Warning: This story is AU starting from after Ash's group foiled Team Rocket's robbery of the Nimbasa Pokémon Center. With that in mind, enjoy!
Pokémon: World Battle
Chapter 1- Return!
When we last left our heroes, Ash Ketchum and his friends, Iris and Cilan, they had arrived in Anville Town after just barely foiling Team Rocket's latest plan to commit mass Pokémon theft. Deciding to stay the night for Cilan's sake, by the time the trio managed to pry the Gym Leader away from the Anville Town Railyard, it was already late afternoon. Hitching a ride on the subway, the trio made their way back to Nimbasa City, with Ash busy strategizing for his battle with Elesa, the Nimbasa Gym Leader. Finally arriving in the city at long last, the trio marveled at the beauty of the city framed by the sunset, made even more stunning as its trademark electric lights came on for the night.
"Wow," Ash sighed as he took in the sights of the city once again. "Okay! I'm totally charged up now! Let's go get that gym badge!"
"Pi Pika Pi!" squeaked Ash's partner Pokémon, Pikachu, mimicking his Trainer's determined expression.
"Ugh, you're such a kid," Iris groaned, "It's dusk. Shouldn't the Gym be closed for the night by now?"
"Iris does have a point, Ash," said Cilan gently, "And besides, we need to make sure we have a place to stay before we do anything. It probably would be best to check into the Pokémon Center for the night. After all, it's not like the gym is going anywhere, right?"
"Aww, c'mon!" Ash whined, "I've waited weeks for this! Can't we at least check?"
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt," Cilan sighed. He knew that once Ash became determined to do something, it was impossible to dissuade him.
Once they checked, however, the Dragon Master-in-training was proven right; the gym was indeed closed.
Looking at the "Hours of Operation" sign and checking it against the watch feature on his Xtransceiver, Ash heaved a frustrated sigh. "Darn it," he grumbled, "We were so close! If we'd come into town an hour earlier, I could've challenged the gym today!"
"C'mon, Ash," Iris replied, "Like Cilan said, it's not like the gym is going anywhere. If we stay in town for the night, you can just come and make your challenge in the morning. Let's go check into the Pokemon Center and get some rest."
"Okay," Ash muttered. "But we're coming here first thing in the morning!"
"First thing after breakfast, right, Cilan?"
"Erm, uh," the well-mannered man replied. He hated it when his younger companions argued, and he hated being stuck in the middle of said arguments even more. Thankfully, he didn't have time to answer, because they were already at the door of the Pokémon Center.
After checking in with that Center's Nurse Joy, Ash trudged upstairs, his friends not far behind. Every Pokémon Center was equipped with free lodging, something that weary travelers were thankful for, especially if their Pokémon teams needed extensive healing. Finding the room they were going to stay the night in, the trio got ready for bed as quickly as they could. For once, Ash couldn't wait to get to sleep, if only because getting a good night's rest made battling that much easier due to the fact that he would be more focused. Unable to get to sleep due to the excitement he felt, however, Ash merely lay there, concocting battle strategies as the hours wore on.
Just as the young trainer's eyelids ere beginning to droop, there was a ringing noise, akin to that of a telephone.
"Mnh," groaned Iris, who was sleeping in the bunk above Cilan. Half waking up, she proceeded to throw a pillow at Ash, waking him up. "That's your XTransceiver, Ash! You have a call!" she grumbled.
Checking the device, Ash saw that he did indeed have an incoming call, though he had no idea who it could be at that hour of the night. "Heheh, sorry about that, guys," he muttered sheepishly as he went out into the hall to answer the XTransceiver's phone.
"Hello?" asked a girl's voice over the connection, "Is anyone there? Man, I need to get used to this thing...Can't even tell if someone's picked up! I hate how they're always coming out with a new gadget every other year…"
"Um, hi," replied Ash. He could hear the girl's voice clearly, but she was obviously fairly new to using the XTransceiver, as she was holding hers so close to her own face that the only thing his screen showed of her was one green eye. "Um, try holding the XTransceiver farther away from your face," he advised.
"Y'mean...Like this?" the girl asked as she complied. Finally, her whole face was visible. She was quite pretty, with a healthy complexion, emerald green eyes, and neck-length red hair which curled inward just under her ears. Something about her seemed quite familiar to the boy, though he wasn't quite sure what. Between her looks and the sound of her voice, however, he was sure he knew her.
"Y-yeah, like that," he said. "Why does this girl seem so familiar?" he wondered.
"Oh sweet Arceus, it really is you!" she said excitedly when she finally saw his face as he stepped into the lighted hallway. "Haha, you haven't changed a bit, Ash!"
Scratching his head, Ash blinked. "Um...Thanks, I think. You seem to know me, but somehow, I don't-"
"...You don't recognize me, do you?" the girl asked half-exasperatedly.
