Disclaimer: Do not own pokémon. Do I still need to put this up every chapter?

This chapter is unbeta'd. I am still hunting for a beta.

Chapter 10

"Hi, my name is David. Do you want to have a Pokémon battle?" a blue-haired boy Ash's age asked. It had been a week since Ash had left Lavender Town. It had been a progressive week for Ash and his pokémon. Growlithe and Riolu were settling in well with the rest of the team. Perhaps due to being his newest pokémon, the two had struck a fast friendship. Since Ash always looked for opponents to battle and ensured to rotate his team, the two had seen quite a few battles, most of which they won. This ended up doing wonders to their confidence, and now, the two were really feeling a part of the team.

"Sure," Ash agreed. This would be his first battle of the day. He loved battles. "My name is Ash. 2 versus 2, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," he agreed happily, as he took out his pokéball.

At the same time as when he tossed his pokéball, Ash turned to his starter. "Let's go, buddy!"

"Pi, Pikachu!" his starter replied as he jumped on the field at the same time as when his opponent appeared. It was a colourful bird with blue wings, a yellow chest, a green stomach, a black head and tail, with a pink beak. Additionally, there is a ruff of white feathers around its neck.

"A Chatot!" Ash exclaimed. "You don't see those every day!"

"Ah, damn it," David muttered. "Should not have sent it. I could already see the Pikachu on your shoulders!"

"Just the luck of the draw," Ash shrugged. "You ready?"

"Yep! Chatot, fly!" he commanded.

"That won't work!" Ash shouted back before whispering, "Shockwave!"

A beam of electricity shot out from Pikachu towards the bird who lazily dodged towards the left. David did not even bother calling out, sure of his pokémon's ability to avoid the attack. Their arrogance cost them as the beam veered left at the last second before crashing into the bird. It let out a screech of pain as it started falling from the sky.

"Chatot!" David yelled in panic. "Stabilize yourself. Use Hyper Voice!"

"Now's our chance Pikachu!" Ash said. "Use Quick Attack to dodge its attack and get close to it. Then finish it with Thunderbolt!"

The bird used its pain masterfully as its shout of pain turned into an echoing cry and multiple transparent rings that were outlined in a light blue shot out from its mouth. Unfortunately for it, Pikachu had already entered Quick Attack and dodged the move with ease. By the time the bird managed to correct its flight path, Pikachu had already reached below it. A monstrous bolt of energy shot from the small mouse towards the bird. It was unconscious before the attack ended.

"Holy!" David squawked like his bird. "That Pikachu is powerful!" he exclaimed.

"He sure is," Ash agreed. "Return, Pikachu."

"Why are you returning him?"

"Because I want my other pokémon to battle as well. And, who knows, maybe the luck of the draw will be on your side this time?"

"You're a good man, Ash."

Said man just shrugged before releasing his Kadabra. Unfortunately for his opponent, the luck of the draw was on Ash's side again as his opponent released a Koffing.

David grimaced before shouting, "Clear Smog, now!"

The Koffing took a deep breath before releasing a stream of white smog from its mouth out over the battlefield. Kadabra, seeing the omnidirectional attack, just teleported above his opponent before taking a moment to stabilize himself. He then released a terrific Psybeam that struck the Koffing head-on. Since the poison-type pokémon did not predict an attack from above, it had no way of avoiding or countering the attack. It let out a groan of pain before succumbing to unconsciousness.

"Well, you were clearly out of my league," David admitted as he withdrew his pokémon. "How many badges do you have? I'm guessing 5?"

"I actually have 3," Ash admitted as he withdrew the Kadabra, ignoring his grumbling that the battle was a waste of his time.

"Seriously? I, myself, have 4. And you completely thrashed me!"

Ash just shrugged in response, not knowing what to say. Personally, he did not understand how someone who has four badges can lose so quickly either. "Good battle," he offered to be polite.

"Yeah, yeah. Even you know it was not," David grumbled as he walked away.

Ash sighed as he walked away. Sometimes, he got battles like this where his opponent was knocked out in a single blow. While it was reassuring to know that his pokémon were growing stronger, the battles always left him disappointed.

The next battle went similarly. His opponent, a boy names Jose, asked for a one-on-one battle. He sent out a Graveller while Ash sent out his Umbreon. The Graveller started the battle with a Rock Slide which Umbreon gracefully dodged before getting close to her opponent and smashing it with a point-blank Shadow Ball. The Graveller was tough – it withstood the attack, but was sufficiently weakened by the attack. Umbreon finished her opponent by sinking her teeth into it and using her newly learnt and mastered Bite attack.

Ever since she learnt her first dark-type move, she used the attack whenever she got the opportunity to do so. Ash had since set her out to learn Feint Attack. To use it correctly, Umbreon would have to draw her opponent in before striking suddenly. Or she can distract her opponent before striking her opponent. When done correctly, it's another one of those attacks that never miss. Ash felt she needed another dark-type attack, especially one that never misses.

Back to Jose, he actually shouted at Ash, blaming him for his loss. He said he only sent out Graveller because he saw the Pikachu on his shoulder. Ash tried to reason with him, saying that he had no compulsion to send out his Pikachu, but Jose would not listen. Thoroughly irritated, Ash offered him a revive and said he could battle again, this time with Pikachu. Jose agreed, smirking, thinking it would be a quick win and that he would get his money back. Pikachu, however, had beaten Brock's pokémon. This Graveller stood no chance.

Having won the battle but his mood completely ruined, Ash withdrew his Pikachu so that this would not repeat in the future. For want of company, he called out his Rhyhorn to walk along with him. It was a good exercise for the baby who was not allowed to train otherwise. She was growing taller, having already become a foot tall. An average Rhyhorn is about 3 feet tall, so Ash was happy with her progress. Nutritious food to eat every day along with exercise ensured that she grew as well as she could.

As they walked, Ash played a game with her. Rhyhorn is said to have a one-track mind and is supposed to be…well, dumb. It would be rude to call them stupid, but they have small brain and studies have shown that if they start charging at something, they often forget why they are charging in the first place. Instead, they keep on running until they fall asleep. Ash was hoping that his and the other pokémon's influence right from an early stage will help mitigate some of that.

As for the game they are playing? Ash would name certain things he could see. He would ask Rhyhorn to bring them to him. He had been spending a lot of time teaching Rhyhorn the names of items from the books he bought for Abra. This was a test to see whether the Spikes Pokémon was actually retaining anything Ash was teaching him or not.

