A couple of days have passed since Ash, Pikachu, Serena, Brock, Dawn, and Piplup left Cerulean City. Since that time, Dawn and Serena have been getting to know each other more and started to become very good friends. While Ash, Brock, and Pikachu lead the group as they walk toward Saffron City, Serena and Dawn walk behind to talk about showcases, contests, and fashion. Serena even began to teach Dawn how to make Pokepuffs for her Pokemon when they spent the night at a Pokemon Center out in the woods. It took Dawn several tries before she was able to serve her Pokemon Pokepuffs that weren't burnt.
Ash and Brock also got to enjoy catching up with Dawn whenever the group was taking a break for lunch or dinner. Serena was surprised yet amused to find out that Dawn's Buneary has a crush on Pikachu. Every time Dawn lets it out of its Pokeball along with the rest of her party whenever it was time for a meal break, the bunny Pokemon will try to sit next to Pikachu while eating much to the mouse Pokemon's uneasiness. Brock, Dawn, and Ash watch the display in amusement while Serena finds it adorable.
On the fourth day, the four trainers and Pikachu and Piplup find their way to a small town. Serena and Dawn smile excitedly, hoping to find a Pokemon Center where they can each take showers and make more Pokepuffs while Ash and Brock look at the view in recognition.
"Hey, Brock, is it just me, or do you think this is the town I think it is?" Ash asks.
"I think so, Ash," Brock answers.
"You recognize this town?" Dawn asks.
"Yeah, this is where the Battle Area is," Ash answers.
"Battle Arena? Isn't that one of the locations of the Battle Frontier?" Serena asks.
"Yeah, Greta is the Frontier Brain there," Brock says.
"I wonder if Timothy, Electchu, and Coovers have come this way yet," Ash says.
"Huh? Timothy, Electchu, and Coovers?" Dawn asks. "Who are they?"
"Timothy is my new rival," Ash answers. "He's the guy who faced Lance for his title as Johto's champion and won and is going to compete in the Indigo League to face him again for the title of Kanto's champion."
"What?! You're rivaling against a guy who defeated a regional champion?!" Dawn shrieks. "Ash Ketchum, don't you think you've overdone it this time?"
"Nope. I don't think so," Ash says proudly. "The bigger the challenge, the better. Besides, it was Timothy who challenged me to face him in the Indigo League, not the other way around. He started this rivalry."
"He did?" Dawn asks flabbergasted.
"He sure did. I was there," Serena says with a proud smile. "Timothy only agreed to compete in the Battle Frontier on the condition that Ash competes in the Indigo League with him. Apparently, he found it unsettling that it took him many years to be able to face a champion while Ash almost won a Pokemon League tournament at such a young age, so he wants Ash to show him what he's made of at Indigo Plateau."
"Wow, sounds like you really got to this guy," Dawn says.
"Well, it's not like I meant to, but I guess there was no changing his mind," Ash says.
"No changing his mind, eh? Now that sounds familiar," Brock says with a teasing grin.
The four trainers laugh at his joke and calm down just in time to make their way to pass by the fighting dojo. They stop when they hear loud noises that sound like a Pokemon battle is happening inside. Ash grins excitedly, making Brock and Pikachu smirk, and Serena and Dawn look uneasy.
"Ash, please don't tell me you're thinking of -" Serena begins.
"Let's go check that battle out," Ash interrupts as he and Pikachu start running inside.
"Ugh, not again," Dawn whines. "I really wanna take a shower."
"Well, that's Ash for you, always interested in battling," Brock says.
Serena sighs with a small smile and admits, "Yeah, he just wouldn't be himself if he didn't. I guess all we can do is check out the battle too."
Brock and Dawn silently agree as the three of them and Piplup go inside where Ash is standing on the sidelines with dozens of people dressed in martial art clothes. They walk over to his side to see a blonde woman in black martial arts robes standing on one side of the battle area with a Medicham and a Hariyama standing in front of her. They turn to the other side to indeed see Timothy on the other side with a Lucario and a Gardevoir standing in front of him and Coovers, Electchu, and Scott standing behind him with an egg container lying next to Coovers.
"Alright, it is Timothy," Ash says excitedly.
"Oh, so that is Timothy," Brock says intrigued.
"Huh," Dawn says, confused. "Well, he looks confident enough that he might be a powerful trainer, but I don't know if I'd believe that he defeated a champion just on looks alone."
