Pokémon Master 'Champion' has completed his review of the Gym Leaders in each region. Eleven Gym Leaders have been replaced, along with one regional Professor. Below is a list of the replaced Leaders.
Erika – Celadon City
Blaine – Cinnabar Island
Whitney – Goldenrod City
Pryce – Mahogany Town
Brawly – Dewford Town
Norman – Petalburg City
Flannery – Lavaridge Town
Roxanne – Rustboro City
Maylene – Veilstone City
Byron – Canalave City
Roark – Oreburgh City
The replaced Professor was Professor Elm of the Johto Region. Whilst the Pokémon Master has not commented on a single of the replaced Gym leaders, some of the ex-leaders have stated the reason that they were replaced. Norman and Blaine both said that they were removed after failing to fulfill the requirement of teaching other trainers. Roark admitted that he was replaced after failing to win enough battles, whilst Brawly, Maylene, Flannery and Whitney all claimed that there were differences between their chosen style and the type of leader demanded by 'Champion'. Now that the review is complete, it is unclear what 'Champion' will do next. Will he settle back, and become a distant figure at the top of the Pokémon League? His remote attitude so far suggests that this is a definite possibility. However, an analyst pointed out that whilst he has maintained a cold attitude, his actions have strengthened the Pokémon League, and so predicts that the next step will be one to further strengthen the League. This view is one that has been reflected by many of the Gym Leaders who kept their places. The Viridian Gym Leader, Jonathan, felt that the review and restructuring was hugely beneficial, and that he expects 'Champion' to further his restructuring. Jonathan who has been Gym Leader for four years after the mysterious disappearance of his predecessor Giovanni, is famous for his training school attached to his gym, and announced that he would be recommending his top students to 'Champion' for training when he felt they were good enough. The Violet City Gym Leader, Falkner, also suggested that the next step for 'Champion' would be to further strengthen the Pokémon League, as he feels it is "stronger now than ever before." Whilst he couldn't suggest what this particular action might be, he did suggest that it might be more subtle than the review. Whilst the review was effective, it also shook the League. Everything that 'Champion' has done so far suggests that he is not stupid, so more major upheaval is unlikely for the moment.
Cynthia put the paper down and shut her eyes to think. She was confused by the enigma that was the Pokémon Master. The man acted emotionless a lot of the time, and yet he seemed to understand others emotions perfectly. It was hard to understand. And then there were his eyes. She had spent a lot of the last few days trying to research what might have caused it. The only example she had found after a fairly exhaustive search was a case of an ancient aura user whose heart had been broken by his partner. However in that case both the man's eyes were reported as being as dead as one of 'Champions' was. And Cynthia knew that there hadn't been a true aura user for a millennium. She knew it was possible that he was an aura user, but that would just throw up more questions than ever. Furthermore, she hadn't found any record of anybody who had an eye like the energetic one 'Champion' had. Lost in thought, she didn't notice the door to her office opening.
"Cynthia" At the sound of her name, Cynthia's eyes snapped open, focusing on the man in front of her. The man who she was trying to figure out.
"Champion'. What can I do for you?"
"I have tracked down a Team Rocket training base. I will be launching an assault on it soon, most likely in the night. I thought you might be interested in knowing."
"Team Rocket? You've found one?" Cynthia struggled to keep the disbelief out of her voice. She had done some quiet searching, but knew that Team Rocket had apparently learned how to stay hidden. The members that they had captured refused to talk, and even then 'Champion' had assured her that they knew nothing. "How did you find it?"
"Celadon City. In the run-down districts, I found a recruitment station. I was in the process of joining when I arrested the men around me. I found information on a base, and a Pokémon of mine confirmed it was for training."
"Who are you taking to attack it?"
"Nobody. It's a relatively minor base, my Pokémon and I can handle it. I won't even need the whole group, but I'll take them regardless."
Cynthia was aghast. "You can't go against a training base alone. Do you know how many Rockets could be in there?"
"My scouts informed me that it was a few hundred."
"And you're going in alone? You're insane! You'll be ripped to pieces!"
For the first time since she had met him, Cynthia detected emotion on 'Champion's' face. It was there for a fleeting moment before vanishing once again making her think she might have imagined it. However, she was not wrong. 'Champions' face had registered amusement for a moment. However, his mask restored, he started to speak once again.
"Any Pokémon that they have are no worry to me. They won't have any strength. If they have any other weapons, I can protect myself from them. I will organize some transports near the base, and I'll bring the Rockets back here."
