A/N - This is the last A/N to come before the chapter. Every chapter from now on it will be at the end. Since lets be real, no one cares what this says, and if its at the end then you can just skip it. You all just want more story. Probably.

So here you go.

Btw thanks for all the follows/favourites. :)

/\/\/\/\ Line Break /\/\/\/\

Ash awoke with a headache. His head was spinning, and with his eyes closed he felt nauseous. Then, memories of what happened flooded his mind. His eyes jerked open, and he lurched forwards-

Before groaning, and immediately lying down again."Okay, maybe that wasn't my best idea." He lamented in his mind. Waiting for the spinning to stop, he reopened his eyes. This time, he took the time to look around the room, realizing he was in a hospital bed inside the pokemon centre. An IV drip was plugged into his left arm, and his right was heavily bandaged but no longer bleeding. He carefully moved his left arm and touched his injured side, wincing at the sharp pain it brought him.

"I hope you don't try that again." A stern voice called out. He turned to see Nurse Joy with a hard look on her face. "Your arm is still sore, and touching it too much could aggravate the wound."

"Sorry." Ash said. "I just wanted too..."

The nurse sighed, her face taking a more gentle state. "I know. For what it's worth, you were doing very well in your battle. Had it been a two versus two, you may have actually won." Ash started to blush from the praise, before his eyes widened.

"My pokemon!" He panicked. "Where are they? Are they okay?!"

The nurse laughed, before pointing to the table beside him. His eyes moved, and there were his two pokeballs. "They are perfectly healthy." He smiled, before noticing the nurse's eyes turn sharp. "Now, just because everything turned out well does not give you, a child, the right to try and fight off dangerous criminals!"

"They wanted to steal my pokemon!" He tried to defend himself. "What did you expect me to do?!"

"You had been a trainer for a day!" The nurse countered. "What did you expect to truly accomplish?" She let out a sigh. "In any case, you were lucky that Mr. Mirei heard the fight, and was able to save you from that situation."

"Mr. Mirei?" He asked. "Who is that?"

"A trainer who has been active for almost 10 years now. He did want to talk to you about the battle two nights ago, but it will have to be here. You're bed ridden until I deem your arm healed enough for you to adventure. Now, I'll go get Mr. Mirei for you." With that, Nurse Joy left to go retrieve him, leaving Ash alone in the room.

With time to let his thoughts wander, Ash began to realize just what he missed initially in the nurse's statement. The battle had been two nights ago. Which meant he had been knocked out for two whole days at the minimum. That meant that he would have to call and check in on his mom before he left Viridian city, who would no doubt fuss over his arm and news of the explosion at the centre. Which also meant that his mother, the huge worrier that she was, might take this as a sign and try to stop him from being a trainer. Now panicking, he started to reach for his pokeballs to find some comfort in his pokemon.

"Probably wouldn't do that if I were you." Ash turned, hand gripped even harder onto Frost's ball as he turned and glared at the trainer who stood by the open doorway. "I'm just saying. They might be still stressed about the situation and freak out over you being hurt. Your pokemon are all still fairly young and inexperienced."

"And what would you know about me being inexperienced?" Ash retorted angrily.

The man just snorted, clearly amused. "So the little newbie does have a spine. And here I thought yesterday was just the anger talking." The man finally fully entered the room, and Ash was finally able to get a good look at him. Standing at around 6', with dirty blonde hair and sunglasses on top. A dark blue and black trench coat with a red design down one sleeve, and black pants. Overall, a rough looking individual that Ash was barely able to recognize as the man who saved his life. "Name's Wes Mirei. Call me Wes or nothing at all."

"Ash Ketchum." Was his reply. All he got was another snort of amusement.

"Doesn't matter, probably won't remember it anyways. Anyways kid, just wanted to give you a rundown on what happened last night." This caught Ash's full attention, now listening carefully to whatever Wes would say.

"As you probably already know, those were members of Team Rocket. Known terrorists, steal and kill, yadda yadda." He rambled off. "What you didn't know, is that those were Jesse and James. While newer, they are considered to be up and coming rocket members to become admins." Now that was a shock. If they were up and coming admins, why were they using weaker pokemon. Adding to that, how did Wes even know this information. "I can tell by your face that the gears up in your head are getting stuck. That's good, knowing there is something up there after all." Ash couldn't help but scowl at the insult.

"I'll answer the obvious one first. How do we know about them being admin nominees? Well, I'm something of a... special case in the League." At this his his eyes turned to the window, face contemplative. "You can consider me a sort of hired detective working on terrorist cases. Since I have... prior experience I'm quite good at what I do" He shook his head. "Slightly off topic, so we'll get back to why this is relevant to you. Despite being a newbie, you faced off against two and up coming admins with two weak pokemon. Which, while impressive, if they used their actual teams, you definitely wouldn't be here right now. Most likely they were using grunt pokemon in this little smash and grab to make them seem less involved. The two managed to get away last night using some sort of psychic type with teleport, so now I'm back on the trail."

Ash, once again given another lecture about his almost timely death, was starting to get mildly annoyed. "So then, why tell me all this? If I'm just some newbie trainer, why let me know?"

Wes just stared at him. After about a minute, it started to make Ash slightly uncomfortable. "Because you fighting off those Rockets reminded me of myself, back at your age." He eventually said. "And seeing where that brought me, I'm interested in where you might be headed for the future." Suddenly, something was thrown his way. He brought up his good arm to catch it before it hit his face. "That's a gift, I suggest you take care of them. Heaven knows if you don't, I'll be the one who suffers from it." And with that, Wes left without even looking back.

Ash stared at the doorway, more confused than when he initially woke up. From what he was able to gather, some detective was the one to save him. He was told that the ones he tried to stop yesterday were pseudo-admins taking it easy, then threw him something then left. Looking down into his hands, he realized just what he was given.

A white premier ball. That was filled.

Apparently Wes had decided to help Ash on his journey, and didn't even give him the option of declining the pokemon, already having left the room and most likely the building by now. At this, Ash become slightly upset. Why would he just abandon this pokemon with him?

"Oh don't look like that!" He nearly jumped. Looking over, he saw Nurse Joy had come back. "Mr. Mirei told me the circumstances behind that particular pokemon. It was both willing and ready for this. Otherwise it would stay cooped up and unable to travel. In fact, it's already registered to you." The nurse informed him.

