Chapter 4: Tribal Friendship
Tom, Kaz, Sarah, Peyton and Ash's Pokémon waited for Ash's return from his bout with Brad, AKA, Tartareker. Ash was returning from the Imthor Drome to the PortCourt but was met by handfuls of young women who saw his battle with Brad. A minute into the swarm, Ash was embraced by his new fan club and greeted with hugs and kisses to his face. Swimming through the sea of fans like Tangath Toborn, Overworld General at the Riverlands, Ash finally entered the PortCourt with lipstick somewhat masking his pained face. A middle-aged, balding man in a brown shirt and gray trousers came to Ash's side. "Wow, kid," he gulped. "Looks like you had more Energy taken during your return than your battle." He helped Ash stand straight before he could resume.
"Thanks," he groaned. The two continued on until Sarah collected him with Pikachu on her shoulder.
"I'll take it from here, Buzz Senior," she offered.
"Alright, make sure he gets a seat," he advised. Sarah nodded before guiding Ash to Tom and the rest.
"Dude, when did you become a chick magnet?" joked Peyton as he offered a towelette to Ash. Wiping his face, Ash sat down with the foursome and his Pokémon.
"I gotta tell ya, I've never had so much fun being a creature," he complimented. "I'm starting to understand what my Pokémon go through when they battle." Froakie, Fletchinder, Hawlucha and Pikachu came to his side, also curious to his experience as Tangath Toborn.
("That was certainly Pyroar-material!") the Bubble Frog croaked.
("I believed you to have some fight inside,") Hawlucha sneered.
("At least it was a lot cooler than when you were me,") Pikachu pointed out. The players didn't know what the Pokémon tried to say, though Kaz had a guess to it.
"I can tell from their reaction that they've felt their combined strength within you as you were Tangath Toborn, Overworld General," he assumed. To Tom, Kaz's guess wasn't farfetched.
"We can see the bond between you and your creatures," he studied. "It must take a lot of time and effort to do so."
"It does, Tom," Ash confirmed. A robot came by with a drink on hand.
"THIS WAS ORDERED FOR YOU BY PEYTONICMASTER," it buzzed. Ash took the drink, a little surprised to have service.
"Thanks…" he praised while unsure. Taking a sip, Ash felt refreshed. "I needed that… Anyway, it must be instantaneous when you become a creature."
"Not necessarily," Kaz corrected. "See, everyone participating for the first time won't get the hang of being in the body of their favorite creature like Tom with Maxxor or me with Chaor." Peyton had a request with a hand sticking out.
"Before you continue…" he urged. "Any chance I can see that other scanner? You know, the one Sarah used to… peek at chu?" The other Pokémon balked to Peyton's terrible joke as he laughed to it. Pikachu, upset at Peyton's sense of humor, unleashed a massive blast of electricity, zapping the husky young man. After about five seconds, Pikachu stopped and allowed Peyton to collapse onto the floor. None of the boys moved a muscle. Sarah knelt to Peyton with a disgust expression.
"That was a bad joke and you offended Pikachu," she mulled. "Way to go… Now, I'm trying to wonder what's worse." She stood up to let Peyton writhe.
"Lay… off… jokes… for… awhile," he winced.
"Aside from Peyton's need to retire from comedy, we're also interested with knowing about your Pokémon more," Tom acknowledged. Ash understood Tom and dug for his device.
"Of course," he permitted. He gave Tom his device. "My PokéDex is right here." Tom pressed a button that opened the device. He pointed the PokéDex to Fletchinder first. Its picture rang up.
"Fletchinder, the Ember Pokémon, and the evolved form of Fletchling," it computed. "Fletchinder's speed increases the hotter its flame sac burns." Tom looked to the description further.
"I see that Fletchinder's a Flying and Fire Pokémon according to this," he pointed out. Ash could explain but had an idea.
"Try scanning Hawlucha," he advised. Thinking this could help clarify more of Pokémon, Tom complied. The PokéDex was on Hawlucha as Peyton fully recovered.
"Hawlucha, the Wrestling Pokémon," it buzzed. "Hawlucha likes to attack from above, which poses problems to its opponents in defense." Peyton saw more from Hawlucha.
