Well, after a long delay (again), here is Chapter 7. Sorry it took so long, literally every class had midterms and tests and whatnot.
It was awful.
Ash, Brock, and Misty are now in the Viridian Forest. What will happen? Who knows? Does sombody... DIE?! Nope.
Also don't be discouraged by the chapter length (7100 words), I hope you read it all. It took me a while to type this F...Sucker up so, I look forward to what you have to say about it.
Well, its been long enough so I won't hold you back anymore. Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon.
With Brock leading the pack, the gang was making fantastic time back through the Viridian Forest. Whereas Ash knew where he was going and certainly got him and Misty through at a good pace, Brock was a city seeking missile trekking through the wilderness. Ash was happy that they were making so much progress, but as always hunger struck the Pallet native, and struck him hard. After a couple hours of travel, he decided it would be a good time to stop for lunch, and maybe get some training in.
"Hey Brock, can we stop for lunch soon? I'm starving, and I only had a little snack for breakfast." Ash groaned, clutching his empty stomach, wishing he had eaten more at breakfast. Pikachu, ever in-tune with his trainer, felt the pain of famine strike him as well and groaned.
"Ash, you had four plates this morning! How can you- never mind. I guess I should be used to this by now, huh?" Misty came to terms with Ash's insatiable hunger, and admitted to herself that she was a little hungry as well.
"Well, I guess we could but I was hoping to get a free lunch at the Pokemon Center. We would save money and we could see Nurse Joy!" Brock went into his own personal world, reminded again of the captivating beauty kind enough to grace the mortal world with her presence.
"Brock, focus!" He was snapped out of his thoughts by Misty, and remembered why they couldn't see the lovely nurse.
"Well, first we have to find a clearing to eat in." Ash and Misty nodded and Ash sent out Pidgeot to help the group search. Pidgeot looked around for a bit, and noticed they were 'still' in the Viridian Forest.
"When did you get a pidgeot, Ash?" Brock asked. He left him alone for a week and he had Squirtle back, and now a pidgeot.
"This is actually my pidgeot from our first time going through Kanto, remember?" Brock was shocked to see the old bird back with Ash, but was also wondering why Ash decided to get the pokemon back now of all times; it had been four years after all.
"I remember, but why did you go get her now? I mean, I know you're training for the tournament, but you didn't get her when you were taking on the Battle Frontier."
"Well this tournament is bigger than the Battle Frontier. And there's something else I gotta tell you but it's kind of a long story. Let's eat lunch then I'll tell you." Brock nodded and Ash sent Pidgeot to look for a clearing to eat in. She came back in a couple seconds, and pointed to the trees to the group's right.
"Ash, there's a clearing through these trees." Ash nodded, and called the flying type back. They walked through the woods a bit and came upon a small break in the trees, just as Pidgeot had said.
"Alright, it's the first meal of a new journey, so I'm going to make my famous soup!" Ash and Misty started drooling at the thought one of their friend's best dishes. "Ash, you go get firewood, and Misty you and your pokemon fill up the pot. I'll set up everything else." The two nodded, and took off to do their assigned tasks while Brock [ERROR]. Once he had the table, chairs and ingredients out and ready, he noticed Misty was done filling up the pot, and now he just needed the firewood. A second later, Ash came stumbling out of the woods with a whole bunch of it in his arms. Brock took the logs from Ash, and skillfully set them up. He put the pot over the fire, and got cookin'.
"Hey Brock, I'm gonna go for a walk while you get the soup ready, ok? Oh, and you might want to make a bunch of pokemon food." Ash said.
"Why?"
"Because I have Snorlax with me." It was true that Snorlax was with him, but he also had a couple more mouths to feed.
"No problem! I still know the recipe for May's Pink Surprise pokeblocks. That should fill him right up." As he was saying this, Brock pulled out a berry blender from his pack, and then went back to chopping up ingredients for pokemon food. Ash learned long ago not to question how Brock fit everything in his backpack, so he merely shook his head and headed off into the woods.
"I'm gonna go with Ash, I'll be back in a second." Misty took off without waiting for confirmation from the breeder, who laughed at the gym leader once she was gone.
