"Huh?" Ash pondered. He was surprised that hitting the floor after jumping off of a giant Pokémon felt like landing on a fluffy bed.

"Fro..."

Ash turned to look at the source of the mysterious croak. He saw what appeared to be a Pokémon. It was small and blue, and had a gummy foam-like substance around its neck.

Ash got off of the "pillow" that was made out of the same material as whatever was on this Pokémon's neck and got down on one knee in order to take a better look at it.

"Did... did you just save me?" He asked, his voice full of bewilderment.

The Pokémon simply nodded.

"ASH!!!" Three voices boomed all at once, quickly catching Ash's attention. Professor Kukui, Professor Cerise and Chloe rushed over to him with faces filled with both worry and anger.

"That's THREE times your recklessness caused you bodily harm!" Professor Kukui scolded.

Ash sighed. "Sorry, Professor..." he said. "But I couldn't let that Water Pokémon or Pikachu get hurt..."

"I don't understand!" Chloe said. "You could've gotten... seriously hurt! All for a Pokémon you don't even know?!"

"Yes!" Ash exclaimed, a sense of pride in his voice.

"Ash..." Professor Kukui said. "That was irresponsible, stupid, reckless, incredibly dangerous, and... and..." he paused for a second. "And the bravest thing I have ever seen a boy your age do!"

"What?!" Chloe asked.

"He's not wrong..." Professor Cerise said. "Someone who's willing to risk his life for the sake of another, person or Pokémon, is someone that I can trust..."

Ash smiled.

"Just... next time you Tackle a problem like this don't Dragon Rush into it without thinking..." Professor Kukui insisted. "I don't want you to get hurt..."

"Does he ever stop with the move puns?" Chloe murmured.

"You got it, Professor..." Ash replied.

"Okay. Now that this is all over, please follow me..." Professor Cerise said. Ash, Pikachu, Kukui and the blue Pokémon who saved Ash walked back to Cerise Laboratories.

Chloe sighed. "Where are you, Goh?"

.......................................................................

"Alright..." Professor Cerise said while fiddling with some of the equipment in his lab. "Since you're planning on challenging the Pokémon Masters League, you must be brought to speed on how it works..."

"What's to learn?" Ash asked. "You just go around the Region, collect 8 Gym Badges, enter the tournament, breeze your way through the Preliminary rounds and have the best time of your life battling through the victory tournament! It's not my first time challenging a League, y'know..."

"Pika Pika!"

"I see you know much about ordinary Pokémon Leagues..." said Professor Cerise. "But the Pokémon Masters League is NOT an ordinary League..."

"Huh? How come?" Ash asked.

"While there are still Gym Battles, there aren't Gyms, per say..." Professor Cerise explained. "I heard that this League, since it's been 100 years since Pasio was erected and the League established, there are no requirements in order to enter the preliminary rounds. But you should still collect Gym Badges and battle Trainers... if you want to stand a chance against everybody else...
Plus, there is another ranking system. With each Trainer you battle, you either gain or lose points according to the outcome of the Battle. You win, you gain points. You lose, you lose points. Battling Gym Leaders and obtaining their badges is the best way to gain a huge number of points. And the more points you have, the more likely you are to win in the League itself..."

"That's great!" Ash said, hoping that he understood everything. "But how do I know how many points I have?"

"You go to your online Pokémon League account..." a voice said from behind them. The three men and the two Pokémon present turned their heads towards the source of the voice. It was Goh, who had FINALLY arrived.

"Ah! Goh!" Professor Cerise said with a happy tone. "Thank you for finally showing up..."

"Sorry, Prof..." Goh said, shrugging his shoulders. "I was trying to identify a strange weather anomaly, which I thought could've been the Legendary Pokémon Lugia..."

Ash stared blankly at Goh for a moment. "What did he just say?"

"It's not important..." Professor Cerise said. "What is important is that now that my two research assistants are here, you can go on your Journey..."

