Pokemon is owned by Gamefreak and all Pokédex entries are from Bulbapedia.
"Butts"- Humans speaking
"Butts"- Pokemon speaking
'Butts'- thoughts
"Butts"-Pokedex entries/TV commentary
"Butts"- Telepathy/Aura speech
The Silph Situation
After stopping in Vermillion City and taking care of the problem of Kabu, even to the point of the Marowak joining Ash, our heroes continued down Route 6 and finally arrived at Saffron City. Currently, Ash and Serena sat with their Pokemon as Gary approached them, handing both Ash and Serena a ticket.
Gary: Can you believe these things are 4 bucks each? Either they're trying to make these trains more cost effective or Johto's a hot mess of a region.
Ash read his ticket's txt, which read; Magnet Train, Saffron to Goldenrod, 10:00 AM.
Ash: Says here we leave for Goldenrod tomorrow, so we can train up until then and see what we can do for my first Frontier battle.
Serena: Or we could see the sights sinc this might be our last day in Kanto for a while.
As they conversed on what to do, a voice came from the side. A voice that Ash was very familiar
Girl Voice: Excuse me, but do any of you know where the town fountain is? I need to let out my Pokemon.
Gary: Uh, yeah. *points to right* It should be over that way-
Ash: Lana?
Indeed it was Lana, the same hydroinetic girl that Ash had befriended when he was in the Psychic School. Next to her was Faio, her Primarina, but on her head was a small green and black spider with its head encased in a water bubble.
Lana: Ash! Good to see you again!
Serena: Oh, uh…. Is this a friend of your's, Ash?
Ash: Yeah, this is Lana. She's from Alola, we met while I took classe at the Psychic School here in Saffron after I lost to Sabrina.
Gary: "Psychic School"?
Ash: I'll explain later. *to Lana* So, how have you been, Lana?
Lana: Just fine. We've been getting along and trying to survive ever since you, Marcus, Wes, and Goh went off to continue your journeys.
Serena: Goh?... That kid from summer camp?
Ash nodded as Lana made her way to the fountain, where she took the arachnid Pokemon off of her head and dropped it into the fountain's water.
Lana: There you go, Bubs. Get some new water.
The s[oder smiled as it frolicked in the fountain's water, though Gary got out his Pokedex and scanned the Pokemon.
Gary: Never seen that one before.
Pokedex: Dewpider, the Water Bubble Pokémon. A Water and Bug type. Dewpider come out of the water, looking for food. They create water bubbles to breathe and to protect their soft heads.
Ash: So, that's another Pokemon from Alola?
Lana: Mm-hmm, this is Bubblo. My Mom sent him to me sent she said he was homesick.
Cobalt: Hey, Fabio. What's going on.
Green: It's been a while since we spoke.
Fabio: Good seeing you two again. I saw the League, by the way. Congrats on making it to the Top 8.
Ash: *to Fabio* You saw the League?
Lana: Oh yeah, when Sabrina heard you and Wes got into the League, she organized a small viewing party at the Schhol to watch you guys compete. *saddened* Sorry about your loss.
Ash: Well, it still sucks that I lost…. But I'm working on a new thing. Hey, is there anyone else from the school out on the town?
?: Why not turn around and look for yourself?
Ash then turned around, spotting two of his other friends from the Psychic School; Flara, the hot-tempered and narcoleptic pyromancer, and Morty, the spirit-speaking prankster.
Ash: Flara, Morty!
Flara: Hi, Ash.
Morty: What's good?
Gary: More friends of your's, I presume?
Ash: Pretty much.
Flara: Nice to see you guys in town again. Hey, wait… Where are Brock and Misty?
Morty: Hey, Ash can talk while we walk. *to Ash* How's about we give you and your friends a little tour around Saffron? *about Serena* I have a feeling that one is not one that is Kantonian-ly educated.
Serena: Hey!
Gary: You gotta admit, Serena. You haven't really been in Kanto in almost 4 years, I'm pretty sure you'll need a bit of a refresher course of at leastone Kanto city before we go stomping off to other regions.
Though she was offended, Serena sighed, knowing they were right.
Flara: So, what's this about going to other regions?
Ash: Well, it's actually pretty interesting. You see…
And as such, the small group worked their way throughout Saffron, with Lana doing most of the talking since she was a bit more of an outgoing girl since Flara mostly spent her time asleep and Morty was banned from nearly any major place due to his pranks.
