CH 12 Game Day

Ash and Iono were currently laying on the ground behind a hill, binoculars out. They were currently scoping out one of Team Star's bases for Penny. Ash wasn't too keen on charging in on his own so he enlisted Iono's help. Said gym leader was happy to help, she was pretty fond of Ash after all. The base doors looked to be shut tight, though there were no guards outside it. There was no way to tell how many were inside had wanted to formulate some kind of plan while Iono wanted to rush in guns blazing. It was ironic as he was normally the reckless one.

Penny had told him the ladders had some sort of secret weapon, but she couldn't say what it was exactly. He felt that she was hiding something but she was too hard to read. Her poker face was unbreakable.

"So what's the plan guys?"

Both Ash and Iono jumped as a mysterious man took his place between them,"where the heck did you come from?!"

The man chuckled,"sorry Miss Iono, I have been scoping this place out for the last day or so, you can call me Clive."

"So Clive, what are you doing here exactly?" Ash asked still wary of him.

"Team Star actually has the road to the next city blocked off and I need to get there along with others. However, I wouldn't stand a chance against the whole base."

"Ash and I were gonna deal with them so we could help you out for sure."

"That would be great, you'd be doing everyone a favor."

"We need a plan then."

"I say we just go there and ask them nicely to leave."

"That would never work Iono."

"It could be a decent back-up plan, do you have any ideas Ash?"

"Ask to challenge their leader?"

Iono thought for a moment,"won't they all just rush us?"

"That may be unavoidable,"Clive answered.

"Yeah they may not play by any rules but their own."

Ash couldn't come up with any better ideas so maybe they would just go in. Clive didn't seem like much of a battler so they would probably tell him to hang back and wait for them. He still didn't like the fact they were going in without a real plan but he's pulled off similar reckless plans before.

"Clive hang back, we'll let you know when the coast is clear,"Ash told him as they stood up.

"That would be for the better, not much of a battler here."

"No worries fam, we got you."

Ash and Iono headed down the hill towards the base. There was still nobody posted at the front, even as they got closer. They figured that they weren't expecting any unwanted guests. Approaching the gate, Ash knocked on it to no response. They waited a few seconds before knocking a second time. This time they could hear the sounds of someone opening the gate before the doors slowly slid open.

"What do you want,"the Team Star member who opened the door saw Ash and Iono and quickly ran away from them in a panic. The two used this as a chance to get into the main area of the base.

Looking ahead they saw a guy approaching them. Dark hair and dressed in casual street clothes with a baseball cap on his head and a laptop in his arms,"wasn't expecting celebrities."

"If you want an autograph it'll cost ya,"Iono said pulling out her wallet.

"Not interested, in that at least,"the boy answered,"what I am interested in is why you two are here,especially the world champ."

"People said you guys were causing trouble for both the locals and academy students, so they asked me to look into it,"Ash answered.

"Causing trouble eh, we may be causing trouble but we didn't start it, at least not originally. The name is Giacomo by the way, leader of the Segin Squad. I make all the rules the team follows."

"So you're the one who has been telling them how to cause trouble?" Iono asked him.

"Sometimes, my main thing is making the internal rules, code of conduct and all that jazz,"Giacomo answered,"other people say I'm too strict but the team has appreciated that side of me. Ask Nemona, she knows about that."

Ash was not too sure what Giacomo meant by that, maybe he would have to ask Nemona. T seemed to be a lot of history between all of Team Star and the school itself, though he did not seem to know the full story. Team Star also didn't seem too keen on sharing much of their past.

"So what are the chances of you all just packing it up and leaving?"

"None, not even for a gym leader or world champ,"Giacomo answered,"but maybe we can settle this the old fashioned way." Giacomo pulled out a Pokeball from his pocket.

"I'm game for that,"Ash responded.

"Excellent, it'll be a one-on-one battle, followed by a competition of sorts." With that Giacomo left into the garage behind them.

Ash and Iono were both confused as to what was going on now. After a few moments they heard a rumbling noise from inside the garage before the gate rolled up. Ash and Iono felt their jaws drop when Giacomo came back out, sitting at the top of an extravagant looking car.

"What in the name of Arceus is that?" Iono asked, dumbfounded by the vehicle.

"What you are looking at is an authentic StarMobile," Giacomo called out,"each of us leaders have our own version. This is my Pokemon."

"How is that a Pokemon?" Ash asked both in awe and confused.

