The next day, Ash and his companions left Littleroot Town at the crack of dawn. After the chaos of the previous night and the intense events they'd all experienced, none of them were eager to linger in town. With the sun rising over the horizon, they packed up their things at the Pokémon Center and set off, heading towards Petalburg City once again.
After a full day of walking, the sun began to set, casting long shadows over the path as they made their way through the forest. The trio—Ash, May, and Ashly—decided to make camp in the woods for the night. Just like before, Ash quickly got to work setting up the tents and preparing dinner for everyone. However, there were two notable differences from the last time they camped.
The first difference was Ash's updated team. He had brought Bayleef and Bulbasaur with him, temporarily sending Wartortle back home. He asked his mother to contact Officer Jenny who was in charge of the Squirtle Squad so that Wartortle could celebrate his evolution with his old friends. The second difference was the new member of his family that he wanted to introduce to everyone else.
Once everything was ready, Ash gathered his Pokémon for their usual evening training session. Standing in front of them, he called for their attention. "Okay, guys!" he announced, clapping his hands to get everyone's focus. His Pokémon turned toward him, eager to hear what he had to say. "I'd like you all to meet Diancie, our new friend and family member, so treat her well."
His Pokémon roared or chirped in agreement, each one approaching Diancie and offering a warm greeting. Diancie, though still a little shy, greeted them back politely.
With the introductions between his Pokémon and Diancie complete, Ash called Ashly over. "Ashly, come here," he said, motioning to her. As she approached, he gestured toward Diancie. "Diancie, this is Ashly, my younger sister. And Ashly, this is Diancie, our newest family member."
"Hello, Diancie! Nice to meet you," Ashly greeted the Diamond Pokémon with a bright smile.
"Diancie..." Diancie responded softly, bowing her head shyly.
After their introduction, Ashly turned to her brother, curiosity clear in her eyes. "When did you catch her, brother?"
"Recently," Ash replied, flashing her a knowing look. It was one of those familiar glances that meant either, 'I'll tell you later,' or 'This isn't something to talk about right now.' Ashly understood the message and didn't press further.
May too noticed that look and gulped down the similar question she was going to ask after greeting Diancie. She understood that if Ashly didn't get any answers from Ash, there was no way for her, who had only met him a couple of days ago, to get any at all.
With the greetings out of the way, Ash handed Diancie to Ashly, entrusting his little sister to keep Diancie entertained while he focused on his training session with the others. Once that was settled, Ash turned to his Pokémon, ready to resume their training. "Alright, everyone," he said, "continue practicing what we worked on last time. Bayleef, Bulbasaur, and Ralts—you three, stay with me."
"Okay, Bayleef, to begin with, we're going to start by teaching you a bunch of Grass-Type moves," Ash said, stroking Bayleef's head. She leaned into his touch with a happy expression on her face. Internally, he sighed, knowing he had a lot of work to do on her. After checking her stats, Ash realized that for a pure Grass-Type Pokémon, his Bayleef only knew two grass-type moves: Razor Leaf and Vine Whip. That couldn't be considered good for a second-stage evolution like Bayleef. That's why, to expand Bayleef's arsenal, he had brought over his grass-type friend.
"Bulbasaur," Ash squatted down to meet his little friend's eyes. "I want you to help Bayleef to learn more grass-type moves. Will you help me with that?" he asked. Bulbasaur nodded his head. "Thank you, so please teach Bayleef all the grass-type moves you know. And while Bayleef is practicing her new moves, we're going to work on a new move for you," he said, and Bulbasaur's eyes lit up.
"The move that we will be working on today is called Grassy Terrain," Ash said. "To learn that move, you will have to try spreading your Grass Energy into the ground around you. You will have to keep doing that until you learn to spread it around the entire battlefield and maintain it for a substantial amount of time. So, do you think you can do it?" he asked. Bulbasaur eagerly nodded his head.
Then he left both grass types to practice their moves and focused his attention on Ralts, who had been watching patiently. "Okay, Ralts, it's your turn," Ash said, kneeling down to her level. "We'll work on your physical strength later, but right now, I want to focus on improving your Teleport move."
Ash knew firsthand how crucial Teleport could be in battle. The day before, when the ruins had started to collapse, he'd briefly considered using Ralts to Teleport them out of danger. However, he had quickly dismissed the idea, realizing that Ralts was still too unconfident and untrained to use such a high-stakes move under pressure. Now, in a safe environment, it was time to build her skill.
