Working Sinnoh With Skill(Old) - Chapter 3 (Patreon)

The next morning Ash served breakfast to Dawn and the Pokemon at their campsite, Dawn was sitting looking through her Pokedex on potential moves for her Pokemon as Ash filled her bowl and then went on to fill the bowls for the Pokemon.

Pikachu, Cyndaquil, Croconaw, Starly, Piplup, Aipom and Buneary all ate happily as Ash squatted down on his haunches in front of his two newest Pokemon, whom were looking hesitant to eat. Ash figured out the reasons easily enough, Chimchar was used to harsh treatment from Paul and so was rather confused abut how easy going Ash was, and Turtwig was new.

Larvitar wouldn’t be getting out of his Pokeball for roughly another week or two, the small green powerhouse was going through it’s hibernation period, something that, thanks to talking to his old friend Richie, he was able to find out meant that Larvitar was getting ready to evolve.

Ash raised his eyebrow as he reached equal height with his newest Pokemon, “So what’s up?” He asked.

Both Pokemon seemed stupefied by his behaviour, something Ash took notice of when he saw there bewildered expressions, and so gave them both an easy laugh as he reached down and gently rubbed both of their heads, “No need to be so confused, you guys are my Pokemon now, which means we’re family now, and as family it’s my job to make sure your guys lives are content and happy.” He explained.

He got two different reactions to his heartfelt words; Chimchar’s eyes got watery and tears started to leak from the small fire chimps eyes and Turtwig… launched himself straight at Ash, biting down hard on his head with an eyesmile.

Ash yelped in a bit of surprised pain as he fell into a sitting position, “Gah!” But other than that the only reaction he gave was a small smile as he reached up and rubbed softly on the side of Turtwig’s large head. The bite didn’t really hurt all that much, after all his years of travelling he’d developed quite a pain threshold, he’d had to, what with the constant electrifying from Pikachu, scorching from Charizard, crushing hugs from Muk, beatings from Primeape and Body Slams from Bayleef.

After a few moments of allowing Turtwig to affectionaly nibble on his head, Ash gently reached up and pulled him off before setting him down beside Chimchar at their bowls of food and standing up, “Right, I’m gonna get my breakfast now, if you guys need or want a refill feel free to bring your bowls over, there’s plenty more.” He told them, getting an eager nod from Turtwig and a still hesitant one from Chimchar, who was probably still reeling from Ash’s treatment of his Pokemon compared to Paul. Once he was sure they both understood him he turned and walked over to the portable table he’d set up outside both his and Dawn’s tents.

“Hey Ash?” Dawn questioned as he sat down, peering at him with an excited smile on her pretty face over her pink Pokedex.

“Yeah?” Ash replied as he bit down on a bit of bacon before chewing and swallowing it as she spoke.

“Do you think that you could help me teach Piplup Hydro Pump?” She asked eagerly, literally bouncing up and down in her chair.

Ash raised an eyebrow before a small smile crossed his face, “Hydro Pump is one of the most powerful water type attacks behind the most powerful – that being Hydro Cannon – and yes I could probably teach Piplup Hydro Pump, but sorry to say Dawn he just isn’t ready for that kind of fire power yet. He’s just a bit too young and inexperienced, wait a few weeks, maybe a month and by then he’ll probably have grown enough to learn it, that or if he evolves into a Prinplup, either way he would be better off in the long run if you waited a bit. After all, there’s a reason it’s usually fully evolved Pokemon who use Hydro Pump; the amount of energy and power it takes is staggering.” He explained to the bluenette.

Dawn sighed in disappointment, “Aww, I was really hoping he’d be able to learn it by the time we participated in the Jubilife contest.” She told him with a small pout on her face, making her look all the cuter to Ash.

Ash laughed, “Don’t worry, while Hydro Pump is a great finisher move there’s a great many attacks that don’t require as much power and experience that can work just as well in the right circumstance. Brine, for instance, a move that’s basically a weaker version of Hydro Pump but can equal it’s power if your Pokemon gets more and more into a battle, or even a none damage attack like Mist; you could use a Mist attack to cover the entire battle arena and have Piplup use a stealth attack from different angles, disorienting and confusing the opponent, so much so that they may not even be able to come up with a counter before you finish them.” Ash lectured.

“Wow…” Dawn breathed out in reply, “You sure do know a lot about how to use attacks to your advantage in battling Ash.”

