"normal speech", "pokemon speech", thoughts
Chapter 6: Finally here…
The group had been walking for four days now. In that time, Ash managed to get his Pidgeotto to finish learning Steel Wing as well as combine it with Tackle and Quick Attack, Pikachu was able to use Iron Tail without failing and losing energy or momentum, and Metapod's Zip Tackle was refined even more. Harry had finally got around to naming his own combos too. The Agility enhanced Quick Attack, Tackle, and Peck was named Mach Arrow. The Flail, Steel Wing, and Peck combo was named Steel Flail. Misty's pokemon had only refined their already existent attacks, not that the group as a whole knew what those were seeing as Misty was rather secretive about them. Tom had his suspicions but didn't pry. He was more concerned with planning on testing how far he and Harry would have to go in their own training, and Harry had reassured him about monitoring Misty's team. Harry actually knew what those pokemon were and what they were capable of, he had spied on them when Tom was helping Ash, but he respected their privacy and didn't tell anyone.
Misty was still in the dark about Tom's ability to understand pokemon. Tom, Ash, Harry, and Pikachu agreed that if she stuck with them passed Pewter then they would tell her. Right now, she just thought Tom knew Harry very well to be able to understand each other on the level that they did. The fact that Ash was trying to understand what his own pokemon were saying without having Tom translate and was being surprisingly successful at it also threw off suspicion of special abilities.
Harry had been vigilant, ever since the incident with the Spearow flock he wasn't taking chances. During the month he had been training with Tom, he had also been looking up what species of pokemon there were in Kanto. Due to this, he knew that there were some rather dangerous pokemon in the Viridian Forest. Fortunately for his sanity, those pokemon were Bug types and Ash had just caught a Pidgeotto that was quite strong and very much an apex predator.
The group was suddenly stopped when a boy wearing a samurai costume leaped out from behind a tree, yelling and swinging a sword down towards Ash. Tom, ever watchful and highly protective of those he called his, grabbed Ash and pulled him into a position that would make it easier to run away with him, and faced the strange boy. Tom trusted Harry to attack the sword wielding boy if it came to hostilities, and Ash was compliant and willing to run after the last few times Tom had dragged him out of danger. Harry had taken to the air above Tom, his instincts said that there was no true danger but that didn't mean he wouldn't keep his guard up. He had been ambushed too many times during the wars he had participated in to relax in a seemingly non-dangerous situation. Misty stayed out of range of the strange boy but had a hand near where she had her pokemon's pokeballs.
"I am Samurai. Is one of you Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town?" the strange boy said, his sword still pointed at Tom and Ash. Tom contemplated answering the boy, still ready to run but not as wary of the so called Samurai. Looking at the boy he answered in a suspicious tone, "The boy behind me is Ash, I'm Tom Riddle. What business do you have with him?" Tom then let go of Ash and got into an aggressive stance, making Samurai back up and sheath his sword.
"I merely wish to have a battle with him. Another boy from Pallet who was followed by many maidens told me about the other trainers from there that would come through the forest after he beat me. He said I might have an easier time against the one named Ash Ketchum." Samurai replied. The group relaxed from their ready positions, still prepared to move quickly because they were in the wild, but not ready to bolt away or attack Samurai. Tom and Harry though were kind of perplexed at the description of Gary, because he was the only one of those setting out of Pallet who for some inexplicable reason had a car and could move so quickly. They were questioning how Gary had what sounded like a large group of girls with him.
Ash came forward then and said, "Well then, I accept your challenge Samurai, and don't expect it to be easy battling me. Just, could you tell us how far the end of Viridian Forest is afterwards, we've been travelling for a while now." Samurai nodded in agreement and soon the two boys were facing each other with League regulation space between them for a battle. The boys grabbed their chosen pokeballs and threw them to release their combatants.
