Iris the Dragon Master
Accumula Town was now behind the trio as they set off for Striaton City, the location of Ash's first gym battle within the Unova region however they weren't rushing straight there as Ash was focusing on training up his current team of Oshawott, Mienfoo and Snivy in order to properly ensure that the three were ready for whatever awaited them!
Brock and Hilda meanwhile were spending the time looking through the nearby grass in search of some Pokemon of their own, Hilda had actually been about to capture a Lillipup before a Purrloin annoyingly interrupted the battle by running across the field and causing Lillipup to quickly give chase as the puppy chased the purple feline off into the woods and out of view!
Hilda cursed silently before noticing a rather familiar Pokemon that they had seen upon visiting the Pokemon Center a few days back. "Brock you might want to see this!"
"Hey that's not a Chansey!" Ash was quick to exclaim as Nurse Joy appeared at the Pokemon Center counter with a strange looking pink and cream colored Pokemon, it's large oval shaped blue eyes really helped sell the Pokemon's cute factor as it tilted it's head before crying out in greeting alongside Nurse Joy. They had just parted ways with N and Ash was now giving Pikachu and the rest of his team a quick check up alongside Brock and Hilda's own Pokemon.
Ash pulled out his Pokedex in order to scan the creature.
"Audino the Hearing Pokemon, Audino can assess a Pokemon's overall physical condition and mood using her ears!"
Brock displayed an interested look as his gaze rested on Audino, even distracting him from his usual flirtation attempts but it didn't work for long as Brock soon shot forward and got down on his knees as he held his hand up towards Nurse Joy as a romantic expression flashed across his face. "My dear Nurse Joy, I've seen Nurse Joys from all over the world but I must say that the Unovan Nurse Joy are really something else entirely! Perhaps this is where I'm destined to settle down and open my own doctor office, Nurse Joy I-AGH!" Brock collapsed to the ground as Croagunk stood behind him, silently croaking while holding up his glowing fist before proceeding to drag Brock off as Hilda stared after them.
"An Audino!" Brock's eyes lit up at the sight of the Normal type Pokemon, he slowly approached Audino while reaching into his pocket in order to offer it some Pokemon food. "Hey there Audino, you hungry?" He offered.
Audino sniffed at his hand before emitting a happy cry as she reached out and quickly began shoveling the Pokemon chow down her throat! A smile formed across Brock's face at the sight while his hand reached for a Pokeball before holding it out to her as an offering. "I know this isn't traditional but my Croagunk and Chansey are too strong for you, I'm a Pokemon doctor and a Pokemon such as yourself would be of great use to me and my team! I'd be honored if you'd join us,"
Audino looked up at Brock and cast him a grateful smile before nodding her head in acceptance as the Pokemon doctor reached out and tapped her with the Pokeball,, Audino disappeared in a blinding flash of red light as the ball shook within his hand for a brief second before chiming out to announce the capture complete!
"Alright, welcome to the team Audino!"
"Croa..." Croagunk silently croaked out from beside his trainer as the two stared at the ball containing their newest teammate and friend!
Just then the bushes nearby began to rustle right as Ash happened to track down his friends upon finishing up his training session.
"Alright it looks like we might get the chance to get another Pokemon, Pikachu!" Ash pumped his fists with excitement as Pikachu copied his trainer's actions. The two stared at the rustling bushes before the two let out a loud scream of shock alongside Brock as a rather familiar Jigglypuff with a microphone stepped on out.
"Jigglypuff!" She cried out with a joyful expression upon seeing Ash, Pikachu and Brock again after all those years of aimlessly wandering the world in search of somebody who listened to her music.
"No, not Jigglypuff!" Ash and Brock cried out while Hilda gave them a puzzled look before shrugging.
"Snivy use Tackle!" Snivy charged at Jigglypuff only for her to quickly slap him across the cheek and knock him out cold with an irritable expression!
