Chapter 39
Another week has passed in the journey of Ash and his friends, and now it has been over 2 weeks in total since they left New Bark Town, and went toward Blackthorn City.
Normally it doesn't really take that long to go from one place to the other since the two places are not that far from each other, but the group took their time because they were making several stops a day to eat, and they were also using the time before or after launch to train, so Ash and Serena, but mostly Serena would be ready for their first gym battle in Johto Region.
In the last week since Serna caught Magicarp and Dratini, and Phanpy few days before that, she was training with Ash like crazy every day so she will be ready for her first gym battle ever, and in her opinion, she was doing great.
Her starter Fennekin is doing great in her training and is progressing fast, and will most likely evolve in a couple of weeks. The same goes for the Totodile who is about the same age as Fennekin, and has pretty much the same amount of training.
Butterfree is fully evolved Pokemon, and is doing some battles mostly to increase his endurance, and has learned one or two new moves.
Phanpy, after he recovered from the battle against all of Serena's Pokemon, was back to his hyperactive self, and it took several battles every day for him to calm down, and relax.
Phanpy's behavior was confusing everyone as none of them, not even Ash has ever seen Pokemon with that much endurance and desire to battle.
That all changed three days ago when during a sparing battle between Ash's Tyrunt and Phanpy, Phanpy evolved in the middle of the battle, and actually managed to make Tyrunt sweat a little until Tyrunt was finally able to win in the end.
Everyone was surprised by the power newly evolved Donphan has, as this was the closest someone has come to defeating Ash in a long time, and that it was the beginner trainer makes it even worse.
It was even more surprising, that after Donphan awoke from unconsciousness after the battle, he was almost like a different Pokemon. He was very calm, and there appeared to be no trace of hyperactivity and desire to battle every time, which made the others realize that Phanpy apparently always wanted to evolve, and that is why he wished to battle so much.
It made Ash even feel a little bed for Phanpy, because it didn't cross his mind to just ask Phanpy why he was behaving like he did. But, in the end, he guessed he can't always remember or think about everything.
Magikarp that Serena fished out of that lake, didn't get much training, but that was mostly because it was not easy to train Magikarp, or Pokemon like it on the dry land and without at least a lake or a bigger pond. So, for now, Magikarp's training is on hold until they encounter an area with a lake.
Then again, even though Serena still didn't train Magikarp, she made sure to take good care of it, as she didn't want Magikarp to think she doesn't like it, and then one day after it evolves into Gyarados to turn on her and attack her.
As for Dratini, it was discovered the day after Serena caught him, that he is quite strong for a Pokemon who never had a trainer, but they all guessed it was because Dratini are always powerful Pokemon, and since he was already quite a few years old, it was believable.
As of right now, Dratini is Serena's second strongest Pokemon, right after overpowered Donphan.
Right now, Ash and company have just passed over Blackthorn City, and were heading few miles north toward a place called Ice Cave, where Ash plans to train Serena for a few days.
They did stop at the Blackthorn City Pokemon Center first to check in the Center, and to have Nurse Joy check all of their Pokemon, and that's where they found out that there is in fact Pokemon Center inside Ice Cave, and there is a Nurse Joy there like in every other Pokemon Center, so in the end they decided not to check in Blackthorn City Pokemon Center, instead in the one in the Ice Cave after they get there.
It took few more hours of walking, until the group was in front of the Pokemon Center in the Ice Cave.
"I can't believe there is a Pokemon Center in a place like this," Misty said while shaking from the cold. Even though she put on a winter jacket, it still didn't help much in the freezing place that Ice Cave is. "I wonder why they even built it here."
"I don't know," replied Ash, as they walked into the Pokemon Center. "But I guess we can ask."
As soon as they approached the reception desk, Nurse Joy was there waiting.
"Welcome to the Pokemon Center," Nurse Joy said politely. "How may I help you?"
"Hi Nurse Joy, we are wondering if can check in a get two room to stay for a few days," Ash asked, while the others stood behind him?
"Certainly," Nurse Joy replied, but there was slight confusion on her face. "But can I ask why? I mean Blackthorn City is just few hours away from here, I'm sure you could make it there before the night, and there is a Pokemon Center there as well."
"We were already there, but our plan was to come to this cave a train for a few days here in preparation for the gym battle in Blackthorn Coty, and maybe catch some Ice Type Pokemon," replied Ash.
