Reaching for the Stars Chapter 1: The Cloaked Challenger, a pokémon fanfic

Osashiburidana, e minna-san?

It really has been quite a while since you all have seen me on this side of the review window. I wasn't planning to release this chapter for another few days but something about posting this one exactly ten months after my last chapter and ironically enough 21 months after my very first story has a sort of nostalgia to it. I've gotten a few messages from different members in the past months asking if I was going to write again so here it is; chapter one of my eighth story. But of course there is one last thing that I have to do before it starts.

Enjoy.

The warm Kanto sun shown down past the clear cloudless sky creating the ideal day for almost anything one could think of. It would have been a Pokémon trainer's paradise as all the wild Pokémon of the area rested out in the open just enjoying the warm rays. Yet even with the abundance of Pokémon there were only two humans walking down the road. One of them, a boy whose Pikachu was sitting on his shoulder listening into his trainer's conversation, was looking suspiciously at his other traveling companion. The girl who was following him was almost skipping as they went down the road.

"Dawn is there a reason that you're still following me?" The boy finally asked as his hometown just started to come into view. "I know that you wanted to try the Kanto contests but you do know that I'm just going to be resting at home for a month or two before heading out to Johto. So by following me you won't be really making much headway on your goal."

"I know, but to be honest I haven't completely decided on where I'll be going. So for all I know I might just be going to Johto as well," she replied with a smile.

"Great," the boy muttered under his breath. Looking over at his passenger the trainer just sighed as the Pikachu looked just as disappointed as he was.

"Oh come on Ash, am I really that bad to travel with?"

"To be honest, yes; at times you are," Ash said matter-of-factly.

"Do you really have to be that blunt about it?" Dawn asked feeling a little hurt at his quick response. "Besides you couldn't have had that many bad experiences while in Sinnoh, right?"

Sighing again the young trainer knew what was probably going to be coming if he kept the conversation going as it was. Over the last few months that they were traveling together Dawn seemed to have taken on a different personality around him. While she was still the same energetic blunette that he met nearly a year ago Dawn had started to be a bit more tentative around him and went out of her way to try and get his attention. Although he had a few ideas as to why Ash never took enough of a notice to really think into it. Besides with the Sinnoh League Championship just around the corner he had other things to occupy his mind. After confiding this with Pikachu he found out that it wasn't the only one getting problems with the other sex. Buneary was apparently trying to get closer to the electric mouse at about the same time that Dawn seemed to change.

"No they weren't all that bad Dawn. It was just that there were times where some of your habits, like say your excessive attention to your hair, did get a little annoying as it made us late in several instances. We even almost missed the last ferry to the Pokémon League! Now how can you tell me something like that wouldn't annoy me?"

"I already apologized for that several times, how much longer are you going to be holding me to that? In the end we got there in time so nothing bad happened. Besides you boys can't understand what a girl's hair means to her."

Continuing their walk so that he wouldn't have to deal with the conversation as long Ash took only a second before coming up with an answer that might satisfy her. "Lemme take a guess then." Clearing his throat he turned around while walking backwards so that he could face the blunette. Holding a finger in the air and trying his best to imitate a girl's voice the boy repeated a saying that he had heard once before. "A girl's hair is her life, so don't even think about messing with it! Am I right?" He finished with a smirk.

Giving him a weird look Dawn couldn't help but just stare at him. "And where did you hear that one?"

"I think that I heard it from May once," he replied while laughing a bit and turning back around before continuing their walk. "Though when I think about it, I believe that she just said it as a joke while Max and I teased her one day."

"Well I guess that you are more or less correct; especially when we have a reason for it," she added quietly.

"Did you say something?"

"Nope."

"Okay, cause we just made it to Professor Oak's lab."

"Professor Oak? I thought that you were heading to your house."

"I was thinking of stopping off there to meet with some of my old Pokémon as well as drop off my new ones while I stay in Pallet. They would all probably like the open space to walk around instead of just staying in their Pokéballs."

"Do you think the Professor would mind letting me keep my Pokémon at his lab while I stay here?'

"I don't see why not. You can run ahead if you want Pikachu, we won't be far behind. Besides you probably want to stretch your legs a bit after that long trip," Ash said as he turned to look at his starter.

Smiling the yellow mouse happily jumped off of his trainer's shoulder and ran out into the fields to join the other masses of Pokémon roaming about.

"So shall we get started releasing them?" He asked as Pikachu disappeared into a forest and away from view.

"Are you the Pokémon Trainer Ash Ketchum?"