"At least take some back-up, if only to help you arrest them all at the end. If there are hundreds, how will you be able to bring them all?"
"The same way that you brought in those Rockets from Violet. They'll be weakened. Cynthia, I am going, I don't need back-up. I just wanted to inform you of what was going to happen. When I'm gone perhaps you'll want to start the first of your camps"
And with that he left her office. Cynthia let out a deep breath. He had just revealed a great deal to her, unfortunately it asked far more questions than it revealed. Remembering that she did still have a different job that she was meant to be doing, Cynthia sent out a series of invitations for her first training camp at Indigo Plateau.
Two days previously:
Ash strode through his house into the garden. His scout team was back, and he wanted answers. Alakazam was waiting for him, exhaustion clear in the Psychic-type. One long distance teleport was hard enough, but Alakazam had taken two Pokémon with him and done it repeatedly over the course of the last few days. As Ash reached him, the Pokémon simply nodded. Ash smiled, and hugged Alakazam, before kneeling to pet Ninetales and tickle Beautifly as the butterfly fluttered to his shoulder. Turning back to Alakazam he started to question the Psychic-type.
"Beyond Lavender?"
"Yes"
"Training base?"
"Yes"
"How many of them?"
"Some hundreds. Many recruits. Easy to take."
"Defenses?"
"Nothing electronic. It'll be easy"
"Alright. Rest Alakazam. We'll strike in two days." Ash then turned back to the rest of his Pokémon. "In two days we'll attack that base. Four years ago those of you who were with me agreed to hit Team Rocket with all that we had. We nearly finished off that organization for good, but Giovanni escaped us. This time, we are stronger, and more numerous. We will not let him get away twice. Over the years you have stood with me and we reached our goal of being the best. Now we need to do this, complete the task we set ourselves. When we have totally eliminated Team Rocket, we will be able to relax. Until then, no Pokémon anywhere they have influence can be truly safe, simply because Team Rocket abuse them. So, my friends. Rest up. In two days we will be at our strongest, and we will fall on that base like a flood."
Ash then toured his Pokémon, giving a word to some, petting others. He made it around his entire group of fourteen before he headed back into his house, leaving his Pokémon to their rest.
After his meeting with Cynthia, Charizard had flown Ash to the edge of the Kanto region, where he met a group of buses. Ash got in the first one, and they started to move. He had managed to get twelve of them, all following the one that he was in. He was leading them towards where his Pokémon had hidden themselves in preparation for the assault. As the buses reached the last open area before the base, they drove into a canyon and turned off. Ash stepped out, and was instantly met by his Pokémon. Stepping back from them, he looked over the Pokémon he had assembled, inspecting each one individually.
Ash started with the four of his original Pokémon that had stayed with him on the Day of Departure. Charizard was looking as ferocious as usual. In fact, Ash had noticed that he had been a little more aggressive ever since he saw Pikachu, something mirrored among the rest of the Pokémon when Charizard had told them. It touched Ash to know that his Pokémon cared that much even if he did worry what might happen if their anger spilled over. Moving on, he saw Sceptile, the grass-type standing proud, its twig still in its mouth. Over the years Sceptile had become a very powerful Pokémon, but he still couldn't compete with some of the others in terms of raw power. However, his strength was in his speed and agility, something which few of Ash's Pokémon could match. Next up was Meganium. The Pokémon couldn't bear to be separated with him, particularly after Pikachu had gone. Meganium had seen how much his oldest friend leaving had hurt Ash, and this, coupled with her love for her trainer and her desire to keep watching the Eevee that had evolved into Espeon had caused her to stay. She still didn't understand how Pikachu could have left, but unlike the others, she didn't blame him. She was just sad. The last of the four that had stayed had shocked all of them. Snorlax had impressed Ash with his desire to get stronger in the first few months training, but even so Ash had expected the Sleeping Pokémon to leave with the rest. However, he hadn't. Some years later Ash had questioned his Pokémon about the decision, and was given two reasons. Firstly, the exercise was giving Snorlax a bigger appetite and so let him eat more. Equally, Snorlax had to stay awake for longer hours, which gave him more time to eat, when he wasn't training. The other reason Snorlax stayed with Ash was simple. Ash had food, Snorlax liked food. Therefore, he had no reason to go. Regardless of the self-centered reasons, Ash was grateful for Pokémon staying and the Pokémon had become a true powerhouse of Ash's, as well as completely loyal.
