Hello one and all to another chapter of Pokemon SVTA where today, we have another filler episode and the 2nd to last one before the main stuff starts. This episode is the first friendship story chapter in the series where Ash and Dean decide to help their teacher Ms. Tyme over a mysterious student supposedly stalking over Tyme and as a Champion of the world, Ash decides to help find the culprit alongside Dean. I want to mention that despite their friendship story being around an episode or two long, the teacher/staff will still show up in the future with original episodes focused on them.
There's not too much to say but I hope you enjoy some mystery and even some development on Quaxly. For clarification on Cover Stories, these Cover Stories will center around different characters throughout the world and see how they're doing, these stories could interconnect with one another that doesn't affect the main plot, could connect to the main story in the future, or are just done for fun.
This Cover Story will involve Ash's Unova Rival Trip, now I don't like Trip but an idea I like that came to my head is a rival reflecting their actions and I thought about Trip because he's basically racist towards Ash from being from Kanto and while Trip acknowledges Ash, it felt half-assed kind of like the Unova season (the Anime ruined my favorite region) so that's why I'm doing this kind of Cover Story on Trip and redemption, he may not be forgiven, but he wants to try to redeem himself for the better.
In a similar way (and this might be an unpopular opinion), but while I love Ash's Sinnoh rival Paul as a rival especially Ash finally winning against him, as a character, he's infuriating to deal with because he's constantly a jerk and that's supposed to be the point of Paul, but I could never like him compared to the others especially when he gets away for his actions. While I'm not going to write a 'grim-dark AU where he gets brutally punished' because I'm not that type of writer, I may write a Cover Story arc revolving around redemption and acknowledgement of the past but again, it's just my opinion so don't freak out.
With that unnecessary rant out of the way, we also have a bonus Cover Story involving Ash's Pokemon back in Kanto/Alola and I'll call these segments: 'Ash's Pokemon adventures' (I'll think of a cool name later). Let's get started.
Cover Story 2: Trip's trip around the region trip #1: Start from your roots.
When Ash went through the region of Unova, he had to deal with an arrogant photographer named Trip. He encountered Trip on his first day there and Trip isn't exactly pleasant as he would call him names that would seem very Regionist by some but for the most part, Ash dealt with it wanting to have a full battle one day with Trip but he didn't really get that wish in the end because it was a one V one in the finals but Trip came to somewhat respect Ash and decided to go on his own way.
Around 2 years after Ash left and his lost against him, Trip began traveling once more and one day helped two kids who were lost back to their parents and found out the kids were from Kanto of all places. This caused Trip to reflect on himself for saying those mean things he said to Ash and regretted it especially when he finds out that Ash's former companion Iris came back and became a champion of Unova with Alder retiring and Ash became the first Alolan Champion and months later, the World Champion.
Trip decided that he wants to redeem himself towards others and travels to Alder's hometown of Floccesy town where upon arriving at his house, he... notices him sleeping but wakes up upon Alder's students arriving to see him and remembers Trip from the other day and that's where Trip asks Alder a way to redeem himself by becoming a student of Alder's. Though Alder senses strength in the boy, he decides to test his skills out in battle with Trip using his Serperior against what he hoped to be Alder's Bouffalant only for Alder to send out Volcarona revealing that Bouffalant isn't actually his ace, but Bouffalant is used to make people think he isn't that strong (which Bouffalant is actually strong) but when he uses Volcarona, he finally gets to let loose, and Trip is utterly defeated.
Alder however, does sense Trip's resolve and agrees to make him his student and that his first assignment for redemption is that he's given a Larvesta egg and must raise it but he also gives out another assignment of going to the White Forest/Black City, a civilization in a forest and a city respectively that are debating one which one should be torn down whether that be the forest to make room for the future or the city to allow Pokemon to thrive.
Trip's goal is to convince both sides that they can thrive in both and that when he gets there, he should seek out Alder's grandson Benga to help resolve the situation between the two civilizations. Donned with Alder's cloak, Trip begins his first step to redemption all while caring for a Larvesta egg, but Trip is followed by a mysterious girl in brown pigtails and her Snivy seemingly wanting something from Trip or maybe hoping that she was finding Alder for some unknown reason.
END
It was another beautiful morning at Naranja academy as we see Ash and his Pokemon train alongside the newly caught Tinkatink with Cyclizar and Pikachu testing Tinkatink's speed while Ash and Buizel were teaching Arven and his Sneasel and Gogoat about the Counter Shield while Quaxly watched from the sidelines.
"So, when it comes to the Counter Shield. it has to be a ranged attack like with Buizel's Water Gun combined with spinning?" Arven asked as Ash shook his head, "Not exactly, lots of people use techniques in different ways for example, my friend Brock once used Gyro Ball with his Geodude back when I was at the Alola school to deflect an attack and moved like a pinball and did the same thing with Steelix's Gyro Ball against a flamethrower, so a lot of people use it differently. Your Sneasel could honestly learn Counter Shield by using Metal Claw and even a mixture of Quick Attack while Gogoat doesn't have the moveset to really do so but you did use Energy Ball in combination with Metal Claw to create a slash attack, so it could work." Ash says as Arven looks to his Pokemon and they all nod.
