneasel, who adopted a look of feigned innocence, another stern glance before he released Bruiser and Seeker. The two blinked in surprise as they were released before they focused in on Ash.

Bruiser pounded his muscular chest, which had grown even larger thanks to the training Bruno had taught him, and had a massive grin split his reptilian face. He stepped forward to pat Ash on the shoulder in an expression of glee, but Seeker was faster.

The zubat, who hadn't seen Ash in months outside of his calls, chattered happily as she latched onto his chest and buried her head into his warmth. Ash laughed and lightly stroked her fuzzy ears as she tried to wriggle in closer.

"I missed you too." He said softly. Ash looked up and grinned ecstatically at Bruiser. "It's good to see you, Bruiser! I'm sorry I haven't called you very much. We were in a bad situation for the last few weeks."

Bruiser shook his apologies off and firmly clasped Ash's forearm. Ash squeezed back against Bruiser's tight, rough skin as hard as he could. The fighting-type smiled and dipped his head before he stepped back, a ceremony that Ash repeated.

"We're going to be training for the next month." Ash explained as he scratched around Seeker's tightly folded wings. The zubat squeaked every now and then. "But I figured you two should meet your new teammates before we start tomorrow."

Seeker squeaked shyly at the thought of meeting more pokemon, but let out a contented whine when Ash comfortingly stroked her ears again. Bruiser perked up and focused in on the obvious addition of Oz. He bowed his head to the electric-type and reached out to clasp her bulky forearm.

Oz acquiesced, and actually seemed impressed with Bruiser as he steadfastly ignored the strong electric current that ran through her thick coat of striped fur. Ash smiled. It looked like they would get along, at least.

He glanced backward at Sneasel, only to hear a long, deep hiss. Ash sighed and began to reprimand Sneasel, although he identified the source of the protective noise beforehand. Seeker had tried to climb onto his back like she usually did, only to find it occupied. She scurried back onto his chest and clung on tightly.

"Sneasel…" Ash warned as Bruiser started forward with furious eyes. He didn't need Sneasel getting the snot beaten out of him by Seeker's protector. Bruiser backed off when Ash raised a placating hand, although he bared his small fangs and cracked his knuckles.

Nidoking let out a deep growl that made the ground tremble. All of the pokemon backed away at the sound, except for Torrent. It had no effect on Ash. While the growl of a Nidoking was something ingrained in every human's subconscious to fear, he'd gotten used to it by now. Besides, his friend's calls were more comforting than anything. Torrent was a monarch in his own right and cared little for the expression of displeasure.

Sneasel hissed again and dived deeper into Ash's pack, although he barely fit at this point. He'd grown a lot over the past few weeks. Ash sighed and pulled him out, although Sneasel growled in displeasure. The dark-type respected and looked up to Ash too much to try and lash out physically, however.

"Be nice." Ash commanded. Seeker fluttered away onto Bruiser's shoulder as he held a sullen Sneasel out in front of them by the scruff of his neck. "This is Sneasel. He's not so bad once you get to know him."

The dark-type growled and did his best to refute that statement, but Ash's grip and command was enough to ensure his obedience. Ash reflected that it was a good thing Sneasel was so light. He'd never be able to carry his friend like this if he was fully grown. Even now he could feel the strain in his arm.

Ash gently lowered Sneasel to the ground. Sneasel growled at Bruiser and Seeker, but didn't try anything as Bruiser knelt and looked down at the dark-type. Bruiser stared at him impassively with his dark, beady eyes but didn't do anything. Seeker chattered and tried to get an image of him via echolocation.

He glanced at his friends. Nidoking was beside Ash, his prominent fangs bared and his eyes narrowed dangerously. The powerful poison-type didn't look as though he would do anything, but was simply trying to intimidate Sneasel. Dazed simply stared with her normal bored expression. Her pendulum was held taught, although Ash's keen, practiced eyes could pick out slight vibrations coursing through it.

The trainer let the tense appraisal of Sneasel go on for a while and smiled in satisfaction when some of Sneasel's hostility evaporated. He would have to keep an eye on those three, however.

Sneasel didn't like Bruiser due to his unfamiliarity with the fighting-type and his natural disdain of anything that had an inherent advantage over him. Ash hoped that the dislike would fade away over time. It hadn't taken long for Sneasel to warm up to Infernus, although that might have to do with Infernus showing off how strong he really was whenever the chance occurred.

Bruiser didn't like Sneasel, obviously. As with most fighting-types, Bruiser had a code of honor. Most pokemon naturally distrusted dark-types, and fighting-types tended to be more wary of them than most. Dark-types rarely had any concept of honor or fairness. Only strength mattered. While a philosophy like that was understandable to Bruiser, it was detestable at the same time.

Ash was more worried about Sneasel and Seeker's relationship. Bruiser could protect himself and was clearly strong. Sneasel would do his best to avoid directly antagonizing the fighting-type, if only out of self-preservation.

But Seeker was timid and vulnerable. He would never call her weak after the abuse she had weathered underneath Team Rocket and the bravery she displayed in saving him from Golduck's spite, but she wasn't a fighter. Sneasel was attracted to weakness. It was encoded into his instincts to harass and attack her.

Perhaps that would fade over time, he mused. Seeker would be spending the month with them. While he doubted she was anywhere near ready to begin serious training, perhaps she'd come out of her shell a bit thanks to all of the contact.

Regardless, he'd have to keep an eye on the both of them. He smiled when Sneasel slunk away to Tangrowth's side and sent baneful glares at Bruiser and Seeker. While it could have gone better, he was satisfied with the events. A fight had been avoided, and some degree of acceptance had been earned.

"Let's go to bed." Ash spoke up. Most of his friends nodded their agreement, although Ash knew that some might stay up for a while. Bruiser and Nidoking certainly would, just to make sure the situation was stable and their charges were safe. Dazed couldn't go to sleep.

He sat down and took his cap and jacket off and set them to the side. His friends scattered throughout the cave, although they mostly remained close by.

Tangrowth and Sneasel bunkered down in a small corner. Sneasel was still clearly awake, affectionately wrapped up in Tangrowth's thick vines. Although he seemed annoyed by Tangrowth's physical contact, he had grown used to it. Ash smiled at him, which took some of the anger out of the dark-type's expression.

Nidoking curled up right beside him in a protective manner, of course. Ash stared into his friend's narrow black eyes as he laid down and pulled a thin blanket out from his pack. While it was hardly needed in the cavern, which was heated from the geothermic energy concentrated around Mt. Ember, a blanket was always comforting. It was odd, but it always felt nice for some reason, even in a hot environment.

He really needed to get a new one. It was worn and had a few small holes thanks to the long months of travelling. Ash had simply not cared too much before now. It got the job done and Infernus provided all of the heat he needed.

Torrent slept with his great head angled downward. He had positioned himself next to Dazed, whose eyes flashed with eerie blue light every now and then. It didn't bother Ash, who had long become accustomed to it.

Bruiser sat with his back on the stone wall a few feet away from Ash. Seeker clutched to his shoulder and hid away from the meager light cast by the bonfire, which had slowly died down. Ash smiled at the duo for the briefest instant.

Ash couldn't see Oz from his position, but from the quiet hum of electricity he judged that she had curled up not too far from Tangrowth.

He closed his eyes and tried to angle it so that Nidoking blocked the majority of the light and heat from the flames. Mt. Ember was hot enough without a massive fire thrown into the mix, even if it would be nothing but ashes and charred wood soon.

It didn't take long for him to be dragged into a dreamless abyss.

XX

Ash snapped up on his mat as an awful, earsplitting screech wracked the air. He crushed his hands over his ears and squeezed his eyes shut. The noise was literally painful. Judging from the abrupt movements he had managed to catch before he closed his eyes, his pokemon had a similar reaction.

It mercifully ended after a few seconds. He glared up at the massive form of Lance, who stood by the ashes of the bonfire with a sadistic grin on his face. A strange, insect-like pokemon with two angular wings and bulging green eyes sat beside him.

"Wake up, trainee!" Lance sang mockingly. His eyes were dark with horrible amusement. "Get going! You have five minutes to meet me outside." The Champion's grin bared his teeth as he added dangerously, "Don't be late."

Ash blinked in astonishment for a few seconds, during which Lance confidently strode outside into the bright sun. He shook his head before Lance's words set in.

"Get up!" He commanded as adrenaline shot through his system like lightning. It was rather similar to when his mother had gotten him up late for school.

Thankfully, his friends followed suit. They were struck by Lance's command just as much as Ash was, and were up in seconds. Ash quickly put on his cap and slipped into his jacket, grateful that he'd been too worn out to think about fully undressing last night.

All Ash bothered to spend time on was brushing his teeth. He'd prefer not to spend the day with the sickly sour taste in his mouth. It had been a mistake not to do so last night before he'd gone to sleep.

He and his friends were outside in three minutes, if he had to guess. Lance stood outside in the hot, humid air perfectly calm. His pokemon were arrayed out behind him. Ash counted three dragonite, Aerodactyl, a monstrous Gyarados that loomed from the ocean, a Kingdra that made Torrent look like a horsea, the gigantic Charizard whose tail flame burned a furious blue with a core of white, the strange insect, and the two small pokemon that had followed him around last night.

"Welcome to your first day of training!" Lance boomed. He gestured grandiosely to the army behind him. "These are my friends and partners."

He pointed to the group of dragonite. "You know Dragonite, Dov, and Saph." Ash nodded and waved back when the massive dragons sang their greeting. His pokemon followed suit in a cacophony of roars, hums, hisses, and grunts.

"Aerodactyl." Lance pointed at the stone behemoth, which stood at an awe-inspiring seven feet tall and probably had a wing span of about twenty feet. Ash hoped he never had to fight one in a real battle. They were astoundingly rare thanks to the expense of artificially giving them an immune system and engineering their DNA to be able to survive in this new world, but in the higher levels of training it was always a threat.

The stone beast leered at him and snapped its massive jaws together. Ash felt an urge to shrink back in the face of this ancient predator, but fought it off. He'd stared down the Cre—Mewtwo. Aerodactyl wouldn't intimidate him.

Lance smiled at him approvingly. "Magnus." He pointed to the Charizard, which snarled and spat a plume of deep blue flame into the air. It thrashed its tail furiously and seemed to try to one up Aerodactyl, who just growled at Charizard in annoyance.

The Champion rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes. You're very scary, Magnus. Anyways, there's Lev."

Gyarados roared and flailed its tail, but didn't seem aggressive. Its eyes seemed more playful than anything, although Ash had no doubt that it could fly into a destructive rage at a moment's notice. Judging from the sheer bulk it displayed, Ash assumed it would be around fifty feet in length if it was proportionate to its width. A true giant of its species.

"This is Vibrava, and those two are Bagon and Gible." Lance said with a soft smile. Ash nodded. At least he had a name for the odd insect now. He was confused as to why the Dragon Master had a bug-type on his team, though. The other two made sense. They looked like dragons.

"Where are they from?" Ash asked. If Lance used them, they must evolve into extremely powerful pokemon. Perhaps he could find one in his travels.

"Bagon's from Hoenn. He evolves into Salamence." Lance said with a dreamy look in his eyes. Ash held back an amused snort. He thought he recognized the name from a conversation with Steven. "Gible's from Sinnoh. Bagon was a gift from my old master in Hoenn, Drake, and Gible was a gift from Cynthia. She'll evolve into Garchomp"

Ash's eyes widened as he looked at the tiny pokemon, their chests puffed out in pride. He didn't recognize Drake's name, but he certainly recognized the name of Cynthia. She was the Champion of Sinnoh and recognized as one of the most powerful trainers in the world, on par with Lance or Steven. Not many could challenge Lance's team of dragons and draconic pokemon, but she was rumored to be one of them.

"There's Mael." Lance directed at the Kingdra. The old, battle-scarred creature looked down at Ash appraisingly, far more interested in him than any of the others Ash had been introduced to. It seemed to reach a decision after a while and nodded at him, which he hesitantly returned. "Now, introduce us to your team. They need to know their teachers."

"Well, that's Nidoking." Ash pointed out slowly. He quickly released Plume and Infernus, who blinked in surprise when they saw the immensely powerful group of pokemon before them. Plume looked back at Ash like he was insane, but Infernus had a maniacal glint in his eyes as flame wreathed around him. "No! We aren't fighting."

Infernus looked disappointed, but Plume looked at him thankfully before she awkwardly hopped over to his side, right next to Nidoking. The fire-type slunk over to Tangrowth and moved in close so as to make the grass-type feel uncomfortable. Tangrowth gurgled and shied away, but Sneasel snickered and shot a gust of wind at Infernus, which the fire-type didn't even feel.

"There's Plume, then Torrent, she's Dazed, Infernus, Bruiser, Seeker, Tangrowth, Sneasel, and Oz." Ash ran off quickly as he pointed his friends out. He felt a little awkward underneath Lance's cool gaze.

"Very well." Lance smiled dangerously. He snapped his fingers. All of his pokemon except for Dragonite removed themselves from the area and formed a semicircle. "Ash, your team will battle Dragonite. If you feel any aren't ready, send them over to the rest of my team now."

Ash blanched, but nodded. He had confidence in his team and knew they were very powerful, but he knew they weren't even close to being ready for this. But he had to try. "Seeker, Sneasel, go on."

Sneasel hissed in a mixture of disappointment and annoyance, but followed his orders. Bruiser carried Seeker over to Saph, who gently took the zubat from the fighting-type and placed her small fuzzy form underneath one of her wings. Ash wondered how Bruiser knew to take Seeker to Saph, but assumed that she simply seemed the friendliest.

The trainer frowned. While he didn't like splitting the team up, this was far too dangerous for an untrained pokemon to be in. Sneasel was making great progress, but he hadn't mastered Ice Beam or Blizzard. Until then he would only be a hindrance in a fight like this, unable to even threaten Dragonite. Seeker was simply too timid and untrained. Even if she was trained, the sunlight was painful to her.

"You have five minutes to prepare." Lance called out. "After that, Dragonite will attack."

Ash signified his understanding and called the team together. He had a bad feeling as they arrayed around him. Lance knew that they weren't ready for this. Why was he forcing a battle that was sure to end in Ash's loss. The Champion was firm in his belief that battling powerful opponents would make his team stronger, but Ash wasn't sure that it applied when the power gap was this drastic.

He didn't show his fear to his team. Instead he did his best to radiate confidence. "This'll be a hard fight, guys. Dragonite's by far the strongest opponent we've ever faced."

