Rivalries
Ash had missed out on the rest of Cerise's class, though thankfully Cerise had cancelled it as he and some of the students had gone off looking for Ash to make sure he was okay. He still needed to attend the next class though and after getting the okay from the nurse he got up and headed down the hall, Eevee atop his shoulder. He noticed that the hallways were deserted, meaning that everyone else had already arrived at their classes! He quickly bolted down the hall until coming to the room with the right number, the door being flung open as he arrived. His right cheek had a bandage across it from where a Spearow had drawn blood, causing some of the students to focus their attention on him before a cough got their attention.
Wearing a lab coat was a rather cold looking man, his eyes were ice blue and he didn't seem to show any emotion as he looked towards Ash. He also seemed to have quite the strange hair style, it was long and jet black with purple streaks across it. Ash couldn't help but gulp, he knew Cerise and Oak were friendly but this guy? Something told him this class wouldn't be easy!
"You're late, Ketchum."
"H-How do you know my name?" Ash asked only for his answer to be given as the Professor showed him the attendance list, only his name wasn't checked off. Ash sweated before quickly apologizing and making his way towards a free seat only to notice it was next to Damian, he considered going ahead and sitting down but decided against it as the guy was too obnoxious to sit next to for the next hour or so. Choosing a different one and not really paying attention to who was next to him as he figured it couldn't be worse than Damian.
"Better not happen again, Ketchum." The Professor shook his head. "Anyways, I'm Professor Venom. Today we'll be discussing your goals and how you plan on accomplishing them, which I'm sure will go well for most of you." He looked towards Damian and Flash before focusing his attention on Ash. "While others, I doubt you'll get very far." Ash wanted to retaliate but knew better than to do that, the man was his teacher after all!
"Alright class, when I call your name I would like for you to tell me your goal and how you plan on accomplishing it." Ash noticed his face didn't seem to budge at all, did this guy ever show emotion? "Let's start with the back of the class, Misty?"
Ash realized that the Psyduck girl from earlier was next to him as the girl spoke up.
"I plan on taking over the Cerulean Gym from my sisters and make it the strongest gym in all of Kanto!" Misty clenched her fists as she thought of her sisters and the mockery of how they were currently handling the gym, they were giving away badges like they were pieces of candy! "And after that, I'd like to become a Water Master! Somebody that other Water specialists like myself look up to and admire..."
"Very nice." Though Venom's face hardly matched his words as he looked towards Ash. "Ketchum?"
Ash quickly stood up, causing Damian to snort a bit as Ash pumped his fists with a determined expression. "My dream... is to become a Pokemon Master! Someday I wish to enter the Pokemon World Tournament and prove myself by winning and getting crowned World Champion! Though I suppose I'll start off by entering the Indigo League and fighting my dad!"
"Nobody's beating Red, Ketchum." Venom tried shutting him down, resulting in Ash letting out a light growl. Venom merely smirked before turning to the next student, Ash heard many others mentioning that they were also wanting to enter the Indigo League, including Flash and Gary which got Ash's attention. Perhaps Flash would be interested in partaking in a battle later on that day?
"Brock?"
"Well it's... complicated. You could say that it's... the same as Misty's but with my dad." Brock stated though unlike everyone else he didn't seem completely into it as his voice sounded a bit saddened and unsure of himself.
"Hmm..." Venom stroked his chin for a moment before looking towards the next student. "Zach? We don't usually get non-Kantonians in Kanto schools, what brings you to Kanto?"
"Well you see, I've always aspired to be a Pokemon champion but my home region doesn't have a League so my dad suggested that I learn where he was taught as it could give me an idea as to which region I want to be champion of. As other famous trainers like Cynthia and Steven Stone also studied here." Ash noticed that Zach's goal was rather small compared to his own, he seemed to be content with just ending up a Pokemon Champion wherever that may be. Though that didn't bother Ash one bit, he hoped he'd succeed as having a fight when they both became strong enough to enter the World Championship would be quite exciting! Especially as Lucario already appeared to be a bit skilled for their level. "And finding a girl to settle down with I suppose."