"Alright, let's try it out!" Arven said enthusiastically as Ash smirks, "Alright, you got yourself a deal! Buizel, show off your skills!" Ash said as Buizel came on to the field and prepared to fight. "Alright, Gogoat charge up an Energy Ball and Sneasel use Metal Claw and combine it with Energy Ball!" Arven said as Sneasel metalized her claws and put her hand in the Energy Ball absorbing the energy which appeared on her claws.
Sneasel proceeds to quickly step fastly using Quick Attack and spinned which looked like a whirlwind with a green swirl surrounding it which Ash prepares to attack, "Buizel use Aqua Jet!" Ash said as Buizel nodded as Buizel covered itself in a watery veil and launched itself towards the spinning Sneasel. Upon interaction, Buizel was deflected to his right but lands safely with Ash being impressed by Arven's skill and Arven smiling towards his Sneasel.
Sneasel stopped spinning and still had energy left in her claw, "Alright Sneasel, time for the Energy Slash!" Arven says as Sneasel jumps in the air and prepares to release and energy slash. "Alright Buizel, you know what to do." Ash said confidently as Buizel began to spin on his back releasing 3 jet streams of water circling around Buizel as Sneasel releases the slash attack and was stopped slightly though it explodes causing Buizel to be pushed back a bit but wasn't a negative for Ash nor Buizel as they were impressed.
"It took a combination attack to destroy a counterattack, nice going Arven!" Ash said excitedly as he fist bumps Arven, "Thanks."
Quaxly eyes sparkle in excitement as he goes on to the battlefield prepared to try it as well which Ash and Arven take notice of, "Quaxly? You want to try your own Counter Shield as well?" Ash asks as the small duck Pokemon nods and points to Pikachu as to use its moves on Quaxly which concerns Ash.
"Quaxly, are you sure you want Pikachu to use Thunderbolt on you? it will be painful." Ash said out of concern as Quaxly nods once more and Ash sighs, "Ok." Ash says as he goes to the similarly concerned Pikachu and Ash goes to whisper in his ear.
"Pikachu, I want you to lightly use Thunderbolt when it happens." Ash says as Pikachu nods, "Pika." Pikachu also whispered as he charges up his Thunderbolt. Quaxly took a deep breath and prepared to twirl like a ballerina, Quaxly was building up the energy and covered itself with a watery veil from Aqua Jet but rather slowly and not launching himself forwards which seems to impress the group.
As Pikachu prepares to release Thunderbolt, Quaxly begins to twirl faster allowing the watery veil to grow and expand even more upward but when the Thunderbolt lands on the vortex spinning Quaxly and the light Thunderbolt begins to twirl around the body, Quaxly suddenly stops his spinning and is noticeably slightly shocked and dizzy as he lands on his rear causing Ash and Pikachu to go to Quaxly out of concern and Arven analyzes the scene.
"Quaxly!/Pika!" both Ash and Pikachu say to Quaxly as he holds his wing up indicating he's fine and gets back up disappointed, "Quaxly, what's wrong?" Ash asked out of concern as Arven steps in. "It's the spinning, Quaxly in general are known for their footwork and spinning kicks but your Quaxly not only started off too slow but hasn't adapted to that style yet nor has it adapted to the speed yet."
"Wow, you knew that?" Ash said surprised as Arven nods, "Yep, Jacq taught us that analyzing our Pokemon and comparing their Dex entries helps differentiate our mons from the ones in the wild in a way." Arven responded as Quaxly pouts and Ash and Pikachu go to pat him on the back.
"Don't blame yourself, your footwork is great, and we'll work on it. Let's do it again!" Ash says cheering Quaxly up and Quaxly gets back up to prepare to do it again, Quaxly looks to field and remembers how he moved left to right, back to forward when he was battling reminiscent of dancing. Quaxly stood there for a moment and then thought of something, Quaxly proceeded to hop from spot to spot which confuses both Ash and Arven.
"Quaxly, what are you doing?" Ash asked his Paldean starter as Quaxly kept hopping around with the speed noticeably getting more faster as Quaxly kept hopping around until he stopped in one spot and proceeded to spin around rather fast compared to last time as the duo of trainers began to realize what he's doing. "I see, after last time, you wanted to increase your speed and you did so by trying to hop around some a lot faster and now the spinning should help you out I assume." Ash said as Quaxly spun fastly and a watery veil started to appear once more but before Quaxly could do anything, a school bell was heard causing Quaxly to be distracted and fell over once again.
"You alright Quaxly?" Ash asks again as Quaxly gets up to nod and sighs disappointingly as Ash pats him on the back, "Don't worry about your Counter technique right now, there are other strategies we can try, or we can get back to that later. For now, let's get to homeroom." Ash suggests as Quaxly nods and prepares to leave.
It was now biology with Jacq and Jacq looked to be very excited about something with Arven at the front of the class with his Pokeball.
"Well class, I've waiting all week for this, and you've likely seen this Pokemon as well, but I've asked Arven to join us today for Arven to show us a new discovery in over 60 years. Arven?" Jacq asks as he nods. "Yep, Morada come on out buddy." Arven said as his Pokeball releases his Hisuian Sneasel which surprises most of the class except for some like Ash, Pikachu and Penny and most students who had seen Arven and his Sneasel before.
"A new Paldean form?" A random student asks as Jacq shook his head, "Not exactly, it's what you call a Hisuian Form." Jacq says as the class is shocked even more.
