Ash's Pokémon Journey

Chapter 106-110

Chapter 106

Ash's Aura training

After leaving Pallet Town again, Ash and Pikachu were making their way to Rota. This time they were not going there just to visit it like last time. There were going there so that Ash could train his aura powers. Ash had no idea of what he was going to do to train his aura, but he did know that the training would be really serious. "Pikachu you and will have to be prepared for ourselves once we get there," Ash said to his starter "I mean I don't know how aura guardians trained their aura, but something tells me that the training is really hard. So we are going to have a rough time while we are in Rota". Pikachu understood and he hoped that Ash would be alright during this.

Soon they reached the town of Rota and they made their way into the pokemon center. Once they entered the pokemon center a young woman came up to Ash. "Excuse me," she said "are you Ash Ketchum?" "Yes I am" answered Ash. "Oh thank goodness," said the woman "my name is Annie and I work at the palace. I had been given instructions to bring you to the palace as soon as you arrived here". "So we're going to Cameran Palace?" asked Ash. "Yes and her majesty is waiting for you" said Annie. Ash and Pikachu couldn't believe it; they were going to Cameran Palace and see Queen Ilene again. "It's been a while since we last visited the palace" said Ash. Pikachu agreed.

So Ash and Pikachu went with Annie to the palace. Once they got there and entered the throne room they were greeted by Queen Ilene and Jenny. "It's nice to see you again Ash" said Queen Ilene. "I thank you for inviting me here your majesty" said Ash, bowing to the queen. "Ah so you are Ash" said a voice.

There was a man in the throne room with a Lucario by his side. He had black hair and blue eyes and he wore brown trousers, a black jumper a blue jacket and hat and black shoes. He also nearly looked like a reincarnation of Sir Aaron. "Are you Riley?" asked Ash. "Yes I am," said Riley "I had heard about you Ash, and Prof Oak was right about you having the power of Aura. I can feel it from you". Ash stared for a second. "Me too," he said "I feel it from you as well. I was told that aura users can sense and feel other aura users". "That is true Ash," said Riley "and I'm happy to know you know about using aura". "I must ask Riley," said Ash "training my aura won't stop me from being a pokemon trainer will it?" "Normally it takes years for someone to master their aura," said Riley "but your aura has already developed. So this training may not take a long as a year or so". Ash felt quite relieved because he didn't want to put off his journeys for a long time. Riley explained to Ash that they were going to stay at Cameron Palace to train Ash's aura. Ash and Pikachu were amazed they were going to stay in the palace; it would be living like royalty to them. Jenny told the men that she had two bedrooms ready for them, but she also warned them not to mess up the rooms and no battling either. Ash and Riley promised to be good while they stayed in the palace.

That evening Ash and Riley had dinner with Queen Ilene. The training was going to start tomorrow. "Ash, Queen Ilene told me that you have psychic powers as well as having the power of aura" said Riley. "That is true" said Ash. He explained about his ancestor Celeste and about how he discovered his psychic power at the Saffron Gym. "It was weird to me though when I first used my psychic and aura power because I never knew I had these powers until then" said Ash. "I understand Ash," said Riley "because I too didn't realize I had aura power when I was a little kid either. It was after I had grown up more that I realized my aura power. Sometimes it takes a while for people to unleash the power they had been born with". Through the rest of dinner Ash told Riley and Queen Ilene of how helpful his psychic had been to him like identifying bad people in disguises, stopping bad people from getting away and other things like that. He also told them how his aura power had helped him whenever he was lost. Riley thought that Ash had done very well with using his power.

After dinner was finished everyone went to bed. Ash and Pikachu were happy to be sleeping in a big room; it was living like royalty. "We better get a good night sleep Pikachu," said Ash "I feel we are going through a long day tomorrow".

The next day it was the start of Ash's aura training. Queen Ilene had allowed Riley and Ash to use the castle grounds and the forest to use for their training. Ash wasn't wearing his hat and hoodie. "Okay Ash the first thing we are going to do is meditate," said Riley "meditating will connect you more with your inner aura". So Ash, Riley and Lucario sat crossed leg on the grass to meditate. Pikachu just laid down on the grass to watch. "Concentrate Ash," said Riley "do not let anything, even the slightest noise, distract you". Ash did as he was told; he had meditated before and he knew how important it was to concentrate while meditating. "Good Ash" said Riley.

After the meditating was finished Riley decided to test Ash and his aura. "Okay Ash what you'll be doing now is walking your way through the forest to where there is a rock in the shape of a Pidgey and coming back again," he said "but you will be doing it blindfolded and you have to use your aura to see where you are going". This was to test to see how good Ash was using his aura to see where he was going. Riley placed a blind fold over Ash's eyes, and then he went off into the forest himself. Pikachu stayed behind with Riley and Lucario; he was worried about Ash, but he believed in him.

So Ash started to walk in the forest alone. With the blindfold over his eyes it couldn't see where he was going, so he concentrated to use his aura. "I can do this," said Ash "I know I can because the aura is we me". It was then Ash saw his surroundings, thanks to the aura, and he made his way to the Pidgey shaped rock and made it back to Riley, Lucario and Pikachu. "Phew," sighed Ash "that was quite a challenge, especially since I was blindfolded". "It's for a good cause Ash," said Riley "if you get lost in the dark or in the fog, your aura will lead you the way". Ash understood; after all, his aura had helped him in a cave and a building before. "Now Ash I will be doing more tests with you and something else," said Riley "are you willing to go through them?" "I am," said Ash "I made a promise to an old friend, before he died, that I would train my aura, and I will do it no matter how long it takes and no matter what it takes". Riley liked Ash's determination and promised him that they will be working hard.

So Ash got through his first day of aura training, but he still had more work to go through.

Over the days Ash worked hard on his aura training. After doing meditating with Riley and Lucario, Ash would be doing more practicing with aura. Riley still tested him with having to use aura to see where he was going blindfolded and he even had him use it to see where he was going at night time when it got pitch black outside with no moon to light the way. And when the foggy days came Riley also had Ash use his aura to find his way through the mists and fog. Ash was happy to be practicing this; he knew that this would be very helpful in the future like it had been in the past.

One day Ash and Riley were meditating again. "Today Ash you will begin learning a very difficult thing for aura users" said Riley. "What is it?" asked Ash. Before Riley could reply Pikachu came running up; he had been in the forest. "What's wrong Pikachu?" asked Ash. Pikachu started talking away in panic. "Sorry Riley," said Ash, standing up, "Pikachu said that a pokemon is in danger and I must help it at once. Lead the way Pikachu". Pikachu started to run into the forest and Ash followed him. Riley and Lucario followed too.

They came to a river, which was rampaging dangerously. Pikachu pointed to a small pokemon clinging onto a rock in the middle of the river. It was a black, blue and yellow pokemon and it resembled a lion cub. "That pokemon is a Shinx," said Riley "it must have fallen into the river". The river was too deep and dangerous to get to Shinx. Ash used his psychic power to get Shinx out of the water and to him. Riley and Lucario watched with amazement. "You weren't kidding about your psychic powers being useful Ash" said Riley. Poor Shinx was cold from being in the river and shivered in Ash's arms. "We need to get this little guy warm and fast" said Ash.

So Riley, Ash and their pokemon went back into the palace taking Shinx with them to take care of it. The maids got a warm fire going in one of the rooms and Jenny gave Ash a small warm blanket. Ash sat down by the fire and wrapped Shinx up in the blanket. "There we are now" said Ash, rubbing Shinx gently on the head. "You have a real way with pokemon Ash" said Riley. "I would never leave a pokemon when it's in danger or hurt" said Ash. Riley and Lucario could see how selfless Ash was with pokemon and it made them happy to see that. Ash stayed with Shinx until it was warm and better again. Shinx felt safe and happy being comforted by Ash and it liked it when Ash stroked its head.

When Shinx was better two days later Ash took it outside. "Now that you are better and well you can go home again" Ash said to Shinx. But Shinx shook its head sadly. "What's wrong Shinx?" asked Ash. Shinx told Ash, in its language, that it and two other pokemon lived with an old man who was their carer. But then the old man became seriously ill and died, so Shinx and the two other pokemon had no home anymore. Ash and Pikachu felt sorry for the Shinx. "Wait you said two other pokemon," said Ash "where are the other pokemon?" Shinx tugged at Ash's jeans, telling him to follow. Ash went back to Riley, who was still inside the palace, and told him what Shinx said. "Sorry Riley, I know this is interrupting the training but I must go and see the pokemon at once" said Ash. Riley understood and told Ash he could follow Shinx. So Ash and Pikachu went out with Shinx to find its friends.

Shinx led Ash and Pikachu up the same river they found him in; apparently Shinx and the other two pokemon lived near the river , but Shinx fell in and ended up where Pikachu found him. Ash hoped the other two pokemon were alright since Shinx had left them for two years. The group ran and ran until they came to an abandoned cottage. "Is that where you lived with the old man Shinx?" asked Ash. Shinx nodded yes. Suddenly a blue penguin type pokemon and a green pokemon that looked like a plant bulb came out of the house. They were a Piplup and Budew. "So they are Shinx's friends" whispered Ash. The Piplup and Budew saw Shinx and ran over to him, happy that he was alright. Ash was alright about the two pokemon being worried about Shinx. Just then the two pokemon saw Ash and Pikachu. Shinx told them how Ash saved him from the river and healed him back to health. Piplup and Budew were grateful to Ash and Pikachu; they had been worried about Shinx, and knowing that Ash was nice made them extra happy.

Since the mission of bringing Shinx back to his friends, Ash decided he and Pikachu should head back to the palace now. "Well Shinx I'm glad we found your friends," said Ash "but Pikachu and I have to leave now for the palace now. You three take care of yourselves now and I hope you will find a trainer who will care for you like the old man did". He and Pikachu said their goodbyes to the three pokemon and turned to leave. But then Shinx ran in front of them to make them stop and Piplup and Budew followed. "What's wrong?" asked Ash "do you guys want to stay with me?" Ash thought this was the case because he had been there before, and he was right because the three pokemon did want to stay with him. Ash smiled and held out his arms. "I'm your trainer now" he said. The three pokemon were delighted and they hugged Ash; they wanted to have a new home and trainer ever since the old man died. "How'd you like that Pikachu?" laughed Ash "we haven't started going on a new journey and I've already caught three new pokemon". Pikachu laughed in happiness.

Ash and Pikachu went back to Cameran Palace with Shinx, Piplup and Budew. Ash introduced Piplup and Budew to Riley, Lucario, Queen Ilene and Jenny and told them what happened. "Well I'll be" said Jenny. "You are something Ash" said Queen Ilene. Riley explained to Ash that Shinx, Piplup and Budew were pokemon that you get in the Sinnoh region, and that Piplup was one of the starter pokemon of Sinnoh. "How funny, I've got three new Sinnoh pokemon and yet I haven't set foot in Sinnoh yet" said Ash. The only problem was that Ash didn't bring any of his pokeballs with him; he hadn't expected to be catching any new pokemon while he was training his aura. But Queen Ilene had plenty of empty pokeballs that weren't being used so she let Ash have them. Ash also didn't bring his pokedex either so he couldn't scan his new pokemon, so he decided to wait till he was home again.