"No, Rhyhorn," Ash explained gently as the baby prodded up to Ash and dropped a rock in front of him. "I asked you to bring me a leaf. This is a rock." He walked over to a tree and picked up a fallen leaf. "This is a leaf," he said as he moved the hand holding the leaf forward. "And this," he said as he brought his other hand, the one holding the rock, forward, "is a rock. Got it?" he asked, and the pokémon nodded in agreement.

They two walked for five more minutes before Ash stopped again. He asked Rhyhorn to get him another leaf. The baby rumbled off in delight at the game they were playing. Two minutes later, Ash felt like facepalming as she returned, once more, with a rock in her mouth. Smiling patiently, he once again explained the difference between a leaf and a rock. 'This must be what parents feel like while raising their kids,' Ash mused. His smile turned gentle and loving as the baby butted her head against his leg. He let out a surprised shout as she suddenly used force and he tumbled over. However, a joyous laugh escaped his mouth as she climbed on top of him and settled into his lap. A pleased rumble escaped her mouth as Ash started petting her.

Thinking it was as good a place as any to take a break and shower the baby with some much-deserved affection, he proceeded to do just that for the next few minutes. While doing so, he observed the wild pokémon going on with their lives. He remembered Professor Oak's advice of catching more pokémon to fill his team. But so far, no pokémon was catching his fancy.

After sitting there for 5 minutes, he gently pushed the Rhyhorn off him before standing up. Once done, he stretched his legs a little to bring some feeling back into them. The Rhyhorn was getting heavy! Soon, she would not be able to fit in Ash's lap! Ash was sure he would shed some tears on that tragic day.

The two continued their journey towards Celadon City and continued playing their little game. After some time, they came across an odd sight. A black coloured van was parked on the side of the road. It was completely black with black tyres, black windshield, black from the front, black from the sides. Ash was sure that if he saw the back of the truck, it would be black as well. But that was not the weird part. The odd part was the yellow, bipedal Pokémon with red arms, round ears, red eyes, a pink nose, and a whisker on each side of its face standing on top of the truck. From what Ash could make out, the Mienfoo seemed to be trying to break into the truck.

Something about the situation raised Ash's internal shit-o-metre, something that had developed after multiple encounters with Team Rocket. Trusting his gut, Ash quickly withdrew his Rhyhorn and called out his starter along with Kadabra. Asking Kadabra to link their minds, he quickly explained the situation to the two of them.

'The situation does seem weird,' Kadabra mentioned. 'Should I ask the pokémon what it is doing?'

'No!' Ash thought back. 'What if it is acting on its trainer's orders? We could spook both the pokémon and its trainer.'

'So, what? We just ignore it and walk away?'

'I did not say that!'

'You do realise that even if we walk towards the truck to cross it, the pokémon will become aware of us! Then the scenario you mentioned would happen anyway.'

'I know that. Let me think of a way to sort this out.'

'But if you let me talk to the pokémon,' Kadabra continued as if he had not heard Ash, 'we will be closer to understanding what is going on. If it is just a wild pokémon causing mischief, I can ask it to stop or knock it out. If it is causing mischief for its trainer, we may have to battle it anyway. If it is stopping mischief from happening, it can ask us for our help. Either way, it is beneficial for us to ask it what is going on.'

With Pikachu nodding along and unable to think of another plan, Ash agreed to go ahead with Kadabra's plan. He could see the moment Kadabra established a mind link with the pokémon as it suddenly snapped its head sharply towards them. It tilted its head to one side as it stared at Kadabra, probably conversing with it.

After a few moments, Ash felt Kadabra in his mind once again.

'Friend Trainer,' Ash could hear the frown in Kadabra's voice, 'The Mienfoo says that the person who owns the truck is capturing the wild pokémon.'

'There's nothing wrong with that.'

'But this is different. This person is not capturing them in those pokéballs. He is capturing them and storing them in cages. He says there are more than 12 pokémon in cages in that truck.'

'A poacher!' Ash scowled along with his starter. He had told him of poachers when they had started their journey and had Eevee, Flabebe, and Dratini join their team. 'These people capture pokémon and "train" them to be docile. Once they do that, they sell them to the highest bidders. There's a substantial underground ring full of them. They're also the reason some of the rarer to find pokémon are so distrusting of humans!'

"Pika Pika!" his starter suddenly said out loud. Ash looked at his starter to see him pointing towards a man walking out from the surrounding grasslands, a cage in his hands. Ash spotted movement inside the cage and realised there was already a pokémon inside it. Suddenly the Mienfoo jumped in front of the man and stood in a threatening stance. The man just took one look at it and laughed. He started speaking, and the man's voice was loud enough for Ash to hear despite him standing a few feet away from the man.

"Aww, isn't this precious. Do you think you can stop me? Not a chance. Here's what's going to happen? I will add you to my collection. Then I will go ahead and kill that brat standing over there," here he pointed at me. I jumped in surprise not expecting the man to have taken notice of me, "and then I will add his pokémon to my collection as well!"

"What?" Ash asked in surprise.

Somehow, his words much have carried over to the man because he just smirked and replied. "Nothing personal kid. Just can't have you going around and telling others about what I am doing here. This route is a prime spot for pokémon that earn killer money. Aww, your Pikachu's cheeks are sparking to threaten me. Isn't this precious?" he laughed.

"You have killed people before?" Ash asked horrified by the man's words.

"Yep, sure have," he replied casually. "I then drag them inside the grasslands," he pointed towards his back. "No one really ventures there."

Ash clenched his fist in anger. He knew he should give someone at a higher authority a call. He also knew that if he took out his PokéNav, the man would be onto him before he could even find the emergency contact to dial. Having no other choice, he walked towards the man, causing him to let out another mocking laugh.

"Walking towards your death?" he mocked. "How brave." He even started clapping his hands slowly.

Ash did not want to give the poacher the satisfaction of getting to him. So, he ignored him as he walked to the Mienfoo. He crouched down in front of the pokémon and addressed it. "You're a good pokémon trying to rescue all these others captured by him. I know you want to fight, but can you sit the battle out and let me fight him instead?" At first, it looked like the pokémon would say no but after seeming to give it some thought, it agreed.

Ash smiled at it, before standing up and looking the man in his eyes. Ash's eyes gained a determined look to them as he turned his cap around backwards with one hand while the other fished for a pokéball. He knew just the pokémon to start this with.

"So, you think you can just kill me and take all my pokémon?" he asked with a steely resolve in his voice. "Was that supposed to intimidate me?" he scoffed. "You're not the first trainer to try to steal my pokémon, and I'm sure you're not the last. I've faced bigger. I've faced tougher. And you know what? I have always come out on top. So, bring it on, big guy. You don't scare me. At all."

