A/N: So, I actually finished the new chapters nearly ten days ago, but life as been hectic and stressful and I just couldn't bring myself to post it, so there was a bit of a delay as I pulled myself back together.
A/N 2: I will also be posting a chapter for my Naruto story for those of you reading that. For those of you interested, I have nearly finished the next chapter in Hell Have No Fury, which should be up by the end of the next month. Shameless plugging of my other stories :) go check them out.
A/N 3: I apologies for the inconsistency in chapter length, it doesn't get any better from here ;)
A/N 4: I'm still hoping for ideas on future opponents if you want to leave me a review with your character, please include the following:
Basic appearance (hair color, eye color, preferred clothing colour etc)
Any definable personality Personality traits (Not compulsory)
Pokemon 1:
Pokemon 2:
Name:
Chapter 9: Arc 2: First Mission
Once Harry had gotten a good assessment of his Pokemon's move pool, he decided to return to the path and begin walking towards Viridian. The Capture Device told him that there were two nests of Spearow and Fearow along the main path, and he felt it would be better to deal with these ones since they were the most likely to be the ones which attack new trainers.
During the assessment of his Pokemon, he had learnt that Kirlia suddenly had access to more powerful psychic-energy which also meant he was having trouble controlling the power and fineness of the majority of his moves. Because of this, Harry had him practising levitating a rock in front of him as they walked. For Torchic, he had decided to have the small Pokemon out of her Pokeball and walking at his side so as to help increase her stamina. Once she began getting to tired, Harry would return her.
While they were walking Harry was explaining their training plan. "Kirlia, the first thing we need to do is get a hold on your psychic energy. We'll be going through several control exercises and I also want you to learn Focus Energy from Torchic, which should help. We'll be continuing your previous physical training in order to improve speed and strength. I'm also going to start teaching you how to fight like I do, which should help when you face a fighting type Pokemon like Machamp or Hitmonlee. Of course, we're going to have to adapt and work out the change in stance and strength from having an extra arm.
As for moves, I want you to learn future sight since that will be very effective against Ghost type Pokemon, and if I need to pull you from a battle and send out someone else, it will be a good last move to use. From there, we'll focus on teaching you Zen headbutt and Dream eater, since you can now use more psychic type moves during battle so it won't be a waste to teach you a few more to use. Zen Headbutt is a physical move which focuses your energy to your head which you then slam into your opponent. Learning Focus energy first will help with learning that, especially since you already know Calm Mind. Once you have those down, we'll work on diversifying your move pool with Ice punch and Fire Punch, as well as two distance moves in Icy Wind and Magical Leaf. The ice type moves will likely be the hardest for you to learn, especially since you don't have a reference for them. We may have to see if we can't find a water or ice type Pokemon willing to demonstrate those moves first. I would worry about Fire Punch, but I'm sure Torchic can help you learn how to harness that energy."
"So, I'll be learning eight more moves." Kirlia hummed thoughtfully. "What's my time limit?"
"One month for everything accept Icy Wind and Ice Punch. Those I'll give you two months to learn." Harry said confidently. It normally took two weeks for a Pokemon to learn a new move, and another two weeks to master that new move. But Harry had confidence in both his training schedule and his Pokemon.
"What about me?" Torchic asked excitedly. Since Torchic was out of her Pokeball, Harry had kept an open telepathic link between them so she could communicate with him easily.
"I've got nine moves I'd like you to learn before you evolve, however some of them I'll leave until later since you can still learn them as a Combusken. We'll start with Quick Attack, Fire Spin, Flame Burst and Sand Attack. These we'll increase your effectiveness in battle and are good starting moves to learn while we focus on improving your stamina, strength and speed. I'm sure Kirlia will be happy to complain to you about how I do that." Harry glanced in amusement at his first Pokemon who had indeed started grumbling about torturous early morning runs and having to wear weights.
"Once you have those three moves down, we'll move on to learning Flamethrower and Low Kick. The remaining moves of Bounce, and helping hand are moves you can learn once you evolve if you end up evolving before you can learn them. Of course, you can wear an Everstone to ensure you learn all eight moves before evolving, but it's up to you." Harry finished giving the list of moves he wanted Torchic to learn.
"Can I think about it?" Torchic questioned hesitantly.
"Of course. I would recommend that you spend a few days getting familiar with my training schedule before you make the choose of weather you wear the Everstone as a Torchic, or wait until you're a Combusken." Harry smiled reassuring down at her.
"Now, an important aspect of my training with you is battle experience. As well as fighting trainers on the road, I'll also have you doing training battles against each other so you can get used to taking commands from me, and it also encourages you to respond to an opponent's move without my orders since there isn't always time in battle." Harry said seriously. This was something he's been working on with Ralts when the Potter Pokemon let him command them in battle.