"Even so... I wanted to choose my own path. Catch my own pokemon." He tried. "This is supposed to be my journey, and I didn't earn this capture myself."

"Oh, please." Scoffed the nurse. "I think nearly driving out Team Rocket counts as earning this pokemon. Plus, it's not as if you don't have a choice. I'm sure if you don't want it, you can always send it back to your sponsor and they can take care of it." She could still see Ash's hesitance however, so she merely sighed. "At least see what pokemon it is, and if they themselves want to join before deciding what to do with them, okay?" Ash could only nod at that request, finding it fairly reasonable. "Right, now let me check your arm."

/\/\/\/\ Line Break /\/\/\/\

Now free from his hospital bed, Ash was standing in the main lobby of the pokemon centre. Next to him were the phone booths. Having just faced off against a known criminal organization and almost dying, Ash knew one thing for sure. This was easily the scariest moment of his life. Having to call home to his mother to explain what happened. He had been standing next to the phones for the past fifteen minutes, not calling or talking. Just holding it up with a face full of fear. It got so bad that one passerby even told Nurse Joy, who simply rolled her eyes before continuing her job.

Five minutes more, and finally Ash found the courage. He, with trembling hands, picked up the phone before dialing in his mothers number. The video display lit up, signalling that the call was ringing. A couple of seconds later, his mother's face appeared, full of worry.

"Ash! Are you alright?" She asked concerned.

"I'm fine, mom." He replied quickly. Too quickly.

"Are you sure? I saw the news the other day, about the explosion there! You weren't hurt were you?" His eyes shifted to look down at his still bandaged arm. Unfortunately, his mother caught the glance and caught on immediately. "Ash Ketchum, tell me the truth."

"I'm fine! It was just a small bruise from the rubble!" He lied. He felt awful about it, but lying to keep her happy was better than having her worried about his life, he tried to convince himself.

"Well... If you're sure..." She eventually relented. A few moments of silence, she started conversation again. "How was your trip to Viridian? Everything go well? Catch anything interesting?"

Ash visibly perked up at the change of topic. "Yeah, Frost and I get along great! And we caught a Fletchling too!" He spouted out excitedly.

"Frost? Is that what you named your Snom? And a Fletchling? Aren't those native to Kalos? What was one doing near Pallet?"

"Yeah! Ruined all my hard work thinking too" He muttered that last bit under his breath. "And I have no idea, but Zephyr is great. Quite strong too! When she battled us, she-"

Delia smiled, seeing the clear delight on her son's face when talking about his new pokemon. For the next few minutes, she let him talk about his first day, before finally cutting him off. "Alright dear, it sounds like an exciting first day, huh?"

At that his smile became slightly more strained. "Yeah, definitely exciting that's for sure."

"Just, remember honey. I'll always be proud of you."

"Thanks mom." His smile becoming real once again.

"Okay, I won't bother you any longer. I love you, honey. Remember to always cha-"

"Okaybyemomloveyoutoo" Ash quickly got out, before hanging up quickly. Nearby he could hear a couple of nearby people giggle while looking at his direction, but he just embarrassingly walked to the front counter. There, Nurse Joy gave him one last quick check up, before nodding at him.

"Remember, don't be too rough with your arm for the next week or so, as it will still be sore to touch. You can remove the bandages any time you want once you leave." She said, giving a stern lecture to him. "And with that extra pokemon, make sure you come to a decision soon, okay?"

"Got it." He confirmed. "Thanks for everything, Nurse Joy!" With that final parting remark, Ash was finally freed from the prison that was the pokemon centre. "Okay, maybe that's a little dramatic to think of as a prison." He mused to himself. Grabbing his pokeballs, he released his two pokemon. Frost and Zephyr both materialized from their balls before moving up to cuddle their trainer. "Hey guys, are the two of you alright?" Reassuring nods were given, but their eyes showed worry when he noticed them linger on his bandaged arm. He moved slowly to unravel the bandages.

When they fell off completely they showed Ash's arm. Healed, and no longer bleeding, but covered in three distinct scar marks, running diagonally down his forearm. Nurse Joy said that without a Ditto cell transplant, they would most likely scar over. Due to an emergency that had happened a few days earlier, they had run out of usable Ditto cells, so Ash's arm would have to heal the natural way. At the concerned warbles from his team, he waved them off. "I'm fine, you guys knocked the Meowth off of me." He reassured them. "Plus Wes was there to scare the attackers off. Speaking of." He held up the premier ball. "He handed me this pokemon. I've no idea who it is, or if they will even accept us. But I did promise nurse joy we would at least try. Be wary just in case." After recieving a nod from both, he released the pokemon.

From the light came a small quadrupedal pokemon. It had brown fur, with long pointed ears and big black eyes. Easily identifiable. Wes had given Ash an Eevee. Which are extremely rare catches to find in the wild, and even still bred Eevee are hard to find since they are high in demand. Yet here he was, with another rare catch for his region.

He knelt down to Eevee's level who was staring at him curiously. "Hey there. Not quite who you were expecting to call you out huh?" The Eevee shook their head, before yipping softly at him and playfully spinning in a circle. "Wait, did Wes tell you that you were going to be given to me?" A nod was given, and more energetic yips from the Eevee. "And you were okay with that?" A jump and excited yips were his answer, before the Eevee turned to the other two pokemon. Apparently this specific Eevee was very friendly, and despite Frost being a little wary at first, all three pokemon were eventually carried away in a conversation. Well, he certainly wasn't going to have any problems with any of them getting along. Pulling out his pokedex, he did a quick scan of Eevee.

Eevee. The Evolution pokemon.

A rare pokemon that adapts to harsh environments by taking on different evolutionary forms.

