"What are you thinking Espeon?" Ash asked as he led his Pokémon over the fields. They had left Viridian Forest as planned nearly a week ago, and in all that time, Espeon had kept trying to build on the connection that she had formed with Ash. She still couldn't convey words, but his emotions were completely transparent to her. Slightly surprisingly, the same seemed to be at least partially true the other way. Espeon didn't necessarily have to react for Ash to realise something. As in fact, she suspected had happened this time, based on the look her trainer was giving her.

"Nervous?" Ash said. "Why?"

Espeon looked out across the expanse, and considered. Not being able to talk to her trainer with anything other than general emotions meant that he could misunderstand her. She paused, and Ash stopped beside her.

"I know we're not as safe as we were in the forest," Ash said quietly. "But we are relatively safe here Espeon. We're stronger than most people could face, we have Charizard scouting from the sky, you here, and the rest of the team able to get back to us quickly."

Espeon nodded slowly, trying to convey a sense of conviction down the connection. Ash looked at her.

"Espeon, are you trying to lie to me?" he asked, laughter in his voice. "I know you're not nervous. I know you always want somewhere to hide. And thanks to you, I even partly know why." Espeon flicked her tail at the insinuation. She had worked hard in her time in Ash's team to get over her fears from her previous trainer. But now she couldn't hide it from Ash. Not for the first time she wondered if the connection had been the right thing to do. But whenever she had that thought she told herself off; Ash spoke to her far more frequently, and her trainer was far more energetic and enthusiastic. Bayleef had been right; it was exactly what Ash had needed.

Ash was still talking, but her broke off as Bayleef approached.

"What's wrong?" Ash asked instantly, looking at the expression on the Leaf Pokémon's face. Bayleef gestured with her head. They turned as a group to see a group of other Pokémon some two hundred metres away on the grass. Ash sighed. Even at this distance he could see at several Primeape's on the edge of the large group. He sighed, Pokémon famous for their energy and their anger. They had clearly spotted him, and they had seen that he had looked at them.

"Charizard!" Ash shouted. "Get down here!"

A few moments later, Ash heard the running as Snorlax, Sceptile and Lairon all reached him, before Charizard landed behind him. His full team of Pokémon around him, he looked over at the group of Primeape's who were beginning to charge.

"Okay, we have to fight," Ash said quickly. "I don't know how many there are, but we'll take them. Charizard, into the air. Start hitting them whilst they approach. Snorlax, long-range attacks. You're vulnerable to them. Bayleef you too. Lairon, Sceptile, front and centre. Espeon, snipe and wave attacks."

A chorus of acknowledgements rang out from his Pokémon. Charizard leapt into the air again, unleashing a Flamethrower from range that the Primeape's veered away from as they continued the charge. Charizard hurtled towards them and his follow-up attack struck two of the Primeape. Ash couldn't see the impact of the attack as they had come in range of the rest of his Pokémon.

An Ice Beam hurtled out from Snorlax, followed only a moment later by a Solar Beam from Bayleef. The two attacks collided with their targets as Charizard circled around for another strike. Smoke started to roll out from the points of impact, and Sceptile slipped into a fighting stance. Out of the smoke stumbled nearly a dozen Primeape, with a large group of Mankey around them. As they closed the last fifteen metres, Espeon struck, a wave of Psychic sweeping across the field. Several Mankey were knocked out by it straight away, whilst the rest of the charging group stumbled. The delay bought Snorlax, Charizard and Espeon time to hit with another series of attacks that sent yet more Pokémon crashing to the ground. As the last attacks died out, Sceptile darted forwards, Lairon charging alongside him into the fray. Espeon switched to focused attacks whilst Charizard circled the fight looking for targets.

To Ash's surprise, Sceptile returned to him after less than a minute, hardly panting. As the dust and smoke cleared, he realised that his Pokémon had left a trail of Pig Monkey Pokémon for the full two hundred metres. He didn't bother to count; it was obvious they had been very heavily outnumbered. And yet they had won easily. As Charizard landed, Ash turned back to his team, a look of surprise on his face.

"Guys, how strong did we get in that training?" Ash asked.

That evening, Ash sat by the dying embers of a fire, his Pokémon sat around him. He hadn't bothered with a sleeping bag since they had left Viridian Forest, telling his team it was less to carry. It had taken him some time to get used to sleeping on the hard ground, but now he could fall asleep anywhere.

Espeon padded up to him and nuzzled his hand, causing Ash to smile slightly and begin scratching her behind the ears. She mewed happily, and Ash felt a feeling of contentment and happiness down the mental link that they shared.

"Today was somewhat crazy" Ash said to his Pokémon at large. There was a general rustling and stir amongst them, but none reacted more than that. They were used to Ash vocalising his thoughts to them in the evenings. It was a joke amongst them that Ash treated them as if they were a journal.

"We took out a rampaging horde of Primapes, and I'm not sure they even got a hit in," Ash continued. "I know we didn't fight Pidgeot before we left, but maybe we should have. We've strengthened so much. We probably could go and win a tournament now. Maybe we should."

Charizard raised his head and looked at Ash, his eyes burning with a fire that matched his tail.

