Jhoto - Cianwood City

The group landed on the port of Cianwood City and looked around the place. The City was currently bustling with a festive air and Casey explained they were celebrating the Chinchou migration. She explained it was time for the Chinchou to migrate to the southern sea. They decided to book a room and then attend the celebration which would be in the evening. It was an interesting and adorable sight to watch, Max and Casey enjoyed it.

Ash, "Max, come here."

Max, "What is it?"

Ash, "Look at this."

Max, "This is a form for a junior tournament in Ecruteak City. Why?"

Ash, "Read the prizes."

Max, "3rd runner up gets five hundred poke dollars and three pokeballs. 2nd runner up gets seven hundred poke dollars and a set of evolution stones. 1st prize is thousand poke dollars and increasing the number of Pokemon we can carry. Holy! I thought we would not... "

Ash chuckled, "My second horror book called, 'The Grudge', is getting released soon in Ecruteak City. They are holding a junior Championship as one of the main attractions, since it's well known you are under my wing."

Max, "Oh! I will win this time. Let me train with you."

Casey's grin was feral, "Oh, I was hoping to hear that. In fact my Heracross has been wanting to battle you both."

Ash returned the grin, "Let's get to work. From what I heard Gym Leader Chuck will be in charge of security for the Chinchou festival."

Casey, "We have today and tomorrow to train together before the gym battle. And after that we'll be hitting the road."

Max, "Let's do our best guys!"

Breloom, "Loom loom breloom."

Ralts, -Bring it on.-

Beedrill, "Bzzz!"

Mareep, "Maaaaa!"

Ash called his Beedrill in order to help Max's Beedrill train along side Casey's Beedrill. On hindsight, watching three over sized yellow hornets clash even during training was very terrifying. Holy Mew! Ash's Heracross and Max's Breloom on the other hand fought and trained with Casey's Heracross who was older and had more experience. Breloom and Heracross were no slouch either though and Casey's Heracross was very pleased to see him do his best to learn. Ash, Max and Casey though were training with Lucario and Casey's Hitmontop in hand to hand combat.

After them they changed the Pokemon and trained with others with Ash wondering how the A - level battle will turn out. It should be interesting so to speak. A little into the training and Brock had taken a video of three Beedrills training and uploaded it into the group. The reactions were varied and hilarious from some being enthusiastic like Lillie to others being terrified like Misty and to those getting interested in training their own Beedrill like Paul and May. The went by with them training and Riley dropping in to check on them at least once before leaving for a mission.

Referee, "This is a battle between challenger Ash Ketchum and Gym Leader Chuck for the Storm badge. This is a one on one battle, victory will be decided by the last Pokemon standing. Gym Leader Chuck will choose his Pokemon first."

Chuck grinned, "Let's show then our strength Machamp!"

Ash, "Show them who's boss Heracross."

Referee, "Begin!"

Ash, "Close combat!"

Chuck, "Counter!"

Heracross attacked Machamp using close combat and Machamp answered using counter to fight back. Heracross frowned when he realized that his attacks were not causing any damage and needed a bit of thinking to hit his opponent. Machamp was definitely strong but no way he is giving up, not this time, he would win. Heracross hissed as he flew up to avoid an attacke from Machamp and landed behind him giving his opponent a glare.

Casey cheered, "You can do it Heracross!"

Max cheered as well, "Yeah! Remember the training we did together."

Gou chuckled, "They sure are excited."

Brock, "Yeah... By the way Gou where did you disappear to the last two days?"

Gou rubbed his nose, "I was talking with Professor Cerise and Professor Oak."

Brock, "What about?"

Gou, "They asked if I wanted to take part in the Mew project. According to them, I have or rather we have run into more Legendaries then anyone else."

Brock, "Making our group the perfect candidates so to speak?"

Gou nodded looking at the battle, "Yeah, but I am not sure if I want to considering we have to worry about Team Rocket too."

Ash, "Heracross, calm down! We just started."

Heracross nodded smirking back, "Cross cross."

Machamp smirked, "Machamp!"

Chuck, "Oh ho! Show us what you got! Revenge!"

Ash, "Stay calm!"

Heracross nodded and watched as Machamp got closer and at Ash's command used protect though he winced at the pressure from Machamp. Heracross then got up and used throat chop which was stopped by Machamp who grabbed Heracross and threw him using vital throw. Luckily Heracross landed on his back and was unhurt thanks to the strong beetle like shell on his back. But it didn't stop them and Ash called for aerial ace while Machamp used bulk up to try and stop Heracross.

Brock hummed, "Do not let Team Rocket be the reason you stop Gou. People like Team Rocket will be everywhere. We can't control them, we can only build our future."

Gou eyed him, "Oh, but that's not what bothers me."

Brock caught the look and ruffled his hair chuckling, "Hey don't worry about me. Remember what Riley and Simon said? My aura is not completely active yet, so I will be safe."

Gou nodded and turned back to the battle, "Ah! Heracross learned seismic toss?"

Ash, "Give it all you got!"

Heracross grunted, "Cross!"

Machamp was struggling to get a hold of his opponent but Heracross had grabbed him using his horn. Heracross was panting due to exhaustion but refused to give up, he had made a deal with Venasaur. If he won this match Venasaur would give him two litres of his flower's nectar, two full litres. No way was he gonna loose that nectar. Heracross's eyes burned with fire and determination and he twirled the bigger Pokemon around before slamming him to the floor panting.

Referee, "Machamp is unable to battle, the winner of this match and the Storm badge are Heracross and Ash Ketchum."