Since Ash had stopped doing training today to help Shinx and capture the three pokemon altogether, Riley let Ash have the rest of the day off. All through that day Ash told Riley about his pokemon journeys through Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Kanto again for the battle frontier, until at last it was time for bed. But tomorrow they had to catch up with the training.

Next day Ash was back at training. Ash had told Shinx, Piplup and Budew about his aura training so they were spending the day with Pikachu in the forest so not to bother Ash and Riley. "Okay Ash, now it is time you learn the difficult thing for aura users" said Riley. He explained that aura users can use their aura as an attack weapon and as a shield. Ash was surprised; he had never heard that before. Riley demonstrated the attack by summoning aura and throwing it at a rock. Lucario did the same thing and Riley explained the attack was called aura sphere. Then Riley demonstrated the aura shield while Lucario tried to attack Riley with metal claw; it was just a demonstration and not a real thing. "Het I can protect myself like that too with my psychic power" said Ash. Ash asked Lucario to attack him next with metal claw, and when Lucario did that Ash protected himself with the barrier. Riley was impressed. "I have to admit, this is like using the move protect" said Ash.

Before they continued on Riley asked Ash to show him what he could do with his psychic power. Apart from using power to hold things, pokemon and humans in place and moving them around like using confusion and disable, being able to communicate with psychic pokemon with telepathy, and creating barriers to protect himself Ash now knew how to teleport himself from one place to another. "Wow Ash, when did you learn to teleport like that?" asked Riley. "It's quite a story" said Ash.

(Flashback)

It was on the day that Ash was training with his Charizard, Venasaur, Blastoise and Pikachu before he challenged Brandon the third time. Ash was watching his Charizard fly from a top of a cliff. But the ground where Ash was standing crumbled and Ash fell off the cliff. He was falling so fast that Charizard wouldn't have been able to catch him in time. Ash feared it was the end for him and he wished he had Gardevoir with him to use teleport. But then he suddenly disappeared and reappeared on the top of the cliff. It was then Ash realized that he had learnt to teleport.

(Flashback ends)

"Wow Ash you were lucky you teleported yourself otherwise you could have been killed when you fell from that cliff" said Riley. "Yes I was," said Ash "but it did feel weird when that happened because it was like my psychic power read my mind and then did it. Before I went on my pokemon journey I had never heard of psychics or aura users and I thought only pokemon could do amazing things". Riley chuckled because he thought the same thing too before he knew about psychics and aura users. "Now you better put the same concentration you have when using your psychic powers into this aura attacking and defending training because this will not be easy" said Riley. Riley was right; when Ash tried to form a ball of aura or try an aura shield nothing worked. This was indeed going to be hard for Ash.

Weeks and weeks went by, and Ash went through a hell of a time to master the abilities of using aura sphere and aura shield. He ended up exhausted most of the time of trying to create balls of aura, and when Riley threw tennis balls for Ash to practice the aura shield, poor Ash got hit and bruised. All of this made Pikachu, Piplup, Shinx and Budew worry about Ash because of how tough this training was. Even Queen Ilene and Jenny became worried of him; Ash may be fourteen but he was still a kid. By the time four months, since Ash and Pikachu came to Rota, had passed Ash had finally passed his aura training. He was finally able to do aura sphere, aura shield, see things in darkness and fog with aura, dodge things that are about to him while blinded, look through objects like boxes and other things like that to see what was in them with aura and he was able to communicate with Riley with telepathy. Aura users were able to communicate with each other with telepathy, and they could communicate with Lucarios through telepathy because of aura too.

Ash was relieved that he had finally mastered his aura abilities, despite the hell he went through. He felt very happy as well as very exhausted. "Well Ash you have done it," smiled Riley "you have completed your aura training and I'm proud to have had you as my student. But don't stop practicing your aura abilities even when you're on a pokemon journey". Ash promised that he would never stop practicing his aura abilities like he hasn't stopped practicing his psychic abilities. "Now Ash I have something just for you" said Riley. His Lucario presented a blue and black pokemon egg to Ash. "Ash this egg contains a pokemon called Riolu, the pre-evolved form of Lucario. It was left to me to take care of, but I already have a Lucario so I will be giving it to you now. And I know you will take good care of it". Ash was speechless that he was getting a pokemon that evolved into Lucario, but he accepted the egg at once.

Suddenly, as soon as Ash held the egg, the egg glowed and hatched. A small black and blue pokemon with floppy ears and a small yellow collar appeared in Ash's arms; this was a Riolu. The baby pokemon woke up and saw Ash. "Hi" smiled Ash. The baby Riolu huddled in Ash's arms. 'Papa' it said; it spoke through telepathy to Ash because of its aura. 'My name is Ash, Riolu and I'm your trainer' replied Ash through telepathy. He and Riolu had quickly bonded because of their aura. Pikachu, Shinx, Piplup and Budew were happy that they had a new pokemon friend. Ash had a spare empty pokeball he got from Queen Ilene and used it to catch Riolu. So Ash had four Sinnoh pokemon now.

Now that Ash's aura training was over, he could now get back home to Kanto. He thanked Queen Ilene and Jenny for letting him stay in the castle and he thanked Riley for training him. "Well Ash I will be leaving now back for Sinnoh," said Riley "and since you will be going to Sinnoh I hope I will see you there". "I have the feeling that we will" said Ash. So Riley said goodbye to everyone and he and Lucario left to go back to Sinnoh. Then Ash said goodbye to everyone and he and Pikachu left to go back to Kanto.

Now there was nothing to keep him from going to start his next pokemon journey.

Chapter 107

What Tomo did while Ash was gone

After Ash left for Rota to train his aura, Tomo had to think what to do for him-self. With Ash gone he wasn't sure what to do, especially since they weren't going on a new pokemon journey until Ash came back from Rota. But that evening, while he and his mum were having dinner, he decided on what to do. "Hey mum, have you heard of the pokemon rangers?" Tomo asked Delia. "Yes I have," answered Delia "I've read them I the papers and seen them on TV lots of times. It's great there are people like them who protect pokemon from all sorts of dangers and other bad things like that. I heard from Ash that you met two pokemon rangers Solana and Jack while you were in Kanto". "Meeting them has made me decide what I want to be and that is to become a pokemon ranger too" said Tomo. Delia was surprised by Tomo's decision, but she agreed. "I had the feeling you would grow up to be someone who would protect pokemon like a policeman or pokemon ranger Tomo," she said "I mean you did grow up with Ranger Jenny at the pokemon reserve before you came into our family. So I think being a pokemon ranger is perfect for you". So it was settled; Tomo's quest was to become a pokemon ranger.

Next day Tomo went over to Prof Oak's lab. Delia decided that Tomo should go and see Prof Oak to find out how Tomo could become a pokemon ranger. Tomo told Prof and Tracey about his wish to become a pokemon ranger. "So you have found what you want to do Tomo," said Tracey "and I think being a pokemon ranger would be great for you". Prof Oak agreed too. "Prof Oak how do people become a pokemon ranger?" asked Tomo. "Well I've read that those who wish to become a pokemon ranger go to a special school called the ranger school," said Prof Oak "they teach you there how to become pokemon rangers there and how to become operators and mechanics. Let me check it out on the computer". Prof Oak looked at the ranger school on the computer. "Yes it says here that at the ranger school the students learn all there is about being a pokemon ranger. Why they even go on small quests too to see if they have what it takes to be pokemon rangers". "It looks tough to me," said Tracey "I think you should train yourself and your pokemon Tomo, before you start attending this school". "I agree with Tracey" said Prof Oak. Tomo agreed too; he and Ash had heard about how hard and dangerous it can be sometimes when you're a pokemon ranger from Solana before. Then Tracey came up with an idea; he thought that maybe Tomo should battle gyms and enter a pokemon league. "I call that a great idea;" said Prof Oak "battling in gym battles and in a pokemon league would make you stronger Tomo, just like it makes Ash strong". Tomo looked thoughtful; Prof Oak was right about Ash getting stronger because of his times battling pokemon gyms and entering the pokemon leagues and other tournaments. "That's what I'll do," said Tomo "I'll battle the gym leaders when I go to Sinnoh with Ash and I'll enter the Sinnoh League too". So it was decided that Tomo will enter the Sinnoh League to get stronger before he goes to the ranger school.

Tomo went out onto the ranch and rounded up all of his pokemon; Growlithe, Tauros, Poliwhirl, Nidoran couple, Venonat, Marowak, Pikachu, Kabuto, Omanyte, Farfetch'd, Chameleon, Croconaw, Magcargo, Houndour, Electabuzz, Magmar, Jynx, Ledian, Sunflora, Octillery, Wynaut Teddiursa, Snubbull, Grovyle, Shedinja, Ninjask, Poochyena, Camerupt, Castform, Spinda, Pelipper, Plusle, Minun, Electrike, Dusclops, Beldum, Lileep, Anorith, Sealeo, Natu, Pidgey and Ponyta. He told everyone about his decision to become a pokemon ranger, and then he told everyone that he was going to participate in the Sinnoh League when they got to Sinnoh. "If we participate in the gym battles there we will get stronger like my brother and his pokemon are". His pokemon understood and they couldn't wait to participate in gym battles.

At that moment a gush of wind interrupted Tomo; it was Mewtwo, who had just come back from his traveling through Kanto. Mewtwo knew that Ash had gone to train his aura power; he had told Mewtwo about his aura after what happened at Rota before and about his decision to train it just before the journey through Kanto finished. "Is everything alright Mewtwo?" asked Tomo. "So far all of Kanto is at peace," said Mewtwo "but I fear of Team Rocket who still roams around free". "Yes it would be great if we could get rid of them like we got rid of Team Aqua and Magma in Hoenn" said Tomo. He didn't like Team Rocket either and only a miracle would be able to take them and Giovanni down. Since Mewtwo was home again he decided to rest until Ash came back from Rota.

Tomo went back to his house and asked his mum what he should do. He did plan to do some training but he wasn't sure what else what he can do. Delia thought for a moment. "I know why don't you go to Pewter City and Cerulean City?" she said "if you go to the gyms there you could have gym battle practices with Brock and Misty". Tomo thought that was a great idea, and so did Growlithe. "I'll head out to tomorrow to visit Brock and Misty and practice gym battling there".

So the next day Tomo packed up somethings in his backpack, got six of his pokemon (including Growlithe) ready and left Pallet Town to visit Brock in Pewter City and Misty in Cerulean City.

