121 Birth of a Prince

The next several days drifted by lazily as we made our way further south, with the only excitment being the occasional battle. Sometimes more trainers would find and challenge me, but most often we would encounter fishermen who would battle Misty as fellow water type specialists. Several of them even shared some of their catch with us afterwards for dinner.

One thing of note was that Jessie, James, Meowth, and the followers of Ho-Oh realized that we had left Lavender, and took off after us. I was surprised the Rocket trio caught up to us so quickly, but the others were spreading out to search high and low for me and Charizard.

Aside from traveling and the occasional battle, my pokemon and I focused on training as much as we could during the time we had. Charizard, on top of his training to resist water, had even started flying while carrying as heavy loads as he could in his talons, like boulders, stumps, or logs.

And once the day was over, I'd alternate between training with either Janine or Sabrina at night, one to fine-tune my psychic powers, and the other to become more accustomed to actual combat. As well as to better handle using Honedge to fight with.

Both of them, rather than actually teach, preferred to have me learn by either doing or observing what they did before trying to replicate it. For example, Janine had began using several of her different Jutsus in our sparring matches while driving me to try and use them as well. Among them was the Substitution Jutsu she showed before, as well as the Shadow Clone Jutsu based off the move Double Team, Camouflage Jutsu to help them blend into their surroundings, and even one based off of Swords Dance to increase attack strength.

Sabrina however tried to force me to use my psychic powers in new ways that would help develop them beyond what a normal psychic was capable of. According to her, the reason that most psychics never got farther than Telepathy or bending spoons was because they never properly trained their abilities, only staying within the range of what they felt was comfortable. By pushing myself every other night until I woke with splitting headaches in the morning, my powers would continue growing until they rivaled even the strongest human psychics.

So, with my pokemon and I training both during the day and night, we continued south until finally arriving at the intersection of routes 11, 12 and 13. Instead of just a regular intersection with a Pokemon Center though, we found what looked to be a budding town centered around the Pokemon Center.

"And here we are!" I declared while dramatically sweeping my arm for the girls to see.

"Oh? I didn't realize there was going to be a town here?" Dawn stated as she looked around curiously.

"It's not an official town just yet, but they're waiting on approval from the League for recegnition due to their growth in recent years, as well as their location." Misty replied with noticeable excitment.

"There isn't an official name just yet, but one of my cousins who work here was telling me that they even have a petition for people to sign regarding what to officially name the new town.

"I think I heard about that." I said, recalling a bit on the news a while back.

"According to one of my viewers, There is a really good seafood restaurant here too!" May declared excitedly, apparently earger to sample some of their famous seafood.

"Well then, lets go." I told them, leading the way as we all went to the Pokemon Center first. We would probably end up staying there tonight since it would be a pain trying to put up three buildings around town.

"Hello! Welcome to our Pokemon Center!" The Nurse Joy at the counter stated as she greeted us, before noticing Joy. "Oh hello Joy! I thought you were in Pewter city?"

"I was, but I left to travel with Ace." Joy said while giving her cousin a few of the details regarding us traveling together.

"Traveling Kanto with someone who's becoming increasingly famous? I'm so jealous~." Nurse Joy said playfully, making Joy narrow her eyes at her cousin.

"Oh yes! While you're here, would each of you please sign one of the petitions regarding the naming of our soon-to-be town?" She asked while pointing out several clipboards that were sitting off to the side of the counter. Each of us then signed the petition with the name we each liked best, with me signing the one that said Azure town. I thought it fit with the blue ocean that the town would be connected to.

When we finished booking our room and signing the petitions, we all then went to exploring the budding little town to kill time until dinner, which was still a couple hours away.

"The scenery here is beautiful, but the smell is horrendous..." Lucario stated while wrinkling his nose.

"Thats just the fish market." I told him, leading the way to that very place where fish pokemon were sold that were caught all along the coast and in the ocean with the few fishing boats that docked here.

Truthfully the smell was pretty bad, especially with aura enhanced senses, but in Lucario's case I'm pretty sure he was simply unused to the smell of so much fish.

All around us were stalls selling freshly caught water pokemon, Shellder, Cloyster, Krabby, Kingler, Goldeen, Seaking, Magikarp, Staryu, Starmie, Qwilfish, Remoraid and Octillery. They were all pokemon found specifically in the waters around Kanto and Johto, along with a few more exotic pokemon from other regions like Huntail, Gorebyss, Finneon, Lumineon, and even an Alomomola.

