Hey! It's Duder-Skanks again, returning to bring you another wonderful piece of fanfiction. This 'masterpiece' is the result of me wondering what would happen if Anabel came along with Ash and if he kept the skills, strategies, common sense, skills, and maturity from the past 9 seasons. Before anyone asks, yes this was inspired by Thomas3Garchomp's stories Fighting Alone and Working Hoenn with Skill. And yes, I will still work on Phantom League, I just need some inspiration(read: re-watch the episodes) and a Beta-Reader(BADLY).
Steven: Would you stop plugging and hurry up!
Alright, jeez! Anyway, I don't own Pokémon, or I could promise you that the male leads would get more screentime(read: get screentime)
Steven: Don't forget me!
Oh, and Steven too.(Can't believe they only gave him one episode, He's awesome!) There'd also be more Flygon and Mudkipz.( i liek)
I am going to retain the right to remove filler and make up my own without warning(Though I will usually give a heads up)
"Speech" "Go, Godchu!
'Thought' 'He won't be able to stop my game-breaking powers'
'Telepathy'(Private) 'Lucario, stop it in its tracks with Aura Storm!'
"Telepathy"(Public) "Watch the power of Aura!"
"Pikachu, use Volt Tackle! Full Strength!" The yellow rodent burst into an electrical aura as it ran full speed towards the ice golem on the frozen floor.
"Regice, stop it with Ice Beam!" The legendary Pokémon fired the attack and looked to have hit its mark, based on the smoke that resulted from the explosion.
"It's over, that attack was unavoidable." Tucker, the Dome Ace, said.
"I wouldn't be to sure," the owner of the Battle Factory replied. "He was able to defeat my Articuno on his first try, and from what I heard, was able to put up a fight against Agatha's Gengar."
"Yes, that's why I originally let him take the Battle Frontier challenge. He was heading back from competing in the Ever Grande Conference, and he's placed in at least the top sixteen in the Indigo League and the Silver Conference. He also defeated Drake to win the Orange League Cup, but they haven't been declared an official league by the World Committee yet." Scott answered. The Frontier Brains were all talking as they waited for the cloud to dissipate from the attacks colliding. The only one who was quiet during this was Anabel as she silently prayed that Pikachu was alright. Ash smirked as he saw a small glint.
"Thunder." Was the only thing he said as a large bolt of lightning evaporated the cloud and flew towards Regice, striking it and causing it to groan in pain. What was revealed was the mouse surrounded by shattered ice, panting as tiny sparks flew off of it.
"Amazing! He used to cloak of electricity to shield Pikachu from the blast while simultaneously boosting the Thunder's strength." The bellowing of the titan interrupted them as it shuddered before falling to the floor with a deafening thud.
"Regice is unable to battle, Pikachu wins. And the victor of the match and winner of the Brave Symbol is Ash from Pallet Town!" The arena was silent for a minute before it was pierced by cheering.
"All right!"
"You did it!"
"Way to go Ash!" Ash looked up to see all of his friends up in the stands congratulating him. He turned around to see Brandon returning his Regice. He walked over and stood before Ash.
"For your victory over me in the Battle Pyramid, I present you with the Brave Symbol. Ash took it and held it in his palm.
"All right, I got the Brave Symbol!" Brandon chuckled as he saw the young trainer talk with his friends and the Frontier Brains.
"I've got some empty rooms we could use for a party if you want, a completion of the Battle Frontier is definitely something to celebrate."
"Thanks Brandon, we really appreciate that."
An hour later, Ash was standing outside looking at the setting sun from atop the cliff. Scott had just offered him the position of the head of his own Battle Facility. He had asked for some time to think about it and took the opportunity to slip outside, but not before noticing Charizard and Sceptile exchanging greetings with each other. He smiled at the thought of two of his most powerful Pokémon talking to each other and silently wondered what it was about. He sighed as he scratched Pikachu's ear and looked at him.
"I just don't know buddy, if we accept, then this will be the last journey we go on. But the chance to run a battling facility and have a secure future is very tempting; I just don't know what to do."
"You don't need to decide now, Scott leaves the offer open incase you change your mind. It's always open." Ash turned around to see Anabel walking towards him with Espeon by her side.
"Anabel! I didn't notice you there. Shouldn't you be at the party with everyone else?"
"Shouldn't you? This whole party is to celebrate your victory. I'm out here to get some fresh air, mind if I sit down here?"
"Not at all." The two sat down as Espeon ran off to play with Pikachu.
"So, Scott gave you the offer too. Can't say I'm surprised, you're definatly something special."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that you've been in three League tournaments now and placed in at least the top sixteen in each of them. Scott also told us about how you beat Drake and conquered the Orange League. There are few trainers who have done all the things that you have, and even fewer who have all the Pokemon that you have."
