Ash's Pokemon
Rayna: A Riolu and Ash's starter.
Known Moves: Quick Attack, Foresight, Force Palm, Counter and Blinding Rush (combo of quick attack and force palm).
Ziggy: A Noibat
Known Moves: Tackle, Supersonic, Screech, Absorb, Gust and Confusion Bell (combo of supersonic and absorb).
Fletcher: A Rowlet
Known Moves: Tackle, Leafage, Growl and Peck. Is currently still recovering from starvation and not training or battling.
Noelle: An Alolan Vulpix
Known Moves: Powder Snow, Roar, Baby-Doll Eyes and Tail Whip.
Amaura Fossil
Ash sighed tiredly as he cast another Magikarp back into the water and cast his line back out. Monday afternoon was wearing on, he had yet to pull up a Feebas and his time was running out. After today Ash only had two more full days left in Alola. Tomorrow he had to meet Mikiko for their rematch and was hoping to explore another part of the Islands earlier in the day. And Wednesday Ash needed to give a presentation to Professor Kukui's class.
Before Oak had left Saturday night Ash had confronted him about the about the surprise public speaking requirement for his trip. The professor had been sheepish about forgetting to inform him about it but reassured the boy that it would be easy. All he wanted Ash to do was lecture about was how the gym and league system worked in the rest of the world, maybe throw in some information about contests while he was at it. So, Ash had sacrificed a few hours a sleep that night to put together a presentation like the ones he used to do in school. It wasn't perfect but at least now it was done with and out of the way.
Oak, Steven, Lance and Delia had left not long after they arrived Saturday night. And as much as Ash was disappointing in the decision, he understood why Steven took the fossil with him. The Steel Type Master would keep the petrified remains safe until Ash was back in Kanto and had his chaperon with him. As hard as it was to believe apparently seemingly peaceful Alola had a wannabe Team Rocket. Team Skull was nowhere near as big or ferocious as their counterparts around the rest of the world but could still pose a threat if they somehow figured out what Ash was carrying.
Sunday the new trainer had spent entirely on Brooklet Hill searching for a Feebas with no luck. He had been given the chance to battle lots of trainers though. He won most his battles adding needed money to his growing bank account. He also got the opportunity to work with his team. Ziggy continued to work to perfect his moves and flying to Ash's standards. His flying still had a very long ways to go but his moves were all coming along well, Ash was looking forward to getting him started on learning a new move soon. Now that Rayna had mastered Blinding Rush Ash had tasked her with learning Endure. Endure was a normal type beginner move that did exactly what it sounded like it did. It pumped a Pokémon full of Normal Type energy and allowed it to endure an attack with minimal damage. It also made it impossible for a Pokémon to be knocked out while using the move. Ash was confident that Rayna could master it in a week. Lastly, the trainer finally got around to evaluating Noelle's moves. The ice type had Powder Snow down like no one's business. Noelle could manipulate the move in ways Ash hadn't thought possible. The attack usually just blew snow in chilling gusts at opponents, but Noelle had learned how to discretely concentrate the attack on one point to form the sheets of ice she always had people tripping on. The Vulpix had neglected her other status moves though so Ash sent her off to perfect those. Noelle had been pouty about it but haven't complained.
"Noi?"
Ash was broken out of his distracted ADHD driven thoughts by Ziggy. The Sound Wave Pokémon was pointing at Ash's fishing rod which was now jerking weakly signally that a Pokémon was on the other end. Ash hoisted the rod up and started to reel his catch in. Whatever was caught on the line wasn't putting up much of a fight making the boys job much easier than usual. Quicker than normal the Pokémon broke the surface of the water revealing itself to what Ash had been after for so long. A Feebas.
"Ziggy! Supersonic!" the boy cried as he bounced on his feet. He finally found one! He wasn't about to let it get away!
Instead of jumping into action like the usually over eager dragon he was Ziggy hesitated, looking between his trainer and the Feebas.
"Noi, noi?" Ziggy squeaked as he pointed at the water type, his voice full of dubiousness.
For the first time Ash took the time to take a good look at his catch. And he didn't like what he was seeing. The Feebas was watching him wearily not making any attempt to escape, not that Ash thought it could even if it wanted to. It was obviously sick. The poor things eyes were bulging in a way that didn't have to do with fear or shock. its abdomen looked swollen while still managing to appear way to skinny and there were weird squiggly red lines running along it's fins and body.
Ash dug in his pocket and pulled out some water type food before approaching the Fish Pokémon slowly.