"Dude, what's with this… 'Fighting' listed above 'Flying'?" he questioned.
"There are 18 different Pokémon Types, plenty of Pokémon having dual-types like Hawlucha and Fletchinder," Ash explained. "Normal, Grass, Fire, Water, Bug, Flying, Electric, Ground, Rock, Fighting, Poison, Psychic, Ghost, Ice, Dragon, Dark, Steel and Fairy." This astonished the four, including Sarah.
"Bug-Type Pokémon?" she assumed. "Like grasshoppers, beetles, ants, mantises, that sort?"
"And more…" Sarah squealed to seeing a Bug-Type Pokémon.
"Talk about more choices than the four tribes in Chaotic," Kaz compared. Ash recalled the Codemasters bringing up the four tribes.
"You mean the Overworld, Underworld, Mipedians and Danians?" he replayed. The four seemed surprised to hear Ash mentioning the tribes' names.
"Something tells me the Codemasters informed him," Kaz suspected.
"Just the names, nothing specific besides that," Ash corrected. Tom offered to clear the air.
"Well, the four of us have specialties among the tribes," he started. "I'm into Overworlders like Maxxor and Najarin. Overworld creatures are in-tuned to nature and work together to solve problems." Kaz spoke up next.
"Now I may be Tom's best friend, but in Chaotic, our tribes are rivals," he bragged. "He has Overworld creatures, I have Underworld. Overworlders use water, air and other elements while Underworlders mostly need just one: fire. Sure, there are some that use water, but the heat Underworld creatures bring not only causes pain, but fear among the hardcore of players!" Ash scoffed to Kaz's description.
"Right…" he disbelieved. Peyton came up next.
"Now, I, the PeytonicMaster, can brag about Mipedians," he warned. "The lizard-like desert creatures have a few gimmicks that give other Chaotic creatures a run for their money. They can establish their unheralded strength and adaptation to many locations in Perim! Not to mention they can be stealthy with their invisibility." Hearing Peyton, Ash awed his choice of tribe.
"Like Kecleon's Color Change ability or Vaporeon when it uses Acid Armor."
"There ya go!" Froakie caught interest with Peyton's information, inkling Ash's view before his match with Brad.
"That would explain why you had an interest in Froakie. Same with Fletchinder and Kaz, and Tom and Hawlucha." The boys giggled to the guess Ash had.
"Kinda…" they replied in a chuckling unison. Lastly, Sarah had her own creatures to brag about.
"Anyway, the final tribe are the Danians," she mentioned. "Insectoids like ants and termites dominate the underground and rise up to challengers who wish to conquer their lands." Ash looked to Sarah and scoffed.
"Knowing what Danians are, I highly doubt you and Misty will get along," Ash warned. While Sarah shrugged to the name, the boys became curious.
"A girlfriend?" guessed Kaz. Ash was taking a swig when Kaz wondered who Misty was. He spat the water like a burst from a hose. Kaz's face and arms became drenched.
"Get real!" he snapped. "I'm not looking for some girlfriend, just a way back home to my friends." He dug into his pocket to pull out a photo. Tom took the photo and viewed Ash, Serena, Bonnie, Clemont, Pikachu, a light brown round baby guinea pig with round black ears and whiskers, a blue jackal-like creature with a black eye-mask and a ponytail blond in white who was the tallest. Tom saw the jackal-like creature and became stoked.
"Whoa, that's an awesome looking jackal in blue!" he cheered. Peyton looked as well, seeing the same creature.
"Best... Pokémon to see!" he agreed. Ash now knew what the two pointed out.
"You mean Lucario," he named. "That's Korrina's Pokémon, and man, you should see him Mega-Evolve." Kaz looked to the picture, laughing at Clemont's awkward smile.
"That looks so forced!" he cackled. "I've never seen a smile like in my life and it's hilarious!" Sarah took the photo from Tom as he tended to Kaz. She saw something that made her eyes widen. It was Serena and how close she was to Ash as she looked to him. She tried to mask her giggle. No chance.
"I've never seen someone work into a nervous sweat before that bogus picture," Peyton scorned.