"Okay, Ralts, can you show me your Teleport?" Ash asked.
Ralts nodded and, with a small shimmer of Psychic Energy, vanished from where she was standing and reappeared about a meter away to her right. She turned to Ash, tilting her head as if to ask how she had done.
Ash just sighed and patted her head, knowing that he had a lot of work ahead of him.
******
Around noon the next day, Ash and company finally arrived in Petalburg City. As soon as they reached the city, May quickly parted ways with the Ketchum siblings, mentioning she had some things to take care of. Ash, knowing what was going on, didn't question her sudden behavior. He knew why May had become self-conscious, but Ashly, who was unaware, found May's actions odd.
"May's acting weird all of a sudden," Ashly commented, glancing at her brother.
"Don't worry about it," Ash replied casually. "We'll see her soon enough."
Then after discussing for a few minutes Ash and Ashly decided to explore the city first before visiting the Gym so Ash released Diancie from her Pokeball, to show her what modern-day cities looked like.
After a brief discussion, the siblings decided to explore the city before heading to the Gym. Ash released Diancie from her Pokéball, wanting to show her the modern world and give her a chance to adjust to life outside the ruins. The city was bustling with people, and Diancie, though curious, appeared overwhelmed by the crowds and the sheer unfamiliarity of everything around her. The constant attention her unique appearance attracted didn't help either.
Sensing her unease, Ash gently took Diancie's hand. "Don't worry," he said softly, trying to comfort her. The gesture helped somewhat, but Diancie still stayed close to Ash, her wide eyes darting around the city as she absorbed everything with a mixture of curiosity and nervousness.
After some time exploring Petalburg, they arrived at the Pokémon Center. Ash deposited his Pokémon that had trained with him the day before, giving them a chance to rest and recover. After taking a short break themselves, the siblings retrieved the Pokémon and left the Center, making their way toward the Petalburg Gym.
However, when they arrived there, Ash, who was expecting to see a dojo, was shocked as he laid his eyes on the building in front of him. Now to be fair, there was a dojo, but adjacent to it was a mid-sized stadium reminiscent of those used for rugby or baseball games in his last life.
And that wasn't all. The stadium was flanked by various screens displaying different activities. The first screen showed a schedule of battles, listing time slots with challengers' names displayed in front of them. The second set of screens played battle footage of Gym Leader Norman, showcasing his formidable Pokémon in action. Finally, a third set of screens, currently black, were likely reserved for live battles taking place in the Gym.
'Wow,' Ash thought, feeling both amazed and surprised by the commercialized spectacle before him. 'Looks like the Gym battle commercialization from Galar has started spreading to other regions.' With a small smile, Ash glanced around, noticing a ticket window at the entrance of the stadium. Shaking his head in awe, he entered the dojo.
Once inside, Ash approached the reception desk. "Hello," he greeted the woman sitting behind the counter. "I'd like to challenge the Petalburg Gym."
"Of course, sir," she replied with a smile. "Would you like to take the normal Gym Challenge or the Advanced Challenge?"
"What is an Advanced Challenge?" Ash asked, tilting his head. Even as a transmigrator, he was unfamiliar with the term.
"It's strange that you don't know about the Advanced Challenge," came a voice from behind. Turning around, Ash saw none other than Gym Leader Norman standing nearby. "If I may ask, where are you from, young man?"
"Hello, Gym Leader Norman," Ash greeted politely, introducing himself. "I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town in Kanto, and this is my sister, Ashly."
"Ah, that explains it," Norman nodded. "Kanto and Johto still follow the more traditional Gym formats, so it's no surprise you haven't heard of the Advanced Challenge."
Norman stepped closer, explaining further. "The Advanced Challenge is designed for experienced trainers who seek more difficulty than a standard Gym battle. In this format, both the challenger and Gym Leader use five Pokémon each. The main difference is that during the battle, there is a specific stipulation to make things more challenging. For my Gym, I'm allowed to use two Full Restores at any point in the battle."
"In addition," Norman continued, "both the challenger and Gym Leader are allowed to use Mega Evolution if they wish, though it's not mandatory," he finished his explanation.
"Is there any benefit to taking the Advanced Challenge, or is it just for bragging rights?" Ash asked.