Ash then moved onto the rest of the team that he had registered for the World League. He had taken Charizard, Sceptile and Snorlax, although he had chosen not to use Meganium. Sharpedo had been registered, the Brutal Pokémon having joined Ash after he had found it beached in the Orange Islands. Ash had helped it to recover, and eventually Sharpedo had come with Ash. After some months Ash had trained it to be able to run on land, and so never be stranded again. As a result, Sharpedo was now able to fight anywhere, something which gave Ash great satisfaction, overcoming his Pokémon's weakness. Sharpedos loyalty had been cemented by the effort Ash went to in making sure that he was never stuck on land again; in the aftermath of his rescue the Pokémon had been terrified of land.
Next up was Altaria. The Humming Pokémon had not been part of the team when Ash first faced Team Rocket, but had become staggeringly powerful since joining a few months after. He had met Altaria near Mount Silver. Ash had been there to train in one of the toughest places in the world, but a few weeks in had found Altaria injured. Ash discovered that his training had caused some Fearow to move, and they had attacked Altaria after they wanted to live in the same area as her. Ash treated Altaria's wounds, and then returned her to the wild, but when he came to leave Mount Silver a couple of weeks later, Altaria had returned to him, and asked to come with him.
The final member of Ash's frontline team had been met only a few weeks after the Day of Departure. Ash had woken one night to find an Aron trying to steal food. Not angry, he had confronted the Pokémon and offered it as much food as it wanted, as well as to make it stronger. Seven years on, Aron had evolved twice into Aggron and in terms of raw power could match Charizard. The two of them had frequent battles to test their strength against each other
Next Ash reached the scouts on his team. He had put together the idea of a scout team when he was tracking Team Rocket down the first time. He had met Alakazam five years earlier, with the Pokémon intrigued by Espeon's mental strength and wanting to come to learn to focus his mind to the same extent. Despite intense training over the years, the Psi Pokémon had never managed to become as powerful as Espeon, but his teleport ability had become far stronger. As a result, he was the obvious choice to head up the scouts, giving them a mobility that couldn't be matched. Ninetales had been captured when Ash had been training at a volcano near to Cinnabar Island. Her sense of smell was what had attracted her to Ash, recognizing the nutritious value of the food he prepared for his Pokémon. She had spent two days hiding near his camp trying to find a way to reach the food when Ash fought and captured her. Beautifly had been captured in the depths of a forest in Hoenn, another place where not many trainers went. The butterfly's value to the scouts was her ability to move unseen. Her size, coupled with her ability to move silently through the air meant that she was virtually undetectable when infiltrating. She also had the ability to hit large areas with single attacks if the scouts ever got into a fight, and her Stun Spore had saved the rest of the team more than once when tracking down Team Rocket the first time.
None of the next three had been with him the last time he fought Team Rocket, but he had picked them all up through the years. He had found a Onix deep inside Mount Moon, capturing it after a lengthy battle. Ash had gotten out of the habit of catching wild Pokémon that he found, feeling that he had a large enough team, but Onix had challenged him to a battle, and its endurance had impressed Ash. Onix had managed to match Ash's Snorlax for a long time, before the Sleeping Pokémon finally got a final Ice Punch in to end the battle. Given that it had matched one of his Pokémon for almost an hour, Ash decided that Onix was worth capturing and did so. Rapidash was another Pokémon that he had caught at Mount Silver, with the Fire Horse Pokémon wanting to join the trainer who's Pokémon were so powerful. For Rapidash it had also been a case of pride as she had been beaten in a race by Ninetales and Sceptile, although the two of them had used Quick Attack to increase their speed. After some time sulking she had asked to come with Ash to become stronger and faster. She was now the fastest Pokémon Ash had. Finally, Machamp had joined Ash as a Machop, and then evolved twice. Machop had never given a reason for joining Ash, merely marching into his camp and staying. Whenever Ash asked, he was never given a response. Over some time, Espeon had figured it out for him; Machop had been abandoned, and wanted to become stronger to show his previous trainer that it was a mistake to abandon him. After working this out, Ash managed to track down the trainer and the now Machamp had defeated all of his Pokémon single handed.