Sex: Female

Ability: Run Away

Nature: Quirky

Known moves: Tackle, Covet, Tail Whip, Growl, Helping Hand

Egg moves: Detect

Not a bad starting set of moves. Though, he had to wonder just why she had helping hand. Here in Kanto, double battles were exceedingly rare, so there would be no reason to learn helping hand. More questions raised about the legitimacy of Wes, but he shook them off as something to ask later. If they were to meet again, anyways. "Hey, Eevee." He called out, the fox like pokemon turning at the call. "Would you like a nickname? Or would you like to wait until you evolve?" She nodded happily, eager for a new name to call her own. And so the brainstorming commenced. They rattled off a few ideas, like Rainer, Sparky, Pyro, Sakura, Tamao, Linnea and Rea, but she didn't seem to like any of those specifically. She did hesitate on Linnea for a little bit, but ultimately didn't think it would fit her in the long run. Though the entire time they thought of names, the Eevee would try and sneak off with Ash's hat. Which eventually help lead to the makings of her name. "Quite the tricky little fox, aren't you?" He mused, watching the Eevee attempt to wear the oversized hat she managed to steal. "What about Vix? Short for Vixen?" An enthusiastic yip was the answer, before she shot off as he tried to reach for his hat back. He let out a small sigh, before looking at Frost and Zephyr. "Either of you want to help me get that back?" Frost shook his head, clearly out of the league in the speed department, while Zephyr simply rolled her eyes. "No one on this team respects leadership, I swear." He mumbled under his breath before running after his new excitable teammate.

/\/\/\/\ Line Break /\/\/\/\

Ash was extremely nervous. He was standing outside the entrance to the Viridian City gym. Giovanni, the leader of the gym, was known for being extremely difficult to beat. Since he has become the leader of Viridian's gym, it was said that he has only lost and given his badge a total of twenty times. That was over a duration of ten years. His overwhelmingly powerful ground types were said to have been able to almost completely wipe an entire team each on their own. So why was Ash, a new trainer who hasn't even had a proper training session with his pokemon, outside?

Well, call him a glutton for punishment, (And wasn't that saying something after yesterday's events) but he wanted to see if the rumors were true. Plus, he couldn't deny that a small part of him was a fan of him. Even if he did end up losing, hopefully he would be able to take something from it as a learning experience.

Mustering up his courage, he entered the gym, and walked towards the front counter. There, he found a secretary, clearly looking bored with her job. As he approached, she looked up lazily before asking: "Name?"

"Ash Ketchum." He replied, in what he hoped wasn't a nervous voice.

"Badges?"

"N-none."

The secretary looked up at that. "None? You are aware of whos gym this is right? Most people don't come here until they've earned at least five badges. Even then, no one ever really wins. Giovanni isn't one to pull punches."

He gulped at that. "Even so, I want to try."

She rolled her eyes. "Kids these days, always so eager to lose. I'll let him know you're on your way in. Good luck." That last bit didn't sound sincere. Ash just nodded quickly before scurrying towards the doors.

Upon entering, he was lead to a wide open arena. The ground was entirely made of rough, uneven ground, with some larger rocks and boulders scattered around the arena. On both sides of the court were seating areas for visitors, all bare and empty. On the opposite end of the field, he saw an empty corner for where Giovanni would stand, and the entrance to his office just beyond that. He waited in nervous anticipation for what would undoubtedly be a slaughter.

The doors on the other side of the field opened, and out walked Giovanni in all his terrifying presence. The tall man walked to his side of the field, entering the box before sizing him up. "Ash Ketchum." His deep voice called out.

"Y-yes sir, that's me."

"So it is. I'm sorry about what happened to you the other day."

"You heard about that?" Ash asked shocked.

The gym leader let out a snort. "Of course I did. Every gym leader is essentially the main protectors of their cities. So, since you were attacked in mine, it was my failure in doing my duty."

"It's okay. Everything turned out fine." Was eventually his response. He could feel the gym leader staring at him, specifically his arm.

"In any case, you challenging me here is something I didn't really expect." He commented. "Knowing your parents, I would have figured you'd be smart enough to know of my reputation."

"Wait. You knew my parents?" Ash blurted out. "You knew my dad?"

"Of course. Me and Delia used to be close friends. And of course I know of your father too. But before you ask, it is not my place to say." Ash's face fell at the answer to the question he didn't even get to ask. "Before we get too off topic, I would like to talk to you about your battle here. Normally, I would either kick you out or stomp you outright if you were to battle me with no badges." At that Ash started to pale. "But, since I know your parents, plus I was unable to stop the rockets from injuring you, we will do this a little differently. How many pokemon do you have?"

"I have three, sir."

"Good." Giovanni nodded. "Release them all."

"All three? Now?" He asked.

"That is what I said." He said, tone patient. Ash complied, releasing his team. Giovanni looked over the three carefully, before turning back to Ash with his eyebrow raised. "Two non-Kanto natives and a rare one? I'm guessing the Eevee was your starter then?"

"No, Frost was my starter. I mean, Snom."

"Interesting. In any case, were you to battle even my weakest members of my team, you would lose. They're all untrained and weak as of right now." At that Ash started to look crestfallen. "However, I can see the potential that may come from a team as such. That Fletchling looks like it will grow to be huge and Eevee are extremely flexible to fit on a team." Both pokemon preened under the praise, before he finally looked over Frost. "I'll admit, not much is known about Snom and Frosmoth, considering that hardly evolve. I do however believe that you may bring out its full potential."

Ash smiled at that. "Thank you very much, sir!"

"You won't be thanking me soon." Was his ominous reply. A pokeball was brought to his hand, he eyed it before looking back at Ash. "Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to release this pokemon, then you are going to battle it. With all three of yours at the same time. Then, when you lose, I will give you some observations."

He knew it was a bad idea, but he just had to ask. "What if I win?"

Full blown laughter came from the gym leaders mouth. "You won't. But I'm not entirely unfair I suppose." With that, he released the pokemon. Out from the ball came a hulking figure. It was at this moment that Ash realized he bit off way more than he could chew. A gargantuan 9' Rhyperior came from the ball, letting out a terrifying roar. It looked around before seeing the three tiny pokemon across the arena. It turned back to it's trainer with one eyebrow raised, before he got waved off, turning back lazily. "This is my Rhyperior, a member of my main team. If you manage to beat me, I'll tell you about your father."

At that Ash's eyes went wide, before staring and the hulking figure in front of him. "There's no way I can beat something like that."

