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Chapter 7: Joining the Journey
The trip to Pewter had gone by smoothly, with not much conversation between the Brain and the ex-Brain. They had been traveling for about twenty-five minutes when the buildings of Pewter City had come into view. Anabel looked at the wall clock as they approached the city. Well, seven-twenty, just as Brandon predicted. I guess he is on time for everything," thought the purple-haired girl. Brandon, not wanting to block anymore streets, Brandon parked in the woods behind the city. Both of them exited the Pyramid to say good-bye.
"Err, um, uh," Brandon was stumbling over his words while he rubbed the back of his head. "Well Anabel, it was, uh, good working with you. Um, I-I'll do my best to help you get back your job."
"Uh, t-thanks, Brandon, that means a lot to me," Anabel said. Even though she was glad to be free, she was still grateful to the others for all they had done for her over the years. "Well I had better get going to my uncle's house. Goodbye, Brandon," said Anabel, hold out her hand for a handshake. Brandon just grabbed her and pulled her into a bear-hug.
"Goodbye, Anabel," Brandon said, still hanging onto Anabel.
"B-B-Brandon…can't…breathe," Anabel said between gasps of air.
"Err, sorry 'bout that," Brandon said as he let go. "But I really will miss you, and I'm sure everyone else feels the same. Goodbye, Anabel."
"Goodbye, Brandon," and with that Anabel was off to the city to see her uncle. I never knew Brandon to get so emotional. Oh well, I guess he's just the Shy-type, hahaha. Anabel laughed to herself about her terrible pun. It didn't take her long to reach the outskirts of the city. "Now where did he say he was staying? Somewhere near the museum, but there are no houses near the museum, unless he's…," Anabel dropped off her speech as she realized that her uncle was staying IN the museum, not near it. "Honestly, uncle, only you would live IN a museum." Anabel made her way into the famous Pewter Museum.
Anabel looked around the museum, but it only took her a few moments to notice her uncle. After all he was the only person who would wear a suit to a museum. Anabel walked up behind her uncle and tapped him on the shoulder, but nothing happened. Not one to be ignored, she took more drastic measures and wacked him in the back of the head, but still nothing. Now completely frustrated, she jumped on his back and cupped her hands on his eyes.
"H-Hey, what's going on? Who turned out the lights," came the voice of the person who had a girl on his back.
"Good to see you too, uncle."
"Hmm, I know that voice. Is that you, Annie?"
Anabel got off of her uncle's back. "Uncle, I told you to call me Anabel. Annie was cute when I was five but now I'm a little old don't you think."
"Aw, but you'll always be my little Annie. And I thought I told you that you could call me Steven. Uncle seems so formal. But before we continue this conversation, lets head to my place. It's kind of strange to be out here to have a conversation. Plus, I have fresh tea."
"Sounds good to me," Anabel said as she followed her uncle, the previous champion to the Hoenn league. Just as she thought, they headed to a staircase in the museum and went up to a door, which lead to none other than her uncle's current residency. "Really uncle, you're living in a museum."
"Don't mock my bachelors pad. I get this place for free because of my great research doing so much for this museum. But that's neither here nor there. What I want to know is what you are doing here in Pewter. Don't you have a Battle Tower to run?"
Anabel thought about this question for a moment, mulling over whether or not to tell her uncle that she had gotten fired. Eventually she came to the conclusion that it would be okay to tell him, "Well, you see I've been put on a sort of…probation period, while the Frontier goes through some financial difficulty." Steven just nodded in understanding.
"So do you have any plans for the time being?"
"Well I was going to travel around Kanto with Espeon."
"Just travel, is that all or is there more to it." Anabel shook her head in negative fashion. "Well, instead of 'just travelling' why don't you travel around and gather badges from the gyms. I hear the Kanto league is pretty hard."
"The league huh, sounds…interesting. I don't know, I guess I could give it a try."
"Well, why don't you give the Pewter Gym a try tomorrow? If you enjoy the challenge then you can gather the badges while you travel. If you don't like it then I guess you can 'just travel'."
"Alright, sounds fair enough," Anabel agreed.
