April 4th, Forest Between Pallet Town and Viridian City
The howl of a Sneasel rang out through the darkness. The high pitched cry indicated that there was only one, but Ash knew there was another; hiding in the darkness, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. A mighty screech from Talonflame called out into the black night from atop the tree in response. Ash flinched from the noise and his ears were ringing even after it stopped, even Treecko had visibly flinched. According to the Pokedex Fletchlings possessed strong vocal cords so that their beautiful songs could travel long distances for communication; apparently those strong vocals carried on into their final evolution. Ash had heard Pidgeot and Fearow before, but he was sure that Talonflame was louder.
The loud cry, undoubtedly meant to intimidate any possible foes, proved ineffective against the invaders however. Ash could just make out a dark shape that emerged from the treeline almost opposite of their position. Long lanky arms and a lithe body, he could even make out the outline of the feather that decorated its head. The Sneasel jumped without hesitation, the sharp claws easily digging into the bark. The dark type only made it up a few feet before Talonflame took off from the nest, flames licking at ends of its wings.
The Sneasel jumped from the tree and immediately and fired off an Icy Wind as soon as it touched the ground. The blast of cold air, while not very damaging to a fire type like Talonflame, forced it off balance. The avian had to adjust itself and circle back around, which provided Sneasel with the opportunity to run deeper into the forest. The fire type gave chase after the smaller Pokemon, the embers that naturally fell off of its wings lighting up the darkness and giving away their location. Not even a minute after they left did a second Sneasel emerged from the darkness perpendicular Ash's position.
Ash and Treecko jumped up from their position, the camping tarp they were hiding under flung behind them, "Hey!". Ash's flashlight illuminated the dark type, who by this point had already climbed up to the lowest branch of the tree. The invader recoiled from the sudden burst of light before hissing viciously at him. "I know your hungry Sneasel, but there are plenty of berries in this forest, you don't need to eat the Fletchling."
Ash knew for a fact that there were no strictly carnivorous Pokemon; they were either herbivores or omnivores. Even Pokemon that were highly carnivorous like Arbok and Persian ate berries a high percentage of the time and only resorted to meat when necessary or when it was easy to get. This is because even seemingly harmless Pokemon like Caterpie or Rattata could put up a fight. An injury for a predator Pokemon could hamper its ability to hunt or defend its territory so Pokemon that preyed on others were always very cautious and usually only attacked when it was sure thing. Berries like Pecha, Oran, Sitrus and others were available in most forests and grasslands and they grew very quickly compared other fruits and vegetables. This made them a steady and sustainable food source for the entire ecosystem. Of course there were many species that enjoyed the taste of a fresh kill, plus meat was high energy and high protein resulting in it being a high value food item. Ash knew that Sneasel preying upon bird Pokemon was common, these Sneasel would probably do it again first chance they got. But Fletchling had asked for their help and Ash had always had a hard time saying no to people, here they were. At least Treecko seemed to have a hard time saying no also.
Ash was hoping that once exposed and confronted the Sneasel it would run away; Sneasel were known for speed and viciousness, not bravery after all. Unfortunately this Sneasel didn't find him very threatening as it immediately fired off an Icy Wind. Treecko, fortunately, was quick enough to jump out of the way and avoid the attack completely. Ash was not that quick and the blast of chilling air pushed him backwards. He was shivering from his toes to his teeth, but he was still standing. He was lucky that the Ice type attack was clearly more Icy than Wind, it wasn't as strong as Ash would have expected, but as it turns out that was only because he didn't know what the point of the attack was. He had shielded his eyes when he saw the attack coming at him and once he removed his arms from in front of his face he realized that the small dark type was missing.
The teenager frantically waved the flashlight around looking for the dark type, the full moon was mostly covered by the clouds so his vision was pretty much restricted to whatever the flashlight illuminated. When he was finally able to shine the light on Sneasel he discovered that the creature was only a few feet away from him with its claws extended. By sheer dumb luck the sudden light in its eyes caused the attacker to falter for a second, but that second was enough for Treecko to slam full force into Sneasel with a Quick Attack. Treecko landed protectively in front of Ash as Sneasel tumbled head over heels through the dead leaves that aligned the forest floor. It jumped to its feet quickly, the surprise blow not damaging it too much, before it hissed angrily at the partners.
