Pokemon Rider
By: Aubrie1234
For the next week Alex, Survivor, and Illusion practiced and got stronger together as the egg started to flash. Tracy explained that the flashing meant it was getting close to hatching. The more it flashed, the closer it was. However, it only flashed a few times a day, so it didn't seem to be all that close. But at least, when the week was over, Alex had gotten a handle on being a pokemon trainer. It was also on the last day, the day he would leave, that he finally met Professor Oak.
"Nice to meet you again!" the much older man greeted as he shook Alex's hand, Illusion rubbing against Oak's leg in happiness, "I'm glad I've had a chance to meet you in person! I would have been here sooner, but things came up."
"Cu?" Survivor looked up at Oak, curious.
"Nice to meet you too." Alex nodded, "I was just about to leave, so you got here just in time."
"Well then, I don't want to keep you waiting!" He had been standing in the front doorway, so he stepped aside. Alex walked past him before pausing at the bottom of the steps. He looked back at the elder man.
"Also, don't worry about Illusion. I'll take care of him just as well as you have."
"Zo zoru!" (He will!) Illusion added as he bounded back over to Alex.
"I'm sure you will, Alex. Good luck!" Prof. Oak, Gary, and Tracy waved goodbye to Alex and his pokemon as they left the lab's grounds. As he had already said goodbye to Delia earlier that day, Alex only needed to start on his journey, which he did.
"Gramps, are you still sure it was such a good idea to let Alex keep Illusion?" Gary questioned as they watched Alex walk out of town.
"I'm positive. After meeting him, I felt like I was talking to a wiser Ash." Oak smiled, "He'll bring out the power of his pokemon somehow, including Illusion's."
"I knew these places were far between but I didn't realize it would mean this much walking." Alex sighed after the first day had fallen. They hadn't made it to Viridian yet, so they were now camped out on the side of the road. Survivor started their fire by striking his bone and a rock together to make sparks, which lit up the pile of sticks Illusion had foraged.
"Cu bone bonecu." (It's only natural.) Survivor assured. Alex shrugged.
"I guess..." The boy had the egg out and placed it near the fire. Since Houndours were part Fire-type, he surmised that keeping it near the flames would be like being near its mother's body. It flashed twice before going back to normal, so Alex thought nothing of it. It had done that before and had been quiet for hours afterword.
"What do you think I should name it?" Illusion and Survivor shrugged; they had no idea. Alex huffed, "A lot of good you two are..." The human leaned backwards to look up at the sky. He had chances to peer up at it from the windows of the Ketchum house, but being right under it all was breath-taking.
"...Back in my world," he began softly, making his pokemon perk up, "to see the stars like this was rare. There was so much light around that you could only see the moon, unless you were really far away, like in a forest or out in the country. That was when you could see the stars. I've only had a chance to see them like this once or twice before. It's just as pretty now as it was then. And yet, this is a different sky, so there are different constellations. A bit disheartening, but at least it's something new to learn." Things became quiet for a time, the pokemon subdued at the words. Alex, comfortable, even in the open space, decided to take out his IPod. Before, during the nights he had spent at the Ketchum house, he had searched his new clothes and found that his IPod, its cord, a specially crafted Mamba Pistol given to him by MI6, its holster, and his wallet were the only things to come with him from his world.
"Bone bone?" Survivor and Illusion, having not seen the IPod before, were curious of it. Alex smiled.
"This is an IPod. It plays music and you can hook these," the blond held up some earbuds, "into it so only you can hear the music. Want to listen?"
"Zoro!" Illusion cheered, nodding. As he was sure they both wanted to hear, Alex didn't plug in the earbuds as he cycled for a song to play. He paused when he found a song he had recently found and become infatuated with, as it so much reflected his secret life. Hitting play, he smiled as the sound drifted out of the tiny speakers and into the night air.
"And I'd give up forever to touch you, 'cause I know that you feel me somehow. You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be, and I don't want to go home right now..."
It was the next morning, and Alex was already up and about. Delia had given him plenty of food for himself and his pokemon, enough to get him to Pewter or even to Cerulean. After the music last night, he, Survivor, and Illusion had eaten their fill before going to bed and were doing the same now, except instead of sleeping, they were about to set out to Viridian. And, as the boy noticed this morning, the egg was beginning to flash more often. Every few minutes it began to flash three times, the space between each period of flashes decreasing by a few seconds.
"You guys ready to go?" Alex held the egg (which was back in its case) in his arms, just incase it hatched on the way over. Kneeling down, he allowed Survivor and Illusion to ride on his shoulders to make it easier for them.
