Chapter sixteen (AKPKMN)

**Review Responses:**

**keyblademeister88:** Yeah, I'm not a fan of Paul in case you can't tell.

**picnic990:** Necessity required that he overcome that educational failing. Harry mentally taxed himself too achieve that, in canon he did fine in Potions without Snivellous harassing him. In my story he simply did earlier and used his natural aptitude in DADA and memory retention in History of Magic. It took him years, not a year.

**Spectrer:** Yeah, if Cynthia doesn't fall in love with Ash then she'll at least fall in love with parts of him.

**John50:** Ash looks exactly as he does in canon apart from being more fit; a martial artist/swimmers build. Delia still gets Ash his clothes as his mother.

**Phenomenal Ultra Instinct:** Thought you might get a kick out of that.

**Yaw6113:** Thanks.

**Lezaroth:** Pikachu, Charizard, and Ash's Red Gyarados compete for dominance and remain roughly equal in power. I don't do hold items for that very reason, Ash's Pokemon would be extra OP. I always saw Paul as being unduly arrogant and ignorant about Pokemon's inner nature. If someone or something loves you then they fight and try harder for you because of that bond. I think that's why Ash has done so well despite poorly trained Pokemon in canon and this Ash realizes that too. A lot of gyms are poorly managed, but Misty had her dimwitted sisters in charge as she went too pursue her dream, Brock had his father and brother too take over, and I get your feelings about Flannery; she was improperly trained by her grandfather. I dislike Erika, the grass-type gym leader more; she refused to do her duty because Ash, a young boy, disliked perfume. Yes, Ash has those three. You'll have to wait and see what Ash does to Team Galactic.

**Dylan-A-Friend:** Thanks.

Ash was nearing the Pastoria City Gym and he was reflecting on his recent successes... Ash had beaten Cynthia, the Sinnoh Region Champion, Riolu had finally evolved into Lucario, and Ash had gotten all of his Pokemon up to level 55 while still training his Hoenn Pokemon. Ash was very productive while traveling.

Ash entered the Pastoria City Gym and stated his challenge... it quickly began.

"This will be a three-on-three Pokemon battle for the Fin Badge with no substitutions! The first trainer to lose three Pokemon will lose the battle!" The referee said. "Trainers send out your first Pokemon."

"Go Gyarados!" Crasher said.

"Go Abomasnow!" Ash replied.

"You may have the first move, Ash," Crasher said.

"Grass Whistle," Ash ordered and he watched as Gyarados was put to sleep. "Use a continuous Razor Leaf to beat Gyarados." Ash didn't like such a brutal beatdown, but it produced the desired effect a minute later.

"Gyarados is unable to battle! Crasher send out your next Pokemon!" The referee said.

Crasher sent out his Floatzel next and tried having it use Ice Fang, but that was quickly halted by Grass Whistle and Floatzel was beaten with a single Wood Hammer attack.

"Floatzel is unable to battle! Crasher send out your final Pokemon!" The referee said.

"Go Quagsire! Use Sludge Bomb!"

"Counter with Icy Wind and Razor Leaf!" Ash ordered, using a rather simple combination to counter the Sludge Bomb and slightly damage Quagsire after cutting through Quagsire's attack. "Grass Whistle," Ash ordered, liking the idea of another team sweep. A few more Razor Leaf's and Quagsire was unable to battle.

"Quagsire is unable to battle! The winner is Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"

Ash and Crasher returned their Pokemon and met in the middle of the battlefield.

"I present you with the Fen Badge, proof of your victory over me, and 4000 Poke dollars will also be transferred into your account." Crasher said.

"Thanks," Ash replied before leaving.

After training some more and winning his fifth badge off a lesser Gym Leader, Ash learned of the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition... and Death suggested that Ash go for his own good. Ash thankfully had plenty of time to challenge Byron... but Ash really wanted to leave early.

As a compromise Ash had his level 70 Flareon sweep Byron's entire team to get that over with.

After arriving and registering for the tournament, Ash was given a piece of paper with a number on it and went to find his partner for the competition.

Unfortunately for Ash that partner was Paul who was being rude, aggressive, and disrespectful as usual.

"What's your problem?" Ash asked in annoyance.

"I have you for a partner!"

"That's a good thing. I can do all the work and you can be useless and plot your next huge embarrassing failure while I win the tournament for you. I'm the only one of us who has a genuine reason to be angry... I'm paired with a mediocre trainer who's never placed beyond Top 16!" Ash was loud when he said that, adding to Paul's humiliation. "Just relax, take notes, and be nice, Paul."

Ash and Paul were first pitted against two trainers with a Magmar and Rhyhorn.

