Team Rocket HQ

He looked at the three who had come before him.

They looked back at him, tense with readiness to do whatever he would ask of them, be it question or task.

If he was younger he'd ask them to jump, but he wasn't that young man anymore.

"Good job."

As they relaxed with cheerful sighs he mused on his words.

Jessie, James, and Meowth had provided him all the data he wished on the boy from Viridian all the way back to his home town.

It was more than enough to consolidate his plan, and with him lingering in his hometown for the time being they could take a break from their vigil and come his way.

It was time to give them new orders.

"With the current phase of your task complete, I will soon be assigning you a new objective. But before I do so, as you have both earned the right to, and it will amuse me, I will let you ask one question. Tell me, why do you think I had you monitor the boy?"

His three servants looked at one another for a moment, than back at him nervously.

"…Promise you won't get mad?"

He gave a tentative nod to James's question. A nod that conveyed that unless they asked something that could only be treated as offensive they could ask anything.

"Well then, here's what we were sort of thinking. You see, the boy is a young man with remarkable powers…"

He nodded.

"…who was born to a single mother with no father in sight…"

He nodded again, curious where they were going with this.

"…his mother, unlike you, doesn't have dark hair…"

He nodded once more, seeing exactly where they were going.

"…so we were sort of guessing, that he was your son and you are interested in seeing if he's worthy of taking over Team Rocket for ya someday with his Bloodliner powers."

As Meowth finished the trio's theory he let out a brief chuckle before shaking his head.

"A funny little theory, but no. My son has red hair, and while what I've seen of his mother is a nice-looking woman, that is not the case at all. No, Ash Ketchum is not my son, and that is not why I wanted you to observe and report back to me on."

That gave the trio pause, causing them to look at each other nervously before looking back at him.

"Okay…then why did you want us to watch some random kid from Pallet Town?"

Jessie's question would be answered.

"I'm sure you're aware that people like him are becoming more common. No one knows why, and I don't personally care. There will always be a place for Team Rocket, regardless of what the 'average' person is. As a result that also means there are criminals of that nature as well."

He still had the brother of one particular one locked up in this very facility, whose DNA had been useful for matching with a strand of hair the three had gotten from their target, and a few others including a boy from HopHopHop Town.

"You talking about the guys older than the kid, or..."

"Both. There's a bothersome little nuisance out in Johto trying to make a name for himself, but that isn't your concern unless you get promoted or transferred. What I want in place is someone who exists as an opposite of their kind on the wrong side of the law. A paragon, an icon, someone who can be seen as the model of 'right' to oppose them in both action and viewpoint. Doing so protects Team Rocket, and without the issues of also being part of the organization."

Such issues including being more noticeable, possibly having interest in the power struggles, and having to pay him.

"So, you want the kid to be some sort of champion hero? You want him to be a good guy?"

He nodded Meowth's way.

"What better shield for Team Rocket from Bloodliners who might compete with us than a Bloodliner hero? Even if he doesn't put on spandex there is power in just being visible."

Namely that in ten or so years when he was some sort of champion or other famous person and revealed as a Bloodliner to the world, which was bound to happen at some point, young Bloodliners would look at him for inspiration, and not some King.

Thus not being a threat to Team Rocket unless they walked past a grunt running the other way with a sack of money.

Then, while annoying, it would be no different than the regular reaction to someone passing a grunt with a sack of money.

"I had my eye on a few others, but as he's the oldest and for lack of a better phrase, more marketable than the others, I'm going to be betting on him."

"Sir, you do remember that the Red kid beat him at…"

"Smiling is more important than raw win ratios. Take it from someone with experience, on their own between the two of them it is Red Tajiri who is most likely to directly compete with Team Rocket than Ash Ketchum. Of course, as neither exists in a vacuum that is where the new assignment for the three of you comes in."

The three resumed stiff attention to his words, and he nodded before continuing.

"Your new job is to make sure that no one makes Ash Ketchum stop being a good man that everyone like him can admire and aspire to be."

"You want us to keep him out of casinos?"

"Only if they aren't run by us, Jessie, but that is not my main concern. I do not want him to wake up one day, find out some blood crazed nut job blew his mother's house up, and have him declare war on crime. That is the exact opposite of what I want from a paragon shield. If you see anyone dedicated to attacking him and hurting the things he cares about, get rid of them."

"Got it, make sure no one gives him reason to dress in spiked black leather, rename himself Shadow, and declare vengeance on the world. Though, do you want one of us to watch his home…"

"That will be taken care of by other members. Depending on how large a detail it will require, it may require an entirely new department being formed. Do well and you might find yourselves running it."

With that the three cheered loudly and giddily at the idea of being in charge of the Team Rocket's 'keep the world safe for criminal enterprises' department in future, he nodded their way.

At least if he did do such a thing, he'd be sure they'd stay loyal.

Pallet Town, around the same time

As a mother, Delia had an intrinsic sense of her only child's approach.

It may have been months since he left, and even with the clatter of new shoes on the dirt and grass, she knew that he was coming upon her place even as she moved to the door.

One might think she'd be at risk for a blunder of mistaken identity, but she knew even the specific way that Ash would maneuver the door knob.

Meaning the warm body she embraced the moment the door opened up was her son's, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

"Oh honey, it's so good to see you again! Seeing you on a screen or hearing your voice over a phone isn't enough! It's not enough to tell if you've been eating well or getting enough sleep, and with six badges and a League qualification I can't imagine you've been getting a proper eight hours…"

Delia's worries stopped flooding out of her when she made a few observations about her hug.

It was definitely Ash she was hugging, but there seemed to be a bit more above her head than she remembered.

Also the arms seemed a bit tougher than she remembered. The percentage of muscle mass present had increased.

She looked up and saw the awkward, embarassed but sincere smile on her son's face, Pikachu on his shoulder and looking at her in amusement as she noticed the changes his Trainer had gone through.

Her taller and more toned son, with a trio of female heads looking around his shoulders to stare at her hugging him with a mixture of embarrassment, confusion, and some level of longing.

"Glad to see you too mom, but could you stop hugging me? You are kind of blocking the door."

…

Her son getting taller wasn't exactly the surprise of the year.

She remembered the man she met that night, height wasn't a surprising thing for Ash to inherit from him.

The muscle was a bit odd though. She was aware that Trainers didn't tend to be unfit, but she wasn't entirly sure where all of the growth Ash had came from.

Did he take up weight lifting? Or did he become one of those Trainers who trained with their Pokémon instead of training them, like that Unovan Gym Leader who wrestled his Pokémon?

She really hoped that wasn't the case. That was dangerous.

Her son's muscle growth aside, she noted the three girls that he had brought home, though as she referred to them as such she had to resist the urge to slap herself.

That had a completely different context to what seemed to be going on.

All three were rather nice-looking girls, though in different ways.

The girl with dark skin looked like someone into athletics, and not into personal grooming if her hair was any indication. It was nice hair, but as someone who had to remind her son for years to brush his hair she could see signs of a lack of care.

The lavender-haired girl looked like she could look pretty good in a suit in a way Delia could never quite pull off. She hadn't made a sound since they had come on by, perhaps she was just shy?

Then there was the orange-haired girl, and Delia knew exactly how she'd have reacted to someone who looked like that in school.

Jealousy. Being in her thirties she could look back on such thoughts and shake her head in hindsight, but it was the truth. The girl would probably have given her teenage self a complex.

Regardless of it all three of these girls had been traveling with her son. Could even her boy's infamous obliviousness hold up against it?

…

Hospitality for visitors was sacred among the Pallet Town residents, and Delia was no exception.

First thing to do after properly introducing herself to Ash's friends was going to the kitchen to offer them something to eat, while Ash went to Professor Oak's lab for a bit to greet his Pokémon.

Also to explain himself to the Professor about the Jigglypuff he caught, which was why he was going alone.

After making a few sandwiches and waiting for the tea to heat up, the woman fell deep into her thoughts. Her first impression of Ash's new friends was that they were very nice girls, and bloodliners just like him. She had so many questions to ask them, since she didn't know much about them beyond what Ash told her, and what she had seen on TV from the tournaments they took part in.

Half of that was worry, and the other half was simple curiosity. Something natural for a mother whose son was growing, in more than one sense.

"Ms. Ketchum?"

One of said friend's voice snapped her to attention. She saw the redhead, named Misty, standing at the kitchen's entrance.

"Hi. Can I help you with something?" asked Delia.

"No, actually… I was wondering if you needed help with something, so…" The girl looked away and scratched the back of her head sheepishly, a habit Delia thought the redhead might've picked up from her son.

