378World of Pokémon #11
The man known as Samuel Oak. Legend of Kanto.
Born to humble beginnings in the small village of Hornsburrow, a modest village in the shadow of Mt. Silver. Oak began his career as a trainer in his seventeenth year, after managing to save enough money for a Charmander and pass the league's trainers exam with perfect scores.
Four years later after many tournaments and conferences won, Samuel Oak became the Champion of Kanto and held his position for eleven years. In his time, he stopped an inter-regional conflict, stabilized the Sevii Islands after being ravaged by raiders, and was responsible for ending an incident involving an unidentified Pokémon that was responsible for the destruction of several towns in southern Kanto. A few years later - after the birth of his son - Oak began researching Pokémon and technology to help people and Pokémon live together.
Now, Professor Samuel Oak was enjoying his quiet life as a researcher and living in the peaceful lands of Pallet Town.
"Heya Ashy boy!"
Ash spun around to see a grinning Gary Oak looking at him with his typical relaxed swagger. He looked pretty much the same as the last time Ash saw him on the S.S. Anne. He was wearing a long sleeve purple shirt and black pants with a yin yang necklace, his belt had six Pokéballs attached to it. He was carrying a custom bag over his shoulder with the name Pallet and Oak embroidered on the side.
"Gary!" Shouted Ash in surprise, "I didn't think you'd be here?"
Gary only shrugged, "I was on my way to challenge Giovanni but decided to visit the rest of my Pokémon and do some group training. Gramps also wanted to run some tests on some of my Pokémon. What about you?"
"I'm here to do some training before tackling Sabrina and Giovanni, also visit my mom. Not to mention I haven't spent much time in Pallet. I left the day we moved here." Said Ash while rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
Gary looked out toward the rolling hills with a grin, "This is the best place to live, not too crowded like any of the cities and has the perfect scenery for trainers like us."
The expanse of land that was Pallet was all rolling hills, lush valleys and the occasional lake or pond. Ash could see small packs of Nidoran running through the grass while Pidgey flew overhead. Not to mention on the other side of the largest hill was the Oak corral, which held all of Ash and Gary's Pokémon. In addition to that were all of the Pokémon that just lived there. Ash wasn't sure how many of Professor Oak's team lived in the corral other than Venusaur who was the boss and peacekeeper of the place.
If Ash remembered correctly, Oak's remaining team consisted of his starter Charizard and his Alakazam, Dragonite, Machamp, Venusaur, and Arcanine. There were several more Pokémon caught and trained by Professor Oak, but they were either released when the Professor retired from battling or were allowed to travel where they wished.
That being said, for the safety of the Pokémon and the people of Pallet, Professor Oak had his Charizard stay at an undisclosed location, due to the fire types lack of patience in dealing with challengers. Dragonite came and went as he pleased due to his liking to fly long distances, as well as operating as Professor Oak's most secure courier for sensitive packages. Machamp and Alakazam kept to themselves but would show up should Oak ever call for them. Venusaur was the most common around the corral, keeping the other Pokémon in line while fighting off any aggressive Pokémon that might have migrated into the area. Oak also possessed an Arcanine, but she stayed at Oak's home most of the time but would assist Venusaur in keeping order in the corral from time to time.
All in all, Pallet town was the safest place to live in all of Kanto due to Professor Oak's team's incredible presence. Thankfully, the population was small due to Samuel Oak not broadcasting that he lived here and the town not having all of the attractions that a bigger city with a gym had. Pallet didn't even have a Pokémon Center or Pokémart. Only small general stores and mom and pop shops ran by the towns people. All in all, the population of Pallet was less than two thousand.
Ash shook from his thoughts and turned to Gary, "How about a battle?" While he just battled Blaine recently, he was always down to battle a trainer like Gary.
Gary seemed to share those sentiments and grinned, "Of course, gramps can facilitate with his Alakazam. Meet at the corral tomorrow morning?"
Ash raised an eyebrow, "Tomorrow? Why not right now?" He'd expect Gary to want to jump right into it like him.
Gary rolled his eyes with an annoyed sigh, "I have to do something for gramps today and I'm sure your mom would appreciate you visiting her first rather than getting into a battle on your first day in Pallet." Hearing that Ash had to agree, he also would like to learn more about the area around Pallet while he was here.
"Sounds good." Ash said with a nod, "Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow." Agreed Gary.
With that they went their separate ways, an Alakazam was released from one of Gary's Pokéballs that then teleported him away. Ash stared at the spot for a moment before moving on to his house. It would seem that Gary's team had definitely matured since their last battle.
Ash opened his backpack and took out his egg carrying case, he may not know much about hatching eggs but even he could tell that this one was nearly about to hatch. It was warm to the touch and would shake at times so Ash had taken to carrying it around in his arms so that he would be there when it hatched.
The walk to his mother's house was nice and peaceful, the smell of flowers and grass filled the air and a gentle breeze caressed Ash throughout his walk. It was far nicer than his previous home of Celadon; which was a huge city overpopulated with people and Pokémon. Not to mention that the smell of large a city left much to be desired, especially when compared to the fresh smell of Pallet Town.
His house was a modest two-story home with a small garden in the front yard. There were a few Pidgey sitting on his roof chirping at each other. Through one of the window's Ash spotted his mother's Mr. Mime who was cleaning the house and moving things around with his psychic abilities. Making sure that everything his mother left out was back in its rightful place.
Opening the door, he felt a small mental probe from Mr. Mime's psychic power, who was checking to see who entered the home. Ash had never felt the probe before, being around Metang for so long must have made him more sensitive to psychic energy. Awareness of psychic energy depended on the psychic Pokémon that a person was around often and the overall psychic potential of the person.
Psychic Pokémon were all different but there were some generalities that Ash knew. First was that Pokémon like Alakazam and Gardevoir possessed the most innate psychic power, with Alakazam leaning more toward control while Gardevoir had more raw power. Trainers of these Pokémon usually found themselves being able to have near full mental communication with each other.
While others like Hypno were said to have a more empathic connection rather than telepathic, able to understand and convey emotions between themselves and others. Ash knew that at this point Metang was more empathic than telepathic, but he would hold out final judgment until it was a Metagross whose psychic power far exceeded Metang's.
With all that aside, Ash wasn't sure where Mr. Mime fell. He guessed it was on the empathic side considering Mr. Mime rarely made any noise, just in general.
The humanoid red and white Pokémon peaked around the doorway to look at him before waving happily. Ash mirrored the motion while pushing down the regret at not even bothering to say goodbye to Mr. Mime before he left on his journey. At the time he was just too excited to meet Professor Oak and get his first Pokémon.
"Good to see you Mimey! I guess mom is at the lab?" Asked Ash despite already knowing the answer, his mother spent most of her time working and when she was home she was in her garden.
The mime nodded and went back to working on the house while Ash made his way upstairs to see his room. He didn't even remember if he unpacked before he left or not.
There were three doors upstairs for two bedrooms and one bathroom. One of the doors had a sign that read Ash and he walked in with a smile.
Inside wasn't a room full of boxes with a bed like he expected. It was a room bigger than the ones he stayed at in Pokémon Centers. There was a full-sized bed with red sheets, a desk with a computer at it a dresser walk-in closet and his TV and game system on the other end of the room. In the closet were all of his old clothes and shoes.
Ash didn't know if it was his mom or Mr. Mime who unpacked his room, but he was grateful. Reaching for his Pokéballs Ash released Pikachu, who was the only one he had on him who would fit in the room comfortably. The small yellow mouse chittered as it rushed around the room, happily exploring the new space.
"This is my room at home. We're back in Pallet Town for a little while." Explained Ash before he jumped onto the bed.
Pikachu squeaked happily and continued running around the house. With time to kill Ash took out his egg from the carrier to polish it, which was something he did pretty often these past few days. Ash didn't know what kind of Pokémon would come from the egg, but he was excited to see, the egg was warm to the touch and he could feel movement from within it.
The movement increased and with that the heat increased. Ash realized what was happening and set the egg down on the ground to watch. The grey egg continued to move before the top of it cracked slightly, the movement stopped for a moment before kicking up stronger than before. Ash watched gleefully as the egg continued to crack as the Pokémon within hatched.
