Author's Note: So the reception follows and favorites wise has been amazing for the last chapter! Thank y'all so much! If it wouldn't be too much of a bother I'd love some review feedback about what I am doing right (as some of my other stories do not get that level of response).
Chapter 4 Tutoring
I showed up for the SS Anne cruise early, at this point it had been just over a month since I met Ash Ketchum and now I was primed to meet him once again and this time on one of the most important events of the first season.
At least as far as behind-the-scenes developments go that is. Team Rocket might not have gotten everything they wanted, but they'd gotten a massive haul and a massive amount of notoriety from raiding the SS Anne.
Furthermore, Ash never releases Butterfree if he doesn't have to go on that walkabout after the shipwreck. Wow, was I really that traumatized by that episode or was I projecting something else onto the event?
That was an idea I'd unpack later. For now, I was staying in the local Pokemon Center, going through my list of in-storage pokemon that I had on hand for trading. Most of them were pokemon from around Saffron that I had captured when out and about training my actual team. I always would have a chat with the pokemon afterwards, letting them know I could release them if they wanted or I could keep them around until I found a good trainer for them.
I had yet to actually trade for any pokemon that ended up on my main team. But I had on a few occasions traded for other pokemon that might be useful in their own right for trades later on as well as just outright given a few away to various acquaintances that needed or wanted one for various reasons.
My cousin (who I barely knew) had even used an ekans I caught as a starter last year.
He'd done okay, was sitting at around three-badges and considering giving it up if he couldn't get to five this season.
On call for trading right now it looked like I had a pidgeotto, vulpix, goldeen, meowth, bellsprout, raticate, and a kadabra who called himself 'The Absent One' and said he 'foresaw' that I would 'face a trainer with great psychic potential in battle' and wanted me to trade him to them after I battled them.
Which was both ominous and ridiculous in equal parts. The use of the word trade was promising though, suggesting I might get a good pokemon out of it.
I really should have figured out I was in an anime heavy interpretation of the world sooner. Though perhaps that was part of living in a world? You just don't think about how it would look to people from outside it all that often.
I certainly had a unique perspective that was certain.
The next day I headed downstairs to leave for breakfast and walked in on an interesting argument.
"Ash, you can't just run into Lt. Surge's gym without a plan like you did with Brock!" Misty's sharp voice echoed out.
"Hey-" Brock attempted to protest but was cut down with a look from Misty.
"Pikachu and my team can take on anything this guy can throw at us!" Ash yelled back at the redhead.
"Well come now, Ash." I began wryly as I walked over towards them, "A little strategy can't hurt every once and a while! I thought you took to our lesson so much better than that!"
"Ah!" Ash yelled in truly anime fashion, "Isaac! What are you doing here?"
I raised an eyebrow, "I passed all my exams and won my first instructor-match so I'm out here for the SS Anne launch as my parents are also going to be in attendance with a few other Silph scientists and executives."
"Oh!" Another exclamation, this boy needed a chill pill, or five, "I think we're going to that, too!" He turned to face his friends.
"We are aren't we?"
Brock and Misty nodded together and then the older teen responded, "Yeah, we won those tickets in that raffle the other day."
A Team Rocket trap I knew, and not just Jesse and James in all likelihood.
These circumstances were just the tiniest bit different from the anime that I was certain my theory on the Rockets being a compromise between the anime and game versions was correct.
"Right, I'll see you all there, but like I said. Ash, did you not take our lesson to heart? What's your plan for Lt. Surge? On three and four badge trainers he usually uses a voltorb, magnemite, and magneton, but he also sometimes uses a brutish raichu that he rescued from an unlicensed breeder a few years back."
"Uh…" Ash stated eloquently while he pulled up his pokemon, "Magnemite?"
Misty smacked her forehead.
"Magnemite, the Magnet Pokemon- It's able to float through the air and emits Thunder Wave through its magnet-shaped units located on its sides."
Ash quickly read the follow-up information, he was impatient and unfocused, not necessarily dumb.
"Well, okay! So I send Charmander out, right?"
I nodded, "A good start, but say he gets paralyzed before he can do significant damage? And what would you do for the follow-up magneton? You just wore out your best counter to that on the first pokemon!"
I could metaphorically hear the gears in Ash's head clunking around.
"Oh...Bulbasaur and Pikachu can probably take the attacks but they won't be doing much damage back will they?"
