Here you go! A long chapter. I don't know when or how long the next one will be, but please be patient and keep an open mind! It probably won't be as long as this one, though because I just kept on typing! Enjoy! From now on, I will add * for clarification notes that will be discussed in the bottom section!
I hope you enjoy this story because I am enjoying writing it!
"So, you are the novice from Pallet Town!" said the Samurai as he pulled out his sword and pointed it at Erika. "We meet again, but I see things are different! You have new companion with you and no Pikachu in sight!"
Ash curled his hand into a fist and looked back at the Samurai with anger in his eyes. "Things have changed and I'm starting things new, now. And this first mistake I made was letting you distract me when I was going after that Weedle!"
"Hahaha," laughed the Samurai arrogantly as he put the sword back into its sheath. "You are only using me as a scapegoat because you do not want to admit your failure as a trainer."
"You had no right to interrupt me when you saw that I was clearly busy!" shouted back Ash with anger in his eyes and a tone that reinforced his emotions.
"Still, it would've been proper etiquette to wait until he was through," said Erika to Ash's defense. "How would you like it if you were in the middle of trying to catch a rare Pokemon and someone came up and distracted you?"
"I wouldn't waste my time talking until I finished my battle," said the Samurai with a haughty laugh. This fellow's attitude hasn't changed one bit since they last met, at least when it came to battling.
"Then that makes you a hypocrite!" commented Ash. "I came back because I'm going to show you just how much things have changed since I've last seen you. How about a two on two?"
The Samurai smiled and said, "Very well, trainer of Pallet Town. If you win, you can have this leaf stone I found." He showed it to Ash and Erika looked at it and said,
"That's definitely a real one. I've studied what real and artificial ones look like."
The Samurai put it back into his pocket and continued. "But if you lose, you have to give me ¥3000!"*
Ash gulped at what he said. He had about ¥5000 in his pocket and that would wipe out 60% of his money just for losing to this guy who insulted him. Now this gave Ash even more of a reason to make sure that he didn't lose.
"Fine, I'll accept your terms," said Ash as he turned his hat around backwards, signifying that things were about to get very serious. "And you will have to take back any of that novice crack you gave me half a year ago and show a little more respect to others."
"Very well. I shall use...Venonat!" He threw the ball out and out came a Venonat, a purple ball of fur with antennae and large red eyes. Ash was honestly expecting that he would use Pinsir or even Metapod, even if it had evolved, but now he was facing a new one altogether.
"Looks like you got yourself a new Pokemon," said Ash as he took out a Pokeball. It wasn't Fearow's; using that large bird was a huge gamble and he didn't want to get into a fight with it and ultimately lose the battle due to poor coordination with his Pokemon. Plus, it would give the Samurai further ammunition to attack Ash's abilities as a trainer, and Ash was just plain sick of being belittled.
"Yep! I got this Venonat a few weeks ago. Now select your Pokemon!"
Ash knew that Machop was a poor choice to use against Venonat since the insect Pokemon resisted fighting-type moves four times more than a standard Pokemon. But ironically Machop resisted bug type moves as well. Ash figured at this point the best option he had to choose was Krabby. Machop already gained a decent amount of experience with the battle with the Spearow flock, so it was time to share the experience with another Pokemon, Krabby. Ash took out the crustacean's Pokeball and threw it out. It would be so awesome if Krabby were to evolve into a Kingler soon! Ash would check to see what the Pokemon's levels were after the fight.
"Krabby, go!" commanded Ash as soon as the crab was out on the grass. Krabby looked around and Machop began to cheer for his friend, earning a ^.^ face of satisfaction from the crab.
"Not something I would've predicted, but nonetheless, it shall begin!" said the Samurai in a pretentious tone. Ash did not like the attitude of the Samurai at all; it was apparent that the Samurai had a very high standard when facing combatants yet at the same time, he used Pokemon that were exceptionally impressive. Except for that Pinsir; Ash knew that he got lucky that time and didn't even truly defeat the beetle Pokemon. And he wasn't going to repeat the same strategy and make Krabby use harden just to break Pinsir's claws. No, this was going to be an all-out battle.
"I'll have the first move! Use supersonic, Venonat!" ordered the Samurai as held onto his sword. Venonat jumped into the air and immediately let loose a several rings of high-pitched screeches towards Krabby and Ash just scoffed at that cheap move.
"Krabby, dodge it and use leer!" ordered Ash. Krabby was able to get out of the way of the sonic waves and gave Venonat a fierce look of pure hatred. Venonat, who had just landed on the ground, took a step back in fright and Krabby kept on staring the insect down. This resumed for about eight seconds, but the Samurai didn't want to play a perpetual game of waiting.
"Venonat, now use tackle!" he ordered, clenching his fist.
"Krabby, use harden to reduce the damage!" instructed Ash. Ash carefully watched as Krabby's body turned a light blue and then took the damage of the attack, albeit it didn't do much damage. "Now use your bubble!"
"Venonat, use your sleep powder and try to put this weakling to sleep!" ordered the Samurai as he crossed his arms. Ash internally scoffed at the remarks. Was he really a failure to practically everyone he's ever met except his parents?
"Krabby, use bubble to try and cancel sleep powder!"said Ash. He wasn't entirely sure if this was the best idea, but he had to think of something to prevent Krabby from becoming sushi. The large wave of bubbles collided with the powder and it made an explosion of sparkles that had no effect on Krabby. The Samurai growled at this and said,
"Venonat, use your leech life," ordered the Samurai. Venonat ran towards Krabby and was prepared to bite him and steal some health, but Ash wasn't going to let that happen.