Chuck gave a loud laugh while returning Machamp, "Congratulations on winning. I proudly present to you the Shock badge."

Ash received the badge, "Thank you. Look Heracross, we won."

Heracross nodded excited despite being exhausted, "Cross."

Ash, "Get some rest buddy. You did a great job today. I'm sure Venasaur would be proud."

Heracross looked at Ash wide eyed then turned away his wings fluttering embarrassed at getting caught. Lucario snickered at him as he was returned to his pokeball and Ash grinned, he knew about the exchange. After all, as the main head nothing could be hidden from Lucario and ergo from him when it came to his Pokemon. It was one of the ways to make sure his Pokemon were well taken care of and did not push themselves too far, their health was more important. Eevee, Abra and Absol were cheering with Pikachu at the head holding fans with Heracross on it. Ash noticed they were growing up really fast and maybe they could start stamina training soon.

Casey, "Yosh! It's my turn now!"

Chuck, "Indeed little Casey. Show me how much have you improved."

Casey, "I'll show you old man."

Referee, "This is an Ace battle between Gym Leader Chuck and challenger Casey. It'll be a one on one battle. Choose your Pokemon."

Casey, "Go Heracross!"

Chuck, "Go Hitmontop! Ho ho ho ho! I have not seen your Heracross since the last battle."

Casey, "We are gonna win this time!"

Heracross, "Cross cross!"

Referee, "Begin!"

Casey, "Horn attack!"

Chuck, "Triple kick!"

Heracross attacked using horn attack while Hitmontop used triple kick to retaliate against him in return. Heracross remembered the last time he was at this particular gym, he had insisted on battling but had ended up loosing instead. He had realized how strong fighting types were and took training as a fighter very seriously even going as far as challenging fighting type trainers. Casey herself had a lot of fun challenging those people and had gone out of her way even taking part in the Grand Prix though they were defeated by Bea.

That defeat had stung quite a lot but it had reminded them to also focus on their team work as well. It would not do any good to them if they were bad at working together and get caught off guard again. Hitmontop then used rapid spin to catch Heracross off guard while he was in the air making him tch. He had almost lost to the same technique again but not this time. Heracross avoided the attack and used horn attack in retaliation, Hitmontop was defended himself using quick guard.

Casey, "Rock tomb!"

Chuck, "Detect, don't be caught."

Hitmontop moved around the rock tomb to avoid getting caught by the fighter bug. It was stronger than last time but Hitmontop would not make it easy for Heracross. Casey gritted her teeth and reminded herself to stay calm and stick to her strategy. Heracross kept up the attack and Hitmontop fought back using double team. Heracross frowned but didn't stop fighting and used pin missile to get rid of the fake copies.

Casey, "Now Heracross! Aerial Ace!"

Chuck, "Focus blast!"

Heracross used aerial ace and attacked Hitmontop head first using agility to speed up and avoid the focus blast. Next thing they knew Heracross had hit Hitmontop and thrown him against the wall of the gym.

Referee, "Hitmontop is unable to battle. The winner is Casey and Heracross."

Chuck laughed uproariously, "Very impressive, little Casey. Looks like you both have grown up a bit."

Casey beamed, "We learned from our past battle."

Chuck, "I believe you will have your Ace battle tomorrow?"

Ash nodded, "Yes, I have a prior engagement today."

Max, "I am excited for tomorrow."

Brock, "First let's get to the Pokemon center then you can go to your meeting."

Ash, "Yeah."

They went to the Pokemon center and had their Pokemon checked out and Ash sent Heracross to Venasaur. Venasaur would heal while Heracross acted like his bodygaurd and kept him safe while he worked. It was a good team up for them and Heracross started to learn about Pokemon care from Venasaur especially the baby Pokemon. Heracross rubbed his cheek against Venasaur's flower getting a sigh from the grass starter.

Ash laughed, "Take care, both of you also don't stop training Heracross. You'll be battling in the Silver Conference."

Heracross nodded saluting, "Cross cross."

Venasaur pat himself as if to say he'll train Heracross himself, "Saur saur vena saur."

Lucario smirked, -I'm sure that will be appreciated.-

Ash, "Take care!"

Abra, -Don't worry Meema, Uncle Vena will take care of Heracross.-

Lucario, -He is planning on teaching Heracross some of his grass type moves.-

Ash nodded, "It's good to have a variety."

Ash met up with the others and decided to get a late lunch together before they went different ways. Max would be going with Casey to continue training while Brock would be helping at the Pokemon center, Gou was working on his paper. Gou had decided to document every Legendary they had come across, the reason why and how they all dealt with said Legendary. Gou sweat dropped on noticing most of the reasons were poachers or Team Rocket.

Gou took a deep breath, "Relax Gou! Relax!"

Cinderace noticed what he was writing and frowned, "Cin der der cin."

Inteleon who had been watching agreed, "Leon."

Grookey their newest addition was playing, "Key key grookey."

Gou gave a smile seeing Grookey enjoy himself, then frowned remembering what happened after they had reached Cianwood City. Gou had told Ash and the Professors about it and none of them had been happy with Grookey's trainer. Ash was now going to personally deal with the trainer and question her before deciding what to do with her. It really grated his nerves when he thought about the number of bastards and bitches he had run into. The only thing keeping him sane were his friends and Pokemon.

[A. N.: Has anyone had their fast pass cut down?

I had twelve fast pass just last Friday. Now it's only seven. Like what?]