Pidgeotto came out of her ball with a loud battle cry, challenging her opponent from in front of Ash. An average sized Pinsir came out on Samurai's side to Ash's surprise, it was silent yet focused on Pidgeotto. Quickly taking out his Pokedex, he scanned the Bug type and learned its general characteristics. Tom and the others had looked at the Pinsir with some surprised respect, even if Misty was shaking in fear at the sight of it. Everyone in Kanto knew how difficult catching what most in the region knew to be one of the most aggressive Bug types in the Kanto-Johto part of Japan.
Ash soon put away his handy little device and looked at his opponents. Twisting his cap around, and thinking about what Tom pounded into his head about battling with pokemon, he called out, "Alright Pidgeotto, fly up into the air and get some speed for Quick Attack." Crying out her agreement, Pidgeotto flapped her wings hard and shot into the sky. When she reached high enough she dove, her wings bent slightly. Her Quick Attack was actually very fast and powerful for one of her species. The way she was doing it was taught to her by Harry as a way to train for the move Brave Bird. While she would have an almost impossible time learning the move, she could mimic it to some extent if (or when if she had any say in it when she was strong enough) she learned Giga Impact before attempting to learn it.
When she was a few feet from the ground she snapped her wings open and shot off in the direction of the Pinsir, activating a Steel Wing as well as continuing the Quick Attack. To everyone but Harry she was a glowing blur as she slammed into the Pinsir and made it cry out in pain. Pidgeotto then quickly flew out of the bug's reach, narrowly avoiding its pincers snapping in instinctive retaliation, tauntingly saying, "Missed me!"
Grinning at his pokemon's attacks, Ash cried out, "Use Gust Pidgeotto!" Giving a fierce cry in acknowledgement, she twisted around and flapped her wings furiously to send the Gust at the large Bug type. Thanks to the few days of training her attacks had grown stronger and a bit more refined, so the Flying type attack sent Pinsir flying into a tree with a rather audible smack. Surprisingly, the Pinsir, while heavily damaged, struggled to its feet successfully. Samurai cheered at this, having gotten over his shock at Ash's Pidgeotto and her speed and skill. He ordered his Pinsir to use Vice Grip and it ran to complete the attack, but Pidgeotto flew away and out of reach without Ash saying anything.
"Alright Pidgeotto, finish it off with Gust!" Ash called out. Obeying, she turned and sent the bug flying again, but this time even harder. After hitting another tree, Pinsir slumped to the ground unconscious. Trainer and pokemon both cheered at the victory, Pidgeotto flying back to Ash and receiving an affectionate rub on her head. It wasn't long before Samurai got Ash's attention again.
"Don't think you have won yet Ash Ketchum. Now, behol-" he was cut off when the loud sound of buzzing filled the air.
"Wh-What is that," Misty said nervously, her hand going to one of her pokeballs. Tom pulled a steel baton out of his bag as Harry took to the air. Pikachu got on all fours and ran to Ash. Pidgeotto flew up and hovered over Ash as the boy took Metapod's pokball in hand. Samurai had paled and stood very still for a few moments before he cried out, "Beedrill!" He ran for it.
The others unfortunately didn't get to do the same. There was an enormous swarm surrounding them, having been disturbed by the battle. Ash called Metapod out, while Misty threw her own pokemon out, revealing a Staryu. The boys couldn't stop at finally knowing one of Misty's pokemon because the Bedrill were upon them.
Tom and Harry leaped into action, Tom striking furiously with his baton and Harry covered his back and blind spots. Ash ordered his pokemon to attack with ranged moves, Metapod told to be very quick with his Zip Tackle to hit and retreat. Misty ran to get back to back with Ash, her Staryu using Rapid Spin to keep up and cover her.