"Is that so," Nurse Joy questioned, but then shrugged, and started typing in her computer to get them two bedrooms. "Well, there is no problem, there are as much room here as you'd like since almost nobody stays here for more than one night, and that's only if trainers are too tired to walk few more hours until Blackthorn City, or they end up here during the night."
"I must be boring to be here all alone," Misty commented, and then sneezed because of the cold. She still didn't get warmed up even though it is warm inside Pokemon Center.
Nurse Joy smiled at Misty, and replied. "Sometimes it is, but I have responsibility just like any other Nurse Joy, and it is my job to take care of any trainer and their Pokemon when they pass through here, and to make sure the Pokemon that live here are taken care of, and the refrigerator is running well."
It confused the four trainers when she said refrigerator, so Serena asked. "What refrigerator?"
Nurse Joy just finished typing on her computer, and was to give them their keys when Serena asked her question, and she looked at her.
"This ice cave remains frozen and stable due to a large building acting as a refrigerator," Nurse Joy replied, and the others were stunned.
"You mean this entire cave is frozen because of refrigerator," Misty question in disbelief?
"Yes, but it's the entire building that acts as refrigerator, so it's not hard to believe that it can freeze this whole cave," Nurse Joy said, and gave Ash two room keys. "Most of the Pokemon only live here because it is so cold, and this place is their home. They are mostly Ice Type Pokemon, as there are not many places in Johto with this much cold where they can live."
"I knew this place is coved in Ice, but I must admit I always thought it was natural," Ash said. "But to learn that it is because of the refrigerator, I guess no matter how much one knows, there is always something new to learn."
"You are right about that, Ash." Brock agreed.
"Hey Ash, give me one key so I can go to the room and worm up, I'm freezing here," Misty said, as she came closer to Ash.
Ash and the others looked at her, and Ash gave her the key. "Are you ok, Misty?" Ash asked. "I know its cold, but it's not that cold, and you should have wormed up by now."
"How can you say it's not cold," Misty asked in disbelief? Even Brock, Serena and Nurse Joy looked at Ash with raised eyebrows, as he didn't seem to be bothered by the cold, as even Serena and Brock are showing signs of being cold, though not as much as Misty. "It's freezing out there."
"Well, I guess I must have gotten used to the temperature changes during my training as Aura Guardian, and while I was on Mt. Silver for a few months," Ash said. "I must have built a tolerance."
"I swear to god, sometimes I think you are not human," Misty said, then turned around and walked toward the stairs that led upstairs to the next floor where there are rooms, while the others stayed back.
"So how about you two," Ash asked looking at Serena and Brock. "Do you want to rest for the rest of the day, or are you up for checking the cave?"
"I think we should all take some time off of training and traveling for the remaining of the day, and can explore the cave tomorrow, and you and Serena can do some training," Brock suggested, and Serena agreed, as even though she wanted to train and prepare for the gym battle, she was tired and wants a little rest.
"I guess we can take some time off," Ash said, and they then went to the rooms, after saying bye to Nurse Joy.
XXX
Brock and Ash then went into one of the rooms, while Serena went to the one she will share with Misty.
"Hey Misty, are you really all right," Serena asked while Misty was lying on the bed, wrapped up in blankets?
"I'm fine, Serena, don't worry about me," Misty said.
"Ok, if you say so," Serena said. "But I think you should let Nurse Joy at least take a look at you."
"I've always been doing badly with cold, and this is nothing new," Misty said. "This place is the coldest I've been on in all my travels with Ash, so it might take a few hours for me to warm up."
Serena then finished making her bad, and lied down for a little nap, but before that, she asked. "Hey, what happened between you and Ash that day on the lake? You said that he did something, but what was it."
Misty opened her eyes, and looked at Serena. "I…I don't know if I should be the one to tell you about that," Misty said. "It's Ash's thing, he should tell you."
"You make it sound like it's something terrible," Serena said.
"Well… It is," Misty replied, and Serena just looked at her with slightly narrowed eyes, but said nothing. "I mean, he didn't do it because he wanted, he just wanted to save someone, and it got out of hand because he was angry. That's why I told him he's not the best person to tell me to control my anger, as I am temperamental, but he has a problem to control himself when he gets angry."
Serena was quiet for a few minutes, thinking about what Misty said, and about Ash's problem with anger, which she didn't notice in the almost three weeks they were traveling together, but then again, Misty has been with Ash for almost two years, and she knows him better.
