The group reached Violet City late at night and decided to just book rooms for themselves at the Pokemon centre. Casey had her own room, while Gou shared with Brock and Max went with Ash. He had been quiet every since they rescued the Phanphies from the poachers and that worried Casey. But Max assured her and went to get some sleep instead prompting the dark blue haired girl to look at Ash.
Ash, "I'll talk to him."
Casey, "Please, my cousin acted the same way before she went and started a fight with a complete stranger."
Gou winced, "Ah! I can see why you worry."
Brock, "If you want I can talk to him tomorrow morning as well. After he has rested."
Ash smiled, "Let's see how it goes tonight."
Max sighed as he laid on his bed with Shroomish looking at him, 'What a journey... '
Ash walked in, "Hey."
Max looked at him and mumbled, "Hi."
Ash sat on his bed, "Do you want to talk about it?"
Max, "Maybe, I don't know."
Ash, "It's okay to just rant too, I won't judge."
Max looked at Ash before looking at the ceiling and opening his mouth and closing it remembering the scared Phanphies. It made him feel very very upset. He was not the one who hurt them, he was not the one who stole them, he was not the monster and yet, and yet the Pokemon were looking at him like he is a monster sent to torture them. He got up and went to Ash burying his face in his stomach before he let out all his frustration.
Max, "It's not fair, I didn't hurt them but the way they looked at me. I feel like a monster not as someone who saved them."
Lucario ran a calming aura coated paw over Max's hair, -We know and they know as well. Trust me pup. It's not you they are scared of but rather what you are.-
Ash, "And they'll be terrified of humans for quite a while too. I hope Rochelle can deal with it. I have heard stories about how these situations can turn from a hopeful future to a nightmare."
Lucario, -You are talking about the Pokemon that Lt Surge told us about.-
Shroomish who was nuzzling Max looked up at Lucario, "Shroom?"
Lucario, -I'll explain later.-
Ash meanwhile nodded, "Yeah, hey Max, you know what you need is a pick me up."
Max looked up, "Huh?"
Ash smiled, "East of Violet City is a City called Florando. It's a neighbouring City known for it's Pokemon dance theatres and exhibition, an outdoor festival. I'm not gonna challenge Faulkner right away, I need to train, as the Pokemon I have are just starting to actually battle."
Max, "What are you trying to say?"
Ash, "I'm saying Florando is only two hours away from Violet City, so after training and breakfast tomorrow, let's visit that place and have fun. Oh, and I'm gonna help you and Shroomish train so cheer up ok?"
Max's eyes widened, "Really?"
Ash nodded, "Yep now go wash up and get to bed. We are waking up early tomorrow to train before heading out to have fun."
Eevee yipped, "Vui."
Abra, -Let's hav fun.-
Lucario, -You are getting better at using psychic. Save your strength for tomorrow though.-
Gengar, "Geng gengar."
Phantump, "Phaaaa."
Lapras who was outside was already asleep and so were Tyrunt, Chimchar and Heracross on Ash's bed, at the feet and left side. Pikachu was sleeping by his pillow, the electric mouse had developed a habit of sleeping in places that would let him hear his trainer's pulse, according to Lucario. Apparently after Ash had told them about the other Og Ash, Pikachu had from time to time received memories of almost loosing Ash. He knew Ash was safe but it didn't stop the yellow mouse from becoming paranoid and sticking close to the young teen. A habit Ash sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair, when he had decided to tell them about his past, he had not expected his Pokemon to receive memories.
Ash, 'I can only hope, this does not backfire on me.'
The next morning Ash and Brock fell back to the routine they kept in Kanto and while Gou and Casey slept in, Ash woke Max and Shroomish up for training. Both Max and Shroomish had groaned at the early hours but perked up after remembering what they had been promised the previous night. They went to the back area of the Pokemon centre to train through mock battle while Ash explained some of the moves Shroomish could use but had not been able to yet. Ash took Max and Shroomish aside for training while Lucario and Pikachu took over the group training.
It took some time but Shroomish was able to increase her stamina and energy levels. She was a bit annoyed by the amount of time that was gonna take to become stronger but she refused to give up. On a positive note however, she was able to use giga drain, a new move for her at least, so she decided it was not all that bad. While she was training on increasing her stats, Ash was teaching Max the basic self defense, he explained sometimes they might end up separated from their Pokemon. If that happened they would have to depend on themselves for protection against who knows what and especially from humans, questionable humans. That sent a shiver down Max's spine and even though the basics were annoying he went through them.
Max grimaced as he did stretches to cool down, 'I already saw how terrible they could be.'
Ash watched Max and Shroomish train before he turned to his Pokemon and seeing they still had two hours before breakfast starts. He went through some one on one training with his Pokemon and they were all training except for Eevee, Abra and the Pokemon egg. They stayed in the training area till nine in the morning before heading to the mess area of the Pokemon centre. Casey and Gou were already sitting at one of the table waving at them to join them, there was a breakfast spread on the table. It ranged from fried egg rice, to sandwiches, to sweet egg rolls, stuffed omelette, fruit salad, milk, water and different types of poke feed.
Casey smiled, "You guys look like you had some good training done."
