Hey everyone, here's another chapter ready. Writing hasn't been easy since been busy and getting sidetracked with other stuff. Either way, hope you all enjoy the continuation of the previous chapter.
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The mood had gained a slightly more tense atmosphere, but that was to be expected. Even if it was just a friendly spar, both combatants were taking it seriously. As with many Pokemon Centers, especially those out in the wilds, there was an arena already prepared around the back. On one side, Misty was already ready, dressed in only her battle outfit, the same one she used in her Gym Battle. On the other end...Delia wasn't there yet.
"Wonder what's keeping her," Brock mused as currently he, Ash, and Carmine were sitting to the side of the arena as impromptu spectators.
"Well...my wife's Fighter Outfit isn't really the easiest to put on on short notice. Truth be told, much like your friend, back when we were travelling she'd usually wear it under her clothes," Carmine chuckled slightly.
"I wonder how she uses the bathroom in that," Ash sweat dropped, having seen the outfit before.
"To this day she still says 'trade secret'," Carmine chuckled. "She should be done about now. The question is if she's gonna want to do this the normal way or theatrical way."
"What's that mean?" Brock blinked.
"You'll see," Carmine said knowingly.
In the field Misty was also getting a bit impatient. "Where is she?" she grumbled a bit.
"Don't need to be so tense dear. I'm already here," came Delia's voice from seemingly nowhere.
"Huh? Where is she?!" Misty gasped, right as she felt a small breeze, and on the other side of the field a figure came into view, the illusion vanishing from her body. Delia stood there with her arms folded in front of her, dressed in a black form fitting suit that hugged her figure (and basically left little to the imagination) yet didn't seem to restrict her movements in the least. The suit covered her from the neck down, albeit with slight open finger gloves at the end, allowing for her claws to poke out, well as having an opening that allowed her feet to poke out at the end. Over the suit itself she had bits of light armor all colored red tied to her shoulders, knees, and her abdomen.
"Whoa…" Brock said, unable to suppress the slight blush.
"That's still my mom ya know," Ash grumbled a bit, even if he knew why Brock was reacting like that.
"Oh don't be too hard on him, son," Carmine chuckled. "Trust me, that's how I felt when I first saw your mother in that outfit," he said...clearly enjoying seeing his wife in that outfit, earning a light elbow from his son before they focused on the soon to be Fight.
"Surprised?" Delia chuckled in amusement, causing Misty to shake off her surprise.
"I guess it must take a while to put on something like that," Misty blinked a bit.
"Not as hard as the outfit implies, but yes, it's not as easy as most other Fighter Outfits, but it's the style I've used over the years, so it's basically a part of me," Delia admitted with a light chuckle. "Now then, shall we set the terms?"
"Right," Misty nodded. "The usual terms, ring out, surrender, or knocked out. That's the terms to lose," she said.
"Fine by me," Delia nodded. "Don't hold back," she said as she got into a ready stance.
"Wasn't planning to," Misty nodded as the two stared each other down...and at an unheard signal, both of them charged forward. The two were about to clash when Delia suddenly leaped over Misty, causing her to force herself to stop, and look up to see Delia in the air. Acting quickly, she created and fired a Swift attack, the stars flying towards the Zoroark...but before they hit, Delia shifted her center of gravity and flipped in the air till she was upside down but facing Misty and countered with her own Swift in a single fluid movement, the stars flying...and hitting Misty's perfectly, cancelling both moves out as Delia flipped and landed on the ground perfectly...before rebounding and dashing right for her.
Misty acted quickly and countered with a Water Gun, Delia seemingly planning to tank the attack, and yet right as it seemed the attack would hit...Delia was suddenly to the right of the attack.
"What?!" Misty gasped in surprise...and giving Delia the opening she needed to get close, claws gaining a purple tint for a moment, before she jabbed it right into Misty's shoulder, causing the Vaporeon to recoil.
Misty jumped back...and landed a bit shakily. She quickly realized something wasn't right. "What did you…?" she gasped.
"A little trick I learned. How to channel Toxic into my claws and basically inject it into my opponent," Delia said simply. "Don't worry, I always have Antidotes and Pecha Berries ready. Sorry Misty, but a basic strategy in combat is weakening your opponent as you go."
"And there's the start of one of her favorite combos…" Ash winced.
