Essence

by vincentgrey21

Ash has always wanted to be a pokemon master. When the time comes for him to pick out his first pokemon, he shocks Professor Oak with a peculiar request. One thing leads to another, and he ends up with a loyal Growlithe. How will this unique situation affect the boy's destiny?

5. Kanto 5

Kanto 5: Essence

"Ring…"

"Ring…"

"Ring…"

"I've got to take this..." said Ash as he and Austin sat in the Pokemon Center's shoddy waiting room, "It's my mom."

"Psht…good luck," replied Austin, "the conversation I had with my mom didn't go over so well."

"Hopefully, I'll have better luck then," muttered Ash before standing up and plodding over to an even more remote part of the already quiet lobby.

"Click..."

Austin gave Ash a dopey, double thumbs-up while the dark-haired boy nervously answered his xtranceiver, "Hi, Mom..."

He heard a massive sigh of relief emitted through the speaker before his mother replied, "Oh my God…Thank goodness you're alright! I just saw the news report! Honey, what happened?"

Morbid images of lifeless bodies, convulsive fires, and ruinous debris grated against his psyche as he recalled the abhorrent memories of the dark, early morning.

"It's hard to explain," Ash lied, "It all happened so fast."

Truth is, he could recollect every waking moment of the calamity: Growlithe's ferocious eyes, the trail blood, Chance's deceased body, the Rockets he'd left for dead, the Champion's courage, the information on Robert Montgomery's kidnapping, Wallace's outrage, and Pido and Dreca's immensity. Not to mention the news of the Master Ball, and their plans to protect it…

...But, he couldn't share any of that with his mother. She wouldn't understand. He'd have to keep the information he disclosed to her relatively surface-level.

His journey had taken a turn. He'd been exposed to things that no child his age should see. The boy's innocence had been stolen by the corrupt organization—Team Rocket. Sure, he would heal. Time would dull the damage done to his adolescent mind. His love and dedication to his pokemon remained untainted. Ash's character was still intact, but, that didn't change what he saw. Fate had unveiled to him what true evil looks like. He was no longer oblivious to the perversion that this world can spew out of its darkest corners.

"Are you okay?" asked his Mom, "Can you talk to me about it?"

Ash could feel his suppressed emotions begin to stir like a shaken soda can as his mother's voice reverberated through the tiny device.

"I-I d-don't know what to say," stuttered Ash, "we got off just in time. A second later and I would have been killed."

There was a momentary pause before his mother finally answered.

"...Ash," bemoaned his mother, weariness evident in her voice, "…do you love being a pokemon trainer?"

"O-of course I do," stammered Ash as he willed the formulating tears from surfacing. "Y-You know that, Mom. W-why would you ask me that?"

"…Are you positive?"

"Yes, I'm positive," answered Ash after regaining control over his speech, "Now, please, tell me. Why would you ask me that?"

"Well, because…if you would have given me a wish-washy answer," said Delia, "I don't think I could justify to myself why I'm letting you do this."

"Do what?"

"What you're doing," answered his mother emotionally, "Ash, the world we live in is a dangerous place. Over the past month and a half, I've been stretched further than I've ever been stretched before. It's not easy letting you travel alone, especially when crazy stuff like what just occurred happens. The only reason I'm not dragging your butt home is that I'd be ripping away your dreams in the process. Ash, you mean the world to me…if I would have lost you today, I don't know what I would do."

Tears welled up in his eyes as his mother's words breached his emotional defense. "I know, Mom, I know. And I'm so sorry that I'm putting you through that. It's just…well, it's just that I'm not alone. I have my pokemon with me; don't forget that. What happened today was unpreventable. The SS Anne was supposed to be safe."

"But it wasn't safe!" replied his mother with conviction, "That's exactly my point. The world we live in is unpredictable. I have no idea what kind of daily challenges you're going to face. And it's impossible for me to protect you from so far away."

"Mom…" Ash mumbled, "that's one of the reasons I have my pokemon. They can protect me."

"But, what happens if you run into something like the SS Anne again?" blurted his mom, "what happens if you're caught off guard?"

There was a brief break in conversation as Ash thought of an appropriate response.

"Then I'll just have to train my pokemon so that they're always on guard," answered Ash, "Even when I'm not."

His mother stumbled over her words as she replied, "B-but, Ash, how are you going to do that?"

"Mom, I've already built a team with a unique knack for sensing danger," said Ash, "I'll just have to rely on the growth of their senses as they mature."

In response to Ash's words, his mom put forth a disoriented laugh amidst her worried inflection. "You sure have a lot of confidence in your pokemon, young man. Maybe it would help if I got a chance to meet them."

"I don't know how we could do that any time soon," said Ash, "Unless…you came and visited me."

"Hmm…that's a viable option," answered his mother, "I'll have to look into it."

"Until then, do you think you can trust my pokemon and I to make do?"

"I don't think I have much of a choice," stated his mother dubiously. "Honey, just don't be reckless. I know you couldn't have avoided what happened to the SS Anne. But you can avoid things that you know are risky, right?"

It killed Ash to be unable to comply, but he didn't have much of a choice. That was a promise that he couldn't keep. After what he'd seen aboard the SS Anne, he couldn't just sit around and do nothing. He had gotten himself wrapped up into something bigger than himself, and he had already made the decision to help thwart Team Rocket's unclear plot of evil involving Silph Co...

"I'll try, Mom," said Ash, "but like you said, the world is unpredictable."

Before his mother retorted, he heard an exasperated sigh of frustration echo out of the device. "Ashy, are you using my words against me?"

"…Maybe."

"That's not fair," huffed his mom, "but I guess I should just be happy that you acknowledge the danger of your travels. A trainers' biggest downfall is their misguided sense of invulnerability."

The concept of mortality was a point that Professor Oak had instilled in Ash and Gary from the very beginning of their studies. Ash knew that he wasn't invincible. He knew that he had limits. He was a ten-year-old boy in a hazardous world. The dark-haired boy understood that he was only as safe as his pokemon were strong. That's one of the reasons why he intended to raise beasts. Even more than before, the incident aboard the SS Anne unveiled something to him. Training his pokemon to their potential was no longer just a goal; it was a necessity.

For Ash to be able to travel with complete confidence, he needed to get stronger. Before the SS Anne, he was training for potential and goals. They were still a great driving force in his dedication to his pokemon, but now he had another reason. Survival: one of the most fundamental aspects of life. Like his mother said, the world is unpredictable. The only way to beat unpredictability is preparation…

"You're right," answered Ash after taking a big breath. "I know my limits."

"Just remember, Ash, you can be whatever you want to be. You can grow as strong as you want to grow," promised his mom, "but right now you're ten, and you just started your journey. Please don't get in over your head."

"Like I said earlier, I'll try," replied Ash.

"Please do…" implored Delia with emotion behind her words. "It would help me sleep better at night."

"Alright," Ash lied guiltily, "I will."

"Good," answered his mother in a slightly cheerier voice, "I'm glad."

A couple of minutes passed by as they engaged in small talk. The conversation mostly involved daily matters such as food, clothing, hygiene and money. He thought about telling his mother about the prizes he'd earned for placing third in the SS Anne's tournament, but he decided against it. He didn't want to initiate anymore conversation surrounding the sunken ship.

"Well, I've got to get going. Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

"There was something…" mumbled his mom, "but I'm having a tough time remembering what it was."

"Do you want me to wait until you remem—"

"Got it!" interrupted his mom before her voice turned solemn, "The news report said that Robert Montgomery was amongst the missing persons' list. Have you talked to Bill? Is he okay?"

Ash covered the speaker on his xtranceiver as he cursed under his breath. He'd completely forgotten about Bill. He was so caught up in trying to figure out a way to rescue Mr. Montgomery that he had mentally lapsed over his friend who, probably, thought his father was dead.

News had yet to get out that Team Rocket was responsible for the bomb. The public was aware that there had been a terrorist attack—but no one other than himself, Wallace, and Austin knew of the perpetrators. That would probably change soon. Going off of what the Rockets they encountered said, Team Rocket wanted the credit for the assailment. But, they would most likely wait until they made their next move. Having Mr. Montgomery counted as dead was to their benefit until they got their hands on the Master Ball.

Moreover; Ash, Austin, and Wallace were forced to keep their mouths shut. Team Rocket was aware that somebody had found out about the bomb on account of the fact that thousands of people had survived the explosion. However, there was no way for them to know who was aware of their plot to steal the Master Ball or if anyone was at all. Therefore, their advantage existed within the realm of surprise. Team Rocket's plan to steal the Master Ball, as far as they knew, was an absolute secret. It was Wallace's idea to keep it that way. If the wrong source gained knowledge that they were aware of Team Rocket's plot, it could ruin their chance of saving Mr. Montgomery…

"I haven't had a chance to call him yet," answered Ash, "I will as soon as our conversation is over."

"Honey, you need to call him as soon as possible," replied Delia. "He's probably in pretty bad shape. He could use a friend's support."

"Alright, I will," promised Ash, "I'll talk to you later, Mom. Please, stop worrying so much. I'll be just fine."

"I'll try, Ashy…" said his mom with a sigh.

"Talk to you soon. I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Click."

"Damn, that sounded like a rough one!" blurted Austin as Ash approached his teenage friend.

The dark-haired boy unloaded himself into one of the Pokemon Center's uncomfortable chairs while releasing a heavy sigh. "It definitely was…"

"Don't worry, though," said Austin, "I've done this thing thousands of times. She'll get over it. At the end of the day, you picked up. Just make sure you always do; it's the best way to get them to stop worrying so much."

"Yeah," replied Ash with a huff, "that makes sense."

The chiseled faced teen changed the subject, obviously trying to get Ash's mind off of the guilt involving his mother's heartache. "So, where are we supposed to meet Wallace again?"

Ash caught onto Austin's scheme, but decided to fall prey to it. It was a kind gesture, and the distraction would most likely help. "He wants us to meet him at the Pokemart in an hour. He's still arranging transportation options for the rest of the SS Anne escapees."

"Oh, right," drawled Austin, "he wants us to stock up on supplies before we head out to Saffron City."

"Yup," said Ash, "too bad we don't have more time. I would have liked to explore Lavender Town a little more."

"Screw that, why?" asked Austin incredulously. "There's nothing here but sketchy suburbs, the crappy radio spire, and that dreadful Pokemon Tower."

To be honest, Ash didn't really know all that much about Lavender Town. He'd heard stories about it being infested with ghost pokemon, but he wasn't sure. Ghosts were a peculiar phenomenon. They usually couldn't be found unless they wanted to be. Silph Co. had developed a product called the Silph Scope—which was supposed to aide trainers that wanted to hunt down a specimen by tracking their spectral essence. But, they were an extremely high-end product that cost thousands of dollars to develop and even more to purchase.

However, that didn't change his desire to train a ghost of his own. A gastly would be the perfect pokemon to battle Sabrina with—and because of the SS Anne, he visited Lavender Town way earlier than he'd originally anticipated. Unfortunately, without a Silph Scope and a lack of knowledge of the ghost pokemons' whereabouts, he likely didn't have the time to hunt one down.

"Eh, it would have been nice to catch a ghost," said Ash, disappointingly. "My next gym battle's against Sabrina. Right now, I don't have a single pokemon with an advantage."

"Um, well, why don't you catch one then?" asked Austin matter-of-factly.

"Because we don't have time for that," answered Ash, "we've got to save Mr. Montgomery."

"Then we'll make time," said Austin. "It's gonna take a few days to get to Saffron anyway. Wallace and I can go on ahead. You can just catch up on your pidgeotto as soon as you're done."

Ash mulled it over, "That still doesn't change the fact that I don't have a silph scope."

"You don't need one," answered Austin candidly, "you've got everything you need to track one down."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"Ghosts aren't exactly my forte," said Austin, "but I have a friend that caught a gastly back when I was traveling Kanto, and he definitely didn't have the kind of cash needed to buy a silph scope."

Ash leaned forward curiously, "If he didn't use a silph scope, how—"

"He has an arcanine," interrupted Austin with a smirk. "Well, at the time, I guess it was a growlithe."

Ash listened attentively while Austin raised a question.

"What's one technique the growlithe species naturally learns that no other pokemon in Kanto has in their learnset?"

Ash's eyes lit up as he instantly knew what technique Austin was referring to, "Odor Sleuth!"

"Exactly," confirmed Austin with a smile, "and what's Odor Sleuth's primary function?"

"To make ghost pokemon dimensional!" yelled Ash elatedly. "It's used to force them out of their incorporeal guises."

"Bingo," said Austin, "and when Odor Sleuth's put in combination with Growlithe's extraordinary sense of smell, you've got yourself the perfect ghost hunter."

Ash stood up from his seat cheerfully, "Austin, you're a genius!"

The messy-haired teenager leaned back in his chair with an arrogant smirk, "Thanks for noticing."

Ash disregarded the cocky comment before raising a question, "Did your friend tell you where he found his gastly?"

"He found it in the Pokemon Tower," replied Austin. "It's definitely your best bet. The place is a seven-story graveyard: the perfect habitat for ghosts. It's also a good place to find cubone. I actually caught my marowak right around the third floor or something like that."

"Sounds kind of creepy," answered Ash, "but I guess it's worth a shot. I'll look there."

"And I'm sure you'll find one," said the chiseled faced teenager. "Just make sure you're careful. Ghosts aren't exactly placid when spotted."

Just before Ash got a chance to reply, Lavender Town's dispassionate Nurse Joy interjected—her voice being amplified by the front desk's microphone. "Ash Ketchum, Austin Turner—please report to the front desk. Your pokemon are finished recovering."

After picking their pokeballs up from the dullest Nurse Joy Ash had ever met, they exited the outdated Pokemon Center. Lavender Town's pokemon center was extremely unimpressive. It was small and lacked a lot of the prototypical features that a pokemon center was supposed to have. It basically only consisted of a single anachronous lobby and a medical wing. There were no hostels, and it seemed to be empty most of the time. It was pretty evident that Lavender Town got the short end of the stick in terms of League funding.

"What do you want to do until we're supposed to meet up with Wallace?" asked Austin as they walked towards the nearby Pokemart. "Before you head over to the Pokemon Tower, I think you should talk to Wallace. He'll probably have a couple of things he wants to say to you before we head to Saffron."

"I agree," said Ash. "Until then, there's a couple of things I need to take care of."

"Alright cool," said Austin, "I'm gonna head over to one of the shops across the street. I need to buy some clothes. I wasn't able to pack up everything back on the ship. I figure I'll spend some of my prize money on a new wardrobe."

"Okay," replied Ash as he checked the time on his xtranceiver, "I'll see you at the Pokemart in an hour. I've got to make a call, and I want to spend a little bit of time with my pokemon."

"Yup, sounds good to me," said Austin while beginning to cross the street, "see you in a bit."

"See you later," replied Ash as he walked forward towards the edge of town.

After splitting off from Austin, Ash immediately released Growlithe. Upon release, the puppy pokemon shook out his fur before looking up at his trainer with amicable eyes. The dark-haired boy joyfully smiled back. After seeing Growlithe's feral expression aboard the SS Anne, Ash was very happy to see his puppy pokemon's typical friendly countenance. The ten-year-old boy wasn't stupid; he knew that Growlithe had to be processing the horrible anterior events. As long as the pup could look at him with those affable eyes, he knew everything would be okay.

"How are you doing, buddy?" asked Ash inquisitively. "Are you feeling refreshed from Nurse Joy's restoration machine?"

Growlithe happily yipped before flashing Ash an expression that depicted curiosity.

"Good, I'm glad you feel better," said Ash, "and I'm doing alright, still processing the insanity from earlier. I have a feeling it's going to take a while to fully comprehend what happened."

Growlithe nodded his head, signifying his agreement.

"Well…anyways," babbled Ash, "the plans have changed since we made them on top of Pido's back. I know we said we would head straight to Saffron after we got our pokemon healed, but after talking to Austin, I decided that I really want to catch a ghost pokemon while we're here. We're going to meet up with Wallace and Austin in an hour."

The puppy pokemon looked up at Ash with attentive eyes.

"From there, they'll head to Saffron, and we'll stay behind," informed Ash while pointing at a tall, ominous spire on the opposite side of the eerie town. "We're gonna catch a ghost-type at that tower over there. Apparently, it's where they like to hang out."

Growlithe looked out at the tower with an interested expression. His nostrils quavered as the pup appeared to catch a whiff of something intriguing.

"Smell something strange?" asked Ash with a knowing smile. "It should be bizarre, almost unnatural."

Growlithe used his head to give Ash a positive gesture before slowly beginning to creep toward the scent.

"Not right now," ordered Ash, "I know it's probably interesting, but we have some stuff we have to get done before we head over there. Like I said, first we have to talk Wallace. But before we can do that, I have to call Bill and see how he's doing. And after I've talked to Bill, we've got to check on Ivysaur. I haven't seen him since he evolved, and I don't feel comfortable letting him battle until I've examined him."

The puppy pokemon did as his trainer said – discarding the scent – for now. The alluring aroma felt estranged, yet inviting, almost like it was yearning for interaction. The canine looked forward to meeting its source. The scent was one of many—all branching from the same evolutionary line. Some were weaker; some were more powerful. But, the one that stood out to Growlithe, didn't stick out on account of its power. There was something else. Its scent was bright amidst a plethora of darkness. The aroma depicted an image of a single lit candle surrounded by a chasm of black.

Growlithe's aromatic rumination was cut short by the sound of his trainer's voice.

"Let's go find somewhere quiet," said Ash. "I promised my mom I'd call Bill as soon as possible.

The puppy pokemon followed Ash as the dark-haired boy continued towards the outskirts of town, passing through the suburbs along the way. Lavender Town's suburban area was, as Austin would say, sketchy. Despite the housings' relatively nice architecture, it had a peculiar vibe to it. It was rare that Ash saw another active person. Everyone seemed to be shacked up in their ranch-style homes. There were a lot of for sale signs. Ash didn't know if it was a coincidence, but it seemed as if there was a collective desire to get out. All it took was a fifteen minute walk through Lavender Town's neighborhoods, and Ash understood where Austin was coming from. This definitely wasn't a place he desired to be. He'd catch a ghost and get out. There was no other reason to stick around.

It wasn't until Ash reached the outermost edge of the small town that he found a good place to check on Ivysaur. He caught sight of a rather large clearing. There was a decent enough proximity in between himself and the nearest establishment that he didn't have to worry about breaking anything throughout the examination. However, before he released Ivysaur, he'd call Bill's lighthouse.

While listening to the encompassing willow trees rustle on account of the steady breeze, Ash proceeded to scroll through the contacts programmed into his xtranceiver. He located the contact that corresponded to Bill's lighthouse before pressing the on-screen dial option.

