Rise of a Champion Chapter Six:

"Stop right there!"

The man continued to grunt as he exerted himself trying to run away from the police officer. She'd been tipped off about their operation on Nugget Bridge, most likely by that brat that had refused his offer in their organisation.

"Little shit," he murmured as he continued to run, if he could make it to Cerulean he would hopefully be able to lose her in the crowds.

"Growlithe! Pin him!" The police officer shouted. The Rocket member grunted as he felt something collide with his back and knock him over, pinning him to the ground.

He tried to get up, only to come face to face with the snarling maw of a Growlithe. The fire type snapped at his hands with its sharp teeth as it noticed him slowly reaching for Pokeballs and cursed inwardly.

"You're under arrest for assisting the terrorist group Team Rocket," the police officer stated as she walked over and handcuffed him. The man tried to pull away and make a break for it, but Growlithe snarled as he tried to pull away.

"Dammit," he cursed as he was led away to Cerulean by the officer and her Pokemon. Looks like he wasn't going to get away this time.

- Meanwhile -

Ash turned away from the scene as he watched Officer Jenny arrest the man who had tried to recruit him to Team Rocket. In all honesty, he'd expected the police to arrest him earlier than he had, almost two days after Ash had reported him, but with everything else going on in the city right now he wasn't surprised.

An explosion had gone off last night, destroying a house in the centre of the city. Luckily, no one was injured but it had caused masses of panic throughout the citizens that took hours to calm down to a reasonable level.

"Alright Larvitar, let's go explore," Ash muttered quietly to the rock type in his arms. Both Ivysaur and Larvitar had made quick recoveries at the Pokemon Centre that night, having both been injected with much stronger hyper potions, which accelerated healing way beyond the speed that came with a regular potion. They'd been discharged a couple of hours after with the advice to take it slow for the next day or two whilst the potion ran its course.

So, Ash had decided to take it slow and explore Route 25. It was a quiet route, leading to nowhere in particular with a small coastline at the end of it. A few trainers could be found, which Ash battled along the way with his team.

Speaking of his team, Ash had made some major changes to it. The first had been the night after his gym battle, when he'd left Magikarp at the day-care on the edge of Cerulean.

- Flashback -

Not a lot of people hung around the outskirts of Cerulean. Compared to the bright city centre, where you could find most of the main attractions, it was quiet with very few people walking the streets.

Ash casually strolled through the streets, studying his surroundings. Abra was sitting on his shoulder, her first experience outside of her Pokeball. The psychic type hadn't made any effort to communicate with Ash yet, but was instead content to sit on his shoulder and snore the day away.

In fact, that seemed like that was all she did. Ash hadn't seen her awake since he had caught her, which was so unlike any of his other Pokemon. He knew from their Pokedex entry that Abra had to sleep for copious amounts of time but had never realised the extent of their sleep.

"You really do sleep a lot don't you," Ash mused to himself as Abra stayed perched on his shoulder, unmoving. However, he did feel a slight buzz in the back of his mind which felt like amusement. Ash shivered at the contact and Abra withdrew from his mind when she felt he was uncomfortable. The last feeling Ash could sense from her was disappointment.

With a sigh, Ash continued to explore around Cerulean with Abra on his shoulder. The Abra species, like many other psychic types, could form psychic bonds with their trainers which allowed them to converse through their minds.

These mental links could give trainers an upper hand in battle, as commands could be given with speaking, both avoiding letting the opponent know what you were planning and allowing for faster commands to be given. However, it meant that the Pokemon and trainer would have access to each other's thoughts whenever, which could be uncomfortable at first for many. Ash knew it'd take time to get used to it but eventually it'd be second nature to him.

"Your thought patterns stray does far from their original concept, it's highly amusing."

Ash jumped, nearly knocking the Psi Pokemon off his shoulder. He hadn't even felt her enter his mind there, which had shocked him the most.

"You scared the hell out of me," Ash told the psychic type, as he felt amusement in the back of his mind. This time he tried not to flinch as the psychic type's mind overlapped with his. She felt his discomfort once more, however, and pulled away with a few final words.

"It seems you still are not ready for a bond like this, trainer. We will try again when you are ready," Abra told him, before shutting off their connection.

Ash thought about her words for a moment on the road, the Abra motionless on his shoulder. After a few moments of pondering he came to a large building which stood out from the others in the outskirts of the city.

It was easily double the size of some of the houses either side of it with large, opaque windows situated in acres of grassy land; a nice contrast to the concrete jungle of the urban sprawl. A couple of Pokemon bounced around outside as a man took a few of them to the side and began to train them. Ash watched the man train the Pokemon for a few minutes before he was noticed by the man.

"Hey there! Welcome to Cerulean day-care!" He shouted across his land as he walked over, carrying a small, brown-furred Pokemon in his arms who nuzzled into his chest affectionately.

"Hey! Are these all your Pokemon?" Ash asked eagerly as he studied all the species around him. There were a few he recognised, namely the brown, fox-like Pokemon in his arms and the few starter Pokemon he had there; such as a Charmander and two Squirtles.

The man laughed to himself as Ash asked, as if he'd said joke before studying him. Ash noticed his gaze lingered on his Pokeballs on his waist for a moment, probably assessing if he was a trainer or not.

"Sorry to say they aren't all mine, although some of them I wish they were. Nah, the only Pokemon out here that is mine are these Pokeballs on my waist and this little Eevee here," he told Ash as the fox Pokemon yipped and nuzzled its trainer affectionately once again.

"All these other Pokemon are from trainers who've given them to me to train them, that's what my business is all about," he explained further after seeing the rookie trainer's quizzical expression.

"I see," Ash acknowledged as he stared at the Pokemon there. He presumed some of them were not from Kanto, like Larvitar, as he had no clue what species they were. At least with other Kanto Pokemon he had an inkling of what they were.

"So do you want to bring out your Pokemon? Maybe I could help you out like I am with these other trainers," the man questioned, excited at a potential deal in his business.

Ash thought about it before nodding. Having someone else train a member of his team for a while could be extremely beneficial whilst he was travelling. He could pick them up at any time and they could get valuable experience whilst not training with Ash.

"Alright! We may as well move inside whilst we're talking. So, my name is Abbott and you are?" he questioned as Ash removed his Pokeballs from his belt. The two of them stepped inside to the building, whose interior was decorated with training gear for Pokemon.

"My names Ash," he replied simply, not giving too much information to the man, who frowned slightly at his bluntness, before shaking it his and ignoring it in favour of seeing his Pokemon.

"Alright let's see your team!"

Abra teleported off Ash's shoulder and sat on the floor in front of him, still sleeping. Ash sweatdropped at his Pokemon's laziness but Abbott was impressed he'd managed to catch one of the psychic types.

Ash released his team. Larvitar blinked and rubbed his eyes as if he had just woken up, before staring at his trainer attentively.

Beedrill was next, the bug type buzzed, agitated, before hovering slightly in the air in front of Ash.

Beedrill as a species were known to be very aggressive, having high levels of testosterone pumping around in their ichor, which made them very hard to control. The day-care owner was impressed at the bug's obedience.

Ivysaur appeared a second later, staring around for a moment before bounding over to Ash and nuzzling his leg affectionately, to which the trainer patted her head and rubbed where her body became part of the bulb.

Ash looked around for a place to release Magikarp and noticed an empty aquarium to the side of the room. After gesturing to it and getting a nod of confirmation from Abbott, he released Magikarp into the tank.

The Fish Pokemon swam around in the tank, before head butting it gently when she saw Ash. Her trainer affectionately out his hand on the glass as the water type brushed her head against the layer between them as she let loose a few bubbles. Her eyes looked vacant but Ash knew the Fish Pokemon could remember all its surroundings from when he first obtained her with ease.

"That's a balanced team you've got there Ash," Abbott commented as he bent down and began to inspect all his Pokemon.

Abra was first, Abbott gave her a check over and studied the armour growing on her body before nodding and moving on. The Psi Pokemon didn't even react to his study, her only acknowledgement of his inspection was to teleport back onto Ash's shoulder as soon as he had finished.