"Yeah...that one can be pretty bad when you're not prepared," Carmine nodded in agreement, remembering the times he'd been hit with this move when they were younger.
Misty for her part was having...a much harder time than she expected, as the poison, while weak, was making her unsteady, and Delia wasn't sitting still in the least. Semi-retired her ass, it felt like she was fighting a veteran who was still very much active. Every time she tried to fight back, it was like Delia was somewhere else, allowing the Zoroark to land hits aimed at weak points. The Vaporeon saw no openings as the Zoroark all but danced circles around her.
Delia for her part was impressed. Granted Misty wasn't putting up MUCH of a fight...but then...with the life she'd lived before settling down, there really was no way she would lose to someone who was still learning and growing. What had her impressed was even with the poison wearing her down, Misty was able to still put up a decent defense, and even react to her quickly enough to try and counter. Too bad for her, she was well under the illusion Delia had spun. It wasn't anything elaborate, but because it was 'simple', it was near impossible to see through unless she looked further than just with her eyes. Well, for now she'd keep testing the girl. She had potential that was without a doubt. How far she'd go? That was up to her at the end of the day.
Misty groaned as another attack failed to connect and she was struck on the side by a Night Slash, causing her to hit the ground. She knew that from what Ash told her his mother was strong...but she never thought she was THIS strong. Her opponent was a Zoroark, meaning she HAD to be using some kind of illusion to fool her. If she could find a way around the illusion, she could get a fighting chance. Her thoughts were cut short when she heard a splash...and noticed that in her attempts to fight back, she'd ended up creating quite a few puddles...before it hit her. Even if Delia was moving about using an illusion, she still had a real body. With that, Misty started using Water Gun again, this time fully aiming for the ground, and soon the field was full of sizable puddles and shortly after, the tell tale sound of footsteps through water. The moment she heard it, she didn't waste any time. Using the strength she still had, she turned to the source of the sound and fired an Aurora Beam at what appeared to be thin air, but her strategy paid off as she felt the attack connect to something, and pouring more energy into it, she was freezing something solid. Something that was notably Zoroark shaped.
"Did she get her?!" Brock gasped at seeing Misty seemingly win.
"Wow...she found a way around Mom's illusions on her first fight," Ash couldn't help but whistle, honestly impressed that Misty did that. "But...that's...not actually Mom, isn't it?"
"What do you mean?" Brock blinked.
"You'll see," Carmine said, as true enough, the impromptu Zoroark ice sculptor fell over...and shattered while releasing a puff of smoke, revealing a Pokemon Doll in its place.
"It was a Substitute?!" Misty gasped.
"Sadly yes," came Delia's voice, as she faded into view right next to her. Misty tried to react, but by now she'd lost most of her energy, allowing Delia to hit her with a Feint Attack, sending her to the ground again, before pinning her down. "I think that's enough for today," she said pleasantly as she applied just enough pressure to keep Misty down without hurting her.
Misty tried to break the pin...but eventually realized she was very much stuck. "Alright, I give…" she sighed, to which Delia let go and helped her up. "You were...really strong. I barely could fight back…"
Delia chuckled a bit. "Oh its nothing to be ashamed of. I've just had a lot more experience than you have. You did well to last as long as you did," she reassured. "Don't give up and you'll be even stronger, I just know it."
Misty smiled a bit at that. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mrs. Ketchum. Maybe I could ask for some tips sometime?"
"Of course, I'm always happy to help someone improve," Delia smiled. "Now then, let's get you cleaned up and patched up a bit," she said, Misty giving her a nod...even if she wobbled a bit again, the poison not out of her system yet. With that she soon helped the girl to go into the Pokemon Center, though not before feeding her a Pecha Berry.
"Your friend is pretty good," Carmine said as the men soon followed after them.
"What do you mean?" Brock blinked. "Misty fought well yeah, but from where I was looking, Mrs. Ketchum was in control the whole time."
"True, but the fact remains she found a way to see through Delia's illusion," Carmine explained. "Put bluntly, I've seen even veterans who never thought of a way around the first phase of her style."
"That was just the first phase?" Brock gasped.
"Mom's not a direct fighter...not at first anyway," Ash explained. "She likes to confuse her opponents and wear them down, so either you can't hold on and lose, or you break through her tricks...and then she gets serious with what she can do physically. I've honestly never been able to break through it myself…" he sighed at the end.