"Well, we're going to find out," Serena says. "This is actually going to be the first time we see Timothy battle."
"Right, and I can't wait to see how strong he is," Ash says happily.
As they are talking, the blonde woman notices how the Pokemon from both her and Timothy's sides are tiring and smirks.
"You put up a pretty awesome fight, Timothy," she compliments. "But I'm just a few moves away from beating you."
Timothy smirks back and crosses his arms.
"You know something, Greta? I was going to say the same thing to you except I'm going to do it with fewer moves," Timothy says in a matter-of-factly tone.
"Is that so?" Greta asks in amusement. "Well, I'm just gonna have to prove you wrong. Medicham, Focus Punch! Hariyama, Arm Thrust!"
Medicham's entire right arm glows blue, and both of Hariyama's hands glow white and the two Pokemon charge at Timothy's Lucario and Gardevoir.
"Just as I thought," Timothy says. "Shockwave, use Psychic if you please and lift them as high as you'd like."
The Gardevoir named Shockwave grins, and its eyes glow blue. Medicham and Hariyama suddenly stop on their tracks, and they are suddenly lifted high in the air with blue outlines surrounding their bodies.
"Oh, no! Medicham! Hariyama!" Greta cries out.
Serena's eyes widen as she watches the two fighting Pokemon panic as they hang in the air. The display makes her remember Pancham hanging in the air in the same manner after Russell's Hypno disabled Dark Pulse. She turns to Greta, who looks as clueless of what to do as she was and then to Timothy, who is ginning just like Russell.
"No holding back now," Timothy declares. "Shockwave, Odyssey, Moonblast and Aura Sphere, full power!"
Shockwave and the Lucario nicknamed Odyssey grin at each other before Shockwave summons an orb of pink energy from the front of its hands, and Odyssey puts its hands close together and creates a large blue ball between them. Medicham and Hariyama's eyes widen as they watch the two attacks hit them, causing two explosions that sent them flying higher into the air for a moment before they slam into the ground with swirly eyes.
"Medicham and Hariyama are unable to battle!" the judge declares. "Odyssey and Shockwave win, which means the winner is Timothy, the challenger!"
"Alright!" Coovers cheers.
"Ria!" Electchu shouts happily.
Timothy smirks and turns to his Pokemon, saying, "Nicely done, guys."
"Gardevoir," Shockwave replies with a smile.
"Luca," Odyssey replies with a grin.
Greta returns Medicham and Hariyama into their Pokeballs and walks over to Timothy with a respectable smile.
"Well done, Timothy. You have beaten me," she says while taking something out of her pocket. "Therefore, I present to you the Guts Symbol."
"Thanks," Timothy says as he takes the symbol and puts it in his symbol case.
"Great battle, Timothy," Scott praises as he, Electchu, and Coovers walk over to him. "You have two of your symbols already. You are making tremendous progress on your journey."
"Thanks, Scott," Timothy says, pretending to be invested in the Battle Frontier. "So where to next?"
But before Scott can answer, Ash suddenly shouts out, "Hey, Timothy, Coovers, Scott, Greta!" Timothy, Electchu, Odyssey, Shockwave, Coovers, Scott, and Greta turn around to see Ash running over to them with Pikachu, Brock, Dawn, Piplup, and Serena walking behind.
"Well, if it isn't Ash," Greta says with a grin. "Long time, no see."
"Hey, Ash, and Serena. Fancy meeting you guys here," Coovers says with a friendly grin.
"Raichu!" Electchu says in agreement.
"It's nice to see you again, Brock," Scott says, noticing the oldest of the group. "What brings you over here?
"We're just passing by on our way to Saffron City, and Ash wanted to visit after hearing you guys battle," Brock answers.
"I see," Timothy says. "So you wanted to see what some of my Pokemon can do, did you?"
"I sure did, and your Pokemon were amazing," Ash says enthusiastically. "What are their names again?"
Timothy chuckles, amused by Ash's excitement, and says, "Odyssey is my Lucario and Shockwave is my Gardevoir."
"Cool," Ash says before turning to both Pokemon. "Odyssey, Shockwave, you were awesome."
"Luca, lu," Odyssey replies with a grin.
"Gar," Shockwave says, giving a respectful nod.
"Wait a minute, so who are you two?" Coovers asks Brock and Dawn. "Are you friends of Ash and Serena?"
