The sounds of Pidgey chirping could be heard as Ash slowly rose up in the bed, yawning and stretching his limbs, however he accidentally knocked Pikachu off of the bed as the mouse hit the floor with a thud, subsequently startling him into unleashing a Thunder Shock in response, cleanly hitting Ash.
"AAHHHH!" Ash screamed in pain, falling off the bed besides Pikachu and twitching. The Electric type suddenly jolted up in his tired stupor, and his vision landed on the boy lightly covered in soot. Pikachu snickered as Ash got up from the floor and unwrapped the blanket he slept in.
"You know Pikachu, I don't hope for this to become our regular routine." Ash said with a sigh, Pikachu's snickering only growing louder as Ash tossed away the blackened blanket.
Just then, there was a frantic knocking on the door. Ash looked down at Pikachu, who looked up at him, and he got up to open the door to see a clearly worried Lonnie.
"I-I heard a scream, what happened?!" She asked, fretting over his well-being.
Ash rubbed the back of his head. "Nothing to worry about, Pikachu decided it would be fun to give me a shocking wake-up call." He said, glancing at Pikachu who was busy stifling a laugh.
Lonnie breathed a sigh of relief. "Ohh, I see, I was worried that something awful happened." She said, a hand on her head. Just then, she realized that her hair wasn't done, and her cheeks went pink.
"Ah! I-I'm gonna go get ready now, I think should too..." She said, walking away and towards a restroom.
Half an hour later, Ash and Lonnie were almost prepared for the day, both of them were dressed in their usual attire and were on their way to the Pokémon Center cafeteria to enjoy a breakfast before they head out to Viridian Forest.
"So Ash, remind me again what made you want to become a Pokémon Master?" Lonnie asked as she used a pair of tongs to grab some scrambled Chansey eggs. She handed the tongs to Ash as he grabbed the same thing she did and had a bashful look on his face.
"Well, it's a little embarrassing a story, but I don't mind talking about it with a friend." He said, putting down the tongs and getting a spatula to grab a stack of about five pancakes, and another stack of four. After they grabbed a good amount of grub, as well as glasses of Berry Juice, they found chairs to sit on, and begin eating breakfast.
Lonnie released her Bulbasaur, and both of them got out generic Pokémon food and put them in separate bowls so they could eat as well.
"When I was about 6 years old, my mom told me a bedtime story..." Ash begun, grabbing the smaller stack with a fork.
"Mom! Mom! I can't sleep!" A younger Ash said, full of energy. His mother sighed and hushed her son. "Alright alright, tuck yourself in bed and I'll tell you a story." She said with a gentle smile. Ash promptly got under his covers and popped his head out from under his blanket, anticipating the story.
"OK, so... There was once a Pokémon Trainer who began his journey very strongly, he won each of his gym battles easily, making it all the way to the Indigo League, however... In his last battle he couldn't keep up with his opponent and lost, so he took a long break from battling." She said, her voice at the start of the story had a hopeful energy, but quickly died down to disappointment by the end of it.
"Who was this Pokémon Trainer?" Ash asked, with worry plastered all over his face.
"That man was your father, he dreamt of becoming a Pokémon Master, but his dream was never fulfilled..." She said, sighing.
Just then, Ash patted the top of his mom's hand and looked up to her with eyes full of confidence.
"Don't worry mom, I'll become a Pokémon Master for dad, I promise!" When he said that, all of a sudden she was filled with an emotion she once felt when she and Ash's father were beginning trainers, and she resisted the urge to tear up and only smiled brightly at her only son.
"I believe in you, and I'll be behind you each and every step of the way. Now, it's time you got to bed, or else you'll miss the Pokémon Summer Camp at the Professor's lab." Suddenly, his eyes were filled with a different excitement, which made Delia quickly regret the mention.
"...And just like that, my dream came to be." By the time Ash finished, both of their food had gone cold, and their Pokémon's gazes were fixed on Ash. Lonnie was so focused on the story that she ended up having a grin on her face, finding it to be adorable, meanwhile Pikachu realized something very important: this trainer was someone special. His dream was genuine, now Pikachu felt as though he was in good hands.
"That's very nice, Ash." Lonnie said, her grin now in a gentle smile.
Ash rubbed the back of his head, still feeling bashful with remembering his embarrassing promise.
Some time later, they both managed to finish breakfast, Bulbasaur was returned, and they both finally headed toward Viridian Forest. First came the small walk through Route 2, it was possibly one of the smallest routes in Kanto, just behind Route 1. The route was pretty simple, nothing more than a short, spiraling dirt path towards a large forest, on the left and right of the path was wide fields with flowers and the occasional wild Pokémon, as well as a branching dirt path that lead to a town Ash and Lonnie weren't interested in.
During the walk, they passed all sorts of Pokémon on the dirt trail leading to the dense forest. Among the Pokémon were wild Rattata, Pidgey, Caterpie, Oddish, and even the odd one such as Sentret and small groups of Sunflora. The sun shined down fairly hard, so when Ash and Lonnie entered the forest they were met with cool shade from the large trees, both sighing in relief (with even Pikachu wiping his forehead).
"We're finally here, now should be a good time to catch a Pokémon." Just then, Pikachu spotted a lone Sentret who looked timid.
"Pika!" He chirped, Ash looking in his direction now.
"Nice find buddy! Now let's capture it." He said, gently tiptoeing towards it. Lonnie watched on in interest, as Ash got close. Just then, he stopped and Pikachu promptly hopped onto the ground.
"Use Thundershock!" Pikachu quickly built up a small amount of electricity and released it in a white bolt towards the startled Sentret, who didn't anticipate the sneak attack. Just then, Ash pulled out a Poké Ball and expanded it with the press of its button, in preparation of a throw.
The Sentret rolled onto its back and showed that its eyes were swirls now, which told Ash it was time to throw the ball.
"Go Poké Ball!" He said, tossing the ball. It soared through the air and hit the fainted Pokémon cleanly, as it got sucked into the ball. After a few seconds of the ball rocking back and forth, it finally made the click.
"Awesome! I caught a Sentret!" Ash said excitedly, Lonnie and Pikachu couldn't help but feel excited too.
"I'd suggest releasing Sentret to treat its wounds." Lonnie said, to which Ash nodded. He promptly released the Sentret and withdrew a small purple spray bottle from his bag, spraying one of Sentret's wounds with it. Suddenly, it got up on its large tail and looked Ash straight in the eye, as if to scan his prowess, all of a sudden it hopped forwards and nuzzled into Ash.
"Ahaha! Guess it wants to be my friend!". It suddenly jumped away and nuzzled Pikachu next, who looked kind of bashful. Lonnie found it to be very cute, but when Sentret stopped to approach her, it simply hopped towards Ash on its tail and turned away from her, as though Lonnie would have to earn her respect?
"Er, moving along..." Ash pulled out his Pokédex and scanned it.
"SENTRET, THE SCOUT POKÉMON. A NORMAL TYPE. THOUGH THEY ARE QUITE TIMID, THEIR CONFIDENCE GAINS A NOTICEABLE BOOST WHEN IN THE PRESENCE OF OTHER SENTRET." Ash pressed a button to advance to the next set of information.