"Of course not." Giovanni scoffed. "But the offer stands until the League starts in a year. Who knows what might happen after you get some badges and experience. For today, if you manage to land a hit on Rhyperior, I will give you something to help you on your journey. You can begin when you're ready." At Ash's hesitance, he rolled his eyes. "Don't worry. He may look intimidating, but Rhyperior here is perfectly capable of holding back." The Rhyperior let out a snort at that, but at glare from his trainer he rolled his eyes. Turning to Ash's team, he let out a few grunts. Whatever was said seemed positive, as the apprehensive looks on his pokemon lessened, and Vix was even barking back a reply. "Take a few minutes to strategize, then you can start whenever. We'll go until either you land a hit, or I say so."

With that, he was left to plan. His team all gave one last look at the Rhyperior, before turning to Ash, giving him their undivided attention. "Right. Well, I suppose we're just gonna have to give it our best shot. Whatever Giovanni can give us that says will help probably will, considering who it's from." His eyes trailed over his team, before looking over at Zephyr. "You're probably our best bet in landing a hit. With Gale Wings and Quick Attack, you might be able to land one before they realize. However, we need to keep your speed a surprise until later. To start with, get above him and start trying to pepper him with Ember. When I give the signal, try for it." With a nod from the bird, he moved next to Frost. "You aren't incredibly mobile. With the mostly flat arena you can't move around too much. Move from rock to rock and keep attacking when you can." Another nod. His eyes turned to the excited fox. "I haven't battle with you yet, so I'm not quite sure how you fight. Sorry, Vix." He apologized. Yet the fox just took it good naturedly. "Try to get behind him. Snow will attack from one side and you the other. Hopefully he can't defend all three of you at once." With the plan set, the three set out into the field.

"Are you ready?" Giovanni's voice rang out.

"As much as I can, I suppose."

"Good. Begin!"

And so the battle commenced. With a shriek, Zephyr was up in the air. She started to circle overhead the Rhyperior, before opening her beak and taking pot shots at the behemoth. Her flames weren't powerful, something they'd have to work on, but they were enough. He paled when he saw Rhyperior open his mouth, flames starting to lick their lips. "Wait, isn't that overkill?!" Ash shouted, as the Rhyperior started to use Flamethrower. Yet, the attack that came out was nowhere near what he expected. Tiny bursts of flame, identical to the ones Zephyr were shooting were fired back, colliding midair with hers and neutralizing the attack.

"I told you, he looks scary but can be quite the softy." Was a smirking Giovanni's remark.

Frost and Vix looked at each other quickly, before nodding and splitting off. Vix darted around towards the behemoth's back. Frost had latched to a nearby rock and from the top, fired a Powder Snow. Before it could reach him, the Rhyperior stomped the floor, a small pillar of Earth rising and taking the attack in his stead. Vix took the opportunity to dash in for a Tackle, but with a quick glance, she was knocked away by a low powered Iron Tail. She picked herself up, before dashing towards the side, avoiding a short puff of flames sent her way. The fight continued like this for a couple of minutes. Every time Vix would go for an attack, she was knocked back or forced to dodge. Every attack Frost sent was blocked before he was forced to switch angles, and he was running out of suitable perches. Zephyr's flames had decreased in speed, clearly still unused to having fire off so many. Plus the behemoth's eyes barely left the skies, always aware of the birds location. So Ash was forced to change his tactics. "Vix! Helping Hand on Frost! Frost, use Fairy Wind at full power!" The fox jumped towards the bug, her paw glowing white, and gave a tap on the bug's back, mindful of his spikes. After a quick moment, she dashed off to the side. Frost, using the extra energy, blasted his largest Fairy Wind yet directly towards the Rhyperior. Sensing the attack that may actually be a small threat, it turned towards it, only for Ash to finally shout out.

"Now!" Zephyr took that opportunity, and using Quick Attack dashed full speed towards the behemoth. But right before she landed the hit, the Rhyperior roared out and slammed the ground. Pillars of Earth rose and blocked the Fairy Wind from connecting, as well as slamming into the bird, knocking her off course. Vix was also blocked off from attacking as the solid walls formed around him to protect himself from being hit. None of his pokemon had the power to break the walls, and Zephyr didn't think she could press her luck pushing in from above.

Ash was about to call out his surrender, when he saw Frost seemingly calling out to the bird. She flew down and landed next to him, as Vix also joined them. A few clicks later, some yips of apparent input and whatever plan they had concocted had Zephyr looking at Frost strangely, and Vix totally on board, if her excited yipping told him anything. The walls around the Rhyperior fell, revealing it to be still unharmed. Vix started their plan, charging the Rhyperior straight on. The behemoth snorted, before firing a weak Flamethrower at it. She shifted slightly, dodging the attack and continuing forwards. Zephyr took this time to take to the air, flying above seemingly ready to take a dive. Suddenly, Frost shot a thread that connected with the birds leg, before being dragged through the air, straight towards the Rhyperior. When high enough, he let go, using the momentum gained in order to charge forward with a Bug Bite. From above, Zephyr had also fired off the largest Ember she could, while Vix kept the charge going from below. For a moment, the three pronged attack looked like it might work. His hopes were crushed when a white dome glowed around it, the Protect blocking all three attacks, before knocking the three pokemon back with a small blast of Flamethrower.

All three of his pokemon were now tired, and visibly injured. Yet his pokemon were still standing. And since they didn't want to give up, he would try one last time. "Team, come here real quick!" He called out. As they arrived, Ash began to explain their final attempt. "Vix, I need you to use Helping Hand on Zephyr, giving her a bit of a speed boost, before trying again from the back. Remember you have Detect this time. Frost, try one more time with Bug Bite from the front. This is our last try." His pokemon nodded, before setting up. Vix's paw glowed, transferring energy towards Zephyr who shot up into the air, before she circled around to Rhyperior's back once more. Frost took the direct route this time, firing off a thread and charging head first towards their foe, who shot out a small Flamethrower again. Midway however, the Snom cancelled their attack, and instead glowed indicating a Mirror Coat. At the same time, Zephyr charged in from the side, so Rhyperior turned towards her and shot out a weak Thunderbolt. It connected, bringing Zephyr down and out of the fight, before the Rhyperior turning to block the reflected attack with a Rock Tomb, the previous simultaneously attack already disabling the Snom for rest of the fight. Finally he went to knock off Vix with an Iron Tail, expecting to finish the fight easily.

Yet instead of connecting with her, Vix's eyes glinted, before she rolled and narrowly ducked under the attack, and slid forward.