"We sure are. I'm Dawn, and this is my partner, Piplup," Dawn introduces.
"Pip, Piplup," Piplup says.
"And I'm Brock," Brock says.
"Nice to meet you both," Timothy says before turning to Brock. "Have we met before? You look like Flint, the gym leader from Pewter City."
Brock chuckles and says, "Flint is my father, and he retired from being the Pewter City gym leader years ago. Since then, I've been the gym leader, and now my brother, Forrest, runs it."
"Ah, that explains it," Timothy says. "You look an awful lot like your father."
"Yeah, I get that a lot," Brock chuckles.
Timothy gives Brock a nod before Ash suddenly steps between the two men and asks, "Timothy, I know you want to wait until the Indigo League, but do you think we can have a battle right now between Odyssey and Shockwave and some of my Pokemon?"
Timothy looks at the raven-haired boy dumbfounded and replies, "Uh, I'm not sure that's a good idea. Shouldn't we be holding off battling until the league?"
"Aw, don't listen to this spoilsport, I think that's a great idea," Coovers says to Ash.
"Coovers!" Timothy says sharply.
"Well, why not?" Coovers challenges. "You said yourself that you want to see what makes Ash special as a trainer, and there's no reason you shouldn't find out a little about that before the league."
"He's right," Greta says. "It's all part of having a friendly rivalry."
Timothy looks at everyone hesitantly, which makes Serena look at him concerned.
"Something wrong, Timothy?" She asks.
Timothy hesitates before he admits, "Well, it's just that...I've never had a rivalry before that was...friendly."
"Really?" Ash says, surprised. "How come?"
Timothy starts feeling uneasy, feeling on the spot. Coovers notices and feels worried, knowing the reason why. Just then, Timothy gets an idea and looks at Ash with a friendly look.
"Tell you what, " he says. "Shockwave and Odyssey have just finished a big battle so, why don't we go over to the Pokemon Center so that they can quickly heal and then we can have a double battle. If you win or at least take down one of my Pokemon during the match, maybe I'll tell you."
"Maybe?" Ash asks. "Why can't you just tell me?"
Timothy hesitates and looks at Electchu. The loyal Raichu has a grim look on its face as if it's starting to remember a memory that should have been forgotten forever. Timothy sighs before turning to Ash.
"Let's just say the reason why has to do with some harsh memories," he answers calmly. "So, if you really want to know, you have to show me in a battle what it means to have a friendly rivalry and that I can trust you and your friends with knowing what happened."
Ash looks at Timothy, confused for a moment before he nods in understanding.
"Alright, it's a deal," he says.
Timothy nods and says, "Then let us be off."
Ash, Pikachu, Serena, Brock, Scott, Dawn, and Piplup nod in agreement. Timothy nods and returns Shockwave and Odyssey into their Pokeballs while Coovers picks up the egg container. Ash turns to Greta and asks, "Would you like to watch us after Shockwave and Odyssey are checked up?"
"I'd love to, but my team and I still have a lot of work to do today," Greta says respectfully. "But, please feel free to drop by again soon."
"We sure will. That's a promise," Brock says. "See you later."
The rest of Ash's group say their goodbyes to Greta as they start heading to the Pokemon Center with Scott, Timothy, Coovers, and Electchu walking ahead. As they walk, Coovers leans into Timothy's ear and whispers.
"Are you sure about letting a Pokemon battle decide whether or not to tell them?" He asks. "It took a long time before you felt ready to tell me what happened."
"I know," Timothy whispers back. "But this isn't about winning or losing. This is about knowing a little more who Ash is as a trainer and me trying to understand his view of what it means to have a friendly rival."
"But that is quite a bit of personal history to tell after you only met him and Serena once before, and this is the first time meeting Brock and Dawn," Coovers points out.
"Yes, but you are also the one who suggested Ash might be of use to us in case Team Rocket is up to something, right?" Timothy challenges.
"Well...yes," Coovers admits.
"Then, if he has the potential to be an ally for our secret mission, then he should know what people like Team Rocket are capable of," Timothy states.
Coovers thinks hard about his friend's argument and sighs.
"Well, I would like for you to lighten up to other trainers besides me," he admits.
Timothy nods in agreement, and the two men and Electchu continue to walk with everyone else following behind. Neither of them notice, however, that the egg inside the container is starting to glow.
