I'm not as think as you drunk I am.
I'm only a bit drunk, to the point where everything seems funny as fuck, even my broken finger. Heh, funny shit amirite? Kek.
Anyway, what can I say about this? Well, once upon a time. There was a story called Unova Remastered. Except, there wasn't, because Remastered implies that Unova happened. It never did. And neither did Alola...or Journeys for that matter.
That's why this is With Unova With Skill. Cuz Ash has obviously never been there before and it clearly needs fics about him going to such a region he's never been to. Kek.
Basically, this is a touched up version of something I diiiiiid ages ago. I'm trying so hard to get back the muse and respect I used to have for Ash. So I'll be updating shit with Ash as the main character in stories I have, to the best of my ability. Or give it my level - drunk - best!
Two weeks had come and gone since he parted ways with Iris and Cilan. Two weeks in which while they headed on towards Castelia City ahead of him, Ash doubled back and began a fourteen day training period using Don George's Battle Club facilities.
It was a sorely needed period of time. His newer pokemon had grown by leaps and bounds in that time, but it was mostly needed as a crash training course, for his starter pokemon after what had happened the very moment they arrived in the Unova Region.
"Ready, Pikachu?" Ash asked the small yellow rodent Pokemon on his shoulder.
"Pi pi, Pikachu? " Pikachu replied with smile and a node as the little yellow rodent pokemon made himself comfortable on his trainers shoulders.
Ash gave a small chuckle in reply, "When you were too busy gorging yourself on ketchup." The amber eyed teen supplied as they left the Nacrene City Pokemon Center and began walking down the busy street.
He'd been with Pikachu long enough, that even though they didn't speak the same language, he had a general feel for what his starter and partner pokemon was saying more or less.
"Pi! " Pikachu mock sniffed in distaste at Ash, before relaxing as a question seemingly popped into the small electric rodent's mind, "Pi pi Pika Pika-pi? " Pikachu questioned his Trainer as he lazed on Ash's shoulder.
Ash licked his lips as he replied, "Well buddy, I was checking the fastest routes to Nimbasa on the Pokemon Center's computers when you were sleeping last night." The wild haired Trainer replied, stopping a moment before he continued, "The fastest way on foot was through Pinwheel forest, but I found a route just as fast without the risk of getting lost."
"Pi...? " Pikachu tilted his small yellow head in askance
Ash looked up at Pikachu over his shoulder as he answered, "We're gonna take a shortcut just to the side of Pinwheel forest where we can get a ferry to Virbank City." He replied, "Not to mention, I found out it has a Gym there that specializes in Poison type Pokemon." He continued with a grin at the thought of another Badge to add to his growing collection of Unova Gym badges.
Pikachu lazily opened one eye and grinned right back at him, "Pi pi, Pika Pi." Pikachu inquired.
Ash grinned sheepishly as he reached up and rubbed one of Pikachu's long black tipped ears, "Only that the Gym Leader there, Roxie, is one of the most powerful Gym Leaders in the region, right up there with a guy called Brycen and another called Drayden who's reputed for being a Dragon Master." The Trainer answered, his voice a bit quieter and subdued than it had been before.
Dragon Master's after all, were no joke. And any capable of hanging on the same level as them, were formidable opponents
Pikachu went still as he processed that information, "Pi." The small Electric Type deadpanned. "Pi Pkachu Pika chu chu pi?" The small electric type asked his Trainer, his squeaky voice seeping with disbelief.
Ash just grinned at him, "We beat Claire back during our journey through Johto didn't we?" He asked his partner Pokemon, "And she was a Dragon Master, was she not?"
Pikachu sighed and leaned his face on Ash's hat, "Pi Pi Pikachu, pi pi pika pi!" Pikachu ranted to his best friend.
Ash just laughed in reply as Pikachu sighed, "Pi pi pi Pikachu chu pi." The small electric type lamented, eyes zeroing in on the backpack hanging below him on top of Ash's shoulder, where a certain evolutionary stone was located and had been since all those years ago when they first arrived in Vermillion City for the first time. It wasn't like he was totally against becoming a Raichu anymore, he just liked himself the way he was, or was before Zekrom stole most of his power from him, for reasons as of yet unknown.
