Hey guys. Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I've been rather busy. That, and my muse hasn't been flaring up at all lately. I've worked on some of my stories mind you, just nothing releasable.

I have 3.6k words done of the next Fox Turned Dragon chapter. 2.4k words written of the next Working Sinnoh With Skill Chapter. 1.8k words of A Master By Any Other Name written. And a good 3k words written for Digimon Hunter Naruto's next chapter as well.

I'm still building a lot of the plot and the like for Digimon – Dawn Of The Eternal Dusk. But I've got most of the prologue for it already written out. So have no fear, while it's been slow going I haven't just been sitting on my ass.

So here it is guys. Working Hoenn With Skill! Alot of people have requested I write this story, and while watching the anime the inspiration for this chapter just came to me so I decided to write it out. Took me a good few hours, but at least I finished it.

I've actually spent a lot of my time playing Pokemon X. I've went through loads of teams, but haven't had one that's stuck with me completely so far. But, I've decided that I'm gonna make team based on Ash's Pokemon in my stories.

(Spoiler here, skip it if you don't wanna see the revealed lists of Pokemon that I've decided on)

My first team, that I haven't finished building yet in Pokemon X is going to be Ash's first team of six in A Master By Any Other Name. First, and most obviously is Arcanine, and next is Staraptor. Another member of the team will be the Red Gyarados, and I've already got them all. Yep, I've got a shiny Gyarados although annoying as it is it's a female one. The other three I've not got yet, considering I've only got another two Pokemon picked out for this team. I'm wanting Ash to capture the Shiny Metagross from the anime and a shiny Umbreon. Sadly, I've had no luck getting them in the games. None of my friends have safari's with Metang or Eevee in them so the hunt for them is annoying. I suppose I could trade my shiny Charizard for a shiny Beldum/Metang/Metagross/Eevee/Umbreon, but I just don't want to. It's a shiny Charizard!

My friend code is 4356-0836-2065. If any of you have a Steel Farm with Metang or a Normal Type farm with Eevee, please feel free to add me. Hell, feel free to add me anyway. And if any of you just happen to feel generous and want to gift me with a shiny Beldum/Metang/Metagross/Eevee/Umbreon, then more power to you lol. It would save me a lot of trouble.

Anyway, moving on. You guys already know I like to use the butterfly effect for my stories to make them deviate from canon. The deviation in the canon timeline for this story occurs just before Ash goes to Hoenn, a few days to be precise. On his journey back to Pallet Town, Brock helps him out with teaching Pikachu one last attack before he needs to head back to his gym to look after his siblings. Iron Tail.

The story begins in the episode Hoenn alone. So if you've seen it, you'll be able to follow this much easier. Anyway, I won't hold you up any longer. This crappy Author's Note has been going on long enough as it is and I bet you're getting annoyed with it.

Working Hoenn With Skill

Chapter 1

Go!

He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. "Pikachu!" Ash called out, his tone of voice filled with worry, looking all around himself as he ran, hoping for just a small glimpse of his partner.

Just once, the young trainer grumbled silently to himself. Just once, he wished that Team Rocket would get their act together and piss off. Hadn't they realized it yet? He would never allow them to escape from him with Pikachu in their grasp. And if they did? Then what did they think would happen? Did they think he wouldn't come looking? Did they think he wouldn't grab all of his strongest Pokemon and rain down bloody vengeance on the entirety of Team Rocket?

He wouldn't even have to do it alone. He had favors he could call in. Mewtwo, Lugia, Celebi and maybe even Latias if he asked for their help would almost happily help him destroy Team Rocket. Had they not figured it out yet? With how many times he told them that they would never get away with it, he had assumed that they would eventually realize what he meant.

Now that he thought about it, Mewtwo might not even consider it repayment of the favour he owed Ash, he might just do it for free.

The young raven haired Trainer shook his head to rid himself of such thoughts. Best not to think on those idiots for now. Instead, he began to concentrate all of his mental prowess on finding Pikachu.

"Pikachu!" He called out loudly into the air above him once again.

