Chapter 18: A Taxi Problem
Passing through the gate, Ash and his group arrive at Rustbolt City. Ash is amazed to see the cars driving and the people walking with Pokemon in the city. They see Rodney rushing towards them and he says, "Ash, Alice. You made it here, too!"
"Hey, Rodney, how are you?" Alice asks.
"I won my gym battle! It wasn't easy, but I did!" Then he notices Delia and bows, "It is so nice to see you, your highness."
"No need to be formal, Rodney." Delia greets the boy.
"And you must be Princess Elena, right? It is also an honor to meet you in person." Rodney says.
"Why thank you." Elena says.
Alice says, "Ash, I want to let you know since you are new to this place. This is a big city, so it's not safe to go on the roads with all this traffic, but there are crosswalks so that you can get across."
Rodney says, "Indeed, I heard that there's a taxi company, too. Maybe we should seek it out. Anyways, I am gonna look around. Don't forget, you should find a taxi and stay off the roads."
As Rodney leaves, the group explores the city as they are also trying to avoid attention. At the stands, they come across a vendor who is selling Razor Fang and Razor Claw.
"Excuse me, I want to buy each of them, how much do they cost?" Ash asks.
"Ah, Prince Ash, I see." The vendor says. "You see, both of them cost 5000 dollars each, but since you finally come back to the region, I'll give you 40 percent off. So it will be 6000 dollars in total."
Ash gives the vendor the money and he takes the two items. Alice asks, "Why are you buying those?"
"I want to evolve some Pokemon with these items, and Beopup is one of it. But I can only evolve it at night." Ash says.
Pikachu sniffs something at the trash can and he yells at them. Once they go there, Ash notices a stone and says, "It is a Thunder Stone..."
"Yeah, Pikachu can evolve with it, right?" Elena asks. "Are you going to evolve it?"
"No, Pikachu doesn't like to be a Raichu. And I trust him." Ash says as Pikachu squeals at him in agreement.
"Then I suggest that you give it to Zuppy, since it can evolve with the Thunder Stone as well."
"Okay." Ash says as he gives it to Zuppy, then it glows and evolves into a bigger dog like Pokemon.
Rushot: The Zapping Pokemon: Electric Type. Evolved from Zuppy with the Thunder Stone. A Pokémon said to able to move as fast as a lightning strike, Rushot are attracted to the sound of thunder and follow it relentlessly.
"You look great, Rushot." Ash says as Rushot licks him with affection. Then they go to the Bike Shop as the vendor bows at them. "Oh my, your highness, what can I do for you?"
Delia gives him two Bike Vouchers and says, "My son and his friend want to buy a bike each, is that possible?"
"Of course, Ma,am." The vendor then shows Ash and Alice to the bikes and they choose their colors. Ash chooses the Red Bike while Alice chooses Light Blue.
Once they get the bikes, they go outside and notices a lot of people standing near the taxi stands as they are not happy there.
"I wonder what is going on..." Alice says.
"I don't know." Elena goes to ask a person, Ash notices the expression Elena is making and he knows that it is not a good thing.
"What is it, sis?" Ash asks after she returns to them.
"It seems like there are no Taxis driving in the city, it seems like they are going on a strike." Elena sighs.
"A strike you say?" Delia says. "I heard that the Taxi Company is north-west of where we are, maybe we should find the problem."
Once they arrive at the place, they see a lot of workers sitting there in the company's waiting room. None of them are willing to go outside and drive the taxis, and it makes the group in wonder of the situation.
Delia asks, "What is going on here?" The taxi drivers notice the royal family and they quickly stand up and bow to them. "Your highness..."
Ash steps in front of the group and asks, "We notice people are standing at the stands and they aren't happy about it. It seems like you are on a strike. Can you tell us the reason behind this?"
"I am sorry, your highness," One of the workers says, "our boss doesn't pay us enough, so we won't work for him until he raises our wages."
