"We're finally here!" Ash announced excitedly, as the group finally exited the huge stretch of forest. It was a long journey of three weeks for the group to make it to Fuchsia, and they were still only on the suburban outskirts, and they were just in time for the Festival.
The three weeks has been harsh for our heroes, but it's also helped in improving their skills, especially Serena and her pokemon. Her Horsea became a Seadra while battling Gyarados, and Ash's Charmander has now become a strong Charmeleon with his determination staying the same old high.
Brock's been working on grooming his pokemon, and ensuring they're just as strong as they were before. Vulpix had his special attention, but none of his team members were jealous.
Unlike another gym leader's. After Vaporeon came into the team, Tentacool has been very aggressive towards everyone. But the eeveelution handled things very well along with the help of Urshifu. But the bitter rivalry is still a headache for Misty, along with her Psyduck who can barely battle at all.
But now they were out of the woods, and the first thing they did was to drop on the ground. "Man! It's so good to be around people again!" Ash declared. "I was getting tired of just hearing Misty complain about bugs."
"Hey! I'm tired of hearing you complain... about me!" She shot back angrily.
"Guys, let's just take things easy for a while?" Brock spoke with reason.
"That's right! I'm just gonna go here without Mr Ketchum being annoying and complaining about me!" And the Cerulean gym leader stormed off.
"I know you both planned a date together, so I'll just leave you both to each other. Oh, and make sure to dress properly." Brock said, pointing to their clothes, which were torn here and there due to the jungle survival for so many days.
Didn't help that their Aura training also added to the issue.
* * *
"Thanks Serena, this looks good." Ash said walking out after changing his outfit. The honey blonde had bought one for him when she went to shop with Miette in Celadon.
"I'm glad you like it Ash. So, how do I look?" His girlfriend asked, twirling around in her party wear.
Ash gawked in awe, watching the dress only compliment her beauty. A red dance gown, it was perfect for a princess, her hair tied by a red ribbon, and her beautiful bangs hanging over her face.
Serena smiled at the reaction. "Thanks Ash."
"Wow, Serena... you look... like a princess." Ash praised.
"Only for you, my prince." She hit back with a flirt.
"Then what do you saw we explore the fair milady?" He asked, imitating a royalty tone.
Serena accepted his hand, and he lead her through the fair.
* * *
Misty was angrily stomping through the festival. Though it wasn't anything personal, she and Ash have a knack for annoying each other. And her short temper only made matters worse.
While she continued to walk away, a familiar call stopped her. "Mistyy!"
She turned around to see her little friend she made at the SS Anne. "Mahri?"
"I knew it was you!" The red-haired girl cheered.
Soon, her brother came in, worried about her running off. "You really shouldn't worry me like that Mahri."
"Hehe. Sorry brother. I saw Misty and I just had to come." The girl replied childishly.
Rudy turned to the Kanto gym leader. "Hi again beautiful." He greeted.
A blush heated up on Misty's face. She just had a fight with her friend, and it seemed everything was going to be terrible. But this boy was making her day, litterally.
"What do you say to a date?" Rudy proposed.
"A da...date? With me?" She asked, completely flustered with the idea.
"Ooh! There's an arcade here, we should totally go!" Mahri suggested cheerfully.
"Now Mahri, we need to know what Misty wants too." Her brother chided her.
Misty was left to think. No other boy ever made her feel this nice. Everyone always thought of her as a tomboy, but he was the only one who made her feel special.
"Yeah. The arcade sounds like fun." She said with a smile.
"It's a date then!" Rudy said happily, making the Kantonian gym leader blush.
* * *
Brock was walking through the breeder's section, and there he found... Suzie. His heart fluttered instantly, as he rushed towards the teal-haired breader.
"Suzie my dear!" He exclaimed getting to a proposal pose.
The champion-breeder immediately recognized the boy, and she had a slight tint of red on her face too.
"Brock. It's so good to see you." She said happily. "How're you doing?"
"I'm doing great, especially now that I've seen you." He replied enthusiastically.