Apparently this didn't surprise any of his friends. Their expressions didn't change a bit. Ash sighed and hurriedly continued. "Nidoking, it's up to you to use Ice Beam. Try and hit the wings if it's slow enough. If it gets close, try and ram it with your horn. The scales are tough enough to keep it safe. Keep it off of Torrent."

"Plume, try and confuse it with Double Team." He continued. Both he and Plume knew that Dragonite would smack her right out of the sky without any trouble. She had to be a distraction. "If you think you can hit it with Whirlwind or Steel Wing, go for it. Try and stay away from Dragonite, though."

"Torrent, you're the main player in this fight." Ash said seriously. Torrent looked at him calmly, although a fierce passion for battle was aroused in the back of his scarlet eyes. "Hit it with Ice Beam the moment the battle starts. If you can't, shoot a Blizzard at it. Don't use Ice Storm unless I've returned all of the others. Use Dragon Pulse if it gets close."

"Dazed, try to Disable it." Ash told her. Dazed nodded and her pendulum slowly vibrated as it glowed with blue energy. He knew that Dragonite would probably break free of Disable in an instant, but perhaps it would slow it down. "Use Psychic if it gets close to the others. Keep your barriers up."

Ash turned to Infernus, whose body language suggested that he was simply delighted by the prospects of this fight. It was the next best thing to battling a Legendary. "Your fire attacks probably won't do much, but keep a steady flame on it. Try and keep it off of the others. If it gets close, use Brick Break and Teleport. Don't let it hit you."

"Grapple it." Ash told Bruiser bluntly. "Grab on and wrestle it to the ground if you can. Keep away from its elemental attacks. Dazed will protect you, but I'm not sure how well her shields will fare. Try to keep it out of the air."

"Wrap it." He commanded Tangrowth, who happily gurgled. "Hit it with Solarbeam the moment the battle begins. Aim for the joints that connect the wings with your vines. They're one of its only weak points. If you get a chance, hit it with Ancient Power."

Oz seemed just as excited as Infernus, although there was palpable tension in her body. Ash was unsure of how to command her. He'd memorized her moves, but he really didn't have any experience with her. "Start off with Thunder Wave, and hammer it with Thunderbolts. Try and line them up with Nidoking and Torrent's attacks."

The electric-type nodded seriously and began to windmill her arms. Electricity arced around her and raised the hairs on Ash's body.

"Make sure to spread out." He ordered. "Don't make yourselves an easy target. It'll take advantage of any openings."

As he finished speaking, Lance shouted out to him. "Get over here! It's not safe."

Ash nodded and jogged over to Lance. Dragonite snorted at him good-naturedly as he ran by, and Ash took a last, lingering look at his friends. He trusted that they would put up a fight. They were strong.

"Begin." Lance ordered.

Before Ash could blink, Dragonite erupted into the air. It easily sped away from the barrage of attacks his friends shot toward it as they slowly reacted to its insane speeds and casually beat its massive wings toward the group. Ash gaped as a gale powerful enough to tear a tree from its roots slammed into his friends and sent them all over the place.

Torrent managed to stay in the same position thanks to his levitation and fired off a second Ice Beam. Dragonite vanished for a moment only to appear right in front of Torrent. Ash watched with wide eyes as Torrent tried to blast Dragonite with a Dragon Pulse in an attempt to at least do some damage, but Dragonite's claws glowed bright green with draconic energy before it slashed at Torrent.

Ash winced as Torrent was slammed into the ground with incredible force. He saw Infernus fire a stream of flame at Dragonite, but it instantly vanished back into the sky. The trainer couldn't believe how fast it was. It was probably using a technique like Agility, but it was still awe-inspiring.

He grinned when he saw Plume slam into its back with Steel Wing, however. Ash looked on with horror as Dragonite was only knocked away a few feet before it retaliated with another gale of wind. Plume was swept away by the Hurricane technique and hurled toward the ground, although Ash hurriedly returned her before she made contact with the hard earth.

Dragonite held itself aloft and watched as Ash's friends scrambled to recover. Ash noted that it seemed particularly focused on Nidoking and Dazed. He could understand why it regarded Nidoking as a potential threat considering his Ice Beam, but he wasn't so sure about Dazed.

Ash found his answer when Dazed's eyes flashed and Dragonite became entombed in a prison of bright energy. It only lasted for a second considering that Dragonite casually broke out of it with a single flex, but it gave the others a chance to retaliate against the seemingly invincible dragon.

The dragon-type flinched backward as Nidoking's Ice Beam, Oz's Thunderbolt, and Tangrowth's Solarbeam slammed into it, but weathered the assault with ease. Its scales were just too tough and resistant to energy for Solarbeam or Thunderbolt to have any real effect with the amount of power put into them. Ash had no idea how it survived the Ice Beam so easily, however. Perhaps Lance had trained it to be resistant to its major weakness.

It wouldn't be surprising. While it was difficult and time consuming, it was possible. Dragon-types' general physiology made it impossible for them to completely discount the threat that ice-type attacks posed, but they could grow to tolerate it.

Ice-type attacks were generally effective against dragons for the same reason that they were effective against onix and its ilk: the sudden shock to their system was devastating. Dragon-types were coldblooded for the most part and being at such a low temperature was dangerous. Some had evolved to resist cold as a necessity, such as Kingdra in the abyss of the ocean, but for the most part they simply couldn't suffer ice-type attacks.

All of his thoughts vanished when he saw Dragonite flap its mighty wings once before it blasted up into the sky, far beyond the reach of any attack. Ash had a gnawing feeling in his stomach as his pokemon tried to prepare themselves against the inevitable assault.

Ash glanced up at the Champion and noted that Lance's lips twitched. He furrowed his brow and looked to the sky, but shouted out a warning when he saw a gold and tan blur hurtle down toward the earth.

He staggered backward as the blur slammed into the ground with a thunderous boom. Immense force ripped through the earth, and a massive cloud of dust was kicked up from the impact. Ash watched worriedly as he saw Dragonite launch itself into the air again, apparently unharmed from the incredibly powerful attack.

"Earth Wrecker." Lance said from beside him. His eyes were focused on the remnants of the battlefield. "A combination of flight, Extreme Speed and Tailwind to build up the velocity, Earthquake to impart the required force, and a Twister wrapped around the user to prevent extreme damage and/or death."

Ash's eyes widened at the sheer number of moves incorporated into the devastating technique. That was ridiculous. Dragonite must have practiced for weeks to perfect it. It took an iron will and discipline rarely found to control so many techniques at once.

"Good job, Dragonite." Lance shouted to the heavens. A long, low call was his response. He turned to Ash. "Recall your pokemon. I'll revive them."

"Why did we do that?" Ash questioned as he recalled his defeated friends. He scowled. His friends were strong, but they were helpless in the face of Dragonite. The trainer didn't like feeling helpless. It was what he had trained to avoid after the first time he'd encountered Pierce.

Lance looked down at him with a strange mix of emotions. "You needed to know what utter defeat felt like. You're like me, Ash. In my first year, I only had three legitimate defeats, each against vastly more experienced foes. I didn't even know what it felt like or how to handle an opponent stronger than I was."

Ash nodded, although he still had an ugly scowl on his face. He didn't like losing.

"Exactly." Lance remarked after seeing the expression on Ash's face. "You knew you would lose. You have a good team, but Dragonite is too far beyond you."

He knelt and met Ash's eyes with his own dark ones. "That's what I'm training you for. There won't be many opponents stronger than you by the time I'm done training you, but if you ever find one you'll know what to do. You froze up during our battle. That'll never happen again."

Ash nodded again and returned Lance's serious look. "Is this all for today?"

"No." Lance laughed and threw his head back. "That was just a lesson. There will be stronger foes out there. You know it logically, but I know that I could never really accept it. Take that knowledge and turn it into a drive to become stronger, until you're the best."

Lance turned away and looked at his team. "There are revives by my sleeping mat. Get your team up and return. Your real training will begin then."

Ash smiled lightly and ran off to the camp. Sneasel joined him, although Ash made sure to return Seeker. He choked a bit on the great cloud of dust as he ran through it, but he was more distracted by the sheer amount of damage that Dragonite's attack had done. There was an impact crater at least three feet deep and ten feet in every direction where Dragonite had landed, and there were massive cracks and ruptures in the earth as far as he could see.

He easily maneuvered around them and went into the camp with a determined expression. Ash understood Lance's lesson, but it had given him a burning drive to become stronger. His desire for strength was reignited, the candle transmuted into an inferno.

Lance had shown him what a true trainer was capable of. Ash only had a month, but he would learn everything he could from the Champion and reach the top of the world just as Lance had done. By the time the Conference came around, Ash would be ready for it.

XX

"What moves are you currently teaching your team?" Lance inquired as Ash returned. Most of the Champion's team had scattered, although each of the Dragonite, Magnus, and Mael remained nearby. The others had probably flown off to train.

"I'm going to teach Nidoking Earth Power and Mega Horn, Dazed Magic Coat and Signal Beam, Infernus Heat Wave and Thunderpunch, Bruiser Superpower, and Oz everything I can." Ash finished with a frown. "I need to work with her the most."

Lance nodded understandingly. "Very well. I noticed that you left a few of your teammates out."

"Well," Ash began, "some of my friends don't have anything useful to learn. Tangrowth has just about everything he needs, and I need the most help with Plume and Torrent. Plume has almost mastered Hurricane, but she keeps getting stuck on keeping its range and power. Torrent needs help with Draco Meteor. I've tried to help him, but nothing seems to work. He can only start the attack."

"You tried to teach a pokemon Draco Meteor? And you actually made some progress?" Lance asked with a raised eyebrow. "Impressive. I can help you with both of those moves. Draco Meteor will be simplest. Mael should be able to guide him through the motions without too much trouble."

"And Hurricane?" Ash prompted. He was glad that Lance was willing to help him. It was an extraordinarily rare and powerful move, crafted by the ancient Wataru Dragon Clan of Blackthorn City. Lance had probably been taught it the moment he'd proven himself to his clan.

Lance grinned and motioned to Dragonite, who casually landed next to him with astounding grace. Something that large shouldn't have been able to move so easily. It was a statement that applied to the Champion as well.

"I might be a Master of the dragon-type, but I have a fair amount of experience with flying-types as well." Dragonite snorted and unfurled its massive wings to validate Lance's statement. "Dragonite can help Plume master it in no time. He's already taught Dov and Saph."

Ash nodded and smiled. He went ahead and released his friends, who arrayed around him. They glared distrustfully at Dragonite, save for Tangrowth. The grass-type curiously extended vines to reach over the dragon, who acquiesced to the scan with curious eyes.

"I can't help you so much with your other pokemon." Lance admitted. "Not their techniques, anyway. I can help you train them until they're unstoppable forces of destruction, but I'm not experienced with most of your pokemon."

"That's fine." Ash replied. It was what he'd expected. Lance might know an incredible amount of information about almost every pokemon, but his knowledge of training was specialized for his dragons. It was an incredible strength, but a weakness at the same time.

Lance nodded to Mael, who levitated forward with an air of regality that made Torrent bow his head in submission. The kingdra simply exuded power and experience, shown clearly in the scars that covered its form. Ash didn't want to know what Lance had fought that actually had enough strength to penetrate the thick scales.

"Mael, Dragonite, you're staying with me." Lance commanded. "The rest of you, go spar. We need to get back into shape."

The small army signified their understanding before they rushed off. Dov, who Ash noted seemed to be even bulkier than Dragonite, albeit shorter and obviously younger, launched into the air with incredible precision, followed by a slightly unsteady Saph. Ash watched with wide eyes as Dov casually fired an Ice Beam at Saph, who barely flashed out of the way before the immensely powerful attacked shot through the area she stood.

As the Ice Beam froze its way through the air, frost converged around it. When it finally slammed into the warm water, it froze an area of thirty square feet. Ash couldn't help but blink at the sheer power behind the attack. It was no wonder that Dragonite had easily shrugged his team's attacks off.

"Dragonite, teach her Hurricane." Lance said. Dragonite slapped the Champion on the back before it launched high into the air with a single beat of its powerful wings. Ash stumbled backward, but Lance, with his greater bulk, managed to keep his footing. Nidoking propped Ash up as Plume followed Dragonite's lead.

"Mael, show Torrent your Draco Meteor."

Ash watched intently as Mael regally levitated to the beachside, where waves chilled by the large block of ice gently lapped at the sand. It raised its massive head high into the air. In an instant a small ball of intense orange energy with a core of white formed at the tip of its elegant snout and shot into the air.

He pulled his cap over his eyes as the orb hovered in the air for the briefest of seconds before it exploded. Huge comets of the energy that trailed fire and light rained down upon the water. Great columns of water exploded upward as the comets slammed into the ocean and exploded, a low roar in the ocean as it filled in the vacuum with great currents of clear water.

The iceberg created by Dov's errant Ice Beam was obliterated by a single of the comets. It shattered and the ring of ice that hadn't been melted by the initial impact split into great shards of pure white. In moments the ice submerged further, visible only because of the water's clarity. Ash knew that it would melt in a few minutes.

But he was focused more upon the sheer power Draco Meteor held. Mael might be an experienced practitioner of the technique, but he knew that Torrent could achieve the same level if given time. It would be an actual weapon against Dragonite and perfect for dealing with any opponent.

"He can do better." Lance spoke up, the silence that pervaded the air finally broken. "Mael just didn't want to cause too much damage. He is a match for Dov."

Ash nodded. It was hard to believe that Mael was holding back. That was one of the greatest displays of power he had ever seen, outside of the Creatu – Mewtwo's rampages and the Birds' elemental mastery.

"Torrent, try it." Ash commanded. It was always best for pokemon to learn from observation. The process gave them an idea of how to manipulate the energy that pounded beneath their skin. Even if Torrent couldn't perform it, he'd have made progress.

Torrent levitated next to the elder dragon and closed his vibrant scarlet eyes. Ash could feel the power normally restrained by his friend's iron will engulf the area as Torrent prepared the attack. His friend pointed his snout to the air in perfect imitation of Mael.

A sphere of energy formed at the tip of his snout, although Ash worried for a moment when it was green. He relaxed when it quickly shifted to the same familiar orange hue as Mael's, although the energy ball was much larger and obviously weaker.

He grinned when Torrent progressed to the next step of the technique and fired the energy ball high into the air. It left streaks of warm red orange in its wake until it finally reached its position. The orange ball seemed to hang in the air for a moment before it simply left Torrent's control and fell into the ocean.

Torrent seemed a bit annoyed at his failed attempt, but still eyed the destructive power he possessed with satisfaction. A huge geyser of water at least fifty feet high exploded upwards as the energy ball exploded within the depths of the ocean. There was a roar of rushing water as the vacuum was filled, and a loud spattering as the displaced water collapsed back into its source.