"I'm not gonna hurt you," the boy said as he inched closer. Feebas continued to watch him closely but made no moves to try to run. When Ash was within arm distance he knelt, presenting the food to the water type. The Fish Pokémon didn't try to eat the food, but it nudged its head against Ash's hand weakly while looking up at him with its big eyes pitifully. In that moment Ash instinctively knew that if he didn't help this Pokémon it would die. Feebas grabbed onto Ash's fishing line was a last-ditch effort to survive, it no longer had the strength to swim up to the surface on its own.
"Bag please," Ash called as he beckons backwards with his hand at his team without taking his eyes off Feebas.
Noelle quickly dragged the bag over to her trainers' side before backing away and giving her trainer room to work. The boy was fast to retrieve his only super potion before turning back to the fish.
"This potion is going to help you, but I have to touch you to use it and it's gonna sting at first. Is that okay?"
The Feebas wiggled closer to him, its large eyes fixed on the potion clearly desperate for any kind of relief. Ash slowly lower his hand into the water and used it to carefully turn Feebas over, exposing one of its sides out of the water. The boy was then quick to spray a few squirts of the super potion over its brown scales before doing the same on the other side. The water type squeezed it eyes shut from the pain but didn't move.
"All done," the trainer said happily as he released Feebas. The Fish Pokémon swam in a small circle close to the shore appearing better but not cured. Its eyes seemed less enlarged and the red lines had receded immensely but not entirely. The water type clearly needed a Pokémon Center and a restoration machine if it was gonna live. Ash had just bought it a few extra days.
"Hey Feebas," The boy called softly hoping that the Pokémon wasn't just gonna swim away. Thankfully it didn't. The water type came right back to the shore as quick as its feeble body allowed, the beginning of trust forming in its eyes.
"You need more help than I can give you. The super potion obviously didn't heal you completely and I don't want to risk giving you anymore. With how weak and frail you are right now you could over dose. I can take you to someone who can help though. But to do that I'll need to catch you. I'll let you go later if that's what you want but I'd really like it if you stayed. But we can talk about that later, right now we need to get you feeling better."
Feebas watched him carefully for a moment before easing its head out of the water.
"Fee," its deep voice said giving Ash the approval he needed.
"Alright, once you're in the ball you wouldn't be in anymore pain until I release you at the Pokémon Center." After saying that Ash gently pressed an empty pokeball onto Feebas's head who was effortlessly drawn inside. The ball dinged as soon as it closed.
Ash stood up and threw his bag over his shoulder, not bothering to take the time to put away his fishing gear. He could carry it just fine. Fletcher jumped up towards Ash's belt to return himself before his trainer asked him to eager to speed up the process, the others beside Rayna all following in his lead. Trainer and started then took off towards the Pokémon Center as fast as their legs could carry them.
"It's a bacterial infection," Nurse Joy said as she looked over the Feebas. "See that small scar by her gills. It's newly healed so I think you unwittingly took care of the cut when you gave her the super potion. It's also most likely where she got the infection. Feebas are usually hardy Pokémon that can live in extremely dirty water but if any of that dirt gets someplace that's not meant to deal with it like a vein…Well this is usually what happens.
"Is she gonna be all right?" Ash asked from beside the nurse, Rayna on his shoulder.
"Feebas need some antibiotics and will have to spend a few hours in the restoration machine but she'll be ready to go by morning," Nurse Joy answered with a smile as she pointed to the fish in the tank. "And look closely. She's already looking fuller. Fish like Pokémon don't really gain or lose weight too much. They just suck it all in when they don't feel well to help themselves keep warm."
"Thank goodness," the boy breathed as he placed a hand on the tank the water type was in. "You hear that Feebas, you're gonna be okay!"
The Fish Pokémon butted her head against where Ash's hand was on the glass, shooting him as much of a smile as the shape of its lips allowed. The boy had no idea how she could understand them through the tank but wrote it off as a Pokémon's hearing usually being much better than a humans.
"Will you be staying the night?" Nurse Joy asked.
"Yeah," Ash answered not seeing much of a choice. There was no way he was going to leave Feebas alone. "Where's your phones?"
"They're in the media room to the left of the lobby. When your done in there you can swing by the front desk to get your room key."
"Great. Thanks for all your help Nurse Joy."
"Think nothing of it," the medic said with a warm smile. "It's what I'm here for."
"Do you wanna have a double battle?"
Ash looked away from the map he was studying of Route 5 to find two small girls looking up at him. They were obviously twins, wearing matching blue sundresses with big floppy orange collars and pockets. Both wore their medium length mousy brown hair in pig tails covered by white sunhats. They couldn't have been older that nine.
Ash had decided to go explore the route neighboring the Pokémon Center Feebas was staying in to pass the time the water type was in the restoration machine. The boy was slightly frustrated that he hasn't even gotten out of view of the iconic red roof before he was challenged to a battle but could admit that the two girls piped his interest.
"A battle?" Ash asked confused. These two were way too young to have trainers' licenses.