*Thunk*

There was a moment of silence, before Vix whined softly and fell backwards, sitting down hard. She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable retaliation, but instead heard a good natured grumble. Opening her eyes, she saw the Rhyperior starting at her, before giving her a nod. Tackling the rocky behemoth probably did more damage to her than it did him. But the attack still landed. It was all they needed.

"Well, I certainly didn't expect that one." Was Giovanni's response. "Perhaps I should be training Rhyperior harder if he can be hit by three rookies." Ash could feel the eye roll that came from the Rhyperior at that one, but elected to stay silent instead, expecting more from the gym leader. "Well done. It was a little shaky, but you managed to get it done."

"Thank you, sir!" Ash couldn't keep the huge grin off his face.

"Now, before anything, let's talk about the good points first." Giovanni started. "You clearly have a tactical mind, having several plans. Leaving your trump cards hidden in Detect and Mirror Coat was smart. And even while new to each other, your team clearly has good cooperation both with you and themselves." With each compliment Ash smile only grew bigger.

"However, now we get to the critiques." And Ash's smile fell. "The first few are easy, not enough move diversity or power. But we'll skip over the obvious there. However, even with your limited moves, head on assaults won't always work. If your Snom has to knock himself out using Mirror Coat in order to do damage, maybe it would be best to find another means of attack." Ash could only nod at that.

"Was there anything else I did wrong?" He asked.

"Yes, but I can't give you every answer. You'll have to figure it out yourself." Was Giovanni's amused reply. "In any case, I promised you something if you managed to hit Rhyperior." They looked over to see Vix animatedly talking to said behemoth, with the other two pokemon sitting nearby. "I did hear about your views on receiving pokemon. So instead, I will simply give you this." In his hand, was a disk. Easily identified as a TM, or Technical Machine, they were used to teach a pokemon the basics of a move so they could use and later master it. "Nothing too big or special. This is a TM for Mud-Slap. I figured since your Eevee landed the hit, and is the only one on your team without a move to attack from a distance, she can use this."

"Thank you, sir!" Ash gratefully received the TM. His mother had already bought him a case and machine to use, so he carefully placed it into a slot. With that, the gym leader returned his Rhyperior before he turned to retreat back to his office. Taking the hint, Ash returned his injured team before setting off to the pokemon centre, a big smile on his face.

/\/\/\/\ Line Break /\/\/\/\

After one quick trip to the pokemon centre, combined with one chewing out for getting into trouble by a certain Nurse Joy, and Ash had set off towards Viridian Forest. According to the pokedex, if you were to travel straight through following the path, you would arrive at Pewter city within four days. Ash, however, planned to explore a bit and spend a few days camping inside the forest. He hoped that maybe he could find and catch another rare pokemon within, hearing rumors of strong pokemon hidden deeper inside. As such, he had purchased supplies and food accordingly for about 10 days worth ahead of time, all of it easily stored within his bag.

To this day, the technology within the bag had astounded him. Using the same research principles as pokeballs, these bags could store tons of items within them, yet different as it was unable to absorb certain items or things over a certain size. Every trainer had some variation of them, and sorted their items differently. Ash himself had a regular sized bag split into 5 separate pockets, which he assigned different categories. The first, and largest slot, was for food and berries for obvious purpose. The second, was for general pokemon items such as potions, antidotes and the like. Another was used to hold all his uninhabited pokeballs for quick access. A fourth held all his "key items" as he called it, containing things such as cooking equipment and his Technical Machine. The last slot was filled with general household needs, such as clothes, soap and other utilities. Wearing the same thing for an entire year sounded very gross.

Arriving at the checkpoint at around 2pm, Ash finally entered the forest. Just seeing it from outside, he already knew that it would be big. Yet once he entered the forest properly, he realized just how massive the forest probably was. Realizing he had yet to release his pokemon, he did so to allow them to take in the sights as well. Frost on release, took a quick look around and clicked softly before climbing up Ash's arm and taking his spot. Zephyr let out a happy chirp, before flying up and resting on a nearby perch. Vix was simply happy to be out of her ball, and started bound off to a nearby patch of flowers. "Hey! Don't wander off too far!" He called out to the excited fox, receiving a faint yip in return as she continued forward, off into the trees. He sighed before looking up at Zephyr. "Please keep an eye on her." He received a chirp full of amusement, before she lifted off and followed the young fox. Looking at Frost, who dutifully kept watch on his shoulder, he shook his head before beginning to chase after them.

A couple hours later and Ash decided to call a quick break for lunch, having not eaten previously at the pokemon centre. So far nothing of note had happened while travelling so far. This close to the exit, most of the pokemon weren't found. At most Zephyr had defender her position from a Spearow, and Vix had startled a nearby Rattata who had been minding their own business. He was surprised to have not yet seen a Weedle or Caterpie that were so common in the forest. He supposed that they wouldn't be near the entrance where less cover would make them easy pickings from any wild bird pokemon.

As he set up a small camp, he pulled out three small bowls and some regular pokefood for his team. Without a doubt, Ash realized that if he started his journey at 10, he probably would have only stuck with the prepackaged trainer meals. While edible, they were more like rations, with bland taste and very little selection. With the four extra years that was given, he had asked his mom to help him learn how to cook. While not being a master chef in the kitchen like his mother, he was a quick learner, and in no time learned different recipes that he could make, even if they were fairly simple. His most favourite and best prepared dish he learned would happen to be what the Galar region was most known for, curry. Watching various videos online, he knew that there were different tastes and flavours that each pokemon preferred, being Spicy, Bitter, Sour, Dry, and Sweet. However until he managed to buy some berries, or start foraging in the wild, he wouldn't be able to find out his teams preferred taste. He could make some educated guesses however. An eventual fire-type like Zephyr would probably enjoy a spicy flavour, compared to the ice/bug-type that Frost was. Most likely the Snom would probably enjoy something bitter or sour instead. And he had a pretty good feeling that Vix enjoyed her sweet food.

His team eagerly bit into their respective meals, while Ash took the time to make a simple sandwich. Nothing special, but he wouldn't want to start a fire now since they would probably be moving on soon. While setting up however, he heard a quick yip and turned to see Vix running off with a piece of salami that he was preparing. With a roll of his eyes, he let the sneaky fox enjoy her spoils, before shifting to make sure she was within view while making his own lunch. They heartily ate their meal, and Ash decided that today would mark their first real training session.