"She's so obvious." Brock smirked at his friends' relationship but had to admit that since they got back together it had seemed that they were hiding something from him. 'I wonder what it is. Every pokemon we pass stares at Ash, or something weird like that.' He thought back to the pokemon center and how all of the pokemon reacted to Ash. Then, when they were leaving Pewter City, a trainer's machoke bowed to Ash, and he just took it in stride. The machoke's trainer was dumbfounded, of course, but the Pallet native acted like he expected it. 'He acts like nothing is wrong though, so I don't think he's realized it. Arceus knows how thick he can be. But he also seems like he knows what all of them are talking about. He always could understand Pikachu, but it seems deeper now. Then when Pidgeot looked for this clearing, he understood what it was saying and led us here. Even Misty been kinda weird, but I think that's for a different reason.' He chuckled quietly, and paused his internal ramble to check his soup.
"Hmmm, needs some more mago berry." He put the spoon back in the simmering soup and reached down to grab a couple of said berries out of his bag. They were missing, and he remembered that he left them out on the table with some other ingredients. Before he could turn around he heard a loud 'BANG' from behind him. Brock cursed, jumped about five feet in the air, and whirled around coming face to face with something he thought he'd never see again. "AH!"
"Hi Brock!" Mew said, munching on one of his custap berries.
Ash and Pikachu were heading off to look for a small clearing they had found when looking for firewood. Ash needed to tell Mew and Mewtwo about Brock, and why he was traveling with them; but more importantly, he would need their help in convincing Brock that he is the Chosen One, and explaining what all that entails. He never was good at explanations, but Mew was proof enough, and Mewtwo was a linguistic savant. Soon they were both broken from their thoughts when Misty caught up with them.
"Ash, when are you going to tell Brock about being the Chosen One? He has to know at some point, I mean you can't just leave him in the dark." Misty said.
"I know, I was actually about to tell him during lunch," The girl nodded, "I just had to get Mew and Mewtwo to back me up."
"Well why'd you come out here?"
"I figured I had a little bit while Brock was making lunch, so I could get some one-on-one training done with one of my pokemon. I mean, training is the reason for this trip anyway." As he said that they came upon the small break in the woods where a large stream ran through, and various types of flora grew along its banks. "Ok, first things first though. Come on out guys!" He threw two pokeballs in the air and let out Mew and Mewtwo, who took in their surroundings.
"Ash, why have you called us? Are we about to train?" Mewtwo asked.
"No! Let's play tag!" Mew said. She flew over and tapped Pikachu in the head with a "you're it!" and flew off. He was about to give chase when Ash stopped him.
"Actually, no training now, at least not for you two, I need your help for something." Mew and Mewtwo looked interested and waited for him to finish. "Like I told Mew, we're traveling with Brock now so I have to explain my powers to him. I figured it would be easier with you guys like it was with Misty."
"Yeah, having two legendary pokemon is pretty convincing." Misty said.
"Right. So we're about to eat lunch and when we do I'll tell him. Until then I wanted to get some training in for a little bit with someone I haven't worked with in a while." Both legends nodded, and knew that they weren't going to be picked so they relaxed. Ash turned to his faithful starter to talk things over. "Who do you think I should go with? You're practically team captain after all." Pikachu's reply was instant.
"Bayleef." The mouse said.
"Why her?"
"She needs some training. She's pretty powerful, and most of your other powerful pokemon have gotten some battling time since we started this journey. She doesn't need that much training, Riolu and Gible need a lot, but we only have a few minutes so this would be good for seeing what she needs to work on." Ash stared wide-eyed at his pokemon.
"If you were human, you would make a good trainer, you know that?"
"Duh. I'm your second in command I have to know how to handle the troops." Ash laughed at the electric type. "Also, on a second thought can you let Squirtle out too? We need to catch up." Ash agreed. If he was training Bayleef, there was no reason those two couldn't hang out for a while. He took Squirtle's pokeball off of his belt and let the Kanto starter out.
"What's up, Ash?" Squirtle asked as he looked around.
"He's training Bayleef, so I wanted to ask what you've been up to since you left the team. How was being a firefighter?" Pikachu asked.
"Bro, it was awesome." Squirtle and Pikachu started swapping stories, but Ash tuned them out to get training. He fished Bayleef's pokeball out of his backpack, and found a good spot to try out different things.
"While you're doing that, I'm going to be working with Vaporeon. She still needs some speed training before she can be a top battler." Misty said. The boy nodded, and watched her throw the eeveelution's pokeball as he expanded Bayleef's ball.
