Chapter 6
"Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip!"
"Stop the attack with Psybeam!"
A pinkish orb of otherworldly energy formed on Dexter's beak, and the Porygon fired it with all its might at Angelina's Bulbasaur. The Seed Pokemon was struck right in the head and was sent sprawling into the ground, creating a small dust cloud.
Ash pumped up his fist. Dexter had finally gotten the hang of the new move, which had been useful against a few of the Fighting and Poison types he battled earlier that day. One more Psybeam would finish the job.
"C'mon Bulbasaur! Get up! You can do this!" Angelina urged it, trying to motivate her starter to continue fighting. The Grass/Poison Pokemon winced as it got up on its short legs, using the last of its strength to lift its bruised and battered body up. Ash noticed a sizable bruise on its forehead from where the Psybeam struck, but was surprised that it was able to pull through.
Suddenly, it let out a loud cry and its body started to glow brightly. Ash and Angelina's eyes both widened at the sight of Bulbasaur's evolution. Ash felt shock and dread as Angelina felt excitement.
It's body and legs started to grow larger and its ears grew bigger as well. However, the most notable change was the bulb on its back, which sprouted into a flower bud. Four lush, green leaves sprouted from the bulb as well, surrounding the large budding flower. Finally, Bulbasaur's body stopped glowing, and it marveled at its new body, its eyes scanning over itself and testing its limbs.
Ash whipped out his Pokedex and scanned his new opponent. "Ivysaur." the Pokedex's robotic voice spoke. "There is a bud on Ivysaur's back. To support its weight, Ivysaur's legs and trunk grow thick and strong. Sunlight increases this Pokemon's strength, and if it spends more time in the sun, it is a sign that the bud is going to bloom."
"Alright, Ivysaur! Finish this with Razor Leaf!" Angelina ordered. Her newly evolved ivysaur obeyed, and Ash didn't even have time to shout a command before the bladed leaves hit Dexter with increased speed and precision compared to when it was a bulbasaur. Porygon hit the ground with a thud and didn't get up.
Ash gave a small sigh as he recalled his first partner. Sparring had become a bit of a challenge ever since his friends had started getting noticeably stronger. Nate had started beating him more and more with his newly evolved charmeleon and nidorino. Petal couldn't hold his own against the powerful Pokemon, and even Dexter struggled to stay in the fight, despite being able to hold them off easily during their first few days together.
Now that Angelina had an ivysaur, things were going to get much harder.
"Great battle, Ash!" Angelina called from the other side of the battlefield. "If Bulbsaur hadn't evolved just now, you definitely would've won!"
Ash smiled at the praise. Training had been a bit slow, as he'd be running out of ideas on what to do next. He didn't want to overwork his Pokemon, so he'd stopped training for a few days, besides a few friendly spars with his companions.
The three of them had been staying in Cerulean City for a week and a half. Angelina insisted on staying to see the sights, much to the dismay of Nate and Charmeleon, who both were against the idea of staying near the water. Nate had apparently been in a traumatic experience involving the ocean that he didn't seem to want to talk about, and Charmeleon's hate for water was pretty easy to guess.
Ash took out his Pokedex once more and scrolled through information on the Porygon. For a Pokemon that had been artificially created not too long ago, there sure was a lot of information on the species as a whole.
His eyes were drawn to a move he hadn't yet reviewed. "Conversion 2", a move that allowed Porygon to change its type to one that resisted the last move its opponent used. Ash's smile widened. He could already see the numerous strategies he could use with it, and he couldn't wait to start practicing.
As for Petal, the Weed Pokemon had finally gotten its powder moves down, and they became extremely useful in shutting down his opponents. However, it had been acting a bit strange. Or rather, smelling a bit strange. Recently, every time Ash came close to the Oddish, his nose would be hit by a foul stench and he would fight the urge to throw up. He didn't want to insult Petal, so he stayed strong, but it was getting to be pretty annoying. Dexter was the only one not affected by the stench, since it had no sense of smell anyways.
He'd have to ask Professor Oak about it sometime. As for now, he was occupied with more important matters.
Ash went inside the Pokemon Center to heal up his Pokemon. They'd been working hard, so they deserved a bit of a rest. Besides, their gym battle was tomorrow, and rest was important if they wanted to do well.