"Counter with vicegrip!" he ordered. He did not have any moves that would be super-effective, but it was at least worth a shot to use some of Krabby's most basic moves and hope that he would win if the battle favored him. Krabby extended his claw out and clamped it onto Venonat's foot, causing the insect to cry his name in his squeaky voice. Krabby shook Venonat a view times and then threw him, but Venonat was flying somewhat gracefully in the air.
"Psybeam!" ordered the Samurai. A ray of odd colors was expelled from Venonat's large eyes and hit Krabby, causing him to fall over. He struggled and flailed his legs about until he was finally able to position himself upwards again and faced the purple insect.
"Cookie!" he said in his whispering hoarse voice. Krabby took a bit a damage, but he was not going to give up so easily. He wanted to prove to Ash that he was a really powerful Pokemon and would continually grow even after evolving. Krabby had a lot of anger towards the other Pokemon who betrayed Ash and wanted to show them just how angry he was should they ever encounter one another one day.
"Krabby, focus on using bubble to weaken Venonat!" ordered Ash. Ash was still trying to figure out some way to get the upper hand in this battle, but it didn't look like it was possible at the moment. They were both evenly matched since neither had a type advantage over the other, and it was anybody's game now, really. Krabby launched a wave of bubbles and they collided with Venonat, knocking him over.
"Venonat, counter with confusion!" ordered the Samurai. Venonat chirped and then his eyes began to glow a light blue and the same blue aura surrounded Krabby. Krabby was lifted about ten feet into the air and then was hurled at high speed against a tree.
"Cookie!" he exclaimed in pain as he got back onto his feet. Ash and Erika both winced in sympathy as they saw Krabby get hurt. That hurt really badly and he had about a third of his health left. He was capable of fighting some more, but he did not know for how long; another one of those attacks was more than capable of knocking out Krabby if the attack was the exact same. Krabby had no intentions at all in disappointing Ash and got out of the bush he fell into and clacked his pincers, making a sharp almost metallic sound that rang throughout everyone's ears.
"That's the spirit, Krabby! Don't give in and give it your all!" encouraged Ash as he had a gentle yet excited tone in his voice. "Try using your bubble again!"
"Counter it with your stun spore!" urged the Samurai. Venonat began shaking his body and clouds of tan powder were expelled, but once again, it had no effect because it was washed away from the bubbles. Krabby let out another burst of bubbles and they knocked over Venonat, causing him to roll and hit a tree!
"Venonat, get back up and use your confusion!" shouted the Samurai. He was not about to let this weakling from Pallet Town overtake him, especially by using a relatively common Pokemon such as Krabby. The Samurai had aspirations of facing the strongest of the strong and would tell the story to future combatants, but this would serve as a start. Ash knew that Krabby couldn't take another confusion due to having low special defense, but he hoped he could stop it in time.
"Counteract with vicecrip!" ordered Ash. He hoped that this would be enough to dwindle Venonat's health down to at least a third or less. Krabby pinched Venonat again and then shook the bug Pokemon who had already surrounded Krabby with an aura, but Krabby threw Venonat into the air.
"Give it bubble one more time!" added Ash with anticipation in his eyes. He watched as Krabby let loose another large wave of bubbles, but the Samurai did not want this to end just yet.
"Use supersonic again!" he said. The insect made a chittering screech and released several waves of confusing rings. Venonat was unable to avoid the wave of bubbles, but Krabby did get confused from Supersonic. The insect Pokemon fell to the ground.
"Veno...ve...no..." chirped the insect before closing his eyes which were then replaced by comical swirls. The Samurai growled at this and said,
"Looks like you've improved a bit since our last battle. Return, Venonat!" He took out the Pokeball again and recalled the purple insect Pokemon. "Well done. Well done indeed," the Samurai said in a somewhat sarcastic tone.
Ash and Erika both chuckled and Ash jumped into the air with triumph. "Good job, Krabby! Just hang in there a little more!"
"Koo-kie..." said the crab that was losing his balance from the confusion. Ash knew that this was not going to be a good sign and hoped that Krabby could recover quickly so that he could resume battling. But he also knew that Krabby was not in prime condition for fighting after taking several of Venonat's attacks. Ash could've just used Rhyhorn for both of them and use fire blast, but that wouldn't be fair for Krabby who was the weakest of them and he wanted Machop to recover after the fight. Ash could also use Fearow, but he had no idea how to use train it and this was bad trouble if Fearow would not cooperate since he couldn't send out another Pokemon.
"Now, let's see you can handle...this!" said the Samurai as he sent out his next Pokemon. The Pokeball opened and what came out next...was nothing like Ash would've predicted. He easily would've guessed that Metapod had evolved into Butterfree, or perhaps even a Beedrill, but this...this was nothing like he had ever seen before. It was red and looked like it was a crab with a gigantic mushroom on its back. Ash took out his Pokedex and pointed it at the newcomer:
Parasect, female. The mushroom Pokemon. The bug is completely controlled by the giant mushroom on its back. They prefer damp places and the poisonous spores they emit are sometimes used as medicine in China. Many of them will feed on roots and drain the nutrients from trees and will all move at once to another tree once it dies.