"Alright Bayleef, co-" But he was interrupted in mid throw by Vaporeon's greeting tackle. Once again he looked up at the water type and silently cursed himself for not seeing that coming. Bayleef's ball landed and she popped out in a bright light. The grass type whirled around to body slam her trainer, but was met with the horrifying sight of Vaporeon tackling Ash to the ground.
Aw hell no. There would be only one mid-sized quadruped breaking Ash's bones for attention and it would be her, dammit. She had met the water type a couple days ago (briefly) and had no problem with her, but Vaporeon isn't even one of Ash's pokemon! Bayleef hardly gets to see Ash, and now she has to compete with pokemon that aren't even her teammates? She ran over to the two, earning their attention.
"Hey! Tackling Ash is my thing, so why don't you go back to Misty?" She didn't want to be too mean, but she had to put her foot down. Suddenly Vaporeon started sniffling, causing Bayleef to panic. She didn't want to hurt an innocent child, even over Ash.
"Oh no, a chosen pokemon mad at me? I'm… I'm so sorry. I never meant to…" Vaporeon trailed off and got stepped down from the trainer. She started crying, and Ash was quick to react.
"No, Vaporeon, don't cry! I can be your friend too!" Ash sat up, and hugged the crying water type. "Bayleef, say you're sorry!" he said as he pet the sobbing eeveelution. Vaporeon looked from under Ash's arm with a triumphant grin smeared across her face. Bayleef couldn't believe what she was seeing!
'That little bitch.' She thought. Bayleef let out a battle cry, and tackled Vaporeon out from under her trainer's arm. Ash was a little surprised to say the least. The two rolled around for a second, before both got back to their feet.
"Aren't you a bit young for the Chosen One?" Bayleef said, glaring down her opponent.
"Aren't you a bit ugly for him?" The mer-fox countered. It wasn't the best comeback, but both were on the verge of warfare, and that's all it took. Bayleef dove back at Vaporeon, and the two were back to rolling around on the ground. The grass type was certainly the stronger and better trained, but right now she and Vaporeon were just fighting on instinct. Meanwhile Ash was trying to figure out what just happened.
"What just happened?" Ash asked, trying to figure it out.
"This is a duel for favoritism, Ash." Mewtwo said. "Pokemon often live in pack, or group, oriented societies, and Bayleef and Vaporeon are two such species. In pack societies there is a leader, or an alpha. All male pokemon fight to be the alpha, and females fight for the attention of the alpha. Certainly there are exceptions; many bug types have female alphas, or 'queens' but many species live in packs. Because of your status, you are arguably the alpha of all pokemon that would follow a male alpha, weird as that may seem. Regardless, Bayleef and Vaporeon are dueling to see which is more worthy of your attention. I believe humans call such a duel between females a-"
"Catfight!" Both Pikachu and Squirtle yelled. The two had wandered off somewhere but once they heard what was going on, appeared out of thin air. Ash looked over to see the two watching the fight as intensely as any league battle, and Misty looking on a bit ticked that they were fighting over Ash. Not that she liked him or anything, and besides they were just pokemon. Interesting as it was, Ash had to put a stop to it so he could at least get a little training in with the couple minutes he had left. He took a step towards the two when he was knocked off his feet by a thundershock and a water gun. Surprised, he looked up to see two of his oldest pokemon running over to him.
"Ash, you are not going to ruin this!" Squirtle said.
Pikachu nodded his agreement, knowing full well Ash would have no clue why, and he wasn't willing to explain. Sure enough, Ash was confused as to how that would be a good thing, or why his two pokemon cared so much about the two fighting females. What he wasn't confused about was that he wasn't getting any training done!
"Can we at least make this a trainer battle between me and Misty?" Ash asked.
"Yes!" Misty replied, maybe a bit too fast. "Er, I mean, it would be a shame to let them keep fighting, we should make it a battle to help with your training!" 'I love Pikachu to death, but if Ash gives that kind of attention to any more pokemon, that's all he'll ever do! And why is my pokemon fighting over him?' she thought, looking at Vaporeon and Bayleef. The pokemon in question kept rolling on the ground, scratching growling and biting, oblivious to all around them. Finally Ash focused on the two in his mind, and calmed them down. The rolling ball of death the two had created came to a stop, and the two participants fell to the ground.
