The Trip to Vermilion City

"..." - Speech

'...' - Thoughts

"..." - Pokespeech

"So you guys are all set? Bags stuffed and your Pokémon all in check? Maybe you guys need some extra food or some-"

"We're all set Prof. Juniper. I made sure to take a small extra bag for all my Pokémon so they don't have to be transferred and they could enjoy the scenery on the way," explained Ash with a sweatdrop.

"Although we could use some potions, berries, and herbs just in case we run into some trouble from Vermilion City to Pallet Town," answered Cilan.

"Sure. I always make sure to keep extras for any trainers," answered the brunette woman handing the Connoisseur a bag of potions and a few full revives.

"I'll help find some berries and herbs on the way to the harbor. There's an abundance on the way so there shouldn't be a problem," responded Iris.

"Sorry for worrying. I can't help but feel sad that this might be the last time I'm seeing Ash in person," said Prof. Juniper with a sad smile.

"Don't worry Professor. I'll video phone whenever I can and I'll come back to Unova one day to visit," replied the black haired teen. The Professor teared up a bit before hugging all three of them at once.

Once the exchanges of goodbyes were finished, Prof. Juniper was outside the lab with her assistants waving off the trio. The three waved back as they walked on to the direction of the harbor.

"Bye Prof. Juniper! We'll be back before you know it!" shouted Iris with Axew following.

"Hope you take care! See you soon!" responded Ash.

"Good luck on your research and best wishes!" added Cilan.

With that, the trio of adventurers headed their way to the harbor with their sets on the Kanto region for a new journey.

"Man this is awesome. I can't believe I'm challenging the Battle Frontier again!" shouts Ash in glee as he jumped from his seat near the pool.

"You still haven't told us what the Battle Frontier exactly is," responded Iris from the pool with a confused look. Axew was enjoying swimming around the pool along with Pikachu and Pansage.

"Yes, even as Connoisseur, even I have no clue what the Battle Frontier is. From what you have said so far, it's only in Kanto unlike the Pokémon Contests that are held everywhere else except Unova," commented Cilan.

"Yep. The Battle Frontier is one of the hardest challenges to face. The Frontier Brains are super tough. They're tougher than gym leaders and add their own twists in the battle," explained Ash so far as Iris and Cilan were surprised that such trainers could even allow anyone to battle them despite how strong they are.

"The Battle Frontier consists of seven facilities that are located throughout the Kanto Region: In order, you would first battle the Battle Factory, the Battle Arena, Battle Dome, Battle Pike, Battle Palace, and Battle Tower. Once you beat the Battle Tower, they tell you the location of the Battle Pyramid. Each facility has their own unique challenges and battles that push your Pokémon's skills to the limit and with each facility, there's a symbol that you earn when you beat that certain area.

"In the Battle Factory, you obtain the Knowledge Symbol, the Battle Arena you get the Guts Symbol, the Battle Dome you get the Tactics Symbol, the Battle Pike you get the Luck Symbol, the Battle Palace you get the Spirits Symbol, the Battle Tower you get the Ability Symbol, and in the Battle Pyramid you get the Brave Symbol. It's really cool 'cause when I faced the Battle Factory, I battled an Articuno using Charzard and I battled against Regirock, Regice, and Registeel at the Battle Pyramid even though it took me more than one time to win."

"Wait a minute though. If you won the Battle Frontier before, then why are you battling them again?" question Iris as she was very curious about the whole matter.

"Well the guy who suggested me to challenge the Battle Frontier and is in charge of it, Scott, passed me the message that the Frontier Brains actually want to battle me again, especially 'cause I'm the only trainer in a long while who has beaten them and decided that they should make their challenges even more difficult than before. I figured if I do it, I could give all my Sinnoh and Unova Pokémon a real challenge and I'm pretty sure my other Pokémon are wanting to battle after a long time staying in Prof. Oak's lab. Plus, since I've went on an adventure with you guys in Unova, why not do the same with me in Kanto and I know you guys wanted to see the Pokémon in my home region so why not?"

"Aww~ That's so sweet of you thinking about us first Ash. Even if you're still a little kid, it's still really nice of you," responded Iris.