"Yeah!" One of the girls shouted happily. "We're..."
"Junior trainers!" the other sister finished.
"Ah," Ash mused. That should have been obvious. Junior trainers were trainers on training wheels. Instead of going to school some family's chose to teach their children themselves. Kids with a junior training permit couldn't leave whatever city or route they lived on without adult supervision, couldn't have more than two Pokémon, couldn't challenge any gyms or enter any leagues and couldn't battle a trainer with more than two badges. There were other restrictions but those were the big ones.
"Did you say you wanted a double battle?" the teen asked. He hasn't yet taken part in one of those yet and wasn't quite sure he was ready for one. The twins obviously had experience working together and Ash didn't want to get his butt kicked by two kids not even in their double digits.
"Yeah!" said the girl on the right.
"We want to be the best double battlers in the world!" finished the girl on the left.
Ash still wasn't entirely sure his team was ready for this but was having a hard time working up the courage to tell the girls no. Their well-practiced puppy dog eyes were working to their full effect on him.
"What do you think Rayna?" Ash asked, taking the cowards way out and leaving the decision in his Pokémon's hands. The fighting type that was sitting on his shoulder gave her trainer a light thump on the head for turning the situation on her before considering the girls. How hard could it be to beat two small children? Then she could make Ash deal with them if they started crying when they lost as revenge.
"Ri!" Rayna yipped confirmation as she dropped down to the ground pumped to go.
"Yay!" the girls cheered holding each other's hands and jumping around excitedly in a circle.
"Maybe we should have our battle at the Pokémon Center. There's no need to destroy anything with a battle field so close by," Ash said as he watched the girls carefully not entirely too sure what he had just gotten himself into.
"That's a good idea," Girl 1 said as she grabbed Ash's hand and dragged him in the direction of the Center. "I'm Nico!"
"And I'm Isa!" Girl 2 said from behind them after somehow picking up a bewildered Rayna.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Ash."
"Oooo Ash! That's..." Isa said.
"A cool name," Nico finished.
"What kind of..."
"Pokémon is Rayna?"
"You said her name was Rayna, right?" The last sentence the girls said together, sending an unpleasant shiver down Ash's spine.
"Yeah, her name's Rayna. She's a Riolu, a fighting type from Sinnoh."
"Ooo Sinnoh," Nico said as she started to skip while still jostling Ash along with her.
"That's a long way away," Isa commented.
"Are you from Sinnoh?" They both asked together, large innocent smiles on their face like they had no idea what they were doing to Ash's mental health.
"No, I'm from Kanto." The teen was starting to seriously consider pulling his hand out of the Nico's no matter how rude it might be.
"Ooo Kanto."
"That's a long way away."
Thankfully for Ash and Rayna's sake they were approaching the Pokémon Center, the automatic doors opening to let them in. Nurse Joy looked up when they entered and smirked when she caught sight of the twins.
"Girls, I hope you're not giving this young man any trouble."
"Nope Nursey, we're..."
"Just gonna go battle."
"Well then I'll be waiting here for you when you finish," Joy said as she continued to smirk. "Have fun."
"We will Nursey!" The twins echoed.
As the twins dragged him away Ash sent a questioning look over his shoulder at Nurse Joy how just mouthed 'good luck' in return.
The trainer was soon pulled through another pair of automatic doors leading to the battle fields. Lucky for Ash the twins picked the nearest field, disposing of their opponent and his started at the first box before skipping over to their own.
"Ready Ash?" called Isa.
"Ready!" the boy answered palming his pokeballs. It was a given he was gonna use Rayna for this battle and now he just needed to decide if he wanted to also use Ziggy or Noelle.
"Go Cottonee!" yelled Isa as she released her Pokémon.
"You're up Petilil!" shouted Nico as she threw her pokeball.
The Pokémon Isa released looked like a cotton ball with eyes and tiny arms made from leaves and was one of the weirdest Pokémon Ash had ever seen. Not that Petilil was much better. The tiny green Pokémon's body looked like a bud of flower with eyes. It was somehow balancing on a skirt thing Ash guessed was supposed to be its legs. The three little leaves sticking out of its head completed the ridiculous look. Blinking perplexedly Ash pulled out his pokedex.
"Petilil, the Bud Pokémon. A grass type. Petilil prefer clean water and soil. When the environment they live in turns bad, the whole bunch will up and move to a new area."
"Cottonee, the Cotton Puff Pokémon. A grass and fairy type. When attacked, it expels cotton from its body to create a diversion. The cotton it loses grows back in quickly."
