A Fula City Welcome
"Wow this has to be the biggest city we've been to yet!" Zach's eyes eagerly examined the city as he and his friends approached it. Standing atop a large hill allowed for him to see just how massive the seaside city was as buildings stretched out for miles and looked to be quite populated. Off in the distance he could see the finish preparations being made to a stadium which no doubt would house the annual Wallace Cup but what really caught her attention was a path that led out to a small island not too far off the coast which housed a carnival, the usual assortment of rides were there along with a massive Lugia shaped balloon tied to the entrance of the park!
"That Pokemon looks familiar..." Marnie spoke up as she eyed the balloon with interest.
"It's Lugia, the entire city runs on the wind power it provides. It appears once a year and lets off enough wind to power the city for an entire year, the festival's end marks his arrival!" Zach explained.
"Lugia, eh? I wonder if I know it." Ash pondered the thought, they were on a coastline and the Whirl Islands weren't too far off. There was a good chance that it could be Silver or his mother.
"Ah that's right, you've seen almost every legendary Pokemon out there!" Marnie turned to face him with a jealous expression. "I bet you've met the Dark type ones then?"
"Y-Yeah, I've met them."
"Lucky, I'd like to meet them someday!"
Dawn suddenly leaned towards Zach and kissed his cheek. "I've got to go help with preparations for the Wallace Cup, you'll be okay without me right?" She asked before a bright smile formed as Zach returned the kiss while offering her a reassuring smile.
"Of course I'm gonna go train until then, then once the Wallace Cup is over I'll take a break and spend as much time with out as possible!" Zach pumped his fists with an excited expression before glancing towards the forest. "Catching a Johto Pokemon probably wouldn't hurt either... I'll see ya all at the Pokemon Center later!" Zach quickly waved before rushing off into the forest with Lucario and Cinderace hot on his heels!
"Quil, Cyndaquil!" Cyndaquil excitedly cried out as they disappeared into the forest.
Marnie looked after him as he rushed off, shaking her head lightly before turning to Ash once more. "Well that is a good question. I know ya wanna challenge Wallace but chances are even if he's here, he'll be too busy to battle ya until the Wallace Cup wraps up. How about we look around and try to find something to do?"
Ash was about to speak up and say that he'd like to go and ask Wallace for a match anyways but realized that Marnie had a point. The best he could possibly get was a one on one match right now, the Wallace Cup would need to end for him to get a more excitable match! "Yeah sure, let's go!"
"ZERA!" A yellow feline Pokemon cried out as a Rhyperior slammed him into the ground followed swiftly by a Hitmontop spinning on his head while rapidly kicking the feline with his feet! A Houndoom also joined in, sinking it's fiery fangs into the Pokemon's back as it let out a pained yell!
"Hehehe, that loud mouthed local sure seemed to have loose lips about you. I have no idea what you are but you sure as heck aren't from these parts, I'm sure I can get big bucks selling you to Team Rocket though!" A Pokemon poacher smirked, the poacher had a long scar going down across his right eye and had very long white hair. The man appeared to be old yet there weren't any wrinkles visible on his tanned skin tone so it was likely he'd dyed it to prevent himself from being recognized.
"Surf!"
"What?!" The poacher turned, his eyes going wide as he saw a massive wave crashing down upon him and his Pokemon before wiping them out! The Hitmontop and Houndoom were knocked down from the attack and were laying on the ground groaning out from the attack but Rhyperior was still standing, letting out a roar as he slammed his fists together and glared down at the weird looking Raichu in front of him.
"You're an odd little pest aren't ya, where's your trainer-Oh it's you again, well that's perfect!" The Pokemon poacher smirked upon recognizing Zach and Lucario as they showed themselves. "You've sure grown since I kicked your butt hero boy, I can see that... how about I let you go for old times sake? You leave me this... thing and I'll let you live!"
"...Hunter A?" Zach narrowed his eyes as he recognized the man. He assumed the poacher would be busy licking his wounds after Eternatus spanked him!
