Ash looked around the City they entered, it was a mix between old Japan and modern city architecture. Casey was telling them about a famous junior Championship where pre trainers who have grass type Pokemon can take part. The prize was ten thousand poke dollars along with a leaf stone, grass gem and miracle seed. Breloom was interested and nudged Max to participate while they were in Ecruteak City.
But before all that they had to say farewell to Misty, Serena, Chloe and Melody who would be returning to Orange Islands. The next Pokemon contest would held soon and the girls could not miss it if they wanted to take part in the Orange Island Grand Festival. They said farewell to the girls as they boarded their plane to Trovitapolis where the next contest was taking place. Misty told Ash she would keep an eye out for his page launch and it would be a good challenge for her. Brock agreed with her saying he might challenge the Shadow Gyms too, in order to stay in shape.
Verity, "Well there they go."
Casey, "Come on this way, you can register at the Pokemon centre Max."
Max, "I can't wait."
Breloom, "Loom bre loom."
Sorrel, "They sure are excited. I suppose you plan on staying in Ecruteak City for a while?"
Ash, "Yup, till Casey has her Ace battle and I get my badge and Ace battle."
Phantump looked around, "Phaaaa... "
Ash, "Hmm? Oh yeah, the Gym Leader is a ghost type Master. So that's probably why you are sensing so many ghost Pokemon."
Gengar, "Geng geng gengar geng?"
Ash, "Yes, I be using Phantump to battle for the badge alongside Tyrantrum and Shuckle, his first gym. As for the Ace battles I was thinking of using Banette, Milotic and Lucario... Do you want to battle? It has been a while since you battled inside a gym."
Lucario paused and nodded, -Yes, I would love that.-
Ash, "Great... Ummm... Casey what are they doing there?"
Casey looked at the burned tower, "Oh the annual ghost hunt."
Gou, "Ghost hunt? Aren't they just Ghost Pokemon?"
Casey, "Nope! The ghost Pokemon are actually helping them search for ghosts."
Ash, "Ah! I suppose it's a popular activity although wouldn't it be more productive if they do it at night?"
Brock agreed, "Yeah."
Sorrel, "Well it will be dark soon."
Verity, "Are you ready for your battle, Max?"
Max, "Yes, Breloom and I are gonna do our best and battle."
Gou, "If you want help in training just ask okay Max, the competition is day after tomorrow."
Max grinned, "I will."
Ash, "Alright then, let's settle in for the night, tomorrow we are gonna spend the whole day training."
Verity, "Sounds good to me."
Sorrel, "I suppose we'll be staying here for around roughly four nights?"
Brock, "Looks that way.... Hey Ash, is your Venasaur here?"
Ash, "I'll ask."
Ash went to inquire his Pokemon's current location only to learn he was helping at Mt Quena where there was another poacher activity. Ash and Lucario looked at each other, the poacher problem in Jhoto was very high due to the region being three times larger in size compared to Kanto. In Kanto you could easily cover the region east to west and north to South in half a year or so, through Pokemon journey and avoiding conflicts. Jhoto however took up an entire year to cover by travelling and not to forget, the number of Cities in Jhoto.
Ash, "Making a travel blog for Jhoto might take time."
Lucario, -I'm sure Casey would be willing to help, it's not like we can't pay her back.-
Ash nodded, "Agreed, we can ask her help tonight, especially her favourite areas and add them to the blog details."
At that moment Ash's phone rang and he saw it was his mother calling him, Eevee, Absol and Abra climbed his lap. They wanted to answer as well, Ash clicked the video option and his mom was on screen greeting him from a hotel room. Ash half wondered if she was on a mission and Delia told him she was in Vermilion City. Ash nodded at that and simply told her to enjoy her time their, Delia grinned at that, Ash had caught on that she was on a mission.
Delia, "You should take your ghost Pokemon out with you tonight. I remember the Ghost Festival, that is one very special day for the Ghost types."
Ash felt something click inside his head, "Is this the Ghost King festival?"
Delia, "Welllll, to be completely honest, no, the true date of that festival was lost during the great war. The only things that people remember are traditions well some of the practices during such festival. Also the fact that it celebrates and honours the dead."
Ash, "Oh!"
Delia eyed him, "Did you find out something?"
Ash, "Umm... I just remembered a story I overheard one day about a Ghost King who was in love with a Prince."
Delia, "Really?"
Ash, "Yeah, it's just a short story that I heard but... It was very romantic. Love between a King and a Prince."
Delia, "You should tell us that story once you return home. How is your book coming?"
Ash, "It's going alright. I may have gone a little heavy on the corruption part. But I wanted to shake the readers a little. They are so used to the idea of magic being this awesome thing I wanted to show them anyone can misuse magic."
Delia's eyes gleamed, "I'm sure it will be wonderful. What about your horror series?"
Ash gave a grin, "I'm writing a book called, 'The Grudge'. I'm really fed up with the poachers and Gonzalez. I wanted an outlet for that frustration and that book is happening."
Delia gave an understanding look, "You have been nursing that grudge for a while, haven't you? Do you need anything?"
Ash, "I just want my friends to be safe, my friend circle is not mysterious or unknown. I fear that will be the ones getting hurt in my place."
Delia, "That is a fear we all have Ash. I am so sorry dear."
Ash, "Well, I will be insisting on more one on one training tomorrow."
Delia smiled at her son before telling him about her day, she had teamed up with one of Surge's students, Rebecca earlier. They had a lot of fun sight seeing (spying on Team Rocket), trying out new games (hacking into their systems) and may or may not have caused a bit of trouble (engaged with Team Rocket). Ash's eyes flickered with worry before it disappeared and he simply nodded and told his mother to have fun. Delia grinned and the two talked some more before a knock came and Max came into the room saying dinner was ready.