The woman smiled. "Don't worry, but I appreciate the thought. But since you're here, maybe we can chat for a bit. There are a few questions I have for you and the others."

"Er… sure."

Delia offered her a chair and took another, sitting in front of her. She had had enough time to think about what she was going to ask, but more importantly, how she was going to ask. She didn't want to make the girls uncomfortable, let alone making them think she was accusing them of improper things. However, she needed to sate her curiosity somehow.

"So… what was it like when you met my son?" she asked. "He already told me his version, but I'd like to hear yours too."

That part was half-truth at least. Delia knew Ash had intentionally kept the less savory details from all the things that had happened, perhaps so she wouldn't worry, but she could feel there was a lot more that she needed to know. If the girls could tell her, she'd get rid of that weight.

Misty told her how she was fishing by a river of Route 1, and she spotted Ash as he fled from the local murderous Spearow flock. Delia had to hold back a cringe, she hadn't forgotten that the previous year one of the rookie Trainers was attacked by those birds, and while she survived, didn't come out unscathed. She was glad that a combination of Ash's Bloodliner powers kicking in and Misty being close by helped him reach Viridian safe and sound.

"To be honest, at the time I just followed him because… well, I had never met another like me before," said Misty. "A Bloodliner I mean. I thought perhaps… we could understand each other. I had been travelling alone for too long, you know."

Delia nodded. That was understandable, she felt lonely and wanted a friend, there was nothing bad about that.

"So, have you enjoyed travelling with Ash?" Delia asked.

"Of course. There's never a moment of boredom with him." Misty smiled. "We've really had a lot of fun, he's a great Trainer and an awesome sparring partner. And also…"

Misty stopped, and began twiddling her fingers. Delia could also notice a slight blush on her cheeks, and that was all the answer she needed.

"He's a really nice boy, isn't he?" Delia asked, and Misty nodded. "Being near him makes me forget about all my troubles."

"I know. And now that I've met you, I can see where he got it from. Also, he has a knack for helping others for no particular reason."

"He's always been like that," Delia replied. "Even at school, he would often stand up to bullies who picked on the weaker kids. If someone needs help, whether they ask him or not, he never looks away."

"You don't need to tell me that." Misty smiled again, but then looked away and her expression turned into a slight grimace.

Was she recalling some of the less pleasant moments of their journey?

"About the Cerulean Gym badge, there's… something you should know. If anyone's to blame for what happened there… that's me."

Delia tilted her head in confusion. She was already way past what had happened in that Gym, when Ash explained that the Leaders were desperate for a victory due to their losing streak and being under PIA scrutiny, so they just dragged him into a rigged battle to tip the scales on their favor.

For all the good it did to them, anyway.

However, she couldn't imagine what Misty was about to tell her. Of how she requested to skip Cerulean altogether, of how she breathed in Vileplume pollen and had to be rushed to the nearest hospital, right in Cerulean, and how the Doctor sent him over to the Gym to blow off some steam.

Delia also noted that Misty lowered her gaze in shame as she confessed to have snapped at Ash for not respecting her wishes, even if it had been to save her life. It turned out that she had a lot of good reasons for not wanting to be near that city, or that Gym, for that matter.

"What happened at that Gym was very personal to me. I know it wasn't his fault, but I was really angry at the time and I lashed out on him. I'm really sorry for that."

"There's nothing to apologize for, dear," Delia assured her with a smile.

"We've gone through a lot of stuff during these months," Said Misty. "But let me assure you, barring that one time during Gringy City's blackout, Ash never goes around looking for trouble. It's more like… trouble finds him for some reason."

"That's what I'm worried about," Delia admitted. "Ash is my only child, and the most important thing in my life. I know he needs to chase his dreams for the future, but… I'm scared to think there could be people out there who'd want to hurt him for whatever reason."

Delia remained silent. Her boy was growing and she couldn't always be there to take care of him. But with everything that had happened, how could she be sure he wouldn't be involved in dangerous situations?

"Ms. Ketchum, this might sound weird to you, but if you're worried about Ash, you can count on me… and the others, for that matter."

Delia perked up to attention. Misty's demeanor had completely changed, it had turned much more serious, and her eyes seemed to glow with a determination the woman had only seen in her son's eyes, whenever he talked about his dreams of becoming a Pokémon Master.

The redhead took a deep breath and spoke up. "I may not have known Ash for too long, but he's done a lot for me all this time. He not only saved my life once, he encouraged me to chase my dreams, he's always supportive, and more importantly… he's been a great friend. I promise you, I won't let anything bad happen to him if I can stop it."

"Are you serious?" Delia stared into her eyes.

She could see the resolve in the girls' eyes. It was genuine, of course she meant it all. Somehow Delia felt partially relieved. Maybe she couldn't be there for Ash all the time, but she could feel more at ease if she knew he had someone to watch his back in case something happened.

Then again, there was an issue about that someone being an attractive young woman. Or three of them for that matter. Delia had no idea about how close Ash had grown with them, and the only other girl with whom her son actually formed what could be called a close friendship was Serena.

The tea began whistling and steaming, indicating that it was ready. Delia put out the fire and prepared to serve it in a few cups, placing them on a tray.

"Say, could you take this to the other girls?" She handed Misty the tray with the sandwiches and teacups. "There's something I need to do before Ash returns from the lab."

"Sure. What is it?"

"Well, we're hosting a little surprise party for Ash at my restaurant, and I need to sort out some last minute details. Could you and the others keep Ash busy for about half an hour when he comes back?"

"Are we going to get invited too?"

"Why of course! You think I'd leave my son's friends out of it? I reserved a special table only for him, but I don't think he'll mind sharing it with you girls."

Delia winked at Misty and the redhead nodded, grabbing the tray and going with the others. That wasn't a bad start. For now, perhaps she could forget about some of Ash's issues. Maybe during the party they could get to know them better.

If they were willing to take care of her son, she'd have to trust them.

…

Among the many things Ash had told them about his mother, he had forgotten to mention something. Namely, that she truly knew how to throw a party.

Even the party they had attended back in Stone Town with those brothers seemed tame compared to this one. Pallet Town had a rather small population from what they had seen, but the townsfolk knew how to have fun and celebrate the triumphs of one of their own. It was also nice to see Ash was so well-liked among his neighbors.

With the three of them being the strangers in that place, they tried to stay a bit out of focus, each for different reasons. Misty wasn't too keen on dancing or singing, so she was content with watching and occasionally greeting other guests. She did notice Iris was notably uncomfortable among the crowd and with the loud music, while Anabel simply enjoyed some snacks at the table.

"Do they really have to be so loud when they celebrate?" the wild girl asked.

Misty turned to her. "This is a quiet town, let them have some fun."

'Even Ash's mother is into it. Look at that.'

Anabel pointed at the improvised stage, where Ash's mother was performing a song with a microphone in hand. If they didn't know better, they would have assumed the woman was just another among the youth, seeing as she didn't look that old to begin with.

However, the three Heart Bloodliners quickly directed their attention to another corner of the party. In the short time they had lost sight of Ash, they could see the boy had gotten himself in a little... problem.

Not that she thought many men would call it that.

"Wow, check these arms! Dance with me, Ash!"

"No fair! You danced with him on his birthday!"

For after all, a half-dozen or so attractive girls trying to get you to dance was not something many would see as a bad thing.

Misty involuntarily tightened her grip on the glass she was drinking from, the liquid in the glass churned slowly in response to her emotions. And if she hadn't noticed Ash was clearly uncomfortable with those (admittedly attractive) girls, she might have lashed out on him instead of them.

"Shouldn't we get him out of that pinch?" Misty suggested.

"Pinch?" Iris asked, tilting her head.

Misty and Anabel glanced at the wild girl. At that point it seemed virtually pointless to try and dissuade her from that idea of hers about Ash.

Though as a wild girl, it's also possible she didn't understand the meaning. So they needed to clear that up first.

"A pinch is a tricky or dangerous situation. Like a bridge breaking while you're crossing it, or running into a tree with a Beedrill nest in it."

Iris nodded in understanding of what the phrase meant, but she didn't seem to necessarily agree with that being a pinch for Ash.

That said, in the hypothetical scenario of that happening (not like they actually expected it to happen), they could at least establish some limits.

After all, it wouldn't do any good for Ash having to deal with, say, twenty, or fifty of them at the same time. He only had so many arms that could be yanked on so much.

"Iris, we should split that up. I don't think you'd like to see Ash with either of those two."

"Why is that?"

Misty sighed before explaining. It wouldn't be easy, but she had to make her point clear.

"Look, those girls have no real interest in Ash. They're just infatuated because of his looks, and because he's now becoming a bit of a celebrity as a Trainer. They don't actually like him as a person."