As Ash was talking, the mocking sneer on the poacher's face kept falling before an ugly scowl replaced it. His hands, once holding the cage with the pokémon he was trying to poach, were now clenched into fists as his body trembled in anger. Gritting his teeth, he growled, "I was thinking of taking it easy on you, kid. But now? Now you've done it. Prepare to get crushed."

Having said his piece, he took out his pokéball, expanded it and threw it forward to reveal a Blastoise. Ash, meanwhile, sent out his strongest pokémon – his Dragonair.

"A Dragonair!" the poacher laughed. "Oh, it will make me so rich I can probably give up poaching forever!"

Before Ash could reply, Pikachu shouted a few words at the Dragonair. Ash smiled, thinking Pikachu was shouting words of encouragement. What he did not know was that his starter was telling the dragon that his opponent wanted to kill Ash and steal all of them from his dead body. But what Ash did hear was the growl of anger that came out from the dragon's mouth.

"Blastoise, Blizzard. Freeze that dragon!"

The final evolution of one of Kanto's starters opened its mouth, and white energy was gathered inside. A blizzard was then fired from its mouth towards the blue dragon. However, Dragonair was already on the move and had long since abandoned the spot it previously occupied. The powerful ice-type attack struck the ground and froze over the patch of land.

"Did you think it would be this easy?" Ash scoffed. "Thunderbolt!"

While Dragonair might not have wholly learnt the move, he had made sufficient enough strides in making the bolt of electricity more potent than his Shockwave. And that bolt tore through the air before slamming into the Shellfish Pokémon. It roared in pain before unleashing a large stream of water at the dragon. While not so effective, the force of the attack pushed Dragonair a few feet back and interrupted the attack.

"Ice Beam!" the poacher shouted.

Rather than the blizzard of earlier, multiple thin streams of icy energy shot out from Blastoise's mouth towards the dragon. The attack was widespread enough to make dodging difficult. So, Ash decided to borrow a page from one of Team Rocket's Apprentices he fought back in Lavender Town.

"Water Pulse! Follow it up with Shockwave."

"Water Pulse? Against a water-type? You're kidding, right?" Ash just smirked in response.

With water already gathered on the ground, it was easy for Dragonair to manipulate it and soon a wave of water was flying towards the icy beams of energy sent by the Blastoise. In the battle at the Pokémon Tower, when Dragonair had used this attack to try to knock out an Emboar, his opponent had used the Ice Beams to freeze the water in its tracks. Here, Ash used the same logic but to protect his dragon.

Sure enough, the wave of water froze in its tracks before a thin beam of electricity made its way towards the Blastoise. It showed the training it had gone through when it withdrew into its shell without prompting from its trainer. While powerful, the electricity would do nowhere near the harm it should have done. Soon, the Blastoise started rotating, and massive streams of water came out of the holes in the shell as it used the signature Hydropump attack.

Dragonair was forced to stop the attack lest he gets hit by the water and weaved in and around the pumps of water.

"The Dragonair is impressive. You're not too bad either, kid. But this battle has to end. Skull Bash!"

"Block it with Dragon Tail! Once you hold it in place, blast it back with a Dragon Rage!"

The Blastoise came charging at full speed towards the dragon, its head lowered and shining with streams of energy coming from it. Dragonair's tail glowed with draconic energy, and a titanic clash between the two occurred. The Blastoise, being the heavier of the two, was winning the struggle. Ash, however, knew that would happen. But, the close distance between the two would make it impossible for Blastoise to avoid the next attack. Something the poacher realized as well as a massive ball of energy grew in front of Dragonair's mouth.

"Ice Punch! Now!"

The Blastoise's training again showed as it barely took any time before its fist started glowing blue. The punch landed just as the Dragon Rage exploded against its face. Both behemoths, the most powerful pokémon on either trainer's team, roared in agony at the respective attacks. Both of them heaved for breath as they struggled to their feet, bruises littering their bodies, but it was clear that the Blastoise's condition was much worse.

Unfortunately, the last attack pushed the Shellfish pokémon only a couple of feet back when it fell, and thus, it was quite close to the dragon. Something the poacher realized as well. "Ice Beam! It cannot dodge it from here!"

Ash knew the statement was correct; there was no way for Dragonair to dodge the attack from that distance. His only hope was to knock out the Blastoise before it could know Dragonair out. "Thunderbolt! Finish it!"

As the icy beams of energy left Blastoise's mouth, a massive bolt of lightning left Dragonair. It took less than a second before both attacks hit their respective targets. The Blastoise roared in pain before its eyes rolled up as it fell, unconscious. Dragonair, too, roared out in pain and collapsed. However, he slowly rose, its body littered with bruises, one eye shut from pain, and half its body frozen from the attack. And Ash could not be prouder of the dragon-type as he set the tone for the next battle just by staying conscious. Now, Ash could select his next pokémon based on who the poacher sends out.

"Grr! I cannot believe that dragon managed to stay conscious. People will pay a hefty sum for such a powerful and well-trained dragon."

"You are never getting him!" Ash argued passionately!

"We will see! Raichu! Destroy that little fuck!"

As the orange coloured mouse pokémon came out, Ash quietly called back Dragonair and fervently praised him for taking out the powerful Blastoise. While he could have stayed out and probably dealt quite a bit of damage to Raichu before fainting, Ash chose to let him rest. He does not need Dragonair for the evolution of his own starter. Ash was sure his other pokémon could handle it quite well.

"Umbreon! Let's do this!"

Again, Pikachu spoke to Umbreon before the battle began. He told the dark-type pokémon the poacher's plan to kill Ash and steal them from him.

Umbreon's POV

That little fucker! Umbreon thought in rage. Not only does he want to steal her and her pack from her friend-trainer human, but he also wants to kill him before he takes them! Kill Ash? Kill Ash?! In front of her? No holding back on this one! She will show him exactly what she does to those who threaten to kill her pack!

The battle started, and a brilliant bolt of electricity shot towards her as she heard friend-trainer Ash call out to her to use Swift. She merely grounded her tail and let the electricity flow through her body to the ground. Once the attack passed and as she opened her mouth to release her counter, she could not help but relish the looks of surprise on her opponents' faces.

The star-shaped beams of energy collided with that little mouse. It staggered back before shrugging off the attack. As another massive bolt of energy came towards her, she followed her next instruction to get closer to the rodent. This allowed her to dodge the attack with ease as she let the energy of Quick Attack cover her. She remembered not to touch her opponent directly lest she gets paralyzed. Once closer, she gathered ghostly energy in her mouth and shot it towards the rodent. The ball exploded on contact and sent the rodent flying a few feet back.