"Good to know Brock. How's Vulpix?"
The tanned breeder removed a pokeball from his belt, and tossed it into the air. The fox pokemon came out of the device with a cheerful cry.
Suzie looked at her fire type, and she was pleased with how Brock took care of it. "She looks wonderful Brock. I'm sure you're both enjoying the journey together."
"Thank you Suzie. Vulpix has been very friendly. She's even practicing battles with my rock types." Brock exclaimed.
"Is that so Vulpix?" She said to her little fire type with a smile. "That's wonderful. I knew Brock could take good care of you."
"Thank you Suzie. It means a lot coming from you." Brock replied bashfully.
* * *
Ash and Serena were moving through the fair, arm in arm. And Pikachu was acting like their guard mouse.
Right now, Serena was hugging Ash, from the side, and he had his arm wrapping around her shoulders. "Serena... there's a tag team tournament in this festival. So... will you be my partner?"
It almost seemed like a marriage proposal, and Serena knew to her boyfriend, this was just as important.
So with a cheerful smile on her face, she gave her reply. "Yes Ash, I'd love to."
The raven haired boy was thrilled. "Thank you Serena, we'll win this tournament and end this date perfectly!" He declared. "What do you say buddy?"
The couple turned around to find the electric type missing. "Pikachu?" Ash called for him, but there was no response.
"Where did he disappear now?" Ash groaned, while closing his eyes. He quickly activated his Aura Vision to search for his partner, and luckily, the mouse pokemon was in range.
"You found him?" Serena asked.
"Yeah." Ash replied simply. "Let's go!"
With that they rushed to where Pikachu was.
* * *
Ash and Serena rushed to corner of the fair. "Pikachu!" They both called out anxiously.
"Sparky! Sparky where are you!" Another boy of the same age called out.
Then, the couple bumped into the boy.
"Hey, you okay?" Ash asked the boy after helping Serena get up.
"Yeah. I was searching for my pokemon. He went missing in the fair." The boy explained. Suddenly, a Pikachu ran past the couple and jumped on to the boy.
He hugged the mouse pokemon happily. "Sparky! I was so worried about you!" The boy said in relief.
"Did ya miss me?" Another voice spoke from behind.
"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed happily. "You shouldn't run off like that buddy!"
"Excuse me for my rudeness. But I had to help Mr Spikey find his trainer." Pikachu replied sassily.
Haunter suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "Are we sure he's not Dawn's pokemon? He's got the same sass she has."
"Gaah! Haunter!" Ash and Serena jumped in shock. "How did you even get here?" Ash asked.
"Oh, the author let me teleport here." The ghost type replied with his creepy laughter.
"And who's this Dawn?" Serena asked in jealousy.
"Ooh... she's a pokegirl who rivals your popularity! Although pearlshippers aren't as toxic usually." Haunter replied.
"Stop it Haunter! We're the main Pokeverse!" Ash ordered.
"Only if you knew Ashy boy... only if you knew. Adios regional variant of Ash!" He said to Ritchie, before whoof! Vanishing.
Ritchie looked very confused. "Uh... sorry about that." Ash apologized. "But we're glad you found Sparky."
"Yeah. I was afraid we had to drop out of the tournament if we couldn't find him." The boy explained. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Ritchie from Frodomar City."
"I'm Ash, and this is my girlfriend, Serena. And of course, that's my buddy Pikachu." The raven haired boy introduced everyone. "So, you're competing too huh?"
"Yeah, I thought this would be a good way to get ready for my fifth gym battle at the Fuchsia gym." Ritchie explained.
"Wow, Ash is going to challenge the gym too, for his fourth gym badge!" Serena announced.
"Really, what all badges do you have?" Ritchie asked excitedly.
Ash opened his jacket to reveal the three badges he'd earned so far. The Boulder Badge, the Cascade Badge and the Thunder Badge.
"What about you Ritchie?" Ash asked.