"Er...No," Ash admitted sheepishly.
"Well, there's no need to be so blunt about it! Anyway, hold on."
Ash merely watched as the screen scanned wildly around the room the girl was in, a sure sign she was doing something involving her hands, and by extension, her wrist. When the camera finally settled on her face again, Ash was greeted by a welcome, familiar sight: the girl's hair was now tied into a short ponytail on the left side of her head.
"Misty?" he gasped in surprise.
"Heh, so you finally figured it out! I guess us girls have to be careful not to change our hairstyles too much, or else our guy friends won't recognize us the next time they see us!"
Though he would normally have just laughed at her joke, Ash felt terrible. Of all the friends he's made over the years, Misty was one of his oldest and best friends.
"Ash...Everything ok?" Misty asked cautiously, afraid she'd hurt his feelings somehow.
"Y-Yeah," Ash said quietly.
"Jeez, you big baby. I was scared that I hurt your feelings or something!"
"Heh...I was actually afraid I hurt yours."
"Pfft. I'm fine, Ash. We haven't seen each other for a long time; I can understand if you didn't recognize me right away. I didn't think I'd recognize you!"
"That's good...So, how've you been? We really need to catch up!"
"Been pretty good, actually. My sisters have been in and out of the gym, but it's mostly just been me. I haven't had much of a chance to get out and go on adventures like we used to."
Hearing the wistful sound of his friend's voice made Ash think of their days traveling together, like they used to.
"...Wow, the conversation is already getting depressing...That's not good..." Misty muttered.
"Chuuu..." Pikachu whined, as if imploring his human partner to cheer up.
"Well? What about you, Ash?"
"I'm doing alright. I'm in the Unova region now! In fact, I'm gonna go challenge Nimbasa Gym tomorrow morning!"
"Wow, that's great, Ash! Make sure to watch yourself in there...I've heard about Elesa, the Nimbasa City Gym Leader. She's tough!"
"Don't worry about it!" Ash said, his confidence mostly back, "Between Pikachu, my other Pokémon and me, I know we can do it!"
"Pi pika pi!" Pikachu cheered, making a determined face as he shot off a few sparks as if to show he was full of energy.
"Haha," Misty laughed, "Same ol' Ash and Pikachu. Good luck! You know I'll be cheering for you!"
"Heh, thanks!" Ash said, grinning.
"You wanna see something?" Misty asked, a sudden coyness in her voice.
"Err...Like what?" Ash asked warily.
"Like...This!" Misty said, toggling an option on her XTransceiver's camera so that Ash was able to see her reflection in a mirror she was standing in front of.
Not only had she let her hair down during the time they were apart, she had given her wardrobe an overhaul. Forgoing her old yellow tank top and denim shorts, she simply wore a white one-piece swimsuit under a simple cyan jacket. Instead of socks and sneakers, on her feet she only wore flip-flops. Ash, who was well into his teens by now, ended up noticing that he could clearly make out what seemed to be rather well-developed breasts under the swimsuit.
"...So?" Misty asked excitedly, "What d'you think?" When Ash failed to reply, she stopped her cheeky grin and took a look at the screen, only to see the boy's face, red as the top half of a Voltorb, staring at his own screen with unblinking eyes. Wait...Was she mistaken, or was that...drool...in the corner of his mouth? "Ash?" she shouted, slightly worried.
"Eh? Oh, uh..."
"Ash...You're a pervert."
"N-No! It's just that..."
"'Just that'...What?"
"Er...Uh," Ash muttered quietly.
"Excuse me?"
"Uh...Um, so, you're still running the gym all by yourself?" Ash asked dimly, desperate to change the subject. He knew he was undergoing puberty, but this awkwardness was a little much.
"Heh, yeah, I didsay that already, didn't I?" teased the buxom girl. "You sure you're alright?"
"Y-Yeah," Ash said, feeling the burning sensation in his cheeks subside.
CRASH!
"Wh-What was that...?" Misty asked warily. "Ash, I'm gonna have to call you back. I think I heard a sound in the kitch-"
BOOM!
The girl never got a chance to finish that sentence, for the far wall of her room was vaporized in a powerful explosion.
"Misty? Misty!" Ash shouted into the XTransceiver's mic as Pikachu simply looked on intently.
"Guh...I'm...I'm alright...Somehow."
As the smoke cleared, a man in white, seemingly hi-tech armor marched into what was left of Misty's room, speaking into his headset. "Command? Yeah, it's me. I've found the girl- You know which one! The one that's friends with that Ash Ketchum punk!"
"'That Ash Ketchum punk'?" Ash wondered. "Am I really that important?"
