Velocity
Chapter 2: The Rookie
Ash yawned; exhausted from the night's events as he unlocked the door to his apartment and flicked on the lights. "Pikachu, I'm home!" He could barely keep his eyes open; he needed to get to bed and quick. "Pikachu, you in here!" He scanned the living room and groaned. He did not feel like looking for his rodent friend; he'd had a rough night already.
He walked into the kitchen and turned on the light, only to be met with a huge blast of voltage. "Pikachu, it's me!" he yelled as he hopped to his feet and looked around. Sitting on the table was a small yellow rodent, scratching its ear and staring at him, chattering angrily.
"What are you doing still up? It's 12:45 in the morning." Pikachu narrowed its eyes at him before scampering across the tile floor and pointing its paw at the refrigerator. "Pikachu, I left food out for you on the table." Ash raised his hand towards the dish of pokemon food sitting on the table.
"Pika!" It pointed towards the refrigerator again, intent on obtaining its contents. Ash sighed and opened the refrigerator, tossing Pikachu a bottle of ketchup. He never did understand his small friend; it was quite fond of ketchup ever since he was a small boy, yet he never knew why.
The mouse chirped happily as it flipped open the cap and squeezed the contents of the bottle into its mouth. Ash simply shook his head and walked into his bedroom, pulling off his suit jacket and clicking on his answering machine. Pikachu scampered into the room and found its place on his bed as the machine whirred to life.
"Hi Ash, its Melodi! I was calling to make sure we were still on for Saturday night. Give me a call when you get in, k? Bye!" Ash chuckled and pulled off his tie.
"Pikachu, hit the button." Pikachu nodded and slapped the button with his paw.
"Ash, Tracy. Listen, I'm gonna need you to stay after a little late tomorrow too...sorry, the partners want you to head the Team Rocket case. But I'll be there with you, so we shouldn't have to stay for too long. See ya." He sighed and plopped into the bed.
"Pikachu...turn it off. I'm too tired to hear anymore. Good night...and don't eat all of the ketchup, got it? You're eating normal food tomorrow." He heard Pikachu reply and crawl off of the bed and into its own in the corner. The light clicked off, blanketing the room in darkness as Ash drifted off to sleep.
"Geez Ash, you look like crap. What happened?" The desk was littered with random papers and folders as Ash slowly raised his head from his desk calendar and sighed.
"I had a really long night, Tracy. I barely heard my alarm go off this morning. Pikachu had to shock me awake." His companion grinned and ran a hand through his black hair. Tracy was quite a tall man, at least a head taller than Ash. They were roommates during law school and quickly became fast friends, helping each other out through the rigorous studying and exams they faced throughout college.
"They kept you at the office that long? I mean, I know this Rocket case is important and all, but still... What time did you leave?" Ash shuffled through the assorted legal papers and shrugged.
"I don't know...around eleven o' clock I think. I didn't get home till later though. There was...a lot of traffic last night." Tracy looked at him puzzled, obviously not believing him.
"Traffic? At eleven o' clock at night? I'd believe that if yesterday was Saturday, Ash; but yesterday was Thursday." Ash glanced up from a file on some guy named Giovanni and nodded.
"Yeah...there was traffic, some kind of accident or something." Probably would've been me if I hadn't swerved out of the way of that car at the last second...he thought to himself. "But let's get to work on this case...looks like this guy is gonna take a lot of work."
As he and Tracy worked the case throughout the day, Ash found himself constantly drifting to the events of the previous night; he still hadn't decided whether or not to go to the Piers as he had said.
But now, here it was 10:30, sitting at home eating his dinner, and he still hadn't come to a decision. He turned to his yellow friend and scratched behind his ears. "Well buddy...think I should go?" There was no response; the mouse had fallen asleep while it was watching television. Ash chuckled and placed Pikachu in its bed and headed off to the kitchen to clean his dishes.
"Ring, ring, ring! Phone call, phone call!" He dropped his dishes into the sink and headed to the phone, picking up the receiver. The words "Video Mode" flashed onto the screen briefly before it was replaced by an older woman with brownish-red hair.
"Hi, honey! How are you doing?" Her voice was cheerful as she waved at the screen and blew him a kiss. Ash smiled and laughed...he always thought his mother was a little weird.
"I'm fine, Mom. How are Sam and Tyler?"
"They're fine. Tyler's at his friend's house right now, but Sam is right here. Do you want to speak to him?" Ash smiled and nodded as his mother shifted over and an older man with graying temples appeared on the screen.
"How you doing, Ash? Think you're too cool to call your family now?" The man's face wrinkled a bit as a smile spread over his face. His mother had married Professor Samuel Oak, the famed Pokemon professor, not too soon after he had tried to start on his own pokemon journey.
