Chapter 22: The Cycling Road
Once they go north from the Route 4, they are now at the Cycling Road. "It seems like there are two paths, which way should we go first?"
"As you can see, one is the cycling road, which means that we need to have a bike to use it. And it is the only way to the Brushus Town. As for the walking path, it leads to a waterfall, which means that it is a dead end."
"It is a good thing that we purchased the bikes at Rustbolt City." Alice says. "But I have never ride a bike before..."
Ash smiles, "Don't worry, I can teach you how to ride. Just go with the flow, and then you will do it."
"Thank you." Alice says as they go to the entrance, they notice Alex's bike is a tandem bicycle. Ash asks, "Alex? Why is your bike different from ours?"
"Oh, you see, Elena likes to ride the bike with me and she said that riding a tandem bicycle can make our relationship further."
"I have never thought about that before." Alice says.
Once they are at the path, Alice has a hard time learning how to keep balance, she falls down for a lot of times, but Ash comforts her and tells her that it is going to be okay, so that she is able to steady herself in the end.
"I did it." Alice cheers as she makes it to the entrance of the Brushus Town.
"That's great, how about we go back to the beginning? I want to check out the walking path." Ash asks.
"You're on." As the two of them are racing, Alex sighs and he says, "Oh well, here we go again. Wait for me!"
After getting back to the entrance, they decide to take a walk at the walking path. They are resting at the grassy area as Ash sends out Ninetales and Pikachu to train.
Ninetales is training near the waterfall with her ice attacks, and then she notices someone is watching her.
"Who is there? Show yourself." Ninetales barks, and then a pink fox Pokemon walks out with a shy expression. He says, "I am sorry...I didn't mean to eavesdrop you..."
Ninetales sees the Pokemon, she doesn't know why, she has a little feelings with the fox Pokemon, and she says, "It's fine. But are you lost?"
"No, I lived around here alone." The fox says.
"I see, do you want to meet my trainer?" Ninetales asks as he nods.
When Ninetales walks up to Ash, he asks, "Ninetales, what's wrong?"
Then Ninetales steps aside to let Ash and the group see the fox Pokemon. Alex says, "This is Phoxy, it is a Fairy Type Pokemon."
"Phoxy?" Ash is confused as he scans the Pokemon.
Phoxy: The Pixie Fox Pokemon: Fairy Type. Phoxy are remarkably skittish, fleeing from even other docile Pokémon. If pursued, they use their petite size to escape through the forest.
"He looks cute, don't you think?" Alice asks Ash.
"I agree. And it didn't flee from the Ninetales, it seems like he has some feelings for her, huh?" Alex asks as the two foxes blush.
Ash says, "Alex, Ninetales is my Pokemon and stop teasing her."
Ninetales says, "Um...that boy is the prince, and he is my trainer."
"What? The Prince?" Phoxy is surprised. "I have heard a lot about you..."
"Really?" Ash is surprised. "And it is a dream to be a part of your Pokemon." Phoxy adds.
"Okay, I can capture you." Ash tosses the Pokeball and he is captured.
After that, they see a flock of red birds flying above the forest. "Wow, what is that?" Ash asks.
"They are Paracaw." Alice says as Ash scans the Pokemon with his Pokedex.
Paracaw: The Macaw Pokemon: Normal and Flying Type. Paracaw often fly in flocks and almost never separate from their group. They work together under the direction of Paraful and Parabow in gathering supplies.
"So they are flying in flocks, huh? Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash says.
Pikachu uses the move on one Paracaw, causing it to faint, but then the other Paracaw attacks them with Air Cutter and Quick Attack. Ash says, "Ninetales, use Protect!" Ninetales nod as she shield themselves, but the fainted Paracaw wakes up and then the entire flock flees.
"You missed." Alex says.
"Yeah...I thought that I can have another new Pokemon..." But then they see a single Paracaw has remained behind.
"But there is one more." Alice says.
"I won't misses the chance. Pikachu, Quick attack!"
Pikachu tackles the bird and then it is sent flying across the ground. She then manages to get onto her feet, recovers and tries to regain an awareness of her surroundings. As she was doing so, Pikachu jumps into the air and lands an Iron Tail attack on Paracaw, knocking her down. Ash quickly throws a Poké Ball. For a moment Ash thinks he's caught her, but Paracaw breaks free.
"It misses." Alex says.
"But it is still there, we need to weaken her more." Alice says.
Suddenly, the Paracaw uses a move that they haven't seen before, it shoots out its talons and attacks him. "That is Talon Gash." Alex says.
"Dodge with Quick Attack." Ash yells as Pikachu dodges the attack, but the Air Cannon hits him. Confident, she attempts to finish Pikachu off with another Quick Attack but Pikachu jumps into the air in time to dodge. The surprised Paracaw flies straight into a tree. Pikachu then prepares a Thunderbolt as Paracaw gets up, scrambling to avoid the attack but fails. Ash throws the Poké Ball again and catches Paracaw.
Ash grabs the Pokeball and sends the Paracaw out. She shakes her body and then she looks at Ash. She says, "Ash...is that you?"
"Huh? Have I met you before?" Ash asks the Pokemon.
Pikachu says, "Wait a second...from the way that we fought...you are Unfezant, isn't that right?"
