Just a quick note to let everyone know.
I will not be abandoning this story at any point, so can people please stop PMing me to ask if I've abandoned it when I've taken awhile to update.
If for whatever reason I do or need to abandon Champion of Champions I will put a note up to let all of my readers know and the reason why but for now I'm going to keep going, no matter how long it takes me.
With that said, sorry for the wait and here's the chapter.
Ash – Pikachu, Lucario, Feraligatr, Charizard, Gliscor, Floatzel, Greninja, Donphan
May – Blaziken, Glaceon, Litwick, Vulpix, Delcatty, Spoink, Nidorina, Vaporeon, Manaphy
Chapter 43
Relaxing Days and Training Games
Charizard landed outside of the Pokémon Centre with a roar and lowered himself to the ground, May quickly slid off his back but before Ash could do the same Charizard quickly stood, throwing Ash to the ground.
"Alright, I get it." Ash said grouchily as he stood, brushing the dust off himself and rubbing his tailbone. "I won't question your strength again." Charizard snorted and grinned as Ash returned him to his Pokéball. "Stupid reptile." Ash muttered but paled as the Pokéball shook slightly.
I think he heard you Master Ash. Lucario said as he walked up to the Pokémon Centre.
"Yeah, I'll probably pay for that later." Ash replied as he clipped the Pokéball onto his belt. "I thought you would've beaten us here, what held you up?"
A wild Slugma. Apparently, I invaded his territory and needed to be 'taught a lesson'. He is most likely still shooing Flamethrowers after me.
"You didn't hurt him did you?"
I did not, I avoided his attacks and made my way past.
"That's alright then, nothing wounded except for his pride." Ash turned to enter the Pokémon Centre. "Let's go heal everyone then…"
"Then we go to the beach!" May said excitedly, grabbing Ash's arm and dragging him into the Pokémon Centre.
While Ash's Pokémon were being healed May reminded him to call Misty and tell her about the Gym Battle. The red haired Gym Leader then made Ash promise to show her Feraligatr's Counter Shield and Greninja's ninja abilities next time they met. As he was talking to Misty May had gone to their room and gotten changed for the beach.
She now wore a baggy, pale yellow t-shirt and white denim shorts, underneath she wore her bikini in case she felt like going for a swim and she'd taken off her bandana to let her hair hang loose. Once she was ready she went to the Pokémon Transfer Machines and called Professor Oak, sending Delcatty and Nidorina back to the Lab so she could catch Vesta and Manaphy. She tapped a Pokéball against Vesta's snout and watched as the fire type disappeared into the ball. The ball wobbled slightly before dinging to signify the capture was complete, May then released Vesta and the Puppy Pokémon immediately started to lick her cheek.
"Calm down girl." May giggled as her face was bathed in Growlithe drool. "We can play later, right now we need to wait for Ash." A couple of minutes later May had cleaned her face and gotten Vesta to calm down when Ash came over, his Pokémon had been fully healed and he'd been to their room to get changed for the beach, now he was wearing a red t-shirt and his swimming trunks.
"Ready to go?" He asked.
"Yep, we were waiting for you." May replied, Ash moved to hold May's hand when Vesta barked and spat an Ember at him.
"Whoa!" Ash jumped back a step as Pikachu growled and sparked.
"No Vesta, bad girl. Ash is a friend, we like him." May lightly flicked Vesta's nose. "Behave yourself." May held her hand out to Ash, who took it slowly. This time Vesta didn't attack him but she was growling. "You need to learn to share."
"Maybe I should keep my distance until she's used to me?" Ash suggested.
"No!" May said quickly, and a little too loudly as the people around them turned to look. She blushed and held Ash's hand tighter. "I mean, it's better that she gets used to us being together then you just being around."
"If you say so." Ash scratched the underside of Pikachu's chin, quickly turning the electric mouse into a pleasured bundle of fur.
The couple left the Pokémon Centre and picked up some food and drink to enjoy on their way to the beach. Walking to a quiet section of the beach and let out all of their Pokémon. Charizard gave Ash his customary Flamethrower to the face and May a confused look as she put Vesta into his arms, so she could help Ash to his feet. Vesta jumped away from Charizard and dashed over to Lucario, nuzzling his legs happily.
