Ash's Pokémon Journey

Chapters 51-55

Lance and the Red Gyarados

The gang were now getting close to Mahogany Town. "I can't wait to battle the gym in Mahogany Town" said Ash. "I can't wait for an earned rest in Mahogany Town" said Misty. Only thing was they were a little bit lost. Suddenly Pikachu, Growlithe and Togepi started to faint. "What's wrong?" asked Misty. She checked Togepi all over. "Togepi does look sick, but she doesn't feel sick; no fever or anything". Just then Brock saw some wild grass and bug pokemon and they all looked sick. "There's something weird going on around here," said Brock "and I don't like it". Ash, Tomo and Misty didn't like it either.

Suddenly a roaring noise was heard not far from where the gang was standing. "What was that?" asked Tomo. "That sounded like a Gyarados," said Ash "and a very angry one too". "We better see what's going on," said Brock "there might be trouble about". The gang came to a huge lake, and then suddenly a red Gyarados burst out of the lake. The gang got scared by that. "That Gyarados is shiny" said Ash. Gyarados began swaying about in the lake. "I think that Gyarados is sick too" said Brock. "Your right Brock," said Ash "and it seems to be in terrible pain too. We should go and get some help".

The gang were about to leave, but then three men came up to them. "You kids aren't going anywhere," said one of the men, who seemed to be the leader, "especially you have seen the red Gyarados". "You are Team Rocket!" shouted Ash, noticing the R sign on the men's vests. "Since you kids also know who we are," said the man "it's all more the reason to not let you kids go". The man sent out a Fearow to battle gang. Ash sent out Flaffy to battle Fearow, as Pikachu was unfit to battle. But as soon as Flaffy came out of her pokeball, she started to feel sick too. This gave the man a chance to attack the gang with Fearow.

But then, at that moment the Fearow was struck by a thunder wave attack. A man, with red hair, was riding a Dragonite. "You kids get away from here" said the man. The gang did as they were told and started to run away into the forest. The Team Rocket agents didn't want the kids to get away, but the man had his Dragonite distract the agents with whirlwind, which blew the agents off their feet. Then the man left with Dragonite to where the gang was.

At that time, the gang had now stopped running, and then the man and his Dragonite showed up. Ash realised that the man was actually Lance of the elite four and introduced himself. Tomo, Misty and Brock introduced themselves too. At that moment, Pikachu, Growlithe and Togepi stopped feeling sick, which made Ash, Tomo and Misty relieved. "What are you kids doing here in the forest?" asked Lance. Ash explained that they were on their way to Mahogany Town, but they got lost and they heard the red Gyarados in the lake. "That red Gyarados is the reason why I'm here" said Lance. "The truth is I'm a member of the organization called the Pokemon G-men". "I've heard of that organization," said Ash "the members patrol around the whole pokemon world, arresting those who abuse pokemon and arrest those who capture pokemon to use in evil ways. As the matter of fact, I'm actually glad that a member of that organization is here. I mean I don't know if you already know this, but Team Rocket have been making moves here in Johto lately". "I do know Ash and that's why I'm here," said Lance "there have been reports that Team Rocket has been doing some experiment here at Lake of Rage". "What kind of experiments?" asked Ash. "I don't know, but it has something to do with that red Gyarados" said Lance. "Is there anything we can do to help?" asked Brock. "No you kids continue on to Mahogany Town," said Lance, giving the kids directions "because of Team Rocket, this forest has become too dangerous for you to be here. You leave this to me". The gang just continued to Mahogany Town, so not to disobey Lance's words.

Deep in the forest, near Lake Rage, was one of Team Rocket's bases. It looked like a warehouse. The Team Rocket grunt from earlier, whose name was Tyson, was talking to a scientist. This scientists name was Dr Sebastian and he was another scientist who worked for Team Rocket. Dr Sebastian was more calm and clever than Dr Namba, and he loved creating experiments that would make pokemon stronger and would trap them. "This experiment is still incomplete," said Dr Sebastian "the red Gyarados was the only pokemon that evolved from its previous form. That's why we need to catch it and examine it. Once the data is complete, the radio waves will be able to make all pokemon evolve without fail". "With that, we will have a very strong pokemon army for Team Rocket" said Tyson. "Unfortunately we don't have the equipment to capture the red Gyarados, while it's on the lake floor" said Dr Sebastian. "So that means we need to lure it to the surface, and then catch it" said Tyson.

Just then a Team Rocket informed Tyson that Jessie, James and Meowth had arrived at the base. "Great," said Tyson "those three will be perfect bait of luring out the red Gyarados for us". Jessie, James and Meowth were in a hallway of the base, waiting for Tyson to give them orders. "What do you think Tyson wants us to do?" asked James. "Probably wants us to guard something" said Jessie. "Might be something top secret, like experiments or equipment" said Meowth. Just then Tyson came up to Jessie, James and Meowth. "What are your orders for us Tyson sir?" asked Jessie. "I called you three here because I have a task for you" said Tyson. He explained that there was a red Gyarados in the lake and they needed someone to lure the pokemon to the surface on the lake. Jessie, James and Meowth were surprised about knowing that a shiny Gyarados was around. "You can leave that to us sir," said James "our water pokemon will easily guide it to the surface". "Good," said Tyson "my men and I will take care of the rest once you bring it to the surface". "Yes sir" said Jessie, James and Meowth together. Then they set off towards the Lake of Rage.

Meanwhile, the gang were walking to Mahogany Town again, but Ash wasn't thinking about his upcoming gym battle now; he was thinking about the red Gyarados and Team Rocket. "We should head back to Lake of Rage and help Lance," he said to the others "I have a really bad feeling that the red Gyarados is in terrible danger because of Team Rocket. And I'm afraid about what's going to happen to all of the wild pokemon around here". Tomo agreed with Ash and so did Brock. "If Team Rocket succeeds in this experiment of theirs, they'll be harming not only the wild pokemon around this area, but everyone's pokemon including our pokemon" said Brock. Misty started to agree with Ash too, so the gang headed back to Lake of Rage to help Lance and the red Gyarados.

Back at base, Team Rocket was getting ready to catch the red Gyarados. Lance was at the base too. He knocked out a Team Rocket agent and stole his uniform to blend in with the other rocket agents. So now he could find out what was going on, without being found out. Jessie and James were getting ready to lure the Gyarados to the lake's surface and had Chinchou and Cloyster out. "Do you want us to fight the Gyarados sir?" asked James. "No just lure to the surface for us" answered Tyson. "Roger!" said James. Jessie and James sent Chinchou and Cloyster into the lake.

The red Gyarados was asleep on the floor of the lake, and it was still in pain. Chinchou and Cloyster swam to where the Cloyster was. Chinchou shined its light very bright over the red Gyarados and it got woken up. Once the red Gyarados was disturbed it got angry and intended to attack Chinchou and Cloyster. Chinchou and Cloyster swam up to the surface as fast as they could. As soon as Chinchou and Cloyster hit the surface, Jessie and James returned them at once, and then the red Gyarados appeared. "Our target is here," said Tyson "release the nets". The Team Rocket agents fired a gigantic net, which trapped Gyarados at once, and then they released electric shocks at Gyarados. The red Gyarados became very weak and unconscious. "Capture complete" said Tyson. "Good, now we take it back to the laboratory for further investigating" said Dr Sebastian.

At that moment, the gang showed up at the lake and saw the red Gyarados in the net. "It must be Team Rocket's work" said Brock. "Oh yeah?" said Ash "well they aren't getting away with this". He sent out Croconaw to help the red Gyarados. Tomo and Misty sent out sent out Totodile and Staryu to help out. Croconaw, Totodile and Staryu swam up to the net and tried to rip it apart to free the red Gyarados.

Dr Sebastian and Tyson noticed the pokemon and saw the gang. "It seems those kids wish to interfere with our plans" said Tyson, crossly. Lance saw them too and couldn't believe that they had come back to the lake. Dr Sebastian ordered his lab assistants to turn on his experiment, which he called the evolution inducement wave. Lance heard everything, and stood by to see what would happen. The agents let of some sort of radio waves, from the base, across Lake of Rage. Totodile, Croconaw and Staryu became sick from the waves, and so did Pikachu, Togepi and Growlithe. "What's going on?" asked Tomo. He, Ash and Misty returned their water pokemon at once. "I get it now," said Brock "the red Gyarados and our pokemon are all being affected by Team Rocket's experiments". "But what experiment is it?" Tomo wanted to know.

Before Tomo's question could be answered, the gang were caught by Tyson and his men. "I'm afraid we can't have you kids messing with us," said Tyson "so you will become our permanent guests". Tyson and his men led the kids to Dr Sebastian. The red Gyarados was being placed into a truck. Ash demanded to know what Team Rocket was doing with the red Gyarados. Dr Sebastian explained about his invention, the evolution inducement wave, and that it would make any pre-evolved pokemon evolve at once. "As you can guess it worked on Gyarados when it was still a Magikarp" said Dr Sebastian. The gang couldn't believe their ears. "How could you?" said Misty "controlling a pokemon's evolution is absolutely against nature". "But even nature can be beaten with science" replied Dr Sebastian. "You won't get away with this" said Ash, angrily. "Complain all you like, but there is nothing you kids can do about this" smirked Tyson.

Tyson had the gang locked up in a prison cell in the base, while he, Dr Sebastian and some grants got ready to transport the red Gyarados to Mahogany Town. They had a hideout there, and they planned to study the red Gyarados there. Jessie and James asked Tyson if there was anything else that he needed them to do. "Guard the kids and make sure they don't try anything" Tyson commanded. Lance was in one of the cars, listening to Dr Sebastian's plans. Then the truck, carrying the red Gyarados started to leave.

In their prison cell, the gang started to think what to do. "We have to get out of here somehow," said Ash "we can't let Team Rocket get away with this". "I agree with you Ash," said Brock "their experiment to make pokemon evolve is so wrong". "But what can we do?" asked Misty "I mean we are locked up tight, and our pokemon are in no good condition to do anything, because of that machine".

Meanwhile Lance was contacting Officer Jenny in Mahogany Town. He told her about Team Rocket, their hideouts at Lake of Rage and Mahogany Town, and about the red Gyarados. "I'll have my men ready to deal with Team Rocket at once," said Officer Jenny "thank you contacting me about this Lance". "My pleasure" said Lance, and the conversation was over. He drove back to the hideout at Lake of Rage to help Ash and the others.

Back at the prison cell, Jessie, James and Meowth arrived on the scene. "Why am I not surprised that you three are here too?" said Ash. "Just lucky I guess" replied James. "Now that you twerps are tied up, this is a good opportunity to grab your pokemon" said Jessie. "You're not taking our pokemon anywhere!" said Misty. "Sorry twerpette, but you don't have a choice," said Jessie "besides I have the gadget which can set you free, but you aren't getting it". "That's what you think" smirked Ash. He used his psychic power to get the device from Jessie's hands and gave it to Pikachu. Pikachu was awake and could easily press the button on the gadget, and then the gang were free. "No way!" gasped Jessie. "How did that happen?" asked James. Jessie and James didn't realise that Ash had psychic abilities. Ash released Dunsparce from his pokeball and had it use glare on Team Rocket. Jessie, James and Meowth were paralyzed and couldn't move. The gang used this chance to escape.

At that moment Lance arrived on the scene. "I warned you kids not to come back to Lake of Rage" he said. "We are sorry Lance," said Ash "but we couldn't allow Team Rocket to get away with their pokemon evolving experiment. Nor could we let them continue of doing cruel things to the red Gyarados". "That's right," said Tomo "we hate Team Rocket as much as you do". "I understand" said Lance. He stared at the hideout. "If we destroy this place, we can destroy Team Rocket's machine". He ordered his Dragonite to attack the hideout with hyper beam. The hideout got destroyed at once by the hyper beam attacks. Then Lance and the gang got into the car to get to Mahogany Town. "Team Rocket must be at their headquarters in Mahogany Town by now" said Lance. "You better step on it Lance" said Ash. Lance agreed with Ash and started to drive fast at once.

Meanwhile Tyson, Dr Sebastian and the agents arrived at their hideout in Mahogany Town. Dr Sebastian took off in another helicopter to get some things ready for the red Gyarados. Just then Tyson got a phone call from Jessie and James, and they told him that the kids escaped and about Lance destroying the hideout at Lake of Rage. Of course Tyson was furious with the report, and said that he will deal with the situation himself. One of his men told him that the helicopters were ready to transport the red Gyarados and then Tyson gave the command to start.

Meanwhile Jessie, James and Meowth, who had fully recovered from their paralysis, tried to think what to do now. "Should we go and help Tyson with the red Gyarados?" asked Meowth. "I don't think that there is any need, because Tyson is strong and smart," said Jessie "besides I don't really want to go anywhere near that Gyarados". James and Meowth didn't want to either. "I suggest we go to another area to find different pokemon" said James. Jessie and Meowth agreed to James's idea and they left Lake of Rage.

