Titans

by Harlequin K

Ash Ketchum has always dreamt of receiving a Charmander from Professor Oak, battling powerful trainers, and reaching his lofty goal of becoming a Pokemon Master. However, fate had other plans and brought him together with the energetic Growlithe.

7. Soaring Blade

A/N: Chapter has been re-edited and uploaded as of 10/11/2024

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Soaring Blade.

Ash was sitting in the cafeteria of the Cerulean City Pokémon Center waiting for his team to be healed. He had a notebook and was writing down some ideas he had for a short but intense week of training for his team. He wanted to win his Cascade badge, but most of all he wanted to beat Daisy; sure he could wait until he had a Pokémon that would be effective against the water type gym, but by then Daisy would be gone on her research trip and he owed it to his team to give them a real gym battle instead of an intense training session type battle.

Ash looked at his notes from the battle, he didn't know if Daisy would use the same Pokémon, but he would devise a strategy from what he saw. The first hurdle was Milotic, Ash took out his Pokédex and looked at the description of the serpentine Pokémon.

[Milotic, the tender Pokémon. Milotic is said to be the most beautiful of all the Pokémon. It has the power to soothe such emotions as anger and hostility, to quell bitter feuding. Milotic live at the bottom of large lakes. When this Pokémon's body glows a vivid pink, it releases a pulsing wave of energy that brings soothing calm to troubled hearts.

Milotic has provided inspiration to many artists over the ages, however don't mistake this Pokémon's beauty for weakness; when enraged this Pokémon has been known to cause as much destruction as a rampaging Gyarados.]

Ash frowned at that; the Pokémon he saw was playful and very gentle just like the Pokédex said, then he remembered the powerful Hydro Pump she launched. If Rhyhorn hadn't fallen in the water then he would have been knocked out pretty fast. He looked at several videos of the water serpent and he learned a couple of things. First and foremost, beauty can certainly be very deadly.

Milotic were fast Pokémon given their large bodies. The smallest one was eighteen feet long while some of the largest specimens could reach between twenty-five to thirty feet. Their speed wasn't the only problem; their scaled body could withstand elemental and energy attacks with ease and their special attacks were just as powerful as Kingdra or Electivire, both species were renowned for their special attacks.

However, for all their power and speed Milotic's scales, although resistant to special attacks, were vulnerable to physical attacks. The tender scales from which this Pokémon derived its name, its greatest weapon and weakness. The tenderness of the scales allowed for energy attacks to go around their smooth bodies losing potency as they hit. So the best course of action is to hit with powerful physical attacks and take advantage of this weakness since they weren't hard like say for example a Nidoking's.

Ash sighed looking at the videos and the data; that was going to be a tricky Pokémon to defeat. He took his hat off and rubbed his hair before moving on to Daisy's second Pokémon.

[Wartortle, the turtle Pokémon. Its tail is large and covered with a rich, thick fur. The tail becomes increasingly deeper in color as Wartortle ages. The scratches on its shell are evidence of this Pokémon's toughness as a battler. It cleverly controls its furry ears and tail to maintain its balance while swimming. It stores air in the fur of its tail before taking extended dives underwater.

In the ancient past this Pokémon was associated as a symbol of longevity, some legends put the oldest Wartortle as old as ten thousand years old. Due to this association, elders of ancient Kanto always had a Wartortle with them when performing the coming of age ceremony.]

Ash already knew this information back when he studied to get his trainer's license and when he found out that Gary had chosen a Squirtle as his starter he put double the effort into learning more about them since he knew one day he and Gary would face off against each other.

The Squirtle line prided themselves in their formidable defense, their shells were so hard most Pokémon had trouble causing physical damage to them and they could also attack from inside their shells. However there are ways of fighting against them, fighting them on land where their speed was severely crippled helped as well as special attacks.

From what he saw Daisy's Wartortle was young but very well trained, the turtle had used Dragon Pulse even though it was small and the energy wasn't concentrated enough allowing Nidorina to kick it back. If Ash had tried that move with the Seadra Joe battled Nidorina would've been the one who got hit, a Focus Energy enhanced Double Kick or not.

Ash had already beaten the turtle and he had several strategies so he wasn't worried about it, his worry however was Daisy's powerful Vaporeon. That Pokémon moved with so much speed and beat Growlithe so fast, the only way the battle lasted as long as it did was because of Quick Attack and Ash thought that maybe Vaporeon liked to play with his opponents, otherwise the battle would have ended much quicker.

The reason Vaporeon had fallen after being declared the winner was more due to the fact that Growlithe had scored a Flame Burst square in the bubble Pokémon's face. Ash had been very lucky, but even then the Vaporeon retaliated with a powerful Surf that next time the bubble jet Pokémon might just start with that. Ash frowned and looked at the info his Pokédex provided him on Vaporeon.

[Vaporeon, the bubble jet Pokémon. Vaporeon underwent a spontaneous mutation and grew fins and gills that allow it to live underwater. This Pokémon has the ability to freely control water. Its cell composition is similar to water molecules. As a result, it can't be seen when it melts away into water.

When Vaporeon's fins begin to vibrate, it is a sign that rain will come within a few hours. It was due to this ability that Vaporeon was highly prized by the noble families in ancient Kanto and Johto often treating the water Pokémon with gifts for their warning of the coming rains. It's believed that the myth of the mermaid was started after sailors watched Vaporeon diving underwater and disappearing in it.]

Ash rubbed his temples looking at his notes, there was no doubt in his mind that Daisy was strong. He wrote down his notes and started coming up with strategies to counter the gym leader. He opened a new page and started writing down his team's strengths.

Growlithe had already mastered Bite, Ember, Flame Burst and finally Fire Fang thanks to Veto. Morning Sun was a healing move so he didn't need to practice that much since it all depended on how much solar energy was around. His combinations of Iron Tail and Flame Burst were crude and simple but they got the job done. He had already decided to help Growlithe finish learning Quick Attack then move into Fire Spin to follow his Uncle's advice of alternating from special to physical fire moves.

Once Quick Attack was mastered he would also teach Growlithe Reversal, which was a fighting type move that used the opponents own momentum to counter attack with a powerful blow. Ash then thought about Nidorina; if everything went alright with her evolution, he would spend the next couple of days helping her adjust to her new body and get reacquainted with her old moves before moving forward to master Focus Energy.

Ash tapped his fingers on the table as he looked at Nidorina's move pool, the Nidoran lines both male and female were some of the most versatile Pokémon lines in the world; able to learn a wide variety of attacks both physical and special. The problem was that without the appropriate TM's Nidorina would have to make twice the effort in learning the moves.

He would not let his Pokémon fall behind just because of money; he would train with her just as hard and they would get even better results. The most important thing right now was getting her used to her new body. He would worry about teaching her new moves later on.

Ash sighed as he thought about his last team member. Rhyhorn was a special case that another day couldn't pass before they made some headway in their relationship. He hoped that dip in the pool would jog enough sense into the ground type so that they can work together. He wanted to know how much work he needed to have with Rhyhorn; according to the Pokédex his latest capture's moves were Horn Attack, Take Down, Dragon Rush, Thunder Fang, and Stomp.

It was an impressive move pool and he still had the Smack Down TM from Brock, the issue would be getting through to him. He scratched his head and leaned back, throwing the pen on the table.

"You keep thinking that hard you'll set off the fire alarms."

Ash looked to see Joe with two trays of food and placed one in front of him. He didn't realize how hungry he was until the smell of burgers and chili cheese fries hit him.

"Don't start on me Joe; just thinking too much on how to get my team up to beating Daisy. My biggest headache is Rhyhorn."

He grabbed the burger and started eating it like a Snorlax on a hunger binge. Joe just shook his head and started eating.

"I get it that you wanted to teach Rhyhorn a lesson but don't you think that was a little overboard and risky?" Joe asked as he popped a fry into his mouth.

Ash struggled to swallow then took a big gulp of his strawberry milkshake. "I actually have you to thank for that. If Bellsprout hadn't cracked the platform, I would have never come up with the idea."

Joe flicked a fry at Ash. "So it's my fault you're a reckless fool? Who was it that jumped on a rampaging Rhyhorn and almost redecorated a Pokémon Center?"

Ash grinned and was about to answer when his wrist started vibrating and ringing. He frowned and looked to see the Pokénav his dad gave him ringing. He had been so busy that he hadn't got a chance to play with the thing. After a few seconds of button smashing he answered the video call which showed a very annoyed Delia Ketchum.

"Ashton Ketchum! When in Mew's tail were you going to contact your worried mother? I have to find out from your grandfather that not only did you reach Viridian City but also Pewter City and won your first badge; and not satisfied with that your father called telling me how proud he is that you caught a Rhyhorn in the middle of a stampede, reckless just like your father. Why aren't you saying anything huh, do you think just because you're quiet you'll skate free of being grounded for a month?"

The whole cafeteria was looking at him while Joe was snickering trying to hide it with a cough. Ash cleared his throat, "Well mom you always get mad at me when I interrupt you so I was waiting for you to finish."

Delia glared at Ash. "Don't get lippy with me boy, you're not old enough to stop me from spanking you."

Ash's face paled and he sat up straighter. "Yes mam, but mom I did call you as soon as I got to Viridian City but you had gone away with the professor. You can ask Mark; he answered the call and told me you were in Johto, by the way did you catch the thief? How's Professor Elm?"

That seemed to take most of the anger from his mom. "He's still in the hospital; the thief hit him pretty hard and threw a bookcase on top of him, so he's got a couple of broken ribs and his whole left leg is in a cast. Apparently he was staying late at the lab studying an egg he got from an acquaintance when he was jumped from behind. Next thing he knows, he's in the hospital and the thief had stolen the three starters he was supposed to give out that morning. They called the police but the thief disabled the cameras so we don't know what he looks like."

Ash thought about that, the rest of the cafeteria had gone back to what they were doing and Joe was slowly eating his food. "But why would anyone take rookie Pokémon? That doesn't make sense and can't the police follow a scent trail or something? Maybe Prof. Oak's Arcanine can help."

Delia sighed and leaned back on her chair. "Professor Elm is one of the leading experts in Pokémon eggs. For the past couple of months he was doing a joint experiment with Professor Cedric Juniper and Professor Samson Oak, you remember Professor Oak's cousin right?"

Ash remembered a darker version of Professor Oak with shoulder length hair and a flower shirt. "Yeah, isn't he the Professor of the Alola region? I remember dad taking us there for vacation a couple of years ago."

His mom smiled remembering their out of the blue vacation. Dad had come home from doing a job for the league and just asked us to pack a few bags then we went to the airport and spent a couple of weeks in Alola, his mom loved it.

"Yes, the very same. Professor Cedric's field of study is Pokémon distribution and biology, while Professor Samson focuses mainly on why Pokémon change their appearance and type after they have been in a certain region for a long period of time. They wanted to know why some Pokémon had a different coloring than others of their species, the so-called 'Shiny' mutation as they started calling it."

Ash thought about it for a moment and remembered a movie they had seen together from when he was little. "You mean like the Ponyta with blue flames from The Little Ranger?"

Delia smiled and took a sip of her coffee. "You still remember that? But, yes basically that Ponyta was a shiny. Well the three of them wanted to find out the source of the mutation. Prof. Cedric thought it had to do with the genetics of the parents and was doing research in that area, while Prof. Samson thought it had more to do with the location the mating took place; that certain energies influence the new life being made. However Prof. Elm thought it had to do more with the environment the egg was subject to while it was incubating."

Ash forgot that when his mom started talking about Pokémon research she could go on for days. Her own field of study was Pokémon evolution but it was not evolution from the point of view of Charmander evolving into a Charmenleon. She studied how after millions of years a Pokémon adapted and changed to survive it, she called it Pokémon genetic evolution.

She was currently studying the genetic relationship between the extinct Pokémon Kabutops and Scyther. Her studies have shown that long ago Kabutops used to live in caves near the ocean where it could hunt its prey to its heart's content. But after the oceans resided and land gave birth to more forest over the years the Kabutops that weren't extinct slowly changed their physiology to better survive the forest area.

Their bones became lighter as their backs slowly developed wings to allow them to fly among the tree tops to capture Metapods and Kakunas and they used their bladed arms to pierce their hard shells and suck their internal fluids just like they have done for millions of years. Their heads became shorter and more angular to give them more aerodynamic mobility and their skin became a shade of green to camouflage them from their avian predators. Due to their diet of bugs and their forest habitat they lost their water typing becoming the bug types we know today.

He had heard his mom talk about her research through many dinners and was somewhat familiar with it, although sometimes it gave him a headache. He was more like his dad, preferring a battle through and through. "So who was right?"

Delia smirked. "That is still up for debate because they have been arguing about it for months, so Prof. Elm took the eggs of a Chikorita, Cyndaquil and Totodile and put them under different environments. We don't know the exact details but once the Pokémon were born they were shiny. I will send you the pictures. Prof. Elm wanted to gift these Pokémon to three young trainers to see the progress they made once they reached their full potential. I don't know how the thief found out but he did and you know the rest... Prof. Oak brought Arcanine and they followed the trail but we lost it in the mountain range between Johto and Kanto so we believe the thief is here in Kanto."

Ash's wrist vibrated and a letter icon appeared next to his mom's face signaling that he got an email. His mom smiled at him, "The reason why I sent you the photos is in case you see him on your journey. Those Pokémon are rare so if you see someone with them it's probably our thief. If you see him, contact the police and don't go all Ace Ranger like your father."

Ash fought not to roll his eyes at her; she had already calmed down, it was not smart to anger her again. "Don't worry mom, I won't do anything reckless." Joe started snickering, while Ash tried to keep a calm face instead of glaring at his friend.

Delia smiled. "Okay sweetie, now tell me about your journey."

Ash spent the next couple of minutes giving her the details of his journey. She was sad that he had lost at the Cerulean City gym but gave him some encouraging words. He had skipped the part of his grandfather offering to send him his Empoleon so that he could beat Brock but after a second of thinking, he told his mom since he would get into even bigger trouble for hiding it from her and he wasn't going to get a scolding when it could be avoided, if his grandpa got the scolding... well he was sure his dad would compensate him in some way.

As soon as he told her, fury sparked in her eyes. "What was your grandfather thinking? I swear to Moltres, that man's competition with your father is going to put me in an early grave. Why on earth would he even think of sending such an advanced Pokémon to a rookie trainer? And he calls himself a Pokémon Professor? I'll be having a word with him, does he want to kill my baby? I'll call you later honey good luck on your rematch and call me when you can."

She quickly hung up, probably to call his grandfather. He smiled and rolled his eyes at her over-protectiveness; no matter how old he was she would always treat him like a baby, it was a miracle she would let him cut his own meat. He then opened the email and looked at the three pictures of the Pokémon. Joe had heard the whole conversation and moved next to him to look at the email.

The first one was a Chikorita but instead of the regular green skin tone its body was a pale shade of brown and the seeds around its neck and the leaf on its head were a darker shade of brown giving the Chikorita a fall kind of look; it was in Ash's opinion rather pretty and made him wonder what a shiny Meganium in full bloom would look like.

Next was the Cyndaquil while regular Cyndaquil's had blueish fur on the top and back of their bodies. This little guy's fur was a light orange maybe with a little pink and its bottom was still the same milky white. The slits where the flames sprouted out due to the different color of the fur gave the flames an optic illusion of being a light magenta color instead of the regular flame color.

The last one was a Totodile and in Ash's opinion looked the best of the three. Instead of the regular light blue skin this Totodile had a blue-green skin and the usual red spikes along its back were dark blue, the crest on its chest remained the same.

Joe whistled. "Those are some rare looking Pokémon; if he uses any or all of them he would be spotted very easily. It's not everyday you see a trainer with three "shinies" . Was it that she called them? Some trainers go their whole lives without seeing one."

Ash nodded and closed the email to finish his burger and fries. "At least we'll know who it is when we see them. Right now I have more pressing worries as to how to beat Daisy. Even if Rhyhorn listens to me, he can't move on those platforms; he will sink again. So my option is to win the first two battles hard and fast."

Joe leaned back and finished his chocolate shake. "Nidorina should be okay after a couple of days to get used to her body, I think you need to work on Growlithe and his speed. If he can master Quick Attack he should be good for the gym but it will still be a very close battle for Ash."

"Would trainers Ash and Joe please come over to the reception desk?" Nurse Joy's voice sounded over the speakers.

Joe looked up and smiled. "That's us, come on let's go."

They dump their leftovers in the thrash and move onto the reception desk where Nurse Joy had finished with a shoulder length red haired trainer wearing black clothes. They waited a couple of minutes while she finished giving them a room key. She looked up and smiled.