"ALRIGHT!" Ash jumped.

"PIKA PIKA!"

"But not before I give you two something important..." Professor Cerise said.

"Ah... man..." Ash said, disappointed.

Goh gave a slight chuckle. "I like this guy already..." he said. "You know what? I'll allow it..."

"Allow what?" Ash asked.

"Allow you to be my friend!"

"You have a very weird definition of how you make friends..." Ash said. The two boys then started chuckling.

"Okay... this is what I need you to have..." Professor Cerise grabbed two Poké-Balls from his right pocket and two phones from his left pocket. He threw the Poké-Balls in the air and out came two Pokémon. They were small and orange and were covered by a light blue, semi-transparent aura.

"ROTOM!" They cried.

"Here, these are yours..." Professor Cerise said before handing Ash and Goh the smartphones. "Like Goh said, you can use this to access your Pokémon League account and see your points..." he explained. "It will also have a built-in Pokédex if you just stretch out your hands forward a bit..."

Ash and Goh looked at each other and then did what they were told. The two Rotom then flew towards their smartphones and fused with them.

"Wow! Awesome!" Ash exclaimed.

"Pikachu!"

"Neat!" Goh said.

"Hmm... Rotom merging with portable tech to create an intractable Pokédex...?" Professor Kukui murmured while scratching his chin. "Interesting..."

"Finally, the last thing before you can go..." Professor Cerise pulled out three Poké-Balls from a nearby table. He threw them up and in a flash of blue light, three Pokémon appeared.

"Since Goh doesn't have a Pokémon of his own, you can choose one of these three..." Professor Cerise said. "On your left is Charmander, a Fire type..."

"Char!" Charmander growled softly.

"In the center is Bulbasaur, a Grass type..."

"Bulba!" Bulbasaur also growled.

"And to your right is Squirtle, a Water type..."

"Squirtle!" Squirtle cried.

Ash's eyes lit up at the sight of these three Pokémon. He might not have gotten to choose any of them, but that did not mean he didn't get a rush of nostalgia to the beginning of his Journey. Especially while looking at Charmander.

"Awesome!" Ash said. "So... who're you gonna choose, Goh?"

"Hmm..." Goh took a step forward. He carefully inspected each one of the three Pokémon that were in front of him. Then, with a smile on his face he finally spoke. "I choose... Mew!"

"WHAT?!" Everybody in the room exclaimed, clearly shocked by Goh's 'choice'.

"That's right! I want my first Pokémon to be Mew!" He clarified. "And before you say that it's impossible, that Mew is just a myth and that even if it did exist it's impossible to catch... I don't wanna hear it! I know what I'm doing! And I know that I saw Mew back when I was at Professor Oak's Summer Camp!"

"Huh?!" Ash said as soon as he heard Professor Oak's summer camp. He and Pikachu looked at each other, perplexed.

"If you want to call me crazy or just a dreamer like Chloe's been calling me for the past like... 4 or 5 years... go ahead! But I won't give up!" Goh said. "It's my future! And I can feel it in the palm of my hand!"

After a few moments of silence, Goh heard something that sounded like clapping. He turned around and saw Ash and Pikachu clapping.

"I can definitely see why Professor Cerise wanted you to be his other research assistant..." he said before walking towards Goh. "Dream big, buddy. And never give up on your dream! And if things get too hard, you can count on me and Pikachu to help ya! Right, Pikachu?"

"Pika Pikachu!" That was a yes.

Goh was about to say that he doesn't need his help, but hesitated. Something about Ash told him that not only he meant what he was saying, but that he [Goh] will not want to pass on this offer.

Goh smiled widely and shook Ash's hand. "Much appreciated, friend..." he said.

"Right!" Ash replied. "Now let's not waste any more time! LET'S GO!"

.......................................................................

Ash and Goh were walking around the outskirts of Centra City. Goh was looking for Mew and Ash was looking for a Battle. Little did they know, a certain blue Pokémon was watching over them.

