Chapter 23! I am so sorry about the bolding error last chapter. There was something that went wrong when I copied in the word document, and I went to sleep right after uploading, since it was late. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Ash hated the forest with a burning passion. The forest hated him right back. In the dense clump of greenery and tree trunks, Ash couldn't tell right from left. The trip to Lavender town that could have taken just three days had stretched on for over a week, and they he wasn't even at Lavender town! Ash sent out all of his Pokémon with a sigh and collapsed onto a rock. "I'm going to set up camp." Ash informed his team. The majority of Ash's team didn't even hear their trainer, having found something to do. For Charizard, it was to harass the flocks of Pidgey and Spearow above. For Eevee, it was sleeping. For Sceptile, it was running through the dense forest. Every Pokémon on Ash's team had some hobby that they did in their pass-time.
"Charizard! Can you start the flame?" Ash pointed at the heap of dry logs he had hastily assembled under the pot of stew. Charizard lazily got up and fired a few cinders at the logs, catching them on fire. The flames were quick to spread across the logs, engulfing the logs in flame. Ash hooked the pot of stew above the fire and sat on the rough, dusty ground. After a few minutes of poking at the soup with a stick, Ash got bored. "Cranidos! Can you come over here?" Ash called to the rock-type. He hadn't been mad at Cranidos for not listening to him, but wanted to clear the issue up with the stubborn rock-type. Cranidos ran over to Ash, tilting his head at his trainer curiously. "It's about the battle we had against the Pawniard." Ash told the rock-type. At that, Cranidos's eyes lit up with an angry fire and it instinctively snarled.
"Cranidos, you need to listen to what I tell you to do during a battle. That's what a trainer does. " Ash informed the former fossil. Cranidos cocked its head, confused at what Ash meant. "You need to listen what I tell you to do in a battle." Ash stated, trying to give a simpler explanation to the rock-type. Again, Cranidos's eyes lit up, furious and confused at the sheer absurdity of the concept at being told what to do. Suddenly, Cranidos broke into a sprint. Ash ran after the rock-type, but was easily out sped by the Pokémon. After all, Ash only was a human. After realizing he couldn't catch Cranidos, Ash broke in a sprint back to the camp. What had he done? It was true that Ash had been a little harsh while telling Cranidos that the Pokémon would have to listen to him in battle, but he hadn't meant to scare away the Pokémon! He should have considered the fact that Cranidos had been a fossil just days ago. Cranidos needed time to understand the concept of a trainer and their Pokémon, and Ash should have known that.
Ash broke into the camp and hunched over, tired from his sprint. As soon as Ash regained his breath, he yelled to his team. "Cranidos is missing! We need to look for him!" At that, all of Ash's Pokémon sat upright, eyes filled with worry. Even though Cranidos was a new team member, he was a part of Ash's team, and, dare he say, family. Besides, Deino had already made quick friends with the rock-type due to the way they both enjoyed headbutting things. "Come on! Cranidos went this way! Charizard, fly up to get an aerial view!" Ash commanded. The trainer was hiding his panic and fear under a façade of cold control. He needed to stay strong for his team.
Charizard nodded and loudly flapped its wings, spiraling around the dense clump of trees to enter the air. Sceptile ran ahead of Ash in the trees, moving the direction Ash had said Cranidos had gone. Ash followed Sceptile, Pikachu and the others going into action as well. The unsettling darkness did no favors to the team. Ash grunted as thorns scraped his calf, drawing blood, but kept moving. He wasn't going to let Cranidos run away just because of a simple scratch. In time, Cranidos would be a strong Pokémon, but more importantly, a friend to Ash and his team.
Ash slammed his fist against a tree in frustration. It had been nearly a half hour since they had been looking for Cranidos, with no luck. Sceptile looked at his trainer, and the gecko placed a comforting hand on Ash's shoulder. The others were too slow to keep up, therefore Ash had them in their poke balls. Just then, Ash saw a bright light above him. Charizard swooped down on Ash and the dragon looked at him urgently.
