JICU
Meeting the Forces of Nature! Journeys of an Eccentric Explorer!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Pokémon Anime Series!
"Pokémon" – Normal Speech
'Pokémon' – Thoughts
Pokémon – Flashback
Pokémon – Move Names
{Pokémon} – Pokédex
Previously on Journey to Improve: Conquest of Unova,
"Alright! It is off to Driftveil City for my fifth Gym Battle!" Ash yelled after so many more adventures to remember until they found the path to the Driftveil City Gym where the next Gym Battle will take place. But no one knew that instead of a straight forward match, which never once happened after the one Ash had in Striation City, the gang will have to go against a trio of Legendary Pokémon for their lives. Let's just hope that Ash's Pokémon are trained well enough to combat the forces of nature in the solid Pokémon bodies.
"Hello Clay. I hope that now you can accept my challenge this time." Ash said as he faced the man in question who then had a regretful expression on his face,
"I did say that I will accept your challenge after my company was done but something had come up and I was hoping to tell you earlier." Clay said and Ash knew it wasn't good. "I have just got word that our stock on Revival Herbs had ran bone dry and our supply of Revival Herbs hadn't delivered in months. If you can bring back some Revival Herbs from Milos Island, then I will accept your challenge."
Ash's friend felt like a bunch of errand boys and girls for this 'King of The Mines' but Ash decided to take it anyways and they left after receiving directions to a boat that goes to Milos Island.
Once there, the locals told them to go up the mountain to where a sole human lives up there with his Pokémon. They said that he is the only one that knew where to find any Revival Herbs. It took until the sun started to set until the gang noticed that a figure was approaching them from the forest.
"Hey! What are you doing out here?" He asked.
"We are looking for Lewis. We need some Revival Herbs for Driftveil City." Ash explained and the man nodded before introducing himself as Lewis but he still didn't tell them where to find some Revival Herbs. Instead,
"It is getting late. Let's go to my cabin." Lewis said. Once instead, the gang noticed that a Pokémon was in bed, really weak and has a fever. Up close, it was a medium sized Pokémon that donned a scarlet flower with white spotted petals upon its head; said flower has golden filaments with red anther, resembling a crown. It possessed dark green, linear leaves under the flower, and light green, linear leaves underneath the darker leaves. One of the light green leaves, on the back of its head, was about as long as its body and resembles hair. Two light green leaves loosely hanged down from its head. Its head and abdomen were white and its eyes, which resemble seeds, were a light shade of scarlet. It had dark green, linear leaves for arms, and a golden sepal under its neck. It wore a large, light green, tulip shaped collection of leaves, resembling a dress. There were two long, dark green, linear leaves coming from its back to around the bottom of its "dress". Finally, it also possessed another golden, sepal-shaped extension underneath its "dress", resembling feet.
Ash scanned it with his Pokédex while Cilan asked, "Is that a Lilligant?"
{Lilligant, the Flowering Pokémon. The beautiful flower on Lilligant's head gives off a relaxing fragrance, although getting it bloom can be difficult even for a veteran Trainer.} Iris didn't like the look of that Lilligant one bit and never did Erina who looked down on the Flowering Pokémon with concern.
"So why hasn't this Lilligant getting any better?" Erina asked and Lewis explained that he could with some Revival Herbs and he finally explained that for the past two weeks, every one of the Revival Herbs was either dead or withered which couldn't be used. Lewis even said that with Lilligant, he was able to find some Revival Herbs in the first place; and without her, it was next to impossible to find any of the herbs.
Lewis then told the gang about why this island was called the Island of Legends that they have heard in Driftveil City; about when the two great legendary Pokémon had gotten into a feud and began to fight among themselves, threatening the island that was inhabited by only Pokémon back then. Their names were Tornadus and Thundurus, their power seemed to have been a stand hill; there was no clear winner among them. Another Legendary Pokémon had appeared to stop the fighting but was instead badly hurt by the two fighting Pokémon; his name was Landorus. He just laid on that island, dying until a maiden and her Pokémon had found him and nursed the legendary Pokémon back to health. That was how Landorus was able to save the island from Tornadus and Thundurus; in gratitude for being healed, Landorus poured his power into Milos Island, turning it into a fertile paradise.
"Gothita~!" A voice had emerged from one of the windows after the legend had ended and Lewis recognized it,
"Gothita, you have returned! Any luck?" Lewis asked the Pokémon who stepped in the light for a much better look. It was a black, humanoid Pokémon with slim arms and legs. There were two round black buns on each side of its head, with a smaller drop-shaped piece hanging from each. Adorning its hair were four white bows, two on each bun. It had a pale purple face with cyan eyes and red lips. Finally, it had two white bows on its body, which flares at the bottom to form a skirt shape.
Ash scanned it with his Pokédex,
{Gothorita, the Manipulate Pokémon and the evolved form of Gothita. Gothorita uses starlight as its power source. It arranges rocks in the same way as the stars, and can use its Psychic powers to control people and Pokémon.} In the hands was a dried up stem with leaves that weren't any better. Lewis said that it was a wilted Revival Herb which made him lament on how the earth is sick and can't grow anymore fresh Revival Herbs so the gang didn't know what to do anymore; at least the Pokémon had something to enjoy especially with Erina's Axew going very well along with Lewis's Gothorita.
Then there was a loud sound and the cabin shook and tumbled around in the racket and force that everyone felt even through the wooden walls. They rushed outside only to see that a thunderstorm had appeared in an instant since it was very clear when Ash and the gang had first entered the cabin. They then saw something else, two floating Pokémon high near the clouds facing each other down like two enemies about to fight to the death.
The first one was a green, muscular humanoid Pokémon. On its forehead were two, purple, long and sharp horns. The Pokémon had white, wavy and billowy styled hair, a spiky white mustache and two pointed green ears on either side of its head. Its eyes were yellow with beady white irises and no visible pupils. The front of the Pokémon's body was covered in various, irregularly shaped purple spots. Its broad, purple chest consisted of two joined, partially diamond shaped pectorals and its shoulders, elbows and navel are adorned with raindrop like designs. It had two spotted muscular arms, with five fingers on each hand. Its lower body consists of a trailing cloud, with a purple long, curling tail, tipped with a whirl. Finally, spanning the length of its tail, the Pokémon had several whorled structures; they were a light Khaki color, and follow the same direction as the tip of its tail.
The other one was a blue, muscular humanoid Pokémon. On its head was a single, long, sharp, purple horn. The Pokémon had white, zigzagging and jutting styled hair, a spiky white mustache and two pointed blue ears on either side of its head. Its eyes were yellow with beady white irises and no visible pupils. The front of the Pokémon's body was covered in various, irregularly shaped purple spots. Its broad chest consisted of two joined, purple, rounded-diamond shaped pectorals and its shoulders, elbows and navel are adorned with raindrop like designs. It had two spotted muscular arms, with five fingers on each hand. Its lower body consisted of a trailing cloud, with a thick, long, curling, purple, cable-like tail. Finally, also spanning the length of its tail but this time, the Pokémon had several ball-like structures. They are a dark grey color, and each has a long, sharp spike on one side.
Ash scanned them both with his Pokédex in order while he had the time,
{Tornadus, the Cyclone Pokémon. Tornadus expels massive energy from its tail, causing severe storms. Its power is great enough to blow houses away.}
{Thundurus, the Bolt Strike Pokémon. The spikes on its tail discharge immense bolts of lightning. It flies around the Unova region firing off lightning bolts.}
Ash knew that it was it, the two figures from the legend that Lewis had told them last night; two of the forces of Nature yet Landorus was not around. He had to forget about that when the two Pokémon started to face each other in battle. They attacks were at a greater level than most wild or even trainer Pokémon since the earth shook, trees were ripped form their roots, the air crackled and the sky was covered in active thunderclouds.