Ash: Wait, so you actually got banned from that Walrein-Mart because you pretended to EAT A TIDE POD?!
Morty: Yep.
Gary: Okay, that is both stpid and impressive. But how'd you do it?
Morty: Don;t ask questions you aren't prepared to know the answer to.
Green: Hey, isn;t that what Dad said when you asked him where eggs came from when we wer kids?
Azula: Wait, what?
Cobalt: I still never got that answer, though.
Serena chuckled at Cobalt naivety before something on the wall caught her eye, causing her to stop. Flara noticed this and came up to her, where Serena was seen looking at a poster showing a woman in a fancy costume on stage with a Pokemon she recognized as Jinx. The words "Pokemon Contest" written above boldly.
Serena: Pokemon… Contest?
Flara: I've heard of them, but I've never seen one in person.
Serena: Well, what is it? Is it like abattle tournament?
Flara: Kind of. A Pokemon Contest is where special trainers who compete in them called Co-ordinators to show how skilled their Pokémon can be. You perform, dance, some even sing. It's pretty crazy. Each time you win a Contest, you get that contest's Ribbon.
Serena: A Ribbon?
Flara: *as they walk* Think of them as the Contest version of a gym badge. When you collect five ribbons of that region, you can compete in that region's Grand Festival, which is basically their version of a Pokemon League.
As she and Flara rejoined the group, Serena looked on in wonder. She wasn;t exactly sure what she wanted to do on her journey since she only wanted to get away from her Mom and her overbearing want for her to be a Rhyhorn racer. But hearing about these Contests… They seem kind of fun.
Morty: Where'd you two go off to?
Flara: Serena saw a poster for Pokemon Contests… And judging by her face, I think she wants to try them out.
Gary: In her dreams, maybe.
Ash: *threatening* Gary….
Gary: Look, I'm not dumping on her or her life goals, that's for her adulthood to do later on. But in order to compete, she needs a Contest Pass. Not only do those expire, there's only one Pass available per region, so she's stuck unless there's somehow a way for her to magically to any contest in any of the known 9 regions.
The girl immediately became saddened. She thought she could do Contests like she had just dreamed of, but now with Gary pointing this out… Maybe she should just stick to Rhyhorn Racing.
Lana: Well, that's not exactly true.
Gary: What are you talking about?
Lana: You know, if Serena REALY wants to try contests…. She should compete in the Pokémon Contest World Tour.
Serena: Wait, "Pokémon Contest World Tour"?
Lana: Uh-huh. It's where if you get a special pass with endorsement from an official, like a regional professor or gym leader, you can get a special pass that lets you compete in special contests that give out exclusive ribbons. The contests are in the multiple separate regions, and nce you get all 5 special ribbons, you can compete in the Grand Festival to become a Contest King or Contest Queen.
Ash: That kinda sounds like the Battle Frontier, but for Contests.
Kestrel: Well, that was a convenient info dump concerning the situation.
Fabio: Tell me about it.
The Kalos girl's smile grew very wide as Lana finished her explanation. Not only could she enter contests, she could ALSO see the world as she planned to with Ash and Gary at the same time?! This was something else in of itself. Soon enough, they stopped in front of a large building lined with windows.
Morty: And ths is one of the high points here in Saffron besides the gym; the Silph Company.
Serena: The Silph Company?
Ash: They make different things that benefit Pokemon trainers. They're actually Kanto's biggest distributor of Pokeballs.
As they looked at the building, Cobalt gasped lightly as he sensed something, as if something wrong was going on not too far from where they stood.
Green: What's up, bro?
Cobalt: Something's wrong.
Suddenly, Cobalt ran off, much to the confusion of the others as they chased after him and called for him to come back. However, as he stopped he found a sight that was the source of that uneasy feeling, two grunts in familiar outfits were harassing a woman as she was trying to leave an alley.
Ash" *approaches* Cobalt! Why'd you run off?
Cobalt: *points* That! Those guys are harassing that woman!
As the others approached, the two men turned to them, revealing the all-too familiar red "R"'s on the tops of their uniforms.
Ash: *growls* Team Rocket…
Serena: Team Rocket?
Gary: They're this huge gang that specialize in stealing and poaching Pokemon. Didn't you deal with these bozos before, Ash?
Ash: Not these ones, specifically.
Grunt 1: *growls* You'll pay for meddling with our business. *throws Pokeball* Zubat, go!
Grunt 2: Houndour, get out here!