"Oh come on there are Pokemon that are just literal ice cream cones,"Giacomo answered,"besides this whole thing isn't a Pokemon."

Ash pulled out his Pokedex and confirmed that the Pokemon was a Varoom in the center of the giant car. This was unlike anything he had ever seen before. He looked over at Iono who was busy snapping pictures of the odd sight. He had no clue how to fight it exactly.

"So you still keen on this Ketchum?"

"Let's go Pikachu!"

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu hopped off Ash's shoulder and faced off against the StarMobile.

"Metal Sound!" The car let out a loud and harsh sound, creating waves that rocked Pikachu's body.

"Pikachu you okay?"

"Pka!"

"Swift!"

"Pikachu Counter-shield!" Pikachu started spinning as he unleashed electricity. He used this to repel the incoming attack.

"Now that's something new,"Giacomo said as he started driving the StarMobile forward.

"We have to figure out how to stop it."

"Ash the weak spot is the Pokemon at the front!" Iono called out.

He looked ahead at the Pokemon that was at the front of the vehicle and it clicked for StarMobile was built by Team Star but was powered by the Pokemon. However, it would be tough to hit it while the vehicle was moving around.

"Pikachu Thunderbolt!" They tried attacking the Pokemon but the vehicle swerved out of the way. The car was moving too fast for them to get a hit on .

"Wicked Torque!" The StarMobile drove around blasting dark energy from all sides. The vehicle had Pikachu trapped as it attacked from all angles.

"Pikachu Counter-Shield!" Pikac hu tried countering the attack but it managed to break through it.

Ash was trying to figure out some way to at least slow it down but he was not having any luck. Looking at the ground,however, gave him an idea.

"Pikachu get away!" Ash had Pikachu move away, hoping the vehicle would follow.

Sure enough the vehicle began to follow Pikachu around,"use Iron Tail on the ground!

Ikachu slammed his tail on the ground, creating a large hole. Pikachu lured the mobile forward until it hit the hole. The wheels got stuck and every time the wheels revved the hole only got bigger.

"Swift!" Giacomo couldn't get the car out so he just opted to attack instead.

"Iron Tail!" Pikachu used his tail to knock the attack back at the mobile. The redirected stars hit the Pokemon attached to the mobile as it was still trapped in the hole. Giacomo kept trying to get the car unstuck but to no avail.

"Thunderbolt!" The attack hit the StarMobile head on, taking it out of commission.

"Should have figured the champ would be this strong. However, this was only part one,"Giacomo said hopping off.

"What's part two then?" Iono asked.

"We're gonna have another battle with something I made,"Giacomo said pulling out his laptop,"we'll settle this in a rhythm game."

"Oh, like a game battle?"

Giacomo nodded at Ash,"yep, I figured this would be a good and fair option. We'll be using Muse Dash for this, three songs of three different difficulty levels. Best of three songs wins, based on our scores."

"Ash you got this?" Iono asked him.

"I got it, yes, I've been practicing."

"Glad to see you're up for it champ, we'll head inside our main building, I have computers set up in there.

Ash and Iono followed Giacomo into the building at the back of the base. Stepping inside they saw a computer lab at the front, desktops stationed at every desk. It definitely seemed like this was the techie group of Team Star. Ash took a seat at the station Giacomo showed him to as the computer booted up. If you asked Ash, Team Star didn't seem that evil. Sure they may have been trouble makers but they didn't seem very nefarious. If anything they reminded him of Guzma and Team Skull, misfits who acted out due to being misunderstood.

"Now then as your coach I'm expecting you to win easily,"Iono said teasing Ash a bit.

"You're my coach now?"

"Yep, your coach for gaming, streaming, vlogging, everything basically."

"I didn't realize you two were so tight."

"Oh yeah, we're as tight as they come,"Iono boasted.

"You two kiss yet?"

Ash was caught off guard by that,"what's that supposed to mean?"

Giacomo just laughed,"oh come on lighten up I'm just messing with you. You two just seem close, that's all."

"No we're just friends,"Ash answered.

"For now yes."

Ash gave Iono a confused look who just giggled,"just friends yes."

An Hour Later:

Ash's hands were killing him but he had managed it. The two had gone on for over an hour, trying to best each other, but Ash managed to sneak out a win. Just barely though, he had wished Iono had volunteered for this.

"Well it seems like I'm beat again,"Giacomo sighed,"good work though, seems battling is not your only strong suit."

"Thanks but gaming and stuff is more Iono's thing."

"Aww thanks Ashy."

