Thank you for all the reviews, alerts, and favourites. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Ash hadn't moved in over an hour.

He hadn't been able to meet Nurse Joy's eyes as he handed over his Pokéballs. She had promised that his Pokémon would all be fine, but that didn't make Ash feel any better. If he had been better then they wouldn't have been hurt at all. He couldn't face talking to anybody and had skulked over to the chairs by the window to wait.

Eevee had picked up on his mood. The little Normal-type had nuzzled up to him with none of his usual exuberance, and had been content to just curl up on Ash's lap. It was just the two of them, Sneasel having been whisked away for a check-up. Ash expected she would take off at the first opportunity. After all, he had proven without a doubt that he couldn't look after his own Pokémon, so he could hardly blame her for doubting his ability to look after her.

He just didn't know what had happened. Roselia and Psyduck had both had type advantages and had done brilliantly against Brock, who used very similar Pokémon. They should have been way more effective against Piloswine and Dugtrio. Even Abra, who had beaten Gary's Wartortle and had down so well against all the trainers in Viridian Forest, hadn't lasted long.

But then it wasn't their fault. Ash was their trainer. He was supposed to make sure things like this didn't happen.

He had let them down.

Eevee let out a soft whimper, and Ash scratched his ears.

"I really messed up, buddy," he said softly.

Eevee's ears twitched. He shifted round to lick Ash's face, but the pure adoration in his eyes just made Ash feel a hundred times worse. Next time it might be Eevee that ended up getting hurt because Ash wasn't good enough.

Maybe Gary had been right. Maybe Ash was never going to be a Pokémon Master. Maybe he should just quit now and spare himself and everyone else the bother.

Except Ash had beaten Gary. He'd beaten Misty and Brock too. He had amazing Pokémon, and his mom and Professor Oak were supporting him, and giving up now would let them all down. Ash looked down at Eevee, felt his complete trust, and took a shaky breath. He had screwed up, but it wasn't over. He would get better and he would battle Giovanni again, and this time he would win. This time he would justify his friends' faith in him.

Of course that was all well and good, but he needed to work out how to actually be a better trainer. Maybe it was time he asked for help.

Professor Oak answered his call almost immediately.

"Ah, Ash. How was your battle?"

Ash winced, and Oak's smile faded. "I see. Well, why don't you tell me all about it?"

Ash did so, in as much detail as he could. He explained why he had chosen to use Roselia and Psyduck, and how their respective type advantages hadn't been enough. He talked about how Abra still didn't have the speed or stamina he needed for Gym battles. He even admitted how scared he was that Sneasel wouldn't trust him any more.

"I just...It feels like I've let everyone down," he finished. "I did my best, and it wasn't good enough."

Oak shook his head. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Ash. Every trainer loses battles in their career. You're only just starting out, and Giovanni is one of the strongest Gym Leaders in Kanto." His voice softened. "There's no shame in losing, Ash. All you can do is learn from your mistakes, and use it to grow stronger."

"But he did it so easily," Ash protested. "I didn't even see his third Pokémon, and Roselia and Abra didn't really do any damage at all. How can we ever beat him?"

No matter which way he looked at it, he just couldn't see a way forward. He tugged his cap down over his eyes. "And I completely forgot to think about them being more than Ground-types. Roselia didn't stand a chance against Piloswine."

Oak frowned at him. "That's a rather pessimistic way of looking at it."

"But it's true! It's an Ice-type and she's a Grass Pokémon!"

"That doesn't mean that it's a lost cause," said Oak patiently. "You have to remember, Ash, that type advantage is only one of many factors that determine the victor of a Pokémon battle. All of your Pokémon can be trained to resist, and even defeat Pokémon that might appear to have an advantage over them."

Ash looked up. "You mean I can train Roselia to beat Ice-types?"

It was a daunting thought, but also an exhilarating one. It had been horrible to se Piloswine hurt her so easily. If there was a way to stop that from happening again then he was going to find it.

"Of course," said Professor Oak. "Do you think Lance could have become the Champion if he didn't know how to fight Ice and Fairy types? There is always a way, Ash. And remember that, as a Grass-type, she has an equal advantage over Piloswine."

Ash nodded slowly. "And now that we know about it, we won't be surprised again."

He was already feeling better. Professor Oak had always been good at explaining things without making him feel stupid. The professor's face crinkled into a warm smile. "As for Abra, he's still a young Pokémon, and their species isn't known for its resilience. He'll get stronger, just as the rest of you will." He hesitated, and though his smile remained in place his tone hardened a fraction, "But it does mean that you are going to need to buckle down and do some serious training."

"I have been training," said Ash indignantly. "We did loads in Mount Moon and Viridian Forest! Abra can use attacks now, and Psyduck can use her Psychic powers to defend herself, and Budew evolved, and Eevee is getting on great-"

"Yes yes, you're doing well," said Oak. "But I'm afraid to say that you might be getting complacent."

Ash opened his mouth, then hesitated. He didn't want to think that was true. He wasn't stupid, and he had been learning from his mistakes. Surely his victories over Gary, Misty, and Brock proved that. He was way better than he was when he lost to Paul all those weeks ago.

But he had been very confident that he would beat Giovanni. He hadn't done any research into his opponent, he hadn't even used Dexter to look up Pokémon during the battle. If he had, he might have known that Roselia was in trouble, but he had thought that just because he had a type advantage he would be able to win easily. And Abra had been doing great, but Ash hadn't really pushed him to train as much as he could have. They both liked to take it easy sometimes.