}(((((* A Few Hours later*((((({
Harry had just had lunch when he came across an unusual and worrying sight. The woods had thinned to a large clearing which had the occasional dotted tree and long grass. This was the normal environment that a Pidgey could be found in, but nesting in the trees on the right side of the clearing was the Spearow and Fearow flock that he had been looking for. What was very worrying about this entire scene, was that there was a boy stood by a lone tree, trying to convince his Pikachu to attack a Pidgey who was stood about ten metres from the boy.
The boy was short, around the same height as Harry, who was himself on the shorter end for an eleven-year-old. He was wearing light blue jeans, a darker blue jacket with white sleeves and collar, green gloves and his messy black hair was held back under a poke-ball hat. This was the boy who had run past him in a panic in order to get to Professor Oak, which meant that the Pikachu who had now turned his back on the sulking boy, was the final starter type Pokemon that the Professor had given out.
"Hay, kid." Harry called, jogging so he could get to the kid before he could start shouting or battling and getting the attention of the Spearow and Fearow. Torchic would have fallen behind at the increase in pace, but Kirlia picked her up using his telepathy, much to her joy if the happy chirps where anything to go by.
"Oh," the boy span around his eyes wide in surprise before his face broke into a smile. "Hay," he greeted with a sheepish smile.
"My name's Harry, these are my friends Kirlia and Torchic." Harry introduced himself and his Pokemon, offering his hand.
"I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet town. And that's my Pikachu." He proudly pointed to his Pokemon once he had shaken Harry's hand, only to deflate when Pikachu simple turned his nose up at him. "Or I suppose, I'm hoping that Pikachu will accept me as his trainer. Professor Oak gave me him today."
"Have you tried explaining to Pikachu what your plans as a trainer are? How you're going to train him and what you ultimately want to do? Some Pokemon are very picky about the sort of trainer they accept." Harry questioned. He didn't reach out to Pikachu telepathically since it was up to Ash to convince Pikachu to stay with him.
"Do you think that will help?" Ash asked, glancing longingly up the tree.
"I'm sure. While you two talk, I'm going to go over there-" Harry pointed to the trees with the Spearows and Fearows. "I've got a job to do for Professor Oak."
"Thanks for the advice." Ash suddenly bounced back energetically, turning to climb the tree.
Harry headed over to the trees, stopping about five metres away when the Spearow and Fearow started moving restlessly. "Okay, this is our first battle situation so let's get this over quickly before they have the chance to swarm. Kirlia, I want you to use Thunder Wave and then Hypnosis. Torchic, I want you to hit any of the ones Kirlia misses with an Ember. We don't give them a chance to attack back." Harry gave his order's telepathically since he wanted them to get used to this. If he didn't shout out the moves, then he didn't give his opponent a chance to think about a counter or time to dodge. Thought was also quicker than the spoken word.
Kirlia immediately jumped forward from where he was stood at Harry's right side, so he was about a metre in front of him. While he was releasing his first Thunder wave up into the trees (covering a far greater area than he would normally be able to achieve), Torchic hopped so she was about half a pace in front of Harry and stood to Kirlia's left. This meant she was out of his way, but still had plenty of space to start spitting embers at any Fearow and Spearow that took to the sky. When Kirlia followed his attack up with Hypnosis, the feral bird type Pokemon started to drop like flies.
As Harry started throwing the Capture balls at the fallen Pokemon, Kirlia swopped tactics, sending swift out to join with Torchic's Ember to catch the few who had stayed awake and had decided to attack. Eventually, the handful of Spearow and Fearow who hadn't been captured/knockout decided that this was a lost battle and took to the skies. Harry caught the remaining Pokemon who had fallen, with Kirlia using his psychic abilities to levitate the capture balls towards him.
"Thank you, you guys did amazing." Harry hugged Kirila once all the balls had been stored in the capture device, before crouching down and hugging Torchic. "Torchic, do you want to go back into your poke-ball for the rest of the day? You've done a lot already."
"Will we be training later? Krilia says that you train before dinner?" Torchic questioned.
"Yes," Harry confirmed this fact, he planned on doing the majority of his training in the morning and the late afternoon, with the days spend travelling.
"Then I think it would be a good idea for me to rest before then." Torchic decided.
"That's fine. We'll get your stamina up, but that will take time." Harry reassured Torchic as he returned her.
Harry returned to where he was being watched by an astonished Ash and a still gloomy looking Pikachu.
"How did you do that? I've never seen anyone take out so many Pokemon at once? Why did you attack all of them? What type of Pokemon where they? Your Pokemon must be so strong? What are they? Can you teach me how to do that? How did you have so many poke-balls?" Ash jumped from the tree and started rattling off questions rapidly.
Pikachu also left the tree and came over to investigate Harry and Kirlia curiously. Harry knelt down and offered Pikachu his hand to exam.