Ash, "Coming Max. Talk to you later mom. It's dinner time."
Delia, "Eat well dear, I will see if I can push Olivine City into my little tour and catch up with you in person."
Ash, "I would love that mom. I really miss your cooking a lot."
Delia, "Take care dear, take care of your Pokemon. Take care of my baby boy sweethearts."
Ash hugged his Pokemon who cooed at Delia, "Don't worry mama, we will."
Casey waved at him as he entered the cafeteria, "Hey Ash, over here."
Ash looked at the food, "That looks good."
Brock eyed him, "Everything okay with your mom?"
Ash nodded, "Everything is fine... Well she ran into a bit of trouble but she had a friend helping her."
Gou looked at him worried but didn't push the matter, "As long as she is okay, it should be fine right?"
Verity, "Your mom is pretty badass though, I saw her battle back in Greenfield. She is so awesome."
Sorrel, "Speaking of awesome ladies the Eevee sisters are performing the opening round for the Junior Championship. It will be interesting to watch."
Ash let the chatter wash over him as he relaxed and enjoyed the dinner. The next day Ash trained with his Pokemon before joining the others and training in self defense with them. Sorrel gave him a pleasant surprise, he was also training with his Gallade and had a good knowledge of self defense. Verity and Casey had a brawl like fight, both girls not backing down and grinning at each other at the end of the fight. Max was training with Breloom, who was very happy to make sure he could defend himself and Gou was training with Brock.
Gou panted as he sat up, "Phew! That was quite the work out."
Brock laughed, "Yeah, it certainly was."
Casey, "Ash is still going at it with his Pokemon."
Sorrel, "He claims it's nothing compared to what Jessilina and Jameson does."
Brock snorted, "Don't remind me. Those two are another brand of crazy."
Verity, "How crazy?"
Gou grinned, "Jessilina and Jameson would make their Pokemon attack them with their strongest elemental type attacks. Ritchie calls them the lunatic trainer couple because of the way they train with the Pokemon."
Verity, "Ummm Jessilina as in the five time Grand Festival winner Jessilina? Her?"
Brock, "Yup, that's the one. She's something else, isn't she?"
Gou, "Latest I heard, Jameson was dealing with Team Aqua who entered one of his private territory. One of their family mansions are located on an island that borders Kanto's region."
Verity frowned, "I hope they are alright... Is Jessilina with him as well?"
Brock, "No Jessilina is in Hoenn at the moment, she has a different mission."
Sorrel, "Never a boring time with you lot around huh?"
Brock, "Come on Ash! Time for lunch."
Ash, "Okay!"
Lucario, -I can't wait to battle in a gym again, it's been quiet a while.-
Abra sighed, -I want to battle too.-
Ash pat his head, "Three more months Abra and you will be ready to battle officially. Same to two of you, Eevee, Absol."
Eevee, "Vui!"
Absol, "Sol."
Gengar, "Geng geng gengar."
Banette, "Nette nette banette."
Phantump, "Phaaaaaa."
Ash grinned, "Banette is excited for his first Ace battle."
Verity, "I can see that."
Brock, "Come on everyone, let's eat."
The group settled down for lunch, Jameson on the other hand was dealing with Team Aqua who had come way too close to the Kanto Jhoto border. He was not at all amused by their presence there and was currently battling against them with the team Giovanni provided him as back up. He looked at the island his family had owned for almost six generations and gritted his teeth in fury. The beautiful island was home to many Pokemon and was one of the main training areas of the original Team Rocket.
Now it was a ravaged piece of land in the middle of the ocean because of their brutal battle. James called for his team to mega evolve their Gyaradoses and called to attack together using dragon rage. The blue haired man would never tell anyone but travelling with Ash was similar to travelling with a lucky charm. He came across quite an amount of mega evolution stones while going undercover and as luck would have it, they were all mega stones and keys for Gyaradoses.
James, "Come on boys and girls, let's show them who's boss around here."
A teen girl with red hair and green eyes, "Got it boss."
A teen boy with black hair and brown eyes, "We will not let them win."
A brown haired young man with brown eyes, "Let's go Gyarados. Show them who's the boss around here."
A girl with orange hair and pink eyes, "Let's do it together dragon rage."
Team Aqua cussed them out as they were forced to retreat from the island thanks to the hurricane the Gyaradoses had created. The admin from Team Aqua swore she would get back at Team Rocket for this mess up, they would find a way to get Lugia. The Aqua members left on their escape bogeys though James didn't cancel the hurricane. He hope the hurricane would determine others from entering their territory again.
The red head girl spoke, "Should we go after them?"
The orange haired stopped her, "Don't be crazy Coral. We still have to secure this place."
The black haired teen spoke, "Come on, Rose, we seriously can't just let them get away with this."
The brunette spoke up, "I don't know Eddy, we can't just leave our stations. What if they return when we aren't here?"
James, "Johnny is right! We have more important things to do. Coral, I want you to get to Shamoutii as soon as possible and warn them."
Coral, "Understood! I suppose I should be honest about Team Aqua?"
James nodded, "Correct! Johnny, Eddy, Rose, you three will come up with a patrol plan. I will ask for more Rangers to help us out."
Johnny, "Got it boss!"
Eddy, "You can count on us."
Rose, "We will protect this island and won't let Team Aqua steal our home."
The Gyaradoses behind them had become normal now and roared in agreement with their human partners. They were not at all amused or happy with the presence of the outsider Pokemon who trespassed in their territory. It really and truly angered them more when they attacked their humans, next time they would tear them apart.
[A. N.: Hope you all are doing well, my dear readers.
Take care of yourselves. My cat brought her three kittens upstairs today. They are very adorable.]