.—.—.

Ash's wound had indeed needed stitches and would leave quite a scar. The doctor had given him a good talking to about nearly tripling the size of the gash but conceded that it may have been a necessity given the nature of Leech Seed. It would heal with no long term effects as long as he didn't pull the stitches. They'd naturally dissolve after about a week.

When Ash asked if he had to stay in Viridian the answer was a firm yes with a threat to box him upside the head should he even think about wandering more than a short walk outside the city.

Giovanni had left him with the doctor and told him his pack would be in his room at the Center when he returned. The time that it took to stitch his wound, fill out paperwork and everything else he needed to do took enough time that he returned to the Center at nearly seven in the evening.

Nurse Joy was behind the desk, ever the smiling receptionist, when he entered the building. He quickly gave her his pokeballs, careful not to mess with the gauze patch over his stitches.

"A new pokemon?" She asked, a smile on her lips.

Ash wasn't surprised she'd noticed he'd gone from a single pokemon to two. He had had Greed healed up plenty of times for her to memorize him by now. "Yeah, the new one might not be registered to me just yet."

"Don't worry, I was only teasing. Giovanni filled me in. I think I better keep them both overnight, given the circumstances."

Ash simply nodded and bid Joy a good night. He made a quick stop into the cafeteria for food then went to his room. He knew it was rather early to turn in, but the day had worn him out and he was still a little woozy. He decided anything he needed to do could wait for him to awake the next day. That night he dreamed of himself sitting in a throne on top of Indigo Plateau, a massive pangoro and powerful shiftry standing to his sides.

.—.—.

Ash woke up later than he had expected. He had slept for nearly thirteen and a half hours before his slumber finally receded. He found his bag—he'd been far too exhausted to bother doing anything else but sleep the night before—and his pokedex was set out next to it with a note attached. Ash quickly read the note.

I took the liberty of putting my contact information into your pokedex and yours into my own device. I must head out on business and will be gone from Viridian for the duration of your stay. Train the seedot well. I await your future Gym Battle for the Earth Badge.

Ash grinned. The note wasn't signed but he knew who it was from. He too awaited his future challenge to the Viridian Gym. It may be a way into the future, but he imagined Greed and Seedot, fully evolved, matching the ground-type master in a battle. Ash flipped through his pokedex and browsed information over seedot and their evolutionary line as he dressed to go retrieve his team.

Seedot were small pokemon averaging barely over a foot tall. They were like most grass-types in that they used photosynthesis to sustain themselves as well as sucking sap from trees through the stem-like appendage on their head. Seedot evolved to nuzleaf and gained the secondary dark-typing when they did. Ash thought that perhaps the extra dark-type energy might accelerate Greed's own evolution but was unsure, nuzleaf were more prominent grass-types.

The final evolution of the line, shiftry, were little monsters. They showed the reason they had a dark-typing like nuzleaf couldn't. Their movepool was diverse and they could use grass-type moves just as effectively as a venasaur. They were rarely found in the wild and trainers that have a shiftry on their roster raised them from one of their previous evolutions and used a Leaf Stone to evolve them. Ash knew that he could figure out how to evolve the Hoenn pokemon but he would worry about that later. Seedot was still in his first evolutionary stage and a long way away from being ready for a Leaf Stone.

The teen put his pokedex away as he finally left his room to fetch his pokemon from Nurse Joy. His stitches were covered by a fresh gauze patch he had applied when he had awoken. It was obvious his arm had a wound of some kind but the exact injury couldn't be made out. It would shoot pain up his arm every once and a while but he managed just fine. It was nothing compared to that time an ekans bit his ankle. Thankfully that had been a dry bite.

Ash smiled at the nurse behind the desk as he was handed his pokeballs. "Thank you, Nurse Joy."

"Of course, just don't push them too hard. They can train immediately but lay off the battles until this afternoon if you can. At least for the seedot, the pancham seems overall unscathed." The older woman told him.

Ash made his way to the back of the Center and towards the fields. He tapped the two pokeballs in his possession thoughtfully before releasing the first one with a click. Greed appeared with a surprised rumble as he took in his surroundings. Ash understood the sentiment. The sky was devoid of clouds, letting the pokemon see the sun position very early in the sky and clearly having started a new day.

Seedot appeared next to the panda with a slow blink. It seemed pleased with the weather as it soaked in the sun's rays with a happy squeak. The nut-like pokemon was like most grass-types in that regard.

"Alright," Ash took in the sight of his partners with a grin. "I think it's time to properly welcome our newest member to the team."

Seedot perked up as Greed huffed and glared at the grass-type. Ash shook his head at his starter with a furrowed brow. "Let it go, Greed. Grudges do no good amongst teammates." He chastised.

The pancham conceded to his words, or perhaps knew better than to challenge his trainer so openly. Seedot squeaked out what Ash thought was something along the lines of an apology and Greed seemed a little more content to not actively ostracize his new teammate.

