In Ash's party: Pikachu, Machamp, Gyarados, Sneasel, Lapras, Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Mareep and Heracross.
Chapter 11
Walking to the train station with his mum, dad and Nia he fiddled with his Pokédex and rotated his Pokémon back to his current roster. Blastoise and Venusaur went back home and Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Mareep and Heracross came back to his party. As they were walking along the street towards the train station Ash noticed something peculiar.
"Dad" Ash asked quietly dropping back from Nia and his mum chatting "is it just me or are there people watching the radio tower and the train station?"
"Now that you mention it, they are rather rigid for people who are obviously trying to be inconspicuous" Red said looking over at five people trying to be casual against a derelict shop.
"I know two of them" Ash said, "what's say we go and say hello?"
"Why not" Red said hurrying up and letting Delia and Nia know who stopped outside the doorway to the train station and watched them. Crossing the road Ash made a beeline for the five who quickly grew alert and looked extremely obviously at who was in charge.
"Hello again" Ash said holding his hand out to James before kissing the back of Jessies hand, ignoring the other three who looked very panicky to see the current and former Kanto Champions standing in front of them. "What brings you here?"
"Oh, hello Ash, we're all here doing a survey" James said quickly, obviously lying "we recently got new jobs and we've been asked by our boss to get a rough idea of how many people go into the Train Station and also into the Radio Station."
"Oh ok" Ash said smiling good naturedly "who do you work for?"
"They're new" Jessie said "so you likely won't have heard of them. They've just bought this building and they're planning on turning it into a café/restaurant for travellers or workers in Goldenrod City. It's in a prime location too which is why were all excited about what's due to happen. This city won't know what hit it."
"That sounds pretty good actually" Red "Delia and I come here often so it'll be nice to have lunch before getting the train back home to Kanto. When are you due to open?"
"Not until next year now" James said smiling "Our boss originally planned on being open by March but had to push it back until September, but the plans have had to be pushed back further due to what happened in Greenfield. Businesses are a bit wary of being so near that place so we're hoping a few extra months will be enough to make that a distant memory."
"How are you doing anyway?" James asked Red "we saw that you and Ash were injured during the Greenfield incident. Bad business that. I didn't think you were a trainer anymore."
"Oh, I'm not" Red said grimacing "but I still have my starter so I could still help out."
"Any plans on resuming your role?" James asked curiously "I mean you were pretty good from what I've heard."
"No" Red replied shaking his head "my training and journeying days are long gone. No, I have no plans to leave Indigo Plateau for the foreseeable."
"That's a shame" James said nodding "it would have been nice to see you in action again. What about you Ash? Where's next for you?"
"The gym here and the onto Ecruteak City" Ash replied sighing "I'm very behind schedule so I may have to rush the gyms to make it to the league tournament on time. If I don't then I'll probably head to Hoenn and do the leagues back-to-back next year. I'm just seeing mum and dad off on the train before searching for the gym"
"That's a lot of travelling" Jessie said "I'm not sure I could do that, especially in such a short amount of time. Anyway, I think we've done enough surveying for today. It was nice seeing you Ash, you too Red, it's good to see you up and about." Releasing a Kadabra she continued "Kadabra, can you take us five back to the office please?" nodding the psychic Pokémon held out its spoon, glowed purple and in a flash Red and Ash were left standing alone.
"Dad" Ash said quietly as he turned back to face Delia and Nia "how many do you have in your team?"
"Three" Red said seriously "why?"
"I suspect you'll need a full team by September" Ash replied looking at his belt and seeing four balls "Silver is nearly ready to make his move. Why do you have four on your belt?"
"That's what that was about then?" Red asked, "I did wonder why several dates were mentioned."
"And the fourth ball?" Ash asked.
"Oh, it's your Kabutops. When she heard what happened she insisted on coming along given she has moves to deal with psychic types. She was incredibly helpful in the Ruins. She's also been helping me train and loves taking part in the talks we began at the Plateau."
"Ah ok" Ash said nodding "and yes, that was their way of telling me to be ready by September and that hopefully you could be here to put a stop to whatever is happening too. I suspect we'll all need to be involved. I'll ring Lance and let him know, if you could tell Blue too that would be great."
"Hmmm" Red said nodding too "a more pressing question though is what do we tell your mother?
"The truth?" Ash said making Red look at him incredulously "listen, you know what she's like. If we tell her now at least she'll have several months to get it out of her system. If we don't tell her and we get involved how angry do you think she'll be? Plus, she always knows when we're lying so what's the point?"
"I hate that she can do that" Red said grousing "be warned, Nia will be able to do the same thing too."
"Damn" Ash said grumbling too as they walked over to the two ladies who looked curious. "I'll tell you later, the train may be due soon but if not, we'll tell you in the station's café." It turned out they had an hour to wait so they sat in a corner of the café and told them what Jessie and James had said. Immediately Delia gave Red a sharp look.
"Hey, none of that" Red said pointing his finger at her "you've always known that I would be part of taking Silver down after what he did. This may be the best opportunity we have to get to him."
"And even I we don't it will put a serious dent in his activities when we capture his entire team" Ash said joining in "mum, this isn't something we want to do, its something we have to do. He's too dangerous to let roam free. In just over a year since his bases and financial places were hit he's managed to build himself back up to where he feels he's ready to hit Goldenrod Radio Tower. That's very concerning as it means he's either desperate or confident enough to captures the place."
"Why the Radio Tower though?" Nia asked.
"Propaganda" Delia said sighing "it's the base of operations for the media outlets of both Johto and Kanto. If he gains access to the radio tower, he controls what messages are able to be sent out to the wider community and therefore can start turning people on the Elite Four, Red, Ash etc. anyone that doesn't agree with their way of thinking can be targeted and the people will eventually turn on them. If news ever got out about all of Ash's exploits they can be slanted to paint him in a very bad light."
"People are sheep" Ash said leaning back "you've seen evidence of it over the years. They believe whoever has the biggest voice because it's easy to go along with their way of thinking. It's herd mentality Nia. Right now, I have the biggest voice because I'm fresh in people's minds as the hero champion who saved a young girl from rampaging Pokémon, but that will quickly become yesterdays news when someone else does something of note."
"It's politics" Red supplied "and it works. The number of times I've had to do press conferences clarifying issues because someone has turned something I've said into something completely different is nearly uncountable. Ash has Joanne that does that for him, so he hasn't had to yet but believe me there's been many news stories about him that haven't been nice or even true."