"Interesting," said Ash. "Krabby, use your vicegrip on Parasect!"
"Show it what it's like to inflict pain! Use your slash attack!" ordered the Samurai. Parasect held her claws in an X position and then flung them forward, causing Krabby to fly into the air and on his back, and hard.
"...kie..." murmured Krabby as his final breath before finally fainting and having X eyes.
"Ugh...Krabby," said Ash as he took out the ball. "You did an excellent job and now it's time for you to get a good rest." The beam was sent forward and Krabby was called back. "I'm very proud of you."
Now he knew he could gain the upper hand because Parasect had a four-time weakness against both fire and flying. But Fearow had an upper hand because it resisted grass and bug. But Fearow didn't have particularly high defense, which was something that Rhyhorn really excelled at. But if Rhyhorn got hit by one grass move, it would be game over. Ash knew this was going to be a major gamble, but...
"Go, Rhyhorn!" he called out as he finally let his next Pokemon come out. Ash knew he was probably going to get mocked for this, but he had to use Rhyhorn since it was an overall safer bet. Or at least what he thought did according to what played out in his mind.
"What an interesting selection," said the Samurai as he looked at the rock/ground Pokemon. "You chose a Pokemon that you know would match up horribly against my Parasect. Very well. Let it begin!"
"Make your first move!" ordered Ash. He wanted to see what kind of strategy he was going to use with Parasect, hence allowing the Samurai to go first.
"Alright, start off with Scratch!" ordered the Samurai. He wanted to get in some weak moves first and see what Ash was going to do. Parasect scuttled over to Rhyhorn as fast as she could and used her big lobster-like claw and scratched Rhyhorn across the face. Rhyhorn merely blinked at this and took very little damage from it.
"Knock back Parasect with your horn attack!" commanded Ash. A basic attack, but he didn't want to end it so early with fire blast; he would use it when Parasect was done to probably half of her health. Rhyhorn thrashed her head forward and it pushed Parasect back about eight feet. Rhyhorn scraped her feet against the ground and was ready to fight until one of them couldn't continue.
"Why don't we use sludge bomb, Parasect?!" commanded the Samurai vigorously as he pointed out at Rhyhorn. Poison wasn't the most well-thought strategy, but Ash bet the Samurai wanted to poison Rhyhorn and slowly drain her health, much like Tangela did in Diglett's Cave. He was not going to allow that to happen!
"Get out of the way and use your stomp!" ordered Ash. A nasty orb of poison was hurled from Parasect and Rhyhorn managed to step out of the way just in time. The sludge exploded when it contacted the ground and the nearby area began to stink really badly because of it.
"Use slash!" ordered the Samurai. He was about to get mad when he saw Rhyhorn lift her upper body and bring her front feet down onto Parasect. Parasect exclaimed in pain and then swiped her claws really fast, causing more obvious pain in Rhyhorn based on the expression on her face.
"Now use leech life!" ordered the Samurai.
"Use take down to topple over Parasect!" commanded Ash. He was sure that if Parasect was toppled over by the move, there was a chance that Ash could get Rhyhorn to use fire blast and end it. It seemed that this was a good strategy, but he didn't want to push his luck so soon in case something happened that would change the course of the battle.
"Parasect, use dig instead!" ordered the Samurai as he had an idea. He knew that he could Rhyhorn's rock type to his advantage and he would not let the opportunity go to waste. He was also using it as an evasive strategy as well since he knew that Rhyhorn had fairly high attack power. The Samurai had a high level of confidence and believed that he still could beat Ash; unfortunately, despite grass being Parasect's secondary type, she didn't know any grass-type moves, so he would have to rely on this ground-type move for the time being. Parasect immediately began digging into the ground and Rhyhorn kept on charging without stopping due to her stubborn nature. She eventually hit a tree and toppled it over and then came to a screeching halt as she then realized that she wasn't fighting anymore.
"Keep a close eye out for Parasect, Rhyhorn!" cautioned Ash. "Dig is super-effective against you and you can't afford to take many hits from it!" Ash learned a helpful hit form Erika; Pokemon that used attacks that were the same type as they were got an additional bonus of 50%, or same type attack bonus, or STAB as they abbreviate it. So the only damage that Rhyhorn would get is double the attack power of dig, but dig by itself was a very powerful move that had the same attack level as earthquake, even!* This was no time to take a gamble, but if there was one that Ash did know, it was that Parasect was equally as slow as Rhyhorn and maybe he can catch the other in a pincer attack. Ash wondered if Rhyhorn could topple over some surrounding trees it would create a barrier and limit the area that Parasect would move, but at the same time, Ash didn't want to knock over a tree that had a Beedrill hive in it.
Ash knew that since Rhyhorn was ground type, in addition to being rock, could sense the earth's vibrations significantly better. He wondered if he could keep Rhyhorn to stay perfectly still and wait for the opportune moment and then use stomp as soon as Parasect resurfaced. Yeah! That may actually work, but Rhyhorn could get hurt really badly from the attack in the process. He just had to wait and see. But he ultimately wanted to use fire blast at some point in this battle.
"Parasect! Hit Rhyhorn with all you can with your next attack!" ordered the Samurai who was getting impatient.
"Rhyhorn! Try to use stomp right before Parasect hits you!" ordered Ash.
The Samurai growled when he heard what Ash was trying to do and said, "Parasect, watch out!"