I grinned at the boy, see? Not dumb at all. You just had to get him to slow down with the right questions.
"So what are your three options? Assuming you get the standard match-up?"
"Er...train Charmander really hard...teach...new moves to Bulbasaur and Pikachu...and...what's the last one?"
"You could catch and train up a new pokemon!"
Then Ash had another lightbulb moment of his own, one I hadn't even considered.
"Wait, I could train to get Primeape to work with me! He could pummel that magneton real good!"
I opened my mouth, then closed it. That was...an interesting idea. And one that would skyrocket the power of Ash's team if he could get that powerhouse to work with him earlier.
"That's a brilliant idea!" I enthused, before turning to Misty and Brock, "So I've never worked with a lucario before have y'all ever worked with…" I racked my brain for a second, "I guess have you, Misty, worked with a poliwrath before?"
She grimaced and shook her head, "Only poliwags, sorry."
"Well…" I turned to Ash, "Then I guess it's time for a research party!"
I am fairly certain his groan was audible all the way over in Johto.
It was a task which took up the better part of the daylight hours. We ended up getting both breakfast and lunch at a cafe down the road, courtesy of my wallet too, while sifting through pokedex data and PokeNet reports.
The biggest hurdle was that the only fighting-type move Primeape knew, was Seismic Toss.
And Ash was hoping to use him against a floating pokemon that could shoot electricity.
So while the move would definitely still do some damage it wasn't ideal. As grappling an electric-type was generally considered a Bad Idea (trademarked) unless you were a ground-type or had some special ability.
That meant we needed to teach Primeape a new move on top of getting him to listen to Ash.
The first part was not insurmountable, with a little discipline Primeape should take to Karate Chop instinctively or learn Brick Break very easily.
In fact… "Ash!" I exclaimed at about one in the afternoon, "I have four pokemon that can all learn Brick Break! And Brock has one as well! And you even have three other pokemon that can learn it! What if we used Primeape's competitive nature and made it a contest with a prize to see which pokemon learned it first? He'd have the advantage on learning it the quickest. So if he won he'd feel validated for his strength and respected! And if he lost you could console him and push him to do better and fuel his drive!"
Brock's eyebrows raised, he definitely found the idea intriguing, "We do have a few days until the SS Anne leaves, Ash. This could work."
Leaping up from his seat the young trainer pumped the air with his fist, "This is a great idea! Let's start now!"
I rolled my eyes, "There's an area past Diglett Cave with a mix of rocky ground and the beginnings of the next forest. We could start on branches and move our way up to the rocks and boulders."
That's how we found ourselves east of town forty minutes later.
I released Brinker, Estella, Huck, and Artagnan. All of whom could learn the move.
In front of Brock stood to my surprise a graveler (instead of the expected geodude) and even more shocking a kabuto.
"Uh...I guess he's just going to be watching?" I queried.
The gym leader nodded, "When he evolves he'll be able to learn so I want him to watch the process, plus he's...fresh so he hasn't watched much training."
I had heard something from my dad about relevant gym leaders and Elite Four members being sent fossil pokemon. So it would make sense that Brock and maybe even Misty and her sisters might have some of the Kantoan fossils. I had previously just thought he meant Lance with his aerodactyl.
And in front of Ash stood Primeape of course, but also Pikachu, Squirtle, and Charmander.
If Ash succeeded here...well there'd be a lot more coverage on his team going into the majority of his journey. As well as a semi-obedient Primeape.
I was causing waves; a thought I contemplated deeply as all our pokemon got to work based on the instructions we had compiled for learning the move from the PokeNet and pokedex.
They began by working on shattering branches with knife hands and punches. Once they could easily break the thickest branches we moved them on to the small rocks and boulders littering the area.
Needless to say, Primeape was the first pokemon to finish this phase.
Brinker and Estella followed quickly after. Though I had restricted Estella to attempting to learn it without her club, a close range surprise like this would be wonderful for pokemon that thought she was defenseless without it.
By the end of the evening, when it was time to head back to the pokemon center, Primeape was frustratedly pummeling at one of the very large 'completion' boulders. While every other pokemon was working on the small or medium ones.
Either his pride as a fighter was on the line or he really wanted that pokemon restaurant buffet we'd promised.
Regardless, as we went back, I knew that I'd given Ash a major helping hand, and he'd be ready to face Surge tomorrow.
Regardless of whether he used the normal team or that raichu.
