Orange Island

Ash had followed Gou after the gym challenge and met Tracey, a very talented artist who went gaga over his Pokemon the moment he saw them. Unfortunately Jessilina and Jameson couldn't make it thanks to their work and schedule, as it turns out Giovanni wanted them to focus on the Shaumatii Island. They had received some really strange readings from the place and if Ash truly was going there, he wanted the area safe. Ash, Gou and Tracey left Mikan Island and headed towards the Northern Mandarin Island. It was a very impressive city Ash thought however he decided to skip checking the place out in order to search for a place to train. Ash found an area far from the Island City proper where he called out all of his Pokemon and started to train. Tracey was surprised at first but after Ash explained a little loophole he had found in the rules, he laughed shaking his head. As Ash and his Pokemon cooled down from training Tracey set up the table for lunch for them, they would have to go for supplies at one point.

Tracey, "Figures you would find out a loophole like that to use to your own advantage."

Gou, "If I were a trainer, I could probably have used it too."

Ash, "It's only applicable here though, Jhoto follows the six pokeball and badge exception rule and I'm not sure about the other regions."

Tracey, "Alola is similar to the Orange Archipelago, you can train all your Pokemon but the only difference is you can have only two main battle groups that you have to register."

Ash nodded, "Makes sense.... I wonder if I can get a rule book sent to me by Professor Kukui."

Tracey looked surprised, "You know the regional Professor of Alola."

Ash, "I met him when they brought their students to Kanto for an educational trip on how the same Pokemon that belonged to different regions vary from each other."

Gou, "They were very fascinated by the Orange Island variants."

Ash let the chatter wash over him as he made sure the Pokemon were eating their food especially the younger ones. Chimchar had shown interest in battling and had taken to following him around whenever he exercised with the Pokemon. He would always observe the one on one spars and varied training sessions Ash had with the other Pokemon and couldn't help but wish he was passed his safe year mark already. Just one more month, Chimchar thought and he can also start real training and battling alongside his family. He didn't know when he started to call Ash and the others family but it was nice and made him feel very warm inside.

Ash looked away from his human friends, "Oh, what is it Chimchar?"

Chimchar held up a red hibiscus, "Char chimchar."

Ash smiled, "It's beautiful, thank you."

Lucario grinned, -He is saying, you are the best Meema ever.-

Ash smiled softly at the blushing fire type, "Thank you Chimchar."

Chimchar grinned brightly and hugged him, he didn't know when he started considering Ash and the others family but, he would do his best to protect them. Pikachu cooed at the fire type as he snuggled into Ash's lap and Tracey started to draw them, Gou took a photo and sent it to the group. Tyrunt, Phantump and Omanyte soon joined Chimchar in the snuggle fest as Ash slowly finished his lunch, occasionally sharing the food with the four Pokemon on his lap. Ash was quite happy that Tyrunt and Omanyte were adjusting to the food in the current era, it had been one of his major worries. Meanwhile the two groups were cooing at the adorable picture Gou had sent them and this soon included a third group aka the Champion group. Professor Oak was having a ball of a time trying to figure out how a Tyrunt ended up in the Kanto region that many years ago. It would be interesting to figure out how their migration pattern worked and if it was not migration then was another Pokemon pregnant with the little Dragon type.

Ash meanwhile was oblivious to the wave he had created, "Well I'm done with lunch, hey Chimchar, I know you want to battle soon so I made a training session for you to follow for now. You need to increase your stamina and endurance first, okay? I won't be teaching you any moves till your stamina goes up."

Chimchar brightened, "Chim char chim."

Gou got up after putting his disposable plates and glasses away, "I'm going to check out the Pokemon around here and see if we can add more to our team."

Raboot, "Ra ra raboot."

Tracey, "I think I'll stick with you Ash, I still have not completed my sketches of your Pokemon."

Ash hmmmed, "Remind me to go shopping for stationary items for you, Tracey."

Tracey, "We can do it later, say how much longer do you plan to stay here?"

Ash, "Till the end of the week, why?"

Tracey, "I was hoping we could go to Sunburst Island."

Ash's eyes lit up in recognition, "That's where the Pokemon statues made out of crystals come from."

Tracey nodded, "Exactly, I have a friend there Mateo who is currently in a slump and unable to find inspiration to make his products. I was hoping that maybe seeing some of your Pokemon who are not normally seen around here might inspire him."

Ash hummed, "I don't know if that would work but I suppose we could visit, I can get a few gifts for my friends."

Tracey grinned and sat back while Ash trained again with his Pokemon, he took out his sketch book and went to the incomplete sketch of Milotic. He started adding more details, he would not admit it but travelling had become slightly easier for him after he met up with Ash and Gou. Flying really cut down the hours of traveling between the islands allowing them time to spend on other activities. Gou returned just before dinner showing off the Vileplume and Raticate variant he had caught, this routine continued till the end of the week.

Tracey was riding on Pidgeot, "I still can't believe you have three Shinies, Ash."

Ash laughed from on top of Fearrow holding on to Omanyte and Chimchar, "I get that a lot, so you are not alone in your disbelief."

Pikachu who was with Lucario and Tyrunt chirped from on top of Charizard, "Pi pika!"