Parasect was unable to hear the Samurai's voice since she was underground and came up near the surface, so Rhyhorn lifted her body up and smashed the top of her large mushroom, the force of which caused her to fall back down to the bottom of her hole she created.
"Great job, Rhyhorn!" said Ash with enthusiasm. He truly felt that at the rate that things were going now that he would be able to wrap this battle up fairly soon! Then the Samurai would show Ash the respect that he earned and didn't just remain some incompetent loser like he initially stated, although in a more subtle way. Erika and Machop were both cheering on the sidelines in order to support their friend. Erika was amazed that Rhyhorn was cooperating so well after just being captured yesterday; she could tell that he has become a better person overall despite the fact that he had so much more room for developing.
The Samurai was in awe that Ash was getting the upper hand in this battle, but what was there another way. It was something that was so obvious since it was Parasect of all Pokemon and being underground gave an excellent advantage for this.
"Parasect! Do what you did the other day!" commanded the teenage samurai. Ash was curious to say something, but he knew that the Samurai would probably say something derogatory that only any normal trainer would know. There was just no telling what was going on and that bothered Ash a lot.
Soon, Ash noticed something. A nearby tree was starting to turn brown, but it was autumn; this wasn't uncommon, so it didn't bother Ash. Wait. Tree trunks didn't turn brown and decay unless this one had started to rot all the sudden...Wait. Ash remembered something that his Pokedex said! Parasect sucked nutrition from roots and then they moved on from the dead tree! Parasect was regaining health!
After about a minute, Samurai said, "Come back to the surface, Parasect! Let us resume this fight!"
The ground rumbled briefly and then Parasect popped out of the ground, all fresh and new! It didn't even look like she took any damage from what after what she did. This was a major concern for Ash; now it added even further pressure on the battle since she got health back and Rhyhorn didn't. Ash realized this was would be a strategy that Parasect would continue to use if he didn't defeat her quickly and Rhyhorn would be too worn out and lose.
Ash figured...could he burn the trees down? No. No. That would be incredibly selfish and that would also cause an out-of-control forest fire in the process, all for the sake of preventing his rival from healing his Pokemon. Erika would probably not forgive him for destroying nature, too, so it was time to think of another strategy. He said,
"Rhyorn, use takedown on the decaying tree!" Parasect would have less room in the surrounding area and he also hoped to use it to hit Parasect, too. Wouldn't that be ironic to have her defeated by the very thing that gave her health?
Rhyhorn charged and toppled over the tree, but the Samurai said,
"Use slash to chop it up!" Parasect said her name in a low voice and swiped at the falling tree, slashing it into about three larger pieces. This wasn't working at all, but Ash remembered the way Rhyhorn flung boulders at Krabby in Diglett's Cave. Maybe...
"Use your head like you did in Diglett's Cave when you were fighting Krabby!"
Rhyhorn tilted her head in confusion. She didn't really understood what her training was saying and Ash sighed. Maybe Rhyhorn was somewhat of a dimwit, but she was a really powerful Pokemon, there was no doubt about that. The Samurai and Parasect were both quiet as they waited to see what the opponent was going to do. Rhyhorn just let out a sigh and then remembered after about ten seconds! She ran forward and then collided right with one of the pieces of the trunk which was about 4 feet long and had a diameter of about a foot and a half. It came flying so fast that Parasect had no time to react, but unfortunately, Rhyhorn's aim wasn't perfect and it missed her slightly but it was enough to create a large enough crash when it hit the ground. The collision was strong enough to knock over Parasect and that was enough to give Ash the appropriate moment to use fire blast!
"Parasect!" said the Samurai as he watched the giant mushroom insect struggle to get up. He was getting a bit nervous now since Ash could attack at his leisure, and Ash was in no way allowing the other to get the upper edge again with the forest.
Erika and Machop both gasped in amazement as they watched this spectacular battle unfold. This was really interesting to watch and they both remained silent for the other to concentrate, but they were mentally cheering and hoped that Ash was able to detect the good vibes they were thinking of.
"Rhyhorn!" said Ash. "Use your new move I taught you!"
The Samurai flinched when he heard that. "And what could you possibly know that could help you?"
Rhyhorn ignored the Samurai's snide voice and inhaled deeply, the fire coursing into her throat and let out the huge 大 towards the insect Pokemon and scorched her. The Samurai gasped in astonishment as he could not believe with his very eyes what was happening! Ash just used the strongest fire move** against a Pokemon who was four-times weak against fire, no less! Parasect was in utter shock at the damage she received and was about to be at the point of fainting, but she still had another hit or two left that she could take. This wasn't over yet!
Erika couldn't believe that Parasect was still standing, but at the same time, it was not surprising; Rhyhorn had horrible special attack stats, and it Parasect was probably a couple of levels higher than Rhyhorn. Ash felt sure that he would win very soon though. What exactly could Parasect do that other than absorb roots like she did previously?
The Samurai was not going to give up, but man, did he not expect such a powerful attack from the other! He could get in another slash or two and hope that it was enough to eliminate Rhyhorn.
"Rhyhorn use takedown! We'll settle this once and for all!"
"Parasect! Use slash! We'll be the winners of this battle!"
The two Pokemon rushed to one another, Parasect with her sharp claws ready for action, and Rhyhorn with a high level of confidence and a surprisingly fast speed. The two collided and they somehow created smoke, breaking the laws of physics. It lasted for about four seconds and there was a pause that followed after the smoke subsided.
