Master of Bad Dreams
Ash and Darkrai
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
"Pokémon" – Normal Speech
'Pokémon' – Thoughts
Pokémon – Flashback
Pokémon – Move Names
{Pokémon} – Pokédex
Previously on Master of Bad Dreams,
When the trainers got back to the city square where the battle was taking place, they were greeted a very sad sight and shocking too. A Staravia and a Gliscor were found on the ground, wounded and unable to move. Their groans actually gave some relief since that means they are not dead.
And yet their Pokéballs were around so the trainers couldn't return both flying type Pokémon. But all that was forgotten when they heard a voice followed a bright light that was clear and shined even through the darkness Darkrai had created.
"Pikachu, use Volt Tackle and Giga Impact!" That was Ash's voice for sure but it was also the voice of a kid who was on the verge of crying. They were able to see Ash's Pikachu charging to Darkrai that actually looked worn out and tired with burns and bruises all over. Pikachu engulfed itself in yellow electricity of Volt Tackle but that color was mixed with the bright color of Giga Impact to make a wonder to behold. One that Darkrai was unable to stop no matter what moves it kept throwing at this Pikachu.
Darkrai was hit by Pikachu and was engulfed in an explosion of grand colors and electricity raw. Pikachu was sent into Ash's direction, out cold from that attack, but Darkrai was sent into the opposite direction, not moving. Ash then used what little sanity had left by the expression on his face to take out a Pokéball which drove the trainer's attention to see various other Pokéballs lying on the ground, useless and failed to capture Darkrai. A normal Pokéball was risky but also Ash's last resort.
The Pokéball reached the down form of Darkrai who didn't move as much as an inch the whole time and was turned into red energy and drained into the Pokéball. The Pokéball fell to the ground to determine if the capture was successful. After three shakes that seemed to last an eternality, a ding was faint but still went like a car horn in their ears.
Ash then shakily took the Pokéball in his hand and scanned it with his Pokédex that was shaking along with him. The computer voice that emerged from the Pokédex was the only thing not shaking.
{Darkrai, the Pitch-Black Pokémon. Legend has it that on a moonless night, Darkrai will lure people to sleep and unleash nightmares upon them. This Pokémon is Male like most of this Pokémon species. This Pokémon knows Ice Beam, Dark Pulse, Snarl, Nightmare, Dark Void, Ominous Wind, Dream Eater, Nasty Plot and Calm Mind.}
"…I did it…" Ash then said in a low and broken tone, like he was about to break apart. Dawn tried to get closer as well as Brock, in order to comfort their friend but they were beaten to the punch. Cresselia approached Ash and touched his head. Ash then looked up to Cresselia who never once flinched or falter after seeing his expression and instead smiled.
But Ash didn't. He just kept crying and shaking as if he was a newborn deer. "I am sorry." He finally spoke after relaxing his breathing but everyone still heard his low voice. "I am sorry Cresselia."
The Luna Pokémon was also curious as to why Ash was saying such things. He had saved the city and stopped the rampaging Darkrai. He even caught it, something that not even the Champions come close to doing.
Ash saw it all and explained, "With Darkrai now gone, no one needs you anymore." Everyone gasped at that statement. "The city only needed you because Darkrai had chosen to plague this place with nightmares. They only need you and welcomed you so that they can sleep well at night but now nightmares can never happen again, there is no need for a Pokémon who can quell them anymore. I am sorry Cresselia."
Everyone listening just didn't think of it that way. Ash must have gotten a surge of foresight when he had watched his Pokémon fall and did something he was expecting to fail. Then Cresselia suddenly, giggled.
{Don't fear young Ash.} A voice that sounded a lot like telepathy had emerged from Cresselia. {You are such a wonderful and thoughtful young man and a brilliant trainer to match Darkrai at his true potential. Something that we Legendries never get to show even to the other members of our species.} Ash just tried to avoid all that praise, thinking he doesn't deserve it or something. {Darkrai may be captured and subdued but he was only a Pokémon that feeds on nightmares and in turn get strong enough to cause his own. Darkrai only spread nightmares, not create them. I am still needed by these inhabitants because fear is natural and so is a nightmare. They will still need my power for peace. You didn't ruin anything Ash. You have a gift, treasure it because Darkrai now serves you.}
Ash heard every word despite his clouded mind and started to feel a little better with his tears finally dry and his frown turned into a smile. "I understand Cresselia. I thank you for all this." Ash said in a low tone and bowed to the Luna Pokémon even after she used her powers to restore the night and dispel the spell Darkrai has left on all the living beings of the city.
Dawn then decided to risk it and approached Ash who was still on the ground, clutching the ball that contains Darkrai. She then saw that Ash looked as defenseless and vulnerable as a little kid. Dawn took pity and tried hugging Ash.
When he didn't move, she gave up but when she released Ash, "Thanks." Ash spoke in a louder tone. "This is all I really want Dawn. All there is left to get some sleep, all of us." Ash then whipped his face clean of tears and begun to pick up his messes while everyone was wondering if Dawn's hug really caused a big 180 in Ash's mood. "Come on, I am sure that we will have good dreams tonight." Ash said when he turned to face them all with a grin which was almost as bright as the sun. Jenny and Brock shook their heads at the whole thing while Dawn was having a monster blush on her face for some reason.
"There." Ash said in a soft voice yet it spooked everyone around him. Since breakfast, Ash had been silent even during training. And when he wasn't training his Pokémon, he was tending to the single standard Pokéball that contained Darkrai from Canalave City. Ash also had been painting it with some black paint; his friends have decided that Ash wanted to some way to distinguish that Pokéball from the others. But what they didn't know was why Ash wanted to attach the Pokéball to a string of leather. "It is done." Ash added and revealed to all those looking his direction that he had the Pokéball strapped to the string of leather before placing the necklace into place.
"Are you sure that you are not taking this too seriously Ash? Trainers would be jumping in joy that they caught a Legendary Pokémon." Brock asked and was surprised to see Ash only shaking his head.