"Cu/Zo!" they agreed. With a nod, Alex began walking to Viridian once again. He had idea how close he was to the city, so it was a bit of surprise when they saw it the second they crested a hill.
"Wow..." Alex breathed. Descending the slope, he soon came upon a police checkpoint observed by a blue-haired woman. Illusion ducked behind Alex's head in fright, but at least didn't shake or whimper in fear.
"Hello there." she greeted, tipping her hat, "Not often do we see Zoruas or eggs around here. My name is Officer Jenny, head of the police force of Viridian City. Anyway, if you need to come in, I need to check your PokeDex for identification."
"Sure." Alex took the electronic and gave it to her. Putting it into a computer, Alex saw his picture and information about him pop up on the screen. With a hum of approval, Jenny took the PokeDex out and gave it back.
"Interesting data it had. But I advise you to be careful, as there have been reports of Team Rocket around."
"I know, I've fought them before."
"Then you must also know that they were twice defeated before but have made another revival." she gave him a smile, "Just be careful out there, kid, and take care of that egg." Alex gave a smile back.
"Don't worry, I will. Trust me, I've been through worse." Jenny raised an eyebrow, but didn't speak more, watching the blond enter the city. Feeling her gaze and Illusion adjusted back to his shoulder, he supposed that she was either suspicious or worried about him, but thought not much else of it as he headed to the Pokemon Center. The egg was due to hatch soon, he could tell from the increased flashes. Gary and Tracy had advised him to take it to a Pokemon Center if he could, as they had the best equipment possible to help hatch the egg. As it was his first (and possibly only) egg, he wanted to take extra care with it. And as he entered the doors, he paused, his eyebrows raising in surprise. Right across from him was Nurse Joy! Survivor was just as surprised, but Illusion saw nothing wrong, having never met such a woman before.
"Erm, hello again." he said as he went up to her. She smiled reassuringly.
"Hello. I'm guessing you've met one of my sisters or cousins, judging by the look on your face."
"Sisters? Cousins?" Alex blinked, as did Survivor.
"Here, allow Chansey to take the egg and I'll explain."
"Chansey!" Warily, Alex did so, keeping his eyes on the egg as the pink pokemon left.
"Now then, this is a picture from our last reunion." Turning back, Alex was shocked to see a picture of multiple, identical Joys. Immediately his thoughts went to Julius, which made him shiver.
"Are you cold?" The blond shook his head.
"No, I'm fine. But how is that possible?" Joy giggled lightly.
"I'm not quite sure myself, but this is just all of us from Kanto. I have more sisters, cousins, aunts, and my mother in other regions. We're all related, just like the Jennys." Alex wasn't sure if that made him reassured or what, especially after encountering the Jenny at the gate. Survivor looked just as harried as the human felt while Illusion was intensely confused, "Now let's go back into the baby room. The egg should be hatching right about now." Shaking his head, the younger man followed her into the bowels of the Center until they came across a room with a large window. Alex, looking inside, saw his egg on a padded table with Chansey looking over it, wearing sunglasses. The flashes were now completely together now, almost nonstop, until it all came together in a soft glow.
"Oh! It's hatching!" Alex and his pokemon watched in amazement as the glowing egg transformed into the shape of a small dog before losing the glow. In its place was a black dog with a short tail, orange around the muzzle and belly, a white skull-like helmet, bands, and ridges on the back. It yawned before opening its eyes, which were also black. They landed on Alex immediately, almost as if the baby knew he was there.
"Houn!" it barked happily and tried to get to its feet, but was its legs were too shaky to hold its weight yet.
"Seems it already likes you." Joy mused, opening the door for Alex. Survivor and Illusion hopped off his shoulders, ran across the floor, and jumped up on the table to get a look at their new friend.
"Chans!" Chansey, after taking off its sunglasses, was now holding out the bottom of the egg case, where all the rest of the items for Houndour were.
"Thank you. I nearly forgot about that." He felt a tug at his spy sense, knowing that, in his world, a mistake like that could have killed him. As it was, he took the offered items and put them in his backpack, leaving out the pokeball that had come with the case. He would use it to capture Houndour when it was time, but for now, only held it in his hand.
"Alright then, allow me to check its stats and so on..." Going over to a computer, Joy typed in some commands and a light blinked from the ceiling. A ray of light shone out of a tiny scanner and went over Houndour several times. In seconds it was finished and on the computer screen was everything about the baby pokemon.
