Hey, guys. Welcome again! So… The first Chap didn't give as much feedback as I would have liked… Oh well, whatever. I´m not planning on stopping to finish this Fic! Either way, I normally don't comment in Fics that have only one Chap., so I might as well expect the same for mine. That´s fine, really.
First of all, I want to clarify on the shippings I have decided already: Advanced and Rocket. I´m not sure whom I should parry Cinder with. He could go either way but I have thought of Bianca from Unova. And no, while I have come to love Rayshipping as well, Ash will be too young for Cynthia even by the time they reach Sinnoh.
A shout to LittlePipi and meowler for their coments. I´m glad you liked it so far.
By the way, I might need some OC for later chapters, so if you want to send one please send me a PM.
With not much to say, I leave you till the end.
Disclaimer: Pokémon does not belong to me. If it did… Well, I´m not sure what I would do, other than let stupid producer bash Ash as they did in Unova.
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Introductions with a Bash!
Ash, Misty and Cinder have been walking for at least two hours before they finally reached Viridian City. Finally, after five days of traveling, training and bonding they would be able to get some well deserved rest.
Viridian City itself wasn't very stunning to the sight. It was a fairly large city, but compared to the likes of Celadon or Saffron, not so much, though it was larger than Cerulean or Pewter. Lots of buildings had the same whitish gray color, but had details and forms that helped identify one from another. Still, the trio had though that the city would be a bit livelier, considering that it was one of Kanto's most important economical and political centers.
They didn't pay a lot of attention to it, though Cinder maintained an eye on their surroundings. Who knew what could come up to try and harm his baby bother?!
The trio was barely inside the city when a firm voice suddenly shouted.
"Hold it right there!" exclaimed a young, blue haired woman. She was wearing a complete blue police uniform, complete with a hat and short heeled shoes, which combined with the short skirt, showed off her legs nicely. Something Cinder took notice of.
'Better legs than Misty, but she is older,' he thought appreciatively, mentally nodding. 'I like Misty's hair color better though'.
"Is there a problem, officer?" asked Ash politely, with wide eyes and tilting his head slightly. The woman had to hold herself to not hug the life out of the beginner Trainer.
"Before you can enter the city I have to see your IDs," she said firmly, composing herself.
The three youngsters looked at each other for a moment before shrugging. She was only doing her job.
"Sure," said Ash.
It wasn't long before they were cleared, and the officer signed. Whether it was in relief and annoyance, they weren't sure.
"Sorry about that; it's just that there has been sighting of Pokémon thieves so we are a bit jumpy," her tone was more pleasant now that she had relaxed.
"It's ok, Officer..." Cinder's tone was obviously layered with a question.
"Jenny, Edna Jenny," she introduced herself saluting.
"Officer Jenny, you are just doing your job. By the way, do you know where we can find the Pokémon Center?" asked the older Ketchum.
"Sure. I can take you, actually. I just finished my turn," she said smiling.
"That would be nice, thank you," answered Misty. She would end up regretting it...
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Nurse Elaine Joy was at the Center's reception waiting for whatever person was going to enter. She loved her job, as stressing as it was every now and then, but she just loved to see the developing bond between trainers and Pokémon, the joy when partners were reunited after one had been severely injured, etc. In short, she loved helping.
Her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a loud roaring motor, which was accompanied by someone shouting "Faster, bitch, faster!" and maniacal laugher. Seconds later a motorcycle was skidding to a halt at less than a meter in front of the counter.
"That was so fun!" cheered Cinder happily as he got off the bike's side car before helping his brother.
"You... Are nuts," said Ash, his face slightly green while keeping a firm hold on the older boy so he wouldn't fall.
Misty didn't say anything. She simply rushed to the restroom as fast she could.
"Edna, I told you several times that we have a parking lot!" reprimanded Nurse Joy to the sheepish looking Officer.
"I'm sorry, but I tend to get carried away," she said blushing a bit from embarrassment. "Anyway, I have to get going. There's a Contest in TV that I don't want to miss," Edna took hold of her bike and started to leave.
"Bye, Edna. We have to do that again some time," the older Twin still had a grin on his face at the prospect of more high-speed fun.
"Sure thing, kid," she said without really turning back but acknowledging his request.
Nurse Joy signed tiredly, before turning to face the young Trainers.
"Welcome to the Pokémon Center. What can I do for you?" she asked politely.
"We were hoping you could examine our Pokémon, Nurse Joy," said Ash.
"We also need a room, if there are any available," interrupted Cinder. "Preferably with two beds."
Misty, who had come back a in time to hear him, frowned a bit. "Unless the room is only for you, I'm not sleeping with any of you two," she said defensively.
The older Twin rolled his eyes, but Ash spoke before him. "We are too used to sleeping together, Misty. We are shearing the room, but you get a bed all for yourself."