"Not that, Lizard-Brain," she denied before giving the picture back to Ash. "That's a nice pic. Where was that?"
"Geosenge Town," Ash answered.
"Nice…" nodded Tom. Just before Kaz ended his laugh, someone came to meet them.
"So, this is quite the grouping of losers around," a young man nagged with an Australian accent. All turned to see a young blond man in a brown leather jacket and pink goggle-like glasses. By him was a ponytail brunette wearing a purple long-sleeve shirt. Part of her hair covered her eye. Tom groaned to seeing the two.
"Never a day without you around, Klay," he sighed.
"Of course not, Tom," Klay sneered. "And I can see you've gained custody of this new player, the POKÉOTIC with the Tangath Toborn, Overworld General and blindly using it against Tartareker. Only a miracle that you pulled out a victory." The brunette placed a hand on Klay's shoulder.
"Klay, not so hard on the newbie," she advised. "He could get upset and have his creatures attack us like that mouse did to PeytonicMaster." Pikachu gulped to his earlier action.
"That was on me, little buddy," Peyton cleared. "They may deserve it worse if needed." Kaz and Tom stood to defend Ash and his Pokémon.
"This doesn't concern you or Krystella," Tom warned.
"How so?" scoffed Klay. "Anyone who has a Super Rare card like Tangath Toborn, Overworld General and wins with an unorthodox method is noteworthy to anyone." Krystella sneered to seeing Froakie getting defensive to protect Ash.
"It's cute for critters like that blue frog to protect a young kid like him," she teased. Ash patted Froakie on the head before dressing his head with his cap.
"It does take a lot to do what I do," he scoffed. "While these 'critters' may seem cute, they hold a horrendous claw beneath that outer layer." He stood and glared at Klay and Krystella with a grin. "Not to mention that they have experience with lowlifes and bullies like Raichu, Ursaring and Conkeldurr… and I've had my fair share as well." Klay sneered to the insult.
"You may wanna be careful," he snickered. "Some bullies thrive on insults."
"Oh, that may have been a little early for me to decide for myself… Although, you seem to be staying near this young woman. Are you two together for some reason?" Everyone in the PortCourt now paid attention to the trainer as Pikachu began to believe something.
("So this is what he got from Iris?") he guessed. Ash came to the two.
"Hey, don't put me in this conversation!" snapped Krystella. Ash wove his hands up.
"Alright, I'll back off from that," he excused as he toured his way around the blond. "Now, Klay… I'm beginning to understand this game. I'm finally able to release a lot of pent-up anger that I've had since I started my journey back home. Instead of commanding my Pokémon to attack, I become the creature I want to control." Klay seemed irritated by the smug appearance from Ash.
"I'm proud of your newfound discovery," he groaned. "So, you use those four animals to do your bidding. Doesn't that make you some sort of animal abuser?" Ash snickered to the guess.
"There is a fine line about that. See, Pokémon do more than battle for their trainers. They help out with balancing nature, they help people who are lost or injured… some become loyal pets to have around when their owners get done with a hard day's work. Sure, the Pokémon I find are incredible in their battling prowess, and I seek to become the greatest Pokémon Master… but abuser? I listen to my Pokémon. There are trainers that I've come across that abuse Pokémon… dealt with plenty…" To Peyton, his view on Ash's demeanor had him grinning.
"This is straight out of a movie I know," he whispered to Kaz.
"Probably one I haven't seen," he pondered. The trainer stood in front of the blond.
"Also, in my world, we don't box or kick other people since it's law," Ash continued. Klay sneered to Ash about the statement.
"Good," he replied. "A kid like you can get hurt by the big boys such as I-" His reply was cut short by a fluff of sticky bubble foam that hit both Klay and Krystella. Peyton and Tom turned to Froakie posing like a baseball pitcher after release. The PortCourt burst into laughter
("You don't stand a chance against Sensei!") it croaked. When the foam came off Klay and Krystella, they threw the foam away.
"You may need to prove yourself more in the Drome before I say that you're worth the stay," he scowled. "I'm off to the Lava Pond to rinse this off me." Klay departed as Krystella sighed.