Ash gave Pikachu a fond smile, it was always nice to hear how much his partner would willingly give him for him, but he wasn't about force Pikachu to evolve until it was an absolute necessity, "Nah, don't worry about it buddy." Ash responded, "We'll just have to start training harder than ever and until then we can go back to having you use Thunder for more power, we may have stopped using it because of how powerful your Thunderbolt was, but thanks to Zekrom we need the extra fire-power." The trainer continued.
Pikachu sighed but nodded nonetheless, "Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu said to Ash.
Ash nodded, "Alright then, but until then how do you feel about learning a new move that I spent hours researching last night?" He asked his starter Pokemon, "It'll make up for what you lost a little bit I think."
Pikachu quirked an eyebrow at Ash, "Pi?" The small rodent inquired, it had been a while since he learned any new moves.
"I'm thinking, Electric Terrain," Ash answered simply, "It'll give you a boost when you use it and make up for some of the power Zekrom zapped out of you."
Pikachu's other eyebrow joined the already raised one, "Pi Pikachu?" The mouse Pokemon said in return, surprised to learn of a move like that, "Pi Pika." Pikachu pointed out.
If they wanted to see any use of it in the next gym battle, they better get started working on it right
Ash nodded in agreement, "That was what I was thinking for the most part buddy." He agreed with the electric type pokemon.
A thought suddenly crossed Pikachu's mind, "Pi pi?" The yellow mouse inquired. He was curious, were there any other interesting moves he could learn to offset his loss in power?
Ash nodded in reply, "Oh yeah, there's a few. For instance there's a way to charge your body full of electrons and make yourself fly. You can also do something similar using that technique on a large body of water to perform the Surf attack and the Pokedex even said that Pikachu can learn how to use the Dig attack." Ash told his Pokemon who near enough went starry eyed at the mention of using Surf.
Pikachu was near day dreaming as he thought of using Surf to mow down all those Ground type Pokemon that caused him trouble over the years.
"Mwuahahahaha, bow before me weaklings!"A giant version of Pikachu roared with a delighted laugh as he rode a massive tidal wave of water.
"Aaaaaaaah!" Several Rock and Ground type Pokemon such as Rhydon, Onix and Sandslash huddled together and cried in fear and despair as the massive tidal wave ridden by their god the great Pikachu the Destroyer crashed down upon them and swept them away never to be seen again.
"But the move I saw that was suited to you the most..." Ash continued with an amused chuckle, "Had to be Petal Dance." The amber eyed teen finished.
And just like that Pikachu's daydream came crashing down around him as he faceplanted right into the back of Ash's head who just laughed. Righteously, at least in Pikachu's mind, the small electric rodent pumped a fist into the air as he declared mightily, "PIKA!" There was no way in hell a manly Pikachu like him was ever going to use such a sissy move, despite how powerful it was. That move was for girls and girls only in his mind and he was way too manly for his sexuality to be questioned. After all, how many female Pokemon were vying for his attention? May's Glaceon, Anabel's Espeon and Dawn's Buneary just to name a few of the fine poke ladies that had been ensnared by his manly Pikachuness!
Ash couldn't help it, he burst out into a full bellied laugh as he made his way towards Pinwheel Forest. He ignored the stares from the public around him; he knew he made quite a sight, his clothes didn't really garner much attention being that he wore one of his normal red and white Pokeball hats, a blue and white short sleeved zipper, black cargo jeans and red and black high-top sneakers. It was Pikachu who he was conversing with that garnered the attention of the Unova region natives, being that very few of them had ever seen a Kanto native Pokemon in real leaf, and he was just walking down the street with a Pikachu riding on his shoulder conversing with the small electric type like it was just any other Pokemon, which to him it was, he supposed.
Just over an hour later, Ash smiled he was turned around another large tree.
'From what I remember, the port for the ferry to Virbank should be about another ten minute walk from here.' Ash thought to himself. He was enjoying the walk through the outsides of Pinwheel Forest so far, they had seen quite a few Unova native Pokemon that he hadn't seen up until now, Cottonee and Venipede to name a few.
