Longer chapter than usual today. Once again, I don't really have a reason as to why, it just kinda ended up that way I guess.
"Woah… this place sure is a lot darker than I thought…" Peonia mentioned as she noticed that apart from the light coming from the entrance they just took, the Roaring Sea Caves were almost pitch black.
"Hey buddy, mind giving us a little light?" Ash's electric partner jumped off his trainer's shoulder and formed a little Electro Web on his tail, using it as a makeshift light source. The Pallet Town trainer frowned, as the move didn't illuminate the cave as much as he originally hoped. "Not enough huh. Chloe, can you ask Eevee to help out?"
The maroon haired girl nodded, and Eevee ran up next to Pikachu, and after it's tail glowed yellow, a similar web of electricity could be seen on the normal type's tail, illuminating the cave even more. Ash quickly thanked the trainer and her Eevee with a smile, earning a slightly flustered response from the Vermillion City girl, which no one paid too much attention to.
"Smart thinking Ketchum, stay close everyone." Brandon ordered as the group shuffled closer to Pikachu and Eevee's light source.
They kept moving forward in silence, everybody slightly creeped out by the huge cavern. After a while, some strange grunts started to be heard from further out into the cave, sending chills down the young trainers's spines. Goh noted Brandon wasn't at all phased by the weird noises, and assumed he had been in these types of situations before, so he felt relieved at least one of them was keeping calm. After 5 minutes or so, the group eventually reached a fork in the road.
"Where do we go from here?" Goh asked, not really knowing which way would lead them to the exit towards the Frigid Sea.
Ash pondered it for a moment, before he grinned and pulled out a familiar Pokeball. "Lucario, help us out!" At the appearance of the fighting-steel type, Ash approached his Pokemon and asked: "Lucario, do you think you can use your Aura to try and sense an exit near the sea?"
The Pokemon in question nodded loyally before turning to face the two paths. It's eyes suddenly flared a bright blue and some visible Aura waves could be seen going in both directions. The Aura Pokemon stood there in silence, before he sensed a cold breeze coming from the path to the right. It's eyes returned to their normal colors and Ash's Pokemon pointed to the right with a cry.
"Wow! That sure is some impressive Aura!" Peonia complimented, earning a sheepish smile from Lucario, similar to one it's trainer would give.
"Thanks Lucario! Alright, return." Ash said as he tried recalling his Pokemon, only for it to dodge the red beam coming from the Pokeball. "Lucario?" The Hyper Class trainer asked worriedly. Ash then suddenly felt a burst of Aura sent by his Pokemon, making him flinch slightly. The Alolan Champion's face turned serious before saying: "I see, you felt something else in there as well. Let's be careful guys…"
As Ash, Pikachu, Eevee and Lucario started making their way further into the cave again, Chloe, Goh and Peonia were stunned, wondering how Ash understood what Lucario was trying to say. They simultaneously looked at Brandon, who simply waved it off, as if to say not to question it. The trio of young trainers blinked a couple times before quickly catching up to the Pallet Town trainer and the other Pokemon.
After a little more quiet walking, the travelers reached a vast clearing. They were about to continue but Lucario suddenly put an arm up as if to tell the group to stop. Ash was about to inquire about his act but the Aura Pokemon indicated with his paw to stay quiet. It looked at Pikachu and seemed to tell him something. After hearing Lucario's words, the electric type quietly charged up a bigger Electro Web on it's tail and shot it straight at the ceiling, illuminating the clearing fully, and revealing the sight of two sleeping Hydreigons in the center of the room and multiple Golbats sleeping on the walls. Goh and Chloe were about to gasp loudly but Brandon and Ash quickly covered their mouths so they wouldn't make any nose.
"Don't make any noise, they probably wouldn't be very happy to be awakened in their sleep…" Ash whispered to Chloe, still covering her mouth with his hand. The girl in question nodded with her eyes widened as Brandon and Ash both slowly removed their hands.
"There seems to be multiple rooms connected to this clearing, Lucario, which path do we need to take?" Brandon asked, to which the Pokemon replied by pointing to the path at the far end of the room, behind the Hydreigons.
"Alright, let's walk past them very slowly okay?" The rest of the group nodded in comprehension, before starting to tiptoe their way to the path at the end of the clearing.
Everything seemed to be going fine, the group making it about halfway without any troubles. Ash quietly said: "We're almost there, just a little more-
*crack*
Everybody instantly froze up at the sound of Goh stepping on a branch. The trainers looked at each other, hoping and praying that the noise didn't wake up the nearby Pokemon. After an uncomfortably long silence, the Pokemon were seemingly still fast asleep. They breathed a sigh of relief… then all of a sudden, one of the Hydreigon's eyes shot open, and the Pokemon stared at the humans. It didn't have an initial reaction, and the group almost thought the dragon type wasn't going to do anything, until the Hydreigon suddenly let out a loud cry.