"Your Pokémon are all healed up. They didn't have many injuries so that was good, a nice day of rest and they should be battling better than ever. Now we did a full check on Pidgeotto and although small for her species she will continue to grow. You did mention that she was a small Pidgey to begin with."

She handed them their Poké Balls then looked at Ash with a warm smile. "Your Pokémon are also okay, a little rest and they should be good. We did the same check up on Nidorina as we did on Pidgeotto and there were no problems with her evolution. The most important aspect to watch out on the Nidoran lines when they evolve is their poison sacs as sometimes they get damaged and the Pokémon is sick afterwards from their own poison. But that didn't happen, which is great, give them both a couple of days to get used to their new bodies and you should be good."

Ash clipped his Poké Balls in his belt and then remembered something as he was paying for the treatment. "Nurse Joy, do you happen to know the way to a cottage north of the city owned by a man named Bill?"

Nurse Joy widened her eyes in surprise. "You mean Mr. Silph? Yes I do know the way, you keep heading north and when you see a gated golden bridge you've arrived. He owns the whole land north of the city and the bridge is the entrance to the property."

Ash nodded a little shocked that he remembered his dad told him that Bill was the owner of Silph Co. so he had the money to buy a couple of cities. He thanked Nurse Joy and both he and Joe moved on to the public battle arena at the back of the Center where anyone could use it.

"Who were you asking about?" Joe asked as he walked beside Ash.

Ash opened the doors to the public area and moved towards one of the empty fields. "A friend of my dad from back in the day. He wanted me to visit him once I got to the city, so we can check it out together."

Joe nodded and looked at Ash, "So what are you going to do?"

Ash put his bag down and crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm going to chat with Growlithe and Nidorina before releasing Rhyhorn."

Joe frowned for a moment before nodding. "Okay, I'll have Bellsprout out just in case and anyways I want to talk to Pidgeotto we'll give you space but won't go too far."

Ash saw Joe walk a little ways off giving him some privacy which he appreciated. He first released Growlithe. The fire puppy looked around and looked at Ash and dipped his tail. He knew it was his fault that they had lost, he had failed because he wasn't strong enough.

Ash saw the dejected look on his friend's face and knelt down cupping the little Pokémon's, face rubbing it softly. "I don't want any of that. You battled stupendously against an older more experienced Pokémon and had the type disadvantage. But what you didn't know is that once I recalled you Vaporeon fell to the platform knocked out as well. That last attack did a lot of damage."

Growlithe didn't raise his tail but started wagging it a little, his trainer was a cheater rubbing him behind the ears when all he wanted to do was sulk. He barked at him softly.

Ash smiled and made the fire type look at him. "You were amazing, buddy and you learned Quick Attack! Now all you have to do is master it and your other attacks and combinations will reach a whole new level of power. I couldn't be prouder of you; you're the cornerstone of our family."

That seemed to lift his friend's spirit as the fire pup wagged his tail barking before jumping on Ash making him fall on his butt as he licked his face. "Okay, okay buddy; I'm glad you're feeling better. Now we are going to meet Nidoran, she evolved during the battle and now is a Nidorina."

Growlithe nodded, giving his trainer one last lick then sat next to him. He wanted to see how much his friend had changed thanks to her evolution. He was determined to become stronger so that they don't have to lose again because of him.

Ash smiled and released Nidorina and finally got a good look at her. She was over two and a half feet tall once she stood on her hind legs that she reached the middle of his chest. Her arms and legs were bulky with sharp powerful looking claws, her large ears twitched every so often as well as the barbs of poison along her back. Her coloring was a light blue with strong scales covering her body. He walked around her and saw that she now had a small tail.

He smiled at her and took a mirror from his bag. "You look amazing girl, congratulations on evolving. How do you feel?"

Nidorina looked at herself in the mirror and was very pleased with her new body; she was still getting used to her new size and the sensitivity of her ears had increased by quite a bit as well. By far the thing that was going to take her a little bit getting used to was her tail. While they were scanning her she tripped several times, which she hoped her trainer never found out; it would ruin her graceful and delicate reputation. She chirped her content at her new form and gave her trainer a razor sharp smile.

Ash smiled at Nidorina then held out his Pokédex. "I'm going to scan you again girl and see what it says."

Nidorina nodded and posed in a threatening manner as he scanned her which made him smile.

[Nidorina, the poison pin Pokémon. When Nidorina are with their friends or family, they keep their barbs tucked away to prevent them from hurting each other; when it senses danger, it raises all the barbs on its body. These barbs grow slower than Nidorino's. When they feel threatened they emit ultrasonic cries that have the power to befuddle foes and cause damage. One of Nidorina's largest changes were in their poison sacs which grew proportionate to their body increasing the quantity and potency of their venom allowing the newly evolved Pokémon access to a wide variety of poison moves.

Trainers are warned that when Nidoran evolve into Nidorina they enter their fertile cycle where it is safest for them to reproduce due to their armor plates not being as hard as their evolved form of Nidoqueen. This does not mean that Nidoqueen are infertile it's just that the process is much harder on them that they would only lay one batch of eggs every dozen years if the Pokémon wants to breed, but since breeding is done in the Nidorina stage most Nidoqueen don't reproduce.

Trainers are warned that Nidorinos who come into contact with a fertile Nidorina may become aggressive with the need to mate. Nidorina's fertile cycles are twice a year in the spring and the fall so during these times trainers must keep a vigilant eye on their Pokémon.

This Nidorina knows the moves Bite, Scratch, Fury Swipes, Poison Sting, Growl, Double Kick, Focus Energy and Supersonic.

This Nidorina has the ability Poison Point.]

Ash whistled looking at the warning the Pokédex had for Nidorina, since she was in her fertile cycle she would attract the attention of members of the opposite sex. He wasn't worried about Nidorina having trouble defending herself from undesirable mates but he would still keep an eye out for her during those times.

He was also surprised that she knew Supersonic; the move was very useful in battle where the Pokémon emitted high pitched sound waves that entered the brain and confused the foe for a small period of time. He looked at Nidorina and smiled.

"Girl, I didn't know you knew Supersonic also; that's another thing we need to practice and make sure you're in tip top shape."

Nidorina had heard the Pokédex description and was feeling very proud of herself and started grooming her claws. She didn't know how but when she evolved it was as if her body had known the two attacks all along, she had used Focus Energy in the heat of her anger and had totally forgotten about Supersonic she just wanted to pummel that rude turtle.

Growlithe walked over to Nidorina sniffing the air around her, she had changed a lot so he was memorizing her scent again. Once he was done he gave her a congratulatory low bark and wagged his tail. Nidorina chirped at Growlithe thanking him as she finished grooming her claws.

Even though she was a little bigger than him, specially if she stood on her hind legs, she knew the fire pup was a great battler and had always been polite to her not making unnecessary loud noises due to her sensitive ears and she had seen him use his fire attacks to put down the Rhyhorn when they were in the cave. It had given her a whole new respect for her trainer's oldest partner.

Ash let the two get reacquainted then looked at the other side of the field where Joe had released Pidgeotto and the avian Pokémon was having the same meeting with Joe's team that Nidorina was having with Growlithe.

He then turned to Nidorina, "Okay girl lets do some simple exercises first. Run around the battlefield to get a feel for your new body. Start with a steady pace and once you feel comfortable speed it up. Growlithe stay by my side for now, this is Nidorina's training time."

Growlithe nodded and sat by Ash and watched as Nidorina nodded and started slowly jogging around the arena. As Nidorina ran she started to feel her muscles loosening and after a few laps she started running faster and faster; her whole body was brimming with energy and she felt like she could take on twenty Wartortle right now. She heard Growlithe giving her an encouraging bark as she sped up even more before Ash called her back.

Ash was smiling when she neared him. "That was good girl, how do you feel? Do you think you're ready to try a few moves?"

Nidorina chirped her agreement with a look of determination on her face. Ash smiled then looked at Growlithe. "Buddy, do you think you can help us out a bit?"

Growlithe barked and stood up ready which made Ash smile. "Okay buddy thanks. I want you to stand on the other side of the battlefield and dodge only using your Quick Attack. We'll use this chance to see how much work we need to master it."

Growlithe nodded and ran towards the other side of the battlefield his eyes sparkling with fiery determination. Ash looked at Nidorina who was already on the field and smiled.

"Okay Nidorina let's start with something simple, Poison Sting."

Nidorina opened her mouth and a barrage of thick poison needles shot forth at high speed towards Growlithe. Ash took note of the length, width and numbers of the needles; before her evolution the needles were about the length of his pinkie finger, with a light purple color and she could only shoot from five to seven needles every time she opened her mouth. Now the needles were thicker than before and as long as his middle finger with a deeper color purple. The number had also increased to a dozen needles per shot.

Growlithe saw the incoming attack and started dodging it using his fastest speed; right from the beginning he wanted to push his limits and go as fast as he could and then go even faster. Ash noted Nidorina's accuracy was spot on. If Growlithe hadn't been using Quick Attack to dodge, he would have already been hit several times.

Every time Nidorina fired she would miss by a hair's breadth, for his part Growlithe was having difficulties maintaining his speed. Sometimes he would speed up too much or fall off Quick Attack. One of the times he slowed down and the needles would have hit him but his friend saw the needles getting closer and countered with a stream of Ember before jumping backwards.

"Okay that's enough of that, good job guys. Nidorina your aim is spot on; there's room for improvement but not much. Growlithe we have to work on maintaining your speed when you're using Quick Attack."

Both Pokémon nodded their understanding, Ash smiled and saw that Joe was running Pidgeotto through some aerial maneuvers; he was using Machop to throw pebbles and Bellsprout with her Razor Leaves to help the bird Pokémon get comfortable in its new body.

Ash turned to his Pokémon and smiled. "Okay Nidorina let's try your Fury Swipes, Growlithe I want you to counter with your Iron Tail; we can't let you lose strength in your tail so deflect Nidorina's claws. Don't overexert yourselves."

Nidorina nodded and ran towards Growlithe, her claws glowing with opaque white light while Growlithe ran at her his tail glowing with a metallic sheen; both Pokémon attacked at the same time. Nidorina would rake at Growlithe with her claws while Growlithe deflected with its tail.

"Growlithe don't meet her attack head on she has more bulk than you. Deflect it at the edge of your tail. Only meet it head on when you got more momentum; that way you won't waste your power. Nidorina use your waist more when you attack with your arms; the power of your upper body comes from your legs and waist, that way you will hit harder."

Ash continued shouting advice to his Pokémon and slowly their attacks were hitting harder sending little shock waves across the field from their clash. After a couple of minutes Ash told them to stop and fed them some water and an Oran berry to help them recover.

"Nidorina all that's left to check is your Bite, Focus Energy and Supersonic. Let's start with Bite, just charge the attack and bite this."

He picked up a thick branch the width of his arms and held it for Nidorina. Nidorina's fangs were coated in the same dark purple energy as before, only now it was thicker and she bit the branch, breaking it cleanly in half. Ash held the two pieces and smiled, throwing them aside.

"That was great girl, now let's check your Focus Energy."

Nidorina closed her eyes and tried to find the same energy she had when she was battling the annoying turtle but tried as she might she couldn't find the energy again. Maybe if she got mad but that wouldn't do. She opened her eyes and shook her head at Ash.

Ash frowned for a moment then his eyes landed on Machop, "Don't worry girl, we can ask Machop for help later since he already knows the move. Now let loose your Supersonic."

Nidorina nodded and looked towards the empty field and opened her mouth letting loose a baleful cry. Ash had covered his ears and saw that Growlithe had fallen to the floor and was covering his ears with his paws, his eyes closed. After a couple of seconds Nidorina closed her mouth and looked at Ash.

Ash smiled and rubbed his ears, "That was a great girl, no need to practice."

Growlithe opened his eyes and glared at his trainer, if Ash had said that they were going to practice that on him, his trainer would find himself missing a pair of pants. He got up and bopped Nidorina's nose with his paw. Nidorina glared at him and bopped him back, Ash saw this and thought it was funny but decided to put a stop to it early.

"Okay guys enough. Now I need you to listen because the next thing we are going to do is very important."

He unclipped Rhyhorn's Poké Ball and showed it to them. As soon as they saw the Poké Ball they tensed. They knew who was in the ball, the last time Rhyhorn was out they had to beat him together.

"I know he has been a little hard to deal with but he's part of our family so let's give him one last chance; if after today he still doesn't want to be a part of the team then I'll release him next chance we get. But I want you guys to be open and welcoming, but just in case be ready for anything."

Nidorina gave a humph and moved to the side and started grooming herself while keeping an eye on the Poké Ball. Growlithe walked over and looked at his trainer, he trusted Ash but his track record with bad ideas was pretty big, well if anything went wrong he would pull his trainers tail out of the fire like always. He gave the Poké Ball a sniff before pressing the button with his nose. The ball opened releasing the large horned Pokémon.

Rhyhorn looked around carefully and breathed a sigh of relief at having been let out onto solid ground. The last time he was out of that infernal contraption it had been in a battle and before he could even take one step he had fallen into a pool of water. He knew his so-called trainer had done it to teach him a lesson but couldn't he find another way? Maybe find water that was warmer, he almost froze his horn off.

He turned around and saw his trainer, next to him were the fire pup and a new Pokémon he had never seen. She smelled familiar and by the violent gleam in her eyes she must be the poison rodent he had met before, guess she evolved while he was locked inside.

Ash saw the look Rhyhorn was giving him and raised his hands in a placating manner. "I just want to talk, we won't hurt you but I would like you to listen. Is that okay?"

Rhyhorn looked at the sky and breathed in the fresh air, he loved been outside and running around to stretch his muscles; being cooped up in that metal contraption was the worst torture possible. Sure he had tried to get away from his trainer in a polite manner but humans were dense creatures who couldn't understand civilized Pokémon speech. In his herd if he didn't like someone, tackling them with your horn was the polite way to open a conversation. But since he didn't want to go back in that contraption so soon he nodded.

Ash smiled when he saw Rhyhorn nodding, "I know you must be angry that you're not let out as much as Growlithe or Nidorina and the last time you were out you fell into a pool but I did all that because you posed a threat to my family and no matter who it is Pokémon or humans I won't let anyone hurt my friends and family. And my Pokémon are my family, yes I captured you which makes you my Pokémon and I won't let anyone hurt you. I know you're big and strong but everyone needs a herd to protect and be protected by. It may not be the same as the one you had before but this herd will slowly grow bigger and could use someone as strong as you to protect it. However, if you still don't want to be a part of our herd then I will release you next chance I get, but if you decide to stay then I'll do everything in my power to make you the strongest you can be."

Rhyhorn looked at the sincerity in the human's eyes and he hadn't voiced any untruths as most humans do. He had always been in the wild since he hatched from his egg, he was one of many and his sire was a powerful Rhydon who was more focused on his duty as the herd's leader. That day that he was pasturing with his herd when the blinding white light sent them all running in different directions, he was with a small part of his hatch mates.

Yes he was angry before at being captured but the human had not mistreated him and in that cave had fed him even when he didn't have to. There was something else, the human... Ash was his name he remembered. His father was a powerful Rhydon that had fought many battles with the plains' Nidoking but even his father could not evolve to his final form that of a mighty Rhyperior and that was Rhyhorn's dream. So maybe this skinny legged human trainer might be of some use. He still had his pride and wouldn't submit so easily, so he rumbled a low growl and nodded but nodded his horn at the fire pup. From his impression the pup was the leader of this herd and he wanted to have a real battle and not the chaos of their first meeting.

Ash's heart suddenly stopped when he saw Rhyhorn nod his head, then frowned when he pointed his horn at Growlithe. For a moment Ash was confused, then it dawned on him. "You want to have a battle with Growlithe?"

Rhyhorn nodded; if he was going to commit to this herd he was going to do it the right way. Growlithe was sitting by Ash's side the whole time in case the rock/ground Pokémon had any funny ideas but he didn't expect the spikes Pokémon to say yes but only if they battled.

Growlithe stood up and walked over to the field; he knew that this was something that had to be done. Rhyhorn moved over to the other side of the battlefield while Ash shook his head and stood in the middle. "Fine you will get to battle but don't overdo it okay?"

Both Pokémon ignored him; without any signal or word, Rhyhorn rushed forward his body gathering speed as he ran towards Growlithe in a classic Take Down attack. Growlithe had seen from his battle that Rhyhorn attacked in a straight line and couldn't turn very well, so he jumped to the side.

To both Growlithe and Ash's surprise Rhyhorn turned at the last second hitting Growlithe in the side sending the fire pup flying. Growlithe looked shocked, the turn had been so abrupt and fast he didn't have time to react.