Ash smiled at his partner before focusing his attention back onto the predator. 'Well, Plan A didn't work.' He was really hoping that once confronted the second Sneasel would run off to avoid a battle. The Sneasel was more aggressive than he expected, especially considering it didn't hesitate to attack him. It was giving him only one option then, and luckily he planned for this. He shouted out into the darkness, "Now Fletchinder!" The Ember Pokemon that Ash had treated earlier in the day cawed out from above, catching Sneasel's attention. Light suddenly filled the area as Flectinder, perched about 3/4 of the way up the tree, shrouded its body in fire from its Flame Charge. The bird Pokemon was too injured to fly or battle, but standing still on branch and enlightening the area was doable for the surprising stubborn avian. Ash was glad that it had awakened earlier and was determined to help, he was also glad that he had soaked the branch in two canteens of water; those flames looked intense.
Looking back at Sneasel caused Ash to smile as he could see that it had taken a few steps backwards and looked more pensive that it did before. The sudden light took away its biggest advantage and it didn't know how injured Fletchinder was, so as far as it knew it had another opponent to battle. This was exactly what Ash was hoping for. While scaring the Sneasel off would have been the easiest way for surviving the night, the chances would have been pretty high of them just coming back. Ash didn't really want to have a battle, but in the long run teaching the avians how to defend themselves against the Sneasel was the best option, and Pokémon (especially stubborn ones like Talonflame) learned best through action. Ash was fairly confident in his plan too, so much so that truthfully if Fletchinder wasn't injured then Ash would probably let it handle the battling, just like it would have to in the future. But since its injuries were fairly substantial he and Treecko would help them out this time.
Talonflame beat its powerful wings, propelling itself forward through the trees. Begrudgingly he had to admit that the human's idea was pretty good. The use of Flame Charge not only boosted his speed, but provided enough light that he could make out the invader even in the darkness. Consistently using Flame Charge to light up the darkness never would have occurred to him, it was exhausting to maintain it for extended periods and he was thankful that he wouldn't have to keep it up for much longer. What was most annoying was that using it at night in the forest was dangerous and he had to be careful of his movements or else he would accidentally set the forest on fire; or worse he would smash head first into a tree.
He could already see the results of the human's plan as the Sneasel was noticeably more frantic and unnerved than the previous night. The heat and light disturbing the nocturnal ice type in ways that Talonflame could only imagine. A few more powerful flaps of his wings and Talonflame was propelled forward enough that he was just a few paces behind the egg eater. The thief had completely abandoned the playful and cocky attitude from the night before and was rapidly zigzagging in between trees, desperate to escape the light and flames. Talonflame found it amusing actually. But he didn't have time to enjoy it, he couldn't hold the Flame Charge much longer and there was still another part of the plan that he was needed for after all.
He screeched, one of the loudest that he had ever released, and the Sneasel picked up the pace at the predatory cry. Focusing his power, his body shined briefly before several illusionary copies split outward. The Sneasel yelped in surprise as it looked over its shoulder. The illusionary clones that his Double Team created mimicked his movements as he slowed himself down and positioned himself so he could launch the attack that the boy had suggested. Flapping his wings rapidly held him in place as well as released a blast of condensed hot air. The Heat Wave spread out in front of him, sending dead leaves on the forest floor flying and hitting Sneasel in the back, causing it to stumble. The attack was hot and strong enough for the Sneasel to yowl in pain, but not strong enough to knock it down completely. The various Talonflames resumed flying, hot on the tail of the Sneasel.
The dark type picked up his speed and rushed forward, too afraid to look back behind it after that last attack. The Double Team didn't boost the power of the Heat Wave, but it wasn't supposed to; it was supposed to cover his retreat. Not realizing this was a mistake on the Sneasel's part as had it looked back it would have seen a single Talonflame circle around just a moment later and began flying back in the direction that they came from, leaving the illusions in place for as long as they would stay, although how long that would be was hard to say.