"Excellent, in that case I have a gift I want to give you. I was going to raise it myself but I think that you can do a much better job than me," as Steven said this, he walked over to his table and grabbed a pokéball. After walking back to where Anabel was, he handed the ball over to his niece. Anabel just pushed the button on the front of the ball to release its contents. In a bright light, out came a small Pokémon with a mostly white body, but the top of its head was green with small red rounded-off horns.
"Ralts," is what it announced as it arrived once more into the world.
"You see, Anabel, I found this little guy while I was in Sinnoh. It was injured so I decided to take it under my wing. Like I said, I was going to raise it but I just think you could do a better job of it."
"Wow, thanks uncle," Anabel said as she knelt down to eye-level with the Pokémon. "Oh, uncle, do you think I could stay here tonight."
"Uh, sure, I have more rooms in this place than I can count. But I don't have any dinner for two so you will have to go to the Pokémon Center for dinner."
"That's fine with me, I like their food anyway. Come on Ralts," Anabel said as she picked up the small Pokémon. The new pair walked out of the museum and Anabel tried to get to know her new Pokémon better. So, you come from Sinnoh. Anabel projected her thoughts to the Psychic type.
'Yes, I do. I miss my home, but I'm sure that you and I can be good friends.'
Aw that's cute. But I agree, you and I will be good friends. Say, what is your opinion on Pokémon battles.
'Well it sounds interesting. If you want me to participate I will, but I'm not that strong. I can only use weak attacks.'
Aw that's okay little one; all that matters is that you give your best.
'Who told you that?'
Uh, never mind, we're here. It was true they had arrived at the Center. Anabel walked over to the counter holding her little Pokémon. "Nurse Joy, could you please feed my Pokémon." As she said this she released her other Pokémon for Nurse Joy to care for.
"Certainly, I will be right back," said the nurse as she walked into the backroom. She came back moments later. "All set, now is there anything else I can—" but that was all she could get out as someone else ripped he attention away. Anabel just stood there blinking wondering what just happened. She heard a somewhat familiar voice to the side of her.
"Oh my sweet, sweet Nurse, can you cure me of what is ailing me. I seem to have been struck with the sickness of love, and the only cure is a date with you my sweet, sweet nurse," said the voice.
Anabel heard Nurse Joy sigh, "Come on Brock, you do this every day. It's getting old. Now if you don't mind I have other people to attend to."
She noticed the person fall to the ground. Where have I heard that name before?
She continued to think about it, completely unaware of the other person in the Center. This other person saw her though. He appeared to be deep in thought. Okay, I know I have seen that girl before. Ah, where have I seen her? Come on Ash you have to remember, ugh. You could almost see the smoke coming from his ears. Oh well, I'll just have to wing it I suppose. Ash walked over to the girl at the counter and tapped her on the shoulder. "Hello."
Anabel felt a tap on her shoulder and someone say hello. She turned around to lay her eyes on the person who not only won her Frontier symbol, but also won her heart. She would never admit this of course, as she was afraid of rejection. All of this began to run through her head at the mere sight of this boy. "H-H-Hello," she finally says, while blushing profusely. Ash, as usual, was completely oblivious to this sign of affection, as he was still trying to remember her name.
Brock finally returned from the world of rejection only to see Ash talking to someone. Brock immediately remembered her but could see Ash was struggling to remember. Oh Ash, you are so lucky, but still so oblivious. Why can't I have all these girls falling over me. Oh well I better save him from drowning. "Hey Ash, I see you found another old friend," said Brock once he made his way back to Ash. "How are you Anabel, do you remember me."
Anabel snapped out of her stupor when she heard Brock. "Oh hey Brock, of course I remember you," she said even though a minute ago she didn't even recognize him.
"Uh, Anabel, what are you doing in Pewter. I thought you lived near the Tohjo Falls," asked Ash. He was glad that Brock had come to his rescue.
"Oh, well I'm, uh," Anabel thought for a moment about what to tell them. "I'm here to challenge the Gym.
"Really, so am I," said Ash, completely ignoring the fact that this did not really answer his question.
Brock just looked on as the light conversation continued. During this whole time he seemed to have something on his mind. But before anyone could notice someone burst through the door. This person was Brocks father. "BROCK, THERE'S AN EMERGENCY. COME QUICKLY."
"What is it, what happened," said Brock.
"Susie ripped her dress again and you need come back and fix it," responded Flint, Brocks father.
"Dad, how is that an emergency, I though you learned how to sew."