Once the entire egg had cracks spidering through it, a bright light overtook the egg filling the room. Ash thought that the light was similar to the light that overtook a Pokémon when they evolved. The light grew in size before dimming down to reveal the Pokémon.
Seeing his new Pokémon for the first time Ash had only one thought; it was cute! It was a small blue and red little elephant that shook its head back and forth causing its truck to wave in a similar motion. It caught sight of Ash and let out a call similar to a trumpet before barreling into his leg on wobbly feet.
Taking out his Pokédex, Ash ran a scan over the little baby Pokémon.
Phanpy, the Long Nose Pokémon. Phanpy uses its powerful snout to express affection, not realizing its strength can send you flying.
This Phanpy is Male and knows the moves: Tackle, Growl, Odor Sleuth, and Defense Curl. Its ability is Pickup.
Ash was impressed that it knew so many moves, but they seemed pretty normal. After all no Pokémon needed to be taught to tackle or growl. It was like breathing or walking, you just did it.
"Hello." Started Ash, speaking gently while kneeling down next to the Pokémon. It was small, less than a foot tall and couldn't weigh more than twenty pounds. But that was to be expected, after all it was literally just born and while some more ruthless trainers began training Pokémon right after they were born. Ash would wait a few weeks so it could grow to around the normal size for a Phanpy.
"My name is Ash and I'm the one who had you as an egg." Ash wasn't sure how much of this the little Phanpy understood, but Ash just kept on talking, "This is my house, and that is Pikachu."
On cue Pikachu jumped over to Phanpy and began introducing himself to the small Pokémon, the little Phanpy happily shuffled back and forth on his feet as Pikachu spoke. Ash reached down and patted Phanpy on the head to which the baby earth type leaned toward the touch.
If Ash were honest, Phanpy was going to be the perfect addition to the team. They and their evolved form, Donphan, were incredible earth types with solid capabilities. Something his team was lacking in, earth types were perfect against electric, fire, rock, poison, and steel and even to their weaknesses were hardy enough to shrug off most attacks.
Looking back at the two Pokémon, Ash smiled as Phanpy and Pikachu bonded and started playing together in the middle of his room.
Ash decided that instead of waiting around at home for his mom he would take little Phanpy on a trip to the lab. He was sure that his mom would be thrilled to meet the little guy.
"We're going to visit mom." He said down to the two little Pokémon.
Pikachu chirped happily and Phanpy trumpeted from his small trunk before barreling forward into him. Ash grimaced slightly at the impact but managed to stay standing, he ignored the laughing Pikachu who watched the whole thing.
Ash took a calming breath as he stood in front of the doors to Professor Oak's lab. The walk to the lab should have only taken a few minutes, but Phanpy was very curious of the area and would walk off to look at something randomly. Ash would then send out Pikachu to find the little guy and corral him back to Ash.
The process repeated four times on the way to the Lab.
Now that he was there, he turned to the small Pokémon, "I need you to behave in here, don't hit anything and say close to me or Pikachu."
Phanpy waved his trunk back and forth excitedly before headbutting Ash's leg gently. Pikachu moved closer to Phanpy to watch him while Ash stepped forward to enter the lab.
Inside was a pristine lab that was filled with shiny high-tech machines all blinking and beeping as they worked. Above them on the second floor the wall was lined with bookshelves all of which were filled with books. There were a few people at different stations working on whatever project they were assigned not even bothering to look up at him.
Ash noticed that there were a few Pokémon walking about in the lab either coming from one of the scientists or going to one of them. Ash didn't see his mother, but he saw someone else he was happy to see.
Ash also wasn't the only one to notice as he was barreled into and knocked over by an enthusiastic Umbreon who licked his face while purring happily. Phanpy, seeing what had to be a fun pile up jumped in tackling Ash right in the gut getting a breathless grunt from him.
Umbreon jumped off of Ash and looked at the small earth type menacingly while Phanpy didn't even notice the danger he was in. Ash was about to intervene when Pikachu jumped forward to explain the situation to a slowly calming Umbreon.
Managing to catch his breath Ash rubbed Phanpy on the head as he stood up while gently setting him down.
"Phanpy this is Umbreon, she's a member of my team." Introduced Ash while gesturing to his favorite dark type.
Umbreon stalked forward and sniffed the small Pokémon a few times before walking to the other side of Ash. Phanpy seemed nervous during his inspection but trumpeted happily at the dark type when she seemed to approve of him, or at the least didn't want to maul him anymore.
Before Ash could continue a woman ran up to him out of breath. She was wearing the typical lab coat with a button up shirt and skirt underneath. She looked at the dark type with irritation before turning to Ash apologetically.
"I'm so sorry about Umbreon, she belongs to a trainer who's sponsored by the professor, but she only listens to Delia and Professor Oak." The woman apologized before turning an eye to the Pokémon in question. "She was supposed to let us finish the test before going back to the corral, but out of nowhere she ran off!"
Ash listened to her amusedly before reaching down and lightly flicking Umbreon on the ear, which caused the woman to gasp and Umbreon to whine. The woman looked like she was about to jump forward when Ash started speaking.
"I thought I told you to behave while you're here." Lectured Ash toward Umbreon who's ears were flat against her head as she listened to him, "Listening to mom and the professor is good but please cooperate with everyone. They are letting you stay here with all of these Pokémon after all."
Umbreon looked away with a whine but was quickly hit by a tackle from a cheerful Phanpy who didn't really seem to understand what was going on and just wanted to be a part of it. Umbreon looked ready to lash out but she hesitated when she saw Phanpy happily swishing his trunk back and forth with a happy look on his face.
The woman seemed to realize who he was and let out a sigh of relief. "You're Ash Ketchum, Delia's son!"
At Ash's nod she continued, "I have to say that you have some wonderful Pokémon, most of them are very cooperative. Other than Umbreon and your Dragonair, they are all willing to come in here for a little while for some tests when asked. Although none of us have the courage to approach that Charizard of yours, other than Professor Oak that is."
"Dragonair doesn't cooperate?" Asked Ash with a frown, he had thought Blast mellowed out in the past few months, he didn't even bother addressing Charizard. It was just common sense not to provoke one without their trainer present, unless you were Samuel Oak apparently.
The woman rapidly shook her head, "No! That isn't what I meant at all!" She corrected hastily seeming worried that she upset him, "He just spends all of his time training away from the main section of the corral or battling your Charizard, we just don't have the opportunity to ask him."
"Oh ok," Laughed Ash, "To be honest I wouldn't have been surprised if the former was true, however. He can be quite the grump sometimes."
The woman nodded in understanding, she looked down then brightened up considerably.
"Who is this little cutie?" She cooed while looking at the small Phanpy who was playing with both Umbreon and Pikachu. The latter actually enjoying the time while the former was only tolerating it.
"Phanpy, he hatched about an hour ago from an egg I got in Celadon." Answered Ash as he watched the three Pokémon run in circles around each other.
It was comical to watch the small not quite foot tall baby Phanpy and Pikachu play with the over three-foot-tall Umbreon who easily had over sixty pounds on both. Ash actually was just now noticing how much Umbreon has grown in the past few weeks. She had noticeable muscle on her back that coiled with each movement, ready for her to blitz into action. Her paws were larger and thicker with bigger and even more dangerous claws hidden within. She looked more like the menacing dark type she was supposed to be.
"Well he is just a little cutie!" Cooed the woman. "My name is Jessica and I'm one of the lab assistants." She said with an extended hand toward Ash.
Ash took it with a polite nod, "Nice to meet you. Did you still need Umbreon?" While gesturing to the dark type, he would make sure that she cooperated if that was the case.
Jessica shook her head, "No I think we got everything I was just making sure that she didn't get into any trouble when she ran off. Your mother is in the other part of the lab if you were here to see her. Unfortunately, Professor Oak is very busy in his lab so he can't be disturbed."
Ash nodded when she mentioned his mother, "I won't stay long and let her work, but I was hoping to surprise her."
Jessica gestured for him to follow and he corralled his Pokémon into following him. Pikachu jumped up to his shoulder while Umbreon nudged Phanpy forward and would course correct him whenever he tried to walk off. Ash could already tell who he was going to need to look out for Phanpy while on the road.