"Aura sphere on the Electro Web!" Ash instinctively yelled out, causing Lucario to shoot a sphere of blue energy at the Electro Web on the ceiling, causing the light from the electricity to disappear. Chloe's Eevee caught on quickly to Ash's idea and disintegrated the Electro Web on its tail, causing the room to once again become pitch black.
The wild Pokemon screeched loudly and multiple explosions, most likely caused by their moves, could be heard. The group, not being able to see anything, ran in multiple different directions, desperately trying to avoid the attacks of all the Golbats and Hydreigon and find their way out of the room…
With Ash and Chloe…
"Well, that could've gone better…" Ash put a hand on the wall, panting a bit from the running he did. With nobody responding, the Pallet Town trainer worriedly called out. "Hello? Anyone?
"Brawr!" Exclaimed his fighting type Pokemon. He smiled, happy knowing he wasn't at least completely alone in the cave. Not another sound was heard, so Ash assumed they had lost the others whilst running from the wild Pokemon. He sighed and turned towards his loyal Pokemon. Ash tilted his head in confusion, because despite it being completely dark, he could surprisingly still see the outline of Lucario, surrounded by a blue Aura.
"Huh, cool… You know, I should really ask someone about Aura, it really confuses me with what it can do sometimes…" The part time researcher thought out loud, scratching his head. Lucario simply shrugged in reply.
The Aura Pokemon suddenly felt a presence coming and let out a cry to warn it's trainer. Ash looked in the direction his Pokemon was sensing and waited for the presence to make any noise to try and decipher who it was .
"...Jeez, Why is this cave so dark anyways, would it have hurt anyone to put some torches or candles here or there!?"
"Chloe!" Ash exclaimed, immediately recognizing the voice.
"Ash!?" She expressed in a similar tone. "Are the others with you?"
"No, we must have all gotten separated when those Pokemon started attacking us… Lucario is the only one with me."
"Oh I-I see…" She suddenly started to get a bit embarrassed and shily asked. "C-Could Lucario give us a bit of light? It's kinda scary not being able to see anything…"
"Oh right! Lucario, please?" The Pokemon obeyed the orders of its trainer and held an Aura Sphere in it's left paw. It wasn't nearly as efficient as an Electro Web like Pikachu or Eevee had, barely even allowing Ash and Chloe to see each other's face, despite them being quite close to each other. "Yeah… I don't think this is gonna help us all that much…" Ash admitted, making Lucario visibly disappointed in itself. The Hyper Class trainer reassured his Pokemon that it was no big deal.
Chloe looked visibly distressed, and Ash couldn't help but tease her. "What's wrong Chloe? Scared?"
"SHUT IT ASH!" She replied angrily as a tinge of pink appeared on her cheeks, causing Ash to laugh at her reaction, with even Lucario snickering a bit.
The trainer extended his hand and said: "Come on, let's go find the others, we can use Lucario's Aura to guide us." He said with a genuine smile.
The girl contemplated nervously for a bit, before slowly taking Ash's hand as the pair followed behind Lucario, making their way through the cave. It was safe to say Chloe was now pretty happy that the little light Lucario's Aura sphere provided didn't allow Ash to clearly see the blush on her face.
With Peonia…
"Woo… That was a close one, but I'm glad we made it to the exit!" Peonia exclaimed, relieved, as she safely made her way out of the cave, allowing her to observe the wonderful sight of the Frigid Sea. She turned around and noticed that the only other familiar face present was no other than Pikachu, who looked at her confused.
"Wait, where are the others?" She asked, not particularly to anyone. Pikachu also seemed to just notice their other friends or his trainer were nowhere to be found. "They must have gotten lost after we woke up those wild Pokemon…"
"Pikapi…" The electric type sighed, in his mind wondering why this situation always seems to happen.
"Well, there's nothing much more we can do apart from just waiting for them, it wouldn't be smart to try and find them…" Pikachu nodded at the blonde haired girl's train of thinking, and the duo decided to simply wait on a nearby wooden log, using it as a bench.
… … … …
An uncomfortable silence occurred between the two of them, with nothing making any noise at all apart from the cries of the innocent local wild Pokemon. Peonia put her elbows on her knees and put her chin on her palms in a bored manner.
"I-I hope the others are okay…"
"Pika…"
… … … …
A second uncomfortable silence occurred, causing Peonia's mind to wonder. 'Well, this is awkward… I'm stuck here for who knows how much time waiting for the others to come, and the only other thing I can talk to is Ash's Pikachu…' The blonde haired girl's eyes widened as she fully realized her current situation. 'Wait a second… I'm stuck here… with ASH'S PIKACHU! This is a perfect opportunity for me to ask him a bunch of questions!"
Peonia internally told herself to calm down and cleared her throat loudly. "S-Say Pikachu, let's say, just as a r-random question that I d-definitely never thought about before, if you just had to choose which one of Ash's companions is your favorite, who would you pick?"
Pikachu seemed surprised at Peonia's question, then looked as if it was pondering for a bit, before finally saying: "Pi-Pikachu Pi-Pika!" The electric type said proudly with his arms crossed
Peonia sweatdropped, obviously not understanding a single word Pikachu just said. "T-This might be harder than I thought…" She muttered out loud.
