Toxel's New Friend
"Alright Toxel, use Nuzzle!" Ash shouted out. Ash and his friends had left Violet City behind them and were currently making their way towards Azalea Town, the sight of his next Gym battle and also where they hoped to discover the secrets behind the mysterious GS ball. Though it wasn't long before the group came across a trainer that challenged Ash to a Pokemon battle and Ash eagerly accepted as it was the perfect chance for Toxel to get experience.
"Tox tox!" Toxel's cheeks sparked as he raced across the field, the lizard nuzzled against the opposing Furret's cheek causing the ferret to cry out as electricity surged through her veins.
"Furret!"
"Fury Swipes!" Furret unsheathed her claws and began repeatedly slashing Toxel in the face.
"Tox!" Toxel cried out.
Ash whipped out his Rotom Phone and showed a brief moment of frustration as he put it away. "Use Nuzzle again!"
"Tox!"
"Sucker Punch!"
"Furret!" Before Toxel could even move, Furret shot across the field and performed a swift sucker punch to the back of Toxel's skull.
"Tox..." The lizard immediately collapsed to his side as swirls formed within his eyes.
"Toxel!"
"Pika pi!" Ash and Pikachu raced towards their teammate with visible concern, Toxel weakly opened his eyes before closing them once more as he fully fell into unconsciousness.
"I'm worried about Toxel, it's been weeks since I started training with him and his only attack is Nuzzle." Ash sighed out. Toxel awakened and listened in on Ash and his friends as he rested on a pillow within Ash's tent.
"Some Pokemon are just slow learners, Ash. Nothing to worry about." Brock reassured Ash with his usual smile.
Toxel drifted back to sleep while feeling guilty, he had a feeling he could have won if he knew more than just Nuzzle. Hearing Ash's conversation out of context didn't help as Toxel thought that Ash was upset with him over losing, unaware that Ash didn't care about that. Toxel drifted to sleep with a resolve to get stronger!
Later that night Toxel felt his trainer's arms wrapped around him as he slept. Pikachu laid curled up on the pillow beside Ash's head. Toxel gazed up at Ash and let out a sigh before attempting to close his eyes once more only for them to shoot wide open as he heard a powerful roar echo across the clearing.
"Tox..." Toxel's eyes filled with determination upon hearing the roar, the lizard slid out of Ash's grasp and raced from the tent as fast he could. Pikachu's ear lightly twitched as he left.
"Pika...?"
"Tox tox..." Toxel breathed as he raced towards the source, eager to get in some training so he could impress Ash with a new attack. Toxel's cheeks sparked in preparation to attack and as soon as he passed through the bushes he leaped towards his target and began nuzzling against them in hopes of giving them an electrical shock. However rather than utter out a cry of pain, the Pokemon let out a grunt of pleasure as if he was enjoying a delicious meal. Though the grunt soon turned to a menacing growl as it realized it was under attack.
Toxel tilted his head as he wondered why Nuzzle didn't hurt the Pokemon, he slowly glanced up before turning pale upon spotting a rather vicious looking yellow tiger staring down at him.
"RAI!"
"T-Tox tox tox!" Toxel's arms and legs flailed about as he was filled with instant regret, hastily apologizing to Raikou who wasn't having any of it has a summoned up a powerful orange-yellow energy.
"Toxel!" Ash and Pikachu raced into the clearing. Toxel had unintentionally woke Pikachu up and upon discovering his absence, Pikachu was quick to wake Ash up and temporarily restructured his face to match Toxel's as he explained Toxel was missing and upon hearing the loud enraged roar it wasn't hard to guess where Toxel had gone.
Ash had no idea what that Pokemon was but he wasn't going to let it hurt Toxel. "Pikachu use Thunderbolt, full power!"
"PIKA!" Pikachu's cheeks sparked before a powerful electric bolt fired off, the energy blast shot towards Raikou and struck his body only for the beast to lick his lips.
"It didn't work?!"
"Pika?!" Pikachu gasped as his shocked expression formed.
"Volt Absorb!" Ash snapped his finger.