***********************************************************************
Before long, everyone makes it to the Pokemon Center, and Timothy gives Shockwave and Odyssey to Nurse Joy. The group waits a few minutes before the bell rings, and Nurse Joy comes back, announcing that Timothy's Pokemon are in perfect health. Timothy thanks her, and the group decides to have the battle in a field next to the Pokemon Center. Coovers and Electchu stand on the sidelines with Serena, Pikachu, Scott, Brock, Dawn and Piplup while Ash and Timothy stand on opposite sides of the field.
"Alright, Shockwave, Odyssey, let's go!" Timothy calls out as he tosses two Pokeballs into the air, and they open to reveal his Gardevoir and Lucario.
"Alright, Oshawott, Gible, I choose you!" Ash shouts while also tossing two Pokeballs into the air, and they open to reveal Oshawott and Gible.
"Really? He's choosing two Pokemon that are in their first stage evolutions against Odyssey and Shockwave?" Timothy thinks in confusion. "I hope this boy has something up his sleeve to at least make the match last longer than I think it will because it looks like I overestimated him."
"I'll be the referee," Scott announces. "This will be a double battle between Ash and Timothy! The battle will be over when both Pokemon from either side are unable to battle! Are the contestants ready?!"
"Ready!" Timothy and Ash say simultaneously.
"Then battle begin!" Scott declares.
"Oshawott, use Razor Shell and Gible, use Rock Smash!" Ash shouts.
Oshawott takes out the scallop from his stomach, and it glows while Gible's right hand glows yellow. The two smaller Pokemon charge at Shockwave and Odyssey, making Timothy frown in disappointment.
"I hoped you had a better strategy than that, Ash," he says honestly. "Shockwave, Psychic, Odyssey, Bone Rush!"
Shockwave's eyes glow blue while Odyssey puts its paws together and then moves them apart to form a light green bone of energy. Both Oshawott and Gible are lifted into the air with a blue glow surrounding them. Odyssey takes advantage of their helplessness to bash them with his bone like a bat causing the two small Pokemon to fly into the air and crash into the ground in front of Ash.
"Oh, no! Oshawott! Gible!" Serena shouts worryingly while holding on to her ribbon.
"Are you two okay? Can you still battle?" Ash asks, worried.
Oshawott and Gible groan for a moment before they stand up, looking ready to continue battling.
"Impressive," Timothy admits. "Normally, Pokemon on their first stage evolutions like your Oshawott and Gible do not recover from Odyssey's Bone Rush so quickly if at all."
"Yeah, well, I've been training Oshawott and Gible hard enough so that they don't need to evolve to be strong enough to handle whatever comes their way," Ash states proudly.
"So I see," Timothy admits with a smirk. "Now let's see what else they are made of. Shockwave, use Disarming Voice, and Odyssey use Aura Sphere!"
Shockwave opens its mouth, and with a shrieking voice, several purple hearts appear from its mouth heading toward Gible while Odyssey once again creates a large blue ball in between its hands and fires at Oshawott.
"Gible, use Dig and Oshawott jump in behind Gible!" Ash orders.
Ash's Pokemon nod before Gible dig a deep hole into the ground, and Oshawott jumps into it right before the Aura Sphere, and Disarming Voice hit them. Timothy, Shockwave, and Odyssey look around in confusion until the trainer sees the ground underneath Odyssey moving.
"Odyssey, use Bone Rush to protect yourself from Dig, quick!" He shouts.
Odyssey forms another bone of energy and holds it, pointing at the ground just in time for Gible to emerge. The small dragon Pokemon gets its mouth caught into the bone before it can collide with the Lucario. Odyssey lifts the bone into the air, sending Gible flying into the air.
"Now, Oshawott, use Aqua Jet!" Ash calls out.
Timothy and Odyssey look at the hole in the ground where Gible emerges just in time for Oshawott to pop out with water surrounding its body. The water Pokemon collides with Odyssey, knocking off its feet and hitting the ground back first. Timothy and Shockwave stare at Odyssey dumbfounded as it slowly gets up, and the trainer smirks.
"Not a bad use of teamwork there, Ash," Timothy compliments. "I can't say I've seen Dig used that way before."
"Well, I've had it used against me before, so I know how handy that move can be," Ash says. "I always find a way to escape any situation my Pokemon and I come across."