There was no answer, again. Ash was about to move on and head in a different direction in search of Pikachu when he caught sight of a large arc of blinding yellow electricity shooting up rapidly into the air behind a few of the warehouses he could see a bit in the distance before the arc lost power and dissipated into nothing.

Ash smirked. "There you are." He whispered to himself in relief.

He sprinted as fast as he could towards the warehouses. If Pikachu was releasing Thunderbolt attacks, then it was highly likely that his little buddy was in a fight at the moment. He'd better floor it and get their quickly, just in case his Pokemon needed his help.

It took him a few minutes, but finally he came to a stop behind the warehouses he saw the Thunderbolt released into the air above.

He walked steadily down the path behind the warehouses, checking inside the alleyways as he went. It was one of the last alleyways that caught his attention though. At the entrance of the alleyway there were a bunch of Rattata, Pidgey and Oddish crowded on top of crates staring intently upwards into the alley.

Ash poked his head into the alley to take a look for himself and his amber colored eye zeroed in on a multitude of figures midway up the alley.

There were four Haunter in a square position with their hands held out threateningly towards the middle of their formation. And inside the box formation, were the forms of both Team Rocket's Meowth and his little buddy Pikachu.

The bipedal cream colored cat Pokemon that was Meowth let loose with a nervous laugh, "Ey' now guys don'tcha tink dis' is a bit unfair?" He said. Was Team Rocket's Meowth even a he? Ash was pretty sure it was, especially with that voice of 'his'.

The group of Haunter didn't seem to think so. Ash couldn't see from his position as their eyes began to glow a deep red, but he did see the jagged black beams of energy they shot towards the two Pokemon trapped between them.

Instinct took over for Ash when he saw the attacks. Night Shade if he remembered right. Battling instincts honed from two years travelling and training Pokemon kicked in and his mind came up with the best possible avenue of escape. "Pikachu, into the air!" The amber eyed trainer ordered swiftly as he rushed into the alleyway.

It showed just how in-synch he and Pikachu were that his Pokemon listened and obeyed his commands in the blink of an eye, completely ignoring the sudden appearance of his voice from nowhere. The small yellow Electric-Type Pokemon jumped backwards straight atop Meowth's head and used the Normal-Type Pokemon's head as leverage to launch himself higher into the air to dodge the four-way Night Shade attack, and also push Meowth face first into the ground and causing him the avoid the attacks as well.

The four Night Shade attacks sailed through open air and would have hit the four Haunter if they didn't phase through the ground below themselves to avoid the attacks. The attacks having missed the Haunter continued on and struck the warehouses, exploding on impact and leaving a few rather large holes in the warehouses walls.

Ash was ready for the Haunter was they emerged once again from the ground and began to float mid-air. "Thunderbolt!" He ordered next.

Pikachu's body positively lit up with power as he let loose a large arc of yellow electricity straight towards the Haunter that appeared from the ground in front of him.

The Haunter had no time to dodge and screeched in pain as it was flash-fried by the high powered Electrical attack. When the attack faded away, the Haunter dropped to the ground, un-moving and unable to continue battling.

While this was happening though, Ash had used this opportunity to rush into the middle of the group of Haunter and stand beside Meowth as he waited for Pikachu to land.

"Twerp!" Meowth cried joyously as he stood up, hugging the Trainer's leg. "Am I glad ta' see you!" He said, rubbing his face into Ash's jean covered leg.

Ash grimaced at the action, "Right, whatever, now stop hugging my leg. It's damn creepy coming from you." He replied.

Meowth pulled back quickly and laughed nervously, remembering just what had occurred to get them all in this situation in the first place, "Hehe, no hard feelings?" He ventured.

Ash ignored the Pokemon though, instead his eyes were locked on Pikachu as the Pokemon landed in front of him.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu cried out joyously upon finally setting his small eyes upon Ash and the Trainer couldn't help but smile in relief. They may have been seriously outnumbered, but at least they were together again and that was all that really mattered.

….Outnumbered.

