Ash Meets Scott

With the Ever Grande Conference concluded, Ash, Brock and Tomo knew it was time for them to leave May, Max and Hoenn and go back to Kanto. So now they were riding on a boat to get to Oldale Town.

"Seems like a shame that our journey in Hoenn is over now." Ash said. "But we had some great adventures here and we saw and captured lots of cool new Pokemon."

Tomo and Brock agreed with Ash.

"I liked our journey too." Max said.

"I thought it was great too." May said. "Except the trouble with Team Magma and Aqua."

It was true Team Aqua and Magma did cause trouble for the gang during their journey across Hoenn.

"Yeah but those villains are in jail now and they won't be causing trouble anymore." Ash said.

Soon the boat docked somewhere near Oldale Town and the gang was having one final picnic before they went their separate ways. Since Ash, Tomo and Brock were going back to Kanto, May and Max were going back to Petalburg City.

"I can't wait to tell dad about what we through during our journey and I also can't wait to show him my new Pokemon." Max said.

"Same here." May said. "Oh it seems like a shame that this journey is over. For some reason I feel like the ending of the journey came all too soon."

"Tomo and I felt like that when we finished traveling across Kanto, the Orange Islands and Johto and now it's the same for our Hoenn journey." Ash said. "But I wouldn't fret because there will more new journeys to look forward to. Besides I still haven't visited Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, Alola, Galar and Paldea."

"Looks like you have made plans for your next journey then Ash." Brock said.

After finishing their picnic it was time for Ash, Tomo and Brock to say goodbye to May and Max. May and Max thanked Ash, Tomo and Brock for everything and they set off for Petalburg City and Ash, Tomo and Brock boarded a ferry back to Kanto.

Meanwhile...

Jessie, James and Meowth had returned to Kanto and they were called by Giovanni because he wanted to talk to them.

"I wonder what the boss wants us for." James said.

"Probably to give us a new assignment." Jessie said.

"Maybe it's because we sent him that report of what happened to Team Aqua and Magma." Meowth said.

They sent a report about Team Aqua and Magma to Giovanni after the two teams were arrested.

"I don't know, we'll just have to see what the boss has to say." Jessie said.

When the trio entered the office, Giovanni got down to business with what he wanted to say.

"You there." He grumbled. "You said in your report that Team Aqua and Magma were arrested?"

"Yes sir, it was Lance from the G-Men and some trainers who took them down." Jessie answered.

"Ah the G-Men are a real nuisance; they keep giving me a hard time." Giovanni said.

"What do you want Jessie, Meowth and I to do sir?" James asked.

Giovanni stared at the trio.

"You three can continue gathering Pokemon." He finally said. "The Metang you sent to me were useful."

The trio was pleased to hear that.

"Yes sir." They said and then proceeded to leave the office.

"I can't believe it." Jessie said. "We came here to tell the boss what happened and we didn't get anything; no money, no Pokemon, nothing."

"Yeah and he just wants us to find more strong Pokemon to gather." James said.

Just then the trio ran into Butch and Cassidy.

"Well, well, well fancy seeing you three here." Cassidy said.

"I thought you three would have been kicked out by now." Butch said.

"Excuse me, but we haven't been kicked out thank you very much." Jessie said.

"Yeah and why would we especially since we gathered a lot of Pokemon from the Hoenn Region." Meowth said.

"Yeah we got a lot of Wurmple, Feebas, Surskit, Kecleon, Mightyena, Crawdaunt, Carvanha and Metang." James said. "And the boss was happy with the Metang."

"Hah Cassidy got rarer Pokemon than that." Butch said. "We got Bagon, Slaking, Aggron, Dusclops, Absol and we even found a lot of Pokemon fossils and they had been resurrected by the lab now."

The trio clenched their teeth; they hated it when Butch and Cassidy were one step ahead of them.

"Now if you don't mind Butch and I have a assignment with Dr. Namba." Cassidy said.

Then she and Butch left.

"Grr those two get on my nerves." Jessie said, irritated.

"Yeah and I wish we could mop the floor with their faces." James said.

"So anyhow where will we go to gather more Pokemon?" Meowth asked.

Jessie and James thought for a moment.

"Well since we are back in the Kanto region, why don't we just go around Kanto again." Jessie and James had no reason to go against that idea and they agreed, before leaving the Team Rocket headquarters.

Meanwhile...

Ash, Tomo and Brock had returned to Kanto and right now the Ketchum brothers were saying goodbye to Brock because he was going back to Pewter City.

"You two take care of yourselves." Brock said.

"Say hi to your family for us." Ash said.

Then Brock headed towards Pewter City while the Ketchum brothers and Growlithe headed off to Pallet Town.

Right now they had come to Viridian City.

"Doesn't look like Viridian City has changed much since we were last here." Tomo said.

"You're right." Ash agreed. "But there is something that has changed though."

Ash had just seen the Viridian Gym and it looked different than the last time they saw it. The building was still the same, but it had a new fresh coat of paint and it looked more beautiful and shiny; last time the boys saw it the colors of the building were pale and plain.

"Hey brother who do you think is running the gym now?" Tomo asked.

"I don't know." Ash said. "But it's not run by Team Rocket anymore that's for sure."