"Don't worry son, you'll get there eventually," Carmine said encouragingly. "After all, you just need to hone your senses more and in time you'll find the trick I used to counter her illusions."
Ash nodded at that as they soon entered the Pokemon Center as well.
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An hour or so later saw Ash having another examination to see how his recovery was coming along. "You're definitely in better condition than you were last night," Nurse Joy nodded. "Still, you'll need a few days for the injuries to finish mending, and then a few more days after that to make sure they fully close."
"Glad to hear that," Ash sighed as he looked at the X-rays. It seems his bones were already mending properly, though there were still fractures. As long as he took it easy he should be okay. It helped too his Dad had performed a few Heal Pulses on the worst of the damage to help it heal faster. As the examination continued, he couldn't help but ask a question. "So...how's Charmander doing?" he asked with a frown. At that Nurse Joy sighed.
"He's stable, but he hasn't shown any signs of waking up," she said. "His life shouldn't be in any danger but if this keeps up...I can't say for sure…"
Ash didn't know what to say to that. The whole situation with Charmander was difficult seeing as the Pokemon had been injured physically and emotionally. Even if he woke up, there would still be a lot to deal with after that. Sighing a bit, he simply let her continue with the examination...right before the door opened and a frantic looking Chansey came in.
"What's wrong?" Nurse Joy asked in surprise.
The Chansey frantically trilled out her name, and Joy's eyes widened in alarm. "Charmander's gone missing?!"
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"I knew we were worried about what Charmander might do when he wakes up, but this is seriously bad," Brock said with a frown. The moment that info was given, Nurse Joy had quickly wrapped up Ash's examination, and started searching for the missing Pokemon. Needless to say, Ash quickly told his friends too, and they were soon helping with the search too around the Pokemon Center's grounds.
"Where do you think Charmander could have gone?" Misty asked with a frown.
"...this might be a stretch, but do you think he'd go back to where you found him?" Carmine suggested.
"Why would he? He was abandoned pretty brutally at that, by his former trainer," Misty frowned.
"A bond can't break that easily, especially not for a Pokemon who trusted their Trainer," Delia said with a frown.
"So even after that Charmander still thinks Cross will come back for him?" Brock asked incredulously.
"It's less belief and more...denial…" Carmine sighed sadly.
"If that's really the case then we definitely should check it just in case," Ash said, to which they were soon on the way to the location (Ash was forced to use a wheelchair by Nurse Joy since she could tell trying to get him to not go was futile). Eventually the group approached the rock where Charmander had been waiting, and true enough...the Pokemon was sitting there, waiting for the trainer that would never come.
They didn't know what to say at seeing Charmander sitting on the rock again, a rather empty look in his eyes. Eventually Pikachu went over and climbed the rock, sitting next to Charmander, talking to him.
"Come on, let's go back," Pikachu said, trying to get Charmander to leave the rock.
"I can't, I need to wait here," Charmander responded, though the tone he had was resigned, like he was simply fooling himself.
Pikachu frowned sadly at Charmander, knowing he couldn't even begin to understand the pain the Fire-type was going through. But that was also why he didn't want to leave him alone. Narrowing his eyes in determination, Pikachu started pulling at Charmander. "He's not coming back for you and you know it! Stop being stubborn and let's go back!"
Charmander resisted and tried to hold his ground. "He'll come! I've been a good Pokemon! When he comes back everything will be okay again!"
Pikachu didn't budge. He could tell Charmander was in denial, but by Arceus he wasn't going to leave a fellow Pokemon to suffer thanks to a heartless Pokemorph's abuse. "He left you here through the rain and everything, and when you dutifully waited for him, the first thing he did was kick you! Stop trying to justify what he did and move on!" Pikachu shouted. It was probably a bit heartless of him too he knew, but right now...being nice wasn't going to help Charmander.
"He wasn't always like that! I'm the one who let him down because I wasn't strong enough!" Charmander shot back.
As this was happening, the Pokemorphs were getting a bit worried as they watched. "Should we try to stop this?" Misty asked, seeing as Pikachu's cheeks were sparking while some small tongues of flames were starting to escape Charmander's mouth.
"...no, leave them be," Ash said, his tone level.
"Ash?" Brock blinked in surprise.