A plan came to mind and he couldn't help but grin. He looked up and his eyes locked on the three Haunter that were crowded around the one Pikachu had defeated and fretting worriedly over it. Haunter were strong Pokemon, no doubt about it. But their power lay mostly in attacking, and unless trained properly they were usually quite frail.

He reached into his back pocket and grabbed one of the empty Pokeballs that rest within the confines of it. Technically, that Haunter he caught way back for his battle with Sabrina had never been his, so one of these guys could take its place he supposed. Ghost-Type Pokemon were really versatile anyway, so he was looking forward to seeing what he could do with one.

His mind drifted back to Brock, remembering the attack the breeder had helped he and Pikachu master before he Brock and Misty all went on their separate ways. He felt a pang of sadness that his friends weren't here with him, but shook it off easily enough.

"Pikachu, I want you to separate them okay?" Ash questioned his Pokemon.

Pikachu met his eyes and held a fist up, "Pi-Pikachu Pikapi!" His partner responded confidently.

Ash smirked. "Alright then!" He declared, pointing towards the group of Haunter that were now beginning to leer angrily at them. He ignored them though, it wasn't the first time a group of Pokemon had been angry at him, and it wouldn't be the last, "Quick Attack to get in amongst them and then use Iron Tail!" The raven haired trainer commanded.

Hearing and obeying, Pikachu shot off like a rocket, faster than the eye could track with a trail of white energy bleeding from behind him as he closed in rapidly on the group of Haunter.

He was upon them in a moment's notice, swinging into a frontal flip and coming down with a tail glowing a bright silvery white with powerful energy. The Haunter in the middle of the group took the Iron Tail attack straight across the cranium and was sent soaring backwards through the alley with a cry of pain.

Pikachu followed up on the attack by spinning when he landed on his small feet, and was about to unleash a second consecutive Iron Tail on one of the other Haunter, but was forced to jump backwards to avoid them when they both launched their fists glowing a dark miasmic black straight towards Pikachu.

The attacks thankfully missed, and merely phased through the ground in the spot where Pikachu stood before, and then shimmered back into existence attached to the two Haunter again.

'Was that Shadow Punch?' Ash thought curiously to himself upon seeing the attack. He'd heard of the attack before, but had never seen it first hand.

"Haunt haunt Haunter!" The Haunter to the right cried out angrily and flew through the air towards Pikachu at break-neck speeds. The other remaining standing Haunter not far behind as they both raced towards Pikachu intent on dealing a lot of damage to the small yellow rodent Pokemon.

This was just the opportunity Ash was waiting for though. Not one Haunter was left guarding the first Haunter Pikachu had defeated. He smirked as he enlarged the red and white colored ball in the palm of his hand and sent it soaring towards the downed Haunter with a powerful toss, "Go, Pokeball!"

His aim was true and the Pokeball hit dead center on the defeated Haunter. The Pokeball opened up and sucked the Pokemon within inside a beam of red energy. Upon sucking the Haunter inside, the Pokeball hit the concrete ground below of the alleyway floor and began to glow red at the center as it shook softly from side to side.

The two Haunter racing towards Pikachu happened to see the happen stance that had just occurred though and both as one stopped their rush towards Pikachu and spun to face the Pokeball containing their friend. Both Haunter conjured large orbs of black miasmic energy between their hands and were intent upon destroying the Pokeball holding their friend with a dual Shadow Ball attack.

It was not to be though. Ash wasn't about to let their lapse in concentration go. With their backs turned to Pikachu, Ash took the opportunity given to him, "Take them both out now, Thunder!" The Trainer commanded sharply.

Pikachu nodded and jumped into the air above Ash. An aura of electrical energy surged over the entirety of Pikachu's body, and the small Pokemon became so bright he could be comparable to a star. Pikachu focused the energy into a single point near his forehead and unleashed the attack from that focal point, shooting forth a massive arc of electricity that shot high into the air faster than one could blink and crashed downwards onto both of the Haunter,

The Haunter screamed out in pain, but Pikachu kept the attack up for a few more moments before allowing it to fade. Finally, when Pikachu allowed the attack to dissipate both Haunter fell face first onto the ground and lay there unmoving. Their bodies smouldering with smoke from the attack and covered in a multitude of lacerations and charred burn marks.

