Hey guys, K9wolf here with a massive apology. I'm really sorry for the long wait but since school has started, I've had less time to update this story. This isn't going to be stopped because of school, it will just take a bit longer for me to update each chapter. I'll try to update at least once a month with an extra chapter or two in the holidays. The last poll that was up (Brock) is now closed and the new poll is for Misty. Thanks to all who are still with me, your support means a lot. Now, on with the story.
"Speech"
'telepathy'
"pokespeech"
'character thoughts'
Stone
The look of shock on everyone's faces is clear – they were not expecting this.
"He looks a little similar to Ash." Misty says, looking between the two. Latios' hair has no set look, with tufts of hair all over his head. He had a blue hoodie (hoody?), with a white stripe down the side of the long sleeves with a red triangle on the chest area, like a logo. On his lower half, he is wearing regular jeans and his shoes are blue and white. The blue goes from the tip to the tongue, with a red triangle on the outside of each shoe.
"That's the point." Bianca replies.
"Why do you want to look like me though?"
'You bought me back to life and you have part of me with you, so I wanted to have a part of you with me.'
"Ok… this could take some time getting used to."
"It took me a week and a bit to get used to Sakura looking like me, so you should be able to get over it fairly quickly."
"What are we going to call this form then? Latias is now Sakura, so what do you want to be called?" Brock asks in a hushed voice.
'I thought that Tenchi would be a good name. It means Heaven and Earth, and since I've basically experienced both, I thought it would be a suitable name.'
"Tenchi… it suits you. Great job Bianca."
"Thanks! Hey, Tenchi, let's get some food." Bianca says, putting down her artwork and pulling Tenchi over to the queue of people, lined up and picking their meal.
'Do you think that Bianca could create me a new look?' Latias asks, staring at her brother.
"Of course, just ask her and I'm sure she'll oblige." Ash smiles, going back to his food. Throughout the meal, everyone stares at Tenchi, stunned that he's decided to become more sociable. After the meal, Ash gets up and starts walking back to his room.
"Where are you going Ash?" Bianca asks.
"I need to get some rest if I want to be in top condition for my battle with the gym leader tomorrow. I also need to decide which pokemon to use."
'I'll come up with you.' Sakura says, standing and walking to Ash.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't" Brock smiles, causing the two to blush as they walk off.
'So what shall we do?' Tenchi asks as they all rise.
"How about we go for a walk before turning in for the night?"
"Good idea Misty, although I would like to avoid any parks. We seem to have bad luck whenever we go into a park."
"Let's have a look around the market. It could have some rare items there." Brock says, as they walk out of the centre.
At the market, a lot of shops with brightly lit lights have all sorts of items. There is food, berries, poke balls, TM's, stones, scarves, bands and much more.
"Hey, Brock. Do you think the stone that the poachers were talking about would be here?" Misty asks, browsing over the assortment of stones in front of her.
"I'm not sure. I don't even know what it looks like."
"I suppose."
"You look troubled, how can I help?" A young lady asks.
"I was wondering if you had any stones for an Absol. Apparently they have a unique evolution when given a stone."
"I've never heard of such a stone, it must be very rare."
"Where was it that the poachers said it was from?"
"Kalos." Brock says.
"We don't get very many items from there, sorry but I can't help you."
"Don't worry. Seeing these stones got me wondering what it would look like. I wasn't expecting to find one." Misty replies, smiling at the lady before turning and walking away with Brock.
Bianca and Tenchi were walking through the crowd, not focusing on the products the shops sold.
"How are you feeling?"
'Nervous. I don't like being seen by everyone.'
"They don't know who you are, plus this helps with your confidence."
'I suppose. However, it'll still take some time to get used to.'
"And I'll always be here to help you." Bianca smiles.
'And I, you. I remember when I first saw you and I remember thinking, I'm going to be great friends with this girl.'
"I'm glad we are. It would be a pretty boring life for me if it didn't include you or your sister." Latios smiles to himself.
'What do you want to do now?'
"I don't know. There isn't a lot that has excited me here."
'Shall we head back to the pokemon centre then?'
"Sure thing." The two turn around and start back. However, a woman's voice caught their attention.
"COME BACK HERE!" A Skitty dashes past them with its' cheeks bulging with stolen food.
"What's happening?"
"STOP THAT SKITTY!" The woman screeches, barrelling past the two.
'Let's go and help. We're quicker than her so we can catch the Skitty.' Tenchi says, taking off in pursuit of the pokemon and chef. He overtakes the chef quickly and glances over his shoulder, seeing Bianca right behind him. They follow the surprised cries of people as the Skitty continues to run. They break from the crowed and see the Skitty running further along the path.