Looking up the two friends could see a person walking towards them dressed in a long brown cloak that covered all except for a small portion of their lower face. From the figure one could guess that she was a girl but she was trying to deepen her voice as she talked giving it a slightly unusual tone. Even still Ash had a weird sense of déjà vu as he looked at the person.

"I am," he responded carefully. "And who might you be?"

Stepping in front of Dawn the trainer felt a bit odd without his ever present partner there for support. While the figure didn't seem to be too threatening there was still something about her that didn't seem right and he didn't want to take any chances.

"My name isn't important right now; just think of me as a fellow trainer wanting to test the Sinnoh Champ's skills. Care for a little match?" Looking directly at Ash she waited expectantly for the trainer's response.

Trees flew by as the other member of the team ran through the woods trying to find his favorite spot. It was a nice clearing overlooking a large pond. At this time of day the sun always was able to peek through the leaves of the canopy and the many rays of light seemed to dance off the crystal clear water, perfect for lazing the day away.

Pikachu was happy to be home after all of the time away; seeing all of Ash's old Pokémon and being able to do nothing but lay in the sun and lounge around made it the perfect vacation. Well almost perfect that is, he thought, there was one old friend that would truly make everything perfect.

Caught up in his own little world Pikachu didn't notice a blur of brown off his left side until it was too late. The attacker knocked him off of his feet as he somersaulted across the grass. The yellow mouse was usually rather alert, he had to be with the nearly daily Team Rocket attacks, but for some reason he wasn't able to catch sight, sound, or even smell of anyone until that point.

In an instant he was back on his feet and in a defensive position, sparks already flaring from his two electric check pouches. Slightly berating himself over not sensing the attack, the Electric-type scanned the ground to try and find who attacked him in an effort of not being caught off guard again. But there was one thing that bothered him; if his attacker was able to catch him off guard like that and get a good solid hit, why did it not hurt? It was almost as if they held back for some reason. Were they just toying with him or was it something else?

Suddenly the Mouse Pokémon caught a few signals coming from his sensitive ears and nose, but by the time he was able to identify the sounds and smells of the freshly turned earth it was too late. Popping up right underneath his body the force knocked him off balance and he tumbled to the ground. Looking up at his small four-legged assailant he could only stare wide eyed at what was before him.

"Well how about it? Or has your victory in Sinnoh gone to your head?"

"No, you're on. I'm not sure who you are or why else you've come here, but no matter what the reasons are I never turn down a battle."

"Good, like I had hoped you haven't changed a single bit. Seeing as how I'm the one who issued the challenge how does a simple one-on-one battle sound?"

"Fine by me."

Giving off a confident smile Ash tried to see if he couldn't try to at least take the upper hand in the mental battle. He could already tell that this wasn't just some random battle proposal and his opponent had probably taken time beforehand to prepare. "So who's going to be your choice?"

"One of my most powerful." Sporting a smirk just as confident as Ash's, the cloaked figure produced a Pokéball from her sleeve before tossing it out onto the battlefield. "Venusaur, let's go!"

With a flash of red light the fully evolved Kanto starter appeared. Stretching its legs and shaking the giant flower on its back several water droplets danced off the leaves and created several small rainbows as they passed through the sun's rays. Looking up the giant Pokémon waited expectantly for her opponent.

"Don't worry Ash this should be an easy battle for you," Dawn whispered into his ear. "You should be able to take her down without too much effort."

"What do you mean?"

"Did you see the way that her Pokémon came out of its ball? I'd put money on the fact that she's a coordinator."

"Are you trying to say that coordinators can't battle? You of all people should know that just because a person is a coordinator doesn't say anything about their strength."

Raising her hands defensively Dawn tried to remedy the situation. "No no no, that's not what I meant; or at least not exactly." Sighing a bit she continued. "I'm just saying that with a coordinator's focus on beauty as well as power compared to a trainer's concentration on almost pure power should give you an advantage. It was meant as nothing more than encouragement. I just screwed up I guess. Besides she's probably just some nobody Pokémon trainer that wants to take on the Sinnoh Champ to prove their worth."

"I don't care if she is a coordinator or a trainer, like always I'll battle them with my best." Still smiling Ash looked back at his opponent while grabbing a Pokéball from his belt. "But I get what you're saying, thanks Dawn. I guess I'll just show her how the new champion battles then. Torterra, I choose you!"

With another flash of light the Sinnoh starter hit the ground with a giant reverberating thud. Dwarfing even the giant Venusaur the Continent Pokémon was proud of its bulk and lived up to its title. Weighing over four times as much as his opponent and sporting an almost full additional meter in height it was clear who had the physical advantage. Letting out a bellowing roar the Pokémon was more than willing to battle. Yet even while facing down such a massive opponent neither the Venusaur nor her trainer even flinched at the sight of Ash's choice.