And yet in all this, there was voice calling out to them. "Great Pokémon! We are your saviors! We are here to free you from this wretched island where you are trapped by the greedy locals to use you for your power!" It was none other than,
"It's Team Plasma!" Iris proclaimed which left Ash and Cilan miffed while Erina was worried since she heard about Team Plasma stealing everyone Pokémon including her own.
"I should know that it was you who try to summon Tornados and Thundurus to Milos Island." Ash said in disdain for the very crooks in white uniforms. "You placed the entire island in danger for your own greed."
"Shut up! You don't know what we have to do in order to show the world that they only enslave Pokémon in what they call training!" One of them yelled in retaliation to Ash's verbal jab until a surge of thunder and a blade of wind had hit the area between Ash's group and Team Plasma! "B-but we are your friends! We are only here to take you away from this horrible prison!" That same madman of a criminal tried to reason with the two Pokémon who didn't take orders from anyone; they just wanted to continue with their brawl even if it destroys the island in the process. Also, they had used their attacks to send Team Plasma flying into the horizon and off the island.
That meant that it was all up to Ash and the gang to try and stop them from harming the island. Yet, it was up to no avail as Tornadus and Thundurus had gained their status as Legendary Pokémon for a good reason. None of the attacks sent at them even as much as scratch their skin and barely anyone was able to stand their own attacks. Only Ash's Pikachu was remaining on his feet as the yellow rodent fought against legendary Pokémon before. Now it was time to turn to the local who knew the most about all this.
Lewis then said that the only way to save Milos Island was to have someone accompany Gothorita while as the shrine maiden. Iris volunteered as she wanted to fill in the role since Erina didn't want to walk into danger like that. Lewis took Iris into the cabin where the dress for her was stored for a day like this and once she came out, Ash couldn't help but say this to his girlfriend.
"You look gorgeous as ever Iris." Ash said in a smooth tone that made Iris blush as hard he did. She wore a heavy dress with a red oval stone onto her forehead, she even re-arranged her hair into a different style which made her look more wild and more lovely like Ash said. All kidding aside, it was now time for Iris to perform the ceremony of summon Landorus.
They tried to ignore the destruction around them and protect Iris from the attacks that missed their target and land near their position. Time went past and nothing happened; Ash is even running out of Pokémon, with even Pikachu running out of breath while trying to intercept the attacks. Now was time to nearly give up hope until a bright light had emerged from the sky, parting the thunderclouds and lighting up the ground despite the fact that it was night time.
In the light was a Pokémon like Tornadus and Thundurus, resembling a genie. It was an orange, muscular humanoid Pokémon. On its forehead were three, sharp, pink horns arranged in a slight, upwards arch. It had a white protrusion shaped like a short log on top of its head, a jagged white mustache and two pointed orange ears on either side of its head. Its eyes were yellow with beady white irises and no visible pupils. The front of the Pokémon's body was covered in dark pink spots; most of them shaped like diamonds, pebbles and raindrops. Its broad chest consisted of two joined, dark pink diamond shaped pectorals and its shoulders, elbows and navel are adorned with designs resembling raindrops. It had two spotted muscular arms, with five fingers on each hand. Its lower body consisted of a trailing cloud, with a long, curling, brown, branch or root-like tail. Finally, the Pokémon's tail has various flat protrusions running its span, each spotted in dark pink on their edge surface.
When that figure appeared, Ash scanned it like Tornadus and Thundurus.
{Landorus, the Abundance Pokémon. Lands visited by Landorus grant such bountiful crops that it has been hailed as "The Guardian of the Fields."}
"Please great Landorus." Ash then spoke to the Abundance Pokémon. "Evil has found this island and tried to take Tornadus and Thundurus for their own purposes and try to destroy this island. We need your help to stop them before they rid of the island that you have created yourself." Landorus didn't feel like listening to a human but after seeing that there was no sin among the words and that he could see the truth with his own eyes, he decided to save the island that he had blessed ages ago.
With the help of the trainers backing him up the best way they can, Landorus had once again intervened in the fight between Tornadus and Thundurus but this time, they actually listened to the words of the Ground and Flying type. They also calmed down enough to let up the storm for good until the locals will rebuilt the shrines that were found to be tampered with so that they couldn't hold Tornadus and Thundurus in the island.
Meanwhile, Ash and the gang had saw that Landorus had re-energized the land so that revival herbs had grew nonstop so they were was plenty for them to bring back to Driftveil City. After that, Clay better not have denied Ash of his gym battle for a third time. The gang were getting tired of waiting and running around Unova.
XXXXX
Now that the gang were back in Driftveil City once more and at the city gym,
"Here you have it Clay. The Revival Herbs you asked for so now we can have that Gym Battle you promised." Ash said with buckets full of the special plant for the eye to behold. The king of the mines was chuckling,
"Yeah no kidding, the battlefield is this way." Clay led them into the Gym and down an elevator where the room was decorated in the theme of a mine with pick axes, mining equipment and the works.
"The battle between Clay of Driftveil City and Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town will now get under way. Trainers, please release your first Pokémon!" The referee announced as Clay and Ash took their places on each side of the battlefield.
"I know who I am using for this match. Krokorok!" Clay released his Desert Croc Pokémon to top things off and Ash smirked since he had the feeling that Clay will be using a ground type alright but Krokorok is also a dark type so Ash had the right Pokémon for this.
"Scraggy! I need you!" Ash released his Shredding Pokémon since Scraggy has a double resistance to Dark type moves and no weakness to Ground type attacks. Clay smirked as he was used to trainers using their starter Pokémon that have a type advantage against his Pokémon.
"Begin!"
"Krokorok, use Dig!" Clay made the first move and the Desert Croc Pokémon burrowed into the battlefield where Scraggy couldn't tell where it was.
"Don't panic Scraggy! Feel the ground!" Ash told his Pokémon who managed to settled down and feel the earth until Krokorok created vibrations while using Dig; Scraggy was now able to tell when Krokorok was going to resurface. When the Desert Croc Pokémon did, Scraggy was able to jump out of the way which allowed Ash to command the latter to, "Use Brick Break!" Scraggy landed a hand chop on Krokorok which did a lot of damage to the surprise of Clay.
In the stands, Iris and Erina were shocked to see that Fighting type move do some much damage to Clay's Pokémon. "Is that why Ash choose Scraggy?" Erina asked and Cilan nodded,
"Yes, Dark type Pokémon are weak to Fighting type moves and in return, Fighting type Pokémon are restraint to Dark type moves." Cilan explained and the girls nodded as they took in this piece of info for future matches.
"Not bad Ash, you actually took me by surprise but no longer! Krokorok, Sandstorm!" Clay remarked before telling his Pokémon stir up a vortex of wind that mixed in with the nearby rocks and dirt so that Scraggy couldn't see where Krokorok was.
"Don't lose focus Scraggy! Use Bulk Up and then Substitute!" Ash gave a command that confused everyone but they then saw Scraggy flexed his muscles that increased his defense and attack power; yet, Scraggy didn't attack but switched places with a doll that looked barely anything like him in the Sandstorm! "Scary Face and then Low Kick!" Scraggy was having a ball, scuffing up his face so that Krokorok will hesitate and not move out of the way of the super effective Low Kick.
"Arrgh! Stone Edge and then Dig!" Clay was starting to lose his temper and gave a duel command that succeed when Scraggy lost Krokorok while trying to avoid the Stone Edge. Ash still had a backup plan,
"Scraggy, propel yourself by aiming Dark Pulse into the ground!" Ash told Scraggy who was wondering the meaning of the command but did it anyways, launching himself into the air where Krokorok's Dig is useless! Speaking of the devil, the Desert Croc Pokémon had emerged upon learning that his opponent was out of reach; still Krokorok forgot that the force he made into that Dig had sent him off the ground too! "Now Hi Jump Kick!" Ash shouted at the top of his voice and Scraggy descended onto Krokorok who had no room to avoid the attack, sending the Desert Croc Pokémon into the ground. There, the Ground and Dark Type Pokémon had laid in the crater of its fall, fainted.
