Author's Note:

It is time for everyone's favourite Pokemon performer to join the group. Although that isn't the only thing as this will make up most of the Vermillion arc. Serena will start building up her Kanto team, even the egg I showed she had back in Cerulean. Ash also gets a new team member, in what I think is a comical way, can't have every pokemon have a tragic backstory after all. We also get to see the Vermillion gym battle. Again, I know I have a long turn around period between updates but I can't really help it. Now, let's get started...

Kanto 6: Reunion in Vermilion City

After a few weeks on the road, the group finally made it to Vermilion City and on the day Serena was due to arrive in Vermilion, no-less. She told them her boat was due to dock in the morning so the first call of order was to make it to the docks.

As if it was any surprise, Ash was running well a head of the group to make it to the docks. After nearly two months apart, he is truly missing Serena. Pikachu was struggling to keep on his shoulder, while Greninja, Misty and Brock all decided to walk at a slower pace.

Soon the boat was docked and people began to depart. Ash was looking around desperately before he finally spotted the honey-blonde girl with a fire fox Pokemon stood next to her. Unable to contain his excitement, Ash shot forward and engulfed her in a hug.

Taken by surprise at his sudden appearance, she squealed loudly as he spun her around. It was only when they stopped spinning as she registered it was Ash. The two embraced each other in a long hug, only focusing on each other, whispering sweet nothings to each other. They didn't even notice the others approaching them.

"It's so beautiful..." Brock cried streams of tears as he bit on a towel. He is a hopeless romantic, plus it hurts to see that a boy much younger than himself was able to get himself true love.

"Man up Brock, you'll embarrass us." Misty whacked the breeder over the head with a mallet. Greninja made a mental note to note to try and get such a dangerous weapon away from someone with clear temper problems... Although do it when she isn't looking so he doesn't have it used on himself.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Serena." Serena greeted the orange haired girl. "I guess you must be Misty.".

"Um, yeah." Misty blushed in embarrassment, both from meeting this girl by whacking Brock over the head and for meeting the girl who just so happens to be dating her crush, so many thoughts rushed through her head, did Ash tell Serena about her crush? Does she hate her?

"Ash has told me so much about you." Serena smiled.

"Really?" Misty nervously asked with a light chuckle. "Like what?".

"He said you come from the Cerulean gym, and that you specialise in water Pokemon." Serena replied thoughtfully. "He also told me about your phobia of bug Pokemon, and how he's been helping you with it... Honestly, I was nervous about why he would travel with some random girl but upon learning that, I knew why.".

"How come?" Misty asked.

"Because I know Ash, and that he couldn't just leave someone in need of help, even if he couldn't realistically do anything he always had to try." Serena explained before taking a longing look back at him, eventually turning to Misty to finish. "It is one of the reasons why I love him.".

"And I love you." Ash whispered in her ear, giving her a hug from behind before ending with a peck on the cheek. "Anyway, what do you say we go to the Pokemon Centre? I am sure your tired from your journey and I want to introduce you to the Kanto team.".

"That sounds like a great idea, besides I have someone I want to introduce you too." Serena replied, winking at her boyfriend.

With everyone else in agreement. The made their way towards the Pokemon centre. Brock was interesting in Delphox, who like Greninja likes to stay out of her Pokeball which gave Misty the chance to speak with Ash in somewhat private way.

"So you didn't tell Serena?" Misty asked in a hushed voice.

"No." Ash replied, also in a quite voice. "I was going to, after our talk in Cerulean City but our call that night was cut short and thinking over the next day, I realised I didn't have any right to tell her.".

"How come?" Misty asked. "If my boy friend kept something like that from me, I know I would be angry.".

"If Serena finds out and gets mad, then I will take any punishment she thinks is needed." Ash replied. "But I didn't tell her because that is your secret, only you have a right to tell those that you want to know. I wouldn't like it if someone someone spoke about my feeling behind my back.".

With that last part, he shot some daggers at Greninja, remembering how his brother in everything but blood conspired with his other team members and Serena's team members a while ago to create a plan to make him confess, although everything did turn out fine in the end. Greninja sweat dropped in response.

Soon the group had made it to the Pokemon centre. Getting a late breakfast at the cafeteria, Brock and Misty properly introduced themselves to Serena, now that the couple have been reunited. Although Ash already told her about them, only revealing things both were happy to be common knowledge, of course, it was nice for her to actually meet them. Plus, she embarrassed Ash with a few of the pre-journey stories he would've rather kept secret. Soon it was time to meet the Pokemon.

"Come on out, everyone!" Ash shouted as he used his aura to lift all his Pokeballs into the air. In a massive red flash, all his Pokemon appeared in on the battlefield out the back of the Pokemon centre. Greninja joined the pre-journey team in one group and Pikachu joined the Kanto team, all looking at the honey-blonde girl.

Gardevoir was the first to walk over and greet her, shortly followed by Volcarona and Leafeon. Although Serena knew both Gardevoir and Leafeon were interested to find out how their siblings were doing, so she was happy to let Gallade and Sylveon out. Lucario and Aerodactyl were the next to approach her, Lucario remaining formal the entire greeting and Aerodactyl gave her hug, but not an affectionate lick, he saves those especially for Ash.

With those Pokemon greeted, although she already greeted Greninja back at the dock, she made her way over to re-introduce herself to the two dragons, knowing they wouldn't show any sort of egarness despite also missing her, as they wouldn't want to ruin their big bad dragon image.

"Now time for you to meet the new guys." Ash told his girlfriend as they turned to the Kanto team, remembering Serena also met Pikachu back at the dock, like with Greninja. "First up, is Butterfree. I met him as a Caterpie and was the first Pokemon to join the family in Kanto... Other than Pikachu, of course.".

Butterfree happily flew over and gave Serena a hug. He has heard a lot about her from Aerodactyl and Volcarona and is a honestly a sucker for a good romantic story so meeting his best friends mate is one thing he has been really looking forward to.

"I'm happy to meet you too, Butterfree." Serena told the bug type, happily returning the hug. Soon the embrace ended so she could meet the other Pokemon who were waiting patiently.

"Next we have Pidgeotto... Funny story, we met when she tried to turn Butterfree, who was still a Caterpie at the time, into her breakfast." Ash told his girlfriend, as Pidgeotto glided over, landing on Ash's arm. "It was actually because I mentioned you that she decided to join.".

Pidgeotto held her wing out and gladly did the same with her opposing hand for some sort of hand / wing shake. Pidgeotto also did a little bow of her head, as she has been excited to meet Ash's mate ever since she heard the story of him moving to Kalos for her.

"Is that so?" Serena smiled at her boyfriend before turning to the normal flying type. "Well I am pleased to finally meet you as well.". With the greetings over, Pidgeotto flew over to a tree to roost for the other introductions.

"Now we have, Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. It seems these three have created a sort of brotherly bond." Ash introduced as the three Pokemon walked over to her.

Squirtle turned to the side, with his sunglasses covering his eyes, trying to act as cool as possible, like he doesn't even care. Charmander, on the other hand looked down at the ground, sort of scared Serena will judge him and make Ash release him, she is his mate after all. Finally, Bulbasaur took the lead and used a vine whip to shake her hand. All three have had bad experiences with trainers but are all at different stages as well, so their different reactions are understandable.

After ending the hand / vine shake with Bulbasaur and a word of hello to the Seed Pokemon, Serena smiled down at the fire type and scratched his head with a word of reassurance. While she doesn't know his full back story as Ash wouldn't tell her without Charmander's permission, she can tell he is very timid. Charmander looked up in surprise at her gesture, just to see her give a warm smile. Realising his fears were unfounded, Charmander jumped into a hug with the honey-blonde girl.