The Sneasel somehow managed to regain its courage as it suddenly jumped towards Ash and Treecko. The grass type lunged forward to intercept while Ash angled the flash light directly into the dark type's eyes. The bright light forcing the Sneasel to flinch, giving Treecko just enough time to slam its tail into the predator's face. After crashing into the leaf covered forest floor the Sneasel tried to pick itself up on its long arms, but before it could fully get onto its feet Treecko barreled into it with a Quick Attack.
This wasn't how Treecko wanted to battle. Ash flashing the light into their opponents eyes and attacking them while they were down seemed unfair, but truthfully this was the only way they could win, and they couldn't afford to lose. The Sneasel had a type advantage, they were more familiar with area, the darkness was their ally, and they were stronger than he was. That was what really angered him. He was weak. The battle with the Arbok had told him that. If it weren't for the girl and her Bulbasaur showing up, he and Ash would have lost to the snake and its evil master. They only got as far as they had in that battle because of several surprise attacks. Treecko was able to keep his pride however because the human female with the Vileplume had said that those bad people were a little stronger than average and it was his an Ash's first day.
But now? Battling against this thief? His self esteem was at an all time low. Two battles and two times they had to resort to underhanded tactics. Treecko could tell that his attacks weren't doing as much damage as he would have like. He hated it, but he had to admit that in a fair fight he would have lost already.
After that Quick Attack sent it backwards a bit the Sneasel had tried to get up again, but Ash shined the light directly into to its sensitive eyes once more, giving Treecko another chance to slam its powerful tail into the Sneasel's chin.
Ash knew that Treecko didn't like battling like this and he didn't either, but the truth was that he and Treecko just weren't strong enough yet. While not universal it is fairly consistent that Pokemon near main routes where humans traveled a lot were often easier to battle. Generally the further away from a main pathway, the stronger the Pokemon tended to be and they were quite far from Route 1, which most beginners from Pallet Town traveled. Under normal circumstances Ash would have retreated, but they wanted to protect Fletchling's family so this is how they had to battle. If they wanted to really battle properly then they would have to train more and catch more Pokemon.
Treecko had backed off a bit after the dark type had swiped its sharp claws at him in a slash attack. After that the Sneasel looked like it was about to retreat into the forest, the battle being more effort than it had expected. Both Ash and Treecko held their breath as the Sneasel was taking small steps backwards, eyes swiftly darting into the treeline before quickly returning to the duo. There was no point in risking damage from those claws if the predator was going to retreat, especially since they weren't exactly winning the battle. Ash considered themselves lucky at that moment this wasn't a more determined Pokemon.
Unfortunately for the duo from Pallet, the situation changed quickly. Fletchinder let out an exhausted squawk right before its Flame Charge died; apparently it was too tired to keep the move up any longer. The sudden absence of light apparently reinvigorated the dark type as it slammed into Treecko with a Quick Attack that was definitely more powerful than grass type's own. It attacked so quickly that neither Ash or Treecko could react in time. The grass type tumbled head over heels until landed right in front of Ash. "Treecko! Are you alright?!" Sneasel didn't give the lizard Pokemon a chance to respond as it fired off a more powerful Icy Wind that caught both starter and trainer. The two were sent flying backwards, tumbling into the forest floor.
"Ugh. Shit." Ash could only groan and curse as got up, which took him longer than he would have liked. He was going to be hurting in the morning, that was for sure. He was lucky that this wasn't a trained Sneasel; if it was then that attack might have caused some real damage. Next time they were sticking to the normal routes, he was sure of that. Pikcing himself up he heard the commotion before he could shine the flashlight onto it, but once he did was greeted with the sight of the Sneasel attacking his partner with what looked like a Fury Swipes attack. His starter was doing his best to avoid the sharp claws, but it was hard to avoid the faster Pokemon and he was taking more hits than he was dodging.
"Treecko! Try your Iron Tail!" The Wood Gecko Pokemon had heard the command, but it still took time and concentration to build up the necessary steel type energy and Sneasel wasn't letting up its attack. What was worse was that the dark type had positioned itself so its back was to Ash, meaning that they couldn't make it flinch with flash light.
