Ash and Brock find themselves face to face with a Pokemon neither of them has seen before.
"Scizor, the Pincer Pokemon, evolved form of Scyther. Scizor has a body with the hardness of steel. It is not easily fazed by ordinary sorts of attacks. This Pokémon flaps its wings to regulate its body temperature."
"Evolved form of Scyther? I didn't know Scyther could evolve."
"Me neither."
Both trainers stared back at the Scizor, who seemed to be waiting for them to attack. That was not normal wild Pokemon behaviour. Or maybe it was for this species but Ash and Brock didn't know it yet. It certainly wasn't for Scyther though, Ash knew that much.
Pikachu sparked and got off of Ash's shoulder to battle, but Ash stopped him. He wanted to try something against this Scizor. Ash sent his Scyther out.
Scizor's eyes sparked with interest.
"Scyther, that Pokemon has evolved from Scyther" Ash said and Scyther's interest was piqued.
Ash called for an Agility and Scyther rushed forward. Scizor stood, watching Scyther rush in, before vanishing. Scizor reappeared in front of Ash, making the trainer jump back. Scyther turned back, stumbled and fell forward defeated.
"Your Scyther is fast, but it's nowhere near Masamune yet" A man stepped out from the bushes and Scizor rushed back to him, a crimson blur to Ash and Brock.
"Who are you?" Ash asked, calling back Scyther. He was the Scizor's trainer plainly, there was no use in asking him that.
"My name is Muramasa and this is my Scizor Masamune" the man introduced himself and his Pokemon. "Why don't you both come and take a look at my dojo."
When Muramasa had said that he was the owner of a dojo, Ash expected it to be some small dojo. Like the one where the Grand Prix took place in Kanto. Not a large institute that looked less like a dojo and more like an elite training school.
Muramasa gave the duo a tour of the place, showing off the classrooms and the various trainers that were training in there. End of the tour Muramasa took the duo to his office, where he sat them down and offered them some tea.
"Ash, your Scyther is strong. I'd say it might even be stronger than my Scyther used to be" Muramasa began, moving to a display cabinet at the back. "But as a Scyther, it won't be able to reach its full potential. No, evolution has always been a way to help Pokemon reach their full potential."
He came back and placed a small metal container in front of Ash. Muramasa opened the container, revealing a smooth metallic liquid on the inside.
"What is this?" Ash asked.
"It's called a Metal Coat. If you trade Scyther while he is holding this, your Scyther can evolve. Of course, Scyther isn't the only Pokemon who can evolve with this. There's also Onix."
Brock's head snaps up at that.
"Onix too?"
"Onix too" Muramasa answered Brock. He walked back to the cabinet and came back with another Metal Coat, this one for Brock. "I can tell I've piqued your interest."
Muramasa took them out back to where there was a trade machine. Ash and Brock both called their Pokemon out and told them about the Metal Coat. Onix was instantly interested and agreed, but Scyther did not look too pleased about it.
"Do you not want to evolve?" Ash asked his Pokemon.
Scyther stared at Ash, before turning to Muramasa and crossing his scythes. Ash smiled slightly and put the Metal Coat aside for now.
"Scyther wants to battle against Scizor again. He wants to beat the Pokemon as he is before he makes a decision."
Muramasa smiled.
Masamune was too big a goal for Scyther as he was, it was what Masamune had told Ash and Scyther, much to both their displeasure. But he promised that Scyther would fight a Scizor. The promise was fulfilled in the form of Muramasa's student Shingo.
Shingo was a studious trainer, who relied more on his database than actual battle. He'd already disregarded Ash and Scyther as challenges because his database informed him that Scizor would win easily. A quick argument changed Shingo's mind, mostly because Ash insulted his project.
Shingo was the strongest student at the dojo, hence the battle garnered a lot of attention. Both trainers sent out their Pokemon and immediately called for Quick Attack and Agility. Scizor was fast, almost a red blur as it zoomed in to hit Scyther. But with Agility boosting his speed constantly, Scyther was able to keep up and dodge the attack, becoming a green blur in the process. Singo called for Metal Claw and Ash called for Fury Cutter. While Metal Claw had the upper hand at first against Fury Cutter, Scyther's constant use of it boosted Scyther's powers and soon both Pokemon were clashing moves on equal footing, both of them moving around in a blur.
Shingo, too caught up in the battle was having a hard time keeping up with both the laptop and his Pokemon. Ash took advantage of those lapses of judgement, commanding Scyther efficiently to hit a few full-powered Fury Cutters on Scizor. The powered-up moves did heavy damage on Scizor and Scyther combined Agility with Wing Attack to hit Scior with a flurry of Wing Attacks and knock it out.
Shingo was in disbelief at his loss, but Muramasa was all smiles as if he'd expected this.
Scyther came up to Ash and gave a nod. Ash grinned at his Pokemon.
Ash and Brock handed a Metal Coat to Scyther and Onix each, before calling them both back and placing them into the trade machine. When they were done, the balls opened and Scyther and Onix came out on their own and began to glow immediately. Scyther evolved into Scizor, and Oniix evolved into a giant Pokemon that neither Ash nor Brock had ever seen.