From what Ash had heard, the Cerulean Gym was a Water-type gym. Makes sense seeing how the city was located near the ocean. Petal would be superb during the gym battle, but he couldn't get cocky. One wrong move and his strategy could fall apart.
He looked over at Nate, who had been discharged from the hospital a couple of days after they arrived in Cerulean City. He was talking to another Trainer in the Pokemon Center, and Ash could see the happiness on his face. It was almost as if the events of Mt. Moon never happened.
Almost.
The fact that Nate had almost been killed still stuck with the boy. Sure, he knew it wasn't completely his fault. But he still couldn't help but feel a strong sense of guilt whenever he thought about it.
He had seen on the news that the Rockets had been busted by the League, and many were sent to prison, although there were still quite a few members who escaped. Ash started to feel a bit worried about what it could mean.
All of them had been interrogated by the police as soon as he was discharged by the hospital, and the three of them had even been interviewed by a few reporters, although they had declined an interview. Angelina had reminded them that they were big targets of Team Rocket now considering they had just taken down one of their hideouts almost two weeks prior.
A few minutes later, Nurse Joy called his name, snapping the boy out of his thoughts, and he picked up his Pokemon and thanked her. He exited the Pokemon Center and took a breath of fresh air, and then walked down to the beach. Maybe a nice stroll would help him clear his thoughts.
It was a few minutes before Ash could see the beach. Luckily, the beach was pretty empty aside from a few people enjoying the last hours of daylight. The sun was starting to set below the horizon, turning the sky a clear orange.
The calming sound of the waves crashing soothed Ash's mind and he relaxed his muscles. He'd been feeling pretty tense lately, and letting go of the metaphorical weights he was carrying made him feel much better.
He heard a sound coming from behind him. He whipped around and saw a strange sight, a clefairy looking at him. Clefairy were rare, but finding one so far from its home in Mt. Moon confused Ash. Maybe it was lost?
He took out a PokeBall and threw it at the Clefairy with the intent of catching it and giving it to someone that could return to its home. The Clefairy immediately jumped out of the way and shook a fist at him.
"Hey!" The Clefairy yelled angrily. "Watch it!"
"Wha-" Ash started, dumbfounded. This was the second talking Pokemon he'd seen in less than two months. The Clefairy seemed to notice the evident surprise on its face and held up its hands.
"Keep it down, I don't want another Trainer to find me." the Clefairy said. "My name is Bill, and I'm a human, a true blue Pokemaniac!"
Ash just looked at the Clefairy with an eyebrow raised. Was this some sort of joke? The Clefairy seemed to notice and crossed its arms.
"Hey! Don't give me that look, I'm telling the truth, I swear!" Bill said as he waved his arms wildly. "I was doing some experiments in my cottage involving teleportation and was accidentally transferred into the body of a Clefairy. You have no idea how many Pokemon Trainers I've had to run from. You're the first person who hasn't straight up ran away or still tried to catch me. Can you help me get back to my original body? I promise I'll make it worth your while."
The Fairy-type crouched on its knees and pleaded with the boy, clasping its hands together. Ash simply nodded. This was by far the strangest situation he had been in. Maybe it was better to just go with it.
Bill gave him a toothy smile. "Great!" he said enthusiastically. "I'll lead you to my cottage. I can't activate the machine since I'm too short, so I need you to do it. I'll show you how when we get there."
It was an hour walk to Bill's cottage. Bill had asked him to pretend like he was Ash's Pokemon to avoid getting caught, especially around Nugget Bridge, a long yellow walkway that Trainers frequented on.
Some Trainers still tried to challenge him, although Ash was able to shut them down quickly with Dexter. The first few weren't too challenging, but Ash started to notice how the power of his opponents started to increase the more he walked through the bridge.
Finally, after taking out his opponent's Raticate with an Ice Beam, a man approached him from behind, holding a large box.
"Congratulations, young Trainer." he said. "You've managed to beat all of the Trainers I've set up here. Here is your reward." With one hand he opened up the box, and Ash gazed inside. In the box were at least 5 Big Nuggets, their surfaces shining like miniature golden suns. Before Ash could take one of them though, the man closed the box.
"Before I can give you your prize however, I would like to interest you in an organization that I'm a part of that would benefit greatly from your skills." he explained. "We at Team Rocket want people like you to support our cause. Our power is growing, and soon we'll be able to control the entire world!" The man unzipped his jacket and revealed the large red R on his shirt.