"Shit!" Ash took a panicked step forward, fully intending to charge the battling Pokemon. It was a stupid thing to do; Sneasel's claws would tear him to pieces for sure, but Ash wasn't thinking about himself, he was thinking about Treecko. He couldn't let his partner get torn to shreds. He was only able to take another two rushed steps forward before a shrill, aggressive cry rang out from the darkness. Not only did Ash pause his steps, but Sneasel also stopped its Fury Swipes in surprise of the new voice. The momentary pause gave Treecko the chance to jump backwards, away from his attacker.
Something dashed past Ash's head from behind him and whatever it was slammed into the back of the wild dark type's head, sending it forward. Ash wasn't sure what it was until he angled the light to illuminate their opponent. "Fletchling!" He couldn't stop the smile from forming at seeing the Tiny Robin Pokemon viciously and repeatedly peck at the back of Sneasel's head. The determined flying type only backed off when Sneasel swiped its claws behind its head trying to get rid of the annoyance, but it missed as Fletchling flew back way. The egg thief, enraged more than Ash has seen so far, snarled and looked like it was about jump and rip the small bird out of the sky.
Unfortunately for it Treecko was still standing and as soon as his opponent had turned toward Fletchling he sprung forward and slammed his tail into the back of its head. Ash could just make out the dull glow of the tail that indicated that Treecko at least attempted to use Iron Tail; it was too bad that the move wasn't even close to perfected, because if it was then it would caused some serious damage. Treecko jumped over the dark type while it was momentarily stunned, positioning himself between the wild Pokemon and his trainer, as well as putting Sneasel in the position where it would have to look into the flashlight if it wanted to attack again.
As Sneasel pushed itself up off the ground it's red eyes landed on the interlopers. The human's light stick was shinning in its eyes, forcing it to squint. The lizard was beaten up fairly significantly, but still looked ready to fight. It wouldn't be much of a threat but now the tiny bird was involved and it hadn't taken any damage at all. These opponents weren't particularity strong, but they were tenacious and annoying. Running away wasn't an option anymore, these annoyances needed to pay for. Best to end them quickly though, before the large flame bird returned. Sneasel unsheathed claws and let out a fierce growl. The trio took at step back and tensed at the aggression. Sneasel was made it clear, no more playing.
The enraged Pokemon only took two steps forward before the forest to left of clearing lit up in blazing orange light. Sneasel lost all composure at the sight, eyes wide and panicked, its teeth clenched in a submissive grimace. Ash could help but release a relieved sigh, even Treecko lowered its tensed arms just slightly. Fletchling was chirping happily as the temperature rose a few degrees as a blazing arrow of fire erupted from the treeline, shooting over the Sneasel and landing in front of the trio. The flames died down revealing Talonflame crouched on the ground with flaming wings spread outward. The fully evolved Pokemon was significantly larger than the other Pokemon in the clearing, the top of its head reaching the middle of Ash's chest.
The Scorching Pokemon cried out as it beat its still flaming wings violently, several of the dead leaves underneath it caught fire with the threatening display. Treecko moved next to it, crouching on all fours with its tail raised in the air. Fletchling flew in place over its parent. Ash steeled his gaze at the predator. The dark type wasn't even trying to hide its desire to flee. It was stepping backwards, much more quickly than it had before, arms barely held up in a position to defend itself; the fight was clearly gone out of it.
Out of the brush the second Sneasel jumped into the clearing; apparently the Double Team had vanished pretty quickly after Talonflame turned around. He would have to look into how long a Double Team could last for, no doubt it would be useful at some point in his journey. It looked fairly angry at be deceived, but once it caught sight of the situation; its partner wounded and backing away with several Pokemon and a human opposing it, it lost almost all of its anger and also began taking small steps backward. Light filled the small clearing once again accompanied by a strained cry as Fletchinder started up its Flame Charge again.
The two dark types visibly jumped at the sudden light, exposing them even further. Seeing that the two had frozen in shock and fear Talonflame took a step forward and flared it wings as far as they would go, flames erupted from its back and wings, and it let out a fierce cry. Ash and Treecko both flinched from the loud cry, but the two Sneasel both jumped in fright before turning and running off into the woods as fast as they could. They disappeared into the darkness quickly and silently. All was quiet for a few moments as they waited to see if the predators would make a second attempt. Once it became clear that they were gone Ash collapsed onto his rear. His knees shaking and legs weak. He couldn't help but left out a strangled laugh.