Ivysaur was next. The day-care man inspected her bulb, which let out a lazy puff of pollen as he scratched around the base. After inspecting around the rest of the grass type's body he stepped back and left the Seed Pokemon to stare at him in curiosity.

Beedrill buzzed angrily as the day-care man got close, only to stop and allow himself to be inspected as Ash gave the bug type a glare. Abbott inspected the hard exoskeleton surrounding the bug type's soft insides before looking at the large stingers on its arms, which dropped venom as the bug type got agitated. The bug buzzed once more and Abbott took a respectful step backwards before moving on.

Magikarp was next and she was receptive to the man's attention. The Fish Pokemon enjoyed being stroked by Abbott and let of a couple of bubbles as she swam around happily. Ash internally cringed as he watched the interaction between the two.

He had never bonded as much with the water type as he'd have liked too, seeing as she was hind to use and find bodies of water for on the road. The rest of his Pokemon could be used whilst they fought through Mount Moon and anywhere on the routes, Magikarp relied on water. Ash knew he'd have to work harder to bond with her in the future, the water type deserved that much.

"I think I could teach your Magikarp a thing or two whilst you're on the road," Abbott said as he shot down Ash's ideas without even knowing. The rookie trainer internally frowned as he thought about what that would mean.

Magikarp would be left here in Cerulean whilst he explored the region. She'd get stronger sure, and maybe even evolve, but she'd miss out on being part of the team. Ash went to reject the deal but the day-care man started talking before he could.

"I'll make you a deal even," Abbott started as he scratched behind Eevee's neck, eliciting a purr of pure ecstasy from the normal type.

"I'll train your Magikarp from now until you reach your next city and you can see the progress. To be honest I don't reckon she'll need more than that before evolving, it's just her muscles need strengthening before she evolves," the man told Ash, who pondered over the idea.

He could be in Vermillion in a few weeks if he pushed himself, maybe even sooner. He could easily see what the effects of a few weeks with the day-care man would do and maybe it'd be enough for her.

Not to mention that strengthening her muscles would make evolution a lot less risky. Weak Magikarp that somehow made it too evolution could sometimes find that they lacked the muscle mass to move their gigantic bodies around, leaving them paralysed in their own bodies, slowly killing them in the worst cases. Whilst this most likely wouldn't be a problem for Ash's own, Gyarados could still be known to have problems with breathing and stamina after evolution if not strong enough.

"Alright, let's do it," Ash said with a confident nod. This would be best for Magikarp and it wouldn't be long, they'd be at Vermillion in no time.

"Ok then, we'll work out a price at Vermillion, I charge $100 a day. I can usually get in at least three hours a day of training on what she needs the most," Abbott assured him as he held out his hand, the which Ash handed over his Pokeball.

Ash looked worried as he gave him the Pokeball, thinking about how Magikarp would deal with another trainer. Abbott looked at him and gave a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry kid, your Magikarp will be fine with me," he assured as he patted Ash on the shoulder. The rookie trainer nodded as he walked over to Magikarp.

The Fish Pokemon swam excitedly around the tank as he got close, making Ash feel slightly guilty about what he was going to say.

"Hey Magikarp…" Ash said as the water type began to stop swimming in circles as stared at him from behind the glass.

"You want to get stronger and evolve, right?" Ash asked, leaving the question open. There was no hesitation from his Pokemon as she did a cartwheel in the water, excited at the mere prospect of becoming stronger.

Magikarp were a strange species in the way that until they are a few years, their brain capacity is small. Most Pokedex entries state that it's a miracle they survive their first few years because of how difficult it is for them to function, making them easy prey for others or being unable to find food. However, past that their brain function becomes highly developed and they can remember any even post this change with incredible accuracy. They could answer simply questions and even more complex ones as they get closer to evolution.

"That's what I thought," Ash replied with a smile before gesturing to Abbott behind him.

"Abbott here has offered to train you for a few weeks so you're ready to evolve, he wants to strengthen your muscles so that you're completely ready," Ash explained, being careful to talk as slowly as possible. Whilst their brains had developed to answer quick questions the species could still struggle with carrying out quickly spoken orders or questions, so Ash wanted to make sure that she got what he was saying.

The water type contemplated this for a bit before nodding in agreement. Ash took that as a good sign and put his hand into the large aquarium, stroking the tough scales of the fish and making the water type wriggle slightly at his touch.

"I'll see you in a week or two, be good for Abbott!" Ash said as he got up and walked towards the exit.

"Karppppp!"

Abbott smiled at the two before following Ash outside to give him some last-minute details.

"I'll put your number into my Pokedex so that you can call me whenever to check up on your Pokemon, also if you're unable to collect your Magikarp from here in Cerulean I'll be able to transfer it directly to your sponsor for you to collect later from them," Abbott summarised before scanning Ash's Pokedex with a small device.

The Pokedex beeped for a second as Abbot's number was registered, and Ash checked the details before stowing it away again.

"Alright! Thanks, Abbott I'll call you soon!" Ash said as he walked back to the centre of Cerulean, eager to get some rest and turn in for the night.

- Flashback End -

That had left him with four Pokemon in his party; Larvitar, Beedrill, Ivysaur and Abra. The four of them were easily the strongest Pokemon he had on his team currently, each excelling in different areas.

Larvitar was by far the most physically strong out of all his Pokemon right now, and when under the influence of outrage, he could take on truly fearsome opponents which would tower over him in size. Ash was hoping he'd evolve soon though, as Larvitar was getting more frustrated as he slowly reached limit of his form, which could only be surpassed by becoming a Pupitar.

Beedrill wasn't far behind in terms of power, but he also had access to deadly toxins which could cripple his foes and turn a battle in his favour before it began. His small move pool made him not very versatile right now, but Ash knew he could remedy that with time.

Ivysaur was a powerhouse both physically and specially. With the use of her powerful vines the grass type could crack boulders and uproot small trees, and what she couldn't hit with her vines the Seed Pokemon could pepper with barrages of seeds or high doses of powders from her bulb which could poison, paralyse or even send her foes to sleep.

Abra hadn't been used in a battle yet, but from a few practice spars she had participated in with his other Pokemon, Ash could tell she was a natural. Her psychic abilities were still manifesting and could be very hit and miss. Any issues she was having right now could easily be sorted when she evolved into a Kadabra, which would lessen her need for sleep that hindered her training or further increase her psychic abilities.

Ash shook his head and sighed as he realised his thoughts had drifted again. He needed to stop monologuing his journey to himself…

The rest of Route 25 was uneventful, he fought against a few trainers but none posed a trainer.

Fisherman were littered around Nugget Bridge, catching water Pokemon and using them to fight. Most them caught Goldeen or Magikarp, most of which didn't pose a threat to Ash ever improving team.

Goldeen were water type's native to Kanto, who had small horns on their heads which could be used for ramming any opposition they came across. They were one of the only water type species to evolve a resistance to electricity, in the form of their lightning rod ability. However, they lacked versatility and couldn't fight on land; both of which had dissuaded Ash from sitting down with a fishing rod of his own and catching one.

And of course, Magikarp, Ash already knew what they could do. And considering most were poorly trained, most couldn't even use tackle, they didn't pose a tackle. They had potential of course, all their species did, but their trainers hadn't even come close to tapping into it.

Ash eventually came across a large house in the wilderness north of Cerulean, completely isolated. The back of it was only about a hundred metres or so from a rocky coastline, which had a small lighthouse situated on top of it.

The front door was open, and several Pokemon darted in and out of the property, although what surprised him was the small pink Pokemon standing near the doorway; a Clefairy.

The fairy types were incredibly rare in Kanto, having hidden themselves away in the Labyrinth of Mount Moon. Trainers would occasionally stumble across one of the elusive Pokemon, only to lose track of them on the winding tunnels that twisted through the mountain.

No, in most cases if you wanted a Clefairy then you'd have to know someone who bred the species or you could be spending years in Mount Moon catching one.

And with them easy being around ten kilometres from Mount Moon at the very least, to see a Clefairy out here was very odd.

Ash knelt in front of the little creature and reached out to pet its head, being as gentle as he could. Whilst they weren't known for being aggressive, any Pokemon had the capacity to injure a human, so he tried to be as careful as he could.