The last Pokémon that Ash reached was his Espeon. Since the Day of Departure, Espeon had become closer and closer to Ash, never imposing but always being there. The Psychic-Type had taught herself to communicate with humans telepathically in order to aid her trainer. She could now tell what Ash was thinking without even reading his mind. She was also his most powerful Pokémon, with her psychic strength enabling her to defeat any of the others. It was an accolade to be the strongest in a team with such power, but Espeon was proud to lead them. Her closeness to Ash coupled with her strength meant that she was undoubtedly the leader of Ash's Pokémon, as close a replacement to Pikachu as anybody could ever get. Without her, Ash doubted that he would have gotten through all the years. And now she was still willing and able to fight for him.
As Ash went through all his Pokémon he gave each a thorough inspection to make sure that there were no injuries. Happy with the state of his team, he gestured for them to move forward. Starting with a light jog, his Pokémon easily matching his stride, Ash began to move back out the canyon, before accelerating to a pace that all his Pokémon could sustain for the three miles to the Team Rocket base. As he ran he checked the sun. It was early afternoon, Ash trusting that he could break the base in the middle of the day without a message getting out.
"Sam"
The boy turned over in his sleep, ignoring the voice.
"Sam!"
"Go away" he mumbled, irritated at being woken up. After a few seconds he assumed that the owner of the voice had done as bid, and left. Suddenly he heard the voice once more.
"Totodile, Water Gun!"
Sam instinctively moved, throwing himself away from his bed. He almost made it. A jet of water slammed into him, sending him skidding across the floor, before coming to a stop. Groaning and sitting up, Sam Fernandez saw a small blue Pokémon grinning at him. Looking up he saw Mellanie standing behind her starter, also grinning wildly. The two of them had made good progress on their journeys over the last week, taking another two gyms and capturing more Pokémon. Both of them now had complete teams of six Pokémon and they had more back with Professor Rose in New Bark Town. After their Gym Battle against Whitney's replacement, Olive, in which Mellanie had taken two attempts to win, they had decided to train more and travel slower. Well, Mellanie had. Sam was more inclined to sleep in, hence his somewhat rude awakening.
"Did you really have to do that, Mel?" the wet boy asked, getting to his feet. "I mean, what's the hurry? We have ages to train."
"I don't want to be beaten by another Gym Leader" she growled at him, annoyance etched across her face. "It was embarrassing!"
"Well maybe if you were a better trainer like me…" Sam started, but didn't get any further. Angry at having to wait for him, and annoyed by Sam insulting his mistress, even in jest, Totodile had decided to take matters into his own hands. A huge torrent of water erupted from the Big Jaw Pokémon, smashing Sam off his feet once again. Thankfully this time he had the bed behind him, and so the landing wasn't too bad, but it still was painful. Mellanie was looking at her Pokémon in shock, and even Totodile looked surprised by what had just happened
"Mel, can't you get him to stop that?" Sam asked, now completely drenched, his clothes in dire need of being wrung out. His friend didn't answer. "Mel?"
"I think Totodile just learned Hydro Pump" the girl replied, still staring at her starter with an expression of awe. "That was certainly bigger than usual, and we have been working on that move."
Sam looked down at Totodile, the Pokémon looking pleased with himself, whilst still managing to smirk at Sam. Sam decided to be the bigger man and congratulate the Pokémon. "Well done Totodile" he said. "Really impressive. Keep it up and maybe you'll beat Quilava again soon."
This time when the torrent of water came, Sam was already moving, laughing as he dived out of the room past Mellanie who got caught by Totodile's attempt to blast water at Sam.
After the two young trainers had dried themselves off, with Mellanie being far less impressed with Totodile's soaking tactics once she was on the receiving end of them, they headed out to a field on the outskirts of Goldenrod City. Releasing their Pokémon, they gave them instructions about how to train. Sam and Mellanie then walked around the two teams together, giving each of the Pokémon advice. They had found that this benefited their Pokémon as what one of them missed, the other usually spotted. They had been going for some time when they heard a voice from across the field calling out a greeting. Gesturing to the Pokémon to carry on, Sam and Mellanie turned to see a red-headed women vaulting over a fence and striding towards them. She had six Pokéballs at her waist, and possessed a confidence that could only come from a time spent in authority. As she reached them she stood tall in front of the two trainers.
"You two both trainers, or are you coordinators?"
"We're trainers" Mellanie said. "I'm Mellanie and this is Sam. What about you?"
The women grimaced. "Am I that quickly forgotten? I would've thought you would at least know who I am."
Sam stepped forward at this point. "Whitney, Ex-Goldenrod City Gym Leader, removed by 'Champion'. You gave the reason for your dismissal as differences between you and the Pokémon Master."