"Do you think he will tell me?" Serena asked.
"He will," Misty said. "But it might be better to let him decide when he wants to tell you, and not to question him. Trust me it's not easy for him, and it took him awhile to get over it even with all the training he had, and how strong his mind seems to be, he is still just almost 12-year-old kid."
Serena sighed, and turned around toward the wall to have some sleep. "Ok Misty, if you think I should wait, then I will." Serena said, before she closed her eyes, and fell asleep few minutes later.
XXX
All four of them took a nap for a few hours, and in the evening, they came down in cafeteria for dinner, after which they came in the same room, and played some games and talked for a few hours, before they went back to sleep for the rest of the night.
In the morning, they all woke up in about the same time, and, after they finished everything in the bathroom, they walked down to have breakfast.
"So, what's the plan for today?" Serena asked, while they were eating.
"Well, you and I are going outside in the cave to train, and see if we can catch some Pokemon," Ash said, after he swallowed the food he had in his mouth. "As for Brock and Misty, you can do whatever you want."
"I'll stay here, I don't think I want to spend more time in the freezer then necessary," Misty said, and the other three laughed.
"I'll stay here as well, and maybe ask Nurse Joy to show me how to better take care of Pokemon, as she is a Nurse, and it might do me good to know more than just about Pokemon Breathing." Brock said.
"It's fine by me," Ash said, and after 10 more minutes, they finished their breakfast, and then split up, with Misty going back to her room, Brock went to find Nurse Joy, and Ash and Serena left Pokemon Center, and went outside in the cave to train.
XXX
"Hey Ash, do you know which Pokemon live here," Serena asked?
"Well, there are probably Zubat and maybe some Golbat, like in every cave," Ash said. "Then there should be Jynx, Delibird, Swinub, Sneasel, maybe if we are lucky there are some of their evolved forms. Maybe some other, but those are that normally live in cold places like this."
"Should I try to find one special of them, or should I try to catch any of them that we run into?" Serena asked.
"It doesn't matter, any Pokemon is going to become strong if you train it right, so you shouldn't bother with going after specific Pokemon," Ash said. "In fact, it doesn't even matter even if you don't catch any Pokemon here, all you have to do is train the ones you have, even more."
"Yeah but Ice Type would give me some advantage, as most of my Pokemon are at big disadvantage against Dragon Type's." Serena said.
"It might give you slight advantage, but remember, even if you catch a Pokemon, you only have few days to make it strong enough to take on the strongest gym leader in Johto, and because of that, the Pokemon you already have would be better choice, as even though they might not have the advantage, they are better trained, and they know you, and you know them much better than you would know your new Pokemon," Ash explained, but added. "Of course, if you are lucky enough to manage to catch a Mamoswine, or Weavile, then you will have big chance to win."
"Would I even be able to defeat one of them?" Serena asked.
"You would," Ash said. "Probably."
Serena glared at him, as he had a smirk. "Donphan is good enough to face any gym leader, and Dratini is powerful, and I'm sure he is close to evolving, so all you need is one more Pokemon, and we will train one of the others you have to fill that spot, and if we run into Mamoswine or Weavile, then you can capture it." Ash said.
"Fine, lets then start training, and not roam around without any aim," Serena said, and Ash agreed.
"Are we only going to spar, or will we do something else?" Serena again asked.
"Sparing is the best way for Pokemon to gain power and experience, so it's the best option we have," Ash said, Serena nodded, and then they started their training.
XXX
After Ash and Serena started their sparing, they went on for several hours every day for the entire week.
Originally Ash planed for them to stay in the Ice Cave for about five days, but it changed on the third day because during training spar, the battle attracted the attention of one of many Pokemon in the Ice Cave, and he showed up right in their sight, which caused Serena to challenge him to a battle.
The Pokemon that showed up was Piloswine, and Serena wasn't going to let this chance slip her away, because just as Ash said, she would be lucky if she runs into an evolved form of one of the Pokemon that live in the Ice Cave.
"Dratini use Agility and then Thunder Wave," Serena said to her Pokemon as Piloswine was coming at Dratini with Take Down.