Ash rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, “Well, I’ve seen a lot of attacks used in a variety of ways, and you really need know how to counter moves like those in the Pokemon League, or else you won’t last very long. Like a while back I battled a gym leaders Scyther with Cyndaquil who used Swords Dance, a non-defensive or attacking move, to completely repel fire type attacks, effectively defeating a bug Pokemon like Scyther’s greatest weakness.” He explained.

Dawn literally had stars in her eyes, “That sounds amazing, do you think I could develop a defense for Piplup against electric attacks?” She asked excitedly.

Ash gave a small laugh before he replied, “I’ve actually been working on an idea that might work with Piplup, I’ll tell you about it when I’ve ironed out all the details.” Ash replied easily.

Dawn pouted cutely again, drawing Ash’s eyes briefly to her lips, shining slightly in the sun thanks to her lip gloss, “Fine…” She relented dejectedly, “What moves do you think I should start Piplup on learning?” She asked a moment later.

Ash tore his eyes from her soft looking pink lips as he let a thoughtful frown appear on his face for a moment. A few seconds later he replied as another small smile replaced the frown, “For now, I want you to work with Piplup to learn Mist, the Pokedex explains learning that move pretty well; it isn’t that complicated a move and you should start him on gathering more and more energy into his beak when using Peck to lengthen it.” Ash answered her.

Dawn nodded eagerly, before a confused frown encompassed her face, “I get the Mist attack, but why do you want Piplup to lengthen his beak when using Peck?” She asked confusedly.

Ash gave her a secretive smirk, “When he’s got it down and mastered I’ll tell you.” He answered mysteriously.

Dawn sighed, but relented nonetheless; Ash had never let her down before, even if they’d only been travelling together for four days, but still she felt like she could trust the slightly older black haired boy with her life. He was, after all, sort of like her very own mentor when it came to Pokemon and she knew it was a teacher and mentor’s job to make sure their students didn’t get too far ahead of themselves. So, for now, she would relent and allow Ash to answer her questions when she got the move with Piplup down pat.

Ash opened his mouth and was about to say something else to his pretty female travelling companion when a harsh and almost angry sounding voice interrupted him, “I see you’ve taken in that pathetic old Chimchar of mine and got yourself a new Turtwig as well. Chimchar’s still a weakling and that Turtwig hardly looks like anything worth catching in a Pokeball.”

Ash had travelled for a while now and had met a lot of people like the boy behind him, so he let an easy going smile spread across his face as he turned in his chair to look over his shoulder at Paul, “Hey there Paul, nice to see you too, but I’d like to think that any Pokemon can be strong given the right Trainer seeing as how you had Chimchar for months and I still beat you with a very young Starly who I’d just caught a few hours earlier.” Ash replied, his easy going smile turning into a grin when he saw Paul clench his teeth at his rather poorly hidden insult.

Paul growled audibly, “That was luck, I’m twice the trainer you’ll ever be and I’m ready to prove it here and now, loser.” He bit back scathingly.

Ash wasn’t fazed in the lightest, Gary’s mocking and cutting insults back when he just started his journey and was unsure of his skill as a trainer stung much worse than some angry teen’s he hardly knew ever could.

Ash just laughed lightly as he stood up, cracking his neck slightly as he did and turned to face Paul, “Sure, I’m game, heck let’s have a double battle and I’ll even give you an advantage by picking my two Pokemon first.” Ash replied as an almost feral grin stretched across his face, “And I think I’ll beat you with Chimchar and Turtwig.” He continued, his hidden insult hitting home when he saw Paul flinch and grind his teeth.

Ash ignored Paul for the moment as he turned to his two newest Pokemon, Turtwig had ran over to him and jumped in front of him excitedly. Obviously the small Pokemon was determined to prove himself to Ash as a way of thanking him for saving him and taking him in.

Chimchar though was where the problem lay, the small fire chimp had flinched away when Paul turned his murderous glare on him and was literally almost shaking in fear from his old trainer, Ash sighed and gave a slight glare at Paul over his shoulder before walking over and crouching down in front of Chimchar, giving him a reassuring and affectionate rub on the head, “Hey, don’t worry about Paul, whatever he put you through I won’t let him do it again, all you have to worry about is his Pokemon, if Paul tries anything I’ll kick his ass myself.” Ash soothed his newest Fire Type reassuringly

Dawn, who was the closest to him thanks to her chair being just behind him, heard him and snorted into her hand, trying to smother her laughter, Paul just outright ignored her, settling for glaring at Ash.