"Welcome to the team, Seedot. First, I'm going to scan you with my device here." Ash gestured to the pokedex he had flipped open. "It will tell me a little more about you and what you can do." The acorn pokemon seemed only slightly cautious as the small, red machine scanned him.

Warning: The evolution of this specimen is of the dark-type. Should it prove too difficult to train, contact your sponsor or the Rangers for further information.
Ash ignored the warning he once again received from the dex. He had passed over the more in-depth information of the species as he knew he would study it later. He would have plenty of time to look over the information given he was stuck in Viridian for the time being.

This specimen is male and can perform the moves Harden, Growth, Absorb, Headbutt, Solar Beam and Self-Destruct. It has an egg move; Leech Seed. Its ability is Chlorophyll.

Ash balked. Solar Beam and Self-Destruct were moves Seedot could only learn via TMs. Solar Beam was one thing. The move was incredibly powerful but also incredibly draining. Self-Destruct was another matter entirely. No pokemon that weren't at least Gym Leader caliber rarely used Self-Destruct given its tendency to kill anyone in its vicinity, oftentimes including its user. Ash decided he'd need to ask his mother just where she got the pokemon. He hadn't even though TMs like Self-Destruct were available to the public.

Greed tapped him from his thoughts with a paw. Ash let his thoughts go as he returned his attention to the Hoenn pokemon in front of him.

"Alright, It's about what I expected." Ash said after a moment. "Though, for everyone's sake, don't use Self-Destruct." Seedot bobbed his head (which was basically his entire body) at Ash's warning.

Ash knelt onto his left knee to address Seedot. "Now, I'm sure you learned from your battle with Greed that he's pretty strong. I plan on being the Champion and, naturally, as my starter he's coming with me. I know you joined after he beat you, but if you aren't committed then this is your out. However, if you want to train and get just as strong as him, I welcome you aboard."

The grass-type looked at Greed as the kalosian pokemon puffed up. The seedot seemed envious of his strength, Ash thought. Seedot came to his decision as he hopped onto Ash's knee and then to his shoulder with a determined squeak.

Ash smiled as he stood. Seedot readjusted his stance so as to not topple off. His weight was negligible, so Ash barely noticed it. It was nothing compared to his pack. "Perfect. Now, Greed has a unique name. Do you want one as well?"

After an agreeable sound from the acorn pokemon Ash smiled again. "Corn? Evergreen? Leaf?" His face pinched at what he just said. "Ok, not Leaf. She would never let me live that down."

Greed chuffed as he pointed to a tree on the side of the training field. "Tree? Bark? Branch? Acorn?" Ash rattled off before he paused in thought. "Nut?"

The smaller creature squeaked and, just like that, Nut had his name. Ash winced at the slightly ridiculous name. Well, if the seedot wanted it then he wouldn't stop him.

.—.—.

Seventeen seconds.

Ash frowned. That was how long it took for Nut to prepare and fire off a Solar Beam. In the battle against Greed it had taken him about twenty seconds, but that was because he had been indoors away from the sun. His Chlorophyll ability sped up the process, only a few seconds at his current stage but an increase nonetheless.

The seedot's aim with the attack was, in no uncertain terms, an atrocity. The first time he had the pokemon fire it he had missed his makeshift target entirely and knocked down a tree in the background.

Besides Nut's terrible aim, the drawbacks of the move were major. He would fire off a Solar Beam and then he would nearly collapse from the drain of it. If he tried a second Solar Beam too soon he would surely go unconscious. As a seedot, and a relatively untrained one, Nut didn't have the stamina to fire Solar Beam more than once. The move was one of the most powerful and exhausting grass-type moves out there, so it wasn't surprising.

Aside from Solar Beam, Nut's moves looked good. Ash had his partner demonstrate every one of his moves (except for Self-Destruct) and he was impressed. His aim with Leech Seed was far better than he had expected, though the only other time he had seen it was when he was at the receiving end of it. The trainer rubbed his arm as he remembered the stitches that laid there.

He wasn't entirely sure where to begin with Nut's training. His natural moves were well practiced, Self-Destruct may as well not have been in his movepool for as much as he'd use it, and Solar Beam, while powerful, exhausted him too much to be practical. Ash finally decided to have him perfect his aim with Leech Seed and when he deemed that sufficient, Nut would move on to learning Mega Drain. Perfecting Leech Seed and Mega Drain should help improve the seedot ability to handle the drawback of Solar Beam.

Greed's training was far easier as he began work on Crunch with a good amount of success. Ash had deemed his proficiency in his existing movepool sufficient and he began working on the dark-type move. He pulled up a video of Crunch being demonstrated on his pokedex and showed it to the pancham to give him an idea of what to do. He couldn't find a video of a pancham performing Crunch, so the next best thing was an umbreon video.