"So are you finally ready?" The challenger asked. "To be fair I'll let you have the first move."

"Overconfident are we? I'll just have to show you how we win. Torterra let's start this off big, Leaf Storm!"

Bending down slightly to bring the large bonsai tree on his back to bare, Torterra aimed his attack as the leaves began to glow with a light green hue. Not even a second later what appeared to be a light breeze that began blowing through the leaves turned into a torrent as the glowing foliage started to detach from the Pokémon and fly towards their target in a cyclone shaped funnel.

"Venusaur, Solarbeam."

Taking only passing notice that the stranger stopped trying disguising her voice, Ash tried to keep his full focus on the battle, even if the voice did sound somewhat familiar. Shaking the thoughts out of his head a large smile made its way back to his face as he figured out his opponent's mistake. "Solarbeam takes time to power up, keep pressing the attack through the entire charge!"

Just before what appeared to be countless small beads of light began to filter down into Venusaur's flower the attack of Torterra's hit its mark, surrounding the Seed Pokémon in a whirlwind of tiny razor sharp leaves.

"Keep it up Venusaur, only a little more."

Ash could only wonder at what was going on. His opponent's Pokémon was taking every leaf on directly and yet was only flinching every few seconds, all the while the droplets of light began to flow like a constant stream, collecting around the seed in the center of its flower petals. Even with the attack, neither she nor her trainer even looked worried. "How can she take one of our most powerful attacks and yet still keep the concentration necessary to prepare a Solarbeam?"

It was at that point it hit him. With Venusaur being a Grass/Poison-type even a Leaf Storm wouldn't be anything more than an annoying paper cut. Of course by the time he finally realized this it was already too late.

"You're too predictable right now Ash, Venusaur fire!"

Through the fury of the leaves the glow coming from the seed in the Pokémon's flower began to intensify as the power began to take shape. Mere seconds later the energy was released in one powerful shot, effortlessly blowing away the Continent Pokémon's attack. Before Ash could even react, Venusaur's attack found its target as Torterra recoiled from the direct hit to its shell.

Thinking quickly Ash gave his next command in an effort to buy some time to come up with a new plan of attack. "Torterra quickly turn that momentum into an Earthquake!"

Thanks to its massive bulk the Sinnoh starter swiftly recovered from the strike and with a loud roar reared up slightly on its back legs right before crashing down onto the earth sending a powerful shockwave racing from it.

"Venusaur counter with your own Earthquake!"

"That thing knows Earthquake as well?"

Mimicking its opponent Venusaur reared up on its own rear legs before smashing down, sending out its own tremor along the ground.

Several fissures were forming around both Pokémon as the powerful Earth-type attacks spread out from their epicenters. Meeting in the middle several large rocks began jutting out of the ground as the attacks collided, creating a wall of jagged stone between the two combatants and blocking each from the other's view.

"Okay not exactly what I was planning but at least I got the results I was looking for," Ash thought as he started a mental overview of the battle. "Whoever this person is she's definitely good, far better than I was expecting; so much for facing a 'nobody Pokémon trainer'. Of course it's not really helping that I'm forgetting the basics on top of everything, looks like it was me who was the overconfident one."

Taking a deep breath, the trainer slowly released it allowing himself to calm down in the process.

"Let's see here, her Venusaur seems to be specialized in special attacks and their defense; heh who would have thought that I would have just given my opponent that big of an advantage right off the bat. But it's too late for that one now Ash, we just need to worry about the here and now. Our advantage is in the physical end of attacks and defense. That just means that I'll have to end this fast, Torterra can't take another attack like that and still have a good chance at winning. Looks like we'll finally have to put that training of ours to work."

"Torterra we have to go full strength from this point on." Seeing his Pokémon nod in agreement Ash looked back at the wall of rocks, wondering what the cloaked figure was planning. "Alright then, Torterra Hyper Beam!"

"Tor!" Opening its mouth wide the giant Pokémon got itself ready for the attack his trainer ordered. He knew just as well that that Venusaur wasn't a pushover and was happy to be actually fighting someone worthwhile.

"Fire!"

Accompanied by a small aerial shockwave the orange beam flew out of Torterra's mouth, effortlessly blasting the wall to pieces and continuing on to the other side.

"About time, I was wondering when you'd finally get back to your normal self! Venusaur, Light Screen!" Ash's opponent called out once the wall was cut down.

Without a moment's hesitation a transparent barrier formed between the two combatants right before the Hyper Beam hit. It didn't take long for the barrier to start to crack and deform from the force of the attack but by the time it shattered none of the beam was left.

"Now Torterra, Wood Hammer!"