"Come on out Umbreon." Bianca says, "I need you to stop that Skitty." Umbreon nods and her eyes glow blue. The Skitty stops dead in its tracks and is lifted off the ground and moved towards Bianca and Tenchi. Umbreon drops the Skitty in Biancas' open arms as the chef arrives, panting heavily.
"You… caught…. it."
"Yes." Bianca replies, looking down at the squirming Skitty, "You shouldn't steal food Skitty. Now give back what you took." The Skitty looks up at her briefly, before squirming some more.
'Calm down Skitty.' Tenchi says, 'We know you're hungry, but this is not the way to get food. Give this woman her food back and we'll get you some more back at the pokemon centre.' The Skitty stops wriggling and looks at Tenchi. It spits out the two oranges onto the ground.
"Fine. I'm very hungry though." The Skitty sulks.
"Thank you two for your help. What are you going to do with the Skitty?"
"We'll go and get it a proper meal – one that will be paid for."
"It should be beaten, is what I say."
"NO! That's not how you should treat any pokemon. This may be the only way for her to get food, despite the fact that she shouldn't do it. She's just trying to survive. I'm going to give her food and try and get her to see different ways to get food. If we did beat her, she wouldn't learn anything and could do it again and again. This way, she learns."
"Fine, have it your way. I don't want to see her anywhere near my stall again though." She huffs as she walks away.
"Come on, let's get you back to the pokemon centre and get you some food." Bianca says to the Skitty. They meet up with Misty and Brock on the way back and tell them the story. They enter the pokemon centre and go their different ways; Brock and Misty to their rooms and Bianca and Latios to the canteen to see if they could get food for Skitty. They reach the canteen to find them closed.
"Let's go ask in the kitchen. Someone could still be there. If not, we'll go fetch Joy." They walk into the kitchen and find a man hurrying around, looking for something desperately. "Uh.. Hello?" The man looks round in surprise.
"Oh, hello there. What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here."
"We are trying to get some food for Skitty. She was stealing from a stall outside so we thought we should bring her here to get her some food."
"We're closed now. You'll have to go and get food elsewhere." The man says quickly before going back to his frantic search.
'What is he looking for?'
"I don't know. It must be important though." Bianca replies. "Hey! What are you looking for?"
"Why does it matter to you?" He counters, his voice slightly muffled by the boxes he was looking in.
"If we help you find whatever you're looking for, will you quickly get some food for Skitty?" The chef looks up at the two, contemplating the idea.
"Fine. I'm looking for a small plain green box."
"Right. Will you help us Skitty?"
"I thought I would be getting food?"
'You will when we find the box. If you help, it'll be done much quicker and you'll get your food faster.'
"Whatever." Skitty replies, jumping from Bianca's arms and searching the floors.
"Thanks Skitty." They spent five minutes looking when Skitty crawls under one of the cupboards and spots the box. She grabs it in her jaw and reverses out of the tight space. She runs over to the chef and drops it in front of him.
"That's it! Thank you very much Skitty, you're a life saver." The chef says relieved.
"Good job Skitty." Bianca kneels and pats Skitty on the head.
"Now for the food." The chef goes to a cupboard and pulls out some pokefood and puts it into a bowl. He then adds a couple of small sausages and places it on the floor for the Skitty.
"See, I told you we would get you some food."
"Thank you!" Skitty exclaims, before digging in to the food. Bianca smiles at Skitty.
"Thank you again for the help. I must be going now, so can you turn off the lights when you leave please."
"Sure thing. Thanks for the food." Bianca replies as the chef leaves. Bianca and Latios stay with Skitty until she finishes her food.
"That was delicious!" Skitty says gleefully.
"If you're nice to people and you don't steal their belongings, then you will get rewards. Hopefully this will have changed what you do when you're looking for food." Bianca says, stroking Skitty.
"Yeah it has. Thank you." Skitty replies, with Tenchi translating the message.
"Of you go now. We need to go and get some sleep." Bianca walks over to the back door and opens it. Skitty looks at the ground briefly, before looking up at Bianca and asks,
"Can I come with you?"
"You want to…. Sure you can." Bianca says happily, pulling out a poke ball. She bends down and taps it on Skitty as she is sucked inside. The ball rocks a few times before pinging to show that Skitty has been caught. Bianca then looks up at Tenchi.
"Come on, let's go." Bianca locks the door and the two walk out of the canteen and up to their separate rooms.
