The next morning when the sun was still rising, Halley was already wide awake, preparing breakfast for himself and his Oddish. A pair of toasts jumped out of the toaster in the kitchen, which Halley took out and put some ham and cheese between them to make a simple sandwich. About three were already made and placed on a plate next to the toaster.

Then, he went to the living room with the toasts to wake Oddish, asleep on the couch. He gently poked the weed Pokémon's face, and it gradually opened its eyes.

"Hey, Oddish. Breakfast's ready. Remember the get-together with Ash today?"

"Odi!" Oddish got up in an instant right after Halley's words. He then picked up a sandwich in both hands, moving one to the front of Oddish's mouth so that it could eat it, and eating the other himself.

"Do you like it?"

"Odi!" Oddish nodded with a smile, taking a large bite off its sandwich.

"I love to hear that!" Halley replied, smiling back and petting his Weed Pokémon.

After finishing their breakfast, they called Ash to see where he was.

"Contacting Ash Ketchum..."

"M...mm? What's up, Halley?" "Pi..."

"Good morning. Am I late?" "Odi?" Halley asked.

"Late...? Wha... Oh, right, right! Gotta hurry!" "Pikapi?!" The call ended right after they exclaimed in a hurry.

"Don't tell me they... They just woke up?" Halley chuckled. "Well then. They'll be there soon, so let's go!" "Oddish!"

When Halley and Oddish went to the back hill, the forest was empty of Pokémon, giving off a vibe of a park rather than a wild habitat. They seemed to be the only ones there, which gave them a weird feeling.

And just as they felt so, Solare was seen in the distance, clinging to the legs of the now fully-recovered Fletchling to fly to the hill and arrive at the place.

"Solare!"

Just as she was almost there, she let go of her Tiny Robin Pokémon's legs and landed in front of Halley. Then, dusting off her body and standing up, she said: "Good morning. So, this is where we're going to train?"

"Yeah... How's your Fletchling? Is it okay now?"

"Yes, it's okay now," Solare said, looking at the Fletchling on her shoulder. "Is Ash here yet?"

"Uh... not really."

"Hi, guys!" Ash shouted out from far away, running up the hill with Pikachu. "We just woke up... Sorry for being late!"

"Yeah, it's okay. So, are we going to start training now?" Halley asked.

"Of course. Now, let's begin!" "Pika pika!"

Some minutes later, Ash stood against Halley and Solare, maintaining some distance so there would be enough space to battle. Pikachu stood in front of Ash, while Oddish and Fletchling were in front of their respective trainers.

"So, guys, the rules are nearly the same as yesterday, except one thing."

"What is it?" Solare asked.

"Pikachu is allowed to use one move instead of zero."

"Wha-?" Halley gasped.

"Don't worry, Pikachu will attack weak enough for your Pokémons to withstand some hits," Ash assured. "And before we start, I'll give you guys some time to make a strategy. Tell me when you're ready!"

"Okay then..." Halley and Solare nodded, turning around.

"So, shall we show each other our cards?" Solare said.

"Yeah, right. Oddish can use Growth which can empower its attacks, Acid which can shoot a stream of acid, and Mega Drain which can drain energy from the opponent."

"Fletchling can use Peck which makes itself much faster and Growl which can scare the opponent and weaken their attacks."

"Growl? Didn't know that."

"Yeah, I had no chance to show it to you until now."

"And about Pikachu... Ash's Pikachu can use Thunderbolt which can discharge electricity around it, Iron Tail which can use its tail to strike, Quick Attack which makes it move faster, and Electroweb which is a net made out of electricity. So, what move should we allow it to use then?"

Ash and Pikachu watched the two newbie trainers strategize, with a smile on their faces.

"It's rare to see new trainers develop that fast. Don't you think they'll eventually get through this training too, buddy?" "Pika!"

Sometime later, Halley and Solare turned back to Ash and nodded. "We're ready now."

"So, what move?"

"Iron Tail," Solare said.

"Got it! Rotom, set a timer of three minutes!" Ash commanded to his phone, which popped out of his pocket and showed a three-minute timer on its screen. Pikachu, Oddish, and Fletchling all prepared themselves for the battle about to begin.

"Ready... Set... Go!"

Just as the timer started to tick, Pikachu started darting around the forest.

"Oddish, get on Fletchling!"

"Fletchling, use Peck at Pikachu!"

Oddish hopped onto the Tiny Robin Pokémon, who spread its wings and flew at immense speed to Pikachu.