"Pikachu is trying to help Charmander, even if it means saving him from himself," Ash said. "I don't think us butting in will help right now…"
"You can't just stay here forever! You know that right?!" Pikachu shouted.
"Better than being unfaithful to my trainer!" Charmander retorted, and at this point Pikachu had had enough.
"You'd seriously wait and kill yourself for a Pokemorph like that guy?!" Pikachu said lowly...before his tail started glowing. "You...idiot!" he punctuated that with an Iron Tail, knocking Charmander off his feet. "Don't you dare act like your life is worth giving up for someone like that!"
Charmander would have retorted, but he was too stunned by the attack and the emotion in Pikachu's words to properly say anything. A chance Pikachu took full advantage of. "Everyone's worked hard to save your life! My Trainer and friend got seriously hurt protecting you from that lousy excuse of a Trainer! Your life is way too precious to be wasted because some piece of Tauros shit decided you weren't good enough for him!" Pikachu shouted.
"Then what am I supposed to do?!" Charmander shouted, tears now falling from his eyes.
"...you can start by not sitting on this rock, and coming back with us," Pikachu sighed. "After that...you get to pick."
Charmander looked down, seemingly unsure what to do, before… "Okay…" he said, his voice barely a whisper and hollow...but it was still enough for Pikachu to hear as the two Pokemon wordlessly climbed down from the rock. The Pokemorphs gathered didn't say anything, Ash letting Charmander sit on his lap as they wordlessly returned to the Pokemon Center.
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The mood in the Pokemon Center was somber this evening. The reason? The distraught and emotionally broken Pokemon that was barely eating his dinner. After bringing him back to the Pokemon Center, Charmander had basically retreated into his own shell.
"Are you sure there isn't anything we can do?" Misty frowned.
"All we can do for now is be there for him, however long it takes," Carmine sighed. "I've seen Pokemon that had to go through this before. Trying to help him right now isn't going to do much. He's too distraught to accept any help," he said, shaking his head.
"There's gotta be something we can do at least…" Ash frowned, Pikachu letting out a determined sound of agreement.
The two adults looked at each other, thinking if there was anything they could actually do at this point. "The only thing we can think of is that while it's true we need to give him his space, we shouldn't leave him completely alone either," Delia said after a moment.
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"Thanks again for agreeing to this, Nurse Joy. Hope it won't cause any problems," Ash said as currently they were all gathered just outside of the room provided for him during his stay.
"It's no trouble at all. If anything, I think this might help Charmander heal. Of course, because of that I need you to be responsible in case anything happens," Nurse Joy said as currently they'd moved Charmander's bed to Ash's hospital room. The idea they'd come to was that the best they could do was to have Charmander moved to a room that would have someone else in there, not just so that he wouldn't be alone, but so when the (highly likely) nightmares or night terrors came, there would be someone there for him, and in the event of any complications...Ash could immediately hit the call button to get help.
Ash nodded at that. "I'll make sure he's gonna be okay."
"We'll also be ready to help anytime too," Brock said with a smile.
"We can't just leave a Pokemon in need hanging like that," Misty nodded in agreement.
"In short, all of us are happy to help," Delia smiled.
"It makes me happy to know that Charmander has so many people who want to help," Nurse Joy smiled warmly.
"Whether it's a Pokemorph or a Pokemon we can't just leave them if we know we can help, even if just a little," Carmine smiled.
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The next few days went by peacefully. Charmander was understandably still in his own shell, but no matter what the group was there for him, making sure the little Pokemon had his space, but also knew that he wasn't alone. At first Charmander was barely responsive, but little by little he started to respond again, albeit mostly to Pikachu as Charmander seemed to be most comfortable talking to his fellow Pokemon, even if he did seem to at least respond better to the group's Pokemon when he could interact with them, some of them like Bulbasaur also being great emotional support, no doubt due to his experience with the Pokemon that lived in the Village.
With regards to the Pokemorphs, it was a bit more slow, as while Charmander didn't respond all that much to them, he didn't seem uncomfortable around them either, understanding that they had been doing a lot to try and help him. Still, trauma was trauma, so it would take some time before he could trust Pokemorphs again. Though it should be noted he at least seemed to respond a bit more to Ash, not surprising considering they were sharing a room, and more than once Ash had been there for him whenever he'd woken up at night due to a nightmare.