Maybe Oak was right. Ash would bet anything that Gary had started training a lot harder after their battle. He, meanwhile, had done a few things with his Pokémon, but they had spent as much time goofing off and exploring as they had training. Psyduck was pretty disciplined, especially when it came to practicing her Psychic abilities, but the rest of his friends were more interested in playing, or in Abra's case sleeping, than in training.

That wasn't good enough. Not if he wanted to be a Pokémon Master.

Ash took a deep breath.

"What should I do?"

The approval that lit Oak's eyes was a balm to his wounded pride. "You need to sit down with your Pokémon and have a good think about where they are now. Have a look at their strengths and weaknesses, their moves and abilities, and identify the areas that need to be improved upon."

Some of Ash's hesitance must have shown on his face, for Oak hummed. "Take Abra, for example. You mentioned that he tires too easily. Now, while that is part of his genetic makeup, the both of you can still work on it."

"You mean, like having him practice Teleporting for longer periods of time?"

"Exactly," said Oak, with a nod. "Be careful not to try to make him to do too much too quickly, but gradually increase the time you practice for."

Ash nodded slowly. He could see how that made sense. "Okay, and then for Roselia, I could try battling against Ice-types with her so that she can get used to it?"

There was a brief hesitation. "That would be ideal, but they aren't very common in that part of the region. Unless that Sneasel you helped is still around?"

At the mention of Sneasel, Ash's optimism vanished. "Yeah, but she won't be for much longer," he mumbled.

"Oh?"

"C'mon, Professor, she thought I could help her get stronger! She's never gonna trust me now that she's seen me lose like that!"

That was the worst part of all of this. Ash could try for the badge again, but he might not get another chance to help Sneasel. Eevee huffed and butted against Ash's ankle at the same moment Oak tutted.

"Have a little more optimism, lad. There's no point in assuming the worst without even speaking to her. You might find that she likes the sound of competitive battling, a lot of wild Pokémon do."

Ash swallowed the urge to point out that she was never going to trust him enough to battle with him, and managed a half-hearted shrug. "Dunno."

Oak regarded him for a long moment. "You shouldn't put so much pressure on yourself, Ash," he said finally. "One defeat isn't the end of the world. Or of your dreams."

Ash looked down. It was hard to accept that. Losing had been easier before he had started winning. "I guess," he mumbled. He took a deep breath, and looked back up at his mentor. "Thanks, Professor."

"You're very welcome, Ash. Now go and take care of your Pokémon, and don't hesitate to call if you need help."

Ash continued to stare at the blank screen after Oak closed the call. The professor had given him a lot to think about. Eevee batted at his jeans, and Ash shook himself and scooped his friend into his arms.

"Hey, buddy. Ready to take training more seriously from now on?"

Eevee just licked his cheek with a cheerful yip. Ash had to laugh. "It's okay, I'll try to make sure it isn't too boring."

Eevee rubbed his head against Ash's cheek, and Ash took a moment just to hug him close. He had a lot of work ahead of him, but that was okay. They would get stronger, and the next time they faced Giovanni things would be different.

"Ash Ketchum?"

Ash looked up. Nurse Joy stood at the counter with a tray of Pokéballs and a warm smile on her face. "Your Pokémon are all fully recovered," she said, when Ash darted over. "I would suggest giving them a day or so before you challenge Giovanni again, but they'll all be fine."

"Thank you," said Ash fervently. "I was worried about them." He clipped the 'balls back onto his belt, then hesitated. "How's Sneasel?"

The nurse's polite smile didn't change. "Chansey is checking her over now."

Recognising the dismissal for what it was, Ash retreated to the corner of the room. He set Eevee on the cushions, and released the rest of his Pokémon. Psyduck clambered onto the sofa next to Eevee, and Abra floated over to rest on Ash's backpack, but Roselia remained where she was. Her leaves hung down, and she didn't seem able to meet Ash's eyes. Ash glanced to Abra for help, but for once his starter was silent. Ash frowned, and reached down to set Roselia on his lap.

"I'm sorry."

That got a reaction. Roselia and Psyduck both stared at him, and something bitter stabbed at the back of his mind from Abra. Ash sighed. "I really messed up against Giovanni. You all did your best, but I just wasn't good enough. I didn't train you well enough, and you got hurt, and I'm sorry."

Roselia gave a forceful chirp. She glared at Ash, guilt flashing in her eyes, until Ash pulled her into a hug. "I mean it. I didn't know Piloswine was an Ice-type and you weren't prepared, and that's my fault, not yours." He felt her shake her head, and tightened his grip. "You've never let me down, and you didn't start today. We're gonna get better, and this won't happen again, okay?"

Roselia nodded slowly. She still didn't look happy, but some of the guilt had left her eyes. Ash shifted enough to let Eevee scramble onto his lap as well, and turned his attention to Psyduck. She was the one Ash had been the least worried about, and he was glad to see her looking fairly calm, but he needed to check on her too.

"You were great," he told. "You were scary against Piloswine, the good scary I mean," he added, when she frowned. "Seriously. A bit more training and those guys won't stand a chance."

Psyduck nodded, and reached over to pat Roselia's head. Roselia leaned into the touch, while Eevee's fluffy tail wrapped as far around the two of them as he could reach. Warmth filled Ash's stomach at the sight, and he took a moment to enjoy it before reaching out to wrap his free arm around Abra.

