Greetings, Mgunnels3, and welcome to A Promise Kept Ash's Johto Journey. Let's get one part of a later request captured, shall we?
Chapter 18: The Tauros Festival and the Trading Extrigance
"Human Speech"
"Pokemon Speech"
We join our heroes as they get out of the Ilex forest into what looks to be a town with a gathering of many trainers of different types for some reason. But now, Ash is more focused on heading to the Pokemon center, which they spot and enter.
Ash made a phone call to his Uncle. "I hope that he isn't off to his yearly trip as usual," Ash said to himself as his Ursaring was also concerned, as it had been a few days since the Noctowl hypnotized him as someone answered the phone. Ash's Uncle was a much older adult with brownish hair and hair similar to Ash's hairstyle.
"Ah, Ash, fancy hearing you like this. I heard that you were here in Johto through my sister, your mother," Ash's Uncle said to Ash, and Ash smiled at this. "What made you call me out of the blue? This isn't usual during your Journey, as I was told you aren't close to Goldenrod yet. And," Ash cut him off.
"Your Ursaring went missing? I know he's standing right next to me," Ash said to his Uncle, who was taken aback by this.
"How? Ash, he went missing almost a couple of days ago?" Ash's Uncle said in surprise by this.
"A Noctowl did that, Uncle and the majority of the Ilex Forest is now gone because of that? But there are two things that I found out, and one of them was told to me by your Ursaring. That you were planning on me having him? Is that true?" Ash asked his Uncle, who smiled at this and nodded.
"I guess you have something to translate this to you, Ash, to find that out? But, yes, I originally planned on giving you him as a gift whenever you came to Goldenrod City at some point during your Journey. I don't have any means to send his Pokeball to you, Ash, at the moment, and I am planning on heading to the Whirl Islands for my yearly trip once I find Ursaring," Ash's Uncle said to Ash, who sighed at this knowing that he wouldn't abandon looking for his Pokemon.
"I'll train with him even if he isn't mine currently, Uncle? I will stop by your house after my gym battle against the gym leader for his Pokeball," Ash said to his Uncle, who nodded at this.
"I've already sent the required documents to the league Ash. Regardless of his Pokeball, he is yours, while most of the Pokemon of my team are still with me. One of them decided to go on his own a Houndour," he said as this took Ash aback.
"Wait a minute, Uncle. I thought that name sounded familiar. I have one of my own, a young one, that is. That is the leader of the Houndour pack's son. The leader looks like he's been with a trainer before. Could he be?" Ash said.
"It is possible, Ash. I mean. You rarely see him during your time here, but I wouldn't be surprised if he does remember you as Houndour are loyal to a fault Ash to its trainer and its trainers family even through their Houndour kin," he explains to Ash. "Raise him well, both him and my Ursaring. I will leave his ball at the house for you, Ash. We might see each other in the Whirl Islands at some point, as I will be there for a few months." Ash's Uncle said as Ash nodded to this.
"I will, Uncle, I promise you that, but there is something else I learned it has to with that Noctowl," Ash explained what he had learned of the fate of his old Hoothoot friend and that it was responsible for what happened.
"This isn't good, Ash? I'll contact the league and tell them that it wasn't your fault, as most Noctowls aren't supposed to be like that, as I still have ties to the league as a former gym leader before the current gym leader of Goldenrod took over. But that is as much as I can do, Ash," Ash's Uncle said to Ash.
.
"I know; thank you, Uncle. I should be arriving at Goldenrod city in a couple of weeks," Ash said, as his Uncle knew exactly where Ash was calling.
"Ah, you must be where the annual trading extravagance and the Tauros festival take place with it?" His Uncle said to Ash.
"Wait, that is going on now. That explains the amounts of trainers that I saw earlier," Ash said in surprise. As he knew about this, his Uncle nodded at this.
"I'm sure you remember seeing this growing up. I used to take you there at times as a kid, but I won't be surprised if you watch or participate in it until then. See you later, nephew," he said as Ash said his goodbyes and hung up.
"Well, you will be out of your ball longer, Ursaring? Are you going to be okay with traveling with us? As well as training under me regardless of my ownership of your Pokeball now?" Ash asked Ursaring, who smiled at this and nodded.
"It's as your Uncle said; you are my master now, Ash. You lead. I'll follow a Pokeball isn't the only thing that ties me to my trainer. It is trust. I knew you since you were young, and your Uncle raised me from a Tediursa, so I'm part of your family, so don't worry about me," Ursaring said to Ash, who nodded.
"Before I go and talk to Professor Oak about one of my Pokemon, do I need to know anything about you I need to know?" Ash asked Ursaring, who put some thought into what Ash asked.
"Only that you give me some good trainers to battle, and given that we are this far into the region, you'll see some tough trainers. I may be known for being ruthless, but I'm a softy and willing to make friends with your Pokemon and train them as equals, young or recent, or your veterans," Ursaring said with a chuckle in the last part.
"Deal, I'll give you some good trainers to battle. And you'll be surprised by what I have on my team. I'm sure that Charizard would like you as a sparring partner?" Ash said jokingly, which caught Ursarings attention well, and chuckled at this. Ash made a phone call to Professor Oaks' lab. Professor Oak, at the time, was dealing with one of Ash's Tauros, who was running rampant in the lab.
"Hello, this Oaks Professor, Lab speaking, I mean Professor Oak speaking," Professor Oak recovered from that as Ash made a chuckle on the other end of the line from this.
"And here I thought I made the wrong call Professor. It's Ash here," Ash said jokingly to Professor Oak, who wasn't as amused by that.
"Ah, Ash, my boy, good timing. I was wondering how you are doing. What made you call me all of a sudden?" Professor Oak said while noticing that Ash had an Ursaring behind his back. Before Professor Oak could say something, Ash explained who this Ursaring belonged to. "Ah, I see. Your mom said that her brother had an Ursaring on his team. Did he do the proper paperwork about its transfer of teams outside of trading?" Professor Oak questioned Ash.
"Yes, Professor. I just got done talking with him before calling you. While I don't have its ball on me right now, he is still legally mine according to what I was told," Ash said to Professor Oak.
"Cleaver, he planned just in case, but I took that you are capturing him. Isn't the reason why you called?" Professor Oak asked Ash, who sighed at this.
"Yes, we are in the area with the Tauros festival," Ash said, only for Professor Oak cut off Ash upon hearing this.
"I don't need to guess at what you are going to ask Ash, as that festival is highly known for trainers of Tauros who are known to prove whose is the strongest," Oak said to Ash, who nodded and listened. "The reason is one of your Tauros, the oldest of the two young Tauros, has been acting up being all coop up here in the ranch lately and battling with the others, proving that it is strong. Maybe you should take him with you, but I got a feeling that it might not stay with you given how long it's been cooped up here?" Professor Oak said to Ash, who sighed at this, knowing which one Professor Oak was referring to.
"I have a translator through Slowbro Professor, so I'll talk to him to see what is happening?" Ash said as Professor Oak nodded at this and went to get the safari ball that the Tauros was captured and returned it, and sent it over to Ash as it arrived at Ash's location.
"Okay, Professor. I just got the Pokeball to see you later?" Ash said to Professor, who nodded at this and hung up. "Okay, Ursaring, you might want to stand back as this Tauros is very stubborn and tends to attack those he hasn't met?" Ash warned Ursaring, who nodded at this and stood a few paces back as Ash let out his Tauros. Who surprisingly didn't attack Ash or Ursaring when it saw Ash.
"Finally, you choose to use me. I understand that my little brother is the one who likes you, Ash, but I wanted to have some battles as well?" Tauros said to Ash with a grunt.
"Well, we are at the Tauros Festival, so I'm sure you'll get your chance at this. But do you want to go with a different trainer? I mean, I did let you roam free at the ranch and check on all of you?" Ash asked, feeling down by this, given that he has had this Tauros for over two years.
"If I don't see anyone I don't want to join, then no, I won't leave your team, Ash. But I will be happy to battle by your side at this festival. Many Tauros have prepared for this once they join their trainers. It's a rite of passage, you humans call it," Tauros said to Ash. Ash nodded at this as the two went to what looked like an arena as many trainers were one by one taking on its current champion, who had been beating many Tauros one by one without hassle, making Ash nervous about this.
All the while, while waiting, he noticed a trainer with a Venomoth who looked experienced but was somehow struggling to stay in sync with the Poison moth Pokemon. Tauros also noticed this well. He can tell he was a good fit, but he will see the other trainers right now after this ends. It was Ash's turn now as he and Tauros were heading in. As Misty, Brock, Pikachu, Slowbro, and Ursaring were watching in the stands for Ash's turn.
"And yet again, ladies and gentlemen, Fernando has claimed many wins over the trainers who came all over the world with his prized Tauros, but will he make it a clean sweep, or is the last challenger going to halt his winning streak? Now for the last challenger, that being Ash Ketchem from Pallet Town," the announcer said as Ash walked in with his Tauros, who was slightly smaller than the champion Tauros but was definitely in appropriate form.