Dawn took a look at Paul discreetly before allowing her gaze to settle on Ash. Paul certainly didn’t look like a pushover and would probably be able to fight pretty well, but with his ranger jacket on Dawn could see the hard muscles that Ash had gained from years of travelling. Not to mention from what he’d told her he was no stranger to life threatening situations. Heck, considering all the fights he himself had been in she was still sort of concerned about how crazy he must be! She had no doubt in her mind he was telling the truth when he told her about how he’d picked a fist fight with a legendary and ancient Lucario! A Lucario that had gone down in history as one that was able to battle Legendaries on equal footing and come out on top; one that Ash himself admitted had taken on a Regice, Regirock and Registeel at the same time and kept pace with the three Legendaries easily.

So, no, Paul was no pushover, but she was fairly certain if it came down to it, Ash would kick his rude ass up and down the forest clearing they were in and probably have a good time doing it.

Ash, she’d noticed, had a kind of weird warped sense of humor. She couldn’t really blame him she supposed, he’d have to be at least a little crazy to partake in all of the events with Legendary Pokemon he’d told her about. That, and while he seemed oblivious to it mostly, he had a rather devil may care attitude when it came to danger to himself. He could shrug off the grandest of threats as long as they were aimed at him, it was only when those closest to him were threatened did he take it seriously.

Dawn was broken from her thoughts when Chimchar finally gave a small cheer and jumped onto Ash’s shoulder as he walked towards his side of the clearing, so she sat herself back to watch and hopefully pick up some hints to being a better trainer. She remembered exactly what Professor Rowan had told her before she left with Ash to start her journey.

(Flashback)

“Dawn.” Professor Rowan’s gruff voice interrupted her from watching the battle between Chimchar and Starly.

The blue haired girl turned towards the old man curiously. “Yes?” She asked.

“Dawn…” He started, “While Ash may be humble about it, the fact is that the man Ash defeated in that video earlier, Brandon, is a trainer with skill and Pokemon compatible with some of the higher tier level of Elite four Members. He’s quite famous for having challenged Cynthia herself at one point and almost defeating her, and that’s without his Legendary Pokemon.” He explained.

Dawn was puzzled about the way the conversation was going, and so questioned the old professor on it. “Yes, but why are you telling me this?” The bluenette asked confusedly.

Proffessor Rowan gave her a small smile as he answered with that rough and gruff voice of his again, “Like I said, your new friend is a humble one, but the fact of the matter is that if he can go toe to toe with trainers like Brandon in battle and come out the victor, then it means he would be quite capable of battling with any member of the Elite Four and coming out the victor, there is after all a video of him battling the strongest of the Kanto Elite Four, Agatha the ghost mistress before he started the battle frontier challenge, and his Pikachu almost defeated her strongest Pokemon, from what I saw of the battle, it was extremely close, Gengar came out of that battle barely standing and from what I saw of its battle with Regice, Pikachu has become all the stronger since that battle.” He explained.

Dawn turned back to watching Ash battle the very experienced purple haired trainer and was defeating him rather soundly with a Pokemon he’d just caught before he’d rescued her, and despite herself couldn’t quite help the awe she was feeling. “I can’t believe I’m going to be travelling and learning from a Trainer who is as strong as the Elite Four…” She breathed out, her voice low and sounding almost breathless as she stared at Ash’s boyish face and felt her cheeks flare with warmth and turn a red hue.

Something Professor Rowan picked up on as he laughed deeply in amusement, embarrassing the much younger girl.

(FlashBack End)

Suffice to say, Dawn was very much aware of what Professor Rowan was hinting at, Ash was still very young despite having journeyed for almost 4 years in total, but he was already nearing that pinnacle of strength that almost every trainer aspired to have, yet very few ever attained, travelling alone with him on her journey and having him mentor her, meant that there was much she could learn, and Ash had proved it with just how much he knew about Pokemon attacks and how he was able to defeat Chimchar with a Starly that had no experience in battle whatsoever and knew very few attacks, but it mattered little in the end because Ash knew just how to use his Pokemon in the most effective and rewarding ways.

Yes, Dawn was sure that if she even gained a quarter of the skill Ash had from learning under him she would go very far in the Contest circuit. Sure Ash had told her that after a while she’d have to come up with her own performances if she wanted to get far in the world of Pokemon, but that didn’t mean Ash couldn’t help her out and point her in the right direction.

Dawn leaned forward with a critical eye as she prepared to watch the battle closely.

Ash grinned at Paul as he reached his own side of the clearing – letting Chimchar jump down beside Turtwig, his partner for the battle, the small Grass Type giving Chimchar an eye smile, which the Fire Type hesitantly but genuinely when he made it to his side – crossing his arms Ash looked directly into Paul’s eyes, grin still in place. “Well are you ready? I’d really like to get back to my breakfast before it gets cold.” He said, his tone almost taunting.

