Ash woke up quite early in the day, 'Another day, another dollar.' he thought as he looked over and saw his Pokémon still sleeping. He started preparing breakfast for all of them, and after a bit, some of them began to stir. Once they woke up, he gave them their food. Then Ash moved over to the lake, pulling out his fishing rod and Pokédex.
While he started fishing for Water Pokémon, he had his team continue practicing and training. The birds were still working toward Steel Wing, but once they got that down, they would try to learn Tailwind.
Pikachu went back to training Electro ball, but if he got tired Double kick was the next best thing. Bellsprout focused on learning Wrap, which was easy enough; he just squeezed a rock. Oddish was working on a more valuable move, Leech Seed.
As time passed, Ash fished and released countless Magikarp, along with a few Poliwag, but nothing that really piqued his interest. As he continued fishing, a thought crossed his mind. 'I wonder if there's a way to keep more than six Pokémon at a time. If I remember correctly, Damian had like ten Pokémon at once, maybe more, I don't remember exactly.'
He decided to open his Pokédex and look through the options 'I wonder if there's a way to turn off the automatic teleportation feature. I'd probably need permission from Oak, but maybe since I got that upgrade, I can—'
Ash's train of thought was cut off by a strong tug on his fishing line. Whatever was pulling was definitely stronger than most of what he'd caught so far, though that wasn't saying much, since he'd mostly caught Magikarp.
He decided to think about it later and focused on pulling. As he heaved, something burst out of the water, it was a Poliwag.
This Poliwag was larger than average. Ash quickly scanned it with his Pokédex.
—-
[Poliwag (M):
Ability: Water Absorb, Hidden Ability: Swift Swim, Future Ability: Same
Current Moves: Bubble Beam, Water Sport, Hypnosis
—-
Ash smirked. "Perfect. With this, I can at least mostly guarantee getting through the first Gym. Plus, it'll be great to evolve into Poliwrath later."
He looked toward his Pokémon and called over Bellsprout.
"Hey, buddy. Want some real battle experience?" Ash asked, pointing at the Poliwag, which was now floating on the water, staring back at them.
Bellsprout glanced at the Poliwag, then nodded at Ash and stepped forward, ready to fight. Poliwag seemed to recognize the challenge and prepared itself as well.
"Bellsprout, use Growth, then grab it with Vine Whip! Pull it out of the water!" Ash commanded.
Bellsprout let the sunlight's energy flood into his body, growing stronger. Vines burst from his back, stretching toward the tadpole, and he yanked it out of the water.
Poliwag struggled, flailing and firing off a Bubble Beam wildly. Bellsprout was hit by a few bubbles, but thanks to type resistance, and the Poliwag's lower level, it didn't do much damage.
"Bellsprout, Wrap it up, then slam it into the ground!" Ash called, readying a PokéBall.
Bellsprout squeezed the Poliwag tightly in his vines, then whipped it into a tree. The Poliwag flopped down, very weak.
Ash tossed the Poké Ball. 1 roll… 2 roll… 3 roll, ding.
"Great job, buddy," Ash smiled, walking over to retrieve the PokéBall. 'With that, I've got six Pokémon on my team… but I still want to try and find a Magikarp, and maybe a Scyther. Samurai lives around here, doesn't he? I wonder if he'd know where to find one. He's a Bug specialist, if I remember right. I wonder if Gary or Green have fought him…'
After Ash picked up the Poké Ball, he released Poliwag, gave it some medicine, and practiced his Aura healing. It was definitely getting better, but it wasn't perfect by any means. After tending to Poliwag, he put it back to rest.
He turned to his Pokémon and called out, "Okay guys, that's enough training for now! We need to keep moving. As we walk, you can beat up any Pokémon we come across to practice your moves."
As they moved through the forest, they encountered plenty of Pokémon—mainly Bug-types and the occasional lone Beedrill. Ash let his Pokémon battle as many as they could handle, but he wasn't stupid, he didn't let them fight large hordes of Beedrill. He also kept an eye out for a Magikarp, and let Bellsprout and Oddish fight any weaker Pokémon they found along the way.
After some time walking through the forest, they came across an unexpected sight. Ash saw two golden Pokémon: a Shiny Weedle and a Shiny Caterpie. Ash's eyes widened in surprise, so he quickly pulled out his Pokédex and scanned them.
(Author's note: So the Caterpie was a last-minute addition. I literally flipped a coin to see if one appeared. You'll notice in the next few chapters there won't be much talk about the Caterpie because I added it during the editing process.)