"I did, but what's worse is, we're out of thread."
"WHAT, that is an emergency," said the alarmed Breeder. Turning to Ash and Anabel he said, "Sorry guy but I have to go. See you tomorrow." And with that the Brock ran out with his father.
Ash and Anabel just stood there wide eyed, wondering what was wrong with the scenario, until eventually they realized why they came there in the first place: dinner. "Hey Anabel, want to join me for dinner."
"Uh, sure," answered Anabel. HE ASKED ME TO DINNER. She is obviously not aware of Ash's natural courtesy and his complete obliviousness. The two of them went to the cafeteria to get their food and then found a table for two. "So Ash, why are you here for a Gym battle, didn't you already compete in this league?"
"Oh, well I just thought I would give it another go, I guess," answered Ash. "So, Anabel are you going to travel around and all of the badges."
"Well, maybe, I'm still not sure if I want to or not."
"Well, if you decide to, you could always join me," said Ash, once again just being courteous.
"Uh, well, I mean, err, I just…thank you," Anabel was panicking again.
"Okay, well I had better get a room before they're all taken."
"Wait, you're staying here? Oh no, I won't have you staying here. You can come stay at my uncle's place. I'm sure he won't mind."
"Really, I can, thanks Anabel," said Ash. The two of them finished they're dinners and went to get their Pokémon from Nurse Joy. She just handed them they're pokéballs and waved to them as they left. The two of them walked together making idle chitchat, until they began to approach the museum. "Uh, I thought we were going to your uncle's place."
"Don't ask," was her only response. The two of them made their way to the stairs which led to Steven's home. All the way into the house on top of the museum, Ash was wondering what kind of person lived in a museum? When they made it into the house they were greeted by someone sitting on the couch staring at rocks. "Uh, Uncle, what are you doing.
"Just studying some rocks," he said, oblivious to the fact that she had brought home a guest.
"Hey uncle, we have a guest, can he stay here."
"Uh-huh," answered Steven, still unaware of what she was saying.
"Cool, come on Ash I'll show you to your room," Anabel said, acting like she knew where everything was. After a while she just told Ash to just go into one of the many rooms in the house. Ash went into his temporary room for the night. Anabel went to hers, after trying to say goodnight to Steven. The two of them went to bed, ready for their gym challenges the next day.
Meanwhile, at Brock's house, Brock had just finished fixing a tear in a dress. Brock and his dad were having a small conversation after all the other children had gone to bed. "So Brock, with Ash showing up here I guess that means you will be leaving home again."
"I don't know dad. Maybe it's time Ash grew up and started to live on his own you know. Cooked his own food, cared for his own Pokémon, things like that. I can't take care of him forever."
"You never know son."
"Dad, this is not Bouldershipping."
"What was that son?"
"Never mind."
"Okay then, back to the matter at hand, how will Ash know how to care for his Pokémon and cook food, if no one teaches him how? All I'm saying is, maybe you should go with him and show him how."
"I can see your point. Alright dad, I'll do it, but only to teach Ash to live on his own."
"I never said live alone. He could always find a girl to do it. Like that girl that had the hots for him at the Center."
"Is it really that noticeable? It's a shame that Ash is about as aware as a Quagsire."
"Maybe that's one more thing you could teach him. Well son, as nice as this conversation has been I think it's time we went to bed. Goodnight son."
"Goodnight dad," said Brock, and they two went off to bed, ready for the day ahead.
The night went by quickly and soon it was morning. Ash woke up and headed to the kitchen for some breakfast. Breakfast was boring and Ash just waited at the table for Anabel to get up so that they could head to the Gym. Ash waited, and waited, and waited. He was waiting for a long, long time, until finally Anabel meandered out to the kitchen. She grabbed the cereal and poured herself a bowl. There was no conversation between the two. Anabel eventually finished her breakfast and the two of them decided to head to the Gym so one of them could have their battle early and the other could have theirs later. "So Anabel, do you want to have your battle first," Ash asked while they were on the way to the Gym.
"Uh, I guess I could go first," answered Anabel. The two of them continued the idle chitchat, until they approached the Gym. In front the Gym stood the entire family of Brock, including Brock and his dad. Standing at the lead was the second oldest and current Gym Leader, Forrest.