"Jigglypuff!" She cried out before singing into her microphone. "Jigglypuff jiggly ly puff, jigg ly puff jiggly!"
"Cover your ears Pikachu, maybe we can... withstand it... this time..." Ash groaned out before collapsing face first into the dirt with the others following in his example as Jigglypuff continued singing, after awhile she stopped and opened her eyes before puffing out her cheeks in anger as she realized the three had fallen asleep on her! She whipped out her magic marker and began quickly drawing all over their faces before leaving in a huff!
Ash woke up within an hour to hear Hilda in a giggling fit as she pointed at his face. "You look ridiculous!"
Ash let out a groan at her words, knowing that Jigglypuff had struck again. It'd been so long since he had seen her he honestly expected somebody to have caught her or for her to find somebody who didn't fall asleep on her, perhaps next time he encountered her he should just try and capture her himself! If he could get Jigglypuff to work on her singing and better control it then maybe everything within a mile's radius of her wouldn't drop asleep every time she sang a note!
"Look whose talking," Ash retorted with a light smirk causing Hilda to whip out a pocket mirror before uttering out a terrified screech!
"Eee!" She quickly began working at cleaning herself off as Ash stared down at Jigglypuff's footsteps, they were still fresh perhaps he could catch up with her before she got away!
"Come on Pikachu, let's go!"
"Pika!" The two quickly darted off in the direction of Jigglypuff's footsteps but after awhile her footsteps just disappeared!
"I guess she probably flew away," Ash commented, recalling that Jigglypuff was capable of flight if she puffed up her cheeks far enough. He shot a brief glance around the area just to make sure that she wasn't waiting to ambush him or an unsuspecting traveler, his eyes quickly darting towards a nearby bush as it began rustling and he got a bit carried away from the excitement he felt when picturing himself catching Jigglypuff!
"Let's go, Thunderbolt!"
"Pika...chuuuu!" Pikachu gave the bush a large dose of electrical shock as a small blue and white feathered eaglet Pokemon burst from the shrubbery with a loud shriek of pain as electricity surged through his body!
"Sh-Cancel the attack, cancel it!" Ash called out, Pikachu ceased his attack but it had already left it's mark as the eaglet laid unconscious with scorch marks covering his body while the two faintly sweated at the sight!
"Well I guess we have to catch it now, eh?" Ash asked as he threw an empty ball before pulling out his Pokedex in order to scan the creature.
"Rufflet the Eaglet Pokemon, he stands up to massive opponents not out of courage but out of recklessness. That is how he gets stronger!"
"Sounds like the perfect Pokemon for us then!" Ash nervously chuckled as the ball chimed out to confirm the capture, Pikachu nodded his head in agreement while nervously rubbing the back of his neck.
"Say what's that?" Ash asked as he and the others would now be standing outside of a battle facility. "Feels odd for a building to be out on the road like this."
"That's the local Battle Club!" Hilda exclaimed with a fond expression as her eyes rested upon it. "My big bro took me here a few times while he was on his journey, it's a place where trainers can engage in battles with other like minded trainers in order to gain experience and potentially establish some friendships as well!"
"So people are inside that place looking to battle right now?!" Ash asked with an excitable expression, Hilda's nod was all he needed to go blasting off in the direction of the door as Brock and Hilda stared after him for a moment before quickly following him. "Excuse me but who do I talk to about battling around here?!" Ash called out as he looked around the entrance hall.
"I wanna ensure that my team is in tip top shape for our battle against the Striaton Gym Leader!"
"Is that so?" A rather muscular individual appeared behind him, his arms crossed against his chest as he gave Ash a glance over. "Welcome to the Battle Club, kid. The name's Don George, I'm the owner of this facility and oversee all the battles that take place here!"
"Ash Ketchum, pleasure to meet you sir. So how do I go about facing off against another challenger?" Ash asked as he looked around. "I don't see anyone around to challenge."
