Hey all, new chapter here for you all. Thanks again for all the support.

CH 4, The Stony Cliff Titan

Uva Academy Classroom

"I created this move, a Counter-Shield, it's created by a Pokemon spinning around while attacking, it's a shield that repels opponent attacks."

Ash was currently in a class full of students that he was teaching. Teaching a battle skills class, he was sharing his rather unorthodox battle style. The class was enraptured with his stories about his previous battles. Some,however, were more enraptured than others.

Nemona couldn't get enough of his stories. She loved hearing about other trainers' battle styles, though his was infinitely more interesting. In her eyes far too many trainers battled "by the book". She meant that too many trainers focused on just type advantages, using the strongest Pokemon or battling too similarly. It was a breath of fresh air to meet a Champion who laughed in the face of "traditional strategies".

"You said before you took down legendaries, which ones were they?" One of the students asked.

"Oh yeah I took down a few," Ash answered," let's see, Pikachu here took down a Regice and got a double-down against a Latios. My Charizard took down an Articuno, and Sceptile defeated a Darkrai."

This got the entire class buzzing with excitement, especially Nemona. Just when she thought she couldn't be any more impressed he proved her wrong. He had taken down multiple legendaries, yet he still remained humble about it, that was a ge=rfeat trait in her eyes.

"How do you even come up with these tactics?" Another student asked.

Ash chuckled at the question,"honestly a lot of the times I was just winging it. I'd come up with a crazy idea on the fly and I just hoped it would work."

"Gotta keep your opponent on your toes right?" Nemona asked, finally speaking up.

"Exactly yes, the opponent can't plan a counter for something you didn't even plan," Ash answered," how about this for a fun exercise. We'll watch some of my old battles and you guys tell me what you would have done if you were in my shoes in those battles."

The class liked the sound of that, just another excuse to watch some of his previous battles. Nemona was especially excited, maybe she'd get to pick his brain some more after class. Perhaps she could even get some juicy info that nobody else in the class would. They all spent the next hour reviewing his battles, taking notes and then trading ideas with each other.

An hour had passed and the classroom was now empty, it had gone better than expected. He had still been apprehensive about the situation but the class seemed to like him. They ate everything up and were excited to participate so he could call it a success.

"I was wondering if I could ask you something Ash." He looked over to see that Nemona had re-entered the room. He had told them he was not into the formality, they all could just call him Ash.

"Of course you can, what up?" Ash asked. Nemona was definitely a stand-out student, she easily has the most enthusiasm for battles, much like him. He swore she was like a female version of him.

"I was wondering if I could send you some of my battle clips and you give me feedback on them."

He smiled at her," I'd be happy to, send me whatever you have and I'll watch it tonight."

"Ooh I knew I could count on you. That would be a great help to me Ash."

"That's what I'm here for, you are obviously as battle crazed as I am."

"Oh yeah, like two peas in a pod in that regard."

"I'll get back to you tomorrow with my feedback."

"Great, I'll meet you after class tomorrow then," Nemona said excitedly as she left for a second time.

Later

Ash sat in the school library, it was already eight in the evening but he was now working on his notes, having watched the clips Nemona sent him.

"I see someone is up working late." Ash looked up to see Arven who sat across from him at the table.

"Nemona wanted me to give feedback on her battle clips."

"Yeah I talked with her earlier, she was quite excited about that. That's a lot considering she's always excited about battles."

"Oh yeah I was meaning to ask you about that notebook you're always writing in."

"You mean this right," Arven said pulling his notebook out,"in addition to pursuing Titan Pokemon I am planning on using my notes for a book on the Paldea region."

"Arven, I have the data you asked for."

Ash looked up to see an unfamiliar girl, she had blue and red hair with glasses and a fluffy Eevee backpack. He didn't recognize her from anywhere but Arven seemed to know her. She handed Arven a stack of papers which he quickly thumbed through. Ash had no clue what they were for but assumed it was important.

"Thank you for this Penny," Arven thanked her before going back to Ash,"Ash this is Penny, a student from the STEM program, she's helping me with my research into Titan Pokemon."

"I'll be seeing you both around," and with that she was gone.

"Did she not want to stick around?" Ash asked at her rather abrupt exit.

