A/N: All very solid Ghost-type Pokémon ideas! However, I just realized there was one type I was missing outside of Ghost-type as well, so I think I have a clear choice. It would involve a canon Pokémon normally, but there is a way around it.
I do have to address one specific reviewer here, because it's just ludicrous at what they said.
alpha: I'm sorry, but... is this your story? Did you even read my author's notes? The Pokémon you probably deem "strong" have been used a lot in fics. I'm going by Anime logic here, not game logic. Stats and levels do not exist in this story. Me mentioning the word "level" is just in general, not a numerical number. But I must correct you, a level 100 Girafarig could one shot a newly evolved Salamence at level 55 with a Hidden Power Ice. So, no, I will not reconsider the choices I have chosen for Ash. While I'm glad you like my story, if you don't like my choices, you could always write your own story, or find one of the many fics that give him the overused Pokémon I'm sure you want to see.
UltimateCCC: No travel companions, at least not for a long while. I felt like that is was held him back for the most part. Especially in finding himself and progressing. Most of the other trainers in the Anime tended to travel alone. But that is all just my opinion of course.
Guest: Oo, I want to say something about that, but that's a spoiler. You'll see at the end of the chapter if I end it like I imagine it. If not, next chapter then.
Khangshadow: Ferroseed isn't going anywhere, I promise.
hobbes319: You would be right, but funnily enough, Joltik can't learn Mega Drain or Leech Seed. But she basically learns Mega Drain anyway through powering up Absorb. She just continues to practice it until it's strong enough to be considered Giga Drain. (And yes I know I'm having Ferroseed learn Vine Whip, so why not Mega Drain? Believe it or not, Giga Drain is weaker than Thunderbolt at 75 base power, so it's plausible regardless.) Trust me, I thought about this while writing it. It's not much different than going from Thunder Shock to Thunderbolt. It's a 55 base power jump either way.
TinyPoisonFlower: Thanks a bunch! I don't know if I will continue with him having some of your favorites, but we can only see, right? As for the plot, yeah, the plot is basically Ash himself. One hint for you: Role reversal. If you've been vigilant, I'm sure you've started to see it happen.
Unknown: I thank you for liking the story! To answer your question on Charizard, rather, Charmander, you will see. He doesn't die, no worries. As for your other questions, I heavily thought about Mimikyu, but I already have a Fairy-type planned for him. Once he has all the type combos I want for him, I will be expanding his roster. I have plans for him to get back his school Pokémon, but not for a while. Persian is obvious as he is the nearest one to Ash. The other 2 you will have to wait on. :)
ilayhyams: Glad you like the story! To answer your first review, I thought I made it clear? Perhaps not, heh. Agatha made him very nervous. Also, it was a nod to the opening scene of the original games and the Anime opening. And lucky for you, here's the update!
Thanks for the other reviews and Ghost-type suggestions as well! As I stated, I do believe I have made my choice, but I can change it later if I feel like my choice won't fit in.
Chapter 4: The Pewter Conspiracy: Part 1
'Finally!' Ash thought as he exited the forest, Joltik perched atop his head as usual. He was hot, sweaty, filthy, and his leg was killing him. All he wanted at this point was a nice hot bath to soak in for a few hours and a long nap. The quick dips in the small pond he had come across just did not cut it.
It had taken them a lot longer than Ash thought it would to get through Viridian Forest. The wrong paths and turns he took frustrated him to no end, and it had made them stuck in that forest for a whole week and a half longer than anticipated. On the plus side of things, however, he got in a lot of extra training time with his team of two.
Before they parted, as promised, Ritchie's Bulbasaur, Sap, had helped Ferroseed out in learning Vine Whip to the best of his ability. The spiky ball of steel still did not have it down pat, but he had made a lot of progress in forming vines from his spikes, nonetheless. Ash had offered to let him learn something else in between practicing Vine Whip, but Ferroseed vehemently denied the offer, completely intent on mastering the difficult move first and foremost.
The young trainer just gave up and let the Pokémon be for the time being. He knew the Grass and Steel-type would want to learn new moves soon enough, so Ash decided not to push him. That did not mean, however, that the spiky seed got out of the new endurance training regimen he had set up for his two Pokémon, much to Ferroseed's disgruntlement.