"Now, Iron Tail!" But before they could reach it, Pikachu slammed the ground with its tail to jump and knock them away from the impact. Fletchling balanced itself in time, also still having Oddish on its back.

"That was close!" Halley reacted.

"Fletchling, use Growl!" Fletchling let out a loud piercing cry, sending shockwaves to the airborne Pikachu. The shockwaves landed directly, making Pikachu block its ears in irritation.

"Did that work?" Halley asked, quite surprised.

"Not yet. Use Peck again!" Solare commanded again, and Fletchling rose to the Mouse Pokémon at swift speed again.

"Parry it with Iron Tail!" But just like before, Pikachu used Iron Tail to spin vertically and slam Fletchling's head from up. The Tiny Robin Pokémon rapidly fell from the impact, conscious yet stunned from the attack.

"Odi? Odi, oddish!" Oddish shook Fletchling as it fell, trying to wake it before hitting the ground.

"Oddish, hop off!" Halley shouted, and the Weed Pokémon jumped off the robin before it hit the ground. Thanks to it, Fletchling could flap its wings to rebalance itself and land on the ground safely.

"Are you okay, Fletchling?!" Solare asked, frustrated.

"Oddish, use Acid!" Oddish spat out a stream of purple acid to Pikachu while its ally was recovering.

"Iron Tail again!" However, the electric rodent received the attack with its tail and swung it around, reflecting the stream to Oddish.

"Odi?!" The stream hit Oddish right on its eyes, blinding its vision.

"Oddish!" Halley gasped.

"Now, Fletchling! Use Peck!" Fletchling, after recovering from the attack, spread its wings to fly to Pikachu again. However, its speed was much slower than when it was not hit by Iron Tail, enough for Pikachu to evade it. "What the?!" Oddish was grounded still blinded by Acid, and Fletchling was not fast enough against the mouse Pokémon. The two Pokémons stayed the entire match struggling, eventually not landing any attacks onto the Mouse Pokémon.

"Time's up!" Ash's Rotom Phone announced.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Good game! Nice work, Pikachu!" Ash added, doing a fist bump with Pikachu. "Pikapi!"

"Oh, come on..." Halley sighed, sinking onto his knees. "Odi..."

"Fletch..." The newbie Pokémons lay down on the ground in exhaust.

Sometime later, Halley and Solare were in the waiting room of the Pokémon Center while their Pokémons were recovering. Halley was feeling down from feeling the distance between the strongest and him, and Solare was simply staring at the floor with her face pale, concerned about Fletchling. Just then, Ash and Pikachu walked into the place, with two bottles of water in the former's hands.

"Here, drink this!" He gave the bottles to the two trainers, who both opened them in place and drank them.

"Man, this is so tiring..." Halley said, closing the bottle. "Well, I was the one who requested it, but..."

"I know, I know. This would be difficult for new trainers like you." "Pika, pi!" Ash replied, and Pikachu nodded. "So the assignment I'll give you is to succeed before the Festival of the Jubilee starts."

"So... about a week left then."

"Take your time, I know you'll be able to do it! Now, I'll be outside while you guys take a break." They encouraged, getting out of the waiting room.

"Solare, I've been wondering..." Halley started.

"Go on."

"Why did Fletchling become so much slower?"

"Wait! Hold on, let me explain it!" Halley's Rotom Phone popped out of his pocket to explain the situation. Halley and Solare both looked at the phone, curious.

"What's the reason?"

"You see this?" Fletchling showed up on the phone screen, who was most likely Solare's Robin. "This is your Fletchling." The phone explained, turning to Solare.

"I see."

"Its ability is Gale Wings. It allows Fletchling to use Flying Type moves at immense speed, but only when not damaged."

"When it's not damaged...?" Solare wondered. "Why haven't I known that earlier?"

"When it's not damaged..." Halley whispered, putting his hand under his chin. "Then... What should we do? Would Oddish be able to protect Fletchling while it's attacking?"

"No, I don't think so... Then, should we go all out with the first strike?"

"We could, but then we have to be able to attack as strong as possible, right? Should we do some training before we challenge Ash again?"

"You're right. Okay then..." Solare said, standing up.

"Trainer Halley, Trainer Solare, your Pokémons have been recovered." The Nurse on the counter said, holding a tray with two Pokéballs on it.

"Oh!" Halley stood up too and headed to the counter to pick up the two Pokéballs with Solare. "Yeah, let's go!" Then, he nodded, walking out of the Center with Solare.

Ash and Pikachu were secretly watching them from a distance, with a smile on their faces.

Some minutes later, the two trainers were where they battled against Team Rocket yesterday, with their Pokémons next to them.