"Dire consequences if you violate the rules in the PortCourt," she warned before tailing Klay. Ash remained standing as Froakie returned his cap. Ash turned back to the group now that the distraction left. People cheered for Ash and a young blue-haired girl picked up Froakie to kiss, making the Bubble Frog blush.
"What was that all about?" he wondered.
"Klay and Krystella have been on our hides for the longest time," Tom warned. "They can be some of the most vile…"
"Despicable…" strung Kaz.
"Heinous…" added Sarah.
"Low-down…" continued Peyton.
"Players in Chaotic!" they finished together. To Ash, it justified his belief about the two.
"They're a couple, alright… of jerks," he sighed. "My deck may be a handful if we battled." Tom began to question what Ash had in cards.
"We haven't seen what's all in your deck yet," Tom suggested. Ash blinked before realizing that he had no idea what cards he had.
"Thanks for reminding me," he praised. They found a new table where Ash placed his new Scanner down. Cards began to pop up with different colors. Looking, the group saw many creatures like Tangath Toborn, Overworld General.
"What did those Codemasters give him!?" gawked Kaz. "Overworld, Underworld, Mipedian, Danian… He's got an awesome set!"
"And look at the Mugic like Canon of Casualty and Song of Mandiblor," Sarah added.
"He's also got some sweet Battlegear!" gasped Peyton. "Torwegg, Skeletal Steed…"
"Suddenly, I like this collection," Ash awed. "I know there's more, like Maxxor and Intress." To Tom, this was an opportunity to help Ash.
"No problem, as long as the screaming girls don't get to you first," he joked. He also saw the skies changing to orange. "But it doesn't look like we'll do it today. We'll go tomorrow on a ScanQuest." Ash rose an eyebrow.
"ScanQuest?" he repeated.
"How else can we increase our decks and improve strategy?" pointed Sarah as Ash removed the Scanner from the table. "But like Tom said, we need to port back home." Ash looked rather confused before a robot arrived.
"I THOUGHT YOU'D BE AROUND, POKÉOTIC," it buzzed. The group turned to the robot in wonder.
"What's up, Bot-Man?" asked Peyton.
"CODEMASTER CRELLAN HAS COMPLETED A PLACE FOR POKÉOTIC SINCE HE CANNOT PORT HOME LIKE YOU FOUR ARE." The robot guided the group upstairs to a random wall. "POKÉOTIC, PLACE YOUR SCANNER, HERE." Ash shrugged before placing the Scanner onto the wall. It opened to where it looked like a studio apartment: couch, TV, bed, bathroom, couch, sink…
"Awesome!" he awed. The Pokémon entered and soon relaxed inside.
"IT'S ALSO SOUNDPROOF," it reviewed. "SO YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO HEAR FROM THE OUTSIDE. IT SHOULD MAKE YOUR TIME HERE EASY." Ash nodded before thinking about seeing his new friends leave.
"Can you tell Codemaster Crellan I said thanks?"
"CERTAINLY. I'LL BE ON IT." The robot left as Ash wanted to see how his friends left.
"I'll be back, guys." The Pokémon nodded as he was greeted by more people.
"You are something else, POKÉOTIC!" a teenage auburn-haired girl complimented. "Your first drome battle, and you made Chaotic's Play of the Day! No newbie has ever done that!" Ash gawked to the title.
"Really?" he repeated.
"Look!" She pointed to a monitor where Ash as Tangath Toborn purposefully gave himself a cave-in before blasting Tartarek clear.
"Not bad!" Hearing Ash's awe, Sarah showed disbelief.
"Not bad?" she repeated. "You made the Play of the Day and your response is 'Not bad'!?"
"I'm starting to imagine what else he can do," Tom warned. They reached the platform as the four hopped on. "It works like this: This is our Chaotic forms. When we're here, we can go and scan while back on Earth, we're doing other activities like school and dates. Besides, our decks are locked and saved here, and no one else can touch it."
"Well, that feels satisfying that you can go back," Ash groaned. Sarah placed a hand on Ash's shoulder.
"I know, it's hard when you're here in the flesh and not like the rest of us," she assured. "But don't worry… the Codemasters are working hard to get you back." Ash nodded before Sarah joined the rest who pressed a button on top of their scanners. In a flash, they vanished.