Venom scoffed, shaking his head before looking at Chloe. "And you, Cerise?"
"I-I actually don't know yet!" Chloe stated.
"Giselle?" Giselle was about to speak up before Damien interrupted her.
"Oooh, I think I know!" Damian laughed, starting to hum the wedding march before Misty bonked him over the head! Damian's two goons looked at her with a pissed off expression while Flash looked a bit nervous though tried to hide it by facing forward.
"Shut it!" Misty growled.
"The fuck was that for?!" Damian stood up and faced Misty, looking quite ticked off and Professor Venom didn't seem to intervene. It almost looked like he smiled lightly as he took a seat at his own desk and watched the events unfold.
"You know what you did, you've been a real jerk all day! So what if Giselle likes the guy?" "Huh?" Zach looked a bit clueless as he looked towards Giselle for better understanding only to see the girl looking at her feet while silently muttering 'who said anything about marrying him?'. "It's rude to pry into a woman's love life like that ya know, and let's not forget about when Ketchum ran off and all of us went out looking while you and your goon squad merely sat back and relaxed!"
"Hey, we're not goons!"
"Yeah, we're his buddies!"
"Can it, Ben and Ken!" Damian glared at his goons as he pulled up the sleeves of his shirt. "This is between me and her."
Ash's eyes widened as it looked like Damian was about to hit her, he got up and attempted to intervene only for Misty to push him away as she readied up her fists and looked like she was wanting to fight as well. "Oh, so you hit girls too? Well I assure you that this girl hits back!"
Flash seemed rather nerved by the conversation as he picked up his desk and scooted away from his friends. Thankfully Brock stepped in before things got violent though, doing what Venom was neglecting to do.
"Hey you two, why not settle this with a Pokemon battle?" Brock asked, looking between the two as he held them away from one another with relative ease. Misty grit her teeth and for a moment it looked like she was going to refuse before eventually calming down.
"Fine but since he said some pretty nasty things about Ash while he was gone, I think it's only fair that Ash gets in on this as well. Teach this Damian brat a lesson!" Misty looked towards Ash who looked excited at the prospect of getting to battle though his eyes turned to Venom who merely shrugged.
"Why not? If somebody asks I can pass it off as a lesson." He seemed rather intent on letting this go on as he waved them all out of the room. He remained rather quiet though as another student passed by and gave them a look, the man would quickly speak up. "Okay, double battles are a rare sight but they are required in certain circumstances, take the Mossdeep Gym in Hoenn for example. The two gym leaders are prodigy that managed to graduate all of Hoenn's Pokemon School in just one year, Liza and Tate, brother and sister duo who specialize in double battles. Of course, none of that sort is required here in Kanto."
Misty looked towards Ash and nudged his arm. "I hope you're careful cause if you hit Psyduck, you could potentially cost us the match!" She warned him with a light hiss as she looked towards Eevee.
A chuckle escaped from Ash's lips. "Don't worry, I'll be careful!"
Damian meanwhile walked alongside Flash and seemed to be dragging him into the battle, meaning that Electabuzz was no doubt participating. Professor Venom soon led them outside and towards the training field where Zach and Flash had their battle earlier on in the day.
Venom looked towards Ash and Misty before looking at Flash and Damian. "Alright you lot, you are to use one Pokemon each. No funny business, no attacking the other trainers or the crowd. Once an opposing side is unable to battle, the victor will be announced."
Ash and Misty nodded, Eevee jumping from Ash's shoulder and onto the field while Misty released Psyduck. The yellow duck Pokemon held it's held while letting out a light cry.
Damian meanwhile released Charmander while Flash let out Electabuzz. Electabuzz slammed his fists together as they sparked heavily while Charmander had a timid expression, walking over to hide behind Damian's leg before the boy let out a frustrated growl and kicked out, sending Charmander flying back onto the field with a light thud.
"HEY!" Ash growled out, quickly turning to the Professor only to notice that he'd stop watching and was currently looking through an book.
"Professor, are you seriously going to allow that?!" Zach asked, sounding visibly frustrated as well from Damian's actions. Didn't help Damian always mocked his friend.