Ash's mother had gotten pregnant at a young age, and his father ran off, leaving her alone in Pallet Town. She never really liked to talk about it, and quickly changed the subject if it happened to come up.
"Sorry Sam, but I've been really busy at the office and I've had no time to myself lately."
"I can tell, Ash. You look like I used to when I spent all of my time working at the lab. You need to learn to relax some before you burn out completely. Then what are you going to do?"
"Yeah, I have been working on this case for the past few weeks..."
"See, I told you. So, promise us you'll loosen up. We don't want to have to come down and take you out of the hospital because you fell asleep at the wheel." Ash nodded and glanced at the clock in the bottom corner of the screen. 10:45.
"Ok, I promise. But listen, I need to get some sleep for tomorrow. Tell Tyler I said hi, ok?" Sam and his mother nodded.
"You be careful now, ok sweetie? Take care," his mother added as Ash reached to hang up the phone. Ash nodded and waved before hanging up the receiver. He sighed and walked to the window, observing the illuminated metropolis below him. The lights cast an almost dreamlike glow on the city streets below; he could hear the cold concrete begging for him to just let go and be free on their stony skin.
He glanced up and stared at the sliver moon as a Pidgeot zoomed past; if he didn't know any better it was as if the universe was trying to force him out into the night. He glanced at the clock again, letting a sly smirk creep across his face.
It was time to cut loose.
The Cerulean Pier was famous not only throughout Kanto, but all three regions as the premiere spot to find the best seafood. During the day, it was a bustling, noisy area, filled with the yells of random fisherman as they tried to sell their wares to the various restaurant owners, cooks, and housewives; comparable to the massive Celadon Mall. It was a huge site located just on the edge of the coast, filled with scores of back alleys and hidden roads. The main roads were almost always used exclusively by the huge cranes and various equipment used in the fishing trade. Then as the business day ended, the numerous workers and buyers filed out, leaving the area barren and lifeless.
However, as the sun fell, and the night sky began to be pierced by the random streetlights, like a phoenix, it began to reawaken to become the raucous giant it had been during the day. The cranes and bulldozers were replaced by Silph Dodrios and Tauroses; the noise not being created by various machinery, but by the sound systems of the assorted vehicles as they spewed out the pulse pounding beats of techno, rock, and rap.
The chatter filled the air as eager drivers came out to show off their rides and try to prove themselves as the cream of the crop of the racing community. Amongst the flashy spoilers, paint jobs, and roaring mufflers; trapped between the ear-shattering speakers and amps was a lone yellow car, sticking out like a sore thumb due to its run-of-the-mill body work and plain-looking paint.
Ash looked around the industrial area, amazed by how many racers actually came out as he rolled through the plethora of sports cars. He was expecting maybe eight or nine cars, but what he saw suggested that there was least a count of forty or more vehicles. He tried to ignore the strange stares he got from some of the people around him; trying to find the man who had suggested he come here in the first place.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he spotted him and his brown Falcon, standing on the side of the road, tucked away near a large warehouse, talking with a few people. Ash pulled up to the side of the brown sports car and hopped out, killing the engine.
Brock turned as Ash was climbing out of the car, and started grinning from ear to ear. "You made it! I was starting to think you weren't gonna show up!" He slapped Ash hard on the back and yanked him towards the people he was chatting to. "Yo guys, this is the new guy I was telling you about. He's got some real skill, so I invited him to tag along. Say hi, Ash. This is Venom and Haze."
Ash stared, puzzled by their odd names while trying to ignore the stinging in his back. One was a very attractive redhead, wearing a pair of curve hugging jeans and t-shirt. Her companion was a young man with blue hair and green eyes, clad in a purple Adidas training outfit. Ash laughed nervously as he held out his hand. "Those are uh...very interesting names. I'm Ash."
Both of them stared at him for a moment, as if sizing him up. The redhead scoffed and raised an eyebrow at Brock. "Landslide, are you sure this kid has skills? I mean, look at him...he's a twerp." Her partner laughed aloud, pointing at Ash's car.
"And he came in a stock car! How the hell is he supposed to win with that piece of crap?" Ash growled and glanced at Brock, who was smiling nervously.
"Come on guys, I have faith in the little guy. I know he doesn't look like much, be he's got some talent. Ease up on him, will ya? Especially you, Venom." The redhead rolled her eyes and slapped her companion in the chest.
"Come on, Haze. We'll see what the kid can do. Later," She yelled over her shoulder as they walked off into the crowd of people. Ash turned to Brock and glared at him.