"Hisui Professor?" Verde asks as Jacq nods, "Hisui was the name of the Sinnoh region a long time ago when the world was getting use to Pokemon. A tidbit is that 2 clans and the civilization of Jubilife Village now known as Jubilife City those being the Diamond clan, which respected Dialga and the Pearl clan, which respected Palkia. But that's for Ms. Raifort to explain another day haha. But in Hisui, there were a lot of Pokemon back then that were common such as forms for Zorua and Zoroark, Braviary, Growlithe and Arcanine and so much more roamed about, but as time went on, these forms started to dwindle due to the changing environment making some evolution items lost to the environment and the last reported Hisuian Mon was over 60 years ago." Jacq informed Verde as a different student raised his hand.
"Mr. Jacq, then how did a Hisuian Sneasel showed up?" the student asks, "An excellent question! This Sneasel likely had her genetics changed up a bit upon hatching and one of her ancestors might've been a Hisuian Sneasel or its evolution Sneaseler causing her to be different from most other Sneasel or Weavile. To be honest, I thought Arven's Sneasel would be the only one of its kind, but I've noticed two updates to the Dex detailing a Hisuian Samurott wielded by Carmine of Uva Academy and a Hisuian Arcanine by a mysterious cloaked figure. Now I have to wonder who found that Hisuian Arcanine because I would really love to pat its fur?" Jacq says as Ash and Penny sweat nervously as they remember the cloaked figure (aka Ribes) telling them not to disclose his identity.
"Don't worry, we'll find them one day professor." Ash said nervously as Penny nods, "We'll have your back!" Penny said also nervously as Jacq doesn't suspect a thing.
"But the real question is, how have they evolved into their Hisuian forms? Is it genetics or maybe something supernatural but I don't believe in ghosts."
Just as Jacq said that, a random Gengar appears from the ceiling and slaps Jacq out of disappointment as Jacq rubs his face and the students looked to be shocked, amused and confused all at the same time.
"Ok, I don't believe in literal ghosts not Ghost types though whose Gengar was that? Guess I'll have to figure out this Hisuian form mystery in the form of a traditional Sinnoh song. OHHHH-"
"NO!" the class say trying to stop him.
We move on to see Ash and Pikachu heading to their next class when they notice Dean and his Squawkabilly looking over the corner at something or someone, so Ash decides to go to him. "Hey Dean, what are you doing? Are you about to confess your love to someone, I have someone who can help-"
"No no nothing like that, I already have a person I'm going to confess to but, come take a look." Dean insisted as Ash and Pikachu hid with Dean noticing a girl watching over Ms. Tyme walking into the teachers lounge seemingly nervous about something as Ash is confused. "What's going on here Dean?" Ash asks the pompadour trainer as the girl goes off to somewhere.
"That girl over there is Roca, a classmate in Geography and History, she's very shy and friendly yet I notice her watching Tyme in secret but I'm not sure what her end goal is, so I wanted to keep an eye on her as my detective blood craves out mystery." Dean says making Ash intrigued and confused.
"Detective blood?" Ash asks as Dean nods and says, "Yep, on my mother's side, we come from a long line of detectives who have solved thousands of cases over the years and we're related to the famous detective group, the Greentons."
"Never heard of them." Ash says.
"Yeah, they're kind of an old detective agency that served the Sinnoh region for generations and have inspired some proteges to form the International Police thanks to their experience as detectives of the Greentons." Dean says as Ash remembers Looker, an individual who works for the International Police and wonders how he's been doing after Unova.
"But that's not the point, it's my job as a semi-detective is to help people out no matter the issue and I want to make sure there's no malicious intent in Roca. And nothing will stop me-" As Dean was about to finish, the bell was heard disappointing Dean.
"Except the bell."
"Well, I believe in you and your detective skills."
"Thanks Ash."
The duo of trainers and Pokemon proceed to head to math class as the day continues on.
We see Ash and Dean at math class waiting as their teacher Ms. Tyme walked in looking a bit nervous and looked behind her which got Ash and Dean's attention, "Ms. Tyme, is something the matter?" Ash asks the nervous teacher who looks to Ash and softly smiles. "No no no, it's nothing, I'm fine. Just a slight panic that is all." Tyme said happily as Ash and Dean looked at each other concerned but they try not to worry about it for now as Tyme breathes in and talks to the class.
"Hello to another beautiful day of Mathematics and today we'll me learning about the various buffs and debuffs in battle. You maybe wondering about how math is involved with these buffs/debuffs? Well, take Sword Dance for instance, Swords Dance is said to double the user's strength and it takes 3 Sword Dance's to get to full power while a move like Bulk Up one boosts once but also boosts Defense once as well. Belly Drum boosts the attack to the maximum around 6 Bulk Up's worth but also drains the user's strength so unless they heal with a berry, they'll be around KO range. Now there are other buffs like Bulk Up that boost two stats but Gear Shift in particular boosts Speed by twicefold and attack by once and now-"
As Tyme was talking, Ash's mind was melting and couldn't handle the information as he started to melt from confusion as Pikachu and Dean try to poke the gooey Ash.
We see Ash and Pikachu walking across the hall holding out a math sheet where all the questions were answered except for two of them involving stats, we also see Dean walk next to Ash also with the same sheet. "Hey Dean, confused about question 12 as well?" Ash asked the long pompadour trainer as he nods, "Pretty much, I mean if the question involves having 3 swords dance buffs to your attack, defense, special attack, special defense and your speed, to we add the 2 strengths to each to each Swords dance adding on the 3 from the total amount we need plus the max 6 in total to each stat or we multiply?" Dean says confused as they both headed to the teacher's lounge to meet up with Tyme.