It was midafternoon when Ash called the move training to a close. They had gone since morning without any large breaks other than lunch. He had the two pokemon begin condition training. Greed, while lifting the tree Nut had accidently blown down with his Solar Beam, began sprints. Normal sprints rarely weighed on the fighting-type much, but the added weight of the tree definitely made a difference. Nut joined his teammate in sprints with Ash's backpack strapped to him. The nearly fifty-pound bag was significantly lighter than Greed's tree but the grass-type wasn't as physically strong as the panda was so it was proportionate.

Ash noticed strange looks from some other trainers but ignored them in favor of doing his own form of training and even some sprinting of his own. The last week had shown him just how much his stamina would be pushed as a trainer. Ge made sure to keep it relatively light lest he pull his stitches. He gained the appreciation of another trainer from across the field who was doing similar laps with a sandslash.

He fell into a routine. He mostly stuck to sprints, some sit-ups, then jumping jacks. His pokemon continued with their sprints, with a sporadic rest, before Ash called it good. It was nearing six and he thought his team had earned dinner. A quick stop for his own food in the cafeteria and he returned to his room and released his pokemon.

He and Greed ate quickly (Nut had plenty of sap from a particularly large maple tree next to the training fields) before they were back at it. The sun would set in an hour or two and he wanted a couple battles in before that. He wandered the fields around the Pokemon Center as well as around Viridian City. He challenged any trainer he saw. Most accepted, though a couple declined and said their pokemon were too exhausted to battle again. At the end of the night Ash was on cloud nine, with a streak of eight wins broken only by a single loss to a drowzee. The money he won felt great, but he was more excited for the experience his team was getting. Greed fought the harder opponents, but Nut fought his fair share too.

Both the fighting-type and grass-type seemed exhausted, both from training and all the battles. He strolled back into the Pokemon Center with a pep in his step. He waved at Nurse Joy and checked his two partners in. Greed had taken some pretty hard Fury Swipes to his chest from a kecleon and Nut got hit with an Ember almost dead on from a growlithe.

While he waited for his team, he finally forced himself to call his mother and inform her of his delay. To say she was concerned was an understatement. It took multiple assurances and her actually seeing the stitches to calm her nerves. The Professor was of a similar mind when he called him. After the man made sure he was unharmed he lectured him about entering an active field. Ash figured he deserved that.

He informed them he needed to stay for five days, four after today. That starting tomorrow he would be staying in the Viridian area but would wander from the urban environment to train. The doctor had said it was all fine as long as he didn't pull the stitches and that he could go only a short distance from the city.

Ash also probed his mother on just where she acquired Nut. She had apparently taken a scenic ship voyage to Rustboro City in Hoenn after he had left Pallet. Almost immediately when she landed she entered into a trivia game in which Nut was the prize. It wasn't the most helpful of hints as to his pokemon's background, but it would have to do as it was the only information he had on the matter. Ash left the phone room with a stretch and retrieved his team. He muttered a quick, "Thanks." Nurse Joy smiled at his appreciation and waved him off.

Ash yawned as he unlocked his room and released his team in the room. "Alright, tomorrow we are heading a little outside of Viridian City to train. No cop outs so get a good rest tonight."

Greed and Nut gave sounds of approval and found their own spots to bed down at. Greed chose his trusty spot on top of the wardrobe and Nut stuck his stem to the heavy, wooden coat rack beside the door and hung there as he drifted off almost immediately. Ash snorted lightly at the display.

"Night, guys." He bid as he flicked off the light and settled into his own bed. Greed growled out a response while Nut was already unconscious. Ash followed the grass-type's lead and was soon deep in sleep with dreams of grandeur and power drawing a smile to his face.

.—.—.

Finally, finally, after far too long Ash was back onto the routes. He stretched his arms open widely as he walked on the beginning steps of Route 2. He grinned as sunlight splashed over his form.

"You trying to see if you can use photosynthesis there, Ketchum?" Leaf grinned as she teased him.

"Hush. I've been cooped up in Viridian for almost a week now. It's good to stretch my legs." Ash told her as he watched the sun. It was after three in the afternoon when they left so they wouldn't get too far before sunset, but some distance was better than none.

"You trained outside the city the last four days; you've been far from cooped up." Leaf scoffed at his exaggeration.

Ash shrugged with a smile. "A gilded cage is still a cage." That earned him a scoff.

He'd run back into Leaf before he left to train outside Viridian. She'd initially thought he was ignoring her based on their awkward semi-argument. Ash had laughed that off and showed her his arm in response. She called him an idiot and then chastised him like a child. And hadn't that lecture from her been fun. She could tell him off almost as well as Professor Oak could, though neither of them could ever hope to top his mother in that regard.

