The St. Anne Destroyed

Ash took a deep breath as Blastoise descended. Even while they were in the water, the Porygon-Z still gave chase and Blast had been almost struck by a couple of hyper beams. Some had grazed the large turtle and even them to some extent.

Ash had at a time released Butterfree and Beedrill, but they were knocked out sooner than he'd hoped. He looked at Blastoise. The water type was straining his self just to keep them safe. He had burn marks and grazes all over. The water was so cold and it didn't do any good for the wounds that they had.

Ash swore he heard Gary's ribs crack as he fell from Pidgeotto unto Blast's strong shell. He also had a bruise on his head. Ash had broken his leg and ribs when he was crushed by that steel bar. The time when Blaze was struck with hyper beam, that impact caused Blaze's claw to slash into Ash's, causing a deep wound. They were all pretty damaged badly and they needed medical attention-

A loud explosion attracted their attention. They turned towards the direction of the St. Anne and saw a large raging inferno. It had fully been destroyed. Scrap metal flying here and there as the huge ship sunk into the sea. Kyogre had taken it. Ash remembered a Hoenn Legendary Pokémon script that he had read some time ago. It said that 'whenever a ship sank, Kyogre had taken it to go rest with him at the bottom of the sea.' He took a deep breath. There was no saving the ship now. Suddenly the Porygon-Z all turned back towards the direction of the St. Anne.

"They're backing off?" Paul asked. His voice was hoarse from the amount of sea water he had consumed and the screams he had released. They all pretty much suffered that same fate.

"I think so," Trip responded.

"Let's get out of here before they think of coming back to search for us-"

An ear-splitting roar filled the air. Ash jerked his head forward to see a huge Gyarados making its way towards them. Ash heard Paul, Gary and Trip swear. He didn't blame them though. Of all the luck that they could possess, and they just wandered into a Gyarados' territory. It roared as it summoned a huge wave that slammed into them. They struggled to hold unto Blast for safety. Any wrong move and that was it. The Gyarados opened its maw as it charged a hyper beam.

"Duck!" Gary yelled to Blast.

They all took deep breaths as they felt the water envelope them once again. Ash looked up to see the hyper beam just sail over where they were. The place where they had once been sizzled as the water there evaporated. That was a close one. As Blast resurfaced, he was hit with a dragon pulse to the face. The impact sent Blast back into the water. Ash and the others couldn't hold on much longer and let go of the giant turtle. They struggled to surface back there before they died of lack of air. The Gyarados roared as they surfaced and it began to move in close. Was this it for them? Ash thought.

Acting fast, Blast resurfaced at amazing speeds and used rapid spin to slam into Gyarados. The impact jerked Gyarados' head to the left. The boys were all shocked as the Gyarados just shrugged off that attack that could snap a weaker pokémon's neck in half, and turned the massive serpent's attention to the water type. Ash yelled to the others to use their full restores on their knocked out pokémon. Soon, the ocean was filled with bursts of white light. Ash had released Golduck, Wartortle, Butterfree and Beedrill. Gary had released Krabby and Pidgeotto. Paul had released Fearow. Trip had released Heracross. It was an all out war. The Gyarados put up quite a fight as it blasted Heracross out of the sky with flamethrower. Luckily it wasn't that bad. Fearow and Pidgeotto were attacking it from the sky with steel wing and air slashes and wing attacks. Wartortle and Golduck were nailing it with water type moves like water gun, water pulse. Golduck was even using psychic moves. Things were looking good as Beedrill managed to poison Gyarados. Ash was feeling lucky but then something happened.

Another ear-splitting roar was heard as another Gyarados, probably drawn towards the sounds of their battle came. It was apparently smaller than the first Gyarados, but it didn't strike Ash as to be weak. It shot a powerful hyper beam at Blast, but luckily the water type was fast enough to use protect. Despite the emerald shield that was in front of the water type, the force at which Blast was knocked back was not good. If they were to continue like this, they would be dead.

A loud shriek was heard above them as Mach was covered in a blinding light. She was evolving. They all watched as her wings grew bigger and so did her body. Her shriek also grew louder as the light died down. She was no longer a little Pidgeotto but was now a fully grown Pidgeot. Gary was happy, but this was not the time to celebrate. Not while they were facing two surprisingly powerful Gyarados. The smaller Gyarados used a dragon tail to swat Fearow out of the sky, where the bird impacted the water with a huge force. Ash prayed to Arceus for a miracle because it looked like they were losing and losing fast. He was using his aura to help the pokémon by giving them part of his own strength. At the moment, losing his strength did not border him. If this could help them win the fight and escape, he didn't care what it took. As he did this, Gary communicated attacks to the various pokémon using his psychic abilities. Paul and Trip ensured that both of them were safe with Blast as they swam back and forth, applying full restores to pokémon that were knocked out and also using various medicine items.

Fearow took to the skies again, but was hit with a very powerful flamethrower from the smaller Gyarados and her feathers were burnt a great deal. The impact of the flamethrower launched her into Paul's direction. She went head first and her beak pierced his right lap. With a shocked expression on her face, she removed her beak, causing the boy to scream loudly. Paul tried sympathizing with the flying type that it was not her fault, but she still felt greatly sorry. They were in a tight spot, but it seemed like Arceus had answered their prayers, in the form of Golduck and Wartortle. Wartortle and Golduck used Aqua spin and focus blast, respectively on the poisoned Gyarados. The simultaneous attacks diverted the path of its hyper beam to the smaller Gyarados. The small Gyarados roared as it was hit in the face by the powerful beam of destruction. It fell face first into the water, conjuring up a huge wave that slammed into them and in particular really did a number on Trip as it sent him into Blast's shell.

"Argh..." Trip said as he held his head.

They continued their attack on the large Gyarados until it finally gave up. It was strong but just couldn't keep up with the poison coursing through its veins anymore and the relentless assault from their pokémon. It collided with the surface of the water, kicking up a large wave. They were able to withstand the wave, but they had to get out of there. There was no time to celebrate. What if another one of these monstrosities came?

Ash used his aura sight and was able to locate a small island some distance away. They all held unto Blast as the water type led them towards the island. Butterfree, Beedrill, Heracross and Fearow were knocked out. Mach, Wartortle and Golduck kept guard just in case they had a run-in with any crazy pokémon. Given the type of luck they had this night, anything was possible for them. It didn't take long before they reached the island. It was a relatively small patch of land in the middle of the sea.

Too tired to even talk, they leapt off of Blast and fell unto the dirt of the island, recalling their pokémon, before passing out pretty quickly.

Melemele Island, Alola

A light burst forth from a pokéball as a massive Hydreigon was released. "Hydreigon," a man called. The huge beast growled as it turned towards the man.

"We're heading to Kanto," the man said as he hopped on the large beast. "Full speed and don't stop for nothing. Something tragic has happened."

The massive beast flared its wings before shooting off at high speeds.

Kanto

Ash's eyes slowly opened. He flinched as the bright sunlight entered his eyes. His head hurt really painfully. He opened his eyes more and saw a blue pokémon with long neck and fin for hands and feet. It had a shell on its back. A Lapras? What was one doing here? Weren't they native to the Orange Islands. They hardly moved out and Ash didn't think it was migration time. Was it here to pick a fight? He turned his face and saw that Gary, Paul and Trip were out cold. He tried to move, but was too weak to do so. The Lapras noticed him and moved over to him. He tried to reach for his pokéballs but was too weak to even put forth his hand, and ended up groaning. The Lapras bounded over to him before licking him. The touch of its tongue was icy and he kind of enjoyed it.

A Mantine, Walrein and Dewgong were also ashore with them. He noticed the Lapras coo gently and understood it to be "we're here to rescue you." His body relaxed a little, but he still felt more pains. His lungs were definitely not the way they were. What caused this?

He groaned deeply as he remembered the St. Anne in flames and silently screamed. Lapras gently licked his face, calming him down. She lowered her head, gesturing for him to get on. He forced himself to his belly just as Gary, Paul and Trip also started stirring.

