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"Pokémon" – Normal Speech

'Pokémon' – Thoughts

Pokémon – Flashback

Pokémon – Move Names

{Pokémon} – Pokédex

Ash, the Iron Trainer

One Hell of a Reunion

Previously on Ash the Iron Trainer,

"This is called growing up, young man." Wikstrom finally spoke up while his audience was still silent. "At one point in your life, in ways too numerous to count, it will seem that the world has turned their back on you. They left in the dust, in the dark and alone in hot water. But those who hold onto their dreams, never lose their faith and don't change are the…"

"What?" Ash muttered like a dumped man after a date turning sour. He sensed that Wikstrom was trailing off to test Ash even further. "Brave, smart, skilled, the prefect trainer?"

"More like the prefect fool." Ash cringed terribly to hear such a word from Wikstrom. "Those who think that you must always change, or not change at all are idiots. Fools. Poor excuses for human beings." Ash felt like he suddenly became a statue and that his body was crumbling. "But you are not a fool. You changed yourself when you arrived here in Kalos. You changed for your close friend. And more importantly, you changed for all; especially for your Pokémon. They were not weak, or useless; they are the strongest any of us have ever faced."

"Then this defeat…" Ash muttered before losing his voice again.

"Will teach you something important. Experience both brings the power and skill as well enhances both for a trainer and his team." Wikstrom picked off. "And while you might find it easy to give up, you need to know this. Every one of us lost more than won in the past, all before becoming the Elite Four. Because defeat taught us more about battling than victories and even training."

"…" Ash was silent again, taking all this in. Until he felt something small lick his cheek. It was his Pikachu, looking as sad and downhearted as he was. Ash still didn't say a word, just hugged Pikachu gently. And after another long moment, "So what now?"

"Now?" Drasna spoke up this time.

"You will return to Kalos with your team and your friends." Siebold answered.

"Because we have a new contender to take the place of Malva and someday, become something much bigger." Wikstrom added and gave his hand for Ash. "Come on, Iron Trainer. It is time for you to learn more about Pokémon than you can possibly imagine."

Ash thought hard on it while staring at Wikstrom metal glove. Then he took the hand and shook it. "Teach us."

XXXXX

"Sorry about the trouble we caused for you and your store." Ash then bowed to the shop owner tried his best to be polite since the crowd was glaring at to be so.

"It's nothing! Nothing! Just where did you go? I thought that my mirrors were harmless." The shop owner said. But instead of an quick and straight answer,

"It is a story that will take all day. What is important is that we can now expect the fog around Kalos to lift in another two weeks." Ash answered and then left with a hand on Serena's shoulder. The crowd soon forgot about the whole thing and began to follow the pair like lost ducklings. Meanwhile, the owner of the tent and the mirrors was told by the Officer Jennies to pack up and set shop somewhere else; he never argued, crowds are always bad for business when they have you grabbed by the collar.

And two weeks later, the fog that came along with Ash, his Pikachu and a create filled with Pokémon eggs had started to fade. Ash and Serena were witnessing this from the port of Coumarine City. "It is time." Serena just nodded with a content smile on her face; apparently, she was like a newborn kitten to Ash's hand on her hair. "Time to find the doomed S.S. Anne. My friends are still on it, needing our rescue."

In the dark of the night and in the sunken ship, trainers were at the end of their rope as they don't know what to do. They could only hope that while the ship, currently upside down, can retain its balance until they can get some of their Pokémon to bring them out of the St Anne. At their feet were Pokémon out of their Pokéballs; a Chamander, a Bulbasaur, and a Squirtle, and a couple more.

There was a Butterfree, final evolution of the common and harmless Caterpie, floating near the ceiling that seemed to look the floor of a ship's deck. Butterfree resembles a vaguely anthropomorphic butterfly with a purple body. Unlike true insects, it only has two body segments and four light blue legs. The upper pair of legs resemble small, three-fingered hands, while the lower pair resemble long, digit-less feet. Butterfree has two black antennae, a light blue snout with two fangs underneath, and large, red compound eyes. Its two pairs of veined wings are white with black accents. The oval scales of a female Butterfree's lower wings are black, but white in males.

Butterfree's wings are covered with poisonous powders that fall off continuously as it flies. This powder repels water, enabling it to gather honey even in the rain. Butterfree will roam up to six miles from its nest in search of honey, which it carries with the hairs of its legs. It also consumes sap from trees pierced by Heracross. Butterfree is found in forests, but has also been observed flying near the ocean as part of its migratory breeding pattern.