"Krokorok is unable to battle! Scraggy wins!" The referee announced after seeing the verdict of the match. Clay was not happy with how things had turned out as the referee continued, "Will Gym Leader Clay please take out your next Pokémon?"
"Fine! Palpitoad, let's go!" Clay decided to release his Vibration Pokémon which caused Scraggy to stare down; Ash couldn't look himself in the mirror if he would switch out Scraggy now.
"Hydro Pump!"
"Dark Pulse!"
Both attacks were ordered at once and fired at the same time which caused an explosion of Pokémon energy. Both Pokémon were thrown back, Scraggy had shown signs of exhaustion since he was still very young and wasted a lot of stamina in those moves back there.
"Palpitoad! Use Rock Smash!" Clay knew this was his chance to get even with Ash who knew that his Scraggy couldn't gone much longer unlike most of his Unova Pokémon.
"Take it with Bulk Up and then Swagger!" Ash told his Scraggy to tighten his muscles again that barely stopped the super effective move to confused Palpitoad before falling to the Vibration Pokémon going on a rampage.
"Scraggy is unable to battle! Palpitoad wins! Will the challenger release his next Pokémon?" The referee did his job with the announcement while Ash's friends couldn't believe that Ash actually allowed his Pokémon keep fighting despite the fact that Scraggy was about to run out of steam; they later assumed it was because Ash knew Scraggy better than anyone else so that was why he kept Scraggy on the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Ash returned the fainted Shredding Pokémon and took out another Pokéball. "Beheeyem, I need you!" Ash had surprised everyone by choosing a Psychic type against Palpitoad whose type combinations had left it with only one weakness and Psychic moves aren't it.
"Start with Psybeam!" Ash said and Beheeyem had launched a beam of mystic energy at Palpitoad who only was launched a good distance away from its former positon.
"Sludge Bomb!" Clay made his move and Palpitoad had launched globs of toxic water at Beheeyem.
"Hidden Power!" Beheeyem had created balls of energy that intercepted and matched the Sludge Bomb. "Calm Mind." Ash told his Beheeyem to standby and enhance anymore special attacks but it left the Cerebral Pokémon open for Palpitoad,
"Don't think that I am going to let this chance get away! Use Rock Smash!" Clay had told his Pokémon use an ineffective hit but that was only a cover to blown off when Ash had made his next move,
"Use Barrier Beheeyem!" Ash told his Pokémon block that Rock Smash with a see-through and sturdy plane of glass.
"Now Hydro Pump!" That was Clay's strategy in order to finally hit Beheeyem who couldn't bring up another Barrier in time. "I don't usually do stuff like this but even a miner like myself have heard on the reputation you have built as a master strategist and Pokémon trainer so I am not underestimating you anymore!" Clay smirked but then saw that Ash had let down at all and then made his own smirk,
"Thank you Clay. Now I no longer feel bad form doing this! Beheeyem, use Psychic!" Beheeyem pulled through the Hydro Pump and caught Palpitoad in its mystic grasp. "Now Energy Ball!"
Everyone had figured out why Ash choose Beheeyem for this match in the first place; it was because the Cerebral Pokémon knew a Grass type move as a trump card well in hand. When Palpitoad was hit by the Energy Ball, it stood no chance and fainted.
"Palpitoad is unable to battle! Beheeyem wins! Now will Clay release his final Pokémon?" The referee announced but had to sweat drop along with everyone else when they saw that Clay was having a temper tantrum about losing yet another Pokémon too Ash who just stood there as patient and stoic like a lord.
"You are really starting to get me mad, now I will have to use my secret weapon. My very first Pokémon that nothing like the other Pokémon." Clay shouted and Ash braced for what it is, 'You guessed it. Excadrill, let's get to work!" Out came the Ground and Steel type Pokémon that Ash recognized as similar to the one that Iris owns.
"Okay then Clay. Roggenrola, I need you!" Ash revealed the rock type Pokémon who was just jumping joy that it was allowed to fight in another gym battle by Ash. Lately, it has been feeling like evolving anytime soon but since Roggenrola enjoyed the Gym Battle in Nimbasa City, it wanted to have it happen during another Gym Battle like this one.
"Okay then Ash, I will go firs this time. Use Horn Drill!" Clay commanded his Excadrill to charged and turn its top steel claw to glow with energy and act like a drill but Roggenrola didn't fall, he didn't even receive damage!
"What!?" Clay was shocked which confused Iris and Erina so Cilan explained in the stands that Horn Drill is a knockout move that defeats a Pokémon no matter how much health it had but there were a few flaws to it; one, that it can't fully work on a Pokémon who had a type resistance to the typing of the knockout move and two, Pokémon with the ability Sturdy can never be affected by such moves. Back to Ash and Roggenrola,
"Stone Edge!" Roggenrola had repelled Excadrill with a storm of rocks launched while the Subterrene Pokémon was still trying to use Horn Drill. "Now use Sandstorm!" Ash told Roggenrola to take advantage of this chance and trap Excadrill in a sandstorm where the Ground and Steel Type could barely even stop itself.
"Rapid Spin!" Clay told his Excadrill to spin repeatedly until it was able to escape the Sandstorm but,
"Flash Cannon!" Roggenrola tried to land at least some damage onto Excadrill but due to the type disadvantage, the attack did barely anything.
"Metal Claw!" Clay commanded his Excadrill who channeled energy into one of its claws and charged at Roggenrola.
"Iron Defense!" Ash told his Pokémon to increase defensive power in order to better take in the attack. When Excadrill met Roggenrola on the dime, instead of dealing heavy damage, Roggenrola was launched in the air like Excadrill was only moments ago. In the air however, something else had happened and it started when Roggenrola started to glow bright blue that lit up the gym battle room.
Ash couldn't believe that he was looking at his Roggenrola evolving right in front of his eyes, the whole thing about Pokémon evolution is still unpredictable to him to even try to estimate the precise moment it will happen. Once the blue light had died as the Pokémon landed on the ground, in the place of the Mantle Pokémon was a blue rock-like Pokémon with an array of red crystals on its back and front, and a spine protruding from between its yellow ears. Rocky chunks were at its sides comprise pincer-like limbs, tipped with red crystals similar to the ones on its back.
Ash took out his Pokédex,
{Boldore, the Ore Pokémon and the evolved form of Roggenrola. Because Boldore cannot contain its massive energy, orange crystals form on its body. They glow when Boldore's energy overflows.}
"Okay then...Boldore." Ash said as he got used to addressing his newly evolved Pokémon, "Use Flash Cannon at Excadrill's feet!" Ash shouted and Boldore obeyed, sending a silver beam of energy down at Excadrill, knocking it off of the battlefield. "Now use Rock Smash!" The position of Excadrill left barley any time to avoid the glowing leg of Boldore with fighting type energy that took advantage of the steel typing of the Subterrene Pokémon.
"Time to end this once and for all! Use Horn Drill!"
"Rock Smash!"
Excadrill tried to try the ground type knockout move again while Boldore used the same move and energy in the same leg again. When they met, the two moves were equal in power so they struggled to get the upper hand when Excadrill had missed Boldore and the Ore Pokémon managed to land one last Rock Smash on the Subterrene Pokémon; Excadrill was finished and so was Clay.
"Excadrill in unable to battle! Boldore wins and the winner of the Driftveil City Gym is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!" The referee announced and his friends in the stands had cheered for yet another match that Ash delivers the best. Meanwhile, Ash was rubbing against Boldore who loved the touch after such a battle; then Ash saw Clay standing next to him.
"That was a very good match there Ash. Here is your prize and proof that you have won at my Gym." Clay said with a badge in hand, it was shaped like a vertical piece of earth, the top half of which had been cracked and sled out of place, resembling the result of an earthquake.