"Oh, I got these." The boy replied, showing his badge case. It contained four badges. The thunder badge, the punch-kick badge, the volcano badge and the norm badge.
"Wow, you've challenged the fighting dojo too? That's awesome!" Ash exclaimed.
"I was lucky, got it three days before they shut it down." Ritchie replied.
"Well, Serena's taking on the Battle Chateau. She's a Countess now, and soon she'll be a Grand Dutchess!" Ash declared.
"That's amazing! All the best Serena." Ritchie wished her luck.
"An unfashionable peasant like her doesn't stand a chance." A snobby girl intruded the conversation. Her outfit was primarily shades of purple. A deep colored single piece skirt, with a light purple streak. Her hat was purple too.
"Hey hottie, I'm Amelia."
Ash stood calmly, and completely ignored the girl, so naturally one could say he was blind, and deaf. While any girl would've felt bad about this, Serena knew what that silence meant. She only hoped her boyfriend doesn't overdo it.
Ritchie also didn't like how the girl behaved, but Ash turned to Ritchie. "We should get going, got to register for the tournament. It was nice to meet you Ritchie."
"Don't keep your hopes high! We're going to win this! Now out of the way!" She said arrogantly, pushing Serena aside.
The honey blonde would've fallen down if not for Ash, who caught her in his arms.
"Thank you my prince." She said, continuing the royalty theme.
"Anything for you, your highness." Ash replied, not letting the chance go waste.
* * *
The registrations for the tournament closed, and all the teams now stood over the battlefield, waiting for the chief guest. The stage was set, as a spiky haired man in the forties arrived, along with a mid-teen girl. Both of them had Ninja outfits, which got Ash excited.
"Greetings to everyone." The man announced. "You all might know me, I am Koga, gym leader of Fuchsia. This here is my daughter, Janine. Who's training to succeed me as the gym leader."
The crowd cheered happily, Of course that was because Koga himself was being promoted into the elite four of the Johto region, a future elite four was definitely going to be a celebrity, and this was one of the few occasions, when he came into the public.
"So he's the gym leader..." Ash wondered. "Maybe he might have something on the Ninja Aura Guardians."
As the cheers calmed down, Koga began speaking again. "It is an honor to be here as Chief Guests, so thank you. With that said, I hope to watch some heated battle between you all."
"Now for the first round matchups..." His daughter took over. "We have Ash and Serena against Hayden and Molly."
"Why do we have to be first?" Serena asked in defeat.
"Don't worry Serena. We're going to win this!" Ash cheered her on. "And it's good that we're first, at least we didn't have to wait long for our battle."
She giggled at his positive attitude, and took a deep breath. "Let's win this Ash!" She exclaimed.
* * *
Ash and Serena walked to the battlefield, confident about the skills of their pokemon. But their opponents looked just as strong.
Ash turned to Serena and they both nodded. "Let's do this."
"Eevee/Braixen! I choose You!" They said in sync.
"You're in Butterfree!" Molly chose.
"Stomp 'em Tauros!" Hayden added in a deep tone.
"Both teams have sent out their pokemon. Now let the battle begin!" The referee announced.
"Let's take the first move!" Molly declared. "Use Stun spore, and direct it with Gust!"
"Tauros, add Earthquake to shake things up!" Hayden added.
Soon, there were two attacks heading for the duo.
"Braixen, use psychic on the stun spore and put it down!" Serena ordered.
"Eevee, Protect against the Earthquake!" Ash added in compliment.
"That was an excellent tactic. I'm sure these young kids have a long way to go." Koga commented, pleasantly surprised.
Janine began to look to the field with interest.
"Braixen, let's take Butterfree down! Use Flamethrower!" Serena called out immediately.
Soon, the butterfly pokemon was scorching in flames, and dropped down unconscious.
"That's a big blow! Butterfree had some good combinations." Koga said in interest.
"Ugh! I have to do everything by myself! Fine then! Use Double-Edge!" Hayden commanded angrily.
