Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.
A/n: thanks for all the love guys. Hope you guys like the full chapter. I don't know when the next update will be. So, a very merry Christmas and happy New Year in advance. Don't forget to like and review. Cheers.
Chapter – 3
The Growth
The first time ash left luxio behind in viridian, he realized something about himself. He didn't like it when his pokemon were separated from him. It made him really upset. Thankfully, vulpix was with him the entire time, so he got over his bad mood soon but a part of him still longed to have luxio with him. It made him realize that even if luxio had been with him for only a month, he had already become an important part of his ever growing family. He didn't want to leave luxio behind, but he couldn't take him home either. Technically, he was in violations of the league rules by having a second pokemon, and he didn't want the league to take him away if they came to know about him. So, with a heavy heart, ash had explained the reasons to luxio, and said his goodbye. Surprisingly enough, luxio had not been happy at first to be left behind, but had agreed in the end. Ash's dad had told him not to worry about his training, as he would train luxio himself when he was away.
Ash didn't even realize when a whole year passed by. Now, at 13, puberty had started to show its effect on him. He was already 5'3 and still growing. He had passed his secondary education exam and was now free to do anything he wanted.
Now, standing in front of the mighty nidoqueen of his father, he remembered all that had happened in the last 12 months. He had lost 4 out of 6 matches against Gary. Gary's wartortle had also evolved into a very big and powerful blastoise some months ago. He had lost every time he had challenged nidoqueen. But all that was in the past. Because today was the day that he was finally going to beat his dad and get that fire stone to evolve vulpix. He had spent the last two months devising a strategy to defeat nidoqueen and he was finally ready to implement it.
"This is it vulpix! Today is the day we have been waiting for so long. We are going to defeat nidoqueen today" ash said to his ever faithful starter pokemon who was standing in front of him in the field. On the other side of the field stood his father with his nidoqueen standing proudly in front of him.
"You can start anytime you want" his dad said from the other side.
"Vulpix! Let's start it with an old fashioned ember" ash said.
Vulpix immediately followed his command and started shooting a literal stream of small fireballs from her mouth. Nidoqueen never one to let such a weak attack harm her responded in kind with a poison needle. The two attacks collided in mid-air and exploded.
"Let's kick it up a notch. Vulpix, flamethrower!" ash shouted.
Vulpix sucked a large amount of air before she opened her mouth and a very large continuous stream of orange fire exploded out of her mouth heading straight for nidoqueen.
"Ice beam" his father ordered his nidoqueen, knowing the dangers of letting that attack hit nidoqueen. Nidoqueen gathered a white energy in her mouth before shooting a white cold beam of energy towards vulpix. Both the attacks collided in mid-air once again creating steam from the rapidly evaporating ice and struggled against each other for dominance. Ash knew vulpix would never win against nidoqueen in a direct contest of strength.
"Stop and quick attack immediately to the left" ash shouted. Vulpix immediately followed his command, stopping the continuous flow of fire from her mouth and running to her left in white streak of energy as not even a second later, a white beam of energy shot at the place she was standing on.
"Dark pulse" ash shouted.
Vulpix immediately gathered a dark purple energy in her mouth and fired a beam of the collected energy at nidoqueen in the form of a continuous stream of dark purple rings.
Nidoqueen, who was just recovering from using ice beam was caught unaware and the dark pulse hit directly on mark.
"NIDOOO!" nidoqueen shouted in pain from the attack and was sent skidding backward.
"will-o-wisp before she recovers" ash shouted.
Vulpix immediately shot a ghostly orb of fire from her mouth towards nidoqueen however she had already recovered.
"Shadow ball" his dad said.
Nidoqueen immediately formed an orb of the ghostly energy and fired it before the will-o-wisp could reach her. The two attacks collided head on and created a large explosion resulting in a lot of smoke.
"Double team" ash shouted intent on taking advantage of the smokescreen.
By the time the smoke cleared from the field, there were at least 20 copies of vulpix all around nidoqueen.
"Earthquake nidoqueen! Let's finish this battle" his dad ordered his nidoqueen.
Ash knew that he could not let the attack hit vulpix, because one clean hit was all nidoqueen needed to injure vulpix and make her slow, robbing her of her most powerful weapon, so he already had a plan.
"Run towards nidoqueen" ash shouted and all the copies of vulpix started running towards nidoqueen who had jumped into air and was now coming back towards the ground like an angry comet intent on destroying the field. Just as nidoqueen was about to touch the ground, ash shouted, "jump and iron tail".
The result was devastating. The moment nidoqueen touched the ground, a shockwave of energy traveled in all directions in the ground from her and the whole field shook. The ground broke at multiple places, some pieces of earth shot up from the earth whereas at some places, the earth seemed to vanish. It was total destruction. However, none of it mattered to ash as the moment nidoqueen had touched the ground, all the copies of vulpix had jumped up in the air, saving her body from the shockwaves, her tails had glowed a metallic grey color and then all the copies of her slammed the iron tail into nidoqueen head.
"NIDO" nidoqueen cried out in pain as she was literally slammed into the ground.
Ash knew that nidoqueen was not going to stay on the ground forever and she was going to be really angry now. So he pressed forward his advantage.
"Flamethrower! Full power" ash shouted. Vulpix immediately sucked in a large breath of air before she opened her mouth and a very large continuous stream of orange fire exploded out of her mouth and hit nidoqueen straight on her back.
"Iron tail! Stand up" his dad shouted. Nidoqueen continued to scream in pain from the large flames attacking her back for a moment before suddenly a glowing tail came out of the fire too fast for vulpix to dodge. The iron tail hit her straight and threw her like a piece of pebble 20 feet away.
"VULPIX!" ash shouted in concern.
Vulpix screamed in pain for a moment before standing back on her feet. The time it took vulpix to stand back on her feet was enough for nidoqueen to get back her bearings and now she was glaring murder at the small fox pokemon. But she was visibly panting now. The continuous attacks had really done a number on her but ash knew from experience that nidoqueen still had a lot of fight in her.
