206 Jhoto

Morty made sure to get Ash proper treatment after talking to Nurse Joy who had a very terrifying smile on her face. Ash dare not decline her offer and sat still as she cleaned his wounds and wrapped his shoulder up with a fresh bandage. Tyrantrum whined on seeing the bandaged shoulder and Ash calmed him down from getting too depressed. Ash gave a huff as Tyrantrum sat down and nuzzled him as an apology.

Morty, "I suppose you will be leaving soon."

Brock, "Tomorrow, yes. Venasaur is paying Ash a visit first."

Morty, "I heard about him, he is a strong healer."

Sorrel, "Yes, he is very impressive. He even inspires others, myself included to take the healing careers seriously."

As Brock said Venasaur arrived late in the evening to check on Ash. Tyrantrum was feeling really bad for what happened and Venasaur sighed hitting him with a vine whip getting his attention. Tyrantrum blinked and looked up at him and Venasaur nudged him to another room to talk. Ash waved at Tyrantrum to go with Venasaur assuring him he would be fine with the others. Tyrantrum went with his Elder and Venasaur started to tell him his own thoughts about the incident. In fact for most of them, it was not the worst thing to happen to Ash.

Tyrantrum opened his mouth to protest before shutting up again. The Dragon Pokemon remembered some of the training his Meema did with the older Pokemon. Yeah, he could see why most of his Elders didn't bat an eye over what happened. Tyrantrum didn't know whether to be worried over his Meema more or feel lacking over the fact he didn't even register as powerful to his Meema. The grass type starter snorted in amusement when he realized where the younger one's thought process went to.

Ash did tend to treat any and every one of their attacks as an everyday occurrence, no matter how powerful. Venasaur twitched, actually it was not just Ash, the entire group including young Max was that way. The young dragon type sweated a little on seeing the starter grass type's smile become dark and backed out from the room. Just as he was out of the door, Venasaur stormed out towards Ash's room leaving Tyrantrum confused about what happened.

Ash, "Oh hey, Venasaur. What's up? Woah what's wrong?"

Venasaur, "Venasaur vena vena saur, vena na saur, venasaur."

Lucario, -... You know what I can't even counter any of those points.-

Milotic, -Neither can I.-

Ash sweat dropped, "Guys... Please calm down."

Abra, -Meema looks so tiny in Venasaur's vines.-

Eevee nodded, "Vui."

Absol was wagging his tail quite happily and joined him among the vines that were glowing and smelling really really sweet and warm from aromatherapy. Ash nuzzled the vines feeling relaxed and content thanks to the aromatherapy that Venasaur was running through the vines. Bayleaf eyed the move that her teacher was using and the Pokemon who seemed to really like it. If the young ones joining her trainer was anything to go by, she knew she would have to learn and master.

The next day they left Ecruteak the next day and the girls from the tea house came to wish them farewell and good luck. Verity took out the map and commented they could go two ways, one was the across Raizen mountain range and the other through a large forest that opens up to a dessert. Well the dessert was undergoing a recovery project, as it was not always a dessert in the first place. Max was curious about the mountains and requested they go through it, perhaps they would find interesting Pokemon.

Casey, "Well I was planning on going there myself as well at one point."

Gou, "We do have hiking equipment that we rarely use. Let's go to the mountain range and who knows maybe we will find Pokemon variants there."

Ash, "Fine! I suppose we do still have our warm clothes inside our capsules. Since it'll be summer soon, we won't be using those clothes any time soon."

Brock, "Great it's decided then."

Sorrel, "Well Mt Raizen is famous for it's rare medical plants as well, so I'm interested."

Max, "Awesome, let's go then."

Verity, "Yeah!"

After deciding on the next location they started to move towards the mountain range which was popular for many reasons. One of them being famous for Ho Oh sightings, which made Ash pause and mutter about the legendary being a troll. That got Casey, Verity and Sorrel asking him questions to which Gou and Brock gave a huff and mutters about Ho Oh staying near Pallet town. The three were skeptical but Ash took out a Ho Oh feather which he had received when he was still close to Pallet town.

Casey, "Only you Ash."

Verity giggled, "Figures something like this would happen with you."

Sorrel deadpanned, "No wonder your Pokemon are always worried about you. You are basically a walking treasure box waiting to be stolen."

Ash, "It's not that bad."

Pikachu who had joined him in place of Bayleef who returned with Venasaur gave him a questionable look. Ash poked his nose and nuzzled the yellow electric type who cooed at him and then jumped to the ground. He then nudged Absol and started a race with Eevee joining him, Ash called them to not go too far from them. As they walked towards the mountain they came across a lush forest filled with evergreen trees.

Ash, "The air around here smells so fresh."

Pikachu, "Pikapi~"

Abra, -I agree Meema.-

Brock, "I have an idea, come out Pineco."

Pineco, "Ine."

Brock, "Help me find the best pine top."

Pineco nodded and went searching for the pine tops Brock wanted. As the bug Pokemon went in search the group noticed it was starting to get dark. Lucario used his aura sense and mentioned there were other people camping around the area. Ash figured the place was a popular camping spot for many people and started to take out his camp gear and set up a tent. Max looked around the camp and sweat dropped, though he was in no position to complain.

Max, 'So many large tents.'

Casey, "Something wrong Max?"

Max, "I... It's just our tents... They are the extra large kinds."

Casey gave a laugh, "Yeah, we all got accustomed to sleeping with our Pokemon over the years. It's better than sleeping alone and being caught unawares when trouble arises."