Just as both Haunter lost consciousness, the Pokeball rolled to a stop. The red glow died away and the Pokeball gave off a small 'ding' noise as the Haunter was successfully captured.

"Oh yeah!" Ash hissed to himself through a grin of victory. He made was way over to the Pokeball and picked it up. He paused for a moment as he looked at the three Haunter, one towards the end of the alley with a large bruise on its forehead and laying amongst a group of crates, and the other two completely unconscious and charred quite badly from Pikachu's Thunder attack.

He couldn't help but wince slightly to himself as he looked at them. He hadn't meant for them to get hurt this badly. But, they should be fine with some rest. And Ghost-type Pokemon could recover quite fast when they needed to, so he squashed the forming guilt he felt at the pit of his stomach. They were the ones who started this, it wasn't his fault this happened.

Just before putting his new Haunter's Pokeball on his belt, Ash grabbed his Pokedex from the back pocket of his jeans and hit the scan button while holding it out towards the Pokeball. "Haunter, the Gas Pokémon. The evolved form of Gastly. If you get the feeling of being watched in darkness when nobody is around, Haunter is there. This Haunter is Male and has the Ability Levitate. This Haunter currently knows the attacks Night Shade, Shadow Ball, Shadow Punch and Dark Pulse." The Pokedex recited in its typical monotone robotic male voice.

He made his way over to Meowth and Pikachu after clipping the Pokeball to his belt, "So why the hell were these Haunter attacking you guys anyway?" Ash questioned in curiosity.

Pikachu opened his mouth to speak, but Meowth beat the small yellow Electric-Type to the punch, "I'll tell ya' why!" The feline Pokemon exploded, "Dose' Haunter were pickin' on dose' Rattata, Pdigey n' Oddish n' your damn Pikachu decided dat' since you would help dese' Pokemons out cuz it's da' right thing to do, he would do it too!" The Normal-Type ranted and raved, all the while glaring at Ash and pointing accusingly at him as if he he had done something wrong.

Ash quirked an eyebrow at the ranting Normal-Type Pokemon. "So Pikachu helped drive off a bunch of bullies then? Good." The raven haired trainer replied.

Meowth practically roared in fury at him as he unsheathed his sharp claws, "Good!? Good!? I coulda been killed!" He shouted angrily at Ash.

Ash couldn't help but chuckle, "You know Meowth, for being a member of Team Rocket you really are quite weak." Ash replied through his chuckles. He reached into his back pocket of his jeans again and pulled out another Pokeball, propping it up in his palm and holding it towards Meowth, "Maybe I should just catch you here and now and actually train you into a decently strong Pokemon instead of letting you wallow around like a criminal any longer?" He mused to himself thoughtfully.

That put an immediate damper on whatever else Meowth was about to pull. The cat-scratch Pokemon backed up fearfully all the while eyeing the Pokeball, "C'mon now Twerp- I mean Ash, det's not get too hasty here okay?" He pleaded pitifully.

Ash smirked. He was about to give what was sure to be another witty reply, but was caught off guard as a mechanical hand latched around Meowth and retracted him quickly, high up into the air. Ash cursed as he looked up and caught sight of Team Rocket's Meowth shaped balloon. Great, this was all he needed.

These idiots again, what a bother.

He turned his head to Pikachu, but before he could get anything out of his mouth edge wise, a metallic clamp flew downwards towards Pikachu catching the small Electric-Type offguard as it clasped tightly around him.

'Shit, what now?' Ash questioned himself in annoyance. Acting quickly, he picked the trapped Pikachu up within his arms and held him tight as he looked up towards the Team Rocket balloon. The front of the basket opened outwards to reveal some type of large metallic disc looking device.

"What the hell are you idiots up to now!?" Ash practically snarled in rage at them. Was starting off a a new and peaceful journey too much to ask for?

Jessie and James both laughed down at him mockingly, joined moments later by Meowth. "Say hello to our Electro Magnetic Machine twerp! And say goodbye to your Pikachu!" James taunted him as the blue haired Rocket Member lifted up an odd black device and pressed a button on it that Ash couldn't quite see from his position on the ground.