"So where do you wanna go first?" Goh asked Ash.

"I wanna challenge the Gym Leader!" Ash exclaimed him and Pikachu giving a light skip.

"Pika Pika!"

"Good luck with doing that today..." Goh said wrapping his arms behind his head.

"Why's that?"

"Cause the Gym Leaders in the PML are just like us. They travel from town to town doing grownup stuff and train with their Pokémon. So it's never guaranteed that you'll find 'em here..."

"Well, it's also not guaranteed that I won't, right?" Ash asked, confident as always.

Goh was about to say something when they both heard a loud thundering noise. The boys (and Pikachu) looked over to where the sound was coming from and saw giant lightning sparks coming out of the ground from a nearby forest clearing.

"Check it out..." Ash said as he stared in awe.

"Pika..."

"That is some Electric attack..." Goh replied. "I wonder what could be causing it..."

"Well whatever it is, I'm gonna go check it out!" Ash replied as he started to run towards the clearing.

"WHA...?!" Goh said before noticing Ash had already took off to the clearing. "Hey! Wait for me!"

Oh! And wait for that blue Pokémon that's following you, Ash. Trust me, you won't regret it!

.......................................................................

We cut to the source of the lightning surge. Unsurprisingly, it was a Pokémon. It was yellow, small and appeared to have an electrical outlet on the top of its head.

The Pokémon, Elekid, was spinning its arms quickly and releasing the electricity from the outlets on its head. It appeared that Elekid was doing so to weaken the bird Pokémon that were surrounding it.

"Now, go! Poké-Ball!" Exclaimed a young man that was next to Elekid. He had messy purple(ish) hair and black eyes.

The Trainer threw his Poké-Ball at one of the bird Pokémon. The Poké-Ball transformed it into a form of red, energy-like mist before sucking it inside. The Poké-Ball shook once. Twice. A third time...

But then the Pokémon broke free of the Poké-Ball and flew away.

The boy seemed less disappointed than you'd think, as he simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey!" Ash called out to the Trainer. He looked back at him, annoyed, but became even more annoyed once Ash bumped into him.
The bump wasn't serious, neither parties fell to the ground or got injured, but it was still embarrassing. Especially for Ash who seemed to be unable to hold his excitement for long enough to stay on his feet for more than five minutes. It was like the fourth time he acted clumsy in one day.

"Sorry about that..." Ash apologized. Pikachu quickly caught up to his buddy and jumped up to his shoulder.

The Trainer huffed before giving Ash and Pikachu a menacing look. "I'd advice you and your Pikachu to stay out of my way!" He snapped.

"Hey, I didn't know anyone was out here but us. Really!" Ash replied.

"Well... looks like it was his Elekid who launched that Electric attack..." Goh commented, finally catching up to Ash.

"Anyway, I've got a question for you..." Ash said. "Um, you haven't by any chance seen a Gym Leader around here, have you?"

"No." The Trainer replied in a monotone voice. He then looked at Ash's Pikachu. "You really think this Pikachu's good enough?"

"Huh?!" "Pika?!" Ash and Pikachu looked half confused and half offended.

"Trust me, I know a weak Pokémon when I see one..." he replied. "Don't you think you'd be a lot better off catching the best Pokémon you can...?"

"And I suppose YOU cab tell which one's the strongest?!" Ash snapped, a little angered by his statement.

The Trainer smirked. "I happen to have a natural talent for picking the best Pokémon possible of any species..." he grabbed a Poké-Ball from his pocket. "Observe!" He threw his Poké-Ball high in the air and released one of his Pokémon.

"CHIMCHAR!" It cried out.

"It's a Chimchar!" Goh exclaimed.

"Chimchar?" Ash said in a confused tone. He took out his newly acquired Rotom-Phone and used the Pokédex to scan Chimchar.

Chimchar, the Chimp Pokémon
A Fire type

Chimchar easily climbs the sheerest of walls and lives on mountain tops. When it sleeps, its flames go out.