Paul growled, doing what Ash wanted him to, allowing his anger to get the better of him as he grabbed two Pokeballs, roughly throwing them into the air and releasing his Pokemon, “Torterra! Magmar! Stand by for battle!” He shouted harshly.

In a flash of light, two Pokemon appeared in front of Paul, one was a large turtle-like four legged dinosaur looking Pokemon, it possessed a giant, flat-looking shell, on the shell rested a single, oak shaped tree and three triangular, gray-colored stony extensions resembling mountain peaks, The upper portions of it’s body and its lower jaw were green, and they bore two large spikes, like the ones on it’s shell that jutted out of the sides of it’s head making it look somewhat like an Ankylosaurus. It’s eyes were intimidating, encircled by a black ring the small red pupils gleamed. It’s mouth jagged and at the end of it’s snout was a dark brown beak, giving it the appearance of a snapping turtle. It’s thick, tree trunk legs were massive and powerful in order to hold up it’s enormous, heavy body. It bore four toes on each of it’s legs, which appeared as if they were actually jagged stones, with three in the front and one on the heel.

Ash grinned when he saw it, “Wow, so that’s Turtwig’s fully evolved form, it looks powerful.” He commented rather excitedly, his two Pokemon looked at him a little fearful of the massive Pokemon, but seeing the excited smile on Ash’s face reassured both of them that they were not in as much danger as they believed.

The other Pokemon had Dawn’s attention though, she’d already seen a Torterra and heard about them being a Sinnoh native, after all, but she lifted her pink Pokedex and scanned the Magmar for it’s information. “Magmar, the Spitfire Pokémon. Its body is like a furnace, making Magmar a living inferno. It has been discovered only near active volcanoes.” The Pokedex explained in an almost robotic female voice.

Dawn whistled lowly, “Color me impressed, a living inferno? It’s got to pack quite a bit of fire power if that’s how they’re described and a guy like Paul would only settle for the best one he could find.” She muttered to herself, although she was still confident Ash was going to win.

Magmar was a tailed, bipedal Pokémon with a red body that had a yellow flame design on it. It had a yellow tail that had a flame on the tip. Magmar had yellow thighs, and red feet with two toes each. It’s arms were covered in red, rigid scales and it had red hands with five fingers. It had black, metal shackles on its neck and legs as well as a row of red spikes running down its back, two lumps on its forehead with a flame on top of each one and a yellow beak.

Ash stretched his neck slightly as his mind began to enter ‘Battle Mode’, it was something that had happened to him for as long as he could remember; his mind just focused in on almost every minute detail during a battle, as if while he was battling he could almost see the tide of the battle itself, it was the only reason for his success during his younger years when he – he admitted ruefully to himself – was a complete and utter moron.

He’d actually found out the reason for it from an unlikely source, his meeting with Lucario left him with some rather good memories, so much so that he hoped to one day have his very own Lucario just like the one he knew that sacrificed himself to save him his friends and the tree of beginning.

Lucario had told him that he was one of the rare few that had a strong aura and had the ability to harness the power from inside himself – Lucario had also told him he had an unnaturally strong aura just like sir Aaron – Aura was first and foremost attuned to combat and protecting the user, so sub-consciously Ash had been using his Aura to focus his mind on battling and helping him spot out minute details in the area for as long as he’d been a Trainer.

He didn’t really need it all that much anymore, he’d been using it so long that the effect was almost second nature to him even without using his aura, but he’d been told by Brock a few times that his eyes sometimes seemed to shine a clear silvery blue when he battled, he didn’t find out until his talk with Lucario though that Brock had meant it literally.

Ash grinned, “Well, Paul I’ll be a gentleman here and allow you the first move.” He said, almost mockingly.

Paul growled, the tips of his ears turning red as he finally snapped in anger, “Magmar Flamethrower! Torterra Stone Edge now! Show these weaklings our power!” The purple haired Trainer almost literally roared.

Magmar opened it’s beak and unleashed a searing torrent of orange-yellow flames that spread across the clearing towards Turtwig and Chimchar as Torterra stomped on the ground, giving a loud growl as rocks broke apart from the ground and glowed a deep white before speeding across towards Ash’s Pokemon beside the Flamethrower from Magmar.

Ash grinned as he flicked a lock of hair from the side of his face, “Chimchar Dig! Turtwig follow him under.” He ordered, his voice eerily calm.