Joltik, on the other hand, swiftly mastered Giga Drain, like he knew she would, and had moved on to learning Thunderbolt. Ash knew it would not take long for her to learn it, and he had been right. However, she still did not have it mastered at this point and time, but the little spider was getting there. The trainer knew his first friend would have it down soon enough.
Her biggest achievement, though, was her endurance. With the new training he had implemented, she had grown leaps and bounds in the week and a half they had been lost in the forest. It definitely was not his Pokémons' favorite training, as they ended up bombarding one another with attacks until they could not take any more, but the results were proof it worked, and in the end, his two partners reluctantly agreed that it was making them sturdier.
Joltik had also had her first molt in the last week as well, which made both her and Ash quite happy; it meant she was one step closer to evolution. The molting had left her vulnerable for a couple of days, so he had her take it easy, but by the third day, she was back to normal and ready to fight and train once more.
Taking a deep breath, Ash looked out over the clifftop that he and Joltik stood on and down at the small city below.
"Pewter City... we're here," he murmured to himself, Joltik giving a small click in response, her own eyes sweeping over the buildings that lay below them.
Letting out a small groan at the downward path to the city, Ash sighed in resignation and began his descent, wincing in pain every so often. The sooner he got this over with, the sooner he would be at the Pokémon Center, he knew.
Forty-five minutes later he stood at the front desk of the Pewter City Pokémon Center, having already returned Joltik to her ball before entering the automatic doors. Ash looked a bit shocked at seeing the Nurse Joy standing behind the counter, who looked identical to the one in Viridian City, but decided not to question it.
"Hey, Nurse Joy, could you heal and look after my Pokémon for a while? As well as get a room?" Ash asked, setting Ferroseed's and Joltik's Pokéballs on the counter gently.
"Sure! I will just need your trainer information and ID, please," Joy responded jovially, typing away at her computer. Ash complied and pulled out his Pokédex, opened it up to his trainer page, and handed it over to the nurse.
"Thank you," she said, plugging a wire into Ash's device before continuing to type. A beep sounded, and Nurse Joy smiled while unplugging the Pokédex from the wire. "All set, Mr. Ketchum! Your room will be 3A, which is down the hall on your left." She handed him a key card as she was talking. "Your Pokémon will be up here and ready within an hour, whenever you want to come to get them."
"Thanks, Nurse Joy," Ash said, smiling. He turned and started towards his rental room, eager to get in an actual bath and soak his sore leg.
He quickly came upon the door to 3A and swiped his card, entering the room as soon as the door unlocked. The young trainer swept his eyes over said room, taking it in for a few seconds. It was just a plain room with a bed, a small dresser, a video phone with a basic computer next to it, a TV, and a wardrobe, but it was leagues better than camping out in a muggy forest, that was for sure.
Setting his backpack down on the bed, Ash swiftly pulled out a clean pair of comfortable clothes, his toiletries, and his medication, before heading to the door that lead to the bathroom. Once he entered, he sat his toiletries in their appropriate places and started drawing his bath, pouring his medicine under the running water. He stripped and got into the tub, sighing in pleasure as he did so. 'Man I missed this.'
Ash laid there for a while, letting the medicine do its job. He knew it was working as the ache in his leg slowly ebbed away after several minutes. Afterward, he washed up and got out of the bath and dried himself off, putting on the comfortable clothes he had picked out before leaving the bathroom and flopping face-first onto the bed, avoiding his backpack, and groaned into the pillow. The raven-haired trainer sighed deeply and turned over, staring up at the ceiling in contemplation, his mind racing around multiple things all at the same time. Eventually it settled down to where he could focus after a couple of minutes.
'I should probably stay here until my leg heals up completely. Glad the rooms are free for trainers of any kind, otherwise I would be broke by the time I leave. Not much to do here in Pewter besides the museum, though. Guess we'll just be training and spending time together, then. Thankfully, the Indigo League is a little over a year away, we have plenty of time. I need to get registered for that, though, before I take on the gym here.'
As he laid there in his thoughts, Ash's eyes started drooping before he completely nodded off. It felt weird without his little spider next to him as he slept, but she and Ferroseed both needed a long rest with the nurse, so he made do with the weirdness as he floated off into dreamland.