Before his trainer even ordered the next attack the lumbering giant was already on the move. Starting off slow but steadily increasing in speed, the Continent Pokémon turned himself into a living freight train as each step brought with it a resounding thud. By the time he passed the midpoint on the field it already felt like another Earthquake attack as the turtle charged ahead with surprising speed.

Ash mentally cheered as he could picture the surprise on his opponent's face. Ever since Torterra learned Hyper Beam they trained to try and reduce the recharge time afterwards. The result was Torterra growing even larger than the average for his species as to hold the additional power needed. The one downside to this was that with the excess bulk came even further reduced speed. By this point the only real time that Torterra moved significantly in battle would be to utilize its most potent attack, Wood Hammer. Combined with a running charge the weight and power of Torterra made it their ace in the hole.

"Right!"

Surprised at her response Ash could only stare as the Venusaur nimbly dodged out of the way as Torterra brought its massive front leg down, creating a mini earthquake in the process as it slammed into the ground

"Now Grass Knot while it's off balance!"

Quickly turning back to face its opponent the Kanto starter's eyes glowed green as several blades of grass started to grow around one of the legs of the massive Pokémon. Before it could react Torterra's leg was pulled out from underneath it and the giant turtle went down with a loud thud, dazing it as its head hit the ground hard.

"Now Torterra, another Leaf Storm and then Synthesis!"

"Right and Sludge Bomb!"

Caught by surprise at the speed of his opponent Ash knew he was in trouble, it would take a couple seconds for Torterra to get up and that would mean his Pokémon would be nothing more than a sitting target until then. With the tree being the only thing pointed in Venusaur's direction he was rather limited in attacks until the Continent Pokémon's head was back into the battle.

Firing off another cyclone of leaves the Seed Pokémon once again dodged to the right before firing off its own attack. Although unlike before the storm of leaves was large enough to catch Venusaur's left side, as it did several cuts were made into the pebbly green skin and the great beast winced in pain. But the opponent's reasoning for this maneuver was accomplished as a large purple blob of gunk shot out of Venusaur's mouth, covering not only his shell but the tree on Torterra's back as well causing the Leaf Storm to abruptly come to a halt.

Finally able to turn abound to face his opponent the massive Pokémon looked up only in time for another Sludge Bomb to hit him the face. Roaring in pain the Pokémon desperately tried to rub its head on the ground to clear the poison out of his eyes. With all of his efforts in vain he could feel his strength start to give way as the toxin began to course through his body, only hastened by his futile attempts to clear it. Collapsing down on the ground he succumbed to the two super-effective attacks and blacked out.

"Torterra!"

Running towards his downed Pokémon with Dawn close behind, Ash knelt down to inspect his friend. Breathing a sigh of relief once he was sure that everything was more or less fine he too collapsed down onto the ground, sitting next to his second Sinnoh capture.

"Eww," Dawn gagged as she looked at the thick purple sludge oozing off of the giant's back. "I thought that she was supposed to be a coordinator. Why would anyone want to use an attack as disgusting as that?" Looking back at Ash her face instantly softened as she looked at the now defeated trainer. "Ash, you going to be okay?"

"Don't worry he'll be just fine."

Looking up the two friends saw the cloaked figure walking up towards them with her Venusaur close behind, a slight limp evident in its left front leg.

"And who asked you?" Dawn spat out at the stranger. "It's your fault that he's like this in the first place!"

"You traveled with him for a little over a year, am I right Dawn?"

Anger quickly turned to shock at the fact that this stranger knew her name. "How do you know my name, who the heck are you?" She shouted defensively, backing up closer to Ash.

Giving off a small smile and a chuckle the figure just looked at the distressed blunette. "The fact that you were on TV for the Sinnoh Super Contests and many people probably know it by now is kinda beside the point." The smile didn't last long as her voice once again returned to a firm tone. "But you didn't answer my question."

"Well, yeah. Of course," she replied a tad questionably.

"Then you should also know that after Ash Ketchum loses he won't stop until he can overcome that weakness and come out stronger in the end." Looking over at the trainer he appeared to be in shock as he just sat there unresponsive, either that or just completely lost in thought. A cheerful grin came over her face as she began to talk to him, "Gary was right. You really are easy to beat after a big win."

Well let's just hope that I haven't gotten too rusty in the almost whole year since my last story. But as I was proven wrong last time by my readers I'll just leave that decision up to you guys. Otherwise we'll just leave it at a couple of cliffhangers for now, one easy and another a bit harder.

As always I hope you enjoyed this and will welcome any type of review. I'll be trying to follow my usual update schedule of every other day so look forward to the next chapter.