He slowly climbed unto Lapras, but no matter how careful he was, his body ached all over. He twisted his face to see Walrein carry Gary, Mantine carry Trip and Dewgong carry Paul. The pokémon made their way back into the water as they began swimming, and the world became dark.

Ash woke up to the sound of beeping. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Nurse Joy. He tries to get up but she stopped him. "Don't force yourself." And it all came back to him. He remembered screams and saw hyper beams. The St. Anne destroyed. "The St. Anne," he blurted out.

"Yes. It's no more. The St. Anne was destroyed three days ago."

Three days. He'd been out for three days. He opened up his mouth to speak, but Nurse Joy beat him to it. "Your friends Gary Oak, Paul Shinji and Trip are all okay. Like you they suffered broken bones and burns and bruises and a couple others. It's a miracle you guys didn't catch pneumonia. You were probably in the water for a long time. Also Leaf Green, Serena Sycamore, Misty Waterflower and Dawn Hikari made it here safely. So don't worry further about them."

Ash felt relieved but soon remembered the image of Blaze been hit in the wings with a hyper beam. "What about my pokémon?"

"Your Dratini, Eevee, Tyrunt, Elekid, and Clefairy are all fine. Your Wartortle and Golduck are completely worn out and have slightly deep cut marks and burns, but nothing I can't handle. Your Ivysaur and Scizor are pretty damaged but not as much as your Butterfree and Beedrill. Your Charizard is the problem. It took a pretty damaging move to its wing and it's broken. He won't be able to fly for some time."

Ash felt despair feel his heart. Blaze had a broken wing. That hyper beam from that Porygon-Z was pretty bad. Thank Arceus it was only the wing tip area. If it had been the base, it might have been permanent.

"Don't worry kid. I'll try my best to help all your pokémon. In the meantime you rest. You were out for three days. Even your friends had woken up two days ago. I checked you and from what I noticed, you were currently almost devoid of energy. It's a good thing the search party found you guys. If they didn't, you would have been dead," she said as she tucked him in.

Ash wasn't surprised. He had exhausted his body by sharing aura with the other pokémon. Ash went back to sleep for a couple of hours before he woke up to the sound of chatter. He glanced up to see two guys in the League's Ace Trainer uniform and another guy who was bare chested. He swore he knew the guy but his head was not in the right state to figure it out. He sat up and watched them carefully.

"So you're awake," the bare bodied man said. "I have questions for you and I do hope you answer them," the man said rather plain.

Ash just tilted his head in confusion at the guy. The man smirked and laughed slightly as he understood Ash's confusion.

"First off. I'm Bruno of the Kanto Elite Four." And it hit Ash. That's why he thought the guy looked farmiliar. He was the fighting type expert of Kanto, with his powerful Machamp. He was the second member of the elite four after Lorelei.

"Let's move on," he said as he noticed Ash's awestruck face. "Is it true that Team Rocket was responsible for the destruction and sinking of the St. Anne?" Ash nodded as clearly as he could at the moment. He was still recovering and needed lots of rest.

Bruno continued. "Who led the attack and how was the ship destroyed?"

Ash took a deep breath as he started explaining. "The attack was led by four executives or admins. Proton, Archer, Petrel and their leader Pierce. The only thing I could get was that Proton is their military commander. He killed the Captain and announced the take over of the ship. Proton, and the rest attacked me and my friends on the deck because we refused to join their cause. After about twenty-five minutes, Pierce said that 'it was time'. He and the rest of them took to pokémon that could fly as over thirty Team Rocket aircraft surrounded the St. Anne. The planes opened and Porygon-Z rained hyper beams down on the ship." Bruno's face tilted slightly.

"We got on our own flying types, and I noticed that the Porygon-Z were been controlled by a device. It caused an upset in their aura and amplified their attack and defense. We made to escape, but they took notice of us and began to chase us while spitting hyper beams, alongside Proton's Crobat. My Charizard took a clean hit to the wing and I was forced to go into the water. They rained more hyper beams and took out all our flying types and we had to swim with the help of my friend's Blastoise. They didn't let up until the St. Anne exploded. They returned but we were attacked by two powerful Gyarados. It was a miracle we defeated the Gyarados."

"That's pretty troublesome. The admins are at least Gym leader level and since you say that they even have a leader, he might be Elite four level and so would be their boss."

"Team Rocket has gone too far. The sinking of the St. Anne has dealt a major blow to the League."

"If I may ask. How did you find us?"

"After we heard reports of the St. Anne in trouble, we sent out a search party consisting of pokémon to look for survivors. The St. Anne did not respond to the routine check it made with Cinnabar Island's coast guard, so they knew something was up."

"How many survivors so far?"

"It's been three days and there are just a little more than six hundred survivors. The death toll was pretty high. An estimated two thousand people are unaccounted for. Most likely dead and far more pokémon lost than we can even count. As for the Gyarados you battled. You guys did a pretty good job taking them out. Few manage to do that with Gyarados as old as that."

Ash felt sad. For a cruise ship that was supposed to make people happy, the St. Anne had turned into a nightmare if death.

"One more thing Ash. Do well to steer clear of Team Rocket from now on. Avoid them at all costs." And Bruno left alongside the two Ace Trainers.

Ash's hands balled into fists as tears filled his eyes.

Avoid them?!

Team Rocket was dead as far as he was concerned. After the destruction of the St. Anne and the death of so many lives and pokémon, how could he just avoid them. It's their fault his Charizard is in Intensive Care. If he was going to be Pokémon Master, he was going to have to take on threats like Team Rocket. He swore vengeance upon them. They would pay deeply for their crimes.

A couple of minutes later, Nurse Joy came to see him. With her were his Eevee, Dratini, Volt, Clefairy and Tyrunt. They all dove at him and embraced him deeply and affectionately. He turned his gaze back to Nurse Joy and asked about his pokémon.

"Well, Wartortle and Golduck are completely drained of any and all energy they possessed. They're currently in a nutrient filled tank. They had a couple of wounds, Wartortle in particular and he lost some amount of blood. Golduck just had nasty electric burns. He'll recover perfectly and so will Wartortle. Beedrill and Butterfree are pretty bad. They have broken wings. Beedrill in part has a broken stinger and they are currently in a ward. Chansey and Blissey are attending to them, so things should go smoothly."

"Scizor and Ivysaur are also in pretty bad shape. Thankfully they had only taken hits from special moves. I have some grass type pokémon using heal moves on them and they should recover okay."

"And there's your Charizard. Parts of his right wing was completely blown off. If I'm not mistaken, he's still young right." Ash nodded. "Out of all your pokémon, he lost the most blood. I've applied Ditto cells to his wound and have also done a little surgery on him. He will recover, but it will take time. In the meantime you should also rest. You're not fully healed from your injuries too." With that, she left.

Ash sighed as he hugged those of his pokémon with him. Team Rocket had really outclassed him. He was going to get stronger and have his vengeance on them. He sighed as he fell back to his bed to sleep.

The next day, the doctor came to meet him. After a couple of checkups, the doctor told him that he could now see visitors. After his breakfast, Gary, Paul and Trip came to see him.

"Hey Ashy-boy," Gary said as he entered the room. Dratini was coiled on the bed beside Ash as he ran his hands over her scales. Eevee was curled up on the floor beside the bed. Tyrunt was belly up on the ground. Volt was lying lazily on one of the chairs and Clefairy was by the window side.

"Gary, Paul, Trip," Ash said as he sat up on his bed. Gary took a seat on the bed while. Paul carried Elekid from the chair and placed the Elekid on his lap and pit him back to sleep. Trip rested his body on the small cupboard in the room.

"How you holding up? You used up almost all your aura reserves," Gary said. Ash laughed slightly at what his best friend said. "Well. I'm not dead," Ash said.

"Still, to think Team Rocket could pull that off," Paul said in slight disbelief.

"Yeah. It really is shocking. Bruno also told us to stay away from them," Trip said. Ash, Gary, Paul and Trip all shared a look.

