So, as many of you no doubt know already. My muse for pokemon pretty much outright died with the conclusion to the League. The things coming up in the last few XYZ episodes just get worse as the anime goes on in regards to Serena and Greninja. And don't even get me started on the art for Alola.
So, in regards to that. 3, 2, 1...and repressed. Wow, that was an exciting end to the league wasn't it guys? When Ash brought in his older pokemon and completely trashed Alain.
Psst...disrupt the lie I'm living and I'll murder you. Literally rip your throat out with my teeth.
Anyway, after losing inspiration for Kalos With Skill I tried again and again to get my muse flowing. False start after false start. You have no idea how many times I've gotten like five thousand words into a chapter then just get frustrated and scrap the whole thing. This is the most recent attempt and I'm throwing its ass up here before I just scrap it as well.
It's a mess. One of the worst chapters I've ever written. But it's gonna have to do because if I don't force myself to move on in regards to pokemon then I'll probably never get another pokemon chapter up. So this it, my attempt to move on.
Have at it;
Ash Ketchum was pensive.
It was a rare thing for him. He was a much more live in the moment kind of guy. So moments like these when he sat and quietly reflected were as mentioned rare. His mind was focused on a few different topics, and all instances that linked together.
Greninja's new powerful form, for one. It was amazingly powerful; he'd felt it, in ways that he couldn't begin to describe Ash knew just how powerful that form was. And the fact that he'd barely scratched the surface of it made it all the more amazing.
If they could just somehow learn to control it, Ash knew, he just knew that very few people could stand a chance against him and Greninja. It was amazing, only more so when he took into account that Greninja had only recently attained his final evolution.
Just how ungodly powerful would that form be when Greninja caught up to the likes of his Infernape, Sceptile or dare he say it? Charizard.
That was another thought stuck in his head, ever since he'd battled Alain earlier that day.
Amber eyes squinted against the setting sun, stuck on the path the mysterious older trainer had taken when he left the pokemon centre, "Mega Charizard, huh?" Ash whispered to himself thoughtfully, his voice having an odd quality to it that he couldn't quite put his finger on.
Anticipation? Jealousy? Awe?
A tap on his shoulder gained his attention. He turned his head slightly and met the incredibly blue eyes of Serena, "Did you say something about a Charizard, Ash?" she questioned.
"Just thinking," he replied, taking his cap off and running his hand through his wild black hair, "Mega Charizard was amazingly powerful, wasn't it?"
Serena nodded, "I've never seen anything like it," she replied, her tone holding a touch of awe to it, "A black Charizard, and so powerful it put all the mega evolutions we've seen up till now to shame."
He wasn't mistaken then. Serena wasn't even a battle-oriented trainer and even she was in awe of that Charizard. As they were now, Ash knew none of the pokemon he had with him could hope to defeat it. He'd stood in the presence of Champion-level pokemon and beyond multiple times, and that Charizard without a doubt in its mega form was on that level.
Pre-Zekrom, Pikachu might have stood a chance but as things were now...only three of his pokemon stood a chance at bringing that beast down in a battle. Infernape, Sceptile and his own Charizard. Greninja might as well once he grew into his power a bit, and if they mastered Greninja's new form, he might even be his best shot at winning besides maybe Charizard.
He was sure his Charizard was stronger at the base level. His was quite a bit bigger than Alain's – and while size didn't mean everything in a battle, the height and reach advantage it gave was a big factor when two pokemon of the same species battled, especially between two Charizard. But, did that mean his Charizard could still take it on when it mega evolved? He wasn't sure just how much a mega evolution multiplied a pokemon's power, especially since every mega evolution was different.
His experience against Korrina wouldn't help him much with this. She was a novice when it came to using mega evolution and her Lucario was nowhere near as powerful as Alain's Charizard.
For that matter, was Alain even competing in the Kalos League? Hell, for all Ash knew he could be a member of the Kalos Elite Four. He hadn't got around to finding who they were yet. Either way, it didn't matter; he'd meet Alain again one day soon, he was sure of it and he wanted to win their next battle.
His dream could not be attained while there were trainers better than him. He had to train and train and train, then train even more before he clawed his way to the very top. There was so much to do; He had to train his new pokemon more, he had to teach them new moves to cover their weak points, he had to get them experience fighting the strongest of opponents so that no matter who he battled they wouldn't be caught unprepared.
