Saffron City was… big.
Ash grimaced, tapping his fingers alongside the edge of his pokedex. The device was difficult to manage but he could scroll over the pidgey's eye diagram of the city, buildings done in light blue while streets were shaded green. He kept zooming out until he finally caught a glimpse of the red that made up the border of the city, one small section of the vaguely trapezoid-looking city.
It was a very small piece.
With a groan, he kept searching for the other parts.
By the time he had the entire perimeter on his screen, the yellow of the city gym was a mere blip in the lower left half, which placed him at walking nearly two miles to get just to the battlegrounds. He glared at their wavering orange dots as if that'd make them get closer.
The nice thing, at least, about Saffron City was that it had been designed to be massive: its streets were large, labeled, and organized neatly into a grid system. As long as he could remember whatever led to whatever, he'd make it there in twenty minutes at a trot. He idly wished he could still ride Rhydon successfully - while he could technically cling to the ground type's back by standing on his dorsal spines and getting a grip around his hearing recipients, it was far from stable and generally useless in most circumstances.
Ash pawed around at the map for a while, writing down a list of various routes through the city he could take. He kept one as the ideal path - a straight line through the city - but found others that branched out in various alleys and side routes. Ash doubted he could both avoid Gladion's pokemon and other people on his perfect path but he was allowed to hope - as long as he planned for others.
Today was crawling painstakingly slowly on.
His team was enjoying another day of not moving immensely. He spun around on his swivel chair to give them a cursory once-over - he could have sworn it took Rhydon nearly three minutes to exhale with how deep a sleep he was in - and grabbed his bag. Eyeing how Rook's axeblade was resting a little too snuggly against the drywall, he rooted through his bag. He hadn't had time to reorganize things since his last bout of traveling, and he had to dig past compressed packages of pokemon food and water purifier in order to snag what he wanted. The energy bar was probably a month or so old but Ash was far past caring. He pulled it out, shifting the bag with his other hand, when his fingers brushed a shape through the lining of his secure pocket. Ash paused, running his fingers around the edge - a square.
The solar beam TM.
He pulled it out, brows lowered. The disk felt warm under his fingers, each groove defined and twisting in an elaborate path he could never hope to copy, and beyond the protective casing the disk was vibrant green. The one move to cover every single one of a fire type's weaknesses.
But no. Scorch didn't have the fortitude to learn a new move and also keep up with this sheer level of this challenge. Solar beam was tricky even for those that learned it naturally, and for a pokemon not even of the grass typing, she'd need an incredibly sunny day to get it to its full potential. The challenge was taking place at night.
And it went without saying that solar beam was devastatingly powerful, and decidedly not something that could be used in a city.
Ash frowned, steepling his fingers. That also ruled out earth power - or any ground move, really - thunder, pin, sludge bomb, toxic, heat wave… the list was painfully long. A few members of his team - Wraith, Karma, occasionally Scorch - were mainly whittling pokemon, lacking too many terribly strong moves but having a multitude of ways to avoid their opponents and launch from different directions. The rest of his relied on powerful moves; which were now unavailable. His frown deepened.
Wraith couldn't use his poison, Gale's vicious attacks wouldn't work, Rhydon couldn't use his primary typing, Scorch would have to have an ironwill over her flames, and Rook would have to tiptoe around to avoid leaving massive scars through the cobbled streets. The only pokemon he could see without too much trouble was Karma, given as her power relied entirely on tight control. After two weeks of letting them have free reign of everything, limiting their power once again would be a shock.
And then there was the fact he was going to be the target.
With Gideon, Ash had been contained, trapped. His pokemon had been the only protection he had against a monster of flames and even they couldn't protect him from everything. Ash unpried his nails from his palms when he felt the skin tear, the scar over his chest twinged with age-old pain. He liked to imagine Gladion didn't know about the event, or at least had only heard a heavily filtered version, and that was why he was putting him through this. Or maybe the man who had survived through his own war felt this would be a therapy session, a way to confront his fears. Whatever it was, Ash didn't approve, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be fighting as hard as he could to complete it.
Rhydon as his main protector made the most sense, given his keen ground sense and natural protectiveness that came with being the leader of a herd, but the problem of his sheer bulk and inability to move stealthily was a problem. Wraith could be a final barrier type, sticking to the endless shadows night provided, and Karma could teleport over if anything happened. Rook, Scorch, and Gale would be his main attackers, but their own weaknesses in this situation were bright and flashing after two weeks of having them grilled into his skull. Ash sighed, letting his head fall.
He forced himself to switch over to another tab of the pokedex, the list of notes he'd taken on Gladion's pokemon. Over the course of the weeks, he'd written down everything he knew in order to try and find better ways to counter them, and ended up with page upon page for pokemon he would likely never encounter elsewhere.
Vikavolt was pretty much what he had guessed the first time he'd seen - charged electricity in an organ in her chest, released from her jaws - and while the knowledge of Lycanroc's various forms was interesting, its ability and history was what he had expected. Golisopod had been a shock with the knowledge of its pre-evolution - seriously, wimpod were barely a foot tall - and crobat was already a given, but the last one threw him for a major loop.
Zoroark. From every picture he'd seen online and every time she fought Wraith, the dark type looked mischievous, popping Wraith without any struggle and snickering to Gladion whenever he gave her new instructions to obliterate the ghost's attempts. In Unova, despite being one of the rarest species there, they were incredibly feared.
Even the pawniard line, which were living blades, didn't stand up to the reputation zoroark had.
That was, mainly, to do with their ability. Illusion. The power to weave powerful dark energy in order to change perceptions, able to fool pokemon and humans alike.
It… was dangerous. Not to the point of ditto's transform, but the ability to hide as something nonsequential was incredibly worrying. He hadn't seen Zoroark use it, but she was smart, wickedly so. He had little doubt she would use it when she was actively hunting them.
He pulled at a loose strand of hair, thinking. The best pokemon to go against her would be Rhydon, for his area of effect attacks, Gale, to dodge her claws, and Scorch, for distraction and her resistance to Trio attacks. Ash winced as he yanked too hard, releasing the lock, and returned back to his notes. Strategies weren't coming at his normal speed with how late it was, night slowing down his thought process, but he couldn't help but be excited over one thing - he'd spent so much time working with his pokemon's weaknesses, but now it was time for their strengths.
Gladion's training had whipped them into shape, allowing them to cover the exposed chinks in their armor, and now they could focus on beating their opponents instead of just avoiding being beat themselves. He knew his team had struggled doing nothing but throwing themselves at insurmountable enemies, and this would be what they needed to be revitalized. Finding these strategies was work that made his heart flare happily despite how each of his blinks took a few seconds to open back up.
Ash shook his head, glancing back at his team. Everyone was asleep now, Bulbasaur curled against the window and only black streaming through the glass. The room was pitch beyond the pale glow of his pokedex.
He glanced again at his notes - sloppy, half-finished, rambling.
Ash needed sleep. A lot of it. With a sigh, he clicked off his pokedex and set down his pencil, a yawn escaping unbidden from his lips. He fell asleep before he ever hit the bed.
xXx
Ash was… a little impressed how nervous he managed to be over breakfast.
This was the one time Surge hadn't just chucked a sandwich at him, instead dragging him over to the café-style room at the back of the gym. A few other psychics-in-training were there, including a natu that jumped from head to head as people moved to a table, but Surge cheerily ignored them and pushed Ash toward a booth in the corner. His team was allowed to be released - Sabrina's gym didn't have the same rigorous rules as a regular Pokemon Center - and they waited by the table as Ash attempted to balance their multiple bowls to bring their food back. Surge snorted and snatched up Rhydon's massive berry plate, leaving Ash to hurry behind him. His team all but inhaled their food.
He was having something that smelled and tasted like oatmeal except for how it was a vague red-pink, most likely made from leppa berries. It'd kick in as an extra shot of energy for the day, with any luck. It was a little too sweet than he was used to but he warmed to it quickly, even getting a second bowl as his nervousness appeared to manifest in sheer hunger.
His team was spread out in a loose ring around the table. Rhydon hunched over with his bowl of berries, even the table too short for his massive height, and his dorsal spines bristled with the uncomfortable position. Scorch was under the table, Bulbasaur on the chair next to Ash, Gale clumsily standing on the ground due to the lack of perches. Wraith hadn't emerged yet, still recovering energy, and Karma's meal was gone in seconds so she could properly meditate. Rook cheerfully speared each bit of his meal, splattering red-orange juices over the ground. Ash set aside a few napkins to clean it up later. As the dark type ate, he could see the psychics prickle with annoyance.
Surge was across from him, looking annoyingly relaxed. Ash wished he could find it in himself past the anxiety to glare at the man. Last night's adrenaline rush of planning strategies had evaporated neatly in the stone-cold morning air.
He didn't realize his knuckles had turned white over his stationary spoon until Surge grunted and broke the spell. Ash blinked and returned to eating.
"I'm seein' a problem here," Surge finally said, lazily dragging his eyes around the room. Rhydon rumbled at him.
Ash frowned around another spoonful. "What?"
"There's a distinct lack of electric types," Surge yawned, a grin spreading over his face. "You would've thought with how long you spent around me you'd have realized how fucking awesome they are."
He couldn't hold back a snort.
"Indigo's chockfull of some good ones - hell, pikachu live right on Pallet Town's doorstep, and there's electrive, magnezone, ampharos, jolteon… your options are fucking endless and you haven't picked one."
"Rhydon is practically an electric type," Ash pointed out, gesturing with his spoon. "I can even teach him thunder punch."
"But that'll never amount. It's a battery to a thunderstorm. Raichu could kick Rhydon's ass without breaking a sweat even if he only used electric moves."
Ash snorted. "Just wait until I teach him earthquake. It'll be all over."
Surge matched his snort with an equal amount of arrogance. "You're taking your sweet-ass time to teach him that move. It's the one everyone expects you to already know. I've seen trainers start rhyhorn on the basics and call themselves slow."
"Those rhyhorn go straight from bulldoze to earthquake and you know it," Ash countered, jabbing his spoon in Surge's direction again. "It'll take them years to get earthquake to its true potential if they're lucky. They never learn how to ask the earth."
"And I'm sure your precious Rhydon will sing kumbaya with some dirt and get it on his first try."
Ash grinned at him. "It'll be faster than if you tried."
Surge raised his eyebrows, leaning back. "My Alolan golem already knows it, runt. Your rhydon couldn't hold a candle to him."
They bit at each other for the rest of the meal, and Ash found that quipping at Surge made the anxiety melted from his shoulders. It was like his friendship with Gary, all insults not meant to insult, but that brought up memories of white sheets and the stench of hospitals so he tried to focus on anything else instead.
Breakfast seemed to melt away with an actual conversation to fill the time, his pokemon finishing up and joining in as best they could, and Ash was able to hold himself back from grabbing a third bowl. Surge polished off the last of his massive meal and let their insults die off naturally, pushing himself to his feet.
"I'm goin' out with Sabrina for a patrol today," he grunted, stretching his arms up. "Gladion's still working with his team so you've got another day to yourself. Don't waste it."
Ash nodded, Rhydon rumbled by his side. The electric-master grinned before striding off, shouldering his way through the door. It banged behind him, summoning another glare from the huddled group of psychics.
With the help of Karma, he dropped everyone's bowls back off at the counter and hauled the team back to their room. They begrudgingly left the warmth of the room, stomachs full of high-protein meals, and padded their wall back to the room. Ash attempted to jitter his way through the plan one more time, Karma's mustache twitching as she relayed alternatives from the rest of the team.
The day crawled on with painful slowness, hours taking years and the sun hardly seeming to change from its position. Gladion had said when the sun went down they would begin but Ash was starting to believe it never would now, frozen in the sky. Even winter's closeness couldn't dull the sheer heat being in a large city created, and Ash was looking more and more for the Welcoming Day of the First if only to escape this sluggish heat. He paced the perimeter of the room again.