"Step out Eevee!" Ash countered immediately. Using its quick movements, Eevee jumped out of the wild bull's path, but it also left Braixen wide open. By the time they realized what had happened, Hayden had called the next move- Surf!
"Braixen! Dodge that quick!" Serena called out hastily, but she wasn't quick enough. Her starter got knocked out of the battle.
"And now Braixen's been knocked out! Things are swinging around for Molly and Hayden." Koga said.
Serena looked to Ash, she was guilty for not being able to help him anymore, but her boyfriend just had a smile on her face. "He took us by a surprise. But don't worry Serry, we're winning this!"
The raven haired boy turned to the battlefield. "Synchronoise!" Ash commanded.
"Fissure Tauros!" Hayden called out his finishing move.
Both pokemon fired the respective attacks, but Eevee easily avoided the attack. When the waves hit Tauros, it cried in pain, before falling down with swirly eyes.
"Holy Shmoly!" Janine screamed in surprise. "That's one strong Eevee!"
"Ash and Serena rise on the top. Sure the match was swinging both ways, but Eevee wins the battle for this dynamic duo." Koga finished. "And with that, we now move on to the next battle..."
* * *
Brock and Suzie were having a chat over drinks. They discussed about the new things they learned over the months, catching up about everything.
"So, where are your friends Brock?" Suzie asked.
"Oh, we decided to split up. Ash and Serena are on a date, and Misty just stormed off angrily." He replied. "Say, we could go watch the tag team tournament, knowing Ash, he and Serena will definitely be there."
"That's a great idea Brock. I'd like to see how their pokemon are doing considering you take care of them." Suzie said, getting up.
Brock followed her happily, and they made their way to the battlefield.
* * *
Ash and Serena had cruised through the competition, and it wasn't too hard for them. Their pokemon were well trained, and they had a fair bit of experience.
Now they were prepared for the final battle. "Let's win this Serena!" Ash exclaimed.
The honey blonde got up, and they kissed, before walking back to the battlefield, where their opponents were waiting.
The opponents were familiar faces, they'd met just in the morning. But the mood was tensed. While the couple liked Ritchie, his partner in this tournament was an arrogant elitist. What's worse, she had insulted Serena, so Ash was going to take this very personally.
"About time you came out. You shouldn't make a princess wait, don't you know that?" Amelia said pompously, while the other three scrunched their faces angrily.
"Good luck Ash, I'm not going to go easy on you guys." Ritchie said in a friendly tone.
"Thanks, but you're going to need it." Serena replied for her boyfriend, who was just observing his opponents. "Don't overdo this please." She muttered.
"Looks like there some tension in the air. Whatever happens, I'm sure there's going to be a great battle."
"Alright Pikachu! I choose You!" Ash spoke calmly. There was the unusual calm again, and to those who didn't know, it felt like Ash didn't have the drive.
"Eevee. Help us out!" Serena summoned.
"Hmph, they think a set of cuties can win this battle." Amelia snarled. "Come out my purple-heart!"
A Dragonair emerged from the pokeball, it was a shiny. And it shared the same arrogance of its trainer.
"We're not loosing! You're up Cruise!" Ritchie said, throwing in his Pupitar.
"What's that pokemon?" Serena asked in surprise, while pointing her pokedex at Cruise.
"Pupitar, the Hard Shell Pokemon. Pupitar is encased in a nearly indestructible shell and has enough power to topple a mountain."
"It's a ground type... well played Ritchie." Ash commented.
"We have the advantage, you don't stand a chance! Serves you right because you're with that peasant instead of me!" Amelia said snobbily.
"Speak with your battles miss princess of arrogance." Ash shot back.
"Ritchie and Amelia Vs Ash and Serena. Battle Begin!" The referee announced nervously.
"Thunderbolt!" Ash simply ordered.
"Yala Gar Ho!(read in hindi)" Pikachu screamed, while firing a bolt of electricity at the Dragon Pokemon, and even though there shouldn't have been too much damage, Pikachu's electric attacks would be four times that of a Raichu.
