Wow, I can't believe the support this has already! Thank you ever so much! Anyway, nothing I have to say now can't be answered with the reviews so, here we go.
Changeling10: I agree, Ash still had Iron Tail and Quick attack he could use, it wasn't like Pikachu had lost all moves. Oshawott just needs some love, bro. X3. Thank you and I'm glad you liked it.
Guest: Yep! This is, near enough, entirely in Tepig's point of view. You'll see what I mean.
Mateusz: Thank you, but don't worry, I'm diverging from canon from this chapter. As for the starters, Snivy's episode is next (Not what the anime gave her) and after that... plot. Iris is more like her Game counterpart whilst Cilan... well, you'll see. Being able to change a horrible source material into something people can enjoy is my goal here. I don't mind using BW because of it, because there will be next to nothing of the original anime left by around... Castelia, maybe Nimbasa at a push. Apart from one other canon capture, Ash will be catching new nons, and that canon capture relates to another character's Pokemon. Thank you for reviewing!
That's all I have to say, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!
Honō ~ Tepig
Tepig was weak, he felt weak, stumbling around as his stomach grumbled and groaned with the lack of food.
Food.
He needed food!
Thinking about it just made his stomach scream at him for energy, for nutrients, but he couldn't. Not with this rope entangled around his snout he couldn't open it wide enough to do anything but breathe. At times, he could slurp up tiny amounts of water, but that wasn't enough to keep him sustained. Tepig knew he was slowly being starved to death, he had to get the rope off as soon as possible. The only problem was he didn't know how. He had brushed his snout against anything he could think of that could snag and tear away the problem that was killing him.
Only, it tore away his skin instead.
The ropes sometimes rubbed against the sensitive sore flesh, and all Tepig could do was whine and sob in pain. He had started to raid the nearby Pokémon Battle Club's food supply to see if there was anything in there that he could manage to gain nutrition from. Surely enough, if he left the pellets of general Pokémon food in a small bowl of water for a while, they would be mushy enough for him to get down his tightly enclosed snout. He didn't care that the food has a horrible texture when wet.
It was food and it was keeping him alive. Plus, he always made sure to drink the water just in case any vitamins seeped out into the liquid. Tepig quickly learnt how to use the indoor tap with just his front legs, how to make a hole in a bag for the food, how to collect a clean bowl for each meal and, most importantly, how to get in and out of the storage container that held the supply.
For weeks, he continuously used this cycle, the constant need for survival cast all thoughts of his previous trainer out of his mind, and any thoughts that did pop up were ones of malice. It was because of his blindness that he didn't realise what could result in chasing after someone who didn't want him. However, as all abandoned Pokémon do, he had just a glimpse of hope deep down inside that told him his trainer would come back, that he would be welcomed with a loving embrace.
Ha.
Love was just not Seamus' style.
Tepig was digging into another meal when he heard the container's door slid open with a loud clang. He froze, terrified to think that he could be caught by Don George, the head of the Battle Club. Seconds passed, feeling like hours to the fire type as he awaited the typical clod of slipper shoes that he had already come to expect from the Don. His muscles relaxed as, instead, the clack of high heels and boots echoed around the metal walls. Peering out, Tepig glanced upon three figures dressed in black uniforms entered, searching around for something. They were pre-occupied with the boxes of Pokémon food, now was his only chance to escape.
Using as much strength as he could muster on his barely digested food, Tepig sprang at the trio, bouncing on the ground before leaping off down the backroads as the alarm behind him began shrilly calling out to those nearby of thieves and intruders. It was then he realised that he'd revealed himself, in front of the camera, on tape.
Oh crap.
~0~o~0~
Tepig didn't like being cornered. He didn't like being restrained or tied back. He didn't like being trapped. Approaching figures, human specifically, when he felt like a caged rabid monster were not things he wanted to encounter. He would fight tooth and nail to escape, bite and burn anything that stood in his path but yet now…
He was letting a young trainer pick him up.
Sure, he had snorted smoke into the boy's face, but that was just a defensive measure. Once the smoke had cleared, Tepig realised the boy wasn't angry but instead was worried, frowning as his amber eyes glossed quickly over the fire type's appearance. The boy said nothing, coughing due to the dirty air that was trapped in his lungs, before sitting cross legged on the floor whilst gently placing Tepig down on his lap.
Normally, Tepig knew he would have run, but a warm, loving feeling rolled over his body in waves as fingers gently scratched the top of his head.
"Daijoubu!" The trainer was smiling, closed eyes and mouth to hide any potential signs of aggression. The hand left his head, leading Tepig to groan for it to return, that was until he realised what was happening. Fingers delicately worked at the rope around his snout, avoiding the areas where the skin was chaffed and ripped off.