The Samurai and Ash both watched as the two opponents watched themselves. Parasect fell over with swirls in her eyes and the Samurai could not believe the outcome of this battle! Ash, Erika, and Machop all started cheering with joy as soon as they saw the result, but they all gasped when they saw that a few seconds later, Rhyhorn fell over in defeat.
"It's a draw!" said Ash in shock. So he didn't win after all.
"No, you won," said the Samurai as he got on his knees and sighed. He took out his Pokeball and said, "Very well, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town. You have proved that you are definitely a much more skilled trainer then you were then. You were much more careful and very skilled in your planning. In fact, this has got to be among the most interesting battles I have had yet with a trainer from Pallet Town!"
Ash smiled at the other and said, "Thank you! Your selection of Pokemon was interesting and I hope you improve as a trainer, too!"
"To think, a Pokemon such as that used fire blast. Totally unpredictable! I was expecting you to use a move such as earthquake or rock throw. You did phenomenal in our rematch!"
"Thank you. I'm so glad we didn't have another Metapod standoff!" chuckled Ash but caught himself and cleared his throat, both to be a bit more polite and because of the fact that he didn't have a Metapod anymore.
"Interesting. Where is your Butterfree?" asked the Samurai as he put the ball back on his hip."
"I let him go for the mating season," said Ash. "But now that it's too late, I'll never be able to see him again."
The Samurai sighed. "I gave Butterfree to my little sister so that she could become a Pokemon trainer," he confessed with a proud smile. "Metapod evolved literally the day after our battle. One of the many pros of bug Pokemon."
"That was nice of you," said Ash. "I hope things go great for you in the future." Ash extended his hand and the two of them shook hands. The Samurai fished out of his pocket and said,
"As I promised, here is your leaf stone! Maybe you'll find a grass Pokemon to evolve it with someday soon!"
Ash chuckled at the response and then replied, "Yeah, maybe so! A grass-type would be very helpful along the way!" He then turned to Erika and said, "Maybe you will have of this stone more than I will since you use grass types."
Erika hesitated for a second and said, "No, I think you should have it. I told my Pokemon that they were not in any hurry to rush and I will respect their wish. It doesn't mean I don't want them to evolve, it's just that with with evolution being irreversible, they have to want it."
Ash nodded at Erika's wish and then took the stone. "Thank you so much! Maybe one day I will have a powerful grass Pokemon to help me along the way."
"Maybe in time we shall battle again!" said the Samurai as he did a short bow. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go heal my Pokemon." The Samurai walked off further into the forest and that confused Ash. Maybe the Samurai used other medicines of his own to heal his Pokemon and didn't rely on the Pokemon Centers? Who knows.
Ash let out a deep sigh and said, "Wow. That battle was really close. I definitely would've lost if Rhyhorn didn't know fire blast."
"I was amazed that Parasect was still able to stand after that fire attack," said Erika. "I guess now we should go to the Pokemon Center and then...face Brock."
"I don't know if they are opened today," said Ash as he looked over at Erika. "I sorta remember there being a sign saying that were closed on Sunday. I guess they needed to take a break once per week."
"Well, I guess there is only one way to find out," said Erika as she looked over at the other with a gentle smile on her face.
"Machop!" said the fighting Pokemon as he hugged Ash. Ash picked him up and hugged him.
"I did a good job, didn't I?" he said with a jaunty tone as he patted the Pokemon on his head. Machop smiled and nodded at the other and hugged his trainer. He soon put him down and they began to head towards the exit of the forward north to their destination and within fifteen minutes they finally got to the Pewter City Pokemon Center.
"Hello, Ash. It's been quite a while since I've seen you," said the Nurse Joy who was standing behind the counter.
"Chansey!" said the Pokemon as she smiled at the humans and gave a polite bow. Ash handed over his two Pokeballs and they waited at a nearby table. Ash still saw that same poster that had the information about joining the Pokemon League. It was the one that Nurse Joy had asked if he had seen and there she was, standing there looking at it. A lot of memories were all coming back to him and it almost made him have a hard time breathing, but he was able to catch himself and sighed with a bit of frustration.
"What's wrong? You seem a bit worried," said Erika as she turned to Ash. She was looking outside and peered at the beautiful sunshine. She just wanted to go out there any lie on top of the grass with her Pokemon and allow herself to be emerged in a feeling of serenity. But she liked seeing Ash improve and she wanted to be with him to make sure that he was able to take care of himself.
"It's just some flashback of memories, that's all," said Ash. "Nothing major. By the way, have you ever been to Pewter City?"
Erika nodded and said, "I have, it was to visit a cousin of mine who lives in a suburb and that was about...two years ago. But we still talk fairly often. I talked to her about two days before we left together."
"Maybe we should go visit her soon," said Ash as he went over to the counter after Nurse Joy said that she was finished healing his Pokemon. He put the balls on his hip and walked over to the entrance. The afternoon sun setting down further into the horizon despite that it was only around 2. Erika and Machop soon followed behind the boy and the followed him to the destination of the Pewter City gym.
"It's closed today like I thought," said Ash as he looked over and saw that it was closed. "Well, maybe we should pass some time and visit your cousin's place and then go to the gym tomorrow."