Ash for his part had seen it and couldn't believe it. Rhyhorn had run straight at Growlithe and when the fire pup jumped to the side he had stepped hard with his right foreleg and pushed himself to the side. Ash looked towards the ground and noticed a hole the size of Rhyhorn's leg, he came to the conclusion that Rhyhorn knew he would have a hard time turning at the last minute and used Stomp to pivot towards Growlithe. It was crude and spur of the moment but it showed Ash that Rhyhorn had good instincts and with a little work they could perfect the move.

Growlithe for his part was using Morning Sun to recuperate, Rhyhorn was a big Pokémon and the force from the Take Down plus the added momentum from the pivot Stomp had hurt a lot. Once he recuperated he rushed at Rhyhorn as the larger Pokémon ran towards him and charged his Iron Tail and swept it at the spikes Pokémon's face only for it to be countered by the larger Pokémon's horn.

They started parrying back and forth horn versus tail neither one gaining an advantage. Rhyhorn was starting to feel frustrated; the little pup was fast and was meeting him head on with one powerful tail strike after another but he could tell the pup was getting tired, he was bigger and heavier so he could put more force behind his attacks. He let electricity crackle in his fangs ready to bite the fire pups tail when Growlithe stroked the ground beneath him with his tail using the force to jump and sending a large orb of fire aimed straight at Rhyhorn's forehead, the only thing that went through the spikes Pokémon's mind was: Not again.

The Flame Burst hit Rhyhorn and the spikes Pokémon's head was black and burned and he looked a little dazed. Growlithe landed on the other side of the field panting. Ash had seen it all and was joined by Joe and his Pokémon as they watched the battle.

"So you got him on your side now?" Joe asked as he watched the two Pokémon go on another duel of tail versus horn.

Ash had seen how Rhyhorn used his moves, he liked to overwhelm his opponents with his size and power but he would also come up with a clever way to do so such as the pivot Stomp. He now had a general idea how much work they needed to do but was very pleased with his latest member. "Apparently so." He answered Joe.

Ash then clapped his hands together and both Pokémon stopped. "That was great guys, so Rhyhorn what do you think? Are you with us?"

The spikes Pokémon nodded, the fire pup was smaller than him but he couldn't push him back and was locked in a stalemate. If that was the result of this skinny... of Ash's training then how strong would he get? Would he be able to evolve into a Rhyperior?

Ash smiled from the bottom of his heart, "That's great, I ask this question of every team member but would you like a nickname? It's okay if you don't want to or want to do it later it's your choice."

Rhyhorn thought about it for a moment then nodded. Ash tapped his chin thinking, his new friend was powerful and strong plus he had the ability Rock Head; he had read that Pokémon with this ability had a much more denser skeletal structure than regular thus making their attacks stronger and not receiving any recoil damage as other Pokémon who might use the same move.

"How about Diamond? Selenium? Umber? Zircon?" Ash started putting out names related to rocks but Rhyhorn had rejected each and everyone one of them and some even looked disgusted.

Joe was laughing at his inability to think of a good name. Ash pulled out his Pokédex and started rifling through some names and found one that he thought was perfect.

"How about Ronar? It says here that he was a general under Emperor Satoshi's rule and won many battles during the expansion era of ancient Kanto. It was recorded by his enemies that when the general and his Rhydon entered a battle it was like fighting a vast unmovable mountain."

Rhyhorn's eyes sparkled with interest and he nodded, liking the name and the story behind it. He would make his namesake proud and reach even greater heights. Ash smiled and went to his bag and picked some berries and vegetables he had purchased in a stall next to the Pokémon Center and placed them on the ground in front of Ronar with a smile.

"Welcome to the family Ronar."

Growlithe gave a welcoming bark, he had felt the strength of this newest member and if he kept his attitude in check then he would be a great addition to their ever growing family. Nidorina had watched the whole scene out of the corner of her eyes as she continued her grooming, there was no way she was going to stop just to watch the boys fight it off to see who was top Pokémon. As long as they didn't mess with her then she wouldn't need to show them who the real boss was. Once she finished she gave a welcoming growl to Ronar and thought that maybe she should have a name as well but would rather wait until she was fully evolved to find something that fit it best, she just hoped her trainer captured more Pokémon and female ones because being surrounded by nothing but boys will be torture.

Ronar smiled and started eating the delicious vegetables in front of him, this was definitely better than being cooped up in that contraption. He paused for a moment as he saw Ash come closer to him with a wet cloth and started cleaning him on the spot where Growlithe's Flame Burst had hit earlier. The gesture touched him and he let him do it without any problems as he enjoyed his food.

"No need to be dirty; and eat as much as you like, from now on we are family. I promised to let you out as much as possible and let you run but there are times where you are going to have to be in the Poké Ball but every time you are out there will be berries and vegetables ready for you."

Ronar groaned with distaste but if being cooped up for several hours meant more food then he would endure it for now. Once Ash finished cleaning Ronar he walked back to his backpack by Joe's feet, both their Pokémon were mingling and getting to know each other. Growlithe was having an avid conversation with Bellsprout. What would a fire pup and grass/poison plant Pokémon find so interesting he had no clue. Ronar had finished eating and was listening to Machop and Nidorina talk while Pidgeotto was flying above them enjoying the afternoon sun.

"I guess they are getting along. Ronar is not so bad once he isn't trying to kill you. And congrats on the name, I'd offered to name my Pokémon as well but the only one who accepted was Zephyra and that was after she evolved."

Joe nodded to Pidgeotto as she started doing cartwheels in the air. Ash nodded and picked up his backpack. "I ask them the same, my guess is that they want a name once they are sure of who they are and, evolution brings so many changes that maybe it's afterwards that they feel comfortable. Which reminds me, " He turned to Nidorina. "Nidorina, now that you evolved would you like a name like Ronar?"

Nidorina turned from the conversation she was having with Machop regarding Focus Energy when she heard her trainer's question and shook her head slightly then nodded afterwards hoping Ash got the message.

Ash looked at Nidorina for a moment and nodded, "Okay girl not yet, just let me know when you're ready." She nodded and turned back to the fighting Pokémon.

Joe turned to Ash with an arch eyebrow. "You had no idea what she said and just guessed right?"

Ash shoved Joe playfully. "How could the future Pokémon Master not know what his Pokémon is saying?"

Joe rolled his eyes. "Yeah right. So now that we resolved your Rhyhorn issue and both Zephyra and Nidorina got through some basic exercises, are we leaving for that guy you talked to me about?"

Ash thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Dad wanted me to visit and who knows maybe he can give me a few pointers on my training. He did beat my dad and uncle back in the day." He then turned towards his team. "Okay guys we're moving out, I promised to let you out shortly."

He and Joe recalled their Pokémon and set course for north of the city. From what Nurse Joy said before, the city limits weren't that far off from the Center. Cerulean City had a different air about it than Pewter; where Pewter's look was more of a mountainous and hardy appearance, Cerulean City was open and warm, everyone was outside going about their business or having fun in one of the numerous lake and ponds.

Soon they stepped out of the city and into a vast plain before coming face to face with a gated golden bridge. The bridge was massive and it was the only way to cross the river to the other side; however, Ash noted that on the other side there was also a gated fence.

Several guards in dark green uniforms patrolled the perimeter of the bridge, on their hands were gauntlets that housed six Poké Balls on the back of the hand for easy throw and access. Those were the same gauntlets used by the League's Ace Rangers and each of these guards had two of them for a total of twelve Pokémon. What crazy security.

As the boys neared one of the guards saw them and held his hand up with a frown, "Stop, you are approaching private property. State your business."

Ash looked at the guard and said politely, "Hello, My name is Ash Ketchum my dad is an old friend of Mr. Silph and told me that whenever I was in the area that I should pay a visit would it be okay to pass?"

The guard frowned even harder. "There are no visitors scheduled for today, please leave."

Ash looked at Joe who just shrugged. "Could you please contact Mr. Silph; my dad was very insistent."

The guard glared at them. "Listen kid if you're not on the visitors list you're not getting in so beat it!"

One of the other guards saw the commotion and walked over, this one was an older guard with a shaggy beard with streaks of gray in it. He wore a badge with the silhouette of a Rhydon with a star underneath. Ash widened his eyes, a one star Ace Ranger.

Ace Rangers were separated from one star to five stars; the higher the stars the more influence they had on the league and the more duties they had. Some five star Ace Rangers had the same power and authority as a Gym Leader and in certain cases they had even more authority.

"Ethan what is all the ruckus?" The man boomed with a deep baritone voice.

The guard Ethan saluted the Ace Ranger. "Commander Joey this kid insists on seeing Mr. Silph but there are no visitors registered for today, they insist that their father is friends with Mr. Silph. I was just telling them to scram."

Commander Joey looked at them for a moment. "It's true that there are no visitors scheduled for today but if what they say is true, who are we to bar them from meeting Mr. Silph?"

Before the guard Ethan could voice any response, Commander Joey took out a Pokénav and made a call on it. A man's distracted voice sounded from the other end of the nav.

"Yes Commander, is there something wrong... Esper lift that box another two inches to the left... no not my left your left, Nyx stop laughing; if you're not going to help then go play with Flare!"

Ash frowned at the loud commotion that was coming from the other end of the phone but Commander Joey looked as if this was all natural.

"Sir, sorry to bother you but we have a couple of kids at the entrance who say that they are the sons of a friend of yours."

A loud crash was heard then a yowl of pain, "Esper you didn't have to drop the box on Nyx's tail, apologize now... A son of a friend you say?"

The commander arched an eyebrow at Ash. "My dad is Red Ketchum. He also knows my uncle Blue Oak, my name is Ash."

The commander went back to his call, the guard Ethan was glaring at Ash from behind his superiors back. "Sir he says that he is the son of Red Ketchum and that you know his uncle Blue Oak."

A large explosion was heard on the other side of the call. "Nyx what did I say about using Dark Pulse in the lab! Esper don't you dare launch that Shadow Ball in the house... Flare you're the oldest; get your sisters under control... Red Ketchum and Blue Oak, yeah I know them... Lanette! Did Red have a kid?"

A woman's voice was heard in the background but was muffled by another explosion. "Flare I told you to get your sisters under control not join them; do I have to get Tempest in here?... My apologies commander apparently Red indeed has a kid named Ash. But how do I know that kid is Red's Ash? Esper, Nyx I swear to Mew if you wreck my lab again I'll call your mother... Flare you too!" Another loud explosion was heard. "Commander, Red was a great battler if the kid can beat any of your guards Pokémon let him and his friend in, if not then send him away."

Ash was starting to think like his uncle, Bill was definitely a quack. Another explosion sounded right before the call ended. Commander Joey ignored all the commotion as if it was something normal for him which maybe it was.

The guard Ethan gave Ash a cruel smile, "Commander, let me test the kid."

The commander gave the guard a pointed stare. "These kids look like rookie trainers treat them as such. You may use any Pokémon except your main one. I'll be the referee."

Joe looked at Ash. "Do we really have to do this? It seems so convoluted just to meet one person."

Ash shrugged. "I don't know but this will give me a chance to test Ronar in real battle."

Both Ash and the guard walked on opposite sides of each other. Ash looked at the guard and got an idea, he looked at the commander. "Since this a battle loser pays the winner right?"

The commander didn't say anything, just nodded. The guard Ethan sneered. "You're dreaming if you think you can beat me kid."

The guard swung his hand upwards, throwing a Poké Ball in the air releasing the angriest Pokémon Ash had ever seen. It was small, covered in shaggy white hair with angry eyes and a pig's nose. It had brown arms and legs with what looked like metal shackles on his wrists and ankles. The hands were closed into fists as it swung them around punching imaginary enemies.

Ethan smiled, "If you can beat me and Turmoil here then I'll pay you double." He really doubted a wet behind the ears trainer had any Pokémon that could beat his Primeape.

Ash smiled and looked at the Commander. "You heard him commander."

He didn't know why the man was so angry but he finally understood something his mom had always preached, that some trainers inherited personality traits from their Pokémon and vice versa. Ever since they got here the man had acted like an angry Primeape. Ash shrugged pleased that the man had been so arrogant.

He released Ronar and saw the spikes Pokémon looking around surprised at being summoned so soon. Ash smiled, "Ronar we are in battle, your opponent is right in front of you let's give them all we got."

Ronar looked at the angry pig monkey and the first thing that came to his mind was that the Pokémon seriously needed a massage or nap. Maybe his trainer hadn't fed him recently and that's why he was so angry. But this was his first real battle and he would not let his trainer down, plus he wasn't about to lose to an overgrown angry tailless monkey.

The commander nodded towards both trainers. "The battle between Primeape and Rhyhorn will begin with no substitutions."

Ethan smiled. "Turmoil, let's beat this kid quickly; Cross Chop!"

Primeape moved with increasing speed as he moved his arms in front of his body in an 'X' formation, shining with opaque white light. Ash knew that Ronar being part rock was weak to fighting type Pokémon but he had a plan.

"Ronar counter attack with Take Down and when you get near, thrust upwards with your Horn Attack."

Ronar pawed the ground with his leg before rushing towards his opponent. He could feel his muscles loosening with every step; as he moved closer to the angry monkey he understood what his trainer wanted. He rammed his horn upwards hitting the spot where the two arms were connected, breaking the flow of energy and hitting the monkey square in the nose with his Take Down.

Primeape was sent flying a few feet in the air and landed harshly on his back. Ash was surprised that Ronar understood what he wanted. He had been thinking long and hard about his battling style and came up with a thought that there were three ways to deal with an incoming attack: counter it, dodge it or break it. The first one worked best with energy attacks; he could counter with one as well. Dodging was just basically getting out of the way, however breaking an attack was different and more complex.

Every attack had to follow certain conditions to be unleashed. Some were easier like Growlithe's Flame Burst, where he gathered large amounts of flames compressing them in his mouth before opening it and blasting the opponent with it. Breaking a Flame Burst would require you to shut his mouth closed, not an easy thing to do.

Cross Chop was an easy move to break; the attack gained its destructive power from the energy flowing from one arm to the other. If you break the connection the energy can't flow and thus the attack is rendered null and void. Ash let out a sigh of relief that his theory had worked, if it hadn't, well Ronar would have received a heavy blow just now.

Ethan looked dumbstruck that his attack had failed so miserably. He was really starting to hate this kid. First he made him look stupid in front of his superior then he mouthed off to him and now made his Pokémon look like a fool.

"Turmoil, get up and show this kid that you are not to be messed with; Thrash Combat!"

Primeape had gotten up and his whole face looked red with anger as he started stomping his foot down on the ground with smoke coming out of his ears and nose. Ronar looked at the monkey as if it had gone bananas. Ash for his part was very worried, if he guessed the combination right then Ronar would be in a lot of pain if he didn't do something.

"Ronar meet it head on with Take Down; then repeat what you did with Growlithe and come from the side with Horn Attack."

Primeape was already running towards Ronar with his fist above his head moving even faster than before. Ronar took off like a bullet closing the distance with Primeape and at the last second before the two met, he Stomp with his leg pivoting to the side and ramming the pig monkey Pokémon on the side sending him crashing against the ground close to the river.

The pig monkey Pokémon got up but his eyes looked glazed and unfocused and he sagged on his feet then he started punching the air as if he wanted to kill it. He punched his head several times before a misstep caused him to fall into the river. Ethan quickly recalled his Pokémon; his face was redder than his angry Pokémon.

Ronar walked back to Ash with pride in his eyes, Ash smiled and rubbed the spikes Pokémon's horn and fed him an Oran berry. "You did great, Ronar, I'm proud of you. We are going to call that move Pivot Stomp from now on. Why don't you take a rest for now?"

Ronar nodded as he finished his berry and Ash recalled him. Ash then felt his wrist vibrate with a message letting him know that a thousand Poké Dollars were deposited to his account. Ash thought that the guard was a cheapskate but he wasn't going to make a fuss about it.

Commander Joey nodded; he didn't need to word out who was the victor, it was obvious that Ethan's temper and arrogance was his downfall. "Ethan, your training sessions will be doubled for the next six weeks; now go to the healing machine and take care of Turmoil."

Ethan saluted his commander and left, he didn't say anything and Ash would have felt bad if he hadn't been such a jerk before. The commander then turned towards Ash and Joe and nodded towards the bridge and a jeep that was parked next to the guardhouse where Ethan had disappeared to on the right of the bridge.

"Get in the jeep kids; any visitor has to be escorted in and out, those are the rules."

Joe and Ash nodded and got in the jeep followed by Commander Joey who had taken the driver's seat. He pushed a button on the dash screen and the bridge gates opened to let them pass. Once they crossed the bridge all they saw was vast plains of tall grass and a few ponds as far as the eye could see. Ahead in the sky smoke filled the sky, then a lightning bolt descended from the heavens.