"Right, today we're actually going to be doing some training!" He announced to his pokemon. "For today, I'm going to be working one on one with each of you for around an hour. We'll be going over what I want you to be learning next, and practicing that during our time together. Frost, you'll be up first." A happy click and a small whine were the response to that. He turned to the obviously complaining Eevee. "Don't be like that. If Zephyr is okay with it, you can go second." Vix turned towards the bird, who gave an eye-roll and nodded. "Besides, when I'm not working with you one on one, I want the other two to be sparring. Don't go full power, but don't slack off either alright?" At nods from all three pokemon, he nodded too. "Right, come on Frost."

/\/\/\/\ Line Break /\/\/\/\

"So, what I want from you, is a little more power." Ash started, looking down into his pokedex. He looked up towards Frost, who was paying him his full attention. "Right now, you only know Powder Snow as an ice move. I want you to get used to harnessing the power of the ice within you, and eventually upgrade that into Icy Wind. Since there's not much knowledge of it, many have speculated that learning to better harness your ice abilities help to speed up your metamorphosis process. Plus it will help you learn how to use ice manipulation later." Frost tilted his head at that. Not many Frosmoth existed in the wild, but the ones who did always knew Icy Wind so maybe it was the truth. "For now, I want you to use Powder Snow, and focus on using your inner power to make it colder. I want you to hold it until you freeze the bark around the tree. Spread and distance can come later once you've figured out the power behind it first."

And so Frost's training began. Focusing upon his power, he took a deep breath before blowing out a cold wind, trying to take note of the temperature used. After about 3 minutes he stopped when the tree he was striking finally started to freeze. "Alright, that was good but it still wasn't a proper Icy Wind." It was true too. Rather than purely freezing the tree, a small bit of snow scattered the nearby floor. "Try again. Colder this time." And he did. This time, the range was not near as far, but the tree froze a few seconds faster. It was improvement in the right direction though. "Nice work. One more time!" A few more seconds were shaved off the time to freeze. Noticeably less snow was starting to form from the attack, but still some was landing near the tree. Icy Wind, when used properly, would let him freeze things into straight blocks of ice quickly, rather than leaving snow as residue of keeping the technique up for long. With the rate at Frost was improving, he figured it would take at least a few days of daily practice before he could use it from standing still.

He turned his head briefly to watch the spar between his two girls. Zephyr was diving in and out using tackle, while Vix was dodging around and trying to retaliate before the Fletchling could properly ascend. Whenever the bird would fire off an Ember, the fox would use Detect to avoid it, if the glint in her eyes was any clue. That kept it at an even fight, neither having any means of distance fighting with Ember out of the picture. With their respective abilities also increasing their speed, they matched each other blow for blow.

He felt a soft cold wind blow on his arm, and turned to see a mildly annoyed Frost at losing a bit of his time training. "Relax." Ash said, rolling his eyes. "I was just giving you a bit of a break. But if you're so into it, then show me one more time!"

/\/\/\/\ Line Break /\/\/\/\

Vix stared up at him curiously, before shaking her head at his question.

"Really?" He asked again. "No idea at all?" The same motion was repeated to him. "Well, can't say I don't blame you." Wanting to figure out how to best train Vix, he asked the fox a question he hoped would (but always knew wouldn't) be easy. Which evolution she might pursue. Depending on which evolution she would choose, Ash could start trying to teaching her either type oriented moves, or moves that would benefit from her evolution. Instead, Ash shook his head, before pulling out the TM that Giovanni has given him. The Eevee perked up, recognizing the item that was given to him.

"This is a TM." He started to explain. "I've never actually used one myself, but it's used to teach you a new move. Since you landed the hit, you get the prize." The Eevee shifted back nervously. "Don't worry, I swear it won't hurt. Trust me, okay?" She did, so she stood still, as Ash brought the machine to her head and activated it. The machine whirred for a few seconds, before the once brown disk lost its color and turned to a dull grey. "Did it work?" Vix looked confused for a second, before nodding enthusiastically. "Alright, then use Mud-Slap on that tree!"

Vix took a small dash forward, before digging her front paws into the ground, and bringing the right upwards, sending mud shooting towards the target. It hit with a thud, the dirt sticking to the tree before slowly sliding down. Vix stared at the attack for a moment, gears turning inside her head. Before she perked up, and Ash swore he felt a shiver down his back, yet he also knew Frost was currently sparring with Zephyr.

"Why do I feel like this was a bad idea?" Ash said aloud. He quickly dove to the side, seeing a small clump of mud land where he just stood. "Vix, please don't!" He pleaded.

Vix gave off a smile.

/\/\/\/\ Line Break /\/\/\/\

Zephyr looked at Ash and tilted her head slightly, eyes filled with mirth.

"Please, don't be like Vix."

A chirp that sounded strangely like a laugh was his answer the that. Ash shook his shirt slightly, bits of mud falling off, before sighing. Tonight, he would have to find a river to camp out nearby, so he could properly clean off. He turned to look at the cause of all this, who was having target practice with Frost. The bug was swinging from tree to tree, dodging the Mud-Shots from Vix. Midair, he was using Powder Snow, or his inferior version of Icy Wind anyways, forcing the Eevee to dodge as well.

"Anyways, just like Frost, I want you to work on your Ember. You need to work on better harnessing, and increasing the strength of your inner flame. Eventually, I want to have you learn Flamethrower, so you have a better distance move. But learning how to properly use your inner flame will help ypu learn Flame Charge down the line too." At a nod of encouragement, Ash looked over at a nearby boulder. "Since the forest is slightly flammable, I want you to keep using Ember on this rock. Focus on strengthening the amount you can pull out at once."

The bird obliged, sending out a puff of fire towards the rock. It smothered harmlessly against it, the flames themselves less than when Vix had used helping hand. "Again." Another fired, the same size. "One more try!" The same result. "Let's try something different. Close your eyes. Try to focus on finding your inner fire." Zephyr closed her eyes. She focused intently, until she felt that familiar feeling of fire within her and gave a small chirp. "Now, instead of bringing it out, spread it throughout your body." So she tried. It was hard to do, focusing on the feeling of letting it spread within her. Slowly but surely, she could feel the heat spread to every part of her. "Ember, now!" She opened her beak to let out an Ember, but instead, she felt her outer body ignite in a thin layer of flames. Ash quickly backed up, and she squawked in panic, before the flames went out with the loss of focus.