"Indeed! I can actually feel myself flaring up about this. The excitement about meeting Pokémon we've never encountered and seeing Ash competing in a challenge that you can only find in Kanto is all so delicious!" commented Cilan with much enthusiasm.

Iris sighed at this, "Well, there he goes again..." Axew also mumbled a comment in the background.

Meanwhile, three shadows were hiding near where our heroes were relaxing at the pool area. They grinned at the sight of a certain mouse Pokémon.

"Target in sight," said a female voice.

"We'll be sure to get that Pikachu in no time with the twerps having nowhere to escape," said a masculine voice.

"Dat Pikachu has loads of power and since we're goin' to Kanto, it'll be easier to send to da Boss!" commented the third voice with an accent. The three snickered before heading to another part of the ship.

Back to Ash and the gang, the teen frowned at something. Iris noticed this and was concerned.

"What's wrong Ash? Something troubling you?" questioned Iris. Cilan turned towards the two at what's going on.

"Nah, I'm just thinking that the rest of our Pokémon need fresh air. Plus, even they don't know that we're heading to Kanto region at all," replied the black haired teen.

"Then what are you sitting around for?" questioned Iris as she got out of the pool and grabbed her pokéballs from her bag. She smiled as she threw them in the air, "Excadril, Emolga, Dragonite! Come on out!"

Cilan smiled at the girl, "I say that's a good idea." He went towards his stuff and grabbed his two pokéballs, "Come out Stunfisk and Crustle!"

Ash laughed that his friends agreed as he got all his pokéballs, "Alright, come on out everyone!" Snivy, Oshawott, Pignite, Scraggy, Unfezant, Leavanny, Boldore, Palpitoad, Krookodile, and Charzard all came out.

"Alright before everyone can split and do what they want around here, Ash has to explain something important," explained Cilan as he looked toward the black haired teen who nodded at the announcement. The Pokémon all looked at the trainer curiously except for Pikachu and Axew who knew what's up but listened anyway.

"So as you can see, we're all on a boat again but for a different reason: We're actually going to Kanto!" announced the teen. Most if not all the Pokémon were shocked as to why they were leaving Unova.

"Now now, before anyone jumps to conclusions, we're going there for specific reasons. Pikachu and Charzard know because they actually experienced it before. Ya see, there's this thing called the Battle Frontier. It's a different than from the League and Tournaments we've all battled in Unova. The Battle Frontier make up of the strongest trainer that are even tougher than the gym leaders. They asked of me to battle them again to win the Gold Symbols so that means they'll be a lot tougher than the last time I faced them. I was hoping if my Pokémon would like to challenge them with me along with the others that are with Prof. Oak. If any of you don't want to, that's fine with me. I'm not gunna force you." explained the trainer. He was surprised though when all his Pokémon stepped up with determined looks on their faces.

He ended up smiling at this, "Thanks guys, I know I can always count on you. We'll be sure to win the Battle Frontier together!" All the Pokémon started cheering at this.

"Alright, that's it guys. You can go hang out. It'll be a while before we reach Vermilion City. For now, have fun before the real adventure begins!" shouted the trainer. The Pokémon all yelled in excitement before parting ways to do their own things. Ash couldn't help but be happy at the fact that he gets to go to his home region once more for a challenge, plus his Unova Pokémon love the idea of wanting to face a more difficult challenge than the Unova League.

Among them happened to be a certain snake Pokémon.

Snivy felt a wave of determination in herself after hearing that Ash is challenging even tougher opponents she hadn't even faced. Just knowing he defeated them once made her feel even more excited to battle even if she didn't express it. She thought of this as her time of redemption since the whole ordeal between her and Cameron's Lucario back in the Unova League.

"Looks like you're ready to take on the Battle Frontier," said Ash's trusty partner Pikachu as he was talking in Pokéspeech.

"Of course. After the whole thing with that Lucario back at the Unova League, it'll be the perfect time for me to show how strong I can really be," answered the snake Pokémon.

"Then let's hope that Ash chooses you when we finally face the Battle Pyramid," commented the electric mouse.

"Is it really that strong?" asked Snivy raising a ridge.

"Very," answered Pikachu, "As far as we remember, that guy has all three of the Regi Trio. Plus, Ash battled an Articuno at the Battle Factory and that was just the first facility!"

