Chapter twelve (AKPKMN)

**I won't have time in the morning so I'm posting this now.**

**Review Responses:**

**Lezaroth:** For the purposes of my story the ability to have Pokemon is a difference between regional laws and if they're classified as pets owned by parents/siblings. I don't want too spoil the story, but Max will show some progress and Ash will help them some. Butler used a Groudon fossil if I remember correctly and that won't be happening in this story. Ash is pretty much just focused on ending the threat and just assumes insanity or questionable intellect/reasoning ability. Secret Power won't be a thing, Ash can make better bases without it. I'm aware of Mirage Island, but I have no plans too use it.

**John50:** No, he will not. It doesn't appeal to me, so I have trouble writing such scenes. Ash won't fight the fake Groudon. I'm glad that you like my pacing, I'm not one for filler scenes or weak characters.

**Yaw6113:** Thanks.

**SkylerHollow:** It won't change much or at all, Ash is pretty set in his ways and has a clear idea of what he wants and how to achieve it.

**longwoda:** I'm glad you like my story despite that flaw.

**Dylan-A-Friend:** Thank you.

When Ash arrived at Dewford Town he wasted no time in going to the local Gym, only getting some sleep and all of his Pokemon looked over and healed before seeking to win his next Gym Badge.

Imagine his surprise when Brawly refused to battle, preferring to surf instead.

"Can Hoenn Gym Leaders do that?!" Ash asked.

"Yes..." Max replied.

"But, Broly, it'll only take me five minutes to beat you!"

"It's Brawly!"

"Sorry, Broccoli!" Ash replied, amusing May and Max.

"How about this... we have an official battle, but if it takes longer than five minutes then I automatically lose?"

"Fine!" Brawly said in annoyance.

Both trainers took their places and the referee spoke. "This'll be a two-on-two Pokemon battle with a five minute time limit. The first trainer to lose two Pokemon loses the battle or if five minutes elapse then Ash Ketchum automatically loses. Trainers send out your first Pokemon!" The referee ordered.

"Go Machop!"

"Go Gardevoir!"

Gardevoir started it and ended with Psychic; easily blasting Machop into a wall, despite its futile attempts to dodge.

"Machop is unable to battle! Brawly send out your next Pokemon!" The referee said.

"Go Makuhita!" Brawly said, though he wasn't confident of his chances of winning.

Makuhita was quickly restrained and then subjected to Confusion and Moonblast, quickly defeating it and causing Brawly to sigh in annoyance. Brawly hated it when people used type advantages, it made for a very boring battle. Brawly stepped forward and unenthusiastically presented Ash with the Knuckle Badge and informed him that 3000 Poke dollars would be transferred into his account.

Ash decided to leave, sensing how unpopular he was here now. Brawly didn't last more than two minutes.

After wasting hours on a beach, Ash, May, and Max finally went into Granite Cave to search for stuff like Evolution Stones and other valuable objects.

It went extremely well. May found pearls and an Everstone. Max found a few Star Pieces, an Everstone, a few gems, Evolution Stones, and a Steelixite and Aggronite and the accompanying Key Stones.

"Do you want to buy them?" Max ashed in regards to the Mega Evolution objects.

"No, I already have several, but I will make sure that whoever you do sale them to pays a fair price. Those two objects are worth about 100,000 Poke dollars each. If you save and put all that into an interest bearing account and don't touch it until you retire you'll be extremely wealthy. You could contact your parents and have them handle that, but I would suggest that if you sale the Star Pieces you put the money from that into a separate interest bearing account for when you are a trainer." Max nodded, that sounded very smart.

"Wouldn't he be unable to spend it though?" May asked.

"That's the point, he builds up wealth in two accounts and prepares several decades ahead in his life. You should consider doing the same; you won't be young forever and eventually you may be too old to travel or simply just wish to settle down or retire. Even if Max loses every battle that he engages in he would still be a millionaire by age thirty and all due to wise financial management. Setting aside a set amount of wealth into an account would help secure your future. I'm twelve years old and a billionaire... but I use more ruthless business tactics. I own a casino and hotel, and a festival ground." To reinforce his point, Ash showed them the numbers in his bank account: 9,576,032 Poke dollars.

"That's just from battling and money from found items, and I haven't even sold any Mega Stones." Ash said.