"Hm? Allow what?" The Professor acted clueless but Ash had a slight suspicion that he saw. "It's just a friendly battle."
"Attack with Scratch!" Damian shouted, Charmander rushed for Psyduck and scratched it! The duck Pokemon made no attempt at dodging, merely holding onto it's head as Misty let out a smirk.
"Heh, not even going to attack? You act all tough when you're off the field yet soon as you get on the field you turn chicken, eh?" Damian laughed with a smirk. "Should have known girls suck at battling!"
"Hey!" Giselle clenched her fists from Damian's remarks as everyone looked towards Venom once more only to be left with a similar action from last time as he apparently heard nothing and was busy looking over his book.
Misty growled but wasn't going to mess up her plan, she noticed Electabuzz's fists become fully charged up as it began charging at Psyduck while Flash ordered out a "Thunder Punch!"
"Bzzz!"
"Ketchum, quick! Have Eevee knock Psyduck away with Quick Attack!"
"Huh?" Ash looked confused for a moment, not getting what Misty was playing at but he obliged, Eevee quickly darted over and pushed Psyduck away with a Quick Attack, causing a bit of damage but pushing Psyduck away as the duck merely held onto his head, letting out an agitated groan as it looked like his head was getting close to exploding!
"Pssyyyy!"
"Let's eliminate Psyduck, teach this girl a lesson! Charmander, Scratch!"
"Chaar!" Charmander rushed forward and scratched at Psyduck only to be stopped mere inches from contact as his body was encased by a blue hue, Psyduck's eyes opened up to reveal they were glowing bright blue! "Psyduck!" The duck Pokemon lifted up Charmander before hurling him through the air and smacking him into Electabuzz! Charmander laid down on the ground in defeat as Damian clinched his fists.
"You pathetic piece of shit, you made us lose to a girl!" Damian shouted, kicking Charmander while he was out only to suddenly get tackled by Ash as the boy hated seeing him treat Charmander like that.
"Get off of me, ya brat!" Damian growled out as they wrestled through the dirt, the boy glaring and spitting out at Ash. "This doesn't concern you!"
"If you abuse your Pokemon like that then it's gonna concern me!" Ash shouted out with a growl.
Ben and Ken made a rush to help their boss only to have their path blocked by Lucario as the jackal let out a growl, Misty and Zach blocking the way past as they prevented Ash from getting ganged up on. Flash meanwhile looked away from it until a Pokemon was heard bursting open as a large dark blue frog Pokemon reached in and pushed Ash and Damian apart. Evidently the Professor had enough but didn't seem to scold them, not seeming to think it worth his time as he pointed at the clock above the school entrance.
"Class is about over, go on ahead to the cafeteria. Toxicroak, let them go but if any of them tries anything... Poison Jab." That seemed to make Ash back down while Damian merely smirked as if he'd won. Waving over Ben and Ken before the trio walked off, Flash walked by Ash and hesitated almost as if he was about to say something before heading on after them.
"Come on, let's get you something to eat." Brock held out his arm and helped pull Ash up with a smile.
Misty was still there, rubbing the back of her head as a light red color formed across her cheek. "I won't yell at you for doing that, honestly I was about to do the same. I think others looked moments from doing that themselves, Damian sure knows how to make enemies. It feels like everyone in class but those three hate him!"
"Misty, what he did was wrong but there's no need to resort to violence. If a more... responsible teacher had taken notice then Damian would be kicked out of here before we could even blink!" Brock stated as the trio walked back into the building and made their way to the cafeteria, a smile crossed Ash's face as he got the whiff of pizza!
Ash licked his lips before nodding. "I know I just... couldn't help myself, you know? Just standing there and helplessly watching that... it felt terrible!"
"I know." Brock frowned.
The conversation ended as they got in line for food, Ash taking note of the variety of slices that he could get but eventually chose a piece that had one of pretty much every meat topping, choosing a pudding cup afterwards along with a glass of milk. After all three paid for their meals they walked out towards the tables only to notice most of them were full.