Whitney grinned at him, whilst Mellanie turned and stared in shock.
"How do you know that?"
"I do read Mel." Sam grinned. "And you know it has been all over the news on the last couple of days? He's finished the review and they've listed all the Leaders replaced." He turned back to Whitney. "I'm sorry for your replacement it must be hard to take."
"It's not that bad" the ex-Leader responded. "I was upset when it happened, but I've been able to take a more active role in the Miltank farming up here, whilst being able to look after my Pokémon better and do some training, though not too much. And at least the Gym is in good hands, Olive was a good replacement. 'Champion' does know what he is doing I'll give that to him."
Sam and Mellanie looked at each other in surprise. They hadn't expected to see Whitney, and definitely not expected her to be fine with her getting sacked. Before they could say anything else, Whitney started speaking again.
"I'm assuming these Pokémon are yours?"
Sam and Mellanie nodded.
"They look strong. Did you beat Olive?"
"Yes" Mellanie answered.
"Took you two attempts though didn't it" Sam grinned at her.
"Sam I swear, if you don't stop going on about it…"
"How about a battle Mellanie?" Whitney asked, cutting her off.
"Err… sure" the younger girl replied. "How many?"
"I think three on three that was what my Gym battles always were."
The Team Rocket gate guards stood lazily watching out across the plain towards the base. They knew that they were secure, the gate was the only way in aside from an aerial assault, and an aerial attack was risky; there were enough Pokémon inside to bring down almost any attack. Therefore, the only realistic way into the training base was through the front door, which had four guards on it permanently. In front of the base, there was open plain for half a mile. Nobody could sneak up on them.
Ash burst out into the plain, and started sprinting. He waved to Rapidash who charged forwards at high speed, crossing the half a mile in a mere nine seconds at a colossal speed of nearly 200 mph. It took the guards ten seconds to notice. Before any of them could even move, Rapidash was upon them. The Fire Horse Pokémon used Flamethrower to take out the two guards outside the gate before leaping over it and landing directly in front of the guardhouse which overlooked the gate. Hardly stopping, Rapidash smashed into the two Rockets inside the guardhouse, knocking them both out. Prancing out of the building, the Fire Horse Pokémon looked out across the entrance with some satisfaction. No alarm went off, and the rest of the team crossed the open terrain easily. Alakazam teleported to the guardhouse and opened the gates. The team was in.
Stepping into the base, Ash looked around. There were no Rockets around, so he walked into the guardhouse to pull up a roster of who should be inside the base. Scanning it, he found that there were no Rocket Executives currently present, but there were nearly six hundred Rockets, of which more than five hundred and fifty were recruits. Ash grinned, Alakazam had not been wrong. The base was easy to take. Ash quickly pulled up a map on a screen before he gestured to Alakazam and they teleported into the command center, along with Espeon and Sceptile. Inside were six rockets, none of whom had a chance to move before being taken out. Ash cleared his throat pointedly; Alakazam hadn't even had a chance to strike, Sceptile and Espeon obliterating the Rockets before he could. Stepping over to the PA system, Ash set it to broadcast to the entire base.
"All Rockets to report to the main training room. Repeat, all Rockets to report to the main training room. There is a compulsory training session to attend"
Ash put the microphone down, and then gestured to Alakazam once again. Ash, his three Pokémon and the six unconscious Rockets all teleported back to the guardroom. Looking out across the plain, Ash saw the buses he had brought with him. All twelve of them were driving up to the base, and Ash spent a few minutes taking the Rockets he had already captured and tying them securely to seats. He then checked his watch; it had been four minutes since the announcement. Ash decided to give the Rockets a few more minutes before moving in.
After another eleven minutes had elapsed, Ash strode out of the guardhouse at the entrance to the base, and down a corridor, his Pokémon advancing at his back. Six turns later, Ash was grateful that he had managed to bring up a map of the base, enabling him to surround all four entrances to the training room with his Pokémon. Espeon stayed with him, helping to coordinate the teams, but Ash trusted his Pokémon to be fairly autonomous under the circumstances. After they had surrounded the room, Ash stepped through the main door, flanked by Espeon and Sceptile. Across the room Charizard led a group through another door, whilst Aggron and Snorlax led the other two groups all three of them having to smash through part of the wall as well. The room itself was huge, easily capable of fitting more than a thousand men inside, with a raised platform at one end which Ash stepped onto. The Rockets were all stood in groups around the room. Once inside the room, Ash projected his voice all around, causing instant silence from the Rockets as his voice echoed around as if it was coming from a microphone.