"Ring…"

"Ring…"

"Ring…"

Ash patted a patient Growlithe on the head as the mobile video phone continued to dial.

"Ring…"

"Ring…"

"Click."

The small dial screen on the xtranceiver briskly converted to a shot of Bill's pensive mug. The billionaire pokemon researcher looked like he'd been crying: his eyes were red and his nose was runny. Bill's curly hair was a mess, and his whole entire face looked to be perspiring. Just like Ash's mother had warned him, Bill was in bad shape.

"Hey, Ash…" whimpered Bill as he rubbed his eyes. "Are you calling to offer your condolences like every other bloody plonker that has my number?"

"Jeez," answered Ash indelicately, "you're a mess."

"Of course I am," muttered Bill in an edgy intonation. "My old man was on the bloody SS Anne. Now, why are you calling, Ash? One of our family employees is coming to pick me up within the hour. I've got to catch a flight to Cerulean City later this evening. I don't have time to be chit-chatting."

"Well, you're going to want to hear what I have to say," said Ash. "Please, take a second to hear me out. It's important."

"At a time like this?" jabbed Bill with an annoyed facial expression.

"Yes, at a time like this. Just trust me. I wouldn't continue to bother you if it wasn't important," insisted Ash. "It's pertained to your father."

Bill raised a single eyebrow, "It's about Dad; I'm listening."

"I was aboard the SS Anne, Bill," said Ash, "and I met your dad, he's an awesome guy."

"You were what!?" exclaimed Bill, "Ash, you were there for that bloody tragedy!? Are you alright!?"

"For the most part, I'm fine," answered Ash, "I saw some stuff that I'd rather not have. But, physically, I'm okay."

"Thank God, you're alright," said Bill while resting his face in his palms. "I don't know what I would have done if I lost my father and my friend in the same bloody day!"

"Don't worry about me," said Ash with a smile, "like I said, I'm just fine."

"You sure?"

"Positive," answered Ash.

"Alright…if you say so," said Bill as he looked back up at the video phone's camera. "Now, what is it that you want to tell me?"

"What I'm about to tell you is top secret information," said Ash. "The only people that know about it is my friend, Austin Turner, and the Champion of Hoenn, Wallace Mikari.

"You know Wallace Mikari?" asked Bill incredulously.

"Yes," said Ash, "we became friends aboard the ship. I met your dad through Wallace."

"Right," replied Bill with a nod, "that makes sense. Last I heard from my dad, he was discussing development plans with Wallace."

"Involving the Master Ball," replied Ash with a smirk.

"How do you kno—"

"Wallace told me," interrupted Ash. "It's one of the main reasons I called you."

"Why would Wallace tell you about that?" asked Bill. "My father just told me about the Master Ball a couple of weeks ago. He was freaking out because he thought that some blighter was trying to steal it. Only a select few are aware of its existence."

"He told me because your dad isn't dead," said Ash resolutely. "Team Rocket planted the bomb. And one of the reasons why they did it was to kidnap your father unnoticed."

Bill stared blankly at the screen as he internalized Ash's words.

The dark-haired boy gave Bill a moment to process. By the look on his face, he needed it.

"W-wait what?" asked Bill, dumfounded. "Dad's still alive..."

"Yup," said Ash, "one of the Rockets that Wallace interrogated said that Team Rocket's boss needed him for something. It was Wallace who figured out that they were after the Master Ball."

Bill suddenly jumped out of his seat ecstatically, temporarily drifting off-screen. "Dad's alive! Dad's alive! Dad's alive! Bloody hell, Dad's alive!"

Ash smiled as he watched his friend's demeanor instantaneously shift. Back at the lighthouse, the ten-year-old boy had jokingly made fun of Bill's dramatic behavior. However, in this moment, it was completely understandable. The pokemon researcher had just been given a ray of hope amidst his mental cataclysm. He had lost all aspiration only for it to be given back to him by one of his few friends.

The ten-year-old boy waited for Bill to come back to the camera before he continued, "Bill, you have to keep this a secret. Act as if you still think your dad is dead. We're working on a way to save him, and it's reliant upon this information staying a secret."

In response to Ash's words, Bill's countenance depicted seriousness, "Ash, this is my father were talking about. The only way I'm going to oblige to keep my bloody mouth shut is if you share your plan with me."

"Fair enough," said Ash with a shrug, "but just remember, I didn't have to tell you in the first place."

"But you did," replied Bill with a subtle smile, "because you're my friend, and friends don't keep important stuff from one another."

Ash bashfully scratched the back of his head, "You got me there. Now, let's see…the plan starts with where I am right now."

"And that is?" asked Bill curiously.

"Lavender Town," answered Ash neutrally. "We arrived here late this morning. We escaped the explosion via Wallace's wailords. The trip didn't take too long, and it was relatively smooth. Ever since we arrived, Wallace's been working out travel means for the other survivors—a request from Lance."

"Leave it to that knobhead Lance to parcel out his duties to another region's Champion," heckled Bill as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Ash ignored the comment as he continued, "Once Wallace is done, Wallace and Austin are going to head out to Saffron City. I'm going to meet up with them later today."

"Why aren't you leaving with them?" asked Bill with an interested cast.

"I'm going to try and catch a ghost-type at the Pokemon Tower," replied Ash. "I'll catch up on Pidgeotto when I'm done."

"Ah, I see…" drawled Bill, "you're going after Sabrina next, eh?"

"Exactly," replied Ash, "I'm planning on taking her on with Clefairy and a ghost-type."

"Smart move," answered Bill. "Do you know her League registered team?"

"I don't. I keep forgetting to ask around," said Ash with a curious expression. "Do you?"

"I do," replied Bill with a smirk, "but finish telling me the rest of your plan...I'll tell you after."

Ash's facial expression jolted, "But!-"

"Nope," replied Bill furtively, "I'm not bloody budging."

"Fine," replied Ash curtly. "Well, anyway, after I meet up with Austin and Wallace; it'll probably take a few days to get to Saffron. Wallace is convinced that Team Rocket won't make their move until then."

"Why?" interrupted Bill.

"We had it explained to us aboard the ship," said Ash, "that Team Rocket's boss has appointed members called 'executives' that lead the organizations operations. There was one aboard the SS Anne. However, we are unaware of the executive lead's identity."

"What does that have to—"

"I'm not done," angled Ash, "let me finish."

Bill nodded, allowing Ash to proceed.

"Silph Co. is under twenty-four hour surveillance by ACE trainers," said Ash. "You should know that on account of the fact that your dad is active CEO. You should also know that Ace trainers aren't a joke. Wallace told me about the rigorous regiment they're put through, by the League, in order to acquire the kind of power they have at their disposal."

"You're correct," answered Bill, "at all times, there should be at least a hundred ACE trainers stationed at Silph Co. and each and every one of them has been put through excruciating training by Kanto's Elite Four, themselves."

"Yup," said Ash, "however, Wallace told me that once every year, all ACE trainers are recalled for a mandatory examination of their skill level. During that time frame, they're secretly replaced by ACE trainer candidates—which is part of their final evaluation to become official League employees. On top of the inexperience, the League is only able to fork out about half of the normal amount of stationed trainers. The recall is in three days. Do you get where I'm going with this?"

"Bloody hell!" yelled Bill. "They're going to strike during the recall."

"That's our guess," said Ash with a frown. "It definitely makes sense."

"But the recall is top secret information," said Bill. "How could they possibly know about it? Unless—"

"Bill…" Ash interrupted, "they've been idle for five years. They infiltrated the SS Anne; who's to say they didn't infiltrate League ranks."

"Those friggin' rotters!" cursed Bill before forcing himself to calm down. "Now, where does this executive you were talking about come into play?

"The executive in charge of this operation most likely has your father," replied Ash bluntly. "They need him in order to get into the Master Ball's security room. We assume that there's some sort of DNA passcode."

"More like multiple," replied Bill. "I'm not sure of all the details, though."

"And neither are they," said Ash with a nod. "Hence the reason they captured him alive."

Bill rubbed the skin under his chin as he mulled something over. "Is there a reason why you guys are keeping this a secret from the League? Wouldn't it help if we had more firepower to stop them?"

"We don't know who to trust," said Ash simply. "I know Lance and the Elite Four are probably safe, but who knows how deep Team Rocket's infiltrated. If news gets out that someone is aware of their plot, we might lose our only chance at rescuing your father."

"Gotchya," replied Bill, "understandable. So, is there anything I can do other than sit back on my bloody arse and wait for all of this to unfold?"

Ash slyly smiled, "As a matter of fact, there is…"

"What is it?"

"Come up with an awesome disguise and change your flight to Saffron," said Ash.

"Oooooh, that sounds fun," drawled Bill. "What do you fancy I'd be doing?"

"Recon," said Ash. "It would be great if you could be on the lookout for any suspicious movement. If we can figure out where they're hiding out, it would be a huge advantage."

Bill practically jumped out of his seat. "This is going to be a blast! I better start working on a clever disguise!"

"No pokemon costumes," Ash jested, "especially kabuto."

Bill gave Ash a wry expression, "Just because I messed up once, doesn't make me a bloody cack. Besides, that would hardly be a suitable disguise. I plan on going completely incognito on those bastards."

Ash laughed, "You do that Bill. I can't wait to see what you come up with."

"It's going to be bloody great. I better get working on it," said Bill. "Thanks for telling me about my dad. I trust you'll get him back."

"Absolutely," said Ash, "we'll definitely get him back. We have a Champion on our side."

"Very true," replied Bill. "Now, I'm going to go Ash. Good luck catching a gho—"

"Wait!" blurted Ash with vigor. "You still have to tell me what Sabrina's registered pokemon are!"

"Oh yeah…" muttered Bill as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, for rookies she doesn't stray away from the abra evolutionary line. For trainers with less than three badges, Sabrina uses an abra and a kadabra. But if you've got more than three, who knows what the bloody hell she'll use. The woman is a monster."

"Good thing I've got one more rookie gym battle," said Ash. "If I manage to get a ghost-type, it should be doable."

"Now that you know Sabrina's registered team, I'm going to go," said Bill. "I've got a disguise to create."

Ash laughed, "Suit yourself…later, Bill."

"See ya, mate!"

"Click."

Ash watched as the miniature screen on his xtranceiver read: "Call Ended" after Bill's face rapidly cut out.

"He's just as entertaining as ever," laughed Ash as he looked down at Growlithe.

The puppy pokemon looked up at him with disappointed eyes. Ash had failed to notice Growlithe's eager expression that persisted throughout the entire conversation. The pup had wanted to say hello to the researcher as well.

Ash frowned. All it took was one look at his starter for the boy to know what was wrong. "My bad, boy, I was so busy appeasing Bill that I didn't notice. I should have known that you wanted to say hello. Don't get too upset, though. We'll see him soon enough."

Growlithe's expression slightly lightened up as Ash leant over and scratched the fur behind his ears.

"Now, what do you say we check on Ivysaur?" suggested Ash.

The puppy pokemon nodded his head elatedly as he was anxious to see his teammate's new form.

Ash proceeded to unclip Ivysaur's pokeball from his trainer belt before releasing the saurian grass-type. In wake of the release's flash of white light, the evolved specimen darted his eyes back and forth observing his surroundings. Once Ivysaur had deciphered the purpose of the situation, he calmed down.

"Hey, Ivysaur," crooned Ash as he watched the grass-type's four fronds flutter with the wind, "how are you feeling?"

The seed pokemon happily nodded his head up and down, bespeaking his super-eminent well-being.

Ash couldn't help but smile. His grass-type appeared to have retained his auspicious personality. "Good. I'm glad. Do you feel stronger?"

In advance to Ash's question, Ivysaur protruded his vines ostensibly examining his new body. After checking his vines, he bunglingly lifted his forelegs inspecting his reconstructed muscles. The seed pokemon seemed to be impressed by his new form.

Even more importantly, it appeared as though Ivysaur's trauma had yet to surface. Ash would be lying if he said he wasn't worried about it. Ever since Melanie had filled him in on Ivysaur's past, it had been a looming thought in the back of his head. Nevertheless, Ash was prepared to support Ivysaur throughout his mental assailment. However, that didn't change the fact that he hoped it would come later rather than sooner. Right now, there was just way too much chaos going on.

"Seems you're happy with your new form," said Ash with a grin. "How would you like to test your techniques?"

Ivysaur nodded affirmatively.

"Awesome," said Ash, "now, before we do anything, does your body feel awkward at all? Evolution tends to irk coordination. Other than your bud, there haven't been any extreme changes to your physique. You're bigger, but I did some research and found out that your species doesn't typically go through a physical ineptitude phase until the venusaur stage."

Ivysaur shook his head left to right before cantering off into the clearing. His pink bud fidgeted atop his back as he bound across the faded grass. Ash didn't descry any inelegance within his physical proficiency. His speed had taken a slight negative hit, but that was to be expected. Ash couldn't wait to see the fresh, new fruits of his transformation.

"Let's see how fast you are after you use Chlorophyll!" bellowed Ash from across the field. "Activate it!"

Ivysaur obediently carried out Ash's orders, absorbing the solar rays emitted from the bright, yellow sun. He instantly noticed the difference in the capability of his new bud. Compared to his primary form's bulb, it was much more efficient. The assimilation phase was quicker, and the result was a much stronger organic steroid. The saurian facilitated it from his internal beaker, into his legs, greatly enhancing his speed.

"Now this should be interesting…" said Ash to Growlithe as Ivysaur prepared to burst forward.

The puppy pokemon acknowledged his trainer's comment with a yap while staring straight ahead.

Ash watched in awe as Ivysaur took off in a blur. After being pumped up with chlorophyll, the boy's Ivysaur was even faster than he was antecedent to evolution. Ash made a mental note to check if the League manufactured Sunny Day TM's. Sunny Day is a fire-type technique that allows the user to manipulate the encompassing skies to clear out a pathway for the sun. Ash had never actually seen it done before, but it was also rumored that high-level pokemon can grow capable of procreating a temporary artificial light source that acts as an ersatz sun indoors. Ash was pretty sure Ivysaur couldn't learn the technique naturally. However, it would be nice to be able to use his saurian's ability regardless of weather forecast.

Ash looked down at his starter with a benevolent grin. Growlithe glanced back up at Ash with impressed eyes.

"That's enough!" exclaimed Ash—directed towards Ivysaur. "Great job, that was fantastic!"

Ivysaur compliantly slowed down while returning to Ash's side slightly out of breath. The grass-type's countenance portrayed satisfaction as he looked up at his proud trainer.

"No coordination problems," reported Ash with a smirk, "and your ability checks out even better than I could have imagined. Are you ready to check your techniques?"

The evolved saurian nodded like a novelty bobble head. He couldn't wait to explore even more of his newfound strength.

"Alright, so I'm not too worried about your physical attacks," said Ash, "so we don't have to check those. I'm much more interested in observing your elemental techniques and status moves. My guess is that your evolution has primarily affected you in those two areas."

Ivysaur listened attentively as Ash continued.

"Let's start with Leech Seed," suggested Ash. "I'd rather not have you use it on one of your teammates right now. So, how about we just check your propulsion rate?"

"You see that willow tree over there?" asked Ash while pointing at one of the faraway, deciduous trees. "Hit its trunk."

Ivysaur disembogued a low, acquiescent grunt as he turned his body to directly face the willow tree. He used his bud to internally hatch a cluster of parasitic seeds before loading them into his two protrusion slots.

In the blink of an eye, Ash observed while Ivysaur emanated a battery of green, glowing pellets. They shot through the air at a breakneck pace, resulting in a quiet crash as they imbedded themselves within the living host. The willow tree's trunk was then wrapped up in a net of vines which proceeded to fluctuate into the same verdant hue as the seeds.

"Good job, Ivysaur. Your Leech Seed looks great," praised Ash before looking at Growlithe and pointing back towards the tree. "Growlithe, can you bite off that Leech Seed? I'd hate to kill the tree."

Growlithe happily obliged, scampering off towards the tree in order to carry out his trainer's order.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ash watched Growlithe sink his teeth into the fluorescent, parasitic web. However, his primary focus was on Ivysaur who he was currently giving his next order to, "Let me see your Vine Whip, please."

Ivysaur quickly distended his thick, vine-like appendages before swinging them down at the ground like a sledge hammer. As the whips hit the faded grass, there was a turbulent thump!

Ash whistled in response to Ivysaur's blatant power boost. Left in Vine Whip's aftermath was a crevasse. It was by no means large, but it was nevertheless a depression—which was something Ivysaur wasn't capable of when he was a bulbasaur.

"Wow," stated Ash, "I'd hate to be on the other end of that."

Ivysaur smirked after hearing Ash's comment—his two, protruding, upper teeth gave him a slight look of arrogance throughout the expression.

"I guess the only things left to check are both of your status powders," said Ash as Growlithe returned from the willow tree, "but that's for you to figure out on your own. I can't really help you there. You should try and keep the component levels relatively close to what they were when you were a bulbasaur. The only thing I'd really like to know is whether or not your secretion sacs have grown?"

The evolved saurian did a quick diagnostic of the inside of his bud before giving Ash an affirmative nod.

"So they're bigger?" asked Ash, looking for reassurance.

Ivysaur repeated his nod—this time putting forth a gentle grunt throughout its duration.

"Do you need time to figure out the measurements for your concoctions again?" asked Ash, "or can you make your status powders now?"

The saurian grass-type proceeded to close his eyes focusing in on his intramural beaker. He prepared his Poison Powder first, carefully measuring and mixing a hodgepodge of toxic chemicals in order to create a sickening solution. Once it was properly mixed, he facilitated it into one of his designated secretion sacs. The seed pokemon quickly repeated the process. This time he brewed a batch of his powerful Sleep Powder. In subsequence to Sleep Powder's formulation, he emptied his internal beaker into another secretion sac.

When Ivysaur was finished, he opened his eyes...exiting his internal laboratory.

"How'd it go?" asked Ash.

Simultaneous to Ash's question, Growlithe looked over at his evolved teammate with a curious cast.

Ivysaur simply smiled while muttering something happily in his native language.

"Sweet!" exclaimed Ash, "it looks like all of your techniques are just fine. I'm going to have to check the pokedex to figure out what move we're going to learn next. Here's the good news, I definitely think you're just fine to continue training like normal."

Growlithe concurrently yapped something affirming towards his comrade garnering an elated response from the grass-type.

"I'm glad you're proud of yourself, my friend," said Ash before addressing both Ivysaur and Growlithe. "Now, what do you say, you two? Would you like to walk back to the Pokemart with me? It's about time we meet up with Wallace and Austin."