Max nodded, "Yeah, we talked last night and Ash offered to start my training and teach me some basic self defense."
Gou nodded, "That's good to hear. You never know when you need to protect yourself and you may be separated from your Pokemon."
Shroomish puffed up, "Shroo shroo shroomish."
Brock, "We are not saying you can't protect Max, we are just saying that it's always better to be safer than sorry."
Shroomish nodded reluctantly, "Shroom."
Ash, "I was thinking of heading towards Florando to watch the Pokemon exhibition there."
Brock, "Sounds like fun, I won't be able to join you though I have to help out here."
Casey, "Training."
Gou, "I'll join you, if you don't mind."
Max, "I don't mind."
Ash, "It'll be fun. And I think our Pokemon will enjoy it too. Maybe we'll get ideas for future training and moves."
Casey nodded, "Have fun, you guys, I am going to train, I plan on challenging Faulkner's A team well three of his strongest Pokemon anyway."
Brock, "You know where I will be."
Max, "Alright so we have our schedules and plans for today."
After breakfast was done, they cleaned up and returned most of their Pokemon except for Lucario, Pikachu, Eevee and Abra in Ash's case, Cinderace and Spinarak in Gou's and Shroomish in Max's case. Cinderace, Lucario and Shroomish were chatting about the previous battles they were in while Pikachu, Eevee and Abra were playing around. Gou had caught Spinarak while Ash and Max were training and the spider Pokemon was feeling a little shy to interact with the others.
Gou did not push him however and told him to take his time in getting to know the other Pokemon and humans in the group. Spinarak gave him a nuzzle as he watched the group infront of him, he had gotten to know the Galar native. Cinderace was very welcoming and kind, he was a little worried about getting to know the other Pokemon but the fire rabbit helped him mingle. Unlike the other spiders, he knew he had problems socializing with others and always shied away. Gou and Cinderace had noticed him hungry in the morning and invited him to join them for breakfast.
Spinarak remembers his previous cluster of Ariados and her human trainer. A very kind and honorable Officer of Catalia City. She took care of his mother and her cluster and made people look at them with less disgust. He knew how most people looked at Spider Pokemon like himself. Despite the coddling and protection from his cluster mom and her human trainer he was not ignorant. He knew how to gather information and understood exactly how they were seen by the rest of the world. So meeting Gou and Cinderace was a surprise to him and he chose to join him, to observe and see if they were different or like the others. Time will tell.
Ash, "We are in time look."
Max grinned, "Wao, they are decked out."
Shroomish, "Shroomish."
Gou, "It sure is festive."
Cinderace cooed, "Ace ace."
Lucario hummed, -After what happened yesterday, a little fun and relaxation is always welcome I say.-
One of the performers that went by Bailey started the program with her Bellossom group that performed a dance. Next was a pack of Growlithe who played with fire and performed tricks with their human. The performance occurred one after another when Ash noticed a familiar person in the crowd and pointed him out. Gou was surprised as well and Max looked curiously at him.
Ash, "Mandy, over here."
Mandy was surprised before looking at the group, "Ash, Gou and who's your young friend?"
Gou, "It really is you Mandy, this young trainer is Max. Ash is guiding him."
Max waved, "Hello, nice to meet you."
Mandy smiled, "Good to meet you too, kiddo."
Ash, "This is a nice surprise but what are you doing here."
Mandy smiled, "I'm actually here because of work. I suppose you are here to take part in the contest and the gym."
Gou, "Got it in one."
They watched the rest of the performances together and Mandy explained he was here to help some Pokemon he found. After some of the contest and exhibition was done Mandy took them to one of the popular restaurant in Florando City. They shared stories about what they were doing after the Conference was over and how Max joined them while the girls headed to Orange Archipelago. Mandy told them of his own work and adventures which included finding an abandoned Snubble and learning he was stolen. He was going to meet the authorities and trainer later on to be sure he had the right person.
Mandy, "I'm happy to hear you all are doing well."
Gou smiled, "We are.... Well we will be alright."
Max mumbled, "We knew what we were getting into. Although it's hard."
Ash, "Enough of the depressed talk let's enjoy the exhibition. We can't change what happened but we can be prepared for the future."
Mandy, "Cheers to that!"
Gou, "Cheers.. I wonder if they found out anything from the poachers."
Ash shrugged, "I hope they did."
Mandy, "Speaking of, please be careful. Jhoto region is currently more dangerous than Kanto, despite the calm you see right now."
After lunch the group went on to enjoy the exhibition till evening before separating and Mandy went to meet his client while Ash, Gou and Max returned to Violet City. The train rides were interesting on its own, it had first started as one Magnet train connecting Goldenrod City in Jhoto with Saffron City in Kanto. It had grown from there and spread throughout the many cities connecting them. It certainly cut travel time short in a large multi City complex like the one that was around Violet City. It was not that long ago that people had to travel more than a day to get from the main City to the smaller ones but ever since the train service was installed it had become easier. Magnet train was used to connect only the eight main gym cities located between Jhoto and Kanto. It was more of a luxury train now rather than a normal one. Ash shook his head from the information as he focused on some late evening training, things really were more developed here.