'You did well too, you know.'

'No, I didn't, and we both know it.'

'Abra-'

'Stop it, Ash. You can't take all the blame for not training me when I haven't been putting much effort in.'

Ash could recognise the bitterness as self-loathing now, and he hated it. 'But I don't blame you. We both need to do better, so that's what we're going to do, right?'

There was a long pause, then Abra sighed. 'All right.'

Ash eyed him, but he could feel his starter's reluctance to discuss the matter further and for once decided to let it go. Instead, he pulled Abra into the group hug, and Abra only struggled for a second before giving in.

"We're going to do better next time," he murmured. "I promise."

He gave them a gentle squeeze, then drew back enough to take them all in. "But we've got a lot of training to do before we try again."

Various nods and determined looks met his words. Eevee's furiously wagging tail slightly spoiled the effect, but it made both Ash and Roselia smile. Psyduck shook her head, but Ash could read the fondness in her eyes. Only Abra remained subdued. Ash squeezed his shoulder.

"So I've been thinking," he said. "Roselia, we need to practice against Ice-types."

Roselia shivered, but nodded. Ash patted her head. "I know it's gonna be hard, but if you can get used to those sorts of attacks then I know you can beat that Piloswine."

Roselia gave a questioning chirp, and Ash rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I'm still working out the details." He was hoping that Sneasel would be willing to stick around, otherwise he would have to start asking around. Although...

"Hey, Psyduck, do you know any Ice moves?" Psyduck shook her head, but Ash recognised the glint in her eyes and grinned. "But I bet you can learn 'em, right? Hang on."

He grabbed Dexter and flipped through to Psyduck's move list. Psyduck peered over his shoulder, and jabbed at the screen with a squawk. Ash nodded. "Yeah, looks good. Wonder if there's anywhere that sells TMs round here."

'Probably. Maybe you can find something that'll stop me from being completely useless as well.'

Ash stared at him, until a concerned yip from Eevee made him realise that Abra had been projecting to everyone. Psyduck's eyes had narrowed, but when Roselia tried to move closer Abra teleported up out of reach.

'Never mind. What else were you thinking, Ash?'

Ash frowned. "Well, we can look at TMs for you too. Otherwise, I want to work on speed and stamina with you."

'I'm shocked.'

"So we're going to be focusing on dodging lots of attacks for long periods of time," Ash continued. He ruffled Eevee's fur. "And you're gonna be helping with that."

Eevee brightened, and bounced up to lick at first Ash, then Abra, who once again flickered out of reach. The Normal-type pouted, but only for a second before turning his attention to Psyduck and Roselia. Ash reached up to Abra's back.

'Are you okay? You're not normally this twitchy.'

'I'm fine.'

Ash frowned, but felt Psyduck's eyes on them and decided not to press the matter. For now. He was getting seriously worried about his starter. He sighed and turned to Psyduck.

"And other than TMs, the other thing I want to do is increase the power of your attacks. Basically, we're gonna be blasting a lot of things really hard."

Psyduck's eyes gleamed. Roselia giggled, and Ash caught a flicker of tired fondness from Abra.

'I hope you realise what you've unleashed.'

"It'll be fine," said Ash loudly. "Now, does anyone have any other suggestions?"

There was a pause, then Eevee raised his head and yipped. Ash glanced at Abra.

'He wants to know what you want him to work on.'

Ash smiled. "Well, you're gonna be helping Abra with endurance training, but we'll also work on some of your other moves. You're still working on Bite, right?" Eevee nodded. "Okay, we'll keep on going with that, and then work on general speed and endurance. I know your Quick Attack is awesome, but you can always be faster. You're gonna need it when you battle Blaine at Cinnabar Gym."

Eevee's eyes lit up, and he launched himself at Ash and covered him in sloppy kisses.

"Eevee, that tickles," Ash managed, through giggles. He hugged his young friend. "Yeah, you'll be ready by then."

Roselia nodded enthusiastically. Ash didn't blame her. Fighting an Ice and Ground-type was one thing, but he wasn't going to send her against a Gym full of Fire-types. It was as good an introduction to Gym battling as any for Eevee. That was a long way in the future though, and he turned his attention back to the present.

"Any other questions? Apart from how we're going to practice with Ice-types?" he amended, when Roselia raised a flower. She subsided with a smile, and Ash continued, "Rest up for a bit. I'll go to the TM shop later and we can make a start this evening."

A series of nods met his words, and everyone except Abra returned to their Pokéballs. Ash scratched his head.

"Any ideas on how I convince Sneasel that we're not a massive bunch of losers."

Abra yawned. 'I would ask why you care, but I know the answer by now.'

"C'mon, that's not helping."

'What? I'm tired and I can't read her mind anyway. I don't know what help you expect me to be.'

Ash frowned up at him. "I trust you, and I trust your judgement. Do you think she'll ever work with us again?"

'Why don't you just ask her?' said Abra sleepily.

Ash rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I did think of that, thanks. I haven't seen her yet."

Abra cracked open an eye to frown at him. 'She's sitting right up there.'

"What?"

Ash twisted round to spot Sneasel crouching on the top of the window ledge close to the ceiling. More of the bandages had come off, leaving just the one over her injured eye, and she nodded slightly as he met her gaze. Ash waved back, simultaneously directing an exasperated question at Abra,

'Why didn't you tell me she was there?'