Almost immediately Ash felt the effects of the machine as it powered up. A strong magnetic force began to pull at Pikachu, tugging with such a force that Ash almost lost his grip on the small Pokemon.

Ash wouldn't lose so easily though and tugged Pikachu back with all of his strength. Clasping Pikachu to his chest, Ash turned on his heel and began to run from the alleyway as fast as he could. He tore out of the alley with Pikachu held as tightly to his chest as he possibly could, and continued onwards running as fast as he could away from the alley and warehouses and back towards the docks.

"You can run twerp! But you can't hide!" He heard Jessie shout mockingly down at him. He bit his lip to stop himself from saying anything in return, instead focusing all of his strength into keeping a hold of Pikachu even as he felt as if he were wading through water with the force the machine trying to drag Pikachu towards it.

He looked over his shoulder just in time to see Jessie and James release their Arbok and Weezing respectively. "Take Down!" Jessie practically screeched.

Ash thought fast. Kicking off the ground, he jumped and pushed himself with his legs off the side of one of the warehouses and jumped higher into the air, managing to gain enough altitude to just dodge the charging Arbok.

The large purple snake Pokemon missed, but the two conjoined balls that were Weezing didn't and smashed into Ash's side with a powerful Tackle attack that sent him crashing into the ground harshly.

"Guh!" Ash grunted out in pain. His ribs flared with an agonizing sting and he couldn't help but wonder if Weezing had broken a couple of them, or at the very least cracked one or two.

That wasn't about to stop him though. He staggered to his feet, fighting both the massive pain from his ribs and the harsh pull of the Electro Magnetic Machine. Arceus, what he wouldn't do for his Noctowl right about now. With his Psychic attacks Noctowl could take care of both Arbok and Weezing with ease and then fly up and destroy that machine and put an end to all this crap once and for all.

This whole starting over thing wasn't really working out the way he hoped it would. He should have at least brought along another strong Pokemon to help in situations like this. Any of his Pokemon would suffice, they were all strong in their own ways. All he had here was Pikachu, and his little buddy couldn't do jack shit because of the machine that would snatch him up at a moments notice.

...Well that wasn't entirely true, he realized. He had another Pokemon with him now. Haunter. But it was risky to send out such a newly captured Pokemon. He hadn't had time to bond with Haunter so the dual Ghost and Poison-type Pokemon could just as easily turn on him so that it could escape him. All he needed though was for Haunter to destroy that Electro Magnetic Machine and he could release Pikachu and send these morons blasting off like he always did.

Risky as hell, and he knew it. But it was a risk he would have to take. Tightening his strong arm around Pikachu to make sure he didn't get pulled away from him, Ash reached down with his other hand and grabbed Haunter's Pokeball.

He clicked the button on the middle and released the Pokemon inside within a burst of blinding silvery white light. "Haunter!" The Ghost Pokemon chanted as he materialized at Ash's side, flying at pace with him.

The Pokemon was still charred slightly from Pikachu's earlier Thunderbolt, but at least looked to be in fighting condition. He wrapped Pikachu in both arms before looking at Haunter, meeting the Ghost Pokemon's eyes with his own, and almost smiled as it nodded at him.

Thank Arceus for small favors.

"Haunter, you see that balloon chasing us?" Ash questioned, pointed towards the Meowth shaped balloon with his head.

Haunter nodded after taking a quick peek.

"I need you to hit that disc thing in front of it with your Dark Pulse attack and destroy it, can you do that?" The twelve year old stated.

Haunter nodded once again, and then turned towards the balloon flying above them. Haunter clasped both hands together and pushed them outwards, conjuring a small orb of black miasmic energy that was filled with purple rings floating all around the inside of the orb. And then, with a mighty push Haunter sent the attack blasting upwards in the form of a crisscrossing beam of black and purple energy rings.

"Pull up, pull up!" Ash dimly heard Jessie screaming, but it was to late. Mere moments later, Ash heard the sound of an explosion and skidded to a halt just in time to turn around and see the thoroughly trashed form of the Electro Magnetic Machine smash harshly into the ground.

