AN: So there seems to be quite a bit of a wanting for me to make this into a mini harem story and I don't know. This isn't Naruto where I can wave the CRA wand and make a harem pairing be believable. The pokemon world is a little closer to our own, ya know besides the whole allowing young teens to venture out into the world with creatures who can destroy small towns thing, and harems aren't exactly looked at in a good light in our world. Though this is gonna be my more epic in length like my Naruto story so who knows. For right now though Ash getting a harem doesn't seem to be happening.
On another note I've received some requests to add certain pokemon to Ash's team and I have to say this; I am very adamant on the pokemon I personally like. If I wouldn't find myself personally using that pokemon on a playthrough then there's very little possibility that I will give it to Ash. Now I also know that I have to stick to Ash's already established character and the fact he has quite a few I wouldn't use; Muk, Tauros, and Torkoal to name a few. So there is some budge room. If you really want me to add a specific pokemon pm me and we'll talk!
Also I've received some requests to add another electric type to his lineup and I just can't find a reason to do so. If I did the thing would have to be a legendary or modified pokemon to justify it being on Pikachu's level. Why Pikachu's level? When you have an electric type at your side constantly who stood up to a Zapdos (Pokemon 2000) in a weakened state, momentarily controlled (one of the what I like to call God legends) Groudon, and holds enough electrical power to be on the level of Zapdos, Raikou, and have Zekrom want to steal some of that energy…well shit why would you want any other electric type!? The only pokemon I think Pikachu would have as a rival is Charizard.
Honestly in a straight out battle I think that Pikachu at the power level he SHOULD be by now would trounce all over Sceptile, Infernape, and most any pokemon not at least at Elite 4 or above. His electrical power is easily legendary level, his speed is unmatched, and the amount of physical strength he has is insane! He fucking Iron Tailed a Regice! Regice is canonically 5' 11" and 385 lbs. Pikachu is 1' 4" and 13 lbs…..Ash's Pikachu defies every single boundary for not just its species but average Pokemon in general! And THIS Pikachu is the Pikachu I am writing. Back on target, this is why I could not justify Ash catching another electric type.
However as stated in the last few chapters Umbreon does see Pikachu as a rival in speed and when Charizard comes back into the picture we will see the rivalry they have over being Ash's best pokemon.
Now that I've sufficiently ranted to all of you for a good couple hundred words or so,
On with the story!
"I never did get to ask why you're allowed to carry over 6 pokemon. I thought that it was a law," Dawn inquired from her position on Ash's back.
The duo had been walking at a comfortable pace towards Jubilife city and had not bumped into any trouble yet which was slightly bothering Ash. With the track record he had he just knew something was bound to happen. I mean c'mon his first day as a trainer had ended up with him almost meeting death at the hand of a flock of angered Spearow and then his starter almost dying because it had used a NATURAL lightning strike to supercharge its own electrical prowess to defeat said flock of birds. Yeah not how most trainers started their journeys. Though thinking about it Dawn's own beginning wasn't exactly normal either and almost mirrored his own in a lot of ways.
"Well it is law…unless you're me," Ash said winking at the bluenette on his back. Dawn only laughed before lightly smacking him on his head.
Chuckling Ash replied, "Seriously though you can actually lift that restriction if you're an Elite level trainer or if a regional professor gives you the ok to do so. At most you can carry two full teams but you gotta be pretty experienced to handle 12 pokemon at once."
Ash felt Dawn nod her head on his back. Turning his head he saw that Dawn had nestled her head into his back and was almost on her way to snoozeville. Thinking about it he couldn't blame the girl. She wasn't accustomed to the rather arduous life of being a trainer yet, let alone his rigorous schedule which would leave even most veteran trainers dead tired. Turning he looked at his Pikachu who was currently hitching a ride on Umbreon's back and he could only sweatdrop. The yellow mouse had gotten rather lazy when it wasn't training or battling though he couldn't blame the guy. There had been very few pokemon, even in his own lineup, that could truly push Pikachu to his limits these days and after having gained some form of control over the red lightning he had received courtesy of absorbing the Blue Orb there were even fewer who could compare.