The other Pokémon airborne in the hallway was a Pidgeotto, the evolved form of the also common Pidgey. Pidgeotto is a raptor-like avian Pokémon. It is covered with brown feathers, and has a cream-colored face, underside, and flight feathers. It has a crest of pinkish-red feathers on its head and black, angular markings behind its eyes. The plumage of its tail has alternating red and yellow feathers with ragged tips. Its beak and legs are pink. Two of its toes point forward, while one points backward. Additionally, it has powerful, sharp talons that it uses to grasp prey.

Pidgeotto is a powerful flier capable of carrying prey several miles to its nest. It has amazing vision, which helps it locate preferred prey Pokémon such as Exeggcute and Magikarp. Pidgeotto claims a sprawling territory of more than 60 miles, which it defends fiercely. Its nest is usually in the center of its territory and it circles its territory throughout the day, looking out for food and intruders. It is most often found in forests. Gust and Feather Dance are its former signature moves.

As for the trainers, one of them was a girl who wore a yellow and loose sleeveless shirt, blue shorts that had overalls attached and was about Ash's age. Another trainer was a large and tanned skin man who had brown spiky hair and eyes that appear to be shut closed; he wore an orange and black toned vest, a light green shirt, gray long pants and blue shoes. There was another trainer as well that had a face and hair style that screamed arrogance; his outfit was actually very neutral about it and composed of a light green back on his shoulder, a blue long sleeve shirt that seems to cover an orange shirt, black pants and a necklace with a Tao symbol but in green and yellow. In order, their names are Misty of the Cerulean City's Water Type Gym, Brock of the Pewter City's Rock Type Gym and Gary Oak of Pallet Town.

"Are you telling me that dobe had fallen over board and left his Pokémon with you!? What kind of trainer does that!?" Gary acted like he wanted to scold Ash on being an irresponsible trainer but internally, he wanted Ash to be around so that the former can shove the facts into the latter's face like he always did ever since they started that rivalry years ago.

The strange thing was this, "If you were on the ship then why did you stay instead of run?" Brock said with a heated tone. He, like Misty, didn't care for Gary's attitude; he could easily see how Ash used to be oppressed by the grandson of Kanto's Professor Oak and hated the boy.

"Please, we have a headache since we can't even touch the windows without water spilling in." The three trainers groaned at another voice and turned to see another trio. One that was a man, a woman and a talking Meowth; and their have the worse sense of fashion. They were the washed-up trio belonging to the group of thieves that call themselves, Team Rocket.

"I am surprised that you three are still here." Misty snapped at Team Rocket. "It's bad enough that Ash and his Pikachu went overboard, his Pokéballs were left behind, we have to share space with a jerk and now we have to it all with you three." Team Rocket growled but didn't set off just yet,

"For once, you can't blame this on us twerp. We didn't send that little twerp off the ship or even touch one of his Pokéballs." Meowth spoke (I can't do the New York accent like in the Anime). "But what we need to do is find a way off the ship. These two idiots already tried to use Acid from Ekans on the floor…"

"YOU DID WHAT!?" This time, Jessie and James, of Team Rocket, didn't have anything to say for themselves. And now, there was the uneasy atmosphere again but with loud scolding added to the mix; just when anyone thought that it couldn't get any worse. They soon eat those words when the ship started to shake, violently.

"Now what did you two do!?" Misty shouted at Team Rocket who just shook their heads and waved their hands in defiance. But instead of scolding, it was time for screaming when the ship also turned another 180, sending the trainers and Pokémon toppling back to the deck real hard. Still, they had no time to recover and relax when the ship started to ascend rapidly; at the rate in which, they all were forced face down into the deck itself.

After what seemed to be forever, the ship halted. This, of course, caused the remaining passengers to toss and tumble around once again. "JUST WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?" Gary shouted and everyone moaned to the sheer volume; seriously, Gary sounded almost as bad as Misty.

"Sorry about that. If we weren't so careful, you will be hearing bones breaking instead of boys shrieking like banshees." A stranger's vice had gotten their attention and they all turned to see a pair of people in armor as well as a Pikachu and an Eevee dressed in a similar fashion to fit its small stature; and all four of them were wearing facial masks which left only their eyes as the only visible feature.

"You did this!? You are just a bunch of losers in those stupid costumes!" Gary suddenly got into one of the stranger's face. But the man in armor didn't budge, neither did his Pokémon and companion, which got Gary to flume slightly. That is until,

"Hello to you too Gary, nice to hear how you say 'thank you' after so long." The grandson of Professor Oak was wondering why this 'stranger' was being so casual and familiar with him. Then it clicked in his 'genius' mind,

"ASHY-BOY!?" His company soon adopted his widen eyes, with mouths dropped to the deck. The trio just chuckled at once,

"I am no boy. None of us are kids anymore, Gare Bear."