Ash smirked. His amber eyes snapped up to meet the rather scared looking faces of the Team Rocket trio that had been chasing him for two years now. Good, damn right they should be scared. He pulled with all the strength he could muster and pried the clasping jaws of the clamps around Pikachu apart and allowed the small Electric mouse to jump down onto the ground.

"You guys already know what comes next, so why not save me the trouble and just run off yourselves?" Ash growled out angrily. He was itching to deal out some retribution on these morons, but he just honestly couldn't be bothered dealing with them anymore.

Jessie hearing his taunt growled back angrily at him and snapped back, "Screw it! We can still beat you here, you only have two Pokemon now! Arbok Bite!" The long red-haired woman shouted.

"Cha-bok!" Arbork hissed out as it shot forward at breakneck speeds towards Ash, gaping maw wide open and dripping with poisonous saliva.

James wasn't about to be left out of the action, "Weezing Tackle!" The blue haired man ordered.

Weezing heard and obeyed, charging in right behind Arbok towards Ash, intent on smashing harshly into him once again with a powerful tackle.

Neither Pokemon got very far though. Pikachu didn't even bother awaiting a command from Ash, instead the small Electric-Type rodent shot off like a rocket, so fast he looked to have teleported as he appeared in front of Arbok, coming out of a Quick Attack and hammering down with Iron Tail.

The Iron Tail struck straight and true, and Arbok screamed out in pain as it was sent flying backwards from the force of the blow. Striking Weezing mid-flight and carrying them both right back up into the air where they crashed into their Trainers and left them laying in a heap at the bottom of the balloon basket.

Pikachu jumped back after performing the sequence of attacks, landing in front of Ash at the same time Haunter took up position floating in front of his new trainer. "Heh." Ash smirked, thumbing his nose, "Let's end this here and now guys! Pikachu, Thunderbolt! Haunter, Night Shade!" He ordered his two Pokemon to attack.

The duo attacked together. Pikachu launching a powerful, blindingly yellow arc of electricity roaring towards the balloon floating up above, and Haunter firing off twin beams of cloudy black energy at the very same time.

Both attacks struck at the same time, and the air above rumbled with the sounds of a massive explosion from the power of both attacks hitting their target. From the thick cloud of smoke above them, Ash could just make out the form of Jessie, James and Meowth rocketing through the air inside their half destroyed balloon basket, all that remained of their once proud Meowth shaped balloon.

"Look's like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" They screamed together as they soared upwards and out of Ash's limit of vision.

Ash snorted and shook his head, "These guys will never learn." He muttered to himself. It was quite annoying too, one of these days they would be seriously hurt from 'blasting off'. He was at a loss to just how they survived doing it this long.

They were far too persistent for their own good.

He was brought out of his musings by a cry of, "Pikapi!" Pikachu, after crying out to him ran over and leaped up onto his favorite spot atop Ash's shoulders and reclined their comfortably. Pikachu situated peacefully, Ash turned to his new Pokemon who was looking at him curiously.

Ash allowed a reassuring smile to take place on his face. Best to make a new Pokemon comfortable in its new environment, lest it feel jittery and uncomfortable. "So what do ya' say Haunter? Wanna join us on our journey?" He inquired.

Haunter stared at him for a moment, peering intently at him with large narrow shaped eyes. But then finally, a large grin took place on the Pokemon's purple face and he replied with a thumbs up from one of his floating hands, "Haunt, haunt Haunter!"

Ash's smile turned into a grin. "Alright then, Haunter return!" He declared, lifting his newest Pokemon's Pokeball up and returning it inside within a beam of red energy.

Once inside the Pokeball, Ash lifted the Pokeball up and showed it to Pikachu, "Check it out buddy, our first new friend on our new journey." Ash said happily.

Pikachu smiled right back at him, smiling jut as brightly as he was and flashed him a small thumbs up with his small yellow paw, "Pikachu!"