"Who?" questioned the female snake.

"That's right, Unova Pokémon don't really know Pokémon and legendaries outside of Unova," muttered Pikachu, "The Regi Pokémon are a very strong Hoenn based legendary trio that have control over land elements. They're Regirock, Regice, and Registeel. However, they aren't as strong as the three main Hoenn legendaries, Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza. Articuno is part of Kanto's famous bird trio that are very strong. Articuno uses Ice, Zaptos uses Lightning and Moltres uses Fire. I was able to take down Regice at the Battle Pyramid while Charzard was able to take down Articuno at the Battle Factory."

"That Articuno was an easy win," said Charzard as he joined in the conversation. Oshawott, Pignite, Unfezant, and Krookodile decided to check what was going on.

"Please! I never seen anyone have such a hard time beating a legendary. Sceptile had an easier time beating that Darkrai in the Sinnoh League than you beating Articuno," snickered Pikachu. The few Unova Pokémon didn't fully understand the conversation of Pokémon they didn't know.

"Quiet you! You know when the time comes, Ash will use me again to beat one of that Pyramid King's legendaries! Obviously my training in Charisific Valley and the battles against Team Plasma will pay off," spat back the fire type with a snort.

"As much as I'm confused, who do you think Ash will choose to beat those legendaries then?" questioned Oshawott.

"Well obviously, he'll choose Charzard and I since we fought them before. Sceptile and Infernape are also his best choices since they were his strongest in Hoenn and Sinnoh. There might be a chance for two of you newbies to be part of that battle," answered Pikachu.

"How do you think we'll be able to match that kind of level?" asked Oshawott, looking fazed about the ordeal. The electric mouse sighed at this.

"Simple: By training with Ash's older Pokémon as it will be an advantage on everybody's part. For example, you would have an advantage training with Squirtle and Totodile, the water starters of Kanto and Johto, in perfecting you aim with you water attacks and speed. Also, you would have to train with Buizel, Ash's Sinnoh water type, in creating different styles and combination with Aqua Jet," explained Pikachu. Oshawott had a look of excitement at this.

"Alright then, I'll surely do my best to make Ash proud!" exclaimed the sea otter with determination.

"Great! And that'll go the same with everyone else, understand?" answered Pikachu. The rest of the Unova types cheered in answer. Finally they all separated to either eat, relax, or even train in their own way.

"Wow Ash, looks like some of your Pokémon are training," said Iris as she looked at Snivy and Unfezant focusing on Snivy's dodging abilities against Unfezant's speed. Ash looked and grinned at this.

"This is great. Looks like they're determined to with the Battle Frontier for sure!" answered the black haired teen.

After a while, everyone decided to get a good rest. Whether it was lying on the beach chairs, going to the saunas, or even lying on the floats in the pool. It was only a few hours till they finally reached Vermillion City. It may be a lot faster by plane, but going on a cruise ship seemed to be a lot more relaxing than anything.

Pikachu and Axew were sleeping on a flat beach chair along with Oshawott and Scraggy. However, the baby dragon soon woke up from a very sweet scent.

"What's that tasty smell?" questioned the dragon before spotting a berry on the ground. "Iris must have left it for me!"

He couldn't help but eat it. However, he still smelled the sweet scent before seeing an entire path of berries.

"Wow! So yummy! Thank you Iris!" shouted the dragon in glee as he ate each berry that came along his path. Soon enough, Pikachu had woken up after feeling the warmth from his side disappear. He rubbed his eyes before looking to see an empty spot on the chair.

"What the- Where's Axew?" cried the mouse desperately before he looked from his side seeing an obvious blur turning the corner. "Now where's he going?"

Pikachu soon ran off as well, calling for Axew. Oshawott and Scraggy woke up from the racket. Once seeing that Pikachu had gone after Axew, they looked at each other in confusion before following.

Meanwhile, Axew finally reached to the last berry that was at the end. However, he didn't notice a glass panel that was below him.

"Axew!" called out Pikachu as he finally reached the baby dragon with a tired look. Oshawott and Scraggy were soon close to follow. "Why did you leave like that?"

"I thought Iris left a path of berries for me but they all stopped to here," answered Axew looking very confused. Pikachu looked at him in annoyance but nevertheless, he was still a baby. However, he took a very quick note of something about to close around them. His eyes widened in panic.