Treecko had collapsed at pretty much the same time he did. The grass type was breathing heavily, but was extremely relieved. Despite his bravado he didn't have it in him fight any more. A smirk tugged at his lips listening to Fletchling. The Tiny Robin pokemon was flying in circles above their heads and singing out of happiness. Talonflame sighed in relief before flapping its wings and flying up to check on Fletchinder. The Ember Pokemon was definitely exhausted, it had released its Flame Charge the second that the two Sneasel had disappeared into the treeline. Ash looked up just in time to see the clouds parting and the moonlight shining. They had survived and succeeded!
It was almost noon by the time Ash had awoken. The Sneasel hadn't appeared until sometime after midnight and while the entire encounter was actually pretty short, only five or so minutes, they had stayed up quite a bit longer afterward. Treecko had injuries that needed to be taken care of, mostly cuts, a lot of cuts actually. Ash couldn't help but think as he was doing it that they were extremely lucky at how the situation turned out. His partner could have received serious injuries. It really reiterated the point that they should stick to more travel roads. He knew one thing for sure, and that was that he wasn't going to tell his mother any of this. If she found out what had happened, especially since she was the one to recommend taking the route, he would never hear the end of it.
Once Treecko was patched up he then had to work on Fletchinder also. The Ember Pokemon needed to be re-bandaged after its using of Flame Charge. He even needed to patch himself up, he got a few scrapes and lacerations from the fall after that Icy Wind, but luckily it was nothing serious. Thankfully Fletchling and Talonflame were both uninjured. After all that he still had to set-up his sleeping bag for him to sleep in. By the time he actually got to sleep it was quite late.
"Hahaha knock it off you guys," he couldn't stop laughing as some of the small Fletchling were jumping up and down on his outstretched arms. One of them was even jumping up and down on top of his hat. Talonflame had brought them down from the nest to eat lunch with them after he had slowly crawled his way out of his sleeping bag. Treecko was relaxing by cloud watching on one of the tree branches, Ash had insisted that he didn't train for today. The stubborn grass type took some convincing before he reluctantly agreed. Fletchinder was resting on a near by branch. Talonflame was just watching, seemingly amused. The Scorching Pokemon seemed to have relaxed quite a bit after last night. The Fletchling that had brought Ash and Treecko here was poking around his backpack. It seemed fascinated by all of his equipment.
With a soft chirp, the softest the sound he had ever heard from Talonflame, all of the Fletchling had jumped from his body to the ground. They were still a little too small to fly, but young bird Pokemon could handle falls without much issue. The small group were still chirping and bouncing around despite no longer using him as a perch.
Fletching hopped over to him before flying up and landing on his shoulder. The small bird nuzzled its head against his cheek. Its feathers were incredibly soft, it was warm too. Not as warm as Talonflame or Fletchinder, but definitely warmer than the usual Pidgey or Spearow that he handled at the ranch. Talonflame stalked forward. With Ash sitting on the ground the Fire type was actually taller than he was. "You know those Sneasel might come back right?" The Scorching Pokemon nodded silently and glanced at the young Fletchling. "Well with Fletchinder recovering it should be easier to drive them off next time. Especially now that you know that Flame Charge can take away their biggest advantage."
Talonflame held its head high as a few small flames sprung from its back, the Fletchling on the ground started chirping even louder. Ash was pretty sure that if the fully evolved Pokemon didn't have a beak then it would be smirking with pride. The moment between the fully evolved Pokemon and the trainer was interrupted when Fletchling jumped from his shoulder and chirped at its parent. Talonflame turned its head in a questioning way before nodding and walking away. "Um?" Fletchling chirped at him with a wing raised before hopping after Talonflame. "Oook?" What was that about?
The squeak from behind made him jump in surprise, much to the amusement of the young Fletchling. Treecko's visage greeted him when he turned around. "Hey Treecko, how you feelin'?" The grass type rolled its shoulders and nodded. "That's good. Let me know if you feel any discomfort ok? It's important that we treat any issues before they become worse." He knew that Treecko had a strong sense of pride and so he wanted to make sure that his partner knew that hiding an injury wasn't going to help him. The grass type nodded. "That's good. We're going to get injured on our journey, it's just a fact, but injuries need to heal properly or the journey will end a lot sooner. Besides, your my partner and I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you."