Following Jessica, he was led through the lab toward the area in the back. There were less workers but several more Pokémon were walking about. Ash didn't see any of his Pokémon, so he assumed that they were either Gary's or part of the coral. There was an Oddish and a pair of Growlithe wrestling on the ground. At a desk off to the side he saw his mother typing into a desktop not noticing them approaching. Jessica nodded and left to go back to work now that they found his mother.
"Hi mom!" Called Ash getting a jump of surprise from her.
Delia spun around with a wide smile on her face and nearly teleported over to him to crush him in a hug. Even deprived of oxygen Ash hugged her back as hard as he could it, had been months since he'd seen his mom in person.
Pikachu on his shoulder squeaked out happily and Ash felt Phanpy headbutt his leg causing him to grunt in pain. Him mom let go when she heard him and looked down at Phanpy who was rubbing his head on Ash's leg.
"Oh, what a cutie!" Laughed Delia as she reached down to rub the little earth type on the head. Phanpy trumpeted happily and waved his trunk back and forth from the sensation.
"He hatched right when I got home." Said Ash with a smile.
Delia gushed over Phanpy – who was more than happy to receive the attention – before straightening out and giving Ash a nervous look. "You won't be able to see the Professor right now; he's been holed up in his office for 14 hours straight."
Ash frowned in thought, he didn't know what could take the old man's attention for that long, he usually jumped around from project to project to suit his fancy. Maybe he was on the verge of a breakthrough and didn't want to be distracted?
Delia shook her head when he voiced his thoughts, "No, he was worried about something the past few days but wouldn't talk about what had him so on edge. I think the league has him working on something and it's stressing him out."
"I wonder what it is." Mumbled Ash with Delia humming in agreement, "Well I'm going to be home for a while, I want to train with all of my Pokémon before tackling Sabrina and Giovanni. I have six badges, so they won't hold back anymore."
"It'll be great to have you around for a while then!" Chirped the ever-positive Delia, Ash had missed his mother's unending support.
"If you're still working then I'm going to go to the coral. I want to check on the others." Ash wouldn't say he was in a hurry, but he was excited to see his full team together. Also, he had a surprise for a few of them.
Delia seemed to realize what Ash was thinking and shooed him off, "Dinner's at six, if they can fit in the house, they can stay."
Ash nodded gratefully and was about to make his way out before walking over and directing Phanpy's attention towards the exit and started walking slowly to keep Phanpy close.
The back exit from the lab led to the opening to the corral, it was the first time that Ash had been here in person. Professor Oak and his mother would send him pictures of his Pokémon but that didn't do the corral justice.
The lab was at the top of the largest hill, so just standing at the door you could see the wide expanse of land owned by Professor Oak. Rolling hills, with an enormous large lake in the center that a Gyarados could fit in comfortably had a variety of water Pokémon swimming in it. The valley had many Pokémon that Ash was familiar with.
Close the lab was a herd of Nidoran led by a Nidoking and Nidoqueen, Ash wasn't sure if they were Gary's or just part of the corral, but they looked powerful, so Ash assumed that they were no strangers to battling. Ash noticed that there were a few docile Spearow and Fearow perched on the tallest trees. On trees on the opposite side of the corral were a flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto all being led by a massive Pidgeot. This time Ash was sure of the Pidgeot being Gary's and was impressed by the sheer size of the Pokémon.
Even though his Pidgeot just evolved, by the look of it she was still about half a foot shorter than Gary's.
With the thought of his Pokémon, Ash reached toward his belt and released his team. First was Hydro who landed with a heavy thud that alerted the Pokémon near them. The smaller Nidoran scurried behind their herd leaders with Nidoking looking ready to battle should Hydro start something.
"This is the first time you've been here right?" Asked Ash as he patted his partner on the shoulder. Hydro rumbled in agreement and bumped Ash with one of his massive arms.
"I have something for you, stay close while I release the team." Said Ash and Hydro lumbered over to Pikachu and Umbreon to wait.
Next was Pidgeot, she blasted into the air with a powerful screech that every flying type in the corral heard. Ash watched in no small amount of awe as his golden bird swooped through the air, after doing a circle of the immediate area and screeching at the Fearow and Spearow, Pidgeot landed next to him.
Ash ran a hand over the plumage on her chest getting a soft call and a gentle peck on the head from the bird.
"You know, now that you're fully evolved do you think you would want a name now?" Asked Ash, he asked back when he first caught her, but she didn't know at the time. Pidgeot tilted her head and stared at him for a moment before nodding.
Ash went through several names; Talon, Plume, Birdy, Tweedy, The Wind, it took a while and Ash was running out of ideas when he finally settled on one: Ava.
Pidgeot tilted her head as if thinking about her new name before cawing at him happily. Ash rubbed her plumage again and let her do as she pleased. Ava didn't hesitate before blasting into the air toward Gary's Pidgeot, Ash wasn't sure if they were going to battle but he trusted Ava not to start something too crazy.
After that Ash released Snor, who took one look around before turning to Ash curiously. The enormous Snorlax growled out and Ash quickly raised his hands.
"We're not doing anything too crazy today, so you can relax but we're going to be training here for a while." Explained Ash, he knew that his relationship with Snor was based on the fact that he got to spend as much time laying around as he did train and battle. Snor had managed to beat two of Blaine's Pokémon so he was owed a day or so of sleeping.
Snor drummed his massive gut happily and lumbered off toward a large tree to sleep in the shade.
Ash looked over to where Phanpy, Pikachu, and Umbreon were playing around with the Growlithe while Hydro watched from a distance and smiled. It was nice to see that Phanpy was getting along with the other Pokémon, although he knew that he was going to have to introduce him to the rest of the team later. For now, he would let his team relax before going to find Bulbasaur, who should be around here somewhere.
Next to be released was Blast. He was just as large and majestic as the last time Ash saw him, but he was getting noticeably larger with every passing day. He looked to be nearly fifteen feet long and even thicker than before. Lance's word rang in his head again, Dragonair can get as long as seventeen feet before they evolved. Ash has been going by what Lance told him, making sure that Blast trained his physical abilities just as much as he did his elemental attacks.
But it was time to kick up his training. Ash had neglected a critical aspect of Blast due to his inexperience in the field but being in Pallet Town he had access to a very capable teacher.
It was time for Blast to start mastering his draconic energy further.
"Sorry that you didn't have get a battle against Blaine." Placated Ash while Blast rumbled out without looking at him. "Hey! Snor took out two Pokémon, you should feel happy that you have such a powerful teammate!" It wasn't the best explanation, but it was the honest one.
Blast rumbled from his chest before inclining his head toward Ash. Not expecting any better from his proud dragon, he reached forward and gave his head a rub by the small wings. Blast tilted his head into the touch and cooed happily. Ash smirked at that, it wasn't often that Blast acted like the happy and gentle Dragonair most of his species were. So, he enjoyed it while it lasted.
Unfortunately, it was time to focus on other things. "We have to kick up your training now. I have a TM for you and we're going to start training you in your draconic energy. Other than Dragon Rage and Twister, you don't have many attacks with your natural energy. Dragon Rush is powerful, but you haven't mastered the attack to the extent that you could have. Also, it is time that we begin to work on Dragon Pulse."
Blast let out a soft roar of approval as he headbutted Ash on the shoulder.
"But for now, relax, we have a battle against Gary tomorrow, so we'll start training after that." Blast looked at Ash seriously causing him to raise his hands. "I promise you'll get to battle this time."
Blast slithered into the air, manipulating the air currents to allow him to fly. Ash was impressed with the ease that Blast was flying. It was well known that the Dratini line were able to manipulate the weather, it was something that made them so hard to find in the wild, but it was another thing to see Blast do it so casually.
Ash took it as a sign that Blast really was getting stronger each passing day.
Last but not least Ash released Charizard, who as Ash expected roared out a tongue of flame and looked around expectantly. Charizard looked back at Ash when he didn't find an opponent and snorted small wisps of flame out of his nostrils.
