Waking Up to an Adventure - Silver Conference

by pigeonsaurus

Book 2 of the Waking Up to an Adventure series. After his loss at the Pokémon League, Ash is thrown into a new adventure. Eager to prove himself after learning all he did in Kanto, Ash travels to Johto with both old and new friends by his side. With new Badges to earn, and brand new Pokémon to catch, nothing can stop Ash from challenging the Silver Conference. Updates Wednesdays!

4. A Tent Situation

Chapter 4

The heavy, tropical weather of Valencia Island wasn't Ash's favorite, so it was very much a relief to be feeling the normal, comfortable air of the Kanto region. But the biggest sigh of happiness passed his lips mostly when they were on the edge of Route 1, and overlooking Pallet Town. It had only been a few days since they had left the Orange Archipelago, but it was still nice to see his hometown.

"Well, there's Pallet Town! We finally made it back home, Gary," Ash commented as the pair stopped to take a rest. It was still strange not having Brock with him, and Gary wasn't exactly the best company.

"Yes, it looks just the same as when we left it; only a few days ago," Gary frowned. "Let's get to Grampa's lab so that I can bring him the GS Ball."

"Uh, but first, can we stop at my house?" Ash asked. "It's right along the way, and I'm really looking forward to my mom's cooking; I know she'll make a big lunch."

"No way, Ash. The sooner I bring back the GS Ball, the sooner I can start preparing for my battles against the Elite Four."

"Please, Gary!" Now Ash had dropped all self-respect and had his fingers folded together in front of him. "We won't stay for very long, and I'm sure she would have food for you, too!"

Gary's eyes hardened, but looking upon Ash's face, he let out a sigh. "Fine. But I'm only agreeing because I know you won't stop whining until you get what you want."

"YES!" Instantly, Ash jumped up and pumped a fist in the air as if he had just won a Gym Badge. "Let's go!"

o 0 o

As they approached the quaint, two-story white house with the light red shingles, Ash could feel excitement burning in his stomach. Or perhaps it was hunger. Either way, his pace quickened, slowly until he eventually started running. "I can't wait to see the look on my mom's face when she sees how fast I came back!" Running up the stone walkway from the white picket fence to the small front porch, he smiled from ear to ear before throwing the door open, and letting sunlight from the outside illuminate the inside of the house. "SURPRISE!"

Gary was in close proximity, but when the pair both walked in, they received no answer. The house seemed empty. But before Ash could call out again, they heard her warming voice coming from the porch. "You're home!" They both turned around to see both her and her Mr. Mime – Mimey – walking in. From the dirt on their knees and hands, and the herbs and flowers they were carrying, Ash surmised that the pair must have been in her garden on the left side of the house.

"Mr. Mime!" her Pokémon mimicked, smiling upon seeing the black-haired boy.

"Mom!"

"What a surprise!" Ash laughed and rushed up to her with his arms up, but then she moved past him and smiled brightly at Gary, causing her son to fall to the ground in dismay. "It's been so long since you've been to our home!"

"O-oh, thanks! It's good to see you again, Mrs. Ketchum," Gary bowed politely, thrown off by the airy personality she emitted.

"What... about... me?" Ash asked, sitting up. In the fall, his hat had turned sideways on his head.

"Hi, sweetie," she greeted, and her son let out a sigh.

"Same old Mom..."

"I know I said this at the party, but I just wanted to say congratulations again on winning the Pokémon League," Delia said, turning back to the auburn-haired boy.

"Thank you, ma'am. My Pokémon and I worked really hard to get where we did," he smiled. A jealous look flashed across Ash's face, and his bottom lip puffed out against his will, and though he tried to hide it well, both Gary and his mother saw it.

"I know what'll cheer my little pumpkin up – I'll cook up something special!" she said, resting her chin in her hand, which dirtied her face in the process.

"Mime!" Mimey agreed, looking excited at the prospect of helping its owner cook.

"Maybe I'll make my deep-dish chili dog pizza pot pies," she thought aloud to her Pokémon, and it nodded in response.

"I vote for the pot pies!" Ash cried excitedly with his hand in the air like a schoolboy. His stomach was already gurgling and mouth watering from the mention of it.

"Ash-" Gary said, but was interrupted by Ash.