Chimchar gave a cry of, “Char!” In understanding before the fire chimp launching a few feet from the ground and dived straight down, creating a hole through the ground as he dug through, Turtwig jumping in and following barely a second later.

Both powerful fire and rock type attacks sped over the hole, missing completely and passing harmlessly into the forest where a small explosion was heard when they impacted something.

Paul growled at the dodging tactic, “Torterra show them they can’t run, use Earthquake!” He ordered harshly.

Ash didn’t lose his grin though as he countered, “Chimchar come up now and straight into the air, Turtwig you too!” He called out.

As Torterra lifted it’s powerful legs up and slammed them down harshly on the ground, creating an earthquake through the clearing, Chimchar and Turtwig burst from the ground halfway to towards both of Paul’s Pokemon, and soared out of the hole a few feet above the ground, completely avoiding the earthquake as they hung in mid-air for a few moments thanks to their jump.

The same couldn’t be said for Magmar though, who was forced to the ground receiving quite a bit of damage from the extremely powerful Ground Type attack, with the power behind the attack thanks to how strong Torterra was, and with how weak a fire type like Magmar was to a Ground Type attack like Earthquake, it was easy to tell Paul’s Fire Type had taken quite a bit of damage. Luckily for the angry purplette, the Fire Type was able to shakily pull itself to it’s feet.

“Pathetic! How could you not dodge that?” He growled angrily at his Pokemon.

Ash interrupted him however, “It isn’t Magmars fault you’re too blind to notice these kinda things, it’s just because you aren’t as good a Trainer as you thought you were.” Ash shouted over at him, his tone once again almost mocking, “And guess what?” He asked.

Paul growled audibly, “What?” He demanded harshly.

Ash grinned cheekily, “You left yourself wide open! Chimchar, Flame Wheel on Torterra now!” He called out.

Chimchar obeyed and in an instant had jumped and rolled himself into a massive flaming wheel and roared across the clearing, reaching Torterra in seconds.

Paul’s eyes widened and he focused on protecting Torterra from damage, “Torterra, Hyper Beam!” He called out quickly, a hint of desperation in his voice.

Ash grinned, “Perfect, Chimchar bounce over it and come down on top of Torterra!” Ash called out before shifting his attention elsewhere, “Turtwig now!” He ordered calmly.

Torterra opened it’s mouth and launched a devastating orange beam of power straight at the flaming wheel that was Chimchar, but as the beam was about to make contact, the flaming wheel hopped up once and then bounced from the forest floor straight into the air, coming down hard on top of Torterra’s back, who roared in agony from the Super Effective attack, unable to counter thanks to having to recharge from using Hyper Beam.

But what surprised Paul even more was when Chimchar, still in flaming wheel form, jumped from behind it in his wake revealing Turtwig speeding across the battlefield, a golden glow rocketing from behind it and making the small shelled Grass Type all the faster.

“No! Magmar move!” He called out desperately when he saw Turtwig’s target, but it was all in vain; the living inferno Pokemon was still trying to maintain it’s balance on shaky legs from the damage it received from Torterra’s Earthquake attack, something that even he couldn’t fault the Pokemon for, he’d seen many Pokemon that were not weak to the attack fail to stand up after one blow from Torterra and even he knew he was being irrational when she asked Magmar to dodge when he’d given his Pokemon no prior warning, something that was his job as a Trainer

“Mar!” Magmar cried out as Turtwig impacted savagely against it’s stomach and launched it soaring across the clearing, smashing against a tree and literally almost bending it’s back around the large piece of bark, causing Paul to wince as it almost looked like it’s spine was ready to snap.

And just like that Magmar fell to the ground unmoving and unable to continue.

Paul sighed slightly, he was caught between a rock and a hard place and he knew that, looking between his Pokemon, Magmar who was injured all over and unable to continue and Torterra who was being repeatedly burned over by Chimchar’s powerful flames with Turtwig running over to without a doubt add even more pain to his starter Pokemon’s already harsh plight.

Despite his harsh attitude, Paul did care about his Pokemon, the weak ones wouldn’t survive his Trainer and thus he let them go, but even he had to admit he cared about his Pokemon even if it was only the strong ones who proved themselves to him by surviving his training.

And right now, seeing his starter take on such excruciating pain – confirmed by Torterra’s agonising screams and roars – and still not backing down because of the pact they made together before they even started their journey, it touched him a bit-not like he’d ever admit it, but he reacted to the stimuli nonetheless.