"Luckily I have a good PR team and a bloody good lawyer" Ash said recalling the last major one "I'm still dealing with the fallout of the Kanto Board as quite a lot of people listened to the three people who tried to blackmail me and tried to justify what they did because they were in a position of power. Why else would they need to do what they did if I wasn't a bad egg? Honestly, I've read lots about me, mum and even dad that's quite disgusting but because anyone is allowed a platform now they don't have to justify their points if they skew them as an opinion. I have no recourse on clapping back at them as in their eyes I'm being defensive, argumentative etc and therefore justify their point to begin with."
"I see what you mean" she said shaking her head "so am I allowed to come here in September?"
A look of alarm spread across Ash's face before he sighed "I'm not going to pretend I like that idea, however you're your own person and I cannot, nor want to tell you no. I will say this though, if you plan on coming to help then train like a madwoman for the next few months as we'll be swarmed by grunts and their Pokémon and the numbers game will tell. If you're serious about this then I'll speak to Sam about getting you permission to enter Mt Silver and I'd advise you to train where I did. They all know me, and I've talked about you to them in the past, but I'd take one of my Pokémon with you though just in case, Kabutops would happily help out if she's home, just be wary of her as she likes to ignore commands if she sees the opponent as a meal."
"Thank you" she said hugging his arm and resting her head against it "for not dismissing me. Thank you. And my own Kabutops is the same so I can handle her."
"You're a bloody good trainer Nia" Ash said kissing the top of her head "and any help will likely be very helpful, but I won't pretend I won't be worried about you. Just be careful."
"I will" she said letting him go "anyway, you've still not introduced me to your new Pokémon yet."
"Oh, that's right" Ash said, "I don't think any of you has seen them, have you?" enlarging the three Pokéballs he released them and introduced them.
"Guys this is Cyndaquil, Heracross, Mareep and Chikorita" Ash said as they looked around and spotted Ash. Chikorita immediately jumped into Ash's lap and started nuzzling him, much to the amusement of his family "yes, she's very affectionate. Anyway, you three, this is my mum Delia, my father Red and last but certainly not least my girlfriend Nia."
Heracross and Cyndaquil nodded before sitting down, Mareep just stared for a few seconds before lying down and falling promptly asleep, Chikorita however stopped and glared at Nia which caused Ash to pause in what he was saying before continuing "we're waiting for them to catch the train home before we search for the gym and our third badge. I'll let you guys know properly what happened over the last few weeks, hopefully you've all enjoyed your new home."
"It was very nice" Heracross said "lots of trees to practice my stealth moves."
"Good" Ash said as a noise was heard overhead "well it looks like the train is due in the next few minutes. Shall we go and see them off?"
Ten minutes later the train departed, and Ash made his way out of the station and headed towards the Pokémon centre, which luckily was a huge building right next to the department store. Instead of heading into the Pokémon centre he walked into the department store and headed up a few floors to the TM floor and bought a few new TM's that he'd read about. Heading down a floor he nearly skipped this one before he stopped short at the display in front of him. heading onto the floor he quickly called a clerk over and asked about the display and how much it cost before walking around with him at the various other bits.
"And this can all be delivered to my home in Kanto?" Ash asked as he put another item on his list.
"It can Sir, yes" the man said, "obviously we charge extra for delivery to another region but with that you get doorstep delivery as well as workers who will assemble everything for you that day in whatever room you want them going into."
"That'll be a big help" Ash said as he wandered over to the counter to pay.
"That'll be $76,000 Pokédollars sir" he said looking nervous at the price. He was really hoping this customer could pay this as the commission alone would pay for his mum's medical bills this month.
"Call it $80,000" Ash said, "You've been a big help to me."
"I'll need authorisation first Sir before I can do that, I've only been here a month and I need this job so I can't authorise such a big change on my own." He man said, "I'll be right back." A few minutes later he walked back other with his supervisor who asked Ash what happened. Ash explained that the man had been incredibly helpful and that he wanted him to know how good he was at his job and therefore deserved the tip. Nodding the supervisor authorised the change and left.
"Thank you, sir" he said as he typed in the amendment and gave Ash the receipt "have a good day."
"Oh, I will, you too" Ash said smiling as he left the store and headed into the centre where he got directions to the gym. Walking down the high street Ash chatted to Pikachu about what their plans would have to be now they were even further behind schedule.
"Salamence should be back in the next few days so I'm thinking of flying to Ecruteak City, which will save a week of walking and gain us back a week" Ash said "I can probably save us a few more weeks when we reach Olivine by flying to Cianwood City before sailing to the Whirl Islands and then flying back to Ecruteak City directly from there before we head to Mahogany Town. That should also save at least a further three to four weeks, so we'll have gained five of the six weeks back then."
"That doesn't sound as bad now you've said it out loud" Pikachu said nodding "losing one week of training is ok really, anything past three though will mean a shorter training and rest time before the League."
"I know" Ash said as he stopped in front of a building that had the gym symbol on it. "Hopefully nothing else happens to set us back because I don't know where else we could make up time."
Walking through the door Ash noticed the reception area was empty so he rang the bell and waited. A few seconds later a very flustered woman came rushing out of the office trying to pat her hair blonde down and de-wrinkle her top. Blushing heavily, she asked Ash "How may I help you?"
"Well, if you need a few more minutes I can wait" Ash said with amusement all over his face.
"No, no" she said trying to compose herself "how can I help?"
"I'm here to challenge the gym leader to a battle" Ash said handing over his Pokédex "I'd like this one to be a non-elite battle though. My new Pokémon need the experience."
"Ok, no worries" she said typing his name into the computer and handing his Pokédex back. "Whitney will be available to battle in twenty minutes, she's just with her apprentices at the minute going over their training. If you'd like to observe though just go through the door and go through the second door on the right. That will take you to the field."
"Thank you" Ash said nodding to her and walking away but before he could open the door another door opened behind him. Turning around he saw a man open the office door and whisper "Cynthia, has he gone?"
"No" she whispered back "get back in there!"
Shaking his head in amusement Ash headed through the door and mad his way to the field where he sat down in the stands and watched the training session.
"You've changed" Pikachu remarked "if that had happened when you were making your way through Kanto you'd have immediately phoned Sam and got her fired."
"I was perhaps very highly strung back then" Ash said nodding "and I wouldn't have got her fired, I'd have spoken to the gym leader about her first. But yeah, I have changed. Let's call it personal growth."
"Hmmm" Pikachu said as he watched the training "why do you think that is?"