Happy to return the hug, it lasted a short while before Serena put the fire type down. Turning to Squirtle, in hopes he will give her some sort of greeting, it seemed that the water type wouldn't until Bulbasaur whacked him with a Vine Whip. Not wanting that again, he gave a short hello to the honey-blonde girl.

"Well, guess now it is my turn." Serena replied before throwing five Pokeballs into the air, in a flash of light, Primarina, Bellossom, Dragonite, Absol and Braviary appeared, with Delphox, Gallade and Sylveon joining their teammates.

While Ash went to re-introduce himself to Serena's group, with Misty, Brock and his own Pokemon following his lead, Serena stood back and took out another Pokeball, containing her newest team member, the one who only goes in her Pokeball to nap and she needs to wake her up before she gets crowded.

The interactions with Serena's Pokemon came and went, Misty was speechless to discover another amazing water type in Primarina, with both her and Brock scared at the sight of another powerful dragon, one which they could recognise. Most of Ash's re-introductions were plain, except for Absol who instantly sensed something was off with the raven-haired boy. Ash is a danger magnet after all, and Absol's are able to sense danger. Although that means Absol is always 'off' with him.

"Well Ash, everyone, there is one more Pokemon you need to meet." Serena told the group as she walked up behind them.

Turning around the group noticed a small egg like Pokemon with a sort of child drawing design on its shell, with two stubby little arms and feet and a little spiked head popping out the top of the egg. Ash pulled out his Pokedex first of all to scan this new Pokemon:

Togepi, The Spike Ball Pokemon. As its energy, Togepi uses the positive emotions of compassion and pleasure exuded by people and Pokémon. This Pokémon then stores up feelings of happiness inside its shell, then shares them with others. Type: Fairy. Gender: Female. Ability: Serene Grace. Hidden Ability: Super Luck (unlocked). Move(s): Growl, Charm, Metronome, Sweet Kiss. Held Item: None. Egg Move(s): Extrasensory, Dazzling Gleam, Attract (Locked)

"A Togepi?" Ash questioned. "Where did you find a Togepi?".

"Remember that egg I showed you, back when you were in Cerulean?" Serena questioned, to which Ash nodded his head to give his answer. "Well Togepi hatched from that egg but she doesn't seem to like her Pokeball, only going in there for her naps.".

"Well hello Togepi," Ash smiled at the fairy type, crouching down so they were at eye level. "It's very nice to meet you.".

"Mummy?" Togepi questioned as she turned towards Serena, hoping to see if she could trust this boy. Ash smiled as he heard what Togepi called Serena, it seems like the Spike Ball Pokemon has imprinted on Serena.

"Its okay, Togepi, this is Ash. He is my boyfriend and really nice." Serena reassured.

Ash smiled at the fairy type before creating a ball of aura in his hand, although he struggles to fully manipulate do to the limits of his young body, he is able to create a ball not one capable of fighting but able to allow those that touch it to fully explore his aura, as a way of earning trust. The aura flowed around Togepi, which allowed the young Pokemon to get to know the boy better than any words. Once the aura faded, Togepi gave a happy chirp to the raven-haired boy.

"Wow, Togepi is really cute!" Misty gushed as she pushed her way into Togepi's face. This proved to be a pretty big mistake as Togepi burst into tears. "Wha? What happened?".

"Togepi is very young, Misty, sudden moves can be very scary from her perspective." Brock explained. "Not to mention, you did enter her personal space.".

"But so did Ash and Serena?" Misty retorted.

"Except you was rather forceful, in your exacusion, thus scaring Togepi." Ash explained. "Not to mention, she iss already use to Serena, actually imprinting upon her and my aura sped up so she warmed up to me quicker as a result.".

"Well than use your aura to warm her up to me." Misty commanded.

"I can't." Ash replied, shrinking under the glare from Misty. "Like I've said before, my aura is limited. I am currently only able to show my own aura to others or scan others aura to inform myself, I can't create a link between two other beings right now.".

Misty couldn't reply to that and mumbled something under her breath. Serena took this chance to settle the fairy type down by bouncing her in her arms, it seems like Togepi is like a human baby, needing similar sort of care. Once Togepi was calmed down, Ash had one more thing he had to do.

"Here you go, Serena." Ash handed her the DVD he got from Misty's sisters along with a pink case box thing. "Just a little, welcome to the journey gift I got you.".

Serena looked at the two items with her mouth slightly open, she maybe expected the case as that was similar to the badge case she gave Ash before he left for Kanto, except she wasn't expecting the DVD, this isn't even out in Kalos yet.

"Thank you, Ash." Serena thanked, before setting the two items down on the table, along with Togepi and engulfed him in a hug, with a peck on his cheek.

"Its nothing, really, Serena." Ash sheepishly replied, with a light blush. Once the embrace ended he reached into his pocket. "I also got you this as a late birthday present.".

Serena looked at the item in Ash's hand and her eyes widened as she read what it was. It was a ticket for a daily cruise on the St Anne. Despite only just getting off a boat, this is very different, the st. Anne is a luxury linear and one of the major tourist attractions for the Kanto region.

"And I've checked, tomorrow when this ticket is for is special, as tomorrow will be when the St. Anne is hosting a Pokemon contest and I figured you'd be already to start working towards the Grand Festival." Ash informed with a smirk.

"But... How could you afford this? And, what about you guys?" Serena asked.

"How I afforded it, is simple, Lance gave me a little bonus on my G-Men paycheck for what I've done in Kanto, it was enough to make this possible." Ash informed with a happy smile. "As for the rest of us, I brought myself a ticket for tomorrow, the Pokemon are fine as they are covered with the tickets and a coordinator competing in the contest is allowed to bring two special guests along with them, which'll cover Misty and Brock.".

"But this ticket says we will be disembarking at Acapulco, tomorrow evening." Serena replied. "That means we won't have long in Vermillion, we only have today.".

"That is the downside I couldn't find a way around." Ash replied. "I know you only just got here, Serena, but would you mind if we visit the Vermillion gym, it will save us having to retrace our steps later on.".

"Of course, its fine Ash, you went through all this trouble for me to be able to compete in my first contest tomorrow." Serena replied. "I still can't believe you was able to do this, these tickets must be like gold dust.".

"She isn't wrong, Ash, how exactly were you able to get these? People normally book them years in advance." Brock added to the statement.

"Having an elite four member on speed dial does have its perks, ya know." Ash replied with a smirk.

With only today left in Vermillion City, the group left for the gym. With everyone except for Greninja, Delphox, Pikachu and Togepi being returned, the group made their way through the Pokemon centre to see a long line of trainers holding seriously injured Pokemon.

"Nurse Joy, what's going on?" Serena asked.

"All these trainers challenged Surge this morning." Nurse Joy informed sadly. "He maybe the city's gym leader but his methods are so brutal that he could be mistaken as part of Team Rocket. I hope the league stop this soon as it is getting ridiculous.".

As Ash heard this, he frowned. A battle is meant to be fun and bring both people and Pokemon together, this is more like bullying. With his mind made up, Ash gripped one Pokeball in particular. If this gym leader wants to use brutal tactics, then Ash will show him the definition of brutal. Making his way out of the building with a serious expression, the others followed in silence, they know something is about to go down at the Vermillion gym.