'Okay' Ash thought. 'Both grass types so look out for status moves like poison and stun powders. Ziggy will be in big trouble if Cottonee has any fairy type moves and Noelle has type advantage over grass. But on the other hand, Ziggy has more experience and gets along well with Rayna. I've never battled with Noelle before and she's still settling into the team.' It was a hard decision to make.
"Let's go Noelle!" Ash exclaimed as he threw his pokeball, releasing the fluffy Pokémon.
"Vul!" the Fox Pokémon cried as she appeared, taking note of her opponents and Rayna by her side.
In the end the risk of Ziggy getting hit with a fairy type move was too big a risk to take now. One or two hits and he was out, and Rayna already had the same disadvantage. No need to add another to the mix. Things might have been different if the dragon could fly better but he couldn't so Ash would just have to hope Noelle could pull through.
"Ooo!" Nico squealed. "She's so pretty!"
Noelle puffed up at the complement but never took her eyes off her opponents proving that she must have had some battle experience in the wild.
"You girls can have the first move!" Ash called eager to see how good they were.
"START!" Both girls shouted simultaneously.
Roots appeared from the insides of Cottonee's leaf like arms and plunged into the ground, soaking up nutrients and strength from the earth. Ash was more worried about Petilil though who had launched two consecutive Leech Seeds at his Pokémon.
"Dodge!" Ash called. "Rayna use Blinding Rush on Petilil! Noelle use Powered Snow to turn their side of the field into an ice rink!"
"Get out of there Cottonee!"
"Mega Drain Petilil!"
"Vul!" Noelle called as she launched her attack. She aimed Powder Snow first at Cottonee forcing it to abandon Growth before slicking up the battle field. Where ever Cottonee hopped Noelle aimed Powder Snow at, forcing it to keep moving and not counterattack. Sooner or later it wasn't going to be able to avoid the attack.
Rayna and Petilil zipped around each other. Dodging and trying to attack at the same time. Surprisingly Petilil was quick. Neither Pokémon could land a hit.
Things were going the way Ash wanted so far. Petilil and Cottonee were too busy dodging to work together. The teen was under no illusions that if the two Pokémon kept throwing combination moves at him, he could win. His team hadn't been trained for double battles yet. While Ash was certain Noelle could outlast Cottonee (her Powder Snow really is impressive) he wasn't so sure Rayna could beat Petilil in their competition of endurance. The young trainer had a bad feeling the Bulb Pokémon had Chlorophyll, an ability that boosts a Pokémon's speed in the sun. Rayna was gonna need a little help if she was going to win.
"Target Petilil Noelle!" Ash called. If this was gonna work Noelle was gonna have to time it perfectly. And she did just that. The second Cottonee was forced to jump again Noelle turned her head and aimed a full power Powder Snow at Petilil. The Bud Pokémon tried to dodge but was knocked back into Noelle's line of fire by Rayna taking the opportunity to land a brilliant Blinding Rush.
"Pet!" the Pokémon cried as it was hit with the super effective attack. Petilil was blasted back to the end of the field, skidding on the ground hard as it came to a stop.
"Finish it Rayna!"
"Fairy Wind!" Isa commanded Cottonee, unleashing the attack Ash had been fearing.
"Sleep Powder Petilil!" Nico called.
"Get out of there!" The teen shouted desperately. But it was too late. Rayna had been too close to Petilil to entirely avoid the weak Sleep Powder. Although the attack didn't put her to sleep it greatly hindered her getaway allowing Cottonee to hit her full on with Fairy Wind. Poor Rayna was thrown away like a rag doll by the powerful attack. When Rayna hit the ground, she didn't get back up. Unconscious or asleep the boy didn't know. Nor did it really make a difference. This battle was over for her.
Ash returned Rayna quickly and tucked her pokeball away on his belt. It wasn't the first time he'd seen Rayna beat but it never got any easier. The sting of losing combined with the guilt of seeing his Pokémon get hurt was never enjoyable.
"Vul!"
The boy's eyes turned to Noelle to find her smirking determinedly at him. She wasn't at all discouraged that her partner had been knocked out. If anything, Noelle was raring to go avenge Rayna.
Ash shot his newest Pokémon his own smirk, feeding on her attitude.
"Finish Petilil."
"Sleep Powder again!" Nico commanded desperately.
"Protect Petilil with Fairy Wind Cottonee!"
Noelle drew in a large breath as she waited for the last second to dodge Fairy Wind. The instant the ice type jumped to the side she released Powder Snow, making sure to get nowhere near close enough to Petilil to be affected by its measly Sleep Powder. The Bulb Pokémon gave a weak cry when hit again before quickly succumbing to the effective attack.
Noelle took a moment to catch her breath while she waited for Nico to recall her Pokémon, squaring up with the Cotton Puff Pokémon across the field. It was just her and Cottonee now. Noelle had type advantage but Cottonee was a lot less tired. Victory could go to anyone.