Ash's eyes widened, and Bill could sense something was wrong. His mind flashed back to Mt. Moon and his heart started pounding. But he steeled himself. He couldn't let the grunt find out he was scared, or else he might think he'd run away and alert the authorities.
"So what do you say?" the man asked him.
Ash just smirked. "I've heard about your organization." he said. "Remember the three kids that took down your operation in Mt. Moon?" The man just nodded, unsure of where this was going.
"Does this look familiar?" Ash said as he sent out Dexter and Petal. The man's eyes widened as he dropped the box and started running.
"Use Sleep Powder!" Ash commanded. Petal chased after the Rocket grunt and showered him in the sleep-inducing spores. A few seconds later the grunt passed out after breathing them in, and Ash picked up the box.
"Huh." Bill said. "You're more resourceful than I thought. I would ask about what you did in Mt. Moon, but I can tell you don't want to talk about it. Let's move. When we get to my cottage I'll report this man to the police."
Ash nodded and they moved past Nugget Bridge and walked farther into the route.
"It's just beyond those trees." Bill said as he pointed at a group of saplings resting on a hill. Ash and Bill traversed the small hill and Ash made out a brown house with a green roof in the distance, with a stone walkway and a pond near it.
"That's it." Bill said. "C'mon, let's hurry. I have a body to get back to." Ash carefully ran down the hill with Bill clinging to his hat, before checking to make sure the coast was clear.
Ash opened the door to Bill's cottage and saw that the place was extremely messy. Stacks of papers littered the floor, and empty coffee cups were everywhere. He could hear strange beeping sounds coming from all angles, and bookshelves occupied each corner, packed to the brim with knowledge.
"I haven't had time to clean up, cause you know, I'm a Clefairy." Bill said. "Anyways, the machine is over here." He pointed his stubby finger at two pods that were connected by a thick wire, with a computer screen hooked up in the middle.
"I'll go in one of the pods. Once I do, all you have to do is power on the computer, boot up the system, open up the control center, and click "Activate". You'll see a lot of smoke coming from the machine, but don't worry, it's perfectly safe." he reassured him.
Bill walked into one of the pods, although not before giving Ash a thumbs up. Ash did what Bill asked, which took a while, considering that the computer seemed to be pretty outdated.
As soon as he clicked "Activate" the machine started to hum and shake, and tons of smoke started coming out from both pods. This went on for a minute, and Ash was considering turning off the machine, for fear that Bill was in danger. He didn't exactly trust his judgement considering the mess he got into in the first place.
Finally, the doors opened, and from one of the pods came a man with messy brown hair wearing a blue dress shirt and green pants. The other pod opened up and within it was a dazed Clefairy. Bill immediately picked it up and sat it down at one of the chairs in his lab to rest. It seemed it couldn't wrap its head around the day's events.
"Finally! Back in my old body!" Bill said, clearly relieved as he flexed his limbs experimentally and patted himself. "I really can't thank you enough. By the way, I wasn't able to ask what your name was."
"It's Ash." the boy responded.
"Well Ash, you really helped me in my time of need." Bill said. "Anyways, let me get your reward. There's a lot of stuff around here that I don't use, so I'm sure I can get something fitting for a promising Trainer such as yourself. Oh! I know just the thing!"
After digging around in his lab, he produced a case, similar to the one that held Oak's starter Pokemon. He opened it and produced three identical PokeBalls.
"I was sent these three Eevee to study their mysterious genetic makeup." he explained. "However, I ended up getting caught up with my studies, and I simply don't have enough time to spend with them. Would you like to meet them and pick one?"
"Actually, could I possibly take all three of them?" Ash says, "I have a couple of friends staying with me in Cerulean City that might want them as well."
"Sure!" Bill said gleefully. "Beats trying to find two more people to take care of them!"
"Thanks a lot." Ash said with a smile on his face. "This is… great. I feel like I'm getting a bit too much for my efforts though. Any decent person would have helped you."
"Nonsense!" Bill assured him. "Like I said, there were a lot of people who simply tried to catch me. If you hadn't agreed to help me, I could very well be spending the rest of my life as a Clefairy! So take good care of those Eevee."
"Glad I could help." the boy responded.
"Feel free to come back to my cottage if you want to talk about anything related to Pokemon." Bill said. "I'm all ears! But it's getting dark, so I suppose I'll have to send you back to Cerulean City. I'll have Abra teleport you back."
