There was a reason the Viridian Forest was listed as one of Kanto's best landmarks.
It enveloped him from the moment he stepped inside, the same thick, almost stuffy smell he remembered from his first entrance entering it. The trees crowded him, barely restrained by the flat dirt path, and when they couldn't stop his travel they settled for extending their reach above. Constant shade covered the path to the point where it felt like the sun had given up. All he could see was green and brown.
Flashes of pokemon constantly moved around him. Pidgey and the line shrieked warnings from branches, though they shut up quickly when Gale screeched his own challenge from above. Bright purple tails bounced around in the bushes, the bark of trees gnawed down by endless waves of rattata. The dirt was occasionally scorched on the path or surrounding area, caused by released electricity from the wild packs of roaming pikachu. Countless weedle and caterpie stared quietly at him from branches. Once or twice, he had heard the clicking of ariados pincers and had stayed close to Rhyhorn until they passed.
A horde of beedrill passed through one time, far more than the one or two scouts he remembered hearing with Leaf. The memories hit him harder than he expected. Rhyhorn was quiet as they passed, moreso thinking back to his old friend machop than any sort of fear of them.
The other side of the forest had been the same when he first passed through but, as he was closer to the more populated side of Kanto, there were more trainers to challenge. A few had started toward him before abruptly leaving when they saw the bulky rhyhorn by his side, but most were up to the challenge. He fought all that accepted, using the excessive amount of poison types to help train his team for Fuschia City. While a few pokemon had stood out to him, most fled immediately or couldn't actually fight well.
He idly wondered whether he should try and find Gideon's farm. The man had said it was nearby Viridian, though he didn't remember where it was. Gideon had given him a priceless bit of information about the Diglett Cave, which he was going to use again whenever he managed to find it. Besides, Brock had taught him that breeders knew all sorts of things about pokemon and he might know some special hints. Scorch would do well to absorb some knowledge from the rapidash he remembered, and Gale could always touch up on heat wave. If the man even agreed. If Ash could even find him.
Rhyhorn rumbled, pawing at the earth. Ash stopped, grinning as his starter dug slightly before unearthing a wide rock. He swallowed it quickly, rumbling happily. Though Ash didn't exactly have a supply of concrete to carry around as a reward, he had started to pick out which minerals his starter like best.
Though he didn't know their names. He was a trainer, not a mineralogist.
Most of his team was recalled right now, though Gale was still flying overhead to keep an eye out for threats. Ash sometimes caught sight of a bulky shadow on the ground through a break in the trees but the avian was enjoying the wide open skies that only the brilliant sun could provide. The others were resting from their battles, though Ash had had to practically force them into their pokeballs for that to happen.
The peace and quiet he was enjoying didn't last very long. Gale let out a warning cry, though he didn't dive down to attack, and while Ash tensed he didn't release his team. He placed his palm behind Rhyhorn's horn, eyes narrowed. A crackling hiss from some kakuna echoed through the forest but it wasn't close enough to be feared.
There was the sound of pounding, heavy footsteps, the brush rustling as something charged through the leaves. Ash frowned - most pokemon weren't that loud nor obvious - when a kid burst through.
He was dressed in a strange sort of faux garb, a golden helmet over his head and protected by a sort of scarlet chestplate. His hand clutched a dull katana barely worth using, though it was still shined to perfection. Several pokeballs were on his waist.
Ash relaxed. A trainer, however odd he was.
"Are you prepared to face the master of this forest?" The boy said pompously, puffing out his chest. He must have been at least two inches shorter than Ash.
"That's you?" Ash asked. While it wasn't outright said, it was implied that most gyms had to be in towns. But there were still a few that were in smaller places, such as a budding one near Tohjo Falls. It made sense the Viridian Forest, a well-known if not a well-traveled landmark, would have a gym.
He was treated with a scoff. "As if anyone else could be! Now, knave, do you challenge me, the fearless Samurai, or do you wish to scurry off back to Pewter?"
Ash exchanged looks with Rhyhorn, both confused. Samurai? Was he a fighting type trainer? He could hear Gale's wingbeats growing closer and closer, though there wasn't an easy enough break in the leaves to come through.
"Sure. How many?" He said, stepping back. His starter followed him dutifully, using smack down and rock blast to help clear away much of the clumps and rocks covering the path. Ash was thinking about coming up with a combo name for those together.
"One on one! I hardly need more to defeat you." The boy's chest inflated further. Ash was mildly concerned he would explode. "My pokemon will destroy any chance of you leaving this forest under my watchful eye!"
That sounded vaguely like a threat. Eyebrows lowered, he watched as the boy released his pokemon. It was a pinsir, which was rare in these parts, healthy but not overly grown. Baring the strange, horizontal teeth over its gaping mouth, it clicked its pincers and prepared for battle.
Samurai - if that was his real name - seemed to be expecting more awe. When Ash didn't comply with his wishes, he scowled and flapped his hand. "Either release your pokemon or leave my forest!"
Ash had about three pokemon that would end this quickly and another two that would definitely win, but he rather wanted a demoralizing victory after the boy's arrogance. With a glance, his starter lumbered onto the field. Rhyhorn rumbled, shaking his heads. His plates clacked together threateningly.
"Quickly! Seismic toss!" Samurai said, fists clenched. Pinsir warbled and moved forward, bearing down with its enormous pincers. Rhyhorn narrowed his scarlet eyes and waited for the bug to get close enough.
"Horn attack. Fury attack if you need to," Ash said.
Pinsir had just managed to touch Rhyhorn by the time the ground type had attacked him. His powerful horn punched straight through its exoskeleton, releasing a crack almost like breaking bones. Pinsir made a shrieking noise, thrashing, but Rhyhorn managed to lift him into the air. He made a move as if he was just to throw Pinsir off, but Samurai spooked and recalled him quickly.
"How dare you! Your rhyhorn must be using x-drugs! There is no other way it could have beat my pinsir!" Samurai raged, taking a better hold on his katana as if he was about to threaten Ash with it.
"What?" Before he could be answered, he just shook his head and grinned. "Whatever, kid. I won. Move on."
Samurai puffed up in rage like an irate pidgey. "'Kid'? How dare you! I am the master of this forest! The protector! The fighting force that keeps it together-"
He sighed, pushed past him, and walked off. Samurai continued to mutter threats and commands as he stomped back into his hiding place, swinging his katana like he imagined Ash was in its path.
Ash shrugged, faced Rhyhorn, and burst into laughter. He loved the Viridian Forest.
xXx
This time around, the sign for the Diglett Cave was much easier to find. Rhyhorn remembered its location, even though a bush had begun to grow around it. Scorch had carefully burnt away the crawling vines to let others be able to see it, Rhyhorn protecting the surrounding undergrowth from the flames.
He took a moment to check his bag before going in. The food from Nurse Joy was still more than he needed, which meant there was plenty for the tunnel and traveling afterward. Rhyhorn had been able to charge his batteries for his flashlight, though his control was still a work in progress and he had fried one of the rechargeable batteries. Scorch had practiced lighting only the tips of her tails in case he did run out of electricity.
Gale shrieked testily at the yawning maw of the cave, but he had been left behind before and wouldn't accept it this time. The time in Mount Moon had helped him to adjust to walking instead of just flying, which Ash was going to try and use if he was ever grounded in battle.
He grimaced, shouldered his bag, and began the walk inside.
xXx
"Shit," Ash muttered, furiously digging through his bag.
Karma was floating by his side, but barely - her eyes were clouded and unfocused, shine sloppy and unpolished around her neck. The poison coursing through her veins pumped stronger and stronger with every passing second, and Ash couldn't find a damn antidote.
Finally, he found the pale green vial. Tearing open the lid, he rushed over to her side and offered it. She couldn't muster the psychic strength to lift it to her mouth, forcing Ash to pour it in, trying not to miss. Almost instantly, he could see it begin to work, taking a minute burden from her shoulders, but it was clear she was out for the count until he could get to Nurse Joy. He clicked her recall button, placing the cold pokeball on his waist.
"No more fighting arbok for a while," he said, sighing. He couldn't believe the snake had been so fast for a fifteen-foot creature - it had managed to dodge around almost all of her attacks and landed a wicked poison fang into her chest. Her ability synchronize had made it pause as waves of poison-tinted pain swept through its mind, but even then she had been too weakened to harm it. She had nailed it with a psybeam before being poisoning and Wraith had been able to clean up, but that had still been a far too close battle for Ash's liking. "Wraith, you fine?"
The haunter in question rose out from his shadow, form perfectly made. He had only had to reform one of his hands from an attack, the arbok not having the best reach up, and had taken out the following raticate well enough. His energy was barely depleted, but Ash hadn't put him in too many difficult battles.
Recently, Wraith had taken on a different role. For the majority of the time he was out of his pokeball, he was in Ash's shadow, watching for threats. With that, he had been battling the most out of Ash's pokemon, popping out of his shadow ready to go with every bit of eye contact Ash made. That wasn't quite fair to his other pokemon, and Ash had struck a deal with the ghost to make up for that.
Wraith was only allowed to fight five pokemon a day, maximum, and then Ash would cut him off. The haunter had balked at that - he was used to seven or more - but Ash had let him choose which battles he wanted to fight. The arbok and raticate had been his last two for the day, but he had given up consoling for more after being shut down the first ten times.
Karma was out for the fight now, though. Rhyhorn rumbled at the bare speck in the distance Ash knew was the trainer, eyes narrowed.
Ash still hadn't figured out a way to safely practice being poisoned, and every encounter with it just showed him how out of his range he was. Koga was going to be annoying to fight. Even Wraith releasing minute traces of smog into the air while they trained didn't seem to be doing much, judging by Karma's reaction.
He swatted at an offending breeze, prompting an annoyed grunt from the ground type he was riding on. He rolled his eyes, leaning back farther. "Come on. Just a day or two more - you'll be fine for that."
Rhyhorn rumbled again. He hadn't been in too many battles, but had enjoyed walking beside - or beneath - Ash for most of the last two weeks, though he kept spooking whenever Wraith twitched from Ash's shadow. As another pokemon, he could feel it whenever Wraith switched between their two shadows, and from Ash guessed it wasn't exactly pleasant to have a ghost type in your shadow. He couldn't feel anything - his mind was about as closed to the Trio as could be - but other pokemon felt it.
He took a deep breath and leaned back, cracking his back against the spines. Rhyhorn had been going strong and Gale wasn't exactly about to slow down, so Vermillion City was most likely only a day or two away at their pace. That was close enough, and after healing up at the Pokemon Center and maybe visiting Lt. Surge, he'd begin his trek down to Fuschia and fight-
"Hey, Ashy-boy!"
Ash stiffened before a grin broke over his face. Gary.
The redheaded boy grinned and waved furiously as Ash urged Rhyhorn toward him. He dismounted quickly, almost catching his ankle in his spines. They both admired each others' starters - the wartortle by Gary's side looked extremely close to evolving, the white tufts over his ears extending far past normal - and hugged.
"Hell Ash, I didn't think I'd actually catch up with you! Leaf told me way back in Cerulean how you'd gone to Vermillion and I didn't know whether I'd catch you. Wait, why are you here? Don't tell me you've been trying to get the badge for this long?"
Ash narrowed his eyes and punched for Gary's shoulder. The boy dodged, laughing, and then they both sprang into a mock fight. Wartortle and Rhyhorn exchanged exasperated looks, sighing.
Gary whined pathetically from an accidental hit Ash landed on his shoulder. He complained so much that Ash made a move to leave the clearing before he gave it up, taking his friend's offered hand to stand fully up.
Both of them knew what was going to happen. Gary knew where a big enough clearing was, only a five or ten minute walk. Ash tapped along his pokeballs as they moved, keeping one hand on Rhyhorn's forehead. Wraith twitched in his shadow but he knew he had already battled five times today, and so settled for wary caution.
They found the clearing fast, walking off the main path. It was wide enough that Ash felt comfortable with letting Gale and Rhyhorn have his free reign, and the earth was already mostly torn free of grass from the last battle that had taken place there. It was even mostly flat, which was a bonus.
"Three on three," Gary offered, touching along his six pokeballs. "My newest member isn't really strong enough for battles and I've been working two others pretty hard. My other three are fine, though - that cool?"
Ash nodded. "Yeah." As much as he wanted Wraith in the fight, it wasn't fair to his other friends. Despite him being one of Ash's strongest pokemon, he wouldn't go back on the rules he had made. Ash trusted him to defend both him and Gary on the trip to Vermillion, no matter how annoyed he was at not fighting in the battle. There was a baritone chuckle in the back of his mind, and he knew that his shadow was twisting.
Gary frowned. "Is that a-"
"Wraith, down," Ash said softly, and his shadow subsided. He knew the haunter was picking out the thought he was thinking as loud as he could - surprise him later. Another chuckle, deeper than before, echoed through the stain.
His rival nodded his head. "Okay. Ghost type. No idea where the hell you got one, but questions afterward."
"Questions after," Ash agreed, tapping along his pokeballs. "You want to actually fight me or just keep admiring my pokemon?"
Gary barked out laughing. "You go first," he said, grinning. "Let's see what kind of team you're putting me up against!"
Ash rolled his eyes but obliged. He had won the last battle. It took him a moment before he released his warmest pokeball. Scorch appeared with a loud yip, almost turning toward Ash before she caught sight of Gary and the Wartortle by his side. She growled, tails flicking into her battle ready position.
Gary whistled. "Five tails, huh? Not bad. Let's see how well it does against this!"
With an earthshaking roar, a kangaskhan appeared on the field.
Ash gaped as the nearly seven feet tall behemoth leered down at Scorch, enormous tail twitching. It clicked its dull silver claws together, narrowing its dark red eyes. Though it didn't have a baby in its pouch, Ash knew its protective spirit wouldn't be diminished. Judging by the way it turned toward Gary and tapped him lightly on the shoulder, it had probably taken to seeing Gary as its own child. It grunted lowly across the field as it stared at Scorch.
"How the hell did you get a kangaskhan?"