"Alright, which one of you is my next opponent," declared the young Gym Leader.
Anabel stepped forward. "That would be me."
"Alright then, follow me," Forrest said as he led everyone into the Gym. As they walked, he gave the rules of the Gym. "The rules are simple; it's a two-on-two battle. First to lose both loses the match. Only the opponent is allowed to switch out. Is all of that clear?" Anabel nodded her head. "Good then take your place in the arena," said Forrest as he pointed to the end of the battlefield. Anabel drew her pokéball and released the newest member of her team: Ralts. Forrest called out a Rhydon. "Ha, that little thing is no match for Rhydon."
"We'll see about that," Anabel taunted. Okay let's get this going with a Confusion attack.
'I'll do my best,' came the reply. Ralts unleashed a small amount of psychic energy toward the large gray Pokémon. Unfortunately for Ralts, the large Pokémon wasn't affected by the attack. 'This isn't going well. What do I do now.'
"Enough waiting," called Forrest. "Rhydon, use Earthquake."
Uh-oh, this is bad. Ralts use Teleport to get away.
'Right,' and in a flash the small Pokémon was gone. After the attack ended Ralts reappeared on the field.
"Sneaky, but not sneaky enough, Rhydon, use Stone Edge." Rhydon slammed its fist into the ground, sending large rock flying up. It then swung its tail and smacked the rocked toward Ralts."
You can't teleport again yet, Ralts. Uh, what else can you try? But it was too late, before Anabel could even finish, Ralts was down. "No, Ralts." Anabel called back her Pokémon and pulled out her next one. "This battle isn't over yet."
"Hmm, you won't beat me easily with only one Pokémon, especially judging from the strength of the last one."
I'll show you, come out, Espeon. And out came the purple cat-like creature.
'Ugh, what now, don't tell me it's another battle?'
This is not the time for you to be lazy. We have to finish this first. Then you can be as lazy as you want.
'Fair enough.'
Alright use Psychic to end this fight.
'A bit ambitious but alright.'
"Rhydon, use Hammer Arm." Rhydon charged toward Espeon with his arm raised in the air, ready to smash the cat creature. But he would never reach his target. During his rampage, his body started glowing light blue. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't budge a muscle.
Espeon, send it flying. Rhydon flew right into the ceiling, and then fell to the ground with a loud thud. Now the score was even, with both trainers having only one Pokémon.
"I'm impressed; though don't get your hopes up. My next Pokémon will win this match for me. Go, Armaldo." Forrest released his next Pokémon, a large armored bluish creature with large claws. "I had this guy imported from Hoenn. There's no way we can lose."
We'll see about that. Espeon, start out with a Zap Cannon.
'Fine, let's get this over with.'
"Armaldo, lets win this right away, X-Scissor." The two Pokémon began to charge their attacks, but because of Armaldo's lackluster speed, Espeon was able to fire it's attack first. "Armaldo, use Protect." Armaldo stopped charging at Espeon and summoned a blue wall around itself. The Zap Cannon failed as soon as it touched the wall.
Alright Espeon, let's finish with Psychic.
'Whatever.'
Stop being so lazy and just fight.
"Alright Armaldo, let's try X-Scissor again." But the command came too late. Armaldo was already suspended in the air, just like the previously defeated opponent.
"Sorry Forrest, but this is checkmate," said the confident challenger. Espeon, finish him.
'Gladly.' And with that, Armaldo received the same treatment as Rhydon, being smashed into the ceiling and falling unconscious to the ground. 'And with that, I am going to take a nap.'
"Fine, you deserve a nice rest anyway," Anabel told her Pokémon. Turning to Forrest, she said, "Good match Forrest. I was really worried there in the middle."
"Hmm, well anyway, here this is the Boulder Badge, given to those who defeat me. I will complement on your battle style, you are a very strong battler." Turning to the audience of the match, and specifically Ash, he announced, "I will be back momentarily. I have to prepare for the next match." And with that the young Gym Leader left to go to the back room of the Gym.
Over at the stands, Anabel joined Ash, Brock, and his family. "Well Anabel," asked Ash, "what did you think of the match?"
"If anything, these will keep me entertained while I travel," answered Anabel. "Alright Ash, I'll join you on your journey."
"Yeah," cheered Ash as he did a fist-pump. Turning to Brock, he asked, "So Brock what do you say, will you come to."