At that time, Team Rocket were flying in the helicopters, carrying the red Gyarados in the net. Just then the red Gyarados woke and began struggling in the net, causing the helicopters to get out of control. The evolution inducement beam was wearing off on Gyarados, so the red Gyarados was no longer weak. The pilots were having trouble of controlling the helicopters, and then the red Gyarados made them fall into the river. Gyarados escaped from the net, attacked Team Rocket's warehouse and vehicles with hydro pump, and started to swim down the river. Tyson ordered his men to go after it at once. "The red Gyarados must not escape" he said.

Meanwhile Lance and the gang were still catching up in the van. Ash was switching his Croconaw for his Gyarados; he decided that Gyarados would be the best help for this mission. Suddenly they saw the red Gyarados swimming down the river. "It must have escaped from Team Rocket" said Brock. "That's good to know" said Misty. Lance drove up the car near to the red Gyarados and then stopped it, and everyone got out of the car. "I think the red Gyarados is heading to the town" said Brock. Gyarados was roaring like crazy and was firing hydro pump like crazy. "That Gyarados is out of control with rage" said Lance. "We have to go after it and stop it, otherwise Mahogany Town will be in danger" said Ash. The others agreed with Ash and so did Lance. Lance released his Dragonite for help.

Lance and the gang were just about to run after the red Gyarados, but Tyson and his men showed up. Tyson intended to deal with Lance for destroying the lab. He ordered his men to continue going after the red Gyarados. Ash and the others went ahead to help Gyarados, leaving Lance with Tyson. "You will pay for meddling with my plans" said Tyson. "Those who cruelly force pokemon to evolve, like you, deserve to be stopped" said Lance. Lance got his Dragonite ready to fight and Tyson released two Fearow to battle.

Meanwhile Tyson's grunts caught the red Gyarados in a net and shocked it. Ash and the gang arrived at the scene, and Ash had his Flaffy cut Gyarados free from the net with swift. The rocket grunts planned to take care of the gang, but the red Gyarados woke up and sent the grunts flying with hyper beam.

As soon as the grunts were gone, the red Gyarados continued swimming down the river and kept on firing hydro pump. "Gyarados is really angry, I sense it" said Ash. "It's because of Team Rocket," said Brock "I mean they forced it to evolve from Magikarp, and then they've kept on trying to capture it for experiments. So it's no wonder that it's filled with rage". "Yeah, it's Team Rocket's fault that the red Gyarados is like this" said Tomo. "What should we do?" asked Misty. "We follow it" said Ash. He released his Gyarados from her pokeball and they all went after the red Gyarados.

Back with Lance and Tyson, Tyson ordered his Fearows to fight Dragonite with fury attack. Lance ordered Dragonite to dodge and attack the Fearows with wing attack. Dragonite dodged the Fearow's beaks, and then struck the Fearows with wing attack. "Use hyper beam Fearows" said Tyson. "You too Dragonite" said Lance. The three hyper beam attacks collided with each other. Then Tyson ordered his Fearows to use agility and peck all together. Thanks to the speed of agility, the Fearows were able to hit Dragonite with their peck attacks. "Dragonite use twister" said Lance. Dragonite created a strong twister from its wings, and then the two Fearows got hit and trapped by the twister attack. The Fearows fainted from the twister attack. Then suddenly, Officer Jenny and her men arrived on the scene and arrested Tyson. "You caused trouble around here for the last time" Officer Jenny said to Tyson. Lance was relieved that Tyson was now going to jail, and then he went to red if the red Gyarados and the kids were all right.

At the time, the red Gyarados continued swimming towards Mahogany Town. Ash ordered his Gyarados to stop the red Gyarados in its tracks with dragon rage. "Gyarados don't let that red Gyarados near the town" said Ash. Ash's Gyarados roared to get the red Gyarados attention. The red Gyarados roared back and started to chase her. "Good, now lure the red Gyarados away from Mahogany Town" said Ash. Ash's Gyarados lured the red Gyarados back upstream. "Now what?" asked Misty.

Lance had the answer to Misty's question. "I'll fight Gyarados now and capture it" he said. The gang were surprised that Lance was going to fight the red Gyarados, but Ash understood and returned his Gyarados. "Save the Gyarados from its misery Lance, but try not to harm it so much" said Ash. Lance nodded. He had Dragonite attack the red Gyarados with thunder wave to paralyse it, and then ordered it to use twister. The red Gyarados got hurt by the thunder wave and twister attacks. The red Gyarados fought back with hyper beam. Dragonite dodged the hyper beam attack and then used its own hyper beam attack on Gyarados. The red Gyarados fainted from the hyper beam attack and Lance captured it in a pokeball. "Take good care of it Lance" said Ash. "I will," replied Lance "and I will help it get over its rage, sorrow and pain. And we will become friends". The gang knew that Lance was just the man to take care of the red Gyarados.

After Tyson and his men were arrested, Officer Jenny thanked Lance and the gang for their help, and then she left to continue her investigation. Lance and the gang said to goodbye to each other, and then Lance rode away on his Dragonite back to the Pokemon G-men headquarters. And the gang went onto Mahogany Town.

The lost Piloswine and

Mahogany Gym

After the trouble at Lake of Rage had been cleared, the gang had arrived at Mahogany Town. They spent the night at the pokemon center and had all of their pokemon healed, and now Ash was looking up the Mahogany Gym in the guide book. "What does it say Ash?" asked Misty. "Well according to the book, the gym leader is a man named Pryce," said Ash "and that he uses ice type pokemon. It also says that Pryce is as cold as ice". "What does that mean?" asked Tomo. Brock explained that it was a saying to say that Pryce had a cold personality. "I hope that Pryce will be nice enough to let me battle him" said Ash. "Who will you be using?" asked Misty. "That's easy, I'll be using Quilava, Scizor and Hitmontop, because fire, steel and fighting types beat ice type pokemon" said Ash. "Knowing what to do as usual" smiled Misty.

When everything was ready, the gang headed to Mahogany Gym. The Mahogany Gym looked like one of those ice skating rink buildings. When the gang got there, they realised that the gym leader wasn't there. An elderly woman came up to the gang. "Hello there," she said "I'm Sheila, Pryce's wife. Are you here for a gym battle?" "Yes ma'am we are," said Ash "do you know where Pryce is?" "Pryce will be up at the mountains, meditating underneath a waterfall," said Sheila "he does that every morning". "Oh really?" asked Ash "do you think you can lead us to him please? I wish to challenge him for a gym badge". "Certainly" said Sheila. So Sheila showed the gang the way to where Pryce was. Apparently, Sheila was very full of energy and athletic for an elderly woman. She had no trouble at all of walking up the mountain and climbing over rocks.

They soon found an old man meditating under a waterfall; he was Pryce. "Hey Pryce, you have a challenger" said Sheila. Ash introduced himself to Pryce and asked him for a gym battle. Pryce stopped meditating and noticed Pikachu on Ash's shoulder. He also noticed Growlithe next to Tomo. "Why are those two pokemon not in their pokeballs?" Pryce asked sternly. "It's because Pikachu is my partner," said Ash "and Growlithe is Tomo's partner. And they are also our best friends". "Humph, having a battle with you will be pointless" said Pryce. "What? Why?" asked Ash, who couldn't believe what Pryce said. "Humans and pokemon being best friends is ridiculous," said Pryce, coldly, "being all emotionally with your pokemon is not going to make you a great pokemon trainer".

Ash thought that Pryce was being rude and was about to speak up. But then Tomo spoke up first. "The one who's ridiculous here is you," he said at Pryce "Growlithe and I have been friends for a few years, and we have grown strong together because of our friendship". Growlithe barked in agreement. Pryce stared at Tomo and Growlithe. "You young ones don't know the true meaning of pokemon training," he said "my son and daughter never understood the true meaning of pokemon training. It's discipline on your pokemon and showing them who's boss is what I have done for the last forty years of my life".

Pryce's words were clear to Ash that Pryce has been cold to his pokemon and trains them with very strict discipline. "Look here Pryce," said Ash "I don't know what on earth happened to you or your pokemon forty years ago, but friendship between humans and pokemon always prevails no matter what the situation is. And I know that because my pokemon and I go through everything together, because we are friends". Pikachu nodded in agreement. Pryce huffed. "I shall challenge you to a mock battle here and right now," said Pryce "and then I shall see if you are capable of battling me at the gym". "Very well, I accept" said Ash. Ash accepted it because he figured it was the only way to convince Pryce to battle him.

Ash and Pryce took their place to battle, somewhere away from the waterfall and near a cliff. Pryce sent out Dewgong to battle and Ash sent out Pikachu to battle. "Using Pikachu is a smart move, as electric types do beat water types" said Brock. "Yes but Ash will still have to watch out for Dewgong's ice attacks" said Misty. Misty knew about Dewgong pretty well for being a water type pokemon trainer. "Ice beam Dewgong" said Pryce. Dewgong fired an ice beam attack from its horn. Ash ordered Pikachu to use agility to dodge the ice beam attack, and Pikachu dodged the ice beam attack as easy as pie. "All right Pikachu let's give the Dewgong a focus punch" said Ash. Pikachu ran up to Dewgong, with his right paw glowing white, and then he punched Dewgong really hard. The focus punch hurt Dewgong well. "Sorry Pryce," smiled Ash "but I already know that ice type pokemon can't handle fighting type moves". "Humph not bad kid" snorted Pryce "let's use headbutt Dewgong". Dewgong charged at Pikachu, getting to headbutt him with its horn. But Ash stayed calm. "Pikachu show it your egg move" he said. Pikachu ran over to Dewgong, with his body becoming surrounded by electricity, and then it tackled Dewgong hard. "Wow what was that?" gasped Misty. She had never seen this move before. "That was volt tackle," said Brock "a powerful electric move. And only Pichu and its evolution line can learn it through breeding". "So that means no other electric type pokemon can learn it?" asked Tomo. "That's correct" said Brock. Misty and Tomo were amazed by this.

Dewgong fainted from the electric move, earning Ash the victory. Ash and Pikachu were happy and butted fists with each other. "That Ash is some trainer" said Sheila. "So Pryce, now will you accept my gym battle?" said Ash. Pryce returned his Dewgong in a huff. "Just because you won does not mean I accept having a gym battle with you" he said. "What?" said Ash. He was not happy with this. Sheila wasn't happy with Pryce either. "Pryce you are a gym leader, and since Ash wishes to battle your gym you should accepted his request" she said. Pryce stared at Sheila and Ash. "Walk with me Ash" said Pryce, and he started to walk through the mountain area. Ash was puzzled by Pryce's request, but he did as he was asked and followed Pryce.

Pryce led Ash to an area of the mountains, where there was entrances to some caves. "Let me tell you something Ash," said Pryce "I was like you in my younger years; loving to go on a pokemon journey and participate in pokemon battles. And of course I loved all my pokemon like they were my family. But I changed my feelings forty years ago". "Please excuse my curiosity Pryce, but what happened?" said Ash "I want to know the real reason why you don't like the fact of humans and pokemon being friends". Pryce looked at Ash. "Since you are eager to know, I will tell you" he said.

Pryce told Ash that in his youth, his favourite pokemon and best friend was a Piloswine. "We fought in many pokemon battles and tournaments together," said Pryce "and we were unstoppable together. But one day, everything changed when Piloswine and I faced an opponent with a Magmar". Pryce explained that his Piloswine got really hurt by Magmar's fire attacks, as Piloswine is an ice type pokemon. And then Magmar used fire blast to finish off Piloswine, and then Pryce ran over to protect Piloswine. In the process, both Pryce and Piloswine got really hurt and burned from the fire blast attack. "While I was recovering from my burns in a cottage, Piloswine got up and left me. And that's why I don't treat my pokemon as family anymore, only as business".

Ash and Pikachu felt sorry for Pryce for what had happened. But then Ash looked thoughtful. "Do excuse me Pryce," he said "but I have a feeling that Piloswine didn't leave you because you lost that match. I mean I know I have only been a trainer for nearly three years now, but I do know that a pokemon wouldn't leave it's trainer because from losing a match. I think that there is something else behind Piloswine's disappearance". Pryce just huffed.

At that moment, Pikachu noticed something twinkling from inside one of the caves and ran over to the cave. "Hey Pikachu what's wrong?" asked Ash. Pikachu led Ash and Pryce to a metal object on the ground; it was a leg bracelet for pokemon. When Pryce saw it, he picked it up at once. "I recognize this leg bracelet," he said "it belongs to my Piloswine". Ash was surprised by that and looked at the cave. "Pryce I think we should explore this cave," he said "since Piloswine's leg bracelet is here, I'm getting a weird feeling saying we may find clues of your lost Piloswine. Come on let's go". Pryce felt uncertain about Ash's words, but he followed Ash anyway.

Ash and Pryce walked on and on into the cave. Ash was concentrating with his psychic power to see if he could locate anything on Pryce's Piloswine. It didn't seem right to Ash that Piloswine disappeared from Pryce; he wanted to find out the real story. Soon they had reached a cave, which was covered in ice all over. "Wow what a cave" said Ash. "It's like a cave of crystals" said Pryce.