"Pika!"
"Rai..." Despite Pikachu having given him a delicious meal, Raikou was still very much ticked off. The legendary beast fired off the energy blast towards Toxel sending the lizard blasting off towards the heavens above in an all too familiar fashion.
"Tox tox tox!" Toxel tearfully cried out, watching his father and brother disappear as he flew over the horizon.
"Toxel!" Ash cried out with concern, he was about to chase after Toxel but Raikou swiftly leaped in front of him and growled out. His eyes stared directly into Ash's as he realized who Toxel's trainer was and assumed that Ash ordered the attack like the other that foolishly attempted to catch him.
"I-Iron Tail!" Ash was a bit shaken but who wouldn't be, a large vicious tiger was staring directly into his eyes and stood only a few feet away.
"Pi!" Pikachu's tail glowed a bright silver color as he took a swing at Raikou. Raikou grunted out before snarling as he turned to face Pikachu, the beast quickly shot towards Pikachu with extreme speed before knocking the rat clear across the clearing. The power difference between the two was quite noticeable as Raikou barely reacted to the slap Pikachu gave him!
"Pikachu needs help, Charizard-" Ash instinctively reached for his belt only to go pale upon realizing he was still in his pajamas and the belt was back in his tent. "Splishy Splash!"
"Pika!" Pikachu raised his arms, his surfboard appeared beneath his feet as a massive wave of electrified water formed beneath him. "Pika pika!" Pikachu rode the wave and brought it crashing down on top of Raikou, knocking the tiger back a few feet. Raikou shook himself off before snarling at Pikachu once more, Raikou's eyes turned gold as a golden beam shot out and flew towards Pikachu.
"Extrasensory?" Ash tilted his head. The beast was clearly an Electric type yet it seemed to be avoiding the use of Electric type attacks, was it possible Raikou was aware that Pikachu had Volt Absorb?
"Chaaaa!" Pikachu was sent flying by the attack and landed on his side.
"Pikachu!" Ash cried out, racing towards his fallen partner with concern but Raikou was much quicker. The beast prepared to strike only for a large red/black blur to breeze across the field before something repeatedly battered Raikou across the face.
"Rai!" Raikou faintly grunted out before hissing as sharp jagged stones burst from the ground and flew towards Raikou, closing in on him before squishing him between them.
"Brock, Chloe-Who the heck are you guys?" Ash questioned upon spotting a large muscular red luchador tiger and a vicious looking black and red canine. Both Pokemon ignored Ash's question and snarled at Raikou. Raikou snarled back as he gazed towards the pair before quickly turning as he proceeded to run off.
"Good work you two," The mysterious Pokemon's trainer came into view, he was the same age as Ash but had a lighter skin tone than him. He had long orange hair which was wild and untamed save for his banes which appeared to purposefully be shaped into an x. He wore a black vest atop a white shirt along with a pair of red cargo pants while a pair of black hiking boots sat on his feet.
"Hey thanks for the save, I'm Ash Ketchum and you are-?" Ash picked Pikachu up into his arms before offering his hand to the boy as he introduced himself.
The orange haired trainer looked Ash up and down before taking his Ash, giving him a light shake before releasing it while giving off an unimpressed look.
"Cross, what were you thinking challenging Raikou to a Pokemon battle like that? Don't you know that Raikou's power rivals that of the Elite Four? You and that Pikachu surely would have gotten yourselves killed if I hadn't come along." Cross spoke while giving off a light glare. The red tiger crossed his arms while Lycanroc stared menacingly at Ash.
"I didn't even know what a Raikou was until today, I still don't actually..." Ash admitted while sweating lightly. "And I only attacked it because my Toxel attacked Raikou first, I was only attacking to defend him and then myself!"
"Pika pi!"
"..." Cross glanced towards Ash's waist and noticed a distinct lack of Pokeballs. The boy glanced around the clearing before giving Ash a look. "And where is this Toxel now? I don't see it."
"Raikou sent him flying with one of his attacks," Ash quickly looked around before finding the right direction. "He went that way, I've got to go after him."