"Not every time I release you will there be someone to fight." Said Ash in a deadpan causing Charizard to rumble in annoyance. "We are going to spend some time in the corral to train: a couple of weeks if not more. The next two badges are going to be on a whole other level, we could be facing the Gym Leader's actual team, so we need to be ready."
Charizard slammed his flaming tail onto the ground at the challenge. Ash frowned at the small fire in the grass but didn't mention it.
"I have a battle with Gary tomorrow, but I don't know if you will be in it. Metang, Blast, and Umbreon haven't battled in a while so I want to make sure they get a chance." Ash knew that Charizard wouldn't be happy that he might not get a chance to battle and made his opinion known with a roar and another tail slam.
Ash waited for Charizard's anger to pass and spotted Hydro making his way back over. His starter was always the peacekeeper and strongest on the team since Ash's journey began. While it wasn't as cut and dry anymore, Ash was willing to bet that Hydro was still the strongest at the moment seeing as how he had an advantage over Charizard. That being said Ash would be curious of how a battle between Hydro and Charizard would go. Type disadvantage or not, Charizard's sheer force of will was enough to give him a good chance at victory.
Thinking about the both of them Ash realized that Charizard didn't have a name and Ash wasn't sure if he ever asked.
"Charizard!" The fiery dragon snapped out of his tantrum and looked at Ash, "Would you want a name? I don't think I ever asked."
Charizard didn't answer for a moment, he seemed to mull it over before shaking his head. Ash nodded, he knew that not all Pokémon wanted a name and wouldn't push Charizard if he didn't want one.
"Well you can do what you want for today, but tomorrow is when we start getting busy." Charizard roared before flying off, Ash was sure that he was just going to find Blast and have a mock battle.
Hydro lumbered up to him and rumbled at Charizard as he flew away, Ash just shook his head and patted his large starter on the back of his shell.
"All good buddy." Hydro just rumbled before snorting, "I think it's time for me to give you a new move, I have a TM ready for you. I think Blizzard will be a good addition to your arsenal."
Ash didn't need to be psychic to know that Hydro was happy to get the powerful ice move. Ash pulled out Hydro's ball and recalled him before opening his pack and taking out his technical machine.
Loading it up and giving Hydro the move was easy as always since TM's only took a minute. Ash put the disk away next to all of his other used up TM's. He could get them recharged for twenty five percent off if he presented his own disk. Ash wasn't sure when he'd need Blizzard again, but he'd save it anyway.
Ash released Hydro who had his eyes closed as he processed the new information he was given. After a while Hydro grunted and turned to Ash, "We have some fire to put out, care to use your new move?"
Hydro turned to the area of grass that was set on fire by Charizard. The two cannons on Hydro's back glowed white for a moment before blasting a hazy white stream of freezing air that froze the immediate area in front of Hydro.
The fire in the grass was immediately snuffed out and the froze over as the sub-zero air from Hydro's Blizzard attack washed over it. Ash was happy with Hydro's power and knew it would only get better. Right now, it only looked like Hydro was able to hit three meters in front of him with the ice attack, with practice and training Ash was sure that his range and the power of the move would increase several times over. But it would never be the funnel of icy death that an ice type was able to harness with the move. Although this was more than enough to enhance Hydro's arsenal.
"That was great! Blizzard is powerful, but it is a difficult move to hit in battle. For now, just practice using it and get a feel for calling upon the power for today." Hydro inclined his head before lumbering off to a secluded area. Ash watched him go with a grin, his partner was always eager to improve.
With his Pokémon released Ash tried to decide what he wanted to do. He wasn't going to train right before his battle with Gary when there wasn't a Pokémon Center to help his team recover right after training. With that he went over to where Umbreon, Pikachu and Phanpy were to bring them to find Bulbasaur.
Phanpy was sitting on the ground looking at Pikachu and Umbreon who were squeaking and hissing at each other. From the tone and body language Ash knew that they weren't angry with each other.
When Ash got over to them Pikachu scurried up and settled on his shoulder while Umbreon walked up next to him. Phanpy hoped up and ran over to him with visible excitement on his face.
"I want to go see Bulbasaur, Umbreon do you know where he is?" Umbreon nodded and started off further into the corral.
Phanpy followed behind them and Ash took in the sights of the corral. It was a peaceful expanse of land that was unblemished by the scars of battle or of businesses trying to industrialize the area.
After a small walk through the meadow they came across a couple Nidoran all huddled in a circle with a Nidorino and Bulbasaur at the center having a battle.
The Nidorino was looking sluggish while Bulbasaur was weathering its attacks but use of his vines or by agile last-minute dodges.
Nidorino bobbed and weaved around the stream of Vine Whips and tried to close distance with its horn lowered, dripping with dangerous toxins. Bulbasaur didn't look threatened by the poison but didn't look to want to let Nidorino get close and center himself on the ground to prepare for the incoming attack.
Once Nidorino started its charge, Bulbasaur shot out several batches of Leech Seeds that Nidorino was unable to maneuver away from.
With the Nidorino temporarily immobilized, Bulbasaur rushed the downed poison type and sent it tumbling with a strong Tackle attack. The Nidorino, already drained from the seeds was unable to get up after the tackle and fell unconscious.
Ash walked forward while clapping, "That was amazing Bulbasaur!" Ash could clearly see the progress he's made while training with Blast in the past few weeks.
Bulbasaur noticed his trainer and nodded slightly, he extended one of his vines over to Ash who took the appendage and gave it a shake. Bulbasaur seemed pleased by the action and sat on his hind legs to look up at Ash.
"I'll be staying in Pallet for a while to train everyone, after that I think it will be time to take you on the road." Announced Ash, while it would be unlikely if Bulbasaur fought in a gym any time soon considering his badge level, he would be more than welcome to battle the other traveling trainers on the road.
Bulbasaur seemed thrilled to hear that and let out a pleased growl.
Ash reached into his pocket to retrieve his Pokédex. "I'm going to check your moves."
Tackle, Growl, Vine Whip, Growth, Leech Seed, Razor Leaf.
"Impressive, you managed to learn Razor Leaf." Praised Ash, he only expected Bulbasaur to get some battle experience from Blast and practice with the moves that he already knew. But this was a welcome surprise, nonetheless.
Bulbasaur grunted proudly as it moved the bulb on his back slightly, Ash could already see it was getting bigger. Phanpy ran over to greet the grass type with a trumpet call from his trunk. Bulbasaur seemed thrown off by the ground type but called back a greeting and tapped the baby Pokémon with one of his vines.
Pikachu chittered happily as he jumped down next to the two of them. Umbreon sat next to Ash's legs as she watched the exchange with boredom.
Ash knew that they would go on for a while if left unchecked so Ash stepped forward, "Bulbasaur, tomorrow I will hopefully have a battle for you to participate in. I'm battling a friend of mine, Gary, and I expect he may have a Pokémon at your level."
Bulbasaur seemed excited at the prospect and slapped his vine on the ground happily. Phanpy followed his example and stomped with one of his front legs.
"For now, why don't we introduce Phanpy to the rest of the team." Said Ash while the Pokémon called out happily at the prospect.
Later in the day, Ash and his team were all huddled together near the lake at the center of the corral. Ash knew that Hydro and Blast were enjoying the massive lake and didn't want to take that from them if he could help it, and today was about relaxing anyway.
"Okay everyone!" Shouted Ash, interrupting the small conversations between his Pokémon and waking up Snor would was lounging near the shore of the lake. "I have a Pokémon to introduce everyone to: Phanpy!"
The small ground type barreled forward into Ash when his name was called. He was nervous while being under the inspection of the team but waved his trunk at everyone in greeting. Ash knelt down and patted the ground type on the head affectionately.
The first to approach was Ava who glided forward with ease, the large bird leaned down and cooed at the small ground type. Phanpy trumpeted back causing Ava to lightly nip Phanpy on the head before straightening back up.
After Ava was Charizard who flew and landed in front of Phanpy with the grace of a falling tree. Ash mentally noted that Charizard should practice flying with Ava, he had the power to do it effectively but lacked any grace or control whatsoever.
The loud thud of Charizard landing caused Phanpy to jump slightly but he managed to look up at the intimidating fire type. Charizard held the look for a moment before snorting a wisp of flame from his snout. Phanpy stood on his hind legs and trumpeted happily.