With Goh and Brandon…
"Why can't anything go right on this trip…" Goh said, sighing, crossing his arms looking frustrated.
"Eevee…" Said Chloe's Eevee in a similar manner.
"More importantly, is everyone alright?" Brandon asked, more preoccupied with the safety of everyone.
"I'm fine. Eevee, could you use Electro Web again to illuminate the cave?" The normal type did what it was asked and it alongside Brandon and Goh all got concerned when they noticed they were missing more than half of the group.
"Must have lost them when the group of Pokemon attacked…" The Pyramid King deducted.
"I hope they're okay… What do we do now Brandon?"
The renowned Frontier Brain closed his eyes and put a hand on his chin in a thinking manner. "The others are smart enough to know it probably isn't safe to look for the rest of us in such a dark and dangerous cave, so we should try our best and find the exit and hope they make it there as well…"
The Vermillion City researcher didn't particularly like the fact Brandon used the word "hope" to signify they were basically relying on the others to make it out by themselves, but he knew they didn't really have a choice in this situation. "Okay, let's move forwards then, Eevee, I hope you don't mind holding the Electro Web on your tail for us."
The evolution Pokemon nodded but looked noticeably sad at the fact it was separated from its trainer. The project Mew participant kneeled down next to it and gently patted it's head. "Don't worry Eevee, I'm sure Chloe will be fine. She's probably with Ash or Peonia, so no need to worry."
Goh smiled hopefully at her childhood friend's first Pokemon, and the Pokemon in question seemed to cheer up a little bit, and proceeded to lead them ahead. As the two humans and familiar Pokemon walked, Brandon and Goh conversed to pass the time, and Goh brought up a subject he wanted to discuss with The Pyramid King for a while now.
"Hey Brandon, this might sound a bit weird to you, but don't you think Chloe has been a bit clingy to Ash ever since yesterday?" The researcher initially asked.
The established trainer looked at him smugly. "You think she likes him don't you?" He replied as he got straight to the point.
"W-Well I didn't say that but…"
"Look, I don't nearly know the girl as much as you must do, but from what I observed, she has slowly been getting more attached to him as time passed by, especially compared to the first day I met you all…"
"Don't remind me… that whole day was a mess…" Goh admitted as he recalled how Ash and Chloe seemed to absolutely despise each other that day.
Brandon let out a light chuckle and continued. "I might not be too knowledgeable when it comes to feelings and emotions of others compared to other things, but what I can tell you is that there's a possibility she does feel something towards him, although she may not realize it yet. But the way things have been going recently, she may very well know soon."
"You just might be right on that Brandon…"
"Either way, I can't deny that I'm actually pretty intrigued with how this progresses, Peonia also seems like she might play a part in this…"
"Well just have to wait and–
Goh abruptly ended his sentence as the pair heard a growl coming from just up ahead. "You heard that too right?"
Brandon simply nodded as he reached for a Pokeball, but didn't call the Pokemon out. The two trainers and Eevee slowly kept walking, the noise getting louder and louder. The evolution Pokemon holding the mini group's light source was getting increasingly more nervous, and eventually after another loud growl, the Pokemon panicked and threw it's Electro Web forward, only for it to get completely shattered by a Pokemon charging into it enveloped in a strange bright blue aura.
'Was that… Dragon Dive?' Goh thought the worst and quickly told Eevee: "Eevee, stick another Electro Web to the ceiling!"
The normal type did just that and once the room was illuminated fully, they realized they were back to the same room the group got separated in, and unfortunately joined by the same two Hydreigons, not looking at all happy with the group's appearance. Brandon quickly released Regice from the Pokeball that was already in his hand. The Legendary Ice type stood menacing in front of Goh, Brandon and Eevee, making the two Dragon types visibly nervous, but nevertheless prepared attacks.
"Flygon, Dragon Rush!" Goh called out as he threw Flygon's pokeball, the Pokemon instantly enveloping itself in a blue aura and meeting both of the Hydreigons head on, who used the same move. Flygon recoiled back from the attacks of the two wild Pokemon, but shook it off.
"They don't look particularly happy to see us again…" Goh commented, with Eevee standing nervously by his side.
"Looks like we're in for another battle…"
Goh gritted his teeth before looking at Eevee. "Eevee, we're gonna need your help. I know I'm not Chloe, but I need you to follow my commands alright?"
The Pokemon seemed to hesitate a bit, but nevertheless stood in front of Goh and let out a cry of affirmation. At the sight of this, the Hydreigons simultaneously let out an intimidating roar and both launched a Flamethrower at Flygon and Regice.
Brandon, wanting to test the strengths of their opponents, decided to meet the attack head on! "Zap Cannon!"
"Dragon Breath Flygon! You too Eevee!"
The 5 moves collided, creating an explosion in the center of the room. Brandon frowned at the realization they were equally matched in terms of raw power, but still went on the offensive.
