Midnight Training Program

Ace clapped his hands and nodded, "Alright! Let's get started, shall we?" Ash looked at his tired Pokemon and scratched his head, "Haha?" Ace's lips twitched and he threw out several Phoenix Pills to them all.

Ash watched as they all exploded into flames, seemingly reborn and he was dumbfounded. Ace waved, "Don't worry about this!" he paused and turned to the trees, "Go get them."

A few seconds later, Dragapault flew over with Team Rocket bundled up. 

Ace nodded and threw a Phoenix Pill in Meowth's mouth before pulling James and Jessie to him, "So first, we're going to start with tacit understanding training…" James was inexplicably pulled along to participate as Perrserker dragged Meowth along, teaching him herself.

Ace turned to Jessie, saying, "As for you… Let me see your Pokemon Contest Moves." Jessie was dumbfounded, "Mr Ace, you?!" Ace waved and smiled, "I know, I know. I know a lot of things. I also know that you're too weak right now."

Jessie released her Arbok and said, "Come on, Arbok, let's show him our stuff!" Arbok was ready to attack Ace when Jessie slapped him, "It's a Contest battle!" Arbok was dazed, "Arbok?"

Ace laughed and said, "Maybe you can do a comedy skit?" Jessie pointed at him, "Don't go too far, Large Twerp!" before taking a breath, "Arbok, coil!"

Arbok coiled and Jessie added, "Jump into the sky and release a ball of smog!"

Ace watched as Arbok sprang up, releasing a ball of smog as Jessie shouted, "Now, Poison Sting! In the middle!" Arbok spat out a Poison Sting as it popped the smog ball, turning it all into a dark purple flower with glowing purple stamens!

Ace was dumbfounded, clapping, "Wow! Amazing!" Jessie leaned on Arbok, snorting, "How is it? Beautiful? I know, I'm so amazing!" she covered her mouth with the back of her hand, laughing poshly, "Ohohohoho~"

Ace asked, "Do you have anything else?" Jessie waved, "Come on, Arbok! Tackle!" as she collided with Arbok.

Ace's lips twitched, but he had to admit. This did showcase the strength of Arbok! Jessie flew back and flipped to her feet!

Ace was pretty sure he wasn't qualified to judge a Contest, but he could tell that Jessie had a good understanding of Contests. Otherwise, how could her avant-garde performances do so well?

This is an aspect he didn't really understand. Why steal Pokemon when you can be a Contest Trainer? 

Speaking of which, can't they just catch Pokemon in the wild and then send them to Giovanni? Feels like it'd be much easier to catch them than steal them from trainers… right?

Anyway, moving on from this, Ace gave Jessie some pointers on how to train her Pokemon as he really didn't know much about Contests. He only knew 'Oh pretty' and 'uhh ugly!'.

In the end, Ace trained Ash, James, and Jessie for the entire night. Ash left to get his Pokemon healed as Ace looked at James, humming to himself. He looked at Charmander hugging his leg and asked him, "Little guy, do you trust me?"

Charmander nodded, "Char!" Ace rubbed his little head, smiling gently, "Do you want to go with James?" Charmander paused and thought about it as James shouted, "WHAT!? Mr Ace! I-This-You!" Ace laughed and rubbed Charmander's head, "I can tell that you really love Pokemon, James! You can't fool me."

James was startled and Jessie waved her fist, "Come on, James!" Meowth cheered, "Meowth! Give it a go, James!" James looked at the duo, "Jessie, Meowth…" he turned and crouched in front of Charmander, "Do you want to come with me, Charmander? I'll try my best!"

Charmander looked at him before putting his little paw in James' hand, "Charmander!" James picked up Charmander and spun around, "Hahahaha! Alright, Charmander!" Charmander waved his arms happily, "Char! Char!"

Ace looked at them with a smile on his face. Looking at James' truly happy expression, he felt warm. He looked at Jessie and handed her a Pokemon Egg, smiling, "Here, Jessie." Jessie was shocked, "For me?!"

Ace nodded, "That's right. Take this too." as he handed over a flower bracelet. Jessie looked at the bracelet in confusion, Ace touched his lips and smiled, "When the Pokemon Hatches, you might be surprised! Let it wear that bracelet on its arm… Maybe there'll be some special usage?" Jessie was dazed and hugged the egg, nodding.

Ace looked at Meowth and tossed him a piece of candy, "Eat this." Meowth ate the candy and licked his lips, "Tastes good!" Ace chuckled and nodded, "Not bad, it'll have unexpected effects… Don't forget to train when I'm gone! Also, don't hand these Pokemon over to Giovanni. These are my gifts to you, not him, understood?"

The three saluted, "Understood, Mr Ace!" Ace smiled and waved, stretching his back, "Alright, I'm going to sleep. See you guys later." as he walked away, yawning.

The Rocket Trio watched him go and said emotionally, "What a nice guy!" Jessie hugged the egg, asking, "What do you guys think it is?" Meowth sniffed and said honestly, "Smells delicious." Jessie smacked him, "What on earth are you saying, fake feline?!" Meowth held his head, "OWOWOWOW!"

James held Charmander gently, smiling, "I don't think Mr Ace will trick you, Jessie. We can take care of it together anyway." Jessie froze and looked at James, bewildered for a moment. James paused and looked at her before turning away, "Well, more like I take care of it, you're too violent after all!"

Jessie blushed and shouted unusually loudly, "Haha! You're funny, James! Ha Let me beat you to death, it won't hurt!" James ran off, "Let's blow this pop stand, Charmander!" Meowth ran after him, "Wait for me!" Jessie chased the duo, feeling like her face was on fire.

Idiot! You can't just say things like that!

A few days later

Ash won his top 8 and top 4 battles. Today was the Finals!

6v6 Ash vs Gary!

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I watched the anime and I was so angry when Charizard laid there, let me tell you! I almost spontaneously combusted! Which is to say- I almost went boom! Now I have to make up Ash vs Gary... Should be fun!

I gave the Charmander to James, that guy always gets the short end of the stick, but he's hilarious! Every other fic I read, nobody gives these guys a break. Even one of them kills them in the first chapter. Like bruh. These guys are good people on the inside!

You know, they cheered Ash on and got arrested in his first match against Mandy!!! They're real friends! 

Also, of course, Jessie and James together. In the Ash and Pikachu Manga, Jessie is pregnant at the end and married to James! Just a fun fact.

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