"A good attempt." Lance clapped. "But it obviously needs improvement. Mael, keep him going. I want it perfected within two days."

Mael nodded calmly and turned to Torrent. The Kingdra snorted something in a very dignified manner, to which Torrent dipped his head. Lance smiled and turned away before he pointed up to the sky. "It seems that Plume is making progress. You did a good job teaching her."

"Thanks." Ash said gruffly, not so used to people commenting on specific aspects of his training. "She did the work."

"Of course." Lance replied. He squinted. "She's very quick. Not the most durable pidgeot I've ever seen, nor the strongest, but she's a magnificent flier. Dragonite is having to try to keep up with her."

Ash grinned at the high praise for Plume. She deserved every bit of it and so much more.

"We'll have to work on that. You don't have any other combat fliers, do you?" Lance inclined his head toward Ash. The trainer shook his head, which brought a smile to Lance's face. "Very impressive. With actual competition she'll advance far. Pidgeot aren't quite as useful in the higher tiers of training, but a properly trained one is always a valuable asset. When they get going, they don't stop."

"I know." Ash laughed. "She hits hard with that speed. With Steel Wing she can take down a rhydon."

Lance grinned. "That's good to hear. They're popular at the Conference." He turned back to Torrent and Mael, both of whom were focused on maintaining a tiny, compressed sphere of orange energy. Ash assumed it was endurance training of a kind. "You've done well with Torrent. Given time he'll rival Mael, I'm sure. This training will give him a nice boost."

"Do you know how Draco Meteor works?" Lance questioned. At Ash's shake of the head, he continued. "It's similar to Dragon Pulse, at least in principle. Dragon Pulse tends to be a requisite move for a pokemon trying to learn the superior technique."

The Champion dipped further into his teaching persona. "Dragon Pulse is all about harnessing the energy that runs through a pokemon, focusing it, and firing it. It's raw energy. Draco Meteor is much more complicated. It involves much more energy, and controlling each individual comet as it separates from the primary sphere."

"To successfully perform Draco Meteor, one must create the same energy sphere of Dragon Pulse, but it must be amplified. It's a massive drain on the reserves, which is why pokemon that haven't been extensively trained in it tend to be much weaker for the rest of the battle." Lance explained. He emphasized his words with dramatic hand motions. "But if you go beyond so-called mastery of the technique and train until it's little more than any other powerful attack, it will be much more devastating and much less consuming."

"That is where I want Torrent at by the end of the month." Lance boomed, determination in his powerful voice. "He's strong, but not strong enough. The battles he will face against my team shall prepare him. While Draco Meteor can be made efficient, a pokemon must still possess overwhelming power to use it without being severely weakened."

Ash nodded as he paid rapt attention to the Champion's words. Lance believed that they could do it in time, and Ash would do everything he could to help Torrent reach that goal.

"For the rest of the day, I want you to hone your techniques with your other pokemon." Lance said. "We will have another battle tomorrow, against one of my other teammates. Prepare yourself. Come to me if you need my aid."

"What will you be doing?" Ash leaned forward curiously.

Lance smiled. "You aren't the only one that needs to train. This war with Team Rocket has gotten me out of practice. There's no time to train when I'm up to my ears in paperwork or leading raids against Team Rocket. Those useless grunts didn't even put up a challenge." The Champion growled, a hint of the man Team Rocket feared in his tone.

The tension eased from his face. "I apologize. I'm still a little stressed. Regardless, I'll be preparing as well. Saph and my new teammates need to be prepared for future conflict. They're still too inexperienced."

"I understand." Ash said firmly. "Guys, let's head out."

"There's an empty area not too far from here." Lance called out helpfully. "Head to the east. Come back when night falls. I have to explain some things to you."

With that they set off to find their training grounds. Ash silently wondered just what Lance wanted to talk to him about. Perhaps Lance would have talks with him like Bruno had. They had been quite informative and Bruno was a simple enough man that the words didn't go over his head. It would be nice to see the Champion's perspective.

XX

"Everyone, stay here." Ash said as they settled into the large, charred streak of land. He followed the trail of blackened earth and noted that it seemed as though a firestorm had incinerated its way through the island. That was certainly odd. No fire-type he could think of possessed that kind of power, but the burn seemed too controlled for it to have been a wild fire. "I'm equipping some of you with extra TMs. We need everything against Lance and this is the best time to learn."

He removed the TM case from his pack and selected the TMs that he'd gotten extended. Ash looked up to Nidoking. While he didn't want to distract from the attacks he would be teaching his first friend manually, Nidoking needed to learn this one.

Nidoking nodded and bowed his head as he was sucked into the pokeball. Ash, who was well practiced with teaching TMs by now, quickly inserted his pokeball into the TM case before he slid the needed TM into it as well.

The case glowed a dark, malevolent purple as the knowledge of Shadow Ball was transferred into Nidoking's brain. Nidoking already knew Shadow Claw, but he'd prefer that his friend have a way to counter psychics at a long distance.

When he released Nidoking, he quickly gave his friends the TMs he had selected to them.

Dazed received nothing. She had everything she needed to be a devastating threat on the battlefield. He just needed to improve her power and innovate some new strategies. Right now she was exceptional, but he wanted her capable of standing up to anything the Conference could throw at her.

Infernus learned Earthquake. Ash would teach him Focus Blast in the future, but right now he wanted to create a specific technique. While it wouldn't do well against Lance's dragons, it would be almost impossible for any landlocked pokemon to escape. Ash would work with him closely today, along with Oz.

Bruiser was given Focus Blast. From the looks of things he'd managed to handle his own training better than Ash could have, and there weren't any moves Ash could help him learn outside of Superpower. Besides, he needed something to hit foes from a distance. Brick Break would come later, along with Earthquake. Both would be excellent for defeating psychics and elemental pokemon.

Seeker didn't receive any TMs, of course. She was still terrified at the prospect of fighting, and Ash wanted to wait until she was mentally ready before he even thought of putting her into training. Her mind had been horribly scarred from Team Rocket's enslavement. While the League had rehabilitated her, Ash knew that the effects would never leave completely. All he could do was try and keep her happy and stable.

He taught Tangrowth Earthquake. It would be rather useful, especially in conjunction with Ancient Power. Fire-types wouldn't be such a devastating threat any more. Long range attacks were usually difficult against them, but Earthquake would knock them off their feet and destabilize their pyro sacs. Tangrowth could easily take advantage of their distraction.

While Sneasel was beginning to leave his puberty, Ash knew he wasn't ready for new moves yet. He was still too volatile. Sneasel needed to learn control first. That was what he would be working on with Nidoking while the others sparred or were personally overseen by Ash.

Ash decided to push it with Oz. He taught her two TMs instead of one, despite the potential danger. She needed some variety in her move set to guard against dangerous foes. He opted to even it out by teaching the electric-type Brick Break and Double Team. Double Team would help to keep her from taking hits, which was an imperative for Oz. She lacked the sheer fortitude Infernus possessed, although she was certainly tough.

"Tangrowth, I want you and Dazed to spar. Get used to Earthquake and Solar Beam. Dazed, focus on your shields. They need to be able to stand up against anything." Ash directed. His two friends nodded before Dazed teleported off to the distance. Tangrowth waddled after her, his red feet bright against the scarred land.

He thought for a moment. "Bruiser, go with them. Try and get used to Focus Blast. I know you aren't used to energy techniques."

Bruiser nodded and grinned. Seeker chattered after him from where she sat in Ash's pack, which was enough to protect her from the harsh sunlight of the tropics. The machoke gingerly stepped over and patted Seeker's fragile head before he headed off after Tangrowth. Ash smiled at the interaction before he returned to business.

"Nidoking, continue Sneasel's training. After you're done prepping him for Ice Beam, work on his evasion." Ash told his friend. The armored poison-type grunted and lumbered away. Sneasel hissed and dashed after him. He managed to deftly land on Nidoking's neck, just a few inches away from the spines.

"Infernus, Oz, you're with me." He stated. Both seemed pleased to have his attention. Flames lapped around his body and cast the air in a menacing glow. Ash frowned, but not at Infernus' antics. The fire-type seemed more powerful than normal, which was saying something. His flames were brighter and hotter. He could feel them from where he was, ten feet away.

Oz clasped her muscular arms behind her back and swished her striped tail around. Infernus snorted and spat a bit of smoke at her, to which the electabuzz whirred angrily and began to release sparks into the air.

Ash frowned and clapped. "Enough."

Infernus instantly came to attention and laid his focus upon Ash. Oz reacted slower, but she eventually calmed down. She kept a wary eye upon Infernus, however. It was clear that she didn't trust the fire-type. He couldn't blame her.

"Infernus, we're going to work on a new technique today." Ash explained. Infernus' eyes darkened with glee and more of the abnormally powerful flames raced up and down his powerful form. He'd have to keep an eye on his friend. Maybe Lance would have the answers. It would be bad if his suspicions of what influenced the change were true. "I need you to focus, alright?"

After the fire-type gave him an eager nod, Ash turned to Oz. She swished her tail and clasped her human-like hands behind her back again. "I never got the chance to use you in a normal battle. Today, I'm just going to get a look at what you can do."

Oz whirred in understanding. Ash turned to Infernus. "Do you think you can use Earthquake perfectly?"

Infernus nodded and lightly stamped his burning foot against the ground. Ash stumbled backward as tremors ran throughout the scorched earth but managed to catch himself. It was clear that Infernus hadn't put anything behind the attack. At least he knew that Infernus didn't need to practice Earthquake first. The fire-type always had been a fast learner.

Oz whirred in annoyance and swished her tail rapidly as the Earthquake made her trip. She bared her large fangs and lightning erupted in arcs from around her body. An electric current ran through her fur and the sharp scent of ozone pervaded the air.

Ash sighed. "That's enough, Oz. You two can fight each other later. For now I need you to get along."

The electric-type shrugged and backed down, although she still glared at Infernus in dislike. Ash suspected that the two would work out their problems on their own eventually. Their species were similar, as were their personalities. From what he'd seen of Oz so far, she was used to being the best and strove to become stronger through any means necessary. A perfect rival for Infernus, even if it was evident that the fire-type was stronger.

At the very least it was less intense than the way Nidoking despised Oz. He hadn't done anything overt and probably wouldn't do anything to destabilize the team, but the fury he had for her was a slow poison. Ash would have to work on it during this month. Oz would be a good addition to the team. Nidoking needed to get over the protectiveness he felt for the trainer, at least in this case.

"Oz, come back with me." Ash ordered as he started moving away. He could see Nidoking sitting down in front of Sneasel along with his other friends' battle in the background. It looked like Bruiser was holding his own. Tangrowth had a few vines in tatters and was having to lash out to prevent the fighter from getting in close.

When he and Oz were about three hundred feet away, Ash shouted out to Infernus. "Earthquake, then Lava Plume! Blow it all up!"

Even from this distance, he could see Infernus' eyes light up with delight. If the fire-type could have smiled, he no doubt would have had a maniacal grin all over his molten face. Infernus roared and spat a huge stream of disturbingly powerful white flame hundreds of feet into the air before he followed Ash's commands.

Infernus leapt up a few feet off of the ground before he slammed back onto the earth. Flames exploded around him as the world shook and split apart from his power and furious will. The fire-type stamped once more on his island of crumbled, blackened earth.

Ash watched with a wide grin as the earth groaned in response. Smoke suddenly leaked out from the deep crevasses, the only warning before lava exploded out of the earth and landed all over the field. It glowed dangerously as the molten stone oozed out over the surface, but Infernus simply roared and made a few hand motions before it was slowly pulled back into the deepest parts of the earth, although a thin layer of it remained on the surface. Infernus roared again and clenched his fists in order to force the lava to harden and cool.

By the time it ended Infernus stood triumphantly atop a heap of hot, blackened stone that filled in the holes his earthquake had created. The fire-type roared one last time and spat yet another intense stream of flame into the air, a pillar of fire that was like a beacon to the entire island.

Perhaps he'd have to come up with ridiculously destructive techniques more often, he mused. Infernus seemed to be happy with it and had picked up everything even faster than normal. It seemed that he was actually interested in this technique, which Ash decided to call Earth Burn. Perhaps not the most creative name, but it summed it up quite well.

Earth Burn was more devastating than it appeared, which was saying something. The Earthquake would knock down or stun most pokemon, which would leave them completely vulnerable to the true attack. Most trainers would instantly recall their pokemon should the battlefield be enveloped in lava and deep fissures. Those that wouldn't either had exceptionally strong pokemon or flying-types.

He wasn't so sure of its legality in an actual League match thanks to the potential dangers, but it would be useful nonetheless. Ash would just ask Lance about its validity when he got back. While most pokemon would easily survive it thanks to their natural toughness, with such a destructive technique it was best to stay on the safe side.

Aside from the obvious dangers of the Earthquake, fissures, and lava, the sheer heat that would be produced by the lava would be enough to knock out most pokemon in a short time, even if Infernus cooled the lava as he had just done.

"Good job, Infernus!" He shouted happily. Infernus responded with another exultant blast of flame to the sky. Ash smiled and looked around. Most of his friends were looking at Infernus with astounded and sometimes fearful looks. "Everyone, get back to work! It's just a new technique."

They didn't listen immediately, a testament to their shock, but eventually they followed his commands. Ash still had a silly grin on his face as he called Infernus over. He'd have to wait a few hours until he could safely go onto the hardening lava. Dazed could probably remove the heat from it, although he usually used Torrent for jobs like that.

"That was great!" Ash exclaimed when Infernus slunk his way over, his body still wreathed in pure white flame. He would be lying if he said that Infernus' boost in power wasn't disconcerting. There were only a few things he could think of that would make Infernus that much more powerful.

Mt. Ember would certainly make Infernus stronger, but not to this degree. He hadn't gained this much strength even inside the Cinnabar Volcano, although Ash would have to pay attention when he had Infernus work more on his physical power. Ash would have to ask Lance just to be sure.

"We're going to keep on working on that, but I need to see what Oz can do right now." Ash told his friend. Infernus snorted a plume of smoke and shot a derisive glare at Oz. She whirred back, although she didn't create arcs of lightning. Oz looked at Infernus with something resembling respect, although Ash could catch a glimpse of challenge in her angled eyes.

"I only got to see you in the Storm." Ash said to Oz. She nodded and clasped her hands behind her back. "Show me just how strong you are."

