AN: Hey guys! I know it's been a while, but due to certain circumstances I have finally found the time to update. By the time I post this chapter, I will already have the chapter following this one completed and only in need of editing. I will try my best to update as consistently as possible from now on. Please enjoy!
A branch cracked as Ash and his partner walked down the littered path of Route 2. Twigs, branches, and even felled trees were scattered around the area haphazardly. Ash and his Bulbasaur avoided them easily enough, but they were still a nuisance that they had to pay attention to. Their presence was quite odd, but in the moment Ash was too preoccupied to care.
It was noontime, yet Ash couldn't help but think back to what happened the night before. Not what had happened with Trent, but with his mother.
He had ended up telling her everything that had happened; he just couldn't lie to her.
He had trouble sleeping that night after telling her, remembering the utter fear and shock he had seen in her eyes. Growing up he had always wanted to be a trainer; he'd always thought that it would be a fun, happy experience.
But last night had been the first time he'd ever questioned his dream.
It wasn't the fact that he had almost died. That didn't dissuade him at all. What had broken his heart was the look on his mother's face as she cried when he told her of the danger he had been through, of how he had almost lost his life. Could he keep on doing this to her everyday? Everytime he was in serious danger? The life of a trainer was a difficult one. And if he died, ultimately, he wouldn't be the one affected. It's the people he left behind, his mother, who would suffer, because they'd have to keep on living without him.
Ash sighed to himself and felt something rubbing against his back. It was Bulbasaur's vine, trying to comfort him. He faked a smile, but on the inside he was burning.
His partner noticed easily. It growled gently, letting him know it was there for him.
Ash smiled again, this time genuinely, and rubbed Bulbasaur at the top of its head, the spot he knew it loved to be pet. It sighed in appreciation.
I can't keep worrying mom like this. The first thing I need to do is catch more pokémon, at least that way I'd be safer.
They continued down the route, and as they neared the dangerous Viridian Forest, they were shocked by the increasing amounts of felled trees. What they were approaching was a forest, yet some of it had been killed. Large piles of logs were littered around the area.
Ash steeled himself as they approached the forest. It was about a two-day trek, but usually an incredibly dangerous one, with high amounts of Bug pokémon that will attack on sight. Furthermore, the amount of felled trees was a definite concern.
As they entered, Ash couldn't help but notice more trees that had been knocked down.
Bulbasaur looked extremely agitated. Being a grass type, it was more connected to nature; seeing such a large amount of dead trees must have crushed it.
Ash gently rubbed its head as they moved deeper into the forest.
He decided to try to distract it from its discomfort. "Oh, Bulbasaur! I forgot to mention. I think it's about time you learned some new moves."
Bulbasaur jumped in excitement.
"Okay, so I think Leech Seed would be an effective move for you to learn. It's good for both impairing the enemy pokémon and healing yourself. Plus, it's also already a move you learn in nature, so you should be able to nail it easily! "
Bulbasaur nodded as Ash explained the theory of the move, and as they travelled, they began working on it. After a few hours into their trek, it already knew the basics of the move and could perform it. After all, Leech Seed was a move it learned naturally, not a TM, so it learned it relatively easily. Before they started, it had already begun developing the move, as it does in nature, which is a very slow process. However, Ash, already knowing the basics of it, helped expedite the process.
This was another reason why trained pokémon were often much more powerful than wild ones.
Ash looked up and saw that it was dark. He decided to make camp underneath a thick tree, and started a fire.
"Why don't we make camp here? Then we can work on some more combos."
Bulbasaur nodded in support.
The morning sun glistened as Ash and Bulbasaur continued their trek through the forest. They had woken up and worked on combination attacks for a few hours and then decided to continue their journey.
This is definitely weird… We've been here for quite a while and still haven't been attacked by a single Bug pokémon. We haven't even seen one!
Ash stumbled, almost tripping on one of the fallen logs. He looked at the log, realizing something.
Whoever, or whatever, did this to the trees must have been interested in all the Bug pokémon. No wonder we haven't encountered any. They all must have fled somewhere after many of them had lost their homes, the trees.
After a while, however, the forest began to look more like an actual forest. Live trees were everywhere and the amount of felled ones began to decrease. There were still many logs littered on the ground, but the amount was significantly smaller than the number of logs on the outside. It was very odd, as if someone had deliberately chosen to chop down certain parts of the forest.