Ash's walk to Jubilife would have continued to be a peaceful and contemplative one if not for the appearance of a young and gravely injured Growlithe being chased by a pack 5 of angry looking Houndoom. The commotion they caused woke Dawn from her short nap and Ash heard her gasp as she took in the condition of the poor fire dog. With a frown Ash called out his own fire type, Quilava. The volcano pokemon took stock of the situation and knew what his trainer wanted done so when Ash called out, "Flame Wheel!" he was more than ready to do so.
Flames erupted from Quilava's hind quarters and head before the fire starter started spinning into a ball to complete the attack. Quilava rolled in between the Houndoom pack and wounded Growlithe pup just in time to block a rather strong looking Flamethrower. The gaseous flames came from what Ash assumed to be the leader of the dual type pack due to its scar riddled form. Before he or Quilava had time to react the other four members of the pack unleashed their own Flamethrower attack that bathed the area and Quilava in harsh flames that even a fire type like Quilava would be hard pressed to stand up to.
The flames of the Houndoom species were far different from most other fire types because the source of their flames was a poisonous gas that lay in their belly and that quality carried over to their flames. While their flames were far from being the strongest of all fire types the side effects they caused more than made up for it.
Knowing this Ash was ready to send Pikachu in to save Quilava and handle the pack but a bigger brighter flame erupted from where Quilava once stood. Once the flames cleared it showed the form of a scorched and tired Quilava but it seemed that he had managed to push back the noxious flames with his own powerful spray of flames. Before Ash could sigh in relief Quilava's form began to glow a bright white, the sure sign of the little fire type evolving into its last and final stage.
They watched with bated breath as Quilava cried out in what seemed to be pain as its body grew, bones and organs shifting to accommodate the larger size and power. Soon the light grew too bright for any to look at and Ash and Dawn shielded their eyes. Even still they could see the bright light of evolution, making even the pack of Houndoom yip in pain at the light. Once the light died down Ash turned to look at the massive creature that now stood on two feet, the imposing figure of the final form of the Cyndiquil line, Typhlosion. With a mighty cry the flames on the newly evolved fire type's neck erupted to life with such intensity that the air around the now bipedal Johto starter began to waver and distort.
Ash's face split into a huge grin as one of the reasons he had brought Quilava along was to train it and push it to reach its final evolution. Deep down he was worried that the formerly shy Cyndiquil would become as violent and high on its own power that most fire types were prone to doing when they acquired such a massive boost in power. He feared that it would begin to disobey him like Charizard had when he first evolved.
All of that worry was washed away as he looked into the eyes of the fire type. Deep in them he could still see the same shy little Cyndiquil he had caught once upon a time, but now accompanying that was a fire to protect and a drive to grow stronger.
Nodding his head to the pokemon he called out, "Typhlosion! Flamethrower!" and with an echoing cry of "Ty!" a stream of flames that burned with white hot intensity encompassed the pack of Dark/Fire dual types.
While it was true that the Houndoom were part fire types themselves and so could stand up to most flames easily enough this was not true for the flames of a fully evolved Typhlosion. Few fire types had the sheer fire power that flowed in a Typhlosion's body. Even in their own fire typing very few pokemon could stand up to the mighty flames that had given the Typhlosion line the moniker of being the Volcano pokemon. The only ones that came to mind were Typhlosions' fellow volcano dwellers; Magmar and their evolution Magmortar. The only other pokemon whose flames burned as intense and powerfully as Typhlosion and Magmortar were Legendary pokemon who were often times much less pokemon and more forces of nature given physical form.
Knowing this Ash wasn't all too surprised to see that ground where Typhlosion's Flamethrower had struck was now almost perfectly lucid glass. The pack of Houndoom looked frightened as the flames finally let up, their heat resistant fur was missing patches and pieces of their unique bone armor had been cracked by the high temperatures of the flames. Knowing full well that this was only a warning attack the pack turned and ran back into the forests, their forked tails between their legs.
The leader looked back in an act of defiance and show of power and made to attack but was easily cowed by Typhlosion stomping his foot into the ground with enough force to splinter the ground below his foot and cause Ash to hastily try and regain his footing as the earth shook in response to the fire starter's power. Seeing the power of not only Typhlosion's flames but his physical power as well was enough to cow the wicked looking dual type and send it running back to its pack.