Aside from freshly caught pokemon themselves, there were also different items obatined from pokemon themselves such as discarded Corsola and Qwilfish spines, Clampearl pearls, Gyarados teeth, and even the stingers from Tentacool and Tentacruel.

We took our time wandering the different stalls and selecting different pokemon to buy, which the venders would actually fillet right there in front of us before wrapping them up to go in our bags. Thankfully our bags had pockets specifically designed to act like refrigerators and freezers, preserving the fillets until we got around to eating them.

The girls also bought all kinds of accessories and items that had been obtained from different pokemon, like the Clampearl pearls and Corsola spines. Dawn and May specifically bought themselves a couple accessories to attach to the charm bracelets I had bought so many years ago, while Joy selected a Corsola comb, and Misty wanted a fan designed to resemble a Milotic tail.

Of course I paid for it all since my account was constantly increasing with the sales from Capsules and the size expanding tech I suggested to Silph co, and was more than happy to do so since it meant spoiling my girls.

By the time we finished exploring the fish market, it was about time for dinner at the seafood restaurant that May was eager to try. And thankfully this town was not a bustling city just yet, as we neither needed to make a reservation or wait to be seated at a table.

The place was like a large pavilion that was open to a nice sea breeze as you ate, while the kitchen was also open to show the chefs working as they prepared all the food.

We all then ordered various different dishes to sample since we hadn't gotten the chance to try the majority of them before.

"Really Misty? Even you haven't tried any of these before?" Dawn asked as we waited for our food to arrive.

"Really. Cerulean city is the city of water, and is home to more water type pokemon than anywhere else in the Kanto or Johto regions. Though there is a fish market, it's nowhere near as big as the one here, and the culture of eating water type pokemon isn't as big either since it might make the pokemon calling the city home, or visiting it, leave for good."

"Understandable." I said to Misty's explanation, I even had to tell Pidgeot to do his fishing outside the city to ensure he didn't actually eat someone's pet or traumatize some kids.

"It's too bad there's no chocolate sushi or something..." Lucario muttered longingly, making all of us look at him in a deadpan.

"You're hopeless." I told him, but he just ignored me.

Understandably, our food took a while to prepare since we had ordered one of almost everything. But it was well worth the wait since everything I sampled was delicious, while the girls as well hummed and made noises of enjoyment as they ate.

*Rustle*

"Hm?"

*Rustle*

I looked down at my bag, which was resting reside my chair, as it began to shuffle and move slightly.

"Oh!" I exclaimed with realization while hurrily opening my bag, and seeing that my Machop egg was shaking within.

"Look at this!" I called out to the girls while pulling the egg out and setting it on the table.

Though I had helped hatch numerous eggs under professor Oak, and had two of my own hatch, this would the first of MY eggs that I'd seen hatch. Charizard had hatched while I was asleep, and Chansey had hatched in my bag without me realizing it.

So needless to say I was excited as the egg continued shaking, and all of us watched it with anticipation. I could also feel the gazes from people sitting at the other tables around us, but ignored them while focusing on the egg.

For nearly a minute the egg rocked back and forth on the table, threatening to roll off if I didn't catch it first. But then, a crack appeared and stretched the entire length of the egg, before spreading out as the baby pokemon inside tried to force it's way out.

"Ma...CHOP!"

*Smash!*

With a cry, the newborn Machop shattered it's egg and burst out triumphantly, as if announcing it's birth to the world.

"Machop chop!" It declared, looking around quizzically before focusing it's attention onto me. "Chop?"

"Hello Machop." I said to it while looking the little pokemon up and down.

It looked like a typical Machop with bluish-grey skin, and three small ridges crowning it's head. Compared to usual Machop that were about two and a hlaf to three feet tall though, it looked like it was just under a foot. That was fine since it was just a newborn, and would grow quite a bit in the next few weeks.

"I bet you're hungry." I said to it, making Machop eye the food around us hungrily.

"Here, try some of this first." I said, digging through my bag yet again until I pulled out a bottle of Miltank milk.

"Chop?"

"It's really good for you." I said, handing Machop the bottle after removing the top.

The newborn pokemon looked the bottle over curiously at first, until I gently lifted it from the bottom to it's mouth to help it figure out how to drink. Once it did, Machop readily downed the entire bottle with gusto.

"Chop Cop!" Machop declared happily as it finished drinking the bottle.