Three hours later, a yawning Ash walked up to the front counter, where Nurse Joy and her Chansey were looking over something or other on the nurse's computer screen. Noticing him, Nurse Joy turned her attention immediately to the sleepy trainer and let out a giggle.
"Have a good nap, Mr. Ketchum?" She asked with another giggle.
Rubbing an eye and stretching, Ash nodded in response.
"Yeah... thanks for asking. Um, I was wondering if I could get my Pokémon now?"
"Of course!" Nurse Joy responded with a bright smile. "They were wondering where you were, especially your Joltik. Let me go get them real quick. Can you finish this for me, Chansey?"
The round, pink Pokémon let out a cheery chirp in response and resumed whatever it was the two were doing. Ash just rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment at forgetting to let his two partners know he was planning on taking a long nap, but what is done is done, he supposed.
A minute later the pink-haired nurse returned with two Pokéballs in her hands.
"There you are, Mr. Ketchum," she said as she handed over the two red and white balls to Ash's outstretched hands.
"Thanks, Nurse Joy. Hope they didn't give you any problems," Ash said as he clipped the two balls onto his belt.
"Not at all! They behaved very well, even if Joltik was a bit antsy to get back to you," she said. Ash chuckled at that.
"Yep, that sounds just like her. Anyway, thanks again, Nurse Joy. I'll be back late- oh!" Ash started to say as he walked away, but stopped as he remembered what he needed to do. "I almost forgot, heh heh... could you register me for the Indigo League? I should have done it back in Viridian, but I got sidetracked."
"Absolutely! Could I see your Pokédex really quick?" Ash handed it over without a word. "Thank you. Chansey, did you finish the report?"
Chansey let out a small sound of affirmation.
"Thank you so much! You can go take a break if you want, you deserve it," the nurse stated, and her Pokémon assistant let out what sounded like a cheer before running off, causing Joy to giggle a bit.
"She was always a bit zealous. Now, on to your registration." Once again hooking up his Pokédex to a wire, Joy began to type away at her computer. This time it took a bit longer, but Ash was patient. He was, after all, only planning on exploring the city today. Maybe even visit the museum if he felt up to it.
After a couple of minutes, she was done.
"There you are, all registered! You have until July 1st of next year to collect eight league-certified badges here in Kanto in order to participate," Nurse Joy explained as she unplugged his Pokédex and handed it back to him. "The tournament starts July 15th after that at the Indigo Plateau."
Ash knew all of this but nodded his thanks nonetheless. He planned to be done by or before next May to give him extra time to train his team up, especially any late newcomers he might catch.
Finally, he was ready to head out and explore the city with his league registration done.
After exiting the Pokémon Center, Ash swiftly released Joltik from her Pokéball and chuckled as she started clicking and making other sounds rapidly at the sight of her trainer. It did not take her long to deftly climb up his body to settle upon her chosen perch, making Ash grunt slightly. She had become a tad heavier after her molt. Not by much, of course, but it was still a bit noticeable.
"I'm fine, girl, I just took a nap. I meant to tell you, but it just slipped my mind, sorry," Ash explained and apologized, after which the little yellow spider just clicked and whistled in indignation and disquiet. "Really, you don't have to be such a mother hen, you know, heh." He felt a sharp pinch from his Pokémon at that statement and flinched. "Ow, hey! I was kidding!"
She finally calmed down shortly after, which caused Ash to sigh in relief and he started walking. His first order of business was the find some real food for once. The young trainer had been living off of the trainer meals he had packed for his journey for the past week and a half and he was sick of them already. They were not exactly disgusting, per se, but they were bland as all hell. Well, he did eat one of the Spearows he had stowed away for some variety, but as he found out, they were not exactly the tastiest of creatures. Ash would definitely only reserve those for emergencies for sure. 'It's a shame they weren't Pidgeys, Pidgey meat is delicious.'
As he walked the streets of Pewter, looking for a place to eat, he observed the various townsfolk as they went about their normal lives. Many of them had a Pokémon by their side, often a Rock or Ground-type, though he did notice a fair few Fire, Normal, and Fighting-types as well.
What looked like a miner with a Machoke pulling a Carkol with a rope passed by him at some point, which was confusing, seeing as Carkol were perfectly capable of moving themselves, but Ash just shrugged it off. The Carkol did not seem to be distressed in any sort of way, and even seemed to be enjoying it, so who knows.