"Likely because of what we've been through" Ash said heavily "back in Kanto while we had near death experiences, I was still young and green so things like romance and living, truly living that is was alien concepts to me. After dying though I realised that people should live how they want to live, and anything that brings you joy should be held on to as it's only a quirk of fate that I returned. That lady, despite how unprofessional that was is clearly enjoying herself, so who am I to put a stop to it. It should be Whitney's job anyway to vet who she employs so it's on her should it happen again."
"You've changed" Pikachu said. Ash didn't bother replying as he wandered down to the field as they were packing up their training gear.
"Oh hello" Whitney said. She was around 5'8 with bright red hair, wearing a beige jumper, a pleated skirt and white pumps "who might you be? You look familiar."
"I'm Ash Ketchum" Ash said shaking her hand "I'm your challenger for today."
"Oh right" Whitney said pulling out her Pokégear "I've not had chance to check my emails as I've been training. So, it says you want a standard match? Any reason for that?"
"Yeah" Ash said "I have three new Pokémon that need experience battling someone who knows what they're doing. They're not experienced enough to take on Elites just yet, so a standard one is what they need."
"Ok" she said as she pushed the last of the training gear to the side of the field "you know however that if you use an Elite you'll be disqualified and have to return at a later date?"
"I am" Ash said as he plucked the three from his belt and handed his belt to a young woman who was standing off to the side "can you keep hold of these please? That way I won't accidentally grab one I shouldn't."
"Of course," the lady said grabbing on gently and walking off to the side.
"Anyway" Whitney said, "shall we?"
"Yes" Ash said as he walked to the other side of the field. Strangely this gym didn't have any elevated boxes to stand in. As if reading his mind Whitney called over "my gym is all about being up close and personal to your battling Pokémon. You need to be alert to not just the battle but the surroundings too. For my first Pokémon I choose you, Granbull." From within the Pokéball out came a pink dog that was standing onto its hind legs. Taking out dexter he scanned it.
"Granbull, Pokédex Number 210, The fairy bulldog Pokémon and the evolved form of Snubbull. Granbull has a particularly well-developed lower jaw. The enormous fangs are heavy, causing the Pokémon to tip its head back for balance. Unless it is startled, it will not try to bite indiscriminately. It is actually timid and easily spooked. If attacked, it flails about to fend off its attacker."
"Ok, Chikorita, you're up." Ash said releasing his grass starter who called her name and looked nervous at her opponent.
"Granbull vs Chikorita" the referee shouted "begin."
"Calm yourself Chikorita, now, Razor Leaf."
Jumping into action Chikorita swung her head around and released several sharp leaves at her opponent who waited for the command.
"Ice Fang, then close in and use Scary Face." Whitney commanded. Immediately Granbulls fangs glowed icy blue and a beam of light swept from its mouth impacting with the leaves making them fall to the ground frozen before the dog ran forwards in a lumbering motion towards Chikorita. As it neared it growled threateningly and projected an image in front of it of its face in a very threatening manner making Chikorita shrink back on herself.
"Damn" Ash said "Chikorita, pull yourself together. Sweet Scent"
Hearing Ash she shook her head and immediately began to shake her head again and an enticing aroma started to envelop the battlefield slowing Granbull down until it halted ten feet away from Chikorita "quickly, use Vine Whip" Ash shouted and two thick vines came from her neck and wrapped around its neck and body "Slam it" Using all her strength she tried to raise her vines but her opponent was too bulky so she couldn't move it. Realizing she was on a time limit she charged forwards and leaped over the still rooted Granbull and used her momentum to stiffen her vines and slingshot Granbull back over her head where it landed roughly, bouncing along the floor. Shakily it got to its feet and shook its head before glaring at its opponent, the Sweet Scent no longer affecting it as much.
"Good job Granbull" Whitney shouted "charge forward and use Fire Fang."
Running forwards as quickly as it could it got within striking range of Chikorita who panicked at the sight of fire being so close and she Headbutted Granbull away, taking fire damage briefly.
"Damn" Ash said sighing as he straightened up and looked at the referee. The referee looked at Ash and nodded as he recalled Chikorita.
"Chikorita used an unsanctioned fifth move and therefore is disqualified from battle. Ash please send out your second Pokémon."
"It's been a while since I forfeited because of using a fifth move" Ash said as he sent out Cyndaquil. "Cyndaquil we may need to win two battles, Chikorita lost." Nodding the little fire type focused and the flames on its back lit up.
"Granbull vs Cyndaquil, begin."
"Scary Face" Whitney said, "then use Crunch."
"Flamethrower" Ash shouted as his fire type set herself and launched a huge stream of fire that hit her opponent making it halt the attack he was about to launch and cry out in pain. "Flame Wheel"
Immediately it rolled into a ball and rocketed forwards hitting Granbull who had no time to react and was sent sprawling, knocked out.
"Granbull is unable to battle, Leader Whitney please send out your second Pokémon." The referee said.
"Good effort Granbull" she said as she recalled her dog before sending out her next Pokémon.
"What is that?" Ash asked curiously taking out Dexter again.
"Aipom, Pokédex number 190, the Long Tail Pokémon. Aipom's tail ends in a hand-like appendage that can be cleverly manipulated. However, because the Pokémon uses its tail so much, its real hands have become rather clumsy."
"Oh ok" Ash said confused "I've no idea what this Pokémon can do Cyndaquil so be on guard."
"Aipom vs Cyndaquil, begin." The referee shouted.
"Cyndaquil, Flame Wheel, get in close." Ash shouted.
"Dance Aipom" Whitney shouted overjoyed at what she knew was about to happen. Aipom was by far her quickest of her standard battlers, not in straight line speed but in reactions so what followed showed that. Cyndaquil tried desperately to hit the pink monkey, but it used its tail so well to jump out of the way at the last minute that Cyndaquil was quickly growing tired from stopping and restarting her move.
"Combine it with Swift" Whitney shouted, "take it down."
"Damn, retreat and use Flamethrower" Ash shouted seeing he was getting nowhere fast. Cyndaquil retreated to a safe distance managing to dodge most of the stars that came hurtling her way but still got clipped by a few doing some damage. Turning around she launched a stream of flames that she used to scour the battlefield, the move was so loud she didn't hear Whitney command Aipom to Dig and without warning she was sent flying through the air landing roughly on the ground where she struggled to get back to her feet before immediately taking an Iron Tail to the face knocking her out.
"Cyndaquil is unable to battle" the referee shouted, "challenger Ash, send out your final Pokémon."
"Good show Cyndaquil" Ash said as he recalled her and sent out Heracross.