Both Growlithe and Ivysaur synchronously emanated a compliant murmur as Ash cheerfully led them back towards the heart of town.

XXX

Ten minutes prior to when Ash was supposed to meet Wallace and Austin, he arrived outside of the Pokemart. The dark-haired boy took a seat on one of the town's public benches as Growlithe and Ivysaur sat on both sides of his grounded feet.

"I guess...we'll just wait here," said Ash as he took off his backpack in precedence to laying it down next to him on top of the ironclad bench.

"Might as well do something productive," muttered Ash while unzipping one of his backpack's multiple pockets.

Ash heard Growlithe and Ivysaur's inquisitive murmurs as they curiously watched their trainer.

"I'm looking for my pokedex," said Ash, "I stuffed it in my backpack when I was rushed to pack everything back on the ship. I haven't needed it since, so it's still in here."

While he was digging through his bag's middle pocket, he suddenly felt a slightly sticky metallic sphere. At first he was confused; he kept all of his pokeballs inside of his bag's back pocket. However, as he pulled the scarlet stained orb out of concealment, a spine-tingling image of himself crouching over Chance Chapman's lacerated body pierced through his mind. Once again, He could practically feel the frigidness put forth from Swampert's Ice Beam while he replayed the memory of himself wiping the blood from Chance's pokeballs.

Ivysaur and Growlithe emitted cries of worry as Ash's complexion turned pale. The mental image was suddenly broken when Growlithe used his head to nudge Ash's leg, garnering his attention.

"Sorry, boy," bemoaned Ash, "I just remembered that there's something else I have to do."

Ivysaur looked up at Ash, befuddled, before glancing at Growlithe in just as confused of a manner. The puppy pokemon, however, knew exactly what Ash was talking about. He stood up from his spot on the ground before waiting for Ash to lead the way. Ash didn't waste any time; he'd have to make this quick. The dark-haired boy was supposed to meet Wallace and Austin in less than ten minutes.

The ten-year-old boy led both of his pokemon around the back of the nearby Pokemon Center looking for a quiet place to make his third phone call of the day. He found a small, vacant, public playground across the road from the Pokemon Center's posterior. It wasn't exactly your typical station of solitude, but it would work just fine. He beckoned both of his confused pokemon to follow him across the playground's sand and up the jungle gym, where he leaned up against the play structure's metallic railing.

Ash looked down at Growlithe and Ivysaur who both synchronously released an inquisitorial yowl.

"From up here, we can see if anyone's approaching," said Ash. "I've got to call Professor Oak and let him know that I'm sending over Chance's pokeballs. There's no way the professor won't ask questions. I have a feeling I'm going to have to tell him about everything that happened..."

Growlithe simply nodded, understanding his trainer's motive.

Ivysaur still looked as confused as a slowpoke while he spoke something in his native tongue directed towards Growlithe.

"While I'm on the phone with the professor, why don't you fill Ivysaur in on what's going on." Ash said to Growlithe while flipping through the contacts programmed into his xtranceiver. "I'll try and make it quick."

Growlithe nodded as Ash pressed dial, "Remember…be on the lookout. No one can hear this conversation."

Both of his pokemon proceeded to put forth affirmative grunts.

"Ring…"

"Ring…"

"Ring…"

"Click."

"Ash, my boy, I was just about to call you!" blustered the professor as his worried, lived-in face appeared on screen. "I just got off the phone with your mother. Are you okay?"

"Err…I'm alright, I guess…" mumbled Ash; he should have known that his mom would call the professor.

"You sure don't look it," answered the professor bluntly while pointing at the screen. "I've known you since you were a toddler, Ash, and I've never seen your eyes so tired."

"Well, I only got a few hours of sleep last night," said Ash. "I was kind of busy escaping the SS Anne."

"That's not what I mean," replied the professor. "Your semblance has changed since the last time I talked to you. While your face looks ten, your eyes look aged. Reminiscent of the boy I met back—"

Ash watched as the professor stopped himself mid-sentence, scratching his head anxiously as if he'd sputtered something he shouldn't have.

"Well n-never mind. That's beside the point…" stuttered the professor. "The point I'm trying to make is that you look like you've seen something. Talk to me child."

Ash decided to ignore the professor's bizarre behavior for now. He wanted to get straight to the point of why he was calling.

He had to be careful concerning what intel he shared. He trusted the professor with his life, but the old man's loyalty to his mother was unprecedented. The dark-haired boy would only disclose information about what had happened; he had zero plans to share his involvement in what was to come.

"Professor, please don't tell my mom about what I'm about to tell you," said Ash in precedence to the info he was about to disclose. "She would freak out if she knew what really happened aboard the ship."

"If I deem it for the best," said Professor Oak, "I will remain silent. Now carry on."

Ash momentarily hesitated before continuing.

"I'm the one that found out about the bomb," said Ash with a firm countenance.

The professor's posture changed as he sat up in his chair. His expression depicted attentiveness while he looked Ash in the eyes, "How, what happened?"

Ash ignored the lump in his throat as he recalled the memories of the crepuscular, early outset.

"It all started when I suddenly woke up after hearing a loud crash outside of my lodge. I knew something was wrong, but it wasn't until I saw Growlithe's expression that I realized that it must be something serious."

"Ah…yes, the species is incredible at sensing danger," said Professor Oak. "It was wise of you to trust Growlithe's judgement."

"Thanks," replied Ash. "Anyways, Growlithe had me hurry up and pack up of all my stuff. He was pretty adamant that there was a chance we wouldn't be coming back."

"Intriguing…" muttered the professor under his breath as Ash continued.

"After I finished packing, we left the room. Growlithe instantly took off in a haste forcing me to sprint to keep up. We took a couple of sharp turns throughout the lodging zone. I could tell that Growlithe was tracking something abnormal. His eyes were feral, and his expression was vicious."

"What was it?" asked an engaged professor.

"Blood," bemoaned Ash. "Growlithe led me straight to a blotch of human blood."

Professor Oak shook his head sorrowfully. Ash knew that this conversation was going exactly where the professor had hoped it wouldn't.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Ash…" groaned the professor, weariness evident in his voice.

"It doesn't get much better," confessed Ash. "Should I continue?"

"G-go ahead, my boy, I'm all ears," stammered Professor Oak.

Even though the old man tried not to show it, Ash could tell it was hard for Professor Oak to listen to him talk about his tragic experience. The professor had pretty much known him his whole life and had treated him the same as he would his own grandson. Professor Oak was protective of Ash—just as he was Gary. Therefore, it was completely understandable that the old man was having an adverse reaction to Ash's story.

"Very well," said Ash, carrying on. "So, after examining the blood, Growlithe took off once again. I followed him out of one wing and into another. This time, Growlithe led us to a second sighting of blood. It was much more gruesome than the first. It was smeared across the tile making a long, winding trail."

Professor Oak once again shook his head incredulously. "Where were all of the workers? I thought the SS Anne was supposed to be staffed twenty-four seven."

"At the time, I thought the same thing," said Ash. "It was so strange. It was as if that part of the ship had been abandoned."

"You didn't follow the trail by yourself, did you?" asked Professor Oak. "You got help, right?"

"Earlier on the trip I met the Champion of Hoenn—Wallace Mikari," said Ash, "I called him. I didn't know what else to do."

"Yeah, now that you mention it, that makes sense. The news report said that the famous foreigner got most of the passengers off in time. There was also a bunch of live video of Wallace talking to reporters by Lavender Town's southeastern coast," said Oak. "I never would have guessed that you helped him, though. First Bill Montgomery, now the Champion of another region; Ash you're starting to procure quite a group of friends."

"I guess you could say that…" said Ash while scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, anyways, after waking Wallace up with a phone call, we met up. He had a strange pokemon that I'd never heard of before with him. It was beyond elite level. Its name was Swampert."

"Ah…a Swampert, eh?" questioned Professor Oak, "I haven't seen one of those in ages. Their primary form mudkip is one of the Hoenn region's traditional starters. Swampert are extremely powerful pokemon. Unless you have a competent grass-type, their duel-typing is very difficult to strategize against."

"Yeah, I think I remember Wallace telling me that it was a water/ground-type," said Ash, "I can see how that could be difficult to handle."

"It is," stated the professor. "Now, what happened after you met up with Wallace?"

"I showed him the trail," said Ash as he could feel himself on the brink of choking up, "and we followed it."

Ash took a deep breath before continuing. It was difficult enough to recall the events...talking about them was even harder.

"At the end of the blood trail was a locked 'employees only' door,'" Ash told him. "I'm sure you can understand that between the two unstaffed wings and the trail of blood, we were speculating some kind of corruption amongst the cruise staff."

"Of course," stated Professor Oak, "I would be thinking the same thing."

"Well, we weren't wrong," said Ash. "Wallace gave me the option to turn back, but I refused. Growlithe and I found the mess; we wanted to help find out what was going on."

The professor stayed quiet, but Ash could tell he didn't agree with Wallace's decision to let Ash accompany him through the door. However, there wasn't really anything the professor could do about it. What was done was done. And Ash had helped save thousands of lives. Regardless of how logical the professor's disdain for Ash's endangerment was, he couldn't argue heroism—especially of this magnitude.

The ten-year-old boy ignored the professor's awkward silence, persisting through his story with emotion in his voice. "The trail of blood continued down the new hallway, gradually thinning out as we approached another door. The door was cracked open, and we could hear two rough voices from behind it. We listened in, and what we heard was horrific."

Tears began to surface in the corner of Ash's eyes while his voice started to tremble. Professor Oak gave him a supportive nod to continue: the phone call was beginning to obtain the feel of a talk therapy session.

"They spoke of a kidnapping before beginning to unveil an even more elaborate plot of evil. They shared their name; their identity was disturbing to say the least."

"Who were they?"

"Their individual identities don't matter," said Ash. "Who they worked for was what was frightening."

Ash watched Professor Oak lean forward in his chair as he zeroed in on what Ash was about to say.

"Team Rocket…" hissed Ash—disdain evident in his intonation. "They worked for Team Rocket."

Professor Oak's eyes bulged as he raised his hand up to his forehead in shock, "So, they're back…"

"Yup," said Ash, "they are...and they're planning something big. After they unintentionally revealed who they worked for, they started to talk about how they killed a kid that had overheard them in the hallway."

Tears started to flow down Ash's cheeks as he visualized the scene. "One of them was complaining because he thought that they should have cleaned up the blood. But, the other insisted it wasn't necessary. That's when we first heard about the bomb. I still remember his exact words. He said: the ship will be up in flames in thirty minutes."

"How old was the child?" asked Professor Oak gravely.

"My age…"Ash stammered before continuing with the story. "Once we heard that there was a bomb, Wallace stormed the Rockets. While he quickly incapacitated the two grunts, I caught sight of the kid's body. He was one of the kids I battled aboard the ship. I knew him. His name was Chance Chapman."

The Professor tensely massaged the skin on his forehead as he internalized Ash's words. "No wonder your dogma has changed. My boy, that's something that no one should ever have to see...let alone someone your age. I'm sorry…I'm so sorry you had to witness something so abominable."

"You don't need to apologize," said Ash as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "It's not your fault. It is what it is. I'll survive."

The professor gave the boy a slight smile. "Your mental toughness comes from your mother. I have no doubt that you'll overcome this. I just want you to be aware that once you've consciously seen something tragic like that, you'll always remember it. We are molded by memories whether we like it or not. Anyone can make good out of the good ones. It takes a special person to make good out of the bad."

"Hopefully I'm special then," spluttered Ash as he listened to Ivysaur and Growlithe exchange serious murmurs.

"You are special," retorted Professor Oak matter-of-factly. "No doubt about it."

"Thanks, professor," said Ash while forming a smile, "that means a lot."

"I simply call it how I see it," stated the professor. "Now, carry on whenever you're ready."

Ash smiled on account of Oak's comment before proceeding. "Well, once Growlithe noticed Chance's body, he scampered over to his side frenziedly. It didn't take me long to figure out what Growlithe had focused in on. Surprisingly, the Rockets hadn't confiscated Chance's pokeballs. They were still strapped to his belt, drenched in their trainer's blood. I couldn't just leave them there; so I unclipped them, wiped the blood off, and stuffed them into my backpack. This is actually the main reason why I called you. I'd like to send you Chance's pokeballs. Do you think you can take care of them at the corral?"

The professor mulled it over before retorting. "Before I can commit to that, I'll have to call his sponsor. Usually, in situations like this, the pokemon will either be sent to the child's family or their issuer. If neither desires to take the pokemon under their custody, I'll take care of them. But, either way, go ahead and send them over to me. I'll take care of it from here. Don't worry about it."

"Thanks, professor," said Ash, "before I head to the Pokemon Center to transfer the pokeballs over, do you want me to finish telling you what happened with the SS Anne?"

"I would very much appreciate that," replied the professor with a nod, "it's probably best that you continue to verbalize what happened. Often times, the best way to overcome trauma is to talk about it."

"I can see the truth in that," said Ash. "I'm already feeling a little bit better."

"Good…" drawled the professor, "how about you continue then?"

Ash fulfilled the Professor's request, proceeding to share with him the remainder of the events that happened aboard the SS Anne. Ash told him about the interrogation of Sid and Jack, the kidnapping of Robert Montgomery, the rendezvous with his powerful friend Austin Turner, the battle between Swampert and Arbok in the wheelhouse, the dead captains, the PA announcement, Reid, and last but not least the escape via Wallace's wailords.

By the end of the story, Ash felt like he had gotten nearly everything he possibly could off of his chest. He stayed quiet about anything that might lead to a conversation about his plans to recover Mr. Montgomery. The ten-year-old boy didn't want to worry the professor any more than he already had.

"Well, professor, I should probably head over to the Pokemon Center," said Ash. "I'd like to send you those pokeballs sooner rather than later."

"Understandable," replied Professor Oak, "stay out of trouble, Ash. Don't give me a reason to tell your mother about all of this."

"Wait," replied Ash surprised, "you're not going to tell my mom."

"Not unless it's necessary," replied the professor. "If I think that these kinds of situations are becoming a common occurrence, I believe your mother has an indisputable right to know. Otherwise, just this once, I'll keep my mouth shut. I don't believe it would be good for your mother's well-being to hear any of this from anyone other than yourself."

"I agree," retorted Ash, "thanks for understanding, professor."

"Thank you for trusting me enough to open up," replied the professor. "Now, hurry up and send me those pokemon. I have a little bit of free time at the moment. If at all possible, I'd like to take care of this right now."

"Gotchya," answered Ash, "I'll head over to the Pokemon Center right away."

"Splendid," replied the professor. "Talk to you later, my boy. Keep your head up. If you stay positive, your mind will heal over time. Also, let Wallace handle the situation with Mr. Montgomery. You've done enough…"

"Okay, will do," Ash lied guiltily. "See ya later, professor."

"Sayonara, my boy…"

"Click."

Ash simultaneously hit the sleep button on his xtranceiver as Professor Oak's lived-in features cut out.

The dark-haired boy proceeded to get two yearning stares from Growlithe and Ivysaur who were ready to go. Ash could tell that Ivysaur was a bit bewildered, most likely because of the news that Growlithe had just disclosed to him.

"It looks to me like you guys are ready," stated Ash. "Let's go, we're already running late."

XXX

After quickly having Lavender Town's Nurse Joy help him use the Pokemon Center's transporter unit to successfully transfer Chance's pokeballs to Professor Oak's lab; Ash, Growlithe, and Ivysaur headed over to the Pokemart. As he approached the door, he checked the time on his xtranceiver. Much to his displeasure, he was ten minutes late. He hated being late. However, this time he didn't have a choice. The well-being of Chance's pokemon was much more important than being frugal with time.

Upon entrance into the pristine, blue-roofed building, Ash caught sight of Wallace and Austin with a stockpile of items checking out at the cashier's desk. Other than his friends, the decently stocked store was rather empty in terms of shoppers. The only other person in the Pokemart was the craggy featured old man that served as the store's cashier.

"Hey, guys..." said Ash as he neared Wallace and Austin, "sorry I'm late."

Both the Champion and the chiseled faced teenager turned around as they heard Ash's adolescent voice.

"Hello, Ash," said Wallace with a benign smile, "don't worry about it. We just went ahead and got the supplies without you."

"Great," said Ash while watching the Champion pay for a bag full of essential items. "Did Austin fill you in on the change of plans?"

"I did," interrupted Austin with a smirk. The teenager held a big shopping bag of his own. It appeared he'd already paid on account of the lengthy receipt he was holding. "You took so damn long to get here—I figured you'd already headed to the tower."

Ash scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, like I said, sorry. I underestimated how much I had to get done."

"Eh, you're fine," snorted Austin as Wallace finished the transaction. "I just thought you'd gotten over eager about ghost hunting, that's all."

"Yeah…" drawled Ash while the three trainers exited the Pokemart. "I probably would have thought the same thing. Anyways, what do you think Wallace? Is it alright if I take a slight detour?"

"I don't have any objections," crooned the silvery-toned man as he stopped outside of the Pokemart. "Just call when you're done. Your xtranceiver can receive coordinates, right?"

"I think so," said Ash, "at least, that's what Bill told me."

"Good," replied Wallace, "I'll send you the coordinates of our current whereabouts after you contact me. That way, you'll be able to find us. Saffron City's about a two-day trip from here, so don't rush yourself. Pidgeotto seems like a fast flyer. By the time you're done, we probably won't have made it all that far. My guess is it won't be that long of a flight. I'm sure we'll see you later today."

Ash honestly had no idea how long it would take. But the faster he could catch a ghost the better. Until he bought a saddle, the idea of flying on Pidgeotto's back for longer than a half an hour sounded horrible.

"I'll try not to take too long," said Ash. "Are you guys planning on heading out right now?"

"We are," replied Wallace. "We'd like to get to Saffron with a day to spare. That way, we can do some reconnaissance."

"Makes sense," said Ash. "By the way, I've got someone else that's helping us with the recon."

Wallace and Austin's faces instantly contorted, confused by Ash's actions.

"I thought I specifically said to keep everything between us," scolded Wallace. "Who'd you tell!?"

"Don't worry," Ash stammered, "it's just Bill. I called to check on him, and he was a wreck. He had a right to know. Robert is his father after all. Besides, he's a good friend of mine. I couldn't just leave him in the dark."

Wallace wiped the sweat from his face as he took a deep breath. "You should have said it was Bill from the beginning. Yeah, that's not a problem. I was planning on giving him a call myself anyways. You told him to keep his mouth shut, right?"

"I did," said Ash. "Trust me, he won't say a word. He's too obsessed with coming up with a good disguise to blow anyone else's cover."