"Now, let's begin." Solare started, preparing for the battle.

"I know. Get ready, Oddish!" Oddish walked out to the front of its trainer and lowered its body, preparing to battle.

"En Garde, Fletchling!" Fletchling flew out and hovered in front of its trainer, too. "Now, Battle Start!"

"Oddish, use Acid!"

"Fletchling, use Peck!"

Oddish squirted out a stream of acid from its mouth to Fletchling, who glided so swiftly that it easily dodged the move and struck its opponent in seconds. Oddish was flung away from the impact back to Halley, with spirals in its eyes. "Odi..."

"W- With a single strike?!" Halley gasped, crouching to check his Pokémon's condition. "Are you okay, Oddish?"

"Odi?" Oddish blinked to make its eyes return to normal and stood up. "Odi!"

"Again?" Solare asked, her Fletchling returning to where it was at the start of the battle.

"Wait, I call a time-out!" Halley declared, making a T-shape with his hands.

"Okay, go on."

"So, Oddish..." He then sat down on the ground with Oddish to strategize. "Fletchling is a really fast guy. We wouldn't be able to land any hits on it before it hits us."

"Odi." Oddish nodded.

"Then why not let them attack us?"

"Odi?"

"That's right. We aren't going to attack first. Instead..."

Sometime later, Halley and Oddish stood up, ready for a rematch. "We can do it, Oddish!" "Odi!" They shouted out at once.

"Here we go, then. Fletchling, use Peck!"

Fletchling glowed its peak silver and charged at Oddish with immense speed, but the Weed Pokémon patiently waited for the attack while bending its knees.

"Hm?"

"Now, Oddish! Jump away and use Mega Drain!" "Odi!" Just as the robin approached, Oddish dashed sideways to dodge the attack and summoned a green tentacle from its leaves.

"Wh-"

"Bind it!" The tentacle wrapped around Fletchling in time, binding it and draining out yellow energy from it.

"Get out of it, Fletchling!" The Tiny Robin Pokémon struggled, getting out of the tentacle in seconds. "Now, use Peck!" Since it took some damage from being bound in it, it was unable to use the superspeed Peck and instead charged at a speed visible to anyone who could see.

"Use Mega Drain again!" The reduced speed made Mega Drain much easier to work, letting Fletchling get bound by the tentacle again. This time, Fletchling was not healthy enough to get out of the tentacle, letting Oddish drain all its energy.

"Hmm..." Solare pondered, approaching the unconscious Tiny Robin Pokémon and holding it in her arms. Soon enough, the robin opened its eyes and flew out of her arms. "Alright then, the battle's over. Let's train individually now."

During their breaks, Halley discussed with Oddish the tactics they should use in their next match while sitting on the ground.

"Solare would come out differently on the next round. What should we do then?" Halley asked.

"Odi?" Oddish wondered, noticing Solare and Fletchling behind its trainer.

"Huh?" When Halley turned around, Solare was monitoring Fletchling flying around the hill. However, the robin wasn't using Peck, as if it was trying to get out of a rut of relying on the move. "They're practicing flying at high speed without Peck... How should we train then?"

"Odi..." "Hmm..." Oddish and Halley closed their eyes and pondered about what training they should do. But when they opened their eyes, a familiar person stood next to them. "Wha-?" When Halley looked up, Ash and Pikachu were looking down at him.

"Hi! Do you need help?" "Pika?" He asked.

"Uh... yeah, I do," Halley said, dusting his sweatpants off while standing up. "We don't know how we should train... I mean, I know we have to defeat your Pikachu in a week, and we even battled against Solare a few times, but..."

"Oh, I get it!" Ash said. "You mean just like how Solare is training Fletchling over there?" He then pointed to Solare and Fletchling.

"Yeah, like that."

"Okay then, I can help you with that. There's something Pikachu and Fletchling have in common. Do you know what it is?"

"Speed?"

"That's right!" "Pikapi!" "They're both fast Pokémons, but sadly Oddish isn't as fast as them. Have you won against Fletchling?"

"Yeah, I did. Since Fletchling becomes much slower when it's attacked, I told Oddish to give its all on dodging the first Peck, then took the chance to bind Fletchling with Mega Drain."

"Okay, sure. Try that on Pikachu this time." Ash suggested, and Pikachu jumped off his shoulder at that moment.

Ash and Halley maintained some distance from each other, with their Pokémons in front of them. "Ready?" The former asked.

"Yeah, we're good." Halley nodded.

"Now, Pikachu. Quick Attack!" Pikachu charged in a zigzag pattern instead of heading straight toward Oddish, confusing Halley.