Ash kneeled down and placed Dawn back on her feet and slowly made his way to the injured Growlithe's side, while Dawn waited a distance away. Even she knew that most wild pokemon didn't exactly like humans and after such a traumatic event the poor Growlithe pup would probably not be too trusting of anything or anyone. She would also admit that Ash's newly evolved fire type frightened her somewhat. She had heard stories of Pokemon being immensely strong but thought that only the upper echelons of a League possessed such monsters. Seeing the once cute looking Quilava evolve into such a powerful beast and easily cow a pack of 5 Houndoom, pokemon known for their vicious tactics and battle style, had made her wary of the Fire type.
Growlithe looked up at Ash from its downed position with fear in its eyes but when Typhlosion got down on all fours, cut the fire from its neck, and encouraged the Growlithe to trust his trainer, the pup turned to Ash and nodded his head, giving Ash the ok to come closer.
Ash kneeled in front of the injured pup and set his bag on the side and began to rummage through it for the things he would need. Ash looked at some of the nasty bite wounds that still dripped blood, the scorched spots of fur, and scratches that riddled the fire type's body in sorrow. No baby, human or pokemon, should ever have to go through that. Pulling out what he needed Ash disinfected the wounds with a Potion, Full Heal, and a medicine of Brock's own concoction. With that done Ash wrapped up the bite wounds with gauze and smoothed a Burn Heal on the pup's scorch wounds. Looking into the tearful eyes of the pup Ash spoke, "I've done what I can but you still need more help that I can't give you. I need to catch you and bring you to a Center so that you can properly heal, is that ok?"
The Growlithe stared into Ash's eyes for a bit before slowly nodding its head. Ash then reached for an empty pokeball and lightly tapping it on the fire type's head caught the pup. He knew that this was no time to celebrate having finally caught himself a Growlithe so he then shrunk the ball and attached a sticker of sorts to it. He then grabbed another pokeball and in a flurry of sparkles his trusty Noctowl was summoned.
"Hey buddy I need you to fly this to Jubilife City's Pokemon Center as fast as you can and give it to the Joy that's there, she'll know what to do," Ash said, receiving a hoot from the flying type as a response. The psychic owl grabbed the shrunken ball in its talons and immediately flew off in the direction of Jubilife.
As soon as Ash stood to his full height Dawn was by his side, "What did you do? And how will Noctowl be able to tell Joy what to do?"
Turning to face her Ash answered, "Well you can request these stickers from the Joy family," and he pulled out a collection of various colored crosses held in a small tin box to show her. "Each sticker represents the condition of the pokemon inside the ball and you can then have a pokemon take the ball to a center if the pokemon is in need of dire help, like that Growlithe, or if you just can't make it to the center yourself to hand in the ball."
He then crouched onto his knees again, giving Dawn the signal to climb onto his back, "But even still we need to hurry to Jubilife so I apologize for the bumpy ride in advance."
With his passenger secured on his back Ash was off in a sprint to Jubilife, Umbreon and Pikachu easily keeping pace.
Thankfully they had been about a half hours walk outside of Jubilife so at Ash's pace he was able to easily cut that down to only fifteen minutes. Even still he had wished he brought along one of his stronger flyers like Pidgeot or even Charizard, both Pokemon being able to easily support his and Dawn's weight and still make it to Jubilife in seconds flat. Noctowl was more for scouting and errands, not meant to be as powerful, fast, and agile as his other two flying types. Nonetheless Ash resolved to switch out Noctowl for Pidgeot at some point. Noctowl would be able to teach Starly some things but the Starly line was much closer in relation to the Pidgey line, both favoring speed and attack strength.
As soon as they made it into city bounds Ash kept running, Dawn riding him like a Ponyta, and only stopped until Ash was clear through the doors of the Center. They were greeted by a rather tired looking Nurse Joy.
"Are you the owner of the Noctowl?" The Joy asked in a cheerful manner despite her obviously fatigued state.
Ash nodded his head, trying to catch his breath. He may be in great physical condition but running non-stop for fifteen straight minutes with a passenger, no matter how light she was, was still pretty damn tiring.
The pink haired Joy motioned for the two of them to follow her. They were escorted into the viewing room of the Center and they could see Growlithe, laying in a bed currently unconscious. Whether that was due to pain meds or the mental and physical fatigue of the day they didn't know.
Joy turned to the two teens as they gazed at the resting pup, "He was in pretty bad shape but nothing too serious or life threatening, mostly thanks to the prior care you gave to him Mr. Ketchum."