Off the top of his head, he had to make up for Talonflame's long range weakness. Possibly a ranged attack like Fire Blast? The same could be said for Hawlucha, he had a few ideas for Hyper Beam with the dual fighting and flying-type. Greninja, again needed a powerful ranged attack with sure knock out power, Water Shuriken and Water Pulse were great, but they lacked the fire power Greninja needed. Noibat needed work in everything and he was still working on bringing Pikachu back up to snuff, maybe he should consider teaching him some new attacks as well, like Brick Break or Knock Off for instance?
Maybe it was time to push his timetable forward?
He'd originally planned to hold off a while longer, atleast until Noibat evolved. Despite being a dragon-type, the type of pokemon that progressed well from harsh training and conditions, Noibat didn't have the strength at the moment to undergo the same kind of training he'd put Gible through after the Sinnoh League and before he left for Unova.
Even for Gible that training had been harsh, enough so that Gible had evolved into Gabite not long into it.
Maybe he was being too soft? He had coddled his Unova team, and while it done wonders for Pignite, the same could not be said for the likes of Oshawott, Snivy and Scraggy. This time around, in Kalos he'd gone for a sort of middle ground, and with his experience he'd made his team a possible match for his Sinnoh team around the time he'd went for his 8th badge.
Possible, because he was sure Infernape could defeat Greninja at that point, type advantage or not. Staraptor while a bit slower than Talonflame made up for it with incredible physical might that Talonflame couldn't hope to match currently. Gible at that point would defeat Noibat presently no question. Hawlucha would have a good chance at bringing down either Buizel or Gliscor, Hawlucha really did have endurance in spades and was really quite powerful. And finally, he wasn't sure who would win in a battle between Goodra or Torterra, but it would take a lot to bring either down with their defensive prowess.
Not that Goodra was really a factor since he was off guarding his home in the wetlands. Ash hoped he atleast kept up with his training, it would be a shame to let that pseudo-legendary power and potential go to waste.
Anyway, the harsh training he'd been putting off for Noibat's sake might just be beneficial though. Noibat, despite being young and a bit of a crybaby at times was a fast learner and tough at the core. So despite his rather weak current body, it may just be the push the little guy needed to evolve.
Noibat had to evolve, either way. Otherwise, he couldn't allow the little guy to participate in the league. Noivern were incredibly powerful dragon-types, near enough on par with the likes of Salamence, Dragonite, Garchomp, Hydreigon and , they were on average a good bit faster than any of the pseudo-dragons, but that was due to their lighter build and came at the cost of making them less naturally able to take as much damage as the pseudo's.
Most dragon-types had a drawback on their incredible power though, and for those of the pseudo-line, it was that they were very hard to raise and only the toughest of training could make them evolve faster.
He'd caught his Gible nearly two years ago now, and in that time he had only evolved into a Gabite. Goodra had only evolved as fast as he did, because Ash had quite a bit of experience in raising dragon and dragon-like pokemon with Charizard, Lapras, Sceptile and Gabite, not to mention the extreme amounts of stress he'd put on his body with repeated uses of Bide. Goodra's endurance was insane, right up there with Snorlax, maybe even more so.
The drawback on the Noivern line? Noibat evolved straight into Noivern, no middle level and jumping straight to that level came with a huge drawback. While Noivern where incredibly powerful, Noibat not so much. Noibat themselves were generally in the same strength category as Magikarp and Feebas.
They weren't suited to battling because of how small and frail they were, despite having access to the power of a dragon-type and powerful dragon attacks such as dragon pulse and dragon rush.
All that aside. He'd learned something amazing today. Even more so than Greninja's amazing other form. Charizard could mega evolve.
Charizard could mega evolve! That was amazing beyond words. His current strongest pokemon, the ever strength seeking battle maniac of a Charizard he owned, had another stronger form he could take.
And he had an open slot on his party with Goodra off protecting his home. He could kill three possibly more flying-types with one stone. He could bring in his strongest pokemon to ensure his win in the league, he could bring Charizard over so his current team could gain experience fighting a foe much stronger than them and finally he could bring over Charizard in the hopes of attaining a Charizardite.
Who knew? Professor Sycamore might have one.