She smirked as she transferred steel energy at her tail and shot towards the rodent. However, the rodent, who was struggling to get up until now, suddenly shot up and shot another bolt of electricity at her. It was playing possum! She stopped in her tracks and slammed her tail into the ground just as the bolt reached her. Again, she could feel the electricity pass through her body towards the ground, leaving her unharmed.

She could tell her the despicable human who commanded her opponent shout in surprise and anger at her uninjured state. Without pausing her stride, she removed her tail from the ground and slammed it into the rodent. It squealed in pain before recovering and bounding forward with its right paw glowing white. She had faced Pikachu enough times to know what was coming as she gracefully dodged the attack. The Raichu unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks at her, and she was suddenly back at her training grounds dodging Riolu's limbs.

While Riolu was methodical, and the placement of his limbs made it difficult for her to dodge, the wild attacks of the Raichu definitely made it easier for her. Still, there was a challenge as the Raichu was much faster than the newest addition to their team.

Still, there was another thing she realized. While the rodent may be fast, her pack-mate, the current leader of the pack, was faster. And, she smirked, she was faster. Also, unlike her training session where she focused on dodging, here, she could retaliate. She gathered her innate darkness in her mouth and quicker than the rodent could react, bit down on its body. The Raichu screamed in pain before a glowing fist smashed op top of her head. She grunted in pain, but before she could recover, another fist slammed into her. Her knees buckled as the two super-effective attacks hit her.

She shook off the pain as she and her opponent had a stare-off. The Raichu was panting as shivers racked its bodies. Its cheeks sparked threateningly before it exploded into action once again. It ran towards her with its entire body sparking with electricity, but she had heard her trainer's instructions already. With a sinister smirk towards her opponent, she sank into the ground.

Her sensitive ears caught her opponent's surprised squeak as it hit thin air. Angling her body towards the Raichu's location, she smashed into it, causing it to go flying with another shout of pain. It landed with a thud and didn't get up after that.

She bared her teeth at the contemptible human who she was fighting. Take that! Try to take me from friend-human? Try to kill friend-human? Send out your next pokémon. I will defeat them all! She thought viciously. In the background, she heard friend-trainer praise her for her performance. Ah, Ash. I love you. Don't worry; I'm not going to let anything happen to you.

Her next opponent was a bell-shaped plant pokémon with a gaping mouth. On either side of its body was a large green leaf. There was another leaf covering its mouth with a long, brown, yellow-tipped vine growing out of it. That vine glowed purple before extending and coming towards her at high speed. She barely dodged out of the way as the ground broke apart where the vine hit.

Damn! That is one powerful attack! She thought as she sent a Shadow Ball in return. She was surprised as friend-trainer rarely asked her to send such an attack when her opponent was at such a distance. However, to her shock, the attack connected. It was like her opponent made no move to dodge! The reason soon became apparent as the vine she had avoided earlier slammed into her side.

She cried out in pain as she was sent hurtling along the ground. Rolling to a stop, she quickly climbed onto her feet to see a white coloured smog coming at her from all directions, leaving her with no room to dodge! Fortunately, her trainer came through for her, again, when he requested her to go underground. A few moments later, she barrelled out of the ground and smashed into her opponent.

It screeched in pain before releasing a jet of purple liquid at me. Before I could think about dodging it, it broke apart and dispersed mid-air into a cloud which enveloped me. I coughed before gasping in pain. I could hear friend-trainer shouting in worry as a throbbing pain shot through my entire body. Before I could regain focus, I could feel another liquid splashing on me. I could not help, but screech as absolute agony burst through my body. Later I would be told the opponent used the move Venoshock.

Gasping heavily, my eyelids drooped shut as I lay on my sides. As my world was turning dark, words came to mind, unbidden.

Kidnap Us...

Kill Ash…

Kill Ash… kill Ash… KILL ASH!

Never!

My eyes snapped open as I pushed my body to stand. I could see friend-trainer wanting to return me, but I sent him a stern glare. I may not win this battle but I could sure as hell make it easier for the next pokémon from the pack who will battle it.

With that in mind, I surrounded my body with energy and shot at my opponent like a bolt. It may be powerful, but it is slow! Using that to my advantage, I smashed into it at an angle to make it shoot into the air. Tensing my legs, I jumped after it and gathered energy into my tail. As I reached above it, I winced as another burst of throbbing pain shot through my entire body. Fighting through it, I turned in air to increase my momentum as I smashed my tail into my opponent.

It squealed in pain as it shot towards the ground at high speed before crashing. I gathered energy into my mouth as I flipped and landed on the ground. The Shadow Ball smashed into my opponent as I felt another pulse of pain shoot through me.

These pulses are becoming more and more powerful, I thought as darkness once again encroached my vision. As I fought against it, another pulse shot through me and my legs buckled as I fell on the ground. Before I could try fighting it, a beam of energy hit me as I got sucked back into my pokéball.

I guess Ash could not see me in any more pain. I can't blame him; I would have done the same if the positions were reversed. I projected my thoughts to pack-mate psychic and knew he picked up on it as he developed a mental link with me, and, at my request, with pack-leader. I did the best, took down one opponent, maybe took down the other one as well. Over to you guys now, was all I could send before I gave in to the embrace of sleep — my last thoughts; my affection and love for my pack and friend-trainer Ash.

Third Person POV

Ash withdrew Umbreon, a feeling of fierce pride welling up inside him for the first pokémon he ever caught. He could only imagine how much it hurt Umbreon to be poisoned with Toxic and then take on a Venoshock. Despite that, she landed a few good blows to the Victreebel before fainting. The Flycatcher pokémon did not look too good right now, and Ash was sure one more good hit would be enough to make it faint.

He sent his love and feelings of pride to the pokéball and felt it warm up slightly in response before turning back cold. Putting her pokéball in its slot carefully, Ash clenched his fist as his hand shook. The poacher's pokémon were much stronger than he thought. The only reason he was winning right now was because of the strategies he had developed over the last few months while the poacher relied on brute strength.

But Ash was winning right now, and he was not going to give up his advantage any time soon. "Kadabra," he snapped out as his eyes sought the psi pokémon. "You ready?"

'I thought you would never ask,' he replied as he set up a mental link with Ash. Rarely had Ash seen his pokémon this fired up before.

"Power Whip!" his opponent barked out.

'Hit it from behind! Psybeam! Full Power! Umbreon has damaged it heavily. The attack should finish it off.'