"Huh...? Huh?!" "Odi?!" Because of that, Oddish couldn't find an appropriate direction to dodge the attack, letting Pikachu encircle it and ram it from behind.

"Odi!" With a short yelp, Oddish got knocked back and fell to the ground.

"A..."

"Yeah, that doesn't always work." Ash criticized. "Also, you can't expect your opponent to be slower when they're attacked. So, how about this? I'll do that again, and your task is to find a better way to counter fast attacks."

"Hmm..." Halley put his hand on his jaw and thought. "Alright then. Let's try it again."

Pikachu charged out a short distance repetitively as it approached Oddish, not giving it room to dodge just like in the previous match.

"Oddish, use Acid!" Oddish squirted out a stream of acid from its mouth, but Pikachu easily evaded the attack and rammed the Weed Pokémon again. "O- one more time!" Halley requested.

In the next match, Oddish used Mega Drain to counter Quick Attack, which the rodent also dodged easily. "Odi!" Oddish yelped again as it got knocked behind by Quick Attack.

"This also doesn't work..." Halley reacted. "Wait... Then what should I do?"

"Hmm... You know, Halley. Just because a move does something doesn't mean you have to use it that way. It's time to be creative." Ash advised.

"What do you mean?"

"Pikachu, let's show him, Counter Shield!" "Pikapi!" Pikachu lay down on the floor and started spinning, using Thunderbolt to form a tornado of electricity around it.

"Wha- What's that?!"

"Halley, can you try attacking Pikachu?"

"Oddish, Acid!" Oddish shot out acid at the tornado, but the poison didn't get through it as if it were used against a thick wall. "How?!"

"That's just a Thunderbolt! It's a simple move that discharges electricity, but I utilized it to make it a defensive move. This is how you become creative."

"Creative..."

----------------------------------------

In the meantime, in a café in the town, Team Rocket was taking a rest sitting around a round table and sipping a cup of coffee while wearing a beige trenchcoat and a black fedora to hide their identity. For some reason, they all had a contented smile on their face.

"Ah, what a nice day in a café." Jessie started, sipping her coffee.

"Yeah, a perfect break after having our mission ruined by some twerps," James added.

"Doesn't matter now. We're all gonna get scolded by the boss anyway." Meowth said, using the laptop that was the only thing left given to them. "Now, guys. Let's watch some videos for now." However, all of a sudden, the laptop received a call from someone named "Zer0". "Huh?!"

"What's wrong?" Jessie wondered, looking at the laptop screen to find out that they'd received a call. "What?!"

"Who's 'Zer0'? It's most likely not the boss, then... Should we accept it?" James asked.

"Uh, uhh..." Meowth stuttered for a second, but then recklessly clicked "Accept". "Alright, I don't care what happens now!"

The next thing that showed up on the laptop screen was simply a purple "VOICE ONLY" text.

"Huh? So is it not the boss?" Meowth wondered.

"Good afternoon, Team Rocket." A distorted voice came out, but the accent and the tone were quite different from the boss: it sounded much younger.

"Who... are you?" Jessie asked.

"I can't tell you, but you may call me... Zero. You've recently failed your mission, correct?'

"How did you know?"

"It's a secret. Anyway, because of that, I'm here to help you."

"How?" James asked this time.

"Do you know the name of the town you're in right now?"

"Let's see... It's Marey Town." Meowth answered.

"Correct. Have you heard about the Festival of the Jubilee?"

"Um... no."

"Every spring, a Togekiss visits the back hill in the town for a week. During this period, a festival is held in the town to celebrate it, and this festival is called the Festival of the Jubilee. It's about to start in a week."

"Okay, so... What does that have to do with us?"

"Now, listen closely..." Zero told Team Rocket the plan they should follow, one by one. "Now, does it look practical enough?"

"Hmm... That doesn't sound too hard." Jessie said.

"Of course, this plan considered your strengths and weaknesses in the process of making. It's specialized for your team."

"So, then... What should we do for now?" James asked again.

"I'll send you some items to help you soon, and when you receive them, I'll contact you again. Until then, enjoy your time in the town." The voice said, finishing the call. The trio went silent for a few seconds after so.

"Well well well... Prepare for trouble!" Jessie started with a smirk.

"And make it double!" James continued, also with a nasty smile.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"And James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare for a fight!"

"Meowth! That's right!" Meowth joined, holding its hand up high.

Just then, Wobbuffet also popped out of Jessie's Pokéball and joined the motto. "Wobbuffet!"

To Be Continued