That surprised both Misty and Nurse Joy, as it was rare for a situation to find two teenage brothers comfortably sharing a bed... Must be a twins thing, they thought.
Suddenly, as if on cue, both turned to each other and stared directly to the other female's eyes. It seemed that they were thinking the same thing, as a little blush started to appear on their faces. Which was short lived as soon as they were sprayed with water by the older boy.
"Get your heads out of the gutter, you both!" he said annoyed.
Ash just watched as his brother started to berate their friend and the nurse, calling them perverts and saying that they shouldn't be thinking that kind of things, especially in front of his baby brother. Not that the brown eyed boy was THAT innocent; he knew perfectly well what was most likely going through their heads, but he preferred to act ignorant to it and let Cinder take care of it.
It was often much funnier that way.
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It was about midnight…
We can find our three Trainers already asleep in their room, resting after the eventful day they had and waiting for what was to come. Unaware that whatever it was, it was coming sooner than expected.
And it would keep coming and coming for a long time...
An alarm sounded suddenly, waking Cinder and Misty up; Ash was too deep asleep, while using Cinder's belly as a pillow, to care.
"Alert Viridian City! Alert Viridian City! There has been sighting of an aircraft directed by Team Rocket! Please, remain inside and do not engage them!"
Cinder and Misty's eyes narrowed; the only possible goal for Team Rocket in Viridian City would be the Center as one had to suicidal to even think of assaulting the Viridian Gym unless they were an elite team, in which case they wouldn't have been detected at all in first place. And they just so happened to be in the place... And their Pokémon were still with Nurse Joy...
Acting swiftly, Cinder grabbed Ash by the back of the neck and pressed a bit. Instantly, Ash was awake and up, looking around for a moment before sending his brother an annoyed look.
"What now?" he asked groggily.
"Put your shoes and the gloves on," ordered Cinder.
"Why?" he really was out of it, even with the alarm.
"We think Team Rocket is coming here," said Misty while finishing with putting on her shoes. She then grabbed her bag, which was on the bedside table, and started to rummage through it, obviously looking for something. "I don't know about you, but I'm not letting my Pokémon be taken by the like of those people". She finished talking before she pulled two objects that looked like a pair of metallic Ts.
Ash, at the mention of the evil organization, jumped to get ready; thankfully, he only needed to put on his shoes. Still, he grabbed his pair of gloves from the table and put them on, making sure that they were secure and thigh enough against his hands and forearms.
Cinder was already at the door, his metallic Bō in hand. His slim muscles, which showed through his sleeveless mesh shirt, were tense, as he didn't know what to expect if a confrontation with Team Rocket happened.
Once they were all ready, they got out of their room and headed straight to the reception where they found a worried Nurse Joy, whose eyes kept moving slightly around the room. When she saw them, curiosity filled her face but it downed on her as soon as she caught sight of their weapons.
"You really think you can stand up against Team Rocket? They are merciless! Just go to your room and wait," she said firmly, not wanting a group of children to put themselves in danger. Kanto's infamous criminal organization was known to dispose of anything that was in their way; she didn't want to think what could happen if they tried to oppose them.
"We only need to buy enough time for the Police to arrive. We may not have the numbers, but we can play it smart," spoke Ash.
Nurse Joy would have complained some more, but she was stopped by the sudden breaking of the roof's glass caused by two purple Pokémon, that started to spew a thick smoke screen. Laughter then came, before two voices were heard.
Prepare for trouble.
And make it double.
To protect the world from devastation.
To unite the people within our nation.
To denounce the evils from truth and love.
To expand our kingdom to beyond the stars.
Jessie.
James.
Team Rocket going to the speed of light.
Surrender now or prepare to fight.
Meowth, that's right!
Jessie was a rather attractive woman with long magenta hair and blue eyes. Her toned physic and posture told of several hours of constant exercise, her voice was energetic and she had an air of confidence that seemed natural, though there was something else hidden that neither Ash or Cinder were able to indentify. James was a man with a strange tone of blue hair and green eyes. He was slim and athletic, but there was familiar aura around him that reminded the older Twin of a dedicated artist. The talking Meowth was startling, but they had seen enough strange things in their life.
Ash and Misty were in their combat stances, Nurse Joy was nervously watching them, ready to jump at any moment and do whatever she could to gain time for the Police to arrive and to keep the kids safe and Cinder... was holding a piece of paper with a big black number six printed on it.
Team Rocket started at him, then at each other, before returning their eyes back to him, as if unsure of what they were seeing... And apparently the only ones to really understand whatever was going through the boy's mind; other than Ash, who was on the verge of face palming.
"How dare you say a six?!" hollered Jessie. "That was at least a nine!" the rest of her team showed their agreement by nodding.
Cinder seemed to think about it for a moment before deciding that, effectively, they were right; he was under-judging them. So, as to show that he conceded the point, he threw away the sign with six and pulled out a new one that showed a seven point five.