Ash could tell he had made it to the center, the heart of the forest by his surroundings.
The heart of the forest was much greener than the outskirts and filled with much more foliage. There were almost no logs on the ground at this point, which Ash took to be a good sign. Ash could even hear a few Bug pokémon rustling in the trees above. He'd never thought he'd see that as a good thing, but considering the circumstances, he did.
As they continued walking through the foliage, they suddenly heard loud yelling.
"Heracross! Brick Break!" They heard a pokémon grunt in effort before hearing a large smack, followed by the same pokémon screeching in pain.
"No Heracross! Get up!"
Ash and Bulbasaur made it past the treeline and finally saw what the commotion was. They saw a strange boy in a samurai costume, a Heracross knocked down flat on its back, and a Machop standing over it and grinning. They recognized the Machop immediately.
The Heracross got up quickly, but it's fatigue was obvious. The Machop looked like it wasn't even breaking a sweat.
"Horn Attack!" He yelled.
Heracross charged straight at its opponent, thrusting its large horn at it multiple times. The Machop avoided each thrust easily, with a grin on its face.
It was clearly just toying with the Heracross.
"Use Brick Break!"
Heracross's arms glowed a fluorescent white as it rocketed towards the Machop, that blocked it with its arm, still grinning.
"Keep using Brick Break! Wear down its defense!"
Heracross threw chop after chop at the Machop. The gray fighter blocked, dodged, and deflected every single strike with a focused expression on its face. It then lunged forward with a Karate Chop, striking the Heracross right across its chest. It felt down in pain and fainted.
"Shit!" The trainer yelled. The Machop cracked his knuckles menacingly.
He panicked, knowing there was no way he could beat this pokémon. He fumbled for the pokéball that held his last pokémon, but stopped, noticing that the Machop was no longer paying attention to him, but something behind him. He turned around and noticed the signature raven black locks and dark crimson cap of Ash Ketchum.
"You there! Can I get a little help here? I only have one other pokémon left and there's no way I can take this Machop down. And I don't wanna know what this Machop's gonna do to me if my Pokémon are all fainted! " The samurai ran past Ash, hiding behind a tree.
Ash nodded, running toward the gray fighter. "Sure thing!" There was only one thought in his head at that moment.
I need this pokémon on my team.
He didn't even consider how difficult it would be to capture such an unusually powerful pokémon.
"Bulbasaur I choose you!" Ash exclaimed as his Bulbasaur sprinted in front of him, facing the Machop. The fighting-type grinned at Ash and made a "come here" motion with his hand. Clearly, it recognised them as well.
"Bulbasaur, use Razor Leaf!"
Dozens of razor sharp leaves soared through the air at breakneck speeds towards the Machop. It, however, was faster. It ducked and dodged almost every leaf, only taking a few direct hits.
"What were you doing four days ago, on Route 1? Why were you spying on us?"
It ignored him and charged towards Bulbasaur, its fist raised in the form of a Karate Chop move.
Ash was about to command his Bulbasaur to charge straight ahead and use its Tackle attack, but his gut suddenly screamed at him not to.
"Bulbasaur, use Sleep Powder in front of you! Distance yourself from it!"
Bulbasaur released a dark misty powder in front of it before running backwards. The Machop growled, forced to stop itself before it ran headfirst into the powder in the air. It angrily smashed its attack into a nearby boulder, absolutely decimating it.
Ash sighed to himself in relief.
Good thing I decided not to rush straight in…
The Machop charged toward Bulbasaur again. This time, it was too close for Bulbasaur to be able to pull off a Sleep or Poison Powder.
"Bulbasaur, prepare yourself for its Karate Chop! And use Vine Whip when you get an opening!"
It was at this moment Ash realized he had gotten too cocky. As the Machop approached Bulbasaur, it didn't go for an attack with its arm, but with something Ash had completely overlooked—its leg. Bulbasaur was completely swept off its feet by the devastating Low Kick attack. But in its determination it used its Vine Whip attack while falling, managing to lash the Machop with a powerful blow.