"She's not really the social butterfly so don't let it bother you,"Arven answered,"now since you were probably about to ask, these papers are about recent sightings of Pokemon that are consistent with the descriptions of Titan Pokemon."

"Oooh so you can locate them now?"

Arven sighed in response,"regrettably only two at the moment, the other three aren't mentioned here. However, perhaps we can use these two locations to figure out where the others are."

"You mean like using their locations to try and find a pattern of sorts?"

"Exactly Ash," Arven answered,"there has to be some sort of significance to the location of each. I need to get this information in my computer database. I'll contact you tomorrow for that meeting with Turo."

"Got it, have a good night Arven."

"You as well Ash."

At the same time, Levincia

"Alright folks, Iono here and ready to start the second stream of the day!" Iono was currently live for her second streaming session. The first had been a gaming session so now she was broadcasting a more chill session. She had yet to act on her plan of recruiting Ash but she was putting the finishing touches on her master plan.

"Now then my lovely fans, you might be wondering what my endgame is here with my little collaboration," Iono said with a smirk," he may be a champion, but he is but a wee grasshopper in the world of streaming. Well I'm gonna…."

"SUPERCHARGE HIS CAREER!" Iono proudly yelled out as bolts of electricity flashed on her screen.

"What does this mean, it means when I'm done with him he'll be the most influential champion out there, especially here on the internet."

The chat was flooded with questions at her declaration, but there were two in particular that stood out to her.

"So you guys and gals wanna know what I get out of this,"Iono whispered into her mic," well I get PR from this. If I make him a big internet star and he brings that out of Paldea I can use his success to expand my own fan base. I could bring my show to every other region, not just Paldea."

"Now you guys are asking what I do if he hears all this, well this stream is set to delete after completion, so unless he's actually in chat he won't see it."

Everyone in the chat swore to keep everything a secret, not to mention Iono had plenty of fans inside of Uva Academy to keep tabs on Ash. She wasn't gonna squander this golden opportunity.

"Now my plan is to do more pre-recorded videos and short streams out in the public. So during this collaboration I may have slightly less of my typical streams, especially when traveling."

Admittedly she had never done much pre-recorded or short form content, streaming was more her style. However she knew that the more variety the better, plus if she was gonna travel a lot she'd have to adapt. She already had a lot of ideas for various videos, she'd just have to get Ash on board.

"I'm gonna need your help everyone, send your ideas for videos to my business email. Let me know what kind of videos you want to see."

The chat was already flooding with fan feedback as Iono read through the chat,"oh a lot of good ideas already. I'll be able to use a lot of these actually."

Iono took out a notebook and started to write down the suggestions the chat was giving her. There were a lot of great ideas that she could use in all corners of Paldea. She knew she could make some great vlogs and other videos with these.

"I'm hoping to get this collaboration started within the next two weeks, the exact day is to be announced. Now then for the next order of business, the next contest."

The chat was excited as her contest prizes were always great,"so for this contest I want you all to submit your best pics of your number one Pokemon. It can be your strongest, the one you had the longest, anything will work. Send those pics to my business email and I'll pick three winners among all the entrants."

She had no idea about prizes yet but she'd come up with something,"now that's all done let's go through some of the recent donations. Remember we are still working to this month's donation goals!"

All this month she was putting donated money towards a big renovation project for a local community center," thanks to 'NothingICanDo' for a five thousand Poke-Dollar donation saying thanks for the premium content now take my money."

"I'll gladly take your money and put it to good use. Wowzers we have a ten thousand Poke-Dollar donation!

Iono hit a button as air horns began to sound out,'it's coming from a user named 'Suipid_Online_ Combo' who left a message saying let's get that community center built fam."

"We also got lots of small donations, but there are too many to shout-out. All your donations are appreciated though."

"Okay folks I think it's time to shift gears and get to some live reaction time!"

The Next Day

Ash was in the library sitting across from Nemona. They met up to discuss the video clips she had sent him the previous day.

She was excited to hear his opinions,"so what did you think?"

"I was impressed, I certainly wasn't as well disciplined when I was a rookie trainer."

"Hehe well thanks, do you have any advice for me?"

"If anything I'd say try swapping Pokemon around more. It'll keep your opponent guessing. You seemed to just stick with one till you were forced to switch."

"I guess that should be an obvious tactic, so thanks for the pointer."

