Chapter 7

Ashley's P.O.V.

We were walking down a dirt road toward Vermillion City. Well to be more exact we were following Ethan who was looking at his PokéGear.

"Are you sure we are going the right way Ethan?" asked Bella.

"Yeah, according to the map there should be a Pokémon Center just ahead," replied Ethan.

"That's what you said half an hour ago," I whined as I dragged my feet.

"I agree with Ashley," said Chris, "it feels like we've been going in circles."

"Just trust me it's just ahead," replied Ethan.

We kept on walking and after an hour we finally were able to reach the Pokémon Center.

"Finally! For a second there I thought that we were never going to get here," I exclaimed as we all sat down in the couch.

"Pika Pi," responded Pikachu who was sitting next to me.

"Yeah, you seriously have to fix your PokéGear Ethan," commented Chris.

"I know," responded Ethan with a sigh, "I guess I'll have to call me dad and ask him about it, we'll have to use yours instead for now."

"Okay," responded Chris.

Then I saw Alex get up and walk out the door.

"Where are you going Alex?" I asked.

"I'm just going out to look around the area," she responded, "I want to see if I could catch a new Pokémon."

"I'll go too," said Chris as he got up, "I want to catch a fire Pokémon as soon as possible."

"I'll go too," I said as I turn to Ethan and Bella, "are you guys coming?"

"Maybe later," responded Ethan, "I'm too tired to get up."

"You really need to exercise more," commented Chris.

"Shut up," said Ethan.

"Nurse Joy is giving me a few books about Pokémon breeding that I haven't read yet," said Bella, "I'll catch up to you guys later after I get them."

"Okay," I responded and followed Alex and Chris out the door.

Once we got outside Alex let out her Eevee, while Chris let out his Poliwhirl.

"So, where should we go and look for Pokémon?" I asked.

"I talked to Nurse Joy and she said that we should take that path," responded Alex as she pointed to a path leading to the forest, "she said that many trainers go there to catch Pokémon."

"Okay then what are we waiting for?" said an excited Chris as he walked toward the path, "let's go!"

Chris's P.O.V.

While walking on the trail we encountered a number of Rattatas, Spearows, and Pidgeys, but we showed little interest in those Pokémon. We stopped for few minutes after we got a call from Bella, she and Ethan finally decided to come with us so we waited for them to come and catch up to us.

"There's nothing but Rattatas and Spearows in this trail," Ashley said in disappointment as we sat down.

"Pika Pi!" said Pikachu who was also disappointed.

"That's because they are common Pokémon in this area," said I, "we'll have to look harder if we want to find rare Pokémon."

"By the way Chris," Ashley said, "this has been bothering me for a while but why do like fire Pokémon so much?"

"What do you mean?" I ask surprised by the sudden question.

"I want to hear the story too," said Alex as they both look in my direction, "you've only said that always liked them but you never told us the reason why."

"Well, back then when I was younger I did like water Pokémon the best," started I, "I guess it happened during that time we went on vacation to Porta Vista."

"I remember that trip," Ashley interrupted, "I remember that Iris forgot to put sunscreen on and she got a really bad sunburn."

"Yeah, that trip," I said as I clear my throat, "it was one day on that trip that I went off by myself with Poliwhirl…

Flashback… Seven years ago…

I became just recently became the gym leader of the Cerulean Gym. Aunt Misty decided to retire as a gym leader as she just had her second child, Drake, so I was chosen to become the next gym leader. Although I was only seven years old, I was strong enough to become the gym leader. Some people were complaining saying that I was too young, but compared to Marigold and the others I was definitely the better choice, Liam could've become the gym leader since he's a year older than me and was strong enough but he's too lazy to take such responsibility and he never trained his Pokémon. I'm on vacation with my family right now, but I got permission to go to the beach to train and catch new water Pokémon.

"Come over here Poliwhirl!" I said, "we have to train if we want to be as amazing as Aunt Misty!"

"Poli!" it said as the water Pokémon followed me.

After training a bit I decided to go and catch a water Pokémon when suddenly a huge crowd got my attention.

"What's going on?" I thought as I pushed through the crowd with Poliwhirl. When I got to the front I saw that two people were battling. The one who caught my attention though was a man with a red afro, I had a feeling that I've seen him somewhere before.

"Infernape! Use Flamethrower!" ordered the man. He had a Pokémon that I've never seen before; I figured that it was fire Pokémon from either from Sinnoh or Unova, since I've never seen Pokémon from those regions. He was battling against a man with a Tentacruel. When I saw the match up I assumed that the man with the Tentacruel was going to win, seeing as Tentacruel had an advantage over that other fire Pokémon.