As the purple-coloured vine tore through the air towards Kadabra, he simply teleported to behind the Victreebel. The multi-coloured beam of energy smashed into Victreebel as it squealed in pain before falling, its eyes crossed out in dead faint. Kadabra smoothly teleported back to his starting position as he waited for his next opponent.

"I can't believe you've forced me down to my last pokémon, brat! But this one will definitely defeat that stupid Kadabra of yours!" saying that, he released a large, wingless, three-headed avian. A Dodrio.

Ash was surprised the poacher only had four pokémon with him. With 3 of them down, Ash had an excellent chance of winning this battle, especially considering he still had Pikachu, Floette, Growlithe, and Riolu left. Hey, it's not an official battle, but one for his life. There's no way he is playing by the rules.

"Tri-Attack!" he bellowed.

All three heads of the Dodrio opened their beaks. An orb of energy formed in each of its beaks, the right one coloured green, the middle one coloured indigo, and the left one coloured red. A red-coloured triangle formed between the orbs which quickly turned indigo and shot off towards Kadabra at high speed.

'Shock Wave!'

Kadabra, once again, calmly teleported out of the way of the attack before sending the blue-coloured lightning bolt at the bird. In an astonishing display of speed, it appeared in front of Kadabra with all three beaks spinning at a high velocity.

'!' Ash could hear the feel the surprise from Kadabra as he teleported away in a panic, his previous attack disrupted.

As quickly understood the tone of the battle and told Kadabra the same. 'It is too fast for you to hit. It is better if I withdraw you and send someone else.'

'If only I knew light screen and protect. I could be safe inside my box while blasting it with impunity,' he sighed. 'But I want to try one more thing before I give up,' he said as he teleported away from another Drill Peck from his opponent.

'Go ahead,' Ash encouraged.

The next time the Dodrio came for an attack, Kadabra teleported again. In a repeat of the move he used against the Koffing earlier in the day, he teleported into the sky. Taking a moment to orient himself, he quickly charged his energy before sending the biggest bolt of electricity he could manage at the bird.

It tried to dodge, to its credit. But the Shock Wave is not so easy to get rid off and followed the bird. Unfortunately, the bird managed to stay a second ahead of the bolt. By the time Kadabra started coming down, gravity taking hold of his body, the bird was yet to be hit. A few moments later, the bird aimed its trajectory to where Kadabra would land, its beaks spinning furiously again.

Kadabra, however, was no ordinary pokémon. He already knew the Shock Wave was too slow to hit the Dodrio. He also knew that the bird, tiring from sprinting at such a fast pace, would go for him to disrupt the attack. So, using some algebra, he calculated the exact time it would take for the Dodrio to reach a specific position he was targeting. After that, it was just a matter of changing the course of the bolt of electricity to meet the Dodrio at that exact position at that exact time. Was all this difficult to do? Of course. But this was a Kadabra. A well trained Kadabra who had devoured books on algebra long before it had evolved into one.

The result of this action? The bolt of lightning smashed into the Dodrio, causing it to let out a cry of pain at the super-effective attack.

"That was brilliant, Kadabra!" Ash exulted. "But I don't think it will work again. Return. Let's finish this battle, Pikachu!"

"Pika Pika!" his starter shouted as it bounded on the battlefield as the psi pokémon teleported to stand next to Ash. Small droplets of sweat beaded his brows at the effort it took to hit the last attack.

'I need to battle faster opponents more often,' he panted. 'Perhaps along with the regular dodging exercises we do, we can also have daily spars with a different member of the family? This way, we will have experience with battling different types of pokémon.'

'That's a good idea,' Ash thought back. 'I will bring it up with the rest of the team.'

The battle between Pikachu and Dodrio was more even. While the latter was faster than Ash's starter, Kadabra had managed to tire it sufficiently for the gap to reduce to a negligible amount. One Thunder Wave to paralyze the bird skewed the battle in Pikachu's favour. Two thunderbolts later, the bird was knocked out, and Ash stood across the poacher with Pikachu and Kadabra at his side.

"You're stronger than I thought, kid," he chuckled nervously. "Say, I have quite a few pokémon in the truck with me. Do you want to take a look? You can take one of them. At no cost whatsoever. What say you?" he laughed.

"You threaten to kill me and steal my pokémon. And now you want to bribe me?" Ash asked incredulously. "But you know what? I do have an answer for you. I want to take a pokémon from you." The poacher had a look of hope on his face which was dashed immediately by Ash's follow-up statement. "I will take all your pokémon. When I turn you over to the police!" he finished angrily.

"Pikachu, paralyze him!"

"Now listen here! Be reasonable!" he shouted in panic before his body seized up and he fell, his legs not working anymore. Once down, Kadabra held him still with Confusion while Ash used his climbing rope to tie him up. Once done, Ash thought of what to do. He had to turn the man over to authorities but did not feel like disturbing Lance over him. Knowing he was only a few days distance from Saffron City (that city was in between Lavender Town and Celadon City), he decided to call Sabrina.

The phone rang for a few moments, with no response from the psychic. Just as Ash assumed that she was too busy to receive a call at this point of time, the call was answered.

"Ash Ketchum," came her monotone voice. "I trust you have a good reason to call me at this point? I was in the middle of a Gym Battle."

"Yes," Ash stammered. The beautiful psychic always intimidated him a little. "I ran into a bit of a situation here." With that, he explained to her about the poacher. About how he was capturing the pokémon to sell them to the highest bidders and how he killed any trainer that he came across. When he told her that the reason he called her was that he was only a few days away from Saffron City, he suddenly squeaked in terror as her eyes lashed blue. Cold anger filled those eyes as she replied.

"A poacher killing trainers so close to my home city?! This cannot go unanswered!" Snapping her gaze at Ash, she commented, "Does Kadabra remember where we last met? When it was but an Abra?"

'Yes," Kadabra supplied in his mind. Ash nodded in affirmation.

"Good. Ask him to teleport to that spot. I will meet him there in 5 minutes."

"But your Gym Battle?" Ash asked.

"It will be over by then," she said with finality, and Ash sent a mental apology to her challenger for pissing the Gym Leader off.

Kadabra said goodbye to them before it teleported away towards Saffron City. Ash just sat down on the ground with a tired sigh. "What a day!"

"Pikaaaa," his starter agreed as he stretched next to him.

However, it seemed as if the universe was not done with Ash for the day. He had barely sat down when the Mienfoo came in front of him. It stood in front of him in a battle stance with one arm in front and the other behind it.