"I only talked about them all the way here," he joked.

"Pot pies it is!"

"Ash, it's getting la-"

"OH YEAH!" Ash cheered. "With extra pepperoni?"

"Yes, yes!"

"Ash-"

"And for dessert...? That pudding?!"

"We need to-"

"Choco-palooza!" his mom finished, with a grin.

"ASHY-BOY!" The talk of food quickly died with Gary's yell, and the three others in the room looked at Ash's rival.

"Is there... something you'd like to say, Gary?" Ash's mother asked.

Realizing he had been disrespectful in her house, Gary cleared his throat – with the slightest hint of an embarrassed blush on his face – and coughed into his hand. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to yell, Mrs. Ketchum, but I just wanted to remind Ash that we still need to go visit my grandfather's lab."

Ash's eyes widened, and it was clear that he only had food on his mind until that point. "I forgot!" he yelled.

o 0 o

With promises that food would be ready when Ash returned, the pair headed out once again toward the large laboratory on the edge of Pallet. "I can't wait to get there so I can see all of the Pokémon the professor's been keeping for me!" Ash said with a smile playing on his lips.

"Oh, all three of them?" Gary sneered, and Ash's eyebrows immediately clashed together and he whipped around to glare at his rival.

"I do not have just three Pokémon there!" he spat, though the faintest breath of a blush settled on his cheeks. In actuality, Gary wasn't too far off from that number, as Ash currently had four staying with the professor: his two Tauros, his Kingler, and his Muk. But Gary didn't need to know that.

Some time later, they were crossing the wooden bridge that flowed over the river that streamed down from Professor Oak's corral in the back of his lab. Both Trainers were very familiar with the lab – it was where they had gotten their first Pokémon, among many other things. So they didn't bat an eyelash when they briefly glanced up at the ranch-like lab at the top of the hill, and continued up the stairs to get to the front entrance.

Out of habit, Ash rang the front doorbell, but since this place was run by Gary's family, the auburn-haired Trainer just turned the doorknob and walked in without a single thought. Ash almost felt silly as he followed Gary in and shut the door behind him. But strangely enough, there was no one at the front lobby. "Professor Oak! Professor!" Ash called, and listened for the sound of footsteps, but none came. "He must be here... The door wasn't locked."

"Gramps!" Gary called, and Ash walked forward down the polished hallway to look for the gray-haired professor. But just as he was about to turn a corner, something large and oozy leapt at him from around the corner, and threw Ash onto his back.

"Mu-u-uk!" the goop laughed, and threw itself onto Ash and enveloped him. He soon realized that it was his lovable, human-loving Muk. He could barely make out one of Gary's gasps of surprise over the sound of Muk welcoming him, and the ringing in his ear as his breath quickly became stale in his lungs.

Pushing himself out of Muk's body was like trying to fight a water bed, but he eventually surfaced and let out his breath before drawing in fresh air once again. At the same time, another figure poked out from the other side of Muk: Professor Oak. He too was breathing fresh air that he hadn't seem to have in a bit. "Professor!" Ash realized.

"Ash! Good to see you here!" Professor Oak smiled once he had caught his breath. "I was just feeding your Muk."

"Muuuuuk!" his Muk cried excitedly again, pulling itself off the professor and leaping at Ash with open arms and embracing him once again whilst pinning him to the ground at the same time. Professor Oak moved his legs to try and stand, but Muk saw the movement and jumped to give the professor another hug. This time, the professor held out his hand, though it just sank into Muk's goopy body. Ash and Gary also tried their best to hold back Muk as well, and their hands also sunk into its form.

"Oh, Muk; will you get off me?!" Professor Oak grumbled while the Poison-type Pokémon stretched its arms out and reached for him.

"Muk mukkk muk!"

Professor Oak was finally able to get to his feet, and Muk calmed down as much as it could, and he stretched his shoulder and grimaced. "I'm getting old..." he murmured before turning to Ash and Gary and his face lighting up. "Well now, how are my old friends Venusaur and Blastoise?"

"They're doing great, Professor!" Ash answered, and as he did, Gary rummaged through his satchel before producing the gold and silver Poké Ball.