"Dodge it Tentacruel and use Water Gun!" said the other man.

Tentacruel dodges the attack and attacks with Water Gun, but Infernape jumps in the air and the attack misses. While in the air, Tentacruel uses Ice Beam but the attack is blocked. When they land Tentacruel uses Supersonic, but the attack is avoided. Tentacruel then, uses Hydro Pump, only for the attack to be countered and overpowered by a Flare Blitz, and the Tentacruel is taken out. Leaving me in awe after seeing such an amazing battle. I never know fire Pokémon could be so strong.

"Amazing no wonder he's part of the Elite Four," a man said as the crowd cheered.

"Elite Four!" I exclaimed, "that man!?"

"Yeah apparently he came to Kanto to look for challengers," said another man, "but no one in this town has been able to defeat him."

After listening to what that man said, I knew what I had to do. I ran to Flint, who left while I was talking, and challenged him to a battle.

"Ha ha ha aren't you a little too young to ask for a challenge?" said the man as he patted my head.

"No I'm not!" I exclaimed, "I'm the gym leader of Cerulean City!"

"You are a gym leader?" asked the man.

"Yeah I am!" I responded.

"Really!? Wow, you must be the youngest gym leaders I've seen!" said the man, "I wonder how strong you'll be in ten years!"

"Of course I'm strong!" I said, "I've been training with Aunt Misty before I could even crawl."

"Aunt Misty? Ah that would be Ash's cute wife," said the man, "I remember her, she has always given me a hard time whenever we battled."

"You know them?" I asked.

"Of course I met them when they were still kids," the man said, "by the way my name is Flint, I'm a member of the Elite Four of Sinnoh."

"I know who you are," I said, "that's why I'm asking you for a battle."

"Sorry but not today," Flint said, "I was planning on heading somewhere after that battle."

"But but…" I protested

"Why don't you come with me kid?"

"Huh?"

"I think that a strong trainer like you would like to see it."

"Um… ok?"

"That was an amazing battle you had back there," I said as we walked through town, "I've never seen a fire Pokémon beat a water Pokémon before!"

"Of course!" Flint said proudly, "even against water Pokémon, my Pokémon would never lose!"

"I have always been surrounded by water Pokémon so I've never really spent much time with other types," I said as I patted my Poliwhirl, "I have always believed that water Pokémon would never lose against fire Pokémon."

"Then you have a lot to learn kid," said Flint, "just because you have the advantage doesn't mean that you would win."

"Now I know and my name is Chris," I responded, "by the way what Pokémon was the one you battled with?"

"That was Infernape," he said, "he's been with my ever since I was a child."

"Can… can I see him?" I shyly asked, "It's the first time I've seen a Pokémon from Sinnoh."

"Sure, I don't see why not," said Flint as he took out his pokeball.

When Infernape came out of his pokeball, I was left in awe. I've never spent too much time with fire Pokémon but seen one this close really excited me.

"Wow, he's so cool" I said.

"Isn't he?" said Flint, "oh we are here."

We stopped at a large stadium, there was a large crowd gathered around it.

"What's going on here?" I asked.

"You really didn't know?" said Flint, "Today there's an exhibition match between the Elite Four members and champions of all regions. The winner gets to battle Ash."

"What!?" I say in shock.

"Yeah, I assumed that you came here for that reason," said Flint, "that's why I came here to Kanto."

"I thought that you came to look for a challenger?" I said.

"There are many reasons why I came here," said Flint, "that's just one of them."

"Then that means that I can see uncle Ash battle today," I said excitedly.

"Yup, that's why I brought you here," said Flint, "and one more thing I think that it would be better if you put your Pokémon back in their pokeball."

After putting our Pokémon back into their pokeball, we headed into the stadium. I was shocked by to see such a large audience, but it was to be expected by such a large-scale event happening right now. I followed Flint into the waiting, as we arrived I was able to see the members of the Elite Four from every region, there some I that I recognized and some that I didn't. By the time the event started, Flint took me to the audience stand; I had front row seats and was able to see the whole arena. The battles were so amazing, even a seven-year-old kid was able to understand that they would not stand a chance against the Elite Four. Flint won the first two battles, but then he lost on the third one against someone named Cynthia. After the battle I met up with Flint in the waiting room.

"That was an amazing battle Flint!" I said excitedly, "your Pokémon are really strong!"

"Thanks Chris," said Flint as he scratched his head, "but I lost to Cynthia, well she is the champion of Sinnoh for a reason."

"But you were great too," I said, "I want to become a trainer just like you!"

"Well that's quite a compl-"

"Chris here you are!" exclaimed Ash as he walked into the room, "your mom has been looking for you and you like always just run off on your own. Actually, how did you even get in here?"