"Wha…what's going on…?" Vaporeon said, staggering as she tried to defy the sea of tranquility her mind was in. She failed, and fell back to the ground. "Ok Misty, nighty night. 'Night, devil plant." Vaporeon looked at Bayleef one last time before collapsing, fast asleep.
"Blue…bitch…" Bayleef said, staggering herself. Everything was just so… comfortable. She yawned, and then passed out on the spot, lying in the grass next to her new enemy. A groan came from Pikachu and Squirtle, and everyone looked to where Ash was standing. He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.
"I guess I probably need more practice, huh?" He said. The others facepalmed; Mewtwo merely shook his head at his trainer's ineptitude.
"You put them to sleep, Ash! How are you supposed to do any training now?" Misty asked, looking at her sleeping pokemon. Instead of addressing Misty's rhetorical question, a thought that had been forming subconsciously for a while surfaced.
"Hey, Mewtwo?" Ash called, only ticking Misty off a little more at being ignored.
"Yes, Ash?" The clone answered.
"If that was supposed to be between female pokemon, how come Mew wasn't in there? Not that I could see her fighting."
"Mew do not live in congregations, their populations are simply too small. As such, they don't follow an alpha mew. Also, Mews personality is contradictory to the nature of such battles, leading me to doubt she would fight simply for your attention. But probably the best explanation is that Mew hasn't been here in quite some time." Mewtwo said, looking around to see if he could spot his 'sister'.
"Huh?" Ash and the others looked around, and sure enough, no Mew. "Where is she?" he asked Mewtwo.
"I do not know, Ash. I only know that she left soon after you decided to train Bayleef. Mew is used to being wild and free, and is prone to going off on her own journeys. I try not to delve too deeply into her actions or activities as they tend to make life more… taxing for those not prepared to handle them." Mewtwo turned from Ash to the stream before them, thinking of just how excited the small pink cat could be. Mewtwo generally avoided a excited Mew. Ash sighed, but remembered that he had a link with all of his pokemon that he could use to track her down. He reached out across the link with his mind and felt all of their emotions, from Bayleef's exhaustion, to Mewtwo's indifference. Then, a short ways away, his mind ran into a mental field of happiness and colors which could only belong to Mew. He could feel where Mew was in his mind, and quickly found out…
"Oh, no." Ash sighed. "She's back at camp. That means she probably already ran into Brock."
"Well, I guess we should get back and tell him why there is a legendary pokemon flying around our camp, I'm sure she scared the crap out of him." Misty said, knowing just how big a surprise the legendary cat could be. She and Ash recalled all the pokemon, the latter disappointed that he didn't get a single thing done since they came out here, and went back to camp.
"Who do you think I should go with? You're practically team captain after all." Ash asked Pikachu. Mew sat back watching the two, knowing she wouldn't be picked, and tried to find something to do to entertain herself.
'This is soooo boring.' Mew said, desperate for a way to pass the time. Normally she would have a pile of toys in the Tree of Beginning so she was never bored, and if she was bored, she just stole more toys from the Cameron Palace. Now, with Ash training, she had nothing to do. "Mewtwo, play a game with me!" she said, hovering up to her adopted brother.
"As interesting as that always is, I think I will pass this time Mew. I am interested to see Ash train one of his older pokemon, and want to be here in case he needs me for anything." The clone said, watching the boy in question find Bayleef's pokeball. Mew sighed.
"Ok." She was about to go up to Pikachu and Squirtle, but saw them talking. She knew from what Pikachu said that this was the first chance the two had had to really catch up, so she didn't want to interrupt. 'Well looks like I'm back to nothing.' She thought, defeated. Finally with nothing better to do she headed into the woods. 'It's been a while since I've been to the Viridian Forest, didn't there used to a custap berry tree around here? I love those they're so sweet, but I can never find them!' She thought about the first time she had tried to bite one, and almost broke a tooth. 'That hurt so bad! That's why mama said to soften 'em first though.'
She paused her inner monologue, and sniffed the air. She caught a whiff of something, and lazily hovered in that direction, slowly doing her signature acrobatics. The scent grew stronger the closer she got and the curiosity got the best of her. 'Oh my Mew,' she giggled at the thought that some humans say that, 'what is that smell? It smells so good!' The psychic type got excited and quickened her pace, flying past trees at a steady rate now. She neared the clearing where the camp was at, and sensed a human mind ahead. The legend slowed down, wary of any humans, knowing Ash would be disappointed if she drew attention to herself. But good Arceus did that smell good. She turned invisible and flew out into to the clearing.