"Of course he orders pineapple on his pizza..." Misty muttered as she noticed Damian, Brock soon tugged on her arm before pointing towards a table that had plenty of space for the three of them. The group took their seat before being greeted by a soft "Hello!" as Leaf waved at them. Zach sat next to her with Lucario on his other side, the male merely waving as he was taking a bite of his pizza.
"Eevoi!" Eevee waved at Lucario who grunted lightly in response.
"That was might bold of you to jump him you know, if the right teacher had seen you do that then you'd possibly be out of here. Though I won't deny that I'd probably have done the same!" Zach let out a light laugh while Ash nervously chuckled before shooting a glance towards Leaf as the girl was giving him a look of familiarity once again.
"Where do I know you from?" Ash couldn't help but ask. "Sorry if that sounds rude, it's just-You seem to know me and... I honestly can't remember you." Ash chuckled, Leaf's eyes widened as she looked offended for a moment before answering.
"Seriously? We were neighbors since we were three! My father moved away when we were ten cause he got a high paying job in Celadon City. You seriously forgot within that short span of time?!" Leaf had never stopped thinking about him in fact she actually had a little shrine dedicated to him in her room back in Celadon, good thing he'd never see it!
Ash lightly sweat dropped as he desperately worked to shovel up old memories before shortly recalling a memory of him, Gary and Leaf playing in a park while they were only six years old. Ash's mom and Leaf's parents watched over them along with Professor Oak as Gary's parents had mysteriously disappeared one day. "Oh that's right, you were wanting to become an Elite Four member like Lorelei!" Leaf smirked lightly, looking rather pleased as she nodded in confirmation while a blush formed across her cheek.
Brock smiled lightly at the sight before perking up as he noticed an attractive older blonde walking on by, quickly shooting up and rushing in front of her.
"Hello there, I'm Brock! Must I say you look rather beautiful, how would you feel about going out with me night? We could go star gazing and see that our love is destined to be, I-AGGGH!" Brock groaned out as Misty grabbed hold of his ear and dragged him back to the table with an annoyed look. "She's out of your league, lover boy. Sit down and eat!"
Ash couldn't help but laugh though his attention soon diverted to Lucario as he continued to eat.
"So, you're from the Alola region?"
"That I am! I miss it along with my friends there but I can always go back and visit them on the holidays, I aspire to be a champion and they respect that choice I still haven't decided where just yet but with so many of you wanting to enter the Indigo League I doubt I will, I couldn't bare to crush a friend's dream. I'd love to become a champion without any unnecessary drama involved!" His eyes seemed to light up as he pictured himself and Lucario in front of a cheering crowd, people chanting out while some girls fan girl at the sight of him. A smirk crossing his face as the last part, proving to be as bad as Brock but he was more secretive and shy about it.
"Wow, I'm guessing you've got plenty of exciting Pokemon from the region then?" Ash asked with an excited expression, he had to guess at least. It was evident he had Lucario for quite some time so it was possible that he had at least one other Pokemon.
Zach quickly shook his head. "Just Rockruff, it was a gift from my folks before I left. They knew I always wanted a Rockruff so they surprised me before I left to enroll here, she's already a good companion for Lucario and I!"
"Rockruff, eh?" Ash asked, tilting his head before Zach pressed a button as a brown puppy appeared on his lap, looking towards Ash as the boy's eyes quickly widened.
"That's the dog from-!"
"Yep, Rockruff's the one that found you!" Zach smirked, stroking his canine Pokemon's fur before passing it a piece of meat from his food tray. Rockruff happily ate it before letting out a cry of delight!
"See, I told you that we went out looking for you." Misty nudged Ash's arm with a light smile. Ash lightly rubbed it before looking at Misty.
"You're in line to become a gym leader, right?" Ash asked her.
"Yep and boy can I not wait for that day! I'm tired of my sisters making a mockery of the gym's name, they don't even..." She quickly stopped herself as she didn't want to further embarrass it, hopefully they wouldn't find out until after she took over.
"And you Brock?" Ash's question made Brock cough while he was chewing his food, the older male quickly watering down his mouth before swallowing as he nodded though an unsure expression returned to his face.