Max, "So it's mostly for safety?"

Casey, "For most high level trainers and trainers who had really bad starts like Ash and Misty did. Running into Team Rocket will make anyone weary of their surroundings."

Max, "I guess so... Anyways my Pokemon and I are gonna train over there. I want Breloom to learn aromatherapy as fast as possible. We can focus on mastering it after we get the move down."

Breloom, "Loom bre loom."

Ash, "All done. You lot comfy?"

Eevee, "Vui."

Abra, -Yes Meema.-

Absol cooed, "Sol."

Lucario, -Shall we train while we wait for dinner time to come around?-

Ash, "Definitely, I think I'm close to creating my own aura sphere."

Lucario, -No forcing yourself Meema. You need to be aware of how your body responds to the aura you use.-

Ash started the training with Lucario for half an hour which was the longest Ash went so far using his aura actively. Lucario was very pleased with the outcome of the training and helped in training the other Pokemon. The other two Jhoto starters were very pumped up and wanted to evolve into their secondary forms as well. After the training was done they all gathered around the fire where their dinner was being prepared by Gou. The dark skinned boy was telling them about how his grandma would make spicy mushroom, meat and vegetable curry during the colder months.

Ash sniffed, "It smells so good."

Brock nodded, "Yeah, it smells very rich."

Casey, "Max better hurry up."

Sorrel looked up, "He is not back yet?"

Verity, "I'll go search for him."

Gou, "Give a shout if something happens."

Verity nodded and was about to leave when a panicked Max came barrelling towards them from the bush holding a Charmender? Boy.... That was one big Deja Vu moment. Ash shook himself out of his stupor and started to take out the medicine he kept specifically for the Charizard line. In case Charizard decided to tag along with them and they ran across trouble. He gave the medicine to Brock who started to go through the different bottles and took out the one for malnutrition.

Ash, "Max, what happened?"

Max, "Breloom and I were training Beedrill trying to up his speed. Then a guy called Cross came and challenged me using his Charmender. I or rather Beedrill won against Charmender and Cross decided to release her saying she was useless."

Sorrel had a dark expression on his face, "Did he now?"

Max nodded, "I pointed out that Pokemon are strong and will always be stronger than humans. That it was up to the trainer to bring out their strength. If Charmender was unable to become strong, it only proved he was an incompetent trainer, nothing else."

Brock was alarmed, "On your own? That was dangerous Max."

Casey, "What if he attacked you?"

Max, "There were other trainers there. He would not have dared."

Ash, "Still, please be more careful and Cross was it?"

Max nodded, "Yeah, that's his name."

Ash gave a dark smile, "I'll deal with him. You focus on taking care of Charmender, alright?"

Verity, "Yeah, she needs you more."

Gou, "Leave Cross to us."

Max, "Thank you guys."

Charmender slept through the night with Cyndaquill and Brock's Vulpix surrounding her keeping warm. Ash served Max his dinner and made sure he ate reminding him that he needs to be healthy in order to make sure his Pokemon are healthy. Max spluttered at that saying Charmender was still loyal to Cross and would not think about joining him who was not even an official trainer.

Ash, "Not necessarily."

Brock, "You are a trainer under guidance. You will be one of the best trainers out there. You can be rest assured."

Verity, "We are here to help you after all."

Sorrel, "Besides you are already way better than other trainers out there."

Casey, "Exactly, trust yourself a bit more Max."

Gou, "You are doing really well but I suppose a serious talk with Charmender is necessary."

Max smiles, "Yeah, thanks everyone."

Ash, "Well we better get to sleep. It'll be a long day tomorrow."

The next day the young female fire type woke up between the other two fire types and Max making sure she was okay. Charmender was surprised to see the dark haired boy taking care of her and started to feel guilty for making him work. Vulpix flicked her with one of her tails, pointing out that taking care of Pokemon is second nature to trainers, anyone who doesn't has something wrong in their heads. Charmender wanted to protest but found the protest dying in her throat when Max picked her up.

Max held a spoon close to her mouth, "Here we made light soup for you to drink."

Charmender, "Char?"

Ralts, -Yes, it's for you. Eat up so you can regain your strength okay?-

Charmender looked around at the expectant expressions around her before opening her mouth and started to eat. The others had relieved expressions on their faces when she started to eat slowly, but surely. Max was very patient with her as she ate but after half the bowl was finished she stopped eating not able to stomach another bite. Max comforted her gently saying she could eat again after two hours to make sure she had the strength to recover.

Max, "Okay then everyone. While Charmender is resting I believe I promised to help you with your attacks Mareep?"

Mareep bleated excitedly, "Marrrrr reeep marrrreeeeep."

Max, "Let's get to training. Keep Charmender company okay everyone?"

Ralts, -You can count on us Max.-

Max, "Come on Mareep, Pikachu promised to guide us while learning thunderwave."

Mareep perked up, Pikachu was the only other electric type in the group aside from Casey's Electabuzz. But unlike Pikachu, Electabuzz was a little strange turning all red around her which made Pikachu laugh. Perhaps he lost a bet to Pikachu? Well it doesn't matter, she decided, Pikachu and Ash were waiting for them at the training field. After the training was done, they would head towards the Pokemon center and report what that cruel person had done to little Charmender. Poor thing was really small!

[A. N.: I was watching, Pokemon I choose you movie when I realized that Mt Raizen was located in Jhoto.

So we are entering movie territory again.

I'm excited to write this.]