Just before Jessie could comment, the older Twin decided to clarify. "I'm giving you the most points for originality and the fact that you guys really know how to put up a show. Still, had your Pokémon been evolved and you had used a bit more special effects, I would have given you a nine. Although, I liked it; as I said, it was original and unique".
All of this had managed to get Team Rocket's attention from the fact that they had come to the Center with the objective of stealing Pokémon, because they were gushing about the fact that someone had finally recognized their talent. Even more incredible, or ridiculous, was the fact that they were exchanging tips on how to make dramatic entrances with Cinder.
And they shared quite neat ideas...
Nurse Joy and Misty watched them with astonishment, thinking that it was incredibly cleaver of Cinder to have been able to find a way to distract them without the need to start a fight. That had given Joy enough time to get Misty's and Cinder's Pokémon from Chansey, who had been able to sneak and reach her with all the commotion; Pikachu was nowhere to be seen, though.
Ash, however, knew better. His brother had a taste for rare and original things and loved spectacles-hence the reason he liked to sing, act, Contests and almost anything having to do with performances. That meant that he mostly saw the entire thing that Team Rocket did as a show, and he acknowledged them as performers... Something big into itself, considering that Cinder didn't really acknowledge just anyone in their first meeting... Other than as bitches, that's it.
Unfortunately, Meowth was able to see through the 'trick'. "Wait a minute; you are distracting us so you can give the Police enough time to arrive!".
"I am?" Cinder was aware that what he was doing could be seen as that, only that it wasn't. He truly was having fun with the conversation. 'Oh, well. I still get to bash people... Guess beggars can't be choosers'.
"Guys!" exclaimed the Nurse, throwing the Pokéballs to Misty and Cinder. Immediately they released Cyndaquil and Starmie.
Just as Ash was about to ask where Pikachu was, a yellow slash appeared in front them just before a bolt of lightning was shot in the direction of Team Rocket, almost electrocuting them had they not jumped just in time.
"Ekans, Smokescreen!" shouted Jessie.
"You too, Koffing!" followed James.
Both Pokémon started to spew a big, thick and ominous cloud, forcing the Trainers to step back. Smokescreen is a distracting move, that also lowered the accuracy of the opponent but if someone breathed enough of it, it could have similar effects as the move Smog. Of course, it doesn't have the same corrosive quality of the Poison-type move so, as long as one was able to hold their breath and kept their eyes closed, there shouldn't be negative consequences; which is what Cinder had in mind when he ventured inside the Smokescreen.
Just a second later the sound of metal clashing against metal was heard, accompanied by a feminine grunt of strain.
At the other side of the cloud Cinder had been able to intercept Team Rocket before they moved. Fortunately for them Jessie had blocked, albeit barely, the blow that would have broken several of James' ribs while using a two feet metal bar. What truly surprised her was the strength that the boy was employing, because she found herself unable to even attempt to push him backwards unless she wanted to lose balance. And, while she wasn't physically the strongest in Team Rocket, even Giovanni acknowledged her extraordinary strength.
"James, Meowth, go to the Pokéball Storage Room, I will keep this twerp busy!" Jessie commanded, knowing that if this was a close combat between them, she could buy them enough time. "Ekans, go with them!".
"I'm not letting you!" exclaimed Cinder. He was about to push forward, when he felt Jessie finally giving to his strength. Only pure instinct was what made him notice that it had been intentional, which also allowed him to step back and then dodge down in order to evade the woman's attack.
Jessie smirked when she noticed the rest of her team was gone already. "Too late, twerp," she gloated.
"Really?" asked Cinder rhetorically. "Well, I just have to finish you fast, don't I?".
"You will find out... That it'll be very difficult...", she warned. The metal bar she was holding with her right hand was suddenly replaced by a Pokéball. In a flash, a Gastly was hovering at her side; his malicious eyes and grin were enough to give chills to lesser beings.
Beings that Cinder often called bitches...
'A Ghost-type will be troublesome enough, but it's also a Poison-type. So~ I have two choices...' he would have reached for the second Pokéball on his belt, but he didn't know how fast his foe's Pokémon was. Besides, that Pokémon was barely caught a few hours ago, and he hasn't trained with it to get enough of a feeling of how it could fight. That meant... "Flamethrower!" Cinder shouted.
From the still lingering smoke came a powerful blast of fire that was once again evaded by the Rocket woman. Cyndaquil was in front of his trainer a moment later.
"This might get interesting..." murmured Jessie. She then pressed a button on her metal bar, making it open and get divided in two, both halves being connected by a chain.
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Ash, Misty and Nurse Joy ran to the Center's Pokéballs Storage Room as soon as Cinder had jumped to attack Team Rocket. It pained the younger boy to leave him, but he knew his brother would be able to take care of himself.