"Here is the contract if you didn't believe us." The second worker says as he gives them the payment contract.
Delia reads the contract and then she is filled with rage. "This is intolerable. Where is your boss? I can't believe that you have to get these low wages."
"He is battling other trainers in the Central Park. We tried to talk to him, but he always refuses to listen to us." The third worker says.
"Thank you for telling us. We will go there and give him a talk about this." Ash says. And the workers are happy that the royal family are willing to help them out.
Once they arrive at the park, they see a worker is arguing with the boss. "Rustbolt City can't function without taxis and we won't work until you raise our pay!"
"Why should I?" The boss asks without interest.
"Because we work hard all day every day and we deserve it! If you raise our pay, we will get back to working!" The worker says back.
"Forget it!" The boss then leaves the park, not seeing the royalty, the worker sighs and then he is surprised to see Ash and the others there. After showing the respect to the royalties, he says, "Grr...I am sorry that you had to see that...He's just not listening. Maybe you can have a word with him... I think that he will be back in his office in the Taxi Company."
As the worker takes them back to the company, Ash and Alice go into the office first while Elena and Delia decide to wait for them outside. And the boss doesn't recognize him as he is still talking to the workers.
"I SAID NO! Why should I raise your wages!? You know I need the money for training my Pokemon!"
"Boss, I know that, but we work hard all day and night, and it would be just a little, for all our hard work! And about your Pokemon...Why don't you train them yourself? Have you forgotten how much fun it is to take care of your own Pokemon?"
"My Pokemon need this training! I want to take part in the next Rikoto League, so they have to be strong, and I really don't have the time to train them myself!"
"Oh yeah? The Rikoto League won't disappear from time." Ash says.
"Who are you? A trainer? You don't look like one, haha!" The boss mocks.
"I am a trainer and I am collecting badges to take part in the Rikoto League." Ash says.
"Don't make me laugh, the Rikoto League is not intended for little kids like you." The boss says.
The worker says, "What are you doing boss, don't you know who he-"
"Don't." Ash stops the worker. "Then how about a battle, if you win, the workers will end the strike and go back to work with the current pay, but if I win, you must raise their wages."
"Hahaha? Are you sure? Do you really think I could lose to you? A mere kid?" The boss asks. "This is a bet I can't lose. Now I'll show you the strength of my Pokemon."
As the battle begin, he sends out Stotox, Ash sends out Raizid first. Stotox uses Poison Sting, but it doesn't do a lot to Raizid, as for Raizid, it uses Earthquake to defeat the Pokemon. So the boss sends out Glowing, an evolution of Glocoon. But Raizid still defeats the Pokemon with the Mud Shot and the Stomp. The final Pokemon is Platyplat, so Ash recalls his Pokemon and sends out Bushoo. Bushoo uses Spore to make it fall asleep, and then finishes it with Mega Drain.
"What? I've lost?" The boss is surprised. "You are stronger than you look..."
"That is because you lack your training." Delia and Elena come as the boss is surprised, since he recognizes the queen and the Princess, since Elena has been one of the loyal customers of the service in this city. "Your Pokemon may be strong, but the lack of training yourself will have an impact on them."
"Your highness...then you are...the prince?" The boss is surprised. "Forgive me for insulting you." He quickly bows at Ash, who sighs and says, "It is okay. I know you didn't really mean it. But as you can see, we really want you to raise their wages or else the city is going to be in a disorder."
The boss knows that he is outnumbered and he sighs, "Fine, I think I should train them by myself as I did when I was younger...I guess I have to raise their pay now..."
After each contract is changed, the worker turns to Delia and the group. "Your highness, thank you all, our Rustbolt Taxi Company can get back in business."
"It is my son that you should thank for. He is the one that does the work." Delia says as they all bow to Ash, causing him to be embarrassed.
Once they leave the company, they hear a voice calling out to them. "Wait up."