Please stop that. Lucario said but Vesta just ignored him and kept nuzzling him with a pleased rumble.
Ash cleaned the soot from his face before kneeling down at the shore line, dipping his hand into the water and sending a pulse of Aura out. While Ash was doing that, May pulled her t-shirt off and stretched letting out a happy groan as the sun warmed her body. A couple of minutes later Manaphy launched himself out of the water and into May's arms.
"Mama!" Manaphy shouted happily.
"Did you have fun with your friends?" May giggled as Manaphy nuzzled her cheek. Due to him not wanting to get too close to the heat of the volcano, Manaphy had spent his time in the ocean playing and saying goodbye to some of his friends before joining May permanently.
"Mana Mana Phy."
"That's good, are you ready?" May asked, pulling a Love Ball out of her bag. She knew that this wasn't the actual reason the Love Ball had been created but May felt it suited them.
"Mana love Mama." With that said Manaphy slapped the button and was sucked into the ball. The ball didn't shake once, it dinged straight away. May immediately let Manaphy out and hugged the Seafaring Pokémon tightly.
"Welcome to the family." Manaphy looked up at May.
"Phy…Maphy..Ph, PhaMaPhy?"
"Fa-mi-ly." May said sounding the word out, knowing what Manaphy wanted to say.
"Pha-Ma-Phy?"
"Nearly." May giggled. "Fa."
"Ph…Pha…Fa."
"Mi."
"Ma…MPhy…My…Mi."
"Ly."
"L…L…Ly."
"Now we put it together, Fa-mi-ly. Family."
"Pha…Fa-mi-ly. Family!" May smiled and lifted Manaphy up high, spinning in a quick circle.
"That's right, Mama, Papa and Manaphy are a family. A family with all the other Pokémon and friends we have."
While May was teaching Manaphy how to say family, Ash was setting up a space for them to sit and rest. Ash's water type Pokémon had moved into the surf and lounged about in the water, letting the waves soothe their bodies and rehydrate them from the drying atmosphere of the volcano. Charizard lay down for a nap and basked in the heat of the sun, Gliscor drifted on thermals and Donphan was using Rollout to burn off some of the energy he'd built up in case he'd had to battle.
May's Pokémon did pretty much the same as Ash's, Vaporeon was in the ocean swimming, Blaziken and Vulpix savored the sun's rays, Spoink was chasing Donphan around and attempting to jump on his rolling form, Vesta continued to follow Lucario nuzzling him every chase she could get and Glaceon sat in the shade of a rock watching over Litwick.
Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder, deciding to give his Trainer some time alone with May. He made his way across the sand and settled down alongside Glaceon in the shade of a rock.
(Pokémon Language Translator activated)
"You doing okay?" Pikachu asked. "I know ice types aren't really fans of the beach."
"Thank you for the concern but I'm fine, travelling with May has helped me adjust to different climates quickly." Glaceon replied. The two Pokémon lay in a comfortable silence watching Litwick play with the sand for a few minutes before Glaceon spoke again. "Do you mind if I ask a question?"
"No, go ahead."
"How do Ash's Pokémon at the Lab train and wouldn't it be too hard for his newer Pokémon?"
"Technically that's two questions." Glaceon lightly swatted Pikachu's back with her tail.
"Just answer them."
"Maybe I could provide you with the answers you seek." A voice said, causing Glaceon and Pikachu to jump in surprise. Spinning around they found Greninja sitting on the rock they were in the shade of.
"Will you stop doing that!" Pikachu shouted.
"My apologies, it is in my nature to be silent." Greninja said with a slight inclination of his head before turning his attention to Glaceon. "Now to answer your questions, at the Lab we tend to turn the training exercises into competitions or games. For example, Sceptile and Jolteon will race each other to train their speeds or trying to outrun an attack. Lately they have been helping train the younger Pokémon by playing tag with them."
"Outrun an attack?" Glaceon asked.
"Depending on how daring they are feeling they will either have another Pokémon launch an attack at them, such as Flamethrower, and then run away from it to try and avoid it instead of dodging to the side. If they do not feel as daring they will simply race an attack to a target area."
"Why would they try to outrun an attack instead of just getting out of the way?"
"The circumstances of a battle can are ever changing, you may be caught in a narrow passage and are unable to evade. The only options available to you are to outrun the attack or to simply stand in place and accept the hit." Glaceon nodded in understanding.