"POKÉMON INFO PAGE 2: THIS SENTRET HAS "Keen Eye", AND ITS KNOWN MOVES ARE SCRATCH, FORESIGHT, DEFENSE CURL AND FOCUS ENERGY (THIS MOVE IS AN EGG MOVE, WHICH MEANS IT HATCHED FROM A POKÉMON WHO KNEW THE MOVE AND WAS ABLE TO PASS IT DOWN TO SENTRET). ITS NATURE IS "JOLLY"."
Ash was visibly excited by all this information about the new capture, and Lonnie herself appeared impressed.
Before they could continue the walk, Lonnie noticed a Weedle ahead on the road, but something seemed wrong about it, before she could come up with a theory, something passed the Weedle in a blur and hit it, which immediately filled her with alarm.
"Ash, there's a hurt Weedle ahead, we've got to help it!" She said, pointing towards the Weedle.
Ash nodded wordlessly and ran ahead, Pikachu following closely behind. Before Ash reached the Weedle, he was suddenly hit by a wing as the same blur raced by his arm.
"Ouch! What was that?!" A small and very angry looking owl-like Pokémon landed in front of him, in a stance that almost screamed "I will hurt you!". Quickly, Lonnie pulled out her Pokédex to scan it.
"HOOTHOOT, THE OWL POKÉMON, A NORMAL AND FLYING TYPE. TRAINERS OFTEN TRAIN A HOOTHOOT TO KEEP ACCURATE TRACK OF THE TIME." Her Pokédex said.
Ash immediately spoke up as soon as the device stopped talking. "Pikachu, use Thunder Wave!" Pikachu charged a weak wave of electricity at the angry Hoothoot, who dodged with ease.
"Argh, let's try to time it. Use Thundershock on my word." Ash instructed, Pikachu looked up at him and nodded, before the opponent suddenly dived towards Pikachu at a surprising speed.
"Now!" Pikachu quickly charged and unleashed a white bolt of lightning at the Hoothoot, who was unable to make a midair U-turn due to its speed. The attack was a clean hit, and Ash was quick to make the next move.
"Thunder Wave!" Pikachu released a weak wave of electricity again, striking the foe dead-on, and then a Poké Ball came sailing at the Pokémon. Ash looked back at Lonnie who gave him a sheepish grin. They both looked at the ball in anticipation, as it shook back and forth several times. Finally, it clicked with a trio of yellow stars.
"Good job Lonnie! Now then..." Ash walked towards the scared Weedle with a gentle smile.
"Hello Weedle, you're hurt, right? Do you want me to help you?" Ash said, the Weedle looked up at him with unsureness. That feeling didn't last long as it felt a sudden sharp pain on its back, which made it nod at Ash's question.
"OK, this Potion should do the trick." As Ash pulled out a purple spray bottle, the poor Weedle trembled in fear at the sight of the foreign object.
"Oh no don't worry, this medicine will help!" Ash said in an attempt to soothe its fear. The Weedle gave an audible yelp from the sting of the medicine, but looked at Ash in surprise when the previous sharper sting went away.
"See, what'd I tell ya?" Ash smiled, and the Weedle's eyes sparkled with joy at his kindness, before it tapped its nose against a Poké Ball's button on Ash's belt to enlarge it, before hitting the button with its tail to be captured. The ball didn't even shake as it clicked with a single white star.
"...I-I just caught a Weedle." Ash said with a sweatdrop, though he was happy nonetheless. Pikachu grinned and made a V-sign.
"Congrats Ash!" Lonnie said, Ash nodded at her and pulled out his Pokédex to scan the new capture.
"WEEDLE, THE HAIRY BUG POKÉMON. A BUG AND POISON TYPE. BEWARE THE STINGER ON ITS HEAD, IT SECRETES A POISON STRONG ENOUGH TO MAKE ITS ENEMIES WARY OF ATTACK.
THIS WEEDLE HAS "Shield Dust", AND ITS KNOWN MOVES ARE: POISON STING, STRING SHOT, AND COCOON. IT'S NATURE IS HASTY" The Pokédex spoke up.
"Woah hold on, "Cocoon"? What's that?" Ash asked, to which Lonnie spoke up.
"It's a Bug type move that's used for defensive purposes, the user secretes lots of string above itself to cocoon with a strong silk, think of it as Protect." Ash had a look of excitement on his face at the explanation.
"That sounds like it'll come in handy!" He said, unclipping the Poké Ball of the latest capture and releasing Weedle.
"Welcome to the party Weedle!" It looked towards Ash, Lonnie, and then Pikachu, and had a look of happiness on its face.
After introductions, Ash and Lonnie continued the trek through the forest thick with large trees, before Ash was stopped by a kid donning a blue baseball cap, yellow shirt and blue shorts the same shade as the hat, as well as blue and yellow sneakers and a cocky grin.
"Our eyes met, so you must battle me!" He said, the same cocky grin not budging.
"Fine by me!" Ash said, accepting the sudden challenge. The Youngster tossed his Poké Ball first to reveal a cream coloured Pokémon with a brick-like pattern everywhere except its belly and face. Ash's Pokédex suddenly spoke up with a quick scan of the opposing Pokémon.
"SANDSHREW, THE MOUSE POKÉMON, A GROUND TYPE. IT LIKES TO DIG FAR FROM WATER TO KEEP DRY, SOME SAY A FINE DEW IS FORMED ON ITS BODY ON COLD NIGHTS." The Pokédex finished.
"Alright, then... I choose you Weedle!" Ash sent out his latest capture, who looked at Ash with a happy grin before turning back to the Sandshrew who had a snobby look on its face.
"Use Scratch!" The Youngster made the first move, and Sandshrew was quick to follow through by dashing towards the Weedle with claws bared.
"Use Poison Sting!" Weedle's stinger glowed a heinous purple, before spraying a bunch of dark purple needles at the approaching Sandshrew, who is struck by the close attack. The Youngster didn't look too worried until it noticed the purple bubbles appear from his Pokémon.
"Oh no!" Ash took this moment of shock to attack again.
"Use another Poison Sting!" Weedle fired off more needles at the Sandshrew, who cried its name in pain from the consecutive attack. More purple bubbles appeared shortly after, and the Sandshrew was visibly exhausted.
"One more time!" Weedle prepared more needles, before firing them off at Sandshrew.
"Defense Curl!" The Youngster quickly shouted out, he was too late however, as the attack made contact. The Sandshrew fell on its back with swirls replacing its eyes, as the Youngster returned it with disappointment visible on his face.
"Alright, my first win!" Ash shouted happily, Weedle joining in on the celebration with a happy noise before it decided to shoot string directly upwards, covering its body in string.
"Ash, I think it's about to evolve!" Lonnie said, Weedle's body glowing white before the light is covered by the thick layer of silk surrounding its body, as the silk hardened considerably it formed a particular pattern.
"Alright, you evolved!" Ash pulled out his Pokédex and scanned the newly evolved Pokémon.
"KAKUNA, THE COCOON POKÉMON, A BUG AND POISON TYPE, AND THE EVOLVED FORM OF WEEDLE. MUCH LIKE ITS COUNTERPART "METAPOD", KAKUNA IS FAR LESS MOBILE THAN WHEN IT WAS A WEEDLE." The Kakuna appeared to have a happy expression as it wiggled back and forth.
"That's great, Ash!" Lonnie said with a grin on her face as she held out her arm, before it became interlocked with Ash's arm.
"I'm sad that I lost the battle, but it was pretty fun! Here you go mister." The Youngster said after the exchange and held out several light-green crumpled bills.
"What's that for?" Ash asked.