"Pic, pica?" Pikachu question, glancing to Kirlia.
"He wants to know if you can teach him to be that strong." Kirlia explained to Harry, who still hadn't reached out to Pikachu's mind.
"Thank you, Kirlia." Harry took a seat, with Kirlia copying his motions and sitting next to him. "Pikachu I can't teach you to be strong, that's Ash's job. He's your trainer."
"He wants you to train him?" Ash slumped onto the ground; his questions momentarily forgotten.
"You told Pikachu your dream?" Harry questioned the boy. It was clear that no one had taught him how to actually be a Pokemon trainer and how to earn a Pokemon's respect. Nor had he learnt the different types of Pokemon if he couldn't recognise Kirlia or Torchic by appearance or name and they weren't uncommon Pokemon.
"I want to become a Pokemon Master, the strongest trainer ever." Ash announced brightly.
"Okay, and how would you go about that?" Harry asked as Kirlia laid down, placing his head on Harry's lap. Harry automatically used his hand to start gentle threading through his hair. Kirlia sent feelings of pleasure through their telepathic link which they never closed.
"Um… well by taking part in the Indigo tournament and beating everyone." Ash said after a moment of waffling.
Harry raised an eyebrow at that. "Ash, what is a Pokemon Master?"
"A Pokemon Master is someone who has the strongest Pokemon and can't be beaten." Ash announced strongly. Harry stared at the boy in shock, and even Pikachu faceplanted in horror.
"What did they teach you at school?" Harry muttered in disbelief. He couldn't belief that Kanto had such an inept school system that they hadn't covered anything about being a Pokemon trainer. "There are officially eight levels of Pokemon trainers: the Pokemon traveller, Contest Winner, Ranger, Ace, Gym leader, Elite four, Champion and Pokemon Master. Of course, at each of these levels there are different types and levels. It is quite common for Gym leaders, elite four and Champions to have mastered a specific type of Pokemon. For example, the Kanto and Johto Champion is Lance and he is a Dragon Master. Steven Stone, the Hoenn region Champion, is a Steal Master. The Gym leader for Pewter city, Broke, is a Rock master and so on.
In order to become a Pokemon Master you need to defeat all eight gyms from all eight regions, as well as come first in their respective leagues. Then, you need to defeat all of the elite four members of the eight regions before facing the champions and beating them. Finally, you need to have at least six Pokemon of every type trained to the level of the Elite Four at a minimum." Harry explained the criteria listed for a Pokemon Master. "The last person to be a Pokemon Master was Godric Gryffindor, although it was believed that Salazar Slytherin's team was just as varied and strong, but he chose not to officiate his status."
"But that, that was a thousand years ago." Ash said, his eyes wide as he realised the enormity of his goal.
"So Ash, do you still believe that you can become a Pokemon Master?" Harry questioned.
"Yes," Ash said determinedly.
"The strongest Pokemon are those who have a strong bond with their trainers. Tell me Ash, what moves does Pikachu know?" Harry questioned.
"Um… I don't know." Ash admitted with a frown.
"Have you scanned Pikachu with your Poke-dex? That will tell you what moves Pikachu have. Once you know that, you can begin working on improving the strength of those moves as well as teaching him new ones." Harry coached.
"We're going to end up adopting this kid and his Pikachu, aren't we?" Kirlia asked as Ash grabbed his poke-dex from his pocket. Pikachu had been sat quietly next to Harry the entire time, simple listening to the true meaning of Ash's dream.
"I don't think it would be right leaving him alone when he knows so little about Pokemon and what it means to be a trainer. If we leave him, he might not make it to see next week." Harry admitted. "Besides, there's something about him… can you feel it?"
"He's aura, it's blocked, but if he trained it could be strong. Not as strong as yours, but still very strong for a non-psychic human." Kirlia agreed.
"He's also got the mark around him… the mark of a legendary."
"Lugia." Kirlia identified the legendary that had marked the boy in front of them. Harry could feel the power that was looped through Ash's, but he didn't have the fundamental understanding that Kirlia had off who that power belonged too.
Pikachu, the electric mouse Pokemon. This Pokemon lives in forests away from people. When several of these Pokemon gather, their electricity could build and cause lightning storms.
This Pokemon is male.
Ability: Lightning Rod
Egg move: Charge
Moves: Spark, Thunder, Thunder bolt, tackle, slam,
"Impressive." Harry complimented Pikachu who preened proudly. "You have the makings off a very powerful Pikachu. Especially when faced with flying, ice, water and steel type Pokemon. Lightning rod will also make you very effective against electric type Pokemon, since their electric type moves will simple make you stronger."
"Huh?" Ash asked confused.
"Ash what do you know about the different types of Pokemon, specifically who is strong against who and who's weak against who?" Harry sighed.
"Um… water is weak against electric?" Ash proposed.