"Okay, that sounds fair," said Erika. She was slightly disappointed, but at the same time, this would give Ash plenty of time to think of a strategy and handle the other after full preparation. Erika told Ash where to go to get to her cousin's house. It was in a quaint little neighborhood on the southwestern part of the city and Erika soon knocked on the door.
Soon, the door opened, and a woman in her mid 40s appeared.
"Erika?" said the woman as she looked at the teenager in front of her.
"Aunt Helen!" she said to the other and smiled. "It's been a few weeks since we've spoken. This is the boy Ash that I've told you about and his Pokemon Machop!"
Ash nervously waved to the woman. The woman had very dark indigo hair and she was the sister of Erika's father. She was pretty tall, too, about 5'10 and pretty slender built.
"Hello, Ash. It's nice to see the face of the boy that my niece has told me about!" said Helen as she got down lower and looked at Machop. "And you must be the handsome Machop that found Ash!"
"Machop!" said the other in satisfaction and wagged his tail. Helen rubbed the ridges on his head and then patted him.
"So nice of you two to come by," said Helen with a gentle expression on her face. "Christina is up in her room if you wish to see her. She'd be so sur-"
"ERIKA?!" said the voice of a 16-year-old girl.
"Christina!" said Erika as the two of them were allowed to come into the house. The two girls hugged one another.
"It feels like forever since I've seen you, girl!" said Christina as she hugged her cousin again. "And you must Ash, the boy she's mentioned good things about. Hi, I'm Christina Phelps, Erika's cousin. I'm the niece of Erika's father and he's my mom's brother!"
"Nice to meet you!" said Ash as he shook hands with her. The girl was pretty cute, but in a different way. She had very dark green hair and amber-colored eyes.
"So, Christina, do you have any results from what you found?" asked Erika as she looked at her cousin.
"Yes, I do! It's on the data of my computer upstairs. Follow me, guys!"
The remaining three went up after her and soon went into her room. They looked and saw that Christina had a relatively expensive computer and she had complex numbers on them. She was apparently very techn-savvy and it was becoming increasingly more common these days as computers were becoming increasingly more affordable.
"So what have you found, Christina?" asked Erika as she looked at the girl on the computer.
"I have to set some rules, guys," said Christina. "Then I'll tell you. The only rule is: Please do not touch anything without asking me first!" She had a very pleasant but stern tone at the same time. Machop, who had a tendency of grabby hands, put them behind his back and looked away. He didn't want to get scolded at just for being curious. "Okay! So I told you over the phone last time that I had found something important, but I wasn't entirely sure what it was. I did some analyses and I discovered that it is a fossil that I stumbled upon when I was at Mt. Moon with my class! I thought that it was just a fancy rock, but not even the teacher knew what it was. So I used the internet and library books and I think it is a Pokemon, but not Omanyte or Kabuto!"
"Omanyte and Kabuto are the extinct Pokemon that inhabited Kanto millions of years ago," mentioned Erika. "So what do you think it could be?"
"I'm not sure, but I will say this," said Christina as she turned to Ash. "There is a super extensive lab with extremely high-tech computers there. They'd be able to know more about this. Therefore..." She picked it up and handed it to him and gave him a polite smile. "I'd like you to go to Cinnabar Island and let them figure out what this is!"
Ash looked at it and said, "I...I can't, at least with this backpack. Look," he pointed out as he took out the egg and showed it to Christina. She gasped at what she saw in front of her.
"A Pokemon egg?!" She was beyond excited and curious as she took out a camera from nearby and took several pictures. "Most interesting! I wish I could have one of my own, but you found it. It's yours."
"Maybe one day you might get super lucky, since you did get lucky to find that fossil!" reassured Ash as he nodded at her.
"Hmm, your backpack got ripped. What happened?"
"We were practicing and then a Spearow flock attacked," admitted Ash. "I can't really afford a new one at the moment."
"You know, I can fix it for you!" said Helen who was standing at the door and watching what they were doing out of curiosity. "I got some sturdy fabric and I can fix it for you until you can buy another one. Please take out the contents and I will take care of it from there."
"You know guys, let's go back downstairs in the meanwhile!" said Christina. "It is so gorgeous today after that terrible storm we got yesterday." She stretched her arms and rotated her shoulder and soon they were downstairs again. Ash set his valuables on the kitchen table and soon they were in the backyard. It wasn't an enclosed-or at least, completely-enclosed backyard. There was a fence on two sides to separate the neighbors' yards and then behind them was open space and forest and hills. Just beautiful nature.
"You know, Erika, I have wanted to fight you for a while," said Christina as she took out a Pokeball. "We can pass time for Ash's backpack to get ready and then you can stay over for dinner if it's okay with my parents. Why don't we train a little bit?"
"Very well," said Erika as she took out a Pokeball. "I will let you know that I am not going to back down so easily."
"That's what I expected, Erika. You are a very strong person and I respect you. Now...Go, Kangaskhan!"
"I shall select...Gloom!" said Erika in response as she let out her Pokemon. Both females released their Pokemon and out formed a large monster-like Pokemon with a baby in her pouch. Ash was a bit nervous when he saw this because he didn't want the baby to get hurt, but he was sure that nothing bad would happen because Christina had obviously battled with Kangaskhan.
"Gloom, use your stun spore!" ordered Erika as Gloom used expelled powder from her head.
"Use your substitute to negate the attack!" said Christina. Kangaskhan made an exact copy of herself and then it collided with the spores, causing a flash of smoke and the powder disappeared. "Now use your comet punch!"