—
[✨Weedle✨ (F):
Ability: Shield Dust, Hidden Ability: Run Away → Swarm & Sniper
Current Moves: String Shot, Poison Sting
*Mutation Detected, Analyzed… Queen Bee detected.
—
[✨Caterpie✨ (M):
Ability: Shield Dust → Compound Eyes
Current Moves: String Shot, Tackle*
—-
Ash was both surprised and frustrated, 'Why? I didn't want a Caterpie, but of course it's shiny! I shouldn't catch it… but the shiny hunter in me won't let me.'
With a resigned sigh, Ash pulled out two Poké Balls and threw them at the shiny bugs. They were both taken by surprise, and neither put up a fight before there was a satisfying ding from each capture.
Well, I'll send these two to Oak for now. They won't be useful for the first Gym, Ash thought as he picked up the Poké Balls. They glowed with a bright white light as they were teleported away.
Just as Ash was about to continue, a loud cry echoed through the clearing. He turned and saw a large, rainbow-colored bird perched on a tree, watching him intently. Spearow seemed ready to attack, but Ash quickly stopped him before he could launch himself at the legendary Pokémon.
Ash wasn't foolish enough to try and fight, or even throw a Poké Ball at—a Legendary at his current level. So instead, he kept his team in check, making sure none of his Pokémon tried to anger or challenge the majestic bird. Meanwhile, Ho-Oh continued to stare at Ash with interest.
After a moment, Ho-Oh glanced toward the pond near the large tree, then looked back at Ash. It flapped its wings once, took flight, and soared into the sky, leaving behind a brilliant rainbow. But before it disappeared completely, it dropped a single feather.
Ash reached out and caught the feather, feeling more frustrated than anything.
'Well, I have a Rainbow Wing now... so that means the temper-tantrum Pokémon, Marshadow, is going to start following me and trying to corrupt me,' Ash thought with a sigh. 'Thankfully, I should be able to stop the corruption with Aura, but I'll definitely need to practice more with it or things might get ugly,'
Ash then looked over at the pond Ho-Oh had glanced at before flying off. Curious, he walked over, and spotted a small Magikarp stuck in the shallows. He pulled out his Pokédex and scanned it.
—-
[Magikarp (M)]
[Ability: Swift Swim]
[Hidden Ability: Rattled → Intimidate & Moxie]
[Current Moves: Splash, Tackle, Bounce]
—-
Well, that's convenient. Thank you, Ho-Oh, Ash thought, smiling slightly. He pulled out a Poké Ball and tossed it at the Magikarp. The weakened fish was caught without any resistance. Ash immediately transferred it over to Professor Oak.
With that, the only Pokémon I really want from Viridian Forest is a Scyther. Well, I can probably ask Samurai once I run into him. For now, I should focus on some more training.
Ash gathered his team and had them resume their drills. Bellsprout worked on learning Bullet Seed, while Spearow and Pidgey kept practicing Steel Wing, and once they got closer, they'd move on to Tailwind. Poliwag was doing better and began learning Rain Dance. Oddish continued struggling with Leech Seed, but was improving. Pikachu, meanwhile, decided to take a nap.
As Ash prepared lunch, he pulled out the Rainbow Wing and stared at it. If I have this… that means I'm going to have to go through the events of the "I Choose You" movie. But when? And how will Cross play into all of this? That's too much to think about right now. I can barely remember everything that happened in that movie…
Eventually, his Pokémon were exhausted from training. He gave them their food along with some Pokéblocks to help them recover. Ash sat down and ate a sandwich, lost in thought.
As usual, some wild Pokémon were lingering nearby, staring longingly at the food—and a few brave ones tried their luck, only to be shooed away. But as Ash practiced his Aura sensing, he felt something different approaching. Something... unusual, but also familiar.
He stood up and walked toward the presence he sensed.
As he looked through the trees, a Doduo came sprinting into view, carrying someone on its back. The rider had long blonde hair and wore a straw hat. But before Ash could get a better look, the Doduo came to a sudden halt, throwing the rider off, and sending them crashing into Ash, crashing into his chest
Ash barely had time to react as he caught the person but he tripped and fell backwards onto his back, so now he was on the ground as this person, who seems like a girl, was on top of him sitting on his chest.
"I'm so sorry, are you o—Ash?" the person said, blinking in recognition, as she looked down her straw hat finally fell away from her face, giving Ash a good look at who she was.
"Wha—Yellow? What are you doing here?"