"How can I stay away?" Ash said. "Look what Team Rocket did. The St. Anne is destroyed and lots of human and pokémon lives were lost. Someone has to stop them."

"But that's not our job. The league will handle it," Trip said. Ash flared up slightly with aura as he remembered the St. Anne's destruction.

"Calm down Ash," Gary said as he tried to get into Ash's subconscious. He wouldn't mind if Trip and Paul didn't understand. Since they were little, they had heard various news of Team Rocket on the PokéNews. The crimes they committed were inhumane. They stole pokémon, poached pokémon and killed those who didn't cooperate.

"I'm not gonna stop until Team Rocket's annihilated. If they don't back down now, I'll make them," Ash said as he flared even more. "You've seen them. They're way beyond our league," Paul said.

"That's why I'm going to get stronger so I can challenge them."

"Not I. We," Gary said. "If you're doing it, I'm doing it also. Someone has to stop you from jumping into crazy situations. You do know you have a knack for getting into trouble."

"Then I think I'm gonna get in on this," Paul said, causing Ash, Trip and Gary to glance at him awkwardly. "What?! I can't let you guys get stronger by facing them and leave me in the dust."

"That makes three," Ash said as he turned to Trip. "Trip?"

The boy seemed to consider and contemplate his choices before answering. "What the heck? If I'm gonna become a member of the Elite Four or the role of Champion of Unova, I should be able to tackle stuff like this. So I'm in."

"That makes all four of us," Ash said with a grin. "It's not going to be easy, but we can handle it."

"Yeah. We're gonna need a lot of training. You remember what happened on the deck. We couldn't even knock out one of their pokémon," Paul said.

"In time we'll get there," Trip said.

"In other news. Gramps want us to meet back at home in Pallet Town. He also says the offer is open to our friends," Gary said as he turned to Paul and Trip.

"I don't know," Paul started but Gary didn't let him finish.

"Before you say no, Professor Oak was once the Champion of Kanto and knows a lot of pointers about training pokémon."

"We'll still need to think about-"

"Can I come in?" A voice called from behind the door. "Come in," Ash said. The door opened and a man walked in. He had spiky, jet-black hair and hazelnut eyes. He wore a poncho that covered his entire body and wore black boots. Beside him was a yellow humanoid pokémon. It had brown armor covering its body and shoulders. Brown kneepads and brown gloves. It held two spoons in its hands and had a long white mustache.

"Dad/Red?!" Both Ash and Gary said in unison.

"Hey boys," Red said. Paul and Trip just stood there awestruck. They were in the presence of the Pokémon Master. Master Red was there in front of them. "I take it that these are your friends," Red said as he gestured at Paul and Trip, snapping them out of their awe.

"Master Red. It's an honour. I'm Paul Shinji. It's such an honour to meet you sir, Mr. Ketchum sir."

"And I'm Trip. It really is an honour to meet you sir."

"Nice to meet you too, but please call me Red," Red said. "And Ash. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine dad. The Doctor said I can be discharged tomorrow."

"That's good. I take it you guys are going back to Pallet Town at Professor Oak's request."

"Yeah Dad."

"That's good. After the St. Anne incident. I imagine you guys need a lot of rest. You all need to heal both physically and mentally. Just because you can walk doesn't mean you're fully healed. And from what Bruno told me, your pokémon all need rest. Between the tournament and the encounter with the Rockets, they're pretty worn out."

He noticed Ash look down slightly.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to tell you not to fight the Rockets again. But I'm going to tell you this. I don't want you to devote your time going after them. You four have to enjoy your trainer lives. If you encounter the Rockets, you can engage them, but think of your pokémon. That's not a request but an order. And I expect you all to take it seriously. Understood?"

"Yes sir," they all responded.

"Now that that's settled. I have league work, but I'll be coming home to Pallet Town while you guys are still there, and I also want to see your mum. I've missed her cooking," he said as they all laughed. "Blue will also be coming home. After he heard you guys were involved in the St. Anne incident, he got mad and took his Blastoise. He single-handedly raided a suspected Team Rocket hideout in Pewter City."

"Really? Dad's gonna be there."

"Yeah and also Green. Professor Sycamore will also be coming to see Serena. Your mum's sister, Yellow will also be there. So you can all think of it as a large reunion, and from what I know, we might be surprised."

"Really? It's gonna be a blast."

"Yep. I'm sorry but this is all the time I have with you. I'll see you soon in Pallet Town."

"Dad. When you come, will we get to battle?"

"Sure thing Ash." And with that he teleported away.

"So," Gary said as he turned slowly towards Paul and Trip. "You change your mind?" He asked slyly.

"We changed our minds."

The boys continued their chat for some hours before leaving Ash and heading back to their rooms. They leave for Pallet Town tomorrow.

Morning came and Ash was discharged. He went to Nurse Joy and she gave him all his pokémon. Ash attached them to his belt as he, Gary, Paul and Trip went for a little sightseeing around Cinnabar Island. Soon it was noon and time to depart.

They headed for the docks where the girls were waiting for them. They boarded the ferry to take them to Pallet Town. It turned out, Dawn had agreed to go with them to Pallet Town to recover.

"You're late," Leaf said as they arrived.

"Sorry," Ash said. "We went sightseeing."

"Sorry ain't gonna cut it. Move your lazy butts into the ferry," she ordered.

"Move!" Ash said as they ran inside the ship. The journey to Pallet Town took about four hours. It wasn't that long, but it felt like forever. Ash jumped off the ferry as he took in the fresh Pallet Town air.

"Home sweet home," he said as he stretched his body. The trip had left his body pretty cramped in a way. "Wait up Ash," Gary said as the rest of them arrived. They all stretched also. Not only Ash was feeling cramped, obviously.

"Yeah, yeah. Race you to the lab," Ash said as he shot off. "No fair," Leaf said as she took off after him. "I'm not gonna be left behind," Gary said as he took off after them, with the rest following behind.

Soon they had arrived at Professor Oak's place. Ash was the first one there. He rung the doorbell causing a loud sound to echo throughout the building. "Coming," a female voice said. Ash wondered who the lady with the feminine voice was. It certainly wasn't his mum and sadly, Gary's mum was dead.

The door flung open and Ash could see a girl that looked to be about sixteen. She had brown hair similar to Gary's and she let it fall down. She wore a blue blouse and a black skirt and topped it off with a lab coat.

"Daisy?"

"Oh hi Ash. How's it going?"

"Umm...-"

"How dare you leave us Ash Satoshi Ketchum," Leaf said as she approached the building and pulled Ash by the ear. "Oh hi Daisy."

"Hi Leaf. How's it going?"

"It's going well."

"Not fair," Gary said as he and the others reached the lab. He paused as he saw the girl by the door. "Daisy?! Daisy," the boy said as he hugged her. She returned the hug with a big smile.

"How's my baby brother doing?"

"I'm not a baby anymore," Gary said as he pulled away from the hug. "What are you doing here. I thought you were in Unova with Professor Juniper?"

"I came back yesterday. And it was obviously for our little reunion party. Sorry about the St. Anne, and I'm glad you're okay. You and your friends."

"Before I forget. You remember Serena right," Gary said as he gestured to the honey-blonde. "Of course I do," Daisy responded. "This is Misty Waterflower, Paul Shinji, Dawn Hikari and Trip."

"Hi. Nice to meet you."

They all responded back with their greetings as she led them inside.

"So. Is Gramps home?"

"No, but he'll be back soon."

They chatted for a couple of minutes before both Ash and Leaf left for their houses. Meanwhile Serena and the others waited at the Professor's lab. Daisy had taken Gary upstairs, most likely to make sure he was okay. Paul had received a call from his brother Reggie when he was aboard the ferry to Pallet Town. Reggie has been extremely worried and was glad to see that he was safe and okay.

Ash arrived at the small white fence that surrounded his house. He unhooked the lock and made his way towards the door. It was surprising that he had not seen Mimey, his mum's Mr. Mime. Then again, maybe he was on an errand for her. He rang the doorbell and after a couple of seconds, he heard an answer. It was definitely his mum's voice and from the direction of her voice, he was one hundred percent sure that she was coming from the kitchen.