"Yaawwwwwn" Ash stretches as he gets out of bed. He walks over to the curtains and pulls them apart slightly so he doesn't disturb Latias behind him. 'My second gym battle is today. I should try and get some info on the leader here.' He turns and rests his hands behind his back on the windowsill, watching Latias' chest rise and fall slowly. He watches her for a few more minutes before walking over to her and shaking her gently. "Latias. Latias. It's time to wake up." The dragoness' eyes flutter open and a smile spreads across her face.
'Morning Ash.'
"Morning Latias. I'm going to be going downstairs to try and find as much info on the gym leader before I go and battle him or her."
'Ok, I'll come with you.' Latias replies, rising from the bed. A bright light envelops her as she changes form. The two leave the room and go to the canteen for food and to see if anyone else is up. They grab some small boxes of cereal, a bowl and some milk each and wonder over to a table with a couple of youngsters talking.
"Hey, do you mind if we sit here?" Ash asks. The two look round to the couple and then around the canteen at the empty tables.
"Why don't you sit on a table with no-one on it?" The brawnier one asks.
"Because I was hoping you could tell me a bit about the gym leader of this city."
"Oh, Roxanne! Sure thing." The scrawnier one says, moving over to let the couple sit down. "Roxanne uses rock type pokemon. She's a young leader and has gained the title 'The Rock-Loving Honour Student'. The gym is a 2v2 single battle."
"Why 'Student'?"
"She's receiving mentoring by some professor's at the school here."
"That makes sense. Thanks for the info guys."
"No problem. I hope you do well."
"Thanks." Ash and Sakura get up and leave, putting their bowls on the counter and their rubbish in the bins.
'Should we wake the others up?'
"No. Misty will kill us if we wake her and it won't be fair on the others if we wake them up and not her. Let's head back to our room and think of which pokemon to use."
'Against rock types, Pikachu, Growlithe and Quilava are all at a disadvantage.'
"Right. However, Phanpy stands at an advantage as he's a ground type."
'So who will you pick out of Espeon and Absol?'
"I think I'll pick Absol. I feel she needs to let off some steam in a sense. Plus, the more I battle with her, the more in sync we will be in future battles."
'That makes sense considering you and Espeon are already quite close.'
"Actually, I could use Pikachu."
'How'd you figure that?'
"He can learn iron tail." Ash smiles. They open the door to their room and see Pikachu still resting at the foot of the bed. Ash walks over to him and shakes him, causing Pikachu to stir.
"What do you want?"
"We're going to try and learn a new move."
"What?" Pikachu asks, his ears perking up.
"A new move that could help us in the gym battle."
"What move is it?" Pikachu asks, stretching out his body.
"Iron Tail."
"Cool. Let's begin."
"Hang on. I need to write a quick note so they know where we've gone." Ash says, pulling a pen and paper from the desk draw. He scrawls a note and leaves it on the bed before exiting with Sakura and Pikachu. They walk to an area with a lot of rocks, perfect for trying to perfect an iron tail.
"Now, how do we try and learn iron tail?" Ash asks, putting his hand on his head with a confused look on his face.
Sakura giggles, 'You are hopeless at times. Pikachu has to strengthen his tail first.'
"Right. Let's get a rock tied to your tail so you can lift it. That should help strengthen it."
"Let's do it." Pikachu replies. He goes down on all fours and sticks his tail in the air. Ash picks a rock and ties it to his tail.
"I'll join in with the training." Ash says, picking up a rock and giving it to Sakura. He goes down to the press-up position and Sakura puts the large rock on his back. The two lift the rocks for the next few minutes, by which time they are sweating furiously.
"God, I'm knackered." Pikachu sighs as he puts his tail back on the ground.
"I agree. That was some good training." Ash replies, untying the rock from his partner's tail.
'Now, when you want to use the move, you have to focus your energy to your tail. Once you have mastered that, you will be able to use iron tail.' Sakura says, getting up from her sitting position next to the two.
"Right, let's give it a go. Use iron tail on that tree." Ash points to a nearby tree.
"Right." Pikachu replies. He sprints forwards and jumps, flipping in the air so he's leading with his tail, and hits the tree. "OW!" He cries in pain, clutching his tail.
"Ouch. Ash says, running over to his pal. "That didn't work. Want to try it again."
"I would, but my tail is in extreme pain at the moment."
'You may have to strengthen it up some more then. Don't worry about it today. Try again some other day.'
"Hey guys!" A voice calls from behind them. They turn and see the other four walking towards them. "Why is Pikachu holding his tail?" Bianca asks.
"We were trying to learn iron tail for the gym battle against Roxanne, this city's gym leader. It didn't go very well."