"Stun Wind Cottonee!"
It didn't take a genius to figure out what combination that was and Ash wanted no part in it.
"Dodge and use Baby-Doll Eyes!"
Cottonee shook itself to release its stun spores from its cotton tufts as it fired Fairy Wind from its large mouth. Some of the stun spores got caught up in the gust generated by Fairy Wind and were blown towards Noelle. As it attacked Cottonee made the mistake of looking at Noelle. When their eyes met Noelle's flashed pink for a brief second before she bounded away to avoid the incoming move. While it didn't appear like Baby-Doll Eyes did any noticeable damage but Cottonee was starting to struggle to keep up its attack just like Ash had hoped for. Instead of accepting that it's attack was just a little bit weaker after being hit with the status move Cottonee was putting in more effort to keep the same intensity going, tiring it out much faster.
Ash let the game of cat and mouse continue for a while. The fairy type was spending energy much quicker now, Noelle and Ash just needed to wait for the right moment to make their move. An older trainer would figure out what he was up to in an instant and change tactics but the twins weren't experienced enough to know, they just enthusiastically cheered Cottonee on. Finally, when their opponent was starting to huff and puff from exertion Ash made his move.
"Powder Snow!"
"Dodge!"
Cottonee might have gotten away if it hadn't slipped and fallen on one of the melting sheets of ice from the beginning of the battle making it helpless to move as a strong flurry of snow hit the grass type, sending it tumbling to the other side of the field. When the gust cleared Cottonee was face planted into the ground, shriving from the shiny particles of ice stuck all over it.
Noelle toddled back to Ash's side. It looked like she hadn't been able to entirely avoid the stun spores that had been spread around the field by Isa's combination attack. That said, she was still in a lot better shape than their opponent. Even though Cottonee wasn't unconsciousness yet their victory was all but assured. The only thing could make that change was if Isa had some healing move up her sleeve, but Ash would wait to see what she would do before ordering Noelle to attack again.
Isa looked to be on the verge of tears as she raised her pokeball and returned Cottonee, officially ending the battle. Nico plopped herself onto the ground beside her sister, holding her face with both hands and pouting dejectedly.
"Great job Noelle!" Ash cried, and he picked his newest Pokémon up and swung her around not minding the stinging on his arms from the Stun Spores still clinging to Noelle. Somehow with only one damage dealing attack in her arsenal she'd taken their team to victory mostly by herself in her first trainers battle. The twin's inexperience and type advantage had a lot to do with their win, but it was still impressive nonetheless.
Now though the thirteen-year-old was faced with two distraught children and wasn't exactly sure what to do. He didn't have much experiences with kids younger than himself. 'Well', Ash mused to himself. 'If they want to be trainers, I'll treat them like trainers.'
"Nice battle guys," Ash said sincerely as he approached the twins, offering his hand to help Nico up.
Nico looked up at him glumly but took the offered appendage anyway and let the boy help get her back on to her feet.
"You guys have a lot of great strategies and combinations, but you weren't very good at figuring out mine. In fact I don't think you were even trying to. And you didn't have a plan about what to do if your Pokémon were separated. If your aiming to be double battlers you can expect most if not all experienced opponents will employ that strategy against you."
"We didn't know that," Nico whispered as she and her sister looked up at Ash with sparkling eyes, hanging on every word that came out of his mouth.
"I think you two are really talented and can go far with the right push. Why aren't you guys in Pokémon School?"
"The only school is on Melemele and we don't have a way to get there," Isa said sadly, a whine in her voice.
"What about online?"
"Online?" The twins echoed shocked.
"Sure. There's some great international school's online for kids just like you guys that live to far from a local institution to attend. It's not as good an education as having someone to work with you in person but it's better than nothing."
"Ooo online," Nico breathed in wonder, bouncing back to her cheerful self.
"We can do that!" Isa added exuberantly. "Let's go ask mom!"
Before Ash could blink the twins were gone and the door into the Center sliding shut behind them. Frankly he was grateful. They were cute in the way all little kids were but their mood swings were giving him whiplash.
"Come one," the teen sighed as he hoisted Noelle up farther in his arms. "Let's go get you and Rayna checked out."
The next morning Ash and his Pokémon once again found themselves on Brooklet hill for the last time. The only one missing was Feebas, still in her pokeball that Ash was turning over in his hands thoughtfully. Just like he promised he was going to give her the chance to go free if she wanted.
Last night after Rayna and Noelle had been healed they'd all spent a few hours in Feebas's room getting to know each other. While his Pokémon had played together Ash had leaned back against Feebas's tank and revealed to her all his hopes and dreams. The Fish Pokémon had listened in a way the others hadn't, it's large but soft eyes watching him almost fondly. The water type had turned enthused though when Ash turned the conversation to herself. The boy had promised to make her the strongest Milotic in the world while assuring her that there was a prism scale waiting for her back in Pallet if she wanted it.