Paul sent out his Chimchar and Ash sent out his Typhlosion. Paul wanted to power Chimchar up with fire attacks so Ash had his Typhlosion one-hit Rhyhorn with a Solar Beam, leaving Rhyhorn unable to battle and shocking Paul, their opponents, and the viewers with Typhlosion's speed in generating such an attack and its sheer power.

After Chimchar was powered up and was unable to deal the finishing blow, Ash had his Typhlosion blast Magmar into a wall with Hyper Beam and causing Paul to glare at Ash.

"Just stay out of my way! Chimchar could have beaten that Magmar!" Paul said before returning Chimchar and walking away.

"Not without severely injuring himself and you should take your own advice, amateur hour!" Ash replied.

Ash resigned himself to monitoring Paul, his thoughts of brutally training Chimchar were very concerning, and Ash kept an eye out for abuse. Ash recording it would later prove to be a very wise decision on his part.

Paul would use potentially lethal force upon Chimchar. A Hyper Beam from Paul's Torterra, Thunder from Elekid, Focus Blast from Ursaring, and a Shadow Ball from Murkrow. Chimchar could have suffered major damage to his vital organs, damage his ability to produce fire attacks, become crippled, or even all of the above. Having acquired the evidence, Ash showed it to Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny, and Professors Rowan and Oak.

"It's concerning that I've missed this; there is a clear disregard for his Pokemon's lives, health, and long-term well-being. Furthermore, Paul hasn't even made any notable achievement or progress with a collection of Pokemon which implies that he discards them, that some may have died, or have been abandoned while injured. There is no proof of it though so Chimchar can only be take from him and Paul can be placed under watch and probation while an investigation begins." Rowan said. "He has a previous warning on his record too."

Ash, Joy, Jenny, and Professor Oak all nodded.

"I'll check the others for signs of abuse; emotional, mental, and physical," Joy said sadly.

"I'll question Paul with a Psychic-type on-hand to verify his answers, but this will also remove Ash and Paul from the tag battle competition," Jenny added, glancing at Ash to see his reaction.

"That doesn't matter," Ash replied. "I could win it alone if I wanted, but I'm far more concerned about Paul's Pokemon's well-being."

"Perhaps you could take custody of Chimchar," Rowan suggested, to Oak's approval. "You have a history of rehabilitating abused Pokemon or delegating the responsibility where needed. Your test scores were truly perfect and you could probably become a human and Pokemon Doctor if you really wanted too."

"I can do that," Ash agreed, not minding the task. Chimchar had a lot of potential that Ash could unlock.

The call was ended and Officer Jenny and Ash left to get Paul.

They arrived minutes later... Jenny and Ash wasted no time in approaching Paul and his group of Pokemon.

"Paul?" Jenny asked, causing Paul to become nervous. "You are under arrest for Pokemon abuse." Paul knew better than to resist, but he was enraged.

"You went crying to Officer Jenny because I was mean to you?" Paul asked mockingly, looking at Ash.

"No. I informed Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, and Professor Rowan of your endangering of Chimchar's life with potentially lethal attacks from multiple Pokemon. You're under probation, watch, and your Trainer License might even be suspended or revoked. For the record your rudeness is more sad and pathetic than actually offensive; especially since everyone knows what a failure you are."

"Please return your Pokemon, Paul," Jenny said firmly.

Paul snorted in derision, but he obeyed the order and handed them to Officer Jenny and allowed himself to be taken into custody.

"Ketchum, you may take his Pokemon to Nurse Joy and carry out Professor Rowan's orders," Jenny said.

"Will do," Ash replied.

It turned out that Paul's Pokemon had all been abused, but they were also fully healed afterward and Paul had released some Pokemon while they were badly injured. Paul saw nothing wrong with his behavior and he referred to it as his method of training... Officer Jenny and the Pokemon League were neither amused nor impressed, and Paul was put on five years probation and would be monitored by a league official assigned to travel with him.

Chimchar would be fine and he would merely require a days rest and though Paul would be infuriated to learn that Chimchar was 'taken' from him, his new babysitter would explain that Paul was deemed a threat to Chimchar's life and that Paul was lucky not to be in prison for ten years or more.

As for the tag battle competition, Dawn and Conway both won.

"Congratulations Dawn, Conway," Ash said politely.

"Thanks Ash!" Dawn replied.

"Yes. Thank you," Conway said. "Pity that we couldn't battle you and your partner."

"Yes. Battling you two would have been interesting and fun." Ash agreed. "Paul abused his Pokemon and he put his Chimchar's life in danger while trying to force out its full potential. I'll be rehabilitating Chimchar and training him myself. It also removed me as a side-effect but it was worth it to save an innocent Pokemon." Ash paused. "Besides, it wouldn't have been fair to anyone if I used two of my Pokemon and competed without a partner," Ash added teasingly.