Decision made, Ash stood up. He was careful not to jostle the napping Pikachu laying beside him as he stood up, though there was no stopping Serena from noticing.
Serena paused in her brushing of Sylveon as he stood, "What's up?" she asked, blue eyes peering at him in question.
Ash gave her a grin in return that conveyed all of his building excitement, "Charizard can mega evolve." he replied simply.
Serena blinked, her gaze filling with confusion, "Yeah..." she replied hesitantly, "We saw Alain's mega evolve earlier.." she let the statement hang in the air, unsure of how to continue.
Ash snorted, "I'm not suddenly going loopy, don't worry," he responded with a chuckle, "I just realized, that if Alain's Charizard can mega evolve, that means mine can as well if I can get my hands on a Charzardite and key stone." he explained.
Her eyes lit up in understanding, "Oh….Oh!" she said, blinking her eyes, "You have a Charizard?" she questioned, setting her attention back on him.
He thumbed his nose in pride, "Yup." he replied. "He was one of the first pokemon I ever caught and won me some really tough battles in the past."
"I'll be back in a bit," he called to Serena over his shoulder as he began to walk away, "I just need to make a quick call to Professor Oak."
Serena chewed her lip thoughtfully, her eyes on his back as he walked away. It occurred to her, despite the massive yen she had for the boy, and she atleast wasn't afraid to admit it to herself….she really knew less about Ash than she'd like.
His past atleast. She knew all about his personality, she knew most of his habits...heck she even knew what he was like asleep and it wasn't creepy at all that she'd watched him sleep a few times! He was still the same boy she remembered from years ago, who carried her to the nurse on his back when she couldn't stay on her leg, and gave her that bright and cute smile with his burning amber eyes…..
"Wooh!" Serena smacked her cheeks and shook her head, ridding herself of those thoughts quickly before she ended up in a pining daze again. There was one quality to Ash that she often wondered where it stemmed from.
His unshakeable confidence. It was like a constant, resolute feeling he gave off, that no matter the situation and no matter how big a disadvantage he was at, he would still overcome all odds and win. Whenever she watched him battle, his shoulders always seemed so broad.
Making up her mind. Serena set Sylveon down beside Pikachu gently and stood up herself. Quickly, she hurried forward, catching up to Ash in a few quick bounds. "Speaking of your pokemon, you've never told me about any of your old ones," She began, "For instance, how many pokemon do you have?"
Ash glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, a grin present on his face at the question, "Really?" he mused thoughtfully, "I didn't even notice, my pokemon are always on my mind and I always check up on them every time we're at a pokemon centre by calling Professor Oak." he replied.
He did? Serena honestly hadn't noticed before. And that was odd, considering the amount of time she spent watching Ash. Come to think of it, despite him having met her mom before, Serena hadn't met Ash's when he called her.
...What if Ash's mom didn't like her? Or worse, what if she preferred one of those girls he traveled with before that he'd mentioned here and there? Come to think of it, what if they liked Ash as well? He was plenty fanciable; strong, athletic, well built, good looking, skilled, adventurous, kind, brave, good under pressure, well off money wise through his career as a trainer and did she mention handsome?
Because he was, oh so handsome. She could have even went as far to say he was almost a pretty boy if it weren't for that wild quality he had to him and his shaggy hair, not that she had a problem with those qualities at all, no sireee.
Ash quirked an eyebrow in bemusement as Serena's face began to flush more and more red. What the hell? Was she sick or something? Her face had just gone all blissful-like when he'd began explaining about Professor Oak to her...then her face had began to turn really, really red.
He wasn't quite sure what to do here. The other girls he'd traveled with had done something similar here and there, though not quite as randomly as Serena often did, he noticed. Either way, whenever he brought it up around Misty, May, Dawn or Iris they practically chewed his ear off.
He decided not to bring it up with Serena. The last thing he needed was the soft spoken Serena going off on him like the others did. At this point, he was just assuming it was a girl 'problem', the kind that Brock always warned him about in hushed voices, way back whenever Misty was particularly violent.
Where she kept that freaking mallet he'd never know. He wasn't too keen on finding out if Serena had one hidden on her person either.
Well, whatever. He stopped as they made it to the video phones, noting idly that Serena was atleast aware enough that she stopped beside him. He resolutely did not interrupt her and instead dialed the phone number of the Oak Ranch.