"Ice Beam Regice!" He ordered, with Goh ordering Eevee to use the iceberg Pokemon's attack as well. The two brutal Pokemon almost effortlessly dodge the two beams of ice by flying higher and higher, making Brandon and Goh realize just how big the room really was. After Regice and Eevee stopped their attacks, they flew around the dimly lit cavern area in unison, almost as if to intimidate the humans and Pokemon.
The Pyramid King, knowing they would probably dodge any easy attack, went back to his trusty strategy. "Lock On!" He ordered. Regice quickly formed a red ring that went after one of the Hydreigons. The other one, not liking his friend being chased, dashed towards Brandon's Pokemon whilst using Dragon Rush.
Goh quickly noticed this and knew what he had to do. "Oh no you don't! Intercept it with your own Dragon Rush Flygon!" The Hydreigon clearly didn't expect this and in turn, got tackled by the same move it was using by Goh's part dragon type, launching it straight into the nearest wall. Goh wasn't done just yet, as he swiftly commanded his friend's normal type: "Eevee, Dragon Rush and go after the other Hydreigon!"
"Ee-Eevee!" Exclaimed the evolution Pokemon, as its tail glowed blue and pretty comically chased down the other dragon type. The Hydreigon did dodge the attack, but didn't have enough time to run away from the Lock On still chasing after it.
Seeing this, Brandon was about to call out his move, but Goh stopped him right before. "Wait, I have an idea to end this quickly!" He said in a serious tone.
The Regi Master looked at him curiously. Brandon wasn't usually the type to let himself be given orders, especially by a trainer as young as Goh, but he knew from previous experiences that young trainers can truly come up with something special when determined, and judging by the expression on his face, the Vermillion City researcher was very clearly determined, so he let it play out.
"Flygon, Dragon Breath on the Hydreigon near the wall! Force it upwards!" The mystic Pokemon did just that, and after launching a Dragon Breath, the Hydreigon went and joined it's friend in the air. "Alright, Draco Meteor!"
Brandon raised an eyebrow at Goh's choice of move but stayed silent as multiple purple meteors came crashing down from a cloud formed near the roof of the cavern. "Now Brandon!"
"Ice Beam Regice!
"Ice Beam you too Eevee, aim it at the cloud!"
As the two Hydreigons were flying in the air trying to avoid the meteors from the sky, Regice launched an a beam of ice at the Hydreigon it had targeted with Lock On, and despite the brutal Pokemon's best efforts, it got hit, freezing a part of its wings. While this was happening, Eevee was shooting it's own Ice Beam at the cloud that was forming the meteors, making it so the next meteors that came crashing down were now covered with a coat of ice.
Brandon's eyes widened slightly when he finally realized what Goh was trying to do. Regice, freezing one of the Hydreigon's wings made it so the Pokemon couldn't dodge the super effective move Draco Meteor, and by making Eevee freeze the cloud the meteors were forming from, it added a layer of ice to the dragon type move, and since dragon type Pokemon are weak to both dragon and ice, it made an already effective move, even more effective.
As one of the Hydreigons was getting assaulted by the now four times super effective move, the other tried it's best to dodge the incoming meteors, but with Brandon and Goh ordering their Pokemon to use Zap Cannon and Dragon Breath against it, the Pokemon couldn't avoid the three moves it was being targeted by, and so suffered the same fate as the other Hydreigon. The two dragon types were eventually knocked to the ground once the final meteors from Flygon's move hit them, and stayed immobile on the ground because of the assault of super effective moves Brandon and Goh had done.
"Alright, we did it!" Goh exclaimed happily, as he hugged both his Flygon and Chloe's Eevee.
Brandon smiled and returned his Regice after thanking him, then turned to face Goh. "Impressive battling there kid, that was smart thinking to make an already super effective move in Draco Meteor even more effective by adding a layer of ice to the move. You've improved greatly since the last time we battled together!" The Pyramid King admitted.
Goh sheepishly thanked Brandon, a bit embarrassed by the praise of such a respected battler. The duo turned their heads towards the two Hydreigons, who took one look at the ceiling and quickly flew away. The humans looked to the ceiling themselves and to their shock, the ceiling was caving in, most likely due to the powerful moves they had been using.
"Oh no! The ceiling's collapsing!" Goh said, horrified at the sight.
"Quick, onto Flygon, let's hurry out!"
At Brandon's words, Brandon, Goh and Eevee all jumped on the Mystic Pokemon's back, who quickly flew towards the direction it's trainer was pointing right before the ceiling collapsed onto them.
With Peonia…
"Pikachu for Arceus's sake, it's just a simple question! You don't have to think about it for so long…" Peonia said absolutely deflated to the Pokemon currently with her.
"Pika-Pikachu!" The electric type responded back in an angry manner, before pondering about something again.