He clicked the release button on a PokeBall and out came what looked like some sort of yellow cat-like Pokemon floating in midair. It's eyes were completely closed so Ash assumed it was sleeping. He decided to scan it, just for the sake of cataloging it.
"Abra." the Pokedex recited. "The Psi Pokemon. Abra needs to sleep for eighteen hours a day. If it doesn't, this Pokémon loses its ability to use telekinetic powers. If it is attacked, Abra escapes using Teleport while it is still sleeping. The contents of its dreams also affect the power it wields."
"Ah, a Pokedex!" Bill marveled. "I heard Oak was in the developmental stages of it, but I never thought I'd see the finished product! He truly is a genius!"
"Don't worry about Abra though." he continued. "He can still hear us and teleport you. Anyways Abra, would you mind taking this kind boy to the Cerulean City Pokemon Center?"
Abra said nothing, although Ash noticed its body starting to glow. Bill waved goodbye to him and before he could wave back, he felt a strong pull and was wooshed out of Bill's lab. He was blinded by the light that followed the teleportation, and it felt like Ash was going through some sort of ultrabright tunnel at supersonic speed. The sensation only lasted for a spoilt second however, as he felt the ground below his feet and as his eyes started to adjust he recognized the familiar logo of the Pokemon Center.
Luckily he hadn't lost his new cargo, and he strolled into the Pokemon Center and went straight to his room. When he opened the door, he found Nate and Angelina both on their beds. Angelina was playing with Jigglypuff while Ivysaur slept soundly on the floor, and Nate was scrolling lazily through the Pokedex.
"Hey Ash!" Nate said. "Where've you been? We were starting to get a little worried." His eyes drifted over to the case that Ash was holding. "What's with the briefcase? Got any cool business secrets you're hiding?
"I had to help a friend out." Ash stated vaguely. "I brought back a surprise for you guys though. You should probably wake your Ivysaur, Angelina. He won't want to miss this."
She nodded, and prodded her starter before it finally got up and yawned. He opened the case with the PokeBalls in it and Nate and Angelina "oohed" as they set their eyes on the capsules.
All three of them clicked the release buttons on the PokeBalls, and out came three small eevee. The trio of fox Pokemon looked around before they looked intently at the three strangers in front of them.
"They're so cute!" Angelina squealed. "I don't know which one to pick!"
"Let's hope they don't put us to sleep this time." Nate said with a chuckle. "Do you want to pick first, Ash?"
"It's fine, you guys can pick." he said. "I wanna let fate decide this one. I already have Dexter, so what could go wrong?"
"You rock, dude." Nate flashed a smile at him. He looked over the three Normal-types, assessing each one. It was like choosing their starter Pokemon all over again. Except no Gary this time.
Nate's eyes shifted over to an eevee that seemed to be watching him intently, with a calm, collected expression. Now that he thought about it, a calm Pokemon would be a nice change from a proud Charmeleon, a competitive Nidorino, and a devious Pikachu. He constantly had to deal with their antics, and while he didn't mind, a calmer Pokemon would be a nice change.
"Hey there." he said to the eevee, holding out his hand. "How'd you like to come with me on my journey? I've got some friends with me already who are super psyched to meet you. I'm not forcing you, but I think you'd be a great fit."
Nate steps away from the eevee, and behind him are Charmeleon, Nidorino, and Pikachu, all wanting to get a look at their potential new teammate. The eevee doesn't seem phased, despite the fact that Charmeleon is at least twice her height.
"So whaddya think?" Nate asks, still holding out his hand. "Wanna join us?"
The eevee considers this for a moment before putting her paw on Nate's hand, and his smile widens.
One of the other eevees decided this was getting a bit bored and opted to instead to chase its own tail. Angelina squealed at the sheer adorableness and scooped it up in her arms, causing Jigglypuff to glare at the eevee being showered in attention.
"He's perfect!" she said in delight. Angelina could've sworn she heard a microphone being thrown on the ground right after she said that, but chalked it up to her imagination.
Ash looked at the lone eevee that was left after his friends finished picking theirs. It didn't seem too hurt not being picked, and he approached it. He held out his hand, and the eevee backed away a little. Ash frowned and decided to release Dexter. He was going to release Petal, but released the stench might bother everyone, so he decided against it.