"Sludge bomb" his dad ordered.
"Flame burst" ash ordered.
A large number of flame bullets surged forward, with a powerful bombardment of thick gooey sludge flying to meet it head on. Both attacks exploded on contact, once again kicking up a lot of smoke and dirt from the ground.
"Double team" ash shouted. Vulpix complied and immediately one vulpix became 20.
"Sludge bomb, back to back, coat the whole field into poison" his dad ordered. Nidoqueen immediately started shooting the thick gooey sludge attack at all the copied of vulpix. Although none of the attacks hit the nimble fox pokemon, the field was quickly being covered in sludge and ash knew it was only a matter of time before either vulpix was hit or she slipped in the sludge.
"Dig", ash whispered very slowly, but still loud enough so that vulpix could ear but not his dad. One by one the copies of vulpix started to get destroyed as either they were hit by a sludge attack, or they slipped in the now sludge covered field. When the last copy of vulpix was destroyed, nidoqueen turned her head towards the now remaining vulpix in the field who was visibly panting from all the running she had done.
"Mega horn, finish it" his dad ordered nidoqueen. The poison pokemon lowered her head and the large horn on her head started to glow a purple whitish color. Then the pokemon slowly but surely started running towards the small pokemon intent on slamming into her full force. However instead of ordering vulpix to dodge or attack, ash just waited for the large pokemon to come closer and closer and just as nidoqueen was about to crash into vulpix with her horn, ash shouted, "vulpix, Hypnosis, now!"
Nidoqueen crashed into vulpix with her glowing horn who vanished on contact with the horn, showing her to be another copy of vulpix from the double team attack. Nidoqueen lost her balance from a lack of resistance and crashed into the ground. At the same time, the ground from behind her exploded upwards, showing vulpix coming out of it with a glowing multi-colored ball of energy in front of her mouth which she immediately fired at nidoqueen. Nidoqueen didn't even have time to look surprised before the ball exploded on the back of her head. The result was instantaneous. Nidoqueen started to feel dizzy, her eyes closed, she took a large yawn, and crashed forward once again on the ground, apparently asleep this time from the attack.
"Nidoqueen! Get back up!" his dad shouted from the other side of the field but there was no response from nidoqueen other than a snore.
"Vulpix, we won't get another chance like this. Listen carefully, use will-o-wisp, full power. And as soon as nidoqueen wakes up from the burn, dark pulse directly in her face" ash ordered, knowing that it was his one and only chance of winning this match.
Vulpix immediately shot a ghostly orb of fire from her mouth towards nidoqueen and it hit her head on. There was an immediate response from nidoqueen who immediately woke up from being burnt. However before she could understand what was happening, vulpix had gathered a dark purple energy in her mouth and fired a beam of the collected energy at nidoqueen in the form of a continuous stream of dark black-purple rings. Nidoqueen roared in pain and flinched from the sudden attack.
"Now hex" ash shouted immediately seeing his opportunity. Vulpix opened her mouth and a black colored energy shot from her towards nidoqueen. Before nidoqueen could recover from the pain of dark pulse, and the burn, the hex crashed into her like a rhyhorn. The whole field shook from the pain filled screams of nidoqueen.
Ash closed his eyes because he couldn't watch nidoqueen like that. He knew it was necessary but he didn't have to like it. He knew he still had a job to finish though, so he opened his eyes and hopefully ordered the last attack of the match.
"Quick tail, on the head. Finish it" vulpix nodded and immediately shot towards nidoqueen in a white streak of energy. Quick tail was a combination of quick attack and iron tail. The added momentum of quick attack increased the power of iron tail at least twice. Her tails briefly glowed before she smacked them on nidoqueen's head who immediately crashed into the very painfully. Nidoqueen didn't get up after that. There was a pin drop silence on the field for a moment before a red beam of energy shot up towards nidoqueen and sucked her back in to a pokeball.
"Nidoqueen cannot battle any longer. Vulpix is the winner" the referee, a worker at his dad's gym suddenly said.
For a moment ash didn't understand what had happened, before suddenly his mouth stretched into the biggest grin possible and he jumped into the air.
"YEAH! Yoo-hoo, I won!" he shouted and sprinted on the field towards vulpix. Vulpix ran back towards him before jumping in his arms. Her weight sent ash crashing into the ground but he did not mind. He was too happy to mind anything right now.
"We won vulpix! We won" ash shouted again to his pokemon, who yipped in reply and started to lick his face. They continued to lie on the ground for a moment, content to enjoy the result of all their hard work. However they had to stand up when his dad came near him.
"That was a very well executed strategy! I must say I'm impressed" his dad said, and ash couldn't stop himself from smiling.
"Thanks dad! It took me a while to finally come up with this strategy but it paid off in the end" ash said. "And I couldn't have done this without vulpix"
"Vulpix" vulpix yipped happily from her place on the ground by ash's side.
"I didn't know that vulpix knew either hypnosis or dig" his dad commented looking towards vulpix.
"Yeah! I taught them to her last time I was in pallet town. I had to ask Gary to buy their TM for me since he was going to buy a couple himself. It cost me almost all of my saved pocket money but it was worth it in the end" ash said with a shrug.
"Very well. I need to go to the pokemon center to make sure nidoqueen is ok. You can go and take some rest. We will talk in the evening" his dad said to him before leaving.
Ash looked towards the stands where luxio was sitting on a bench, having watched the whole match with interest. Ash called him to come down and they all went back to his room to get some rest.
It was at night during dinner that ash saw his dad again. Ash had treated both his pokemon to their favorite foods and they both had gone to sleep in his room after eating as much as they could. Now, it was only ash, his dad, Persian, and his dad's ever present butler, Mark, who was standing there to make sure they had everything they wanted.