Brock looked at his father and then back to Ash. "Okay Ash I'll join you as well. BUT, this time I won't do everything for you. You are going to have to learn to cook and care for Pokémon. Do you agree to these terms?"
"Uh, sure," answered a confused Ash. Not really sure what he had just gotten himself into, he turned to see Forrest reentering the arena. "Yeah time for my match." Ash ran over to his side of the arena.
"Ash, I have a surprise for you," said Forrest as he released two Pokémon. One was a large ball of rock and the other was an enormous metal snake. "Do you recognize these guys? You should, as these were the same Pokémon you fought when you first challenged this Gym. Let's see if you can beat the next generation. Go, Golem."
"Alright then, I accept your challenge. Pikachu, let's rock his socks off." Pikachu called out its name and ran to the center of the field.
"Your Pikachu may have defeated Golem when it was a Geodude, but not now."
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt."
"What did I just say? Oh well, Golem Rollout." Golem rolled itself into a ball and rolled toward Pikachu as fast as it could. The Thunderbolt eventually hit the Rock-type but with no apparent effect.
"Don't worry Pikachu, just dodge and keep the electricity coming."
"Are you blind? Electric attacks have no effect on Ground-types." And he was right, nothing was happening to Golem. It just kept rolling around, missing Pikachu every time. Pikachu just kept on shocking the rock ball. Eventually, you could see small sparks surrounding Golem. "W-What's going on?"
"You should know, Mister Gym Leader. If you charge a rock with enough electricity, then it will eventually magnetize, forcing it to eventually," as Ash was saying this, Golem suddenly flew off course, ramming into a nearby wall and getting stuck, "always point north. Pikachu, finish it with Iron Tail." Pikachu charged its tail with as much energy as it could muster and slammed it into the walled Pokémon. "One down, one to go."
"Hmph, don't get to cocky. Golem Return, and go Steelix." Out from behind Forrest came the large metal snake.
"Pikachu, return," Ash called his exhausted over to him and pulled out his other pokéball. Alright Primeape, I've looked up your move set with the Pokédex. You and I will wipe the floor with this guy. "Go, Primeape."
"A physical attacker will do you no good against this guy. Steelix has one of the highest defenses in the known world."
"Who said I was going to use a physical attack," Ash said smirking. "Primeape, Focus Blast."
"No, I will not be defeated that easily. Steelix, dig under the ground."
"Quick Primeape, switch to a Focus Punch and aim at the ground." Steelix dove head first into the ground, just as Primeape began to charge its fist with power.
"Oh-no, Steelix, resurface, quickly," shouted Forrest. Primeape slammed its fist into the ground right as soon as the iron snake stuck its head out of the ground, both attacks canceling each other. Primeape leapt back a few yards, and out of instinct, began charging another Focus Blast. This went unnoticed by the Gym Leader, who was too preoccupied with coming up with a return attack, until it was too late. The attack struck Steelix square on the nose. The second match was over and all before lunch, too. "No, how could I lose twice in a row, and so quickly too," said the Gym Leader, very disheartened at the fact that he was an easy win for two opponents right in a row.
Brock went over to his brother to comfort him, "Hey Forrest, don't worry about it. You win some you lose some, right." This seemed to comfort the boy and he recalled his Pokémon, walked over to Ash and awarded him his badge.
"Alright, I got the Boulder Badge…again," announced the victorious Trainer. He then turned to his soon to be travel companions, and said, "Well you guys had better go get ready. We have a long journey ahead of us." What Ash said was true. There is a grand journey waiting for the newest trio; a journey full of Action, Friendship, and Romance. But what's around the first bend? Stay tuned and find out.
To be Continued
Wooh, that took a long time to wright. I hope you are all happy: for one, Brock joined and for another, this was a lot longer than previous chapters. Also, this marks the end of the split story…for now.
This chapter marks the end of the quote-on-quote "intro" chapters. These first chapters were really to get to know the characters and a bit about my writing style. After this the meat of the story will start, which includes Anabel trying to get through to Ash, with some unknown help from Brock.
I think that's all so, Please review this story, tell me how I did, give critique or just say 'good job', it doesn't have to be a novel. Just reading what you have to say is what keeps me going with this.
Sincerely yours,
The Twitch E. One