"Here you go, Grampa," Gary said, and his grandfather's fingers shivered with excitement as he reached for it. The man's dark eyes glimmered at the research subject, really revealing the scientist in him that Ash barely saw personally.

"Aah! The mysterious GS Ball!" he stated with his eyebrows on his forehead before picking it up delicately in his worn hands and looked at his closely through narrowed eyes. "I'll begin my examination a little later tonight." He walked away, staring at the GS Ball as though he couldn't tear his eyes away from it, and Gary and Ash followed him down the hall and further into the laboratory before turning and entering the Poké Ball storage room. He placed the GS Ball down on one of the shelves, and it greatly stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the red and whites of the Poké Balls that surrounded it.

"Since you're here, Gary, I might as well give you this," Professor Oak spoke up again, retrieving an official-looking envelope from the computer desk that was strewn with paperwork of all kinds and handed it to him. "That letter came just a day after you left. In it, you will find the time and date of where you will be having your match against the first member of the Elite Four."

"Right," Gary nodded. "I'd like to switch out some of the Pokémon on my team to a more well-balanced one, but I'm gonna think about it for a bit."

"Whatever you need." Gary headed out the hallway and opened up the window that looked out over the corral. Retrieving a Poké Ball from his belt, he chucked it out the window and into the air. After a bright flash of light, the Fearow that Gary caught let out a cry and flew up into the sky.

"So, you caught yourself a Fearow while you were exploring," Professor Oak mused. "I'm sure you gained lots of valuable experience while out there with Professor Ivy."

"We sure did, Professor!" Ash grinned. "We saw Pokémon with lots of different colors because of the tropical weather!" Movement caught Ash's eye, and in the line of trees within sight by the picket fence, he could see a group of Mankey and Primeape bouncing along from branch to branch. Smiling, he leapt out the open window, much to the surprise of both Oaks, and retrieved his own Poké Ball. "Go, Primeape!" The light that burst from the ball emerged in the trees, and Primeape happily joined the group of other Pig Monkey Pokémon in their rounds.

A faint rumbling could be heard in the distance, and Ash looked up to see a large herd of Tauros stampeding by, and he smiled at them. He knew that among them, his own two Tauros were enjoying the sunny day. "The Tauros hate being corralled in their Poké Balls," Professor Oak explained, appearing behind him with his grandson at his hip. "They all love the wide open spaces!"

A scuttling could be heard approaching, and everyone turned to see a Kingler walking up to them, smiling up at Ash. "Ooo eee, cookie!"

"Kingler!" Ash greeted. "How's it going, ol' buddy?"

"Cookie oo ee!" his Water-type Pokémon responded, waving a claw at him before it headed toward a pond and jumped in, only to disappear beneath the surface.

"All of these Pokémon look to be in tip-top shape," Gary commented, smiling at a Dodrio that rushed by, briefly stopping to greet its Trainer before continuing its run.

"Sure do!"

"Well, don't forget: they're staying with a world-famous Pokémon expert," Professor Oak reminded them with his nose in the air.

"Yeah! You're right about that!" Ash chuckled. A silence fell over the three before Gary let out a breath of air.

"Well, I'm off to go respond to this letter. Before I leave, I'll let you know which Pokémon I want to take with me." Professor Oak nodded at his grandson.

"Do your best as you always do, and you won't ever lose. I'm proud of you, Gary."

"Thanks, Grandpa." Gary's eyes flickered over to Ash and a small smile appeared on his rival's face. "See you later, Ash."

"You too, Gary," Ash smirked back. "Good luck against the Elite Four."

"Thanks."

o 0 o

"Attention Pokémon Trainers. Announcing the all-new... Diamond Badge. Diamonds are the hardest substance on the planet, and the Diamond Badge is the hardest Pokémon Badge on the planet to win. There's only one to be won; only one way to win it. Only one way to make it yours and yours alone. By defeating me and my Pokémon in a Pokémon battle. Are you Trainer enough to try? If so, check out our website at www-dot-diamondbadge-dot-com and download a copy of the map to where the battles are to take place.

"The Diamond Badge is waiting... for you."

It was a commercial that was playing for days according to his mother, and started broadcasting when Ash and Gary left for the Orange Archipelago. And now that he was home and had nothing to do but wait for the professor to come back with his findings with the GS Ball, he was determined to get it.