Oz nodded and closed her large eyes. She unclasped her hands and began to windmill them furiously. Energy crackled in the air and arcs of electricity surrounded her in an aura of stormy light. Ash watched carefully as she suddenly released all of the harnessed power in an immense bolt of electricity that split the air and caused a great thunderclap to roll through the earth.

Ash smiled. It was quite impressive, although it looked to have tired out Oz. They could work on that. Without the Storm and Zapdos fuelling her, she wasn't nearly as overwhelmingly powerful as before. She was still more than powerful enough to deserve a spot on his team, however, and he would do his best to make sure she felt the power given to her by the Storm again. This time, though, it would be earned, not given.

"Again." He ordered. Oz straightened up and nodded. Electricity ran through her fur as she prepared another blast.

It would be a long day.

XX

"Are you ready?!" Lance shouted with a dangerous grin. He swept a calloused hand through his red hair before he snapped his fingers. "Magnus!"

Magnus plodded forward on its two legs and roared. Ash, who had been waiting for this battle ever since he had gotten back from training with his friends, grinned. Torrent and Plume were both weakened from their earlier beat down at Dragonite's hands and the harsh training they had been put through during the day, but both were more than willing to fight.

"You have five minutes!"

Ash nodded and turned to his pokemon. "Magnus isn't as strong as Dragonite, but don't let your guard down. Nidoking and Oz, hit it with Thunderbolt. Dazed, shield the others and Disable it if you have the opportunity. Plume, harass it with Hurricane and keep it annoyed. Stay behind it if you can. Torrent, if it slows down enough use Hydro Pump. Otherwise do your best to neutralize its flames."

His friends signified their understanding, although Nidoking's eyes were narrowed and slightly glazed at the news that he'd be aiding Oz. The others knew their place. Ash turned to the others, who wouldn't be quite as useful in this fight.

"Infernus, intercept its fire breath every chance you get." Ash directed. "Bruiser, be careful. Only get into the battle if you have no other choice. Stay away from it and only use Focus Blast. Tangrowth, hit it with Ancient Power. Try and trap it if it lands and only use Earthquake if the others are already unconscious."

Infernus roared, Bruiser nodded and grinned with his reptilian face, and Tangrowth gurgled and waved his arms around happily. Ash smiled and patted Tangrowth and Bruiser on their shoulders. "I know you'll do your best. Be careful, alright?"

When most of his friends assured him that they would, Ash went over to Lance's side to watch the battle. Dragonite loomed behind them, the great dragon's eyes locked onto Magnus as the fire-type snapped and thrashed his orange tail around.

"You don't seem to mind staying out of this one, Sneasel." Ash observed as he reached into his pack to let Seeker out. Now that it was dark she didn't have to worry about the sun's painful rays. He smiled when she instantly latched onto his back, although Sneasel's presence forced her to huddle into his chest instead.

Sneasel hissed and spat a puff of frosty air before he pointed at Magnus. Ash noted with a frown that his claws extended right as his paw neared Seeker, although it wasn't close enough to potentially injure her.

Nevertheless, Ash laughed. "I thought you could take on anything. Are you afraid of Magnus?"

The dark-type hissed back a retort. Although Ash couldn't understand it, he figured it was something venomous. "I know. I was just playing."

Sneasel growled and hugged tighter onto his back. Ash rolled his eyes and looked up to Lance. "My friends are ready."

"Good." The Champion smiled. He adjusted his cape before he dramatically pushed his arm out. "Begin!"

Magnus took off with amazing speed. The Charizard was almost as fast as Dragonite. Ash nodded in satisfaction when he saw that each of his friends were more prepared this time.

Plume dashed up into the sky amazingly fast. She easily carved her way through the air and flapped her wings once. Ash's eyes lit up when a powerful gale of wind slammed into Magnus' side, although the monster of a Charizard was only forced a little to the right. It responded with a huge blast of flame, which Plume was barely fast enough to dodge.

While Magnus was distracted, Nidoking and Oz struck. Both Thunderbolts were quite powerful and capable of easily knocking out lesser creatures, but Magnus weathered it without much trouble. It simply blasted the duo with an immense stream of flame in return before it decided to fight for real.

Ash winced as the immense stream of blue flame struck its targets, although he managed to steal a glance at one of Dazed's shields springing forth in front of Nidoking and Oz before the blue fire, even brighter in the twilight, shattered it. He sighed in relief when he saw that the shield managed to protect Nidoking and Oz from the worst of the damage. They were obviously hurt, but they'd keep fighting.

As Magnus ripped through the air and bombarded the clearing with impossibly powerful blue flame, Nidoking and Oz separated from each other. They hadn't had the time to before.

It was then that the rest of the team entered the fray. As Oz and Nidoking did their best to strike the immensely powerful fire-type with electricity, Torrent suddenly began to fire several Dragon Pulses and Hydro Pumps. None of them struck the fire-type, who was visible in the darkness only because of its intensely bright tail flame that left a streak of fire in its wake, but it forced it to dodge.

More attacks joined the fray. Magnus was forced into an impressive display of aerial acrobatics as the glowing silver spheres of Ancient Power, huge Flamethrowers, Thunderbolts, Torrent's barrage, and the odd Psybeam lanced toward it. Plume did her job well. The Champion-level Charizard was unable to respond to the attacks, although it liberally bathed the world in flame as it evaded the assault.

Ash grinned. It looked like even something as powerful as Magnus couldn't stand up to a coordinated assault by six powerful pokemon at once. It was amongst the most powerful pokemon in the world, but it was only mortal.

For a while he simply watched. His friends kept up their barrage, despite the trials they had already been through. He was proud of them. Magnus probably wasn't going all out, but it wasn't going easy on them either. Being out of practice probably hurt Magnus' efforts as well.

He glanced up to see Lance's reaction, but was puzzled when he only saw a slight grin. Lance looked almost dangerous in the red light of Mt. Ember, the peak of which burned high above them.

It didn't take long for Ash to realize why Lance was smiling. Magnus let loose an incredible roar that instinctually made him want to run away. He might have gotten used to Nidoking's roars, but a Charizard's was an entirely different story.

Ash's heart sank when Magnus' tail flame suddenly grew to engulf nearly a quarter of the great beast's muscular tail. It fell even more when the flame shifted from a dark blue into a purely white inferno.

Magnus roared again, and this time fired an immense blast of flame with it. Pure white fire bathed the world as it flew past at an incredible speed, although Magnus paused its path of destruction when Plume used Quick Attack in conjunction with Steel Wing to slam into the beast's side.

The Charizard was sent tumbling through the air by the sheer force behind the blow, but effortlessly recovered and launched itself into motion before Oz and Nidoking could fire their Thunderbolts at it again. As it was, Magnus narrowly avoided another volley of attacks led by Torrent's Hydro Pump.

Ash winced when he heard a loud squawk that could only be Plume's. He knew what happened as Magnus flashed by at a strangely slow pace. It shot a blast of ordinary flame into its small arms before it dropped Plume's huge body, nothing in comparison to the magnificent specimen of a Charizard, onto the ground.

He instantly recalled it and only had the time to look up before Magnus continued its ruthless pace. It swooped down where Ash knew Tangrowth and Bruiser to be hiding and fire a tiny, albeit intensely bright, fire ball straight at them. One of Dazed's shields erupted in front of them, but the fire ball easily incinerated it and struck the duo.

The trainer went ahead and recalled the two, well aware that there wasn't even the faintest hope of victory now. Magnus was done playing.

Magnus roared again and suddenly vanished as wind whistled through the air. Ash's eyes widened as he realized that the Charizard had used Tailwind. He could hardly believe it. Plume had likely been using a weak version of it to improve her speed during the fight, although the quarters were too tight for her to take advantage of the full powered version, and Magnus had still kept up with her.

He saw a brief flash of psychic energy before it was overwhelmed by fire. Ash sighed and recalled Dazed. An instant later it passed by the Champion and Ash again. The trainer managed to spot a tiny ball of ordinary, condensed flame in front of its mouth before Magnus vanished, traceable only by its bright tail flame.

When he saw two bright lashes of flame that struck two separate areas at once, as well as two flashes of lightning in return, Ash went ahead and recalled Nidoking and Oz. If they weren't unconscious, they still weren't up for fighting. They'd barely weathered the first stream of flame when Dazed had blocked the majority.

Ash heard the regal cry of Torrent as the dragon-type fearlessly levitated out into the field. He angled his snout up to the air and created a Dragon Pulse. Torrent easily held it in place and fuelled it with power as he waited for Magnus to strike. The Charizard had vanished into the shadows of the night sky, untraceable even by its tail flame.

And then there was an explosion of incredibly bright green energy. Ash covered his eyes and looked away as the deafening explosion occurred. He sighed when he looked back.

Torrent was lying unconscious, prostrate against the ground. Magnus stood above him. The Charizard was obviously breathing a little hard, but didn't seem too badly injured by the immense explosion. Ash wondered just what it would take to defeat one of Lance's pokemon. They were impossibly powerful. He had a long way to go.

He tore himself from his thoughts and recalled Torrent. When he looked up at Lance, the Champion had a smile on his face. "Your team did well. Revive them and come back. We have a lot to speak about."

Ash nodded and made sure Sneasel and Seeker were holding on tight before he left for the cave. Whatever Lance had to say, he wanted to hear it.

XX

Twenty minutes later, Ash found himself standing next to the Champion. Lance had taken him to one of the few high points of the island outside of Mt. Ember, a large, jagged hill that didn't appear to be natural. His dragons flew around him, although both Bagon and Gible sat down obediently next to the Champion's feet.

His friends were arrayed around him as well, tired and sore from their battle with Magnus, who tauntingly spat a few small streams of flame into the sky every now and then. Plume circled with the dragons and lazily drifted through the air. The rest were behind him on the outcropping. Most of his friends had collapsed to the ground to try and get a bit of rest.

"Do you know why I chose Mt. Ember to train at?" Lance broke the silence as he stared up at the burning peak of the mountain and the great inferno that glowed from within. "It's out of the way, you know. Mt. Silver would have been more convenient, even if getting into the Sevii Islands isn't too hard thanks to Lorelei."

Ash shook his head and just listened intently. Lance would give him the answers.

"It's all because of what happened at Viridian City." Lance continued, still focused upon the red glow that illuminated the night sky. "Mewtwo destroyed us. If Giovanni hadn't been interested in saving your life the Indigo Elite Four would have been massacred."

He scowled at the mention of Giovanni. Ash didn't know why the traitor had been saved his life, but he didn't like it. At least he could take solace in the fact that Giovanni was probably nothing but ashes now, destroyed by the abomination he had helped to create.

"I was desperate and angry once I'd healed." Lance said darkly. His eyes blazed at the reminder of what Mewtwo had done to him and his team. "It had been a long time since I'd encountered something that outclassed me. While I had the League prepare for Team Rocket, I had a few teams search for anything that might be able to stop Mewtwo. We weren't able to."

"It didn't take too long before we came up with the Legends." The Champion frowned and tightened his hands. "After we saw what Mewtwo did, we thought that the only thing that could stop it was Mew or one of the Legendary Birds. The problem is, no one knew where to find them. We knew they were real, but they've always hidden from humanity in the deep places of the world."

Ash's mind flashed back to Articuno and its shrine in the heart of the Seafoam Islands and Zapdos in the center of its apocalyptic storm. He scowled and gazed at Mt. Ember, where the inferno dwelled deep beneath the surface. It looked like Lance had confirmed his suspicions.

"We found what we thought was Articuno not too long ago, while you were in the storm." Lance shrugged. "Not that we managed to make contact. We just noted a massive blizzard going toward the Ore Mountains. Any psychics that got within a mile of it were put into a catatonic state, but they woke up a few minutes after it passed." The Champion's lips curled upward. "We decided to leave Articuno alone after Sabrina advised us to stay away. When she intervenes, it's wise to listen."

After recalling the reactions of the psychics to him after he'd seen Articuno, Ash wasn't surprised. Sabrina was confusing, but he'd gotten that she didn't like to meddle in things outside of her influence. She would only do something if she knew that people would be hurt.

"And then Brock sent us the report about Zapdos. A bit late, since the Rocket HQ had already been reduced to rubble, but at least we felt like it could fight Mewtwo if it ever comes to that." Lance explained. "But Lorelei told me where we might be able to find Moltres weeks before Articuno was a blip on our radar. I just abstained from looking."

"Why?" Ash asked with a furrowed brow. Lance wasn't the kind of person that would wait to address a threat like Mewtwo. If Ash had learned anything about the man at all it was that Lance would do anything necessary to protect Kanto.

"There was never enough time and I didn't trust anyone else to come here." Lance shook his head with a sigh. "I didn't understand how powerful Legends were until I got the news about Zapdos, but I knew that none of the other members of the Elite Four could stand up to Moltres. My team is resistant to fire and to be honest, I'm much stronger than the others."

Ash looked at Lance with wide eyes. He knew that Lance was the strongest of the Elite Four thanks to his position as Champion, but he hadn't thought it was anything dramatic. But Lance spoke as though he was far beyond even Agatha.

Lance caught Ash's disbelieving look and laughed. He finally looked away from Mt. Ember. "I'm not bragging. My team is powerful. Dragon-types have the most raw power, and combined with the kind of training I've put them through they're practically indestructible. It takes a lot to put one down, although Lorelei has the best luck with it."

"Anyways," Lance began as he returned to their former topic, "I just noted its location. Lorelei told me to stay away from it, but I'm not the best at listening." The Champion laughed. "I looked up some of the legends of the Sevii Islands. It mostly matched up to everything else I'd heard about Moltres."

He looked at Lance interestedly. Ash had always liked hearing about myths and legends from his mother. They were interesting and showed a world that had long gone, replaced by this new world of steel and innovation. "What do you mean?"

"Everything I've read claimed that Moltres has always been a friend of humanity, less temperamental than Articuno and less prideful than Zapdos. When it still flew the skies, it brought comforting warmth and sunlight in its wake. When humanity grew, it hid itself away for fear of destroying us and forced its siblings to do the same. " Lance recited and stared hard at Mt. Ember's unnatural flames. "It, along with Ho-Oh, gave fire to humanity and gave its immortal flames to us as a symbol of its trust."

Lance frowned. "I'm not sure how much of it is true, but the League torches give credence to the latter claim, at the least. There's no record of where they came from other than the old myths. Regardless, I felt that Moltres would be the most likely to help us against Team Rocket."

"The others wouldn't have helped." Ash affirmed. Articuno had been hostile and destructive, all the icy fury of a blizzard stirred up by its awakening. Zapdos had seemed more apathetic than anything. It would have let its storm consume Kanto had it decided to ignore Ash's attempt to force it away.