The wild girl glanced at the redhead, and then turned to Anabel, who nodded to confirm what Misty had just said.

"Perhaps you'll agree that if Ash is going to be with someone... whether it's one of us or somebody else, it should be someone who sees the real him, and not just because he's a good-looking and popular guy," Misty continued. "I don't know about that girl Serena, but from what we've been told, she seems to like Ash as himself, even before he was a Trainer. But those girls... they're not like her."

'It's not like they're bad, but Misty has a point. I can feel their attraction to him is rather shallow. They're not even close friends, they barely know him."

Misty was pleased to see Iris' expression shifted again as the message sunk in. With that done, she decided to approach where the girls were still playing tug-of-war to see who could pull Ash to her side more.

"Excuse me, do you mind? I'm gonna need to borrow Ash for a little bit."

"And who are you?" one of the girls asked, frowning a little.

"Hey, I remember having seen her at some of the tournaments Ash took part in," the other added.

"That's right. The name's Misty, and I'm Ash's sparring partner, is there a problem with that?" the redhead asked, causing the girls to back off a little, hearing the underlining tone of challenge in Misty's voice. "Isn't that right... Ash?"

Unfortunately, Ash still did not get the message. Misty gently pushed one of the girls away from Ash's arm and whispered to his ear "Play along so I can bail you out". He quickly nodded.

"Yeah, sure. Excuse me, but this is important. See you later."

With that said, the two left to meet back with Anabel and Iris, Misty taking advantage to grab Ash's arm to make it clear to those girls that Ash was off-limits. The redhead couldn't help but feel a tinge of satisfaction upon seeing their faces.

"Hey thanks," he said.

"Think nothing of it," said Misty. "But in exchange... why don't you come and dance with one of us?"

Ash's relief left as fast as it came, and for some reason, Misty found it more amusing than usual. There was still a lot of the party ahead of them, so they might as well enjoy it.

The next day

With the end of a night-long party and the start of a new day began the period of training.

Be it for the final badge or for the League itself, Ash took to working with each and every one of his battle Pokémon to prepare for whatever laid ahead.

It hadn't prepared him for when his mom told him it was time to learn to make pancakes that didn't combust unlike the last time, but it was just another part of the training he had found himself in.

Hopefully training with his Pokémon went about as well as his mom training him out of his pancake arson habit, which it did seem to be seeing as this morning she had him make eggs.

The training session of that day over, Ash found himself sitting in a clearing, catching his breath with a good number of his Pokémon.

They two were catching their breath or taking a rest, with the exception of Togepi, who was also the only Pokémon not in on time travel who was here at the moment.

Togepi was still jumping into the air, doing a flip, and slamming a branch into the ground in a cute attempt at a Seismic Toss.

It was cute and effective, seeing as the stick broke apart on impact, much like the other sticks Togepi kept finding and promptly shattering against the ground.

The sight made Pikachu stare in shock, and Charizard to give Togepi a thumbs up and an approving nod from Squirtle, which got Pikachu to move his stare of shock to Charizard.

"….Pi…." 'What did you…'

Charizard chuckled proudly in response, which grew louder when Jigglypuff wandered over with a stick of her own in hand, though before the song could occur Togepi used Seismic Toss.

It wasn't that effective, though Jigglypuff bounced from the impact to the ground and bounced away like a bouncy ball, so there was that.

"So, I was thinking…"

He ignored the imitation Pikachu did of a scream of terror, or perhaps it was of that painting about screaming. Regardless of what it was it wasn't that funny.

"We're all probably going to do everything in the same rough order. Even if the GS ball isn't a thing, I'd want to find Snorlax anyway, and I'd like to make sure Lapras isn't a cyborg or something."

With his luck that could happen, even if it did make Bulbasaur look at him questionably. In his defense Sabrina was more nuts, J popped in earlier, Team Rocket was competent earlier than they should have been, he got sent a power ring out of nowhere, nightmare monstrosities entered his dreams from time to time, and Brock's parents were dead.

Cyborg Lapras was certainly possible with all of that. He'd need to make sure that Lapras wasn't going to tell him that 'Kalosian science was the best in the world' in a half mad tone or something.

In part because that would mean that something was seriously wrong with Clemont, and Lapras might then explode. "Orange, Johto, Hoenn, and everything else."

"Ser?" 'So, what do you plan to do if everything important from a region is accounted before. I mean you ran into myself and Boldore already, what happens if you run into the rest of us before you ever go to Unova. With Iris already here and Cilan….'

Serperior paused when she brought up that Cilan was M.I.A and presumed deceased. Her thoughts were caught up by the reminder, and her question stopped there.

"I'll play that by ear. Even if I wake up tomorrow and find Staraptor, Torterra, Buizel, Infernape, Gliscor, and Gible on the front lawn I'd still go to Sinnoh to stop Cyrus, but other than that..."

Did he do anything he'd need to go do again while in Unova? If Team Rocket was following him he didn't think the Forces of Nature would go on a rampage….

He'd probably need to think on it a bit and see how much he did in the various regions. He didn't want to wake up one day and find that he had thought that something he didn't do led to cyborg Lapras attacks.

But back on topic.

"When we do go to Johto, I'm thinking that maybe I can go in it fresh like in Hoenn and the other regions after it."

The curious looks of Squirtle, Ambipom, and the other Pokémon with him prompted him to continue.

"I was just thinking that I don't think I was able to bring out the full potential of everyone. When it came to pushing through the tough battles it always came back to Charizard or Snorlax or Pikachu…"

"Squir." 'Also me.'

Ash nodded before he continued.

"It might have been me only having like, only twelve Gyms of experience going in, but I'd like to see if going forward like I did elsewhere would have the same results. I mean think about how far I got with just Pikachu and the Hoenn and Unova crew, and even with you guys helping in the League the Sinnoh guys did great too. They matched Pokémon Paul had for who knows how long head to head."

Charizard grumbled at the mention of Sinnoh. The entire time he was out for that League due to a broken tooth, much to his dismay.

"I can only imagine how far I'd have gotten in Kalos."

He lingered on that thought for a moment, before Ambipom interrupted him.

"Am." 'Slight problem, Paul.'

He wasn't sure what Ambipom was getting at, and she continued.

"Ambi." 'Correct me if I am wrong, but most of the time you don't have Trainers you know follow you to new regions, yet there is no reason Paul or Gary would not do so to Johto, or Red for that matter.'

Ash nodded, that was true. Gary went to Johto when he did, Paul said he went to Johto before, and Red hadn't implied otherwise.

Yet as he saw Gary so rarely, and battled him even more rarely, it wasn't really a case of him even being there the same way Paul or Trip were. He only ran into Gary three times before the Silver Conference, at the creepy forest with the creepier old women, that time with the power plant, and Eggseter.

He honestly saw more of May's rivals across regions than he did Gary.

"Bipom." 'We have no idea where Elekid came from, but he definitely had it longer than Chimchar. So he probably does not do as complete a team refresh as you do, if at all. Meaning he probably always had Torterra around, and could have thrown him at Turtwig or me if he wanted to specifically beat us to a pulp rather than train Chimchar on us for experience's sake. However now he definitely has an issue with us, and probably would go to Johto.'

Ash followed Ambipom's reasoning, and it gave him the mental image of Torterra glaring down at Cyndaquil.

He saw the point Ambipom was making, his strategy was good for training more Pokémon up to stronger levels, but if he did have people around who knew he wasn't some boonie idiot and had Pokémon already at such stronger levels…

Yeah, that could be a problem, and it made him rather glad Paul didn't go to Unova with him. Even with the post League battle attitude adjustment, that could have been a pain to deal with.

"Yeah, that could be a problem, but if Paul also goes to Hoenn and Sinnoh…"

"Bul." 'If I may offer a suggestion.'

All eyes were on Bulbasaur, who nodded before continuing.

"Saur-Bul." 'As I recall from talking with the Sinnoh team, most of the battles you had with Paul, with the exception of the battle at Lake Acuity and the Pokémon League, were three on three. That means you can probably split the difference. Three Pokémon to make sure Paul or Red don't beat you twelve ways to Sunday, and three Pokémon to train the way you trained Sceptile, Krookodile, and the others.'

Ash thought about the proposal, and he couldn't help but feel a smile form.

"You know, that's a good idea. I can cycle everyone through here where they can train as well, and I probably can change the exact number when I'm about to challenge a Gym or have a major battle coming up. It might take a while to get to that point though, seeing as it took a while until I had three Johto Pokémon…"

"Ser." 'That's assuming you don't turn a corner and find Oshawott just randomly there.'