They turn around and see the same worker that they met in the park rushing to them. "Hello there, my name is Buck. I am one of the taxi drivers in this city. We really appreciate that you got the boss to raise the salaries for us drivers."
"Well, it is nothing, Buck." Ash says.
"Oh no, it is a great deal for us, and we decide to arrange it so that you can ride with the Rustbolt City taxis for free!" Buck says, much to their shock.
"Are you sure?" Alice asks. "We can pay for you guys, you know."
"Oh there is no need for doing that. So should I take you somewhere?" Buck asks.
"Yes, we need to take a rest at the Pokemon Center, the sun is about to set." Ash says as Buck take them to the Pokemon Center.
Once they are there, Rodney is already there as he says, "Hey, guys. You don't believe it, the taxis are back in the city! I wonder who solved the problem with the company boss..."
"I wonder who." Elena says with a smirk.
"Anyways, I have to take some rest so tomorrow we can get our third badge. See you soon." Then he goes upstairs.
That night, Ash is doing late night training. Ash sends out Beopup and takes out the Razor Claw. "Beopup, hold this, and you will evolve into a Werehide just like what we saw with Damon."
Beopup nods and he grabs the item, then it glows and it becomes a Werehide.
Werehide: The Full Moon Pokemon: Dark Type. Evolved from Beopup at night holding a Razor Claw. A vicious and rarely tamed Pokémon, in ancient times Werehide were thought to be cursed humans that became Pokémon every full moon.
"But mine is very tamed." Ash says as the Pokemon licks his face.
Elena walks towards Ash and says, "Little bro, can we talk?"
Ash says, "Sure, what is it? Sis?"
Elena says, "I want you to be honest with me is that fine with you."
Ash nods as Elena asks, "What do you think of Alice?"
"Huh? What do you mean?" Ash asks.
"Even though we were reunited not long ago, I can see how you two are acting. You will try anything to please her as well as she is trying to do anything to please you." Elena says. "I want to know the truth behind it."
Ash blushes a little and says, "Well, we haven't seen each other ever since we lost our memories due to my father's death. But after we got our memories back, I feel nervous around her, and..."
Elena is giving him a look as Ash takes a deep breath. "Sis, do you think that I love her?"
Elena is surprised as she says, "Ash, I don't know you are this straightforward." Then she turns the surprised face into a smiling one. "So when you are going to confess to her?"
Ash ponders and says, "I haven't actually thought of that..."
"Why not? Is it because of what you experienced?" Elena asks.
"Experienced what?" Ash asks, but he knows where this is going.
"About the betrayal, Mother has told me about it." Elena says. "I can't believe there are people who are doing this, you and Mother didn't deserve this."
Ash nods. "Before I remember Alice, I was also in love with two people...Serena and Lillie. But the time they did to me and my Pokemon, including Professor Oak and Mother, I don't know if I can ever love again..."
Elena nods and says, "Don't worry, Ash. I know you can. You have my guarantee that she is not going to be like them, I can see that she cares deeply of you and your Pokemon. Not to mention, she is an Aura Trainer just like us, which makes it perfect for you."
Ash stares at his sister, knowing that she is right. He asks, "So what should I do?"
Elena says, "You are lucky that the gym leader of this city is a Dancing Queen, she is also my best friend, I asked her to have a dancing ball for your return. And this will be the chance for you."
"A dancing ball? You want me to dance with Alice?" Ash is now panicking as Elena notices his sweating.
"I know you are nervous, since Mother sure likes to give us read a lot of love novels back in the past. Don't worry, what you need to do is just relax. I am sure you will succeed in the end." Elena pats his shoulder before going inside the Pokemon Center, leaving Ash outside with Pikachu and Werehide looking at their trainer with worry.
Here is a new chapter, and in this chapter, I add a little sibling talk to let Ash realize his feelings to Alice. I hope you like it.
New Pokemon or Evolution: Rushot, Werehide