At Nurse Joy calling him by name Dawn and Ash gave the nurse a curious glance, though Ash really wasn't too surprised. At their inquiring look Joy merely smiled, "Of course I know who you are Mr. Ketchum, I received word from my other family members in Hoenn, Johto, Kanto, and even the Orange Islands and they spoke very highly of you."
With their unasked question answered they returned their gazes to the form of the small Growlithe pup, "All he needs is a nights rest and from the looks of things both of you do as well. Why don't the two of you go and explore the city? Jubilife is rather well known for some of its romantic couple's spots."
At the insinuation of being a couple the two teens began to heavily blush and sputter, much to the confusion of the pokemon nurse. Finally regaining some composure Ash managed to stutter out, "Oh no no we're uh…not a couple."
As he said that though a small look of disappointment crossed Dawn's face, something only Nurse Joy caught. Still smiling she nodded at them, "I'm sorry I just assumed that you were because of how the two of you came in," causing the two teens to blush even more.
The three of them walked back to the front desk of the Center, Dawn and Ash refusing to make any sort of eye contact all the while Nurse Joy giggled silently at the situation the two teens were in.
As they made it back to the front desk both Ash and Dawn came forward with their pokeballs, Ash asking, "Can you also do a check up on our other pokemon? Dawn has a recently caught Buneary that could use a good looking at as well."
Nurse Joy cheerily smiled and answered, "Of course I can. They'll be ready for pick up in about a half hour or so you two go have fun," turning her head to Ash she continued, "Also your Noctowl has already rested himself and I gave him a quick look over as well so feel free to take him with you." She then continued, "And what of your Pikachu? Does he need a checkup as well?"
Ash turned his head to his starter and asked, "Well buddy do you think you need one or do you wanna stick with me and Dawn?" Pikachu gave it a moment's thought before shaking his head in the negative. Ash turned to Joy and said, "Well I guess he's good to go for now."
Ash redirected his gaze back to Dawn and said, "Well why don't we go get you signed up for the contest and all that since we're here?"
Dawn responded with a happy nod. With that the two were off to explore the city.
"You have great timing! We are actually hosting the Jubilife contest the day after tomorrow," the receptionist spoke with a small smile.
Dawn squealed in happiness and then proceeded to drag Ash by the hand to go shopping for some "cute outfits". He had responded in kind telling her that they should call her mom to both let her know that she had arrived in Jubilife safely and that she was now traveling with Ash, he also mumbled that he had to do the same as he had forgotten to call his own mom while in Sandgem. Dawn had a good laugh at Ash's expense when she heard that. For as mature and intelligent Ash was, he was still a teenage boy.
All of this lead up to a heavily blushing and stuttering Dawn sitting in front of the video phone with her mom on the other line and Ash blushing up a storm of his own behind her.
As soon as Johanna had seen the way her daughter looked at Ash and what kind of person Ash was she took her chance to be an embarrassing mother and had asked Dawn if they were, "Being safe when they 'trained'."
Dawn and Ash were left speechless but Dawn quickly regained her mental faculties and tried to vehemently explain to her mom that they weren't a couple. Johanna had replied with a, "Oh so friends with benefits?"
Dawn could only blush furiously and yell at her mom while Ash looked away and tried to hide his face, Pikachu rolling on the floor in laughter at his trainer's predicament. Eventually Dawn managed to steer the conversation in a different direction, though she would be lying if she said her mother hadn't said enough to make her think about her and Ash, and was told that her mother would have a dress that Johanna had made for her shipped to the Jubilife center tomorrow afternoon.
When Dawn ended the call neither teen could look at the other in the face until Ash awkwardly coughed into his fist, "Uh…guess…I should call my mom now huh?" When he said this Dawn was snapped out of her thoughts and she nodded and muttered a small, "Yea".
Dawn was in such deep thought that she looked to almost be in a trance of sorts as she got out of the seat in front of the video phone. Ash then took the seat and dialed in the number to his own home in Pallet. Almost immediately the picture of a slightly angry Delia popped up on the screen, "Young man! I told you to call me as soon as you got to the Sinnoh region! Not two days later!"