Ash placed the Pokeball on his belt and looked up. He stared intently at the once blue sky that was now turning a light orange color as day began to slowly dwindle into the evening...

"...Shit!" Ash cursed as he remembered a particular thing said to him by the captain of the ship they were being ferried on.

"Now remember Ash, the water tanks should be finished being repaired by the time the evening comes so you need to find your Pikachu and get back by then or else I'll have to leave without you."

He was already running by the time he remembered it fully. He sprinted back towards the area the docks were in as fast as he could. He so didn't want to miss the ferry.

Pikachu clung to his head, head cocked rather cutely to the side in confusion as Ash ran, "Pi?" The small yellow rodent Pokemon questioned in puzzlement.

Night had fallen by the time they made it back to the cruise ship. But thankfully, both Ash and Pikachu had made it with a good twenty minutes to spare.

Ash lay back, comfortably propped up against the head board of the bed in is room. The lights of the room were out, and the young Trainer let out a loud sigh of comfort and contentment. After having made it back on board, he had taken both Pikachu and his new Haunter to get a nice, warm and filling dinner. And then they had retired to their room for the night. Haunter sleeping off the injuries he'd sustained from Pikachu's Thunderbolt inside his Pokeball, and Pikachu laying down in the bed beside Ash, comfortable and warm after the exhaustion of the day's events caught up with the little guy.

Ash looked down at his side, his amber colored eyes settling on the small form of Pikachu's head that was poking out of the covers of the bed. A soft smile took place on his tanned face as he stared at his first Pokemon, and partner.

"Together buddy." He whispered softly to the Pokemon at his side. He reached down with one hand and softly stroked one of Pikachu's long ears, "Together buddy, we'll take the Hoenn Region by storm and capture a bunch of new Pokemon to help us on our journey and then when we have all eight badges from Hoenn we'll take on everyone and anyone that challenges us at the league. This time we'll be the ones left standing atop the winners pedestal." He promised quietly, amber eyes blazing with an inner fire that could never be quenched.

He lay down, resting his head on the soft pillow beside Pikachu and wrapped his arm around the Pokemon. Taking comfort in his partners small, but powerful and warm frame. Tomorrow they would arrive in the Hoenn Region.

And Tomorrow they would begin their greatest journey yet. He regretted that neither Misty or Brock would be with him in his travels, but maybe it was for the best. When Gary had struck out alone during his journey through the Johto Region, his – now – old rival had improved by leaps and bounds. Maybe without the help of Misty and Brock, Ash himself would be forced to grow stronger by taking care of himself and his Pokemon all alone.

He'd never really had the chance to do it before. Misty and Brock had been with him near enough since the first day he set out on his journey. He'd miss them of course, but now was his chance to really strive for his goal of becoming a Pokemon Master.

He had learned from them – mostly Brock – so he felt very confident in his survival skills. He would need to be careful around maps, but he was sure he would get that down with time.

It all began tomorrow. First he'd take on Hoenn, then Sinnoh, then Unova and hell even the Kalos Region – he hadn't spoken to Serena in a while anyway, he'd have to look into tracking her down and seeing if she didn't want to travel together on his quest – he'd take part in them all if he had to. And he'd win every single one of them if it meant becoming a Pokemon Master, if he had to.

Slowly his eye lids began to get heavier and heavier. Slowly they fell downwards, covering his amber coloured orbs from the night as sleep overcame him. Vision of the new Pokemon he would catch and the amazing battles he would take part in swam across his dreaming consciousness.

It all began tomorrow, and with Pikachu, and now Haunter by his side there would be nobody that could stop him. Tomorrow, the Hoenn Region would reap the whirlwind that was Ash Ketchum!

So what did you guys think? To be perfectly honest. While I had the idea situated well in my head, it didn't translate down onto paper as I'd hoped it would. But I've had a splitting sore head all day so that might be why.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed it. If you didn't feel free to flame me, it's bound to take away some of your annoyance at having to read this crap at the very least.

I'll leave this off here guys. The last thing I'll say on this chapter is that I'll try my best to start updating faster, but no promises. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, I know mine sucked though. Later guys, keep it real!