'I thought you knew.'

'Well I didn't! How long has she been watching?'

'Since you started talking about training strategies. Can I go to sleep now?'

Ash gave up, and turned his attention back to Sneasel. "Hey, are you okay?"

He was vaguely aware of Abra vanishing back into his 'ball, but kept his eyes on Sneasel. She shrugged at the question, but just the fact that she had chosen to come and watch them gave Ash hope. Maybe he could still salvage this after all. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"So, you probably guessed that that battle didn't go the way we wanted."

Her visible eyebrow quirked upwards. "Yeah, it was a disaster," he amended. He sighed. "I should have done a lot more training. We've talked about what we're gonna work on, and how, but I guess you heard that bit already," he trailed off slightly sheepishly.

Sneasel just nodded again. She was harder to read than any of his Pokémon, but Ash thought she didn't look quite a tense as she had before. He hesitated, but he didn't have much to lose by asking. "I know you've got no real reason to say yes, but we could really use your help."

That got a real reaction. Sneasel's eye widened. Her claws dug into the window edge for a moment, then she scrambled down with a speed that belied her injuries and dropped onto the bench. Her ears were flat against her head, and hard as she was to read it was impossible to miss either the incredulity and building anger in her face.

"No, I mean it," Ash hastened to reassure her. "You could really help us." He ran a hand through his hair. "Look, you saw how easily that Piloswine was able to defeat Roselia. We have no experience in fighting Ice-types, and if we rush in again we're just going to get flattened again. I don't...I don't want to see her get hurt like that again."

Sneasel gave a low hum. Her eye didn't leave his. Slightly encouraged, Ash pressed on, "And it's not just Roselia. Psyduck could really use some practice against fast opponents, and I kind of looked you up and I know how fast you are, and I want to teach her some Ice-type moves and it would be great to have an actual Ice-type around and Abra needs to get faster with his teleporting and you could help him loads with that, and with dealing with Dark-types, and you could teach Eevee all about Dark-type moves 'cause he's still having trouble with Bite-"

'You're rambling.'

'I thought you were asleep!'

But Abra had a point, and Ash took a deep breath. "I know this is all a bit messed up," he admitted. "And now that you're better I'd never stop you going back to the wild. I just...you could really help us out. So what do you say?"

Sneasel studied him for a long moment. One claw came up to touch the bandages over her eye, then she dropped it and frost crystallised over her hand. Ash watched in fascination, then the ice faded and Sneasel's gaze snapped back to him and she gave a curt nod.

Ash's jaw dropped.

"You really mean it? Thank you so much! You won't regret it, I promise!"

Sneasel frowned and touched the bandage again. Ash's grin faded, and he shifted slightly closer to her. "Hey, we're only going to be training. You're really strong, and working with the others you'll be fighting just like before in no time."

Sneasel looked away. Ash hesitated, then very slowly reached out to touch her shoulder. She stiffened at the contact, but just as Ash started to draw away she leaned ever so slightly into his touch. Warmth flooded Ash's stomach as he patted her back. Her fur was finer than Eevee's, and cooler to the touch.

"Yeah. We'll get stronger together." A thought struck him, and he grinned. "Hey, Sneasel. Ever heard of TMs?"

Despite his best efforts, Ash didn't actually make it to the market until well after lunchtime. Viridian City was a lot bigger than the other places he had visited, and Abra had been asleep when Nurse Joy gave him the directions. He didn't really mind though, it gave him more time to get to know Sneasel. The little Ice-type refused to be carried, but she listened attentively as Ash explained the Gym and League system in more detail.

"And so it doesn't really matter what order you challenge the Gyms in, 'cause they can always provide the right challenge." He pulled a face. "I could go and challenge another one instead of having a rematch against Giovanni, but I wanna beat him now."

Sneasel smirked slightly. Ash grinned back, then nodded to the TM symbol over a shop just ahead. "That's the place."

Ash had never been in a TM shop, and he took a moment to get his bearings. Rows of discs lined the shelves, helpfully organised by type and rough power, and he focused on the section for Ice-types.

"Lets start over there."

He hadn't realised there were so many different moves. Feeling slightly overwhelmed, he grabbed Dexter and released Psyduck at the same time. The Water-type's eyes gleamed as she looked up at the rows of discs, and Ash smiled.

"Yeah, we'll get you sorted. Let me just see what would be best...Huh?"

Psyduck was pointing at a TM for Ice Beam. Ash checked Dexter, and nodded. "Okay, that should be fine." He glanced at the price, and winced. The funding he got for doing the League Challenge was good, but not unlimited. "We're not going to be able to do this often though."

"You know you can re-use them, right?"

Ash turned to find an assistant standing behind him. She waved a hand at the discs. "They used to be single-use only, but so many people were hacking them that they just went ahead and fixed it so you can use them as many times as you like. Of course they bumped the price up, but it's not a bad trade."

"Thanks!" said Ash. "That's really helpful."

It did make things easier. He grabbed the Ice Beam TM, and glanced at his Pokéballs. "Is it okay if I let the rest of my Pokémon out?"

"Go ahead," said the assistant, with a smile. "It's not like we're busy today."

That was all the encouragement Ash needed, and his Pokémon burst from their 'balls. Abra promptly Teleported to Ash's rucksack and started to snooze, while Eevee and Roselia spread out to examine the shelves.