Ash looked down in shame as Dawn quietly giggled at the raven haired teen's situation. Delia heard the giggling and for the first time noticed Dawn in the background, and noticing how close she stood to her son and the way she looked at him she knew almost instantly that this girl was far different from any of Ash's other traveling companions. Sure those girls had grown to have some form of feelings for her son at one point but her son was too preoccupied with Pokemon to acknowledge those feelings. She wasn't too disappointed about that though as she didn't think that either May or Misty was right for her son. Call it mother's intuition but she just knew. That same intuition though said that this girl was different in many respects and if the way Ash looked to be around the young girl was anything to go by then she may be meeting her son's first actual girlfriend for the first time.
With that in mind she put on a cheery smile and asked, "And who might you be dear?"
Dawn grew a little shy at being noticed by the older woman, "Oh sorry for not introducing myself mam. My name's Dawn Berlitz and I'm going to be travelling with your son through Sinnoh."
Delia gave a firm nod at that, "Good I love my son and he has a good head on his shoulders but he tends to rush into most situations and he needs someone to keep him in line." Dawn giggled as Ash's head lowered even more, "Moooooom!"
Turning to her son, "Well I'm sorry Ashy but its true! Most of the time when I hear about you it's in the news because you were or are in some dangerous situation or another and I worry about you."
Ash smiled sadly as he heard his mother's voice take on a slightly shakier and emotional tone towards the end. He was truly sorry for making his mother feel like that and knew that he caused his mother a lot of sorrow when he got involved in those situations. On one hand he wished that those situations would stop involving him but on the other hand those same situations usually lead to him saving the world, seeing some of the most beautiful and awe inspiring things the world had to offer, or meeting new friends that he would cherish well into his life.
With a small somber smile Ash spoke, "Hey don't worry mom. I'm a lot smarter now and I always have my buddies to help me out, isn't that right Pikachu?"
The yellow mouse perched himself on Ash's shoulder and gave his partner's mother a thumbs up and a happy, "Cha!" Delia smiled and her eyes watered as she looked at how much her son had grown in such a short time. In only a few short years he had gone from a brash and loud child to…a man. And that's when Delia almost fell into tears. At the age of 14 her son was a man. After hearing and seeing the things the world had thrown at her boy she could easily why.
Shaking her head and holding back the tears she gave her son her own smile, "I know Ashy. Make mama proud and bring home that first place trophy ok?"
Ash gave her a firm nod and a thumbs up of his own, "You got it mom."
Turning to Dawn Delia spoke, "And it was nice meeting you dear. Watch out for my baby boy please?"
Dawn gave her own nod and thumbs up, "No need to worry!"
Before Ash could hang up Delia put on a mischievous smirk, "And use protection you two! I don't wanna be a grandmother JUST yet!"
Before either teen could react Delia hung up.
The two teens sat/stood there in shock and embarrassment. Before either could say anything the voice of Nurse Joy rang out over the intercom, "Would Mr. and Mrs. Ketchum please come to the front desk, your pokemon are ready to be picked up!"
The two teens looked at the other with a blush before the absurdity of not just the past few minutes but of their whole day caught up to them and the two teens burst out into laughter.
'If this is how its gonna be travelling with her/him I could get used to It', thought the two teens simultaneously.
EDIT: Well as you can see I'm taking this in a little more of a serious/darker direction. I'm gonna try and make the battles, power levels, etc. as realistic as possible or as realistic as you can make pokemon. A lot of my inspiration to restart this fic and do some of the things I'm going to do with this fic is due to my reading an AMAZING Pokemon fic by the name of The Traveler. There's no pairing – yet – but the amount of effort the author put into the story is just amazing. It's a bit of a daunting read as its already 30 chapters in and each chapter is fucking huge, but wow is it worth it.
However I don't want to steal what that author's done with their story just like I don't want to copy 0 Jordinio 0 and what he's doing with his stuff. However I do want to "sample" some of what they've done and add it into this.
A lot of these changes won't be really noticeable until I start churning out new chapters, and one such change is the length. I'm not gonna try and even reach the length of The Traveler as that shit is just ridiculous but these 4000 word chapters are a remnant of my beginning as an author. I tend to now easily write out about 7000-ish words per chapter now and this fic will soon join that.
Be patient and the changes will come and this fic will become as awesome as I want it to be. Hopefully you guys will see that come true as well.