"Here are the rules to the challenger. You will show your Tauros's strength in a clash of power. You can only use the following moves Takedown, Headbutt, and Horn attack. Anything else is not allowed. The winner of this is when the other Tauros is overpowered by the other," The announcer said. Ash's Tauros was ready for this, as Ash had seen these battles.
"I see you have a pretty tough bull there. Ash, let's see how much you've raised it?" Fernando said to Ash, who nodded at this as the two Normal types stared each other down as they circled each other, ready to start this battle. "I always let the challengers have the first move. So go right ahead, Ash?" Fernando said to Ash.
"Okay, Ash. Think this through; those who do that are usually confident in their battle abilities. I can't just go in head-on without knowing what kind of power this Tauros has," Ash thought. "Alright, use Horn attack Tauros," Ash commanded his Tauros as it charged in towards the other Tauros, hitting the Tauros to the side. This was a test of how strong it was. Most of the other Tauros barely moved Fernando's Tauros. Fernando was surprised by this.
"Not bad, Ash? Finally, a challenger that will give me a challenge use Headbutt," Fernando commanded his Tauros, who charged but was caught up in Tauros's horn. "What the?"
"Being raised alongside twenty-nine other Tauros, this one knew exactly all the stops for how to fight back against this move," Ash explained to Fernando, who was taken aback by this. "Now use Take Down attack," Ash commanded his Tauros shoving the other Tauros, sending them almost to the ground, almost winning the match for Ash.
"Man, so close to a victory. I can see why he's the champion of this event but no matter. I can see who is the better of the Tauros," Ash thought, not showing signs that he wasn't worried as he knew not never to show his hand in these battles.
"Ugh, I wasn't expecting this type of challenger, but no matter, uses Headbutt," Fernando commanded his Tauros.
"Use your Headbutt as well, Tauros," Ash commanded his Tauros. As the two bull Pokemon were locked horns. Minus the size differences, Ash's Tauros showed that he was stronger. Suddenly Ash's Tauros overpowered Fernando's Tauros by shoving its horn to the ground with its strength and fitting, given that it's still a young bull, so of course, it has more energy as the match is over.
"And that's a wrap, folks; we have a new Champion in the form of Ash Ketchem," the announcer said to the crowd, which was surprised and cheering at this as Ash was given a trophy and a photo of him and Tauros along with a new item that looked to be a metal box.
"Thank you for joining folks as the tournament is done and will be for next year hope our champion enjoys the metal coat item and maybe one day finds a use for it," the announcer said to As. The crowd dispersed as Ash needed clarification about what he had just received as he wasn't from Johto, and that wasn't the original winning item back then.
"Do you have a Syther or an Onix on your team, Ash?" Fernando asked Ash, who shook his head, why he was asked that. "Well, the item you received is not only the item that helps with steel-type moves but is also used for those two Pokemon to evolve. However, they usually only trade evolve while holding those items, but as of late, most of them train with those items and evolve like that. But that is just the rumor I heard," Fernando said to Ash, who nodded at this and now understood why he was given that because of the trading festival, the trade evolution, and the item. On the other hand, Fernando left Ash walking with his Tauros, now wandering if Tauros wanted to go with another trainer after that.
"I know what you were going to ask me, Ash. And while I am sure that I did enjoy this battle with you and that my family is proud of me, I promised you if I don't find one, I will stick with you?" Tauros said to Ash.
Before Ash could say anything, he was greeted by many trainers interested in his Tauros, who ganged upon him. Many wanted to give Ash a Rattata, Beedril, Seal, and so many that none of which Tauros wanted to be with, or Ash didn't sound interested in for Tauros's case.
"Thanks, but no thanks. It's Tauros's decision, not mine, to pick and choose who he will join. Please understand that," Ash explained to many, who groaned at this. As they left, Ash could tell they only saw a strong Pokemon, not what he was.
"Thanks, Ash. Those people only see me for my strength, not for what I am, an excellent Pokemon amongst my family," Tauros said to Ash, who nodded as they saw the previous trainer, who was still trying to train with his Venomoth.
"I think I know what you are thinking. He seems like a good trainer for you, Tauros, but we might want to see what's happening?" Ash said to Tauros, who nodded and walked towards the young male.
"Man, this is difficult. I don't know why I can't help you master your moves like this when I can't even communicate with you?" The young man said to Venomoth, who was upset as well.
"It's not you. I just evolved and have little time to use my psychic moves or moves in general," Venomoth told the young man. Ash, upon hearing this, can tell that this man does care about his Pokemon and isn't hard on him, just not aware that this Venomoth is inexperienced and wants to do its best for its trainer.