The first stop was to get to Pewter City. Right now Tomo had made it to Viridian City. He found out that Viridian Gym had a new gym leader and to his surprise it was Jones who Ash battled in the ever grand conference. Jones had moved from Hoenn to Kanto to become the gym leader for Viridian Gym. Battling his ground type pokemon was perfect to earn the Earth badge.

After leaving Viridian City, Tomo made his way through the Viridian Forest. Travelling alone to different places felt weird to Tomo because he had always traveled with Ash. But it was a good opportunity for him because when he had to go to the ranger school he would be there himself without Ash and of course he would go on quests without Ash too. It was Tomo's first step of being independent.

Once Tomo made it to Pewter City and to the gym a few days later, Brock was surprised to see him. Tomo told Brock about his decision to enter the pokemon gyms in the Sinnoh region to get stronger because of his wish to go to ranger school and about his mum's decision to see him and Misty to practice gym battles. "I understand Tomo," said Brock "and your mum was right to have you come to me and Misty to practice a gym battle. I will help you and I know Misty will too". Tomo was grateful.

Brock and Tomo went to see his family and told them about Tomo wanting to have a practice battle in the gym. Forrest agreed to practice with Tomo; he thought this would be a great practice too before he became the official Pewter Gym leader. So everyone went into the gym. Forrest and Tomo took their places on the battle field, Brock became the referee and Flint, Lola and the other siblings went to the side lines to watch. Brock explained that the match was a 2 on 2 match and declared the battle to begin.

Forrest sent out his Larvitar to battle and Tomo sent out his Octillery. Tomo started off by telling his Octillery to use bubblebeam. "Quick dodge that Larvitar" said Forrest, and Larvitar did dodge the bubbles. "Now use dark pulse". Larvitar fired a dark pulse attack and Octillery got hit by it. "You're alright Octillery," said Tomo "use aurora beam". Octillery fired an aurora beam at Larvitar and Larvitar got hit by it. Forrest knew that ice type attacks were strong against rock type pokemon so he decided to do something quick. "Sandstorm Larvitar" he said. Larvitar started up a strong sandstorm attack. Tomo chuckled because he knew what to do in a situation like this. "Rain dance Octillery" he said. It started to rain and the sandstorm attack was no more. "Sorry Forrest but I've learnt about field moves from my brother," said Tomo "now Octillery octazooka". Octillery fired an orb of water from his mouth and it hit Larvitar. Thanks to rain dance octazooka had more power and Larvitar fainted from the water type move. So Tomo became the winner of the first match.

"Wow Tomo you're good at battling" said Forrest, returning Larvitar. "It's thanks to Ash that my pokemon and I have learnt to be strong" said Tomo. Forrest understood because he learnt how to be strong too thanks to Brock and Flint. Forrest sent out his Rhyperior to battle next.

Tomo was amazed by the pokemon and looked at it on the pokedex: Rhyperior, the drill pokemon. The evolved form of Rhydon. It can launch a rock held in its hand like a missile by tightening then expanding muscles instantly.

Tomo decided to return Octillery and he sent out his Poliwhirl to battle next. "Poliwhirl use hydro pump" he said. "Quick use dig to get away Rhyperior" said Forrest. Rhyperior dug into the ground just before the hydro pump could hit it. "Watch out Poliwhirl" said Tomo. Just then Rhyperior came out. "Megahorn Rhyperior" said Forrest. Rhyperior tackled Poliwhirl hard with its horn. Forrest's family all agreed that Forrest was indeed doing well. "Okay Poliwhirl use surf" said Tomo. Poliwhirl created a tidal wave and it went at Rhyperior. Rhyperior couldn't dodge the surf attack and was hit by it good. "Okay Poliwhirl let's finish this off with hydro pump" said Tomo. Poliwhirl fired a hydro pump attack at Rhyperior, and this time Rhyperior was hit by hit. Being hit by two strong water type moves caused Rhyperior to faint. Brock declared Tomo the winner of the match.

Tomo and Forrest returned their pokemon and shook hands with each other. "You did great for your first gym battle Tomo," said Brock "you will do fine of challenging them in the Sinnoh region as well as challenging the pokemon league there". Everyone else agreed too. Just then Forrest asked Brock if he could give Tomo a Boulder Badge. "Hang on," said Tomo "I didn't come here to earn the Boulder Badge". "Maybe, but you should get the badge Tomo" said Brock. "I agree," said Flint "having that badge will be proof that you are ready to battle gyms and keep it as acknowledgement". Tomo couldn't give in and agreed, so he got the Boulder Badge.

Tomo spent the night at Brock's house and then got ready to leave for Cerulean City to see Misty. "Tell Misty I say hi Tomo," said Brock "oh and when Ash comes back from his training tell me at once because I wish to travel to the Sinnoh region too". Tomo was happy to hear that Brock was going to travel with them again and he promised to tell him. Then he said goodbye to Brock and his family and set off for Cerulean City.

After leaving Pewter City and traveling through Mt Moon, Tomo made it to Cerulean City. He headed over to the gym and was greeted by Misty. "Hi Tomo," said Misty "your mum just rang me and told me that you were coming here". Tomo explained of his plan to practice battling in a gym with her because he wanted to battle in pokemon gyms in Sinnoh. "That's a good idea Tomo; it's always best to practice things before you do them for real" said Misty. "I've already battled Forrest in Pewter Gym and I got the badge from him too," said Tomo, showing the badge, "thing is though I didn't want to battle him for the badge". "I call that a great idea because it will be a start on your quest Tomo," said Misty "and that's why I'll give you a badge too if you defeat me". Tomo was surprised but agreed.

Before Misty and Tomo could start their battle Misty showed Tomo around the gym and the pokemon. Misty's Mudkip had grown up by now and was now into battles. "Hey Misty," said Tomo "before I forget do you by any chance have any water stones? I want to evolve my Poliwhirl into a Poliwrath". "We have lots of water stones here," smiled Misty "and I would like to see your Poliwhirl evolve". There were water stones in a volt in the office of Cerulean Gym, where they also kept the Cascade Badges. Tomo released his Poliwhirl from the pokeball and Misty touched him with a water stone. Then Poliwhirl glowed and evolved into Poliwrath. "You have a very healthy and strong Poliwrath Tomo" said Misty. Poliwrath was happy and so was Tomo.

After that Misty and Tomo took their battle places on the swimming pool to battle. Misty declared the match a one on one match and Tomo agreed. Misty decided to send out her Corsola to battle and Tomo sent out his Sealeo to battle. Tomo started off by telling a Sealeo to use powder snow. "Get into the water Corsola" said Misty. Corsola dived into the pool and dodged the powder snow attack. Sealeo went under the water too. "Spike cannon Corsola". Corsola fired spike cannon, but Sealeo dodged it. This made Misty remember that Sealeo moved faster in the water than on land. "Ice ball Sealeo" said Tomo. Sealeo ice multiple balls of ice and Corsola got hit by all of them. "Oh no Corsola recover" said Misty. Corsola quickly recovered herself. "Okay Sealeo use hail" said Tomo. Sealeo came out of the water and made it snow and hail. The hail didn't hurt Sealeo of course because it was part ice type, cut it did hurt Corsola because she was water and rock. "Okay Corsola use tackle" said Misty. Corsola charged to do a tackle attack. "Body slam Sealeo" said Tomo. Corsola and Sealeo tackled each other and as Corsola was more strong than Sealeo, Sealeo was hurt more than Corsola. "Blizzard Sealeo" said Tomo. Sealeo blew a powerful blizzard attack and thanks to hail it was stronger. Poor Corsola didn't like the blizzard attack and she got covered in ice. "Now Sealeo use body slam". Sealeo gave Corsola a hard tackling and she fainted. So Tomo became the winner of the match.

"Well Tomo you did wonderfully in our battle" said Misty. She gave him the Cascade Badge and Tomo happily accepted it. Now it was over Tomo had to go back to Pallet Town again. Good luck with participating in gym battles and the pokemon league in the Sinnoh region Tomo," said Misty "and wish Ash lots of luck for me too when he comes back". Tomo promised to do that, thanked Misty for the match, said goodbye to her and headed off for home.

After having practice battles with Forrest and Misty, Tomo spent the rest of his free time helping out his mum with chores and errands, watched TV programs about pokemon rangers, spent some time at Prof Oak's lab and trained some of his pokemon, mostly Ponyta, Pidgey and Natu. In the process Tomo's Pidgey evolved to Pidgeotto, his Venonat evolved into Venomoth, his Nidoran couple evolved to Nidorina and Nidorino and his Beldum evolved into Metang. Tomo felt more than ready for when he would challenge the gyms in the Sinnoh region, but he still had to wait patiently until his brother came back. And he was fine with that.

Chapter 108

Before Sinnoh

When Ash finally came back to Pallet Town he was welcomed at once by his mum, brother, Prof Oak and Tracey. "It you finish your training Ash?" asked Prof Oak. "Yes my aura training is over so I could finally come home again and get ready to journey to Sinnoh" said Ash. Prof Oak noticed Riolu standing next to Ash. "Ash is that your new pokemon?" he asked. "Yes I was given Riolu by Riley after I completed my training," said Ash "and I caught three other pokemon while I was there too". He released his Piplup, Shinx and Budew from their pokeballs. Riolu hadn't been in his pokeball because he didn't like it so he was staying out like Pikachu. "Wow Ash I can't wait to hear your stories about Rota" said Delia. She invited Prof Oak and Tracey over for dinner and they accepted because they wanted to hear Ash's stories too.

At dinner time Ash told everyone all about his stay at Cameran Palace, how Riley helped him train his aura, how he captured Piplup, Shinx and Budew and when Riley gave him Riolu when he was still an egg. "The aura training was hard;" said Ash "I was exhausted most of the time and I ended up with bruises with trying to protect myself from the tennis balls. It took me weeks to get the aura sphere and aura shield right". "Well Ash even though you have quite a time, what's important now is you have completed your aura training" said Prof Oak. "Yes and the best bit is Tomo and I could finally go on a pokemon journey in Sinnoh" said Ash. "Speaking of Sinnoh Ash" said Tomo. He told his brother about his wish to become a pokemon ranger and about to challenge the gyms in Sinnoh and enter the Sinnoh League. "That way I and my pokemon will get stronger before I go to the ranger school". Ash thought that was a great idea, and then Tomo told Ash about his pokemon training, some of his pokemon evolving and practicing gym battles with Brock and Misty and show him his Boulder Badge and Cascade Badge. So that dinner was filled with talking and talking until it was time for bed.