Sighing in defeat he lifted his Pokeballs and returned Magmar in a beam of red light before calling over to Ash, “Cut it out, I give up okay!” He shouted, his tone solemn and defeated as he conceded his loss once again to the same Trainer who had now beaten him easily twice, for a reason he didn’t know. He’d never been schooled this easily in battles before, the answer was lurking just out of reach and he knew it.

Ash grinned, “All right Chimchar cut the power, both you and Turtwig win so go and enjoy the rest of your breakfast.” He called out to both his battling Pokemon.

Chimchar cut the power to his Flame Wheel and jumped off of Torterra’s back as Turtwig came to a stop beside the large continent Pokemon, both Pokemon eye smiling at each other and cheering as they rushed over to join the rest of Ash and Dawn’s Pokemon eating breakfast, to receive an almost standing ovations in cheers from the other Pokemon, obviously congratulating and praising them.

Ash watched as Paul returned Torterra and turned to walk away, his shoulders and posture slumped in defeat, he looked rather pitiable really and so he decided to be the nice guy people usually said he was and give him a point in the right direction.

“It has nothing to do with your Pokemon, they were both really powerful you know.” Ash called out to his retreating figure.

Paul stopped but did not turn around to acknowledge Ash’s comment, “The problem is you. Battling is 50-50 between the Trainer and Pokemon, if you can’t keep your head in a battle and let anger cloud your judgement, then how can you expect your Pokemon to battle without clear instructions or orders and come out winning?” The honorary Pokemon Ranger concluded, with that he turned and walked away back towards the table with Dawn to enjoy his breakfast.

Paul starting walking again, a small smirk coming across his face, “50-50 huh? For someone so carefree that is quite a good bit of advice…” He muttered to himself admiringly, if grudgingly at that, he had training to do.

Ash grinned his own grin to meet Dawn’s bright smile when he sat down and began eating his breakfast again, “So, what did you think?” He asked.

Ash could have sworn stars appeared in Dawn’s eyes, “That was awesome Ash, just the sheer size and power of those Pokemon actually had me questioning your judgement on using two new Pokemon like that to battle them but you dominated that battle so easily.” She gushed excitedly.

Ash laughed, “Larger Pokemon are more often than not slower than smaller ones and have a hard time hitting them, and it can be rather easy to exploit that weakness, especially with how Paul used his Pokemon just like I expected him to, going with large and powerful flashy moves like Hyper Beam, all I had to do was get under his skin with a few insults and the battle was easy.” He explained, “Like Drake of the Elite Four told me when he schooled me in a battle almost 2 years ago, flashy attacks like that with no finesse are no match for my experience.” He told her sagely.

Dawn laughed at the comment, “It sounds so arrogant, but it also sounds so like you, from every battle I’ve saw you in since I’ve met you, you haven’t used one largely power draining attack like Hyper Beam or Hydro Pump unless it was for a finisher.” She commented.

“You think?” Ash asked.

Dawn nodded, “Definitely.” She replied.

“Well then, how about I teach you how to deal with flashy and powerful attacks like that then, and how to use your opponents size to your advantage next when your Pokemon are working on mastering their attacks?” Ash asked.

Dawn smiled in response, it made her heart beat faster from the almost heart warming comment, he could be out travelling a lot faster and getting a lot more training in with his Pokemon to make sure he won the next League he competed in, but instead he took time out of his busy day to help and teach her.

There was just something about Ash that drew her in, it wasn’t just his good looks or his kindness alone, it was the full package and everything it came with.

She enjoyed all the touching they did when they were close, holding hands, leaning on his shoulder, him carrying her on his back and the few hugs that they’d affectionately shared.

The way his smile caused her face to blush beet red and his voice made her heart thunder beneath her breast.

Dawn could say without a doubt she had a large crush on Ash Ketchum and for the life of her she couldn’t care less, she just enjoyed being near him so damn much.

It didn’t help that he was so dependable and strong, where as her male friends before she started her journey left a lot to be desired, like Kenny; skinny wimpy and annoying Kenny, he had nothing on Ash.

A few hours later, both Ash and Dawn were walking through the Bewilder Forest, a forest reputed for it’s large population of Stantler that enjoyed pranking travellers by hypnotising them with their horns.

Thankfully, the Stantler in the wide were pretty weak Pokemon by nature, so having Pikachu walk beside them and spark his cheeks threateningly if any Stantler neared scared them off, sending them running back into the forest foliage before any issues could come up.