Lucario let out a growl while Cinderace dropped Cyndaquil onto Zach's shoulder before getting into a combat stance
"Heheh, yeah. That alien sure gave me a beating so I decided to come back home to Johto and go back to the boring yet simple life of selling Slowpoke tails, Cubone skulls, Lapras skin... but when I saw a payday like this I couldn't pass it up! This Pokemon will definitely fetch a fair price once I track down my man inside!"
Zach made a disgusted face as he briefly visualized the cruel acts the man performed. There was no way that he'd let him go again, a man like this made Leroy and Cletus look like saints! "Sorry but I can't let you sell that Pokemon, Lucario use Aura Sphere!"
"Carrrr!" Lucario clamped his paws together and took aim at Rhyperior before launching off the attack! The blast struck Rhyperior but the Pokemon appeared to brush it off, letting out an annoyed growl while Lucario sweat dropped and glanced at his trainer.
"Flamethrower!" Rhyperior opened his mouth and shot off a stream of fire at Lucario, the jackal began rushing and running around Rhyperior upon his trainer's orders while Cinderace sneaked up on him from behind, delivering a swift double kick to his backside! Rhyperior let out an annoyed shout as the flames shot bigger, Lucario let out a yelp as he was blasted with the fire while Rhyperior lashed out with his tail and sent Cinderace flying! Lucario fell to his knees before Cinderace came crashing into him, both landing in a defeated heap.
"Surf!" Zach growled out with a nervous look briefly visible as he issued the command. Raichu raised up his arms and brought down a massive wave upon Rhyperior once more, this time successfully managing to knock him off of his feet as he hit the ground with a loud thud! The yellow feline looked up from his defeated position, watching the battle with a light hint of interest in his eyes.
"Rock Blast!" Rhyperior hoisted a rock up from the nearby ground and hurled it at Raichu, the Electric type cried out as he was knocked off balance before landing in a defeated slump seconds after the attack struck his body!
"Raichu!"
"Heheheh, you're running out of Pokemon kid. Not to late to take my offer and go," Hunter A offered.
"Never, there's no way I'm going to let you sell that Pokemon! It deserves to be free to make it's own decision, not live as some Rocket drone!" Zach returned Raichu before reaching for the ball containing Empoleon. "Empoleon let's fight!"
"Empoleon!" The penguin burst out and tapped his chest with a calm yet boastful look before focusing on his opponent.
"Use Hydro Pump!" Empoleon shot a powerful steam of water from his mouth and blasted Rhyperior with the Rock type finally showing signs of slowing down after the attack struck. His breaths growing heavy.
"Horn Drill!" Rhyperior brushed his foot against the ground before charging at Empoleon as the horn atop his head began spinning rapidly in place.
"Steel Beam!"
"Empo!" True to the Pokedex's word, Empoleon shot Rhyperior a fierce look and showed no mercy as he unleashed a powerful beam of blue-silver energy upon his opponent! Rhyperior let out a pained grunt as he dropped to his knee before quickly falling to his side as swirls formed within his eyes.
"Empo!" Empoleon flashed his downed an opponent a smirk before tapping his chest with a boastful expression. "Empoleon!"
"That was awesome, good job Empoleon!" Zach cheered for his Water type.
"N-No..." Hunter A twitched before letting out an annoyed growl. "Y-You actually won? I-I'm... impressed." A laughed before turning his head to leave. "I guess I'll be going-Psyche!" He quickly turned to reveal a gun similar to the one attached to Hunter R's arm, preparing to shoot Zach with it before the feline quickly sprang up, it's fists surrounded with blue lightning as he slammed them into the ground causing a stream of blue electricity to quickly travel through the ground before delivering a powerful shock to the Pokemon Hunter.
"Whoa, what attack is that?! It looks awesome!" Zach gasped out as he and Empoleon stared at the unique and powerful looking move which sent Hunter A flying as an explosion sounded off, sending him blasting off! The feline turned his head towards Zach and smiled lightly, nodding in appreciation for the save before starting to walk away with a bit of a limp.