Hydro and Blast followed in the same fashion, the former already seeing Phanpy earlier but Blast just inspected Phanpy for a moment before going back to the lake to swim. Snor didn't even bother getting up from his spot on the ground. Metang hovered over to Phanpy and hummed with psychic energy, Phanpy shook his trunk back and forth but didn't make any noise.
"Excellent!" Shouted Ash now that everyone knew everyone. "Tomorrow we're having a battle with Gary, but not all of you will get a chance to battle." Snor seemed to accept that while Blast and Charizard had excited or annoyed expressions respectively.
"This will start our time here; Pallet Town will be our training spot for a few weeks." Said Ash as his team listened silently, "Our next badges will be far harder than anything so far. Sabrina is a psychic master while Giovanni is a master of ground types and recognized as the strongest gym leader in the region."
"So, we have our work cut out for us. I have some training in mind for each of you and we will be here until I'm confident in facing Sabrina." Ash also thought that it might be worth it in challenging Brock and Misty again since they had to battle him with their weakest teams.
It would also be nice to see Misty again; she did help him train for a while after their gym battle before his tournament in Cerulean.
His Pokémon all made noises of understanding and Ash just sat down to relax, he had time to kill until dinner and he was going to spend it with his team.
Right as he was about to get comfortable, he was hit on the side by something cold. Ash jumped and reached down to see what hit him while his Pokémon looked around confused. On his side was a small piece of ice, frowning Ash looked at his team in confusion.
Normally, Umbreon would be on her feet growling at whatever attacked him but right now she was laying on her side seemingly indifferent to what was going on. Before Ash could voice an order to his team, he heard the familiar sounds of snorts and grunts.
Ash jumped around to see a familiar face, his Snorunt was looking at him with the same nearly vacant look on her face as the last time he saw her. Only this time she was hopping back and forth on her feet and ran up with visible excitement.
"Snorunt!" Shouted Ash in surprise, "I didn't think I'd see you!" While he was going to make a point to look out for the ice type before he left Ash knew that she was content being a Pokémon in the corral and enjoyed her life here as it was.
Snorunt ran up and patted him with one of her stubby arms. Ash reached down and gave her head a soft rub getting her to snort happily.
"It's very good to see you after so long. How are you liking it here?" He hoped that she was better than before, even though he would have preferred to have her on his team he only really cared that she was happy.
Snorunt jumped up and down happily and waved her stubby arms up and down. Ash didn't know what she was saying but took it to mean that she was pleased that she didn't have to battle anymore.
"Good, I'm glad that you're enjoying yourself." Ash told her honestly, "The team and I will be here for a month or so to train, you're welcome to join us or watch."
Snorunt nodded and hopped over to Pikachu and began talking with the electric rodent with animated arm motions. Ash smiled when Pikachu mirrored her excitement and began chittering back at her.
Ash sat back down next to Hydro, he was content to stay with his team for the rest of the day before he made dinner for everyone and made his way back home. Tomorrow he had a big battle with Gary, and it would begin his training to reach the seventh badge level.
Ash started his morning with a breakfast made by his mom, he didn't realize it when he got home yesterday but today was Saturday, so his mother didn't have to work and was going to be able to see his battle with Gary later. Ash, Phanpy, Pikachu and Umbreon were the only ones to sleep inside the house, the others were either too big or preferred to stay outside so they would have to go pick them up before going to the lab.
"I'm going to head to the lab I'll see you there, okay honey?" Said Delia as she made for the door, both of them were excited for the battle as Delia had never been able to see one of his in person before.
Ash nodded and swallowed his food, "That's fine I have to pick up some of my team for the match."
Delia nodded, "Who are you going to use?" She asked curiously, having met all of Ash's Pokémon before she was excited to see them in action.
After thinking for a moment Ash answered, "I plan to use Metang and Blast for sure since they haven't had a big battle in a while. I hope Gary has a Pokémon around Bulbasaur's level so he can get a chance to battle. But other than that, it all depends on how many Pokémon Gary wants to use for the battle. Hydro is always on my team and Umbreon will want to battle if she has the chance. Snor has a pass from battling today however, since he did great in his battle against Blaine. So, Pikachu and Ava can fill in if necessary. Phanpy is still too young, obviously."
"Ava?" Asked Delia, "Your Pidgeot?"
Ash nodded quickly, "Yes! I finally named her; she didn't want one when I first caught her, but she decided on Ava after evolving into Pidgeot." It was nice to give her a name, not all Pokémon wanted one, but he felt it made trainer and Pokémon closer when they had a unique name.
"Excellent!" Cheered Delia, "I'll be at the lab, don't take too long I'm sure the professor and Gary are already ready!"
Ash nodded to his mother as he and his Pokémon followed him out the door. Phanpy was actually able to keep up with Ash's jog easily with Pikachu and Umbreon trotting along not struggling in the slightest at the pace.
He told his team to stay relatively near one another so that he could get to them. Blast and Hydro claimed the large lake, Blast slept beneath the water while Hydro slept within his shell on the edge of the water.
Ava roosted at the top of a tall oak tree near the lake while Snor slept beneath it.
Metang was hovering near the lake while patrolling around, the Hoenn native didn't actually sleep so it spent all of its time wandering around the area.
Bulbasaur was actually practicing Razor Leaf on the tree Ava was sleeping in.
The only one not in the general area was Charizard, Ash guessed that he was sleeping in a secluded area. Ash wasn't sure why, but he guessed that his fire type wasn't pleased that he wasn't going to get to battle. Ash would have to deal with that later, he wouldn't let Charizard pout just because it didn't get to battle. He was part of a team and he wouldn't be able to fight every battle; everyone gets a chance.
"Everyone!" Shouted Ash, rousing the sleeping Pokémon and grabbing the attention of the awake ones. "We have a battle to get to!"
Metang and Bulbasaur made their way over to him and exchanged their own greetings. Metang hummed with psychic energy and a wave of excitement washed over him. Bulbasaur barked up at him before running over and gave Phanpy a light tackle. Phanpy trumpeted happily and responded with his own tackle causing the both of them – plus Pikachu – to start wrestling on the ground.
Ava swooped from the top of the tree and landed next to him gently. After a while Blast emerged from the depths of the lake and slithered over to them with a lumbering Hydro slowly following behind. Snor woke from his call but didn't bother getting up, Ash had given him a pass and he was going to take it.
"Okay! Metang, Blast and Umbreon get first dibs." Started Ash, "Bulbasaur if there is an opponent for you, you'll get a shot too. The rest of you might get a chance depending on how bog of a battle Gary wants."
None of his Pokémon looked disappointed at his words – nor should they be since he told them this already yesterday – and stood at the ready.
"Pikachu." Said Ash getting the small mouse's attention, "I want you to make sure that Phanpy doesn't try to join in the battle."
Ash bent down to the small ground type, "We're going to have a battle, I want you to watch to learn what they're like."
Phanpy waved his trunk back and forth happily and Ash made sure that the deceptively dangerous appendage didn't hit him and patted his youngest Pokémon's head.
"Metang, Blast, Umbreon, Bulbasaur, I'm going to return you four to your balls until the battle." Said Ash as he returned each Pokémon to their balls with a nod to each.
Ash looked over to Ava, "Can you find Charizard and tell him to come back, I don't have time to placate him for not getting to battle." Ava screeched with a malicious twinkle in her eye before blasting off into the air with a mighty flap of her wings.
Now that that was taken care of Ash made his way back to the lab. Pikachu and Hydro were following while making sure that Phanpy didn't lose focus and wander away.
Ash made it back to lab without issue, Pikachu was getting better and better at keeping Phanpy from wandering away making it so that it didn't take twenty minutes to do a five-minute walk.
At the top of the hill overlooking the corral was his mother, Professor Oak and Gary all talking to each other while Professor Oak's Alakazam flattened and hardened the earth behind the lab for a battlefield.
Ash was momentarily taken by the ability of the Alakazam as it was flattening dirt into stone levels of hardness while erecting barriers around the lab so that a stray attack didn't hit the building. It must have been several Light Screen, Barriers, and Reflects overlapping several times over.
"Ash!"