Being a trainer wasn't supposed to mean sitting around in a room doing nothing. Ash groaned and kept kicking himself around in his swivel chair, watching the ceiling twist above. Rhydon rumbled from his position on the floor, horn spinning idly. A layer of dirt was on the ground around him - he hadn't used rock polish in a while and even the slightest movement made the air grow hazy with dust. Ash smiled and the ground type blinked at him, spines rustling.
Gladion's test was in less than an hour.
Ash fought the urge to nibble down another protein bar - he'd already eaten enough for two meals, why was he so hungry - and reread through his notes again. He could practically quote them word for word, now.
Quietly, without any fanfare, the orange disappeared from the sky.
It took Ash a moment to notice, spinning in his chair and finally noticing the light from the ceiling was the only light he had. Excitement thrumming through his bones, he shot to his feet, clipping his pokedex back to his belt. Rhydon perked up immediately at the movement, tail shifting. He didn't stand yet - not that he easily could, in this overfilled room - but kept his gaze fixed solidly on Ash, scarlet eyes bright.
Ash's smile widened into a grin.
Scorch yawned, exposing her fangs, and pulled herself up to her paws. She'd been curled by the desk, tails curled over her nose, and without Tide to counteract her the ninetales had made the whole room more than pleasantly hot even with the window open. She purred as he stroked behind her ears, eyes closing, and shifted to pad behind him as he walked to the rest of his team.
Rook was already awake - he still wasn't entirely sure that the dark type slept for more than an hour or two every night - and the pawniard screeched a reply of some sort as Ash tapped his domed head. Bulbasaur snorted at the sound but didn't turn away from the now-black window. Gale pulled his head out from under his wing and glared around the room, but even his crest flared when he saw Ash up and moving.
Wraith pulled himself from Karma's shadow - who seemed entirely displeased with the action - and swirled to existence near the ceiling, spines rustling like a crown of thrones. Karma hissed, mustache twitching, but her colors were still the honeygold-red of excitement.
Everyone was excited.
"Alright guys, let's get ready," he tried, straightening his shoulders. "Everyone up. Sunset's coming."
With a rumble like shattering stone, Rhydon shifted until he got his arms underneath his chest and pushed up, pulling a few strands of carpet out via his claws but managing into an upright position. He snorted out a cloud of dust and hunched over as his horn nearly missed the ceiling - Saffron Gym's rooms were small than what was considered traditional for pokemon trainers, which made sense given the normally short nature of psychic types but was decidedly unpleasant with Ash's less-than-small team - but nothing remained of the sleep he had just been in.
Rook shot upright, scoring a clean mark in the drywall behind him with his bladed arms. Ash winced but gestured for the pawniard to come closer, away from anything he could damage, and kicked lightly at Gale's talons. The fearow squawked but stepped off his perch, half-stretching his wings in the cramped space. Scorch's ears went flat and she growled as the wings nearly smacked her, but Ash stepped between them before anything could happen.
Everyone was also on edge. Two weeks of training to two days of nothing had a way of playing with the mind.
Wraith reshuffled his spines with a hiss and phased through the outer wall. Ash popped open the door and recalled Rhydon and Gale - no chance they were making it through this unfairly tiny doorway without causing some damage - and walked through, team padding behind him. Karma shut the window with a curl of power, prompting Bulbasaur to hit the lights with her uninjured vine.
Gladion had said the front of the gym when the sun went down. The sun had technically already gone down and Ash picked up the pace to a worried trot.
A kadabra blurred out of existence as he moved toward it, leaving the corridors empty. He'd since memorized the paths of the gym - with thanks to Bulbasaur for putting up with his failed first attempts - and it only took a few minutes before he was by the front gates.
Ash gave himself a second of staring up at the gleaming silver-etched doors, exhaling slowly, before pulling one open and slinking through.
Gladion stopped midconversation with Surge and glanced toward him, platinum hair perfect as always. Surge snorted at Ash's less-than-perfect appearance and crossed his arms, Raichu chittering on his shoulder. Gladion took a step forward, rolling a pokeball over in his palms. Ash narrowed in on it, suddenly keenly aware that that pokeball was very empty.
A grin warring with nervousness, Ash nodded to Gladion as the rest of his team filled outside. He grabbed for his first two pokeballs and released them next to the rest of the team. Rhydon rumbled, horn whirring, but kept still. His eyes seemed to glow in the dark of the night. Gale circled overhead but, with nowhere easy to land, begrudgingly drifted down to secure himself to Rhydon's shoulders. His massive talons looked cartoonish next to Rhydon's bulk.
Ash stifled a snort.
"You know the rules," Gladion said, voice back to the monotonous, memorized tone he'd had before. "Go to the western battlefield, retrieve the item, and return it to me, here."
Ash nodded, glancing back at his own team. They were listening just as attentively as he was, even Bulbasaur. She had visibly perked up, crimson eyes bright as she watched him talk.
"No Pokemon Centers, no damage to Saffron City, and avoid any other living beings." Gladion's smile sharped several degrees. "I would not suggest hiding, either - Zoroark is an excellent hunter."
Ash really, really wished he could get away with glaring at him.
Gladion stepped back, seemingly done, and nodded at him. Surge flashed a wicked grin, raising a hand to mockingly salute him - Raichu's cheeks sparked in an answering laugh. They were almost scarily in sync.
Ash paused, glancing around again. Sabrina wasn't there - probably still working at the Silph Co situation - so Gladion would have to do, for now. Bulbasaur had never really warmed up to the constantly loud Surge.
She snarled but left the group when asked, even letting Ash tap her head with only minor annoyance. "Stay with Gladion, will you?" He asked.
She stared at the platinum-haired man, eyes narrowed, but eventually nodded with a grunt. Ash smiled at her and straightened back up, letting her pad over and settle down a few feet away from him. Surge seemed a bit miffed he hadn't been chosen, but Ash guessed Bulbasaur wouldn't actually stay very close to Gladion. She only liked to be around Wraith, which was saying something considering the ghost's personality. Team Rocket was something to bond over, he guessed.
But that was everyone accounted for. He looked to his team, forcing his own shoulders to straighten up, and nodded. Rhydon mirrored him, Gale extending his wings overhead, and with a final glance back toward Gladion Ash turned and moved left away from the gym.
It wasn't pitch black outside yet but it was teetering right on the edge, Saffron City's streetlights steadily rising in brightness but still only able to do so much. Steel reflected the glow and cast odd shadows over the cobbled streets but Ash moved quickly, rather determined to ignore everything else and just focus on the task. Find the item. Retrieve it. Avoid Gladion's team.
The absolute second he was around the edge of a building and out of Gladion's sight, Ash stopped dead and turned back to his team. Rook screeched in question but Ash held up a hand, mind whirring like Rhydon's horn.
"Okay. Gale, Wraith, and Karma out for surveillance, everyone else be ready for a battle. I think we'll either find Vikavolt or Lycanroc first, so we're going to move fast to try and get as far away from the city before they find us. Everyone, you have to hold yourself back. If we damage something, we'll have to pay for it."
Rhydon rumbled at that - he was a walking behemoth built for mass destruction - but nodded. His armor rattled against itself as he shifted.
Ash held up his three pokeballs and grinned - it was a little shakier than his normal but it was there. Rhydon rumbled as he was recalled, lowering his head with the whirl of his horn. Scorch purred for hers, air instantly growing colder without her presence, and Rook stayed silent. The scarlet mist disappeared into the pokeballs, Ash wincing as the light burnt away any adjustments he had made to the darkness.
It was time.
Wraith melted immediately into the shadows, spines rising a few feet away as he circled. Karma bobbed into the air, psychic bubble inflating higher and shines flowing out into their active form. He heard the crackle of baritone laughter in his bones.
Gale, with a gleam in his black eyes that would have sent a tyranitar back to its mountain, pushed off the ground with as quiet of a shriek as Ash had ever heard. He was going to be running loops over the city, keeping watch the farthest away. Keen eye would be invaluable with how dark it was growing and he'd be the deciding factor if even Sabrina's training didn't let Karma find the dark energy of Zoroark.
His team ready, Ash pulled out his pokedex and switched over to the map function. Saffron City gleamed before him, his planned path etched in a pale blue. He glanced around again, half expecting Lycanroc to already be there, before he started to move.
It was surprisingly quiet. Psychics didn't like night and so few were out, and since Ash had found every single back road to avoid any crowds, the most he encountered were the far-off noises of voices and a warning touch of blue-green from Karma. Wraith's fangs appeared occasionally from the shadows, warping the walls of an alleyway or jabbing out spikes as they rounded corners, but he hadn't reacted to anything.
He tapped twice at his pokedex to zoom in further and kept walking, hackles raised so high he felt like Scorch. Peeking around the edge of another massive building, he glanced back at the path before taking a step forward.
Karma hissed.
He didn't stop but slowed - she was floating a few feet above his head for a better vantage point, shines gleaming with reflected power, but her eyes were squeezed shut instead of just closed and her ears were pinned flat. He hadn't seen an expression of such apparent pain on her in a long time.
Memories returned. Ash tensed - this wasn't anything like her Eyes of Bone experience, no strange blue-white energy burning through her skull, but it wasn't normal. Karma hissed against nothing, shines wavering on their edges, before turning to him.
Som-thing. Her voice crackled in the way it hadn't since she was a kadabra. Pushi-g out energy. Too much, not controlled, but po-erful.
Wraith rose a second late, bloody eyes bright, but he shook his head when Ash looked at him. Not close, then - Wraith didn't have nearly the range for non-ghostly energies that Karma did - but strong. Moving slowly back to his team's side, Ash ran through the options - most likely not Zoroark, since she seemed like the last pokemon not to have complete control over her typing, but that could also be a trap. Golisopod didn't have much in the way of ranged dark moves and Vikavolt relied mostly on pure electricity. That left Crobat or Lycanroc.
Ash put two fingers in his mouth to whistle before stopping - that would alert Gladion's entire team to their position. He prodded the mirage of colors in his mind.
Karma's eyes glowed further, still popping with dullness as the energy presumably ran through her, and looked upward. A streak in the pure black of the sky raced overhead.
The Striker has seen n-thing. The Crobat h-s not revealed itself.
Lycanroc, then. Ash glanced around again and stared back down at his map. A little over a third of the way to the western side, which meant no chance that they could make it outside the city limits before finding the rock type.
He paused. The rock type.
Rock types, though they didn't have the natural ability of ground types, could be trained to have a groundsense. Being Gladion's pokemon, Ash would have to count on it instead of guessing, and Lycanroc was bleedingly fast. If he got less than even a heartbeat of Ash's footsteps, he could be on them in under a minute.
He cursed under his breath, zooming out of the map to get a sense of what was around. Numerous alleys - it was one of the few housing districts - and plenty of places for ambush. Karma floated down to glance at the screen, orange-green rising up through her mirage of colors.
Ash blinked.
"Karma, can you levitate me?"
Her ears flattened in the impression of a frown, eyes gleaming as she tilted her head to the side. It would hurt.
"What about making a barrier under me, and lifting me up that way?"
This time, Karma blinked.
Yes.
Ash took a few steps back as Karma raised her shines, eyes narrowed and ears pricking forward as she prepared something strong enough to hold his weight but thin enough to be moved easily. A second later, a rippling sheet of blue-green energy flared into existence, a few inches above the ground.
He eyed it for a moment - stepping on anything transparent was something few found comforting - before getting on. It didn't so much as bend beneath his weight.
Wraith rose from the shadows, eyes glittering with curiosity, but Karma pushed out her left shine and jerked the barrier away. Ash yelped and flung his arms out to keep his balance, but Karma had kept the movement surprisingly smooth. Wraith hissed but didn't try to get close again.
"Okay." Ash took a deep breath. "Let's go up - maybe second, third floor - and try to find him. Okay."
Ash wasn't bad with heights, per se, quite the opposite - back in Pallet Town, he and Gary would explore the miles of forest surrounding the town, climbing fallen trees with determination that had grown from nothing and coming home with more cuts than victories. Finding any slumped log propped high enough to be exciting was something they would explore for days, crawling over every inch until the view was no longer that same sense of wonder and they were off in search of another.
But snapped trunks and a transparent sheet of psychic energy were two separate things entirely, and there was something to be said about that being his only protection.