"A disguise?" asked Austin in a confused manner.

"Yeah, I told him to come up with a clever disguise and fly out to Saffron. He's going to help us with recon until we arrive in the city. Team Rocket thinks their plan is an utter secret. They have no reason to pay attention to who's in the city or to speculate anybody's identity for that matter."

"Hmm…that was actually a clever idea, Ash," said Wallace while stroking his chin with his fingers, "but next time, please run it by me before you do anything."

"Gotchya," muttered Ash slightly guiltily. "I will...I promise."

The ten-year-old boy had been so used to traveling alone, for the past month and a half, that cooperation was something he needed to work on…

"Good," replied Wallace, "anyways, we're going to head out. Is there anything you need before we go?"

"Not really," answered Ash as he looked down at Growlithe and Ivysaur. "I've got my pokemon with me. I don't need anything else."

Austin leaned over and looked Growlithe in the eyes. "Take care of your trainer. Ghosts are unpredictable and they love to get under your skin. When you activate Odor Sleuth, you shouldn't have any problem seeing them. Also, make sure Ash doesn't get in over his head. Don't mess with any gengar. Gastly are preferable, and some haunter would be fine, but gengar are too powerful. Ash isn't ready to battle one...let alone train one."

Growlithe nodded his head before looking up at his laughing trainer.

"What do you think I am—an idiot?" laughed Ash. "I know my current limits. I wasn't planning on going after one."

"I'm just making sure," said Austin. "Ghosts are powerful. You've got to be careful."

"I will be," said Ash, "I won't do anything too risky."

"That's all I ask," said Austin as he punched the ten-year-old boy playfully on the shoulder. "Now go catch one, kid."

"Will do," said Ash, "see ya guys, I'll try and catch up as soon as possible."

"Eh, we'll see you later today," replied Austin as he dug into the bag full of items. "One more thing before you go. I thought I'd be a friend and buy you a box of great balls. A gastly or haunter hardly warrants an ultra ball, but a pokeball might be a little bit too weak to catch a haunter. Here you go, nothing too special, I think there's three in there."

Ash looked at Austin incredulously as he held the blue, cardboard box. "Thanks…I don't know what to say."

"You don't need to say anything," replied Austin with a shrug. "It's not a big deal. Honestly, I'd feel bad if I spent all of my earnings on myself."

"Well, now that I think about it…you did win 15k," heckled Ash.

"Hell yeah, I did!" blurted Austin as his eyes practically transformed into dollar signs. "What's a box of great balls when you're rich like me? With the right investments, I'll be the next Robert Montgomery."

Ash shook his head with a laugh while he opened the box of great balls in precedence to placing one in his coat pocket and the rest of the package in his backpack. "You're a trip, Austin."

"That's for sure," drawled Wallace in a humorous intonation.

"Anyways, guys, I really should get going," said Ash while beginning to back away accompanied by Growlithe and Ivysaur. "I'll see you soon."

"Us too," replied Wallace, while beginning to head west towards Saffron. "Bye Ash, good luck."

"Yeah—good luck, dude!" bellowed Austin with a smirk as their proximity grew too far to speak in an average volume. "Don't leave Lavender Town without a ghost!"

"Not even an option!" howled Ash with a wave before turning around and heading east towards the Pokemon Tower with Growlithe and Ivysaur on both sides of him.

He'd catch a ghost-type. No doubt about it.

XXX

The walk over to the Pokemon Tower was even more eerie than when he had trekked through Lavender Town's suburbs. The few districts were very quiet, even when compared to the much smaller town of Pallet. In addition, the people looked like they were in a disinterested daze, going about their lives in a melancholy trance. Nevertheless, he persisted through the gloomy town eventually ending up at the site of the Pokemon Tower.

Ash presently stood out front of the colossal, foreboding spire with Growlithe and Ivysaur by his side. The atmosphere was ominous. Encompassing the tower was a multitude of weeping willows and bloomless cherry blossom trees. The landscape was littered with tombstones bearing human names. Apparently, a hominid graveyard had been established outside of the tower. According to his friend Austin, the fortification's interior was only meant for fallen pokemon.

Amidst the traditional outdoor graveyard, there were a few despondent people visiting loved one's burial sites. Ash got a sick feeling in his stomach as he watched a languished old lady weep in front of a large tombstone. He wasn't sure whether she'd lost a husband or a child. Regardless, it was hard to witness such raw, grief-stricken emotion. He wished he could help. Unfortunately, the woman was too deep in her sorrow to genuinely approach. He would only be a nuisance if he disturbed her.

Ash turned to Growlithe as they neared the front door. "Do you smell any ghost pokemon out here?"

There was no need to use Odor Sleuth until they were in the direct presence of a ghost. For now, Growlithe's aromatic awareness was more than enough to begin the hunt.

The puppy pokemon shook his head before gesturing Ash forward towards the spire.

"Dammit," cursed Ash under his breath, "after seeing this graveyard, I was kind of hoping we wouldn't have to go in."

Before he headed into the spire, Ash detached Charmander and Squirtle's pokeballs in precedence to releasing them. There were no rules concerning how many pokemon you could use to capture a wild specimen. Besides, he felt safer with more of his friends on the outside.

Upon release, Charmander and Squirtle instantly observed their surroundings. The first thing they noticed was Ivysaur's new form. Neither of them had seen Ivysaur since the evolution. This was highly apparent by the way Charmander congratulated Ivysaur with a dopey thumbs-up, and how Squirtle encircled the saurian with a blank expression and curious eyes.

Charmander had spent much more time with the auspicious saurian than Squirtle, so he was way more enthusiastic towards the evolution. Squirtle, however, barely knew the grass-type. Their only few encounters occurred when Ash had them spar as training partners during the first couple days aboard the SS Anne. Even so, it's not like Squirtle was prone to showing any kind of emotion in the first place. Ash was just happy that his other friends had accepted the turtle pokemon. Moreover, the fact that Squirtle was trying to get along with the others in return—albeit Pidgeotto, who the water-type didn't care for whatsoever.

Ash interrupted the mingling of his pokemon in order to explain to Charmander and Squirtle their current objective.

"Charmander, Squirtle—we're no longer aboard the SS Anne due to some unforeseen circumstances. I'll tell you about them later. Right now, we've got something important to do. I would like your guys' help to capture a ghost-type. There's a bunch inside this tower, so be prepared for anything. When the time comes, Growlithe should be able to make them visible with Odor Sleuth. What do you say? Will you help me?"

Charmander puffed up his chest and flexed his stubby arms, depicting to his trainer that he was ready for the challenge.

Squirtle simply nodded his head affirmatively—void of all emotion.

"Awesome," said Ash with a grin as he reached for the decorative door's handle set. "Let's go in then."

Growlithe, Ivysaur, Charmander, and Squirtle emitted acquiescent grunts as Ash pulled open the thickset door. The large florid, yet decrepit, door disembogued a spooky creak while the unkempt hinges pivoted the door outward. Ash's skin crawled in response to the grating noise; it triggered an adverse physical reaction sort of like nails on a chalkboard.

Upon entrance, Ash instantly questioned his decision to search the tower. The main entrance was a dim, commodious chamber. Its only lighting came from a collection of suspended lanterns fastened around the first floor's aged stone walls. Just the room itself gave off the feel of a haunted medieval antechamber—take into account the scattered tombstones, and it was rather cadaverous.

Just like outside, there were a few grieving people spread out amongst the graves. Out of curiosity, Ash examined one of the many burial spots. The stone floor that tightly surrounded the tombstone's encompassing area was different in texture and color than the rest of the stonework. Ash figured that the buried pokemon's past owner was given the right to pick what kind of stone the grave was sealed with. It only made sense given that each and every grave was constructed uniquely.

After examining the floor's graveyard, Ash turned to Growlithe who sat alongside his anxious teammates, "Anything on this level?"

Growlithe shook his head before beckoning his trainer to follow him. Ivysaur, Charmander, and Squirtle followed suit, trusting the judgment of the canine.

"Alrighty…"Ash drawled, "lead the way, boy."

The puppy pokemon quickly sifted through his available scents. He discarded anything that was non-living or human, choosing to focus his aromatic awareness on the bizarre redolences he had smelt earlier that day. There was a multitude of ominous pheromones coexisting above. He wasn't exactly positive of each individual scents precise location, but that would be revealed as they drew closer.

Amidst the several related scents, there was one that he locked on to. It was strong, but not overbearing. Just like how he was aromatically aware of Chance's feelings aboard the SS Anne, he could smell the being's semblance. It was unlike the rest of its kind. Its dogma was brighter and much less sinister. Growlithe could tell it was surprisingly good-natured, albeit mischievous—which wasn't rare amongst its species. The rest of the spectral beings were foul spirited and demented, especially the collection of powerful scents that existed at the very top of the tower.

By smell alone, Growlithe was able to descry two definite objectives. Their first objective was to track the cordial ghost-type that's pheromone was oddly pleasant. Their second objective was to, at all costs, avoid the last couple floors. He wasn't positive, but his assumption was that the tower's few gengar lived up there. The rest of the tower's ghosts were sinister by nature, but not blood-thirsty. They would be fine as long as they didn't bother them...

Ash observed his surroundings as Growlithe led the group up the tower's enclosed, winding staircase. Fixed along the stone walls were more of the decrepit, but functioning, lanterns that were on the first floor. They emanated just enough light for them to be able to see the steps while they climbed their way up to the second floor.

When they reached the top of the flight of stairs, they walked passed a plainly built upper archway and onto the second floor. While accessing the new level, Ash glanced down at his pokemon.

Growlithe and Squirtle were the least affected by the baleful setting. The puppy pokemon simply continued to lead the way like a brave kangaskhan patriarch. Ash figured the pup's experience aboard the SS Anne had considerably numbed his sense of fear. Squirtle, on the other hand, moved forward like some sort of stony-faced machine. If the water-type felt anything at all involving the haunted tower Ash was completely unaware of it.

Ash could tell Ivysaur and Charmander were at least slightly put off by their surroundings. Even though neither of them appeared to be cowering in fear, it was blatantly obvious that they were uncomfortable. Ivysaur kept sporadically looking behind them. Charmander nervously ground his sharp teeth together, emanating a sound oddly similar to that of a manual pencil sharpener.

"Are you guys alright?" asked Ash, to his two anxious pokemon, as they ambulated across the vacant second floor over to the crosswise, ascending staircase.

Both elemental types frantically nodded their heads, trying not to show weakness to their trainer. Ash noticed Squirtle concurrently look at both of them with condescending eyes, clearly judging their mental fortitude.

Ash simply half-smiled and faced forward; his pokemon definitely weren't bereft of individual personality.

The second-floor was basically identical to the first. Their seemed to be an equal amount of graves, and the walls were bare of anything other than the suspended lanterns.

"Nothing on this floor, eh?" Ash asked Growlithe as they neared the next flight of stairs.

The puppy pokemon emitted a quiet grunt, and shook his head, as they passed by the second floor's last row of graves.

"I don't want to waste anytime then," said Ash. "Let's go up."

Growlithe nodded in accompaniment to the rest of Ash's released pokemon as he initiated the steep climb up the next flight of stairs. During the ascendance, Ash thought of something that Austin had mentioned earlier.

"Can you smell any other type of pokemon besides ghosts?" asked Ash curiously. "I remember Austin saying that cubone could be found here."

Growlithe once again shook his head left to right, attesting that there was no trace of the species.

"Damn, really?" questioned Ash disappointedly, "I mean, I don't really have any interest in catching one. But it would have been cool to see a wild specimen. Maybe they only visit the tower on occasion."

Growlithe simply ignored his inquisitive trainer as he continued up the steep, winding staircase toward the tower's third-level.

Ash, out of annoyance, huffed in response to being ignored, "Just because it was slightly a random question, doesn't mean it's not worth responding to."

The dark-haired boy looked down at his other pokemon for reassurance who just happened to be purposely paying him zero attention.

"Thanks guys," snorted Ash facetiously. "I'm so happy to have your support."

All four of his friends emitted a simultaneous grunt as they walked out onto the third floor.

Instantaneous to their disembarkation onto the third-level, Growlithe shot Ash a conspicuous look. In response to Growlithe's cogent behavior, Ash instantly knew that they were in the presence of at least one apparition. Now that he was aware of a presence, he could actually feel a potent distinction in the atmosphere. The room felt different. It was cold, yet, he was sweating as if it was hot. And despite the vastness of the room, he felt claustrophobic as if the stone walls could swallow him alive at any moment.

"There are ghosts in here," whispered Ash as they walked out into the center of the room. "Is it time to use Odor Sleuth?"

Growlithe gave Ash a resistive look indicating that it wasn't time yet. At this point in his journey – through body language – Ash was able to decipher a general gist of what his starter was trying to depict.

"Wait, not yet?" questioned Ash quietly in a confused manner. "Why?"

Squirtle proceeded to nudge Ash in the leg with one of his compact arms before pointing up at the ceiling.

It took Ash a moment to make sense of what his pokemon were trying to say to him before he replied, "Ah…I get it. There's a specimen you're tracking, isn't there?"

Growlithe and Squirtle nodded affirmatively, while Ivysaur and Charmander took a big breath in attempt to focus their minds. They would discard any anxiety in order to protect Ash from the incorporeal beings.

On account of the few other people that were paying their respects to their deceased pokemon, Ash figured that the ghosts on this floor weren't hostile. Howbeit, he didn't drop his guard as he followed Growlithe, along with his other pokemon, across the third floor. The whole way across the floor, he could feel the odd perceptual sensations caused by the illusory, disguised ghost pokemon.

As Growlithe beckoned his trainer and teammates up the next flight of stairs, Ash could feel the visceral phenomenon grow even stronger. With every step he took, his body got colder...yet his sweat grew thicker. With every stair he climbed, the walls seemed to get closer and closer to entrapping him. He knew it was just an illusion, but the truth didn't change how real it felt. Nevertheless, he persevered. The ten-year-old boy wouldn't be forced to turn back because of some spectral delusion.

Ash wasn't sure, but his pokemon didn't seem to be quite as affected by the ghostly ruse. That only made sense though. Humans were almost always more susceptible to pokemon techniques than other pokemon. Especially, those of the mystic elements such as psychic, ghost, dark, and fairy…

When Ash and his pokemon walked out onto the fourth floor, they could instantly feel an even sharper shift in the room's atmosphere. The phantasmal energy was much more potent, causing a slight shiver to run its course throughout everyone's bodies. Ash wasn't an expert, but he figured it was one of two things.

Either this floor was flooded with gastly, or there were some haunter amongst them. It could also be a combination of both, but he was certain of one thing: there were no gengar. If there were, he probably wouldn't be standing. When untrained, the fully-evolved ghost-type was typically depraved and nefarious, void of compassion and mercy. There was a reason why Austin sincerely stressed for him to stay away from any gengar.

Even so, no matter of the discomfort, they continued to trudge forward in search of the Growlithe's targeted ghost.

"It's got to be on this floor, right?" asked Ash. "I don't know how much higher I can go. I feel like I'm about to get eaten by this place."

Unfortunately, Growlithe once again shook his head. By now, the pup was beginning to feel overwhelmed by the guises of all of the spectral beings. It was difficult to be aware of numerous entities aromatically and not be able to see them visually. However, he still elected to stay away from using Odor Sleuth until absolutely necessary. He figured that once the ghosts were aware that he could force them into their corporal forms, they would no longer remain disinterested in confrontation...

Up to this point, the fourth floor was by far the most ominous. There were less traditional graves. Instead, it was primarily dedicated to elaborate, auriferous, pokemon shrines. Despite the heavy ghostly presence, there were still people scattered amidst the level. Several were cloaked in the same, white, occult outfits, evocative to the robes of a Shinto Priest. Few of the supposed channelers paid him any mind, albeit the ones that did stared at him with vacant eyes—similar to that of a drowzee. It gave him the creeps, even more so than the looming presence of the supernaturally hidden ghosts.

"Alright, Growlithe, nod if it's on the next floor," whispered Ash, "I want to get out of this place ASAP."

Out of the corner of his eye, Ash watched Ivysaur and Charmander frantically nod their heads in agreement. Neither seemed to be too afraid, but it was obvious that everyone was on edge. Even Squirtle looked slightly distressed, in the eyes, as they felt the glares of the channelers fastened on their backs while beginning to walk up the next flight of stairs.

Finally, accompanied by a soft and reassuring bark, Growlithe nodded his head. The pleasant ghostly redolence was, in fact, on the next level.

Barring Squirtle, Ash and the rest of his pokemon breathed a massive sigh of relief in response to Growlithe's affirmation. In concurrence to the good news, they could also feel the nasty, phantasmal pressure begin to slightly lessen as they steadily approached the top of the stairwell.

"Alright, so you're sure it's on this level?" asked Ash as they walked out onto the least maleficent floor.

Growlithe nodded his head with an excited expression while emitting a convivial yip.

Before commanding Growlithe to use Odor Sleuth, Ash examined the room. The Pokemon Tower's fifth floor only bore a dozen graves—which was by far the least amongst all of the chambers. It was apparent that all twelve graves were frequently visited on account of the numerous fresh flowers piled at the base of each tombstone.

Suspended along the walls were the same eerie lanterns that were on the lower floors. However, the old-fashioned light sources in this chamber appeared to emit much more light than the fixtures on the lower floors. In addition, each one of the sealed graves was constructed with some sort of fine alloy such as gold, silver, or copper. To top it all off, there was a resplendent grand piano pushed into the far corner of the room. The magnificent instrument looked to have been recently polished. It sparkled elegantly amidst the irradiate chamber's lighting.

Ash was confused.

Including the adorned graves, the fifth floor felt slightly out of place. Compared to the rest of the tower, it was rather pleasant, producing the feel of a place you'd actually want to bury a loved one. Even though it was still pretty apparent that there was a surplus of ghost-types, besides the existing perceptual symptoms, Ash felt like he could relax a bit. There were no blatant feelings of apprehension in the midst of the room.

Ash's observation was suddenly cut short by the beautiful, yet eerie, sound of the massive keyboard instrument. No other humans were in the room, so at first, Ash was rather freaked out. He knew that a lot of electronic pianos could be programmed to play by themselves. However, in this situation, he had a feeling that wasn't the case.

More than likely, it was a ghost that was pressing down the keys on the large, classy instrument.

In response to the supernatural performance, Ash quickly glanced down at his friends. Ivysaur, Charmander, and Squirtle were presently fixated on the piano. Their expressions portrayed qualm and confusion, albeit Squirtle...who showed his minute emotions through his eyes. Growlithe, however, watched the performance with amicable eyes and a jovial countenance. The pup didn't seem to be disturbed in the slightest.