"W-Wait! You're injured!" The Pokemon turned and tilted his head as he saw a Hyper Potion in the trainer's arm, curiosity showed in his eyes as he blinked before feeling the sharp sting as the potion was sprayed over his injuries. Empoleon tapped his chest and smirked once more as he assured the feline that everything would be okay.
"What are you anyways?" Zach pulled out his Rotom Phone in order to scan the feline.
"Zeraora the Thunderclap Pokemon, it electrifies its claws and tears its opponents apart with them. Even if they dodge its attack, they'll be electrocuted by the flying sparks!"
"That sounds awesome! Hey Zeraora can we battle?! I really wanna see you in acti-Zeraora?" Zach looked up only to discover that Zeraora had disappeared. He glanced around with a disappointed look as he was hoping to see the Pokemon fight but the Pokemon had decided to take it's leave.
"Eh, he's free to make his own decisions." Zach eventually shrugged before helping Lucario and Cinderace up after reviving them. "Come on, let's get you all to the Pokemon Center." He spoke up unaware that the feline was still near and watching him as he and his Pokemon departed.
"Zera..."
A fairly attractive looking blonde woman sat in the waiting wing of the hospital as she patiently awaited news about her brother's recovery. She was around the same age as Ash and his friends only she was dressed in a school uniform and had dyed small portions of her hair pink and light blue, she had never cared for Pokemon much nor did her parents so the girl spent her whole life isolated from and avoiding Pokemon the best she could. Knowing very little about them as a result.
"Nooo, that's not fair!" She heard her brother shout out from the hospital room causing her to spring up and rush towards the room that he and his parents were in. Tears streamed down her brother's face as he cried out. "I've always wanted to be a trainer... have a Pokemon to call my own..." His words took her by surprise as she'd never heard of his interest in owning a Pokemon before.
"An unfortunate incident, I'm sorry son." Their dad gave him a comforting hug while their mother had covered her face with her hands to hide the tears flooding from them. "We can buy you a Pokemon if you like-"
"It's not the same, I want to catch a Pokemon. I've always wanted to capture a Pokemon, I don't want a pet. I want Pokemon to be my friend!"
"C-Can't he do that in a few months?" She spoke up, unaware of the news. Her brother was only a few months away from his tenth birthday so logically he'd be able to do so soon, right?
"H-He doesn't have that long... he's got two... weeks." The words devastated the girl as she dropped to her knees, tears flowed from her eyes for a good while before she eventually wiped them away.
"I-I'll catch him a Pokemon! It won't be the same but at least he'll get to enjoy having a Pokemon for awhile."
"Y-You mean it sis?" Her brother's eyes lit up upon her surprising offer. He quickly pulled out a picture of an Eevee while sniffling. "T-This is my favorite Pokemon. I-I'd like this if you can..."
She reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder, forcing a smile before kissing his cheek. "I promise, I'll capture you an Eevee!"
Her promise had proved to be more difficult than she thought, the girl had absolutely no clue as to begin looking for an Eevee. The Pokenet came up blank and anyone she asked didn't seem to know either, a few laughed unaware of why she was searching for it before wishing her luck. Now that she thought about it maybe Eevee wasn't a Pokemon that one would normally find within the wild.
A few days passed and she started losing hope, her mind even drifting towards the idea of simply buying an Eevee and not telling him before quickly waving that off as mean spirited. She promised her brother that she'd caught him an Eevee and that's what she was gonna do!
"Evoi!" The cry caused her to quickly jerk around before her eyes landed upon an Eevee that was hopping along the street with a cheerful tone. The girl let out an excitable shriek and grabbed a Pokeball before rushing directly in front of it, Eevee paused and let out a startled gasp as she looked up at the strange girl who'd appeared in front of her. "Evoi?!"
