After the disastrous attempt at attacking a normal type yesterday, Cyndaquil and Ash went back to grass and bug types. They flew through the first couple of battles, soon arriving at the waterfall which poured into the stream cutting through Lostlorn forest. It was really a very pretty sight, but all of Ash's attention was devoted to the large Swadloon that was nestled in the muddy bank of the stream. It seemed to be drawing in the mud, and looked utterly unaware of its surroundings.
"Cyndaquil, Ember!" Ash shouted. They hadn't gone after that particular Pokemon yet, but Ash knew Cyndaquil would take it down no problem. Immediately the Swadloon whipped around and sprayed a sticky substance at Cyndaquil. Cyndaquil was caught in it and frustratedly tried to remove the strings, but he couldn't.
"Ignore the String Shot, Cyndaquil!" Ash shouted. "Ember again!" As Cyndaquil breathed out a small flame Swadloon protected and the fire move bounced harmlessly off the shield. Ash growled, annoyed, before repeating his last order. The Swadloon protected again, and then before Cyndaquil could fire another attack the grass/bug type leapt forward, tackling Cyndaquil. "Ember!" Ash shouted desperately, unable to comprehend how well the 4x weak Pokemon was doing. Cyndaquil lashed out and finally Protect failed and allowed the Swadloon to be hit. One more lucky shot and the leaf-wrapped Pokemon fainted.
"Finally!" Ash shouted gleefully, jumping in the air in excitement. The Swadloon was the first Pokemon to give he and Cyndaquil trouble that day, however little trouble it ended up being. Unfortunately the battle had left Cyndaquil covered in strings, so Ash had to spend, in his mind, way too long cleaning those up before they could move on. The previous day's frustrations already forgotten, it didn't take that long for the difficulty of the battle against Swadloon, too, to be put in the back of Ash's mind: any trouble was a fluke, after all: he and Cyndaquil were going to be champions, and champions didn't lose. (Often.)
As they progressed through the forest, searching out unseen Pokemon, Ash became more and more worried about Cyndaquil. After every battle the fire mouse would wince and freeze for a few seconds before being able to move on, and the Pokegear was unable to detect what was wrong. Finally Ash made the executive decision to head to the back of the forest where Baoba had said he would be working. As much as he was loathe to ask for help again, still however subconsciously resenting the man for yesterday's punishment, this was obviously something that needed attention.
That didn't mean that Ash was willing to stop battling on the way, however. As Pokemon and partner began to press through the denser back woods, one of the first Pokemon Ash and Cyndaquil came across were the 'Elemental Monkeys'. As Ash and Cyndaquil watched Panpour went about a small berry patch in the forest, watering the various blooms, while Pansage collected the ripened berries and Pansear cooked them nearby. Pansear, Ash noted, was a fire Pokemon.
It should be noted at this time that one of the quirks of almost every region's League was that the vast majority of gym leaders, elite four members, and champions all specialized in a certain type. This was in large part because if you specialized then you could become more of an expert and raise the best of the type you were a master of, however many of the more learned scholars were sure that wasn't the sole reason—after all, some of Kanto's most famous Champions, Red and Blue, did not specialize, and they'd never been defeated.
Nonetheless, Ash was not a learned scholar, so when he'd set his sights on being Champion one of the first things he'd done was decide what type to specialize in. The very first type he'd thought of was Dragon, the massively powerful but extremely rare type that many Champions were well known for specializing in. However, Ash knew that it was extremely unlikely that he'd ever be so lucky as to have a dragon type, especially not as his first Pokemon, so he turned to fighting types.
But one of the trainers he'd asked to apprentice with had laughed in his face when he'd mentioned that, and pointed out that basically all fighting type experts worked out as hard if not harder than their Pokemon, often giving up all creature comforts to better focus on training. Ash wasn't sure if he was up to that.
After that he'd settled on fire types. Offensive, powerful, and much more common than dragons, it became Ash's goal to have a team of fully evolved powerhouse fire types.
Unfortunately neither Pansear or its evolution Simisear were well known for their power, but at this point Ash couldn't afford to be picky, and when Baoba had taken him on as an apprentice he'd given Ash two pokeballs for just this kind of occasion.