"Without your other Pokemon?" Cross raised an eyebrow. "You're just going to take that Pikachu with you into the woods at night, the most dangerous time to be wandering around as that is Ursaring turf!" Cross pointed towards the woods. "They're super territorial and those woods are full of them! Pikachu's already tuckered out from Raikou, he can't face them all on his own."
"There's no time, Toxel's level fifteen and only knows Nuzzle!" Ash anxiously exclaimed.
"Pika pika pi!" Pikachu anxiously cried out.
"We've got to find him before he gets hurt or worse!"
Cross facepalmed and uttered out an irritated groan. "Then I'll come with you, I couldn't live with myself if I let you turn yourself into Ursaring chow."
Ash gave Cross a brief look of appreciation before racing off, Pikachu hot on his heels as they searched for their lost teammate.
"Tox..." Toxel weakly groaned as he laid against the hard forest floor. The lizard could hardly move as exhaustion filled his body, he heard the distinct sound of paw steps as a Houndoom came into view. The canine gazed down at Toxel and showed concern as Toxel drifted back into unconsciousness.
"URSA!" Houndoom jerked up upon hearing the loud roar, it was close by and every fiber of his body was telling him to run but he couldn't just leave Toxel to his fate. Houndoom reached down and bit into the scruff of Toxel's neck before carrying him back to his den. Toxel awakened a few hours later and found himself in the midst of a strange cave, a mountain of berries sat next to him causing him to emit an excitable cry before gorging upon the berries. Toxel happily ate away in a fashion that would impress even Ash's Snorlax before coming to an abrupt stop upon noticing a Houndoom laying at the den's exit, it's gaze focused upon the forest outside.
Toxel backed away and began nervously shaking as he feared Houndoom brought him here to eat him. "T-Tox tox!" Toxel tearfully cried.
"Hou?" Houndoom slowly turned his head upon hearing Toxel's cry, a look of concern formed on the canine's face as he hopped to his feet. "Houn?" The canine questioned Toxel while walking towards him.
"T-Tox...!" Toxel tearfully cried. 'You're going to eat me!'
"Hou?!" Houndoom looked shocked before quickly leaning his head back as he howled with laughter. "Houn hou!" Houndoom hastily shook his head as he clarified that wasn't going to be the case and that he brought Toxel here to save him.
"Tox?" Toxel tilted his head.
"Houndoom! Hou hou Houndoom!" Houndoom went on to explain that these woods were filled with wild and savage Ursaring that wouldn't hesitate to maul trespassers. Houndoom was only living here as his pack kicked him out for being too rowdy and he had no place to go or call home.
Toxel felt bad for Houndoom though it didn't take long for Toxel to realize his own crisis. "Tox tox..." Toxel began crying once more.
"Hound?"
"Tox tox! Toxel tox tox!" Toxel began explaining to Houndoom that he belonged to a trainer and had been sent by a wild Pokemon's attack. Tears then flooded from his eyes as he tearfully explained how he worried that he'd never see Ash again as he was too weak to travel through the forest on his own, only using Nuzzle at his disposal.
"Hound..." Houndoom couldn't help but tear up from the distress Toxel found himself in, feeling sorry for the baby Pokemon. Houndoom glanced towards the entrance of the cave and was silent for a moment before turning his attention back towards Toxel, forming a light smile as he spoke. "Houn hound!"
"Tox!" Toxel's eyes lit up upon Houndoom offering to take him home, the lizard hastily nodded in response as he accepted Houndoom's help.
"URSA!" A scarred Ursaring roared as it slashed at Pikachu, battering him away.
"Chaaaa!" Pikachu cried out as he was sent flying across the clearing. He was still worn out from his battle with Raikou and going up against an alpha Pokemon wasn't exactly easy even on a normal day.
Ash dove forward and caught Pikachu while Cross stepped forward, the boy pointed towards the alpha while shouting. "Darkest Lariat!"
"Incineroar!" The large tiger held out his arms and began rapidly spinning in place while shooting across the field in a red/black blur, his hands soon repeatedly slapped against Ursaring's face.