"Oi! Get off!"

Ash jumped back as he heard the voice shout at him, startling the rookie. He looked at the Clefairy in surprise. Did it just talk?

"Larvitar?" Ash asked to the rock type in his arms. The Rock Skin Pokemon just shrugged and narrowed its eyes and the Clefairy, clearly wary of it.

He reached down to pet the creature again, thinking his mind must have been playing tricks, only for the small Clefairy to push away his hand with its own and flap its arms angrily.

"Didn't you hear me the first time! Jeez," the Clefairy shouted again, thoroughly freaking Ash out.

"What the?!" Ash shouted as he stumbled backwards, dropping his Pokemon in shock. Larvitar bounced off the floor, landing on his hard skull, and whined as he rubbed his head in pain.

"How can you talk!" Ash continued, his voice still raised. The Clefairy rubbed the sides of its head where its ears were and looked up at him with annoyance.

"Because I'm not a Pokemon," the Clefairy told him as it crossed its stubby arms, or at least tried to. The result looked like it was simply pushing the two limbs together.

"My name's Bill and I own this place, and quite frankly I need your help," the Clefairy finished as it hopped up and down slightly. Ash sweatdropped at the Pokemon's antics before following the Clefairy through a through rooms into what looked like a messier version of Professor Oak's laboratory.

Books littered both the floor and the desks in the room, with bits of paper around discarded randomly. Heaps of electronics covered the desks, some of which sparked dangerously as he walked past. Finally, at the end of the room, two large pods could be seen propped up against the wall connected by a silver tube.

"Sorry about the mess, it's kind of hard to clear up when you've only got stubs for arms," Bill briefest apologised as he walked up to the pods on the back wall and hopping into the left one. The front of the pod immediately closed, leaving Ash alone in the room.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

Ash jumped as he heard Bill knock on the pod's wall from the other side, along with some faint whispering. Getting closer, Ash pressed his head up against the pod and could just about make out what Bill was saying from inside.

"...my computer… activate…"

Piecing together what he had said, Ash walked over to the man's computer, left on one of the desks, and started to search the screen for any way to activate the pods.

The computer looked out of place in the laboratory, which its sleek finish and still relatively tidy appearance. It took Ash five minutes to find the batch file to run which activates the pods.

*VRMMMMM*

The pods began to hum as they flashed with orange and green light, pulsing erratically. The entire room began to shake and the technology began to activate and drain large amounts of power, causing the lights to flicker.

And then, slowly, a pulse of silver light began to travel across the silver tube which connected the pods. It pulsed slowly at first, creeping along the tube at a painfully slow pace. However, by the time it had reached halfway across it was going twice the speed and the pulsing had intensified, blinding Ash and forcing him to look away.

*DING*

The doors to the other pod swung open, nearly ripping themselves from the hinges, revealing a dishevelled man with messy brown hair and thick-rimmed glasses. His lab coat was crumpled and seemed to be covered in random splotches of liquid and burn marks.

"Thanks for helping me out there," Bill breathed as he hunched over and panted, as if he had just been running.

"I was pretty sure I'd be stuck like that until one of the gym leaders came over and visited," he continued after sucking in more air and regaining some composure.

"The gym leaders know you're out here?" Ash asked as he looked around the room. Bill had started to clean up the mess in the lab, and the heaps of paper on the floor were slowly getting cleared up.

"Ahh yes, yes. They come and visit every week or so and bring lunch with them occasionally, it's nice to break the isolation every now and again," Bill told him, his voice showing some boredom as he relayed his story.

"Char?"

Ash turned around as a large, red lizard came up behind him and prodded at his knee with its sharp claws. Its tail whipped around the lab, coming dangerously close to some of the paper work which was scattered on the floor still.

"Charmeleon! Keep your tail away from my research!" Bill cried out as he tried to pick up some of the paper around the lizard. Looking at the scientist with something akin to amusement, Charmeleon opened its mouth and yawned.

Before promptly blowing fire in Bill's face.

The scientist shrieked as his paperwork went up in flames and frantically tried to put out the flames which had started to singe his pale green hair.

"Charmeleon, you just toasted a month's worth of research…" Bill sobbed as he fell to the floor. The lizard simply looked at him with a smug grin across its face.

"Char," the Charmeleon stated as it crossed its arms and turned to face Ash. The raven-haired trainer took a step back as it looked at him curiously. Larvitar growled from his arms and Ash let him down to inspect the other Pokemon.

The two met for a moment and began to study each other, occasionally muttering under their breaths which neither Ash or the scientist could make out.

"Tar," Larvitar concluded as he spoke up, gesturing to Ash. The fire type slowly plodded over as Ash knelt to its level. If Larvitar let it get this close, then it couldn't be that bad.

"Hey, my name's Ash. Nice to meet you Charmeleon!" Ash exclaimed as he reached out to pet the fire type. The lizard looked at him with a slightly bored look in his face before too, blowing fire into his face.

Ash reeled backwards and fell onto his backside, coughing up soot from the flames. As he tried to rub most of the soot off his face, he felt a bony spine nuzzle into his side.

Charmeleon was rubbing its head up and down Ash's side as he fell over, which had surprised Bill, who hadn't warned Ash about the fire type's behaviour.

"That's the quickest I think I've ever seen Charmeleon warm up to someone," Bill told Ash as he looked at the fire type in awe. It was natural for the Charmeleon to release flamethrowers occasionally, it helped keep their airways clear by stopping them getting blocked up with soot and kept their fire organs functional inside their body. Charmeleon usually used his flames as a form of greeting to others, something which a couple of people and Pokemon didn't take to kindly.

"Amazing," Bill breathed as he looked at the two, he struggled to get Charmeleon to warm up to him on a good day and this trainer in front of him after meeting the lizard for the first time had managed to get on its good side in a matter of minutes

The trainer and the fire type stayed where they sat for a minute or two, Ash had managed to wipe most of the soot off his face and was starting to gently rub the Charmeleon's horn-like protrusion on the top of its head.

"You've got a real gift when it comes to bonding with Pokemon," Bill told Ash, who looked down at Charmeleon on his lap and smiled.

"Heh, thanks," Ash said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. Bill studied him for a second before sitting down in front of him.

"So… Ash," Bill began as he recalled the trainer's name. Said trainer tore his eyes off the Chameleon who was lying its head in his lap and back to the scientist.

"You seem trustworthy enough, and Charmeleon has taken a liking to you… Do you want to help me out on a secret project I've been researching?" Bill asked as something at the back of his lab rustled.

Ash stared over at a pile of papers, littered in the back corner of the room, which shook a little. Then suddenly out popped an Eevee.

"Vee!"

"That's where you've been Eevee!" Bill cried out as he grabbed the small normal type and hugged it, making the Evolution Pokemon yip happily. The scientist continued to fuss over the Pokemon for a few more minutes before turning his attention back to Ash.

"Sorry, she tends to be extremely accident prone so I wanted to make sure she was ok," Bill explained as he held the fox-like Pokemon in his arms.

"Ahh, my friend Gary just got an Eevee," Ash supplied as he continued the conversation. Bill perked up at this and stared at him quizzically.

"Gary… Do you mean Gary Oak by any chance?" Bill queried as he continued to stroke Eevee.

"Yeah, we grew up toget-"

"So you're one of Samuel's new trainers!" Bill shouted excitedly, knocking over the pile of papers he had gathered as he flung out one of his arms in excitement.

"Why world…" Bill sobbed as he collapsed to the floor. Eevee jumps out of his arms and Ash could've sworn the small Pokemon sweatdropped at her trainer's antics.

"Vee…" it said before pawing at the scientist.

"Errr… you okay, Bill?" Ash asked as he looked at the man with an awkward smile. The scientist slowly got up, still sniffling.

"Y-Yeah…" he muttered as he looked down. Ash stared at the scientist for a moment before starting to pick up some of the loose papers.

"You don't have to, Ash!" Bill cried as he tried to stop the young trainer. Ash simply smiled and shook his head.

"Well I want to."

Bill's eyes widened before a grin appeared on his face. The two of them began to pick up the papers, organising them into tiny piles.