"You're mine Eevee, go ball thing!" The girl threw the ball and smacked Eevee upside the head with it! Eevee's eyes began watering as a result with a small pool of water forming beneath her as bubbles poured from her mouth alongside her tears.
"Evoi!"
"Eevee!" A female trainer with a darker skin tone quickly caught up to Eevee before yanking her up into her arms. "I told you to not wander off-wait what happened?!" She shrieked out upon seeing a massive bruise upon her Pokemon's forehead, soon looking up at the new girl with an furious expression. "What did you do?!"
"I-I'm sorry I didn't know it was yours!" The girl panicked, stumbling backwards as she began growing a nervous tone to her voice. "I-I've been trying to catch one for awhile now..."
Ash and Marnie soon arrived on the scene with Ash tilting his head lightly as he listened to the girl explain herself.
"You do know that Eevee's are quite uncommon in the wild right?" The female trainer asked. "You'll definitely not find one in the city, you're better off looking out in nearby meadows or flower beds outside of the city. I should know, I got my Eevee from Pallet Town. The name's Elaine!"
"Eevoi!"
"Let's go Eevee, we've got places to see and people to beat!" Elaine smirked while Eevee's tail excitedly flickered about.
"I-I see, well thank you for your assistance. So sorry about hurting Eevee." The girl bowed her head in apology and began to turn to continue her search before Ash suddenly spoke up.
"Wait! I can't help but notice that you don't have a single Pokemon, you can't just go out in the wild without one. Adventuring is fun but there is always the chance that you could stumble across a hostile Ursaring, Beedrill, or Scolipede! Do you happen to have any friends that can go with you?"
"A-Actually no, I'm just a regular high school student. None of my friends have Pokemon, heck I don't even like them!" The reveal caused the others to gasp as it was a strange thing for somebody looking to catch a Pokemon to say. "But I promised my brother that I'd catch him one and I'm gonna do whatever it takes to make sure I fulfill that promise!" She saw no reason to tell them the full story, not wanting a pity party to form.
"Well then let me help you," Ash offered as he held out his hand to the girl. "I have plenty of experience with catching Pokemon and I'm always willing to help out where I can! If I'm gonna be the new World Champion then I got to be a great role model too!" He could never pass up the chance to help complete strangers with problems anyways, some of them winded up turning into some of his closest friends and in some cases rivals! "I'm Ash Ketchum by the way,"
"Risa," The girl smiled lightly at the offer before taking Ash's hand in order to shake it. "And thanks, I appreciate the help. I-I heard that Ursaring can be quite scary!" Marnie couldn't help but narrow her eyes at the brief moment their hands touched, Risa was quite attractive and Marnie couldn't help but view her as competition despite there being no sign that either of the two felt an attraction towards the other.
"I should go with ya, Johto is full of Ursaring from what I hear!" Marnie offered up before Morpeko suddenly raced off in her usual greedy manner as a delicious aroma reached her nose.
"Morpek!"
"Oi, Morpeko get back here! Ya just ate!" Marnie shouted as she chased after the rodent.
"So... shall we go?" Risa asked while giving a nervous glance towards Pikachu who seemed to take the hint as he moved to Ash's other shoulder to distance himself from her.
"Absolutely, don't you worry we'll find you an Eevee!" Ash exclaimed before pumping his fists. "Let's go!"
"Pika!"
Ash and Risa had gone a fair distance out of Fula City, the skyline was hardly visible now as they approached a field full of flowers. Sentret, Caterpie, Ledyba and Rattata could be seen across the vast area along with a truck parked next to the road that read 'Lenny and Carl, Pokemon Dr.'s.' Two figures stood to the side of it and appeared to be examining a Pokemon, he assumed that they were the doctors mentioned on the truck.
"Huh, for a pair of doctors you'd think they'd know the right way to spell." Risa commented, one of the figures turned to shout at her as she walked by before the other bonked him on the head and told him to shut it!
Ash led Rita out into the meadow with the girl constantly casting nervous glances towards the wild Pokemon and even letting out a scream as a Weedle touched her leg!