"Be careful," The girl with him, a person who Tepig had only just noticed at that moment, was glancing at them from a far enough distance. "The poor thing has already been hurt by the rope, we don't want to cause it any extra damage!"
"Right," The boy nodded, making sure that he was careful to not cause any more harm to the poor fire type. "Who could have done such a terrible thing?"
Tepig froze for a moment and looked up at the human who had almost freed him from the dreaded curl of fibres. The feeling of warmth returned as the tips of the boy's fingers brushed against his cheeks. It was a warmth far stronger than the fire that blazed inside of his body, of which was slowly burning out due to his lack of food and strength. The warmth faded as the rope was gently unravelled from his snout, allowing the fire type to take huge gasps of fresh air, freeing up his windpipes from the tiny snorts he had managed to achieve before.
Seconds after Tepig had returned to a regular breathing pattern, a cloth lightly rubbed into his mucky fir, slightly damp to draw the mud and dirt away. As the boy was doing this, the girl, whose name was mentioned to be Iris, drew up a large bowl of dry Pokémon food for him. He didn't even know he was drooling until the cloth wiped the side of his mouth as the human boy chuckled kindly.
"Pretty hungry, huh?" The trainer finished off his job, stuffing the cloth back into his bag along with a partially empty water bottle. "Thanks Iris." He took the bowl off of her hands, placing it down in front of Tepig, who eyed it greedily. Within seconds, Tepig was head first into his first dry meal in a while, wolfing down every pellet he could find. The warmth returned with a content sigh, as the boy began to pat his back.
"I bet it's really good and all, but I'd slow down a little," he, the boy, advised. "We still have plenty for you to eat your fill."
"I'm sure Don George won't mind if you ask him, Ash," Iris crouched down beside them, beaming at the adorable sight in front of her. "Tepig probably has enough there to put him to sleep afterwards."
"Yeah, I guess so." Tepig continued to munch as the trainer, Ash, continued to stroke his back reassuringly. It wasn't long later that the fire type realised that girl had been right, and he was getting increasingly sleepy and he slowly drifted off into the land of dreams held by a pair of stable, comforting arms.
~0~o~0~
"That's horrible!" Tepig blinked his eyes open to Iris' horrified shout. Looking around, he could make out the imposing figure of Don George in front of the two trainers, with Ash still carrying him in a tight but caring hold. "What kind of madman would just tie up their Pokémon and leave it to die?!"
"Please miss, calm down…!" Don George said in a hushed voice.
"CALM DOWN?! A POKÉMON ALMOST DIED!"
"Sorry about that Tepig," The fighting match ended almost immediately as Ash realised he was awake and had started stroking the fire type between his ears. "We didn't mean to wake you up."
"No problem…" Tepig yawned and stretched, only to relax into the arm hold he was held in, the stroking fingers moved with his stretching ending up in the wrong place. "Left a bit…" To Tepig's surprise, the action moved to his perfect spot, following his instructions clearly. If he wasn't enjoying the nice head rub, he would be questioning what had just happened.
"It seems Tepig really likes you, young man." Don George laughed heartily, causing Tepig to jerk upwards, completely alert. "Normally, in cases like these, the Abandoned Pokémon Institute or A.P.I would come and take the Pokémon to be cared for and rehomed, but I think it would be the best for Tepig if it…"
"He," all eyes swivelled in shock at Ash's icy cold tone. "Tepig is a he, not an it. He's a living being, not an object, treat him as such…"
"Right… he…" The man coughed nervously and continued from where he left off, "It would be best for Tepig if he went out there with you. I hardly think the A.P.I could remove him from your arms right now."
Thinking about it, Tepig realised the old man was right, he didn't want to go. He didn't want to leave Ash. Whilst the boy had saved him from death, Tepig realised his hate to leave didn't stem from a debt of having his life be saved. The natural warmth and love the human projected just felt like a mother would to her son. Thanks to a lack of love with Seamus, the idea of having a human trainer who loved him just sounded so appealing. He had almost died, but now, he had a better future because of one act from a crueller being. Confirming the man's suspicions, Tepig clutched at the jacket fabric beneath him with an adamant glare, no one would separate him from his new trainer.
"It looks like Tepig's made his choice," Iris smiled, leaning in with a sparkle in her eyes. "So, gonna catch him now?" Ash stared at her for a moment before shaking his head, shocking everyone around him.
"I'm not gonna catch him…" Tepig's heart broke. He couldn't believe it, there was no way that… "Not until I've sorted these injuries out." Oh, well, that was still good news, right?
"Oh Ash," Iris took a deep sigh of relief. "You really had me worried there for a minute."
"Heh heh, gomen," Ash seemingly sent another wave of warmth through Tepig's body, just by readjusting the hold he had on the fire type. "Is there a Pokémon Center around here?"