XXXXX

There was an awkward silence. His old friends (not counting Gary of course) and his old Pokémon couldn't believe what they were seeing. Ash Ketchum, who left his home at the age of ten and journeyed with them for a several days, now is twice as old, even more than Brock. And Pikachu looks to be the same. But they had nothing on the Eevee or the woman by Ash's side, with the Evolution Pokémon riding on her shoulder.

But while the trainers couldn't speak for themselves, Ash's old Pokémon walked up to his feet. Ash was tall for sure but now he looks more like a giant, at twice his height. "Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Butterfree, Pidgeotto…It has been a while. I guess that I owe you the apology of the century huh?" Instead, they all charged into Ash, actually knocking him down playfully.

"Still have that touch of yours, huh Ashy?" Serena teased Ash and his old friends noticed that the boy-turned-man didn't respond to that nickname as bad as when Gary did it; instead, he took it with a stubborn huff that got Serena to giggle as the sight. And it was hard not to, a man dressed in armor dogpiled by Pokémon who embraced him like he was their older brother.

It took a long moment for the atmosphere to settle down a margin. Until, "Ash? We you responsible for the S.S. Anne resurfacing? We didn't hear any boats and no trainer can do it on his own?" Misty asked and Ash made an eye smile with his face mask hiding most emotions. But instead of a spoken answer, everyone got something better.

"Gliscor!" Ash shouted, taking out a strange Pokéball. It was the same size and shape as a regular one but the color scheme was not the red, black and white pattern of the standard Pokéball. It was more like the colors of a marshland or a savanna.

Gliscor is a large, mainly blue-purple vampire bat-like Pokémon. Its legs have two toes and a slightly darker circular coloration on the underside, and its tail has two barbs, giving its tail the resemblance of a vampire's fangs. Its arms are red with thin striations, and are completely detached from its black wings, and each are ended with large pincers. Its ears have discernible, red, chambered ear insides, and its eyes are yellow. It has six visible fangs in its mouth, and its waist, like its arms, is red and striated. Gliscor's body resembles an open mouth, with the pointed protrusions coming from its upper torso resembling fangs, further illustrating its vampire-like qualities.

Gliscor, along with its unevolved form Gligar, can emit a sort of sound wave in order to detect obstacles and fly around them, similar to echolocation. Its legs appear to be not suitable for walking, so it can only perform short hops when on the ground. Gliscor hangs upside down while sleeping, much like most bat-like Pokémon, and it is nocturnal. It is capable of soundless flight; however, its wings cannot be flapped to the same extent that other Pokémon's wings can. Gliscor uses winds and updrafts to glide from place to place. When there is no wind, Gliscor climbs to the top of tall trees using its sharp raptorial claws and then glides from place to place. This practice is similar to flying squirrels. It is extremely rare, but sometimes it is found in thick pine forests and swamps.

"His ability to fly and use Strength helped a lot with the ship. Especially when he pulled all the chains that were attached on the deck." Ash said with a demonstrative gesture, as if to show off his vampire-looking Pokémon. And Gliscor himself looked a little overwhelmed by the praise. "Now for the others, meet them too!" Ash got everyone's attention from Gliscor and expertly took out four Pokéballs in one hand, opening them all at once.

"Porygon-Z!"

Porygon-Z does have a physical body. Its head is fuchsia and ovoid in shape with a short, blunt antenna protruding upwards and a blue bill similar to that of a duck. Its eyes are yellow and have black rings, similar to a bulls-eye. The head is completely detached from the body and floats slightly above it. Its smooth, ovoid body is fuchsia with a blue ring connecting its arms. Two arms are loosely connected to its upper body and other than their blue color, have no features. The tail is also blue and featureless, but slightly resembles a paddle.

Porygon-Z was given additional software in order to increase its abilities. The initial idea was to give it the ability to travel through alien dimensions, but an error occurred. Instead, the Pokémon began acting erratically. Porygon-Z, and its pre-evolutions are the only known Pokémon that can learn Conversion and Conversion 2.

"Girafarig!"

Girafarig is a hoofed quadruped Pokémon with a long neck. There is a white blaze on its muzzle, which ends with its round, pink nose. It has two horns with bulbous tips on top of its head. Its front half is yellow with black spots, while its back half is black with yellow spots. The female Girafarig has a smaller dark section than the male. There are many triangular, pink spikes along its back.