"It's your prize money! The loser gives the winner some money after a battle, unless it's a practice battle or somethin'." He explained, as Ash took the money with a bashful expression, thanking him.
"KAKUNA HAS LEARNED HARDEN." Ash jumped at the sudden noise from his Pokédex, Lonnie and Pikachu chuckling at his reaction.
"KAKUNA'S ABILITY IS "Shed Skin"." Ash quickly pulled out his Pokédex and fumbled with the settings, eventually working out the volume.
"Phew, that's better." Ash said with a sigh. By the time Ash pulled out his Pokédex the Youngster was on his way to a Pokémon Center.
"We should move along Ash, seems like it's starting to get a bit late." Lonnie suggested, as Ash nodded and the small group kept going.
The two walked along the dirt path for close to an hour before Pikachu sniffed the air, noticing something off.
"Pika, pika pi!" Pikachu said, hopping off of Ash's shoulder and looking at a strangely short tree. Ash decided to approach the odd tree, before he suddenly came face-to-face with a long thin sword, just barely poking his nose.
"H-hey, that's dangerous!" Lonnie exclaimed with worry, Pikachu agreeing.
"Your Pikachu's senses are remarkable, I must admit, however I fear whatever winning streak you've accumulated today ends here!" The small figure said before putting away his sword.
"Who are you?" Ash asked, the small boy in the dark cloak simply laughed.
"You may learn of my name after we battle! Go Pinsir!" The mysterious boy said, tossing a Poké Ball off to the side as he approached his Pinsir. Ash suddenly looked worried that he was going up against a powerful Pokémon, but that worry quickly changed to confusion when it hid behind its trainer with a timid expression.
"Gah! Come on pal, we've got a battle to win!" The boy said in an attempt to get his Bug type pumped up, but to no avail.
"Pikachu, I choose you!" Ash said, as Pikachu stood in front of him and took on a battle stance. Pinsir walked ahead of its trainer and tried to appear intimidating, before failing completely with its nervousness.
"You may have the first move." The boy said, Pinsir looking back at him with worry mixed with faint annoyance.
"Alright, use Play Nice!" Pikachu dashed towards the Pinsir and shook a claw, seemingly establishing a friendship as a red aura visibly circled Pinsir to signal the lowering of its Attack stat.
"Quite a peculiar move, but no matter. Use Focus Energy!" Pinsir took a moment to shake its head and assume a battle stance, before white orbs circled it and flew towards it, a yellow aura circling Pinsir.
"Be careful Pikachu! Get back and use Thundershock!" Pikachu quickly dashed away from the foe, who suddenly appeared to pose more of a threat than its timid-ness originally suggested.
"Pinsir, use Vice Grip!" It ran forward with its pincers bared. Although the Mouse Pokémon was fast, Pinsir was just barely able to out-speed it, and soon its pincers had a tight grip on Pikachu.
"Oh no! Pikachu, quick! Use Thundershock!" Pikachu briefly struggled to build up an electrical charge, before its body was engulfed in electricity, handily shocking Pinsir who couldn't react in time. The attack proved to be enough as he was freed and the large bug fell on its back, swirls replacing its eyes.
"Uh oh, this doesn't look good for me." The boy said, as he pulled out another Poké Ball and tossed it forwards, a Caterpie forming from the red energy. Pikachu looked at the Caterpie without a hint of worry, at least until its expression suddenly got vicious.
"Behold, my ace!" The boy said, as the Caterpie gave a wild look of anger at Pikachu.
"Woah, that's a pretty angry Caterpie, I think Kakuna should handle this." Ash said, pulling out Kakuna's Poké Ball as Pikachu ran back to his side.
"Kakuna, huh? It may have a tough shell, but Caterpie will break through quite easily!" The boy said with a smirk, though hidden by his mask. "Once again, you may have the first move."
"Use String Shot!" Kakuna leaned forwards and shot silky string from what seemed to be its mouth as it quickly wrapped around the lower half of Caterpie's small body, a light blue aura surrounding the green bug as its Speed appeared to lower.
"Bug Bite." Caterpie took the string in its mouth and struggled to break it off, before the string was torn away completely, though it still appeared to be slowed slightly.
"That's a strong move Ash!" Lonnie shouted from the side, to which Ash gave her a thumbs-up.
"Use Poison Sting!" Kakuna continued to lean forwards, with a large spray of needles shooting quickly.
"Use String Shot to stop the needles!" Caterpie released string of its own to stop the incoming needles, which did the job for the most part, however it was hit by stray needles.
"Alright, Kakuna, I'm pretty sure his Caterpie has the ability Shield Dust, so Poison Sting can't poison it, we'll have to rely on your power!" Kakuna looked back at him and seemingly nodded, before turning back to its foe. "Roll close and use Poison Sting!"
Kakuna got on its side and begun to roll towards Caterpie with surprising speed, before making a turn to aim its head and fire a large spray of needles. Caterpie could hardly react fast enough because of the effects of the earlier String Shot, and was hit with the point-blank Poison type attack, however it shook off the pain and its expression grew more hateful at Kakuna.
"Roll away and use Harden!" Kakuna steeled itself to roll back towards its trainer, as its thick shell shone like steel with a teal light shining around its body to signify a Defense boost.
"Get close and use Bug Bite!" Caterpie dashed after Kakuna and prepared to bite the Cocoon Pokémon with yellow-ish green "teeth".
"Cocoon!" Kakuna stood up from its side and spun around while gently spraying a lot of silk, covering its body with a protective layer of its string. Caterpie bit down onto the string, but the attack did little to harm the Bug and Poison type.
"And now Poison Sting!" Kakuna gently fell to its side and sprayed several larger needles at Caterpie, who was still recovering from its best move failing. Too distracted to notice, Caterpie was struck and rolled towards the cloaked kid who appeared to be shocked.
"Good job Kakuna!" Ash said happily, as Kakuna's silk barrier started to glow white. The shell begun to fall off in several large pieces as a bright light came from the holes being made in the shell. Soon the shell completely broke away and the form of a large bee-like Pokémon appeared, who brandished three large stingers and an oddly joyful look.
"Beedrill's data has been registered. Beedrill, the Poison Bee Pokémon, and the final evolved form of Weedle. A Bug and Poison type. If you ever come across a nest of Beedrill, take caution to avoid angering them, otherwise you'll face their wrath. Beedrill has learned the move "Twineedle", replacing Poison Sting."
"Wow, that's amazing Beedrill, you've fully evolved!" Ash's Beedrill spun around in the air excitedly, giving an expression that held the same happiness it had as a Weedle.
"Congratulations Ash, and Beedrill!" Lonnie said, patting Ash's back as he scratched his cheek bashfully. Beedrill was ecstatic about its evolution, it yearned to evolve from its first stage so it could stop being weak, and now it was stronger than ever.
"Very well, you may know of me. My name is Nin and I live in Arylide Town nearby. I've been in search of trainers nearby and happened upon a trainer such as yourself, I thank you for this battle." Nin said, handing Ash prize money and returning his Pokémon before walking away.
The day turned to dusk as Ash and Lonnie continued walking through the forest, eventually deciding on finding a good spot to camp. The two happened to have separate sleeping bags, but tents were out of the equation, so they were truly roughing it out.
"Ash, do you think you can fetch some firewood? I'll set the spot for the fire near this stump." Lonnie requested, as she looked around the small area near a tree stump for rocks.