Ash pointed towards the smoke and asked, "Should we be worried about that?"

The commander looked at the sky and shrugged, "Depends on how annoyed Nimbus is with her kids. You heard them arguing with Mr. Silph on the phone, that happens every day, sometimes twice a day. You got some good instincts kid and you make your dad proud."

Ash was taken back by the comment. "You know my dad?"

Commander Joey nodded. "I've seen him around the league when he's in Kanto and worked with him a time or two, that Charizard of his is a monster. We sparred a couple of times and my Poliwrath has not beaten him once."

Ash laughed a little at that, most people that battle Drokus had that impression since the fire dragon was utterly ruthless in battle. But he couldn't help but remember the times his dad had left Drokus babysitting him and he had fallen asleep on the belly of the large dragon.

"Drokus is something special that's for sure." Ash answered politely he wouldn't ruin his friend's terrifying image.

Commander Joey nodded. "You guys have to be careful around here. I know your dad and Mr. Silph are friends, but this is a protective area so don't catch any Pokémon while you are on this side of the bridge."

Ash was about to ask why, when Joe pulled on his shirt and made him look towards the grass; there he saw dozens of Eevees frolicking and playing around in the grass. Ash had never seen so many Eevees in one place. The normal fox-like Pokémon was rare due to its ability to evolve into one of eight different Pokémon. They were coveted by everyone either as pets or as Pokémons for battling. Ash was getting the suspicion as to which Pokémon line Bill trained that made his uncle so angry, there wasn't a line as diverse as the Eevee line.

"I've never seen so many Eevees in my whole life." Joe said awestruck from the back.

Commander Joey smiled. "You are on the world's only Eevee Reservation. Mr. Silph loves the Eevee line so much and is aware that it's a hot item for poachers and black market smugglers, so whenever any league around the world makes a raid and there are Eevee's involved they are sent here; also if an Eevee is a victim of abuse this is where they are sent to be rehabilitated. Once they are rehabilitated the Eevee gets to choose if they want to stay or leave. That's why the security is so tight and the league even assigns Ace Rangers on top of Mr. Silph personal security and his own personal team of Pokémon which are quite powerful."

Ash whistled low, he didn't know that Bill had so much power, that any Eevee in the world that was mistreated was sent to his reservation for care. And as Ash looked outside and saw the Eevees they were all happy and playing around. You could tell how much he loved these Pokémon just by looking at them.

Soon they arrive at a huge two story complex the size of a baseball stadium. Dozens of people were moving from one way to the next. Ash could also see several green uniformed security guards. There was a huge fountain in front of the complex, there stood a man about his dad's age with brown hair and a button down shirt that had a sleeve burned.

Next to him was a fox like Pokémon with yellow spiky hair and white ruff around its neck. It had large spiky ears and a small black nose with long slender legs. Ash recognized it as the one of the eight evolution of Eevee; this one was Jolteon which was the result of using a Thunderstone.

Jolteon looked angry and was scolding three Pokémon that were sitting in front of them with their heads down. The first one was a slender Pokémon with lavender fur and a red gem on its forehead; its split tail was wagging back and forth as it looked down to the ground with embarrassment. Espeon, Eevee's psychic evolution Ash didn't know how Espeon's evolved but he knew it had something to do with solar energy and the bond with the trainer.

Next to Espeon was another fox like Pokémon with sleek black fur and yellow rings around its shoulders, forehead, ears and tail. Umbreon; Eevee's dark evolution the complete opposite of Espeon. And from what Ash knew the same circumstances that were needed for Espeon to evolve applied to Umbreon only that the dark Pokémon needed lunar energy. Umbreon was looking sullenly at the ground as it pawed the ground with its claws.

The final Pokémon was bulkier than the other two with reddish-orange fur around its body except for its chest and bushy tail that was yellow in color. It had the same pointed ears as the other Pokémon and looked like it was aggrieved at being scolded. Flareon, Eevee's fire evolution and the result of using a Firestone.

Commander Joey parked a little ways off from the fountain and smiled. "I guess Nimbus must have been really annoyed to be scolding them like that. Come on kids time for you to meet Mr. Silph."

They got out of the car and walked towards Bill and the Pokémon. When they got closer they could hear Jolteon growling and scolding the miscreants and pointing towards the smoking lab. As soon as he finished the scolding the three Pokémon ran as if their tails were on fire.

Bill for his part was rubbing his temples while looking at the smoking lab. "I remember it was your bright idea to have Nyx help Esper, look how well that turned out."

Nimbus looked at Bill with an accusatory look. It wasn't her fault he couldn't keep her kids from fighting each other. She kicked some dirt onto Bill's shoes before running off after her kids.

Commander Joey smiled then saluted. "Mr. Silph, these are the kids that wanted to meet you."

Bill kicked the dirt off his shoes and turned towards Ash and Joe with a tired smile. "Hello and welcome to my home; sorry for the mess, we were installing new equipment and ran into a little sibling rivalry problem. Thank you Commander, you can return to your duties."

The Commander saluted and left in his jeep. Bill then looked at Ash and his smile grew bigger. "You really look like your father when he was your age and who is this?" He asked, looking at Joe.

Ash smiled. "This is Joe, we met in Pewter City and decided to travel together."

Joe smiled and nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Silph."

Bill laughed. "Please Mr. Silph was my father, just call me Bill. Come on come let's get inside and have some food."

They followed Bill into the complex and through a mess of hallways, they found themselves in a huge cafeteria where hundreds of workers were eating and having a good time. None of them batted an eye at them or Bill, Ash thought that this was a sign that the eccentric millionaire was very well liked by his employees. They picked up some trays of food that had vegetables, rice, and other goodies.

Once they sat down to eat Bill looked at Ash. "So Ash, what brings you my way?"

Ash took another spoonful of rice and swallowed before answering. "I recently started my journey and my dad told me that I should visit you if there was a chance. Although my uncle didn't like the idea; he is still sore about losing to you."

Bill started laughing. "That happened so many years ago and he is still salty about that? What a guy, that was a fun battle; it was a one on one because we were pressed for time back then. I had to take a flight to meet my dad so it was his Blastoise vs Nyx, you met her when you arrived. Blastoise had a great defense and powerful attacks but your uncle's mistake was thinking that just because Nyx was smaller than Blastoise that meant she was weaker and out of all the Eeveelutions Umbreon are renowned for their defense and it's actually higher than Blastoise's."

Ash was surprised; comparing the two, Blastoise was indeed bigger and had a strong shell to protect itself while Umbreon was smaller and sleeker. Bill must have seen the doubt on his face and smiled.

"You don't believe me? I understand just by looks you would think Blastoise has the bigger defense but what you don't know is that an Umbreon's fur is very thick and compressed together giving them a strong layer of protection but another defensive characteristic is since Umbreon is always absorbing moonlight there's a layer of dark energy always surrounding them giving them a double layer defense for both physical and special attacks."

Bill smiled with pride as he spoke of Umbreon's capabilities. "And that's how they fight; they use their strong defense along with their nimble bodies to tire out their opponents and then go in for one fast and strong attack. And if it's a night battle they are even more deadly since they can shroud themselves in darkness. Also your uncle's Blastoise had just learned Hydro Cannon and wasn't very good at controlling the output of energy so all Nyx had to do was dodge the attack and hit Blastoise with a Dark Pulse to the face. I think that's what your uncle can't let go of."

Ash laughed and thought that he might be right. His uncle cared a lot about his image of a battler back then before he decided to become a researcher and if his powerful Blastoise was beaten by small Umbreon that would be a sore spot for him.

Bill grinned. "Now your dad was a very tough customer. We fought months after the fight with your Uncle. He had just beaten Blaine and was on a date with your mother when he saw me and thought it was a good idea to impress your mother by beating me. It was a close battle; his Pikachu had defeated my Vaporeon, then my Flareon beat his Venusaur, then it all came down to his Charizard vs my Nimbus."

"Are you boring these poor kids with your theories?" A woman was standing behind Bill and he just smiled and looked behind him.

The woman had shoulder length light brown hair pulled into two braids to the side. She was wearing blue jeans with a green shirt and there was a smudge of grease on her cheek below her red colored glasses.

"Nothing of the sort sweetie, this is Ash and his friend Joe. Guys this is my wife Lanette we met on a business trip in Hoenn a couple of years ago and haven't been separated ever since."

Lanette smacked Bill on the shoulder playfully. "That's because you will be lost without me or worse killed by your own Pokémon." She sat down next to Bill and started picking at his food.

Bill smiled then looked at Ash and Joe. "Lanette is in charge of all the technological aspects of my company; she is, if I do say so, a genius. But she is right, enough about me, tell me about your journeys, both of you."

So Ash and Joe spend the better part of the afternoon and a good chunk of the night telling Bill and Lanette about their different experiences and what Pokémon each of them had. The Silph couple listen intently and give advice here and there. At one point Lanette was called in back to solve an issue and then it was just Bill and the boys.

Bill laughed as they finished. "Wow that's quite the tale well you are lucky to have met Cynthia she is a fantastic trainer, her taste in men not so much but she always did have a thing for redheads. Anyways that doesn't matter, Daisy is a tough opponent specially compared to her sisters she is like a deep ocean you never know what she is thinking. Why don't you stay here for a couple of days and train in my battle arena? That way you can go crazy as much as you like."

Ash looked at Joe who just shrugged then back to Bill. "Sure we would love to and maybe we can battle sometime."

Bill laughed and shook his head. "You're just like your dad always thinking of the next battle. I don't know if that would be a good idea, your Pokémon are really young and my team sometimes don't know when to pull their punches. But I'll think of something, now it's getting late so follow me to your rooms."

They picked up their trays and dumped the leftovers before following Bill back to the residential area of the complex. Along the way from out of the shadows a yellow blur passed them and materialized into Nimbus as the electric Pokémon walked alongside Bill.

Bill smiled at the Pokémon as they stopped in front of two doors. "Ash you can take the right room and Joe the left one is yours, it has windows to let your Pidgeotto out for a nightly flight. By the way Ash I forgot to say congratulations on passing my little Nugget Bridge challenge, no hard feelings right? Us eccentric millionaires have an image to maintain."

Ash looked at Bill and laughed almost at the same time as him. After spending the whole afternoon getting to know the man. Ash knew that the only things Bill cared about were his wife, his Pokémon and whatever research caught his eye at the moment.

"Sure no hard feelings, that is if you battle me." He said with a grin.

Nimbus who had laid down on the floor as they talked opened her eyes and twitched her ears in interest. Bill took notice of this and smiled, kneeling down to scratched Nimbus behind the ear. "What do you say girl? Wanna go a round with Ash and his Pokémon?"

Nimbus was thoroughly enjoying her scratch as she thought about it. While scolding her misbehaving brood was fun, it lacked the thrill of a real battle, she might as well loose a few kinks here and there. Being a mother was an all time consuming job. She pawed the floor five times and Bill smiled as he understood her message.

Bill stood up and looked at Ash. "The day before you leave we'll have a battle your Pokémon vs Nimbus. Now get some rest; it is late and you look beat from your battles today, both of you."

Bill turned on his heel and left with Nimbus getting up to follow behind. Joe looked to Ash as he stifled a yawn. "Well I'm beat, I'll see you in the morning. Ash please don't do anything crazy while I try to catch a few hours of sleep. I need a minimum of eight to keep up with you."

Ash grinned and bumped fists with Joe. "I promise not to go crazy, good night."

He turned around and entered the room, it was a huge room with a large bed and dresser. There was enough space to let his team sleep outside. He had been worried that ever since he started his journey all his Pokémon slept outside with him, the exception had been Ronar but he had come around. Ash went to the bathroom to wash up before releasing his Pokémon

Growlithe looked around the room with a confused look on his face, not knowing where they were. Nidorina gave the room a once over before moving to a spot near the bed and started grooming her claws to make them all sharp and nice the way she liked them. Ronar looked confused; he had been let out three times in a single day, he was really glad to have made peace with his trainer.

Ash looked at his Pokémon and smiled. "This is Bill's house, a friend of my dad, we will be staying a couple of days to train for our rematch with Daisy. So make yourself comfortable."

He moved to Ronar and stroked his horn which he noticed the rock type seemed to like. "You did great today. I'm very proud of you, I'm going to keep my promise to you and train you to be the strongest there is."

Ronar was touched by his trainer's words but didn't let it show as he was a prideful Pokémon after all. So he simply closed his eyes and enjoyed the horn rub. After a few minutes Ash finished and Ronar moved to one side of the room keeping an eye on his trainer and the door in case anything came through there he would ram it with his horn.

Ash moved to the bed where Growlithe was already curled up on and picked up the fire pup and started brushing his fur. He knew his friend liked it and a little pampering here and there didn't hurt anybody.

Growlithe closed his eyes in pleasure, a Pokémon could get really used to this. Ash smiled and looked at Nidorina who had just finished her grooming and jumped on the bed lowering her barbs and fell asleep. Even after evolving she liked to sleep close to her trainer and Growlithe they were both warm and she didn't like being cold.

Ash finished and lay down on the bed while Growlithe moved to lay his head on Ash's stomach before taking a deep breath and falling asleep. Ash made sure each of his Pokémon were alright before falling asleep.

#

"Growlithe keep it up you have to maintain this speed, if not then you could get hit at a critical moment during a battle."

Ash yelled as Growlithe continued running while using Quick Attack. They had been staying with Bill for the last two days and using his backyard battle arena to train. Right now Growlithe was doing joint training with Joe's Bellsprout; the little grass type was trying to learn Grass Knot.

The move was perfect for training Quick Attack and vice versa Quick Attack was a perfect way to train Grass Knot. The attack took advantage of a grass type's connection with nature and the plants around it as they used their energy to stimulate for a short time the growth of plants to trip the opponent. It gave a new meaning to "the bigger they are the harder they fall."

Bellsprout was having trouble grasping the speed in which to deploy the knot and how thick she needed to make it. Which was why Joe had asked Ash for help and together they came up with this method. Growlithe would run around the battlefield trying to maintain his speed while Bellsprout's focus was on tripping him. So far Growlithe had been able to jump and skip the knots when they sprung up in his path, this was making Bellsprout frustrated thus filling the field with knots.

Ash looked at the field and whistled looking at Joe. "Bellsprout has control issues."

Joe just shrugged. "She likes to control the battlefield and when she can't she gets frustrated and gets creative. It's a character flaw that we are working on."

Ash looked at the field filled with knots and thought that creative was not the word he had in mind. But he didn't voice out his thoughts as either way this was good training for both their Pokémon, until Bellsprout completely loses it and smacks Growlithe with a Vine Whip again.

Ash then set his eyes on Nidorina and Machop, the fighting Pokémon had been a huge help giving pointers on how to use Focus Energy and now they were practicing on each other with Focus Energy enhanced moves. Nidorina still hadn't gotten the hang of the move and would lose hold of the energy but Machop was a good teacher, as soon as he saw her lose it he would release his own energy as well until she got it back.

Joe saw where Ash was looking and crossed his arms. "Don't worry Machop knows when to pull his punches and will get her up to speed in no time."

Ash nodded but he was still worried that Nidorina might get hurt by accident. He looked to the sky and saw Zephyra practicing her new offensive move. Joe was concerned that Zephyra didn't have any mid to long range attacks other than Gust which didn't work on heavy Pokémon. So Ash suggested since she already knew Gust why not try Air Cutter.

The move was great for mid to long range combat, the Pokémon flap their wings with enough force to send wind blades at the opponent. Zephyra had been practicing for awhile now on one of the metal dummies Bill had for training his Pokémon and seemed to be getting the hang of it.

Ash finally looked towards Ronar who was practicing the Pivot Stomp as Ash named the move and seemed to have got the hang of it just fine. He wanted to improve Ronar's mobility and this was a great way to capture the opponent by surprise.

Ash moved from Joe and walked over to Ronar, the ground type stopped what he was doing to look up to his trainer. "You're doing great, I think you got the move pretty much down. I have seen almost all of your moves except for Dragon Rush sans the day of the stampede. Think you can give it a try."

Ronar knew his control of the attack was pathetic but maybe his trainer could help him perfect the move. He moved to the side and closed his eyes trying to feel the draconic energy inside him, his sire never explained to him how to use the attack so what he knew was from his own trials and errors. Once he felt the spark of energy he pulled on it letting it cover his entire body the energy came sluggish and it took awhile before he felt his body covered more or less.

Ash saw Ronar's body begin to glow with draconic blue light which was different from the last time and then he rushed towards a tree. Ash could see the energy was thin and spread all over the place there wasn't a sense of unity to it. Ronar hit the large oak tree making several berries fall to the ground.