Girafarig's tail possesses a head of its own. The tail's head has yellow eyes, a mouth full of sharp teeth, and a small brain. However, this head is incapable of independent thinking and relies on outside stimuli such as smell to guide its actions. If the tail smells something alluring, it will bite. The tail often mimics the head during feeding, and is able to warn the Pokémon of danger if it is sleeping. Girafarig lives in wide-open plains, where it feeds on the plant life.

"And Bronzong!"

Bronzong is a large Pokémon resembling a blue-green bell with two arms coming out of its sides. It has a hollow body and a yoke attached at the top. Its face can be best described as being a "Totem Pole" design; Bronzong has two round, red eyes with blue-green irises and a rectangular mouth with one visible row of square teeth. It has several darker, rectangular markings on its body. It can summon rain clouds, which earned it the nickname "bringer of plentiful harvests". The first known Bronzong was dug up at a construction site.

"While Gliscor did do some physical labor to get the ship up right, these guys each used Psychic to do the rest." Ash explained his team while everyone got busy checking out Ash's exotic and 'new' Pokémon, at least in their context. It was amazing to them, specimens of species that can't normally be found in Kanto; except for the Porygon-Z, the Kanto trainers each had a good hunch as to the Normal type, from which this strange one evolves.

Still, the surprises kept coming. "Now for the one keeping this ship afloat, look outside." Ash pointed to a window with his thumb. This caused a little brawl for who gets to look out but eventually they do and they see something large and blue like the ocean, holding the entire S.S. Anne above the sea. It was a Wailord.

Wailord is a huge Pokémon based on the blue whale. It has small beady eyes, a huge mouth, and a throat that is lined with grooves. It has a blue back with and four white spots, and a tan, grooved underbelly. It has two pairs of fins along its sides and a horizontal tail at the back.

When it is jumping out of the water, it makes a giant splash due to its large size. It can dive deep at 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) in one breath. It lives in the sea in large groups called pods. A pod of Wailord travels together in order to search for food, and is able to eat large quantities at one time. It is the tallest known Pokémon.

"That Pokémon is Serena's, she still treats her like a baby." Ash added, for good measure. And, while only he could tell, Ash had gotten Serena to blush a little under her face mask. She didn't try to fight it and got comfy somehow, hugging Ash's armored arm like a lifeline.

"Aw~!" Gary saw this and he couldn't resist giving into his habit of trying to embarrass his fellow trainers, both to show his 'superiorly' and to get his rivals to make mistakes. "Looks like Ashy-Boy has a girlfriend~! I bet that she is dating you because of that stupid, real-like costume of yours~!" Gary than laughed at his teasing, the final touch, only that nobody was laughing along or steaming like a teapot. As soon as Gary noticed this, he stopped his laughing to get a better look at Ash.

"Dating?" Ash finally spoke up and looked at Serena for a moment, before they chuckled slightly. "Sure we dated, but we are much further than that. I am more than her boyfriend and she is more than my girlfriend." Ash kept bouncing around the question until Serena finally gave the big answer,

"He is my husband~! I am Ash's wife~!" Serena returned the same, teasing tone that Gary amateurly tried to use in order to get under their skin. Instead, Serena sounded like a little girl whose birthday had been extended to a week rather than a single day. And the couple just loved the group response.

"WHATTT!?" This trip was going to be a long one, that's for sure.

XXXXX

Once the S.S. Anne was in sights, the sounds of smaller boats racing on the water surface was to be heard. Ash, Serena and their Pokémon companions had a good idea of who those were. Meanwhile, the others took a peek out of the portholes to see the port of Coumarine City in the horizon and speedboats surrounding the S.S. Anne.

"ATTENTION, ATTENTION!" One of the sailors came out into view with a megaphone in hand, "WE RECEIVED A REPORT ABOUT THE SUNKEN S.S. ANNE ARRIVING HERE IS THIS SHIP THE VERY ONE THAT SANK IN A STORM!?"

It was torture to hear such volume but it was necessary to get the attention of anyone on the ship. The ones looking out of the portholes were about speak up when, "This ship is the one, Officer Jenny!" That was Ash's voice and everyone turn to see that he was shouting, in all his glory, from the top deck of the S.S. Anne. "Has a tolling ship and a ferry for Kanto been arranged yet?!"