Peonia couldn't tell you how much time had passed since the two had originally been separated from the group, all she knew was that it felt like an eternity. Originally, she thought being here alone with Ash's Pikachu would have been a golden opportunity to learn more about the starter of a trainer she appreciated so much, but the problem was that the mouse Pokemon just couldn't make up his mind on anything. It wasn't as if her questions were particularly very in depth or tricky, Pikachu was just exceptionally indecisive.
Peonia's most recent question was asking what Pikachu's favorite region was, and she swore it had been, at the very least, 10 minutes and the Pokemon still hadn't decided. The girl had drawn up 8 circles on the ground with a tree branch, each representing a region. All Pikachu had to do was put a leaf on the circle representing which region he preferred.
"Pikachu, just pick one at this point seriously!" The Tyrantrum trainer sighed and laid down on the ground, holding her face in exhaustion. The electric type wasn't having none of it and shushed the trainer with a paw. He was surprisingly taking this very seriously, too seriously if you asked Peonia…
The blonde haired girl turned her head and saw Pikachu's face light up before the Pokemon ran towards the circle representing the Sinnoh region. He hesitated before gently dropping the leaf in his arms into the circle.
"W-Wait does that mean… y-you've finally decided!?" Peonia exclaimed hopefully.
Pikachu, facing his back toward the girl, didn't say or do anything for a good 15 seconds. Peony's daughter's look was one of curiosity at the sight, before quickly turning into horror as she saw Ash's Pokemon shake his head and pick up the leaf it had placed in the circle and went straight back to contemplating his options.
Peonia let out a scream of agony so loud that Pikachu was pretty sure the others could hear her despite them most likely still being in an isolated cavern.
With Ash and Chloe…
Chloe didn't particularly like the slightly awkward silence that was present ever since her, Ash and Lucario started to make their way through the cave, but she couldn't find out what to say to break it.
The maroon haired girl had wanted to start a conversation since they originally decided to go and find the others or find an exit, but everytime she was about to say something, the girl would suddenly get really flustered and end up not saying anything at all.
Whilst Ash was quietly whistling to himself in a cheerful manner, Chloe was having what could be described as some sort of existential crisis in her mind. 'Come on Chloe! You've talked to Ash plenty of times before, what's so different now!?' She unconsciously glanced at her and Ash's joint hands before Ash finally broke the silence.
"You're awfully quiet." The Pallet Town trainer expressed bluntly, making the girl beside her flinch.
Chloe's response was once again based on the first thing that came to her mind. "I-I'm just worried about Eevee, I-I hope she's ok…" Whilst there was certainly some truth in her words, that definitely wasn't the main reason why she was so silent.
Ash seemed to believe her and reassure the girl. "I'm sure she's fine, she's probably with the others…"
Chloe nodded, even though Ash probably couldn't see her face, when Lucario suddenly stopped and looked ahead curiously, causing it's trainer to almost bump into him. "What's wrong Lucario?" The Pokemon pointed further in the distance with a cry and Ash looked in surprise. "Is that… light?"
Chloe looked equally surprised when she noticed the sudden luminance further in the cavern. Without a word, Lucario and Ash dashed off to investigate, the latter almost making the maroon haired girl stumble because of their still connected hands. "H-Hey Ash! Hold up!"
The Hyper Class trainer ignored her and only came to a stop when they finally arrived in the room with the light source, and it was not at all what they were expecting…
"Woah…" Ash first said, mouth agape, as Lucario disintegrated the Aura Sphere in its paw with a similar expression on its face.
Chloe looked up and gasped at what she saw. The room turned out to be illuminated by tons of shiny crystals that lit up the cavern majestically with colorful reflections. The crystalized stones were scattered around everywhere, from the walls to the ceiling, and there was also a small lake in the middle of the room. There were no Pokemon in sight, but that didn't take away from just how breathtaking the view was, it truly was a sight to behold.
"It's so… beautiful…" The Vermillion city girl said, still stunned at the wonderful scenery hidden deep within a random cave.
The Aura Pokemon's eyes suddenly flared a bright blue as the part steel type suddenly sensed a presence coming towards them, seeming traversing rapidly underneath the water. Ash, Lucario and Chloe all looked towards the pond when all of sudden, a little Omanyte arrived next to them, panting and looking all scratched and bruised.
"Oh my Arceus…" She whispered, covering her mouth with her hand in shock. The water type had a pleading look on its face, practically begging for their help.
Ash was quick to act and dropped his bag to the floor and quickly pulled out a potion. He sprayed it onto the spiral Pokemon, who flinched at the feeling and looked terrified. "It's okay Omanyte, we're not going to hurt you." The trainer said softly. The Pokemon's expression seemed to soften at Ash's words and he let himself be treated by the stranger.
After spraying the potion, the Alolan Champion took some bandages once again for his bag and placed some on the multiple bruises and scratches of the Omanyte. Ash gave a reassuring smile when he finished, and told the water type. "There, that should be better right?"