"I never thought about it that way. I always just went where I felt like or where people asked me to go. But I haven't really had time to prepare for the future. My journeys have caused me to wonder what I'll do in the future, whether or not I'll be able to start a family. In five years of travel I've never found the answers to these questions. I've never found someone that I'd want to spend the rest of my life with." Ash's musings were cut off as a loud noise was heard followed by the sound of flapping wings. The two looked up to see a redhaired man descending on top of a Dragonite. "Lance!" Ash exclaimed as he ran over to greet the champion.
'He knows the Kanto Elite Four leader/Johto champion?' Anabel wondered as she walked jumped off Dragonite when it was five feet from the ground and landed in a crouch before standing up.
"Hey Ash, I heard that you were fighting Brandon and came to give me and Clair's support, but it looks like you didn't need it. So let me say that all of the gym leaders of Johto congratulate you. Oh yeah, Clair wanted me to tell you that she wants to battle you again sometime."
"I'd love to."
"Ash, how do you know Lance?"
"We first met up at the Lake of Rage when we were dealing with Team Rocket's forced evolution machine."Lance was quick to add.
"Don't forget about the Groudon and Kyogre incident six months ago. Thanks again for that, you guys are a large part of why Team Aqua and Magma were taken down. We couldn't have done it without you. Oh, Ash, on my way here I met someone who said they wanted to meet you again."
"Who?" He felt a tugging on the leg of his pants and looked down to see a small green creature. "Larvitar!" he said while picking it up "it's good to see you again. How have you been?"
"Lar-Larvitar!" Anabel smiled as she read its feelings.
"It seems that you two have a close bond, this is easily one of the happiest Pokémon I've met and it's not even yours." Ash blushed as he scratched behind his head.
"Yeah well, I was taking his egg back to his mother at Mt. Silver when it hatched and I was the only person that Larvitar trusted. Pokémon just feel calmer and happier around me."
"Well it looks like you inspired this one because this is easily one of the strongest Larvitars I've seen in all my life. And a champion's job requires constantly looking for strong Pokémon to battle or catch." They stopped chatting when they heard bickering voices coming from the ledge.
"I told you that we should have gone through the forest."
"Shut up, James. This will get us up quicker, or at least it would if you didn't keep stopping for breaks!"
"Would you two dimwits be quiet! We're almost at the top and then we can rest." They stared as the Team Rocket trio pulled themselves up and fell to the ground panting.
"What are you three doing here?" The trio looked up only to gain panicked looks on their faces as they saw who was outside with them.
"You know what, twerp, can we just call a truce for today and tomorrow? We're dead tired from that climb and I don't feel like fighting a Frontier Brain and Champion either. We can only take one blasting-off a day."
"Fine, but we'll be keeping a close eye on you three. Try anything funny and you'll be facing the largest blast-off you've ever experienced in your lives."
"Yeah yeah, we got it. Hey, where's Meowth?" The six looked ten feet away to find the cat Pokémon talking with Larvitar.
"So is that right? Well, I'm glad one of us has had a productive year-and-a-half."
"Larvitar-Lar!"
"Is that right?" He looked over to Ash.
"Hey twerp, this here Larvitar wants to be your Pokémon."
"Really, are you sure Larvitar?" It replied by going through Ash's bag to find an empty Pokéball and tapped the front of it, disappearing inside with a red beam of light. Ash slowly bent down and picked up the ball. "Well, it looks like I just caught a Larvitar." He put the Pokéball into his jacket pocket as Anabel yawned. Lance noticed this.
"Why don't we all head inside. It's been a long day and I'd like to see what Pokémon you have with you, Ash.
"Sure thing, once we all get some sleep. C'mon you three, I doubt anyone will let you in unless you're with us."
"Coming!" they shouted as they hurried to keep up as they went inside. Lance looked at Anabel resting her head on Ash's shoulder as they walked and smiled.
'They'd make a cute couple.'
And we're done! As for questions, yes I added some guests to the battle. But in my defense, it's a big event to have someone trying to get their last Symbol and I think Scott knew that this would be the one. Yes, I intend for Ash's team to be different, I'm going to pretend that May caught Aipom and that it is in Hoenn with Prof. Birch or her dad annoying them(never liked that monkey). Any other questions I didn't answer are welcome to be asked in REVIEWS!(Yes, I'm desperate) But flames will be used as target practice for the Squirtle Squad.(like they need it)
I will also be needing suggestions for Anabel's team and possibly for Ash's as well, the sooner the better!
~Duder-Skanks