"Heracross, you need to beat this and one other or we lose the battle. Do your best pal." Ash said earning a nod.
"Aipom vs Heracross, begin" the referee shouted.
"Swift" Whitney shouted.
"Megahorn and move in close" Ash said as Heracross charged through the Swift attack stars batting them to the side as he did so and drew nearer.
"Fire Punch" Whitney shouted and before Ash could react Aipom ducked underneath the glowing horn and smacked his tail into Heracross' chitin setting him on fire. He quickly twirled into the air extinguishing the fire, but the damage was done as Ash saw on his left-hand side a burn mark.
"Shit" Ash said, a sentiment Pikachu agreed with on his shoulder. They were now on a timer, and they had two Pokémon to beat, something that was very unlikely.
"Chikorita cost us this match" Pikachu murmured.
"The Golden Rule Pi" Ash replied reminding him.
"That doesn't count in this case Ash, she attacked on her own, ignoring your commands" Pikachu said, "she lost us this match."
"Heracross, Earthquake" Ash shouted as Heracross gathered himself and slammed his horn into the ground causing the earth to shake and break up. Aipom scrambled to try and get out of the way but due to the unstableness of the arena quickly began sliding down a vertical piece of land where he was hit by a rock that Heracross threw knocking it out. Heracross panted as the ground flattened and winced as the burn hurt him once more. He was tough, but he had his limits, and he was quickly nearing them.
"Aipom is unable to battle, Leader Whitney please send out your final Pokémon" the referee shouted.
"You did well Aipom" she said as she recalled her "let's go Girafarig". Out of the Pokéball came the most unusual Pokémon Ash had seen in a long time. It had the body shape of a giraffe only it had two heads, a normal Giraffe on one end and a small shrunken black one on the other.
"I have never seen one of those in person" Ash said pulling out Dexter again.
"Girafarig, Pokédex number 203, the long neck Pokémon. Girafarig's rear head also has a brain, but it is small. The rear head attacks in response to smells and sounds. Approaching this Pokémon from behind can cause the rear head to suddenly lash out and bite."
"Damn" he muttered looking at his Heracross who was holding his left side, clearly in pain "looks like we've lost our first official battle Pi. Guts can only do so much before it wears you down."
"Girafarig vs Heracross, begin" the referee shouted.
"Rock Slide" Ash shouted and Heracross began to scoop up rocks and grabbed them with his hands and began to launch them at his opponent.
"Psychic" Whitney shouted very confident in winning this battle. "send them back."
"Shit, Megahorn your way through Heracross, we may only have a few shots at this" Ash commanded. Heracross nodded and charged up his horn and began to knock the rocks away and ran forwards gaining speed as he did so.
"Psychic the field, pelt him with rocks." Whitney shouted.
Girafarig closed his normal eyes and his back head opened up and the ground around them began to move and levitate before the bits were sent hurtling at Heracross who did his best to bat them away, but there were so many rocks being sent his way that he couldn't beat them all and his Megahorn failed as his concentration waned and he was soon buried under many rocks.
Ash shook his head. This was the first time he had lost an official battle, four years into his career. He had lost battles before but only individual ones that were just spars with various trainers, so they didn't count but this one very much did. To his amazement though the rocks began to move and Heracross slowly climbed out of the rubble panting harshly before looking up at his opponent.
"I forfeit Heracross" Ash shouted to the amazement of the referee and the trainers that were in the stands watching. The one who was shocked the most though was Whitney, she had just beaten the current Kanto Champion in battle.
"Heracross is unable to battle, Girafarig wins therefore the challenger Ash has lost the battle" the referee shouted.
"Congratulations" Ash said recalling his injured Pokémon. It was a weird feeling losing, it hadn't happened for such a long time, Brocks Golem in fact had been the last time he'd lost an official battle, which was so long ago that he had forgotten what it felt like.
"Did I just beat you?" Whitney asked dumbfounded.
"You did" Ash said nodding "fair and square."
"Oh" she replied before her brain kicked in and she started dancing around her area "Oh! Yay! Well done, Girafarig!"
"Well done indeed" Ash said "however..."
"However?" Whitney asked stopping her celebration.
"I still need your badge, so when can I challenge you again?" Ash asked.
Grimacing Whitney realised he was right. They would have to battle again, and she doubted it would be the standard challenge when he did.
"Well, my Elite team is a bit tired from training today, but I can pencil you in for tomorrow? I need time to set my battlefield back to normal too so it would be helpful if we had the rest." she said apprehensively. After all she couldn't really deny him the challenge for very long.
"That's fine by me" Ash said smiling before nodding at the referee, grabbing his Pokéball belt from the lady who was now next to the referee and walking from the battlefield out of the front door where he stopped and breathed in deeply. "So, this is what losing feels like, I can't say that I like it very much."
"It won't happen tomorrow" Pikachu said resolutely "I want to battle."
"No problem" Ash said "I think I'll start with Sneasel. He's not been in a battle for a while and using you from the start would be overkill."
"Fine" Pikachu said unhappily.
Walking into the centre he handed over his injured Pokémon and messaged Nia about his loss. Immediately she rang him, still on the Bullet Train with his parents to Saffron City and they had a good conversation for a few minutes about not going overboard as revenge.
"I'm not that bad, am I?" he asked her incredulously.
"I don't know Ash" she replied "you haven't lost an official battle in four years so I've no idea. What have you been like when you've lost the spars with people?"
"I think I was fine" Ash said "I thanked them and left. I don't think I was rude. Was I rude Pi?" he asked his starter that was on the table eating a peach.
"No" he said shaking his head "you did what we were supposed to do and used them as teachable moments. There's been very few times since then that we've repeated the mistakes that caused us to lose."
"Good" Nia said after Ash translated for her. She was still getting used to hearing what Pokémon said and there were limits on how she heard them, mediums such as phones weren't great for her, so it was just easier to translate for now.
"Ash Ketchum to the reception desk" Nurse Joy called over to the reception desk. Standing up Ash put the phone down on the counter and listened to Joy.
"They're all fine" Joy said "Heracross needs a day or so to recover from his burn properly but other than that they're good."
"Thanks" Ash said placing them on his belt and heading up to his room. "I'll do what you ask" he said to Nia as he placed is belt on the desk "anyway I need to go and do some research on Ecruteak. I have a feeling that the place is important for some reason."
"It is" Nia said "it's the home of the legendary beasts and the birds, ones you've met. You never know, you may meet them again."
"Highly likely" Ash said nodding "after all when I caught Suicunes daughter she mentioned she'd be around Ecruteak at the time I would."