Omanyte nodded gratefully when they were suddenly interrupted by the sound of an explosion near the crystalized walls. It sounded like Ash's Aura Pokemon shot an Aura Sphere at something, so Ash, Chloe and Omanyte turned to Lucario, only to see it growling furiously at something. They turned once again towards where the explosion occurred and saw 2 Golbats and a Crobat flying towards them at high speeds.
Omanyte started to freak out and Ash and Chloe barely had time to react when they saw the bats firing an Air Slash at them. Just before the move hit the group, Ash grabbed Omanyte and Lucario grabbed Chloe and they threw themselves to the ground, narrowly avoiding the light blue blades. Lucario stood defensively in front of the group, almost trying to threaten the bats who were not showing any signs of backing down. The Pallet Town native quickly pulled out a Pokeball and threw it in the air.
"Dracovish, I choose you!" Chloe barely even had time to realize Ash called out a Pokemon when Dracovish suddenly bit Ash's head. "Come on Dracovish! This is really not the time for this!" He screamed from inside the fossil Pokemon's mouth.
"A-Are you okay!?" Chloe said worriedly at the sight, only for Ash to wave it off.
"Y-Yeah this happens all the time!" The Hyper Class trainer replied, forcibly trying to get his lovable Pokemon to let go of him. He eventually got out and ordered: "O-Okay Dracovish, I'm entrusting you to Chloe, focus on the battle please, you can eat my head another time!"
"Draco-Dracovish!" The Pokemon excitedly exclaimed as it ran to Chloe and stood in front of her protectively, which admittedly was a pretty funny sight to behold as it changed it's expression to a more serious one.
"W-What do you mean entrusting him to me!?" The girl nervously shouted out.
"You know Dracovish's moves right?" After seeing her nod nervously, Ash grinned. "Then you'll be just fine Chloe, I believe in you!"
The Vermillion City girl wasn't at all confident in her battling abilities and didn't like the idea of commanding one of Ash's Pokemon one bit. She barely even had battled with Eevee at all, and now she was supposed to deal with 3 rampaging Pokemon!? Chloe looked at Ash once again and saw him smiling, wordlessly telling her he truly had faith in her. She blushed and shook her head aggressively. She knew she had been pretty much useless this entire trip, and this was her opportunity to make up for it. With 3 wild Pokemon in front of her, one of Ash's Pokemon by her side, and Ash's own support, she could do this. Scratch that. She needed to do this, to prove to herself that she was worthy of being with everyone on this trip, and to prove to herself that she wasn't a burden. The girl exhaled, and finally said. "A-Alright, Dracovish, please lend me your strength!"
As the part dragon type nodded happily at her with a cry, Ash smiled even more at the scene, still holding the scared Omanyte in his arms. "That's the spirit Chloe! Alright, let's do this! Lucario!"
"Brawr!" The Pokemon replied confidently, as it got into a battle stance in front of Ash.
"Aura Sphere!"
"W-Water Gun!"
As the two moves went on a crash course for the three flying type Pokemon, the trio of bats seemed to laugh at their attempts to battle them and dodge the moves with ease. The Crobat seemed to give orders to the Golbats and proceeded to fire off a tailwind, forcing the trainers and Pokemon to dig their feet into the ground, all whilst the Golbats shot out Air Cutters at the opposing Pokemon, who were unable to dodge the attacks due to the heavy winds of Tailwind pushing against them.
"Argh! We need to get rid of this wind, we're not going to be able to do much with this Tailwind!" Ash warned, still struggling to stand his ground against the wind, while the bats laughed even louder.
Chloe was in a similar state, and tried to think of something, but considering she didn't have any previous battle experience, nothing quickly came to mind. 'Ok Chloe, think! What have you seen Ash or Goh do to deal with something like this…' She pondered a bit. Lucario couldn't really deal with the wind considering his moveset, but maybe Dracovish had something he could use…
A sudden memory from when the first day they arrived in Hammerlocke flashed in Chloe's mind, specifically when Team Rocket showed up.
"Pikachu! Counter Shield!" Rang in her mind, as Chloe vividly remembered the made up move Ash and Pikachu used back then. She looked towards Dracovish and saw him still under the barrage of Air Cutters, and thought she might as well try to replicate the Counter Shield.
"Dracovish! Get on your back and spin whilst using Water Gun!" The Vermillion City girl screamed through the wind.
The fossil Pokemon happily complied despite not really knowing the motive of it's temporary trainer. Chloe took cover on the ground as Dracovish got on it's back and spun around rapidly whilst firing jets of water, causing them to fly everywhere around the room, even occasionally hitting Crobat and the Golbats, and dispel the tailwind.
Chloe looked in surprise at the fact the move actually worked and Ash, equally in shock, said. "W-Was that Counter Shield!?"
"I-I guess!?" She exclaimed awkwardly, not really knowing what to do or say.
"That was awesome Chloe! Though…" Chloe turned to face Ash and Lucario and her eyes widened when she saw them both soaking wet from the jets of water Dracovish fired off. "A-A warning next time would be great…" Ash finished off sheepishly. Lucario also let out a cry signifying it agreed with it's trainer.