He had read that the attack was supposed to be this devastating attack that crushed anything in its path but what he saw was an upgraded Take Down at best. The key to the attack was sensing the draconic energy and using it to shroud the body with its oppressive might.

Ash walked to Ronar and rubbed his horn. "Thank you; now I know where we need to start working. For now don't use that move, focus on sensing the draconic energy and covering your body with it. This is going to take a while so the day you master this move will probably be when you're close to evolving so don't be discouraged."

Ronar nodded; his trainer was probably right, but sensing draconic energy was so difficult. A shadow suddenly flew over the training field making both him and Ash look up. A spark of interest appeared in Ash's eye and he suddenly looked towards Growlithe.

"Growlithe run towards Ronar using your top speed and jump on his head." He then looked towards Ronar who was eyeing him as if he had gone crazy. "Ronar when Growlithe jumps on your head launch him towards the sky."

Ash moved back and saw that Growlithe was running towards Ronar, both Pokémon thought their trainer had finally lost it. The rest of the Pokémon that were training stopped to look at what crazy scheme Ash was cooking. Joe followed Ash's gaze and started rubbing his temples. 'This guy is going to be the death of me."

"Growlithe when you're in the air fire a Flame Burst, the strongest one you can muster."

Growlithe had used his fastest Quick Attack and jumped on Ronar's head as the ground type sent him flying towards the air. It was then that he saw what his trainer wanted him to hit. He opened his mouth firing his Flame Burst hitting the Pokémon in the back making the Pokémon lose altitude.

Ash saw Growlithe land on the ground looking up to the Pokémon. It was a silver-gray avian Pokémon with yellow eyes, a pointed beak with razor sharp teeth and a triangular crest on its head. The wings were the most colorful aspect of the Pokémon, red feathers under metallic sheaths to protect them. Ash recognized the steel flying type as Skarmory, a Pokémon that made its home in the mountains. They were more popular in Johto than in Kanto but there had been an increase in their populations over the years.

Ash had been looking for a flying type to add versatility to his team but so far the ones he had seen had been Pidgey and Spearow nothing against them but almost every rookie trainer had one of those. He wanted his team to be unique and compliment each other so when he saw this Skarmory fly by he knew he had to catch it.

Skarmory for her part was very angry, all she was doing was flying after having eaten her fill when she was suddenly ambushed by a flying fire pup. That was what made no sense to her; how in Mew had that pup reached her in the skies? But now her back hurt and she saw that the pup had a human trainer so she could guess that they wanted to capture her.

She shrieked her defiance and flapped her wings, sending a few dozen wind blades at the pup. Growlithe saw the attack and dodged using Quick Attack before jumping again on Ronar's head. This time Ronar used a little bit more force than necessary since he was getting tired of being a trampoline.

Growlithe was up in the air again and even he felt that this was ridiculous as he unintentionally landed on top of Skarmory. He had wanted to avoid the attack and hit her with another Flame Burst but due to Ronar's over enthusiasm he landed on top of the angry metal bird. He suddenly realized he was very high up and that hitting Skarmory with a Flame Burst might hurt him so he coated his fangs with flames and bit her wing.

Skarmory shrieked in pain and tried to shake the annoying flying dog off her wing. The more Skarmory shook Growlithe the harder he bit but the dizzier he got. He swore that Ash better compensate him for doing this, pups such as he didn't belong in the sky.

Ash saw the pain and anger in Skarmory and how Growlithe was stubbornly hanging on for his dear life. His friend really liked to do his things his own way, Ash had only told him to jump on Ronar's head the first time to get Skarmory's attention not to do it a second time and get stuck. He looked at Joe. "A little help please?"

Joe shook his head; by now every worker in the complex and even Bill was outside looking at the spectacle. "You really have to do things the hard way? Why didn't you have Nidorina shoot Poison Sting, it wouldn't do any damage but it would've gotten its attention."

Ash rolled his eyes. "It was a spur of the moment thing. Now can you help me before Growlithe falls off?"

Joe sighed and rubbed his temples before nodding to Zephyra. "Girl can you get Growlithe down from there?"

Zephyra nodded and flew over to the shrieking metal bird but before she could get close, Skarmory's body began to glow red before ethereal flames covered her body and she started to shake Growlithe even harder as she tried to get him off. Growlithe bit harder but he could feel his head spinning and in one particular hard shake he let go of the wing and began to fall. Zephyra tried to grab Growlithe but he was falling too fast.

Ash saw all this happen and pulled out Growlithe's Poké Ball, recalling his friend before throwing an empty one at the injured Skarmory. The ball hit the metal bird in the beak before it sucked the Pokémon in. The Poké Ball landed on the ground and started to shake... once... twice... three times before blinking signaling the capture had been successful.

Ash's heart was beating so fast he jumped from joy. He released Growlithe who was still dizzy and wobbling on his feet. "Sorry buddy but you were great today, I'll give you extra berries to make it up to you."

Growlithe looked at the three Ashes in front of him; they better get him extra berries, now if the ground would stop bouncing. Nidorina walked over to Growlithe and patted his back making him sit and closed his eyes. Ronar had watched the whole thing and just shrugged before closing his eyes, this thing of being part of a new family needed some adjusting time. But so far he was having fun.

Joe slapped the back of Ash's head. "Next time capture a Pokémon under normal circumstances. First the stampede with Ronar and now making Growlithe cannonball his way to the sky for a Skarmory. How did you capture Nidoran?"

Ash rubbed the back of his head. "She was a gift from the Viridian City gym leader."

Joe's eyes widened. "Why did he gift you with a Pokémon?"

Ash didn't look at Joe. "He captured her by mistake when he was trying to capture a rowdy Nidoking that almost killed us."

Joe threw his hands in the air. "I give up, go pick up your new Pokémon"

Ash smiled and picked up the ball and scanned it with his pokédex.

[Skarmory, the armor bird Pokémon. With a steel-hard body and wings, it flies at speeds up to 190 miles per hour and slices enemies with sharp steel wings that grow dull over time. It grows new wings once a year, which regain their original sharpness. It's said that people used to use fallen wings for swords and knives. It can fly so quickly and freely because it has light, hollow bones.

Warriors from ancient Johto and Alola used to climb to Skarmory's nest to gather the discarded feathers to use for their weapons. Due to the dangerous nature of this activity only the best and bravest warriors were sent on these collecting missions.

This Skarmory is female and knows the moves: Leer, Peck, Sand Attack, Metal Claw, Air Cutter, Sky Attack and Steel Wing.

This Skarmory has the ability Keen Eye which makes accuracy losing and evasive moves ineffective.]

Ash smiled, the move set was very good and the ability was something almost all bird Pokémon had due to their sharp eyes accuracy losing moves such as Sand Attack or worse Sand Storm which didn't work on them the same could be said for Double Team.

He was happy with his newest team mate, Skarmory, was basically a flying fortress with insane physical defense and speed. Their main method of attack was using their strong bodies with moves such as Metal Claw or Steel Wing. But they could also employ long range attacks.

Another good thing was that due to their unique typing of steel and flying they were resistant to many attacks such as Fairy, Dragon, Bug, Psychic and were even immune to Poison attacks. All in all he was very happy.

Growlithe was finally back on his feet and thanked Nidorina for staying with him. He looked at his trainer who was starting to act like a newborn pup, he walked over to Ash and sat by him to see if he got the hint that he needed to compose himself. He had done the same thing when he had captured Ronar, so Growlithe was beginning to think that this would be a recurring theme for his trainer.

Ash noticed Growlithe by his side and knelt down scratching him behind the ears. "Thank you buddy but next time don't be so reckless."

Growlithe opened one eye to glare at his trainer who had no room to lecture about being reckless. Ash seemed to get the message and laughed before moving to his bag to get some medication for Skarmory.

He released the armored bird who looked burned in a few places and her wing had scorch marks from where Growlithe bit her. As soon as she saw the human who had captured her she shrieked at him.

Ash raised his hands in a placating gesture. "I just want to put medicine on you. Would that be okay and maybe we can talk for a bit."

Skarmory didn't want the human near her as she was hurting and it was all his fault. Ash looked at Skarmory and knew she must be in a lot of pain. What surprised him was that Nidorina stepped over to talk to the steel type.

Nidorina knew how confusing it was to be one moment free and the next one captured so she explained to Skarmory that even though her trainer had ambushed her, he really wanted to treat her wounds and make the pain go away, then she explained a little of how she had come to meet Ash and what her life had been so far; that apart from the annoying Ronar who was now behaving himself it was not bad.

Skarmory listened to Nidorina as she spoke of how kind her trainer was and what they have gone through since her capture. Skarmory then looked at Ash and lowered her guard letting him approach.

Ash moved slowly and with exaggerated motions so as to let Skarmory know that he wouldn't hurt her.

"Sorry if you got hurt more than necessary but I saw you flying and couldn't help but be in awe with how you gracefully glided through the air and the power you showed when you battle kindled an inferno in my heart and I just had to capture you. I'm on a journey to become the greatest trainer in the world and hope to have you by my side plus I promise to train you to become the strongest flier in the world."

Ash knew he was laying it on thick but after seeing Joe with Zephyra and his own interactions with Nidorina he knew girls liked to be complimented and bird Pokémon were especially vain and prideful so he didn't care and just kept buttering Skarmory up.

Growlithe heard his trainer's words and huffed a breath of hot air, thinking his trainer was full of it. Ronar was also listening and was of the same thought as Growlithe but didn't say anything. Nidorina however was proud her trainer was slowly learning the ways of pleasing a girl and she was happy that the newest addition to their family was another girl she was starting to get lonely.

Skarmory winced as the medication touched her skin but after a few minutes the discomfort and pain subsided as it started to take effect. She listened to the human and his words were rather pleasing to her ears, she scratched the ground with her claws as he finished applying the medicine and she had to admit that it felt much better.

Ash finished laying out his case, he really hoped he could convince Skarmory because he really didn't want another hard case like Ronar. "So Skarmory what do you say? Would you like to be a part of the team?"

Skarmory looked at Ash with her yellow eyes and slowly dipped her head in acknowledgment. Ash was so excited he almost jumped from joy. "That's great Skarmory, you won't regret it. Now would you like a nickname, it's okay if you don't want one or want it at a later date."

Skarmory thought about it for a moment and nodded her head again. Joe started smirking knowing how bad Ash was at names. Ash gave him a glare before he started spouting out names that he thought fitted Skarmory, Blade, Edge, Gale, Tempest, Tornado, Whirlwind but Skarmory kept shaking her head. Growlithe had laid down on the ground and covered his ears with his paws, Ash was really bad at this. Ash was really stumped on what name then he looked at Skarmory's wings and a name hit him.

"How about Saber? You'll be the saber who cuts through the skies."

Skarmory thought about it and rather liked it. She nodded once letting her new trainer know that she was okay with the name it was better than the other atrocities he spouted. Ash smiled and turned to his other Pokémon "Come on guys and say hello to Saber."

Nidorina had already said hello so she excused herself to go back to training with Machop she almost had the move figured out all she needed was an extra push. Growlithe raised his head and welcomed the new addition to their family, Saber was still angry at Growlithe so she lowered her head and pulled a couple of the hairs from his tail.

Growlithe jumped and growled at Saber that had hurt, Saber told him now they were even. Ronar had made its way towards the rest of the team and said hi to Saber. Then he went back to sit beneath the shade of a tree and tried to feel the draconic energy faster.

Ash saw all this and didn't interfere since his team had different personalities from the loyal Growlithe to the aloof and prideful Ronar clashes were bound to happen but they also needed to straighten out by themselves. He looked at Saber.

"Would you like to go back to the Poké Ball and rest, you must be tired."

Saber nodded she was tired and a rest sounded nice about now. Ash recalled her and knelt by Growlithe to scratch him behind the ears. "Thanks buddy, why don't you rest a little and continue training Quick Attack with Bellsprout later?"

Growlithe yawned, a nap sounded really good at the moment so he nuzzled Ash's hand with his face before walking towards Ronar and lay down next to him and closed his eyes. Ronar opened one eye when he saw Growlithe lay down next to him but he closed his eyes again not disturbing the fire type.

A clapping noise startled Ash and he looked back to see Bill standing behind him. Joe had gone to Zephyra to help her with Air Cutter. "That was risky, stupid and typical of a Ketchum. Reminds me of when your father got Genex."

Ash was surprised; Genex was his father's Espeon, the psychic type was one of the strongest Pokémon in his father's team able to contend with Drokus. His barriers could stop a Fire Blast with ease.

"You know Genex? You were there when he got it?" Ash would always bug his father to tell him how he met his team and the older Ketchum would use the stories as bedtime stories.

Bill laughed. "Walk with me to the healing machine, it will help your Skarmory's recovery by a lot."

Ash looked at his Pokémon making sure they were okay; Nidorina was practicing with Machop, Ronar was training in sensing draconic energy and Growlithe was sleeping next to him. Once he made sure that they were okay he walked next to Bill.

"To answer your question, yes to both. I was the one who gave Genex to your father only back then he was an Eevee. He is actually Nimbus' younger brother, after we had our battle there was a mishap on the port of Cinnabar a gang of pirates wearing skull shirts and bandannas had taken several ships and were stealing all the Pokémon on the ships. We were ambushed since our battle was close to the pier and our Pokémon were taken."

Ash listened intently; he had heard the story before but he never knew that Genex had come from Bill. They made it to the infirmary and Ash put Saber's Poké Ball in a yellow machine with twelve containers for Poké Balls and pressed the button to start the healing process.

Bill then handed him a cup of hot chocolate and took a coffee for himself. "So they knocked us out and took our Pokémon, the silver lining was that they ignored your mother who pretended to be a meek little flower."

Ash snorted and burned his tongue; he knew his mom, even though she was a researcher she was a strong battler and her team was one full of monsters that battled with his father's team every time they could. Especially her mom's starter, Incendus, a powerful Infernape she got from her dad when it was just a Chimchar.

Bill laughed when he saw Ash snort. "Exactly, so we waited for them to move away and sneaked in from the water using your mother's Azumarill. We jumped onto their ship then your mother released her Infernape and Bronzong to battle the pirates on the deck while your dad and I followed her Mismagius below deck and fought any pirates we saw which weren't much your mom had their undivided attention.

We found the stash of Poké Balls but we couldn't recognize which ones were ours so we spent about five minutes releasing and recalling Pokémon but in the end we didn't find any of your dad's Pokémon but we found Nimbus and Genex. Nimbus had already evolved at that time as you know but she was tired from her earlier battle. Genex was still an Eevee since he hadn't decided which form he wanted to take.

That's something to keep in mind with an Eevee Ash, they have personalities and traits that lean more towards one evolution than the other. There are some morons who don't take their Eevee's into consideration and just evolve them with the first stone they find."

Ash nodded since he could hear the anger in Bill's voice when he spoke of these inconsiderate trainers and he felt the same way. Bill took another sip of his coffee when an Eevee jumped on the table startling him. He gave the Eevee an annoyed look.

"What are you doing out and about? I thought your mother grounded you for that stunt with Rain."

The Eevee gave him the puppy dog look and batted his hand with her paws. Bill tried to keep a stern face but he caved too quickly and scratched her behind the ears, Eevee purred enjoying the scratch. Ash just laughed at the scene, Eevee looked at him and decided that he too should pamper her and lay down on her back and Ash found himself scratching her belly.

Bill just rolled his eyes. "That Eevee is Nimbus' youngest daughter from her latest batch of eggs. She is supposed to be grounded because Nyx thought it was a good idea to teach this little troublemaker Shadow Ball. When she mastered it she thought it was an even better idea to use it to wake up her brother Rain, my Vaporeon. They started fighting and Nimbus had to intervene and ground her but as you can see she does things in her own way."

Eevee opened her eyes and glared at Bill; if he got her belly rubs interrupted she would be waking him up with a Shadow Ball. Ash laughed when he saw Eevee glaring at Bill and continued rubbing her belly which she seemed to enjoy a lot because she stopped glaring at Bill.

Bill glared at her back. "Spoiled little imp, I'm going to have a talk with Nimbus."

Eevee pointedly ignored him to continue enjoying her belly rub, her mother was strict with all her children but her sire was a softy who she had in the palm of her paw and even her mother's trainer spoiled her as well.