"Quick Attack on the red one, Cyndaquil!" Ash shouted. Cyndaquil darted forward, obeying flawlessly, before everything went crazy. Apparently the other elemental monkeys were not so happy to have their evolutionary sibling being attacked, so they went after its opponent. The Pansage used Bite on Cyndaquil to keep him from attacking while Panpour shot a blast of water—a Water Gun—straight at Cyndaquil's face. "Cyndaquil!" Ash shouted, alarmed that he'd accidently gotten his Pokemon in a fight with a water type.
Still raw over what happened with the Watchog, Ash deliberated for only a second before pulling out Cyndaquil's pokeball.
"I'm going to return you, okay Cyndaquil?" Ash called out. Cyndaquil, standing squarely between the three monkeys and Ash, shook his head. "What?" Ash shouted. It was three against one—there was no way that Cyndaquil could beat those odds after losing to the Watchog. But Cyndaquil shook his head again before letting off an Ember at the Pansage.
Ash grit his teeth, but if Cyndaquil wanted to battle then they would battle. And anyway, Cyndaquil was probably right—who did these monkeys think they were, attacking the future Champion like they were? "Another Ember on green, then Quick Attack green before Tackling blue!" Ash shouted. Maybe he'd catch his second Pokemon after all. But just as he thought that the battle immediately and suddenly came to an end. In a lucky move by Cyndaquil he'd managed to hit the Pansage with what looked like a critical Ember and the monkey instantly fainted. The second it did its siblings grabbed it and took off, disappearing into the dense foliage on the side of the berry patch. Unfortunately that meant that while the battle was over, so too were Ash's chances of getting his second Pokemon.
"You did it, Cyndaquil!" Ash grabbed his tiny partner and threw him in the air, overjoyed and still hopped up on adrenaline. A quick potion and the fire mouse was back to rights too. "I'm sorry I didn't believe in you. It's just that after you fainted I didn't want you to go through that again. But you're really strong and I should've realized that." The one thing Ash knew for sure from watching competitive battling was that you always supported your Pokemon—Champion Alder even said it was the most important facet of a trainer. Cyndaquil chirped and the Ash hugged his Pokemon tightly again before the two started off once more.
As they continued to walk deeper into the forest the trees began to cluster closer and closer together and sunlight became more sparse. Ash was beginning to have a sinking feeling that Baoba wasn't headed in this direction. Just as he was able to tell Cyndaquil to turn around from where the fire mouse was scouting up ahead the little fire type squeaked, before running back to Ash and trying to headbutt him forward.
"Alright! Alright!" Ash jogged ahead, on the lookout for what had made his partner act that way, when he saw it. There, up ahead, sat a Pokemon right smack in the middle of a patch of sunlight, obviously sweltering. Ash pulled out his Pokedex and scanned the Pokemon as he and Cyndaquil neared it.
"This is a Piloswine, or a Ground/Ice species. It has never been seen this far southeast." The Pokedex informed him.
"You okay, little buddy?" Ash said as he neared the mass of brown fur. It growled at him and shifted back, but remained in the sunlight. Ash quickly rechecked the Pokedex to make sure that Piloswine weren't supposed to enjoy hot weather, but it was very clear that sweltering conditions (i.e. less than freezing) were extremely difficult for the ice/ground type to endure for long periods.
"Here, let me help." Ash said, trying to pick up the brownish mass. It growled again and made to attack. Ash leapt back, afraid, and called out. "Cyndaquil!" His little partner went on attack, firing one Ember after another at the massive Piloswine. Unfortunately its ground typing canceled out its ice type weakness, but Cyndaquil was still able to dodge enough of its attacks that it looked as if the little fire type would win. Just as Ash was ready to cheer on Cyndaquil the Piloswine reared back and launched a giant wave of mud straight at its adversary.
It his straight on.