"Yeah... I can't wait!" He forced a smile, his words sounded unsure but none of them picked up on it.
Ash talked with the five for the remainder of the lunch period until the bell would ring, signaling for the students to head on to class. Everyone said their goodbyes but were quickly reunited as they'd all find themselves in their last class of the day in Professor Oak's room.
Oak smiled at Ash, waving at the boy as he stepped on in. "Ash, my boy! So glad you could make it, and I see that you've made some friends!" He noted as he noticed that he'd arrived with Brock and Misty.
"Wait, you know Professor Oak?!" Brock's eyebrows raised from shock. He knew Ash was from Pallet Town but he'd never have guessed that he and Oak were on speaking terms!
Ash nodded, a smile crossing his face. "Professor Oak's known me for practically my whole life. He looks after everyone in the town and makes sure they're doing alright"
The Professor nodded in confirmation before waving his hand. "Sit, sit! We mustn't hold up the lesson," Oak laughed as more students arrived. Gary waved at Ash as he stepped on in, shortly followed by Zach and Chloe, with Giselle and Damien and his goons also seeming to be in this class as well.
Professor Oak let out a cough to get everyone's attention as they were seated. "Alright, let's cover the basics. For hundreds of years we've required trainers to graduate from trainer school before being allowed to partake in a journey and gather gym badges but the League is starting to flirt with change, starting this year trainers attending a Pokemon school are allowed to challenge any gym that they wish!"
"WHAT?!" Misty shot up, her face bright red as she covered her eyes. "Oh nononono..." She sat back down, muttering out as she feared what would happen if Ash or somebody else she knew decided to challenge the Cerulean Gym!
"-But!" Oak continued, raising up a finger. "You must only do so on free time, meaning over the weekend or on break. Schoolwork is top priority after all! And if you somehow manage to gather all eight badges of a singular region? Well the League is letting that be grounds for an early graduation. But I doubt anyone here will do that in a single year, not with school taking up majority of your day." Oak chuckled.
"And you'll be pleased to know that the League paid for a special sanction of the schoolyard, where trainers who have more than six Pokemon or simply don't want to carry around their entire team, can keep their Pokemon and allow them to run around completely free and close by as well since most of you are probably sleeping in dorms here."
"I know you all don't like school but plenty of powerful trainers got where they are today, heck Lance once studied under me at my old school!" Oak lightly laughed. "Though Agatha will tell you that it was her doing that got him to where he is today."
"Anyways, further along the course of the year the class will be taking a bus to several point of interests throughout the region like the Safari Zone in Fuchsia City, the Indigo League, Mt. Moon, and many other places but we also got special funding from Lysandre Industries to build this school and he's continuing his generosity by paying for trips to various regions across the school year, they'll be completely educational of course but there will be time to take in the sites and catch any Pokemon if you so desire." Professor Oak smiled as several of the class turned to each other with excited whispers.
"Wow, just imagine all the Water type Pokemon that I can catch!" Misty excitedly whispered. Ash couldn't help but get excited too, plenty of rare and exciting Pokemon awaited him in those regions! Perhaps he'd be able to catch one and take it back to Kanto with them?
"But for today's lesson, Pokemon catching!" Oak grabbed a remote and turned on the television, showing off a brief scene of him battling a wild Rattata with a Pidgey before finishing things off by tossing a Pokeball at it!
"I'm going to assign you all partners and you're to go out into the forest, I want your group to catch one Pokemon. Not every member needs to catch something but I expect you to stick together and help one another accomplish this goal!"
Oak then walked around the room and began assigning partners at random, Gary and Brock were assigned together while Giselle and Chloe got assigned together, followed by Zach and Flash being paired. Leaf got assigned with some girl wearing ninja garbs that Ash hadn't caught the name of or been properly introduced to just yet
"Ash, you and Misty are to work together."
Misty and Ash looked at one another before smiling as the two clasped hands.
"And since we're an odd man out due to Goh never showing up, Ben and Ken you can work with Damian."
"Yes!"
"We're with da boss!"