"Ursa ursa!" The alpha growled out while preparing to fire off a Hyper Beam.
"Sucker Punch!"
"Roc!" The red and white canine shot forward and performed a swift uppercut to Ursaring, knocking the bear onto his back as the alpha lost consciousness.
"Those are pretty powerful Pokemon." Ash commented. They appeared to be around Pikachu's level in strength. He really wish he had his Rotom Phone but it was back in the tent along with his jacket.
"Well we have been partners for a long while," Cross commented before motioning with his hand. "We can't stick around long, that battle is sure to have attracted more."
"Right," Ash gave a swift nod before the pair raced off.
"Houn!" Houndoom cried out while blasting an Ursaring back with Dark Pulse. The Ursaring grunted out and snarled at Houndoom, the bear was about to lunge forward only to be met with a powerful stream of fire! "HOU!"
Ursaring's coat became covered with soot and a light cough escaped his mouth before he collapsed onto his back, swirls formed within his eyes.
"Tox..." Stars filled Toxel's eyes as he complimented Houndoom's strength.
Houndoom lightly smirked as he found the compliment rather flattering. "Houn..."
"Bee!" A Beedrill buzzed while shooting from a nearby tree with a ticked off expression, it appeared that the battle had woken him up.
"Tox tox!" Toxel anxiously cried as Beedrill flew towards Houndoom.
"Hou?" Houndoom quickly turned around before firing off another powerful stream of fire, knocking Beedrill out of the air before the bug crashed against the ground in a defeated slump.
"Bee..."
Toxel rode atop Houndoom's back as the canine raced across the forest, leaping over several streams of water while constantly zigzagging through the forest whenever he detected an Ursaring horde ahead. Although a few Ursaring did manage to sneak up on them, Houndoom was easily able to dispatch them with Dark Pulse and Flamethrower though it was always one on one. Fortunately they hadn't come across a horde up to this point though their luck couldn't last forever as upon entering another clearing the two soon found themselves surrounded at all sides as Ursaring broke through the bushes.
"Ursa!"
"Ring!"
"Ursaring!"
"Ursa!" A green Ursaring appeared to be in charge of the group, silently cracking his knuckles as the rest of the bear Pokemon awaited their orders. "URSA!" Ursaring fired a Hyper Beam attack towards Houndoom but the canine swiftly stepped aside.
"Houn!" Houndoom retaliated with Dark Pulse, knocking the leader off his feet and onto his back. The green Ursaring grunted out before lunging forward with Night Slash, striking Houndoom and knocking the canine back while Toxel was sent flying off of Houndoom.
"Tox!" The lizard flew over the Ursaring horde and landed against the ground with a hard thud. "Tox..." Tears briefly appeared in his eyes before he shook himself off, he turned back and saw Houndoom's body become engulfed in flames as he charged towards the green Ursaring.
"Houn!"
"URSA!" Ursaring roared as he fell to his back once more, gritting his teeth as he leaned up. "Ursa ursa Ursaring!" Ursaring roared while pointing towards Houndoom.
"Ursa!"
"Ursa!"
"Ursa!" The other Ursaring all began charging up Hyper Beams. A look of alarm briefly showed in Houndoom's eyes as Ursaring played dirty, there was nowhere to go and the attacks would be coming from all angles. Ursaring had him trapped and planned on eliminating him!
"Tox tox!" Toxel tearfully cried as Houndoom was battered back and forth by a series of explosions before the canine went limp as he collapsed against the ground.
"H-Houn..." Houndoom looked between an Ursaring's legs and stared directly at Toxel as his breath grew heavy. 'Save yourself...'
"Tox!" Tears fell from Toxel's eyes as the Ursaring began charging up another set of Hyper Beam attacks. The green Ursaring flashed a villainous smirk and rubbed his paws together with a gleeful expression. Toxel took a deep breath before plunging between Ursaring's legs as he raced into the clearing. "Tox tox!" Toxel raised his arms as he stood in front of Houndoom while facing the green Ursaring. The green Ursaring merely laughed and waved his arms, dismissing Toxel's threat.