Eevee watched the two work from a distance, yipping cheerfully as she started to grab the faraway research papers and drag them closer to the two so they wouldn't have to move as far.

It'd be a couple of hours before they finished, and Eevee had already found another place to sleep. Somewhere much comfier than in those papers…

- Two hours later -

"We did it!" Bill shouted as he fell backwards onto his back and simply laid there for a moment.

"You've done so much research Bill," Ash breathed as he too sat back down, his arms aching after hours of constant use. He'd been told by Bill about some of the experiments he had done as a scientist, a few of which had led to him collaborating with Professor Oak to create the new 'box' storage system and the Pokeball transporters trainers used every day.

Bill burst out laughing at this and looked at Ash seriously.

"That's not even a quarter of it. Most of my research is stored beneath us in my vault," he told the trainer, who looked at the stacks of organised paperwork in awe.

"Anyway, where's Eevee gotten too?" Bill asked as he stared around. Charmeleon was resting up in a corner with his tail on a heatproof blanket, stopping the flame from burning anything around it.

Eevee yawned as if snuggled up on the comfy interior of the machine. It was so warm in there and with the soft leather insides it made the fox sigh in ecstasy, content with her life.

She could hear her trainer ask where she was in the background but for now he could wait, she was enjoying sleeping here in that off machine he'd built.

She'd leave eventually, her beauty sleep was far more important.

"I'm sure she hasn't gotten far," Ash supplied as the scientist frantically ran around the lab shouting for her. As his body sagged the scientist sighed and looked around.

"You're probably right, hopefully she doesn't get into any more trouble," Bill sighed as he stopped searching for the normal type and instead walked over to a desk in the corner of the room. Opening a locked drawer on the side of the furniture, Bill began to rummage around inside the drawer before shouting "Aha!" and pulling out a crumpled piece of rectangular paper.

"Thanks for all your help today, Ash," Bill began as he walked back towards the trainer and held out the piece of paper. Ash hesitantly took the piece of paper and began to read it.

Eggs

Milk

Rawst berries

...

Ash sweatdropped at this and turned it around to face Bill, who read the piece of paper and snatched in back in embarrassment. He returned to the trainer and handed him a similarly sized piece of paper, although this felt slightly more rigid.

"A ticket for the S.S Anne!" Ash shouted in surprise as he looked at the ticket in his hands. The ticket would've been extremely expensive to acquire and could be worth hundreds of thousands to the correct buyer.

The S.S Anne was a recently built shop currently docked in Vermillion city that would be operating on routes between both different areas of Kanto and other regions. Tickets for its maiden voyage to Cinnabar island were reaching prices of up to $20,000 simply for a working-class ticket.

And Bill had just handed him a first-class ticket.

From what he had read on his Pokedex, the S.S Anne had everything a Pokemon trainer could possibly want on it. There was access to stores which had hard to find items, such as evolutionary items, and there would be a TM store on board.

Most TM stores only stockpiled a couple different types on TM, which made finding specific moves difficult to find and could be a pain to travel between. However, the S.S Anne was rumoured to have a store of every possible TM that a trainer could want, making it highly desirable to those that could afford the expensive CDs.

"I-I can't accept this," Ash said as he tried to hand back the ticket. Bill took a step back and gave the trainer an assuring smile before closing Ash's hand around the ticket.

"Technically you don't even need this, you can just scan the back of your ticket with your Pokedex and you'll get an electronic copy, it's probably better to store it like that anyway, and I don't need it. I'd rather stay here and finish me and Samuel's project; I can't go if I want it out in time for new trainer's next season," Bill explained as he turned around and looked at the fire type sleeping on his fireproof blanket in the corner.

"I also want you to take Charmeleon…"

Ash's eyes widened drastically as he went to refuse his offer. Giving him a practically priceless ticket was far more than enough for what he'd done a thousand times over, and then to give him a Pokemon on top…

"Before you refuse hear me out, Ash," Bill asked as he turned to look at the fire type behind them. The lizard was still fast asleep, its tail twitching occasionally as it dreamed.

"He hates it here," Bill started carefully, trying to keep his voice down to not disturb the sleeping Pokemon.

"The lab isn't a place for the Charmander line, they're born to battle and fly free, not stay cooped up inside a laboratory and occasionally wandering outside. He's stagnating here and he can't handle it," Bill told him as the Charmeleon started to stir.

Ash knew it was true, the Charmander line were built for fighting. They're strong bodies could lift weights far heavier than their own and their flames had been recorded to reach heats of up to a thousand degrees, perfect for roasting their opponents and reducing them to vapour.

But a Charizard had to stay active. Their flames needed to be in use constantly to maintain their power and without any usage of their flames they could be severely weakened. They had to keep battling to stay strong, there was never any rest for the species.

And with Charmeleon unable to brawl in the fragile environment of the lab it's power would have started to become affected by this.

Bill had recognised this but realised there was little he could do, until Ash showed up at least. Giving up his Charmeleon was hard for the scientist, but the fire type would be happier with the new trainer. He could battle and grow in strength rather than waste away in the laboratory.

"Char?" Charmeleon queried as walked over, its tail swinging from side to side with every step. Bill bent down the fire type and it begrudgingly allowed the scientist to rub its head. The fire type had never truly bonded with the man; they were simply too different.

Bill was a man of science, he preferred to research and find out what happened in the Pokemon world through facts and figures. Charmeleon just wanted to fight.

He wanted to feel the rush of battle and the earth around him bathed in his flames. He wanted strength, not knowledge of how the Pokemon world worked.

Charmeleon longed to be out in the real world away from science, and this new trainer could take him there. The lizard couldn't explain why he felt a pull towards this trainer, it just felt so natural, and he knew what this Ash could offer him. He could almost feel the rush of battle coursing through his veins already, and his flame grew slightly in size, not that the fire type noticed.

So, when Bill asked the fire type if he wanted to travel with this Ash trainer he immediately agreed. The fire type bounded over to Ash's side and immediately rubbed the trainer's leg with its bony crest, cheering in happiness. Of course, he didn't realise Bill's look of sadness as he was returned to his Pokeball, only Ash did.

"Are you sure it's ok to take him with me Bill? He's your Pokemon," Ash offered as he paused from taking the Pokeball off Bill for a moment. The scientist, however, pressed the Pokeball into his hand and gave a smile.

"It'll be quiet without him sure, but it's best for the both of us. And Charmeleon is your Pokemon now," Bill added with a reassuring grin. Ash took the Pokeball and said thanks once again, to which the scientist just waved him off.

"Now the S.S Anne is due to leave Vermillion city's port in just over a fortnight, so if you set off today you should be able to make there in time with a couple of days to spare," Bill offered as he looked around awkwardly.

"Thanks again, Bill," Ash said sincerely as he turned to leave the house.

"Anytime, be sure to tell the Professor how we can improve the box system!" he shouted back as Ash closed the door behind him, leaving the scientist to himself.

Bill stood in silence for a moment, the familiar crackle of an open flame now gone from the property. He smiled, however, and went to search the lab.

"Now where on earth did Eevee get too?" he said out loud as he began to search every book and cranny of the lab once again…

"Charmeleon, the Flame Pokemon. It appears to be very vicious. With its razor, sharp claws, it attacks its opponents until they are defeated.

This Charmeleon is male and has the ability: Blaze.

Charmeleon knows the moves: Scratch, Smokescreen, Flame Burst, Fire Fang, Metal Claw and Dragon Rage.

Egg moves are: Ancient Power, Dragon Dance, Dragon Pulse, Dragon Rush and Outrage."

- Timeskip -

Ash walked through the grassy terrain of Route 6, scanning his surroundings. He'd faced a few trainers so far, but most weren't anything too challenging for him. They had a very small variety of Pokemon, mainly consisting of grass and normal types; nothing his newly obtained Charmeleon or Ivysaur couldn't handle.

He'd also switched his team up a little for whilst they were on the road, giving Nidoran some time to stretch his legs and battle more. The little poison was growing steadily and as both the horn on his and spines grew more pronounced, Ash could tell he was ready the next stage of his growth.