Bulbasaur hit the ground rolling and got up quickly. The Machop was quick to respond, its hand flying toward Bulbasaur in another Karate Chop. Bulbasaur rolled over again, taking only a minor blow. It endured the pain, and connected a Tackle attack on the Machop, knocking it back and gaining some distance.
Ash couldn't help but smile to himself, this was where he was truly in his element. Even during his battle with Trent he was having fun, until his life had been threatened of course. However, he could tell Bulbasaur was getting exhausted. He needed to end things quickly.
"Bulbasaur, charge and use Vine Whip around its arm!" Bulbasaur managed to wrap a vine around Machop's left arm. The Machop grabbed it like a rope and grinned. It now could land a direct hit on Bulbasaur.
However, Ash planned for this. It may have been easier for Machop to attack Bulbasaur, but the opposite was also true.
"Bulbasaur! Leech Seed into Tackle!"
Machop's right arm came crashing down like a hammer aimed straight at Bulbasaur, but before it could land it was surrounded by a thin branch that had sprouted from Leech Seed and restrained its arm like a net, sapping its energy. Then, Bulbasaur retracted its vine wrapped around the Machop's left arm and hit with a Tackle attack, knocking it down and away. It groaned in pain as its energy continued to be sapped from its body.
Conversely, Bulbasaur became visibly less tired and injured as it absorbed the Machop's energy with Leech Seed.
Ash readied a pokéball, expecting the Machop to stay down. But to his surprise, it stood up on shaky legs and growled at him.
Ash grinned, he respected Machop's tenacity. He knew that while it was standing on its own two feet it would fight back.
But instead of facing Ash, the Machop looked desperately at the tree behind it, waving its arms at Ash, trying to signal something to him. It chopped a small chunk out of the trunk, marking it.
Ash, too engrossed in the battle, didn't notice.
"Bulbasaur, Sleep Powder!"
A dark, powdery mist fell upon the Machop, who was too injured to avoid it. It fell down with a thud, asleep.
Ash threw a pokéball at the Machop. It disappeared into the pokéball and shook three times, signifying a capture.
Ash grinned, raising an arm triumphantly. Bulbasaur did the same, mimicking its partner, raising a vine in the air.
Their celebration was short-lived, however. Loud buzzing noises resounded through the forest as a swarm of Beedrill descended upon them, probably aggravated by the battle.
"Shit!" Ash yelled. As he and Bulbasaur ran to the protection of the trees. "Use Razor Leaf!"
The leaves managed to hinder the swarm of Beedrill, but they still approached quickly. Then, to Ash's surprise, the other trainer sent out a pokémon. He'd expected him to run away like a coward, much like what he did earlier with the Machop. But instead he chose to help Ash.
"Skorupi, I need you!" "
A purple scorpion with a large pincer on its tail appeared appeared.
"Use Pin Missile!"
The Skorupi nodded and let out a stream of missiles into the air. The combined efforts of Razor Leaf and Pin Missile was enough to hold the Beedrills slightly back.
"Follow me!" The trainer yelled.
Ash nodded, having no other options available to him.
The two trainers ran, their pokémon beside them, and an angry swarm of venomous Bug pokémon behind them.
In the hollow of the tree Machop had marked, two dark, oddly-colored pokeballs shook as the trainers ran past it.
"Are you sure we'll be safe here?" Ash said, his face illuminated by the crackling fire. His arms were covered in minor cuts and scrapes, but otherwise he was fine.
They had taken shelter in a small cave near a river. The sound of water crashing against rock nearby was constant.
"Yeah, I haven't left this forest for days. I've been camping around this area and I know the Bugs hate it here because of all the running water."
"Why would you willingly stay in a place like this?" Ash asked, perplexed. He began disinfecting and bandaging his wounds.
"My dream is to be a Bug-type Master! Where better to train than a forest such as this one?!"
Ash, nodded. It was understandable, but also… insane. However, Ash had literally almost been killed before he'd even been a trainer for a week, and he still wanted to continue being a trainer. He knew he was insane as well, in his own way.
"Do you know what's been happening around here? It looks like someone's been chopping down trees everywhere." Ash said.
"Yeah, it's been pretty odd. I've heard people talking about figures in all black taking down trees. Apparently they've been doing it in the middle of the night. Hundreds of trees have been taken down; the Viridian Police have been notified but for some reason they can't send anyone right now. "
Ash nodded. It was all the more reason for them to get as far away from the forest as soon as possible.