Bill ignored Eevee, ignoring him and continued with the story. Ash found it funny but decided not to mention anything. "So where were we? Oh yes, Nimbus was tired so I loaned your father Genex and we rolled the carts filled with Poké Balls out of there. Along the way we fought some of the pirates but between Nimbus, Genex and Mismagius we made quick work of them and made it to the upper deck where your mother was battling the leader of the gang. I forgot his name but he was a loud fellow with white hair, she was having a hard time, her Bronzong had been defeated and her Infernape was wounded so your father ran to her with Genex and Mismagius and beat the leader while me and Nimbus fought off the strays."

Ash switched the hand he was using to give Eevee the belly rub since he was getting tired but he got the impression that if he stopped before the little normal Pokémon was satisfied he would regret it.

Bill took a sip from his cup and leaned back in his chair. "After the pirates were defeated and tied up we took the Poké Balls to the pier. With the help of the local police we spent the next two hours sorting them out and handing them to their trainers. Through all this I noticed Genex was still by your father's side. Once your father had his team and we made it to the Pokémon Center I asked Genex if he wanted to travel with your father. He said yes so the next morning before your father left, I asked him if he wanted Genex to travel with him. I had met him several times and had my father do a background check on him the night before to make sure Genex was going to a good trainer as a precaution. Everything turned out okay and your father said yes. We keep in touch every chance we get, my time is very limited with research and running the company and your father is always off somewhere with your uncle doing something for the league."

Suddenly Eevee got up and nuzzled her face in Ash's hand before sprinting towards the inside of the lab. A few seconds later Nimbus entered the lab and looked around sniffing the air before bolting after Eevee. Bill and Ash looked at the scene and laughed.

Bill took another sip of his coffee. "I guess Nimbus found out Eevee escaped, that won't be pretty. Anyways Ash how's your training going?"

Ash smiled, "It's going good so far; Growlithe should be done mastering Quick Attack soon. I don't want him learning anymore attacks until after we beat Daisy, Nidorina will master Focus Energy with Machop as her teacher and Ronar is focusing on sensing draconic energy. I have to think of other moves to teach him."

Bill nodded and the healing machine beeped signaling that it had finished healing Saber. He stood up, picked up the Poké Ball and handed it to Ash. "I think your plan is solid, how about we have our battle tomorrow? That way I can gauge if you are ready to take on Daisy."

Ash thought about it, he had been staying at Bill's for three days now and his team had gotten their training mostly done. Daisy would soon be leaving so he was feeling the pressure. Battling a trainer that had beaten his dad was very tempting for him to test how much him and his team had grown, he knew the gym leaders had been cut loose by Champion Lance but even he was not dumb enough to think that he had faced any of the leaders strong Pokémon except for Daisy's Vaporeon and he had barely put up a fight.

"Sure I think that would be the best. My team is also getting restless from the training and I still have seven badges to get so I have to hurry up."

Bill was about to comment when Nimbus walked back in holding Eevee by the scruff of her neck. The little normal type looked dejected at being caught, she caught sight of Ash and tried to free herself from her mother but Nimbus growled at her and she quieted down. Her escape plan had been ruined, her mother was in no mood to indulge her.

Ash kept a straight face while Bill just took another sip from his cup. Once Nimbus was gone Bill nodded towards Ash. "Then we will have our battle tomorrow, now I have to go and see what Nimbus is doing to Eevee."

Bill got up and Ash followed him out. The rest of the day was spent training; once Growlithe finished his nap he got back to training with Bellsprout and both of them after three days of non-stop training mastered Quick Attack and Grass Knot respectively. Ash was really starting to fear Bellsprout the little grass type was vicious with her vines and with the added arena control that Grass Knot gave her unless it was a flying type he pitied whoever battled against her.

Ronar was still meditating under the tree but his progress was slow. Nidorina had made amazing progress in channeling Focus Energy and adding it to her attacks. She seemed to enjoy fusing her poison needles with the energy making them hit harder.

After dinner he was back in his room. Nidorina had already taken the bed and Ronar was by the corner keeping an eye out on the door. Growlithe was on the bed while Ash had Saber's Poké Ball and released her. The armored bird looked around confused.

"It's okay this is just where we are sleeping tonight, we will be on the road soon. But I always have my Pokémon sleep outside and thought you might like it. There's also a window if you want to go outside."

Saber understood and moved to one side of the room before squatting down to sleep. Ash smiled and looked at his ever growing family. He couldn't wait for when he had a full team and challenged the league. He did the nightly routine of brushing Growlithe before going to bed.

Ash woke up earlier than usual because he felt a weight on his chest. He opened his eyes and saw the first rays of sunshine creeping through the window. Then he looked at his chest and saw a ball of brown and white fur sleeping on top of him.

When had Eevee entered his room and how come Growlithe or any of his other Pokémon didn't say anything? Ash moved his hand and poked his starter awake; the fire-type opened one eye reluctantly and saw his trainer pointing at the Eevee with a confused look on his face.

Growlithe yawned and closed his eyes; it was still too early. He had seen the little normal type crept up during the night but she said she only wanted to sleep and not bother them. Besides at the first hint of mischief he would have kicked her out. The others had seen his exchange with Eevee but didn't say anything.

Eevee must be a light sleeper because the hand movement woke her up. She eyed him with blurry eyes that she rubbed with her paws before yawning awake. Ash looked at the little Eevee and scratched her behind her ears.

"Escaped again I see, someone is going to get into a lot of trouble today."

Eevee smiled and stretched herself clawing at Ash's shirt before getting up and hopping out the window. Ash shook his head at the little troublemaker, he pitied her mother that apparently spent most of her day keeping her kids in line.

Ash got up to Growlithe's annoyance and washed up before waking his team for breakfast. He wanted to get an early start today since it was his battle with Bill. But first he wanted to test Saber and see where she was in terms of powers and moves. Depending on how well she did he might have to change his strategy for battling Daisy.

After a quick breakfast Ash released all of his Pokémon, they looked at him expectantly.

"Today we're not going to train. I want you to rest. We have a battle with Bill soon but first, Saber, I would like you to show me your moves. That way I know where to start on your training."

Saber snapped her jaws and took to the sky, Ash had already prepared some wooden dummies for her to practice with. But before he could call out an attack Saber's wings began to glow with a metallic sheen and she took the head off one of the dummies cleanly.

Ash smirked. "Well I see your Steel Wing is very powerful but you have to wait for me to order an attack."

Saber shrieked her understanding, she knew she had to wait but a little independence here and there never hurt anyone.

Ash rolled his eyes, maybe he would have a hard case after all. "Well since you started with your physical moves let's continue with Metal Claw."

Saber nodded and flew by the dummy she had decapitated earlier and raked it with glowing claws leaving deep gauges in the wood. Ash noticed that due to the sharpness of her wings, Steel Wing did more damage than Metal Claw but it was still a very powerful attack. He already saw Air Cutter during the battle with Growlithe.

"Saber, let's see your Sky Attack."

Saber shrieked and her body slowly started glowing before bursting into the same ethereal flames as before. With increasing speed Saber set her sights on the wooden dummies and destroyed them with her strongest attack. After she was done she landed next to her trainer with a proud look on her face.

Ash smiled and nodded towards the discarded dummies. "Well girl you really did a number on them."

Saber snapped her beak in pleasure; of course she did, these wooden things couldn't even give her a good warm up. Ash smiled and saw that Bill was walking towards him with Nimbus on his side and Eevee skipping between her mother's legs much to the annoyance of her mother.

Bill smiled. "Well Ash are you ready?"

Ash felt a fire burn deep inside his chest and nodded. "Yes, I'm ready."

Bill nodded and looked at Eevee by Nimbus' feet. "Eevee go with your siblings we are about to have a battle."

Eevee looked at Bill then rolled on her back in front of her mother ignoring him. Nimbus sighed and looked at Eevee before barking an order and Nyx, Bill's Umbreon came and picked up her trouble making sister by the scruff of her neck and pulled her away from the battle field.

Bill rolled his eyes then looked at Ash. "Okay Ash we are going to have a very different battle than what you are used to. Nimbus is an old and experienced Pokémon while yours are still young and honestly are no match for her, so Nimbus wants a five minute battle with all your Pokémon. If they can last five minutes then you win but if not then I win."

Ash frowned thinking about it then nodded; this was a Pokémon that had defeated his dad's Charizard so he wasn't confident of actually beating Nimbus, but he was sure he could last five minutes.

Bill smiled. "Okay then let's start; it will be all your Pokémon versus Nimbus."

Ash looked at his team focusing on Saber. "I want you to sit this one out and see how we battle okay."

Saber looked at the Jolteon knowing that the electric type had an advantage over her and nodded. She wasn't going to get seriously hurt two days in a row.

Bill walked to the other side of the arena and gave Ash a fierce smile. "The first move is yours."

Ash nodded. "Growlithe go from the left with Quick Fang, Nidorina go from the right with Focus Swipes and Ronar you take the middle with Stampede."

Ash ordered the new combinations he had been working with his team, Quick Fang was as the name stated to combine the speed of Quick Attack with Fire Fang, while Focus Swipes was to embed Fury Swipes with Focus Energy for a more devastating attack. The final combination was Stampede which combined the piercing power of Horn Attack and the sheer force of Take Down.

Growlithe had taken the left just like Ash ordered, his fangs roaring with flames while Nidorina was running to the right her whole body covered in a red glow and Ronar down the middle effectively cutting off Nimbus' route of escape.

Bill smiled and looked at the boxing formation. "Very clever Ash but let me show you why Jolteon is called the lightning Pokémon. Nimbus, Charge Terrain; go play with them."

Nimbus grinned a sharp smile and her whole body released a massive electrical discharge covering the whole field giving it a yellow tint with sparks coming from the ground. Then she turned towards Nidorina, with her spiky hair crackling with electricity she sent a concentrated beam of electricity at her.

Nidorina saw the beam coming her way and tried to dodge to the right but the beam was too fast and it hit her square in the chest sending her flying back. Nimbus smiled and ran evading both Ronar and Growlithe. Ash noticed that even with Quick Attack Growlithe was a hell of a lot slower than Nimbus. Nidorina tried to stand up but the hit had been too strong and her legs were shaking badly but she still opened her mouth shooting a barrage of poison needles straight at Nimbus.

Nimbus smiled and her fur spiked even further and she sent hundreds of needles easily blocking the Poison Sting and hitting Nidorina knocking her out. Ronar was furious that he had missed his first charge and moved to mow down Nimbus.

Ash knew Ronar had the advantage of being a ground type. Nimbus electric attacks were useless. Growlithe was still trying to catch up to Nimbus but the electric Pokémon was just too fast toying with him moving from place to place but keeping an eye on Ronar. Ronar bellowed and charged once more. Nimbus grinned and opened her mouth as a large ball of dark purple energy formed and sent it hurling against Ronar.

Ronar bellowed his challenge as he rammed his horn into the incoming Shadow Ball, when the two made contact a huge explosion swept across the battlefield but Nimbus wasn't done and sent another four shadow balls hitting Ronar on the side knocking his friend out.

Now it was just Growlithe against Nimbus, the electric Pokémon grinned as if she was having the time of her life and sent another Charge Beam at Growlithe. Growlithe was in the midst of using Quick Attack and jumped using Iron Tail catapulting in the air before letting loose with a barrage of Flame Burst. Nimbus dodged them with ease then a dark cloud formed over Growlithe and a pillar of electricity crashed down on his friend sending him crashing against the ground.

Ash was shocked. The whole battle had taken a minute, maybe less; it was so fast he didn't have a chance to get another command out. Joe and Lanette, who had been watching from the sidelines with the rest of Bill's Eeveelution team, were shocked. Bill nodded and walked towards Ash and put his hand on the young trainer's shoulder.

"You did great Ash, now recall your Pokémon and meet me at the healing machine."

Bill walked away with Nimbus and Lanette close behind. Joe walked over to Ash with a worried look on his face. "Are you okay Ash?"

Ash recalled his team and gave Joe a small smile. "I never stood a chance, there was a part of me that knew it but another really thought we could last at least five minutes. Anyways, let's go listen to what Bill has to say. It might help us."

Ash led Joe to the healing machine and placed his team there to heal except for Saber who hadn't taken part in the battle. Bill was sitting with Lanette at one of the tables where a couple of mugs of hot chocolate were served for them. Nimbus was on the floor with Eevee in front of her getting a motherly grooming.

Bill smiled when he saw Joe and Ash, motioning them to sit. "That was a great battle, thank you Ash. Now how do you think you did out there?"

Ash gave a smile as he grabbed his mug of hot chocolate. "Bad, I couldn't last a minute out there."

Lanette smiled at Ash. "Why do you think that?"

Ash thought about it for a moment. "Because Nimbus was so fast there was no way for my Pokémon to catch up to her for any of their attacks to hit."

Bill drummed his fingers on the table, a thoughtful look on his face. "That is part of the reason but you didn't do bad Ash; like I said before we battled, your Pokémon are young and inexperienced compared to Nimbus. Your strategy was sound to block off Nimbus and limit her mobility but you went about it all wrong. Your Pokémon were all over the place and there was no coordination, just a pincer attack to block off mobility. If you would have had Growlithe use Flame Burst or Ember as he ran and then switch to Fire Fang when he was close to Nimbus and Nidorina use Poison Sting as she moved. That would have limited Nimbus' mobility even better. Now the problem with Rhyhorn is that he doesn't know any ground type moves; you should try teaching him Bulldoze. it sends a shock wave through the earth that hurts the opponent making it difficult to walk. But this can all be chalked up to inexperience. What you need to work on is what roles each of your Pokémon serve on your team."

Ash frowned for a moment. "What do you mean?"

Bill smiled. "It's natural that you don't understand, trainers find out this as they move along on their journey. You need to look at your team, see their capabilities and determine what fighting style fits them best. Take Nimbus for example, her greatest assets are her speed and special attacks. There's very few Pokémon who can match a Jolteon's speed. So she is a speed fighter or speedster however you want to call it, she attacks fast and hard keeping her opponent on their toes not letting them think but just react to her moves.

Take Joe's Bellsprout, angry little bugger that she is. But her style is of a control type Pokémon who uses her different acids, spores and vines to take charge of the battlefield and her opponent. As you saw in his battle with Lily from what you told me once she gets going nothing happens that she doesn't want to."

Ash thought about it and nodded; what Bill said made a lot of sense. Bill looked as Ash absorbed what he was saying and smiled.

"Now let's talk about your team, we'll take Growlithe for example. I actually don't have much advice regarding him because he has diversity and can serve as your jack of all trades Pokémon attacking both physically and special, plus Growlithe and Arcanine have good speed so he can be your speedster. However I do have one concern; that move you use where Growlithe jumps in the air using Iron Tail, its creative but don't use it again.

When Growlithe is in the air he can't dodge or move, so he is vulnerable to an attack like Nimbus' Thunder. If you can figure out a way for him to dodge while he is in the air then you will have a very tricky move to attack your opponents. But until you do, better forget it or he will get seriously hurt."

Bill spoke with a stern tone and Ash nodded. He hadn't thought about it from that perspective. He thought it was a good move for Growlithe but during the battle with Nimbus his friend had been completely vulnerable.

Once Bill saw Ash understood his first point he moved one to the next. "My next point concerns both Rhyhorn and Nidorina. Both of them fall into what is known as a sweeper; a Pokémon that either due to their strong physical or special moves they have the potential to take on a whole team of six with ease or at least pave the way for their team mates.

The issue with your Rhyhorn and Nidorina is that they can be both physical or special but they have to lean towards one or the other. My recommendation would be for Rhyhorn to focus on physical attacks sprinkled with a special attack for long range defense. But like I said before, take advantage of his ground typing and teach him some ground moves.

Now Nidorina is somewhat trickier since their move pool is so vast; you should also focus on her physical moves but as of right now what she is lacking is mid to long range moves, look into that and work up accordingly. Make it a balance between physical and special to the point where your future Nidoqueen can be an unstoppable tower dishing out attack after attack without moving a single inch, but also give her enough physical attacks that when she does move it strikes terror into your opponent.

Actually those two can work very well in double battles but you will have to figure out how. In regards to your Skarmory you have a solid mobile fighter with good defense and good physical attacks. Her speed and defense are key to how she dominates the field.

Now given your performance today and taken into account your team, personality as well as Daisy herself. I would give you a solid seventy five percent chance of beating her, but remember nothing is set in stone in a battle so what are you going to do? Are you going to battle Daisy now or skip her gym altogether?"

Ash didn't need to think about it twice; he had already made a decision to challenge the gym and give his Pokémon a real gym battle. "I'll go tomorrow and win my Cascade Badge."

Bill nodded as he knew Ash's answer all along. "Then you better eat and rest up because tomorrow you have a long battle."

Lanette smiled at Ash as she stood up. "Don't worry when Bill says you have a chance of winning you do, however it's up to you to seize that chance. We'll get something ready for you boys, a parting gift."