"You found Cranidos?" Ash asked. Charizard nodded. "Where?" Ash questioned frantically. Charizard pointed a scaly hand to Ash's right. "Let's go!" Ash urged. Charizard flew out of the dense forest and momentarily hovered in the air over Ash and the others. Then, Charizard shot to Ash's right like a jet. Ash himself was sprinting far behind Sceptile. The gecko was agilely leaping from branch to branch without slipping up in the slightest, despite the darkness. Ash saw Charizard land, and slowed down his aching legs to a jog. His muscles were killing him, having ran for what felt like an eternity. Ash skidded to a stop as he saw Charizard. The dragon was standing next to two humans, both of them wearing black masks. Finally, Ash's eyes rested on Cranidos. The former fossil was wriggling around, seeing as it was in the hands of another Pokémon. Ash's eyes traced out the borderline of the giant Pokémon, trying to figure out what it was. All Ash figured out was that the Pokémon was huge, but that didn't deter him.
"That's my Cranidos." Ash stated.
"Not anymore. "one of the men in black masks replied. Ash's eyes flared up in anger, but went unnoticed due to the darkness.
Ash decided to ignore the man. "Cranidos, are you okay?" Ash asked.
"It's fine, for now. "one of the men cut in. "If you leave now, I'll forget this happened."
Ash snorted. "What if I don't leave?"
"That won't be pretty."
Ash smiled. "Charizard, would you mind taking Cranidos back?" he asked the dragon. Charizard smirked and cracked its knuckles menacingly. The dragon slowly strode up to the Pokémon holding Cranidos, and looked the taller creature in the eye.
"Aggron, take out the trainer and the Pokémon." Aggron carelessly dropped Cranidos to the ground. Cranidos grunted as it hit the ground, but wiggled to its feet and ran over to Ash.
"Are you okay?" Ash asked. Cranidos nodded. "We're going to be okay. Helping out their Pokémon is the most important part of being a good trainer. "Ash added, noticing the rock-type's concern. Ash looked back to Charizard just as the dragon flew into Aggron, trying to stagger the behemoth. Aggron didn't move an inch and returned the favor with a fierce punch to Charizard's gut, sending the dragon into a tree. The tree trunk was ripped like paper and fell to the ground next to Charizard. "Sceptile! "The gecko leapt off the tree and at Aggron, quickly bringing down a Brick Break between Aggron's steel horns. This time, Aggron grunted, and Sceptile safely leapt back onto a tree branch. So Aggron could take damage. That was good to know. "Exeggutor! Pikachu! Eevee! Hitmonlee! Deino! Gabite!" Ash was pulling out all the stops. This battle was too important to follow league battle rules.
"Tch! Using all your Pokémon? That's not very fair now, is it? Go, Mightyena!" The Pokémon sent out by one of the men snarled aggressively upon release. Its coat was unkempt and splattered with mud, but was ready for a battle. It didn't seem to be as large as a threat as Aggron, though. "You see all the Pokémon this kid has? Call the boss. I don't know if we'll be able to handle him ourselves. If we win, though…" the other man whispered to his teammate.
"Pikachu, Deino, and Eevee. You three take on Mightyena. The rest of you take on Aggron." Ash needed to end the battle quickly. If these men had such strong Pokémon, how strong would their boss's Pokémon be? Pikachu was quick to drive an Iron Tail into Mightyeana's skull, sending the beast to the ground. On the other side of the field, Hitmonlee, Sceptile, Gabite, and Charizard all charged at Aggron. Exeggutor stayed back, providing long-range support. Aggron was able to knock away the first two Pokémon, Sceptile and Hitmonlee, but fell when Gabite and Charizard followed up. Exeggutor fired a well-aimed Psybeam that struck the crack of Aggron's armor.