Suddenly they saw a big block of ice, with something frozen inside of it. It was a Piloswine. Pryce looked at the frozen Piloswine. "It's my Piloswine" he said. "Are you sure?" asked Ash, who was surprised by this. Then he noticed that the Piloswine was carrying some leaves. Pryce explained that the leaves were herbs that were used for healing burns on pokemon and humans. Then Ash understood what had really happened. "This means Pryce that Piloswine knew that these herbs would help you and came here to get them for you. But it got into trouble on the way back and ended up frozen in this block of ice. Piloswine didn't mean to disappear from you for all these years at all". Pryce realised that he had been wrong about Piloswine and started to cry. "I'm sorry Piloswine" he said, tearfully.

Ash was happy that Pryce now knew the real truth and that Piloswine was found again. "Okay Pryce," he said "let's get Piloswine out of that ice". He released Quilava from the pokeball and ordered him to melt the ice with flamethrower. Quilava melted the ice at once. Then Ash had Pikachu use thundershock on Piloswine to wake it up. Pikachu shocked Piloswine two times, but it still didn't wake up from its frozen state. Things looked hopeless, but then Piloswine woke up. Pryce walked over to Piloswine. "Piloswine it's me Pryce," he said "do you remember me?" Piloswine nodded to say yes. Pryce was happy that Piloswine still remembered him and hugged it, crying tears of happiness. "Real friendship between pokemon and humans does last forever" he said. "I take it you believe what I told you earlier Pryce" asked Ash. "Yes Ash I do" smiled Pryce. Ash was relieved to hear that.

But then Piloswine fainted from exhaustion; it was tired and weak from being in the ice for forty years. "Use rest Piloswine" said Pryce. Piloswine went to sleep and then started to glow blue. "I know that move," said Ash "the pokemon, using rest, goes to sleep and then while it's asleep it heals its energy". "That's correct," said Pryce "you're a clever lad Ash". Ash suggested they took Piloswine to the pokemon center at once and Pryce agreed. When Piloswine had recovered, Ash and Pryce walked out of the cave.

Meanwhile Misty, Tomo and Brock were waiting for Ash and Pryce with Sheila. Sheila had explained to them about Pryce's Piloswine and why Pryce acted cold. Misty, Tomo and Brock felt sorry for Pryce. Just then Ash and Pryce turned up. Pryce revealed his long lost Piloswine. Sheila was surprised that Piloswine had been found. "This is a miracle" she said. Misty, Tomo and Brock were happy for Pryce too. Pryce turned to Ash. "Ash I thank you for helping me find Piloswine," he said "and for making me realize that I had been wrong about humans and pokemon being friends being ridiculous". "I'm glad that you finally knew the real truth about Piloswine's disappearance" said Ash. "I now agree to challenge you to a gym match Ash," said Pryce "but we shall have the challenge tomorrow. I need to get my Piloswine healed at the pokemon center". "I understand" said Ash. "I shall also need to phone my son and daughter and explain to them about Piloswine and also apologize to them for always trying to make them to never befriend their pokemon". "I'm sure they will understand after you tell them about Piloswine" said Ash.

And so Pryce got his Piloswine to recover in the pokemon center and Ash and the gang spent the night at the pokemon center.

The next day it was now time for Ash to battle Pryce and earn his seventh gym badge. "Okay," said Ash "I'm ready now". He and the others were walking back to Mahogany Gym. "You better watch out for Piloswine Ash," said Brock "I mean I know Pryce and Piloswine were separated for forty years, but Sheila told us that he and Piloswine were really tough opponents". "I know Brock," said Ash "but you don't need to worry, because I have the perfect pokemon to fight Piloswine". "Oh" replied Brock. He, Misty and Tomo couldn't wait to see Ash's strategy.

At that time Pryce was at the gym, tending to his ice pokemon. Outside the gym were small pools of ice for his ice pokemon to roam around in. Apart from Piloswine and a Dewgong, Pryce had a couple of Seel, a Cloyster, and a couple of Shellder, a Lapras and a Jynx with a couple of Smoochum. He even had a couple of Swinub. Sheila was in the gym too, seeing how Pryce and his pokemon were doing. "Seeing you tend to Piloswine like this brings me back to our younger years" she said. "Me too," said Pryce "and I have Ash to thank for this". Sheila agreed.

At that moment Ash and the gang arrived at the gym. Pryce greeted the gang and couldn't wait to battle Ash. Misty asked about how their son and daughter reacted when Pryce told them about Piloswine. "They were happy for their dad for finding Piloswine," said Sheila "and they are coming here tomorrow, along with their children, to see Piloswine". "Glad to hear that" said Misty.

Pryce led the gang to the battlefield, inside the gym. The battlefield was an ice rink, with a little pool, and lots of blocks of ice. "Wow what a battlefield" said Ash. "Since I own an ice type gym, I like to make it icy" said Pryce. Ash couldn't wait to get the battle started and walked onto his side of the battlefield, while Pryce walked onto his side. Tomo, Misty and Brock stood behind Ash and Sheila took her place as the referee at the side.

Now the match had begun. Pryce sent out Dewgong to battle and Ash sent out Hitmontop to battle. "Be careful on the battlefield Hitmontop," said Ash "the ice will be very slippery". Hitmontop nodded to understand. Pryce ordered his Dewgong to use ice beam at Hitmontop, and Dewgong fired a beam of ice towards Hitmontop. Ash told Hitmontop to use double team to avoid being struck by the ice beam. The idea worked; the ice beam attack only hit one of the copies. "Clever Ash, but it's not enough, use blizzard Dewgong" said Pryce. Dewgong fired a blizzard attack at the copies, and the copies vanished one by one. "Quick jump into the water" said Ash. The real Hitmontop quickly jumped into the pool just in time to dodge the blizzard attack. "Using the pool was a good idea to dodge the blizzard attacks" said Brock. "I'm glad that Hitmontop knows how to swim, even though it's not a water type" said Misty. Pryce had Dewgong to dive into the pool and use headbutt on Hitmontop. Tomo, Misty and Brock feared that this could be trouble, because Dewgong's horn was something to never underestimate, especially in the water. But Ash just looked calm. "Now use close combat" he said to Hitmontop. Hitmontop punched and kicked very quick and hard, and Dewgong got punched out of the water. "No Dewgong!" shouted Pryce. "Now finish it with gyro ball" said Ash. Hitmontop began to spin really fast, with his arms and legs glowing blue, and then Hitmontop spun into Dewgong. Dewgong got pushed back onto a block of ice and then it fainted. "Dewgong is unable to battle," said Sheila "this battle goes to Hitmontop".

Ash and Hitmontop were happy with their first victory. Tomo, Misty and Brock were happy for them too. Brock explained that close combat was a fighting type move, and that gyro ball was a steel type move, which was why they had a great effect on Dewgong. "Trust Ash to use the right pokemon for the matches" said Misty. Pryce returned Dewgong. "You did well my friend" he said. Because they found Piloswine, Pryce had started treating his pokemon as friends again. "I can tell Ash that you and your pokemon have a lot of trust with each other. And that your bond is very strong". "I didn't make it up you know when I told you yesterday about my pokemon and I being best friends Pryce" said Ash. Pryce smiled in agreement, and even Sheila could see the strong bond between Ash and his pokemon.

Pryce sent out his next pokemon; Piloswine. "I had a feeling that he would use Piloswine," said Ash "be careful Hitmontop, this Piloswine may be tough to beat". Hitmontop got ready to fight. Misty wondered how well Piloswine would do because of the pool. Brock explained that Piloswine was also a ground type, so it would be weak against the water. "I wonder what will happen?" said Tomo. Pryce ordered Piloswine to use blizzard. The blizzard was thick and strong and it was hard to see what was going on. "Now Piloswine use take-down" said Pryce. Piloswine charged at Hitmontop and tackled him really hard. Hitmontop got tackled into an ice block and fainted. "Hitmontop is unable to battle," said Sheila "this battle goes to Piloswine".

Misty couldn't believe that Piloswine could do take-down, with the pool in the way. But then she and the others noticed that the pool was frozen in ice. "That blizzard attack must have done that," said Brock "and now Piloswine can move anywhere it wants to on the ice field". Ash returned Hitmontop and sent out Scizor. "Scizor's a good choice," said Brock "as it's a steel type, Piloswine's ice moves won't do much damage to it". "Yeah and steel type beats ice types" said Misty.

Ash told Scizor to fly over the battlefield, so that Scizor wouldn't have trouble on the icy field. "Sorry Pryce," he said "but I came prepared just in case I would have to deal with a slippery icy field". Pryce smiled. "I'm impressed of you being prepared Ash," he said "but Piloswine and I are not going to be thrown off by this. Piloswine use blizzard". Piloswine fired a blizzard attack at Scizor, but Ash fired Scizor counter it with flash cannon, and the flash cannon broke the blizzard apart. "Great Scizor now use steel wing" said Ash. Scizor flew towards Piloswine, with his wings glowing white, and then he struck Piloswine with the steel wing attack. "Piloswine use rest" said Pryce. Piloswine went to sleep and began to heal itself. "Quick Scizor use bullet punch" said Ash. Scizor quickly rushed over to Piloswine, with his pincers glowing white, and then he punched Piloswine hard. "No Piloswine," said Pryce. At that time Piloswine woke up. "Quick use fury attack" said Pryce. Piloswine hit Scizor hard with its fury attack. "Fight back with Iron head Scizor" said Ash. The top of Scizor's head glowed white, and then head-butted Piloswine hard.

After a lot of attacks Piloswine and Scizor were still willing to fight. "This is some battle," said Brock "both Piloswine and Scizor still have the will to fight on". "Yeah and Piloswine is putting up a real fight, even though it hasn't battled for forty years" said Misty. "This is exciting" said Tomo.

Ash and Pryce were enjoying this gym battle very much. Pryce ordered his Piloswine to use take-down and Ash ordered Scizor to use bullet punch. After the tackling and punching, Ash was about to give Scizor another command. But then Pryce threw in a towel, which meant that it was forfeiting the match. And since Pryce forfeited the battle, this meant that Ash was the winner of the gym battle. Pryce explained that the reason he quitted was because he didn't want Piloswine to be more hurt than it already was, especially since it had been in a block of ice for forty years. Ash understood at once.

Pryce and Piloswine walked over to Ash. "Ash in all my years as a trainer, I have never had a battle with a trainer like you," he said "I found your strength as a pokemon trainer really remarkable". "Thank you Pryce," said Ash "and I had a great time battling your Piloswine". Pryce took something out of his pocket. "Ash because of your victory I present to you the Glacier Badge". The Glacier badge was light blue and white, in the shape of a hexagon and with a snowflake design. Ash thanked Pryce and accepted it. "Only one more gym badge to go" he smiled.

After the gym battle was over, the gang got ready to leave Mahogany Town. "I thank you again Ash for helping me find my long lost Piloswine and for helping me lose my cold personality towards pokemon and humans" said Pryce. "Think nothing of it," said Ash "I'm glad I was able to help". "Well I wish you luck on the rest of the journey Ash" said Pryce, shaking Ash's hand. The gang said goodbye to Pryce and Sheila and left Mahogany Town.

The Dragon's Den, Blackthorn Gym

And Wynaut

Ash and the gang were on the way to Blackthorn City, where Ash could earn his last gym badge for the Johto League. Along the way they had run into some adventures. First they ran into a fire pokemon trainer named Egan, who loved fire pokemon very much, and he had a Flareon and a Magcargo. Next they came across a mysterious lake that electric pokemon always gathered to, and in the process they met a wild Zapdos, and the gang swore to never tell anyone about this. And last of all they encountered the icy path, which was a very long icy cave filled with lots ice pokemon. But now they were getting near to Blackthorn City.

Just then they saw a Dratini sleeping on the ground next to a lake. "Hey what is it doing there all by itself?" asked Ash. Just then a Gyarados popped out of the lake and fired a hydro pump attack at them. "Hey what did you do that for?" commanded Ash. A blue haired woman came up and answered Ash's question. "I apologize for that, my Gyarados protects my Dratini whenever there are strangers about" she said, and returned Gyarados to its pokeball. Ash understood and introduced himself to the woman. Tomo, Misty and Brock introduced themselves as well. The woman introduced herself as Clair, the gym leader of the gym in Blackthorn City. When Ash heard that Clair was the gym leader, he asked if he could challenge her to a gym battle. "I gladly accept your challenge Ash," said Claire "but I have to perform an important ritual today, before I can accept any gym challengers first". "What important ritual is that?" asked Brock. "I can answer that question" said a voice behind them.

The voice belonged to an old man and he was carrying a green rucksack on his back. "My name is Kaburagi," said the man "and I'm Clair's assistant at the gym". Kaburagi explained that Clair had to take the old dragon fang to the dragon's den. He showed them a very old dragon fang from his rucksack. "Hey I read one time that a dragon fang can power up dragon type moves" said Ash. "That is correct," said Kaburagi "and this old dragon fang is a priceless treasure to the Blackthorn Gym". He explained that the old dragon fang had been in the Blackthorn Gym ever since the first gym leader. "It's a tradition that the gym leader of Blackthorn Gym takes this old dragon fang to the shrine that's in the dragon's den, and perform a special ritual in there". The gang was fascinated by this. Just then Ash asked Clair if they could watch the ritual. "Yeah could we?" asked Misty "it sounds exciting to watch". Clair and Kaburagi saw nothing wrong with that and allowed the gang to join them.