Ash’s hand gripped Dawn’s smaller more dainty and feminine hand lightly as he lead her through the forest, he would rather not be stuck in a forest like the Bewilder Forest for long, but for the most part he was just using it as an excuse to hold Dawn’s hand in his own, it was something that never really fazed him before with other girls he knew, but just touching Dawn and being close to her made him feel tingly and pleasant all over.

“So, a move like Rollout can be used it a variety of ways, for offence, defense an even gaining speed, it’s a prime move to teach a heavy Pokemon like Golem, but then there are ways to counter it such as freezing the ground over, digging trenches or holes in the area to slow it’s momentum or you could ev-” Ash was cut off from his explanation of the mechanics behind the Rock Type Pokemon attack by a loud guttural roar from a few metres in front of them as a large Ursaring burst from the foliage of the forest.

Ursaring was a large brown bipedal grizzly bear like Pokemon with a large yellow circle image over it’s brown fur, right in the middle of it’s stomach.

The Ursaring growled at them threateningly and rushed at them, it’s arm cocked back and glowing white with power – a Hammer Arm attack Ash noted – causing Dawn to flinch back in fear, having not dealt with this kind of situation before like Ash had, her pink boot covered foot stumbling over a small rock behind her and causing her to tug her hand out of Ash’s and tumble to the grass covered ground.

“Pikachu deal with it.” Ash ordered, not even bothering to watch as Pikachu launched forward in a powerful Volt Tackle and sent the large bear Pokemon soaring a few metres away. Ash was too busy turning to help Dawn, but when he turned his mind went blank at the sight before him.

Dawn had turned when she tried to flee and toppled over, ending up face first in the ground, but that wasn’t what caught his attention. No, what caught his attention was the fact that her deliciously round rear end was raised in the air, her tiny pink skirt having ridden up to her waist, showing that her luscious ass was framed perfectly by a pair of black lace panties.

Ash could already feel the small amount of blood running from his nostril, “Is that… Black lace?” He said to himself quietly.

Not quietly enough though, as Dawn heard him and sprung to her feet with an embarrassed, “Kyah!” A furious blush on her face and a crazed look in her eye as she pulled all three of her filled Pokeballs out, completely ignoring Ash for the moment as she stomped over between Pikachu, who was perfectly fine, and the Ursaring, which was standing on shaky legs from the beating Pikachu had been giving it.

“You stupid overgrown stuffed teddy!” She roared as he launched her Pokeballs into the air and releasing all three of her Pokemon, “Piplup Bubble-Beam! Aipom Swift! Buneary Ice Beam!” She roared angrily.

Ash backed away a few steps, slightly scared what she’d do to him if she caught him in her line of sight.

Ursaring only had time for it’s eyes to widen in fear before all three attacks engulfed it in a large explosion.

When the smoke cleared, Ursaring was face down on the ground completely unconscious and covered in bruises and singe marks.

Dawn breathed heavily as returned her three Pokemon, her rage leaving her and mortification quickly covering her face.

Ash discreetly wiped the blood that had run from his nose as he stepped up beside her, allowing Pikachu to discreetly sneak back inside his backpack, “You know, you should catch it, Ursaring are generally pretty powerful Pokemon. Don’t let it’s show against Pikachu discourage you, Pikachu’s a veteran battler.” He stated casually.

Dawn, seeing how casual and nonchalant Ash was being, quickly forgot about her previous anger when his words finally filtered through her brain and a giddy smile came over her face, “Right!” She cheered as she pulled out a Pokeball from her bag and launched it, “Go Pokeball!” She shouted as the Pokeball hit home on Ursaring and absorbed the Pokemon inside in a beam of red energy, shaking three times quickly before giving a soft ‘ding’ and calming down as Ursaring was captured.

As Dawn excitedly ran up to her new Pokemon’s Pokeball and picked it up, Ash walked up behind her so she could hear his next comment without him shouting, “You should check it’s moves out in your Pokedex to see what it knows.” He said.

Dawn excitedly pulled her pink Pokedex out and held it up to her new Pokemon’s Pokeball before hitting the scan button, “Ursaring, the Hibernator Pokémon. An excellent tree climber, it snaps trees with its front legs, and eat the fallen fruit. This Ursaring is Male and has the Ability Guts. Currently, this Ursaring knows the attacks; Hyper Beam, Hammer Arm, Focus Blast, Bulk Up and Slash.” The female monotone voice of Dawn’s pink Pokedex commented.

Ash whistled, impressed. “Wow, that’s a pretty damn high level Ursaring, you have a Pokemon that tough and you’re only four days into your journey, that should definitely be a confidence booster.” Ash stated.