"We would have beaten you," Dawn said. "Conway is a great trainer and strategist!"

"I know. I study my opponents." Ash replied. "Seriously though, I would have won. I was using my older and infinitely more powerful Pokemon to keep my Sinnoh team under wraps. But yes, Conway is a great trainer and strategist. Which, I assure you, means a lot coming from a trainer of my level. Elite Four or maybe even Champion-level potential for your boyfriend there."

"He's not my boyfriend!" Dawn replied, as she and Conway blushed.

"Is he a *boy*?" Ash asked.

"Yes..." Dawn replied in mild confusion.

"Is he your *friend*?"

"Yes..."

"So he's your boyfriend," Ash said, causing Dawn to look annoyed. "Okay, enough teasing. I just wanted to congratulate you both and wish you luck in the future."

"Thanks!" Dawn replied.

"Thank you," Conway replied.

After saying their goodbyes, Ash had Alakazam teleport him back to Canalave City.

With Ash's knowledge, he quickly realized that the level 47 Chimchar had a mental block preventing his evolution; his doubts about Paul caring for him, distrust of Paul, resentment of Paul, and Chimchar's own mild fear of his own great latent power. Ash not only helped Chimchar past his trauma but had also evolved Chimchar into a mighty Infernape that was level 65.

A testament to Infernape's power was that he had only just recently swept the Gym Leader Candice's entire team and only had any trouble with her Medicham. Infernape wanted to prove himself to Ash and he did. Ash was very proud of him.

Infernape also battled Regigigas and barely defeated it, but did defeat a shiny Metagross that Ash caught afterward.

After that, it was back to training for Ash's eighth and final gym badge and traveling to work on the Pokedex while heading towards Sunnyshore City...

Ash had just caught a territorial Aggron when he received a call on his Xtransceiver... it was Professor Rowan.

"Hello, Professor," Ash said politely.

"Hello, Ash. I was wondering if you would be attending a Pokémon Summer Academy that I'm hosting."

"Sorry, no. I'm too busy and I'm focused on training what could be my strongest team for a first conference team. Sorry Professor, but Sinnoh is on my list of essential conference wins and I've got a lot of momentum going for me." Ash replied.

Rowan nodded in understanding. "I saw the entry of you catching Regigigas and a shiny Metagross, very impressive."

"Thanks. I try keeping my eyes and ears open for Legendaries, rares, and shiny Pokemon." Ash replied. "I do appreciate the invite though, but I can't make it."

"I understand. You want to train, battle, and catch Pokemon." Rowan said.

After saying their goodbyes, Ash continued on his journey... only interrupting his progress when hearing about a Darkrai and Cresselia in Canalave City, both of which Ash battled and caught, and caught another Metagross that was causing trouble.

With his Pokemon at level 70 Ash was ready to battle Volkner and was already resigned to a possible easy victory.

"I've come for a gym battle," Ash informed the computer. Ash was annoyed when a hatch opened and he saw that it contained a lot of Gym Badges... Ash responded by hacking the gym to speak with the Gym Leader.

"Yes?" A voice asked in annoyance.

"I've come for a gym battle, not to be given badges," Ash said.

"I don't battle anymore."

"Then you're in the wrong profession, but until you officially resign I expect a battle," Ash replied, annoyed by Volkner's refusal.

"No." Volkner replied.

"Did you start giving badges away when every new trainer beat you with their new starters?" Ash asked mockingly.

The response was an angry silence.

"Or did you just lose so much that giving away badges seemed like the logical away to avoid suffering a humiliating defeat every day?"

"Did you develop performance issues?" Ash asked, smirking.

"I'll battle you and defeat you... once you're done wasting my time you won't be so cocky." Volkner replied.

"I'm Ash Ketchum, three time conference champion, and the only reason that I didn't just take a badge is because I actually have some dignity and self-respect..." Having said that and having shocking Volkner in the process, Ash entered the gym and went to the battlefield.

"This will be a four-on-four Pokemon battle for the Beacon Badge with no substitutions! The first trainer to lose three Pokemon will lose the battle!" The referee said. "Trainers send out your first Pokemon."

"Go Luxray!"

"Go Garchomp!"

"Use Double Team and then Iron Tail!" Volkner ordered.

"Sandstorm to destroy the copies," Ash said and the copies were erased. "Now, Dragon Claw!" Garchomp struck Luxray, causing to cry out before getting launched into a wall from the force behind the blow.

"Luxray is unable to battle! Gym Leader Volkner, please send out your next Pokemon."

Volkner sent out Jolteon next but it didn't stand a chance... Garchomp tanked a Shadow Ball before quickly defeating Jolteon with Dragon Rush.