'Oh, it's just Brock. I guess this is our camp?' She said, seeing the boy for the first time in over a year. She was happy that it wasn't team rocket or someone like that and let herself become visible. She flew over to the small camp where Brock was working on his soup. It smelled delicious, and Mew was about to ask him if she could have some of it when she noticed something else sitting on the table. 'Are those custap berries? How did Brock find a custap berry tree in Kanto? Oh well, I'm sure he won't mind if I take one.' She flew down and picked one up.
The psychic type looked around, trying to find something to soften the berry with so she could get to the soft deliciousness inside. 'Oh duh, why don't I use the table?' She stopped when she heard the breeder mutter something about mago berries but when he didn't try to take her berry from her she continued. She picked it up with her psychic powers, and lifted it a couple feet off the table. Then she slammed back down hard, making a loud 'BANG'. She saw Brock jump, and whip around to look at her. She picked up her prize, and faced Brock who jumped back again, startled to see the legendary pokemon. "Hi Brock!" She said, digging out a little piece of flesh from the fruit and taking a bite.
"M…Mew?" He asked, not believing his eyes. What was a legendary pokemon doing out here?
"The one and only! Actually there are more but I'm the one you keep running into." She said, and giggled at the coincidence that she was the only Mew they ever saw. Brock stared at her for a moment before recovering enough to ask his next question.
"Why are you here?" He asked, and then realized he might sound rude. "I mean, it's great to see you, but why did you come to our little camp?"
"I was out in the woods when something smelled really good, so I came to see what it was. I was going to ask you for some of that stuff" she said, pointing to the soup, "but then I saw these custap berries, so I wanted one of these instead. You won't mind if I just take one, right?" She said, taking another bite. Brock took a second to piece everything together, and then realize Mew asked him a question.
"Oh, no it's fine Mew. But why were you out in the Viridian Forest to begin with?" Brock asked. 'The Tree of Beginning is up north so why is Mew here of all places?'
"Ash was training Bayleef instead of me and Mewtwo, so I decided to wander around looking for a custap berry." She held her prize up victoriously. "And I found one!" She set it back down and continued eating.
"Wait, what does Ash… did you say Mewtwo? Hold on Mew, what's going on?" The breeder was understandably confused, and once Mew thought about what she said her eyes widened.
"Um, I didn't say anything!" Mew picked up her berry and was about to teleport back to her trainer, when she remembered something. A deal she made with Ash; she could stay out of her pokeball once Brock found out about Ash being the Chosen One. She got excited, and an extremely detailed, and thought out plan formed in her head which would take cunning and skill to execute. "Brock, Ash is the Chosen One!" She practically screamed, and the boy in front of her was no less confused. Mission accomplished.
"Wait… what?" the breeder scratched his head, thoroughly confused as to what the pokemon was going on about. Mew shook her head, remembering that humans didn't grow up with the same myths and legends that pokemon did.
"Ash is the Chosen One." She started. As Brock was about to ask what that means, she continued at a rapid fire pace. "He's basically the protector of peace in the world and pokemon everywhere love him and listen to him, he has really cool powers which include understanding pokemon, messing with people's brains, being a really good trainer, and his whole team is really strong now; all legendaries trust him because he saved the world a bunch of times, which is why me and Mewtwo follow him, and I think others are coming too (but really I got here first so I'm the best); Arceus gave him his blessing so he would keep everyone safe, but he only did it because he trusts Ash, and now Ash has a bunch of responsibilities, but nothing has come up yet so we're going to fight in a tournament." Mew accentuated her speedy recap with powerful hand gestures and meaningful poses, but all Brock heard and saw was a flood of her mental voice, and a blur of pink. Suddenly she stopped talking and faced him. "Which means now I can stay out of my pokeball, yay! Understand now?"
"Uh, no actually I'm more confused than when you started. Did you say something about powers, and Arceus? Slow down Mew, I can't process all this that fast." Mew sighed internally, regretting not waiting on Ash and Mewtwo, who would certainly be better at this than her. She spent the next few minutes summarizing all that Ash had been through in the past couple days, and why. She also explained what his role was in relation to the pokemon world, and how that affected the human world. Brock took it all far better than Misty, having been there for the boy's entire journey, and being used to weird stuff happening to Ash. He even had the coherence to pour the soup, and finish the pokemon food while listening to the psychic type. Even so, he still needed some form of proof beyond a Mew that he could be hallucinating. As if on cue Ash and Misty came running out of the forest.