"Is nidoqueen all right?" ash asked, still feeling a little bad for having injured the pokemon.
"She is fine. She will need to spend the night at pokemon center but she will be back to perfect health in the morning" his dad replied. Ash breathed a little easier knowing that nidoqueen was going to be fine.
"So, I hope you know what this means" ash said excitedly.
"Oh? And what's that?" his dad asked.
"Dad! You promised that you will give me a fire stone to evolve vulpix after I beat nidoqueen" ash said with a grin.
"I haven't forgotten. I have already ordered it. It should be here within the week" his dad replied.
Ash almost jumped in joy at hearing the news but he somehow contained his excitement knowing that his dad probably would not like his jumping at the dining table.
"In the meantime, I want you to teach this move to vulpix" his dad said sliding a TM towards him.
"What's this?" ash asked taking the TM.
"It is a fire type move, inferno" his dad replied, making ash's eyes widen knowing how expensive it must have been. Inferno was a very powerful fire type move that always left a burn on its target. It was also way more powerful than a simple flamethrower. From what ash knew, vulpix could learn this move only before evolution. He didn't know how or why but some pokemon could learn some moves only before evolution. He had wanted to teach the move to vulpix but he didn't have any money to buy the TM for inferno, having already spent all his savings on buying the TM for dig and hypnosis.
"Thanks a lot dad! I appreciate this" ash thanked his dad sincerely who nodded in reply.
"So tell me, what lessons have you learnt so far in your journey to defeat nidoqueen" his dad asked seriously. Ash immediately recognized the tone, it was the tone his dad used when he was going to teach ash some very serious things about pokemon training or the world in general.
Ash thought about it for a minute before replying. "That with proper training and a good strategy, you can defeat anyone".
"Good. I'm glad that you reached that conclusion on your own" his dad said. "See ash, the thing is that when most trainers start their journey, they try to make their pokemon as powerful as possible and as fast as they can. They teach them powerful moves and try to evolve them as soon as possible. They think that the more powerful a pokemon is, the more chances they have of winning. And it works for them for some time because most of the time they are challenging the trainers that are similar to them and at the same level, or the wild pokemon who doesn't know have a trainer to guide them. Even the first few gyms that they challenge, they mostly win because of the simple fact that gym leaders are not allowed to use any member of their real team against anyone having less than 4 badges. But there is a reason that there are so few trainers who participate in the league tournament in the end. The problem is that they focus so much on power that they forget there is any such thing as strategy. They just blindly challenge anybody believing the power of their pokemon would allow them to win. The moment they match anyone who is just as powerful as them and knows how to use their pokemon properly, they become defenseless. They don't know what to do. It takes a lot of time for them to realize what they are doing wrong and sometimes, they never do."
"So that's why you wanted me to defeat nidoqueen before evolving vulpix." Ash said with sudden realization. "You knew that once vulpix evolved into a ninetales, she would have the power to defeat nidoqueen. You wanted me to be able to defeat her without that kind of power, so that I could learn how to defeat a superior opponent with a good strategy and prior planning."
"Correct. And I'm glad to know that you have learned your lesson."
Ash spent the next week teaching vulpix inferno. The TM gave her a basic idea of how to perform the move and it was only a matter of practice after that. A full week after the day vulpix had defeated nidoqueen, ash finally received the fire stone. It was unlike any other stone ash had seen. It was reddish-brown in color and very warm to touch.
Ash, vulpix, luxio, and his dad, all had gathered in the backyard of the gym. Ash placed the stone on the ground and looked towards vulpix who was looking at the stone in awe like it was some sort of deity.
"Vulpix, its time. Just go and touch the stone" ash said and motioned for luxio to stand back. Vulpix didn't even seem to hear his voice. She just walked towards the stone as if in a trance. The moment she touched the stone with her front paw, a white light started to shine from the stone, which after a moment engulfed vulpix as well. A moment later it became too bright for normal eyes to watch and ash had to close his eyes lest they be damaged by the light.
After a minute, when ash was sure that the light had died down, he slowly opened his eyes and the sight in front of him took his breath away, for in front of him was not a vulpix that he had hatched from an egg and raised for the past 3 years, but a majestic looking ninetales.
Ninetales was a foxlike Pokémon that possessed nine tails, hence its name. The nine-tailed kitsune fox was mainly covered in sleek, luxurious golden-white fur, while the tips of her nine tails were orange. On top of her head was a large tuft of hair, similar to its pre-evolved form though much more unruly and spiky. It had sinister red eyes and pointed ears. It had slender legs with three-toed paws and no visible claws. While a normal ninetales was usually 3 feet tall in height, the ninetales standing proudly in front of ash was easily reaching 4 feet.
Ash slowly moved forward while the newly evolved pokemon watched him with her red eyes. He moved his hand forward for ninetales to see. The fox pokemon gently lowered her head into his hand. Seeing that ninetales was comfortable with him touching her, he went forward and stared to scratch her behind her ears.
"Congratulations ninetales! You look absolutely amazing" ash said in an awed voice.
"Nine" ninetales cooed back, very happy to hear the compliment.
"Lux, luxio!" luxio, who had also come forward, congratulated her in his own way.
"Ninetales" ninetales replied back to the lion pokemon.
"I think you should take her to the pokemon center. Get her checked out and make sure there aren't any problems" his dad said.
"Yeah, I will do that" ash replied never taking his eyes of her. "Come on ninetales, let's go to the pokemon center. You can stretch your legs a little, try to adjust to your new body. Would you like to come too luxio?"
"Luxio" luxio nodded.