They were all doing well, Pikachu hitting multiple targets at once thanks to his electric attacks, Pidgeotto using Gust and Steel Wing to keep the bugs away, and Misty's Staryu using Water Gun, Swift, and Rapid Spin to keep the Beedrill and their Poison Stings away. Tom and Harry were decimating the Beedrill, Harry using his Steel Flail combo along with Agility to great effect while Tom was practically flowing with his baton a blur of smacking stingers away and smashing the heads and bodies of the Beedrill. However, the group was tiring, and the Beedrill were numerous. The pokemon, aside from Harry, were starting to falter. When a Poison Sting nearly hit Ash, Metapod glared in determination to do more.
The bright glow that engulfed the Bug type temporarily halted the fight and Ash gasped as the light forced him to look away. Metapod's form grew larger and changed shaped as the rest watched. When the light faded it revealed a 3'7" purple butterfly with white wings outlined in black. Metapod had evolved into Butterfree, and Butterfree had gained a new move thanks to the evolution. Eyes glowing, Butterfree used Confusion to send out a burst of Psychic type energy, knocking out a few Beedrill. With that move the fighting restarted, and the group had gained its second wind to fight.
Soon the Bedrill started to back off as the three Flying type pokemon harried them in the air while Staryu, Pikachu, and Tom fought viciously from the ground. It wasn't long until the Bedrill were successfully driven away, their unconscious brethren left on the ground as the group of defenders decided to move on. Thankfully, it didn't take them long to find the path leading out of Viridian Forest.
When they finally reached Pewter City, the sun was setting. Their pokemon were exhausted after fighting all of the Beedrill. Harry was sitting on Tom's head, Pikachu was laying in Ash's arms, and the rest of the pokemon were in their pokeballs. Ash spotted a small grouping of rocks and pointed it out to Misty and Tom. Settling on the rocks, the group gazed out over the city in front of them in tired relief.
"Man, what a day," Ash sighed and the others nodded in agreement. Ash was ecstatic that Metapod had evolved and that he had technically won his first official pokemon battle as a trainer, but he was really tired. Tom had been panting from the fight and the pokemon, though visibly tired, had moved with the humans until they reached the end of the forest, where most of them were recalled, Ash picked up Pikachu, and Harry landed on Tom's head.
Misty looked up at Tom after some time of companionable silence. When he made a grunt of inquiry after noticing her, she asked him, "Where did get the steel baton Tom?" Ash was looking at him too, so Tom answered, "It was a gift from my therapist/mentor, Will. He decided that, since I was trained, doing well mentally, and going on my journey, that it would be a good idea to give it to me. Mind you Ash, I didn't use it against the Spearow since we didn't have much in the way of reinforcements, what with you having an untrained Pikachu and no fighting experience."
Making an 'ah' of understanding, Ash turned to Misty and said, "So that Staryu is one of your pokemon." Nodding her head she told them, "Staryu is one of the pokemon I brought with me from home. It was a gift from my parents and my starter. I have two other pokemon with me, but only one was caught and trained by me."
It was quiet for a bit before Tom looked at Ash and said, "By the way Ash, why were you late the day we started our journey? It's been bothering me for a while, considering I tried to make sure you weren't late for your starter." Ash blushed and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment before saying, "Well, things kind of got chaotic and mom and I had to clean up a big mess. By the time we noticed the time I was late."
They fell silent after that, resting for a few more minutes before they got up and walked to find the Pokemon Center. Thankfully it didn't take too long before they were having their pokemon treated and rooms reserved. Ash also registered for the Indigo League before they went to their room, having seen a poster about it reminded him to do so.
When they got up the next morning, they all had a hearty breakfast and started to plan for what they would be doing that day. The group decided to split up, Ash and Misty would go to the Pewter Gym so Ash could get his challenge out of the way, and Tom and Harry would go for a walk and see the city. The plan was to eventually go to the museum that the city had after meeting up at the Pokemon Center when they finished. Things didn't go as planned.
Tom and Harry had come upon a horrible scene when they reached the top of a hill at the edge of the city in their wandering. A boy, about eleven or twelve years old was beating and berating a Magikarp that was trying desperately to get away from the boy, and crying out in pain. Tom's face looked like it turned to stone at the sight and Harry ruffled his feathers and glared darkly at the scene. Looking at each other, Tom quietly told Harry in a cold voice, "Knock that piece of filth out, I will take the Magikarp to the Pokemon Center when he's out."