The two grunts threw their Pokeballs to release the bat and hound into the field. Knowing they didn't have time for a battle, Morty released his own Pokeball.
Morty: That woman's in danger and as much as I love messing with bad guys we can;t waste time. *throws Pokeball* Go, Maury!
The boy released a floating black Pokemon with two large red eyes and a golden mask being held by some sort of appendage underneath it.
Gary: A Yamask?
Morty: I caught him around the time Ash left.
Ash: *takes out Pokedex* Yamask?
Pokedex: Yamask, the Spirit Pokémon.. A Ghost type. These Pokémon are theorized to have risen from the spirits of people interred in graves in past ages. Each retains memories of its former life as it carries a mask similar to its previous face.
Morty: Maury, use Haze!
The ghost-type spat out a large black cloud that covered the scene. Though everyone was blinded, Cobalt could see just fine with his aura as he pushed the grunts aside and grabbed the woman by the wrist, wher ehe then proceeded to pull her out from the cloud.
Cobalt: Come on, let's go!
Ash and Serena helped direct the others out from the haze as they followed Cobalt as he ran with the woman ahead, all the while the grunts were trying to get out of the haze. After making sure they were safe at the ciy's Pokemon Center, the woman was seated by Gary as she explained who she was, which let the young Oak shocked.
Gary: You're actually the secretary to the Silph Company president?!
Woman: Yes….
Serena: Then why were those men trying to hurt you?
Woman: *looks down* The Silph Company…. Has been taken over by Team Rocket. All because their new boss wants the Master Ball.
Gary: The… Master Ball?
Ash: What's a Master Ball?
Woman: The Master Ball is the ultimate Pokeball. It has been our president's aspiration since he was a child. With the Master Ball, you can be able to catch ANY Poekmon at all without a chance of it breaking out.
Morty: Any Pokemon? That… That sounds incredible.
Woman: Yes, but as of now, it's only in the experimental stage with one prototype. As of right now, Team Rocket is holding our president and our scientists hostage in order to perfect the Master Ball so they can use it for their own purposes. The scientists are forced to work day and night, and what's worse… The subject of their experiments are wild Pokemon.
Flara: *disgusted* They're experimenting on wild Pokemon?
Woman: They work nonstop…. And so many Pokemon have already been taken to the point of utter exhaustion.
Cobalt: *growls* Those dirtbags….. If they perfect the Master Ball….
Green: There'd be no stopping any Pokemon getting caught by Team Rocket.
Woman: The president is afraid of what Team Rocket would do with the Master Ball, so he's been trying to get help, which is easier said than done since the boss keeps a close eye on him. He entrusted me with the task and so… I was able to escape quick enough so I could contact the police, but….
Without a warning, the woman tried to stand up out of her seat, only to stumble and gasp in pain as she steadied herself on the bench. Looking down, Ash noticed the woman's ankle having been bruised, possibly by those grunts. Seeing this, Ash adopted a frown as he then got up.
Serena: Ash?
Ash: Flara, I want you and Morty to take her to the police station in town. Then I need one of you to tell Sabrina.
Morty: Wait… You're gonna storm the Silph Company?!
Gary: Ash, are you nuts? They'll catch you before you even make it to the door.
Ash: I know that. But… I can't just leave those people and those Pokemon in there to suffer. It's against my morality.
Cobalt: *smiles* That's our boy.
As Green nods, Flara and Morty nod in approval as they help the woman up and support her out of the Center, whereas Serena, Gary, and Lana remain behind.
Lana: alright. So how do we do this?
Ash: "We"?
Gary: You think we're gonna let you go in there alone to risk your life and take all the credit? Not a chance!
Serena: We're a team, As. We may not be like your old traveling companions, but we want to at least try to help.
Ash smiled as his friends seemed to lean in, ready to listen in, ready and intent to help out.
Ash: Alright, here's what we do….
—-
Later on, in the hallway of the Silph building,a Thunderbolt takes down a grunt's Golbat as the man retreats. The Thunderbolt is revealed to have come from Gary's Jolteon, where he and Lana run down the hall, where several electronic and standard barred cages line the walls.
Gary: This must be where they store their experiment Pokemon. Let's rewrite their itinerary, Lana!
Lana: Right. Bubblo, use Bubble Beam on the cage's touchscreens!
Gary: Jolteon, Pin Missile on the locked cages!
Both Pokemon unleashed their attacks on the cges's bonds, allowing the Pokemon within to break the doors of the cages down and jump onto the floor.