He held tight to his pokedex as if it was a lifeline as Karma carefully pulled them both up, probably anchoring her psychic bubble to the barrier to avoid having to inflate it that much, and stopped at a sweet point about two and a half stories up.
Ash sucked in another breath, glancing down once to cement his position and regretting it, before nodding. Time to find Lycanroc before he found them - while the wolf pokemon had seemed playful and energetic enough during training, he had seen the way he fought with Scorch. "Alright. Let's go."
With a tug of Karma's shines, he began drifting forward, over the silent streets of Saffron. Ash wobbled from the motion and eventually gave up, sinking to his knees for a lower center of gravity, but he kept his eyes firmly fixed either forward or on the map of Saffron, directing Karma with light nudges to her consciousness. The Steel Jungle of a city moved by but it seemed very different from this high up, the streetlights pale dots of color and only black above.
He hoped no one opened their window.
Wraith trailed from below, able to freely roam with such excess of shadows but unable to follow Ash's shadow up. Every now and then, Gale would streak overhead, the only noticeable sign of his presence the gusts of wind his enormous wingspan caused. Karma continued to twitch more sporadically as they moved on. Getting closer, then. Nerves prickled down Ash's spine as they floated on, wind catching his hair and the air far colder, but he could see beyond anything he had ever seen before, only the sky overhead and the world stretching out before him. Was this what being a flying type felt like?
He could understand now, at least in the part of him that wasn't panicked, why Rook was so obsessed with the fact that Gale could fly.
They continued to move for what felt like hours, moving at a slugma's pace, the night creeping steadily onward. The moon had appeared past the outer layers of Saffron's buildings, a sliver of a crescent made from pale white, and Ash crouched lower over Karma's barrier. Every instinct that had kept his alive as a trainer was pinging, raising the hair on the back of his neck. Something was close.
Karma shifted them around another turn and stopped. Ash swallowed a yelp as the momentum rocked him forward a few inches, knuckles white around his pokedex, and glanced down.
In the back of the alley, nearly disguised in the shadows pouring out from his rocky mane, crouched Lycanroc. He was using some sort of dark move that bled from his fur as easily as air, forcing Karma to twitch and flatten her ears. She couldn't push back with her own aura lest alert Lycanroc to their presence, and Ash had noticed Wraith disappearing fully into the shadows. Both were on edge and weakened by the move's presence. Whatever it was, it was strong.
Some part of him was just so happy they had finally found Lycanroc, because the suspense had been killing him, but a larger section started to plan. His best contenders for Lycanroc were Scorch, because she had been throwing herself at him for the past two weeks and knew how he fought, Rook, for a tiny, nearly indestructible bullet with blades sharp enough to get past his mane, and Wraith, for his ability to be the ultimate distraction.
But from this high up, facing a pokemon that could flee far too easily and make them lose their only advantage, Ash was going to have to rapidly change his plans.
Pokeballs didn't have nearly any sort of range, often barely able to reach battlefields, and there was no chance he'd be able to aim properly to land a teammate by Lycanroc. He also couldn't lower himself because canine pokemon were notorious for having incredible senses, and Ash did not want that dark move directed at the psychic power holding him up in the air.
Scorch could technically fall from this height, even a little lower if Karma could manage that without alerting Lycanroc, but she would be injured right from the bat and Lycanroc had spent the last two weeks beating her into the ground without struggling. Wraith would be out - the sheer amount of dark energy would leave him crippled - and Lycanroc had too many opportunities to flee if he heard any sign of something approaching.
That left Rook.
Rook couldn't join them on the barrier because he was a dark type - touching anything Karma created would dispel it - but maybe Ash could hold him far enough away that Karma could keep it going. Send down Rook as a temporary distraction, enough to get Lycanroc to stop using his dark move so that Wraith could join as another distraction, then have Scorch patrol the exit of the alley.
Alright. Ash opened his mind and let Karma poke around what he had made of a plan - a very rough plan - and though she was sending him filtered green-blue messages of worry, he could feel her acceptance.
They didn't have another plan, so this would have to work.
Get me lower, he thought as loudly as he could so it would reach her, as low as you can without alerting him.
She twitched her mustache in response, raising her right shine. The barrier hummed beneath Ash's fingers, a silent tremble of being reconnected to Karma's power, and began to lower.
It was painstakingly slow, even more with the silently watchful figure of Lycanroc below, and Ash held his breath tight in his throat as they descended. Karma brought them maybe five feet before stopping - Lycanroc's ear had twitched.
A singular twitch, but plenty to alert them. Ash froze against the barrier, heart staccato in his chest. The rock type let his ear flick back to face the alleyway, but he was crouched further, tail drifting from side to side behind him. It was only good luck that he hadn't decided to investigate the noise further - they couldn't rely on that again.
Ash needed a distraction. He prodded the fog in the center of his mind, glancing up - Wraith formed from the shadow made by the overhang of the closest roof, fangs glittering from his shrunken size. He shifted his gaze to Karma, who stared back. Tell him we need noise in the alley.
Karma's eyes flared past the dullness the dark energy had caused and Wraith bared his fangs in a silent hiss - he never liked when Karma communicated with him, digging in through his poison to get past the ghostly energy - but nodded. He melted back into the shadows like wax.
Ash pulled Rook's pokeball and had a brief nightmare of dropping it. As soon as Wraith made a noise, he was releasing the dark type, whispering the plan, then dropping him. The steel type was practically invincible - he had done some training exercises on Cinnabar that Rook had taken to mean "jump off every conceivable surface to attack things" - and if he landed on Lycanroc, there wouldn't be much property damage. His feet weren't bladed, only clawed, anyway.
Ash exhaled again, really wishing he had a better plan. Lycanroc had taken nine iron tails to the back without so much as a stumble, and Rook weighed, at most, twenty-five pounds.
He shook his head just as a guttural bang surfaced from outside the alley. Wraith shrieked in a manner not audible, just a tremble that raced through Ash's bones, sending ducklettflesh to burst over his skin. Lycanroc slunk toward the entrance, shadows pulling from his fur like trailing ribbons, ears focused entirely forward.
Ash pressed the release button before he could convince himself otherwise and jerked his arm out.
Rook appeared with a low screech, blades flashing, but Ash managed to get an arm beneath his feet and another around his back. The dark type opened his fanged mouth as if to shriek again but Ash shook his head, trying to keep as tight of a hold as he could without cutting himself. Already, twin lines of pain ran down his forearm from the claws on Rook's feet.
"I'm going to drop you," he all but mouthed, staring into the golden eyes of the pawniard. He could feel the barrier waver beneath him, Karma's control slipping from being so near a dark type, and tried to be as stable as he could. Wraith was still doing something, a ruckus swarming near the front but just tasteful enough it seemed quiet, but Lycanroc would find him eventually and then would escape. "Hit Lycanroc."
Rook struggled once more, cutting more into Ash's arms. He mouthed a curse - had the dark type not understood? - and made to explain again when Rook managed to turn himself around, narrowly avoiding slicing Ash's hand off with his ribcage blades, and jumped himself.
Ash lunged forward to see.
Rook had deceptively strong limbs - he always had - and Ash's arm was apparently springboard enough to launch him. He streaked through the air, the only visible sign the gleam of his silver, and Lycanroc only had time to perk his ears and start to turn before Rook slammed into him like a bullet seed.
Ash was moving the next second, biting into the sleeve of his shirt and trying to tear off enough to bind his arm. "Take me down!" He mumbled, reaching with his other hand to find his third pokeball.
Karma shot them both down, ears pinned, and stopped five feet above the ground. Ash clicked the release the next second, and before the scarlet mist had even coalesced, he shouted, "Guard the exit!"
Lycanroc roared, the sound painfully deep for such a lean pokemon, and reared. Rook was only visible as a black blur as the rock type bucked and spun, lashing out with claws and a move-infused tail to try and tear him off. Rook had landed feet first but he'd followed up immediately with his chest, securing an attach - it'd take fresh hell to get him off, though he wasn't able to attack again with the position he was in.
Ash managed a semi-decent tear and wrapped it around his arm, wincing at the red that was already bleeding through. Being Rook's trainer meant he ended up with far more injuries than normal but now was, really, the worst time. He pulled it tight with his teeth and lunged his focus back into the fray.
Scorch howled, tails whipping like live wires, and sprang forward. Fire curled from her release tail and then she was blitzing around Lycanroc, spitting embers - small enough they'd burn out on the cobbled streets - to pepper his coat. He roared back, stopping dead. Rocks split off from his mane and flung themselves at her. Rook raised an arm to use night slash but Lycanroc spun again, whipping him with his tail - fighting energy, counter?
Lycanroc couldn't run into a wall or anything to shake him off - that would only push Rook deeper, and the longer he was on, the more deadly he would get. The wolf was Gladion's pokemon - he wasn't an idiot.
Ash whistled and felt something mold to his shadow, something whose bloody eyes were fixed on Ash's arm. "I'm fine," he said, voice taut, "but I need you in there. Get Rook out - Lycanroc is going to do something."
Wraith hissed in agreement and melted away again.
Karma floated them higher - Lycanroc had heard the whistle and had looked at him for a second, only a second, but his eyes were bright and focused. Ash retied the bandage and searched for Scorch. She was circling the pair with quick attack, making a barrier that couldn't be crossed, but she couldn't use quick charge lest burns the streets.
He lost so much power fighting in the city.
Wraith appeared with a howl and spat a shadow ball into Lycanroc's face, forcing the wolf back. He sprang forward, regular two hands swirling out in front to grab the dark type, when Lycanroc recovered far too fast and slammed his paws into the ground with a shrieking roar.
A wave of dark energy, uncontrolled but devastatingly potent, exploded from his fur. Wraith popped immediately - Scorch hit the opposite wall with a yelp. Rook hung limp from his side, stunned for only a moment, and that was all Lycanroc needed.
The wolf sprung upward, giving himself enough time in midair to lunge his head back and snag the back of Rook's neck. The pawniard struggled for a moment but was popped off, blades swinging wildly and managing to shave a section of Lycanroc's back, but the wolf ignored it and threw him across the alley hard enough to embed his chest in the wall.
Ash gaped. Lycanroc couldn't learn a dark move like that - only biting ones - what the hell had Gladion taught him? "Wraith, Scorch, move in!"
Barrier the entrance, he thought. Karma touched him with a strand of red-purple and disappeared, teleporting silently toward the entrance to protect it. A wall of pure energy covered any escape. Ash stayed curled up on the barrier, floating only a few feet above the ground, fingers tight over his pokeballs. Rhydon couldn't do much against such a fast pokemon while being unable to pull up the ground around him and Gale was at a disadvantage in this narrow space. They'd have to be enough.
Scorch blurred forward with a stream of orange following her - she'd activated flash fire - and charged at Lycanroc. He spun to face her but she sidestepped at the last second, throwing herself away just as a crunch snapped the air where her side had been. She slammed nearly three iron tails into his side, jerking him back, only for the reformed Wraith to arrive and latch clawed hands around his back legs.
Lycanroc howled and released another wave of dark energy, forcing Wraith to drop to the shadows to avoid being popped. His ectoplasmic skin thinned from even the presence of that much power. Scorch skidded back, ears flat and tails whipping, but the rock type ignored her in favor of staring at the alley. Blue-green barriers, stretching nearly thirty feet up, gleamed in place. Karma was behind them, shines held high and ears pinned. Wraith reemerged from the shadows with a hiss, fangs growing to swarm his open mouth. Rook struggled to detach himself from the wall, two of his chest blades embedded in the surface, but he had already freed one at that point. The wolf stared at it all, crouched. His mane glittered with growing rocks.
Ash felt Lycanroc move an instant before he did.
A gale kicked up and the rock type disappeared - accelerock, it had to be - barely visible as more than a blur. Scorch tried to fling herself toward him but a whipped tail threw her back - Lycanroc continued running. He pushed off the ground and flew forward, fangs bared and eyes burning.
Right into Rook.