"There they go…" As he returned, a robot followed. Ash spotted the flying machine with a question. "Do you have a menu for this place?"
"BUT OF COURSE!" it confirmed as a screen popped up. Ash fingered and scanned down the section. He found one that he seemed to like.
"Blugon Burger, please."
"VERY WELL. DO YOU WANT CHEESE WITH IT?"
"I do…"
"WHAT KIND?" Ash blinked before Ash had to ask.
"What do you have for cheese?"
"AMERICAN, SWISS, PEPPER JACK, COLBY JACK, CHEDDAR, MOZZARELLA…" The last cheese had Ash snap his answer.
"Think you can do Mozzarella and Colby?"
"RIGHT AWAY! FOR THE SIDES, I HAVE FRAFDO FRIES AND ONION RINGS OF NA'ARIN." Ash quickly chose.
"Can I get like regular fries?"
"GOT IT. FRAFDO FRIES, REGULAR CUT. DID YOU WANT ANY ADDITIONS LIKE MELTED CHEESE OR CHILI?"
"Nah, I'll stick with ketchup."
"NOT A PROBLEM. PERHAPS SOMETHING TO DRINK? I CAN BRING WATER TO YOUR CREATURES AS WELL." This made Ash wonder before snapping his finger.
"You got tea?"
"WE DO. ANYTHING FOR DESSERT? A BANANA SPLIT? ICE CREAM SUNDAE?" Ash shook his head to the idea. "UNDERSTOOD… I'VE SUBMITTED THE ORDER. THERE IS A TOUCHPAD THAT YOU CAN ACTIVATE AT ANYTIME." Ash nodded before the robot flew away to gather the food. As Ash returned to his new pad, another robot arrived with a large cheeseburger with Mozzarella and Colby. Under the bun had lettuce, grilled onions, tomato, bacon and barbecue sauce. On the side was a stack of fries and a cup of black iced tea. Ash awed what was brought.
"Nice…"
"IS IT?" Ash took the burger with a nod before scanning the wall to enter his new pad. Meanwhile in Perim, Najarin had company in his tower. One was a four-horned man with gray skin and a red cloak. One was a purple lizard in a white cloak. The last had a skull-like head with fangs protruding from the sides of its mouth and four skeletal arms with red fingers. It also wore a dark gray.
"I'm sure you all have sensed what I've seen," Najarin believed.
"We have," the one in the dark gray garbled. "The warning signs we've experienced and the Song of Futuresight have shown the warning we all fear."
"It's Aa'une, coming out of his prison," the flame grumbled. "Just when we've seen enough M'arrillians in our lifetime. I used the enchanted fire to see Aa'une freed."
"Much like an Underworlder to use fire, Kopond," mocked the dark gray. "But then again, we have seen the signs ourselves. The amber advised me danger was coming, the worse of its kind." None of the four disputed the cloaks or Kopond's claim.
"Despite the different method, like our meditations in seeing through the stars," the white cloak pointed out. "Skerrel and I can say that we've seen the release of the head M'arrillian." Najarin agreed to the different methods yielding the same finding.
"This may become chaotic should Aa'une be released," he warned. "Lore, we'll need the Danians to create shelter for the Overworld when he's released."
"Of course, Najarin," the dark gray agreed. The white cloak had more.
"By the way, Najarin," he spoke up. Najarin turned to the lizard.
"Enre-Hep, is something the matter?" he asked.
"Did you also see a vision of blue as well?" Najarin thought about what Song of Futuresight showed him.
"Even if I did, I have no confirmation to anything at this point. Sure, I met an unusual human and mouse… As far as I'm aware, their arrival and Aa'une's appearance through Song of Futuresight is coincidental."
"Far too soon to find conclusions to anything at this point," Kopond settled. "Perhaps we can meet this boy and mouse to learn of this new world now discovered by their arrival." Najarin began to suspect Kopond's intention. However, it wasn't as important as the vision and sight they shared. Ash will be on his first ScanQuest with his new friends. What will he find and scan to add to his deck?
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TO BE CONTINUED...