Don George let out a laugh before pointing at a nearby PC. "That machine right there will show you all of the currently available challengers along with recordings of previous battles, you're free to view them if you like but if you're looking to challenge somebody I'd do it sooner rather than later as most challengers don't stick around for too long!"
"Hold up you record matches?!" Hilda's eyes lit up before she quickly pushed Ash out of the way as he approached the computer. "Sorry Ash but it's been so long since I've seen him, I wanna see my big bro!" Ash felt rather annoyed at Hilda's sudden impatient burst before calming himself as he realized that he too had bursts similar to that over the years, besides he was rather interested in seeing her brother battling as well! Hilda's eyes furiously flickered about as she quickly scrolled through the archive of recordings made seven years ago before making one out that belonged to him!
"Aha!" She quickly tapped the button.
The screen in front of the three suddenly lit up as it showcased what Ash assumed had to be Hilda's brother as the two looked alike facing off against another trainer while his Lucario challengingly had his eyes locked with a bulky pig-like Pokemon that had quite a few features resembling that of a Tepig, most likely it's final evolution Ash assumed as he reached for his Pokedex to confirm his suspicions.
"Emboar the Mega Fire Pig Pokemon, he can throw a fire punch by setting his fists on fire with his fiery chin! He cares deeply about his friends."
"Man that Pokemon looks awesome, I've got to get me one of those!" Ash excitedly exclaimed, their attention was so focused upon the battle that they failed to notice the doors to the Battle Club open on up as a rather skinny looking Tepig with a rope tied around his neck waddled on past them on his way to find some food!
"I've got the type advantage kid, give up!" Zach's opponent smirked as he punched his fist into the palm of his other hand. "Your Lucario ain't gonna win, Fire Pledge!"
Ash perked up as the opponent had ordered an attack that he'd never heard of until now.
Emboar slammed his fists into the ground, causing massive pillars of fire to come bursting out of the ground and rush towards Lucario!
"Extreme Speed!" Lucario disappeared in a blinding flash of light as the pillars winded up dying out without touching him!
"No way, that Lucario's incredibly fast!" The man cried out while Zach and Lucario shared a smirk.
"Bone Rush!" Lucario formed an aura infused bone club between his paws as he took a hard swing at his opponent, nailing Emboar hard across the back with his club and causing the pig to let out a squeal of agony as the attack made it's mark, the Fire/Fighting type immediately keeling over in defeat as swirls filled his eyes.
"No, Emboar!" The man panicked as he rushed for his downed Pokemon while Zach and Lucario gave another a high five!
"We did it!"
"Carrr!"
"Woohoo, go Zach!"
"Whose that?" Ash nodded towards a rather bubbly red headed girl as she cheered on the sidelines.
"Oh that's Skyla, she's a friend of his."
Brock took a glance between the two and couldn't help but get Ash and Misty vibes off the two trainers.
Hilda soon let out a sigh as a small smile crossed her lips. Though the battle had been rather quick just the sheer glimpse of her brother had put her mind at ease for the moment, she hoped to be able to properly reunite with him or at least catch a glimpse at his modern appearance, she was sure that he was as handsome as N was.
Ash left the archives menu and promptly selected the challenger screen, flickering his eyes about the possible selections before resting on a girl his age with quite the unusual appearance. She had a dark skin tone along with maroon colored eyes but what was quite odd was her choice of hairstyle, it was a dark violet coloring and fashioned in a way that a newbie trainer could easily mistake it for a Venonat! Her attire was also quite unusual as it was a mixture of pink and tan robes!
"Iris of Opelucid City," Ash read out as he looked over her battling profile. "Apprentice of the Opelucid Gym Leader and specializes in Dragon types... she sounds perfect, eh Pikachu?"
"Pika!" The two pumped their fists as they eyed Iris' image before they reached out and simultaneously tapped the 'challenge' prompt, the doors to the entranceway were soon kicked in as Iris came swinging on in on a rope as a small Dragon type rested upon her shoulder.