"The others?" Lance mimicked with a suspicious, narrowed gaze. "What do you mean? Did you see Articuno as well?"

Ash blanched and opted to tell the truth. He trusted Lance more than almost anyone else. "I went into the Seafoam Caverns a few months into my journey. After a few days I reached the bottom level. Articuno woke up and attacked me, but I got away."

Lance sighed. "You get into far too much trouble. I admit that a lot of things happened in my first year of traveling, but I didn't run into any Legends. I'm not sure if that's a blessing or not."

The trainer shrugged, and Lance just shook his head in a mixture of amusement and disbelief before he went on to finish his story. "Anyways, while I dealt with Team Rocket I just made sure to keep Mt. Ember in mind. After Team Rocket was broken and I got the news about the Storm, I decided to change training locations."

He furrowed his brow. Lance had heard what Zapdos was capable of. Why would he have sought out Moltres? Perhaps he wanted to see if he could convince the Legend to fight the Creature should worst come to worst. Ash couldn't think of any sane reason to seek out the Bird.

"Why are we here?" He asked. Ash wanted to know why Lance thought this was a remotely good idea.

Lance's eyes brightened with a gleeful shine as he answered. A wide, child-like grin split the man's face as he raised one finger. "One: Mewtwo is still out there and I won't just let it destroy us."

He raised a second finger. "The tales speak of Moltres battling the strongest of trainers as a test of skill. We're going to challenge it!"

Ash blanched and looked at Lance as though he were insane. If the Champion was actually serious about challenging the Bird of Fire then that assumption may have been true. "What."

The Champion rolled his eyes. "We're going to battle Moltres as a final test. By then you'll be as ready as you ever will be and I'll be up to par. The legends of the Sevii Islands only say it is a test of strength. It won't hurt us."

He didn't say anything, but relaxed. Ash knew the kind of power the Legends wielded. There would be no victory against Moltres. But he couldn't dissuade Lance from attempting, not yet at least. Perhaps he would manage it sometime over the next month. If not he would have to go. Moltres was said to be more benevolent and closer to humanity than the other Birds.

"It's getting late." Lance remarked after a period of silence. "We should return to camp. Tomorrow is when your real training shall begin."

Ash nodded and gazed at Mt. Ember's burning peak for a few moments before he recalled of his friends save for Seeker and Sneasel. The dark-type gleefully ran throughout the night, although he was slower than usual. It looked like the heat and humidity of the island had begun to take their toll on the ice-type.

Seeker fluttered through the night, although she made sure to come back to Ash every few seconds so as to make sure he was still there. Ash assumed she just didn't trust her echolocation for whatever reason. He made sure to smile at her whenever she flew by. It was nice to see her again. He'd never gotten to spend quite as much time with the zubat as he would have liked.

He felt a bit uneasy as he walked through the darkness, which was banished by Mt. Ember's mighty blaze. Ash knew the source of the unnatural light, and now the other oddities he'd noticed made perfect sense.

The oddly high temperatures, the inferno that pulsed from within the dormant volcano, the boost to Infernus' power – they all came together. A Legend roosted atop Mt. Pyre's peak, a great avian entity of flame, a primordial force so powerful that it had hidden itself a way for the good of humanity.

And he would be fighting it, at least if he couldn't convince Lance otherwise. Ash knew he would be incredibly strong by the time he was done training with the Indigo Champion, but he wasn't so arrogant as to think that he would make any difference in the outcome of the fight.

Ash sighed inwardly and followed Lance. He made sure to keep an eye on Sneasel as they walked through the night. It wouldn't do for Sneasel to try and attack anything, especially not if he took a potshot at one of Lance's pokemon. That…wouldn't end well.

As they headed toward camp, Ash prepared him for the next day. Today was probably just a warm up so that Lance could figure out what Ash needed help with. Tomorrow would be the true challenge.

XX

He had guessed correctly, Ash groaned to himself as he collapsed on the flat stone of Mt. Ember. After their battle earlier in the day, which Dov had won as easily as Magnus had the night before, Lance decided that Ash and his team needed more physical conditioning. The obvious solution to that problem was to climb the easier parts of Mt. Ember.

All of his friends were out with him, even Seeker. She stayed in his pack, although she could flutter out at a moment's notice should he fall. Every now and then he would hear her chattering. When they reached a place to stop so that Ash could catch his breath he would scratch her ears and pet the tiny zubat.

The incline wasn't so steep as to keep his friends from being able to traverse it, but it was certainly a challenge.

Nidoking had difficulty climbing at all thanks to his species having evolved for flat plains and grasslands. He pushed through, though, and used his immense physical strength to tear the area apart if he needed to make another path.

Plume couldn't climb, but Lance wouldn't take pity on her. She flew with them, but Lance had set Dov after her. The draconic behemoth certainly wasn't going at its full speed and didn't try to actually harm Plume, but she was pushed to her limits. Ash suspected that her constant use of Agility and Quick Attack, along with a sustained Tailwind, tested her strength more than climbing the mountain did for the rest of the team.

Torrent didn't have much trouble. He could easily levitate up the mountain, although every now and then he had to destroy a rock that jutted out of the mountain in order to pass. His levitation wasn't particularly developed. The dragon-type had to push himself to get to a greater height.

Dazed could have easily teleported from place to place, but she was wise enough to save her energy. She shuffled along with the rest of the team and only teleported when her frail physical form would be unable to traverse the harsh land. Ash could see that it was beginning to put a strain on her. Combined with the humidity and heat, the exertion had left her yellow coat a sweaty mess.

As he had expected, Infernus was doing incredibly well. His humanoid figure meant that he could easily climb over obstacles and the increased strength he gained from being in proximity to Moltres meant that he easily ripped his way through the landscape and left small piles of molten rock and burnt vegetation wherever he stepped.

Bruiser did just as well. His superhuman strength and endurance meant that he easily kept pace with Infernus. If he didn't want to stay behind with the rest of the team he could have been done with the entire mountain by now. Ash felt a little jealous at how Bruiser made this rather demanding exercise look like a joke.

Tangrowth had little to no trouble. He was a resilient soul and if he ever got tired he could easily pull himself upward with his powerful vines and arms. The grass-type carried Sneasel around when the dark-type got tired and bored, although Ash's reprimand forced Tangrowth to put down his charge. Sneasel had hissed at Ash in annoyance for that, although he stopped trying to hitch rides on others and sucked it up.

Much to his surprise, Oz kept up with Infernus and Bruiser. She didn't have their superhuman endurance, but Oz refused to let Infernus beat her. Ash didn't think she would be much use in the battle with Lance that night, but he was glad to see that she was pushing herself. While Infernus hadn't been forced to work harder in order to be dominant in their rivalry it was doing wonders for Oz.

He took a swig of water and rubbed at his aching thighs, but yelped in surprise when a stream of flame blasted toward them. It was rather weak and clearly meant to startle them rather than do damage, but it did its job perfectly. Torrent reflexively doused the blast with a Water Gun.

Magnus grinned at them nastily as the monster of a Charizard flew by. It bared its fangs and launched itself through the air with renewed speed. Ash saw Plume flash by not too far from them, Aerodactyl hot on her tail. She suddenly blurred and Ash lost sight of his friend.

"Get moving!" Lance shouted at him as the Champion climbed back down to the flat area. He had claimed that he was out of shape as well, but Ash wasn't seeing it. The Champion didn't even look tired, even though they'd alternately run and climbed up the massive volcano's shell for at least half an hour. "We don't have all day!"

Ash grimaced and stood up. He had thought himself to be in good shape thanks to his long months of traveling, but he had sorely overestimated himself. This was killing him.

"Oh, come on." Lance snorted as Ash scowled. "There's not much more. The tunnels aren't too far from here."

"Tunnels?" Ash remarked as he and his friends renewed the climb. Lance hadn't told him much of what they would be doing today, outside of battling. He knew that they would have two battles a day for the rest of the time they trained.

Lance laughed. "Yes, tunnels. They run everywhere through Mt. Ember and there are quite a few powerful fire-types that call them home. They're pretty powerful at the moment, and it's up to you to fight through them. I'll show the way back."

"And after that?" Ash panted as he pushed himself up another ledge. There had been more as of late.

"We train." Lance said flatly. "This is to build endurance. You're too young for me to train for real, but I can get you into shape. Besides, you'll get closer to your pokemon by working with them personally. It's not really a problem for you, but that's the greatest thing I can teach you. That is how you progress as a trainer."

Ash nodded in agreement before he grunted again. Nidoking carefully pushed him up over the next ledge before the poison-type shoved his claws deep into the stone and yanked it out, which left an open way for the others.

The Champion casually clawed his way up from ledge to ledge, further ahead than any of Ash's friends. His cape blew dramatically as he looked down on Ash from a higher point. As they climbed higher the wind grew fiercer and more common, although it was still perfectly safe.

He reminded himself to tell Lance about the capes at the Celadon Department Store later. That would take his mind off of the horrible soreness he'd feel.

"And after we train, we battle." Lance grinned. He helped Ash up to the ledge when the trainer struggled. Ash nodded at Lance with thanks before he placed his hands on his knees and panted. The trainer moved over so as to allow his friends room. "Well, here it is. You'll see this cave a lot, so remember it."

Ash stared dubiously at the tiny crack in the mountain. He'd expected the entrance into the tunnels to be larger. Hopefully it was bigger on the inside. If it wasn't than his larger friends would have no hope of fitting.

"Dov, let Plume rest until we get out of the tunnels!" Lance yelled as Plume and the dragon blurred by. Plume suddenly appeared on the ledge and practically collapsed, her body overcome with the strain of evading the powerful dragon. Ash rushed over and ignored his tired limbs as he supported the massive bird.

"Are you okay?" He murmured as he kept Plume from falling down. Her large eyes met his and she nodded, but not before she affectionately nipped at his shoulder. Ash winced, but couldn't hold back his smile. "Good. You stay here and rest. I want you ready later. I have a technique for you to learn."

Plume cooed and nuzzled Ash before he had to leave. Lance was waiting. He took one last glance before he recalled most of his friends and followed the Champion into the tunnels.

The first thing he noticed was the heat. It was hot outside and had grown even warmer as they went up the mountain, but it was nothing to the oppressive hotness of the tunnels. It nearly took his breath away. He felt himself begin to sweat even more, a feat he had thought impossible.

"You'll get used to it." Lance assured him once Ash had looked around the cramped quarters. The tunnels were larger than they appeared from the outside, but it would be a tight fit for the six foot tall Nidoking or his other large friends. Considering that they would just end up in the way of each other's attacks, Ash decided to leave them in their pokeballs.

Only Infernus, Oz, Torrent, and Dazed were left out. Ash recalled Seeker before he examined his friends. Infernus, as expected, seemed extremely happy and energetic to be in the horrifically hot environment. As odd a comparison as it was, he almost seemed like an excited child.

Oz's fur was sweaty and matted, but she refused to give in while Infernus was still out. Lightning arced through her coat. If she didn't have such a resistance to electricity it probably would have amplified the pain somewhat. Water conducted electricity well, or at least the impurities within it did, but sweat was just as good.

Torrent, as expected, weathered the heat without difficulty. He regally glanced at the others and saw that they were suffering from the horribly hot air of the tunnels. The water-type snorted – in a dignified manner, of course – and held his head high.

"Dazed, could you protect us from the heat?" Ash panted. Dazed, who looked very unfamiliar with her sweaty fur and red eyes, nodded. Her eyes flashed a bright blue. Ash sighed in relief when some of the heat was taken away, although it was still plenty hot. She'd made it bearable. "Thank you."

Infernus growled in annoyance but didn't do anything. He just slunk forward and searched for any other signs of life in the tunnels.

"That's much better." Lance remarked, still unfazed. He nodded at the tunnel to his left. "Let's get a move on. We've got a lot to do today."

Ash nodded and resolutely stepped forward. The sooner they got out of here the better.

XX

Their first encounter with a fire-type pokemon began with a group of six slugma, led by a large magcargo. They sedately slid past the group, apparently unaware of their presence. One slugma glanced up at them with its large eyes but just warbled strangely before it moved on with the rest of the herd.

Ash looked at them oddly. They should be attacking them in some form of berserker rage. It was something he'd found at both the Seafoam Caverns and in the depths of the Storm. Whatever power the Birds' presence granted to the pokemon nearby seemed to drive them insane with rage. He didn't trust the slugma, even if they were being placid.

"That was anticlimactic." Ash remarked once the slugma had left the area. "Normally the pokemon around the Birds are –"

He was cut off by a jet of flame that harmlessly washed over a shield Dazed hastily erected. Ash's eyes widened when what had happened actually registered. That flame had been aimed straight toward him. Although it wasn't blue or another odd color, it would have been more than enough to incinerate him.

It seemed that his friends realized that too. He was rather glad that he'd opted against releasing Nidokign when his team turned toward the new threat with fury in their eyes. Oz didn't seem too upset, but Ash couldn't blame her. They hadn't gotten a chance to know each other yet.

Ash could barely believe his eyes when he saw an absolutely massive Magmar standing not too far from him. Its eyes were narrowed with annoyance when it realized that it hadn't killed its target. The trainer scowled when he realized that two more magmar appeared behind it.

That was odd. Magmar were a loner species. They only worked together to address a larger threat, and even then it had to have caused immense damage. The species was simply too treacherous to work well with others most of the time. For the larger Magmar to have gathered those two meant that it was probably on the cusp of evolving into a Magmortar.

It made sense, he mused as he met the leader's eyes. Magmar evolved from living in or near volcanoes or other similarly hot places for years. Mt. Ember might be dormant, but it had a Legend that dwelled within. That was probably a suitable replacement, although there might just be lava deep within the volcano.

"Torrent, use –"

He was interrupted again as each of the magmar spat huge streams of flame toward him. Dazed's shield cracked underneath the titanic power placed into the attack by the empowered fire-types, but it held. Torrent hurriedly levitated in front of Ash just to be sure. The dragon-type was more than willing to place himself in harm's way for the trainer.

Lance moved to stand beside him. Ash watched with horrified eyes as he saw Infernus step forward. Fire wreathed down his body, flickering blue with the power of his anger. Infernus roared with hatred in his lungs and spat flames with a core of white at the others of his species.

Ash could barely see through the haze of fire and smoke, but the trainer was able to make out the three magmar rushing forward to attack Infernus. He felt a bit of worry for his friend, but he trusted Infernus to defeat the magmar. The fire-type was able to keep up with Nidoking with a type disadvantage and at a lower evolution.