The group stood outside the Vermillion gym after making it all the way there, Ash had just been holding onto the one Pokeball, the one he plans to use in this battle with the brute. Although no-one could tell, he was using his aura to relay his plan the Pokemon in question.

Of course, out every else around him, both Greninja and Serena could make a very good guess about who he is going to use. Suddenly, the doors flung open and a boy cradling a Ratatta ran out crying. That was the final straw, any thoughts he might've had about going with an equal match up was washed away.

Walking into the gym, they noticed it was like some sort of abandond military base, with a regular battle field in the centre. Three people were stood on the field, dressed in camouflage clothing. The one of interest was Surge, who Ash identified by the name badge on his military gear.

"Well well well, more victims." Surge laughed. "Which one of ya's is next? Maybe its one of you cuties.".

Surge smiled almost creepily as he walked up to both Misty and Serena, making both of them nervous which was easy for Ash to sense. Acting fast, he grabbed one of Surge's arms and forced it behind his back in a restraint, overpowering the six-foot man.

"I am you next challenger, so I suggest you leave them alone and get on with your job as gym leader." Ash told the unruly man. He hates anyone being imposing or intimidating anyone else, especially when his girlfriend is involved, memories of a certain boy from Kalos is still fresh in his mind.

"Gah!" Surge cried out in pain, which allowed Ash to let go of his arm. "I'm gonna make you regret that, baby.".

"I heard from Nurse Joy, she said your battle techniques are brutal." Ash replied, seriously.

"Guilty as charged, now it is time for our battle." Surge laughed. "It'll be a...".

"Full battle." Ash cut the gym leader off. "I only want to face your best, the team you reserve for those trainers with seven gym badges.".

"How come?" Surge asked, shocked by the babies request.

"Like I said, your methods were called brutal." Ash replied as a smirk formed on his face. "I'm gonna show you the definition of brutal.".

"Hahaha, if that's how you want it, baby." Surge laughed. "Its your funereal.".

Soon the two trainers were stood in their respective trainer boxes. One of the two people who was stood with Surge took the role of the referee while the rest of the group went behind the ref to some benches, except for Pikachu and Greninja.

"I've never see Ash this worked up before." Brock mentioned. "Well, except when on his g-men business.".

"He always was a bit of a show off." Serena smiled to herself, she can tell straight away the two reasons he is acting like this, he hates bullies which is exactly what Surge is and she just arrived, so he is showing off for her, which she doesn't mind in the slightest.

"I wonder who he is gonna use." Misty commented out loud, although Serena already figured it out, after all he has one Pokemon more brutal than any other.

"This will be a six on six Pokemon battle between the Vermillion gym leader, Lt. Surge and Ash Ketchum." The ref announced. "Only the challenger is allowed substitutions, while there is no time-limit. In addition, Surge shall reveal his Pokemon first.".

"To the front line, Raichu!" Surge shouted as he through his first Pokeball into the air. In a flash of light, a floating Raichu, stood on his tail like some sort surf board, the electric psychic type appeared floating above the battlefield. Ash raised an eyebrow as he scanned his opponent:

Raichu, The Mouse Pokemon. The final evolved form of Pichu. Alolan variant. When you rub its cheeks, a sweet fragrance comes wafting out. However, you'll also get a light shock! Type: Electric / Psychic

Ash smiled as he put his Pokedex away and looked at his Pokeball, this is gonna be the only Pokemon he will use in this battle, and by the looks of Raichu it should be a strong team if this is who Surge is starting with, which is good as the Pokemon has been the most vocal about getting a good battle.

"I choose you, Hydreigon!" Ash shouted as he lobbed his Pokeball into the air. The pseudo legendary appeared floating above and narrowed his eyes towards his two opponents. He has been looking forward to a good battle so hopefully this will fill that need of his. "Hydreigon... Don't hold back.".

That one sentence brought a sinister smile to the dragon dark types face... and hands. Needless to say, Surge, Raichu and the two people who were also in the gym were speechless to see a pseudo legendary, let alone a powerful dragon. If the way Ash restrained Surge before was any indication, this will be tough for the electric american.

"Raichu VS Hydreigon... Begin!" The ref declared.

"Dark Pulse." Ash instructed with the flick of the wrist.

One of Hydreigon's hand opened and a powerful beam of dark type energy shot out of his mouth towards the electric psychic type. Surge smirked as his Raichu flew out of the way, with great speed. The Dark Pulse shot straight past Surge, with the power creating a stong wind around it.

Hydreigon opened his second mouth and shot another Dark Pulse out, this time hitting Raichu directly despite its fast speed. The powerful beam struck Raichu and sent him flying into the wall. Ash counted to five after Raichu struck the wall.

"Enough." Ash instructed, and just like that, Hydreigon ended his attack. Raichu fell on the floor, next to the wall he was being pushed into, completely unable to battle. Needless to say, that display of power left the Surge and his two employees speechless. "Ref, I believe you have a call to make.".

"Um right." The ref blushed at being caught off guard, but he has never seen someone beat one of Surge's Pokemon so easily, especially not one of Surge's aces, they rarely see challengers and it is even rarer for them to lose. "Raichu is unable to battle, please select your next Pokemon, Surge.".

Surge silently returned his Raichu, still in disbelief that it was taken out so easily. After only one hit, sure Alolan-Raichu aren't known for their defence but how could they so easily target and hit Raichu with all his speed? They are clearly much tougher than anticipated. Surge quickly switched Pokeballs

"To the front line, Magnezone!" Surge shouted, angry at the previous easy loss. In a flash of light, the electric steel type appeared floating above the battlefield. Ash raised an eyebrow as he scanned his opponent:

Magnezone, The Magnet Area Pokemon. The final evolved form of Magnemite. There are still people who believe that this Pokemon came from outer space. It emanates a powerful magnetic field. Type: Electric / Steel

Ash put his Pokedex away with a powerful smirk, Magnezone is clearly stronger than Raichu, just based on looks. Not to mention Hydreigon likely won't be able to one-shot Magnezone simply because of the sturdy ability. Still, that's good as otherwise Hydreigon would complain about not getting a good battle in.

"I'm sticking with Hydreigon." Ash informed.

"Magnezone VS Hydreigon... Begin." The Ref declared.

"Flash Canon!" Surge shouted, wanting to do to Hydreigon what he previously did to Raichu.

Ash made no comment or move as the electric steel type powered up its attack. A beam of silver grey steel type energy shot out of the Magnet Area Pokemon straight towards Hydreigon but still neither Ash or Hydreigon made any attempt to dodge it.

The Flash Canon hit Hydreigon dead on and exploded in his face, smoke hide the results of what that attack did. Surge smirked as he expected the Dragon to be close to falling, it wouldn't be the powerful dragon his Magnezone has one-shoted after all but the smirk which formed on Ash's face made Surge re-question that theory.

"I don't know why your so happy, all that attack would've done is make Hydreigon angry." Ash informed. "Trust me, you wouldn't like him when he's angry.".

Suddenly two streams of Flamethrowers shot out of the smoke, hitting Magnezone directly. A split second after the flames stopped shooting out of the flames, came Hydreigon who quite frankly looked more pissed off than hurt.

Getting up in Magnezone's personal space, he grabbed either side of the electric steel type with his two hand mouths, forcing it down as he loomed over the top, with a threatening glare. Despite Magnezone being made of steel, it looked like a predator about to devour its prey.

"Thunder Wave, before it can escape!" Surge shouted, as panic entered his voice against his will.