"You have pretty cool Pokémon," the assistant commented. "Eevee are really rare, and I've never seen one of these before."

Roselia preened, and Ash smiled. "This is Roselia. They're native to Hoenn and Sinnoh, but I got her from a friend."

"Well, she's lovely."

Roselia beamed, but Ash's attention was diverted by Sneasel. The Dark-type was standing in front of the Ghost-type moves, and she caught his eye and pointed.

"Shadow Ball," Ash read. "Okay..."

"That would actually be a good one for your Abra," said the assistant. "It would help cover his Ghost weakness, and it would help him against other Psychic Pokémon." She glanced over his Pokémon. "Your Eevee could learn it too, and your Sneasel."

"She isn't mine," said Ash quickly, before Sneasel could take offence. "She's just helping me out a bit." He frowned. "But does Sneasel need Ghost moves? She's a Dark type."

The assistant shrugged. "More coverage is never a bad thing, and would help for things like dual Psychic/Fairy Pokémon. It couldn't hurt for her to have a long-range attack either."

Sneasel gave a low hiss, and Ash's stomach lurched as he realised why she had focused on that attack. He grabbed one of the discs. "Sounds good. Abra, Eevee, okay with you?"

Eevee barked happily and Abra said nothing so Ash assumed he didn't have any objections. At least they would all be able to work on it together. He weighed the discs in his hand. "Anyone got any other ideas?"

His Pokémon shook their heads, and Abra just returned himself to his Pokéball. The assistant gave a slightly apologetic shrug. "Sorry, we don't have a great selection here." She hesitated a moment. "I do have idea, if you don't mind?"

"Course not!"

She smiled. "Okay, well, we don't have many Fire-type moves, but we do have Fire Punch. I know Abra isn't very good at Physical attacks, but it could be useful against Bug-types."

That got a flicker of interest from Abra. Ash nodded, then paused. "Hey, just because it's called a punch move, that doesn't mean he actually has to punch them, does it?"

The assistant frowned at him. "Sorry, I'm not following."

Ash opened his mouth, then shook his head. "Never mind. I need to think about it a bit more." He put the TMs on the counter, and after a moment's hesitation grabbed one for Fire Punch as well. "I'll take these, please."

He ended up handing over more money than he had planned, but it would be worth it. He gathered up the rest of his Pokémon, thanked the assistant for her help, and followed Sneasel back out into the city.

"Let's head back to the Pokémon Centre. We should be able to make a start on these this evening."

They were halfway down the street before Ash paused. Sneasel shot him a curious look, and he blushed. "Maybe I should have asked how you actually use these things..."

In the end, Nurse Joy showed him how to work the TMs. Roselia watched with interest as her friends assimilated their new powers, and Ash patted her head.

"Sorry we couldn't find anything for you, Roselia."

She shook her head with a chirp, and hopped over to where Psyduck was trying to get used to generating ice rather than water. So far the results were more slush than a recognisable attack. Eevee was going cross-eyed as purplish wisps of energy danced in the air in front of him, and Sneasel wasn't making much better progress. Ash scratched his head. There was clearly a big difference between having knowledge of the move and being able to do it with any degree of skill.

'I don't like this,' Abra grumbled.

Ash couldn't say he hadn't been expecting that. Abra had actually managed to form a reasonably coherent ball of Ghost energy, but even as Ash watched it destabilised and Abra flinched from the backlash.

"Careful," said Ash. "The last thing we need is you knocking yourself out."

Abra scowled at him. 'This is going to be a lot of work.'

Ash looked round at his friends, and smiled. "That's okay. We're not in any rush."

It wasn't like Giovanni was going anywhere.

The next morning, Ash had restocked and was preparing for another trip to Viridian Forest. It would be easier to train there than in the little arena out the back of the Pokémon Centre. He had enough food for a good few days, and Chansey had helped him sort out the appropriate medicines and supplements for Sneasel. There was just one more phone call he had to make before he was ready to go.

"Hey, Ash. How's it going?"

Ash smiled. "I'm okay, Misty. Thanks for talking to me, I know you're busy."

Misty waved a hand. "It's a quiet day so far. My sisters are rehearsing for a show, so I can't take challengers for a few hours yet." She squinted past him. "Did your Budew evolve? She's beautiful, congratulations!"

Ash picked up Roselia so she could wave. "Thanks! Yep, she evolved right after she beat Brock's Onix. Abra's still the same, of course. Have you seen any more of Team Rocket?"

"Too much," Misty grumbled. "They're still obsessed with Starmie. I'm thinking of making them a pre-Gym challenge, let someone else can deal with them for a change." She shook her head. "Anyway, you didn't call to hear me complain about them. What can I help you with?"

Ash rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, well, I'm in Viridian City, and I had a battle against Giovanni yesterday."

"Judging by your face, I'm guessing it didn't go so well," said Misty.

"He flattened me."

Misty winced. "Sorry, Ash. Giovanni is really strong. He was one of the people who assessed my ability to run the Gym, and even borrowing my sisters' Pokémon I barely won."

Ash pulled a face. "I get that. I'm going to be doing a lot more training, but I was wondering if you had any tips." He tapped Psyduck's Pokéball, and his Water-type hopped onto a chair so that she could look at the screen. "This is Psyduck. I caught her after battling you."