Ash just accepted it and placed the badge the fifth slot from the left in his badge case. "If you are looking for your sixth gym battle, then I suggest Mistralton City. The gym leader there is very popular and a lot of Unova trainers go there for their gym badge."
Ash nodded, "Thank you Clay. I had a good gym battle as well." Ash then returned Boldore to his Pokéball for a good rest. Then the trainer left the field without a second glance at Clay and neither did any of his friends who rushed to greet and congratulate him on his victory. They didn't want to stay around for another long trip errand from the tough mine boss again.
XXXXX
It was just another day since Ash finally had his Gym Battle at Driftveil City and now they were on their way to Mistralton City on Clay's recommendation. Right now, they were walking through a field talking about all sorts of stuff centering on Pokémon until the nice scenery was disturbed by,
"Pikachu!" Ash yelled as he saw his best buddy shrivel up like a raisin. He then noticed that, on Pikachu's back, was a very small Pokémon with four legs tipped with blue, conical feet. Its ovoid body was completely covered in yellow fur, with notable tufts sticking out on each side of its face, just over each eye, and its lower back. Joltik has four blue eyes. The two larger eyes were set relatively far apart on its face, containing black pupils. The two smaller simple eye were situated between the first pair, slightly higher up on its face. The Pokémon had mandibles point downward and reside at the bottom of its face, where they closely resemble tufts of hair. Very similar to the small Electric type at the Nimbasa Town Battle Tournament but Ash never go the chance to scan it while watching Georgia's Beartic and now he did,
{Joltik, the Attaching Pokémon. Joltik cling to larger Pokémon, and absorb static electricity, storing the energy in a special pouch.}
"If you think that sucking on my best friend is going to feed you for a few months, then you will have to think again." Ash said to the Attaching Pokémon who could have been afraid if it wasn't full on Pikachu's electrical energy.
"Hold on Ash!" Erina spoke up and get his attention, "The Pokédex said that Joltik have to fee don other's electric power so maybe this one got lost and couldn't find any other food source than Pikachu?" Lately, Erina had been improving on her shyness and clumsiness with the help of Iris who wanted to help Erina become her own person.
Ash couldn't argue with a girl like that so he reluctant released the Joltik, "Fine but if you want to protect it, then you will have to catch this Joltik." Erina let up that Ash was letting her catch her second Pokémon and her first since joining the gang. And yet before Erina and her Axew could start, the Joltik ran off since Ash's intimidation actually did have an effect on the Attaching Pokémon after all.
But before Erina could try to purse, a couple more Joltik had attached themselves to Emolga's and Stunfisk's Pokéballs when their trainers tried to have them help Pikachu out. That was more than any of them can take so the gang hurried to find a nearby Pokémon center; they were in luck as they didn't need to walk far to find one.
Not much later, Nurse Joy returned with all three electric Pokémon fully charged without the interference of anymore Joltik this time. Still, after hearing about this story, Nurse Joy was worried. "Joltik and Galvantula all live in the nearby Chargestone Caverns so there is no reason they are this far from their favorite rocks to feed on."
"It is like the Joltik are leaving their favorite place in order to find new sources of food other than the Galvantula." Cilan said with Erina fawning over how 'brilliant he is'. But before anyone else could say a word,
"Out of my way. Out of my way. Out of my way. Out of my way!" That a familiar voice alright and this also was very familiar: Ash being launched by that someone into a nearby fountain.
Erina started to panic while Iris and Cilan had sighed in disbelief and so did Ash while still in the fountain.
"You really should work on that Bianca." Ash said as he helped himself out while the trainer in question tried to apologize until she noticed Erina. They then started to introduce themselves since they had missed each other in Nimbasa City. At least, Erina had gotten another friend since the two girls have very similar interests like Pokémon, fashion and boys as well as goals like being great Pokémon trainers; it was like they were all distant sisters.
Still, Bianca remembered why she was in such a hurry: her watch had died and lost all power. But before Nurse Joy could recharge it, there was a blackout in the Pokémon Center which was believed to be linked to the Galvantula outside. They really are living outside the caverns.
Ash and the gang was determined to get to the bottom of this once the coast was clear. Bianca assured them that they had no problems since she had her Minccino, she revealed to have taught him Thunderbolt which will make the Galvantula lose interest in the other Pokémon's electricity. Instead, the hordes that appeared had taken both Pokémon due to Pikachu accidentally losing his guard and that he couldn't do anything without bringing more company and trouble to the mess as it is.
Bianca tried to run off in purse of her Minccino and nearly fell off a cliff-side in the process. Ash tried to keep everyone together until they found the stolen Pokémon with the Joltik trying to fee don their electrical energy but not before fleeing after seeing the humans come in their way; Minccino was able to recharge Pikachu with his Thunderbolt after all. While the trainers try to find out where they were, at the Chargestone Caverns where this whole mess had started.
There, the gang saw that there were machines at the caverns, driving the Joltik away! That was what had caused this entire incident and Ash was not going to let this keep at it and neither were his friends. But while they knew what had caused this, they soon got their answer to who was doing it and it was none other than,
"Team Plasma!" Iris and Erina proclaimed as they recognized those uniforms from the saboteurs at Milos Island.
"So it's is you. Here to stop us from our noble goal." One of the spoke in a self-righteous tone that not one trainer could stand a bit.
"What makes you think that destroying the home of these Pokémon is noble!?" Bianca yelled with Erina and Iris backing her up.
"It is not something that kids like you who are no different than slavers will ever understand. Now be good kiddies and run back to your momma who never listen to such villains like you!" Another one of Team Plasma yelled back but as a result, they never saw that Ash was simply walking pass them in order to cause their machines to short circuit and explode!
"Dammn you Ketchum! You have interfered for the last time!" A third of them yelled as he now knew who they were dealing with based on reports from the other agents who have failed at their orders because of a young man and his Pikachu.
"Simisear!"
"Swoobat!"
"Purrloin!"
"Sawk!"
"Watchog!"
All of these Pokémon were summoned by the grunts to battle the gang. Ash commanded his Pikachu, Bianca used her Pignite and Cilan took out his Dwebble while Erina and Iris ran off to get help. The fighting had been brutal to say the least and not to get into the gory details with the grunts having the advantage in numbers until aid came in the form of angry Joltik and Galvantula who recognized Team Plasma as the ones that were destroying their home, forcing them to harass other Pokémon and people for food.
Yet Team Plasma was not going down without a fight after they realized that their plans were ruined. This time however,
"If you want to keep fighting, then she is joining us too, come on out!" Iris threw a Pokéball and out came a Pokémon that only Ash and the gang recognized, the least could be said for the trainers and Pokémon native to Unova and especially Team Plasma.
Iris smirked along with her new Pokémon because the time for training was finally over and battle was the thing for this Pokémon now. She could just remember back on Milos Island, where something amazing had happened.
Flashback Begins.
It was back then, when Snorunt had stolen the Dawn Stone from Ash's backpack since she felt worthless during the fight against Tornadus and Thundurus and wanted to become the best she could be. Once she was found by Ash and Iris after Snorunt had took the stone, she was another Pokémon entirely and instead was a humanoid Pokémon with a hollow torso that resembles a kimono. She wore a red band around its waist, reminiscent of an Obi. Her body lacked feet and she floated in the air. Her arms were connected to the sides of its head, and flare at the wrists. The flared portion has dappled, light blue coloration. Its hands consist of three small fingers. Her head is shaped similar to a sideways water droplet, and is topped with two ice crystals that resemble horns. Her head also had several holes on it, resembling a mask. Finally, through two of these holes, crystal blue eyes with yellow sclera can be seen; she also has a mouth below this "mask".
