Chapter 24: Working Towards a Dream

It was early Saturday morning in Vermillion City, just past 8. The alarm clock in Ash and Goh's room rang, but per usual the two slept right through it. They were too busy dreaming of reaching their respective goals to take notice. Luckily for them, Chloe was more aware than they were, and threw the door open with so much force that the two fell right out of bed.

"Chloe, why do you have to keep doing that?"

"Did you two forget what today was? Dad has his Pokemon Scavenger Hunt today, and he needs your help running it."

"Oh, that's right! Thanks, Chloe!"

Chloe sighed, and left the room so that the two of them could get ready. Deciding it would be a waste of time to sit around waiting, she decided to head to the lab area, where the group of kids were waiting with Professor Cerise and Lillie. One of them Chloe recognized instantly, and was surprised to see there.

"Parker?"

"Hey, Chole! I signed up for the camp today to learn more about Pokemon! Won't this be fun!"

Chloe smiled, and ruffled his hair. Even though she wasn't big on Pokemon, it was nice to see her little brother excited about it.

"Can we start now? I want to see all of the Pokemon!"

"Yeah, what are we waiting for?"
"Unfortunately, two of my associates are rather difficult in the morning. We'll head out as soon as they're ready."

At that moment, Ash and Goh burst through the door, panting heavily but nonetheless ready for adventure.

"Here we are! Sorry about that, but we're here now!"

To his credit, their employer didn't seem too upset by the delay, and immediately proceeded with the event.

"Alright everybody, here's how this is going to go down. I'm going to split you into three teams. Katie, Arnold, and Mike, you're with Ash and Lillie. Jill, Mary, and Alex, you're with Goh. And Parker, Mary, and Sebastion, you're with me and Chloe."

The nine children scattered, joining with their respective team leaders.

"I've sent a list of Pokemon that can be found in or around Vermillion City to your respective leaders. Your goal is to see as many of them as possible. You can capture them, take a picture, anything as long as you have evidence you saw them. You all have until noon to complete as many as you can. The team with the most Pokemon checked off their list wins. Any questions?"

Not a single hand was raised.

"Then let the scavenger hunt begin!"

Goh and his team quickly made their way outside the city to begin their search. Goh had his phone in hand, checking the list.

"According to my Rotomphone, most of the Pokemon on this list can be found on this route here."

"Great! I can't wait to see some Pokemon!"

"Yeah, with Goh taking the lead, there's no way we can lose!"

Just then, some nearby bushes rustled, causing Goh and his team to stop in their tracks. Motioning for them to keep quiet, Goh watched as an Oddish leapt from the brush, its back turned to the travelers as it searched for food. Goh smirked, and took out a Pokeball.

"Oh yeah, you're mine. Pokeball, go!"

Before Oddish could react to the sudden noise, Goh's Pokeball connected with the back of his head, sucking him in before clicking to confirm its capture.

"Wow, that was so cool!"

"You're the best, Goh!"

"Hold on, I thought you had to weaken a Pokemon in order to catch it."

"Sometimes, but not always. Sometimes, if you're clever enough, you can catch one without using any of your own Pokemon at all."

"Woah, cool!"

Just then, another Pokemon peaked its head out of the shrub, this time a male Nidoran. Goh smirked, and captured it before it could even register what had hit it.

"That was so cool!"

"I want to be just like you when I grow up!"

"Come on guys, we can't sit around all day! Let's go find more Pokemon!"

"Yeah!"

Meanwhile, Ash and his team were steadily making progress on their list in a different matter. Since Ash wasn't as focused on capturing a lot of Pokemon, he decided to take pictures of them instead. So far they'd gotten pictures of a Nidoran female, an Ekans, and a Farfetch'd. At the moment, they were down by the port, with Ash taking a quick picture of a flock of Pidgey flying overhead.

"That's another one! Man, we're on a roll!"

Just then, Ash's phone beeped, alerting him that a World Coronation Series contestant wanted a match with him.

"Huh? Right now?"

"Hey, you Ash Ketchum? Fancy a battle?"

Ash turned around to face a boy his age with green hair. Ash chuckled nervously.

"Oh, I don't know. We're kind of in the middle of something here…"

"What's the matter? Are you scared?"

"Come on, Ash! Show this guy who's boss!"

"Yeah, you can do it!"

"We don't mind waiting!"

Lillie chuckled, amused at the children's antics.

"You'd better give them what they want, Ash."

Grinning, Ash clicked the accept button on his phone, and a Rotom Drone floated down to officiate.

"Attention, attention! A World Coronation Series Normal Rank Match is about to begin! Challengers, please state your name and hometown for verification!"

"Ash Ketchum, Pallet Town."

"Oliver Masaya, Goldenrod City!"