"I see you two already met. Sorry Brock I was just about to tell you about what happened." Ash said, looking between his pokemon and his friend. "How much did she tell you?"
"Everything." Mew said, flying over to her trainer, and settling on his shoulder.
"How'd he react?" Misty asked the legendary.
"Normally. He was shocked to see me at first, but he was calm when I was explaining stuff. Not all screamy like you Misty." Misty huffed, and everyone else laughed.
"I gotta say, as much as I want to believe it Ash, I have to see proof." Brock said.
"Well that's easy." Ash sent out Mewtwo, and explained the situation.
"And I am validation of your claims?" Mewtwo asked looking between the two. "Make no mistake Brock, Ash is the Chosen One, and for that reason I have followed him on his journeys. Now I would presume that you would like your memories restored from New Island?" Mewtwo saw Brock's surprise, and continued. "I can sense that Mew explained, but could not remove my block without me. Very well here you are." Mewtwo raised his paw and restored the trainer's memories from that day. Ash braced himself, waiting on the emotional torrent that had come with everyone else's revelation of that day.
"Ok. Mew had said that's how you died, but it's a little difficult to believe. Anyways soup is ready!" Brock said, setting bowls on the table. Everyone stared at him, waiting on him to break down and cry.
"Wait, what? Shouldn't it be all emotional and stuff? Everyone else has cried or something along those lines." Ash said.
"What, you dying? I mean, if I was watching it, yeah, but Mew already told me about it. And remember all the times you almost died? And every time a pokemon hits you, or you get in trouble with criminals or legendaries? I've seen it happen so many times, I'm almost used to it. You may not realize it Ash, but you get in trouble all the time." Brock said.
"Well, I guess when you put it like that; it really isn't that big a deal. Huh." Ash shrugged his shoulders.
"Your ability to persevere through difficult odds is a reason that has earned you the trust of legendary pokemon, Ash." Mewtwo pointed out. Ash nodded, remembering Arceus explain just how much he had done. Finally hunger settled in again, and got the better of him.
"Well with that out of the way, let's eat!" Ash said. A week had been far, far too long without Brock's cooking. "Just one last thing to do. Did you make a bunch of pokemon food, Brock?"
"Yep. Mew told me about you getting your limit raised. Even after they can, most trainers don't take that option because it is a lot of responsibility to care for that many at once and get training in. I'll help you with the cooking, but you still have to balance team for when you can only use six at once. Not to mention you'll have to train all of them. Are you sure you can handle it?" Brock looked at the young trainer, and was met with Ash Ketchum's Determined Face™.
"Of course I can! If I'm going to be the best I have to be ready to train like the best, right guys?" Ash said.
"Right!/Right!" Pikachu and Mew said, pumped up. Mewtwo agreed as well, only without much enthusiasm. Pikachu made a note to work on that later.
"Alright, now come on out everyone, time for lunch!" Ash, Misty and Brock all let out their pokemon. Brock was taken aback by the amount of pokemon Ash had on him, but was more than prepared. He started crushing berries to put on top of food to match with certain types of pokemon. Finally he passed everything out, gave Snorlax a pink surprise pokeblock (which worked just as well as with Munchlax), and the humans sat down to eat their meal.
"Ash, you are the Chosen One? It makes sense; you have always had a strong bond with pokemon." Ash turned to see the speaker was none other than Steelix. He and the rest of Brock's team were at the end of the table where Ash was at. "It is an honor to be traveling with you again."
"Thanks!" Ash said, taking another spoonful of his soup.
"Would you mind telling us of the ceremony? It is a thing of legend that pokemon hear about all their lives. Did you see the mighty Groudon?" Ash was about to answer when something caught his eye.
"Pikachu tell them please, I have to go take care of something." He got up, and all eyes of Brock's pokemon turned to the electric mouse.
"Yes sir!" Pikachu did a mock salute then began to recap the whole thing. Meanwhile Ash walked around the group to where two pokemon were already about to fight.
"Alright you two, that's enough! No more fighting."
"She started it!" Bayleef said. Vaporeon was about to say something back, when Ash cut her off.
"It doesn't matter. All I want is for you two to get along, ok? Go play with some of the others." Ash said. It was already getting on his nerves, and if this fighting continued then Ash would have to find something to do with the two of them.