"Uncle Ash," I said, "I was training at the beach with Poliwhirl, then I met Flint and he invited me here."

"I see," said Ash, "sorry for the trouble Flint."

"It was no trouble at all," said Flint, "it was fun to meet such a young gym leader, since he didn't seem to have any plans I brought him along."

"Uncle Ash," I said, "since I'm already here can I stay and see your battle?"

"I don't know my battle is going to be pretty late and no one is going to be with you..." said Ash.

"No problem, he can stay with me," said Flint, "I'll watch over him until his battle is over."

"Please uncle Ash," I begged as I gave him puppy dog eyes.

"Oh, why not? I'm sure your mom will be okay with it," said Ash, "but I'll have to call her first."

"Thank you uncle!" I exclaimed as I gave him a hug, "and thank you too Flint."

"No problem kiddo," Flint said as he patted my head once again, I think it became a habit for him to do that.

"First come with me Chris we have to call your mom and tell her about this," said Ash.

"Okay, but I have to tell you something first Flint," I said.

"What is it?" Flint curiously asked.

"Since I was raised in the Cerulean Gym, I always thought that I should become the gym leader there and never gave it a thought that I wanted to do something else," I said, "but after your battle I saw that there's more to me than just the Cerulean Gym, I-I want to become a fire Pokémon trainer just like you! Not just that but I'll become best one in the world!"

"That's a great goal," Flint said with a grin, "come and challenge me when you get older and stronger."

"I will! I definitely will!" I said as I then went where uncle Ash was.

End of Flashback

Normal P.O.V.

"Wow that was an amazing story," said Alex, "so meeting Flint was what gave you your goal?"

"Yeah you could say that," said Chris, "he was the one who advised me to stay at the gym and travel around when I got older, I never really had a chance to leave the gym but when I heard that Ashley started hers I knew that was the opportunity to leave."

"Wait a second! How come I never hear about you liking fire Pokémon before?" said Ashley, "the first time I heard about it was when we met in the Viridian Forest."

"That's because I never told anyone, not even my mom, only uncle Ash knew about it since he was there when I announced it," said Chris.

"Why didn't you mention it before?" asked Alex.

"Because back then I just recently became the gym leader, there was no way that they would let me step down from that position," said Chris, "also I was afraid to see them disappointed with the decision I made. But in the end they didn't really care what I wanted to be, I just worried about nothing."

"There's just one more thing I want to say," said Ashley.

"What is it?"

"WHY WASN'T I ALSO INVITED TO WATCH THAT TOURNAMENT!?" yelled Ashley so loud that it made Pikachu fall of from her shoulder.

"That's because you were enjoying yourself at the beach and it ended pretty late," said Chris, "I'm sure your mom would not allow you to stay up that late."

"That's not fair! No wonder there was no one at the beach that time, whined Ashley, "I can't believe I missed the event of a life time and it was so close to me."

"I remember that too I watched it on TV," said Alex, "the battles were really incredible."

"Like I said that's not fair! I didn't even know it happened!"

"Hey!"

The group turned and saw Bella and Ethan running up to them.

"About time you guys showed up," said Chris, "what took you guys so long?"

"Sorry but on the way we caught some Pokémon," said Ethan, "I was able to catch an Onix and Bella caught a Sandshrew."

"What!?" exclaimed Ashley, "while we were here waiting for you went ahead and caught some rare Pokémon!?"

"They are not really that rare Ashley," said Bella with a sweatdrop.

"We should hurry up and keep walking," said Chris, "I want to catch a fire Pokémon already."

"Yeah me too!" said Ashley.

"Same here," said Alex.

"Wait why do you guys also want to catch fire Pokémon too?" asked Ethan.

"After listening to Chris's story I just got motivated," said Alex.

"Same here," said Ashley

"Well you won't get a chance to catch a fire Pokémon if I get them first," said Chris as the three laughed, leaving Ethan and Bella very confused.

"Do you have any idea what they are talking about?" asked Ethan.

"None, but Chris looks so cute while laughs," responded Bella with hearts on her eyes

"Maybe I should've gone with them when they left," said Ethan with a sweatdrop.

To see what Ashley looks like go to: art/Ashley-376397000?ga_submit_new=10%253A1370583363

I thought that it would be interesting if I added a background story on one of the characters. I chose Chris because he was the easiest to write about.

For this chapter when I did the flashback, Chris's vocabulary seemed too advanced for a seven-year-old, but I'll just think of him as a genius or something. It was too troublesome to change it after I wrote it (^3^). I don't know how but I was able to write this in one day (o.O)