Gary: Come on, now's your chance! Get out of here!
Jolteon: Don't stop for anything!
As the Pokemon crowd left, Gary looked to Lana, hwo then looked to her Primarina and nodded. At the nod, the Sea Lion Pokemon started singing a harmonious melody that echoed throughout the building. This song caught the ear of Ash and Serena, who had just arrived at the lab's doors as they heard the song.
Green: That's the signal, Gary and Lana are good!
Ash: Alright.
Ash then opened the door, revealing a group of scientists within.
Serena: Our friends freed the Pokemon that were abot to be experimented on! Now it's your turn to run!
Ash: Hurry, go!
The scientists got the memo and ran out of the room, one stopping as he spoke to Ash.
Scientist: We can;t thank you enough! How can I ever repay you?
Ash: Oh no, Sir. You don't need to-
Scientist: Wait, I know.
The man then reached into his pocket, pulling out some sort of light blue CD and dropping it into the boy's hand.
Scientist: This is an Ice Memory; it's some sort of special item I found in the Alola region. I'm not entirely sure what it does, but I believe you can put it to better use.
Ash nodded as a sign of gratitude as the scientist raan off before he turned to his companion.
Ash: Serena, you should go find the others. Things might get intense around here.
Nodding, Serena ran off to find Gary and Lna as Ash and his starters ran off in the other direction of the hall. With Cobalt's help, the Lucaio busted down the door on the top floor, where an old man is seen sitting with a grunt guarding him as a woman on the other couch looks back to him, which we know is Matori. In the background, another Prize Master stood.
Matori: So…. You are the one I have to thank for this intrusion.
Ash: So, you…. You're the boss of Team Rocket?...
Matori: *gets up* Clever boy. Yes, I am Matori. And as of last month, I am the new manager of Team Rocket.
Ash: *growls* I'm not letting you get away with this! You can;t just experiment on Pokemon just because you want the Master Ball!
Cobalt: This woman sickens me….
Green: You know what's funny? You're probably not the first man to say that about her.
Matori: Can you not see I am busy? The president and I are discussing a very important business proposition. Has your mother ever taught you not to worm into adult business?
Old Man: Proposition? You forced your way in here!
Ash: The police are already on their way, and so's the gym leader! You'r not gettin away with this!
However, despite Ash's statements, Matori smirked as she approached the prize master, taking out an amulet coin from her pocket.
Matori: You not only managed to sneak past my guards, but you made it all the aay up here. Rather impressive and now my plans are all for nothing. I was going to let you go…
She inserted the coin into the slot and turned the dial, ejecting a Pokeball from the machine, which she proceeded to pick up.
Matori: But now it seems you must learn your place.
She then throws the Pokeball, releasing a lean, humanoid Pokemon with blue and rocky skin, an ornate sideways z-shaped black feature that forms its nose and its left brow, and a karate gi wth a black belt as its attire. Surprised at this, Ash scanned it with his Pokedex.
Pokedex: Sawk, the Karate Pokémon. A Fighting type. Sawk ties its belt to get pumped up and give its punches an extra bit of power as it trains in the mountains. It gets angry when its training is interrupted.
Grunt: Miss Matori, why bother? Isn;t he just an annoyance?
Matori: Of course he is. But seeing what he's done, he is not just an annoyance, he's an arrogant punk who doesn;t know how to keep to his own business.
Ash threw a Pokeball, releasing Aiden as he roars and lets out a small flame as the opposing Sawk tightens its belt and adopts a fighting stance.
Ash: Aiden, use Dragon Claw!
Matori: Close Combat.
The Charizard was about to slash the Karate Pokemon, only for it to leap forth and repeatedly punches and kick Aiden at a fast speed. One kick to the stomach was enough to launch Aiden into a wall on the opposite side of the room.
Ash: *worried* Aiden!
Matori: Hmm… I thought you'd be a challenge. But apparently not.
She then snaps her fingers, causing the Sawk to charge at Aiden as he tried to get up.
Ash: Flamethrower!
Matori: Use Liquidation.
Sawk's water-covered fist met Aiden's Flamthrower. The two attacks collided resulting in an explosion that not only wrecked the room, but also knocked out the building's power. The smoke cleared to reveal Ash, Cobalt, and Green having been swept off of their feet and Aiden knocked out as Matori towered over him.
Matori: Shame. Not a very hot Flamethrower. This is the bst you can offer?... You put you gifts to waste.