"Very well then. Come on, both of you" ash said and started walking towards the pokemon center. The pokemon center was hardly a 10 minute walk away from the gym. A lot of people stopped what they were doing to stare the unfamiliar pokemon by his side. Most of the people of the town knew him. Not to sound arrogant like Gary, but he was the son of the gym leader of their city, so almost everyone in the city knew about him and his pokemon. It did not take people long to recognize the pokemon walking by his side, and they couldn't keep the awe from their faces. Ninetales were rare pokemon, like super rare. Most people spent their entire life without seeing one. So watching one walking in their city was probably a lifetime experience for them. Ninetales didn't seem to mind the attention. In fact, she seemed to soak it up and walked even more proudly if that was possible.
Soon they reached the pokemon center. There weren't many trainers in the pokemon center, hardly 3 or 4, and all of them stopped whatever they were doing to stare at him. Their gazes lingered on ninetales for a moment before they all went back to whatever they were doing. 'Must be experienced trainers', ash thought.
Ash went directly to the counter which was manned by chansey instead of nurse joy.
Chansey was a pink, ovoid Pokémon. There were three hair-like growths on the sides of its head, tipped with a darker shade of pink. On the center of its belly was a dark pink pouch that contains a single white egg. Its arms were stubby, and it had small, dark pink feet. Additionally, it had a short tail. It was a female-only species with no male counterpart.
Chansey were the perfect pokemon for nurse joy to have in the pokemon center because it lays several nutritious eggs every day, which it carefully carried in its pouch. A kindhearted Pokémon, it would share these eggs with injured people and Pokémon. The eggs become more delicious if Chansey was raised with love and care. Chansey were extremely rare in the wild, and were said to bring good luck and happiness to those who managed to catch it.
"Hey chansey! How are you?" ash greeted the kind hearted pokemon.
"Chansey chan" chansey replied joyfully in greeting. "Chansey?" chansey waved towards ninetales.
"Well, you remember vulpix right?" ash asked. Chansey nodded. "She evolved into ninetales just today. Actually that's why we came here. I wanted nurse joy to give her a checkup. Can you call her here?"
"Chansey" chansey nodded joyfully and went back into a room, probably to call the nurse joy.
Just a minute later, nurse joy came out of the room followed by chansey.
"Hello ash!" nurse joy greeted him with a wave. "Oh my! Who is this beautiful pokemon you have with you?"
"Ninetales" ninetales puffed her chest at hearing the compliment. Ash just chuckled at that
"Hey nurse joy. This is vulpix, well she was vulpix, but she just evolved and I wanted you to give her a checkup to make sure nothing is wrong" ash said.
"Very well. You just wait here and we will get back to you in no time" nurse joy said and motioned for ninetales to follow her.
Once they disappeared behind the door, ash turned his attention to luxio who was lazily laying by his feet. "So, what do you say luxio, you want anything to eat?"
Before ash could even blink, luxio was already running towards the cafeteria, leaving ash to follow behind him. "Hey, wait for me"
Half an hour later ash's name was announced on the loudspeaker. Hearing his name, ash looked towards luxio, who was dozing off near his feet. Having eaten to his heart's content, the luxio had fell asleep immediately. Seeing this and not wanting to disturb his sleep, ash recalled him back to his pokeball before going back to the counter where ninetales was waiting for him.
"Is everything ok?" ash asked seeing ninetales being scratched behind her ears by nurse joy. Hearing his voice, she stood up and moved to stand behind ash. She rubbed her head in ash's chest once before ash scratched her behind her ears smilingly.
"Yes. She is absolutely fine. There was no problem in her evolution" nurse joy said. "Though she is the biggest ninetales I've ever seen and she is only going to grow even bigger. The average height for a ninetales after evolution is 3'07" whereas your ninetales is 4'02" and weighs 30 kg. Although there are records of ninetales reaching the height of 5 feet but your ninetales may become the largest of her species one day if you continue to take good care of her"
"I'm glad to hear it. We can thank her superior genetics for her incredible size. She is the daughter of professor Oak's arcanine" ash explained to the nurse joy.
"Oh, I see. Yes, I can see why she is so big now. That arcanine is a monster. I don't think even the police department has an arcanine that size." Nurse joy said laughingly. "Have you scanned her yet?"
"No, I haven't"
"Well, go then. I think you may be surprised"
Ash immediately took out the pokedex his dad had given him and aimed it at ninetales.
"Ninetales, the Fox Pokémon. The evolved form of Vulpix. It has nine tails and a shining golden fleece. Each of its tails contains a different mystical power. Ninetales casts a sinister light from its bright red eyes to gain total control over its foe's mind. This Pokémon is said to live for a thousand years. Very smart and very vengeful. Grabbing one of its many tails could result in a 1,000-year curse. This ninetales is female and has the ability flash fire. This ninetales has also unlocked the hidden ability drought. It knows the moves tackle, quick attack, flame burst, hex, fire spin, will-o-wisp, hypnosis, bite, fire fang, iron tail, flamethrower, dark pulse, protect, double team, dig, and inferno. It has flare blitz and hex as egg moves."
"Whoa! I didn't know ninetales had a hidden ability" ash said in an awed voice. "This is so amazing ninetales. You just became a whole lot more awesome"
"Ninetales, nine!" ninetales yipped rubbing her head into his chest.
"Some pokemon activate their hidden activity after evolution. Your ninetales is one of them" nurse joy explained.
"well, its time we went home. Thank you for your help nurse joy" ash said.
"no problem ash! Come anytime you want" nurse joy replied back with a warm smile.
Ash waved her and chansey goodbye before going back to the gym. When he told his dad about ninetales hidden ability that night, he was also happy to hear it. Ash spent the rest of the week helping ninetales adjust to her new body and helping her practice all her attacks, which were like 10 times stronger now. She could shoot a flamethrower 30 feet away now and keep it active for 1 whole minute whereas before she could only hold it for only 10-15 seconds max. Her control over her fire attacks had also improved a lot and her fire was really hot now. Ash was not sure if he was just imagining it or not but he had seen her fire change color from orange to blue a couple of time but it was always only for a moment and that too when ninetales was concentrating on producing as hot flames as possible.