"You don't understand. Darkrai was considered to be all-evil. There should never be such a thing. Darkrai seemed to be having a bad night while I was stalling him from trying to kill Cresselia." Ash said looking down on the Pokéball as if it was a memoir. "Darkrai should never have been caught. He deserved to roam free after Cresselia used her power to calm him down so that Darkrai will leave that city and the people alone."
Brock and Dawn sighed along with Pikachu and Piplup. Ash had been acting like he committed an unforgivable crime and was allowed to walk away from it freely. And he had been doing that for a few days now since that fateful encounter at Canalave City. Ash was doing this even when they were approaching a place that Professor Oak and Professor Rowan offered to help settle their nerves; the Canalave City's Old Chateau where they make the delicious Old Gateau.
Then something finally got Ash's attention off Darkrai's Pokéball. It was the sound of the wind but that wasn't it, what got Ash out of his stupor was the sound of a door hinge freely moving. "I thought this was closed and locked up." Ash said which spooked his friends again but they soon got curious, about that.
"Of course it is. That worker said so but allowed us to wait until they got the power back up." Brock said but Ash was stubborn,
"Well that doesn't explain that door over there. It is just swaying in the wind." Ash said and his friends saw it too.
"You don't think that someone in there is trying to steal the Old Gateau!" Dawn started to panic, she really wanted to try some of the Old Gateau but this could prove that some thieves broke in and probably all the Old Gateau is stolen.
"Well then let's just see who did left the door open and show them that they can't steal the sweets we want." Ash said with a smirk seeing that got Dawn all pumped up.
"Then let's go!" Dawn charged with Piplup desperately trying to hang on to his trainer's cap. She just didn't notice that she was also dragging Ash and Pikachu along for the ride. Brock raced after them in to catch up.
Thankfully, it was short trip until they were in the main lobby of the Old Chateau. It was unnerving since the door had been left unlocked and that the power in the Chateau hadn't been restored yet at all. Pikachu however had spotted something rather strange in one of the hallways leading from the lobby. It was like something barley bigger than a microwave device but had red outlines mixed with some orange. The strangest thing was that it gave off this feeling of being an Electric Pokémon, something that Pokémon like Pikachu can naturally detect.
"Pikachu? Where are you going?" Ash said while walking after his best friend with the rest of his company following after him. They eventually found Pikachu looking at something rather silly. He was starting at a microwave device like it was some kind of wild creature. "Why would there be a microwave here in the generator room? Any of us can use it better in a kitchen." Ash said and the others nodded in agreement.
But the bigger priories were the room itself. If it is the generator room, then they can power up the Old Chateau themselves and not wait any longer for the Old Gateau. Meanwhile, Pikachu was still trying to figure out how did this Microwave device did get into the generator room and it looked a lot like the thing he saw entering the room. They must be the same but no matter what Pikachu does, nothing happens until the yellow rodent tries out the inside of the microwave. It suddenly came to life and tried to eat Pikachu!
"CHUUU~!" Pikachu tried to get it to release him by sending a Thunderbolt through the strange microwave. And yet this deflected off the strange microwave and landed on the generator. Luckily the trainers were able to see the attack and dodge it.
"What's wrong Pikachu? What made you attack the microwave? If you are trying to jumpstart it, at least wait until we find the kitchen." Ash said while rubbing Pikachu on the head who tried to protest and clear things up but failed under being rubbed where he loved it the most. A personal weakness to be blunt.
And before anyone could respond to all this, the lights all went on. It seemed that Pikachu's attack had jumpstarted the emergency generator instead of the microwave. Then they heard a dinging sound coming from a loud speaker up in the ceiling. [Welcome to the Old Chateau.]
They figured it was merely an automatic announcement system that activated itself once the generator turned the power back on. […where we both make and allow all of you to construct our famous Old Gateau.]
Dawn and Brock got excited to hear that the Old Chateau not only sells and makes the Old Gateau but also allows anyone to learn how to make it themselves! Following the voice to the kitchen on the directions given by the system, the trainers and Pokémon were surprised and overjoyed to see that the cooking tables had a hidden cabinet with not only the recipe but also all the ingredients needed to make Old Gateau.
Brock felt like the place was just begging for him to make the desserts and was about to get started when Ash turned to some of the cabinets closer to the walls of the kitchen. He opened them to find the same ingredients again but that was more to Ash. Dawn approached him with curiosity growing as well as a sense of concern.
"Dawn, do recognize some of these ingredients?" As if Ash had suddenly grown eyes on the back of his head, he addressed the Sinnoh local trainer. Dawn got a good look and after a while, she realized what Ash did.
"Yeah, they can also be used to make Poffins." Dawn said which made everyone else gasp in disbelief. "How did you…?" Dawn begun to ask until she noticed that Ash was approaching Brock.
"So can you finally teach me how to cook Brock? We got plenty of ingredients to teach me how to cook and an entire kitchen while we are at it." Ash asked of Brock who was in shock at this development.
"But doesn't your mom teach you…?"
"She doesn't. No matter how many times I asked and begged of her to teach me years ago, Mother will always giggled and tell me to always leave the cooking to her. And because of that, I couldn't feed myself or May or Max when I started my adventures in Hoenn. You remember that right?" Ash retorted and confused Dawn on the name Max but she knew who May is; a native trainer of Hoenn who became the 'Princess of Hoenn' with her skills at Pokémon Contests, trying out the Contests in Regions such as Johto.
After a moment of silence, Brock eventually released a huge sigh. "Fine. I will show you how to cook basically but you will need to make Poffins and the Old Gateau yourself. Sounds fair?"
"Yes." Ash answered with a hitch and then turned to Dawn again. "We will be very busy in the kitchen so why don't you explore the rest of the Old Chateau? Don't get lost." Ash smirked for extra measure. Brock chuckled at the playful jab that successfully got Dawn to twitch.