"Team Rocket. Some of you may recognize me whilst some of you may recognize one or two of my Pokémon. I am 'Champion', the Pokémon Master. You are surrounded by my Pokémon, and there is no escape. Fighting is futile, you cannot win. I would rather avoid any deaths here, so I would appreciate it if you would just surrender without fighting; having to fight off every single of your Pokémon would be tedious."
As his words sank in, Ash smiled to himself. He was able to tell the general feeling in the room, and it had gone from shock to alarm, to fear to simple confusion. The Rockets had no idea what to do, most of them were new and those who weren't had no idea what response fit this situation. Ash then started to speak once again.
"Your base commander is currently unconscious and tied up, so I need his second in command to step forwards."
Silence reigned across the room, as the Rockets waited for something to happen. The men around Eric, the bases second in command were watching him. None of these men were recruits, but none of them were particularly high ranking Rockets; they were the men who trained Rockets before sending them out. Eric met the eye of one of his colleagues before stepping out of the group and approaching the platform. As he reached it, he grabbed a Pokéball and threw it, shouting out for the Rockets to fight. Ash raised an eyebrow, as the Rockets quickly realized what was going on and started pulling out Pokéballs and releasing Pokémon. Without needing an order, ten of Ash's Pokémon threw themselves into the fight, the remaining four guarding the doors out of the room.
Eric smiled in triumph as behind him more than eight hundred Pokémon were released. They formed groups, and started to face off against the ten Pokémon arranged against them. Confident that weight of numbers would easily give him a win, Eric turned back to see his Raticate appear in front of him. As Raticate materialized, Ash's Sceptile surged forwards, smashing the Pokémon with a Leaf Blade attack that knocked it out instantly. Sceptile then hit Eric, knocking him out. Sceptile looked up from his first victory, to see a large group of Pokémon charging at him. A small smile crossed the Forest Pokémons face as he fired a Bullet Seed into them, sweeping it across the charge causing maximum damage to as many Pokémon as possible.
On the other side of the room, Snorlax stood next to Onix as more than two hundred Rockets led sent their Pokémon to charge at the door they were defending. Snorlax waited for them to come closer, and then fired a Hyper Beam at the advancing Pokémon. The beam whipped across the charge, sending every Pokémon it hit flying. Snorlax grunted with disappointment; the Pokémon he was facing had no strength at all compared to what he was used to, his attacks were knocking them out instantly. As the Hyper Beam ended, Onix dived forwards, before changing orientation. He smashed into the Rockets Pokémon length ways in a vicious Take Down attack, colliding along a line eight meters long. Onixs rolling took him through six lines of Pokémon before he rolled back the other way to avoid another of Snorlaxs Hyper Beams. After repeating this twice, the two Pokémon stopped their attacks as the last of their opponents fell. The Rockets facing them stood in shock. They had sent hundreds of Pokémon at just two, and been comprehensibly destroyed. The Pokémon facing them didn't even look tired. One of the Rockets near the front slowly raised his hands into the air in surrender, an action soon mirrored by his comrades.
Within a few minutes, the scene had been repeated across the room, the sheer power of Ash's Pokémon overwhelming the weak Pokémon that Team Rocket members had. Ash started to escort groups out of the room and to the Buses, Espeon and Alakazam using their psychic strength to prevent the Rockets from attempting to flee. As each bus was filled, one of Ash's Pokémon stepped inside to watch the Rockets, all of whom were tied to their seats. It took him a while, but eventually Ash had rounded up every single Rocket, and the buses started to drive away. Since some of his Pokémon didn't fit inside the buses, Ash had sent nine Pokémon inside the buses with Rapidash running alongside the convoy. He kept Charizard, Snorlax, Onix and Aggron, recalling them all to the Pokéballs at his belt. He then turned back into the Rocket base and went back to the command center. Ash was quickly able to hack into the system and find details of other Team Rocket bases. He found three other training bases, and then what he was looking for. The main Team Rocket base was located in Johto, hidden in plain sight. It was in Goldenrod City, a minor skyscraper in the city of huge buildings, but with more than a dozen underground levels. Noting the location, Ash turned and left the base, totally empty of any Rockets. He had what he needed, and the breakthrough needed to track down Giovanni.
The two trainers faced each other across the field. Sam stepped up as referee, before the two threw their Pokéballs out.