Damian smirked, giving Ash a look before Professor Oak began leading the way outside. As they reached the entrance to the forest Oak got out some Flare Guns and handed them to each group.
"Please don't treat them like a toy, you're to use that if you get lost or some into some trouble. Just set that off and I'll come find you! We'll all meet back up here in an hour, alright?"
Everyone nodded their heads before Oak gave the okay, all the groups going their separate ways
Flash let out a bored yawn, placing his hand beneath his chin as he walked along with Zach through the forest. "There's probably no Electric types here, why should I even bother?"
"Because you don't want to fail your first day?" Zach looked back with a questioning look. "Just help me look, I'll catch the Pokemon if you don't have an interest in catching stuff. I'm not like Damien, I don't make others do the work for me."
"Huh?" Flash blinked as he realized that his words did have some merit. Had Damien been his partner neither one of them would succeed as Flash was too lazy and unmotivated with no prospect of adding an Electric type to his arsenal while Damien expected things to be handed to him with little work. A nearby rustling caught Flash's attention and he spoke up before pointing at the bushes. A large green praying mantis Pokemon soon stepped out, taking a cautious look around before leaning down to eat one of the berries that Zach had placed on the ground as bait for possible Pokemon nearby. Knowing just the right combination to make an alluring smell thanks to his time studying under Burnet!
"Oh wow, a Scyther! I've always wanted a Scizor, Lucario let's try an Aura Sphere!" Zach excitedly exclaimed
"Caar!" Lucario leaped out, clamping his hands together as he began charging up an Aura Sphere before blasting the Scyther. The Pokemon around here didn't appear to be that strong, which honestly was a good thing considering how inexperienced some classmates Pokemon were. The Scyther collapsing as Zach quickly fumbled about for a pokeball only to hear a unfamiliar shout.
"Pokeball, GO!" A pokeball whizzed by as a kid their age stepped from the shadows nearby, a Scorbunny stood by his side and looked quite saddened.
"Scyther caught, registering new data!" A Pokedex spoke out from the kid's other hand.
"Goh, what the hell are you doing here?!" Flash shouted out angrily. "You promised Professor Cerise that you wouldn't run off once you got a starter, yet you did exactly that!"
Goh turned to face the two and merely smirked. "Oh hey you two, ya snooze ya lose! I gotta catch them all if I wanna get Mew, this weakling sure isn't going to help me get there, he didn't even want to battle a wild Kangaskhan or an Ursaring!"
"Um, you think Scorbunny was just afraid?" Zach asked, shaking his head. "Scorbunny may be weak but in his defense you were trying to use him against Pokemon out of his league, ain't no way Scorbunny's beating an Ursaring!" Scorbunny nodded quickly at that, shivering as he looked at Goh. As sunlight flooded into the area the pair would notice that quite similar to Charmander, Scorbunny looked like he was showing signs of abuse. Most likely due to Goh's psychotic nature.
"You hurt Scorbunny...?" Zach clenched his fists. Flash looked towards him before looking down at Scorbunny, a gasp could be heard from his mouth as he noticed a trickle of blood behind the rabbit's ear, though the sad thing is the rabbit still looked like it wanted to stay with Goh!
"Yep, had to teach it a lesson and put it in line! Though seeing how it refused to fight Scyther, I guess I'll need to do that again!" Goh pulled back his foot and kicked Scorbunny right in the face, the rabbit letting out a loud squeal of pain as Zach and Flash showed visible signs of frustration at his actions.
"You stole my catch... how about releasing Scorbunny so I can take it to get proper care?" Zach tried reasoning with Goh. The boy looking thoughtful for a moment before smirking. "Sure, I can always catch another later anyways!" He got out the ball belonging to Scorbunny before crushing it beneath his foot, the boy then turned and gave Scorbunny one final kick before rushing off as quickly as he came!
"What a dick..." Zach muttered before kneeling in front of Scorbunny and carefully scooping him, rushing right off to a Pokemon Center. Flash stared after him with a look of respect before frowning as he realized they'd fail now that he'd run off. He was about to sit down and give up before a pair of yellow ears poked out of a nearby bush, getting his attention as a smirk crossed his face at the sight of a Pikachu.