Cyndaquil whimpered, falling to the side, and Ash cried out, terrified. "Cyndaquil!" His little partner managed to raise his head and stared at Ash for a few seconds, and Ash made a split second decision: he and his Pokemon were fighters, not fleers. "You can do it!" Cyndaquil chirped, determined, and struggled to its feet, deftly dodging the Piloswine's next attack. While Cyndaquil was notably less accurate after the hit, its advantage in speed and comfort in the environment meant that it only took a few more hits for the massive ground/ice type to go down.
Cyndaquil chirped again, elated, and Ash ran up and hugged him, cheering the fire mouse's accomplishments. "You did great, Cyndaquil. That Piloswine was very powerful!" Ash extolled as he brushed clumps of mud away from the fire type's eyes. Cyndaquil chirped affably, obviously proud of itself too.
Unfortunately after the battle the two were just as lost as before, so after a quick potion-up Ash and Cyndaquil went back to searching for any hint of the camp or Baoba.
By the time two hours had passed Ash was frustrated enough that he was stomping around, making no attempt to hide his presence from the local fauna, none of whom seemed remotely interested in battling, which wasn't helping his mood either—Ash found battling to be oddly cathartic, and the lack of fighting was beginning to grate on him nearly as much as being lost.
Just then they rounded a grove of trees, catching sight of the river. A Palpitoad, apparently oblivious to Ash's noise, was sat on the edge of the water, digging merrily into the ground. Ash found himself inexplicably frustrated at the Pokemon's happiness, and before he thought through his actions he spoke. "Cyndaquil, Quick Attack!"
The fire mouse, for his part, seemed more than reluctant to go against the extremely bad type match-up, but reluctantly performed the move as his friend wanted it to. The Palpitoad looked up, annoyed, when he felt Cyndaquil ram into his side, and with barely a thought swept him away with a water-type move before slamming into him with a ground type attack. Cyndaquil squeaked, alarmed, and Ash finally woke up from his bad mood to see his very small Pokemon being loomed over by a much larger, much stronger, much better matched Pokemon who looked ready to destroy the fire mouse for interrupting it. Quickly, before the worst could happen, Ash snatched Cyndaquil's pokeball from his pocket and returned his partner, spinning around and sprinting away the second the fire type was safely ensconced inside. Maybe fleers had the right idea after all.
Ash ran at full speed past brush and scrub, cutting his legs and arms rather badly in his attempt to get away from the close call (honestly at this point he didn't think they'd ever heal), and he didn't stop until he was absolutely sure without a shadow of a doubt that there was no way the Palpitoad had followed them. Gasping, Ash leaned against a tree. He felt light headed and a bit dizzy, and very nauseous from the effort he'd just exerted.
When he'd finally calmed down and downed almost all of his water reserve he released Cyndaquil, pulling the fire type into his arms the second he took shape.
"I'm so sorry, Cyndaquil! I wasn't thinking, and I was frustrated, and I had promised not to do something as stupid as that again and I did! I'm so sorry!" Ash was nearly crying at this point, the feeling that he'd let his Pokemon down nearly overwhelming. It was one thing to fight against a Piloswine that was already weakened—it was quite another to put your Pokemon's life in danger with a bad type match-up against a more powerful opponent. Cuddled into his shoulder the Cyndaquil made comforting chirps, having already forgiven Ash for his mistake, but Ash knew it would be a while until he forgave himself.
To heal the damage from the Palpitoad Ash had to use the last of the potions, and the queasy feeling of anxiety crept up on him again. They'd been looking for hours and still hadn't found Baoba, and Ash was beginning to lose hope. As he sat, trying to think of what to do, Cyndaquil squirmed out of his arms and began sniffing around. He followed a scent to the edge of Ash's sight, before sprinting back and chirping in front of Ash.
"What?" Ash asked, distracted. Cyndaquil chirped again. "You want me to… follow you?" Another chirp, and the two were on their way. Ash didn't exactly understand where they were going, but in front of him Cyndaquil carefully followed an invisible path, not once wavering from the route. Ash tried, repeatedly, to get Cyndaquil to explain what he was doing, but the fire mouse just chirped and continued forward. Just as Ash's legs were about to give out he saw some light shining in from between the leaves and stems. He darted forward, leading now with Cyndaquil following, and crashed into the clearing.
