Chapter 84 - 43 - Nostalgia for Ash

The next day, early in the morning, Rico was in the outskirts of the city to train his Pokémon in the forest, with his friends observing them.

"Litleo, use Ember!" Rico commanded Litleo in seriousness. Litleo then used Ember, attacking with small flames at a wide fields where the trees are far enough to prevent fires, creating a quick stream of ember with a length of over 10 feet long. This stuns Ash and the rest, with Iris commenting, "Woah, it's so powerful now." Her Axew then responded in stunning.

"That was so powerful," Serena added in liking it. Her Pokémon then responded with amazement.

"Yes, Ember can be a powerful move before stronger moves like Flamethrower and Fire Fang can be learned," Ash explained brightly. His Pikachu and Greninja then responded with amazement. Upon hearing the latter move, Rico turned around brightly and asked Ash, "Ash, what is...Fire Fang?" Litleo had finished its training and went to Rico's side.

"Fire Fang is a Fire-type move attacks the opponent with fangs that is cloaked in flames," Ash explained the said move.

"That was a quite powerful Fire-type move," Iris brightly added.

"Oh, I see," Rico replied in getting what they are saying. Then in a positive attitude, "Well, I hoped Litleo will learn that." Litleo then responded with happiness.

Back at the Pokémon Center, shortly after breakfast, while they were resting with their Pokémon, Ash commented in relief, "Ah! Memories, stuff which lives on." His Pikachu then responded with happiness.

"This is where me, Pikachu, and my first friend, Misty, first met Team Rocket," Ash told them a short story which is real.

"Wow, really?" Rico responded with positivity.

"Ash, was that true?" Iris added a question. Her Axew then responded with asking.

"Yup, that was true," Ash happily answered while lifting his finger for a second.

"I can't believe you could pass all of your hardships," Rico commented Ash's path in mild pity happiness. "Do you?" His Lucario then responded with happiness.

"Yes, I do," Ash answered him in positivity. "But yours will be difficult, full of obstacles, challenges, and winding, more like mine." Because of this hardship-producing statement, Rico looked surprised, and then asked him, "What Really? Is that true?"

"Being a Pokémon Trainer isn't that easy, Rico," Ash told him seriously." A Pokémon Trainer requires training, love for his Pokémon, and have to pass the obstacles of life, like me." His Pikachu and Greninja then responded seriously. Calming down, Rico gets what Ash had said to him and then responded, "Oh, I get it now. That's because being a Pokémon Trainer wasn't that easy and most strong and successful Trainers had managed to pass all the obstacles of life. Right?"

"You're saying is right," Ash replied with evaluation.

"Thank you, Ash," Rico responded back in pity happiness.

Then, suddenly, someone punched a hole in the roof and used a smoke canister to cover everything up. Upon noticing that, Ash was quickly alerted, and then said to his friends immediately, "Take cover, guys!" Alerted by his response, Pikachu, Ash's friends, and their Pokémon took cover behind a bench, dodging the coming smoke. Nurse Joy then got alerted by this, and took cover behind her desk.

"What in the world?" Rico thought in wondering.

"Team Rocket, I know it's you guys again," Ash thought in suspicion. And as the smoke kept covering everything, Team Rocket and their Pokémon jumped downwards from the roof through the hole in action, posing in evil coolness. This brings back Ash's memories of meeting Team Rocket for the first time, a long time ago.

"Hello, there, twerps," Jessie greeted them in a villain style.

"We know you're here," James said to them in style.

"Meow, Meow," Meowth responded with evil style. Wobbuffet then responded with saluting. To end this invasion, Ash told his friends silently with gestures to show up before Team Rocket. His friends, in response, then nodded seriously in agreement. And as the smoke clears, Ash, his friends, and their Pokémon showed up before Team Rocket in seriousness.

"Team Rocket!" Ash shouted at them seriously. His Pikachu then responded in shouting.

"You guys again?!" Iris added in shouting. Her Axew then responded seriously.

"Ugh, why it had to be you guys?!" Rico added in stress. Serena was angry at them in resentment.

"Not until we catch Pikachu," Jessie retorted in a singsong-like accent. Wobbuffet then responded with saluting.

"Then we won't let you!" Rico retorted in anger and resentment. Lucario then responded with agreement with him.

"That's it," James responded back, "This is outrageous. Let's have a battle then." They then called their Pokémon, Weezing and Arbok, and they stepped into battle with demeanors.

"Ah!" Rico shouted in terror. "Poison-types!" He then quick hid behind Ash in fear. Perplexed by this, Ash asked him, "Seriously?" His Pikachu then responded with puzzling.

"I had a childhood experience and trauma involving Poison-types!" Rico answered in a fast pace.

"Okay, I understand that," Ash replied in calming down. His Pikachu then responded in getting what Rico said. Ash and Pikachu then turned their focus towards battling Team Rocket.

"Rico, don't be such a scared Purrloin!" Iris chastised him for being scared. "Face your fears! This is serious!" Her Axew then responded in chastisement. Agreeing with her, Rico slowly come out of his hiding place, get one of his Poké Balls from his Pokébelt, and called his Litleo out and it stepped into battle with confidence. But, Arbok and Weezing's scary demeanor scared Litleo, and it hid behind Rico in desperate.

"Haha," Jessie mocked Litleo being scared, "such a weak Pokémon you had."