"Growlithe, I need you to use Odor Sleuth," implored Ash as he looked down at his friend. "Now."

The fire-type didn't need to mull it over. He immediately emitted a potent, invisible scent out of every single one of his exocrine glands. The pungent odor could be smelled by Ash and his friends as it diffused throughout the chamber. The piquant scent caused the dark-haired boy to cover his nose while he watched the surrounding ethereal beings slowly sputter into their corporal forms.

All in all, there were probably around ten gastly buoyantly floating around the room. The abhorrent, spherical ghosts seemed to be in a trance as they heedlessly ricocheted against one another like a bunch of mindless billiard balls.

"What in the world is going on?" asked Ash as he examined the many purple enshrouded gastlys' disoriented expressions. "Did Odor Sleuth put them in a trance?"

Growlithe adamantly shook his head before gesturing back towards the piano.

Floating above the piano's seat was a dark-purple being with a gaseous body. It had its two, three fingered, disembodied hands making precise contact with the grand piano's keys. The ghost-type, Ash recognized as a haunter, mysteriously had its rounded back to the rest of the room as its three spiked protrusions on both sides of its head quavered throughout the performance.

The dark-haired boy also noticed the vibrant, purple waves being synchronously emanated from the piano's soundboard. Ash had no way to be sure, but it looked as if the haunter was infusing hypnosis with the sound of the instrument. Intertwined with the sleep rendering power of hypnosis, the purple rays appeared to be a corporeal manifestation of the emitted sound waves. Simply put, the result was a super powered Sing and Hypnosis combination using the piano as an external catalyst for the move, Sing.

It was impressive...borderline ingenious.

Be that as it may, Ash was befuddled. Why was the evolved specimen hypnotizing its kin? Why wasn't he being hypnotized? Why weren't his pokemon being put to sleep? What were its motives?

…Why was Growlithe so interested in it? There had to be a reason.

Ash slowly crept forward while doing a good job of not running into the multiple, aimless, levitating gastly. He passed by the graves and over to the other side of the room. His pokemon were practically glued to his side throughout the covert advancement.

His heart thumped heavily, and his stomach turned, as he neared the wraithlike creature. It continued to carry out its tune, expertly using its ethereal extremities to dance across the keyboard like a concert pianist. Ash looked down at his pokemon for strength as he gradually shrunk the proximity between himself and the haunter. Charmander, Ivysaur, and Squirtle appeared to be just as unsure as he was, but Growlithe looked up at his trainer with definite eyes. His starter trusted that he was safe, therefore Ash moved forward.

The shadowy creature had yet to physically acknowledge Ash's presence; however, Ash knew it was aware of him. Just when the ten-year-old boy was close enough to reach out and touch the – now corporal – specter. The haunter crashed both of his disembodied hands onto the keyboard creating a loud, discordant sound.

"Holy crap!" bellowed Ash as he jumped back from the sudden cacophonous noise, reminiscent of his skittish friend Gary Oak.

Ivysaur, Charmander, and Squirtle followed suit before quickly gathering themselves to get into a defensive position.

Growlithe simply stood still, unsurprised by the haunter's antics.

The haunter continued to levitate with its back to the group as its ghoulish hands remained planted on the piano's keyboard. There was a drawled out moment of stillness as the gaggle of inharmonious notes echoed throughout the chamber. All of a sudden, like a jack-in-the-box on steroids, Haunter expeditiously turned around only to point and laugh at them hysterically.

Ash nearly fell over. The surprise was so overbearing that he felt like his heart was going to explode. Simultaneous to the jolt, he heard a large crash as Ivysaur, Charmander, and Squirtle released a flurry of their strongest elemental techniques, specifically: vine whip, water gun, and ember.

The dark-haired boy quickly suppressed his consternation, forcing himself to observe his surroundings. The haunter had barely avoided the attacks, managing to dart out of the way at the last second. Thankfully, the assailment didn't do too much damage to anything, most likely because the individual techniques weren't focused and were primarily an impulsive reaction.

Growlithe looked to be a little surprised, but, seemed to be amused as if he was at least partially aware of what was going to happen. At this point, Ash was completely sold on the concept of Growlithe's rumored ability to smell emotions. There was just way too much proof to think otherwise.

Thankfully, all of the gastly remained in comatose, aimlessly drifting under the influence of Haunter's hypnotic powers.

Ash refocused his attention on the evolved ghost-type, trying to do whatever he could to descry what was going on. When the haunter noticed that Ash's investigative eyes were fixated on him, he floated towards the boy concurrently putting forth a discordant, yet impish laughter.

It took Ash a little bit, but he eventually understood what was going on when he caught a good glimpse of Haunter's countenance.

"Squirtle, Charmander, Ivysaur—stand down!" commanded Ash as he smirked at the dark-purple poltergeist.

Despite their confusion regarding the ghost-type, the elemental trio loyally heeded their trainer's order

"It seems we've got ourselves a jokester," said Ash as Haunter surveyed him with its large, angled eyes.

Haunter responded with another outburst of amused laughter as it floated around Ash with its large mouth agape, ostensibly sizing him up.

Ash diverted his attention towards Growlithe as the fire-type spoke to Haunter in his native tongue. In reaction to Growlithe's murmurs, Haunter's tail quivered and his smile grew even larger.

Ash noticed that his other pokemon seemed to have relaxed. Whatever was going on between Growlithe and Haunter must have put them at ease. Prior to Growlithe's arbitration, even Squirtle was on edge; albeit, much more subtly than Ivysaur and Charmander.

Ash had no way to decipher exactly what Growlithe had said, howbeit he could portray his request. Over the past month, Ash and Growlithe's personalities had started to conform to one another. So, hopefully, Growlithe had done Ash a favor and prepped Haunter for what he was about to ask it.

"Hey, Haunter," crooned Ash, "I'm Ash Ketchum, a pokemon trainer. I've come to this tower in search of a powerful ghost pokemon. You're exactly what I'm looking for. How would you feel about a battle? If I win, you come with me. If you win, I won't bother you again."

Haunter didn't hesitate. He frantically nodded his body in agreement. Ash wasn't exactly a medium, but the rather jaunty ghost-type seemed to welcome the idea of being caught—which was strange given the fact that ghost pokemon were typically excruciatingly difficult to capture. Nonetheless, some pokemon just longed for adventure regardless of their species' typical behavior.

"Where do you want to do this?" asked Ash as he gestured towards all of the gastly. "This room is hardly suitable. There are too many other ghosts."

Haunter nodded his head dramatically while disemboguing a confirmatory guffaw.

"Do you have a place in mind?"

Haunter used one of his disembodied extremities to point towards the descending staircase before subsequently drifting towards it. Ash and his pokemon stood there for a moment until Haunter used one of his hands to gesture for them to follow. Ash shrugged before looking down at Ivysaur, Charmander, and Squirtle.

"Let's go guys," said Ash with an amused undertone.

The elemental trio nodded in concurrence while processing the outlandish situation. There was no need to address his starter; Growlithe had already begun to tail the congenial specter…

The amicable ghost-type led Ash and his friends down the multiple stairwells and out of the ominous tower. The trip down was a lot more comfortable than the trip up. The channelers on the fourth floor left them alone entirely, probably because they were being escorted by a corporeal ghost. And the phantasmal pressure had significantly decreased. Ash wasn't sure why, but it more than likely had something to do with Haunter.

Ash half expected some of the other ghosts in the tower to reveal their corporeal forms, but, they didn't. Even though one of their kin was openly anatomical, it seemed as though they would rather stay hidden. The ten-year-old boy knew he shouldn't have been surprised. Ghost's weren't typically loyal to anything, including their own kind, which was the biggest reason why so few trainers chose to a take chance on them. They tended to live in groups, but there was no real camaraderie. Apparitional pokemon were inherently selfish and internally absorbed. The other ghosts in the tower, more than likely, could't care less if one of their brethren was captured—especially one that was so much different.

As they exited the building, Haunter got a lot of confused stares from the people visiting the outdoor graveyard. Ash figured that, although Lavender Town was well known for their ghost-type infestation, it was seldom that anyone from the town actually saw one. There was no reason for wild ghost-types to reveal their physical bodies. The only time they needed to become corporeal was to feed or to engage in battle.

Most ghost-types stuck to dreams, but some of the more insidious beings ate life-force. One of the biggest reasons why ghosts usually lived in packs was that they fed off of each other. Practically all pokemon were smart enough to figure out that it was stupid to attack humans. Just like how the League had a zero-tolerance policy for pokemon abuse, they were even stricter with pokemon that attacked humans. If a ghost-type was to maim or kill a human, chances are the League would wipe them out with a legion of dark-types. Sometimes the more powerful apparitions, such as gengar, would go after pokemon of other species. But, it was rare. Wild gengar were typically territorial and didn't like to leave their unearthly roosts...

Haunter ignored the many stares and led them around to the back of the tower. All that could be seen was a glut of baneful vegetation, concretely: weeping willows, leafless birch trees, and spooky looking shrubs.

The evolved poltergeist had them lumber their way through the thick, irritating underbrush. Haunter simply passed through it like a man walks through insubstantial molecules.

On the other side of the brush was a relatively plain clearing. The grass was dead, and there was nothing else worth mentioning. All in all, it was a pretty good place to battle.

Even though he could easily clean up after any mess he made, he'd rather stay away from using either of his fire-types. The defoliated area was too dry to let a fire last more than a short while in fear of spreading. And he'd rather not have Squirtle running around like a doduo with one of its heads cut-off trying to put out every stray fire.

Ivysaur could probably handle the challenge, but Ash would rather use his water-type. Squirtle worked best from long range, and that was typically the best way to defeat a ghost without a distinct type advantage. Besides, Squirtle had Bite in his repertoire—which was super-effective against ghosts. Other than maybe Growlithe, he was definitely his best available option.

Haunter proceeded to drift out into the middle of the clearing, patiently waiting for the start of the battle. The apparition buoyantly levitated in the air, putting forth a discordant outburst of laughter in the process.

Ash's pokemon all looked up at him, waiting to find out who would get to face the spectral being. Growlithe didn't seem all that interested in battling. He was too amused by the specter's charisma to want to fight it. Ash could tell that, if things went over smoothly, Growlithe would definitely have a new friend to play with.

Ivysaur and Charmander both appeared to be interested in battling Haunter, but not like Squirtle. The water-type looked at Ash with adamant eyes—which happened to be about as deep as the turtle's emotions could get. So, although Ivysaur and Charmander looked up at Ash with hopeful expressions, Squirtle's piercing eyes were practically begging him to pick him.

Ash didn't have a problem with it. He'd already decided to go with his water-type in the first place.

"This battle is all yours, Squirtle," said Ash with a smirk. "Let's show Haunter what we're all about."

The turtle pokemon emitted a low, alto-toned grunt as he vigorously stepped forward for battle.

"Are you ready, Haunter?!" howled Ash with a smile as he gestured for the rest of his pokemon to step back. "Let's see what you've got!"

The ghost-type jovially bounced up and down in the air. Ash could tell it was excited to engage in what was to come.

Ash looked down at his non-participating partners for support. Growlithe, Ivysaur, and Charmander simultaneously nodded, ready to watch the match unfold.

"First move's all yours, Haunter!" hollered Ash. The poltergeist had been rather courteous outside of his welcoming prank; the least Ash could do was let him initiate the battle.

In response to Ash's exclamation, Haunter oddly gestured each of his disembodied hands at Squirtle. The apparition put forth a jeering burst of laughter before emanating a bizarre, dark-purple wave of spectral energy at Squirtle. Ash wasn't exactly an expert when it came to ghosts, but it looked like a Night Shade attack. He'd watched some of the ghost-type master Agatha's battles on television and recalled seeing the technique used. He wasn't entirely sure, but he thought he remembered it to be a relatively medial damaging move with extremely high-accuracy.

Squirtle tried to dodge as the ominous energy whisked through the air like a gust of wind. While he darted out of the way, the turtle pokemon realized he wouldn't be able to clear the entirety of the ethereal technique's scope. He withdrew into his shell at the last possible moment minimizing the damage. He was slightly clipped on the lower half of his legs. The contact from the ghostly technique was more draining than painful. He could feel a slight bit of his energy being whisked away into oblivion.

The turtle pokemon's shell sputtered throughout the air for a short moment after contact. In subsequence to the Night Shade, the testudine reptile quickly reemerged from his biological shield. While in the air, the water-type reached into his internal water reservoir and loaded his gullet with enough water for a couple of high-pressure Water Guns. When his feet touched the ground, he unloaded on the ethereal being's corporeal form.

The ghost-type hissed as it was struck by the first blast of water. However, it managed to dodge the rest of the barrage, dashing through the air like an intelligent cloud of smoke. Squirtle didn't let up. The emotionless water-type continued to impel Water Guns while calculating the ghost-types trajectory.

Haunter managed to continue to avoid the flurry. The ghost-type appeared to be quite skilled when it came to perfunctory maneuverability. During a momentary break in the enfilade of Water Guns, while Squirtle reached into his internal reservoir, Haunter used his shadowy hands to disembogue a ray of auroral pink.

Ash instantaneously recognized the technique as Hypnosis, albeit, it was a different variation than what the apparition had conjured on the piano.

"Dodge!" howled Ash vigorously.

Unfortunately, it was just a distraction; ghosts never failed to be deceptive.

Squirtle easily dodged the hypnotic strike only to be bombarded by a flanking Haunter. The corporeal ghost winded back its nebulous fist before striking Squirtle in the side of his face with a powerful Sucker Punch. The water-type was impelled across the clearing. He emitted several painful grunts as he turbulently rolled across the dead grass like a golem using Rollout.

"Withdraw!" howled Ash as he watched his water-type uncomfortably falter.

Squirtle mentally digested his trainer's cry and managed to enshroud himself within his natural protection. When he slowed down enough to reemerge, he did so, simultaneously releasing a flurry of chemically induced bubbles. They aimlessly floated through the air. Squirtle anxiously bit the side of his mouth as he watched the bubbles waver towards the laughing poltergeist.

The spectral being dashed towards the ground; a fraction of a second before it phased through the defoliated earth, it cried out in pain as it was hit by a volatile bubble. Almost synchronously, it reappeared behind Squirtle with a wry expression painted across its face. Haunter's fist was enshrouded in black energy as it prepared to bring it down on Squirtle.

"Behind you!" bellowed Ash. "Bite!"

Squirtle pivoted expeditiously. Right before the ghost planted its shadowy knuckles into the turtle pokemon, he managed to embed his teeth into Haunter. Both pokemon shrieked out in agony as they felt the other's focused attack course throughout their bodies. Although Haunter's Shadow Punch managed to create separation between the two battling pokemon, it didn't do so until Squirtle was able to cause significant damage with Bite. Even though it was typically transparent, Bite's dark energy was visible when used against the highly afflicted ghost. Ash watched the black static of Squirtle's Bite trickle throughout its body as the ghost-type shrieked like a banshee.

While Haunter sporadically fidgeted in the air, Squirtle was forced to one knee as the agonizing, ghostly impact streaked throughout his existence. He cried out in pain while he desperately tried to force himself back onto his feet. Despite the struggle, the emotionless water-type managed. His knees wobbled and his arms shook as he stood resolutely in front of the gaseous apparition.

Squirtle looked Haunter in its intimidating, angled eyes as the ghost-type afflictively twitched. Regardless of his current status, the turtle Pokemon had no doubt in his mind that he would win this battle. He watched intensely while the shadowy creature shakily raised its hands for another caliginous Night Shade. As Squirtle dug deep into his will power, he felt a massive pull from deep inside his internal reservoir. He'd felt this sensation before; however, it was a long, long time ago.

Ash and the rest of his pokemon watched in astonishment as Squirtle was enshrouded within a hurricane of rampant water. The ten-year-old boy witnessed Haunter's eyes bulge with fear when he saw the dense aqua fortress constrict against Squirtle's body creating a thin layer of glowing, yet transparent, precipitation. It looked like a blue, auroral cloak glistening against the water-type's reptilian skin. Ash knew what it was. It was Squirtle's dynamic ability: Torrent.

Torrent is a power boosting ability that ignites when the user is on its last leg. Essentially, it nearly doubles the strength of a water-type's elemental techniques. Simply put, for a short amount of time, Squirtle just got a lot stronger.

The gleaming water-type proved his temporary, newfound strength by unleashing a battery of authoritatively fast Water Guns. The high-pressured streaks of water shot through the atmosphere as fast as an infuriated bullet, piercing the air in search of their target. Ash watched Squirtle follow his shots, leaning his head forward and throwing his arms behind his back. The little, glowing beast looked like an aqua based torpedo as he sprinted behind his technique at an expeditious rate.

Haunter managed to dodge one of the Torrent enhanced Water Guns, but was hit by the other three. The evolved ghost-type howled as the triplet of water bullets collided with its corporeal body. If the super powered Water Guns weren't enough then Squirtle's next attack definitely was. He concealed himself behind his barrage while closing the proximity between himself and the apparition. When he was close enough to touch the, already weary, ghost; he heard his trainer's command.

"Close ranged Bubble, now!"

Squirtle disembogued a tenacious Bubble attack at point blank range, resulting in a high-pitched scream. The duration of the strike was short given the basis of the technique. When the non-existent aftermath settled, Haunter sunk to the defoliated earthy surface, unconscious and phasing in and out of his corporeal form.

Ash quickly pulled the great ball, Austin had given him, out of his coat pocket before lofting it at the benumbed ghost-type. Due to battling Haunter until unconsciousness, Ash figured a pokeball would have sufficed. However, the ten-year-old boy inferred that the gaseous pokemon was worthy of one of the blue and red upgraded capture-devices. Besides, he had three of them—might as well put them to use.

When the great ball made contact with Haunter, the ethereal being was masked in a ray of dazzling red light. The scintillating illumination wafted in the air for a split-second before being briskly sucked into the capture device. The great ball fell from suspension before promptly clicking upon impact with the ground. Haunter had been caught. He was now in possession of a new ally...one that was capable of standing up against the mighty Sabrina.

In precedence to retrieving Haunter's great ball, Ash checked on Squirtle who was surrounded by Ivysaur, Charmander, and Growlithe. The turtle pokemon was lying on his back utterly exhausted. Torrent had left him with nothing—an unfortunate side-effect of the temporary power boost.

"You fought well," crooned Ash as he crouched down to talk to his battered water-type.

Squirtle huffed in response. He was clearly too worn down to do much else.

Ivysaur, Charmander, and Growlithe showered the turtle pokemon in praise before Ash spoke up once again.