"I uhh... Think we started working on Flame Charge by accident..." Ash said. "I just thought that if you spread it through your body, it would better flow through you not..." He shook his head. "We'll keep that in mind for later. Now that you know that feeling of spreading your inner flame, try focusing it just to your beak." With a nod, Zephyr tried again. This time, the Ember came out noticeably bigger, just about the size when used with helping hand. "Great! Now again!"

/\/\/\/\ Line Break /\/\/\/\

It was now closer to night time, and Ash had just finished setting up camp. As luck would have it, he was able to find a small stream nearby, which he would be able to use to clean off his clothes. Having swapped out his ruined clothes with a plain white t-shirt and cargo shorts, he was now getting ready to make dinner for the group. He heard Vix give off a giggle when he stared at his hanging clothes which were out to dry.

Turning, he looked over at said fox who was curled up near the fire that he made. And by he made, he meant gathered tinder and logs for which Zephyr could do the hard part for him. The Eevee was drying off herself, as Ash had seen it fit to take revenge for her initial prank on him, and had splashed her earlier while cleaning his clothes. Vix took it in stride, giggling all the while, even jumping into said stream to try and splash him back. Zephyr had taken perch in a nearby tree and took it upon herself to keep watch. Frost was nearby, hanging underneath her perch, making it look like a single large icicle was left on the branch.

Just as he was about to start on dinner, he heard Zephyr give off a chirp. When he looked, he saw her staring in one direction. From the bushes came a blonde boy, roughly about one year older than him. He was wearing an orange and white striped shirt, with jeans and a green scarf around his neck. Considering it was quite warm in Kanto right now, he was wondering how the kid wasn't sweating right now. As the kid walked closer, Ash started to greet him. "Hey, wha-"

"You!" The boy interrupted. "You stole my camping site!"

Whatever Ash thought he was going to say, that definitely wasn't it. "I'm sorry?"

"Yeah! I was gonna camp here first! For stealing my spot, I'm gonna have to fine you!"

Ash was even more confused than before. "Hold on, who are you?"

"My name's Barry, and I'm gonna be the winner of the Indigo League!" The blonde boasted.

"Okay, Barry. Why do you need this spot in particular?" Ash asked him.

"Haven't you heard the rumors?" At Ash's shake of the head, Barry continued. "Supposedly there's a really strong pokemon that lives in these parts. I'm gonna catch it!" He paused, before gasping and turning on Ash. "That's why you're here! You're going to catch that pokemon aren't you!"

"If I just learned of it from you, how would I have known to come here?" Ash questioned the blonde.

"That's obviously an excuse! I'll have to battle you for the area then!" Barry shouted.

"Hang on, you can't just battle me for this spot! I was here first! Plus I'm already set up!" Ash exclaimed exasperated.

"Yeah? How many badges you got?"

"None, I just started."

"Well, I have one, so as the senior pokemon trainer, you have to listen to me and leave!"

"That's... Not how it works at all..." Ash was very tired of this conversation already. He was just as headstrong as Gary, it seemed.

"So, are you battling for this spot or not?" Barry asked impatiently.

"Know what, sure." Ash sighed. "Why not. Not like I wanted to relax or anything." With that signal, Frost and Vix trailed over to his side, while Zephyr simply stayed on her perch from above. "How do you want to do this? I only have three pokemon and I'd rather keep at least one acti-"

"Perfect! I have three too! A three on three then!" Barry interrupted again.

"Did you not hear what I just-"

"Go, Piplup!" That answered his unasked question. When the light died down, a small blue and white penguin was formed. The small bird looked up with a battle ready face and chirped out a challenge.

"Right, who wants this one?" He asked his team. He knew about Frost's dedication and Zephyr seemed to start establishing a mother-like tendency. However it was Vix who stepped up first, hopping in front of him in a battle ready stance.

And with an unspoken signal, both pokemon jumped into action.

"Piplup, get him with a Peck!" The small penguin dashed forwards, before their beak started to glow. Vix waited for them to approach, still dashing towards him, before diving out ot the way last second. When the attack missed her, she slipped around and used a Mud-Shot, hitting the bird in the back and causing them to stumble. One thing Ash had learned about the Eevee was she was definitely tricky. She would have her own tactics to employ, so he didn't need to input anything quite yet.

"Piplup! Get up and use Bubble!" The bird firing off a barrage of bubbles at Vix, who barely ducked out of the way in time. "Again! Don't let up!" Shot after shot came firing towards her, who kept dodging as best as she could, before one caught her in the tail causing her to trip slightly and fall, the rest landing upon her.

"Vix, get closer! Tackle!" The fox was up on her feet, before dashing forwards in an ever changing pattern to dodge the constant flow of bubbles heading towards her.

"Bide! Take it!" The penguin started glowing, before Vix ran in and hit them with a Tackle. It knocked the Piplup back, before they started glowing brighter. "Release!" Piplup shouted in glory, the stored energy being released in a beam towards Vix.

"Detect, quickly!" He didn't even need to command it, as before the beam got close enough, a glint in her eyes and she slid to the side, the attack barely grazing her and firing off towards the trees. A few disturbed Ratatta ran out of the bushes away from the blast centre. "Mud-Shot, again!" Another shot of Mud was sent towards the penguin, who jumped to the side just in time to avoid it.

By now, both of the pokemon were panting, still mostly unused to battling constantly. But both were still capable of battling. "Vix, keep your speed lower to trick them, and go for a Tackle. When you get closer, go for a quick burst of speed." At a nod, the Eevee set off. She made a show of keeping her speed slower, and seeming to be more tired. To any skilled trainer, it was fairly obvious.

But to Barry, it was an opening.

"She's tired! Finish it with a Pound to Peck combo!" The Piplup in all its glory, rushed forwards. He got forwards, and was able to land the Pound, knocking the Eevee back slightly, and went to finish her with a glowing beak. Before it landed, however, Vix glew with the familiar white glow of Quick Attack, and dashed past the bird, before knocking him down. Before they could get back up, she finished him with a full force Tackle, knocking the penguin back to his trainer.