"L-like I always say, no need to worry." Dawn tried to get herself to be very convincing but her friends knew better. And yet she didn't get lost, instead found a wide room with a stage. Dawn deduced that this room was used like a ballroom since the building was the Old Chateau. Dawn was delighted to find such a room because she could practice with her Pokémon such Piplup and Buneary as well as her Pachirisu for her next contest.
Still after a good hour of practice, someone decided to crash the party. Dawn noticed a sudden breeze in the room which made her and her Pokémon shiver to a slight extent. Dawn turned to where the breeze was coming from and found a fan on the stage, left on. Dawn couldn't figure it on how a fan got into the ballroom without her noticing as she turned it off.
But it was when she tried to resume practice that the breeze returned only stronger. Dawn turned with a frustrated sigh only to forget about approaching the fan when she saw something else entirely. It was something of a yellow and white outline that is slightly shaped like a fan. That wasn't scary at first but Dawn and her Pokémon found themselves running when this strange object started to charge at them!
Dawn screamed along with her Pokémon since they couldn't stop it from chasing after them. That is, until they got through the twin doors leading into the ballroom, they closed them while leaning on the doors in an effort to keep them closed. "Dawn!"
The Sinnoh girl trainer looked to see Ash racing towards her with his Pikachu, Monferno, Gliscor, Staravia and Buizel out with him. "We heard you screaming and came to see what is up. Was something chasing you?" Dawn nodded vigorously. "Then where is it?"
"Inside here! It was orange and white and looked lot like the fan that appeared inside the room!" Dawn started say until she felt Ash place a hand on her shoulder, somehow silencing her completely. But that was brief when Ash gently shoved her aside to open the doors.
"That fan?" Ash then said and pointed to a portable room fan that was merely standing behind the doors. Dawn nodded, hiding behind Ash who just took out a normal Pokémon and threw it at the fan. It simply the flick of his wrist and yet the ball hit the fan hard enough to knock over to its backside. But that wasn't what confused and shocked Dawn, it was that something from the fan had emerged and entered the Pokéball; after shaking the usual three times, Dawn was expecting the Pokémon inside to escape and yet the ball dinged for a capture instead. "Just like the lawnmower and the washing machine." Ash muttered and yet his Pokémon nodded.
"What lawnmower and what washing machine?" Dawn no longer felt scared and felt more confused in a way that she was assertive to get her answers. "I thought you will be in the kitchen with Brock."
"I was and after he showed me all the basics to cooking, he allowed me to try at the Poffins. They didn't take long at all but according to the recipe, the Old Gateau will take much longer. Brock told me to leave the batter with him as he overlooked them cook." Ash explained with Pikachu nodding in agreement. "So I thought that I should spend that time out in the garden training my Pokémon. That is until we came across this lawnmower in the garden until it transformed into something of what you just saw. So I thought it was one of the 'ghosts' that engineer told us ages ago." Dawn nodded. "My Pokémon and I tried to fight it but every time we tried for an attack, it will just transform back into a lawnmower so I decided to try catching it. It went into that Pokéball as easily as this 'ghost' Dawn." This time, all of Ash's Pokémon nodded in agreement.
Dawn eventually released a huge sigh in a similar way as Brock did a little over an hour ago. "And the washing machine?" She didn't want to forget about that and Ash didn't either.
"We encountered something of a washing machine after entering the Old Chateau, to ask Brock if he had any idea what this thing was. It tried to soak us to the bone and yet it behaved a lot like that first one in the garden so I tried to catch the same way and I got the same results as well." Once again, all of Ash's Pokémon nodded. It was beginning to be clear that something is happening to Ash or that he can sure tell a story and counted on his Pokémon to back him up.
Then they realized something they had been forgetting,
"Brock!"
"Brock!"
The two trainers returned their Pokémon and hurried back to the kitchen where the traveling Gym Leader was busy with the food, oblivious to all that is happening around him. Except that inside the kitchen was another one or two of the 'ghosts' but Brock just won't notice until he happened to turn to see something of a refrigerator with orange and white outlines, using Blizzard on them!
That got the trainers and Pokémon out of the kitchen along with some of the uncooked Gateau that Brock was taking care of. But before they can get far, they came across something that Pikachu recognized from the moment they first entered the Chateau; the microwave shaped being that resembled just what was playing pranks on them all day!
"No more pranks! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"
"Piplup, use Bubble Beam!"
Both attacks can at the being, interrupting its Overheat attack and forced it to the ground until the outline left the microwave and finally showed its real face. What came out of the microwave was something that neither Ash nor Dawn had ever seen. It must have been a Pokémon. Its body was small and shaped like a lightning rod. There was this whitish blue aura of electricity around it that formed lightning bolt-shaped arms. It also had teeth, and its unique, blue eyes have a dividing line across them.
{Rotom, the Plasma Pokémon. Rotom plays practical jokes, which it carries out by embedding its plasma body in electronic devices.}
Dawn and the other Pokémon were still frighten by this Rotom but Ash just wasn't amused at all. "I don't see what is so funny about pranking people who just want to make you good food. I am not laughing Rotom and therefore, your jokes are not funny." That could get the lighting Rotom's attention but what really set the silence in the room was the chilling sensation that the Plasma Pokémon felt that made it shiver. "And he agrees for once Rotom." Ash said with a puff of cold air exiting his body with his words.
And then, out of the shadow Ash was making with the help of the setting sun and the lights off in the hallway, came a very familiar and menacing being that was the stuff that nightmares were made of. Dawn, Piplup and Pikachu all ran behind Ash who seemed to be the only one not running in terror; no doubt that is because Ash needed to be a much better type of trainer for this Pokémon especially.
"So do you still want to laugh at out mischief or be something ten times better than that?" Ash said turning to see that the Rotom was frozen in fear for once. No doubt because of the entrance and presence of Darkrai. Dawn nearly forgot that Ash said he release all of his Pokémon into the garden for training until the gang of Rotom begun to ruin their day. "You all have the ability to interact with electricity and electronics better than anyone. Our engineers need Pokémon like you so they can make life much better for everyone. You are just doing the opposite so that people and other Pokémon alike will fear and hate you." Ash said in a cold tone that matched the terror Darkrai was causing for the Rotom.