Better randomly there than a cyborg in any case and handy for the Whirl Cup. Though how'd he make sure Misty didn't claim him on the spot was a different story.

He'd rather not have to battle for every one of his old water Pokémon.

While Ash was wondering just how he might have to deal with a conflict over Oshawott, Misty was doing her own work.

She hadn't mentioned the idea for fear that Iris might get ideas, but she was dedicated to bettering herself and she had her own idea on how to get better.

It just happened to be a something that Iris was just as likely to approve of as tell her how stupid and dangerous it was, if she would touch the Pokémon involved with a ten foot pole.

Said practice found herself standing in the middle of the newly dug Professor Oak Basculin pool atop a bridge of ice given by a clapping Seel.

What the training meant for her was avoiding being bitten by the Basculin, who were prone to biting anything around them and was part of the reason they had their own pool.

They jumped at the sight of her shadow, or even her reflection if they were on the other side of the ice, jaws open wide with sharp teeth.

At each attempted chomp, she avoided it, which required her to react fast enough.

Which she did, most of the time. There was one Basculin that sunk a bit right into her arm before she shook it off.

It hurt, but that was what Aqua Ring was for. It did make for good motivation to keep improving though.

It wasn't just for her though, each time a Basculin jumped out, a line of her Pokémon aimed to blast them down.

The Basculin were no worse for wear, and it was good practice for the Pokémon she had with her.

Seel with Water Pulse, Gyarados with Dragon Rage, Psyduck with Water Gun, Staryu with Bubblebeam, Poliwrath with Mud Shot, Tentacool with Poison Sting, and Wingull with Air Cutter, among others.

It was practice for all of them. Even the Basculin got practice, even if it was attacking her for the sheer point of it.

The sound of a distant branch snapping interrupted their training.

She stopped mid training, saved only from a Basculin bite by a quick Mud Shot from Wooper, and hopped off the ice bridge.

A good call on her end, seeing as the stranger who walked out of the woods was a stranger and having to heal a Basculin bite would not do.

At least if she didn't want a rock thrown at her.

The stranger was a young man, perhaps just a bit older than her. Blue hair and glasses were the most distinct feature of him, with a body type she could only describe as 'fit nerd', as odd as that sounded.

But there was no better way that came to mind.

Around him floated a Pokémon that Misty wasn't familiar with. It was a gray Pokémon that looked like a human woman's head, with pink highlights and what looked like a red pearl necklace.

"Misdreavus, a Ghost-type Pokémon that likes to scare people by making scary noises. They live in caves, forests, meadows, graveyards, and a wide variety of other habitats."

The Monodex she had brought with her did the very thing she had taken it for, thus justifying her doing so.

"You're a Trainer, and our eyes have met. You know what that means?"

The guy's question was one she knew the answer to.

Battle.

"War." 'I got this.'

She idly noted one of the Wartortle that had recently entered her care step forward. Not the one she first met, as said Wartortle had decided to go with Ash's Pokémon for today's training, but that was not a mark against him.

She nodded i to his request as the Misdreavus floated forward.

No word was given before the battle officially got underway.

"Headbutt!"

The Ghost-type flipped in air as it flew towards Wartortle headfirst.

She'd tell him to counter with Skull Bash, but headbutting a ghost was not an option.

"Dodge then use Scald!"

Wartortle may have only recently joined her, like all the others from the island, but the dodge it pulled off was already showing promise.

Ash coming here for training benefited more than just himself, despite his concerns.

After avoiding the attack with some finesse Wartortle spat out a steaming stream of water right at the ghost.

It struck, leading to a tumbling ghost type and a startled Trainer.

"Psybeam!"

Not enough that the Misdreavus wasn't able to quickly flip around and blast the psychic attack right into Wartortle, causing the bushy tailed Pokémon to stumble back from the impact.

It was a pretty good strike too. That move was well practiced.

With the ghost floating back in the air after striking the ground the Trainer kept up the pressure.

"Swift!"

"Use Icy Wind to counter!"

If there had been more than just a single Wartortle training with her today, she'd have missed that detail in their varied move sets.

However the recent memory was thus reliable, and Wartortle's cold wind blew into the Swift, detonating them at a safe distance away.

"Alright if that didn't work…Psybeam!"

One thing she had picked up from traveling with Ash, the same thing that briefly stirred in memories of seeing her grandmother's battles on tape, was the need for split second decisions with the utmost confidence.

"Overpower it with Scald!"

That was one such moment, and the boiling water attack was sent right into the path of the Psybeam, overpowering it and blasting into the ghost Pokémon that had fired it.

Misdreavus was sent tumbling to the ground.

"That's enough!"

And with that, the battle ended without a K.O.

Wartortle came over to her, and she patted him on the head for the good battle. They didn't say anything while the Trainer fed the ghost some healing berries.

As they took effect, the Trainer muttered something about needing to work harder if they were going to get to the Raizen Mountains and be ready.

"You want to go there for what? I don't think there are any Gyms near there, am I wrong?"

Her question caused the Trainer to turn her way with a smile.

"Oh, I'm not interested in Leagues. I don't like crowds. No, I'm after something even better."

Better than the Leagues? She felt like Ash might make a joke about sacrilege at this moment.

He adjusted his glasses as he looked at her confidently.

"My name's Nelson, and it's my goal to capture an Entei, Suicune, and/or Raikou. My Misdreavus here is one of the ways I plan to make that happen."

A lofty goal, though the difficulty of the task only briefly registered to Misty as she heard the name Suicune. Suicune, a legendary Pokémon. Moreover, a legendary water-type Pokémon. A Pokémon that her dreams required her to catch one day, however difficult that would be.

"How are you going to do that? Catching one of them is so hard, I don't think anyone's done it."

"Actually there are records of people capturing an Entei, Suicune, or Raikou in the past. It's hard, but there are some ways to do it. First off, you need to make sure they can't run away with an attack like Mean Look, which Misdreavus knows. Of course you also need to stop the move Roar..."

One could call the first step in realizing that part of her dream was more training with herself and her Pokémon.

The second step would be getting information, and this would probably be the best time to get it. Between the Mew and the Articuno, she could very well see a Suicune tomorrow.

"…If you can't do that, other moves and abilities are an option including…"

And this guy was perfectly happy to keep talking, and she was quite sure the Monodex was recording this on top of it all.

Though that was a while away, as she knew she was hardly at a point where she could catch such a Pokémon.

Though perhaps there was a way to see how far she still had to go.

Ash felt pretty good about himself, seeing as after the immensely long run he just did he didn't feel the need to collapse on the ground in a heap.

Iris was similarly winded, while Anabel was perhaps even more impressive in the fact that she had made it without stopping.

She was bent over, breathing heavily and as red as Corphish, but she made it.

"Good job."

If Anabel heard Iris's compliment she didn't express it, though she did take the water when offered.

By the time she returned it to him she had plopped down on the grass and was looking, with what seemed to be increasing focus, off into the distance.

'You know….this is a nice view. We're teleporting back though.'

The last bit was said with a bit more seriousness in the tired tone, and Iris didn't argue it. However Ash looked in the direction Anabel was, and he found himself smiling wistfully.

From here, Pallet Town was a bunch of brightly colored roofs standing out amidst fields and spotted trees. The windmill of the Professor's laboratory was the tallest thing visible, and even then it wasn't that distinct upon the hill.

'Your hometown's nice.'

Anabel's compliment was followed up by Iris not following it up. She probably didn't have an opinion on what was and wasn't a nice town.

"It is, isn't it? Though…if I have to be honest…"

"Is there any reason you would not be honest?"

Iris's question interrupted him, but he followed on it none the less.

"No, I don't have a reason to lie, but it's a bit rough to say aloud. The last few days here…it honestly feels a bit cramped. I know it is weird saying that when I can see just how much space there is between my home and the lab, but especially when I'm not doing something it feels like a less roomy secret base."

'You can never go home again.'

Anabel's quote quite possibly hit the nail on the head.

It had never quite sunk in back in the original go-around, perhaps because time decided that it didn't need to record itself properly, but if he had to think about it, it was probably part of the reason he never did quite stay that long any time after.

He had seen the world, and he was doing it all over again in a world that had remixed itself with new elements and takes on everything he had seen and done before.

After that Pallet Town, a place that had seemed so big and wonderful…it seemed to be less.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Iris seemed deep in thought, as if the comment also made her think similarly. Ash wasn't sure about what though.

'Even if it never does feel quite like home anymore, it still is nice.'

Ash looked over the town again, not thinking about what it felt like being in it after everything he had done for just a moment, and found a smile returning to his lips.

"That it is, that it is."

'Plus, it isn't like you can't ever find a home to go back to one day. The world is big enough I'm sure there is somewhere that you can go back to and feel just like you did before you left.'