Kangaskhan approached Gloom and punched the Pokemon in the face four times in rapid succession. Gloom cried her name in pain as she did this and the little baby in Kangaskhan's pouch began to cheer for his mama.
"Use your mega drain, Gloom!" ordered Erika as she clenched her fist. One thing that Ash really admired with Erika was that she had a very persistent attitude and she was not the kind who would back down. Gloom's head began to glow a bright green and then shot a beam at Kangaskhan, sapping the normal Pokemon of health and allowing Gloom to regain some health back in the process.
"Not too shabby, cousin!" said Christina. "But I believe that we can do a little bit better than that! Watch this! Kangaskhan, use your mega kick!" The parent Pokemon's left leg began to glow with a light blue aura and then she swung it towards Gloom who didn't even have time to react to the other's move. Gloom was sent flying about fifteen feet, but she was able to recover from the move and was able to land back on her feet.
"Gloom, use your petal dance!" called out Erika. She knew that Gloom would become confused from this, but luckily, Erika was able to use that to an advantage with training. Gloom was able to become fast from sunlight and also was able to significantly dodge attacks much better when confused despite the fact that this sounded extremely counterintuitive. Erika was not a genius, by any means, but she was able to carefully observe and find better techniques to become a better trainer.
Gloom let out a large flurry of pink petals towards Kangaskhan and she was already starting to get overwhelmed by the attack. She growled and Christina said,
"Use your fire punch to deflect the petals!" Kangaskhan didn't need to wait and her right fist began to glow red and then a flame engulfed it. She began waving her arm around, the petals disintegrating to ash when they came in contact with the flame. Erika was amazed that she was able to use that move, but she couldn't expect anything else from her older cousin.
"Acid!"*** said Erika. Gloom shot from the center of her head a huge wad of vomit-green acid towards Kangaskhan's fire arm. Kangaskhan shouted in pain and then waved her arm and smashed it to the ground to extinguish the flames that grew from the acid.
"Use water gun on your arm!" ordered Christina. The parent Pokemon shot a jet of water from her mouth and sighed with relief once the stinging feeling finally went away. "Now use use your ice beam!" said Kangaskhan. A jet of freezing cold was released towards Gloom, but that was not going to be easy. Gloom was moving around really fast and her movements were as if she were drunk. Before, an amateur mistake when a Pokemon were confused was to try and attack, but Erika knew that would cause damage to Gloom. Instead, they decided to work with that strategy and tumble around harmlessly at fast speed in order to avoid getting hit by attacks. Ash was very impressed at what was going on and how Erika had full control of the situation.
Christina growled with anger as ice beam just kept on missing. She wanted Kangaskhan to use earthquake, but she was not going to do it so close to the house. That was a move to use out in the open away from everything.
"Use your body slam!" said Christina. The little baby in Kangaskhan got out and then the mama Pokemon jumped up about ten feet in the air and then tried to hit Gloom. Her back leg landed on Gloom and it knocked her over. She was able to snap out of her confusion and said her name twice.
"Now use your double edge, Gloom!" said Erika. She knew that it was going to be a bit risky since Gloom would take some damage in the process, but she wanted to show her cousin how much she grew since last time they met. Last time that Erika battled her, she used Gloom against her sister's Jynx and lost within two minutes. Now at least five minutes have gone by and Erika had improved a lot and was utilizing strategies that she had developed over the months. Gloom's head turned white and she ran as fast as she could and charged right into Kangaskhan's gut, knocking the wind out of the tall Pokemon. She was not defeated yet, but she was definitely losing a ton of health very fast. Christina felt that she was not gonna have much time left since the other clearly had gained the upper hand.
"Use your counter!" ordered Christina. Kangaskhan sent back double the amount of damage that Gloom inflicted and Gloom was knocked over. She stood back up. This battle was about to be over any second.
"Let's finish this now, Christina!" shouted Erika with her eyebrows down and her fist clenched. She wasn't angry, but she was capable of getting excited in the heat of a battle.
"Right back at you, Erika!" said Christina. "Kangaskhan! Use your-!" shouted Chrsitina as her voice was drowned by Erika's "Gloom, now use-".
A gentle wind blue and both of the Pokemon fell over fainted. They were both out out of steam.
"An even match? How interesting!" said Christina as she took out her Pokeball. She was amazed and truly believed that she was gonna lose but it appeared that this battle was to be a draw in the end. "Return, Kangaskhan!" She looked at the ball and kissed it. "You did very well and I'm proud of you."
"Wow!" said Ash with his mouth wide open. Machop's mouth was equally as wide as they were both very surprised at the outcome.
"Hmm. It is as it is, cousin!" said Erika with a warm smile on her face as she called back Gloom. "You were marvelous! I'm so proud of you!" She approached her cousin and said, "You were amazing, Christina. I'm so glad to be your equal now."
"So am I!" said the girl with a pleased smile on her face. "I was very shocked at first that you were able to last so long, but you deserve all the credit for teaching your Gloom how to avoid those attacks so effortlessly."
"And I am very amazed at how well you've been training despite school!" praised as they gave each other a fist bump as well. "We will have to meet and battle more often."
"Oh, definitely!" said Christina. "Let's go get some water. It's only about 60 out here, but I got really warm from that battling!"
"Same here!" said Erika as the two of them went back inside. Helen was there and showed Ash the backpack that she had just finished. It was denim from an old pair of jeans, but it would definitely suffice until Ash could get a new backpack.