He hates to sound scared in front of anyone but this dragon already went through one of his team like it was nothing, now it looks like he will take down a second one. Plus, who wouldn't be panicked at seeing a powerful Dragon in a brutal assault like that?

"Earth Power!" Ash shouted.

Several sparks shot out of the antenna on top of Magnezone and they jumped towards Hydreigon but before they could make contact, a spout of lava shot out of the ground and engulfed both Pokemon. The ground type energy blocked the Thunder Wave, destroying it.

Hydreigon let go of Magnezone once he was sure it couldn't escape the Earth Power now. Turning his attention to Surge he let out a powerful roar, as his eyes glew red while surrounded by the lava. The sight was one straight out of a horror story.

The Earth Power came to an end and Magnezone crashed into the ground with swirls in its eyes. Hydreigon smirked at his hand work, one third of the team down, two thirds to go. As a sign of celebration, he let out a victory roar before returning to his original starting position not looking injured in the slightest despite being covered in soot.

"M-Magnezone is unable to battle." The ref declared. "Please select your next Pokemon, Surge.".

Once again, Surge silently returned his Magnezone with a grim expression. He isn't going to give up, not by a long shot but what can he do to beat this dragon? Even if he could, what else is this kid hiding? He may have a little Pikachu with him but if that blue ninja frog behind him and this pseudo legendary are anything to go by, he is anything but a normal trainer. Making his decision, he quickly switched Pokeballs.

"To the front line, Galvantula!" Surge shouted as he released his third Pokemon. In a flash of light, the electric bug type appeared on the battle field with a serious expression on his face. Ash pulled out his Pokedex and scanned his next opponent:

Galvantula, The Electric-Spider Pokemon. The final evolved for of Joltik. They employ an electrically charged web to trap their prey. While it is immobilised by shock, they leisurely consume it. Type: Electric / Bug

Ash put his Pokedex away, it seems like Surge is now hoping to go on the offence along and is going with a possible type advantage seeing as bug is strong against dark types but Hydreigon wouldn't let something like this make him lose a battle.

"I'm sticking with Hydreigon." Ash informed.

"Galvantula VS Hydreigon... Begin." The Ref declared.

"Tri Attack." Ash instructed, with a flick of the wrist.

Hydreigon opened his left mouth-hand and launched a beam of ice out it. Galvantula shot a String Shot at the ceiling and used it to swing out of the way of the attack. Hydreigon opened his right mouth-hand and shot out a Thunderbolt but do to Galvantula's superior speed and agility, it yet again missed.

Building up a flame in his head, Hydreigon breathed out a Flamethrower out of his main head. It burnt the String Shot but Galvantula had some great reflexes and landed right in front of the dragon. Hydreigon attempted to move his Flamethrower towards his opponent but Surge had another idea.

"Signal Beam!" Surge shouted.

Galvantula opened his mouth and launched a powerful beam of bug type energy. It struck Hydreigon and caused the dragon dark type to cancel his Tri Attack, also knocking him back. While he was stunned by the surprisingly powerful move, Galvantula crawled under Hydreigon and jumped onto his back.

Out of Hydreigon's reach, Galvantula unleashed a series of Bug Bites. Hydreigon began to lash out because of the pain Galvantula was causing, for the first time in the battle, it seemed like Surge was in the advantage. Attempting to reach the bug, Hydreigon couldn't and seemed helpless against Galvantula.

"Calm down." Ash instructed and taking a deep breath, Hydreigon did while trying to ignore Galvantula who continued to use Bug Bite. "Good. Now use Dragon Rage against that wall.".

Hydreigon continued his best to ignore the bug on his back and launched a powerful blue flame filled with dragon type energy at the wall Ash pointed out. The blast sent Hydreigon flying backwards, slamming his back into the opposite wall, crushing Galvantula as a result. A hole was also left where the dragon rush hit the wall.

The dragon dark turned around to the bug electric type on the floor with a threatening glare, so it liked to bite did it? Grabbing one of the bugs arms in his hand-mouth, he lifted the bug high above his head before spinning around so Surge could watch.

With Galvantula being held directly in front of his main head, Hydreigon powered up another Dragon Rage and it hit Galvantula head on with the powerful move, letting go of its arm, Galvantula was sent into the ceiling where he was at the heart of an explosion.

As the Dragon Rage came to an end, Galvantula fell from the ceiling which also had a hole left with the sun bursting through. Galvantula was left on the floor covered in soot looking terrible. It was clearly unable to continue.

"Galvantula is unable to battle." The ref sighed. "Please select your next Pokemon, Surge.".

Once again, Surge silently returned his Galvantula with a grim expression.

"To the front line, Heliolisk!" Surge shouted as he released his forth Pokemon. In a flash of light, the electric normal type appeared on the battle field and hissed threateningly at Hydreigon. It appears each of Surge's Pokemon are getting more aggressive as they go along. Ash pulled out his Pokedex and scanned his next opponent:

Heliolisk, The Generator Pokemon. The final evolved form of Helioptile. It Stimulates its muscles with electricity, boosting the strength in its legs and enabling it to run 100 yards in five seconds. Type: Electric / Normal

Ash put his Pokedex away, it seems like Surge is now hoping to go on the offence along and is going with a possible type advantage seeing as bug is strong against dark types but Hydreigon wouldn't let something like this make him lose a battle.

"I'm sticking with Hydreigon." Ash informed.

"Heliolisk VS Hydreigon... Begin." The Ref declared.

Starting off the match, Heliolisk began to run around at speed difficult to keep track off. It was so fast that Hydreigon quickly lost track of it. Ash could sort of sense its aura but before he had chance to relay the information to Hydreigon, it had moved to several other places. Suddenly, the dragon was struck by a Thunderbolt.

"That's it, this gym is full of annoying critters and it isn't even a bug type." Hydreigon declared.

Opening one of his mouths, he released a smaller electric bolt. It locked onto Heliolisk, informing Hydreigon of where it was and also compelled the normal electric type to continue. With his location revealed, Hydreigon opened his other hand-mouth releasing a mini-ice beam whilst also shooting a weakened flame thrower out of his mouth.

The flames and ice collided creating a steam cloud around Heliolisk. The ice was slightly more powerful, so the flames melted it first instead of straight evaporating it, so it was like dropping an endless amount of water onto a continuous fire. Due to Heliolisk still be drawn to use Thunderbolt, the electricity was conducted in the heavy water vapour air. Hydreigon was out of the cloud, thus unaffected, but it was like Heliolisk's electricity was conducted back onto himself, stopping him from moving.

"Finally." Hydreigon muttered in a dark tone.

With the cloud no-long being conducted by an powerful Thunderbolt, Hydreigon made his way to his prey. Grabbing him with his two hand-mouths, Hydreigon lifted him high above his body. The sinister smirk on his face scared most on lookers, all of them except for Ash and Greninja.

"Now, lets see if you can see this." Hydreigon growled as he powered up a Dragon Pulse in his mouth.

The blast quickly engulfed the generator Pokemon and shot him into the ceiling. Despite Heliolisk being at the sent of the blast as he was held in the centre of the attack, the Dragon Pulse shot past him and seemed to spread out as it reached the ceiling. Once Hydreigon decided the normal electric type had - had enough, he ended the attack which revealed to have dissolved the gyms roof. Surge gasped as he saw the damage done to his gym

"Heliolisk is unable to battle." The ref declared, easily spotting the pattern at this point. "Please select your next Pokemon, Surge.".