"Get it off, get it off!" She rapidly shook her leg, the Bug type's eyes were swirls as he held on for dear life before feeling the joyful feeling of release as Ash carefully reached out and pulled him off of Risa.
"There you go Weedle, run you're free now!" Weedle didn't need to be told twice, casting a nervous glance towards Risa before quickly crawling towards the safety of the nearby forest!
"See? Pokemon are just as scared of you as you are of them, some of them just want to be your friend!" Ash informed while Risa looked after Weedle as it crawled away with a frightened look. A bit of regret was visible for a brief moment before she shook her head.
"So how do we go about finding Eevee specifically?" She asked.
"Well Eevee do have a tendency to be curious and they're also playful," Ash stated as he began rummaging through his bag before producing a ball of yarn. "I was thinking that Pikachu could grab the end of the string and hide somewhere, yanking the string and causing the ball to slowly move and bounce about... if an Eevee's around then they are sure to see that and will likely investigate!"
Risa nodded as she listened to Ash's plan though she still looked rather confused.
"Er... didn't you mention something about it being best to weaken Pokemon before you catch them? How do I do that, throw a rock?"
"Nononono!" Ash quickly held up his hands and rapidly shook his head. "Trust me you do not want to do that! Not only is it mean but if you hit the right Pokemon like that then it'll try and attack you!" Pikachu nodded his head in agreement with his trainer as he informed her, recalling Ash's experience with Spearow all those years ago and how the Spearow relentlessly chased Ash until Pikachu had sent them off with a good zapping!
"You can borrow Toxel, he's got the right amount of experience for you and also isn't powerful enough to accidentally harm the wildlife." Ash nervously chuckled as he glanced towards Pikachu, the electric rat flicked his tail from annoyance at that remark but stayed silent.
"T-Toxel?" Risa asked before letting out a startled gasp as Ash released Toxel from his Pokeball, though Ash had taken to carrying around Toxel he'd placed him in his ball for the duration of their stay as he didn't want the large crowds to make the newborn nervous. Toxel let out a cute yawn before looking up at Risa, he was too uncomfortably close for her taste being mere inches away from her legs... but she had to admit Toxel was rather adorable. She clenched her fists as she took a deep breath before looking back at Ash. "A-Alright, I think I'm ready then?"
"Then I'll get to work on our plan-Oh wait, Toxel's attacks are Belch, Tearful Look, Nuzzle, and Acid. All you've got to know are the names and Toxel will do the rest, right buddy?"
"Tox Tox!" Toxel chanted, glancing towards his trainer with a warm smile before nodding in Risa's direction to let her know that he was ready. Ash began setting the trap for the Eevee, setting out the ball of yarn before dragging the loose string into some nearby bushes. Risa made sure to keep her distance from the yarn as she didn't want to risk startling any approaching Pokemon, or get them to approach her. Toxel remained close to her causing her to nervously sweat as her eyes kept flickering down towards Toxel, the baby Poison type caught her looks and innocently misread them while giving her a cheerful smile and a cute sounding cry that made her heart warm up.
The sound of approaching paw steps caught her attention, she quickly darted her attention back towards the ball of yarn and noticed an Eevee approaching with a playful smile. The Normal type let out a gleeful smile as she leaped out and swatted the ball with her paw resulting in it bouncing before rolling away from her, she quickly gave chase and didn't appear to notice Risa and Toxel allowing the girl a chance at performing a surprise attack!
"Alright Toxel, let's use... Belch?" That was the only move that Risa could remember, mostly due to the rather gross name it had. Toxel gave an affirmative nod before approaching Eevee, the Normal type looked up from her ball and let out a joyful cry that was soon followed by gasps for air and a coughing fit as Toxel burped right in front of her face, resulting in a large purple cloud to form around Eevee. Eevee waved her paws in an attempt at removing the awful smell but it proved little to no good as she soon collapsed from exhaustion as swirls formed within her eyes.
"Eevoi..."