The pawniard had no chance - he was torn from the wall before he had so much as a second to react, the back of his neck held like a misbehaving pup. Lycanroc kicked off the wall and rebounded with the momentum, flying overhead of Scorch and striking the ground hard enough Ash could feel the hit in his bones. Rook swung from his mouth, blades flying, but despite the cuts that began to litter his muzzle Lycanroc didn't care. He sprinted down the alley, glowing white, before stopping with enough force to fling Rook with all the speed of a hurricane.
Karma's barriers didn't stand a chance.
The second the dark type hit them they shattered instantly, falling away as shards of disintegrating power, and Karma hissed from the connected pain. Rook hit the ground below her feet with the screech of steel against stone and stayed still - Lycanroc crouched again in preparation to run.
Ash wobbled.
Karma had lost focus - Rook was too close to her - but whatever it was the fact was that her barrier had lost its connection to her. He jerked back to his feet for the balance and stretched his arms out, crouching low. The barrier wavered beneath him - his sheer weight was applying enough pressure to wear it out - and the street grew more in focus.
One of Lycanroc's ears twitched back.
Ash barely had a chance to react before the wolf sprang at Karma, forcing her to teleport out. Her power disappeared in a blink. Lycanroc hit the ground and turned back, never stopping. The barrier wobbled again, trembling, and shattered.
He fell the seven feet to the ground. His knees caught most of the damage but he still stumbled upon landing, hand flying out for balance and hitting the ground in a kneel. Wraith immediately melted into the shadows and appeared in front of him only an instant before Lycanroc kicked off the opposite wall.
A wall of fire interrupted his flight - Scorch only used her release tail and in her efforts to minimize damage, Lycanroc was only pushed back instead of stunned. But the time was time needed - Wraith burst forward with a vengeance, four separate hands flying for each of Lycanroc's limbs. Two were popped with a circling array of stones from his mane but the others grabbed a leg and pulled. Lycanroc yelped as he was pulled off the ground, writhing, but he seemed empty of the dark energy he'd been pushing out, in order to resort to using Rook. Scorch flung herself forward with quick attack, snarl building.
Ash bolted to his feet. "Wraith, throw him up! Scorch, iron tail! Karma, catch him!"
Lycanroc roared, rocks splitting from his mane and filling the air, but Wraith kept as tight of a hold with the one hand he had left and jerked the wolf up. Immaterial muscles had no limits and the rock type flew nearly ten feet up, thrashing.
Scorch spun, her three longest tails gleaming with iron tail, and let blue fill her eyes. Extrasensory gave her the exact coordinates her regular senses couldn't and the second Lycanroc was within reach, she swung with everything she had and hit true. Something cracked and the wolf flew backward, directly into a box of barriers Karma had built.
Everyone stopped.
Lycanroc was unmoving within the barriers, a collapsed heap of brown-white, and he didn't try to get back up.
Ash wheezed, forcing himself to breathe. He shook his head and dragged himself fully back up, patting himself down to check for anything wrong. His left knee twanged in pain but it wasn't bad, and the makeshift bandages he'd used on his arms had stopped the bleeding.
Scorch padded over, flash fire dissipating from her fur with the hiss of light smoke, and nosed at his chest. He patted her behind the ears, still wobbling in his stance. That had been… an intense battle. A truly intense battle. Lycanroc was outnumbered, trapped, and without the main source of his typing, but he'd still managed to throw them around without too much trouble. He'd popped Wraith and-
Rook. Ash half stumbled his way over to the collapsed heap of black and grey, slowly regaining his balance. The pawniard was stuck again, blades embedded in the ground, and the angle had him entirely pinned. He screeched in frustration, clawing at the stones as if they would let him go.
"Easy, Rook," Ash tried. "Stop."
The pawniard did so immediately - Ash was apparently still his bisharp - and settled for glaring at the ground with his golden eyes. Ash could feel the scar of his consciousness thrash with his anger.
He didn't seem too injured, though the armor around the back of his neck was dented from Lycanroc's fangs and his blades weren't meant to go through solid stone. Ash got his hands around Rook's chest, avoiding the jagged edges, and managed to pull him out with a grunt.
Rook stared at his chest, at the four chipped, dulled blades caused by sticking to so many inanimate objects. He screeched again, the sound mournful.
"Sorry, bud," Ash whispered. He couldn't fully understand Rook's pain but he could emphasize. "When we finish, I'll get you as many whetstones as you need, okay?"
The dark type screeched back something Ash took as a yes. He held up his pokeball and Rook allowed himself to be recalled without complaint, still staring at his chest. He'd taken the worst beating of the fight, as well as having been actively used against his teammates. Ash bit his lip - while Rook wasn't a terribly sensitive pokemon, he had an incredibly strong sense of loyalty. Being used to break Karma's barriers like he had and being stuck for most of the battle wouldn't wear well on his psyche.
"Is everyone else okay?" He called, the three members trickling back in to surround him. Karma's ears were flat and her colors were the pale green-blue of regret, but he shook it off. "Not your fault. None of us saw that coming."
Scorch yipped - she hadn't really been touched, taking up the ranged position she had - and nodded her head. Wraith hissed begrudgingly - he and his hands had been popped, multiple times - but he seemed still full of energy. His ghostly fog rippled with power.
"We're going to try and run to the outer edges," he said, steepling his fingers and ignoring the shake. "Fighting the city is reducing our power too much - if we can make it there fast enough, there's a chance another one of Gladion's pokemon will be there and we can take them by going full out. Karma, where's Gale?"
Approaching, she hummed, voice smooth again in the absence of Lycanroc's shouldn't-have-been-possible dark attack. He heard the fight but only the ending - he says the Crobat is somewhere but he cannot find it.
Ash frowned again. Crobat was fast, even more so than Lycanroc, and he had precious few pokemon that could fight a flying type that had no qualms about never touching the ground. "To the battlegrounds," he said again. "And with Lycanroc out, I don't think we need to worry about groundsense."
Ash glanced up and decided to take a risk - he whistled his single note, as loudly as he could, that he used to call back Gale. Karma's eyes flared as she searched around, in case anyone had heard, but after another second she flicked her mustache and let the glow fade away. Clear, then. Karma could have reached out to him but Gale wasn't exactly the type of pokemon that liked receiving orders from his teammates.
He clicked the release on his first pokeball, and Rhydon appeared. The ground type bellowed, horn spinning and stance squared off, but he didn't try and fight when nothing was present. Ash put a hand on his starter's chest and Rhydon looked at him, a questioning rumble building in his throat.
"We just took down Lycanroc, and we're trying to go toward the battlefields. I want you out now, okay?"
The ground type nodded. His gaze drifted to each of the pokemon out, checking for injuries.
"Alright. Karma, Wraith - same positions as before. Scorch, I want you on extrasensory aimed up - try to find Crobat to help out Gale." He frowned, glancing up himself - the sky was pitch black. "Karma, try to help too."
"And Rhydon," Ash swiped a hand through his hair, grimacing at the sweat already beading at his forehead, "I want you to take up-"
He stopped.
From across the street, a woman stared at him with the most intensely dumbfounded expression he'd ever seen. Her eyebrows seemed to have already passed her hair.
Ash became very, very aware of the four massive pokemon huddled around him, most certainly disobeying every unofficial law of Saffron City, and talking with a more-than-healthy dose of fear for what seemed like a quiet night.
He tried for a wave.
The woman stared at him for a moment longer, gaze switching between each of his pokemon, before she briskly walked away. It was less than ten seconds before she disappeared from view.
Ash barely bit down a laugh.
Seemed he hadn't been entirely successful in avoiding populated areas.
"And Rhydon, can you be behind me with your groundsense?"
He rumbled in agreement, spinning his horn once. A few tendrils of electricity crackled at the end, sparking softly against the air. Ash grinned, feeling the hair on his arms stick straight up. That was the power of his starter.
Scorch purred, eyes burning blue, and started down the road. Ash thought through the rest of his strategies as he followed her, pulling out his pokedex for the map once more. One pokemon done - only four more left. He rubbed absentmindedly at the outline of his burn scar.
A shriek echoed from above. Ash had time to glance up before Gale's wingspan obscured his entire vision - the fearow had grown immensely over the past month or so, surprisingly fast - as the avian landed. He squawked, talons splayed for a sort of grip, and stared at him.
"We defeated Lycanroc," he said, stopping for the moment. The fearow's crest flared. "We're hurrying to the battlefields to try and get this done."
The fearow seemed miffed at missing the battle but nodded, beak flashing like a sword.
"Keep up your search for Crobat, but stay closer to us this time - if we find Zoroark, I need your razor wind to blow away her illusions if she creates any. Same for Golisopod. You'll be the main fighter for that." Ash frowned, thinking again. "And if it comes to it, I need you to be prepared to carry me out. I know we haven't practiced actual flying but you can grab my shoulders and at least get me away from the battle. Is that okay?"
Gale made a move as if to nod, raising his beak in preparation to lower it when something caught his eye. He squawked, staring upward - wings spreading and talons scraping at the cobbled streets.
With a shriek that rattled the bones in Ash's chest, he pushed off and exploded into the sky.
Ash yelped and fell back, the wind from Gale's takeoff nearly pushing him to the ground. "Scorch! Hit me!"
The ninetales crouched, tails whipping, and blue surged over Ash's eyes.
Everything was clear - so, so painfully clear in the way how the streetlight was a sun and he could see every different line etched in every stone of the entire street. Karma's fur was a thousand colors and the hum of the electronics in his pokedex was all he could hear - he shook himself, forcing his head up to the sky.
It wasn't dark anymore - he could pick out the blues, the purples, the indigos and violets and navys - but twisting against the backdrop of a few scattered stars were two shapes. Two familiar shapes. Even with extrasensory, he could hear Gale's shrieks only distantly.
Ash closed his eyes, the dryness burning like a fire, and gestured to Scorch. She cut off extrasensory with a sort of snap that echoed through his mind. He rubbed at his still closed eyes, not willing to open them yet, and mouthed a curse.
"It's Crobat," he said, practically growling. "It taunted him up." None of his pokemon could fight at that height beyond Wraith, but the ghost wouldn't be able to properly battle a flying type in their element that high up. The pair of them were ridiculously far. "Karma, I need you to help him - make barriers, use flash, anything - just get Gale out of there as soon as you can."
The alakazam stared at him, ears pinned with an odd sort of nervousness, and nodded. Without so much as a whisper, she disappeared up.
Ash kicked at the ground. He hadn't considered Gale's almost immediate rivalry with any flying type faster than him and Crobat merely had to exist for him to chase it. Karma could go that high temporarily but she wasn't built for immense heights like Gale was - problems would come quickly. They had to finish this fast, since even with extrasensory to see the battle it wasn't like he could actually direct Gale. He and Karma were on their own.
"Come on," he said, trying to keep a brighter tone in his voice. "Let's go."
Rhydon rumbled, spinning his horn, and started to walk. Ash trotted beside him, the ground type's stride infinitely longer than his, and kept his eyes pinned on the road ahead. Occasional sparks of light popped from above - heat wave, flash - but nothing fell and Karma didn't reach out beyond her basic stream of colors. Gale was doing his part - Ash had to do his.
Saffron City melted away beneath his nervous pace. Neither Wraith nor Rhydon sensed anything approaching - beyond a dream-hunting drowzee, which Wraith chased away with the threat of jagged fangs - and the edges of Ash's wariness started to soften. The orange outline of Saffron on his map grew closer and closer, the space left to travel disappearing.
And then, all at once, the immense buildings of Saffron City disappeared like they'd be carved off. The thick forest of Route 7 loomed in the distance, a darker mass of shadows amidst the black, and he could just barely see the outer villages that surrounded Saffron. There were precious few housing districts with Saffron, most space taken by businesses, so people lived in one of the houses in the outer rings. Ash was immensely glad that Gladion hadn't included that location in where he'd be hiding the item.
The battlefields were spread in front of him, massive expanses of turned dirt with the dividing lines of cement walls. There were three of them in this corner of the city, each nearly the size of a standard League battlefield, and no streetlights existed here. Scorch's eyes streaked pale blue light over her surroundings but that wasn't nearly enough.
The item will be small and not visible.
Ash squinted at the fields again, reaching down to tap Scorch on the side. She glanced at him, head cocked. "Can you hold some fire?"
