Jhoto

Max had been watching as both Ash and Casey took care of Venasaur and Meganium outside. He still had not decided which oil would work for his Shroomish and was torn between the olive, lavender, Palm Beach and mustard oil. Brock had told Max to experiment with all four as the oil used by non evolved Pokemon were not as expensive as the ones used by evolved Pokemon. Shroomish herself was also unable to decide on which one she wanted, not to forget the massage oil Meganium used was jasmine scented and she like that one too.

Brock, "Don't worry, most trainers don't decide on which items are the one for their Pokemon till they evolve fully or have an Everstone like Pikachu does."

Max, "Ah! I see."

Casey laughed, "The first few months, I remember, I would put a day aside every month for a shopping frenzy for my Pokemon."

Ash laughed, "Oh Mew! Same here Casey. I remember when Misty was traveling together with us, we did a mega shopping spree in Viridian City, Pewter City and Cerulean City. Boy, those were some crazy shopping days."

Max looked intrigued, "Really? So it's not a beginner trainer quirk?"

Ash nodded, "No, I have no idea where that rumour even started. It's a necessity as beginner trainers have beginner Pokemon not high level, so it's important to make sure they are in top shape for battle. Tell you what? We'll help you budget and get a perspective on how much you need to spend on the necessities for your Pokemon."

Gou, "You'll have to go through a bit of struggle to figure out a personal one for yourself but we can give you a general idea."

Max smiled, "My Dad gave me one already but I'm not against other ideas."

At that moment Ash's phone rang and Jessie's voice came, "Ash."

Ash, "Jessie? This is a surprise. What is wrong?"

Jessie, "Where are you right now?"

Ash, "We are at the Pokemon centre in Violet City. What's wrong?"

Jessie sighed, "I got a call saying one of our battle tanks went missing."

Ash, "??? Battle tank???"

Jessie, "Yes, it was created to fight against other Teams like Aqua, Magma, Flare, etc."

Ash, "Flare? Are they by chance from Kalos? Serena warned us about them."

Jessie laughed, "Smart girl. Point is someone stole one of our battle tanks. It could be anywhere at the moment. Please be safe."

Ash blinked as the call got cut, "Well that came out of the blue."

Chikorita, "Chiko."

Casey, "Ummm, battle tank like the ones armed with weapons?"

Brock, "Sounds like it. Wait why would Jessie or James have those?"

Ash, "Defense, mostly. James once informed me, they have lands around the borders of Kanto and Jhoto so battle tanks are actually a must. The other Pokemon stealing organisations will not play nice. Team Rocket will happily kill us to get our Pokemon. What makes you think the others won't?"

Charizard, -Sounds like trouble.-

Max, "You can use aura speak too? That's cool."

Charizard, -Thank you. My words are limited though.-

Casey nodded, "We understand Charizard. And it's true other Teams won't show any mercy or play nice."

Gou, "I do wonder who stole it though."

Brock, "That's the important question."

Max, "I hope we don't have to deal with it."

They left to meet Falkner before leaving the City and the Gym Leader met them with his Ace Pokemon. Falkner offered to train Charizard as he noticed Ash planned to travel through Jhoto with newly caught and grown Pokemon. Ash called Charizard and talked to him about Falkner's offer. Charizard looked at the Gym Leader and the older Charizard before pulling Ash and Lucario away a bit.

Lucario, -Charizard?-

Charizard, -I don't mind extra training but I don't want to leave you with that problem from earlier.-

Ash, "It's ok Charizard. I won't promise we won't land in trouble but I promise I'll call if we do end up in it. Besides think about it this way, if you train here, you'll be stronger. Also you know the Pokemon centre number right? You can visit Venasaur and ergo meet us. It'll be easier if you are in Jhoto."

Charizard thought the reasons over and nodded and hugged Ash tightly nuzzling him before letting him go. Ash nuzzled him back before thanking Falkner for his offer to which the Gym Leader grinned and told him about Charicific Valley. He told them his cousin worked under Liza the Head Ranger situated there alongside her Charizard pack. Ash's eyes brightened at the mention of that specific valley, he recalled that's where the Og Ash's Charizard trained to become the power house he was in the anime.

Falkner smirked seeing the bright eyes Ash had, "Looks like you heard of that place."

Ash, "How could I not? Charizards especially the older ones talk about it fondly from time to time. It's hard not to recognize it."

Casey, "Huh! Who knew they loved gossip?"

Brock, "Ash here is privy to many Pokemon gossip thanks to his bond with Lucario."

Gou, "Makes me a little jealous."

Max, "Imagine all the secrets we could know."

Ash snarked, "Imagine the responsibility of holding those secrets."

Falkner laughed, "Indeed. Well I shall now bid you farewell and good luck on your journey."

Gou, "Thank you Falkner."

Ash, "Work hard Charizard, but remember to take a break as well."

Charizard, -Stay safe.-

Falkner raised an eyebrow but didn't comment and the group left through one of the gates that led outside of Violet City. Max was asking if it was normal to leave Pokemon under another person's care and Brock explained it was not that simple. In order for a Pokemon to be apprenticed under another they must at least be either a Champion level or a Ranger level. Gou told him, they should be capable of not only following orders but also attacking and defending when there are no orders given by the trainers, who may be out of commission for one reason or another.

Ash piped in, that another reason would be the Pokemon must be Alphas, and capable of leading their own group. Charizard, Venasaur, Blastoise, Fearrow and Tauros were Alphas and leading their own little pack in Ash's group of Pokemon. Casey nodded and mentioned her father's group of Tangrowth and how the grass types followed her father's fourth Ace Pokemon. Brock spoke of his own Rhydon who was leading his own herd back in Pewter City, the herd would patrol around the City as security keeping trouble makers away.