Ash jumped and looked at his mother who was trying not to smile at her son while Gary and Oak were chuckling in the background.
"Sorry! I'm ready!" Said Ash with a nod.
Hydro led Pikachu and Phanpy over to the sidelines with low rumble to Ash. Delia happily patted Hydro in greeting while Pikachu squeaked happily at seeing her again. Phanpy was just looking between all of the interactions with nonplussed excitement.
Gary walked over to Ash with both hands in his pockets. "So how do you want to do this?"
"I have three Pokémon that haven't had a good battle in a while." Started Ash, "Also I have a new Pokémon I want to have a battle, but he's at the one badge level. You wouldn't have a Pokémon at that level, would you?"
"I do!" Gary said with a large grin, "I just got him not to long ago from a breeder."
Ash nodded happily, "Good then how about a four on four, best of four unless it's a tie then a fifth if necessary. Good?"
Gary hummed and rubbed his chin in thought, "Like four one on one battles and a tie breaker?" At Ash's nod he shrugged, "I like it! Ready Gramps?"
Professor Oak rolled his eyes and walked over. As he got closer Ash noticed the signs of exhaustion on the old man's face. He was paler than normal and didn't have the usual indominable aura surrounding him. He looked like he hadn't had a good night's sleep in days and even longer since a shower. Despite all that, he had a smile on his face as he addressed the two of them.
"Internus made a field for the both of you and will shield us from the battle." Said Oak while gesturing to the Alakazam who levitated over to Oak silently.
"I trust the both of you have been in enough battles that you don't need a ref." It wasn't really a question but both Ash and Gary answered in an affirmative to the Professor who nodded and walked over to Delia.
Ash and Gary took their respective places on either end of the battlefield.
"Let's start with the young ones!" Shouted Ash over to Gary who nodded and took out his Pokéball.
Ash released Bulbasaur who looked around at the battlefield before focusing on Gary who sent out his own Pokémon. Gary's choice was a familiar one to Ash, with a soft and graceful landing onto the ground, Eevee took its position on Gary's side of the field.
It was a battle between Pokémon where the other trainers were more familiar with them than the trainers using them, should be interesting.
"Take Down!" Shouted Gary.
The Eevee lowered itself before taking off in a sprint toward Bulbasaur – who was right in his element, waiting and reacting to his opponent – Ash was willing to wait to see Bulbasaur's reaction.
Two vines shot from the within the flower on Bulbasaur's back, Eevee continued to charge forward in a Take Down. Showing impressive reflexes as it ducked and weaved around Bulbasaur's quick swipes. Bulbasaur continued to strike with his vines but Eevee was either dodging or was too fast to be struck.
Ash was about to call out a command when Bulbasaur's two vines slammed onto the ground on either side of Eevee forcing it to run forward. Eevee was now within five feet of Bulbasaur and Ash was sure that it would hit Bulbasaur with a devastating Take Down.
But he sorely underestimated Bulbasaur.
The two vines slammed either side of Eevee forcing it to run forward in a straight line and it was close enough that Bulbasaur was able to fire off a rapid barrage of Razor Leaves without having to worry about aim and could focus on speed and power.
Dozens of Razor Leaves pelted Eevee, the normal type yelped in pain and blurred away in a Quick Attack. Eevee retook its position in front of Gary who was staring at Bulbasaur with an interested gleam in his eye.
"Leech Seed then Vine Whip." Ordered Ash, he was pleasantly surprised with Bulbasaur's battle instincts. He wasn't sure if it was Blast's battles with him or if he was just a natural battler. Whichever it was, Ash was going to cultivate the talent within Bulbasaur and take it as far as he could.
"Your Bulbasaur's impressive," Said Gary, with a respectful tone in his voice while regarding the grass type. "But so is Eevee."
With that the battle restarted.
Eevee leaned down on its haunches as energy started to build around it. Golden energy charged until the entire Pokémon's body was glowing bright, in the next moment a dozen dazzling golden stars exploded forward from Eevee toward Bulbasaur.
"Razor Leaf!" Shouted Ash, the never missing Swift attack wasn't the strongest but it would still hurt.
Bulbasaur barked as his flower bulb shook and spat nearly two dozen razor sharp leaves toward the dazzling stars. Surprisingly, the stars managed to get through the first wave of leaves and continue forward towards Bulbasaur.
Bulbasaur growled when the leaves didn't work, instead of trying with more leaves Bulbasaur released his vines and swiped them forward smacking several of the stars out of existence. Unfortunately, Bulbasaur only managed to get rid of five and was hit by next seven.
Ash winced at Bulbasaur's sound of pain, "Keep going! Leech seed!"
Eevee shot forward with a Quick Attack. Its inexperience in battling showed when it ran in a straight line, focusing more on speed rather than making sure that it was running in an unpredictable pattern.
Bulbasaur's flower shook and from the bulb on his back emerged a large seed that shot forward at Eevee with impressive speeds. The normal type managed to duck under the seed and continue to close distance while Bulbasaur sent out his vines while preparing another seed.
Eevee flipped over the first vine and sped back the second, it got within ten feet of Bulbasaur before it was hit a seed that exploded in a web of vines that latched onto Eevee's fur. After the seeds were latched, they started to glow, and the energy stolen from Eevee was shot back to Bulbasaur in the form of a warm orb of light. The energy hit Bulbasaur who sighed at the return of strength.
"Finish this with Razor Leaf!" Called Ash, Eevee didn't look like it was able to break out of the leeching vines.
As Bulbasaur was summoning leaves from his bulb, Eevee opened its mouth and started building energy in the form of a silver orb. Ash didn't recognize the attack and was about to call out to Bulbasaur to be cautious, but right as he was about to Eevee fired the attack right at its feet.
The orb exploded in a fiery blast, while not very powerful it didn't what it needed to and destroyed all of the Leech Seed from its fur. Ash 'tsk'd' to himself but didn't feel worried, Bulbasaur managed to sap Eevee's energy and refill his own and Eevee had taken a few hits even before that.
Eevee and Gary seemed to realize that and went for broke as Eevee began to charge forward in another Quick Attack. Bulbasaur leaned down in preparation and started to launch his barrage of razor leaves at the normal type.
The wall of extremely sharp leaves covered the distance between Bulbasaur and Eevee in a second and Ash was momentarily worried that the normal type was going to be severely hurt by the but as soon as the front leaf got within a foot of Eevee the normal type stopped.
Ash didn't realize what was happening fast enough and suffered for it.
Eevee inhaled a tremendous amount of air before bellowing out an exceptionally loud scream. The incoming leaves, Bulbasaur and even Ash cried out in pain while the leaves lost all momentum and fell to the ground. Ash recognized the attack as Hyper Voice and, if he wasn't sure that Bulbasaur's ears were wringing he would have called out for another attack, but he would have to trust in Bulbasaur's battle instincts.
Eevee seemed out of breath but didn't stop its charge forward. Bulbasaur swayed on his feet for a second before a lime green energy began to glow off of the grass type. Ash wasn't sure what was happening but a second later a wall of razor leaves blasted forward at Eevee who was unable to dodge fast enough and was sent to the ground with several cuts and bruises from the leaves and hard impact.
Ash picked at his ear as the wringing finally left, thinking about Bulbasaur's move pool it must have been Growth that caused the glow of energy and Razor Leaf's increase in power. Ash hadn't even thought to use the move, he was sure that if Bulbasaur hadn't then he would have lost.
It would seem that his decision to train in Pallet for a while was a good one, he still needed to polish his battling skills.
"That was great Bulbasaur!" Praised Ash as he returned the grass type. "Good battle Gary, your Eevee is well trained."
Gary returned his Eevee with a few words to the Pokéball before looking up at Ash.
"He's still young but I'm sure he'll evolve in the next few days, I've been working with him for the past two weeks." Gary didn't look upset at his loss as he reached for his next Pokémon.
Ash decided to use Blast, the dragon was anxious for a battle and he wouldn't hold him back any longer.
Blast landed on his side of the field with a controlled glide to the ground, he looked around at everyone in the area. His mother and Oak looked at Blast with appraising eyes while Gary seemed excited to see the dragon as he released his next Pokémon.