Turning around another tree, Ash grinned when he caught sight of a straight path through the forest, and in the distance a large boat towering over the tree's. "Almost there Pikachu, when we get on the ship I'll feed you guys, okay?" Ash said to the Pokemon on his shoulder.
Pikachu nodded with a smile, "Pi." The Electric Type responded.
"Kroko!" A deep guttural voice cried out in front of them, the voice sounding almost excited.
Looking up, Ash and Pikachu blinked owlishly as they caught sight of a Krokorok in a very familiar pair of sunglasses, "You again?" Ash questioned in a deadpan, receiving a nod from the dual Ground and Dark type, "Lemme guess, you're here to battle Pikachu again?" The Trainer asked with a sigh.
Krokorok was a primarily tan-colored, bipedal crocodilian Pokémon, having a long snout as typical of crocodilians, and a thick black stripe on the bridge. Krokorok's eyes were round and sepia-colored, with a circular pattern of black around them stretching between each eye, giving the impression of an archetypal robber's mask or a pair of glasses, with the ridges surrounding the eyes being large and protruding. Many thick black stripes were present down Krokorok's back, stretching to its pink-colored underside and encompassing its tan-colored limbs; Its tail had black spikes and black stripes running down it. But what made this Krokorok different from normal was the pair of small red rimmed dark sunglasses covering it's eyes.
"Krokorok!" Krokorok declared as it raised a fist into the air.
Ash grinned in reply "Alright then, we're always up for a battle! Right buddy?" He asked Pikachu.
"Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu crowed as he leaped down to the forest floor.
"You ready Krokorok?" Ash asked, getting a confident nod in reply from the crocodile like Pokemon. "Right, Pikachu start things off with Quick Attack!" He commanded.
Pikachu blurred forward, a blinding silvery white trail of energy exploding from behind the small Pokemon as he raced towards Krokorok, closing the distance between them faster than the blink of an eye and smacking Krokorok in chest, hard.
"Kroko!" Krokork cried out in pain as it was sent flying, crashing with it's back harshly against a tree, but it shook it's head and leapt to it's feet ready for more.
Ash smirked to himself. Zekrom may have stolen the majority of Pikachu's power, but he still had his blinding speed, and extremely strong – for a Pikachu – physical capabilities, having in the past been able to toss a Milotic and other large Pokemon.
Krokorok made the next move, Krokorok's body became surrounded in white. The white energy then receded from Krokorok's body and formed into two rings of white pointed energy orbs that orbited around its body. The white light then faded a moment later to reveal multiple small sharp pointed gray rocks.
"Kroko!" Krokorok roared as it pumped a fist forward, sending the rocks flying towards Pikachu at a blinding fast speed.
Ash's smirk grew a bit. Krokorok's attacks were powerful and fast, but when it came to Pikachu he wasn't fast enough.
"Pikachu, get in close with Quick Attack by using the rocks as stepping stones!" Ash ordered quickly.
Pikachu obeyed and exploded forward, silvery white energy trailing from behind him as the small electric type mouse blurred into a jump, landing on one of the soaring rocks, and then propelling himself forward blindingly fast from rock to rock as he made way towards Krokorok within a couple of seconds.
"Now!" Ash shouted out as he stepped to the side and let the many powerful rocks of Krokorok's Stone Edge fly past him and pulverize a couple of tree's, reducing them to sawdust, "Iron Tail!" Ash commanded.
Krokorok finally realized Ash and pikachu's plan, but also noted with how fast Pikachu was going, there wasn't much of anything it could do to counter, and so did the only thing that it could, threw it's arms up to protect it's face and prepared for impact.
And not a moment to soon, as Pikachu appeared in a blur of silvery speed swinging a glowing silver tail right into the side of Krokorok's face.
"KROK!" Krokorok cried out as it was sent sailing, crashing straight through a thick tree rather easily from the force behind Pikachu's Iron Tail attack, and crashing into another thicker three behind it, splintering it almost into sawdust although the tree managed to remain standing and in one piece for the most part as Krokorok slid to the grassy forest floor and lay there still.
"Way to go Pikachu!" Ash cheered as Pikachu bounded up to him and landed on his shoulder with a delighted cry of 'Pika Pi!'.