"Houn!" Houndour barked again and jumped into Alex's arms. As Illusion was heavier, he wasn't all that unbalanced by the leaping Dark pokemon. As soon as it was in his arms it began sniffing him all over, investigating him. Alex laughed as Houndour brushed ticklish spots.
"Well, it turns out your Houndour is male and is highly curious." Joy explained, "His ability is Flash Fire and moves so far are Ember and Leer."
"What's Flash Fire do?" Alex asked as Houndour calmed down. He had already heard of some abilities from Gary, such as Survivor's Lightning Rod and Illusion's Illusion, but not all of them. He also knew that each pokemon had a hidden ability and sometimes two, but hadn't gone too deep into it.
"It allows the pokemon to absorb any fire-type attack without gaining damage and powers up the hit pokemon's fire-type attacks. Now, would you like to name your Houndour?" Glancing down at the happy Fire- and Dark-type, Alex nodded.
"I think I'll call him Cerberus. What do you guys think?"
"Cu bone/Zo zoru!" (It's good!) his pokemon said.
"Ho houn ho!" (I like it!) With a smile, Alex rubbed Cerberus' head.
"Glad you do."
"Before you leave, I suggest you stop by the PokeMart and grab some repels." Joy advised after Alex had officially caught Cerberus and she had healed his pokemon. All three were out now, Survivor and Illusion on his shoulders again while Cerberus was by his feet.
"Why?"
"Over there is a map of Kanto." Nurse Joy pointed to a wall, which showed the gigantic map, "Besides Pallet Town, Viridian City also leads to Indigo Plateau and Viridian Forest. If you're heading to Pewter, then you'll need to pass through the forest, which is full of bug pokemon. Repels, which you can buy at PokeMarts, keep pokemon from disturbing you for a certain amount of time. There are also trainers in the forest. You can avoid them, but if they see you, then it's obligatory to battle."
"Is there a place where I can buy a map like this?"
"At the PokeMart. You don't have to go far, since PokeMarts have now moved into Pokemon Centers."
"Thank you, Nurse Joy." Alex said his goodbyes to her before walking over to the map. He took note of the icon showing where he was now and was surprised to see how far Lavender Town was.
"Cerberus, Illusion, do you see Lavender Town here?" Alex pointed to the town, "That's where Survivor and I began before going to Pallet. I can't believe it's so far away. We flew to Pallet in, what, 5 minutes?" Survivor shivered at the memory of flying, but nodded.
"Rua.../Dour..." the younger pokemon were in awe.
"But on another note, do you guys want me to get some repels or just go out there and take on whatever is thrown at us?" Survivor shrugged, Illusion nodded, and Cerberus shook his head. Remembering that the Houndour had a Careful nature and knowing that Survivor (despite being the strongest) wouldn't be able to protect them all, Alex decided to go get a few repels. He had also been meaning to go and get potions as well, after hearing about them from Gary and having been given about 2,000 Poke. Now he was killing 3 birds with one stone. He would get potions, repels, and a map at the same time!
After walking a short bit, they were soon at the entrance to Viridian Forest. Illusion hid behind Alex's head, intimidated by the forest, while Survivor and Cerberus growled. Raising a hand, Alex rubbed Illusion to calm not only the pokemon, but also himself. There was no telling what he would face in here, except from what he had heard. As quite a few bug pokemon were also part Poison-type, he had went to get a few antidotes but instead found a Pokemon Refresh kit, which would work just as well and more. There were also tales of people getting lost because of its natural maze, but with two Dark-types on his side, they should be able to guide him in the dark, right?
"Ready?"
"Cu!/Houn!/Z-zoru..." (Yep/Yeah/Y-yeah...) said his pokemon. Trying to comfort Illusion a bit more, Alex took the poor pokemon into his arms as they entered the forest. Little light was able to enter, so it was like they were walking through twilight. Suddenly, out of nowhere appeared a small brown, white, and tan bird.
"Pidgey!" it snapped as Cerberus growled, coming in front of Alex to fight. Instinctively, the blond leapt backward and out of the way.
"Ember!" he barked. Cerberus did so, shoot the tiny fireballs at the Pidgey and hitting.
"Pi!" The flying pokemon fought back by going in for a dive.
"Dodge and Ember!" Houndour jumped into the air before attacking the Pidgey's back. The second attack managed to knock the Pidgey out, where Cerberus howled in victory as he leveled up.