Dratini quickly slithered all over the Ice, which by the way, didn't affect him as much as it should have considering he is Dragon Type Pokemon, and used his snake like body to move away from Piloswine's Take Down. As soon as he saw he was at the safe distance from Piloswine, Dratini started glowing blue, and released a blue stream of electricity from all over his body, that then went at Piloswine, and managed to hit him right on, but except from slowing him down, it didn't do much damage.
"Remember Serena, Piloswine, on top of being Ice Type, is also Ground Type, which makes him completely immune to Electric type attacks," Ash told her from few meters behind her, were he was standing and watching her fight.
"Yeah, I know, I just wanted to see if it will at least do something," Serena said.
"Dratini watch out," she suddenly yelled, as she lost her focus, and Piloswine was on Dratini hitting him repeatedly with his tusks, which is Fury Attack.
The repeated hitting, caused a lot of damage to Dratini, and sent him sliding on the Ice floor, and toward the wall where he collided with the said wall, and stopped.
"Oh no, Dratini, are you ok," Serene yelled for her Pokemon, worried that he was seriously injured by Piloswine's attack.
Dratini slowly moved from the wall, but very slowly as he was pretty beat up, and was close to finished.
Piloswine saw Dratini trying to stand up, so he decided to finish this fight, and opened his mouth and released Blizzard at Dratini.
"Dratini, move, and use Dragon Rage," Serena yelled, and Dratini's eyes suddenly flew completely opened, and with all the speed he had left got away for the Blizzard, and then when he was close in front of Piloswine, who was surprised that Dratini got away as he thought he was done for, Dratini opened his mouth, and released a blue orb with electricity dancing over it and then sent it right at Piloswine's head, which collided and sent Piloswine bouncing dozens of meters backwards until he collided with the Cave wall, which then broke, and a bunch of ice shards fell on him and almost completely buried him.
"Now finish him off with Hyper Bean just to be sure," Serena said, and Dratini fired his last attack for that day, in a form of a yellow beam of energy that hit directly on the buried Piloswine, which caused another explosion and another small destruction of the cave wall.
After the beam cleared away, and the mist that was created from heated attack and cold place, was gone, Piloswine was shown lying on the floor, with a bunch of bruises, and some ice shards still covering him.
"Ahm," Serena muttered as she was feeling herself around the waist like she was searching for something that was not there.
Ash looked at her, and knew what was wrong, and he smirked. "You forgot you don't have another empty Poke Ball!"
Serena blushed a little red, which was not from the cold, and looked at him, with a pout on her face after she saw his smirking face. "I forgot to buy some when we were going through Blackthorn City," she admitted. "You, wouldn't happen to have one to land me, do you?"
Ash then took one empty Poke Ball, and gave it to her, which Serena then used to catch Piloswine, after which she apologized to Dratini for losing focus like that, and let him get hurt.
He said it was fine, and then she returned him in his Poke Ball, and then took him and Piloswine back to the Pokemon Center, for Nurse Joy to treat them both.
This capture of Piloswine, is what made Ash decide to extend the training for two more days, so Piloswine can get more than just two days of training with Serena, and even though another two days won't exactly make much difference, it is still better than nothing.
Right now, after a week of training, Ash and the others are saying good bye to Nurse Joy, and her partner, Chansey.
"Bye, Nurse Joy, it was nice to spend so much time with you and learn so much from you," said Brock, who has spent a week learning from Nurse Joy to take medical care of Pokemon and not just breeding care.
"It was no problem Brock, it was my pleasure to help a young breeder who is interested in helping Pokemon," Nurse Joy said.
"Well, bye then, Nurse Joy, hope we meet again someday," said the other three, after which they left.
"Bye guys, drop by anytime you like," said Nurse Joy, as they were walking in the distance from her Pokemon Center.
"So, what do you think, Serena, are you ready for your first gym battle?" Brock asked, as they walked out of the Ice Cave.
"I don't know, I guess I'll see in a day or two, depending when I face the Gym leader," Serena replied.
"Don't worry Serena, you trained as hard as you could, and even if you lose it won't matter, because you will just train some more, and then you will win," said Ash. "Though if I have to say it, then I would say that you have a big chance to win the first time. You have become much better in this last few weeks, and all of your Pokemon are great."
This brought a smile on Serena's face. "Thanks, Ash, it means a lot to me when you say it." Serena thanked him.
"You are welcome," said Ash. "Now let's go, and have out first gym battle in Johto Region."
And so, the group of four continued down the road back to Blackthorn City.
