"Mr Ash I promise we have an explanation for this!" Nemoan spluttered waving her hands frantically.
"Just Ash is fine I think we've got bigger things to focus on than that"
Ash pulled out his Pokedex to see if it had any information on the strange Pokémon.
"Koraidon the Paradox Pokémon The ecology and other data about this Pokémon are unknown. It was named Koraidon by the professor who discovered it It has similar characteristics to a creature described in an old book as the Winged King"
"Well that doesn't give us any answers"
Koraidon had regained some of its energy and slowly sat up on all fours.
"What the! Were's all the energy you had before?"
Florian froze when he realized the implications of his words.
"We were stuck in a cave and a bunch of Houndour attacked us" Julianna explained "He saved us when things got a bit hairy"
Koraidon lazily strolled down the pathway coming to a stop at the lighthouse overlooking the coast.
"What kind of place is this?" Ash asked curiously.
"This is the lab of the professor" Nemona explained.
"You have a professor? Oak never mentioned that"
"Her name is Professor Sada but we never see her though, she's always down in the great crater"
Ash vaguely remembered the Great Crater of Paldea. Not much was confirmed about the place, and many rumors ran rampant about strange Pokémon and other bizarre creatures being found there.
"Say what's the deal with the great crater anyway-"
"Why you little!" A tall boy with ashen hair stormed down the hill.
"Where did you find this? And what forum was it in" The boy's teal eyes burned with distaste for Koraidon.
"We heard this strange cry and went to investigate and then Julianna and Florian fell right off a cliff?" The boy didn't seem amused by Nemona's passionate retelling of what happened.
"If saved us when a pack Houndour attacked us but afterward it got all sluggish" Julianna explained.
Ash swore he heard the boy mutter "Wanting to play the hero now?" under his breath.
"Well that makes sense the forum you saw Koraidon in was its true form but he can't stay in that forum for very long"
Ash listened to his conversation intrigued. Why would a Pokémon only be able to battle for such a short time?
Koraidon walked up to the window of the lighthouse sniffing it intently and pawing at the window.
"The labs closed you can't go in there" the boy scoffed.
Nemona had an aha moment "You're Arven aren't you Professor Sada's son right?"
Arvens eyes blew wide open "It doesn't matter who my mother is!" he spit venomously glaring into Julianna and Florian's faces.
"Is it true that Koraidon battled on you're behalf?"
"Yes," they both answered.
"Koraidon is a special Pokémon it doesn't just do that for anybody"
"Special Pokémon" Ash muttered, "you mean like a Legendary Pokémon?" Arven glared daggers at Ash making him decide it was a bad idea to press him further.
"Well if the brute really did battle for you then why don't you let me test you"
"If that's how you feel then we'll gladly accept"
"What she said"
Julianna and Florian released Quaxly and Fuecoco to face Arven's Skwovet and Shellder.
"You want to ref this one Ash?"
"It's okay I got this" Nemona reassured "You're free to begin whenever you're ready.
Ash decided to sit on the ledge and watch them unfold.
"Tackle and Water Gun!" Quaxly leaped out of the way of the Water Gun well Fuecoco took the tackle head-on.
"Pound!"
"Use Ember!"
Ash and Pikachu watched the 2 attacks connect, Quaxly easily danced around a Water Gun from Shellder striking Fuecoco instead who randomly fired off another Ember striking the Skwovet.
Quaxly was far superior in agility and overall skill than Fuecoco who seemed to not be trying at all.
Ash had seen lazy Pokémon before and Fuecoco didn't match someone like Charmeleon whose laziness came from a defiance of its owner. Fuecoco listened to every command given. He seemed more like Torterra in that he was just naturally slow.
"Use Bite and Water Gun!"
"Water Gun!"
"Use Tackle" The two water guns canceled each other out Skwovet was able to dodge the Tackle but its Bite attack didn't seem to faze Fuecoco.
"Use Ember!" Fuecoco shook Skwovet off and landed an Ember.
Julianna also seemed more confident overall in commanding her Pokémon than Florian.
Not that Ash was going to judge but Florian really didn't strike him as the type to be a battler.
"Use Ice Shard and Tail Whip!"
"Pound Skwovet towards Shellder!"
"Use Ember" Fuecoco took the Ice Shard and Quaxly quickly dove in to land a Pound on Skwovet sending it flying into Shellder Fuecoco used the opening to strike both of them with Ember.