"Axew, move!" shouted Pikachu as he pushed Axew from one of the edges. Before he knew it, Pikachu was trapped in a container. He tried to use his thunder but it was useless.

"I only know one group of criminals who can do this," growled Pikachu.

"Right ya are, Pikaweakling!" answered a voice that caught the four Pokémon's attention.

Pikachu called to the three Unova Pokémon. "Quick! Scream so Ash and the others can hear and come straight away!"

The other three did what they were told before screaming from the top of their lungs. The voice from earlier had a bit more of a panic look now since he was alone with these pests.

"Hey, you hear that?" questioned Iris.

"That sounds like Axew, Oshawott, and Scraggy," guessed Cilan correctly.

"Where's Pikachu?" question Ash desperately. "Guys, call the rest of the Pokémon and met up where Axew, Oshawott, and Scraggy are calling from. I have a bad feeling about this."

The two Unova teens nodded before running to get the other Pokémon. Ash ran to where the three Pokémon are yelling from till he finally reached the main deck. He was in shock when he spotted Pikachu trapped in a glass container trying desperately to free himself.

"Pikachu, who did this to you?" questioned the black haired teen before spotting three silhouettes on top of the deck. "You three again?"

"Prepare for trouble!" exclaimed a female voice.

"And make it double!" shouted a masculine voice.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite the peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie!" shouts the woman.

"And James!" shouts the man.

"Team Rocket! Blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth dat's right!" exclaims the voice from before, revealing himself.

"Team Rocket! Always up to no good! Give me back my Pikachu!" shouted the black haired boy.

"Don't you think that's getting old? Now that we finally caught Pikachu, we can surely give him to the boss!" exclaimed Jessie.

"And dat means a big promotion for us!" shouts Meowth. The three thieves cheered in excitement before they summoned their balloon with a trapped Pikachu below the crate.

"Stop! Oshawott use Water Gun! Scraggy use Focus Blast!" commanded the trainer.

"Oshawoooooottt!" the sea otter shot a powerful water gun out of its mouth.

"Scraaaaaggy!" the fighting type created a concentrated ball of energy before throwing it at the thieves.

"Why those little... Frillish! Come out and use Protect!" shouted Jessie as she summoned the pink jellyfish Pokémon, follow by a green shield blocking the attacks.

"Now, come out Woobat and use Air Slash!" the female Rocket sent out the bat like Pokémon that summoned blue blades.

"Come out too Amoonguss and use Hidden Power. Yamask, come out and use Shadow Ball!" commanded James as he summoned two pokéballs with the Pokémon also attacking the group.

"Dodge it!" It was too late as the two Pokémon were unable to dodge all the attacks and landed on the ground in front of the trainer.

"Hey, can't leave me out of da fun!" yelled Meowth as he joined the other four. "We got dis in da bag!"

"Hey! Two against five is not fair!" yelled Ash. Team Rocket just snickered at this.

"Well life isn't fair is it Twerp?" mocked James.

"You're right so 17 versus 5 seems fair enough!" yelled Iris as she and Cilan arrived with all theirs and Ash's Pokémon. Team Rocked paled at this.

"This better be worth skipping my time at the sauna!" roared Charzard in rage.

"Charzard sure looks angry..." muttered Iris quietly.

"Well who wouldn't be after being interrupted from their relaxation. Especially by Team Rocket," commented Cilan.

"Well who cares 'cause we have Pikachu! Frillish use Water Pulse! Woobat use Air Slash!" commanded Jessie.

"Amoonguss use Hidden Power! Yamask use Shadow Ball!" followed James.

"And feel the wrath of my Fury Swipes!" shouted Meowth as his claws glowed and grew in size.

"I say it'll be an overwhelming flavor having all our Pokémon attack so two per each?" questioned Cilan. The two other trainers nodded in response with smiles.

"Alright! Axew, Dragon Rage! Emolga, Discarge!" shouted Iris.

"Pansage, Solar Beam! Crustle, Rock Wrecker!" followed Cilan.