"I'll get you to the Pokemon Center before we head out," said Ash while holding Squirtle's pokeball over his tired body, "until then, take a rest. You deserve it."

Squirtle emitted an acquiescent grunt, and smiled with his eyes, as the pokeball's intramural energy returned him into a timeless sequester.

After reattaching Squirtle's pokeball to his trainer belt, Ash walked over to Haunter's great ball with his friends right behind him. He half expected the blue and red orb to vanish due to transportation, but it didn't. Not that he doubted Bill, but he was still rather flabbergasted that he had managed to get his carry-limit nullified.

As he held his seventh pokemon's capture device in his sweaty hand, he couldn't help but smile. He had finally captured a ghost pokemon...one of the species that he had desired to catch when he first set out in his journey. Ivysaur, Charmander, and Squirtle's captures felt almost like anointed gifts. He hadn't planned to catch any of them. It just kind of happened. Not that he was complaining, he loved his elemental friends dearly. However, Haunter's evolutionary line was one that he had planned to go after all along. Therefore, like Clefairy and Pidgeotto, he felt like he had accomplished one of his many requisite goals. It felt good. It made him feel capable.

His intramural reflection was broken as he felt a firm pull on his pant leg. The ten-year-old boy looked down to find an eager Charmander trying to get his attention.

"What is it, buddy?" asked Ash. "Is something wrong?"

The fire-lizard grabbed his cream colored belly as it unintentionally disembogued a sound that was similar to that of a grumpy poliwrath.

"Hungry, eh?" questioned Ash with an amused smile as he listened to Charmander's growling stomach once again cry out for help. "We'll get a bite to eat at the Pokemon Center. We might as well get a free meal before we hit the road."

Ivysaur and Growlithe put forth a couple of positive squeals as they nodded in agreement. Now that Ash thought about it, his pokemon hadn't eaten since before the tournament yesterday. They deserved a good meal.

"Alright, let's go get a bite to eat and have Nurse Joy heal Haunter and Squirtle," suggested Ash as he listened to his own stomach growl like an ursaring. "Then we'll go meet up with Austin and Wallace."

Growlithe, Charmander, and Ivysaur happily agreed before Ash led them west, back towards the Pokemon Center.

XXX

The sun had already set as Ash uncomfortably straddled his airborne pidgeotto. In attempt to shield his eyes from the vexatious wind, the ten-year-old boy rested his forehead on Pidgeotto's broad neck. His disgruntled avian was flying much more careless than usual, presumably on account of his brutal loss to Austin's fearow. Ash expected Pidgeotto to be sour over his defeat for a while, especially since he lost to his inherent primordial enemy.

Ash decided that the best thing to do was to let Pidgeotto work it out on his own. He could bear a short, unpleasant flight if it meant Pidgeotto would learn a lesson. The flying-type needed to be brought back down to earth. He wasn't the strongest flying-type in the skies, yet. It was something he was starting to believe before the loss. The king of pidgeotto had been humbled. Hopefully, it would lead to an even stronger urge to train.

They were rapidly approaching Wallace and Austin's current location. Just like the Champion had speculated, it wasn't a long flight. The coordinates Wallace had sent to Ash's xtranceiver, while he was waiting for Haunter and Squirtle to be healed at the Pokemon Center, indicated that he was currently only about five minutes away from their campsite.

Ash couldn't wait to show them his new haunter. During their brief conversation over the phone back at the Pokemon Center, Ash had kept his ghost-type's identity a secret. He wanted to surprise his older friends. More than likely, they were expecting him to show up with a weaker gastly.

Right before he left Lavender Town, he had released his new ghost-type. Haunter was a little disoriented at first—a pokemon's first experience inside of a pokeball was typically jarring. Nevertheless, the corporeal apparition eventually gathered his impish composure. Ash used their first brief encounter as partners to explain to Haunter his expectations and their current circumstances. The jaunty creature simply laughed and nodded a whole bunch. Ash wasn't positive, but it seemed as though Haunter was just thrilled to get out of that dreadful tower, which made things a whole lot easier. In terms of having a trainer, ghosts usually had a very difficult time adjusting. Ash was elated he wouldn't be having that problem. His ghost-type was unusual to say the least, and he had zero qualms about it.

Ash mused for a couple more minutes before he felt Pidgeotto begin to descend. Despite the turbulent wind, he looked down at the shadowy, verdant woodlands from a bird's vantage point. In the distance, the boy could see a bright, orange glow slightly hidden within the thick brushwood. There was a slight waft of smoke that could be smelt from afar—the unmistakable scent of a campfire.

"There!" hollered Ash as he pointed at the luminous glow. "They're over there!"

In response to Ash's exclamation, Pidgeotto discordantly squawked, clearly annoyed. He'd seen the campfire with his keen eyes a while ago; hence the reason why he'd already begun to lose altitude.

Ash held on tightly as Pidgeotto shackled his wings and pierced the heavens with his spearlike beak. The king natured pidgeotto entered into a steep descent, jetting towards the trees at a tremendous speed. The affliction of riding bareback instantly reminded Ash of why he needed a saddle. After today, he'd do whatever he could to avoid riding Pidgeotto until he evolved.

Right before Pidgeotto approached the tree tops, he liberated his wingspan, allowing resistance to slow himself down. He then proceeded to strategically flap his wings while lowering himself into the thick, brush-covered woods. All the while, Ash held on tightly as he looked down at the earth's hardy surface. He frowned when he watched the rich soil be disrupted by Pidgeotto's oversized talons raking against the living earth.

In concurrence to the avian stretching out his talons to land, Ash spotted Wallace and Austin who we're looking up from their meals with entertained expressions. In response to Pidgeotto's rough landing, the ten-year-old boy squinched his face and ground his teeth. Flying on Pidgeotto bareback was brutal enough. Landing was absolutely grueling, especially, when the colossal flying-type was in a bad mood.

"Damn! You better work on that landing!" heckled Austin as Ash gingerly disembarked from his massive pidgeotto. "That looked brutal!"

Wallace simply chuckled. Austin had pretty much summed it up with his chide remark.

Ash shot Pidgeotto an indignant glare. "He's just cranky. His loss to Fearow has got him acting like a brat."

Pidgeotto huffed before looking the other way. Ash wasn't positive, but he was pretty sure that the flying-type felt bad. Either that or he was just being overdramatic.

Ash let out a guilty sigh, on account of his disgruntled jab, before handling Pidgeotto's empty pokeball. "Thanks for the ride, though. Have a good rest."

With a flash of red light, Ash briskly returned the avian before focusing his attention back on Wallace and Austin.

"The big guy doesn't handle losing very well, does he?" asked Austin as Ash sat down next to the warm campfire.

"Not at all," retorted Ash with a groan.

"Eh, that's how any worthwhile flying-type is," replied Austin with a shrug, "there's a lot of pride in the typing. When Fearow loses it's like the friggin world's about to end. One good victory usually gets him straightened out, though."

Ash nodded. Pidgeotto had only lost one other time, but it had played out identically to Austin's depiction. All it took was one win for Pidgeotto to get out of his attitude funk, albeit he still bears a fair amount of animosity towards the graveler species.

"So…how'd it go, kiddo?" interjected Wallace with a curious cast, "How was the tower?"

"It went really well," answered Ash with a big smile, "I caught a ghost."

"Of course you did," mumbled Austin after taking an oversized bite out of his tofu, "I told you not to come here until you did."

Ash rolled his eyes as Wallace leaned forward with an interested expression.

"What did you catch?" asked the foreign Champion as he scanned Ash's trainer belt.

"I'll show you in a second," said Ash with a smile. "First, I'm going to release my clefairy. It's nice out, and I haven't gotten a chance to see her since yesterday."

"Very well," replied Wallace. "Go ahead.

"You have a clefairy?" asked Austin incredulously as Ash casually unclipped her pokeball from his belt. "How'd you get one of those?"

Ash enlarged Clefairy's pokeball while he answered, "I found her inside of Mt. Moon. It's kind of a long story."

The dark-haired boy proceeded to release his fairy-type. She looked around at her surroundings in a confused manner as the bright flash of light faded into obscurity.

"We're on our way to Saffron City," said Ash to his fairy-type. "A lot has happened since the SS Anne tournament. I'll have Growlithe fill you in later. That way you can ask questions."

Clefairy politely nodded before curiously eyeing Wallace and Austin.

"This is Austin," said Ash as he gestured towards the chiseled faced teenager, "he's a friend. We'll be traveling with him for the next couple of days."

"Hey, Clefairy," said Austin with ogling eyes before directing his gaze back towards Ash. "Dude, she's freaking adorable…"

Clefairy waved to the teen bashfully, after his comment, while Ash lightly chuckled and gestured towards Wallace.

"And in case you don't remember, this is Wallace," said Ash, "You met him aboard the ship. We'll also be traveling with him until Saffron."

"Hello, Clefairy," said Wallace with kind eyes and a benign smile. "It's nice to see you again."

The fairy pokemon respectfully curtsied as she recalled meeting the cultured man on the deck of the giant ship.

"So, how'd you catch Clefairy?" asked Wallace, trying to initiate a good conversation, "You said it was a long story."

"That's because it is," said Ash with a shrug, "However, if you want to hear it, I don't mind telling you guys."

"Do tell," blurted Austin, "I've never actually met a trainer with a clefairy before. I'm sure the story behind the capture is awesome."

"It's definitely interesting," said Ash with a slight smile as he looked down at his precious fairy-type.

His lone female pokemon looked up at him with an affable expression before affectionately snuggling up next to him.

"Well, where should I start?" muttered Ash as he recalled the memory from over a month ago, "I guess the best place to begin would be when Growlithe and I entered the mountain…"

Clefairy instantly perked up. She'd never actually heard the story from Ash's perspective before, nor had she ever really thought to ask.

Wallace and Austin proceeded to sit up in their spots, blatantly engaged as Ash began to tell the story. It took the ten-year-old boy nearly twenty minutes to get through the whole thing, and by the end of it, Wallace and Austin were looking at him with wide eyes and slacked jaws.

"Hold on, so let me get this straight," stammered Austin in disbelief, "So...you're telling me that this old, talking clefable let you take Clefairy with you because you were handpicked by some massive meteor god to take part in their evolution ceremony."

"Mhmm…" said Ash with a simple nod.

"And this talking clefable gave you a chunk of the original moonstone?" asked Wallace, evidently flabbergasted.

"Yup, that pretty much sums it up," said Ash, "Do you want to see it?"

Both older trainers frantically nodded their heads as Ash reached over and grabbed his backpack.

"Clefairy, I need you to step back for a bit," said Ash. "I don't want you to be tempted to touch it. That would be a disaster. You've got a lot to learn before you're ready to evolve.

Clefairy groaned, but obediently obliged. She knew her trainer was right, although she wished he wasn't. She couldn't wait to evolve. With evolution would come a newfound strength that she was incapable of as a clefairy. Unfortunately, the only way to reach the peak of her potential was to wait until she mastered her moveset. Clefable are meant to battle and teach. Clefairy are structured to learn. Other than TM's, a clefable can't learn any techniques after evolution—an idiosyncratic side-effect of some evolutionary stones. Simply put, she had a long, long time to go until she could experience the strength of her elder, enhanced kin.

Once Clefairy was a fair proximity away from the group, Ash pulled out the esoteric stone fragment. It oscillated in color, fluctuating between auroral shades of pink, blue, and purple.

Ash trustingly passed it over to Wallace so that the Champion could get a better look. The turquoise haired master inspected it with gleaming eyes as he gently rubbed his fingers around its crevasses. "It's beautiful…"

Ash could tell that Wallace was a sucker for allurement as he reluctantly passed it over to Austin.

Ash took a brief moment to check on Clefairy, who seemed to be handling the situation quite well, before observing Austin's reaction to the primordial moonstone fragment.

"Well, it's definitely a lot cooler than the normal moonstone I used to evolve my nidorino into a nidoking," said Austin before carefully handing it back over to Ash.

"You have a nidoking?" questioned Ash with interest, "Are they as loyal as people say?"

"Words don't do the species justice," answered Austin with a smile, "They're about as loyal as an arcanine. Maybe even more so if trained right. Don't ever mess with one in the wild, though. A nidoking's loyalty to his herd is extremely dangerous."

"I can only image…" mused Ash as unwanted images of himself running away from a herd of nidoking racked his brain.

Ash's rumination was broken by Wallace's silvery-toned voice. "So, Ash, do you think we can see that ghost-type now?"

Clefairy instantly looked up at her trainer before emitting an inquisitive squeal. She had yet to meet the gaseous apparition.

"Oh yeah," said Ash as he put the moonstone fragment back in his backpack before removing Haunter's great ball from his coat pocket. "I'd almost forgotten about that."

"We got wrapped up in your story," replied Wallace as he used a long, thick stick to move the fire's logs around in order to provide a burst of oxygen to the flame.

"That's cause it was awesome," blurted Austin while tossing his cheap, disposable chopsticks into the fire. "Now let's see it."

In response to his friends request, Ash pressed the release button on his shiny great ball. In a flash of bright light, Haunter was revealed. The poltergeist instantly checked out his surroundings with his angled eyes before using his disembodied hands to comically make funny faces by stretching his shadowy face.

The campsite instantaneously burst into laughter as they watched the riotous ghost-type's amusing display.

"A haunter, eh?" queried Austin as he wiped the laughing tears from his eyes. "Is he always like this because that was freaking hilarious?"

"Outside of battle, I don't think he's ever serious," Ash chuckled. "That's okay, though. Every pokemon's got a different personality. As long as he takes training and battling seriously, I don't have any problem with his antics."

Out of the corner of his eye, Ash blithely watched Haunter entertain Clefairy by humorously crossing his eyes and distending his tongue while Wallace replied.

"Nor should you," said Wallace as he tried to cease his laughter. "It looks to me like Haunter's got a wonderful personality. It's rare that you come across a ghost as charismatic as this one."

"My thoughts exactly," inserted Austin with a grin, "I'm not typically a fan of ghosts, but I like this guy. What moves does he know?"

"Well, he used Shadow Punch, Sucker Punch, Hypnosis, and Night Shade in our battle," retorted Ash while digging through his backpack in search of his pokedex, "Other than those four, I don't know. I'll have to check."

Once Ash finally found his pokedex buried underneath an onslaught of items and clothing, he proceeded to scan his newest pokemon.

"Haunter - the gas pokemon – because of its ability to slip through block walls, it is said to be from another dimension. By licking, it paralyzes its opponents. It causes shaking that won't cease until the victims demise. Typically, they are dangerous pokemon. If one beckons you in the dark, do not approach it. They eat dreams and sometimes life force. In darkness, where nothing is visible, haunter lurks. This haunter is male. current moveset: Hypnosis, Lick, Spite, Mean Look, Curse, Night Shade, Confuse Ray, Sucker Punch, Shadow Punch. Ability: Levitate."

Ash whistled; he wasn't expecting Haunter's moveset to be quite so developed.

"Pretty good…" drawled Austin as he scooted back from the fire and wiped the sweat from his forehead, "especially, for a newly captured pokemon."

"I second that," answered Wallace, "also, it sounds to me like he barely used any of his non-physical moves against you. Interesting…it's almost like he was trying to give you an even battle without status conditions."

Ash scratched the back of his head as he mulled it over. "Is that true Haunter? Did you go easy on me?"

Haunter took an abrupt break from making Clefairy giggle and looked at Ash conscience-stricken. His spikes drooped, and his smile receded into a frown, as he guiltily gazed at his new trainer.

"Yup, you've been caught," heckled Ash as he patted Haunter atop his head, careful to avoid the corporeal spikes. "It's okay, though. No need to feel bad. I get that you wanted to come with me. Just promise me you won't compromise a battle again, okay?"

Haunter quickly lightened up. His spikes erected once again, and his face contorted back into its usual flippant expression as he buoyantly nodded his body up and down. In response to Haunter's peculiar behavior, the group of trainers lit up the campsite with laughter once more. They continued to joyfully visit for about another hour until everyone was hit by a wave of tired yawns.

"We should probably get some rest," said Wallace as he put out the fire. "We've got a lot of ground to cover tomorrow."

"Agreed," retorted Austin as he slipped into his already prepared sleeping bag. "Wallace, what time do you want to get moving?"

"Eh, eight would be good," replied Wallace, "What do you think, Ash?

"Whatever you think is best," said Ash while rolling out his heavy-duty sleeping bag with the help of Clefairy. "I may get up earlier than that to train."

Ash made sure to keep an eye on Haunter, who appeared to be listening attentively while floating around the campsite with a smile on his face. Despite Haunter's evident good-nature, he was still a ghost that liked to pull pranks. Ash felt a little bit more comfortable around the apparition if he knew where he was.

"Alright then," answered Wallace after completely putting out the fire and beginning to get comfortable in his own sleeping bag. "I'll set the alarm on my pokegear to eight.

"Sounds good," snickered Ash as he talked over the already snoring Austin.

Once Ash's sleeping bag was prepared, he reluctantly returned his new ghost-type before sliding inside of it like a chrysalis. Clefairy elected to stay outside of her pokeball for the night. Apparently, she was way too comfortable snuggled up with her trainer to go back inside of her pokeball. Plus, Ash had a feeling she wanted to make sure he was safe. He had already decided to leave Growlithe in his pokeball for the night. The pup deserved some good rest in suspended animation without having to worry about an ambush. Especially, after the events aboard the SS Anne, and today's adventure inside of the haunted Pokemon Tower.

"Good night, Ash…" mumbled Wallace as the Champion drifted off into comatose.

Ash just lay there underneath the night sky, for a couple of minutes, thinking back on the craziness of the past twenty-four hours. As he nodded off, he felt the comfort of Clefairy's small, two-clawed hands grappling onto his shirt.

XXX

Ash jerked up in his sleeping bag as his dreams were dauntingly ambushed by vivid images of Chance Chapman's mangled body and the deceased members of Team Rocket. The ten-year-old boy was drenched in a heavy sweat, and his heart was beating faster than a hyperactive electron.

Clefairy promptly jumped out of the sleeping bag before sporadically looking around the campsite for an intruder. It was still dark out, and she couldn't hear a single threatening signature movement pattern within the surrounding area.

While he desperately tried to calm his breathing, Ash quickly deciphered that his spontaneous anxiety was caused by a nightmare.

"It was just a bad dream," gasped Ash to Clefairy as he surveyed the campsite.

Clefairy slightly relaxed as Ash synchronously noticed that Austin and Wallace were still sleeping. The dark-haired boy took a deep breath, in order to gather himself, while Clefairy unloaded her light body back into the comfortable heavy-duty sleeping bag.