"Thank you, verification complete! This battle between Ash Ketchum, Rank 3,763, and Oliver Masaya, Rank 1,200, will now begin! This will be a 1-on-1 battle, and will continue until either Pokemon is unable to battle! Each trainer will send out their Pokemon at the same time. Ready? Battle…start!"

"Meganium, go!"

"Ivysaur, I choose you!"

"Ivysaur vs Meganium, begin!"

"Ivysaur, use Razor Leaf!"

"Vine Whip, Meganium!"

Ivysaur launched several small leaf blades, most of which were blocked by Meganium's vines, though some still did manage to get through and hit his opponent. Enraged, Meganium tried to lash out and hit him with her vines, though he easily jumped over them.

"Bulbasaur, Solar Beam!"

"Hit him with a Petal Blizzard, Meganium!"

Whille Bulbasaur charged up his attack, Meganium launched a storm of petals at him, making him cringe from the damage. Still though, he kept charging his attack until…

"Now!"

With a mighty "Saur!" Ivysaur launched all of his stored energy at his opponent, hitting it straight in the face so hard that it went flying. As it began to descend, Oliver shouted out a command.

"Body Slam, Meganium!"

Straightening itself out, Meganium got ready to slam down on his smaller opponent when…

"Vine Whip, then jump!"

…Its body was wrapped in Ivysaur's vines, catching it by surprise. While it fell, Ivysaur jumped up, slamming his poor opponent into the ground so hard that it knocked her out cold almost instantly. Drone Rotom floated over, checking to see if Meganium could continue. Once it was clear that it could not, he returned to the middle of the field to announce his decision.

"Meganium is unable to battle, Ivysaur wins! That means the winner of this World Coronation Series battle is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!"

"Alright, way to go buddy!"

"Saur, Ivysaur!"

"As a result of today's battle, there has been a change in the World Coronation Series ranking! Thank you both for an amazing battle!"

Oliver smiled, before returning Meganium to her Pokeball.

"Good job, Meganium. Take a nice long rest."

He then walked over to Ash to shake his hand.

"That was a good match, Ash."

"Thanks, Oliver. I hope to battle you again sometime."

"Me too."

Oliver waved goodbye before walking off somewhere. A moment later, Ash's phone beeped, indicating his rank had changed. Pulling it out of his pocket, Ash grinned when he saw what it was now.

"Aw yeah, 1,512! I'll be in the Great Class if I keep going like this!"

"Great job, Ash!"

Just then, Ash's phone rang, indicating that it was time to head back to the meet up point.

"Darn. Sorry we didn't get to see too many Pokemon, kids.'

"Are you kidding? That battle was awesome!"

"Losing was worth seeing that!"

"You rocked, Ash!"

Lillie chuckled, shaking her head in amusement.

"You sure have a way with kids, Ash."

"What can I say, it's a gift. Come on guys, let's get going!"

Meanwhile, with Goh's group, they almost had a complete list. Goh had caught a female Nidoran, an Ekans, and a Grimer. Every other Pokemon they had taken pictures of, until they only had one more Pokemon to find.

"Alright, all that's left is Farfetch'd! Now, where could one be?"

"There's one!"

Sure enough, a Farfetch'd popped out of the woods, looking around nonchalantly.

"Great eye, Alex! Watch and learn, kids. Pokeball, go!"

But Farfetch'd was unimpressed, just simply swatting it right back to him. Confused, Goh tried it several more times with the same result, the last one even smacking him right in the face.

"Grr, why won't you let me capture you?!"

"Um, Goh? Maybe you should try weakening it first?"

Goh's anger faded away when he realized Mary was right.

"Oh, yeah. Go, Raboot!"

"Raboot!"

"Raboot, use Double Kick!

The ninja rabbit ran over, dealing a hard kick to the flying type's weapon, snapping it in half. While Farfetch'd stared in shock, Raboot dealt a swift kick to his gut, sending him to the ground in pain.

"Go, Pokeball!"

Before he could recover, Goh's Pokeball hit him and sucked him in, clicking after a few shakes to confirm his capture.
"Alright, that's all of them!"

The moment he said that, Goh's phone beeped to let him know time was up.

"And perfect timing, too. Come on guys, let's get back to the rest of the group!"

"Right!"

A few minutes later, the groups reconvened to discuss their findings. Professor Cerise and his group went first, looking rather dejected.

"We only managed to catalog five Pokemon."
"We would've gotten more, but dad insisted on getting the perfect shot!"

"And someone doesn't appreciate the art of photography!"

"We managed to get some pictures, but then I had a battle for the World Coronation Series, so we had to cut it short."

Goh smiled smugly, handing over his completed list to everyone else's shock.

"What? How did-"

"I have a way with Pokemon. So, what do I win?"

Professor Cerise tensed up. He hadn't planned on having any prizes.

"Um…the satisfaction of a job well done? Hey, who's up for some pizza, my treat!"

The kids ran after Professor Cerise, leaving Goh speechless while his friends laughed at his reaction. Just another typical day for them.