Eevee fired a Swift at Mightyena, who stopped the attack with a violent Snarl that knocked Deino and Pikachu over. Deino stood back up and fired a breath of draconic energy at Mightyena, who was too slow to react and collapsed to its side. Pikachu then fired an arcing bolt of electricity that shocked Mightyena into submission. "Dammit Mightyena! Return. " one of the men fustratedly said as he returned Mightyena to its poke ball.
Aggron was quick to fall without an ally. Pikachu, Eevee, and Deino gave the team the edge they needed to overwhelm the behemoth. Aggron crashed to the ground with a loud thump and sent vibrations through the earth. "Shit! Aggron, return! We've got to-"
The man was interrupted by the roar of a Salamence. "Mence!"
"Well, it seems you useless grunts can't do a single damn job right. "Ash only noticed the woman who was on top of the Salamence when she spoke out. Even so, Ash could barely discern her figure. It got easier to see her as she slid off her Salamence. The woman had silvery-white hair and wore black sunglasses. She had a dark blue coat on.
"Miss J! I'm so sorry!" The other grunt nodded as well and both of them fell to the ground.
"I'll deal with you two later. For now, let me deal with this young trainer." The woman swiveled around to look at Ash. Ash was busy analyzing the Salamence. The dragon made Aggron look like an Aron. Most Salamence were about five feet long. This one was easily over six feet long. Its red wings glinted dangerously, like it was covered in blood. The dragon's teeth shined even in the dim light, ready to shred through its prey. "Salamence, Flamethrower." The dragon released a jet of white flames that burnt through the air.
"Charizard, counter it with your own!" Charizard fired back a burst of orange flames that clashed with Salamence's own. The sheer power behind Salamence's attack cut through Charizard's fire and bowled Charizard over. That confirmed that Salamence was stronger than any single member of Ash's team. But, if he had all his Pokémon attack…
"Ariados. Drapion. Take all of them out except for the Deino, Gabite, and Cranidos. They're sure to fetch a high price on the market."
"Charizard, you're on Salamence. The rest of you take on Ariados and Drapion. " Ash commanded. Charizard was the only one that could reach Salamence when it took to the air. Just as Ash expected, Salamence shot into the air, Charizard close behind. If this wasn't a battle for his life, Ash would have loved the battle between Charizard and Salamence. T be honest, he was only watching the battle between the two dragons. Ash trusted that his other Pokémon would be able to take on Ariados and Drapion.
Salamence was the first to attack, tucking in its wings and flying at Charizard while surrounded by draconic energy. Charizard's body flared up, turning nearly white, and caught fire. Charizard took off and met Salamence midair. Charizard was tossed back multiple meters, but remained undeterred. Ash suddenly realized what move Charizard had just used. Charizard had learned Flare Blitz! There was no time to be excited, though, as Salamence let loose a twisting pump of water that spiraled into Charizard. Charizard countered with an Air Slash, the blade of wind flying between the Hydro Pump, sending both halves of the water different directions. Charizard then barreled into Salamence, covered in flames.
Salamence reared its head as it was knocked back, but was quick to react with its jaws, biting Charizard's arm and tossing it aside. Charizard crashed into the top of a tree, its tail catching fire on some leaves. That was as far as the battle reached. "Metagross, Giga Impact!" Ash swiveled around to the direction of the voice. It was a man who also had silvery-white hair. He wore a black tuxedo. The Metagross, who Ash assumed was the man's Pokémon , slammed into Salamence, sending the dragon reeling. Salamence was quick to regain balance, and both Pokémon circled each other midair.
Ash caught Charizard's battle-hungry eye and subtly shook his head before it could leave the tree. Either Metagross or Salamence could easily take out Charizard. While seeming annoyed, Charizard didn't argue and flew off the tree, down to Ash. Ash looked at where the woman had been standing, only to see her gone! Her two henchmen were in place, though, looking like Stantler caught in headlights. The man and his Metagross didn't give chase. Rather, the man sent out another Pokémon, his own Aggron. This man's Aggron made the one Ash had just fought look downright runty. It was about eight feet tall, compared to the other one that didn't even reach seven. "Aggron, make sure neither of them move a muscle. "the man commanded. Then, he turned to Ash.