Infernus didn't bother with another stream of flame. He simply moved in close with speed only achievable within a volcano, although his brethren reacted with similar swiftness. The two smaller magmar slashed at Infernus with their wicked claws, but Infernus simply snarled and dispatched both of them with a punch to the throat. Fuelled by anger, he was far too fast for either to dodge.

The larger Magmar was as fast as Infernus and blasted the area with another fire ball before the two powerful fire-types engaged. Ash lost the two of them as their natural camouflage activated in the burning environment, but he had to feel worry for Infernus. Magmar was clearly no push over.

While their fight felt as though it lasted forever to Ash's anxious gaze, in reality it was less than half a minute of furious blows and slashes. In the end he saw Infernus emerge from the flames with a deathly furious expression, although it calmed when he saw Ash unharmed.

"Good job, Infernus." Ash congratulated hoarsely. He glanced down at the magmar in worry. The two weaker ones looked to be barely breathing and a hot, glowing substance drained from their throats. He paled when he realized it was the magmar substitute for blood. Magmar was even worse off. The huge fire-type was beaten and covered in the glowing liquid and was barely breathing.

"He's rather brutal. Quite efficient, though." Lance noted, unfazed by the damage to the pokemon. The Champion smiled when he saw the fear in Ash's eyes. "Don't worry, magmar are tough. It takes a lot more than that to put them down, especially in a volcano. They'll be up in a few hours."

Ash unconsciously sighed in relief and stepped forward. "Let's get going, then. I don't want to be in here much longer."

Lance nodded and led the group through the tunnels, the layout of which he had apparently memorized. Ash figured that he'd been in here during their raid on Knot Island. The Champion had mentioned that the Rockets had congregated around Mt. Ember.

He stopped thinking as he moved through the tunnels. All he needed to think about was getting out of the horrifically hot environment. Ash wanted to get back to mundane training and avoid whatever life threatening fun Lance had in store for him.

XX

A week of similarly brutal training later, Ash found himself sitting on the rocky high point with Lance again. It was still light enough to train, so his friends were practicing their techniques before they fought another of Lance's team.

Ash grinned when he thought of his progress so far. During the third day of training, Torrent had finally mastered Draco Meteor. He was still working on his control, but he was able to perform the move without fault. Now all he had to do was learn to use his energy more efficiently. It was a more daunting task than it sounded, but Ash knew that he could help Torrent to achieve it.

He was working on a new technique with Plume, although he didn't have a name for it yet. Her endurance and flying skills had already improved quite a bit thanks to Lance constantly setting his dragons after her, although Ash suspected she now had an undying hatred of the Champion.

Nidoking had helped Sneasel with his control training, but he'd done quite a bit of work with Ash as well. Ash hadn't made much progress on Mega Horn or Earth Power before now, but he suspected Nidoking would have both moves mastered in a week or so.

Mega Horn would be invaluable against psychics. Although Nidoking already had Shadow Claw and Shadow Ball to combat psychics, an additional weapon was always useful. While it wouldn't work as well as if an actual bug-type used it, it would still break a psychic's concentration and power.

Bug-types tended to be the best type of pokemon for facing psychics aside from dark-types. They didn't have energy from another universe coursing through their every cell, but they turned a psychic's own strength against them: their mind.

Most pokemon and humans had similar minds. They thought in the same way. Psychics could take advantage of that and intrude upon their thoughts or alter their perceptions. Bug-types were different. They had alien mindsets.

Some were part of a so-called hive mind, others had different outlooks or organs that were radically different from the norm. Psychics couldn't handle that and instinctually shied away from bug-types. They were simply unable to comprehend their consciousness, and trying to read a bug-type's mind tended to completely shatter any attempt at concentration and thus their power.

Bug-type moves weren't as good as the real thing, but they mimicked the presence of a bug-type. Psychics would scramble over themselves in an attempt to get away from Nidoking, even if they logically knew that they could easily fight the poison-type.

Earth Power was simple to learn, although it required fine control Nidoking hadn't quite mastered yet. It was similar to Earthquake, but focused upon a specific line instead of an entire area. Giovanni had used it quite adeptly in their gym battle and Ash wanted to achieve the same results.

Dazed had made progress on Signal Beam. It was astoundingly difficult for her to learn. She had to utilize the same sort of power that bug-types did, which tended to distract her and neutralize each of her attempts. Ash was understanding, though, and did his best to help her. To use Signal Beam went against all of Dazed's instincts.

Ash had Infernus working with Oz. The two didn't like each other in the least, but they were willing to help each other to learn the moves Ash had planned for them. Oz was invaluable for teaching Infernus Thunder Punch, which he had picked up with ease, and Infernus had managed to teach her Fire Punch in the same amount of time.

Now he had them sparring with each other. It wasn't exactly fair to Oz since Infernus was much more powerful thanks to Moltres' presence, but she held her own. Ash had made sure to restrict Infernus from using Earth Burn, of course. He didn't trust his friend not to use it if he got angry.

They seemed to tolerate each other better now, or at least respect each other's strength. Oz was no pushover, even when Infernus was empowered.

Ash sighed. If only the rest of the team got along so easily.

Nidoking still despised Oz, although the sheer exhaustion the training had put on him kept the poison-type from displaying it quite as vehemently. He glared at her every chance he got, though. Ash figured he would make them work together for a few days. If Nidoking didn't get over it by then he'd have to speak with his friend.

Bruiser still seemed as though he would break every bone in Sneasel's body given half the chance. Sneasel hadn't tried anything, but he had plenty of fun intimidating Seeker and threatening her. Ash had told him off, but relied upon Bruiser to prove his strength to the dark-type. That would force Sneasel to get over his problems.

Quite a bit of his time had been spent with Bruiser. The fighting-type had been fruitless in his efforts to learn Superpower, although he had the basic concept down. Superpower essentially relied upon manipulating the energy within the body to vastly enhance one's physical strength.

Thanks to Bruno's training, Bruiser was capable of accessing the life energy within himself with ease. Training with Focus Blast over the last week had only assisted his control. Superpower was a notoriously difficult technique to learn, however, and Ash knew that it would take a lot of work to acquire it. Knowing it was one of the signs of a well-trained Machoke or Machamp.

Ash assigned Tangrowth to help with the others' training. His vines and use of Ancient Power provided excellent mobility training, along with target practice. It was much easier to create an endless supply of stone and earthen walls than to constantly destroy the finite supply of boulders on the island.

He knew that he'd grown much stronger since he arrived. Each of his friends were more powerful now. Aside from their harsh forays into the tunnels and brutal battles with Lance's unstoppable pokemon, just having time to do nothing but train did wonders. When they were all put together it added up to quite a bit of progress.

"You've come a long way." Lance observed. Ash lazily glanced over. He didn't want to expend the energy to move. They'd had a very long climb today and Lance had his team attack every now and then, just to keep them on their toes.

"Thanks." Ash replied drily. "You probably would have kicked me off the island if I didn't."

"I'm talking about in general." Lance waved his remark away with a laugh. "You've only been training for what, eight months now? Not many people become as strong as you have in that time. I can only think of a few."

Ash looked over at Lance curiously. Normally Lance explained some way to maximize his training, or gave him advice on how to handle his pokemon. Sometimes he spoke of how they would try to defeat Moltres or inform him of going-ons in the League. This was different. "Who?"

"Me, for one." Lance grinned. "Steven, Cynthia and a few members of the Elite Four are others."

His eyes widened at that. Lance must really think he and his friends were powerful to even consider comparing him to the other Champions and some of the greatest Masters in the League.

"I won the Silver Conference my second year of training." Lance said, lost in nostalgia. "My first year I was in the Top Eight. Dragonite and I were the best that had been produced by my clan since my grandfather, the elder of the Wataru."

"Top Eight?" Ash marveled. That was incredible. Anyone deemed worthy of entering the Conference was highly skilled, but it was in the Finals that the most powerful trainers showed themselves.

Lance cracked a grin and reclined against Dragonite, who was curled up beside him. "I wasn't too happy with myself. I lost to some guy with a full team of ice-types designed specifically to counter me. Crazy old man had way too many pokemon to draw from."

"Anyways," Lance hurriedly got back on topic, "I expect you to do better. Top Four, at least. I reached the Top Eight without any training like this. You have as much potential as I do, and I want you to surpass me one day."

The trainer looked at Lance oddly. He couldn't even imagine equaling the Dragon Master. While his team was able to hold their own against Saph or Magnus for a few minutes now they were nowhere near ready to fight them one on one. It took all six just to counter them.

"Don't look at me like that." Lance rolled his eyes and lazily propped himself up. "You've got the potential. You just need to harness it and never let up. Fight for your power and you'll go far."

Ash nodded. "I will."

He was quiet for a few minutes as he digested the fact that Champion Lance, the Dragon Master himself, the Master of the Indigo Plateau Elite Four, thought that Ash could surpass him. Ash knew that he was skilled, but he didn't think it was that Lance thought so highly of him.

The trainer tightened his fists. He would do his best to reach the lofty goals Lance had set for him, no matter what. He'd do his mother and Professor Oak proud. Maybe that battle with Steven would be on relatively even grounds one day.

"Don't worry too much." Lance broke the silence. He looked at Ash seriously. "Keep your mind on it and work for it, but don't let the drive to become stronger consume your being. It's lonely at the top, Ash. I didn't know that."

Ash nodded and contemplated the Champion's words in silence. Lance had given him a lot to think about.

After a while Lance looked up at the sky and saw Mt. Ember in all of its majesty. A grin curled up the Champion's lips before he met Ash's eyes again. "C'mon, let's go. We haven't gotten enough battling in today."

Ash's eyes lit up and he got to his feet. Battles against Lance weren't so painful anymore. At the very least he couldn't defeat Ash in just a few seconds. They'd gained a lot of experience and knowledge about fighting aerial combatants from these battles.

He whistled and called Seeker's attention. After a few moments the tiny zubat fluttered over to him and latched onto his shoulder. She nuzzled him affectionately as he made his way down the rocky outcrop. Ash lightly stroked her fur as he began to run over strategies in his mind.

By the time he reached his friends, he had a rough strategy for any opponent Lance would send out against them. He didn't bother coming up with one for Dragonite. Lance hadn't sent the awe-inspiring creature out since their first day training. All of the others had been used except for Aerodactyl.

Ash communed quickly with his waiting team. Lance had given him less and less time each day. It didn't have too much of an effect by now. They knew what they had to do and his team worked well together. All of them could put aside their dislike for each other during battle.

He trotted back over to Lance after two minutes and grinned with Sneasel and Seeker as the battle between his team and Lev began. Ash watched with narrowed eyes as the monstrous Gyarados began the battle with a ruthlessly powerful Hyper Beam that turned everything in its path into molten slag.

The trainer smiled when Lev was instantly struck by two Thunderbolts, both much more powerful than when they had first come to train. Their exercises were paying off.

Ash lightly patted Seeker and watched the rest of show, proud at how far he and his friends had come. They were actually holding their own now, even if Lance's pokemon were still exponentially more powerful. It wasn't butchery as it was before.

Perhaps they'd actually beat one of the Champion's teammates by the end of their training, Ash mused. That would be amazing.

XX

"Great job, buddy!" Ash cheered as Nidoking stamped on the ground. A winding fissure lined with bright golden light carved its way through the ground. It slowly widened until it was large enough for a golem to have fallen through. "I knew you could do it!"

Nidoking grunted happily in return and stamped down again. This time he aimed Earth Power toward Infernus, who roared loudly and spat a huge stream of flame into the air in annoyance as he fell into the shallow pit. He effortlessly leapt out and shot a small fire ball at Nidoking to repay the ground-type.

The poison-type grunted as he slid backward from the force, but didn't attack in turn. He was too level-headed for that. Ash figured that Nidoking had expected an attack in return for his prank regardless.

Infernus just snarled at Nidoking again before Oz blasted him with a Thunderbolt. The fire-type roared and spat a Flamethrower at her, which the electric-type dodged with incredible speed. Both were quickly engaged in a duel of fire and lightning, both of the powerful pokemon seeking the edge.

Ash grinned at that. Infernus and Oz still disliked each other with a passion but had learned to work together. They enjoyed battling the other too much to simply cease contact, plus Ash had the duo training together most of the time. It had done wonders for them. Being able to beat each other into oblivion took most of the venom out of their interactions.

He suddenly frowned and glanced toward Nidoking, who had started to try Mega Horn again. Nidoking had made quite a bit of progress with the difficult technique over the past weeks and he expected his friend to perfect it in a few days.

Earth Power had been learned without too much difficulty. He hadn't devoted nearly as much time to teaching it to Nidoking over the last two and a half weeks as he had Mega Horn, but it was still important to learn. A controlled ground-type technique like Earth Power could be exceedingly useful when dealing with physical fighters.

Although the training was incredibly difficult, Ash couldn't express just how glad he was to go through it. Lance had taught him more than he had thought possible and had made him and his team stronger. They could even do some real damage against Lance's pokemon now, although his team was always handily defeated in the end. At least Lance's pokemon had to fight for it now.

Ash looked to the sky when a shadow swept over him and blurred out the waning sun. He instantly recognized the shadow's owner to be Dragonite. As he waited for Dragonite to land next to him, Ash took a few gulps of water. Moltres didn't affect the environment as radically as Articuno or Zapdos did, but Mt. Ember's island was noticeably hotter and brighter than Knot Island. He had to drink constantly to stay hydrated.

Dragonite didn't take long to land. Ash and Nidoking turned away as a cloud of dust was kicked up and waited for it to settle somewhat before they looked back.

"Hey, Lance. Hey, Dragonite." Ash greeted. Nidoking grunted at Dragonite, who waved and gave a low, deep cry. Lance leapt off and easily landed on both feet.

"Ash, Nidoking." Lance nodded. He inspected Nidoking, whose thick hide was slightly charred thanks to Infernus' irritated blast of flame. "Did you have him training with Infernus?"

Ash shook his head. A slight smile split his face. "No, it was an accident…kind of. Nidoking deserved it."

Lance cracked a smile as Nidoking growled in denial. "I see. Anyways, I just wanted to tell you to head back to the camp right now. We're cutting it a bit early tonight. Tomorrow is going to be nothing but battling."

"Really?" Ash questioned disbelievingly. His friends could barely handle two fights a day. Devoting an entire day to nothing but battling Lance's horribly powerful pokemon would leave them sore for a week. Well, it would if Lance hadn't brought such a ridiculously huge supply of revives and other medicines.

One potion Lance had brought accelerated the healing process without leaving pokemon weak and sore for a day or so, a great improvement over most potions. Most simply enhanced healing to incredible levels, but the process took an enormous amount of energy from the pokemon and weakened them. Eliminating that side effect was an incredible feat and helped Ash's training along immensely.