…"Hello?"
It was when she began reminiscing about that time they had went swimming and she'd seen Ash shirtless for the first time that Serena realized what she was doing.
She shook herself from her daydream, desperately hoping that Ash didn't notice. When she came back to herself, and turned her attention to the amber eyed trainer she found him holding a pokeball at face level and staring at it with a serious look on his face.
Did he get Goodra sent over? Or was that the Charizard he was telling her about? She shook her head, she had bigger problems than wondering what pokemon he'd just called to get.
Was she seriously daydreaming about the boy beside her that badly?...Did this happen often? What else had she missed if so? Seriously, how could she blank out an entire phone call happening right beside her?
Oh hell, she was so lame. Only one thing to do, pretend it never happened. When in doubt, deny deny deny.
"So..." Serena began, making sure to keep her voice both level and casual as possible, "You got what you wanted then?" she questioned, flashing him her prettiest smile in the hopes that he didn't at all begin to question her daydreaming.
An amused snort came from the boy as he shook his head from side to side in bemusement. "..Yeah..." He replied, floundering as it were for something else to say. They were both silent for a moment before heaved a deep sigh and gave her a grin, "I'm not even gonna bother asking what was up with you...instead, I think I'll just say goodnight and leave it that." he finally said.
He gave her a little wave and then vacated the area, most likely heading up to their room.
Serena? Well, she stayed rooted to her spot eyes wide in mortification, a flush of embarrassment spreading across her face and watched as he walked away.
Oh, Arceus! "How pathetic you get!?" Serena hissed to herself, lifting a palm and smacking it roughly against her forehead, "At this rate it won't even matter that I'm travelling with him, Miette or somebody else is just going to snatch him up while I jibber off at the side like a moron!" she ranted at herself.
She was sure Mietta wasn't her only competition. Atleast one of those girls he'd traveled with before was bound to have some sort of feelings for him! Ash was just too good a catch for that not to have happened. Heck, even Shauna eyed Ash every now and then when they met up.
And why wouldn't she? Ash was, very hot and Trevor and Tierno whom she traveled with were...well not. That was just what she needed, the very pretty and talented Shauna aiming for Ash.
"Damnit...man up Serena." she whispered to herself morosely, dejectedly trudging back to where she left Sylveon.
It was early, incredibly early. So early in fact, that the sun had barely begun to rise.
Ash sat entirely alone, his tanned face once again pensive as he stared at his outstretched hands. Neither Pikachu, nor any of his other travelling companions through the Kalos Region were awake, and they wouldn't awake for a good few hours yet. Pikachu already knew what he was going to be doing, and since he already knew what was happening he didn't feel the need to join him for this particular training session.
It was the next morning after his battle with the powerful trainer Alain. Last night, he'd made a decision when Clemont and Bonnie went up to bed, leaving him and Serena alone. Alain's Charizard was incredibly powerful, mega evolution or not.
He had to step up his training regime. Otherwise, it was quite likely that once again he would end up falling short of another league victory. He refused to fall short a sixth time. Sure, he was only 15 years old and very rarely did someone his age earn the skills and pokemon strong enough to even come close to winning a league conference, never mind defeat any of the vaunted members of any region's Elite Four. But, his pride would not allow him to accept another fall so close to his goal.
Without being humble, Ash knew he was a good trainer. Great even, leagues above the average trainer. The likes of Tierno, Trevor and even Sawyer couldn't even come close to beating his Kalos team alone, never mind any of his older teams. But...being just great, wasn't good enough for Ash. He wanted to be the best, stand above everyone else and have his name imprinted into history as a legend among legends.
And then he wanted to become even greater still.
Alain was possibly the first real contender he'd come across ever since reaching Kalos. To be perfectly honest, the journey had been incredibly easy up to that point. The only possible snags had been Viola and Korrina, and them only because Pikachu was still regaining the power he lost from whatever Zekrom did to the little guy.
But yes, until Alain he'd forgotten that feeling. The feeling he got around the likes of Lance and Cynthia. The intensity of an opponent currently beyond his reach. And Alain was beyond his reach as he was now, when he'd battled and become one with Greninja, he'd saw and felt the power of that mega Charizard.