"What other training exercises do you do?" She asked.
"And what are the new guy's like?" Pikachu added. "I've hardly met any of them."
"There's a lot to tell so make yourselves comfortable." Greninja said, Glaceon moved closer to Pikachu and rested her tail on top of his.
"Ready when you are." She giggled seeing the faint red blush on Pikachu's face.
"Very well, I shall begin."
At the Lab
"Come on, race me, race me, race me!" Vee yipped happily as he bounced around. "Sister, you said you'd train with me. Stop sleeping and keep your promise." Eve cracked open an eye after lifting the ear that covered it.
"Brother, I didn't say when I'd train with you just that I would. Meaning I get to choose when I train with you, besides it's too early now let me sleep." Eve yawned, closing her eye and letting her ear drop to block out the light again.
"Early? It's nearly time for lunch."
"Exactly, too early."
Vee stopped bouncing and started to butt his head against Eve's side, trying to make her stand up.
"Get up, get up, get up, get up, get up."
"Fine," Eve sighed. "If it'll get you to leave me alone for a while so I can sleep." Standing up and stretching Eve shook the last vestiges of sleep from her head. "We go to the other side of the field and back. Ready, set, go!" The two Eevee ran as fast as they could, Eve taking an early lead with Vee steadily losing ground. No matter what he did he could never match his sister's speed, he had better stamina but however far they decided to race Eve always came out the winner.
The other newer Pokémon of Ash's were mostly taking part in the training games that his older ones had toned down for them. His fighting types were sparring each other between sets of different exercises, some other Pokémon were training their strength through either a tug of war or sumo matches, some trained their speed with various types of races such as sprints, long distance or relays. Dodgeball was used to increase agility, moving targets were used to train accuracy with a berry being a prize, their defences and resistances were harder to train but were mostly done by trying to push through low powered moves that would be super effective against them.
Gardevoir had started to train again and was helping the Pokémon that Ash had gotten from trading away some of his Tauros. He'd felt bad as he only ever used the leader of the herd for battles, so Professor Oak had found a few Trainers and Breeders from other regions for Ash to trade with. In total 15 had been traded away, the other 14 were rented out to the farms surrounding Pallet Town and provided Ash with another stream of income. For his Tauros Ash had received a trio of Tyrogue, each refusing to evolve and dedicating themselves to defeating their evolved forms with their own fighting styles, a competitive Torchic, cautious Mudkip, prideful Piplup, easily scared Chespin, overly friendly Fennekin, shy Stantler, disciplined Pawniard and Meditite, a Sneasel that liked to play trick, playful Popplio, narcissistic Pikipek and a flirty Salazzle.
A few of the Pokémon had evolved, Chespin wanting to try and overcome his fears had fully evolved into a Chesnaught but still battled with his problems. Pikipek evolved into a Trumbeak and grown even more narcissistic. May had met the Combusken and Marshtomp that had evolved from the Torchic and Mudkip Ash had initially received.
The fossil Pokémon that Ash had captured in Grandpa Canyon were still integrating with the other Pokémon, Aerodactyl and Omastar being the most resistant and overly aggressive of the prehistoric group.
The majority of the Pokémon that Ash had received from his dad were training with his other Pokémon, Venusaur watched over the group as a whole, ready to break up any fights that might start. As he observed them he reflected on their personalities, Eve and Vee were polar opposites, Vee was hyperactive and couldn't sit still for more than a minute while Eve was quite lazy, she would happily sleep the day away if Vee didn't keep waking her up. Rhyhorn was like Venusaur himself, calm until angered, Houndoom was loving despite his intimidating appearance, Elekid and Magby were competitive especially with each other, Trapinch was just plain silly, Bagon was incredibly shy. Poochyena was possessive, Skorupi seemed to always be on edge and ready to battle at a moment's notice, Shuppet was quiet choosing to stay at the sidelines and watch everyone else, Shinx was a bit of a prankster, Tynamo wanted to be everyone's friend which lead to frequent rescue missions when he approached Aerodactyl. Metang was logical and analytical as well as being fairly emotionless, Sawk like most fighting types was incredibly disciplined and Grimm was…Grimm was hard to get a read on he came across as very serious but every so often there would be a glint of mischief in his eyes.