"Why hello there..."
"Aaaaah!" Misty screamed as a Weedle crawled in front of her, Ash couldn't help but laugh at her expense.
"You've been freaking out over every little sound or movement since we've got here and now this? What's with you?" Ash asked curiously, he did find it funny but he wondered what was up with her behavior.
"It's Bugs... I hate Bug Pokemon, they're so creepy and gross!" Misty shivered.
"...That's it? No traumatic backstory? You just hate Bugs?" Ash and Eevee looked confused as they looked at one another.
"Yeah so? I bed you're scared of something embarrassing!" Misty retaliated, causing Ash to quickly blush as he shook his head in denial.
"Nope, I'm scared of nothing!"
"Evoi, Eevee!" Eevee said in agreement.
"Sure..." Though Misty failed to realize a Caterpie was currently crawling up her leg.
"Uh Misty...?" Ash pointed towards the Caterpie only for her to respond by rolling her eyes.
"What, you're trying to poke more fun at my fear of bugs? It won't work, Ketchum. I know nothing is there, see... AAAAHHHHH!" She'd lifted up her arm and was now staring Caterpie directly in the face, Caterpie seemed to screech out as well as Misty frantically shook her arm. "Get it off, Getitoffme!" She shouted quickly, words almost being inaudible before Ash let out a sigh, calmly walking forward and tapping Caterpie with a pokeball, the ball chimed almost instantly as Misty continued freaking out, not stopping until Ash's Pokedex spoke out Caterpie's information as it was registered.
"Caterpie, the Worm Pokemon. Caterpie has a voracious appetite. It can devour leaves bigger than its body right before your eyes. From its antenna, this Pokemon releases a terrifically strong odor. It's easy to catch, and it grows quickly, making it one of the top recommendations for novice Pokemon Trainers."
"Y-You caught it?!" Misty seemed even more terrified at the prospect of having a Bug type in close proximity at all times!
Ash responded by letting Caterpie out, Misty let out another shriek as she cried out. "Get that gross Bug away from me!"
Caterpie's eyes started to wet as she appeared to hurt his feelings, Misty took notice and stopped momentarily, looking down at Caterpie before a small smile formed across her face. "Well I suppose it is cute, in it's own way..."
"Prrriii!" Caterpie leapt up and landed on Misty's arm again, causing her to let out another shriek. "J-Just don't touch me! B-Baby steps!"
Ash was glad that Misty appeared to be making some compromises on her supposed fear of Bug types, it wasn't a lot but it was enough. Besides he needed a second Pokemon and they needed to catch something for the class, and it wasn't like she'd catch anything with her constantly freaking out.
"SPEAROW!"
Ash jumped as he noticed the Spearow from earlier had returned, it's appearance quite obvious due to the excessively large bump on his head though before he could do anything he was ironically saved by Damian who threw a ball and successfully caught the Spearow! Damian flashed Ash a smirk, resulting in Ash letting out a growl.
"Some way of saying thank you,"
"I didn't need your help!" Ash shouted out only for Damian to lazily lift a hand as he walked off.
"Nido!" A pink rodent Pokemon walked through the nearby grass and Ash quickly ordered for Eevee to use a Quick Attack before throwing a ball at the Pokemon, the ball landed in the dirt and began shaking back and forth before eventually chiming to announce the capture a success! Though Ash didn't need to, he'd just captured yet another Pokemon for his team! An excited look crossed his face as he couldn't wait to get started on training with them!
"Is everyone accounted for?" Professor Oak looked his students over as everyone had returned.
"Actually it looks like Zach and Flash aren't here," Brock stated as he looked around and didn't see either of them nor Lucario.
"Hm, something must have happened. Zach doesn't seem the type to ditch," Cerise noted before letting out a light shot as he saw Zach walking down the path leading into town as a returned.