Ash had scanned her with his Pokédex to be a,
{Froslass, the Snow Land Pokémon and an evolved form of Snorunt. It freezes its opponents to temperatures nearly minus sixty degrees.}
Iris kneed down to the newly evolved Froslass who was amazed that she had turned into something like this once she touched that Dawn Stone Ash always shown her. "Is this was what you wanted to do?" Iris asked tenderly in which Froslass nodded, thinking that Iris was going to regret her because she had to run off after stealing something from Ash. "Ash had always said that a good trainer is to fully understand his Pokémon and including their own opinions. If you are happy with your new form then I will lower myself to try and make you feel bad about it."
Froslass sparked in delight and hugged Iris back, only tighter in her joy. Iris herself felt like she was starting to become the great role model and trainer that Ash happened to become once they met for the first time.
Flashback Ends!
Now the grunts were looking at the Froslass and her trainer with lustful eyes which Ash had noticed, it sent him over the edge and he sent out all his Pokémon to fight a lot more seriously. That only caused the grunts to turn to more desperate deeds in order to gain an advantage which included one of them to leave his Pokémon at the mercy of the gang's Pokémon in order to ambush Iris and Erina to be used as hostages; that went up in smoke when Ash saw through it anyways.
Another Example is when three of them tried to take on Erina who wasn't ready for Pokémon battle and see even was unable to protect herself either. Ash was about to defend her but then Cilan's Dwebble got in the way and only survived since all three of them were at the same time which triggered his Sturdy Ability. But this also triggered something else to happen when Dwebble still hold his ground at the face of his overwhelming and outnumbering foes; he just started to glow blue and begun to grow.
"He is evolving!" Cilan said in awe and bewilderment as Dwebble glowed blue and grew in size. When the light faded, there was an orange Pokémon resembling an insect or crustacean. Its most distinguishing feature was to be its enormous shell, which resembles a cut-away block of sediment with multiple layers and strata visible. The tips of its pincers and six feet were dark gray. Finally, it had two glaring yellow eyes in the shape as those of Dwebble.
Ash and Bianca scanned it with their Pokédex,
{Crustle, the Stone Home Pokémon and the evolved form of Dwebble. With its powerful legs, Crustle can travel great distances while carrying a heavy stone on its back.} But before Cilan can say another word, the newly evolved Crustle had launched rocks into the air against this foes and also launched a massive rock embedded with rock type energy; Ash told everyone that was a move called Rock Wrecker.
All this had allowed the grunts' Pokémon to be defeated and caused the criminal trainers themselves to flee from the Chargestone Caverns and away from the Electric and Bug types who were happy to have their home back while the humans were cleaning out the machines. Now it was time for the gang to get back on the road but not without a certain something that had been too 'attached' to one of them to allow that same trainer to just leave.
It was the same Joltik that was first found on Pikachu that had started this whole mess! It seemed to want to battle someone more of his level and that someone had to be Erina who can officially battle against a wild Pokémon with one already on hand! Ash convinced her to try it out,
"Axew! Use Leer!" Erina made the first move and her Axew managed to lower the Joltik's defenses but the Attaching Pokémon was not out of it yet. It tried to hit Axew with a streak of electricity that it had feed on before but Erina learned from Ash that all Dragon types are immune from Electric attacks as well as Fire, Grass and Water. "Now use Duel Chop and then use Slash!" Axew obeyed through and through which landed a lot of damage since Leer had decrease Joltik's defenses.
Still, the little Pokémon wasn't out yet and had launched a web made of electrified webbing, hoping to land damage and immobilize Axew. "Use Dragon Rage!" Erina wisely used a move that didn't depend on the mobility of the user who had been successfully caught by the move that Ash labeled as Electroweb. Finally, Joltik couldn't keep standing any longer and fainted from the many hits even after trapping Erina's Axew with the Electroweb that had cancelled out when the Attaching Pokémon fainted.
"Pokéball, go!" Erina threw her spare ball to catch Joltik after the ball dinged for a few seconds. "Yeah! I caught my first Pokémon!" Everyone just smiled at how Erina was so excited on the day that she had caught a Pokémon for the first time since she decided to join Ash and the gang.
XXXXX
Now, the gang were still at the caves, resting after that run in with Team Plasma again who were getting more and more vicious and they now can't back up their 'noble' goal. So now, Juniper was with Bianca.
"So you want to undergo a trade evolution Bianca?" She asked and the said trainer nodded,
"Ash and the gang told me that I can evolve my Shelmet if I do it with a Karrablast and I was told that you have one in your team." Bianca said and Juniper just smiled at that and then motioned Bianca to come with her. Ash and the gang decided to have a look-see for themselves and saw that, in Juniper's tent, was a large machine that had a huge screen along with two tubes that were big enough to fit in Pokéballs.
"Is this?" Bianca started to say and Juniper filled her out,
"Yes. This is the Pokémon exchange machine where we can successfully trade Pokémon between the ownership of two trainers and with this, we can cause both Shelmet and Karrablast to evolve." Juniper explained and now Bianca just couldn't wait any longer; she wanted to have that happen. Yet Fate had other plans,
The machine suddenly undergone a discharge so that it couldn't function right and if Juniper or any of her assistants tried to use it, the machine will just explode instead. One of the assistants reported that the discharge was coming from one of the nearby caves and it wasn't the Joltik or Galvantula like before.
When they went into the tunnel pointed out by the assistant, they came across a horde of Pokémon going on a rampage. It scared Iris into hiding behind Ash, Erina behind Cilan and Bianca behind Jupiter. "What are these Pokémon!?" Bianca asked in freight at these local Pokémon from within the caverns.
They resembled two interlocking gears with six teeth each. The teeth of the gears were a light gray, with a darker central region. Each gear had a white "X" in place of its left eye, while their right eyes had a black pupil and white sclera. They have round turquoise noses and small mouths.
Ash and Bianca scanned it with their Pokédex,
{Klink, the Gear Pokémon. In order for Klink to survive, it produces energy by spinning its twin, interlocking bodies.}
They were definitely causing trouble but Ash wondered why they all seemed to be ignoring the humans in the mine, they looked like they were panicking over something. Ash went deeper and deeper into this tunnel while following a strange sound that only got louder in his direction until it became indefinitely clear. That was when,
"So that is what was causing all this." Ash said while looking at this peculiar Pokémon that seemed to be in pain and was screeching to the other Klink that caused them to create mayhem. It resembled four interlocking gears, with six teeth on the smaller two gears and eight teeth on the larger gear. The fourth gear was on its lower side, and is red-topped with a thin, spiked rim below it. The teeth of the smaller gears were a light gray, while their central regions were much darker. The teeth of the larger gear were a medium gray and its central region was darker. The left eye of the smaller gear was a white "X", while its right eye also had a black pupil and a white sclera. It also had a round green nose and a small mouth. The largest gear appeared to have a face with a black square for its left eye, a black circle for its right eye, and a sharply angled white frown.
Ash scanned it with his Pokédex,
{Klinklang, the Gear Pokémon and the final evolved form of Klink. Klinklang uses its spikes to fire charged energy into its environment, using its red core as an energy tank.}
Ash noticed that this Pokémon seemed to be in pain and the gears that make up its body just won't turn; that can be very painful for any Steel type Pokémon. Ash then motioned towards the Pokémon until the Klinklang saw him coming and fired a Thunderbolt at the trainer!
"Ash!" Juniper yelled out to Ash and wondered why none of his friends were worried with the exception of Erina who was held back by Cilan with a look that spelled out, 'It is all fine.' And it was since Klinklang had to stop the attack since it is still in pain.
"You are hurt and you have got to stop moving since that is the one thing that is making it worse." Ash seemed to have ignored the Thunderbolt and got even closer to Klinklang only to see something shining near one of the gears. Ash reached his hand towards the spot and pulled out a fountain pen!
Then Klinklang was able to move its gears again and the pain lifted! The Gear Pokémon then was able to float from on top that rock and join the group of Klink. Meanwhile, Juniper was in shock on how Ash was able to withstand that electric type attack and actually discover the source of the problem. "H-how?" Juniper sure wasn't aware about this even when she heard that Ash had faced against one of the Legendary Pokémon native to here once he firstly embarked in Unova's ports.