"Wow!" Said the Trainer. "If you a have a Pokédex than you MUST know that you can check what moves your Pokémon have with it. And that's just what I do!
"I figure that if you do that from the beginning, it'll save you a bunch of grief in the long run. Surely, you must know that..."

"Yes, I do know that!" Ash said, annoyed at the Trainer's condescending tone. "And don't call me Shirley! My name's Ash!"

Goh facepalmed. After recovering he spoke; "That sure is a weird way to treat Pokémon... and that's coming from me!"

The Trainer scoffed. "I wouldn't want to catch a Pokémon who only knows Scratch and Growl from the start. It'd be a waste of my time..."

"Yeah, know what I think?!" Ash snapped. "Any Pokémon can be strong if you Train 'em!"

"Pika!"

The Trainer scoffed again and chuckled a bit.

"What are you laughin' at?!" Ash asked, annoyed.

"You'll find out..." he replied. "So from your Rotom-Phone I assume that you're taking part in the Pokémon Masters League. I was looking for an excuse to raise my points... wanna battle?"

"Let's do it!" Ash enthusiastically replied.

"Alright, let's each use two Pokémon..."

"Huh?" Ash looked nervous.

"A two-on-two Battle is the best way to start off your march towards the big Leagues. It also shows what kind of Pokémon a Trainer has much better than a one-on-one..." the Trainer explained.

"I know that..." Ash said. "But I only have Pikachu with me..."

"YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" The Trainer exclaimed. "Talk about pathetic..." he murmured. "Elekid, Chimchar, let's go find someone worth our time..."

And with that, the Trainer started to walk away.

At the last second before he walked away completely, a gummy foam-like substance came flying from nowhere and hit the ground in front of the Trainer.

Everybody looked confused until they saw the same Pokémon that saved Ash before, jump out of a nearby tree and land in between Ash and the Trainer.

"Fro! Froakie Kie Fro!"

"Huh? You again...?" Ash wondered out loud before checking his Pokédex again.

Froakie, the Bubble Frog Pokémon
A Water type

From its chest and back, Froakie creates bubbles called Frubbles, which act as a cushion and soften the blow of an opponent's attack.

"Froakie?" Ash murmured.

"Hey! I remember you!" Goh exclaimed. "Professor Cerise always tried giving it away to new Trainers as their partner Pokémon, but they always came back a few days later claiming that it was too much to handle..."

"Is this thing yours?" The Trainer asked.

"Uh... I'm not sure..." Ash said.

Froakie then looked at Ash. The moment their eyes met, something clicked. He felt that the two were somehow... linked. This was a feeling Ash never experienced before. Even so, Ash was willing to listen to his gut, and to what he felt were Froakie's wishes.

"I... I mean yeah! Froakie's my Pokémon!"

The Trainer grinned. "Very well... let's do it!"

.......................................................................

After connecting their Rotom-Phones, a projection of the Battle Scoreboard was being displayed in the middle of the forest clearing the two competing Trainers were in.

Goh decided to act as Referee, so he walked to the center of the clearing.

"The Pokémon Masters battle between Ash and... uh... what's your name again?" Goh asked.

"It's Paul!"

"Okay..." Goh cleared his throat. "This Pokémon Masters battle will be between Ash and Paul! This will be a Two-on-Two battle. Substitutions are allowed. When both of either Trainer's Pokémon are unable to continue, the Battle will be over! Now send out your Pokémon!"

"Chimchar! Stand by for Battle!" Paul exclaimed. Chimchar, who was already out of its Poké-Ball, ran to the Battlefield.

"A Fire type, huh..." Ash murmured. "Kay, let's see what you can do, Froakie! I choose you!" He exclaimed, causing Froakie to hop to the Battlefield.

The two Pokémon gave each-other a friendly smile and nodded. They were determined to have fun.

"3...
2...
1...
Battle Begin!" Goh exclaimed.

.......................................................................