"Somebody call for a Dragon Master?!" Iris' eyes darted between Ash, Brock and Hilda as she wasn't sure who her opponent was.
"That'd be me, hello there I'm Ash Ketchum!" Ash waved his hand at Iris in greeting. "I'm your opponent and you better watch out cause my Pokemon are in it to win it!"
Iris' eyes lit up lightly at the sight of Ash before a smirk crossed her face. "Don't get so cocky kid, Druddigon and I have been on a winning streak lately and we're not about to lose to some kid!"
"Kid?! I'm the same age as you!" Ash quickly retaliated with a shout as Brock facepalmed lightly as Iris had clearly baited Ash into getting angry.
"Then why are you getting so upset?" Iris grinned before giving his nose a light poke. "If you want to prove yourself as my equal then you'll have to beat me in battle!"
"Axew ew!" Her Pokemon chimed in agreement with her as Ash pulled out his Pokedex in order to quickly scan the Pokemon.
"Axew the Tusk Pokemon, they mark their territory by leaving gashes in trees with their tusks. If a tusk breaks a new one grows in quickly!"
"You're on!" Iris smirked as he spoke before beckoning for him to follow her into the next room which contained a battlefield large enough for Pokemon of various sizes to practice their sparring on although it wasn't quite as large as a Pokemon Gym's battlefield!
"I've only got two Dragons so far so the best I can offer you is a two on two battle!"
"Fine with me, I just here for the experience doesn't matter how big the battles are!" Ash grinned.
Iris flashed him a light smirk before grabbing a ball from her belt. "Druddigon, I need you!"
"Druddigon!" A large blue and red draconic Pokemon burst out with a mighty roar as Ash pulled out his Pokedex once more to scan the new creature.
"Druddigon the Cave Pokemon, it races through narrow caves using its sharp claws to catch prey. The skin on its face is harder than a rock!"
"Mienfoo, I choose you!" Mienfoo burst from her ball and did a fighting stance as she locked eyes with the towering dragon! Druddigon let out a growl but Mienfoo didn't even flinch!
"Dragon Tail!" Druddigon's tail glowed light blue as he took a swing at Mienfoo!
"Dodge and use Fury Swipes on his back!" Mienfoo swiftly dashed to the side before leaping up onto Druddigon's backside as she promptly began repeatedly slashing at the Pokemon with her claws!
"Reach back and strike with Metal Claw!" Druddigon's claws glowed white as he reached back and slashed at Mienfoo, knocking the Fighting type off of his back!
"Now use Dragon Tail again!" Iris shouted out.
"Fake Out!" Mienfoo clapped her paws together, creating a shockwave of energy that cancelled out Druddigon's attack! "Now use Force Palm!" Mienfoo thrusted his palm against Druddigon, sending the Dragon type flying backwards before coming to a halt before Iris, beginning the process of shaking off the attack as the Dragon specialist cast off another smirk.
"Not bad kid but you'll have to do harder than that to beat us! Druddigon use Hyper Beam!" Druddigon's mouth began glowing bright yellow as he fired the orange-yellow beam of energy towards Mienfoo, the attack exploded upon impact and sent the Fighting type flying through the air!
"Foooo!" Mienfoo collapsed face first into the battlefield with what sounded like quite the painful thud! Ash and Pikachu closed their eyes as they flinched before slowly opening them to see if their friend was okay. Mienfoo began standing back up on her feet as she tried shaking it off and acting as if nothing had happened however Ash was a trainer long enough that he could easily identify signs of fatigue, Mienfoo's stance was hunched slightly and her breath had grown heavier.
"Reversal!" Mienfoo's body became enveloped in an orange aura as she charged at Druddigon before punching his fist directly against Druddigon's face, despite how painful the contact was it proved to be enough to finish the job as Druddigon's eyes turned to swirls before he hit the floor with a hard thud. Mienfoo smirked at the fallen Druddigon for a brief moment before collapsing to her knees as fatigue finally won!