It was as he was near a restaurant that caught his eye that he saw them: an older gentleman leisurely walking alongside a magnificent specimen of a Mudsdale pulling a rather heavy-looking cart effortlessly. Ash did not know why, but he had always been fascinated by the enormous horse Pokémon who were the complete opposite of Rapidash. Bulkier, heavy-footed, and could hit an opponent like a semi-truck going eighty miles an hour down a freeway, their power just drew him in for some reason. So it was no surprise that the young raven-haired trainer made a bee-line for the pair the moment he saw them.
As he neared, he slowed down to a normal walk. Ash did not want to startle the Mudsdale, after all. They were not as flighty as Ponyta and Rapidash, but they could still be startled by fast, incoming objects, be it inanimate or living.
"Sir?" Ash said tentatively as he approached. The older man stopped to turn and look at him, smiling.
"Aye, lad? What can I do fer yuh?" He asked with a distinct accent that startled Ash at first.
"Um, I was just wondering if that was your Mudsdale?" The gray-haired man just smiled even more, showing his extremely white teeth that were hidden beneath a bushy beard and mustache.
"Ayup, she sure is! My best breeding mare and my hardest working 'dale, she be," he replied with obvious pride in his voice. His Mudsdale whinnied and snorted at that.
"Breeding mare?" Ash asked, curious, tilting his head a bit, being mindful of his tense partner resting on the top of his head. He knew some people bred Pokémon for a living, but he did not really know the terms associated with the job all too well.
"Yessir, she breeds me some of the best Mudbray foals this side of Kanto. Giving her a break this year though, the ol' girl needs it once in a while," he said as he gave her a few affectionate pats to the side of her neck. "Oh, I suppose I should introduce myself, eh? Name's Miles, Miles Cokeworth. I run the only Mudbray and Mudsdale ranch and breeding farm here in Kanto."
"I'm Ash Ketchum, a trainer. I've always wanted a Mudsdale of my own," Ash said, observing the majestic horse in awe.
Miles looked down at the young boy with a wistful smile on his face. Ash reminded him of himself at that age a lot. Young, eager, and of course wanting a Mudsdale. His parents had taken him down to a local farm that raised Mudbray so he could choose one as his starting partner for the Island Challenge back in Alola. Of course, he realized at some point in his journey he had no passion for battling and had turned to raising Mudbray and Mudsdale after moving to Kanto many years ago. He did not regret his decision whatsoever.
"Well, tell yuh what, why don't yuh come to my ranch when yuh get the chance? I always have Mudbray and Mudsdale up for sale, I'd be willin' tuh sell you one, yuh seem like a good kid," Miles said, handing Ash his business card with the address of his ranch. "Y'all will find my ranch a few miles north of the Eastern Kanto Power Plant. I'm the only ranch there, so it won't be hard tuh find me."
Ash thanked the older man and quickly put the card in his backpack, where it would stay for over a year, unfortunately forgotten about as it would get buried underneath all of his items he carried on him.
"Um, would you mind if I pet her?" Ash asked tentatively, startled as Miles let out a hearty laugh.
"I reckon ya can! She loves people, ain't no problem there. Here, stand in front of her and stroke her muzzle, she loves it." Ash did as instructed, slowly reaching a shaking hand up to stroke the area between her nostrils, causing the Mudsdale mare to let out a cheerful neigh at the action. She bent her head down to playfully nudge him in the chest, causing the young trainer to laugh. Joltik, he could feel, was incredibly tense and making a few warning sounds, but she did not attack, much to Ash's relief.
"Well, she certainly seems tuh like ya! She only does that tuh people she really likes and trusts," Miles explained, a grin on his face as he observed the scene in front of him, happy to make a young trainer's day.
A short while later, Ash was sitting in the restaurant that he had been heading to, a steak house, feeling happier than he had in a while. As he sat, looking over the menu, he hummed a wordless tune, Joltik on the table next to his elbow drinking out of the bowl of water the waiter had given her after they arrived at their table.
He sipped on his own complimentary water as he debated between getting the Tauros ribeye steak or the flame-broiled Combusken breast, which was a bit pricier, he noticed. Not that he was surprised, the Torchic line were rare, with very few farms that bred them and raised them for their meat. As a result, the price of their meat was almost astronomical in some areas. Farfetch'd meat used to be on the menus of most places until they were classified as nearly extinct and had to be taken off.