The training exercises that Ash's older Pokémon did were mostly the same but more intense, taking fully force super effective attacks to increase defenses and resistance, outrunning attacks, accuracy was combined with agility and speed training, they would try to hit a moving target while moving at top speed and dodging attacks. Strength was trained by stopping the charge of other Pokémon using just their physical strength with no move enhancements.
Their attacks were trained in a similar way, they all worked to make their attacks as powerful as possible, fire type attacks that were capable of melting boulders with ease, water type moves that can dent steel, electric type attacks strong enough to turn boulders to dust, etc. All of Ash's Pokémon strove to be the pinnacle of their species of Pokémon could be, the strongest, the fastest, the smartest, they knew that Ash wanted to be the best there ever was, there ever will be and they were determined to get him to that point.
That's not to say all of Ash's Pokémon didn't know how to have fun, everything was a game, a competition to them. The prize of which was usually bragging rights and first choice of teammates for the war-games.
War-games had to be the favourite training method for all of Ash's Pokémon, it allowed them to practice their teamwork and come up with new combination attacks. They conducted the war-games in different areas of the ranch for two reasons, one, it let them adjust to battling in different environments and secondly when they left the area that they'd just used for a war-game it wouldn't be fit for use again for a while.
Snorlax was stood in front of Rhyhorn helping her train her Take Down attack, giving her the task of making it strong enough to move him. So far, she hadn't managed it but her training also helped Snorlax increase his defences, unbeknownst to Rhyhorn though was the fact that Snorlax was using Harden and Stockpile to make himself harder to move.
Sceptile and Jolteon were aiding a number of the newer Pokémon get faster. Sceptile was leading some of them on a chase around the ranch, keeping just out of reach of his pursuers to help with their stamina and long distance speed while Jolteon was staying in one area and getting the rest of the Pokémon to work on their short distance speed. They would charge at Jolteon as fast as they could to try and catch her but she'd skip to the side at the last second. So far none of the Pokémon had managed to get close but that didn't stop them from trying, a few even started to use attacks to try and trap or slow Sceptile and Jolteon down. Their plans didn't work but Sceptile and Jolteon had to give them points for trying.
Skorupi was squaring up against Krookodile trying to get the Intimidation Pokémon to fight him, which he eventually managed by insulting Krookodile's sunglasses.
Infernape and Primeape were watching over the fighting type Pokémon and teaching them bits of other fighting styles that would work with what they already knew. Infernape was also keeping an eye on Magby and Elekid as they competed to see who could do the most pushups.
The water Pokémon were working on the speed and accuracy of their attacks, trying to hit a moving target a certain number of times in a minute. They were also testing out ways of avoiding electric attacks travelling through their water attacks.
Ash's fire type Pokémon were doing something similar but while they were making their attacks faster they were also making them hotter and more versatile, mostly by trying to control the flames but so far none of them had much success.
The Flying types were pushing their agility and speed to its limits, pulling off more and more complex last-minute dodges.
Each and every one of Ash's Pokémon were working hard to get stronger so that if Ash called on them they'd be able to handle whatever he asked of them.
May's Pokémon weren't idol during the training session, they were pushing themselves just as much. Some were working alongside Ash's Pokémon to get stronger while other were creating new ways of using their attacks to make combination attacks and Appeals to show May when they next saw her.
Ash and May's relationship was a hot topic amongst the Pokémon and had become a bet between some of the more experienced Pokémon. Noctowl had been put in charge of the book as a neutral party and Meowth had worked out the odds, 15/1 that Ash would realize his feelings after the next Gym Battle, 100/1 that he'd have realized already and they'd find out next time he changed his Pokémon, 20/1 it would happen during the Pokémon League, 20/1 it would happen during the Grand Festival, 100/1 it would happen after the League and 1000/1 May would just jump him. Those were the most popular bets with a few others like 2000/1 May would get tired and give up which few Pokémon if any bet on.