Ash nodded and said in confirmation, "Sure". He and Pikachu walked off a bit to search for thick dry branches and other particular wood ideal for starting a small fire. Pikachu gave his best effort, finding twigs and following Ash closely as best he could. He had a long day, having battled and won twice and seeing evolution occur two times in one day, he was very much ready to turn in, however if he wanted to do so as comfortably as you could outdoors then he needed that firewood.
Lonnie created a circle of rocks with sand in the middle, she wiped her forehead and admired her handiwork before unclipping the main pocket of her bag and taking out a plastic bottle from it. While they were searching for a good clearing to sleep around, she noticed a flowing river, and decided to take out her Bulbasaur to stand guard by the fireplace.
"Stay here, alright? I'm going to get some clean water from a nearby river, Ash should be coming back soon with firewood." She told her starter, who nodded and took on an authoritative look. Lonnie soon left the small campsite, looking for the river she spotted. Moments later, Ash approached the campsite with lots of firewood held in his arms, Pikachu walking next to him with twigs in his paws.
"Hey Bulbasaur, where's Lonnie?" Bulbasaur took out one of his vines and pointed it in the direction Lonnie went. Ash decided to lay out the firewood in the middle of the circle of rocks for now.
Meanwhile, Lonnie was knelt down near a river, holding her water bottle in the water and filling it, before she got up again and closed the cap of the bottle. "This should do the trick."
Ash decided to try get a spark going with the wood, failing each time, it wasn't until Pikachu cried his name to get Ash's attention that Ash knew what to do.
"Alright Pikachu, use your Thundershock attack." Pikachu's cheeks lit white as a small bolt of electricity hit some wood and a rock, creating the spark Ash was looking for as a small orange glow appeared on a piece of wood. Ash then called out Pidgey to gently blow the flame, so it can grow and start the campfire.
"Hey Ash, I see you've begun without me." Lonnie said playfully with a fake pout, Ash rubbing the back of his neck as Pidgey flapped its wings towards the flame.
The fire finally kicked in moments later, Ash and Lonnie locking arms in celebration as Pikachu and Bulbasaur hi-fived. After a long day, the two could finally relax by a warm fire, the relaxation soon ended when Ash's stomach growled loudly.
"Ehehe, guess I need dinner now." Ash said with cheeks pink in embarrassment, Lonnie and Pikachu giggling at the noise while Bulbasaur simply looked annoyed at the interruption.
"Well lucky for you, I happen to know a thing or two about cooking, it's just that I don't really have the right equipment to do any." Just then, Ash took his backpack and set it besides him, looking through the main compartment before his eyes landed on just what he was searching for.
"Ta-dah! My mom wanted me to pack a small cooking pot and a wooden spoon in case I ever needed to rough it out like this." He said as he pulled out a metal cooking pot and a wooden spoon from his bag, which appeared to make up a decent amount of the bag's size. Lonnie took her bag and opened it to pull out some Tupperware full of berries, as well as some seasoning packets she figured she could use should she ever cook for herself.
"I'll get started on making soup, 'kay?" Ash nodded and looked through his bag a bit more out of boredom. He peaked through his bag before his eyes landed on a small teal charm. He pulled it out and looked at it curiously. "When did my mom pack this?".
Lonnie watched as the water in the pot set over the fire came to a boil, before she stirred in her seasoning packet and some of the berries she had, letting them soak in the broth. She gently stirred the soup and glanced at Ash briefly.
"What's that?" Lonnie said as she looked back again after taking notice of the charm. Ash held the charm in his hand and looked at it thoughtfully, before turning to her.
"I'm not sure, my mom packed it in my bag, only I just noticed it." He said, standing up and walking over to Lonnie to get a look at the soup. She was able to get a better look at the charm and was surprised.
"Ash, that's a Catching Charm!" Ash looked at her curiously as she continued. "Supposedly it raises the chance of causing a thrown Poké Ball to become a Critical Capture."
"Wow, that's so cool!" He had an excited grin on his face and looked back at the charm for a moment, before stuffing it in his pocket for the time being.
The soup was finally finished, as Ash passed her some bowls which Lonnie filled using the wooden spoon. She also made sure to fill the bowls used for Pokémon food with her soup, placing the bowls in front of each of their Pokémon.
"This looks so good!" Ash looked at the bowl of soup, a bit of steam rising from the food to show that it's still too hot to eat. The soup consisted of a cream-coloured broth and several kinds of berries, Pecha and Oran Berries, which smelled very good and gave the scent of the spices a sweetness that meshed well.
Pidgey flapped its wings over its soup to cool it faster, as Ash decided to blow on his food to achieve the same effect. Lonnie and Bulbasaur looked on with the same amused expression as Sentret tried to eat its soup too early, causing it to yelp in pain and dash towards Ash's leg, looking at its food in fear.
"H-hey Sentret, don't worry! Just let your food cool down, trust me, it's gotta be delicious!" Ash reassured his timid looking Pokémon, who decided to move back to her friends, hesitant because of the hot food. While all of this was happening, Beedrill decided it would rather have fresh berries instead, so it decided to fly off towards trees it knew had berries (after getting Ash's permission).
"Wow, shish is sho good!" Ash said after finally taking a spoonful of the now cool soup, looking at the food with eyes sparkling. Pikachu had the same sentiment after having taken some of his food now. Lonnie had a small blush on her face as she rubbed the back of her neck.
"Th-thank you, Ash..." She finally decided to begin her dinner as Bulbasaur followed suit. The half an hour that had passed was quite an enjoyable one, surprisingly the two of them were able to set their plate on a nearby stump, which conveniently (and somewhat suspiciously) had a flat enough surface on top.
"Hey Lonnie, when did you decide you wanted to be a trainer?" Ash asked in an attempt to spark a conversation.
"Er, off the top of my head, I believe it was around six years ago..."
"Mama, Papa is on TV!" A younger Lonnie said, pointing excitedly at the television screen. A man with striking silver hair had a look of determination, he adjusted his completely black cap and unclipped a Poké Ball from his belt, tossing it forward. From the ball came out a large blue turtle-like Pokémon called Blastoise, whose steps had an audible thump from its weight.
"And there's the ace of Charles' team, Blastoise! What will the opponent send out?" An announcer said through his mic, his voice echoing throughout the large stadium. The opponent trainer was a short man with short brown hair and a seemingly short temper.
"Go my Precious!" The man awkwardly threw out a Poké Ball, and out came a small dog-like Pokémon with sharply jagged yellow fur.
"Woah, a Jolteon! And with a rather... interesting nickname..." When the announcer finished, a referee on an airborne platform waved a blue flag, signaling the start of the battle.
"Precious, use Pin Missile!" the Jolteon stood firm, with several yellow-green pins shooting from its jagged fur, launching quickly at Blastoise.
"Azure Ray." Blastoise leaned forwards, as the two large cannons on its back immediately unleashed large beams of blue energy towards the foe. The pins dissipated upon contact with the beams, before "Precious" was struck hard. Skidding along the ground, Precious landed in front of its trainer with swirls replacing its eyes. The spectating crowd erupted into cheers at the victory as Blastoise and its trainer smirked.
"Wow! Just like that, Blastoise asserts its unrivaled power against the foe with a type advantage! That's Charles for you!" The announcer said cheerfully.
"Wowie, I hope I can be as strong as Papa one day..." Lonnie said with sparkling eyes.