"What do you think Charizard?" Ash asked. "We nearly won in Sinnoh and that was without you and before our training. Maybe not a regional league, but a more minor league? A bit like the Orange League?" Ash chuckled. "Remember that fight against Drake? That was quite something. You nearly beat a Dragonite that so strong it may as well be legend."

Charizard growled and Ash laughed. "Of course, I'm sure you'd beat him now. And of course, we still won. Pikachu…" Ash's voice trailed off.

Espeon nudged into his hand again, sending a wave of loving care down their connection. Ash smiled down at her, blinking to try and clear the water that was forming in his eyes. When he spoke, his voice was thick with the emotion he was trying to supress.

"I know Espeon. But it wouldn't feel right without them."

Sceptile growled, and Ash's hand snapped around. It was such a strange sound from his normally quite taciturn Pokémon that it took him by surprise. Ash opened his mouth to speak, before Sceptile silenced him with a look. Ash didn't need to understand Sceptile speaking to know what he was message was clear. As far as Sceptile was concerned, the Pokémon that had left were long gone, and not worth their time.

"I'm sorry Sceptile," Ash said, now fighting the tears that he refused to allow fall. "And I know, they left. But it still wouldn't be right." Ash choked out a laugh, the sound alien in the evening air. "Ash Ketchum competing without Pikachu? What would people think."

"That he'd been abandoned by a Pokémon that wouldn't stand by him," Charizard growled. Ash looked at the Flame Pokémon without comprehension.

"You know I don't understand you Charizard," Ash said quietly. "And you may not forgive them. But I'm less certain. They were our friends for years."

Ash's voice continued into the night air, absent-minded and unfocused, as he spoke without direction, letting his thoughts flow.

"You all know how much it hurt when they left. You all stood by me. You know how much that meant. And we retreated from the world, we hid in Viridian Forest. We trained. We became stronger. Apparently much stronger. But we hid. We would have stayed there forever. We'd have been happy; we had a good life. There were no stresses. It was simple. Pidgeot looked after us, we helped him. We never needed to move. And then Lia found us. Suddenly it felt like there was something missing, but we could have stayed. She would have come back, and we'd have been fine. And then Espeon… well, Espeon made a breakthrough. Our training has given us more power, more strength. We're different now. We're special."

Ash's voice suddenly snapped back into focus, causing all his Pokémon to sit up and look at him.

"That's it. That's what we need to do. That's what's missing."

There was a general sound of confusion from Ash's Pokémon, which caused their trainer to let out an almost manic laugh.

"Our purpose. What is our purpose?" Ash rose from the ground, a single smooth motion that caused his Pokémon to watch him with interest. Ash stopped in front of Snorlax.

"Your purpose Snorlax? When you stayed, it was for food. You wanted to train to get fitter, to eat more food. And now look at you. You can still eat more than any of us, but you run, you can ignore hunger cravings, you can move quicker than most Pokémon, despite it not being natural to you. You have, in short, become stronger. You're different to most other Snorlax."

Ash moved forward, stopping in front of Charizard, a smile on his face. "Charizard. I mean… you're you. You've faced down legendary Pokémon. You weren't scared, and you won. You're one of the most powerful Charizard in the world. And like Snorlax, you're different."

Charizard preened as Ash moved on, turning to gesture at all his Pokémon with his arms. "You're all different. Bayleef's knowledge about what humans can and can't eat, Lairon's resilience, Sceptile's experience taking on Pokémon he's weak against. And Espeon…" Ash turned to look back at the Sun Pokémon. "Espeon's building a connection between herself and me."

Ash stopped turning, a smile on his face as his Pokémon stared at him as if he'd gone insane.

"We're going to be the best. But what's the point? We can get stronger, but we proved today that we are already stronger than most. And we shouldn't stop. But it should be more than just getting stronger. We can be different."

Silence rang around their campsite as the Pokémon processed it. Ash took a deep breath.

"Each of you has the potential to be better than anybody else. To be different to other Pokémon. We will do so by pushing ourselves to the limit, every day. And then breaking through that limit and keep going. Never accepting any limitations again. I believe we can go further than anybody else. We'll explore what each of you is truly capable. Do you understand?"

Sceptile started to nod, caught up by the emotion in his trainers voice more than the idea itself. But Ash caught onto it and spun to stare at him.

"Sceptile, what defines you?" Ash asked. Sceptile looked back at him, uncertainly. "Seriously, what is you? What separates you from other Sceptiles? Once we know that, we'll build on it. We'll train until you embrace your uniqueness. That will be our purpose."

Ash turned slowly, looking at each of his Pokémon in turn. "All of you, think about what makes you unique, what sets you apart. We'll embrace it. This is how we'll be the best in the world. A team like no other, unique in every way." A moment later, Ash felt warmth through his foot and he looked down into the dying embers of the fire that he was somehow managing to stand in. He chuckled as he took his foot out.

"But not tonight. Tonight we rest. Tomorrow we'll begin afresh."