"Hey, don't be hard on yourself or Venomoth. It's trying its best for you, according to what I've heard," Ash said to the young man, who was surprised by this as he noticed that Ash had a Slowbro and must have thought he was being told via telepathy from it and also recognized Ash.
"Thanks, your Ash, right? My name is Daniel. I'm from Azalea Town. I just got a few badges, but I thought that might be why I couldn't get it to make its moves, right?" Daniel said to Ash.
"How long ago did you catch Venomoth?" Ash asked. "From the sound of what he said, he just recently evolved and had no battle experience?" Ash asked curiously.
"Just recently saved it from a Pokemon attack in Ilex forest. It evolved to protect me as most of them were attacking humans just passing by," Daniel said. Ash was surprised and turned to Ursaring, who shook his head.
"Must've been after I joined your group, Ash?" Ursaring said to Ash, who nodded and turned to Tauros, who could tell that Daniel cared about his Pokemon, not their strength.
"If you're okay with it, Ash. I think we can help each other out?" Tauros said to Ash, who nodded and turned to Tauros and asked him the important question.
"You sure, Tauros? Once this happens, you can't just change your mind halfway through. That's on the trainers," Ash said to Tauros, who nodded and turned to Daniel. "Maybe we can help each other out; Daniel, my Tauros, wanted to join a new team after being at the ranch for the time being, and I'm willing to help your Venomoth as much as I can," Ash suggested to Daniel, who was surprised by this. At the same time, he didn't have much attachment to Venomoth, but he knew that he did what he could for him as much as Daniel tried and turned to Venomoth, who nodded at this, he was sad to go, but maybe it could help each other out, and Ash knew what he was doing.
"Sure, Ash. Let's do this. I'm glad you are giving me a chance with one of your Bulls and helping me out with Venomoth to the best you can," Daniel said to Ash.
"I'll try my hardest but will make sure that he is treated right, and Tauros may be stubborn, but he is more than a strong Bull," Ash said to Daniel, who nodded at this, as did Venomoth and Tauros.
The two trainers went to where the trading machine was and started the process as both Pokeballs were sent to the other side as Venomoth was Ash's and Tauros was Daniels. The two let out their Pokemon, who stood beside their new trainers.
"Take care, Tauros. Maybe the next time we see each other might be at the league from the sound of it?" Ash said to his former Tauros, who nodded at this.
"Will do, Ash, and thank you for giving me this chance at this tournament; I will see you then," Tauros said to Ash, smiling. Ash nodded at this.
"Agreed, Ash. I hope to see how well you train Venomoth when that day comes. Until then, see you later," Daniel said, leaving with Tauros. Ash waved goodbye to the two and then turned to Venomoth.
"While I don't have much experience with training Venomoths, I'll do my best to see that you have trouble with your moves?" Ash asked Venomoth.
"I don't know how I evolved. I am just a youngling and only remember being beside Daniel and evolved," Venomoth told Ash, who was curious about this.
"Did it have anything to do with a Noctowl Venomoth? And how young are we talking about?" Ash asked Venomoth.
"I'm just a year old. Ash, not many of us are ready to battle until at least two or three years of age, and I don't know what happened before meeting Daniel. I remember seeing a weird Noctowl, but nothing," Venomoth said.
"Noctowl, what did they do to you? Whoever is controlling his mind is using his hypnosis for the wrong reasons," Ash said out loud.
"Do you know this Noctowl Ash? You two seem like you have a history with each other?" Venomoth said to Ash, who nodded.
"Yes, he used to take care of one when he was younger when it was a Hoothoot. I know because I have known the two since they were young?" Ursaring said that if word about what happened to the Ilex forest was a Noctowl, Ash might be to blame and said it for him. Surprisingly Venomoth nodded in understanding as it didn't blame Ash for what was happening in the forest.
With the Tauros festival over and not one but two team members on Ash's team. Ash's Journey is getting more unique. The Journey continues.
Stay Tuned.
Done. For a filler episode, this was tough to write. Yes, sorry for the cliffhanger in the last chapter, but Ash is now the owner of the Ursaring that his Uncle once owned. Ursaring fits Ash's battle style while not making it too much for Ash to handle. I also mentioned Houndour cause it was mentioned in that chapter it used to belong to a trainer. He wasn't aware that it was related to Ash. As for Venomoth, while Ash will be working hard to be its trainer, later on, someone will help Ash out and request capture or, shall I say, return of one of his Pokemon not going to say what. But I have plans for most of the ones Ash either left behind or was gone to get stronger to make return appearances. I was also given different conferences like the Fire Pokemon conference mentioned, which is similar to the grass conference and the Whirl Cup. I might take that into account. I'm not doing the firefighting episode, but the Totodile episode is next. See you all next time.