So Clair and Kaburagi led the gang the way to the dragon's den. The dragon's den was located just outside Blackthorn City. Along the way Clair revealed that Lance of the elite four was her cousin, what made the gang very surprised indeed, and the gang told Clair about their meeting with Lance outside Mahogany Town. Soon they reached a lake, and the entrance to the dragon's den was on the other side of the lake, in the cliffs. Clair sent out her Gyarados and everyone got onto its back to cross the lake and into dragon's den.

The dragon's den was a very dark cave. Ash sent out Lanturn to light up the way. The other problem was there were some whirlpools in the dragon's den. Misty sent out her Staryu to deal with the whirlpools with whirlpool attack. Soon they were getting near the shrine, which stood in the middle of the dragon's den. "I take it Lance has been here as well right Clair?" asked Ash. "That's correct Ash," said Clair "all dragon type trainers come here to pray for all the dragon type trainers of the past to guide them on their quests. So both Lance and I have prayed here to have our quests, being great dragon type trainers, be successful". "I see" said Ash.

Finally they reached the shrine of the dragon's den. Suddenly three old men ran out of the shrine; they were the priests of the shrine. "Oh Clair we are glad you are here" one of them said. "Has something happened?" asked Clair. One of the priests explained that they were getting the shrine ready for Clair's ritual, but then a thief broke into the shrine and stole all the dragon fangs from the master of the dragon clan. "Oh my!" gasped Kaburagi "I'm glad that this thief hadn't stolen the old dragon fang". "Is the master okay?" asked Clair. "Oh he's alright," answered one of the priests "he's just in a bit of a shock from the attack". Clair ran into the shrine to see if the master was okay and Kaburagi and the gang followed.

The inside of the shrine was in a mess; scrolls were over the floor, boxes on the floor and some statues knocked over. Clair ran over to the master, who was an old man, to see if he was okay. The master of the dragon clan was in charge of the dragon's den shrine and he was also a teacher to those who wanted to become dragon pokemon trainers. The master was okay, but he was cross that the dragon fangs had been stolen. "You must get those dragon fangs' back," he said to Clair "the thief plans to sell them to make money and he can't do that". "Don't worry master," said Clair "I'll go get them back at once". The gang offered to help and Clair accepted, and they all got back to Gyarados to go after the thief. Kaburagi stayed behind to help the priests and master tidy up the shrine.

Meanwhile the thief who was a man wearing a black jacket was in a motor boat, on the lake. "I did good stealing those dragon fangs" he laughed. He drove the motor boat to the shore of the lake and placed down his bag of things down on the grass to look at them. Apart from stealing dragon fangs; he had also stolen other items that powered up a pokemon's moves, like charcoals for fire types, magnets for electric types etc. "I'll be getting a lot of money by selling this lot" he said.

At that moment, Clair and the gang arrived. "Stop right there thief!" shouted Clair "dive back those dragon fangs!" "Not a chance girl," said the thief "I need these for making money". He started to run off. "Oh no you don't!" shouted Ash. He and Tomo commanded Pikachu and Growlithe to go after the thief, while they also gave chase. The thief noticed the pokemon following him and sent out a Primeape to deal with them. The gang saw the Primeape and then Clair sent out her Dratini to battle it. "I'll deal with Primeape, you kids continue chasing the thief" she said.

While Ash and the gang ran after the thief, Clair challenged the Primeape. She commanded Dratini to use thunder wave on Primeape. Primeape got hit by the attack and became paralyzed, but it didn't give up on fighting. Primeape hit Dratini with karate chop. "Dratini attack with slam" said Clair. Dratini slammed into Primeape really hard. "Well done Dratini".

Suddenly Dratini started to glow and then it evolved into Dragonair. Clair was amazed by her pokemon's evolution, but she concentrated on Primeape. "Use twister Dragonair" she said. Dragonair created a tornado from its tail and sent it at Primeape. Prime fainted from the twister attack. "Good job Dragonair," said Clair "now we must catch up to the thief". She got onto Dragonair's black and they flew into the sky to catch up to the thief.

At that time Ash and the gang were still chasing after the thief. "Grrr these kids are getting on my nerves" the thief said to himself. He was about to throw another pokemon out of a pokeball to hold the gang off, but then he was stopped in his tracks by a thunder wave attack. Clair and Dragonair had arrived. The gang were surprised to see Dragonair. "Her Dratini must have evolved" said Brock. Clair ordered her Dragonair to use ice beam at the thief. Dragonair fired an ice beam at the thief's feet and the thief's feet got trapped in a block of ice, so the thief couldn't escape. Ash took the thief's bag of loot from him and Brock ran to get the police. "Stealing from a shrine is unforgivable," Clair said to the thief "and I will be taking those dragon fangs back to the shrine".

Soon the police were on the scene and they arrested the thief. "I'm glad you were able to catch this thief," said Officer Jenny "this guy buys and steals things and then he sells them for unfair prices to trainers". Everyone had a look at all the things that the thief had in his bag. Apart from charcoals, dragon fangs and magnets, the thief had black glasses, miracle seeds, black belts, never-melt ices, hard stones, mystic water pendants, metal coats, poison barbs, silk scarves, sharp beaks, silver powders, soft sands, twisted spoons and spell tags. "Wow, all of these are items used to power up a pokemon's moves" said Brock. Clair picked up all the dragon fangs. "The master will be happy to know that the dragon fangs are all okay" she said. The gang stared at the other items and asked Officer Jenny if the other things had been stolen. "No all the other things had been brought fairly," Officer Jenny answered "so I guess I can take all the other stuff to Nurse Joy and she could figure out what to do with them. But before I do that you four trainers can help yourselves to any of the stuff". "What, can we?" asked Misty. "Course you can, besides you earned the rights for these things because of your help capturing the thief" said Officer Jenny. The gang were delighted with their reward and picked out what they wanted at once. Ash picked out one each of all the items, except the metal coat and mystic water pendant because he already had them, and Tomo picked all the items as well. Misty picked up a never-melt ice and two mystic water pendants; she wanted one to wear round her neck all the time. Brock picked up a hard stone and a soft sound. "Wow, this saved us a lot of trouble of having to search and buy these in shops" said Ash, placing his stuff into his back pack. "I agree" said Misty, and she placed her mystic water pendant around her neck at once. Officer Jenny thanked Clair and the gang again, and then she and her men left with the thief.

Clair and the gang went back to the shrine and returned the dragon fangs at once. The shrine was now all tidy again by the time. The master and priests were happy to have the dragon fangs returned, and they thanked Clair and the gang at once. Clair told Kaburagi about her Dratini's evolution and Kaburagi was happy for her. Just then Kaburagi said that now it was time for Clair to perform the ritual.

Clair knelt down in front of the shrine, and held the old dragon fang in her hands. The master and priests were kneeling at the sides, doing a prayer, and Kaburagi and the gang watched from behind. Clair said a little prayer and then the old dragon fang began to glow. "May you continue to watch over future dragon type trainers always" said Clair. Then the glow stopped; the ritual was now complete. "What happened?" asked Tomo. Kaburagi explained that the legend says that the past dragon type trainers and gym leaders look down on the present dragon trainers and gym leaders. And that the ritual was to pray to them to continue watching over them and to watch over future dragon type trainers.

After the ritual was over, Clair, Kaburagi and the gang headed to Blackthorn City. "Ash, you and I will have our gym battle tomorrow" said Clair. "I can't wait for it Clair" replied Ash.

The next day it was now time for Ash to battle Clair and earn his final gym badge. "Even though this will be my twentieth gym battle, this will be my first dragon type gym battle" said Ash. "You're right about that Ash;" said Brock "truth is you hardly get any gyms that use dragon type pokemon. You normally get the usual water, grass or fire type gyms". "What pokemon are you going to use Ash?" asked Misty "I mean dragon type pokemon aren't the easiest pokemon to beat you know". "I'm using Croconaw and Lanturn," said Ash "and I've got an old dragon friend of mine to battle as well". "You mean you're using your Dragonite in this battle?" asked Brock. "That's correct Brock" smiled Ash. "Awe I can't wait to see that" said Tomo.

They soon came to the Blackthorn Gym. The Blackthorn Gym was huge; the size of a mansion. Kaburagi welcomed the gang and led them to the gym's battlefield, where Clair was waiting for them. The battlefield was big as well and there was a pool for water pokemon in the middle. "I take it you're ready for our gym challenge huh Ash?" asked Clair. "Yes Clair I am" said Ash, confidently. Tomo, Misty and Brock took their place behind Ash. "I wonder if Ash will be okay against a dragon type gym" said Brock. "Big brother will win," said Tomo "I mean he has dealt with dragon types before". "You're right about that Tomo, he has" said Misty. She remembered when Ash dealt with a Dragonite in the Orange Islands and defeated a Kingdra in the Whirl Cup. Brock remembered too and started to believe that Ash would be okay. Kaburagi served as the gym referee and explained that the match was a three on three pokemon battle, and the first to knock out three pokemon wins. Then he declared the match to begin.

Clair sent out her first pokemon; a Kingdra. Ash sent out Croconaw. "This is like the Whirl Cup" said Misty, remembering when Ash's Croconaw went up against a Kingdra in the Whirl Cup. "All right Croconaw let's use dragon claw" said Ash. Croconaw charged at Kingdra to scratch it. "Kingdra dodge with agility" said Clair. Kingdra dodged Croconaw's dragon claw attack. "Try to attack Kingdra with crunch Croconaw" said Ash. Croconaw tried to bite down on Kingdra, with his jaws, but Kingdra kept on dodging Croconaw. "Attack the Croconaw with hydro pump Kingdra" said Clair. Ash commanded Croconaw to fight back with his own hydro pump attack. The two hydro pump attacks collided like crazy, and then both Croconaw and Kingdra got hit by the hydro pump attacks. "Croconaw use dragon claw now" said Ash. Croconaw scratched Kingdra good with his dragon claw attack and Kingdra got hurt. "It's a good thing that Croconaw does know the dragon move, dragon claw," said Brock "because dragon beats dragon". "You're right" smiled Misty. Then Ash had Croconaw use focus punch on Kingdra. Kingdra got punched really hard and then fainted. "Kingdra is unable to battle," said Kaburagi "Croconaw is the winner of this round". "Way to go Croconaw" said Ash. Tomo was cheering for Ash's first victory. "I have to say, Croconaw is certainly a lot stronger than it was as a Totodile" said Brock. "Wait till he becomes a Feraligatr," said Misty "he will become stronger then".

Clair returned Kingdra and sent out her next pokemon; a Gyarados. "Croconaw, you still all right to battle?" asked Ash. Croconaw was okay. "Use ice fang". Croconaw charged to bite Gyarados with ice fang. "Gyarados fight back with dragon breath" said Clair. Gyarados fired a blue-green flame, from its mouth, at Croconaw. Ash tried to have Croconaw dodge the attack, but Croconaw got hit by the attack and he became paralysed. The move dragon breath had the ability to paralyze the target. "Oh no being paralyzed will be trouble for Croconaw," said Ash "Croconaw try to use hydro pump". Croconaw tried to open his mouth to release a hydro pump attack, but his paralyses prevented him from doing so. "Gyarados attack now with hyper beam" said Clair. Gyarados fired hyper beam at Croconaw, and Croconaw got hit by it before he had the chance to dodge it, and then Croconaw fainted. "Croconaw is unable to battle," said Kaburagi "this round goes to Gyarados".

Ash returned Croconaw and sent out his next pokemon, Lanturn. "Lanturn's a good choice," said Brock "its electric attacks will easily defeat Gyarados, a water and flying type". "Yes, but don't forget," said Misty "Gyarados is the type of water pokemon that would never give up, no matter what opponent is facing". Brock and Tomo knew that Misty was right. But they all knew that Ash was the type of human, who would never give up in a fight no matter what opponent he was facing.

Clair commanded her Gyarados to use bite on Lanturn. Ash commanded Lanturn to dodge Gyarados with agility and use thunderbolt to attack. Thanks to agility, Lanturn dodged Gyarados easily and then he shocked Gyarados well with thunderbolt. But Gyarados wasn't defeated yet. "Gyarados use hydro pump" said Clair. Ash commanded to use ice beam at the hydro pump. When the hydro pump and ice beam collided with each other, the hydro pump turned into ice and broke apart over the gym floor. "Now Lanturn use thunderbolt again" said Ash. Lanturn fired thunderbolt at Gyarados again, and this time Gyarados fainted from the attack. "Gyarados is unable to battle," said Kaburagi "this round goes to Lanturn". Tomo was cheering for Ash's won. "Now Clair only has one pokemon left" said Misty. "Yes but her last pokemon is Dragonair" said Brock. "I don't think you need to worry Brock," said Misty "Lanturn knows the move ice beam and dragon pokemon can't handle ice type moves". "Yes you're right" said Brock.