"Hey, there Eevee." Ash said as he crouched to the fox's level. "I'm Ash. This here is my partner Dexter. I'm on a journey to become the best Trainer in the world. I want you to come with me. We'll travel all over the Kanto region, and I can help you get stronger. What do you say?"
As soon as he said the word "stronger", Eevee's eyes shined and she nodded her head vigorously. She had always loved battling at the daycare, and finding a Trainer who could help get stronger was her dream. Soon she'd be unstoppable!
Ash grinned and took Eevee's paw before shaking it. "Welcome to the team. Do you want a nickname? Both of my companions have one."
The small fox thought for a moment before nodding her head once more. It then became a back and forth exchange of possible nicknames, and Ash had almost forgotten how tiring thinking of nicknames for Pokemon was.
"How about Kit?" Ash suggested after about fifteen minutes. Eevee nodded her head again with a cute smile, satisfied with the idea.
"Kit it is." Ash said, relieved this wouldn't have to go on any longer. "You should get some sleep. Same with you Dexter, we have a big battle tomorrow."
The Porygon nodded, and Ash withdrew both it and his new eevee friend, but not before scanning Kit with his Pokedex. The device beeped and started reciting information.
"Eevee." the device droned. "The Evolution Pokemon. Eevee has an unstable genetic makeup that suddenly mutates due to the environment in which it lives. Radiation from various stones causes this Pokémon to evolve. The question of why only Eevee has such unstable genes has still not been solved."
He vaguely remembered hearing in school about how Eevee had eight different evolutions (appropriately dubbed Eeveelutions), the largest number ever recorded in a Pokemon. Deciding which one to go with was going to be a headache.
Ash dismissed the thought and hopped into his bed, and after talking a bit about the day's events the three tweens finally decided to get some shuteye. It was a big day tomorrow anyways.
The next day, Ash was trying to squeeze in some last minute training. Nothing too rigorous or exhausting, since his Pokemon needed the strength for the Water-type gym, but he wanted as much preparation as possible for his next big battle.
His members of choice were Dexter and Petal, since both of them had super effective moves against Water-types. From what he had heard, the gym's arena was made almost entirely of water, and since Dexter didn't need to breathe, it could fight its opponents in or out of the water.
He didn't know didn't know how strong Kit was and didn't know her moves, so he opted against using her until he figured out her strengths and weaknesses. He couldn't check which moves she knew until he got her registered as one of his Pokemon, since it was still in the ownership of Bill and therefore he couldn't check the moves it knew.
Ash then took a five-minute walk to the gym, and finally came across a dome-shaped building with a large painting of a Dewgong in front of it. The boy couldn't help but feel nervous once again, just like before his battle with Brock. But he steeled his nerves and stepped inside. A receptionist made eye contact with him and smiled.
"Welcome to the Cerulean Gym!" she greeted him. "Are you here to see the show? You're quite early, our next performance won't be for a few hours."
"I'm Ash. I'm here for a gym battle." he said. The receptionist frowned.
"Battle, huh?" she said. "We haven't had a challenger in weeks. Are you sure you don't want to see our next performance? Everyone else comes here for it."
Ash narrowed his eyebrows a little. "I'm sure."
"I see. This way please." The receptionist led him down a long hallway, and Ash saw that they were walking through an aquarium. He was able to make out a few fish Pokemon like Magikarp and Goldeen, and there were a couple he didn't recognize, like a pink and white fish Pokemon with a tail shaped like a butterfree, and a serpent-like Pokemon with pink antennae.
Finally they walked into a large room which featured a giant pool with a large landmass in the middle of it, with bleachers on opposite sides. Ash heard a loud splash and saw three young women resurface and climb out of the pool. He heard them talking amiably between each other as the receptionist led him toward them.
"Daisy, Lily, Violet, this is Ash. He's here for a battle." the receptionist said as she gestured to the boy. "Ash, these are the three Cerulean Gym Leaders."
"Do we have to?" Lily whined. "Like, I haven't done a battle in ages… they're so boring…"
Ash raised his eyebrows at that. Boring? Why were they Gym Leaders in the first place then?
"Yeah we wanna like practice for our upcoming performances instead." Violet piped up. "There's a box with some badges in the back. You can just take one."
Ash frowned. "How can you call yourselves Gym Leaders if you can't even offer a challenger a battle?" he said, a hint of anger in his voice. "You offering me a badge for free is an insult to me and my Pokemon. I'll come back another time when you can give me a real battle."'