She opted to join him when he finally left for Route 2 after getting his stitches out. She did not, however, train with him outside the city for the last few days. He'd offered but she declined. "Can't give you all my secrets," Leaf had said, repeating his joke from Pallet Town.

Ash planned on picking up his pace slightly, at least until he made ground into the Viridian Forest. The Professor had said Gary was a couple days from leaving the forest when he called and informed him of his departure from Viridian. Gary, while not slow, was never the fastest individual and him trekking the whole forest before Ash even got past Viridian City rubbed him the wrong way.

Ash grinned as they finally got past the city limits. He released Greed as Leaf did the same with Glide. The pancham joined him at his side and matched his pace as Leaf's pidgeotto took to the skies. Ash liked the flying-type, it was lithe and speedy and tended to do air maneuvers to entertain itself. He laughed as the bird did a barrel roll.

Leaf released her starter as Greed eyed his fellow fighting-type. Champ pounded his chest with a single fist. A strange greeting but the bipedal panda returned the gesture as he asked the unspoken question with a look at Ash.

"No battles until we make some distance from the city. We have plenty of ground to cover for the next month or so." Ash shook his head at his starter. Both Champ and Greed seemed disturbed at the notion. A fighting-type that didn't fight was unheard of. Ash smiled at his partner.

"When we do battle, we're gonna stomp you and that mystery pokemon of yours." Leaf bragged.

"Mystery pokemon?" Ash grinned as he released Nut. "What mystery pokemon?"

Leaf gasped as she took in the small figure of the seedot. "Damn! A seedot ain't bad, not bad at all!" She clapped him on the back.
"His name is Nut." He told her, which made her snort.

"How original."

By the time the sun lowered in the sky they had put good distance between themselves and the city. They set up camp and Ash held a training session before it was too dark to see.

Greed had already learned Crunch and was moving on to Karate Chop. Nut had the bare basics of Mega Drain down and worked to perfect it. Ash himself did much of the same sprints and exercises as he usually did. He found he felt closer to his team when he trained himself as they trained. It also gave him time to think.

After Karate Chop, Greed might learn Low Kick or Comet Punch. He hadn't decided yet but the elemental punch TMs weighed heavy in his backpack. Ash felt his starter needed the variety. His learnable movepool was wider than he had initially thought after doing more in-depth research but still, the panda wasn't going to be throwing out Shadow Claws or Stone Edges left and right any time soon. Not without the help of TMs at least.

Nut was finishing up working on Mega Drain. After that, Ash thought Air Cutter would be a good addition to his pokemon's move pool. Astonish was a move he kept in mind for the future but the ghost-type energy needed to perform the move was notoriously tricky to work with and it might not even help the seedot that much in an actual battle.

Leaf coached her own team across the clearing they were in. Champ was working on Headbutt and Glide on Wing Attack. Ash wiped sweat from his brow as he fell out of a jumping jack stance.

"Alright, let's settle for the night." He told his team as he exhaled heavily. His two pokemon seemed agreeable to that idea. They'd been training hard for a couple hours now. Leaf seemed to agree and joined them. They picked enough fallen wood off the earthen floor to get a decent fire going. They retired to bed not so long after.

It was much the same pattern for the next two days as they traveled and finally entered the Viridian Forest. The third night they finally camped after a long day of walking. After the nightly training session, which Leaf passed on, Ash stretched after finishing setting up his tent.

"I'll go grab firewood if you wanna get the flames started." Ash offered. Leaf agreed and he, followed by his starter, went in search of some fallen branches and dead wood. Nut was tasked to stay in the clearing and watch his stuff, lest a bold rattata decide his food was up for grabs.

Ash picked up a couple fallen branches as Greed carried a stump he had pulled from the ground. Greed flicked his ears and perked up suddenly, a growl leaving his throat and driving Ash to a halt. They prepared himself for a fight as a violent trembling came from the direction directly to his left.

Nothing moved as Ash's eyes searched his surroundings. Nothing, nothing….there! Brown fur caught his attention as a stantler hobbled into sight. Ash relaxed. Stantler were rather mellow pokemon and rarely fought trainers unless provoked. It was more likely to run off than attack him. If it could run anywhere, he mused as he studied the normal-type. It had red, angry lines from claws on its nose and was limping from an apparent injury to its hind left leg.

The injuries gave Ash pause. The claw marks weren't too large, most likely a few stray meowth ambushed it. Judging from the marks and gore on the pokemon's antlers and hooves they got stomped and trampled for their trouble. His hand twitched to the pokeballs on his belt. Stantler were solid pokemon with access to decent psychic moves.

Suddenly, the buck whipped its head towards Ash as he stepped on a branch. Its eyes were raging with adrenaline left over from its previous fight. It froze, dropping its antlers as though it were going to charge them, before turning tail and running away. The teen rolled his shoulder and considered going after it, but decided against it.

They needed to get that wood back to the fire going anyway.