"Really? Then let's test that claim," Timothy says with a grin. "Shockwave, use Psychic on both Oshawott and Gible and lift them high into the air!"
Shockwaves' eyes glow blue again, and Oshawott and Gible are raised high into the air. Serena gasps as she once again remembers her Pancham put into this helpless position.
"What do I do?" Ash asks himself. "Hey, I know. Oshawott, Gible, use Hydro Pump and Dragon Pulse on Shockwave!"
Despite dangling high in the air, the two Pokemon quickly obey with Oshawott glowing blue and moving its hands in a counterclockwise formation to create a ball of water while Gible opens its mouth and summons a large turquoise ball of energy. The two Pokemon fire straight at Shockwave, but Timothy smirks.
"Bone Rush," the older trainer says plainly.
Without hesitation, Odyssey jumps in front of Shockwave, creates another bone of energy, and spins it around. The two attacks hit the bone and explode, causing a large cloud of smoke, which fades to reveal neither the Gardevoir or the Lucario harmed at all. Odyssey and Shockwave turn to each other, and Shockwave nods, thanking for the assistance while Odyssey grins and nods back.
"What?" Ash says, surprised.
"Good thinking, Ash, but you'll have to do better than that," Timothy states.
"I see, so Timothy used Odyssey to protect Shockwave," Brock says.
"And all he said was Bone Rush, and Odyssey knew what to do," Dawn adds amazed.
"Piplup," Piplup says.
"Yep, that's why Timothy likes to use them in double battles," Coovers states with a smile.
"Raichu!" Electchu says in agreement.
"What do you mean?" Serena asks.
"You see, Timothy caught Shockwave and Odyssey at roughly the same time back when they were a Ralts and Riolu respectively when he went on his first journey through the Sinnoh region," Coovers explains. "He started to use them in double battles so many times that the two of them have become the best of friends and together with Timothy have learned how to counter each other's weaknesses. Shockwave's psychic and fairy attacks are handy for protecting Odyssey from psychic, fairy and flying moves which it is weak against while Odyssey is strong enough to cover for Shockwave whenever they're against dark or bug type Pokemon and whenever their opponents try to free themselves from Psychic like Oshawott and Gible just did."
"I see. So together they make a powerful duo that can take on just about anything," Serena says in understanding.
"Pika, pika," Pikachu says.
Meanwhile, Ash thinks deeply in thought.
"Now, what do I do? It looks like Odyssey will counter anything I fire at it and Shockwave," he thinks. "There's no way I can hit both of them unless..."
He hesitates for a moment before he shakes his head and shouts, "Gible, use Draco Meteor. Give it everything you've got."
Gible stops squirming in the air and glows orange before it creates an orange ball of light and fires it high into the air. The ball explodes and takes releases several smaller spheres that head straight towards the ground. Ash smiles until he realizes the spheres are spread apart so much that they are about to land all over the field.
"Everyone, take cover!" Brock yells, realizing the same thing.
Coovers, Electchu, Scott, Timothy, Serena, Pikachu, Dawn, and Piplup only have a moment to react until they quickly move away before the spheres hit them. Shockwave releases Oshawott and Gible and quickly uses Psychic to protect itself while Odyssey knocks the spheres back with its Bone Rush. Even Ash and Oshawott start running around in panic, looking for cover while Gible looks at them nervously.
Suddenly, one spheres lands and explodes in front of Coovers, and it knocks him off his feet. The egg container slips off his hands, and the white and dark blue egg flies off the container and is sent flying in the air.
"Shockwave, use Psychic on the egg now!" Timothy yells, afraid for the egg.
The trainer's Gardevoir looks up to see the egg beginning to fall to the ground. Its eyes glow blue, and a blue aura surrounds the egg, but it doesn't stop falling. Shockwave's eyes widen and keep trying to catch the egg with its powers, but the egg is still falling, and Timothy's heart sinks in fear of it breaking.
Suddenly, Serena notices the egg falling while ducking for cover and gasps. Without thinking about it, she runs over to the field and dives to catch the egg. Everyone stops running or ducking for cover just in time to see Serena catch the egg, pull it toward her and somersaults on the ground.
"Serena!" Ash calls out. "Are you alright?"
It takes a moment before Serena replies, "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Serena, is the egg okay?" Coovers asks worryingly.