"Yes, Chosen One." Vaporeon said, looked at the ground moping off. Ash had forgotten just how young she was, and she acted like a small child there. He turned back to the other offender.
"Alright. Sorry, Ash." Bayleef bounded off to go find Sceptile who she had taken a liking to. "Hey Sceptile!" She looked around, but couldn't find him. In a nearby tree Sceptile watched her look for him silently praying she didn't look up. He knew how energetic she could be, and as a more antisocial pokemon he preferred his space. Shit, did she just see him?
Ash laughed as he watched Bayleef yell up to a tree. Soon she fired a razor leaf, and much to his surprise Sceptile fell out. He watched her chase him, but was interrupted by the sound of more trouble.
"Come on, we never got a real fight. Are you scared because I'll roast you alive, clone?" Ash turned around to see Charizard in Mewtwo's face, but the psychic type kept his calm, slowly chewing on a berry.
"Do not test me lizard, my patience wears thin of your petty narcissism. I respect you as a teammate, but if Ash were not here, I would destroy you. In fact here he comes now." Both turned to see their trainer walking over. Without being told, Charizard turned to walk away.
"One day, Ash. One day you will let me burn him to the ground." Charizard walked away from his trainer and rival, going to see Squirtle and Pidgeot for the first time in years.
"I shall relish the chance to clip his wings. He is strong, yes, but I am a legend. I presume, however, such a day will not come Ash?" He looked down to see the boy watching Charizard talk to Squirtle.
"Hopefully not. The last thing I need is two of my most powerful pokemon fighting. We need to be one team Mewtwo. That means that you two need to find a way to get along."
"Of course, Ash. I have already promised you my loyalty. If that means making peace with a flying ego, then so be it." Mewtwo turned back to watch the crowd of pokemon, choosing to remain an outsider. He watched Ash walk away and soon felt a presence to his left. He looked and it was none other than Bulbasaur.
"I know Charizard can be an ass, but he's a good guy once you get to know him. In fact, I bet you two will get along really well." The grass type said.
"That is highly doubtful." Mewtwo replied to the Kanto starter.
"Trust me I have a knack for these things. Anyways, have you met the rest of the team yet?" Bulbasaur asked.
"Somewhat, but I prefer my privacy." Mewtwo went back to observing the pokemon, and noticed Ash holding a wild Gible at arm's length. The pokemon laughed at their young companion, and Mewtwo smiled.
"Come on! I'm sure you'll fit right in. Sceptile and you have a lot in common too, you know. Just kicking ass, and looking cool." Bulbasaur laughed at his own joke, and Mewtwo thought about it. Fitting in was something he hadn't ever been able to truly do, even amongst the legendaries.
"Well, I suppose Ash would want me to know the team better." Mewtwo nodded towards the grass type, who smiled and led Mewtwo over to where Quilava, Totodile, and Noctowl were currently sitting.
"Awww Mewtwo is making friends!" Mew watched Mewtwo and Noctowl chatting amicably, well Noctowl anyway but she knew Mewtwo was talking. She looked down at the bloated Pikachu lying beside her on the table, and giggled. "How did you eat three bowls of food? It was delicious, but wow." Misty and Brock were also still at the table and chuckled.
"Like trainer, like pokemon they say. Pikachu overeats just as much as Ash does." Brock said.
"Arceus knows that's his trainer's doing alright." Misty said, and the three laughed at the electric type's expense. Pikachu's response was a burp, and a groan of stomach pain. The others laughed again.
"Where's Ash? He always has something for this." Pikachu said, wishing he could sit up, and look for his trainer. Mew scanned the gathering, looking for her trainer. She spotted him talking to Riolu and Buizel. She strengthened her telepathy, and targeted only Ash, so as not to interrupt everyone.
"Ash I think Pikachu could use some… help." She saw her trainer sigh. He concluded his conversation with the two pokemon, and walk over to the table. When he saw the yellow ball that was Pikachu, he laughed.
"Brock's food that good buddy?" He asked, scooping the mouse into his arms. Pikachu just nodded, unable to do much else.
"The way Pikachu eats, you would think you didn't feed him Ash." Misty said, her and Brock both cracking a smile. Ash merely shook his head and walked over to where his bag was. He set Pikachu down, and started digging through it, looking for something that he always carried, a berry mix for upset stomachs. He found it and unscrewed the top. He took one whiff and recoiled, but nevertheless poured some in the cap for Pikachu.