The door swung open, and before he could say anything, he was enveloped in a very powerful hug that might just give an Ursaring a run for its money. He hugged her back and she didn't let go of him until he said he couldn't breathe.

She ruffled his hair as she closed the door and led him inside where they both sat on the couch.

"My Ashy," Delia said as she sobbed slightly. "Thank Arceus you're okay. I was so worried when I saw the news that the St. Anne had sank. How did you manage?"

"It wasn't easy mum," Ash said as his eyes welled up. "I'm glad to be back home with you."

She threw her arms up as she hugged him tightly. They didn't break the hugs for minutes before Ash remembered the others. He told his mum about Paul, Trip, Dawn and Misty before heading back to the lab. Hugging his mum really helped a lot and he was happy about that.

He arrived at the lab only to find Professor Oak already there. He flinched as he met the Professor's hard gaze and from the looks of it, all had not been well. The girls were sobber, but not as the boys who had their heads down.

"Glad you're here Ash. Sit down."

Ash faithfully sat down with the other boys. He had a feeling he knew what the Professor was going to talk about. He waited for the scolding of a lifetime, but it never came. He looked up to see the Professor's face. He was sad and happy at the same time.

"I'm glad you all are safe, but as a parent, I have a couple of things to say to you four."

"What were you thinking, going up against Team Rocket like that. You could have been killed for goodness sake."

"What were we going to do Gramps? Just give them our pokémon," Gary said.

"I know you couldn't just give them your pokémon, but still... There are better ways to handle situations like that. You could have just made for the life boats after you heard they were there. At least they were the ones who attacked you and you didn't go looking for them. Team Rocket is a very dangerous criminal organization and they are very deadly. Please promise me you won't go looking for them."

"Nothing good comes out of dealing with them or going after them. You're all kids. You should enjoy your lives and not die young. Leave Team Rocket for the grown ups. You're all in your third month as trainers and because some of your pokémon are fully evolved, you think you can take on Team Rocket. I believe Bruno had already explained their power levels to each of you. They're way out of your league. Right now, as we speak, Team Rocket has been made a national threat and orders have been to all Gym leaders to take immediate action as deemed necessary."

"What about places without Gym leaders like Lavender Town?" Ash asked.

"Lavender Town has Agatha of the Elite four. The others have dozens of Officer Jennys backing them up."

"What about Pallet Town? I don't see no police force," Gary said.

"You forget that I was once Champion of Kanto in my prime, and I reigned for years before stepping down. I still have a couple of pokémon that could trounce yours without breaking a sweat," Oak said with a laugh. "Just because you had a win against them in a cave without Executives, doesn't mean that you'll get lucky all the time. I'm sure you all know what I mean and the best example is Ash's Charizard. Please understand. It's for your own good. I have your best interest at heart and I hope you all understand."

All four of them nodded their heads.

"Now, let's get this over with. You guys have come back here to take a short break, relax and unwind, but that doesn't mean that you won't train. You guys are all going to be at one with your pokémon, which brings us to the next thing. For the remainder of this period, you're all going to be sleeping inside the Corral with your pokémon. I talked to Bill and he sent me ten tents. Seeing as there are eight of you, it works out just fine." He walked over to each of them and handed a box over to all of them.

"As you set up your tents at your campsite, I want you all to take your time and rest. Don't rush yourself. Take time to heal physically and mentally." And he was done. Ash laughed in his heart. Sleep? He had already done enough sleeping. He was looking forward to training.

The octet chatted some more until it was seven in the evening. All lights had turned on and they had began their journey to choose a campsite. They were told that Ash's mum would send food to them ever morning as breakfast.

After some minutes of searching, they pick an area close to the only lake not inhabited by wild pokémon. After settling on that spot, they began to get their tents. All in all, it tool only about thirty minutes. The tent was relatively large and kind of fancy. Ash couldn't say he was surprised. It was Bill after all. It even came with its own bed. The mattress was soft and cozy. They were going to love sleeping there. Ash had a red tent, Gary had a blue tent, Leaf had a green tent, Misty had a yellow tent, Serena had a brown tent, Paul had a purple tent, Dawn had a pink tent and Trip had an orange tent.

"Ash!" they heard a voice say. They came out of their tents to see Delia running to them with a black pokémon by her side. Ash's smiled deeply as the black pokémon knocked him down. "Hey there Zorua. How have you been?"

Zorua growled lightly as Ash scratched under her neck and she completely gave in. "Hope she behaved?" Ash asked. "Of course she did, and a little heads up. You have another glutton on your hands."

Ash groaned as Zorua growled happily. They had dropped the rest of their pokémon with Oak as they went into their state of rest. Charizard was undergoing treatment with the Professor for his wing, and his Dratini was been cared for by Daisy. Unfortunately he had been joined by Zorua and soon Gary had company in the form of a Larvitar. The night was peaceful and blissful.

Ash was surprised that after that night's rest, they didn't have the energy to so anything for the day. They just formulated a eat and sleep routine as they gained strength. This routine lasted for four days, before Ash woke up with a great deal of strength in his . It also appeared so that the others had also done the same. After freshening up, Ash went with Zorua to Professor Oak's. He was going to begin training.

"Hey Ash," they all said as they got up too. They weren't going to be training together, but separately, but they all needed their pokémon. It took a few minutes for them to reach the lab. Before they got their pokémon, they went there first.

"I see you are all finally awake. You were out of commission for days," the Professor said. "How are you all doing?"

Various sounds of agreements came from the eight energetic kids. Oak smiled as one of his assistants brought their pokémon to them. It was going to be a long month and they all new it and the Professor had promised to supervise their training everyday.

They all left the lab and separated themselves to cover different areas of the corral. Ash took one of the paths that was closest to the forest area and had a lake too. He took Blaze's friend ball in his hand and pressed the release button. The fire type came out of his ball with a tiny growl. As Ash saw him, he hugged him. He had not seen his starter for days and he obviously missed him a lot.

"Blaze buddy. I'm so sorry," Ash said as he looked at the Charizard's right wing. It had almost fully healed but it would still be out of commission. "It's my fault you were wounded."

The Charizard hugged his trainer back as he tried comforting him, telling him that it was not his fault. "I'm glad you're okay buddy. We're gonna make Team Rocket pay next time they run into us."

As Blaze heard the words, Team Rocket he growled fiercely. He was upset at how he and the top pokémon had been completely outclassed by one Absol and they were unable to knock it out. He roared as he spat a flamethrower into the sky.

"Are you ready for a training session like no other?" The Charizard nodded before spotting the black pokémon at Ash's feet. He growled as he pointed at his feet. (Hey guys, I decided to make a change in the way Ash understands pokémon. Instead of giving them a voice, I would use their normal growls and squeaks that he would be able to understand. If you don't like the change, you can PM me about it. Thanks).

"Oh yeah buddy," he said as he released all his pokémon. Various flashes of light were seen as it materialized into his different pokémon. "Hey guys."

They each turned around with happiness as they saw him. They made various cries of greetings and asked him if he was okay. "I'm fine guys. Honest, and I'd like you to meet someone. This is Zorua. She'll be with us along our journey to become the best. Please be nice. As for those of you who aren't aware yet, we're at my home in Pallet Town and we will be staying here for sometime to train and bond. Who is with me?" They all cheered with their trainer. They were determined to train, especially those who were trounced by Team Rocket.

"Tyrunt, stone edge." Stone edge was a work in progress. Ash had taught the dual rock and dragon type the powerful move. He realized that he hadn't focused on Tyrunt enough and was ready to rectify it. Tyrunt had clearly been growing. He was now about four feet and ten inches in height. Far taller than most Tyrunt his age.

The Royal Heir Pokémon stepped forward. He jumped into the air and came down, releasing seven stone slabs from their ground prison. He paused slightly before repeating the process and releasing another set of stones. "That's enough," Ash told him.