She barked an affirmative and extended all of her tails into a golden waterfall, shutting off extrasensory. Dry heat trickled out from her fur. Scorch inhaled sharply and then nine different fires burst into existence, fluttering on the edge of each of her tails.
The area was immediately lit up. Scorch went about spreading out her flares, keeping one on her longest tail and carefully drifting the others out to the battlefields. Each was positioned evenly spaced, an orange glow flickering over the dirt. He could hear the distant crackle of the fire and everything was lit now, just as bright as if dawn once again.
Ash grinned. Arceus, he wished he'd had her for his first time through Diglett's Cave.
He started forward, padding onto the closest field. Not visible… that could mean under a psychic illusion, or buried, or guarded by another one of Gladion's pokemon. Wraith slunk out from a crack between the lighting, bloody eyes narrowed, but he didn't seem to be reacting to anything. His natural presence would weaken or even destroy a psychic illusion, and Ash would just have to chance it in case Zoroark was here. He guessed she wasn't - there wouldn't be much point in letting them light up the area before attacking, as nocturnal hunters fought best in the dark - and so turned back to Rhydon. The ground type rumbled at him, tail shifting.
"It could be buried - about this big." He held up his fist.
Rhydon rumbled again, the sound like grating stone, and tapped his tail against the ground. A ripple raced outward, the earth displaced by force of Rhydon's request, pushing Ash up a fraction of an inch before disappearing into the distance.
A moment passed where Rhydon kept his eyes closed, tail twitching as he followed the vibrations with his groundsense. Before long he straightened back up and pointed toward the farthest battlefield. Wraith abandoned the one he was searching and surfed the shadows to that one, spines flashing. Scorch gathered her extra fire back up and snuffed it out, keeping the ones needed still up, and trotted over as well. Ash grinned and all but sprinted towards the proper battlefield, slipping his pokedex back onto his hip.
Rhydon lumbered over, scarlet gaze bright, and he led Ash over to a corner of the field. The dirt looked the same as anywhere else but Rhydon thumped his tail against the ground again, narrowing his eyes.
With a groan, a narrow section of earth tore itself up. Excess dirt spilled outward, pushed away, and after nearly a minute, the ground revealed a tiny package, still pinned underground.
Ash whistled, eyes wide. "How deep was it?"
Rhydon grumbled, holding his claws far apart. He aimed a glare at the hole that seemed almost ten feet deep.
Ash knelt, brushing away the last of the dirt to pull out the package. It was a brown bag of sorts, about the size of an envelope, tied tightly to avoid getting any dirt inside. It didn't feel like anything, maybe just a placeholder to have a physical object to search for. He turned it around in his hands, feeling the weight - almost nothing - before finding a loose strip of the string that had been used to close it. He hooked it onto one of the open slots of his belt, the one normally used for flashlights. Ash had one, back in his bag - he never really used it because, well, Scorch existed.
"That's it, I guess," he said, patting it. Dirt rained down his leg from the packaging. "Everyone be ready - someone could still show up."
Wraith hissed, sinking back into Ash's shadow. He enjoyed the night hunting, at least - it was beyond easy for him to travel without ever touching the air, which made him devastatingly fast. Scorch dissolved the last few fireballs, the sparks sinking against the ground to crackle before dying, and padded back over.
A shriek, barely audible through the distance, boomed over Saffron. Ash winced as an answering clap of power, almost like thunder, echoed.
Gale was still going strong, apparently.
He prodded the presence in his mind again, unable to stop himself - he didn't want to distract Karma from her fight, but he also hated having them away from him, fighting something he couldn't see. She took a second but sent him a flurry of yellow-red in response, immediately disappearing again. Ash shook his head and tried to focus on the present.
Karma and Gale could handle themselves. He trusted them.
Rhydon started his odd walk again - tapping his tail with every step to be certain of anything around them - and Ash moved to be in front of him. This was the farthest battlefield and Saffron City gleamed silver in the distance. Half of the journey was already done.
Ash shook his head, grimacing - a headache had surfaced in the back of his skull, pulling at his nerve endings with all the serenity of a vengeful ghost. Scorch kept up a few of her embers, lighting their path until they could get back to Saffron's streetlamps, and he was carefully following their glow. Rhydon made an odd, curious sound from behind him, and when Ash turned to glance, he was staring at his claws like he'd never noticed them before. His scarlet eyes were narrowed.
Wraith pulled himself out of a shadow with a hiss and simply floated beside Ash, hands gone and spines twitching. Scorch padded up to mirror him, but her own ears were flat against her skull. Saffron City grew closer, and Ash only barely noticed a few of his fingers going numb.
He could hear something soft that only served to make his headache worse, rapping his knuckles against his skull as if that would help. One pokemon down, and another located. Ash glanced up, still unable to see his two pokemon. Occasional pops of light gleamed over the city from flash.
Zoroark could be anywhere, Vikavolt could hide and strike, and Golisopod would be hard to miss. Ash still didn't have much of a strategy for Zoroark, but Rhydon's thick armor would stop most of her claws and Gale could pick at her from a distance. Maybe Scorch could make a barrier with fire spin, since Zoroark could destroy anything Karma made almost instantly.
He was finally clued in that something was wrong when his leg simply refused to move and he fell flat on his face.
Rhydon bellowed, immediately lunging forward to grab at him. Ash tried to push himself back up but he could only twitch, limbs splaying with instructions not his own, and he shook against the ground. The ground type knelt by his side and managed to grab at him, sliding claws under his chest and jerking him off the ground.
Something fled from within him, jumping down the length of his nerves before disappearing into the points of Rhydon's claws. Ash coughed, grabbing at his starter - the last of the numbness retreated.
Electricity.
He twisted, staying in Rhydon's grip, to look at his other two pokemon. Wraith was visibly wavering, the power almost strong enough to pop him but not quite. Scorch was pressed flat against the earth, tails twitching. Both of them, almost paralyzed.
Hands jerking, he managed to grab at his belt and click the two buttons. Wraith and Scorch both disappeared in a puff of scarlet mist.
For the two - and Rhydon, most importantly - to not have noticed the paralysis until it was too late, it must have been filtered into the air incredibly slowly. Whoever was creating it was close, and had to have been watching them. She had probably started releasing electricity the second they'd appeared on the battlefields.
"It's Vikavolt," Ash coughed, voice still refusing to cooperate. "Your lightning rod - it's saving you. Can you see her?"
Rhydon rumbled but he didn't look away - he curled Ash tighter to his chest and let his horn spin, drawing the electricity faster toward it. The air visibly crackled with sparks, lazy and drifting but there. Vikavolt should be close - Rhydon needed to fight. "Bud." His voice wasn't strong but it was better than nothing. "Bud."
His starter crooned at him, eyes panicked and wide, and Ash struggled upward. Something in the distance flickered - coming from Saffron City - and the electricity redoubled in the air around them. Rhydon roared, and Ash could feel it, the ground type's chest shaking with the effort of his call. Far off, Ash heard an answering buzz, and then a lance of pure electricity snapped toward them.
Rhydon spun immediately, taking the thunderbolt against his back. It all fled up to his horn because of how fast he was spinning it, having learned that trick his first week in Gladion's training, but Vikavolt had ample time to get closer as he turned back around. Ash grabbed at his arm, feeling painfully small.
Vikavolt looked much larger at night, sparks jumping between her massive jaws and lighting up the gold in her colors. Rhydon rumbled at her, pulling Ash closer to him. He could avoid most of her electricity by using his trick to speed up his lightning rod, but Vikavolt was far from entirely reliant on that - her bug buzz, mud shot, and solar beam were deadly. Rhydon didn't have any other teammates that could survive in this electric field. He was alone, here.
More lightning burst to life, jumping around her jaws, and she fired a triple shot. Rhydon sprang back and hunkered over Ash, who curled his limbs in - his horn spun but Rhydon whined as a few layers of his stone-keratin armor was burnt away.
Vikavolt swooped in closer, wings invisible with how fast she beat them. It was going just like it had back in training, and Ash couldn't double team her with the constant thunder wave she was releasing from her wings, and Rhydon's armor would be whittled down until he was stuck. He reached for a pokeball, any pokeball, for a chance-
Rhydon bellowed, slamming his tail against the ground. The battlefield exploded upward in a swarm of dirt and earth. Brown-grey filled the sky - Vikavolt buzzed and swerved up to avoid it, jaws crackling, but Rhydon didn't attack her.
Instead, the dirt swirled up and formed curtains, massive, shifting walls of earth layered over him in a misaligned dome, covering them completely. Vikavolt hissed and spat another thunderbolt.
The electricity made it through three layers of dirt before fizzling out. The barest of sparks popped harmlessly against Rhydon's back.
Ash stared. This- this was widespread, their combo of smack down and rock blast, but used to such a different level than he normally did. Rhydon rumbled and made the dirt swirl around them, sweeping up the burnt layers and mixing them with others until it looked just as it had before. Vikavolt, barely visible through the grey, circled them slowly.
Rhydon rumbled again, spinning inside the dome - while he'd kept Vikavolt and her electricity out, he'd trapped himself in without a way to attack. Ash shifted in his claws until he was practically curled up in them, staring out at the blurry blue-yellow form. He reached a hand out as if to touch something but hissed as electricity crackled against his fingernails, immediately pulling his hand back. Viakvolt was redoubling her efforts to capture him.
Battlefield dirt wasn't true dirt, most of the time - too expensive and hard to handle; it was a combination of regular dirt and quartz sand. Sand solidified under heat - "Rhydon, flamethrower!"
His starter roared and a torrent of flames raced from his maw, hitting one of the closest barriers. Charred dirt fell to the ground but the sand solidified, forming a wavering, incomplete wall of murky grey glass. Rhydon's control slipped as it lost its composition as anything resembling earth but he lashed out with a lance of dirt, jerking the glass upward. Vikavolt blitzed out of the way but the glass shattered from the hit, exploding through the air. The bug hissed as her carapace was cut, a single tear ripping through her left wing. Rhydon blew out another flamethrower to stop any glass from reaching them, dry heat filling the air. Ash twisted to get a better view of the fight. The sharp tang of ozone coated his tongue, hair standing on end. He could smell smoke.
A bug buzz slammed against Rhydon's side, making him bellow - he spun in her direction but his own curtains blocked his answering attack. Ash dug his hands into the cracks of Rhydon's armor to stay on, feeling lightning curl against his back - even though he was secured on Rhydon, that didn't mean he couldn't feel the constant thunder wave, running alongside his veins like lava, moving without hurting him but still leaving him very aware.
Rhydon roared as something smote him over the face, leaving a blackened burn - bug buzz? Thunder? - and Ash yelped as the ground type retreated backward. Rhydon immediately stopped but then Vikavolt was able to get past the barrier, lightning crackling, jaws extending with a burning hiss.
Rhydon slammed his tail into the ground.
A stone edge burst upward, slamming into Vikavolt's carapace an instant before her jaws closed around Rhydon's arm. She buzzed furiously as she was thrown to the side, spindly limbs flailing, and Rhydon took the moment to move further back. The curtains fully fell to the ground as he concentrated on something else, keeping one arm wrapped around Ash even as he shuffled backward. Heat gathered in the hollow of his throat, horn still spinning furiously. Ash could see blooded beading in the cracks between his armor, sensitive skin under direct assault.
He couldn't use thunder, horn attack, or stomp because Ash was right there, present in the battle, with a very soft and squishy body - but Rhydon wasn't an idiot. He'd spent two weeks fighting Vikavolt, trying every strategy possible just for a chance to win.
So instead, he curled Ash closer, braced his claws against any cracks he could find, and slammed his tail into the ground hard enough to rattle the earth.
Four massive stone edges exploded upward, stabbing at the barely-recovered bug type. She flung herself upward with the hiss of escaping electricity, pushing herself with a crack of lightning, and circled overhead. Lightning wreathed in coils of pale green - bug buzz - crackled around her jaws.
Rhydon tore up a coil of widespread, the dirt weaving tightly in the space above his horn - his control had gotten infinitely better - and rumbled up at her. She buzzed back, kaleidoscope eyes flashing. More energy surged to her side.