"
I choose you, Geodude!" shouted Mellanie, releasing her Rock-type.
"Clefable, come on out!" called Whitney.
"Geodude, Magnitude!" Mellanie ordered.
"Clefable, ride it out and use Ice Beam." Whitney countered.
Geodude smashed down into the ground, causing it to rumble ominously. The shaking became stronger, and Clefable crouched down to try to ride it out. As the Fairy Pokémon fired her Ice Beam, the shaking ground overcame her and caused her to fall, the Ice Beam fading.
"Rock Throw" came Mellanie's curt command. Rocks slammed down onto Clefable, causing severe damage. Before Whitney could come up with another move, Mellanie struck to finish the battle.
"Geodude, Double-Edge."
The Rock Pokémon flew through into Clefable, knocking the Fairy Pokémon to the ground once more, and this time she was unable to get back up. Whitney recalled her Pokémon looking at it sadly.
"Clefable, I thought the training would help. Perhaps it's time for you to quit battling, you clearly don't enjoy it. I'll talk to you about it later." Whitney then turned back to Mellanie. "Good start, but that was my weakest. You'll have to do better to defeat me. Girafarig, you're up."
The Long Neck Pokémon materialized, the head on its tail grinning back at Whitney, a look of fierce intelligence in its eye. It eyed Geodude and its eyes flashed.
"Girafarig, Psychic, and don't let it go."
"Geodude, Earthquake"
Geodude started to descend to the ground to start its attack, but didn't quite reach. As the Rock Pokémon came close, its progress was slowed, and then it was catapulted up into the sky. Grinning at her opponent, Whitney gave another order.
"Psybeam"
A multi-colored beam of light flew out and caught Geodude in a direct hit. Girafarig then let its Psychic hold go, and Geodude fell to ground, crashing down, clearly knocked out, the fall being too much for it. Thanking her Pokémon, Mellanie recalled it, and threw out another Pokéball, releasing a Mareep.
"Mareep, Thunderbolt"
"Psychic"
"Dodge"
Mareep fired its electric attack at Girafarig and then tried to dodge the psychic strike. It wasn't quite quick enough to do both, being sent flying by Psychic as its Thunderbolt smashed into the Long Neck Pokémon. Both Pokémon repeated their attacks several times, becoming progressively more tired as the battle went on.
"Mareep, end it with Thunder!"
"Girafarig, fire a Psybeam before it can get its attack in."
Whitney's strategy nearly worked. Mareep fired a bolt of electricity into the sky before being hit by the multi-colored beam of light which knocked the Wool Pokémon out. However, before Whitney could celebrate, a Girafarig was hit by a bolt of lightning from the sky, sending the Long Neck Pokémon to the ground as well. Both trainers grimaced before recalling their Pokémon and throwing out a final Pokéball each.
"Miltank, you can win this."
"Totodile, I believe in you!"
The two Pokémon appeared, one a small blue bipedal crocodile and the other a pink cow, with small horns. Mellanies eyes narrowed, she knew how powerful this Pokémon was, she could tell just by looking at it.
"Miltank, Rollout" Whitney ordered. Miltank curled up into a ball and started to roll forwards, straight at Totodile. At a command from Mellanie, Totodile dived sideways, before firing a Water Gun at Miltank. The jet of water hit Miltank, but the rolling was enough to divert it. Mellanie gritted her teeth in frustration as Miltank rolled back at Totodile.
"Totodile left then Water Gun at the ground in front of it."
Totodile moved to the left out-of-the-way and then fired his Water Gun just in front of Miltank, causing the Milk Cow Pokémon to slow its spinning as it couldn't spin through the water. As Miltank came out of his ball, Mellanie attacked again.
"Totodile, Hydro Pump"
A huge torrent of water flew out, smashing into Miltank and sending the Pokémon sprawling across the field. On the sideline Sam winced, he knew what it felt like to be on the receiving end of that attack. Miltank slowly got to her feet, glaring across the field at Totodile. Whitney watched her Pokémon struggle to its feet, and then gave another command.
"Miltank, Sandstorm."