* * *
"What's got into him?" Brock asked, as he made his way through the crowd, along with Suzie.
"That's a thunderbolt?" The teal haired breeder asked in shock. "Brock, you have to tell me how Pikachu is that strong!" She exclaimed.
"Actually, it's from all the training Ash does with Pikachu." Brock explained.
"You're kidding me! How hard do they train?" She asked. It was shocking to see just a Pikachu do so much damage.
"You'll get used to it." Brock said, while analyzing the battle. "But something's different about Ash. He doesn't go this far, nor does he let his pokemon do so much damage." He stated, while Cruise moved in to block the attack.
* * *
"Hmph! How dare you attack my beautiful Dragonair. It's skin has been ruined thanks to you!" Amelia said angrily. "Use Draco Meteor! Aim it at Eevee!"
"Use Earthquake to support her!" Ritchie ordered Cruise.
"Eevee... use Protect!" Serena ordered desperately. But the normal type was thrown off by the Earthquake, and couldn't move.
"Buddy! Help Eevee!" Ash called. He knew how much his starter cared for the evolution pokemon, and it wouldn't be able to battle properly if Eeevee was hurt.
Pikachu dashed off to Eevee's side, and tanked the full blow of the Dragon type move, which also sent Eevee back on impact.
"Ha! Such foolishness won't win you battles! Look at how I beat you and your little peasant." Amelia continued to put down the Pallet Duo. "Dragonair, use Draco Meteor again! This time, on Pikachu!"
Ritchie himself was in shock, the attack could prove fatal if it hit. So he just froze on his spot. Eevee looked at Pikachu, who was groaning from the pain of the first attack, she rushed towards him, and pulled him back before the attack could land, and once again, she was thrown off, landing near Serena.
"Ha! Now we can win this!" Amelia said pridefully. She saw Ritchie just standing. "Hey... you gonna do something?"
When Ritchie clearly showed he wasn't going to attack, she decided to do it herself. "Use Dragon Pulse!"
"Buddy! You have to counter it! Use Thunderbolt, and this time don't hold back!" Ash called out desperately.
Meanwhile Serena bent down to her Eevee. "Eevee, I've never been good in tough situations like this. But Ash says that I give strength to everyone. I don't know how much strength I can give you, but I want to be your strength." She spoke from her heart.
Eevee looked up, and saw her trainer give her a smile. Her lips curled up, but she was still hurt. A glowing ribbon began to emerge from around her neck, and it went on to curl around Serena's hand.
Soon a light covered the entire stage, as Eevee began to grow more ribbon like appendages. Her ears became bigger too, and her tail changed too.
"Eevee, you evolved..." Serena said in awe, as the fairy type eeveelution stood in front of Serena. Gone was the shy little Eevee, this pixie was a powerful and assertive battler.
"Let's do this. No one hurts my boyfriend and just gets away with it!" Sylveon announced, while turning around.
"Congrats Serena, Ash said cheerfully. "You too Sylveon."
"Wow... you're amazing..." Pikachu said with a wide open mouth.
Sylveon giggled at the cute reaction, before saying. "Leave this to me."
By now Ritchie had already withdrawn is Pokemon, stating he won't stand for something like this, and Amelia was fuming.
"Alright, we'll do it ourselves! Use Fireblast!" Amelia declared.
"This is nothing!" Sylveon said, while putting her feelers together, and then letting out a powerful stream of fairy wind that put out the fire.
"Let's finish it Sylveon!" Serena declared.
"I have just the right move!" The fairy type expressed. Sylveon formed a pink ball of energy in front of her mouth, before turning it into a stream of energy, and firing it at the Dragon Pokemon.
"Soon, the only pokemon standing on the battlefield were Sylveon and Pikachu, a match made in the heavens" Haunter announced to the readers. "Just like their trainers Ash and Serena."
The pallet natives watched joyfully, as the Dragon pokemon fainted, and the referee announced the match.
"We won Ash!" Serena squealed joyfully, before he captured her lips in a kiss, surprising the honey blonde.