The bets were made with berries, poffins and various things the Pokémon valued like items or shiny stones. Meowth had built a safe for Noctowl to keep the bets in and let the Owl Pokémon set his own code to keep it locked. As it stood Gardevoir, Meowth both Ash's and May's Venusaur along with Beautifly were the first to bet on it happening during the Pokémon League, Delcatty, Wartortle and Sceptile had their bets on the Grand Festival. The other Pokémon were split between the other bets and as the others passed without Ash realizing more and more set new bets on either the League or Grand Festival. Charizard, Infernape and Munchlax were set on their bet that May would get tired of waiting and jump Ash, the only part of the they differed on was when she'd jump him. Munchlax said after winning the Grand Festival, Infernape said when they celebrated their victories after the League and Grand Festival while Charizard in all his experience and wisdom said May would jump Ash as soon as he wins the League, literally as soon as he wins, as in right there on the battlefield. Needless to say none of the other Pokémon were as convinced as Charizard was.
Even though Dragonite had been with Ash for a while now, she was having some trouble getting along with Ash's Pokémon. Mostly because they were loud and excitable, Dragonite was very shy and quiet so Noctowl, Gardevoir and Venusaur were the ones she got along with best. The Dragon Pokémon was currently flying low through a patch of trees at high speed, waiting until the last second to adjust the angles of her wings to dodge the branches and trunks. Every so often Noctowl would either swoop in, Venusaur would attack from a distance or Gardevoir would use Psychic to move branches and vines into Dragonite's path, testing her reaction times to their limits. There had been a few crashes but no injuries worse than scratches and bruises.
All in all Ash's and May's Pokémon were steadily getting stronger and preparing for when they would be called on.
(Pokémon Language Translator deactivated)
Back at Cinnabar beach
"Ash, I just remembered. We still have our fossils from Saffron City, didn't the Director of Silph say there was a lab here that could revive them?" May said, suddenly sitting up right. Ash cracked open an eye and looked at her.
"Er...Yeah, he did. Let's go see if we can find it." Ash stood up and whistled, calling all of their Pokémon back to them. "Okay everyone, we need to find a lab to revive the fossils we got in Saffron City." The Pokémon groaned. "We'll be coming back to the beach afterwards but we need to go to the lab now in case it closes." The Pokémon cheered up a little but were still upset their relaxation time was being interrupted.
"We need to go back to the Pokémon Centre first to get the fossils." May said, "And maybe get changed, I don't think beachwear is appropriate for going to a lab."
"You wouldn't say that if you'd seen Professor Oak's collection of Alolan shirts, you risk going blind they're that bright." Ash started recalling his Pokémon as Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder and Lucario stood at his side with Vesta running around the Aura Pokémon's legs. "It's probably a good idea to get changed anyway, just to be safe." May nodded and recalled her Pokémon before picking up Manaphy as Glaceon walked over to her. "Ready?" Ash asked.
"Yep." May replied quickly pecking his cheek and taking his hand. "Let's go."
Ash nodded and the couple strolled to the Pokémon Centre, enjoying the sun's warmth and each other's company. After getting changed and contacting Professor Oak to make room on their teams for the fossil Pokémon they were about to get, Ash and May got directions from Nurse Joy and made their way to the lab. Ash had sent Greninja back to the Lab while Blaziken had volunteered to go back for May.
Entering the building the lab was located in May knocked on the appropriate door and it swung open.
"Hello?" May said as she peaked her head in. She could see a huddle of men in lab coats around a microscope arguing.
"I tell you that is not Bacilli Bulbasarum, it is Bacilli Ivysarum." The tallest man said sternly.
"It is most certainly not Bacilli Ivysarum, even a blind man could see it is Bacillus Victerium." The shortest man countered.
"What do you know Howard? You're just an engineer."
"I know more then you Sheldon, you're not even in the right genus."
The two men squared up to each other as they argued. A third man, shorter than the first with black hair and glasses, got between them and pushed them back.
"Guys, you're both wrong. That sample is obviously Bacillus Charizarum."
"Be quiet Leonard, this is beyond the scope of your knowledge." Sheldon retorted. The fourth man was stood to one side watching them argue and eating popcorn.
"Excuse me?" May said loud enough to be heard over the argument, she stepped into the lab. "Is this where we can get some Pokémon fossils revived?"
The four men turned to look at her and each reacted differently. Sheldon looked confused as to why a girl was in the lab, Howard's eyes flitted up and down May's form, Leonard looked lovestruck and the fourth man dropped his popcorn.
"Raj, how many times do I have to tell you not to eat in my lab." Sheldon admonished as the now named Raj knelt down to pick up the popcorn.