Ash was fixated on Lonnie's face as she finished the story. "Since then, I've been wanting to become a trainer to surpass my pa."
"I think that's great Lonnie, but... I thought you wanted to see the sights?" Ash asked.
"Truthfully, I'm not totally sure what I want to do. I figured travelling could help me find some kind of goal." She admitted.
Pikachu lightly tapped the back of Ash's head with his tail, Ash looked at his starting Pokémon in confusion before Pikachu pointed towards Lonnie, who was taking the bowls and spoons to wash them by the river.
"Lonnie, uh... I just wanted to tell you that whatever goal you aim for, I'll be cheering you on, even if that goal leads us to battle each other at the Pokémon League." Ash said, taking off his hat and scratching his head. He couldn't imagine they'd ever battle against each other in a serious competition, but he isn't exactly against the idea.
Lonnie smiled warmly. "Thank you Ash." Ash gave a toothy grin in return.
Half an hour later, the dishes and table were put away, and the two were getting ready to catch a few winks. Having had a long day, the two fell asleep quickly, however Pikachu was still awake for some reason.
Pikachu looked towards Ash for a moment, looking back on the events of the day before he lied by Ash's head and wrapped his tail around his body. The Electric type didn't hesitate in his actions, knowing fully well that his trainer can be trusted, unlike his previous owners.
The following day, Ash and Lonnie had packed up their sleeping bags and scattered sand over the dead firewood before continuing through the forest. Ash had a renewed excitement for his first gym battle coming up, of course the two had to make the walk to the city first, which was no easy feat given the distance, but Ash knew he and Lonnie could make it without a hitch.
"So Ash, what's your strategy against Brock? I heard he used to be a Rock type gym leader before turning his eye to Ground types, not that it makes any difference to Pikachu since he can only use Thundershock at the moment..." Lonnie asked curiously, looking at Ash.
He quickly responded, "I have no idea! But maybe I could do some special training with this little guy to teach him a move to handle Ground types.".
"That's certainly a plan, though you might be lucky when we hit Pewter City, I hear there's a Technical Machine shop there giving out Grass Knot TMs if you win a Pokémon battle, apparently the TM is compatible with Pikachu."
Ash looked at Pikachu, who looked back at him, and they both gave her a look of determination.
"No problem, right Pikachu?" The Mouse Pokémon cried his name in agreement.
Lonnie chuckled at his response and smiled. "Let's hope you can earn that TM then." She said, as the two approached an incline with a rocky hill atop it.
After a while later, they managed to reach the top and saw a weird looking man sitting on a rock, with rocks of a particular grey shade sitting nearby him, with a sign reading "Hard Stones: 200 Poké Dollars."
"Hey, kid, ya want a Hard Stone? Their utility is more than meets the eye." The man said, grinning at Ash as he looked back at the man with an incredulous expression.
"What do you think Lonnie?" Ash asked his friend, who looked back at him.
"Well, he isn't wrong, a Hard Stone is an item that raises the power of Rock type moves used by the user if they hold it, in fact there are many items that raise the power of other types when held." She explained, as the man nodded along. Pikachu was still on the fence about letting Ash buy a rock, but Ash was thoroughly convinced by Lonnie's words.
"You've got a deal!" He handed the money to the man, who handed Ash a Hard Stone, while Lonnie held out her hand.
"I can hold onto it for you until you need it." Ash smiled at her and handed the item over.
The man in front of them bowed in gratitude. "Thanks for the patronage! In return, I can let you in on a little tip for defeating the gym leader of Pewter City."
Ash leaned forwards with interest. "That'd be great! I was just about to challenge him today!"
"Excellent, well in the city there is a shop selling TMs, and as a promotion they're hosting battles for TMs, and today's is TM86 which contains Grass Knot. I also heard that today's Pokémon to challenge is the Grass type Pokémon "Bellsprout.", so I would recommend a Flying or Fire type." He said while stroking his beard.
"See Ash? I was right! Though, I didn't know that the shop gave away different TMs..."
Suddenly, the man visibly sweated and waved his hand. "Oh sure, that's what uh... a friend says anyways, he could be wrong, and thus I could be wrong, but there's only one way to find out, right?". He said with a light chuckle.
"Right... Well, thanks for the info anyway, see ya!" Ash said, as the two resumed their trek to Pewter City. The old man sighed before quickly packing up his little outdoor... shop of sorts.
Some time had passed, and the two finally reached the city and the nearest Pokémon Center. As the two entered the building, Ash suddenly noticed that there was a Nurse Joy in this city as well.
"Say, didn't I see you at Viridian City?" He asked when the two reached the counter, Pikachu hopping onto it.
"Huh? ...Oh! You must've met my cousin! You see, my family members are all nurses in Pokémon Centers across Kanto, so you'll see my sisters and cousins here and there. Anyway, welcome to the Pewter City Pokémon Center, would you like to rest your Pokémon?" She explained, before going right back to "nurse-mode".
"Y-yes!" He quickly said, still taking in what she explained as he pulled out his three other Poké Balls and handed them to the nurse. Lonnie pulled out her own Poké Balls and handed them over as well.
Nurse Joy bowed and placed each ball on a tray with six empty spaces, fit for a full team of Pokémon. She didn't get patients like Pikachu often, so she opted to take him to a room in the back.
Ash then realized he needed to call his mother, so he quickly went to a nearby video phone to call her.
"Ketchum residence, Delia speaking." A voice spoke, before she immediately erupted into joy and relief. "Oh Ash! I was worried that you didn't make it to Viridian City, but look at you! Already in Pewter City! You know your father took almost four days to get to where you are right now, and you only took half the time!" She was clearly proud of that fact, reflected in her voice.
"Hi mom, I'm sorry for forgetting to call in Viridian City, but I'm doing OK. Oh! I also made a friend!" When he said that, Lonnie popped into view in the call.
"Hello Mrs. Ketchum, my name is Lonnie, pleased to meet you." Lonnie said politely, her face flushing a light pink from the embarrassment of the sudden introduction.
"Please, call me Delia, I don't mind, and I certainly am happy that Ash made a friend! And a girl for that matter, that's a surprise!" She said in a teasing manner.
Ash was having none of that though. "M-Mom, please stop..." He said, hanging his head, both in embarrassment and apologetically.
"Nono, it's fine Ash, at the very least I'm happy your mom seems to be pleased by the friendship." She said, before she made the hasty decision of holding her arm up to link it. Ash lifted his head and smiled, linking his arm with hers, briefly forgetting who was (practically) in front of them.
Suddenly, Delia squealed at what she was seeing. "Lonnie, please look after my son, and please treat your friend well, OK dear?" The two unlinked their arms the moment they heard her squeal, red flushing on Lonnie's face as her reflexive choice to hold up her arm caused her to be flustered.
"OK OK Mom I will, bye!" He said quickly, though before she hung up she snuck in a "Good luck, Lonnie.", which she heard fully well, though it confused Ash. As soon as the video call ended, the Pokémon Center chime went off, signifying that their Pokémon were well rested.
An hour later, the two managed to track down the TM shop, seeing a sign next to the door that stated what they'd guessed.
"Well Ash, good luck on winning that TM!" Lonnie said, giving words of encouragement which Ash appreciated.
"Thanks, c'mon Pikachu, let's get that TM!" They all entered the building, as a man standing at the counter looked suspiciously similar to the Hard Stone salesman from before, only without the beard?