Pikachu and Sylveon turned around to see their trainers, and smiled happily, while rubbing each other's faces.
"That's certainly... interesting. And we have our winners for today folks! It's Ash and Serena!!" Koga announced.
Ash and Serena walked up to the middle, so did Ritchie, but Amelia stormed off like the entitled brat she was. "I'm sorry, I didn't know she was this crazy."
"No hard feelings Ritchie, you did the right thing and that's all that matters. Your Cruise sure is strong." Ash said with a smile.
"Thank you Ash. And your Pikachu is beyond amazing, it's got some series strength to it." Ritchie thanked him. "Congratulations on the victory, and let's meet each other again."
"You can count on it. If not sooner, we'll definitely see you again at the league." Ash replied. "See you later Ritchie!"
The couple then walked up to the stage to receive their prize. It was a voucher to the berries store in Fuchsia, and a golden trophy with a pokeball mount.
"You both are quite the battlers." Koga said congratulating them.
"Yeah, I was definitely impressed." Janine said in a suggestive tone.
"The way you battle Ash, it's inspiring. And I wish to battle you myself now." Koga expressed.
"Well, we're here in Fuchsia for the same reason. Ash's got his gym battle, and I've got the battle chateau to challenge." Serena intervened.
"Then I'll look forward to your challenge young man." Koga smiled.
"And... you could get with me if you want in on some of dad's secrets." Janine added trying to flirt with the boy desperately.
Serena was now fuming in anger. Why would she say something like that, it even raised eyebrows from the teen's father.
"Thanks for the offer, it maybe tempting, but I'm beyond that." Ash replied. "Besides, Serena's the best for me."
Now it was Janine's turn to get enraged. Why would he choose this girl over her?
Meanwhile Serena had a proud look on her face. She was glad that Ash, was her boyfriend.
"Janine! This is no way to behave with a challenger, and it's out of belittling the ways of the Ninja!" Koha chided her, as she walked out grumpily.
"Koga, there's also one more thing. Me and Serena would like to read anything on the Ninja's of Kalos." Ash said.
"Kalos?" Koga asked in shock. The village of Ninjas is hidden from the entire outside world. So how could a ten year old know about it.
"Let's find out if you're worthy enough. If you beat me, I will provide you with some secret scrolls that my family has guarded for years." Koga replied.
"Deal!" Ash said excitedly. "See you later Koga. Thank you." He said, while walking off the stage with Serena.
* * *
Ash and Serena met up with Brock, and they saw Suzie again. "Hi Suizie, nice to see you again." They greeted.
"Hello Ash. Serena." She greeted back. "Congratulations on winning the tournament."
"Thanks." Serena answered back.
"I got to ask you Ash, how's your Pikachu so strong?" Suzie asked, unable to contain her excitement. "I haven't seen such powerful attacks before, his strength is unbelievable." She exclaimed.
"Oh, you know, training hard, good food made by Brocko, and a strong bond... the usual." Ash replied bashfully.
"That's the understatement of the century Ash." Suzie expressed. "You must have some secret."
"There isn't any Suzie. We just train really hard." Ash said stressing on the really hard part.
"Any of you seen Misty though?" Brock asked.
"Nope. We haven't seen her the entire day." Serena replied.
"Who knows, maybe she's on a date." Ash guessed, as the group shared a laugh at his expense. Before walking back to the Pokemon Center, if only they knew.
AS THE JOURNEY CONTINUES!
<AUTHOR'S NOTES>
And that's one more chapter done. It's finally a good long chap. I have to admit, this was fun writing. Rewatching Party Dancapedes was fun too, and now it's jotted into this chapter.
Anyways, next time we'll be in the Safari region. Expect some hilarious interactions, some gruesome ones. And for some new captures. Brock's gonna get one too. Expect some hillarious flashback to the Ash and Serena's past as well.
Ooh, and a meeting with a new rival's coming up too, and another team rocket encounter, just worse.
Take care until then!