"I'm sorry, what now?" Nia asked incredulously "Did you just say you caught another Suicune?"
"Whoa" Ash said waving his hand to shush her "keep your voice down! Only Sam, Blue and my parents know that information."
"Sorry" she said looking around only to see Red and Delia looking at her in amusement. At that moment a voice came over the speaker letting them know they were a few minutes from Saffron City "I need to go Ash; we're arriving in Saffron soon. Ring me tomorrow when you've battled Whitney. Bye."
"Bye" Ash said hanging up and sighing "that was a close one."
"When did he catch another Suicune?" Nia asked as they left Saffron City station and headed to the bus station where Red and Delia would catch their connection to Vermillion where they would then fly to Indigo Plateau.
"A few days after he left New Bark Town" Delia said "he went down the wrong path and ended up at a place that Suicune was hiding her daughter to train her to look after herself. He caught her because that trainer is still after catching Suicune and if he found out she had a daughter he'd probably try and catch her too."
"Oh yeah he mentioned that when he caught Suicune in the Orange Islands." she said "is he still after her?"
"Apparently so" Red said as he paid for the bus ticket "anyway it was nice meeting you properly, you're more than welcome to visit us whenever you like, I suspect we'll be seeing you soon anyway given Zoe is your best friend."
"Yeah" she said, "I'm going to spend some time with mum and dad and then Zoe, Ava and I are going on holiday in July, so I'll likely call in to say hello before we go."
"Bye" Delia said hugging her and whispering into her ear "thank you so much. He chose very well with you."
Nia waved at them as they got on the bus before making her way back to her parents house, incredibly happy with how the last week had panned out. Now she just had to tell her mum she had a boyfriend, something she suspected wouldn't go down well. No one was good enough for her princess after all.
The next day Ash walked onto the practice field at the Pokémon centre and called them all out.
"I'm going to start off by saying thank you to Heracross, Cyndaquil and Chikorita. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get the badge" Ash said surprising them all "Heracross had too much of an uphill battle after being burned when she had two Pokémon left and he was the final one. However, there were several positives to take from this so for this training session were going to recreate what happened and see how we can change the outcome. Pikachu and Sneasel won't take part in this training session as we're battling her again only this time were going all out. So, let's get started, shall we?"
Two hours later Ash walked into the Goldenrod Gym and spoke to the receptionist who blushed heavily when she spotted him.
"I'm not going to say anything" Ash said quietly to her "just be more careful next time. Anyway, is Whitney available?"
"Thank you" she whispered, "I've never done anything like that before, I swear."
"It doesn't matter" Ash said "It's already gone from my mind. Now, Whitney?"
"She's free." Cynthia said nodding to the door "the same route as yesterday."
Nodding Ash did as he was instructed and walked out onto the field where Whitney was waiting on the other side, looking very nervous for some reason. Ash ignored it and greeted her.
"Hello again, are we ready for round two?" he asked.
"Born ready" Whitney said centering herself and readying a Pokéball.
"This will be a three-on-three knockout match with no substitutions. Any substitution will be deemed as a forfeit of said Pokémon." the referee said taking her place. "Call out your first Pokémon."
"Sneasel, to the battlefield" Ash shouted as his Ice/Dark type appeared, scratching the ground with his lethally sharp claws.
"Urasaring, you're up" Whitney said releasing a huge brown bear who roared at his opponent, who just looked at him contemptuously, something which made a visible tic appear over Urasrings eye.
"Ursaring vs Sneasel, begin" the referee shouted.
"Charge forward and use Brick Break" Whitney shouted at her bear who roared and obeyed, his arms glowing as he ran forwards. Ash didn't even need to make a comment as Sneasel began to weave in between each attack, he just observed the battle waiting for the right moment to strike. Whitney was very confused as Ash hadn't made a single sound, not even to counter, something she found very frustrating.
"That's not working Ursaring" she shouted, "disengage and use Belly Drum then Slash."
Ash let it happen as he wanted to spot a weakness to exploit, he'd already seen one, but he wanted at least one more before he gave an order. He instead trusted Sneasel would know when to attack. Ursaring retreated until he was twenty feet away from Sneasel who just stood still on Ash's side, content to observe his opponent. Roaring Ursaring pounded his chest panting as he finished before charging once more and trying to swipe at Sneasel who ducked and weaved again.
"Earthquake" Whitney shouted "he can't dodge that one." Ursaring stopped and roared before pounding the ground mercilessly with both hands causing the ground to tremor and heave before a fissure opened on its way to his opponent who began running across the bits of ground towards his opponent who tried to use Brick Break but missed as Sneasel ducked underneath.
"Elbow joint" Ash said for the first time and Sneasel immediately slashed upwards making Ursaring roar in agony as blood flashed across the ground as its arm was opened up. "Back of the knee" he said again as Sneasel quickly circled around and used Slash again on its leg, again opening up a wound.
"Blizzard" Ash said knowing this was already over. Urasring was too busy cradling its leg and arm to be able to defend the full force Blizzard that hit its face and it was sent crashing into the ten-foot fissure that it had opened up itself. Sneasel quickly skirted over the ground and landed in front of Ash observing his opponent's trainer.
"I think Ursaring is unable to battle?" the referee said looking around "but I'm not sure."
"Machamp" Ash said releasing his fighting type "can you go down there and get the Ursaring out. His arm and leg are far too injured to be able to help himself out." Nodding Machamp jumped down the various cracks in the floor and saw Ursaring lying flat on its back panting harshly as blood poured from his arm and leg. Gathering his energy Machamp bodily lifted Ursaring and began to make his way up towards the ground where Ash was waiting holding his hand out. Amazingly to the people watching Ash grabbed Ursaring and heaved him onto his back and fireman lifted him the last few feet where he was quickly joined by Machamp on Whitneys side of the field. Activating his aura Ash did what he could to try and seal the wounds, unfortunately the one on its arm wouldn't seal so he took off his shirt and made a makeshift tourniquet.
"Ursaring should be ok" Ash said to Whitney who was just watching on, blushing heavily at a half-naked Ash. "I'd suggest getting him to Nurse Joy as soon as possible."
"Oh" she said coming back to herself and recalling her Pokémon before heading over to the transporter that was at the back of her box and the ball immediately disappeared. By the time she had turned around Ash was back on his side after traversing the ground and had pulled another top from his bag and put it on. "Can we have the Dugtrio please?" Whitney asked the referee who walked over to a panel and pressed a few buttons where after a few seconds Ash heard several sounds come from the open ground and watched on, fascinated as the ground began to reshape itself as several Dugtrio moved around doing their job. Within three minutes the ground was as flat as it was before they started the battle.