The thing that had been affected the most though was her speed. As a vulpix, she was a very fast pokemon, but now she would practically disappear when she ran. Although she was still not as fast as his dad's Persian since but she was getting there. Persian actually had to try and give ninetales her full attention now in a game of tag.
Seeing how powerful ninetales had become after evolution had seemed to lit a fire under luxio who had thrown himself into training with new energy. It most certainly had something to do with how easily ninetales had defeated him in their sparring matches.
Now, it was time for him to go back to pallet town. Ash said his goodbye to his dad and his luxio, promising him that he would come back very soon and to keep up his training.
It took him the whole day to go back to pallet town on his bicycle. It was a birthday present from his mom. It was late in the evening when he finally reached home. His home looked exactly the same as last time. He parked his bicycle near the door and rang the doorbell.
"coming" ash heard his mom shout from inside the house. A moment later she opened the door.
"hi mom!" ash said almost lazily. He didn't have any time to react before he was engulfed in a hug.
"oh my ashy boy! I missed you so much" his mom exclaimed burying her face in his neck. Ash hugged her back just as tightly. He had missed her just as much. Whatever anyone may say, but ash knew that he loved his mom way more than he loved his dad. It wasn't like he didn't love his dad, he did, but he just loved his mom more.
"I missed you too mom!" ash said. "but you need to release me now, I don't think I can breathe" ash exclaimed jokingly.
His mom released him from the hug immediately. After that they both went inside where ash greeted Mr. Mime who was putting dinner on the table and his mom's ninetales was also present there.
"Well guys, I have got a surprise for you" ash said to everyone. Ash then took out the luxury ball from his belt and pressed the button for release. Immediately a red beam of energy shot out of the ball which formed into ninetales who stood proudly with her head held high and her tails waving on her back.
"Oh arceus! She evolved" his mom exclaimed. She came forward and started to pet ninetales who did not seem to mind. Ninetales seemed to soak up the attention, pressing herself against his mom. "Oh darling, you look so gorgeous."
His mom's own ninetales came forward after a moment and stood in front of her now grown up daughter. Seeing this, his mom stepped back.
Both the pokemon seemed to take a measure of each other. Seeing them together, ash could definitely see the difference in their size. His ninetales was at least 4 inches taller than his mom's ninetales. Although, the older ninetales fur was definitely more shiny and golden in color. 'Must be the age difference', ash thought. Both the nodded to each other once before both returned to their trainers' side.
Ash tried to think what the gesture may have meant. From what he knew of the vulpix and ninetales line, they were not social pokemon. Ninetales were solitary hunters, with only the children staying with their parents till they were old enough to take care of themselves. So, this gesture probably meant that his ninetales was now old enough to take care of herself.
Seeing that there was nothing else to be say or do at the moment, ash's mom ordered everyone to sit down and have dinner. That night, ash stayed awake till late in the night, chatting with his mom for the most part who he had missed a lot.
The next morning, after a healthy breakfast, ash left for professor Oak's lab, with ninetales by his side. It took him just 15 minutes to reach there. Ash opened the door to the lab, made his way directly to the professor's office. He greeted almost everyone that was working there since he knew most of them save 1 or 2 people who must have been new. Most of the people at the lab gave ninetales a few glances before going back to work. Seeing this, ninetales huffed, causing ash to smile. Reaching the professor's office, ash knocked twice on the door before there was a shout from the inside of come in.
"Professor, it is good to see you are still where I left you the last time" ash greeted his old mentor who was nose deep in his work. The professor looked up from his work upon hearing the familiar voice.
"Ash, my boy! It is good to see you have returned" the professor greeted him back with a smile before his eyes travelled to his companion and he looked like Christmas had come early. He bounced up from his seat and came forward. "It seems like congratulations are in order"
"Yeah! She evolved last week!" ash replied to the professor who had not taken his eyes off ninetales.
"My dear, would you mind if performed some tests on you?" the professor said to ninetales, who looked at him once before turning her face away with a huff. Ash chuckled at seeing this.
"Professor, I don't think ninetales is interested in tests with you right now" ash replied.
The professor looked like someone had kicked his puppy before he took out a berry from his lab coat pocket and once again turned to ninetales.
"My dear, I have just come in possession of a whole bunch of some very delicious berries and I wouldn't mind sharing them with you" the professor said. Seeing that ninetales was looking at him now, the professor continued. "Of course, you just have to let me do a couple of tests"
Ninetales seemed to think for a couple of seconds before she once again turned her head away.
The professor seemed to deflate at seeing his bribe not working. Seeing the dejected professor, ash leaned towards him and with a hand covering his mouth, he whispered in professor's ear, "Professor you need to compliment her first, only then she will agree to anything".
The professor seemed to perk up at this while ninetales gave ash a hurt look at having heard what he said. Ash tried to look innocent and looked anywhere in the office but not at ninetales.
"Where are my manners, I seemed to have forgotten to congratulate you on your evolution. You have grown into such a fine young beauty. I don't think I have ever seen such golden and soft fur on any pokemon before. Here, let me give you a congratulatory gift" the professor said and gave the berry he was holding in his hands to ninetales, who first gave it a sniff before taking a bite of the berry. She chewed it for a while before taking another bite showing that she liked the taste.
"I was wondering if a pokemon as wonderful as you would allow me to do a couple of tests on you." The professor asked again. Ninetales seemed to be considering the offer. Seeing this the professor spoke again, "of course, I will allow you to eat as much berries as you want". Ninetales finally nodded at that.
Ash could not contain his amusement at this point and finally laughed. "You have become so vain, ninetales"
Ninetales just huffed at ash and walked to stand by the professor's side.
"So, where is gary?" ash asked the professor.
"He must be by the river, he usually goes there to train blastoise" the professor said.
"Well, I will go greet him then" ash replied. Turning to ninetales, ash placed his hands behind her ears and scratched her just like she loved it. "You cooperate with the professor and once he is done, you can either go home or play with your brothers. I think they will be surprised to see you."