The boy spun on his heel and was about to walk out of the Gym, but was stopped by a voice.
"Hey! I'll battle you!" He turned around and saw the same orange-haired girl from Viridian calling to him. She walked over to him and stuck out her hand.
"Sorry about my sisters." she apologized. "They never want to battle anybody. The name's Misty by the way."
"She's the runt in our family." Daisy said. "But fine. You can battle her. Or take a badge. Not like there's much of a difference, you'll probably still get a badge either way."
"Are you saying that I'm WEAK!?" the tomboy shouted.
"Maybe." the older sister said, smirking at her sibling. "So what'll it be, Mr. I'm-Too-Good-For-Free-Badges?"
"I'll battle her." Ash responded. "Besides, I need payback after she almost ran me over on her bike."
Misty immediately realized who she was talking to and her eyes narrowed. "For your information," she spat. "You were standing there like an idiot instead of moving to the side! It's not my fault you didn't move out of the way until I was about to hit you!"
Meanwhile, the three sisters looked amusedly at Misty as she continued to bicker with Ash.
"Ah, young love." Daisy said so only Misty could hear. "You guys would make a great couple." The orange-haired girl's face immediately turned tomato red.
"Shut up!"
"The battle between Misty Waterflower and Ash Ketchum will now commence!" Lily announced. "This will be a two-on-two battle, and substitutions are only allowed on the challenger's side. Trainers, send out your Pokemon!"
"Let's show 'em, Staryu!"
"You're up, Dexter."
A brown sea star-like Pokemon with a red jewel in the middle of its body came from Misty's PokeBall in a flash of light, which Ash immediately scanned with his Pokedex.
"Staryu. The Star Shape Pokemon." the tablet rattled off. "An enigmatic Pokémon that can effortlessly regenerate any appendage it loses in battle. Staryu's center section has an organ called the core that shines bright red. If you go to a beach toward the end of summer, the glowing cores of these Pokémon look like the stars in the sky."
Ash frowned. A regenerative Pokemon was going to be a problem. He needed a plan to do as much damage as possible to it before it could regenerate.
The two Pokemon took to the pool, and Misty's Staryu immediately jumped into the water while Dexter's flashed yellow as it hovered over the surface of the water, scanning for any signs of its opponent.
"Keep your guard up." Ash told his starter. "That Staryu could be anywhere."
Dexter simply nodded as it levitated over the surface of the water. Suddenly a splash, followed by a smacking sound was heard, and Ash made out a bruise on Porygon's body. That Tackle had come out of nowhere. He had to be careful.
"Dexter, fly higher above the water." Ash ordered. "When Staryu comes close, blast it back with a Thunderbolt." The porygon warbled in response and floated higher. He suddenly heard another splash followed by a small explosion. When the smoke cleared, he saw that Dexter was unscathed and Staryu was descending back into the water, with a small crack on its core. Suddenly he had an idea.
"Use Conversion." Ash commanded. Porygon's body started to glow, and its body started to glow a faint yellow. Perfect.
"Oh no you don't!" Misty yelled. "Staryu, resurface and use Water Gun!"
Ash smirked. Bingo.
"Use Thunderbolt to cut through the Water Gun!" Ash ordered. Staryu resurfaced and blasted a moderate volume of water from its core at Dexter. The Porygon warbled and shot its own supercharged Thunderbolt, which cut through the water-type attack with ease and zapped Staryu, shattered its core and caused it to go unconscious.
"WHAT!?" Misty screamed. "But how!?"
"Water conducts electricity." Ash called from the opposite side of the battlefield. "I used Conversion to strengthen Dexter's Thunderbolt and bait you into attacking. If your Staryu used Tackle, Dexter would have enough time to zap it before it made contact. And using Water Gun gave you the result you see here."
Misty shot him a dirty look as she recalled her fallen Staryu. "Hmph." she grumbled. "You're smarter than you look. But that doesn't mean you'll win. Go, Starmie!"
A Pokemon similar in size and appearance to Misty's Starmie appeared, although it seemed to have five extra arms and was blue this time, prompting Ash to scan it.
"Starmie. The Mysterious Pokemon." the Pokedex said aloud once more. "Starmie swims through water by spinning its star-shaped body as if it were a propeller on a ship. The core at the center of this Pokemon's body glows in seven colors. It is said that it uses the seven-colored core of its body to send electric waves into outer space."