He'd switched out Abra for a while, to which the psychic type was not particularly happy about as Ash could tell when she projected her thoughts into his head, and Beedrill, which hadn't exactly gotten him on the big type's good side. However, it had been necessary and maybe some of the Pokemon at Oak's corral could teach him how to socialise with others more easily.

Pidgeotto had taken the wasp's place and was excelling at any battles Ash placed her in. Her speed was unmatched by many opponents and with her growing range of close quarters and long range attacks she was slowly becoming a very formidable fighter. Her fragility was starting to become an issue, however. Not everyone she fought against would go down in a couple of hits and if they got a lucky hit in her the battle could go downhill quickly. He needed to work on that but Ash wasn't sure what he could do to resolve it.

The trainer was drawn from his thoughts as his Larvitar took down a Butterfree owned by an opposing trainer, cracking its exoskeleton with a simple rock throw and kicking it out easily. His opponent, a young boy who had been camping out on the route, recalled his Pokemon in defeat and transferred him prize money for winning.

Ash wasn't too concerned right now, however, he'd already obtained more than enough money to last him a couple of weeks. His balance last time he'd checked was around $20,000, courtesy of the prize money he'd obtained from Cerulean gym, and considering he'd beaten most of the trainers he had come across on his way to Vermillion he was doing well money-wise.

There was a trainer also walking down the route that had challenged him with a Dodrio that wiped the floor with his Pidgeotto, but apart from that none of the trainers had stood out. There was one with an extremely strong Squirtle that gave his disadvantaged Charmeleon a tough time, but the fire type eventually pulled through with a dragon rage attack that cracked its shell.

And like Ash's Larvitar, the dragon had access to outrage, which when paired with the fire type's blaze ability, had made the Pokemon extremely aggressive and hard to control. Of course, like with Larvitar, he wasn't sure how to train Charmeleon in use of the move, as accessing the two's latent dragon energy seemingly made them less responsive to commands. He'd have to find a solution eventually, as being able to use the effects in battle made them monsters on the battlefield.

Vermillion wasn't too far away for Ash and his team now, only a day away at most, and then he could take on the Vermillion gym.

"Hmph, your Larvitar looks so weak," a voice said out of nowhere, startling Ash and making him spin around in surprise. To his right, amidst the trees, stood a familiar purple head of hair he hadn't seen in years… Not since the summer camp at Professor Oak's corral.

"Paul?" Ash asked out loud, making the boy roll his eyes and pull out a Pokeball.

"Let's see how much stronger you've gotten since last time, Ketchum. Three on three," Paul said as he got ready to battle.

"You're on!" Ash shouted as he got ready to battle, Larvitar standing by his side proudly.

"You first, Ketchum," Paul said as he waited for Ash to make his move. Ash gritted his teeth, the trainer obviously wanted a type advantage against him and so was getting ready to choose a suitable Pokemon.

He thought about his choices and what he knew about Paul's team. He recalled the trainer having a strong grass type when they first met all them years ago, a turtle like Pokemon with an earthen shell. Fighting against something like with the likes of Larvitar wouldn't turn out too well, especially if it had gotten stronger.

"Charmeleon, go, show them your power," Ash said as he released his newly acquired fire type, who snarled as he was released.

"Alright, Marill, get ready for battle," Paul shouted as a small, blue mouse materialised in front of him. Ash stared at it, trying to recall anything he could about the Pokemon.

Marill was a peculiar species of Pokemon in that their physical attacks would get greatly boosted by an ability they had called huge power. Huge power doubled the strength of their physical blows by making their muscles denser at birth, allowing the small mouse-like Pokemon to hit much harder than it should be able to. There were report of Marill's evolution, Azumarill, being able to punch through thick steel; something which many Professors across a multitude of reasons had concluded shouldn't have been possible.

"I'll take the first move, Marill aqua jet!" Paul shouted as the mouse burst forward with an explosion of water and crashed into Charmeleon, making the fire type bowl in pain and its skin sizzle as the water evaporated away.

Ash stared at the mouse curiously. Aqua jet wasn't usually a move that Marill could learn naturally and there wasn't a TM for it either, meaning that Paul had been working on getting the water type to use its egg moves.

"Charmeleon! Retaliate with a dragon rage!" Ash shouted as he started to devise a strategy in his head.

"Waterfall, don't stop until it's down," Paul said emotionally as the water mouse barrelled into Charmeleon and began to attack it with bursts of water from its stubby arms. A giant spiral of water flew up from beneath Marill and propelled it further forward, its blows smashing into Charmeleon with painful cracks.

"Charmeleon! Use ancient power and get some space between you both!" Ash shouted as the battle shifted once more. Gritting its teeth in pain as more blows rained down upon the fire type, Charmeleon sent a silver orb of energy into the ground and a spike of earth rose beneath Marill, sending the water type sprawling backwards as it was hit with the attack.

"Alright, now dragon rage and follow up with a flame burst!" Ash shouted frantically. He was praying that flame burst could maybe burn the opponent, as then its physical ability would be greatly hindered. The Marill cried out in pain as the dragon rage connected and then it was engulfed in flames, leaving it twitching as its body was set on fire.

Luckily, for the water type at least, Marill had thick layers of fat surrounding their bodies that meant fire and ice type attacks would do less damage, as they couldn't get any heat through to the important tissues below. However, being burnt still hurt and the water type couldn't help but wince as it tested swinging its stubby arms once again. Charmeleon grinned viciously as his maw was coated in flames and he lunged forward without any commands from Ash and bit the water type. It cried out in agony as Charmeleon thrashed its head from side to side, knocking the water type out as the damage became too much.

Paul snorted and said nothing as he recalled the water type, merely looking at the Pokeball in disdain before throwing out his next Pokemon.

It was clearly an electric type, judging from the bolts of electricity that ran between the two antennae on its head. Its bulky arms whirred around as it charged up more electricity.

"Elekid, knock out the overgrown lizard," Paul stated, making Charmeleon growl in anger. Before Ash could give it a command, the fire type ran forward, its claws glowing a metallic grey as it swiped at the electric type. However, the electric type merely dodged out of the way, smirking as Charmeleon's claws embedded themselves into the dirt where it was standing.

"Thunder shock, follow it up with a brick break," Paul commanded as the Elekid let loose a bolt of electricity, which struck Charmeleon and made it spasm as the impulse went through his nervous system. The Electric Pokemon charged forward, its arm glowing with white energy, and struck Charmeleon, making it double over in pain.

"Charmeleon!" Ash cried out as he watched his Pokemon groan in pain and shakily stand on its feet, only to straighten back up again as it became enveloped in an aura of draconic energy. Outrage had activated again and given Charmeleon a boost when his energy was low.

"Alright, use dragon rage!" Ash shouted as the fire type ran forward with a glowing ball of blue energy in his mouth. Elekid tried to run away from the overpowered attack but was sent back as the sphere in Charmeleon's mouth exploded and hit it with a burst of draconic energy. The powerful attack sent the electric type sprawling, nearly knocking it out.

"Alright, Elekid, use thunder shock again," Paul ordered, gritting his teeth in frustration. The electric type buzzed angrily and released another bolt of lightning, which zapped Charmeleon and made it stagger slightly.

Without any extra instructions, Paul's Elekid ran forward and slammed a glowing fist, a brick break attack, into Charmeleon's abdomen. The fire type was down almost instantly afterwards, its reactions too slowed by fatigue to counter to move. The damage it had taken against a Pokemon that was super effective against it was too much for the fire type and the electric type hadn't experienced the Flame Pokemon's true battling ability.

That wasn't too say Elekid wasn't tired though, it had been burnt and slashed by Charmeleon a few times and each hit seemed to slow it down even more each time. It was standing on shaky legs now and wouldn't last much longer.

"Okay, Nidoran, you're up!" Ash shouted as he tossed the poison type's Pokeball out and released the small rodent onto the field. The Poison Pin Pokemon looked around for a moment before the sharp barbs extended out of its armour and started to drop with venom.

"Elekid, damage it with a thunder shock, stay far away," Paul told his Electric Pokemon emotionlessly. The electric type whirred its arms and began to fire of bolts of lightning which weakly fizzled through the air. The rectory was clearly on its last legs and wasn't dealing too well with the prolonged battle.