Team Rocket then realized what Ash said, addressing the sailor with the megaphone. Officer Jenny means Police, and to Team Rocket, Police means arrests and time in jail. This caused them to panic and retreat back into the hallway. But when the Kanto group noticed Team Rocket's behavior, they tried to do the same but Team Rocket had vanished, like they were there! Guess that those three idiots were good for something, no wonder they haven't been fired yet.

"Hey hurry up!" Ah yelled again from outside the ship hallway but it sounded like he was below them this time. Looking out the portholes, Ash and his company were already on one of the speedboats. "You need to get off because the S.S. Anne is going roughly handled again! And Serena needs to give her Wailord a break!"

The Kanto trainers and Pokémon couldn't believe what they were seeing but they did notice a couple of towing ships come at both ends of the S.S. Anne so they hurried over to one of the exits. And they got on another one of the speedboats using a rope and hook to slide down out of the wrecked ship.

"Thanks Wailord! Take a rest!" The Kanto group was glad to get off the S.S. Anne since the ship shook hard when the Wailord turned into red energy and fit inside the standard Pokéball all the same. Thankfully, the S.S. Anne didn't sink into the ocean again; instead she was being towed by a pair of tow boats, like the ones Ash just asked of Officer Jenny.

Later,

"Vermilion City sure has changed a lot. I didn't know that we spent a lot of time from Kanto, not this much." Gary remarked as he and the others got off Officer Jenny's speedboat, she sent off to get back to her patrol duties. Misty and Brock and Ash's old Pokémon marveled at the port they were walking on. That is, until they heard laughing behind them and soon, the natives that happed to be on the port also laughed; they heard what Gary said about their home city.

"What is so funny!?" Gary wasn't the type to be laughed at, he half expected everyone to marvel at his presences like in Kanto. Too bad for him, Gary had made a very ridiculous look on his face when he had that outburst; it only made every laugh harder.

"We are laughing because that is the most ridiculous statement we ever heard. And especially coming from you." Ash answered while trying to control his laughing fit. "But we will be cruel to leave you in the dark, because this region is not Kanto."

None of the foreign trainers spoke a word, rather they kept their mouths open like dead fish and their eyes were dead too. Wait until they learn more on what they missed. "Gary, Misty, Brock and Pokémon…" Ash started, getting his wife and their companions together; like when they are about to make a group photo. Then, with the forest & the mountains & the desert in the background, Ash spoke. "Welcome to Kalos."

End of Story.

*And here you have it! The last chapter of Ash the Iron Trainer! And that means I can begin the sequel which is really a very long flashback as to where Ash and Serena had disappeared too in the tent of mirrors on the last chapter. You can pretty much guess, if you have seen my profile.

To be honest, I planned to have Team Rocket appear much earlier in this story. I had envisioned them finding themselves in Kalos somehow, meeting up with Ash and Serena when the two trainers first return to Lumiose City. But now I am having them remain on the sunken S.T. Anne.

Now that is done and said, hope you enjoy it because I have been having embarrassingly slow progress on it. I wanted to get it completed before my Spring semester at Mason starts. Enjoy the New Year! *

Pokémon on Hand;

Ash – Pikachu (Male), Aegislash (Male), Bisharp (Male), Mawile (Female), Durant (Female), Greninja (Female), Yveltal (Genderless), Porygon-Z (Genderless), Gliscor (Female), Girafarig (Female) and Bronzong (Genderless).

Serena – Delphox (Female), Marowak (Male), Kangaskhan (Female), Xerneas (Genderless), Wailord (Female) and Dragonite (Female).

Off Hand;

Ash – Ledian (Female), Alakazam (Female), Smeargle (Male), Sableye (Male), Lucario (Male), Luvdisc (Male), Talonflame (Male), Gogoat (Male), Lapras (Female), Ferrothorn (Female), Gourgiest (Female), Shuckle (Male), Blastoise (Male), Slurpuff (Female), Poliwrath (Male), Abomasnow (Male), Rotom (Female), Banette (Female), Chesnaught (Male), Scyther (Female), Ursaring (Female), Dragonair (Male), Hydreigon (Female), Snorlax (Male), Charizard (Male), Venusaur (Female), Ditto (Genderless), Bulbasaur (Male), Chamander (Male), Squirtle (Female), Butterfree (Male), Pidgeotto (Female) and Metagross (Genderless). {Rest will be explained in the sequel}

Serena – Furfrou (Male), Aromatisse (Male), Audino (Female), Luvdisc (Female), Plusle & Minun (Female), Weavile (Female), Gourgiest (Male), Ditto (Genderless), Mr. Mime (Female), Altaria (Male), Swablu (Female), and Politoed (Female). {The rest will be explained in the sequel}