"Please don't call me that."

"Why not Ashy-boy?"

"That's even worse so don't call me that either."

"Why not?"

Ash sighed,"someone else I know calls me that to tease me."

"Ohh guess I need to come up with a different pet name."

"I hate to break up this little lover's quarrel but I believe I made a promise to you."

Ash looked at Giacomo confused,"lover's quarrel?"

"Yeah you know like when a couple argues."

"Wait no we aren't a couple,"Ash sputtered out.

"Wait you aren't, I thought you guys were."

"Nope just good friends," Ash answered.

"Just friends for now yes,"Iono added.

Giacomo couldn't help but laugh at that, the two were clearly on different pages from one another. Either that or the world champion was just that dense when it came to stuff outside of battles.

"Also I always keep my word, my crew will move on from here, it will take us a bit to clear everything out but we'll be gone soon."

"You're okay with moving just like that?"

Giacomo nodded at Ash,"us Team Star leaders always keep our word, if we didn't we would be setting a bad example for our members."

"These guys don't seem that evil to me,"Iono whispered to Ash while Giacomo and his crew started to pack up.

"Thy aren't no, reminds me of someone else I met in Alola,"Ash added as he thought of Guzma.

"Once we are done here let's go do something, just us two."

"New video ideas?"

"No, just us two, no cameras."

Ash was surprised to hear this, usually she was trying to drag him into new ideas for videos or get him on her streams. She had never asked to hang out just them with no cameras, so he was not sure what made her want to now. However, he would be happy to do so, perhaps he could actually learn more about the real her.

Later that Day

Ash had no clue how Iono had managed to find what seemed to be the world's largest pop-up carnival. It was not too far from Levincia and was apparently one there for a day. The two plus Pikachu had spent the past two hours on the various rides, playing carnival games and winning prizes. Iono, at least was winning prizes, the girl was so good at the carnival games she was accused of cheating and Ash had to drag her away before she beat up the accusing game host. He always figured they were rigged anyway so he was glad they at least won some prizes.

The two were now seated in a quiet part of the carnival, eating cotton candy. Well not all of them as Pikachu was chugging down a bottle of ketchup. The behavior still confused Iono but as long as it was not harmful why not let him enjoy his preferred treat.

"You know I think this is the first time we have actually hung out without any cameras on."

"Now that I think about it, that is true, yes,"Iono added taking a big bite out of the blue and pink cotton candy.

"I never actually asked you, what even got you into all of that?"

"Honestly, I was getting bored as a gym leader, the battles at that time were so bland, so I figured why not live-stream them. I thought it would spice it up and yeah I found out people liked it. Thanks to that I decided why not try streaming outside of gym battles and it just took off."

"Do you ever get tired of it?"

"Tired no, but I do have to make a point to make more time for non-streaming activities. Most of my time nowadays is dedicated to it, I practically live and breathe streaming."

"I mean I'm glad you enjoy it, but you need some alone time too."

Iono sighed,"yeah I know, that balance is just not something I'm good at. Heck I barely find time for actual friends often. It's partially cause I've always been so hyper, I can't sit still and the streaming helps to drain the excess energy."

Ash thought for a moment,"I have an idea of how we can tire out that excess energy."

Iono's face turned red for a second before she gave him a coy smile,"my that's awfully forward of you champ."

"No that's not what I meant" Ash exclaimed realizing how it was interpreted.

"Hehe relax I'm just messing with you."

"Right, what I meant is that how about each week we pick a day and just do something fun without the cameras."

"So you asking me out now?"

"Uh no I meant like friends you know.."

"You really are terrible at this huh?"

"Kind of yeah,"Ash admitted in defeat.

Iono couldn't help but friend it cute as she giggled,"well how about this then, let's do hang-outs like this on a few more days and then we can figure out if we want them to be dates. Let's get to know each other beyond the cameras and titles we hold."

"That's good with me, kind of like a trial-run?"

"Exactly, we see how things go and if it goes well we take the next step.

Ash had to admit the idea was exciting, she was fun to be around and he wanted to get to know her a lot more. Relationships were still pretty foreign to him so he was not keen on rushing in. Though if things did go well he could see him wanting to date her.

Iono was thrilled by this, she had been crushing on him for a while now and wanted it to work out. Granted she had never been in an actual relationship, mostly because she wasn't keen on someone only being interested in her due to her status. She'd give it a bit of time to make sure they were a good match and then she'd pounce. Iono was not about to let him get away.