Elaine Joy had started the process of sending all the Pokémon to the Pewter City Pokémon Center but it was a relatively slow progress considering that the machine was only able to transfer one Pokéball every fifteen seconds. Also, the electric power had gone off, obviously a tactic of Team Rocket, but at least the Room's Defense and Transferring system were operational thanks to an emergency generator.
Ash and Misty were keeping guard, knowing that their enemies would have most likely separated; one of them following the young Trainers while the other was kept busy -Ash hoped being beat to an inch of their life by- with Cinder. And, when the door was bust open, they knew they were right.
Misty swung her arms, fully displaying her tonfas and got ready. Ash simply waited for a moment, looking for any movement, and he wasn't disappointed when he suddenly had to evade a blast of translucent poisoning needles.
James stepped outside the smoke accompanied by Koffing, Ekans and a Slowpoke. He was smirking cockily as he knew he had the advantage. "Being honest, I don't like harming children, so what about a deal? You step down and we won't have to get messy".
Ash simply glared and dropped into a fighting stance. "How about no?".
The man sighed and then gestured to his Pokémon. "Slowpoke, Water Gun; Ekans and Koffing, Acid!" he ordered.
"Starmie, use your own Water Gun to push back the Acid, then attack with Confusion!" said Misty, reacting quickly. She was also thanking her lucky start that, although their opponents had the numerical disadvantage, at least they had the type advantage.
"Pikachu dodge and get in close with Quick Attack, and then use wide spread Thunder Wave," the last part was something that Pikachu had apparently learned on his own when he was in the wild, because he had impressed the Twins with that tactic.
Starmie's high pressure water attack was powerful enough to send the blobs of corrosive liquid back and, although the Poison-types weren't damaged by the Acid, the pressured water hurt pretty badly.
Meanwhile Pikachu advanced toward the enemy Water-type after easily evading it's attack. He rammed into it, sending it crashing against the other Rocket's Pokémon. He sent a weak electric current to cause paralyzation to his foe in a net-like form, but all of it suddenly changed course. It all went to a little gray device with an antenna, which harmlessly sucked all of the electricity, which James was holding. The smug smirk on his face irritated Ash but he was doing a good job of calming himself.
"Pikachu, jump back!" the electric mouse had been distracted by James' interference but thankfully he was able to evade, albeit barely, Ekans' Bite attack.
Meanwhile Misty was kept busy with fighting the Koffing. The Poison Gas Pokémon had an abnormally high resistance, as it had already managed to keep himself from fainting even if it had received it's fair bit of punishment by a couple of Water and Psychic-type attacks. Thankfully his attack didn't reach any of his targets, so they were in a very frail stalemate.
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Jessie ducked under a blow that would have cracked her skull before using her closed nunchaku to block a kick that still managed to force her to skid back about a foot. She used the opportunity to jump back some more, creating enough distance to give herself a much needed breath.
At first they had been fairly matched, as she showed her experience by exploding the few openings that Cinder had in his stance; the way she used her weapons, by opening and retracting the chain of her nunchaku, gave her a way to attack and defend that he didn't have. But the boy was far from inexperienced, having trained against many different people using many difference styles but never in such a real combat. His talent, only equaled by Ash, demonstrated in his ability to adapt to every tactic Jessie used and to exploit the openings he knew he had to predict his opponents' next move and counter accordingly, never getting hit even once.
Jessie tried to taunt him, but Cinder didn't heed a word that came from her lips, choosing to ignore her and making her angry instead. When she started to say that James was most likely done with the other twerps and he was surely torturing them, (a blatant lie because for all he was, James wasn't a naturally cruel individual and he didn't like hurting people unnecessarily), his answer was: "Then I just have to break you faster, right?". This was followed by an onslaught of attacks that somehow left shallow gashes on her skin and clothes although he was using a blunt weapon. Slowly but surely his attacks became a blur that left her unable to change to the offensive.
The battles between the Pokémon was less one-sided. Gastly wasn't as trained as Jessie would have wanted, but he had a bit more of experience; his ability, Levitate, gave him the edge he needed to dodge the Fire-type's attacks.
Meanwhile, Cyndaquil was making sure he kept enough distance and at the same time stopping his opponent from attacking. He had a lot of raw power for such a little Pokémon and his previous training with the former Sinnoh Champion Gray had taught him a bit on controlling it. Thanks to that he kept shooting an almost continuous barrel of Embers, but he refrained from using Extrasensory. He had been hit a couple of times by a few Shadow Balls, but he was doing fine.
Unfortunately for Jessie, even thought her blood loss wasn't significant enough to affect her skills; it had been enough to create very small puddles of the red liquid. With her attention completely fixated on not getting broken bones, she didn't notice just how dangerous the position she was in until she felt a foot giving under her.
Cinders took full advantage of it and swung his weapon with just enough force that he hoped would break her ribs and leave her, at least, incapacitated if not unconscious from the pain.