"Is your name actually Samurai by the way? And what's up with the samurai get-up?" They had introduced themselves to each other earlier, and Ash had been confused by the boy's odd name from the start.
"It is not. It is a name I chose for myself, a name I want to be respected! I choose to wear the armor of a Samurai because I want to be respected like one." He said proudly.
"But why all this? Why do you need to change yourself at all?" Ash asked, unaware of the look of pain that flashed in the other boy's eyes.
"Where I'm from, the old me was treated horribly," he frowned, "But now I have decided to take a new name, one that will be respected!" He finished, smiling.
Ash knew he was asking a charged question but he asked it anyway.
"Were you bullied?"
The other boy remained silent, but the look on the samurai's eyes was enough to tell the answer to that.
Ash continued. "I only asked because I know what it's like too. To be looked down on and left out. I was never bullied that badly, never physically for the most part. But it still hurt, knowing everyone expected little of me. That's why I'm here now, and that's why it is my dream to be the very best!" He finished.
Samurai was shocked by Ash's openness, but also by the passion he heard in his voice. It inspired him to respond. "I never thought I'd meet a person like me in that regard." He grinned. "But it looks like we'll be competing against each other at the top!" He held up his fist, and Ash bumped it in return, grinning as well.
They both sat down on opposite sides of the caves.
Ash released Bulbasaur and Machop, deciding it was a good time to tend to their wounds. He applied a Potion to Machop first, who was still sleeping. Bulbasaur decided to do the same, drifting off quickly.
While still applying the potion, he looked up at Samurai.
"What kinds of things have you been doing in this forest?" Ash asked him.
"Well I've been exploring it and catching whatever Bug pokémon interests me. That's how I caught Heracross actually. I also picked the past couple of days to camp here because I heard the Pallet Town Trainers were starting their journeys around this time, and I wanted to test my mettle against them!"
"Wait a minute!" Ash exclaimed. "I'm one of them. I'm from Pallet and I started my journey a few days ago."
Ash was a bit surprised at being well-known, after all he came from a small town in the countryside. But the small town he lived in also happened to be the home of former champion and famous researcher Professor Oak…
Samurai's mouth gaped in shock, then morphed into a grin. "Well, I'm not surprised! You defeated that Machop easily! You must have learned a lot from the Legendary Professor Oak!"
"Well, actually I didn't really study that much under him," Ash responded, still spraying Machop's injuries. "Although he was my sponsor, he mainly focused on training his grandson Gary." Ash frowned, bitterly. He knew he couldn't blame the old professor, though.
"Oh, well that's a shame." Samurai said. "Anyway I battled Gary just two days ago. I lost pretty horribly though." He chuckled.
"Oh! Was anyone with him?" Ash asked.
"There was this girl who held his hand. She had brown hair and a white hat. She was kind-of pretty," he said with a sheepish expression.
Leaf…
Immediately Ash's mood soured.
"Did you battle her too?" Ash asked through gritted teeth. He began spraying Bulbasaur slightly and, since it wasn't as injured, he finished quickly.
"No, just Gary! By the time we were finished I had no more pokémon that could battle," Samurai said.
Sensing the mood, he tried to change the subject. "You won't believe how I found that Machop though! So I was walk—"
"That's enough," Ash cut him off, rudely.
"I'm sorry, was it something I said?" Samurai spoke, worried.
"No, it's just Gary used to be one of my best friends before he started looking down on me… and that girl… that girl was really important to me too." Ash spoke in a whisper.
"I'm really sorry to hear that."
"It's alright. I'm just going to go to bed." Ash plopped down on his sleeping bag, staring at the ceiling.
Samurai did the same, wondering what exactly had happened to Ash. He fell asleep with that in mind.
Ash fell asleep thinking about broken promises and a brown-haired girl.
(Meanwhile…)
The moon shined down on three figures, trudging through Viridian Forest. Two of them were men dressed in all black, the other a Houndour walking in the lead.
"We're lucky Houndour managed to pick up a scent!" The tall figure said to the shorter one.
"Shut up!" The shorter figure yelled. "It's your fault we're in this mess in the first place! We spent days knocking down all those trees only for you to fuck it up by chasing after a goddamn Machop!"