Treecko shifted his eyes away from Ash's smile. His trainer could get real sappy sometimes. He really didn't need to say such things. Ash would later bring up that moment and he would say that Treecko was a little red in the face, but Treecko would tell you that was straight garbage. The grass type just grunted a response before pointing one of his three fingers in the sky.
Ash turned to look up and didn't see anything other than the sun. "Ah! I get it. Yea your right, it is getting pretty late in the day." Ash stood up and dusted off his pants before picking up the cooking grate that he used to make lunch. "Let's get packed up then. After we're on the road to Viridian City!"
An hour later and the Pallet Town duo was ready to set off. They would be able to cover at least 3 or 4 hours of hiking before the needed to set up camp. The family of birds stood parallel to them. The young Fletchlings were cooing sadly at seeing them leave. He felt bad, especially since they were so cute, but they had to get going. "Aw don't be sad. Maybe we'll see each other again in the future. Until then just stay safe, ok?" The reluctant nods made him smile.
Fletchinder hopped forward and chirped with a bow of its head. Treecko couldn't help but have a certain amount of respect for the red bird. It had fought valiantly to protect its younger siblings from the Sneasels, and it insisted on helping as much as it could even with the injuries that it sustained. He bowed his own head in mutual respect for the Ember Pokemon.
Talonflame was staring at the two silently. They were a good pair. They would make a good new family. He knew that it would turn out alright. It wasn't his decision, but he wholeheartedly supported it. All hatch-lings must leave the nest at some point. Even Fletchinder would leave not too longer after the Fletchlings learned to fly.
"Hey, where's Fletchling? I want to say goodbye." Ash's question was answered quickly when the first member of the family they had met suddenly flew down from the top of the tree. It landed on Ash's shoulders, trilling softly and nuzzling against his cheek. "Haha there you are." The smile on Ash's face really proved to Talonflame how much the boy wanted to properly say goodbye, he would smile himself if he could. "Treecko and I have to get going, but I know you guys will be ok, so-Hey!"
The small bird nipped the side of his ear. It barely hurt, its small beak not really capable of doing real damage. Fletchling jumped off his shoulder and landed on the ground in front of Ash and Treecko and started speaking. It was quite animated in whatever it was saying, jumping up and down and chirping constantly.
Treecko couldn't help but smile at Fletchling's demand. Clearly Ash had no idea what the feathered Pokemon was saying, but he had kind of expected this outcome. He had seen Fletchling and Talonflame speaking animatedly earlier while Ash was packing up his stuff, and then observed as Fletchling had a discussion with Fletchinder and the younger Fletchling that had seemingly upset the little ones. While he didn't know for sure, he had a good feeling and this confirmed it. Unfortunately his trainer still looked clueless even after Fletchling explained it a second time. To save himself a headache the grass type jumped up and grabbed Ash's belt.
"Hey Treecko! What the hell?!" The grass type was dangling by his belt for some reason. He had to grab it himself just to hold his pants up from the additional weight. "Seriously! What-?" Treecko grabbed a miniaturized Pokeball off of his belt and ripped it out of its holder before letting go and dropping to the ground again. His starter dropped the miniaturized Pokeball right in front of Fletchling. Finally it clicked in place, "You want to come with us Fletchling?" The Tiny Robin Pokemon did answer verbally as it pecked at the Pokeball, quickly becoming confused as it didn't get sucked in.
Odd. Pokemon normally went into and out of these balls when the humans touched them right? Fletchling was confused. Ash hadn't understood it and so Treecko took the situation into his own hands, but the ball didn't open. Were they always this small too? Ash's giggle brought its attention to him as he took a knee and picked up the ball. "You have to enlarge them first." He pressed the button twice with thumb, the sphere magically enlarging. And humans thought that Pokemon were the magical ones. He held out the sphere with the button facing away from him. "You sure you want to come with us?" Fletchling didn't even have to think about that.