Mellanie gasped, as sand kicked up in the field. "Totodile, use Water Gun to clear the area around you, and start to move towards me" she called into the sand. After a few moments she saw Totodile edge out of the sandstorm. Watching across the field, they settled down to wait it out. Suddenly the sandstorm stopped, and a white beam fired across the field from Miltank. With Mellanie taken by surprise, and unable to command, Totodile instinctively fired a Water Gun straight into it that was rapidly upped to a Hydro Pump as the white beam pushed straight through. As the Hydro Pump collided with Miltanks attack there was an explosion which hid the field once again. As the smoke cleared, Totodile was looking somewhat tired, but Miltank looked exhausted. Whitney looked at her Pokémon who smiled at her, before tucking into a ball once more.
"Miltank, Rollout."
"Totodile, Hydro Pump."
As Miltank came rolling at the Big Jaw Pokémon, a torrent of water crashed into him, only for Miltank to smash straight through. Totodile was unable to get out-of-the-way quickly enough, and was sent flying. As Totodile hit the ground, Miltank arced back around.
"Totodile, Hydro Pump the ground in front of it!"
This time the water did stop Miltank, with the Milk Cow Pokémon being sent skidding back by the attack. Totodile now looked exhausted, but Miltank seemed barely able to stand. As the trainers watched, the Milk Cow Pokémon tottered on her feet before crashing down to the ground. Sam stepped forwards.
"Miltank is unable to battle. Victory goes to Totodile and Mellanie!"
Mellanie hugged her Totodile, before standing and offering her hand to Whitney who shook it.
"That was a great battle Mellanie, you would have earned the Plain Badge from me had you faced me in the gym." Whitney said.
"Thanks. That was really tough; your Miltank was really strong."
"She was my first ever Pokémon, and my strongest. Not many can beat her…" Whitney broke off, causing Mellanie's eyes to narrow.
"What's wrong?" Mellanie asked.
"Your way of firing water attacks in front of Miltank reminded me. Tell me, have you ever heard of a trainer called Ash Ketchum?" Whitney asked.
"No I don't think so…" Mellanie answered, looking to Sam and seeing a shake of a head there as well. "No, why, did he beat you as well?"
"Ash was a trainer who came through nearly ten years ago. The first time he fought me he lost but then he managed to trap Miltank using a Totodile to create ditches that disrupted Rollout. That's why I taught Miltank Solarbeam, she needed a way to fight other than Rollout." Whitney's eyes became somewhat distant. "Ash went on to make top eight in Johto, and then went to a different region. I never saw or heard from him again."
Before either Sam or Mellanie could answer, a fourth voice added itself to the group. "Sam, Mellanie!" Turning around, the two young trainers saw a woman jogging towards them. She looked about twenty, had shoulder-length brown hair and was dressed in a simple shirt and trousers. As she reached them, she came to a halt.
"Nurse Joy said you two were looking for some training. I need to talk to you." It was at this point that the newcomer realized that Whitney was staring at her.
"Whitney. I didn't think you would be interested in trainers."
"Just because I'm no longer a Gym Leader doesn't mean I don't follow things going on in Goldenrod. I still know as much as you Olive." Whitney countered.
The new Goldenrod Gym Leader grinned. "I'm sure you do. Still don't want to come and train at the gym?"
"No."
"Well can't blame me for trying." Olive turned back to Sam and Mellanie. "Cynthia Shirona is holding a training camp for trainers based in Johto, and all the Gym Leaders are sending trainers that they feel are good. However, a couple of mine had to drop out, and so I need replacements. I don't want to lose any more of my trainees, so I wondered if you two would be interested in attending. It's a week long, at Indigo Plateau."
Sam and Mellanie stood stunned. Cynthia Shirona, the ex-Pokémon Master, and Olive thought they should go? Sam managed to croak out a question.
"Why us?"
"Because, you both have a hell of a lot of potential and you're strong trainers already. You both beat me, and Mellanie you beat Whitney, no mean feat" Olive told them. "One of my jobs is to keep an eye out for trainers like you, refer you to Cynthia. I spoke to her about it, and whilst she knows that you are both on a journey, she still would like to offer you the place. You are apparently good enough to already be tracked by her, though I'm not sure how. So, how about it? I need an answer quickly."
"Yes, I'll go." Mellanie burst out. Sam looked at her, before nodding. "Likewise. We would be stupid to turn it down."
"Wonderful." Olive smiled at the two of them. "I'll inform Cynthia. If you come to the gym now we can arrange some transport for you. Whitney, good luck with the farm."
With that, Olive turned and headed off, the two youngsters traipsing after her. Whitney watched them leave with a smile, and then turned to head back up towards her Miltank farm. She had milking to do, but having heard about the two trainers she knew she couldn't pass up the opportunity to meet them.