When they enter, Tyme is the only one seen in the lounge and they head up to the teacher who looks nervous and Ash prepares to say, "Excuse me, Ms. Tym-"
"Aah!" She said scared before calming down, "We're sorry we didn't mean to-" Ash and Dean didn't finish as Tyme put her hands up to calm them down, "No no no no! It's not your fault I overreacted there. It's just the two of you, I apologize for my reaction."
The tension calms down as the 3 of them take deep breathes before Dean speaks up, "Is something bothering you Ms. Tyme?" Dean said concerned as Tyme shook her head and softly smiles.
"No, I'm perfectly fine, I don't want you two-" "Pika!/Squawk!" "-Four to get hurt because of me."
Both Ash and Dean look at each other before turning to Tyme.
"Don't worry, I come from a long line of detectives and Sunyshore City technicians and the detective blood is inside me ready to investigate!" Dean said confidently as Ash nods, "And I'm a World Champion, my goal is to see that everyone's alright no matter the danger. I've also dealt with worst such as dealing with Groudon and Kyogre in a world ending scenario, stopping the Team Flare from destroying the world, and I've saved my Pikachu by jumping off of Lumiose to-" Ash didn't finish as Tyme held out her hand in panic and even Dean and his Squawkabilly had shocked blank white eyes.
"Stop! I've seen those stories on the news and every time I see those news stories, I have panic attack over these incidents. I know you're a Champion but you're only 12 and I don't want to lose a student, promise me you'll stay safe here and if you agree, I'll tell you what's going on." Tyme said softly as Ash and Pikachu nods and Tyme sighs.
"Alright, it all started around a week ago right before Ash arrived to Naranja. Whenever I walked, I had a strange feeling someone is watching me from a distance within the school, with me shopping but not at home though, my Persians are watching. I just don't know what they want with me." Tyme said a bit worried.
"Maybe it's Ghost types, they like to watch people all the time?" Ash said as Tyme shook her head, "No, it's not Ghost types. Me and my sister grew up around Ghost types, so I gained a sort of ability to detect Ghost types anywhere at any time." Tyme said, "How so?" Dean asks as Tyme points over to the door.
"There's a Gengar about to poke it's head through the door right now." Tyme said as they look over to the door and as expected, they see a random Gengar popping out of a door and upon seeing them, immediately goes back.
"I don't know how that even works but go on." Dean said as Tyme nods, "When it comes to detecting ghosts, I also detect an individual's spirit in a way and the spirit is... shy and nervous. This spirit appears to be young so it's a student." Tyme said now starting to get a bit worried.
"And if this person really is a student, then they must want a question from me but what if they have another motive. I care about my students a lot but if they have an ulterior motive, then I'm not sure what I'll do? If they have a crush on me, then I need to break their heart lightly." Tyme said now a bit nervous as Ash and Dean looked to each other and nod.
"I think we know who the culprit is, we think it might be Roca." Dean said as Tyme looks to them, "Roca? She's an excellent student in my class and homeroom, did she have something to ask me, and I never noticed. What kind of teacher am I?" Tyme said sadly as the students shook their heads and smiled.
"Don't blame yourself Ms. Tyme, we'll help you find Roca so you can talk to her." Ash said as Tyme looks to the two shocked, "Oh you don't have to do this for me." Tyme said but the students shook their heads. "Nonsense, I have a duty as a Champion to help others." "And my detective blood wants to catch the culprit!"
Tyme looked to the both of them and sighed before looking at them with a soft smile, "Alright, but try not to get too reckless alright." Tyme said out of concern and both trainers nod in approval.
"Alright, we'll go take care of the issue!" Ash said as both trainers prepare to leave and Tyme looks on with happiness in her eyes until she remembered something.
Oh wait, did they need something from me in the beginning? Tyme thought and immediately stopped the two trainers immediately.
"Wait! Did you two have a question about an assignment?" Tyme asks as the two immediately remember and grab their papers.
After the two trainers agree to help their teacher and also got their assignments resolved, the two trainers immediately try to come up with a plan at a lounge in the front area. Pikachu and Squawkabilly meanwhile were playing in the distance.
"Alright, if we're going to bring out Roca what would be the plan?" Dean asks, "Well why not ask her in the flesh?" Ash asks as Dean shook his head at that decision. "Not exactly, the other day, I tried to ask her what she was doing only for her to scatter immediately. So that won't work."
The students were stumped for a moment until Dean thought of something, "What about a Zorua or Zoroark to trick her to following us!?" Dean said with an idea as Ash thought about it and while the idea could work on paper, they needed a Zorua/Zoroark.
"That could work, but neither of us have a Zorua or Zoroark." Ash said disappointing both of them, just as they were both about to give up, Roca came to the both of them causing them to sit up straight.
"Scuse me Mr. Champion and Dean, do you know where Ms. Tyme went off to?" Roca said nervously as Ash and Dean look to each other before shaking their heads to Roca lying about Tyme's whereabouts as Roca sighed and bowed.
"Alright, thank you." Roca said sincerely as both sighed out of relief, "That was close, we would need to be Tyme to get her close to us." Dean said as an idea appeared in Ash's head.