"Welc-ah!" He quickly put on a cap and cleared his throat. "Let me guess, you want to challenge me for the promotion item?" The shopkeeper said to Ash, who nodded.
"That's right, I heard that Pikachu here can use the item you're rewarding trainers who win against you." The man simply nodded, before he placed a little sign on the counter and pointing towards a door by a glass container holding various coloured discs. The two took this as the man signaling them to enter through the door, which they did. The door led to a dirt battlefield at the back of the small shop, presumably where the shopkeeper held the battles for promotional items.
Lonnie quickly darted to the referee's spot by the middle of the battlefield, feeling the need to be the referee.
"Kid, this battle will be a one-on-one, choose your first Pokémon." Ash quickly grabbed a Poké Ball from his belt and pressed on its button, expanding it, before he tossed it forwards, with Pidgey releasing from the Poké Ball.
"Alright Pidgey, let's do this together!" He said, with the Tiny Bird Pokémon tweeting in happiness at Ash's decision to let him battle.
"I see. Come on out." The man said, throwing his own Poké Ball out to reveal a Bellsprout.
"Ash! Remember, although you have the type advantage, still be wary, you may never know what sort of trick the opponent may have up their sleeve." Ash gave Lonnie a thumbs-up as he turned back to the opponent. "Begin!" As soon as Lonnie said those words, Ash was quick to issue a command.
"Use Sand-Attack!" Pidgey kicked up sand towards the foe, who wasn't expecting its speed, was promptly and temporarily blinded by the sand that hit its eyes.
"Now use Tackle!" The Normal and Flying type flew upwards and darted towards the stunned Bellsprout, who was stumbling about while trying to rub out the sand. Before it could see again, Pidgey tackled the Grass type as it flew backwards towards the shopkeeper, who grunted in annoyance by the quick calls of the kid he was battling.
"Good job Pidgey! Now us-" Ash was cut off when Bellsprout suddenly got back up and the man spoke up. "Vine Whip." Bellsprout sprouted vines from underneath its leaves as the vines suddenly lashed at Ash's Pokémon, who wasn't expecting the attack, let alone it seeming to hurt it.
"Grab a vine with your beak!' Pidgey tried to grab a vine, and managed a hold of a vine. "Alright, now pull Bellsprout to you!" Pidgey was unsure of the command, but did it anyway. Bellsprout was taken aback by its opponent's plan, before it found itself airborne.
Ash was visibly excited by his plan working, before he channeled his excitement into determination. "Now throw him towards the ground and use Tackle!" Pidgey pulled Bellsprout upwards and then downwards, letting go of the vine as Bellsprout flew straight towards the battlefield, with Pidgey quickly diving towards the Grass type, hitting the side of it with a Tackle attack, ensuring the final blow. Dust was pushed up by the force of the move, due in part to the speed at which Bellsprout was flung, and when the dust cleared, Pidgey was clearly still standing while Bellsprout had fainted.
"Buh...Bellsprout!" The man said in total shock! Apparently he was sure that he would win with his Pokémon of choice.
"The winner is Ash!" Lonnie said as she ran towards him. When Bellsprout's eyes were shown as swirls, Ash was filled with excitement that he won the battle and earned a valuable TM. All of a sudden, Lonnie wrapped her arms around Ash, just about as excited about the outcome as he was.
"You did it!" She said, pulling away with a smile. Pikachu smirked at Ash because of his funny reaction. He could only nod as he returned Pidgey.
"Alright alright, you won fair and square, though I'm in shock that you even thought to use Vine Whip against my Bellsprout." He said, Ash knew that his words were nothing but the truth and felt even more proud of the victory. The man pulled out a green disc from behind him and handed it to Ash. "Here's your TM, it contains Grass Knot. A word about TMs: Technical Machines are these discs that can be used to teach your Pokémon the contained technique to assist in it using a particular move, and TMs can be used any number of times, so they're rather valuable." He said, crossing his arms.
"Thank you, I'll make sure to use it well." Ash promised, before he put it in his bag.
Later in the day, Pikachu was set on the ground as Ash took out his recently received TM.
"Alright Pikachu, let's have you learn how to use Grass Knot!" Pikachu was a little apprehensive about the machine attaching to his head, but he was excited to learn a move that can potentially save him in a tough spot in the future.
Ash then removed the disc from its case and set it on Pikachu's head, with it gently clamping onto the Electric type's head. Moments later, he felt a strange tingle as he suddenly gained an acute understanding of the technique he was about to learn.
"Alright... I think it's done." Ash said, as he removed the TM from Pikachu's head after about half a minute since placing it on him.
"OK Pikachu, try out the move." Ash said, with Pikachu closing his eyes for a few seconds, balling his front paws before straining for a moment. A short distance away, some grass appeared in the dirt, before Pikachu opened his eyes and relaxed his strained face.
"Wow! That's so cool Pikachu!" Ash said in excitement, Pikachu looking back at Ash with surprise at what he just did. None of Pikachu's previous owners put this much faith in his ability to perform a move, so Pikachu was feeling relief and happiness at Ash's reaction.
"Please choose a move to forget." Ash's Pokédex suddenly spoke up, as Ash took it out to fiddle with the buttons.
"Pikachu, which move do you want Grass Knot to replace?" Ash asked as he knelt down to Pikachu and showed him the machine. Pikachu looked down thoughtfully at the question, he knew he could only learn four moves at a time, and currently he had: Thundershock, Play Nice, Tail Whip and Thunder Wave. After several seconds, Pikachu pointed towards one of the moves.
"You want to replace Tail Whip... Alright." Ash chose the move Pikachu wants gone, as it was shown to be replaced by Grass Knot.
"Great! Let's keep the pace going, you gotta perfect it before we challenge Brock, otherwise we could lose." Ash said, Pikachu nodding and stepping forwards before concentrating.
"Hey Lonnie, could Bulbasaur help Pikachu train?" Ash asked, Lonnie nodding as she released her Bulbasaur.
"Could I ask you to help out Ash and Pikachu? They're trying to master Grass Knot." She asked her partner, who nodded.
"Great! Pikachu, I want you to use Grass Knot on Bulbasaur, try to wrap it around one of its legs." Ash asked Pikachu, who complied and turned his attention to the Grass and Poison type Pokémon. He begun concentrating his face and clenching his paws, with two blades of grass slowly forming, though it ended up forming quite a distance from the intended target.
"Pikachu, you've been closing your eyes, right? Do you think you can try the move with them open? That might help you aim better." Lonnie asked him, although she wasn't his trainer, he felt he could trust her words if Ash can trust her, so he tried to use the move again, this time attempting to keep his eyes open to focus his efforts on the target in front of him.
A few hours had passed, and Pikachu finally managed to wrap vines around one of Bulbasaur's legs.
"Way to go buddy! Now you're really ready to challenge Brock!" Ash said, before continuing. "First, let's see if Sentret is compatible with the move..." Ash sent out Sentret, who quickly jumped into Ash's arms.
"I-I'm happy to see you too! But I called you out for something important." Sentret quickly jumped out of his arms next to Pikachu.
"You see..." He took his TM back out of his bag. "This is a TM, it contains Grass Knot, and I want to teach it to you." He said. Sentret had a happy look on her face as she spun around in excitement.
Ash knelt down and took the TM back out of its case and placed it on Sentret's head. For about half a minute, the same process that happened with Pikachu was happening to Sentret, and she understood the Grass Knot technique.