The next day Ash and Tomo were getting their stuff ready for their journey tomorrow. Ash was taking his Pikachu, Piplup, Riolu, Shinx and his two Aipoms to start with. His Aipoms wanted to come on the journey too. Ash had planned that he would be swapping his new pokemon with Vigoroth, Arcanine, Masquerain, Tropius and his two Aipoms, but his Aipoms wanted to go on the journey now. Since Arcanine, Vigoroth, Masquerain, Tropius and the two Aipoms hadn't been taking part in anything yet Ash was going to use them through Sinnoh too. Tomo was taking his Growlithe, Electabuzz and Magmar to start with. Delia had made some new clothes for Ash and Tomo. Ash had a sleeveless black jacket, with a big yellow stripe across it, a white t-shirt, blue jeans, blue and black trainers and a red and black hat with a blue pokeball design on it. The only same thing he had were his fingerless gloves. He had a green backpack similar to his other one, with a white pokeball design and a red button. (The same outfit he wore in the Sinnoh arc in the anime) Tomo had a sleeveless black jacket, with a big blue stripe across the middle, a white t-shirt, a dark green headband, black and white trainers and dark green fingerless gloves. He also had a new back and it was the same as Ash's.

Ash had a talk with Mewtwo, who decided to travel around Sinnoh too. "You must be careful when you get there Mewtwo," said Ash "Riley warned me, when I was still at Rota, that there had been sightings of bad people there, especially poachers". 'I'll tell at once when I see any of these poachers' promised Mewtwo and he left himself. Ash had placed the master ball in his new back pack anyway so he would communicate with Mewtwo while in Sinnoh.

Prof Oak had some things for both Ash and Tomo. First he gave them new pokedex's from Sinnoh. Then he gave Ash the two pokeballs that belonged to his Eevees. "Gary had them evolved to Glaceon and Leafeon while you were gone Ash" he said. Ash was grateful and released his new Glaceon and Leafeon at once. Glaceon and Leafeon were happy to see Ash again and they hugged him. Tracey thought they were cool pokemon indeed. Tomo liked the look of Glaceon and hoped he would get one in the future.

Ash used his new pokedex to check out Glaceon and Leafeon; Glaceon, the fresh snow pokemon. The evolved form of Eevee. By controlling its body heat, it can freeze the atmosphere around it to make a diamond-dust flurry. Leafeon, the verdant pokemon. The evolved form of Eevee. With cells similar to those of plants, it performs photosynthesis inside its body and creates pure air.

Apart from knowing tackle, tail whip, sand attack, quick attack, bite, take down, swift, headbutt, iron tail, shadow ball, dig, double team, protect, secret power and attract, Glaceon also knew icy wind, ice fang, ice shard and mirror coat. Apart from knowing tackle, tail whip, sand attack, quick attack, bite, take down, swift, headbutt, iron tail, shadow ball, dig, double team, protect, secret power and attract, Leafeon also knew razor leaf, synthesis, magical leaf, giga drain and grass whistle. Ash was happy with his new pokemon.

Next he scanned his Riolu; Riolu, the emanation pokemon. The pre-evolved form of Lucario. It has the peculiar power of being able to see emotions such as joy and rage in the form of waves.

Riolu knew the moves quick attack, foresight and endure and the egg moves blaze kick and sky uppercut. And it also knew bullet punch and aura sphere. This was unusual because Riolu only learnt aura sphere after it evolved to Lucario; this Riolu was obviously special and Ash was happy with it.

Shinx was scanned next; Shinx, the flash pokemon. The extension and contraction of its muscles generates electricity. It glows when in trouble.

Shinx was male and he knew tackle, leer, charge, bite and spark and the egg moves ice fang, fire fang and thunder fang.

Next Budew; Budew, the bud pokemon. The pre-evolved form of Roselia. Sensitive to changing temperature, the bud is said to bloom when it feels the sun's warm touch.

Budew was female and she knew absorb, growth, water sport, stun spore and mega drain and the egg moves razor leaf, leaf storm, extrasensory and synthesis.

Last of all was Piplup; Piplup, the penguin pokemon. A poor walker, it often falls down. However, its strong pride makes it puff up its chest without a care.

Piplup was male and he knew pound, growl, bubble, water sport, peck, bide and bubblebeam and it also knew steel wing. This was unusual because Piplups could only learn steel wing after they evolved to their final evolved forms Empoleon; this Piplup was special too like Riolu was.

Ash was indeed happy and couldn't wait to start training his new pokemon. With all of today's preparations done, Ash and Tomo became ready to leave for Sinnoh tomorrow.

The next day Ash and Tomo were ready to set off and they were dressed in their new clothes. Delia, Tracey and Prof Oak wished the two brothers lots of luck. "Send back new cool Sinnoh pokemon for me to study you two" said Prof Oak. "You two boys be careful now," said Delia "and I will have the cabinet ready when you come back with your gym badges and contest ribbons". Ash had learned from Prof Oak that they did pokemon contests in Sinnoh and of course Ash was going to enter them as well as going the gyms. The two brothers said goodbye to everyone and they set off with Pikachu, Riolu and Growlithe to catch a ship for Sinnoh.

Now it was time for the two Ketchum brothers to start a whole new pokemon journey.

Chapter 109

Dawn's start of Sinnoh

Ash and Tomo's start of Sinnoh

And Meeting Paul

Out in the region called Sinnoh, a blue haired girl was waking up. Her name was Dawn and today she was going to start on her first pokemon journey because she was now ten years old. As soon as Dawn woke up she began to make herself look neat and tidy; she was very, very fussy of how she looked especially with her hair. And since today was a very special day for her she wanted to look perfect. She was wearing a black V-neck tank top with a white undershirt and a pink skirt, gold hair clips that hold up her hair in front. "Perfect" said Dawn.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. A blue haired woman named Johanna entered Dawn's room; it was her mother. Johanna had a grey and white cat type pokemon called a Glameow. "I'm glad to see that you are up early dear" said Johanna. "I am ten years old mum" replied Dawn. Dawn was quite a boastful girl.

Over breakfast Johanna checked to see if Dawn had everything she needed. Dawn explained that she had everything packed and she also had the postcard Prof Rowan gave her. In the Sinnoh region Prof Rowan gave out starter pokemon to beginning trainers. The three starters were a grass type called Turtwig, a fire type called Chimchar and a water type Piplup. Turtwig was a green and brown turtle type pokemon with a stick at the top of its head and Chimchar was a monkey type pokemon. Dawn hadn't decided yet which of the three she wanted but she knew it would be special to her since it would be her very first pokemon. Dawn's dream was to become a top coordinator like her mother was in the past. Johanna had many trophies and things she won from pokemon contests in the past. Johanna warned her daughter that she would have to learn to be a great pokemon trainer and breeder before she could become a top coordinator like her.

It was soon time for Dawn to leave for Prof Rowan's lab. His lab was in the next town called Sandgem Town. But Dawn wasn't exactly ready. All the things that Dawn packed were just clothes and jewelry in a big suitcase; she wasn't good of packing sensibly. Johanna packed the real things Dawn needed in a light yellow back pack and gave it to Dawn. "This is what you really need" she said. One last thing she gave Dawn was her first contest ribbon she won in life for luck; it was old and dirty now. Dawn put on a white beanie with a pink pokeball print on it and pink knee-high boots with black socks underneath and now she was ready. She got out her red bike, said goodbye to her mum and set off for Sandgem Town.

Once Dawn reached Sandgem Town, she tried to search for Prof Rowan's lab. But the problem was even though she had the map for the lab on the postcard she couldn't read the map because she was terrible at reading maps. She tried to find it but to no avail. Suddenly she bumped into an old man wearing a lab coat; he was Prof Rowan. Dawn apologized and explained that she was lost on finding his lab. Luckily for her Prof Rowan was going back to his lab so he would lead her there himself. "Lucas warned me there was a chance you might lose your way to my lab Dawn," said Prof Rowan "he told me you had terrible sense of direction". Dawn frowned at that comment. Lucas was a childhood friend of Dawn's but he always teased her about her terrible sense of direction and things like that. "How is Lucas doing?" asked Dawn "I heard he became an assistant to you". "He is but at the moment he's out traveling with his pokemon" answered Prof Rowan. Dawn hoped she would get to see him again.

When they arrived at the lab, they saw there was a broken window, papers and books all over the floor, the assistants panicking and only a Turtwig around. A Chimchar and a Piplup were missing. A man named Yuzo, who was one of Prof Rowan's assistants, explained the mess at once. What happened was after the assistants fed the three starter pokemon, the Chimchar tried to steal Piplup's food. That made Piplup angry of course and it shot bubbles at Chimchar, and a fight broke out between Chimchar and Piplup. The assistants tried to calm them down but to no avail. And then the Starly and Starpator that were in the lab too went all panicky and they blew whirlwind attacks in the lab making the mess over the floor and broke the window. Then they flew out of the window and Piplup and Chimchar got out too. Prof Rowan was not happy with what happened, but he told everyone they had to get the pokemon back. Dawn offered to help; the quicker the pokemon were found the sooner she could get her starter pokemon. Prof Rowan accepted the help and told her the pokemon would likely be in the forest and he also warned her to be careful.

So Dawn went out into the forest to look for Piplup and Chimchar. She soon found them with Chimchar swinging on the trees and Piplup blowing bubbles at it. Piplup was still cross with Chimchar. Dawn tried to get Piplup to stop fighting, but Piplup ignored her and blew bubbles at her and took off again. "Oh man this is going to be hard" whined Dawn.

Dawn soon found Piplup again but it was stuck in a big web. A Zigzagoon, Ninjask, Pidgey, Weedle, Dunsparce and Rattata were stuck in the web too. Dawn was shocked and had to think of a way to get them out. But then an Ariados turned up and started attacking Dawn with sludge bomb. Dawn got the idea of getting Ariados to attack its own web; she placed herself in front of the big web and when Ariados attacked with sludge bomb again the web broke apart from the attack and all the pokemon were set free. Dawn grabbed Piplup and ran away. "Phew we are safe now" she sighed. She checked Piplup over to see if it was okay, but it pecked her on the face. "Hey!" shouted Dawn "I just saved you from that Ariados, you should be thankful!" Piplup chirped away; it was a spoiled brat sort of pokemon.

Suddenly trouble came up; a swarm of Ariados appeared; Dawn and Piplup had stumbled into their territory. One of them was purple with blue markings, instead of red and black markings, which meant it was a shiny. The Ariados attacked by trapping Piplup and Dawn with webs and attacked with poison sting too. Things were looking bad now. Just then Dawn remembered the container of food that Prof Rowan gave her, which was to help find Piplup and Chimchar. "Piplup we'll use the pokemon food to distract the Ariados and then we'll use bubblebeam to escape" she said. Once Dawn threw the food to all the Ariados, Piplup used bubblebeam to break the web cages apart so they could escape. But then the shiny Ariados caught Dawn by the leg with string shot. "Quick Piplup get out of here now!" shouted Dawn. But Piplup wasn't going to leave Dawn, especially since she had protected it so much. The Ariados threw a poison sting towards Dawn, but Piplup jumped in and it started to glow. It was using the move bide. Piplup released a blast of energy and made the Ariados swarm leave, but the shiny Ariados was still here. Dawn wasn't sure what to do because poor Piplup was exhausted to attack again and she only had a little bit of pokemon food left. But then something came out of her back pack; it was a black pokeball with red and yellow stripes. "Hey this is a luxury ball; mum must have packed this for me". A luxury ball was a pokeball that caught pokemon and made them friendlier. "Well I guess there is no other way". She threw the ball at Ariados and Ariados got sucked in. "It may not be a full capture, so we'll use this as an opportunity to escape". But Ariados was captured in the ball; so it seemed that Dawn just captured an Ariados. "I didn't exactly plan for that to happen on my first day as a trainer" she sighed. But she picked up the luxury ball to ask Prof Rowan what to do.