The Elekid family were generally known for lightning fast speed and sheer destructive power that they commanded both up close and away from their opponents. They had access to a range of techniques which would devastate unprepared opponents. However, the species lacked stamina which was required in many prolonged battles.

If a Pokemon could withstand their sheer destructive force for a while, without recharging the electric type with electricity, then a member of the Elekid family would start to run out of energy very quickly. The evolution into an Electivire somewhat remedied that as the Pokemon could then draw electrical currents out of the air and their opponents to recharge themselves in battle, but if they didn't have access to that the electric family could be in for a tough time.

"Dodge it, knock away any close shots with poison sting!" Ash shouted as he tried to stall out the electric type. Nidoran easily dodged with its small body, hopping in between bolts of electricity and firing off small needles loaded with venom whenever he got the chance.

A few needles grazed Elekid's tough skin, poisoning it and making it slow down even more, eventually making it stop and pant in exhaustion.

"Ele," Elekid began as it angrily glared at Nidoran. Without warning it rushed forward with its arm glowing once again and tried to smash into Nidoran, trying to hit it with a brick break.

Ash went to shout a command but Nidoran beat him too it, flinging away the electric type with a burst of psychic energy, a confusion attack, and jumping high up in the air. This time the poison type's feet flowed as it kicked the Elekid and sent it impacting into the earth in a cloud of dust.

"Get up Elekid," Paul growled as his electric type struggle to its feet. It charged at Nidoran, stumbling on the way, as its injuries caught up to it. Ash looked at the Pokemon with pity before asking Nidoran to finish it.

The rodent's horn glowed an outstanding white as it charged into the electric type, knocking it off its feet and slamming it, prongs first, into a nearby tree. It stayed there, lodged in the tree, not even struggling as it was knocked out cold.

"Tch," Paul tutted as he returned the Pokemon and got out his final Pokeball. He released the Pokemon inside, which Ash regarded with surprise.

It looked like the grass type Paul had from all those years ago had evolved. The hard shell of earth it had on its back previously had grown larger, encasing the much larger Pokemon from the base of its neck to its rear now, and two small tufts of greenery sprouted from either side of where the shell ended. Its lower jaw was a bright yellow and looked as if it could easily snap through thick branches and its feet were sturdy in the ground, covered in earthen armour.

"Grotle, stand by for battle," Paul told it as the grass type crouched low, lowering its centre of gravity in preparation for an attack.

"Poison sting, Nidoran! Don't let up!" Ash shouted as the rodent let loose another volley of poisonous barbs from its body, which each struck Grotle, making the grass type wince in pain. However, it shrugged the attacks off seconds later, looking as if it hadn't even taken damage. It had felt it for sure, but it certainly hadn't caused any lasting damage.

"Retaliate with razor leaf, then get in close and drain it," Paul told the huge grass type. Grotle shook its entire body, releasing razor sharp leaves from the bushes on either side of its armour and sent them flying at Nidoran. The rodent tried to dodge them but was hit by a stray few, drawing blood from the sharp gashes they left on the rodent's side.

"Nido, Nido," it whimpered as a thin trickle of blood started to ooze out of the cut as make its way down the Pokemon's side. Ash gritted his teeth in frustration as he looked at the damage Nidoran had taken. The rodent snarled at the Grotle and Ash watched as its barbs began to ooze even more toxic chemicals that glistened in the sunlight.

"Nidoran, get in close and use peck! Then push it away with confusion," Ash shouted as the poison type ran forward. Its horn became coated in a light blue energy as it was rammed into Grotle, making it cry out in pain for a mere second before it returned to normal, its tank-like battling style helping it to stay standing. Nidoran tried to follow up with a confusion attack, only to realise that Grotle was too heavy for the small rodent to move, instead on making it unsteady on its feet. Nidoran's psychic abilities were limited at best and wouldn't be able to budge the grass type, making the move almost redundant in the current battle.

"Grotle, distract it with a razor leaf whilst you use synthesis," Paul said with a smirk, making Ash's face drop and annoyance set in. Synthesis was essentially another form of recover, it turned energy from the sun into energy for the Pokemon to use to regenerate damaged tissues. As Grotle used the move it began to glow a vivid green as the bushes on its back began to photosynthesise.

"Nidoran peck!" Ash shouted frantically. However, Grotle had already finished the healing move as rammed its hard skull into the rodent, making it fly backwards and land onto a tree.

Nidoran groaned as he pulled himself off the tree, snapping some of the spines on his back in the process. That wasn't a worry for the poison type, they'd grow back in a day at the most.

"Energy ball," Paul commanded almost emotionlessly as Grotle began to gather natural energy within its jaws. The powerful attack began to get condensed into a ball-shape before being fired off, leaving a trail of celadon-green light in its wake. The powerful attack collided with Nidoran, who was blown backwards into the ground due to the sheer power.

Nidoran shook his head to stave off the growing pain it was feeling as it charged again. Grotle once again head butted it away, leaving the rodent in the grass, panting heavily. Ash didn't even have time to call out another command as Nidoran ran forward again, slowed even further by pain, as it tried to use peck against the grass type. Grotle merely grunted as it rammed the poison type harder, finally knocking it unconscious. However, as it did so, more of Nidoran's barbs entered its hide, injecting more venom into its veins. The grass type shuddered as its legs buckled slightly under the pain.

"Good job Nidoran," Ash whispered as he pocketed the Pokeball. The poison type had done its job effectively and worn down the grass type enough so that it'd be easy to take down now.

Ash pulled out another Pokeball, eager to give another of his Pokemon a battle that'd stretch them a little; give them a challenge.

"Pidgeotto, I choose you!" Ash shouted as he released the bird onto the battlefield. Pidgeotto shrieked loudly as she landed on the battlefield, blowing strong gusts across the field as she landed. The flying type immediately began to preen itself, cleaning any dirt out of its wings and scratching the ground with her talons.

"Alright, Pidgeotto, start this off with an air slash!" Ash shouted as the bird released two sharp blades of wind towards Grotle. The grass type cried out for the first time as one of the tufts of shrubbery on its back was severed, leaving a budding stump in its place. Paul gritted his teeth as his Pokemon was battered by the other wind blade, leaving a sharp cut into its thick earthen shell.

"Grotle, synthesis and leech seed," Paul commanded as he tried to recover his Pokemon's precious stamina. Leech seeds fired from its remaining shrub on its back, exploding into a mass of vines mid-air as they tried to entangle Pidgeotto and bring her to the ground, but they were too slow to keep up with the speedy bird.

"Keep it up with them air slashes!" Ash shouted as Grotle flinched from another hit, halting is leech seeds. Synthesis had started to work but it was too slow to recover from the damage that the grass type has sustained. Pidgeotto shrieked as she released another wave of wind blades that tore into the grass type. Before long the turtle was reduced to an unconscious mass on the floor that groaned slightly as it breathed. Blood trickled from small cuts in its skin where the armour hadn't protected it and Ash winced as he saw the damage. Pokemon could be ruthless sometimes.

Paul didn't even comment as he returned Grotle, his eyes closed as he thought. After a moment or two of thinking the trainer dug around his pocket and pulled out a CD that shined in the sunlight. Without hesitation, he tossed the CD into the grass nearby Ash and started to walk away.

"That TM contains energy ball. Maybe you could find some way to use it. See you around," Paul finished as he walked off, leaving Ash on his own. The trainer stood there silent for a moment before picking up the TM and staring at it. Placing it into his TM case, Ash decided to look at all the TMs he'd collected so far, which was a surprising amount.

Rock tomb hadn't been a particularly useful move for Ash, seeing as rock slide was slightly more powerful and could easily be utilised in comparison.

Incinerate was similar in that the Pokemon who could learn it, Charmeleon, simply had access to a stronger move in flame burst. What would be the point in using it if Charmeleon could access far more fire power?

Icy wind had potential, it could be used strategically to slow opponents and leave them more open to attacks as their reactions slowed. However, no one on Ash's team could learn it right now. Nidoran and Magikarp would be able to when they evolved, although Ash felt the two were more suited to being forces of destruction rather than a subtler touch to take down opponents.