Ninetales licked his hands once to show that she understood.
"I will see you later professor", ash said. Taking a one last look at ninetales, ash left the lab to go to the river.
It was half an hour walk to the river. The river originated somewhere in the mountains around pallet town and flowed towards the ocean. The ocean was not actually that far from pallet town, hardly 1 hour of walk away. Ash had been to the beach a lot of times.
In no time ash reached the river and just as he had been told, Gary was also there, sitting on one side of the river with his feet dangling inside the water. Gary's Blastoise was nowhere to be seen though. Just as ash was about to move to go sit beside Gary, a huge geyser of water erupted from the previously silent river. And out came 2 behemoths of power. Ash recognized both of them. It was easy to identify one of them as Gary's blastoise.
Blastoise was a large, bipedal tortoise-like Pokémon. Its body was light blue and was mostly hidden by its tough, brown shell. This shell had a pale yellow underside and a white ridge encircling its arms and separating the upper and lower halves. Two powerful water cannons resided in the top sides of its shell. These cannons could be extended or withdrawn and could be used to assist in high-speed charges. Blastoise's head had triangular ears that were black on the inside, small brown eyes, and a cream-colored lower jaw. Its arms were thick and striated with three claws on each hand. Its feet had three claws on the front and one on the back. It had a stubby tail.
A normal blastoise was reported to be around 5'03" after evolution. Gary's blastoise was easily 6 feet long and still growing.
The blastoise landed on the ground with a large thud and didn't move for a moment. There were a lot of scars on the outer shell of blastoise, which meant that Gary was not leaving any chance to train blastoise.
It was the other pokemon that came out of the river that gave ash pause. Because it was not just any other pokemon. It was a freaking Gyarados.
Gyarados was a serpentine dragon-like Pokémon. It was mostly dark blue, with a yellow underbelly and yellow spots along its body. It had a three-pointed, dark blue crest on its head and four white, dorsal fins. It also had a lot of scars running all over its body. Its mouth was very large and gaping, bearing four canine teeth. It had one barbel on each side of its face. The barbels were white, which meant it was a female. Gyarados's tailfin was similar in structure to the crest on its head, except with a thin, white fin spread between the points.
From what ash knew, an average Gyarados was around 20 feet in length. The one ash was seeing right now was easily 30-35 feet. It was not just any pokemon. It was a monster among monsters. Just seeing it from the distance made ash weak in the knees.
"I think that will be all for now. We have been here for quite some time now." Gary, who was not aware of ash's presence, said to both the pokemon. "You can go now Gyarados. I will see you tomorrow. Thanks for the help. Here's your reward" saying that gary tossed a small dice sized brown colored cube in the air towards the big dragon who immediately took it out of the air with its strong jaws and dived back into the river.
"You take some rest as well blastoise" saying this Gary took out a pokeball from his belt before recalling blastoise into it. Tucking Blastoise's pokeball back into his belt, Gary turned around to go back home when he saw ash standing there gaping like a fish. Seeing the look on ash's face, Gary immediately guessed the reason behind it.
"Seen something interesting, ash?" Gary asked with a smirk.
"That… that was a..." ash stammered.
"A Gyarados, I know" Gary replied before walking towards ash.
"But… how?" ash asked finally turning his gaze away from the river to Gary.
"She is grandpa's" Gary said as if it explained everything. And it did.
Professor Samuel Oak, Gary's grandpa was the champion of Kanto before he became a researcher and pokemon professor. And every single one of his team member was considered a monster in their own right. Till date ash only knew about 4 members of his team: his alakazam, who was by professor's side most of the time, arcanine, who was sort of a leader of all the pokemon in the ranch, his huge charizard, which ash had seen only once but it was enough to tell ash that he did not want to be anywhere near that pokemon anytime soon, and his dragonite, who resided in the mountains east of pallet town. Apparently the mountains around pallet town were divided between professor's dragonite and charizard, with both having equal amount of territories.
Now ash knew the 5th member of the old professor's team as well.
"How come I never knew about her till now?" ash asked finally getting his bearings back and walking with Gary.
"She doesn't like people much other than a select few. Apparently, she doesn't even like my dad" Gary said while laughing. "My dad once tried to get a ride on her when he was young. She dumped him in the water and scared him really bad"
"But she seemed to like you" ash commented.
"Yes, she does. Well like I said, she only likes a few people. Me, mom, daisy, and grandpa to be exact as far as I know. She really likes daisy, even more than grandpa. So grandpa likes to keep her out of sights of people and pokemon alike so that she doesn't scare them off" gary said.
"when did you start training with her? I never knew." Ash asked.
"Just this past month actually" gary said. "Some idiots thought it would be a good idea to steal pokemon from professor Oaks pokemon ranch. They came here in a speedboat. Apparently they were planning on running away in the ocean after stealing the pokemon. Alakazam sensed them before those idiots could even set a foot on the ground of pallet town. Man that is one overpowered pokemon, let me tell you. Anyway, where was I, oh yeah, well alakazam told Gyarados that the people on the boat were hostile using her psychic powers and Gyarados made short work of them. I was relaxing on the beach with blastoise when that happened. So, after the whole thing was dealt with, I asked grandpa if I could train with Gyarados and he agreed. So, here I am".
Those must have been some really idiotic people if they thought that they could steal from professor Oak. Everyone in Kanto know that it is practically suicide to set foot in pallet town with bad intentions. There was a reason that no poacher ever tried to steal pokemon from the ranch.
"Were the idiots from Kanto?" ash asked.
"No! I think they were from Unova" Gary replied thinking. "They were some low life criminals on the run from pokemon rangers in Unova. They thought that since no pokemon ranger was stationed to protect the ranch here, they could do their work easily. Idiots, the lot of them".
Just as ash thought. No one from kanto, or even from Johto for that matter, would try to steal from professor Oak. It was just not worth the risk.