"Look, I'm sorry, okay! Let's just get this done before the boss finds out."
It was at that moment that his communicator rang…
"It's the boss! What do we do?" The tall figure exclaimed, panicked.
"We have to answer! It's better we tell him the truth than lie. You know what he does to liars."
They answered the communicator.
"Where the hell are you two!?" A deep, menacing voice came out of the device.
"Sir, we can explain!" The shorter figure exclaimed, running damage control. "We managed to find the pokémon you wanted after taking down all those trees… but we ran into a bit of a complication. My partner here will explain." He said, completely throwing the tall figure under the bus.
The taller figure spoke.
"Well you see, sir. It happened after we captured those rare pokémon you wanted with the untraceable pokéballs you gave us. We were heading from Viridian Forest towards Viridian City, when I heard something in a bush behind us. Something was spying on us. Then suddenly, a Machop leapt out of the bush and ran straight past me back towards the forest. And I was angry y'know 'cause that little shit scared me. So I chased after it to teach it a lesson."
"And then what happened?" The "boss" sounded slightly amused.
"The Machop was incredibly powerful, like ridiculously so! It knocked us out before we could even throw out a pokémon. By the time we woke up it was gone, and it had taken the Bug pokémon with it! But don't worry boss, my Houndour already picked up the Machop's scent. And we're chasing it right now. We'll get you back your pokémon in no time, and we'll throw in that Machop too, to make up for it being late."
There was dead silence as the two men waited anxiously for a response.
"You have 24 hours." The communicator clicked as the call ended.
The two men sighed in relief.
Machop's yell woke up everyone inside the cave. It bolted out the cave entrance and began running towards the trees, covering its eyes from the morning sunlight.
It had always been a curious pokémon, spying on humans whenever it got the chance. Growing up it had been advised against doing so, but it was happy it never listened. After all, it had spied on two suspicious-looking men, and as a result, managed to free two innocent young pokémon and take them into the Viridian Forest for protection.
It had been protecting the young pokémon when it had fought against a young trainer dressed as a Samurai. However, it had gotten carried away after another, more skilled, trainer challenged it. It was arrogant, not believing it could be taken down and captured. But the trainer had defeated it. It had left the two pokémon it had meant to save all alone.
The Machop stopped, unaware of his location. It looked around but had no idea where it was. It saw the same thing in every direction—trees.
"Machop!" Ash yelled, finally catching up to it. Bulbasaur was hot on his heels. "What's wrong!?"
Machop tried to explain to Ash using large gestures, but Ash couldn't understand it.
"I think I know," yelled Samurai, who had caught up as well. "It was what I was trying to tell you yesterday. You see, when I met that Machop, I was just minding my own business trying to walk through the forest. Then Machop appeared and wouldn't let me pass. I thought it was because it was trying to protect its territory, but I realize now that it must be something else, right Machop?"
The Machop nodded multiple times.
"Do you want me to take you back to where Ash captured you?"
It nodded, this time even faster.
After a solid half-hour of running, they made it back to the same clearing. Machop ran up to the marked tree and climbed it. At the very top, it reached inside a hole and pulled out two odd-looking pokéballs.
It leaped down and handed them to Ash, who inspected them.
These pokéballs look really weird. I remember! I studied this for the Trainer's Exam. These are untraceable pokéballs, which are used to capture pokémon without the League's knowledge. That means whoever caught these pokémon have to be poachers of some sort!
Suddenly, a large torrent of flame struck Machop's back, knocking it down as it yelled in pain. Another blast came flying at it, but it was pulled away by a pair of vines. Machop nodded to Bulbasaur in thanks, then faced the enemy lying ahead.
Three figures emerged from the trees. Two men dressed in black, and a Houndour.
"Hand over those pokéballs, and that Machop." The shorter one said. "Trust me kiddoes, you don't want to mess with us."
"Not gonna happen!" Ash yelled, putting the pokéballs in his pocket. Bulbasaur and Machop stood in front of him defensively. Ash grinned as Samurai stood beside him, letting out his pokémon as well.
"Looks like we're gonna have to do this the hard way," the shorter grunt said, releasing two pokémon. The taller figure beside him released one as well.