"I was surprised by that too but Ash had been hit by his Pikachu's electric attacks for so long that only Pikachu's electric attacks can actually hurt him. And his Pikachu was able to hurt Alder's Bouffalant." Cilan explained with Iris and Erina nodding while Juniper and her crew were still in disbelief that a trainer can have such an immunity to electric attacks that strong.
Since that Klinklang was in pain, the Klink will stop making the discharge that was preventing the exchange evolution machine from working. Bianca was now running on walls to see the whole process in action while Ash was at the peak of excitement himself to see an evolution that actually required a certain Pokémon to trade with in order to evolve. Once they were back at the camp, Juniper and Bianca gave their Pokémon to the machine and it switched out the two Pokémon.
Since they were still in their Pokéballs, the evolution has yet to happen. They used the same open field in order to release their Pokémon which both glowed and transformed drastically until they were the Accelgor the gang had met in Driftveil City and the Escavalier from Ash's Pokédex.
"Hey why not a battle to see how well they can fight in their new forms!?" Bianca asked after reviewing her Pokémon to know Peck, Take Down, Fury Attack, Iron Defense, and Quick Guard.
"Gengar! We need you!" "Pika~!" Ash and Pikachu said as the former released his Shadow Pokémon for everyone to see; Iris and Cilan recognized the strong Ghost and Poison type that Ash used at the Battle Club, in his second match with Trip. Still, with everyone in marvel at the spooky ghostly imp like Pokémon, Cilan had his own surprise for everyone but Ash.
"Sneasel! It is your time to shine!" Cilan proclaimed as he took out his sixth Pokéball and out came a bipedal Pokémon that resembled both cats and weasels. It was primarily peach in color with three bright yellow feathers for its tail and a single and shorter one on its left ear. On its forehead and chest were light blue, oval markings. It had red eyes with black eyelash-like markings on the edges. Finally, its feet and hands had two large, retractable claws each.
Juniper, Iris, Erina and Bianca were all in awe at the cute Pokémon that had a very serious and malicious look on its face but it did nod at Ash's Gengar like the two were respectful partners. Ash noticed that and said, "Why not you do the honors this time Bianca?"
The said trainer nodded and took out her Pokédex; after tumbling a little, she used it to scan the Pokémon but she didn't count on the picture to scan a more bluish black tone on this Pokémon with yellow oval markings and red feathers. The Pokédex read,
{Sneasel, the Sharp Claw Pokémon. Sneasel can extend or retract its claws instantly during attack.}
Everyone then noticed that this Pokémon was more native to Johto which will explain why no one other than Ash and his Pokémon recognized it. "So why does this one have a different coloring?" Iris asked without noticing that Sneasel was flinching at every word until, "Still it looks cuter and stronger than the one in the Pokédex." Sneasel then turned to Ash and smiled; like it too approves about its former trainer's choice of a human mate in its eyes.
"Battle begin!" Iris announced so Ash decided to give the first move,
"Gengar! Let's begin with Shadow Ball!" Ash proclaimed and his Shadow Pokémon fired a ball of ghostly energy at the two bug types.
"Sneasel, time for our first battle together! Use Ice Beam at their base!" Cilan commanded and Sneasel carried it out as well. Yet when it was the girl's turn, things didn't turn out very well for Bianca because like with Shelmet, Escavalier didn't listen to her. Juniper had to command Accelgor to use Substitute in order to protect the Cavalry Pokémon from the attacks.
Then everyone saw that Accelgor was getting tired and that made Juniper sigh, "Unfortunately, Substitute causes the user to use up half their health so they get tired easily." Ash then had a look on his face, a sadist one at that.
"Pity since I was hoping never to use this in our match. Gengar!" The Shadow Pokémon then gave Ash his undivided attention, "Shadow Beam!" Gengar, at first, did nothing until he took on a creepily wide smirk before charging up a Hyper Beam but mixing in with the energy of a Shadow Ball so that it will harm even another Ghost Pokémon.
"Escavalier! Defend Accelgor!" Bianca knew that even a move like that will still be ineffective against a steel type like Escavalier; the Cavalry Pokémon realized that it was no use trying to do things its own way it decided to listen to Bianca to see where it can go under her commands. But Ash still sighed deeply before taking in his sadist smile again.
"Don't think that I fight like that Bianca. Gengar, continue charging while using Lock On onto Accelgor!" Ash commanded his Pokémon to take careful aim at The Shell Out Pokémon and before Juniper can give another move, it was too late. Gengar sent out that beam of normal and ghost type energy that moved around Escavalier and hit Accelgor anyways! That same attack also caused an explosion that dealt damage to Escavalier while Accelgor just lied there, defeated.
"What!? How did that happen!?" Bianca was alarmed by the shocking turn of events and Juniper took in another sigh since her own Pokémon was done for the count.
"Lock On is a move that ensures a Pokémon will always hit their targets, no matter how fast the target is moving or what the target is hiding behind." Ash nodded at every word and Bianca became fearful since she was the only one left to fight the two boys who hadn't lost a Pokémon. 'I just can't imagine on just how Ash does teaches these moves to his Pokémon.' Juniper had deeply thought to herself.
"Don't daydream Bianca!" Ash shouted out to the said trainer, 'My Gengar can't move while recharging!" Bianca realized that the boys were giving her a much more fair shot at this match so she took a charge.
"Use Peck!" Escavalier fearless charged in Gengar, landing at a suitable amount of damage. "Now Fury Attack on Sneasel!" Bianca was on a rampage now that her Pokémon was listening to her as the Cavalry Pokémon attacked the Sharp Claw Pokémon endlessly.
"Now Sneasel, Ice Beam!" Cilan decided to make a counter attack but Bianca was not to be stopped so easily.
"Quick Guard!" Escavalier created a red outline that deflected the Ice Beam.
"Shadow Claw!" Cilan commanded and the Ice and Dark type launched a claw made from ghostly shadows.
"Iron Defense and then Fury Attack again!" Bianca commanded and Escavalier glowed metallically and took the attack with minimal damage.
Ash and Gengar were enjoying this for sure. "That is what I am talking about Bianca!" The said trainer blushed but couldn't afford to get her guard done when she got herself in sync with her new Pokémon that was trying to attack Sneasel who tried to fight back and dodge at the same time with much difficultly. "But now it is our turn! Use Shadow Ball!"
Gengar then launched a ball of ghostly energy at Escavalier which made Bianca to panic as she nearly forgot about Ash's Pokémon still in the match. "Try Quick Guard!" Escavalier nearly lost focus too and just barely defended itself from that attack but it was not to be,
"Shadow Punch!" Gengar launched a shadowy fist that landing a terrible amount of damage on the Bug and Steel type, knocking it out for good and ending the match. Bianca felt like she let her Pokémon down again and especially after she managed to form a team with it but Juniper and Ash were able to brighten her spirits when they healed Escavalier who, instead of regretting her, was trying to apologize for its defeat. Bianca just hugged the Cavalry Pokémon and welcomed it into her team for good.
Still, there was that questions that ran through everyone's mind: Where did Cilan get a Sneasel that was familiar with Ash's Gengar? Why it is a different color from the Pokédex? Why didn't anyone else get told about this until today?
After the match and as Ash explained everything else, Cilan was reflecting on his own point of view on it. He could remember like it was yesterday that after Ash had finally challenged Clay to a Gym Battle.
Flashback Begins!
"Cilan?" The said trainer turned to see Ash with a Pokéball in his hand,
"Hello Ash, did you catch any other Pokémon already? Which one did you send to Professor Juniper's lab?" Cilan said in a cheery tone but then noticed that Ash didn't return it,
"No I didn't catch this Pokémon, I received through a trade and I have decided to give it to you." Ash said in a serious tone as he handed over the Pokémon to Cilan who took it; he then opened the ball to reveal a different colored Sneasel who looked around and then back to Cilan as her new trainer.