"They never cease to amaze me" Ash said shaking his head.
"Ursaring is unable to battle. Can Leader Whitney send out her second Pokémon" the referee shouted gaining their attention.
"Let's go Dunsparce" she shouted as a yellow worm with a strange tail appeared. Grabbing Dexter he scanned it.
"Dunsparce, Pokédex number 206, the Land Snake Pokémon. Dunsparce has a drill for its tail. It uses this tail to burrow into the ground backwards. This Pokémon is known to make its nest in complex shapes deep under the ground."
"Interesting" Ash said "this should be fun Sneasel. Let's get in first, Icy Wind"
"Dig" Whitney said as it quickly dove into the air and began spinning its tail and quickly tunnelled underground.
"Icy Wind down the hole" Ash shouted as Sneasel quickly reached the tunnel entrance and sent a huge gale down the hole. Before it hit though Dunsparce came barrelling out of the tunnel twenty feet away before diving into the ground again creating a different tunnel. Sneasel saw this and repeated the process quickly becoming frustrated as Dunsparce did this a further three times creating many holes.
"Ancientpower" Whitney said as Dunsparce leaped out of the ground sending a huge rock at Sneasel who contemptuously swiped through the middle breaking it but growling as Dunsparce retreated down the tunnel. This process again repeated several times making Sneasel angry.
"A little help Ash?" Sneasel said after breaking the fifth rock and finding it a bit more difficult "that one was more powerful."
"It would be" Ash said "it's the secondary effect of Ancientpower, it raises your stats every now and then. I think of the six that's been sent it's helped twice. Ok, I have an idea. Down the tunnel, ferret it out."
Grumbling Sneasel dove down the tunnel and clawed its way through the ground searching for its opponent.
"That was a mistake" Whitney said as Dunsparce came hurtling out of the tunnel, hovering momentarily ten feet in the air "Just stay there for now and hover, I'll tell you when to dive again."
"Good" Ash said surprising Whitney who wondered why "Sneasel, Blizzard. It's above the ground. Use the tunnels."
Whitney could only watch as the holes began to glow blue as the Blizzard came streaming out of each hole showering the field with ice and sleet which hit the underbelly of Dunsparce who cried out in pain and quickly made a new tunnel, one that wasn't connected to any of the others, panting as it tried to recover from the painful attack.
"Roost" Whitney shouted smirking making Ash palm his face.
"Sneasel come out of the hole" Ash shouted "it's using Roost to cover any damage done. We need to rethink. Just run around and make sure to keep away from the tunnels."
"Once you're done use Ancientpower again" Whitney shouted making Ash shake his head.
"Just dodge them" Ash said as he observed Dunsparce come out of the tunnel sending a big rock at Sneasel "don't break them, I have an idea. Stand near the tunnel entrances."
Wondering what Ash was up to Whitney remained silent, that was until five minutes later she saw Ash's plan. "Clever."
"I thought so too" Ash said smirking as he looked around as his plan came to fruition. The majority of the holes had been blocked up by Dunsparces own rocks, sealing the entrances and making the options it had to go down very limited and soon enough a good three quarters of the field was covered in the rocks. Eventually it was virtually impossible for Dunsparce to use Dig and it had to settle on the ground, unable to see where Sneasel was as it was hiding behind one of the big rocks.
"It's near Ash" Whitney said wondering what to do now. She knew Dunsparce was likely powered up as much as he could, but what good was that against something he couldn't hit. She had one move left to use as three of her four slots had been revealed, with two of them being virtually useless now and one being a recovering move.
"What's your next move?" Ash shouted over, content to wait as Sneasel recovered his breath from dodging for ten minutes straight.
"I don't know" she muttered having never been in this position before. "Whenever I've used this tactic before I've won long before now." after another thirty seconds of nothing Ash decided to end this.
"Ok, we've let it rest enough. Agility, use the rocks as cover. It's directly in front of you, forty feet." Ash said as Sneasel nodded and hopped onto a rock before rushing forward, using the rocks as stepping stones, and soon was within striking distance hiding behind a rock ten feet away. "Blizzard, end this." quick as lightning Sneasel dashed out from the rock and charged around behind Dunsparce who quickly turned and instinctively launched an Ancientpower at Sneasel who swiped through it, struggling to do so but managed and spewed a hail of ice and sleet at a rooted Dunsparce who cried out in pain at the powerful attack. "Slash" Ash shouted as Sneasels claws glowed white and he charged forwards the final five feet and attacked.
Whitney in that split second remembered something she'd seen in a battle Ash had been in before which had changed the complexion of that match, hopefully it would do it again.
"Quickly, Endeavour" Whitney shouted.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me" Ash said palming his face in disbelief as a spectral Dunsparce appeared in front of Sneasel and rapidly attacked it making him fall to his knees, covered in scratches and bruises as he used his claw to keep him upright, panting very harshly.
"We've got to do something to be able to counter that move" Pikachu said as Whitney recalled her Dunsparce back.
"You're not wrong" Ash said as he looked at his Pokémon who struggled to his feet "Sneasel, you're done. Come back." he finished recalling his injured ice type.
"Dunsparce is unable to battle and Sneasel has been forfeited. Leader Whitney send out your final Pokémon, challenger Ash send out your second Pokémon."
"Let's go Miltank" Whitney said sending out her best Pokémon who landed heavily and looked over the field with amusement.
"Pi" Ash said simply as his own starter leaped onto the field. Whitney seeing this gulped, she knew how powerful this mouse was.
"Miltank, Pokédex number 241, The Milk Cow Pokémon, Miltank gives over five gallons of milk on a daily basis. Its sweet milk is enjoyed by children and grown-ups alike. People who can't drink milk turn it into yogurt and eat it instead."
"Miltank" Whitney said "do not underestimate that mouse. It is rapid and packs a punch. Use Rollout, break those rocks."
Miltank nodded before leaping into the air and spinning forwards rapidly before hitting the ground heavily and charging forwards, ploughing through the rocks in her way and heading towards her opponent.
"Agility, half speed" Ash said as Pikachu ran forwards very quickly using the rocks to springboard himself towards a rapidly approaching Miltank. "Iron Tail" Ash said as Pikachus tail glowed silver and impacted with Miltank sending them both skidding backwards and stopping staring at each other.
"Ow" Pikachu said rubbing his tail "it's really heavy."
"What did you say?" Miltank asked screeching in anger.