Scald was a strong move, the scalding water was extremely effective against physical fighters, who risked a burn if hit with the move. But once again, the move wasn't compatible with his team currently, he'd have to work on increasing his coverage in the future for sure.

Energy ball, that Paul had just given to him, was once again an extremely powerful move. It drawer on the natural energy surrounding them and used it to power the attack. Ivysaur could learn the attack for sure, seeing as it was a grass type move, and would most likely get a lot of use out of the string move. Abra could also learn how to manipulate nature energy, although it would be harder for the psychic type to work with, so Ash wanted to work on that before he used the TM on the Psi Pokemon.

However, he was planning on teaching it to Ivysaur right now.

He recalled the grass type to her Pokeball and slotted it into the TM case. Turning it on, he selected the energy ball disc and began the uploading sequence.

Technical machines uploaded information directly to a Pokemon's brain, allowing to learn moves that they had the capacity for but couldn't learn naturally. As Ivysaur's Pokeball glowed a cerulean green and the TM case's screen indicated that the uploading sequence had completed Ash removed the Pokeball and released the Seed Pokemon.

Ivysaur looked around, alert as ever, before sliding into a more relaxed stance as she realised there were no threats nearby. Ash knelt and began to scratch the grass type's head as she nuzzled him affectionately, growling at his touch.

"Hey girl, can you use that move for me you just learnt?" Ash asked as the grass type began to stop growing and recalled the information just given to her. She took a few steps away from Ash before opening her mouth, a small green ball of energy formed between her jaws. It fizzled slightly before going out, making the grass type wilt slightly at the failure.

Technical machines only gave them the information to use the moves, Pokemon needed to finesse and master them with their own experience and practice.

"Keep it up girl, you'll have it nailed in no time," Ash said encouragingly. Ivysaur grunted in acknowledgment and tried again and Ash, seeing how focused the grass dinosaur was, decided she could stay out of her Pokeball and get some practice in.

Ash looked at his next TM and got out two Pokeballs. Aerial Ace was a strong move, it gave Pokemon access to a level of accuracy that was a struggle to match. Along with being a strong move in the first place, that would help both his Pidgeotto and Beedrill hit a lot harder than they already did, it would provide for coverage for his bug type Pokemon, which couldn't do any harm to his team. Coverage was an area where he was currently lacking after all.

So, Ash used his technical machine case once again, the Pokeballs glowing a sky blue as the move integrated itself into his Pokemon's brains, allowing them to access the insanely accurate move.

Releasing the two, Ash allowed Pidgeotto to experiment with aerial ace first, in which her attack easily sliced through a nearby tree. The move was based on reaching high speeds, which the flying type managed easily with her lithe form and powerful wings.

Beedrill, however, struggled more with the move, buzzing angrily as it failed to work up enough speed. Ash also noticed the loss of power due to Beedrill's poor flight manoeuvrability, something he'd have to work on much more in the future. However, for now he'd simply allow his Pokemon to train on the way to Vermillion and hopefully, by the time they got to the coast-side city, his team would've perfected the moves.

- Meanwhile at Indigo -

"Charizard, dragon claw," Red calmly commanded as his fire type barrelled into his opponent, a hulking Machamp, and slash its claws coated in draconic aura across the fighting type's chest, making it wince in pain. The fire type glowed with draconic aura as the effects of outrage took hold and boosted the Flame Pokemon's power even further. Charizard snarled as it suppressed its growing rage from the move and stood by, waiting for a command.

"Machamp! Thunder punch!" Red's opponent, Bruno, shouted out gruffly as his fighting type's fist sparked with electrical energy and it bathed forward at a speed that shouldn't have been possible for the hulking fighting type.

Charizard merely grunted as it took the super effective attack head on, and blasted an overpowered flamethrower at Machamp in retaliation. Due to its own use of fire type moves, Machamp barely felt the flamethrower, growling as the inferno washed over its reptilian features before smashing a fist into the fire type's body. Charizard, once again, didn't even flinch as it was hit by the bone shattering blow and struck Machamp with another outrage-boosted dragon claw. This time the fighting type didn't get up, collapsing to the floor unconscious as its injuries finally prevailed over the fighting type's willpower.

Bruno recalled his starter Pokemon and readied his final Pokeball. The older man smirked as he released his last Pokemon and shouted across to the Champion. The Pokemon, meanwhile, got ready to battle, its lithe body slunk into a battle stance as the long ears on its head began to raise. A shining stone glowed from around its neck, which Red recognised and grinned. The battle was about to get serious.

"Lucario hasn't been with me for as long as the rest of my team, but he's got that fighting spirit that you saw back when we first fought," Bruno shouted as he pressed a button on his belt, causing tendrils of pure energy to connect both the fighting master and his Pokemon, who was shining with raw power and it connected with the stone glowing around its neck.

"Show them your power Lucario!" Bruno shouted as the light dispersed, revealing Lucario's changed form.

Red patches of fur now also covered its body along with the blue fur, and the ear on its head had grown larger, giving a wilder appearance. The spikes on his hands had grown larger and from where Red was standing, using his own limited powers of aura, could feel the Pokemon's aura heighten dramatically.

"Well if you're going to step it up, I guess it's only fair I do too," Red told him with a smirk as he tapped the stone embedded into his hat. It glowed with power as it reacted to the stone around his Charizard's neck, engulfing the fire type in a similar light. Blue fire burst from the lizard's body as it was surrounded by an inferno. Its scales hardened even more and became a midnight black as its eyes changed from a bright blue to a more menacing red.

"Let's see how you handle our heat, Charizard, fire blast!"

And the field was engulfed in fire.

- A Week Later -

"Machop! Karate Chop!" Ash shouted as the Superpower Pokemon lunged forward and slammed its glowing fist into the steel shell of a Magnemite. The electric type whirred for a moment before the sheer force of the attack sent it into unconsciousness. Machop banged his hands against his chest as he celebrated, the other trainer recalled his Pokemon and sneered at Ash.

"Maybe you're not so weak after all," he sneered as a trainer to his side got slightly closer towards the back wall.

"Do you think we should call Surge? He said to call if we got any strong trainers," the other trainer said, waiting for confirmation.

"Well, looks like the runt might be able to give me a challenge after all."

A man walked out from a room to the side of the gym, clapping his hands sarcastically at Ash, who looked at the man cautiously.

The guy was insanely muscled, not as heavily set as Bruno but still muscular enough to be just as intimidating. Blonde hair rose from the top of his head in short, carefully- maintained spikes and sunglasses were perched on his face, obscuring his eyes to the rest of the rooms occupants. He wore dark green cargo pants and a tank top that barely covered his huge frame.

Ash chose to say to say nothing to the man's jibe, making him laugh loudly.

"Got nothing to say kid?" He jeered as he walked over to one side of the battlefield. The young trainer, once again, didn't say a word as Machop walked from Ash's side to stand on the battlefield. Surge readied his own Pokeball and released what was inside.

"Let's see if the little runt can handle our thunder," Lieutenant Surge grinned maliciously.

It was going to be one hell of a battle.

- Earlier -

Ash stumbled back into Vermillion City exhausted, his supplies thoroughly drained and his Pokemon just as tired (if not more so) than their trainer.

They'd trained extensively for the past week in the wilderness surrounding Vermillion, preparing themselves for the battle against Lt Surge, only coming back to the city to heal up at the overcrowded Pokemon Centre.

The gym leader was known for his gruelling battle style that had left many Pokemon hospitalised in the nearby Pokemon Centre. Nurse Joy, the first-time Ash had met her, was struggling to keep up with the workload. Apparently, per Nurse Joy at least, it was due to Lt Surge having to give out tickets for the S.S. Anne if anyone beat him.

And Surge couldn't just let anyone have a ticket, so he'd stepped up his game.

He used stronger Pokemon than what he usually did, was more ruthless with his tactics, and he wasn't afraid to play the long game with paralysis. Ash had seen some of the Pokemon that had come in from their gym battles and cringed at their injuries. Slash marks, electrical burns and blue bruises covered the Pokemon; who were all clearly unconscious.