"Alright, now use Grass Knot on Bulbasaur!" The Seed Pokémon didn't tense up for the attack because it wasn't expecting it to come out, however it was completely surprised when the vines were wrapped around one of its legs suddenly.
"Woah! You certainly learned it a lot quicker than Pikachu did." At these words, she spun around in excitement again, accidentally pulling the vines backward and knocking Bulbasaur off balance. Pikachu was less happy about it, though he wasn't too bothered if Ash was happy about it.
"I'm surprised too, usually a Pokémon will take a few hours at least to perfect a move learned by TM as opposed to learned naturally..." Lonnie said. Ash wasn't too worried, in fact he was elated.
"Alright! Pewter Gym here we come!" Ash declared with excitement, before he and Lonnie walked around the city to find the building. After nearly half an hour, they finally reached a building that appeared to be modeled after a Hard Stone, being grey and appearing almost like it were built straight from stone.
"Alright, let's do this." Ash said, steeling himself as he opened the door to the gym, entering it. The inside of the building was dark, with only a single light shining on a shirtless boy with dark skin and brown, spiky hair.
"Welcome to the Pewter City gym, my name is Brock, and I command Ground type Pokémon." A booming voice spoke, as the boy who was sitting cross-legged got up and turned to face Ash, the gym suddenly lighting up as the rest of the lights turned on after Brock finished speaking.
"My name is Ash Ketchum, and I challenge you to a gym battle!" He shouted.
"Very well. Please come forward!" He said, smirking. Ash did just that, stepping forwards to his side of the battlefield as Lonnie entered and sat on the sidelines, ready to cheer on her friend.
"This is an official Pokémon League match between Brock the gym leader, and Ash the challenger. Only Ash may substitute his Pokémon, and he is permitted to use all of his Pokémon on hand at the moment." The referee, a small boy bearing a striking resemblance to Brock, said.
"You ready Pikachu?" Ash said, as Pikachu ran forwards and stood firm, sharing the look of determination Ash had.
Brock chuckled. "Using an Electric type I see. You have guts, boy, but that alone won't seal your victory. Come on out!" Brock sent out a Pokémon that appeared to be a floating rock with two arms. Ash pulled out his Pokédex and aimed it at the Pokémon.
"Geodude, the Rock Pokémon, a Rock and Ground type. Geodude tend to be stepped on by hikers when asleep due to appearing like any other rock." The machine spoke up as Ash put it back in his pocket.
"Use Play Nice!" Ash said, Pikachu dashed towards Geodude and shook his hand, lowering the foe's Attack stat a bit.
"Not a bad first move, but that will be its only move! Geodude, use Rock Throw!" The Rock and Ground type form a stone in its hand and threw it at Pikachu.
"Dodge it!" Pikachu just barely jumped away from the projectile.
"Grass Knot!" Pikachu focused for a moment, before two vines formed in the battlefield as they wrapped around the lower half of Geodude's body, pulling it towards the ground.
"Geodude no!" Brock shouted in surprise at the move, he definitely didn't expect Pikachu to actually know such a move. Geodude's eyes were replaced with swirls as Ash gained the upper hand in the battle very quickly.
"Great job buddy! Now get some rest." Ash said, as Pikachu darted back to his side.
Brock returned his Pokémon before he chuckled, though this time it was out of intrigue as opposed to amusement like before.
"That was quite a surprise, I didn't expect your Pikachu to know a Grass type move, but your momentum halts here! Go Phanpy!" Brock tossed out his second Pokémon, a blue elephant-like Pokémon with red parts on its short snout and ears.
"Who's that Pokémon?" Ash asked to himself, pulling out his Pokédex.
"Phanpy, the Long Nose Pokémon, a Ground type. Phanpy has a powerful snout, it doesn't know its own strength, so an affectionate bump of its snout may send you flying." It finished, Ash putting it back.
"Let's keep it going, Sentret!" Ash said, releasing his next Pokémon. Sentret spun around in excitement, but quickly locked eyes onto her opponent and quickly assumed an offensive stance.
"Use Defense Curl!" Ash and Brock said simultaneously, both Pokémon curling into a ball with a green light surrounding them, signaling a small Defense boost.
"Use Bulldoze!" Phanpy begun stomping on the ground repeatedly, shaking the ground and damaging Sentret while also lowering her Speed.
"Sentret, get ready on my mark." Ash said, Sentret nodding as she got back on her tail and prepared.
"Use Rollout!" Phanpy begun spinning into a ball in place for a moment, before rocketing towards Sentret with surprising speed.
"Grass Knot!" Sentret focused and formed vines in front of her, which Phanpy was caught by as it uncurled and was tossed into the air, landing besides Ash as it struggled to get up.
"C'mon Phanpy!" Brock shouted, before it appeared to get back up. But, moments later it fell back to the side, having fainted. Ash's eyes lit up as he shouted and starting jumping in place.
"We did it! Great job Sentret!" His Pokémon dashed towards her trainer and hopped into his arms excitedly, proud of its achievement.
"Well that certainly surprised me, but it's not over yet! You still have one more Pokémon to deal with." Brock said, with a smirk.
Ash returned Sentret and nodded at Brock before he pulled out another Poké Ball, with Brock doing the same. Ash's heart was racing, as he was really pulling through during his first gym battle, all that training he did really did help, but will his effort help him achieve victory?
"Go Onix!" Brock said, throwing his ace's Poké Ball forward and releasing the snake-like Pokémon.
Ash took out his Pokédex for the third time today and scanned the foe.
"Onix, the Rock Snake Pokémon, a Rock and Ground type. These Pokémon have a diet consisting of the dirt that enters its mouth as it drills into the ground at high speed."
"Let's go Beedrill!" Ash sent out a surprising pick given the type matchup, but he was confident that Beedrill could pull it off.
"Use Smack Down!" Onix launched a green orb at Beedrill, hitting it cleanly with it falling straight to the ground.
"Oh no, use String Shot!" Beedrill quickly secreted string from its mouth towards Onix, who was covered in it, its Speed visibly lowering.
"Use Bulldoze." Brock smirked as Onix begun to slam the ground with its tail, which Beedrill could easily feel since it was unable to become airborne for a while.
"Use Harden, and wait for Onix to get close!" Beedrill's skin hardened as its Defense grew a bit, while its stingers begun to glow a yellow-green, anticipating Ash's next command.
"Use Bind!" Onix moved closer to its target in attempt to wrap its tail around the foe.
"Now!" Beedrill became airborne again and begin to stab Onix with its stingers, using Twineedle. Though the move wasn't terribly effective, Ash was aiming for something else.
Just then, purple bubbles appeared over Onix's head as it got poisoned!
"Good job! Now use Cocoon!" Beedrill begun to cover itself in string, forming a protective barrier.
"That was a sound strategy, but I'm afraid it won't work. Use Bind!" Onix visibly strained itself to wrap its tail around the foe, which it could do successfully, however Beedrill didn't appear to be affected too much.
"Good job Ash, that was great!" Lonnie praised Ash as he rubbed the back of his neck in response, with Brock giving an amused expression at the interaction.
"Use Twineedle again!" Ash said, as Beedrill broke through its barrier with its stingers to stab Onix again, who was still nearby it from its previous attempt to Bind it.
"Oh no you don't, use Smack Down once more!" Ash was prepared for that attack now, as his quick thinking came into play.