For a while, Pidgey meat had been the only bird meat on menus for some time, until farms for Torchic and Combusken came around. Even now it was still a commodity in most places, with Pidgey being the dominant, and cheaper, bird meat on restaurant menus across the globe. Ducklett meat being the second-most common.
Deciding on the Tauros ribeye, he flipped to the part of the menu that had meals for Pokémon to choose from.
"Here, Joltik, choose what you want to eat," he said softly as he laid the menu down so she could look at it. He watched as her blue eyes roamed over the list of items before she settled on one, clicking in elation as she used a leg to point at what she wanted. Ash craned his neck a bit to see what the yellow Pokémon was pointing at and snorted lightly in amusement. Of course she would choose that to eat, it was Joltik's favorite thing to hunt at night when she did not want any of her Poké Chow for dinner.
"Are the two of you ready to order?" The cheerful, yet sudden, voice made Ash jump in shock, and he turned to look at the smiling waiter standing at the end of his table with a notepad and pen.
"Oh, um, right... I'll have the Tauros ribeye steak, eight-ounce, please," Ash said, after calming his heart down.
"Absolutely! And your two sides to go with that, sir?"
"Uh, I guess some steamed broccoli and the steak fries," he responded. The young trainer knew his mother would berate him endlessly if he did not have something healthy to eat of the green variety, thus the broccoli.
"No problem. And what will your lovely Pokémon be having this afternoon?" At this, Ash sighed and rolled his eyes in amusement.
"The lightly steamed Caterpie, please," he said with fake exasperation.
"Excellent choice! That's a pretty popular pick for many Pokémon patrons." Ash had no doubts about that statement. Caterpie were an easy food source for many predatory species of Pokémon, and apparently a tasty meal if they were hunted that often. Not that he had any interest in trying it. Some swankier places offered Kricketot, Kricketune, and Durant meat, among others, for humans, but even those did not appeal to the young trainer at all.
"Would you like anything else to drink besides the water, sir?" The waiter asked, and Ash picked the menu back up to look over his options. Even though ten was the legal age of adulthood, he would not be able to drink alcohol until he was thirteen, thus he went with something he had not had in a while.
"Sure, how about some lemonade?"
"Great! I'll get this order in as soon as possible and will be back with your lemonade. Would you like some more biscuits?" Ash looked over at his empty basket that once held some delicious biscuits in it and coughed in slight embarrassment at how he wolfed them down.
"Uh, yeah, that'd be great, thanks."
"Excellent, I will return shortly!" With that, the waiter whisked himself away with flair. Ash just blinked in confusion. Were all waitstaff this... exuberant? It seemed like, no matter the restaurant, they were all extremely cheerful and eager to please.
Knowing it would be several minutes until their plates arrived, he decided to be somewhat productive in the meantime. Ash pulled his Pokédex out of his jacket pocket and opened it to Joltik's page first, looking through the entire list of moves she could learn.
'Okay, we're going to be stuck here for two weeks, might as well make the best of it. Both of them definitely need more versatility in their movepool, but only one or two moves for the gym will do I think, physical conditioning and strengthening what they already know will be their priority.
Alright, let's see here... Joltik needs a long-range Bug-type move, so we'll work on Signal Beam soon, but I think I will have her learn Feint Attack and Double Team for the gym. Feint Attack might not be the easiest move for her to learn in just two weeks, but I believe she can do it. Swift and Poison Sting are also on the list, but they will be for after the gym.'
Nodding to himself, Ash switched over to Ferroseed's profile and looked at the possible list of moves he could learn, munching on the new basket of biscuits that had arrived as he was in the middle of thinking.
'Ferroseed already has a decent set of moves that can take on the gym, so maybe just a utility move or two, while still practicing to master Vine Whip. I want him to become my main utility and field hazard Pokémon, so this will be a good start. Toxic is a must, that will help out greatly. I will also have him learn Double Team like Joltik, and if he masters one of those quickly, Rock Polish will be next. He will definitely need the speed boost from that in the future.