The Rotom then felt like a comedian on stage to an audience that isn't laughing and booing instead. It felt like just sinking into the ground but instead felt some kind of ghostly hand pulling back above. "I am not done with your Rotom. I have plans for all your brothers." Ash looked like a boss with a creepy smile on his face; like whatever is going to happen, he is certainly going to enjoy it.
Later,
"Bye kids! Thanks for everything!" That same engineer, who told the trainers about the 'Ghost of the Old Chateau', said his goodbyes while being accompanied by four Rotom; the ones who processed a refrigerator, a lawnmower, an electric fan, and a washing machine. Ash, with the help of Darkrai, had somehow convinced the gang of Rotom to, instead of playing pranks, actually help run the Old Chateau and continue to make the Old Gateau. The engineer was grateful and awed to see the miracle Ash had made and opened the place up again; thankfully, he never learned about Ash's Darkrai.
Meanwhile, Ash and the gang took a little break on a bench after a good walk from the Old Chateau. After the adventure with the Rotom now over, it was finally time to try out the Old Gateau and dared try Ash's Poffins; thankfully, Ash had them in a bag during the entire hassle with the Rotom after an hour of learning how to cook.
When the Pokémon tried it, they nearly fell over due to how delicious it was. Ash and the gang couldn't resist sending out all their Pokémon to try it too; they all loved it. But still there were two Pokémon during the party that weren't eating the Poffins and not because they thought they were gross. They were just unsure.
"Why is this Rotom here Ash? I thought it will still back at the Old Chateau." Brock asked and Dawn nodded. Pretty soon, all of the other Pokémon begun to notice it too. Also they noticed that this Rotom was not happy with all the attention and ran towards Ash's arm.
"W-what?" Dawn could only say in shock, this wasn't a bit like the Rotom who tried to toast them alive with a microwave.
"This Rotom is the youngest out of the others back at the Old Chateau. He didn't want to hurt anyone and thought that playing pranks will be fun and funny. Those other Room however, didn't care whatever people got hurt or not." Ash said and his friends, trainer and Pokémon, then realized that while this Rotom was possessing a microwave, it never got close to harming them as much as the other Rotom in their other forms. "Now he wants to go out and be a Rotom that will help others now. It helped to be the trainer of an active Electric type Pokémon to learn all this." Ash added while slowly turning to Pikachu who could only feel a little ashamed since he knew what Ash was talking about.
"So why doesn't he go with you Ash? You obviously know him better than the rest of us." Dawn asked and Ash had gotten a distant look on his face.
"Because I wanted the chance to ask Pikachu if that was okay." That certainly wasn't one of the possible answers everyone was hoping for. "Ever since day one, I never even dared to catch another Electric Pokémon because I thought that Pikachu will never want that to happen. Now I have the chance but it is a decision that I felt Pikachu deserves to also make it."
Once Ash was done, Pikachu was rubbing cheeks and had the look in his eyes that he doesn't mind Rotom on the team. To prove this, Pikachu reached in for one of Ash's personal Pokéballs; the one who captured the other four Rotom were given to Ash by the engineer so that if Ash did catch the 'Ghosts' they will rightfully belong to the latter. Ash didn't mind, he didn't want to force Pokémon onto his roster without knowing that someone else could use them better than he could.
Ash then grasped that Pokéball and looked at Pikachu one last time to confirm all this, Pikachu nodded and Ash tapped the head of Rotom who hadn't budged an inch since all this started. That was how Rotom was caught, in a similar yet gentler way than the previous four. Everyone then witnessed Buizel disappearing as his Pokéball was sent automatically to the farm back in Kanto.
'Ash…you never did such a thing to catch Pokémon. You really have grown up.' Brock thought as flashbacks to all the adventures he spent with Ash and noticed that the two raven haired trainers now looked barely alike. "Come on Ash, let's eat the Old Gateau we made. That will cheer us up."
Ash happened to hear Brock and nodded. He then joined up with everyone who took a piece of the Old Gateau and enjoyed the delicious desert. Darkrai also enjoyed it too which only confused him; is this really want people do when they are not dreaming and having nightmares?
XXXXX
Even though they spent some time at the Old Chateau and enjoy some deserts like the Old Gateau, Ash's next Pokémon Gym Battle still had to wait. And while they were at it, Ash tried to find a good place to train his Darkrai in private but only proved to be very difficult as of the time being; so Darkrai just stayed in the Pokéball on Ash's necklace.
So Ash was ignoring the stares as he trained his new Rotom instead. And for such a young Pokémon, this one sure was over eager to train despite already showing great power in terms of Shock Wave, Substitute, Ominous Wind, Shadow Ball and surprisingly Discharge. Ash didn't know any other moves to teach so he had to improvise on merely training Rotom to use all those moves in the best way possible, with all sorts of tactics and strategies.
But what really made this day one to never forget was Dawn and her Piloswine given that the latter had evolved just a few days ago when Team Rocket firstly enraged Darkrai. As for what was wrong with Piloswine, it was the appetite and lack of desire to battle. Instead of trying out moves or patterns or combos, Piloswine will just act on his own to always find food and eat it when he does.
This even landed them where Team Rocket was merely having a picnic and when Piloswine got the scent of their food, he used Ice Shard on them and sent them flying away so he can munch on the food.
While Dawn was lamenting on how she caused all this by forcing Swinub to evolve so quickly. Brock and Ash told her about how it happened mainly with one of the latter's Pokémon back in Kanto which costed him his place in the Kanto League and it took until Johto to set up a good bond. She never imagined that one of her best friends had to suffer something like this.