Gou who was with Ash and holding Raboot grinned, "They are amazing right?"

Togetic trilled happily from where he was flying beside them with Phantump, Beedrill and Butterfree on his sides. Fearrow was very proud of how far his flock had come from being abused and terrified hatchlings to proud and powerful Pokemon. They flew out of the Northern Mandarin Island at the end of the training week after they had a day to themselves when Ash pampered and took care of each and everyone of them. It was something of a special treat for them to have Ash use his aura to make the massages and care feel better than ever on their muscles exhausted from training. Charizard would always take Ash after everyone was done just so he could push in an extra hour of massage time for himself and the little Tyrunt; no one but the three of them. Ash would simply laugh and indulge them and pamper them to their content much to Tracey's fascination, he had never seen a Charizard so relaxed before.

Tracey shook his head, 'Just shows how good Ash is with his Pokemon. Gou and his Pokemon are no different from them.'

Tracey had finally talked to Professor Oak a few days ago, about joining the two of them as he shared gaurdianship over them as their regional Professor. The Professor had been relieved to have an adult even though he was a young one join them, he knew about the trouble the two boys could get into. He saw Sunburst Island come into view soon enough and announced it to everyone and they decided to land where Tracey pointed was his friend's home.

Tracey got off Pidgeot, "Mateo! Are you here?"

A man came out of the house, "Tracey you are back."

A little girl followed him, "Tracey, tell big brother he can make sculptures. There is nothing wrong with him."

Tracey, "Fighting with each other again?"

Mateo looked away a little embarrassed, "Well I... You know how it is my sculptures and products just don't seem to have that glow that my Grandpa's sculptures had."

Tracey, "Ah! Well let me introduce you to my friends, these are Ash and Gou. They are from Kanto."

Mateo smiled, "Hello I'm Mateo and this is my younger sister Marissa."

Ash smiled, "Nice to meet you Mateo."

Gou, "Yeah! These are our Pokemon."

The two introduced the Pokemon to the two siblings and Marissa seemed to be taken by the Shiny Pokemon. She happily chatted away telling them about their work and how great her big brother was at making sculptures much to Mateo's embarrassment. Ash and Gou smiled at the excited girl and she told them about a Crystal Onix that had originally inspired their grandfather to go into glass sculpting.

Marissa, "Maybe you should go find the Crystal Onix big brother, who knows it might just inspire you as well."

Mateo, "Marissa, please!"

Gou, "I'm very interested in searching for a Crystal Onix too. Let's go together."

Tracey nodded, "I am very fascinated as well."

Mateo, "Tracey, there is no guarantee he is real."

Ash, "We won't know till we try right? Let's go search for him."

Seeing he was outnumbered Mateo had reluctantly agreed to go search for the Crystal Onix, plus it would give their Pokemon a break and a chance to relax. They followed the clues Mateo's grandfather had left behind for them and went towards the most isolated island from Sunburst. It was quiet a bit out of the way and not exactly much to look at with how plain looking it was. Gou and Ash searched for a cave in the island and Tracey hollered he found one and they went inside to come to a very beautiful sight. The inside was covered in crystals that reflected light from the water giving it a mystical appearance, they followed the pathway and came to a large cave opening.

Gou, "So where do we go from here?"

Mateo looked at the journal that had the clues, "This is it!"

Ash looked around, "This is where they stay? I can see why, it's very beautiful here."

Lucario, -Over there, by the water fall.-

They looked at the waterfall and their breaths hitched when they saw not one but four Crystal Onixes coming out. There was even a Crystal Steelix behind them, Ash half wondered how it evolved into a Steelix, he knows a Metal coat is important for a normal Onix to evolve. They were a very beautiful sight to see especially with the light reflecting off of their crystal bodies, they made an ethereal sight.

Mateo approached them, "Onix and Steelix or should I call you Crystallix?", Mateo corrected himself seeing the disgruntled look, "My name is Mateo and I came here to challenge you just like my grandfather had done before."

Crystallix nodded and looked at the oldest Onix and motioned for him to approach him for a battle. Mateo chose his Cloyster to battle and unlike a normal Onix water did not affect the Crystal Onix. He then changed tactics and used his Charmeleon to battle against the Crystal Onix getting better results instead and continued to battle. Then Mateo saw it, the one thing that inspired his grandfather to start his crystal sculpture business.

Mateo returned Charmeleon and bowed down, "Thank you for battling with me."

Gou, "You are not going to catch him?"

Mateo shook his head, "No! I got what I wanted, I saw what my grandfather did and I was inspired by it as well. Now I just want to return back and start on my sculptures."

Ash grinned, "What are we waiting for let's go."

They returned to Sunburst town and Mateo got to work creating sculptures with a confidence he did not show before. When the group saw the end result they were left speechless and Ash and Gou put in orders for their friends and family. Mateo happily took the orders and down payment and started to work on the sculptures for his first customers in a long while. Marissa was happy seeing her brother's interest back and thanked them as they left the town to carry on to the next stop.

[A. N. : My story got added to thirty collections in in the last week. I'm so happy.

Sadly I may not be able to update this week as there is unrest going on here and the gov is planning on shutting down the internet for a few days. :(

Take care everyone! I will see you next week or most probably Saturday as that's how long this internet shut down is.]