"Say Dean? Do you know if there's a fashion designer in the school?" Ash asks the teen who nods, "Yeah I know a student here who's good at coming up with dresses and Saguaro's Home Ec class also acts as a fashion designer class why?" Dean asks the champion who immediately gets the idea of what Ash means by that.
"You sure Ash?" Dean asks as Ash nods, "Yep, I've been through several regions, and I've been through some dresses and Nurse Joy's outfit at one point so I think I can do it and also, Team Rocket also helped me out with that idea." Ash said confidently as Dean looks confused.
"Team Rocket?" Dean said, "A group of bad guys trying to take my Pikachu and they use disguises every time."
Speaking of which, I haven't seen Team Rocket in a while, what are they doing? Ash thought to himself as he got to work on the disguise.
We see Team Rocket plus Wobbuffet at the Champion's Headquarters to celebrate some sort of event alongside several other janitors, Rika and Geeta.
"Jameson, Jessiana, Meowthers, and Woboffu. You guys brought a wonderful speech to your fellow janitors about safety and cleaning and because of your hard work and efforts, I'm promoting you as the new heads of the janitorial department of the Champion Headquarters and a huge pay. Congratulations!" Geeta said happily as the room claps for them and the 4 TR members have a group hug in excitement.
"We did it, if you're watching up there, mom? I made it!" Jessiana said happily, "Growlie, I made it too bud!" Jameson said crying.
"Come here you big lug!" Meowthers said hugging Woboffu, "Wob Wobuffet!" Wobuffet said happily.
Back at the school, we see 'Ms. Tyme' walking in the hall with Roca watching from far away trying to wait for the right moment, Dean was out on the gymnastics field waiting in a bush with Pikachu for the right moment.
With no other student following them, 'Tyme' heads out onto the field with Roca following not too far behind. With 'Tyme' on the battlefield and Roca now seeing her oppuratunity, begins to breath in before softly smiling.
"Ms. Tyme, I know I'm always the shy one in your class, but I've waited for this moment for a while to ask you a question. You don't have to answer it if you don't want to if it's personal." Roca said nervously as 'Tyme' nods.
"Don't be shy, feel free to ask away." 'Tyme' said as Roca got a bit suspicious, "Ms. Tyme, is your voice, ok?" Roca said concerned as 'Tyme' nods, "Yeas, I just have a sore throat today and forgot to take my cough medicine."
"Well, that is very important." Roca said in agreement as Dean and Pikachu finally come out of the bush ready to encounter Roca, "So is telling us why you're stalking Ms. Tyme!?" Dean said confidently as Roca turns around shocked and suddenly gets mad.
"You were listening in on us!? You should be ashamed of yourself!" Roca said as 'Tyme' nods in agreement, "That I agree with, but most importantly, the stalking part." 'Tyme' said as Roca then realizes her mistake and breathes in once more and prepares to turn around. "Alright, I-I admit it, I did indeed stalk-" Roca stopped herself upon seeing 'Ms. Tyme' who was actually Ash on some wooden stakes to make himself taller and Squawkabilly disguised as the hair as Roca is understandably shocked.
"You dare, trick me like this!?" Roca said as Dean goes to Ash with Pikachu getting on Ash's shoulder while Squawkabilly proceeded to do the same on her trainer's shoulder. Both trainers felt kind of bad for doing this, but they proceeded nevertheless, "We're sorry for tricking you like this, but you're creeping Ms. Tyme out when you do this. She's nervous but if you tell us the issue, we can try to work things out!" Ash said encouragingly but Roca wasn't buying it.
"Why should I believe you, I'll take you both down in a battle!" Roca said angrily as Ash and Dean try to put their hands up in defense, "Woah, Roca! We don't need to do this!" Dean said but Roca wasn't buying it. "Guess like we have no choice." Dean continued as the 3 trainers go out to the battlefield and Roca grabs her two Pokeballs.
"You'll pay for doing this! Nacli, Ampharos come on out and deal with these punks!" Roca said sending out her Ampharos and her Nacli with Ash and Dean reluctantly grabbing their Pokeballs and Ash grabbing his Dex and scanning Nacli.
Nacli, the Rock Salt Pokemon, Rock type. Nacli are born from the earth from a layer of salt and the scrapes that are left behind because of it's body are used for salt and pepper.
"Guess we have no choice, Quaxly let's go!" Ash says throwing his Pokeball to release Quaxly, "Magmortar you too." Dean said throwing the Pokeball and releasing his Magmortar ready for battle. Quaxly was seen with his dance like style once more stepping left to right which Ash took notice of.
"I see you're still dancing, keep that up for momentum and use Aqua Cutter on Nacli!" Ash said as Quaxly nods and his right foot glows as he runs to attack Nacli, "Ampharos use Reflect in front of Nacli!" Roca said as Ampharos goes in front of Nacli and creates a barrier as Quaxly creates a blade and tries to attack the barrier to no avail.
"Nacli use Smack Down!" Roca said as Nacli create a rock in front of it and attempts to launch it before Dean's Magmortar steps in front of Quaxly and raises out his cannon hand, "Magmortar use Smokescreen!" Dean said as Magmortar released a puff of smoke blinding both Ampharos Nacli as Nacli's Smack Down goes over Magmortar's head missing.