"Hi, Psyduck," said Misty, with a wave. Psyduck nodded, and Ash continued,

"She's really strong, she was great against Brock and we've done loads of training with her Psychic abilities, but I know we've got a lot to work on. You specialise in Water-types, and I was wondering if you had any more advice?"

Misty winked at him. "You've come to the right person!"

Ash grinned, then glanced down as Roselia started to squirm. Psyduck rolled her eyes, and lowered the little Grass-type to the floor with a burst of Psychic energy.

Misty blinked. "Wait, did she just... Is that normal?"

Ash and Psyduck exchanged a bemused look. "Yeah? Why?"

Misty shook her head. "Nothing. It's just, that's a really coherent Psyduck. Normally their headaches are so bad that they can barely concentrate, let alone use their powers like that."

"Huh," said Ash. "I didn't know that. I mean, I knew their headaches were connected to their powers, but I thought that was just when they really pushed it."

Psyduck shook her had, and made a gesture. Ash blinked. "You mean, you have a headache all the time?"

Psyduck nodded, then gave a dismissive shrug.

"That's impressive," said Misty, and Ash glanced back at the monitor with a start. "You've got one determined Psyduck there, Ash."

Psyduck gave another satisfied nod, and Ash smiled. "Yeah, she's awesome."

Misty smiled at them both. "Well it's really good she's learning to use Psychic moves. A lot of Grass-types are part Poison, especially ones native to Kanto."

"Like Bulbasaur and Oddish," said Ash, with a nod. "I get it. I just got her a TM for Ice Beam too, so that should help."

"That's a good one for Water Pokémon," Misty agreed. "We teach it to all of ours." She frowned slightly. "It might take a bit longer if she's learning from a TM though."

Psyduck grumbled something under her breath. Ash pulled a face. "Yeah, we were having trouble with it yesterday. I think she was putting water into it as well as ice. We haven't practiced much though," he added, when Psyduck scowled at him. "I know we'll get it."

Misty hummed in acknowledgement. "Starmie had the same problem when they was learning it. They're so used to doing Water attacks that it's hard to stop doing that." She glanced at Psyduck. "I know it goes against all your training, but you really need to concentrate on how it feels when you generate water and just, not do it."

She pulled a face. "Sorry, it's really hard to explain. Daisy's Dewgong was really helpful because he could do it already and so he could show them where they were going wrong."

Psyduck nodded thoughtfully, then hopped off the chair and crossed over to where Sneasel was sitting watching Roselia and Eevee. Ash turned back to Misty. "I think you've given her some ideas. Thanks, Misty."

"It didn't feel like I was much help, but you're welcome," said Misty. A crash echoed behind her, and she rolled her eyes. "And I think I have guests. Sorry, Ash."

"No worries," said Ash quickly. "Let me know if you ever need a hand."

"Likewise."

The screen went black, but not before the first lines of a familiar motto came through. Ash grinned and picked up his rucksack. He had work to do.

'This is not going to work.'

"Why not?" Ash asked. "You need to practice fast Teleports, and Swift stars are kind of like rocks."

'No, they're not,' said Abra flatly, but Ash barely heard him.

"No, it'll be great practice! If you can dodge them then it'll be easy to handle all the Stealth Rocks and Rock Slides that Giovanni can come up with."

'You can't dodge Swift stars,' Abra protested. 'That's the whole point.'

"Exactly, so if you can then Dugtrio won't stand a chance."

Abra stared at him. 'Your logic is not like our logic.'

Ash rolled his eyes. "It's worth a try, isn't it?"

Abra glared, but Ash could already feel his resistance fading. 'Fine. How long do I have to do this for?'

Ash thought about it. Oak's warnings about pushing his Pokémon too far rang in his ears, and he shrugged. "Go for as long as you can, and then we'll work on increasing it. Sound good?"

'It sounds tiring,' Abra grumbled. 'But it's better than Ghost-attacks.'

"That's the spirit," said Ash. "Although it might be a good idea for you to have a few practice battles against Sneasel too, just to get you used to fighting Dark-types."

Abra gave him an incredulous look. 'Do I get any say in this?'

Ash frowned at him. "Of course you do, but wouldn't it be better to try in a practice session where no one's trying to hurt you than in an actual battle?"

Abra's tail lashed to the side. 'It's very annoying when you make sense.'

"Hey," Ash protested lightly, but he couldn't keep the affection from his voice as he patted his starter. "I always make sense."

Abra didn't dignify that with a response. Ash knelt to give Eevee a quick scratch. "This will be really good practice for you too."

Eevee barked agreement and darted into the clearing, his tail already starting to glow as he charged an attack. Abra followed with rather more reluctance. Ash shook his head, and turned to the rest of his friends.

"Okay, I've got a plan for you three. Sneasel, whats the fastest Ice move you have?"

Sneasel cocked he head to one side, then launched a dozen chunks of ice at the nearest tree at high speed.

"That was Ice Shard, right?" Ash checked, and was pleased when she nodded. "Thought I recognised it. That's even better." He crouched next to them. "Would you be okay with helping Roselia practice dodging them?"

It was a start, and it would help her get used to battling Ice-types. He knew he would have to move on to stronger moves at some point, but this was going to be hard enough as it was. It didn't hurt that it would also get Sneasel used to aiming with just one eye.

