Third POV
Ash and his friends had been staying in Celadon City for the past few days, though not in the bustling center. Instead, they were training on the outskirts where there was enough open space for Pokémon battles.
Ash scratched his head as he watched his Pokémon train.
"I still don't get why it's taking so long."
He had originally come to Celadon City to challenge the Gym Leader, Erika, but his match had been postponed by five days. When the receptionist first told him that, Ash had almost started arguing before Brock and Misty quickly dragged him away from the counter.
Later, after talking to a few Gym Trainers, they finally understood the situation.
Team Rocket had attacked Celadon City.
Several buildings had caught fire during the incident, and while the damage had mostly been contained, the aftermath was still ongoing. As Gym Leader, Erika had personally helped defend the city and was now occupied with relief efforts, assisting the League and handling the administrative responsibilities that came with leading one of Kanto's major Gyms.
Naturally, Gym battles had been postponed.
Ash had felt a little guilty after learning the reason.
He had almost complained to people who had just gone through another Team Rocket attack.
To be fair, he knew how serious those attacks could become.
After all, he had been aboard the S.S. Anne when Team Rocket launched their assault.
Still...
His own encounters with Team Rocket usually involved Jessie, James and Meowth.
Honestly, compared to the Rocket members he had seen aboard the S.S. Anne, those three felt more like walking disasters than an actual criminal organization.
After discussing it with Brock and Misty, they decided there was no point leaving Celadon.
Instead, Ash would spend the next few days training for the Gym battle.
Brock had also pointed out something Ash had completely overlooked.
Ever since finishing as a semifinalist in the S.S. Anne Tournament, far more trainers had started recognizing him. His matches were being watched, discussed online, and his reputation had grown considerably.
"Gym Leaders might prepare more seriously now," Brock had explained.
"They know who you are."
Ash hadn't really thought about that.
If Erika was going to treat him as a stronger challenger...
...then he had to prepare like one.
Several meters away, three Pokémon were already in the middle of a heated sparring match.
Ash had noticed one thing about them.
Unless they were battling...
...they really didn't get along.
The three Pokémon were Froakie, Charmander, and Primeape.
Froakie was unlike any Pokémon Ash had owned before.
It was incredibly competitive and hated losing.
According to what Froakie had told him and what Professor Sycamore later confirmed after he asked Proffesor Oak for his contacts ,it had refused to accompany its original Trainer after that Trainer became involved in a scandal. Ever since then, Froakie had rejected every prospective Trainer, believing none of them were mature enough to deserve it.
Eventually, Diantha had convinced Professor Sycamore to offer Froakie as one of the prizes for the S.S. Anne Tournament.
Luckily for Ash...
Froakie seemed to have finally found a place it liked.
That didn't mean its personality became any easier to deal with.
It absolutely loved trolling its teammates whenever it got the chance.
Primeape, meanwhile, had only recently joined the team.
What began as an annoying Mankey stealing Ash's cap had escalated into a battle, an evolution fueled by anger, and eventually a capture.
Primeape was still incredibly stubborn.
It listened... sometimes.
Most of the time it believed it could win fights through brute strength alone.
"Alright!" Ash shouted. "Free-for-all! Don't hold back!"
The three Pokémon immediately sprang into action.
Froakie vanished first, using Quick Attack to circle around the battlefield before launching a barrage of Water Pulses toward both opponents.
Charmander inhaled deeply and answered with a sweeping Flamethrower, evaporating one Water Pulse while forcing Froakie to leap into the trees.
Primeape ignored both ranged attacks entirely.
With a roar, it charged straight through the lingering steam, its fists glowing as it unleashed Karate Chop toward Charmander.
"Charmander! Dragon Claw!"
The fiery lizard met the attack head-on, green draconic energy coating its claws as the two attacks collided.
Before either could recover...
Froakie dropped from a tree branch.
Smack!
A perfectly timed Water Pulse exploded between them, sending both Pokémon stumbling backward.
Ash couldn't help laughing.
"There it is again."
Froakie croaked proudly, looking far too pleased with itself.
Primeape growled in annoyance.
Charmander glared back.
For the next several minutes, the clearing echoed with explosions, punches, jets of water, and bursts of flame.
Primeape relied on overwhelming physical attacks.
Charmander focused on controlling the battlefield with fire while looking for openings.
Froakie darted around them both, constantly interfering whenever one seemed to gain the advantage.
Watching the match, Ash also realized something.
Getting Primeape to fully trust him was still an ongoing process.
The Fighting-type had entered the team believing it didn't need a Trainer.
Thankfully, Pikachu and Froakie had done a lot to humble that attitude.
Ironically, Froakie had once been exactly the same.
That changed the day Kingler defeated it in a one-on-one training battle.