"Steelix, the Iron Snake Pokemon, evolved form of Onix. Steelix lives even further underground than Onix. This Pokémon is known to dig towards the earth's core. There are records of this Pokémon reaching a depth of over six-tenths of a mile underground."
Ash and Brock returned the Pokemon and traded back. They both had the Pokemon they wanted now.
After the events at the dojo and Ash politely declining an invite to join the dojo the duo finally reach Azalea Town, and immediately find the town to be in the middle of a terrible drought. The heat being too much, Ash called his Wartortle out to cool them all with some water, before they went to the Pokemon Center to heal their Pokemon before heading to Kurt's house once they got the location from Nurse Joy. Ash decided that it would be better to hand the GS Ball to Kurt before challenging the Gym Leader.
But to Ash's disappointment, he did not find Kurt there. He instead found Kurt's granddaughter, who told them to go to the Slowpoke Well if they wanted to find Kurt.
The duo find Kurt outside the well, a hand on his back. Brock rushes over and helps the man up.
"Are you okay sir?" Brock asked.
"The Slowpoke" the man winced, "please help the Slowpoke. Team Rocket is trying to steal them all."
Ash did not need another word to convince him and headed right into the well.
There was already a battle in progress when Ash got down to the Well. A boy with red hair and a black jacket was battling with a new Pokemon against an Aerodactyl. Ash recognised the Aerodactyle and its trainer all too well.
Damien's cruel eyes fell on Ash when the red-headed Boy's Pokemon was knocked out. Damien grinned at his old nemesis.
"My day only gets better!" the rocket laughed. "Aerodactyle! Let's deal with that one and get my Charizard back."
"I can't believe you're still after Charizard!" Ash yelled, sending Pikachu out against the Aerodactyle.
"It's my Pokemon you stole!" Damien growled and called for Aerodactyle to use Take Down.
"You abandoned and almost killed him! He chose me!" Ash yelled back, commanding Pikachu to use Agility to dodge and Thunder to attack.
Pikachu's speed trumped Aerodactyle's and the Thunder hit home to knock out the prehistoric Pokemon.
Damien growled and called Aerodactyle back, yelling about how it was weak from battling the other Pokemon, before calling out his Primeape and Rhydon. Ash called Pikachu back and sent Scizor and Wartortle out. Wartortle took Rhydon down with Hydro Pump and Scizor trumped Primeape with its speed and use of Fury Cutter.
Growling in frustration Damien called his Pokemon back.
"You may have stopped us today, Ash. But Team Rocket will spread its influence to Johto! And mark my words I will build this empire on your corpse!"
There was an explosion and Team Rocket escaped in the chaos and dust that the explosion left in its wake. Ash called his Wartortle and Scizor back and turned to ask the boy if he was okay.
The boy had vanished as well.
The old man that Brock helped turned out to be Kurt, and the man was thankful that Ash had helped him take care of Team Rocket. Kurt explained why Team Rocket had been there, and why they wanted the Slowpoke in the well.
Ash and Brock were disgusted learning the reason.
But thanks to Ash's interference, Team Rocket were not able to steal the Slowpoke. The Slowpoke in the Well finally came out seeing that Team Rocket was gone and in unison yawned. Clouds gathered overhead and it began to rain.
Kurt explained the lore behind the Slowpoke and why Azalea Town respected the Pokemon so much. Slowpoke's yawn bringing rain was not something Ash would have believed unless he'd seen it with his eyes.
Kurt welcomed them to his home and for their help gifted them both with a Quick Ball, something they could use to catch fast Pokemon. Ash handed Kurt the GS Ball and Kurt was studying it curiously.
Ash could have sworn there was some kind of recognition in Kurt's eyes seeing the Pokeball.
While Kurt worked on the GS Ball, his granddaughter took them out back to show them the various Apricorn trees. These Apricorns, the girl explained, were used to make custom Pokeballs like the Quick Ball they received from her grandfather.
Ash and Brock pick up a Blue and a Black Apricorn at the girl's insistence, Brock capturing a Pineco with his Quick Ball when the Pokemon dropped between them and was preparing to explode.
In the end, Kurt asked Ash if he would like to take a few more days to study the GS Ball. Ash agreed since he'd be in Azalea Town for a few days as he trained to challenge the Gym here.
Kurt informs him that the Azalea town Gym was a bug type, giving Ash food for thought for which Pokemon he'd like to use against the Gym Leader. Before they left Kurt, they gave Kurt the Apricorns they'd picked.
The two then set out for the Pokemon Center, Ash wanting to switch his Pokemon around. Brock noted how silent Ash had been since leaving the Pokeball maker's house, always staring at his Pokedex. When he asked, Ash held his Pokedex out for Brock.
"Croconaw, the Big Jaw Pokemon, evolved form of Totodile. Once Croconaw has clamped its jaws on its foe, it will absolutely not let go. Because the tips of its fangs are forked back like barbed fishhooks, they become impossible to remove when they have sunk in."
"The trainer that was fighting Damien in the Well used that Pokemon" Ash spoke, "and he had red hair and wore a black jacket."
"You don't think—"
"That the boy was Totodile's thief?" Ash looked at Brock, "I think so."