"Mienfoo return!" Ash called out as he returned her to her Pokeball. Iris did the same with her Druddigon.
"You were amazing out there Druddigon but I guess it's now up to Axew to end this, let's go-"
Alarms suddenly went off in the building causing Don George to shoot up before darting his attention towards the source. "Something or someone broke into the supply closet. Ash, Iris may I ask for your assistance in the matter?"
Ash immediately nodded. "Of course, I'm sure it's just Team Rocket though!" It had been quite awhile since he'd seen the Rocket trio but this felt like it'd be them, who else would raid a supply closet?
Ash and Iris raced alongside Don George as he led the way through the hall of the Battle Club before they'd eventually arrive at the supply closet where something inside could be heard greedily munching away at food! Based on the noise it was only one individual inside causing Ash to tilt his head lightly.
"Do Munchlax live in Unova? Maybe one broke in." He suggested only for Iris and Don George to shake their heads while Hilda raised her eyebrow in confusion, not knowing what a Munchlax was.
"Munchlax the Big Eater Pokemon, it gobbles up its own body weight in food each day and it swallows its food without almost any chewing!" Hilda's Pokedex read out while showing her a picture of the Pokemon.
"It definitely sounds like it could be one yet I'm not certain it is," Brock stated as he lightly rubbed the bottom of his chin.
Ash took a deep breath before walking on in as he hoped that whatever was inside wasn't hostile, Hilda closed her eyes and covered her ears as she feared the worst. Ash's eyes were quick to widen before filling with sorrow as he noticed that it was just a starved looking Tepig, it's bones were practically showing through it's skin as it munched away at the supply closet's food supply, that along with the torn and aged looking rope suggested that an asshole of a trainer had tied it up somewhere and abandoned it!
"Guys you should take a look at this!" Brock was the first to step in and let out a shout at the sight, quickly rushing on off to prepare some special Pokemon food just for Tepig. Hilda let out a terrified gasp as tears filled her eyes, wondering how anyone could have been so heartless to do such an act while Don George seemed to give a look of recognition.
"It can't be... are you Seamus' Tepig?" Tepig cast Don George a glare as flames burst from his snout at the mention of the name, suggesting that it was indeed the trainer's Tepig!
"Sorry but who the hell is Seamus?" Ash asked as Hilda nodded in agreement while wiping away some tears. "And why would he do something like this?!"
"Seamus is a newbie trainer having started only a few weeks prior to the two of you," Don George assumed on Ash's case as he didn't know much about the boy. "He ended up battling against a rivaling trainer named Trip and his Servine, Tepig winded up losing and Seamus was well... furious. He was shouting angrily at Tepig before stomping on off but I could never imagined that he'd have just up and abandoned Tepig like this!"
"He sounds like a real piece of work, with scumbags like him around no wonder people are buying into Team Plasma's propaganda!" Iris growled out. Ash had to agree with her there, with trainers like Damien and Seamus out there not to mention the countless poachers and Pokemon hunters he'd run across, it wasn't too surprising that some would buy into Ghetsis' crap.
Brock returned not long after with a bowl full of Pokemon food, being rather quick to offer it up to Tepig while giving him a warm expression. "Go ahead Tepig, eat up!"
Tepig sniffed the air before turning away from the bread stack that he'd been currently snacking on, slowly approaching the food bowl as he continued sniffing before his eyes lit up as a delighted expression crossed his face. "Tepig!" The Fire pig quickly burrowed his snout into the Pokemon food, scarfing down the food with pleased growls as everyone watched on, they still felt sorry for it but their minds were drifting towards what they should do with the Pokemon.
"I know!" Brock suddenly spoke up before turning to face Ash. "You should catch it!"
"Me?! But you're the one who fed it and it showed gratitude towards!"
"Yes but Tepig was abandoned cause his trainer saw it as 'weak'. Sound familiar? You can bring out Tepig's potential better than I ever could!"