I know he is going to want a new attacking move, but he doesn't really have a huge pool to choose from outside of his two types until he evolves. We will work on Acid Spray after Rock Polish then, once he has that and the other two moves down. I should probably have him learn Tackle, too. I don't know why he doesn't know it, but with his ability, the move will come in handy and open the doors for more powerful variations later.'
Plan of action in mind, Ash gently closed the device and put it back into his pocket securely. Just in time, too, as both his and Joltik's meals arrived.
Ash and Joltik exited the restaurant half an hour later, the both of them completely stuffed, with Ash's wallet being several thousand yen lighter. The young trainer grimaced when he thought about the bill. 'Honestly, the cheapest thing on there was the lemonade.'
Sighing, Ash stretched his back and arms, being careful not to jostle the content bug resting on his head. He hated sitting for too long, it caused his body to tense up. School had been an absolute nightmare because of it, but he made it through. Barely.
"Right, next stop, the museum," Ash mumbled to himself, pulling out his Pokédex to check the time. '4:30, I have plenty of time to explore the museum.' Putting the device away, he began his trek to the northern-most part of the city.
Ash took in deep breaths of the warm, late afternoon air as he walked, looking around as he did so at the buildings and people who were milling around outside some of the shops. It was so rare he got to spend any significant time just enjoying life in the moment that he was going to savor it while he could. Just he and Joltik right there and then, with their partner Ferroseed a Pokéball throw away.
It was a shame the moment was broken when he stepped close enough to their destination fifteen minutes later to hear the raucous cacophony of what sounded like angry chanting. Slightly perturbed, Ash sped up his walking, rounding a corner to see what looked like a huge mob of protesters standing outside the museum. Many of them were holding signs and banners, though Ash could not make out what was on them from where he was standing.
He could, however, make out what some of them were shouting out.
"... it's all a hoax!"
"... you faked the expedition!"
"Fossils are fake!" That one, in particular, was shouted more often, Ash noted.
Rolling his eyes with a sigh, Ash started forward, despite the many clicks of protest from Joltik.
"Relax, girl, they aren't going to hurt us," Ash stated to soothe the upset spider. 'At least, I hope not,' he thought quietly to himself. 'They're just a bunch of protesting conspiracy theorists, that's all.'
The young trainer had seen similar protests on television a few times, when his mom had turned on the evening news, much to his disgruntlement at the time. She had a bad habit of doing it when he was engrossed in a Pokémon battle that was playing, and nothing Ash ever said could get her to change it back to the station he was watching.
Regardless, despite how annoying these protests could be, they were peaceful and generally harmless. What these specific protesters were hoping to achieve, however, was beyond the scope of what Ash could imagine. He had met a few conspiracy theorists during his time in school, and to say he was not impressed would be a big understatement.
As he approached the rather large crowd, Ash pondered on how to get through them to get into the museum. They did not leave much room to wiggle through all of them, that much was certain. Well, there was only one thing to do: shove his way through. He was not going to let these people ruin his fun.
Quickly returning Joltik to her ball so that she did not end up accidentally smashed between human bodies, the raven-haired trainer took a deep breath and steeled himself before he began the arduous path to the front door of the building not even a hundred feet ahead of him.
Now, generally, Ash was not a forceful person physically in any way, but when a bunch of mindless conspiracy theorists were blocking his way to where he wanted to go? That was a whole other ball game and he felt no remorse whatsoever as he shouldered through the crowd, much to their angry protesting of him doing so.
One man had made a grab for him, but the young man swiftly ducked underneath a woman's outstretched arm, causing the guy to accidentally end up groping said woman. Ash did not turn to look back, but he heard the screech of indignation and the harsh slap that followed. He giggled under his breath, immensely glad that was not him getting slapped in the face.
Eventually, he broke through after a few moments, taking a deep breath of fresh air as he did so, ignoring the jeering and yelling that was sent his way. One guy that was towards the front, who was particularly vocal in his museum protesting, was cursing at him quite loudly and harshly. So harshly, in fact, that it made Ash turn around and glare at the guy in retaliation.
The guy was not special-looking in any way, but he was an older teenager by what Ash could tell. Scruffy, auburn hair, brown eyes, and thick glasses that adorned his face, he looked like a stereotypical nerd. His plain shirt and jeans did nothing to make him stand out from the rest of the crowd, either.