"Throw a Pokeball!" Ash called out from the bushes, Risa jumped up as the attack had momentarily caused her to lose focus by the startle of how gross the move was. Risa made a look of disgust, wondering how something so cute could do that? She then grabbed a hold of her Pokeball before throwing it forward, the ball struck against Eevee before absorbing her into the ball in a bright beam of red light, the ball hit the ground and began shaking rapidly for a few moments, Risa glanced towards it nervously as she worried that Eevee might run away, however her thoughts soon vanished as the ball chimed loudly to announce the capture complete!
"Alright, you caught her!" Ash jumped up as he cheered Risa on her capture. "Way to go!"
"Tox tox!" Toxel happily chanted before pausing and taking a quick sniff at the air. "Tox? Tox tox!" He cried as he began running off in search of the strange yet alluring aroma that he smelled.
"Toxel come back!" Ash quickly raced after his newborn Pokemon with Pikachu right on his heels! "We'll be right back Risa!"
"Pika!"
"O-Okay...?" Risa watched them rushing off while wondering what exactly Toxel's problem was.
"Excuse me miss, can I see that there Eevee? I couldn't help but notice what had happened and I'm afraid that she might be poisoned." One of the doctor's approached while speaking in a southern Unova accent. Risa's eyes widened in terror as she knowing little to nothing about Pokemon assumed that 'poisoned' meant the same thing for Pokemon as it did to humans. Unaware that the treatment was rather easy to handle. She let Eevee out of her ball, the unconscious Eevee was soon lifted up into the doctor's hands as he eyed her up and down for a moment before spraying her with a bright yellow bottle. "There that should do it, before you know it Eevee will be as wild as a Lillipup in Spring time!"
"...what?" Risa raised an eyebrow in confusion at that remark before letting out a shout as the doctor suddenly turned tail and began racing for the truck.
"Step on it Cletus, I got Eevee!" He dived in through the front window and the truck's tires began rapidly spinning in place before the truck screeched off!
Risa didn't have much time to think clearly, quickly leaping up onto the back of the truck and holding on for dear life on the rear handles as the truck went flying down the road!
Meanwhile Ash had caught up to Toxel after a short while of running and noticed a Mandibuzz placing a jar of honey down upon a nearby rock before taking off into the sky, quite an unusual trick for a Mandibuzz. The Pokemon were scavengers and left the thinking to Braviary and other Unovan predators...
"It's a trick!" Ash yanked Toxel up into his arms, the Poison type immediately burst into tears as Ash did his best to console him. "I'll buy you a jar when we get back to Fula City, right now we've got to save Risa and Eevee!" He had no idea who that could be as he'd never met many people that owned a Mandibuzz but no doubt it was likely a poacher or Rocket agent who was fully aware of his identity and trying to get him away so they could strike! Eevee were quite a popular commodity in the underworld after all!
Ash and Pikachu raced back to where they had left Risa and Eevee, noticing right away that their suspicions were correct as the pair were gone and so were the doctors! The truck had left burn marks in the road suggesting that they were in a hurry. It didn't take him long to realize that the 'doctors' had done it.
"...'Dr.'s' should have been a clue!" Ash facepalmed before releasing Charizard, the Fire type let out a loud roar before leaning forward so Ash could climb aboard. "Fly towards the city and look for a truck along the way!"
"Char!" Charizard roared before taking off and soaring through the sky in search of the truck carrying Risa and Eevee.
"Eevoi!" Eevee woke up and was rather quick to bite Leroy's hand causing the cowboy to let out an annoyed shriek of pain before shaking the Normal type loose and flinging her into the back of the truck!
"That hurt! Ya behave back there ya hear? I want no funny business back there or I'll release Bouffalant! Ain't much room to avoid a rampaging Bouffalant back there!" Leroy laughed out. Eevee was flung back before landing in Risa's arms as she reached out and grabbed her, an uncomfortable look briefly crossed her face before she shook it off for Eevee's sake, looking down at the Pokemon while whispering out.