Eevee at that moment was finished with her grooming and followed Lanette out the door with Nimbus and Bill following closely behind.

Ash was still waiting for the healing machine to finish when Joe sighed leaning back in his chair. "Well this little training stop wasn't all bad. Bellsprout learned Grass Knot, Zephyra learned Air Cutter and helping Nidorina made Machop's control over Focus Energy even better. I have to check what to teach him next, we could probably work with the elemental punches or Wake Up Slap. What I need is to capture a new Pokémon to add to my team, I can't let you get ahead of me."

Ash laughed and checked his pokédex. "Well after we're finished with Cerulean City how about we go to Saffron for a little exploring. I have to visit the police chief so Growlithe can see his sister. I don't think we are remotely close to beating Sabrina so let's head for Celadon City and challenge Erika. That should take us about two weeks give or take to reach Celadon if nothing crazy happens. So you have plenty of time to catch something."

Joe looked at the Pokédex and traced the map with his finger. "We can then rent a couple of bikes and take the cycling road from Celadon to Fuchsia City and challenge Koga next. That one is going to be very tough but I think we can handle him. After that we could follow the routes to the coast and circle back to Vermilion City, challenging Lt. Surge then up to Saffron again to get a crack at Sabrina."

Ash looked at the map and nodded. "Sounds like a plan, then after that, should we do Viridian City or Cinnabar Island?"

Joe thought about it for a moment. "Either Giovanni or Blaine are ridiculously strong, one is said to be the strongest gym leader in the region while the other one is a former Elite Four. I'd say we could take the boat from Viridian and take on Blaine and then head back with seven badges to get Giovanni."

Ash nodded satisfied with their plan, he put his Pokédex away when the machine beeped that it was done. Ash looked at the clock; it was barely noon but he was already tired, he turned to Joe. "What are you going to do now?"

Joe thought about it for a moment. "I'm going to let Bellsprout and Zephyra rest and have a talk with Machop about what he wants to learn."

Ash nodded. "I'm going to let my team rest so they are ready for Daisy tomorrow, see you at dinner."

Ash walked away and sat by a tree releasing all his Pokémon. They all had different looks Growlithe looked down, while Ronar was angry and Nidorina was a mixture of anger and nonchalance that to Ash was hard to decipher. The only one who looked normal was Saber but it was because she hadn't battled, so she started cleaning her wings while keeping an eye on her trainer.

Ash smiled. "You all did great today, Nimbus was just older and more experienced. If anyone failed anybody it was me. I neglected certain aspects of your training but that ends today. Today we are not going to do any more training because we have a gym battle tomorrow. I will be using Growlithe, Nidorina and Saber to battle Daisy."

Ronar was about to protest when Ash raised his hand. "I know you want to battle and prove yourself, but you remember the battlefield is a giant pool with platforms. You will be an easy target."

Ronar remembered almost drowning in that pool so he was okay to pass this one. Ash smiled when he saw Ronar calmed down.

"Now I want you all to relax and rest. But first Ronar I want to show you a video of a move we need to practice. Same with you Growlithe we have to work on our next move, Nidorina we need to work on your poison delivery; try changing your poison and play with it and see what attacks come out."

He wanted Nidorina to use her creativity and see what kind of attack she would lean towards. He knew she had bigger poison sacs so the poison she can produce is many times greater. His little girl nodded and walked to the side to get away from the sun to groom herself.

He took out his Pokédex and showed Ronar the move Bulldoze, Bill had insisted on the move several times he'd be an idiot not to listen to the older trainer. He picked a video where it showed a Rhydon using the move, stomping his feet hard on the ground creating a shock wave that made the earth tremble. He saw Ronar's eyes shone with interest, he knew seeing a Rhydon accomplish something was the best way to motivate Ronar.

"I want you to feel the kinetic energy in the earth and practice it next time we stop to rest. But for now just rest if you want to do something, just meditate on channeling draconic energy."

Ronar nodded and went to a spot where the sun was shining and closed his eyes to meditate and concentrate. Ash smiled and rolled his eyes. Then he moved the Pokédex to show Growlithe the next move he wanted him to learn, Fire Spin. The attack was to release a thin concentrated stream of flames in a spiral formation that when it hit the opponent they became trapped in a vortex of flames. Learning Fire Spin was the foundation for learning two other moves, Flamethrower and Flame Wheel.

Growlithe looked at the video of a Magmar using the move but he was confused as to how to make the flames spiral. Ash looked at Growlithe's confused face and thought about it for a moment. "It says here the way to control the direction of your flames is with your tongue."

He was as stumped as Growlithe but maybe something in what he said give Growlithe a hint, since his friend gave him a friendly bark before laying down to nap. Saber looked at her trainer and fellow Pokémon that were relaxing and she decided to take flight and glide through the air currents without a care in the world.

Ash smiled as his Pokémon took the rest of the day to relax and get their energy back for tomorrow's battle. Growlithe had spent most of the time napping except when Eevee came during the afternoon and bit his tail before running off. Growlithe woke up with a yelp and took off after the mischievous little normal type in a battle to see who could pin the other one the longest.

Ronar spent the day silently meditating on channeling draconic energy although a couple of times he fell asleep but he pretended nothing happened, he had an image to maintain. After Saber got tired of flying she landed next to Nidorina who from what Ash could interpret spent the rest of the day talking about claw sharpening and grooming.

Ash for his part stayed under the tree and started to work on different strategies concerning the three Pokémon he had chosen to battle Daisy. At one point Joe had come seeing him about dinner but Ash was too engrossed in his work that he ignored Joe. It wasn't until Lanette kicked him back into his room that he even moved from his spot under the tree. He was so tired that he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The next day Ash woke up early, took a shower and got dressed so fast he almost forgot to put pants on; if it wasn't for Growlithe he would have made a fool out of himself. He thanked his friend and recalled all his Pokémon ready for his rematch.

He met Joe outside his room and both trainers walked outside where Bill, Lanette, Nimbus and Eevee were waiting to send them off. Commander Joey was also there with a jeep.

Bill smiled at them. "You two look ready to take on the world. Here's a little parting gift that I want you to promise me to open only when Ash defeats Daisy. This would help your Pokémon get stronger, how you use it well that's up to you guys. Commander Joey will take you into the city. Good luck, I want the details later, have fun."

Lanette handed them both a small box which both trainers put in their backpacks. "Our numbers are inside the box; anything you need let us know, okay."

Nimbus gave them a friendly nod and Eevee started running between Ash's legs and flopped down on her back for a belly rub. Ash grinned and scratched the little normal type's belly for a good five seconds before stopping much to Eevee's disappointment; how dare he give her such a short belly rub, she was about to protest when a warning growl from her mother stopped her.

Ash laughed. "Thank you so much for all your help, I'll definitely take your words to heart."

Joe nodded and looked at Lanette. "Thank you so much for your help with Machop, I'm sure he will take your advice seriously."

Lanette grinned. "That Machop has a lot of promise, keep me updated."

Ash arched an eyebrow at the exchange but didn't comment as both boys got into the jeep while Commander Joey drove them into the city. Ash was filled with nervous energy and kept tapping the rim of his hat against his knee. Commander Joey didn't say anything as he drove over the bridge; he knew every trainer had their own way to release stress. Joe was staring off into the distance as the city grew closer and closer.

The trip to the city was a short one by jeep and Commander Joey was polite enough to drop them off right in front of the gym. Ash and Joe said their goodbyes and walked inside, the reception desk was empty except for Misty who was reading a magazine. She looked up and smiled when she saw them.

"I knew you guys would be coming back soon. Here for the rematch?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah but how did you know?"

Misty pointed to the crutches by the wall and then to her computer. "Just because I can't walk to the battlefield doesn't mean I can't watch the battles on my computer."

Joe smiled. "What happened if I may ask?" He nodded towards her cast leg that was resting on a chair.

Misty waved her hand in the air. "A stupid accident, a couple of weeks ago. I was on the route before Viridian City trying to catch a new Pokémon for my team. I heard that the rivers before the city had Poliwags and I needed one. So I took a moment to have lunch when this crazy Nidoking came out of nowhere and started attacking me. It was a good thing I had time to call my Starmie and beat it away but not before a rock was sent flying during the battle which hit me on my leg breaking it. My Pokémon carried me to the hospital where I called my sisters... Ash, are you okay? You look kind of weird."

Ash thought about the Nidoking that attacked him and vaguely remembered running past someone on the route to Viridian City who would've thought he would meet the person again. He cleared his throat. "Nothing, just excited for the battle. Is Daisy here?"

Both Misty and Joe gave Ash weird looks but the moment quickly passed. Misty nodded and pointed to the corridor that led to the battle field. "Yes she just came in from the city so I'll let her know she has a challenger, you know the way. Good Luck."

Ash followed the same path he had before while Joe took his seat in the spectators area. The arena was the same as before a large pool with a dozen or so platforms for Pokémon to stand on. Ash took a deep breath to calm himself and had Nidorina's Poké Ball clenched tightly in his hand.

On the referee stand was Violet again wearing a dark blue dress smiling at Ash. "Well, well that took less time than I thought. I owe Lily twenty Poké Dollars"

Ash grinned and some of his nervousness left. "You bet how long I was going to take to come for a rematch?"

Violet laughed then shrugged, "Lily said it wouldn't take you five days; I said you were going to come at the last day and Misty said you were going to rush and come the very next day. The only one who didn't bet was Daisy the party pooper, she said that you will come when you were ready."

Ash shook his head laughing, the doors on the other side of the gym opened and Daisy came out wearing a white lab coat and glasses with a dark blue shirt underneath and a skirt. She smiled when she looked at Ash.

"Well I guess you were determined for a rematch, I must admit that you would've disappointed me if you hadn't come. Not many trainers are brave enough to use a gym battle for training purposes, let's see what other surprises you have for me. Same rules as before; get your Pokémon ready."

She pulled out a Poké Ball and released a Pokémon Ash hadn't seen in their previous battle but was familiar with from the statue in front of the gym. It had snowy white fur with a cute smiling face, deep black eyes a black button nose and two short sharp fangs protruding from its mouth. A small horn sat on top of his face.

Ash had already released Nidorina who looked at the smiling water Pokémon with raw determination. He smiled at his little girl as her claws extended signaling she was ready to battle.

Violet smiled and raised her hand. "The rematch between Ash Ketchum and Gym Leader Daisy Waterflower is about to begin, it will be a three on three battle with no substitutions. The first match is Dewgong versus Nidorina: begin."

Ash smiled. "Nidorina let loose your Poison Sting and close the distance enough to use Focus Kick."

Nidorina chirped her challenge and rushed forward like a bullet, her whole body shrouded with red energy as she sent a barrage of poison needles straight at Dewgong. All that hard work with Machop had paid off, the Focus Energy was holding steady with no signs of going out.

Daisy smiled. "Neve be a dear and Dive then go on the offensive with Blizzard."

Dewgong dove making Nidorina lose sight of him but she remembered battling the turtle; she couldn't stop moving, they could appear from any part of the pool. She didn't stop firing her poison needles; she just aimed at the water. But this wasn't like that Graveler she fought where she could poison him by poisoning the field. There was just too much water, she just hoped she was lucky enough to make contact.

Ash saw the little white horn surface followed by Dewgong's face. Alarmed, he called out to Nidorina. "He's behind you!"

Dewgong opened his mouth and a blast of cold air ripped through the battlefield so cold that even the surface of the pool had frost over. Nidorina heard her trainer's warning and the only option left to her is to dive into the pool. Dewgong dove again, heading for Nidorina. Ash was worried because he couldn't see because of the frost. Suddenly to the side a shape was propelled out of the water and landed hard on the platform.

Ash saw that the shape was Nidorina and she was panting and covered with frost. Ash made a mental note to catch a water Pokémon as soon as possible. "Nidorina don't give in and lets try another Focus Kick."

Daisy smiled and crossed her arms. "A nice attempt but futile, Neve is a very different opponent than Shellbasher. Neve finish this Take Jet."

Nidorina shook off the frost and her body was covered once more in red battle aura as she charged against Dewgong. The water Pokémon dove once more and propelled himself forward with astonishing speed jumping out of the pool shrouded in a column of water swinging its tail at Nidorina, for her part Nidorina stopped and kicked back with her feet putting all of her energy into the blow. The two attacks connected and held for a moment but Dewgong was more bulkier than Nidorina and he had more forward momentum.

Nidorina could only hold the clash for a few seconds before being sent flying against a platform. Dewgong landed on the platform and was looking sickly and purple ooze was dripping from its tail. Nidorina stood up on wobbly legs and gave a satisfied smirk seeing that she had poisoned her opponent before falling to the ground, knocked out.

Violet waited the regular ten seconds before raising her hand. "Nidorina is unable to battle the winner is Dewgong."

Ash recalled Nidorina and smiled at the Poké Ball "You did great girl, now take a long rest."

Daisy recalled Dewgong and smiled. "You have a very stubborn Nidorina, last time she beat my Wartortle resolutely and today even though she was defeated she didn't go down without injuring her opponent greatly to the point of poisoning him. She will be a force to be reckoned with once you evolve her."

Ash scratched the back of his neck, "Yeah she has a very... thorough personality but that's what makes her special."

Daisy grinned and held her next Poké Ball in her hand. "That's the spirit, let's move on to the next battle."

Both trainers released their Pokémon, Ash had released Saber who shrieked as soon as she was released and flew above Ash. Daisy for her part released a Pokémon Ash had never seen before; it was a frog that much he was certain of, with dark blue skin and a lighter underside. It had yellow eyes and what looked like a white scarf made of some kind of bubble substance.

Daisy looked at Saber, a hint of speculation in her eyes. "Not many trainers would choose a Skarmory as their first flying type, interesting."

Ash smiled. "I was just lucky."

Violet cleared her throat. "The second battle will be Frogadier versus Skarmory. Begin!"

Ash didn't want to waste time. "Saber, Air Cutter now."

Daisy nodded to her Pokémon "Gero counter with Water Pulse."

Saber shrieked and flapped her wings faster, sending blades of wind towards Frogadier while the frog Pokémon charged a sphere of water sending it flying towards the wind blades. The blades cut the sphere of water releasing the energy in a small explosion. But Saber still kept sending more wind blades hitting Frogadier, making small cuts here and there.

Daisy frowned and tapped her fingers on her leg. "Gero jump and hit it with Scald."

Frogadier jumped between the platforms, gathering speed before jumping behind Saber and sending a blast of hot water hitting the armored bird Pokémon in the back making her fall for several feet before regaining her momentum; she shrieked in anger and her wings started glowing and she flew straight at Frogadier.

Daisy looked at the platforms and smiled. "Gero, use your tongue to dodge."

Frogadier opened his mouth using his long tongue to grab the platform below them and pull himself out of the air dodging Saber's attack. Saber was furious at missing her attack and turned around at high speed, her body covered with ethereal flames hitting Frogadier with her Sky Attack in the back before the frog could land safely on the platform. The force from the blow plus the momentum from pulling himself with his tongue made Frogadier crash on the platform with enough force to break it in half.

Saber circled over the broken platform waiting for another attack but it didn't come. Frogadier floated to the surface completely knocked out. Ash looked at Saber and once again Bill was right, her greatest asset was her speed. But they really needed to work on her temper; she was a vindictive one for sure.

Violet waited the allotted time before raising her hand. "Frogadier is unable to battle. The winner is Skarmory."

Ash knew this was it as he recalled Saber back into her Poké Ball, one more win and he would own the Cascade Badge. Daisy smiled and released her final Pokémon at the same time Ash did. Ash grinned when he saw that Daisy had chosen her Vaporeon. Growlithe looked at the water Pokémon that had defeated him before and a low powerful growl rose in his throat. Vaporeon for his part looked at Growlithe with indifference.

Daisy smiled. "You haven't disappointed me in this battle; your strategies are sound and your Pokémon go far and beyond for you, that is the mark of a true trainer. Now show me if you have what it takes to win the Cascade badge from me and Aquos."

Violet grinned excitedly and raised her hand. "The final battle will be between Vaporeon and Growlithe for the Cascade Badge. Begin!"

Daisy smiled. "Aquos my dear, show them what you got. Ice Pledge go."

Vaporeon growled and rings of water shot out from his body straight at Growlithe but before the rings could reach Growlithe Vaporeon froze them with his Ice Beam. Now the frozen rings were coming straight at Growlithe.

"Growlithe, dodge them and hit Vaporeon with your Flame Burst."

The fire pup growled jumping over the rings and sending several orbs of flames straight at the bubble jet Pokémon Vaporeon countered with an Ice Beam but there were too many bursts for him to counter with just an Ice Beam and soon the attacks reached Vaporeon hitting him on the side and face sending him crashing into the water.