"S-Sorry! I-I forgot!" The girl flusteredly replied. Ash waved it off and took off his winter jacket and cap while Lucario shook its body like a dog to try and dry off. Chloe blushed and looked at the ground when she saw Ash's soaked hair, but the trainer was to focus on the battle to notice.
"Alright Lucario, how about we show these Pokemon what we're made of!" Ash exclaimed as Lucario got back into a battle stance. "Run!"
The Aura Pokemon dashed towards the three bats, who have since recovered from their hits, and one of the Golbats made the horrible mistake of trying to meet Lucario head on with a Bite.
"Double Team!" The Golbat rushing towards Ash's Pokemon looked in shock as it appeared to Bite through Lucario, only to find out it was only a fake. In it's confused state, it failed to notice Chloe call out another Water Gun which sent Bat Pokemon crashing into the wall with another powerful gush of water, with no signs of getting up.
One down.
"Force Palm!" Seeing it's friend being taken down from rushing in, the second Golbat kept it's distance with Air Slash as three bright blue blades raced towards the Aura Pokemon. Lucario dodged the first one, ducked under the second one, and broke the third one with a Force Palm.
The bat looked in horror as Lucario effortlessly dealt with it's attack and jumped towards it. The Aura Pokemon used another Force Palm on the Golbat's back, which sent the Pokemon crashing toward Dracovish, who finished it off after Chloe ordered an Ice Fang which threw the Pokemon to the opposite wall.
Two down.
Lucario stared down the Crobat from the edge of the water, as the Pokemon had reached the beginning lake, waiting for it's trainer's orders. "Jump Lucario!" Once the Crobat saw Lucario trying to close the distance, it quickly used Double Team to surround the Aura Pokemon in an attempt to confuse it.
"You know where the real one is! Aura Sphere!" Still in the air, Lucario's eye flared blue once more. The Pokemon smirked and shot an Aura Sphere at one of the multiple Crobats, which to the Bat Pokemon's surprise, hit the real one, and sent it flying to the wall just like it's friends, and stayed there immobile. Lucario ended off by swiftly jumping from one of the sidewalls and landing right back in front of Ash as it's eyes returned to their normal colors.
And that's three down.
Chloe immediately jumped for joy and ran towards Ash and Lucario. In all of her excitement, she tackled Ash into a bear hug, which greatly surprised the Pallet Town native. "Alright! We did it! Ash, that was so cool! I didn't know you and Lucario were so in sync!" She complimented excitedly, still clinging onto Ash.
"Me!? How about you!? I didn't even know Dracovish could pull off a Counter Shield!" Ash replied in a similar manner to Chloe.
The two smiled at each other before Chloe's expression turned to panic when she realized what she was doing. She pulled away from him and turned her back to him in an attempt to make him not see the huge blush on her face. "S-Sorry, I-I d-don't know what c-came over me!" She exclaimed clearly very flustered.
"U-Uh, i-it's f-fine really…" Ash replied, almost as equally flustered, scratching the back of his head embarrassingly.
An awkward silence occurred, as both humans were clearly embarrassed. Lucario snickered at the trainers as it gave Dracovish a high five, the fossil Pokemon using it's fins to happily comply. Ash saw this from the corner of his eye and laughed. "Good work you guys, you battled really well."
Chloe seemed to remember something which caused her to leave her embarrassed state and run towards Dracovish and pat its head. "Thank you so much Dracovish, you were awesome!" The Pokemon excitedly tried to say thank you, but was clearly unable to relay it's message properly, as Dracovish bit on Chloe's head instead. "Hey! D-Dracovish! Let me go!"
The Omanyte still in Ash's arms chuckled an adorable laugh at the scene and Ash simply smiled at them, feeling a strange sense of happiness he wasn't familiar with. Seeing Chloe interact so amicably with one of his own Pokemon made him feel… something, something that he couldn't quite put his finger on.
Ash saw the Crobat and Golbats flee from the scene in the distance then looked at Omanyte. "Those Pokemon shouldn't bother you anymore, Omanyte." He said softly. The Pokemon smiled and let out a cry of happiness.
Chloe noted something was coming towards them from the water and warned her friend. "Um Ash, something's coming from underneath the water…" The maroon haired girl said with uncertainty.
Ash looked curiously at the sight and Omnayte suddenly started to squirm in joy and made its way towards the shore, where to the group's surprise, a bunch of Omanyte and Omastars appeared. They seemed confused and a little scared at the sight of humans and Pokemon they didn't recognize, but the Omanyte Ash and Chloe rescued reassured them that they were friendly and had dealt with the wild bats. They looked surprised but then let out a bunch of cries expressing their gratitude.
"Huh, those Golbats and Crobats must have been causing issues for these Pokemon…" Chloe noted.
"Seems like it…" Ash replied, before facing the group of water type Pokemon. "Don't worry everyone, those Pokemon shouldn't bother you anymore!" Another wave of thankful cries occurred, and the familiar Omnayte approached them, seemingly trying to tell them something. Chloe tilted her head, but Ash seemed to understand the message it was trying to relay.