"Picked her up in the Safari Zone," Gary grinned, reveling in the awe Ash was giving him. Scorch narrowed her eyes, tails twitching as she paced in front of Ash. "Gramps has a few connections with Baoba and he was able to let me get one of the younger members."
"That's young?" The pokemon in front of him was fully grown, muscles large and developed, and by the thickness of the dome over its forehead Ash would have guessed ten, maybe fifteen years old instead.
Gary tapped his pokeballs. "You're welcome to give up, if you like."
Scorch shook her head, growling low in her throat. She had won against a crobat - a kangaskhan would be no issue. Her tails flashed with life as she activated flash fire, a surge of warmth hitting the other pokemon. Rhyhorn rumbled encouragingly before moving back to stand behind Ash. He knew better than to disturb his trainer's battles.
"Not good," he muttered before whistling lowly, drawing Scorch's attention. "Your attacks won't do much, so you've got to hit it a bunch to make it count. Hex won't work, burns to the feet will slow it down." She yipped back just as quietly, but he knew she wasn't trying to disguise her response. There wasn't a point. If Kangaskhan could land even a few hits, she would be out.
Both trainers made eye contact and nodded.
"Mega punch!" Gary commanded just as Ash shouted, "Extrasensory!"
Scorch's eyes gleamed blue just as Kangaskhan lumbered toward her, fists glowing a pale white. It stopped only several feet from her, ears twitching before pinning themselves as it stumbled resolutely forward despite the overload of senses. Scorch blurred out of the way with quick attack, circling around to launch a wave of embers toward its back.
Kangaskhan grunted, circling slowly to try and find the vulpix in the wild array of colors filling its vision. But before it could manage, Scorch doubled her power and Kangaskhan staggered, claws going wide. It twitched and groaned in pain, clutching its eyes. Ash was just about to tell Scorch to get close for iron tail to finish it when the glow on its paw abruptly began to darken, shadows thickening despite the strong overhead sun. The blue in Scorch's eyes tried vainly to stay strong but the activation of what had to be dark energy threw any chance it had away.
The normal type threw off the last of its confusion and charged. Scorch tried to dart out of the way, fur igniting again with flame charge as she blitzed backward. Kangaskhan had an infinitely longer reach than she had expected and tagged Scorch's side with sucker punch.
Scorch went flying. She twisted, flailing her tails to try and land upright, a graceless mass of scarlet barely managing to catch itself on the ground. A trickle of blood from Kangaskhan's claws ran down her fur, dripping onto the ground. Ash grimaced and tried a different approach. "Roar, light show, will-o-wisp!"
Kangaskhan bellowed to try and drown out Scorch's powerful shriek, only to stagger back once the bright light hit its eyes. Scorch launched two will-o-wisps, the blue flames exploding against its chest.
The flames barely burned anything past its fur. Kangaskhan shrugged it off, dowsing the flames with a thump of its wide paw. "Mega punch."
Scorch reignited her fur, using the boost of flame charge to start to run around Kangaskhan. The normal type merely snorted, cocking back both of its fists. They glowed softly as it scanned the field in front of it for Scorch, who didn't seem to know what to do. Ash tried another command.
"Keep up quick charge, hit it from behind!"
Kangaskhan was struck twice, roaring in pain as it tried to swipe at the fire type. Scorch nimbly bobbed and weaved around the hits but they were getting closer - Kangaskhan had speed a pokemon its size shouldn't.
It finally managed to hit her. Its punch hit her side and threw her nearly a dozen feet, tails thrashing as she tried to stand. Scorch managed to rise to her feet, legs shaking and parts of her fur shining wetly. But her flash fire still crackled menacingly even as she limped away from her seven foot tall opponent, ears flat against her skull.
Gary grinned. "You've got some good moves, but I think you need a little more umph, Ash. Let me show you how it's done: storm break!"
Ash could almost swear Kangaskhan smirked.
It roared, raising its left hand. Electricity began to crackle around it, sparking off of the black dome on its forehead, some sort of mix of thunder punch and thunderbolt. The sparks ran over its brown fur, giving it an almost ethereal image as it poured more and more electricity into the air. Its other hand began to flash on and off with a reddish aura. He could almost swear its claws began to extend with what Ash guessed was fighting energy surrounded its entire arm. With a bellow of excitement, it slammed the focus blast into the ground.
The earth buckled beneath the hit, spiking upward almost like an earth power. Dirt and rocks flew outward, wrenched free from the its earthen prison to explode heedlessly into the air. Dust choked the air, thick and roiling. Kangaskhan made a pleased grunt before slamming its second paw into the earth.
The electricity immediately burst down, jumping from the minute iron deposits buried beneath the layer of dirt. Through every crack in the earth, through every iron vein, through every hole, electricity crackled before exploded upward in a shriek of rage. Scorch, who had only just barely managed to avoid the bursting earth by jumping roughly with quick attack, was struck by over a dozen bolts of lightning. She collapsed instantly.
Kangaskhan rumbled, a pleased expression on its face as it looked around at the destruction it had caused. There was a sag in its shoulders and a bleeding gash on its fist from where it had hit the earth, but it didn't seem too worse for wear.
That had been one of the most impressive things he had ever seen in a battle. "Wow," he said quietly. How had Gary managed to teach a normal type moves like that? The sheer cost of a focus blast TM was incredible, and learning so many electric moves without the help of lightning rod or a secondary typing was beyond difficult.
Gary grinned back rather smugly. "Wow indeed, Ashy-boy."
Ash recalled Scorch even as she struggled to try and stand. Electricity crackled off of her form like a living thing and every movement she made was with locked muscles and spastic twitches. She looked up just before dissolving into a cloud of scarlet mist and gave a halfhearted whine to stay in, but it was clear. Scorch had been out of her league there.
Holding back his disappointment at himself, he settled for raising his eyebrow at Gary. "'Storm break', really? A bit pretentious, even for you."
"I think Kangaskhan warrants that," he said, sniffing with a faux upturned nose. Ash snorted and raised his next pokeball. Karma would probably make mincemeat of such a stationary fighter but she wouldn't be in these battles with the still active poison in her veins. His next pokemon would be plenty strong enough.
Gale shrieked as he was released, taking to the heavens with one sweep of his powerful wings. Kangaskhan eyed him warily, claws tucked to its chest. Gary whistled softly, only serving to boost Gale's ego even further.
"That's a pretty impressive fearow you've got there," he complemented, nodding. Pride unfolded in Ash's chest as Gale gave an answering shriek, but he wouldn't make the same mistake of just assuming Gary was about pure power.
"Don't underestimate it," he called up. "It already took out Scorch, but it mainly stays in one place and goes physical. It could have thunderbolt, so be prepared to dodge. Stay high and get in when you know you can get out." A tried and true method.
Gary grinned and raised his gaze upward, grimacing as the sun got in his eyes. "Kangaskhan! Fry it!"
Its head dome began to flicker once again with electricity, although not nearly to the amount it had before. With a bellow, it released the energy in the form of a jagged streak of lightning that rose the hairs on the back of Ash's neck.
Gale gave a mocking chirp as he tucked his wings in and dove to avoid it. Flattening out, he corkscrewed around another hastily launched thunderbolt and slammed into its shoulder with his beak glowing.
It bellowed in pain and Gale made a jerk to move away but not fast enough - it cocked back its fist and slammed it without move or energy into his side. He was immediately flung backward, scarlet tipped beak flashing. It started toward him, but he shoved away the shock and took back to the sky, though this time without a victorious shriek.
Kangaskhan felt its shoulder gently, claws coming away smeared. Its scarlet eyes flashed with anger at that rather deep wound, tail thumping against the ground hard enough to release a cloud of dust.
"Thunderbolt again, then sucker punch when it's grounded."
Ash grinned. He knew this strategy - too many trainers tried it against Gale. Gary would soon find out just why that wouldn't work against the fearow. "Gale! Pin and flurry, don't get close unless you want to."
Gale shrieked. Kangaskhan rumbled in response, head dome flashing. It was noticeably weaker - TMs didn't enhance pokemon's natural electricity capacity, and the normal type would need time to recharge if it was going to keep firing thunderbolts. But it didn't give up, bellowing alongside the clap of the lightning.
It was closer this time, nearly clipping several of Gale's primaries. He squawked annoyedly, wings gleaming a bright blue as razor wind took over.
Kangaskhan roared in pain as it was abruptly thrown backward, only its tail managing to keep it standing. Gale merely clacked his beak and redoubled his efforts, the energy brightening and growing in strength. Too much training time with Rhyhorn wouldn't let him lose to something with its center of gravity nearly five feet off of the ground.
Gale abruptly cut off the attack and swooped to the side, blasting a more powerful razor wind at its side. Kangaskhan, without its tail to support it, bellowed and jerked a wild fist in his direction, helpless even as it charged a third thunderbolt.
The fearow shrieked with pride as Kangaskhan toppled, wings beating more powerfully as Ash could feel the air warm. It began with a single spark, a flash of smoke, before ribbons of flames poured from his feathers and joined the razor wind.
Kangaskhan roared as the heat wave struck its chest, singeing its fur and releasing a plume of smoke into the air. It thrashed, slamming its tail against the ground as it fought to stand up. Its head plate began to spark, so intensely that it lit the normal pokemon in a glow of hazy yellow. Ash narrowed his eyes. "Flurry, end this!"
Gale cut off pin, wings flapping once to gain him a bit of altitude before tucking close to his side. With a predatory growl, beak shining the fierce shade of aerial ace and wings glowing silver, he fell.
Kangaskhan never stood a chance. Viper's tauros, a drugged Team Rocket pokemon, had gone done to Gale's beak and now that same weapon was enhanced with two moves. He slammed into Kangaskhan's chest, puncturing the thick fat, only a moment before two steel wings cut into its shoulders.
Gary clicked the recall, sending Gale stumbling awkwardly as his perch disappeared from beneath him. The fearow clacked his beak, tossing his head and smoothing down his crest. It was impossible to ignore the gleam of pride in his eyes, and it was well earned - kangaskhan were powerful, if stationary, pokemon.
"Not bad," Gary said, nodding his head. "Your vulpix needs work but that fearow knows what it's doing - but I noticed it wasn't too fast. I think I have a combat for that."
A shriek, eerily similar to Gale's own call, split the air. Two wide tan wings and a bright red crest, scarlet and cream tail feathers streaming behind. Talons scrapped the ground as the pokemon took to several feet above the earth, black eyes bright.
Ash could practically feel Gale's glare. The fearow spread his own wings, crest fully extending back up and beak glimmering. He released a grating scream that tore at Ash's ears like grinding metal.
Gary laughed. "Ah, the famed rivalry. According to the general idea of evolution, your fearow should beat my pidgeotto, but some part of me doubts that. Your training seems to be lacking in one specific area." He stared up at Pidgeotto, who chirped back. They both swung their gaze toward Gale.
"Give it a taste of a real flying type's speed," Gary called, grinning. Pidgeotto squawked fiercely, crest flashing in the sun. With nary a flash of light, it took to the skies and disappeared.
"Fly!" Ash shouted, jerking his fearow into attention. Spreading his wings, Gale took off, managing to get only ten feet off the ground before a cream blur slammed him down into the earth.
Pidgeotto let loose a mocking shriek, slowing just enough so that Ash could see it circling overhead, feathers ruffling in a soft wind.
"That's just agility," Gary shouted over the field. "Not even tailwind nor quick attack. Let's see how well you can manage with just that!"
Gale dragged his wings back up, feathers twisted from the brutal wing attack he had been hit with. With a shriek, he took back to the skies, gaining altitude as quickly as he could. Pidgeotto circled overhead, staying two dozen feet away at all times. Fearow were known for their vicious attacks, but they had to get close for them to work. It wasn't going to let him.
Pidgeotto dove at Gary's muffled command, wings shining. A weak gust thrown Gale off balance and two more wing attacks slammed into his back, though they thankfully missed his wings. He managed to jerk his head upward and jab his beak at Pidgeotto's head, stabbing lightly into its chest before they broke apart and regained positions.
Ash cursed. Gale was outclassed here - he was too slow for another flying type and built for close range fighting instead of long - but he wasn't just going to let Gary knock out another of his pokemon. "Heat wave, try and burn it!"
Embers drifted away from Gale's wings, popping and snapping in the wind as he started to fly in quick circles around the clearing. A glittering stream of scarlet followed his path, fading once he left but warming the air to uncomfortable standards. Pidgeotto squawked, annoyed, and started to bob and weave through the flames, focusing on dodging. Gale saw the opportunity and took it.
A steel wing sliced through Pidgeotto's primaries, cutting off their edges like warm butter. It shrieked, flying upward and through a patch of fading fire. Smoke trailed from its crest, but Gary was grinning - he had a plan. "Twister!"
Ash paled.
Pidgeotto took higher and higher to the skies, going well above the remaining heat wave. Its wings rose, almost crowning the sun, before launching a blast of wind that circled around itself to form a tornado. Dust ripped itself up from the ground, wailing as it turned the cyclone a murky brown. The last remnants from the heat wave was swallowed whole by the unstoppable dragon attack. Ash coughed and jerked a sleeve over his mouth, eyes watering as he stared at the battle.
This was it, their chance to win. Ash waited another second to let the already devastating attack gain strength, Gale shrieking as if he could stop the twister through the sheer force of his voice, before shouting, "Mirror move!"
This time, Gary whitened. "Dodge!"
Gale began to furiously beat his wings, slamming them against the sky as wind kicked up around him. Slowly, the funnel began to form, a horizontal tunnel of screaming air that hit the twister right in the middle. The tornado slowed, almost pausing, before beginning to move in the opposite direction.
Pidgeotto immediately blurred into agility, form almost disappearing as it shot upward. The twister reached for it, winds screaming a challenge, but it was too fast - all the tornado managed to do was to ruffle the avian's feathers.
The cyclone died down, target lost. Gary laughed, eyes closed and hand on his chest. "Alright, you had me worried there. Guess that won't work - Pidgeotto! Fast wing!"
Gale shrieked, still desperately pumping his wings as he tried to follow his sworn enemy up. Pidgeotto squawked pridefully, barely a blip in the wide sky, before beginning to soar downward. Its feathers glowed with agility as it flew, wings spreading for wing attack. Gale wasn't going to accept that.
The fearow waited until the last second before jerking backward, exposing his talons. Pidgeotto slammed its wings into his chest, ripping through the feathers and exposing torn flesh, but Gale reared past the pain and slammed his talons on the joints of its wings.
Both Gary and Ash jerked. Pidgeotto couldn't fly, wings pinned, and there was no chance an injured Gale could support them both. The fearow gave one last vicious shriek before they both began to plummet, twisting as they fell through the sky like twin dying stars. Pidgeotto worked to stretch its wings, trying to use them as parachutes to slow them down, but Gale's talons kept them firmly pinned outward, his own being thrown around and buffeted. Incredibly, he began to thrum with the glow of aerial ace, increasing their speed even more.
They landed on the ground with a crunch. Gale gave a high shriek of pain, one wing collapsing awkwardly on the ground and twisted in the wrong angle. Pidgeotto was merely knocked out, having been above Gale when they fell, but it was clear it wasn't going to get back up.
Ash recalled the thrashing Gale. The pokeball in his palm twitched for only a second before going cold, the stasis knocking him out fully past the pain. Gary followed suit, reattaching the pokeball with raised eyebrows.
"Your fearow has some pride, doesn't it?"
Ash scoffed past his worry. "That's one way to describe it. He hasn't done anything like this before, though." Gale really hadn't. At most, he had begrudgingly accepted help from Scorch - whom he seemed to like the best out of the team - in order to defeat a powerful member of the pidgey line, but now he had injured himself far beyond the norm to defeat one. Ash could only imagine what that fall had done to his far more fragile bones - at least Pidgeotto had been spared the brunt of it.
Both trainers made eye contact. "One left," Ash said.
Wartortle playfully snapped his jaws, his almost beak-like mouth creating a hard sound. Gary grinned and pointed at the field. The water type marched forward, pounding his fists together with a low grunt.
With a rumbling roar, Rhyhorn lumbered out onto the field. He avoided the slight crater Gale and Pidgeotto had left, raising his horn up and glaring at Wartortle.
"They remember each other." Gary grinned, shifting his weight between his feet.
The last time these two had battled, Rhyhorn had had only one move and Wartortle could do little else than tackle. It had been heavily in Ash's favor then, despite the typing, as the small water type could do next to nothing to damage his starter.
Wartortle didn't look nearly so small now. Nearly three and some change feet tall, he was proud and bulky. The ear-like fins on the side of his face twitched constantly, blue tail swishing as he stomped on the ground. Rhyhorn rumbled back, age-old instincts against water types rising to the forefront.
"It'll hit you hard with water," Ash said quietly. "You need to get close and keep it there - blast it then go in. It might have a few close range attacks but your bulk should carry you through."
Gary finished his own pep talk and focused back on the battle. After a moment or two, Ash took the first move.
"Shock wave!" Ash barked.
Gary jerked. "Damnit - iron defense and withdraw!"
Wartortle flashed silver, popping his limbs and head effortlessly into his shell and falling to the ground. Ash could see his stubby claws and tail keeping the shell from falling over, but Rhyhorn's powerful blast of electricity shook threw him on his side.
The shock wave only lightly touched the water type, frying along the tip of his tail before he popped back out of his shell. In the time he took, Rhyhorn was already charging, horn poised.
He slammed against his shell hard enough for a wave of energy to hit the clearing. Wartortle grunted in pain, sliding back a few feet, but he righted himself quickly and charged forward with eyes narrowed.
"Aqua tail!"
Wartortle grunted, his damp skin beginning to weep moisture. The water gathered by his tail, extending it nearly a foot with the thick covering of swirling blue. He grunted proudly at the difficult move as he started his spin. Rhyhorn was given a moment's chance to either backpedal or take it - he chose to use the time to slam his front claws into the earth.
Earth power reached Wartortle a second too late - aqua tail nailed him on his side, the water instantly cutting through his thick plates and ripping into his skin. He bellowed with pain, almost falling on his side before he managed to catch himself.
Wartortle was thrown nearly four feet upward, limbs flailing as he tried to catch himself. There was a grunt as he tried to withdraw but didn't manage it in time, his legs being caught under his shell as he fell. He grumbled at the pain but jumped back to attention, narrowing his eyes as Rhyhorn righted himself.
"Spite attack!"
"Double team!"
Rhyhorn bellowed, gathering shadows, only to rear back. Half a dozen Wartortles roared challengingly, pounding their fists together. Each had slightly fuzzy images, not perfect, but they were worryingly close. Rhyhorn let the spite writhe in the back of his throat, staring confusedly at the six pokemon surrounding him.
Ash hadn't fought double team before, and it was beyond irritating. Rhyhorn looked warily around as the six Wartortles began to slowly circle him, charging water in their throats. Whatever move they were charging, it was going to be powerful.
Rhyhorn wasn't a psychic, so he couldn't tell which one he was just by their brain, but he could feel his weight. Shock wave wouldn't work until he found Wartortle - he wasn't advanced enough to lock it onto pokemon's heat signature. "Feel him out, and shock wave!"
Gary narrowed his eyes. "Water pulse, launch it!"
The ground typed stomped once, sending a ripple over the earth in the weakest form of earth power he could muster. It passed cleanly through five of the pokemon but jerked against the stubby legs of the sixth - Rhyhorn turned and released a ray of lightning from his horn.
Wartortle withdrew well before it reached him, the other illusions fading away as he concentrated. Rhyhorn roared, charging forward with his horn glowing even as he shook the earth beneath him. Wartortle popped out, jerked his head downward, and released a throbbing ball of water.
It hit the ground and exploded. Water slammed into Rhyhorn and immediately threw him onto his back. He writhed, silver claws flashing as he desperately tried to right him. Ash cursed - Rhyhorn was as immobile as a magikarp on dry land when he was flipped. "Widespread!"
Rock and dirt wrenched themselves up from the earth, trembling in midair as Rhyhorn tried to calm his frazzled nerves well enough to control them. He managed to get a hold over himself and launch them in a wide circle, hitting Wartortle squarely on his head. He squeaked, brushing away the dirt covering his eyes and temporarily stopping his attack.
"Come on, Rhyhorn!" Ash shouted, breaking his composure. If he could just flip himself over-
Gary shook his head. "Wartortle, water pulse. Finish it."
Another ball of water exploded against Rhyhorn's side just as he managed to roll over. He bellowed in pain, trembling as his skin was shredded by the water attack. Ash could see thick pebbles of blood emerging from between his plates, staining the water scarlet.
And then his eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed.
Ash closed his eyes. His thumb found the recall button without needing to see it, the scarlet light hitting him through his eyelids as the slumped figure of Rhyhorn was recalled back into the safety of his pokeball.
Gary cheered, pumping a fist. "Yes!" There was a pause where he celebrated, but it was only a moment - after that he came over the slightly fried battlefield to clap Ash's shoulder.
"Hey," he said warmly. "Don't worry about it. Your team is going to be badass - it's just not fully developed yet. I've trained my team to handle any attacks thrown at them - when they evolve, they're going to be tanks that deal out big damage. Your team is more aimed at the sneaky side of things - focus on tricks and traps, really. Poisoning would always be good - you seem to be geared toward kind of residual damage type, right? Although that rhyhorn of yours is going to be more suited to my style of training." He smiled, and it broke past the quiet anger Ash was feeling. "No hard feelings."
Ash smacked his shoulder. "Of course not, you twat. We're one to one now anyway - don't think I'm going to let you win next time!"
They were, at the heart of things, best friends since birth. No fight, no loss nor win, would change that. Ash and Gary called each other a few names, mocked their dirty appearances, and congratulated their captures. The last time they had seen each other had been in Pallet.
Both agreed to walk each other back to Vermillion. Gary had just challenged the lieutenant and won, but was training up a bit before going for Sabrina. Ash was going to be smug about having more badges but Gary had already gotten the Soul Badge when he caught Kangaskhan- had bummed a ride off of his grandfather's alakazam when he had been called for his monthly check-up of his Wartortle. Being such rare pokemon as he was, Professor Oak often checked up on his health and growth, recording it for his studies. The man was well known for calling in other trainers he sponsored to collect notes on their pokemon as well, and Ash knew it would one day come for him as well if he captured a suitably rare pokemon. None of the ones he had now would qualify as that, although Scorch and the Trio pokemon were close-ish. Professor Oak's psychic type was known to be powerful enough to teleport to Sinnoh if needed, though she couldn't make the return trip without a fair bit of rest.
Maybe he could get the man to teleport him to his next gym as well. He wanted to wait until Karma really knew what she was doing before he let her teleport him around the region.
Vermillion was a breath of fresh air, the salty sea not as overpowering as Celadon's scent but more present than other cities. It gave it a memorable touch, something gentle that instantly brought him back to the other two times he had been here. He could feel his shadow peek up in interest, Wraith no doubt recognizing the same city he had been forcibly brought to.
Ash had thought about this, and was ready to bring Karma out if he needed to calm the ghost down. But Wraith seemed only cautiously angry, sending pieces of his shadow to spike upward in mockeries of the haunter's own poisonous spines. Gary looked curiously upon him, but Ash had given a very brief explanation of Wraith's history and the trainer had accepted it. Not every pokemon was from quiet pasts.
Gary yawned, folding his arms above his head. Wartortle grunted, poking his side. The trainer swatted him on the shell, prompting another annoyed grunt and a spray of mist. Gary yelped.
Ash snickered, only for Wartortle to douse him in a blast of water as well. They both entered Vermillion with dripping hair. Scorch avoided the same fate by snarling at Wartortle when he gave her a curious glance with gleaming eyes.
Nurse Joy actually remembered Ash, but barely. Rhyhorn had to be put in a heated tank to regain his proper body temperature as they healed below his plates, Scorch had to be injected with high level potions, and Karma had to be pumped full of antidotes, but Gale wasn't nearly as bad as Ash would have thought.
It seemed Erika's gift of iron nutrients had done more than he would have ever thought - Gale's wing was only fractured in two spots, which would take a day or two max to heal up in the Pokemon Center. He would be stuck to light battling for a week or so after, but it wasn't the worst. Gale would be pleased, anyway.
For Gary's team, only Kangaskhan needed a lot of intense healing - Gale had managed to do a number on her. Nurse Joy accepted them, smiling, and then sent them off. Gary had asked for accelerated healing, with a less thorough job.
Ash guessed what that meant.
xXx
Ash roared with laughter hard enough to get several of the other patrons in the restaurant to look over. "He did what?"
"You should have seen it!" Gary grinned. "So there's my little squirtle, trying to hit Pidgeotto, right? You know Pidgeotto - he's a beast who hits hard and can shrug off most everything. Squirtle's water guns were barely dampening his feathers, 'cause they lost a lot of their intensity since Pidgeotto was so high up. And he keeps mocking him!"
Gary spoke louder to power through Ash's peals of laughter. "This little baby starter is practically out of water in his reserves but he doesn't give up because Pidgeotto started running through my acrobatic trainings instead of focusing on dodging Squirtle's water guns. He's getting so upset I'm thinking of sending Magnemite to calm him down when he fucking evolves and snips Pidgeotto right out of the sky!"
They were both cackling loud enough that their waiter came over to ask them to quiet down. They did so, but Ash had to keep a hand over his mouth to contain his sporadic giggles. And he had thought how Gale evolved was cool. That must have been hilarious to see.
Gary grimaced, popping his back against the wooden chair. They had traveled fast to get here to heal up their pokemon and it hadn't been nice on either one of them. Ash was only slightly better, having cheated on Rhyhorn before he had run into Gary.
He polished off the smoothie he had ordered - the restaurant knew their way around berries, that much was sure - and set down the glass. Gary was still finishing his sandwich and they sat there in comfortable silence, hearing the distant sound of crashing waves. Both of them had wanted to rent a ship to explore the bay, but waves had recently been extremely intense and inexperienced sailors weren't allowed out, no matter the clout being Professor Oak's grandson brought.
After maybe five minutes of quiet, Ash made eye contact. "You're leaving, aren't you?"
Gary sighed and set down his drink. "Yeah. Sabrina ain't going to challenge herself and I'm going to be facing her real team. My team needs a lot more work and I need to get them going on it - any tips?"
"She's not mean, I guess," Ash offered, thinking back. "She gives you a fair match but she's just very powerful. My best guess is that you should have at least some way for your pokemon to shake off psychic influences, even if it's just barely. A dark move is great but you might not have time. Honestly, just try to prepare them to fight psychics. You're going to try and fight the wandering drowzee around Vermillion, right?"
He nodded. "My only chance. I've only fought a few golduck and hypno and they weren't easy battles. I'm giving myself another week on the road before I try but I need to get started." Gary grinned. "You're wasting my daylight, Ashy-boy."
Ash reached across the table and shoved his shoulder. "You have any tips for me about Koga?"
"Oh yeah, him." Gary winced. "He sucks to fight, I'll give it to you straight. His pokemon aren't the strongest, so my team could mostly stand up to him pretty easy, but he loves to poison and trap you. Seriously, any possible way for his pokemon to get their poison out there and he'll somehow use it. Once you get close, though, he doesn't have too many defenses."
"Same for Sabrina," Ash said. "Though she does have teleport."
Gary groaned. "I've heard stories - annoying as hell. For a team that's built to just hit hard a few times, that can really exhaust them. Maybe I'll just skip her - if that stupid Samurai kid in the Viridian Forest can ever get his stupid hands on a stupid badge, I can claim that."
"You met him too, huh. Did you beat him?"
Gary rolled his eyes but grinned. "'Course I did. Kid was about as strong as a damp paper bag - but he's making enough clamour in the right circles that he might be made into a real gym - no matter how sucky he is." His grin widened. "Did he do the whole 'if I beat you, you have to leave my forest' thing to you to?"
Ash groaned and set his head into his arms. "And his pinsir barely put up a fight… I see what you mean about just nabbing the badge from him."
"I've got back up plans for the other difficult gyms, too. I'm going to try Blaine and Giovanni, but if I can't get them on the first or second try, I'm not going to potentially not make it to the League if I can't win their badges. There's a budding flying gym near Celadon and a well established normal gym that's been around for a couple decades. They both don't have nearly the reputation of the big three - Sabrina, Blaine, and Giovanni."
"When you go to Cinnabar, send me a message," Ash offered. "Maybe we can fight again. I won't lose, either."
Gary grinned and promised to. Ash paid the check - he had lost the battle, after all - and walked his friend back to the Pokemon Center. Nurse Joy was a bit iffy about handing Kangaskhan over and made him promise not to battle with her for maybe a week with the normal type. The rest of his pokemon should probably only lightly train as well.
Ash stood on the edge of Vermillion and waved goodbye as his friend disappeared into the distance, Wartortle trodding quietly by his side. He stayed there for a while after, watching the sky.
xXx
Ash grinned, reading over the entire note page Gary had written out for him while ordering food in the restaurant. Pidgeotto's aerial training methods were going to whip Gale into better shape and he was planning on adding a hint of Kangaskhan' training to supplement Rhyhorn's own methods.
Gary had been a bit of a wake up call, but he'd much rather have it be Gary than any other trainer. While they were rivals, they also didn't want to throw each other down.
At least until it came to the Conference. Ash refused to lose there.
Gale had been released to him in two days, which wasn't too long, but the fearow was an odd mixture of being proud he took down the pidgeotto but also upset he couldn't stand conscious long enough to gloat. When Ash released him, he stumbled over to one corner of the Pokemon Center room and perched on the back of a chair, head tucked beneath his wings. It had taken Ash two more days to get him to eat properly, but he had purchased another supply of iron to give to him. That had probably been the only reason his wing wasn't broken.
He walked through the city, enjoying the atmosphere. Few people were out, though it was the afternoon, but the city was alive enough to hum with the whisper of voices and stomp of footsteps. If he remembered right, the gym should be only a fifteen minute walk from the Pokemon Center.
"Vermillion City," a voice boomed.
Ash jerked, bag almost flying off of his shoulders. He turned quickly but saw no one - at least until he saw the speakers clicking to life underneath the lamp posts. They were tiny, almost impossible to see, but now that he knew where they were he could see them easily. It crackled again before beginning to speak in a familiar female face.
"All civilians must evacuate to your closest shelter, Code 9-A. I repeat, all civilians must follow Code 9-A. All trainers with more than two pokemon must report to the southern shore as soon as possible. I repeat, all trainers to the southern shore."
"At this moment, a large amount of water types are coming from the sea. Vermillion City will be attacked in less than thirty minutes, repeat, less than thirty minutes. Experienced trainers report to the Harbor while others spread evenly near the shore. I repeat, experienced trainers to the Harbor."
Ash could feel the shiver creep down his spine as the words sunk in. Something was coming toward Vermillion City, big enough that Officer Jenny was calling in all trainers. He knew it happened occasionally, moreso by seaside cities where traveling pods of pokemon could come near shore in their migrations, and he knew that Vermillion employed trainers to chase them back to sea.
He had just never been a part of that before.
All of his pokemon were healed. He straightened his hat, twisting the cap around to block the glaring sun. Vermillion City needed trainers - maybe not him, but the extra power he could add behind his step would be helpful nonetheless. He made a move to start toward the southwestern shore before jerking to a stop. Ash had five badges.
In the eyes of the League, he was now an experienced trainer.
Swallowing a breath of air down his dry throat, he moved toward the Harbor. On the edge of the horizon, water thrashed and howled its fury at the fierce sun above, clouds vainly trying to protect the sea from its wrath but only managing to make the water angrier. As he grew closer, it only became louder - the rocks that protected the town rattled in their sockets from the force of the waves.
He jumped almost thirty feet in the air as something touched his feet. Glancing down, he could see a layer water creeping along the stone streets, only a centimeter or two tall. The tide wasn't just rising - it was being brought it. He increased his walk to a run.
The shore came into sight quickly. A wide beach extended out in front of him, lifeguard posts every hundred yards or so and several large umbrellas dotting the surfaced like wild flowers. Fishing docks stretched out as fingers against the wild surf, only visible for seconds before being swallowed by spray. Waves pounded against the stone, several streams escaping upward into the town. On either side, the thick stone walls that made up the protection of Vermillion shot sprays of mist nearly fifteen feet up.
But farther out, in the curves of waves, in the rising crash of mist, in the white-caps slamming toward shore, there were pokemon.
Dozens of them.
It couldn't be a pod - he could see every shade of water type, many from Kanto but far more exotic ones mixed up in the writhing mass. Green and blue and silver and white and tan and navy all swirling together in an impossible pool of colors.
He had run before. Not this time.
Ash released Rhyhorn. The ground type rumbled annoyedly at the sand that sunk several inches beneath his bulk, but immediately stiffened as he beheld the scene before him in the waves. He took the comfort of seeing his starter, seeing his friend bristle his spines and prepare for battle no matter how daring the prospects seemed.
The rest of his team joined him on the sand. Together, they quietly took in what was quickly approaching. Ash could see movement from the corner of his eye - another trainer taking position on the shore, stationed a good distance from him - but didn't pull his gaze from the sea.
"There's a lot of pokemon coming for Vermillion, and we have to stop them," he said quietly. "We're going to keep them from pushing on this side, but only focus on here. There are other trainers too, and we don't have the strength to fight them all. Don't try." His voice was raw. "We aren't strong enough."
"Gale and Wraith, you're the only two that can get close. I need you to fly overhead and stick to close range when you can - most water types don't have too many close attacks. If it's bigger than a seadra, you don't get anywhere near them. Shadow ball and aerial ace."
He turned to his next friend. Karma floated higher on her psionic bubble to meet his gaze head on, shine in its active form. "I need you to run interference. Use flash, box, psybeam, and then teleport away when you need to. Is there any chance you could teleport one of us?"
Karma narrowed her eyes, ears flicking. Yes. Early on. Energy.
Scorch yipped, five tails curled above her head. "You can't get close. Stay close to the shore and hit them with everything you've got - aim for the eyes and mouth. Extrasensory if they get too close - run away."
She yipped at him, but he could see the worry in her grey eyes. The loss against the kangaskhan had weakened her self confidence and now he was pitting her against an army of water types. He knelt next to her, scratching behind the back of her ears as she leaned into his touch. "You've got this, Scorch. I believe in you."
He turned toward his first pokemon, who stared up at him with a quiet scarlet gaze.
"Rhyhorn, you're at the biggest disadvantage here, but you've got our best weapon. Use shock wave at every chance until you're depleted, then rock blast. If they ever get near land, nail them with earth power. Please bud, stay safe."
A piercing shriek rose over the ocean, some distant part of Ash's mind registering it as seadra. Rhyhorn snapped to attention, rumbling his own commands to the team. Karma's eyes flashed blue, Wraith hissing at the psychic energy as his ectoplasmic skin thickened, hands emerging to orbit his body. Gale spread his wings. "Let's go."
Cries of affirmation answered him. Scorch blurred away with quick attack, flash fire searing against the seaside humidity. Karma raised her shine, glowing almost as bright as her eyes, and disappeared. Wraith and Gale barely glanced at each other, pushing off the ground and taking to the sky. Ash and Rhyhorn made eye contact, scarlet and brown. Electricity crackled off of his horn as he turned and charged.
A hundred yards away, a seadra rose its spiked head above the crashing wave. It spat a burst of water toward shore, reddish eyes shining with confused rage. Before it even got close to the sand, a wall of wind slammed into it and forced it back into the harbor, a resounding splash of water erupting upward. The seadra shrieked. Gale answered it, wings shining as he tucked them in and pulled into a tight loop before diving. His beak and talons slammed right past its scales, throwing it downward. It didn't resurface.
Towards Ash's left, a dark blob surfaced from beneath the surf. The red omastar-like pokemon flexed its tentacles, snout releasing a spray of mist as it flicked its dark gaze around. Karma flashed before it with teleport and jerked her paw forward, clutching her shine. It groaned at her. Its tentacles thrashed against the water, like blood against the blue. It reared its head back and fired a thick stream of inky water, almost like a shadow in liquid form
A gleaming barrier erupted in front of the shore. The murky water slammed into it, exploding but barely managing to even bend it. It groaned in rage, firing another blast of water. Karma teleported out of the way, an almost mocking hum filling the air as she raised her shine. The pokemon was surrounded with a blue glue, groaning in panic as it was raised into the air and flung nearly a hundred yards back. Its scarlet form sunk beneath the waves.
On the beach, Scorch barked defiantly as an angular head poked up near the shore, having successfully disguised itself from Ash's other pokemon with its thin blue feathers. The golduck quacked darkly, reaching out with a clawed grip. She whirled around, blocking the attack with three of her iron tails, using the other two to nail it across the beak. It squawked again, this time angrily, and reared back with a blast of water.
She blurred out of the way of most of it, yipping as the splash nailed her across the chest. The golduck used her distraction to spin around with aqua tail, slamming against her side. Scorch gave a low, keening bark as she was flung, dripping, and retaliated with a barrage of embers. They flew true and hit its eyes. It screamed in pain, thrashing, and Scorch shut it up with a vicious hex that immediately burst to life in writhing ghostly flames. The golduck reached out with its webbed hands, but the hex was too much and it passed out.
In the air, Wraith cackled, bobbing around a thrashing tentacruel. It reached upward, blue tentacles extending as it absorbed water to supplement their instant growth, hissing. The haunter separated his hands away from his body, letting a blast of acid harmlessly fly past. He brought his two hands together, opening his fanged maw as well as he let out a low, shrieking howl that echoed across the Harbor. Three shadow balls flashed with grey lightning, charged in his hands and mouth, but he only launched two toward the poison type. It slumped toward, red orbs going dim as the other streaked over the waves to blast a seadra about to sneak up on a distracted Karma. Neither looked at each other, but Ash knew Karma had said her thanks telepathically. Their relationship, while rocky, was improving.
Back on the beach. Rhyhorn rumbled, stomping against the sand as a small pod of tentacool swam closer. They twitched above the water every now and then, the red orb embedded in their forehead flashing, but they always retreated beneath the safety of the waves. Unfortunately for them, Rhyhorn's wait wasn't for them to come out of the water, but for their range.
As soon as they came close enough, he released the blast of electricity he had been hiding in his horn. It streaked through the air in a jagged blast that left sparks behind and slammed into the water. Muffled groans echoed through water, a few weaker tentacool descending into the depths. Several others rose fully from the water, beginning to release pulses of water, eyes wide. Rhyhorn barely spared them a moment of thought, releasing another enormous shock wave that blasted the rest of them back. The ground type sagged, most of his stores depleted in those two attacks, but he dutifully returned to his wary pacing against the shore.
A deafening roar echoed across the bay. Ash paled, reaching desperately for the stain in the back of his mind, shouting commands as clearly as he could. Karma jerked, psychic energy touching him before her ears flattened. She understood the threat.
With a roar that shook the sand beneath Ash's feet, a gyarados erupted from beneath the sea. It shook its gleaming coat of blue scales, barbels twitching as it homed in on the pokemon near it.
Ash bolted. His pokemon could work without him - he couldn't help them when he was too focused on escaping the damn gyarados near the shore. When he finally turned back around, he was completely off the Harbor and nearly halfway to Vermillion.
Rhyhorn, despite the gleam in his eyes Ash could see from here, stayed back. He began to gather electricity but didn't fire it - he'd only have one chance. Gale instead took over, giving a fierce squawk to alert Wraith to the strange shark-like pokemon he had been dealing with before taking off toward the gyarados. It spun to face him, fangs gleaming. Gale was barely a third of its size. He shrieked his own warning, pulling into quick circles over the water type. It eyed him furiously, trying to find an opening to attack.
It found one. Head lowered, it spat out a throbbing ball of water that exploded the instant it touched Gale's tail. He shrieked, knocked off course, but he used the blast to duck into a tight loop. Another water pulse sped past him, but he dodged it and returned the favor with a wave of fire spreading across the sky like a curtain of flames. The gyarados bellowed in pain, nearly thrown backward, and Gale used that to dive forward with aerial ace and steel wing. It roared again and fell, where a flurry of shadow balls met it.
The other trainer on the shore recalled his knocked out dodrio with a panicked expression. As if it was smelling fear, the gyarados swung in his direction, snarling loud enough for Ash to hear it all the way from the street. It lunged.
With a flash of light, Karma appeared in front of the raging water type. Her shine melted from the sheer force she was pushing through it, but the gyarados was unable to hit them both with another exploding ball of water as a barrier covered the shore. It roared in rage, thrashing against the water, but Karma touched the man with her paw and teleported them both out with a crack like rolling thunder. She appeared next to Ash, paws nothing but an inch above the ground, psionic bubble nearly depleted. The other trainer stammered out a thank you before sprinting back toward Vermillion.
Wraith fired another shadow ball, covering Gale's escape from a vicious bite. When it swung toward the haunter, Gale slapped a second heat wave onto it, keeping it safely pinned between the two of them. With a snarl, it swatted away a dark pulse and ducked under water, retreating. It didn't seem to think them worth it. Ash let out a wild cry of relief.
Back on shore, Rhyhorn growled and kept his electricity in his horn. A small pod of shellder crept closer to shore only to be met with an enormous flamethrower that stopped them in their tracks.
Scorch barked furiously as the poliwhirl facing her gurgled. It pounded a fist against its side, spitting a water gun. She dodged it quickly, turning to face it with three will-o-wisps primed. The moment she launched them, the spiral shape on the water type's chest began to hum a soft pink and swirl.
She staggered. The hypnosis was particularly potent, part of the poliwag's line hunting strategy, and even her proficiency in the Mind Arts wouldn't help her. Slowly, her legs began to give up beneath her, eyes drooping. Karma teleported next to her with a crack, blasting the poliwrath with a powerful psybeam with a low thrum of anger. It was thrown backward, but not without a parting shot of a bubble beam. Scorch was hit and sent flying, but she dragged herself back up and yipped determindably to her friend. Karma nodded back, eyes glowing as she scanned for more opponents.
Ash started closer to the shore, gyarados gone. His pokemon might need instructions and he couldn't always ask Karma to focus on fighting and listening to his instructions, and even though his adrenaline sung sharply through his veins as he grew closer to the shore, he didn't stop. His team needed him.
He caught sight of a strange shadow under the surface of the water. Karma's ears snapped toward it, raising her shine. Whatever it was, it had definitely attracted her attention.
It came to the shore, jabbing its head through the water. He didn't recognize it - it wasn't a Kantonese pokemon or even a Johtoean one, but he could guess it was at least a water type. It let loose another roar before hauling itself out of the water, using two powerful flippers near its front.
The pokemon was similar in shape to a dewgong, but it was very different - instead of white, it was a pale blue with a cream chest. Bright white whiskers were basic of its mouth, twitching wildly, two sharp fangs poking out. Ash guessed it was three feet tall but nearly six long, and when it raised itself fully up it was almost staring him in the eyes with its own gleaming black gaze. Its thick tail - almost like a vaporeon's fin - slapped against the shore, releasing a spray of water.
It made a sound that Ash could only classify as a bark, but it was so incredibly different than Scorch's happy sound that he didn't know what to make of it. The sound was a deep, vicious thing that sent shivers down his spine and immediately activated his fight or flight response - this was the sound of a predator, the sound his ancestors had learned to respect or die.
Ash guessed it was probably part ice type, judging by the crystals around its slick fur. Gale and Wraith were distracted by a powerful dewgong and Scorch didn't have the firepower. Only Karma and Rhyhorn were able to fight. Her eyes flashed blue as she pulled instructions right out of Ash's thoughts and quickly relayed them to the rhino.
Rhyhorn rumbled and charged forward, horn primed. It growled, flippers slapping against the ground hard enough to indent it, and released a blast of wind. Ash shivered, ducklettflesh prickling up his arms even from Vermillion, taking a step backward. The wind was edged in snow flurries, sucking the warmth from the air before it slammed into Rhyhorn.
The ground type bellowed in pain, legs freezing up as his body temperature plummeted. Wartortle's water attacks could cut beneath his plates and slightly lower his body temperature, but ice energy had a far different style.
His charge slowed, legs locking even as he tried to go through with horn attack. The pokemon barked angrily and slid away, flippers pounding against the ground as it moved out of the way and focused on the next pokemon.
Karma threw her shine up as its cold eyes slid to her. The silver trembled, edges melting and reforming at the same time as she forced power through it. With a hiss, ears pinned, she thrust it out and released a blinding light. The flash nearly knocked Ash back despite him being prepared for it, but it did its job - Rhyhorn was able to shake off the cold and charge forward with another horn attack.
Gale shrieked with pain after the dewgong managed to tag his wing. Wraith swooped in to cover him, two shadow punches slamming directly against its eyes. It howled, falling back, and Wraith did his best to keep it that way.
The fearow had seen better days. Frost coated his primaries and his flight was jerky, even as he pumped his wings furiously to get back to shore. Wraith finished with the dewgong and swooped in to try and cover them both.
Rhyhorn bellowed, thrown backward from a truly impressive body slam. Karma tried to hit it with a psybeam, successfully distracting it from them, but its gaze only trailed to the side to see the weakened flying type.
The seal-like pokemon roared, blasting out a fluctuating aurora beam that snapped and crackled through the air. Scorch blitzed forward, taking the ice attack to protect the retreating Gale, but the cold was too much for her to handle. She was thrown back, flash fire forcibly deactivated as her inner flame couldn't handle the sudden change in temperature, ice crystalizing over her fur. Scorch forced herself to stand. Her paws trembled beneath her. Wraith swooped in to deal with the pokemon, trying to give her an escape route.
Scorch's eyes flashed a pale blue, trying to reach out to Karma. The kadabra shook her head - her energy was too low to teleport the fire type out, barely able to keep herself up. With a whine of pain, the tired vulpine began to start limping toward Ash.
Wraith gave an angry hiss but he wasn't able to dodge the aurora beam that swept cleanly through his center. He exploded in a burst of grey, trickling down toward the ground, gases writhing as he tried to reform.
Ash's team was being picked apart. He called out for Karma to try and box it, for Rhyhorn to use rock blast, already pulling off Scorch's pokeball to recall her. The fire type valiantly stumbled toward him.
Rhyhorn ripped up the earth around them, growling a challenge to get the roughly seal-like pokemon to turn towards him. It did, barking, but spat out a beam of icy energy that changed color with every second. Most of the rocks were stopped by the aurora beam but a few others smacked into the pokemon. It bellowed in pain, eyes narrowed in rage, but Wraith, having been able to roughly reform, though without his hands, blocked it with a shadow ball.
The sky darkened. Ash grimaced, hugging his jacket closer to himself and pulling the brim of his hat down as a chilled wind crawled through the clearing. Rhyhorn roared, spines rattling, but the seal-like pokemon barely reacted. It cranked its head back, maw gaping, and fired a brilliant beam of icy white energy.
It slammed into a pale cloud, lighting it up from the inside like a lantern. Immediately, the cloud thickened, growing darker and darker. It split up into more clouds, covering the sky like a blanket. Something hit Ash's arm hard enough for him to notice, some sort of stinging pellet. He looked down to see a tiny chunk of ice melting into the ground.
Hail. The pokemon had summoned a damn hailstorm.
It didn't seem to be experienced with it - the clouds were breaking up on the outer layers and he was shivering instead of freezing - but even that was deadly. Rhyhorn was already trembling, spines rattling against each other as he vainly tried to charge forward once again.
The seal pokemon was still recovering from the energy loss and Rhyhorn had a clear shot for horn attack. It did damage, managing to puncture past thick layers of fat to draw blood, but it hadn't done much. Hail as large as pebbles bounced off of his plates, chilling him further, and by the random locking of his limbs, Ash guessed this was as close to paralysis Rhyhorn was going to experience. Karma blasted it with a psybeam, but most of her strength was sapped by the winds. Wraith, in his weakened state, was focusing on not being blown away. "Flamethrower!" He shouted.
The pokemon's eyes slid to him. It barked again, flippers slamming against the ground. Sniping off another twisting beam of icy energy, it knocked Rhyhorn back and charged, ignoring the flames.
Ash sprung to the side, trusting the pokemon's lack of four limbs or terrestrial build. It slid past him, bellowing in anger. But it redoubled over again, whiskers twitching and eyes bright, and went for him.
It managed to clip him on the chest with one of its flippers. He immediately went flying backward, head bouncing off of the ground
Ash groaned, head spinning. A fierce, pounding pain took presence in his chest, thrashing like a living being, and he could still hear the eerie howl of the pokemon. He struggled to rise to his feet. A sudden brilliant blinding light spun through his eyes and he tried to focus, stumbling. Before he could take a step, thick arms wrapped around his torso and legs and picked him up.
What felt like cold stone pressed against his skin, a dull warmth pounding beneath its coarse surface. Ash shook away stars from his eyes just to feel the ground tremble beneath them. The seal-like pokemon let loose another threatening bark, flippers thumping, before a massive spike of earth exploded beneath it, bursting equally through land and sea. It was thrown almost ten feet up to land with a dull thud, eyes rolling back in its head.
Ash managed to jerk a finger toward the rest of his exhausted team. "Catch it," he said. Karma twitched her ears, floating limply over to his bag. She glowed softly at it, psychically grabbing one of his empty pokeballs from his outer pockets. Karma tapped it between the pokemon's eyes, dissolving it into a burst of scarlet light. The pokeball writhed against the ground for nearly two minutes before clicking complete, settling back against the sand. He felt the arms tighten around him, pulling him tighter to its chest while the pokemon holding him let loose a puff of angry breath at the stationary pokeball.
He rolled his head back, eyes still blurry. But what he saw was impossible to ignore.
Rhyh- Rhydon let out a fearsome roar, shaking the earth beneath his feet.
Ash laughed. It made his ribs hurt and breath catch in his throat, but he couldn't stop - his starter was here. His starter was evolved.
Rhydon snorted, clutching him tighter before carefully setting him down. Ash almost stumbled before craning his head back to look at the near six foot tall behemoth that was now part of his team.
Their victory was short lived. The hailstorm was still roaring overhead and Ash could hear the shriek of seadra growing closer and closer. "We're not done yet, bud. Earth power!"
He could almost swear Rhydon chuckled.
Rhydon bellowed, stomping his foot onto the ground. The earth swelled and buckled beneath him, before abruptly shooting forward and buckling beneath the water. The waves above meant nothing for protection as the three seadra went flying, fins flapping furiously before they thudded to the ground. Rhydon rumbled, tail thumping against the ground. A ripple spread over the earth, pushing the twitching water types back into the water.
Karma pulled her gaze away from the behemoth ground type, but it was clear she was in awe. She tried to raise her shine to attack but trembled violently - before she could protest, Ash recalled her. She'd only end up more injured. His stain twitched but she didn't fight back against it.
Wraith flew forward to blast a creeping golduck, but before he could get there an earth power rippled beneath it and exploded it near ten feet in the air. Rhydon roared his approval, scarlet eyes flashing to the next opponent.
He was on an evolution high. Ash had no idea how long it would last but even evolution wouldn't remove the injuries he had already received.
More pokemon were coming. Wraith and Rhydon were the last ones left - Gale and Scorch had been recalled, being far more up close in the battles than the others, and Karma had exhausted herself with the endless teleporting - and the water types were coming at the same rate they had been before.
But they were also at the advantage. Ash winced as another chunk of ice slammed into his side - the hailstorm was picking up strength. Without the seal-like pokemon there to contain it, it was spreading out of control, winds roaring. Rhydon's flamethrower kept the cold at bay but his heat reserves would fail eventually. Another earth power pounded through the land, ramming into a distracted poliwhirl. Rhydon lowered his horn, preparing to charge, when a voice broke out of the fighting.
"Pyroar, flame it!"
The sky was suddenly lit up by what seemed like another sun. A burst of fire so bright Ash could hardly look at it shot upward, slamming into the hailstorm with a crash like stars exploding. It burst straight through the cloud and Ash could see it begin to evaporate, breaking up like it was a mere mist instead of a fully fledged hailstorm. Within seconds, Ash could see the sun.
A pokemon blitzed over the shore. He could hardly see anything but a blur of red and black as something ran in front of all the approaching water type like a bolt of lightning. Flames roared behind it like a cape. A gyarados reared, orange particles of light swirling in front of its gaping maw.
The pokemon barely gave it more than a moment of attention before firing an absolutely enormous blast of fire. The gyarados should have resisted it but it just screamed, high and sharp, its failed hyper beam exploding in its face as it flopped against the surface of the water. It sunk below and didn't resurface.
The fire type - Pyroar, the voice had said - bathed the shore in liberal rivers of fire, steam billowing upward in clouds. Water types retreated before the type they were supposed to dominate, though only few managed to get far enough away before Pyroar baked them alive.
It stayed in one place for only a moment before running off, flames spilling off of its enormous red and gold mane. Pyroar blurred forward, paws thumping against the ground like a heartbeat before stopping in front of him.
Ash stared up at the behemoth. It was covered in black and brown fur, long tail lashing behind it for both balance and power. Huffing in amusement at him, it turned and blasted the shellder that had been giving Karma trouble, swinging its head to get them all. They shrieked, shells flapping uselessly as they were blown backward. With the hissing crackle of rising steam, the entire shore erupting into a cloud of mist that almost hide the sun again. Giving a low rumble, Pyroar loped back to blast a final retreating water type.
The sand that had been beneath its paws was now splintered pieces of glass, pads imprinted and well formed enough that he could see small lines from fur. Ash knelt and touched one of them, quickly retracting his hand - still burning. It hadn't even been touched by the external flame on the fire type, though he had felt the heat from its mane from nearly twenty feet away.
Pyroar leapt nearly twenty feet forward, landing proudly on a exposing mound of sand. It roared, lashing its tail and blasting another wall of fire into the sky. Without so much as a last cry of defeat, the rest of the clouds in the sky disappeared, leaving the brightest blue possible, even though the sun was near the horizon. From nearly a hundred feet away, Ash could hear its pleased purr.
A trainer walked up to it. They patted it behind its enormous ears, saying something Ash didn't have a chance to hear. But he did see them turn toward him - or, more importantly, at the spot where the seal pokemon had been.
Pyroar strode next to its trainer as they walked along the beach, bright blue eyes flashing like it was a psychic. Its trainer, while tall, only came up to a bit below eye level. With every breath, Ash could see heat waves ripple outward, sand hardening under its paws.
The trainer was a fair bit taller than him, wearing protective black and red clothing. She was around twenty, maybe older, with pinkish-red hair contained in a long braid. Tilting her bright red sunglasses down at him, she exposed sharp orange eyes. A grin spread over her tan face. "You the one that captured that sealeo?" Her accent was something gentle, almost lilting, which didn't work with her harsh appearance and sharp edges.
"Sealeo?" He repeated. "I think so. I don't know its name."
She nodded, reaching without looking to touch Pyroar's side. It huffed at her, keeping its sapphire eyes on Ash. "I thought so. It has a powerful hail but doesn't know what it's doing. What are your pokemon?"
Ash was more than a little confused at the questioning, but the woman exuded a confidence that made him answer. "Rhydon, fearow, vulpix, haunter, and kadabra."
As if he was summoned, Rhydon roared and lumbered forward. He managed to disguise his unsteady footsteps well enough, but it was clear to see he was unused to his form and only running on adrenaline - his tail dragged behind him and he was heavily hunched forward. He glared at Pyroar with a scarlet gaze, rumbling a challenge.
The fire type looked mildly amused.
"A vulpix, non? How many tails?" Her eyes flashed at the ground and fire type.
"Five." The woman hummed, interested. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"
Her smile broke for a moment before she laughed. "Malva. And you are?"
"Ash Ketchum." Ash decided that he had to ask - there was no way he was getting out of here without finding out what type of pokemon that lion was. "What kind of pokemon is Pyroar? Where's it from?"
She took a step backward, scratching behind its gently flickering mane. When it wasn't actively in a fight, the mane seemed to die down to just reddish orange fur, though Malva's avoidance of the front and the heat pressing against Ash's face showed it was far from dormant.
"He's a pyroar, a fire and normal type. My starter, actually." Malva grinned, turning back to Ash. "He's pretty hard to find in Kalos, as they hunt in packs. I had to work to get him to join me."
Ash blinked. "Kalos?"
"You heard me," she said calmly, but there was a bright gleam in her eyes.
Kalos, while one of the largest regions in the world, was absolutely closed doors on most everything that went on inside. About twenty-thirty years ago, they had gone steadily quieter and quieter before just shutting up entirely. The results from their Conference was always published, and their professor, someone named Sycamore, reported his findings, but other than that they kept silent about most things. It was rare to meet anyone from the far away region, but now that he was focusing, he could place her accent.
He didn't know too much about it, though their Champion had been replaced only two or three years ago, which had caused a big stir. He remembered the Elite Four had one dragon-typed member, who he had researched. There was also a-
"Wait, are you Malva Pichira? The Elite Four member? Who trains fire types and is rumored to have crushed Blaine that one time around seven years ago-"
She laughed. "Not bad. I'm not normally recognized outside of Kalos. I am a member of the Elite Four, yes. Before you ask, I am in Kanto as my Conference isn't for many months. I am a fan of traveling and my tasks do not require much, and many of my friends are away. Kanto is un centre de life and passion - there is much to report here, and Kalos likes to hear of the world." She didn't mention that no other region was allowed to hear of Kalos.
There was a pounding that almost made Ash look around to see where Rhydon was, but when he looked up, it was just Lt. Surge stomping his way over to the two of them.
The man was as tense as a board, hair out of place and scratches lining his army clothes. He glowered down at both Ash and Malva, but his anger wasn't directed at either of them - the enormous burn scorching his exposed arm might have something to do with it.
"Ketchum," he said gruffly, eyebrows raising in surprise. "The hell you doing here again?"
Before Ash could answer, the man swept on. His voice was nothing but concern wrapped in so many layers of sharp fury that Ash could barely hear it.
"Is your team injured? Recall your haunter, it's two seconds from falling - and that rhydon isn't much better. Your other two - vulpix, fearow? Are they hurt?"
He held up his pokeballs. Wraith disappeared without a complaint, visibly sagging with exhaustion and body losing its sharp edges, but Rhydon growled lowly at him when he held up his oldest pokeball. Ash accepted it - the ground type had never taken his eyes off of the obviously powerful Pyroar and likely didn't want to leave Ash online.
"Good," Surge grunted. "Are you hurt?"
Ash opened his mouth to say no but his ribs gave a painful twinge. Surge saw his expression and narrowed his eyes, honestly growling when Ash tried to protest. "You aren't going to say shit, Ketchum. I'll send Joy after your ass if I don't see you in the Pokemon Center by the end of the day."
The man looked haggard. Even as he scolded Ash with the same powerful, gruff voice as before, his stiff shoulders couldn't hide the exhaustion present under his eyes nor the multiple wounds over his face and arms. Ash agreed to his demands. Surge nodded tersely, eyes drawn back to scanning the surroundings.
"How many?" Malva said quietly, drawing Surge's attention. He just stared at her, incomprehensible emotions running through his eyes.
"Fils de pute," she swore. "Go. I will alert les dirigeants, they will come if they are able - they are our version of your ACE trainers. I will search for more trainers on the shore, go yourself to the Harbor."
With another gruff snort, the lieutenant turned and walked toward the next trainer, shoulders less tight than they had been before.
Malva gave a small smile. "He has never been one for emotions, Ash, and I knew him long before he earned his title. Surge is not heartless, but now his actions, however indirect, may have caused the loss of lives."
"What?"
She pointed to the distance, far over the wild horizon, where Ash could see nothing but the crash of waves. "The League had given him the order and he must obey - but neither could foresee the consequences."
Ash wasn't getting it.
"Pokemon do not attack for no reason, Ash. Pyroar didn't have to do much to chase them away and then they did not attempt to come back. If I had thought this was a true battle, this shore would have been left far more touched than it is. They were scared but not angry, confused but not aggressive." Ash wanted to disagree on that last point, but couldn't find the words to speak to the Elite Four member in front of him.
Malva withdrew a slip of paper from her pocket, popping a pen from a slip on her side. She scrawled something on it and handed it over to him - he took it, not looking at it yet in his focus on the horizon.
"That sealeo will need an experienced hand to teach it how to properly use hail. I know a captain that can give you the help you need. Fergus Umio - he runs one of the old Seagallop Ferries. I know he's worked with the spheal line in his frequent runs to Hoenn so he should be your needed assistance, though he will require pay. He should be around "Vermillion/Fuschia" about now."
He looked down at the paper - it seemed to be her business card, but in scratchy penmanship on the back was Fergus' number. Slipping it into his pants pocket, he looked back over the ocean. There was still nothing to see.
"Parfois, the world does not understand itself." She clucked her tongue to Pyroar, who rumbled back in response. His mane faded back to the bare fur, seemingly flat against the inferno it had been before, and she easily climbed onto his back. Crouching, he leapt away in a blur. Ash didn't even see Malva twitch from the wild jump.
He stayed staring into the distance, where he could barely see a creeping pillar of smoke.
xXx
Nurse Joy pounced on him the second he came within eyesight. Once the thrill of the fight had left, he was now positive something was wrong with his ribs, and his hunched over posture only displayed that to the rest of the world.
The nurse was patrolling on the border of Vermillion, avoiding the water type while also sweeping up any other trainers retreating back. Once the battle was over, Ash had came back into the city only for the pink-haired woman to charge at him like a tauros. In the next second, he had an assistant by his side asking him multiple questions about what had occured on the field. Ash managed to answer most everything but now his worry was over his pokemon instead of his himself. They accepted the six pokeballs, listening carefully to his worry over his newest addition, and promised to heal them quickly. But for the moment, they laid down Ash in a Pokemon Center room and set to examining his ribs.
Two were bruised from where he had been hit, which only served to make him excited about the strength of the water type. It was more than difficult to properly splint them so Ash would take it easy for a bit less than a week and let them naturally heal. After a night of just laying in bed, he was allowed to see his pokemon, at least those that were healed. Gale and Scorch were still under statis.
Ash pushed the small chairs and bedside table as far against the wall as he could to get as much space as possible. With that done, he released his starter.
Rhydon, the fierce friend than had been with him since day one, was now a behemoth to match his protective personality. He rumbled his arrival, hunched over on all fours like he was still a rhyhorn. With a growl, he forced himself to rise to his back legs, occasional spasms twitching over him as he tried to hold onto his balance.
But he found it and, when he stood fully to proud attention, he was magnificent.
Rhydon was nearly six feet tall, incredibly bulky even without his plates. Except they weren't plates anymore. Now, they were a set of immensely durable scales, smoothly fitting over each other in an impenetrable set of armor. He had actual ears, large sheets of stone-like material extending upward to funnel the sound downward into his eardrums. Ridges ran along his back, almost like his spines but smaller, edged in sharp points. His underbelly was a light cream and he had opposable thumbs, though they seemed so protected by his armor that Ash guessed he wouldn't have the best dexterity.
Besides him now being upright, the second biggest change was his tail. It was nearly three feet long, wrapped in overlapping scales and looking heavier than Ash's entire body. Even the slight twitches he could see, presumably from Rhydon trying to figure it out, showed the muscles beneath the surface. Rhydon before had always been strong, his charges were enough to show that, but now he seemed to be about as strong as members from the machop line.
Rhydon noticed his admiration and spun his horn. Ash gaped as the whirring noise filled the examination room, the horn spinning like the world's most powerful drill bit. He couldn't even begin to comprehend how powerful horn attack would be now.
His pokedex beeped quietly as he scanned his starter, the red beam connecting with his chest and bringing back the information. The page opened and began to display the text trainers before him had discovered.
Rhydon, the drill pokemon. Even by lightly spinning its drill, it can shatter pure diamond. Its rugged armor can protect it from extreme heats, even magma straight from a volcano. Its tail has been known to destroy solid steel with a single blow.
Ash frowned, peering through the available buttons. He wanted to know more. Eventually, he found the extra information and pressed it.
Its armor is made up of a type of stone-altered keratin. The plates it had as a rhyhorn have fused together to form its set of armor, though it is still very different from the gyarados or kingdra scale types as they regenerate instead of growing new scales. Their armor can keep them healthy in temperatures of up to 3,600 degrees, and several more powerful specimens of the species have been known to spend up to twelve hours a day in the heart of a volcano with no negatives side effects. In the ancient times, rhydon were used as a second defense behind charging rhyhorn, and their armor could deflect cannonballs with only light scratches. Their horn never stops growing, though its growth slows after five years. It can only spin clockwise, and despite several investigations, it is unclear how the lightning rod aspect interacts with the spinning aspect. It is hypothesized that the lightning rod has been split into two sections, with the largest in the center of the horn and the other absorption center in the smaller, un-spinning secondary horn further back on their head. Males possess a longer horn than females. Despite the large and usable fangs in its mouth, rhydon are still herbivorous like their pre-evolution. As they can now dig into the earth, they will develop much more specific tastes in minerals, and have been known to dig immense tunnels that rival those of the onix line in complexity to find the right mineral. They have incredible defenses and their attack prowess is immense, but have still not developed proper defenses against cold temperatures nor high pressured water blasts. In the rhydon stage, they are often much more loyal to their trainers or their herds.
Rhyhorn - Rhydon, that would take some getting used to after three and some change months - snorted and leaned down as best he could to Ash. The cramped room prevented him from leaning too far down, but more out of a sense of not wanting to break it than any real sense of restrainment.
Ash knew his training regime would be changed incredibly. Rhydon would have a very different attacking style. Though he'd still stick with his charges, he wouldn't have to just turn and charge again and again. He could learn punching attacks now, or just simply just grab his opponent and stab them with his horn.
In fact, he might want to learn some things from Gale about having a longer horn, at least in comparison to a beak.
"You're incredible," he said softly, reaching forward to press his palm against the smooth armor over his chest. The ground type rumbled, reaching awkwardly to touch Ash's shoulder. Smiling, he put his own hand over the grey plating.
A moment passed in quiet happiness. He rolled his head forward, thunking his forehead against thick chest plates. "Are you sure you don't want a nickname?"
Rhydon snorted.
xXx
Ash was forced to spend the next day alone in the Pokemon Center - apparently hugging Rhydon had upset his ribs - and used that for research. Malva had pointed to the sea, Lt. Surge had been given some sort of order, and the pokemon had attacked.
He found the answer soon enough.
The SS Anne was a powerful ship that had been sailing for decades. In all that time, there had only been a few incidents, mainly with wild pods of pokemon. The Anne had become quite popular as it was large enough to host pokemon tournaments, which was exactly what was happening.
Lt. Surge had been given sixty tickets to give out alongside his gym badges for an annual tournament, the first time they had been available for not just purchase. All sixty had been given away within a month of arriving.
The SS Anne, on the website, was listed as 'lost'.
There was no official report, but it had probably only happened a few days ago. The pictures of the ship looked bright, including a promotional photo of everyone gathered on board for the tournament. Several important people were up front on a podium, but Ash couldn't recognize them. Almost one and a half thousand people were on board, most with their own teams of pokemon, from all over the world. It had only left about a week before Ash had arrived in Vermillion.
Now it was lost.
Sinking ships had been known to stir up wild pokemon into a frenzy, searching to destroy what was ruining their environment. Johto had had the most recent incident of that, after a fishing boat crashed in their Lage of Rage and a magikarp evolved to escape.
Ash sucked in a deep breath, setting his pokedex on his chest and staring at the sterile white tiles of the ceiling. No official report yet.
He didn't know whether he wanted to read it when it came out.
xXx
Gale shrieked proudly as he was released, thoroughly shaking himself of loose feathers and lifting his crest. He had been kept in the Pokemon Center for four days, rehealing all the damage that hadn't had time to heal after his battle against Pidgeotto, and was beyond glad to be free.
He turned to Ash, squawking fiercely as he prepared to hear the plan for their next battle, when his black gaze slid slowly to the side.
Rhydon, from his vantage point of nearly a foot above Gale's head, rumbled.
Ash almost laughed his way all the way back to the Pokemon Center.
Scorch took to it much better. She yipped happily, bounding forward to look up at him. He grunted back, leaning down somewhat, and she apparently took that as a challenge. Tensing, muscles flashing with quick attack, she leapt nearly four feet up and landed on his shoulders.
Rhydon jerked, but Scorch had planted her paws between his dull spines and was secured. She crawled forward to pap him on the snout, chuffing warmly in her native tongue, no doubt congratulating him. He rumbled back, reaching upward to light tap her head with his claws. Scorch yipped, bracing off of his forehead and leaping down easily.
That was adorable. Scorch was Ash's most agile pokemon, it was obvious to see, and she was very comfortable in it. Rhydon would probably have to get used to more shoulder-stealing moments later on.
Karma drifted forward, ears perked and tail twitching. Rhydon rumbled, eyes flashing blue as she reached out with her psychic abilities to communicate, though it didn't last long. They nodded at each other.
Wraith was busy exploring Rhydon's shadow, his best way of comparing each other. The ground type let him, standing strong. With a hiss, the ghost flew upward to poke at Rhydon's horn, examining the tip. Rhydon, a smug gleam in his eyes, spun it quickly and imploding Wraith's hand. The ghost hissed and flew backward, regenerating it quickly.
Ash scolded him half heartedly, leaning forward to punch at Rhydon's side. The ground type barely seemed to notice the contact, but he did look over and let out a puff of dusty breath into Ash's face. He coughed.
"Alright, you guys," he said, still attempting to hack out the dust while his team hooted their laughter. "We've got a new teammate - a sealeo, ice and water type. It's pretty strong but Nurse Joy didn't tell me it was overly aggressive."
They nodded at him, getting into ready positions. Rhydon lumbered over to Ash's side, horn spinning idly with a low whirring noise. Ash took a step forward to be his new pokemon's first sight.
Nurse Joy had given him a light description of sealeo, as it was called. It was found mostly Hoenn, but lived most of its life out in the ocean, even migrating to Unova every now and then. Because of that, they could be found most everywhere, as long as there was water and a decent food supply. They didn't come to shore often, migrating alongside the enormous ice floes in the middle of the sea.
But while that prepared him, he hadn't been ready for knowledge of its evolution.
Walrein were dewgong on steroids. Five feet tall and nearly eleven long when they evolved, they had four limbs they let them move around on land just as well as in the water. There was little that their tusks couldn't stab through and their thick fat protected them from everything else. They were tanks that dealt far more damage than they could take, even with their weakness.
Sealeo were hardly weak, either, and its strength to be able to change the weather of the environment showed that. Ash couldn't wait to train it.
He waited a second before releasing the pokemon. Sealeo appeared in the center of their wise circle. It rose upward, blue fur ruffling in the breeze and twitching its whiskers. With a low grunt, it turned fully toward Ash. He could see its eyes narrow.
Its first attack, a blast of water, went toward the pokemon it thought was weakest against it. Rhydon hunkered down, bracing himself, and snapped a shock wave almost twice as big as his regular through the stream of water.
Sealeo barked furiously, whiskers frying with the amount of electricity. Rhydon growled from the water, pushed back a foot, but he recovered fast and readied himself. It turned fully toward Rhydon, launching a quick barrage of aurora beams, quickly learning to avoid water when facing the ground type.
A flamethrower melted the ice into water and continued onward. Sealeo spat more water to try and reduce it, but the flames hit it hard and covered its back in a thin layer of soot. It barked, slamming its flippers against the ground, and reared its head upward.
Ash knew what was coming. He shot a glance toward Karma, who twitched her ears in response. The second a beam of light began to grow in its mouth, she created a barrier directly over its mouth.
The hail exploded an inch from its face. It howled, falling backward and thrashing its tail. Wraith clicked his fangs together, claws twitching, but everyone stayed back and let it recover. When it did, it just stayed there, glaring at those around it but not fighting back. It trembled from the pain of its own attack but refused to vocalize it, thumping its tail against the ground.
Ash walked forward, crouching slightly to be close to it. Karma twitched her shine, ready to prepare a barrier if needed, but Sealeo just grunted lowly as Ash grew closer.
"You done?" He said, earning a dark glare but no sound. "I understand you didn't want to be captured, but I did it, and that makes me your trainer."
Sealeo huffed, breath cold enough it brought bumps over Ash's skin. It twitched its gaze away but brought it back quickly, tail thumping against the ground. A crackle of electricity swept over Rhydon's horn.
"You like to fight, I can see that, and you're strong enough you probably don't lose to often. But my team is stronger. Being a trainer's pokemon is all about becoming strong enough to stop losing. That's why Rhydon is so strong." Sealeo glared at the ground type but seemed to acknowledge its strength. Ash waited for it to turn back to him before talking. "If you join me, I can make you strong enough to fight him."
Rhydon rumbled but he seemed to find it more amusing than threatening. Sealeo jerked at that, black eyes flashing before it barked, bobbing its head in almost a vicious agreeal.
Ash grinned, a bit in relief. Water types that lived far out at sea were known for being more high strung, having far less contact with humans, and could become violent if offended. Thankfully, Sealeo seemed to be more upset with itself at losing than at the ones that had beat it, and having a rival would help pokemon to grow as long as they didn't take it too seriously. Rhydon would take it down, type advantages or not, if it got too serious.
"Mind if I scan you?" He asked, tapping his pokedex. Sealeo didn't react, but it did stare curiously as Ash aimed the red beam at its chest.
Sealeo, the ball roll pokemon. They are known for balancing things on their nose to learn their scent and shape. Using powerful flippers, it shatters ice to hunt in the deep ocean. They are territorial and will defend their pod against anything.
The sealeo knows the moves defense curl, powder snow, water gun, ice ball, body slam, aurora beam, headbutt, and hail. Its ability is thick fat, which protects it from fire and ice moves.
That was a good moveset. Sealeo, as it only had two flippers, was more of a stationary fighter that had a nice mix of close range and distance moves, but his research on its species showed that it was incredible hard to catch in water. Its impressive water storages would allow it to fight for a long time and its ability only increased that. This was a pokemon Gary would be hard pressed to beat with enough training.
It seemed to see his impressed expression, letting loose a pleased bark. Rhydon growled, narrowing his eyes, but Ash snapped his fingers and he subsided. Sealeo turned to him, black eyes shining.
"You'll be a part of my team now," he said. "That means you'll be trained harder than you've ever been before and you'll fight battles harder than you've ever fought before. My team works hard. If you don't think you're strong enough for that, if you don't think you're strong enough to fight against pokemon you've never seen before, against trainers who want nothing but to knock you out, against odds that seem impossible, then I will drop you back in the ocean right now to spend your time relaxing."
Ash had nailed the right approach. Sealeo's eyes darkened and it barked again, this time low. It was a prideful pokemon, one content in its power if its hail said anything, and Ash had defeated it. With any luck, it would throw itself whole heartedly into training in order to claim a spot on the team's register.
He frowned, pulling open its page once again. Male. It made sense - male sealeo were often lonesome hunters, which explained why he wasn't with a pod. Ash didn't worry about having pulled the ice type away from a family; male sealeo generally had to evolve to walrein, if they could manage, to attract the females needed for a pod.
Sealeo barked roughly at him, his breath carrying a drop in temperature intense enough to make Ash shiver. He shrugged it off and turned to the water type, catching his gaze toward the rest of the team.
"Scorch," he offered, pointing to the vulpine. She yipped back, not fully relaxing from her wary stance - the aurora beam he had nailed her with was still strong in her mind. "Gale." The fearow shrieked defiantly but Ash could see the gleam in his black eyes - another sparring partner. "Wraith." The ghost hissed, claws spinning from their detached position, but he was staying close to the shadows with the powerful sun. "Karma."
"And this is Rhydon," Ash finished, gesturing unnecessarily toward the bulky ground type. He rumbled his welcome to the ice type, scarlet eyes narrowed, but he didn't immediately launch into a stringent about his pack's rules. Ash appreciated that. He'd like to see Sealeo's moves before giving him the expectations for being on the team.
Sealeo barked. Ash took that as a sign he was ready and brought up the question he'd been thinking about - "Would you like a nickname?"
Every trainer had water names prepared, and so did he. They were the second most common pokemon and were useful against so many types it took a fool not to at least consider one. Ash had honestly thought he'd hunt down a horsea to have the powerful kingdra.
He had also pictured a team of dragonite, scizor, and nidoqueen. His journey had taught him pretty early on not to expect anything.
Sealeo let out a higher bark than before, as if he was trying to sound cheerful. He made the sound again, this time with a low chuffing in the back of his throat. Ash grinned, beginning to spout his pre-planned names.
Wave, Torrent, Tsunami, and Glacier were quickly rejected. Sealeo paused more on Abyss and Current, but eventually said no to those as well. Ash ran through more and more, reaching more for the ocean things. He realized he wasn't doing it right.
Sealeo was a prideful pokemon. He needed a name with power and strength behind it - not like Karma, who wanted something with meaning, but something that had tangible fierceness behind it. He knelt in front of the ice type.
"You lived in the ocean, so you should know what the tides are. They are the rise and fall of the ocean, bringing entire feet of water up every day. It is a powerful, unchanging force that humans have no control over, and riptides can drag anything out to sea in seconds. It is rumored Kyogre itself controls them. But if you grow strong enough, you could change them."
Sealeo's eyes were wide, whiskers twitching constantly as Ash spun him the tale. He wasn't done.
"The ocean is affected by many things - currents, storms, waves. But those change - the tides don't. They are the result of multiple legendaries - Kyogre, Cresselia, Lugia. No every pokemon can claim this name. Do you think you're up to it?" Sealeo fiercely accepted it. He almost seemed to covet it, protecting it from the others.
Tide didn't quite roll off the tongue like Ash's other names, but it fit him well. He barked quietly at the name, flippers slapping against the ground.
His sixth pokemon. Now he had a full team, one that covered a large range of types and powers. If he caught any more pokemon, he'd have to send them back to Professor Oak instead of working with them. He wasn't sure what to do with that.
Now wasn't the time. Ash turned back to the team, keeping Tide in his line of sight.
"Nurse Joy's only keeping me here half a week, and we're going to spend that time training. Tide," he said with a grin, turning the pokemon's attention to him. "Let's see how strong you are."
xXx
Ash looked at the thoroughly battered tree and nodded approvingly. Tide had a solid grasp over most of his moves, although he mainly used his bulk instead of any actual finesse for his physical attacks. If Ash could give him a few strategies, he'd be a force to be reckoned with.
But he had no clue how to train hail.
The most his pokemon had to do with changing the weather was how Scorch could heat up her environment with flash fire. Other that that, he had no skill in it, and Tide was hardly any better than he was. The ice type had beaten the basics into himself but didn't know anything beyond that.
Captain Fergus - whoever that was, he still hadn't had time to look him up - was supposed to be docked in Fuschia around this time, going on his ever-present loop from Pallet Town to Cinnabar to Fuschia. If Malva was correct, Ash could hitch a ride and pick up some priceless tips and tricks to training the powerful move. Tide deserved it, even if he had only just joined the team. With the way he had thrown himself into training, Ash knew the captain would be good for him. His other friends could use it as well.
Avoiding a stretch of frozen grass from an aurora beam, he walked closer to Tide. The sealeo stared at him, obvious pride gleaming in his eyes - the moves he had demonstrated had chilled the air so much Ash had put on his jacket.
"You're strong," he said, grinning. "We can't put you in any mock battles until Nurse Joy - the pink haired lady who helped you - finishes healing you up, but basic move training should be okay. Come on. Let's go to the team."
Ash made to move but frowned when he heard the whistling winds of powder snow. Turning around, he saw Tide blowing cold gusts of wind onto the ground, adding a thin layer of ice over the grass and dirt. The sealeo looked up at him, barking almost defensively before slapping his flippers against the ground and beginning to slide over the frozen earth, releasing more powder snow as he went.
That was actually really smart. Ash trotted behind him, actually having to up his speed to keep up with the ice type.
Tide slid across the ground, cutting off his powder snow and drifting to a stop. Scorch eyed the trail of frozen dirt and activated flash fire, walking over the path to melt it quickly. She then walked over to him, beginning to yip instructions in her native tongue. Rhydon snorted and lumbered over, adding in occasionally. Far from being intimidated, Tide accepted the rules, even barking questions.
Ash pulled out his pokedex, opening the page of notes he had made while recovering in the Pokemon Center. Seeing Tide's moves had changed a few things, but his overall plan was the same. He waited until Scorch finished, idly scratching behind Gale's crest as he watched his team interact.
They turned to him, forming their normal half circle. Tide looked a bit confused but Wraith tapped the top of his head with his detached hand and waved him over. Tide slid into the circle between Wraith and Gale, turning toward Ash with a low bark.
His team knew how to be welcoming. A bright spark of pride popped in his chest.
"Last time we fought Gary, we lost," he announced, pacing around the slight circle of his pokemon. It felt a bit like he was giving a military speech. "We weren't weak, but we weren't strong enough either - that showed us it. So what we're going to do is get far, far stronger than he could ever imagine."
Shrieks and roars of approval met his words. Scorch, ever the second-in-command, had slammed her annoyance at Tide down and had given him a rundown of the past months of their journey. He took to it fast, growing almost angry at the trainer that had beaten the pokemon that had beaten him. Ash guessed it was probably going to be a stepping stone of some sort - beat Ash's team, then beat Gary's team. He just hoped he could find the boy.
"All of you are going to get a specialized training reign. Most of the time you will be working in pairs for your major area, then splitting up or getting new partners for other things. Here's the groups."
"Karma and Wraith." He ignored the flattening of ears and vicious grin sent his way. "You both are the trickiest pokemon here, but you both have weakness that others can exploit. Wraith, you're going to be learning new strategies from Karma, and Karma, you're going to be learning how to defend yourself against ghost and dark energies."
His hat abruptly glowed blue and slapped him across the face. Karma twitched her ears, mock angry, but the orange flash in his mind told him she was excited to learn how to counter her worst enemies.
"Gale and Scorch." Both of them peered at each other, but neither seemed upset. "Gale, you lost to the pidgeotto because you weren't fast. Scorch, you lost to the kangaskhan because you couldn't hit it hard enough. Gale, you know all about hitting things hard. Scorch, you know all about speed." They accepted the praise, but both had narrowed their eyes when Ash brought up their losses. "Scorch, you're going to teach Gale agility. You know enough moves to increase your speed that you should be able to teach him the basics and he can finish it off, and then you're going to nail him every time he doesn't go fast enough. Gale, you're teaching her how to increase her power, both with physical and not. She needs to break a tree this journey and you're the best one to teach her."
Scorch blinked at the thought. She was the tiniest on the team as well as a mostly ranged fire type - the thought of actually making a tree fall was comical to her. But Gale had broken trees before, a fair amount with aerial ace. He was the best to teach her - Rhydon had too much natural strength to teach anyone else how to break things and the Trio pokemon just used their mental abilities. She barked determinedly at Ash. She would prove him right.
Gale looked pleased at the thought of beating strength into another pokemon's head.
"And finally, Tide and Rhydon." The ground type rumbled, but he had been expecting it. "Tide, Rhydon is my most experienced battler, and he's going to teach you the works of trainer battles. You'll learn a lot from him about dodging, charging, gathering power, all the things that can end a battle. Rhydon, you need to learn to take ice and water moves. You can zap him with shock wave if he gets too strong for defense training but I don't want you to fight back otherwise. When you're recovering, you can start teaching Scorch flamethrower, but the majority of your time is going to be on this." Rhydon rumbled again, scarlet eyes narrowed. He was not going to enjoy this, even if he knew it was necessary.
Tide, on the other hand looked positively delighted.
xXx
Karma hummed at him, ears twitching back as she drank some water. She and Wraith had been going hard for the past couple of days, getting a better understanding of each other's skills and types. But that wasn't what they were both watching.
Roaring, Rhydon shuddered from another powerful blast of ice. He zapped Tide back with a weakened shock wave, a reminder to not use full power, but Tide launched another with the same strength. His fierce bark was more of a challenge than an encouragement.
"How many fights has he tried to pick?" Ash asked, popping a few more razz berries into his mouth.
Karma twitched her tail, practically full-belly laughter for her. Four today.
Ash blinked. "That few? Is Rhydon's flamethrower finally getting through to him?"
She shook her head. They took break. Leader fought back twice.
"Okay, that's more realistic," Ash said, leaning farther back on the tree. "But there was at least triple that yesterday, and he hasn't given up yet." He shot her a grin. "I bet he'd be good weight training for confusion."
Her left ear twitched. Perhaps.
"After all, you were the one that captured him, so you're technically his trainer. So really, you should be the one to train him-"
Something hummed from behind him, and he turned just in time to see his chocolate bar begin to float out of his bag. "Karma! No!"
She made a mocking jerk but he snatched it before it could get too far, leveling a raised eyebrow at her. "I get you don't like regular plebeian pokemon food, but this is mine. Tide and Rhydon are already costing me an arm and a leg to feed and chocolate is the only thing that is keeping me alive surrounded by all of you heathens-"
Karma stole his bag of razz berries, twitched her ears at him, and teleported the second he tried to get them back. She sent him bright red flashes of laughter as he chased her around the clearing.
xXx
"This is a pretty simple move," he said conversationally, loading the disk into the TM machine, "but it'll help you get more used to your body. It's supposed to give you connection with your plates to the point where you can 'cut' off extra growth, which should be helpful. Theoretically, you could use it to increase growth, but let's not focus on that now."
Brock had given him one of the most useful tools in a ground - or rock, really - type's moveset. Rock polish was a dreadfully underlooked move, but with it, Rhydon could run at a speed that might make Scorch impressed. He would never be a jolteon, or really even a vulpix, but it was a surprise tactic that would double the danger of his charges.
Rhydon grunted as he was recalled. His pokeball flashed a pale grey-brown, switching through the different shades quickly as it worked. Within a minute, it was done and he released his starter.
The ground type rumbled, examining his body with new interest. He whirred his horn almost in thought before pausing, one of his chest plates beginning to glow. Rhydon snorted, flexing his claws, and a small sliver of rock fell to the ground.
Ash grinned and picked it up. It was stone-keratin, the same that made up Rhydon's protective armor, and he had cut it off successfully. "That's great, bud. I'll leave you to it - remember not to cut too much. If you don't know, just call me over."
He turned to leave but Rhydon rumbled, releasing a tremor through the earth with his tail. Ash turned around again, frowning, but Rhydon just crushed his claws and looked at him.
"You want to show me something?" Ash asked. Rhydon nodded, thumping his tail against a small rock. "Rock blast?"
Rhydon nodded again, letting out a low growl. Ash grinned and stepped back - some moves could evolve alongside evolution, as their hosts changed shape so would they. Rock blast wasn't overly known for it but Rhydon had seemed excited.
Rumbling, Rhydon brought his hands up. With a roar like grating stone, he jumped and slammed his tail into the ground.
The earth rose around him, four enormous chunks nearly the size of Ash himself. Rhydon growled and they ripped themselves into a dozen more pieces. Each was as hard as stone despite being dirt only a moment ago, the size of Ash's head and floating flawlessly.
Rhydon has unlocked his transformation abilities, able to turn dirt into hard rocks.
The ground type rumbled lowly, turning around to prod at the rocks with a silver claw. He seemed very pleased, letting them tremble in the air before gently dropping them back to earth. Once his control was released over them, they began to slowly erode back to thick dirt.
Ash grinned widely. Now that was a tool a powerful pokemon like Rhydon deserved. "Well, if you had enough time to figure that out, then you should have plenty to figure out rock polish when you're training with Tide."
The ground type rumbled. Nurse Joy checked him over every night, though they were leaving tomorrow, and while Ash could see the defense training was working he still hated every moment of it. Tide didn't make it any easier by trying to pick a fight with every attack.
"You're doing great, bud," he said softly. Rhydon rumbled at that, patting Ash lightly on the shoulder. "Now go be a leader."
Rhydon let out a challenging roar that shook pidgey from the trees. From nearly a hundred feet away, Tide gave an answering bark, immediately charging toward the ground type. Ash trotted out of the way, content to watch his newest pokemon try to prove himself.
xXx
Gale shrieked from overhead, trying to access the psychic energy needed for agility as he flew overhead as security. He was always out in the forest, keeping a constant eye on Ash as he flew overhead.
Wraith was in his shadow, Karma was floating behind, Scorch was a little in front, and Rhydon loomed protectively by his side. Tide stayed in his pokeball, not exactly built for long travels. There had been a few trainers that had seen his small army of pokemon and scampered on by, including one holding a tiny metapod in their arms.
Karma's eyes flashed and one of Wraith's hands was hit by a lance of psychic energy and exploded. Wraith chuckled, reforming it quickly. As revenge, she cleared the leaves from above and let a beam of sunlight hit the ghost, chasing him back into Ash's shadow.
They traveled quickly. There were five routes they had to travel to get to Fuschia, though most of them didn't have any landmarks to investigate. A small town with a Pokemon Center was half way between the two cities, and they were pretty contained without much outside interference.
It was nice to set up a campsite again, passing out food and eating his own. Tide ate his pellets quickly, but slid under the cover of the trees to eat his berries. It had taken Ash a few days to figure out why.
Tide was called the ball roll pokemon for a reason. In order to figure out what things were, he bounced them on his nose to figure out their smell, look, and texture. The first time Ash had seen it, he understood why Tide hid it from the others.
It was kind of hilarious. He bounced it expertly on the tip of his nose, spinning like the highest trained circus pokemon. For such a prideful pokemon, it would instant humiliation for his team to see.
But Tide was almost operating blind for a fair amount of this. He didn't have the best senses and bouncing things on his nose was his way of investigating them. Ash would have to work with him to open up enough to do that around his friends.
That was for another time. He was just working on getting the ice type to not attack every pokemon around him for a good fight.
The sleeping bag was less comfortable than the bed at the Center, but hearing the quiet chirp of pidgey and skitter of rattata instead of the hum of air conditioning was relaxing. His friends scattered around the clearing, taking their usual positions. Gale had to search a while to find a branch strong enough to support him and Scorch was a little too attached to the fire to let it die to reasonable standards, but they all enjoyed the ambiance of the forest.
Rhydon let out a low growl, and Ash looked up from his sleeping bag to see his starter reaching out awkwardly with his arms. He wasn't used to his form yet, but he had mostly figured out how to move - the issue came with sleeping. Ash normally recalled him at night, as the Pokemon Center was too full for him to have gotten a large enough room for the ground type, but the forest had plenty of room. That wasn't the problem.
He didn't know how to lay down.
Ash bit back another laugh and shed off his sleeping bag, standing up. The ground type turned to him, rumbling in his throat.
"Come on. Arms out," he said, going to his side. "Like a pushup."
Rhydon pushed his arms out, dull claws shining, and shuffled. Growling lowly and closing his eyes, he fell like a tree. Scorch let out a startled bark as she was launched a few inches into the air from the hit, flash fire activating. She spun around, ears flat, before seeing it was just Rhydon. Spitting an ember at his prone form, she curled back up to sleep.
The ground type rumbled angrily, sprawled out like a fallen log. He clawed at the earth, thumping his tail as if to summon an earth power to lift him upward, ripping the dirt. Ash walked to his front, dragging his sleeping back behind him. He crawled back inside, leaning against his thick stone armor.
With a grunt, he lifted his starter's head and put it into his lap. Rhydon rumbled, sending vibrations through Ash's leg, but he did seem more comfortable. Ash took a moment to finish rearranging the both of them, leaning up against his starter's side as best he could.
"Goodnight, bud," he said softly. Rhydon shuffled his tail before fully relaxing, scarlet eyes closing. Ash slumped over his friend, resting his head on his forehead. They fell asleep quickly.
xXx
Gale had made good progress with Scorch and Rhydon had taught her the basics of flamethrower, but she was still struggling. No matter how much training she did, her body wasn't built to take hits. The fight with Kangaskhan and the water types had proven that - he wasn't fight with her correctly. At least, not in the way she was going to be at her prime. She needed to hide from her opponents, to confuse them and strike when they least expected it. That normally wouldn't be an issue, as most fire types could learn smokescreen, which covered the entire field in thick oily fog.
But not Scorch.
The vulpix line couldn't learn the move smokescreen because of their inner flame - anything that came down their throat was instantly purified by the heat and they weren't able to keep the chemicals needed for the smoke alive long enough to leave their mouth. At most, they could create a thin stream of smoke, but that wouldn't be able to hide Scorch well enough for a proper hunting method.
But Ash knew that the vulpix line was built for hunting under the cover of darkness and the landscape, whether on the most tropical route in Kanto or on the slopes of volcano. The growlithe line, often considered the counterpart to the vulpix line, was built for physical, fire-only attacks. Scorch, however, could access the Trio and other elements, which means Ash didn't need smokescreen.
Instead, he looked up his notes on Scorch.
The vulpix was strictly a carnivore, and her food reflected it. Magikarp were mass bred for purposes like feeding predators and, as such, most of her food was made of up the water type along with other vitamins and things. But the important thing here was that magikarp were full of a specific chemical called iodine.
Iodine actually survived Scorch's inner flame, as it was pulled into the many so-called 'tunnels' before her stomach that she absorbed vitamins into. It was used by the thyroid gland to produce hormones, but she didn't use all of it. The important thing about iodine was that it burned purple or, in high enough qualities, almost black.
The problem was that Scorch couldn't simply ask her thyroid gland to release her latent supply of iodine into her inner flame to burn. But she could, theoretically, draw it out and even learn how to produce it through sheer energy alone if it was connected to a move. The good thing was that iodine, in too large of amounts, was poisonous. Not overtly so, but large enough amounts could even lead to death, though it was rare. A far more common consequence would be nausea, weakened heartbeat, and an almost burning sensation.
Ash grinned as the dots came together. Scorch could learn the TM toxic - which he knew for a fact would be available in the poison town of Fuschia - and, if he supplemented her diet well enough to start producing the massive quantities of iodine needed, she could theoretically use it to create a burning purple-black flame similar to but far more dangerous than smokescreen.
"Wraith?" He called. The haunter hummed in the back of his head, deep baritone echoing even as he focused on harnessing the energy needed for dark pulse. Karma sagged once he stopped, barriers dropping tiredly. "Come over here for a second. You too, Scorch."
She yipped curiously as she padded over. Scorch knew he had been working on finding her a new strategy for attack, though she hadn't been able to learn too much about it before he sent her off for training. From behind her, Gale flew down to a perch, almost instantly tucking his head under his wing and resting. Agility was taking a lot out of him.
"Wraith, release a bit of smog, will you?" The haunter hissed, holding one of his disembodied hands out. A bit of his ectoplasmic skin thinned just enough to release a trail of dark purple gas, thickening immediately after to avoid losing all of the gas giving him a stable form. Scorch eyed it warily, all too aware of the poisonous training Ash had been putting his team through.
Ash pulled out his pokedex, sliding it over to the record function. He heard the low chirp that showed it was active, pointing it toward the slowly dissipating fog of poisonous gas. Once he was sure he was going to get it all on camera, he stepped back to let his pokemon come forward.
"Set it on fire," he said, gesturing toward her, before adding almost as an afterthought, "Wraith, get back."
Wraith didn't argue on this one, drifting far enough back to slide partially into Ash's shadow, though he was still out enough to see. Scorch yipped, tails rising before she released a blast of fire toward the gas.
It immediately exploded, releasing a cloud of thick grey smoke. Scorch barked and blurred backward with quick attack, eyes wide and ears flat as she took in the writhing mass of smoke slowly rising toward the sky.
Ash could see through it with only a little difficulty, but Wraith's diet wasn't nearly the same as Scorch's. When she was able to implement iodine with such a powerful move as toxic, the cloud would be almost impossible to see through.
He pulled up the recording and watched it at half speed. For only a moment, in the middle of the cloud of gas, there was a flicker of purple flames. Scorch would be able to learn how to harness them to the point where she could possibly mix them with will-o-wisp, creating a poisonous enchanting flame.
"Oh yeah. We can use this."
xXx
Ash grinned, looking up at the wide gates that marked the entrance to his next city. Fuschia stood tall in front of him, almost purple hues glimmering from the sun's harsh gaze. His next gym battle awaited.
Rhydon rumbled next to him, tapping his shoulder. With a grin, he strode forward with his starter at his side.
xXx
Hope you enjoy this chapter. It's not as long nor as quality as I would have liked but here it is. But Rhyhorn has finally evolved! Now, last chapter I received a few concerns about Ash being too heroic. Is he? Yes. My plot demands him to be, but he won't always save the day nor try to.
Also, I've changed the Bide TM from the last chapter. I don't like using different generations so I'm going to mostly stick to Ultra Sun and Moon with some additions from Let's Go for my movesets now, even though Bide was the only divergence I made. The TM is now Rock Polish as you can probably see.
My issue is that I'm bad at adding more to my chapter once I've finished writing them, so I've decided to search for a beta to outline areas that need more work. I know I need to go on Pokemon Betas, but I'd like a few tips from people before I try and find one.
FrostedDusk, unfortunately, is being left behind for A Wordsmith. Apologies, but I chose that name almost seven years ago before I even started on Fanfiction and it's time to move on.
Please enjoy and review!