What did stand out was the crazed look that was now smeared with absolute loathing towards Ash himself, causing the young preteen to shudder and hurriedly make his way into the museum behind him. 'That guy is just trouble waiting to happen, I know it. Glad I put Joltik into her ball, she would have gone after him for sure.'
Sighing in relief as he stepped inside the air-conditioned entryway, the crowd outside now just a low background noise as he walked up to the ticket desk, the pretty receptionist behind it shocked to see him.
"You made it through that mob outside?" She asked, surprised.
"Had to shove my way through, but yeah," Ash calmly stated with a shrug, the bit of adrenaline he had now just wearing off.
"You are either very brave or very stupid for that. That group has been coming here for two weeks to stand out there protesting, and they are not kind people," she admonished with a frown. Ash could definitely believe that easily, especially that one guy.
"Wasn't as hard as you think, ma'am, heh. Anyway, could I get a ticket?"
"Absolutely! Any business right now is appreciated, those ruffians have run off a vast majority of museum-goers," the attendant said, printing out a ticket from the machine she was messing with. "Anyway, that will be 50 yen please."
"50 yen? That's a little cheap, isn't it?" Ash asked, shocked at the low price, but paying it nonetheless and accepting his ticket.
"Kids get in at a super discount, it's been that way since the museum opened. Enough chit chat now, go explore and have fun!" Ash just shrugged and walked in through the doors leading to the main part of the museum feeling happy. He released Joltik out of her ball once more so that she could enjoy the walkthrough as well.
His first stop, and the reason he wanted to visit so badly in the first place, was the ancient and extinct Pokémon portion of the museum, which nearly had a whole floor to itself. The Pewter Museum boasted itself as the premier museum in the world when it came to ancient Pokémon, and Ash was not shocked to see why. As he entered the exhibit, his eyes went wide at the huge array of full fossils and skeletons on display. His eyes immediately sought out the skeleton of the top land predator millions of years ago: Tyrantrum.
He stood in front of the massive beast in awe, next to it were smaller skeletons of Tyrunt in various positions. Ash looked down at the information plaque and saw actual photos of the Pokémon from a lab in Kalos, which is where the majority of the fossils of the ancient Pokémon were found and resurrected.
They looked even more magnificent alive, Ash noted. More majestic, even. Not to mention just how powerful of an aura they exuded.
"Man, what I wouldn't do to have one of these guys on the team," Ash muttered to himself, studying both the photos and skeletons. He was not sure, but he figured the Tyrantrum in front of him probably stood about ten feet tall, easily towering over many modern Pokémon today. Ash imagined the beast could probably grow to be even larger given enough time.
"You know what it would take to get a Tyrunt, though?" He asked rhetorically to Joltik, who chirped in confusion. "Forget just Tyrunt, any fossil Pokémon would be difficult to obtain..." Sighing in resignation, the young trainer moved on to look at the other species on display, marveling at all of them. They were all awesome in their own way, but Tyrunt and Tyrantrum just felt like him, like they were meant to be one of his partners. 'Maybe one day. Somehow, some way, I will get one.'
After spending an hour and a half in the fossil exhibit, he finally decided to explore the rest of the museum, starting with the history of Kanto and working his way upstairs to the science and space exploration exhibits.
By the time he was done, it was nine o'clock and the museum was closing up for the night. Ash yawned and stretched as he stepped outside the massive building, noticing the mob of protesters had left, much to his relief.
"Well, let's get some sleep. Tomorrow, we start training," Ash said as he began his journey back to the Pokémon Center.
Joltik let out a long, drawn-out click that was laced with sleepiness, but sounded excited all the same. She loathed training in a lot of ways, but she loved the end results, so the little yellow spider was not going to complain.
After all, if she wanted to become a powerful Galvantula that could protect her trainer from any threat, she had to train, and train she would.
END
A/N: Okay, so originally this was going to be all one chapter, but I don't like going over 10k words, so I decided to split it up into 2.
Sorry not much happened this chapter, it was mostly just world-building and setting up plot points. Next chapter though, the gym battle, what happens with the protesters, and Ash finally capturing his third Pokémon!
Oh, and I am going back to edit the first three chapters a bit, and maybe add some details here and there, so keep an eye out for that.
Until next time!