Another Road Repaved - Conception

A Glimmer of Wisdom

Large, teal wings flapped heavily through the cloudy skies, blowing clouds astray that had dared to come too close to the temperamental Flame Pokémon that soared high over Sinnoh. Charizard glided through Sinnoh's troposphere, carrying his eager trainer and a Pikachu on its back. As hardy as this particular Charizard was, he had been in the air for quite a while and was beginning to grow tired. He huffed, carrying the duo at an increasingly slower rate.

"Hey, I think Charizard's getting tired," Ash observed, looking down to his companion. "We must be getting pretty close by now... What do you say we swoop on down for a break, huh?"

A grunt of agreement was all Ash needed, followed by a steady decline towards the ground below. Gliding in through the trees, Charizard slowed before it found an empty clearing, skidding to a stop along the grassy earth. Kicking up dust, the dragon dispelled it with a flap of its wings.

Beating away the last of the dirt with a few waves of his cap, Ash hopped down onto the ground below. "Thanks a lot!" He lightly rubbed the fire type's neck. "Now, take a lil' bit to rest. We can hang out here and have lunch before you get your energy back!"

A huff of agreement was the next thing Ash expected to hear, but another familiar voice came over it. "Ashy-boy?" That same, nasally voice, albeit quite a bit deeper than what he was used to. A spiky, auburn head of hair stood out among a very green landscape, belonging to none other than Ash's former rival. "I never thought you'd be out here!"

"Gary?" Ash turned on his heels, eyes widening at the Oak's appearance.

Much like Ash himself, the previous months had left quite a mark on him. Standing at Ash's new height, the researcher sported a new get-up. What seemed to be a white t-shirt was covered up by a dark grey sweater, just unzipped enough to show off his signature pendant. Brown slacks completed the look, both them and the sweater sporting pockets. "You're still in Sinnoh? Shouldn't you be preparing for the Indigo League, right about now? You're not gonna win it by being a slacker." He teased, though, there was a tinge of sincere concern with his words.

"I... haven't really decided on what I'm doing for league season, yet," Ash admitted. "I told you I had some training to do when we were back in Pallet, remember?" Though, the last stretch of training hadn't put his Pokémon in the focus, with just one exception. "So, you're already out of the region again, huh?"

"You know as well as I do that neither of us stay in the same place for long, Ash. I'm still doing research for Rowan. This time, I'm looking into unusual evolution methods of certain Pokémon."

Before Ash could ask anything else, a barrage of loud booming sounds assaulted the group's eardrums, followed by smoke and dust rising above the trees. "What the heck was that!?"

"That's coming from the research site!" Gary figured he'd spoken enough, proceeding to sprint off towards the source of the commotion.

The other Pallet trainer's expression turned stern. "Return, Charizard!" Ash held a Poké Ball outward, calling back the fatigued Pokémon in a red flash of light. "C'mon, Pikachu! Let's follow him!" Answered quickly by a syllable of the mouse's name, Ash ran off in pursuit.

A short sprint later, and the trio arrived at the foot of a hill. Several Wormadam surrounded it, fretting before some high piled rubble leaning against the hill.

Gary grimaced "Their burrow must have collapsed...."

"Are there some trapped in the cave?" Ash asked, walking over to inspect the damage; what looked like the mouth of a small cavern was completely blocked off by boulders and rubble. "Pikachu, let's use Iron Tail to bust 'em out!"