"He's been wanting a rematch for a while!" Called Gary as his Pokémon emerged from its ball.
Large angular wings were the first thing Ash noticed, then it was the two-tone light and dark green scales. Large red lenses covered narrowed eyes and a massive tail swung back and forth behind it. Ash grimaced as Gary's Flygon zeroed in on Blast with vengeance in its eyes.
Ash pushed down his worry at the sight of the dragon, Blast is powerful enough to match it and even beat it, so he wasn't going to give up before the battle began.
"Agility then Ice Beam!" Called Ash, they would need to stay away and pepper the Flygon from a distance if they were going to beat it.
Flygon blasted into the air with a single flap of its wings. Several sets of jagged Ice Beams were dodged by Flygon's skilled aerial maneuvers. Ash didn't know what Flygon and Gary were planning but he would need to take a more proactive approach if he wanted a chance to pull out a win against a fully evolved dragon.
"Dragon Dance then Ice Beam!"
Blast continued to finish his last Ice Beam before coiling tightly as seafoam colored energy emanated from all over his body as his natural power bolstered his physical capabilities.
While Blast was enhancing himself Flygon made its first move. It was far faster than Ash or Blast had anticipated, wreathed in golden energy it covered the distance in a blur.
Blast managed to cancel the dragon dance and avoid the full brunt of the Dragon Rush from Flygon but the growl from his dragon told him that he had taken quite the hit.
Icy mist fell from Blast's maw as a crackling jagged beam of energy tore through the air scoring a hit on Flygon getting a screech of pain.
Flygon's massive tail slammed into the ground and in the next moment the area beneath Blast exploded. Ash winced; he forgot the dragon in front of him was still an Earth Type.
"Ice beam again, agility into aqua tail." Commanded Ash. Gary across from him was speaking out his own orders that caused Flygon to blast into the sky.
Blast watched as his adversary swirled through the air before firing a flamethrower down at him. Instead of meeting the attack Blast slithered around the flames, minimizing the damage and returning fire with an Ice Beam. Flygon avoided damage to its chest from the attack but one of its wings was clipped causing it to lose altitude fast.
Not hesitating for a moment Blast slipped into agility meeting Flygon halfway with a glowing blue tail covered in swirling water. Flygon's head snapped to the side as Blast's aqua tail slapped it across the face.
The Flygon's tail punched the ground again causing the ground beneath Blast to swirl into a sand pit. As soon as Blast was being pulled in, all the while Ash was shouting for him to escape, Flygon slammed into the ground causing the whole arena to tremor.
Ash could only wince as a devastating Earthquake hammered into Blast in the worst possible position. Finally the shaking stopped, and Blast was able to get out of the ground, a bit wobbly but otherwise ready to rumble.
"Twister into Ice Beam."
Blast roared at his opponent who was charging up draconic energy in his maw for an attack. Before it could release its attack a spiraling storm of power spun into life around it. Flygon roared and forced itself to use its devastating tail to smash the twister out of existence and was met with an Ice Beam right to the face.
Flygon screamed in agony. Ash felt a bit bad that it was in so much pain but knew it wasn't out yet. Flygon's were extremely powerful Pokémon, they were the desert rulers of Hoenn after all.
Energy swirled around it and Ash shouted for more Ice Beams and a Dragon Rage.
As Flygon worked on its own Dragon Dance it ducked around the Ice beam and to Blast's shock and Ash's horror shot a Dragon Rage through Blast's. Ever since he was a small prideful Dratini, Blast's Dragon Rage had been his pride, stronger than most earning him the name Blast. Ash knew going against a fully realized dragon was a part of the outcome, but even he hadn't expected that.
As the ball of draconic energy slammed into Blast's scales, he let out a single Ice beam that hit Flygon in the chest before falling unconscious.
Ash shook his head, only Blast would face a fully evolved dragon head on and go down swinging. He returned his faithful dragon to his ball to rest, and spied a weakened and exhausted Flygon flying at the ready.
"Your Flygon is pretty good, Blast isn't going to take that lying down." Ash called over to Gary.
Gary smirked, "Flygon has used his loss to Blast as motivation for a while, they're tied up now 1-1, I think the conference will hold their tie breaker."
Ash grinned at hearing that, he was fully intending for Blast the Dragonite to tear through everything at the Indigo Plateau. But that was then this was now and despite being at a disadvantage he knew who could take this one.
A synthetic roar followed by a wave of determination emanated from Metang as he emerged from his ball. Psychic energy coiled tightly around the psychic-steel type, Ash grinned at seeing one of his best battlers looking so ready to go.
His mom cheered at the sight and Professor Oak looked like he was holding back a smirk, Ash wasn't sure why, but he turned back to a frowning Gary.
"Flygon took down Blast, Psyshock then Meteor Mash to finish."
Metang hovered forward while Flygon swooped into the air before going to slam its tail into the earth for what would be a devastating attack on Metang. Right before it could, a crackling pink bolt hit its tail knocking it away from the ground misbalancing it. Such precise aim was possible to Ash allowing Metang to make the aiming calculations on the best target rather than calling it, he'd leave it up to the supercomputer brain to make decisions like that.
Gold and Silver energy exploded into life around Metang's arms, flakes of deep red sparked from the center most focus point of the attack as Meteor Mash came to life stronger and brighter than ever before. The cone of power sliced through the air at incredible speeds before slamming into Flygon, who was building up a Flamethrower, with a devastating crash.
Ash watched mesmerized as Flygon fell to the ground in a heap.
"Wow Metang that looked like it was perfected!" Ash shouted with glee.
Metang turned to Ash, Yes – Completed.
It was a mishmash of voices that sounded like they had been autotuned and deepened, but Ash heard it and before his very eyes a pulse of Psychic energy exploded from Metang. It was so powerful that the barriers around the battlefield shook, even the surrounding field and lab felt the tremor.
Metang exploded into dazzling light as its evolution began taking place. It was far brighter than any evolution he'd seen before. He spotted Gary watching in awe while his mother was suddenly recording with Professor Oak watching with a smile.
After a moment Metang was gone. What stood in his place was the hulking steel and psychic type that was known as Metagross. Four massive claw-like legs held its body up and a distinct aura of psychic energy wafted off if it life a haze. Ash could tell in an instant that Metagross's psychic abilities were several times better just from its evolution.
"You did it." Whispered Ash in awe. "You evolved Metagross! I'm so proud of you!"
Thank you.
Ash grinned; it was possible to understand his friend! This was such an amazing development, he never thought Metagross was ready to evolve already, he was assuming that he would need to push it in training while they were in Pallet.
Metagross suddenly teleported behind Ash.
Look Out!
Ash managed to turn in time to see several attacks headed his way, many poison in nature. He heard his mother scream in worry, Gary and Professor Oak shouted in alarm. Needless was their worry as Metagross effortlessly blocked and halted all the incoming attacks with his massive body and precise applications of psychic power.
"What is the meaning of this!" Thundered Professor Oak as he rushed forward, his Alakazam at his side.
Ash could only look in shock as he noticed dozens, upon dozens of Team Rocket members flood into the corral from different locations. Many were accompanied by Nidorino's, Golbat, Houndoom, and a variety of dark types. Ash noticed that many were headed deeper into the corral for all the Pokémon.
"We need to stop them!" Shouted Ash in anger.
He quickly released all of his team. Blast was groggy as he emerged from his ball looking around confused before growling at the sight of the Rockets. Hydro lowered himself and went to aim his canons forward towards his opponents. Ava screamed into the air, Pikachu and Umbreon next to Phanpy were looking around wildly.
"Pikachu, Umbreon protect Mom and Phanpy!" Ordered Ash.
"No!" Ordered Prof. Oak, "All of you stay back and protect the lab, I will handle these fools!" The level of authority carried behind his sponsors voice suddenly reminded him that this was a neigh undefeated Champion that chose to step down and commanded dragons.
Metagross shot off dense and crackling beams of energy, Ash vaguely recognized them as Psyshock that took down Golbat in droves.
Gary released his Snorlax, Venusaur, Nidoqueen and Syther to surround them from his side, he and Ash made eye contact and nodded. Of all the people Ash had come across he'd fully acknowledge that Gary was one of the few he'd want watching his back.