Ash knew Misty wouldn't fall for his strategy a second time, so he decided to just go on the offensive now that he had already set up Conversion.
"Use Thunderbolt!" he ordered.
"Dodge with Rapid Spin and use Ice Beam!" Misty called. Starmie's body spun out of the way of the attack and retaliated by sending a ray of ice at the porygon, sending it spinning. That gave Ash an idea.
"Use Ice Beam on the pool!" he shouted. Dexter charged up his own icy ray and shot at the surface of the pool, freezing the water and coating the surface with a thick layer of ice.
"Now's our chance! Psychic!" Misty ordered. Starmie's core glowed and it took hold of Dexter with its psychic power before sending it flying toward a wall.
"Dexter!" Ash yelled as his partner Pokemon flew into the air and slumped to the ground, its eyes now swirls. That Psychic attack had caught him off guard, and by the looks of it, the move was powerful. But that didn't matter. Porygon had already done its job. Now it was Petal's turn.
"Not so tough now are ya?" Misty taunted. "Send out your next Pokemon. Starmie and I will take it out easily!"
"It's all up to you, Petal." Ash called as he sent out his Grass-type. Petal took the field, being able to hold its footing on the ice. The familiar stench coming from the oddish hit him, and Ash recoiled from the smell. It seemed that Misty could smell it too, as she wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"Start this off with Stun Spore!" Ash commanded. Petal raced toward Starmie and shot the paralyzing powder at it. The Mysterious Pokemon started twitching in pain, and Ash smirked. Step one was complete.
"Now, while it's immobilized! Use Growth!"
"Not so fast!" Misty called. "Wash off the powder, and then use Psychic to throw Oddish in the air!"
Starmie submerged itself in the pool, easily washing the Stun Spore off of its body. When it resurfaced, its core started to shine, and pink energy started to radiate around Petal before the oddish was launched into the air, not having time to counterattack.
"Now knock it out of the sky with Rapid Spin!" Misty yelled. Starmie jumped out of the water and spun like a top toward Petal, hitting it out of the air and sending it flying towards the ice.
"Petal!" Ash screamed. The oddish landed with a crash on the ice, and it contorted its face in pain. A few seconds later it used its little legs to push itself back up and glares daggers at its opponent.
"That's the spirit!" Ash cheered. "Use Mega Drain!"
Green tendrils of energy were absorbed into Petal's body as its core started to flicker. The bruises that lined Petal's body started to patch up a little, showing the useful side effect of Mega Drain in action.
"Don't let it damage you any longer! Use Psychic again!" Misty ordered.
Starmie's core started to glow once more as Petal started to rise high in the air once again. But this time, Ash was prepared.
"Use Acid! Aim for the core!" Ash yelled. Petal complied and spat a glob of sticky sludge at the Water-Psychic type, causing it to lose focus and drop the oddish onto the ground.
"Use Acid once more!"
"Counteract with Ice Beam!"
The two attacks met, creating a small explosion and causing smoke to appear. Misty took this opportunity to yell out a command while visibility was reduced.
"Use Rapid Spin through the smoke!" she called to her Starmie. The Water-Psychic type's core started to glow as it locked onto the oddish through the smoke. It spun its body using psychic energy and took off through the dissipating smoke, slamming into Petal and knocking it into the air.
"Finish it off with Ice Beam!" Before he could give a command, Ash watched in horror as Starmie fired the beam of icy energy at Petal. A layer of ice started to form on Petal's body, and it was too weak to do anything about it. The Ice beam was thinner, more concentrated than Dexter's, Ash observed, and it wasn't long before the Weed Pokemon was encased in a block of ice.
The boy immediately ran over to his partner and crouched over it, the oddish's expression of pain frozen on its face.
"I'm so sorry, Petal." Ash murmured. "I froze up, and I couldn't help you at all during that battle. This is all my fault."
"Alright! We won!" Misty cheered. "Nice job, Starmie. He never stood a chance!"
Unbeknownst to them however, Lily didn't call the battle. Her eyes were focused on the oddish, still inside its icy prison. Was it… glowing?
Ash started to notice it too, and he backed away from Petal. Misty gasped. Cracks started to appear in the ice as Petal's body grew larger and larger. Finally the ice block exploded, sending chunks everywhere.