"Yes, pretty close by," Don George nodded, before giving some instructions, plus a note to the boy. "This should exempt you from a telling of or revoking of your trainer's licence for Tepig's condition. Thanks to your Pokémon, we were able to secure the grounds pretty quickly, I believe you will be wanting them back now?"
"Yes please!"
~0~o~0~
"Wait, he can what?!" Tepig's jaw dropped as the group of five, four Pokémon and one human, wandered the streets of Accumula Town in search for the center Don George had told them about. Unluckily for the group, their trainer didn't have a keen sense of direction. A Pikachu and a Oshawott took up the shoulder spaces, whilst a Pidove flew alongside them. She cackled at his response to their big reveal as Pikachu tried his best to explain.
"It's kinda out of there, I know but… It really takes a demonstration to show it…" He began making gestures to his trainer, pointing at Pidove, who gave them a smug grin back. "Okay, just watch."
"Pidove, just say any word you can think of."
"Biscuits." She replied instantaneously.
"Seriously?" Ash raised an eyebrow at her, close to rolling his eyes at the flying type. "You've only just eaten, how can you now be hungry?"
"I just like biscuits," Pidove replied honestly with a shrug of her wings mid-flight. "Plus, you did say any word."
"But biscuits suggest you want food and I don't have biscuits on me right now!" Their trainer argued back, not noticing the wide eyes of the Tepig in his arms.
"I too am a little peckish." Oshawott announced, smiling at the rest of the group. "Maybe biscuits would be filling enough…"
"Guys, we don't have biscuits…" Ash looked down at Tepig only now realising the fire type had been listening to everything. "Umm… surprise?"
"But how?!"
"No clue whatsoever," Pidove butted in before any of the others could get a word in edgeways. "But he's our Ash and I don't care if half of his hair falls off or he breaks his leg or something because he's still our trainer and nothing's gonna change that."
"I'm not going anywhere!" Oshawott proudly tapped his scalchop with a wide grin. "I'm not losing my first and only trainer for nothing!"
"Ash and I have been everywhere together," Pikachu nuzzled his cheek against his trainer's, earning a joyful giggle from his actions. "And I would never leave him for anything. I just love my adorable doofus way too much."
Ash was about to object to being called a doofus when a voice caused all of them to stop in their tracks.
"Your Pokémon, just now they were saying…" They turned around to find a man behind them, a white and black cap covered his eyes whilst his green hair flowed down into a long ponytail. A white shirt was worn over a black one, leading into beige trousers and green shoes. The man oozed with an electrifying air of mystery about him, cold and untamed.
"Huh?" Thoroughly confused as to who this man was, Ash remained quiet, hoping he hadn't just head their conversation.
"Strange, I could have sworn I heard friends conversing with a human," The man lowered his head to the ground with a smile. "And here we have four friends, free from their Poké Balls to thrive and prosper…"
"What the hell is this nutter on about?" Pidove questioned, perching atop of her trainer's head. "Poké Balls are actually very comfy, they even allow for rest between fights."
"Oh, so mine is the only cramped one!" Pikachu huffed and crossed his arms, thinking back to the man who caught him. "Stupid old coot!" Trying to drone out the argument, Ash decided to ask the man a question.
"Umm, pardon my rudeness but, who are you?"
"My name is N," was his swift reply. "I'm just a traveller, searching to make the world perfect for my friends, something I haven't been able to do yet. And you are…?"
"Oh, well," Ash pointed to each of his Pokémon in turn. "This is Pikachu, Oshawott, Pidove and Tepig, and I'm Ash. Nice to meetcha!" He held out his hand for a shake, pleasantly surprised when N took it.
"Placing your Pokémon above you in an introduction," a soft smile graced N's more whimsical features. "I respect people like that."
"Well they are my family…" Ash's Pokémon clung to him tightly with that remark, easily showing their agreement to it. "Hey N, do you know where the Pokémon Center is? Tepig hurt himself after being abandoned and I really want to find the center to make him feel better soon!"
"Abandoned…" N zoned out, staring across the town as if he was judging them for letting such an act happen. "How horrible. The Pokémon Center is just ahead, I hope Tepig recovers."
"Thanks! And thanks for the instructions!" Ash turned to leave, waving as he ran with Pidove flying after him. "Sayonara N, thanks for everything!"
N watched him leave, still smiling as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a photograph. In the middle of the photo was a storm cloud, Zekrom only barely visible inside of it and below…? A black-haired boy and his Pikachu, wearing the exact same clothing as the one he had just met.
"The Hero of Ideals, huh?" He put the photo back into his pocket and grinned. "Well then, I must prove myself to Reshiram, so I can help all my friends!