Ash gently patted his fairy-type on the head, trying to quench her distress, before checking the time on his xtranceiver. It was 4:47 A.M. The alarm clock on his device was set for five o'clock anyhow, so he stood out of his sleeping bag and stretched his stiff body. In concurrence, Ash looked down to watch Clefairy imitate him, stretching her tiny compact muscles as well. Ash figured she probably didn't sleep all that much: clefairy are nocturnal after all.

Ash quickly suppressed any looming thoughts concerning his nightmare. He couldn't control what his subconscious spewed out during his sleep. Regardless of how frightening waking up to such a collage of images was, he wouldn't allow them to debilitate him. Maybe he'd let Haunter eat his dreams if they started to get out of control.

The ten-year-old boy proceeded to roll up his sleeping bag before stuffing it inside of his backpack's back pocket. He wasn't quite sure how long he'd be out training, but he'd rather not have to rush to do it when he got back.

After hoisting his backpack around his sore shoulders, and affixing his cap over his messy hair, Ash beckoned Clefairy to follow him outside of the campsite. He thought about leaving his sleeping friends a note, but decided it wasn't necessary. If they needed to get a hold of him, they could just call his xtranceiver. Ash couldn't even begin to describe how helpful Bill's unexpected gift to him had been. The xtranceiver simply made everything way more convenient.

It didn't take Ash too long to find an appropriate sized clearing. About a half a mile west of the campsite was a beautiful, verdant glade. It wasn't overwhelmingly large, but there was definitely enough space to have a couple of his pokemon spar if need be. The spattered ground and the encompassing trees were rather moist. Therefore, he figured his fire-types should be fine to train without starting a fire that could endanger the environment.

In addition, situated to the side of the vast clearing was a mesmeric pond. The water was clear, and Ash could spot a multitude of goldeen and magikarp swimming at the bottom. On account of the enticing thought of one day commanding a monstrous gyarados, he momentarily thought about catching a magikarp. However, he ultimately decided against it. He already had a water-type he needed to train up, and magikarp required an unprecedented amount of time and effort to evolve.

In subsequence to checking out the small body of water, Ash addressed Clefairy. "Well, we got about three hours. We didn't do any one-on-one training aboard the SS Anne, so I'm kind of itching to resume mastering everybody's move pools. Do you want to go first?"

Clefairy excitedly nodded her head, signifying that she was ready to get started.

Ash extracted his pokedex from his back pocket before looking up the details concerning the new technique he wanted to teach Clefairy. After a quick review of the properties and steps involving Stored Power, Ash explained the details to his precious fairy-type.

"Alright, so please bear with me. This one sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is," warned Ash as he briefly looked down at Clefairy before gluing his eyes back onto the pokedex's miniature screen. "This is another technique that involves your thaumaturgic energy."

Clefairy instantly released an annoyed groan as she recalled the tedious process of mastering the thaumaturgic energy required to proficiently use Minimize.

"I said bear with me," said Ash sternly, "You've already gained good control over manipulating your internal thaumaturgic energy. It won't be nearly as difficult as Minimize. Properly learning how to conjure and maintain your thaumaturgic energy is half the battle when it comes to learning Stored Power. The rest should come rather naturally."

The fairy-type was skeptical, but decided to cease her complaints. She would master Stored Power regardless of how difficult it was, especially, if her trainer was expecting her to do so.

"Okay…" muttered Ash as he tapped on the pokedex screen, "so, it says here that the first step to learning Stored Power is to simply activate your thaumaturgic energy."

Clefairy looked up at him inquisitively as he continued to explain.

"When you were learning Minimize, we focused on willing your thaumaturgic energy to constrict and expand. A fairy type's thaumaturgic energy naturally desires to either absorb or repel. When you facilitated it into your cells, you were telling your thaumaturgic energy to either absorb the matter within your cells or to repel it, ultimately causing your body to shrink during the absorption phase and expand during the repel phase."

The fairy pokemon nodded, in response to Ash's words, as she looked within herself to test this supposed truth. For a brief moment, she called upon her thaumaturgic energy allowing it to simply course throughout her body without trying to direct it. She could feel the mystical energy's natural pull as it tried to absorb the atmosphere's pencircling molecular components.

She ceased her invisible test as she checked back into what Ash was trying to explain.

"Now, if you repel this thaumaturgic energy from the inside-out without any status moves occurring within the battle, you will create a damaging surge of energy relative to your current powerlevel."

Clefairy liked the sound of that. It appeared to be relatively uncomplicated, just like her trainer had suggested.

"Why don't you try it?" asked Ash while simultaneously backing up. "Let's just see what happens. I'll explain the rest after."

Clefairy murmured acquiescently while waiting for her trainer to create a decent sized gap in proximity. Once Ash was nearly backed up against the clearing's tree line, the fairy-type looked deep within herself. She mentally grabbed a hold of all of her procreated thaumaturgic energy before fighting off the urge to manipulate it in order to minimize. In precedence to pushing it outward, she let it course throughout her body for a couple of seconds. The strain was slightly exhausting, but she managed to expel the power outside of her tiny body.

Ash watched – impressed – as Clefairy's entire body disembogued an iridescent efflux of unrestricted power. The surge was both horizontal and circumferential, albeit limited in overall expanse. Stored Power would primarily have to be used from close range—at least as it stands now. As the opalescent array ceased, Ash jogged back up to his fairy-type.

"Good," praised Ash with a grin. "That was perfect. You repelled your thaumaturgic energy. Now, show me how fast, you think, you can recover it."

Clefairy grunted before converting some of the lunar essence that was stored within her wings into thaumaturgic energy. The flow of energy resulted in an intramural ignition. Her thaumaturgic energy had been restored by the help of her small, mystic wings. Clefairy proceeded to nod, signifying that her energy bank had been replenished.

"That was a lot faster than I expected," muttered Ash as he crouched down to Clefairy's level. "Now, we're going to try and make it stronger."

Clefairy tilted her head as she peered at him with inquisitive eyes.

"The main point of Stored Power is to use it as a counterattack against pokemon that like to boost their strength with status techniques," informed Ash as he detached Squirtle's pokeball from his belt. "Let's give it a try."

The dark-haired boy quickly released Squirtle, who instantly used his eyes to survey the glade. Ash could tell right away that, even though squirtle had been treated with Nurse Joy's restoration machine, he was still recovering from the exhaustion of being pushed to use Torrent against Haunter.

"How are you feeling, Squirtle?" asked Ash as he approached his emotionless turtle pokemon.

The cold featured water-type responded with an alto-toned grunt as he waited to find out why he had been called upon.

"I'm training Clefairy right now," informed Ash while looking Squirtle directly in the eyes. "We're working on a move called Stored Power. I need you to raise your defense with Withdraw. We're not sparring, her technique just requires a pokemon to use a status boosting technique. Withdraw should do the trick."

Most trainers that didn't know anything about Withdraw assumed that it basically just served as a shield. However, even though that is one of its major purposes, Withdraw also acts as a way to temporarily enhance a pokemon's defense by significantly toughening their skin. Ash wasn't exactly an expert when it came to the science involved, but every time a pokemon enshrouds itself, they emit some type of exocrine solvent that strengthens its flesh.

Ash turned his attention back to Clefairy as he explained to her what would happen next. "Now, when Squirtle uses Withdraw, I want you to constrict your thaumaturgic energy. The pokedex says that the user should be able to absorb all of the safe molecules that are close-by. Since status boosting techniques only enhance a pokemon's capabilities, you should be able to absorb Withdraw's essence into your Stored Power."

Clefairy nodded, as she turned her attention back towards Squirtle, while waiting for the water-type to use Withdraw.

"Go ahead, Squirtle," ordered Ash with a nod, signaling for the turtle pokemon to use his defense boosting technique, "Withdraw."

Squirtle instantaneously enshrouded himself within his shell. As he was concealed within his biological shield, he secreted a thin-layer of distinguished keratinocytes out of his epidermis. They instantly spread throughout his reptilian skin and strengthened his flesh.

"Clefairy, now!" exclaimed Ash, excitement evident in his intonation.

The fairy pokemon constricted the thaumaturgic energy flowing throughout her entity, causing her body to soak up all of the molecules lingering in the air around her. She could feel the essence of Squirtle's Withdraw being absorbed into her being as she internally pulled on her thaumaturgic energy like a fishermen yanks on his fishing rod.

As the essence of Squirtle's Withdraw intermixed with Clefairy's thaumaturgic energy, she could feel a slight enhancement within her Stored Power. Once it settled, she opened her eyes before smiling at her trainer in order to signify her success.

"Squirtle, get back!" bellowed Ash, before flashing Clefairy a look that beckoned for her to wait.

In precedence, while Clefairy held on to her Stored Power, the turtle pokemon quickly scuttled over to his trainer without a hint of an expression.

"Now!" blurted Ash excitedly as he focused on his tiny, pink, fairy pokemon.

The fairy-type discharged another blast of polychromatic energy, although this time it was slightly more potent. It was brighter in color and much more extensive. Ash's hair ruffled on account of the burst of wind evoked by the attack. Ash thought that maybe if there had been more status conditions to feed off of, Stored Power could have knocked the hat off of his head.

"Great job, Clefairy!" exclaimed Ash as he approached his fairy-type after the paroxysm had dissipated. "You're already starting to get the hang of it. All we've got left to do is make sure that you can maintain your thaumaturgic energy when there are multiple status moves involved."

Clefairy nodded, gladly welcoming the challenge. Up to this point, Stored Power had been relatively facile.

"Care to do a couple more Withdraws?" Ash asked Squirtle, requiring an abundance of the defensive technique's marrow.

The turtle pokemon shrugged indifferently before stepping out to perform the extremely rudimentary routine. As Squirtle repeatedly began to palpitate, in and out of his shell, Clefairy thought one thing…

Stored Power was a cinch compared to Minimize.

XXX

"Faster!" bellowed Ash as Charmander prepared to unload a Focus Punch into Squirtle's shell encased abdomen.

Despite the turtle pokemon's exhaustion, he dodged in order to avoid the powerful, but slightly laggard, endeavor.

The fire-lizard disembogued a groan of frustration as he loaded another Focus Punch with his opposite claw. His fist glowed within a luminous, white aura while he swiftly tried to bring it down atop Squirtle's hard skull.

The water-type's eyes intensely bulged as he moved to dodge the brisk haymaker. He managed to avoid the powerful punch, albeit only by a mere centimeter.

"Better!" howled Ash from across the clearing with a slight smirk on his face, "but still not fast enough!"

Charmander put forth another disgruntled snarl while he loaded one more Focus Punch.

Ash smiled as he watched Charmander's charge time diminish even more. This time it took him just over a second to procure a full-power Focus Punch. The fire-lizard swung his illuminated fist upward, striking Squirtle underneath the chin with a highly focused uppercut. The turtle pokemon was sent hurtling across the glade, emitting uncomfortable sounding grunts throughout the entire process.

"That's enough!" howled Ash as Charmander charged at a disoriented, but still standing, Squirtle, "we're done!"

The fire-lizard ceased his canter before quickly turning to Ash with a big, cheerful smile on his face.

Ash couldn't help but reciprocate the smile before answering, "Yup, that was it. You finally got it under your complete control. Awesome work, Charmander, I'm proud of you."

Charmander glanced at Ash, and emitted an elated squeal, before scampering over to Squirtle's side. The water-type gingerly rubbed his chin as he gave Charmander a quick nod of respect.

Ash wouldn't say that his water-type necessarily liked anybody on the team, but Ash had definitely come to learn that he at least respected Charmander. Squirtle was hard to read, but it seemed as if the turtle pokemon related well with Charmander because of their similar pasts. Ash had been planning on letting Squirtle rest today, outside of having him use Withdraw against Clefairy, on account of his exhaustion caused by utilizing Torrent. But, the turtle Pokemon insisted that he at least got to help with Charmander's Focus Punch training which, until today, had been a work in progress for the past couple of weeks.

However, finally – on account of Charmander's hard work and dedication – Focus Punch had been mastered.

"That was great," said Ash while he approached Charmander and Squirtle. "We've finally gotten a grip on your current moveset. Next time we train, we'll start to learn a new technique."

Charmander directed his attention back towards his trainer before tightly hugging the boy's leg.

Ash giggled in response to the predictable act of affection. Whenever Charmander felt like he had made his trainer proud, he tended to display a sudden burst of childlike fondness. Ash was almost positive that it was a side-effect of Damian's neglect. Being treated so poorly, for such a long period of time, had obviously taken a deep-rooted emotional toll on Charmander. The fire-lizard blatantly yearned for praise. Good thing Ash was more than happy to oblige.

As Charmander hugged Ash, the dark-haired boy looked down at his water-type while detaching Squirtle's empty pokeball from his belt. "Thanks for all of your help this morning, Squirtle. I really appreciate it. Now get some good rest, you need it."

In precedence to Squirtle being returned, the turtle pokemon acknowledged Ash's gratitude with a low, ratifying grunt. Despite Squirtle's near emotionless personality, Ash felt like they were slowly beginning to understand one another. Ash just hoped it carried over after Squirtle's impending evolution.

Once Squirtle's pokeball was securely fastened to Ash's trainer belt, Charmander looked up at him with wide, inquisitorial eyes.

Ash shrugged before opening his mouth to speak, "I'll have to look into what I want to teach you next. I know you're eager to keep going, but we actually finished mastering Focus Punch faster than I'd thought. Give me the rest of the day to do some research. By tomorrow, I'll have something for you to work on."

Charmander briefly looked disappointed that he was done training for the day before cheering up when Ash gently patted him on the head.

"Be patient," implored Ash as he placed his hands on his hips, "for now, just celebrate today's accomplishment. You finally mastered Focus Punch. That's something to be excited about. Don't worry about the next task until tomorrow. Okay…"

The fire-lizard soaked in Ash's words before nodding and grunting convivially. Ash knew what was best for him after all. Besides, he had plenty to be proud of. Just like his trainer had said, he'd finally mastered Focus Punch. For today...that was enough…

XXX

Pidgeotto leered at Ash as the fresh faced boy sifted through his pokedex in search of tips regarding Agility. The flying-type was still royally pissed-off on account of his loss to Fearow. And his animosity hadn't lessened now that he knew Ash was traveling with his inherent enemy's trainer—even if it was only for a few days.

Ash looked up from his pokedex with an annoyed expression, and eyed his avian, before shaking his head exasperatingly. "Will you stop it please? You're acting more like a snooty princess than a king."

Pidgeotto bitterly squawked, clearly inappreciative of his trainer's snide remark.

"You're only upset because you know it's true," ragged Ash while rolling his eyes. "It's just one loss—best you get over it sooner rather than later."

Despite Pidgeotto's indisposition towards his trainer's harsh words, he knew that Ash was right. Under normal circumstances, he would have gotten over it by now. He'd still be overwrought; he hated losing. But, he would have moved forward, ready to dish his accumulated anger out onto his next sorry opponent. However, the fact that his victor was a fearow left an overwhelmingly grotesque taste in his beak. His pride had been stomped on. He felt weak and humiliated.

It was a disgusting sensation.

Pidgeotto's self-destructive thoughts were suddenly breached by the sound of his trainer's earnest voice.

"I'm sorry if that was too blunt," said Ash with conviction, "but, a loss, is a loss. It doesn't matter if it is delivered by a fearow or a dragonite. The point is we lost, and we need to get stronger."

Pidgeotto looked down at the ground as he processed his trainer's fervent words. The bit about a loss being a loss went through one ear and out the other. He hated Fearow's species with a fiery passion and that wasn't going to just change on account of his trainer's idealistic oration.

However, there was a lot of truth in the part about getting stronger. He needed to train harder. He wasn't quite as strong as he thought he was. There's pokemon out there that exceeded his powerlevel by leaps and bounds, and he wanted to destroy that gap. He wouldn't stop until he was the strongest flying-type in the world, capable of manhandling anything that thought it could fly in his skies.

When Pidgeotto lifted his head up to his trainer, Ash noticed a fiery glint in the bird's intense eyes. The ten-year-old boy could tell that something he had said had fired his avian up. Ash simply shrugged unsure of what exactly caused the passioned reaction, but it didn't matter. He had provided his flying-type with motivation. Now, it was time to train.

"Are you ready to move forward?" asked Ash while pointing at the information on his pokedex. "After reading this, I'm pretty sure I can teach you Agility."

Regardless of whether or not Ash understood his antipathy – caused by losing to a fearow – Pidgeotto nodded his head. The avian didn't want to waste any more time sulking. His time was better spent training. Hard work was the only way he was going to overcome his current disappointment. He'd grow stronger. It was the one surefire way to make sure that something like this would never happen again.

"Good," replied Ash with a smirk, "let's begin then."

In response to Ash's staidness, Pidgeotto fluttered his wings and chortled sadistically. Although his trainer was typically kind and easy going, when it came to training he didn't mess around. The boy was determined to draw the best out of the pokemon he captured, and nothing would stop him from doing so.

Pidgeotto had lucked out. He knew he had been blessed with the perfect trainer to handle his confusing personality. Ash was someone that could look past any pokemon's character regardless of how vexing it was. The boy always seemed to find a way to press his pokemon's buttons in the right way, no matter of their perturbing disposition—Squirtle and the avian were perfect examples of this.

Ash smiled at his fiendish friend's audacious display before clearing his throat to speak. "Anyways, now that you're focused, I'd like to explain Agility."

Pidgeotto defogged his mind and listened attentively.

"The first thing I'd like to address is Agility's type classification," said Ash, "it's listed as a psychic-type technique."

Pidgeotto cocked his head curiously as he listened to his trainer's explanation.

"The reason it's classified as a psychic-type move, rather than a normal-type technique like Quick Attack, is because the key to its success exists within the mind and not the body," explained Ash.

Pidgeotto emitted a curious squawk as he tried to make sense of his trainer's words.

"Apparently, pokemon that are naturally capable of learning Agility have a chemical stored in their brain that allows their body to nearly quadruple in speed for a short period of time. It works similar to Ivysaur's Chlorophyll ability. Except, it is cognitive rather than physical. At least, that's what the pokedex says. I'm not exactly an expert or anything."

The barbarous flying-type looked at Ash with agitated eyes. It appeared as though the flying-type was slightly confused.

"I know that it's a lot to process, but don't worry," reassured Ash, "even though it may take a while, we'll learn it. Learning Agility is exhausting, but it's not all that complicated. It's just going to take a lot of heart. You're going to be pushed to your limit. Do you think you can handle it?"

The avian looked at Ash with intense eyes as he adamantly squawk.