Once again, Surge silently returned his Pokemon with a grim expression. Before he stared down the dragon type, he still has one Pokemon able to sweep the rest of this brats team and he has a sure fire way to take down this brute before that one even comes out. This kid is annoying him now that his gym has been damaged.

"To the front line, Golem!" Surge shouted as he released his fifth Pokemon. In a flash of light, the electric rock type appeared on the battle field and shook the ground. Brock was surprised to see a different version of his dad's ace. Ash pulled out his Pokedex and scanned his next opponent:

Golem, The Megaton Pokemon. The final evolved form of Geodude. Alolan variant. It fires rocks charged with electricity. Even if the rock isn't fired that accurately, just grazing an opponent will cause numbness and fainting. Type: Rock / Electric

Ash put his Pokedex away, seeing the smirk on Surge's face showed he was planning something big, something he thinks will finally take down Hydreigon. Ash began to rattle his brain to think of what he could possibly be going for, as the ref prepared to make his call.

"I'm sticking with Hydreigon." Ash informed.

"Golem VS Hydreigon... Begin." The Ref declared.

"Explosion!" Surge shouted the moment the battle began

Ash gasped as he heard the word. The rock electric type began to glow white so Ash made his move as well. "Energy Shield!".

Opening his three mouths, Hydreigon released three different dark pulses as those are some of his easiest moves to build up, considering he is dark type and they don't have the sheer power a lot of Dragon attacks need. Firing all three of them at the ground, an explosion of dark type energy appeared and hurt him as Golem released a second bigger explosion, with himself at the heart of it.

Hydreigon may have been hit by both explosions but his own one didn't do much to him considering it was filled with dark type energy, it also absorbed a lot of the blast from Golem's explosion, meaning that one wasn't nearly as devastating. As the smoke cleared, Golem was on his back covered in soot, unable to battle, as Hydreigon was still up but looked like he had finally taken damage, although still able to battle.

Surge gulped as he realised his 'sure fire way to defeat Hydreigon' just failed.

"Golem is unable to battle." The ref declared, easily spotting the pattern at this point. "Please select your next Pokemon, Surge.".

Although terrified about having his five previous Pokemon taken down by just one, Surge knew his last one is his strongest one of all. Gripping his Pokeball, this partner has beaten entire teams by just himself and that dragon has taken damage, so it is clearly beatable.

"To the front line, Electavire!" Surge shouted as he released his final Pokemon. In a flash of light, the electric type appeared on the battle field and banged his fists together as electricity sparked over his body. Ash smirked to see a powerful finisher for his Hydreigon. Ash pulled out his Pokedex and scanned his next opponent:

Electavire, The Thunderbolt Pokemon. The final evolved form of Elekid. It pushes the tips of its tails against its foes and then lets loose a high-voltage current. Its foes are burnt to a crisp in an instant. Type: Electric

Ash put his Pokedex away, seeing the look on Surge's face told Ash one thing, the lightening American isn't cocky or arrogant any more, he may believe that his Electavire is capable of sweeping Ash's team but that would also mean he has made the assumption Hydreigon is Ash's strongest Pokemon. No, the look on Surge's face told Ash that this man is angry. He has been made too look like a fool in his own gym. Obviously his Electavire is his strongest Pokemon but if it is strong enough to take down Hydreigon and five other of Ash's Pokemon especially the pre-journey team since this challenge would be too much for his Kanto Pokemon currently.

"I'm sticking with Hydreigon." Ash informed.

"Electavire VS Hydreigon... Begin." The Ref declared.

Knowing exactly how to start the battle, Electavire bent down slightly as his two tails shot into the air. They quickly wrapped around Hydreigon's hand-mouths, since Electavire is a much quicker Pokemon than Hydreigon, let alone Hydreigon finally feeling tired after his previous five battles.

Not giving the dark dragon type chance to escape, Electavire unleashed a massive Thunder attack. Unlike most electric types who can't generate that much electrical power internally thus summoning it from static within the air (hence Thunder working better in rain storms), Electavire was able to deliver that attack straight through his two tails.

The Thunderbolt Pokemon expected this to take down the dragon as it was always his way to both take down a weakened opponent when he first came out and also strike fear into his opponent at the same time. After the Thunder ended however, and Electavire retracted his tails to expecting to see Hydreigon slump on the floor, he was surprised to see the brutal Pokemon still floating, while clearly tired, was also smirking, this is gonna be a good battle.

"Earthquake." Ash instructed with a flick of the wrist.

Roaring loudly, he slammed his body down onto the ground causing it to shake violently. Unlike a Pokemon like Pikachu who is light enough to jump high into the air to out last and avoid the Earthquake, Electavire is stuck on the ground to take the powerful attack head on. So did the gym walls which began to crack as a result.

The people standing in the gym fell to their feet, including surge, Misty, Brock and Serena were sat down but they still had to stead themselves. Although both Greninja and Ash were able to stay standing as they are use to Hydreigon's power. Pikachu, on the other hand, jumped onto Greninja's head to avoid taking damage himself.

With Electavire off balance and knowing his Earthquake is about to end, Hydreigon roared once more as dark blue dragon type energy surrounded his body. He used a powerful Dragon Rush. Slamming into Electavire, they went flying towards the cracked wall. Electavire grunted at the painful burn from the attack as he clenched his fist, covering it in ice. He slammed it into the Hydreigon's back.

The ice allowed his fist to move through the outer layer of the Dragon Rush and hit Hydreigon directly. The dark dragon type gasped in surprise at being hit by the attack, hardly any opponent has ever took his Dragon Rush head on and been able to attack in the middle of the attack. Having lost a lot of his momentum and power, they slammed into the wall as Electavire coated his second fist in ice before striking Hydreigon once again.

Although Electavire took some heavy damage from the Earthquake - Dragon Rush combo, the electric type has taken on heavy hitters before. Hydreigon cried out in pain as he took the super effective attacks but he wasn't going to back down. Taking a risky move, he clamped his hand-mouths on to Electavire's fists, grunting in pain he unleashed a Flamethrower out of each hand which cancelled the Ice Punches. Electavire cried out in pain, like how eating something cold than something hot can cause tooth ache, he currently has fist ache.

But not wanting to leaving himself open, his tails shot over his head and wrapped around Hydreigon's body, unleashing a second powerful Thunder. Despite resisting the electric attack, Hydreigon took some damage which showed just how powerful this Electavire is. Soon he began to fight back by biting Electavire with all three off his mouths in a vicious attack. It looked more like a blood battle between two predator, rather than a gym battle, Ash knew this couldn't continue.

"Take to the sky, Dragon Pulse to take off!" Ash instructed.

Although Hydreigon hates to back away from a head on assault, he trusts Ash completely and can only guess he has some sort of plan. Opening all three of his mouths, the dark dragon type unleashed a powerful blast of dark blue dragon type energy onto Electavire.

As the Thunderbolt Pokemon cried out in pain, retracting his tails and ending his Thunder attack, Hydreigon's attack pushed Hydreigon away from his opponent and high into the air. A while ago, Ash discovered Hydreigon isn't a skilled flyer, so they came up with the Dragon Pulse method to somewhat neutralise that issue.

"Grr, use Wild Charge and bring it down!" Surge growled in anger, this stupid dragon just won't fall.

Electavire growled angrily as he coated his body in electricity, Hydreigon already finished his Dragon Pulse as to not blast himself into the sky too much, going too high would put him at a disadvantage as he wouldn't be able to propel himself in any direction due to nothing being around him.