"Now use Flamethrower!" Dean said as Magmortar charges up a blast attack as Ampharos prepares another screen, "Ampharos use Light Screen!" Roca said as Ampharos creates another screen to reduce special moves and Magmortar releases Flamethrower onto both Ampharos and Nacli are sent back a bit, a bit damaged but not too hurt.
Both Quaxly and Magmortar step back as well as Ash and Dean are in a slump on what to do, "She's good, I will admit. Going for a defensive strategy with Reflect and Light Screen and Nacli attacking, we may be in for a challenge, what's the plan?" Dean asks as Ash starts to think and remembers that Magmortar has Smokescreen and reminisces about his time in Alola where Rowlet sneaked behind a Yungoos stealthy, and Ash's brain goes off with an idea as he whispers to Dean who nods in agreement.
"Alright Magmortar use a large Smokescreen!" Dean said, "Quaxly rush in and aim for the sides and appear from the 'backside'" Ash said as Quaxly nods and Magmortar releases a large Smokescreen covering the field and Quaxly rushes in as Roca tries to prepare herself. "A Smokescreen!? Alright Nacli use Smack Down and Ampharos use Thunderbolt to clear away the smoke!" Roca said as Ampharos releases a stream of electricity and Nacli launches a rock to clear out the battlefield, but Quaxly wasn't in sight.
"Where is that Quaxly!?" Roca said when all of a sudden, Quaxly appeared from behind at blazing speed which caught Roca off guard, "What the-"
"Quaxly Aqua Jet on Ampharos!" Ash said enthusiastically as Quaxly launched itself in a watery veil towards the Light Pokemon and sent it flying towards the middle of the field catching the trainer and her Pokemon off guard.
"Oh no Ampharos! Nacli Rock Slid-" Roca didn't finish as Ash called out another command, "Aqua Cutter!" Ash said as Quaxly created its aqua blades and sent the Salt Pokemon flying towards Ampharos as Dean's Magmortar whose about to unleash an attack. "Magmortar use Scorching Sands!" Dean said as Magmortar launched a swirl of hot sand towards the opponents sending both of them back.
Roca, now getting angry, wasn't going to lose to some greaser and a champion and prepared for attack. "Ampharos use Thunderbolt on Magmortar!" Roca said as her Ampharos released a stream of electricity towards Magmortor but before it could get hit, Quaxly with a swirling Aqua Jet took the hit but the Thunderbolt didn't end Quaxly's Aqua Jet as it kept going with the electricity swirling around Quaxly's body. Quaxly eventually lands next to Magmortar a bit shocked (literally) and tired but still keeps on fighting as Ash looks on concerned.
"Quaxly! Are you ok!?" Ash asks out of concern as the Duckling Pokemon nods and is ready to fight once more, Dean looks impressed.
"That's impressive, that Aqua Jet would normally stop in its place had Thunderbolt landed but thanks to Quaxly's spinning, it reduced that damage instead." Dean said as Ash and Quaxly then get an idea and think back to earlier before Quaxly looks to Ash with a nod as Ash nods as well.
"Dean, I need you to defend Quaxly at all costs while it's preparing something, it's time to finish this!" Ash said as Dean and Magmortar nods, "Got it, Magmortar, prepare to protect Quaxly at all costs." Dean said as his Pokemon prepared themselves while Quaxly proceeded to spin and jump around and spin faster.
"I don't know what you guys are planning but I won't let you, Ampharos use Thunderbolt!" Roca said as Ampharos released a stream of electircity towards Magmortar and Quaxly as Magmortar prepares themself. "Magmortar use Scorching Sands!" Dean said as Magmortar launched a swirl of hot sand from its right cannon to push back against the electricity and creating a puff of smoke which Roca was hoping for and smirked.
"Nacli use Headbutt!" Roca said as Nacli launched itself towards Magmortar hitting it in the stomach, but it still stands when it suddenly gets burned catching Roca off guard, "Never underestimate the ability of Flame Body, Brick Break!" Dean said as Magmortar's arm glowed catching Roca off guard, "Wha-" Roca didn't finish as Magmortar brick breaks Nacli sending it to the ground and Magmortar aimed its arm above Nacli.
"Scorching Sands!" Dean said as Magmortar released hot sand from its cannons and sent Nacli flying back, and it's burn caused Nacli to be in pain before eventually fainting because of the burn. "Nacli!" Roca said worryingly as she got out her Pokeball and returned Nacli.
"Thank you Nacli, you really helped out. Ampharos, it's you against the world and- What the?" Roca stops herself upon seeing Quaxly who spun up a tornado of water involving Aqua Jet which was growing bigger by the minute. "Now that's what you call a Counter Shield Quaxly!" Ash said excitedly as Quaxly spinned very fast to unbelievable limits and its Counter Shield resembled a vortex of sorts swirling around at a fast rate.
"That's unbelievable." "Mortar." Dean and Magmortar said with astonishment as Ash nods, "Thanks for buying time Dean, now let us do the rest!" Ash said as Roca gritted her teeth and raised her arm for battle. "Ampharos use Thunderbolt!" Roca commanded as Ampharos released a stream of electricity towards Quaxly but like with the Aqua Jet before, it seems to only swirl around Quaxly but unlike before, Quaxly isn't feeling bothered by the electricity shocking everyone (non-literally of course).