"Yes, really." Lance rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, though. We're still going to battle tonight. I want you up to par for tomorrow. I'm going to accelerate your training. We only have a week and a half or so left before I have to return to Indigo Plateau."

Ash nodded seriously. "I understand." His tone grew slightly hopeful. "You aren't still planning to battle Moltres, are you?"

"Of course I am!" Lance laughed boisterously. He absentmindedly ran his fingers through his dark red hair as he grinned dangerously. "It's the ultimate test of strength! It'll be fun."

When Ash still didn't look convinced, Lance rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't be such a Steven. This'll be the greatest experience of your life! How many people have battled a real Legend?"

"Not many." Ash admitted. He continued drily. "Probably because most people have the sense to avoid that. Articuno wasn't too happy to see me and Zapdos knocked out all of my pokemon without even trying."

"I'm not saying it won't be difficult." Lance pointed out. "In fact, we'll probably get our asses handed to us. None of the legends speak of anyone coming back a victor. But the experience of seeing and fighting Moltres will be worth it! You'll be ready to stand next to me by the time we ascend Mt. Ember."

Ash smiled and nodded, although he was still rather worried about the consequences of challenging the Bird of Fire. Lance hadn't faced the Birds before. They weren't as malicious as Mewtwo, but they were no less dangerous. Moltres seemed to have a connection to humanity and didn't greatly affect the world like Articuno and Zapdos did, but Ash had no doubt that it would fight them all the same. Perhaps it wouldn't try to kill them, but it would be extremely difficult all the same.

"We can discuss this more later." Lance resolved. He looked down at Ash. "Just get back to the camp soon. You'll need all the rest you can get."

"Understood." Ash replied seriously. The Champion looked at him searchingly before he leapt onto Dragonite's massive back and took off. He was gone in seconds.

"Nidoking, could you call the others?" Ash requested. Nidoking nodded in response and looked up to the sky. He roared as loudly as possible, a great, powerful sound that made Ash cover his ears. Even then it still rattled his bones with the strength behind it.

When Ash looked around and noted that most of his friends were coming, he smiled at Nidoking. "Thank you."

Nidoking grunted and affectionately patted Ash on the shoulder. Ash patiently waited until all of his friends arrived before he began the walk back. Lance had told him to avoid transporting his friends in pokeballs while they were training. Every bit of exertion counted.

Along the way he made sure to tell them of the trials ahead. Only Infernus and Oz didn't wilt a bit when Ash told the team that tomorrow would be devoted exclusively to battling Lance. They enjoyed fighting the most, although Ash suspected Oz was only so passionate about it so that she could one up Infernus.

He just snorted inwardly with amusement and focused on the rugged and overgrown path that would take them to the camp. His mind was already buzzing with strategies.

XX

"Why do you never use Aerodactyl?" Ash inquired after the battle that evening. Lance had sent out Dov, who was just as brutal of a fighter as Magnus. The dragonite enjoyed stalking and crushing the members of Ash's team one by one, although he took quite a few hits in the process. He paid for his arrogance much more than when they had first started, although his tough armor was enough to keep the dragonite from taking any real damage.

Lance turned to him sharply. The Champion clearly hadn't expected that question. "What?"

"You never use Aerodactyl." Ash stated. "You've used all of your pokemon against my team except for it. Sneasel spends most of his time training with Vibrava, Bagon, and Gible now. But you never even use Aerodactyl to train Plume."

The Champion frowned thoughtfully and glanced up at the night sky. Ash followed his gaze and picked out the forms of Dragonite, Dov, Saph, Magnus, and Aerodactyl darting through the warm air. Each playfully fired beams of energy and flame that could reduce a house to smoking rubble at each other.

"Aerodactyl doesn't play well with others. She's a fossil pokemon." Lance finally said, as though that resolved everything. When Ash's inquisitive expression clearly told the Champion that it didn't, Lance continued. His tone slipped into the voice he used whenever he was teaching something to Ash.

"Aerodactyl is a pokemon, but she's not like any other you're likely to meet. Unless you start hanging out with Steven a lot more." He added as an afterthought. Ash leaned forward interestedly. Sneasel growled from within his pack as he was woken up. "Fossil pokemon are a miracle of science. Cloning is a tricky art in itself, as Blaine will tell you for hours if you give him the chance, but that's the simplest part of bringing ancient pokemon back to life."

Lance stared at the black rock they sat on, which was only distinguishable from the night because of Mt. Ember's blaze. "Scientists had to engineer and repair the DNA they found from fossils. It's impossible to get DNA that old and still have it in perfect condition. They had to pick up the scraps and make a clone feasible."

"Blaine actually did it, you know." Lance remarked drily. "It was back before that crazy old man hid away in the volcano. He headed the Cinnabar gym and the Cinnabar Institute and practically invented the field of cloning. Aerodactyl was one of the first successful clones. They gave her an immune system and a bunch of other additions that I don't know that much about." The Champion admitted.

Ash's eyes widened. He'd heard that Blaine was a genius, but he hadn't realized the man had been that involved. All he'd gotten from Surge during their journey was that Blaine had been involved with cloning research. That was incredible.

"She's still way too much for any other trainer to handle, so they gave her to me as a gift when I became Champion." Lance explained. "Aerodactyl has trouble listening until you prove yourself to be much more powerful than her, and she's still difficult to control. She's my last resort in battles."

"How dangerous is she?" Ash asked interestedly. Aerodactyl was obviously powerful to be on Lance's main team. She was terrifyingly fast, could easily weather most any attack, and had the physical strength to crush most opponents without a thought. Those were just physical attributes, though. It was a mindset that made one truly dangerous.

Lance gave him a grim smile. "She's like Sneasel, but much more vicious. If something's not part of the team, she sees nothing wrong with ripping them limb from limb. They're food and potential threats. I only let her out as a last resort or when I'm dealing with Team Rocket." The Champion grinned dangerously. "She's only allowed out in normal battles when whatever she's fighting is strong enough to fight her off. Needless to say, that doesn't happen often."

"I can only imagine." Ash commented drily. "Have you ever had to use her in an official match?"

"No." Lance admitted with a laugh. "I've only had two challengers since I became Champion. None of the others had the right team to make it through the rest of the Elite Four. Neither got past Dov."

Even though he knew how powerful Lance was, it was still odd realizing how much stronger than he was than the others of the Elite Four. The immense amount of time and energy required to properly raise a tiny Dratini into a magnificent Dragonite had paid off well for Lance, as had the years growing his other pokemon to nearly the same level of power and skill. Not even Agatha could contend against him.

"When did you use her, then?"

"Against Cynthia and Steven. I haven't battled Wallace yet." Lance shrugged. "It's been awhile since the Champions got together, though. Team Rocket ate up too much of my time."

Ash could only imagine how destructive those battles would be. If they could fight on equal grounds with Lance then they probably had to battle miles away from civilization before they could use their full power.

They were quiet after that. Ash hadn't expected to learn so much from the Champion, although the knowledge was appreciated. It was power in itself. Besides, it was fascinating to learn more about the efforts required to resurrect ancient pokemon into modern times.

On his part, Lance seemed to be deep in thought. His eyes seemed far away as they stared up at Mt. Ember and the inferno that erupted from its peak.

Ash began to run over scenarios in his mind about tomorrow. They'd probably go through a hefty supply of revives, but Ash wanted to see if he could defeat one of Lance's pokemon in the process. It would be a nice outcome, even if it probably wouldn't occur.

Still, it was something to hope for. Ash would just have to work hard.

XX

Three days before they would have to leave for Kanto, Ash and Lance were locked into a battle. Or, rather, their teams were. Ash only fought with four pokemon since Lance wanted to challenge him further. The Champion had released Saph, who had adapted quite well to her new form over the last month.

Ash grinned as Plume smashed into Saph's large form with Super Speed. He hadn't perfected the technique he'd begun to work with Plume on around two weeks ago, but this was something he'd created in his spare time.

Super Speed wasn't very exciting or revolutionary, but it got the job done. It was essentially a combination of Agility, Tailwind, and Quick Attack. Quick Attack wasn't very powerful, but when it was boosted by Plume's own mass and the velocity acquired through sustained use of Tailwind and Agility it was devastating. Even Saph was forced away by the powerful attack.

Nidoking shot an Ice Beam toward Saph, but she flickered out of the way with Extreme Speed. The Ice Beam, which was rather powerful and left a large swathe of frosty air in its wake, sheared its way through the air and far into the horizon before it vanished.

Plume squawked as Saph blasted her with Blizzard and began to free fall through the air. She recovered and entered Super Speed in order to avoid any other attacks from Saph, who expertly dodged a Thunderbolt from Oz and an Ice Beam from Torrent. Ash winced when Saph suddenly used Extreme Speed and easily caught Plume, who was instantly knocked out as Saph shot a second Blizzard at her.

Ash quickly recalled Plume as she fell to the ground, clearly unconscious. She'd done well, and he told her so as he clipped her pokeball onto his belt. He quickly looked to the battle. Lance didn't let him command during these mock battles, but he liked to see how his team did. It let him correct flaws later.

When they had days full of nothing but battling Lance let him actually command his team during their battles. They were to build up his actual skill in commanding his friends, while these battles were to show how far his team had progressed in skill and strength.

He scowled as Torrent's Dragon Pulse missed Saph by mere feet as she exited Extreme Speed. One of the most annoying aspects of battling Saph and the other dragonite that Lance commanded was their sheer speed, which was boosted considerably by the techniques he taught them. It made them almost impossible to hit. Plume and her astounding speed was the only real counter he had.

Ash waited for his friends to adjust to Saph's speedy tactics. They'd learned what to do to put the dragonite off balance. If they couldn't hit her with precision attacks then they would have to use an attack so large and powerful that Saph couldn't help but be consumed by it.

The trainer grinned as Nidoking and Oz began to cover for Torrent. Whenever Saph slowed down she was bombarded by Ice Beams and Thunderbolts, although none of them hit. She was incredibly fast even without Extreme Speed and had the endurance to keep the game up for hours.

They weren't trying to hit her, though. All Nidoking and Oz were trying to do was distract the powerful dragon-type. Torrent was their real player.

Ash was rather glad that they'd managed to put aside their differences during battle. He'd had Nidoking and Oz work together for the last week and the ground-type still despised the electabuzz. It was odd. Nidoking was normally much more level headed than this. He wasn't known for keeping grudges, especially not after Ash had talked to him about his irrational hatred more than once.

He put that out of his mind when he saw Torrent spew huge amounts of frozen air from his snout. It settled around him in a dense fog of frost, but was immediately uprooted and pushed into motion when Torrent twitched his rear fins.

Torrent was instantly consumed in an immense twister of ice. The Ice Storm exploded upwards until it reached at least a hundred feet up into the air. It wasn't very draining compared to Draco Meteor, which was why Ash hadn't opted to go with the exceptionally powerful technique. He wanted to make sure Torrent could use it efficiently before utilizing it in a real battle. Right now it still acted like a dragon-type Hyper Beam.

"I hate that technique." Lance grumbled from beside him. The Champion looked annoyed. "Saph isn't experienced or powerful enough to just blow it away yet. Torrent can keep it up through anything she throws at it."

Ash grinned at the Champion. Sneasel snickered and climbed higher onto Ash's back so he could see Torrent's incredibly powerful ice and dragon-type combination better. Seeker was with Bruiser today since he wasn't fighting. She was probably huddled close to the fighting-type to stave off the cold.

Saph tried to go around it, but the Ice Storm suddenly grew ten feet larger in every direction and caught her in its grip. The dragonite gave out a low, powerful cry as she was yanked into the icy twister, but managed to break free of the dangerous storm moments later.

He could tell that the shock to her system from the freezing air had slowed her down. Saph was still incredibly fast, but she seemed more sluggish than usual, which was the entire point. His friends knew that Ice Storm wouldn't be more than an annoyance for the powerful dragon-type, but it weakened her for a while.

Nidoking took advantage of her weakened state first. He reared back and launched an exceptionally powerful Ice Beam straight into her chest. His aim had improved quite a bit thanks to their time training.

Oz followed his example mere moments later. She windmilled her arms quickly to produce more electricity before a Thunderbolt blasted out and slammed into Saph, which stunned the damaged dragon-type. The force behind the blast of electricity forced Saph to brace herself.

As Saph slowed down, Torrent released his hold on the Ice Storm and opted for his own Ice Beam in return. Ash shivered slightly as all the heat in the area seemed to drain away for a moment before the Ice Beam shot toward Saph. The heat returned almost immediately, as though the attack had never happened.

Ash shot a look at Lance, who seemed rather impressed with the team's progress. While it was still four-on-one against the weakest member of Lance's team, doing this much damage to one of the Champion's pokemon was a new event. His friends had come close a few times, but this was the first time that victory seemed in sight.

Saph suddenly vanished into a blur. Ash winced when he saw her suddenly appear in front of Oz before the ordinarily friendly Dragonite smashed the electric-type with the back of her claws. Oz was instantly floored, although Saph was caught with another of Nidoking's Ice Beams before she flickered away.

Nidoking was next. Saph, who was visibly slower despite her renewed strength, flickered in front of the poison-type and blasted him with a huge gale of icy air barely recognizable as a Blizzard. Ash winced, but grinned when Nidoking charged through the ruthlessly powerful attack and clawed the dragon with Poison Jab. She took an Ice Beam to the back moments later, courtesy of Torrent.

Despite his efforts, Nidoking collapsed to the ground. Saph was already moving slower, however, and Ash suspected that her injuries and Nidoking's powerful, quickly acting poison was taking its toll on her.

Torrent had gotten the gist of her newfound strategy now and simply closed his eyes. He raised his snout to the sky and formed a huge sphere of bright orange energy. The dragon-type shot it high into the air, and Ash grinned when the orb seemed to hang there for a few moments.

Ash would normally be annoyed that Torrent had decided to use Draco Meteor, which took far too much energy to be efficient in most cases, but he realized that this was all or nothing. Torrent had one chance to defeat Saph.

He clenched his fists tightly. Saph had activated Extreme Speed again and was practically invisible. Ash could only catch the shortest of glimpses of the powerful dragon-type in the form of a golden blur.

Saph moved so fast that he didn't even see her appear behind Torrent with glowing claws. She must have been too badly injured and weakened to use anything other than Dragon Claw. It was one of the simpler dragon-type moves.

As she made to slash into Torrent and knock him unconscious, Torrent's eyes snapped open. He must have detected her presence somehow. Ash grinned wildly as the bright energy sphere that hung in the sky suddenly separated into a dozen smaller spheres and shot toward Saph like controlled comets. Streaks of energy burned in their wake as they slammed into Saph's general area.