"Alright buddy, drink up." Ash said, holding the cap to his starter.
"No, just give some of those pills humans take! It's so disgusting!" Pikachu protested, but knew before Ash came and got him that he would be drinking the awful mixture.
"I know, but you know you can't take human medicine. Now open wide!"
"Wow that always looks so bad. I hate medicine too." Misty said, watching Ash help his bloated starter.
"Yeah, but you love the sexy trainer helping a sick injured pokemon." Brock joked. He always loved the look of panic that crossed her face, before the rage.
"I do NOT like Ash Ketchum, Brock! We aren't starting this again!" She glared him down, in a way that only Misty could do, but the breeder had years of training, and held his ground.
"His bravery, his courage, that knight-in-shining-armor attitude." Misty was about to give Brock a verbal smack down, but he kept going. "Those rippling muscles." He said, smiling. Misty slowly cracked up, and they both started laughing at their friend.
"Good one Brock." Misty said wiping a tear away.
"Ya gotta face the facts though Misty. All the pokemon love him, and he's a free man." Brock knew she would say the same thing as always, but that didn't stop him from trying to play Cupid.
"I don't like him Brock; he's an immature idiot, so stop trying!" She stood up and left to go see her pokemon. As she walked away, she took one last look at Ash, and had to admit: he was in better shape now…
"She's so in denial." Both Brock and Mew said at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed. Soon Ash walked back to the table, after looking to make sure everything was alright with all the pokemon. He sat down, and gulped down another bowl of soup, even though it was getting cold. Ash finished, and realized they had better get moving. He stood up to go recall his pokemon, but as he reached his bag Brock stopped him.
"Ash, why don't we just have Mewtwo or Mew teleport us straight to the Indigo Plateau?" the breeder asked. Ash thought about it and realized that there was no reason not to. Besides if they didn't, it would be a long time before they got there on foot.
"Alright, no problem! Let's get everyone together then we'll leave." Brock nodded, and they set about fixing the campsite, and recalling everyone. Misty saw what was happening, and started doing the same. Finally all that was left was Mew, Mewtwo and Pikachu.
"Wait!" Mew called, stopping Ash in the middle of pulling out her pokeball. He looked up at the legend.
"What is it Mew?" He asked.
"We had a deal, remember? Once you told Brock about being the Chosen One, I could stay out of my pokeball." Ash rubbed his chin, thinking back. He had forgotten about their conversation from that morning. But he was a man of his word.
"Alright, fine. What are you going to travel as?"
"What do you want me to be? You're my trainer. I can be anything!" Mew hovered patiently, waiting on Ash to pick something. She would do whatever it takes to get to be outside all the time, like Pikachu was. It wasn't that she didn't like pokeballs, it was just the taste of the outdoors that she liked. Finally he picked something.
"Well the only things I could think of that I would be comfortable with are an eevee and a pichu or a pikachu. Since anyone would question a pikachu or a pichu, I guess that you should be an eevee." Ash said. He looked to his team leader, and Pikachu gave him a tired agreement from his shoulder, still exhausted from earlier.
"Good, that's what I hoped you would pick!" Mew focused, and turned into an eevee and hopped on her trainer's shoulder. "Well, I'm ready to go!" Ash nodded, and turned to look at the others. They nodded too.
"If everyone is ready, I will teleport us now. We will land near the edge of the Pokemon League Village." Everyone nodded again, and Mewtwo focused, his eyes glowing blue. A blue aura grew around him, and then expanded to fit their whole group. Slowly, they lifted off the ground from his psychic power, and then, they vanished.
WHAT?! They vanished? What a cliffhanger. What if they missed their destination? Who knows where they will be next chapter. Texas? Probably.
Also I have a couple ideas I can't decide between, so I'll put it up to you guys. If I feel strongly one way or another I will do what I want, but as of right now here is what is going down.
Go to my profile and vote on my poll. It will be on an important plot point. It will be there until Oct 31 (halloween).
Anyways, you know how long 7100 words is? 16 pages in Word. That's a long ass chapter. Sooooooooo it would mean the world to me if you would be a supernatural level of awesome for a couple seconds and review.
Thanks!
And as CL4P-TP (but you can call him by his locally designated name) would say... See ya next time!