"What the hell was that all about? And what was up with their names? I mean, Haze; Venom? And who the hell is Landslide? This is crazy. I'm outta here," he said, turning on his heel to go back to his car. Brock rushed in front of him, blocking his way into the car.
"Look, don't pay them much attention...they're always like that. And as for the names, I can explain that. Just me hear me out, ok?" Ash crossed his arms and looked at him for a moment before nodding his head. "Ok, the highest ranked racers out here are given nicknames. When we're out here racing, we don't call each other by our real names, we use our nicknames."
"You're kidding, right?" Ash scoffed. "Nicknames? Are you guys eight years old or something? Wait, I need a decoder ring to get in, don't I? That's why they were pissed off," he laughed.
"Fine, go ahead, laugh. But remember this, without a nickname, you aren't shit out here." Ash rolled his eyes and snickered again.
"Ok, ok, fine. I'll stop making fun of the nicknames." He looked around the area, scanning the different faces in the crowd. "So who's the top guy out here? You know; the best racer?"
Brock put an arm over Ash's shoulder and led him to the head of the crowd. "That would be Slipstream. He's one of the top ranked racers in all three of the regions. That's him over there." He pointed towards a young man who had his back turned, wearing a racing jacket and a pair of baggy jeans. His brown spiky hair stuck out from the sides of his head, causing Ash to snigger again. God, this guy has hair like Gary did when we were little. Ugh, he mentally laughed.
Ash took a look at the car he was driving however, and all of his jokes disappeared. Sitting in the middle of a crowd of people was a sleek, jet black Silph Rapidash, the fastest and most powerful model the Silph Motor Company had to offer. A huge spoiler hung up from his trunk, which seemed to mold into his almost violent looking body kit. The muffler was huge, almost big enough for Ash to fit his fist inside.
The wheels were black also, glistening in the light of the nearby lamp post. The only hint of color besides black on the entire car was the red neon glow emanating from the bottom of the vehicle.
Whoa, this guy must be good. I've only seen a car like that in a magazine or at an auto show. Brock noticed Ash's shocked face and chuckled. "Like I said, Slipstream's one of the best." The young man waved off the people he was talking to and turned, noticing Brock.
"Well, well; if it isn't Landslide. How's the clutch on your Falcon doing?" Ash scanned the young man's face: the green eyes, the nasally voice, the condescending smirk. The realization crashed into Ash like a brick wall.
"Gary! Is that you!" The young man snapped around and glowered at him.
"Who the hell are you? Why are you over here with the ranked racers? Get your ass over with the rookies!" he exclaimed, pointing a finger in the direction that Ash had just come from.
"It's ok, Slipstream. He's with me. His name's Ash Ketchum; he's a newcomer." The spark of realization from hearing Ash's name flickered in the brown-haired man's eyes.
"Ketchum! Ash Ketchum!" Gary grabbed his stomach and guffawed loudly. "You brought Ash Ketchum out here to race with us! Oh my god, this is too much!" he laughed even louder, taking in huge breaths between fits of laughter.
Brock looked at Gary, then Ash, then back at Gary. "You guys know each other?" Ash nodded and folded his arms.
"We used to be neighbors when we were little. He lived across the street from me in Pallet Town. We used to be friends, but after he became a pokemon trainer, he turned into a jerk."
Gary finally calmed himself down and smirked at Ash. "Please, at least I was a trainer for more than a few months. I traveled around till I was sixteen." He pointed at Ash and chortled again. "He quit four months in. The first pokemon he got didn't even respect him enough to obey him. And now, you're bringing him here to race with us? He's not gonna come back after tonight, mark my words."
Ash growled and shoved himself into Gary's face. "No way in hell I'm backing out, Oak. You better get ready, cause I am going to beat your ass when we race." Gary chuckled and stared into his eyes.
"Please, Ketchum. You have to be ranked in at least the top five in Kanto to even have a chance at me. And let's face it; you'll never be as good as me." He opened his mouth to say more, but the beeping of his watch cut him off. "Well, looks like its showtime." He smirked again before strolling over to his car and leaning against it. "It's time to start, everybody!" Almost all of the crowd stopped their chatter and crowded over to Gary's Rapidash. Ash hated to admit it, but Gary held quite a commanding role here.
"I took a stroll around tonight and I spotted a lot of new faces around here!" he shouted so the crowd could hear. "Since you're new, I'll give you the rundown. I'm Slipstream, the temporary leader of the Cerulean Underground. Unfortunately, Whirlpool is not here right now, so I was put in charge since I was in town." The crowd chattered at the information before Gary raised his hand, silencing them.