Both Pokémon nodded, Sneasel with rather more enthusiasm, and Ash patted them both. "Good. Start off slow, we shouldn't rush this."

Satisfied with their acknowledgement, he glanced at Psyduck. "And I haven't forgotten about you. I want you to pay attention to what Sneasel is doing and see if you can get Ice Beam working." Psyduck frowned slightly, and he shrugged. "It might help to have a demonstration. Then, once you've all had a bit of time to practice, I want you to start trying to hit Roselia too."

Roselia gave an indignant squeak, and Ash rubbed her head. "I know, and I'm sorry, but I really think it'll help. You're a Grass-type so it won't matter as much if the Ice Beams are still a bit watery, but trying it on a real opponent might make it easier to focus."

Psyduck still looked sceptical, and Ash spread his hands. "Hey, I'm doing my best! I'm new to this too! It's worth a try, right?"

Psyduck and Roselia looked at each other, and finally nodded. Ash let out a breath. "Thanks, guys. We won't be doing this all day, we can work on aim and power and stuff later, but stop if you start getting too tired. I don't want any of you getting hurt."

Roselia brightened slightly at that, and hopped over to where Sneasel was waiting. Psyduck followed, and Ash took a deep breath. He really hoped this worked.

To Ash's surprise, he was the one who ended up calling a halt to the practice battles. Despite the frost biting at her roses Roselia had insisted on carrying on, and even Abra hadn't said a single word of complaint. Realising they were pushing themselves way too hard after their talk yesterday, Ash decided they could all use an early lunch.

"You're all doing great," he said, as he set out bowls of food. "Abra, you're way faster than you were in that battle yesterday."

Abra spared him a single nod from where he was digging berries out of Ash's pack. He floated an Aspear berry over to Roselia, piled a bunch of Sitrus ones in the middle of the circle, and vanished back into his Pokéball for a nap. Ash rolled his eyes.

"Should have expected that." He patted the Pokéball. "You were awesome. Get a good rest, okay?"

There was no reply, and Ash turned to Roselia. "And you were great! I know that was a really tough exercise, but you were doing really well."

Roselia gave him a tired smile. The healthy tint was returning to her leaves as she ate the Aspear berry, but Ash resolved to check on her properly once they had all eaten. She could definitely use a rest too.

Everyone else though was still relatively fresh. Eevee was attacking his lunch as if he hadn't eaten in a week, but his eyes were bright and his tail hadn't stopped wagging all morning. Psyduck too was tucking in with gusto, and she gave a satisfied nod when Ash smiled at her.

"And your Ice Beam is looking awesome."

He had been keeping an eye on it, and it was almost always pure ice now. It took her a bit longer to generate than it did her water attacks, but speed would come with practice and they had plenty of time to work on it before they tried for the Gym again.

Sneasel hummed an agreement of his assessment, and Ash's smile widened as he saw the respectful nods the two of them shared. He was glad the two of them were getting on better, especially if it meant Sneasel ended up sticking around longer. She was looking a bit more weary than the other two though, and Ash pushed a Sitrus berry in her direction.

"You're doing great too, y'know. You were getting way more accurate than you were this morning."

True, Roselia had been getting tired, but he was hardly going to say that. Judging from the scowl on her face, Sneasel thought her progress was slow enough as it was. Psyduck frowned and squawked something, and the Ice-type's scowl faded ever so slightly. Deciding it was best to leave them to it, Ash focused on Eevee.

"How are you doing? Not getting too tired?"

Eevee gave a rather indignant yip, and Ash held up his hands. "I know, but you are still young and Bill would kill me if you got ill."

Speaking of which, he should really call Bill. The researcher had wanted to be kept informed of Eevee's progress, and Ash wanted to know how Gary was getting on. It would be nice to have a bit more to report though, and he glanced at Sneasel.

"Hey, Sneasel? Would you be happy to work on Bite with Eevee this afternoon?"

It wasn't just for Eevee's benefit; Nurse Joy had given him a lot of stern warnings regarding Sneasel's health and the last thing he wanted was to push his new friend too far. Teaching Eevee how to use Dark-typed energy would be just the thing. Sneasel nodded, and took another piece of Pokémon food with clear pleasure. Ash guessed it made a change from getting berries in the wild all the time.

Psyduck squawked something, and Ash frowned.

"You want to know what you should work on?" She nodded. "Okay, I was thinking that you could do some aiming practice. Pick some targets and try to be as accurate as quickly as you can."

Psyduck nodded thoughtfully, but Ash wasn't finished, "But don't just use Water Pulse or Bubblebeam. I want you to keep switching between those and Ice Beam so that you can do it more quickly in battle."

Hopefully the practice would pay off. Psyduck looked like she approved of the idea, and Ash turned to his final Pokémon. "Roselia, I want to work on making your Grass moves stronger, but I want to have a look at some of the Poison moves you can learn too. It would be nice to be able to do more damage than your opponents are expecting."

Roselia dipped her head in acknowledgement, then pointed at Abra's Pokéball. Ash smiled. "He needs a bit more sleep, but we'll try to get Shadow Ball working later."

He shook his head. "But we can keep training later. C'mon everyone, eat up! You all need your energy."

Sneasel didn't need any encouragement. Being a wild Pokémon, she seemed happy to make the most of the free food. Ash watched her closely as he ate his own sandwiches, trying to make notes of what she liked the most. He knew everyone else's favourite flavours by now, and it was only fair he do the same for Sneasel.