Clair returned Gyarados and sent out Dragonair. "Let's see how you'll do against my Dragonair Ash" she said. "I'm ready for this," said Ash "Lanturn use ice beam". Lanturn fired ice beam at Dragonair. "Use flamethrower Dragonair" said Clair. Dragonair blew a flamethrower at the ice beam attack and the ice beam melted. "Sorry Ash," said Clair "but I had a feeling you would use ice type attacks. So I had my Dragonair learn flamethrower to counter attack ice type attacks". "Clair is smart," said Ash "but I'm not giving up. Use bubblebeam Lanturn". Lanturn fired lots of bubbles at Dragonair, but Dragonair dodged the attack, and then fired hyper beam at Lanturn. Lanturn got hit by the hyper beam and was hurt. Then Clair ordered Dragonair to use iron tail. Again Lanturn got hit by the attack and then he fainted. "Lanturn is unable to battle," said Kaburagi "Dragonair wins this round".

Ash returned Lanturn. "Defeating that Dragonair sure won't be easy" said Misty. "Yeah, especially since it knows flamethrower to defend itself against ice attacks" said Brock. Ash sent out Dragonite to battle now. "I can't wait to see these two dragons fighting each other" said Tomo, excitedly. Misty and Brock couldn't either as seeing two dragon pokemon battling each other was an exciting event. Just then the roof of the gym started to come off. "What's going on?" asked Ash. Kaburagi explained that having the roof off meant that flying types can easily fly around the battle field. Since Dragonair and Dragonite can fly; having the roof off would be easier for them to fly about.

Clair commanded her Dragonair to use hyper beam at Dragonite. Ash commanded his Dragonite to dodge the attack, and she did. "Okay Dragonite use dragon pulse". Dragonite fired a dragon pulse attack from her mouth and Dragonair got hit by it. "Dragonair take to the sky now" said Clair. Dragonair got out of the pool and into the air. "Now use iron tail". Dragonair's tail glowed and it got ready to strike Dragonite, but Ash had Dragonite counter the attack with dragon tail. The two dragons were clashing at each other with their tails. "This is some battle," said Brock "I mean I have never seen dragon pokemon fight like this before". Misty and Tomo hadn't either. Ash commanded Dragonite to use extreme speed and Dragonite charged into Dragonair really hard. "Don't give up Dragonair, use dragon rage" said Clair. Dragonair fired a big blue orb of energy at Dragonite and Dragonite got hit by it. "Hang in there Dragonite" said Ash. Just then Dragonite's body got surrounded by a blue and white dragon shaped energy, and then she slammed into Dragonair really hard. "Wow, what was that?" asked Misty. "That was dragon rush," said Brock "it's one of the strongest dragon type moves". Ash was happy that Dragonite learnt how to use dragon rush. Because of Dragonite's new dragon type move, Clair's Dragonair couldn't battle anymore and fainted. "Dragonair is unable to battle," said Kaburagi "Dragonite is the winner of this match, and the winner of this gym battle is Ash".

Ash was happy for his victory and hugged Dragonite at once. Tomo, Misty and Brock ran over to Ash at once and congratulated him at once. "You and your pokemon were great out there" said Misty. "Yeah especially since Dragon type pokemon like Dragonair are not the easiest to beat" said Brock. "You were great big brother" said Tomo, hugging Ash. Clair and Kaburagi walked over to Ash. "Ash, that was the greatest battle that I've ever had in life" said Clair. "Yes you are one impressive trainer" said Kaburagi. "Thank you" said Ash. "So Ash I now give you the Rising Badge as proof of your victory" said Clair. The Rising Badge was red and black and was shaped like a dragon's face. Ash thanked Clair and accepted his gym badge at once.

That evening Ash had his pokemon healed at the pokemon center and had sent Dragonite back to Prof Oak. "It was a good idea to use Dragonite in the gym battle Ash" said Brock. "I know," said Ash "especially since dragon pokemon can only be beaten by dragon types and ice types". "Yes and now you can register for the Johto League" said Misty. Misty was right; Ash now had eight gym badges. "I wonder where the Johto League is being held though" said Ash. He didn't know where it was. "Let's find out tomorrow," suggested Brock "we need to go to bed now, especially you Ash". Ash was pretty tired from today, so he and the others fell asleep in the pokemon centre's rooms.

The next day, Ash and the gang were having breakfast with Clair at her gym. Ash asked Clair if she knew where the Johto League was being held. Sure enough Clair did know. She explained that the Johto League, called the Silver Conference, was to be held in three months' time at Mt Silver. "How do we get there?" asked Brock. "I'm afraid I don't know," said Clair "but I suggest you go and see Prof Elm in New Bark Town. He will probably know". The gang thought that was a great idea and asked Clair for directions to get to New Bark Town from Blackthorn City.

Suddenly Growlithe started to bark at the bushes. "What's wrong Growlithe?" asked Tomo. Growlithe started to run towards the bushes and Tomo followed him. When they reached the bushes and looked behind it, they found something shocking. There was a blue pokemon, with a black tail, that nearly looked like a Wobbuffet, only smaller, panting heavily on the ground. "Ash, come here quickly!" he called out to Ash. Ash, Clair and the others rushed over to see what was wrong and saw the pokemon. Brock knelt down to check over the pokemon at once. "This pokemon has got a high fever," he said "we must get it to the pokemon centre at once". He picked up the pokemon and he and the others rushed over to the pokemon center.

At the pokemon centre, Nurse Joy tended to the pokemon at once. She explained that the pokemon was called a Wynaut. "It's a good thing you found Wynaut and brought it here at once," she said "otherwise the fever would have put it in a worse condition".

Ash looked at Wynaut on the pokedex: Wynaut, the bright pokemon. The pre-evolved form of Wobbuffet. It tends to move in a pack with others and it loves eating sweet fruits.

"Wow so Wynaut evolves into Wobbuffet" said Misty. The gang decided to leave the emergency room to plan what to do now. So they left the emergency room, leaving Nurse Joy and Chansey tending to Wynaut.

In the hallway of the pokemon centre, the gang found out on a computer that Wynaut were usually found in the Hoenn region. "Wow it's amazing that we have seen two Hoenn pokemon here in Johto" said Ash. "You're right," said Brock "I remember Alexa's pokemon Kecleon, which is usually seen in Hoenn". "Seeing Hoenn pokemon has made me decided that I am definitely going to visit the Hoenn Region after I finish the Johto League" said Ash. "And I'm coming too" said Tomo. "Of course" smiled Ash.

Just then Nurse Joy came up to the group and told them that Wynaut's fever has broken. The gang were relieved that Wynaut will be okay now. Tomo asked Ash if they could stay at the pokemon center until Wynaut was better, because he was fond of Wynaut and wanted to watch it become fully healed. Ash could see that Tomo was worried about Wynaut and he and Misty and Brock agreed about staying at the pokemon center. So for the rest of the day, Ash and the gang stayed at the pokemon center. Ash and Tomo were talking to their mum on the phone to let her know how their journey has been, and then they talked to Prof Oak about their journey. Misty called her sisters to check to see how everything has been going and to know how her pokemon are doing. Brock was calling his family to know how things are going.

In no time at all Wynaut was fully recovered from its fever. Clair and the gang were happy to know that the Wynaut was okay, especially Tomo. Tomo walked over to the Wynaut and rubbed its head, and then he asked Wynaut if it would like to come with him. "I think you are an amazing pokemon, and I would like you to be on my pokemon team". Wynaut stared at Tomo and accept his request. But Wynaut had one request; it wanted Tomo to battle it and Tomo accept the battle request.

Tomo and Wynaut went outside to battle, as fighting was not allowed in the pokemon center. The others and Clair went outside too to watch the battle. "I hope Tomo will be okay," said Misty "I mean since Wynaut is the pre-evolution of Wobbuffet, this pokemon may be tricky". "He'll be fine Misty," said Ash "Tomo knows how to battle well, and he knows all about Wobbuffet so he shouldn't have problems with Wynaut". "I agree with Ash" said Brock. Tomo had Growlithe battle Wynaut. "We must be careful Growlithe," said Tomo "Wynaut will only use counter and mirror coat, so this will be difficult". Growlithe nodded. Tomo ordered Growlithe to attack Wynaut with flamethrower, but Wynaut used mirror coat to counter it, and when Growlithe tried to use bite attack, Wynaut would use counter against it. "Now this is tricky" said Tomo, worriedly. But then he had an idea. He ordered Growlithe to use double team and then ordered it to use flamethrower again. Wynaut did use mirror coat to counter it, but then Growlithe struck Wynaut with flame wheel. The gang were amazed by that. "What happened?" asked Misty. "I know," said Brock "double team and flamethrower were to distract Wynaut, giving Growlithe the chance to strike Wynaut with flame wheel. There's no doubt that Tomo is a great trainer". Ash and Misty agreed. The flame wheel attack made Wynaut weak and Tomo caught it in his friend ball. "All right I've caught Wynaut" Tomo cheered. Clair and Ash, Misty and Brock congratulated him for his capture.

Now that Wynaut was captured, the gang decided it was now time to leave Blackthorn City for New Bark Town. Clair told the gang to follow the path towards the sea, and then they could take a boat to New Bark Town. The gang thanked Clair, said goodbye to her and left Blackthorn City.

Larvitar, the Unown and the Pokemon reserve

While the gang were on their way to New Bark Town, where Ash could find out about the Silver Conference, they got a message from Prof Elm. Prof Elm had asked the gang to pick up a pokemon egg from a woman named Naomi, who was the director of a Marine pokemon laboratory. The Marine pokemon Laboratory was a lab where Naomi studied water pokemon. As soon as the gang made it to the lab, Naomi handed the pokemon egg over to the gang at once; it was a green egg. Naomi explained to the gang that the egg was from a pokemon preserve area, but it was stolen from poaches. She also explained that the egg somehow got away from the poachers and it was found and brought it to her lab, and then she phoned Prof Elm to care for it. So the gang had the job of delivering the egg to Prof Elm.

Now the gang were on the road to New Bark Town, and they were now having lunch. Ash, who had been taking care of the egg all this time, was stroking the egg gently with his hands. "You know," Ash said to the others "I'm feeling a scared presence from inside the egg. It's like the baby pokemon doesn't want to come out of the egg". "But why though?" said Misty "I mean I'm sure that all baby pokemon can't wait to hatch out of their eggs". "Well this egg was stolen by poachers," said Brock "so this egg must have gone through something really bad, which would explain why the baby pokemon doesn't want to come out". "I hope the egg does hatch soon," said Tomo "I'd like to see what pokemon is inside the egg". "So do I" said Ash, and he continued to rub the egg gently.

Suddenly the egg started to glow. "Hey it's going to hatch" said Tomo, excitedly. The gang watched, excitedly, as the egg continued to glow brightly, and then the egg hatched. The pokemon was a green pokemon, with black markings and a red tail. There was also a blunt spike on its head. "It's a Larvitar" said Brock.

Ash looked at Larvitar on the pokedex: Larvitar, the rock skin pokemon. It feeds on soil. After it has eaten a large mountain, it falls asleep so it can grow.

Ash placed a hand on Larvitar to stroke it, but he took it off again quick. "Larvitar is freezing" he said. Brock touched Larvitar next. "You're right Ash," he said "this body temperature is way too low for a rock pokemon. We need to get it to the pokemon center and quick". He looked through the guide to see if there was a pokemon center nearby and the good news there was. So they wrapped Larvitar in a blanket and ran to the pokemon center at once.

At the pokemon center, Nurse Joy checked Larvitar all over at once. But she couldn't find anything wrong with it, so she decided to call Prof Elm for help at once. Unfortunately Prof Elm was not at home, so she just sent an email to him. All she could now was to keep Larvitar warm; she wrapped it up in another blanket and put an electric heater on. "I just hope that Prof Elm will get my message and get here as soon as he can" said Nurse Joy.

Just then trouble happened; it was raining very hard outside and thunder and lightning was happening, and the pokemon centre's power went out. And the worse news was lightning had struck the emergency generator, and without the power Larvitar would become colder. Nurse Joy, Misty and Brock went to check on the generator at once. To help Larvitar, Ash sent out Quilava, and Quilava used the flames on his back to warm up Larvitar. Ash held Larvitar in his arms to warm it up more. "Hang in there Larvitar" he said. "Will Larvitar be okay Ash?" asked Tomo. "If we keep Larvitar warm, it will be okay Tomo" replied Ash. Tomo sat down next to Ash.

In New Bark Town, Prof Elm was having dinner with Prof Oak and Delia Ketchum. Delia wanted to go visit Prof Elm with Prof Oak so that she can also visit her sons Ash and Tomo. While they were eating, Delia noticed Prof Elm's computer was beeping to say that he had email. Prof Elm checked the email at once and it was the message that Nurse Joy sent to him about the sick Larvitar. Prof Oak saw the email too and suggested that they all head over to the pokemon center at once. Delia agreed to come too.

Back at the pokemon center Nurse Joy and the gang were all asleep for the night. Ash was still holding onto Larvitar while he was asleep, and he was dreaming. He was dreaming that he was in Larvitar's egg and he was experiencing some bad things. Ash got drifted about in a river, got kicked about by everyone's feet and was about to get run over by a truck. When Ash woke up from the bad dream, it was morning. Larvitar was trembling in Ash's arms. "Larvitar you were having a nightmare and somehow I was sharing it with you" he said.

