The Pantheon

Viridian City

Ashley had not expected her time in Viridian City to turn out to be such a hectic few weeks.

Then again, she also hadn't expected Giovanni to be the head of Team Rocket.

Or for Kanto to spiral into utter chaos the moment she and Lucario stepped out of Viridian Forest. That day still lived in her head with too much color. But it happened fast, like a rockslide. Giovanni arrested, the Gym was left leaderless, and by the time the smoke cleared, her dad was "temporarily holding the position" while still wearing his Ranger jacket. Because of course he was.

Ashley hadn't even asked what that meant, exactly. She just... stayed. At first because she didn't want to leave while things felt unfinished. Then because she was helping out with small things. Then because someone needed to handle the Gym battles while her dad was out coordinating cleanup efforts or mediating some territorial dispute between a wild Arcanine and a herd of Tauros.

And somewhere in the middle of that, the Ketchum family just... moved in.

Delia left the restaurant in Pallet Town under the care of her second-in-command, like it was no big deal. "They need me here more than Pallet needs another bowl of stew," she said with a bright smile that didn't quite mask the worry in her eyes. She took over the Gym's tiny kitchenette like it was her own, filled the fridge with leftovers by the second day, and started asking the staff if they were eating enough. Ashley suspected at least two of the junior trainers were staying just for Delia's lemon tarts.

Her dad didn't seem to notice the shift. He just kept moving—morning drills, field reports, late-night check-ins with the League. He barely slept, and when he did, it was usually in his desk chair with a half-written report open on the screen and his Ranger cap tipped over his eyes.

Which left Ashley.

She didn't know when exactly it had become her Gym to run whenever he was out. Nobody asked. It just happened. Someone would poke their head into the office and say, "There's a challenger waiting," and it never occurred to anyone to say, "She's not the Leader." So she stepped in. Again and again. Until the role stopped feeling weird and started feeling... normal.

Not that she minded. Sparring with strong trainers meant her own team stayed sharp. Lucario liked the variety, even if he pretended he was above it. Her younger team members were learning fast, and there was something oddly satisfying about watching her Pokémon adapt to different strategies day after day. Plus, she got full access to the Gym's training facilities, which were way nicer than anything she'd had on the road. Hydro treadmills. Specialized terrain rooms. Even a sauna for post-battle recovery.

Somewhere in between all the chaos, she found a rhythm.

A rhythm that broke when Lt. Surge came to Viridian to host a one-week boot camp. At first, she had been excited, she had been proud to have managed to get yet another Gym Leader to mentor her.

One week. That was all it was supposed to be. A seven-day "training intensive" hosted by Lt. Surge himself — announced with way too much fanfare and a League-issued flyer that made it sound like summer camp. She should've known better the second she saw the phrase "discipline through destruction."

Still, she'd laughed. Scoffed, even. A week should've been nothing compared to what Blaine, Koga, and Brock had already put her through. Blaine had made her run mental simulations for twelve hours straight while his Magmar adjusted the temperature in the room just to make her sweat. Koga had turned every lesson into a trap-filled obstacle course that was "part of the experience." Brock... well. Brock didn't teach so much as kidnap you into his training cliffs and not let you leave until you cried uncle.