A week later, Ash crouched down, watching his team. Frustration was written on his face. His latest grand statement of yet another fresh start had fallen quite spectacularly flat. Although his Pokémon had embraced the challenge enthusiastically, they had made minimal progress. Espeon was continuing to develop her psychic abilities, but whilst her strength was growing, she had not made any more than emotional connections with him, or any of the others. His other Pokémon had, for want of a better word, gotten stuck. Sceptile was quicker than ever, but as Ash kept telling himself, speed wasn't an identity. To his surprise, Snorlax was the one of his Pokémon who had made the most progress. Over the months they had been training, Snorlax had gotten better at not sleeping excessively, but since Ash's announcement, Snorlax had managed to force himself onto a more normal sleep pattern. It had translated into a more active Snorlax, who had slimmed down even more. Amusingly for the others, this had somehow been matched by an even bigger increase in Snorlax's appetite. They were in awe at the Sleeping Pokémon's ability to collect and then eat food.

But Ash was focused on the rest of the team. Lairon and Charizard were currently having a training battle, where Charizard was dodging in the air and striking back. Lairon was blocking each attack, and keeping up a barrage, but Charizard's greater manoeuvrability was stopping him from getting hit. As he watched them, Ash began to mutter under his breath.

"Up, left, counter-attack." He muttered. "Down, climb, left again… fire twice. Then spiral to dodge and then into another attack."

He continued to talk to himself for a few moments before he cut noticed Espeon nuzzling his hand.

"What?" Ash asked looking down at her. She gazed at him and he realised he'd been talking to himself.

"Oh, sorry. I was distracted."

Espeon nuzzled at him again, and he blinked at her. "What is it?"

Espeon's eyes flicked back and forth between Ash and Charizard as he fought from the sky. Ash looked back up at Charizard, who was continuing to dodge. Espeon mewed at him.

"I'm sorry Espeon, I don't understand…" Ash said before trailing off. He looked at Charizard more closely before realisation dawned.

"Was I calling his moves before he did them?" Ash asked. Espeon nodded, a sense of satisfaction coming down their joint connection. Ash looked up again. "But how… Is Charizard predictable?"

The blank stare Espeon gave Ash answered that question for him, but if it hadn't, her mind radiated disdain for the idea.

"No, that's not it. I'd only be able to guess… if I knew him well enough. He's not predictable, he's repetitive."

The disdain was replaced with satisfaction and agreement.

"Have they fought that battle before?" Ash asked. Espeon nodded. "Then that… that means…"

Ash broke off before looking back up at Charizard who had dodged another attack from Lairon before unleashing a huge torrent of fire. Lairon fired another defensive strike up, but this time it wasn't enough. Flames spilled around the outside, and Lairon braced himself against the ground, enduring the hit. Charizard then swept in for another strike, only to be hit himself by a counter-strike from Lairon. Ash set his shoulders as he came to a decision.

"That's enough," Ash called. "Lairon, train fitness. Charizard, come here."

Lairon nodded and padded off by himself, whilst Charizard landed in front of his trainer. Espeon stood off to one side watching them.

"Remember when I said I wanted each of you to be unique?" Ash said to the Flame Pokémon who nodded. "What makes you unique Charizard?"

Charizard looked down at Ash with a strange look. He growled to Espeon who tried to convey confusion down the connection to Ash. The trainer turned to her.

"That's going to be a very slow and ineffective form of communication." Ash turned back to Charizard. "I realise you can't answer that. Let me try a different question. You've beaten legendary Pokémon, correct?"

Charizard nodded, a growl of pride coming from his throat.

"And they were some of your toughest battles?"

Charizard nodded again.

"Why?"

Charizard looked down at him.

"Oh I know you can't answer Charizard, that was rhetorical." Ash said with a chuckle. "But bear with me. Remember the fight in the Orange Islands? Against Drake? You fought a Dragonite that was practically legend in its own right. It hit hard, and eventually wore you down. But you were able to match its power, just not its endurance."

Charizard growled, his eyes still showing how he didn't understand.

"Then the Johto League? Against Gary? You managed to beat his Blastoise. You were quicker, and more maneuverable… but you beat him with power. You hit so hard that a powerful water Pokémon couldn't beat your fire. That is not normal"

Charizard cocked his head slightly. He was beginning to see where Ash was going.

"Then remember Articuno? One of your best victories. He hit harder than anything else, but you matched him. And since then you've only gotten stronger. And now look at you. Your attacks are strong enough to disrupt the very strongest Pokémon we've faced. You can take out whole teams of Pokémon with a single attack. In short, you hit as hard as a legendary Pokémon."

Charizard began to nod, the flame on his tail growing.

"That is what will make you unique." Ash said. "We will build your attacks up to be so strong that nothing can stand against them. Not Pidgeot, not a legendary Pokémon… nothing. You will have the most powerful attacks in the world. Our powerhouse. What do you say? Do you trust me? Shall we do this together?"

Charizard roared his agreement, and punctuated it with a huge, towering burst of flame that he sent into the sky. Ash grinned.

"And I know just where to start. To truly be the best, it will require total trust. I trust you implicitly Charizard, and I know you do the same back. But let's go and train where that trust first got built. We're going to build up from our worst defeats. And I know where your worst defeat with me was. We're going to the Orange Islands."