"That's what I thought," replied Ash with a smirk, "The process is pretty straight forward. I need you to use Quick Attack until you feel like you're about to pass out, due to fatigue, and then I need you to keep going. We're going to break you mentally and then build you back up. There's a barrier in your mind that we need to destroy, and the only way to do that is through total exhaustion."

Pidgeotto put forth a low, slightly distraught laughter. He was sadistic by nature, but that didn't make him a masochist. The content of Ash's words made Agility sound like it was going to be an excruciating move to learn. Good thing he'd gladly welcome any methods in order to become stronger...

The rest of the flying-type's training session consisted of repetitive Quick Attacks until Pidgeotto was nearly drifting into unconsciousness because of overwhelming fatigue. Agility relied upon the destruction of Pidgeotto's current psychological stamina limit. The mind of a pokemon was a complex thing. In the case of learning Agility, Pidgeotto's subconscious concept of his own speed needed to be broken in order to develop a technique that would transform his speed into something to be reckoned with.

The process would be grueling, but the king of Pidgeotto was more than up for the task.

XXX

An hour and a half later, Ash removed Haunter's great ball from his coat pocket. He simultaneously made a mental note to purchase a few more docking clips for his trainer belt, carrying Haunter's pokeball in his coat pocket felt way too careless and cursory…

Ash had spent the last hour and a half training up Ivysaur and Growlithe. Both of his friends were in the beginning phase of learning a new technique, and after carefully analyzing their individual training sessions, it was pretty evident.

The ten-year-old boy was working with Growlithe on a technique called Reversal, which is a physical fighting-type attack that varies in inflictive damage depending on the user's present health. Growlithe was having a lot of initial problems concerning the attack, which was normal. Fighting-type moves were typically difficult to teach a pokemon that didn't belong to the classified type. The techniques came naturally to a fighting-type, but that couldn't be said for a pokemon of another categorized typing. It was especially difficult for quadrupedal pokemon like Growlithe. Their body-type made the required movements much more difficult. However, most of the time, the techniques that were the hardest to learn were the most worthwhile.

Throughout the process of learning Reversal, Ash had a feeling that Growlithe would gain a newfound comprehension of his physical prowess. Sort of like how Clefairy grew tremendously, in terms of controlling her thaumaturgic energy, during the learning curve required to master Minimize. Besides, above all else, the pokedex said Growlithe could learn the technique, and a fighting-type attack would add significant variety to Growlithe's move pool…

Ivysaur was working on one of the rarest grass-type techniques—Razor Leaf. Razor Leaf is a physical, grass-type attack that can only be learned naturally by a few species native to Kanto. Specifically, the bulbasaur and bellsprout evolutionary families. Since bulbasaur have become severely endangered over the years, bellsprout and the foreign chikorita were the only species trainers in Kanto could actually teach Razor Leaf to. Neither chikorita nor bellsprout were necessarily popular, so the impressive attack was rarely seen by the public eye. The pokedex also explained that, through breeding, oddish were capable of congenially learning Razor Leaf. Unfortunately, breeding for selective techniques was a rather arduous and unpredictable process that couldn't typically be relied on.

Therefore, learning Razor Leaf would give Ash a rare and powerful grass-type technique for Ivysaur to exploit opponents with. The fact that it was so infrequently used would give Ivysaur a pretty distinct advantage. A lot of trainers didn't know how to battle a member of his species in the first place. Razor Leaf simply made Ivysaur even more unpredictable.

However, having thought all of that, Ash still had to teach Ivysaur the relatively difficult technique—and today's training session hadn't necessarily gone well. Ivysaur still hadn't figured out how to procure the razor, sharp leaves required for the attack. The pokedex didn't really make it clear either. It explained that it had something to do with the accelerated growth of one of Ivysaur's indwelling, organic seeds. But, Ivysaur had hundreds of choices to sift through, and that would take time—much like finding the right components for Sleep Powder.

Nevertheless, his evolved friend would eventually work it out. Ash had no way to decipher how long it would take, yet he had confidence in his saurian's exceptional intellect. Even though grass-type techniques usually took a fair amount of time to master, Ash figured that Ivysaur could probably get it down in a week or two…

Anyways, Ash's attention was now centralized on evaluating the depth of Haunter's power. He didn't have all that much time until Wallace and Austin would be waking up, and he'd prefer not to hold up the group. Reaching Saffron on time took priority over his training, which is one of the reasons why he wanted to get up early. He didn't think he'd have much time to improve throughout the day. Hopefully, they'd be able to stop and battle some traveling trainers. But, he knew that there were no guarantees. Therefore, he'd have to do his training early in the morning and late in the evening.

Until they rescued Mr. Montgomery, and successfully stopped Team Rocket's ploy to acquire the Master Ball, he probably wouldn't be getting much sleep.

Ash gently stroked Growlithe behind the ears before releasing Haunter. At first, the flash of light that emanated from the release revealed nothing but air. However, after a couple of seconds, Haunter quickly fizzled into his corporeal form, laughing and pointing at Ash's befuddled expression.

The puppy pokemon watched Haunter with an amused countenance. The ghost-type's antics instantly cheered up Growlithe's disgruntled mood, caused by this morning's struggle with Reversal.

"Good morning, Haunter!" greeted Ash with a benign smile as the ghost-type buoyantly floated in the air.

Haunter used one of his shadowy, disembodied hands to welcomingly waved at his new trainer before floating down to Growlithe's level in order to say hello to the canine. The two friendly pokemon engaged in a brief conversation, in their congenital languages, prior to Haunter levitating back up to Ash's eye level.

"I'd like to check out your current moveset," said Ash with a sober countenance, "Do you mind?"

Haunter chuckled while shaking his body left to right signifying that he was up for it.

"Great," crooned Ash as he reached into his back pocket, "give me a second to scan you with my pokedex. I think I remember your whole moveset, but I just want to make sure I don't miss anything."

The ghost-type waited patiently as Ash used the pokedex to decipher Haunter's current available techniques. The dark-haired boy instantly noticed a change in the spectral being's behavior. Haunter seemed to take training rather seriously, which was a pleasant sign. Ash wasn't exactly worried about it beforehand. Haunter had shown his competence in battle against Squirtle. Therefore, despite his comedic personality, he had to have at least taken training semi-seriously. Otherwise, he wouldn't have stood a chance against Squirtle and would probably still be in his gastly phase.

"I've seen the extent of your Hypnosis," said Ash as he scrolled through Haunter's techniques. "So there's really no need for you to show me that one. Lick is pretty straight forward, and I would rather not have you paralyze any of our friends. How about Spite? That would be an interesting one to see."

Haunter nodded, but then looked at Ash in a confused manner.

It took Ash only about a second to figure out the reason for Haunter's befuddled expression. "Well, the pokedex says that spite is supposed to be a status technique that drains stamina. It doesn't sound particularly painful. I guess you could use it on me."

Haunter gave Ash an undesirable expression as he shook his head. It was obvious that Haunter wasn't a fan of that idea.

"But, I need to see how effective it—"

Ash was interrupted by Growlithe, who cried a determined and adamant yap, clearly volunteering himself to be the subject. The dark-haired boy thought about it, for a brief moment, before making a decision.

"Okay…" muttered Ash, "but, you have to let me give you a potion after Haunter's training session."

Growlithe nodded. Unless it was absolutely necessary, the puppy pokemon didn't typically like Ash to use potions on him. However, in this situation, he wasn't going to argue. Ash's present countenance didn't give him any room to protest.

"Alright, Haunter, will you agree to use Spite on Growlithe?"

The ethereal ghost thought it over, for a short moment, before nodding and putting forth a discordant grunt.

"Alright, I promise I'll heal him later," reassured Ash before turning his attention back towards Growlithe. "Are you ready, buddy?"

The puppy pokemon pronounced a consenting bark as he looked at Haunter with brave, fiery eyes.

Haunter released a cacophonous cackle, prior to using one of his ghostly hands to gesture for Ash to back up. The dark-haired boy proceeded to do as suggested, slightly in awe of his Haunter's thoughtful nature. The ghost-type had a mischievous side, but outside of that, he was an extremely friendly pokemon—which quite possibly would never cease to throw him off.

He'd been taught at an early age that ghosts were typically nasty and vehement. A friendly ghost was about as rare as a wild munchlax or maybe even the endangered lapras. For that reason, his friend was definitely a peculiar specimen, most certainly a diamond in the rough.

After Ash was a fair distance away from Growlithe and Haunter, the ghost pokemon raised both of his shadowy hands. He pointed them directly at Growlithe while entrancingly wagging his fingers up and down. Haunter suddenly emanated a thin beam of black energy. It zigzagged through the air peculiarly before piercing a stationary Growlithe.

The puppy pokemon showed no signs of pain, but instead grew sluggish. Ash could instantly notice a difference in Growlithe's eyes. They looked weary, sort of like he had just exited Hypnosis or some other sleep inducing move.

To be honest, Ash wasn't expecting such a blatant affect. Obviously, Spite worked just fine.

Spite—Check.

"How do you feel, Growlithe?" asked Ash soothingly as he approached the fire-type. "You're okay, right"

The canine pokemon nodded his head affirmatively while slightly panting. It was apparent that Growlithe was tired, but he didn't look to be in pain. Ash took a deep breath; his starter was just fine. It appeared as though the ghostly technique had just caused him to become winded. Other than temporary exhaustion, Growlithe hadn't suffered any damage at all.

"Do you want the potion now instead of later?" asked Ash with a gentle smile.

Growlithe shook his head, signifying that he would rather wait. If it were up to him, he'd avoid the potion all together. He felt like he'd be just fine in a couple of minutes anyway.

"Suit yourself," said Ash with a shrug before addressing Haunter, "Spite checks out just fine. Good job."

After making sure that Growlithe was okay, Haunter proceeded to happily levitate around the glade, clearly enjoying Ash's praise. When he was finished celebrating, he floated back over to Ash's side ready to receive his next command.

Ash scrolled through his pokedex while deciding which move he wanted Haunter to show him next. "Eh, you probably don't need to show me Mean Look. It pretty much works, or it doesn't. Skill level doesn't really affect it. Do you think you've got good control over it?"

Haunter emitted a discordant grunt before nodding his body up and down.

"That's good enough for me," replied Ash with a slight smile before looking back down at his pokedex. "I'll take your word for it."

In response to Ash's trust, the gaseous pokemon's large smile seemed to widen. It was considerably apparent that Haunter was adapting well to having Ash as a trainer.

"Err…unless we're in live battle, I don't really feel comfortable having you use Curse," said Ash while shaking his head. "So, I'll have to wait to see that one."

Haunter dramatically nodded, indicating that he understood Ash's concern. Curse was one of those moves that was only to be used during a dire circumstance. Anytime there was a technique that caused self-inflicting damage, Ash liked to steer clear of using it if at all possible.

"I saw your Night Shade…" drawled Ash, "but, I didn't really get to see how strong it was. How about you show me that one again? Just use it at full strength on air. I'll fill in the blanks."

Haunter nodded before facing the opposite direction of Ash and Growlithe. Like he did when using Spite, the poltergeist raised his corporeal hands. There was a momentary pause, as it appeared that the ghost-type was preparing the attack, before he emitted an immense, dark purple wave of ominous energy. This time it was nearly twice the size of when he used it against Squirtle. Ash's skin crawled in response to the ghostly outburst. It was blatantly obvious that the ghost pokemon had been holding back against his water-type.

Ash couldn't help but laugh. "Wow…that was more than impressive."

Despite Growlithe's exhaustion, he cheered on his new comrade with a series of affable yips and yaps.

Night Shade—Check.

Shaking off his perplexed expression, Ash moved on to the next attack he needed to evaluate. "Confuse Ray is another one of those techniques that either works or it doesn't. Like Mean Look, I'll just trust that you can freely use it. I'd rather not confuse myself or any of my friends. Any problems with your Confuse Ray?"

Haunter shook his head, indicating to Ash that he had Confuse Ray mastered and under his complete control.

"I figured," said Ash as he pointed at a collection of large boulders next to the mesmeric pond. "Now, let's go over there. Those boulders look sturdy. I want to see your Sucker Punch and Shadow Punch at full-strength."

Haunter snickered before following Ash and Growlithe over to the formation of large stones.

The young trainer wiped the sweat from his forehead as he decisively pointed at one of the boulders.

"Use Sucker Punch first," commanded Ash causally, "hit it as hard as you can."

Haunter immediately raised his fist as it was enveloped in a cloak of black energy. The mischievous ghost emitted a surge of dissonant laughter while he swung his fist into the center of the boulder.

Ash gritted his teeth as he listened to the hissing sound caused by the dark element grating through the stone's natural matter. The damage was about what Ash expected. The hardy stone turbulently vibrated before showing a plethora of fissure lines. At first, Ash thought that the rock would crumble to pieces, but it ultimately stayed intact. Sucker Punch was mostly known for being an effective quickfire counterattack. If Haunter's Sucker Punch could deal this kind of damage to a boulder of this magnitude, Ash had no doubt in his mind that the harder hitting Shadow Punch would completely decimate one of the burly boulders.

"Great job, Haunter," praised Ash as he patted the corporeal ghost between its posterior spikes.

The ghost-type once again celebrated, by buoyantly levitating around the clearing, before returning to his trainer's side with a massive grin on his face.

Growlithe put forth a supportive bark as he was significantly impressed by Haunter's strength.

Sucker Punch—Check.

Ash cleared his throat before glancing at Haunter with expectant eyes and gesturing towards a fresh boulder, "All that's left is Shadow Punch. Hit it hard."

This time Haunter's face portrayed seriousness as he winded his shadowy fist back. It became shrouded in a dark purple current while shrieking through the atmosphere. Ash was almost forced to cover his ears on account of the vehement scream put forth by the attack.

Upon impact, the sinister energy spread out before emitting an ear-splitting, inharmonious sound that depicted blustering white noise. This time, Ash had to cover his ears due to his close proximity to the strike: the spectral energy's impact was simply way too loud to endure without protection. He kept his eyes open, though. The dark-haired boy witnessed the boulder explode into millions of tiny fragments. He would have been pelted by the aftermath if Haunter hadn't jumped in front of his adolescent body.

Ash stared ahead at the residuum wide-eyed and slack jawed. Haunter was amazing. If Ash had to guess, he'd say his power rivaled that of Pidgeotto. The ghost-type would serve as a powerhouse on his team for years to come. He certainly had a counter for Sabrina now. All he needed to do was teach Clefairy how to defend against psychic incursions, and he had a chance at taking down the psychic virtuoso.

His ghost-type simply laughed, at the fallout of his attack, as he floated around the scattered rubble. He caught a glimpse of Ash's dumfounded expression and levitated within arms-reach. He looked at Ash with curious eyes for a split-second, beckoning for his trainer to drop his guard. The moment Ash started to relax, he used his disembodied hands to comically stretch his face in every which direction.

On account of the powerful ghost's hilarious display, Ash couldn't help but burst into laughter. The dark-haired boy could hear the sound of Growlithe playfully howling as the dark purple ghost saturated them with various comical expressions.

After a couple of minutes of tear jerking laughter, Ash looked at Haunter with amicable eyes, "I have a feeling we're going to make a good team."

Haunter's grin stretched all the way from one side of his face to the other. The gaseous apparition couldn't agree more.

XXX

When Ash and Growlithe got back to camp, Austin was groggily packing up his stuff, whereas Wallace was digging into a bowl of oatmeal. Wallace's Swampert was lounging about on the ground next to its turquoise haired trainer. If Ash had to guess, Swampert was the one that had heated up Wallace's breakfast. After witnessing the insane amount of heat that the water-type was able to procure with scald, Ash figured that the beast could probably conjure a bowl of boiling water in a matter of seconds.

"Good morning, Ash," said Wallace in his silvery-toned voice. "How did your training go? Are you hungry?"

"It went well," replied the ten-year-old boy vaguely before shaking his head, "I had a protein bar on my way back to camp. Thanks for offering, though."

Wallace shrugged before asking another question, "Did you test out that new haunter of yours?"

Ash's face instantly lit up as he looked down at his starter. "He was awesome, wasn't he Growlithe?"

The puppy pokemon nodded his head elatedly as he thought back to the sheer amount of power that the shadowy apparition possessed.

Wallace gave Ash a benign smile, "Good, I'm glad your little detour worked out for you. Now, as soon as I eat the rest of my breakfast and Austin finishes packing up, we're going to head out. We have a lot of ground to cover."

"Sounds good," retorted Ash as he sat down next to Wallace before waiting for both of his older friends to finish up.

Five minutes later, Austin had finally finished packing up the last of his scattered belongings, and Wallace had wolfed down every last bit of his steel grain oats.

Ash's chiseled faced friend had yet to say anything. Either he wasn't a morning person, or he had been bombarded with terrorizing dreams just like Ash. Ash had a feeling it was the latter. Even though Austin was a couple of years older than Ash that didn't change the fact that he was still young. What they had witnessed aboard the SS Anne would have messed up anyone's subconscious. The fact that they both harbored minds that were still developing only made the damage worse.

Austin had clearly been impacted by the gruesome images of the SS Anne's fallen captains. It would probably take him a little bit to get over whatever horrifying images he had woken up to. Nevertheless, Ash had no doubt that Austin would endure the mental anguish. The teenager was strong. He'd manage.

"Are you guys ready?" asked Wallace as he returned his burly, fully-evolved mud fish pokemon.

Austin mumbled his first words of the morning as he swung his backpack over his shoulder, "As ready as I'm going to be…"

Ash adjusted the straps on his own backpack while preparing himself for the voyage to Saffron City, "I'm ready."

Growlithe emitted a low bark as he prepared his mind for the day's travels

"Good…" drawled Wallace while he fiercely clenched his fist, "Team Rocket, here we come."

XXX

To be continued…

XXX

A/N:

I know it's a bit shorter than last chapter, but this should suffice. For the most part, it was a transitioning chapter—not nearly as intense as Kanto 4. Next chapter will more than make up for it. Kanto 6 will consist of Silph Co...I was originally hoping to fit a battle against Sabrina in as well, but that won't be possible. It would end up being way too long. Silph Co. is going to be a lot of words in and of itself. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed chapter 5 and don't forget to review. Tune back in August 13.

P.S. None of Ash's pokemon are the same ones from the canon. Keep in mind that my world's different, therefore the pokemon are different. Pidgeotto is a completely different specimen than the one in the anime, so is Haunter. The three starters are basically alternate takes on the originals; as you can tell there personalities are completely different. Simply put, from this point on, don't over analyze what I do in comparison to the canon. It's a completely different story with completely different pokemon. Thanks for reading.

Much love, vincentgrey21