Professor Oak placed a hand on his Alakazam Internus' Head. From there the world trembled.
It was a deep rumbling roar, the sound made all of the Pokémon on Ash and Gary's team tense. Ash knew something terrible had woken in a rage, the air around them started to warm up and moments later, what appeared to be a meteor crashed into the center of many Rockets rushing towards the lab.
The Legendary Cornerstone of Oak's Champion team, Internus the Charizard arrived in his terrible glory. The heat emanating from his tail was so bright and hot that Ash could feel it dozens of meters away.
The fire that came from Internus wasn't an attack, no Ash couldn't call it a move. When Pokémon became elite level, or maybe even a bit before, they stopped being solely restricted to moves and used their powers more freely. The fire swept through all the Pokémon in an instant knocking them to the ground in smoldering cinders.
From the south end of Pallet a scream echoed into the air followed by many more as spouts of water were seen blasting into the air. Ferox the Gyarados had arrived and was tearing through the Rockets with laughable ease.
Deeper in the corral Terra the Venusaur and Firmus the Machamp were taking down all their attackers while protecting the Pokémon inhabiting the corral. Ash could only watch in awe as four of Prof. Oak's Pokémon were tearing through dozens of Rockets and all their Pokémon effortlessly.
It was then that another Metagross slammed into the earth in front of Ash and the others. Prof. Oak still had his hand on Internus with his eyes closed and didn't even flinch. Ash and Delia, who just arrived at his side, along with Gary on the other side of Prof. Oak reared back in shock.
Right as Ash went to issue a command for his Metagross to attack a golden blur crashed into the enemy Metagross with the force of a bomb. Ash and the others had to turn their heads from the shockwave and were nearly knocked to their backs if it weren't for his Metagross supporting them with its psychic energy.
Draco the Dragonite finally arrived at Prof. Oaks side.
It wasn't even a battle between the two apex Pokémon of the Kanto and Hoenn regions. Draco was ruthless with Fire based attacks and a dragon pulse that shook Ash's bones on impact.
A fire missile slammed into Metagross taking it off its feet knocking it out of the fight. Ash grinned at the sight of Certus the Arcanine who stood at attention before shooting off so fast that a sonic boom was heard throughout the corral.
He commands them effortlessly.
Ash turned to Metagross ready to ask what he meant then snapped his attention to Prof. Oak who was still holding his hand to Internus' head with closed eyes. Ash couldn't believe he hadn't figured it out before, he was commanding all of his team mentally through Internus.
Not even thirty minutes later all the rockets that hadn't managed to escape were round up and bound by Terra's vines and help unconscious by Internus' hypnosis. Ash and Gary had called back all their Pokémon, not seeing a need for them to remain out and tense.
Prof. Oak glared at the gather Rockets with a frown, the Metagross had been teleported away the instant it was defeated along with whoever its trainer was.
Ash and the others were off to the side.
"That was insane." Muttered Ash. "Why would Team Rocket attack Pallet Town?"
Gary glared at the ground, "The Pokémon in the corral. Ours are strong and live there as well as many rare Pokémon that Gramps and the others were researching and studying."
"Then why such a weak offensive? They put up much more of a fight on the St. Anne."
Gary glared at him for the reminder of the disastrous ship event before responding, "Maybe they forgot how capable Gramps is, he was a champion a long time ago after all."
Prof. Oak and Delia made their way over to Ash and Gary, "The police and the League are on their way. This was a test and one not likely to repeat anytime soon."
Gary leaned forward, "What did they come for? You have to be working on something they desperately want."
Ash glanced at Gary for a moment to look at the Professor with questioning eyes.
Prof. Oak sighed, "You're right, it's a project for the league and they are the original owners. I need to make sure the facilities are strong, and my work is protected. There is a chance they attack again." With that he glanced to Internus who teleported them away.
Ash sighed and sat down on the ground, "What a day."
Gary fell back with a grunt, "Let's call out battle a draw." He groaned, "I think this has been enough excitement for one day."
Ash could only nod in agreement.
END CHAPTER.
Been waaaaay too long. For that you have my most sincere apologies. From the bottom of my heart. I never ever intended for this to practically die. It will be updated and continued I swear as was always my intention.
Sad part I had 10k words written from back in 2019 and finished up the last 3k in the last week. I just couldn't figure out how to do the raid, it was supposed to showcase that Prof. Oak was a literal monster of a trainer and show was a champ was capable of. I know it seems shot, that was on purpose, Oak didn't need effort to drive off a probing raid like that.
Ash and team will recover from the attack, train in Pallet, then set off for badges 7 & 8 all the while the Team Rocket problem reaches a boiling point at the league while the Rockets recover from a horrible raid and regroup.
I don't know when the next update is, I will be writing out an outline of the remaining badges and league. Then hopefully get the next part out soon.
I need some suggestions on OC trainers as well as what you think Sabrina and Giovanni should have for their teams, 5 each.
Ash's Team:
Hydro/ Blastoise:
Move Set: Tail Whip, Tackle, Water Gun, Rapid Spin, Withdraw, Water Pulse, Scald, Ice Beam, Brick Break, Protect, Iron Defense, Ice Punch, Skull Bash, Hydro Pump, Blizzard.
Ava/Pidgeot:
Move Set: Sand Attack, Peck, Quick Attack, Wing Attack, Gust, Steel Wing, Roost, Brave Bird, Aerial Ace, Twister.
Combo Moves: Hard Right: combo of Quick Attack, Wing Attack, Steel Wing.
Umbreon:
Move Set: Leer, Tackle, Quick Attack, Agility, Iron Tail, Moonlight, Confusion, Dark Pulse, Bite, Thunder Fang, Dig, Toxic, Confuse Ray.
Combo Moves: Blitz Tail: Combo of Agility, Quick Attack and Iron Tail.
Blast/Dragonair:
Move Set: Leer, Wrap, Thunderwave, Twister, Dragon Rage, Dragon Dance, Agility, Iron Tail, Aqua Tail, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Dragon Rush.
Metagross:
Move Set: Take Down, Confusion, Metal Claw, Psychic, Psyshock, Flash Cannon, Earthquake, Meteor Mash (not mastered), Zen Headbutt, Rock Slide.
Pikachu:
Move Set: Tail Whip, Thundershock, Thunderwave, Growl, Quick Attack, Agility, Iron Tail, Electro Ball, Swift, Thunderbolt.
Combo Moves: Blitz Tail
Special Moves: Thunder Gavel: Charging a Thunderbolt into Pikachu's body at the same time as Iron Tail, then releasing the electrical energy at the exact moment the steel type attack strikes for a powerful hammer strike.
Charizard:
Move Set: Scratch, Growl, Ember, Smokescreen, Dragon Rage, Flamethrower, Metal Claw, Dragon Claw, Fire Punch, Twister, Wing Attack.
Snor/Snorlax:
Move Set: Defense Curl, Yawn, Rest, Body Slam, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Hyper Beam, Giga Impact, Thunder Punch, Shadow Ball, Earthquake.
Bulbasaur:
Moves Set: Tackle, Growl, Vine Whip, Growth, Leech Seed, Razor Leaf.
Ability: Overgrow, Chlorophyll .
Phanpy:
Moves Set: Tackle, Defense Curl, Odor Sleuth, Growl.
Ability: Pickup.
Gary's Team: Venusaur, Pidgeot, Alakazam, Gyarados, Nidoqueen, Arcanine, Machoke, Haunter, Snorlax, Magneton, Dodrio, Rhydon, Electabuzz, Eevee, Flygon, Seadra.
Prof. Oak's Team:
Alakazam: Internus, (latin for internal, inward, domestic, mental and intrinsic)
Charizard: Ignis, (latin for fire, light, heat, flame, and pyre)
Dragonite: Draco (latin for dragon, snake, serpent, draco)
Venusaur: Terra (latin for earth, ground, soil, territory and earth)
Machamp: Firmus (latin for firm, solid, steadfast, steady and unyielding)
Arcanine: Certus (latin for loyal, reliable, certain, and sure)
Gyarados: Ferox (latin for wild, warlike, headstrong and dauntless)