That seemed to settle the matter for Max and May and they began thinking. Both wanted to be wealthy and wanted to have a happy future and that meant saving up money. Granted, May just wanted to maintain her current lifestyle and be able to eat and wear whatever she wanted, but she was still saving up money.

With Max and May focused on their own thoughts, Ash began to reflect on his loot. Ash had found a few Steelixite and Aggronite, multiple Alakazite, Sablenite, Mawilite, Everstones, and several Key Stones.

It was the Mega Stones that caught Ash's attention though... Ash suspected that long ago this was the site of a massacre that ended with massive numbers of deceased Pokemon, but that some had survived and populated the area with their descendants. It was the lack of Mega Stones for Fire-type Pokemon that caused Ash to doubt his theory. Ash was still very impressed though and had discreetly used his magic to excavate the Mega Stones and then undo any damage caused by his actions.

Ash, May, and Max were just leaving when Ash saw another person in the cave.

"Hello!" Ash called out politely. The person turned and faced Ash, it was Steven Stone; the Champion of the Hoenn region, and Ash was surprised that he actually met another champion.

"Hello," Steven returned. "You're Ash Ketchum, aren't you?"

"I am," Ash confirmed.

"I'm Steven Stone, the Hoenn Champion. I was very impressed with your performance in the Indigo and Silver Conferences."

"Thanks," Ash replied.

"I'm guessing that you had the same idea as myself and are looking for Mega Stones here."

"Yeah, I found several," Ash replied. "Ah, where are my manners. This is May and Max," Ash said gesturing to each of them as he said their names.

"Nice to meet you all," Steven said.

"Say, was there a battle here with mass Pokemon casualties? They would have all been Steel, Ghost, Psychic, and Fire if my theory is correct." Ash asked.

"Not that I know of. If there was, then it wasn't documented in any history books that I've read. Why do you ask?" Steven asked, but Steven already suspected why he had asked.

"With the Mega Stones that I found, my gut tells me that there was one and that the Pokemon here are all descended from surviving Pokemon who's trainers all died during the battle. The only thing causing doubt for me is the lack of Mega Stones from Fire-type Pokemon, but that could be due to the side with Fire-types massacring the other side and recovering any Mega Stones from fallen Pokemon on their side." Ash replied. "I've found Steelixite, Aggronite, multiple Alakazite, Sablenite, and Mawilite."

"It's a great theory and will require investigation. Would you be interested in trading away the Steelixite and Aggronite?"

"Max here found the same Mega Stones and may be interested in selling," Ash said.

After a few minutes of discussion and a call to Norman and Caroline, it was decided that Steven would transfer the money into Norman's account and that he would set Max up an account and transfer the money into it and then allow Max to be able to deposit money into it and the other account in Max's name.

"I would suggest only using them on Pokemon that you're close to and have a bond with. If your Aggron and Steelix have been with you for years, then you should be fine." Steven nodded, he and his Pokemon met both criteria.

"Would you like to have a Pokemon battle?" Steven asked. "I can test out these stones and you'll be on hand to defeat them if necessary." Steven was sure that Ash's Charizard could defeat his Aggron, he didn't have his Steelix with him though, and would need to make other arrangements for him.

"I would need to retrieve my higher leveled Pokemon. My Hoenn team is new and could likely die." Ash said. Ash also wanted to get the ideal Pokemon to ensure victory over a champion. Steven thankfully nodded in agreement. "If you can meet me outside, I'll teleport to my private island and retrieve my older Pokemon."

"Happily. I'm eager to see how you fare against me." Steven said.

"As am I. See you there." Ash said, before teleporting away.

When Ash arrived, he retrieved his Magmortar, Houndoom, Ninetails, Arcanine, Typhlosion, Gengar, and Lapras. That done, he teleported to outside Granite Cave.

Ash thankfully didn't have to wait long for Steven, May, and Max and once Steven was outside, he led them to an isolated area, perfect for battles or training.

"So, is five-on-five okay?" Steven asked. "My Aron isn't quite ready to go against Pokemon of that power."

"That's fine," Ash replied. Ash was hoping for a six-on-six, but Ash was still looking forward to the battle. Ash was confident that he could win with type advantages and strategy. "Before we start, you should know that when your Aggron Mega Evolves it becomes a pure Steel-type and gains a unique ability called Filter that powers down any super-effective moves by 25%. Your Metagross, however, gains an ability called Tough Claws which boosts the power of moves that make physical contact by 30%." Ash said, and Steven nodded, appreciating that useful bit of information.

