Journeys Of A Pokémon Trainer

Episode 44: The Next Round of the tournament

Okotsu walked through the gate and saw all his friends waiting for him. "Hey Guys! Did you guys see my awesome win?" Okotsu asked. "You did great!" King said.

Ashton walked up to Okotsu and handed him something. It was a picnic basket full of food. "Oh wow, thanks Ash! All of this food is really mine?" Okotsu asked. "Yep! Everyone else got one too," Ashton said with a smile on his face.

The intercom came on and the announcer started speaking. "With that, the battles for today have concluded. Tomorrow, we'll continue the matches with the six trainers Ashton, Toru, King, Justin, Eric, and Okotsu. For the rest of the day, the competitors can either relax or train their Pokemon," The voice on the intercom said before turning it off.

Ashton walked to the door leading outside of the Indigo Plateau building. "Where are you going?" King asked. "I'm going to train my Pokemon. I wanna be way stronger for tomorrow!" Ashton said with a confident grin. "Let us help you then," he heard someone say.

Everyone turned and saw Ronnie and Mike standing near the gate. "It's Team Rocket!" Everyone exclaimed. Ronnie and Mike stuck their hands up. "Relax, we're not here to battle! We just wanna help the brat train!" Ronnie said. King gave them suspicious looks. "What are you guys planning?" King asked. "Nothing! Honest!" Mike said.

"It's fine guys. Believe it or not, theyve been rooting for me, even if it is for their own personal gain. I'll let them train me, but if they try anything, I know how to defend myself," Ashton said. Ronnie and Mike grinned and walked up to Ashton. "Don't forget, after the tournament, we're enemies again, got it?" Ronnie said. Ashton nodded and the tree walked out of the building.

"Who would've thought? Those guys rooting for Ash," Justin said. "Yeah. It's kinda weird. Anyway, what are you guys gonna do?" Okotsu asked. "I'm gonna go explore the forest beside the building and look for more Pokemon!" King said. "I'll go take a rest," Justin said. "Me too. I wanna be in top shape for tomorrow!" Toru said. He and Justin turned and walked out of the building and to the Trainer Plaza.

"Well, I guess we can go explore the forest. Let's go King!" Okotsu said. That's when he noticed Red walking out of the building and Leaf was gone. "Hey Red! Where are you going?" King asked. Red stopped and turned to face them. "I'm leaving. I completed here and lost and since I've gotten data on every Pokemon in the Kanto Region, I'm gonna head to the Johto Region. Tell Ash I'm sorry I couldn't say goodbye," Red said. King nodded and smiled.

"Don't worry Red, we will. Good luck on your journey," Okotsu said. Red smiled and was about to walk out when King grabbed his hand. "One more thing! Do you think you can help me with something!?" King asked. Red looked at him with confusion in his eyes. "Um sure. What is it?" Red asked. King walked to his side and whispered something in his ear. "Are you sure? It could be really hard," Red said. King nodded with a determined look on his face.

"Right then. Let's go," Red said. "Wait, what did you ask him?" Okotsu asked. "It's a secret for tomorrow," King said. He and Red walked out leaving Okotsu be himself. "Eh, I'll just go walk around until he's ready to go explore the forest," Okotsu said, walking off.

For the next hour, Ashton trained with Ronnie and Mike, Justin and Toru took naps in their rooms at the Trainer Plaza, and Okotsu walked around. Eventually, he heard someone call his name. "Hey Okotsu! You ready to go explore the forest!?" King asked, running to Okotsu's side. "Yeah. Let's go," Okotsu said. He and King walked to the entrance of the Indigo Plateau building and walked out.

They started walking to the forest and Okotsu decided to start a conversation. "So how come you can't tell me why you went with Red?" Okotsu asked. "Because if I tell you, it's gonna ruin the surprise for the tournament! All I say is that it's gonna be my ace in the hole," King said. Okotsu didn't understand, but just shrugged it off.

They walked into the forest and explored for the rest of the day, looking for new Pokemon to add their teams.

Meanwhile, Ashton, Ronnie, and Mike were all sitting down, drinking a bottle of water. Ashton's Charizard, Blastoise, and Vileplume and Ronnie and Mike's Arcanine and Poliwrath were all taking a break and catching their breaths. "I gotta say, you're improving very well. You'll be ready for the tournament tomorrow for sure," Mike said. Ronnie nodded in agreement.

"Heh, thanks. I'm surprised you guys haven't pulled off some scheme to steal my Pokemon yet," Ashton said. Ronnie and Mike laughed. "Of course not! Like I said, were enemies after the tournament," Ronnie said. "You tryna say we're friends now?" Ashton joked. "No! We're simply just acquittances! Nothing more!" Ronnie exclaimed. Ashton and Mike laughed.

"Right! We had some water and a couple laughs and now it's time to get back to training!" Mike said. Ashton nodded and they all stood up and walked back to their Pokemon.

They trained for the rest of the day until it was dark outside. "It's time for me to go! Thanks for helping me train!" Ashton said as he ran back to the Indigo Plateau building. He waved at Ronnie and Mike, who waved back. He ran inside and ran to the Trainer Plaza. He walked to his room and went inside.

"Man I could use a shower right now," Ashton said. He took off his clothes and put them in the washer and got in the shower. He took a long nice and warm shower and got out and put his pajamas on. He grabbed his clothes out of the washer and put them in the dryer. He put his bag near the door and put his hat on the nightstand beside his bed. Once his clothes were done drying, he folded them and put them on the nightstand under his hat and laid in his bed.

"Man, I can't wait for tomorrow! I can't wait to see how strong my friends have gotten!" Ashton said with a confident grin on his face. He yawned and fell asleep instantly.

End of Episode
Next Episode: Round 2! An exciting battle between friends!

Word count: 1093 words