"Unfezant? Is that you?" Ash gasps as the Pokemon nods, hugging her trainer tightly. Alex asks, "What had happened?"
Alice says, "I guess it was one of Ash's Pokemon that was killed and reincarnated to a Pokemon that is native to here. And if I remember correctly, Unfezant was from the Unova Region. Male Unfezant threaten their opponents by swinging their heads. Female Unfezant's flying skills surpass that of male Unfezant."
"Wow..." Alex says.
Ash sends out Salanip and Snazap, both Pokemon are surprised to see Paracaw okay, and in fact, Snazap has high acknowledgement for Paracaw since she was able to beat her.
"So Paracaw, you are ready to be in my team again?" Paracaw nods as Ash recalls his Pokemon.
Just then, Pikachu feels something resting on his shoulder, but as he turns around, it is gone. And then it changes to his other shoulder. So he does it again, but he doesn't see anything. Pikachu is doing like that for a while and then he is frustrated, using a Thunderbolt, much to the surprise of three trainers.
"Pikachu, what's wrong?" Ash asks.
"Ash, have you seen something on my shoulder?" Pikachu asks.
"Your shoulder?" Ash looks closely and says, "Oh, I saw it, Pikachu, stay still." As Pikachu did, Ash tosses a Pokeball and then it captures a Pokemon near Pikachu.
"What is that?" Pikachu asks, Ash sends out the Pokemon, and it is a green tiny bird.
Hummzing: The Hummingbird Pokemon: Electric and Flying Type. Hummzing are one of the tiniest Pokémon in the world. This works to their advantage, as they are able to zoom around predators with them unable to catch up.
"No wonder, it must be its beak that is poking you." Ash says. "Since I guess you want to have fun with him because you have never seen him before, right?" Ash asks Hummzing, and the Pokemon nods in agreement.
Once Pikachu and Hummzing are playing together, Alice finds a Pokemon that is eating the grass, another one is approaching the first one as it is nuzzling him.
"Ash, look!" Ash hears Alice's voice as he rushes towards them. Ash asks, "What is that?"
"They are Spony." Alice says with stars in her eyes.
"Spony?" Ash uses his Pokedex once again.
Spony: The Pony Pokemon: Grass Type. Spony stampeding through a field would not leave a trail of damaged plants; Rather, flowers bloom along their paths.
Jus then, they see the two of them run around in circles, the flowers bloom from the prints and Alice says, "Wow, they are so pretty."
"I know." Ash says as he walks towards the ponies. The two ponies are shocked to see a human walking towards him, but Ash says, "There is no need to worry. I am not going to harm you."
The male Spony doesn't know why, he feels something off him as he starts to get a little bit closer, and then he starts to nuzzle Ash. Ash pets the pony and the female Spony nuzzles Alice. Once they are finished, the pony asks them to ride on him.
"Are you sure?" Ash says, "Can you really handle our weight?"
The Pokemon nod as Ash and Alice ride on each one. Then they start to run, much to their surprise. "Wow! This is really awesome!"
"I know." Ash says as the two Pokemon are running around in circles.
Alex, Pikachu and Hummzing are watching as Alex says, "Riding Spony is also a great experience as well. It seems like those two enjoy themselves, don't you agree? Pikachu?"
Pikachu nods, and once they stop riding, Ash and Alice capture the two horses, making Alice her second Pokemon that isn't Ice Type.
They are walking around for a while until they see Rodney back at the entrance. Rodney says, "Hey Ash, Alice. Are you on the way to Brushus Town, eh?"
"Rodney, good to see you again." Alice says.
"Yeah, how many Pokemon do you have now? Can I see them please?" Rodney asks.
"Sure." Ash says, but before he can send out the Pokemon, he says, "How about you show me with 4 one on one battles?"
"Okay." Ash says as Rodney sends out Terraz first, Ash sends out Forestone. Terraz uses Thunder Wave to slow down the Forestone, but Forestone uses Leech Seed to absorb its energy. Terraz uses Air Cutter, but it is deflected by Razor Leaf. In the end, Terraz is defeated by Rock Tomb.
The second match is Budcherp versus Rushot. Rushot uses Lightning Strike to make Budcherp confused. Budcherp managed to use Sing to make Rushot fall asleep. And during the sleep, Budcherp has snapped out of the confusion and uses Echoed Voice. But the voice wakes up Rushot and Rushot defeats it with Thunderbolt.
The third match is Moonkey versus Werehide. Werehide uses Fake out first to make Moonkey flinch, but with the Light Burst, Werehide gets a lot of damage. But in the end, a Bite is able to finish it off. The final match is Salanip versus Toron. With the Fissure, much to Rodney's surprise, it is a one hit KO.
"This is the end, I know...'' Rodney sadly recalls his Pokemon. "Wow, Ash! That was intense, but I'll get you next time! I'll heal your Pokémon..."
As he gives each Pokemon a Full Restore and Elixirs, he says, "I'm gonna go to Brushus Town and get some more experience! I'll catch you around, Ash!''
"See you." Ash says as Rodney runs off. Alex says, "So we should go to Brushus Town, right?"
"Yeah, let's go." Ash says as they get on their bikes again.
Here are the new Pokemon captured by Ash in the Cycling Road. I hope you like it and the next chapter will be the Brushus Town.
New Pokemon and Evolution: Phoxy, Paracaw, Hummzing, Spony