"Do you want to battle me?" Ash asked in surprise. When the Mienfoo nodded its head, Ash replied, "But why? I am not the one capturing all these pokémon. And you don't have to worry about this guy," he gestured towards the poacher. "He will not be harming anyone again."

The Mienfoo nodded in agreement but did not relax its stance.

"Do you still want to battle me?" Ash asked in confusion.

"Pika Pika," his starter said from his side. Ash looked at him for a moment before recognition flashed across his face.

"Oh, are you challenging me for a battle to join my team?" he asked.

The Mienfoo nodded its head once again.

"Great!" Ash exclaimed. He found a sparring partner for Riolu! Selecting a pokéball, he called out Floette.

The Mienfoo started the battle as it ran towards Floette before it suddenly clapped its hands. A massive shockwave of air came out of its hands which pushed Floette back. The small fairy flinched which allowed the Martial Arts pokémon to close the gap between them. Its hands glowed white as it started slapping Floette with them.

Ash was impressed with this tactic. The Fake-Out caused Floette to flinch, allowing the Mienfoo to get in close with the fairy. Unfortunately, while it was getting a few hits in, it was too weak to cause her much damage. Floette seemed to have recovered from the flinching and, getting frustrated with the slaps, whipped the pokémon away using her vines.

She sent her vines forward in an attempt to catch her opponent. However, Mienfoo's eyes glowed as it suddenly dodged the vines with ease and closed the gap between the two once again. Ash, impressed with witnessing the application of Detect in a battle for the first time, decided to get involved. He had seen enough to be impressed with the pokémon to want to catch it.

When Mienfoo reached Floette with its glowing palms once again, he commanded, "Protect! Finish it with Dazzling Gleam!"

A white-coloured barrier came between the two, and the Mienfoo slammed into it, getting dazed. The fairy took full advantage of this as her body glowed white with fairy energy. A couple of seconds later, a rainbow-coloured beam of energy shot out from her and slammed into the Mienfoo. The martial Arts pokémon could only scream as it was sent hurtling back before it rolled to a stop, unconscious.

"Pokéball, go!" Ash chanted as he sent one at the downed pokémon. It got sucked in, and the pokéball rolled on the ground as it fought against being captured. Floette's attack, however, caused sufficient damage as the ball rolled to a stop and dinged once, signifying capture.

"I caught a Mienfoo!" Ash exclaimed in joy!

"Pi Pikachu!" his starter cheered along.

"Flo! Floette!" the fairy chanted along.

His pokédex beeped and rang out, Mienfoo, the Martial Arts Pokémon. They seclude themselves in the mountains and devote themselves to training. The form of their kicks and chops differs from pack to pack. This Mienfoo is female and has the ability Regenerator. This Mienfoo knows the moves Pound, Meditate, Detect, Fake Out, and Double Slap. The Mienfoo knows the egg move Vital Throw, but it has not been unlocked yet.

"You did great, Floette. The Dazzling Gleam is almost ready for actual battles. You have got the power aspect down, now we just need to reduce the time it takes for you to charge the attack," he said happily, and the fairy nodded along. She had spent quite a bit of time learning the attack and was happy that she had finally gotten it down. A few more days of practice were needed before she moved on to learn something new.

Ash petted her for a few moments as she cooed happily in his palm before returning her. And just in time, as the air around them warped and distorted before revealing his Kadabra along with Sabrina. She was wearing her standard pink-coloured spaghetti tank top that brought out her pink-coloured eyes. Ash's hormones, recently awakened by his recent encounters with Leaf and Cynthia tried to tell his eyes to look at the generous amount of cleavage shown by the tank top. Ash valiantly ignored them as he looked her in her eyes.

Her blank expression shifted into a small smirk. "Ah, the wonders of puberty. Thank you for not staring at my chest, though. It would make things awkward between us."

"You can still read my mind as easily as before, huh?" he asked wryly, completely willing to ignore her remarks.

"Of course," she replied, allowing Ash the change of subject. "Your Kadabra's powers have grown tremendously in the last two months, but it is still far away from being a match to me. Now, what do we have here?" she asked as she moved towards the downed man taking in his paralyzed and bound state. The clearing was silent for a few moments as her eyes glowed pink signifying the active use of her psychic powers on the man.

After around 5 minutes, she straightened and turned to Ash, while releasing her Alakazam. "You have done Kanto a great service by catching this man," she said as her Alakazam psychically moved the man along with the pokémon in the cage into his own truck. "The man has a bounty on his head for capture. I will ensure it is given to you when you reach Saffron City. Thank you, Ash Ketchum. I will see you in a few days."

Without giving Ash a chance to respond, the air around her distorted again as she teleported away. The truck, along with its inhabitants, was taken by the Alakazam.

'I am still no match for her,' Kadabra mourned, causing Ash to snort in laughter.

"Yeah, well, don't expect to be a match for her for at least a few more months."

He walked towards a big tree at the side of the road. He put down his pack and unfurled his tent. Two of his pokémon were severely injured with one of them being poisoned. He caught a new pokémon who needed to be introduced to the rest of his team. He thought he had travelled enough for the day.

It took almost four more weeks for Ash to reach Celadon City. Four weeks, where, fortunately, nothing too exciting happened. Ash's days were filled with training sessions in the mornings and evenings with him travelling and battling trainers during the day.

Mienfoo had settled in well with the rest of his team and had developed a friendly, competitive rivalry with Riolu. When Ash reached Saffron City, Sabrina teleported in front of him and gave him his award for capturing the poacher. It was quite a hefty sum of money. This allowed Ash to visit the fighting dojo in the city and buy training weights for his two fighting-type pokémon.

At first, Mienfoo was quicker than Riolu and could get in more hits than the Emanation pokémon. Her form was better, and it was clear she had trained in it for a more extended period as well. However, the only physical moves she knew were Pound and Double Slap. Riolu, while slower, already knew Force Palm and was on the verge of learning Brick Break. In a way, they both had what the other wanted. This led to Ash happily pairing the two of them together where they sparred with each other for almost an hour every day.

This led to the Mienfoo quickly learning Force Palm and Brick Break. She was now focusing on learning Swift, an attack she had started learning on her own while still a wild pokémon. Riolu, on the other hand, quickly caught up with Mienfoo in terms of speed and dexterity, especially with the introduction of training weights. His form smoothened out as well as his movement became more refined. He, too, quickly mastered Brick Break and was now on the verge of learning Double Team, a move that he can pull out of his arsenal when he's facing a tough time against an opponent.

In addition to this, he had taught them both the TM Rock Tomb to give them a possible counter to flying-type pokémon, a weakness for both of them.