With his current team, he couldn't beat him. Pikachu may have been able to before they even came across Zekrom, but that was a moot point now and his partner was playing catch up – he was making good progress, enough so that he could even overcome mega Lucario but it would be some time before he reached the level where he could take down opponent's of mega Charizard's caliber. It was only recently Pikachu had regained a powerful enough voltage to sustain Volt Tackle the way they liked to use it.
Talonflame, Hawlucha, Noibat hell even Goodra couldn't hope to match that Charizard. Greninja alone couldn't either, though he was sure that if they could somehow master that powerful form of his, Ash was sure they'd have a good shot at bringing it down.
Just like he'd felt Charizard's power as they battled, he could also sense the depths of Greninja's power and just how much power was there dormant, that they couldn't yet tap into. That they weren't ready yet to control.
And that was why he found himself in his current position. In his right hand, he held four shrunken pokeballs, the pokemon he'd captured since coming to the Kalos Region.
In his right hand, he held one more shrunken pokeball. He'd asked Professor Oak to send this pokemon straight over. The old man had been a bit grumpy since he called late at night, there was a time difference between Kalos and Kanto after all, but had given in to his request and sent the pokemon over.
Making his way to the middle of a wide open battle field inside a large enclosed room, Ash paused. He eyed the room around him silently for a moment, taking in the stands for an audience sitting at the far right.
Normally, he'd just train outside instead of bothering with a fancy battle room like this, but it was early and he didn't want the loud sounds of his training to wake anybody up this early. Thankfully, these indoor battlefields came with soundproofed walls.
"Technology sure has come a long way," he mused, amber eyes idly scanning the field. It was plenty spacious enough, which was good for what he had planned. Taking the pokeballs of his Kalos team from his belt, Ash released the pokemon inside.
One by one they appeared before him in bright flashes of light. Greninja, cool and calm as ever met his eyes and tilted his head in askance. Talonflame appeared with a squawk, stretching out his wings that glittered with small embers. A broad smirk sat upon Hawlucha's face as he settled into his favourite cross-armed pose, and Noibat was next sleepily rubbing at his large yellow eyes and giving a large yawn.
While tired, they greeted him enthusiastically before mingling amongst themselves, greeting each other, talking about why they were brought it so early and so on he assumed. Ash's attention was taken from the sight of the pokemon when he noticed Greninja making his way to his side, announcing his presence there with a small tap to the shoulder. He turned, and met the eyes of Greninja who was staring at him pensively, arms crossed. Instead of greeting the dual water and dark-type, Ash instead asked, "You felt it, didn't you?"
Greninja was silent for a moment, holding his gaze on Ash's eyes steady. Then he nodded in reply, "Ninja."
Ash sighed slightly, then, a small grin slowly overtook his face. He threw one arm over Greninja's shoulder and pulled the pokemon into a one armed embrace, "As we are now, we stand no chance against someone on the level of Alain, not to mention above." he said.
Greninja settled slightly against Ash's shoulder before giving a terse nod in agreement. Ash seeing that, continued. "All of you are strong, don't get me wrong and you all have the potential to become amazingly powerful," Ash said, "But at the pace we're going at right now, winning the Kalos League will be a pipe dream if there are people on Alain's level competing this year...and with how commonly we've run into mega evolutions lately it's seeming entirely too likely for me not to want to prepare."
When Greninja tightened his crossed arms and gave a tight nod, Ash's smirk grew in size and he gently pushed Greninja out of his embrace with one hand and palmed the pokeball he'd had transferred last night, still attached to the side side of his belt, "..That's why, I've decided to bring in some help." He made sure to say that nice and loudly as he held the pokeball up, drawing everyone's attention to him.
Seeing the pokeball in his hand, the other pokemon turned their attention to him. Ash made sure to keep the pokeball aloft, "After meeting that incredibly strong trainer yesterday," he began, "I decided that it's time to to put you guys through much more rigorous training in preparation for the Kalos League, because without it you guys won't stand a chance." Tell a lie. Even as they were, these guys could even give Paul from the Sinnoh League a hell of a battle, but if someone like Tobias appeared they'd be destroyed.
And Tobias was far from the strongest trainer out there, having legendary pokemon or not. He'd made it past Aaron on his league challenge, barely and then was soundly defeated by Bertha.