"Let's go before it wakes up." Alex warned. Cerberus nodded and followed him deeper into the forest, where they encountered more pokemon and got more experience. But as they travelled, they found precious items and fought trainers together. By the time they had exited the forest, Illusion and Cerberus had leveled up considerably. Pewter, much to their relief, was not far. Night was beginning to fall, so with much excitement, the prospect of sleeping in a warm bed, and running away from a Beedrill-infested forest, the four ran as fast as they could to the city.
Paul, after contemplating on Ash's words for a few days, had decided to go back through the other regions and make himself stronger, so he could face his rival once again. This time, though, he was a bit kinder to his pokemon. After going back through Sinnoh once more, he had recently come to Kanto for his next journey.
It was when the doors to the Center opened in the evening that he looked up from the newspaper he had been reading to see a blond boy, a Zorua, a Cubone, and a Houndour run in. The boy, who looked to be slightly older than Paul, seemed relieved as he went up to the counter. Curious at the various pokemon the boy had, the purple-haired male tried to overhear some of the conversation.
"Now I get why people and pokemon alike are so afraid of Beedrill..." the boy panted as he returned his pokemon and gave them to Nurse Joy, "But at least we're ready to take on the gym."
"Well, with the pokemon types you have, you might want to be careful. None of them are particularly strong against Rock-types, which is what Gym Leader Forrest uses, especially your Houndour." Nurse Joy cautioned.
"No offense, but Cerberus, my Houndour, managed to take down 3 Beedrill, all at Lv. 10, while he was at Lv. 8. I know it seems like I'm being cocky, but he knows how to take care of himself. I think we'll be fine." Both Paul and Nurse Joy were surprised, Paul covering it up better, but surprised nonetheless.
Impressive. he thought.
"Torterra." Torterra said in agreement, voicing Paul's opinion. He was also out of his pokeball, having been eating when the boy came in. It was at that moment, just before he got his pokeballs back, that the blond looked towards them. Eyes meeting, they observed each other. When he got his pokeballs back, the boy released his pokemon before walking over.
"May I join you?" he asked politely with a slight accent Paul couldn't place.
"Sure." the blond took the side of the booth opposite of Paul and Torterra. Their pokemon met each other, Cerberus sniffing Torterra everywhere as the Cubone held out a hand. The Zorua, however, cowered under the table, away from trainer and pokemon.
"I'm Alex. Who are you?"
"Paul."
"Is it alright if I use my PokeDex?"
"Be my guest. Torterras are from the Sinnoh region, like myself, so you usually don't see them around here."
"Torterra, the Continent Pokemon and the final evolved form of Turtwig." the PokeDex beeped, "Groups of this Pokemon migrating in search of water have been mistaken for 'moving forests,' some Pokemon are born on its back and spend their entire life there, ancient people imagined that beneath the ground, a gigantic Torterra dwelled, and small Pokemon occasionally gather on its unmoving back to begin building their nests."
"Well, I'm also not from around here." Alex said as he put the item away, "As you can tell from trying to overhear us, the Houndour is nicknamed Cerberus. The Cubone is Survivor, my first pokemon, and the Zorua is Illusion." Paul's face didn't move except for the slight widening of the eyes.
"How did you know?" Alex gave a sad smile.
"I've had practice, but you were pretty good. Anyway, why are you in Kanto?"
"Retraining myself. I've been through here before, back when I was younger, but after my last defeat, I've decided to go through all the regions again. So far I've only been through Sinnoh."
"Have you gotten your badge yet?"
"No, and it seems you haven't either. Last time I was here, Brock, the older brother of Forrest, ran the gym, so I don't know how much has changed. But, I can tell you that there will be other Rock-type trainers in there that will challenge you before you can get to Forrest. You have to go through all of them before facing the Gym Leader, and Nurse Joy was right. Cerberus would be your worst choice to bring into battle." Before Paul could say anything else, Illusion had come out from under the table and jumped on top, getting in Paul's face.
"Zoru zorua ruazo, Zoruarua!" (Stop right there, Plumhead!) Illusion growled, "Ruazozo ru rua zo rua zoruarua zoruazo zo ruzo, ru rua zoruazorua rua!" (Cerberus is one of the strongest pokemon I know, so don't underestimate him!)
"Easy, Illusion." Alex gently tugged the Zorua away, "Paul didn't mean that Cerberus is a bad fighter, just that he has a type disadvantage."
"Zo..." the pure Dark-type growled lowly, glaring at the purple-haired man, but conceded by cuddling into Alex's arms.
"Talk about being bipolar..." Paul murmured, wondering at how close he had gotten to getting his face scratched.