At that moment Prof Elm, Prof Oak and Delia arrived at the pokemon center. Ash and Tomo were surprised to see their mum as well as the two professors. Nurse Joy told the professors about Larvitar's condition. "I've done everything I could, but nothing has helped Larvitar much" she said. "Okay you leave this to Prof Oak and me" said Prof Elm. "Yes, we'll make Larvitar alright again" said Prof Oak. While Prof Elm and Prof Oak tended to Larvitar, Delia went to the pokemon centre's kitchen to make breakfast for everyone. Thanks to Prof Elm and Prof Oak, Larvitar was feeling well again. But Prof Elm told everyone that Larvitar wasn't responding to anything, like its mind was all shaken and scared. Ash told everyone about the dream he had with Larvitar about what had happened when Larvitar was still in the egg. "If Larvitar did experience something that bad, that would explain the reason of its lack of response" said Prof Elm. At that moment Delia told everyone that breakfast was ready. Everyone left the emergency room to let Larvitar sleep and have their breakfast.

During breakfast time Ash got an idea. He thought that if he took Larvitar outside for a bit, he could show Larvitar that it doesn't need to be afraid of the world. Prof Elm thought Ash's idea would help Larvitar so he agreed to let Ash take Larvitar outside. When breakfast was finished, Ash, Tomo, Pikachu and Growlithe went outside with Larvitar. Ash and Tomo showed Larvitar a green field, the ocean, the sky and some wild Jumpluff that were flying about the area. "Larvitar, I know that you experienced some very scary things while you were in the egg," said Ash "but you don't need to be scared of this world. There are a lot of great things in this world, which you don't need to be afraid of". "That's right," said Tomo "we are all happy in this world and so will you Larvitar". Larvitar just stared, like it was a mindless soul.

Suddenly trouble appeared; it was Jessie, James and Meowth again. They were after Ash and Tomo's pokemon again, and they wanted to take Larvitar as well. "You aren't taking our pokemon anywhere" said Ash. Pikachu and Growlithe got ready to fight and Ash held Larvitar tight in his arms to protect it. Jessie and James had Arbok and Weezing attack Pikachu and Growlithe. At that moment the wild Jumpluff swooped in to help fight Team Rocket but Arbok head-butted the Jumpluff to get them out of the way. Larvitar noticed the trouble and it began to remember that it got tackled a lot while it was in the egg. Larvitar began to cry really loud and it was using screech attack. "It's all right Larvitar," said Ash, trying to calm Larvitar down, "Tomo and I will protect you". Larvitar stared at Ash and remembered him taking care of him last night. Then Larvitar jumped out of Ash's arms and used hidden power to defeat Arbok and Weezing and making Team Rocket blast off again.

Prof Elm, Prof Oak, Brock and Misty saw everything. "Wow, Larvitar sure seems strong even though it only hatched yesterday" said Misty. "Imagine what it will be like when it's been trained" said Brock. Ash picked Larvitar up. "You were great Larvitar," he said "and there's no doubt that you will become a great pokemon". "I agree" smiled Tomo. The wild Jumpluff were happily flying around to thank Larvitar for helping them. Larvitar started to smile for the first time all day. Prof Elm, Prof Oak, Brock and Misty came up to Ash and Tomo "It seems that Larvitar has started to open up to things" said Prof Elm. Misty walked over to see Larvitar but when Larvitar saw Misty he stiffed up. "Oh dear," said Prof Elm "I fear that it's going to take a while for Larvitar to really open up to this world".

Later that day, Prof Elm gave everyone a ride to New Bark Town. Ash signed up to participate in the Johto League Silver Conference at the pokemon center, and Nurse Joy told the gang that the Silver Conference was held at a place called Silver Town at Mt Silver. So the gang got ready to leave for Mt Silver. They informed Prof Elm, Prof Oak and Delia of their plans and they wished the gang good luck. Prof Elm asked the gang to take Larvitar to the pokemon preserve area, which was also located near Mt Silver. Apparently Larvitar only trusted Ash and Tomo at the moment and Larvitar didn't want them to leave, so the gang agreed to take Larvitar to the pokemon preserve.

So now it was time for the gang to head off to the Johto League and they said goodbye to the pokemon professors and Delia, and left New Bark Town.

Larvitar liked travelling with Ash; he saw Ash as his father. So far he didn't like Misty and Brock because he was scared of them; it was only Ash, Pikachu, Tomo and Growlithe that he wasn't afraid of. While on the way to the pokemon preserve Larvitar had met many different pokemon and found out what adventures were like. The gang had also met their old friend Casey. They found out that her Bayleef was now a Meganium, her Flaffy was now an Ampharos and she had captured her own Elekid, so Casey was happy. For a baby pokemon Larvitar was also quite strong. As well as knowing the moves hidden power and screech, he knew dig, bite and ancient power. Ash could tell that Larvitar would grow up to be a very strong pokemon in the future.

Now the gang were walking up a mountain area, but then Ash suddenly stopped in his tracks. "I sense an Unown" he said. He and the others looked up to the sky and then a purple light glowed in the sky, and then an Unown, in the shape of the letter G, appeared and landed to the ground. "Whoa, it's been a while since we last saw Unown" said Ash. "You're right" said Brock. The gang remembered meeting Unown in Greenfield, and that was months ago. Ash touched the Unown. "It feels sick and it feels sad from being separated from the other Unown in the dimension" said Ash, who read Unown's mind.

Ash looked at Unown on the pokedex: Unown, the symbol pokemon. Unown use telepathy to communicate with each other. Many different shapes of Unown have been discovered.

As there was no pokemon center nearby, the gang took care of Unown themselves. Unown was now sleeping in a bed, with a wet flannel on its forehead. Pikachu, Larvitar and Growlithe watched over it. "Unown will probably make its way back to its dimension once it's better again," said Ash "remember the Unown have the ability to cross between dimensions". Ash remembered all the abilities that Unown had; like crossing between dimensions, making strong psychic bonds with humans and making one's mind a reality. Tomo, Misty and Brock remembered Unown's ability as well. Ash was also watching Larvitar keeping an eye of Unown. "It's good to see that Larvitar is starting to look up to other pokemon" said Misty. "Yes even though it's still shy with humans" said Brock. "You know, ever since we got Larvitar I have been wondering," said Ash "I've been wondering what had happened when Larvitar was stolen from the pokemon preserve area. And I also hate to think what the poachers are like and I do hope that Larvitar's mother is okay". "I've been wondering about that too," said Brock "and I have the nasty feeling that those crooks must be really bad, and there's no doubt that Larvitar's mother is really worried about her child". "It's all the more reason for us to take Larvitar back to the preserve area" said Tomo. "I agree and we should start heading over there first thing in the morning" said Misty. Everyone agreed to that plan.

Next morning Unown was feeling well again, which made the gang relieved. Larvitar was the happiest of all and began talking to the Unown at once. Just then Unown touched Larvitar's head and then it began to glow. "Hey what's going on?" asked Misty. Before Misty's question could be answered the Unown glowed really bright and then everyone disappeared.

Ash woke up in a strange area; there were broken green egg shells everywhere. He, Misty, Tomo and Brock were all floating on top of egg shells. But Pikachu, Growlithe, Togepi and Larvitar were not with them. "Where are we?" asked Tomo. "I think we are in a different dimension," said Ash "I mean Unown glowed very bright when it touched Larvitar, and it must have teleported us to this dimension. The only question is what dimension is this?" Suddenly Pikachu, Growlithe and Togepi turned up, but they were humongous. "Where's Larvitar?" asked Ash. Larvitar was nowhere to be seen.

The gang started to search for Larvitar. Ash and Brock rode on Pikachu, Tomo rode on Growlithe and Misty rode on Togepi. Suddenly the area changed into another area; the area was now filled with Elekid heads and the Electabuzz team theme song was heard. Then the gang started seeing images of the adventures they were recently in and then they ended up back where they started. "I have a feeling that Unown is behind all this; I mean we went through something like this with the Unown last time remember?" said Ash. Brock, Misty and Tomo did remember. Just then they saw an enormous green egg, with cracks and a black thorn on the side of it. "This is Larvitar's egg" said Ash. Ash looked through one of the cracks and saw an image of him-self. Tomo, Misty and Brock saw images of themselves too, but Brock and Misty were in black and white. "I think this is how Larvitar sees us through his eyes," said Brock "which means we must be in the mind of Larvitar. I mean all those things we saw were memories of Larvitar". "It makes sense," said Ash "I mean Unown touched Larvitar's mind when it glowed, so now Unown is showing us Larvitar's mind. Remember we went through something like this when the Unown merged with Molly Hale's mind". The others remembered that. Ash went to see what the black thorn was, but as soon as he touched it the thorn sucked Ash in. Tomo, Misty, Brock and the pokemon tried to help Ash, but they got sucked into the thorn too.

The gang were now in another area, but this time Pikachu, Togepi and Growlithe were back to normal size. "Okay so what's this area about?" asked Tomo. At that moment an enormous machine appeared out of nowhere and then a web net thing came out of the machine and surrounded the area. "What's going on?" demanded Ash. Just then the gang heard a voice saying; "I'm scared". "That voice," said Ash "I think it's Larvitar's, but it sounds scared". Just then the machine grabbed an egg and then the gang saw three men holding the egg. "Who on earth are they?" asked Misty. "If I'm not mistaken," said Brock "I think this is Larvitar's memory of the day he was stolen from the pokemon preserve as an egg. And those three men are the no good poachers who stole him". Suddenly a Tyranitar appeared. "Mummy!" called out Larvitar. "That must be Larvitar's mother!" gasped Misty. Just then Tyranitar was attacked by some blasts. "Hey stop that!" shouted Tomo. Tyranitar became very hurt by the blasts and got a scar on her chest, and then she started to disappear from sight, while Larvitar was still calling out "mummy". "It's because of that forced separation from its mother is the reason why Larvitar is afraid of humans" said Brock, angrily. "If I ever meet those poachers, I will give them a good beating!" said Ash, angrily.

Just then the memory faded and then Larvitar appeared, but he was surrounded in black thorn patches. Brock explained that the black thorns represented Larvitar's awful memories and poor Larvitar was still petrified by them. "Will all the horrible things it went through, it's no wonder Larvitar is afraid" said Misty. Ash could see that Larvitar was trying to fight back against the horrible memories, because Larvitar was struggling to free him-self from the thorns. Ash and Pikachu ran up the hill of thorns to help Larvitar, and the others followed. It wasn't easy of trying to get to Larvitar because the thorny branches kept on trying to stop them. And then Larvitar got covered by a block of ice. Ash ran up to the ice and punched it to try and set Larvitar free. "Larvitar don't give in to those painful memories of yours," said Ash "remember all the good and fun times we had together". "That's right, not all humans are bad Larvitar" said Brock. "Yeah we aren't bad," said Misty "and you met some more good people while we travelled together". "Larvitar!" called out Tomo. With one final punch, Ash set Larvitar free from the block of ice. When Larvitar opened his eyes and saw Ash, he happily jumped straight into Ash's arms.

At that moment the gang found themselves back at the giant green egg, and the black thorn disappeared. "This must mean that Larvitar trusts us" said Brock. Suddenly the egg began to glow, and then the gang were transported out of the dimension and back into the real world and their campsite. The gang were relieved to be back in the real world. The Unown turned up and it was happy to see everyone again. "Listen Larvitar," said Ash "no one is going to hurt you again, and we are going to take you back to your mummy". "That's right," said Misty "you can count on us". Larvitar stared at Brock and Misty, and instead of hardening up he smiled at them. This meant that Larvitar was no longer afraid of Brock and Misty and now saw them as friends. Ash turned to Unown and thanked it for its help.

At that moment a portal to the Unown's dimension opened up in the sky, and there was hundreds of Unown searching for their friend. The stray Unown said goodbye to the gang and went back into the dimension. "I find it unbelievable that we have seen the Unown twice here in the Johto region" said Misty. "Me too" said Tomo. "Okay everyone," said Brock "now's the time we continue on to Mt Silver and take Larvitar home". The gang agreed with Brock's words.

So with the Unown back into its dimension and Larvitar free from his bad memories, the gang continued onto Mt Silver to reunite Larvitar with his mother.

The gang were getting near to Mt Silver, but now they were on the way to the pokemon preserve area, Larvitar's birth place. "Are we there at the pokemon preserve yet?" asked Tomo. Brock looked at the map. "Actually we are," he said "it says we need to cross the bridge, that's in front of us, and then we will be in the preserve in no time". "That's great," said Ash "you hear that Larvitar? We are at your home at last". Larvitar jumped out of Ash's arms and ran over the bridge. "Hey wait for us Larvitar" said Brock. The gang followed Larvitar at once.

What the gang didn't know was that they were being spied on; they were being spied by the poachers, who stole Larvitar as an egg, and the poachers were interested on snatching Larvitar and the gang's pokemon.

Larvitar was happily walking through the preserve area. "Larvitar probably remembers this place" suggested Misty. "Well pokemon do see and feel what's happening in the world outside their egg," said Ash "so Larvitar must have seen much of this area in his egg before he got stolen". "I agree" said Brock. Suddenly everyone heard a roar. "What was that?" asked Misty, a bit frightened. Before her question could be answered, a big green pokemon, with a grey belly, appeared in front of the gang. "It's Tyranitar" said Brock.