"What is this Pokémon?" Cilan asked as he noticed that this Pokémon gave off a chilly presence that is shared with ever Ice type Pokémon.
"She is a very special Sneasel as she is a Shiny Pokémon. They are very rare and they have a different color coding from the regular Pokémon of the same species." Ash explained as he and Pikachu remembered that in Johto, they had a run in with a Shiny Pokémon as well; they ever caught it to add to the Ash's large grouping of them.
"And you are giving her to me? Why?" Cilan wanted to know and flinched at the look of disappointment from Ash,
"That should be a rhetorical question, coming from a Pokémon Connoisseur. You are to be trained to be knowledgeable in all types of Pokémon in case a trainer comes to you asking about a type other than Grass." Ash answered and Cilan realized that he was a little foolish for asking such a question. He then noticed on how well behaved this Sneasel was and yet still affectionate towards him.
"Very well Ash. I will take care of Sneasel in the best way I can." Ash nodded before adding something even more important,
"Thank you Cilan and all I have to ask of you is to keep it a secret from the others for the time being." Ash said and Cilan was shocked to hear such a thing. "Before you ask, I need to make sure that Sneasel will be more comfortable being trained by a single human rather than having a group look at her from the ground up. She had a terrible time that all Shiny Pokémon share in the wild; being hunted down like escaped convicts and sold for money on their status as Shiny Pokémon. She wants to be here and it is our job to make sure that she feels welcome and at home with us."
Cilan nodded the whole way and looked onto Sneasel who didn't even give off the aura of sadness, not to Ash's words. The Pokémon Connoisseur just knew on the trouble that will come once the day comes and he will have to show his friends that he was given a new Pokémon.
Flashback Ends!
Cilan had to cut his reflecting short when he and the others heard this from one of the assistants, "Professor! There is someone who just emerged from one of the tunnels and he looks like he is in trouble! We have just placed him in one of our tents!" Juniper gasped and hurried to see who it was and so did the other trainers before,
"Papa?" Juniper said as she recognized the man.
"PAPA!?"
XXXXX
Everyone was still not understand this turn of events as to this man emerged from the ruins, starving and lost. Even more strange was that Professor Juniper addressed their man as her father.
"So why are you here Papa?" Juniper asked after seeing the man eat to his stomach's limit in the food that was going to last the entire week for the crew.
"Why I am here to investigate and explore some ruins I heard where around here. But I got lost in the Chargestone Caverns." Cedric Said while alighting which only made Juniper sigh,
"You should be more careful next papa and besides, Ash has a question for you." Juniper said and Ash stepped forward with the pen in hand which Cedric had noticed,
"Hey that is my pen, how did you find it?" Cedric wanted to know and Ash decided to be blunt,
"Your pen was dislodged in the gears of Klinklang which was causing the Klink to interfere with your daughter's work Mr. Juniper." Cedric just laughed as he accepted the pen before raising from his seat.
"You are going already papa?" Juniper said in surprised and he nodded,
"I am afraid so. I can't waste any more time, I need to get to the ruins that I have been told off. I even got a lead on where the Hero contacted Zekrom." When Cedric said that so casually, he noticed that everyone had grew quiet for some reason, "Are you that shocked?" He had said in theory but instead everyone just shook their heads,
"Papa, there is something that Ash has and you need to see. Go right ahead." Juniper said after turning to the said trainer who took out a drawing pad from his pack and flipped to a certain page before giving it to Cedric; he just looked at it for a moment before exploding.
"What is the meaning of this drawing!?" Cedric shouted after throwing his seat back in his haste, 'How is that a young boy like you came into a drawing of Zekrom!?"
Juniper answered for both of those question, "Papa you must have messed the news that at the West ports of Unova, an unnatural thunderstorm had appeared when Professor Oak arrived with a young trainer and his mother. That trainer and his Pikachu were the closet to the core of the storm and saw Zekrom." Cedric couldn't believe that he never heard of that,
"Well this is a ground breaking incident, Zekrom had appeared to the arrival of a young boy." Cedric muttered to himself, "I better research harder into all this in order to find the answer to it all and I will begin by arriving at the ruins." This time, everyone heard him loud and clear; especially Iris who was getting excited at the possibility of an adventure in a ruin that is connected to one of the great legendary dragons of Unova.
"Oh! Can we go too?" Iris just couldn't take the suspense anymore and she had to ask the Professor Juniper Senior that question. Everyone agreed in their own way and Cedric started to say,
"I will never…" The gang flinched at being denied and yet, "…refuse such young-ins!" Everyone just fell down at such a strange habit of Cedric Juniper; his daughter just sighed,
"You never change, don't you Papa?" And so, Ash and the gang had joined Cedric as he tried to find the ruins and explore them. It took all day to get there so they had to spend the night on the way. Still they arrived at the entrance which looked like someone had dug into a cliff side and decorated the door with boulders and carved stones
After entering the ruins, they came across a stone slab with writing and a statue inside a small open space. "Aww! A dead end!" Iris proclaimed in disbelief but Cedric had something in mind,
"Maybe not. Look what is on this slab." He said and took out a notebook, he flipped the pages until he got to one with letters very similar to the ones on the slab. "Maybe this was left by the builders to tell us something."
"Well Mr. Juniper? What does it say?" Ash said as the said explorer was translating the words,
"Hmm. Turning the Venipede statue to the left…" He said and Ash noticed that Cilan was going to do so.
"Careful Cilan!" Ash told his friend who turned the statue anyways but then Cedric finished,
"…is a bad idea!" Cilan gaps as he realized on what he had done. The wall then started to lower to reveal a boulder! Everyone started to run but Ash actually stopped the boulder in its tracks! Ash then crushed the boulder with only his two bare hands, causing it to crumble into much more harmless pieces that tumble pass them towards the entrance.
"Next time, wait for the professor to be finished with his thoughts okay?" Ash asked of Cilan who just nodded in shame while Cedric was shocked at the sheer strength of Ash when it came to the boulder. This was something that explorers will definitely need in case they underestimate the traps set by the ones who built these ruins.
"Just as I thought." Cedric said as the gang turned back into the direction of where the boulder was placed, there was something there too. "Now that we have gotten rid of the boulder, we can go on." It turned out that Cedric knew that the trap was merely a cover for a passageway deeper into the ruins.
Once they continued, they came across a gorge with two bridges attached to both cliff sides. On a wall opposite to the bridges was more of the ancient text so the gang was waiting for Cedric to translate it. "Hm. Crossing the bridge on the left…" The trainers waited in suspense even though they had a suspicion that one of the bridges is a trap. "…is wrong!" Bingo!
"Then that means that the other bridge…" Erina started along with Cedric and Cilan nodded,
"Has to be it!" He finished and the two tried the second bridge but Ash wasn't taking any chances and for good reason because Cedric had not finished translating,
"…is wrong too!" Iris gasped and then heard screaming form down the raven, she saw her boyfriend hanging by his feet off the edge. Looking down, she saw that Ash was trying to keep both Cilan and Erina from falling.
"What did I tell you Cilan?" Ash said in a deadpan tone that matched Iris's expression as she and Cedric hoisted them all back up from the gorge. It turned out that Cedric had rules to adventure and the second one was 'do not assume'. Also, the bridges and the cave on the other side were all a ploy as the real passageway was to the right of the tunnel exit.
Once they entered, the explorers had come across three entrances; one was of a Darumaka, another was of a Sandile and the other was of a Golett but with no text to tell them where to go. Long story short, the first two were all traps and the Golett one was the real passageway; Cedric just knew that all along from the other ruins but kept silent for the sake of more fun.