"If you want more detailed notes I have some too," Ash said, handing her some papers that had his notes on them.

"Actually I wanted to ask you something Ash," Nemona started with a big smile,"I was wondering if I could follow you around a bit. Not the whole time but just every now and then."

"You know, Arven and I could actually use your help with something."

"I'd be happy to help, especially if I can learn from you,"Nemona accepted happily,"what is it anyway?"

"He and I are looking for something called Titan Pokemon."

She was even more interested now,"nothing I ever heard of so now I really want in."

Nemona was excited she'd get a chance to tag along, she figured it'd be a great chance to learn from him first-hand. She never had an opportunity like this so she wasn't gonna let it go to waste.

"We plan on leaving tomorrow morning, so pack any supplies tonight before bed."

The big day had finally arrived, Ash, Nemona and Arven were currently hiking through the rocky cliffs of the Southern Province. Arven was leading the way, map in hand as they climbed up the cliffs.

"How much farther?" Ash asked weary of the long climb.

"It shouldn't be much farther now."

Nemona laughed,"come on Ash, the climb is part of the fun!"

"Only for you, I just want to get to the action."

Nemona was getting more excited, bouncing as they walked up the cliffs, she was looking forward to seeing this Titan pokemon. She was hoping she may even get a chance to catch it, if Ash didn't beat her to the punch that is.

"Bet I can beat you to the top!" Nemona teased Ash as she ran ahead.

This got Ash hyped up,"oh yeah we'll see about that!"

"Be careful you two, this terrain is dangerous!" Arven called out to them as they ran ahead of him.

Nemona and Ash ran neck to neck, neither backing down. They sped up the rugged cliff path until they reached the top. Nemona was the first to make it.

"Heck yeah I beat ya champ!"

"Wow you're fast," Ash panted out feeling tired,"but we made it to the top at least."

"Please don't leave me behind," Arven pleaded as he caught up with them.

"Sorry but I'm just really excited,oh by the way I have something for you Ash," she handed him a ball,"this is so you can Terastalize your Pokemon. Director Clavell asked me to give it to you."

"Oh wow thanks, I was looking forward to this,"Ash said taking the ball from her.

The trio walked around the plateau a bit before they heard a loud cry. They looked up to the rock wall to see a massive Klawf crawling down towards them.

"What on earth is that?" Ash asked in shock.

"A giant enemy crab,"Arven answered," a Klawf, a Titan Pokemon to be exact."

"That is one huge Klawf, I've never seen something that massive,"Nemona was amazed at the giant Pokemon.

"We'll have to take it down, so we should take it down together."

Ash and Nemona nodded sending out their Pokemon, Ash's Sprigatito and Nemona Pawmot. Arven joined him sending out a Shellder. The Titan Klawf let out a loud cry as the trio faced it down.

"Sprigatito Leafage!

"Shellder use Water Gun!"

"Pawmot Ember!"

Their three Pokemon launched their attacks, which Klawf just shook off. It responded by launching a Rock Blast at them. Sprigatito jumped from rock to rock along with Pawmot while Shellder took cover in its shell. Sprigatito jumped in the air above Klawf while Pawmot approached from beneath.

"Energy Ball!"

"Fire Punch!"

They both attacked from different angles as Shellder re-emerged from its shell,"Shellder Ice Beam!"

The combo of attacks seemed to have an effect this time, especially the attack to its underside.

"It seems to have a weak spot on its underside,"Arven called out, seeing it recoil from the attack.

"What should we do then?" Nemona asked him as their Pokemon dodged Klawf's claw swipes.

"I got an idea,"Ash answered,"let's flip Klawf onto its back, we can attack the weak point that way."

"That might work, Nemona try and see if you can get Pawmot to flip Klawf,"Arven told her,"after that Ash you should Terastalize Sprigatito and attack its weak point for massive damage."

"Hehe it sounds so crazy it just might work,"Nemona laughed," Pawmot use Dig!"

"Shellder Water Gun!" Pawmot dug underground approaching Klawf from beneath as Shellder blasted it with water head-on.

Shellder kept up its attack as Pawmot re-emerged underneath Klawf and slammed upwards into its belly. It let out a loud cry as the two kept up the pressure. Thanks to a combo of Pawmot attacking directly under it and the force of Shellder's attack, Klawf was forcibly flipped over.