Ash looked at Tyranitar on the pokedex: Tyranitar, the armor pokemon. The final evolved form of Larvitar. In just one of its mighty hands, it has the power to make the ground shake and mountains crumble.

The gang noticed a scar on the Tyranitar's chest. "It's the same Tyranitar we saw in Larvitar's memories before" said Brock. "And that means this is Larvitar's mummy" smiled Tomo. Ash told Larvitar to go other to Tyranitar. But then Tyranitar fired hyper beam at the gang. "Oh no," said Ash "I think Tyranitar thinks that we are the three poachers who stole her egg". "But we are not the ones who stole Larvitar" said Tomo. Misty tried to reason with Tyranitar to tell her that they are not the thieves, but Tyranitar was too angry to listen. The gang started to run away and Tyranitar started to fire hyper beam at the gang again. Other bad news was Larvitar was following the gang because he was scared of the hyper beam attacks. "Larvitar go back to your mum and tell her we are not the bad guys" said Ash.

At that moment Tyranitar blocked the gang's path with hyper beam, and the gang couldn't escape. Larvitar started to screech very loud. Tyranitar looked at Larvitar, and then she started to realize that the Larvitar was her son. Larvitar stopped screeching. "Tyranitar, this Larvitar is your child" said Brock. "We came here to return Larvitar to you" said Ash. Tyranitar couldn't believe that her stolen child had been returned to her, and she started to cry tears of happiness. Larvitar began to cry tears of happiness too because he was back with his mother at last. The gang were happy that Larvitar and Tyranitar were reunited at last.

Suddenly an orange ball came out of nowhere, and then trapped Tyranitar into a big sticky net. "Where did that thing come from?" gasped Ash. The three poachers appeared and introduced themselves as Braggo, Chico and Blurt; also known as the pokemon poacher brothers. "Wait a minute," said Ash "you three are the terrible poachers who stole Larvitar, when he was still just an egg, from Tyranitar". Ash and the others remembered the poachers from Larvitar's memories, and Larvitar remembered them too. "Yes that was us, and we thank you for Larvitar to us" said Braggo. "Now we can catch both of them and sell them for hot cash" said Blurt. The truth is the poacher brothers were another one of those poachers who steal pokemon to make money. "You're not taking Tyranitar or Larvitar anywhere!" shouted Ash. "On the contrary," said Braggo "Chico, fire you're net again". "With pleasure" replied Chico. Apparently Chico was the inventor of the poacher brothers and he invented the orange sticky net.

Before the poacher brothers did anything, a siren was heard. "Oh-oh it sounds like Ranger Mason is coming," said Braggo "time to leave". "Right boss" said Chico and Blurt together. The brothers got into their machine, grabbed Tyranitar and left in a hurry. Brock quickly sent out Crobat and ordered it to follow the poachers; there was no way that the gang were going to let the poacher brothers get away with what they were doing.

At that moment a woman, on a motor bike, arrived. She was Ranger Mason, the protector of the pokemon preserve area. "You are you people?" Ranger Mason asked the gang "and what are you doing here? This area is off limits to the public". The gang explained to Ranger Mason about their quest of returning Larvitar to Tyranitar, and then they explained to her about the pokemon poacher brothers stealing Tyranitar. "I'm not surprised that those three brothers are up to something again," said Ranger Mason "those three have been hanging around here to steal pokemon for months now". The gang couldn't believe that. Larvitar started to feel sad because of his mother being taken away. Ash picked up Larvitar and told him that they will get Tyranitar back from the three poaches.

Meanwhile, the poacher brothers were planning their next capture. They were pleased with their capture of Tyranitar. "So boss are we going after the Larvitar?" asked Blurt. "Yes we are," said Braggo "both Tyranitar and the Larvitar will fetch a very good price together. And we shall go after those kids pokemon as well. That Pikachu and Growlithe looked impressive enough for money. Chico, is the machine and your gadgets ready?" "They're ready boss" replied Chico. "Good, it's time to get capturing" said Braggo. What the poachers didn't know was that Brock's Crobat had followed them and was spying on them.

Crobat flew back to the gang to show them where the poachers were now. "Crobat found them" said Brock. "Good let's go after them at once" said Ash. Ash and the gang had asked Ranger Mason if they could help her catch the poachers. Ranger Mason understood the gang's feelings and agreed. They all ran over to the area to where Crobat found them, but then the poachers turned up in a hot air balloon, with their machine and Tyranitar was dangling from the balloon, still trapped in the net. "You three are under arrest!" shouted Ranger Mason. The poacher brothers laughed. "Sorry, but that won't be happening" said Braggo. "That's right, you will never catch us" said Blurt. "Cause we are invincible" said Chico. The brothers used their machine to grab Pikachu and Growlithe, and then Chico fired his net towards Ranger Mason and the gang and they got caught. Before they got caught, Ash quickly released his Bayleef, Quilava and Croconaw from their pokeballs. "Bayleef, Quilava and Croconaw protect Larvitar" said Ash. The three pokemon saw the commotion and they were angry with the poachers.

Ash knew that his pokemon mustn't use attacks or they might hit Tyranitar. But then he had an idea of how to help Tyranitar. "Larvitar use screech, it will help your mum" he said. Larvitar did as he was told and screeched really loud. The poachers couldn't stand the noise and Tyranitar woke up from her unconsciousness. Tyranitar began to shake around a lot to try and escape from the net. Chico pressed a button the remote and the net got electrocuted, shocking Tyranitar. Ranger Mason and the gang saw that and they were furious. "How dare you do such a thing to a pokemon!" shouted Brock. "Stop that at once!" shouted Ash.

Bayleef, Quilava and Croconaw saw what the poachers did too and they got really cross now. At that moment all of them started to glow. "Both Bayleef, Quilava and Croconaw are evolving" said Brock. Everyone watched as Bayleef evolved into Meganium, Quilava evolved into Typhlosion and Croconaw evolved into Feraligatr. Ash was happy that his three Johto starter pokemon had evolved into their final forms.

The poacher brothers were impressed and planned to capture them next. But Meganium fired petal dance at the poachers, which distracted the poachers really well. While the poachers were distracted, Tyranitar fought against the net again; she bit threw the net and fired hyper beam at the balloon. The balloon burst and both Tyranitar and the poacher brothers crashed to the ground. Chico's remote control fell out of Chico's hands onto the ground and smashed. After the controls got broken, Tyranitar and the gang were free from the nets; the nets were controlled by the controls as well. Tyranitar was all right and Larvitar was happy to be back with his mum again.

The poacher brothers were not happy and moved to fight back in their machine. But Ash was not going to let the poachers win. He commanded Meganium, Typhlosion and Feraligatr to attack the machine with solar beam, fire blast and hydro pump. The three pokemon fired their attack together at the machine, and the machine was blown to bits. Pikachu and Growlithe were free, and Ash and Tomo were happy to have them back. This time the poacher brothers were defeated, as their equipment was all destroyed, and they fainted from defeat. "We did it!" cheered Ash. Tyranitar and Larvitar were happy that the poachers were now defeated.

The poacher brothers were now tied up and arrested by the other rangers of the pokemon preserve area. Ranger Mason was grateful and thanked the gang at once. "I have been after these three for ages now, and thanks to you they are finally caught" she said. "I'm glad that they won't be poaching anymore pokemon" said Misty. "No need to worry," said Ranger Mason "those three will be paying big for what they've done in jail". "Glad to hear that" said Ash.

Tyranitar was grateful to the gang for saving her and for bringing Larvitar back to her. She thanked the gang with all her heart. "You're welcome Tyranitar" smiled Ash. He turned to Larvitar. "Well Larvitar you are home and back with your mum at last". Larvitar was happy and hugged Ash. Ranger Mason saw the friendly bond with Ash and Larvitar. "Ash you are a very nice pokemon trainer and I see that you care about pokemon a lot" she said. "I love pokemon, as well as being a pokemon trainer," said Ash "in fact all of us do". "That's right" said Tomo, Misty and Brock together.

Just then something walked from some bushes nearby. It was another Larvitar, but a bit bigger than the baby Larvitar. "Where did this Larvitar come from?" asked Ash "and where is its family?" "This Larvitar has no family" said Ranger Mason. She explained that the Larvitar was a stray Larvitar that just showed up in the preserve area, and it hadn't got along with any other pokemon in the area. "This pokemon is also quite a fighter and likes to do pokemon battles all the time. And that's why it doesn't exactly have friends; the pokemon around here have had enough of its fighting spirit". The stray Larvitar went up to Ash and waved it arms at him. "What's up Larvitar?" asked Ash. Larvitar spoke to Ash. "What's Larvitar saying?" asked Misty. "Well believe it or not, Larvitar wants me to battle it," said Ash "it was watching me battle the poachers earlier, so it wants me to have a pokemon battle with it". "That doesn't surprise me really," said Ranger Mason "that Larvitar likes a challenge. But you shall have the battle outside the area; it will scare the pokemon if you fight here". Ash and the Larvitar understood.

Ranger Mason and the gang went over the other side of the bridge, so that Ash and Larvitar could have their battle. Tyranitar and her Larvitar stayed on the other side to watch the battle. Ash decided to use Pikachu to battle Larvitar. "Why is Ash using Pikachu?" asked Misty "I mean Pikachu is a disadvantage of Larvitar". "I see why," said Brock "it's because Feraligatr would make an unfair battle for Larvitar because of its size. So Ash is using Pikachu because they are the same size, and you know what Ash is like; he always wants to do pokemon battles fairly". "You're right" said Misty. Larvitar fought first with dig. Pikachu stood his ground to wait for Larvitar to come out of the ground. Larvitar burst out and then bit Pikachu on the tail. "Use iron tail Pikachu" said Ash. Pikachu slammed Larvitar onto the ground, with his tail glowing white. Larvitar fought back with stomp. "Quick Pikachu dodge with quick attack" said Ash. Pikachu managed to quickly dodge Larvitar's quick attack. "Now use focus punch". Pikachu punched Larvitar really hard, and Larvitar got really hurt by that. As Larvitar was a rock and ground type; focus punch, a fighting type move, gave real damage. Larvitar started to feel exhausted. Ash knew that this was enough and told Pikachu to stop.

Ash walked over to Larvitar. "You're pretty strong as a Larvitar;" he said "there's no doubt that you will become a strong Tyranitar in the future". Larvitar pointed to Ash's pokeballs on his belt. "Do you want to come with me?" asked Ash. Larvitar nodded yes. Ash wasn't sure what to do; it was illegal to capture pokemon in the preserve area. Ranger Mason said that it was okay. "This pokemon wasn't born in the area," she said "so you can capture it Ash. I know that it be happier with you than here". So Ash agreed to capture it. He took out his heavy ball and tapped Larvitar on the head with it. The ball blinked a few times and then Larvitar was captured. Ash was happy with his new capture.

After capturing Larvitar, the gang decided that it was now time to leave. They asked Ranger Mason for directions to Silver Town and Ranger Mason told them the way. They bid farewell to Ranger Mason and to Tyranitar and Larvitar. "We'll never forget the times we had together with you Larvitar!" shouted Ash. So the gang left for Silver Town, happy that their quest of returning Larvitar to Tyranitar was complete at last.

Meeting Harrison and the Johto League Torch

After reuniting Larvitar with his mother, the gang were now on the way to Silver Town. Along the way, they noticed a crowd of people outside a very large gate. Ash asked someone from the crowd what was going on, and that person explained that everyone was waiting for the torch of the Silver Conference. Another person explained that they were at the Ho-Oh shrine and running of the torch started here. Those words made the gang feel excited about the torch. "Can we see the torch too?" asked Tomo. "Of course we can," replied Ash "there's no way I would miss the running of the Johto League torch; especially since we ran carrying the flame for the Indigo League, remember?" Tomo, Misty and Brock did remember and so they all agreed to watch the running of the torch.

Everyone waited and waited for the torch running to start, but so far nothing was happening. "I hope the runner is okay," said Ash "I mean surely it doesn't take this long for them to start the running". Just then a man came out of the gates. "I'm very sorry everyone," said the man "but due to circumstances the torch will take a bit longer to start". The crowd started to groan because they didn't like waiting. "Something must be wrong here, if we are being told to wait more" said Brock. "Let's find out what's wrong" said Ash.

The gang asked the guard of the shrine what was going, and the guard led the gang into the shrine. The guard explained that there was actually trouble at the shrine. "If you've got trouble I can help" said a voice. The voice came from a trainer, about the same age as Brock, with a Houndoom at his side. The trainer said his name was Harrison and he was from Littleroot Town in the Hoenn region. The gang introduced themselves to Harrison and also told him that they were from Kanto.

The guard explained that the torch and runners were ready, but the flame for the torch wasn't ready. "The truth is our flame is actually from the legendary Ho-Oh," said the guard "and there's a legend about it too". The legend was that a long time ago there was a terrible war within the area, and both pokemon and humans were hurt from the battle. After the war was over the land became a wasteland because of all the fighting, and then Ho-Oh appeared. Ho-Oh blew its flame at all the humans weapons; ending the war. After that the land was really lifeless then, but because of Ho-Oh's ashes the land started to come to life again and soon the land was back to what it was again and peace reigned. But one flame of Ho-Oh remained one a tree and the people called it the sacred flame. "They built this shrine to worship Ho-Oh, which is why it's called the Ho-Oh shrine. And the sacred flame had stayed in the shrine ever since". "Wow, what a story," said Ash "and I thought it was only the tin tower and the burned tower in Ecruteak City that were the places to worship Ho-Oh". "We learn new stories about the legendary pokemon of Johto all the time" said Brock.