"Rule number one of the Underground: If you're new, you have to race. Rule number two: If you make a bet, you must hold up your end of the bargain. And the third and final rule is that under any circumstances, you will not cheat. If you cheat, and we catch you...your ass is ours, understand!" The new racers in the crowd nodded, understanding the rules thoroughly.
"Good. Now then...let's get started. Since we have so many rookies here, we'll start with them." He raised his hand and started pointing at faces in the crowd. "You, you, you, and..." he glanced at Ash and smirked again before pointing at him. "You. All of you, hop in your car and bring it over here."
Ash looked around for a moment, bewildered at what Gary had just said. "I thought you said I didn't have to race!" he hissed at Brock. Brock shook his head and shrugged.
"Well, those are the rules; I just didn't think Slipstream would call you out to race. I mean, you did come ina stock car...but don't worry." He grinned. "You're gonna rip these guys a new one."
Brock grabbed Ash and hopped in the passenger side of the car as Ash climbed in the driver's seat. "Look, Brock; I don't think I'm ready for this kind of thing yet." Brock shook his head and pointed towards the ignition.
"I'm telling you, you're gonna kill 'em." Ash glanced at him as he stuck the key in the ignition and brought the engine roaring to life. Slowly, they pulled up to the starting line as a young woman with black hair walked up and held her hand out.
"So, this is just a practice run, right? Nothing big about it?" The young woman laughed out loud.
"Practice run? Please, your race is gonna take an entry fee of three grand." Ash's eyes grew wide as he heard the figure.
"THREE GRAND! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!" he yelled at the young woman. "I don't have that kind of money...I only have like fifty bucks!" He was about to yell at the young woman again before Brock passed a wad of bills to the young woman, silencing him promptly.
"That should cover it, right Casey?" The young woman unfolded the bills and counted them all, smiling.
"Yup, that's enough, Landslide. You must really think this kid has something..." she said as she walked off to collect the fees from the other drivers. Ash looked at him, disbelief in his eyes.
"Brock, why are you doing all this? I mean, I could lose you your money, and I don't want to do that." Brock grinned and opened the car door.
"You won't lose it. Like I said last night Ash, I've never seen someone drive like you before. You're gonna run rings around these guys." He turned to leave before whirling around again. "Oh, and Ash, one more thing; don't try to think about your driving. Just let your instinct take over...got it?"
Ash nodded, and Brock walked away from the starting line into the crowd of people that lined both side of the now emptied street of the industrial area. Ash gripped the steering wheel, his heart pounding as Gary strolled into the middle of the street between the cars.
"Alright, guys, here are the rules. You see the crane over there?" Ash squinted, but was able to make out the outline of the large piece of machinery. "First to get there and back wins. Take any route you want. Got it?" The three car engines whined in agreement. Ash stepped his foot on the accelerator late...so his enginerevved after Gary started walking off the street.
He could hear the laughter of the crowd, but he tried to shut it out and focus on his goal. Ok, to the crane and back. That seems simple enough. He rolled his windows up, and flicked in another CD; the sounds of Astral Projection's "Aurora Borealis" flooded the inside of the car.
He revved his engine, hearing the others rev back in response. Casey, the same girl who collected the money, walked into the middle of the cars and raised her hands in the air. "Ready!" The engines roared again in agreement.
Ash hunched over the steering wheel, watching her arms for the moment they would drop.
"Go!" She dropped her arms and the cars zoomed from the line, almost knocking her back from the force of air that the vehicles had created. Ash slammed on the accelerator and took off, closely behind the other three cars.
The cars careened down the long straightaway, neck and neck as the drivers viedfor an early lead. Popping the clutch, he shifted to the second gear. The car jerked and began to pick up speed as he began to roar ahead of the pack. He laughed and turned his music up even louder, enjoying his early lead.
The road continued to stretch on, like a never-ending drag strip as Ash began to take an even larger lead. He glanced to his rearview mirror and chuckled before returning his vision to the road. He squinted, and saw that a brick wall was rapidly approaching.
He yelled, and searched for an alternate route. He spotted a small alleyto the right and braked, swerving his car into the narrow alley. The other cars scattered like cockroaches, searching for their own route. Ash struggled to keep the car in the middle of the narrow alley, being careful not to scrape up against the concrete walls.
He glanced up at the large piece of machinery; he was still quite a long way away. He pressed on the gas even harder, shifting to the third gear and increasing his speed. The speedometer rapidly climbed: 50, 60, 70 miles an hour.
The alley suddenly branched out into a large open area, populated with dozens of steel storage containers. Ash sped through them, leaving a large dust trail in his wake as he zipped to the crane. Suddenly, a car zipped past Ash as he crossed another row of containers, barely missing him.