Growlithe looked around the water but didn't see Vaporeon until the Pokémon leaped out of the water shrouded in a current of rapid moving water tackling Growlithe down on the floor and biting him on the side with ice covered fangs.

Ash saw Growlithe yelp in pain before an opaque white light shone in his paws as he kicked Vaporeon's underside sending the water Pokémon away. Ash was confused because he didn't know what attack his friend had just done so he pulled out his Pokédex and looked up Growlithe's moves and the only one that fit was Reversal, a fighting type move that used the Pokémon's strength in an all out attack when it is injured.

Ash was surprised and delighted with the new move. Vaporeon looked surprised as it panted from being kicked in the stomach. It snarled diving into the pool and soon a huge wave rose made its way towards Growlithe with Vaporeon riding at the top growling his anger.

"Growlithe jump using Iron Tail and hit Vaporeon with your Fire Fang."

He knew that he promised Bill not to use this move but he really didn't know what else to do to help Growlithe escape from the Surf attack. Growlithe ran towards the wave using Quick Attack and jumped at the last second with his fangs covered in flames he shot himself straight at Vaporeon knocking him down from the wave and into the platform before biting its neck. The water Pokémon yelped in pain and tried to get Growlithe off him but the fire pup had him pinned to the floor with no way to move.

After Growlithe delivered another powerful Fire Fang, Vaporeon stopped moving as weariness and the wounds from the fight took the fight out of him. Violet noticed as well and counted to ten before raising her hand.

"Vaporeon can no longer battle, Growlithe wins. The winner of the battle for the Cascade Badge is the challenger Ash Ketchum."

Ash's heart was beating so fast and Growlithe barked happily when he was declared the winner that he ran towards Ash and jumped into his arms making his trainer fall on his butt. "Hahaha; thanks buddy you were great and you learned Reversal without even practicing it. We are getting stronger little by little. Why don't you take a rest, you deserved it."

Growlithe nodded, the battle had tired him out & if he never saw another Vaporeon again it would be too soon. Ash recalled his friend and stood up dusting himself to find Daisy with Violet by her side holding a case.

Daisy smiled as she opened the case holding the Cascade Badge and a TM. "You sure have surprised me in this battle Ash, I'm glad you came for a rematch. Here you've earned the Cascade badge and this TM is for the move Scald which is one of the best water attacks in my opinion as it sends a blast of scalding water towards the opponent that might burn them."

Violet smiled as Ash put the TM and badge in his bag. "That was some fine battling Ash, Lily will be angry that she missed it but she is preparing everything for the trip as she and Daisy will be going together."

Ash smiled at the gym leader. "So you will be taking care of the gym?"

Violet nodded and Daisy chuckled before answering. "Someone has to stay since Misty still hasn't gotten her permit and won't be able to for another two years. Becoming a gym leader is miles of paperwork and tests administered by the League before they deem you worthy. Well Ash I wish you the best of luck and if you ever have any doubts regarding water Pokémon feel free to call me when you capture your first one. Here's my number and the gym's as well."

Ash took Daisy's card and put it away. "Thank you, I'll be seeing you at the Indigo Conference."

The gym leaders nodded and Ash left to meet Joe at the reception desk. Joe clapped him on the shoulder and smiled.

"Congrats Ash, that was a great battle."

Ash smiled as they walked outside. "Yeah but a tough one. Let's heal up my Pokémon at the Center before heading out to Saffron City."

Joe nodded and both trainers went to the Pokémon Center to heal Ash's Pokémon and grab a bite to eat before setting out to continue their journey.

---

Lysandre Cafe, 12:05 am

Lumiose City, Kalos Region

---

One of the greatest tourist attractions in Lumiose City was the Lysandre Cafe famous for their Pokémon shaped pastries and inside battle arena where trainers can either battle or watch while waiting for their table. However now this famous attraction was being consumed by a blazing inferno as a result of the horrible battle that took place inside.

Inside the Cafe sitting in a pool of his own blood a man covered in black soot with orange hair resembling a Pyroar's mane laid his body against the wall and coughed a mouthful of blood as he looked at the burning building around him and then his eyes looked at the floor where his Pokémon laid dead.

To his right was his Mienshao torn in half in a pool of her own blood by a vicious Psychic attack. To his left was his Honchkrow broken and bloodied, missing its wings, next to it was his Gyarados burned by electricity with its eyes glazed over.

Across from him was his once mighty Pyroar, bloodied and beaten; he had been the first to attack their enemy and the last one to fall. The man looked up to the one who had killed all of his Pokémon, a man he knew very well. Wearing a white and red poncho with a necklace made of Poké Balls, the imposing man took a chair that wasn't burning and sat down in front of him.

The bloodied man glared at the sitting one. "How did you get here? The borders are being watched since you activated your army. Why attack us? Answer me Alder! I deserve that much..."

The sitting man, Alder, Champion of the Unova Region's Pokémon League smiled. "You should know better Lysandre that I have my ways of getting in and out of places. Besides, your little movie star champion doesn't have as strong a grip on her people as she might think. As to why did I attack you? Simple: I needed your men and you were in the way."

Lysandre coughed another mouthful of blood. "They will never follow you."

Alder shrugged his massive shoulders and grinned. "Oh but they already have, how did you think I got past your defenses so easily?"

Behind Alder a rather chubby man wearing a red suit with a hairstyle resembling an open flame grinned behind his red tinted sunglasses. As soon as Lysandre saw him he was shocked.

"Xerosic, what is the meaning of this? Traitor!" Lysandre screamed in anger as he coughed more blood.

Xerosic smiled even wider. "Oh no my dear Lysandre, the traitor is you. Wanting to use the ultimate weapon to wipe out all Pokémon. You deluded fool, why kill man's greatest weapon? I was only gaining your trust until it was the right moment to strike you down, but my new boss has an even better plan for the world and we won't even need the ultimate weapon."

Xerosic laughed and Alder raised his hand silencing him then he turned towards Lysandre. "You have done well Xerosic now go rally the team and begin your missions."

Xerosic bowed before leaving Alder and Lysandre alone. Alder looked at the departing man and smiled. "Useful little cretin, but at the end of the day once he finishes his mission he will be joining you soon enough Lysandre."

Lysandre spat a mouthful of blood and glared at Alder. "Why do all this? I just wanted to make the world beautiful again but you, you want to set this world in flames."

Alder laughed and made a motion with his hand. "The only thing that will be set in flames will be you."

Lysandre coughed as a large shadow passed through his body materializing in front of him into a large dark Pokémon with yellow pupil-less eyes in its round striped head. There was a ring of small, black spikes on top of its head with a tall, purple flame in the middle. From a black spike below its head, black arms curl upward. These arms were tipped with purple fire. Lysandre's eyes widened before screaming in pain.

Alder watched the screaming man for a minute before he died and recalled his Pokémon as Lysandre's body was being consumed by the fire around them. A clapping noise came from behind Alder, he turned around and saw a man wearing red plated armor and helmet which gave him the illusion of being one with the flames consuming the Cafe.

"That was ruthless even for you. Some people might think I did this." The armored man grinned.

Alder arched an eyebrow. "What are you doing here, weren't you heading to assault the Libra?"

The red armored man shrugged. "I thought you might need help cleaning up here before setting out to the Libra. I guess you didn't from the results I'm seeing."

Before Alder could answer a low growl was heard from the flames and a small leonine Pokémon with dark brown eyes attacked Alder with flame covered fangs, his body covered in dark fur except a tuft of reddish fur between its ears on the top of his head and pale brown fur on its paws and tip of the tail.

Faster than the Pokémon could react, Alder caught it by the scruff of its neck and squeezed hard. The little Pokémon tried to bite and scratch at Alder but he couldn't reach. Alder noticed the red sheen in the Pokémon's eyes taking over the brown.

The red armored man looked at the Pokémon then at the dead Pyroar. "That Litleo must be a cub of that dead Pyroar, feisty little thing. He must want revenge for his dead sire, you're going to kill it?"

Alder looked at the Litleo and then pulled out a strange Poké Ball from his belt, it was completely black with gray spiral grooves along the surface. Litleo still tried to attack the man that killed his sire but there was no use. Alder then tapped the Dark Ball against Litleo, capturing it.

The red armored man grinned. "I see you're finally testing out our new toy, it was worth it killing that masked idiot for the technology."

Alder threw the Dark Ball to the red armored man. "They told me they were having trouble combining both technologies. This is the latest prototype, take it with you to assault the Libra and report back to me with the results. Now let's get out of here, stinks of burnt meat."

Both men walked out of the burning building as if nothing had happened and were teleported to different locations out of the region, a few minutes later the fire department arrived and put out the fire. A few more minutes later they found the corpses of Lysandre and his Pokémon, the next morning the region of Kalos mourned the loss of one of its greatest scientists.

---

Hello guys Harlequin K here, with another chapter of Titans like I promised before this one was coming pretty fast. It would have been out sooner however I kind of sort of got carried away and it turned into my longest chapter ever 28k. Wow, that sure was fun to write. I hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing. Of course this wouldn't have been possible without my beta and editor the marvelous Kalypso Fox big shout out to her for polishing the chapter for your enjoyment.

Now two badges down, six to go and as you can see from Joe and Ash's talk of the future we know a rough sketch of which gyms they are going to tackle next...Ash won't say but he is terrified of Sabrina lol. We got some background information on Delia and Red which I enjoyed coming up with.

And guys this month culminates one year of Titans been up and running and can't take you enough for the support this story has gotten. I'm so happy you are all going with me on this trip and hope to no disappoint you guys. So leave a review with your thoughts on this chapter and tell me what you think. I always take into consideration your thoughts because it makes me a better writer. The more reviews the better grasp I have of what you guys liked and what not. Now to answer some of those lol.

Amourshiper35 - I liked seeing ash train his Pokémon and I hope he can beat daisy in a rematch

HK- I'm glad you like the chapter and hope the battle was to your liking, thank you so much.

frankieu - nice chapter thx for writing, nice bit of info with the stone's and ash grabbing a few for himself

Hk- Thank you for reading, I had the lore for the stones way before the first chapter was completed, funny how that works huh? And yes those stones are worth $$$ and he might need it in the future giving his luck so far.

Silviaxl17 - Hey! You're back! Awsome! I enjoy this chapter, the way how ash got the best and the worst of the lucky it's hilarious, I'm really enjoy this and your ideas, all the evolution stones that you are exposing it's very well thought, reminds me a lot of Challenger and Traveler.

P.D. Kiba's name has nothing to do with Naruto, was just because it's the Japanese word for Fang, and those are the speciality of my poochyena, he know the 4 fangs moves, and bite, I found the name proper.

HK- Yes, sorry for been away for awhile. Yeah Ash seems to have stepped on an Alolan Meowth's tail...or several of them. I hoped that Titans can compare to the greats like Traveller and Challenger and I'll keep working hard to make it happen.

thor94- pretty good chapter.

ash is really reckless to steal moon stones with a bunch of clefables and clefairies.

And interesting gym battles, sure the waterflower sisters are not jokes compared to the anime, almost exagerated.

if newbies trainers must already face evolved Pokémon like cloyster, ludicolo, vaporeon, seadra or milotic in early gyms, i can't imagine what Pokémon they will face for their last badges.

Jovi look interesting and strong trainer.

About ash, it is kinda interesting how he use the gym battle as training and lessons for his Pokémon s. but would have liked to see him win like his rivals.

Hope it will be the last time ash need a rematch for a gym battle, and win the next ones (like vermillon city) at first try

Hk- Thank you so much for reading and I'm glad you liked Jovi and the Waterflower sisters. Yeah the gym leaders are allowed to go crazy which means Surge is in heaven right now lol. I can't promise Ash won't loose anymore but he is getting experienced with every battle so who knows.

NinjaFang1331 - Awesome job with the chapter

Hk- Thank you so much, glad you enjoyed it.

bladetri - like XD

HK- Sweet, glad you like it.

thus dud- Pretty good chapter and nice to hear that there will be a update fairly soon. Overall the chapter was good but i feel like mt moon was a little rushed. The battle scenes you wrote were pretty well done so that was nice. Also nice to see that you aren't rushing through gyms so bonus points for pacing.

Side note: liked how you wrote veto, thanks.

HK- Awesome, glad you enjoy the chapter and thanks for your thoughts. I think people feel that way because most poke fics introduce a big battle with TR at MT. Moon but TR in Titans has their hands full with...well I wont spoil it for you guys but you will see them soon enough. I don't want to rush the journey Ash needs time to develop a powerful team since he started so late, so every battle he has to learned everything he can if he wants to make it far in the conference. Thank you for lending me Veto and his trainer I tried to do him justice, glad you approve.

rockingchampif- Loved the chapter here...the description,setting,training,characterisation everything is great ...reminds of the greater fanfic like traveler and challenger...it surely of that genre off writing and story telling...i kind of felt like mt moon was a little rushed ...i generally skip the battle part on most stories but yours is an exception...great use of the gym for training and lessons ...i hope rhyhorn after this listens to ash and be his Pokémon ...would love to see who would be his next Pokémon ...thnx for loving my review ...

HK- Thank you so much for liking and reviewing the story it means a lot. I hope Titans can be remembered like Traveller and Challenger and I'm working hard towards that. I'm glad that you enjoyed the battle scenes, I like to take my time with them and give them as much of a realistic feel as possible. Well I hope you enjoyed his new capture in today's chapter. And well Ronar has been tamed...for now. Always loved to hear from you guys.

Kalypso Fox- Thanks for the shoutout lol. I meant to comment on the lore of evolution stones; you're extremely talented, and creative with your writing and I'm so thankful to be a part of sharing your writing with world. Also, congrats on starting your own book, I hope all goes well with those endeavors. Can't wait for the next chapter. :)

HK- You deserved it for the hard work you did with the chapter. Thank you so much for your help. Your the best love to work with you.

Chermayne - Interesting!

HK- Thank you so much, glad you enjoyed it.

the dark euphie - He's got a pretty good team thus far, if he can convince that Rhyhorn to calm the fuck down of course. Can I say I would like to see him have a fairy type and fully believe the Clefaible line would have been a good addition to his team; but then I have an undying love for that Pokémon thanks to my own gaming experiences so yeah...

HK - Lol I think Ronar is calmed enough for now, but who knows his temper might flared up. I want his team to be different and as diverse as possible and I know several writers that use the Clefable line. But I already have his fairy type picked up lol I wont say who since that would be spoiling. But thank you so much for your thoughts and glad you liked it.

Flash almighty- well I have no idea how I have not found this little gem yet but the read was amazing very well done. I also like the fact that you have given ash some Pokémon that are different but also very cool :) Rhyperior is my favourite Pokémon so seeing the training process behind will be very exciting to watch. I would like to see what you do with the team. I reckon Pokémon like altaria, abomasnow or even bronzor would be great additions and they are not even used like ever so that would be even cooler :) can't wait for the next chapter keep up the good work

HK- I'm really glad you found yourself in my little corner of the website and glad you enjoyed the story and hope you continue to do so. Rhyperior is one of my favorite Pokémon , the whole line is actually. I wont spoil the team but, I'm pulling Pokémon from every obscure corner of the pokedex.

Unholy Sight- I'm enjoying the story so far and I can definitely see the influence of both "Traveler" and "Challenger", however if you haven't read it yet I would also recommend "Into the Wild".

HK- Thank you so much for reading and I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Actually I have read it, Swinub is a Pokémon I like a lot the whole line and actually was a contender for Ash's ice type but another won that battle. But still great story, I enjoyed it a lot.

Star1X- I like this fic a lot, not a massive Niroran fan but the plot is great. Been thinking about starting my own PKM fic for a while with it being Charmander/dragon centric. Cant wait for Ash to meet Sabrina ahaha. Interesting chapter with Ash using it for training. Big man is Scott?

HK- Thank you so much, I'm glad you're liking the story so far. That's awesome the more Poke Fics the better, Go for it full steam ahead. Their meeting is going to be interesting to say the least, Ash has already bought a few pair of pants just in case. Yes the Big man is Scott, thought the shirt gave him away. He will be...interesting to the plot, I'll leave it at that. (I grouped all your reviews to make it easier to answer, hope that's okay)

Well I guess that's it for today, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter with all of its twist and turns as the central plots takes one step forward and war is looming over the horizon as Alder makes his move, and who might that red man be? Hmm I know and it will be a blast to continue writing him. He is one of my favorite Titans antagonist and to finally introduce him has me excited. Well guys until next time, remember leave a review with your thoughts and hope you continue to enjoy the world of Titans.

Harlequin K.