Harry nodded his understanding and took flight. He circled around behind his target before falling into a Quick Attack aimed directly at the boy's back. In the blink of a human eye Harry slammed into the boy's back, sending him flying over the poor Magikarp and into a conveniently placed boulder. The impact knocked the boy out, leaving him slumped on the ground with a concussion and what would probably wind up being a really bad headache in the morning.
Hovering in the air, Harry turned back to the Magikarp and watched Tom carefully pick the orange fish up and making sure he had a firm grasp on it before taking off towards the Pokemon Center. Harry flew after Tom, his mind involuntarily flashing back to similar scenes he had witnessed during his life as a wizard. A few of his children had come into his care due his discovering them in such positions, and every time he witnessed something like this against someone who was defenseless in such situations never failed to making something in him burn in fury over it. He had witnessed many horrors worse than abuse in his previous life, but he was still human enough, despite his current circumstances, that he still felt anger at seeing someone being abused.
Soon the trio reached the Pokemon Center. Tom rushed to Nurse Joy and, upon seeing the badly injured pokemon in his arms, immediately called her Chansey assistants to get a stretcher and prepare for treating critical injuries. In a rush, everything was done and Magikarp was behind doors, the light above them turned on to indicate an operation was going on.
After an hour of tense waiting, the light turned off and out came the good nurse, who was looking at Tom with a very serious expression.
"Young man, the Magikarp will fully recover from his injuries, but I want to know how you found him, especially since he doesn't have a pokeball." she stated. Staring at the woman for a few moments, Tom carefully kept his face blank as he said, "My pokemon and I were out on a walk when we heard the sounds of someone yelling and a pokemon in pain. Naturally we went to investigate. What we saw was a boy beating a Magikarp and yelling at it. Not wasting time, I and my pokemon went to scare the boy away. We succeeded and rushed the Magikarp here. Now, may I see him?"
Looking at him with assessing eyes for a few seconds, Nurse Joy nodded in acceptance of his explanation before taking them to the room Magikarp was resting in. Floating in a tank of water, gently held still by a soft looking material, Magikarp watched the world outside his tank with tired eyes. Tom moved a chair and settled in, looking at the orange fish in contemplation.
The Magikarp twitched before saying, "Thank you, I don't know if I would have survived had you not come along." Offering a bland smile to the pokemon, Tom replied, "You're quite welcome. I don't doubt you probably would have either died or have been permanently maimed and incapable of evolving had I not been there." The Magikarp gaped as it realized Tom could understand him. Tom's lips twitched into a smile of genuine amusement at the sight.
He turned serious though and asked the fish, "What I want to know is why we don't have a very angry rampaging Gyarados attacking Pewter? Your species usually evolves when subjected to that sort of treatment." The Magikarp blinked and replied, "The simple answer is that I didn't have the energy to evolve. The one who you rescued me from didn't quite know how to handle one such as myself, and didn't realize that is why I didn't evolve, along with the answer of I honestly didn't want to become a mindless beast of rage and destruction. I wish to have something of a rational mind when I evolve thank you very much. I also had been rather weak due to illness before I was caught, leaving me in sub-par condition."
Faintly surprised, Tom commented, "Huh, well that makes sense. You know, you are oddly eloquent for a Magikarp. Most of the ones I have encountered were not nearly as interesting conversationalists and are quite dimwitted, to put it politely." The Magikarp twitched his whiskers at that before explaining, "My fellow fish are content to swim aimlessly about. I did not want such mediocrity. I had gone to learn from the elderly pokemon that had been with intelligent humans to avoid such a travesty." Tom chuckled at that.