Although only two actually hit Saph and one actually hit Torrent, proof of his lack of control, it was sufficient to defeat Saph. Torrent was knocked unconscious moments later by a second misaimed comet, but Ash had a wide grin on his face nonetheless.

"We won!" He shouted ecstatically as he pumped his fist and jumped into the air. Ash's heart was pounding with excitement as he took in the reactions of his other friends. All were just as excited as he was, even Sneasel. Seeker seemed to have no idea what was going on at first, but Bruiser grunted something to her and she began to squeak happily as well.

When he had calmed down somewhat, Lance stepped forward with a proud smile on his face. "Good job! I honestly didn't expect you to beat me yet."

Lance's smile suddenly morphed into a grin as wide as Ash's own. "I think you're ready."

Ash's joy was suddenly replaced with unease, but he nodded in reply. By now he understood that Lance wouldn't be dissuaded. After everything Lance had done for him this past month, the least he could do was accompany the Champion to his challenge. It was hardly the most dangerous thing he'd done on his journey if the legends of Moltres were true. "I understand. I'll do my best."

"Trust me, I know that." Lance said, a hint of pride in his voice. He looked at the pokeball that held Saph. "Whether we win or lose up there, know that I'm glad that I trained you. You're living up to your potential, and I can't wait to see you flatten the competition at the Conference."

The trainer smiled embarrassedly. He still didn't know how to handle the Champion's praise very well. It was different from anyone else's. Lance was someone he had looked up to since he was a toddler. The Champion was the ultimate defender of the League, a hero.

Ash knew Lance better now and knew that he was just a man, albeit a great one. But Lance was still the Champion, and it felt odd to receive praise from one of the most powerful trainers in the world.

"When will we go up?" Ash asked quietly.

"Two days." Lance replied immediately. "You've come far, but you should get every last bit of training you can before we do something this big. It's a once in a life time opportunity. I want you to be at your best for it."

The trainer nodded and looked up at Mt. Ember contemplatively. It was hard to believe that he would be ascending the hallowed peak soon, much less that he would challenge a true Legend, not the mockery of one that Mewtwo was.

"Let's get going." Lance spoke up with the grin Ash had come to fear. It normally accompanied Lance's more painful training exercises, such as going into the unbearably hot tunnels or for a long climb while Dragonite shot weak Hyper Beams at the group every now and then.

His fears were confirmed when Lance's gaze drifted up to the area of the mountain that held the tunnels. "We've got some climbing to do. Go revive your pokemon and meet me by the foothills."

Ash inwardly groaned but did as Lance bid. He'd gotten used to the harsh temperatures and the climbs that sapped his strength, but it would never be something he looked forward to. But he needed to do his best. The end of his training approached.

XX

"Get on Saph." Lance told him after Ash finished with his lunch. This morning they hadn't done very much, but had spent the time alone except for their pokemon. The Champion had them do a few light exercises before lunch, but that was only to get the blood pumping.

Ash nodded as he finished off the last of his sandwich. He wiped the crumbs off onto his dirty pants and stretched a bit before he walked toward Saph, who awaited him on all fours. Her tail swished excitedly and her eyes were alit with anticipation.

All of Lance's pokemon seemed excited. Ash couldn't say the same thing about him. He felt like he was going to throw up. The trainer wasn't used to being nervous, but he had seen the power the Birds held. Ash couldn't imagine fighting that, no matter how much stronger he became. Zapdos' mere presence was enough to nullify his friends' attacks.

Despite his apprehension, he climbed onto Saph's back and held on tightly. Lance waved at him from his position on Dragonite's back before he suddenly whistled. All of Lance's pokemon that could fly were outside of their pokeballs, a veritable army.

He clenched on so tightly so Saph's hard scales that his hands turned white. Ash had already taken off his cap, so he didn't have to worry about it being torn from him by the wind. The trainer could feel the wind whistling through his hair as Saph launched into the air after Lance and Dragonite, her speed incredible even at the relatively sedate pace she flew at.

Ash dared a look at the ground hundreds and thousands of feet below. He stared at the forests and the long, charred strip of land that he had spent so much time training on. The trainer took in everything one last time before he looked up.

Mt. Ember passed rapidly beside him. They had taken a steep angle, although it wasn't so steep that Ash felt as though he were in danger of falling. He spied a few pokemon on the dormant volcano's harsh cliffs as he sped by, but they were moving too fast to identify them as anything other than blurs of color.

In a few more seconds they launched high above the peak of Mt. Ember. Ash looked down and took in the mountain that he would soon fight a Legend upon.

Most of the peak was covered with a thick layer of black stone, but he spotted a huge chasm that lead deep into the volcano's heart. Fire was visible from within, although it wasn't at the height or intensity it was at during the night. Since he didn't see Moltres anywhere, he assumed that it slumbered within the volcano itself.

Above the roar of the air, Ash heard Lance call something out. Whatever it was, it caused his draconic team to angle downwards after him. The trainer put his hands underneath the overlapping scales to get a better grip as they shot down to the black stone. He felt slightly sick as he watched it rise up toward him.

Saph suddenly cut most of her speed away and landed lightly upon her large hind legs. Ash groaned as he leapt off of Saph, although he thanked her before he did so. It was no wonder that Steven had complained about flying with Lance.

He looked around and noted that most of Lance's pokemon appeared uneasy. The Champion had released Gyarados, Mael, Vibrava, Gible, and Bagon. Ash knew that Vibrava, Gible, and Bagon wouldn't be fighting. They were hear to watch.

Ash could feel that Moltres was nearby. The air pulsed with restrained power, as though Moltres was trying to keep itself weak. It was almost as hot as the tunnels, but much less humid. That was a relief, at the least.

"Take a moment to rest, Ash." Lance said as he walked over. He sounded like an overexcited child now that they were finally about to challenge Moltres. "We have all the time in the world now."

"I'm okay." Ash said a few seconds later. His stomach settled pretty quickly, and he went ahead and released his friends. Nidoking took in the surroundings and laid his ears back, aware of the presence of something far beyond himself.

Plume cooed softly at Ash before she looked around warily. Her eyes narrowed at Lance with dislike before they continued her scan. Ash stroked her glossy crest to try and comfort her, but she remained tense.

Torrent had a similar reaction as Nidoking, although he kept himself more composed. Nevertheless, the dragon-type levitated over to Ash and rumbled worriedly. Ash patted his friend on the chest and whispered, "It's alright. Everything's going to be fine."

Ash had to admit that he didn't like seeing Torrent or Nidoking afraid. It was antithetical to their beings. They were monarchs amongst their kind, the ultimate protectors and most powerful fighters. He had only seen them afraid when he had been in danger.

Dazed's pendulum began to vibrate furiously the moment she was released. Like the others she stayed close to Ash, although she didn't need any reassurance from the trainer. Ash nodded and smiled at her, to which she smiled at him in turn with her expressive eyes.

Infernus growled happily when he was released. His black eyes seemed to pulse with energy as he stood at the top of the world. He snorted flame, which was pure white and much more powerful than it was even at the base of the mountain. Ash wouldn't be surprised if he was capable of taking on one of Lance's pokemon with that kind of power at his command.

Bruiser cracked his knuckles and looked at Ash with worry as the energy of the mountain oppressed him. Ash nodded and pounded his own chest in reassurance, to which Bruiser couldn't help but smile in return.

Ash released Seeker directly into Bruiser's arms. She chattered uneasily when she felt the heavy presence around them, but Bruiser lightly patted her frail form and grunted something to her. Seeker whined, but fluttered over to Ash.

He opened his pack for her and adjusted it so that it laid on his front instead. It was slightly awkward, but it made Seeker feel more comfortable. Plus it kept Sneasel from jumping all over her when he wanted to ride on Ash's back. Ash stroked her ears lightly before he closed the pack up for Seeker.

Tangrowth gurgled happily when he appeared. He didn't seem to realize that there was anything wrong. The grass-type simply wrapped Ash up in a tight hug and went off to greet the other members of the team, who looked at Tangrowth oddly.

"Hey, buddy." Ash laughed. Tangrowth gurgled and waved his arms around excitedly before Ash released Sneasel. The dark-type's eyes snapped open with horror when Sneasel felt the power that surrounded them, but he was wrapped up in a hug from Tangrowth before he could do anything.

When Tangrowth released Sneasel, the dark-type instantly rushed over to Ash and climbed up his back. He tried to open up the pack so that he could jump in, but Sneasel whined pitiably when he realized that Seeker already occupied it. Instead he simply wrapped himself around Ash, who frowned softly and scratched behind the terrified ice-type's feathers.

Oz was released last. She noted the presence, but opted to glare at Infernus instead. The electric-type sparked at Infernus in annoyance when he didn't acknowledge her in the least, too busy basking in the sheer power he gained from being on Mt. Ember's peak.

Ash smiled and looked at his team. They had shed sweat, blood, and pushed themselves to their absolute limits to get here. They weren't just his team or his friends, they were his family. Everything they had fought for had taken them here, to this mountain occupied by the Fire Bird.

They looked back, and Ash felt any hint of worry ease from him. He trusted his team. Ash wasn't so foolhardy as to believe that they would defeat Moltres, but they would give it everything they had.

"I'm ready." He said with resolve. "Let's do this."

Lance laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "That's more like it."

They walked forward until they reached the edge of the chasm. Lance stopped at a worn hunk of rock that jutted out oddly from the rest. It took him a moment, but Ash realized that it was an altar or shrine of some sort.

He examined it more quickly. The rough form of a bird was visible now that he looked, and ancient markings had been hewn into the stone. It looked as though it had been bathed in impossibly hot flames. Ash could feel power coming from it, just as he could the altar that Articuno had rested upon.

"I think I know what to do." Lance murmured. He pointed Ash away. "Stand back."

Both of them walked until they were about three hundred feet away from the chasm from which great flames began to burst from, hot and bright even in the daylight. Lance's eyes were alit with glee as he put one foot forward.

"Moltres, I, Lance Wataru, the Champion of the Indigo League and Master of the Elite Four, and Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town challenge you!" Lance shouted. Wind began to pick up as he continued his words echoed throughout the massive volcano's crater and the temperature grew hotter. His cape billowed dramatically in the powerful winds as he roared out his challenge. "Meet us in battle, Moltres, and allow us to show you our strength!"

The winds grew more powerful, although not nearly as powerful as those Ash had faced in Zapdos' storm. He felt the unease return, at least until Nidoking put one of his clawed hands upon his shoulder. Ash smiled, but lurched as the entire volcano seemed to shudder.

He held on tightly to Nidoking as the world shook. Great flames shot out of the chasm, an even stream that reached high into the heavens and baked the world around him. Ash gasped as the power that engulfed the mountain was magnified a hundred fold. He felt as though his body was going to collapse as the volcano came to life as its incarnation awoke from its age old slumber.

Ash's skin grew hot and dry as the power grew more and more powerful. The winds whistled and roared as though a storm were brewing, and the flames exploded out of the dormant volcano with more and more power.

The form of Moltres that was hewn from volcanic stone and dragged up Mt. Ember by the ancient inhabitants of Knot Island glowed a cherry red from the heat of the fires and the wings and head of the worn shrine suddenly burst into flame, the inferno that engulfed it fuelled by the stone itself.

Fear exploded throughout him as he saw the eyes of the façade, little more than holes hammered and chiseled out, glow a bright red. More power pulsed throughout the mountain as it rumbled, and Ash feared that it would explode long before Moltres answered their challenge.

He stole a look at Lance. The Champion's hair and cape billowed in perfect uniformity and his eyes were focused, but he could see the slightest bit of fear in them. Lance stood strong before the awakening of the Legend, but Ash knew that the Champion now realized just what he had awakened.

Ash staggered back as the world suddenly exploded. The constant streams of flames that erupted from the deep chasm of the volcano suddenly grew a thousand times more intense and penetrated all the way up to the clouds, so bright that it could serve as a second sun for the Sevii Islands.

The volcano suddenly screamed, but Ash's battered ears suddenly realized that it was not the stirrings of the volcano, it was the cry of the Legend they had been so arrogant as to challenge.

From the steady explosion of flames a shape became visible, slightly darker than the rest of the flames. Ash felt his heart skip a beat when the flames suddenly wrapped around the large shape in a perfect sphere of unnatural flame.

Even Lance was speechless as the flames exploded out up into the sky in a column of fire, pure white and far more intense than anything either human had ever seen. Ash had to cover his eyes until the Bird's entrance had been completed.

When he looked up again, he saw a great avian of flame before him. Its body was made of feathers that burned with golden flame, and the frame of its wings seemed to be made up of solid flame of the same gold, an impossibility in of itself. But its wings and the elaborate crest that billowed proudly behind it, dancing ever so slightly in the wind that announced the avian's coming, were of great natural flame, so bright that it made Ash want to look away.

It stood at more than twenty feet tall and dwarfed both Articuno and Zapdos. The Bird had bare legs made of solid, blackened lava that began to liquefy from its own heat. They ended in wickedly hot claws that seemed as though they could burn through stone as though it were butter.

Despite the sheer regality and power it exuded simply by existing, its most striking features were its eyes. They glowed with impossibly bright inner fire, a bright red to match its siblings' icy blue and gold. Its eyes regarded Ash and Lance impassively, no emotion discernable.

Moltres suddenly cried out again and the dormant volcano rumbled. Flame exploded from behind it, and the Bird of Fire flapped its wings once. A wave of fire erupted from the great Bird and melted the black stone it hit and reduced it to liquid in moments.

It regarded them for the briefest of moments and stared at Lance, who refused to look away. When it turned away to meet Ash's eyes, the trainer stared back into the pulsing, ageless red of the primordial avian's eyes and didn't back down.

He felt as though his very being was about to be incinerated, but still refused to look away. The Bird's energy suddenly pulsed throughout the mountain once more.

As columns of flame erupted from the chasm Moltres had slumbered in for countless years, it squawked once more and flew toward the humans and their teams in an explosion of fire amidst the ageless rumblings of the volcano.

Before the first stage of the battle began, Ash had to wonder if Lance finally realized what he had gotten himself into.

And there it is! Sorry for the cliffhanger, but it's 3 AM where I am and the battle was planned for next chapter anyway. I'll get the next chapter out as fast as I can.

Again, I'd like to apologize for how long it took to get this chapter out. I didn't want to write while I was sick and I turned out to be much more busy than I'd expected. I'm really sorry to those of you who I assured that I would get this chapter out in a week.

Anyways, I hoped that you enjoyed the chapter! Make sure to review!