"That's impressive Quaxly, now use that vortex as your Aqua Jet!" Ash says as Quaxly says its name happily and launches itself carrying the vortex while spinning surprising everyone though Quaxly does have difficulties controlling it. The strong currents make it hard to turn but Quaxly pushes through those currents and spins itself towards Ampharos.
"Ampharos use Dragon Pulse!" Roca said but before it could launch that Dragon Pulse, Quaxly attacked Ampharos on the stomach and sent it flying for huge damage before Quaxly quits using Aqua Jet and shakes itself off. "Ampharos!" Roca said out of concern as Ampharos faints causing Ash, Pikachu, Dean and their Pokemon to celebrate the victory as the Pokemon go to their trainers as Quaxly hops into Ash's open arms and Pikachu fist bumps Quaxly while Dean and Squawkabilly pat Magmortar's head.
Roca grits her teeth once more but sighs returning Ampharos to their Pokeball and gave a soft kiss on the Pokeball, "Thank you Ampharos, get a rest." Roca said before looking to the two trainers. "You may have beaten me, but I'm not giving up. Carkol (A/N: Galarian Pokemon will still be highlighted if they didn't appear in Journey's, back to the story), Rockruff, come on out!" Roca said as she threw her Pokeballs in the air releasing a Pokemon that resembled a mine cart with coal and Rockruff.
Ash grabbed his Pokedex to scan Carkol,
Carkol, the Coal Pokemon, Fire/Rock type. Carkol are known for carrying tons of coal which never fall off despite it's appearance. When one does fall off, it is used by humans to warm up houses.
"Again!?" Dean said as Ash sighs, "Guess, she won't give up. Alright Quaxly Aqua Jet!" Ash said as Quaxly hops off of Ash's arms and launches itself towards Carkol as Dean nods, "Alright Magmortar Brick Break!" Dean said as Magmortar ran towards Rockruff.
"Rockruff Bite! And Carkol Flame Charge!" Roca said as Rockruff's fangs glowed and Carkol covered itself in flames and rushed towards the group, but before things could get wild once more, a Pokemon known as Garganacl appeared in the middle of the field and stopped the fight to a halt as the group wonders what a random Garganacl was doing here.
"It's- It's a Garganacl!" Roca said in disbelief as Ash grabbed his Dex and scanned it.
Garganacl, the Rock Salt Pokemon, Rock type and the final evolved form of Nacli. Garganacl creates salt that is used to heal small Pokemon. Its salt is said to be so eroded that it effects Steel and Water type Pokemon so they have to be careful around this Pokemon.
"But why would a random Pokemon be here?" Ash remarks as Tyme appears behind the Garganacl appearing quite serious yet calm, "Ms. Tyme, what are you doing here?" Ash says as Tyme sighs.
"At first, I didn't know what to do. I was afraid of what would happen if I were to confront my stalker until I found out they were a student and by then, I was afraid I did something to wrong them, or they were nervous to talk to me. I feel quite ashamed of myself for not doing anything but it was your enthusiasm and determination that helped me out of this shell and now I want to face the truth." Tyme said as it astounds Ash and Dean and makes Roca look down in shame for her actions and starts to tear up a bit.
Tyme goes to Roca and softly smiles before patting Roca's shoulder, "Look, I'm maybe 67 and about to crumble but I care for my students including you, I think of you and my homeroom as grandchildren of mine and so, if you tell me the truth of why you're following me, I'll understand even if you hate me." Tyme said softly as Roca then tears up.
"Alright but first-" Roca stops herself and goes to Ash and Dean apologetically, "I'm so sorry for my actions, I know you were just looking out for Ms. Tyme and my actions went a bit too far with stalking and battling you out of anger. I hope you can forgive me for my actions." Roca said apologetically as Ash and Dean nod.
"It's no problem, we kind of thought you had malicious intentions." Dean said as Ash nods, "We're sorry for battling you and tricking you like that, we just wanted to know why you were doing this." Ash added on as Roca nods.
"Alright, I'll explain. The truth is, I'm huge fan of the Gym Leader duo of MC Rock Tyme and her sister, the MC of RIP Ryme. But Tyme in particular was awesome as a Gym Leader, showing off her Rock based battle style mixed with math puns that made me love rock types." Roca stops as Ash and Dean look on in surprise.
"You were a Gym Leader." both Ash and Dean say.
"In the flesh." Tyme said as Roca continues, "She was amazing and I that one day, I could face the both of them in battle and prove myself as a user of Rock types... and Ampharos, I love Ampharos. But a year ago, she left as a Gym Leader with her going to here at Naranja to become my new Homeroom and Math teacher 6 months following the Team Star debacle and although I was excited to have her as my teacher, I felt sad she wasn't going back as a Gym Leader and I wanted to ask her why? But I felt nervous and afraid she would try to deny that question and I felt worried Ms. Tyme would be angry towards that question and so I decided to hold it off. I decided that this was now the moment to try to talk to her but I felt afraid once more." Roca finished as Tyme looks on with an apologetic look and Ash and Dean look on and let them do their thing.
"Roca, I would never try to deny my own student of a question even relating to my Gym Leader past. If you have any and I mean, any questions you can always come to me. But before I tell you why I left, I need to make something clear. Don't try to stalk people if you have a question especially teachers. If you want to ask them something, you have to go and ask them or have some help but don't try to make things creepy for others as it could have an overreaction of sorts, alright?" Tyme said as Roca still with tears nodded and Tyme smiled.