Ash was surprised when the tiny bird didn't even answer. It just pecked at the button. The Pokeball opened and Fletchling turned into white energy before getting sucked into the Pokeball. The normally white button flashed red a few times and the ball shook in his hand twice before settling into place.
Treecko couldn't help but smile. "Hehe," his trainer tried to hold in his happy giggling, but he really couldn't, "Hahahaha! Yes!" Ash jumped straight into the air, sporting smile so large the grass type was sure that it was going to break his face. He jumped a few more times, even turning in full circles. "I caught my first Pokemon!" The young Fletchling were jumping up and down ecstatically at their sibling going with the human, or maybe they were just mimicking Ash's excitement. Treecko wasn't sure. Ash's celebration last for several more minutes, with him jumping, whooping and at one point even kissing the Pokeball. Treecko was becoming more embarrassed by the minute by his behavior.
The 15 year old only stopped his celebration when Treecko hit his shin with his stocky tail. "Hehe, sorry Treecko. I'm just so excited." He crouched down and held the Pokeball so that Treecko could easily see it. "The first member of our new team. And Fletchling is such a great Pokemon too! We really lucked out huh?" The grass type could only nod in response his hyper trainer.
The sound of the Pokeball opening drew Treecko's attention again as Fletchling materialized in a pale bluish-white light. Fletchling appeared on the ground and shook its head at the new feeling, but thankfully it didn't seem very bothered. "Fletchling! Welcome to the team!" Fletchling chirped happily, flew up to Ash's shoulder and started nuzzling against his cheek again, the Pallet boy laughing all the way. Treecko figured that the bird may was well enjoy doing it, because once it was fully evolved it wouldn't be able to again, it would be too big. "Oh! Let me scan you with my Pokedex." Ash removed the red device and held it so that it could scan the newest team member.
Fletchling, The Tiny Robin Pokemon. A Normal and Flying Type. Its body is always warm. Trainers who live in cold areas apparently sleep with it in their bed. While it's an amiable Pokémon, if you touch it unexpectedly, it will heat up its body in an instant, and you'll be burned.
This Fetching is Female with the ability Big Pecks.
It knows the moves Growl, Peck, and Quick Attack. It has the egg move Tailwind (Locked).
Treecko nodded at his new comrade's moves. Peck would be good to train against since he was weak to flying type moves. He didn't know what Tailwind was, but Ash had told him that locked egg moves were moves that Pokemon could learn either earlier than normally or that they normally couldn't learn at all. He had Dragon Breath as his egg move and Ash, as well as that other human Daniel from the garden, had theorized that he wouldn't really master until he evolved at least once. It seemed like both he and Fletchling would have to work at their respective egg moves.
Ash's response to the Pokedex's description was far less rational or elegant than Treecko's. In fact Talonflame nearly fell over in shock at hearing while Treecko slapped his face with his hand in exasperation. And Fletchling, she seemed very upset based on how hard she started pecking at the side of Ash's head, much to the human's pain.
"You're a girl Fletchling?"
Wow. Hard to believe that it has been almost a year since I last updated this story. I apologize for that. 2020 threw us all for a loop, for a good while I was actually busier with work because of the pandemic and then I had unexpectedly lost a family member. Thank you for everyone that patiently waited and for everyone that followed and favorited this story even though I hadn't updated it in a while. I hope this chapter was acceptable to people, action sequences are probably the hardest part of this but I think I did an okay job.
So yeah, Ash caught a Fletchling. Talonflame was my favorite of the regional birds, now it's tied with Corviknight, so I still really like it. I have most of Ash's team figured out already. I really tried to take Pokemon that I haven't really seen Ash caught in these fics and suprisingly I haven't really seen him catch a member of the Fletchling line. Pidgeot, Fearow and Staraptor are all pretty common birds for him to have, but not Fletchling. This is also why I didn't have him catch a Sneasel. I've seen a few fics where he catches Sneasel (Traveler being the obvious example) so I didn't want to do that.
pokemon_weeb : Just to let everyone know I started a project on Instagram back in December where I've been creating my own custom shiny dex. I also occasionally post Pokemon battle videos and anime reviews when I finish a season or series as well any accomplishments in Pokemon Go I make. I would greatly appreciate a follow pokemon_weeb .