Still, that doesn't mean Hydreigon will just let Electavire attack him. The electric type jumped up and crashed into the brutal Pokemon as he also took some recoil damage from the powerful attack. Although it was painful, Hydreigon grunted and wrapped his arms around Electavire, coating both himself in dark blue dragon type energy and the Thunderbolt Pokemon as well. Doing a backwards loop with Electavire in the middle of the Dragon Rush, they two Pokemon came falling back down at a fast speed.

Crashing into the ground a massive cloud of dust and smoke covered the results of the battle. For the first time in the battle, Ash became worried for his dragon as he didn't do his signature victorious roar. This Electavire has also been much tougher than he anticipated in the fight, this was the sort of strength he could expect to see from an elite four member's Pokemon. After a agonising minute the cloud finally faded and both Pokemon were on the floor, clearly unable to battle.

"Both Pokemon are unable to battle, since the challenger still has five Pokemon left he is declared the victor." The ref declared.

Surge was speechless, it just took his a-team to take down one Pokemon that a ten year old has. He has been considering going for the elite four position in Johto which is rumoured to be opening up but now-

"Well done, my friend." Ash told Hydreigon as he kneeled next to his dark dragon type. "Take a nice long rest.".

To make matters worst, not only did this kid have a Pokemon way above the power-level normal for his age but it wasn't even like Hydreigon was full of himself or disobident, sure Ash let him do what he wanted until he came across a problem but whenever Ash gave him a direction, Hydreigon followed it without question.

Surge was brought out of his thoughts by Ash standing in front of him, despite the lightening American towering over him, Ash seemed a lot more intimidating after the brutal assault of the battle. Not to mention how he restricted Surge before the battle even started.

"How..." Surge asked, in a broken voice.

"You underestimated me, and that left to you being over confident." Ash explained. "Once I took that over confidence away, it hit your pride which also lead to you making a number of mistakes like how you sacked your Golem with his first attack.".

"... Why?" Surge asked, seeming to have absorbed Ash's explanation, he can't really deny that happened, a Pokemon battle between trainers is also about a battle between the trainers, not a physical battle but a mental one and in a lot of cases that battle can be more important.

"To teach you a lesson." Ash replied simply. "You've been making your challengers lives hell, disrespecting them by calling them baby, making them feel worthless than completely humiliating them by overpowering them in an unfair battle. Rest assured, I'll insist your Pokemon are re-tested for the level of badges they can be used to battle.".

"And just who will you insist too?" The female gym member asked.

"Lance." Ash replied, matter-of-factly, leaving the women speechless. "You see Surge, we both have one thing in common... He is both of our boss.".

"Your not a gym leader." The women accused.

"Your right." Ash replied, calmly, he could tell by her aura that she felt protective of the Lieutenant probably for hidden feelings she has. "I am a member of the g-men, a foot soldier to be precise. I am Lance's eyes and ears while travelling Kanto.".

"Why should we believe that?" The women asked.

"Don't, it doesn't make a difference to me and it won't stop me from reporting it either." Ash replied honestly as his friends appeared behind him, so he turned towards Surge one last time. "Now, I am going to get Hydreigon healed up. And I suggest you do the same, if nothing else it will show you at least care when the re-assessment comes around.".

Without another word, Ash turned around and started to walk towards the door. His friends and Pokemon were following swiftly behind but as they did they realised practically nothing but rubble was left of the gym. The roof was destroyed and the walls had crumbled. Just a testimate to Hydreigon's destructive power. Soon they were on the path towards the Pokemon centre, and Pikachu took his usual spot on Ash's shoulder rather than Greninja's head.

"Note to self, never agree to be Hydreigon's sparring partner." Pikachu told himself.

"Come on yellow, I am sure the big guy could always do with a new chew toy." Greninja joked. Seeing as they broke the silence but no-one other than Ash could understand them, the others took it as a cue to also start talking.

"Ash, that was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. Not only was Hydreigon dominating through most of the battle but just standing up to Surge." Brock spoke first, truly impressed. "I can honestly say, I have never seen anyone speak to him like you did. Even at gym leader meetings I've been too.".

"Well, I am not surprised at all. Ash will stand up to anyone who is bullying someone, whether bulling a person or a Pokemon." Serena replied as she took his hand in her's, quickly pecking his cheek. "Although part of me does think you also used Hydreigon just to show off. Am I right?".

"Well, err, he has been hassling me about getting a proper battle." Ash attempted to reason. "But yeah, I guess I did want to teach Surge a lesson and so I thought the best thing to do would be to show him what its like to have an opponent destroy him in a brutal battle.".

"Hehehe, I meant you was showing off to try and impress me." Serena giggled, seeing Ash blush in response. "Don't worry, I've been impressed with you for a long time.".

"Um, well, err, I." Ash stuttered in embarrassment. "I kinda think we should take a break so I can fix Hydreigon up, if that's okay with you guys.".

"Why not let Nurse Joy do that, Ash?" Misty asked, in an annoyed tone, although she knows they have been together for a while, seeing them flirt is making her mad. "It is her job, after all.".

"Well for one thing, I think Nurse Joy will be busy with Surge's team." Ash explained. "There is also the fact Hydreigon isn't happy with just anyone getting close, even if it is for his best interest. Back in Kalos, he wouldn't even let Sycamore give him a check up. Plus, I don't want my medical training to go to waste.".

"Would you mind if I watch you, Ash?" Brock asked. "I think learning the proper way to take care of a Pokemon, medically, is important for a breeder to learn.".

With no-other arguments put up, the group found an opening where the boys could work on Hydreigon in peace. Of course, once he is healed, Ash will have Nurse Joy give him a check up just in case he missed something but doing his own medical work is just one thing Ash likes to do to bring himself closer to his team.

"Thanks Nurse Joy." Ash thanked the nurse as he handed over Hydreigon's Pokeball. "He might also want feeding, if he is grumpy. He tends to eat a lot. Especially after a battle.".

"I should be the one to thank you, it seems like Surge is ready to change his ways." Nurse Joy informed as they looked over to the bay which contained the electric type gym leader and his six Pokemon all in hospital beds. This was his a-team and a kid went through them like they were nothing.

"Hehehe, I guess I just don't like bullies." Ash chuckled nervously before he made his way over to his friends.

"So what should we do now?" Misty asked. "That gym battle took what, 2 hours. We still have most of the day left.".

"Why don't we head to the beach?" Serena suggested. "Vermillion is meant to have some of the best beaches in the whole of Kanto... Second only to Cinnebar.".

"How do you know so much about Kanto?" Brock asked.

"Serena took up geography at the lab, while I took up history." Ash explained. "After the professor felt like he taught us all he could, we wanted to learn some other subjects as well.".

"Any particular reason you took on different subjects?" Brock asked.

"Well it wasn't just these extra lessons we were taught, we did a bunch of them." Serena explained. "Ash wanted to do history because of his links with aura users in the past, and I thought geography would be good for when travelling and everything. A lot of our subjects seemed to mix well together.".

"So lets head to the beach." Misty grunted as she crunched her fist in anger. She didn't need reminding about how long these two have spent together.

It wasn't long before the group reached the beach. Using the two shacks they boys changed into there swim-wear in one of them while the girls used the second one, although before hand they let their Pokemon out to enjoy the beach straight away. Luckily it was pretty empty.

The boys were changed first and were surprised by what they saw. The girls exited the changing room, laughing, it seems like they have found some common ground, part of Ash was relieved as he did feel bad about turning Misty down, even though he couldn't return her feelings. Although part of him was also scared. He was also mesmerised by Serena, who was wearing a pink one piece swim suit. Misty was wearing a white too piece. Serena giggled seeing his reaction.