"We can see that. Shall we get going then?"
"Yes!" Ash exclaims.
"Calm down Ash, it's only a gym battle. You've had plenty beforehand." Misty replies.
"Yeah, but each new gym is a new experience. They all have a different atmosphere to them, which makes each gym unique."
'What type of pokemon does she use? If you're learning iron tail, she must use ice or rock type pokemon.'
"She uses rock type pokemon according to some guys in the pokemon centre."
"Who are you going to use then?" Brock questions.
"Phanpy since he has a distinct advantage and Absol since I would like to bond with her in battles."
'That's a smart decision.' Tenchi nods. 'If I remember from the pokemon centre, the gym is just round the corner.'
"Badge number two, here I come." Ash says, running of ahead of the rest of the group. He runs round the corner and comes to a halt in front of the gym. In front of him stands a steel entrance surrounded on all sides by massive rocks.
"That's an impressive gym." Bianca says, as the group walk to Ash's side.
"That it is. Let's go and see what she has to offer us." Ash says excitedly. They walk to the doors and bang on them. The doors rumble open and they all walk inside, to find a battlefield with two trainers fighting.
"Look, it's Rob!" Bianca exclaims.
"We need to have a talk with him." Ash says, staring at him.
"Let's go and watch the rest of this battle in the stands, we can catch him afterwards." They move off to the side and sit in the front row of the stands to watch the conclusion of the battle.
"Grovyle, use bullet seed." Rob calls out. Grovyle, who is poised on a rock, opens his mouth and lets loose a flurry of seeds.
"Nosepass, useharden!" Nosepass gains a sheen around his body as the seeds ricochet of her body. "Good job, now use rock tomb!" A girl calls out.
"That must be Roxanne." Ash says, looking at her. She long brown hair that's been put into two ponytails with a red bow. She wears a blue jumper and pink leggings and blue shoes.
"Grovyle, finish this with a leaf blade." Rob says. Grovyle takes off from his position on the rocks and slams into Nosepass with glowing green blades, sending her flying back and knocking her out.
"The winner is Grovyle, therefore Rob wins the battle." The ref calls out.
"Good job Grovyle. No trouble for you." Rob says walking over to his partner.
"Congratulations Rob. That was an impressive battle. Even though I have been a gym leader for a short while, I can see your Grovyle is exceptionally strong. Here, this belongs to you." Roxanne says, handing Rob the Stone Badge.
"Thank you Roxanne. Your pokemon fought bravely. We both have a lot to learn still and this battle has hopefully helped you as much as it has me." Rob replies smiling. "I must be on my way now. Thank you for your time." Rob says as he turns to leave.
"Hey! Rob!" Ash shouts. Rob looks round and his smile drops from his face.
"Hello Ash. How are you?" He replies calmly.
"Why did you run off last time? Why were you interested in Sakura?"
"I ran off because I don't want to fight with you. I'm not your enemy. I already told you why I'm fascinated in Sakura. Please, can we just forget about it?" He says to Ash. He looks over to Sakura and says, "I'm very sorry. At the time, I didn't realise that I was prying into your private life and that it was wrong. I was very interested in you. You are a very special girl and are very lucky to have Ash. Please can you forgive a foolish young man?"
Sakura looks at him with interest before nodding her head.
"Thank you. I really must be on my way. I have to meet someone. I hope we meet again." Rob says, holding out his hand to Ash." Ash looks down at it with uncertainty.
"I have a feeling we will meet again, but I still don't trust you." Ash says. Rob drops his hand and a small smile appears on his face.
"That is to be expected. I don't expect to earn it straight away but I do hope we will become great friends." Rob leaves with his Grovyle by his side.
"Well that was interesting." Roxanne says, startling the group.
"Oh hey! Sorry about that, I forgot that you were still there. I'm Ash Ketchum and I'm here to challenge you."
"No problem. I've had a warm up with Rob and have learnt a couple of things. Give me five minutes and then we'll battle." Roxanne replies smiling.
(Five minutes later)
"This official gym battle is between Ash of Pallet Town and Roxanne, leader of the Rustboro Gym. This is a 2v2 single battle and it will be over when both pokemon from either side is unable to continue." The ref calls out.
"Let's get started." Roxanne smiles, "Geodude, I choose you!"
"Let's go Phanpy!" Ash calls. "Use rollout!" Phanpy curls up and speeds off toward Geodude.
"Geodudes, use rock throw!" Geodude picks up rocks from the ground and hurls them at Phanpy, hitting him and throwing him back, stemming the attack. "You're going to have to better than that. Geodude, use rock tomb!" Geodude slams her fists into the ground and four pillars shot up around Phanpy, trapping him in a tight space.