In the meantime, Charmander wasn't the only one recovering. Ash's recovery was going quite well. His injuries had just about fully healed and he was well enough to do light exercises and the like for a sort of rehab (even though Pokemorphs much like Pokemon could bounce back from worse injuries without much issue). As it was, he'd be well enough to leave in a day or two, something he was looking forward to, yet at the same time worried him considering Charmander's situation. An issue he couldn't help but bring up.
"You know...what ARE we going to do about Charmander?" Ash frowned while he was doing a bit of training in the Pokemon Center's backyard, Brock holding up a pair of punching pads as targets while Misty was watching from the side. His parents were inside the Pokemon Center on a call with Professor Oak, probably the Professor going over some things he wanted Carmine to investigate at a later date, and Pikachu and the other Pokemon were with Charmander on the other side of the yard, having a bit of fun during their down time.
"You're worried about that too, huh?" Brock frowned as he braced and felt some punches impact the pads he was holding. "Honestly I've been thinking about the same thing…"
"Charmander might be getting better physically, but his heart is another issue," Misty frowned as well. "The problem is we can't just leave him, but we can't stay here forever either…"
"Normally I'd say the answer is to take him along but…" Ash frowned as he trailed off.
Brock nodded in agreement, understanding what he meant. "After what Cross did to him, suddenly getting a new trainer might make things worse…"
The three fell into silence at that one. It seemed like whichever move they made would be a questionable choice. As it was, they had to keep moving forward, but how could they just leave the emotionally wounded Pokemon alone, yet would bringing him along be a good move?
"I think our only option at this point is to ask them directly," Ash sighed.
"Huh, yeah, that's honestly the only way we can do this right," Misty sighed as she folded her arms.
Looking to where the Pokemon were, they saw that they seemed to be enjoying their free time, and on top of that, they saw Charmander seemed a bit more cheerful when with them. "...I think this is just proving we should take Charmander with us, but yeah, we definitely should ask him what he wants to do," Brock said as the three of them couldn't help but smile at the sight.
Deciding to stop the training for now, the three soon watched the Pokemon enjoy their time, smiling at the sight the whole time. It wasn't long before Pikachu noticed they'd stopped training for now and quickly went over to them, the rest of the Pokemon soon following.
"Hey everyone, having fun?" Ash asked with a chuckle as Pikachu climbed up onto his shoulder before letting out a happy 'Pika'. "Glad to hear that," Ash nodded with a smile as the Pokemon were soon all around them...except Charmander who was still a little bit behind.
Frowning a bit, Ash walked towards Charmander and squatted down to be a bit closer to his level. "How are you doing today, Charmander?"
Charmander managed a weak smile, and let out a small 'Char', the tone a bit happier than it was yesterday, and even that showed a lot.
Ash smiled a little. "Glad to hear that," he said...before frowning. "I'm sorry to spring this on you so suddenly but I need to ask you something. Is that okay?"
Charmander seemed confused, but soon nodded.
"We can't stay here forever, and with my injuries almost fully healed we're gonna have to continue on our journey," Ash said, causing Pikachu's ears to droop at the reminder. He'd also known they had to go eventually. "But that's why I wanted to ask if you wanted to come with us," Ash said, causing Pikachu to perk up at the idea.
Charmander however didn't seem so sure. After what he'd just been through...he wasn't sure he was ready for the idea of having a new Trainer. Fortunately Ash already thought of that.
"I'm not saying you need to join our team. I'm just asking if you want to travel with us," Ash said.
Charmander blinked in surprise at that one. When Ash had asked him this he'd fully expected the requirement was to become one of their Pokemon, but now he was being given the option to just follow, not necessarily join. Once the surprise faded, Charmander started to think carefully. Should he take this, or should he not? On one hand the pain he felt from being abandoned made it harder for him to trust...he couldn't deny that they'd been nothing but kind to him...and he didn't really want to be alone either. With that in mind, Charmander slowly nodded.
Ash smiled a bit at that. "Glad to have you on board then," he chuckled as the Pokemon were soon around Charmander again, all of them welcoming him into the group, and in that moment, a genuine, if small, smile formed on Charmander's expression.
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And done. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and yes, Ash does NOT capture Charmander...yet anyway. I just figured after his abuse, Charmander wouldn't be too quick to want a new trainer. Also showed off that unlike canon, Delia is very much able to fight. It'll play into the story later.