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Misty almost cheered when Koffing finally fell, but composed herself when Ekans managed to land a vicious Bite on her Starmie. She ordered the Mysterious Pokémon to use Rapid Spin to get free, which was successful, but the friction against the Ekans' Dark-type attack still caused it some damage.
"Use Water Gun, now!" she shouted quickly, wanting to create as much space as possible.
Ash had had a harder time. At first he had thought that he would have to deal only with James' electricity absorber and Slowpoke's water attacks. But when he tried to have Pikachu use physical attacks, Meowth jumped in, managing to keep the electric mouse at the defensive.
The youngest Ketchum sighed. He really didn't want to use them, but it appeared he didn't have a lot of choice.
"Pikachu, use Grass Knot on Meowth!" he screamed, and startled both Team Rocket members enough for the attack to be effective. The cat Pokémon fell on his face as soon as he tried to move his feet, and the electric mouse took his chance to send a powerful Thunderbolt.
The attack once again changed course to the gadget in James' possession but before it could be adsorbed, a purple blur suddenly snatched the object from his hand. Instead of following it, the Thunderbolt attack was unable to change direction in time so it stuck the male Rocket, shocking him painfully.
Ash looked down when he felt a tug on his pant just as Pikachu produced a new attack, this time actually managing to land a powerful electrical hit on Team Rocket's Pokémon. The familiar sight of a purple rodent Pokémon greeted him. The Rat Pokémon was holding a few metallic remains of the object that James had been using.
"Good job, Ratatta," he said as he kneeled to pet the little Pokémon.
"James!" was heard as Jessie came rushing into the room. She was hunching while holding her ribs; her breath was heavy, obviously trying hard not to collapse from the pain.
"Jessie, what happened!?" he was surprised at the horrible state of his teammate. The blood was still fresh on her and by the look of things her ribs were most likely broken.
"That... Other twerp was stronger... Than I thought," the female rocket wheezed out. Before anything else could be said, James pulled Jessie and jumped out of the way of a stream of flames. The moment after, Cinder jumped into the room accompanied by his fire Pokémon.
Instead of pursuing to keep attacking the Rockets, Cinder ran to his little brother's side, happy to find that there were no injuries on him. He then surveyed the area, wanting to know how to move in this new scenery. Ash decided to take advantage of their numbers, seeing that now they could push back the criminals.
"Everyone, push them together! Long range attacks!", Cinder and Misty understood what he meant, with the older twin swiftly ordering Cyndaquil to aid the female of his group with attacking the Ekans and the slowly recovering Koffing, his Ratatta to push the Slowpoke with quick attack and he himself using his Bö to deliver a powerful hit to the still trapped Meowth, which managed to send him crashing against the human members of the Team.
Once they were pushed together the teenagers issued their last order.
"Starmie, Water Gun!" shouted Misty.
"Pikachu, combine it with your strongest Thunderbolt!" Ash wanted to make sure they were as incapacitated as possible.
"Extrasensory to make it stronger!" ordered Cinder. It wasn't as if he didn't know the meaning of overkill nor it was simply that he didn't care. It's just that he enjoyed it.
The combined stream of water and electricity created by the Electric Mouse and the Mysterious Pokémon was intimidating but combined with the pulse of psychic energy, its size doubled. When the triple attack collier with the downed Rockets, it caused an explosion which sent then flying out of the Center's roof.
"Team Rocket is blasting off this time!"
Back at the Center Misty was wondering if, when they landed, Team Rocket would actually survive. Cinder's answer was, of course, yes.
"How could they survive a fall of several thousand feet?" she asked unable to follow his logic.
"They have lots of style, and people with so much style are hard to kill," was Cinder's answer.
Misty didn't know if she should face-palm or hit him though, remembering Jessie's state when she appeared she decided not to risk it.
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The group started their day late in the morning. While they had wanted to start early, they knew that after their ordeal with Team Rocket it would be better to rest for a day. It would also give them time to gather supplies as, much to Misty's dismay, the plan was to go through Viridian Forest.
It was early evening when the teens returned to the Center. Elaine was actually waiting for them to arrive as she had caught wind of something that she knew would make a certain twin very happy.
"Cinder!" she called the moment she spotted the purple-eyed boy. He wasn't wearing his jacket today, and his hat was tilted in a way that if one was looking face to face with him, they would see one of his eyes covered. The group came nearer the young woman while she pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to him.
Cinder started to read quickly, curious at what could make the Nurse so exited. His eyes winded in surprise and excitement as he read the short information.
"Is... This for real?" he asked, not really believing his luck. He pushed his hat up to uncover both of his eyes and started to read the paper again.
"What is it?" questioned Misty. She hadn't seen many expressions on the older boy's face, but the shining glee in his eyes could be compared to the one she had seen when he was addressing his Pokémon and almost rivaled the one of the times he looked at his brother.
Ash, and therefore Pikachu, leaned enough to see what was so interesting for his brother. As he read, a smile made his way to his face as he turned to look at Cinder.