"No, no, there's definitely more to this than bragging rights," Norman laughed. "If you managed to obtain 7 Advanced Gym Badges, you won't have to participate in any of the preliminary rounds of the Ever Grande Conference and you would get direct entry in the top 64. Obtain eight Advanced Gym Badges, and you walk into the top 32. And well, that does kind of give you bragging rights, I guess," he added with a laugh. "So challenger Ash, do you want to take the advanced challenge or are you sticking with the regular challenge?"
"I'm definitely going for the Advanced Challenge," Ash declared with confidence, "but not right now. I'll need to prepare a bit more first."
Ash knew that with his current Pokémon both on hand and the ones that were back at Oak's lab, he had a decent chance of winning this fight. But Ash didn't want to leave it to chance. He would rather take some time and plan around Norman's Slaking, who was already hard to deal with and would now be even more of a threat with two Full Restores. That's why he decided to challenge this gym later, possibly with a Fighting-Type or two in his pocket.
"Good decision, lad," Norman nodded approvingly. "You only get one shot at the Advanced Challenge per league cycle, so it's best not to waste it on an impulsive decision."
'When were you going to tell me that!?' Ash shouted internally, also feeling relieved that he didn't go ahead with the challenge.
Just then, a familiar voice called out, "Ash! Ashly!" Turning toward the sound, the siblings saw May walking out from the dojo. "Ash, did you finish your Gym challenge already?" she asked with a surprised look.
"Nope," Ash replied, shaking his head. "I'm going to take the Advanced Challenge, but I want to prepare first."
"Advanced Challenge!" May exclaimed, her eyes wide with surprise. "Wow, you really aim high, don't you?" she teased with a smirk.
"Wait, May, you know each other?" Norman asked, glancing at his daughter with an amused smirk.
"Dad, these are the siblings I told you and Mom about," May explained. "The ones who accompanied me here."
"Ah, I see," Norman said, turning back to Ash with a smile. "Thank you for looking after my daughter. And since you're here, why don't you stay for dinner? I'm sure you would love Caroline's cooking."
"It's all right, sir. We don't want to intrude," Ash politely declined.
"Nonsense! No need to be shy, lad," Norman laughed and patted Ash's shoulder. "Besides, it'll give us a chance to get to know the boy our daughter can't stop talking about."
"Dad!" May shouted, her face turning bright red as she began hitting Norman's shoulder.
Amused by the banter between father and daughter, Ash turned to Ashly, silently asking if she was okay with staying for dinner. Ashly just shrugged, leaving the decision to her brother.
"In that case, we'd be honored to stay for dinner," Ash said with a polite smile.
"Great!" Norman said enthusiastically. "Come on inside. I'm sure Caroline will be excited to meet you both." With that, Norman led them inside as the sun started setting on the horizon.
******
Meanwhile, in a cave hidden deep within the forest near Littleroot Town, two Team Magma grunts sat around a small campfire, hiding from the authorities and lamenting about their recent failure.
"Damn that boy!" the male grunt snarled, tearing open a protein bar wrapper with frustration. "If it weren't for him, we'd be back at the base by now!"
"Yeah," the female grunt added, angrily biting into her own protein bar. "He made Ms. Admin angry, and now we're paying the price for it."
"Yeah and after all of that he didn't even-" the male grunt was about to continue his rant when, out of nowhere, a purple, glowing spike shot into his side. He gasped, collapsing to the ground as pain surged through his body. Purple spots quickly appeared on his skin, the unmistakable signs of poison.
The female grunt jumped to her feet, shouting in surprise as she saw a Toxicroak standing over her fallen partner. "What the—?!" But before she could react, something large slithered around her body, coiling with lightning speed. She gasped as she found herself caught in the crushing grip of a Seviper.
"Quite careless, aren't you two?" a soft, eerie voice echoed through the cave.
A woman dressed entirely in black walked into the cave, her face obscured by a ghostly white mask. Only her sharp brown eyes were visible, glinting ominously through the narrow slits in the mask.
"Let's not waste time. I have a few questions, and it's in your best interest to answer them honestly," Ghost said sweetly, though there was a chilling edge to her voice. "Recently, there was an incident in Littleroot Town's Ruins, and I know for a fact that you two were there. So tell me what exactly happened there."
The female grunt glared at Ghost, despite her precarious situation. "Why should I tell you anything? I know who you are—IP's Dog! We've been warned about you. Even if we talk, you'll still throw us in prison, so what's the point?"
Ghost chuckled darkly. "Why should you tell me anything? That's a fair question. Let me show you the answer." With a casual flick of her wrist, she gestured toward her Toxicroak and Seviper.