"Meow, meow, that's right," Meowth responded in villain style.

"What's up with those Pokémon?" Rico seriously asked. He then pulled his Pokédex, and pointed it towards Weezing; his Pokédex then responded, "Weezing, the Poison Gas Pokémon, and the final evolved form of Koffing. A Poison-type. It grows by feeding on gases released by garbage. Though very rare, triplets have been found."

"Wow, that's scary to see it feeding on stinky gases," Rico commented in mild scared. He put his Pokédex back in his jacket pocket and turned his focus towards battling Team Rocket as Litleo was still scared of them. Ash called his Greninja out and it stepped into battle seriously, scaring the life out of Team Rocket.

"That Pokémon again?" James commented in terror.

"What it had to be this Pokémon?" Meowth added in scared.

"This Pokémon is my companion always," Ash responded in a style of confidence and bravery. "Now try it." His Pikachu then responded with resistance.

"We'll beat you to pieces!" Jessie exclaimed in resentment.

And as Nurse Joy kept hiding in her desk and Litleo still hiding, the battle had began.

"Weezing, use Tackle!" James commanded Weezing. Weezing then used Tackle, charging at Greninja with a full-body tackle. Greninja dodged its attack with ninja speed, shocking Team Rocket a lot.

"SERIOUSLY?!" shouted Jessie in stress.

"That's because you guys are really unaware of this powerful Pokémon," Serena responded in stylish mocking. Rico then snickers at her mocking response to Team Rocket. Angered by this, Jessie commanded Arbok, "Arbok, use Acid!" Arbok then used Acid, spitting a black acid from its mouth.

"Delphox, use Flamethrower!" Serena quickly commanded Delphox. Delphox then used Flamethrower, pointing its wand stick at the Acid and forms a red-orange flame at its tip. It then releases a red-orange stream of fire from the top of its wand at the Acid, burning it to ashes and intercepted Arbok's attack, shocking Team Rocket a lot.

"No way!" Meowth commented with shouting.

"That Flamethrower was so powerful!" James added a comment in surprise. Wobbuffet then responded with saluting. And as they continue fighting, Litleo was still frightened by the Poison-type Pokémon Team Rocket had. But Rico told it seriously, "Come on, Litleo, just face your fears! You're a Fire-type! You had Flamethrower and Ember! You can't just hide from them forever! You can do it, because you are a strong Pokémon." Motivated by Rico's words, Litleo looked surprised at first, but, with determination, then come out of its hiding place and faced Team Rocket and their fierce Pokémon with seriousness. Upon seeing it, Team Rocket looked stylish like a notorious villain, saying, "What we have here? A scared Litleo? Not a chance!" Arbok then responded with a demeanor. Serious and determined, Litleo charged towards Arbok and Weezing and suddenly learned Fire Fang, biting Arbok with flame-cloaked fangs, striking it effectively and inflicting it much pain, surprising both sides.

"Woah, is that...?" Rico commented in surprise.

"... that's Fire Fang!" Ash responded quickly in amazement. "Your Litleo just learned Fire Fang. That's a powerful move that uses its fangs, cloaked in fire, to attack." Hearing his response, Rico was amazed by Litleo's new move, commenting, "Wow! Litleo, that was so cool!" Litleo then responded with happiness. James was mild tired by this, but the rest was not, determining to finish the job, saying, "Even that strong Fire Fang, you still could not beat us."

"Oh, yeah, we will," Rico retorted seriously. Then to his Lucario, "Lucario, use Bone Rush!" Lucario then used Bone Rush, putting its paws together and spreads them apart, creating a light green bone of energy. It then hits Arbok with it, striking it so much power Arbok was defeated with fainting. This shocks Team Rocket and amazes Ash and his group. Actually, Rico and Lucario had been working out on that powerful move ever since Riolu evolved into Lucario, keeping it a secret from Ash and his friends. But, it was now revealed, ready and powerful.

"Bone Rush?" Ash asked Rico in surprise. Realized that he was careless about revealing his secret, Rico was surprised and then got nervous with smiling, replying, "Oops, I done it, Ash, you had found out my secret."

"A secret?" the girls retorted in question. But the situation was so serious that they have no time to talk about the Bone Rush secret.

"Greninja, use Water Shuriken!" Ash commanded Greninja in serious coolness. Greninja then jumped high and used Water Shuriken, forming a shuriken of water in its hand. It then tosses the shuriken at Weezing, striking it effectively; as Weezing weakened to the floor, Greninja landed back to the ground in action.

"Oh, no, Weezing!" James responded to it in desperate.

"Let's finish this up!" Ash commanded, "Greninja, use Water Shuriken! And Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

"Lucario, use Focus Blast!" Rico commanded seriously, "Litleo, Flamethrower!"

"Delphox, Flamethrower too!" Serena commanded Delphox in coolness. Their Pokémon then used Water Shuriken, Thunderbolt, Focus Blast, and Flamethrower, forming a large powerful beam and shoot it towards Team Rocket and their defeated Pokémon, striking them with great power and caused a small explosion, but not enough to destroy the Pokémon Center. As the explosion went on, Team Rocket and their Pokémon are blasted off the building, through the hole they made, and out towards the sky while they shouted together, "We're blasting off again!" This completes with Wobbuffet responding; they then disappeared towards the sky with a blink of a star, thus ending the battle.