"Close your mouth, Ash or you'll catch Venomoth's in it." Serena told her boyfriend. She then bolted towards the water after shouting. "Last one in the water is a rotten Exeggcute!".

Ash acted quickly and chased after his girlfriend. Despite how mature they are for their age, they are still kids at heart and love to have fun and play games. Misty, again, grunted and clenched her fist as she saw those two run off together.

"What's wrong, Misty?" Brock asked, being like a pseudo-older brother figure. "You and Serena were laughing not that long ago.".

"... I don't know, Brock." Misty sighed. "When we were alone, and Ash wasn't around. We got on really well, and I even discovered we have a lot in common. Like, you know how my sisters use to bully me, well she also use to have a bully. She also knows loads about water types, I know Ash does as well but it felt easier asking her rather then him... But seeing them together, it-it.".

"I get it Misty." Brock reassured her.

"Your hurting, and when you don't have what you missed out on to remind you, its easier to put it to the back of your mind." Brock explained it for her. "Although this is good, as even if it takes time, it shows that you two can be great friends regardless of Ash.".

Misty nodded in understanding before looking towards another part of the water where her Pokemon were at. At first, it seemed pretty normal until the noticed Gyarados lift a small purple shell like Pokemon onto the beach. Both trainers gasped and ran to help. Brock looked for either Ash or Serena but neither could be seen and they don't have time to stop and look for them.

"Guys, what happened?" Misty asked, as she inspected the water type which she easily identified as a Shellder.

"This isn't good Misty, Shellder are meant to live in cold waters." Brock explained. "I can only think this little one ended up here because of some underwater currents, and look at it. This heat is doing terrible things for its health.".

"What should we do, Brock?" Misty asked.

"I have some medicine to help keep its body temperature down but I would say we need to catch it." Brock explained. "Even if only temporary. Pokeballs are designed to maintain a Pokemon's health whilst its inside regardless of the outside. It would be the safest place for it around here. Then we can let it go tonight, when it will be much cooler, so it has a chance to get somewhere safe for it.".

"Okay than, I have an empty Pokeball on me right now." Misty replied as she took it out. Holding it over the Bivalve Pokemon. "Shellder, I am going to catch you, so you are safe from this sun. If, once you are well again, you want releasing and it is safe, I will.".

With that, Shellder closed her eyes and waiting for the next part. Misty tapped the Pokeball against her head and Shellder was sucked inside. The ball didn't even wiggle, whether that's because Shellder trusts her or she didn't have the strength to resist, Misty wasn't sure.

"Okay, Shellder should be safe in the Pokeball for - What is Pidgeotto doing?" Brock cut himself off, as he saw the normal flying type carry a Pokeball out to the water. She reached the couple and Ash thanked her for the item as he took it off her. They were two far away for either Misty or Brock to make out what was happening.

Ash mentally cursed as he realised just how bad things went after entering the water together. Originally, they had a fun splashing match which turned into them holding each other in their arms. They were about to kiss in the romantic atmosphere, when Serena yelled out in pain. It turns out a Krabby used his pincer to pinch her behind. Despite the embarrassing location of it, Serena yelled at Ash to do something as it was causing her some great pain.

So Ash did the only thing he could think off, he sent out a message through his aura to ask one of his Pokemon to bring him a Pokeball. Squirtle originally came to see what was up, and started laughing hysterically when he discovered what happened. So it came down to Pidgeotto to deliver the item.

"Thank you, Pidgeotto." Ash thanked the female bird Pokemon.

"Now hurry up and get this thing off of me!" Serena demanded.

Ash gulped at Serena's tone, not that he can blame her given her current situation. Being extremely careful, he moved the Pokeball under the water and carefully tapped the Krabby. Although he only wanted to catch Pokemon who wants to come with him, that isn't always the case and sometimes situations mean he would have to catch someone.

Serena sighed as the pain in her behind disappeared, the Pokeball shook a couple of times before it dinged. With that over, Serena wanted to get out of the embarrassing situation. "I am going back to shore.".

Like a smart man, Ash didn't try to stop her as she is very clearly in a mood after that ordeal. Instead, Ash waited until she was out of the water and released the Krabby he just caught. The water type appeared in front of him and smiled before bubbles escaped his mouth.

"Hi Krabby, my name is Ash." Ash introduced himself.

"Hello Ash." Krabby greeted in a jolly tone

"So Krabby, I wanted to ask you, before anything else, why did you pinch my girlfriend?" Ash asked, struggling to find a good way to word what the River Crab Pokemon did.

"Oh, I wanted to say hey but you were too busy looking at each other to pay me any attention." Krabby explained. "It is pretty rude not to look at someone when they are speaking to you.".

"That... is very true." Ash conceded. "But did you consider the fact that you was underwater, so we wouldn't have been able to hear you? And for that matter, not everyone can understand what Pokemon say, it is very rare thing that one can.".

"I did not consider those thing." Krabby admitted. "So how come you can, if you don't mind my asking.".

"I am an aura user, and I am being trained into a guardian." Ash explained. "Although most of my abilities are locked until my body matures.".

"Cool, so my trainer is an aura guardian like from the legends." Krabby replied with a bright smile.

"That was another thing I wanted to speak with you about." Ash replied. "Ya see, I didn't want to catch any Pokemon unless a) they wanted to join my family or b) I had no choice but to catch them, like if they were about to hurt someone or something. So if you wanted to remain in the wild, you'd only need to say the word and I will release you.".

"Nah, ya good." Krabby replied. "Being the Pokemon of an aura person sounds like fun... Besides, I need friend.".

"Well than, welcome to the family Krabby." Ash smiled. "Why don't we return to the shore so I can introduce you to the others.".

"Sounds good to me." Krabby replied before jumping onto Ash's head. "Lead the way.".

Ash smiled at his new water type before swimming back to the shore. Once he was there, he went to his bag and got a towel to dry himself off. He than brought out his Pokedex and scanned his latest family member:

Krabby, The River Crab Pokemon. Krabby live on beaches, burrowed inside holes dug into the sand. On sandy beaches with little in the way of food, these Pokémon can be seen squabbling with each other over territory. Type: Water. Gender: Male. Ability: Hyper Cutter. Hidden Ability: Sheer Force (locked). Move(s): Mud Sport, Bubble, Vice Grip, Leer, Harden, Bubble Beam, Chip Away, Knock Off. Held Item: None. Egg Move(s): Brick Break, X-Scizor (locked)

"Awesome Krabby, you already have a strong move set." Ash praised. "How are you in actual battle?".

"Well... My father preferred close in combat, so I imagine I would as well." Krabby explained. "Still not had the chance to test that theory though.".

"That's okay Krabby, once you've trained and we both know a comfortable style for ya, you will get some battles in before long." Ash replied. "For now, lets go and show you around the others.".

Deciding to only introduce his team members for now since those will be his teammates, Ash went around them all. First he came across, Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle, who were playing some sort of ball game. They were all happy to meet Krabby. Pidgeotto, who was roosting on top of the changing shack, glided down once she saw the the new team member and introduced herself.

Next Ash spotted Greninja and Lucario in some sort of sparring match. Ash chuckled to himself, of course even on a beach these two can't relax and must do some sort of training. Going over, the two Pokemon greeted Krabby, while not ending the battle to officially greet the water type. Ash sweat dropped as he realised he would probably do the same in a sparring match.