"Alright, I guess it's time for me to tell the truth. I loved being a Gym Leader and always appreciated me and my sister's challengers but I always fell in love with math and was even a math teacher in my 30's once but the passion for Gym Battles led me to become a Gym Leader in my hometown with my sister and it was fun. But, when I heard about the Starry Skies incident and that they needed a math teacher following their departure in the Summer, I knew I needed to help teach you about math and left as a Gym Leader." Tyme explained as Ash, Dean and Roca look on surprised.
"Wow." Dean said, "But don't you miss your time-" Ash was interrupted a nearby rim shot from some band students with the trainers, teacher and their Pokemon looking on deadpan (with Garganacl facepalming). "Band practice is next door!" Dean said as the band left.
"Your time as a Gym Leader?" Ash asks as Tyme smiles softly and looks on with nostalgia, "At times, I do miss the gym. However, I know my sister is capable of running the gym and is a powerful Gym Leader with rhymes as creepy as the Ghost types and yet, I'm proud of her." Tyme said fondly.
"Now, how about we return inside, I hear it's supposed to rain tonight. And Roca, you did still stalk me for about 2 weeks, so a detention is in order." Tyme said causing Roca to sigh but nod in approval causing Ash and Dean to look at each other and nod also.
"Actually, could we join detention as well? We did kind of trick Roca by using a dirty tactic." Ash says as Tyme sighs but smiles, "Alright, you 3 will have a 20-minute detention but afterwards, I'll buy you all ice cream, my treat." Tyme says exciting the group.
"Deal!" All three say as they return their Pokemon but Quaxly rested on Ash's shoulder for his hard work, "Quaxly, you did a good job. We'll keep working on that spin so you can be even faster and try to come up with new tactics." Ash says to the sleeping Quaxly who gives a thumbs up.
And so, Ash's journey was filled with strangeness and mystery but in the end, things seemed to be going well as the journey continues.
END
Extra/Omake:
You may have been wondering where Arven, Penny and Nemona were all day? Well let's see:
We see Arven cooking up some dinner for his Pokemon alongside his sleeping Mabosstiff who looked to be sickly once more and Arven touches him on the head and hugs him. "Don't worry Mabosstiff, as soon as the Treasure Hunt starts, we'll be searching for all the Herba Mystica in Paldea so you can be all better and ready to run buddy." Arven said sadly as Mabosstiff licked his hand.
We see Penny on her computer looking through 5 photos, these photos contained a variety of individuals from a black-haired boy with headphones and a hat, a pretty pink haired boy in a pink suit, a fiery redhead girl with boots reaching up to her knees, a purple and green clothed ninja, and a tall girl with strong muscles. Penny typed them in and connected the information to her Rotom phone but looked to be a bit sad for some reason until Sprigatito licked her cheek and made her feel a bit better.
Nemona was seen in front of a door that had the numbers 108 and Nemona was leaning her head against the door in sadness with Pawmo nuzzling against her head out of concern. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you earlier Grace, student council papers were calling me haha. It's been a year on this day and the student council room is lonely without you and your humor and Giagomo was always happy to see you. Why did you have to take the blame for Team Star? Why did you di- leave us alone?... Why!?" Nemona said with tears falling down Nemona's cheeks.
"I'll visit you tomorrow after I... visit my mother. Que descanses en paz, nuestro brillante girasol (From English to Spanish (Paldean in-universe): May you rest in peace, our bright sunflower. I hope Google Translate is correct)." Nemona said before she went down the hall.
We also see Ash, Dean, Roca and Tyme having their ice cream when Tyme realizes something that being the outfit Ash was wearing.
"Say Ash? I noticed you were wearing one of my dresses." Tyme said as Ash remembers, "Oh yeah, we needed a way to lure out Roca and I thought disguising myself as another individual would help, why is it bad?" Ash asks as Tyme shook her head.
"No no, I'm just very surprised." Tyme said as they decide to move on from the conversation and eat their ice cream.
END
Writing a Filler chapter is one of the hardest things to do and so if it's not to the quality of the other chapters, I apologize, I need more work doing a Filler. The reason why I did a Filler is that it's a good way to give space within the plot and provide a sense of relaxation before a major story chapter. In this case, the next chapter will revolve around Nemona going through some sort of sadness after dealing with some Team Star grunts who claim that Nemona stole their member away and died not long after. Ash will help Nemona get through her sadness and Nemona wants Ash to be her moral support when she visits the grave of her mother.
As you might tell, the next chapter is going to be a bit sad and some of the things I said will correlate with a content warning not for gore (I would never do gore here) but will contain some rather heavy themes relating to death and the mentions of 'depression'. I'm not sad it's just I'm reminded that it's been 9 years since I lost my Grandpa from old age and I've had a sort of sad mood lately revolving around death, but I want to do my best when it comes to the subject matter and it's my first time doing this sort of thing so if I'm not good at it, I apologize and I don't mean to offend.
I'll be in a better mood once I'm ready to get pass some aforementioned family issues, but I'll feel better soon.
Also, I take suggestions when it comes to Cover Stories so if you have any suggestions, throw them out but generally, I do have plans for the companions (aside from Brock and Misty because I'm not sure what to do with them), so keep an eye out for their Cover Stories and I'll see you next time. Again, I'm sorry for that depressing end note, I'm not in the best mood this week.