But when they were planning on their next step with Piloswine, they were dragged into a supposed 'Pokémon School' by very shady characters who said that they can solve their problem. Ash was skeptical and only joined along since it was the only way to get to see what this was all about; he had a feeling this was a scam and something else. And it was! It was Team Rocket who were unhappy that they were 'blasted off' after the 'twerps stole their lunch'. And when they managed to trap the gang's Pokémon, they decided to add salt to the wounds by attacking Piloswine who was in a position that he couldn't do a thing even help himself; that is until one last attack got him glowing in a bright white, the sign of a Pokémon Evolution.
Once it was completed, Piloswine resembled more like a wooly mammoth crossed with a boar. Its brown fur were more refined instead of being all lush and uncombed. The fur on its muzzle is tan and shaggy, and its nose resembles that of a pig. Its tusks seemed to be made of pure, solid ice. There was a blue mask-like pattern with a white rim around its face. Its feet are black with three thick toes, and its tail grew small.
"Brock, do you know what Piloswine evolved into?" Ash said while Dawn took out her pink colored Pokédex.
"Yes! It is now a Mamoswine!" Brock shouted and on cue, the computer like voice spoke the same name.
{Mamoswine, the Twin Tusk Pokémon and the evolved form of Piloswine. Distinguished by its large tusks, its weight is more than five times that of Piloswine, and is less commonly found since the end of the ice age.}
Unfortunately, that meant less and less room in that tiny cage compared to how big Piloswine had become now he was a Mamoswine. The cage didn't last even five seconds when the steel bars gave in to the sudden increase in size, freeing all of the Pokémon! Speaking of whom, they all were sent into the direction of their trainers and hurried to the comfort of their arms. "Dawn! Let's see just how powerful your new Pokémon is! Try what I have been telling you!"
Dawn was worried for sure since she was unable to get Piloswine to obey before evolving once again; she didn't even want to imagine the mess Mamoswine will prove to be. Still, "O-okay Ash." She turned to her newly evolved Pokémon and said, "Mamoswine, they are going to take away all the food for breaking their cage and they are going to strike you for it!" Dawn had learned that if Pokémon are not going to do attacks on the name, a little extra motivation will come a long way; it is all Ash on this one.
And it seemed to have worked as Mamoswine took the bait and turned its attention to Team Rocket. Without giving them a chance to even respond, Mamoswine used Ice Shard to freeze again and tackled the ice block to send them flying or 'blasting off'. That was it for Team Rocket as of this adventure.
After everything that happened today, it was time to finally give the adventure a rest and the adventurers a rest themselves. Mamoswine still felt really bad for all the trouble he had caused since he felt like he was born with a disobedience streak with his evolution. That is while he offered for his trainer to take a little nap in his fur, as the first step to saying sorry.
The only problem is that his trainer didn't want to be anywhere without Ash that evening so Mamoswine made the best of it; Dawn got to be around Mamoswine but mostly in the comfort of Ash. Mamoswine just didn't want to argue with Ash's glare which made the latter look like a demon daring him to do anything more to Dawn who had a bad day as it is.
Ash didn't fall asleep at all though, he had one thing on his mind that prevented him from nodding off. He just waited until it was just him and Dawn and Mamoswine in the shade of the shadow of the tree where they found themselves really comfortable. And speaking of which, a familiar and eerie face emerged from the tree's shadow and approached the couple of trainers napping with Mamoswine.
"Tell me what you see Darkrai." Ash said without any fear. Darkrai stopped within a few meters and stared at the sight that his trainer was in. Darkrai couldn't understand what was so great about having others clamp on you like a snake trying to squeeze the life out of their prey. Or a bear asking for its prey to sleep so the bear can feed on its prey. And yet Darkrai also felt something else.
It was a feeling that felt warm compared to the coldness of the nightmares Darkrai always feel as part of him and that is why he feels that he must live for nightmares and to do that, he must cause more and more. And he did until he was stopped by a human boy who sent his Pokémon to the fighting for him until he forced into some kind of prison in the shape and size of a rock.
The feeling was like waking up from a good dream for once, to the rays of sunlight that come at dawn and begin the new day. Darkrai couldn't label or describe it better since this is the first time he felt such a thing and never did felt it before in every night he spent spreading nightmares. What else is there to life than restless nights?
XXXXX
The week has been hectic as Ash still attempts to challenge for his sixth gym badge and now he heard that the Gym Leader, Byron, is not only one himself but the father of another one, Roark of Oreburgh City. They argued on who loved fossils more and even tried to settle their bitterness with a Pokémon battle; Byron ultimately came out on top with his defensive Steel type Pokémon using Iron Defense to take in all of Roark's attacks which included mostly Zen Headbutt. That was how Byron had defeated his son and now Ash is the only one that the former hadn't faced yet but this time as a Gym Leader.
"The battle between Canalave City Leader Byron and Trainer Ash Ketchum will now begin once both trainers release their first Pokémon." Currently, both said trainers are now on the battlefield, facing each other down. They both will fight to win. To obey the referee, they both took out a Pokéball and threw them out for all to witness.
"Bronzor, shine like the sun!"
Out of Byron's Pokéball came a flat, circular, blue-green Pokémon. Six dark blue spheres bulge from its rim. It has two round, yellow eyes and a large nose-like sphere surrounded by four small circles in its center. A crest resembling an herb or branch is on its back. This Pokémon was, according to the Pokédex, a Steel and Psychic type matching Byron's theme of Steel type Pokémon.
Dawn checked it out on her pink Pokédex,
{Bronzor, the Bronze Pokémon. Ancient people believed that the pattern on Bronzor's back contained a mysterious power.}
But Ash knew just the right Pokémon for this. "Monferno, you're up!" Ash had chosen the little fire starter type of Sinnoh that had evolved shortly before first arriving in Canalave City with his trainer.
"As both trainers had sent out their first Pokémon, the battle will begin!" The referee gave the okay and Ash got to use the first move.
"Mach Punch!" Given Monferno's given speed that dominated any Steel type and the circumstances of a fighting type move like Mach Punch, it was no big shock that Monferno was able to get to Bronzor and make the first strike before the Bronze Pokémon could even fight back. "Overheat!" Ash used the chance as Monferno still has Bronzor in range even after the Mach Punch did cause the Bronze Pokémon to stagger backwards. Still there was something wrong when Overheat landed on Bronzor. "Get back Monferno!"