The Magikarp floated there for a bit in contemplation before saying, "May I inquire as to if you would allow me to be your pokemon? You are much better than the brute who had me before, and I have no desire to go back into the wild." Tom blinked before saying, "As long as you don't mind being placed in a bucket for water, I don't see why not. I do need another pokemon, and a properly raised Magikarp evolves into a rational Gyarados. I'll have to ask Nurse Joy, but I don't think there will be many problems. I think the woman would even be happy simply because you wouldn't be released back in the wild due to the people in charge of such thing not knowing how long you have been out of the wild, and there isn't much demand for Magikarp when you can literally stick a fishing rod in any deep enough body of water to catch one. I might as well tell her now."
The fish eye-smiled in agreement and waved a fin as Tom left the room to get him as part of the team. Harry, having perched on the chair, looked at the fish before chirping, "I think I'll welcome you to the team preemptively. If I know Tom, which I should hope I do after being his pokemon for over a month-and-a-half and his starter to boot, you are definitely going to be our new teammate." The Magikarp blinked before humming in a non-committal way. After another hour passed, Tom came back with satisfaction on his face. "Congratulations my fine fish, you are now my Magikarp. Now, do you wish to be named?" he said. After thinking about it, Magikarp nodded his ascent. "Good, because I could not help but think of you as an Augustus. We'll have to wait until the nurse declares you fully healed before you get in a pokeball, but that isn't something unreasonable." Tom said. The newly christened Augustus huffed a few bubbles out in amusement.
While Tom was acquiring his new team member, Ash and Misty reached the Pewter Gym. It was something of an imposing building, made of boulders and metal, it stood in view of the Pewter Museum and apart from the rest of Pewter City's buildings. Its metal doors and frame were painted a rusty red color. Looking at each other, Misty and Ash entered the building with Pikachu walking next to Ash.
They walked into the dark and vast room, their steps echoed as they moved forward. "Hello?" Ash called out as Misty moved to the stairs leading up to the upper level, "I'm here to challenge the Pewter Gym." A light turned on suddenly to reveal a darkly tanned teenager with a serious expression sitting cross-legged on a raised platform of stone. "Welcome to Pewter Gym," he said, "I'm Brock Harrison, the Gym Leader. Who are you?"
"I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town." Ash declared. Brock nodded, clapped his hands once to turn on the lights, and said, "Challenger, head to stand in the white square." When Ash did Brock clapped his hands again which made the metal shutters on both sides of the gym to lift up and the halves of rocky terrain moved out to piece together. While this was happening a figure entered the gym without anyone noticing and headed to a shadowed spot on the upper level.
When the field was finished moving, Brock jumped down from the stone platform he was on into the white box indicating his side of the field. "Now, do you understand that Gym battles are different from the battles you would have against other trainers outside?" he asked and Ash nodded thinking about Tom's intensive teaching on being a trainer. Brock continued, "Then we will begin. This will be a two on two battle where the challenger is the only one allowed to switch out their pokemon. We will begin now." So saying he threw a pokeball and sent out a Geodude. Ash twisted his cap around and looked at Pikachu, "Go on Pikachu, you're up." Giving a sound of agreement and determination, Pikachu leaped onto the rock field.
A/N: Hoo boy, that took a while. Whelp, this is the chapter, and it has the honor of being the first chapter to have reached over 4000 words. I'm sorry for the cliffhanger, but at least the next chapter will have something interesting. On another note, yay Tom has his second pokemon. Trust me when I tell you that it is going to be kind of hard engineering events where Tom will meet his team. Now, those of you who are Harry Potter fans, you'll probably recognize Augustus the Magikarp's name. I'm sure you know what I'm going to be doing with Tom's team. :) On another good note, Misty actually does something, and Tom shows his potential badassery.
Just for fun, guess who the mysterious Will is. I will be legitimately surprised if someone guesses correctly.
Sorry for taking so much time, but personal life, college, and the unfortunate thing known as laziness all conspired together to make things just drag on when making this.