"Piplup! Get up!" The bird tried, but buckled under its flippers and fell over, knocked out. With a sigh, he recalled the Piplup, before glaring daggers at Ash. "You cheated! She wasn't tired at all!"

"Really?" Ash raised an eyebrow. "It's part of strategy. Nothing is ever going to work off brute force alone."

"I'll show you! Starly, get them!"

Another Sinnoh native burst from the ball. The black and white bird was around half of Zephyr's height, spread their wingspan and cawed out a challenge.

"Vix, return." The Eevee looked back and tilted her head. She was panting, but still looked ready for battle. "You don't have many moves to fight them midair. Zephyr will fare better." A nod, before she came back and sat down nearby.

"Hey, you can't return your pokemon!" Barry called out.

"Why not?"

"Those aren't the rules!"

"And when did we say that?" Ash asked. When Barry opened his mouth, he cut him off. "We didn't. You started this before I was even ready. So Vix will take a break."

"Grrr! Starly! Get that bird!" Before Zephyr had even lifted off her perch to join the battle, the black and white bird dashed forwards, knocking her off and backwards. She was able to realign herself in midair, before giving chase in the skies.

"Hey! That was a cheap shot!" Ash yelled out.

"So? Your pokemon was already out! Starly, use Wing Attack!" The smaller bird turned, and charged at Zephyr wings glowing white.

"Dodge, and use Ember!" As the Starly came closer, Zephyr ducked into a dive, narrowly avoiding the attack, before turning around and firing a small burst of flame. Starly was barely able to dodge it, but the attack still singed a few feathers on her left wing. "Follow up with Quick Attack!"

"Starly, Quick Attack too! Outspeed it!" Both birds took on a familiar white glow, before shooting off towards each other. They collided in the air, with Zephyr's larger size giving her the edge in that particular bout. The Starly was knocked backwards, before flying off to gain some distance. Zephyr didn't allow that, shooting off and giving chase. Both birds were considerably fast, but Zephyr with her Gale Wings ability was faster, and knocked the bird down to the ground.

"Starly! Get up buddy, I know you can do it!" The bird struggled for a moment, before getting up and shrieking in fury. Then, the bird started to glow white. That couldn't be good for Ash. It took a few seconds, but in the white glow, the smaller bird changed and got bigger, now matching the size of Zephyr at 2'. When the light died down, the newly evolved Staravia spread his wings and chirped out another challenge.

"Yeah! Get them Staravia! Fury Attack!" The black and white bird was faster now, flying and catching up to Zephyr before jabbing at her repeatedly with their beak.

"Zephyr! Quick Attack! Get out of there!"

"Chase em! Take them down!" Again, both birds shot off in a white glow. This time, it was Zephyr being chased, and similarly knocked down into the ground.

"Ember! Quickly!" She complied, getting up before firing a few quick shots of flame. The Staravia simply ducked around it, before diving in with another Wing Attack, one which the Fletchling barely dodged by taking off into the sky once more.

"It's faster now, you're gonna have to take it head on! Tackle!"

"Fury Attack! Show it they're no match for you!"

Both birds turned to each other, before dashing towards the other. Zephyr, in that moment had an idea. Focusing her energy as fast as she could, she spread it through her body. With a shriek herself, she lit herself, and a bastardized version of Flame Charge came out. The two pokemon collided in the air, a small explosion of flame following before both landed in a buff of smoke and dust.

"Zephyr!"

"Staravia!"

It was a tense few seconds, but when the dust cleared, neither pokemon were able to battle. Both pokemon were knocked out, and the Staravia's feathers were burnt and singed in many places.

Ash was the first to return his pokemon, mumbling a quiet "Good Work." to the ball before clipping it to his belt. Barry returned his pokemon as well, before taking his last pokeball from his waist.

"You're gonna get it now! Ponyta, take them down!" The small horse pokemon formed, their mane and tail of flames lighting up the immediate area. Ash only just realized how dark it had gotten already. Frost didn't wait for Ash to call him forward, already expecting it. The bug swung off his branch and landed in front of him, prepared to battle. Ash bit his lip, the fire type was easily his worst match up, but Vix was still tired from her fight.

"What the heck is that?" Barry asked.

"A Snom." Was Ash's simple reply.

"Whatever it is, it's going down! Ponyta, Ember!" The horse didn't comply, instead turning her head away from her trainer. Ash raised an eyebrow at that. "Ponyta! Did you hear me? I said Ember!" She still did nothing, simply ignoring the calls. "Listen to me already, will you!"

Ash coughed lightly, getting Barry's irate attention. "Do you uhh... need a minute?"

"Shut up! I can handle this!" The boy shouted, before turning to Ponyta, hand held together in a prayer. "Can you please battle for me? Please?" The horse looked his way for a couple of seconds, a smile starting to form on Barry's face, before the horse looked away with a snort, before it returned itself. Barry's face started to turn red at that.

"Does this mean I win?" Was a smirking Ash's question.

"Shut up! What's your name!"

"Ash. Ash Ketchum."

"Yeah, well guess what Ash Ketchup. You're now my rival!" The boy shouted. He then pointed at him. "And next time, I'll win!" Then he was off, running into the woods. Ash sighed. Just what he needed. Another Gary. He looked over at his team, Vix curled up by the fire again and Frost looking very confused before roping back to the tree to hang as an icicle again, before he walked back towards his stuff to prepare dinner. He'd take care of Zephyr's injuries once he was fed.

It was just like him to attract all the crazies.

/\/\/\/\ Line Break /\/\/\/\

A/N- Few points I wanted to get out.

1. Wes isn't really story important. Exists for 3 reasons.

-Prove Orre happened

-Exposition that Jesse/James are competent, but went easy.

-Get Vix earlier (Was likely to be Celadon otherwise.)

2. Story will be updated once every atleast 2 weeks. Unless something happens like classes overwhelm me.

3. I love writing Vix.

4. People sometimes write Paul in. I decided to do Barry because Gary covers the serious/wants to be strongest. Barry feels more comic relief/filler fights to me. Though Paul still might show up.

5. More bugs are on the way. Likely next chapter. Maybe its that strong pokemon Barry hinted at. Seems too easy. But yeah atleast 2/3 of his team will be bugs. No max past 12 is determed for team yet tho.

I would ideally like to have at least 10k words per chapter.