Knowing Kiawe would be arriving to take them back to Melemele any minute now Ash clicked the button of Feebas's pokeball, releasing her into the water. The Fish Pokémon seemed confused by its surrounding at first before spotting Ash and swam as close to the shore as it could.
"Fee?" the Pokémon questioned mournfully as she looked up at them with its big eyes. Ash was worried Feebas was about to start crying.
"We're not leaving you if you wanna come with us. But I did promise if you didn't want to stay I wasn't gonna make you," Ash said gently catching onto what was upsetting Feebas. "If you wanna go it's now or never though."
The Fish Pokémon looked back at its home for one long minute before turning back to the trainer and his Pokémon. While leaving was slightly bittersweet her decision had been made last night.
"Fee!" Feebas vocalized excitably. She had become as strong as she could in this little pond. It was time to evolve and see the world!
"Great!" Ash said as he pointed the pokeball in his hand toward Feebas, returning the Fish Pokémon.
"I just caught a Feebas!" the young teen shouted for joy as he pumped his fist holding Feebas's pokeball in the air while jumping up and down happily. His Pokémon were quick to join in the celebrations, thankful their hunt had finally come to an end.
"Well," Ash said as he settled down and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I mean technically I caught her yesterday..."
All the Pokémon sweat dropped.
"Thanks for the ride," Ash told Kiawe as he hopped off Charizard. "We could have walked but that would have shaved a few hours out of the day."
"No problem," Kiawe answered. "If you're going into Digglet Tunnel I wouldn't go farther than the first level. It's a rather short tunnel but it's still under construction and it's easy to get lost in there."
"Stay on the bottom part. Got it," the younger boy answered with a smile.
"Good," the older teen answered as Charizard flapped his wings and took to the air once more. "See you later!"
"Bye!" Ash waved back as the fire type trainer and fire type left. The boy didn't wait for the duo to completely disappear over the horizon before turning to the entrance of the tunnel. He had a rare Pokémon to find and only eight hours to do it. Normally he would have aimed for something easier to find with his short time limit but he'd heard rumors in the Pokémon center last night that the construction had stirred his prey up, making them much more common to come across than usual.
Ash released Rayna, Ziggy and Noelle as he took if first steps down into the large tunnel lighted by electric lamps nailed to the sides. He was hoping Rayna and Ziggy's combined aura sight and echo location could help them find their quarry quickly. Noelle's task was to take care of any Zubat or Digglet that got in their way that Ash would be scouting for with his own aura sight.
After a good twenty minutes the steep slope before the ground leveled out into the actual tunnel. Down here water dripped slowly down the sides of the cave into small puddles on the ground. Work carts full of rocks were lined up in out of the way places, waiting to be brought back up to the surface.
"Hold on," Ash called as Ziggy was about to step further into the dampness. "There," the trainer pointed upwards towards a corner of the ceiling that was shrouded in shadows. Not wanting to upset the now found Zubat the group tiptoed around them and carried on.
They continued that way for quite a while, Noelle only having to send a few persistent Digglet and Zubat packing with a well-placed Powder Snow. Not long into their venture Ash was overjoyed to find a fire stone peeking out of the side of the tunnel. It took some digging and chiseling but the stone eventually came free and found a new home in Ash's bag. The boy didn't know if he'd even use it but at least it'd fetch a good price if he was ever in desperate need of money.
"Noi!" Ziggy whisperer shouted as he gestured to a small side tunnel three hours after they'd entered the system.
"Is there one down there?" The boy asked hopefully.
Both Rayna and Ziggy nodded.
"Then let's approach slowly. We don't want to scare it off."
The group entered the smaller diverging tunnel cautiously but had trouble hiding their excitement when they rounded the bend to catch sight of what they were after. Sitting on a large boulder munching on a rock contently was a short stubby green bipedal Pokémon. Dark red scales painted its belly in an oval fashion and black scales ran over its eyes to form the image of a scar.
"Lav?" It questioned curiously as it tilted its large oval shaped head to the side, the fin onto hitting the wall of rock beside it.
"I'm Ash from Pallet town and I've come to challenge you to a battle." The teen was careful to be forceful but not loud. He wanted to earn its respect without scaring it away.
The reptilian creature considered him and his Pokémon for a moment before nodding and rising from its seat, excepting his challenge.
Ash ginned wildly as he pulled his pokedex out to check over the Pokémon's information once more before he battled it.
"Larvitar, the Rock Skin Pokémon. A rock and ground type. Raised on nutrients it finds in dirt, it eats roughly a mountains worth of dirt before it becomes a pupa."