"Ursa..." "Please you're just a child, what can you do to me?"
Toxel huffed, his fists clenched as his cheeks began puffing out. His stomach began gurgling before a massive thick cloud of purple smog emitted from his throat as he belched out.
"Ursa!" The Ursaring all covered their mouths as their faces turned a dark purple color. "Ursa..." One by one the horde began dropping like flies as Toxel's noxious smelling belch knocked them out. The green Ursaring slowly stood back up and roared out, the bear began slowly moving across the field as he prepared to slash at Toxel.
"Tox!" Toxel hurled up once more, purple acid came flying from his mouth and splattered across the green Ursaring's face. The bear roared out in pain and began racing off only to comidically drop a few feet away from Toxel, swirls formed within his eyes as he laid against the dirt. "Tox tox!" Toxel cheered while turning around to face his friend, Houndoom laid motionless against the ground with his tongue lolled out causing Toxel to turn pale. "Tox tox?!" Toxel gasped, fearing that he'd just killed his friend.
Toxel shoot a quick look around before spotting a berry bush. "Tox tox!" Toxel shot forward and grabbed a berry, he'd seen Brock and Ash giving them to passed out Pokemon before and they woke right up. Surely this was one of those berries! "Tox tox!" Toxel closed his eyes and prayed to Arceus that there was still time to save his friend as he shoved the bright red berry down Houndoom's throat.
Houndoom's eyes immediately shot open as steam flew out of his ears and snout! "HOU!" He howled out, tears falling from his eyes as Toxel fed him a Tamato berry!
"Tox tox!" Toxel cheerfully cried out while hugging his friend's leg. Houndoom gazed down at Toxel with a weak and heavy smile before nuzzling against the baby.
"Houn..." Houndoom comforted him before jerking up as he heard somebody calling out.
"Toxel!"
"Pikachu!"
"Tox?!" Toxel excitedly shot around to see Ash, Pikachu and another trainer racing onto the scene with rather unusual looking Pokemon following behind him. "Tox!" Toxel raced towards Ash and leaped into his arms.
"Toxel, I'm so glad you're okay! Pikachu and I were worried!"
"Pika pi!"
"Tox tox!" Toxel cried out as the three hugged one another. A tear fell from Houndoom's eye at the sight before the canine turned to take his leave. Toxel slowly turned his head as he heard Houndoom's movement getting softer. The lizard slid out of Ash's grasp and quickly shot across the field. "Tox tox!" He cried out, pleading for Houndoom to not go.
"Houn..." Houndoom shook his head and nudged Toxel back, stating that Toxel was back where he belonged and that his job was done. "Hound houn..." He told Toxel that he was lucky to have a loving home and he envied that, he missed it but he wasn't about to try and go where he wasn't wanted. He couldn't take rejection twice.
Ash noticed that Houndoom and Toxel appeared to be buddies and it became apparent that Toxel didn't want Houndoom to leave. He may not understand Pokemon speech but the situation was pretty clear. "Hey Houndoom, how would you like to join Toxel and become part of our team?"
"Tox?!" Toxel's eyes lit up at Ash's offer and he was quick to give Houndoom a pleading look. "Tox tox!" He begged.
A smile was quick to form at Ash's offer and upon seeing Toxel's reaction, Houndoom eagerly nodded while barking out. "Houn houn!"
Ash grinned while reaching for an empty Pokeball. "Welcome to the team Houndoom!" He threw the ball forward and the canine was quick to leap out and catch it in his mouth, embracing the capture as the ball absorbed him into it. The ball shook once as it fell to the ground before chiming to mark the capture a success, the ball quickly whisked away to Professor Cerise's lab not long after.
"Alright, we just caught a Houndoom!"
"Pi Pikachu!"
"Tox tox!" Ash and his Pokemon excitedly shouted while performing their signature pose. Cross and his Pokemon were silent as they gave Ash weird looks.
"The heck is he doing?" Cross muttered.
"Roc?"
"Roar?"