The guard showed Harrison and the gang to the staircase that led the way to the shrine where the sacred flame was kept. "We can't seem to get the flame, because a wild Sneasel is guarding the shrine" said the guard.

Ash looked at Sneasel on the pokedex: Sneasel, the sharp claw pokemon. A smart and sneaky Pokémon, it makes its opponents flinch by suddenly showing the claws hidden in its paws.

"Excellent," said Harrison "I want to capture a Sneasel and this will be my chance". The guard explained that Sneasel attacks anyone who gets closer to the shrine, because it made that place its territory. And to make matters worse Sneasel had a Machop and Machoke with it. "If we don't get that flame soon, we will never be able to start the Silver Conference Tournament" said the guard. "I'll help get that flame" said Ash. There was no way that Ash was going to let anything ruin the tournament; especially since he and his pokemon had worked too hard to enter it. Tomo, Misty and Brock offered to help too, and so did Harrison; he wished to capture the Sneasel.

Harrison and the gang went up the stairs to the shrine at once. As soon as they reached the top, they met up with Machop and Machamp. Tomo sent out his Smoochum to battle; he knew that Smoochum was part psychic and she had learnt some psychic moves. "Use psychic at Machop" he ordered. Smoochum's eyes glowed blue and then she fired a psychic blast of energy from her hands at Machop, and Machop ended up hurt bad. Harrison told his Houndoom to attack Machoke with flamethrower.

While Machop and Machoke were distracted, Ash made his way to the shrine to grab the sacred flame. But then he nearly got scratched by Sneasel. "So you're the troublesome Sneasel huh?" he said "well you are not getting in my way of getting the sacred flame". He sent out Typhlosion to battle. "Typhlosion use flamethrower". Typhlosion fired a flamethrower at Sneasel, but Sneasel dodged it and then it scratched Typhlosion hard with slash. "Man that Sneasel is fast" said Ash.

At that moment Harrison, Tomo, Misty and Brock showed up; they had defeated Machop and Machoke. "You okay Ash?" asked Harrison. "Yes, but this Sneasel this more tricky than we thought" replied Ash. "All right, leave the rest to me Ash" said Harrison. He told Sneasel that he was going to capture it, and then he released a red, yellow and white pokemon from its pokeball. This pokemon looked like a giant chicken. It had long white hair, a red beak, grey hands with three claws and yellow feet. Harrison said that it was a Blaziken and it was also his starter pokemon. "I reckon that pokemon is from the Hoenn region" said Brock. Ash was excited from seeing another Hoenn pokemon. Harrison ordered his Blaziken to attack with quick attack, and Blaziken tackle Sneasel hard. Sneasel fought back with shadow ball, but Blaziken dodged it. "Okay Blaziken flamethrower" said Harrison. Blaziken blew flamethrower at Sneasel and Sneasel got it by it. As Sneasel was an ice and dark type pokemon, the flamethrower hurt Sneasel well. "How finish it with fire punch" said Harrison. Blaziken punched Sneasel hard, while its hand was covered in a flame, and Sneasel fainted from the fire punch. Harrison tossed a pokeball at Sneasel and captured it.

Ash congratulated Harrison for his capture and then went to the shrine to get the sacred flame. Inside was a stone statue of Ho-Oh and the flame was resting in a bowl, on the top of the head.

So now the runner of the torch had the sacred flame of Ho-Oh at last, and he got ready to run with the torch. The guard was grateful and thanked Harrison and the gang. He also said that Machop and Machoke were going to stay at the Ho-Oh shrine and become its guardians. The gang were happy for the pokemon. Then at that moment the runner started running with the torch and the crowd started cheering. "Now the Silver Conference is finally going to start" said Ash, who was excited. Harrison revealed to the gang that he was going to enter the Silver Conference too, and then he started to walk to Silver Town. "I reckon that there is going to be a lot of cool trainers and pokemon at the Silver Conference" said Misty. "I agree," said Ash "but that's not going to stop me from trying to win this tournament".

The gang started to head to Silver Town too and Ash couldn't wait to participate in the Silver Conference.

By the next day, the gang were now in Silver Town. Ash was looking through the guide with Brock. "Is it like the Indigo League?" asked Ash "you know with me having to do four preliminary rounds, with three pokemon, and then the normal matches with three pokemon?" "Actually Ash, it's different and the challenge looks a lot harsher than the Indigo League" said Brock. "Oh really?" asked Ash "what are the rules for the Silver Conference?"

Before Ash's question was answered, they met up with Gary. "Hey Gary," said Ash "I take it you have all eight badges for the Silver Conference?" "That I do Ashy-boy," said Gary "and I will be aiming for the top". "You will have to beat me first Gary" said Ash. Obviously Ash and Gary's rival was still the same. "I'll have you know Ash, I trained a lot harder ever since the Indigo League," said Gary "so you better watch out for me". "Same with me Gary" replied Ash.

After speaking with Gary, the gang walked to where the participants of the Silver Conference were staying. They were going to stay in a giant pokemon center in Athlete's village. On the way they met up with Mr Goodshow, who was handing out balloons to kids. He explained that he liked to greet guests, who come to watch the Silver Conference, as well as other pokemon leagues. "I take it you're here to enter the Silver Conference Ash?" asked Mr Goodshow. "Yes I am," said Ash "and I intend to go higher than I did in the Indigo League". "Well Ash, I wish you luck" smiled Mr Goodshow.

The gang soon came to the luxury suite, in the pokemon center; they were going to stay in while at the Silver Conference. "This room is huge" said Tomo. "You're right," said Misty "and it can't get any better than this. We also have a beautiful view of the lake". Ash tried out the couches and they were very comfy, and Tomo tried out the beds which were also very comfy. There was also a computer, so that Ash could look up his opponents on. "Come on all of you," said Brock "we have to go to the screen rounds now".

The screen rounds were mini battle rounds before the Silver Conference. All of the 200 trainers who entered had to battle three times in the screen rounds, using only one pokemon each. "It says that you have to defeat all three challengers to enter the Silver Conference," Brock explained "and only the Top 48 trainers move onto the preliminary rounds". "Wow Brock," said Misty "you were right about the rules of the Silver Conference being a lot harsher than the Indigo League". "Are you all right Ash?" asked Tomo, who felt nervous about this. "Don't worry Tomo, it will be all right" said Ash.

Soon it was Ash's turn to battle in the screen rounds. His first opponent was a trainer named Salvador. Ash sent out Pikachu and Salvador sent out Furret. "Pikachu us thunderbolt" said Ash. Pikachu sent thunderbolt out at Furret, but Salvador ordered his Furret to use double team so thunderbolt missed. Pikachu was confused with the multiple copies of Furret. "Use swift Pikachu" said Ash. Pikachu fired swift attack from his tail and both the copies and the real Furret got hit by the stars. "Use dig Furret" said Salvador. Furret dug underground to dodge anymore of the swift attack. Ash knew that this was trouble since neither he nor Pikachu knew where Furret was going to pop up next. But then he had an idea. "Pikachu stay where you are and let Furret hit you" he said. Pikachu understood Ash's order. "Hit that Pikachu with headbutt" said Salvador. Furret came out from the ground and headbutted Pikachu, but then Furret became paralyzed. This was because of Pikachu's static ability. "Ash must have figured that Furret would be a bit tricky because of its speed," said Brock "so he's decided to use Pikachu's static ability to help slow Furret down". "Good thing that static paralyzes the opponent" smiled Misty. "Okay Pikachu use thunderbolt now" said Ash. Pikachu shocked Furret good, then Pikachu used quick attack on Furret and then Furret fainted, giving Ash his first screen round.

Ash defeated his other two opponents as well. His Misdreavus defeated his second opponent's Machoke easily with psychic attack, and his Murkrow easily defeated his third opponent's Exeggutor with drill peck and icy wind. After the screen rounds were over, everyone went to the pokemon center to see the results. The gang saw that Ash, Gary and Harrison were both in the preliminary rounds. "I can't wait for the preliminary rounds," said Ash "what's the rules of the preliminary rounds Brock?" Before Brock could answer Ash's question, Mr Goodshow appeared in front of the gang. "I'll explain what happens in the preliminary rounds Ash" he said. He explained that in the preliminary rounds the 48 trainers were split into 16 groups of 3, and the three trainers in each block had to participate in a round-robin tournament. A round-robin tournament was when all three trainers in each block battled each other in a series of three on three matches. The trainers would get three points for every win, one point for every draw and zero points for every loss. "So I have to win more than three points to pass the preliminary rounds?" asked Ash. "Yes and if you and any other trainer from your block are tied, you have to fight each other again to win" said Mr Goodshow. It was obvious; the Silver Conference challenge was different than the Indigo League.

That night Ash couldn't sleep; he was excited about the Silver Conference starting tomorrow. He and Pikachu who was also awake decided to take a walk outside the pokemon center for a bit. "I can't believe that we are already at the Silver Conference Pikachu," said Ash "I mean it feels like only yesterday that we started collecting the badges". "Pika" said Pikachu; he agreed with Ash. "And there's no doubt that we will be facing off a lot of strong trainers, but that won't stop us from winning, will it?" "Pika" said Pikachu; that meant no.

Just then they met up with Gary, who was sitting next to the lake. "Can't you sleep Ash?" asked Gary. "No, you?" asked Ash. "No not really" admitted Gary. Gary noticed that tonight's moon was a full moon. "This is the same moon that was out on the night I left Pallet Town, when I first became a pokemon trainer" he said. "I remember that night too," said Ash "and we have gone through so much on our journeys since then". "You're right," said Gary "and it makes me think what else we will accomplish in the future". "Well whatever happens, I'm sure it will make our lives more exciting than ever" said Ash. "As for the present Ash," said Gary "I will be earning first place in this Silver Conference tournament. And I won't let anyone, including you; get in my way of winning". "Sorry Gary," smiled Ash "but the one earning first place is me and you will be earning second place". Ash and Gary smiled at each other.

The next day it was time for the opening ceremony of the Silver Conference. Everyone was waiting for the torch bearer to bring the Ho-Oh's sacred flame to the stadium. Prof Oak and Tracey were watching what was happening at the Silver Conference on telly in the lab back in Pallet Town. Delia and her pokemon were watching it on telly too. Prof Elm was watching it on his computer in New Bark Town. Brock, Misty and Tomo took their places in the stadium seats, and Ash and Gary were waiting with the other participants to enter the stadium.

But trouble was around; Jessie, James and Meowth had plans of stealing the flame. They decided that the flame of the legendary Ho-Oh would make a fortune. The runner of the torch was near the stadium, but Jessie, James and Meowth were standing just at the entrance ready to pounce. As soon as the runner opened the door to the stadium, he got tackled by Jessie's Granbull. The runner got hit by the wall and dropped the torch, and Meowth caught it before it hit the ground. "Now the flame is ours" said Meowth. "Good work Granbull" said Jessie, and she returned it.

At that time Pikachu felt that rouble was happening in the stadium, and he and Ash decided to investigate. Gary saw Ash running off and asked him what was going on. "Pikachu can sense trouble from inside the stadium" said Ash. "Let's hurry and see to this trouble" said Gary.

At that time, Jessie, James and Meowth were getting ready to run with the torch. But then Ash and Gary turned up. "That flame is not yours Team Rocket!" shouted Gary. "Ha, try and get it twerps" smirked Jessie. "With pleasure" said Ash. He used his psychic powers to take the torch away from Meowth. "What was that?!" gasped Meowth. Gary was impressed with Ash's psychic powers; he learnt about Ash's psychic powers some time ago. "Okay Pikachu, thunderbolt" said Ash. Pikachu shocked Team Rocket good and Team Rocket got blasted away again.

Ash and Gary checked to see if the runner was okay, but his ankle got twisted thanks to Team Rocket. "If I don't run, I can't bring the torch to the stadium" said the runner, worriedly. This was a problem of course; the Silver Conference could not start without the sacred flame. Then Gary had an idea; he suggested that Ash ran with the torch to the stadium. Ash asked the runner if that was okay and the runner agreed, so Ash decided to finish the run of the torch.

Meanwhile everyone in the audience was getting anxious because the flame hadn't turned up yet. Just then the announcer announced that the runner had an accident. Everyone became worried that the ceremony wouldn't start now. But there was no need to worry because at that moment, Ash and Pikachu entered the stadium carrying the torch. Tomo, Misty and Brock were surprised that Ash was carrying the torch and so was Prof Oak, Tracey, Delia and Prof Elm. Everyone watched as Ash lit up the big torch with the Ho-Oh's sacred flame.

Mr Goodshow gave one final speech to open the Silver Conference and wished the competitors good luck in the stadium. Ash was happy and excited that the Silver Conference was now starting to begin.