After all what had happened Dawn called this a good idea to get back to the lab, but first she and Piplup came to a big lake in the middle of the forest. This lake was called Lake Verity. Dawn saw Starly and Starpator with Chimchar, so Chimchar was heading back to the lab now. Suddenly a gust of wind appeared and ripples appeared on the lake. Dawn and Piplup watched in surprise as an invisible spirit came out of the lake and vanished again. "What was that?" asked Dawn, in surprise.

Dawn and Piplup went back to the lab at once and Dawn told the professor what happened at Lake Verity. Prof Roan explained that there were stories about a mysterious legendary pokemon living in the lake, so he assumed it's what Dawn saw. Dawn also told him about catching the shiny Ariados in her luxury ball. "Well Dawn you certainly have had quite a day," said Prof Rowan "and it's not every day that someone catches a shiny pokemon. So you should keep it and consider it your first chapter". Dawn wasn't sure, but since she did plan to catch more pokemon she couldn't argue to not keep it. One of Prof Rowan's assistant passed a tray over which carried a pink pokedex just for Dawn and five empty pokeballs. "So Dawn which of the Sinnoh Starter do you wish to take?" asked Prof Rowan "Turtwig, Chimchar or Piplup?" Dawn had already decided; she wanted Piplup, considering of how well she and Piplup worked together as a team to beat the Ariados swarm.

After getting Piplup and her own Pokedex, it was time for Dawn to leave and set off on her journey at last. Prof Rowan told her that she was always welcome to phone him if she needed help, and then he and his assistants said goodbye to her with lots of luck. Dawn said goodbye too and left on her bike.

This was the start of Dawn's first pokemon journey.

By now Ash and Tomo finally made it to Sinnoh on the boat. "I feel this journey is going to be great Ash" said Tomo. "So do I Tomo," said Ash "it will be fun to see all the places here in Sinnoh and catch new pokemon. And of course participate in the Sinnoh Grand Festival and Sinnoh pokemon League". Yes the Ketchum brothers thought that this Sinnoh journey would be great just like their previous journeys.

First up they had to call Prof Oak and tell him they made it to Sinnoh. Prof Oak was happy to see the boys had made it safely and told them that Prof Rowan lived in Sandgem Town. "Thanks Professor," said Ash "we'll phone you again once we get there". "Good luck you two and oh make sure you mind your manners when you meet Prof Rowan he can be quite strict" said Prof Oak. The brothers understood and promised to behave. They finished the phone call and set off for Sandgem Town.

Now it was time for the Ketchum brothers to start their new journey. "Keep your eyes peeled Tomo in case we run into any wild pokemon to catch" said Ash. "I will" replied Tomo. Pikachu and Growlithe kept their eyes open too. "Okay Riolu since this will be your first journey, you must pay attention to your surroundings too" said Ash. 'Yes Papa' said Riolu. Riolu was out of his pokeball and was riding on Ash's shoulders.

Just then they came across a beaver looking pokemon. "What's that?" asked Tomo.

He opened his new pokedex: Bidoof, the plump mouse pokemon. It lives in groups by the water. It chews up boulders and trees around its nest with its incisors.

"Cool that's my kind of pokemon" said Tomo. He ordered Growlithe to use flame wheel and Bidoof got knocked out at once. "Oops maybe Growlithe is a bit too strong to use" said Growlithe. "It doesn't matter," said Ash "it helps catching weaker pokemon easily, and it will show Bidoof of how strong Growlithe is. Now harry and catch it before it gets away". Tomo quickly tossed a pokeball and caught Bidoof. "Well done Tomo you got your first Sinnoh region pokemon" said Ash. This was true; Ash already had six Sinnoh region pokemon (including Leafeon and Glaceon) and Tomo didn't have any at all. So this was a good start for Tomo.

After the capture of Bidoof the Ketchum brothers set off again for Sandgem Town. Suddenly an Officer Jenny on her motorbike came up to the boys. "Are you two Ash and Tomo Ketchum from Pallet Town in Kanto?" she asked. "Yes we are, is there any problem?" said Ash. Officer Jenny had been asked by Prof Rowan if she could pick up Ash and Tomo and bring them to his lab. "Prof Rowan had heard about you two from Prof Oak in Kanto, and since you two are new here he figured you may not know how to get to the lab". The brothers were grateful and accepted the ride. Ash asked Officer Jenny if all the Officer Jennies and Nurse Joys all looked in the same in the Sinnoh region, and Officer Jenny said they were. Ash did have the feeling if it was like that but he wanted to know anyway.

Thanks to Officer Jenny, Ash and Tomo made it to Prof Rowan's lab. They saw at once of how strict Prof Rowan looked. "I have heard about you two boys," Prof Rowan said to Ash and Tomo "especially you Ash, Prof Oak told me you are quite an impressive trainer". "Oh well" said Ash. Prof Rowan saw Riolu on Ash's shoulder. "I impressed with you already since you have a Riolu, which are hard to find" he said. "I received Riolu as a gift back in Kanto;" said Ash "it's a long story". "Well I would like to hear this long story and other stories to have to tell," said Prof Rowan "as the matter of fact I think Dawn may want to hear these stories too". He explained to the boys about Dawn being a beginning trainer and she could possibly learn from Ash. Ash thought for a second. "Well Tomo and I can go and meet her," he said "besides we want to go and look for new pokemon to catch". Prof Rowan understood and told them that Dawn was probably out on Route 202 to look for pokemon herself. "You boys go and find her, come back here to the lab, and you can tell me about your journeys Ash and Tomo" he said. The boys understood and went off to search for Dawn.

Meanwhile Dawn was out searching for new pokemon to catch with Piplup, who was riding in the bike basket. They soon ran into a brown and cream coloured rabbit pokemon called Buneary.

Dawn looked at Buneary on her pokedex: Buneary, the rabbit pokemon. When it senses danger, it perks up its ears. On cold nights, it sleeps with its head tucked into its fur.

Dawn found it cute and wanted to catch it, so she told Piplup to use bubblebeam. But the Buneary dodged the bubbles and attacked Piplup with dizzy punch. Poor Piplup was knocked out thanks to that attack; it was clear that he was still rather weak. The Buneary got away and Piplup hung his head in shame. "Hey no need to worry Piplup," said Dawn "we can just try again. I'm sure we'll run into another Buneary later". Piplup picked himself up like nothing had happened; he was really full of pride.

Dawn and Piplup set off again and this time they ran into a black and green pokemon that looked like a very small bush.

Dawn looked at it on the pokedex: Burmy, the bagworm pokemon. To shelter itself from cold, wintry winds, it covers itself with a cloak made of twigs and leaves.

Piplup was up for another go but Dawn released her Ariados to weaken Burmy. She told it to use string shot and Burmy got wrapped up in the string. "I think that may have been a bit much" said Dawn. She suddenly remembered her pokeballs and threw one at the trapped Burmy. Burmy was caught. Dawn was happy. "Alright I caught a pokemon!" she cheered. It was then Ariados squirted its string at Dawn; it didn't like it that Dawn just praised herself. "Okay, okay you were great too Ariados" said Dawn, who didn't like having string stuck to her face. Shew returned Ariados. Piplup wasn't happy either because he wanted to battle Burmy. "Piplup you had your turn it was Ariados's turn this time, besides you got weakened by Buneary" said Dawn. Piplup still sulked. Dawn called this a good time to get to a pokemon center before anything else happens.

By now Ash and Tomo were still looking for new pokemon to catch, but then a big truck came out and Brock came out of the truck. "Brock, hello" said Ash, who was happy to see him again. "Tomo called me to say that you had returned from your training Ash," said Brock "so now I can travel in Sinnoh with you guys too". The Ketchum brothers were happy to hear that and so were Pikachu and Growlithe. Brock thanked the truck driver for the ride and then the truck left. Brock saw Riolu and asked Ash where he got it. "I'll tell you Brock when we get back to Prof Rowan's lab" said Ash. He explained to Brock that he and Tomo were searching for a beginning trainer named Dawn and then they were to go back to Prof Rowan's lab so Ash could explain everything. Brock understood and agreed to go with them too.

Just when the group started to go and search for Dawn a Starly appeared in front of them.

Ash looked at the Starly on his pokedex: Starly, the starling pokemon. They flock in great numbers. Though small, they flap their wings with great power.

"That's my kind of pokemon" said Ash, deciding to catch it. The Starly saw the group and started to charge with tackle. "Pikachu counter with quick attack" said Ash. Pikachu tackled the Starly with quick attack; as Pikachu was stronger than Pikachu, Starly fainted. Ash tossed a pokeball and caught Starly. "A new Sinnoh pokemon for me" said Ash. Starly's pokeball got transported to Prof Oak since Ash already had six pokemon on him.

With Brock back into the gang and a new pokemon captured the group could now continue searching for Dawn.

While Ash, Tomo, Brock and Dawn had been busy, Team Rocket was starting to make their new start in Sinnoh. They had spent four months resting, planning and refreshing up at James's vacation home and now it was time for them to get back to work.

While they had been there James picked up an old pokemon friend of his. It was a grass type pokemon called Carnivine and it was like a big venus flytrap. James had Carnivine ever since he was a boy. Another thing that happened was Jessie and James had evolved some of their pokemon. James had revealed to the others that his Roselia and Jessie's Sneasel could evolve. James evolved his Roselia into a pokemon called Roserade with an evolution stone called a shiny stone. Jessie evolved her Sneasel into a pokemon called Weavile with an item called a razor claw. How a razor claw worked was Sneasel had to train, while holding the item, only at night time, so that's what Jessie did to make Sneasel evolve. James had pointed out her new pokemon Aipom could evolve into a pokemon called Ambipom but Jessie thought Aipom wasn't ready yet and decided to evolve it later.

So now with evolving pokemon and all the resting done, the trio decided to go out and search for pokemon to give to the boss.

Meanwhile Dawn was at a pokemon center talking to her mum. She introduced her Piplup to Johanna and told her about her Ariados and her Burmy. "Well Dawn you certainly have had an interesting start on your journey" said Johanna. Dawn also told Johanna about her trying attempt to catch a Buneary but it failed. Piplup still sulked about that and he and Dawn started complaining to each other. It made Johanna wonder if Dawn and Piplup will be an okay pair. After her phone with her mum, Dawn also got a phone call from Prof Rowan. Prof Rowan told her about Ash and Tomo. "Once you meet up with them I want you to come back to my lab with them, Ash has plenty of stories I'm sure you'd like to listen to". Dawn thought that sounded interesting, and decided to wait for Ash outside the pokemon center.