"You're up Rayna!"
The fighting type stepped forward as the others made their way to stand by their trainers' side, making sure to give their team mate plenty of room. Larvitar narrowed its eyes and beckoned with its claw for Rayna to take the first move.
"Quick Attack," Ash shouted. He wanted to see what Larvitar would do before he started pulling out his more powerful attacks.
Larvitar grunted slightly as Rayna rammed into it before stomping its foot on the ground, causing all the sand and small loose rocks around them to start flying around in a storm.
"Sandstorm! Really?" Ash complained as he shielded his eyes. "Close your eyes and use aura sight, then Blinding Rush!" The teen ended up taking his own advice and used his aura to see through the storm. Even though his eyes were protected the sand was still stinging at his arms and face and Ash was pretty sure Rayna was suffering through the same pain.
Larvitar roared when Rayna hit it with the effective move sending the heavy Pokémon skidding backwards a few feet. It then roared again as the rocks above and around Rayna started to glow white before being hurled on top of her.
"Endure!" Ash shouted. There was no way she could dodge that big of an attack coming from above in such a confined space. They would just need to hope Rayna had the new move down well enough to pull through the powerful attack.
Rayna crouched down at the last moment and folded her arms against her chest, surrounding herself with a steady but weak golden glow. Even though he knew she was gonna be fine Ash still flinched when a literal rock slide landed onto of his starter.
Everyone held their breath as they waited to see if the fighting type would resurface. After about half a minute the rocks started to shift slightly to reveal a battered but conscious Rayna much to Ash's relief. The good moment didn't last long though. As soon as Larvitar was sure Rayna was standing it once again tried to use what Ash was sure was Rock Slide. When the stone above them started to glow white again Ash withdrew Rayna. She couldn't take another hit and there was no way she could dodge. As much as it killed the trainer this battle was over. He could send another Pokémon out to battle Larvitar but he wouldn't gain its respect. If he were to catch it, he would most likely spend months trying to get it to cooperate and with so many young Pokémon to raise he just didn't have the time for that.
"You're a powerful Pokémon," Ash admitted as he bowed to the victor. "Thank you for the battle."
Larvitar nodded back before picking up the rock it had been snacking on earlier and ambling down farther into the tunnel system.
Ash sighed wearily as he turned back to his team.
"Let's go get Rayna to a Pokémon Center."
Ash jogged through the streets of Hau'oil city as he made his way towards the Pokémon Center he was supposed to meet Mikiko at for their rematch in the warm evening sun. The city was bustling with people as family's made their way to their favorite dinner spot and young people lit bonfires on the beach in preparation for sunset. If Ash was being honest with himself he wasn't up for a battle tonight. He had just spent almost four hours in a Pokémon Center waiting in line to get Rayna healed and wasn't eager to repeat the process again so soon. He much rather be finding food and enjoying the last few summer nights of the year like everyone else seemed to be doing. But he had told Mikiko he would battle her so battle her he would.
Ash found the young woman on a bench on the sidelines of the Pokémon Centers battle fields completely absorbed in typing away on her pokenav. Mikiko had traded in her hiking clothes for more relaxed beach wear. The boy's keen eyes picked out two pokeballs attached to her belt peeking out from under her tank top rather than just the single one she had carried two days ago.
"Hey," Ash greeted as he approached his opponent, slowing his stride down to an easy walk.
"Hey yourself," Mikiko answered with a friendly smile as she stood. "Catch anything new?"
"Yeah. I'm assuming you have also?"
"Yep! Why don't we make this a quick one on one to test our new Pokémon then get out of here? Tonight doesn't really feel like a night to be spending on a battle field."
"I couldn't agree more," Ash answered as he headed towards his side of the field. It seemed like he wasn't the only one experiencing the nostalgic feeling the last few days of summer brought. If they hurried they might still be able to catch the Sunset.
"Then let's get started!" Mikiko exclaimed as she took her place at the other end of the turf. "Go Phantump!"
Ash blinked at the Pokémon that came into existence in front of him. It was looked like a tiny black ghost that was using a tree stump as a helmet. With its tiny arms and little oval mouth it was surprisingly sort of cute. Ash pulled out his Pokedex and scanned his opponent.
"Phantump, the stump Pokémon. A ghost and grass type. According to old tales, these Pokémon are stumps possessed by spirits of children who died while lost in the forest."
'Not so cute anymore' Ash thought as he felt a shiver go down his spine. While most ghost types were the results of breeding it was hard to forget that they had to originate from somewhere. Usually dead humans and Pokemon.
"Go Noelle!" Ash cried as he threw his Pokeball.
Noelle appeared on their side of the battle field and faced Phantump with a smirk. She didn't seem put off at all to be fighting the living dead.