A one of a kind Badge would surely make Gary jealous. And besides, he couldn't let his rival get too much stronger than him. His battle at the Pokémon League conference showed Ash that he needed to step up his training immensely, and what a better way to train than to beat everyone else and get the Diamond Badge.

Back in his childhood bed, Ash slept like a baby, and didn't even hear the Dodrio crying out as the sun rose higher into the sky. The sunlight swept through his window and warmed him like the embrace of an old friend, but his comfort was soon interrupted when his mother knocked at his door. "Ash!" Stirring out of his comfortable position, he yawned loudly and threw the comforter off his body before the door flung open, and Delia Ketchum came hurrying into his room with an impatient look on her face. "Hurry up! Professor Oak is waiting; we're gonna be late!"

Trailing behind her was the gray-haired professor, and a look of excitement was spread across his face, giddy with delight as Ash's mother approached his bed with impatience with her hands on her hips. "Ash, you're not even out of bed yet. I woke you an hour ago! I told you we don't have much time!" As she spoke, she found the jacket he normally wore crinkled on the floor and picked it up by the shoulders.

"And I told you I don't want to go!" Ash stated, his eyebrows meeting below his messy, bed-tussled hair before collapsing back down on his pillow.

"You're passing up a rare opportunity, my boy!" Professor Oak intervened.

"I've got important things to do," Ash retorted, sitting back up. There was no going back to sleep now.

"Oh, it is not every day a world-renown Pokémon expert personally invites us to his lecture on 'Sleep Disorders Among the Snorlax'!"

"I know all about snoring Snorlaxes!" the black-haired Trainer groaned. In fact, he had tried to wake up one during his journey through the Kanto region, and it was very, very tough to wake up. He sincerely wished that he slept the same way.

"There's always more to learn."

"It'll be fun, Ash!" his mother added gently, a small smile spreading across her mouth, and she attempted to smooth down his messy hair as he swung his legs around the side of his bed.

"You guys go; I'll be fine!" Ash argued, and he wondered quietly if his mother was being so persistent because of Brock's deciding to stay with Professor Ivy. His dark eyes trailed over to Professor Oak. "Just don't bring my mom home too late."

"Ash!" Professor Oak said with surprise, his thick dark eyebrows that hinted at his hair's natural color raising to his forehead. "I'm not- we're not- I haven't- we haven't- This is a serious lecture! Professor Xalrons is a brilliant speaker, and this is the first time he's been in this hemisphere in over a decade!"

"I really want us to do things together," Delia said softly, sitting down on the end of Ash's bed. "The way we used to. I miss that..."

"Mom! I'm not a baby anymore! I'm a Pokémon Trainer!" Ash grumbled, throwing his hat from his bed frame over his hair. "And if I'm going to be a Pokémon Master, I've got serious work to do!"

"He's got a point there, Delia," Professor Oak agreed with a wholehearted nod. "Like it or not, he's growing up."

"And I got to be ready in case I run into Team Rocket!" Images of the members he ran into on his journey flashed through his mind. Most recently, the trio he encountered that hi-jacked the blimp they were on and crash-landed. Ash almost lost his life that day.

"I'd preferred if you'd stay clear of Team Rocket," Delia said, standing up and turning so she was looking out the window.

"Oh, Mom, you don't know anything about it."

"I know more than you think..." she said quietly, almost in a whisper, and then snapped back into reality as if she were daydreaming. "About a lot of things, young man!" One of Ash's eyebrows raised curiously, but before anything further could be said on the subject, Professor Oak looked at his watch and let out a cry.

"Oh! We're late if we want to get a good seat! And they'll be no time to buy popcorn!"

"Oh, I'm coming," Delia called after Professor Oak as he hurried out of the room, and knowing she wasn't going to be able to convince Ash to go with them, she walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you later. Train well."

"Mom!" Ash cried, rubbing the kiss away from his cheek as though it burned. "You don't kiss Pokémon Trainers!"

"You do when they're your little boy!"

"Mom!"

"When they're your son," she corrected, and Ash lowered his accusing finger with a sigh. "But you'll always be my widdle boy!" Ash opened his mouth to argue with her again, but she spun on her heel and began to follow where Professor Oak had exited. "Be careful!"