As the dust cleared further, Misty saw just what had kept her safe from the explosion- one of her most stalwart Pokémon, Psyduck. Levitating the pieces of debris that would doubtlessly have flown at his Trainer otherwise, the Pokémon simply stood there, clutching his head as several of his veins bulged from the strain. "Psy...Duuuuuck!" he uttered as it flung away the rubble.
"Heh, looks like you've got a decent Pokémon, kid," sneered the mysterious assailant. "However, it won't do you much good! This mission's already cost me an Electrode- there's no wayI'm goin' back empty-handed! Ariados, attack!" As he said this, he flung a Pokéball in front of himself releasing its occupant into the room.
"Ugh, an Ariados...," Misty thought. "I may not be afraid of Bug-Types anymore, but those still creep me out." Noticing that Psyduck was still standing, she decided to use it to battle the new threat, though his performance was wildly inconsistent. "Psyduck!" she called, "You ready?"
"Psy...!" came the awkward-looking duck's reply.
Misty knew she'd have to act fast, as Psyduck's psychic headache seemed to be getting the better of him. Once he succumbed to the headache, he would be useless for the situation at hand. "Psyduck, use Water Gu-"
"Too slow!" bellowed the strange man. "Ariados! ExtremeSpeed!"
By the time Misty had finished yelling her command to Psyduck, the enemy Pokémon had already vanished, rendering the resulting stream of water worthless. "Dammit!" the girl thought, "Where'd it go...?"
"Time for you to say goodnight!" sneered her assailant, "Ariados! Poison Sting!"
"Hssss!" the arachnid replied from behind Misty. Before the girl could turn around to see it, it had already jumped onto her and bit her in the neck, injecting her with its venom.
"Gyaaaah!" Misty shrieked in pain. Why was the Pokémon attacking her directly? Usually, not even criminals' Pokémon could do that...right? As everything went black around her, the red-haired gym leader fell to her knees, and then to the floor. She tried to move, but found that every part of her body felt heavy and cold. Was this what death felt like...?
Watching the sight of its trainer writhing feebly in pain like that as Ariados took her down, Psyduck's eyes filled with tears. Was he doomed to fail, even now, when his trainer was in mortal peril? Was this the end?
...No, it wasn't. At least, not while Psyduck had anything to say about it.
A fierce expression on his face, Psyduck could feel his headache go away. All this time, he'd been fighting his power, trying to hold it back for fear of hurting someone, even more so than others of his kind usually do. However, now the time had come for him to unleash his full potential.
Struggling to see what was going on from the screen of his XTransceiver, Ash saw Psyduck's change in demeanor...And also a different kind of change. Psyduck was being enveloped in a bright light- the visual effects of Pokémon evolution! Growing into a lankier, slimmer form with claws and fins, Psyduck had finally evolved into its final form, Golduck. The red gem on its forehead, the most apparent distinguishing feature of the Golduck species, glowed as the light dissipated.
Before the mysterious attacker or his Ariados knew it, they were floating in the air among random debris, caught in Golduck's Psychic pull. Swirling them around and around, Golduck threw them both back out through the hole they had come in from. Still not satisfied after expelling the invaders, the blue monster duck followed them to the edge of the room, and then proceeded to touch both sets of fingers to its temples, causing its gem to glow brighter. All of a sudden, a multicolored beam of pure psychic energy burst from the gem. Golduck had learned Psybeam.
"Tch," growled the mysterious man as he struggled to his feet, "Looks like the mission failed, after all." Hastily returning the fallen Ariados to its Pokéball, the man pulled out some small device and pressed a button on it, instantly disappearing in a flash of light.
"What the?" Ash exclaimed, "Did he just...Did he just teleport?"
After ascertaining that his foes were no longer present, Golduck rushed to Misty's side. All it had ever wanted to do was to impress her, make her proud...But now that it finally had, he was about to lose her...Forever.
"G...Golduck..." Misty murmured quietly, "Thanks..."
As Golduck's eyes welled up with grief, Ash got its attention via the still-active XTransceiver. "Golduck! It's not too late to save her! She needs to go to the hospital! Got it?"
Golduck clearly didn't "get it", as it merely stared back at Ash, still looking quite grief-stricken.
Leaping onto Ash's arm, Pikachu managed to relay the urgent message. "Pika! Pi pika pi! Pikachuuu!"
Finally understanding, Golduck nodded, the fires of determination and desperation returning to its eyes once more. Just as it moved to pick Misty up, however, a message flashed across the screen of Ash's XTransceiver.
CONNECTION LOST...RETRYING CONNECTION...
Staring at the screen for a few moments, holding his breath, Ash immediately rushed back into the room, only to find his companions awake.
"Ash?" Iris asked, "What's going on? You woke us up with your shouting!"
"I'll have to tell you on the way, Iris," Ash replied, yanking out his hat from his backpack. Turning it backwards, he continued, "I need to go back to Kanto. Right now."
Hopefully you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it! Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon!