A/N: You get two chapters today since you have been deprived for a while (it's midnight here, so another chapter will be posted later today or tonight). Heh heh. Oh and thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I'm mostly using a combination of them for this chapter, but if I don't use yours or any of the suggestions, don't feel sad please - you can suggest things in the future or for the future if you'd like. I'm open to all and any suggestions, even if they seem silly. Some I get a good laugh out of. You can make them in a review or in a PM. I'd prefer the PM, but it's up to you.
If anyone would like to make some fanart for this story, I will be very happy. I love fanart. ^_^ I'd definitely love to see your interpretation of Ash's "special" Pokemon and the battles and training. Even specific scenes from the story would please me. If you do make some, I will post the links in my profile for people to see.
Anyway, on to the story! By the way, Brock isn't girl crazy in this story. That's one of the reasons he isn't a favorite character of mine. It gets on my nerves. It was funny at first, but then it just got old.
Warning: Lots of chatting between Brock and Ash before they go into Mount Moon. I would suggest not skipping it though.
Chapter 8
Ash turned around and saw Brock, the Pewter City gym leader, running towards him. He stopped in front of Ash and bent down, putting his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.
"Brock? What are you doing here?"
"I -pant- g-give -pant- me a -pant- minute."
After he caught his breath, Brock stood up and straightened his vest and shirt. Ash noticed they were soaked with sweat. He must have ran all the way here. Poor guy. The gym leader cleared his throat to gain Ash's attention.
"Sorry about that. I wanna talk to you about something if that is alright?"
Ash nodded and motioned for Brock to follow him in to the Pokemon Center. After handing his Pokemon over to Nurse Joy, he went over to a bench and sat next to the gym leader and waited for him to speak. A minute or so of silence and he finally spoke up.
"Ash... Would you like to have a traveling partner? At least for a little while. I understand if you'd prefer to travel alone since most trainers do anyway."
The raven haired trainer blinked and processed what Brock said. A traveling partner? I guess it wouldn't be too bad to have one since it does get rather lonely without any human contact for long periods of time. Then again I barely know the guy. Hmmmm... Aw what the heck.
"Sure Brock, I wouldn't mind traveling with someone for a little while. But what about your gym? You didn't close it did you?"
Brock shook his head.
"No, I didn't close it. Apparently my father snuck in to the gym to watch our battle and decided he would take over the gym again. He was the original gym leader of Pewter City, but he left on a journey to become stronger a few years ago, leaving me to take care of the gym and my younger siblings. He promised to return in a year after he left, but he didn't. He never even bothered to try and contact us."
At this, the spikey haired gym leader clenched his fists and looked down at his lap. Ash felt sorry for the guy. This might sound insensitive, but...
"What about your mother?"
"My mother left a few months after my father did. Haven't heard from her since."
I can't imagine ever not talking to or seeing my mother for years like that. Mine might be a bit overbearing at times, but I still couldn't imagine being in Brock's position. The dad situation I can understand though.
"I can understand about your dad since I haven't seen mine in years either. But hey, let's get over this depressing talk. So, are you looking to enter the Pokemon League too?"
Brock, glad for the change in subjects, latched on to the new one. He looked up from his lap and looked up at the ceiling with a wistful look on his face.
"Nah, my dream has always been to become the number one Pokemon breeder. But because I had other responsibilities, I couldn't. By traveling with you, I can learn to be the best breeder I can become. There's an academy opening in the next couple of months and I would like to attend it. That's why I said I would only travel for a little while with you. I hope you are alright with it."
"Hey, that's fine with me. It's that Breeder's Academy opening outside of Celadon City right? I heard Professor Oak talking about it a few months ago. From what he says, breeders from all over the world will be attending it and the best of the best will be teaching there."
Brock was mildly surprised at Ash's knowledge.
"You sure seems to know a lot about breeding, Ash."
Ash rubbed the back of his neck at the statement.
"Well, I did a lot of research on Pokemon careers before I started my journey. I looked up a lot on breeding because I want to incorporate it into my training. The thing is, I suck at cooking, so I've had to buy my Pokemon's food and just use natural foods to enhance the flavors a bit."
Brock's eyebrows shot up as high as they could when the trainer said this.
"You're the first trainer I've come across who has wanted to do that. Tell you what, I normally keep my recipes to myself, but I'd be willing to teach you how to make Pokemon food if you want. I have no fear of competition from you since you seem to have a different career plan in mind."
Ash beamed at this.
"Would you? That would be awesome! My Pokemon would be much happier for it too. You are right though, I do have a different career in mind. My long term goal is to become a Pokemon Master, but from what I read, that will take me years, so I decided on a short term goal for right now- to become the Pokemon Champion of the different regions. And if that doesn't work out, I'll go with being part of the Elite Four then work my way up. Of course I have to win at the leagues first."
The gym leader whistled at this.
"You sure thought this out well, didn't you?"
"Yup, sure did!"
Ding
The noise startled Brock and Ash, making them jump a bit.
"Ash Ketchum, your Pokemon are ready."
Ash stood up from the bench and stretched then walked over to the counter to retrieve his Pokemon from Nurse Joy. Once he got close enough, Pikachu jumped on to his right shoulder and rubbed against the trainer in greeting. Ash scratched behind one of the black-tipped ears eliciting a "Chaaaaaaaa" in contentment.
"Hey buddy, you feeling better?"
"Pi Pikachu!"
"Awesome. Hey, I want you to meet our new temporary traveling partner. Come on."
He walked back over to Brock, who had stood up to stretch while he was getting his Pokemon. Pikachu flattened its ears against its head when he saw the gym leader. The rodent still didn't trust many humans yet, just Ash and Nurse Joys. When Ash saw the flattened ears, he quickly whispered to Pikachu.
"Hey Pikachu, it's alright. Brock's OK, he won't hurt you. You don't have to trust him yet, but just give him a chance, alright?"
The electric mouse nodded slowly, keeping its brown eyes on the spikey haired teen. Ash just sighed and stopped in front of Brock and introduced the two.
"Pikachu, this is Brock, he's the gym leader I fought while you were lazing about in the Pokemon Center room. Brock, this is Pikachu. It was my first Pokemon."
"Ah, I see why I didn't see it at the gym battle. Your first Pokemon you say... Don't trainers from Pallet Town normally get Charmander, Squirtle, or Bulbasaur as starters? And why is it staring at me like that?"
Pikachu was indeed staring at Brock with mistrust in its eyes. Ash explained with a bit of embarrassment in his voice.
"Um, well, see... I kinda overslept and was late to pick up a Pokemon. There were four starting trainers this year instead of three, so Professor Oak had to go out and catch another Pokemon for the fourth trainer. I ended up being the one who got the Pikachu he went out and caught. It's alright though, I wouldn't change that day for the world."
Ash stopped and pet Pikachu as he finished his last sentence and the rodent let out a purr of happiness. I love its soft fur. He stopped the petting and continued.
"The reason it is looking at you like that is because Pikachu doesn't trust a whole lot of humans yet. From what it told me, I'm surprised it trusts any human."
Brock rubbed his chin as he looked right back at Pikachu. When he did, the rodent glowered at him.
"I see. Wait, you said Pikachu told you?"
"Yeah, is there something wrong?"
"No, it's just that humans are rarely able to understand their Pokemon word for word if that is what you are implying."
Ash scrunched up his eyebrows in thought.
"Yeah, I have always been able to understand Pokemon, even from a very young age. I guess I have just thought nothing of it until you mentioned it. It was just a natural occurrence to me. Don't know why I can, I just can."
Brock absentmindedly nodded in thought. Ash looked out of the souble doors of the Pokemon Center and noticed how dark it was. He yawned and sat back down on the bench and pulled over his backpack and sat it down in front of him. He pulled out his stickers, pot, Blood Moon leaves, and burner.
"Hey Brock, could you go to the restroom and fill this pot with water for me?"
"Sure, Ash."
"Thanks."
He handed it to Brock and picked up his stickers. He pulled off Zubat's PokeBall first and released it. It came out with a screech and landed on Ash's left shoulder. The trainer grunted at the extra weight, but otherwise ignored it. He went about putting the stickers on Zubat's PokeBall. He talked to the bat while he did so.
"Welcome to the team Zubat, we're glad to have you! OUCH!"
Zubat had given Ash a, what it deemed as "affectionate", quick bite on the shoulder. The trainer reached up with an unoccupied hand and rubbed the sore spot.
"Easy there Zubat, you almost drew blood."
The bat's ears drooped at that and gave a small screech of apology.
"It's alright. If you want to bite me, do it more gently next time OK?"
Zubat flapped its wings twice in place of a nod since it couldn't do so.
Ash finished with Zubat's stickers and returned it to its PokeBall. Just as he pulled off Sandshrew's PokeBall, Brock came back into the lobby with his pot. He put the PokeBall back for the moment and relieved Brock of his burden and put the pot on the burner, turning it on.
"Hey Ash, what do you plan on boiling?"
"Huh? Oh... Blood Moon leaves."
"Blood Moon leaves? Those are toxic for Pokemon!"
Ash mumbled under his breath as he put the leaves in the now boiling water.
"Sorry, didn't hear you."
"I just said that I know that, but I figured out that by boiling them, it gets rid of the toxins in the leaves. Took me a week and a lot of throw up to get it right."
"I see. Why did you decide to try and feed them to your Pokemon anyway?"
"Well, the leaves have a lot nutrients and healing properties in them I learned. That Butterfree you fought against? I caught it as a Caterpie two weeks ago. It was eating raw Blood Moon leaves and was the largest Caterpie I have ever seen! So I figured I'd get some basic info on them from my PokeDex. I decided I would try and get the toxins out so that nothing but the good stuff remained. Finally figured out that boiling gets rid of them, but the nutrients and healing properties remained. Though they are a bit diluted because of it."
The gym leader blinked slowly at this information.
"Huh, I never knew. Guess even those who know a lot about raising Pokemon learn something new."
The both of them laughed at this. Ash then unclipped Sandshrew's PokeBall once more, after remembering what he was doing earlier, and released it. Brock looked at it after calming down.
"Ash, I didn't know you had a Sandshrew."
"Yep, I caught it on the way here. I also caught a Zubat just before you came running up the hill."
Sandshrew was looking around the Pokemon Center curiously then its eyes settled on it new trainer. It tilted its yellow head as it studied Ash putting the stickers on its PokeBall.
"Say Ash, why are you putting stickers on your PokeBall?"
"I put them on all of my Pokemon's PokeBalls. Helps me identify them in case they are ever lost or stolen. The ones I put on the bottom of the PokeBalls can't be removed easily and are inconspicuous. The other ones are just for show basically."
"Ah, not a bad idea. I might do that."
Ash finished and called Sandshrew over to him. The trainer took off one of his fingerless gloves and started stroking the spot between the Pokemon's ears. It closed its eyes and gave a "Shrew" in contentment.
"Wow, for having such tough defenses, Sandshrews sure are smooth and soft." Ash murmured.
Ash stopped stroking the Pokemon and called out the rest of his team. Brock's eyes bugged out when he saw the Pokemon he had faced at his gym up close. His jaw dropped when he saw the Scyther the young trainer had.
"Hey guys, welcome our newest members to the team- Sandshrew and Zubat!"
The Pokemon all gave cries of greeting to each other. Zubat was flying around their heads giving off small screeches. Ash shook his head at this. Sheesh, that is one jolly Zubat. The trainer then introduced Brock, who was preparing food for all of them.
Half an hour later and everyone's food was ready. Brock had released his two Pokemon and introduced them to Ash's a few minutes ago. Ash had sprinkled the now dried and crushed Blood Moon leaves over all the food.
"You sure about this?"
"Of course. I've been eating these since I started boiling them. They add a bit of tang to our food. They've been keeping us fit and healthy too."
"Alright, if you say so."
They all ate their dinner with appreciation (especially Ash and his Pokemon) and exclaimed loudly that it was the best food they had ever eaten (only Ash understood was his Pokemon were saying). Brock got the gist of it and blushed, stuttering his thanks.
After dinner, the two humans recalled their Pokemon and cleaned up, then asked Nurse Joy if they could rent a room for the night. She handed them a key to the only available room in the Center (it only has one room for trainers since it is a very small Pokemon Center, but thankfully the room has two beds).
Ash and Brock walked down the short hallway to the room, unlocked it and went inside. They sat their stuff on the floor next to their chosen bed, and flopped down and just laid there. Ash was going to ask who got to have the shower first, but crinkling his nose at the smell of sweat from Brock, told him he could have it first.
Thirty minutes later and both of them were curled up under the sheets of their bed and falling alseep to the night time sonata of nature. Pikachu jumped on Ash's bed and curled up against his stomach and was asleep in 5 minutes. Can't wait until we are sleeping under the stars again. I miss sleeping with all my Pokemon up against me. With that thought, Ash fell into slumber.
The next morning, Ash and Brock quickly got ready so that they could leave early and get through the mountain as swiftly as they could.
Stepping out into the lobby, they gave a small goodbye to Nurse Joy and were about to walk out of the Pokemon Center when she stopped them to give a warning.
"Be careful you two. Other travelers have reported that there is a wild Pokemon in Mount Moon causing people all kinds of problems when trying to get through the mountain."
The two young men told her they understood and left.
Standing outside the entrance, Brock and Ash stared into the pitch black cave.
"Well, you ready Brock?"
"Yeah... Let's go."
Ash dropped to one knee suddenly and put his backpack in front of him. He opened it and pulled out a lantern and some oil and a lighter. Brock just stared at him.
"You sure came prepared for anything, didn't you?"
"Yup."
He got the lantern going and started walking toward the cave with Brock at his heels. When they got in, they could barely see anything in the inky blackness, even with the light source they had. They could hear a dripping noise in the distance with how silent the tunnel was. Ash growled under his breath. Pikachu was clutching tightly to Ash's shoulder in fear of the silence.
"Well, this sucks."
Even when the trainer said this quietly, the sound still reverberated off the walls in an echo. Brock shuddered a bit.
"This place gives me the creeps Ash, let's get out of here quickly."
"I'm with you there."
The two of them picked up their pace a bit and using the lantern to make sure they didn't fall over anything in their path. About twenty minutes of uninterrupted walking later, and they faltered in their walking when a large rumble echoed around them. Ash started backing up and accidentally bumped into Brock, making the future breeder stumble backwards and fall on his rear.
"Sorry Brock."
Brock only grunted and started to stand back up when a loud roar scared them witless. Ash waved the lantern around to see if there was anything near them. There wasn't.
"W-what do you think that was Brock?"
Now back on his feet, Brock listened as the roar sounded again.
"Not sure, but it sounds a bit like an Onix, only this roar sounds a little higher pitched with a bit of a jingle to it. Very strange. Do you think you can understand what it is saying?"
Ash nodded, even though he knew Brock couldn't see it. Closing his eyes, he listened as the roar sounded again, only it was closer this time.
"I think it's saying 'I found him, I found the one.' Not sure what it means by that though."
All of a sudden, something crashed through the ceiling above them and grabbed a hold of Ash in its mouth. Pikachu jumped off quickly after grabbing the lantern out of Ash's hand and landed next to Brock crying out to its trainer. The creature then went through the floor below them, covering the hole as it went so that Brock and Pikachu couldn't follow it down the hole.
"PIKA PI!"
"ASH!"
Brock and Pikachu rushed forward only to be stopped as the cave ceiling started to collapse. The breeder grabbed Pikachu and ran in the opposite direction. They barely made it out of the cave before the entire thing was closed off by rock. Nurse Joy came running out of the Pokemon Center at the sound of heavy rock falling.
"What in the world happened?"
"Pokemon -pant- took Ash -pant- and caused a -pant- cave collapse!"
Nurse Joy gave a gasp and ran back inside the Pokemon Center. Brock and Pikachu quickly followed. They saw her rush to a normal looking phone.
"This is Nurse Joy of the Mount Moon Pokemon Center. We have an emergency on our hands and need your Rock and Fighting team pronto!"
Silence.
"A couple of young trainers went inside the mountain and one was taken by a wild Pokemon. It caused a cave collapse. The captured trainer's Pokemon and his friend made it out before it collapsed on them."
More silence.
"OK, but please hurry!"
Ash groaned and opened his eyes slowly but closed them immediately when he was nearly blinded by bright light. Uuuuuggghhhhh... What happened? Sitting up, he opened them even more slowly so that his eyes could get adjusted to the light. After a few seconds, he could look around properly with just a bit of squinting on his part. What he saw had him in awe. He was in some sort of cavern oasis and many Pokemon were running around playing. The walls of the cavern was covered in nothing but sapphire from floor to ceiling. The ceiling had a hole in it allowing bright sunlight to come into the cave. The light was reflecting off the gems in the walls creating a beauty like nothing Ash had seen. Wow... Just wow!
Ash made to stand up, but the same roar that he heard in the tunnel stopped him, though it wasn't as loud. He suddenly saw a large shadow loom over him and he whipped around in the direction it was coming from. There, in front of him, was the most beautiful Onix he had ever seen. A sapphire Onix? Though it was much smaller than normal ones and it wasn't shining like the sapphire in the walls. Must be an older one. The trainer crabbed walked backwards and bumped into the edge of whatever he was in. A nest? It was a nest alright and it had eggs in it. Ash gulped. He was sure he was in for it.
The Onix only lowered its head and nudged Ash. He suddenly heard a feminine voice in his head.
*How are you feeling young one?*
Ash blinked in confusion.
"Are you talking to me... In my head?"
The Onix gave a rumble in her throat that Ash believed to be laughter.
*Indeed I am young one.*
"But... How? Onix can't learn to be psychic!"
*I do not have psychic powers young one, just mental telepathy. It took me many moons to learn it.*
"Oh... Are you the one who brought me here? And if you did, why?"
*I am indeed the one who brought you here young one. I have been waiting a long time for the one the legends all talk about and I have a couple of gifts for you.*
"Wha... Legends? Me? Huh?"
The Onix ignored the rambling trainer and lowered her head towards one of the eggs in the nest and gently lifted an egg that was shining a bright, blue sapphire color into her mouth. She then laid the egg gently in Ash's lap.
*I wish for you to take one of my children with you young one. I would go with you instead, but my time on this planet is nearly up. I have been alive for several centuries as it is and I eagerly await my eternal rest. Once the rest of my children hatch, I shall pass on here, the place where I was born as well. Do not feel sad for me Ash, whatever you do. Take care of, train, and raise my child to be the best. That is my dying wish.*
Ash just nodded and looked down at the egg he held in his lap and rubbed it a bit. Though Onix were normally cold, the egg was incredibly warm.
*I think I hear your second gift approaching. Be prepared to be tackled.*
The trainers eyes opened wide and he quickly put the egg in his backpack, wrapping it snuggly around some clothes, then set it aside. Just as he did, he was tackled and he lay flat on his back- a pink thing was jumping up and down on him in excitement. The ancient Onix gave a chuckle in the back of her throat.
*Well, here's your second gift young one.*
Ash tilted his head so that he could see what was jumping on him and nearly cried out in surprise.
"A Clefairy?"
*Yes. This young Clefairy has been looking for a worthy trainer. I called to her when I noticed you were in the mountain. She is now your Pokemon Ash Ketchum. Take good care of her.*
Ash picked up the Clefairy and finally got to stand up. He sat the eager Pokemon on the ground and pulled out an empty PokeBall.
"Welcome to the team Clefairy!"
"Clefairy!"
She jumped up and touched the PokeBall and was sucked in. The ball shook twice before stilling and locking up. Ash pulled out his PokeDex and swapped Scyther out, then put Clefairy's PokeBall on his belt.
"Thanks a bunch Onix! How soon do you think the egg will hatch and how the heck do I get out of here?"
*You are most welcome young one. The egg will hatch in about a month if you keep it warm enough. You can find the exit that way.*
She pointed her tail north across the cavern.
*I left some Moon Stones there for you as well at the exit. You will know when to use them when the time is right. I bid you farewell Ash Ketchum, and good luck.*
The sapphire Onix then wrapped herself around her remaining eggs and fell asleep. The whole ordeal had worn her out. So Pokemon have genders huh... And here I have been calling them "it" all this time. Better find out what gender my other Pokemon are soon. Man what an adventure, I so want to get out of here. With that, he stepped out of the nest and headed out across the large cavern.
In about ten minutes, he stood at the exit and looked down. The old Onix was truthful in her statement about the Moon Stones. There, at the corner lay about ten Moon Stones. He picked them up and placed them in a pocket he set aside in his backpack specially for evolution stones. Ash then stepped outside and noticed it was about 1 or 2 in the afternoon.
Pulling out his PokeDex, he swapped Zubat for Pidgeotto and called the bird out. It stretched its wings and gave a cry.
"Pidgeo!"
"Pidgeotto, I need you to fly to the other side of Mount Moon and find Brock and Pikachu for me. Tell them I am out of the mountain and will meet them in Cerulean City OK? Then fly back to me. Oh, and Brock is this tan guy with spikey hair. He's hard to miss."
Saluting Ash with a wing, the bird took off to complete its order. The trainer laughed at its antics and walked down the path that lead to the main path out of Mount Moon. I need to train my new Pokemon soon. I think I will do that before I battle the gym in Cerulean City.
End of Chapter 8
Phew, what a long chapter. I was gonna split this up, but decided against it as the Mount Moon chapter would have been too short.
The one thing I found weird was how Pikachu started trusting 2 strangers right off the bat when he didn't like Ash or Professor Oak at all. Well I changed that yes I did.
If you see any grammar or spelling mistakes in any of the chapters, please let me know.