"Finally!" Ash cried when he heard the door shut downstairs. Leaping out of bed in only a black t-shirt and his underwear, and wearing his cap over his head. He began his morning routine of brushing his teeth and getting dressed, but all with the stereo playing loudly. Dancing wildly along to the music, he had run of the whole house. Even Mimey wasn't there to ruin his fun.

Nothing could stop him today. The real reason he didn't want to go with Professor Oak and his mom was that he was going to challenge that mysterious Gym Leader and win that badge. He had already printed out a copy of the map, and lucky for him, the area to challenge the leader was right on Route 1. Admittedly, he wasn't the best at reading maps, but what could go wrong?

Sliding his belt through the loops in his jeans, his fingers glided over the Poké Balls that were attached to it, and he smiled down at them. "C'mon guys, we've got a Badge to win."

o 0 o

The weather was perfect for traveling, and with every step along the way, Ash could feel his excitement steadily rising. It had been quite some time since he had traveled in search of another Gym Badge, and with only one of these in existence, it only made the trip that much more exciting. "That Diamond Badge is so totally awesome!" Ash said to absolutely no one. It was then that the harsh reality set in; that being that he was traveling alone for the first time in forever.

The same moment of realization hit him many moons ago back in the Viridian Forest. But soon after that, he met Brock, and the pair traveled together. Even when Brock decided to stay with Professor Ivy, he had Gary to travel the rest of the way with. But out here, in the woods deep in Route 1, he had absolutely no one.

No, he wasn't alone, he remembered. He had his Pokémon with him. Four Poké Balls at his belt, and he could feel the warmth of their love helping him. Blastoise, Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, and Charmeleon were all keeping him company.

He looked up at a large oak tree, and recognized it from the map. "There's the gnarled tree!" he said, smiling up at it. A Kakuna hung from it with a small silk string coming out of its shell, and its shiny black eyes looked down at him with hardly any emotion that he could see. Ash ignored it, however, and knew this was the first spot that was marked by the map. "I've got to get going! I want to win that Badge before anyone else does."

Whilst traveling, he noticed a lot more Trainers in the area than normal. Pallet Town was slightly out of the way and no one ever really came to this part of Kanto, so Ash wasn't used to seeing traveling Trainers around. But all of them seemed to have their eyes glued to a paper of some kind. He figured they too were looking around for the area where the Diamond Badge would be the prize. They were his fellow competitors, so he had to get to it before they did.

o 0 o

His legs were starting to ache, stemming from lack of activity. Back in his Badge collecting days, this would have been no problem, but because he had been home training for the Pokémon League for so long without having to go on any long adventures, the muscles in his legs were crying out for a break. Still, Ash continued forward, though with slightly less excitement, and a little more confusion.

As he passed by a strong oak tree with five, strong-looking branches that was home to a Kakuna dangling from one of them, he stopped and let his brown eyes linger on it with a small head tilt. That tree looked fairly familiar... "Have... I been going around in circles?" he asked rhetorically, and realized that this was the same oak tree he had passed an hour ago.

A groan escaped his throat, and he leaned back against a tree stump broken by nature herself, but made sure he didn't get too comfortable. It was time to check the map. Reaching into his back pocket where he had folded it, his fingers swam around in it for a bit, but he felt nothing. Blinking, he reached into the other pocket and felt nothing there as well aside from balls of lint. Now with more panic, he quickly searched his jacket and jeans pockets, but they didn't contain the map either. "O-oh no!" he exclaimed frantically, sliding his backpack off his shoulders and quickly rummaging around through it. It contained only a few items, but not the map that he was looking for. He had lost it!

"What do I do? What do I do?!" Ash ran through all possible possibilities in his head. He could retrace his step and see if he had dropped the map somewhere! But not only would that take him an hour, but it could have blown away which would have made it pointless. He remembered the oak tree on the map as well, and could try to find the way without the map, but since he had already circled around once (or even twice, from the footsteps in the ground), that probably wasn't an option.

Thankfully, a young man a little older than Ash stepped out of the woods. He wore a dark red shirt and a light brown vest, and he dropped his backpack by his feet and stretched high into the air. It looked like he was taking a break. A smile spread across Ash's face. He could ask him for directions! "Hey, you!" Ash cried. But the Trainer didn't even look up, and simply looked down at the map in his hands. It was as if Ash didn't exist at all.

The Pallet Town Trainer frowned and approached the Trainer. "You!" But again, the Trainer didn't look up, and instead looked to be counting the paces on his map. Walking up to the young man, Ash tapped his shoulder. "Hey, I was calling! You could at least answer!"

The older Trainer looked up, almost surprised to see another life as if Ash hadn't just been calling out to him, and blinked. Ignoring the stupefied look on his face, Ash continued. "Are you on your way to try and win that new Diamond Badge?" Much to his surprise, the Trainer didn't respond verbally, but instead gave a series of motions with his hands. "...is that sign language? You can't speak?" The other Trainer continued, but Ash's shoulders fell. He had absolutely no idea what the other Trainer was saying. "Great..."

The other Trainer seemed to be used to this kind of reaction, as he didn't seem to offended, and only shrugged and took a sip from his water canteen. But Ash was determined. Waving to get his attention, Ash enunciated loudly as well as giving wild over-the-top gestures with his hands. "I... LOST... MY MAP." He pointed at himself, then put his hand over his brow and looked around, then made a large square with his index fingers. To further explain, he pointed at the map in the Trainer's hand. The Trainer's eyes flickered down to the map, and he gave a series of movements that Ash didn't quite understand, but he saw him gesture one hand from the map to Ash. It looked promising, and that they were mostly on the same page, so Ash smiled and nodded.

The Trainer gave a smile and pointed first at him then at Ash – back and forth – and then at the map. Now they were no longer on the same page.

Seeing the confused look on his face, the Trainer smirked and pulled out a Poké Ball before holding it forward. Ash gave back the smirk once it all clicked together. "You'll share your map if I battle you?" The deaf Trainer nodded, and Ash chuckled excitedly. "You're on! I could use a practice before I face that Gym Leader. This'll be a snag!"

Running backwards to make room between them, Ash twisted on his heel and smirked. "You can choose your Pokémon first!" As soon as he said it, he realized that the other Trainer couldn't hear him, so he began to talk loudly and enunciate again. "YOU... CAN..."

But the other Trainer stopped him with a wave and nodded with his eyes closed. Silently, he threw his Poké Ball forward. A burst of light emerged from the inside as it flew through the air, and a small, round pink Pokémon appeared on the ground. "Jiggly!"

"A Jigglypuff?" Ash murmured in realization. Silently wishing he had Primeape with him right now, he instead selected his next best option. "Then I'll choose... Blastoise! Go!" Throwing his own ball forward, his large starter Pokémon emerged from its ball and gave a cry.

"Blastoise Blast!"

"Let's wrap this up quickly so I can get to fighting that Gym Leader! Blastoise, use Hydro Pump!" Blastoise uttered a growl and pointed its hydro cannons at Jigglypuff before letting out a blast of water from them at it. The Trainer obviously never gave an audible order, but he didn't need to. Sucking in air, Jigglypuff rose into the air as its body expanded, and Blastoise's Water-type attack hit the ground and soaked the dirt uselessly.

Landing back on a small bed of pine needles, Jigglypuff closed its eyes and opened its mouth. "Jig-gally puuuffff, jigallly-yyyypufffff..." A beautiful song that sounded like a lullaby began to pour out of its mouth. Ash had heard of Jigglypuff's song, but had never experienced it first hand.

"The Jigglypuff's... sleep song..." Ash murmured, feeling his eyelids getting heavier and heavier as the song went on. Even Blastoise was starting to teeter back and forth on its bulky feet. There was no way to dodge it, and Ash barely had the energy to tell Blastoise to counter attack. Across the battlefield, the Pallet Town Trainer glanced at Jigglypuff's Trainer and saw that there wasn't an ounce of exhaustion on him. And soon he realized why. "He... can't hear it. They're... perfectly... matched..." And the last thing he saw was Blastoise pulling its limbs into its shell before everything around him went black.

o 0 o

As Ash stirred back into consciousness, he didn't even attempt to hold back a loud yawn as he rose from the ground. Though not quite fully awake yet, he heard something flutter to the ground, but this bit of information jumped to the back of his mind for now while he licked his lips. His eyes – still puffy from his unexpected nap – trailed over to his Blastoise, tucked tightly into its shell and laying on its stomach, and it all started to come back to him. The Jigglypuff he was battling had used Sing to put his Blastoise to sleep, and in doing so also put Ash to sleep as well.

"Ah! How long have I been sleeping?!" he exclaimed suddenly, his head shooting up to the sky. It wasn't dark yet, but the sky was starting to turn shades of pink, so the sun was beginning to turn in for the night. He jumped to his feet, and in doing so, the sound of paper fluttering to the ground grabbed his attention. Turning his attention to the source of the noise, he saw the paper laying on the ground, and realized that it was what had fallen off him when he first woke up.

"What's that?" he asked aloud, and picked it up. Surprisingly, it was the map that led to the location of the Diamond Badge. "Jigglypuff's Trainer left us his map! This is great!" This was further explained with a small note scrawled in the corner that read, "To the Trainer with the goofy smile".

"H-hey! What's wrong with my smile?!" Shaking his head as if to bat the annoyance of the insult away, Ash ran up to Blastoise and shook its shell. "C'mon, Blastoise! We better get going! That Gym Leader's waiting!"

"Blast..." the Shellfish Pokémon murmured as it was roused out of its own sleeping state. Its blue head slowly poked out of its shell, and dark brown eyes glanced up at its Trainer with sleep still heavy in its eyelids. The sight was enough to make Ash chuckle.

"Sleeping beauty," he teased, and Blastoise rose from the ground. "C'mon Blastoise; it's time to go!"

o 0 o

"There it is!" Ash cried excitedly. His finger pointed out to a large factory-like building surrounded by a man-made moat. It was strange that such an arrangement was built in the middle of the woods, but it wasn't the strangest thing Ash had seen in his lifetime.

"Blast!" his Blastoise uttered a response, happy to have finally gotten to their destination.

"That Badge is as good as mine," the Pallet Town boy continued. "I wonder which Pokémon I should use to battle against the Gym Leader..." It was tough, because he didn't know what kind of Pokémon he had, or how many he could use.

A heavy weight fell upon his shoulder, and he looked to see Blastoise looking down at him with its eyes glittering. "Of course I'll use you," Ash grinned. "I've been training my other Pokémon a lot, but with you, I know I can get that Badge!"

The black haired Trainer walked forward, keeping his vision locked on the factory in the distance. It was almost intimidating looking, but he tried to chase away the nerves. "I wonder how we get in there..." He followed the moat that orbited the property with his eyes, and finally landed on a bridge. "There! We cross that bridge and we can get inside! C'mon, Blastoise!" Ash threw a glance over his shoulder, but he didn't see his starter Pokémon.

"Blastoise?" he called with a raised eyebrow. His Pokémon was just here a moment ago. And it wasn't like Blastoise to run off. His arms dropped, and his eyes looked around the area. "Blastoise?!" This time, he yelled a little louder. Falling silent as he waited for a response, he unfortunately didn't hear any.

"BLAAAASTOOOOOOISE!"

---

Ash:

Party:

Blastoise (Poké Ball) (m)

Moves: Skull Bash, Dig, Hydro Pump, Withdraw

Pidgeotto (Poké Ball) (f)

Moves: Gust, Quick Attack, Whirlwind, Double-Edge

Bulbasaur (Poké Ball) (m)

Moves: SolarBeam, Vine Whip, Razor Leaf, Leech Seed

Charmeleon (Poké Ball)

Moves: Flamethrower, Fire Spin, Skull Bash, Slash

At Professor Oak's Lab:

Tauros (Safari Ball) x2 (m)

Moves: Fissure, Horn Attack, Take Down

Kingler (Poké Ball) (m)

Moves: Water Gun, Bubble, Crabhammer, Hyper Beam

Muk (Poké Ball)

Moves: Poison Gas, Sludge Bomb

Primeape (Poké Ball) (m)

Moves: Thrash, Mega Kick, Scratch, Seismic Toss

Badges:

Boulder Badge

Cascade Badge

Thunder Badge

Marsh Badge

Rainbow Badge

Soul Badge

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