"This is great, Cinder!" Ash could barely contain his excitement as he wrapped an arm around his big brother's shoulder.
"Would you tell me what got you so happy!?" demanded the read-head, hating to be kept out of the loop.
"It's a notice sent to every Nurse Joy in both Kanto and Johto. Apparently the Governments are going to run a test to study the popularity of Contest in both regions, and if it is a success, next year they are going to open a circuit in Kanto and Johto!" explained Nurse Joy. "There won't be a Grand Festival but it is a great way to practice for real Contests".
Misty now understood then what was so important. Cinder was in love with anything having to do with performances; that included Contests! Surely the boy was disappointed that he wouldn't be able to participate in one unless he went to Sinnoh or Hoenn, but that wouldn't be an issue anymore. The girl was about to congratulate him on his good luck but stopped when she saw the calculative expression on his face along the fire of determination in his eyes.
"Nurse Joy would it be a problem if I used the Center's kitchen?" asked Cinder. Elaine was a bit startled by the question and it took her a few second to answer him.
"I suppose there is no problem; as long as you don't break anything, of course."
He nodded his thanks before turning to his brother and handing him the few bags he was carrying. Cinder then bolted out of the place.
When Misty asked where he was going, Ash simply stated that he was going to get ingredients.
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The older Ketchum returned in less than twenty minutes carrying extra bags. He didn't want to lose time, and if that meant he had to kick people out of his way, force his way in a line of people until he was first and threaten the owner of one local that didn't want to serve him because she thought he was being rude (which, admittedly, he was) then so be it.
He hurriedly made his way to the Center's kitchen and locked himself inside. That way none would distract him as he worked. It wouldn't take him more than one hour and a half, which is when the Center's personal was scheduled to start with preparing dinner.
Misty had asked what had gotten her normally very composed friend in such a way, but Ash insisted that it was fairly normal that Cinder acted in such a way when it came to preparing sweets, so maybe that was it.
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Early the next day the group was making their way into Viridian Forest, ready to keep going with their adventure. Misty was unnerved with entering a place full of Bug-types, but Cinder offered to have Cyndaquil rider on her head so he could keep the Bugs away from her, something she was grateful to accept.
The normal path through the forest normally took about five days, but the Twins wanted to stay there for at least ten. Their first Gym battle was going to be in Pewter, and coincidentally, there was going to be a contest there as well; that meant that they needed time to prepare their teams.
Ash in particular wanted to see if he could capture another Pokémon. Pikachu was pretty strong and after he was done with him, he knew his companion would be able to overcome his weakness against Rock-types. Still, that left with the issue of his electric attacks being next to useless. Sure, he had Grass Knot but he didn't want to rely in just one trick.
Another Pokémon would give him more variety to use against the Gym Leader, but he needed to be careful in what Pokémon he caught. Besides, he wanted to equal the number of Pokémon that his brother had.
Misty was simply wishing that the days would pass on fast. She had tried to convince them that they could take another route, or at least she could and then they would meet in Pewter. And she had almost succeeded, but when Cinder started to tease her... Well, Misty basically started chasing him around with a giant mallet but without noticing that the purple-eyed raven was leading her past the entrance of Viridian Forest. By the time she did notice, they were already too deep inside to go back and she was too tired to keep going. She, however, did notice with envy that Cinder wasn't even breathing heavily.
Speaking of Cinder, he was busily looking through the Pokedex for any attack that Rattata could learn that would make him effective against Rock-types. Ash was already planning on teaching Pikachu Iron Tail, so there was that... Relying in his speed would work nicely as well, at least for now. And thinking about it, Rattata had an interesting though deceptively nasty pool of possible moves...
There were also the gifts given to the Twins by some nice old lady back in Pallet who had showed them her clever but intricate system to grow some of the best vegetables in the small town... 'Yeah, that will work'. Cinder was rather grateful at his ability to keep his face blank; otherwise most people would have been unnerved by his sudden devious smirk.
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In a place not too far away, a young man suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine, accompanied by a mental flash of purple eyes...
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When Misty agreed to journey with the Twins, she already knew that it would never be dull and that she would grow a lot. They seemed to be hard workers, and she wasn't going to be left behind. She was right, because in the seven days they had been inside the forest she and her Pokémon had grown immensely.
That didn't mean she couldn't learn to hate them as well (more like she hated Cinder) a bit.
"Focus, Misty!" heard the red-head before a painful blow connected to the side of her stomach. She cursed but moved out of the way, thankfully evading a blow to the face.
For the last twenty minutes they had been doing an evasion practice in which Cinder threw little bouncing balls across the clearing they were in. Their objective was to dodge and to incapacitate him, using whatever means necessary to accomplish it. The older boy wasn't allowed to use his Bö, stating that Misty and the Pokémon were not ready for that intensity just yet. (The girl noticed that Ash shuddered slightly when she asked). He was still allowed to attack, but only to retaliate in close range.