At Anabel's optimistic statement, he shrugged.

Anything was possible.

…

"Sludge Bomb!"

The Exeggutor that had emerged as the battle favorite stamped his foot into the ground as a series of brown bullets shot out from the top of his head.

Yanma avoided the bullets in turn, flying circles around the Grass type with a green trail from the ability Speed Boost following in his wake.

Yanma turned suddenly, moving in right at Exeggutor, shimmering white wings signaling the use of Wing Attack.

"Use Teleport!"

Exeggutor vanished in an instant, though surprisingly as Yanma flew in the bug vanished as well.

Exeggutor reappeared a few feet away, looking around nervously for the bug, as said bug reappeared behind Exeggutor and slammed into the tree from behind.

Exeggutor stumbled forward, unbalanced and with significant damage as Yanma continued to speed around it, a white wind surrounding it.

Not the Quick Attack style wind, but…

"Is that Aerial Ace?!"

"The data suggests so."

The Pokédex's confirmation in hand, Yanma buzzed happily at the declaration of his achievement. Exeggutor meanwhile muttered something that was probably complaining about being the test subject for the new move.

He'd ask Pikachu for confirmation, but he had darted off somewhere with Raichu and he didn't want to know why.

"Hey, you're both looking great. Yanma learned a new move, and your Sludge Bomb is looking pretty good too."

Exeggutor seemed a bit less bothered about the entire thing, though before he could return to giving more training a Grimer slithered his way.

"Gri!"

Ash felt the muscles in his legs tense in readiness to run before his brain could remind himself that having Exeggutor teleport away was a smarter escape plan.

Before either plan could be executed though the Grimer rose up to full height, revealing an egg held within the slime.

An egg with a marking on it he knew well from however long he had to deal with James and Smokescreen.

"Exe!"

"A Koffing Egg, and before I could even get the data for it. My program is now reduced to being redundant!"

Grimer nodded, oblivious to the Pokédex's concern, before retracting the egg back into itself as Ash wasn't quite sure what gender the Grimer was. Done showing off the egg proudly Grimer promptly slithered off somewhere, most likely to show off the egg elsewhere.

"…It happened."

Ash felt a bit weightless at the realization. The Pokédex had commented on it, but it didn't feel all that real until just now.

"Yes, yes it did. Your Pokémon count will increase even without proper catching vigor on your end."

As Grimer vanished from view, Ash couldn't help but think.

Once upon a time, he had seen being a Pokémon Master as capturing as many Pokémon as possible. He had grown beyond that over time, and saw more value in the quality of Pokémon before quantity.

Yet here he was, finding himself getting Pokémon without even trying. It felt… off somehow.

"Does it even count? I didn't catch that Koffing."

"Yes, but your Pokémon did, and you caught the Pokémon."

Ash shook his head at the blue snark his Pokédex had in the former part of that sentence.

"Plus I'm sure you will appreciate having more Pokémon to save you next time a crazy person kidnaps you and you need a full on rescue force."

Did the Pokédex really think Sabrina was just a prelude to future repeated scenarios where his entire team would need to break roofs to rescue him?

Ash would like to call it paranoid, but he was pretty sure he lost the ability to claim that given the fact Sabrina was not the first person to kidnap him this timeline.

…

Eevee mewed happily, the defeated form of Axew below her paws.

She hopped off after a moment, the results clear to all. Axew pushed himself back up, muttering something that Anabel was rather sure was self-disappointment from the tone.

Eevee hopped into her arms, snuggling in with a happy chirp as Axew wandered away, presumably back to Iris.

Clearly still seeking the goal of being stronger, a goal that wasn't uncommon around here. Those who wanted such a thing clearly outnumbered those who sought to meet a personal challenge or to…

Well, whatever she eventually decided on.

Eevee still in her arms after that training battle, she turned around and looked at the sun in the distance, still rising up for the day.

When she had left home, it was to see the world. To see more than just her little piece of it. It was nothing so grand, even as she saw many amazing things, been to new places, and got wrapped up in homicidal attempts and random motto sprouting crooks.

Did she need something ambitious? If she could talk right now it just made meet and greets at parties a bit awkward.

"I want to be a Pokémon Master with Pikachu's help."

"I want to have one of every water Pokémon in the world."

"…I'm just along for the ride."

Especially when she imagined the conversation in her head.

Lying down on the grass, Eevee still in her arms despite the change in angle, she had a question to ask.

'What might work for me as a goal?'

"Vee."

She should probably ask this question to someone who she could understand back the next time.

"Mankey use Scratch!"

"Dodge it!"

Ash would've loved to explain in detail exactly how this battle had started, but really there wasn't much story behind it.

He had darted up to Viridian City to pick up a parcel for Professor Oak, and on the way back he had been challenged to a battle by a fresh Trainer and his Mankey.

It was just how things went, and he wasn't complaining much.

It gave Togepi some good practice, as the little ball of spikes hopped out of the way of the swiping attack.

It was a pretty good dodge, he had to give Charizard compliments if he was responsible for it.

It didn't mean Pikachu looked any less tense as the battle continued on though.

"Try a Low Kick!"

The young Trainer's call was panicky and unsure, though Mankey swept at Togepi with its foot regardless.

"Seismic Toss!"

Togepi grabbed said foot and hopped into the air, spinning before throwing Mankey to the ground. Mankey landed there in an oomph of pain, before Togepi landed on top of Mankey for further damage.

It wasn't a Body Slam, but it did the damage as Mankey was well and defeated.

"Toge!"

Togepi cheered at his handywork as the Trainer ran up to his Mankey, concern all over his face as he cradled the fallen fighting-type.

"Mankey, I'm sorry."

He picked up the still cheering Togepi as he walked over to the Trainer and Mankey.

"…How did you get so good?"

The Trainer's question was whispered, and he repeated it at a higher volume. Ash shrugged.

"Practice mostly. It takes time to be sure about the calls you make and how to counter effectively. You'll get it eventually."

"But I don't want to be eventually."

The Trainer's muttering turned into a bit of loathing as he looked in the direction of Viridian Forest.

"Most everyone in my grade on journeys already went for the forest, but most of them have Pidgey or Ratatta. Mankey doesn't do super well against all the bugs."

Fighting attacks were only half effective on Bug types, Ash was pretty sure that was a question on the test he got right.

Same with Poison… so that was why he wanted to practice with Mankey so much.

He wanted to prepare before he went north.

'Pikachu, I don't have a time limit, do I?'

Pikachu shook his head at his mentally projected question.

Good.

He shifted Togepi so he'd only be held up by a single arm as he reached for the Great Ball, as well as a Safari Ball with each of his freed hands.

"You know, sometimes it is better to work smarter instead of harder. Instead of picking fights with everything to get ready for Viridian Forest, you should have an ace in the hole."

As the nervous rookie looked at him in confusion, he threw out both his balls, revealing Serperior and Chansey both.

"After my Chansey helps Mankey out, Serperior and I are going to teach your Mankey Aerial Ace."

When he returned to Pallet a few hours later, it was with the sort of smile only a successful helping session could provide.

"Sorry to do this so suddenly, but I'm actually curious if this'll work or not."

Ash's preemptive apology was acknowledged by Ambipom, even as she prepared to start counter-shielding with all of the reluctance she had originally shown when he originally brought up the idea.

Meanwhile he and Butterfree began preparing the Z-Move.

"Pikapi" 'I don't think this will cover all of them. I mean Tectonic Rage wasn't exactly a projectile attack'.

Ash would have responded to Pikachu, before he finished the pose and felt an even stronger rush of power flow onto Butterfree.

"Shattered Psyche!"

The psychic wave flew at Ambipom's counter shield, and wasn't phased as Ambipom was smacked around a few times by a mysterious force and sent flying into the sky.

So that was two Z-moves Counter Shield was not going to be blocking.

Thankfully before Ambipom could go and meet Team Rocket a flicker revealed an Exeggutor with Ambipom tangled up in the foliage of the Grass-Psychic Pokémon.

"…It might work if the Z-Move is more of a solid attack being thrown at you. Like a giant fireball or something."

He was pretty sure he saw something like that in the visions.

"Am…." 'Yeah, but the only way you can figure that out is if you figure out how your hand made the crystal the first time, and hands do not come with manuals.'

Even if it did, would he even understand it? Manuals were slogs to read after all.

Another day of having to train himself in not mixing up how to do scrambled eggs and sunny side up eggs, and another day to train with his Pokémon for what lay ahead.

"Toge!"

And another day of oddities, as he wasn't entirely sure when Togepi had found the time to convince one of the Zubat he caught to fly him around in a circle while cheering happily.