"You're heavy" Pikachu said "that hurt my tail."
"I'm not heavy" she shouted angrily before leaping into the air again and spinning forwards in a Rollout.
"Just keep using Agility Pikachu" Ash said shaking his head "let her clear the field." Pikachu didn't bother saying anything as he led Miltank around the field, often directing her to specific rocks and before long a good half of the field had been levelled making it much easier to run around the arena. "Ok Pi, she's levelled the field and isn't slowing down or tiring so we need to attack now. When you get the chance wait for her to turn and herd her, use Thunderbolts in front of her, disrupt her ability to move."
Whitney could only look on as her Pokémon was still using Rollout so she couldn't issue another command just yet. She watched on in dismay though as her cow Pokémon was sent flying into the air as the bolt of lightning hit the ground causing a mini explosion.
"Quick Pi Thunderbolt" Ash shouted. As quick as the lightning bolts he was throwing he used another and hit her mid-air sending her flying into the wall nearest to her smashing into it with an almighty crash. Ash didn't call out another move as he waited to see if she'd get up, which she did after a minute or so as the dust settled.
Walking back onto the field she looked at Pikachu rubbing her cheek "I'm not fat."
"I never said you were fat" Pikachu said, "I said you were heavy."
"That's the same thing!" she shouted.
"No, it isn't" Ash said interrupting them "your ability is literally Thick Fat."
"No, it isn't" Whitney said correcting Ash having gathered what was going on "her ability is Scrappy, not Thick Fat. And she's very sensitive about her weight."
"Makes sense" Ash said "Pikachu said his tail hurt when he hit her with Iron Tail as she's heavy. That's what started the chase."
"Milly" Whitney said gaining her starters attention "we've been through this before, you need to stop letting people get to you when they say you're heavy. You are heavy sweetheart but that's because you're a cow."
"Still no need to say it out loud" she mumbled.
"Anyway, can we get on with this?" Ash asked "Pi, Agility."
"Earthquake" Whitney said not missing a beat as her cow slammed her hooves into the ground shaking it. Pikachu however was extremely used to combating Earthquake and easily rode it out while charging forwards.
"Thunderbolt" Ash said as his mouse sent an arc hurtling to Miltank who screamed in pain as electricity coursed through her body sending her sprawling again. This time though she began spinning as she landed and bounced off the wall and smashed into a surprised Pikachu who was also sent flying, tumbling across the floor. Getting up he shook his head and just managed to move out of the way of Rollout before instinctively using another Thunderbolt hitting the back of her making her move fail as she sprawled forwards onto the floor and cried out weakly. This time she struggled to get to her feet as she panted harshly glaring at Pikachu who just looked at her waiting for her to move.
"Agility, Quick Attack and Iron Tail" Ash said wanting to end this one. Using the combination that had won them so many matches Pikachu seemed to teleport across the fifteen feet and slammed his tail into Miltank knocking her out. Pikachu stopped and winced as he grabbed his tail again. "That hurt."
"Good show though Pi" Ash said nodding at his starter.
"Miltank is unable to battle, Pikachu and Ash wins." the referee shouted gaining his attention.
Whitney recalled her starter and hung her head in defeat. She knew that beating him a second time was unlikely, but she still believed that her Pokémon could possibly pull it off only to not beat his second Pokémon. Ash made his way towards her and stopped when he saw her shoulders began to shake. Wondering what was going on he looked at the referee who sighed and made her way to Whitney and said something quietly to her. Ash was glad he hung back when he saw her run her hand under her nose and say something back quietly.
"Er is she crying Pi?" Ash asked his starter quietly.
"I feel that" Pikachu said grabbing his tail and starting to rub it.
"How the hell did a Miltank hurt your tail when Golems and Tyranitars didn't?" Ash asked perplexed.
"I've no idea" Pikachu said "maybe I sprained my tail. All I know is my tail hurts."
"We'll see what we can do later" Ash said not thinking on how he may help. "Don't ask me how, I'll see if Nurse Joy knows something."
"Here" a voice said from a few feet away making Ash jump slightly. Whitney had come forwards, her head still hanging with her hair covering her face. "Take it, it's the Plain Badge and proof that you beat me."
"Oh" Ash said nodding taking the badge "thanks. You're really good you know."
"Really?" she asked looking up showing her puffy face, evidence she'd been crying.
"Yeah" Ash said nodding "other than my first gym battle a month into my journey I have never lost an official battle. So, you now have the distinct honour of joining a class of two in who has beaten me in battle."
"It wasn't your Elites though" she said wiping her nose with her hands.
"No" Ash said amiably "but not many can beat my Elites. Your strategy was sound though and had your Miltank not taken offence at being called heavy you may have proved a very good challenge. Still, I reiterate what I said, you're an excellent trainer. You should be proud of yourself and your Pokémon."
"Thank you" she said quietly, tearing up again.
"Ok" Ash said awkwardly "I need to go and heal my Pokémon. It was nice to battle you. Bye."
Ash couldn't get out of there quick enough. He was utterly useless and clueless with emotions at the best of time, crying women was a big weakness of his because he had no clue how to react other than a pat on the head with a "there there". Heading to the Pokémon centre he handed over Pikachu and Sneasel to be healed and sat down. Half an hour later he received the notice from Joy and headed back over.
"They're in good health, they just need a good night's rest." Joy said.
"Thanks" Ash replied "Pikachu said he felt that he sprained his tail during his battle. Should I be concerned?"
"I wouldn't think so" she replied looking thoughtful "take note though how often this happens when he battles. He may have trained too much using his tail lately and strained it."
"That sounds likely actually" Ash said nodding "he's been determined to become my strongest again and overtrains quite a lot. I'll keep an eye on him."
Heading upstairs he grabbed his bag before he sent Nia a message letting her know he'd won. As he was leaving though his Pokédex began to beep causing Ash to pause and press a button on its side and on his belt another ball appeared.
Walking outside he enlarged the ball and released the Pokémon and an angry looking blue dragon appeared.
"Hey Queenie" Ash began to say before he backed his head away as she leaned down very quickly shoving her face into his. Around him people quickly gave them a wide berth when they saw a huge dragon tower over a very tall man and growl.
"I've not heard one word from you in two weeks" she said growling "two weeks Ash! I've been stuck at home not being able to fly and ended up missing out on your adventure with the Unown."
"I wouldn't exactly call it an adventure" Ash said mumbling.
"Never mind that" she said interrupting him "you nearly died, again! And I was stuck at home, useless!"