The Playful Pokémon sensed it too and used its natural born speed to retreat. He then noticed that even though the Overheat was close proximity, Bronzor seemed to take very little damage. Byron had noticed it as well and started to holler in laughter,
"Very nice eyes there young man! You have noticed it too?" He shouted with an accent that matched his advancing age and eccentric nature given that he couldn't even take a shower or go to bed without at least a shovel in hand. He also didn't amuse Ash with his poses once they finally got the date right for a Gym Battle. "That's right, a Bronzor can either have Levitate or Heatproof. Both of these abilities help against two of the general weaknesses to a Steel type Pokémon. His Psychic typing helps neutral the weakness to Fighting type moves. My Bronzor has Heatproof which cuts downs the power of Fire type moves down to one half. It will be like Bronzor never had a weakness to Fire type moves in the first place!" Byron explained it all to Ash who didn't seem to be listening until,
"Now!" Ash yelled and Byron realized that he got carried away and that costed his Bronzor a lot of health when Monferno emerged from the ground and landed a super effective Dig attack on it. "Sunny Day and then Fire Blast!" Monferno glowed with the flame on the tip of his tail that had really turned up the heat inside the battle room before sending out a burst of flames in the shape of the Kanji for 'fire'. Even though Bronzor still had Heatproof as its ability, that Fire Blast still did a considerable amount of damage.
"You may have caught us off guard but not anymore young man!" Byron somehow was still confident enough to still pose for everyone to sweat drop at. "Bronzor, use Rain Dance!" Bronzor's body glowed white and releases steam from its body, causing a large raincloud to appear above the battlefield.
"Monferno…" Ash said to the angry Playful Pokémon that wasn't happy to be drenched in the downpour, with it pouring down Monferno can never do even a quarter of the damage he had been causing as of late. "Simply use Nasty Plot." Monferno nodded and sat down on the wet battleground, thinking hard. Hard enough to increase the power of his special attacks.
"Now use Gyro Ball!" Byron shouted and Bronzor span at a fast speed and three light blue rings surround Bronzor's body. Bronzor then moves to spin right into Monferno as the Playful Pokémon remains in his spot on the soaked battlefield.
"Monferno, take it with Bulk Up." And Monferno did, stiffing up his muscles to take the damage from the Gyro Ball. "Now send it back with Overheat again. Then use Will-o-Wisp on Bronzor." Even with the effects of Rain Dance lowering the power of Fire type attacks, Overheat was still strong enough to launch Bronzor off of Monferno but this time, he caused the Bronze Pokémon to be inflicted with a burn status aliment this time.
"Bronzor, hang in there!" Byron realized what Ash was trying to do; to cause some fire type damage despite the ability Heatproof in play while lowering the attack power of Gyro Ball. "Use Hypnosis!" It was time to change some tactics for Bronzor who steadied itself to shine some hypnotizing lights from its two eyes.
"Use Sand Attack to block it!" As soon as Ash gave off that usual request, Monferno already took some dirt from the battlefield and threw them into the air like some kind of sandy shield. But the Hypnosis wet through anyways,
"Now use Gyro Ball!" Byron thought he had Monferno until Bronzor hit one of the rocks on the battlefield instead of the Playful Pokémon. "What!?"
"Emerge!" Ash yelled out and when Monferno landed another super-effective Dig move on Bronzor, everyone understood what happened. The Sand Attack wasn't to block Hypnosis but to cover up Monferno digging into the ground with Dig until Bronzor got into range in a vain attempt to use Gyro Ball. "Now finish with Close Combat!" With the burn and the mean landing delaying Bronzor of getting away safety, the Bronze Pokémon eventually fell victim to the Fighting type move and landed on the ground again; defeated.
"Bronzor is unable to battle! Monferno wins!" The referee announced as Byron returned his Pokémon, feeling ashamed that he had let this happen to one of his own Pokémon because he wanted to show off to Ash. "Now will Gym Leader Byron please release his next Pokémon?"
"Fine! I will fight a lot more serious if that is what you want! Steelix, carve tunnels though iron mountains for us!" Byron shouted and released the Iron Snake Pokémon that Ash and Brock had encountered in Johto but Dawn had to check it out anyways.
{Steelix, the Iron Snake Pokémon, and the evolved form of Onix. Steelix's body is much harder than any metal as it is tempered underground under high pressure and heat.}
"Battle begin!" The referee did his duty and Bryon decided to go for the first attack this time.
"Use Dragon Breath!" Steelix opened it large jaw and released a colorful breeze from within and at Monferno who didn't even looked worried.
"Dodge and then Mach Punch!" Monferno moved in a done a super-effective Fighting type move but then the next set of instructions had surprised everyone else, especially when Monferno followed them all thoroughly. "Now use Will-O-Wisp and then U-turn!" Dawn was surprised when she heard such a move like U-turn.
She got her answer when Monferno had managed to give Steelix a good burn before attacking again only to jump backwards and into Ash's Pokéball! "W-what!? What happened!?"
"Ash had been keeping some surprises from us." Brock said and turned to Dawn. "U-turn is a move that most Fighting type Pokémon can learn against their weakness to Psychic type moves since it is a bug-type move. It not only does damage but also legally sends a Pokémon back to the Pokéball. That is how a Pokémon can switch out even in a Pokémon battle with substitutions are illegal other than Baton Pass. That is all to it Dawn."
Dawn was in awe at this, can Ash really think of all these tactics and keep them secure in his mind until the time comes to it? She soon put all of her attention onto the battlefield to see just what Pokémon Ash will send out as a result of using U-turn.