It was a cute sight, enjoyable to everyone around but Pikachu, who kept staring at the flying Togepi with a sense of dread that he was pretty sure his mom had on her face at a few points in the past.

"Pikachu, relax. Togepi's always been tougher than we gave him credit for."

Pikachu didn't give an answer, only continuing to watch Togepi in concern. The Pikachu worry corner, though, lost his attention when he heard footsteps and turned around to face the owner of said steps.

Misty, who had a serious look on her face. One that could only elicit a stare from him in response.

"Battle me."

Misty's blunt declaration was enough to get Togepi to have Zubat let him go, sending the little ball to the ground without injury and to let out a curious chirp.

This in turn got Pikachu to pay attention.

"Sure…thought is there any reason that you want to do it now?"

It seemed a bit odd timing for her to go into one now.

Misty took a deep breath before explaining herself.

"A while back, we agreed that one day you and I would have a proper battle for the Cascade Badge. I want to see how far I am from doing that, among other things."

She didn't clarify what those other things were, but as she continued to look right at him with her green eyes.

She was truly serious about seeing just how far she did have to go for that battle and everything else that was on her mind.

"Alright then."

Pikachu quickly began shooing Togepi out of the way as Misty held a Safari Ball in her hand.

"You battled with six Pokémon to get the badge, so let's do that."

She promptly flung said Safari Ball, which burst to reveal the Slowbro he faintly recalled she got while in the Safari Zone.

The rustle of some nearby bushes heralded the arrival of the Pokémon he'd be battling with first.

"Ai." 'I got this one.'

And with that, the first battle was Slowbro versus Ambipom.

"Shadow Claw, right off the bat!"

His first attack was the basic strategy, but as Ambipom thrust her tails forward with the glowing shadows extending he was sure that was the right way to go.

Misty did want to see how far she had to go, and that was one way of getting a read on it.

"Use Yawn!"

Slowbro's counter move of choice was to open wide and release bubbles to incur insomnia. They worked on contact, and thus would be a problem for the long arms of Ambipom.

That didn't mean he couldn't think of ways around that.

"Quick, change into Double Hit and launch yourself into the air!"

"Am!" 'Got it'.

Ambipom's hand tails lost their shadow extensions and glowed purple, before slamming into the earth. The force sent Ambipom into the air in a cartwheel-like manner, spinning over the Yawn bubbles safely.

In fact Ambipom was actually spinning, like what they had done in Sinnoh.

"Scald!"

However Misty was not caught off foot, and the boiling hot water sprayed right into Ambipom before she could make contact for an attack.

The blow sent Ambipom to the ground, a tad red but otherwise fine after the attack hit right on.

He looked at Misty's eyes, and he saw what he had suspected from that quick response.

Confidence. She knew not to panic after he avoided her first counter. He liked that.

Misty was always at her best when she was confident, and in a true sort of way as opposed to the bluster of one pretending they were more confident than they actually were.

Both of them used to have that problem.

"Psyshock!"

A purple light flared up in Slowbro's eyes, before firing at Ambipom as laser vision.

She hopped out of the way before the attack could land, but Slowbro responded to that with more laser vision.

This wasn't going to go anywhere in the long term, he would have to make the move here.

"Swift, as wide as you can!"

"Blast that thieving monkey before she can do that!"

At that reminder of how they met this time around, Slowbro fired Psyshock just as Ambipom swept her tails forward. Both attacks hit, Psyshock striking second as the Swift slammed into Slowbro from all sides.

Ambipom was a tad shaky after the two hits, though Slowbro didn't seem nearly as shaken from the Swift barrage. Slowbro was winning this so far, and Ash was at a bit of a loss as to what to expect from it.

What were Slowbro's other moves, for one?

"Quickly, Shadow Claw!"

Quickly meant only one tail shot forward to the maximum length before sending an extended shadow forward to slam into Slowbro. Ash felt a grin come out as he found the battle going back their way.

"Slack Off!"

A grin that quickly vanished as he was informed of Slowbro's final move and a green healing glow awashed Slowbro.

…

It was after a few more minutes that he called Ambipom back, conceding that round.

It was an endurance game, and that was something Slowbro was winning.

"Toge!"

Togepi darted over to the sitting Ambipom, cheerfully trying to get Ambipom to smile with cute antics and bouncing.

It wasn't very effective.

"You did it Slowbro!"

Neither was Misty hugging Slowbro enthusiastically after the battle, despite near equal enthusiasm on both ends.

When she was done hugging Slowbro, she stood up fully and grinned his way, even as she backhandedly gestured for Slowbro to get out of the way before the next battle began.

"Well, that's one for me. You know, a quitter could probably say that's enough. That's better than anything you got the first time."

"But you're not a quitter."

His confident statement was met by an enthusiastic nod from Misty, as Wingull flew to her and landed on her shoulder.

"Nope."

A burst of displaced air signaled the arrival of a Pokémon of his own, as Pidgeot landed on his side.

"Caw." 'Any reason for this battle?'

"Self test, I'm down one," he informed his old friend, who nodded.

She'd be righting that, taking back into the air as Wingull joined her.

This battle would be in the air.

"Air Slash!"

"Dodge it!"

Pidgeot flapped her wings with one strong swipe, sending a tendril of glowing air towards Wingull, who swerved out of the way of the blast.

A dodge repeated for two more Air Slash attacks.

The newer moves weren't doing much for him today, were they?

"Water Pulse!"

Wingull spat out a blue sphere Pidgeot's way, which missed as Pidgeot gained altitude, a gain that would soon vanish.

"Aerial Ace!"

It caught him off guard that Misty shouted the same command, but he was nothing if not interested in challenges.

Pidgeot was the same, seeing as she flew right at Wingull, both birds having the white streaks of a flying Aerial Ace trailing them as they neared each other.

The attack struck midair with a beak on beak collision, before Pidgeot won out and sent Wingull spinning.

Pidgeot flew on her intended path, while Wingull righted itself behind and under Pidgeot.

Such a position was probably not going to end well for him, particularly given that Wingull had ranged attacks. He would need to change that.

"Quick Attack!"

Pidgeot glowed white as she turned around and flew at Wingull, who didn't react in the way one would normally assume a small bird would do when a much larger one was moving towards it at a breakneck pace.

Did Wingull and Misty have a plan up their sleeves?

"Shock Wave!"

Ash was sure he misheard that, but then he saw with his eyes that his ears had heard it right.

Wingull's orange beak color was glowing bright as a bright light shot out. The light struck Pidgeot in a continuous shock, forcing Pidgeot to veer down and missing Wingull completely as the attack eventually ended.

Pidgeot was a bit shaken, and he couldn't blame her.

"Since when could a Wingull do that!?"

"Since last Tuesday."

The Pokédex's sarcasm was unwarranted.

"I had no idea Wingull could learn to do that either when she first used it a few days ago, though it wasn't a Tuesday. Speaking of which, Wingull!"

Wingull promptly fired the bolt attack a few more times, though Pidgeot avoided them each time.

The bolts struck the ground, scorching a few grasses and forbes but doing no lasting damage.

He would need to do something more than dodging to ensure they didn't do damage to Pidgeot.

"Pidgeot, use Steel Wing and bounce the next one back!"

Such a command would probably have not worked if Wingull hadn't fired a Shock Wave just as he gave the call. Pidgeot's wings flashed metal white as the bolt was swatted back, which struck Wingull and sent the little bird spiraling down.

Misty caught the now quite defeated bird, as the battle became a tied game.

"Good job."

As Misty comforted Wingull in her arms Pidgeot landed next to him and got an appreciative head rub for her part.

Following that came battle three, and Pikachu looked ready to go for it.

"Bul." 'Hang around for a bit, I feel like taking this.'

Only to stop as Bulbasaur walked up to his side, ready to battle once more.

"Interesting, all of the Pokémon you have used so far battled the inferior Waterflower Trainer just as they are now battling the superior one."

The Pokédex's observation was true, even as Misty made an odd choice at her third Pokémon.

"Psy."

Psyduck honestly sounded as confused at being sent out as he was seeing it.

…

Misty had to admit, she was sort of spit-balling this part. She hadn't expected Ash's Pokémon to be the exact same ones as he had used against her sisters. Bulbasaur in particular was a surprising choice.

She'd have thought Serperior, she had Pokémon she wanted to try against Serperior. Bulbasaur…she didn't have any ideas.

This battle proved she did need to learn to think a bit more deeply about possible battles she'd have. A lesson learned for the real battle for the Cascade Badge, which was what she was here to figure out so that was good.