"I finished your backpack early and I was able to see your battle, girls," said Helen as she turned to the two of them. "You have come a long way since you last battled her."
Erika nodded. "Yes, ma'am, indeed I have. I think I will go to the Pokemon Center and then we will come back. Is it okay if Ash and I spend the night here?"
"I have no reason to say no," said Helen. "Sure! In fact, Lonnie actually suggested it before you even mentioned it."
The two girls looked at each other. "Sleep over!" they said in unison. Erika and her cousin were very close together and this would remind them of times they slept over at each other's houses in the late 80s and early 90s.
The humans all agreed and the three teenagers began to walk to the Pokemon Center. It was around 5 o'clock and the sun was quite low in the sky, probably about 10 degrees above the horizon. Ash watched as the girls began to heal their Pokemon and calmly talked to one another.
"I can't wait to walk home," said Christina. "Autumn sunsets are among the most beautiful things in this world. I wish sometimes that it would be October forever."
"Me, too!" said Ash. Ash he could see a tiny bit of his breath, but not much. "I like how the world all seems to be at peace when you see the sun's rays like this."
"I love this time of year, and I can't wait for spring to replant flowers," said Erika softly. She was so content being around two nice people. All the sudden, something was heard in the distance. It sounded like wings flapping, almost, but it didn't sound like it would be an aggressive Pokemon. Then, a chittering squeaking noise was heard.
"Is that..." asked Christina as she looked around. She gasped at what she saw.
"BUTTERFREE?!" shouted Ash as he saw the figure of a butterfly with a yellow scarf around its neck. Ash had tears in his eyes at what he had just seen.
"Free, free!" chittered the insect Pokemon as he began to fly around Ash with beautiful wings that were reflected in the fading sunlight. It was beyond spectacular, to say the least. Erika's mouth was opened wide, too, as she saw this. Ash was beyond hysterical to fully comprehend what was happening, but there was no doubt in his mind that this was his very same Butterfree that he had released in the hot air balloon to find his mate for the season.
"Butterfree!" shouted Ash as the butterfly Pokemon approached his trainer and allowed the other to hug him. Ash had tears in his eyes when he hugged the other and was choking back tons of tears at the emotional reunion.
"Free!" said the Pokemon with excitement. He nodded at his trainer and began to chitter a lot of noises that could not be understood.
"Butterfree, what happened? I don't understand why you came back? I thought you found your mate at last!"
"Free, free!" he squeaked and moved his little hands as he spoke. Ash could tell that the other was very excited to see Ash again and Ash said,
"So you're saying...you wanna come back with me?" Ash was beyond excited at how determined the other was and received a nod from the other.
"Free!" said Butterfree with a ^.^ look on his face. Ash kissed Butterfree on the cheek and Butterfree blushed with embarrassment from his trainer.
"Sorry, I'm just..." started Ash as he had tears running down his face. Erika and Christina were watching this with amazement and surprise because Erika filled her in on what happened. "I'm so happy right now and I know that I can overcome this! Things have changed and I will train you a lot better than before, Butterfree! This Ash Ketchum is not the same as before!" He took out his Pokeball and showed it to Butterfree who gently nudged it with his foot and was absorbed into the ball. It pinged with no resistance at all and Ash let Butterfree back out.
"Come on, Butterfree! Join us on our way back to Christina's house!" said Ash as he started running.
"Hey, Ash, wait for us!" said Christina. "Chipper one, isn't he?"
"Indeed, but this means so much for him," replied Erika. "Come on, Ash, don't get too far ahead!"
"You guys know the way! C'mon!" said Ash as they ran into the sunset. Tomorrow would be a big day and getting back Butterfree boasted his confidence a lot.
All names are for fiction purposes! If you know anyone with this name, it is entirely coincidental! And yes, Erika pretty much taught Gloom the ability Tangled Feet lol.
*This was based on Gen I damage, which gave dig an attack power of 100, like earthquake.
**At the time, it was the strongest. And it will remain the strongest in this story.
***Despite the fact that acid is extremely painful and can easily eat through skin in real life (I burned myself on accident with a drop of nitric acid, so I know from experience), in this story, it only leaves the burning feeling, no skin irritation or permanent damage. So despite the fact this sounds brutal, it isn't.
So what did you think of that, huh? I was thinking about this for a while because I liked Butterfree a lot. And I know what you're thinking: Are more coming back? Answer: I won't provide spoilers, sorry, because that would ruin it. I'm trying to figure out so many approaches of how the next encounter with Brock will be, so stay tuned!
Also, I cannot stress this enough, but please keep an open mind when reading this, especially in the next chapter, whenever that may be.
*Remember: although it is a PokeDollar in the game, it is actually based off the yen, so I will therefore call it the yen in the story. After doing some calculations and whatnot, it's about 52 USD in 2016.
Playlist that helped me with this chapter:
Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise) by artist whose initials are MC. To me, sounds extremely appropriate for when Ash thought of letting Butterfree go and then when the butterfly Pokemon returns and they're running back to Christina's house!
Special by a 1998 artist whose name is another word for trash and starts with G. I know you aren't supposed to use celebrity's names. This song for the battle and I love the part that goes, "Do you have an opinion, a mind of your own?" Sounds very similar in meaning to some parts of "Everything Changes" from th Master album!