Pikachu, too, had received training weights from Ash as he was feeling a bit down at not being the fastest member of the team anymore. He put in work against both the fighting-type pokémon to get used to them. While his weights were not as high as the ones used by Riolu and Mienfoo, the addition to his training regimen had allowed him to close the gap with Umbreon. Pikachu knew that if he continued training this way, he would soon match the Moonlight pokémon in terms of speed.

He had also finally made progress on channelling the bug-type energy needed to learn Signal Beam. While not mastered, he could form the beam seven times out of ten. Ash gave it a week more before Pikachu got it mastered.

Umbreon, meanwhile, had developed a pretty mean Feint Attack. Ash, unable to watch his pokémon in so much pain earlier, had tasked her with learning Moonlight. It is a fairy-type attack that allows the user to regain their health based on the weather pattern. During typical weather, the health is restored by half. During harsh sunlight, it is restored by two-thirds. During any other weather, it is restored by a quarter.

To use the move, Umbreon has to channel fairy-type energy and release it from its body. The energy, on interacting with the atmosphere, created a reaction that triggered a chemical in Umbreon's brain that activated the healing process. So far, Umbreon has learnt to start accessing fairy-type energy from Floette but has yet to begin learning the actual move.

Speaking of the fairy, she had mastered Dazzling Gleam a few days after the battle against the poacher. Continuing with the theme of learning powerful fairy-type attacks, Ash set her out to learn Moonblast. Floette had actually done quite well. She had managed to channel her power into creating the pink-coloured orb in her mouth. However, the problem arrived when she fired it at her target. The beam of energy was hardly more potent than her Dazzling Gleam, and she was now working on increasing the power behind her attack. Once she manages to do so, she will have to learn to gather the power in less than a second and fire it for it to be feasible in battle.

Growlithe had used the four weeks well and had managed to learn both Flame Wheel and Fire Fang. Using the same concept as Fire Fang, Ash had set him out to learn Bite. Ash figured it would take the puppy pokémon quite a while to learn this attack considering it is the first attack not of his type that he would have to learn.

Kadabra had managed to raise 3 Light Screen barriers at the same time. It was slow going as every new barrier that Kadabra built increased the difficulty level by that much. He said the difficulty increased exponentially rather than linearly. Unless something changed, he does not see himself mastering the move to his satisfaction for another two months at the least.

Dragonair, on the other hand, mastered Thunderbolt, the innate power in the dragon allowing him to generate enough power to learn the move. Similarly, he had already had a feel of fire-type energy and used it to master Flamethrower after taking a few tips from Growlithe for the same. Ash had tasked him with unlocking his egg move Dragon Pulse – an extremely powerful dragon-type attack. If he succeeded, he would become the first of his pokémon to learn their egg moves.

Despite the progress his pokémon made, Ash was in a conundrum as he entered the Celadon City Department Store. His Growlithe had shown massive growth over the last two weeks. While he was confident that the puppy could defeat one of Erika's pokémon, he was also sure that he would not be able to defeat two. Kadabra was effective against Erika's pokémon provided she used a grass and poison type, and he could not hinge his battle plan based on that. On top of that, the most powerful attack he knew was Psybeam, which was not powerful enough to one-shot a pokémon.

He had Dragonair, obviously, who was his most powerful pokémon. That still left him with just three pokémon who had attacks that provided a clear advantage against Erika's pokémon. Pikachu had not mastered Signal Beam till now, and his electric-type attacks were not effective against grass-type pokémon. Floette was at a massive disadvantage against the poison-type at the gym. Riolu and Mienfoo were just not powerful enough to defeat one of Erika's pokémon without having a super-effective move in their arsenal. That just left him with Umbreon, who had neither a super-effective move in her arsenal nor a move that dealt a great deal of damage. While she could grind out a victory, Ash was not sure if he wanted to rely on that as a strategy.

All this is why he is at the Celadon City Departmental Store right now. He is looking to see if he can buy a few TMs which will be advantageous to his pokémon, not only in this battle but in the future as well.

Going through the TMs, he reluctantly put down the TM for Hyper Beam. While a devastating manoeuvre, none of his pokémon had the firepower to give the attack justice, not even his Dragonair. Making a selection, he finally decided on 6 TMs – one for each pokémon other than Rhyhorn, who was still a month and a half away from starting training. He can always come back to the store later when Rhyhorn is old enough and powerful enough to warrant a TM specifically for her.

The TMs he finally decided on are Ice Beam, Low Sweep, Surf (which Pikachu can learn, somehow), Psychic, Façade, and Will-O-Wisp. These would give him extensive coverage, and some of them can be used by multiple pokémon.

Looking at the bill for the TMs, Ash is thankful for the prize money he received from the tournament at the S.S. Anne. While he had earned enough money for the TMs through the numerous daily battles he takes part in, he would have felt guilty for spending so much of his money at this juncture. The money from winning the tournament took that guilt away.

Paying for the TMs, Ash stored them in his bag before he left to explore Celadon City. He had never seen so many people in a single place before! While he was born and brought up at quiet, quaint Pallet Town, Celadon City was the 7th City he had visited since the start of his journey. In fact, he had visited all major towns and cities in the Kanto Region other than Cinnabar Island. Yet, he had never come across so many people at a single place before.

Picking up a brochure about the city while exiting the store, he read out specific facts to his starter, who was standing on his shoulder, thankfully without his weights.

"Celadon City is the most populous city in the Kanto region and is the eight-most populous city in the world," he read out loud. "This city, while not the financial capital of Kanto, is the place where the most inflow and outflow of cash happens. It is, in fact, the highest source of revenue for the League. The two major places where people spend their money here are the Celadon City Departmental Store and the Celadon City Game Corner."

"Pika Pika," his starter replied.

"You want to see the Game Corner?" Ash asked, getting a nod in reply from the mouse pokémon. "Yeah, let's do that. We've already seen the Departmental Store, and I am sure we will come back here in the future."

After a few twists and turns and getting lost more times than they could count, Ash and Pikachu finally reached the Game Corner. Quickly acknowledging the rules and converting some cash into chips, the two stepped inside the casino. Immediately, their senses were assaulted. Bright flashes of light pulled their attention to various machines and attractions. The slot machines kept dinging and echoing and drew Ash's attention to them. They took a round of the casino to see what all was available for them to play.

There were tables set up where people were playing different kinds of card games. Since Ash could not make heads or tails of those games, he quickly moved on. Realizing that the slot machines seemed simple enough (he just had to press a level twice – once to start the machine and once to stop it), Ash settled in front of one of them.