At that time Ash, Brock and Tomo were still on their way to meet up with Dawn. Suddenly they saw a jolt of electricity in the sky. "What was that?" asked Tomo. "Must be a trainer battling a wild pokemon" said Brock. They decided to go and check it out to see what was going on.

In the forest there was a purpled hair guy named Paul and the jolt of electricity was from his Elekid. Paul was catching three Starly's. Just then the gang turned up. "Don't get in my way" said Paul; he had a rude attitude. "We are just passing through," said Ash "you haven't seen a girl names Dawn pass here have you?" Paul said he hadn't and then he saw Riolu. "Where'd you get that Riolu? Don't tell me that's your starter pokemon". "No Riolu isn't my starter, Pikachu is," said Ash "I received Riolu as a gift a week ago". Paul looked on in disbelief. "I saw you capture that Starly of yours earlier," he said "and you didn't think about catching the strongest there is". Ash frowned at Paul. Paul sent out his three Starly and scanned them with his pokedex, which was black. "I'm sure you know that you can found out the pokemon's moves with a pokedex and that's what I do". Ash already knew that because he has done that ever since he first became a pokemon trainer. After scanning Paul kept one of the Starly and released the other two. Ash, Tomo and Brock didn't like what they just saw. "I get it," said Ash "you just like catching strong pokemon and you toss the weaker pokemon away. You can't fool me because I have seen this before". "Doing that just saves you the grief of the long road" replied Paul. Ash started to dislike Paul, even though he just met him. "Come on Brock and Tomo," he said "I've had enough of this so let's just look for Dawn". So Ash, Tomo and Brock left, leaving Paul alone with his Elekid.

Meanwhile Dawn was in trouble. When she came out onto the green she got attacked by a machine. It was Team Rocket and they wanted her Piplup. James found out that Piplup was a water starter pokemon so they wanted it. Just before the mechanical arms could grab Piplup, it was zapped by a thunderbolt. It was from Pikachu; the gang had turned up just in time to help Dawn. "Why am I not surprised that you would be here Team Rocket?!" shouted Ash. Team Rocket were not happy to see that Ash had turned up to ruin their plans again, so they started to turn their machine on him. Ash released his Piplup, Shinx and two Aipoms and told them and Pikachu to attack the machine together. The two Aipoms used swift, Piplup used bubblebeam and Shinx used spark and Pikachu used volt tackle. Together the attacks broke the machine and Team Rocket was sent flying. So much for Team Rocket's start.

Dawn was grateful, just then she gasped when she saw Ash. "Hey I remember seeing you on TV at the Hoenn and Kanto grand festivals," she said to Ash "and they call you the Prince of Kanto". Ash was embarrassed and he didn't know he had that nickname. "Tell me Ash all about your contests please" said Dawn. "Wait till we get back to Prof Rowan's lab first," said Ash "he wants to hear everything too". So the group headed for Prof Rowan's lab again. What they didn't know was Paul had watched everything.

Once the group got back to the lab, Ash told all about his journeys in the Kanto, Orange Island, Johto and Hoenn regions. His times at the pokemon leagues and grand festivals and he also showed Prof Rowan and Dawn his psychic and aura abilities. "I was told about that from Prof Oak and he was right about you Ash" said Prof Rowan. Dawn was amazed with Ash's stories and about his powers. Last of all Ash told everyone of how he got Riolu, Piplup, Shinx and his Budew in Rota. "Well Ash you are pretty lucky" said Brock. Ash smiled. "Hey Ash are you going to participate in the contests here in Sinnoh too?" asked Dawn. "Yes I am" answered Ash. "Then please let me travel with you," said Dawn "I wish to learn from you about the contests and battles". The three boys were surprised from the sudden request. Prof Rowan thought it was a great idea; since Dawn was a beginning trainer, she could learn a whole lot from Ash, Tomo and Brock. The three boys saw nothing wrong with that and agreed to let Dawn join them. So Dawn became the new travelling partner of Ash, Tomo and Brock.

Just before the gang could leave to really start the journey, Paul came up. He introduced himself to Prof Rowan and explained that he was waiting for Ash. The thing is after seeing Ash's pokemon break Team Rocket's machine he wanted to battle Ash to see how strong his pokemon were, especially Pikachu. Ash accepted; it would be good to have a battle before the new journey begins.

They moved to the back garden of the lab to have the battle. Paul said it would be a 3 on 3 pokemon battle and no substitutions. Brock became the referee. Paul sent out his new Starly to battle first and Ash sent out his Piplup to battle first. Paul let Ash go first and Ash told his Piplup to use bubble. "Dodge that and use aerial ace" said Paul. Starly dodged the bubbles and moved in with aerial ace and Piplup got hit by it. "Use growl Piplup" said Ash. Piplup let out a loud cry and Starly got put off. "Now Piplup use steel wing". Piplup struck Starly with steel wing and Starly fainted. "That Piplup is something special" said Prof Rowan, and he told Dawn that Piplups don't really learn steel wing until they evolved to Empoleon. Dawn could see that Ash's Piplup was stronger than hers.

Paul returned his Starly. "You are worthless!" he said, rudely to Starly. He sent out a Chimchar next.

Tomo looked at Chimchar on the pokedex: Chimchar, the chimp pokemon. It is very agile. Before going to sleep, it extinguishes the flame on its tail to prevent fires.

"Chimchar's a fire type pokemon, so it will have a disadvantage over Piplup" said Tomo. "I see so water pokemon beats fire type pokemon" said Dawn. Paul started this time by telling Chimchar to use ember. "Counter that with bubble Piplup" said Ash. Piplup's bubble broke the ember attack. "Use bullet seed Chimchar" said Paul. Chimchar fired a bullet seed at Piplup and Piplup got hit by the attack. Prof Rowan was surprised with that and explained to the others that Chimchar aren't supposed to know bullet seed. "That means that Chimchar is special like big brother's Piplup" said Tomo. Piplup was hurt by that grass type move. Paul then told Chimchar to use scratch and Chimchar scratched Piplup. After that attack Piplup fainted. So now it was two pokemon each.

Ash returned Piplup. "You did well Piplup" he said. Next he sent out his female Aipom. Ash started off by telling Aipom to use swift, but Chimchar countered the attack with ember. Paul then told Chimchar to use flame wheel, but Aipom used bounce to get out of the way and then kicked Chimchar and bounced off it. "Aipom show that Chimchar your water pulse attack" said Ash. Aipom fired a water pulse attack from her mouth and Chimchar got hit by the water attack. Paul didn't expect that. "Now Aipom double slap" said Ash. Aipom slapped Chimchar multiple times and Chimchar fainted.

"You're useless as ever" Paul said to Chimchar, returning it. He sent out Elekid next. Ash told Aipom to use swift, but Elekid countered it with thunderbolt. "Now thunder" said Paul. Elekid fired a thunder attack and Aipom got hit by it. The thunder attack was very powerful and Aipom fainted from the attack. "Wow that was incredible" said Dawn. "That Paul is one trainer" Tomo admitted.

Ash returned Aipom and sent out Pikachu to battle. "Let's see how powerful that Pikachu is" said Paul. "Pikachu start off with dig" said Ash. Pikachu dove into the ground, and Elekid stood still to wait for Pikachu to come out again. Pikachu came out and tackled Elekid. "Not too shabby" smirked Paul. He told Elekid to use thunderbolt. "Pikachu use protect" said Ash. Pikachu put up a shield and protected itself against the thunderbolt. "Now use iron tail". Pikachu whacked Elekid hard with iron tail. "Wow that Pikachu is sure strong" said Dawn. "That's because it and Ash have grown strong together ever since he became a pokemon trainer," explained Prof Rowan "you and Piplup will be growing strong together too Dawn". Paul ordered Elekid to use thunder punch and Ash ordered Pikachu to use volt tackle. The two electric pokemon collided with each other, but Pikachu was stronger than Elekid and Elekid was thrown back and fainted. So Ash was the winner of the battle.

Paul returned Elekid and stared at Ash. "I see you're not as shabby as you look" he said. Ash frowned; Paul was not only obnoxious, he was also a show off. "Don't underestimate me Paul," he said, crossly, "I have been a pokemon trainer for almost five years now and have grown strong with Pikachu over those years. So don't underestimate me or my pokemon". Paul just huffed stating he didn't care. Then he released his Starly; after the battle Paul condemned it no use for his pokemon team and decided to find a stronger Starly elsewhere. Ash really didn't like Paul and his attitude now; it was clear that Paul was a rival who Ash was never going to get along with in the future. Paul thanked Prof Rowan for letting him battle and then left, without saying thanks to Ash.

After that, it was now time for the gang to leave. Their first destination was a city called Jubilife City for the first Sinnoh pokemon contest, and then for a city called Oreburgh City, where Ash and Tomo could get their first gym badge. The gang said good bye to Prof Rowan and set off on their new journey again.

Chapter 110

Meeting Nando,

Turtwig,

And Bewilder forest

On the way to Jubilife City, Dawn was showing the boys her Burmy and shiny Ariados, and she told them how she captured Ariados. "Wow Dawn," said Ash "I call that lucky because when I caught my Ariados in Johto I had to battle it. And you getting a shiny pokemon on your first day is lucky too". "Do you have any shiny pokemon Ash?" asked Dawn. "Yes my Noctowl, my Milotic, my Aggron and my Arcanine are shiny too" answered Ash. Dawn was amazed. "Are you going to use any of them in contests Ash?" asked Dawn. Ash explained that he would only use the pokemon he catches in Sinnoh, as well as Pikachu, and the pokemon he caught back in Kanto for the contests and gym battles. (Only the pokemon from the Battle Frontier arc, and he will use Glaceon and Leafeon too) "All of my older and stronger pokemon have had their turns in leagues and contests and other tournaments, so now it's my new pokemon's turn to shine". "I think I've got the message" said Dawn. Truth is she didn't understand it yet, but it was Ash's decision and not hers.

Suddenly they saw the move sunny day with gleaning sun rays in the sky. "There must be a pokemon nearby," said Ash "let's check it out". But they didn't need to because the pokemon that was using sunny day came up to them; it was a Budew. A man who was a minstrel was standing by it; he was Budew's trainer. He had a golden harp in the shape of a Mew. The man introduced himself as Nando and the gang introduced themselves to him. Nando explained that he and his Budew travel around brining joy to everyone. Just then Dawn asked Nando if she could battle him; she wanted to show the boys how strong she had gotten. "Are you on the quest to battle the Sinnoh League Dawn?" asked Nando. "No I am on the quest to win the Grand Festival" answered Dawn. Nando accepted the challenge and suggested they do a contest battle.