Ash called out Charizard and Steven sent out his Aggron.

Steven was ready to test out his Aggron's new Mega Evolution now. "Aggron! Mega-Evolve!" All watched watched as power emitted from Steven's Mega Stone and Aggron and as light enveloped Aggron as he evolved into his Mega-Evolved form. Mega Aggron was under control too, and had no difficulty.

Ash gestured to Steven to start them off and Steven ordered a Hyper Beam, which Ash had Charizard meet with Dragon Claw and respond with a Fire Blast that was partly dispersed by Mega Aggron's Dragon Claw and forced Charizard to follow it up with a Flamethrower that dealt far more damage.

"Charizard! Draco Meteor!"

"Use Protect!" Steven ordered, taking the bait.

Ash followed it up with Blast Burn, and now Mega Aggron was being attacked from above and below and its Protect was quickly decimated. Mega Aggron was badly damaged from that attack, but was still standing. That Filter ability was a real nuisance, Ash mused. Ash had an advantage in power, levels, and type, but he needed to end this while Charizard still had a chance to be used later.

Mega Aggron used Thunder, but Charizard dodged it and used another Blast Burn, finally defeating Mega Aggron. Steven returned his Aggron and Ash did the same with his Charizard. "Your Charizard is at a very high level, Ash, and very well trained." Steven was thoughtful before selecting his next Pokemon, a Lucario.

"Nice. Go Gengar." Ash said, getting a raised eyebrow from Steven. "Mean Look!" Ash ordered and Steven didn't even try recalling Lucario, still feeling confident. Lucario would end up being the easiest Pokemon to beat. "Hypnosis!"

"Dodge and use Extreme Speed."

"Meet it with Shadow Punch!" Ash said. Ash watched them clash and then hastily ordered Gengar to use Hypnosis, which connected and left Lucario asleep and disabled Extreme Speed. "Use Nightmare and then Dream Eater... Throw in Toxic too." Gengar obeyed and Ash ordered it to use Hex.

They repeated this combo and soon Lucario was unable to battle.

"You're a very skilled trainer, Ash. How come you haven't challenged the Kanto or Johto Elite Four?" Steven asked, and returned his defeated Lucario. Ash returned his Gengar too.

"I'm traveling to train, gain experience, and other useful Pokemon, skills, and resources. I'll be challenging them once I'm an adult and ready to settle down." Ash replied.

"I did something similar, but traveled far less and focused only on catching a select few Pokemon." Steven said in approval. "You return your Pokemon once they win and don't give me a chance to deploy one that could trap it, clever and cautious... Go Magnezone!"

After debating with himself for a moment, he chose Houndoom over Magmortar, and suspected that one of Magnezone's moves was Mirror Coat.

Steven realized that Ash rightfully suspected that and opted to Paralyze Houndoom and then beat it into submission and finally beat one of Ash's Pokemon. If Ash had any pride and or ego, he kept both in check and he wasn't taking any chances against a champion, which was both flattering and very infuriating in equal measure. Steven was looking pretty lame right now and he had to make a strong showing despite Ash's great team. That in mind, Steven ordered a Thunder Wave and had it quickly followed by a Zap Cannon that inflicted damage on Houndoom. This battle was going well and Houndoom would soon be defeated, and then Ash ordered a Flamethrower attack and Steven ordered Mirror Coat, while hoping that Houndoom didn't have the Flash Fire ability. It did. Steven ordered more Zap Cannon's and Thunder's be used to defeat Houndoom, and his Magnezone succeeded, thankfully without Magnezone fainting or Houndoom taking advantage of Flash Fire.

Ash and Steven returned their Pokemon, with Steven imitating Ash's cautious behavior.

"Go Lapras!" Ash said, forcing Steven to send his Magnezone back out, knowing that it was the best albeit risky choice. "Sing!" Ash said, causing Steven to curse as his Magnezone wasn't fast enough to counter it. "Dream Eater!"

Steven returned his defeated Magnezone minutes later. "You are going to be near invincible once you become a champion and have greater skill, experience, and knowledge." Steven said, before sending out his Skarmory and having it use Toxic, poisoning Lapras.

Ash smirked and had Lapras use Rain Dance, healing Lapras of the poison. Steven calmly returned his Pokemon and Ash did the same with Lapras.