"Brock's right, Ash. You two will be perfect for one another!" Hilda chimed in while Iris crossed her arms as her gaze flickered between the three, surprised at how close the three of them appeared to be. Was this what traveling in a group felt like? It felt a lot more welcoming than traveling solo that's for sure!
Ash eventually let out a sigh as a smile crossed his face, realizing that his friends were right. Charmander and Infernape were both abandoned by trainers who saw them as weak and they were two of his strongest Pokemon, he could easily repeat this with Tepig and help him evolve into a strong and mighty Emboar! Ash reached for his belt before producing an empty Pokeball, holding it out towards Tepig as the pig Pokemon tilted his head lightly at the sight.
"Tepig?" It asked while licking chow off it's mouth.
"Tepig, I-I'd like you to join my team if you'll have me. I know what it's like to feel abandoned, some of my most powerful Pokemon were once in your shoes and now they're my strongest Pokemon and closest friends, I'd love to help you become strong enough that you can show Seamus that you really are an incredible and awesome Pokemon, what do you say?!"
Tepig stared at the Pokeball and lowered his head, appearing to refuse as Ash lowered his own head as he'd never had a Pokemon outright reject him like that. Well other than Togepi but that was years ago! However he soon heard a chime as Tepig seemingly tapped the ball, allowing for itself to be caught! Ash looked down at the ball and cast off a smile. "Don't worry Tepig, I keep my promises! We'll conquer the Unova League together and help you get your revenge against Seamus!"
"Pi Pikachu!"
Shortly after helping Don George clean up the mess that Tepig made the three had headed out onto the road once more and it wasn't long before Ash was locked into a battle with a wild Pokemon.
"Nido!" The pink Nidoran cried out as Tepig and him stared each other down!
"Alright Tepig, use Tail Whip and follow up with Ember!" Tepig turned his back to Nidoran and wagged his tail in a cute manner before turning around to face him as he opened his mouth and shot off a small blanket of orange sparks that pelted Nidoran's body! The Poison type let out a cry before casting off a glare as he charged at Tepig however the Fire type avoided the attack just in the nick of time!
"Let's finish this with Ember!"
"Tepig!" Tepig opened his mouth and fired off another series of flame sparks at Nidoran, the Poison type fell to his side shortly afterwards as Ash punched at the air while praising Tepig.
"Good job you were amazing, Tepig!"
"Pikachu!"
"Tepig!" Tepig smiled lightly at the praise and watched as Ash threw the empty ball before it landed against Nidoran's body, absorbing the Pokemon in a beam of red light as it hit the ground and began shaking.
"Surprise!"
"Gah!" Ash, Pikachu, Tepig, Hilda and Brock all jumped in shock while Croagunk merely turned to face Iris while continuing to silently croak.
"Iris what the heck was that for?!" Ash couldn't help but growl out.
"In case you'd forgotten you owe me a battle! We didn't finish the one that we started and I intend on collecting what I'm owed!"
"Really? You sure you just don't like Ash and want to tag along in the hopes of starting a relationship with him?" Hilda suddenly asked as a bright red color shot to Iris' cheek, her eyes quickly flickered about as she tried avoiding eye contact.
"I-I have no idea what you're talking about..." Hilda let out a giggle as Iris' expression said otherwise. "I'm serious about wanting a rematch and traveling with friends sounds... fun. There are still plenty of Dragon types to find and it'd be more fun to discover them in a group than on my lonesome!"
Ash turned to look at the others as he heard the chime of Nidoran's Pokeball behind Iris as she'd suddenly leaped out in front of them all!
"What do you think?" Ash asked.
Brock merely shrugged. "I have no problem with it, I can easily adjust to cooking for four instead of three!"
"I have no problem either," Hilda giggled out lightly. "Besides we could use another battler in the group to keep you on your toes!"
Ash smiled lightly as his friends seemed to accept Iris' presence, the Kanto native held out his hand to take Iris' as he flashed her a warm smile. "Welcome to the group Iris!"
A non-Unova capture? Surprise!