"How, how, how can we help you?" Leonard asked stammering as he walked forward before stopping as Ash entered the lab.
"We have a couple of Pokémon fossils and were hoping that you could revive them for us." May replied.
"Of course we can help you, little lady. How about we talk things over later, maybe over a candlelit dinner?" Howard said as he swaggered towards her.
"I have a boyfriend." May wrapped an arm around Ash's to emphasize the point. "Thank you for the offer though."
"You have fossils, let me see them." Sheldon said, Ash put his bag on the floor and pulled out the fossils.
"Here, a Skull fossil and a Sail fossil." Ash said, handing the fossils over.
"Good, now get out. We have work to do." Sheldon took the fossils and walked away.
"Sorry about him, he's insane." Leonard apologizes.
"No I'm not, my mother had me tested."
"Anyway, if you'll come back a bit later we'll have your Pokémon revived and waiting for you."
"Okay, thank you." May said as she and Ash left.
"They're a bit weird, aren't they?" Ash asked as they exited the building.
"Yeah, but everyone's a bit weird." May paused as she looked at Ash. "Where's your bag?"
"Right here." Ash's hand touched his shoulder and he noticed the absence of the bag strap. "I must've left it in the lab. Wait here and I'll run get it."
Nodding May went to stand in the shade while Ash walked back to the lab, after a quick knock he opened the door.
"Sorry to interrupt but I left my…" The rest of Ash's apology was drowned out by Sheldon's impatient voice.
"What took you so long?"
"Huh?"
"Your Pokémon are ready, take them and go." Sheldon shoved a pair of Pokéballs into Ash's hands and stormed off. Ash looked dumbly at the Pokéballs, to Sheldon and then back to the Pokéballs. He shrugged, picked up his bag and made his way back to May.
"Where did you disappear to?" May asked as Ash approached her.
"What do you mean?" Ash replied.
"You've been missing for two hours."
"No I haven't, I went straight to the lab. The tall guy shouted at me, gave me our Pokémon and then I came straight back."
Master, I believe that might be the reason behind the time difference. Lucario pointed to the roof of the lab where a Celebi was rubbed its nose before disappearing into the timestream. If I am correct when Celebi sneezed it cause a ripple in time, our Aura may have protected us somewhat from the effects of the ripple. That would explain why we have no knowledge of the time difference.
"Good enough for me." Ash handed May one of the Pokéballs. "You did send Glaceon's Pokéballs to Professor Oak, right?"
"Yes I did, did you send Pikachu's?" May retorted, giving Ash a light glare.
"Okay, point taken. Want to meet our new Pokémon now or do it a bit later?"
"Let's go back to the Pokémon Centre, we don't want to scare them with how everything's changed from when they were last alive."
"I never thought of it like that."
"And that's why it's a good thing you're cute." May patted Ash's cheek as she walked past him to return to the Pokémon Centre. Ash nodded and started to follow before pausing and looking at Pikachu.
"Was I just insulted or complimented?" Pikachu shrugged and leapt from Ash's shoulder, running to catch up to Glaceon.
Making their way to the Pokémon Centre's training grounds, Ash and May let the latest additions their teams out of their Pokéballs. Two things happened, the first was May swooning at how cute Amaura was and the second was Cranidos charging straight into Ash's gut, driving the breath from the Aura Guardian's lungs.
"Pika!" Pikachu jumped in front of Cranidos and started sparking.
"It's alright buddy." Ash wheezed, holding his stomach. "He's just acting on instinct."
She, Cranidos is female.
"Sorry, she's acting on instinct." Cranidos still had her head lowered and was pawing at the ground before charging Pikachu, who jumped and landed on her back.
Glancing over Ash saw that May and Amaura were getting along well and waiting to see if Cranidos would calm down.
"Easy girl, easy there." Ash said gently as he slowly approached Cranidos as she bucked, trying to knock Pikachu from her back.
Ash – Pikachu, Lucario, Feraligatr, Charizard, Gliscor, Floatzel, Greninja, Donphan, Cranidos
May – Blaziken, Glaceon, Litwick, Vulpix, Spoink, Vesta, Vaporeon, Manaphy, Amaura
Thanks for reading.
Until Next Time
Basic Trainer