What she did think might work, even if she wasn't entirely sure about it, was having Psyduck get a Vine Whip to the head and spark a powerful attack. Plus, she remembered Psyduck complaining the other day about not getting enough sleep recently, so that left two outcomes.

Either Psyduck was one of the Pokémon with an ability like Insomina and wouldn't fall asleep from Sleep Powder, or losing would be good for Psyducks's health and wellbeing.

The answer would become clear when Bulbasaur used Sleep Powder.

"Psy." 'He's grinning at me in a creepy way.'

Bulbasaur had a wide grin on his face that she had to agree was kind of creepy. It went from one side of the Bulb Pokémon's face to the other, and it was honestly somewhat worrying.

The only reason it wasn't worrying her more was that, despite some similarities, it felt very different from the smile she had seen on Red's Clefairy.

It didn't quite help her worry when Bulbasaur tangled up Psyduck with vines though.

...

"The move Tickle is one that the Pokémon Bulbasaur cannot learn. However tickling in of itself is not something a Bulbasaur is unable to do, as it licking."

Togepi was giggling, louder than the other Pokémon doing so but far from the only one as Bulbasaur continued to use Vine Whip to tickle the poor duck while licking the top of his head.

A technique that had served Bulbasaur well in defeating Psyduck once, and was doing so again.

Said duck was laughing in defeat and humiliation, all attacking options unavailable unless laughter could power psychic attacks as much as pain did.

He did feel bad for the poor Pokémon though, having Wingull, Ambipom, and Togepi laughing at you was one thing, but even Slowbro was laughing at the poor guy.

Hysterical laughter from a Slowbro in your direction was not something anyone should have to experience. It was seriously kind of creepy.

"That's enough!"

Eventually Misty called Psyduck back, who was still trembling with phantom tickling as he waddled back to her side.

"….That was weird."

He had to agree, it was. But smacking Psyduck in battle never worked.

He tried that before, all it did was get Kingler thrown into him like a crustacean dodge ball.

"Free." 'So, I heard there was a battle going on. I'll take the next one.'

Before Pikachu could volunteer to go Butterfree fluttered down in front of them.

Pikachu muttered something about cutting in line, but regardless of school yard etiquette violations the battle continued with round number four.

"Poli!"

A battle between Butterfree and Poliwrath, a battle that seemed on paper to be the sort of thing Butterfree had in the bag.

That of course meant Misty had some sort of plan, and he'd need to be strategic.

"Let's do this smart and use Sleep Powder!"

At the command that got him one of his three fatal knockouts at the Top 16, Misty smirked as if he had just done exactly as planned.

That wasn't…

"Poliwrath, use Water Sport!"

Poliwrath fired a wave of water that seemed, for lack of a better set of words, thin yet dense, that collided with the Sleep Powder and washed it all out.

From the impact came a wave of thick dew that covered everything like a coat of paint. His clothes and hair all felt damp, and Pikachu's fur darkened as it tended to do when wet.

"Free…." 'Ash, remember Erika?'

His attention was drawn to Butterfree, whose wings were flapping futilely as they themselves became damp.

He grimaced as he did in fact remember Erika, and it seemed Misty did so too. Butterfree was being grounded once again.

Of course he remembered that flight wasn't everything, just as he proved against Erika.

"Quickly Psybeam!"

"Bubblebeam!"

As Butterfree fluttered weakly above the ground, the eye laser collided with the bubbles. The two attacks cancelled each other in a burst of energy and air.

Said burst also blew more water into Butterfree, whose wings fully gave out and caused him to crash into the muddy ground.

He was still struggling there even as Poliwrath charged towards Butterfree, a glowing fist at the wake.

A Dynamic Punch.

"Psybeam!"

Poliwrath jumped to the side to avoid the beam, before sweeping low and striking Butterfree with a Dynamic Punch Uppercut.

Or was it Dynamic Uppercut?

Regardless of what the best way to name the attack was, Butterfree was still sent flying. He caught his first catch, but in doing so he was knocked back a good distance and left upturned turf in the wake of his shoe heels digging in.

…

She couldn't help but smile at that one.

It was something she had thought of a few days ago, and she was curious how it would work. Seeing as they were tied up again, she had to say it worked rather well.

While he wasn't saying anything, Poliwrath seemed pretty satisfied with the results too. Good for him.

She did feel a bit bad that she couldn't claim credit for the idea. Like having Gyarados use Iron Tail to ground electrical attacks, she got that one from watching another.

In this case Erika.

How did they come up with ideas like that? She had wretched her brain for a good few days with trying to have something that was originally, fully hers, but nothing had come about it.

Erika had at least the benefit of time, the way Ash came up with ideas sometimes you could had to wonder if he really was a rookie.

Hopefully she'd have a trick or two (hopefully more) that was a full Misty original when they had a real battle.

A roar and a heated gust of air wafted over the field, and probably dried it out a bit, as Charizard landed and growled.

So that meant that Pikachu was going to be last. Good, she had a plan for that, one with an accomplishment of her own making it a bit closer to something that was fully her work.

For Charizard, she had a Pokémon that would be quite fitting for the matchup. It was a bit of a cliche to have the battle, with fiction on the subject quite often saving such a clash for the final battle, but it was hardly an undoable cliche.

Particularly since she aimed to subvert said cliche's outcome.

With the Net Ball she had in hand, her plan was ready to go into motion.

"Blastoise, go!"

…

The king of the turtle island, now with Misty, landed before them in a loud thump. The sight of said evolved water type made Charizard growl enthusiastically.

Clearly he wanted some practice in should they run into Gary at Indigo. He couldn't deny that a Blastoise warm up would do them good for such a scenario.

"Hydro Pump!"

Misty made the first move, with Blastoise's two cannons unleashing powerful water blasts in their direction.

Charizard avoided them by taking off into the air, while he avoided them by hopping to the side of the blasts.

The faint sound of Jigglypuff crying out as a pair of intense water blasts struck registered at the edge of his hearing.

"Fire back with Flamethrower!"

Charizard bellowed flames down at Blastoise, who took them head on.

It wasn't damaging though, as when the flames died down a shimmering green field covered the turtle.

Protect, the damage blocking move.

"That's not going to work, Flash Cannon!"

Blastoise grunted as the left cannon fired a white beam of light, which struck Charizard in the chest before they could react.

Charizard grunted from the blow, though he didn't seem too harmed.

When a Flash Cannon was then fired from the right cannon he was able to stop it with a Metal Claw shoved right into the attack, detonating it before it could make contact.

"Flamethrower!"

Charizard reared his head back and fired the powerful burst of flames that surged towards Blastoise.

"Protect, then Hydro Pump!"

Blastoise grunted as the green bubble formed, taking the Flamethrower entirely before fading away with the flames.

Then the Hydro Pump was sent flying towards Charizard, who avoided it once more.

However it was by a rather close shave, and he was sure he saw some droplets of water sprinkle on Charizard's closest wing to the attack.

Attacking at a distance was not going to get him anywhere, they would need to get in close.

"Fly in and use Seismic Toss!"

Charizard growled in agreement as he flew into, arms ready to grasp the massive turtle.

Blastoise countered with Hydro Pump, with Charizard managing to avoid being hit by the close range water attacks. With gripping arms Charizard was now in position to attack, when Blastoise shimmered white.

Skull Bash.

"Quick, change into Slash and avoid that attack!"

His call was too late as Charizard dropped attitude, even as Blastoise was firing off as a turtle rocket.

Good news was that in dropping down Charizard avoided the Skull Bash.

Bad news was that even with extended white claws from Slash, Blastoise was well out of range for them.

Now Charizard was by Misty, and Blastoise was in front of him.

Charizard looked at his claws, then all the way to himself with a serious look, before bellowing loudly his own idea for how they'd win this.

'Create a Z-Crystal!'

Ash looked at his hand, then at Charizard, then back at his hand.

"It doesn't feel that dusty."

Charizard looked back at him with a look of irritation before roaring back.

'That doesn't matter, you have to try. We haven't had any luck before now and now's the time to see why that was. Perhaps a resolve to win, instead of a curiosity, is the missing element. We won't know however, unless you try!'

He looked Misty's way, who didn't catch any of that. She couldn't understand Charizard, and only really had for reference his hand comment.

However regardless of the context limit Misty nodded. She wanted him to try.

In that case, he thrust his hand into the air, gripping the hand that had created the Psychium-Z tightly. Charizard mirrored the movement with a Slash affected claw.

Moments later his hand began glowing with a yellow-orange aura, even as it began absorbing other colored auras from the battlefield.

Many blues, of two different shades, as well as bits of gray, yellow, purple, pink, reddish orange, white, and further other colors. His hand was shaking violently as it had before, held in place only by him gripping his wrist firmly.