Ash closed his eyes and shielded himself from the ice flying all over the place. When he opened them, he no longer saw Petal. A larger Pokemon with an orange flower on its head was in his place.
Snapping out of his surprise, he took his Pokedex out of his jacket pocket and fumbled with it until he started scanning the Pokemon.
"Gloom. The Weed Pokemon." The Pokedex stated. "Gloom releases a foul fragrance from the pistil of its flower. When faced with danger, the stench worsens. If this Pokémon is feeling calm and secure, it does not release its usual stinky aroma. What appears to be drool is actually sticky honey coming from its mouth."
"It evolved!?" Misty yelled in surprise as she gawked at the new and improved Petal. "But how!? I froze it!"
"I'm not entirely sure myself." Ash said as he shrugged his shoulders. "But that means we're not out of the battle just yet! Petal, use Growth!"
"Stop that smelly plant with another Ice Beam!" Misty commanded her Starmie. The starfish sent another chilling ray of ice at the Gloom, but Petal finished its Growth much faster than before and jumped out of the way of the attack.
"Retaliate with Acid!" Ash ordered, finally getting back into the swing of things. Petal rushed toward Starmie before shooting a much larger ball of poisonous goo at the Starmie, covering it in the purple substance.
"Finish this with Mega Drain!" he commanded. Misty could only watch as her beloved Starmie's energy was sucked away by the attack, causing it to lose consciousness and fall over.
"Starmie is able to battle!" Lily announced. "Gloom wins! Which means the winner of this battle is Ash!"
Ash ran over to Petal, who turned around and ran toward him happily. He picked him up and put him on his hat, something the Weed Pokemon had always enjoyed.
"You did it, Petal." Ash said. "You've pulled through again… and you evolved! I'm so proud." He noticed the four sisters walked over to him and smiled. The three older sisters looked at him with respect, while Misty just kept her head down.
"Wow." Daisy said in awe. "That was like, such a good battle. You managed to defeat our runt here. And your Oddish evolved was really cool, especially since it evolved because of you."
"Wait… but you guys don't even like battling." Ash said. "How'd you know it was because of me?"
"We might not battle often, but were not, like, stupid or anything." Lily piped up. "It was easy to see your oddish evolved because it wanted to make you proud. So I'd like to present you with this." She pulled a badge out of her pocket and handed it to Ash. It was shaped like a water droplet with a sky blue hue.
Ash beamed. "Thanks a lot. It was a great battle, Misty. Maybe I could come back and challenge you again sometime."
The orange-haired tomboy lifted her head and a smile creeped its way onto her face. "I'd like that." she murmured.
Just then, they heard the door to the pool open and in walked the same receptionist, accompanied by Nate, who waved at Ash.
"Hey Ash. Didn't expect you to be here. Did you finish your battle?" Nate asked. Ash just pulled out his Cascade Badge and Nate flashed in a smile.
"Nice job!" Nate congratulated him. "I'm about to battle now! Think you can watch me…" His eyes drifted over to the three sisters, then to Misty, and he started to realize who he was up against. Misty, who hadn't been paying attention, caught sight of the boy, and they both pointed at each other.
"YOU!"
Ash just suppressed a laugh as Misty immediately ran out the gym to heal her Pokemon, muttering something about "idiotic boys".
End of Chapter 6
Author's Note: Heya! Thanks for making it to chapter 6! This chapter is gonna have a lot of juicy stuff in it, so read till the end!
I change a few things in previous chapters, most notably the "good luck charm" that Satoshi gives. It's supposed to be a Leaf Stone, but after a bit of thinking I decided that it's better if Ash actually receives a Leaf Stone later on in his journey, which one of my readers suggested. It just flows better than receiving the Leaf Stone so early and then bringing it up randomly twenty chapters later.
I also just added in some more detail to the first few chapters. Looking back, I can see that my work has improved (at least in my eyes) over time. I've been adopting a few techniques that I've seen other authors do, and I feel like it's been paying off.
I also changed the title of this story to "An Adventure Can't Be Planned". Looking back at my old title, I really don't know what I was thinking when I made it. Oh well.
Here are some more responses to reviews.
Reader: Yes, I'm planning to make Satoshi be some sort of rival to Ash. I thought it would be cool for Ash to battle… Ash!
Guest: It's all part of my master plan. Don't worry.
As always, constructive criticism is appreciated. Thanks for reading!