"Now it is your turn to shine. Go!" Ash said when he took out another Pokéball. And out came was…a microwave? Still, everyone but Ash's group recognized that microwave somehow. That was why Byron still called out for the first move,
"Screech and then Bind!" Steelix moved and released a high-pitched screech that in turn, released a beam of invisible shockwaves that distort the air. It hit the microwave and only got to shake violently. Then Steelix wrapped its tail around the kitchen appliance with the intent of crushing it. All while ignoring the damage done by its burn until,
"Overheat!" Steelix roared with pain when it was engulfed in a fury of flames coming from the microwave! That caused Steelix to release it and was shocked to see the microwave transform into something else completely. It was similar in size and shape with a red and white outline that had some appendages in the shape of oven mitts made from this aura.
"Ah!" Byron realized that he once again had fallen for one of Ash's tactics again and got his Steelix to suffer some super-effective damage. "A Rotom! They are rare! I never thought that a trainer such as yourself will have one!"
"Then you shouldn't have because you will get a headache Byron. Rotom, use Hex (1)!" Ash said and that shocked everyone since not a single one of them had recognized that move. Rotom obeyed anyways and created intimidating purple eye or uses its own glowing red eyes to glare at Steelix who could only suffer under that and its burn. In fact, that burn had caused this strange move to double in power.
"What kind of move is Hex?" Dawn turned to Brock who was still in shock and can only shake his head as he didn't know either. But Ash sure did,
"Well Byron, you better make this clear to the other trainers that there is still a much of moves that Ghost types can use." Ash said with his Rotom on standby. Byron signaled for another employee other than the referee to take notes on this. "When I discovered the move Hex being used by Rotom, I wanted to see what type it was and it never worked on my Staravia unlike with my other Pokémon. Also, when it happened to use it after one of my Pokémon had gotten a status aliment like burn or confusion, it became twice as strong as when it was used on the same Pokémon who didn't have such things. So write those down and figured out the rest because I am just a trainer." Ash said and that employee nodded while writing it all down in note form. "Now let's get back to business, use Ominous Wind!"
Rotom nodded and created a gust of repulsive wind against Steelix. Too bad the secondary effects didn't happen. Still, Byron was able to get his head back in the game after dismissing that note taker.
"Okay then young man, use Dig!" Steelix dug its way into the battlefield, leaving Rotom to giggle for a reason that left Byron confused.
"Rotom, use Substitute." Rotom then created a lookalike in his place just around when Steelix emerged from using Dig. "Shadow Ball!" Rotom created a ball of dark and eerie energy at Steelix, causing a considerable amount of damage while the burn did some itself.
"Use Iron Tail!" Steelix's tail glowed and sent Rotom to the ground with as little damage as possible since Rotom's typing made it double resistant to Steel type attacks.
"Now use Earthquake!" Steelix landed back on the ground and shook the battlefield with hopes of doing super-effective damage to Rotom but instead, the Plasma Pokémon lifted off the ground before the Earthquake could even get near him. "Arrgh!" Byron yelled in painful realization that he forgot what Rotom's only ability is. "Levitate!"
"Overheat and then Hex!" Ash decided to take this chance while Steelix was also in shock when the Iron Snake Pokémon finally realized why his Dig attacks never worked on Rotom. This hesitation had costed him when Rotom had unleashed another vortex of flames on him and then used Hex again on account of his burn. Steelix finally fell to Rotom.
"Steelix is unable to battle! Rotom wins! Now will Gym Leader Byron please release his final Pokémon?" The referee announced while Byron returned his Steelix. The Gym Leader is feeling really humiliated now and right in eyes of his own son.
"Okay, it is time to act serious. And this time, no mercy!" Byron said and opened one last Pokéball. And out came was the very Pokémon that gave Roark a run for his money before ultimately losing to his own father. The Pokémon was a sight to behold and appeared to be a cross between a Zuniceratops and a bulldozer. Its dark gray, square head resembles a castle wall, complete with four cream yellow, window-like spots with a black outline, three dark gray spikes on the top, and two larger gray spikes in the upper corners. Its triangular nose extends from the middle of its shield-like head down over its lips and appears to be pierced by a gray, horizontal spike. Four spikes jut downward and four large, blunt tusks protrude upward from its dark gray lower jaw. Its cream yellow eyes are partially obscured by the nasal spike and spaced-out tusks. Its thick, cream yellow body is further protected by a gray ridge and dark gray plates on its back, jagged growths on its legs, and a plated tail.
Ash took the chance to scan it for the books for later,
{Bastiodon, the Shield Pokémon and the evolved form of Shieldon. Its massively powerful shield-like face can deflect even the strongest of attacks.}
"Battle begin!" The referee announced and Byron went for the first move once again,
"Use Iron Defense!" Byron was known as a tough trainer with his Bastiodon and its nigh invulnerability that came with the ultimate defense that was reinforced with Iron Defense. And yet attacking was not what Ash had in mind, for Rotom at least.
"Okay Rotom, let's give them one last surprise before we get serious." Ash said in an encrypted tone and yet Rotom nodded. "Use Volt Switch (1)!" This one was for the book on Pokémon moves when Rotom created a large ball of lightning that struck Bastiodon in a flash of brilliant light until Rotom head straight for its Pokéball. "You can guess what kind of move Volt Switch is Byron and meanwhile, Gliscor go!"
Ash then released his Fang Scorpion Pokémon to the battle field, hovering over the wrecked ground on his Flying typing. Byron wanted to see just what kind of Pokémon this one is going to be.
"Flamethrower!" Bastiodon let out a fierce stream of flames from its large mouth and yet Gliscor was able to take it. This was nothing compared to Monferno's own Flamethrower or Rotom's Overheat during the past few days of triple training that Ash had given them ever since the latter had caught Darkrai. "Iron Head!" Bastiodon's body becomes surrounded by a white aura, making it seem black and white as it ran towards Gliscor.
"Feint Attack!" Ash called out and Gliscor moved in a way it distracted Bastiodon while the Shield Pokémon was still using Iron Head. Then the Fang Scorpion Pokémon attacked where and when Bastiodon was least expecting; the back side of the face shield. "Aqua Tail!" No one saw that coming as Gliscor engulfed his tail in water and sent out a spiral made of it at Bastiodon, doing some super-effective damage.