Ash petted Pikachu once with a smile before he turned his attention to the injured Krokorok who was slowly and shakily standing up using the tree for support, "You okay Krokorok?" Ash asked, his voice soft and concerned.
"Krokorok." Krokorok replied sadly as it hung it's head in defeat and began to slowly walk away, head and arms dropped low.
Ash watched the Pokemon walk away for a few seconds before a smile filtered onto hi face," Hey Krokorok?" Ash called out to the dual Ground and Dark type causing it to turn slowly and face him it's sunglasses slanted slightly to the side, "Come on, what are you gonna do now?" Ash asked when he had it's attention.
Krokorok's head dropped even lower as it answered with a shrug of it's shoulders and began turning to walk away again, "Hey!" Ash called again as he lifted a hand to show a Pokeball in it, "How about you come with us?" The young teen asked.
"Kroko?" Krokorok jolted up, rather startled by the sudden question.
"C'mon, we'll have a great time." Ash persuaded with a grin.
Krokorok seemed to think it over for a moment before it stood up again, head tall and a large grin on it's face as it nodded in agreement, "Kroko!" The crocodilian Pokemon crowed.
"Awesome!" Ash replied with a bigger grin and cocking his hand back, "Alright, Pokeball, go!" He shouted as he tossed the red and white sphere at Krokorok, smacking it straight in the head before opening and sucking Krokorok inside in a beam of red energy.
The Pokeball fell to the grass and rolled slightly from side to side as it glowed a deep red, one shake, two shake and on the third shake the Pokeball rolled to a still and gave of a small 'Ping' noise as Krokorok was captured.
"Sweet." Ash said as he looked to Pikachu on his shoulder, "Krokorok is bound to help out a lot against a Poison type Gym." The amber eyed teen continued, getting a nod of agreement from his Pokemon.
Grinning again, Ash walked over and picked up his newest Pokemon's Pokeball before clipping it to his belt beside the others.
"Alright, now on to Virbank City." Ash said to Pikachu with a smile as he began walking to the straight forest path again.
Night had fallen, and Ash leaned over the railing of the Ferry with a contemplative look on his face as he watched the moonlight in the water.
After feeding his Pokemon, he left them in his cabin, mostly to relax and get to know Krokorok better. His mind was on his upcoming Gym Battle.
Krokorok had a pretty good move-set with Stone Edge, Crunch, Dig and Brick Break, a well balanced attack set, even if there wasn't any long ranged attacks at all besides Stone Edge, but he was sure he could work with that, he had done amazing things with less before after all.
He was sure Pikachu could at least pull off one win, he may not have the fire power he used to, but with his speed he could run rings around even some of the fastest Pokemon and despite his small stature Pikachu could take a real beating and keep coming back for more, not to mention there was always Thunder. Pikachu had stopped using the attack because his Thunderbolt had reached a level where even some of the most powerful electric types couldn't reach with their own Thunder, and Thunderbolt was much quicker and less energy taxing to use, but now that Zekrom had stolen most of Pikachu's power they would again have to utilize the move until Pikachu could build his power back up to the level he had it at before, a level where he could go head to head with Legendaries like Regice and Latios and come out on top.
Even a low level Pokemon could defeat a high level Pokemon if the Trainer was good enough, and with Krokorok's power Ash was sure that with his abilities they could pull of a win together.
It was his other six Pokemon he was worried about. All of them were rather young, even Snivy who was the oldest and most powerful of them. But then Snivy had quite a disadvantage against Poison types, not to mention some on the level of what this Gym Leaders were so she was out. Oshawott, despite having finally been able to open his eyes and master Aqua Jet during their two week training at Don George's Battle Club, was still relatively new to battling and still flinched back in fear from stronger, bigger and more experienced Pokemon, so he was also out. And finally there was Tepig, who had no battle training at all until he started training it. Granted the small fire-pig had quite a bit of power, nearing Snivy in fact, it's move-set just just didn't compare to the others though.
Snivy had great moves, Leaf Storm, Leaf Blade, Vine Whip and Attract, and so did Oshawottt with Aqua Jet, Water Gun and Razor Shell. Tepig though had very few pitiable moves, Tackle, Ember and Flame Charge, the only good move out of Tepig's whole set was Flame Charge, but because of Tepig's small size and low amount of weight, the attack was nowhere near as effective it would be when Tepig evolved to a Pignite and gained body mass.