He swerved to avoid him, and turned to the left, tires squealing and slammed on the gas again. He could hear wind rushing past his window as his car gained speed on the large machine. He grinned and whirled around it, leaving a trail of smoldering rubber on the asphalt behind him as another car came from the opposite side. Both vehicles rocketed past each other as they began their return trip to the finish line. Ash shifted again, the engine whining as he roared through the containers, the other car keeping pace with him.
He growled and veered to the left, rushing through a row of containers before turning sharply to the right and accelerating, pulling up alongside his opponent. The young man inside the car stared at Ash with an astonished look on his face before shifting gears in his own vehicle.
Both cars kept a steady battle for the lead, as the containers seemed to blend intoeach other at such high speeds. Each racer kept mimicking the other's moves, resulting in a stalemate as they came up on the dead end. Finally, both cars separated, going in opposite directions.
Ash smiled and shifted to the final gear as he zoomed through an empty warehouse, the speedometer maxing out at 120 miles per hour. Can't be too far from the finish line now, he thought as he zoomed out from the abandoned building, heading for the final straightaway.
He turned left; and cursed loudly. He had taken a wrong turn and was now staring at a large cement wall which was quickly approaching. He scanned the area for any alternate route and swore again. There was only a large eighteen-wheeler, built to carry numerous cars from the port to their respective dealerships.
Suddenly, an idea hit Ash like a bolt of lightning. God, I hope this works, he prayed to himself as he aligned himself with the truck. He slammed his whole body onto the gas, desperately trying to squeeze out every ounce of horsepower his engine could scrounge up.
The world again began to blur as he struggled to keep his car aligned with the truck. He said a quick prayer to himself and gripped the steering wheel tightly. The car hopped onto the large trailer and rushed up the large makeshift ramp and sailed into the air.
Ash screamed loudly as the vehicle barely cleared the building and slammed onto the roof. The car began to lurch wildly all over the top of the building as he desperately tried to regain control of his car and keep it from flipping. His heart pounded even harder as he rocketed across the roof and glanced over to his right.
There was the straightaway, and his opponent was zooming down the street, not even noticing him on the roof. The finish line was right in front of him, and Ash gripped the steering wheel even harder as he began his final attempt to win the race. Both cars unknowingly battled each other for the top spot, only gaining a lead on the other by a few inches before the other would catch up again.
This is it! He yelled again and swerved to his left. The vehicle dropped off of the building and slammed into the concrete below. The car lurched to the side, causing Ash to yank the steering wheel in the opposite direction. His eyes opened wide as the car began to spin out; he couldn't control it anymore.
He screamed loudly as the car spun around, the world no longer taking any type of form at all; he couldn't tell up from down, orleft from right as he whirled around on the asphalt. The tires screeched on the street and in a last ditch effort, he slammed his foot on the brakes.
The car suddenly jerked to a halt and Ash opened his eyes, taking into account his situation. The crowd stared back at him; mouths wide open at what he had just done. Even his opponent was looking at him, unable to believe what he did. Ash pulled down the window and looked down at the ground as the music poured from his speakers.
His car had passed the line. He chuckled lightly, and stepped out from the car. He had won the race. The crowd was silent for a moment; then suddenly erupted into a maelstrom of noise. Brock rushed through the crowd to Ash and picked up his shocked friend.
"That was freaking amazing, Ash! I've never seen anyone race like that in my entire life!" he exclaimed loudly as he set him down on the ground. "You're gonna be a ranked racer in no time!" Ash chuckled loudly again and scratched the back of his head.
"You think?" Brock laughed loudly and slapped him on the back as Gary walked up to them. Ash glanced at Gary and smirked. "What was that about me never being as good as you?"
Gary snorted. "I have to admit, you did surprise me, Ash. But you still can't beat me. But since you did win, I'll cut you some slack. Come back tomorrow, and you can have your chance to go against some ranked racers. See ya round, Ketchum," he said as he walked back into the crowd.
"Well Ash, looks like you're gonna rise through the ranks pretty damn fast," Brock commented. Ash sighed and leaned up against his car before looking at him with a smirk.
"You were right, Brock. That was easy."
Racing Encyclopedia:
Stock: A car that has not been upgraded or tuned in any way; a car that has comestraight from the factory.
(A/N: I had always wanted to do something different with the Pokemon chracters, and I've only seen one other story with this kind of concept before, so I decided to try my hand at it. It seems like Pokemon fanfics are always either AAMRN's or those Pokemon epics, so I wanted to add a little diversity. If you like it, drop me line and tell me. And if you don't; review it anyway and tell what I can do to make it better. See ya round!)