Ash, "It's also why trainers are ordered not to loiter around the outskirts of a City. That's where the patrol group works and they won't hesitate to arrest you."

Gou gave a laugh, "Yeah. By the way there is a Sunflora contest going on next town. At the rate we are going we'll be there by evening, just in time for the show case."

Brock, "That sounds like a lot of fun."

Casey beamed, "Oh it has been three years since I attended a Sunflora festival. It'll be good to attend it again."

Ash, "Nice. Let's go enjoy it then."

The group gave a cheer and they headed towards the town, so far nothing untoward had happened on the road. Ash hoped their luck stayed that way and nothing will go wrong anytime soon. They set up camp near a stream in the forest they had to cross in the way and spent the evening chatting over the bonfire. It was nice, just traveling, camping, having dinner and talking to friends. The next day they got up early to train, have breakfast, clean up and travel again. By Gou's estimate they would be at the town by early evening, just in time for the festival.

The Sunfloras were quite the cheerful bunch and the trainers were of course no different and very welcoming. It is said Pokemon adopt their trainer's quirks, the same way trainers adopt their Pokemon's quirks. It was pretty obvious in the group infront of them, considering how the Sunfloras behaved like their trainers and vice versa. One Sunflora was even shouting out encouragement, like her trainer who was shouting encouragement.

Ash laughed softly, 'How cute!'

Casey, "I wonder if I can catch a Sunkern and add then to my team. They are just so lovable."

Gou, "Let's go find some then."

Casey cheers, "Yeah. we will see you guys at the Pokemon centre."

Max, "There they go."

Ash laughed, "Let them."

Brock grinned, "Nothing wrong in having fun."

As the three of them watched the festival dwindle down and the Sunflora retreat, Ash noticed something interesting. Despite the fact that most Sunflora slept as the sun went down, some of the Sunfloras stayed awake even at night. When he mentioned this to Brock, a lady with a Sunflora answered why that was the case. The Lady went by Sonrisa and explained she was a trainer focussed on becoming a Sunflora Master. She explained that it was not always necessary for Sunfloras to sleep at sun down although most of them do so. The older Sunfloras were strong enough to stay up the whole night if necessary, it was just a case of having more stamina and energy.

Brock blushed, "You sure know a lot, Miss Sonrisa."

Sonrisa, "Please just call me Risa, Miss Sonrisa makes me feel so old."

Max, "Can you tell us more please?"

Ash, "Would you like to join us for dinner?"

Sonrisa, "I don't mind telling you more and there is a nice restaurant near by. I could take you to."

Max perked up, "That would be great. We just arrived here."

Ash, "I'll text Gou and Casey."

As the four of them sat at the restaurant chatting and exchanging notes on their grass type companions, Gou and Casey joined them gushing about their new Sunkern. Sonrisa gave the two Sunkerns an appraisal and commented they were both very healthy and if they want them to evolve, they would need a Sun stone. Gou and Casey nodded thanking Sonrisa, letting the two new Pokemon join the Pokemon around them. The two Sunkerns ate and played around a bit before yawning due to sleepiness. Casey and Gou both cooed at the adorable sight before returning them to their pokeballs to sleep. They thanked and waved Sonrisa goodbye once her husband announced the restaurant was closing for the night. The next morning they were on the road again.

Gou, "It was nice of that Lady to give us an appraisal yesterday."

Casey nodded, "I don't know if I want my Sunkern to evolve. She's just so cute. Of course if Sunkern wants to evolve herself I would not be against it but you know."

Ash, "I understand, perhaps you should talk to Sunkern and see what she wants? I know my Pikachu wants to evolve into Alolan Raichu not the Kantonian Raichu."

Casey, "Oh, Alolan Raichu are adorable."

Gou, "I want to catch two Pikachus and have one each."

Brock grinned, "I'm sure you will."

Casey "Hey what's that up there?"

Max, "Looks like a hot air balloon."

Casey, "And it's being pulled by a Charizard, someone is riding it."

The person noticed them and motioned for Charizard to land, "Well well, who do we have here?"

Ash, "You must be one of the workers at Charicific valley."

The teen answered, "Yes I am, may I see your IDs please?"

Gou, "Of course."

The teen, "Sorry about this but yesterday some poachers attacked the valley with a battle tank that was reported as stolen."

Ash froze, "What? Is everyone ok?"

Brock, "No one is hurt right?"

The teen raised an eyebrow, "You look like you know about this. I will require you to come with me for a bit."

Gou, "Of course."

Casey, "Thing is, a few days ago one of our friends called us warning us about it."

The red haired teen led them to the hotel air balloon, "I see, you might be able to help us clear a few things then."

Max, "Are you sure? Because aside from that one call, we don't know much, Mr... "

The red head grinned, "The name is Pyrus, no last name though."

Ash smiled as they traveled towards the Rangers camp located East of Charicific valley where they were greeted by Liza, the Head Ranger. Liza ordered for their statements to be taken and recorded and even called James as it was not possible to get in contact with Jessie at the moment. The blue haired man confirmed their story and explained what happened and when they noticed the tank was missing. Liza frowned when she realized that the poachers were someone who had joined the Rangers, it was the only way for anyone to get their hands on the machines.

[A. N.: My friends marriage is two days from now. Updating this chapter in the meantime.

Enjoy!]