"Since I started last time why don't you take the first move!" Mikiko called from across the field.
"My pleasure! Noelle use Baby-Doll-Eyes!"
Noelle's eyes glowed a soft pink as she used the status move, and the young and naïve Phantump wonderingly looked straight into the shine effectively lowering it's attack.
Mikiko, who looked a little confused, called for the next attack.
"Confuse Ray!"
Phantump eyes glowed purple as floating purple balls of dark sinister light emerged from them and made their way towards Noelle.
"Dodge then Powder Snow!" Ash ordered.
Noelle easily leaped out of the way of the orbs and fired off her favorite move at the same time.
"Dodge it!" Mikiko cried.
Phantump tried to float out of the way and was successful for the most part but still got clipped in the side by the icy gust. Phantump slipped wildly for a second before righty itself and whining pitifully as it looked down at its freezer burned flingers.
"You're doing great Phantump. Now use Astonish!"
Ash clenched his hands worryingly as Phantump vanished from view. He could use his Aura sight to find it most likely but he wasn't able to do that without outing himself as a Gifted.
"Vul?" Noelle questioned as looked around puzzled.
"It's gonna try to scare you," Ash warned. "Be prepared for it to come from anywhere."
Just as Noelle nodded to signal she understood Phantump appeared a centimeter from her face suddenly screeching like a banshee and pulling it's face into shapes that shouldn't be physically possible, harmful ghost type energy rushing into the Vulpix at the same time. Noelle yipped in fright and scampered backwards tripping over her own two feet in the process.
"Confuse Ray again!" Mikiko called out quickly.
"Get out of there!" Ash cried.
Phantumps eyes glowed purple again and unlike last time Noelle couldn't get out of the way. The purple orbs hit her point blank and each time one hit her Noelle's eyes glowed purple briefly and she became more and more disoriented.
"Use Tackle!" Mikiko shouted seeing her chance to finish the battle.
Ash grit his teeth as he watched Phantump ram into Noelle over and over, the ice type crying out every time as she wobbled helplessly on her normally sure feet. Finally, after Ash was sure the Vulpix wouldn't be snapping out of confusion anytime soon he raised the pokeball in his hand to return Noelle and admitted defeat.
"You did a great job," the boy whisper to the pokeball as he pocketed it. Across the field Mikiko celebrated with Phantump briefly before she too returned her Pokémon.
"That was a good battle," Ash complimented as he offered his hand once Mikiko had joined him once more.
"It was," Mikiko agreed. "A little short but I guess that's what you get when you battle with new Pokémon."
Ash hummed in agreement as he looked up at the sky happy to see that the sun hadn't yet started to sink under the horizon. Being returned to her pokeball would cure Noelle of confusion and he'd have to check her over but all the damage seemed to be superficial. Nothing a potion couldn't fix.
"Why don't we go get dinner?" Mikiko offered. "I'm a student at Lumiose University majoring in Journalism. If it's okay with you I would like to ask you a few questions for my blog about interesting trainers I bump into."
"Err…Sure," Ash answered hesitantly. Mikiko seemed like a cool person who wouldn't take advantage of him. And while he wanted to avoid attention that could lead Team Rocket to him it was inevitable that if he accomplished what he wanted to he'd be getting some media notice eventually. He'd just have to make sure they didn't talk about anything but training.
"Great! There's this place on the water I've keep hearing about that has great grilled Wishiwashi."
"Sounds good. Lead the way."
Hi...Lookie! Another Chapter! So this was suppose to be posted almost half a year ago. I'm so sorry! But...life. What happened was I got home from Portugal and the place I was volunteering was apparently a mess while I was gone and they hired me on full time as soon as I was back. But they also needed me to take a few classes at the same time, and because I apparently wanted to work even more I decided fostered a service dog in training at the same time... But I'm done with all my classes now until October! Karen Pryor's Academy For Professional Dog Trainers here I come! And my foster Puppy Siena is off to prison. Literally, she's in prison competing the intermediate part of her training with incarcerated veterans. All this means more writing time for me! Don't expect regular updates but expect them to be coming at you more often for a little while.
What did you guys think of this chapter? Other than Feebas it felt a little bit like a filler to me but there are some important things in here that will come into play later in the story. We will be seeing Mikiko again. And I thought it was important we see Ash suffer a loss since he's been sorta unbeatable lately and a few of you guys have been questioning Ash catching so many Pokemon so early on. While I personally think it's a great strategy and why I sent Ash to Alola in the first place I agree that there has to be some balance. So no Larvitar will be joining Ash's team any time soon sadly. Ash is only going to get one more addition after getting back to Kanto (guess who?) and that will be it for awhile.
Remember to REVIEW!...it makes me happy