"You okay?" Eevee nodded in response, flickering her tail lightly while looking relieved to see her trainer. "Don't worry, as soon as the truck slows down enough I'll open the door and we can jump out!" Soon enough the truck did start to slow as it began moving uphill giving Risa her chance only to discover that the doors were unable to be opened from the inside, the doors had been set up smartly! She slammed her body up against it just for good measure, unfortunately for her the men upfront heard.
"Leroy it sounds like something bigger than an Eevee is back there!" Cletus shouted.
"I can hear that, I may be stupid but I ain't deaf!"
"You said it not me,"
"Why you-!" Leroy bonked his brother over the head causing him to lose focus as the truck started swerving about before heading right off the road, racing on back down the hill and fast approaching the ocean as it made it's descent towards a cliff! The two brothers let out a frightened shout as they grabbed onto each other.
"I love you bro!"
"I love you too bro!"
Risa was flown forward and crashed against the back of their seats, cushioning the impact for Eevee as the Normal type remained safely within her arms. The truck flew over the cliff and started it's descent towards the water before something could be heard grabbing onto the roof.
"We're saved, we're saved!" The brothers hugged one another as they shed tears of happiness which soon vanished as the truck was dropped directly in front of a police cruiser.
"Ah, let me outta here!" Leroy and Cleetus began pushing and shoving each other as they tried going out the same door for whatever reason, the door soon opened up to reveal a rather pleased looking Officer Jenny as she hit her police baton against her hands. The two brothers cast a frightened glance at one another as Charizard landed on the ground with Ash hopping off of his back, Charizard having been revealed to be the one that saved them as the claw marks atop the truck matched his own.
"Well well if it isn't the black sheep of the Unova Team Rocket family, we've been after you two for awhile. You've done us a great service turning them in, Mr. Ketchum. Our city owes you a great debt, they've been playing the 'doctor' game the past week swindling innocent folk and younger trainers out of their Pokemon, utilizing the Darkest Day incident for their own selfish greed!"
"Ya got no proof it was us!" Leroy shouted before Officer Jenny pulled out a document.
"Oh really? You literally signed this fake doctorate with your real names!"
Leroy and Cletus looked at one another before beginning to shout at one another, pinning the blame on the other before Leroy tackled Cletus as the two began wrestling upon the ground before a pair of officers handcuffed the two and led them towards a squad car.
"Aaaahhhhh!" Pokemon Hunter A crashed right through the roof of the car, landing in the backseat with his eyes swirly as he dizzily swayed back and forth within the seat.
"Huh, one of Johto's most vile poachers too. Thanks kid," One of the officers said.
"But I didn't-Wait Risa!" Ash quickly raced towards the door and opened it to discover a rather shocking scenario as Eevee was currently licking Risa's face to show her her gratitude while Risa was actually laughing and looking quite happy instead of being fearful or nervous about the interaction. The squad car pulled off behind them, leaving the truck behind to collect the evidence and tow it later.
"Looks like you've been busy." Ash spoke up causing Risa to jump up before realizing exactly what had occurred. She gazed down at Eevee who she still held within her arms, the Eevee looked up at her with an adoring and loyal look to her. Risa let off a light smirk before speaking up.
"Well perhaps not all Pokemon are so bad,"
"You got one?!" Risa's brother cried tears of joy as Eevee let out a cheerful cry while hopping into the bed and promptly nuzzling against him. Risa gave her brother a warm smile, holding back the tears within her eyes as she nodded.
"Yeah... I promised didn't I?"
"Eevoi!" Eevee soon pulled away and leaped back into Risa's arms, giving her a loving nuzzle while their parents let out a surprising gasp of shock. Her brother's eyes widened as he too was shocked before a large and goofy smile formed across his face.
"You like Pokemon, don't you Risa?"
Risa's cheeks turned red before she slowly began to nod in confirmation.
"Great cause... when I'm gone, I'd like you to look after Eevee for me! She deserves to live a happy life and you're the perfect one to give it to her! Promise me sis?"