Ash was participating as well, but he had to block and throw back only; he was forbidden from getting closer than two meters from his brother. He was mostly doing it as a warm up.
Misty's Pokémon had been practicing as well, but Cinder had managed to knock them out a few minutes before.
Pikachu tried to hit Cinder using a perfectly aimed Quick Attack on his back while the boy caught a few of the balls and threw them again with insane force. His efforts were repaid by the older raven spinning elegantly on his feet and taking hold of his tail, then flinging him into the path of a Swift attack launched by Cyndaquil. Still, Pikachu didn't simply collide against the attack but he flew through it and crashed against the Fire-type. That wasn't enough to put down the older boy's Starter, though the electric mouse had some problems recovering.
The ball that hit Cyndaquil powerfully, less than two seconds later on the forehead begged to differ.
Misty took her chance to swing her tonfas at Cinder, using his blind spot to her advantage. She was surprised when he ducked down and then got up quickly, easily getting inside her guard. The boy grabbed her arm and forced her to move, also managing to get her off balance.
Misty didn't have time to be surprised before one of the balls smashed painfully against her temple. That hadn't been enough to knock her out, but a chop to the same spot as before marked her end.
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Ash sighted in relief the moment the group finally walked out of Viridian Forest. The last fifteen days had been grueling: what with so much training, battling wild Pokémon and their adventure of just a few hours ago with that Samurai dude (Who would have died at Cinder's hand if Ash hadn't stopped him, though he maybe deserved it for swinging a sword at him).
That didn't mean it wasn't worth it, he remembered while caressing the Pokéballs of his two new companions. He had caught a friendly Caterpie who dreamed to become a Butterfree and a spunky Pidgeotto with the most incredible Move-set ever.
It had taken a lot longer than they had wanted to finish preparing for their gym battle and Cinder's first Contest, but they had a few days left as the inscriptions wouldn't be until the same day of the event.
Thinking about their training, he decided to give a little review to what everyone had learned.
Pikachu learned both Iron Tail and Dig, which combined with Grass Knot, gave him quiet the edge over Rock-types. He had also mastered the use of Toxic and his Grass-type move along with one of the TMs the Twins had received from Mrs. Rossetti back in Pallet. He was also comfortable with the use of Quick Attack as means of dodging and combining it with Double Team.
His Butterfree was able to use Poison and Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, Supersonic, Confusion, Gust, Tackle and Harden. That, along with his Tinted Lens ability made him a match for even Pewter's Gym Leader's Rock-types. He was also working on Steel Wing, but the process was very slow.
Pidgeotto was simply amazing. Keen-eye was in Ash's opinion a very useful Ability, especially with how he was thinking of training her. What made the female avian even greater were her Egg moves. She had Air Cutter, Air Slash, Brave Bird, Feint Attack and Steel Wing! And apart from Brave Bird, Pidgeotto could use them all. She was also finishing learning Twister, though she still had some way to go with it.
Apart from that, they had all (though that included all the group's Pokémon and Misty mostly) increased their speed, reaction and recovering time, attack swiftness and awareness of their surroundings. Of course, their hate to Cinder may have increased as well, but he considered it fair. Maybe.
Ash also thought about the progress of his brother's and their friend's Pokémon.
Misty had been a bit reluctant about the harshness of the exercises, but when she experienced firsthand the difference in levels between Ash and her in a spar which ended in her defeat (and he hadn't even taken her so seriously) and a previous battle between her Staryu and Cinder's Rattata, that one ending with her winning, but barely (which was kind of sad, considering that Staryu had been with her for longer than the purple rodent had been with him), made her see that if she didn't up her training, Misty would be left in the dust.
Her Staryu and Starmie had both raised the power and precision of their Water Gun attack, apart from having learned Recover, Camouflage and Swift. Starmie was also working on Confuse Ray and was making slow but steady progress.
Cinder's Pokémon had all worked hard as well. His Cyndaquil had learned Quick Attack, Defense Curl, Flame Wheel, and Dig, along of the other TM they had. The intensity of his flames had increased a bit, and his speed was only surpassed by Pikachu at this point. His ability to use Extrasensory had shown to be rather satisfactory for Cinder.
But Rattata... Well, he was quite a sweetheart. But during training and battle, he was a monster. His personality was actually a bit like his owner's. Ash knew for a fact that his brother had never planned on catching a Rattata, but now that he had done it, the older boy was going to make him a war machine. The purple rodent had taken to it like, citing a favorite animé, Natsu to fire. Literally. The little Pokémon had learned Iron Tail, Dig, Hyper Fang, Super Fang, unlocked two of his three Egg moves, and was beginning to pick up Sucker Punch. He had also learned the two TMs that Pikachu and Cyndaquil had learned.