"Yes. But it's more complicated than that. How many different pure typing are there, and how many can you list?" Harry quizzed. He wasn't going to just give Ash the answers, he was going to make the boy work for them. This was one of the easy questions that had been asked at the beginning of his Pokemon Study exam (the exam started with easy questions, and got harder the further into the booklet they got).
"Normal, electric, poison, water, fire, grass, fighting, psychic." Ash held up his fingers and started counting them off, but he got stuck at eight types. "I don't know the rest."
"Dragon, fairy, ghost, ground, rock, steel, dark, ice, bug and flying." Harry finished the list.
"Oh, I did know that. I just couldn't remember." Ash admitted, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"There are eighteen different pure types. And then you have the duel typing which you need to be aware off since they affect what move types will and won't work against them. But, for the sense of simplicity let's focus on something you'll need to know soon. The First Gym you'll face is the Pewter Gym against Gym leader Brock, who uses Rock and Ground type Pokemon. As he is at the minute, Pikachu is a very bad choice. Ground type Pokemon are immune to electric type moves, while Rock types are very resistant. If you want a chance at beating the gym, I would suggest either capturing and training a new Pokemon, or teaching Pikachu a move like Iron tail. Rock and Ground type Pokemon are weak against steal type moves." Harry explained.
"So, what do you say Pikachu, you up to letting me help you learn Iron Tail so we can go against the first gym?" Ash asked hopefully.
"pic, pica." Pikachu said hesitantly.
"Why don't you give him a chance? You never know, Ash could be a whizz at battle strategy, and he just needs some time to learn more about Pokemon and training them. I'll be travelling with him to help him learn what he needs to know." Harry tried to pursued Pikachu.
"You will?" Ash asked, his eyes wide.
"If you wouldn't mind?" Harry smiled at him.
"No, I don't mind at all." Ash shook his head rapidly. "Wait, you never explain what happened earlier or what your Pokemon is."
"This is my first Pokemon, Kirlia." Harry introduced Kirlia again who waved lazily. He was boneless in Harry's lap. When he'd been a Ralts he'd like the feeling of being groomed, but having Harry run his fingers through his hair was so much better! "He chose me when I was seven. He evolved from a Ralts this morning, since I'd been using an Everstone so he didn't evolve before I started my journey. He is a Psychic/Fairy type Pokemon. Because he's been with me so long, I've been training him to master all his moves which was why he was able to take down so many Fearow and Spearow, mostly on his own.
My starter Pokemon, who I got from Professor Oak this morning, is a Torchic. Torchic's are a fire type Pokemon who are normally the starter types of the Hoenn region. I asked her to use ember against the Fearow and Spearows so I could get a gage on how powerful the move is, and because I wanted to test her in a battle situation."
"Why did you attack the Spearow and Fearow and how come you had so many pokeballs? I thought we were only allowed six?" Ash frowned.
"I'm an Independent Contractor, which means I get sent jobs in my local area which I can complete. Which is why I have more pokeballs, specifically designed to capture these Pokemon." Harry explained simple. "But I think it's time you got to know Pikachu better. Perhaps it would be best if you tested Pikachu's control over his moves by commanding him in battle? Pikachu would you allow that?"
"Pik, pik, pika." Pikachu slowly nodded his assent.
"Awesome." Ash jumped to his feet excitedly, looking around the clearing for a Pokemon for him to catch.
"If you walk, quietly, about five yards that way you'll find a Pidgey." Harry directed Ash to the right. The Pidgey he had first been trying to get Pikachu to attack had left long ago. Harry encouraged Kirlia to stand so he could follow the boy and see how he did commanding his starter Pokemon in battle.
"Okay Pikachu, let's do this." Ash turned his cap around, so the visor was now at the back of his head. "Let's start with tackle, and while close use spark."
Pikachu was very fast despite having no speed training. By the time the Pidgey realised it was being attacked, Pikachu was already there. Pikachu used his head to hit the Pidgey in the chest, sending both of them skidding across the ground. Before they had come to a stop, Pikachu's cheeks started sparking and he released a surged of electricity into Pidgey before jumping back. Although they could see the visible sparks of electricity sparking of Pidgey, the move hadn't been strong enough to fully paralysis the flying type. Pidgey started flapping their wings in an attempt to use gust and get some distance away from the electric mouse.
"Pikachu, use thunder." Ash clearly didn't want to completely knock out the flying type by using the more powerful thunderbolt, which was very clever off him since this was a battle to capture a Pokemon and not in order to defend himself. Pikachu followed through with the order, and the second electric attack was enough to knock the Pidgey out. Ash threw a Pokeball, which landed true and the Pidgey disappeared in a burst of red light.
"Yes, Pikachu, you did it. We caught a Pidgey." Ash picked up the Pokeball and held it aloft in his victory.