Getting the message, Toxicroak's claw glowed purple as it lunged again, striking the male grunt. Already in excruciating pain, he let out a soul-crushing scream as the poison spread even faster than before. At the same time, Seviper's fangs began to glow a dark, menacing purple, hovering closer to the female grunt's neck.
"Here is your answer. If you don't start talking..." Ghost continued, her voice still eerily sweet, "your friend here will die a slow, painful death from the poison coursing through his body. And you? Seviper will make sure you feel every agonizing moment before you meet the same fate. So, what will it be?"
Fear washed over the female grunt's face as she realized that the woman in front of her wasn't playing around. Gritting her teeth, she finally gave in. "Fine! I'll tell you what happened!" she spat, though her voice was filled with bitterness.
She began recounting how she and her partner were stationed near the ruins outside Littleroot Town, tasked with observing any new developments and reporting back to their superior—Ms. Admin.
"And who is this Ms. Admin you keep referring to?" Ghost asked, her voice dripping with boredom.
"We… we don't know her real name," the grunt replied. "She told us we weren't 'important enough' to know it."
Ghost hummed, taking out a small photograph and holding it in front of the grunt's face. "Is this her?" she asked.
The grunt's eyes widened as she recognized the lilac-haired woman in the photo. "Yeah, that's her. That's Ms. Admin."
'It seems Intel was right. Courtney is active again... damn!' Ghost sighed. 'First Sabrina and now Courtney... my past seems hell-bent on coming back to haunt me,' she shook her head and gestured for a female grunt to continue.
The grunt continued, explaining how they had seen a boy wandering near the ruins and, he had managed to find and open a secret passage hidden within the ancient site. They had reported this to headquarters, and Courtney—who was nearby on another mission—had arrived personally to investigate.
"A boy opened the secret passage? Interesting..." Ghost murmured, tapping her foot in thought. "Tell me about this boy. What did he look like? His appearance or anything eye-catching about him?"
The grunt thought for a moment. "He was just some kid—nothing special. He was wearing regular clothes, but he had a red hat. The only thing that really stood out was his Pikachu. It wasn't in a Pokéball; it walked beside him. I remember seeing him earlier in town with the Pikachu riding on his shoulder."
As soon as the words left the grunt's mouth, the atmosphere in the cave shifted. The air grew cold, and the female grunt felt a shiver run down her spine as she noticed the terrifying intensity in Ghost's eyes. Her body froze as Ghost's brown eyes bore into her, gleaming with barely suppressed rage.
"Tell me what happened next," Ghost demanded, her voice now icy and sharp.
The grunt swallowed nervously and continued. She explained how they had followed the boy into the secret passage, eventually discovering him with a rare Pokémon. They tried to intimidate him, but the boy fought back, easily defeating her and her partner. Courtney had then ordered them to leave while she dealt with the boy herself.
"As soon as we reached the surface, the ground started shaking," the female grunt said. "It was Ms. Admin who had created that earthquake, to bury that brat," she said, not noticing how rage erupted in Ghost's eyes or how her fist clenched. "But unfortunately, that infuriating brat somehow managed to survive. If it weren't for his lucky stars, he surely would have been de-"
Before the grunt could finish her sentence, Ghost gestured towards her snake, and her Seviper struck, sinking its fangs into her shoulder. The female grunt screamed in agony as the venom spread through her body, turning her skin an unnatural shade of purple. Her body convulsed, then fell to the ground, unconscious.
"That's enough out of you," Ghost said coldly. She let out a deep breath, regaining her composure as she returned both Toxicroak and Seviper to their Pokéballs. Without another word, she turned and walked out of the cave.
Once outside, Ghost made a distinctive hand signal, and two figures clad in black appeared beside her, their attire identical to hers.
"Give the antidotes to those two inside," she instructed. "Then take them to the nearest prison. They didn't know much, but I have a new lead. Inform the chief that I'll be busy following up on it."
The two figures nodded silently before heading into the cave to carry out her orders. Ghost watched them go, waiting until they were out of sight. Then, making sure no one else was around, she reached up and removed her mask, revealing a familiar face beneath.
Her eyes were filled with frustration and anger as she rubbed her temples. "Damn it, Ash..." she muttered under her breath. "Do you have any idea what kind of mess you've gotten yourself into?"
To be continued...
******
Hey everyone! If you're enjoying the story so far, please consider leaving Stones & Comments for the chapters. Your involvement helps to increase the story's visibility. Thank you!