There, in the middle, was the very camp they'd started their day at, with Baoba settled inside, munching on dinner while studying some of his notes.
"Baoba!" Ash shouted, dashing the last few meters to his master.
"Ash? Cyndaquil's alright, isn't he?" Baoba asked, surprised at Ash's exuberance.
"Yes! I mean, No! I mean—"
"All right, all right. How about you sit down and have some food and tell me what happened." Baoba said, moving his stacks of research to the side. Over the next hour Ash rambled on about the day he had, occasionally having to backtrack significantly to add parts he'd left out or only remembered later. He told Baoba about all of his battles, about his idiotic order against the Palpitoad, and about the odd Piloswine, but most importantly he told Baoba about Cyndaquil's odd post-battle behavior.
After Ash was done Baoba hummed thoughtfully and had Cyndaquil hop on the table. He scanned the fire mouse with his Pokegear, ignoring Ash's frustrated griping that he'd already tried that, and then had Cyndaquil complete a number of physical stretches and similar to make sure there wasn't an underlying issue. After that he had Cyndaquil go just outside the camp and show Baoba each of his moves, even the non-attacking ones that Ash never used.
"Well, I think I know what the problem is." Baoba said at last, meandering back into the camp with the same vacant expression as always.
"What?" Ash asked, annoyed at the slow pace his master took in everything.
"He's stopping himself from evolving." Baoba responded, as genially as always.
"What?!"
"Oh, yes. It seems Cyndaquil does not believe that you—or he—is ready for the power of his evolution, so he's holding himself back."
"Is… is that true, Cyndaquil?" Ash asked, suddenly ashamed of himself. He knew he'd made a lot of mistakes, but for his Pokemon to actually think he wasn't ready to deal with an evolved Pokemon… Cyndaquil squeaked in response, nuzzling apologetically into Ash's legs. Ash sat still for a few seconds, trying to decide how to take the news. In all of the time he'd already spent with the little fire mouse, the idea that it still didn't respect him enough was… disappointing and kind of humiliating. Not to mention, no one ever became the Champion with a first evolution. Did Cyndaquil really think he was just as weak as everyone else did?
Well, Ash decided, he knew just what to do: he'd prove to Cyndaquil that he had what it took to be a fire type Champion and Cyndaquil would finally realize he was ready. He told Cyndaquil this, promising to improve to the point where the fire mouse would be proud to have him as a master, and Cyndaquil chirped in response, obviously happy with Ash's resolve, but still staunchly a Cyndaquil.
As the two were having their conversation Baoba stood a respectable distance away, gazing outside of camp. There, wandering around the edge of the glen they'd set up the tents in, was an Audino. "Ash!"
"Yeah?" Ash asked, looking up from Cyndaquil.
"You see that Pokemon over there?" Ash nodded, looking at the odd pink and cream creature. "That is an Audino. They're rare, but revered in Unova. Do you know why?" Ash shook his head. He hadn't paid all that much attention to anything which did not directly evolve league battling, and that particular normal type never seemed to appear in competitions much. "When a Pokemon fights them, they seem to get an unnatural amount of experience, performing significantly better after the battle then they ever would have before."
Ash grinned, turning to Cyndaquil to ask him if he wanted a shot, but while master and apprentice talked the fire type had curled up on the ground and fallen asleep. Baoba turned to Ash and smiled.
"Don't worry. I'm sure you will come across one again and actually be prepared to battle the next time." He turned back to the Audino and smiled. "Audino, after all, are said to hear the whispered wishes of trainers who seek to improve, and seek them out all on their own. So long as you continue to try—continue to promise to improve—then you will find an Audino waiting wherever you go." Baoba smiled again, then left Ash staring at the hearing Pokemon as he ducked inside his tent, ready to follow Cyndaquil and his own Pokemon into Morpheus's realm.
Ash stayed out a few minutes longer, watching as the Audino trotted this way and that, simply exploring the surroundings. Nothing about the creature looked remotely special, but then nothing about Ash did either and he would become a Champion, so perhaps it was better that he waited to fight the easy-looking Pokemon. Looks, after all, could be deceiving.