His hand shook more violently than the last time, with burst of heat and intensity within it as if all the colored auras were fighting to figure out what color would win out.

A mixture of blue and white light shot out from the middle of his fingers, with the colors seemingly being the ones that were duking it out at this point. His hand continued to shake violently as the blue light began to slowly edge out the white light.

"Caw."

As the blue light began winning though, he noticed that the battle was gaining a few additional watchers beyond the six Pokémon who had battled with him at Cerulean, Togepi and his Zubat friend, and Misty's, the trees were now home to several Pidgey and Pidgeotto from Pidgeot's flock, as well as the Spearow he caught by mistake.

A few new white auras shot into his hand at this point, which seemed to reverse the coloring that was going on. White aura was winning over blue, and with one final shake his hand was at rest, with a new item resting in his palm.

He opened his clenched hand with his other at the ready to catch what fell out. What fell out was a white Z-Crystal.

"Well, you now have more data on how to do that. I would suggest not spending too much time gawking."

He nodded as he looked afar to Charizard, who nodded back with an eager grin.

"Use Protect the moment that move goes off!"

"Blast!"

As Misty prepared her own counter Ash recalled what pose he had seem his dream self do when he first go the crystal, and formed his own arms stretched out wide diagonally before slamming them down into a Z across his chest.

Charizard mirrored the movement, and while he did feel there was some energy disruption from a mistake in the pose somewhere the power still felt strong.

The yellow-orange aura around him spread to Charizard, where it flashed a paler yellow around him before sticking to the color. The aura around Charizard grew massive, the sight of which made Misty stare in shock and Blastoise to activate Protect immediately.

"Breakneck Blitz!"

Remembering the name of the attack, he declared it loudly as Charizard roared in anticipation, before flying at Blastoise with the gentleness of a speeding jet.

The attack struck Blastoise's Protect, and shattered it.

"What!?"

Misty and the Pokédex's declaration of surprise was mutual and simultaneous as Blastoise was sent flying. She had to jump out of the way, and Bulbasaur pulled Togepi out of the way, as Blastoise soured back and crashed into the ground, leaving a rut in the ground that ran for several yards.

Charizard was panting in exhaustion, but he had a pleased look on his face.

A look that Ash was fairly sure matched his own. He at least had the tired part down, he felt like Iris just ran up him up another hill at a full run.

"Pikapi." 'I'm learning how to do that next.'

No one argued with his claiming.

Misty returned the defeated Blastoise with a congratulations and an apology.

…

It was the final battle, and Misty had seen all she had to.

She still had a long way to go if she was to give Ash the battle that he deserved, and she had plenty to do going forward if she wanted to meet her goal.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Gyarados!"

Gyarados slammed his tail into the ground, shimmering with the power of Iron Tail as the electrical force was drowned out.

For one thing, she needed to come up with her own ideas. The strategies she had learned from Ash's battles were good, but she needed to add her own into the equation.

"Use Quick Attack and knock Gyarados's tail loose!"

"Stop the charge with Bulldoze!"

Gyarados's tail briefly lost the shimmer of Iron Tail, but remained in the earth as he vibrated it, sending a shockwave coursing through the ground towards Pikachu.

The move sent Pikachu flying, landing on his back a few feet away.

"Water Pulse!"

What this battle did show, was that she had made progress. She had gotten better.

"Counter Shield!"

That spinning defense stopped Water Pulse, shattering it and sending stray bits flying back into Gyarados.

He complained they stung like needles as they struck him. She'd need to figure out something to do about that trick for when they had the proper battle.

"Surf!"

"Use Iron Tail and get over it!"

She wasn't sure she heard the command correctly as Pikachu sped towards the approaching wave and jumped to meet it.

Then Pikachu struck the wave with Iron Tail, vaulting him over the wave and right at Gyarados's face even as the wave dissipated before Ash would get too soaked.

"Dragon Breath!"

Ash and Pikachu both looked stunned as Gyarados used a fifth move and blasted Pikachu with the dragon type attack.

She would need to thank Iris for that one, even if she did see that it didn't actually hurt Pikachu that much, though by no fault of the move itself.

Just as the attack had struck Pikachu had flung up Wild Charge, the move forming around Pikachu in an electrical field that took the blunt of Dragonbreath.

Pikachu landed on the ground with much less damage or side effect as he would have gotten.

"That was amazing Misty. I didn't know you guys had managed to pull that off!"

At Ash's praise she smiled with a blush.

"Thanks. I've been working a lot harder since Sabrina, and I like to think it's working out. Being with you has really shown me so much; I don't know where I'd be without it."

She covered her mouth as she finished that, did she really just say that?

Ash nodded, though he too was blushing over what had just been said.

"Same here. Let's keep learning from each other. The two of us together can accomplish anything and do anything."

She nodded back, her cheeks still hot.

"Agreed."

And so the battle waged on, the intensity of the final clash not fading away until the very end.

Unlike the blushes, which did fade away before the battle ended, but a bit slower than one might think.

…

What was said was true. Misty and Ash would keep learning from each other and experiencing new things, all while doing many great accomplishments.

They would do this for the rest of their days. More often than not with a smile on both their faces.

OMAKE

DUBIOUS CANON

KETCHUMVERSE PRESENTS, GOROCHU

…

Ash didn't recognize the Pokémon the counterpart of his had at his side.

It sort of resembled Raichu and Pikachu, but with fangs and horns.

It was also noticeably larger, to a point it could not ride on his counterpart's shoulders. The tops of the Pokémon's ears reached his counterpart's shoulders.

"Who's that Pokémon?"

His counterpart, who looked a lot like his Kanto-Johto self before time broke and about 13 years old, if a lot more muscled than he had been and with clothes in a darker color palette, smiled.

"This is my Gorochu."

"Pika?" 'Your what?'

Gorochu looked at Pikachu in an annoyed way for the confusion, but in a way that made Ash suspect it was not uncommon for such a reaction to occur.

"Gorochu, the evolution of Raichu."

"You evolved Pikachu?"

It was an odd thing among his alternate selves, he had noticed. Said 13 year old counterpart looked a bit uneasy, as if he didn't like talking about it.

"Did you get beaten by Lt. Surge?"

"Once."

"…Same, but from what I've seen with the others my comeback went very differently. You see, I sneezed."

Ash and Pikachu stared at his Goro-partnered other. He wasn't entirely sure what that would change.

"Because I sneezed, the Thunderstone landed on Pikachu and he evolved into Raichu. Then Misty and Brock snapped at me, declared I was a horrible human being, that I'd never achieve anything and should just quit, and stormed away in a huff."

The Ash and Pikachu of Earth 052918's entire history diverging on a single sneeze was one thing, but Ash had only one thing to say about the second part of the scenario.

"Holy fuck."

Seriously, the H&F bomb was warranted. Human beings did not act that way.

Misty and Brock did not act that way.

No one in the world acted that way.

The only thing that did was that Ritchie-bot Team Rocket used once. Did Team Rocket replace Misty and Brock with robotic duplicates?

That was the only way that scenario could possibly make sense.

Goro-Ash shrugged.

"Who knows, though that really did hurt let me tell you. I can only imagine what would happened if they did that after I had really felt like they were my friends. I spent at least a month yelling at trees in hurt anger, and the unfairness of the situation is probably why Raichu didn't leave me during that time. Our bond was strengthened by our shared pain. Still, we worked with our anger, channeling it and with all of that energy changed our entire battle style. Most of the mes I've seen like fast Pokémon, but Raichu and the rest of my Pokémon modified our strategy for slower, tougher Pokémon fortified by our desire to make something of that quirk of fate, and to prove them wrong. Take hits; give them back in twice the force, that was our strategy and the way our vengeance would be had. Eventually Raichu became my Gorochu buddy here after we conquered the mountains of thunderous despair, electrified terror, and Mt. Silver, and I've been inching closer and close to a League win since."

A decently happy ending to a story that only could occur because his friends were replaced by robots. Though Ash did have a question, if only to see if the robot duplicates were ever switched out with the real ones at some point.

"Did they ever apologize?"

Gorochu grumbled a bit before shaking his head.

"Er, no. They just devolved into being more cartoonishly annoying than Team Rocket. Pests instead of real obstacles to prove ourselves with. I have no idea why. It's part of the reason I do work with the other mes, I like to have some days without pit traps or being randomly called a selfish jerkface, and most of the time it's not even a case of or, but of and. It grew old before New Bark Town."

This him had two Team Rockets?

That really had to suck.

Especially when the second Team Rocket surely were robot duplicates of your friends you couldn't find the coin operated self-destruct for.