Ash was getting bored and sent out his Magmortar to take out some more of Steven's Pokemon or just weaken them. Steven was wondering how he could win without weakening his Metagross and leaving it as easy prey for Ash's Charizard. Steven still had a chance of winning but would have to use Skarmory and Scizor to take out Ash's Pokemon, which were all trained to higher levels then his own. Steven would have to train his Pokemon harder after this, this was quite humiliating for him. "Go Scizor! Use Bullet Punch!"

"Fire Spin!" Ash ordered, briefly catching Scizor before it retreated on Steven's order. Still, it was very close. Scizor was moments away from striking Magmortar. "Fire Blast!" Ash ordered, with Magmortar damaging Scizor, and Scizor was left unable to battle.

"I'm normally not one for insults, but you need to train less and get a girlfriend," Steven said, causing Ash to laugh. "I've had my Pokemon for over eight years and your Pokemon already surpass them in raw power. You have entirely too much free time to use for training."

"I'm only twelve, first of all. I just have a great training schedule and adhere to it. I trained on Mount Silver for months and they grew much stronger. I'm not abusing them, but I do start them small and continually work them up from there. I'm currently looking for hook-ups, but not relationships. I'd have to meet a really amazing girl to reconsider." Ash replied, while waiting for Steven to send out his Skarmory.

Steven sent out his Skarmory and Ash returned Magmortar and sent his Charizard back out. Ash's intention was clear... he wanted his Charizard to beat over half of Steven's team.

With Charizards superior power, levels, and speed, all it took was a single Flare Blitz to knock Steven's Skarmory out of the sky... one Flamethrower and Skarmory was unable to battle. Steven, Max, and May were all thoroughly awed.

Steven sent out and Mega-Evolved his Metagross, but was surprised when Ash didn't Mega-Evolve his Charizard... before realizing that Ash wanted him to prove that he was strong enough to handle it.

"Meteor Mash!"

"Flare Blitz!" Ash ordered calmly, already knowing how it would end...

Ash was proven correct when Mega Metagross was overpowered, pushed back and defeated by a single attack... shocking Steven to his core.

"H-how?" Steven asked. Steven's strongest Pokemon was just defeated with a single attack!

"My Charizard is my strongest non-Legendary Pokemon... and believe me when I say that means a lot. It's at a much higher level than your Mega Metagross." Ash said. "You used a move of weaker power against a Pokemon of a higher level using a stronger move and that had a type advantage."

Steven returned his defeated Metagross. "I need to get my Pokemon to the Pokemon Center," Steven said urgently.

"As do I," Ash said, returning his Charizard. "I'll join you."

"I guess you've already beaten the Gym Leader Brawly?" Steven asked.

"Yeah. I used my Gardevoir and swept his team." Ash replied, to Steven's surprise.

"Nice. I guess it's Mauville City for you next."

"Yeah. Did you know that Scizor and Lucario can Mega Evolve too?" Ash asked.

"I did not, but now I'll keep an eye out for the stones for them."

The rest of the walk was silent, but they soon arrived at the Pokemon Center and had their Pokemon healed.

Life since his defeat of Steven had continued to be great for Ash Ketchum. He discovered a Team Aqua and Magma operation and slew everyone involved, and took possession of the Red and Blue Orbs. Apart from training Ash had been battling trainers, training, and giving May pointers like combining moves such as Silver Wind and String Shot and suggesting that she experiment.

While training Aron evolved into Lairon, Swablu evolved into Altaria, and Vibrava evolved into Flygon.

Yet Ash still had free time and flew to route 110 to catch more Pokemon... Ash caught an Electrike, Plusle, Minun, and a Swalot. With more time to spare, Ash wiped out several more Team Aqua and Magma bases.

Ash ended up helping May to get over her first loss as a Coordinator... He also ended up driving back a Team Magma attack at the Slateport City Oceanic Museum and he would have killed all of them but there were too many witnesses. Thankfully, Team Magma didn't get the rock that they wanted.

After sweeping the team of Wattson, Ash, May, and Max all set off for Fallarbor Town with Ash still catching, training, and evolving Pokemon. Ash caught a Trapinch, Cacnea, Cacturne, Barboach, but the Barboach was quickly evolved into a Whiscash.

After defeating Wattson it was back to training for Ash and that meant getting all of his Pokemon to level 40. While training Ash's Vigoroth evolved into a Slaking, Loudred evolved into a Exploud, Grovyle evolved into a Sceptile, Marshtomp evolved into a Swampert, Combusken evolved into a Blaziken, and his Duskull into a Dusclops.