The boy stepped forward. "We're not gonna be learning new moves or combo moves immediately, so I want you guys to practice your old moves on those stones. Don't stop until they're destroyed. I'll be back on a while." Ash turned towards the forest with Zorua and Emerald. It had been over two weeks since she hatched and the Professor had given him the go-ahead to begin training her.

"Alright guys, I brought you here to see what you both can do. If I'm not mistaken, I haven't scanned you Dratini." He took out his pokédex as he scanned her.

"Dratini, the Dragon Pokémon.

"This Dratini is female and knows the moves Leer, wrap, twister and thunder wave. It knows the egg moves dragon breath, dragon dance, dragon pulse, dragon rush and extreme speed. It has the ability shed skin and the hidden anility marvel scale. Unknown genetic makeup found. Storing data."

'Unknown genetic makeup?' Ash asked himself before realizing that it was the Mountain's Height form. Dratini was the weakest pokémon he had right now, due to the fact that she just hatched a few weeks ago. Professor Oak had also told him that he had taught her twister, so that should be enough. As for Zorua, he had no doubts that she was strong and was probably at Eevee's level.

"Alright Emerald. Use twister." Emerald took on a stance as she brought her tail in front of her. She spun it as she released draconic energy in the form of a small tornado. The impact shook the tree it hit slightly. The move probably won't do much against strong opponents rather than irritate them. It might just do more against weaker opponents, but that wasn't a guarantee. The other moves leer and thunder wave were status moves. As for wrap, that wasn't an issue. The Dratini was almost five feet in length.

Ash turned his attention to Zorua. "Fury swipes." He watched as Zorua flexed her arms as she unsheath her claws. She applied pressure to her feet as she leapt at a tree and began slashing it multiple times. The impact left several scratch marks on the tree bark. One thing was for sure. Zorua was fierce.

Ash took time to remember the next move before calling it out. "Pursuit." Zorua tensed her legs as she glowed with chaotic energy. She shot off and rammed into the tree, shaking it and causing leaves to rain down. Ash's eyes widened slightly at the force of the impact. Zorua turned towards him, waiting for him to call her next move.

"Umm... Dark pulse." Zorua growled as she opened her mouth and charged a chain of dark rings. She launched the attack at the tree and leveled a part of its bark. Now that was something. The dark type walked up to him and sat I'm front of him. She looked up to him for assessment.

"That was amazing Zorua. You're obviously stronger than you look. You too Dratini. You're both up to good starts. Let's head back to the others."

Both pokémon nodded as they strode beside their trainer. Ash looked at Emerald. She had only one particular move and that was twister. He intended to teach her iron tail and shockwave as a start. As for Zorua, she had only one special move. The rest required her to make contact with the target. He had thought of a good special attack for her to counter fighting types. He was going to teach her dream eater and yawn. They soon reached their training area and Ash saw that all boulders were destroyed.

"Okay guys. I'm gonna return you all to give you your moves. It should just take a few minutes." He returned all of them as he took out his TM case. He had a couple of moves to work on with them. Namely, TM moves and some tutor moves. There was a lot of issues on the pokédex concerning pokémon moves that he wanted to fix. How could a Staraptor learn Close Combat and a fighting type like Toxicroak can't learn it. Makes no sense. He was going to have them learn a TM move each before teaching them other moves and perhaps combo moves.

To Blaze he had given Bulldoze. He had wanted to teach Blaze stone edge, but the way TMs were designed, a Charizard could not learn stone edge via TM. To Golduck he had given the shadow ball TM. To Volt he had given the rain dance TM. To Butterfree and Beedrill he had given a solar beam TM. Ivysaur was going to handle that part. To Scizor he had given a light screen TM. To Tyrunt he had given a dark pulse TM. To Clefairy he had given a reflect. To Eevee he had given a work up TM. To Ivysaur he had given a toxic TM. To Wartortle he had given a scald TM. To Dratini he had given a thunderbolt TM. To Zorua he had given a payback TM.

After he was done, he released them from their balls. "Okay. I've taught you new moves via TM. Now let's see what you can do. First up, it's Blaze."

The fire type growled as he stepped forward. "Tyrunt a stone edge please." The dual type slammed his feet into the ground as he erected one giant sharp stone.

"Alright Blaze. The move I taught you was bulldoze." He took his Xtransceiver as he showed Blaze a video of a Rhydon using bulldoze. The technique might be a tad bit difficult for Blaze to learn, but the fire type was up for it. After seeing the video, he turned to Ash. From what Ash knew, bulldoze was a move that involved the user stomping the ground and dealing damage to targets.

"Try to get a feel for ground energy. The energy of the earth. When you do, stomp on the ground and send that energy at the stone while moving towards it."

Blaze nodded as he closed his eyes for some seconds. He opened them as he began stomping his feet as he got closer to the slab. The result was a very faint tremor in the earth, but nothing to the stone. He turned to Ash for assessment. "That was a good first try. Keep working on it. I want the stone to break. You can do it buddy," Ash said with a thumbs up.

"Golduck. You're up. I gave you the move shadow ball." He took his Xtransceiver and showed Golduck a Gengar using shadow ball. The user basically had to just form a blob of otherworldly energy. Tyrunt had just erected another stone edge. "What you'll be doing is forming a blob of ghost energy. First try to get a feel for the energy like you do with psychic. Since the energy is dead, just think of the other side and try to get it down."

Ash turned to his next pokémon as Golduck got down to work. "Volt, you're gonna be working in rain dance. It's a move that increases the lethality of your electric attacks." He showed the electric type a clip of an Electabuzz using the move. It involved the user summoning rain. Easier said than done. "Volt. I want you to try your best to manipulate the electrons in the sky, pull them together and against each other. Doing so, you'll create lightning and then bring an atmosphere for rain, I think. It's worth a shot. Try it."

Volt nodded as he cracked his hands while Ash left. "Butterfree and Beedrill. You're together."

And that was how he went about explaining to them

Solarbeam was just a beam of light powered by grass energy.

Light screen was a psychic move. It involved coating light with psychic energy in order to reduce damage from special attacks. The drawback was that some physical moves like brick break can break the light screen.

Dark pulse was a dark type move. The user gathers dark energy imbued with dark thoughts and unleashes it at the target. The impact causes an explosion of dark energy. It also had a chance of making the target flinch.

Reflect was a psychic type move. The user coats light similar to that of light screen but this wall protects against damage from physical moves. The drawback was that special moves like aura sphere can break it.

Work up, toxic and thunderbolt were moves he already knew of. Scald was a special and unique move. It was a water type move with the burn properties of a fire move. The user blasts the target with a jet of boiling water that may burn the user.

Payback was a dark type move. The user stores power from a damaging move before slamming the user with double the damage with dark type energy.

Moments Later

"How's bulldoze coming Blaze?" Ash asked the fire type. The pseudo-dragon grunted as he closed his eyes. Seconds later, he opened his eyes as he began stomping. He sent ground type energy at the stone, causing it to rumble. Ash nodded at the result. It was far, very far from been refined, but it was a start. The technique wasn't ready in any way to be used in a battle.

"Good job Blaze, but it needs more work. Now that you've gotten a grasp on the move, make it your major practice and throw in your other moves. The fire type grunted as he blasted the stone with flamethrower, charring it. His flames have been getting closer to turning blue. Ash turned around and made his way to Golduck.

Golduck nodded as he saw Ash. He cupped both hands together as he tried forming a blob of ghostly energy. The attack took a lot of time to form a shadow ball. The size of the ball was fairly average. Golduck launched the attack at the stone, but it fizzed out mid-flight. Golduck grunted in frustration.

"Don't worry buddy, you'll get it down. It just needs some more practice," he said as he patted the Duck on his head before striding away.

He walked to where Volt was currently practicing rain dance. Currently, the electric type had only been able to make it drizzle for about ten seconds before it stopped. Been the prankster he was, Volt understood that if he was able to get this move down, it would be a great addition to his prankster arsenal.

Beedrill and Butterfree had gone to meet Blaze and they had grasped solar beam to a certain level. They were both able to form the beam, but it was not strong enough to completely eradicate a stone edge.