Everyone waits for a moment until Serena sits up with her arms around the egg. They walk over to her to see Serena smiling reassuringly, and the egg not undamaged at all. Timothy, Coovers, Scott, Ash, Brock, Dawn, Oshawott, Gible, Odyssey, Shockwave, Electchu, Pikachu, and Piplup all sigh in relief while Serena still hugs the egg protectively.
"Thank heavens. That was too close," Coovers says. "Thanks a lot, Serena."
"No problem," Serena replies.
"Garrr," Shockwave says while giving Timothy an apologetic look.
"Don't worry about it, Shockwave. It's safe, thanks to Serena, and that's all that matters," Timothy says, patting his Pokemon on the back. "Besides, if anything, it was my fault. I should have told everyone to try to catch it, and I should have considered the likelihood that you would not have been able to catch it with your psychic power."
"Huh? Why not?" Dawn asks, confused.
Suddenly, the egg starts to glow brightly. Serena loosens her hold on the egg and stares in both awe and excitement as the egg jiggles back and forth.
"It's starting to hatch!" Ash says in realization.
"Oh, boy! I can't wait to see what it is!" Dawn squeals excitedly.
Everyone huddles around Serena as they eagerly watch the egg begin to hatch. The next thing they know, the eggshell dissolves completely into thin air and in its place, is a tiny four-legged furry Pokemon.
"Aw! It's a little Absol!" Serena coos excitedly.
"Wow, so that was an Absol the whole time," Coovers says, amazed.
"Just as I suspected," Timothy says with a smirk.
The Absol groans softly as it opens its red eyes and looks up to see Serena looking at it with a sweet smile.
"Hi, Absol. Nice to meet you," she greets warmly.
Absol tilts its head, studying the honey blonde girl's face for a moment before it smiles brightly.
"Soolllll," it says happily.
The disaster Pokemon suddenly gets up on its hind legs and rests its head and on Serena's shoulder cutely.
"Awww, it likes you, Serena," Dawn says.
"Aw, aren't you sweet, Absol?" Serena says, still holding Absol.
Ash gets down on his knees next to Serena and says, "Hey, Absol, my name is Ash. It's nice to meet you."
Absol whimpers and looks away from Ash fearfully.
"Don't worry, Absol. There's nothing to be afraid of. Ash is very kind," Serena says while petting Absol comfortingly.
Absol hesitates before slowly turning to Ash, who carefully reaches out with his arm to pet it. Absol whimpers nervously until Ash starts petting it carefully, and it slowly smiles.
"There, you see? You have nothing to worry about," Ash says with a toothy grin.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu says, hopping on Ash's shoulder from behind and smiling at Absol.
Absol whimpers nervously again and suddenly looks up to see, Brock, Dawn, Piplup, Gible, Oshawott, Scott, Coovers, Electchu, Odyssey, Shockwave, and Timothy all surrounding it. The small disaster Pokemon quivers in fear and buries its head on Serena's shoulder.
"Aw, don't worry, Absol, it's okay," Serena says softly as she picks up Absol and stands up to face everyone. "They're all friends. You don't have to be afraid."
Once again, Absol hesitates before it dares to lift its head to look at everyone who is looking at it with friendly faces.
"Hey, Absol," Coovers says. "I've been taking care of you for a while when you were an egg."
Absol tilts its head before is smiles and says, "Absol!"
"Guess it recognizes your voice, Coovers," Timothy says.
"Hey, Serena, let me have a look at Absol," Brock says as he opens his backpack and takes out his doctor's equipment. "I want to check up on its health."
"Okay," Serena says as she gets down on her knees and gently puts Absol down. The baby Pokemon becomes nervous as Brock gets down on one knee in front of it until Serena kneels down next to it to assure it that she's right there. Absol slowly loosens up and allows Brock to run some quick tests on it.
"Looks like Absol is in perfect health," Brock says.
"Well, that's good to hear," Dawn says.
"Piplup," Piplup chirps.
Suddenly, everyone hears a tiny rumbling sound. Absol frowns and whimpers until Serena picks it up and gives it a kind smile.
"You sound hungry. Do you want something to eat?" She asks.
"Absol," Absol replies nodding.
Then everyone hears a loud rumble, and Ash chuckles nervously.
"Guess it's starting to be lunchtime for me too," Ash admits.
"Alright, then let's head back to the Pokemon Center and get some lunch, everyone," Brock suggests.
Everyone nods in agreement and heads back inside.