Next the trainer and river crab went over to see Aerodactyl, Salamence and Hydreigon. The three of them were sun bathing in the sand, despite being very different in personality, with Aerodactyl being like Ash's energetic younger brother, Salamence being like a military leader and Hydreigon being a brute, the three of them get on very well as the big bad beasts of the team. Ash was first greeted by one of Aerodactyl's affectionate licks but once that was over, all three greeted Krabby in a friendly manner.

Next up, Ash found Gardevoir, Volcarona and Leafeon in their own group. Being the only females on his team, other than Pidgeotto, they believe they have to work together to keep the others or Ash himself out of trouble... or try to, at least. Gardevoir and Volcarona smiled down to the little water type, like smiling on a small child. Leafeon, on the other hand, decided to act proud in front of it boasting herself up like the little princess she is.

"Now Krabby, the only one left is Butterfree... I wonder where he went to though?" Ash spoke aloud to the water type as he walked away from the three female Pokemon. "Its not like him to wonder away like-".

"Ash! Ash! Ash! Ash! Ash!" Butterfree's voice echoed in an excited manner as the young bug zoomed towards him, clearly either frightened or excited. Once he reached Ash's side, he noticed the Krabby on Ash's head. "Oh, hello there.".

"Hi." Krabby waved his claw with a friendly smile.

"Butterfree, this is Krabby the new family member. Krabby, this is Butterfree. One of the first Pokemon I caught in Kanto." Ash introduced the two Pokemon. "So Butterfree, want to tell me what has you so excited?".

"Oh um, sure." Butterfree stuttered before regaining his composure. "Ya see, I just found this billboard on the edge of the beach and one of the posters on it was for the Butterfree mating season. It takes place on the cliff over looking Vermilion tonight... I was hoping we could visit, ya know, since I'm a Butterfree and all.".

"Sounds good to me, plus I bet a cliff-side over looking the sea would be pretty romantic for Serena and I." Ash replied thoughtfully.

"Why would you need a romantic spot?" Butterfree asked. "I thought you already gave her your presents.".

"I did, but I don't think she is too happy at the minute because of what happened in the sea-" Ash explained, being caught off by his latest capture.

"That would be my fault." Krabby interjected.

"Don't worry Krabby, you didn't mean to hurt any one and I am sure once she is over the embarrassment you will be great friends." Ash reassured. "But romantic things always cheers her up so its a win-win situation.".

Ash and Serena now stood over the top of the cliff-side overlooking both Vermilion and the sea. They left their Pokemon at the Pokemon Centre for a check up, as they wanted to be alone for the 'date'. The only exceptions being Butterfree, who wanted to take part in the Butterfree mating season and Togepi, who is napping in Serena's back pack. While not easy to convince Greninja at first, he learnt quickly into the couples relationship that he didn't want to around on these 'dates'.

Misty and Brock also opted to not go with them, not only because they didn't want to intrude on the date but also so they could release Shellder safely back into the sea once the sun went down.

As the couple looked over the cliff-side, they noticed a bunch of Butterfree appearing in the sky, one by one. Some of them appeared to be wild, while other trainers showed up and released their Butterfree out of their Pokeballs. Soon nearly two hundred Butterfree were mingling, so Ash took out his own bug flying type.

"Well Butterfree, here we are. Why don't you go off and see if there is any Butterfree which catch your eye." Ash informed the bug type.

Butterfree nodded egarly and flew away. Serena was going to suggest something like giving him a scarf or something so they could easily tell which one was Ash's from a distance but than she remembered Ash would be able to easily identify him through his aura signature so it wasn't needed.

Since they are now alone, apart from the napping fairy type, Serena leaned her head on Ash's shoulder as he put his arm around her pulling her into a hug. While he will do his best not to be too affectionate towards Serena when Misty is around to spare her feelings, Ash couldn't really help himself today, he has really missed her. Neither were sure how long they were in the embrace but after a while the peace was interrupted by a man being hurled away, along with a Rhyhorn, by some sort of psychic attack.

"What was-" Serena went to ask.

"I don't know." Ash admitted.

Suddenly then, Ash's Butterfree appeared looked extremely excited, with a nice looking Pink Butterfree behind him who looked more shy. Ash was about to ask Butterfree if he knew anything about the man and the Rhyhorn but Butterfree didn't give him the chance.

"Ash, this is Butterfree. She is really nice and sweet and a bunch of other Butterfree tried to win her over but she turned them down then this poacher with a Rhyhorn tried to attack her and I stopped them." Butterfree paused here to take a deep breath, because he was speaking so fast. "She said she would love to go with me but didn't feel safe as poachers are always after her because of her rare colour. I told her about how your my trainer and an aura guardian and how we are going to protect the world and how you also have two dragons to protect her with." He took another break for a breath. "She also said she isn't much of a battler so I told her about Serena who is more of a performer and how you two will stay together forever no matter what, so could Serena please catch her so we can stay together forever too.".

"... Eh." Ash replied, hearing about one in every six words Butterfree just told him. "Could you repeat that please, slower.".

After Butterfree retold the story in a more calm and understandable way, Ash explained it to Serena who was more than happy to welcome the Pink Butterfree to her team, so taking out an empty Pokeball she tapped it against the pink one, and it instantly dinged. She used her Pokedex to scan her new team member:

Butterfree, The Butterfly Pokemon. The final evolved form of Caterpie. When attacked by other Pokémon, it defends itself by scattering its poisonous scales and fluttering its wings. Note: this particular Butterfree is Pink, not the normal shiny colour for this species. Type: Bug / Flying. Gender: Female. Ability: Compound Eyes. Hidden Ability: Tinted Lens (locked). Move(s): Gust, Confusion, Poison Powder, Stun Spore, Sleep Powder, Psybeam, Silver Wind, String Shot, Tackle, Harden. Held Item: None. Egg Move(s): Giga Drain, Psychic, Acrobatics, Shadow Ball (locked)

With a new Pokemon added to the team, the couple started to walk back to the Pokemon centre, while the two Butterfree floated around them in some sort of dance. Of course, if it came to it Ash would've let Butterfree follow his mate but part of him is glad it didn't come to that decision. With everything in Vermilion taken care off, tomorrow they will be setting sail on the ST Anna and Serena's first Pokemon contest.

Author's Note:

So yeah, Serena has joined the group, Ash dominated a gym battle (if your wondering, that doesn't mean Ash will do all his gym battles that way, he just wanted to teach Surge a lesson since he doesn't like bullies... and he also wanted to show off for Serena). Then the beach happened where we meet Krabby, and where Misty got Shellder. And finally, the Pink Butterfree, I had that planned from the start. The next chapter is: Aboard the ST Anna.

Ash's Team:

Greninja (M), Lucario (M), Gardevoir (F), Aerodactyl (M), Salamence (M), Volcarona (F), Hydreigon (M), Leafeon (F)

Pikachu (M), Butterfree (M), Pidgeotto (F), Bulbasaur (M), Charmander (M), Squirtle (M), Krabby (M)

Ho-Oh (F)

Serena's Team:

Delphox (F), Primarina (F), Gallade (M), Bellossom (F), Dragonite (F), Absol (M), Braviary (M), Sylveon (F)

Togepi (F), P. Butterfree (F)

Misty's Team:

Staryu (-), Goldeen (F), Gyarados (M), Horsea (F), Shellder (F)

Brock's Team:

Onix (M), Graveler (M), Zubat (M), Sandshrew (M)