So Dawn and Nando got into position for their battle. Ash and Tomo wondered if Dawn will be alright since this was her first battle, but this was a good start to try battling. Dawn sent out her Piplup to battle Budew. That wasn't the best choice of course since water had a disadvantage over grass, but Dawn was more in sync with Piplup at the moment than her other two pokemon. Dawn started by telling Piplup to use peck; she knew that grass type pokemon were weak against flying type moves. But Budew dodged and used bullet seed. Knowing that grass was stronger than water, Dawn told Piplup to dodge and use bubblebeam. The bubbles directly hit Budew but it didn't do much harm to it. "Water type moves don't work much on grass type pokemon Dawn" Ash called out. Nando told Budew to do solarbeam. Dawn knew that solarbeam takes time to charge up so she told Piplup to use peck. But Budew didn't need to charge up and fired solarbeam. Piplup got hit by it and fainted.

Dawn was confused that Budew did solarbeam without having to charge. "It's because of the bright sun Dawn," explained Ash "you see if the sun on a sunny is shining very bright or if a pokemon used the move sunny day pokemon can use solarbeam without having to charge up. And it can make a fire type's move very strong as well". Dawn still had much to learn. Nando told Dawn that for her first battle she did very well; she was a kind man. Then Nando left.

For the rest of the day Dawn couldn't stop sighing; she realised that she was not good at battling at all yet. "Don't let that lost get you down Dawn," said Ash "remember this is your first time as a trainer. And nothing will always go the way you want at the beginning, especially when you first try catching a pokemon or pokemon battling. All beginning pokemon trainers go through hard times like that". "Ash is right and that lose will help you to grow stronger" said Brock. By now it was nearly getting dark. Brock had a map book of Sinnoh and it read that there was a pokemon center nearby. Dawn was happy to hear that because she would prefer sleeping in beds rather than tents. Her mother had packed a tent and sleeping back for her. Before heading to the pokemon center Brock revealed that he had brought his Bonsly and his Nosepass with him to Sinnoh; all of the others had been left back at Pewter Gym. He also explained to Brock that his family ran the Pewter Gym and Brock was an ex gym leader because his brother Forrest was running it now.

Once they got to the pokemon center the gang gave their pokemon to Nurse Joy at once. Like other newbie trainers, Dawn thought the Nurse Joy from the last pokemon center was in the center they were in now. Ash explained that all the Nurse Joys in every pokemon center looked the same and all the Officer Jennys looked the same too. Dawn was surprised.

While the pokemon heeled Dawn introduced Ash, Tomo and Brock to her mother Johanna and explained she was going to travel with them. Johanna thought it would be a great idea for Dawn to travel with them especially since they were already pokemon trainers; it would give Dawn great experience. Johanna told her daughter to be careful while on the journey and to work hard and learn from the boys. Once the call ended and the gang picked up their pokemon, Ash and Tomo registered to participate in the Sinnoh League. "Excuse me Nurse Joy, do I have to register for pokemon contests here too?" asked Dawn. "No we register for pokemon contests and get our passes at the contest halls Dawn," answered Ash "so once we get to the Jubilife contest we will register there". "Got it Ash" replied Dawn.

Just then Nando came up to Nurse Joy asking for Budew; he asked to her to check over Budew. "Are you staying here too Nando?" asked Dawn. "No I'm just here to ponder" said Nando, and then he left with Budew. Nurse Joy explained that Nando couldn't make up his mind to either battle in gyms or enter pokemon contests. "Well the answer to that is simple, Nando can just do both," said Ash "I'm doing both gyms and contests and I'm happy doing that". "That's a great idea Ash," said Dawn "let's tell Nando that". The gang went outside to look for Nando. Luckily he hadn't gone far yet. Dawn ran up to Nando and told him of Ash's idea to do both gym battles and contests. "Hmm I think that is a wonderful idea, I think I will do that" said Nando. So it was decided that Nando will do both gyms and contests.

Nando built up a fire and had a talk with the gang. "So Ash it is okay for anyone to do both contests and gyms yes?" asked Nando. "Of course it is," said Ash "besides if it wasn't allowed I wouldn't have entered the contests back in Hoenn and Kanto. You see if it wasn't allowed I would have just stuck doing gyms because I like to do pokemon battles. But it isn't against the law to do both gyms and contests". Nando understood and so did Dawn. Just then Dawn asked Ash if he could help her with Ariados; since Ash knew about Ariados and had one himself, he would be perfect to help Dawn with her Ariados. Ash agreed to help and he got out his pokedex. Brock explained to Dawn that you could use pokedex's to switch pokemon around from whatever lab has your pokemon wherever you are; in Ash's case Prof Oak's lab. As for Dawn she would be switching her future spare pokemon from Prof Rowan's lab. Brock also explained that after having more than six pokemon, Dawn's extra pokemon will go to Prof Rowan's lab like Ash's extra pokemon goes to Prof Oak's lab. Ash used his pokedex to switch his two Aipoms for Ariados and Budew; he now had Pikachu, Riolu, Budew, Ariados, Piplup and Starly.

Ash released his Ariados and Dawn released hers. Nando was astonished to see Dawn's shiny Ariados. Ash showed Dawn some tricks he learnt in Johto, Hoenn and Kanto with Ariados. First he demonstrated the trick with using the web to escape from attacks and using it to attack opponents. (Something he learned from watching Harley's Ariados) Next Ash showed Ariados's moves including his egg move sonic boom. Nando and Dawn were impressed with Ash's Ariados and so was Dawn's Ariados. "It seems you have learned quite a lot on your past journeys Ash" said Nando. "I've gone through many, many things during my journeys Nando" said Ash.

It was then Dawn started to think about something. "Ash have you ever met up with mysterious pokemon before?" she asked. She explained about the mysterious spirit of a pokemon that appeared at Lake Variety on her first day. "I believe you must have seen something Dawn" said Ash. He explained of how he and his friends Misty, Tracey, Brock, Max, May and Tomo met up with legendary pokemon before. He also explained that he owned some legendary pokemon too; Celebi, Mewtwo, Lugia, Latias and Latios. And then he explained his bond with Ho-Oh who he saw on his first day as a pokemon trainer. Nando and Dawn were amazed by this, and Dawn wondered if she saw a legendary pokemon at Lake Verity.

Just then Ash asked Nando a question. He asked him if they could battle. "Since we are rivals for both the Sinnoh League and Grand Festival I want to test myself against you". Nando agreed and they decided to battle tomorrow since it was dark now.

Next day Ash and Nando got ready to battle. Nando was using his Budew and Ash decided to use his Budew. Nando started by telling his Budew to use bullet seed, but Ash told his Budew to dodge and use razor leaf. Ash's Budew dodged the bullet seed attack and Nando's Budew got hit by the razor leaf. "I say," said Nando "is that by any chance an egg move of Budew's?" "Yes and that not all it has, Budew show it your leaf storm" said Ash. Budew glowed light green and fired a flurry of leaves from her body and Nando's Budew was hit by the leaves. "Ash's Budew is amazing" said Dawn. Brock explained to Dawn about pokemon inheriting its parents moves when they've been bred, which is why they were called egg moves; it was one of nature's mysterious things. Nando ordered his Budew to use mega drain and it tackled Ash's Budew and stole some of her health to heal. "Use extrasensory Budew" said Ash. Budew fired an extrasensory from her eyes and Nando's Budew got hit by it. As Budew was a grass and poison type it was weakened by that psychic type move. Suddenly Nando's Budew started to glow and it evolved into a Roselia. "Wow, what a beautiful pokemon" said Dawn, looking at it through her pokedex. This was the first time she ever saw a pokemon evolve.

(When it comes to Dawn looking at the pokemon on her pokedex, which Ash had already seen on his pokedex, I am not going to do the pokedex things for her then. I'll only do it with pokemon that Ash hasn't seen yet either)

Nando told his Roselia to use sunny day; this meant Roselia was going to use solar beam next. "Use extrasensory again Budew" said Ash, and Budew fired another Extrasensory at Roselia. This time Roselia couldn't take anymore after that psychic type move and fainted. So Ash was the winner of this battle.

Nando picked up Roselia and said it did well and returned it to its pokeball. He thanked Ash for the battle and hoped he would get to challenge him and Dawn at a pokemon contest. Hen he said farewell to the gang and left to go about his journey. So Ash and Dawn had a common rival.

One day the gang met up with trouble; it was Team Rocket again. They had trapped Pikachu in one of their electric proof cages again and were flying away in their balloon. But Ash and Pikachu knew what to do with these situations by now. "Pikachu rock smash on that cage" said Ash. Pikachu punched the cage and the cage broke apart. The useful thing about the move rock smash was not only could it break rocks and bricks, it could also break metal. Ash sent out his Starly to help Pikachu. Team Rocket saw that and fought back. James sent out his Carnivine to get Pikachu back.

Tomo looked at Carnivine on his pokedex: Carnivine, the bug catcher pokemon. It binds itself to trees in marshes. It attracts prey with its sweet-smelling drool and gulps them down.

Tomo told his Growlithe to use flamethrower to distract Carnivine while Starly rescued Pikachu. "Now Pikachu time to do the usual blasting them away" said Ash. Pikachu used thunderbolt and the balloon burst and Team Rocket was thrown away.

"What's the deal with these Team Rocket people Ash?" asked Dawn, after their trouble with Team Rocket was over. The three boys explained to Dawn that Team Rocket was an evil team organization who went around stealing and capturing pokemon for their own evil ways. "Their boss called Giovanni is a very evil man who wishes to control both humans and pokemon and rule the whole world with pokemon as slaves" explained Ash. Dawn was shocked by that. "They cause trouble in Kanto, the Orange Islands and Johto" said Tomo. Then the boys told Dawn about Team Magma and Team Aqua who they met in Hoenn. "They tried to take over the world by using the legendary pokemon Groudon and Kyogre," said Ash "but they found out the hard way that controlling those two pokemon was impossible. But they are in jail and they will be staying there for a long, long time". "At least the world is free from this Team Aqua and Magma" said Dawn. "We have met many bad people on our journeys Dawn;" said Brock "not just Team Rocket and Aqua and Magma, we also met pokemon poachers, hunters, thieves and other bad guys like that". Dawn was shocked by that. "That reminds me," said Ash "Riley warned me about bad people, including poachers, were here in Sinnoh too so we better watch ourselves here too". Dawn felt her journey was going to turn out to be as big as she thought, after hearing those stories.

Just then the gang saw a Turtwig sleeping by a rock. "Hey a Turtwig" said Dawn.

Ash looked at Turtwig on his pokedex: Turtwig, the tiny leaf pokemon. Made from soil, the shell on its back hardens when it drinks water. It lives along lakes.