Ash knew he'd need to step up his game if he wanted to even get a chance at beating Lt Surge, even if he didn't want a ticket.

Dragging himself from his thoughts, Ash became more alert as he heard the low growls of a Pokemon nearby. He withdrew one of his Pokeballs, Ivysaur's, in case they were aggressive and attacked.

The growls slowly turned to whimpers as Ash turned around a corner, entering a dark alleyway.

The walls were covered in grime and Ash was barely able to see the wall beneath the coat of dirt. Trash was littered across the entrance to the alleyway, blocking off the easy route into the alley, and sharp glass and metal could be seen in amongst bags of rubbish. Ash looked through a crack in the wall of rubbish, coming face to face with a ball of sludge with beady eyes. The trainer jumped backwards, shocked at the encounter before realising it was only a Grimer.

The poison type stared at him for a moment later, before ignoring him and continuing to chow down on the leftover waste.

Ash froze as he heard the cry again, this time much louder, which he pinpointed to somewhere down the enclosed alley somewhere. He looked around, making sure he was on his own, before taking a deep breath and readying himself…. before climbing up the rubbish.

He lost his footing many times, slipping on muck or dislodging trash as he put his weight on it. The trainer cursed as his hand grasped something mucky, making him slip and nearly fall off the rubbish barricade.

Eventually, he made it to the top, covered in grime. The trainer cringed as he looked down at himself before running down the other side into the alley.

Even on a sunny day in the bustling city it was insanely dark in there. The shady gap between buildings was infested with Pokemon that dwelled in the dark; Zubat and Grimer to name a few. As Ash walked further in he noticed a dumpster to his side shake slightly and another pained moaned coming from nearby.

He got closer, creeping around the edge of the dumpster to come face to face with a small, humanoid creature.

Its grey skin was covered in sweat as it panted heavily, its red eyes unfocused on the wall in front of it. Three brown ridges stuck out of its head and it had rib-like markings down either side of its chest. And down the centre of its chest was one of the largest gashes Ash had ever seen.

Ash pulled out his Pokedex before getting closer, scanning the Pokemon in front of him. He also had a potion on hand, to see if he could help the injured creature.

"Machop, the Superpower Pokemon. A Machop's muscles are special in that they never tire, allowing it to train without stopping. Machop's body is pure muscle and it can easily throw a hundred fully grown adults

This Machop is male and has the ability: Guts."

"Whoa," Ash breathed as he looked at the small Pokemon in front of him. Machop couldn't have been much taller than his pectoral muscles at a stretch as to contain so much raw power was incredible.

However, compared to the Pokedex image, this Machop was in bad shape. The cut on its chest wasn't bleeding very heavily, although it looked insanely painful. Unscrewing the cap off the potion, Ash sprayed the wound as best as he could. The fighting type looked at him, too tired to move.

"Abra, what happened here," Ash asked as he released the small psychic type. The Psi Pokemon didn't even react as she looked at the fighting type, her body glowing with blue, psychic energy.

After a moment, the psychic shuddered, the first emotion Ash had seen her display since being released and turned to face Ash.

"He was abandoned after his trainer lost to the gym leader. They didn't even take him to the Pokemon Centre, he's still feeling the effects of his gym battle," Abra said, anger creeping into the usually quiet psychic type's voice.

Ash had recently started attempting to use telepathy with her and he was still getting used to the feeling. Abra wasn't the best at it yet and her voice would echo occasionally as she struggled to control her powers, but there was clear progress and Ash knew it'd easily come in time. He planned eventually to use it in battle, as it allowed for the both to react quicker and stopped their opponents from knowing what they would do.

"How long's he been here?" Ash asked, worry creeping into his voice. He picked up the fighting type, which struggled in his arms slightly before giving it and started to walk towards the garbage blockade that covered the entrance.

"This is the third day…" Abra replied as he withdrew another Pokeball from his belt.

"Pidgeotto, help us out!" Ash shouted as he released the bird, who shrieked as she was released. The flying type affectionately pecked at his hat for a moment before hopping back.

"Pidgeotto, I need you to get Machop out of the alley, we'll meet you on the other side," Ash told the bird as he positioned the fighting type on her back, the flying type cooed in response and started to ascend above the buildings, before landing on the other side.

Ash turned to Abra and gently held onto the psychic type's shoulder before he felt a familiar pull in his gut and fell over, sunlight burning his eyes as he came out of the darkness.

Teleportation wasn't the most pleasant experience Ash had decided as he landed on his back with a groan. Abra had offered to try it on the road to Vermillion nearly a week ago and the Psi Pokemon had nearly teleported them all the way back to Cerulean. It had taken the psychic hours, in which Ash spent the most of it feeling like he was going to hurl, to regain enough energy to teleport them close to where they originally started. Once again, there'd been progress, Abra was now much more accurate over short distances; but anything more than that would have to wait until she had evolved.

Getting up and brushing himself off, Ash ran over to Pidgeotto, who'd gently lowered Machop off her back and onto the ground. He thanked the bird quickly and returned her to her Pokeball, in too much of a hurry to do much else. Ignoring the oncoming feeling of nausea, he managed the hoist up the Superpower Pokemon and start hauling him towards the Pokemon Centre.

"Abra, help me lift him," Ash asked as he pulled the fighting type along, who was still struggling and making it even harder for Ash to drag him along. Almost immediately a blue glow surrounded the Machop and the weight immediately lessened, making it a lot easier for Ash to pull Machop along.

Abra hovered behind him as Ash made his way to the Pokecenter. She sat with her legs crossed, eyes closed, as she levitated behind him; covered in the light blue glow that came with the use of her psychic powers.

It took them nearly a quarter of an hour from the edge of the city, and by the end Ash was panting in exhaustion, thoroughly exerted as the Pokemon Centre's doors swung open automatically and a worried Nurse Joy rushed out with a Chansey behind her pushing a trolley.

"Emergency! Please make way!" the older woman shouted as she ran through the building, trainers clearing out of her way as Chansey waddled on behind her, trying to keep up. Ash followed her through to an emergency room, where Machop had already been hooked up to an IV drip and was being administered high doses of hyper potion.

"I'm sure your Machop will make a quick recovery," the Nurse told him as she continued to work. Ash stood there for a second, trying to think about how to inform her of the fighting type's situation.

"Excuse me, Nurse Joy, but that Machop isn't mine, I found him abandoned in the outskirts of town," Ash told her. The red-haired woman's eyes widened in shock before left the room, leaving Ash there, with his Abra on his shoulder, watching Chansey work on Machop. The egg in its pouch glowed yellow as she raised her arms over Machop before the fighting type too, was engulfed in a yellow light and the wound on his chest began to close.

"Amazing," Ash breathed as he watched the healing. It was over in a matter of minutes as Chansey's soft-boiled move, coupled with the hyper potion infusion, began to take effect. Machop began to groan as the wound fully closed, not even leaving a scar.

"Alright, I've got the forms!" Nurse Joy proclaimed as she burst into the room, carrying in a small wad of paperwork. Ash looked at her quizzically, as the Nurse started to elaborate.

"I figured you'd want to adopt Machop, no? I mean, if you aren't going to take him then we'd have to put him up for adoption," Nurse Joy explained.

The young trainer thought about it for a minute before beginning to sign the forms. He wanted to make sure the fighting type was with a trainer who could care for it, not someone who'd abandon it like his last trainer.

The Machop family were an incredibly hardy species of Pokemon, their bodies were at their physical peaks and not many Pokemon could match them in terms of raw strength. Machop's final evolution, Machamp, could also throw over a thousand punches in a second using its raw speed and power; making it an incredibly hard hitter.

The fighting type would be a great addition to his team, and Ash would make sure he got the care he needed.

- Vermillion Gym -

"You ready, Machop?" Ash asked as Surge released his first Pokemon. Machop growled and lifted his fists, ready for a battle. This time the fighting type would take the victory against the Gym Leader.

The referee cleared his throat as he looked at the two battlers; Gym Leader and trainer. He noticed the tension in the air and raised his flags, already knowing the battle would be an intense one.

"Begin!"

- End of Chapter -