Going around and checking on them, they still had a lot to do before they could get down the moves.

"Great job!" Ash said in joy as Blaze casually bulldozed the stone edge. They had been working on their TM moves during the last few days and Ash could confidently say that Blaze could use the move in battle and deal a great deal of damage with the move. "Bulldoze."

Blaze turned towards his sparring partner, Wartortle, as he made to use the move. Bulldoze slammed into Wartortle and he retaliated with a scald to Blaze's chest. The fire type took the attack with a small grunt. The attack wasn't what affected Blaze, but the water typing was what dealt the damage. Blaze's wing had also fully healed, but he hasn't started flying just yet.

Ash left the two pokémon to their spar before going to check on Zorua and Volt. He came just in time for Volt to use rain dance. Volt waved his hands back and forth, manipulating the electrons in the atmosphere. Lightning flashed as rain began to fall. The rain wasn't as powerful as a mastered rain dance. He unleashed a thundershock that slammed into Zorua. The Zorua took the thundershock before glowing a dark red as she slammed into Volt with payback. The impact sent Volt into a tree.

Zorua had certainly gotten payback down easily. He smiled. "Nice job guys. Keep it up." With that he walked away.

Beedrill and Butterfree were up against Ivysaur. Ivysaur had gotten toxic down with ease, so he was currently testing their solar beam attacks. Both Butterfree and Beedrill fired a simultaneous solar beam. The beams sent were slightly smaller than average. Ivysaur met the beam head on with his own. Ivysaur's solar beam met theirs head-on in a stalemate and an explosion.

"Great job you guys. Nice job on teaching them solar beam, Ivysaur." Ivysaur grunted as he waved his vines in the air.

Ash went on ahead to check on Golduck and Scizor were sparring. Golduck formed the sphere of ghostly energy faster than his first try and launched it at Scizor's who had already used light screen. The move slammed into Scizor and exploded, causing the screen to flare up, but it maintained itself. Light screen and shadow ball were coming just fine.

Eevee and Clefairy were sparring together. Eevee tensed herself as her body glowed before slamming herself into Clefairy with quick attack. The momentum from the quick attack had launched her back as reflect flared up. It had done its job, but not as Ash had wanted. It was a start and they were getting there.

He moved on to see Tyrunt and Dratini. "Show me a thunderbolt Emerald." The dragon type trilled as her gem sparked with lightning. She launched the powerful bolt of lightning at Tyrunt who Ash had ordered to use dark pulse. Tyrunt retaliated with the powerful Dak and purple circle beam. Thunderbolt met dark pulse and was obliterated. Luckily, she evaded the attack easily.

Their sparring had gone on for hours before Ash called Dratini. He took her to where Blaze was working on bulldoze. "Hey Blaze?" The fire type whipped his head back as he heard his trainer's voice. He bounded over to the duo before reaching down for Ash to scratch him. Despite how big and menacing he looked, the Charizard loved those scratches and was swishing his tail, back and forth, happily.

"I want you to teach Emerald flamethrower." The fire type tilted his head at the sound of that. "In terms of well, build. I think that's it. You two are the closest. Your move pools are also similar, so you're the best bet to teach her. What'd you say buddy?" Blaze grunted as if saying I don't know. He grunted again.

"What's in it for you?! I'll give you ten passho berries. Deal?" He held out his hand for the dragon to shake. With a loud grunt Blaze shook his trainer and motioned the Dratini over. Ash watched as Blaze grunted. He was telling her about flamethrower. He took in a deep breath as he released a torrent of flames from his mouth before telling Emerald to do the same. Ash watched as she sucked in air and released a stream of smoke with very tiny ember fragments.

Ash decided to leave them, seeing as Blase had it under control.

Ash was currently resting under a tree. He had already given command to his team to practice their moves. He was sure Blaze and Emerald were still learning flamethrower. He had already worked on the moves they were to learn and even cimbo moves. He was resting peacefully when barking woke him up. It was Professor Oak's Arcanine.

The fire type approached him while wagging her tail. Ash reached out to her and ruffled her fur. "What is it girl?" She barked. "What do you mean Gary is about to battle the Professor. Where?" She barked more as she turned around. "At the training yard. Let's go." He jumped on her back as she took off. During the short trip, Ash felt as if his face turned inside out. He had just witnessed Arcanine's extreme speed. An idea struck him. What if Arcanine helped Emerald with extreme speed? That would be for later. Right now, he had to see this battle.

They reached the battlefield and everyone was gathered, including Delia and Daisy. Both the Professor and Gary were on the field and Oak's Alakazam was out, ever ready to prevent stray attacks from hitting anyone and repairing the field.

"What are the rules?" Professor Oak asked.

"A three-on-three knockout battle."

"You're on," Oak said as he enlarged a pokéball and tossed it into the air. Out of the pokéball came a large armoured purple pokémon. It had large ears and a large horn on its head. It had many numerous spines that ran across its back and a large powerful tail. It had huge legs with a single claw and had an ear-piercing roar. It was a Nidoking. Ash had seen a Nidoking before, but this was a massive six foot tall, compared to the average four foot seven that some Nidoking are, and its tail was at least five feet. Its horn was about eleven inches and its fangs were at least three inches.

Ash watched as Gary countered with Absol. The Disaster pokémon took on a fighting stance as it eyed Nidoking.

"Your move... Rookie," Oak said, causing everyone to gasp and wait for Gary's comeback.

"You'll be sorry old man," Gary said as everyone laughed. "Absol zen headbutt."

Absol crouched slightly as her head became enveloped in psychic energy as she shot off at Nidoking using quick attack.

"Let's take it easy. Stone edge."

Nidoking roared as he slammed his tail into the ground, as sharp stones erected from below and slammed into Absol, sending her flying. Absol slowly got up and took a fighting stance in front of her trainer.

'Guess we can't get close.' "Use ice beam." Absol opened her mouth as arcs of icy energy sailed through the air and made their way towards Nidoking. The Drill Pokémon merely took the attack head-on as he made his way towards Absol. Everyone got shocked expressions on their face as Nidoking just walked forward even with the very super-effective attack struck him, like it was nothing.

"Damn. Absol switch to blizzard."

Ash smirked. Gary had been busy with TMs. Absol switched from ice beam to blizzard, but still nothing. He decided play time was over and made his move. "Megahorn." Without missing a beat, Nidoking rammed his glowing horn into Absol and sent the dark type into the air, flying over Gary. Alakazam caught the dark type and declared it knocked out.

Two moves was all it took to knock out the dark type. Ash was getting excited. He too would have to battle the Professor. He told Arcanine to help him gather his pokémon here. He turned his eyes towards the battlefield in time to see Professor Oak release the female variant of Nidoking, it was Nidoqueen.

Gary responded by releasing a huge Arcanine. He must have evolved Growlithe. The Arcanine was almost as tall as Oak's.

"Arcanine, flamethrower."

The fire type opened its mouth as it set loose a torrent of flames directed at Nidoqueen. The Drill Pokémon just stood there before placing her hands in front of her as she erected a green barrier that blocked flamethrower.

"Sunny day and solar beam." Arcanine launched a glowing red orb into the sky, increasing the intensity of the sun. He charged a yellow white orb of grass energy before firing it as a beam at Nidoqueen. "Flamethrower."

Nidoqueen did not respond until the beam was almost in front of her face. Her flamethrower psuhed the beam back before causing it explode in front of Arcanine.

"Arcanine!"

"Surf."

Nidoqueen slammed her tail on the ground as she summoned a huge surf. The surf slammed into Arcanine and knocked him out. "No way."

"Yes way. I was a former champion of Kanto. I and my pokémon may have grown old, but we have years of experience to back us up." At that moment, Arcanine came by with Ash's pokémon. As Oak saw them he smiled.

"Now Gary. For the final battle, I give you the chance to face one member of my elite. Do you accept?" He asked the brunette boy. "Hell yeah," the boy responded as he clenched Blast's pokéball.