The younger Ketchum shuddered when he thought of his brother's next opponent. Especially considering that both his Pokémon appeared to be almost as vicious as Cinder.
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The group stopped at the edge of a ledge only a few meters away from entering the Pewter, first taking a look at it. They noticed that most structures were mostly made of gray rock but there was an abundant presence of technology.
Pewter City was primarily important because of the Gym, one of the eight Gyms known as The Pillars of Kanto, and the Museum, which exhibited objects going from complete fossils of prehistoric Pokémon to Spatial development. In the past, it had also served as the main civilized stop before going to the Indigo Plateau, though that changed over the years. It was still rumored that there was a secret path leading from Pewter to the inside of the Kanto League's HQ, but it was mostly speculation because none were sure where it was.
"Pewter is gray; it has always been gray," said a deep voice interrupting the thoughts of the teens. The trio, plus Pikachu and Cyndaquil looked down to see a man wearing a sleeveless yellow shirt, worn-down jeans, boots and hat. His eyes were covered by the hat and therefore not visible and his beard was bushy and badly taken care of.
"And this, kids, is what happens when you start to consume drugs," stated Cinder in a matter-of-fact manner to Ash and Misty as if he was a teacher. This actually made them snicker a little and the man felt his eye twitch.
"You youngsters have no respect for your elders!" he chided, mad that they confounded him for a drug addict.
"It's not that we don't, it's just that it has the size of an iota... Barely," the older boy smirked at the outraged expression the he could distinguish on the man's face, before his own turned deadly serious. "I didn't want to believe the rumors about you leaving you family, but seeing you here, I can confirm that it is true," his tone this time was much colder, enough that only Ash didn't feel shivers travel down his spine. "What do you have to say, Flint?"
Misty looked at the man a bit surprised, while Ash finally understood the situation and started to glare at him. The redhead knew him from what she had heard from her family when they went to Kanto League Top Members' Meetings but she didn't know him personally or how the boys knew him.
Ash and Cinder had gone to those Meeting in the past with their mother and Prof. Oak and had met the man then. The last one they went to, though, about five months ago, had surprised almost everyone when instead of Flint, it had been Brock, his eldest son, the one to assist as Pewter's Gym Leader.
The three teenagers had gravitated towards each other, mostly because the closeness in age. They had clicked quite well, especially Cinder and Brock with both of them being older brothers; the older teen had been easily added to list of people who had ever won Cinder's respect almost instantly. It was at that time that they learned Flint had abandoned his family in pursuit of his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master.
For the Ketchum boys, there were a few things that were Sacred; Family was one of them.
Flint sighed, knowing that Cinder could -and would- beat him up if he didn't like the answer. "I'm ashamed, boy. After abandoning them and then failing, I tried to return to my family. But then... I saw Brock and the children... I finally understood what I had done and found myself unable to face..." the man interrupted himself, trying very hard not to let tears fall from his eyes. A moment later he couldn't hold them between the combination of the emotional pain and the physical pain caused by the older raven hitting him relatively light on the head.
"Committing a mistake is fine, but not trying to correct it is a second mistake," interrupted Ash. "And you keep repeating the mistake. Just food for thought", he signaled his brother and his friend and the group departed, leaving the man feeling a bit more miserable.
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"Don't you think that you were a bit harsh?" asked Misty as they neared the Pokémon Center. They had been in silence since they left Flint, but she couldn't hold her words any longer.
The Twins looked at each other before turning to look back at the road and answered in unison "Not really". The redhead gave them a pointed look, making Ash sigh and Cinder roll his eyes in annoyance.
"He needed to hear that, Misty. Otherwise, he won't ever get enough courage to solve his problems," stated Ash. "And he didn't end up with broken bones, right?" the casualness of that made the girl give him a second look, before remembering that it probably was usual for him to see people with broken bones.
"So, people, we have three days until the Contest. What do you want to do?" Cinder interrupted. "I wanted to challenge the Gym tomorrow, use the day after tomorrow to rest and practice a bit for the Appealing round and I heard that there a few things here that would be of interest for a Coordinator, and the Contest is on the next day, so..."
"I was thinking..." started Misty, gaining the attention of the boys. "I was thinking of challenging the Gyms, not to enter the League, but to train, you know?"
Cinder and Ash exchanged a silent conversation before agreeing that it was an excellent idea if she really wanted to succeed as a Water Pokémon Master.
Ash thought a little about what he wanted to do. He wanted to explore the Museum and the city itself, apart from challenging the Gym there was nothing pressing him. Of course, he could try the Contest, but he doubted he would do it often... He really needed to research the next city they went, though Ash.
The trio kept walking until they reached the Pokémon Center, ready for a long night of rest and to wait for the new day to come.
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I really have nothing to add except please, leave your comments and doubts. Also, any mistake you see tell me about it, I am preparing myself to take the Toelf in a few weeks, and I would appreciate all the help.
Master Fuera…
Adios…