It was in the Mirage Kingdom that pushed Ash past his mental limit... Someone tried stealing his Togekiss, a Pokemon that Ash had raised from an egg and loved greatly. After crushing Hansen's Pokemon so fast that Hansen could barely blink Hansen himself was taken prisoner... which angered the army who believed his lies that it was an attack by outsiders. Ash called his Legendary Pokemon and broke the army, sparing the lives of both people and Pokemon, and he accepted the surrender of the Royal Family.

"So, an explanation is in order, I believe," Ash said to a fearful King, Queen, and Princess Sara. "I wasn't the attacker. Hansen lured other trainers with a Togepi to the Mirage Kingdom with the intention of taking one or a Pokemon from the evolutionary line to make himself the new king. His mistake was attempting to steal the Togekiss of a two time champion who is working on collecting one of every Pokemon. He lied to the army and forced me to defend myself with my Legendary Pokemon."

Some of the other trainers spoke up and confirmed that for the royals.

"So you will release us and allow us to regain our throne?" The King asked.

"After I execute Hansen, yes. I'm afraid that I'll have to insist upon that for his severe crimes." Ash said, to the disapproval of most. "Hansen nearly caused the eradication of the Mirage Kingdom... he could have angered the Hoenn, Johto, Kanto, and Sinnoh regions. Besides, the royals surrendered, making me the king and giving me the authority to do just that." The royals looked angry about that.

"Yours armies are beaten, and your soldiers, supporters, and yourself are all in chains. It will be done. This all happened due to your ignorance, incompetence, and your blind trust, so I will ensure that this never happens again. Hansen's death will serve as both a harsh warning and a lesson to others. I know that your kingdom has suffered too and will need to be rebuilt; something that I will even contribute too, but this must to be done."

Ash later beheaded Hansen personally and then left his body in the cells to be cleaned up later, and after releasing the captured soldiers, people, and royals Ash departed the Mirage Kingdom; sadly leaving his Togekiss to protect the Togepi Paradise upon her request.

"I understand that you want to stay and protect them, Togekiss... but I'll miss you," Ash said sadly, being unashamed of his tears. "I used to wonder why you stuck with me and why you weren't weakened by my presence, but then I realized that despite my many, many flaws that I was still ultimately a good albeit quite harsh person. I wasn't condemned for punishing evil with death and I do actually feel remorse for having to purge evil from this world. I've given thousands a chance to redeem themselves, and some have, but most required death to remove their threat. I'll miss you Togekiss and you'll always have a home with me and on my island if you ever want it again."

Togekiss was sad too, but glad that her daddy would be okay and was even willing to have her back. She had to do this though. The Togepi needed her help. Her daddy was a good person and he was extremely loving, but there was a small taint within his heart that had continued to lessen and eventually it would be completely gone. Togekiss would come back eventually, but only after the Togepi no longer needed her.

Togekiss looked forward to seeing her father again.

Ash, May, and Max continued traveling, but with May and Max having a different opinion of Ash. They too were shocked by Ash's willingness to kill his enemies, but it was the knowledge that Togekiss had stayed with him that caused them to also stay. That and Hansen had endangered their lives too. They weren't at all angry about Hansen's death.

May soon caught a very playful Skitty after helping to nurse it back to health and she would later win her first ribbon. Ash was annoyed when her effeminate allegedly male rival insulted and even challenged him, and Ash used his Charizard to humiliate the weak idiot and put his Pokemon in the Pokemon Center overnight. Ash derided Drew as being mediocre in actual battles; teaching the arrogant prick a valuable lesson. Drew would later find out that Ash was a two-time conference champion and would feel even more stupid. May and Ash had the last laugh though... May won her first ribbon.

Ash ended up defeating teams of Team Aqua and Magma who were seeking a meteorite for some stupid experiment. His Charizard and Pikachu were more than enough to beat those idiots... they were all beaten so easily that it didn't even merit a description. Officer Jenny quickly arrived and took them into custody, but Ash expanded his knowledge of Team Aqua and Magma by draining knowledge from their minds... he now had many more targets.

Ash later slew everyone in police custody who was infected by Team Aqua and Magma's ideology... both ideologies were an extinction-level threat and had to be purged completely.

Ash would soon have his eight badges and be able to focus on saving the world from both teams... the Heat Badge was next.