Oak hurled a pokéball unto the field as he released a large pokémon. It was a shade of blue with a white underbelly. It had a round face and squinted eyes. "Snore!," It said as it impacted the ground. It turned back as it faced the Professor. "Snore?"

"Easy Snorlax. We're about to battle. You up for it?"

It nodded its head as if to say 'ever ready.' It turned around to face Gary and roared. "Snorlax!" Gary felt like he was about to wet himself, but he mustered strength and stood up against the colossal giant. If Ash had not known better, he would have said that this Snorlax had a Mountain's Height form, but it didn't. While average Snorlax were six foot eleven at height. This one was about twelve feet, somewhere close to thirteen inches. He might have said this was the biggest Snorlax, but he had met his Dad's Kings Species Snorlax that was over twenty feet.

Ash released Blast from his friend ball to face Snorlax. The water type came out with a grunt, but on seeing Snorlax, it backed up slightly. "Blast?" He asked Gary. "We're battling him." Blast nodded as he flexed his cannons.

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Rapid blizzard." Blast tucked himself inside his shell, leaving only his head as he froze the entire place. The blizzard was able to form a small layer of ice on Snorlax, but it merely irritated him. Snorlax casually broke free of the ice and just stood still.

Blast landed on the opposite side of the field. After accessing Snorlax, he gave his next attack. "Skull bash." Blast bent his head before shooting off and ramming Snorlax with his head. Snorlax apparently did not like the move and gave Blastoise a punch to the gut, sending him back to Gary. Blast stood up and Gary began ordering a barrage of water gun. All doing nothing to the skin of the normal type.

"Flash pump." Blast bellowed as he pointed both cannons at Snorlax. One glowed white while the other glowed blue. He shot a flash cannon and a hydro pump at Snorlax. Mid-flight, the flash cannon entangled itself around the hydro pump, causing the move to glow a very bright white. The attack struck Snorlax clean in the belly and he grunted a little, but was otherwise okay. On his belly was a tiny scratch. That was Blast's strongest move and Snorlax just shrugged it off as nothing.

"Heavy slam." Gary cursed a little because the move left Blast completely drained for minutes. Snorlax jumped high into the air as his body was reinforced with steel energy. He crushed Blastoise beneath his bulk, shaking the entire ground. He casually got up, allowing Gary to return Blast. Alakazam took the friend ball and teleported it away for healing.

"Assessment complete. You still need a lot of work before you get to become the best. You have fine pokémon and I know you have a brain that comes up with the best strategies on seeing the opponent. Use it well."

"Yeah Gramps," Gary said as he went to take a seat behind the barrier. He was far from the top. He had a lot of training to do.

"Who's next for the assessment?" Oak asked and Ash responded. He walked up to the field with three friend ball as Nidoking stepped forward. Ash released Ivysaue to face the massive ground type.

"Petal dance followed by leaf storm." Ivysaur released multiple petals and a storm of leaves as they made their way towards Nidoking. "Flamethrower." From Nidoking's mouth came a stream of blue flames that burnt all the petals and leaves to a crisps, before making its way at Ivysaur.

"Protect." Ivysaur quickly threw up the green barrier and it managed to withstand the flames until a sharp stone slammed into it and broke it. Nidoking had used stone edge to break protect and had kept on launching the sharp stones at Ivysaur. "Dodge with your vines and use solar beam when you have the chance."

Ivysaur nodded as he avoided the sharp stones that were sent at him. After dodging a couple of stones, he stood and began charging solar beam and it was charged faster thanks to sunny day that was still in effect. Ivysaur launched the beam, but was met with a fire blast from Nidoking. The fire blast dispersed solar beam and hit Ivysaur, knocking him out.

Ash gritted his teeth as he returned Ivysaur and watched as Nidoqueen stepped forward. He took Wartortle's ball and sent him out. Wartortle quickly brought out his dark shades and took on a stance. "Withdraw and water pulse."

Wartortle retracted into his shell as he raised his defense before shooting a water pulse at Nidoqueen. The large pokémon just bit into the water pulse casually, letting it to explode in front of her face. Unfortunately she didn't see the ice beam that met her face. She grunted as the ice hit her. "Rapid spin and scald when you get close."

Wartortle retracted into his shell and began spinning violently as he made towards Nidoqueen. Nearing the Drill Pokémon, he popped out, but before he could use scald, he was met with a thunderbolt to the face. Wartortle was launched back to his trainer's spot on the field.

"Earthquake." Nidoqueen raised her feet as she stomped the ground so strong that it sent a massive shockwave through the ground that caused it to explode beneath Wartortle and knock him out. That was the power of an earthquake attack. He grit his teeth as he held Blaze's friend ball and released him to counter Snorlax.

"Flamethrower to his feet. Flank him." Blaze nodded as he took off into the air, breathing flames down at Snorlax's feet. Snorlax just stood there like nothing was wrong. Realizing that it was not working, Ash changed tactics. "Dragon pulse. Don't stop."

Blaze nodded as he assaulted Snorlax with the dragon move, but it still did nothing to Snorlax's powerful skin. "Dragon rush." Blaze became enveloped in draconic energy as he charged Snorlax. "Iron head."

Snorlax's head attained a metallic sheen as he slammed it at Blaze's incoming body. The collision sent Blaze into the ground where he struggled to get up. "Heavy slam." Snorlax jumped up as he came down towards Blaze with the same move that took out Blast.

"Aerial ace." Blaze shot off with the flying type move as he blurred away faster than Snorlax could keep up in his falling state. Blaze appeared a second later as he slammed into Snorlax's back. He took off again as Snorlax slammed the ground. The normal type got up as if he hadn't just fallen from the sky.

"Flare blitz!" Blaze became completely shrouded in fierce flames with a large hint of blue in them. He quickly charged at Snorlax with the powerful fire move. "Hydro pump."

"Not again," Ash said as he remembered Blaze vs the Elder Clefable. The hydro pump slammed into Blaze, causing him to roar in pains. The move sent him to the ground where he was knocked out.

"Anyone else." No one answered. "I thought so. You all are probably thinking, if Ash can't beat me, then none of you can, since he is the stronger one of all of you." He was right. That was what they all were doing.

"Well. It's obvious you all still need a lot of work. Your pokémon defenses are weak and some of your attacks aren't that refined enough. To be honest, from the St. Anne tournament, I noticed that only your starters actually made a difference. There's no point in learning new moves if the old ones aren't refined. "If it will help, I have a schedule to help in your training. You all will receive it tomorrow. But remember this, have your starters help in the training of your other pokémon since they're the only ones that seem strong enough."

"I have good news. Red went to Galar and got to talk with their champion. The region has finally decided to open up to the world. So there's a chance that in your journey you may encounter one of them. I'll be going to Galar to talk with their regional Professor and share data on the pokédex. So you'll soon have data on Galar pokémon. The Galar champion challenged Red to a battle to determine who would be the Pokémon Master, to be held tonight. Since Galar had not been participating in the normal international activities." They all cheered. The Galar region had been cut off from the world for years and this was a chance for them to get to know and befriend the region. And Ash was one hundred percent sure his Dad would win the battle.

"That's all. No training for today. I want you guys to go back to your tents and come up with a battle style that will accommodate all your pokémon. As you have all seen, my pokémon like to employ one battle style. They like to tank attacks and hit hard. Then train your pokémon according to that battle style. You're dismissed."

As he said this, they left the battlefield and went back to their tents to sleep. It was around six in the evening and about one hour before dinner. He turned on his Xtransceiver and opened the note page to write down the training styles for each of them. He first had to incorporate their battle style to go hand in hand with his own unorthodox battle style.

First was Emerald. The Dratini was fast that was for sure, and the battle style he had to train with should be able to be adapted to her final stage as a Dragonite. The perfect style he saw for her was to attack with speed and then dart away with speed. Repeating continuously throughout the stage of battle. Her moves should consist of speed based moves and attacking with speed. It was a good thing she had extreme speed as an egg move. He would work on her speed until she would become very fast. And it would help in her giant Mountain's Height form. He wrote it down under the title Emerald.