"Phanpy! Use rollout to get out of there!"
"I can't Ash! I can't curl up!"
"Come on Phanpy, you can do it! You're strong Phanpy, I believe in you."
"Geodude, use rock throw followed up with tackle." Geodude starts forward, her hands pulling up rocks from the ground as she gets close.
"Now Phanpy, rollout!"
"Aarrrggghhhh!" Phanpy cries, as he starts very slowly spinning.
"Now Geodude!" Geodude throws the rocks, creating a hole in the rock tomb and he slams into Phanpy, breaking through the other side.
"Phanpy!" Ash calls as the small blue elephant slides to a halt by his feet. "Come on buddy, you can do this. I believe in you."
"That hurt." Phanpy says as he struggles to his feet.
"Good work Phanpy. Now use an earthquake!"
"Take this!" Phanpy says, as he jumps into the air and slamming down on the ground.
"Geodude!" Roxanne cries as the shockwaves hit Geodude, making her cringe as she is flung backwards.
"Now use rollout!" Ash calls. Phanpy spins at 30rpm and slams into the recovering Geodude, knocking her out of the field and out of the battle.
"Geodude is unable to battle, Phanpy is the winner."
"Well done Geodude. We still have a lot to learn. Phanpy is a very persistant pokemon. You would've won otherwise." Roxanne says to her pokeball. "Now, come on out Nosepass!"
"Can you carry on Phanpy?"
"I'll give it a go Ash."
"Ok, let's start with earthquake!"
"Use rock tomb Nosepass!" Roxanne shouts. Phanpy jumps, preparing to unleash another super effective earthquake, however Nosepass hits the ground and four pillars erupt from the ground, trapping Phanpy in the air.
"Phanpy, no!" Ash cries.
"Finish it with multiple rock throws!" Roxanne calls. Nosepass picks up rocks and starts hurling them, rapid fire, at the rocks where Phanpy is trapped, breaking him free and sending him flying into the wall.
"Phanpy is unable to battle, Nosepass wins"
"Good job Phanpy. You took down one of them. You take a nice rest as Absol does the rest. Come on out Absol! You ready for another battle?"
"I'll always be ready." Absol replies crouching down, ready to spring.
"Nosepass, use rock throw."
"Cut through them using night slash!" The rocks fly towards Absol. Her front paws gain a dark energy around them and she slashes at the rocks before they get too close, turning them into small pebbles. "Now use swords dance!" Absol's sickle glows blue and illusions of the sickle appear and spin rapidly around her body.
"Nosepass, use rock tomb!" Nosepass stamps on the ground as once again, four pillars sprout from the ground and surround Absol.
"Use psycho cut Absol!" A blue glow appears inside the tomb. Suddenly, the rocks shatter as a blue crescent is shot out toward Nosepass, taking her off her feet. "Follow up with a night slash!" Ash calls as Absol sprints forward.
"Nosepass, get up!" Roxanne cries. Nosepass pushes herself onto her feet as a dark claw smashes into her chest, sending her flying into the stands.
"Nosepass is unable to battle, Absol wins. The match goes to the challenger Ash Ketchum."
"Yeah! Great work Absol. You were amazing." Ash exclaims, hugging her.
"Thanks Ash. It was a lot of fun."
'Well done Ash. That was very impressive.' Sakura says as she slips her hand into his.
"Thanks."
"Well done Ash. That is the second brilliant battle today. If only all battles were like that. Here, you've earnt this." Roxanne says, holding out the Stone badge.
"Thank you." Ash replies, taking it. "I won, the Stone badge!" he exclaims. "Now on to the next gym!"
"Calm down Ash. While you were battling, we found out that there is going to be a contest held here in the next couple of days. Bianca was thinking of watching it to see how they work and to see the different types of combinations that other coordinators use." Brock says.
"That's a great idea. It gives me and my pokemon some time to relax and to train before the next gym. I could also pick up a couple of tricks that I could use in a battle."
"Yeah, I can't wait. It's going to be so exciting." Bianca says.
"For now, let's go to the pokemon centre and find out where the contest is being held and other basic details about it. Then tomorrow we can get tickets and hopefully talk to some of the contestants."
"Good idea. Come on guys let's go!" Bianca says, skipping out of the gym.
'She's a bit like you Ash, when you are about to have a gym battle or food.' Sakura smiles, making the group laugh.
"But it doesn't stop you from loving me." Ash replies, kissing her cheek as they follow Bianca out of the gym and into the midday sun.