"So what happened to them?"
"Well, one of them died in the sea itself. The idiot tried to shoot Gyarados with a gun. Gyarados took exception to the fact that someone tried to poke her with needles. Since the idiot shoot first, no one said anything. The other three were taken into custody."
Ash was not surprised to hear Gary talking about death without any emotion. They lived in a world full of monsters with reality altering and elemental powers. Death because of pokemon was one of the most common reason in their world. They had both seen a lot of people going out to the sea and never returning. So hearing that Gyarados, one of the most violent pokemon, had killed somebody was not shocking at all to ash. What was shocking was that she had let the other 3 live. Now, that was a damn miracle.
"Enough about this, tell me did the strategy work? Did you beat your dad's nidoqueen?" Gary asked excitedly.
"Yeah! It worked even better than I expected. Dad didn't know what hit him!" ash replied with just as much excitement.
"So vulpix…" Gary left the sentence hanging. But ash got the idea of what Gary wanted to ask.
"She is a ninetales now" ash said with a huge grin.
"About damn time!" Gary exclaimed. "Do you how difficult it was to hold back in our fights so that blastoise wouldn't hurt your pride?"
"No need to brag Gary. We both know that the last match was a fluke. You barely won the match" ash replied with as much heat as Gary.
"But that's what matters. I won! You lost, ashy-boy." Gary said with a smirk.
"Well, why don't you beat us now? I bet ninetales would cook that stupid turtle of yours in minutes" ash taunted Gary.
"You are so on" Gary replied. "But in all seriousness, blastoise is tired from his training right now, you will have to wait till tomorrow to get a taste of the awesomeness that is Gary and blastoise".
Ash just shook his head at Gary's antics. By this time they had reached the lab.
"I was thinking -" Gary started to say before ash interrupted him.
"Well that's a first" ash said with a grin.
"Very funny. I was thinking that maybe we shouldn't battle right now" Gary said.
"What? Too afraid that you will lose" ash taunted him.
"You wish!" Gary said. "but no, that's not the reason. I was thinking that we both know each other's battling style pretty good now. I don't want us to keep on battling like this, to prove who is better, for the rest of our lives. So I thought about it and I found a solution. We will battle each other in the finals of Indigo league. A full 6-on-6 fight. We will fight with everything we have got. And the winner will take it all. What do you say ashy boy?"
Ash thought about it for a moment. What Gary was saying was true. Whenever one of them lost, the other would improve on it and challenge the other to prove that he was better. There would be no end to their rivalry. Gary must have really given it a thought.
"well, I hope you will bring tissue papers with you, because you will definitely go back crying home after I will beat you in Indigo League finals" ash said offering his hand to gary to shake on it.
"That's the spirit ashy-boy! There is nothing bad in dreaming with your eyes open" Gary replied with a grin of his own while shaking ash's hand.
The two of them then went inside the lab where Gary inserted Blastoise's pokeball in a healing machine. After that they searched for the professor in the lab, but couldn't find him. They found him outside the lab in the backyard, asking ninetales to perform various moves that she knew. Instead of disturbing them, they both sat in the shade of a tree and just watched the professor and the pokemon.
"Gotta say ashy boy, you got one fine pokemon there" Gary said after a moment.
"Thanks. She is everything I ever dreamt of and more" ash replied.
"So, have gramps given you the new pokedex after finally evolving vulpix" Gary asked.
"What pokedex?" ash asked back.
"Well, there is no harm in me telling you this now. Gramps was just waiting for us to evolve our pokemon fully before giving us our pokedex. We are also allowed to have one more pokemon with us now" Gary said with a smirk knowing what ash's reaction was going to be.
"WHAT!" ash shouted in shock. "I could have caught a second pokemon if I had just evolved vulpix earlier. What kind of stupid rule is that?"
"Hey man! No need to shout at me. I don't make the rules" Gary said.
"Looks like the professor owes us an explanation" ash said standing up.
They both went near the professor who from the looks of it was finishing his tests with ninetales.
"Professor, I think you forgot to tell me something earlier" ash said to the professor. He patted ninetales on her head when she came near him. She gave a glare in Gary's direction before lying down near ash's feet.
"I did?" the professor asked back looking quite puzzled.
"Yes you did! You forgot to give me my pokedex and you also didn't inform me that I can carry one more pokemon from now onwards" ash almost shouted in frustration.
"Oh my! Looks like I really did forget to tell you. I must be getting old, forgetting things like that" the professor lamented to himself. "Come on inside then. Let me give you your pokedex".
"Ash recalled ninetales back in her pokeball before walking beside the professor along with Gary. Once they reached the professor's office, the professor asked them to sit on the available chairs while he went to open the safe box behind his own chair. From inside of it, the professor took out a red colored pocket size rectangular device. The professor placed the device on the table before sliding it towards ash.
"Now ash, I think you know what it is and how it works but let me tell you anyways." The professor said in a serious voice. Ash immediately sat a tad bit straighter on hearing the professor's serious voice. "This device is a pokedex. This is your id card, credit card, bank, and pokemon encyclopedia, all rolled into one device. Don't ever lose this device. This is just a prototype of the latest version that has not been released to the public. So this device has got some new features as well. It has a limited AI embedded inside it, so you can interact with it as well. This device is also linked to the internet, and through internet, back to my main computer. So, if you want to train your pokemon to their maximum potential, I would suggest that you make use of these devices. I got 2 of them especially for you boys. I have already given one to Gary. This one is yours. Make sure to scan your fingerprints before you do anything else, so it can be registered to you and only you."
Ash picked up the pokedex and looked at it in awe. This little device held more knowledge about pokemon than ash could learn in one lifetime. It was really mind-boggling.
"Thank you professor! Don't worry, I will take good care of it" ash replied slowly.