Next was Zorua. Since the dark type had been with him, he had noticed this main thing in her battle style. She was a fierce, relentless attacker. She did not hold back when attacking unless told so. In order for her to attack continuously, she had to have a good enough defense so that she could take certain hits. Her moves should consist of attack raising moves. Her illusion could also be used as a front for powerful attacks. She should also have defensive moves and powerful attacks.

Tyrunt was next. The dual rock and dragon type had four times the power of normal Tyrunt thanks to his Kings Species gene. Due to that his defense was high, and it was something Ash wasn't exploiting. Tyrunt had also displayed a tendency to tank hits and strike with amazing power because he was slow as well. Ash would do well to teach him powerful moves like earthquake and exploit his ability strong jaw. Tyrunt would also need to learn some defense moves.

Volt was a trickish case. He liked to surprise opponents in battle and attack with a shock. He also preferred to imobolize them and deal powerful blows or tank their hits to get close to them and strike. Ash pondered on it before deciding on the surprise and attack. After all, that style incorporated both tanking and immobolizing. His moves would consist of powerful attacks and he would need to work on his defense and attack power. Moves that could stun were not an exception. That was it.

Scizor was also one he had neglected. The steel type had amazing defense that Ash had not exploited. Thanks to his ability light metal, he could move about easily. Scizor's fighting style would be a tank, strike or grab style. His moves would consist of defense enhancing moves and quick powerful strikes or grabbing them with his pincers for a close range attack. He would also find a way to incorporate flight in the battle style.

Ivysaur and Wartortle had the same fighting styles. It evolved them taking hits while also hitting back with powerful moves to wear down the target. He would have to work on their defense.

Concerning Eevee, he wouldn't be able to work on a battle style until she decided to evolve.

Golduck's fighting style as described by the pokédex was disabling and capturing. Ash thought about it. Golduck was fast and he knew disable well and had powerful attacks. The fighting style would suit him perfectly. Disable and destroy. He would have to teach Golduck moves like Psychic and powerful hitting moves to back it up. Yeah that was it.

What fighting type could suit Clefairy? From what he could see about Clefairy. Her battle style consisted of upfront and direct attacks. If she would continue to do that, she needed to have a strong defense and powerful hitting moves. Psychic was definitely a taken. The would be of great help to her. That was it.

Beedrill was a pretty easy one to get. The bug type worked better in swarms. It would figure that her battle style would be one of Invade and Subdue. Moves that reduced a pokémon evasion would be good. So would be moves that poisoned a pokémon and moves that prevented location from been determined like double team.

Butterfree was a different case. Its battle style from what Ash was able to pick up was that Butterfree liked to blast opponents with attack and weaken them with status moves and draw them out, tiring them, and evasion moves and shutting them down with powerful moves. Ash had considered teaching him moves like defog. Ash called the style Weaken and Shut down. Here. It was perfect it.

Blaze was the final case. His battle style wasn't distinct or unique, but the way he employed it was. He preferred to hit with powerful long-range and occasionally short-range moves, using status moves to boost himself and also tank some hits. The battle style was to rain power on any target that faced him. Ash was going to teach him mostly powerful damaging special moves and some physical moves that dealt great damage. Ash called it Power shower.

He was done with their battle styles and had worked out a list of moves that would go well with their styles before he was called out for dinner. He came out of his tent and saw that the others were all seated.

"Hey guys," he said as he took a spot. "What were you doing?" Gary asked the raven-haired trainer. "Just working on my pokémon's battle styles and moves to incorporate with them."

"Already?" Leaf asked.

"Yeah. His beat down made what Team Rocket did on the St. Anne look like Child's play. And supposedly the Elite four are as strong as that. And think of the Champions. I need to step up my game."

"Well, before we turn this dinner into a battle tactics site. How do you guys think the Galar region will be?" Serena asked.

"We won't know until tomorrow," Misty said.

"I can't believe Galar finally agreed to open up to the other regions. I wonder what their starter would be like," Dawn said. "Whatever they have. I just hope they have strong pokémon," Paul said.

"Yeah. I bet they also have something to offer to the table. I mean like how Kanto helped us with pokémon evolution, and also introduced us to terms like pseudo-legendaries and were the first region to have eeveelutions. Three for that matter. Kanto was also the first region to have a pokédex, thanks to Professor Oak. Kanto was also the first to identify pokémon under various types. The items weren't that impressive as technology was still developing. Kanto also introduced the world to branched evolutions."

"Johto gave us two other eeveelutions. They also gave us the metal coat that allowed Onix and Scyther evolve. Johto was also the first region to discover fossils. I think that was all Johto gave us." Gary said and they laughed. "Hoenn didn't give us any evolutions, but in depth study from their regional professor, Professor Birch. He discovered that pokémon had abilities that was responsible for some certain crazy things at that time. Hoenn also brought the Battle Frontier to us that no trainer had conquered yet. They also intoduced us to Pokémon Contests."

"Sinnoh also gave us another Battle Frontier. Sinnoh's Professor Rowan had also created artificial evolutionary materials like the reaper cloth, for Dusclop's evolution. Sinnoh also intoduced two eeveelutions and their evolutionary materials."

"Unova had given us the most aggressive pseudo-legendary, Hydreigon and also Darmanitam that changes form based on its HP."

"Kalos had given us mega evolution. A now very important part of our world. Alola had given us Z-moves that were extremely powerful and even Alolan variants. Would Galar have Galarian variants or something like mega evolution?"

"We'll just have to wait for tomorrow when my Dad gets back."

They continued their chit chat for some hours before crashing.

Morning came and Ash was ready to begin serious training for the day. He went to his training area and released all his pokémon. "Hope you guys are ready. Training is going to be a bit different. As a warm up, go over the moves we've been working on and add in a couple of old moves. I'm going to meet Professor Oak. I'll be back soon."

He ran towards the lab. He wanted to check if the professor would agree on these battle styles. On reaching the lab, the professor was standing outside. "Professor Oak!" He called as he reached the man.

"Oh. Ash my boy," he said as he saw him. "You're just in time."

"In time for what?" Ash asked as he stopped in front of him. "That," Oak said as he pointed at the sky. Ash looked up an noticed a black shadow with wings. The figure got close and it made an ear-shattering roar. Ash soon made the figure out to be a large Charizard. The Charizard landed and a figure jumped off.

"Dad!" Ash said as the man approached them. "Hey kiddo. How are you doing?" Red said as he hugged the boy. "I'm doing great dad. How was your match?"

"Huh?" Red asked, wondering what Ash was talking about. "I had told them about your match after Galar opened up to us. So how was it?"

"It was something alright. Their Champion, Leon, said a six-on-six battle and I accepted it. I won the battle but Galar is something else. They have regional variants called Galarian forms and two great phenomena. One was the dynamax. By passing a certain energy through their pokéballs, they could allow a pokémon to achieve gigantic height for a period of time. The other was the most surprising. Leon called it Gigantamax form."

"So. How did the battle go?" Oak asked.

"Well, he made me use my fifth level elites. Throughout all the battles, he used pokémon native to Galar, but when he was down to his last pokémon, he released a Charizard."

"What?"

"I had Nidoking out at the moment, but all of a sudden, his Charizard started growing and then changed form. It was humongous and looked very powerful. Before I could begin, Pyro came out and decided to face it. The Charizard was strong but was no match for the strongest pokémon in the world, save Arceus."

"Well that is something worth looking into," Oak said as he stroked his chin. "I'll be going there later today, with the other professors. Before I forget, how's that Meltan we gave you?"

"It's doing alright. How's your training coming along Ash?"

"It's going well. I actually just came to meet the Professor. I needed him to approve the training session I planned out," Ash said as he handed the Professor his Xtransceiver. Oak took it and looked at the notes. "Nicely done Ash. Follow this and your team will grow by leaps and bounds."

"Thanks Professor," Ash said as he ran back to his training area. "Professor Oak just approved of my training plan, so let's get to work."