"Sorry Professor, we didn't get anything. You see there was this Pokemon that needed medical attention so we rushed it straight to the local Pokemon Center. I wasn't able to get anything as I waited until I was absolutely sure that the Pokemon was perfectly okay and needed to leave! I couldn't bear the thought of not knowing if it was alive or not. I-" He explained only to feel Lucario begin poking his shoulder. "Huh, what's up?"
"Car!" Lucario pointed back, showing that Scorbunny had been following them for quite some time. Her ears were bandaged up and had some bandages across her body but she looked better than she did a few hours prior.
"Scor!" The rabbit pointed up at Zach's belt while Professor Oak chuckled.
"It looks like Scorbunny wants to go with you,"
"No way, that Scorbunny is mine!" Damian shouted as he called out Spearow, ready to unleash hell to make sure that rabbit went to him!
"You will do no such thing, young man!" Oak grabbed the ball and returned Spearow before handing it back. "Scorbunny is in no condition to fight and made up it's mind, you have to respect that."
Damian huffed, annoyed he was still stuck with that weakling Charmander. "I hope we visit Cinnabar Island..." He muttered out.
"That true, Scorbunny?" Zach asked after glaring at Damian. Scorbunny nodded before Zach held out a pokeball, Scorbunny quickly tapping it before getting absorbed into it. The ball letting out a chime to announce the capture!
"Scorbunny, the rabbit Pokemon. A warm-up of running around gets fire energy coursing through this Pokemon's body. Once that happens, it's ready to fight at full power!" Zach's Pokedex spoke out.
Ash had a jealous expression for a moment before realizing he had plenty of chances to catch rare Pokemon later on when they visited other regions or maybe even the safari zone if he was lucky!
"Wow, you've gotta let me and Eevee fight it!" Ash shouted, him and Eevee's hands were pumped full of excitement until Zach gave him a questioning look. "A-After Scorbunny's completely healed of course!"
"Sure thing," Zach smiled, looking down at the ball before placing it down next to Rockruff's.
"I've got-Oh, you did get something?" Flash paused before shrugging as he placed Pikachu's ball next to Electabuzz's.
"Alright so everyone passed, great!" Oak clasped his hands together.
After the lesson was over Oak handed everyone a slip of paper that would contain information on their dorm arrangements, Chloe and Flash were exempt of course as they had homes within short walking distance of the school.
Ash and Brock said their goodbyes to Misty as the group split off from one another, Ash knew that the paper said he'd have two roommates and he hoped that they were good ones, though he quickly had at least one confirmation as Brock revealed that they had the same number! A smile crossed Ash's face as they entered the male dorms and began heading upstairs to their room though his smile soon turned to annoyance as he noticed who the second roommate was.
"Damian."
"Ketchum."
Both boys stared each other down with a hostile expression while Brock quickly got in between them. "Whoa whoa, hey now! Before you two get any ideas remember that we can't be trashing this place! Any repairs are put on us to pay!"
The two continued staring one another down until Damian eventually huffed, turning away from Ash. "Fine, I'm not staying here! I'll go find Ben and Ken!" He stormed off causing Ash and Brock to stare after him for a moment before starting to unpack.
"Thank Arceus Damien wanted to trade, I don't think I could handle listening to Ben and Ken constantly worship his 'greatness' even when he's nowhere near them! I'd go crazy!"
"Carrr!"
Zach paused in the doorframe as he realized who he was now sharing a dorm with, a smile crossed his face as he gave Ash and Brock a light nod before carefully setting Scorbunny down on the couch as he began unpacking. Ash looked between his two friends for a moment before eventually looking down to stare at his sleeping Eevee and the Pokeballs containing his other two Pokemon. His journey here may have just gotten started but he was relieved to have made a few friends both Pokemon and human ones relatively quickly. Sure he made some enemies but a good amount of trainers did, Ash was very much looking forward to seeing where the road would take him from here and what sort of Pokemon and friends he'd make in the future!
I just had to do give him that Spearow, only fitting Damian gets a Pokemon that hates Ash as much as he does!
Now you know how others will come into play now, I actually played with the idea of giving Ash a Scyther here but then decided against it.
Ash has made four friends so far and a new rival/nemesis in Damian along with getting new teammates in Caterpie and Nidoran!