Neither of them saw her move.
Rhydon only had a second to twitch his ropes of smack down before Vikavolt disappeared, glowing the brilliant white of agility, and slammed an x-scissor into his back with her jaws. He bellowed more from surprise than pain and spun, but his cognizance of Ash's presence left him too slow. Vikavolt blurred around him and peppered him with small-charge bug buzzes, hitting the undersides of his limbs - she was trying to make it too painful to move again. Ash inched higher - even as curled up as he was, he was still nearly half Rhydon's height. Rhydon rumbled but Ash managed to get to his hearing receptors, feeling the sting of electricity stronger now that he was closer to his horn.
"Flamethrower and horn attack," he whispered, steeling his own courage. "Do it."
Vikavolt swung by for another charge - she understood now that she couldn't do ranged attacks against him, when he had enough time to prepare a counterattack - jaws dripping with pale energy. Ash waited a heartbeat, two - she scored a clean hit across Rhydon's back, making the ground type bellow as it struck true.
Time.
Ash tucked his knees to his chest and kicked off Rhydon's chest. The ground type roared in confusion but Ash was far enough away that Rhydon was safe and no longer weighed down-
Rhydon leaned back, saw Vikavolt's blurred figure, and released a maelstrom of flames.
Red burned the sky - he heard a distant, sharp chitter of pain - and it was all he could see. Even without sunny day it was like it had been back at Erika's gym, too much fire to be feasible leaving the ground type's mouth. Dry heat roared over the field.
Ash twitched against the ground, paralysis already catching him, but his eyes glowed with reflected light.
Rhydon lunged forward with speed born from desperation and jabbed - there was a crunch as Vikavolt was hit. She buzzed, lightning crackling bright enough it was clear through the fire, but Rhydon bellowed back and didn't let up. Vikavolt buzzed again, then again, and stopped.
The last remains of the fire trickled away.
Ash sucked in a dry breath - Vikavolt had stopped pushing out thunder waves. His chest ached and he could feel electricity still arching through his body, violent little stings of pain, but it was fading. He struggled into a sitting position only to come face to face with Rhydon.
The ground type had looked better - whenever he used flamethrower like that, there was nothing he could do to protect himself from the damage. Black lines were scored over his entire face, twisting up his horn, and more littered his chest and spines. Vikavolt's bug buzzes had carved narrow lines through his armor and Ash could see shards of clouded glass in the cracks between.
His eyes shone with something beyond physical pain.
"I'm sorry, bud," Ash offered, leaning forward and hiding his wince to wrap his arms around Rhydon's muzzle. The ground type rumbled into his chest. "But I was holding you back. She just kept hurting you."
A puff of dusty breath hit him and Rhydon pulled back sharply, message clear. Ash bowed his head in a silent apology and felt the ground type nose his chest again. A smile flickered over his face and his friend rumbled at him, the sound soft.
The ground type reached out and helped Ash up, the contact pulling more lighting from his system. He winced as it fled, pulling at nerves for every step, but his feet were stable beneath him and he could feel every one of his fingers again.
"If I was a pokemon," he muttered, running his hands over his pokeballs to make sure they were undamaged, "I would want lightning rod as my ability. That was awful."
Rhydon snorted. The ground type spun his horn, the whir filling the quiet night air. Smoke, created from burning the ground, still steamed in the air.
Something creaked from behind them.
Rhydon snarled, voice like a mountain, and pushed Ash behind him. He squared up, facing the battlefield, and bellowed his war challenge.
Ash blinked.
Vikavolt was floating, limbs splayed and jaws straight, but her eyes were still dull and she did not move. There was a hole in her carapace, not deep, but plenty to put her out of commission. One of her legs twitched before falling still.
Ash jerked forward and slapped a hand over Rhydon's chest. The ground type stopped, confused, but even as he bared his teeth and spun a crackling horn he saw what Ash saw.
Vikavolt wasn't awake - her wings weren't beating, her body was splayed, and she didn't move. Something was picking her up, careful to move her slowly. Ash and Rhydon watched as she drifted upward and started to bob back toward Saffron City.
"Alakazam?" Ash tried, voice a bit faint.
Rhydon rumbled, sounding just as confused.
"That does make me feel better about just leaving them there," he said, watching the blue-yellow figure disappear into the distance. "Sabrina must be watching, then."
Rhydon reached out carefully and patted Ash on the shoulder. Ash reached up as best he could - Rhydon was rapidly approaching seven feet, now - and returned the favor. A resulting crackle of static electricity jumped between them.
"How did you come up with that?" Ash asked, carefully letting his legs stretch. They still popped and jerked like they were disobedient, discomfort filtering through with how stiff they were. "The dome, I mean."
Rhydon shrugged his massive shoulders, eyes worried - he tapped Ash's shoulder again as if to take more electricity.
"It looked good." Ash coughed again, grimacing. "That could become a powerful area of attack move - or battlefield control. Getting earth power to kick up more dirt would also be helpful. Could you make it larger?"
His starter growled at him, and the six months they had spent together let him decode the message easily. Focus. "Alright. Okay."
Ash pulled out the bag they had just fought for, glancing at it again - while the edges seemed crumpled from his multiple falls on it, the overall shape was fine. He rehooked it back on his belt and turned to Rhydon.
"Is there still electricity here?" He asked, brows furrowing.
Rhydon rumbled, tilting his head in a nod. Ash carefully reached out and put a hand on Rhydon's arm for protection. He could still hear lazy cracks and pops echoing in the distance, Vikavolt's sheer presence releasing excess electricity. It faded into the distance, returning to the pitchblack ambiance. Distance calls of murkrow filtered through the air.
"We'll head back to the city before releasing anyone," he said, though he couldn't help but grimace. Rhydon wasn't in peak shape - far from it - and it was only luck of finding such a helpful strategy that he'd managed to get out of the battle as unscathed as he was. But even though the ground type tried to hide it, Ash could see the difficulty in his movements, the awkwardness tugging whenever he tried to shift his limbs.
But that was his starter. Rhydon was determined and stubborn and Ash knew he couldn't recall him without a fight.
Ash exhaled again, pulling out his pokedex. It made the most sense to take the same route back - presumably, Gladion's other pokemon would be more spaced around other exits of the city. He reached out again, prodding the mirage of colors in his mind. No response.
Okay. He could do this.
Saffron City grew closer as they walked, Rhydon letting electricity crackle over his horn for some semblance of light. Ash kept his hand over Rhydon's arm as they traveled, even as his hair dropped back down from standing straight up and he lost the ducklettflesh. The battlefields disappeared behind him - he felt a brief sting of apology at the mess the Saffron City officials would have to clean up after his battle - and the city loomed once again, buildings springing up from seemingly nothing. Rhydon rumbled and stopped charging his shock wave, letting the streetlamps take over.
Ash zoomed further in on the map, tracing the path. The streets gleamed silver around them, standing true to Saffron City's unofficial name, and the streetlamps weren't near bright enough to light anything up beyond the first floor. Ash finally removed his hand from Rhydon's shoulder in order to handle the pokedex better, feeling a last spark of electricity jump between them. The ground type rumbled, tapping his tail against the ground. The ripple raced out, much smaller than the ones he had used at the battlefields.
Fifteen minutes into the track and Ash's nerves were racing high enough he wondered whether they would ever come down. Scorch was the only true pokemon he had that was mostly uninjured, and he didn't even know where two of them were. Flying battles, when not contained within a battlefield, were notorious for taking painfully large amounts of time because the battlers had no limits. Forcing their opponent to chase them on mile-long stretches wasn't unheard of.
Fearow had incredible endurance.
Ash gritted his teeth and traced a line out to the blinking yellow dot of the gym. Ten minutes, maybe more - both him and Rhydon weren't exactly moving at their fastest pace. His hand strayed back to the package on his hip, just to remind himself it was there.
But two of Gladion's pokemon were done, and a third was hopefully on the way - the same pokemon his team had been throwing themselves at heedlessly for the past two weeks. A warmth spread through his chest at that. How far they had come couldn't be ignored, either. Ash peeked around another corner, the pale orange of the streetlamps showing nothing at the opposite end of the alley, and started toward it.
Rhydon froze.
Ash nearly kept walking until he didn't hear his starter's footsteps, turning back around. Rhydon's eyes narrowed and his tail tapped against the ground, the earth trembling lightly beneath his feet.
"Something?" Ash whispered. Rhydon nodded, eyes flat. He pushed an arm out and fully extended his claws, gesturing widely. "Something large?" Rhydon growled, low in his throat.
Golisopod, most likely - the massive bug type would be an open book to Rhydon's groundsense, and Ash guessed it would be almost impossible for him to hide in this city. He slunk back out of the alley, staying against the wall.
The bug type was immensely strong, armed with multiple limbs, a carapace thick enough to shrug off a hit from Rhydon, and simply large enough that in a battle it would be almost impossible to avoid damage to the city. If Ash wanted to take him down he'd be destroying both his team and his surroundings just to have it happen.
Rhydon's tail twitched again and his eyes narrowed, a puff of dusty breath escaping his blackened nose.
Ash dropped his head. This was a battle he couldn't afford to take, not when Rook and Karma hadn't found a single strategy against him and his team was too injured to properly fight against the behemoth. "How can we avoid him?"
Rhydon stared at him.
Ash stared pointedly back at the charing splintered over his armor.
The ground type sighed, a final crackle of electricity shooting up his horn. He tapped his tail against the ground harder, sending a ripple out that Ash could feel - a pidgey shrieked from above and took off as the building it was roosting on trembled. Rhydon closed his eyes, claws twitching, before turning to point in the exact direction Ash had been heading.
He stared toward the alley. The bug type was over there, and he still had Rhydon, Scorch, Wraith, and Rook. It would be a hard battle but he could win.
But not without damaging both his team and the city around. There was still Zoroark and Crobat left.
So instead he nodded, glancing back at his pokedex, and found a new route to avoid the entire area, which would leave them up at the other end of the gym. Another ten minutes onto their estimated time, even if they hurried, which was plenty of time for Zoroark to find them.
But Ash wasn't going to risk his pokemon fighting Golisopod, so he nodded to Rhydon and started in that direction.
This path couldn't avoid nearly as many side alleys and Ash could only smile awkwardly at the groups of people who passed him. Rhydon lumbered over him, horn spinning periodically, and his scarlet gaze glared at everything within a mile radius, which didn't help. The streetlamps were duller in this part of the city than anywhere else, to help with psychic's strong reaction to sensory problems, and Ash stayed close to walls to try and light his path as well as he could.
Something echoed in his mind, a tiny spark of colors, and Ash stiffened. Rhydon stopped as well, glancing around.
A shriek echoed from above, a rush of wind coming down. Ash cranked his head back and squinted as a black shape fell from the sky and landed in front of him with a pained squawk, the resulting shockwave of air nearly pushing him backward. Someone across the street yelped.
Gale looked like he'd been through distortion - his left wing was twisted back awkwardly, not broken but definitely injured, and his beak gaped as he panted greedily. More than a few primaries were gone and others were bent, which could only have made his flying slow and clumsy - more injuries doubtless lurked beneath his thick coat of feathers. A cut gleaming purple was stark against his neck. Poisoned.
But no one could deny the sheer pride that burned in the fearow's pitch-black eyes.
Karma teleported down a second later, the only sign of her exhaustion the tilt in her shoulders and dullness of her eyes. For the alakazam, it was practically a neon sign, though she was able to get the story across past the shakiness in her voice. Hit with several ghost moves, it sounded like.
We used many double teams, flashes, and barriers. The Crobat was much faster than all of us, but we were able to chase it away.
Ash frowned - "Chased it away?"
It did not stay to fight, and it was holding itself back, but we damaged it enough it disappeared back into the city. She sagged again, claws only a few inches above the pavement. It was very strong.
"But are you okay?"
Karma flicked an ear toward Gale. The Striker is poisoned and his flight is greatly reduced. I am very low on energy. Both of her ears flattened. It is hard, fighting that high up.