Dawn nodded eagerly before a melancholy smile came over her face, “Yea but I used three Pokemon to beat it and that was after your Pikachu gave it a beating as well, isn’t that kind of… cheating…?” She inquired uncertainly.

Ash snorted in amusement, “For wild Pokemon there’s no rules when it comes to battling. You didn’t use any under handed tactics, only a team strategy to defeat Ursaring, so yeah he’s yours fair and square.” Ash replied, soothing her worries.

That was all it took before Dawn grabbed Ash by the shoulders and drew him into a tight hug, “Oh Arceus I can’t believe I caught such a strong looking Pokemon, I feel so exhilarated right now! Like I could take on Cynthia and win!” She chattered excitedly before pulling from Ash’s embrace and dragging him into a giddy dance around the clearing.

Ash laughed and let himself be pulled along, the contact with Dawn made him enjoy it all the more, although his mind was near enough warring with itself because of all his thoughts raging and focusing on the image of Dawn’s sexy round ass only covered by a pair of skimpy black lace panties, one of the sexiest things he’d ever seen in his entire life.

                                                                             _____________

Later that evening as Dawn slept, a rather sad aura about her sleeping person he noted, Ash grabbed Ursaring’s Pokeball and with Pikachu on his shoulder, wearing nothing but a pair of blue shorts and a tight white muscle shirt – his bed wear – Ash ventured deeper into the forest beside where he and Dawn had set up their tents and camp for the night.

Ursaring, when he’d been allowed out of the Pokeball, had done something Ash was afraid was going to happen, what with Dawn being a new trainer and all and Ursaring being an experienced and powerful Pokemon, who was fully evolved at that.

Ursaring had refused to follow any of Dawn’s orders, choosing to ignore every command she gave and refused to accept her has his Trainer.

Ash wasn’t going to allow that to continue, not to someone he cared so much about, and not after the events with Charizard.

While he didn’t really like to admit it in fear of sounding like the old arrogant Gary, the indigo league – when he’d competed in it at least – was full of useless and weak Trainers, even Richie was rather weak, Ash had only been forced to use Charizard because his other Pokemon had been injured in a plot by Team Rocket at the time.

Ash was 90% certain that if Charizard had listened to him, he would have dominated the League and went on to win the whole shebang.

He wasn’t about to let Ursaring continue with it’s arrogant behaviour and cause the same or similar problems for Dawn.

It was time to show Ursaring that just because he was strong didn’t mean he anywhere close to being the Alpha Pokemon among the travelling party. Every single one of Ash’s Pokemon could take it on and win easily against it’s berserker style of battling. It had power, but what use was power without control or finesse?

He released Ursaring from it’s ball, not even giving the large bear Pokemon time to react before he gave Pikachu an order, “Iron Tail.” He commanded, his eyes almost dead looking and his voice incredibly cold.

Before Ursaring could even blink he was smacked in the face harshly by Pikachu’s extremely powerful Iron Tail attack, sending it tumbling to the ground with a loud cry of pain.

“I don’t want you jeopardizing Dawn’s chances in the Jubilife Contest, and unfortunately there isn’t enough time for her to ease you out of that attitude with her friendship and love for you, so we’re gonna have to beat the arrogance out of you and beat a heavy dose of humility into you.” Ash stated coldly, “Thunder-Bolt.” He commanded a second later

A split second later, no mercy at all from Pikachu, before Ursaring had even stood up, he was engulfed in a large electrical aura of power, electrocuting him severely and even burning him in a variety of different ways, smoke rising steadily from the powerful Normal Type’s body.

It would be two hours later when Ash finally finished treating Ursaring from the many wound given to it by Pikachu before he returned the Pokeball back to Dawn’s pack as he and Pikachu tiredly slouched into their own tent, exhausted.

They never saw Dawn poke her head into the tent a few minutes later smiling softly at Ash as she listened to him snore away in a deep sleep already, “I guess I can always count on you to look out for me Ash, you were never even going to tell me were you?” She commented.

Tiptoeing in softly, careful to not wake either sleeping Pokemon or trainer, Dawn bent down and gave him a soft kiss on the forehead before standing back up and looking at him once more before she turned to leave, “I don’t even really care that you saw me near enough naked from the waist down, I’m just glad you obviously liked what you saw.” She said to his sleeping form, an embarrassed but pleased blush on her face as she left the tent.

She never saw Pikachu’s eyes open slightly as he gave a lazy grin, “Like I said, my boy Ash is a chick magnet…” He boasted tiredly as he fist pumped with his small yellow paw before closing his eyes and settling down to go back to sleep.