"I know my boy that you will" the professor said smilingly. "Now, onto other matters. As Gary have already told you, you can now carry two pokemon with you. The reason as to why we didn't tell you this before was that we wanted you children to develop your bonds with your chosen pokemon. We also did not want you guys to pressure your pokemon to evolve early or use any evolution stones on them before they were ready. Only when your starter pokemon had evolved fully, on their own conditions, we thought that you were ready to handle the responsibility of another pokemon."
"Well, if you say it like that, I guess I can understand" ash agreed reluctantly. He could see the logic behind the professor's reasoning.
"Have you caught your second pokemon?" ash asked Gary.
"Yup!" Gary replied.
"Well, who is it?" ash asked eagerly.
"Why don't I show you?" saying this Gary took a pokeball from his belt and tapped the release button on it. Immediately a red beam of light shoot from it and materialized in the form of a pokemon in front of them. The moment it was free from its pokeball, the pokemon shoot forward and started to lick Gary's face. Ash recognized the pokemon. How could he not when he had spent so much of his time playing with him. It was a growlithe pup, the largest from ninetales brothers.
Growlithe was a quadruped, canine Pokémon. It had orange fur with black stripes along its back and legs. The fur on its muzzle, chest, belly, and tail was cream-colored, as well as an additional tuft of fur on top of its head. Growlithe's coat was noticeably longer on its chest and tail. It had gray eyes, a black nose, and large, round ears. Its forepaws had two visible claws, while its hind paws had three toes each. Each paw had a brown pad.
This growlithe was easily 3 feet tall, already showing signs of reaching the towering height of his father one day. Once the pup had thoroughly licked Gary's face, he looked towards ash before abandoning Gary in favor of licking ash's face. Ash scratched the pup behind his ears causing him to purr pleasantly. The pup soon laid down on the ground before Gary recalled him back in his pokeball.
"I have always loved grandpa's arcanine. So I simply asked grandpa's permission to capture one for myself from the pack" Gary said.
"What happened to the rest of the pack?" ash enquired.
"I gave the rest of the pups to the Kanto police department. They will be put to good use there" the professor said.
"Well, they had to go someday I guess. I will miss them" ash said slowly. All of them were silent before they were interrupted by the sound of an explosion outside the lab.
"Not again!" the professor exclaimed.
"What is it?" ash asked, all of them standing to go out and check out the cause of the explosion.
"Come on, you will see" Gary said with a smirk.
When they got out, ash was treated to the comical site of a small eaglet pokemon standing in front of a huge arcanine in what ash supposed was a challenging stance. It was singed from head to toe, and there was a noticeable patch of the ground around it, where grass was missing and smoke was rising out of it. Ash immediately brought out his pokedex from his pocket and aimed it at the small chick pokemon.
"Rufflet, the Eaglet Pokémon. Rufflet's talons are powerful. Able to crack open even the toughest Berries. It often challenges stronger opponents to battle. They will challenge anything, even strong opponents, without fear. Their frequent fights help them become stronger. With its powerful legs and sturdy claws, it can crack even the hard shells of Shellder and pluck out their insides."
Rufflet was a small avian Pokémon with a blue body. A large white plume of feathers covered its head and three tail feathers extended from its lower back. The feathery ruff extended down past its neck, covering the upper third of its body. Its face was blue with five pointed tips, resembling a mask and crown in contrast to the white feathers surrounding it. Extending from its forehead was a large feather, which was red on the lower half and white on the upper half. The split between the two colors on the feather resembled a zigzag pattern. Rufflet's beak was short and wide, with large eyes on either side. Each eye had a thick black iris with a small white pupil. Its yellow legs and feet were large in comparison to the body. Each foot had four digits: one backwards, and three forwards.
"Rufflet, that's enough!" the professor shouted at the small pokemon. But instead of standing down, Rufflet tried to glare at the professor in what was meant to be an intimidating manner but instead came up very cute.
"Man, that's one cute pokemon" ash said. The small pokemon immediately turned its glare towards ash, having heard what he said.
"Rufflet doesn't like it when people call it cute or harmless. They are very prideful pokemon, whose only focus in life is to become strong" the pokedex said.
"I mean to say what an amazing pokemon you are" ash immediately corrected himself. "I mean, I haven't seen a strong pokemon like you around here before"
Rufflet seemed to glare at ash for a moment, before flying towards ash and sitting on his head, seemingly accepting his words. Ash buckled under the Pokémon's weight for a moment before steadying himself.
"Nice save ashy-boy" Gary said.
Ash just glared at him.
"Whose pokemon is he" ash asked the professor.
"You remember those idiots I was telling you about, who tried to attack the lab. Well, the league confiscated their pokemon and released the ones they deemed harmless into the wild while taking the dangerous ones with them. Some of those released pokemon decided to stay here in the ranch. Rufflet is one of them." Gary replied before the professor could speak. Rufflet squawked at being called harmless, but Gary just ignored him.
Seeing that there was no other problem, the professor bid the children farewell and went back to his work. Gary too said his goodbye to ash and went back home to get some rest which left ash alone with Rufflet. When Rufflet didn't leave him alone, ash decided to take him alongside to get some training done. When Rufflet first saw ninetales, he challenged her immediately. She, of course, beat him effortlessly. This seemed to ignite a spark in the eaglet pokemon, who from that day onwards decided to follow ash almost everywhere, and challenge ninetales to a first everytime he saw her.
The next month passed in this way. Rufflet would follow ash everywhere, and challenge ninetales to a fight before getting beaten every time. Then he would join in her training. Seeing how dedicated he was to getting stronger, and how hard working and brave he was, ash finally the professor if he could catch Rufflet. The professor agreed to let him do it on the condition that it was not against the Pokémon's wishes. Ash agreed. So, he asked Rufflet if he would like to join ash's team. The eaglet pokemon agreed on the condition that ash would help him become as strong as ninetales. That was how ash caught his 3rd pokemon. Although officially, it was his 2nd pokemon.