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmEOuiVhP9U

"Let's get this show on the road, Froakie! Use Water Pulse!" Ash commanded.

Without wasting a moment, Froakie leaped into the air. It then put its hands in front of its body and formed a light blue ball of energy in between them. It then pushes the ball with its hands, slightly making it smaller. It then throws the orb at Chimchar.

"Dodge it..." Paul said in a monotone voice.

Chimchar obeyed as it backfliped away from the energy sphere, which exploded into a wave of water when it collided with the ground. Fortunately for Paul, it only left a wet mark on the ground and didn't hit Chimchar.

"Use Flame Wheel..." Paul commanded, once again without a shred of emotion in his voice.

Chimchar looked a bit concerned because of the close-range attack but obeyed nonetheless. Chimchar jumped into the air and somersaults. The flame on its tail then extended and coveted its entire body. Chimchar then began to roll towards Froakie.

'Woah! It's fast!' Ash thought to himself. "I gotta slow it down... use Bubble!"

Froakie released several clear bubbles from its mouth at Chimchar. The bubbles not only put Chimchar's Flame Wheel out but also hit Chimchar pretty hard. The Chimp Pokémon was sent flying towards a tree and hit it with enough force to cause some of the outer layer of the trunk to break away. Chimchar then slid to the ground, its eyes now spirals.

"Chimchar is unable to battle!" Goh exclaimed. One of the Poké-Balls on Paul's side of the scoreboard lost its color.

Paul grimaced as he returned Chimchar to its Poké-Ball. "That's all you got?!" He barked. "I expected more from you!"

Ash and Goh looked at Paul a little concerned. Before letting them a chance to form their thoughts though, Paul spoke.

"Elekid! Stand by for Battle!"

Elekid did as it was told and enthusiastically rushed towards the Battlefield. Unlike Chimchar, Elekid looked at Froakie with disgust, and it seemed that it was looking forward to pummeling Froakie.

"Kay, Froakie, Elekid's an Electric type so look out!" Ash said.

Froakie nodded.

"Use Water Pulse, once more!"

Just like last time, Froakie leaped into the air and fired a sphere of energized water at Elekid.

Paul, once again, looked undeterred. "Protect..."

Elekid raised its hands and formed a turquoise force field in front of its body, protecting it from Froakie's Water Pulse.

"Thunder..." Paul commanded.

Elekid started to spin its arms at a fast speed, causing blue sparks to emerge from its outlet-like horns. It then released a beam of light blue electricity from one of its arms at Froakie. Before either Ash or Froakie could react, Froakie was hit, resulting in a small explosion.

After a few seconds, Froakie fell to the ground from the cloud of smoke that was caused by the explosion, its eyes now spirals.

"Froakie is unable to battle!" Goh exclaimed.

"Froakie!" Ash rushed towards his injured friend and picked it up in his arms. Slowly but surely, Froakie opened its eyes. Ash smiled. "You were awesome Froakie... you deserve a good rest..."

"I think I figured out your Battle style..." Paul said. "You cover up your weak attacks by pushing, and when you combine that with a lame-o strategy like yours, I can't help but feel sorry for any Pokémon that gets stuck with a lousy Trainer like you..."

After placing Froakie safely on the ground, Ash looked at Paul, his face dead serious. He didn't reply to Paul's insults, he simply looked at him, turned the visor of his cap 180° and then turned to Pikachu.

"Let's show him who he's calling a lousy Trainer!" Ash exclaimed, his voice booming with determination.

"PIKACHU!"

"Pikachu! I choose you!" Ash exclaimed, causing Pikachu to run towards the Battlefield. Once he got there, sparks shot out of his cheeks.

Paul looked unimpressed, but Goh? He felt genuinely inspired by the sheer amout of raw energy Ash was producing without even trying.

"Let's starts things off with our signature attack! Use Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded.

After Pikachu leaped into the air, his cheeks crackled with yellow electricity before releasing a powerful bolt of yellow electricity from his body at Elekid.