Ever since then, Froakie had stopped questioning Ash's training methods.
Now, it listened to every instruction seriously and even helped keep Primeape's ego in check whenever the opportunity presented itself.
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After training for a few hours, Ash and the group headed into Celadon City.
Misty wanted to do some shopping, mainly for perfumes from the famous Celadon Department Store. Ash personally wasn't interested in perfumes at all, but after all the help Misty had given him during training, he wisely decided to keep his opinions to himself and simply tagged along.
While they wandered through the markets, Ash took the opportunity to ask around about Erika.
Normally he wouldn't bother gathering information before a Gym battle, preferring to go in blind, but after his loss at Vermilion Gym, he had started taking preparation more seriously. Having a rough idea of how the Gym Leader battled couldn't hurt.
Eventually, an elderly man who had apparently lived in Celadon his entire life struck up a conversation with them.
"Oh, Erika?" the old man smiled. "I've watched plenty of her battles."
Ash immediately listened carefully.
"Against most challengers, she's fairly gentle. Usually uses Pokémon like Weepinbell or Gloom to test them."
"But..."
He paused.
"There are trainers she genuinely pushes."
"Like Grey."
Ash blinked.
"You know Grey?"
The old man chuckled.
"I've known the boy since he was little. Watched him grow up."
"He challenged Erika for his second badge. That battle wasn't ordinary."
Ash's curiosity only grew.
"What happened?"
"Erika brought out Servine and Ivysaur."
Ash exchanged a glance with Brock.
"Grey struggled a lot that day," the old man continued. "He earned the badge, but if any ordinary Celadon trainer had faced that same team, they'd have lost."
Ash thanked the man for the information before the group continued walking.
After they were a little farther away, Brock finally spoke.
"So... he was a marked trainer even by his second Gym."
Ash immediately looked over.
"There it is again."
"What exactly does 'marked trainer' mean?"
Brock nodded before explaining.
"Gym Leaders generally increase the difficulty in three situations."
"First is when a trainer is marked. Basically, the Gym Leader recognizes them as exceptionally talented or promising and intentionally raises the level of the challenge by around one or even two badge levels."
"Second is Challenge Mode, where the trainer specifically requests a much tougher battle."
"And third is an Elite Run."
Ash tilted his head.
"Elite Run?"
"That's for trainers who have already completed one League circuit before. They already possess eight badges from another region or previous League season, so Gym Leaders are allowed to use teams comparable to their eighth badge strength."
Ash whistled.
"So..."
"If I'm marked now..."
"...Erika could push my match to something like... six badge level?"
Brock nodded.
"She absolutely could."
Ash scratched the back of his head.
"Great..."
"I guess we're training even harder now."
After Misty finally finished buying the perfumes she wanted over the next few days, the three continued their training schedule together.
Both Brock and Misty helped Ash polish his battle strategies whenever they had time.
During those days, Ash also happened to meet Red.
Red looked...
...tired.
Not physically.
Mentally.
Like someone who had seen far more than he wanted to over the past week.
Fortunately, Red had already earned the Rainbow Badge before Team Rocket attacked Celadon, so he hadn't been caught up in the Gym's postponements. Instead, he had stayed behind for another two or three days simply to help the city's recovery efforts before preparing to continue his journey.
The two talked for a while.
Before leaving, Red gave Ash one simple piece of advice.
"Be careful of sleep... poison... and paralysis."
Ash remembered how troublesome status conditions could become and silently stored the advice away.
As the days passed, he finalized the team he wanted to use against Erika.
"Pidgeotto..."
"Charmander..."
"...and I'll call Butterfree back from Professor Oak's Lab."
Butterfree had been sent back to the lab alongside her mate after Ash captured the other Butterfree. Leaving Ash's team had been difficult for her, so everyone agreed that sending both Butterfree to Oak's Lab together would let them stay close while still remaining part of Ash's roster.
Ash planned to ask Professor Oak whether Butterfree was available to battle.
If not...
Bulbasaur would take the third slot instead.
If Erika requested a four-on-four battle instead of three-on-three, Ash already had several options ready.
Froakie.
Pikachu.
Or Primeape.
By the end of the week, Ash felt far more prepared than when he had first arrived in Celadon.
Now all that remained was waiting for the postponement to end so he could finally challenge the Celadon Gym.
Author's Note: Tried some stuff in writing , not I wont be writing the gym battle ash's interlude was just a idea of whats going on with him plus some hints regarding some changes with his team than normal, like still having butterfree, as Oak's backyard is large enough both butterfree's can easily live well enough unlike the problems other trainers face so no : Bye Bye Butterfree, instead ash still has but uses it only sometimes when butterfree isnt busy with the pink butterfree.
PS: This week as well very busy again so might not have time or motivation to write in small breaks .