(Flashback)

*Sometime after Ash, Tomo, Misty and Brock went to Pallet Town after Ash obtained the Earth Badge they told Prof. Oak that the Viridian Gym was run by Team Rocket. Prof. Oak wasn't happy with what the gang said and contacted the Pokemon Inspection Agency telling them about the Viridian Gym being run by Team Rocket. The Pokemon Inspection Agency went to check it out immediately and the police were with them too. But when the agency and police arrived at the gym Giovanni, his agents and his Pokemon were not there anymore. Apparently Giovanni had found out his cover was blown and he fled the gym. So Team Rocket no longer ran the gym and a new gym leader was going to take over.*

(End flashback)

Suddenly a red sports car stopped in front of Ash and Tomo and a man got out of it.

"Hi there." The man said. "Are you two Pokemon trainers?"

"Yes we are." Ash answered.

"Well I'm Scott and I'm a agent." Scott said. "What are your names and are you here to earn Viridian Gym's badge?"

"I'm Ash and this is my brother Tomo." Ash answered. "I already have the Earth Badge and my brother here doesn't challenge the gyms; he just travels with me."

"Well then Ash you must be a very strong trainer." Scott said. "And maybe you will qualify for the Battle Frontier."

"What's the Battle Frontier?" Tomo asked.

Before Scott could answer there was a scream and a crash. A woman fell off her bicycle. Scott and the Ketchum brothers ran over to help her.

"Thank you." The woman said. "I'm afraid my bike slipped while I was taking a turn. Thank goodness I didn't land on my shopping bags."

Tomo took her shopping bags.

"Wait a minute, aren't you Agatha of the Elite Four?" Ash asked.

"Yes I am." Agatha answered. "And I'm the temporary Viridian Gym leader. A new gym leader will be taking my place in a couple months."

Agatha led Scott and the Ketcum brothers into the gym. The inside of the gym had been painted over too, so to Ash and Tomo the gym was different than when they last saw it. Agatha asked Ash if he was here to battle here for a badge.

"No, I already have the Earth Badge so there's no reason for me to challenge you to a gym battle." Ash explained.

"Why not just battle for fun?" Scott asked. "I would love to see how you battle Ash."

"I would like that too." Agatha said. "The truth is two trainers battled me yesterday. But neither of them or their Pokemon put up a good fight against me. So I need a challenger who would give me a good fight."

"Well I earned Top 4 at the Ever Grande Conference in Hoenn." Ash said. "So I will give you a good battle."

Agatha accepted the challenge and Scott couldn't wait to watch Ash.

So Agatha and Ash got ready to battle each other. Ash sent out Pikachu, Ash had swapped it for Manectric earlier and Agatha sent out Gengar. Ash knew that Pikachu's fighting and normal type moves would be useless, so he would have to stick with his electric type moves and Iron Tail.

"Pikachu let's start off with Thunderbolt." He said.

As soon as Pikachu fired Thunderbolt, Agatha told Gengar to dodge and Gengar disappeared into the floor and out again.

"Now use Shadow Ball Gengar." Agatha said.

Gengar fired Shadow Ball at Pikachu.

"Quick dodge that and use Iron Tail." Ash told Pikachu.

Pikachu jumped over the Shadow Ball and whacked Gengar really hard with Iron Tail. Scott and Agatha were impressed. Pikachu was about to try and whack Gengar with Iron Tail again, but Agatha ordered Gengar to use Double Team.

"Use Volt Tackle Pikachu." Ash said.

Pikachu charged into the multiple copies of Gengar with Volt Tackle and then charged into the real Gengar.

"Thunder." Ash said.

Before Pikachu could use Thunder though, Agatha told her Gengar to use Hypnosis. Hypnosis put Pikachu to sleep.

"Now use Dream Eater Gengar." Agatha said.

Dream Eater was a psychic type move that drains the target's HP. Gengar drained all of Pikachu's HP and it fainted. So Agatha won the battle.

"I must say Ash." Agatha said. "You are certainly a strong trainer. Although your strength doesn't compare to that of a Elite Four member."

"Yeah I'm aware." Ash replied. "I challenged Lorelei to a battle in the Orange Islands two years ago and her Slowbro defeated us with very little effort."

"I see, but then again you and Pikachu gave me a really good battle." Agatha said.

"I agree." Scott added. "And that's why I think you are perfect to participate in the Battle Frontier."

Scott explained to Ash that the Battle Frontier was made up of seven battle facilities spread throughout Kanto.

"Hang on a minute." Ash said. "I traveled through Kanto before and I never heard about the Battle Frontier."

Apparently only extremely strong Pokemon trainers can earn the right to challenge the Battle Frontier.

"Oh that's because I only reveal the Battle Frontier to very strong trainers and not beginning trainers." Scott said.

Scott then explained that the facilities each had a Frontier Brain, who were sort of like gym leaders but stronger. And if the trainer defeats a Frontier Brain he would receive a Frontier symbol, which was like a gym badge.

"The catch is though you will be told where the first six facilities are, but you will have to defeat the sixth facility to find out where the seventh is. So Ash, what do you say?"

"I say the Battle Frontier sounds wonderful." Ash said. "So I'm definitely taking the challenge."

"Yeah, it will be nice to travel around Kanto." Tomo agreed.

Pikachu and Growlithe thought it was a great idea too.

So it was agreed; Ash decided that his next journey would be through Kanto again, but to challenge the Battle Frontier this time. Scott had to leave now to see if he could find more strong trainers to challenge the Battle Frontier.

"I'll contact you again Ash." He said and then left in his car.

Ash and Tomo said goodbye to Agatha and set off for Pallet Town.