Pikachu's Thunderbolt hit Elekid straight in the face, and even though it looked like Elekid was struggling to stand its ground, at the end of the day, that Electric attack didn't do much.

"Thunder! Go!" Paul commanded.

Elekid fired a beam of light blue electricity at Pikachu.

Just like when Thunderbolt hit Elekid, Pikachu struggled a bit to stand his ground, but didn't sustain a lot of damage in the end.

"You alright, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

"Pika!" Pikachu replied, basically claiming that it was no biggy.

"There's a reason I let you go first..." Paul said, smirking.

"Oh yeah?! And why's that?"

"Cause I'm smart... I was able to see what move your Pikachu knew before coming up with a counter-strategy..."

"We'll see how smart you are! Quick Attack!"

Pikachu's body became outlined in light blue aura and it charged at Elekid with incredible speed, moving so fast it appeared to be leaving behind two after-images.

"Elekid! Protect!"

Elekid raised a force-field which protected itself from Pikachu's Quick Attack. When Pikachu collided with the force field, he bounced back.

"Are we done yet?" Paul asked in a condescending tone.

"Not by a long shot! Right Pikachu?"

"PIKA!"

"It's hopeless... give up!"

"NO WAY!" Ash shouted. "It's not over! And I NEVER give up 'till it's over! Iron Tail!"

Pikachu's tail glowed white as a light-blue outline surrounded it. Pikachu then started rushing towards Elekid.

"Use Brick Break!" Paul commanded.

One of Elekid's arms glowed white and it slamed its hand down onto Pikachu. Pikachu however was able to swing its tail onto Elekid's hand, causing both moves to collide and for the Pokémon to struggle for dominance.

"I hate to bring bad news; your Pikachu seems to be all turned around..." Paul said. "But Elekid's got a free arm..." he smirked. "Thunder Punch! Now!"

Elekid's free fist and body became outlined by blue electricity.

Despite all hope seeming to be gone for Ash, he still kept his confident smirk.

"Not so fast!" He exclaimed. "Iron Tail's still on the way!"

When Elekid was about to punch Pikachu with its electrified fist, Pikachu did an acrobatic maneuver, dodging Elekid's ongoing Brick Break and slapping it in the face with Iron Tail. Unfortunately, Pikachu was also hit in the face with Elekid's Thunder Punch.

Both Pokémon were sent flying backwards. After struggling to get up for a few seconds, both Pokémon collapsed with their eyes now spirals.

"Both Pokémon are unable to battle!" Goh exclaimed. "It's a tie!"

.......................................................................

After the match (and because it was a tie neither Ash nor Paul gained or lost points) Ash and Goh rushed Pikachu and Froakie to the Centra City Pokémon Center, deciding to put off their Journey for the next day.

After Pikachu got better, the two were heading towards Cerise Laboratories when Froakie stopped them again. It had a Poké-Ball with it.

"Huh?" Ash said, confused. "What's going on, Froakie?"

Froakie booped the Poké-Ball with its head and Ash picked it up. Finally putting two and two together he looked at the Bubble Frog Pokémon.

"You want me to catch you?!"

Before answering verbally, Froakie jumped and hit the Poké-Ball's button, getting sucked into the Poké-Ball.

"I think that's a yes..." Goh said, chuckling.

Ash smiled as he looked at his newest friend. He was unable to contain his excitement.

"ALRIGHT!" He exclaimed. "I CAUGHT A FROAKIE!"

"PIKA PIKACHU!"

Ash's newest Journey on Pasio Island started strong. Meeting new friends and potentially new rivals as well! And now that Ash has captured his first new Pokémon and met Goh again, how will a certain maiden impact the course of his journey?

In a completely different part of Centra City (the airport), Serena looked out into the wilderness with a peculiar handkerchief in her hand. She took a deep breath, let the wind flow through her hair and gave a determined look towards the horizon.

Find out next time...

As the Journey continues!