Ash proceeded t sit up just as a chopper appeared, seemingly there to pick the Rocket operatives up.
Grunt: Maam, let's go!
Matori: …Consider yourself lucky, boy. *recalls Sawk* Come back, Sawk.
Ash: Why….. Why is your team causing so much cruelty to the Pokemon?
Matori: Because as Giovanni said… Pokemon are nothing but tools for our splendor.
Ash: You sick…. Pokemon aren;t tools to be used for business! They're our friends!
Matori: Friends?... Funny, you seem to make your friends suffer the pain of battle. A child like you…. You have no idea of how the world works. Especially of the world where Team Rocket will eventually reign supreme.
Matori, the grunt, and the Rocket Prize Master climbed into the chopper, the woman smirking as it flew off. Ash looked up, frowning in defeat as he recalled Aiden and looked back at the sky where the chopper left.
Just who was this Matori person?
—-
The next day, the police may have missed their chance to arrest Matori, but they did manage to arrest the defeated grunts. Though the good couldn;t extend to the Silph Co., due to the Mater Ball's production being postponed due to Team Rocket's influence. Currently, Ash, Gary, and Serena were saying their goodbyes to Lana, Morty, and Flara at the train station.
PA: Attention, the 10:00 Magnet Train to Goldenrod City is now approaching. Please wait until all passengers have disembarked before boarding. The train will be departing for Goldenrod City in fifteen minutes.
Serena: It was nice meeting you all, but it looks like it's time we go.
Flara: It was nice seeing you again, Ash. And Serena, I hope you consider the Contest Tour.
Serena: *nods* Mmm.
Morty: And good luck on that Battle Frontier thing, Ash. Just know that Sabrina and the whole school are rooting for you.
Ash: Thanks, guys.
Lana: It was nice working with you, Gary. Maybe we could meet up again sometime if you're in Alola. Maybe… Over coffee or-
Gary: Lana, I hate to burst your bubble, but…. I don;t like girls like that.
Lana: Oh! Well…. Maybe I can still show you around since you ant to research Pokemon?
Gary: *smiles* I look forward to it.
Fabio: I'll be seeing you, guys.
Cobalt: Thanks for the help, Fabio.
Green: We couldn;t have done it without you and Lana.
Azula: I wasn;t exactly a part of this and we haven't really spoken, but… I'll miss you most of all.
Bubblo: Uh, I also helped, just saying.
Suddenly, the train approached the station and the doors opened, letting out the other passengers. As soon as the exiting stream stopped, Ash and his group walked onto the train, looking around and finding their seats just as the doors of the train closed, and the vehicle lurched forward.
PA: All passengers, please be seated. We will now be departing for Saffron City. The trip will take approximately 45 minutes.
Ash, Serena, and Gary sat down, buckling their seat belts as they did so. Cobalt and Green sat down in another booth, holding tightly onto the support beam as Azula held tightly to Ash's shoulder, Kestrel wrapped comfortably in the Inteleon's arms as the train continued forward, slowly at first, before picking up speed as it entered a dark tunnel. Ash looked out, as his Psychic School friends waved them off as the train sped off as the train's speed increased further, and eventually it came out of the underground and was speeding along through the wilderness at high speed. Trees of all kinds sped by at bewildering speed, and various wildlife-dwelling Pokémon watched the speedy train pass by. The mountain ranges approached fairly quickly, and Serena couldn't help but look out the window to watch them get closer as a particularly large mountain that dwarfed the rest of the ones in the range came into full view.
Gary: *awed* That's Mt. Silver.
Ash: It's the toughest training spot in the world. The weather is intolerable, the terrain is dangerous, and the Pokémon are incredibly strong. I sould know, my Dad trained there for the past 8 years.
The Magnet Train eventually came up on the mountains, and all light disappeared as the train sped into the man-made tunnel that went right under the mountains. Ash was keeping still, but still bound with excitement as soon enough, they would be entering the Johto region and soon enough, his first ever battle in the Battle Frontier…
TO BE CONTINUED…..
—-
Ash's Team
Lucario: Cobalt
Sceptile: Green
Alakazam: Psi
Gengar: Yami
Charizard: Aidan
Inteleon: Azula
Togetic: Kestrel
Lycanroc *Dusk form*: Hunter
Marowak: Kabu
Rotom: Sparky (at Oak's lab)
Umbreon *shiny*: Blacky (at home)
Serena's Team
Fennekin: Kyubi
Gary's Team
Blastoise
Jolteon