"Incineroar the Heel Pokemon, Incineroar's rough and aggressive behavior is its most notable trait, but the way it helps out small Pokemon shows that it has a kind side as well." Chloe's Rotom Phone read out as she scanned the large red tiger.
"Lycanroc the Wolf Pokemon, Midnight Form. They live alone without forming packs. They will only listen to orders from Trainers who can draw out their true power." Ash's Rotom Phone read out as he scanned the red and white canine.
Ash explained the night's events to Brock and Chloe upon returning to camp, the sun already rising as Brock was prepping up breakfast and unaware that Ash was even gone until he came back to the camp with a stranger. The three had their own tents and there was no reason to disturb him as it was still fairly early in the morning.
"Those Pokemon sound amazing!"
"Pika pi!" Cross merely shrugged in response to Ash's statement. His Pokemon barely responded to Ash's compliment either as they were focused on the delicious Pokemon food that Brock served up.
"So you actually did meet Raikou last night?" Chloe questioned while searching for Raikou's entry.
"Raikou the Thunder Pokemon, Raikou embodies the speed of lightning. The roars of this Pokemon send shock waves shuddering through the air and shake the ground as if lightning bolts had come crashing down."
"Hey it kinda looks like that other Pokemon we saw, Suicune."
"You three saw Suicune?" Cross asked before freezing up upon spotting the Rainbow Wing sitting in Chloe's hair, his fist lightly clenched as he turned his gaze away for a brief moment. "That's impressive, the three beasts usually avoid letting trainers see them and you managed to see two of them."
"Well Ash saw Raikou, we didn't." Brock was quick to say.
"Right," Chloe nodded.
Cross stroked the bottom of his chin. "Any chance that you all saw Entei?" The three looked at each other with visible confusing, giving Cross his answer. "Never mind." He stood up and raised his hand. "Thanks for the food but I should get going, I don't wish to be a burden."
"Where are you going?" Ash was quick to ask.
"Ilex Forest, there's something there I want to investigate." Cross simply stated.
"Ilex Forest? Isn't that next to Azalea Town?" Chloe questioned while looking towards Brock who was quick to pull out his trusty map.
"Yep, we'll be passing through on our way to Goldenrod City." Brock stated.
Ash's eyes lit up as he turned to Cross. "Then why don't we go together? Traveling with friends is an amazing experience and I'd love to learn more about Incineroar and Lycanroc!"
"Pi Pikachu!"
"Huh?" Chloe was surprised that Ash asked, she remembered seeing Brock and Tracey in her dreams long before she met the two but she'd never seen Cross before. If what she saw really was the future then Ash, Brock and her would be traveling throughout Johto alone and without Cross.
"Eh sure, why not." Cross shrugged while not displaying much emotion.
'What?!' Chloe's jaw dropped as Cross accepted Ash's offer.
Ash gained a new companion and a new Pokemon. Houndoom was the winner of the "Most requested Pokemon" thing I did in the last story, it was fun and I might do that again in the future. Cassidy owns one but that shouldn't cause complications as it's easy enough to avoid having the Houndoom's in the same room as each other.
Verity and Sorrel won't appear in this universe, I don't have a story in mind for them and it'll just be too complicated later on. "Hey this is Lucario, my best friend." "Carrr!" "Hi I'm Sorrel and this is my Lucario!" "Carrr!" "I'm Dawn and this is Piplup!" "Pip Piplup!" "Hi, I'm Verity and this is Piplup!" "Pip Piplup!" Yeah, no thanks haha
I skipped the Ruins of Alph since I'd rather save Unown for later. I'm not doing the movie since it'd just be the same thing with nothing new and I'd rather have Unown make a worthy entrance rather than "Hey Leaf, what are you doing here?" "Oh, I'm searching for Unown." or something like that. Unown are practically gods in the anime and I want to stay faithful to that. As of now they'll either appear when Ash meets Brandon or I'll take a page from my other story, Journeys: Legends Reborn and tie them into how Ash/Chloe get transported to Hisui. Long story short, they won't appear in Johto.
Anyways hope you all enjoyed that, until next time! :D