"This is my chance" said Dawn. It was rare seeing a Sinnoh starter pokemon in the wild, so Dawn decided to catch it. She sent out her Piplup to battle it and told him to use peck. Turtwig attacked by using razor leaf, but Piplup ducked down before the leaves could hit him. But the leaves hit a nearby bush, where a wild Oddish was and the Oddish was hurt. Suddenly he started to release a sleep powder attack. Ash quickly set up an aura shield around everyone and the sleep powder didn't hit anyone. "Wow Ash," gasped Dawn "is this one of your aura powers?" "Yes this is called the aura shield" said Ash. The others were very impressed. Turtwig saw that too and it was amazed that a human had that sort of power.

Suddenly an old woman came running up to the gang and asked what was happening. Dawn explained to the woman that she was trying to capture Turtwig but an Oddish got hurt. The woman picked up the Oddish and invited the gang to come over to her place. The woman, whose name was Clara, lived in a house by herself and she healed the wild pokemon in the area if they ever got hurt. Turtwig was having some food out in Clara's garden. Dawn asked Clara if Turtwig was hers, but Clara explained that the Turtwig was wild. One day Turtwig appeared in her garden one day and it was weak, hurt and hungry. "I gave the poor thing some food, but that Turtwig is full of pride and can be very stubborn. But its empty tummy proved it was hungry and it ate the food, and accepted me to heal it. It has lived around here ever since and it has kept the peace between the wild pokemon living around here". This reminded Ash of his Venasaur back when he lived in the hidden village when he was still a Bulbasaur. "Another thing is though that Turtwig can get carried away when it comes to fighting as it's a real fighter" said Clara. "Wow that Turtwig is different than the Turtwig I met back at Prof Rowan's lab," said Dawn "that Turtwig was more relaxed". "Like people, pokemon have many different personalities Dawn," said Brock "sometimes a Primeape who usually acts really rough and tough can sometimes act like a softy, or a Chansey who acts like a softie can act all rough and tough". Dawn never knew that.

Suddenly there was a commotion coming from outside. It was Team Rocket again but this time they were after Turtwig. They found out that Turtwig was a starter pokemon and they wanted it to give to their boss. Jessie had her Weavile freeze Turtwig with blizzard. "Well done Weavile" said Jessie. "Now let's capture this Turtwig" said James. "Oh no you don't!" shouted Ash, who turned up with the others, "if you think I'm going to have you turn Turtwig into one of your slaves you are so wrong!" "Don't get in or way twerp!" shouted Jessie. She told her Weavile to get ready to fight and James sent out his Roserade to battle.

Dawn looked Weavile and Roserade on her pokedex: Weavile, the sharp claw pokemon. The evolved form of Sneasel. It sends signals to others by carving odd patterns in frost-covered trees and ice. Roserade, the bouquet pokemon. The evolved form of Roselia. Luring prey with a sweet scent, it uses poison whips on its arms to poison, bind, and finish off the prey.

Ash had his Pikachu to battle Weavile and Tomo had his Growlithe battle Roserade. Weavile got defeated by Pikachu's thunder attack and Roserade got defeated by Growlithe's fire blast attack. To finish it all off Pikachu sent Team Rocket flying with volt tackle.

Clara got to work on healing Turtwig at once. Turtwig was grateful to Ash for helping it, and then it suddenly bit down on Ash's head. Clara explained that was Turtwig's way of affection towards those it like, which meant it had done that to her too.

By then it was time for the gang to leave, but Turtwig wanted to go with Ash because it liked him. But there was a condition, Turtwig wanted to have a pokemon battle. Ash sent out his Shinx to battle. Turtwig started off with tackle and Shinx did tackle too. Next Turtwig used razor leaf, but Shinx dodged the leaves and used swift which hit Turtwig good. Just then Turtwig moved in to use bite. "Show that Turtwig your fire fang Shinx" said Ash. Shinx dodged being bitten and then bit down on Turtwig with fire fang. As fire fang was a fire type move Turtwig was in pain by the move. "Now charge yourself Shinx and then use spark". Shinx charged himself up and then he used spark on Turtwig. Thanks to charge the electric attack was stronger than usual and Turtwig was hurt from that attack. "Brock what was that move charge?" asked Dawn. "That was an electrical move with powers up Shinx and when it uses another electrical move next that move is stronger than usual" explained Brock. The move spark not only hurt Turtwig, it also paralyzed it. This was Ash's chance and he tossed an empty pokeball at it. In a couple of seconds Turtwig was caught and since Ash already had six pokemon Turtwig's pokeball was sent to Prof Oak's lab.

After capturing Turtwig, the gang said goodbye to Clara and continued on their way to Jubilife City.

Not long after Ash's new Turtwig was captured the gang were taking a break from traveling for lunch. Ash was checking on his new Turtwig with the pokedex; the pokedex said that his Turtwig was male and he knew tackle, withdraw, razor leaf, bite, absorb and synthesis. He also knew the move dig, which was unusual because Turtwig and their evolved forms don't really learn dig. But Ash was happy with his new pokemon and couldn't wait to use him in battle. Turtwig still liked to bite down on Ash's head in affection because he liked him a lot.

Suddenly Paul turned up. "You certainly appear out of nowhere don't you Paul?" said Ash. "I'm just on my way to the Oreburgh Gym" said Paul. "I'm going there too" said Ash. Just then Paul saw Ash's Turtwig, and like usual Paul spoke rudely about it. He didn't think it was anything special. That of course made Ash cross. "I take it you're going to tell me that you have a Turtwig too and yet yours is way better than mine?" said Ash. Ash had been through this before; trainers boasting about their pokemon which Ash also had. Paul just huffed. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he said. Ash gritted his teeth in anger, but didn't say anything about Paul's insult. "Since I'm sure you are here to capture more pokemon Paul we'll leave you to your business while you can leave us to our business" he said. "I don't have time to mess with you anyway" replied Paul, and he left.

"What was that about Ash?" asked Dawn "when you looked really angry at Paul, I thought you were going to pick a fight with him or something". "Listen Dawn," said Ash "when you have a rival who likes to insult you or your pokemon, it isn't best to let your anger get to you. I know because my old rival Gary used to insult me and my pokemon in the past, and one time I challenged him to a pokemon battle. But I lost my cool and concentration because of my anger. So if you let your anger get to you Dawn, you will lose concentration in the end". "Ash is right Dawn," said Brock "that can happen". "Okay" said Dawn, getting the message.

After lunch the gang had walked to an entrance of a forest. Brock took a look at his map guide. "Oh-oh," he said "it says here that this forest is called Bewilder Forest, and it also says that wild Stantler live here". "If Stantler live in there then we better be careful, otherwise they will put us in illusions" said Ash, remembering an experience with Stantler back in Johto. "What should we do?" asked Dawn worriedly. Ash told Dawn not to worry because he planned to use his aura to keep a look out for Stantler if they were close. "If we run into any Stantler I'll let you all know at once". Ash had already explained to Dawn about what he could do with his aura power, so Dawn was willing to trust Ash. The gang entered the forest.

As the gang walked through the forest, Ash had his eyes shut to use his aura. Thanks to that they managed to keep away from the wild Stantler. "This aura power certainly is very handy" said Dawn. "I take it was hard to practice this aura power of yours, right Ash?" asked Brock. "Yes, Riley had me practice using aura in my surroundings and my other aura abilities every day," said Ash "and it took four months to get everything right". "Wow" said Dawn. Thanks to Ash's aura the gang made it out of the forest without getting hypnotizes by the wild Stantler, and from running into any wild Beedrill.

Suddenly they ran into Paul again. "I'm surprised you managed to get through this forest with Stantler living in there" he said, rudely. "For your information Paul," said Ash, crossly, "Brock, Tomo and I met Stantler back in the Johto region, and we know that Stantler have the move hypnosis that can make people and humans see illusions". Paul wasn't impressed with hearing that. "Caught any new pokemon Paul?" asked Ash. "If you must know yes," said Paul "I found an Ursaring which proved its worth to be on my team. The Stantler I also caught proved to be worthless as it only knew tackle". That meant of course that Paul released Stantler after catching. Ash wasn't happy of hearing this of course, but he didn't want to bother arguing with Paul about it. "What about you?" Paul said to Ash "still clinging on to that Turtwig of yours? If you are then you are just wasting your time with it". Now Ash got really cross now; he hated it so much whenever somebody insulted his pokemon. "That does it!" he shouted "I'm not having you insult my Turtwig anymore! I will battle you with my Turtwig and I'll show you there is nothing worthless about him". Paul thought it would be a waste of his time, but he agreed to battle; only to see if Ash's Turtwig was worth it.

Ash and Paul took their places to battle. "Hey Brock," said Ash "what made Ash decide to battle Paul this time?" "Paul went too far with his insulting," said Brock "Ash really hates when people insult his pokemon too much". "Wouldn't you hate it too if somebody insulted your Piplup, Burmy and Ariados too much Dawn?" asked Tomo. "Actually I would Tomo" Dawn admitted.

Ash sent out his Turtwig and Paul sent out his Chimchar to battle. "Oh-oh, fire beats grass" said Dawn. "Don't worry," said Brock "even if your opponent has an advantage of type over you, you can still find a way to overcome it. Ash always finds a way in situations like this, so watch closely Dawn". Ash started off by telling Turtwig to use tackle, but Chimchar used dig to get away. "Use your own dig Turtwig" said Ash. Turtwig dug into the ground to go after Chimchar. Paul was slightly surprised to see that Ash's Turtwig knew dig, but he just scoffed it off. "Get out of there" he said. Chimchar got out of the ground and looked around for Turtwig. Just then Turtwig came out of the hole and got ready to use bite. But Chimchar attacked with scratch. "That Chimchar is strong," said Tomo "I'd like to get a Chimchar like that". Ash then told Turtwig to use razor leaf, but Chimchar burnt through the leaves with flame wheel and tackled Turtwig. As flame wheel was a fire type move Turtwig was hurt by that. "Turtwig you okay?" asked Ash. Turtwig was okay, but was feeling weak. "Chimchar flame wheel again" said Paul. Chimchar charged towards Turtwig with flame wheel at full speed. "Tackle it Turtwig" said Ash. Turtwig and Chimchar tackled each other, but Chimchar's fire move was stronger than Turtwig and Turtwig was thrown back and fainted. So Ash lost to Paul this time.

Ash picked up Turtwig. "You did great for your first battle Turtwig" he said. Turtwig was touched by Ash's kindness. Chimchar was happy with its victory and jumped up and down, but Paul told it to stop. "This is nothing to be proud of" he said, and returned Chimchar. Ash felt that Paul must have never said anything nice in his life. Paul turned to Ash. "As I said your Turtwig isn't much" he said, rudely. Ash frowned. "Turtwig and I may have lost to you this time Paul, but next time we meet we'll be stronger" he said. Paul took no notice and left.

Ash turned to the others. "Dawn, Brock and Tomo," he said "Paul is a rival that I am never going to become friends with ever". Brock and Tomo agreed and so did Dawn. So with his first loss against Paul, Ash knew that he had a lot of work to do with his new Turtwig.