Risa's eyes began to flood as she slowly nodded once more. "I... I promise..."
Eevee let out an ecstatic cry, nuzzling her once more before hopping back into her brother's arm.
Ash had said his goodbyes to Risa moments before she went to the hospital, having walked back to town with her he now walked towards the Pokemon Center to meet up with the others. Marnie was visible with a disgruntled look as Morpeko's cheeks were stuffed with food! Dawn, Serena and May soon stepped in with various shopping backs within their hands as no doubt May had convinced the two to do some shopping with her. Marnie's expression soon changed as Ash entered, giving him a light wave as a smile crossed her lips. Ash smiled before waving back before noticing that Zach was leaned up against the counter, Lucario and Cinderace were noticeably absent so it was rather obvious his Pokemon were getting healed up after whatever training he had done. Ash couldn't help but wonder if he had caught anything while he was out?
"We spent the whole day shopping!" Dawn sighed out as she approached Zach. "May couldn't decide what outfit to wear so instead of one she bought twenty!"
"Heh." Zach smirked lightly in response. "Sure sounds like her alright!"
May sweated nervously while letting out a light laugh. "It was a hard decision, lots of people will be watching I wanna look my best!"
Serena gave Ash a quick wave of recognition before making her way towards the videophones to inform Clemont that she arrived and was okay.
"So Ash, what did you do today? Zach's not bothering to tell us what he did." Marnie questioned while walking towards Ash.
"I-It was pretty uneventful apart from helping Risa catch Eevee." Ash said while sparing the details. "I did encounter Leroy and Cletus though."
"Those clowns again? I thought we saw the last of them!" Marnie let out an annoyed growl.
"Well they're in jail now, shouldn't see them again for a long while if ever. They were pretending to be doctors, quite a hefty crime!"
"Huh, that's odd. Quite smart for them-"
"They spelled doctor wrong and used their real names on the forged doctorate." Ash informed.
"Ah, there it is!" Marnie rolled her eyes with a light chuckle. "Well it's getting late, I'm gonna do turn in. I wanna get up bright and early to try and find an Eevee of my own, I'd like to get an Umbreon of my own!"
"Don't get up too early, the Wallace Cup starts fairly early!" Ash reminded her. And he didn't want her too tired to attend the Wind Festival, he'd been waiting weeks for this!
"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Marnie rolled her eyes lightly before planting a light kiss on Ash's cheek causing the area around him to go silent as Ash's brain tried to process what had just happened as Marnie waved and began walking off. "Good night!"
"Whoa did she just-" May started.
"Yeah, she did." Zach finished, both looking quite shocked that Marnie made a move. They were both fully aware of her feelings for Ash they were just surprised that she'd chosen now of all times to reveal her emotions.
"Maybe she wants to go to the Wind Festival with him!" Dawn hissed out with a light smirk.
Ash continued standing there for quite awhile, dazing off as everyone else went off to bed before Zach eventually approached and grabbed his arm. "Come on, let's get you to bed." Ash still appeared to be in his trance as they reached his bed, Zach helped push him down before covering him up with a sheet. Toxel and Pikachu let out grateful cries before nuzzling up against their trainer. Zach was getting ready to go to his own room when he noticed blue electricity in the forest that stood along the back of the Pokemon Center, while a pair of eyes appeared to be looking right at him! He rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing that right and when he finished they were gone!
"You see that Cinderace? Lucario?" He turned to his Pokemon but they had fallen asleep with their backs pressed up against each other.
Elaine has her Evolutions design, I found it cute and rather liked it. I wouldn't expect to see her again though unless she fits a chapter's story, I just threw that in as a little reference and to help progress the story.
And yeah, I know Empoleon can't learn Steel Beam but that's cause he doesn't exist in Sword and Shield. Any Steel type can learn that move though so if he was in Sword Shield, then he'd be able to learn it. Next time, Ash vs Wallace!