"Flash Cannon!" The inside of Bastiodon's mouth glows white and it fires a silver beam of energy from its mouth at Gliscor, finally doing some damage as the Fang Scorpion had limited experience with Steel type moves like Flash Cannon.
"Hang in there and use Hone Claws (3)!" No one knew where Ash were pulling all this unknown moves from but it was making the match very exciting. They just witnessed Gliscor sharpen his fangs and claws while focusing on the target. "Again!"
"Don't let Gliscor do anything else Bastiodon! Use Metal Burst!" Bastiodon's body glows metallic as an opponent attacks it and it opens its mouth, forming a white ball in front of its mouth. Bastiodon then fires the white ball at Gliscor who saw it but couldn't figure out to dodge it or do what Ash told him to do. Thankfully neither of those happened when Ash commanded Gliscor to,
"Double Team!" Gliscor nodded and moved so fast that it seemed he created replicas of himself and not just that but replicas as in the almost a hundred of them. Bastiodon's attack missed the original and now the Shield Pokémon doesn't know where the real Gliscor is. "Hone Claws one more time!" Gliscor and his various, fake copies all did the action which only proved to confuse Bastiodon even more.
"Before you can play with us anymore, Bastiodon use Sandstorm!" Byron was not going to make this easier for Ash and his Gliscor. Bastiodon stirred up all the sand and dirt on the battlefield with some of the rocks from its own body. The sandstorm, as a result, attacked every single one of the illusions so that Bastiodon can find the real Gliscor. And yet, all of the Gliscor in sight only proved to be illusions! "Then where is the real one!?" Byron looked left, looked right and even looked up but didn't see Gliscor so, "He must be underground, use Earthquake!"
Bastiodon lifted one of its large and heavy legs to shake the battlefield and stir up the boulders to force Gliscor out but only rocks and boulders came out, no Fang Scorpion Pokémon at all! Byron was at a lost until, "Now! Giga Impact!" Byron and Bastiodon final found Gliscor, who revealed to be in the sandstorm all this time! And both of them had no time to respond when the Fang Scorpion Pokémon moved in range to hit the Shield Pokémon and yet, "Then Sky Uppercut!" Ash was not done with his commands of Gliscor.
Normally, a move like Giga Impact will only exhaust the user to point of needing to recharge before using any other moves but it seems that Ash and Gliscor had found a way around this by obeying the laws of energy conversation; energy and motion is never wasted and yet never recovered, it just converts from potential energy to kinetic energy and vice versa. That explained how Gliscor was able to change direction mere millimeters from the ground, from earthward to heavenward or from downward to upward if you prefer.
All this had allowed Gliscor to land some serious damage from the power of an otherwise ineffective move added to that of a move that is super effective sixteen time fold. "Bastiodon!" Byron cried out for his Shield Pokémon who was hit dead on with some much power, Bastiodon's defenses will barely make any difference. There was this sickling sound of a shield cracking to the force of a raging bull as Bastiodon was sent flying hard into the back of the battlefield room to Ash's side.
After a long and suspenseful moment of silence, Bastiodon haven't moved an inch from its crater in the area behind Byron. The referee knew what the verdict, "Bastiodon is unable to battle! Now that Gym Leader Byron is out of fightable Pokémon, Ash Ketchum from Kanto is the winner of this Gym Battle!" The crowds cheered for this exciting fight and how Ash pretty much took everyone by surprise with all those tactics. He sure has come a long way from a trainer that thought only sheer force is the way to win battles. He left that way of training ages ago even before he first set foot in the Sinnoh Pokémon Region.
Meanwhile, Ash returned his Gliscor who gave a reassuring smile despite the sharp panting. The raven haired trainer did find himself smiling a bit warm since that reflected the feeling he had in hear that all that hard training and pulling through the harsh trial with Darkrai had finally shown so positive results. Then he saw Byron approaching him with something in his hands that wasn't a Pokéball.
"Here Ash, take it. You really have impressed me today Ash. You even helped me realize just how I have been treating my son like. Thank you." Byron said in a more mature and respectful tone as he revealed the Canalave City Gym Badge on top of a display platter; something that seemed to be a tradition here in Sinnoh, the other Gym Leaders just give the badge itself with their bare hands. The Badge was shaped like three stones and three pickaxes combined
As Ash walked out of the Pokémon Gym with his latest Gym Badge, he suddenly turned to face the shadow the building was making as the sun shined on the other side. "I know you have been watching all that Darkrai. So tell me what you think about Pokémon battling. Is it really putting Pokémon to the death?"
Not waiting for a spoken answer, Darkrai just emerged from the area the shadow was covering and looked at Ash. Not with eyes of hate or anger but of curiosity. Darkrai did indeed watch the Gym Battle and found himself impressed that no Pokémon were actually hurt severally like he had imagined they would in a Pokémon battle. Instead, Ash entertained him with skill and resourcefulness but more importantly, Ash had understood his opponents and his Pokémon clearly; as they say, 'know your opponent and yourself and you will win a hundred battles without failure'. Looks like they weren't kidding.
Was there more to life in the daylight then fighting and displaying ones strength to impressive others and feel the pleasure of power? Just what is with this trainer that makes Darkrai want to learn more about? A lot more.
End of Chapter 3.
*Hey! I hadn't touched this story in two months! Yikes! I am hoping that you all have been waiting for this!
Another thing, sorry about publishing a story you didn't like. I needed to see just what I can make with the Rising of the Shield Hero series. If you don't like it then you don't need to read it anymore. I will try harder to please you starting from this chapter. Please tell me what you think and another thousand pardons for letting you all down!*
I did realize that Hex was introduced in Gen V but I have seen such things in other fanfiction that featured Ash's Sinnoh journeys. So I hope that this doesn't cause any confusion.
Like I said before, I know that Volt Switch was introduced in Gen V like Hex was as well. I can't find any other reason for including this move than the one I gave with Rotom using Hex.
Same as Hex and Volt Switch.