Ash rained down his barrage of questions before the man could say anything. "Who are you? Who was that? Why are you here?"
The man chuckled. "I see you have a lot of questions. My name is Steven Stone. Where are you going?"
Ash replied, "Lavender Town."
Steven nodded. "Good. That's where I am headed. I'll explain the rest of your questions there."
Forget about the forest, Lavender town was a whole new level of fear. It wasn't anything that could be seen, touched, or smelled, but it was there, haunting you, hiding in your shadows, about to scare you at any time. Ash just got a bad feeling from the town, but he wasn't the only one. Lavender Town was known as the ghost town. Many trainers came to Lavender Town solely for the wide array of ghost Pokémon available here. Ash himself was planning to pay a visit to the Pokémon tower and see if he could find himself a ghost. Right now, though, he was sitting in front of the champion of the Hoenn region, Steven Stone.
Ash had only put the pieces together on the way to Lavender town, which turned out to be only an hour away from where he had set up camp. He knew that a man named Steven had been the champion of Hoenn, but that didn't explain why he was here. Ash had rented a hotel in the town, and Steven had invited Ash to dinner so he could explain everything.
Steven initiated the conversation as Ash bit into a surprisingly scrumptious grilled cheese sandwich. "The woman with the Salamence is a Pokémon poacher known as Hunter J. As far as we know, her base of operations in somewhere in Sinnoh."
"If she's from Sinnoh, why are you chasing her? You're from Hoenn." Ash pointed out.
"Hunter J started her poaching career in Hoenn, and we weren't able to stop her from poaching. She started her bigger operations in Sinnoh, though. The league decided the Hoenn league should take care of the threat because it was the Hoenn League's fault for letting her become such a threat." Steven replied.
Ash nodded. "So why's she in Kanto?"
"We don't know." Steven informed him.
Now, Ash started to ask the questions he care about the most. "What do you think of my Pokémon? You're a champion and all, do you have any advice?" There was no way in the world he was going to miss out on the chance to get tips from a champion!
Steven simply asked, "How long have you been a trainer?"
"About three months." Ash replied.
At that, Steven nodded, seeming impressed. "For only three months, your team is looking very solid. I would have to see them battle before I could give you good tips, but for now, I can only give you a suggestion on your Cranidos, since I'm familiar with rock-type Pokémon. Rock types need to be able to take as many hits as they can. When battling with a rock-type, don't go aggressively. Most times, only one or two attacks are all you need to finish. Just wait for the moment you can return an attack with a stronger one."
Ash nodded, desperately hanging onto every word Steven had to say. Every word that came out of the champion's mouth was invaluable to Ash. After the sliver of advice, the two made small talk. The whole scene was absurd to Ash. Casually chatting with the champion of Hoenn? That was never expected, not even in the wildest of his dreams.
Time flew, and Ash soon had to go. Ash said his goodbyes to Steven and walked to his hotel.
The Pokémon tower loomed in front of Ash. It was the next day, and Ash wanted a ghost-type Pokémon. He pushed the greasy handles of the door open, and took a look around the dusty, gloomy room. The carpet under him was purple, but Ash could barely tell. Ash looked at Pikachu, who was perched on his shoulder. "Let's go upstairs." The mouse immediately nodded agreement. It had been constantly sneezing since the moment they had come into the dusty room.
Ash walked up to the second floor, and looked around. The room was filled with gravestones that remained in front of buried Pokémon. Ash skimmed the room, but saw no Pokémon. He started to walk up the stairs, but turned when he felt a cold, wispy appendage touch his shoulder.
"What the- AHHHH!"
That's Chapter 23! A bit of a filler, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Also, please leave suggestions for a ghost-type. I have no idea which one Ash will get, if any at all.