"Go Electivire! Use Ice Punch!"

"Use Dig!" Ash ordered, and his Garchomp quickly tunneled into the ground. "Use Sandstorm!" Garchomp obeyed and Electivire had its sight significantly hindered. "Now! Surface and use Dragon Rush!" Ash said and Garchomp happily obeyed, knocking Electivire back but not defeating it. "Barrage it with Dragon Claws!"

"Electivire is unable to battle! Gym Leader Volkner, please send out your final Pokemon."

"You're doing a great job defeating me!" Ash said sarcastically.

Volkner smirked. "I didn't expect to lose this badly, I'll admit that. My Raichu should defeat your Garchomp though."

"Don't feel too bad. I've been sweeping the teams of Gym Leaders with one Pokemon per gym." Ash replied, shocking Volkner. "Honestly? You should just forfeit. I have four Pokemon left to your one and you'll only be causing your Raichu to suffer needlessly."

Volkner thought about it before surrendering.

"Well, I'm pleasantly surprised. I was bored of all the easy victories and it turned out that I was easily beaten by a trainer that I wouldn't have battled under normal circumstances. I'll get stronger though and then I will be accepting any future challenges." Volkner said as Ash returned his Garchomp and walked to meet in the center of the battlefield.

"I present you with the Beacon Badge, proof of your victory over me, and and 8000 Poke dollars will also be transferred into your account." Volkner said.

"Thanks, Volkner. I hope you get some good battles soon." Ash replied.

After saying their goodbyes, Ash departed the Sunyshore City Gym.

After having his Pokemon checked-out and healed, Ash trusted his instincts and then traveled by foot some more... it paid off quite well.

Ash caught a Heatran that knew Eruption... it was a hard battle considering Heatran's high level but Ash managed to catch it.

Ash now had seven months to train for the Lily of the Valley Conference... Naturally, Ash focused solely on training. All of his Sinnoh Pokemon were now at level 100 and that made Ash very very proud. At this rate, Ash would have plenty of extremely powerful Pokemon to choose from and that he could use to win him further championships. Sadly Ash was requested by Death to intervene in Celestic Town and protect the Lustrous Orb from Team Galactic.

Ash was truly fortunate that he had made the purging of criminal organizations an art form.

Ash scouted the buildings near the Historical Research Center for Team Galactic members, catching one allowed him to learn and then counter any plans that they had.

Ash ended up catching dozens of the losers, and some were on the actual Research Center's property. Ash was extremely pleased with himself and had even lifted the name of Team Galactic's leader from Saturn's mind. That made destroying Team Galactic all too easy for Ash.

It took Ash a mere few days to slaughter the entire team... killing thousands, ripping knowledge from their minds, taking resources, assets, and secrets. None survived Ash's brutal purge.

Imagine Ash's surprise when Death spoke to him once more, but to reward him.

*"You have done better then even we expected, Ash. None of them draw breath and they can do more evil to this world and to its inhabitants..."* Death spoke. *"But now, for purging an entire nation of evil, we give you a great reward... an Arceus from a world that was recreated by Cyrus, and also a Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Uxie, Mesprit, Azelf, Phione, Manaphy, Shaymin, Bonsly, Mime Jr., Happiny, Chingling, Munchlax, Leafeon, and a Glaceon. Once your Buneary evolves into Lopunny you will have completed the Sinnoh Pokedex."*

"Thank you. What happened to this other world though?"

*"It was erased and the surviving Pokemon will all be relocated, but those worlds already had their own native Legendaries so we awarded many to you. These captures were registered within your Pokedex and spaced out to keep Professor Rowan ignorant. Legendaries can be captured, but capturing the primary Pokemon with duties is considered an unforgivable crime... a crime which only two have done. Rick has died but we have one more task for you in Sinnoh... you must battle another user of Legendary Pokemon and this user will die if he loses and his Legendary Pokemon will all be freed. Humans used to respect the Legendaries but they have forgotten to and have subjugated them for trivial battles against each other... an example must be made and you, Chosen One, shall be our sword and shield and will remind the humans that the Legends are not their toys."*

In another world where Ash wasn't a reincarnation of Harry Potter, he would have refused, but not in this world... "I will strive to defeat this opponent and free the Pokemon then."

Having said and done all it needed too, Death withdrew from Ash's mind.

It was back to training for Ash now and he intended to strengthen his Pokemon even further...

It was during this time that Buneary had finally evolved and Ash had finally completed the Pokedex... national completion of the Pokedex. That was a huge accomplishment for Ash and was one that Ash would be able to fully celebrate after the Lily of the Valley Conference was done.

It was with great eagerness that Ash left to compete in the Lily of the Valley Conference.