Ash pulled out the Tera-Ball and recalled Sprigatito,"Terastalize!" He tossed out the ball and re-released Sprigatito who was now shining with a sparkly leaf on its head.

"Oh wow that's so cool looking," he was amazed at Sprigatito's new form,"let's try it out, Energy Ball!"

Sprigatito launched a green ball of energy after jumping into the air, directly at Klawf's bely. True to Arven's plan, it dealt massive damage to Klawf.

"Now use Leafage!" Sprigatito launched a second attack, making Klawf take even more damage.

"Let's lend a hand, Pawmot Fire Punch!"

"Shellder Ice Beam!" Nemona and Arven followed up Ash's attack, damaging Klawf even more.

"One more time, Sprigatito use Leafage!" Sprigatito unleashed one last attack before Klawf was seemingly knocked out.

However, after a few seconds it let out a cry and got back up with a loud cry. However, it turned around and began to break through the rock wall, trying to run away. As it did they could see a cave now where it had broken through the wall.

"Do we go after it?" Nemona asked as Sprigatito returned to normal.

"I'm worried that if the Herba Mystica is in there it might ruin it,"Arven answered, concern in his voice.

"I have an idea," Ash said as he pulled out Miraidon's Pokeball," Miraidon give me a hand."

Ash hopped onto Miraidon as it changed to its motorcycle form, Pikachu and Sprigatito hopped onto his shoulders.

"Okay now that's cool!" Nemona exclaimed as she admired Miraidon.

"Ash are you going to do what I think you are?"

"Yeah, I'm going after Klawf and grabbing the Herba Mystica!" With that Ash took off into the cave on Miraidon's back.

"I'll use this to keep an eye on him,"Arven said as he released a drone from his backpack.

Ash drove into the cave to see the Titan Klawf ahead of him, the cave was much bigger than he expected it to be. He needed to slow it down if he was gonna take it out.

"Pikachu, Sprigatito I want you two to keep launching ranged attacks at Klawf while I chase it down." The two nodded as he drove after Klawf. The two acted like turrets mounted to his shoulders, firing long ranged attacks at Klawf as he sped after it.

Miraidon raced through the twisting passages of the cave, keeping on Klawf's trail. Ash noticed a drone flying behind him, assuming it was Arven's.

"You're crazy you know that Ash," Arven chastised him with a small laugh,"but a good crazy perhaps. Anyway the herb should be in the innermost chamber of the cave system."

"Arven can you have the drone fly ahead of me and call out any difficult terrain up ahead?"

"Will do Ash," Arven answered as the drone flew a bit ahead of him.

Ash's Pokemon kept firing blasts of electricity and leaves as he rode behind Klawf. He could tell that it was starting to slow down a bit but still kept going.

"Careful there's a gap ahead Ash, I advise you jump it you can" Arven called out as he saw Klawf jump the gap.

"We got this!" Miraidon leaped across the gap easily as they continued the chase.

The tunnels were slowly getting more narrow, Ash assumed they were getting towards the end of the road. The constant attacks had done significant damage to Klawf who was now much slower. The Klawf decided to start tunneling through one of the cavern walls, trying to get away from Ash.

"Ash let it go, the Herba Mystica is just up ahead."

"You sure about that?"

"Yeah, I don't think we need to fight it anymore."

Ash nodded as he let the Klawf run away. He drove straight ahead through the narrow tunnel until he reached a large chamber. He could see what he assumed was the herb uo ahead of him, nestled in a small patch of grass. Ash hopped off Miraidon as he recalled Sprigatito and picked up the herb. He stowed it away in his bag before hopping back on Miraidon and headed back outside.

Some time later, Ash, Arven and Nemona had set up a picnic spot not far from the cave. Arven had mixed the herb into a sandwich which he fed to Miraidon.

"It seems to be helping but we still need more."

"Though Ash that was still pretty badass what you did back there," Nemona said with a twinkle in her eyes.

"It could've gone south but fortunately I made it out okay. Getting the herb was the most important part."

"Thanks for that Ash, this will be a lot easier with the added help."

"Don't forget me," nemona chimed in excitedly,"I'll help you with all the Titan Pokemon."

"That would be great, the more the better. I'll keep you both updated on how tracking down the others is going."

The trio continued chatting over their lunch before packing up and heading back to the Academy.