"Thank you," he said. Karma sent a plume of honey-red to him. "To both of you. Gale, we need to talk after, but thank you for taking it out."
The fearow shrieked, pleased, but even his wings sagged and his long neck was nearly brushing the ground. He made a token of protest when Ash held up his pokeball but disappeared into scarlet mist without so much as a squawk.
Karma stared at him, her ears still pinned and eyes dull and tired. She was doing better than Gale, probably due to the fact she had hung back while Gale took the physical fight, but her shines only moved sluggishly around her neck and her limbs sagged. "Are you okay?" He asked again.
I can be called out if needed, she hummed. But I would prefer to rest if not.
Ash hurriedly recalled her. There wasn't even a hint of the mischievousness she always displayed when talking about being recalled, nothing of the spark in her pitch eyes. She disappeared with a slight incline in her head. He stared at the spot he had occupied, mind racing. She hadn't been that injured since the fight that had forced her to evolve. Crobat was strong.
Rhydon crooned when they left. He bumped his muzzle against Ash's side and he jerked back to attention, clipping the pokeball back to his belt. "Sorry, bud. Thinking. Let's go."
The ground type rumbled. Ash walked on, starter by his side.
Two pokemon left. That was it. He was down most of his team but if he could avoid Golisopod and get to the gym before Zoroark found him - because it wouldn't be the other way around with such a devious pokemon - it would be fine. The package bumped against his thigh as he walked.
Rhydon directed him, constantly letting his tail hit the ground - Golisopod seemed to be circling the gym in a wide arc, moving surprisingly fast - and Ash and Rhydon had to duck into various alleys to cut in or out to avoid him. The yellow blip of Sabrina's gym became closer and closer.
Until Rhydon stopped him, tapping his tail again. His eyes brightened.
They were at the last turn before the gym, adrenaline spiking high in the last stretch, but Ash felt that little spark of hope. "Gladion?"
Rhydon rumbled, sending out as small of a ripple as he could manage. A second later, he tilted his massive claws from side to side.
"The same weight, then." Ash gave himself another second leaning against the steel wall, touching the bag at his side, before turning around the corner and facing the sprawling construction that acted as the heart of the city.
Lights gleamed from only a few windows, the lining streetlamps even duller than those in the city, but it was enough to outline the tall figure by the entrance. Ash could see the glint of platinum hair in the man's very recognizable dreadlocks. Gladion.
Rhydon rumbled and padded after him, but he was beyond exhausted now, tail dragging and horn no longer spinning. Vikavolt had taken everything out of him and he had been running on pure adrenaline after, the knowledge he was leading Ash safely through the city all he had left. Ash thumbed his pokeball as he crossed the street.
Gladion stepped out into the light to meet him, the same quietly bland look on his face, but Ash thought he could see the hints of a smile there. "You have done well, Ash." His voice had a rasp past the professional tone.
"Thanks," Ash said, a little too tired to give much else as an answer, and turned back to Rhydon. "You did awesome, bud. Rest."
Rhydon rumbled but allowed himself to be recalled - he was barely able to shift his head in a nod past the burns littering his neck. Ash turned back to Gladion, who hadn't moved. "Your team is incredible."
Gladion chuckled. "Many thanks. Do you have the item?"
Ash patted his side again - he'd done it so many times over the past hour yet he was somehow afraid of losing it - and pulled the string off the hook on his belt. Gladion nodded, extending a hand. He started to head over, opening his mouth to comment on how deep he had gotten it underground, before he… stopped.
The night was quiet between them. Utterly, painfully quiet, in the way outside rarely was.
There was nothing at Gladion's feet.
Bulbasaur could defend herself and knew it - she wouldn't be scared inside by this fight when she knew she wouldn't be the target. She'd be waiting for him, for Wraith, even with the lack of sunlight. Bulbasaur was quiet and stubborn but she knew how important it was to Ash that he knew she was safe - Gladion's pokemon would never attack their leader and by his side would be the safest location. Beyond that, she didn't like Surge, so there was little chance she would have switched to be by him. Sabrina's natural aura messed with her poison sacs. She should have been at least close to Gladion.
But she wasn't there.
She wasn't there.
Ash barely had a second to reach for his pokeballs before Gladion's skin melted off.
He caught a single second of red flesh before black fur exploded outward, Gladion's face disappearing behind a mass of bright scarlet, clothing fading into a pitch coat, hands sharpening to claws - in a heartbeat, Zoroark snarled from where Gladion had been, eyes a vicious, burning blue.
Shit-
His finger hit the button and Scorch appeared a second before Zoroark moved.
The ninetales was immediately flung to the other side by Zoroark's dagger claws, yowling - she slammed tail-down into the ground and struggled back to her feet. A curl of flame from her release tail stopped another charge, Zoroark disappearing back in a blur Ash could barely track. The dark type snarled, baring her fangs. Scorch growled back.
His mind raced - without flame charge, Scorch wouldn't be fast enough and all the fur in the world wouldn't protect her from Zoroark's claws - neither Wraith nor Karma could stand up to her sheer mastery over her typing - Rhydon would be all but sitting still - Gale was too injured-
Ash grimaced, grabbed his final pokeball, and released.
Rook appeared, screeching. His armor was dented from his collisions with the walls and indents from Lycanroc's fangs but he hardly seemed to notice, blades scraping against the ground as he dragged them upward. Zoroark blinked down at her two-foot tall opponent.
Scorch coughed an array of fireballs, each streaking toward her with their own pattern. Zoroark flung herself around and spat a massive dark pulse instantaneously, no charge time needed. An explosion black with shadows burst out, concussive sound sending Ash back a few steps. The dark type immediately sunk to all fours, ears flat, and charged toward Scorch, the bloody scarlet of her mane the only thing visible.
Scorch erupted into a cone of fire from sheer instinct alone and four clones jumped out of the way just before Zoroark hit her. Ash winced at the damage to the street but knelt by Rook, who screeched.
"We're fighting Zoroark - you're going to be my main fighter. Scorch will trap her and I need you to attach, use thunder wave and brick break as much as you can."
The dark type nodded, eyes surprisingly excited given his quiet personality, and turned back to the battle. Scorch yelped as Zoroark sliced into her flank, flash fire only managing to singe her fur before the dark type disappeared back in another blur. It didn't even look like agility - just her sheer natural speed. Her other clones were already obliterated - how fast was the fox?
Rook screeched and ran forward, banging his blades together - the metal sound visibly shook Zoroark and dragged her back up to her hindlegs. Ash cupped his hands over his mouth. "Scorch! Fire spin!"
The vulpine barked and released a torrent of flames from her tails.
She was careful - it never dipped more than a foot away from the ground - but it roared outward in a cone of pure heat. She swung her control tail forward and directed it, limping - Zoroark's claws had torn directly through her muscle - and shaped it into a circle, hissing and spitting.
Rook and Zoroark were inside - Ash could barely see Zoroark, and Rook's feet were the only things visible. He rose onto the tips of his feet in an effort to see.
The pawniard was shuddering - fire was one of his few weaknesses, and this heat was doing no favors to his already-injured armor, but he still slammed his blades together and screeched at his opponent.
Zoroark stared at Rook for a second, before her eyes rose. Ash met the ice blue gaze with his own, the dark type staring at him past a current of fire.
A puff of pitch black smoke trickled upward and she disappeared.
Ash cursed.
Scorch blurred backward as a torrent of water erupted toward her from nowhere, dropping the fire spin for more speed - the water disappeared the instant it hit the ground, evaporating into more smoke.
Rook stumbled out of the circle, dodging the last few sparks, and stared around in utter confusion. There was nothing - no sign of their opponent. Zoroark was just gone.
Ash became painfully aware of something and sprung backward.
Zoroark appeared a second later, claws sheathed but reaching for where he had stood. She kept staring at him, blue eyes daggers, and disappeared into another puff of smoke. Scorch yowled, still sprinting from blasts of water as large as hydro pumps. They never connected.
Ash tucked his head down and ran towards Rook, the closest defense. Something erupted from behind them - a flamethrower of the brightest blue he had ever seen, he slammed his arms over his face in an attempt to protect himself -
Rook watched curiously as the fire raced over them. He didn't so much as blink at the flames that would have melted his blades down to little more than molten piles of steel. Ash untucked his head in time to see Rook wave an arm through the last trickles of fire, the blue harmlessly splattering against his blade.
An illusion.
Rook could see through them - no, that wasn't right. That wasn't a pawniard's power. Rook was a dark type, a nocturnal hunter - if he relied on his purely physical senses, he'd have died long ago. Instead, he searched for auras, using his own dark one to find others.
He could sense the dark energy in the illusions.
Maybe Zoroark was weakening them, maybe he just had an idiot of a pawniard, but that was an advantage Ash had and he was going to take it. "Rook, can you sense her?"
The pawniard screeched, looking around. He shook his head after another moment. Okay. So he could sense that the moves washing over him weren't true moves, but he couldn't find anything else. Ash spun again, keeping his arms tight to his sides. Zoroark still wasn't there but he could feel her aura, overextended and flowing through the clearing like a tidal wave. Every hair on his arms was standing straight up.
Scorch whined, blurring toward him. No more water attacks came but she looked exhausted, the overuse of quick attack taking a hearty toll. He tried to smile reassuringly but they were still standing there, hunted by an invisible opponent.
Zoroark's illusions are easily broken - a single moment of physical contact will return them to the smoke they came from.
"Heat wave," he murmured, narrowed eyes flashing around the clearing once again. "Keep it high and fast."
Scorch splayed her tails out, each in a different direction. She inhaled, eyes flickering blue as a sort of last check, before she released a wave of dry heat that burned with excess embers. It crackled through the air.
A pillar of smoke erupted less than three feet away from them.
Zoroark snarled and lunged - Scorch was the closest. The vulpine was thrown back by the foul play, golden fur already scarlet, and the dark type blurred away the next second. She didn't resummon her illusions but merely circled them on all fours, shadows trailing from her bloody mane.
Ash crouched low next to Rook, who screeched fearlessly at the fox. Scorch managed to pick herself back up and spit a blast of fire to chase off the attacking Zoroark. She flung herself back to Ash's side, the dark type hissing at the burns littering her fur. Zoroark continued circling them, eyes slits against the night.
He hadn't known just how Zoroark used her illusions - he'd thought it would be something like ditto, frightening pokemon by turning into their natural enemies or coming out as something massive, not faking moves and going invisible. Ash tried to track the dark type as best as he could but she was wickedly fast.
He needed to slow her down. One of his pokemon knew how to do that.
"Rook, thunder wave!"
Rook screeched, dragging himself upward. Yellow lit up the area as electricity crackled to life over his axeblade, bright enough it burned, before he launched the thunder wave like it was thunder itself. Zoroark snarled and flung herself to the side but Rook's tracking was something to be admired - the lightning exploded like a flashbang against Zoroark's side, the fox thrown back.
Zoroark tore herself up to all fours, seemingly before she even hit the ground, but char raced over her fur and she was panting. Yellow crawled between her ears, limbs twitching. Paralysis.
Rook and Scorch both sprang forward, the pawniard carving lines through the cobbled streets with his claws. Zoroark pulled herself onto her hindlegs, fury etched in her red-rimmed eyes; the sort of anger seen in dark types that allowed them to ignore the existence of pain. Scorch heard Ash's furious shouts and managed to adjust her course to sprint away, aided by four paws, but Rook had no chance.
He slammed directly into her left flank, chest blades stabbing immediately through her fur - but she wasn't Lycanroc. She was a biped, one with entirely enough flexibility and smarts to understand what he was doing. Rook screeched in apparent victory, blades glowing with brick break as he prepared to cut into her. Ash reached forward but he couldn't do anything.
Pitch black claws caught him on the underside of his helmet-like growth, ripped him off her side, and slammed him into the ground hard enough his left arm snapped.
There was a moment of silence, offset by Scorch's heavy panting, before Rook shrieked.
Pawniards so rarely went into rages, when they had their bisharp to pin them down beneath bladed feet and crack axes with their own until they calmed. Ash had none of those qualities. He was too far away to even attempt to do anything.