"Anyway, I know that, but I really think Cerberus can do it." the blond continued, "As for the gym, since we're both going to be battling Forrest,why don't I watch your battle?"
"If you do, then you won't be able to challenge the gym until the day after, since it takes a day for the Gym Leader's pokemon to rest." A smirk came to Paul's face, "Though I'd like to see how well you do, too, so I guess I could stay behind and watch."
"I don't mind, but I'd rather wait until after your battle so I know how it goes. I haven't been in a gym battle before, so I don't exactly know all the rules."
"Rookie, huh? Well, the rules change depending on the gym. In this case, you can only use two pokemon, no more or less. I'm using Torterra and Weavile, another of my pokemon. Who are you going to use?"
"Illusion and Survivor." Alex said immediately, "Survivor, I guess you could say, is my secret weapon." Paul quirked an eyebrow.
"Interesting. But I was thinking of going somewhere else after the Pewter Gym instead of Cerulean. There's an ancient nation called Rota past Mt. Moon and they're going to be holding their annual battle tournament, so I thought I'd go check it out."
"Well, since you're tagging along with me, why don't I tag along with you?" the other asked, "They might help me with something I've been searching for."
"Maybe." Paul was surprised when Alex held out a hand.
"May the best trainer win." said the blond, "And good luck to all of our battles from here on out, whether they be against one another or someone else." Feeling faintly like he was facing Ash once more, Paul hesitantly took Alex's hand.
Alex's Team:
Survivor (Cubone)
Sex: Male
Level: 21
Nature: Hardy
Characteristic: Good perseverance
Moves: Bonemerang, Bone Club, Leer, Brick Break
Ability: Lighting Rod
Item: Thick Club
,.,.,.,.,.,
Cerberus (Houndour)
Sex: Male
Level: 11
Nature: Careful
Characteristic: Highly curious
Moves: Ember, Leer, Howl, Smog
Ability: Flash Fire
Item: None
,.,.,.,.,.,
Illusion (Zorua)
Sex: Male
Level: 9
Nature: Timid
Characteristic: A little quick-tempered
Moves: Scratch, Leer, Pursuit, Fake Tears
Ability: Illusion
Item: None
,.,.,.,.,.,
? (?)
Level: ?
Nature: ?
Moves: ?
Item: ?
Yasha's Team:
Ore (Aron)
Sex: Male
Level: 21
Nature: Jolly
Characteristic: Likes to fight
Moves: Harden, Metal Claw, Rock Tomb, Protect
Ability: Sturdy
Item: None
,.,.,.,.,.,
? (?)
Level: ?
Nature: ?
Moves: ?
Item: ?
?'s Team:
Blade (Pawniard)
Sex: Male
Level: 21
Nature: Sassy
Characteristic: Strong willed
Moves: Torment, Feint Attack, Fury Cutter, Leer
Ability: Inner Focus
Item: None
,.,.,.,.,.,
? (?)
Level: ?
Nature: ?
Moves: ?
Item: ?
What do you think? Also, DO NOT ask me about how I got the levels, it's taken a lot of calculating... As for how Cerberus and Illusion leveled up, think of it as fighting one Lv. 3 Pidgey, three Lv. 10 Beedrills, and all five of the trainers from Generation III (as I have looked on Bulbapedia). And now that Alex has Cerberus, he's almost halfway through his team! Who do you think he'll get to fill out the remaining spots and who the mysterious pokemon are?
The Mamba Pistol is a real pistol, and here is the description from another of my Alex crossovers, Savior Spy: "In his jacket, he had a gun holster, holding a Mamba pistol that MI6 specifically got for him in case of emergencies. They even gave him a special gun license that allowed him to carry it, though most people never knew about it. It was a bit unusual for a gun; it had a 15-round magazine with a single position feed, it could stay in a 'cocked and locked' state with the safety on, it had a machined hole near the front of the barrel instead of a bushing to help its accuracy, the barrel itself had a 12-groove 'button rifling' (which is said to increase muzzle velocity)... The only problem was that they were rumored to have poor workmanship. However, since this one was custom-made for Alex alone, he didn't have to worry. MI6 would have made sure it was the best quality he could get." I just imagine that Alex would have that type of gun after all of his adventures, especially now, with the new book coming out! *smiles happily*
As for the song, guess what it is! It's one of the ones I think fit Alex really well, both with 4-letter titles. Also, when they go to Rota, that's going to play a big part in the story. How do you think the battles will go? And where's Team Rocket? Stay tuned, readers, and read & review!