"Glad you liked it. You'll be drinking a few of them a day, but for now try some of this."

As I said that I prepared a small plate out of the dishes that we were eating from, only the most nutritious of them of course since Machop tended to be particular about what they eat. It was as if they had a natural taste for only the most nutritious of foods that could help them build their muscles.

And it appeared the different cuts of fish passed the test as they disappeared down Machop's gullet with as much gusto as the milk. Probably even more so since they were warm while the milk had been cold.

"It's pretty cute." Dawn said as well watched Machop eat.

"Yeah it is. Is it a boy or girl?" May asked curiously while looking Machop up and down.

"Boy, I think. Three quarters of Machop are male typically." I replied while looking him(?) up and down. Unfortunately, there were no real distinguishing characteristics between male and female Machop.

Machop however couldn't care less of what we were talking about, as he focused entirely on the food before him.

"Boy or girl, I can't wait to start training him." Lucario said excitedly, as Machop was the first fighting type pokemon I had gotten since starting my journey.

"Chop?!" Machop jerked up at the mention of training, his aura flaring in anticipation.

"Yep, I think he and I will be getting along just fine." Lucario said with a wide smile.

While he and Machop started bonding, I began to pick up the egg fragments to throw them away and clear some space as we cotninued eating. Machop specifically kept eating until he fell back and laid on the table with a slightly swollen belly, his chest rising and falling slightly as he began to snore.

"Eating hard, 'playing' hard, and sleeping hard. Leave it to a baby." I said while shaking my head at Machop with a smile. While he slept, I also took the time to scan and register him as one of my pokemon. I also registered him as one of my temporary breeder pokemon.

That meant that he would not count as a part of my carry limit due to him being a baby that I was taking care of for the first week or so after he hatched. After that he'll go into the regular rotation with the rest of my pokemon. As for when I scanned him...

~~~

Machop: the Superpower pokemon

Type: Fighting

This pokemon often exercises by hefting wild Graveler like they are barbells. They have also been known to travel the world to learn all kinds of martial arts. This pokemon has the Guts and No Guard abilities.

Moves- Tackle, Leer, Low Kick, Rock Smash, Bullet Punch

~~~

"Not bad~." I whistled from seeing his abilties and moveset. He must have inherited them from his father, who was strong enough that he was made king after Onix left the mountain kingdom.

I was about to place him in a pokeball when a commotion broke out in the restaurant.

"What is THAT doing here?!"

"Get it away!"

I looked up to see what was going on when a predominantly white quadrupedal pokemon came into view, a curved dark-blue horn sticking up from it's head while a matching tail stuck up from it's rear.

"Absol?" I question while cocking my head, right as the pokemon focused on me.

"Sol!" Absol called out while approaching me hurriedly.

"Is that THING yours?"

"Get it out of here!"

"How DARE you bring one of those in here!?"

Numerous protests were shouted at me from every direction as people hurriedly tried to back away from the pokemon.

"Sir, if that pokemon belongs to you, then I will have to ask you to leave." The head chef stated angrily as he hurried over.

"Shut up." I snapped back at him, stunning him and everyone else as I quickly turned my attention to Absol. "What's wrong Absol?"

"Sol sol, Absol!"

"!!!"

My eyes widened as Absol told me what it had sensed was about to happen, before directing it's attention to the forest to the south.

"Shit!" I exclaimed before turning my attention back to the head chef.

"You need to evacuate this place now!"

"Why? What has this THING done?" He demanded while looking at Absol with obvious disgust.

"Say one more thing against Absol and I'll smack you silly!" I told him in annoyance, tired of the biased hatred people had for them as a whole.

I then looked out over the rest of the people in the restaurant, and stated while pulling out my Ranger badge, "I am Ranger Ketchum with the Union! All of you need to get out of here and head away from the restaurant and the fish market!"

Even as I said that people just looked at one another in confusion, not undertsanding what I was talking about. Before I could say anything else though, I paused as I felt the ground vibrate.

"Shit."

Swearing once more, I turned my attention the way Absol indicated while Lucario also stood and prepared for a fight.

"Chop?" Machop uttered as he woke, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Whats going on Ace?" Joy asked nervously as the vibration became much more noticeable.

"It's dinner time..." I uttered slowly, before the sound of crashing accompanied the vibration. And then, from the thick forests to the south, several trees were knocked over as a massive pokemon appeared.

"SNORLAAAAAAAAAAX!"