"You were recovering" Ash said poking her nose making her growl and step back "you broke your wing and was banned from flying. And I know you weren't bored at home either, Mareep told me all about you teaching others how to battle. He said you gave him great advice."
"That's as maybe" she said haughtily "I am a dragon after all, I am very good at battling."
"And you're so modest too" Ash said quietly under his breath.
"And I'm very modest about my abilities" she carried on making Pikachu chuckle "what's funny?"
"Nothing" Ash said smiling stroking her nose "It's good to have you back. We're going to need you to travel extensively for a while as we're set back a few more weeks because of Greenfield so there's going to be a lot of flying."
"Good" she said lowering her head letting Ash climb on "I've been bored not being able to fly. Where are we going?"
"Due North" Ash said "We need to get to Ecruteak City which is about a days flight away."
With a sweep of her wings she rose into the air and banked northwards, heading towards their next destination. After a few hours following the route Ash noticed a huge expanse open up below him. Curious he pointed it out to Salamence who flew down and landed outside a building. Walking inside Ash saw many people with nets talking to someone behind a counter. Getting in line Ash asked the clerk what was happening.
"Oh" he said surprised "this is the Johto National Park. We hold events twice a week where people can catch any Bug Pokémon in the park. There's a caveat however, you can only keep the last one you catch and must release your previous catch in order to catch a new one. That's why we only give you 1 ball to enter with. You can however use your own Pokémon to battle the Pokémon in the park, but it must only be the Pokémon you state in your form, any other Pokémon used will forfeit your chance at the prize and the ability to keep the Pokémon you capture. We require you to wear this mini bodycam at all times to ensure no cheating. Once you are satisfied with your catch you return here where at 6pm the event finishes and we judge who has caught the rarest or most remarkable Pokémon and you can win a prize."
"Sounds like fun actually" Ash said to Pi who shrugged "after what we've been through lately it would be nice to relax for a bit before we continue to Ecruteak City."
"Good" he said "it's $500 Pokédollars to take part. Can I take your Pokédex?"
"Sure" Ash said handing over his Pokédex and paying for entry and placing the camera around his neck.
"We let people into the park at 12pm, so if you could just take a seat, we'll let you all know when we're ready." the man said taking the from back from Ash, making a note that Pikachu was his designated Pokémon.
Nodding Ash milled about for a while before his attention was drawn to the doorway.
"Ok everyone" the man said "the event is about to start. You should know the rules as you signed up for the event so please be mindful not to harm your chances. Your six hours start now and may the best bug win." Opening the door people started to stream out, Ash following at a more sedate pace.
The park was absolutely huge, easily the same size as the one in Kanto Ash mused as he walked alongside a pond that was pretty big.
"Do you even have a Pokémon in mind?" Pikachu asked curiously.
"No" Ash replied "to be honest Pi after the events of the last few weeks I just want a relaxing few hours away from people and battles. So, I don't really plan on catching anything, we have enough bug Pokémon at home."
"Fair enough" Pikachu said as he sat down beside Ash and began to have dinner. They'd been walking for hours now so they were pretty hungry. Twenty minutes later though Ash noticed someone heading his way.
"Hello" he said surprised at who it was "Casey right?"
"Hi Ash" she said greeting him "yeah, I'm Casey. I didn't expect to see you here though. Why are you here?"
"I'm here to have a relaxing time away from life on the road" he said patting the ground at his side and looking out over the pond "I already have hundreds of Bug Pokémon at home so I don't really need one from here."
"Oh" she said "I'm here for a Beedrill or a Combee. They're very pretty Pokémon."
"And yellow and black" Ash remarked earning an enthusiastic nod.
"Yup" she said "black and yellow Pokémon are my favourites. So far I have Bayleef, Pikachu and Sunkern so far. My dream though is to catch an Electabuzz."
"That's a very doable challenge" Ash said "although I don't think there's anywhere in Johto where Electabuzz live."
"I know" she said blowing out her cheeks "it sucks but I may have to travel to Kanto to the Power Plant." Not seeing Ash shiver she carried on "Oh look, those are pretty rare." looking over Ash smiled as he saw two Surskit dancing over the pond, skating on top.
"Hmmm" Ash pondered as he looked at the time, they had an hour left before they needed to head back to the entrance area "have you caught anything yet?"
"No" she replied shaking her head "I've not seen anything I wanted yet. Why?"
"I've always wanted Surskit for my home and they look like they're having fun together." Ash said "If you catch one, I'll catch the other and I'll trade you for yours. I have a few Pokémon at home that may want to travel that I think you'll like."
"Combee and Beedrill?" she asked.
"Yes" Ash said nodding "I have quite a few of each. So, what do you say?"
After a few minutes thinking about it she nodded and stood up, Ash joining her. As they looked at the Surskit as called out his Lapras.
"Can you go and get those Surskit please? We'd like to ask them something. Do not attack or we'll be kicked out of here." Ash said.
Nodding she headed over slowly so as not to startle them and explained her trainer wanted to speak to them. Warily the headed over to Ash who explained as best he could why he wanted them both for his home. It took some convincing but eventually they nodded, and Casey and Ash caught them. Recalling Lapras after thanking her he released Salamence. "We need a lift back to the park entrance Queenie, could you give us a lift?" after a minute of staring at Casey who looked very nervous being near the huge dragon she lowered her neck and Ash climbed on, helping Casey get on behind him and in one wingbeat they rose and swept to where the entrance was. Landing within eyeshot of the entrance he recalled Salamence and headed inside to wait for people to return. They knew they would have no chance of winning, especially when a Bug Catcher showed a shiny Scyther she'd caught but Ash was incredibly happy with getting two new Pokémon.
As they left Ash turned to her and said "Where are you heading now?"
"My next badge is Morty" she replied "why?"
"I'm heading to Ecruteak myself" he replied "but I'm in a rush to get there. I know it's only two days walk but I need to get there soon. Do you want to travel with me, or do you want to walk there?"
"I want to walk there" she said after a minute's thinking "thanks for the offer though."
"That's fine" Ash said releasing Salamence again "I'll meet you at the Pokémon centre in two days' time where I'll have your Pokémon for you. Thank you, Casey. You've been extremely helpful."
"No problem" she said smiling as she handed over the Pokéball. Minutes later Ash was winging his way to Ecruteak City. Landing just after nine he headed to the Pokémon centre and checked in, sending both Pokémon to Zoe. Before going to bed her rang his mum and told her he was safely in Ecruteak before hanging up. Looking at his phone he made a decision and dialled another number.
"Hello, I need a favour from you..."