However, Pikachu seemed to be distracted by something else that got his attention.
Pikachu got onto all fours in a battle stance glaring at the tall grass behind the lab overlooking the cliff.
"Pikachu what is it?"
Ash could see something strange moving in the grass.
And he was face-to-face with some familiar faces.
"Team Rocket!"
"Ah, we meet again" James spook dramatically.
"You're here for Koraidon aren't you?"
"Well excuse us" Jessie scoffed "If we see a strong looking Pokémon ripe for the tacking we can't help but grab it"
"Unfortunately I'm going to have to stop you right there"
"Interesting that you should think that" Meowth smirked.
"Come on down!"
"Pu-pu-pu-Pelipper game flying down dropping the rocket prize master at their feet.
Jessie and James inserted a coin each taking a Pokeball.
"The Ore Pokémon Glimmet" Jessie called sending out a small flower-like rock Pokémon.
"The Tumbleweed Pokémon Bramblin" James added sending out the ghostly bush.
Wobbuffet came out of its Pokeball to assist in the fight.
"You want to fight this one Pikachu?"
"Pika-Pika!" his partner Pokémon nodded.
"Alright then Dragonite let's go!" Dragonite landed on the ground with a thud.
"Pikachu use Thunderbolt Dragonite use Dragon Claw!"
Glimmet suddenly got in the way of Dragonite's Dragon Claw, its body started glowing purple, and a layer of Toxic Spikes fell off its body landing on the battlefield.
Wobbuffet reflected Pikachu's attack back with Mirror Coat Pikachu dodged the attack but was poisoned by the Toxic Spikes.
Ash quickly pulled out his Pokedex to read what had happened.
"Toxic Debris, the Pokémon scatters a layer of Toxic Spikes when hit by a physical move"
"Use Night Shade and Venoshock!"
"Counter it with Draco Meteor and Iron Tail!" Pikachu cut through Glimmet and Bramblins attacks knocking them to the ground.
Dragonite's Draco Meteor struck everybody but Wobbuffet's counter with Mirror Coat knocking Dragonite to the ground and causing her to be poisoned by the Toxic Spikes.
Before another attack could be ordered a flurry of Leaves struck Team Rocket from behind.
Sitting on top of the prize master was Sprigatito.
Ash's jaw went slack. He hadn't even seen her come out of her Pokeball but she managed to get behind Team Rocket without anyone noticing.
"So you want to play the hero now!" Jessie chortled, "Then Glimmet use Ancient Power!"
"Dodge it then use Scratch!"
Sprigatito leapt around the ancient beam of rocks claws glowing for a scratch attack.
Something was different about the attack though. The leaf around Sprigatito's chest began glowing a dull beige and the Scratch seemed to hit Glimmet particularly hard actually knocking it back.
"Yeesh what kind of cat food have you been feeding it" Meowth shrieked.
"Awesome now use Leafage!" Sprigatitos leaf turned back to normal when it fired the flurry of leaves at Glimmet and Bramblin.
"Wobbuffet use Counter!" Wobbuffet easily sent the Leafage back to Sprigatito.
"Use Thunderbolt and Hurricane!" not wanting to be left out Sprigatito fired off another Leafage.
The three attacks were another to knock Wobbuffet off balance sending him knocking into the Rocket Prize Master.
Everyone froze as the Rocket Prize Master teetered precariously at the edge of a cliff.
It came to a teeter but came to a stop at the very last second.
Only for Wobbuffet's tail to dink it as he got back up.
The Prize Master went tumbling down the cliff and from the sound of it hit every rock on the way down.
Jessie and James quickly abandoned the fight and Swan dove into the sea there Pokémon trailing after them.
With that out of the way, he returned to the battle he wanted to watch.
He did make a mental note to look into Sprigatitos weird glow around her neck leaf. He knew that wasn't normal.
The others were so focused on their battle that they didn't realize that he was gone in the first place.
Skwovet and Shellder were looking worse for were, sending off another Ice Shard and Tackle.
"Pound!" Quaxly overpowered Skwovet's Tackle finally knocking out the Cheeky Pokémon.
A red aura briefly enveloped Quaxly that seemed to invigorate him even more picking up his dancing tapping his feet rapidly and dancing.
Ash needed to check this out there was something different about these starters.
End Credit Song-Counting Stars-OneRepublic
I'm sure some of you know what's up with the starters but will see that soon enough.
One more chapter before we get into the main game story