"Destroy the attack with your stinger!" In a show of its strength, Beedrill managed to split the green orb in two as the move was deflected successfully, however they weren't prepared for the next move.
"Use Dragonbreath!" Onix opened its mouth and purple energy came out, though it was a rather weak looking attack it did just what Brock wanted, as Beedrill suddenly had sparks surround its body, with it becoming paralyzed.
"Beedrill!" Onix quickly used Smack Down once more, as Beedrill was too slow to make an attempt at deflecting the incoming attack, being struck from the sky and hitting the ground hard.
"Beedrill is unable to battle!" The referee finally spoke up, since he was cut off by the two trainers during their battle. Ash experienced a flurry of emotions during the battle, and now disappointment was added to the list of feelings he had during the match, as he pulled out Beedrill's Poké Ball to return him.
"You did amazing out there, we won't let your effort go to waste." Ash said as he clipped the ball back on his belt. "Pikachu, I choose you!"
"Battle resume!" The referee said.
"Bulldoze!" Brock was quick to make his first move, though Onix still felt the effect of the String Shot from earlier.
"Quick, get on your tail like Sentret does!" Pikachu stuck its tail into the ground and got up on it, before Onix unleashed its attack. Despite all the slamming, Pikachu wasn't nearly as affected by the super-effective attack as he'd normally be had he been on the ground completely.
"Grass Knot!" Pikachu concentrated and begun to form two vines in the ground, with them wrapping around the tip of Onix's tail as it was tripped and fell straight down to the ground.
"Onix no!" Brock shouted as it lied in defeat in front of Pikachu.
"Onix is unable to battle, so the challenger is the victor of the battle!" The referee said in shock, as Ash suddenly broke out into a wild grin as Pikachu quickly dashed at Ash, getting surprisingly fast as a white energy formed around him while Pikachu was dashing towards Ash, he then tackled Ash's stomach harder than he was expecting.
"G-great job buddy!" Ash said with a strained, but excited voice, as he had just won his first major battle.
"I concede, thank you for the battle Ash, I haven't had that much fun since the battle that spurred my decision to set my sights on Ground types. You've earned the Gravel Badge." Brock said, approaching Ash and returning Onix, as he held out a badge to Ash. The badge was grey and looked like a bunch of pebbles.
"Alright! I got the Gravel Badge!" Ash shouted in celebration, Pikachu joining in by making a victory sign.
"Take this TM with you, it contains Bulldoze, I'm sure it'll come in handy in the future." Brock said, handing him a light-brown coloured TM, which Ash took.
"Congratulations Ash! That was an awesome battle!" Lonnie said, holding up her arm as Ash quickly linked his with it as the two laughed.
All of a sudden, the man Ash and Lonnie met earlier today swung the gym doors open wide.
"Kid, did you win?" The man asked, before noticing the badge in his hand. "Ah excellent! You managed to beat my son!" He said happily.
"S-son!?" Ash and Lonnie said at the same time, while Brock looked down with a shadow covering his eyes.
"What are you doing here, father? I thought you had vanished!" Brock said, clearly not happy about the sudden reappearance of his family member.
"Brock, I'm sorry, I don't expect you to forgive me, just hear me out." Brock looked up at his father, expression unwavering. "A long time ago I've wanted to be a salesman, selling Hard Stones to travelers who owned Rock type Pokémon, however I was too afraid to confront you about my dream, so I ran off without a word... That was a mistake I don't think any amount of words can rectify, I just... felt the need to muster up the courage to tell you, and this kid kicked that off, I saw a spark in his eyes that I once saw in yours when you first became a gym leader, so I knew that he had what it takes to take you down, and I hoped that would help you in a way too... Again, I don't expect you to forgive m-" Before he could finish his sentence, Brock suddenly wrapped his father into a hug.
"Father, you've said enough..." Brock said, still hugging his dad. Brock's father begun to tear up as he hugged his son back. Ash and Lonnie smiled at the scene, as the two separated from the hug.
"So um, I guess that means you accept me?" Brock's father asked, with his son nodding in response.
"Of course, sure you kind of gave the family a hard time, but... I'm sure everyone else will be more happy to see you than they'd be angry that you didn't explain your disappearance." He assured his father, who looked down and smiled, closing his eyes and nodding.
"Lonnie, I think we should get to the Pokémon Center now, it's getting late and my Pokémon need a rest." Ash said, with his friend nodding in agreement as the two left the gym. Before they could leave, Brock suddenly grabbed Ash's hand.
"Wait! I think you should stay the night, it's the least I can do to repay you for that great battle!" Brock offered, with Ash smiling at it.
"Sure!" Ash said, as he and Lonnie entered the gym again.
It was now nighttime, as Ash and Lonnie were sitting at a table with 7 other kids who all bore striking resemblances to Brock.
"Brock Brock! When is dinner done?"
"Big brother! Did you lose your battle?"
"Bro! Who's the pretty lady?"
Brock suddenly shouted. "Calm down! Dinner will be ready shortly! Yes, I lost the battle! Cindy, behave around guests!"
"Wow, you've got quite a big family." Ash noted, with Lonnie nodding.
"Don't mind them, and sorry about that Lonnie, I don't bring many female guests over." He said with a sweatdrop.
"N-no worries, thanks for having us over by the way." She said, waving her arms and smiling.
"So Brock, you've been taking care of them all by yourself?" Ash decided to ask upfront.
"That's right, I love my family a lot, I wouldn't trade it with anything in the world." He said, though he didn't sound as happy at the end of the sentence than he did at the start, which Lonnie could notice.
"Is something wrong Brock?" Lonnie asked.
"W-well... Alright, you see, I've dreamt of becoming a Pokémon Doctor, I love taking care of my siblings, and I love my Pokémon, so at some point I felt like wanting to take care of Pokémon with the same love and attention I do with my siblings, but I never could chase my dream..."
"Until now!" Brock's father suddenly spoke up. "If you want, I can look after everyone." Brock's dad offered with a smile.
"Oh no I couldn't, being a gym leader and taking care of the family is all I could ever ask for." He said in response, though his expression didn't match his tone.
"Are you sure? This is the final offer." He said in response. Brock looked down thoughtfully as Ash and Lonnie looked up at him, as did the rest of the family.
"...You know what? I accept." Brock said boldly, giving a fierce, but firm look. Everyone else shouted in shock.
"Atta boy!" After he said that, Brock put a notebook in his hand and begun listing the siblings' likes and dislikes, and how to care for his gym team, while everyone else started laughing.
The next day, Ash and Lonnie were about to leave for Route 3 towards Mt. Moon.
"W-wait!" Brock shouted as the two were about to head east towards their next destination.
"Well... Since you kind of kicked this whole thing off, I figured it'd be best if we traveled as a group, yeah?" Brock asked, as Ash and Lonnie looked at each other and then smiled, before turning to face Brock again.
"Of course! It doesn't hurt to travel with another person!" Ash said as Brock's smile grew.
"Great! Leave the cooking and maps to me!" Brock assured, as Ash sighed in relief at that last part, and Lonnie sighed in relief at the first part.
All three trainers finally headed off to Route 3 as a group, Ash gaining a new friend in Brock and having earned his first badge and achieving his first milestone as a trainer, his career can only go up from here, right?
A/N: That'll do for the second chapter, what do you guys think? I know that this took a while to come out, but I did my best despite these difficult times, though I can't really promise a consistent schedule, I just hope that my story will be interesting. Until next time!