"Charzard, Flamethrower! Snivy, Leaf Storm!" commanded Ash. All the attacks collided with Team Rocket's attack. There was a loud explosion and everything was covered in dust. Unfezant made the time pass faster by blowing the dust away with her wings. Everything cleared, revealing that Team Rocket's Pokémon were unconscious with Meowth barely making it by.

"Kookodile, Stone Edge on the glass container!" the dark/ground type followed command as he was surrounded in rocks before sending them flying towards the glass. The container broke allowing Pikachu to jump into Ash's arms.

"You're okay buddy!" shouted Ash in excitement. With Pikachu smiling before jumping down and facing Team Rocket with a serious look.

"Aww great, wat now?" questioned Meowth in worry.

"Maybe get out of here?" asked James.

"Great idea! Pikachu! Send them a Thunderbolt!" shouted Ash.

"Take this!" yelled the electric mouse as it summoned a large amount of lighting, zapping Team Rocket and their Pokémon followed by an explosion. They were sent flying.

"Ahhh! Why doesn't this keep happening to us?" shouted Jessie.

"You would expect for our luck to change as the new and improved Team Rocket now that we're heading back to Kanto," commented James.

"Well now who cares because now..." muttered Meowth.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" shouted the trio before disappearing into the sky.

Back with the trio, they we celebrating with their Pokémon from the victory. A decent battle wouldn't hurt.

"Passengers, we will now arrive to the Vermillion City port very shortly," said a person on the intercom. The three were surprised at the announcement before they headed to the side of the boat along with their Pokémon. They looked out and sure enough, they spotted a large bridge along with land dead ahead. They all cheered at the sight.

"Alright! We're so close to Kanto!" cheered Iris.

"What a sight indeed. The time went be pretty fast though," responded Cilan with a smile.

"Not to worry. This adventure will be worth coming! I can't wait to see everybody again!" Ash was excited about this more than anybody. He looked at his partner with a smile. "Right Pikachu?"

"Pi Pika!"

--

 A/N: I actually spent most of my time just editing and cutting parts out that felt like it was just dragging the chapter or revealing way too much for the adventures ahead for our heroes.

Yes the Pokemon can talk to each other but the Trainers can't understand them since you can obviously tell in canon. Plus Ash, Iris, and Cilan's Pokemon will have some different movesets since one, I can't remember all of them and two, I'm going by the game's movesets along with anime. Obviously the story will be different from the canon anime since it's more of a mix between it and the games. You can pretty much tell by how Ash is able to take out all his Pokemon…

Now the reason why I actually wanted to make this story: One, I've actually had the idea for quite a while. Two, I grew up as a kid watching Pokemon a lot and Battle Frontier happened to be one of my most favorite seasons of the anime, even if Ash's VA didn't really do much justice for me until the new one in DP… Anyway, as I also kept growing up, I always like to play the games and when I learned that you needed to battle the Frontier twice for the Gold Symbols, I was in shock. Looking back, I really loved the Battle Frontier season of the anime but in my opinion, it felt as if it was lacking after knowing about how you needed to battle them twice. And thus, this story was made.

Do note, I am not that skillful of a writer since I always think I can do more in terms of visual and vocabulary. English being my second language also pushes that. So try to cut a bit of slack on my grammar, otherwise, criticism is okay as long as you don't do it so harshly.

Finally on my things to say is that I have a request from all of you. I CANNOT for the life of me do this story completely on my own. It's not only because I can get some bad writer's block but I seriously do have a life and can't really put all my thoughts organized into the story alone. I have several ideas but I need you guys' suggestions if they should or shouldn't be put in, what can be added, and all that.

With that, I already have several ideas so what do you suggest I do with them: Back in the cannon Battle Frontier season, there was the Kanto contests. Should either Iris, Cilan, or even both compete in them while Ash is competing against the Battle Frontier? Should there not be and only do them when May and Dawn make appearances throughout the story and they do other things to add more to their personality? Do you like the idea of reading what the Pokemon are actually saying or should I just leave it out for the rest of the story? Which of Ash's Pokemon should evolve in the story? It can be more than one but not all. Finally the last suggestion for now is which Pokemon should Iris and Cilan catch in Kanto? There's the Kanto and Johto Pokemon, plus several from Hoenn and Sinnoh.

I hope to hear your answers and suggestions. With that, Comment and Subscribe.

-ChildofTheEmpire