As Greninja stepped back into line with the other pokemon, only Noibat flinched at the semi-harsh criticism. Well deserved when taken into account that Ash never criticized the young dragon and praised him at any opportunity.
"Now, this training is going to be incredibly tough. Much, much more so than any training I've put you guys through before," he continued. His gaze traversed from pokemon to pokemon, meeting each and everyone of their eyes, though he held Noibat's watery gaze the longest and his stern face faded. "You don't have to go through with it if you don't want to though. I'd never force you into something like this." The statement was aimed more at Noibat than the rest, but he meant it towards every pokemon he owned.
Surprisingly, Noibat puffed his little chest up and did his very best to give Ash a confident glare. There's that dragon's pride, they all had it to some degree Ash knew. He swept his eyes from each of his pokemon, and when none of them backed down from meeting his gaze...Ash knew that they'd decided.
"Well then," He began with a grin, shaking the pokeball he held aloft slightly, "I brought one of my older pokemon here, he's incredibly strong and here to help you guys train. And we're going to start off with a battle."
"Let's go, Charizard!" With that declared loudly, Ash released the pokemon within.
In a massive burst of blinding light, his strongest pokemon appeared. The draconian fire-type positively towered far above both Ash and the rest of his pokemon. Out of his Kalos team, Greninja was the tallest, standing just about even with Ash who was 5'5. Charizard? Well, Charizard was easily a good three times the height of Greninja.
The massive dual fire and flying-type had a body covered in powerful orange scales and had a yellow underbelly. Three claws littered both its huge feet and arms. He had a long neck that stretched into a draconian snout, two horn like protrusions that jutted from the back of his skull and large shining blue eyes. Two massive wings sprouted from the draconian pokemon's back, so large in fact that Charizard's wingspan was easily a good thirty feet and finally an incredibly large and thick tail, longer than Ash was tall sprouted from his tail bone leading up to a large tip that was covered in blazing hot flames.
This was a beast that children would take one look at and flee in terror. The beast took one look at the assembled pokemon in front of him, then gave a snort of derision that sent two large plumes of fire searing through the air. Deeming them unimportant for the moment, Charizard turned and looked at Ash curiously.
Ash grinned, "Wow, you've gotten even bigger since I last saw you." he commented, walking up to his pokemon and patting him proudly on the stomach. Ash thought it probably made for a humorous sight, a tiny little guy like him, well in comparison just casually patting the stomach of such a massive and dangerous looking pokemon.
That said, he turned his attention to his other pokemon. All of them, stared wide eyed. Even Greninja, trying to keep his composure looked to have a bead of cold sweat running down the side of his face. Hawlucha's arms shook slightly as he took in the massive form of Charizard and Talonflame's hung limply. Noibat? Well..the tiny little dragon almost cowered from Charizard's massive form.
Ash watched as the little dragon shook with fear, beginning to step backwards and move behind Talonflame for protection. But at the last moment, before he did Noibat paused, cast his luminescent yellow yes towards Ash for a brief moment..then the little dragon steeled himself, face filling with determination and proudly stepped up in front of the other pokemon, glaring right up into Charizard's eyes.
Ash almost allowed himself a pride filled grin. Charizard was far beyond any opponent he'd ever put Noibat up against as he was now. At the moment, nothing Noibat could do except use Supersonic would even come close to effecting Charizard and even Charizard's weakest attack would send Noibat into critical condition.
Which was why last night, when he'd had Charizard sent over he'd made sure to explicitly tell the massive fire and flying type to go easy on the little guy. Soon, one day soon Noibat would be able to take part in the roughest of training like the other pokemon, but for now this was just a taste for him so he could grow faster.
Amber eyes turned towards his strongest pokemon, "Show them your power." he said simply, making his way over to the spectator's stand.
Then, then Charizard roared. It was a very good thing this room was silenced, otherwise passing pokemon were liable to take heart attacks out of sheer terror. The roar alone let loose a shock wave of pressure that blasted into his pokemon. Only Greninja managed to stay standing, the other three were blown right off their feet and into the air.
Ash gripped his hat tightly, keeping it from flying off his head, "This is gonna be fun." he mused, a grin of excitement welling up across his face.
Terrible, am I right?
Don't worry in regards to plot. Despite what I said above, I actually do have quite a bit of plot planned out for this story. So that's what? One plus in the face of a dozen or so negatives?