.—.—.

"What do you want to learn first?" Ash asked Greed two days later. "You seem to have Karate Chop down well enough. You wanna try Comet Punch or Low Sweep?" Greed seemed unsure, not particularly liking either option.

Ash hummed. "Or...you could learn Fire Punch?" He offered. The pancham perked up and Ash saw the decision in his eyes.

He nodded and retrieved the disk from his pack. He returned his pokemon to his ball and slotted it into the slide out tray of the pokedex. A minute later and his starter was released from his ball and flexing the muscles of his arm and fighting-type punched the air, trying out the new move. Wisps of fire encumbered his fist as he struck the air. The small bear-like pokemon growled in annoyance and attempted it again.

Ash smiled as he left his starter to his devices. A new type to play with would keep Greed focused. He approached Nut as he thought in what direction to take the seedot. He'd finally perfected Mega Drain, no doubt being able to use Absorb helped as it was similar in nature and had started on Air Cutter. The attack was tricky for the grass-type to get right and the energy was strange for him to grasp, but Ash instructed him as best he could and showed him a video of a nuzleaf performing the move. Nut seemed to appreciate his evolution's form while attacking as he rewatched the video countless times before reattempting it.

Leaf gave him a look of mild surprise when he sat next to her that night at the fire. At his questioning look she shrugged. "Didn't think you had gotten TMs already is all. Kinda expensive this early on in your trainer career."

Ash nodded in understanding. TMs were expensive and most starting trainers couldn't afford them. He had a good bit extra stowed away so he was better off but he understood where she was coming from. Rookie trainers battled nearly nonstop for a reason, to increase their experience but also their savings. Their time on Route 2 has seen challenges from trainers that they answered happily. Leaf did most of the battling since she needed a little extra money for Pewter (the fee to challenge a Gym Leader was two thousand pokedollars, after all) but Ash had his share when he could.

"Yeah, they were. I had enough to spare though." Ash remarked as he rubbed his eyes as smoke from the fire entered them. "Hey, can't Champ learn Fire Punch?"

Leaf nodded and he continued. "Why don't you have him join Greed and he can teach it to him?"

"Sure, he could use the variety. Thanks," Leaf said. "I don't think Champ has anything Greed can learn or else I'd offer to have him teach it to him. Unless pancham are able to learn Bullet Punch?"

Ash thought for a second before checking his pokedex. He smiled. Pangoro, Greed's evolution, could indeed perform Bullet Punch and pancham could at times learn it before their evolution. Leaf and her team always trained separately of his own except for some light sparring and move comparison. Starting the next day, they would train together.

Ash changed his plans slightly for his pokemon as he checked his pokedex and spoke with Leaf. Nut would finish learning Air Cutter and then Defog. The flying-type move would be a boon in the Celadon Gym—not to mention later in the Fuchsia Gym—and Glide could help direct him. Greed would perfect Fire Punch and then get coached on Bullet Punch by Champ.

In return, Greed would coach Champ on Fire Punch and Nut would assist Glide in evasion drills. Ash and Leaf felt this arrangement worked well for both of them until they split up. They would have plenty of time given they still had a week or so until the Ranger Lodge near the mining tunnel.

.—.—.

"Fire Punch!" Ash ordered the panda pokemon. Greed followed it immediately and his opponent, an eyesore of a parasect, finally collapsed a few moments later. Its trainer recalled it and handed the Pallet boy his winnings before stalking off with a furious expression.

Ash shrugged at the retreating figure of his opponent. She should have won if she didn't want to lose her cash. She had to, as Gary might put it, get good.

The bug catchers of the forest were, in Ash's humble opinion, cannonfodder. They just caught any passing bug-types and hoped to train them to beat rookie trainers. And most of those bug-types, like the parasect, were taken down in only a couple solid blows from any semi-experienced pokemon. Given that most bug-types were weak in their early stages generally didn't help their case, and Ash doubted any bug catcher was going to venture into the deeper forest to try their hand at defeating and capturing a truly worthy bug-type.

The only truly powerful bug-types that held their own in the upper divisions of trainers and were also found in Kanto were scyther, heracross, and pinsir. Those bugs were rare enough though and not found in Viridian Forest unless one dedicated immense time and effort and wandered to the heart of the forest. Yanma and ninjask were good too, if only for their insane speed. The most challenging opponent he had fought against had actually been a pinsir, but it was young and obviously a recent capture. A hard battle with a bug catcher was barely a sweat. It was actually thanks to that pinsir's trainer that Ash wore a brand new katana around his belt. New to him anyway. It was in good condition but still weathered.

A bug catcher clad in clunky, samurai armor had barged into their camp one evening and leveled the blade at the Pallet trainers. Champ and Greed had been absent from the camp, one collecting firewood and the other foraging for greens, which Ash contributed to the other boy's continued well-being. Nut had been overlooked by the bug catcher and the grass-type let him have a vicious Headbutt to the arm for the mistake. The hit made him drop the sword and, based on the sound, fracture something. Glide swooped onto the samurai-wannabe from her spot in the canopy and knocked him into the ground. The phrase the bigger they are the harder they fall held true as the armor he wore weighed him down and the idjit slammed into the ground.

The kid, named Eric Stuart but went by Samurai, had wanted a battle and thought that threatening them with a sword was a great way to get it. According to him, a trainer from Pallet with a squirtle in tow beat his pokemon down enough that he took up a personal grudge against all the Pallet trainers. Leaf had grumbled something about Gary causing trouble for them even when he wasn't with them. Ash had to agree with her.

Ash did battle the bug trainer and, much like Gary, beat him down fairly easily. His first pokemon had been a metapod who only knew harden and his second the pinsir. Neither were intimidating and Nut won with almost no effort despite a type disadvantage. The trainer from Pallet Town was less than impressed with the kid and shooed him off and kept his sword. The samurai had protested and threatened to get the Rangers. Ash had laughed at him. They were in their own camp and he had entered uninvited while swinging a sword around. If anything, they should call the Rangers on him.

At that point Greed and Champ had returned, the panda's ears twitching angrily and the machop nearly seething, and their presence finally convinced the bug catcher that his sword probably wasn't worth the trouble the trainers from Pallet Town seemed to give him. Leaf did give him some slight guff about basically stealing the sword but Ash waved it off. Samurai didn't pay him the reward money he owed so the sword (and the sheath the samurai had thrown at him in anger) were collateral.

The katana was a little awkward attached to his person but trainers seemed less likely to try and stiff him with it in view. He would probably sell it when he got to Celadon, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't like the look it gave him. Ash thought he looked just fine despite Leaf's jokes.

.—.—.

Greed and Champ stood opposite each other with space between them. Ash grinned at Leaf as they matched their pokemon's competitive stares. They were close enough to the Ranger Lodge that they decided to finally battle each other. They had put it off because they knew their pokemon would be banged up enough to require at least mild healing.

"A long time coming, right Leaf?" Ash asked as his starter readied himself for the fight, a fight Ash had been anticipating for years.

"It has!" Leaf agreed as her own starter prepared itself. The two pokemon had sparred and practiced their moves together, but had never officially battled. Ash was giddy with excitement.

Glide gave a cry as she dropped a pebble from her position in the air. When said pebble hit the ground, battle would be joined. It fell fast and clattered against the earth quickly. The instant it touched the ground, the two fighting-types lunged.

"Bullet Punch then Karate Chop!" Ash ordered his pokemon.

"Low Sweep! Knock it down then use Focus Energy and Low Kick!" Leaf yelled in response.

Ash grinned as the pokemon met each other. Leaf's strategy was obvious. Champ was a good bit smaller than his opponent so she wanted to get Greed on the ground and fight from there. Luckily, Ash had expected that approach.

Greed was bulkier than the machop. He could take more blows and throw some brutal haymakers, unfortunately he was also a bigger target that made landing hits easier for the machop. If he went to the floor and got put in a hold his chances of winning plummeted, not impossible but unlikely. The pancham needed to keep it to punches and avoid the kicks his enemy dished out. The machop needed to knock his opponent to the ground with kicks and avoid the punches thrown his way. Ash's heart pounded.

The panda leapt away from the kicks and threw a flurry of Bullet Punches at his target. He pushed the advantage his size gave him and rained a combination of Bullet Punches, Karate Chops and Fire Punches at his opponent. The blows were even more damaging given the panda used the beginning of Arm Thrust to enhance its power and effectiveness. A little idea Ash had thought of and Greed had taken to incorporating into all his attacks when possible.

Champ seemed caught off guard at the surprising speed the kalosian pokemon could deliver blows and took a few steps back to avoid them. He avoided a majority of the attacks but some still landed and made the pokemon wince.

Ash frowned as Greed stepped forward, only for Champ to jet forward under his arms. His eyes widened. "He's going for a Headbutt!"

Greed sidestepped away with a growl as the machop barely brushed his black and white fur. He rushed forward almost immediately as Champ was still in the middle of his leap forward. Greed had his arms in front of him as he Tackled the blue reptilian fighter, hitting him with a double fisted Fire Punch, and the machop slammed into the dirt. Greed latched his jaw onto his opponent's shoulder using Crunch. With his opponent on the ground, the pancham positioned his legs on the enemy fighter's arms with difficulty before raining blows upon him.

Ash cheered happily. "Great job, keep him pinned and finish it with a Fire Punch!"

"Twist and use Focus Energy, then Bullet Punch!" Leaf retaliated in desperation.

Ash was slightly confused at the command before realization set in. In an act of dexterity that Ash wasn't aware the machop possessed, the pokemon bent his legs enough to get them into Greed's back. It was a stretch and barely touched him, but it was enough for the panda to stumble and release his opponent's arm from under his weight. Greed missed his retaliation of a Fire Punch and hit air rather than the head of the machop. The panda growled loudly as his leg buckled from a sudden Bullet Punch to the back of the knee.

Champ pushed his advantage and Tackled the bipedal bear, much like he himself had been tackled earlier, into the ground. He couldn't position himself over his arms like Greed had but he could get a couple blows in.

A Fire Punch struck him in the chest. Just as the second strike, a Bullet Punch this time, went towards his noggin the pancham moved slightly left. The blow missed and went into the ground, creating a small crater the size of a pokeball. Greed shot forward and bit into the offending arm with Crunch.

"Use his weight against him! Circle Throw!" Ash screamed loud enough he was sure the citizens of Cinnabar Island heard him.

Ash's starter acted fast enough that Leaf hadn't had enough time to yell her own set of orders. The pancham flipped the machop over using his grip in his left arm and used Circle Throw mid motion. The momentum carried the native kanto pokemon a couple dozen feet before colliding with the earth.

After a few moments of no movement, the reptilian fighting-type stood up once more on shaky legs. His left arm and shoulder were bleeding from the Crunch attacks he had taken and he breathed heavily. The black and white furred fighting-type was similarly breathing heavily, but missed the bleeding wounds of his opponent.

The two fighters stared at each other for a few moments before Champ wobbled. Leaf's starter stumbled forward before falling onto the ground, unconsciousness finally overtaking him.

Ash released a breath he hadn't known he'd sucked in. He grinned madly. He had won!

"Yes!" Ash exclaimed wildly as his excitement overtook him. "Amazing job, Greed!" The pancham puffed up highly while still heaving from the battle. Ash saw Nut rush from the sidelines to congratulate his teammate.

Leaf approached Champ and applied a potion to him and a revive. Soon enough the blue-skinned pokemon was back on his feet with sore muscles and freshly healed wounds. Though violent purple bruises dotted his usually flawlessly blue skin. Ash was sure Greed sported similar bruises under all that fur.

"You did amazing, you just got unlucky." Leaf assured her starter with a pat on the head. She turned to Ash. "Not too bad. I guess we'll need to step up training a little."

Ash smiled. "Thanks. You two did great as well. I think you should get him a couple more moves, he relied on Bullet Punch a lot."

"Yeah." Leaf agreed with a mumble as she glanced away in thought.

"Seriously, you had us on the ropes there for a little while. If Greed had fought Glide? It wouldn't have even been close. I mean, Nut could put up a fight but he'd definitely get wiped from a couple solid hits. His defense isn't too great so a few well placed blows could do the trick." Ash reassured his friend with a smile. He meant it too. His team's worst nightmare would be a decently trained flying-type. Nut could fire off Leech Seed, but Solar Beam was still practically unusable. Especially against smaller and speedier opponents like Glide.

Leaf laughed lightly. "Fair enough." She handed him some bills as she straightened herself. "Here."

"Keep them," Ash said as he pushed the money back to her. "This was a recreational match."

Leaf rolled her eyes but pocketed the bills. "Let's get moving again. The Lodge should have a Revitalization Machine."

Ash nodded in agreement. Ranger Lodges did have such machines for trainer usage. It would never be as good as anything Nurse Joy could do but it was better than a simple potion.

Leaf returned her starter to his pokeball after a few minutes of walking. The machop was still swaying and stumbling every so often. Ash let Greed remain out despite the panda being covered in bruises and scrapes. Returning him to his ball would only hurt his pride. He seemed content to continue walking beside his trainer, pleased with his victory. Nut squeaked to the bear-like pokemon constantly from his place on Ash's shoulder. The two got along pretty well after the time they spent training together.

He was glad for that. Team drama was not something he was ready to deal with.

The Ranger Lodge came into view a few hours before dusk. Both trainers decided to rent the Revitalization Machine for a few minutes in order to get their teams healed up. Renting the machine was a little steep (fifty dollars for ten minutes) but Ash and Leaf paid it anyway. Ash also rented a room for the night as opposed to sleeping outside like he would usually do.

He was going to be underground in an old mining tunnel for the next couple weeks. He could splurge on a little extra comfort for one night. Leaf declined renting a room and camped outside.

Ash retrieved his team and the key to his room before going outside. It was time for their evening training session. Greed and Nut were both quick learners which was definitely a boon in training, but they still had some kinks to work out.

Nut needed to perfect Defog. Glide had gotten him on the right path so he needed to continue working on the flying-type move. Greed needed to perfect both Fire Punch and Bullet Punch. His Fire Punch was good but the fire tended to wisp out after throwing a few of them. Bullet Punch was barely what Ash could consider a Bullet Punch. Pancham generally only learned Bullet Punch after their evolution so the progress he had made so far was impressive in and of itself.

That was his plan for now, though he would surely revisit said plan a few dozen times before the next training session. Perfecting their new moves was important to Ash. Sure, they could have dozens of attacks that covered many different types, but if they couldn't use them properly there was no point.

Fear the man who practiced a single kick a thousand times and all that.

Leaf let her team rest once again, stating they needed to be full power the next day. Ash shrugged it off but he'd admit it did rub him the wrong way. Leaf was a good trainer, no doubt about that, but she just seemed to lack the will to truly push her pokemon in training. Ash had a training session in the mornings and the evenings. Leaf would join in their morning sessions usually and decided whether she'd be joining the evening session based on a whim.

Ash dropped the thought and focused on his team. He had them work on their moves before turning to endurance and strength training.

He returned to his room with sluggish feet and his team recalled. He put his bag next to his bed and slung his bandolier onto a nightstand. They had done nothing but train for the last three and a half hours straight. The last half hour of which was nearly in complete darkness.

The following morning was full of groaning muscles and cracking joints for both him and his team. It didn't slow them down though, they went at the morning training session just as hard as any other. Ash did cut it slightly short to give time for his pokemon to rest before they ventured into the tunnel. He had no doubt there would be plenty of ground-types and rock-types they'd need to ward off. Nut would have plenty of opportunities to work on his grass-type moves. Not Solar Beam given its destructive effects but any other moves were fair game.

Ash shouldered his pack as Greed trotted beside him. Nut was soaking in the sunshine and sucking sap from a tree, the last he thought he'd be getting for a while. Ash had taken the liberty of storing some foliage and sap in a couple containers in his bag. They'd be a good surprise for his pokemon while in the old tunnel.

"Heading off?" Leaf asked as he passed her. She was giving Glide the last of her calcium supplements. The flying-type's talon had come back just as strong as it was before.

"Yeah, better get a start." Ash said as shifted his bag further up his shoulders. "It'll be two weeks or so before I get out of there. You're heading out too?"

Leaf nodded. "Here in a few minutes, yeah." The girl gave Glide a tap on her beak and the flying-type took to the air. "Ash, be careful."

"I will. It's probably safer down there than back home stuck between you and Gary arguing," Ash said with a smile.

She rolled her eyes. "Sure it is. Seriously, Ash, stay safe. "

"I'll keep that in mind." The trainers smiled and, with one last handshake, departed. Leaf went north while Ash went east. Greed followed as he gave Champ his own farewell. The two fighting-types had gained respect for each other during their travels and training.

Ash gave his starter a grin. "When we battle them again it might be when you're both fully evolved." And wouldn't that be a site to behold. Greed rumbled in approval. When Ash saw a bright orange sign pointing towards a watering hole, they went straight into the forest. It wasn't too far off the main path, a few hundred feet.

Ash stopped at the watering hole and filled his canteen before continuing on. After the watering hole was dense forest and only a barren dirt path to lead him farther into the trees. The undergrowth of the forest encroached on the trail as he went deeper. Thorns began to pull at his clothes and he had to begin ducking from branches. Greed could no longer stand beside him and had to lead in front. After a particularly thick branch whacked Nut off Ash's shoulder—which Ash had absolutely not laughed at despite any accusations from his team—the grass-type stuck to walking as well.

After a few more minutes of pushing his way through the thick growth, Giovanni's instructions proved accurate as a rock the size of a snorlax came into sight. The rock was carved by weather to look reminiscent of a face. It was almost like a portrait if he squinted. He had to squint pretty hard though.

He veered a sharp right as he tapped the rock for good luck. The path was now nonexistent as he used the sword as his waist to cut his way through the green. After hacking away at the thicket for another few minutes, Ash almost tripped as the forest gave way to a clearing.

He blinked in surprise. The thick brush and overbearing collective of trees was contrasted as it stopped almost on a line. The thorny plants gave way to grass and the trees were gone. What was more surprising was the sheer cliff that stood in front of him.

It was a sheer outcropping that faced him imposingly. At the base of it was an opening the size of an onix. Signs of varying color were strewn about the entrance, some still clinging to where they hung but most having fallen to the ground.

Ash immediately identified that this was indeed the mining tunnel he was searching for. The canopy of the forest had been pushed back hundreds of feet to make airlifting the treasure from the mine doable. The gaping maw of the old tunnel was not what one would consider 'secure' by any standard. Where there might once have been a blockade to stop intruders was now a rubble of splintered wood and shattered stone.

Greed gave the area a cursory glance before finding nothing of note. Nut returned to his place on Ash's shoulder with the lack of obstacles.

"Well, shall we?" Ash asked his team. Without waiting for a response, he stepped into the darkness of the mine and the domain of the earth.

.—.—.

Edited 4-8-25