"You want to repay us don't you?" The Pokemon nodded excitedly as Ash was spot on. Ash smiled and said. "Well actually, we got separated from our group earlier and we're trying to find our friends, could you tell us where the nearest exit is?" The Omanyte turned to the rest of their friends and told them something Ash and Chloe couldn't understand. They proceeded to line up, trying to tell the humans to follow them.
Ash looked at Chloe and exclaimed. "Looks like they're trying to lead us to the exit! Let's follow them Chloe!"
The Vermillion City girl nodded as Ash recalled Dracovish and Lucario and called out Dragonite. The Hyper Class trainer hopped on his flying type and extended a hand out to his companion. The girl shyly took his hand and climbed atop Dragonite.
"Hold on tight, Omanyte can swim pretty fast!" Ash noted. Chloe nodded once again as she gripped Ash's shirt tightly, his jacket around his waist as it was still soaked from Dracovish's Water Gun.
She looked down blushing and came slightly closer to Ash on the back of Dragonite, the trainer seemingly not minding at all, as they followed behind the Omanytes and Omastars.
"Pika…" The electric type poked the cheek of Peonia's seemingly lifeless body, laying on the ground. The Pokemon still hadn't chosen which region was his favorite, noted by the big green leaf still in his tiny arms. Pikachu poked Peonia again and finally got a reaction.
"What do you want now, Pikachu…" She said completely exhausted. The Pokemon frowned as she failed to notice the sound of an explosion coming from inside the cave. Pikachu then sensed something towards them and quickly stood defensively in front of the entrance, not knowing if what was coming was friendly or not. Thankfully, he let out a happy cry when he noticed it was none other than Goh, Brandon and Eevee, who finally found the exit, riding on the back of Flygon.
"Woo… That was close…" Goh admitted, as he, Brandon and Eevee got off the ground-dragon type. He thanked Flygon before recalling it to it's Pokeball.
"Pi-Pikachu!"
"Pikachu! And Peonia?" The Vermillion City researcher said questioningly, as he saw the blonde haired girl behind Pikachu looking lifeless on the ground.
"Hey there…" She replied in a monotone voice.
"Looks like we certainly missed something…" Brandon deduced, before asking about the other missing people. "Have Ash and Chloe made it out yet?"
Pikachu was about to shake his head but was interrupted by Eevee, who let out a cry of joy when it saw its trainer exit the cave via a nearby river with Ash and Dragonite, and a bunch of Omanyte and Omastar?
"Eevee!" Chloe exclaimed as Dragonite dropped her off next to her Pokemon. "I'm so glad you're ok!" She exclaimed as the Vermillion City girl hugged her first Pokemon tightly in her arms.
Ash meanwhile recalled Dragonite and said goodbye to the friendly water types who led them to the exit, who returned to their home in the cave. Ash then walked up next to Chloe. "Hey guys! We made it!"
"Glad to see you two made it out just fine! Though Ash, you look kinda soaked. You fall in a lake or something?" Goh asked, noting his hair was all wet and his jacket was around his waist.
Chloe blush didn't go unnoticed by Goh and Ash looked at the maroon haired girl before replying: "I-It's a long story…" Goh narrowed his eyes but didn't add anything. "Where's Pikachu and Peonia? Are they okay?" Ash asked generally, a little worried about their new friend and his starter Pokemon.
Brandon raised his eyebrows and pointed behind him. "Take a look for yourself." He said bluntly.
Ash looked past the experienced trainer and his face lit up when he saw his best friend, who waved at him happily. The trainer's expression quickly turned into confusion as he noticed Pikachu holding a leaf, standing idly next to Peonia who looked somewhat depressed, surrounded by plenty of circles featuring the names of all the regions he had visited.
Ash approached the two and patted his Pokemon's head. "Hey Buddy… Peonia what on earth happened?"
"Don't ever ask Pikachu questions, trust me, it won't end well." She said firmly as she sat on the ground, holding her head.
The Pallet Town trainer frowned, even more confused than before. "Just what exactly did you ask him?"
"What his favorite region he visited was, it's been I don't know how long and he still hasn't decided!"
Ash knelt down and looked at his favorite electric type questioningly. "Pikachu's favorite region? Surely Alola, right?" Pikachu's eyes seemed to widen as he most likely realized Ash was right, and climbed up Ash's shoulder and nuzzled his trainer's cheek, agreeing with his words.
Peonia mouth went agape. She stood up from the ground and slowly walked up to Ash, fist balled, who looked at her nervously. "W-What?"
"His favorite companion?" The blonde haired girl said in a tone that sent shivers down both Ash and Pikachu's spines.
"U-Umm, p-probably Dawn?"
"Pikapi!" Pikachu replied with a nod.
A solid 10 seconds passed, where nobody said a word, and nobody moved an inch. The silence was only broken by the sound of Peonia practically throwing her head into the nearby river and screaming at the top of her lungs.