Pidove was fast and had a pretty good move set currently, but she lacked the durability and power needed. Swadloon was his most recent pokemon, having evolved during the two week training he'd spent doing with his pokemon, but was a grass type and was pretty stationary for now until he evolved again. And Scraggy? Well, his youngest pokemon wasn't even a full month old yet, he wasn't ready for any gym battle.
Despite how much stronger his six new Pokemon had gotten at the Battle Club in the past two weeks, they just were not ready and able to fight on the level of someone like this Roxie was, who was said to be on the same level as Drayden the Dragon Master, who was near equal in strength with Dragon Master Claire, who trained with Lance herself and could give the Elite Four a run for their money.
Ash sighed, it was so hard to get used to using low level Pokemon again especially after using Pokemon like Torterra, Sceptile and Infernape.
"Wait a second." The amber eyed Kanto native said to himself with a sudden blink, "There's nothing stopping me from getting one of my more experienced Pokemon from Professor Oak, I've already got 4 new Pokemon and I'm happy with them." He continued.
"Hmmmm..." Ash mused as he leaned his chin on his hand that was resting on the railing of the ferry.
He had so many Pokemon it was hard to choose, although he didn't really want to bring Charizard all the way from the Charizific valley just for some Gym battles. Charizard was his strongest Pokemon and only ever wanted to battle extremely powerful Pokemon to help him achieve his dream of becoming the most powerful Charizard in the world. Ash grinned at the thought, how many Charizards had defeated a Legendary like his had?
No, Ash decided, he wanted one of his older Pokemon, strong and more experienced than the young ones he had with him just now, but one that still needed to train themselves to reach the level his Pokemon like Sceptile and Infernape were at.
It was so hard to choose he mused. Quilava maybe? But he already had a fire-type with him, the same would rule out Bayleef, Bulbasaur, Buizel and Totodile. Kingler maybe? Kingler was one of his strongest Pokemon when it came to physical attacks though, and a water type on top of that. Noctowl could use some work he supposed, Corpish too for that matter, and a few others that came to mind as well.
Gible? Ash thought on that as he remembered the Sinnoh Champion Cynthia completely crushing his rival Paul's strongest Pokemon like they were bugs, a powerhouse like that would be really helpful in the long run Ash supposed, kind of like having another Charizard on the team except this one not a Fire type, and he had no Dragon's with him, not to mention he was sure Iris would love to meet his Gible, she went just gaga over Dragon Pokemon and he thought his Gible was pretty special, learning Draco Meteor when he was so young was, after all, quite the accomplishment.
Ash sighed and stood up as he felt rain drops hit his bare arms, "I'll decide tomorrow when I get to Virbank City, for now I'll just go get something to eat, spend time with my Pokemon and have a good nights rest." He said aloud to himself as he crossed his arms behind his head and began making his way back to the inside of the ferry and on the way to his cabin.
Ash's Team (On Hand)
Pikachu - Male - Static - Thundershock, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Thunder Wave, Electro Ball, Volt Tackle, Quick Attack, Agility, Iron Tail, Double Edge
Pidove - Female - Super Luck - Gust, Quick Attack, Wing Attack, Double Team, Air Cutter
Oshawott - Male - Torrent - Razor Shell, Water Gun, Aqua Jet, Tackle,
Tepig - Male - Blaze - Tackle, Ember, Flame Charge
Snivy - Female - Overgrow - Attract, Vine Whip, Tackle, Leaf Blade, Leaf Storm
Scraggy - Male - Shed Skin - Headbutt, Focus Blast
Swadloon - Male - Swarm - String Shot, Razor Leaf, Bug Bite, Tackle, Energy Ball
Krokorok - Male - Moxie - Dig, Stone Edge, Crunch, Brick Break
Yaaaaay. As some of you can guess. I took out that shitty poke-speech with Pikachu. Why the fuck did I ever do that? So cringe. Go explode younger Jord you non drunk tard!
...Wait, I was most likely drunk when I wrote it. Dun! Dun! Dun!