Feeding in the appropriate amount of coins, Ash quickly pulled the lever to start the machine. Unbeknownst to him, before he could pull the lever again to stop it, the entire casino glowed a slight blue as time seemed to stop in that area.

At the same time, around 50 km above the Game Corner, in the Stratosphere

Two beings of immense power stood in mid-air as they observed the world below them. One of them is a small, white, humanoid pokemon with short, stubby legs and comparatively longer arms. On its head is a large, yellow structure with three points extending outwards – one from the top and one from either side. On its belly was a curved seam that hid its third eye.

The other is a pink, bipedal pokémon with mammalian features. It has a rounded, white snout, triangular ears and large blue eyes. These eyes are currently glowing as they put the entire Game Corner under a psychic barrier and stopped time there.

'Are you ready, Jirachi?' it asked its partner.

'I am ready. I must ask, is it necessary to involve the boy? I do not foresee this ending happily for him.'

'Yes, I do not see him winning this battle. But it will help prepare him for the war. This boy is the key to putting a stop to Team Rocket and ensuring peace in this region. It will also be through him that we will finally get to meet the newest member of our family.'

'I still do not like this.'

'Do not worry overmuch. I will keep an eye on the child and his pokémon. If they are in danger of dying, I will step in and save them.'

'Alright, that's fair enough. Let's do this. I'm ready.'

'Good.'

'Before we start, I have a question. Since when could you control time, Mew? I thought that was Dialga's domain.'

The pink-coloured legendary just giggled. 'It is. And I've always been able to control time. I have the DNA of all pokémon in me, remember?'

'If you didn't want to answer, you could just have said so,' Jirachi grumbled causing its partner to giggle again. The two then got set to work.

At the same time, with Ash

The boy in question was not aware of the talk between the two legendaries. In fact, he was not even aware of the stoppage of time or its resumption. Happy in his own world without the plotting of legendary pokémon or thoughts of Team Rocket, he pulled the lever of the slot machine to stop it.

At this time, Jirachi worked its magic. The owner of the Game Corner had installed psychic barriers in all machines to stop trainers from cheating. These same barriers are why Mew recruited Jirachi for this little plan of its. Even with its vast power, the pokémon installing the psychic barriers would know when someone breaks them. Jirachi, however, was the legendary of steel-type pokémon. Its powers allowed it to take control of the slot machine itself to control the outcome.

Ash was, again unaware of this, as he stared at the screen in front of him. The first two numbers on the screen had stopped at 7, and the third wheel was slowly rolling to a halt. The number on the screen was 5 before it moved agonizingly slowly to 6. Ash had thought it was over before it rolled even further, at an even slower rate and stopped at 7. Ash waited to see if the wheel would rotate further or not and was startled when music suddenly started playing from the machine.

Confetti fell on him, and the machine announced, "WINNER! WINNER!" repeatedly. People around him began to congratulating him as others turned to see what the commotion was about. Slowly, all the people in the casino started clapping and cheering for Ash.

The boy in question was shocked. The first time using a slot machine and winning something? His luck has never been so good. He suddenly caught sight of 2 older men in suits, making their way towards him. Ash had a feeling they were there for him, and sure enough, the two asked him to follow them.

Ash walked behind them as people continued cheering for him. People on either side of him wanted to shake his hands, congratulating him, hoping some of his luck would rub off on them. Overall, it was a massively overwhelming experience for Ash. Soon, the three of them, along with Pikachu, left the casino as they stepped inside an elevator. Stepping out one floor above, Ash and Pikachu were ushered inside a room with an older gentleman sitting inside.

"So, you are the one who won on the slot machine, huh?"

"Umm…yes," Ash replied.

"Congratulations, young man. Do you know what you have won?"

"To be honest, I have no clue. This is the first time I have ever stepped inside a casino. And the first time I used the slot machine, I won. I do know the prize has to be something major as everyone kept congratulating me."

"The first time using a slot machine the first time you have ever stepped inside a casino? That is some major beginner's luck. And yes, you assumed correctly. The prize is something major. In fact, it is a pokémon," he replied as he kept a pokéball on the desk in between them.

"A pokémon?!" Ash exclaimed as he looked down at the pokéball. "How does that work? It must belong to someone already, right?"

"No. It is similar to when a sponsor or a breeder gives a pokémon to a trainer. The only difference, in this case, is that the pokémon is slightly more trained. Here, this belongs to you now."

"Wow. Thanks!" Ash said as excitement started taking hold inside of him. A new pokémon! And since he won at a game corner in a game of chance, it must be a rare pokémon! He quickly picked the pokéball up and looked at the gentleman in front of him. "So, how does it work?"

"Boot up your pokédex. I will register the pokémon with you," he replied.

Ash did that, and a few seconds later, his pokédex beeped. Rufflet, the Eaglet Pokémon. Known as a natural-born warrior, soon after its hatching, it will challenge its parent to a fight in order to gain their acceptance. This Rufflet is male and has the ability, Sheer Force. This Rufflet knows the moves Peck, Leer, Fury Attack, Wing Attack, Hone Claws, Aerial Ace, Slash, Steel Wing, and Heat Wave. The Rufflet does not have egg moves.

Ash stared at his pokédex with his mouth wide open causing the gentleman in front of him to let out a chuckle. "I did tell you the pokémon is going to be slightly more trained, right?"

Ash just shifted his surprised stare from the pokédex to the man in front of him. "Yeah, this is just a bit more than what I expected," he replied.

The man in front of him let out another chuckle before his demeanour turned serious. "Now, is there anything else we can do for you?"

"Yeah. I have all these chips. Can you convert them to cash? I want to go out to meet my new pokémon!"

"Sure," he replied as he asked one of the men who escorted Ash from the casino to collect the chips. He did so and left. "By the time you reach the reception, your money will be ready."

"Okay! Thank you very much!" Ash shook the man's hand before following the other man back to the reception area. Quickly collecting his money, Ash ran out of the Game Corner and made his way out of the city. It was time to introduce his team to their newest member!

Meanwhile, no one noticed the two dots in the sky blink before they both disappeared as if they were never there in the first place. And no one knew that two legendaries, neither seen by a human in centuries, spent the last 10 minutes above the most populous city in the Kanto region.

A/N: First sequence of action since I returned from hiatus. How was it? We see our first glimpse of other legendary pokémon. What is their interest in Ash? And why did they manipulate things to make Ash get the Rufflet?

Ash is going to have another significant and challenging battle in the next chapter. Any particular pokémon you want him to face against? Please review or PM and I will try to accommodate them!