A medium-sized Nidorino appeared in front of the short grunt, followed by a large Raticate. A Flaaffy appeared and stood beside the tall grunt's Houndour. All four pokémon looked angry, abnormally so.
Ash noticed this and reminded himself to be cautious of their aggressiveness. He scanned the pokémon quickly.
That Houndour is definitely going to be too big of a problem for Samurai's pokémon, since it's a Fire-Type.
"You take fat and short," Ash yelled. "I got tall and skinny."
The two grunts growled in response to the insults. Samurai nodded and faced his opponent. Ash did the same.
Samurai's battle with the other grunt faded away as he focused on his own fight.
He decided to let the grunt take the first move.
"Houndour use Flamethrower! Flaaffy Thundershock!"
A stream of fire and electricity blasted towards Machop and Bulbasaur. They dodged the sloppy attacks easily, then quickly responded with their own attacks. A Karate Chop slammed into the Houndour and knocked it back, while a Vine Whip lashed the Flaaffy.
Both pokémon grunted out in pain.
"You shouldn't make the first move if you can't capitalize on it!" Ash taunted, unable to help himself from doing so.
"Shut up!" The grunt yelled, clearly frustrated. "Houndour use Bite on Bulbasaur, Flaaffy use Tackle on Machop!"
Ash considered his options. He knew that the Houndour was the biggest threat, since his Bulbasaur was weak to it. His Machop, however, was strong against it, and he decided to use that to his advantage.
"Bulbasaur! Ignore the Flaaffy and use Vine Whip at Houndour's legs! Machop use Karate Chop!"
Bulbasaur was knocked back by the Flaaffy's aggressive Tackle, but endured it, using Vine Whip at the Houndour's legs. It's attack hit true, causing the Houndour to stumble, missing its Bite attack. Machop was quick to punish it, sending a double Karate Chop attack with both arms into the dog pokémon, sending it crashing into a tree.
"Fuck!" The grunt yelled. "Houndour get the hell up! Flaaffy go help it!"
Flaaffy snarled but followed its command, charging at Machop from its blind side. Bulbasaur was quick to respond, intercepting it. The two pokémon wrestled back and forth, evenly matched, until the Flaaffy roared and bit into Bulbasaurs skin.
Bulbasaur yelled out in pain and was knocked back by Flaaffy's Thundershock.
Ash was surprised, considering the fact that Flaaffys cannot learn the move Bite; their teeth and bite strength are not strong enough. The Flaaffy snarled at Bulbasaur, its own blood leaking down its mouth. There was definitely something wrong with this pokémon.
Ash quickly looked to Machop who didn't look like he was in any trouble, and decided to focus on Bulbasaur. "Bulbasaur, stand your ground!" Ash yelled. Bulbasaur nodded and slammed its vines onto the ground, taunting the enemy Flaaffy.
The grunt was too confused, not knowing which of his pokémon to pay attention to, to make a command.
Flaaffy charged headfirst at Bulbasaur, without waiting for its master's to make a command.
Ash remembered this exact situation and grinned.
"Bulbasaur! You know what to do!"
Bulbasaur rolled to the side as a mist of purple replaced him. The Flaaffy ran straight into the powder and immediately fell down to the ground wheezing and coughing. Bulbasaur then slammed into it with a devastating Tackle attack that sent it flying, then lashed it with Vine Whip as it flew through the air, and finally slammed it with a barrage of leaves from Razor Leaf as it hit the ground. It collapsed immediately, utterly defeated by the combo.
"Nice work, Bulbasaur!" Ash exclaimed, as he checked on Machop. It had already finished the Houndour and had watched Bulbasaur's combo attack, impressed.
Ash grinned.
The tall grunt was at a complete loss of words. Never before in his career had he been so utterly thrashed.
"I win," Ash said, deadly serious. He looked to the side and saw that his friend was still struggling. He motioned with his hand and his partners ran to aid him. With the help of Ash's pokémon, Samurai was able to quickly defeat the other grunt's Raticate and Nidorino.
"It's over, " Ash said, his pokémon coming back to him. "Let's call the authorities." Samurai nodded at him, and their pokémon stood in a circle surrounding the men.
The two grunts put their hands up in defeat.
And that's all for now! Thank you for reading.