There was more to being a Pokémon trainer than just making them able to fight better.

"Okay, you've got all the powder moves, Absorb, Mega Drain, and Poison Sting, right?"

Roselia pointed to the tips of her leaves, and Ash nodded. "Yeah, and Poison Point. That could be really helpful if any of them get too close."

His Grass-type pulled a face. Ash agreed, like Abra she fought better from a distance. He scratched his head. "There's gotta be a way we can make that work for you."

Drops of water caught them, and Psyduck gave an apologetic squawk before moving to practice further. Ash waved, and went back to thinking. Maybe Dexter could help. He scanned through the list until one caught his eye.

"Hey, look at this. Venoshock, a move which gets much stronger if the target is poisoned." He looked at Roselia. "What do you think?"

Roselia looked it over and nodded. She pointed at the little TM symbol, and Ash grimaced. "Yeah, I didn't see it in the shop either. We might have to wait a while before we can sort that out."

There weren't any more TM shops in Viridian or Pallet, but maybe Professor Oak could order it if it came to it. It would be a good one for Roselia, even if they couldn't sort it right away. Maybe there was something else they could work on in the meantime. Ash looked back at the list and blinked.

"Hang on, you can learn Shadow Ball too?"

The shop assistant hadn't mentioned that. Then again, she had never seen a Roselia before, so it made sense. Ash looked at Roselia. "Do you want to try it? I don't think any of the others have made any progress on it so you won't be behind, and it'd be a surprise for any Psychic-types."

Roselia nodded enthusiastically. Ash rummaged in his bag, and a minute later Roselia was blinking as the new information sank in.

"Feel okay?"

Roselia nodded. She screwed her face up, and flickers of purple energy danced around her roses for a moment before fading out again. Her shoulders slumped, and Ash patted her back. "Hey, it's okay. None of you are Ghost-types, so this is going to take longer to work out, but you've got Abra and Eevee and Sneasel, and you can all work on it together later."

Roselia brightened slightly. Ash smiled at her. "You're making great progress, you know. I'm really proud of you."

She stared at him for a moment, then suddenly threw herself into his arms. Ash hugged her tight. "I mean it. You're awesome, and I'm so glad that you're travelling with me."

Roselia hummed and snuggled closer against him, and Ash didn't need her to be psychic to know she felt exactly the same way. It had been a rough couple of days, but they would get through it and come out stronger than ever before.

Finally Roselia drew away, and Ash set her back down. He had to cough to clear his throat before he could say anything.

"Yeah. Okay. Let's work on your Grass moves for now, they'll be most useful against Giovanni. Your Mega Drain is great already, but if you can do it faster then that will help."

Roselia nodded, and hopped over to a clear space, dodging another spray of ice from Psyduck as she did so. She seemed be enjoying herself, judging from the amount of ice coating the tips of various branches. Ash glanced round to check on Eevee, and smiled at the intensity of her focus on Sneasel. Even as he watched, Eevee sprang forward, Dark-types energy swirling round his jaws, and bit down on a branch that Sneasel had thrown. The branch shattered and Eevee's tail was already wagging as he landed.

"That was awesome, Eevee!"

Eevee beamed and bounded over for a hug and a scratch. Ash laughed, and smiled at Sneasel over the squirming ball of fur in his arms. The Dark-type hung back, arms folded, but there was a faint smile on her face as she watched them.

"Thank you," Ash said to her. "This is going to be a real help."

She nodded, smile widening a little. Eevee licked at Ash's neck, then wriggled out of his arms and dashed back over to continue the lesson. Ash watched the two of them for another few minutes, then tapped Abra's Pokéball.

"Hey, you okay in there?"

For a moment he though Abra was still asleep, then there was a flash of red light and Abra materialised on the grass next to Ash.

'I'm tired.'

"And the sky is blue," Ash muttered. "Sorry," he said, when Abra scowled at him. "You can go back to sleep if you want, that was a longer first session than we planned."

He was trying to push all his Pokémon, but Abra simply wasn't physically capable of long periods of training. To his surprise, Abra shook his head.

'As long as it doesn't involve Teleporting I'm fine.'

"Okay," said Ash, with a nod. "What about working on Shadow Ball? Or Fire Punch?"

'Fire Punch, please,' said Abra promptly. 'But I reiterate that I'm not very good at punching things.'

Ash chuckled. "That's fine. I'm not planning on having you punch anything."

He'd be better off punching someone himself than having Abra try to do it. That wasn't why he'd got the TM. "Have you tried making fire yet?"

Abra cocked his head to one side, and summoned a ball of flames. It wasn't a very big ball, and it wasn't very hot, but it was a definite start. 'It's easier than Shadow Ball. Now what?'

"Well, I was thinking," Ash began. "You can use your Psychic powers to manipulate stuff around you. Can we make that include fire?"

Abra's eyes widened. He looked down at the flames flickering round his claws, then Ash, and a slow smile spread across his face. 'I don't see why not.'

Ash grinned back. All of his doubts and fears from the previous day were fading. He had a great team, and they were all trying their hardest to get stronger. It wasn't going to be easy, but that was okay. They were not losing to Giovanni again.

Thanks for reading! Any feedback would be appreciated.

I'm afraid there is going to be a delay in future updates. I work in healthcare, and things are a bit hectic right now. More information on my fanfics and update schedule can be found on my tumblr.