Zoroark had little less than a second before Rook rocketed off the ground and flung himself at her.
Another flamethrower, a seemingly instinctual reaction, washed over him. The pawniard's eyes snapped shut and he lunged, trailing the shattered edge of his blade behind him. He swung his head and scored a narrow line down her torso even as she darted backward. Zoroark howled and tried to drop to all fours for speed but he was there, jabbing and hacking with the blind fury known to dark types, forcing her further back even as she scored careful attacks on his thrashing form. Rook hardly seemed to notice.
Scorch pried herself up from where she'd skidded over the ground in her attempt to dodge, still bleeding heavily from Zoroark's cuts, and launched a wall of fire. The dark type immediately stopped retreating, mane flaring, and Rook drew ever closer. Those same bright, bright eyes met Ash's.
A spiral of black covered her form and she was gone.
Rook screeched, momentum carrying him directly toward the fire, and flung his only working blade directly up.
Zoroark appeared in an explosion of smoke, Rook's blade stabbed directly into the bottom of her paw, stopping her halfway through her attempt to leap over his head. The fox shrieked as she fell, tearing the blade loose but landing hard on the paw. Pain made her eyes slits, even as paralysis clutched at her limbs and made her stumble.
Rook dragged himself up, blades soft and fuzzy around the edges despite Scorch's best attempts to dissolve the wall of fire as fast as she could. He screeched, berserk rage gone in the pain of the hit, but no less determined than before. His golden eyes seemed to glow.
Ash was suddenly reminded why Rook had bonded so well with Tide and Gale.
Zoroark turned to face them. The dark type glared with those burning eyes, bloody claws extending further. She snapped at him, crouching lower, mane swirling with excess trails of energy-
But electricity still crackled through her body, muscles tensing and sending odd jitters through her limbs, fur ripped and scarlet bleeding over the black of her left flank. She hadn't set down her injured paw. Her fangs clicked against each other as she made as if to lower herself back to all fours.
Rook screeched, slamming his blades together. The metal sound raced toward her, forcing Zoroark to pin her ears back, and she howled to drown it out. Scorch raised her tails and Ash put his hands on his belt, resting over the other pokemon he could still release. The night chimed silent between them.
Zoroark snarled again, the black smoke of her illusions trickling out the sides of her mouth, before dropping to all fours and sprinting away. Her scarlet mane disappeared into the turn of an alleyway and she was gone.
Ash blinked.
Rook screeched, but he didn't make a move to pursue. His golden eyes landed on the shattered blade of his left arm. It was snapped at the tip, held on by the titanium-esque bone that ran up the middle of every blade he had, but the fact was undeniable. It was definitely broken.
Ash knelt, glancing toward him to ask permission - the pawniard gave a morose nod and extended his arm. In the wild, losing a blade often meant death - without the full ability to defend oneself, they would be of little use to a pack.
"Nurse Joy can fix this up," he said, shifting his fingers carefully up the length of the blade. It was incredibly dull, on top of things. Rook had run them through far more punishment tonight than ever before. It was surprisingly easy to forget that he was Ash's newest pokemon, for how well his quiet personality had meshed with the others. "I'd give her two days and you'll never notice anything was wrong."
Rook stared at him, his section of Ash's mind rippling with life. Ash brought his hands up and formed that point that Rook had taught him, keeping his fingers straight. The pawniard made a soft sound and made the point back as best he could with half of his blade missing. His golden eyes were still blank.
"Thank you, Rook. You did fantastic."
The dark type did not protest at being recalled.
Scorch whined as he crossed to her, still limping. Blood was matted in her golden fur and pain was etched over her face, Zoroark's claws sharp and her experience at using them sharper. She made an attempt at a purr as he stroked behind her ears, disappearing into scarlet mist without so much as a sound. Exhaustion had left her dragging her tails behind her.
Ash sighed, dropping his head. He felt painfully exposed here, with his pokemon.
But he'd defeated Zoroark.
Not at her full strength, judging by her lack of moves and the fact she had run away instead of still fighting, but at least at the level that Gladion had allowed. And Lycanroc, Vikavolt, and Crobat were down too - each monsters in their own right. He put his hand over his pokeballs, feeling the spidery warmth from each - Gale and Rook's were almost completely cold - before turning fully to the gym.
Time to finish it.
The front door was close but Ash still ran toward it, very aware of the fact Golisopod could have heard the battle and started heading over. The doors creaked as he pushed against them but they weren't locked, and with a few moments of struggle Ash managed to get one open. His arms throbbed at the use, Vikavolt's paralysis having left its mark, and his knee struggled to keep up with the motion. He'd need to check in with Nurse Joy after getting his team seen to.
No one was in the entrance room and Ash could feel his hackles rise at the quiet, glancing around - light gleamed from the underside of a closed door. He stared around the room again - nothing but an empty desk and a single blue light overhead - before heading towards the light. It was his best chance beyond stumbling through the halls to try and make it to their original meeting place.
The door led to a sitting room, one lined with couches and blind-drawn windows. It was done in the same pale shades of blue as everywhere else in the gym. Ash blinked twice against the sudden wave of exhaustion and saw Surge, Gladion, and Sabrina, spread out through the room on various seats. All of them were looking at him.
But most importantly, Bulbasaur was curled up underneath the light of the room, crimson eyes closed. If she trusted them enough to sleep there, he could be pretty assured they were safe. Unless Gladion's fabled Kumu was actually four different zoroark disguising themself again to lure him into a false sense of security.
Ash snorted, walked to the nearest couch, and immediately collapsed.
Surge barked out with laughter, his raichu chittering just as loudly. He twisted his head to the side in order to glare at the boisterous man - why wasn't he quiet - before he saw Gladion with a single eyebrow raised. The man seemed a strange mixture of amused and confused.
Ash let his inner Gary take over. "Your zoroark is an asshole," he mumbled into the cushion.
Surge, if it was possible, laughed louder.
"I have heard that before," Gladion muttered, but there wasn't the roughness or rasp that Zoroark's attempt had had. "She very nearly had you."
Watching him through Sabrina or Alakazam, most likely. The pair of them were certainly powerful enough to escape Karma's notice. Ash nodded, still refusing to pull himself off the couch. "Is she going to be alright?"
Gladion waved his hand. "Both her and Crobat have gone to Nurse Joy, who was briefed on this event. Alakazam brought her Lycanroc and Vikavolt as well, and Golisopod is returning to the gym as we speak."
Sabrina, by his side, nodded. Her eyes were bright but her face looked worn - psychics didn't like the night, which ran rampant with the other side of the Trio pokemon and weakened their own power. Ash felt a small pocket of warmth grow at the thought she had stayed up to watch him.
"My team was holding themselves back, but you fared rather well against them." Gladion ran his fingers over his own pokeballs, nodding his head. His voice was back to the same formal, memorized tone - how long had he spent practicing this speech? "I am impressed."
Surge snorted. "You kicked his team's asses and he didn't see it coming."
Ash did raise his head at that, forcing himself into a mockery of a sitting position. The couch - a pale blue, to match the rest of Saffron City gym's decorations - was surprisingly comfortable. He shifted his aching knee to take some more of the pressure off it - adrenaline was a hell of a drug, he hadn't even realized how much it hurt until he finally stopped moving - and looked back to his audience. He could feel a grin over his face at Surge's words. To be honest, there had been the niggling fear in the back of his own mind that his team wouldn't be able to win against such an experienced opponent, but they had all pulled through.
Gladion sighed, brushing a hand through his hair. "You did very well, yes. Especially that technique against Vikavolt - was it your idea?"
Ash perked up. "No, just Rhydon. I'm thinking we could expand it into a full area of effect attack, and if I can snag a TM for sandstorm, we could develop it to the point where he can use that to gather the materials for him and then he just attacks the other pokemon without even taking a step. And if I combine it with crater, he could just go underground and wait for them to knock themselves out trying to stop it."
Surge grinned. "And if that's what you come up while on the run for your life, I'd like to see what the hell you can make with some actual planning time."
Raichu snickered, sparks popping lazily from his cheeks.
"Well." Gladion sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, but there was the ghost of a smile over his face. "But yes, you did well. Your team should be healed within a few days, enough for you to travel to Cerulean."
Ash frowned - he'd been planning on heading to either Celadon, to rechallenge Erika, or to Lavender, to explore that area. Cerulean was interesting and all, but he'd start back down that route when he was ready to challenge Giovanni. "Cerulean?"
Sabrina's power fluttered on the edge of his awareness. "Open the package." The psychic's tone was ripe with amusement - she seemed to be enjoying this far more than even the mirthful Surge.
Ash blinked, reaching down for the bag - he felt suddenly suspicious, seeing Surge's ever-widening grin - but pulled it off his belt. The string took a few moments to undo with his cracked nails but he managed, working it off and setting it to the side. The whole bag couldn't have weighed more than a feather.
He glanced up again, more to confirm his action, and Gladion nodded at him. He reached it and found paper, rooting around for another second, but it was the only thing in there. He pulled it out, seeing a single sheet folded over.
Unfolding it found an official League document, as declared by the seal in the upper left corner. He frowned, starting to read through it, when the bolded words on top leapt out at him.
Carry Limit Test Approval.
His name was there as well, and beneath it were three signatures, two illegible. The third, in neat, twisting penmanship, was Sabrina's name. It wasn't too terribly difficult to guess who the others were.
Ash stared.
Surge shrugged, still grinning. "We got together and signed it after the first week of training. It was pretty clear you were pouring your damn soul into the thing."
"Oh." Ash stared back at the paper - it was like he couldn't understand the words in front of him. "Carry limit?"
Gladion nodded. "Your six pokemon limit - or seven, in your case. Certains trainers, if three League officials declare them worthy and in need of it, are allowed to take a test given by an impartial third party to see whether they can handle more pokemon. I know you look down on yourself for neglecting your sealeo and haven't caught any other pokemon, though your team still lacks proper coverage of styles and types." He shrugged. "So, the test."
Ash ran his fingers over the three signatures on the paper. They had thought him strong and able enough to handle more pokemon. Okay. The paper blurred somewhat in his hands as he reread it.
"Happy birthday, runt."
Ash blinked. Oh, right - it was his birthday today. He was eleven now - in the panic and worry over the test, it'd been easy to forget. Staring down at the little slip of confirmation, he felt a little bubble of warmth grow through his chest, as strong as Scorch's own internal fire.
Surge grunted, and there was an odd, amused tone in his voice. "Don't you fucking dare start crying. It's a gift. You've gotten one before, haven't you?"
Ash couldn't fight back a grin at that, because Surge was always that same shade of gruff and confrontational and wicked, and even though he expected it the man always seemed to be able to surprise him. Sabrina sighed mentally, the sound echoing in the back of Ash's mind, and his grin grew wider.
"Wait, how did you know it was my birthday?"
Raichu leapt backward to stand on the couch as Surge straightened, chest puffing out. "Gladion 'ere used his incredible powers, harnessing Kumu's skill in order to figure out when the mythical date could-"
Gladion cut in, glaring at the larger man. Surge seemed less than threatened. "Your Trainer ID."
"Are you saying you didn't have the kid's info memorized the fucking second you told me you wanted to train him?"
And Ash laughed, whether from a mixture of the stress of the night or the ridiculousness of the situation or the pained look in Sabrina's eyes as she watched them bicker, and he couldn't find it within himself to stop.
xXx
Hello all!
Sorry for the late update, but as I'm sure you can guess, things are a little hectic right now. And luckily for me, I had the wonderful time of switching my major right before being moved online, so that was a period of fun.
But now I should have plenty of time to crank out a few more chapters! My goal is to get another one out within a month, and then I'll basically try to get back to an actual rhythm.
So here was the action-based chapter, and the next two should focus more on plot and world development. It's finally time to start bringing back all the things I've dropped hints on - Goodshow, Viper, Eyes of Bone, Peacemakers, Malva, Delia, etc - and I'm raring to get them all out!
Fair warning - I've been working a ton on my original works, so my style seems to have changed a bit. I'll try to keep it similar but expect some new subtleties.
Hope everyone stays safe and healthy, and thanks for reading!