That Golett entrance had led to a hallway with four strange coffins that were known sarcophagus, where ancient rulers were buried. But the gang ignored them to keep going on but then Ash felt like he was being watch by someone from within these coffins but he then saw nothing. What was at the end of the hallway was,
"I believe that this is a revolving door." Cedric said as they looked a door of stone slabs stacking together around a tall column. "If we push on one side, then the door will open."
"But what if it is another trap?" Erina questioned and everyone started to wonder about that too until they noticed that Ash was about to push the door open. He said,
"Even if it is a trap then what was all that trouble behind there for? To be us paranoid and jump? That is not what adventures are for." That was not to be argued with and pretty soon, the gang decided that there was nothing left to lose so they jumped Ash into pushing the door until they were able to move it; light shun through the crack witch nearly blinded the explorers,
"What is going on!?" Ash yelled, "We are underground, there shouldn't any sunlight!"
"Unless…" Cedric said as he braced to enter the light only to see a hollow room with a prefect circular opening the roof that was letting in the sunlight! "That is why it is so bright! This entire room is modeled like a volcanic crater, this must be the very place the Hero arrived in the legend!" Everyone was getting excited over the possibility that they can see Zekrom if they had arrived in the same place as the great dragon had appeared long ago.
Then they saw something right in the center of the room, giant glowing crystals that surrounded the very center. Ash and Pikachu had recognized this crystals as filled with electrical energy that were so intense that they were blue in color instead of yellow; Pikachu will have to combine all his electrical power in order to make a small bolt of that color. This is definitely proof that Zekrom had been here.
Still, that wasn't the last surprise they had gotten when they saw what was in the center of the very room. It was a large globe that was golden in color and yet has a blackish tone in the very core. Cedric called it the 'Golden Dark Stone' that was used by the Hero Of the Legend to summon Zekrom in the first place; he also theorized since this room was the hardest to get too, no doubt that the traps set around the globe at the deadliest.
As they tried to leave, someone had intercepted them. It was a Pokémon not Ash, Iris or Cilan had seen since the day Ash had accepted Trip's proclamation of challenge at the Battle Club; a Sigilyph! It was attacking them with Psybeam as well!
"Stop! We didn't come to steal the Golden Dark Stone!" Cilan tried to speak but Ash bashed him on the head,
"Yet we are still here Cilan and Sigilyph is going to keep it up until we actually leave the ruins! Let's run!" Ash said and the gang fled up the stairs and into the hallway with the sarcophagus which turned out to be all empty!
"Hurry! Let's duck into them and hid from Sigilyph!" Cedric shouted as he hide in one of them. Cilan ducked into one himself while Ash took in Iris into his coffin since there were only four for five explorers so Erina used the fourth one for herself. Meanwhile Sigilyph tried to find any of the intruders yet couldn't see them in the coffins. Later, the Avianoid Pokémon gave up and returned to the room with the stone.
The explorers then left the coffins only to notice that Erina and her Axew were still inside their own coffin. After playing a little but they still won't come out, Ash got a little worried and pulled the door off only to see that instead of the little girl and her Pokémon, there was a wild one inside.
When the Pokémon emerged from the coffin, it resembled a blue and yellow sarcophagus with red, menacing eyes and four ebony hands that appear to be shadows. A simply designed face was prominent on the "forehead" of the Pokémon; finally, white and sharp fangs created a taunting smile and flamboyant patterns veiled the coffin.
Ash scanned it with his Pokédex,
{Cofagrigus, the Coffin Pokémon and the evolved form of Yamask. People who approach Cofagrigus are swallowed and turned into mummies. It loves to eat gold.} Cilan didn't much appreciate that second last sentence,
"Release Erina and her Axew now!" He shouted but this Cofagrigus didn't listen to him, floating around the hallway no doubt trying to turn its victims in mummies. Ash decided to take action and released one of his Pokémon.
"Yamask, we all need you!" Ash had hoped that using a ghost type against a ghost will work. "Use Shadow Ball!" Ash gave a command and Yamask carried it out yet this Cofagrigus was no push over and managed to cancel it with a Will-O-Wisp before immobilizing Yamask with Night Shade. Then the Cofagrigus took advantage of the shock to use Telekinesis on both Ash and Iris as well as Pikachu which made them all helpless.
Cedric had no Pokémon so he turned to Cilan, "You must do this yourself! Save the young lady and her Axew!" Cilan had no choice so he summoned his Pansage to take this Cofagrigus by surprise with Dig and force the Coffin Pokémon to release its captives after having Pansage attack with Solarbeam. It worked and Ash and Iris were able to free Erina and her Axew from the wrappings that bind them. The trouble was that the exit was sealed so the gang couldn't escape out the same way they got in; they had to go down another doorway that was revealed to have more Cofagrigus! This took everyone by surprise and this time, the Coffin Pokémon were able to capture all but Yamask who had awoken in the racket and tried to attack the Cofagrigus in order to rescue the explorers; yet she was overwhelmed and outmatched so her attacks were thwarted and left with no more options.
That means that Yamask was now in a pickle since all of the trainers including her own were taken right before her eyes. Memories of when the Spirit Pokémon first met Ash and on how the many battles and adventures they had went on ever since; all that had triggered something the little ghost type Pokémon. She had started to glow with evolving energy!
The light had blinded and stunned the Cofagrigus until Yamask had finished glowing, turning into the Coffin Pokémon herself! With her new form and four arms, the newly evolved Cofagrigus had launched a barrage of shadow balls at the surrounding Coffin Pokémon; that had caused them to release the human trainers.
In the haste, the newly evolved Cofagrigus used Telekinesis as well, floating everyone to the hollow room and out of the crater opening as well as the ruins themselves. Then Cofagrigus had settled the explorers down to catch their breath and marvel at how they were about to be done in by the Coffin Pokémon and in the end, they were saved by one; Ash's Pokémon care must hit down in the core stronger than his friend had originally thought.
"That was so cool! Ash, your Cofagrigus really is something else!" Cedric said in excitement while the said Coffin Pokémon was not actually enjoying this type of attention; she felt like an exhibit at a freak show. Thankfully for her, Ash returned Cofagrigus back to her Pokéball so she can rest and adjust to her new form at the same time.
Right now it was time to say goodbye to Professor Juniper senior for such an exciting adventure and for being able to explore ancient ruins. Ash's friends sure have gotten rubbed on him and his love for adventure that was paralleled only by his care for his Pokémon and precious people.
"Thanks for the adventure Mr. Juniper! It was fun!" Erina seemed to be excited alright but the others were just keeping comments on dangerous it was to themselves.
"No problem young lass. It is always more fun to share an adventure with others and especially your friends." Cedric said as he left to who knows where his next adventure will be. Meanwhile, for Ash and the gang, there was someone who had been following them all Unova just to clash and Ash again but this time, it could also been when Ash can catch a new Pokémon for his ever growing team and family back home.
End of Chapter 11
*Hello everyone! This is MircThomas19 with another chapter of JICU! School will be closing once the finals are finished in May. I hope that I will not be bothered by it since I have only another year at Nova before I will transfer into George Mason where I have no idea if I can update at all.
As for why I cut the episode, "Explorers of the Hero's Ruins', is because I couldn't find a way to incorporate the entire episode in the fashion I am making this story based on.
Team On Hand Listings:
Ash: Pikachu (Male), Tranquill (Female), Dewott (Male), Tepig (Male), Riolu (Female), Servine (Female), Cofagrigus (Female), Scraggy (Male), Palpitoad (Female), Boldore (Male), Frillish (Female) and Beheeyem (Male).
Iris: Fraxure (Male), Excadrill (Male), Scolipede (Female), Altaria (Male), Vibrava (Female), Emolga (Female), Froslass (Female), and Archeops (Female).
Cilan: Pansage (Male), Crustle (Male), Litwick (Female), Stunfisk (Male) and Basculin (Female).
Erina: Axew (Female), Joltik (Male)
